Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween! Hope you enjoy whatever you're doing tonight. I don't celebrate Halloween but wanted to do some Halloween makeup. This is the first time I've ever done anything like this and I don't have any products such as liquid latex or spirit gum etc to do anything really creative so had to make do with what I had in my makeup collection. As per usual, I leave everything to the last minute and ended up doing this last night. I didn't know what I wanted to turn myself into and ended up making it up as I went along. I think it looks a little bit zombish although could have done with some more cuts and veins and rot haha - maybe next year.

I already had my makeup on from the day, my eyeshadow was very neutral in skin tones with a tiny bit of shimmer. This was mostly covered up. Because I didn't want it to look perfect, I just added more on top of what I already had on.

What I used:

• White eyeshadow (MAC Gesso) applied all over with a small foundation brush, packed onto my skin and 'scrubbed' in to get it to look a little patchy. I couldn't find a very light foundation to use cheaply yesterday so made do with eyeshadow but you could use a light foundation instead.

• Taupe-grey eyeshadow as a contour on a round eyeshadow brush to sketch out the shape and then blend downwards. Soften with a fluffy contouring brush. I used MAC Copperplate through my cheekbones, around the top of the nose to add shadow and depth to the eyes and along the jaw bone.

• Brown-red eyeshadow under the eyes to make them look sore, I used MAC Folie. I also used this colour in areas where I wanted my skin to look bruised.

• Grey eyeshadow under the eyes and on the lids to make them appear deeper set. I used MAC Scene.

• Matte black eyeshadow all over the lid and underneath for a dead and smudged makeup appearance.

• Reddish plum purple eyeshadow, I used the one from Sleek's PPQ palette to use around the bruised areas to darken and deepen the look of the bruises, I also used it in areas around the mouth and also smudged the excess on the brush around the nose to make my skin look blotchy.

• MAC Cream O Spice lipliner all over lips, use something brownish.

• For the blood I used MAC's Kissable Lip Colours in Love Peck and Strut Your Stuff. Fake blood would be ideal, liquid and gel based would give the best effect.

I also did a Halloween nail design.

I already had the base colours on for this, they are one of the new Nails Inc Gossip Girl kits (the Lily set). It is a deep plum black creme finish with a flake polish on top which flashes red-orange-green. I added China Glaze's Ghoulish Glow (glow in the dark nail polish) over the top of all fingers except the ring fingers. I used Illamasqua Gamma (neon orange) for the pumpkin and OPI Jade is the New Black (medium green creme) for the stalk and swirly leaves. I then added the face in China Glaze Liquid Leather (black creme).

I wasn't able to get a photo of the polish glowing in the dark, my camera just wouldn't pick it up, I probably need to figure out the correct settings. It is subtle but does glow. It needs to be in the light for a while to 'charge', it will eventually fade out and not glow, just like children's glow in the dark stars do. It also mutes the colour down but I like it for this as it makes it a swampy greenish colour.

Enjoy your Halloween!

Jennifer xx

Upcoming OPI collections

I'm sure you have already seen these promotional images floating around already but I just wanted to share my excitement for these collections too.

All images 'borrowed' from OPI's facebook page.

L-R: Super Bass Shatter, Metallic 4 Life, Save Me, Fly, Did It On 'Em, Pink Friday

Now, I am by no means a fan of Nicki Minaj's music but these colours are really nice looking! The glitters and purple shatter are calling me.

Metallic 4 Life: This charcoal sparkle flies with the stars in the skies.
Save Me: I drove for miles just to find this silver-rainbow glitter.
Fly: I came to win, to fight…and to wear this aqua.
Did It On 'Em: A lusty little lacquer that loves the “lime”-light.
Pink Friday: Kick off the weekend with this pop! of bubblegum pink.

OPI often bring out collections inspired by countries/cities. This time they are doing a collection inspired by Holland (or the Netherlands). All of these colours look gorgeous so I am really looking forward to them. I don't know what sorts of formulations they are, I'm hoping for some pretty cream, shimmer and micro sparkle finishes.

Top row L-R: Gouda Gouda Two Shoes, Wooden Shoes Like to Know It, I Don't Give a Rotterdam, A Roll In The Hague, Petal Faster Suzi, Dutch Ya Just Love OPI

Bottom row L-R: Thanks a WindMillion, Red Lights Ahead...Where?, Kiss Me On My Tulips, Vampsterdam, I Have a Herring Problem, & Did You Hear About Van Gogh?

I love the names of these, they are quite amusing. The colours I'm looking forward to are I Don't Give a Rotterdam, A Roll In The Hague, Petal Faster Suzi and Thanks a WindMillion.

