Make Up For Glasses Wearers

People wear glasses for a number of reasons such as vision, comfort and fashion. 

Being a fairly statement piece to be wearing on your face any makeup application may be masked or less noticeable, leading to features that you like to highlight being hidden away instead.

I've personally needed to wear glasses since the age of seven, and until recently I've completely hated the fact that I don't have 20/20 vision. I've always disliked the way glasses would mask my eyes and especially make any eye make up less visible. This led to me overusing and over wearing contact lenses for many years, something which my eyes have not thanked me for.

Having recently invested in a new pair of glasses I'm determined to find a way to make them work for me so I can feel comfortable wearing them out in public!

So what have I been doing in terms of makeup?

1. SUBTLE BROWS IF YOUR BROWS ARE DARK- like many others I'm obsessed with the perfect brow! I've learnt however that if you have darker brows when it comes to wearing glasses less is more. The especially applies if like me your frame are fairly bold. toning down your brows will avoid a overly harsh look.
2. STRUCTURED BROWS IF YOUR BROWS ARE LIGHT - Brows help to frame our faces, so if  your natural brows are very light, filling them in as you normally would do if you weren't going to wear glasses is important to maintain your normal daily face structure. 
3. WINGED LINER - I'm a big fan of a neat wing, but if I'm not wearing glasses I can get away with skipping this step if I'm in a rush. However if I want to wear my glasses, adding winged liner really helps to open up my eyes and stops them from getting lost in my frames.
4. CLEAN WATERLINE - Normally I add a black Kohl pencil in my waterline, but leaving it bare when wearing glasses again helps open up the eyes, making them more noticeable.
5. MASCARA - Don't forget to add a couple of coats of your favourite mascara to finish things off. With or without glasses I feel like mascara makes a massive difference in terms on making your eyes a stand out feature!
   

OPTIONAL:

1. CONTOUR - My frames for example are very square and rather big, so contouring my face adds structure to the rest of my face and helps balance everything out. 
2. BRIGHTER LIP - Adding a bit of colour to the lips can really finish off your look. A nude would suit too, but the brighter lip doesn't have to be a daring red or a bright pink. Something like a rosy tinted lipbalm would really help bring the look together. A favourite of mine are the korres lip butters.
   What are your tips for make up application when wearing glasses?

New Maybelline Colour Tattoo In Cream Beige

  I've always been a fan of cream shadows and I was too all about the Maybelline Colour Tattoo hype when they first launched a couple of years back. Unfortunately in the UK we don't get the extensive colour range that is available in the US, as well as rarely getting the limited edition releases.

So whilst perusing the isles of Superdrug once again (I feel like you may be getting a sense of what I like to do in my spare time!) 2 weeks ago I stumbled across this new Maybelline Colour Tattoo Leather Effect in the shade Creamy Beige. Due to no longer keeping up with new launches as religiously as I used to I had no idea that new colour tattoos were released,so just imagine my excitement when this caught my eye! Total child in a sweet shop moment, I had to have it.

The name describes the colour well, I think its beautiful! On my skin tone it swatches warmer than it looks in the pot, leaning slightly orange. But overall its a camel tone bronzy shade with a satin finish.

I haven't had the opportunity to use this yet but I'll be happy if it performs like the others in terms of longevity, colour payoff and base properties. I think it will make a beautiful base for a warm bronze/brown smokey eye. I can't wait to try it out!!

If you're a fan of the Maybelline Colour Tattoos give this a try. Another Shade from the Leather Effects collection called Vintage Plum was also available if you're into deep purply tones. 

Have you tried this yet? What are your thoughts?

Back to Mineral Make-up

If you've been reading my blog for a while, you will know that I am a big fan of Bare Escentuals Mineral foundation.

But I'll let you into a little secret... over the past two months or so, i had completely fallen out with it! My skin was going through a really bad phase due to stress etc. and i kept on breaking out. I became convinced that mineral makeup was not what I needed as i didn't feel like it was giving my skin the coverage it needed.

I started looking for alternatives and found the dream satin liquid foundation by Maybelline in my makeup stash. Yes I do love that foundation, the finish and the coverage is beautiful, but the only problems was that I could feel it on my skin. Having got used to wearing minerals... I found liquid foundation to be really heavy and I always felt the need to re-apply during the day.

So after weeks of being moody and failing to find a foundation that I was happy with, I decided to sit down and apply my bare minerals foundation the same way that SJ on QVC was telling me too (Bare Escentuals is sold at QVC) and that's when I realised what was going wrong! It wasn't the foundation that was letting me down, it was the technique. I had fallen into a pattern of not following the specific SWIRL, TAP, BUFF method that your supposed to follow when applying bare escentuals mineral foundation, but that was all I had needed!

I also realised that when using mineral foundation, less is definitely more. I now apply three fine layers using the swirl, tap, buff technique with my bare escentuals full coverage kabuki brush. I find that this is enough to give me the coverage my skin needs. before, I had got into the habit of putting a lot of minerals on at once and not taking a little extra time to properly buff it into my skin.

I can officially say that I am loving using mineral foundation again! and another added bonus is that it has a natural SPF 15 in it, which is great for summer months!

What's your opinion on mineral foundation?

REVIEW: Maybelline pulse perfection mascara

first I'll start by apologising, because I've been meaning to do this review for ages, but just haven't got round to it. I've been really busy with school, work, applying for uni etc. etc. etc...

but anyway, moving on... i mentioned in a earlier post that i was sent the new pulse perfection mascara by maybelline to test out, and i did. I've been using it for over a week now and overall have mixed opinions.

what the website says:

Why You'll Love It

It’s our first vibrating mascara. Transforms your lashes to perfection.

