La Femme Blushes

Hi readers! We're back! Sorry it took sooo damn long, Heather and me have been really busy with work and uni stuff but we're ready to hit belfast and beyond with more beauty! I'll also add that Heather wrote a wonderful post about the Clarisonic but Blogger seems to have devoured it so while we sort that one out here's my thoughts on some interesting blushes...

After being seriously disappointed that I didn’t win Charlotte’s competition on Lipglossiping back in April, I decided to scoot on over to Cocktail Cosmetics to have a look for myself at the La Femme blush range. I chose a 6 pan palette at £8.95 then picked out the individual shades from the range of 45 available. How I wish I could remember the shade names I picked as I can’t decipher which ones are which from the list on the site, oh well. Looking back, I should have done a bit more blog research on swatches of the shades as some colours weren’t what I was expecting, but are nice all the same (as with a lot of colours on makeup sites).

The palette itself:

My 6 shades:

…And swatches:

The colours are matte apart from the burgundy shade in the bottom left corner which has a slight shimmer, but this doesn’t seem to transfer onto the skin.

As Charlotte mentions in her review here, the blushes are quite dusty when swept over with a brush and as you can see my palette is a bit grubby after only a few uses. This doesn’t bother me much, as £2.95 per pan is still very good value. One negative aspect though is that I find them quite difficult to blend well with a regular blusher brush, so Charlotte’s isea of using a stippling brush would be more suitable for application. I especially like using these shades lightly over cream blush to make it last.

Overall, the colours are nice and unique and there’s a big variety of shades to choose from, and at £2.95 each its definitely worthwhile to investigate.

'Bright Idea' Nails

Hope everyone had a nice relaxing Easter Sunday today! I had a lovely dinner at my mum and dads, which is where I found the mother's day present I got my mum this year - a mini O.P.I brights set, 'Bright Idea'. Is it bad that I opened it?? It contains a bright orange, pink, shimmery blue and a top coat. I'm not keen on sheer, shimmery nails so I used Atomic Orange and That's Hot! Pink, one on each hand for uber brightness.

I applied two coats on each hand with no top coat - I'm lazy like that. I love the vibrancy of the orange most and even though I may be a bit pale for these kinds of colours, really who cares cause they're so fun and bright!

Are you guys rocking brights on nails this spring/summer?

- Siobhan :)

Topshop Makeup – Highlighter in 'Sunbeam'

I’ve been looking for a nice, non-expensive highlighter for a while now. I stumbled across this one in Topshop for £9, for which you get a huge amount of product. I was impressed after swatching it in store and as you can see below it’s the loveliest golden colour, almost like a glowy light which is exactly what I was looking for.

It’s the first thing I’ve tried from Topshop’s range and I do like what I’m seeing, so more products to play with may be on the cards. I really like the look of the cream blushes... but back to the highlighter. This was the lighter shade of two available, the other being a more bronzed colour. It’s nicely pigmented which I’ve found is hard to get in a high-street highlighter. As I mentioned, you do get a lot of product for your money, 6.5g to be exact. The packaging is quite cool and different, not too bulky and not cheap looking. One thing that would be a great addition is a mirror inside, but that doesn’t bother me too much.

In the pan it looks quite yellow toned, but as you can see from the swatch it’s a lot more golden. Although the colour is beautiful, I do think it might be a little warm for my pale skin tone. In the summer though, when I’m a bit less ghostly, I’m sure it will work fine. Lightly dusted on cheekbones is where it looks best I think. All in all an affordable, pigmented, nicely coloured highlighter - great for the summery weather we've been having!

- Siobhan

Sephora Liner Electro - Choc Electro 09

Firstly, it may shock some of you that my first visit to a Sephora store was just three months ago when I was in Rome. Then again, there are no stores in the UK or Ireland so maybe not so shocking. Anyway, what I want to mention is my Sephora ‘Liner Electro’ in Choc Electro 09. I found this on the floor of my car a year or two ago when it must have fallen out of my friend’s makeup bag, but as it was blunt it lay on my dressing table until about a month ago when I bothered my arse to sharpen it. But boy am I glad I did! This pencil is so creamy and nicely metallic, not that yucky in-your-face glitteryness you get sometimes. But best of all, it’s so easy to use which is great for clumsy people like me, and it looks great smudged. If I’m in a rush in the morning and don’t have time to bother with the precision that my Bobbi Brown gel eyeliner needs, then this is my saviour. Plus, it looks great on blue eyes.

