Red Smokey Eye with Makeup Geek

While I will wear any makeup, any time of the year, some things do trend with the seasons and it can be fun to join in.  Red and gold smokey eyes always seem to be popular during Autumn/Fall so this is my version on the look.  All the eye shadows I use are from Makeup Geek <3 and I paired it with the infamous Ruby Woo from MAC, which I'm sorry to say I'd pretty much forgotten about.

Read on for a list of all the products I used, plus some close-ups.

Glitter YouTube Tutorial with Makeup Geek Shadows

This post is accompanying the video down below.  It's a glittery look, mixing a blue and a yellow glitter.  All the shadows are Makeup Geek ones.  I'd love to know your thoughts on it!

Read on for some close-ups and a run down of the products I used.

Dupes for MAC Blue Brown Pigment

Dupes for MAC Blue Brown pigment

I love duochrome shadows, LOVE them!  One of the first ones I had was Urban Decay Lounge which it now turns out it a dupe for the more famous Blue Brown pigment from MAC.  I recently realised I had quite a few similar shades in both pressed and loose form so thought I'd compare them all.  All of them are a fairly warm medium brown with a green/teal shift to them.

Duochrome shadows are a really easy way to take an average, every day look and make it stunning.

Read on for close-ups and swatches plus my verdict on which to buy.

Look of the day - Purple Galore

Purple galore makeup

Sooooo I just watched a video where the lady recommended not wearing everything purple on your face.  Well, I did it and I'm probably going to do it again.  Purple is one of my favourite makeup colours so earlier this week I wanted to do a monochrome look with it.  I really liked the outcome and am considering doing a monochrome series with a whole host of colours but I'm not sure...would anyone actually want to see a whole look centred around yellow or green etc?

As I was using mainly cool-toned purples I thought I'd warm my face up with some fake freckles, not sure if you can tell above?  There'll be a close-up below.  I do naturally have some faint freckles but they never come out very dark anymore as I don't get much sun exposure ever.  I'm not sure how natural these ones look but I like them, despite my husband telling me it looks like a tub of cocoa powder exploded on me.

Read on for a product run-down and more photos.

What difference does blush make?

What difference does blush make?

Blush/blusher (I slip between the two, sorry), is really important as it brings a life-like look to your skin. Blush is often the last thing I apply and it just makes my skin look instantly more natural. The higher coverage your foundation is, the more important blush becomes.  One of my pet peeves is people wearing heavy foundation but nothing else, it makes you look a bit like a mannequin.  

Spring Darling tutorial

You know what they say, more is more.  After finishing the look for the contouring post I decided that I actually wasn't finished, and wanted to develop my turquoise winged eye look a bit more with red/orange underneath.  I am really pleased with the results so thought I'd give you a bit of a look and tell you all what I used to achieve it.

MAC Toldeo collection greens

MAC Toledo - Bellgreens and Chlorafill

Believe it or not, it's not very often that I buy from MAC collections, I just happen to have been in recently while interesting things were actually not sold out yet!  As well as the Miley Viva Glam lipstick, my attention was grabbed by all of the greens in the new Toledo collection.  Although I have a fair amount of green in my collection, some that I really love, I never feel like it suits me that much.  These greens look quite toned down and might work with my blue eyes.  I had also seen them used rather beautifully by  Chloemish_makeup on Instagram.

Read on for swatches and a look using everything!

MAC Viva Glam Miley Cyrus lipstick

I ummed and ahhed about getting the new MAC Viva Glam lipstick.  It looked so pretty in pictures on Instagram but did I really need another hot pink lipstick?  Probably not, but I took the plunge anyway as I didn't get the last Viva Glam (Rihanna 2) and seriously regret it.  This time around it's the Viva Glam Miley Cyrus.  

The full RRP minus tax on all Viva Glam products goes towards helping men, women and children affected by HIV/AIDS.

Read on for more photos and my verdict.

