Ciate Paint Pots

I got this gorgeous little nail varnish free with the November Issue of Marie Claire. The shade is Dangerous Affair 013 by ciate There are 2 shades available with the catalogue.

Now I very rarely wear nail varnish, especially not as an every day thing. But since discovering this nail varnish last week Ive worn it every day. Its a shade that seems to go with everything and Ive resisted the urge to pick at it or peel it off. And weirdly, it makes me feel a bit sexy.

It comes in a gorgeous little bottle which is curved and that makes it a bit easier to hold and the long handle helped me when applying the polish.

I was actually really impressed with this product. It went on easily, dried quickly and after a few coats is a gorgeous dark, seductive shade of red. it layers really well. I know some just get sticky and dont dry as quickly if you try to apply more that one coat but I currently have 3 coats of this on at the moment, it looks amazing and dried really quickly without any stickiness.

It definitely needed a few coats to get the desired shade. Heres how it looked after the first coat.

Its quite pinky red instead of the dark red in the bottle. However, the desired shade was achieved after 2-3 layers.

Ciate have a great range of paint pots and theyre currently on sale at asos  I will definitely be buying more. The Autumn/Winter shades look delicious.

L'Occitane en provence - fleur cherie hand cream

So I was out shopping and spotted some lovely looking freebies with this months magazines (theyre actually Novembers issues). They looked too good to pass up so I obviously bought them and thought Id review the free beauty products for you.

Free with the November issue of InStyle magazine youll get L'Occitane en provence hand cream. There is a choice of 3 but I could only see 1 available which was the Fleur Cherie.

Despite the very floral smell (I'm not big on floral scents at all) I actually really like the hand cream. You dont need much at all with this, use it sparingly, a little goes a long way and it sinks in to the skin quickly without leaving your hands feeling greasy or sweaty like some hand creams do. My hands actually feel really soft just after the first application but Im really not keen on this flowery scent.

Im also put off a little bit by the tube. It reminds me so much of my acrylic paint tubes and theyre a nightmare if they split or the top breaks.

Im also about to review the free nailvarnish I got with Maire Claire magazine so be sure to give that a look as well.

GOSH lift me up foundation

Ok so this is my first review. I intend to review the products I carry in my professional kit. I carry a lot of non-pro products which you can find at any Boots or Superdrug store as well as pro products such as MAC and any others I buy along the way.

I feel its important to state that the opinions expressed in my reviews are about my own experiences and results with the products. Everyones skin is different so the results and experiences may be different to my own.

I'm starting with the 'GOSH lift me up' foundation as I happened to be putting makeup on anyway and thought Hey why not take some photos then I can review it. So here it is:

This is the first time Ive worn this particular foundation. I bought it at Superdrug, I cant remember how much I bought it for but I know their foundations are approximately £12. I always use my superdrug discount which I get by filling out their online feedback form. its tedious doing it every time but the discount is worth it when im stocking up on GOSH.
I have chosen shade 24 Golden which is a bit darker than my natural skin tone but Im pale so I need the warmth. (I always mix my foundation with a bit of moisturiser as I feel it gives a better finish to my combination skin but for the purpose of the review I skipped the moisturiser)

Here is my face before makeup.

So as you can see, a few spots and quite pale.

And after a full face of makeup. Should really have taken one just after I applied the foundation, sorry guys! ill remember that for next time.

I was quite impressed with it. Medium to full coverage. I have used a light dusting of translucent powder. The only concealer I used was under my eyes but I think its covered up those spots fairly well on its own and added some warmth to my face. I have combination skin and usually find that foundation sticks to the dry parts and looks awful. This went on really easily and evenly and actually stayed put. I wore this for a whole day at work and it was still looking pretty good at the end of the day. I touch my face quite a lot (Im constantly pushing my glasses back onto my nose) but this foundation didnt rub off. Even though it gave quite a full coverage It didnt feel like it. I would definitely wear this again.

Hope you enjoyed my first review. Ive never reviewed anything before so I  hope that was ok, feel free to ask any questions. Stay tuned for more reviews.

Illamasqua competition

*PLEASE NOTE I AM NOT ASSOCIATED WITH THIS COMPETITION IN ANY WAY*

 Im really excited about entering this competition http://www.mizzworthy.com/

I already have a fantastic idea for a character (well I think its fantastic) which I think will fit into the dark and mysterious world created for the Art of Darkness collection.I LOVE illamasqua, Ive never won anything so Im going to put all of my imagination into creating my character. *fingers crossed*

I thought I would share it all with you so you can enter too if youd like :)

Have fun and good luck everyone !

Rebel Magazine Photoshoot

So I just got back from the my first magazine shoot with Rebel Magazine.

It was brilliant. I even got a little bubble of proudness on my tummy as I watched the model posing in the makeup I had done.

I did 4 different looks, building it up as the shoot progressed and I think I did a good job. The whole team were fantastic, the model was gorgeous, the collection was impressive and the photographer was great.

The images will be featured in a 6-8 page spread in Rebel Magazine hopefully out towards the end of September so stay tuned for images. But until then here is a little behind the scenes sneek peek of one of the looks I did.

My new chair came in very handy :)

So whilst youre waiting for Issue 2 why not check out Issue 1:
www.rebelmagazine.co.uk

Im hoping to be doing more shoots for Rebel Magazine in the future.
My model for the day was Cyan Cheung www.cyancheung.co.uk
My photographer and stylist was Namal http://www.modelmayhem.com/namal
The clothing designer was Shiromi Lazarus

Rebel Magazine

On Monday I will be heading to Rugby to do a shoot for Rebel Magazine. Its my first magazine shoot and Im very excited.

The theme is sea nymphs, I havent really done anything like this before but I think it will turn out well. Lots of blues, greens and golds will be involved.

Keep posted for photos.

You can view the first issue here:

http://www.rebelmagazine.co.uk/

An exciting day so far

So I woke up today, the sun was shining, I logged onto the internet to find an e-mail from a well known makeup shop who are looking for MUA's to work on their stand at IMATS 2011 in London.

I also logged on to my MM profile and had a message waiting for me from Lucy and Sara at LuaSarcy asking if Id like to be MUA for an upcoming shoot for their new collection in October. You can see some examples of their gorgeous bespoke dresses here http://www.luasarcy.co.uk/

Needless to say im very excited. Watch this space.

Also I did the makeup for a wedding on Saturday. It was a wedding I was particularly worried about but I feel it all went well in the end and the bride looked gorgeous :) It finally gave me a chance to use my MAC face and body foundation for the first time and it worked a treat. I'm also finding that the UNE tinted lipbalms are great for brides who want a bit of colour to their lips but dont want to wear lipstick.

I think ive perfected my touch up kits now too. Ill post a photo of my kit and my touchup kits at a later stage for anyone who is interested and also for people to comment on how they think its looking so far, ive still got a long way to go with it. Im hoping to add some yaby palettes in the next few months.