PIMPIN' PRODUCTS #2

Welcome to Edition 2 of Pimpin' products. The beauty list that all products want to be on.

It's simple really = 3 products, 3 things I have tried, tested, loved and used, 3 new things I think you'd love to add to your beauty collection.

As a self-confessed Trevor Sorbie virgin I'm really dissapointed that I hadn't tried this range of products sooner... nevertheless I am ecstatic that I did. This volumising spray is just perfect in a bottle to be honest. It left my hair feeling product-less, leaving no residue behind and worked amazingly well when I blowdryed my hair upside down using just my fingers to tousle my hair.

Having tried every makeup fixing mist I can get my hands on, I am a big fan of the long-lasting effects you can achieve with your makeup using a fixing mist and this one from MUA Cosmetics might be up there with the best one I have ever used. (Yes, even better than makeup forever). The best makeup setting sprays are the ones that hydrate the underlayer of the skin, feeding the skin surface whilst putting a hold on all the makeup and ensuring it doesn't shift. This for me, does just that. 

My last of the three is by far my favourite lip product I have used since the Nars Cosmetics Velvet Matte lip pencils. Beaute Cosmetics Weightless Lip Creme's are so luxurious on my lips it feels almost like a massage... they are extremely rich in colour density and their pigment level is super-high which means I only have to apply it once and it lasts extremely long. Also, my favourite colour Trace is similar to one of my favourite MAC lipsticks - Fanfare if it were mixed with Snob (another MAC lipstick) and for me this is the perfect bubblegum pastel pink shade.

LL  ❤

PIMPIN' PRODUCTS OF THE WEEK - JAN 2013 - WK 3

As a new feature here on the blog I am going to start putting together a products of the week round up for you guys... it's going to be a list of 3 products that I am loving for the current week and why. I know it may seem like loads, but seeing as I find myself with new products, especially make-up, almost everyday... this won't be too difficult to put together.

Collection Gel Eyeliner in Black - £4.99
Having used a 1000 and one gel eyeliners and always finding they are never quite 100%, this product has simply become my absolute beauty must have for 2013. Frankly I'm obsessed. This is the blackest gel eyeliner I have ever used and it's such a rich texture it's remarkable it's under £5. It glides onto the skin effortlessly (a little too soft at first, but after a week it set's to the perfect texture and stays there) and stays on all day. I'm not sure if this product is intentionally water-resistant but no matter what conditions I'm in, it doesn't move. Not an inch. To put it simply, I couldn't love a product more for this week, month and probably this year. (small tip... bin the brush this comes with, immediately, it's the only negative of this product as it's just not precise enough to create good liner).

MAC Cosmetics Lip Pencil in Chestnut - £11.50
Ahhh how I love that MAC rarely fails me. I think the reason why us make-up artists rave about MAC so much is that they have developed an unshakeable consistency as of late and for that I am forever greatful. This has to be one of my star products of the week as I am a firm lover of a lip pencil, especially for use on my eyes (in the waterline, on the lid) and this is the PERFECT eyeliner pencil for me to use to create an amazing sultry smokey eye which brings out brown eyes. I would describe this as a completely matte bronze and everything from it's texture to the pigment is nothing short of impressive.

Illamasqua Satin Primer - £22.50
Cult beauty brand Illamasqua is another brand which I feel delivers a level of consistency superior to even the most high end brands on the market, so it's no surprise then that their Satin Primer has made it into my PPOTW list. As someone with a oily to combination skin, it's probably a bit of a contradiction for me to love this primer... however there's many reasons why I do. Firstly, as a make-up artist this is a must have due to it's amazing dewyness on the skin and it's ability to deliver a skin-like-glow. Secondly because it's the perfect mixing medium. I often mix this with my foundation daily to reduce it's opacity and to increase it's elasticity on the skin helping to deliver a radiant glow.

LL ❤

STEPHANÉ ALEXANDER - MAKEUP BREAKDOWN + TUTORIAL + BTS

A couple of days ago I was contacted by the lovely Stephané Alexander whose a TV presenter that's been racking up the work recently on stations such as the Africa Channel and many more... so I was more than excited to have the pleasure to do her makeup.

