Top Three Long Lasting Lip Glosses!

After a fair amount of research I've finally found the lip glosses that last the longest, as confirmed by many other lip gloss fans! Here are the top three that come up trumps for longevity when making your lips glossy & luscious!!!
First up & definitely the favourite with claims that this can last around 5 hours(!!), 'Victoria's Secrets Beauty Rush Gloss' (Available at www2.victoriassecret.com). Secondly & my own personal favourite is 'Mac LipGlass' (£10), it was a pretty close call between the top two but this one's lastability is still very strong, some claiming a good 3-4 hours! Last but not least Estee Lauder's 'Pure Color Gloss' (£14) was a preferred product by many, plus all three products come in a range of many colours to choose from, even better...!!!

Regardless of what product you use there are a few tips in making your gloss last longer - Firstly make sure your lips are in good condition, apply lip balm beforehand & if needs be exfoliate your lips (use a soft bristle tooth brush for this & rub away excess dry skin). Apply a little foundation to the lips, very sparingly & then gently pat a little translucent powder over the top, this will provide a good base to hold the gloss in place,
also try a lip primer as these work a little longer at holding your lippy in place, I use Benefits Lip Plump (14.50) under lipstick & gloss which works a treat at keeping everything where it should be!

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Make-Up At The Oscars!

As always there were many glamorous make-up looks making their way down the red carpet on Sunday, but here's my two favourites of the evening... First of all Jessica Alba, glowing dewy skin matched with smoky eyes & glossy lips!
Katherine Heigl opted for a more vintage style with a certain 'Marilyn' finish to it, incredibly striking with this season's most popular red carpet lipstick, bright 'coral' (sported by a few celebs earlier at the Brits & Baftas), definitely a must have colour for your Saturday night make-up bag this season!




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Dewy Skin & Spring Colours

Dewy fresh skin is one of Spring's hottest looks this year, here are some great tips on how to sport the look yourself!! Firstly moisturise your skin & use a good rich moisturiser for this, then apply a light foundation, take a bristle brush & 'fluff' the foundation in circular motions this will create a soft & almost airbrushed effect, best brush for this, try Mac's 'Duo Fibre Brush' (£28).
Next step in achieving your dewy glow is in the blush, opt for a cream blusher which will give a sheen to your skin with a flush of colour, try Mac's BlushCreme, apply to the apple of your cheeks (soft fleshy part you'll find when you smile) & blend upwards across the cheekbone, lightly blending outwards to give a soft finish. For the soft 'pink' look that is the colour for this season go for Mac's 'Brit Wit' or if a more bronzed effect is what you're after go for their 'Fancy Ray'. Finish this off by setting lightly with translucent powder along your t-zone, then match your dewy finish with your favourite eye make-up & glossy lips!

If you're looking for a fresh spring selection of colours then look no further than your nearest Bobbi Brown counter, this year's Limited Edition Palate 'Pink Raspberry Collection' (£40) has everything you need for this season's pink obsession! It has cool neutral shades for eyes & pink raspberries for lips & cheeks, also the best thing is every shade is said to be flattering to all skin tones!

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Clinique's New Redness Solutions

Bannish redness for good with Clinique's brand new 'Redness Soloutions', if you find that your skin is easily irritated & can flare up with stress, weather or with cosmetics then 'Urgent Relief Cream' (£24) will sooth & calm redness down almost instantly, great as an after waxing treatment! For persistant redness then 'Daily Relief Cream' (£32) is probably the best option & used regularly fewer flare ups will occur & your skin will have a much more even colour. Both products have received amazing customer feed back so far as well as rave reviews, also available in the range is a 'Redness Solutions Soothing Cleanser' (£15) & a Daily 'Protective Base' (£12.50) a great make-up primer with colour corrective tint - perfect skin all round!

Wedding Day Make-Up - Getting Your Foundation Right.

Bridal make-up should look as natural as possible, don't opt for a look you would not normally go for, you want to look yourself, for example if you're not used to wearing much make-up something quite bold or a high coverage may make you feel uncomfortable.
The best place to start is with the foundation of course & in order to keep it in tact all day long is to apply a primer underneath, this holds the foundation in place by providing a good base on the skin, also for an even & long lasting finish use a foundation brush & sponge (the brush applies the foundation & then the sponge is used to blend).
If you don't want a high coverage go for a tinted moisturiser which will give a very natural effect & will just even out the skin tone.
There are many different foundation types though, liquid foundation generally provides quite a light coverage, the best type to look for is a light matte finish as you want to minimse any shine for your photos. If you require a heavier coverage then cream foundations that have a thicker consistency & are a good option, again a matte finish is best. It's definitely worth experimenting with a few different products, shop around the different cosmetic counters & ask for samples, they'll be happy to provide you with some, then you can try out a few different products without committing to buying any first.
When testing a foundation to see if it's right for you, place a little along your jaw line & blend, don't test on your hand as the skin on your hand will different to that on your face!

