Pretty in Pink Makeup Tutorial Urban Decay Naked Palette 3

It's such a myth that pink eye shadows are tricky to wear, paired with the right colours and the right amount of blending it is such a gem to have in your arsenal!

This is my most recent look using pinks as a base

A little mini breakdown of what happened is as follows:
1.Eyeshadow base
2. Apply a matte white shade all over the lid
3. Apply a bronze pigment around the outer eye and the outer half of the crease
4. Apply a mild baby matte pink on the middle part of the eye
5. Run a white eyeshadow pencil along the inner corner of the eyes and blend with your finger
6. Apply the matte white shadow on the brow bone
7. Run a white eyeliner along the waterline
8. Use a brown gel liner along the upper lash line and the outer third of the lower lash line
9. Apply mascara
10. A slick of cute pink gloss

You are done!

If you are looking for a little more detail, and 3 and a half minutes - or so of fun, watch the tutorial here!

 

Simple & Elegant Valentines Day Makeup Tutorial

Smokey eyes and glitter eyeliner are not always the best route to get the love of your life to swoon for you first thing in the morning, but here I present to you the effortless, simple Valentines day look- it's beautiful and neutral and easily dupe-able whether you have the Naked 1 palette or not!
It takes you from day to night without looking over the top for a light lunch, a picnic, the cinema or a late dinner without looking either overdressed or underdressed.
It's low maintenance in terms of upkeep because of the neutral lips!
(Also no one likes sticky lipgloss kisses...)

Soft and Romantic Valentines Day Makeup Tutorial Urban Decay Naked Palette 3

You're thinking that Valentines day is approaching and you want to look cute for the day! Well I have you covered, today I uploaded a super sweet Valentines Day Makeup tutorial that is effortlessly beautiful and chic! Panic over! For this I used my beloved Urban Decay Naked 3 palette, and today it makes its debut to my YouTube, although it's had a special place in my heart for a while now.

  The Naked palettes aren't the cheapest palette available, so check to yesterdays post for a super detailed run down on what the palettes are about, what one is best for you and whether they are worth it.

I couldn't resist this tacky photograph effect! Love heart confetti all over my face, what could be better?

Asos Trouser Glory!

I am not normally a jazzy trouser kind of girl I never really tend to go *there* as it all seems too daring for me and high maintenance.
When am I going to wear a hot pink pair of trousers, in January? Really?

I end up believing that this whole fling with the idea of statement trousers is over
and over and over
and over
until I decide that I keep being drawn back to fun print trousers and jewel tone colours, what good reason do I have for it not to be -oh so me- ?
I took the leap into trouser choice heaven (Asos

They may not seem that exciting to you, but to me this is a Pretty Big Deal 
My drawer of trousers contains lots of shades of denim, lots of textures of black, some khaki green and coffee coloured cords.

I took the plunge and ordered a few pairs in a few sizes- I wasn't sure at this point of the damage that Christmas may have done to my thighs. I opted to begin building up a selection with this raspberry/crimson tailored pair that have a cute crop to them.

I know it's probably impossible to tell which one is a stock photographs and which one is being modelled by yours truly..

I won't lie to you, chilly ankles in this weather, but if I am popping out for lunch and I'll spend most of the time indoors then I can take the cold for a few moments.
I pair them with a cream knit jumper, embellished with roses in blue, yellow and an almost identical pink, the jumper is quite open knit and loose to give the whole look a 'casual winter brights' appeal that I hope I pull off.


The next pair are the jewel in the crown, delicious sort of iridescent blues, embroided with roses that resemble textiles only used for curtains in a time gone by.

Something about these scream oriental, so I just had to have them. They are light, and silky to touch and look very 'casual classy tailoring' with a cream blouse. I cannot get enough of them but feel that they are harder to look 'right' in Autumn/Winter because the blue is so fresh and spring-like whereas my pink pair are like a zingy stab in the dark winter days.


My style does not change often, and I stick to what I know meaning that I have pieces , in my eyes, that still work after years and years. This was a little off the wall for the likes of me, but what a fun and rewarding switch from the denim winter blues.

It's not too late!

...to look fabulous on Christmas morning!

My last makeup tutorial before Christmas, and it has certainly led me to rediscover the beauty of my Naked Palette #1

It's all gold and bronzes and understatedly glamorous with a subtle eyeliner flick and diluted metallics!

