L.F RAMBLES - HAPPY NEW YEAR AND ILLAMASQUA HAUL

I actually went 'out out' this year. Was OK. More hype really but I was with my best friend so it's all good. This is me after the night out btw. Also look! It's the 'real' home background again.

They've recently opened an Illamasqua stand alone store in VQ in Leeds...  huzzah! Oh the illustration on the bag is also divine.

My good friend actually bought a full bottle of Freak after just one sniff

 ILLAMASQUA POWDER EYE-SHADOW - SYNTH AND FALLEN

I love Illamasqua eye-shadows as they blend like a dream.... and most of them are matte. Which is my favourite finish to work with. Synth reminds me of MAC's pink opal pigment and surprisingly the fine glitter doesn't 'drop'.... WIN.

Hey guys, HAPPY NEW YEAR! Let's make 2012 an even better year!

x x x

L.F'S 2011 FAVOURITE PRODUCTS

 BOURJOIS 10 HOUR SLEEP EFFECT FOUNDATION

I *really* like this. I thought I'd love healthy mix more but this foundation lasts on my skin amazingly well. It's my go to foundation for uni' and I actually pick this over my more expensive ones. Think luminous skin without looking oily. The only draw back is the dismal shade selection.

 SHU UEMURA EYELASH CURLER

I know these 'work' better on certain eye shapes.... but HOLY SHIZ this works like no other. This baby can keep a curl. My lashes DO NOT DROP AND I HAVE ASIAN LASHES..... RUN NOW!

17 EYEBROW SHAPER- NATURAL BROWN

I've been using pencils instead of powders for the last couple of months because I find powders don't last well with sparse areas. Then the dilemma of finding a brow pencil which doesn't have any red undertones (I have black hair.... it isn't going to work.) HARD. Anyway this is pefect! And under £3 which is a steal.

AND ALL THE PRODUCTS HERE

Hey guys, I hope this isn't a cop out but I genuinely still love, use and rave about 2010s favourite products too :D

HAULIN' 11 - YORK DESIGNER OUTLET

ALL FROM THE COSMETICS COMPANY STORE:

 MAC - 225 LARGE TAPERED BLENDING BRUSH (£19.50)

I am a brush HOE. I saw this last time but didn't get it... now it's mine! I'm planning to use it to highlight specific areas of the face.

 CLINIQUE MOISTURE SURGE FACE SPRAY (£13.00)

I'm slowly becoming 'into' skincare. One minute my skin is 'normal', super oily, broken out or a flaky mess and I'm talking LIZARD STYLE. After watching Camie  mentioning excess oiliness might be due to dehydration I've been more conscious of what I'm putting onto my skin. I *think* it's working. Anyway this product is to aid any 'bad' days.... all about the moisture now.

 ESTEE LAUDER DOUBLE WEAR LIGHT (£18.00)

As well as a brush hoe... I'm a foundation hoe too. I have TONS. You guys have no idea! I have foundations for certain finishes/longevity/for certain skin days. It was only a matter time before I got this one - I hear RAVE reviews *coff* Pixiwoo girls *coff*. I'll tell you guys how I feel about it when I decide to use it.

MAC EYESHADOW- CONCRETE (£6.75)

Trying to find the perfect brow powder. Brun you have competition...

OTHER HAUL ITEMS NOT PHOTOGRAPHED:

SIGMA BRUSHES-  I made the most of the Black Friday sale. I got mainly eye brushes and so far so good! Still in testing mode..... I'll feature them at some point if they make the 'rave' grade

SOAP AND GLORYY SKIN CARE -  I managed to snag a giftbox in the sale with 4 full size items for £17* which isn't bad since one of the products retails at £14 anyway :D

HAPPY HOLIDAYS 2011

Our 'funky' tree

HOLIDAY HAULIN':

 GEMMA CORRELL

Love her work, we share the shame kind of humour

 TOM FORD BLACK ORCHID

Will have to be my special occasion fragrance as it's very pricey for me... also this is my first perfume I've ever bought. I feel grown-up

 AZENDI

Indie company gone big! Their first ever shop is near where I live... anyhow I got this ampersand charm as a nod to graphic design/typography... I'm geeky

ALEXANDER MCQUEEN: SAVAGE BEAUTY

 I've wanted this for ages and I LOVE it. So inspirational.... LONG LIVE MCQUEEN

Hey guys, HAPPY HOLIDAYS! Hope you have a wonderful day spending time with loved ones, eating things you shouldn't and flicking through the TV channels desperately for something decent to watch.

I'm personally just going to have a 'chill' day as in 'L.F HQ' we are not to big on the whole Christmas sha-bang.... we just do the normal with the added bonus of presents. 