Always apply foundation to clean moisturised skin & blend well (pay particular attention over the jaw line & hairline), making sure you have an even coverage. You can apply foundation to only a few areas if required, such as under the eyes, along the
T-zone & cheeks, as long as it is blended well & the colour is a good match then it will give a 'barely there' natural look.
If your worst nightmare occurs & a spot (or two..!) appears, then make sure you have a good concealer in your make-up bag. Concealers with a wax consistency provide a much better coverage than a cream, use a small brush (even a lip brush can
double up for this - providing it's clean!), using small dabbing motions place the concealer on gently until the redness disappears, it is best to apply the concealer after your foundation as if you apply it before hand the foundation can rub it away. Maybe try to apply it around the spot to cover the redness rather than the actual spot itself as some can have a lot of dry skin & can flake or even 'weep'a little.

For under the eyes a light consistency concealer is required, wax will be too heavy & too much coverage under the eyes can crease & accentuate any fine lines, also you should never drag the skin under the eye when applying concealer so gently dab & blend from the inner corners. Try to avoid light reflecting under-eye concealers too as these can reflect the camera flash & cause a 'white ring' effect around the eye area in your photographs. A light cream concealer a shade lighter than your foundation will do, however if you have problems with dark circles use a colour corrector, a little pink corrector concelear mixed with some of your foundation will cover up the dark areas as pink combats grey.
Just as this colour corrector works, if you have a lot of red pigmentation on your cheeks for example, a green corrector will balance this out under your foundation.

All foundation is best set with a little translucent powder, many people prefer not to wear any but a little should always be used just to take away any shine & make the foundation last as well, particularly over the t-zone. The powder should not
change the colour or effect of the foundation though, just give a light natural matte finish which can even work along side a 'dewy' style make-up providing the T-Zone is set.

Brit Glamour!

Well that's all the glitter & parade over for another year - the British Music Industry had their night on the tiles as The Brit Awards were handed out last night!
Take That certainly proved their 'Come Back Kings' status but for me Kylie was definitely the star of the show, with umpteen costume changes, a fantastic performance as well as the 'Best International Female' award she truly is the first lady of pop, not to mention style!! Sporting a funky hair style & as always amazing sparkling eye make-up as well as perfect lipgloss she looked the epitome of cool sophistication, plus I think we all love her new curvier look these days!!

Another few stylish ladies to mention of course, Beth Ditto stood out as always and 'Best British Femail' winner Kate Nash looked ultra cool in her Coral 60's style dress which proved to be a very popular colour this year (including Martine McCutcheons' Lipstick!), however I was a bit upset to see that Kate was criticised for taking a moment to reapply her lipgloss before heading down the runway, I think we can all agree that it is a girl's perogative to touch up her lippy on such an important night out, hardly a cause for accusing her of divadom!!! Leona Lewis gave an amazing performance as expected but despite her hair & make-up looking it's usual fantastic self, I really must insist that she sacks her stylist, her dress looked more like a last minute thrown together mishmash from half a Come Dancing costume mixed with Lawrence Llewelyn Bowen's bed spread!!!!






Girls Allowed missed out on their award of Best Group but looked great as ever on the red carpet, although missing one member, Nadine, sparking more rumours that she wants to leave the band...






All that was left to do after wards was party & with Kylie's Post-Brit bash I'm sure the style & glamour (and champagne consumption!!) continued all the way into the wee small hours, with many sore heads awakening this morning..!!

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Quintessential Brushes!

Try out this great 'Quintessential' Brush Set (£20) from Jemma Kidd Make-Up School, it is a collection of her favourite brushes for Eyes, Blush & bronze.
The Cheek Brush has a flat top which gives a great finish when blending your blusher or bronzer and there are 4 Eye Brushes, one for applying your base colour, another for applying colour to the lower lid, then one for blending colour into your socket line & finally one to define your lash lines that can be used wet or dry. The brushes are made with natural hair & their shape & defintion gives a great finish on your make-up, they even come with tips on how to apply your eye shadow - perfect!!!!