Ruby Who?

Coming home, even after just a month, is definitely a transition. In a place like Central Phuket, you find out a lot about yourself. You find yourself in so many ways, but you can also lose a part of yourself too. It's important to live your life as you. Nobody can write the chapters of your story except for yourself, so get creative.  

I have gotten myself into a bit of a rutt when it comes to makeup. I missed being dramatic and adventurous with my appearance like when working in the industry, so I am starting to put more of an effort into my creativity again and glamming it up!

Growing up, I was always under the impression that a woman with a red lip was the definition of confidence. I have gone through tonnes and tonnes of red lippes but I always go back to my trusty Ruby Woo. I am willing to sacrifice dried out lips for the matte finish that I love. If you're not a fan of your lips feeling like they have graized the deserts of the Middle East for days.... a matte finish may not be for you. However, I love matte because I know it is going to stay on my lips all day without moving. There is nothing worse than catching a glimpse of yourself and seeing your teeth with a beautiful corner colourfully coloured in with your favourite red. Or that perfect defined line you spent ages to achieve for that Angelina Jolie shape has decided to drift off to the side to have a chat with your nostrils. Never a good look. Ever. 

To achieve the perfect lip, follow these top tips:

I always do my lips as the last stage of my face, I feel like it brings everything together and finishes the look perfectly. While doing the rest of my makeup, I always use a good lip conditioning balm to nourish my lips before sucking all moisture out of them for the rest of the day with my matte obsession. By the time you get around to doing your lips, they will feel smooth and soft and perfectly prepped for your choice of colour. I always pat my lips down to get rid of any excess balm before applying my liner or lipstick as this will dilute the colour if not removed.

I always apply my lip liner before lipstick. This will define the shape and size of your lips while also keeping the colour strong , vibrant and will last make your perfect pout last longer.

After applying your lip liner and lipstick, line the edge of your pout with concealer. Make sure your concealer matches your foundation colour, you are not trying to highlight, just make your lines look nice and crisp.

Pop a bit of matte bronzer under your bottom lip creating a shadow which will make your bottom lip look fuller. A tiny dab of highlighter on your cupids bow will also draw the eye to your upper lip making it appear bigger, just make sure your not heavy handed as if you apply too much you're going to look like a Sweaty Betty.....never a good look!

Hope these tips are useful! Love Jen x

A New Chapter

Each year we always have our ups and downs but let's hope this year is one to remember! Here is some pics of my makeup from last night that brought me into 2014! Product list below. Happy New Year guys Xxx

                    

                     

                       

Foundation: Revlon Colourstay Sand Beige

Concealer: MAC Full Coverage Foundation W10

Powder: Maybelline Fit Me Powder

Contour: Mac Deep Bronze Bronzer

Highlight: MAC Whisper of Guilt

Blusher: MAC Melba

Brows: MAC Dipdown Gel Eyeliner and Essence Clear Brow Mascara

Eyeshadows: Inglot 393,351, 360, 329, 63, 

MAC Cork Eyeshadow and I used MAC Melba and Pink Swoon Blushers to blend 

Inglot Gel Eyeliner 77

Inglot False Lash Effect Mascara

Eyelure 205 False Eyelashes

Lips: Current Lipliner and Diva Lipstick both from MAC

Sun-Rays and Ritches

This summer has been a bit all over the place here in Ireland. Rain to start off with! No surprise there, and then into a scorching heat wave, and then greeted with tropical storms, we don't no weather to pack our RayBans or our brollies into that all in one handbag!!

Well I've prepared my favourite makeup products for this summer to keep your complexion covered in the rain or dewy in those rays of sunshine!!

FACE:

This spring/summer I have started to use the Maybelline Fit Me Foundation in the shade 210. I am usually used to a full coverage finish from Revlon Colourstay Foundation but thought a lighter finish would be nicer for the warmer months. Being a medium coverage, this foundation can be worn quite sheer or build up to a medium-full coverage so can suit for any surprises Mother Nature has in store for us. I found the colour selection in this range to be very yellow. Even the pink shades are still on the yellow side of the scales. So if you are a yellow toned beauty or love your tan to be straight from a bottle, this should be perfect for you! However porcelain or very pink toned ladies might want to steer clear!!