ALSO I know it's not the end of the year but I just wanted to say a massive THANK-YOU to anyone who reads and follows L.F MAKE-UP. I've already got my giveaway prize sorted for when I hit 50 followers just as an extra thank-you.

Have a lovely day!

 x x x

MUM GETS A MAKEOVER - CHRISTMAS EVE

My mother again! She's becoming a regular face now

My mum has been going to more parties and events than me since I've been back at home... geez how ironic!

Anyway I think this is my favourite look I've done so far on my mum. Well you can actually see the make-up now as I've *kind of* sorted that horrible 'flash of death'.

Not just for 'mature' ladies but generally it's best not to stick to 'trends' and to just enhance existing features to actually keep things 'modern'.

To keep with the festive theme I used a red lipstick as a stain and with the eyes a 'soft' smokey eye with a taupe-y  purple and browns. I think shimmer/frosty eye-shadows are FINE to use on 'mature' ladies - you just need definition. And for this use matte shades to give it that 'opaque' structure to frame the eyes. 

L.F DOES A/W - 'THAT' HOLIDAY LOOK

MODELS OWN - CHAMPAGNE

Only for the festive period.. it's a bit too *bling* for me

Hey guys this my holiday look for 2011, you can see last years offering here! Being totally cliched with the colour scheme but I really wanted to use red and greens together. I'm not sure if you guys are going to recreate this but here is a run down of how to achieve this:

1. PREP EYELID AND USE A SHIMMERY 'PALE' EYE-SHADOW ON THE BROW BONE (FYRINNAE-  FINNEGAN'S WAKE)
2. APPLY A SHIMMERY GREEN EYE-SHADOW ALL OVER THE LID (FYRINNAE- DRAGONSKIN)
3. BLEND A DEEPER GREEN INTO THE CREASE AND BLEND BLEND BLEND
4. USING A DEEP MATTE BLACK STARTING FROM THE OUTER CORNER BLEND AND DRAG THE EYE-SHADOW TO CREATE A 'FLICK' CAT EYE SHAPE, MAKING SURE THE EDGES ARE SOFT
5. ON THE LOWER LID USE A RUSTIC BROWN HEAVILY TO DEFINE THE EYES
6. CONTOUR THE SKIN AND USE A PLUM BERRY SHADE AS A BLUSH
7. HIGHLIGHT THE HIGH POINTS OF THE FACE  AND IN THE INNER TEAR DUCT USING A SHIMMERY METALLIC SHADE (E.L.F MINERAL EYE-SHADOW- ELEGANT)
8. FOR THE LIPS I PAINTED ON NATURAL COLLECTIONS MOISTURE SHINE LIPSTICK IN CRIMSON AND APPLIED A BERRY LIP GLOSS ON TOP
9. FINISH THE FACE WITH LOOSE POWDER, USUAL BROW ROUTINE AND A LAYER OF MASCARA TO KEEP THINGS IN BALANCE

I hope you like this look and I'd like to know about your festive look for the holidays. Next post should be on Christmas day :)

MUM GETS A MAKEOVER

BEFORE

DAY

NIGHT

L.F DOES A/W - WARM TRUFFLE

  I was inspired by this quad- Estee Lauder's Signature Eye-shadow Quad in 06 TRUFFLE

ANYWAY.....It's discontinued now! Damn. I wanted to use something you guys could easily purchase as well.

HOW I USED THE COLOURS (CLOCKWISE):

GREEN- LOWER LASH-LINE

CREAM- TEAR DUCT AREA

RED BROWN- CREASE

COPPER- LID

KEY PRODUCTS:

ESTEE LAUDER SIGNITURE EYESHADOW QUAD - 06 TRUFFLE

ILLAMASQUA LIPSTICK - DIABLO

TOPSHOP GLAZE - BRONZE

PLAYBOY SHIMMER BRICK - BRONZE

Hey guys, I'm back! There's like a billion looks on my to do list but I somehow I ended up doing an 'warm' autumnal kind of look.

I used the quad as my inspiration and to keep with the theme I used a high shimmer bronze shimmer to bring warmth to the skin. This was blended up to the  temple of the cheeks and then blended onto the brow bone.

The lipstick would make a beautiful berry stain but to give it some 'life' I added a gloss. 

My focus was just to make everything look in synergy together and not out of place. I don't think Estee Lauder had my look in mind with the quad but it's a fun way to show how to 'work' a range of colours together.

QUICKIE

Hey guys, I just thought I'd do a quick update. Even though I technically don't have to post every week..... I feel guilty when I don't.

I'm just really busy with uni' work at the moment - which means I'm not in the mood to play with make-up or just generally blogging. My deadlines next Friday so I doubt I'll post anything till then.

