Royal glamour....

Today was just one of those days where I felt like playing around with my makeup, trying out new looks, or playing with colours that I wouldn't normally be swayed by! Mooching around on Pinterest for the fair majority of the morning (it is SO addictive!) I suddenly felt inspired and creative and so I took this feeling and went with it! Here are a few snaps of what I created....

As you can see, I decided to do a sort of crease cut with a wing! Using Sleek's Storm palette, I took the navy blue and placed that directly onto my eyelid, without bringing the product up onto my crease. You can buy the palette here. 

 Once I had applied the gorgeous blue to my eyelid, I went in with a clean blending brush and buffed out the edges as close to the eyelid as I could to make sure there was no harsh lines or edges. Next, I took a small pencil brush and took the matte black eyeshadow from the same palette (in my opinion its one of the best black eyeshadows!!) and with a light hand, I gently outlined my crease. Little by little, and with plenty of patience and blending I was able to get the desired look and colour intensity that I wanted. 

Now, if you are like me and you haven't got the steadiest of hands when it comes to creating that perfect flick, there are simple tricks you can do to help guide you. Before applying any eyeshadow at all, I went ahead and placed a small piece of tape to my under-eye so that it went upwards towards the end of my brow. Then match it to the opposite side, apply your eyeshadow up to the tape, peel it off and whalaaaaa!! Perfect winged eye look! It's that easy! 

Finally, take that same blue eyeshadow and place it under the bottom lashes and smudge out to create a more smokey effect. I also added that same black eyeshadow to the outer third of my bottom lash line to help create that smouldering effect. Pop a lipstick, gloss, balm etc to your lips and you are good to go! Pink or orange would look gorgeous with this makeup look, the orange would perfectly complement the blue. I decided to keep my face quite subtle, not too much contouring and not too much blush, as the eyes really stand out all on their own.

If you would like to see a step-by-step pictorial of this look then please comment below! 

I hope you enjoyed this quick mid-week post and that you enjoy the remainder of the week. Remember, Friday is only 2 days away, hurray! Happy Humpday!

XOX

The magic to contour and highlighting

Ladies! We all know that makeup can be an absolute life-saver for those "oh god, look at the size of that spot" or "can I just wear a bag on my head" kind of days. But makeup can also be a way of helping to change the shape of your face or facial features without cosmetic procedures (far cheaper and far less painful and permanent!). This blog is going to show you ways of being able to change the shape of your face with contour and highlighting but also not using too many products (no one wants a cakey face!). 

So where do you start?! First, it is most important to distinguish what face shape you have. There are many different types and it can get a bit confusing but here is a simple diagram helping you to decide what shape you have, or are close to;

Now as you can see there are no markings on the 'oval' face shape, and that is because those with an oval shape are deemed to have the 'ideally perfect' face shape. Therefore, this is the guide that you work with to try and get your face shape to be more like the oval. You quite simply shade in the areas outside of the oval frame work! Taking a look at the image above, the pink used is an indication as to where you should be contouring your face depending on what face shape you are and the purple is where you should be highlighting. 

                Now before I go on to show you how I contoured my face, I want to talk about the products you can use and how you should use them to do this. In my opinion, everyday makeup should be kept looking as natural as possible and I would recommend only using a light concealer and powders to contour and highlight. Sleek makeup does a contour and highlighting powder palette that does a fantastic job for a bargain! There are 3 shades of the palette; light, medium and dark however, through personal use I have being using light and yet I am a medium skin tone and it matches me perfectly (a light hand is suggested). Another simple idea to think about when you contour or highlight for everyday makeup, you should only go one shade lighter and darker than your natural skin colour so that it adds to the natural effect you are looking for without looking like a mask. The Sleek Contour kit can be found here. 

If you wish to see a natural contour and highlighting review using the sleek palette or any other product then please leave a comment below suggesting so! But for the purpose of this blog, I have decided to do a heavy makeup look showing the magic that can happen when you practice contour and highlighting, and really getting to know what to change on your face and what to make stand out. Lets go!

