easy peasy scary mary make-up

If you are struggling for Halloween costumes, don't want to get all dressed up with the gear horns and fangs and all - last minute costumes don't need to be bought! Make up is an easy way of creating a great costume without all the jazz, sequins, hassle and money. So put away your wings and turn off your sewing machine - I have 2 fab looks that you can achieve with just your make-up bag

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The first look is POP ART - inspired by this image in particular:

 

 

I used GOSH Cosmetics 002 Mineral Powder and 17 Stay Time 18 Hour Concealer to form an even base. I then used a standard purple shadow to create my black eye, I applied Maybelline Super Stay 24 Hour Colour in 510 Red Passion to my lips. To then create all the outlines I used my favourite liquid eyeliner, Avon Extra Lasting Black Eyeliner.

The second look is VAMPIRE.. very easy and typical look.

I used the same base foundation and concealer.. I contoured with a standard black eyeshadow instead of bronzer, GOSH Cosmetics Forever Eye Shadow in 05 Grey, Avon True Colour Eye Shadow in Black Pearl and a standard deep pink eyeshadow as well as Barry M Special Edition Double Ended Shadow Pen in Black/Silver to create a super dark smokey eye. I used the same Avon eyeliner and used my Max Factor Clump Defy Mascara. For my lips I applied B. Brilliant Rich Colour Lip Gloss in Morello, the blood is the same Maybelline Super Stay 24 Hour Colour Lippie in Red Passion, it stays really well so no sticky mess like real blood or pigs blood or fake blood (more likely you will use that!).

What will you be this Halloween??

500 products of summer (almost!) part 1: colours

Summer is here. I have officially decided.. The sun is out and so is the fake tan, as are the guns ;)

So I have cracked out a whole load of goodies and started using them regularly in my summer routine. This first part of a cracking summer two parter is filled with my picks for summer make up and colours including tan and my new favourite thing... scrunchies!

Let's start with the scrunchies as I know you are all dying to know...

Originally discovered my floral pink scrunchie is so pretty I fell in love, having wanted a velvet black one for so long you can imagine my excitement when I found the beautiful scrunchie range in Topshop. Like a child in a sweet shop. (or just me in a sweet shop) I have a scrunchie for every outfit now, black, red, pink, green you name it. But these two are my favourite for the summer - the green velvet one is to match up with my purple eye shimmer that is featured below and is from Boots.

Eyes are the window the soul...

...or so they say. I have a adapted a couple of new favourites recently for my eyes that are perfect for summer. They are the GOSH Forever Eyeshadow's in Beige & Grey they last all day and are waterproof so perfect for looking glittery by the pool! They have a gorgeous sheen that glows in the sun, and I have to say they bring the glittery girly girl out in me. I love the beige for day to day and the grey for evening with precise eyeliner for a perfect long lasting smoky eye.

The other product I am loving for my eyes at the minute is the B. Stunning Eye Shimmer in Royal - having raved about it previously you may recognise it - it is so soft and light you can apply as little or as much as you want. Purple eyeshadow was seen on catwalks by Holly Fulton and PPQ  for Spring/Summer 2014 - it is one of the top make-up trends for the summer. Up against the green shadows of Giorgio Armani (I need to invest in) and bright blues of Marc by Marc Jacobs.

Getting lippie...

Now red lipstick.. I won't get into it because I could go on for hours and I had to pick one red for this post and honestly I use more than that but this one is kind of perfect for summer. The new GOSH Lip Lacquers are lovely and girls with more tanned skin can go for the pinker shades however for us pale gingers, the best bet is the red shades, my personal favourite being the Dangerous Lips shade. They are pretty good for during the day when lipstick upkeep becomes a little boring - this is sleek and easy to apply, instant colour.

When I'm not feeling the red lippy which is rare to be honest but it does happen - during the day when work stops me re-applying (how dare it!) - I need something lighter and moisturising. Lanolips Lip Ointment with Colour is PERFECT for that. The lanolin (which most people have pre-conceived ideas about) is the purest of pure so it nourishes the lips and keeps them lovely and smooth for when the red lipstick does come out. The ointments with colour are so pretty and available in a range of shades, Rose being my current favourite and it is soft and summery - I dab a tad of red lipstick in so the pinkness doesn't drown out my pale skin. And it has SPF 15 in - holiday must have I think!

Nailed it...

As an admirer of all things glitter I have quite a few GOSH Glitter Matt Finish Polishes as they are so cool! I couldn't get my head around them when I first discovered them, I had a new matt glitter feature nail every week. My new discovery and one I find completely perfect for summer (not just because it matches my pools of blue eyes) is the Frosted Blue shade. They are really good to do gradient glitter with, just apply to a sponge and dab at the bottom or top of your nail.