MASSIVE shout out to the lovely Camie from camiloveskiwi (super friendly and her videos are awesome) for featuring me on her blog list. I think I have some new followers because of this so thank-you and hello new followers!

I'll be back very soon

 x x x

L.F DOES A/W - LINDSEY WIXSON BY TERRY RICHARDSON INSPIRED MAKE-UP

Terry Richardson's Diary

KEY PRODUCTS:

MAC PAINT POT -  QUITE NATURAL

MAC EYE SHADOW - BRUN AND CORK

MAYBELLINE EYESTUDIO LASTING DRAMA GEL LINER- BLACK

NARS BRONZER - LAGUNA

MAC LIPSTICK - JUBILEE

Hey guys, I was just doing my daily Tumblr feed browsing and I came across Terry Richardson's shoot with Lindsey Wixson. She looks STUNNING. And obviously I then drifted onto her make-up. Again this is a wearable and super easy to recreate look this week - I will do more creative looks soon! 

To recreate this all you need is a lid colour (Cork) and on the outer corner I blended in a tiny amount of Brun. Next I lined around my eyes (including my upper and lower lash line) with gel eyeliner - a slight cat eye shape on the outer corners and near the tear duct area I created a more exaggerated shape to create a feline effect. To finish the eyes off I decided to go for a 'shaped' brow, touch of bronzer and a beige toned nude lip.

If you want to copy Wixon's look 'identically', I would use shadows with a warmer tone, use a kohl pencil (will give a 'sheen' rather than a matte look the gel gives), a soft pink blush and lastly a pink toned lip product.

Hope you guys try this out, it's dramatic even for me but it makes your eyes look so intense and really easy to recreate with just 3 key products.

WET N WILD PALETTE SWATCHES AND NOTW

WET N WILD PALETTE- PRIDE

WET N WILD PALETTE- SILENT TREATMENT

I kind of picked these two up by 'accident' as a UK seller on Ebay had a TON of these palettes at £0.99, so I wasn't expecting to win them and didn't go bidding crazy for these as I know they are well overpriced in Ebay world compared to the RRP.

Anyway it turns out I won the two above (for really cheap). This is just my initial reaction.

First of all the swatches are with NO BASES. So pigmentation wise I'm impressed. They blend well AND there's a mix of satin and mattes shades so even better. My favourite part of the eye-shadows is the texture and finish- they remind me of MAC's satin/frost eye-shadows. They are not too creamy and not too frosty which I hate (Sleek's eye-shadows are too frosty for my liking).

The downsides is I've found the matte shades a bit chalky, so remember to tap your brushes or they'll be loads of unsuspecting fall out all over your face. Also so far (worn 4 times all day) I find them to fade a bit. Just a bit. Nothing to stop me wearing them but I've found them to lose their intensity faster than my usual shadows. 

I think if you have easy access to these palettes I would definitely purchase, but I wouldn't go out of your way and buy from Ebay. I think it's only a matter of time before they hit the UK. I think.

NAILS INC- BASIL STREET (FREE IN THIS MONTHS GLAMOUR MAGAZINE)

REVLON TOP COAT- STAR

I LOVE THIS COMBO'. Maybe because I'm so used to wearing murky colours that suddenly wearing nude shades again I feel my nails look so much better in a chic and understated way. I'm kind of into glitter topcoats too atm so I decided to jazz up the beige. 

I usually HATE Nails Inc polishes since they chip like crazy but I can report my nails have lasted pretty well- so grab your Glamour copy and give Nails inc another go if you've ever felt the same.

My sister C.F- while she doesn't make use of my make-up skills she gets all of my 'pricey' unloved make-up!

My sister is one of those people who 'can't' wear a lot of make-up. I've tried loads of times but she just looks 'overdone' even if you apply just a tiny bit more.

Also she always refuses to be in my blog if I ever use her as a test model- think she's ashamed of being on my make-up blog haha.

She came up 2 weeks ago and I convinced her to let me try a new look on her (she's usually a bare faced minimal kind of wearer).

It's not perfect but I was just having fun. I went for a pin-up 'polished' look which is obviously a polar opposite of what she wears..... I think she looks great! And she's actually let me upload this. Huzzah.

L.F DOES A/W - BLUETONES

Warm and cool tones together? YES!