As I've opted for a lighter coverage foundation, I need a bit of concealer for those problematic areas such as under the eyes and around the nose. My choice of concealers is the MAC Studio Finish Concealer in NC20 (around 2 shades lighter than the 210 foundation from Maybeline). This concealer is of a fuller coverage so I apply it with a damp beauty blender to make it look more natural and blended.

Blusher, I think, is a must have for these summer days. A little flush of colour on the cheeks just brings that little bit of brightness to your face, honestly, it makes a world of difference! I just couldn't choose one colour to stick to, so I have my three favourite shades that I've been addicted to the past couple of months. Peaches, a beautiful orange toned coral colour, Fleur Power, a soft pink with a hint of peach, and Pink Swoon, a soft candy pink, all from MAC. They will change your life.......well, your face!!

One thing that is vital to give you the perfect glow is the highlighter!! Now before I go on, I must admit, I used to HATE highlighter on my face! The thoughts of it would send shivers down my spine! I would absolutely love it on other people and pile it on all of my clients but thought it looked like I was covered in sweat!! I am a changed woman! MAC Highlighter in Soft and Gentle is the most stunning soft, golden highlight that catches the light beautifully making your features stand out MILES!!

And finally, probably THE most important makeup item for the summer months is the Bronzer. To put over the foundation to warm up those cheeks, to put underneath the cheeks to contour beautiful shapes into the face or to wear with no makeup underneath just to give the face a bit of warmth when it's too hot to wear a full face of warpaint. I love MAC Bronzing Powder in Deep Dark for when I want a small bit of a glow to the skin or INGLOTs Face Powder in the number 31 if I want a matte finish.

Your face is now sorted for those unpredictable summer days, rain, sun or snow. Let me know if you have any questions.

Jx

Get the Look!! Channel your inner Monroe!!

Before I began this look, I firstly applied my oilatum moisturiser and let it sink into the skin for the duration of the eye application to allow it to work its magic!

Using an Inglot 4SS brush, I buffed MAC Prolongwear Concealer all over the lid from the lash line to the brow in the colour NW20 to act as an eye primer as this concealer does not crease.
Using an Inglot 17TL brow brush and MAC Fluidline in Dipdown, I carved my brow from the bottom of the arch and then downwards to extend the tail. I then cleaned off that same brush in a tissue and used it with MAC Cork eyeshadow to lightly fill in the inside corner of the brow to achieve an ombré effect. Using a Sigma F70 flat concealer brush, I then carved the underneath of the brow with MAC Studio Finish Concealer in NW15 to achieve a clean, sharp look and to act as a highlight to the brow bone.
I applied MAC Painterly Paint Pot to the lid from the lash line up to the crease using the same F70 concealer brush to intensify the colour of the eyeshadows. Then, using an Inglot 9S flat eyeshadow brush, I pressed 373 Inglot matte white eyeshadow all over the lid up to the crease, packing on the colour to intensify the brightness.
Using the same 9S brush, I dipped the tip of the brush into MAC Cork eyeshadow that we used earlier and I pushed this colour into the crease above the white, the whole way across the eye. I then used an Inglot 6SS brush to buff out this colour and extend it upwards. I then used a mixture of 329 Inglot matte chocolate brown and MAC Brun eyeshadow, a dark cool brown, in the crease using an Inglot 10S small blender brush to define the crease. I also brought this combination of colours underneath the bottom lash line the full way across the eye.
I lined the lid using Inglot 77 Gel Liner extending the line outwards from the corner of the eye into a thick flick and along the upper and lower waterline. Again using the 10S blender brush I defined the outside corner and outer corner of the crease with a matte black, Inglot 63 eyeshadow. Don't be afraid to go over the liner a little.
I then applied some false lashes. I used Eyelure 202 lashes for this look and applied them with clear DUO Glue, available worldwide. I then applied Inglot False Lash Mascara to my own natural lashes to weave them through the false ones making it look more natural.

On to the face:
My skin feels nice and hydrated now so I can go straight in with my foundation. I dampened my Beauty Blender first and used this with my MAC W10 full coverage foundation and applied the product to the centre of the nose, the middle of the forehead, under the eyes and onto the cheekbones. I used the Beauty Blender to stipple this product right into the skin so there is no residue of any oils on the surface of the face.
I then used MAC NW35 full coverage foundation and the same sponge and applied it to the rest of the face making sure the two colours are blended seamlessly.
Again , using the Beauty Blender, I stippled Maybelline Fit Me concealer in the colour 15 underneath my eyes to brighten the area.
To set all the liquids on the face, I used Inglot AMC Powder in 55 and used my Sigma F25 to apply this to the whole face.
To contour I used my Sigma F35 and Inglots No.30 Pressed Powder underneath the cheekbones, around the hairline, down the side of the nose and underneath the bottom lip to give the illusion that these areas are more hollow. Use this product sparingly as it is very dark and highly pigmented so only a little is needed.
To add a bit of colour to the cheeks I applied Fleur Power Blusher from MAC using a Sigma F15 duo fibre blush brush. This I applied along the cheekbone to achieve the illusion of a natural lift to the face, especially for mature skins.

