Using Sleek's Monaco Palette - Barbie Pink

Number 3 of the looks I have created using the Sleek Monaco palette. This time I wanted to create a look with the bright pink, it ended up looking very girly and a little Barbie-ish so I thought I'd go with it and add some false eyelashes (terrible application I will add, I am really new to attempting these and I've not got the hang on it yet) and a bit of pink lipstick.

I used Lotus Flower (shimmery lilac) over the whole of my lids and then applied Magenta Madness (bright matte magenta) through the crease and blended upwards gently as it is quite a strong colour. I added some Moors Treasure deep in the lower part of the crease and then lined my upper lash line with it. I softened the line so it wasn't as harsh and lined my lower lashes along the outer third with the same shade. I then lined the rest of my lower lashes with Lotus Flower. I put a teeny bit of black liner on the outer part of my upper lashes to add a little flick. The false lashes I used were from Eyelure and were the natural volume ones (not sure if they have a number or proper name), they are subtle and suitable for everyday wear if you wish (and can apply them properly, unlike me lol).

Also used:

Chanel Vitalumier foundation

Bobbi Brown Creamy Concealer

Sleek Luminous Pressed Powder

NARS Laguna bronzer

NARS Orgasm blush

MAC Brow Pencil in Spiked

Urban Decay Primer Potion

Bobbi Brown Gel Liner in Black Ink

Chanel Inimitable Intense mascara in Noir

MAC Creme Cup lipstick

I wanted to see what it would look like with a brighter pink lipstick so I switched to MAC Chatterbox, one of my favourite lipsticks. I don't think the tone of the pink works as well as Creme Cup. I should have gone for something more magenta based, or even neon like MAC Candy Yum Yum.



Do you prefer the lighter or brighter pink lips?

I have 2-3 more looks coming up for this palette and then I'm going to move on to the Caribbean palette.

Jennifer xx

Lava Nails

This was a bit of a 'happy accident' as they started out rather crap and I hated them but was too lazy to start over. I thought I'd add some black crackle to see if I could rectify them by making them look even more messed up... without being messed up... if you see what I mean lol. Deliberate looking. I actually thought they resembled lava flows when I had finished, like the liquid lava with the solidified lava on top when it turns grey-black. I liked it and wore it for a full week and even my boyfriend liked it (he was biased though because it involved the colour orange which is his favourite).

I used Chanel Mimosa for the yellow base then used Butter London sheer jelly polish in Chuffed for the orange. I applied it straight from the brush in thin layers making a gradient towards the tip. You could sponge it on instead or use a more opaque colour when sponging and fade it upwards towards the cuticle instead if you didn't have a sheer or jelly shade. Then I used BarryM black crackle on top and sealed it all with a coat of Seche Vite - my top coat of choice, I'm on my third bottle of this now!

This would be really easy to change up the colours to whatever you wanted and I will be trying it again in the future, I'm thinking of purple and blue with silver shatter on top!

I'm off work sick today so I'm going to try to mess around with some makeup to create some different looks while I have a chance and will be getting those up soon :)

Jennifer xx

Using Sleek's Monaco Palette - Cranberry and Lime

Yesterday I put together another look using Sleek's Monaco Palette. This one took a bit of time to get looking right, it didn't start out very well but I stuckwith it and it worked in the end. I have liked using a contrasting colour along my lower lash line so did that here too. It also worked quite nicely with my hair colour at the moment which is much redder than it appears in the photos, going towards the cranberry shade on my eyes.

Heres what I did. I applied Washed Ashore (matte peach) over my whole lid then applied Sunset (shimmery coppery cranberry) through the crease with a 222 brush to get very soft difused shading as it faded out. I used Moors Treasure (matte plum) with a pencil brush right in the crease to add definition. Then I went back with the 222 to soften and blend into the cranberry. I added some Moors Treasure onto the outer part of my lids too and blended into the peach. I used Bamboo under my brows to sharpen the edges and blend into the other shades. Bamboo doesn't show up much on me but it works very well at neutralising redness and discolouration or blending together colours. Finally I used Kiwi Zest along my lower lash line. I didn't want a highlight colour as I felt I had quite a bit going on with the shimmery cranberry and lime.

Other products used:
UDPP
Philosophy Poreless Flawless Primer
Chanel Vitalumier
Bobbi Brown Corrector and Creamy Concealer
Sleek Luminous Pressed Powder
MAC Semi Precious Goldstone MSF
MAC Spiked Brow Pencil
Bobbi Brown Gel Liner in Black Ink
Chanel Inimitable Intense Mascara
MAC Gem of Roses Lipstick

Jennifer x

Using Sleek's Monaco Palette - Pink and Teal

I am really loving this palette, I have reached for it so much since I won Rachel's from All Things Rachy giveaway. I'm going to be posting some looks that I have created using it starting with this one which I did yesterday.

I used Lotus Flower (shimmery lilac) on my lid and then blended Magenta Madness (matte magenta) into the crease and upwards. I then applied some Moors Treasure (matte plum) into the outer corner and blended through the crease to darken and deepen. Lastly I applied a line of Humming Bird (shimmery teal) along my lower lash line.

Other products used:

Bobbi Brown Gel Liner in Denim Ink

Chanel Inimitable Intense Mascara

Bobbi Brown Corrector and Creamy Concealer

Chanel Vitalumier Foundation

Sleek Luminous Pressed Powder

MAC Semi Precious Goldstone MSF

MAC Spiked Brow Pencil

Chanel Rouge Coco Shine in Romance

Like? I will be posting a few more as and when I use the palette so keep a look out for them!