First off I had to distinguish what shape my face was. Now, I have a face that is shaped like a balloon (balloon head as my brother so kindly calls me!). I have a broad forehead and the bottom of my face is very narrow. Therefore looking at the simple picture above I would be able to say my face is a cross between an inverted triangle and an oblong. From this, I can see that the biggest area on my face would definitely by my forehead (its massive!) and therefore I know that to help reduce the appearance of it, I would have to contour this area. However, my jawline and chin is the smallest and therefore I should have highlighted this to make it appear more full. BUT!! This is where practicing comes in perfect and personal preference plays it's part. I love the idea of having prominent cheek bones, and a defined jawline. I am forever seeing models with cheekbones to die for and jawlines so perfect its depressing, therefore, I like to play around with makeup and making things work for me.

Here is a picture of how I contour and highlight using cream foundations (full face);

As you can see I have heavily contoured my forehead to try to attempt making the area look smaller. I have also contoured in the hollows of my cheekbones, along my jawline and my nose (I want a smaller more feminine nose!). The areas that I have highlighted tend to be in the centre of my face and this is because I want this area to be bright, as if the suns natural light is illuminating the centre of my face and casting natural shadows on the contoured area. Another mini trick to think about is that when you are highlighting your face you think of it as a heart shape, full around the eye/eyebrow and coming down in a point on your chin! 

Here is another picture of a before and after of how learning how to contour and highlight can really change a lot (a bit like magic!);

Please excuse what looks like a mug shot hahaha! But you can see here that the highlight has made my face look glowing and healthy; the contour has made my nose appears slimmer and my forehead less 'in your face' as the saying goes! Like I mentioned before, this is a heavy  makeup base for the purpose of this blog and this is not what I would do for everyday wear; for a night out this would be perfect! 

Below I will be showing the products I have used and where you can pick them up. I will be also offering more affordable or accessible products to the ones I have shown. 

Prepping my skin;

Firstly, I started with a freshly cleaned face. Then I applied Olay essentials, beauty fluid (sensitive skin) here

Next, I applied L'Oreal Skin Perfection- Awakening and Correcting Eye Cream (which I love!) here and then followed with the L'Oreal Skin Perfection Magic Touch Instant Blur. here

Finally, I gave my lips a quick coating of Maybelline's Baby Lips Anti-oxidant Lipbalm (berry). here

Next step was starting the contour and highlight!

Here, I used The Makeup Stores Studio Foundation in both Ultra & Choco and mixed them together to create my perfect contour colour. I used 'Ultra' on it's own as my highlight. Makeup Store products are hard to find in the UK because they are not sold here yet, however Max Factor do a fantastic range of cream foundations which you can find here.

To blend them together I used a damp beauty sponge which you can find here.

To set the cream foundations, I went ahead and applied a gorgeous fine powder to the highlighted areas using the infamous Ben Nye Banana Powder. Here

I then went ahead and used H&M's bronzing powder to set the cream contour. This is a fantastic product to use with creams of for people with oily skin as it really does absorb the oils and stays put all day. It can be found here for an absolute bargain! One of my favourite, under-talked about products. 

Finally, I applied Elf's Contouring Blush & Bronzer as my blush which is known to be a good dupe for Nars Orgasm and far cheaper too! It can be found here.

Then lightly, I applied a little of MAC's Skin Finish in 'Soft & Gentle" along the bridge of my nose, on my cupids bow and on the top of my cheekbones. Here. Another great highlighter is TheBalm's Mary Lou-minizer which can be found here.

If you wish to see a more natural contour and highlight post using powders then please comment below! I hope you have enjoyed reading my blog post and that the remainder on the day is a good one!!

Thankyou!

XOX

Clear your skin, the natural way....

Now, don't get me wrong everyone is victim to a teenage spot every now and then, and we all feel so sorry for ourselves and quite literally want to put a bag on our heads! But there is a difference between a few teenage spots and a skin-break out that you really cannot control.