Firstly I will say she was a pleasure to work with so this made me job really easy and the glam squad which consisted of Erica the stylist (who was phenomenal... a true genius) and Khaleema who did wonders making the hair look immaculate helped to make the day a real joy. I tweeted a picture of the lovely Stephané and so many of you asked what make-up I used to get a flawless finish etc.. so I'm going to actually do a breakdown on here for you with exactly what I used.

Moisturiser/Base: MAC Strobe Cream 

Primer: MAC Face Protect SPF 50 Primer 

Eye Primer: MAC Paint in Bamboom

Foundation: Illamasqua Skin Base in Colour 16 mixed with MAC Lustre Drops in Sun Bronze

Concealer: Sleek Hide It Concealer in Colour 3

Face Powder: Motives for La La Mineral Dual Foundation in Dark

Eyebrows: MAC Brun Eyeshadow + Studio Finish Concealer in NW40 to highlight 

Eyeshadow: MAC Eyeshadow in Brulé + MAC Eyeshadow in Swiss Chocolate 

Eyeliner top: Collection 2000 Gel Eyeliner in Black 

Eyeliner bottom: MAC Lip pencil in Chestnut 

Mascara: MAC Opulash Mascara 

Highlight on inner corner of eye: Collection 2000 Mosaic glow 

Blusher: Illamasqua Blusher in Thrust 

Highlight on cheek: Collection 2000 Mosaic glow 

Lip liner: MAC Magenta Lip pencil

Lipstick: Motives Cosmetics Lipstick in Times Square

p.s. below are some sneaky behind the scenes pictures too!

The amazing penthouse room we we're filming in with panoramic views of the London skyline

Chess set

Cheeky little Karma Sutra book 

LL  ❤

Editorial Beach Shoot - BTS - CUSTOM LIPSTICK

So yesterday I had the pleasure of doing make-up for a magazine editorial beach shoot and it's been an amazing start to my year. The shoot was on the amazing coast of Norfolk and never have I seen anywhere so beautiful and serene... it was like a postcard.

It was however, painfully cold (temperature ranged from about 1-2 degrees celcius all day) and let's just say, I'm still defrosting now! Despite the weather conditions we all braved the weather (even doing the makeup in the back of the car!) and the photographs have turned out perfect. Here are a couple behind the scenes photos from the shoot and a huge thankyou to the Model Rachel and the photographer Daisy who also styled the shoot and filmed a fashion video with the help of Lukey.

P.S. I also made the lipstick myself, from scratch ... it's part of a new project that will be coming from me soon alongside Wonderbox that will make a lot of my makeup friends and makeup artists alike very happy!
Stay tuned...

LL xx

MOTIVES COSMETICS - WONDER-REVIEW

As an obsessive compulsive collector of all things beautiful (so makeup, makeup and more makeup), I've tried and tested a huge amount of products in the industry, so rarely am I surprised when I discover a new beauty brand.... until now.

Motives by Loren Ridinger is exactly that, a line of beauty products created by the founder of Market America who has made a name for herself as a successful business woman with a wealth of ideas for success. So it's no wonder (excuse the pun), that Motives isn't just another line of products created with no real substance in comparison to all the others in the industry, it's actually good.... amazing in fact.

Daily i've been using the Liquid Powder Mineral foundation and as someone who unfortunately usually hates foundations of this type (even though still a liquid, this is more of a liquid-mousse texture) I was pleasantly surprised and impressed! The coverage was medium which for me is perfect in the day time and it didn't move from my skin all day (even when I did the ok-today-i'm-not-going-to-wear-a-primer test). Those with a dryer skin I would recommend mixing this foundation with a moisturiser to give it more elasticity as I found it quite matte which for me is perfect, but some may not love that just so much. Alongside the foundation I have been using the Motives for La La Mineral blusher in centrefold, the Pressed Eyeshadow in cappucino which gave a really rich amount of pigment (daily, it's a perfect neutral colour for my skin) and the Lustrafy Mascara which has a wand almost identical to MAC Studio Fix lash (my favourite mascara), so it's no surprise that I loved this. The Motives for La La lipstick in time square wasn't the colour for me, as I prefer much lighter pinks but as a blusher it worked out truly amazing (waste not, want not!) and three strokes of it on my cheeks, blended with my finger and it was the perfect cream blush (**the lipsticks aren't tested for use in this area, but for me it's caused me no problems**).

