Friday 31 July 2009

She's a Native New Yorker...

So, I'm here! BeautyMecca has landed in NYC.
So what was the first thing I did? I went shopping of course. I had to, it wasn't bad shopping, it was 'shit, I left that in my friend's bathroom' shopping. And only for essentials...

Cetaphil face wash - so gentle but really cleansing. I love this stuff in a morning with my Liz Earle Cleanse & Polish at night.

OPI Nail Envy - I made my nails suffer a little bit during my last few weeks in London, changing my polish a lot. But ahh, now they have some bargain Nail Envy larped on, they're all kinds of pretty again.

Urban Decay Sustainable Shadow Box - ok, there's a an argument for this not being an essential BUT I have to wait for a lot of my make up, mainly my eyeshadows, to be shipped over and this gorgeous bamboo box contains some stunning bold shades, as well as a few pretty different plays on brown/taupey shades. Loves it.

See, that's practically nothing.
Oh, and I got some Creme de le Mer gel cream at Duty Free but that doesn't count! It was Duty Free!
Right?
Right.

Wednesday 22 July 2009

Leaving Las London

Le sigh, I have a week to go in London and I've been manic.
Leaving work = good, packing up your entire life = bad.
Sorry I've been so rubbish about keeping up with you but I thought it was important that you knew I have of course made time for my eyelash extensions, hair colour and tomorrow I'm getting a trim. Do you have any idea how scary it is to think you're going to be parted from your hairdresser? Scarier than moving to New York... Just.

Tuesday 14 July 2009

I Heart New York - packing problems

Oh my but I'm having a bit of a crazy month... two weeks tomorrow, I pack up and wave goodbye to London Town for New York City and do you want to know what I'm finding scariest? The actual packing up. I have done so many culls on my wardrobe and beauty collection, it almost makes me want to have a little cry. Well, another little cry because I've already sobbed once or twice.

But I digress. The point of this post is to tell you about what actually made it through the cull and more importantly, what I've stocked up on to take with me. The stocking up thing is huge, given that the US is hardly short of beauty products so if I think enough of something to take it with me in bulk, it must be fairly good...

Skin Care
The first thing I bought in bulk was my Liz Earle cleanse & polish. Honestly, I couldn't be without it. I've been faithful for well over a year now and while I swap it out for Cetaphil in the mornings (I like a gel wash in summer mornings, dontcha know?) I am always to be found slavishly massaging it in of an evening. It's amazing.

Swiftly following the Liz Earle was my Eve Lom Rescue Mask and Elemis Try-Enzyme Mask. Between these two bad boys, I have the most even, glowing skin I have ever, ever, ever had. I LOVE Eve Lom for sorting me out after a particularly heavy session while I use the Tri-Enzyme mask once a week as an exfoliating/anti-aging treatment and honestly, I credit it entirely with sorting out my post-acne skin. No lumps, bumps or scarring and all since I started using this mask. The idea of being without it actually makes me shiver. One thing I haven't stocked up on yet but absolutely will because it's going to save my LIFE after the flight to New York, is the Dermalogica Multi-Vitamin Power Recovery Masque which I always use after a flight. It feels like you slapped yourself around the chops with a smoothie or something. Awesome.

Over to moisturising, I'm fairly well equipped with my Advanced Night Repair and Advanced Night Repair Concentrate (which I'll need post-flight) as well as my Elemis Pro-Collagen Marine Cream, Pro-Collagen Eye Renewal, Absolute Eye Serum and my Creme de la Mer The SPF 30 UV Protecting Fluid. And obviously, I'll be packing bucket loads of Beauty Flash Balm.

And that's pretty much where I'm at for the face. I'm loaded up on Dermalogica Skin Hydrating Cream to keep my skin in tip top condition - it's so light but SO moisturising and Spa Paradisa Renew Body Butter and Elemis Frangipani Monoi Moisture Melt because they smell divine and I can't imagine being without them. I also need to get hold of some Champney's Perfect Sleep Body butter because of lavender obsession knows no bounds and this is the most delicious body butter version of my beloved sleep scent that I've found. Oh! And I will also be packing some Lee Stafford Spray Wax, Shine Spray and Dehumidifier. My barnet would suffer without them...

There's loads of other stuff that I've had to wave goodbye to and that I know I'll miss but these are the things I rely on to stop me looking like a shrewish hag from day to day.
Can't. Recommend. Highly. Enough.

Now I just need to find The World's Biggest Suitcase.

Thursday 9 July 2009

My Face - Medium

Today we're showcasing the uber pretty, soft medium look.
Ahhhh...



base
Try using fingers when applying foundation (MyFace mymix foundation £12.71) as this will ensure you get quick coverage whilst gently warming up the product from your natural body heat, making the foundation more like your own skin and sitting beautifully without clogging. Then simply dot concealer a couple of times under the eye and on any blemishes then gently pat into your skin. Then finish with a quick dust of powder for an airbrushed flawless finish.

cheeks This look is all about highlighting your best features and shading areas of the face to make them look more defined.