This pencil has slowly became a product I’ve been using pretty much every week day as when I’m running late for uni I can just stick it in my makeup bag and smudge it on before getting out of the car and going to class. I asked my fellow beautifyBelfast blogger Heather to get me another shade when she was on one of her regular American travels for work, Metal Electro 02. This one isn’t quite as creamy for some reason and the shimmer isn’t as fine, which is a shame.

Metal Electro 02, Choc Electro 09

As for wear, these didn’t quite hold up to the ‘shower test’ (that’s getting a shower with the swatches still on…) but then I don’t really mind as the softness makes application so easy. As for those with quite oily lids, I would suggest using a primer before application as they don’t seem to set firmly in place, although they do still last all day on my normal lids.

So, until Sephora starts shipping across the water, ask anyone you know going to the US, Rome, France etc to bring you this back. It’s currently $8 on sephora.com. Though of course, if it drops out of your mate’s makeup bag (thanks Louise), then it’s free!

Current Love-Clinique Moisture Surge

My skin is ridiculously dry. Always has been. I'm always on the hunt for a moisturiser thats not greasy,not wild expensive and brings a bit of life back into my face. Introducing Clinique Moisture Surge Extended Thirst Relief!

I'd been hearing good things about this pot of goodness and couldn't wait to try it. Last months Glamour magazines free gift,was a selection of Clinique treats. I managed to get my hands on Moisture Surge and the 'All About Eyes' eye cream.

I literally got so excited about this moisturiser (sad I know) having just came off a flight, I immediatley slapped it on my face. After about 5 mins of the product sinking in I could immediatey feel and see a difference. Not only was my skin super soft and smooth, the dehydration lines on my forehead were significantly reduced. I was in love!

The little leaflet that comes with it says you can use it as a hydrating mask. To be honest though I don't see the point in putting on a thicker layer,leaving it and wiping off agin when you can just whack it on and rub it in and get the same results!

I used up the sample tube which lasted me a good 3 weeks. It didnt cause any blemishes or irritation.I liked it so much I decided to purchase the full size pot. Luckily enough for me we had a travel set in duty free that came with an eye gel and moistrising facial spray for less than what a full price pot of cream would have cost. I love a good bargain!

I use it morning and night after my Clarisonic,along side the 'All About Eyes'cream which is equally as lovely.  My skin is no longer crying out for hydration. Its bright, fresh and dewy. I wish I had have found this little gem earlier!

Whats your favourite moisturiser?

Heather xx

Mother's Day FOTD

Here’s how I wore my makeup for my second mother’s day as an actual mother!

Face

Bobbi Brown Skin Foundation in Alabaster

Clinique Airbrush Concealer in Fair

Cheeks

Bobbi Brown Blush in Desert Rose

Eyes

Mac Paint Pot in Painterly

Bobbi Brown  Eye shadow in Ivory (all over), and Flint (lid) – from the Day to Night Cool Eyes palette

Brows

Filled in softly with the matte dark brown shadow from the Sleek Storm palette

Lips

Mac Crème D’Nude

As you can see, I like the natural look and yes, I do love Bobbi Brown a little too much. I find myself reaching for neutral colours a little too often and maybe I could benefit from a bit of a colour surge here and there. Though it can be hard to find brights that suit my pale, cool-toned skin, I hereby accept the challenge!

Anyone else feel they should venture out a bit more when it comes to makeup?

- Siobhan :) 

Spring Block Colour Trend with GOSH

Anyone else loving the new ‘block colour’ trend for spring? I was tempted by a bright orange Illamasqua eye pencil after seeing it in a magazine last week, but I was passing by the chemist in my student’s union the other day and saw a bargain bin full of GOSH products so I thought I may as well have a look. I ended up getting 3 ‘velvet touch’ eyeliners and a nail polish in some bright springy colours, all for about £10, less than the one Illamasqua pencil would’ve cost.

