Everyday makeup routine (mummy makeup)

Hello! So as most of you know I am a mummy to my beautiful girl ella, and my new little man Logan!
Ella is 2 and Logan is 8 weeks so I don't get much time to put on my makeup (if I wear it at all) I am just like all of you,my life style isn't glamourous, I don't get an hour to do my makeup and it gets rubbed off by kisses!!!
I am trying mainly hight Street products here, and I love most of them!!
So here is my 10 minute look:

Usually for my quick makeup I use eyeliner on the top and nothing underneath as it opens up my eyes- and it's quicker!! Also I use a brighter lip colour to perk up my face. Here are the list of products I used:

Foundation : Bare minerals pure brightening serum foundation (bare porcelain)
Concealer: Rimmel lasting finish concealer (010)
Powder: Rimmel lasing finish powder (light porcelain)

Blush: Makeuo Revolution (love)

Eyeliner: Soap and glory supercat eyeliner pen (black)

Mascara: maybelline colossal volume express (blackest black)

Lips: MUA tinted lip balm (peach)

Makeup for mature skin- Base

Hello!

So I often get asked about makeup for a mother/grandmother at weddings or just general enquiries about makeup for the more mature lady- so here we are! 

I want to start by saying this is what I find works well, and what I find to be flattering on most of my more mature ladies. If you do your makeup different and you prefer please by all means carry on :)

Below are some of my recent, beautiful, mature ladies! I often forget to take photos of mothers of brides as they are so busy and don't have time- so these ladies will be me example models :) they vary from 40's to 60's I believe 

Hopefully you can see the looks I like to achieve (photos are straight out of my Xperia z2 camera phone)

SKIN

I will point out that I CAN'T get rid of wrinkles haha I can do flattering makeup to take attention away but nothing (bar injection) will get rid of them

Primer- 

For the skin i usually apply very thin layer of a silicone based primer all over the skin, this helps soften the lines a little, and give the skin a smoother texture to apply makeup onto.

Foundation-

I then like to use Mac face and body foundation, but you can use any thin fluid foundation. This particular foundation has light coverage but it can be built up in layers, it also has a nice glow to it that makes the skin looks more radiant and youthful. What's nice about this foundation is that it's water resistant- meaning if you happen to have any "hot flushes" it will not sweat off! This has been a life saver for many of my clients,especially at weddings. With using a foundation with such a thin texture, it means it doesn't sit in the lines as bad and definitely doesn't make them look any worse. If you find foundation makes your lines look worse than what they are, the texture may be too thick, and the finish may be too matte on your skin. It's unusual that I'll get a mature client with oily skin as the oil production slows down as we godet older, so I almost always use a moisturising foundation. 

Look for words such as: glowy, illuminating, moisturising, light reflecting etc etc. Avoid anything that says matte! 

TIP- don't put foundation around the eyes...I'll explain why at the end of the skin section.

Concealer

Light reflecting, thin concealers work best, especially under the eyes. You'll notice a theme, lots of thin, lightweight layers. If you do have the off spot then a heavier concealer can be applied only where needed- a small brush works well for the precision but fingers can be used also if you don't have!

Powder

This is skin type dependant. With the face and body I don't usually need to set it, as it has film formers that pretty much set themselves. But if I use my makeup forever HD (medium-medium/full coverage) the. I will take a little amount of powder through the t-zone if needed 

Under eye powder

This is something most people don't know about, but I ALWAYS use laura mercies secret brightening powder, it blurs lines under the eye and adds a TINY amount of brightening under the eyes and looks amazing. I buff it in with a very soft, fluffy brush and it makes a huge difference 

Blush

Thu pis is totally up to what you like! I use a cream blush If someone wants a very glorwy look, or a nice natural powder if they don't. You can use both- just remember to use cream first and top it with a powder to lock it in place... If your skin is very red opt for a more peachy/neutral colour as apposed to pinks. When applying blush do not "smile and apply to the apples of your cheeks" as when you stop smiling then cheek will fall and colour will be too close to your nose which will make the area look red and cancel out the work you've done to get rid of it. 

