more inspirational pics..

Hi all!

Just a few of my favourite inspiration pics of the moment to share with you, hope you like :)

 jo xoxo

new Chanel Vitalumiere Aqua foundation review

I've been on the hunt for yet another foundation. I'd like to say it's for my kit but really I like to try these for myself too! I know it's a little silly to get excited about foundations but? I do!

A few weeks ago I went along to my local debenhams with a few different foundations in mind I would like to try. I wanted something with good even coverage, non oily, doesn't need too much powder to set, can be used for oily skin, give a luminosity and also is a good colour match! Not too much to ask hey?

While I was travelling to London I'd notice a sample of the Chanel Vitalumiere Aqua foundation in one of my magazines, glamour i think.

I don't really think i was expecting much of a difference from the usual Vitalumiere and I'm not a huge fan of this for myself as I find it's a bit too sheer and too glowy for my normal to combination skin, THIS however was a total surprise!

 I actually purchased is 2 colours as i liked the sample so much, No 10 Beige pastel and no 30 Beige sable. I firstly found that the tones are slightly lighter than the usual colour range of lumiere products, which in my book is fine however may not be suitable for much darker skins. (can be a little problem with chanel products i hear)

 Here are swatches of no 10 beige pastel and no 30 beige sable on the back of my hand, I know, not the greatest way to show you! (sorry)

 Here they are mixed together in the middle so that you can see the colours.

 So, what's so brilliant about this foundation? well everything! It's lightweight but provides brilliant coverage without looking cakey or makeuppy (?), it glides onto the skin effortlessly and is very easy to blend in, the colours are nice, not quite as yellow based at the other chanel foundations, in fact more 'beigey' as the names  suggest. It sets leaving a lovely luminous from within kind of finish, like pro lumiere but without the need to powder to set. I am in LOVE!! The smell is so clean and fresh too!

 I've been using it now for a few weeks and am hooked! Here are a few snap shots (thanks Kristen!) from a beautiful bride and bridesmaid I did the makeup for last weekend. Both Emma the bride and Kay usually are huge fans of Estee Lauder doublewear, which was the other foundation I took samples for at the same time.So it was a bit of a challenge to see how they liked the finish.

I guess you can tell from this that I didn't fall in love with the doublewear quite as much but there's always the summers heat to contend with so we will see what happens there!

 Here are the lovely Kay and Emma in Chanel vitalumiere Aqua.

 Have you tried any new foundations out there recently?

Jo xoxo

MOTN, last fridays night out makeup

Hi there!! :)

I went out for a quiet drink with some friends last Friday and wanted to try a slightly different brights look than my usual tangerine! (on the lips!)

I wanted to create quite a classic pin up eye with a punchy pink lip and cheek!

 Of course I used my new Chanel Vitalumiere Aqua (for purposes of blogging now known as CVA, hurts my fingers typing it so much haha) On the eyes I used -

MAC e/s in vanilla on the lid and blended out up to the brow bone

MAC wedge in the crease with a crease brush, blending out into the vanilla and added more vanilla under the brow to define.

MAC omega and mystery in my brows

MAC wedge under the bottom lashes

Clinique gel liner in black

Eyelure natural lashes (new ones, sorry can't remember the no but you should check out their new ones)

MAC CCB in pearl on the cheekbones to highlight

Chanel soilel du tan in hollows of cheeks and blended up into the CCB

Illamasqua blush and lipstick from the sirens palette! (I'm not sure if they're in the permanent collection but would definitely recommend you check out illamasqua if you have not already!

http://www.illamasqua.com/

I swapped around the lipstick for the evening with MAC's girl about town to match my Bright fuchsia nails, a look I will try again soon!

Be back soon!

Jo xoxo

KMS hair and a fun trip to London

A little picture heavy post, just to show you my 2 day mini trip to London with my hairdresser Jo for a hair competition. Jo entered the KMS competition to become part of their creative team for this year. We travelled down on Sunday evening and Jo took part in the competition on Monday! She did an amazing job and I absolutely loved being a hair model! The colours in my hair are so unusual, they are a smoky plum brown with varying shade of minky smoky browns too, applied in a chequered format around my crown.

Jo styled my hair with the brief of 'Hotel California'

Here are some fab pics from the trip!

We had lots of fun! Quite a change from my usually makeupmummy lifestyle! Busy- but also nice to see my babies!

Jo xoxo

Tangerine Dream MOTD

Here is a pic of my makeup with the 'let me pop' paintpot from MAC, along with satin taupe and smut in the crease and winged out!

I was feeling a little pale after a bad bout of virus' so thought I'd apply some st tropez, and while I was in the sunny mood , I put on a quick swipe of Laura Mercier Tangerine Lipstick, to match my equally bright coral nails!

 What a good match hey?

 LOVE LOVE LOVE this colour, strangely more in winter than I did in the summer as it brightens up my day every time I see my fingers! This is Tropical temptation by Revlon.

