What I've Been Up To!

For those of you who don't know, I don't just blog about my love for makeup, I study it too! Last year I took a course in Fashion & Photographic Make-up, and just received my certificate, so I'm now officially a qualified make-up artist! This year I will be adding to my skillset by learning Hair & Media Make-up, which I just started a couple of weeks ago. I'm enjoying it thoroughly so far and have already learnt so much.

The hair component of my course was particularly scary at first but I am definitely improving! Here's a few pictures of what I did today in class:

Eyeshadow on the Lips?!

Hi everyone. Just a quick post because I'm not putting enough content on here lately. I have been playing with makeup a lot though, so I thought I'd show you one of my experiments. Hope you enjoy.

A lot of people think you can only use a product for a specific use, or just stick to what the name suggests you should do with something. It's often fun to play around though, using lip products on the eyes or cheeks, and eye colours elsewhere on the face. One of the easiest ways to experiment is to mix a loose pigment or eyeshadow with a clear lipgloss (or Vaseline) to create your own custom lipstick. For these I used Fyrinnae eye shadows mixed with just a clear gloss. All you need to do is check on the label or company website to see if your product is safe to use in the area. Here are the looks I created:

 Arcane Magic: Faerie Glamour. This one says it's not safe for lips, but I took it off straight after :p Just don't try this at home haha!

 Arcane Magic: Velvet Vampire. Looks patchy in the photos, but in real life it looked great. I actually love this on the lips and would definitely wear it out.

Biker Chic. This was hard to get on neatly, as are all really dark or pigmented lipglosses. It also came out a lot blacker than I expected, and the turquoise sparkles don't show up much.

Playing around with make-up is a lot of fun, trial and error is required but just go for it! It's only make-up remember, it washes off :) Hope you liked this post!

Natural Contoured Face

Hi everyone, sorry for the lack of posts again lately! I just did a really great photoshoot a couple of weeks ago, so hopefully I'll be able to show you the photos soon. I've also just started college this week, so when I start doing some looks, I can show you those too. Hopefully this new routine will enable me to get more content up for you. Please let me know if there's anything specific you want to see on here.

Onto today's look. At the weekend, I'm doing a make-up for a photoshoot outdoors, with a natural feel. I tested out the look on myself, using cream foundation to contour, focusing on the cheekbones, with a healthy, glowy feel overall.

To begin, I started with moisturised skin, and applied a medium coverage foundation, using a sponge to blend. I used Boots No7 Stay Perfect Foundation, in the shade Calico. I used a cream concealer to cover any blemishes, and to conceal darkness under the eyes. I used Bourjois Healthy Mix Concealer, buffing it in with a fluffy brush.

For my contour, I used cream foundation. I find this the most natural looking and easy to blend product for contouring. I use my foundation palette that came in my college kit. This is a professional product, and not really suitable for everyday use. You could use a light bronzer, particularly if you can find a cream texture product, which will be easier to use. Apply in a line from the hairline, along the cheekbone, going no further in than the centre of your eye. I also blended the darker colour into the socket of the eye to give depth. Make sure to blend well: you don't want a brown line on your face!

On the cheeks, I used a stippling brush to apply a cream blusher high on the cheeks to give a natural flush.

I then powdered lightly, patting the powder on gently, so as not to disturb the foundation. I then highlighted the face using Barbara Daly Light Illusion Powder Highlighter from Tesco. I brushed this onto the top of the cheekbones, browbone, and onto the inner corner of the eye.

I lightly filled in my brows with a light, cool toned brown, and using a flat eyeliner brush, pushed a dark brown shadow against the lashline. I applied a light coat of mascara, and finished with a clear lipgloss.

This is a perfect look for daytime, or as a natural bridal look. In real life, the contour is more dramatic, but it works well for photography. Hope you like it, and found some of it useful!