Here are the colours:

(top to bottom) Rising Sun, Girl Power, Ice Blue

(top to bottom) Ice Blue, Rising Sun, Girl Power

The orange Illamasqua pencil was a touch more neon than Girl Power, but I think it would still work well with minimal makeup and black mascara. The Ice Blue colour is a pale but vivid baby blue which would look great in the summer as well. Rising Sun is a deep warm gold which ok, isn’t very ‘springy’, but still looks great and wears well. In fact, I kept the swatches on while I had a shower and they were still totally intact after which is pretty impressive, and they came off easily with eye makeup remover.

The nail polish shade is Sweet Rose, which is a slightly pastel pink with a little bit of purple thrown in. In the bottle it seemed really ‘spring’ to me.  The lighting doesn’t really show the proper colour once applied; the purple tones did come out a bit more. The consistency I wasn’t too keen on, a bit watery and after two coats wasn’t as opaque as I’d like, but overall it’s not too bad.

All in all, I’m glad I went for GOSH to try out the trend instead of splashing out. The Velvet Touch eyeliners are great and I’m going to see what other colours they have on offer to brighten my makeup up a bit for springtime.

What makeup trends are you trying out at the minute?

Favourites of 2011 so far

Most beauty bloggers do a ‘monthly favourites’ post that I love to read to find out what’s new or just find a really good product I haven’t tried. However, I just don’t buy enough makeup to do one every month (I’d love to though, if I had the money!) So here we are with some of my favourite beauty items of the year so far:

Boots Cocoa Butter Body Butter

This came in a set with body scrub and body wash that I got for Christmas. I haven’t tried the other products yet but I was pleasantly surprised at how silky and thick this was and how quickly it sank into the skin to create a gorgeous soft feeling all day. I like the scent, it’s indulging without being overpowering and it’s basically just lovely to use after a shower and a long day.

Shu Uemera Eyelash Curlers

I just bought these a few weeks ago, I had to get my fiancé to go to Space NK for me and he couldn’t understand how these little things cost £19, but they are totally worth it. Every beauty blogger and professionals favourite, it really does make a difference to curl and open up the eye area. There’s not much else to say that hasn’t been said before about this excellent product.

Bobbi Brown Pot Rouge in Cabo Coral

All my usual blushers are soft and natural and I wanted to try something with a bit more colour. I found this coral colour which is pretty nice but what I love most is the formula itself. It’s long wearing which is good for being out and about all day, and unlike some cream blushers it can be worn without foundation and won’t move about. Costs £16 and I got it from House of Frasier.

Sanctuary Spa Hand Cream

This is one I also got in a set at Christmas. I didn’t expect much from it but it’s actually one of the nicest hand creams I’ve tried. The texture is nice and think yet non-greasy and really moisturising, I like the scent too.

L‘Oreal Studio Secrets Smoothing Resurfacing Primer

When I first bought this I didn’t like it much as I prefer the ‘dewy’ youthful look to my base. However, my skin dry but my nose can be a little bit shiney, so I use a tiny little bit of this just to take away the shine which works really well. I think it cost around £12 in Superdrug but as the amount I use is so small I can’t see that I will finish it any time soon.

Laura Mercier Tinted Moisturiser

Hey y'all! Its me, Heather! the other blogger of this wonderful page that is Beautify Belfast!

Well as the title suggests, this post is about the  Laura Mercier Tinted Moisturiser. This can be purchased in SpaceNK and House Of Fraser, Belfast

Photo Courtesy of Sephora.com

I will warn you now I am a bit of a rambler, so sorry if this is ridiculously long!

I've wanted to try this product for the longest time but couldn't justify the hefty £33 price tag for a tinted moisturiser. Now to be fair, I never really was a big fan of tinted moisturisers. I'd tried a few and they didn't impress me enough to purchase them regularily. Although my skin is ok, I have redness and get occasional blemishes,I've found I like a bit more coverage. Not Doublewear full on coverage, but more of a medium buildable coverage like my current favourote NARSSheer Glow. The sheerness of a tinted moisturiser never really appealed to me.

