FOTD - Burnt Orange Androdgyny

I'm feeling a little androgynous lately since I'm not straightening my hair, so it's always scraped up off my face. A lack of hair style, lack of curves and lack of pretty clothes is a sure fire way to feel like a boy! Luckily, I've never been a girly girl so I'm happy to look a bit boyish - the girliest thing about me is this blog!

EYES - UDPP, Darling Girl 'Glitter Glue', Shiro Cosmetics 'Subrosia', Esteé Lauder 'Rose Confetti', MAD Minerals 'Camisole', MAC 'Pink Bronze' pigment, UD 'Lucky' pencil eyeliner, mascara.

FACE - No.7 'Beautifully Matte' foundation, Collection 2000 'Lasting Perfection' concealer, Collection 2000 face powder, Sleek 'Sahara' blush (love), Fyrinnae 'Centre Stage' highlighter.

LIPS - MAC 'Honeylove' lipstick, MAC 'Blankety' lipstick.

I kept this leaning to the feminine side with paler brows than usual, lots of highlighter on the cheekbones and curved contours. I think if you were really going after the 'pretty boy make-up' trend, you'd need to thicken up, darken and straighten out the eyebrows a tad, use a sheerer eyeshadow (if any) and contour a little heavier.

What do you think to wearing such warm colours around the eyes? What are your favourite orange/ red eyeshadows?

Sleek Saturday - Sleek Original Palette FOTD

Today I'm taking part in Liloo's 'Sleek Saturday' series! I decided to create a look using the Sleek 'Original' palette. I've literally had this palette for about three/ four years - it was one of the very first make-up palettes I owned and I still think it's a beaut'! 

Something mega fast and simple, since all I'm doing today is tidying up and avoiding getting roped into decorating! 

First I applied Urban Decay Primer Potion to keep my eye make-up in place all day. Then I patted on Sleek black eyeshadow to the lid and blended just past the crease. I then took Sleek bronze-gold eyeshadow and applied over the top of the black, blending a little past where the black finished. To highlight, I used a sheer cream eyeshadow by Esteé Lauder. For my lashes, a good coating of Maybelline Falsies Mascara, as always! I then coloured my waterline with a cream Kryolan eye pencil.

What is your favourite Sleek product? Do you have the Sleek Original palette? Don't forget to check out Liloo's look!

TUTORIAL - How to use Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy

Whenever I mention Fyrinnae pixie Epoxy, I get one of two responses - 'I love Pixie Epoxy! Use it all the time!' or, 'Pixie Epoxy just doesn't work for me. At all. Ever.' so I figured if you're one of the latter, this post might just help you out...

I like to use Pixie Epoxy with satin, duochrome and glitter eyeshadows. It really makes the colours and textures stand out - plus its great for keeping glitter from falling down onto your cheeks! Pixie Epoxy is really versatile and I think people make the mistake of thinking it's only for bold, loud colours, I use it with neutrals and it really helps to bring out their beauty. The only thing you have to be careful about is not to put any where matte eyeshadows are going - they will apply patchy and look awful!

  [[ Left: No Base/ Right: Pixie Epoxy = MUA Club dupe, Aromaleigh 'Pique', Urban Decay 'Midnight Cowboy...', Fyrinnae 'Digital Faerie' ]]

1. First things first - Pixie Epoxy is a BASE, not a primer (click to learn the difference). Bases are to make eyeshadows stick, or to enhance their colour - not to make them last, so without a primer they will crease! When using Pixie Epoxy, always layer it over a primer such as Urban Decay Primer Potion or Too Faced Shadow Insurance.

2. Primer on? Ace. Now you've got to get to grips with how much Pixie Epoxy to use. I use the tiniest amount I can possibly pick up - so little that I actually question if there's any on my finger when I'm rubbing it in! This is a bit trial and error and at first you'll probably use way more than you need to. I also only apply it to the lid, mainly because I prefer the contrast between the bold, glittering lid and a duller crease and matte highlight shade.

 3. Pat your eyeshadow over the Pixie Epoxy using a firm brush. To blend, just dab the lighter colour slightly over the darker shade a few times. Try to resist any 'windscreen wiper' blending actions - I find this gives a muddy finish when blending over sticky bases of any kind.

4. Finish off your eyeshadow look however you choose and bask in the glory that is Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy!

I USED - Too Faced Shadow Insurance, Fyrinnae 'Pixie Epoxy', MAC 'Platinum' pigment, Too Faced blue from the Smokey Eyes kit, Urban Decay 'Zero', Kryolan 'Eggplant', Estee Lauder 'Rose Confetti', Kryolan white pencil eyeliner, ELF black cream eyeliner, mascara.

When you come to remove your make-up, I find an oil based eye make-up remover works best with Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy. I hope somebody out there finds this useful!

