L.F DOES S/S - TWO TONED LIPS

Sophie brought along another Illamasqua card, this time showing how to do a two toned lip. Lips is a territory I'm slowly getting into, so I wanted to try a new technique on Elly. 

Plain face Elly with just MAC's snob on.

 After! It's quite a heavy look with the full brows, eyes and lips.... but I think she pulls this off perfectly. The tones compliments her skin tone and enhances her existing features.

Flash shot to bring out the colours more.

KEY PRODUCTS:

MAC LIP PENCIL - VINO

NYX LIP PENCIL - PINKY

MAC EYE-SHADOW - GULF STREAM

ILLAMASQUA PURE PIGMENT - ALLUVIUM

MAC BLUSH - SPRINGSHEEN

Hey guys, so this is Elly's look! Elly showed me her purchase of Illamasqua's pure pigment in alluvium, which was this beautiful blue-purple shade and so blue smokey eye was the route I decided to go down for her. I used a few different tones to add depth and the teal blue running across the crease I think softens the whole look. I was a bit undecided on which colour way to go with the lips but I'm a total sucker for a dark lip and I wanted to use MAC's vino which was in Elly's make-up bag.

Do you guys like the transformations?

L.F DOES S/S - COLOUR AURA WITH S.K

Sophie came round with some Illamasqua look cards and the 'colour levitation' eye look inspired me to create a colourful smokey eye. I particularity like the use of orange used by Illamasqua, so that became the starting point for me.

Before! Thanks for braving the camera and internet :)

Candy-fairy iridescent goodness!

KEY PRODUCTS:

URBAN DECAY 24/7 GLIDE ON EYE PENCIL - ASPHYXIA

MAC PAINT POT - ROLLICKIN'

MAYBELLINE EYESTUDIO LASTING DRAMA GEL LINER

MAC REFLECTS TRANSPARENT TEAL

MAC EYE SHADOW - OFF THE PAGE, CREME DE VIOLET AND AQUADIASIC

Hey guys, last week my wonderful friends Sophie and Elly came round to be my models for the day. I got total free reign but they had mention they would be going out later, so it was in the back of my mind not to go too crazy. I've probably mentioned this before, but a special shout out to both of them for being really supportive about my interest in make-up. They've been encouraging and there for me since day one, so thank-you so much. It means a lot to me!

With my Illamasqua reference, I used the orange shade as a wash on the lids as the starting point and it just went from there. I wanted to play with colour but for it to be a softer interpretation I've gone down the candy route with the iridescent pastel tones. The use of MAC's reflects transparent teal really finished the look for me, but unfortunately you can see a little stray flecks about.

I hope you like this look and Elly's look will be up on here next.

PROM MAKE-UP - 28/06/13

My gorgeous client, her skin was AMAZING (butter soft and normal skin type = jealous). She has the most stunning facial structure and full lips too. A dream to work with!

After! Smokey brown eye with winged eyeliner to help even the lid shapes and soft blush on the cheeks with a wash of colour on the lips. I've noticed the lip shape is slightly uneven, I'm not sure if it was rubbed off whilst getting her hair done or my error. Not too much of a big deal because my client said she would use something of her own over...... but lesson of the day: double check. 

Hey guys, I didn't think I'd be doing a prom job this year, but out of the blue I got one. I always find it funny when a client asks for a 'natural' look but always shows me a really full on look as a reference. I just went with a look to enhance her features, but be 'glam' enough to be noticeable. Working on the eyes was a good learning curve too, because you might notice her eye lids are both completely different shapes - so the challenge was to use eyeliner and false eyelashes to even them up. I think she looks really beautiful and I'm just slightly annoyed at myself for the lip mishap.

Until next year for another prom job!

L.F RAMBLES - UPDATE AND HAUL

My hand after a make-up job!

VILLAGE BOOK SHOP

Finally got a chance to stop by. Lots of well known, indie and niche publications and zines. Love this place. My friend Elly waiting for me at the till.

Picked this shirt from the store too! One of my foundation tutors (Matthew the Horse) from LCA started this project which you can check out here.

REAL TECHNIQUES CORE COLLECTION

This is my second set. Really rave these brushes - I use these over my high end brushes.

THE ALCHEMIST, TRINITY LEEDS

Good place for cocktails and drinks, nice addition to Leeds.

MARC BY MARC JACOBS KATIE BUNNY IPHONE CASE AND DELICATE SWEETIE PENDANT NECKLACE

 I really shouldn't of bought these, but I'm a sucker for Marc Jacobs.

Impulse purchase, but I love Dogeared.