So then why then, has a girl that clearly prefers foundation over a tinted moisturiser want to try this? Well you see it all started when a fellow colleague recommended I wear a tinted moisturiser in place of foundation at work. (For those of you that dont know, Im cabin crew for a long haul airline as well as a part time makeup artist) She had said her skin really thanked her for it at the end of a flight, and she didnt need to rehydrate her face with any sprays,moisturiser or drink copious amounts of water. I dont have the time to go for a wee on a 14hr flight never mind spritzing my face every so often to keep my skin hydrated, so this seemed a brilliant idea, plus my collegue had fabulous radiant skin.

   I asked what products she used and she basically said she couldnt live without her Laura Mercier Tinted Moisturiser. That was a good 2 years ago and I've only got round to trying it now.

I wasnt prepared to pay £33 for something I knew I might not like so when I was on a trip in the states, I saw this in Sephora.

Photo Courtesy of Sephora.com

Laura Mercier Flawless Face kit.

It contains

• Foundation Primer
• Tinted Moisturiser-Nude
• Undercover Pot Shade 3
• Secret Camoflage Brush
• Camoflage Powder brush
• Velour Puff
• Egg shaped sponge

and a lovely wee clear bag to put it all in. Fabulous price of $65. Bargain.

So off I trotted back to my room to try out my goodies for flight home.

I'm not going to go into detail about the other products in the kit as I'm sure you've seen by now that I do like to ramble and we'll be here all day and this post is specifically for the Tinted Moisturiser :D

I followed the instructions that came with the kit and first applied the primer.

Next using the egg shaped sponge, I applied the Tinted Moisturiser. The colour Nude suited me perfectly. Impressed so far. As I started to blend the product I found I was having to squeeze out more and more to cover my face. The sponge was literally eating up the moisturiser. Now to be fair this probably was my own fault for not dampening the sponge beforehand, but I was merely adhereing to the instructions included in the kit.

The coverage was very very sheer and I felt I had used an unnecessary amount of the moisturiser to get a decent finish. Again this may have been the spomge or just the fact I felt it was too sheer for my face.

I carried on with the kit and applied the undercover pot on blemishes and undereye darkness with the supplied brushes(love these. The secret camouflage brush is wonderful!) and finshed by powdering my face with the powder puff. I especially love powder puffs over brushes for powdering the face. For me It gives a better finish and really helps to set the makeup in place.

As I looked in the mirror, I wasnt seeing what so many people were raving about. My skin really didnt look much different. The powder seemed to do more than the actual moisturiser! Skin tone was a evened out just a little but there was literally no coverage whatsover.

I always decide whether a foundation is good or not on whether it can withstand a flight without going cakey or dry and lasting a long time. Obviously my reason of trying this was exactly that, to see if it felt better, looked better and lasted.

It certainly felt lovely. My skin felt very soft and nicely moisturised and had a slight dewyness to it, but I could have had the same effect with MAC Strobe Cream and touch of concealer.

Midflight however, what areas of my face it had managed to cover, were now free of any sort of product whatsover which was a little dissapointing. My skin did feel a whole lot better than before, more hydrated and less dry in certain areas. And at the end of the flight my skin did feel more moisturised than usual and looked more radiant. Not as dull and lacklustre as it usually does at the end of a trip.

I really don't want to diss this product too much because it has had some good points for me. I kept trying the tinted moisturiser in different environments, as testing it on board an aircraft environment isnt really fair. Normal everyday air isnt dry and airconditioned. So I wore it a few days in a row and tried applying it with my fingers and a damp sponge. Definitley better applied this way and looked a lot nicer.

Overall I'd say for someone who has perfectly clear skin with maybe a little redness or who likes a sheer,light,barely there type of foundation,this would be perfect. For me it didnt give the coverage that I like, but it did do its job of moisturising my skin and if only a little bit, evening out my skintone. It certainly wouldnt be something I'd use on a bride or for a photshoot either.This I would keep for personal rather than professional use.

For me, its just not all that. Wild expensive for something that for me doesn't do that much. Im glad I bought the kit though. I love the brushes, powder puff, sponge, primer and powder.