My two most featured nail brands seem to be Maybelline and GOSH so it is only natural that my summer picks fall into those brands. I have discovered the Super Stay Gel Nail Colour polishes, on my quest to find an amazing clear top coat I picked up Crystal Clear which so far is my favourite ever! I also got myself a colour with Berry Stain which is a rich purple that I adore! (It even matches my handbag). The polishes really do stay for much longer than your everyday polish and the shine on them is lovely - so far so great!

Matching my skin to my wardrobe..

Is hard for me sometimes. I like wearing black now and again as it falls nicely with my hair, but I can end up looking gothic, then pale colours and whites tend to be a no go for me - and that is where I am struggling so far this summer. I haven't even been summer shopping yet (due to a lack of funds) and I am panicking about how much white and pastels are out there and look gorgeous yet I fear I can't wear them. HOWEVER.. I have my bottle of St Tropez Self Tan Bronzing Mousse (where one shade fits all - I love the way they show it on the site, click the link to see!) to hand now and have really gotten into the routine of application. I am feeling a lot more confident in my skin and may even venture into wearing something white soon! It goes on so evenly and perfectly (moisturising and exfoliation help here) with a mitt, and builds up over 4 hours so do not apply too much thinking it isn't dark enough (a mistake I have made before).

So there we have part one of the summer episodes on curiosity.. think before you colour ladies x

Oh and remember to click the names of the products to buy them or see more online info from stockists :) 

whats on my face?

I hope its not egg.. hahaha ew.

Today I bring you the staples of my make up bag that have made their way there in the past couple of months and intend to stay there for the summer.

First is this amazing new mascara, that gives me a really nice lengthened look for the day time without thickening too much like my favourite Retro Glam mascara. It is Max Factor's Clump Defy in the pretty 50th Superdrug birthday packaging. The brush is curved with little spindles/spikes that fit perfectly to my lashes - covering as much area as possible for quick application. The look it gives is really natural looking, but still making them look longer without that really false lash effect despite the range its from! 

Next we have the sample of Benefit's Pore-fressional that I got free with a magazine, probably Vogue but I'm not 100% today! It is a miracle mattifying balm that reduces the appearance of pores. And it works, really well. I love it and use it under my foundation powder one my nose and chin to stop my pores looking like craters. I am thinking of investing once I run out!

Another fab product that I adore is my new concealer - Stay Time 18 hour concealer from 17 - it is wonderful. It stays under my make up all day, it is a lovely shade that fits perfectly to my pale skin and blends in really well. It hides my red blemishes that are particularly bad this week! :(

Now for a bit of colour with a favourite that made it into my April favourites post - The B.Brilliant Morello lip gloss. Never been a huge lipgloss fan, I'm more into lipstick but this is lush. Whether I dab some on for the day or heap it on for the night - i Love it with a capital L.

And more purple - a huge trend on S/S 14 catwalks - with purple shadow. This is my B. Stunning Shimmer in Royal. Its a creamy eye shimmer so I can put on as little or as much as I want. I like wearing a little in the day now its summery, not so that my eyes look bruised but so they shimmer purpleyey. :) It also doesn't crease into my eye creases like a normal cream shadow which is both surprising and great!

So there they are some lovely bits that I currently LOVE and you should def give a try :) see you soon for a nail update :D

how my prom make-up should have looked

Ever since my prom, this being all of 5 years ago give or take a few months, I have said that my make up was the worst it has ever been and it totally ruined my night. Well not totally, I still had an amazing time with my best friends and I may have cried, I can't remember, you know, having slept since then. So I am now dedicating a post to how I actually wanted it. There was never any thick green eyeshadow or pencil eyeliner under my eye or tranny eyelashes in the equation (never should have been!)..

before - apologies for looking so miserable

after - I've just now discovered my wonky lip

what I used

To achieve this simple (yet my favourite) look I used all the below products and steps :)

These are the brushes I used, I keep it simple obviously, with a flat small lippy brush, one big soft brush for all my facey needs and a small shadow brush for well .. shadowing. 

skin

To start I primed with my favourite new GOSH primer (see review here) Prime 'n' Set Powder (<<remember its a link). Next I used my new concealer - never been a concealer person, I don;t know why but I've never been able to get a good 'un until this beauty came into my life - 17 Stay Time 18 Hour Concealer. Next a light layer of my Max Factor Whipped Cream Foundation in Light Ivory (40) - also a new addition to my make-up bag but it's going so quickly which is a disadvantage next to the way it clumps on my hand but makes my skin look sooooo smooth and silky. Then I contour, highlight and blush with my Sleek Definition Kit (review also here). 

