Category: Tutorial

Posted on

FOTD | Go-to Night Out Makeup

If you’re at university, or you have been, you’ll understand the feeling that you may not have that much time to do your makeup before a ‘spontaneous’ night out. Or maybe you’re not one to spend hours getting ready. Recently I have found my favourite look for a night out that I can throw together pretty quickly, and as an added bonus, it looks really nice in photography. So if you’re into the bold lips, lashes and brows, keep on reading…

I’m always one to focus most of my time on my base. When it comes to a night out, I rarely skip using the Hourglass Veil Mineral Primer as it keeps my makeup in place better than any other product I’ve tried. For foundation lately, my favourite has to be L’Oreal True Match – this is a great budget alternative for my beloved Giorgio Armani Luminous Silk (check out my full review here). I add the Nars Radiant Creamy Concealer anywhere I may need some extra coverage, and I also take a shade lighter under my eyes and on the high points of my face to highlight. I set everything in place with a powder, either the Mac Mineralize Skinfinish Natural or the Hourglass Ambient Lighting Powder in Dim Light. I also found it important to add colour and definition to the cheeks or your face can look pretty flat in pictures. I bronze up the skin with Nars Laguna Bronzing Powder, and have been loving the Anastasia Beverly Hills Contour Kit to add shadows under the cheekbones and on the temples, and I also like using the lighter shades to set my under eye concealer and any highlighting I have done. I’ll top the look off with a little powder highlighter – my favourite recently has been the Bobbi Brown Shimmer Brick in Beige. I add some to the tops of my cheeks, the tip of the nose, the cupids bow and the chin. 


This eye makeup is incredible simple and easy to achieve. I start by defining the crease, and I do this by building up different shades of orangey-browns, increasingly getting darker to achieve a blended and blown out look. Any matte browns will work for this, but I tend to reach for my Makeup Geek Eyeshadows, in particular Peach Smoothie, Creme Brulee and Cocoa Bear. I will then pack a shimmery shade all over the lid, and my absolute favourite for this is Mac Tan Pigment. It catches the light beautifully and is amazing for any warm-toned look. I then create a winged out eyeliner with the Kat Von D Tattoo Liner in Trooper, apply lashings of mascara, and then a pair of false lashes. These will help your eyes really pop and add instant glamour to any look. The pair I’ve used in this look are the Eylure no. 121 which are thick, fluffy and are longer on the outer corner, which help to emphasise the winged-out shape of this look. I’ll then run some of the shades I used in my crease along the lower lash line to balance out the look. To finish off the eyes, I filled in my brows with the Anastasia Dip Brow Pomade in Blonde, going for quite a strong brow which I think works well with this look. 

Finally, the star of the show, the bold lip. I find that I can wear any colour with this look, but my favourite shade to wear by far is a bright pink. I’m definitely a lipstick addict, so I have several favourites, but the shade I went for in this look is Mac Viva Glam Miley Cyrus which I have a full post on here. With a bright lip, you tend to need a little added colour on the cheeks, so for blush my go to is Tarte Amazonian Clay Blush in Exposed as it is a no-brainer shade that goes with any look.















































I hope you enjoyed this look, and perhaps if you’re not so into bold lips this may have inspired you to give one a go? I think they are so flattering and will also reduce your getting ready time as the eyes really don’t need as much work. Let me know your go-to look for a night out below! 

–RachelElizabeth
Posted on

How To Depot Mac Eyeshadows

As I mentioned in my Top Mac Eyeshadows post, I have been meaning to depot my Mac collection for the longest time. I found that I just wasn’t reaching for the individual pots, so I wanted to be able to store them all together. It is also a lot cheaper to buy the shadows in the pan form, so making a palette is also a great investment. Keep reading for a step by step tutorial on how to depot your shadows…

What you will need:

  • Baking/parchment paper
  • Straighteners
  • Something sharp (I used nail scissors but a sharp knife would also work)
  • Self adhesive magnets or magnet tape (I bought mine off Amazon here)
  • A Mac palette or Z palette 






















Step 1
Be very careful for this first step! Use your sharp scissors or knife and wedge it into the ridge labelled in the picture above. This should then lift up and you can remove it from the outer casing. This step was easier in some eyeshadows than others, but with practice you’ll get the hang of it in no time.























