Category Archives: Make Up

Metallic eyes trend

supracolour metallics - Charles H FoxI am absolutely loving the metallic eye trend for this coming warm season. I had noticed foiled hair and eyes in some shows, but the wearable look really excites me! I came across this picture gallery on Vogue which gives a great round up and plenty of inspiration. What I really like too are the double liners – on the lash line and crease!

I have always been a great fan of metallics, favouring those to mattes whenever possible; even when doing dramatic black smokey eyes and using matte eye shadow, I make sure I apply a metallic MAC paint underneath, not only to fix it, but also to give it a bit of sparkle!

Quite similar to MAC’s Metal-X cream shadows are the Supracolour metallics,  supracolour metallics - Charles H Foxfrom Charles H Fox I bought late last year, in gold, copper and silver, banking on the trend, for only £6. They are creamy and super metal, as eye shadow, with even application and great cover. I would set it with my MAC prep+prime transparent finishing powder. It also looks fab as a liner, but I just don’t recommend wearing it too near the tear duct, as I felt that, due to its consistency, they blocked mine a little bit and it was quite uncomfortable. However, I promise I will wear a totally metallic lid very soon and will post!

Product review: New eyeliners head-to-head

Until a couple weeks ago, I had been lining my eyes in three different ways, depending on my mood, time and desired effect: by using eye shadow (MAC Carbon) or gel eyeliner (MAC Fluidline in Blacktrack) and a small angle brush or using an eyeliner (MAC Smoulder eye kohl).

Recently I came across a few products and decided to give them a go – and test which one delivered best results, in terms of ease of application, effect and durability.

Collection 2000 EXTREME 24 HOUR FELT TIP LINER - Dani DutraThe Collection 200o Extreme 24 hour felt tip liner in black really caught my attention – it is unassuming, looks like a normal felt tip and the idea is really good: a pen with which you can draw your eye liner.

Having 24-hour on the label made me a bit nervous – what if I messed up and it was stuck on my face for a whole day? So it took me a couple weeks after buying to try. I was pleasantly surprised with the results; my first application was easy, the pen glides nicely on the eye lid and it is really precise. You can create nice jet black thin lines with it, and a perfect flick.

Other times it was harder, the line wasn’t perfect, but it was easily fixable with a moist cotton bud. After it dries, it really sticks, and removal requires quite a bit of scrubbing! It lasted well, when I returned home after work, it was still present, my eyes looked well lined and it didn’t run, although it was bit faded. I can see it being very useful to fill out the line after applying false eye lashes!

Maybelline Lasting Drama Gel Liner 24hr - Dani DutraThe other product I tried- and loved – is the Maybelline EyeStudio Lasting Drama gel liner, in blackest black. I really like that it comes with a brush, and the combo works really well; the gel is smooth and glides nicely, the little brush is a great size for the make up bag and is hard enough to be good for thin and wider lines, and it really, really lasts. After a whole day at work, including a trip to the gym, the line still looked impeccable! I was very impressed!

ELF Waterproof Eyeliner Pen - Dani DutraThe third product I tried is quite similar to the first one: the Elf waterproof eyeliner pen. I felt that, although the tip was finer, thus enabling you to create extremely fine lines, there didn’t seem to be enough ink coming out, it was quite dry, I had to rub it really hard and go over the line again and again losing precision, and the final result was still faded. I took pictures, but re-touched with the Collection 2000 liner to make it proper. A shame, as the Elf product is only £1.50,was really expecting one of those “amazing finds” moments! I didn’t do an “after” shot, as I had another liner over it.

For the time being, I’ve laid off my old ways and I am alternating between two of the new discoveries. I am divided between the Maybelline and the Collection 2000. The first one has amazing staying power, and the second is so easy to apply it is almost ridiculous! However, the Collection 2000 might just edge the Maybelline (£7.99) one for its price: £2.99, which is unbelievable value for this product!

What about you? What is your favourite eye liner?

Product review – 17 BB cream

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After hearing wonders about BB creams, I decided I needed to get hold of one. Who doesn’t want to sport skin as they promise? I mean, who wouldn’t kill  “to reveal the magic of flawless skin with this all-in-one foundation plus skincare wonder product”?

This cream claims to give full coverage which conceals imperfections and helps control oil;  even skins tone for a flawless finish and protect your skin with SPF 25 and hydrating formula. Great, eh? So I bought the 17 Blemish Balm, for a reasonable £5.99, on offer (normal price £6.99) from Boots.  I originally wanted the Garnier one, but the branch I visited didn’t stock it, so I decided to give this one a go.

