Tips for Quick and Natural Makeup

Hi ladies! Just thought I'd do a post on a makeup look I did the other day. I was trying to be quick, so I thought I'd give you my tips on doing a quick makeup look that looks rather natural (as in not completely flawless) and makes you look slightly more presentable to the world! (oh and, excuse my brows! They were in need of some grooming)

Tips:

1. Only apply concealer and a mineral foundation for your face makeup so that you don't need to bother with the hassle of liquid makeup and blending. Use concealer to cover any blemishes and dark circles and mineral foundation for evening out your skin color and getting rid of any oil.

2. Go for neutral yet bright eyes! Apply a bright eyeshadow to the inner lid, and then a slightly darker, but still neutral color to the outer lid.

3. To really define your eyes, apply mascara and some eyeliner to your waterline. If you don't like black on your waterline, then go for a champagne color to open up your eyes, or a brown if you want something dark but not as dark as black. Don't bother with lining the upper lash line when it comes to a quick look, not unless you're super quick with it! (which I'm certainly not)

4. Sticking with the neutral theme, go for a lip color that's essentially your lip color, but slightly darker or lighter, up to you!

5. Apply a little blob (YES, BLOB) of lipgloss to the middle of your lips and SMUSH.

Close Up Of The Eye:

(I used Sleek's Storm palette and Maybelline's One By One mascara)

Close Up Of The Lips:

(I used NYX's Thalia and Philosophy's Cinnamon Buns lipgloss)

Well that's it! Hope that was helpful to some of you. I know most of it is pretty common knowledge but I just thought I'd share the tips I find most useful when applying quick and natural makeup!

What are some of your tips/hints when it comes to quick makeup application?

A Belated Valentine's Day Post

Hi ladies! Sorry this post is a bit late. Above are the things my boyfriend got me for Valentine's Day. Obviously nothing huge, because our real gift to each other was the Kinect for our Xbox360, which I love by the way. We've been playing Dance Central, Kinect Adventures, and the EA Active 2 game which gives you such an amazing work out. I'm hoping to get back into shape, because I stopped doing Pilates a long while ago. Not sure if I'll lose much weight though seeing as we're not exactly dieting, but oh well, it's fun anyways! But back to the topic of this post, Valentine's Day! So because we'd already gotten each other our big gift, we just exchanged some small things on the actual day. I was sleeping in and he came home with a latte, a rose, a cupcake, some strawberry gummies, and a heart shaped balloon! He had me at latte, lmao.

Yummmmy!

The pretty rose he got me. Sadly it was wilted by the time we got home from dinner, because I'd forgotten to put it into water. I do get my black thumb from my mother.

For dinner we planned on going to Hache, a delicious burger place, but we got there too early so we stopped for drinks first and then made our way over. We got there at 8:50, they were packed, and we said we had a reservation and the lady checked her list and gave us a snotty look and went "It's for 9..." As if we weren't aware when we made the reservation for! At least tell us nicely to have a seat. I don't care how busy you are. But anyways, that's probably the last time we'll go there. The past few times we've gone they've been relatively empty but it still took them ages to get around to us to simply take a drink order. -eye roll- Talk about terrible service! That's just the one in Camden though, there's another one in London that's far nicer but a bit more difficult to get to. Sorry...-end rant- So we just left and went to eat at a Chinese buffet down the road that's another favorite of ours. Didn't even tell the lady we weren't coming back, so I hope she held a table for us. -evil laugh-

Here's the makeup I wore! Because it was a couple of days ago I can't recall what I wore, but I know I did a pink/gray subtle smokey eye and wore MAC's Snob on my lips:

What did everyone else do for Valentine's Day?

FOTD: Nude

Hi ladies! Yesterday I decided to mix my Revlon Photo Ready foundation with the slightly too dark for me Neutrogena Healthy Skin foundation, because I really don't want it to go to waste. Overall, I'm quite pleased with the effect! It added some color to my skin and I think it even gave me extra coverage, seeing as I didn't even use any concealer to cover my blemishes. What do you think?

