First wedding of 2012

Yesterday was my first wedding of 2012, and although the weather was a bit hit and miss all week, in the end I think it stayed dry long enough for the bride to get married outside. The bride, Mary and her daughter and chief bridesmaid Nadine both wanted very different looks for the big day, and they were a real pleasure to get to know both on the trial day and again on Mary's wedding day..

You can see below the before and after pictures of Mary. All the hair for the bride and bridesmaid was done by Kyla with assistance from Amy, both from Kyla's Haircare. When I spoke to Mary about what she wanted from her look, she wanted to look like 'her- but on a really good day'. This made my job really easy and I think in the end we achieved that look.

For Mary's base I first prepped her skin using Korres Wild Rose 24h Moisturiser and Kiehls Midnight Eye Recovery Cream. I then used a wonderful primer by Pixi- Flawless and Poreless. This really does minimise the pores and create a wonderful base for the foundation to then sit on.

I used Laura Mercier's moisturising foundation in 'Blush Ivory'. This suited Mary's skin perfectly and evened out her skin beautifully. I used Laura Mercier's secret concealer in Shade 1 ( a real wonder product in my opinion!) followed by a touch of Calvin Klein endless light brightening concealer in 'Cream'. I finished her skin off with MAC Mineralize Skinfinish Natural in 'Light'. I am not usually a fan of MAC products but this finishing powder is so light and buffs on flawlessly.


 For Mary's finished look, I filled in her brows with Laura Mercier's brow cream in Soft Taupe. On her eyes I first used Laura Mercier's eye primer in 'Linen' followed by Pixi's Eye Solo in "Nude Nouveaux" along with some of Pixi's Smokey Eye Primer cream blended along the lash line. I highlighted her brow bone to create some extra lift.

Mary wore false eyelashes by Eylure. We trimmed them down so they fitted her eyes perfectly and they looked natural but still glamourous. I coated her lashes in a layer of waterproof mascara from Urban Decay. Along her top lashline, I used a small amount of a bronze/black eyeliner from GOSH- it s a long lasting eyeliner which lasts all day (and night!) when I wear it so I knew it would be perfect for the day. I used the Smokey Eye Primer from Pixi underneath Mary's eyes, using a smudge brush to blend it right in.

On her cheeks I used a combination of Givenchy's Prisme Blush in Bucolic Poppy and Benefit's One Hot Minute Bronzing Powder. Finally- on her lips I used Laura Mercier's lip pencil in 'Baby Lips' and Laura Mercier's Lip Stain in 'Shy Pink' with a dab of Lancome Juicy Tube in 'Spring Fling'.

Here is Mary in her finished look. I absolutely love this photo and her dress is stunning!

Nadine's base was by Rochas- Teint Hydra-Confort in Shade 21. I used Pixi Eye Bright Kit in Shade 3, along with Calvin Klein'endless light brightening concealer in a mixture of 'Cream' and Bisque'. I again finished her skin with MAC Mineralize Skinfinish Natural in 'Light'.

Nadine wanted a much heavier eye-make up than her mum, so we went ultra-glamourous, starting with Urban Decay's original eyeshadow primer potion. I used shades from the Urban Decay 'Book of Shadows' kit. Bust, Missionary, Gunmetal and Cobra to create her smokey eyes. Along with Zephyr and Skimp as highlight on her brown bone and into the inner corners of her eyes.

Nadine wore a full set of Eylure lashes, and I used Maybelline Eye Studio- Lasting Gel liner in Black to line her top lashes. Underneath her eyes I blended Pixi's Endless Silky Eye Pen in black noir to finish her eyes.

Benefit's Sugar Bomb blusher was the perfect shade for Nadine's cheeks and gave them a healthy glow. I finished the look by using a mixture of Pixi's clear balm and Pixi's Lip Booster in 'Theena' on her lips.

Below you can see Nadine's finished look

And finally here is the beautiful bridal party, dressed and ready to leave.  

A natural beauty...

Ok so not technically anything to do with make-up or fashion, but I couldn't resist sharing these photos of my brilliant dog and model extraordinaire 'Dolly'.

 She even has her own natural 'cat-eye' liner round her eyes. Super glamorous!

A real natural beauty....

Back to the Sixties

I absolutely love the fashion and the style of the 1960's. I got my chance to indulge in this last weekend at a 50's and 60's night for charity in aid of the local hospice here in Medway. Here are just a few pictures. My husband and I decided to go as mods, or a variation of this as we already had quite a few of the items required for this look!