It is worth pointing out that I have sensitive combination skin, with a sometimes oily t-zone and the eventual drier patches. I suffered from severe acne in the past and although it’s all  gone, I have breakouts from time to time. I don’t have an uneven skin tone, but have some mild acne scars on my cheeks, slightly enlarged pores (not too bad) and occasionally, some redness from irritation.

Bearing that in mind, this is my opinion and experience with the product:

The first thing I noticed was the colours limitation: two to be precise –  light and medium. Now, what do darker skins do? Not sure. I went for medium, as I have olive skin. The colour is not a good match for me, as it is medium for pink based skin tones. As I have yellow tones in my skin, none of the colours are ideal.

Second, I thought about posting a picture and decided against; there was no difference, it feels like a thin tinted moisturiser, it hid some minor blemishes, but didn’t offer good coverage. Needless to say, I am mortified to be photographed without make up, *twice* would be an insult.

Having said that, some reviews mentioned it could be ok to use as a primer, but  I don’t think it particularly fixes make up – I tried and it didn’t do it for me.

However, the absolute killer was the way the product made my skin feel very greasy, clogged, as if it couldn’t breathe. Minutes after applying, I felt I should wash my face. I had some break outs, and I am not, in any way, blaming the product for them, but now I haven’t used the product for a week or so, they have cleared – just saying.

I must mention, as explained above, that I don’t have flawless skin (if I had, I probably wouldn’t feel so tempted to buy the product in the first place), but my current foundation, which has a medium/sheer coverage, mixed with a little moisturiser offers much better coverage – without the greasy feeling.

Concluding, I can’t really see any of its magic, I didn’t like it, I wouldn’t buy it again or recommend and this is not really for me.

I do hope others had a better experience with this! Have you tried this or another BB brand? What did you think?

My staple make up brushes

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There was a time in my life I used to apply make up with my hands, and use shapeless foam applicators for my eye shadow. I was fifteen and those days are well and truly over.

Discovering make up brushes opened a whole new world of make up for me: they make application even, save product and are the tools that give me precision to create great make up and truly enhance my features. I then became brush-crazy and started slowly building up a collection.

All my brushes are from MAC; after having had bad brushes before, theirs was the first good brush I got that made a difference, so I stuck with them! I have about 17 brushes for face, eye and lip make up, but there are 10 of them I cannot live without and I use on a daily basis:

Face

190 Foundation brush – Really changed my life! Applies evenly, makes a small amount of foundation go a long way!

187 Duo Fibre brush – I love to use it to buff blusher and bronzer, sometimes I use it for foundation too.

129 Powder brush –  I use it for powder application and bronzer – I really love this brush!

168 Large Angled contour brush– I use this one mainly for blusher, applying on the apples of my cheek, but also under the cheekbone, to give contour that makes your face really stand out!

eye and lip

318 Retractable lip brush – I love this brush, I can really see the difference on lipstick applied with a brush, especially if they are red or other dark colour! 

208 Angled brow brush – another one I love, and use it to fill my eyebrows, which have a lovely shape, but are a bit sparse. Its hard bristles really get in there!

231 Small shader brush – Great for shading lines, but also for applying eye shadow as eye liner when a smokey effect is desired!

217 Blending brush – One of my favourites, this brush is made to go in your crease and blend – I love creating smokey eyes with it!!!

263 Small angle brush – Great for liners – super handy for corners!

239 Eye shader brush– I use this everyday, to apply eye shadow evenly on the lid.

Most of them come from brush bags MAC launches every year, mainly around Christmas, others I replaced by the full sized (and full priced!) brush or bought after seeing it being used on me during a make over at MAC. I do prefer the smaller special editions ones, as it is easier to carry them in my make up bag.

I usually clean them with brush cleaner (I’ve been using the MAC one, and I am very happy with it, it lasted a long time!) and warm soapy (or even detergent!) water. A good trick I read about, on my make up bible Make Up: The Ultimate Guide, by Rae Morris, is to use a white plate and rub the brush on it, until you can see the water running clear, so that you know your brush is clean! Good tip!

Some of them have been stained by pigments, others, have seen better days and I am looking forward to buying one of their sets soon to replace the oldies!

What about you? Do you have favourite brushes and brands?

Product review: Studio eye pencil set

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I have more eye make up that I could possibly wear in my lifetime, even if I were a spider, with eight blinkers. Still, in my world you can never have too much of (almost) anything so I could not resist when I came across this 7 eye pencil set by Studio, in Superdrug.

