May Favourites

Its that time of the month where I blab on about things I have been enjoying in the month of May. So here we go!.

 My first beauty product I have been loving, is the Botantics Radiance Balm from Boots. Its very creamy and luxurious, and your skin feels like silk when applied. It acts as a brightener to the skin. I put this on after I have cleansed and moisturised, but before I put any make up on. It has the plant Hibiscus in it which is natures own brightness booster with a slight pink hue to it. I have been using this for about 8 weeks now and I love how it gives such a natural glow to the skin and just adds that extra va va voom to how your make up looks.

My next product is the Bourjois 123 Perfect CC cream. As we are approaching the summer months I wanted to wear something lighter on my skin than foundation. This is the answer. It has the three main colour corrective every girl needs. Apricot for anti-fatigue, Green for anti-redness and White for anti-dark spots. It covers really well, but it still gives that 'skin like' appearance. The bonus is, it also has SPF 15 in it, which is a great start in protecting your skin every day. With this great product broke my old faithful concealer out, Select Cover-Up Concealer by MAC. This one is an oldie, but a goody.  I find this concealer is light and creamy, great for under the eyes, but will also cover any blemishes, scarring, and redness. BUT, this is a big but, beware!. Work quickly, blending this bad boy in as it dries in seconds and once it has, it can look cakey and gives that dragging effect when trying to blend out. Together, with the cc cream its a marriage made. Also for the face, I have been using Nars Illuminator in Copacabana. Well what can I say, but oo la la, Mr Francois Nars has done it again! It is the most creamy, blendable, beautiful gleam to the skin. This is not for the fainthearted and if you are looking for a gleam that even NASA can see from their space station this is the ONE.

Nars Illuminator in copacabana

 Staying with the face, the last two products, Maybelline The Eraser Eye. Not much to say about this. Its o.k, for under the eyes its light, creamy blends o.k. But im not bowled over by it. I am quite demanding when it comes to a concealer and this is....o.k. So not a favourite, but I would not rule it out if you were thinking of giving it a try. On the cheeks I have pulled out a favourite from last year, my Bobbi Brown Pot Rouge for lips and cheek in the shade Calypso Coral. Beautiful bright peach, blends beautifully and can be sheered out to not such an intense colour. Great for lips and cheeks. On my eyelids I have been going for a grunge look, just because I have been super busy and its the quickest eye make up technique to do in a hurry. I have been wearing NYX Jumbo Eye Pencil in Knight. Its a khaki green colour with gold flecks in it and I have blending this out with a little bronzer all around the eye and BAM! you are good to go. Last but not least, is the Rimmel London Kate Moss Lipstick in 03. Its a caramel, pinky, nude tone lipstick.  Not a massive fan of the smell, but can live with it for the price of these lipsticks.

Top-NYX Knight Jumbo Pencil Middle-Bobbi Brown Calypso Coral Bottom-Rimmel Kate Moss Lipstick 03

Onto nails now, I have been loving the Barry M Quick Dry Nail Polishes. My collection is growing at a steady pace and I like the colour pay off and they last a while using a base coat. I have found that not to use a topcoat with these as they chip more, but when I did not use it, they just faded at the tips. Colours I have are TL-Pitstop, TR- Full Throttle, BL-Eat my dust, BR-Need for speed.

Lulu Guinness Continental wallet croco print leather in mink

This is my little moment where you were in the right place at the right time. I was in TK Maxx where I was picking up a Grobag for my 17 month old and I spotted the above out of the corner my eye. A  lulu guinness continental wallet croco print leather in mink. I got an amazing discount which makes me love it even more. My last favourite for this month and sadly I have needed to wear this more than I have wanted to for May, my bright yellow rain mack from Primark. It has rained so much in Lancashire, GB which is not normal for this time of year, so I was glad of this purchase.

So there are my favourites for May. What have you been loving this month? Is there any products or items of clothing that you might think I would like to try? I would love to hear from you.

Love Nay x


Disclaimer- I have not been paid to advertise any products mentioned above, I just like to share.

June Daily Make up favourites

Its that time of the month already, and I can certainly say June has been an incredible month. I decided to share with you all, my two go-to make up looks that I have been wearing, all of June. The Look I have been emulating, is two make up looks, one a blown out purple/taupe eye, with my new love, Rimmel Kate Moss lipstick in 08. I bought this about 18 months ago and decided pretty quickly that it just washed me out, because my hair was a copper colour at the time, then fast forward to now, hair change to bronde (hairdresser term for mixture of blonde and brunette hair colour) and now I have rekindled my love for it, and it is now firmly placed in my hand bag. The second look is a bronzy/goldy/brown eye, same technique, rounding out the eye, and I teamed this with Nars Cruella lip pencil (my review) which is a perfect tone to go with my bronzed eye look.