I wore three different sets of lashes on my eyes- two on top and then I trimmed a pair down to wear on the lower lashes. I used the usual suspects of products including my Chanel vitalumiere foundation, Laura Mercier secret concealer, Pixi Gel Liner and Givenchy blusher.


I went very much for an interpretation of the pop art mod look with my eye make-up. Believe me this is more difficult than it looks to get it perfectly neat in the crease of your eye socket. My hair was rather helpfully already cut very much into a mod style. Annette chose to do this when I decided to dye my hair back to it's natural shade and I love it- very easy to style and looks 'done' as soon as I blow dry it!

My complete outfit (to the right). My dress was from Closet at Dorothy Perkins and was a last minute change from a more hippyish dress I had originally purchased. My tights were from House of Holland for Pretty Polly (and yes I got a fair few "you've got a ladder in your tights"). My shoes are a purchase from New Look many years ago, they always seem to come in handy when I least expect it-Grey, Lace up ribbon heeled brogues.

I'll try not to leave it so long between posts for you all xxxx

A pop of colour...

Sorry I've been away for while.. but to kick things off again I thought I would give you a quick run down of how to create a really simple but glamorous look.

To prep my skin I used Korres Wild Rose 24 Hour Moisturiser, along with Kiehls Midnight Eye Recovery Cream. I then used the Make-Up Forever HD Primer in Shade Neutral. This is an amazing primer which refines the pores and makes your skin look flawless before you even apply a base.

On my recent trip to Venice I discovered Italian Make-Up brand Kiko (Make-Up Milano). I have since discovered they have a shop in the UK in Westfields Stratford and Shepherds Bush so I am thrilled. On my visit to the Venice branch, I purchased a fairly new type of product in the western market- a BB cream. Also known as a Blemish Balm, this is a very popular product from Asia. It provides great coverage as a normal foundation would do but it has the texture more like a tinted moisturiser. It provides UV protection, and often contains an SPF aswell. It moisturises as well as covers and also acts as a primer so for a day to day look you don't need to use primer underneath. For an evening look I still like to use a primer as it makes the make-up last that much longer.

I use shade number 1- light and it blends perfectly into my skin. This product is a bargain as well at only £8.90. I highly recommend you give a BB cream a go. I plan to try other brands to see how they differ. I use a concealer by Sephora- Smoothing & Brightening Concealer- It is one of the best i have used and it is a real bargain at $14- sadly Sephora is not available in the UK. I stock up when I visit the USA or Europe. I finished my skin off with a sheer wash of Cover Girl Tru Blend Powder in Translucent Fair to give an even finish.

My blusher is by Givenchy. 'Le Prisme Blush in Blooming Fuschia's. It gives a lovely pink glow to the skin and blends in very easily. I also bought at the same time Le Prisme Blush in 'Bucolic Poppy' which is a more fuschia pink and brightens your complexion instantly.

For my eyes I first prepare my eyebrows with Cosmetics a la Carte's Brow Ink in 'Taupe'. I like my eyebrows to look groomed but natural so I draw the brow ink through my brows before brushing through with an eyebrow brush to blend it through

.

I then applied an eye primer- in this instance I used Urban Decay Eye Primer Potion in 'Sin'. I then applied a natural eyeshadow on top. I have many different brands I used but I wanted my eyelids to look fairly natural so I used a neutral shade from my Apothecary Essentials Kit. I love wearing eyeliner and it seems to be something I am known for amongst friends and family! To create this shimmer eyeliner, I first used Kiko's Automatic Waterproof eyeliner in Black. This eyeliner is great as it draws on like a felt tip pen and doesnt smudge. My top tip for using it is to draw the line you want away from your lash line and then fill in downwards- almost like colouring within the lines. This type of eyeliner is particularly good if you aren't very confident drawing on liquid liner.

To create the metallic sheen on top of the black I used Givenchy Parad Eyes Fluid Eye Liner in shade 5. Sadly this is a limited edition shade no longer available and I am currently researching other eyeliners which have a similar effect and last as long. I use Pixi Silky Eye Pen in Black Tulip as kohl to rim my lower lashes and on the inside of the lower lash line (as can be seen in the finished look below).

My falshes eyelashes are by a brand called "Eldora". I have about 15 pairs of lashes by them, and they are lovely and natural feeling. They have over 200 different types of lashes. I highly recommend them. The ones I am wearing are H133. I always use Duo glue to apply my false lashes as the glue provided by most companies isn't good enough and doesn't last on a night out.