At the start of 2013, I started getting what seemed to be a pimple break-out however, it wasn't like the typical "pimple", instead I seemed to start getting a gathering of tender, red lumps. I have always been prone to a baby breakout once a month, but this was something I had never had before. For the next week or two, I kept an eye on what was going on with my skin, I started to use face washes that rid of excess oil and returned the face back to its natural Ph level. I even stopped wearing foundation altogether in hope of just letting the sun air my skin naturally.
                This went on for a fair month or so, some days it wouldn't be so sore and red, and other days it would be inflamed and incredibly uncomfortable. Agitated and confused, I asked someone about it and asked if there was any medication that I should try. A friend recommended me to a doctor who could help me. After seeing the doctor he recommend me to take a 3 month course of acne-medication, the strongest of its kind (Acnotin 10). Acnotin is very powerful medicine and should not be consumed unless under medical supervision. For that reason I will not go into the details of what you should do, what it does, what precautions there are ect, when consuming this medicine because medical supervision is very important and advice should be sought through professionals.
               Throughout my three month course, I found my lips did get incredibly dry, and so did my skin. However, weekly I saw my "acne" start to lessen and finally disappear. By the end of my course, my acne had completely gone and I was delighted to have seen the back of it... or so I thought. About 4/5 months of not being on the medication, I started to notice small but sore, red lumps starting to appear in the areas that was effected before. Again, I kept an eye on it and one morning I woke up and my face was pulsing; it had erupted in the night. I could not believe it had all come back after I was told it was fixed. 
               Fed up, sore and feeling utterly ugly to the eye, I marched back to the doctors and demanded an explanation and all he could recommend was going back on a course of the Acnotin. However, this time it failed to do anything. I had finished my course and my skin was still red, sore and lumpy. By this time I was completely depressed and paranoid that everyone was judging me and talking behind my back; it was really getting me down! Before heading to the doctors for a third time, I took it upon myself to do some research and find out underlying causes of bad skin. Here are a few things I did to try and rid of my acne;

• I started to wash my face with bottled water instead of tap water as the chlorine may have been reacting with my skin.
• I reduced and almost completely cut out sugars from my diet (which made me incredibly unhappy!)
• I stopped using face wash and tried toning waters.
• I tried to stop wearing makeup altogether.
• Washing my pillow case every 2 days. 
• Upped my intake of water.

NOTHING WAS WORKING! I was seriously thinking about coming to terms with having "acne". Cystic acne to be precise. However, one night my boyfriend and I were face-timing his mum and she looked at my skin over the camera and recommended me to try Aloe Vera; pure, fresh Aloe Vera from an Aloe plant. I can conclude to this day, since using purely Aloe Vera, no medication and diets, my "acne" has disappeared!! My first time I applied the gel straight from the plant, I decided to leave the product on my face overnight. There was a slight tightening, cooling and tingling feeling in my face however it subdued quickly. The next morning, the redness in my "acne" had cooled dramatically, and the swelling of the inflamed area had eased. I couldn't believe how well it was working! For the next 5-7 days I continued to put on the Aloe Vera gel directly from the plant to my face both morning and night and here are the results below. (Please excuse the awful camera quality as I wasn't planning on making a blog about this and these are photo's that I had sent my family).

Before & After 7 days of using Aloe Vera

Before & After 7 days of using Aloe Vera

These photos are NOT good quality and do not show the true extent to my skin. The dark spots were even darker, the spots were hard, sore lumps and the skin around the spot was raised and warm to touch. However, as you can see within 7 days the Aloe Vera had completely rid of my minor cystic acne and had even helped with the fading of the scars! 

Positives of Aloe Vera: "Aloe vera gel contains two hormones: Auxin and Gibberellins. These two hormones provide wound healing and anti-inflammatory properties that reduce skin inflammation. Giberellin in aloe vera acts as a growth hormone stimulating the growth of new cells. It allows the skin to heal quickly and naturally with minimal scarring. 