Products Used:

Eyes:

MAC Bare Study Paint Pot

MAC Trax (lid)

No7 Truffle (crease)

Prestige Sun Baked Mineral Bronzing Powder in Pure Shimmer (highlight)

MAC Blacktrack (upper lash line)

Urban Decay 24/7 Glide On Eye Pencil (waterline)

Maybelline Lash Stiletto

Lips:

MAC Myth

17 Ultimate Volume Lipgloss in Star Girl

Face:

Revlon Photo Ready foundation in Vanilla

Neutrogena Healthy Skin foundation in Buff

17 Hide Away Concealer in Light (under the eyes)

Benefit Coralista

Prestige Sun Baked Mineral Bronzing Powder in Pure Shimmer (highlight)

Rimmel Stay Matte Powder in Champagne

How's everyone's Tuesday going? I'm just sat in bed watching Gilmore Girls and hoping my books come today! I ordered Pretty Little Liars and The Vampire Diaries because I've really been in the mood for some easy read chick lit! I'll be posting up my January favorites after this post!

FOTD: Winterberry

Hi ladies! Today I've got a FOTD from the other day, when I started back at work. I largely used my Coastal Scents Winterberry Palette for this look, alongside with one of the Victoria's Secret shadows that I got from a haul I posted about a little while ago. I've been in the mood to be rather creative with my eye makeup lately. I think it's because I was holed up in my room for a couple weeks while finishing my dissertation and wasn't wearing any makeup, haha! But I've just been having fun with my eye makeup and trying out all the new products I got for Christmas.

Close Up of the Eye Makeup:

Products Used:

Eyes:

Benefit Stay Don't Stray

MAC Bare Study Paint Pot

Coastal Scents Palette:Winterberry (for the liner, crease, outer corner, and highlight)

Victoria's Secret Beauty Rush Luminous Shadow in Plum Passion (lid)

Urban Decay 24/7 Glide On Eye Pencil in Rockstar (waterline)

Maybelline Lash Stiletto

Lips:

MAC Angel

17 Ultimate Volume Lip Gloss in Star Girl

Face:

L'Oreal Studio Secrets Magic Perfecting Base (primer)

MAC Studio Finish Concealer in NW15 (for blemishes)

17 Hide Away Concealer in Light (under the eyes)

Revlon Photo Ready Foundation in Vanilla

Rimmel Stay Matte Powder

Benefit Georgia (blusher)

17 Bronzer in Light

Enjoy your weekend, ladies! I'm currently watching America's Next Top Model before I need to shower / head out for a quick class, then home to enjoy the weekend. What are your plans for the weekend?

Valentine's Day Looks

Hi ladies! This morning (I know, 5 am, wtf Lauren, again, messed up sleeping pattern, that's what writing a dissertation will do to you!) I felt like playing around with my makeup (I can't remember the last time I wore any) for a Valentine's Day inspired look. I did a couple different takes on it, so here we go:

Look 1:

Eyes:

Coastal Scents Palette: Think Pink (for details on the eyes see below!)

MAC Paint Pot in Bare Study

Urban Decay 24/7 Glide On Eye Pencil in Zero (waterline)

17 Wild Curls Mascara

Lips:

Rimmel Lipliner in Eastend Snob

MAC Snob

NYX Mega Shine Lipgloss in Salsa

Face:

Revlon Photo Ready Foundation in Vanilla

MAC Studio Finish Concealer in NW15

Rimmel Hide The Blemish Concealer in Ivory (under eyes)

Bare Minerals Mineral Veil (set undereye concealer)

Benefit Dandelion (all over the face)

Benefit Coralista (blusher)

17 Instant Glow Bronzer in Light

Look 2:

This second look is essentially the same as the one above, just a more subtle blusher, no bronzer, and a magenta red lip!

Close up of the eyes:

Other lip suggestions:

A red lipgloss by Lorac, MAC Viva Glam Gaga Lipglass, and MAC's Angel lipstick. Or obviously any red or pink lipstick/lipgloss you fancy!

What do you think? =)

FOTD & OOTD: Mall Time!

Hi ladies! Yesterday I went to the mall with my sister because she had some gift cards to spend. I didn't...but I still got some things anyways, LMAO, naughty naughty. I'll do a haul post on that soon, agghh I have so many posts to catch up on, I'm just busy at home especially since I don't have much time here so I'm trying to spend as much time with family/friends as possible. But I'll try and get on it soon!