The star product that I loved the most? The Motives for La La Mineral Dual foundation which has an incredibly soft texture designed to glide onto the skin like a veil and is a credit to it's finely milled process which allows it to be so silk-like whilst providing an expert layer of coverage. For me, this product solidified the Motives brand as a substantial make-up line to take note of in 2013 and beyond.

Wonder-rating
4 out of 5 Stars = ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ 

TIP OF THE DAY

Gone are the days of the popular 70's prom curl and in is the love of the dishevelled beach wave readily seen across the harbours of L.A. Well now you can join the club too and with minimal effort. Using a salt spray such as Bumble and Bumble Surf Spray (my all time favourite and huge B+B bestseller) after an upside down blowdry of freshly washed hair, you can create beach waves and curls that look as authentic as the stars of MTV's The Hills.

KAMU LOVES!

Being the beauty-junkies we are over here at Wonderbox HQ, we find we can't get through one day without purchasing a new beauty product. Online, in store, from a catalogue... you name it, we've done it and it means we'd consider ourselves to be beauty-obsessed experts when it comes to what works and what doesn't. So, you can imagine our delight when we found ourselves in Superdrug recently, scouring the Barry M section and we came across a product which is now in our top 5 beauty products for the month (possibly the whole year!), Barry M Super Soft Eye Crayon.

Barry M Super Soft Eye Crayon 

In all honesty, I don't even know where to begin when it comes to how much we love this product... maybe because it's super highly pigmented (on the level we have come to expect from brands like Illamasqua, that can hardly be found anywhere else), extremely rich in colour density, the hues of colour are amazing, the texture is super soft (unbelievably) and to top it all off, it lasts insanely long. Now we loved this product so much we even went as far as to use it on our lips (we don't know if it's tested for use in this area, but for us and our clients it's been fine) and we made our own re-creation of the Illamasqua Human Fundamentalism cult lipstick colour, Apocalips. We used the green and the blue to create the exact right shade of green and everyone we saw was amazed by it. 

Illamasqua Human Fundamentalism Campaign - Apocalips Lipstick

We confidently give this product 5 out of 5 = ♥♥♥♥♥

KAMU LOVES!

My hero product today is none other than Aussie Hair Care's Volumising Shampoo. There are very few words that can readily sum up just how phenomenal this product is and has been for my hair for the year that I have been using it.

I am a keen lover of volumised hair and have tirelessly waged a war against straight flat locks since the dawn of time, so you can only imagine my delight when I not only discovered a shampoo which does just that, but one which actually works.

This definitely constitutes a firm winner of product of the month.

TIP OF THE DAY

Updating you're make-up into the next season can be a hard task, when if like me, you're working with a cost-conscious budget that doesn't allow for mistake-purchases of products that don't work. But I have a long lasting easy solution to help you create endless different looks, day-in-day out, with minimal effort and maximum creativity. Create your own lipstick.

Sleek make-up Pout Paints are the perfect products for the indecisive shopper who wants to do their best to ensure their makeup is updated from one season to the next. In a hue of bright colours and a super-matte texture which allows for a variant of application techniques, these highly pigmented tubes of lip colour allow you (with a minimal primary school knowledge of colour theory) to create your very own kaleidescope of lip perfection.

TIP OF THE DAY

Brightening eyes is the way to keep the make-up looking fresh as you take your look into the Autumn/Winter months. As looks go darker and colour gets brighter, eyes will need to look as fresh as possible to look model-ready. An easy way to achieve this is to use a pencil such as llamasqua Medium pencil in Vow in the waterline of the eye to create the effortless effect of eyes being wide awake. In seconds, take eyes from tired to wired.

TOTD: Skin

For glowing skin, mix MAC Golden Bronze Loose Irridescent Powder with MAC Face & Body in your correct shade for the perfect model skin. Don't forget you can use it on every inch of your skin for celebrity looking arms & legs all day long.

KAMU LOVES!

Kiss and Makeup (KAMU) Loves is a new segment of the blog which highlights products that I adore, new or old, that need to be shared with the masses.