I use a combination of shimmer and matte colours and finish off my lining my upper and lower waterlines with an eye kohl by Mac in Smoulder (a deep, dark black)

So if you're stuck thinking I just don't know 'what' to do on Christmas day then this is a safe bet to look glamorous and 'put together' when the eyes do not take any more than five minutes to throw on.

New Video: Grungy 'slept in' eyeliner makeup tutorial!

Not living the 'Rock and Roll' lifestyle but wish that you were?
Want it to look like you were out partying all night with a glass of low inhibitions?
Girls, wish that you could wear 'the walk of shame' every day?

If that sounds like you, then why not try the grungy eye makeup look!

For whatever reason, this look has really caught on so I thought that I would share it with you guys

I created a video that teaches you how to master that in under a minute!

I am more a fan of 'polished' looks myself, but I figured that there is no harm in trying new things and sharing new tips and trick with you.

I used Macs eyeliner in 'Smoulder' which is a really smudgy formula so pretty much ideal for this kind of thing- I thought I would mix it up a little this week to take a little break from all my glitzy gold holiday makeup tutorials!

Urban Decay Festive Gold Sparkle Makeup Tutorial!

Woohoo,
Getting my Christmas groove on because lets face it, winter makeup is about 100 x more fun than summer makeup which is quite often 'no' makeup makeup looks (I have a few on my channel, just in case you were interested...)
I've created a very very glittery eye, golden glitters for that matter- and added some brown glitter and brown eyeliner accents to keep it all very warm.

On my lips I am wearing Mac lip liners in Cherry and Chestnut, I only ever use these liners together- No exceptions! It creates a velvet lip look with a whole lot of festive POP
There's plenty more where that came from...

Cooking with F.R.I.E.N.D.S

I think I have a bit of a problem, most people before they go to sleep would read a magazine or check Twitter, or read a normal novel, but all I keep doing lately is poring over cook books, pictures of cakes and pies and soups and sauces which is not so ideal because I have to try and drop asleep with images of warm plates of food rolling around in my head.

My most recent cook book gem is the hilarious cook book based off the TV show 'Friends' I hate writing it as F.R.I.E.N.D.S but it seems to be the only way to type it without people assuming that it is a cook book about cooking in groups with a generic set of friends, no no no, every dish is based on some 'Friends' reference from the show, and they quote it along the side of the recipe to prove it!

It is such fun if you have seen every episode and really get every single reference, so for me it has made for some very light reading before I drop asleep too. The only real down side is that instead of having pictures of the dishes, it has pictures of scenes from the TV show, so that's a shame, I think.

So far I have made:

Brocolli stir fry with Lemon-Garlic sauce, which was really really good, I made my own egg fried rice to serve it with.

Mrs Gellars Simple spaghetti, it was indeed simple and tomato based, but tasty.

Mr Gellars Pasta with sun dried tomatoes, I added olives to try and differentiate it from Mrs Gellars dish above and it was a lot more smokey and interesting in flavour but generally a drier sauce.

I am really enjoying working my way through it, although I think that the sad part is that the book was produced too soon. It came out long before the series ended so there are a lot of missed opportunities for some great dishes and ingredient references in the later episodes.

Some dishes that could have been really fun to include!:

Joeys Peanut Butter Fingers - TOW Cheap Wedding Dress
Not-Rachel's Salmon au croup - TOW Rachels new dress
Rachel's Surprise Sneezers - TOW the joke
Phoebe's 5am Chinese Food - TOW Chandler gets caught
Chan-berry sauce - TOW the late thanksgiving
Jam Good, Custard Good! trifle - TOW Ross got high
Greatest Meatball Sandwich in the World - TOW the ride along
Monica's Get-a-room cake - TOW Chandler gets caught 
Fried stuff with cheese - TOW the truth about London
Chandlers #3 macaroni with cut up hot dogs - TOW Unagi


Buckets of brownie points to you if you 'got' all of my references!
I had probably more fun than I should have thinking up references and fun names for all of these!

Creating a pretty and glamorous up-do in 2 minutes or less!

I have no real flair for hair, which is why as soon as I had the chance, I* took a pair of shears to my hair and cut it all off so that I could get back to the short and sassy hair that I love, and the impact that it has had on my on a day to day basis is just astounding.
Call me vain, but it has made a difference to my life.
Having to grow my hair out for a wedding meant that for the last 6 months leading up to the big day I just came to hate my hair, I didn't feel like myself, I never knew what to do with it, washing and drying it was such a laborious task - it's cut and uniform length really made me feel very dowdy at times, now I feel like I am fueled on helium, my hair is light and moves and has such a lot of natural volume that I don't really have to do much for it to look polished.