FOTD - Golden Coral

EYES - UDPP, Fyrinnae 'Polar Bear', Fyrinnae 'Shrouded in Gold', Urban Decay 'Zero', Estee Lauder 'rose Confetti', MAC 'Vanilla' pigment, GOSH black eye pencil, E.L.F black cream eyeliner.

FACE - Kryolan ultra foundation as concealer, Collection 2000 'Matt + Minerals' foundation, Topshop 'Neon Rose' mixed with GOSH 'Darling', Shu Uemura 'Matte Peach' blush, Kryolan powder, MAC 'Vanilla' pigment.

LIPS - OCC 'Hush' and 'Trick' mixed.

Gold, smokey looks are some of my favourites and I thought a bit of warm, metallic eyeshadow would work well with my coral top. Coral doesn't exactly work with my green hair, but hey - lets ignore that little fact, shall we?!

How do you wear gold? How do you wear coral?

Swatch Sunday - PINK PASSION!

As requested by galenx, I'm showing my pinks today! Pink can be a pretty awkward colour for a lot of people, if you have dark or warm skin, try a coral pink, peachy pink or golden pink. Fairer, cooler ladies tend to suit blue pinks, violet pinks and silver pinks. I love super hot, bright pink lips on anybody!

[[ Benefit 'High Beam', Fyrinnae 'Enrapture', TopShop 'Neon Rose', Kryolan 'Frambrosia', Ben Nye 'Fuchsia']]

[[ MAC 'Milan Mode' and 'Bombshell', Barry M 145, 144 and 52, MUA 'Shade 3', Fyrinnae 'Shangri-La', 17 Ultimate Volume gloss in 'Star Girl' ]]

[[ Urban Decay 'Scratch', Estee Lauder 'Pale Moon', MAC pigments in 'Rose', 'Helium' and 'Kitchmas' ]]

[[ Sleek Original Palette pink, Red Earth shimmer powder, No.7 'Tender', Ruby & Millie baked pink, MUA 'Shade 16' ]]

[[ Heavenly Naturals 'Just a Girl', Fyrinnae 'Magenta Gauntlets', MAD Minerals 'Camisole' and 'Whisper Opal' ]]

I'm really surprised that I own so many pink eyeshadows 0_o When did that happen? Oh God. I'm such a hoarder I never even noticed. For those wondering how I've swatched these, I swiped foundation up my arm and mixed the pigments with mixing medium to achieve maximum intensity.

What pairs well with pink? Gold, silver, purple and blue. I also love contrasting pink with lime green and yellow!

My picks? MAC 'Helium' - I looove this pigment! It's incredible. It's also pretty rare, so grab up samples when you can. I also think TopShop's 'Neon Rose' cream blush is one NOT to be missed - the colour is an amazing 'not quite pink but not really coral' shade which would suit everyone, not only that, but the formula is immense. If you fancy a new lip colour, look no further than Fyrinnae's 'Shangri-La', it's a beautiful purple-pink hybrid that looks top layered over pink lippies.

What are your fave pinks? Is it a hard colour for you to wear?

Camera troubles *sigh*

I recorded a new tutorial today, and the finished look was lovely in the sun light! When I came to take pictures all of them came out muted looking and the colours had lost their depth. I tried to tweak them to correct the colours, but still - no luck. Needless to say, I wont be uploading this tutorial to youtube, which is a darn shame :/

[[ Heavenly Naturals 'Nymph', Fyrinnae "Peaseblossom", HN "Bubbles", Estee Lauder "Rose Confetti", Urban Decay 'Goddess"]]

I wish finding a HG camera was easier! I've already been through two other DSLRs (Pentax K100D/ Pentax K100D Super) and I'm on my third (Canon E0s 450D), Truth be told, I preferred my Pentax cameras, but the first broke, took 2 months to come back from repairs (and it was still broken), got sent the Super version (which was broken when I received it) and the customer service was the worst I've ever received. All of that fuss and bother took FIVE MONTHS.

Once this Canon has run its course (though I may well sell it) I'll explore Nikon cameras. I'd love if you could rent a camera for 3 months then decide if you wanted to purchase or not. £450 is a lot for an 18 year old student to invest in....well...anything.

What sort of cameras/ lenses do you use for make-up pictures? Any recommendations?

A happy accident

In my last post, I said how MUFE 92 likes nothing more than to stain your eyelids - unfortunately I'd forgotten this fact and not taken the appropriate measures to avoid the pink/ bruised/ strange crazy eye (concealer OVER eyeshadow primer). HOWEVER, every cloud has a silver lining!

I applied a gold-brown over my entire lid/ stained crease area and the result was quite pretty. The pink showed through in some lights, and you'd catch a flash of it beneath the gold-brown. Not quite neutral, not at all bright - a happy medium :]

[[ TFSI, Yaby 'Shell', Mad Minerals 'Ruby Sunset', Estee Lauder 'Rose Confetti' ]]

I was quite happy that I'd made that newbie MUFE 92 accident!