Finally to create my fuschia lips I used two products- the first is Topshop's Lip Liner in Fearless. I lined my lips and then filled in my entire lips with the pencil. I then used Givenchy's Pop Gloss-Lip Gloss in Shade 22, which is a bright fuschia pink with flecks of shimmer and glitter in.

And here is the finished look. Flawless and natural looking skin, which looks healthy and vibrant. With defined eyes and a pop of colour on the lips. A really simple look which anyone can do. 

Christmas Beauty gifts and purchases

So for Christmas I took the opportunity to ask for some make-up and skincare pieces that I wanted but maybe couldn't quite justify buying at this time. I was lucky enough that on my list I received a fair few lovely things that I have had great joy in playing with since opening them on Christmas Day.

Firstly... The Urban Decay Book of Shadows Vol. IV

This is an amazing set. I have always loved Urban Decay eyeshadows, the pigments are second to none. This set is so pretty and it comes with the following

16 eyeshadows (10 new and exclusive to the palette)

One full-size 24/7 Waterproof Liquid Eyeliner in Perversion

One travel-size Supercurl Curling Mascara

One travel-size Eyeshadow Primer Potion

One small external speaker that can be used in place of your phone’s internal speaker

I have already had a play with nearly all the colours and my favourite so far have to be Cobra, Gravity and Skimp plus Midnight Cowgirl is a classic shade which I have always owned. The 24/7 Liquid Liner really is waterproof and the liner goes on so easily which makes a nice change to most liquid eyeliners. The Supercurl Mascara looks good and doesn't flake and the primer locks the eyeshadow onto the lid and lasts all day. I haven't tried the speaker which plays out lessons on different make-up looks yet, but no doubt I will try it soon


I also decided to take advantage of the sales and buy myself another eyeshadow palette, this time with more neutral shades for my kit. I bought myself a bargain from Apothecary which is sold at House of Fraser. I got an eyeshadow palette for £13 which was usually sold for £26. I was slightly sceptical of the quality as I had never heard of this brand before. However I have pleasantly surprised and proved wrong! The eyeshadows look beautiful on and the colour palette ranges from soft neutral skintones through to bronzes and gun metal greys. It also comes with a set of false eyelashes, which I haven't tried yet, a liquid highlighter, black pencil eyeliner and two lipglosses. These other products are okay- not the best but they aren't the worst I've seen in kits like this. The real highlight here is the eyeshadows and the mock book packaging which contains them. I will do some demos for both these eyeshadow palettes very soon.




I also received some fabulous skincare from one of my favourite brands- Kiehls. I received a beautiful gift box with the Acai Damage-Repairing Serum, Acai Damage-Correcting Moisturizer and Acai Balance Protecting Toning Mist, Midnight Recovery Eye Cream and a sample size of my favourite and previously mentioned face oil in this post the Midnight Recovery Concentrate. I have been using the Acai products for over two weeks as well as the Eye concentrate and I have started to notice a difference in the texture of my skin.

"The Acai range according to Kiehl's website should - Activates skin’s own renewal process to help repair visible effects of oxidative skin damage, Improve appearance of skin discoloration, evens skin texture, and provides a natural tightening effect."

I have to say that I have definately noticed an improvement in the colouration of my skin and it has improved the redness and the uneven-ness that I have. A really luxurious yet practical set of skincare and yet another set of treatments from Kiehls which I absolutely love!








What beauty products did you received this Christmas? Part two of my beauty haul to come later this week...

XXX

A lovely sunny day in July....

So I've been away for a while- well not actually away but what with Christmas fast approaching my days and evenings have been filled with work, shopping, work and a bit more shopping... with a few nights out in between. I thought I would make my return by posting a beauty blog with a difference. My other passion is wedding planning, I have been taking a distance learning course in it, though my most valuable training and experience was planning my own, I was meticulous down to the very last detail, along with some help from some very talented people along the way. So without further ado I present my own personal masterpiece.... mine and Matthew's wedding day 30th July 2011!

Yvette Craig Photography has very kindly provided all the amazing photos for this post.

My inspiration for the colour scheme and the looks that brought the whole day together came from my amazing shoes, which were from Office. I fell in love with them on their website and rushed in to their Carnaby Street store to try them on. I wanted shoes I would wear again, had a vintage feel and had an amazing heel on them. These fitted the bill perfectly!

