Make up classes

I’m a sucker for a make up class, I can’t help it. I just love to learn! Can’t be a bad thing can it? Surely not. 

When it comes to make up & make up application I want to learn as much as I possibly can. I love it!

 I honestly think when it comes to make up- no matter if you are a make up artist or just apply your own, you are always learning. There are so many different products & tools on the market and more being released all the time so just when you think you are on top of your game another technique is discovered/rediscovered (baking for instance, which has been used in drag make up for years, has recently become famous again) or another product or tool is released claiming to make your make up life easier…. 

This is why I love to attend classes,  I’m already a qualified MUA and have attended lots of other accredited courses but to be honest I find I’ve learned a hell of a lot more from working make up artists at the masterclasses they hold than I ever did in college. 

I love picking up little tips and tricks from them that I might not have thought of. Like a product I use regularly another artist might use it in a way I haven’t thought of, or they might have a brush that is typically for one thing but they find it works better used another way etc. Little things like that. 

This week I attended a class ran by a lady who did my bridesmaids make up on my wedding day just over a year ago. 

As much as I love a dramatic smokey eye & strong contour á la PLouise it simply isn’t for everyone, which is why I’ve always admired Jaimies work. She creates the natural ‘no make up, make up’ look so well when it comes to her bridal clients and her night out make ups are beautifully done with glowy skin, subtly smokey eyes & soft but flattering contour. And I simply wanted to see what it takes to achieve the above mentioned looks. 

The class was held at the Brentwood kitchen and began  with prep and then application of various brands of make up (illamasqua, Mac and Charlotte tilbury to name a few) & lashes accompanied by a lovely iced coffee and home made Victoria sponge 😋

Makeup + cake + coffee = HEAVEN! 

I learned some fab tips when it comes to application and decided on a few more make up purchases (of course 😉)  after seeing her work her magic. 
I really enjoyed myself and look forward to attempting to recreate the look we were shown at some point this week. 

The final result 

I’d definitely recommend attending Jaimies future classes to anyone. And I look forward to attending another in the near future I think there may be a Christmas one coming up. 

I also attended a seminar in London this week with my favourite Youtuber Amy of ‘Amy’s make up box’ so I’ll be writing another post to tell you all about that one 🙂 

Are you a make up artist? 

Are there any classes you would recommend? 

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Gwen Stefani for Urban decay palette

  
I’ve not been around in like, forever so apologies for that. Some pretty life changing things have been happening but all will be revealed in the coming weeks I promise 😉 

I was on a spending ban so wasn’t going to purchase the Gwen Stefani palate but those 2 little words ‘limited edition’ swayed me and I caved and ordered one! And I’m not disappointed.

First impressions

I love the box! It looks so smart all in gold, white & black and has the perfect sized mirror for make up application. And the colours! Apart from the pink they are all everyday wearable shades that can take you from day to evening in the flick of a brush. 

I also received some lovely Urban decay samples with my palette. I’m loving the 24/7 liner in ‘Vice’ it’s going to be perfect for Christmas. (Shown in the above image) 

  Shown here with flash 

  Shown here without flash 
I shall get swatches up before the weekend so you can have a nosey. I’m sure you’ll love them as much as I do 🙂 

Take care lovelies! 

Sam 🙂 x

Anastasia Beverly Hills : Self made palette first impressions

It’s here, it’s here!! 

  
My first ever Anastasia Palette! 

  
   
Shown above with & without flash.

Isn’t it just perfect 😍 I can’t wait to  try it out. I really like the packaging and the brush seems really good quality. 

I’ll get swatches up ASAP. 

Have you used any of the Anastasia palettes before? 

What did you think of them? 

Let me know in the comments 

I purchased mine from Cult beauty for £26 (free delivery) however it’s now out of stock, but you can add your details Here to be first in line as soon as its back in stock. It will be worth the wait, trust me 😉

Enjoy the rest of your weekend

Sam 🙂 x

Too faced romantic eye palette: swatches & review

Anyone who reads my blog on a regular or knows me personally will know my love for Too faced cosmetics. I literally love everything Too faced! Excellent quality and beautifully packaged products. And the chocolate bar & Cocoa contour products? Erm HELLO! who doesn’t want pretty cosmetics that do what they say on the tin and smell like chocolate?! 

I own many too faced items but there are still sooooooo many more on my wishlist. 

I’ve owned this palette for a couple of months now and wanted to share its fabulousness with you guys. 

 
9 pretty, girly shades that are suitable for day & evening wear. With matte, satin & shimmer shades the amount of looks you can create are endless. And check out the names! 

 Shown here in natural light
  Shown here with flash 
Colours from L-R: 

• Un veil
• First dance
• Bouquet toss
• Soul mates
• Kiss the bride 
• I do
• Cut the cake 
• Honeymoon
• Ever after 

Pigmentation is perfect and the shades blend like butter. As always too faced are consistent with their shadows. 