 I have re-visited some oldies this month to renew my love for them. The first is Illamasqua Skin Base foundation. My attention had been diverted away from this foundation, and it was only when I cleaned out my kit, I realized how much I had missed it. This foundation is a medium coverage, but is definitely build-able. I like how it covers imperfections, but still looks like 'skin' giving you that fresh faced look. My second product is Mac Strobe cream. I had thought I had lost this, as when my youngest son was about 8 months old he had a taken a shine to it, and evidently it went missing, until now! I found it in a pair of old shoes and was overjoyed to have found it again. I use this under my foundation to give a radiant glow to the skin. With the new term 'Strobing' which is really highlighting given a new name, I have found using this also on those chosen areas is keeping my make up fresh and up to date. I have to admit my brow routine has not changed though. I am still using my old faithful Anastasia Beverley Hill Dipbrow in medium brown with Maybelline Brow Drama, as I am yet to find anything different that has caught my eye. (brow routine)

My concealer though has been another rediscovery. I am a slave to my blue/black circles under my eyes and as I have got older (and they have got worse since having children) I have become well mastered in the process of camouflaging them. The Mac Pro conceal and correct palette has been my trusty friend on many a job, but I have never used it on myself, as I have always liked Bobbi brown correcter in the shade Peach, but recently I forgot to pack it, so had to revert to my Mac pro palette and oh joy of joys, its amazing! I mean I know it is amazing, because I use it on my clients and see fantastic results, but I had just got stuck in a rut with using my old faithful. To contour and highlight, I have been using another Anastasia Beverly Hill product, their Contour Kit (link to product review) and to add a bit more radiance to the skin, Mac cream colour base in Hush added on the top of the cheeks. Its a pretty peachy, gold cream and just gleams on the cheeks ( I also have a review on this product). Also on the cheeks just to add even more glow, I have been using Nars Cult Classic Orgasm blush, a peachy pink with golden shimmer. It beautifully blends onto the skin, which is very in keeping with both my chosen looks.

left-right Mac Teddy eye pencil, Mac Woodwinked, Mac Espresso, Maybelline color tattoo 24hr on and on Bronze, Nars Cruella

For my eyes to achieve my bronze/goldy/brown look, Maybelline Color Tattoo 24hr On and On Bronze (I have a review on both Maybelline  Color Tatto 24hr) on the mobile lid blending up into the crease, then packing over that, Mac woodwinked eye shadow, which is a pretty warm antiqued gold and it just melts onto the lid. Then into the socket line blending upwards Mac Espresso, which is a muted gold brown to give that blown out look that I really like at the moment. I have been then putting Mac Teddy eye pencil (sorry this is a little Mac heavy) which is an intense bronze along the lash line and blending that out to really make the lashes stand out. For my purple/taupe look, I popped on Maybelline Color Tatto 24hr in Permanent Taupe on the mobile lid, and then I put in the crease, Mac Blackberry, a burgundy-plum brown with Mac Haux, which is a soft rosey brown blending that up wards to add warmth to the eye. To finish both my looks off, I have been wearing Eldora hand made, real hair false lashes, H151. They are so pretty, fluttery lashes with a invisible band which is perfect if you are not wearing a full liner.

Left-Right Mac Teddy eye pencil, Maybelline Color tatto 24hr Permanent taupe, Mac Haux, Mac Blackberry, Rimmel Kate Moss 08 Lipstick

So there you go, these are my June Make up favourites. What products have you tried? What have been your Make up favourites? Also, if anyone could tell me of any brow products they are loving at the moment, I would love to hear from you.

Love Nay x


Disclaimer- I have not been paid for any of the products mentioned above, I just like to share.

Budget Vs Highend, Battle of the Reds Feat-Maybelline Color Drama and Nars velvet matte pencil

Wearing Maybelline Color Drama Lip Pencil in the shade Light me up

In the U.K recently, Boots (a drugstore) had some really great offers on their beauty products, so I thought I would take advantage and try out Maybelline color Drama lip pencil. I am always dubious of crayon lipsticks as they can be normally very drying and you cannot beat the feel of turning a lipstick up from the bullet, that being said, I am always open to new make up experiences. I decided to go with the colour light me up, its a vibrant blue toned red, perfect for pale skin tones. The formulation of this pencil is lovely. It has a buttery, creamy formulation which glides on the lip effortlessly. I really love how moisturising this is and it did last a good couple of hours before I needed to reapply. The pigmentation is also very good which just add's to it's staying power. I think it is well worth the money.