Sorry Laura Mercier Tinted Moisturiser fans.....This one just didn't float my boat

PS- I haven't confined it to the bottom of my makeup case, Its proving a lovely product for beach makeup. Maybe I dont hate it afterall!

FOTD - Kate in Belfast

Here’s my version of Kate’s look when she visited Belfast on Tuesday:

Please forgive the photography, some of the colours arn't showing up very well but I'll try to get better!

Here’s what I used:

Face – Bobbi Brown Skin Foundation in Alabaster. I usually use one shade warmer in Porcelain but I’ve run out L. Clinique airbrush concealer in fair which I love, but looking at these photos makes me realise I could probably use something with a bit more coverage for the under-eye area. I didn’t have a cream blush to hand that was the right colour, so I‘ve used Bobbi Brown blush in Desert Rose which is great for a natural flush.

Eyes: To prep I used the old favourite Mac Paintpot in Painterly (which I prefer to Urban Decay Primer Potion, for the record). To recreate Kate’s brown shadow I used Jemma Kidd Brown Eye Wardrobe palette which I’ve had for years as it’s a great neutral palette. I used the mid tone for the lid and define tone for the crease but I should maybe have used more of the darker brown for the lid to get it more like Kate’s as in the photos in the previous post. Eyes were defined with Rimmel black kohl liner which I’m not too fond of, I’m going to pick up a GOSH liner to replace it as an everyday black pencil as they are nice and creamy. I used Anastasia Clear Brow Gel to tidy up the brows which I got (from Heather my co-blogger!) for Christmas in a Sephora Favourites gift box, it’s really nice to use and doesn’t give a yukky crispy effect on the brows.

Lips: Prepped with the ever-faithful Burts Bees Honey Lipbalm and the colour used is Bobbi Brown creamy lip colour in Ballet Pink. I don’t wear a lot of lip colour usually but this is a really nice moisturising formula that I should wear more often.

Although some elements that didn’t quite work with this look (for example Kate has a nice warm complexion compared to my ridiculously pale skin tone), I like some elements and I’ll be taking some things on board, like lining my eyes as well as eyeshadow, rather than just one or the other. 


As I mentioned I’m not the best with a camera but I’m going to take a closer look at Fee’s tips on blog photography at makeupsavvy.co.uk so hopefully I’ll get better!

Thanks for reading, hope you picked up something useful J

- Siobhan



Beauty in Belfast – Kate Middleton

On Tuesday March 8, Prince William and fiancé Kate Middleton arrived in Belfast for a one day visit. I was performing for them at Youth Action, a few musical numbers which they seemed to enjoy. Meeting William after was a pleasure, he seemed so down to earth and genuine. I also have to mention that his skin was impressively clear and radiant, thinking back I should’ve asked him what he uses. But I was more excited to see what Kate was wearing and of course, her makeup.

She looks amazing! Her eyes are nicely defined in classic black, plus a soft brown lid colour with a darkish brown crease, looking natural, yet classy. She is wearing a nice pink lip colour, something natural and non-makeup looking, maybe something like Bobbi Brown lip colour. Her rosy cheeks give a nice, subtle daytime flush, something that could be replicated with a dewy cream blush. A real classic makeup look, not too much effort yet really sophisticated. I have to point out her hair as well, tumbling waves in a healthy chestnut brown, the perfect blow-dry style in my opinion.

Now, outfit:

Classic double-breasted cream Burberry trench with black semi-opaque tights and classic black courts (I realise I’m using the word classic a lot but it really sums up the look), and the small black clutch adds that extra bit of glamour. Obviously set off by the ring as well, just beautiful.

Kate looked great in Belfast yesterday; I’ll be doing a face of the day inspired by her look so check back soon!

- Siobhan

Welcome to beautifyBelfast!

This blog is the bright idea of Heather and Siobhan. We are both from Belfast and wanted to bring more beauty into our beautiful city (and beyond!), so here we are. You can expect all types of beauty-related posts here, from local beautiful faces, thoughts on products both new and old, and lots more. Check back soon to have a look, or follow us on Twitter for our latest updates, @beautifyBelfast