Bronzer 

Bronzer can really warm up the face and bring back some dimention, hit the TOPS of the cheek bones, forehead, nose and chin (where the sun hits you first) and I almost never contour a more mature skin purely because as we age we loose the fullness in our face and contouring emphasises that and can make your face look gaunt and older. 

Lips

Have fun! Wear what you like, just avoid anything too nude!!

Ok so why avoid foundation under the eyes? Because having too many layers will add texture to the skin and can start to cake up if too many layers of products are applied. Only put on what you really need, where you need it, E.g concealer only in the inner, darkest bit of the eyes, only a tiny bit if foundation on forehead etc :)

I feel like this is a lot of information in one post so I will do a serperate post on eyes

Thanks for reading, kirsty xxx

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Whats new in my kit! April 2015

 Hello everyone! So today i was sorting out my kit for some weddings at the weekend and it occurred to me that since my last "whats in my kit" post i have got quite a few new products. With a toddler and a baby i don't have time to go through my whole kit and see what i have now that i didn't have then. So... I though i would start a new mini series "whats new in my kit". Every month or every few months (depending on how good or bad I've been" I will go through new products i have picked up for my kit. They might not be new on the market but they'll be new to me :) I will do a mini review on each product but to keep this from being a 5,000 word essay they will be brief!

BASE

 From left to right:
Mac Pro Conceal palette- This is the light palette of the studio finish concealers. It has NC15, W10, NC20 and NW20 - and two Studio Finish Corrector shades in Pale Yellow and Pale Pink. I usually use prolongwear but i can sometimes have the issue of it flashing back an these have no flash back, good coverage and a lovely creamy texture.
Mac Prolongwear foundation- My makeup forever HD foundation just wasn't cutting it for oily skins so i thought id give these a bash. They keep the skin matte throughout the day and last 16 hours... perfect time for my brides! It a medium/full coverage without feeling as heavy as studio fix. I like ti so far. Shades are NW15, NC35 and NW40. You have to have combo, combo/oily and oily skin to use this... maybe normal too but not dry in the slightest as it settles funny.
Smashbox primer water: I was looking for something to spray before and after makeup to hydrate and set so this seemed perfect. It sets the makeup lovely and takes away to look of powder. I don't know how it is as a primer as i use a primer along with it as i cant risk it! Lovely smell, refreshing and makes skin glow. I have used a fair bit of it already- not sure its as bullet proof as UD all nighter but its very close.

Cheeks

Max factor cream puff blush: You need these! I have lavish mauve (first swatch from the left), Lovely pink (middle) and alluring rose. I will be going back for the others. They're pigmented, but not too bright, lovely, creamy consistency, add a lovely natural glow/flush to the skin and last quite a while too! at £8.99 they are only £1 cheaper than mac for me, but i might even prefer them!! Ive heard they are similar to the hourglass ambient lighting blushes... might need to try those.
Smashbox Cream contour kit: LOVE THIS, it looks so natural and is unbelievably creamy! They blend like a dream and the tones are just right. The left shade is a highlight (Doesn't highlight my skin as its just a more yellow version of my skin tone) middle is the cool toned contour and end shade is a bronzer.I will admit that because i am used to powder products i do sometimes forget to use these on clients until its too late... but ill keep trying to remember because especially under powder products they are beautiful.

Eyes

 Clinique "wear anywhere" palettes: I believe these are called wear anywhere greys and wear anywhere pinks. These are brand new and my first ever clinique shadows, I am very impressed. As a professional MUA and a general make up lover  i hate colours and silver but i was drawn to these palettes and i use them all the time! This seasons brides seem to be all about the greys and pinky/purple colours where as over the winter it was golds and browns. The swatches don't do them justice, they are pigmented, buttery smooth and blend like a dream... maybe in my next post ill do a look with one of them :) ill definitely be picking up more colours but they are a bit pricey at £32 for these little palette- I'm happy to pay it for the quality though!

wear anywhere greys (flash)

wear anywhere greys (no flash)

wear anywhere pink (flash)

wear anywhere pink (no flash)

Lips

Mac 24 well lip palette: Not all new lipsticks, I'm including this as it makes my life so much easier! Easier to carry, easier to mix colours, looks pretty and is so sleek. I HATED depotting my lipsticks though. I will never again wait till i have 23 to depot, as soon as i get a new one it will go in the palette and same myself the stress haha

Its unusal that i love everything i buy, so this has been a very good month! 'ready for all my summer brides. I immagine ill be restocking quite a bit next month too as i have up to 6 weddings a month till August!!!
Hope this was helpful for future clients and just people who want to see a little bit of what i carry!