My Favourite Makeup Geek Shadows

Clockwise from top left: Unexpected, Stealth, Burlesque and Rockstar

I am so in love with Makeup Geek shadows.  I had seen them all over YouTube and Instagram so had a pretty good idea of what colours I wanted.  You order the singles and then arrange them in a palette yourself.  I have mine in a large Z Palette. I made my first order about two months ago so have done lots of playing.  I bought enough colours to made for pretty much unlimited combinations so I haven't been straying from them much.  All of the different textures blend beautifully and there are some really unique colours.  I highly recommend the shadows in general and I can't wait to get more.  I thought a great way to introduce them would be to show off my four current favourites,  I've loved using these colours together as well as with the other shades

5 Looks with the Cargo Vintage Escape Palette

As promised in my review of the Cargo Vintage Escape palette, here are 5 looks I've made using it.  I've put the photo of the palette above so you can see what I used where.

All the looks are of course quite neutral and while I would consider them all suitable for everyday maybe a few of these wouldn't be for you as I'm quite comfortable with more-is-more.

A lot of the shades are perfect as a wash of colour by themselves.

Lip Addict Tag

I know this tag is primarily a YouTube thing but I thought it would be fun to join in.

TAG QUESTIONS

1. Favourite balm/treatment?

2. Best eye-catching red?

3. Best luxury & best drugstore/high street?

4. Best MAC lipstick?

5. The most disappointing?

6. Liner - yes or no?

7. Best gloss?

8. Something extra!

Read on for my answers...

Halo Eyes with Step-By-step

Halo eye with Sugarpill

Halo eyes are quite a big trend at the moment, at least on Instagram.  It was only recently that I learnt the name for it. It's essentially having your darker shades in the inner and outer corners with your lighter colour in the middle.  It's a really interesting look and works really well with matte or shimmer, neutral or colour.  A word of warning; the darker colours you use, the more tired it can make you look.  It's also not particularly flattering if you have close-set eyes (like me! But I don't care). 

I'm going to show you how I got the above look, as well as showing some alternative halo looks.

Pop of Chartruese

I thought I would share a look I've really been enjoying lately.  It's a simple, light grey/taupe eye with a pop of colour on the inner corner; in this case chartreuse.

Making Rubanesque Work

MAC Rubanesque Pro Longwear Paint Pot

I have been in love with MAC's  Rubanesque Paint Pot for years, swatching it on my hand almost every time I went in store and no doubt annoying all of the employees.  It is a beautiful shimmery peachy gold which changes with the light.  I knew I would love it but I just put off buying it every time...until April.  I got it home, so excited to try it for the first time but boy was I disappointed.  While the pigmentation was okay and it was definitely still pretty it was quite lack-lustre.  It did not look how it does in the jar.
And so began the mission to make it look amazing!

London IMATS 2014

On the 28th June a friend and I went to London IMATS (International Makeup Artist Trade Show) at Olympia.  This was my second time to IMATS and I loved every second of it.  We had a 2am start for the 4am coach up from Cardiff.  Last year I was concentrating on buying for my bridal kit but this year, with a few exceptions, it was all for me.  While I like seeing all of the different stalls and trying new brands there, I mainly seek to buy things I already like but at show prices.

Transformation Tuesday. Warning: Picture Heavy!

So I thought I would use the Instagram #transformationtuesday and go a bit crazy.  I've sifted through a ridiculous number of photos from the last 12 years or so and picked out ones that show how my makeup has changed over the years.  Unfortunately I wore the same look every day for most of those years, as you will see for yourself.

I saw a blog post in the last week where the writer said that Davey Havok was her high school inspiration, so definitely true for me.  I fell in love with all things AFI when I was about 13/14 and loved DxH so much that I made (and still have) a folder in which are about 1000 printed out pictures of him...in rough chronological order.  Sigh. Black was the colour.  Oh yes.  Black everywhere.  Let the pictures begin.

No face.  Black nail varnish. Yes. Age 13

Making Things Work

Don't be dismayed if you've bought make up which hasn't quite suited you.  If like me you can't bare throwing it out you may be able to make it work for you without buying anything else.  Quite often if make up is the wrong colour or tone you might already have just the thing to transform it.