Aloe is soothing and can reduce skin inflammations, blistering and itchiness, while helping the skin to heal more rapidly. Additionally, in Ayurvedic medicine, Aloe is used to effectively heal chronic skin problems, such as psoriasis, acne and eczema."

If any of you do not know what an Aloe Vera plant looks like here it is below. Also, as you can see, it is the gel that is found inside of the plant. To make sure the open stem lasts, put it inside of your fridge.

Aloe Vera plant- Can be found in most plant nursery's.

Also good for sunburns and burns in general.

The Gel inside of the plant!

The purpose of this blog post was to give some people with inflamed skin, acne or just bad spots, some hope! It is not necessary to rely on medication to help fix you skin, especially if they have dangerous side effects as did the Acnotin, if not taken carefully. There are natural remedies that could help; it may not rid of the infection instantly, but it may help take away redness and soreness. You can use this every day, no side effects and barely any expense! 

If you cannot find the plant, there is a substitute in bottle form that I am presently using which seems to be doing the job! However, I will say that I much prefer the natural-goodness from the plant itself.

You can find it here; 

http://www.superdrug.com/vaseline/vaseline-gel-aloe-fresh-200ml/invt/554928

Cheap, affordable and dries instantly so that you can apply makeup on top, or rush out the door if your in a hurry!

I hope this blog post has shed some light on the issue of bad skin. I've even started to look at home made face masks using natural foods! Have a great evening!

XOX

NYX Haul & Review

So, If you didn't already know by now and are new to my blog then welcome! I am a MUA working and living in Bangkok, Thailand. Now, living here means it is extremely difficult (or ridiculously expensive!) to get my hands on any of the goodies I so desperately want! However, a NYX store was brought to central bangkok, THANK YOU BEAUTY GODS! Ok, ok so I already know that NYX is sold somewhere else in Bangkok however, it is so far away from anything and anywhere it really is such an effort going! Now, that it is in Central World, city centre is so convenient. It is so convenient that I just HAD to pop by... it would be rude not to!
                  When I first saw the NYX counter, I was a little disappointed. In comparison to the size of the beauty department in Central World, I presumed it would be at least double its size however, I gave it the benefit of the doubt and went for a serious mooch about! Looking around I definitely saw some of the infamous pieces such as the pigment pots, jumbo eye pencils, blushes etc. I was really hoping to pick up a couple of the HD foundations yet they only sold three colours are all were VERY fair (typical for Thailand I suppose!) so I ended up not picking any up at all. I was also keen to look at some eyeshadow palettes however they were only selling the new smokey and natural palette and both didn't seem to impress me! However! I did pick up a few pieces I wanted to try for myself and for my client kit and grabbed myself some goodies, some I love and some I'm still not sure about! Therefore, this blog is going to show you swatches, prices, pictures and links to where you can buy them. I hope you enjoy reading this short blog on my NYX haul! Lets go....

Products I brought!

As soon as I walked into the store, I noticed the wide selection of the infamous jumbo eye pencils and instantly grabbed the 'milk' pencil! After hearing amazing things about this product I thought I'd look at a few others grabbed two other colours!

Milk- Fairly opaque white pencil. Blends well and so far I have used it as a eyeshadow primer and instantly saw results. Comparing eyeshadow without 'milk' underneath, it was clear the eyeshadow was far brighter when using the NYX jumbo pencil as a primer! A definite must have!!

Yoghurt- I have fallen in love with this colour. As soon as I swatched it on my hand, I was smitten. Its a pastel pink champagne colour with gold/silver shimmer. So beautiful! Can be used entirely on its own for a little something more for your daytime makeup, or apply a pearl/shimmer eyeshadow on top for a glamorous eyelook for the evenings! I definitely recommend this colour!