Step 2
Turn on your straighteners and place a small piece of the baking paper on top of them. Once they are heated up, place your eyeshadow directly on top of the paper and leave to sit for about 30 seconds. The purpose of this step is to slightly melt the plastic casing and the glue holding the shadow in place.























Step 3
Once you see a dip in the middle of the plastic casing as above, carefully remove the shadow from the straightener and place it face down on some baking paper. Then take your sharp tool and push it directly in the middle. If it is extremely difficult to pierce the plastic, place it back on the straightener for a little longer. 























Step 4
Once your knife or scissors have broken through the plastic, the eyeshadow pan should lift away from the plastic like so. Carefully place the eyeshadow face down on the baking paper. The bottom of the pan, where the glue holding the eyeshadow in place was, will be extremely hot.























Step 5
Once you have left the pan to cool slightly, now it is time to place your magnet. I recommend buying small self-adhesive magnets like the ones that I have used as they were really easy to apply and are just a bit smaller than the pans, making them the perfect size. 






















Step 6
Now it is time to label your shadow. You can either make your own new labels or simply take them off of the old shadow pots. I found that with most of my eyeshadows, the labels peeled off really easily, and they were sticky enough to place directly over the magnet. However, if you’re having trouble adhering them to the pan, I suggest using glue or any other adhesive. 























And there you have it! A fully depotted Mac eyeshadow. I was expecting this to be a lot harder, but it is surprisingly simple to get the hang of it. If you’re looking to follow a video tutorial, I found Marlena from Makeup Geek’s to be very helpful (here). I hope you found this somewhat useful, and have fun creating your own Mac Palette!
Posted on

Everyday Makeup Look | Soft Winged Eye Liner

I have loved winged eyeliner for years – I find it’s really flattering on my eye shape (and on many eye shapes for that) and shapes the eyes to have a more feline effect. I am normally one for bold black liner, but recently I’ve been finding myself wanting to create softer looks, especially when wearing bold lips. Today I bring you a look I’ve been wearing quite a lot recently – a soft brown wing that still elongates the eyes, but in a much softer and more subtle way.
























Instead of a pencil or a gel, I have been reaching for eye shadows to create this look. My favourite option has been the Inglot Matte Eyeshadow Shade 327. It is a warm medium dark brown, and I find it really brings out the blue in my eyes. If you have brown or green eyes, a purple-hued shade would work well to make your eye colour pop. I apply it with the Sigma E65 Small Angle Brush starting by tracing the wing on the outer corner. I then drag the brush down  from the wing and line my eyes to about the middle of my eye. I find that this creates a more subtle look, and by not bringing the shadow into the inner corner of the eye, it makes them appear wider. 























Although very simple, this is becoming one of my favourite natural make up looks as it provides definition without being too obvious. This would also work great with coloured eyeshadow as it would create a fun pop of colour, but not in an obnoxious way.

–RachelElizabeth
Posted on

Manicure Monday #6 | How to Remove Glitter Nail Polish

From left to right: Barry M Superdrug 347 (Limited Edition), Maybelline Color Show Brocades in 220 Knitted Gold, Barry M 355 Gold Mine Glitter, Models Own Hedkandi in Ibiza Mix, Barry M in 150 Red Glitter

I love glitter nail polish, and I’m particularly drawn to them around this time of year – as you can probably tell from my last two Manicure Mondays posts. Pictured above are some of my current favourite glitters – I tend to gravitate towards budget brands, and in particular Barry M, as I don’t wear them too often and they do have a really great colour selection in Boots and Superdrug. The only thing that I don’t like about glitter is that is a pain to remove. I wouldn’t recommend scrubbing at your nails with a cotton pad and nail varnish remover as you may with standard nail polish as this can greatly damage and scratch the nails. Read more for my safe and easy way to remove glitter polish…

What You’ll Need:

– 5 Cotton Pads, torn in half
– Some aluminium foil, ripped into 10 pieces
– Nail varnish remover (any will do)
Firstly, I soak the cotton pad in nail varnish remover, and place over the nail, ensuring that the whole nail is covered with product. I then took one of the pieces of tin foil and wrapped it around the finger and cotton pad, then squeezing to secure. I tend to do this one hand at a time because it can get quite fiddly when most of your fingers are wrapped in foil! I leave these on my fingers for around 10 minutes, to ensure that all of the varnish has come off. Then carefully slide and remove and everything should be removed!