Use a neutral tone bronzer (MyFace E & B blusher in sultan of swing £9.78) and apply right under the cheekbones, along the temples and sides of the nose. Then use a highlighter palette like Myface Solar Sisters to highlight the top of the cheekbones, inner corner of eyes, down the center of the nose and the bow of the lip. This is a great way to make women look gorgeous without piling on the make-up!

Highlighter can give skin a gorgeous, luminous quality but if you are going to do highlights you need to make them the focal point and keep everything else fresh.

This means use the MyFace concealer just where needed, a natural-looking blush (sweet escape / copa chocca latta / sul’tan of swing) and nothing too heavy on eyes and lips.

eyes My signature look is a smoky eye so to get this look always start by curling your eyelashes as near the root as possible, as this will instantly open up the eye.

You can then create a natural smoky eye makeup using chocolate brown shades, try MyFace eyeshadow trio Morococo, or a stronger look by going for greys and black, like the MyFace trio Midnight Hour.

Apply the darkest shade in the palette in the socket and blend well, down onto the eyelid and out at the outer corner following the shape of the bone structure.

Apply eye pencil along top and bottom lashes and in the lower rim. Make sure you use one with a lot of pigment for maximum effect, try MyFace hi def eye liner in Black or Brown.

Smudge slightly with a small blending brush or even a cotton bud to create that sexy lived-in look. At the outer corner take the line out and up slightly to elongate the eye and really emphasize the feline shape.

Using your finger apply the Blingtone shade from the Eyetouch eyeshadow trio, either Morococo, Band of Gold or Solar Sisters, across the eyelid. This will instantly give you incredibly bedazzling eyes and is the perfect finishing touch for a smoky eye makeup.

For extra intensity using a cotton bud to apply the white highlighting shade in the morococo trio in the corners of the eyes outside where the tear ducts are and blend outwards as this will give an amazing dramatic look

Always apply a few coats of MyFace Upload Mascara which has the most amazing formula that curls and elongates lashes.

lips dab a tint amount of concealer onto your lips and pat it in, to create a light base on the lips for a nude look.

Swipe a little powder over the top to create a matt canvas then use lipliner to help you cheat your lips into making them appear full and even simply outline the lips with a nude lip liner for the perfect pout. (Always use lip liner that syncs perfectly with your lipstick).

Try applying the lipstick as a soft stain rather than sporting a full on lipstick effect. Simply pat on the lipstick using your finger for the best result. Dab a tissue to your lips after the first lipstick application and then reapply a second time to make the colour last and last. Then a quick swipe of a nude lip pop lip gloss is all you need for that extra little bit of a glamour (medium – strike a pose)

Wednesday 8 July 2009

MyFace - Fair

So, here it is, straight from the horse's* mouth.
Charlotte Tilbury gives us the lowdown on how to reproduce her amazing 'Bright' look for fair skin tones. If you take a look at the pics of me and my ladies on the previous post, you'll notice that between us, Jane and I managed to rock this look in two parts. I took the red lips, she did the blue eyes. Both were AMAZING.

All the products are available at Boots or MyFaceCosmetics.com

*If you swap horse out for insanely beautiful and talented make up artist...



eyes

To achieve that incredible bold blue metallic eye you must use the myface Bellbottom Blues Eyetouch Blingtone trio, as is simply the only product out there that gives that incredible wet look, metallic foil stamped effect on the eyelid. The reason for this is that it is made of 75% crushed pearl and an incredible binding oil which means it will not drop or crease giving you the cleanest most amazing finish.

Simply apply the matt blue eye shadow in the socket, blend down onto the eyelid and out at the outer corner following the shape of the eye.

Make sure not to leave any sharp edges, the colour needs to be smooth and blotch-free.

Apply eye pencil along top and bottom lashes and in the lower rim. Make sure you use one with a lot of pigment for maximum effect, try myface Eye Liner in Black. Smudge slightly with a small blending brush or a cotton bud to create that sexy lived-in look. The makeup is meant to be a little bit messy so don’t worry if it doesn’t look perfect.


At the outer corner take the line out and up slightly to elongate the eye and really emphasize the feline shape.

then using your finger apply the Blingtone element of the Bellbottom blues trio which gives you that metallic finish and the most amazing bedazzling eyes.


Apply a few coats of myface Upload Mascara, the most amazing mascara thanks to the formula, which curls and elongates lashes and basically is the closest thing to false lashes. Drag the lashes outwards rather than up, again to exaggerate the shape of the eye.

To compliment the strong eye makeup you should choose a nude lipliner, lipstick and lipgloss from your myface cosmetics range.

lips

It is absolutely crucial to get the right shade of red lipstick for your skin tone other wise you will find that the wrong shade will jar against your colouring and can make skin look washed out or sallow . A blue based pink lip colour will make teeth appear less yellow as it counteracts the yellow tone. Also avoid yellow based pinks as it will make your teeth look more yellow.