Jennifer x

Pink Ombre Nails

First of all, sorry I haven't posted in a while, I suck. I also couldn't get Photobucket to work for me over the last couple of days. Secondly, thank you to all of my new followers! I really appreciate you all coming to read my blog :) Lastly, I have a few posts coming up, some on the recent MAC releases, Fashion Flower and Semi Precious and also Bobbi Brown's latest offerings, The New Classics, plus the Chanel Byzance collection. Lots to do! I also want to get some makeup looks up but unfortunately can only do these at weekends when I get time to photograph them so fingers crossed all will go to plan with this coming weekend. Then of course I have lots of other random posts stored up in my head for the future too.

So I've been wondering what to do with my nails, attempting some nail art (nothing good enough to post) but recently wanting something simple, without being boring. I decided to do an ombre manicure, I have an awful lot of polish so it gave me a chance to use a few of them at a time.

Starting with my thumb I have: OPI Come to Poppy, 17 Pink Grapefruit, Nubar Honeysuckle, Leighton Denny All About Me and OPI Play the Peonies.

I really like it and will be doing the same thing with other colours in future. The OPI shades are from the recent Nice Stems collection which has just come out on lenawhite.co.uk if you are interested. The Nubar shade as from their Spring Garden collection and can be bought from feelunique.com. Leighton Denny polishes can be purchased from leightondenny.com or QVC. All polishes apart from Pink Grapefruit were two coats, Pink Grapefruit being three.

I will do my best to get posting more often!

Jennifer x

June 2011 Favourites!

It is the end of the month again, I can't believe we are half way through the year already! So these are the products I have been enjoying during June.

I've recently gotten into NARS, the blushes are such a cult favourite and I can totally see why, they are Divine! I have been using the Blush/Bronzing duo which contains Orgasm Blush and Laguna Bronzer. I'm loving bronzer at the moment, I like using it to add a subtle contour to my face as it helps give my cheeks more shape and definition. I also use it through my temples and then lightly across my forehead, down my nose and on my chin. Laguna is such a pretty bronzer, it is not orange at all and can be built up (you do need to lightly tap the brush into the product as it is so pigmented). I love the shimmer in it, it is very subtle but when the sun hits your face, it looks so pretty. The Orgasm blush is one of NARS' cult products and since getting into beauty blogs I have seen this pop up all over the place. It is a gorgeous shade of pink and has subtle gold shimmer through it. Again, quite a pigmented product so a fluffy or duo fibre brush is best to help blend.

The Urban Decay Naked palette has been in my favourites before but this month I have been favouring neutral shades over brights. This palette is perfect and so handy. I've also been taking it to my boyfriend's house when I stay over as it gives me a choice whilst there of different colours to choose from and it is quite compact that I can just slide it down the side of my bag without taking up lots of room. Mine came with a double ended 24/7 pencil but I have taken this out to put a brush in it instead for when I travel.

Boots Botanics Soothing Eye Makeup Remover. I saw this featured in one of Loveislikemusic's videos on Youtube (Love Daisy's chanel by the way, she is so creative!) and it just blew me away at the ease of use. You can watch the video about it here. It is such a fantastic makeup remover. It is a duo phase type cleanser where you have to give the product a good shake before using it to mix the oily half with the liquid half. I put it onto a cotton pad and hold it on my eyes for just a couple of seconds and it melts all of my makeup away with such ease. It doesn't sting at all, is so gentle and never dries out my skin. Really great product.

For lips, I have been into nudes and light pinks. I've been using the NARS Turkish Delight lipgloss which is a beautiful milky pink shade which goes with everything. I have also been loving MAC Shy Girl lipstick which is a nude peach cremesheen. I think I have found a really good nude for me, it is warm enough not to wash me out and is another colour which I can wear with anything. I love the finish too, it gives a nice glossy finish and is moisturising. Finally MAC Angel lipstick. This is quite similar to Creme Cup but the finish is different. Angel is a frost but it really isn't very frosty, it is a flattering light pink and would work for both warm and cool skintones. I think it is one of the prettiest pinks that MAC does. You can also go a bit Kim Kardashian and use it with NARS Turkish Delight on top to get her signature lip combination! I know barely anything about her but I do really like how she does her makeup lol. Please note that the photo above is not very accurate colourwise for any of the products, it was a bit dark when I took it. If you would like accurate photos/swatches, let me know :)

What are your favourites this month?

- Jennifer

Thanks Rachel!

Recently Rachel from All Things Rachy has her 100 followers giveaway and I was lucky enough to win the first prize! I just want to take the time to thank her and also show you all what I won, it is pretty neat.

Here is what I won!

Sleek Monaco palette and Sleek Pout Polish in Monte Carlo.
Plus the little card that Rachel sent with it :) very cute!

Firstly, this palette is just gorgeous, the colours are so vibrant and pigmented and easy to apply. Love it! I used the green, cream, shimmery turquoise and copper all together in a look on Friday and loved it, it was really tropical and fun. Great palette to experiment with so I shall enjoy using this. I also really like how it is a good mix of matte/satin finishes along with shimmer shades.

Here are some swatches, these are literally me swirling my finger around the eyeshadows and then ONE swipe.

Top row colours. Look at that copper!

Bottom row colours. The green and lilac are gorgeous.

The pout polish gives a pretty magenta sheen to lips and moisturises just like a lip balm. It smells really yummy, scented with vanilla.

I'm looking forward to using these products and shall be creating a few looks with them to post in the future. I also want to show you the little card that Rachel sent along, look at the owl, very cute!

If you haven't seen Rachel's blog, go check it out, it is fab http://allthingsrachy.blogspot.com/. She creates some beautiful looks and has great taste in products. You can also view her Youtube chanel where she shows you how to create some of her makeup looks and shares other things http://www.youtube.com/user/Allthingsrachy.

Thank you Rachel! x

- Jennifer