I hope this tip was useful, and that glitter won’t be such an annoyance in the future. 

-RachelElizabeth
Posted on

Manicure Monday #4 | Festive Nails

I always overload on the glitter at Christmas, and I decided that this year I would attempt some sort of nail art. I am in no way talented at nail art, so this look is definitely simple and easy to do. This is my attempt at a glitter gradient…

For this look you will need 3 nail varnishes – one colour to go as a base, a glitter that is the same colour as the base, and a second glitter of a different colour (I think multicoloured which have the base colour in look especially good). I started by painting a layer of Kiko Nail Enamel in 240 Apple Red as my base colour and as this is a very opaque polish I only needed one coat. Then I painted Barry M Glitter Nail Paint in 150 Red Glitter (Barry M are great for inexpensive glitter polishes!) on the top two thirds of the nail, making sure the top third of the nail was thicker and gradually painting on less polish towards the bottom. Then finally I used China Glaze Nail Lacquer in Twinkle Lights (unfortunately limited edition!) on the top third of the nail, trying not to create two harsh lines by slightly staggering the glitter.

I think the combination of red, gold and green is so festive, but this look could work for any time of the year by changing up the colours. It would look great on new years eve with dark navy or purple. I don’t know how often I will venture into nail art on Manicure Mondays, but this is a nice tame start…

–RachelElizabeth
Posted on

The Naked 3 Weekender | Look 3

Sadly, we have come to an end of my three part series, but I thought I would end it with a bang with this dramatic smokey look. My attempt was to show the versatility of the palette and even though it is ‘rose-hued’ it doesn’t have to look overly pink. I fell in love with the colour Blackheart when I first saw it, and knew I had to include it in one of these looks. 

Look #3 – The Dramatic Smokey
I wanted the eyes to be really dark, so I started with the Urban Decay 24/7 Glide on Eye Pencil in Zero and put it all over my lid and blended out with a fluffy brush as a base for my eyeshadow. I then put the shade Nooner in the crease as a transition shade, and to keep the smokiness I used Darkside in between the black base and Nooner. I then packed Blackheart onto the lid, and the black base really helped the burgundy shimmer pop. For a bit of interest under the eye, I used the colour Buzz along the bottom lash line and Dust in the inner corner for some added brightness and sparkle. 

To add to smokiness of this look, I lined the upper and lower waterline with the Zero eyeliner I used as a base, and put a thin line of the Mac Fluidline in Blacktrack. As usual, I put heaps of the Chanel Volume de Chanel Mascara. For added drama, falsies would be a great touch. As I would wear this on a night out I contoured with Mac Powder Blush in Harmony (only available in mac pro stores) and used a little of the Mac Mineralize Blush in Warm Soul. I love pairing a nude with deep smokey eyes so that the look is all about the eyes so I chose the Tom Ford Lip Colour in Nude Vanille.



So that concludes The Naked 3 Weekender. I would definitely say that this palette is unique, and I think I will be creating infinite rose-hued looks with it. Is it a must have? For all you Naked and Urban Decay lovers out there it probably is. But for those of you who aren’t as Naked-fanatic as I am, I would suggest picking one up as they my favourite palettes I own. As for which one? If I had to choose, I would probably say that the original Naked Palette is my favourite, because the warm golden tones really suit my colouring.

–RachelElizabeth 
Posted on

The Naked 3 Weekender | Look 2















So today marks day 2 of my Naked 3 Weekender. This is the type of look I’ve been loving to wear on a daily basis recently, so I thought it made sense to create one out of Naked 3. I paired this with a semi-dark lip but I would definitely rock a vampy lip with this eye look. 


Look #2 – The Subtle Smokey Eye
I started with the Original Primer Potion sample that came with the palette, and  then put the light rosy-taupe shade Liar all over the lid and under the eyes. I then focused the next shade mugshot on the outer corner and half way into the crease. I then used Strange as a highlight under the brow.

To add to the smokiness of the look I lined the eyes with the Sleek Eau La La Liner in Molasses and smudged it with a pencil brush. I then applied, as usual, my Chanel Volume de Chanel Mascara. For a pretty plum flush on the cheeks I used Mac Powder Blush in Coygirl (which I love using with a  darker lip – and have just found out that this has been discontinued!). For the lips, I used the Rimmel Apocalips Lip Lacquer in Galaxy which is a light purply-plum colour.