The tutorial cards are really easy to follow especially for beginners.  And as I already said its so easy to go from day to night with this cute little palette.

For day I wear bouquet toss all Over the lid, soul mates as a brow bone highlight & inner corners. Then for night just add either unveil or first dance to the upper & lower lash lines & outer corners of the eyes and your good to go! 

It’s definitely up there with my favourites. 

Here’s a look I created at the weekend using shades: soul mates to highlight, bouquet toss as a base, I do in the crease & unveil on he outer corners & lower lash line.   

Have you tried the Too faced Romantic eye palette? 

Let me know what you thought in the comments section 🙂 

This weeks manicure

It might be Autumn but Im not ready to give up my bright shades just yet! This week I’m wearing Gelish in ‘scandalous’ a gorgeous bright red.  

 

Is there anything particular you guys would like to see on the blog? 

Let me know in the comments 

Hope you enjoyed.

Sam 🙂 x 

New brand launch: Clarria cosmetics #teamclarria

  
I’m So excited to tell you that Clarria cosmetics launched today! 

I am honoured to have been asked to be a part of this fantastic new luxurious, natural & organic make up brand originating from New York.

As you all know I haven’t been blogging for very long so to have been noticed by Clarria and being given the fantastic opportunity to blog for them is amazing. 

I have plenty more posts coming your way so stay tuned.

In the meantime take a peek here: Instagram: Clarria

Website: Clarria cosmetics

Sam 🙂 x

Olympia Beauty Haul & a quick catch up part 1

I’m baaaaaack!  

Had a pretty much non stop weekend with make up classes & the Olympia beauty show.but I’ll give you a quick run down of what I’ve been up to & what I’ve been buying this week 😊 

Saturday make up class at the Essex hair & make up academy. 

  

I had the pleasure of meeting Rachel at Essex hair and beauty academy in Brentwood (just off the high street) I’d recently attended a ‘mastering eyes’ course which helped me a great deal so I booked another as eye make up is something I personally struggle to get right. It was a very informative day. I’d definately recommend them for make up training to update your skills or to try something new. I’ve improved so much since attending and the prices are really reasonable. 

   Some of what I learned on the day 
 Myself & my fab model Bahar 🙂 make up by me 

Sunday Olympia beauty show: 

I had the pleasure of working the show with Nail Harmony (Gelish) 

  Show selfie 😎 
It was a busy day but I had fun as always & managed a quick shop around at the end of the day. 

The Nyx stand was packed all day long! I literally couldn’t get near it till the end of the day. I purchased a couple of lip sticks, butter glosses & eyeshadows from there. 

Then went onto Inglot for the black gel liner everyone’s been raving at me about. 

Lastly to Beauty B cosmetics for a Z palette, brush egg, a couple of La girl concealers & Milani blushes (my first ever Milani purchases!! I was so excited to see them there) didn’t spend a great deal but it was enough to keep me happy for a few weeks. 

Here’s my mini Olympia haul! 

   

    

Did you go to Olympia? What did you pick up? I’d love to hear from you 🙂 

So I’m currently de potting everything I can get my hands on and sticking it in my z palette! Don’t ask me why I’ve only just bought one, I don’t know where I’ve been either 🙈  

 
I’ll get some swatches of my purchases up from for you guys asap. 

Enjoy the rest of your week Oh and don’t forget to follow me on Instagram Here 

Sam 🙂 x 

30 day blogger challenge: Today’s face

  
Just a quick post of ‘today’s face’ and what was used to create it.

Base: 

• urban decay naked skin in shade 2.0 
• La girl pro conceal in orange- to correct my dark circles
• Pro longwear concealer in NW15 to conceal
• Ben Nye banana powder to set.

Contour/blush:

• Mac ‘matte bronze’ to contour
• Lord & berry blush in lotus
• Mac soft & gentle to highlight

Eyes:

• Anastasia Beverley hills eye shadows in A touch of lilac (all over lid & brow bone) dark chocolate shimmer on outer corner & also used as liner) & Metal (patted onto lid & inner corner.)
• Max factor false lash effect mascara on top & bottom lashes

Brows:

• Naked basics palette colour ‘faint’ used to fill in brows 

Lips:

• Khroma beauty (Kardashian collection) double take lipstick & gloss in ‘nectar’

  
Wow these iPhone photos aren’t very forgiving! Okay don’t mention the brows! They are so not my friend at the moment.  I’m trying to grow one back, hence one being majorly shorter than the other see  Here for an explanation. This was also taken before work and I hadn’t done my hair yet but hey, I can’t be perfect all the time 😏

  Close up of the eyes 

What are your everyday make up essentials? 

Let me know in the comments 

So that’s my face today! Hope you enjoyed. 

Sam 🙂 x

30 day blogger challenge: 10 links I love

Happy Friday people!   

  So, I’m going to be super helpful (or unhelpful if you’re on a spending ban like me!) and share with you my favourite beauty/ make up related links/sites that I use regularly. 