For fair-skinned women, always opt for blue tones within the red shades as this will suit the fair coloured neutral canvas. This will bring out the peachy skintones and stop skin looking washed out.


If you fall into the medium skintone category the red lipstick shades are warm, orange tone reds which perfectly compliment the honey tones in that particular skintone.


In the medium / dark category the reds are dense and strong with brown tones as this enhances the exotic burnished shades of this complexion.

Application for the perfect red lip

Make sure the lips are exfoliated first before I apply colour to ensure lips are soft and smooth.

let me tell you that nobody has perfectly symmetrical lips, not even Hollywood actresses, so always use a lipliner to achieve that beestung lip look. Choose the red lip liner from your myface range. Apply on the outer edge of your natural lip line for a perfect pout. To make colour last longer, fill in the rest of the mouth with lip liner before applying your lipstick.

If you feel insecure about your lipstick application technique, a lip brush can be your answer.

Choose the red colour Gigabite lipstick from your myface range and apply a couple of layers, patting off the colour onto tissue in between the applications.

For a glossy red lip, apply the red lip pop lip gloss from your myface range on top of the lipstick.


Monday 6 July 2009

MyFace Cosmetics

As you might have noticed, I'm quite keen on the old slap but one of my favourite brands is a bit of a 'best kept secret' type thing at the moment. I blogged about MyFace when it launched and the wonder of Charlotte Tilbury, the make up artist/genius/bully that made me dye my hair dark (thanks again by the way) but honestly, I haven't given it enough love.

So, to celebrate the launch of their website - www.myfacecosmetics.com - this week is dedicated to MyFace and all their wonderous prods.

And to prove that I mean it, here are some pictures from the cab on the way to my leaving party on Saturday night. My extraordinarily beautiful buds and I all had our make up done (I'll give you the make up artists deets later in the week, she's amazing too) with MyFace products and I hope you'll agree, it all looks pretty special. And despite putting in two hours of karaoke and dancing in a sweat box from ten till four, it was all still on when we got home.



Because MyFace is split up into Fair, Medium and Dark, it's SO easy to try out fun new looks without worrying that you'll cock up and end up with the wrong shade for you. I'm on the end in the stripes and am clearly a fair, as is Jane in the middle. Georgia on the other end and Keren, below, were both in the medium product range. It's a shame I didn't manage to drag along a friend that could have used the dark products really. I feel like I've let you all down. Actually I don't, I'm too busy obsessing over Jane's amazing blue, glittery eyes. The Blingtones are the best eyeshadows ever. Go. Buy. Don't even wait for the rest of the week's features.



But do come back, because over the rest of the week, I'll be showing you some of the looks you can achieve with MyFace and giving you Charlotte Tilbury's hints and tips on how to get the best out of your make up.

Giggle. We look so purdy.

Thursday 2 July 2009

Natalie Eyelash Extensions

I know there's very little point in pretending that I'm not a little bit concerned about my appearance given the theme and two and a half year's content of this blog so I'm just going to launch straight into this one.

I GOT EYELASH EXTENSIONS!
AND THEY ARE AMAZING!

I got mine done by the wonderful Natalie (www.natalieeyelashextensions.co.uk) for £60 which is a complete bargain compared to most genuine practitioners in London. Not only is she lovely but the actual application itself is insanely relaxing. You pretty much lie down for an hour with moisturising pads under your eyes while someone strokes your forehead. I didn't feel the eyelash application at all. Honestly, if Natalie had thrown in a scalp massage, I might never have left.

A (far too pretty) blonde was in before me and she had size ten lashes applies, super natural given her colouring and original lashes. Me, being a big drama (/drag) queen, went for size twelve. They're blatantly too long to be natural but they look so good, it's amazing. I've already had three people ask me what's going on and that's people I work with. General consensus from The Boys is that they would just assume they were natural. Mainly because they don't know about such things as eyelash extensions.

I can't begin to tell you how amazing they are and I PROMISE you a picture next week.
I recommend them in every single way.
I look like freaking BAMBI.

Wednesday 1 July 2009

Bionova

Now, I don't know about you but I happen to love it when things are All About Me and so, imagine my excitement when I was reminded of the really rather exciting Bionova range.

WARNING - this is not a credit crunch friendly article. It is however fabulousness friendly so please read on...


Basically, Bionova pimps itself out as a 'hyper' natural brand and is the number one seller in Barneys in my soon-to-be-home of NYC (and we LOVE Barneys people). By asking you all kinds of questions about you, your skincare needs, your environment, your age, gender and blah blah blah, you end up with an entirely personalised product. And it's not like one of those 'personalised' things where there are actually three variations - the likelihood of two creams being created the same is one in 60 million. Seriously.
And if that wasn't cool enough, they actually print your name on the jar.
No, really. It's ace.

The personalised products take 48 hours to turn around and all the reviews and word of mouth reports I've had have been incredible. Because the skincare regime is tailored specifically to your wants and needs, it delivers and fast.

Of course, this kind of wonder comes at a price. Custom creams www.bionovalab.uk.com

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