If these last two looks have been a little too subtle for your tastes then don’t worry, I’ve got something you may enjoy in the final instalment of The Naked 3 Weekender coming up tomorrow… 
Posted on

The Naked 3 Weekender | Look 1

Ever since Urban Decay announced even the name of this palette, it’s all anyone can talk about. If you’ve been living under a rock and haven’t heard of this palette or the Naked series from Urban Decay, may I present the beauty that is the Naked 3 Palette (£37 here) – the new offering of all brand new ‘rose-hued’ neutrals.

I’ve been playing with this palette for about a week now, and I will go ahead and say that I am in love. There are so many reviews and swatches of this palette so instead I thought I would give you 3 different looks I came up with everyday this weekend…

Look #1 – The Romantic























This look is very much focused on the rose-gold and lighter end of this palette. For this romantic look I started off by priming the eyes with the Eden Eye Shadow Primer Potion sample that came with the palette, and then packed Burnout on the inner two thirds of the lid, and the coppery Trick on the outer third. I took the lighter matte shade Limit and swept that in the crease to create some definition, and used the lightest shade Strange to highlight under the brow and the inner corners of the eyes. 

To finish off the eyes, I lined the eyes and did a slight wing with Mac Fluidline in Blacktrack and applied lashings of the Chanel Volume de Chanel Mascara. I bronzed up the skin with Nars Bronzing Powder in Laguna and applied Mac  Powder Blush in Pink Swoon for a light pink flush on the cheeks. For lips, I wanted a peachy nude so went for the Sleek Pout Paint in Minx. 























I really liked how this look turned out, and I can definitely see this becoming a go-to everyday eyeshadow combination. Tomorrows look – subtle smokey eye for everyday.

–RachelElizabeth
Posted on

Festive Makeup Look #1 | Quick Classic Glamour

We are now well into christmas party season so I thought I would do a series of festive makeup looks, suitable for lots of occasions. Today’s look is for those in a hurry, but still want to look glamorous. A classic red lip and winged liner combo is a look I turn to when I need to look nice fast, and it will make it look like you have put much more effort than you actually have. 

Base:
I started off with Bourjois Healthy Mix Foundation in 52 with a Real Techniques Expert Face Brush which gives me quick medium coverage, that isn’t completely matte but is one of those foundations that gives the look of a glow from within. I concealed under the eyes and on any blemishes with the Mac Studio Finish Concealer in NC20, then set everything with the Mac Mineralize Skinfinish Natural in Light Plus.

Eyes:
I first filled in my brows with the Mac Eye Brows in Fling and then set them in place with the Maybelline Brow Drama Sculpting Mascara in Dark Blonde. I primed the eyes with Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion and washed Revlon Matte Eyeshadow in Vintage Lace all over the lid and up to the brows to brighten. I believe this shade may have been discontinued, but any shadow a shade or two lighter than your skin tone will work fine. I then contoured my eye slightly with the Inglot Eyeshadow in Matte 349, and by sweeping a light taupey-grey through the crease gives subtle definition without requiring too much blending and effort. I then lined the eyes with Mac Fluidline in Blacktrack with a Sigma E10 Small Eye Liner Brush, and created a medium-sized flick (winged eyeliner post coming soon!). Finally, I curled the lashes and applied lots of the  Chanel Le Volume De Chanel Mascara.

Cheeks:
I contoured the cheeks with the Chanel Soleil Tan De Chanel Bronzing Makeup Base (and I do find this fine to apply over powder) and applied the Tarte Amazonian Clay Blush in Exposed (sadly not available in the UK), which is a great goes-with-anything blush especially for bright lips.

Lips:
I lined and filled in the lips completely with the Kiko Precision Lip Pencil in 306 Geranium Red and applied the Kiko Velvet Mat Satin Lipstick in 606 Fire Red. A completely Kiko lipstick wasn’t intentional, but they are two red lip products that I have been loving recently.

This look could easily be added to if you have more time – some false lashes and glitter would be good additions. Next up in this festive make up series will be a going out christmas look.























–RachelElizabeth
Proudly powered by WordPress