REVIEW: MAC Strobe Liquid Lotion

The amount of highlighters I have would last me a life time. I was always indecisive about buying the Strobe Liquid Lotion as I usually stick to powder highlighters.

Until I worked on MAC Cosmetics counter on one of my shifts I saw one of the artists touching up her makeup. She used this product with Studio Sculpt Concealer and mixed it together then applied it under her eyes just like the YSL Touche Eclat and from then I knew I needed to invest!

I brought this the following day and wouldn't turn back now. I still use powder highlighters on the top of my cheekbones and I also still have my Touche Eclat but when i feel like a change or want to brighten up by under eye area even more then I use this.

Not only can it be used as a highlighter or mixed with concealer you can also use it on its own if you don't use foundation or mixed with your foundation all over the face to give your skin an extra dimension.

This is the lighter addition to the Strobe Cream that is a lot thicker in consistency, where as this Strobe Liquid Lotion is light-weight, easy blending/absorption and gives a natural looking glow.
It leaves skin looking radiant while the iridescent pigments in this lotion evens out and reduces the appearance of imperfections finishing with a healthy look.

Top Left: First application from pump.
Top Right: Working into the skin.
Bottom Left: Finished Look.
Bottom Right: Finished Look in Natural Sunlight.

Its a brilliant little product which would last a very long time, you would definitely get your use out of it. It comes in full size of 50ml and you can also buy the travel size which is great if you want to try it out instead of paying the full price of £24.50.

Sophie x

BEAUTY TRENDS: Autumn/Winter 14-15

After reading 'September Issues' and seeing the latest shows I have narrowed down to the top 5 Beauty Trends for Autumn/Winter 2014-15.

Metallic Eyes: From extreme metallic eyeshadow to a touch of metallic in the inner corners anyone can pull of the trend as you can wear as little or as much as possible. I love my Illamasqua Metallics palette and it is perfect to use for this seasons trend.

Donna Karan (Left) showed us the smoked out slier metallic look where Issey Miyake (Right) showed us the minimum look using a bronze gold in the inner corner then dragged out along the bottom lash line.

Pop of Colour: Similar to the metallic trend but using bold primary and secondary colours, mainly blues took over the catwalk but colours such as greens, purples and oranges showed up too.

Its a similar trend to the metallics as you can use as little of as much as possible from covering the eyelid in colour or just a cat eye flick like our Kenzo (Left) show. Dior (Right) went for covering the eyelid but keeping that cat eye flick and introducing glitter to the look (expect no more from Pat Mcgrath)

360 Liner: Eyeliner never goes out of trend, my day to day work look is winged liner and nothings changing this season. Focussing on eyeliner on top and bottom lash line creating a 360 liner look was seen on Marc Jacobs show. Others were sticking to the same look but bringing out more of a smokey eye or winged liner.

No Make-up, Makeup/Glowing skin: Like last season this trend is following through with the bare faced look but using ALOT of makeup to look like your wearing none, make sense? Well lets just say they use layers of concealer, correcting colours and highlighters.
Stella McCartney (left) showed us bare faced beauty and Ralph Lauren (Right) brought the glow into the bare skin making it look flawless and fresh.

False Lashes: The 60's inspired look isn't going anywhere, while were hanging onto the winged liner and beehive hair we also keep seeing big lashes over the catwalk too.

Easy day to day look with a feminine twist we see Gucci (left) and Versace (right) fluttering their full feathered lashes.

Sophie x

Kylie Jenner Lips

The Kardashians start crazes like no tomorrow!
Now its Kylie Jenners turn.
The youngest one of the kardashian sisters has set a new trend thats sky high across bloggers, makeup artists and the media.

Her Lips look amazing right now and her makeup artist Mario Dedivanovic got it spot on!
I have researched into what he actually uses on her but I think it must be a secret, unless she has had the surgery that the media keep talking about i don't know? But everyone is doing their own remake of the famous 'Kylie Jenner lips'. 

The best match i found was MAC Cosmetics Lipliner in 'Whirl' and Lipstick in 'Velvet Teddy'.

The Lipliner 'Whirl' is a dirty rose colour, like a reddish brown with a hint of rosebud pink.It is a dark neutral shade but can be pulled of with most skin tones from fair to medium.
The Lipstick 'Velvet Teddy' is a warm neutral beige with again a hint of rose bud pink because of course the lipstick and liner have to be a perfect match to achieve this look.It also has a matte finish which gives a good illusion of a fuller lip. 
Some Mac Matte lipsticks are really dry but this one still feels moisturising which is a bonus.

The whole point of the Kylie Jenner look is that she has made her lips look bigger and fuller.Start with neutralising the lips with a lip primer then patted with concealer over the top. Highlight your cupids bow and spread it a little higher than usual.Using your Whirl Lipliner apply it around the lining of your lips and gradually extend it over your lip line until you are happy with how full it looks. Fill in the rest of your lips with the liner also so you keep to the same shade all over.With your Velvet Teddy Lipstick go over the whole lip and the extended lip line and you will have achieved the perfect Kylie Jenner Lips.

This look works best with fair skin as the lip shade have rose/beige undertones, but if you want to use the same look on darker skin tones just change your lip shade and make sure it has more bronze/warm undertones in and that the colour is darker than your skin tone not lighter!
Sophie x

REVIEW: Chanel Soleil Tan De Chanel

I first brought this before summer, back around May time as I knew I would be in need of a good bronzer for when I came back from my holidays. I read a lot about this before I purchased it and I read good reviews over and over.

When I got my hands on Soleil tan de chanel I tried it for the first time and I really couldn't get on with it. I tried applying it all over my face and it was just too heavy, then I moved on to certain areas and it still didn't look right, so another option was to apply it mixed with moisturiser so it didn't look so dark, it did look better but I still wasn't happy. I then went on to trying it with different tools. I started off with a beauty blender so I wouldn't layer on too much, then the real techniques stippling brush and I struck gold!

Before putting this straight onto my skin I moisturised with Loreal, sometimes applied Smashbox Primer (mainly when I went out), then used my usual Revlon ColourStay Foundation and applied this Chanel Bronzer over the top (with my stippling brush) - in circular motions I worked the product in to give it a flawless finish and I was addicted! I pretty much wore this every day through the summer, minus the Foundation when I got back from my holidays. I just applied it onto moisturised/primed skin. 

Chanel Soleil Tan De Chanel gives a beautiful Sun-Kissed glow, It's a smooth, velvet, mousse-like consistency, it blends easily on the skin, just make sure you moisturise as it will help this product glide. Cream Bronzers don't agree with everyone but I honestly recommend to keep trying different ways like I did as you will not regret it.
Not only can this product be used at a bronzer but also for contouring.

It is a bronze shade with a yellow based undertone that also contains flicks on shimmer but nothing extremely visible. This product lasts on my skin throughout the day and I never notice that it has faded or that I need to top up and also with me buying this bronzer so long ago it has also lasted me a good 4 months and I've only just hit the pan so a little does go a long way!

I know summer is now over but who doesn't love a glow all year round. I highly recommend this bronzer and you can buy over any Chanel counter and is priced around the £32 mark.

My next purchase from the Chanel Complexion Range will be their new Loose Powder so I look forward to trying that out and giving you a full review.

Sophie x