Maybelline Color Drama Lip Pencil in the shade Light me up

 I am always keen to see how the budget (drugstore) brands match up to the high end brands. I tried the Maybelline color drama lip pencil against the Nars Velvet Matt Lip Pencil a cult classic in the make up world, in the shade Cruella. I had read many reviews on this particular product and colour, and I was keen to give it a whirl. I always thought the high end had the upper hand with the extra ingredients, but on this occasion I could not be more wrong.

 The packaging on the Nars lip pencil is beautiful. The moment I removed it from its box I knew it had a place in my make up bag. The smooth black outer layer is simply a joy to behold. The Maybelline is not. Its your usual black plastic looking packaging nothing really to write home about, but this is where Nars only has the upper hand. The formulation of Nars velvet matt Lip pencil I found drying. You would think with the extra vitamin E and emollients added that it wouldn't be. Upon application it seems to drag across the lip, and it feathered so much around the the outer lip line that I had to blend the edges with a lip brush. I first wore it at a dinner party with friends and it did not last the first course!. I was very disappointed with this product, as I had done the necessary preparation to make my lipstick last. Saying that the colour is very beautiful and would suit many skin tones. For me though, this is not enough to make it a firm favourite in my handbag, but it is not a complete right off. I will still wear this, but will have to do plenty of prep before I apply it. As you can probably tell by my tone I am thoroughly disappointed, as you would think for what you pay for this product you may be getting something better, well for me, not on this occasion. So save your pennies on this one and go for a budget brand such as Maybelline Color Drama lip pencil, as this one will be staying in my handbag.

Wearing Nars Velvet Matt Lip Pencil in the shade Cruella

Nars Velvet Matt Lip Pencil in the shade Cruella

Light me up (left) Cruella (right)

So, there you go, my thoughts on Lip crayons. Have you tried any of these? Have you found another brand of lip crayon/ Pencil I should try?. Please let me know, I would love to hear from you.

Love Nay x


Disclaimer- I have not been paid by any products mentioned above, I just like to share.

Contour Game Strong-My favourite Bronzers and Highlighters Part 1

 I felt it was time to spring clean. No, not my house, my make up collection of course!. Since I became a make up artist two years ago, my collection of products to use on my clients have grown at a steady pace. I do so love though when seasons change, to bring out some much loved yet forgotten products which have being lying dormant

Contouring is really taking centre stage with the drugstore (budget brands) the likes of Sleek make up and Barry M Cosmetics coming on board, they are really set to give the likes of  Nars, Anastasia Beverley Hills and Benefit a run for their money. I've
put together my 4 favourites in contour brands.

Contour powders (Bronzers)

Benefit Hoola - It's a great colour for fair skin. It is a cool tone brown, which means that there is no red tone to the product which makes it look more natural. Also its completely matt which helps with the whole natural look. It does come with a snazzy little brush and a mirror in the compact, Result!

Nars Laguna - A cult beauty bronzer in the make up world, is for me a little on the warm side. Being fair skinned I only tend to reach for this product on the rare occasion that I have a tan, as it only complements the tone of my skin otherwise it can look a little orange, saying that it does give a nice subtle glow to the skin which instantly gives me a pick me up. The case is beautiful and has a nice mirror which you never feel ashamed to bring out to check your make up in public.

Anastasia Beverly Hills Contour Kit-  I purchased this last year on Cult Beauty and was a little surprised when receiving it through the post, how small it is, saying that I still love it!. It has three highlighters and three bronzers. The first highlighter Vanilla is matt and creamy in colour and the other is Sand which has  a more shimmery effect, both are pretty and natural looking but nothing knock out, apart from the 'yellow one' Banana!! It reminds me of Ben Nye's Banana powder and if you pop this on to set under your under eye concealer, it really brightens up any remnants of a 'late night.'

The bronzers vary in colour from a beautiful cool toned brown, called Fawn, which is similar to Benefits Hoola in tone, great for fair skins that are struggling for that tan goddess look. Java has quite a orangey tone to it, which looks stunning on a warmer colour skin, as would the colour Havana which is more a red toned brown, also good for the darker skin but maybe not if you are dark but have alot of ash tone to your skin.

Illamsqua Cream Pigment in the colour Hollow is a cream bronzers in a cool toned brown which is perfect for fair skin. Its creamy and is really easy to blend, and you can build on the colour to
intensify the contour, but be warned, this can look a little 'dirty' if not blended enough. It is also water resistant which is brilliant to wear in the hot weather to come.

So there you are, four of my favourite bronzers. I am sorry they are all high end products but I have yet to find any drugstore/budget contour or highlighter that is as good as these. If anyone could let me know of any that you have tried please let me know, I would love to hear from you.

Don't forget to check back next week for my four favourite highlighters.

Love Nay x


Disclaimer- I have not been paid by any of the brands mentioned, I just like to share.