Rust- A perfect hue for this seasons trends. Its a berry, burgundy with a metallic finish. It can definitely be worn by itself blend out so there are no harsh lines or can be used to create a more dramatic, smokey eye!

This item I am still trying to figure how it is best to use! I picked up the Stick blush in 'Orchid' as it looked like a gorgeous coral with gold shimmer. I am pretty olive skinned and tan quite well and with only a light hand a lot of product seemed to come out and even for my taste, this wasn't a colour id personally use as a blush. I've found that this would be ideal for a more sun-kissed, bronze makeup look and to be used as a cream highlighter! I wouldnt recommend this to anyone with fair skin as it will look quite 'clown-like' and a little odd. However, there are many other colours that would suit lighter skin tones!

Soft, matte lip creams

The formulas of the lip creams were all different in each of them that I brought. Some required 2/3 layers, and others required only one; some were messy to apply and did not sit well on the lip and yet others went on perfectly the first time! I'm not sure whether its something I'm doing wrong but if this happens to you, please let me know! The lip creams do dry to a matte finish however can be very drying on the lips so I recommend applying a moisturizing lip balm before, wait a couple of minutes for it to be absorbed and then apply the lip creams.

Tokyo- Not sure how I feel about the colour of this one! Tokyo is the palest of the lip creams that I brought.  It is very light pink and requires a fair few layers to achieve your perfect colour. I found that it also applied awkwardly and set badly on dry skin; lip scrubs could be recommended before using these! Personally, I do not like pale colours on tanned skin tones and think this would suit a fairer complexion. This one will be going directly into my kit.

Istanbul- Definitely more wearable for the majority of skin tones. This is a fairly neutral pink and can be worn for day and night. The application of this lip cream was also better than 'Tokyo' however it may have just been that particular one. 'Istanbul' required only 1 coating however I applied two for my desired look. It also applied smoothly and well.

Amsterdam- Definitely by far the better of the three I have brought. Its application is beautiful, so smooth, no sticking to dry areas, neat to apply and only one layer was needed! Its also obvious that with a extra layer this is a beautiful, pillar-box red lip cream! My favourite!

The next two lip products that I brought were the NYX megashine lip glosses in both beige & nude pink. I adore these lip glosses. They apply smoothly, add a beautiful amount of shine with no trace of a frosty shimmer. They are pigmented enough to be worn entirely by themselves or can be paired with a lipstick! Definitely will be purchasing more of these. LOVE.

NYX megashine lip gloss in Beige: Not entirely sure why they named a pink lip gloss beige, but this is one of my most favourite lip gloss that I own. It matches almost any skin tone as it is a very neutral pink and looks gorgeous by itself or over a lipstick! This will definitely be a favourite carried into the new year! <3

NYX megashine lip gloss in Nude Pink: Very similar to the colour 'Beige' however, it is lighter in colour! I'm not really a fan of light pink colours, particularly as I am olive skinned however, this one has won me over! I particularly like wearing this one on its own as the pigmentation of the colour is just enough to add a little something to your overall look. I have also used this on a fair few of my clients and they have always requested the name of the lipstick and insist they purchase it themselves! 

Now, I do love to experiment with mixing lipstick colours. This NYX lucious lip gloss palette was perfect for me. I own a fair few lipsticks that are pink, red and nudes however I had never owned anything orange. The palette varies in orange hues from vibrant oranges, to coral and even a clear glitter lipgloss. When I first saw the palette I was curious as to what the colour would look like mixed with other lipsticks or even on there own. After playing with the palette and trying to mix lipstick colours, I still find that this palette is one of the least reached products in my vanity collection. I find the palette quite child-like (especially the clear gloss with gold glitter!). However, the lip glosses are not sticky and glide on well. I will probably be giving this away to someone who could make use of it.

All these products can be found on the NYX website here; http://www.nyxcosmetics.co.uk/ (UK website)
http://www.nyxcosmetics.com/ (US website)

That is the end of my NYX mini haul and review! I hope you enjoyed reading my review and have a better idea of some of the products that you may want to purchase and try out for yourselves. If you have any further questions please do not hesitate to ask, and if you have any requests please contact me! 

