La Belle Dame

  

Photography: Laura Coughlan

Styling: Allison Hayes

Makeup/hair: Me

Model: Shree @ Lenis

Sweetness and Delight for Turn Magazine

Photography: Laura Coughlan 
Styling: Allison Hayes
Makeup/hair: Me
Set Design: Julia Salotti
Model: Cammie @ Lenis

Long Hair, Don't Care

Happy New Year! I do hope you all had a gudden. Guess what my New Year's Resolution was? To get back to blogging, it's been far too long.


First post of the year will be haircare based; as the holiday period can be a bit of a nightmare in terms of damaging your tresses, I thought I'd mention some styling saviours which are both effective at styling AND nourishing long hair. The products that I'll talk about are ones I use personally and I have found to be extremely effective. My hair is quite long now, so keeping it healthy and nourished is definitely a priority.

 

1) Phyto Subtil Elixir Oil - £24.50

This pre-shampoo treatment oil is absolutely fab at giving your hair back all the nourishment that your styler fried out of it. I've found the best way to use it is to comb it through the legnths of your hair , avoiding the roots (use a lot if you have thick hair, err on the side of caution if your hair is fine). Braid your hair, and leave overnight to give the oil a chance to really soak in and do it's thaang (it won't stain your sheets, don't worry). This does it for me over other oils because it's silicone free, which means it won't weigh your hair down, AND it's also about 96% natural botanical oils. Shampoo out in the morning, follow with a teeny bit of conditioner, et voila.



2) Toni and Guy Prep Heat Protection Mist - £6.30

Heat protection is definitely a must for all hair types, as it not only protects from styling, but also from some environmental stressors. This one is anti-static and detangling to help prevent further damage, and it's a brilliant price point. I use this every time I wash my hair, even if I don't use a heated styler, just to give my hair a bit of extra protection out in the big wide world.



3) Phyto Phytomist - £15

Notice a bit of a theme here?! Phyto really do make great haircare products, and this one I think I have actually written about before. It's a leave in, colour-protecting, detangling conditioner. Spray all through the legnths of your hair while it's still damp, and comb through with a Tangle Teezer or wide toothed comb. I love this because my hair is extremely knotty, as in if I go out without a hairbrush it all kind of turns into a weird dreadlock. Yum. Again, its pretty natural and silicone-free, and so good for glossiness and shine. I'm onto my third bottle now, which is testament to its awesomeness.



4) Blowpro Body by Blow No Crunch Volumising Mousse - £10.99

 I picked this up accidentally in Superdrug because I needed a mousse and it was on offer, and actually I am really quite impressed with it. It basically does what it says on the bottle, which is exactly what I wanted. It feels lovely in your hair, with no residue and no crunchiness, but lots of volume and shine. Plus, it has UV filters to protect your colour and a protein complex to stregnthen. I would definitely repeat buy this.

Cheap Treats

For many of us, and definitely for me, August has been a rather long 5 week month and treating myself to expensive new makeup purchases hasn’t exactly been top of my priority list! However, there is no getting away from the fact that a cheeky new lipstick can make a long day at work just a little bit better. I’ve put together a my favourite beauty buys under a tenner for small beauty indulgences that won’t break the bank but will still make you extremely happy.

Sleek Au Naturel Pallette (£7.99)

 

I do love Sleek makeup, I think that the quality of their products far exceeds their price point (sshhh don’t tell them) and this palette has been a brilliant buy for me. An absolute bargain at £7.99, the shadows have an amazing colour pay-off and are all extremely wearable. I’ve swatched the black, as a solid black is the best indicator of a quality eyeshadow. These palettes also come in many other colour combinations for the more adventurous, but personally I don’t like straying too far from a brown smokey eye. I was seriously considering the Urban Decay Naked palette but to be honest this is a great cheap alternative. Only downside is that the packaging is a bit flimsy but I can overlook that for the price.

Black swatch

Bourjois Healthy Mix Concealer (£7.99)

I have mentioned this on here before, but I still love it now a few months on so I thought it deserved a second mention. Brilliant quality for the price tag, its brightening, gives good coverage, and never goes dry around the eye area.

Barry M Lip Paint in Shade 54 (£4.49)

This one was a bit of a shocker for me to be honest. I found this simply because I am a little bit obsessed with peach lipstick. Not coral, oh no, but peach, that pale orangey shade which has proved very difficult to find. I had been lusting after Michavel by Kevyn Aucoin, but decided to go on the hunt for a cheaper alternative and I found this little gem for less than a fiver. It has a nice matte finish, good staying power and a great colour payoff.  I do however recommend using quite a bit of lipbalm on first to ensure it doesn’t dry your lips out.

Gosh Smokey Eye Liner in Smokey Brown (£5.99)

Easy to smudge

This is a really great pencil, even for contact wearers. It’s soft enough to blend and waterproof, and is fairly smudge proof once it sets.  I'm loving brown rather than black at the moment, its a bit softer and great for daytime. 