KEVYN AUCOIN SENSUAL SKIN ENHANCER - 2

I really love this product but shade 5 tends to oxidise on me, so I bought this shade to custom blend. The woes of having oily skin. 

 My friend Ed taking the piss out of me. Unfortunately Kitty Dicky does exist in the form of Faberge haha. I really miss his company because we spent most of F.A.D together and now it's like twice a year or something ridiculous.

I was hoping to see red pandas because my friend really loves them :)

 A few of us  went to Chester Zoo for my friends early birthday day out. I really enjoyed myself and we didn't even finish the whole zoo even though we got there at 11! My favourite animal was probably the bush dogs. So CUTE.

 Back to Newcastle. Do some errands, see degree show, say 'goodbye' and a classic L.F thing to do: FORGET THE KEYS TO YOUR HOUSE. My housemates phone went berserk, so I had to resort to hanging round my neighbours with all my baggage. I think they are getting used to me having key related problems and residing to theirs. The weather was really beautiful and I felt this weird sense of belonging going back. My 'home', kinda. I've been away 3 weeks and a bit and I miss this place. Me and my sister both love Newcastle as a city to live in but we both hate the weather. It's usually cloudy and cold 98% percent of the time. Seriously. Anyway third year in September. I got some marks back from my last assignment (dissertation proposal) and I had to just laugh. Another comment about my confidence. I've had these comments since primary school. I'm 21 now.

THIERRY MUGLER ANGEL LES PARFUMS DE CUIR

I feel almost bad owning this. This is the scent EVERYONE has. But this version is infused with leather and that caught my eye. The sillage is insane. 

 PAPERSELF
These have been out for awhile but I've resisted getting a pair because they are a bit pricey. I managed to get these discounted so I might start up a little collection. I don't plan to use them... just make-up artist porn.

 MANCHESTER ART GALLERY
One of my favourite things to do is to just walk around aimlessly in museums/galleries by myself. Work above is by Grayson Perry.

DIE ANTWOORD MANCHESTER RITZ 21/6/13

I had the ZEF time of my life. They were so awesome live. I've been waiting for this gig for so so long! I managed to get a spot on the second row till it got too crazy. I've also broken my no camera out policy at gigs. It usually drives me crazy why people faff around with their fancy phones/cameras instead of enjoying the live music..... but I couldn't resist. Hope they come back to the UK soon!

Not in chronological order or anything. Just snippets of everything... well a glimpse of my so called life. I do a lot more. Promise.

MAKEOVERS

Before

After!

I don't have a before photo but the client wanted to look very natural, so I just did subtle enhancements just to define the features slightly. 

My mum has been doing these makeover photo shoots for awhile for fun for her friends, and whilst I'm sticking around I've been roped into doing the make-up. You might see a few more of these if my mum keeps advertising them around to her friends.

NADA

My brows are finally starting to grow back fuller! DO NOT OVER PLUCK YOUR BROWS. Or be as deranged as me and aspire to recreate Fergie's brows. FML. My problem area is mainly my dark circles and uneven skin tone. I look tired... but it's me!

Less tired looking! And sporting tons of tricks of the trade.

Hey guys, I guess inspired by my mum I thought I'd show a before and after kind of thing after a meal out recently. I've been bare faced here before but I thought it would be nice to show how I look normally... flaws and all. It's ok! Patchy lip stain removal on the bare faced one though, sorry!

I obviously look better and feel more confident with make-up on, but it's also important to feel comfortable in your own skin. I know some people who REFUSE  to leave the house without anything on and to me that's such a shame.

MUM GETS A MAKEOVER 5

Mum with nothing, she hates her bags!

My mum going for the Kawaii look. 

KEY PRODUCTS:

BOBBI BROWN CORRECTOR

YSL TOUCHE ECLAT RADIANT TOUCH HIGLIGHTING PEN

BEAUTE LIQUI-GEL STAIN - FEVER

Hey guys, so I'm back home for 'now' so my mum returns on my blog. I got given free reign as usual and I always prefer to do a softer diffused look on her. She has a tendency to be heavy handed and it's very aging and unflattering. I'm also trying to veer my mum onto bolder lip shades. I remember when she used to rock Chanel red lips when I was really young and I always thought she looked awesome... she says her lips are too big, but accentuate your existing features!

L.F DOES S/S - GATSBY FEVER

SOURCE

20s love. I've still got Gatsby fever. Sultry and doll-like. 