eyes - with another shot cause i care

I shade in my eyebrows with my new Shavata Brow Perfector Kit, I don't pluck or wax or do anything to my brows (I never have) I can't be bothered to make a fuss when I don't need to so I don't. All I do is give them so colour with a brow shadow (because they are invisible) - my new one is from Shavata and the shadows are cream and so go on my easier and quicker than a powder shadow. I then highlight my brow bone with my eyeshadow brush and a bit of highlighter from my sleek kit, after this I use my MUA Trio Eyeshadow in Innocence. Here I apply a generous amount of the white shadow, it has a lovely sheen to it - and then I give my self a light cut crease ( this is a darker shadow in a line under my brow bone) in the mid brown shade, then blend with the white (keeping it very sinples). I also apply white the the inner part of my eye by the bridge of my nose to highlight, and under my eye to widen them. Next comes a thick (but not too thick) liquid eyeliner line with a love flick at the outer edge (my favourite part of this look). My new liquid eyeliner is  the best I've had to date, it is B. by Superdrug B. Dramatic Liquid Eyeliner. It's a felt type pen, which is the best way to apply liner! I followed all of this with my BEST EVER mascara, Rimmel Scandal Eyes Retro Glam in Extreme Black (review here!) - I neatened up with my Urban Decay Supercurl Mascara brush because it is very spiky and great to seperate those annoying lashes you can't get to.

lips

I got very excited today and bought two MUA lipsticks for £1, one is in this look because its Matte and beautiful and I love it and the other is a deeper red (because mine is running out so it's totally justified). This one is actually MUA Matte Lipstick in Scarlette Siren, I used my lippy brush to neaten up the edges. 

The sequel to this post will be 'how my prom hair should have looked' ... See you soon :)

scrub up well

I have got some many ideas for posts that I've actually had trouble choosing what to write up today! And this is just for beauty.. i do need inspiration for my nails however (Do not despair i will have a lovely tutorial up for you all tomorrow).

For now I want to show off my facial skin-care routine, including all the stages that I (now) do.. that's cleanse, tone, exfoliate, moisturise. The most important part of skin-care is finding products that suit your skin - condition and sensitivity. 

I have determined that my skin is mixed, I get oily around my t-zone (see below for a cheeky diagram on what this is) but dry and itchy around my jaw line and eyes. If you have mixed skin you can use the same products that I do - these products can apply to other skin types though so I will explain the qualities of each one and what makes them brill for your skin.

cleansing

Simple Kind to Skin Purifying Cleansing Lotion, £2.99

This lotion is really good for sensitive skin, it's not harsh but still gets rid of all your make up. It works really well as an eye make-up remover as well (god knows I need that). Reading the back it seems to have a lot of vitamins and good ingredients for your skin especially good is Vitamin E. If you can get anything with vitamin E in it then it's good, you need as much of that stuff as you can get. It makes the appearance of scars and marks on your skin better and smoothes it out (I know this because my auntie who is a masseuse recommended it when I got some stretch-marks a few years ago). I use this in the evening and morning as well, to get rid of over night dirt - I use it right before I apply my make up as it also moisturises the skin lightly so you don't have to wait until you can apply make up (this you would have to do with normal moisturiser to avoid slippy foundation).

toning

B. by Superdrug B. Pure Micellar Water, £4.99

I never understood what toning is, to me it sounds like a quick fix to great abs in a bottle (I WISH), but it unfortunately isn't. We tone our skin to get rid of any left over make up, dirt and dead skin cells. Sounds harsh right? Well actually it isn't too bad, I don't tone everyday as I find it irritates my skin and I end up moisturising a lot to compensate. But this Micellar Water is really good as it's quite gentle so I use it 3-4 times a week to keep my skin supple and firm. It's actually a 3 in 1 formula, so it is a cleanser, toner and refresher - which is great! I know it's doing it's job and there is no need to rinse it off. I would suggest using this daily if your skin is tougher than mine (or normal) just don't get it in your eyes! 

exfoliating

Freederm Exfoliating Daily Wash, £5.19

I didn't ever bother exfoliating regularly until recently, my skin has been breaking out left right and centre and i had enough, so I went straight to the Freederm section, and I am so glad I did.

This product is meant for spot prone skin so you know it's going to do you some good, it combats blackheads and works quickly. I started using it daily and my spots started to clear up and blackheads appeared .. well.. less black! within a week. I use this in the evening after I've cleaned all my make-up off. There is a sensitive one available which I didn't realise, but I would say if you have mixed skin this one will work just fine as it's not irritating unless you over scrub. I did over-exfoliate (something I didn't think was possible) and mustn't have moisturised properly so I ended up with really dry skin around my nostrils, make up really irritated it so be careful!

moisturising

Nivea Express Hydration Body Lotion for Normal Skin, £3.59

I swear by Nivea for moisturising, I also have the in shower moisturiser which is lush!, I normally would get Nivea Soft but have recently been using this and it does the job just fine... until I go grab my next batch of Nivea Soft. I love this one because it absorbs really fast so I don't have sticky skin when I go to bed, which is when I do most of my routine. I tend to cleanse as soon as I get in from work and then leave everything else till I am getting ready for bed. I've always moisturised and everyone should, it's so important especially if you have dry patches of skin. You can also get good mattifying moisturisers that are made for oilier skin (so if you do have oily skin there is no excuse!)