• Patent-pending elastomer brush vibrates 7,000 times per stroke
• Provides clump-free definition, intense color, and shine
• Waterproof; also available in washable formula
• Builds lash volume, length, and adds curl
• Buildable formula
• Ideal for All Skin Types
• Contact lens safe

what do i think:

well to start off with, i was really excited to try the is mascara and was looking forward to seeing how the vibrating wand wound differ from a normal mascara wand.
i noticed that the wand was pretty much exactly the same as the Define-A-Lash wand, which was fine with me especially since i used to love that mascara, but after using the mascara for a couple of days, i felt that there was both pros and cons to the product.

PROS:

• the vibrating wand did help to separate the lashes effortlessly
• the mascara lengthened the lashes
• I'm a contact lens wearer and it didn't irritate
• added shine to the lashes

CONS:

• i didn't like the feel of the vibration on the eyelid
• i can see why this mascara is priced at £14.99 , but i do feel this is too steep
• i think the effect can be achieved with a little more effort using define a lash but at half the price.
• on some occasions my eyelashes did begin to clump

  

top: pulse perfection wand... bottom: Define-A-Lash wand

one coat of maybelline pulse perfection mascara

i can see why people love this mascara, and i do think its very good!!... but for me personally think i'v tried mascara that are better for me, for example max factors false lash effect. i would still recommend this product and think you should give it a go if your curious about it like i was.

x

Colour Sensational

today i was delighted received i little parcel in the post. i was really excited because it contained some products for me to try out from Maybelline. i was invited to the blogger's event on the 10th but was unable to make it, so would just like to say a huge thank you to Natalie from Headstream PR for still sending me some products to try out :) THANK YOU!

moving on... i received two colour sensational lipsticks and the new pulse perfection vibrating mascara ( i can't wait to try this out!) just to let you know, this post will be on the lipsticks and I'll do a separate review on the mascara once I've had a chance to try it out.

i was sent the lipstick it two shades, Midnight Plum and Golden Brown, and even though the purple wasn't something i would usually ever think of trying, i was excited to give it a go.

what the website says:

Why You'll Love It
Fall in love with colour, all over again:
- CRISPER COLOUR created by our pigment technology.
- CREAMY FEEL.
- Enriched with honey nectar.
- Discover HI-DEF colour.
- Intensify your lipcolour with our 26 captiving shades.

“I am so impressed with new Color Sensational. The high-definition shades give lips a real crisp colour which is very impactful. It is also easy to apply and gives lips a creamy feel.” Fiona Jolly, Maybelline New York's Celebrity Make-Up Artist. .

what do i think?
i have to say, i was really impressed with the texture and feel of these lipsticks. they were really soft and creamy and definitely easy to work with. lipstick can be a difficult product to wear, especially if you have dry lips like me, but these really do moisturise the lips and leave a lovely finish. i liked the fact that the colour intensity was buildable which makes alot of the more vibrant shades more wearable.

first tried Golden Brown, which initially looked really quiet dark for my liking because i'm more of a neutral/pinky lipstick girl, but when applied to the lips, i was pleasantly surprised! like i said, the colour was buildable, so with a little bit applied the colour came through as a lovely neutral shade. definitely something I'll wear again.next i tried the Midnight Plum, and i tired it at full intensity. i did like the look of the colour, but to be perfectly honest i know it's a colour that i just wouldn't wear. i do admire people who would be confident to go out with such a colour on, but i don't think I'm quiet there yet..... i think the tone of the lipstick looked OKAY on me, but i think it would look much better on a deeper skin tone. my mum is quiet a bit darker than i am, and she loves wearing purple's and they really suit her. having said that the texture and feel was amazing. i loved the finish to this lipstick especially. it was so glossy!
haha, what can i say... I'm cool!!

trying this colour has made me decide to aim to be a bit more adventurous with my lip colour, and i definitely want to try out some more of the colour sensational lipsticks.. i really do recommend them. so as well as going on a hunt for popular colour's such as Amber Rose, I'm going to try and find a pillar box red shade.... adventurous i know! this sounds a bit contradictive from me saying I'm not confident enough to wear bright shades, but I've wanted to try a bright red for ages and i WANT to be confident enough to wear it, so if i can find one from this range I'm going to grab it. I've only swatched these two and I'm already in love!

if you have anything on your blog to do with these lipsticks please direct me their, i want to know what you all think :)

x

Forgotten Gems

so i was having a little clear out today and i stumble across a couple of make-up items that i had long forgotten about, but had definitely once upon a time been a big part of my daily makeup routine.

first is this MAC eyeshadow which was release with a Barbie collection and it was actually my first ever MAC product. It's in a shade called whistle an I'm so glad i found it because i really used to love this product and i wore it all the time. it's a beautiful pearly baby pink colour that leaves a subtle satin finish. it can be worn as a eyeshadow, on the inner corners of the eyes to give a wide awake look and even as a highlighter on the brow bone. i still have quite a bit of it left and it still has the barbie imprint on it.




next is a product that I'm sure you've all heard about, it the Maybelline great lash mascara in Blackest Black. this was a cult favourite once upon a time and was actually the first mascara i ever owned. i haven't tried it in ages, but i do remember loving it and i did repurchase it a couple of times. this one is clearly past its sell by date so next time I'm in a drugstore i might just pick it up again as i do think that it's a forgotten gem of mine.



i love love love rediscovering old products, because when you do they feel new again ans you get the same feeling you did when you first bought them! :)

However... I'm going to start making a conscious effort to use product before i purchase more of the same kind. even though it's great to rediscover unused products i think it's even better to get your moneys worth out of them... do you agree?

have you rediscovered any old make up items lately?

x