Playing around with some techniques I particularly like doing such as: pin-point highlighting, using pink hues for contouring and pencil thin brows

Hey guys, I'm back with a Gatsby/20s inspired make-up look. I didn't have a specific vision in mind when I was doing this, but I just kept layering and experimenting. I turned to some techniques I love doing and the 20s vibe just became apparent. There's a blue/teal hue running throughout this look and I think the blue highlight placed on the corner of the lips offsets the red beautifully.

Hope you like it!

L.F RAMBLES - NEWCASTLE-EDS

My friends boyfriend wrote this. I always love people's interpretation of my name. I don't mind, I know it's a bit of a weird one to spell/pronounce.

Fifi Lapin, so cute! Not really going to take advice from a rabbit, but I LOVE the illustrations inside. I'm also a sucker for a hardback book too.

Uniqlo is one of my go to places for garments. I really love all the collaborations Uniqlo brings out regularly (designers, artists etc) and I find the quality and workmanship pretty impressive for the price. I've bought quite a few pieces from their recent collaboration with Celia Birtwell this month. But I am a print fiend.

My local cinema had a anniversary 25 hour film day. I went to see the Swedish version of Let The Right One In. I've heard of it before, so I had some inkling of what it would it be about, but I went in thinking it was a thriller/horror.... but it's more of a love story with a few horror parts. I laughed at a really really awkward part during the film. The room was silent. 

Tea Sutra. The finest tea emporium in Newcastle. It's become mine and Celeste's favourite haunt. Here's a photo of the fancy tea set up. Yum. 

Fun Tuesday! I really enjoyed The Great Gatsby. I've not read the book before but it's been 'controversial' adaptation between fans of Fitzgerald and Luhrmann. Saying that I really enjoyed it. I didn't find it visually too distracting, but more so the music at times felt like it was there just to be cool/hip.... blah. Seemed irrelevant.
Then later that night I went to see Benjamin Francis Leftwich.... I wasn't actually a big fan or anything. I'm not usually an acoustic kind of girl but I tagged along with Celeste and I enjoy going to gigs anyway.... probably the best way to enjoy music. It was really awesome. A few fan girls about, but it felt really intimate. During the end, Benjamin went into the audience and told us to all sit down whilst he played Atlas Maps. I somehow managed to be at the front again. So I'm presuming there are videos out there of me being literally next to him not singing to his songs hahaha. Oh and one of the support acts there was a guy called Sivu. Oh man. He made that night for me. He was so so so brilliant live. I just listened to his music all next day. 

 Home! Theodore has a new partner in crime. Jeff. He looks like a Jeff.

I try to go back to see the Foundation Show at LCA every year. I didn't bump into any of my tutors but it's bittersweet when I go back. I have such fond memories of my time there, and it was definitely where I think I 'found' myself as a person/designer/artist.... whatever the fuck I am.

Superficial time! Only joking. A few bits from Illamasqua when they had that AMAZING 50% code.  I'm currently into contouring. Definition: YES YES YES.

Brief update with some bits from Newcastle and Leeds. Only a month left before Celeste leaves, and that really sucks. I initially thought I'd stick around Newcastle for a bit longer but I had finished early May anyway, and I found myself in a snowball of emotions as the weeks went on (so emo I know)... things aren't going too well atm but SILVER LINING. Or something. COME AT ME. Anyway sorry if I keep bringing up Celeste but she kind of unexpectedly came into my life, and she's become a really close friend in such a short space of time. And being such a private person I don't find it too easy opening up to someone... but it's something I knew would happen from the get go. I'm planning on going back to Newcastle for the degree show anyway, so I guess that will be my last goodbye. In the meantime I'm sorting 'stuff' out and enjoying my time back at my 'home home'. Nothing has changed too much, but I might be going back to my high school to help my textiles teacher out, which sounds fun to me.

L.F DOES S/S - PINK

Sophie Sumner for Beauty in Vogue by Miles Aldridge

Pink eyes, cheeks and face! I'm looking a bit hamster-like too here. 

Webcam captures the lower lip line highlighting detail.

KEY PRODUCTS:

SUGARPILL PRESSED EYESHADOW - FLAMEPOINT AND LOVE+

MAC EYESHADOW - PASSIONATE

MAC LIPSTICK - FANFARE

NARS BLUSHER - TORRID

Hey guys, back in Barbie style! I picked up May's Italian Vogue recently and I fell in love with Miles Aldridge's cover. Personally it reminds me of a pink pin-up esque look? With MEGA highlighting. The flashes of orange on the lid and mid lower lash line adds some neon summer fun.

Hope you guys like this, I'm currently back home in Leeds for awhile to sort some stuff out.... I KEEP GETTING REJECTED. I know you are not suppose to take these things personally, but it sucks!