Spring Cheeks & Lips!!!

Spring make-up is all about natural flushed beauty, paying most attention to the cheeks & lips. Soft pink lips with a flash of colour on the cheeks is all you need to glow this season, match it up with the flower power craze that is hitting the high streets right now & you're bang on trend!!!!

Get The look -

Use a light base, try Stila's Tinted Moisturiser from yesterday's post.
Take a nude shadow across the whole lid & a brown pencil on the lash lines to create a softly defined eye
Use a cheek & lip stain for the cheeks & lips, it creates a natural flushed look.
Best tip, is to dab a tiny amount on your hand with your finger tips & start at the apple of your cheeks & work up, keep most of the colour intensity on the 'apple' area to keep it looking soft & youthful.
Again dab the stain on with your fingertips for the lips, don't use a lip pencil with this style as it will look over-done.

Try out Superdrug's 'Pussy Cat Lip & Cheek Stain', good enough to rival Benefit's classic & at £4.99 it's a steal!!!!!

New From Stila - SPF 30 Tinted Moisturiser

Stila's latest tinted moisturiser is a multi purpose product with extra SPF, it evens out your skin tone, provides a medium coverage, absorbs oil to help give a matt appearance & with white willow bark it gives your skin a natural radiant glow! With silk amino acids & pomegranate extract it also moisturises & soothes the skin while acting as a natural anti-oxidant, all in all a winning product!!!!!

Hot Shimmering Golden Eyes!

Gold, bronze & metallic shimmers with a warm palette will be very hot this coming summer season, wear it by applying a wash of colour to the lids, gently blending upwards into the brow bone, taking it lighter as you blend, finish by taking a little of the gold into the inner corners of the eye & use brown liner for a softer finish to the lash lines. Match this with a little bronzer on the cheeks & luscious red lips - set to be huge this summer!
To get this look try Urban Decay's Cream Shadow in 'Beautifully Bronzed', they are easy to blend into a soft 'washed over' colour effect & unlike a lot of other cream shadows stay put all day & won't crease. Apply with the finger tips (a little goes a long way!) & gently blend over the lid, then with a blending brush gently sweep back & forth to blend the colour out taking your brush upwards to the brow bone, after this take a cotton bud & add a tiny amount of the gold into the inner corners & blend. If you would like to intensify the look take a dark brown eyeshadow powder into the socket line & outer corners of the eye with the blending brush (best to use a shimmer/frost shadow as they will blend better into the cream). For the lash lines either use the same dark brown shadow as you did for the sockets & with slanted eye brush take it along both the top & bottom lashes, or for the ultimate metallic finish why not try Urban Decay's Liquid Liner Vintage in 'Dark Metallic Brown'. (available at www.urbandecay.com)

New From Mac - Heatherette

Mac have just collaborated with New York Fashion duo Traver Rains & Richie Rich to create the new range 'Heatherette', lot's of sparkling pinks & purples is the key which is great for fresh spring looks! With two Eyeshadow Palates, one with with light pinks & purples & the other with pink, turquoise & charcoal, you can choose the 'good girl' day & the 'bad girl' night look! There is also a pearlescent Beauty Powder in pink & bronze as well as selection of luscious pink Lipsticks & Lipglass.
Exclusive to Mac Online (www.maccosmetics.com) & Selfridges. Check out some of the looks below using the new range -

Madonna's Elle Shoot.

Behind The Scenes At the Elle Shoot

Madonna's latest cover for Elle Magazine has caused quite a stir, how does a woman of 50 manage to look this good (!?)....and of course the answer on everbody's lips is - botox, collagen & a face lift!! Although nothing is confirmed of course & why should it be, it really is nobody's business, plus is it not a woman's perogative to do whatever necessary to fight the ageing battle?! In Madonna's case it truly is a lot of self discipline, intense exercise regimes & an impeccably healthy diet (although she does admit to having a slight obsession with creme eggs!). As she says in her owns words 'there are no short cuts' to being Madonna, it's self discipline & hard work all the way, also why should a woman be defined by her age anyway & as the lady says herself - 'I'm not going to slow down & get off this ride, stay at home & get fat. No way!' At the end of the day no amount of surgery, no matter how discreet, is going to give anybody the amount of energy & sparkle Madonna has & I think we all have to agree she certainly is looking better than ever!
Checkout the slideshow from the Elle shoot below, also turn up your volume for both!

Oil Control!

Do you feel that your skin is prone to oiliness & no matter what you do you can't have a shine free day....??!!! Well here's some tips & products to help keep a perfect matt complexion all day long!

With Oily skin types the oil producing 'sebaceous' glands are overactive and produce more oil than what is needed so the oil can create a shine that appears greasy. The pores will be enlarged, the skin can appear coarse, prone to blackheads & blemishes. The reasons for this can be heredity, diet, hormones or even the cosmetic products you use. Of course one great advantage with oily skins is that they age at a much slower rate than other skin types!
Oily skin needs thorough cleansing with plenty of hot water (dissolves skin oil better than lukewarm or cold water) to prevent the pores from clogging, it is best to avoid harsh products that strip your skin such as any products containing alcohol, as they will only harm your skin's natural barrier & encourage bacteria build up, it can also encourage the oil glands to work overtime to compensate for the loss of natural oils which in turn will worsen the oily appearance to the skin.
To clean the skin, use a clarifying product as it will remove the surface oil on the skin effectively, also opt for oil-free moisturisers to maintain a shine-free complexion & ensure you exfoliate twice a week to keep your skin healthy & remove excess oil & dead skin.

Here are a few top products I would highly recommend -

Lancome's Gel Pure Focus (17.55) - This is a foaming gel cleanser that has a purifying effect which absorbs excess oil around the pores, inhibiting oil production & bacteria build up. Leaves the skin feeling fresh & matt for hours.
Clinique's Pore Minimiser T-Zone Shine Control (£11) - This reduces & controls excess shine without drying out the skin & leaving a long lasting matt finish, works brilliantly under make-up as a primer. Also try their Blotting Sheets (£7.50) as it is better to use these rather than a build up of powder throughout the day.

Neutrogena Oil Free Fresh Moisturiser - An oil free moisturiser that still keeps your skin well hydrated & will help avoid shine throughout the day.

What Make-Up Item Could You Least Live Without?!

We all have our make-up saviours that we would not consider leaving the house without, let us know yours & vote below!