Kirsty xxx

First impressions: loreal infallible 24hr matte foundation

Hello everyone. Today I was trying out a new foundation so I thought I'd try something new and do a first impressions!
The foundation I am trying is the newest foundation from the loreal line: infallible 24hour matte. I have tried the regulations infallible and really liked it, so thought I'd give this a go.
Price: bargain at just £6 in sainsburys
Shade: 11 vanilla

       

Let's start with what the foundation claims- it says it is a "lightweight. Non-cakey, 24hr matte perfection" ALL TRUE.
When I first applied it my immediate thoughts were that it gave amazing coverage and that it felt really light. 

Let's excuse the grumpy photos- both kids started crying at the same time lol

Even with two layers it felt very light, I was quite surprised as I expected something similar to Estee Lauder double wear.

The shade itself is a fraction too dark for me but porcelain is a tad light so my perfect shade would be a mix of the two, but for the price I don't think most people would mind if they had to mix two! 

So onto the foundation itself:
When I first applied it I absolutely loved it. It gave a full coverage, Covered all my redness and acne scars without looking or feeling too thick. Concealer blended very well over the top and I did not need to set with a powder as it is a true matte finish. When it's dried in (after only a few seconds) it's almost powder like. It's very smooth and soft feeling. I applied the rest of my makeup and was very happy with the finish. 

3.5 hours later

Hmm... Not sure what happened here! The is a huge patch missing from the side of my jaw and I look like I have wrinkles. The rest of my skin still looks good, it's still matte (a little too matte for my liking) I think because this foundation is oil controlling it might be drying our my skin the longer I wear it. It still feels nice and light on the skin. I should point out that since the birth of my son 6 weeks ago my skin has become a lot dryer, I had normal/combination skin while pregnant and combination before that  so I may not be the best person to try this foundation out!

7.5 hours total. 

I had to remove this foundation!! (The camera really doesn't pick up the patchiness and how dry I look). It started feeling tight and irritating, it clung to every single dry patch to my skin and I did exfoliate and moisturise prior to application. The dry patches also turned orange and overall it just didn't look as nice as I'd hope. The foundation was definately still there and showed no signs of wearing off or going anywhere but as I predicted earlier: the longer I wear it the drier I got! However, if you have oily skin this is a good thing!! It means it will absorb the oil throughout the day as your skin produces it- it just so happens my skin isn't producing that oil right now.

Overview:

Pros
- I love the sleek packaging and nozzle
- On the back of the packing it tells you exactly the texture and coverage
- it glided over my pores
- It has some of the best coverage I've seen in high Street foundation in quite a while
- Long wearing
- Very affordable

Cons:
- It dried out my already dry skin and clung to patches
- It felt irritating
- Became pachy after just a few hours 

I have friends with oily skin that absolutely love this, so I'd say if you are combo/oily and are looking for a new high street foundation then give it a go! For £6 even if you hate it, it's no huge loss. I also didn't use a primer so maybe the matching one in this line would have helped the patchiness??

Let me know if there's any other products you'd like a first impressions on. 

Kirsty xxx

What's in my kit?!

Hello everyone! So as some of you know, I am expecting my second baby and as a result I can no longer carry around my big suitcase full of products and I've had to massively downsize, so I thought, now is a good time to show you what's made the cut and it may help out potential clients :)

First, what do I use now? 

 I carry my kit around in a large black bag with a shoulder strap and a "zoe??" Bag from zoeva 

It's still not super light but with my amount of products, it won't be!

My brushes.

I'll split this into face and eyes

These are my most commonly used face brushes from foundation, concealer, powder, blush/contour and highlighting. Most of my brushes are from zoeva as I recently bought a huge kit. There are a mix of zoeva, real techniques, inglot, smashbox and bare minerals

Next are my most used eye brushes.  From left-right they are shading brushes, blending/crease brushes, pencil brushes then eyeliner and detail brushes. All from the ranges of brands listed above!