Chanel Les Vernis in Peridot £17.50 

The perfect mix of teal and gold metallics to take your nails straight into AW/11 with ease. 

TREND REPORT: MAKEUP FOR SS12 // NEW YORK

From New York to London to Milan to Paris... September was a huge month for fashion with many past-trends emerging from history, straight into the hands of the make-up experts backstage, at the world's biggest shows. Summer is bigger and brighter than ever next season and the trend translation's are here for you to adorn and embrace... way ahead of the rest.

NEW YORK SS12 MAKEUP TREND REPORT
Renowned for it's chic-cool esthetique and forever classic style, the make-up seen on the catwalks at NYFW this season, payed homage to the city's famed un-done but polished personality. It's all about low-maintanance beauty, with high-glamour results, achieved with minimal effort, typical of the trendy New Yorker girl. Think sophisticated nudes in ambers, peaches and warm yellows & earthy browns, blues, greys and beyond to create a luxe look tailored with a New Yorker resiliance.

MICRO TREND: 60's liner & lip's á la Sophia Loren but with a modern edge which takes the iconic look straight into 2012. Think winged liner, but not just on the lash line, joined into the crease of the eye too for extra-drama.

Apricot coloured cheeks, naked eyes avec mascara, natural pink stained lips

Marc by Marc Jacobs S/S 2012

Buttery yellow eyes, contoured cheeks, straight heavily filled in brows and a neutral lip-balmed lip

Derek Lam S/S 2012 

Glossy bronze polished skin, highlighted eyes, full straight heavy brows, cheeks defined with earthy red tone blush, lip balm on lip. 

DKNY S/S 2012

Polished skin, earthy toned muted brown on eyes... slightly disheveled, expertly round arched brows, contoured cheeks with peach-toned blush on top and nude lips

Thakoon S/S 2012

Innocently poised skin with freckles applied using brown liner pencils, pink blush in a circle on apples of cheeks, winged out 60's liner and full lashes, heavily filled straight brows, nude pink lip

Jeremy Scott S/S 2012

Amazingly arched brows, modern 60's style liner and pale neutral shade on the eye to play on the classic make-up look, lightly flushed cheeks and pale pink lip

The Blonds S/S 2012

Perfectly matte skin, groomed but un-done brows, highlight on inner of eyes, naked cheeks, vibrant red toned orange on lips

Jason Wu S/S 2012

Stay tuned for the next TREND REPORT which will see the best of the best make-up trends from the LONDON S/S 2012 shows. 

TIP OF THE DAY: SMOKEY EYE

For a really quick smokey eye in minutes, use a soft kohl pencil like Rimmel soft kohl kajal pencil and draw it all over the lid up to the crease (doesn't have to be neatly drawn). Then, take a blending brush like the MAC #226 and buff & blend the colour all over the eye. Finally line the eye on the lower lashes and further blend with the MAC #219 pencil brush for a true smokey eye in minutes, with minimal effort.

XTRA TIP: To keep the look really modern and fresh for this seasons boy-meets-tough-girl make-up trend, finish the skin with something light like a tinted moisturiser from Becca (or just conceal in area's needed to even out skin tone) and cover the lips lightly with Clinique Chubby Stick in #2 Whole lotta honey.

TIP OF THE DAY: A/W 11 CONTOUR

With the trend for winter being dewy, polished skin which looks fresh and glowy, contouring whilst in keeping with the new-season-skin may prove to be slightly difficult. However, have no fear as it's simpler than you imagined. Instead of contouring with your usual powder, contour with a cream foundation such as Mineralize Satin Finish compact cream foundation from MAC in approximately 3/4 shades darker than your skin (in the opposite tone). You will get the perfect contour that's more than trend-friendly.

LOVES AND LOATHES: BOURJOIS DÉLICE DE SOLEIL

As someone who is not the biggest fan of ever having to powder my skin (no really, I hate it... it always sits on top of my skin and just looks powdery, with every one I try), when I find a product like this I have to tell the world because it's beyond amazing. Firstly, shade 12 for fair/medium skin just happens to be the perfect shade for my skin as a foundation, not as a bronzer (My colour is MAC NC50/ Illamasqua Skin Base in shade 15/ Estee Lauder Double Wear Light in Intensity 5.0).