1. Pixiwoo (of course!) I’ve learned so much from these ladies. It’s one of my favourite sites. 
2. Tilt make up they sell Ben Nye banana powder. Need I say more? 
3. Beautylish This is where I buy my rcma cosmetics from. And they leave cute hand written notes in your parcels. I love the little personal touch 🙂
4. Wayne Goss I love his no nonsense approach to make up. He says what he thinks and isn’t a follower. If you haven’t checked him out you totally should.
5.  Very Here’s where I purchase all my NYX make up. Love that stuff! Also they have regular sales so you can always pick up a bargain.
6. Jacyln Hill I love her tutorials & She always looks so flawless. 
7.  Instagram I don’t know how we ever survived without it?! Make up porn, tutorials, interacting with like minded people all in one place. What’s not to love? 
8.  Salon Geek I spend many evenings with my eyes glued to salon geek. It’s great for anyone starting out or already in the beauty business: for tips, business and treatment advice,  trouble shooting or just to speak to other beauty professionals in general.
9. Temptalia perfect if you buy your foundation online. You just put in what you already use and it will match your shade. Genius! 
10. Sephora Its just heaven! Most of the time I can’t even afford to purchase anything in there But sometimes just browsing is enough.

 What are your favourite beauty/make up related sites? Let me know In the comments. I’d love to have a peek. 

Hope you enjoyed! 
Sam x 
 

30 day blogger challenge: Favourite concealers

  
As you can see I have quite a collection. I’m always buying the latest concealers in a hope that one of them will actually do what they say will & transform my face to make me look flawless, rested & youthful. I’m still yet to find one that makes me look 18 again. But here are the ones that make me look a little more normal. 

Collection 2000 lasting perfection concealer £4.49  This for me is one of my holy grail products! I couldn’t be without it. I use it every day and I have every shade in my professional kit. I’m yet to find something that beats it.

It gives me amazing coverage for my dark circles,doesn’t crease, is light reflecting and it stays put all day & night. And at £4.49 it’s a total bargain! 
Seriously if you haven’t tried it, you need to! 

George @ Asda under eye concealer £3.99 
Another great one!  Perfect for brightening the eye area when you need that extra boost over your regular concealer. I use it for nights out and it also doubles as a highlighter. 

No word of a lie this baby rivals YSL touché eclat for me. And personally I prefer it. 

Barbers Daly for Tesco £3.99 

Excuse the state of this one I’ve had it for a while. It lasts forever!  Another bargain buy, a little definitely goes a long way with this product. It is the perfect consistency to conceal blemishes & it gives full coverage. Lovely & creamy formula, which applies well with a brush or fingers. 
Other recommendations:

Urban decays naked skin concealer £19 

  Another full coverage concealer. I loved using this in the summer when my skin was in better condition. But if you have dry skin (like I normally do) then I wouldn’t recommend it as I found it sticks to dry patches and also badly creased under my eyes. Which is unfortunate as their matching foundation is the complete opposite. 

NYX above and beyond full coverage concealer 

 The fullest coverage I have ever found in a blemish concealer. Stays put and the little pot lasts literally forever! Best applied by dabbing into blemish with a clean finger. 

Next on my concealer list are the LA girl concealers & correctors. I’ll review as soon as they arrive 🙂 

Do you have a favourite? Let me know in the comments. 

Sam 🙂 x 

30 day blogger challenge: Contents of my handbag

Not exactly the most exciting of posts but it will hopefully give me a kick up the backside to finally get rid of all the crap in there! 

  
So here’s my lovey handbag and its contents 

  

I’ll list the contents just In case you can’t see it very well. 

• River island purse
• Illamasqua make up bag
• Mac velvet teddy lipstick (of course!) 
• Elemis pro radiance illuminating flash balm
• Illamasqua blush in lover – minus a brush might I add!  Makes no sense to me either 
• Mac soft & gentle highlighter-again see above ? Must have been half asleep this morning
• Random pens I’ve stolen from people
• Hair clip
• Hand food hand cream – another essential. Smells amazing! 
• Random allergy medicine- stupid dust! 😬
• Lash curlers not that I ever use them
• Various lids that my bag steals from my perfumes everytime they enter my bag
• Random keys- I haven’t got a clue what they are for or how they got there?! 
• An Allen key- incase I need to urgently assemble some furniture 
• Givenchy hot couture perfume 
• Collection 2000 concealer (my holy grail product!) 
• Car keys
• Neutrogina lip balm 
• Tweezers 
• Doritos- gotta have a little emergency snack

And while I’m being completely honest, here’s the rest of the unimportant crap that was in there  

 
This weeks manicure! 

I’ve decided to go short and dark to get into the Autumn spirit. I used Gelish in ‘Bellas Vampire’ a lovely rich, deep purple. 

  
Tomorrows post is on my favourite concealers.

Enjoy your evening.

Sam 🙂 x