Thankyou and have a relaxed and cosy evening!

XOX

Happy New Year

A quick disclaimer post! I have not been able to update my blog or do any recent posts as I have had a huge mare of a time! Early November I returned to the UK and since then I have not been able to log into my account because they thought someone was trying to hack my account. Then they wanted to send me a code by text to verify my account and I had changed my number in the UK and lalalalala it went on for months!! But ALAS!! I managed to hack myself and I am back!!! 

I would also like to welcome you all back into the New Year! 2013 was a year that completely changed my life; I emigrated to Thailand, I was working in a different country, meeting new people from all different backgrounds and I became a fully qualified makeup artist. Although the year had many ups and downs (felt more like a roller-coaster ride) I am able to say that I have been blessed with some many opportunities. I am anxious but also excited with what 2014 has to offer...

I wish you all health, happiness, love & ambition <3

XOX

Araya Kay Jewelry

This Sunday just passed, I had the honor of doing makeup for the owner and creator of a new jewelry line, and her model. Araya Kay is the name of the online jewelry shop and her brand. The jewelry pieces are gorgeous; there is something there for everyone and their different tastes. It ranges from gorgeous statement pieces to cute, girly pieces! The website is hoping to be up and running, awaiting floods of orders by the first week of November (trust me, the pieces are irresistible!!). The website is www.arayakay.com so keep tuned for a more detailed post about the site itself!! 

The makeup of this day had two different looks! For the owner of the brand, Amanda I had to keep her makeup fairly natural but enough to make her stand out; however she didn't much at all! Amanda had beautiful, flawless skin and putting makeup on her was so satisfying and easy! For the hair, Amanda wanted loose waves that added body to her hair.

For the gorgeous model of the shoot, Vanessa, we decided to go for a slightly natural but smokey makeup. The main focus was the eyes whereby I created a brown neutral smokey eye, and gave her a nude lip. The idea for the hair was big, messy, voluptuous bed hair. When I receive some photos from the shoot itself, you will see why we decided to go with the smokey eye.... 

Stay tuned to see pictures from the shoot, and for the grand opening of ArayKay!!

Have a great day!

XOX

A fancy wedding....

On the weekend, I had the absolute pleasure of doing makeup for two beautiful women attending a rather fancy wedding! They wanted to make sure that they looked gorgeous because the wedding was a  bit of a social gathering with many Thai celebrities and well known persons. They were already naturally beautiful, with absolutely flawless skin so my work was very easy to do!

Both of the ladies were wearing a pale, pastel pink dress and wanted makeup that would be complimentary to their outfits; both asked for smoldering & seductive eyes with a pink/nude lip! The first of my clients had gold flecks and embellishments in her dress so I incorporated those gold hints with giving her a golden, smokey eye. After discussing what she would like for her makeup, we came to an agreement that her dress was very statement itself, and over-doing it with too much makeup, may be to harsh for the eye. Our final result was perfect for her look and she looked beautiful!

Here is a before and after shot;

The second of the gorgeous ladies knew exactly what she wanted, a deep smokey eye and I totally agreed with her decision! I took the dusky, pastel pink from her dress and placed that colour directly onto the center of her eye lids and smokey out the rest with a cool, dark brown and placed black in the outer 'V'. Her dress was very simple yet sexy and elegant, so giving her a smokey eye would enhance those vibes.

I even managed to grab a few pics of them in their gorgeous outfits, just before they rushed off out the door to attend the glamorous wedding that I so wanted to go to!

Hair was also done by myself! I hope you have enjoyed reading this short blog, just wanted to share some of the glam of the wedding with you (even if I didn't attend it myself!). In the next month or so I will have new and exciting blog posts to show you, so keep posted for hauls, reviews and everything in between! 

Have a great day my beauties!

                                                                         XOX