Even though this is intended as a bronzing spray and a similar product to the Bourjois Chocolate bronzing powder, I have used it alone as a foundation and on top of my makeup to set it and it's been perfect. You don't need to powder it and it makes skin feel amazingly dewy even though eventually it dries matte, which I love. My only negative? The sickly sweet smell, it smell identical to the chocolate bronzer just even sweeter being as it's an aerosol. But to be honest, I love this product so much the smell is more than bearable as it provides amazingly long-lasting wear and the best finish I've seen from any bronzer/foundation spray. This is officially my product of the month.

TIP OF THE DAY

The deeper the tone of the lipstick, the whiter the colour of the teeth. For example, a bright pillar box red or a fucshia toned pink will make teeth look like they belong in a colgate advert. Pastelle colours and colours with a noticable blue undertone (a lot of pastelle pink's have this), can make teeth look a lot more yellow than what they naturally are. Go bright, stay white. 

TIP OF THE DAY

For the perfect airbrushed foundation and flawless application of your makeup, whatever it's coverage, buff it into the skin with a brush such as the MAC #130 or the Sigma Flat top kabuki brush. Skin will look photo-ready every single time.

TIP OF THE DAY

Draw a lip liner all over your lips before applying your lipstick, in a corresponding shade. It gives your lipstick a truer intensity of colour, defines the shape of your lips and helps it to stay on all day.

REVIEW THE NEW: ILLAMASQUA SKIN BASE

Anyone who knows about the make-up trends of this coming season will know that glossy skin is most definitely in. It's a sure winner if you want to catapult your makeup straight into AW/11 with minimal effort and not to mention it makes skin look healthier than a matte finish ever could.

ILLAMASQUA DESCRIBES:
Inspired by the cult Asian market Beauty Balm creams, Skin Base Foundation is a brand new, refined formula unlike anything on the UK market. Easily blendable, it effortlessly creates a perfect complexion, and like the entire Illamasqua foundation range, is undetectable in a professional HD environment. Suitable for all skin types, it smoothes, softens and conditions your skin whilst providing natural, buildable coverage.

MY SKIN:

Type: Oily T-zone, Dryness in other areas = Combination

Colour: Dark, Light tone

Shade: MAC NC50

Undertone: Yellow

MY VERDICT:
Illamasqua, the most inventive and innovative makeup brand on planet cool right now, have encorporated everything I love about this season and put it into a foundation that from the second I heard of it's launch, I knew I would love. Skin Base foundation is all about embracing your skin, enhancing it rather than transforming it and giving it the glow it's always longed for, with a product it will always need. It's sheer brilliance. The coverage levels on this foundation I would describe as medium to full which I love, not a mask, but just enough to even out my skin tone perfectly. I would describe the texture as being extremely similar to MAC Studio Sculpt just slightly smoother and less mask-like. It also has a nice smell and feels like the skin is naked, completely naked. The gel-liquid-like texture is beautiful and the finish it leaves on the skin is not matte, not demi-matte and not a glow. It's designed to mimic how skin should look on it's best day, so no artificial finish, just a skin finish with a pinch of a glow to make you look like you have a halo on your head. No word of a lie.

Now, I have clearly fallen in love with this foundation as many of you have also done (and also will, if you are yet to try it), but as an impartial reviewer I have to outline it's strength's along with any weaknesses, as minor as they may be. So, my only warning would be, for those with an oilier/combination skin such as myself, you will need to wear a primer which deliver's the skin with enough oil control to wear this foundation successfully, as it last's brilliantly, but during my testing.. when worn with no primer, a lot of oil was produced on my t-zone. This is to be expected due to the foundations texture and finish, so using a primer such as MAC Face Protect SPF50 will do wonder's for your skin when wearing this product. It's also rather pricey weighing in at £25.00 for just 30ml which is rather steep in my humble opinion, but then having worn the product, I will happily pay that again just to experience the effects it gives. Truly amazing.

❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ = 5 LOVE's out of 5.


Purchase Skin Base in exclusive stores nationwide or online at www.illamasqua.com