Usually, I am a bit sceptic about cheap make up, especially those in a “Christmas gift pack”, as I’ve had plenty disappointment in the past with poor pigmentation and durability. For £6.99 (and also part of their buy 3 for 2), it sounded like too good a deal to overlook, as it is less than £1 per pencil and the colours were appealing basics.

Just to have an idea of how good (or not) they were, I tried it at home one night, after work, pretty much on top of my worn out, basic day eye make up.

The pencils are really soft and the colours really bright, even though they are not super solid when on the eye, and the shimmery ones reflect light well. I also like that the colour have rather cute names, such as “silver moonbeam”. Application was easy, the pencils glide smoothly on the lid, and following the instructions inside the box to emulate the suggested design was quite easy, taking me well under ten minutes (even though the photo on the cover of the pack is definitely not done with the pencils in question) . The green and blue colour seem to mix quite a bit, and although when side by side they are quite similar, separately they are distinctive.

Durability was standard – I went on doing my usual things at home, and it seem to stay put, but losing intensity quite rapidly. I tend to think that if I had prepped my lids properly, as I do before applying make up to go out, they would have held better. Still to see if it passes the “night out” test.

I also used the green one to draw on my face, as a pumpkin stalk coming out of my orange eye make up for Halloween, and application was easy and it lasted well.

Overall, a pleasant surprise;  a good purchase that won’t break the bank with a very versatile colour range. I found great it also came with the eye-opening basic white pencil and the classic black, which are always welcome in any make up bag. Dare I say, the black is quite close to my current MAC black liner (Smoulder Eye Kohl),  and even though it is not a like-for-like swap (the MAC one is, in my view, far superior in quite a few aspects), it seems to be an acceptable budget alternative.

I might check out more of the Studio products available at Superdrug, they have a Eye Create Large Look Book (£9.99) and  a Lash Set (£14.99) I quite fancy!

Monday Beauties Blog Hop

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I have been blog hopping for a couple weeks now, and it is great fun!

It is “a place where bloggers can come together and share their links in a friendly and supportive manner2. Nice, eh?!  This started byNykki from Nykki’s Mane Blog and is now co-hosted by Kelly from Beauty Obsessed.

I love it because it creates a supportive network around you and it gives me chance to take a look around and discover blogs I wouldn’t otherwise. On top of it,  it exposes my blogs to other bloggers like myself! So here we go – if you want to add your blog to their hop, as I do every Monday, go here. Make sure you say hello to Kelly, check other bloggers, follow them and leave comments!

Happy Monday Blog Hopping everyone!

Product review: YSL Volume Effet Faux-Cils mascara

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YSL Volume Effet Faux Cils mascaraI have been using Maybelline mascaras for quite sometime now, and I find them so good that it was love at first brushing – I forgot all about my long-standing affair with the Lancome ones.

When faced with the opportunity to get the Yves Saint Laurent Volume Effet Faux-Cils mascara, I did so almost reluctantly, as I was very happy with my Falsies.

It had been sitting in my make up drawer for months, unopened and unused, so I decided it was high time to crack it open, and was pleasantly surprised with the outcome.

YSL Volume Effet Faux Cils mascara brushIt does indeed give you volume, good separation and length; even though the brush is quite bushy, it doesn’t clump. It has a surprisingly nice smell (had never seen a mascara with a slight fragrance!)  and the tub is lush (although I keep confusing it with my Touche Eclat!)

Even after rubbing my watery eyes  for most of the day (the computer screen is really irritating them, as I left my glasses at home) the mascara seems to hold well, and best of all, I didn’t turn into a panda. This means it has good staying power, and even after a long day at work, simply washing your face with a good face wash won’t do, so an efficient eye make up remover is a must.

eyes with and without YSL Volume Effet Faux Cils mascara

I really like this mascara, but will this be enough for me to leave my beloved Maybelline Falsies behind? Probably not, as value for money is greater with the Falsies (£8.19) and the difference in results is little or none, but this YSL (£22.00) definitely has a deserving place in my heart – and my make up bag!

London Fashion week beauty

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Vivienne Westwood Red Label eyes, Topshop unique hair

MAC eyes for Vivienne Westwood; hair for Topshop Unique

Of course I love the clothes, but what really caught my eyes were the accompanying nails, hair and make up during LFW.

The nails, hair and especially make up at Vivienne Westwood’s Reb Label show were simply amazing – MAC delivered exotic peacock eyes and burgundy defined cheeks and nails were painted each in a different shade of green/blue. I adore bold eyes and will try to replicate at home soon! Also growing fonder of the mismatched nail colours, quite daring for me as to this day I have always painted all my nails one colour at a time!