Now to the actual products. First let me explain properly what I do. I am a self employed freelance makeup artist, but I am also a contracted makeup artist for "flash photography studio". Instead of carrying two kits I just carry one and crossover the products. The majority of my high end products are used for my self employment work such as bridal parties and occasion makeup and the highstreet products are mainly for the studio. The highstreet products are still of great quality and there is nothing in my kit that I dislike! 

Primers and foundations.

The primers I use for both types of work and they are my favourite! I have no7 airbrush primer, no7 mattifying primer and the le maquillage makeup base-They all do different things. I then have my le maquillage (MAQ pro) wax foundation palette, makeup forever HD foundation, Bourjois healthy mix foundation and a maybelline fit me to mix into other foundations to deepen them up, but if I'm honest I hardly use it! 

I wanted to say that I used to use Mac foundations for quite a while, but I was just never happy with them. Some were too thick, too cakey, didn't photograph well etc etc... Apart from the face and body foundations! It's light/medium coverage, great for MOB and brides with good skin and its water resistant 

Not sure why benefit erase paste is in this pic?? But it's a very good peach toned concealer to correct under eye circles!

Concealer 

I really like the Mac prolongwear concealer and my light reflecting pens (aren't in this photo) for under the eyes, but to cover blemishes and redness I LOVE the collection lasting perfection 16hr wear concealers. They aren't drying, great colours and last all day and a bargain at £4.19!!

I also use the MAQ palette as a concealer as it's very pigmented. 

I have colour correction concealers that I don't use often, so haven't photographed them.

Powders

Have quite a few for different effects. They all do as they say- mattify, and set the makeup. The bare minerals mineral vale is lovely for people with open pores and the laura mercier under eye setting powder is amazing at stopping concealer creasing and brightening under the eye (also helps diminish the appearance of fine lines) if you can get your hands on it you have to try it! 

Blush/contour/bronzer/highlighter 

Pretty self explanatory what they are! The first product is a pink tones highlighter from bare minerals and the second is a rosy blush- perfect bridal colour :) 

Eyeshadows 

Most of you are probably most interested in my shadows haha. There the the urban decay naked 2&3, urban decay smoked palette, smashbox full exposure palette, my Mac palette (self chosen colours) and two inglot palettes, again I chose each individual colour and put it in the empty palette

Eye primers, bases and eyeliners 

Urban decay primer potion and my soft ochre paint pot if what I mainly use to prime the eyelids before shadow application. My mascara of choice is the max factor false lash elect waterproof and 90%of the eyeliners are the urban decay 27/7 glide on pencils. There is also a few Estée Lauder, Lancôme and Rimmel :)

Finally, lips! 

Now I hope you didn't expect me to go through these?! Let's just say it's a lot of different colours from a lot of different brands!

I hope this answered some of your questions and gave you a little look into my kit. Like I said this is extremely downsized for me and it is the products I use most often. The rest, for now, have been retired to my ikea Alex drawer once again!! 

Thanks for reading, kirsty xx

Bare minerals original foundation review

Hi everyone, I got some good feedback for my last foundation first impression/review, so I thought I'd do more. I'll alternate high end with high street brands, so today is bare minerals.
Let me start by saying I went to the counter in boots, edinburgh, told her I had combination skin with flaws and she recommended this foundation, I asked her if I should wear the matte and she said no... I'll go with the "pro". I don't have particularly large pores, not too oily skin and foundation generally stays quite well on my skin.
So what about bare minerals? Hmm, let's see!

No makeup. I'm pretty clear today but as usual, uneven tone and acne marks

This is the makeup freshly, applied. I love how it looks- it covers without masking, it looks like skin, it feels light and it's quick. I do have to do a few layers to get the coverage I like but that's no problem. No complaints here!

Two and a half hours later... OILY! If you zoom in, you will see a multitude of sins. It looks like a pound of makeup, it shows all my pores and it's wearing off my chin. This is how most foundations look on me after 8-10 hours. Not two and a half. I am certainly not impressed as this would need to be touched up every hour or two to keep on top of the fading and oiliness. I'm a mum, I don't have time for that. Maybe if you have drier skin this might still look good, but for me, it keeps getting worse.

