March Favourites!

Is it just me or do I basically tell you guys every time I write a post "I can't believe another month has come and gone!" I'm so basic. This past month has been pretty boring for me as far as makeup goes... I've been really into keeping the skin bright with blush, popping on a few coats of mascara paired with a slightly bolder lip. Next month I'm going to do some damage. Sephora, I'm coming for ya. With that being said, this months favourites are mostly old products I have been grabbing for a ton this month and here I am to share the love with you :)

The Original Beauty Blender ◽️ This sponge is my #1 in life right now. I use this for EVERYTHING. Once damp, I use the beauty blender to apply my foundation, to blend out my concealer and for cream contouring. It gives such a flawless canvas on your skin and 100% soaks up all the excess product you may have added onto your face without meaning it! No cake face allowed. This is a must have in any ladies life

Blender Cleanser ◽️ What good is the world's most powerful makeup sponge without the worlds most powerful cleanser? This sponge cleanser not only works wonders quickly, it's great for a quick wash of your makeup brushes also!

Laura Mercier Cream Contour Palette ◽️ Sometimes when I'm blogging, I wish you could see my face. My face looks exactly like the emoji with two hearts as eyes when I'm talking about this STUNNING cream contour palette. I'm obsessed over cream contouring right now and these shades are so creamy and dreamy, when blending out with the beauty blender, it's such a perfect duo. Such a great combo of colours in such a small little package, it's going to be a dream for my upcoming wedding season

Anastasia Beverly Hills Lavish Palette ◽️ This palette is beautiful. And unfortunately it was limited edition. I searched amazon and ebay to see if this palette was available for grabs but I couldn't find it anywhere! I love this palette mostly for it's matte shades, especially Orange Soda and Sienna which I wear almost daily so it's a beautiful thing that ABH has come out with single shadows and you can find those two beauties on that list along with a ton of amazingly beautiful pigmented stunners. Buy them H E R E

Colourpop Cosmetics Super Shock Shadows ◽️ I own 3 shades {Rex, So Quiche + Amaze} I love these babies so much. The 3 shadows I have are all metallic and they make such a beautiful statement on the lids. They wear so full of pigment and colour for hours and they apply so easy. Full of sparkle and fun! Looking forward to trying Colourpop's matte shadows and their new blushes!

NYX The Curve Liner ◽️ This is one of my more recent purchases that I have total fallen in love with. Being a complete winged liner addict, I love that this felt tip liner is nice and thin and the shape of this product is GENIOUS. I love that you can get a really good grip on the base and then smoothly drag the liner across your lash line without getting product all in your lashes. The black is actually BLACK and not just a dark grey and I appreciate that

Revlon Nearly Naked  ◽️ I love this foundation because my skin is so dry and the formulation is a bit oily so it works well for me. Typically I'm a full coverage foundation kind of girl as I have redness in my cheeks and well, lets be honest, I like a full face! Hide those imperfections, YES PLEASE! but this foundation is more of a sheer coverage, light to medium if you build it up. It goes on really smooth and the colour didn't oxidize on my skin at all through the day. I was shocked I liked this so much as I had read online it broke a lot of people out but the only issues I had with this foundation is the packaging. Like, why are you so unattractive? And why the large open hole at the top of the bottle! It's such a mess. Put a pump on it, Revlon.

NYX Baked Blush in Wanderlust ◽️ So I bought this product specifically because the packaging is the cutest thing I've basically ever seen in the cosmetics aisle of my local London Drugs in my life. So clean looking and then they popped that precious bow on the front and yep, you've won my heart. I only picked up the one shade as I really didn't know much going in. Wanderlust is a soft pink shade with little specks of shimmer in it {assuming that's why they call it a blush and illuminzer } when I first got home to try this, I hated and did not understand the rough layer on the surface but once you break through, this product is great! So pretty on the cheeks as a sheer light pink, but you can easily build it up for a bolder cheek statement

Maybelline Colour Sensational Rebel Bloom in Hibiscus Pop ◽️ Pretty, pretty soft bubble gum pink... Love me some pink lippies. I really threw this lippy on this favourites list because I do love the shade SO much, but I don't want to completely lie to you... I don't LOVE the wear on this lipstick. It applies a bit uneven so you have to take your time, and then after a few hours I found it really soaked into my lip lines! But the shade is beautiful so you can decide if you want to put in the werk or just say screw it and find something better!

Mac Fix+ ◽️ This stuff is basically life. I spritz this all over my face before makeup application, afterwards to set my makeup and give off a a nice sheer glow, I apply it to my foundation brush before dipping into my foundation for sheer coverage and I will even use it throughout the day to refresh my skin. It smells AMAZING. Buy it, love it, keep it in your back pocket at all times, you won't regret it.

....speaking of which I am getting scary low on my current bottle, looks like next month's makeup extravaganza is going to be starting early!!

"Above all...

Watch with glittering eyes the whole world around you,

because the greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places.