Topshop unique, House of Holland and Vivienne Westwood nails

Nails for Topshop Unique, House of Holland and Vivienne Westwood

Topshop Unique delighted us with sensational, “gold-plated” locks (applying gold leaves on hair) and blue, gold and pink painted nails with hieroglyphics – pure “Queen of the Nile” lush.

House of Holland gave us “ombre” nails – colour at the bottom, no colour at the top of the talons. Elle has even published a “how to“, if you’d like to try – I don’t think I will myself, as the final aspect doesn’t seem very tidy, but I might try the technique with two colours!

Meadham Kirchhoff's model hair and make up

Hair and make up for Meadham Kirchhoff's show

Mary Kantrazou‘s models brought bold coloured lips to the catwalk, including blue, green and grey! Quite enjoyed seeing it.

I feasted my eyes with the styling at Meadham Kirchhoff show – a circus-like bonanza, with  bouffant wigs, neon and pastel lips and eyes, colourful nails with the cutest motifs (mainly, there was a vagina one!) and plenty of glitter.

I can definitely spot some trends here, such as  each nail painted on a different colour, patterns and bold eyes, as well as pastel colours on make up for the summer. The fresh-faced, natural look with barely there make up also graced a lot of shows.

As far as make up, nails and hair on the catwalk go, London outdoes New York by a mile, and even though light beige nails and a more natural make up, which were predominant in NY, have been spotted here, the opposing variety in London was far greater, and in my opinion, better and more fun!

Smashbox freebies

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Smashbox productsAfter much procrastination to commit, I decided to subscribed to some magazines.  One of them, Elle, has sent me a Smashbox make up set as a welcoming gift.

I am very sceptical about things that come free – I have been terribly disappointed in the past – so I opened the envelope with an anticipated dissatisfaction.

I would love to say that I was proven wrong and started vehemently believing in free stuff – this is not the case, but I  can say I was pleasantly surprised with the goods I received: O-Gloss Gold, Photo Op brightener and Soft Effects Powder Eyeliner, in aubergine.

Smashbox eyeliner

My favourite one is probably the eyeliner. When I saw the “aubergine” colour, I was a bit annoyed and thought: “typical, they never give you a great staple, like black, for free!”, but it turns out that it is quite dark, and close enough to be worn as an option to black.

For me, the best use was to recycle my eyeliner, I tried it on top of my reliable albeit very tired after a long day at the office,  MAC smolder eye kohl and it looked fantastic. In the morning though, when applied on fresh eyes, it was a bit messy, as it is very loose and fine powder, and the line was a bit rough – but maybe I need to get used to the applicator. Once you get it right (it took me a few minutes,  a cotton bud and a foundation retouch below the eyes!), it looked ok.

Smashbox lipgloss

The lipgloss did what it said on the tin – it changed from a guilded gold to a peachy tone and apparently, the peach colour of this intuitive lipgloss adjusts to your skin, giving you the best match for your complexion. Lips looked nice, the colour was good for me, I really like the golden sheen and the consistency and taste of the lipgloss were alright.

As for the highlighter, it was satisfactory, but not better than my usual Benefit High Beam or my YSL Touché Eclat.

All in all, I can say that I probably wouldn’t buy them. Maybe I could give the eyeliner a go but the £17 price tag for the duo (the black is paired with the aubergine), makes me think if it is really worth it. Good to try new brands and products though, and what I will probably do is use its applicator with other eyeshadows, as quite like the idea behind it, and see how it goes!

MAC Packed to go = ♥

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MAC packed to go promo imageI can barely contain my excitement since I opened the newsletter from MAC this morning and saw their Packed to go collection,  with a dozen beautiful compact product packages.

All very portable, what I find great about this range is that it covers a fair bit: from isolated areas (eyes or lips) to full face and looks in a box – and even brushes (although this is not news – every year MAC launches sets of make-up bag size versions of their brushes; I have two!).

My very favourites have to be the eye shadows, the Cool and Warm Smokey sets  – 6 shades for under £30, good value, if you, like me, is used to paying around £11.50 for one MAC eye shadow colour. The colours are very up-to-date, with 2 lighter shades, which are always a good all round base colours and rich greens, browns and dark reds.

The all black three assorted eye liners, which promise “versatility (which) lies in the application and the graphic quality of the line”, also intrigue me.

The Cinematic collection, offering lips kits and brushes, also caught my eye. I simply adore the colourful brushes!

I am in love (again!) and it is going to be very hard not to grossly overspend this weekend, as I have a make-over booked with them!

Wish me luck resisting!