FOTD:

Products Used:

Eyes:

UDPP in Eden

Urban Decay 24/7 Glide On Eye Pencil in Whiskey (upper lash line)

Urban Decay 24/7 Glide On Eye Pencil in Zero (waterline)

MAC Satin Taupe (lid)

L'oreal Telescopic Mascara

Lips:

MAC Snob

Face:

Revlon Photo Ready Foundation in Vanilla

MAC Studio Finish Concealer in NW15

Bare Minerals (light foundation as a finishing powder and the mineral veil)

No7 Blush in Candy Pink

OOTD:

Tank Top: Old Navy

T-Shirt: Hot Topic

Cardigan: Target

Jeans: Old Navy

Next up I'm going to be doing a post on the Urban Decay products I got so expect that very soon! Then I reckon I'll do a haul post on what I got at the mall yesterday because I'm excited about the stuff!!

FOTD: Target Run

Hi ladies! Yesterday my sister and I went out to Target for some post Christmas shopping. I got a few cardigans, a purse, a pumpkin brulee lotion, L'oreal Telescopic Mascara, Revlon Photo Ready liquid foundation, and a foundation brush. I'm not sure if I'll bother doing a haul post or not because I already have so much to catch up on, but I'll try! I'll definitely do a post about the Revlon Photo Ready foundation because it's my first liquid foundation and when I tried it out last night I was really happy with the results!

Products Used:

Eyes:

MAC All That Glitters (lid)

Urban Decay Smog (crease)

Urban Decay Polyester Bride (highlight)

Urban Decay Eldorado 24/7 Glide On Eye Pencil (upper lash line)

Urban Decay Zero 24/7 Glide On Eye Pencil (waterline)

17 Wild Curls Mascara

Lips:

MAC Myth

NYX Mega Shine Lip Gloss in Salsa

Face:

MAC Studio Finish Concealer (NW15)

Bare Minerals (bisque concealer, light foundation, mineral veil)

Benefit Georgia Blush

Festive Holiday Look

Hi ladies! Tonight I've got a Festive Holiday Look for you. I was bored and decided I'd create another holiday look.

I went for a red lip and a neutral/subtle eye with a pop of color on the cheeks.

Close Up Of The Eyes:

How To Create This Look:

Face:

1. Use whatever primer/foundation/concealer you normally use.

2. Apply blusher (I used Sleek's Rose Gold for that nice 'I've just been out in the cold' flushed cheek)

3. Apply your highlight (I used a liquid one then a powder one to get really shimmery cheeks, since shimmer=festive in my mind!)

Lips:

4. Line your lips (or not!)

5. Apply a red lipstick of your choice.

6. Apply a gloss of your choice (I went for a color that matched the lipstick, but you could go for a clear one if all you want is a glossy effect or just even leave it matte if you want!)

Eyes:

7. Apply a primer.

8. Apply a gold shadow all over the lid.

9. Apply a dark brown on the outer corner/crease.

10. Apply a highlight under your brow.

11. Line your upper lash line / waterline.

12. Apply mascara!

If you have any questions on products I used, feel free to ask. =)

FOTD: Coral & Brown

Such an original name, haha. Today I went for a very simple look (as you can see from the small amount of products used), but did something different with my eyes, and used brown eye liner instead of my usual black. I kind of like it? I also went for a coral lip and a coral cheek. Hence the name! Hehe.

Close up of the eyes:

Products Used:

Eyes:

Urban Decay 24/7 Glide On Eye Pencil in Whiskey (liner, both lower and upper lash line and on the waterline)

Urban Decay Naked Palette (Naked all over the eye, and Virgin as a highlight)

Bourjois Eye Shadow in Brun Irreel (lid)

Maybelline Define A Lash Volume Mascara in Very Black

Lips:

MAC Cremesheen Lipstick in Shy Girl

Face:

No7 Quick Cover Blemish Stick in Fair

Bare Minerals (light foundation and mineral veil)

MeMeMe Blush Me! in Coral

What do you guys think?