Head to OPI's facebook page for larger photos to get more detail in the bottles.

Jennifer x

My Birthday

So last Monday (17th October) was my 22nd birthday! I spent it at my boyfriend's house who had planned a surprise for me. He kept it a secret until Saturday night when he told me to pack an overnight bag. He had booked us a hotel in Chichester in West Sussex where the hotel had a spa and a nice restaurant. I was very excited and we left the next morning. The hotel was really nice, our room was huge. Unfortunately the spa wasn't open so we didn't get to go there but on the other hand it gave us more time to explore the city. I had a great time, Chichester is a really nice small city. The best part was when we went on the canal boat and watched the water fowl and the dogs swimming. When we left Chichester on Monday, Martin took me to Brighton's Marina for another surprise, a birthday meal at a restaurant overlooking the marina. It was lovely, we ended up having the whole restaurant to ourselves which was good as it felt really romantic.

In the gardens

Chichester Cathedral

 

Aww, so beautiful

Haha, I'm not really steering the canal boat with my eyes closed, that
is just Martin's bad photography! (The real skipper is on the right).

A heron perched on fallen tree trunks

So that is what my boyfriend did for my birthday, isn't he lovely! These are the other presents I got.

Chanel Mademoiselle EDP from my Grandad
Benefit Cresent Row gift set from my parents
LUSH Avobath (one of my favourite bath things) and LUSH Gingerbread House from my sister
Bobbi Brown 1991 Lip Palette from my parents
Jamie's Great Britain Cook Book from Martin's parents (I do like a bit of Jamie Oliver!)

I will show you more of the beauty bits in later posts.

Jennifer xx

QVC TSV 23 October 2011 - L'Occitane

I love L'Occitane so I am pleased to see a new TSV from them for QVC. This is their Christmas TSV so comes in a lovely gift box. I bought last years and was very impressed and this one looks great too. This years box costs £39.96 (also on easy pay of £9.99 over four months intrest free) with £5.95 p&p.

There are two options for this TSV, warm or floral.

Warm:
1x Verbena Liquid Soap 500ml
1x Vanilla Flower Shower Gel 500ml (exclusive)
1x Citrus Verbena Hand and Body Wash 300ml (exclusive)
1x Delice des Fruits Shower Jelly 75ml (exclusive, not yet in stores)
1x Vanilla Flower Hand Cream 30ml (exclusive)
1x Milk Extra Gentle Shea Soap
1x Gift Box

Floral:
1x Lavender Liquid Soap 500ml
1x Pivoine Flora Shower Gel 500ml (exclusive size)
1x Cherry Blossom Hand and Body Wash 300ml (exclusive)
1x Plum Blossom Polishing Shower Gel 75ml
1x Pivoine Hand Cream 30ml
1x Milk Extra Gentle Shea Soap
1x Gift Box

See here for more photos and to buy.

The warm version is appealing to me, yummy!

Jennifer 

Marie Claire L'Occitane Free Gift

With this months Marie Claire, they are giving away a choice of four different L'Occitane Shea Butter hand creams. The three pictured are actually all brand new and limited edition, the fourth is the original scent. I'm not sure if I have mentioned this before but L'Occitane's Shea Butter hand cream is actually my favourite EVER hand cream. I have eczema and this softens my skin so well. Usually it only comes in the regular Shea Butter scent which has a blue label, you can see a picture here. As it is my favourite I decided to get all three scents because I use it all the time so will be nice to have a change.

The hand creams are all 30ml which retails for £7.50 on L'Occitane's website or you can buy the Happy Hands trio which includes all three new scents for £20. The magazine was £3.60 so the three hand creams cost me £10.80, just over half price. Bargain!

The new scents are:
Hibiscus Flower
This is my favourite one, the smell is delicious. It is strange because it is a flower yet it smells really fruity, almost like apricots. It is quite Summery. I think any age group would like this, it is even suitable for men as it isn't floral or in your face.

Cocoa Flower
This is an odd scent, in a good way. It smells luxurious, slightly chocolaty but also sweet and perfumey. It is really sophisticated. My Mum liked this one especially. It is a very comforting scent too.

Desert Rose
L'Occitane are well known for their beautiful rose scents, this one delivers too. I would say this one smells quite sweet and fruity as well as rosey, it reminds me of Turkish delight. It is not sickly though. I really like it.

L-R: Hibiscus Flower, Cocoa Flower, Desert Rose

I really like the patterned packaging, these are all inspired by African countries (Egypt - Hibiscus Flower, Ivory Coast - Cocoa Flower and Morocco - Desert Rose) so reflect African prints. I also think they look quite Christmassy too, a bit like wrapping paper and the bright colours look so festive. They would make great Christmas presents, the scents are available in lip balms and body creams too.