Gosh Volume Lip Shine in Soft Coral (£7.99)

I’m having a lipgloss revival at the moment, and these ones from Gosh are lovely. It was the only cheaper brand I could find to cater to my matte peach obsession. It does come in lots of other colours too though, don't worry. 

 Lush Cosmetics Lip Scrub in Popcorn (£5.25)

It's sugary AND salty! And if you have been embracing the matte lip trend this season, chances are you need a little bit of exfoliation as matte lipsticks, as I already mentioned, can be drying. Scrub it on and lick (or wipe) it off for smooth and nourished lips.

L'Oreal Superliner in Black (£6.49)

Seriously, this is the best liquid eyeliner that I have ever come across and a staple in my makeup bag for a few years now. The felt tip applicator is super easy to use, and extremely good for even the subtlest of lines and flicks. What's more, it never runs, and  the colour is a solid true black. Highly recommended.

Choosing the Perfect Foundation

Too orange?  Too pale? Makes you break out? Get shiny as soon as you leave the house? These are all the tip of the iceberg of issues many of us have when choosing the right foundation. I have tried so many different bases over the years and been thoroughly disappointed when they don’t live up to my expectations, (which are pretty high, let’s face it) as the bulk of foundations promise perfect, flawless skin.

Here are some things which I find it useful to bear in mind when choosing your foundation. As your base is probably your most expensive item of makeup, the product you choose should be a worthy investment.

1)      There are good ones and bad ones for all budgets.

Whether you buy your foundation from a beauty counter or a drugstore (as the Americans say) it’s important to spend your money on a quality brand. In my personal experience, Sleek Makeup, Bourjois, and Revlon all do great cheap bases. Sleek are amazing for darker skin tones, as their undertones are a true match, Bourjois Healthy Mix is the same product as Chanel Vitalumiere (shhhhh)  and Revlon’s ColourStay range gives great all day coverage.

If you want to spend a bit more money, I love Nars and Estee Lauder’s bases. Dior is also a favourite range of mine, the tones are a bit limited but it photographs extremely well.

2)      Know your skin type

If you have oily skin, it is best to go for an oil free base, to avoid shininess and blocked pores. It is also important to get a base that is silicone free, as silicone can also clog pores and lead to breakouts.

Drier skin types should go for something with a richer, creamier texture that gives you the hydration and replenishment that you need.

Oily skin might want to gofor powders or gels, whereas cream and liquid foundations tend to be better for dry skins.

3)      What finish do you want?

Here is some beauty industry jargon unscrambled:

·         Sheer –a  light coverage. Unifies uneven skin

·         Full – heavier coverage. Covers all/most imperfections

·         Dewy – a glowing finish where skin has a healthy sheen. Think Millie from MiC

·         Semi matte – skin looks glowing but has less shine and more of a satin finish

·         Matte – skin has little/no sheen and looks shine-free. Think Dita Von Teese

·         Radiant – Light reflective. Probably has a bit of shimmer in to give you a glow. Good for dull skin 

·         BB – Blemish balm. Kind of like a tinted moisturiser with added skin-clearing benefits. Very little coverage

·         CC –Colour corrector. Little to no coverage, but does get rid of dullness and redness

4)      Have a look at the ingredients

I’m always banging on about ingredients but they really are pretty important! If it’s going on your face, it should be doing you good. Do you want your foundation to be water, gel, mousse or oil based? Do you want an SPF? Do you want a bit of silicone for its wrinkle-smoothing, pore-filling properties, or would you rather avoid it because it clogs your pores?

5)      Get the undertone right

It is important to know your own skin tone before you start choosing a base. Ask yourself the following questions:  Is there more pink or more yellow tones in your skin? Is your skin tone even all over or does it vary? Do you want a true match? Or do you want to go slightly warmer in preparation of a holiday? Alternatively, you might want to go paler and then warm your skin back up with bronzer.  Might sound pretty obvious, and my apologies if it does, but these are all necessary thing to think about.

So there you have it, 5 easy steps to help you to choose your foundation next time you have to go makeup shopping. Now you have no excuse to look like this:

hot.

Siren Song - Collaboration with Laura Coughlan

Here are some of the final shots from a beautiful editorial shoot I did with the lovely Laura Coughlan a couple of months ago. I have been late uploading them because...the shoot got accepted by Mindgame Magazine, an amazing online mag full of new talent, have a lil look here.

I think the beautiful model Michaela looks like baby Megan Fox!

Fo her makeup look I used Diorskin Forever foundation, one of my all time faves which photographs like a deam. I used lots of Kevyn Aucoin Candelight Highlighting Powder to give he skin an ethereal glow. I used shades of lilac from MAC around the eyes and finished off with a lip colour I made myself by mixing MAC 'Chilli' and 'Rebel'.

Photography: Laura Caughlan
See her work here
Hair: Daniel Taylor
Styling: Allison Hayes
Model: Michaela @ Lenis Model Management