Just a little colourful post for you!

Jo xoxo

Pretty things! MAC champale and some favourites

OOh I really fell for the 'Cham pale' range at MAC! I kinda went along to replenish a few of my favourite what I class as 'bridal products'. Those being the 'Prep and prime skin' which I just love to give my brides a smooth and illuminated surface to apply makeup onto and also some 'Fix+ fluid. If you have not come across this product before, let me tell you, It has a multitude of purposes, basically, it can be spritzed onto the skin after makeup application to 'fix/set' it and also help to adhere and blend your makeup into your skin, it can also be used to spritz on the face before foundation is applied for an easier application. I also love to use it to make my pigment eye shadows stick! I'm sure there will be more purposes, but for now, I love it, my brides do too as it makes sure their makeup stays in place all day and also gives them a little cooling down before they leave for their big day!

I wasn't actually looking for anything else, but have seen loads of people excited about this range on twitter and youtube so thought I'd have a look. It's quite difficult to tell what the swatches are like on the web site but once I had swatched these, I LOVED them!

Take a look here- http://www.maccosmetics.co.uk/whats_new/collection.tmpl?CATEGORY_ID=CAT30411

 Chilled on ice reminds me of snow white, very pretty ethereal kind of colour, but with a beautiful shimmer to it!

 Have been using it just on my lids with some gel liner, it really catches the light and looks so pretty!

 The other one I chose was Let me pop, thought it would be a great one for blue/green eyes to do as it says!

 It's a very subtle colour but also very beautiful and pretty for winter! Can imagine it will look beautiful on tanned skin too!

 The Fix+ I'd bought was from the cham pale range too, it's very similar but contains lavender rather than it's usual rose!

Did you get anything from any of the new MAC collections?

Jo x0x0

skin savers!

 Okay, so I'll admit it, I am by no means blessed with the best skin, whether it be genetic, hormonal, stress related, I'm unsure, sometimes it is perfect without much effort and then for periods of time, It's an absolute MARE!!

Which is most definitely not fun, and although I count my lucky stars that I have the magical products to apply new skin 'Chanel Vitalumiere Aqua' is my new favourite, I still would just LOVE healthy clear skin.

I was rather fortunate as a teen and I had more or less good skin, then in my 20's started with a few odd bad months of problem skin. Over the years I have tried more than my share or products to try to help, and especially when I was pregnant, I was on a mission to find something that would work, but to no avail, except for Dermalogica.

I unfortunately have quite sensitive skin so have troubles with skincare for oily skin and still figure that I have more combination with dry patches..(great!)  In the new year I had a flash of nostalgia and remembered that the only thing that had helped calm things down was the Dermalogica 'Dermal clay cleanser'. Pictured below-

 It's an unusual consistency, obviously quite clay like! So I dampen my face with water, massage this in, in upward and outward motions, and then rinse off. It smells quite minty, which is very refreshing and feels quite soothing, especially if I've been suffering from breakouts!

 After this I also use, just once a day in the evening, the 'Skin prep scrub' this seems to really help remove any of the dry skin, especially around the healing blemishes, and leaves my skin feeling soft and smooth, the particles are very fine and I haven't found that they irritate my sensitive skin.

 The 'Multi active toner' I only spritz on in the morning before I moisturise, as It really freshens my face and I find helps my moisturiser to apply better.

 Then , in the daytime I use the oil control lotion, I find this helps not only to moisturise my skin in preparation for makeup but also doesn't leave an oily film like some can, therefore aids the staying power of my foundation.

I am by no means an expert in this field, however I do appreciate that to have your makeup looking good, It certainly helps to have a good base. I know it's not all in the products and I do try my best to eat a healthy diet and drink plenty of water, but for me, this little kit has been fab! My skin is still breaking out, but feels more clear in general, smooth, supple and free from congestion!

I didn't actually go to a salon and have these products recommended as I'm sure this is the best way to have the right products for your skin type, however I did visit

http://www.dermalogica.com/uk/

where they have a helpful section called 'speed mapping' asking a variety of questions to try to 'diagnose' your skin needs.

As my skin is prone to reacting to products I decided to try out this litte pack first rather than buy the full sized products and I got this little travel sized set for £23-50 from Amazon.

The pack contained, dermal clay cleanser, skin prep scrub, active toner, oil control lotion, a sample of pre cleanse oil, a sample of skin refining mask and a lip conditioner. Obviously not full size but this has lasted me a month so far and will probably last 6 weeks, so not bad for a trial..

My other little skin saver kit is this one-

Bio -oil which I apply nightly, Loreal lash renewal serum, Blistex relief cream and Vaseline rosy lips for daytime..(I even put bio oil on my better half's face before bed as even though he's a little younger than me he frowns alot and I keep trying to tell him he won't appreciate those lines after he turns 30! haha!)

What are your favourite skin savers? DO you have naturally clear skin or do you suffer with problems? Please share!

Love

Kind wishes!

Jo xoxo