extra caring

Detoxifying Face Mask with Dead Sea Mud from Superdrug, £2.59

I love a good face mask every now and then, when I have a couple of hours to really pamper myself. And what better way to do than with a little dead sea mud? This mask is really nice and my skin feels so soft after I use it, I even think my blackheads look better. I would recommend this if you do get bad blackheads. If you aren't a mask kinda person, you don't need to go whole hog, just put it on your worse areas (or t-zone) while you are in the shower and wash off within 5 minutes - easy peasy.

N.B. Drink as much water as possible, it's so good for your skin I can't explain! I try and drink a large bottle  (don't ask me how many litres it is) a day through the week and I treat myself on the weekend and evenings to juice and iced tea hehe!

Have fun cleansing ladies!

xxxxxx

@pawsandclaws101 for insta

@pawsnclaws101 for twita

valentines kiss

2 days to go until you will be giving your Valentine a great big kiss - best done with bright red lippy - whether it be your best friend, husband, boyfriend, grandaddy or dad (like me). Whether you want to be sexy or subtle, red lipstick on Valentines is the way to go.

So you can give them the perfect red lip print on the cheek or lips [ wink ] I have gone through my hoard of red lipsticks to see which is suitable for each Valentine possibility and which will leave the best print (I've done the leg work as far as wearing it goes, however, the kissing is your bit) - thats right it is totally up to you to pick a lippy and give your Valentine a massive kiss!

Day Date

Lush, It Started with a Kiss Lip Tint

This lip tint from Lush is so perfect for a day date - When you don't want to go for risky red because as they say 'A woman in red, is ready for bed'... You want a light lip print to keep a reminder in the air of what they are missing - subtle but still obvious.

Bright & Bubbly

B. by Superdrug, Pizzazz 155

Want to maintain your innocence? Don't wear red lipstick..

No but seriously, this lipstick is such a lovely bright and pretty shade of red that it gives off a vibe that is more 'cute' than 'come at me'. I tend to wear this one during in the day because the light reflects off it really nicely too.

Bring me a Rose

Collection 2000, Volume Sensation in Cherry Pop 8

In all honesty this is the lipstick that gets a guys respect.. Okay yes I am joking again. This one is still subtle and nice enough to be sweet, but it also has an edge to it that is sexy and fashionable - Best of both worlds, why wouldn't a guy give you a rose? (Probably because it isn't 1950)

Bite it

Maybelline, Colour Sensational Fatal Red 530

This one has a funny story behind it actually - I found it in my bag when I moved to London last June and have no idea where it came from. I keep tabs on my red lipsticks because I love them so much, so I know I didn't buy it - One of my friends is definitely down a lippy, oops. But it was worth it, it is a sexier shade and I imagine it as the kind you see on the model biting her lip on the advert - you know the one...

The Mistress or the Wife?

B. by Superdrug, Carmen 038 

You can be either in this shade I recon, the sexy mistress who steals the married man from his frigid wife in the middle of the night, or the demanding wife with an attitude problem and a rich man on her arm who gives her whatever she wants. I don't know which I would rather be!

Let's Talk About Sex Baby

Collection 2000, Volume Sensation in Ruby Red 3

Pure sex on a stick, I LOVE this lipstick. It is my favourite I have at the minute (I used to have an amazing Kate Moss shade that I always get mixed up with this one - but hey ho this one is probably cheaper). It's dark, broody, full of attitude and has a slight matted effect - which is gorgeous. If you are up for the seduction, pick this up.

All Nighter

Maybelline, Super Stay 24 Hour Colour in Red Passion

I wore this lipstick for my first big night out in Manchester city centre, when I found out I passed my A Levels and at 7 o'clock in the morning in the taxi with my best friend Chlo in her smeared lippy, it was still perfect - even after all the shots. It's tough to apply to be honest but worth the effort. If the walk of shame is something you like to do with your lipstick still in tact. This is the one you want. 

I also highly recommend this GOSH lip liner to neaten up the edges of your lipstick - I've never been that bothered about lip liner till I used this one to be honest - but it is really good. GOSH, Velvet Touch Lip Liner, Simple Red.

My next post is to celebrate the fact I am still a citygal after much stress and struggle - yay me!

Sex and the citygal nail art. See you tomorrow! MWAH xxx

@pawsandclaws101 - Instangram

@pawsnclaws101 - Twitter

PS I wasn't able to pop in pics of all the lippies on my gorge lips because my lips weren't agreeing with the constant cleaning and re-applying! - the pains of a beauty blogger.