I lined the lips with Inglot 58 lip liner, focusing slightly on the outer edge of the natural lip line to achieve a fuller lip. I filled in the lips with MAC RubyWoo matte lipstick.


And there ya have it guys. All the steps you need to channel your inner Monroe! xxx

Conquer Contouring

It's amazing what a bit of contouring can do to change the structure of the face. It not only creates depth in any hollow areas, it gives a bronzed, healthy effect and it slims down the face beautifully (and we ALL know we want that!). You can take contouring to the extreme or you can go very subtle, either way, it will change your makeup routine forever!
Contouring can be done using creams or powders. Your dark contour should be two to four shades darker than your foundation, depending on how dramatic you want the look to be. It should also be matte. A darker matte cream/powder will give the illusion of shadows, you place this strategically in any hollow areas for depth, to make it appear further away (eg. under cheekbones).
Your light contour, or your highlight, can be matte or a shimmer. Again, this should be two to four shades lighter than your foundation. This will give the appearance that the area is sticking out more (eg. on top of cheekbones). If your highlight has a shimmer, the metallic particles in this will reflect the light, giving a more dramatic effect. I personally prefer a matte finish to the face and would definitely recommend a matte to anyone conscious of fine lines around the eye area! A shiny highlight will just sit in these fine lines, drawing attention to them.

Getting started......

The cheeks:
Using the side of your baby finger, feel the hollows underneath the cheekbone. You will also notice, when you look straight into the mirror, there will already be a slight shadow from your natural cheekbone. This is the area we want to darken yet still giving the illusion that it is our natural shadow. Now we know where to darken, it's time to start using product.
You want to use a fluffy powder brush that isn't too large in size as you want to be able to control how much product goes on, and where! I find the angled goat hair F40 Sigma brush the best to use. Dip the brush into a small amount of product (not too much as you can always add more product, but it's harder to take product away!). Using small circular motions, apply the product to the hollow area. This motion will blend the product out and into your foundation colour giving a more professional look. Extend the colour from halfway down the cheekbone (under the outer corner of the eye) , all the way backwards to the hairline and your ear.

The forehead:
After contouring the cheeks right up to the hairline and the ear, extend the colour all the way around the hairline using the same brush. This will give a natural bronzed look as this would be the area that is first hit by the sun! This isn't the only purpose. If you have a forehead slightly on the larger side, this step is important for you! Extend the colour downwards slightly onto the forehead, deepening the colour and density of the product at the top two corners of the face and the temples at the side. Again this gives the appearance of a shadow, giving the illusion of a smaller area.

The nose:
I could not leave the house on a night out without contouring my nose! It's a bit of an obsession. If you want to make your nose look skinnier, take a clean fluffy eyeshadow brush (I like to use the crown angled, flat topped eyeshadow brush) and your contour powder and lightly line the sides of your nose all of the way down to the tip. This should go from the inside of your eyebrow, down both sides in a straight line, to the end. Ta-da, your welcome! A skinny nose!! If you want to make your nose shorter, using the same brush and contour, lightly apply some product to the bottom area of the nose, from nostril to nostril.

You then need a different brush to apply highlighter. I use the Sigma F05 as I find it is the perfect size for highlighting.
Take your product and apply it to any areas you want to stand out.

The cheeks:
Apply the product in circular motions on top of the cheekbones and around onto the temples of the cheeks closer to the edge of your eye. This will make your cheekbones stand out more, give the face a natural lift and help blend the product out into your foundation.

The nose:
If you have contoured the sides of your nose, you can add a small amount of highlight along the centre to make it look even skinnier.

MUA Tip: If your wearing a strapless top/dress, add a small amount of your highlight along the top of your collar bones!!

And there you have it. Your tips to conquer contouring. Let me know how you get on!!

Happy sculpting

Jx