KEY PRODUCTS:

MUA EYESHADOW- SHADE 12 PEARL (SWATCH HERE) OR MAC'S CLUB EYE-SHADOW

ELF EYE TRANSFORMER - BLUE SHADE

BLACK KOHL EYELINER

MAC PRO LONGER LIPSTICK - EXTENDED PLAY
DEWY FOUNDATION 

RUN DOWN:

1. APPLY AND BLEND MUA SHADE 12 EYE-SHADOW ALL AROUND THE EYES, MAKING SURE TO PAT AND LAYER TO BUILD UP THE COLOUR TO MAKE THE DUO CHROME MORE PROMINENT.
2. NOW TAKE THE IRIDESCENT ELF BLUE EYE-SHADOW AND GENTLY PACK ONTO THE EXISTING EYE-SHADOW. THIS WILL CHANGE THE OVERALL EXISTING BASE BUT WILL HAVE MORE DIMENSION WITH THE WARM BROWN BASE SHOWING UNDERNEATH.
3. DEFINE THE UPPER AND LOWER LASH LINE  WITH A BLACK KOHL EYELINER TO ADD SUBTLE DEFINITION.
4. BROW ARE OPTIONAL BUT I WENT FOR A FULL SHAPE.
5. FOR THE LIPS I CREATED A STAINED EFFECT TO ADD SOME COLOUR WITHOUT TAKING ANY ATTENTION AWAY FROM THE EYES.
6. CONTOUR THE CHEEKS AND USING A 'HEAVIER' HIGHLIGHTER HIGHLIGHT THE HIGH POINTS OF THE FACE.

Hey guys, I'm back with a wearable look for you and I really did wear this out so I'm not just telling you guys.
I was actually just messing around with the MUA shade 12 eye-shadow- 'creamy' texture and easy to blend. It's basically a warm red toned brown with shots of teal-blue micro-shimmers.... But I decided to jazz it up and press on more blue shimmers so ELF's eye transformer came in handy.
I personally really like the combination of the warm 'smokey' brown with the contrast of cool blue shimmers... A subtle colourful smokey eye? 
To keep this look really simple to achieve, I decided to just line my upper and lower lash line with a kohl pencil which just pulls the look together - not so flattering for small eyes but it's a change for me!
Hope you guys enjoyed this (budget friendly this one) and try layering different eye-shadows together :)

HALLOWEEN - CAT MAKE-UP AND MAC SEMINAR

Quick doodle on the unloved kitchen whiteboard

MEOW! And I know it looks like I used two different sets of eyelashes on the bottom but basically one of them was malting!

With ears....

and without! I'm aware the photos are pretty much identical- sorry!

 Cat print skirt from Zara to complete the look, I wasn't too adventurous with my costume.... think the make-up was enough! 

MAC seminar goodies

It was much better than I expected. And apparently it was the first ever MAC technique class they've held up north (or so I over heard).

There were two MAC trainers demonstrating two different looks on two models simultaneously from start to finish using the new Christmas collection.

I wish I had brought my camera with me but I had no idea it would be such a professional event (cameramen, swanky lights and all).

I think if you are a beginner it is worth attending too see what techniques and products were used to achieve certain effects. Anyone a bit more advanced there was nothing 'new' but I enjoyed watching the artists at work and see how and why they did things.

Hey guys, this is my last Halloween related post! You can see my original test run post here.
I was really rushed with time and I managed to mess it up the first time round, so it's not as 'perfected' as I wanted. I tweaked a few things such as the colour palette and the eye duct area.... Which version do you prefer?
Anyway I am pleased with the results and I got a few compliments asking me who did it, which is always nice :)

HALLOWEEN - FAIRY DUST

KEY PRODUCTS:

MAC EYE-SHADOW - CARBON AND PASSIONATE

LA FEMME BLUSH -  CORAL SPICE

MAC 3D SILVER GLITTER DUPE BY STARGAZER

MAC MIXING MEDIUM

Hey guys, another Halloween make-up I did on Monday.

My flatmate J.G. wanted a make-up that incorporated glitter but she didn't want to look too theatrical.

Her costume (tutu, wings and vest) wasn't really tied to an obvious theme so I decided to go down a fairy 'girly' route to suit her style/personality. 

This was very simple to achieve and would compliment costumes such as fairies or princesses :)

HALLOWEEN - VOODOO WITCH DOCTOR

RICK GENEST EAT YOUR HEART OUT

KEY PRODUCTS: 

MUFE 12 FLASH COLOUR CASE ONLY

KOHL PENCIL

Hey guys, here's my friend A.J. I think he looks pretty ace and I love his costume that was previously a charity shop find. 

Like always, something had to happen. We were strapped for time anyway and then his nose decides to bleed. Great combo.

For the make-up I referenced to Petrilude's witch doctor tutorial. I can't take all the credit though, A.J did the pattern marks and I did the rest! My best tip is after you draw the pattern marks is to use a pencil brush to soften the lines which will make it appear less harsh and hide any shaky lines.

Go to town with it and don't worry about it being too neat as you want to look a bit 'rough' and mysterious.