My dress and veil were both from David's Bridal. My dress was from the Galina Signature collection and again was just perfect for the look I was after. It was so easy to wear and had beautiful vintage beading around the waist. The veil was edged with Swarovski crystals

For my hair I didn't want a traditional bridal up do- nor did I want to leave my hair as I would normally wear it. In the end Annette Young of Annette's New Hair Care took inspiration from two photos I showed her- one of Dianna Agron at the Golden Globes (which I previously mentioned in this blog post) and the other was a look Anna Paquin wore to the SAG awards. My bridesmaids all wore their hair in the same style as although I had chosen three individual dresses for them, I wanted their hair to keep some continuity to their looks. They had fresh white freesia's on wire in their hair. However when it came to their make-up, I allowed my wonderfully talented friend and former colleague Amanda Bell to work her magic and she created looks for them all which suited them perfectly.

For my own make-up I gave Amanda a brief that I wanted to looks like I was wearing make-up and for it to be subtle and smokey without looking "overdone". I personally knew I was not a 'natural' bride as I love to wear make-up particularly experimenting with colour on my eyes and lips. My only other condition was that my skin looked fresh and glowing. For me it was perfect. I wore Chanel Vitalumiere for my foundation and Amanda used strip lashes trimmed down to suit my eyes perfectly. Everything worked together and the whole looks I felt was fresh, pretty, romantic with a touch of vintage.

Here is my gorgeous flower girl Lily. Her mum embellished a plain monsoon headband and shoes and added diamante and small flowers to fit in perfectly with the rest of my theme.  

Here is the whole bridal party together. Our flowers were by Jo Moody of Moody Blooms, who created structured hand tied but beautifully 'natural' looking bouquets. My bouquet was made up of Sweet Akito pale pink roses, pale blue Scabiosa and white Freesia, Viburnum or Alchemilla Mollis, lavender foliage, mid blue Veronica & Variegated looped China grass. The girls all had a scaled down version of my own. Lily had a silver wand with a pale pink rose to match the main flower used throughout the wedding.

For my something old, borrowed and blue I wore my mum's garter that she wore for her wedding, with a sixpence tied to my garter (rather than wearing it in my shoe). My something new was my beautiful jewellery from Blue Pearl.

We got married aboard the HMS Gannet in Chatham Dockyard and the weather was amazing, we couldn't believe our luck! It added that extra special sparkle to the day!

And not forgetting the boys! They all wore suits from Slaters Menswear, with pink Sweet Akito rose buttonholes.

Above are my four bridesmaids walking to the ship. They wore dresses from both 'Light in the Box.com' and 'Coast', and on the left is my entrance! A wonderful surprise for both myself and Matt. We later had a tour round the Dockyard with a glass of champagne. Pure glamour!

We got married on the top deck of the HMS Gannet and after the vows we were both quite relieved to have finished them without messing them up! I had two of my best friends do a reading each to personalise our ceremony. We also hired a String Quartet- Status Cymbal to play not only my entrance music but music during the signing of the register and our drinks reception on the ship. They also played back at Commissioners House during the wedding breakfast; a touch which everyone commented on how lovely it was.

 My cake was created by Helen Brown of Helen Brown Cakes. I chose a fruit top tier with a mixture of lemon and chocolate/vanilla marble cupcakes. Helen created beautiful sugar flowers based on the same flowers in my bouquet and on the table centrepieces. The cupcakes were adorned with similar but scaled down versions of these flowers. We also had our own pick and mix table , we unveiled it at the end of the meal and it caused quite a stir as it had been previously covered and it was a surprise to most people

 We had fresh foliage wreaths on the tables with a mixture of flowers in our colour scheme, with hurricane vases in the centre of each. We gave these away as gifts to people who meant a lot to us. The top table had a garland running along the entire length of the table. My good friend Sam Atlee from Artcardia made our table names, name places, table plan and our favours. I gave her a very loose brief with some colour swatches and she created beautiful and unique cards.



Check out the bride and groom placecard below! I was blown away when I saw it!

Our chair covers and swag for the tables were provided by Debbie Ridd at Ambience Venue Styling. She did a beautiful job and the combination of everything together made the room look and feel like a fairytale!

All of our wedding guests enjoying the beautiful July sunshine. In the front by me you can see our very handsome Page Boy James, kitted out in a pale pink waistcoat and tie from BHS.  We were so appreciative of everyone who came and shared in our special day. I know myself and Matt particularly appreciated all the hard work that went in to our amazing day!

Our first dance was to 'The Book of Love' by Peter Gabriel. Our fantastic DJ for the evening reception was Philip Harvey from 20-20 Sounds and we had some amazing feedback from our guests about the whole evening atmosphere which wouldn't have been possible without the music being just right. Unfortunately as many couples find the evening went far too quickly and we wished we could do it all over again!

Thankyou for reading, I appreciate any comments or feedback on this blog post or any of my others xxx