Three hours later: It's separating, still Showing all my pores, marks where my glasses sit, still oily, my blush has faded, it's splotchy and it looks to be giving/highlighting spots on forehead. At this point I really wish I had something positive to say as I don't want to completely slate bars minerals as I love some other products. Just not this one! It doesn't feel heavy though.

 I won't repeat myself again, what I will say is that I am in my early twenties, and this foundation has settled in my lines, so if your over 25, I'd stay away. You can see it creasing under my eyes (I chose not to use concealer) and especially in my nasal/labial fold (lines from nose to mouth) WTF, really?

I could cope no longer and washed it off at 3pm after only putting it on at 9:30am.

Overall I am not happy with this foundation. I am not the type of person who liked to touch up her makeup. I want to put it on in the morning and trust that when I look in the mirror several hours later it will still be the same. I don't have time and quite frankly don't want to touch it up- it's something I've never done. 

I do love the finish of this foundation, so if you don't mind putting this in your handbag and touching up every few hours then this might work out for you. 

I would recommend if you do want to try this to go to the counter, have it applied and wear it all day. Don't do as I did- have it applied, looks great so buy straight away. 

This foundation is at a great price point at only £25. This is similar to mac or Clinique prices but cheaper than Estée Lauder, urban decay or Lancôme (who have better foundations!) 

Thanks for reading, kirsty xx

Morning skincare routine

Hi everyone! So I always harp on about how important a good skincare routine is to my clients but it's not as easy as buying a moisturiser and using it once a day. So I'm going to tell you what I use every morning and everynight. What I would like to remind you of is that your doesn't need to be as complicated as mine and I am constantly trying nee things so this changes a lot- for the everyday woman who doesn't work in beauty, find what you like and stick to it!  I'll tell you the products and brands I use and why. I'll also tell you my "lazy" skincare routine.

Typically there are three daily steps then weekly extras:
Cleanse
Tone
Moisturise

Extra:
Mask
Exfoliation

Let's start with my lazy morning skincare to easy you into it!

Cleanser: on a lazy morning I tend to cleanse my face with the garnier micellar water, or the Clarins one step facial cleanser. The Clarins one comes in different skin type formulas and since I have combination skin (oily forehead and norml cheeks) I use the combination to oily formula. The garnier only comes in one type. When I can't be bothered or I can't get to a sink to wash my face, I love these. If I have done a good cleanse the night before l am only getting off what has built up through the night and these do the job nicely.

Tone: if using the Clarins one it has a toner built in so no need, hooray!
If I use my garnier water then I follow with my garnier multi action toner I believe it's called. It clears spots, prevents any more coming through and fades acne marks. It's not too harsh or drying and I love it. I wouldn't recommend this for dry skin, but if anyone wants I can do another post with products for dry skin.

Moisturise: I really like the nivea moisturiser for normal to combination skin. It's in the white amd blue packaging and just does the job. It makes my skin very smooth and makeup goes on nicely on top.

Ok so now let's get onto what I usually do when I wear makeup or have some more time.

Cleanse: I use my philosophy 3 in 1 cleanser. This is really nice and gentle on the skin and doesnt irritate my sensitive skin at all. It doesn't claim to do a million and one things,  but it doesn't need to! It cleans my skin and keeps it breakout free without stripping my skin.
If I don't use that I use my Ren clay facial wash. I use this more when my skin is misbehaving as the clay draws out all impurities. Again not drying. With both I just apply on damp skin and remove with a really warm facecloth to open all my pores and get really clean.

Toner: stays the same

Moisturiser: I like my Clinique dramatically different moisturising lotion+ again doesn't claim to do a million things but I do like how smooth my skin feels! If not this its the nivea one.
When I have more time I also use my simple eyecream to keep away lines and hydrate my eyes. Makeup will apply smoother and my eyes are very dry due to hayfever! :(
At this time I also apply my bodysuit vitamin E chap stick.

Extras:
I don't exfoliate or use a mask in the mornings, I save these for evening to relax when the little one is in bed. I do use the facecloth to buff over my skin when removing my face wash and this is enough for me.

I hope I broke this down enough. Tried to keep it quite simple without using too much complicated terminology. Any questions, let me know!

Kirsty xxx