The actual texture of the cream is very thick, a little goes a long way. You will not be left with greasy hands though as it sinks straight into the skin. This is another reason I love the Shea Butter creams, no greasy marks all over my mouse and keyboard at work!

L'Occitane's Shea Butter hand cream is one of my beauty must haves so if you are looking for a really good quality hand cream, go try this, you wont be disappointed!

Jennifer

MAC Fall Colour Lipsticks

These are lipsticks which I already had in my collection but have been released with the MAC Fall Colour collection. The shades featured here are all PRO colours so are available all year round at PRO stores and via phoning mail order. The shades I have are Violetta, Show Orchid and Neon Orange.

L-R: Violetta, Show Orchid, Neon Orange

Violetta is a fuchsia based purple lipstick. Whilst purple lipstick may seem strange, it is very wearable for a lot of skin tones. On some people it may appear more pink than on others. On me it is quite close to the bullet colour. It is an Amplified finish which is one of my favourites as they are well pigmented and last on the lips well. It works particularly well will green eyes as it compliments them, making them appear brighter and greener. This colour looks nice when patted on to be sheerer and also topped with a fuchsia pink gloss.

Show Orchid is an amazing bright fuchsia pink with a purply fuchsia irridencence. It looks almost like a duochrome on the lips. Even though it is bright, it is still very flattering when paired with simple neutral eye makeup. It is an Amplified finish and almost completely opaque. This colour could be patted on for more of a stain or sheerer finish.

Neon Orange is not what I would call neon (think highligher pens) but it is still very bright. It is the sort of colour which colour easily be shyed away from, however it still looks very nice on the lips when paired with neutral eyes. You could even add a little pop of colour such as a tiny bit of cyan liner smudged into the lower lashes or by using burnt oranges/coppers and browns on the eyes too to create a monochromatic look. It is an amplified finish and is very creamy and opaque.

I think all three of these colours make nice additions to my makeup collection. The colours are fun and can be used in many looks. I also love to do neutral eyes and bright lipstick.

Jennifer

MAC Fall Colour Eyeshadows and Chromagraphic Pencil

Here are a couple of Eyeshadows and a Chromagraphic Pencil I picked up from MAC's Fall Colour collection. All are part of the 'Wild Colour' section which consists of some amazingly bright colours. I chose Three Ring Yellow and Royale eyeshadows and Hi Def Cyan Chromagraphic Pencil.

Three Ring Yellow



Royale

Three Ring Yellow is a bright yellow with a green undertone. It is a Veluxe Pearl finish so is very soft and pigmented. It is easy to blend and work with. I like that it has the green undertone so it isn't a straight yellow, some people may find it easier to wear due to the green in the shade. It is quite similar to Sweet & Punchy eyeshadow which came out last year with the To The Beach collection. If you have this colour you may not want to get Three Ring Yellow. Sweet & Punchy is more of a yellowed green apposed to a yellow with a green undertone, in other words, Sweet & Punchy is more green. Sweet & Punchy is also a Veluxe Pearl and a little more pigmented.

Royale is a deep blue with a purple undertone (I found this a very difficult colour to capture so these pictures are not accurate). It is a matte finish so can swatch a little chalky but when used it works really nicely. It is a little sheer but still pigmented enough although may require a bit of building if strong colour is required. If so, a shader brush such as the 239 would be best for that. I used it in my crease with a 217 to crease diffused blending but built it up where I wanted.



L-R: Three Ring Yellow, Royale

L-R: Three Ring Yellow, Sweet & Punchy

Top: Sweet & Punchy
Bottom: Three Ring Yellow

Chromagraphic pencils are a new product to me but I read really good reviews about Hi Def Cyan so decided to try it out. It is a lovely cyan shade, I really like to use bright blues and teals along my lower lashes so I knew I'd get use out of this colour. I am really impressed with it, it is so creamy and pigmented in just one swipe. It dries down and doesn't move at all until you take it off and even then it doesn't want to come off! Chromagraphic pencils are PRO products so are available all year round at PRO stores or via phoning mail order if you do not have a store near you. It is nice to be able to get a few of the colours at regular stores in the meantime though. Some shades are not eye safe, this particular colour is not suitable for the inner rims (waterlines) of the eyes but can be used along lash lines or on the lids.

I highly recommend the Chromographic pencils and I would like to get the green and one of the nude shades when I go to the PRO store as they perform so well.

Jennifer