FOTD: Bronze and Bright Lips

This look was inspired by my new lipstick from Shanghai Suzy "The Gossling Lippie" which is an amazing bright orange. I love orange shades and this was is such a nice glossy formula. 

I recently received a new bronzer to try and it was so shimmery I tried it on my cheeks inside and absolutely love the result! 

Read more to see the products I used :) 

How to Hide It: Guide to Concealer

A few people have asked me lately for my recommendations on concealers so I thought I would put together all my knowledge about concealing and my favourite products into one post. What I have found is that its unlikely one concealer is going to fulfil all your needs - so I have broken down this guide into 3 different problem areas - Blemishes or pimples, under eye circles and redness/. For reference, I have an oily skin type - therefore I am susceptible to frequent breakouts and suffer from redness.

1// Blemishes

Unless you are very blessed with blemish free skin, you'll most likely want a concealer to cover breakouts or subsequent scarring. My main tips are:

• Use a concealer with a waxy or cream consistency - I often have trouble with liquid concealers 'sliding' off my blemishes. 
• Create a concealer 'sandwich' - start first by dabbing powder on your blemish, then concealer, then powder again. This really helps concealer to last all day. Make sure you are using very thin layers of product so that it doesn't become cakey.
• Choose a concealer colour that is as close as you can find to the colour of your foundation - to hide a blemish you'll want it to blend in.
• I like to use a small concealer brush and apply product by 'dabbing'
• If you are applying product on active acne - for example a pimple where the skin has broken - use a brush that you can wash straight away or a cotton bud. You really don't want bacteria from active acne staying on your brushes or even into your product that will just transfer onto your skin again.

Currently I am using Laura Mercier Secret Camouflage Concealer. This product is oil free and is two toned so I can perfectly match the colour to my different foundations. The recommended retail price is AUD$49.00 so fairly pricey, but it is a product that will last a long time.

My drugstore recommendations are: Bourjois Happy Light Concealer AUD$19.00 or Essence Match2Cover! Cream Concealer $4.25 - the only issue with these concealers is that they have very limited shades, this is particularly a problem for those with darker skin tones.

2// Under Eye Circles

As a uni student, I often hang around a lot of people who haven't had enough sleep and under eye circles are the biggest giveaway. Fortunately for me (and the fact I am such a grannie and go to bed super early) I rarely get discolouration under my eyes. However, I still like to use a concealer under my eyes to highlight.

• The main cause of under eye discolouration is a lack of moisture - fix the problem from the source by focusing your face moisturiser in the under eye area or even use an eye cream.
• Because of the dryness in the under eye area, thick, waxy concealers are going to be too heavy and crease like crazy. Use a liquid or moisturising cream concealer.
• Apply in an upside down triangle shape and blend
• Sometimes the best way to blend in the concealer underneath the eyes is just with your fingers - super easy! I also like to use a small domed brush like the Real Techniques duo-fibre eye brush.

My favourite high-end under eye concealer is Benefit Fakeup Concealer AUD$35.00 and for my drugstore pick I like Maybelline Fit Me Concealer AUD$14.95. I am currently using both these products and definitely recommend! Benefit's Fakeup is super interesting because the concealer is surrounded by a hydrating layer with Vitamin E and appleseed and is really moisturising and doesn't crease at all. For a drugstore product, Maybelline's Fit Me has a decent amount of shades, doesn't crease on my skin and is fantastic for lightening up the under eye area.

3// Redness 

Although I don't technically use concealer to hide the redness on my face, I do use specific foundations to conceal it. I found the best way to hide redness and discolouration is to build up the coverage of your foundations in the areas where you have issues with redness.

• Using a stippling or dabbing motion to build up coverage works best as it doesn't tend to create cakey-ness.
• Start in the middle of your face when applying foundation - this is usually where the skin is going to be most red, particularly around the nose and chin - then blend outwards. This makes sure that you have the coverage on the areas you need and you're not putting too much product where you don't need it - saves product and looks natural!

I have been loving the Clinique Redness Solutions foundation AUD$50.00 as it has excellent coverage and definitely colour corrects redness. However, as I mentioned in the tips above, using any foundation and simply by adding more coverage in the areas where there is redness will help conceal those problem areas.

Hope you found this post helpful and have a beautiful day :)

xx Catherine

Pink for the Faint Hearted

I always envy girls who have the confidence to pull off bright pink lips and lust over gorgeous pink shades of lipsticks, blushes and eye shadows whilst thinking that I just couldn’t pull it off! With my hazel, greeny eyes I’d always stuck more with purple shades but with as we start to get into summer I decided to be bolder in my makeup choices. I’m definitely not one to ever have worn bright pink (or even pink at all!), especially since I’m super pale. However,  was inspired by the beautiful shade 'Peaches and Cream" of the NYX butter glosses and wanted to create a pink look that put me out of my comfort zone. I think this would be perfect for a daytime summer party, or if you are going out at night, instead of contouring your eyes with browns, at a bit of sparkle with silver or smoke it out with some grey or black shadow.

For the Face:

I used Clinique 'Redness Solutions' foundation in 01 Calming Alabaster - applied with a paddle foundation brush this gives AMAZING coverage, especially if you have trouble with redness like I do, particularly around the cheeks and chin. However, I prefer a matte look and the Redness Solutions makeup is more to the satin/dewy finish which just doesn't work with my oily skin. I always apply a power whether its a translucent finishing powder, or for a little extra coverage Australis' 'Fresh & Flawless' pressed powder in Natural. For blush I used the shade on the far left in my NYX 'Butt Naked' palette which is a beautiful peachy/pink with little gold specks, similar to NARS 'Orgasm' blush. I also used the bronzer on the far left and the more golden highlighter on the far right (all shades in palette pictured below.)

For the Eyes:

For a pop of pink colour of the eyes I used a shade from my Australis Paparazzi Perfect Eyeshadow in 'Frock n Roll' but to really make the colour stand out I recommend using an eyeshadow base in a white or beige colour. I used the NYX jumbo eye pencil in 'Milk'. 

I am absolutely OBSESSED with my eyelashes here - I have never made them look so long and full! I used Lancome's Hypnose mascara first to create length and then from the same range the Hypnose Drama to add volume. The shapes of the brushes in the Hypnose range are all very interesting and different and along with a fantastic formula are great for creating different looks.

For the Lips:

This is a very NYX inspired look from all the new products I have tried recently! Firstly I used the shade 'Tokyo' of their soft matte lip creams which is a beautiful, bright light pink and then to add a glossy texture and even more bright pink the butter gloss in 'Peaches and Cream'. I am absolutely obsessed with the beautiful colour, pigmentation and glossy texture of the butter glosses and can't wait to get my hands on some more. Very excited I can now just pop down to my local Target and pick some up!

Finished Look:

Hope you enjoyed this look!
Cat ^.^