FOTD: Thursday! (so original lol)

Hi ladies! I'm not sure why I look so emo in that photo, I just look silly sometimes when I smile, haha. Happy Thanksgiving! I won't be celebrating till Saturday, when my boyfriend's family will be coming over. They're all British, so I think it will definitely be interesting, hehe.

My eye look was really simple, because I was rushing because I was getting ready for work, then a package from Lush came (YES MY FIRST EVER LUSH PURCHASE AND OMG I'M SO EXCITED, HAUL POST LATER, HEHEHE) and I got distracted, so ANYWAYS, I rushed to do my eye makeup. But then I got a text from the student I note take for saying she couldn't make it to the first class, so anyways, I had more time and figured I'd do a FOTD post. :D

Products Used:

Eyes:

Urban Decay Naked Palette (sin on the lids, virgin as a highlight)

Maybelline Lash Stiletto Mascara

Urban Decay 24/7 Glide On Eye Pencil in Zero (waterline)

Lips:

e.l.f Mineral Lipstick in Nicely Nude

Bourjois Effet 3D MAX Lipgloss in Rose Eclat

Face:

No7 Quick Cover Blemish Stick in Fair

Bare Minerals (light foundation, bisque concealer, and mineral veil)

e.l.f Studio Blusher in Gotta Glow (highlight)

Sleek Blusher in Rose Gold

I'll have the Lush haul up tonight, ANNNND, I also ordered two items from MAC the other day (-squeaaaal-) so when that comes I'll post that haul as well.

FOTD: Hump Day!

Haha, sorry, I couldn't think of any other title, and seeing as it is Wednesday (hump day!), I figured I'd name it that. I know I haven't posted for awhile now, but I've been quite busy with uni work. My first deadline was yesterday, so that's one project over and done with! Also, I'm a bit broke at the moment (thank god for mothers, eh?) so I haven't been buying any makeup. I probably will once I get paid later this month, but then again I do need to save up some of it for Christmas gifts! ;)

Anyways, here's the face I'm wearing to work tonight!

Products Used:

Eyes:

Urban Decay Primer Potion in Eden

Urban Decay 24/7 Glide On Eye Pencil in Zero

17 Wild Curls Mascara in Wildest Black

Maybelline Expert Wear Shadow Quad in Bold Blossoms (the "outer corner" color on my lid, the "crease" color in my crease, the "brow bone" color as a highlight)

e.l.f Shimmer Eyeliner Pencil in Plum Passion (just a little as a liner)

Lips:

Rimmel Lasting Finish Lipstick in Pink Blush

NYX Mega Shine Lipgloss in Salsa

Face:

No7 Quick Cover Blemish Stick in Fair

Bare Minerals (light foundation, concealer in bisque, and mineral veil)

e.l.f Studio Blush in Gotta Glow (as highlight)

Maybelline Mineral Power Luminous Blush in Classic Mauve

Are there any specific posts you girlies would like to see from me? I can't think of anything really other than hauls and FOTD's, and those are getting a bit old! I'd like to try some tutorials maybe, or more Christmas looks! =)

FOTD: Fireworks!

Hi girls! My boyfriend and I went into London tonight for a burrito, eggnog latte (OMG, they're so amazing, haha) and the fireworks! They were really pretty but so short! And we paid 6 pounds to get in. I'm American, and I'm used to fireworks at the 4th of July, for free, and they go on for at least a half hour. But ah well, it was still a lovely night!

I wanted to have some "firework" inspired eye makeup, nice n sparkly! And this is what I came up with. =)

Products Used:

Eyes:

Urban Decay Primer Potion

Urban Decay 24/7 Glide On Eye Pencil in Zero

17 Wild Curls Mascara in Wildest Black

Sleek Bad Girl Palette (Gullible as a highlight, Blade on the lid, Gun Metal in the outer corner)

17 Eye Shadow in Statuesque (inner corner/crease)

Lips:

Rimmel Lasting Finish Lipstick in Pink Blush

L'oreal HIP Jelly Balm in Plush

Face:

No7 Quick Cover Blemish Stick in Fair

Bare Minerals (light foundation, concealer in bisque, and mineral veil)

Sleek Blusher in Rose Gold

Close Up Of The Eyes:

How is everyone's weekend so far?