Those who don't believe in magic will never find it."

xx,

S.

wearing "Sienna" in my crease and "Orange Soda" on the lid from the Lavish Palette

Eyebrows Speak Louder Than Words

So, the time is finally here... I'm talking about my one true love... Brows. Sorry to my fiancé, it was a close call...But in all serious-ness this is something in my life that has actually been a struggle. I know, how pathetic do I sound? When I was younger I constantly over plucked and CONTINUED to do so up until about 3 years ago. Just the other day I was looking at old photos of myself and my eyebrows are literally non-existence. It makes me cringe. It probably wasn't until I started getting really into watching youtube tutorials that it hit me how important eyebrows were. I started growing them out and finding new ways to fill them in as I went

just kidding... have both 

The first pencil I bought was Revlon Brow Fantasy which basically just helped me fill in all the sparse areas and then comb through and set with the gel. Then from there I started using the Brow Bar To Go as I preferred powder over pencil for my thin, unshaped brows. The kit came with 2 powders and a gel, using a small angled brush I used the darkest shadow on the outer half and the lightest on the inner then set with the gel. Once my eyebrows started taking on a fuller shape and my fire fueled for full brows like Carli Bybel, I then tried the Anastasia Brow Wiz which I am still obsessed with! This pencil is such a thin tip you can really fill in the brow so slowly and perfectly which works amazing when you are still in the process of growing out them brows as you can really manipulate your shape! I know the growing out process is SLOW and all you want to do it PLUCK but stay strong and just tell your friends, even strangers... not to look you in the eye. Your crazy brows might scare people. Not saying that happened to me or anything, but just saying...

AU NATURALE BROWS

before + after

the power of brows...

I met my holy grail product in October of this year and I haven't looked back since... In case you were living on a dessert island with no Sephora or social media, I introduce you to Anastasia Beverly Hills Dipbrow This stuff is INSANE! I always worry about my eyebrows slipping and sliding off in the hot months of summer. Even though I have grown my eyesbrows into a thicker shape, it has not made them fuller after years of tweezer abuse. I have to WORK to fill those bad boys in, and on their own they are not pretty so especially when it comes to summer time, I want my brows to stick. I promise I'm not one of those wear make up to the beach kind of girls, but I am a eyebrow game strong 24/7 kind of girl. So not only is this product waterproof but it goes on really creamy and blends like a dream. Right now I'm wearing Soft Brown, which is a bit dark for my hair as I'm in the process of heading back to a blonder shade but it's just personal preference that I like my brows to be bold and dark but you do you, boo. The pomade comes in tons of options for shades so if you prefer slightly less aggressive eyebrows, they got you covered!

As far as how I shade them in and create a strong tail, I keep the tail ends of my eyebrows fairly thin. I just feel it's easier to create the arch I want and then round it out and finish off the tail with a clean thin line. I always start with the pomade on a small angled brush and draw a light line on the bottom of the brows, from there I use the brush to blend upwards, starting at the middle of the brow, then I round out the arch, fill in the tail and use whatever is left over on the brush to shade in the inner quarter of the brow. Always remember to make the darkest part of the brow the OUTER, and the lightest on the INNER!  Not my photo below but I just wanted to share as some inspo! I'm awful at taking how-to photos but these are the exact steps I take to create the perfect brow

credit: chrisspymakeup

BROWS FULL WITH 'SOFT BROWN' DIPBROW

my L O V E S 

"Some are born with great eyebrows

Some achieve great eyebrows

Some have great eyebrows drawn upon them"

'til next time...

xx,

S.

How to: Glowing Skin

There's probably nobody in the world who doesn't want to look like they are glowing from within, right? I am such a huge fan of bright highlighted skin I can just never get enough of illuminating products- whether it be my collection of highlighters, shimmer bricks, brightening face creams... I'm addicted! So I thought I would just share some of my faves and a few steps I personally like to take when focusing on glowing skin :)

Let's do this...

I start by washing my face and then I use a few drops of Josie Maran Argan Oil with Radiance, which adds a light shimmer and radiance to the skin. I let this sit 'n soak in for around 20-30 minutes before I apply any other products and then I use a brightening primer or face cream all over my skin to prep for foundation

My Favourites:

L'oreal Magic Lumi Light Infusing Primer

Laura Mercier Foundation Primer - Radiance

Mac Strobe Cream

I mix a small pump of my Josie Maran Argan Illuminizer with my foundation and then I apply a light layer all over the skin using a damp Beauty Blender. Sticking to keeping the face bright, for concealer I use a shade 1-2 shades lighter than the skin and set with a translucent powder all over the face and a yellow 'banana' powder under the eyes

My Favourites:

concealer/highlight

Mac Prep + Prime in Light Boost

Maybelline Dream Lumi Highlighting Concealer in Radiant

My Favourites:

powders

Covergirl Translucent Powder in Light

Make Up For Ever HD Microfinish Powder

Ben Nye Banana Powder

Anastasia Beverly Hills Powder in Banana

After the skin is set I continue with my bronzing and blush as usual and then I HIGHLIGHT  which is always my favourite part of the process and the most exciting (yes I said exciting)
I apply my highlighter down the bridge of my nose, tops of the cheeks (you can take this a little further down towards your nose if you like a strong glow - I know I do!), cupids bow and a little on my chin

My Favourites:

Nars Albatross

Mac Soft and Gentle

Bobbi Brown Shimmer Brick

Shine bright like a diamond, ladies!

"If you have good thoughts,
they will shine out of your face like sunbeams,
and you will always look lovely."
-Roald Dahl

xx,
S.