I'm not super sassy with hair styling, or even hair care. Caring for long hair is a hell of a lot different to caring for shorter/medium length hair. So the only real problem with my hair is now that it looks pretty much the same every day (which it did when it was long, but I suppose I had the choice of hair up or hair down). It's too short to go properly into a ponytail, which is hardly the height of fashionable hairstyles anyway, so I decided that I would give it a try to essentially randomly pin up sections of my hair, twisting some into pin-like curl formations on my head.

I got better and quicker with this as I'd do it and I loved how it looked a lot more intricate than it was. So I figure this is just ideal for situations when I'm looking for something a little more dressy than 'hair down'

*it wasn't actually 'I' but a trained hairdresser, thank goodness

Zombie Simple Video Makeup Tutorial

It's very easy to be tricked into believing that to dress up in horror style makeup then specialist makeup will be needed, even if it is just face paint and some fake blood.
Well, I am here to tell you that is false! I can prove it!
There is no need to spend the money on these things only for them to dry up in 2 months and never to be used again.

So if you are:
-Last minute on costume ideas

-Want a scary zombie look without the scary price tag

then I have a video just for you!

Some comments have said that I resemble more a person abusing illegal substances... which is fine, I suppose, that is equally horrifying to me I suppose!

This delightful look follows straight on from the previous video... where I transform into that china doll that your grandmother owns that makes you feel uncomfortable. If you want to start at the very beginning then take a look at this video first:

Halloween Makeup Tutorial Easy Creepy Plastic Barbie Princess China Doll

There's a whole lot of directions that this look can take you,

You want to be a Barbie? Check!

You want to be a Pageant Queen? Check!

You want to be a fairy princess? Check

You want to be a China doll? Check, check

A major contributing factor besides the makeup is the creepy expression that you put with it. That can make it all the more horrifying.

If you're looking for a costume that is eerie without being gory or needing any specialist products then this is a look to consider. You can still look yourself, and glamorous but just a little more 'frozen in time' and maybe disturbed.

If this is a little on the tame side for you, then watch until the end for a little hint of what's coming next week...then think of this as the part 1 transformation video to something altogether more disturbing...

New video: Pumpkin Spice- New Room - New haircut!

So I cut off all my hair and moved house, all in under twleve days!
It's been crazy here, as I was utterly ecstatic to cut my hair off, I had only been growing it out for 'the' wedding, and now It's over I'm delighted to have my short hair back, I am just not a long haired gal, it's too fussy, too much and too bland for me. I was practically giddy in the hairdressers chair and giggling with excitement when she did the first big 'chop' to hear the snip and see the chunk of hair dropping to the floor.
 The very next day...
I moved back to University, as the Summer is officially over!
I am thrilled to be back in the city that I love, living in a new house with my nearest and dearest friends.
My room has a lot that needs doing to it before it will be 'my' room but it's a working progress and I'm getting there.

Here's my new vid of the rest of the academic year, You didn't think I'd forget about you, did you?

I called it Pumpkin spice as I was inspired to use some orange eyeshadow from Bare Minerals that I had hardly touched.
I love this, and it's a great alternative to taupe's and browns for a neutral every day look.

New video makeup tutorial Miley Cyris wrecking ball!

She may not be everyone's favorite gal, and even less so idol or role model, but I wanted to create her pretty makeup look, don't worry I don't hop into my white y fronts and swing around.
It's very simple, and very classic to wear a bold red lip, a flawless pale face and black liquid eyeliner. It does make her blue eyes pop!

Sweater Weather Makeup Tutorial

Cosy up guys and gals!
It's my first autumnal makeup tutorial...
I called it Sweater Weather, I was wearing a sweater, or a jumper as we call them in England. Plus it also just so happens to be the makeup look that I have been wearing for a little while now.
It's nothing too crazy, just easy, breezy loveliness

And a lil' bit of country music to set the mood!

Flower Pressing - My first attempt

Since I caught the wonderful bouquet from my sisters wedding, i decided it was too sad to just watch them die a little more with every passing day. Instead I thought I'd try my very hardest at flower pressing. It looks so romantic in all those turn of the century films with wonderful flower pressed adornments to sweet love letters.

My first attempt has gone a little something like this, and is a very unofficial method as far as flower pressing goes.
You will need
A sheet of A4 paper
Next catalogs and other heavy books that you do not want to move for weeks
Flowers

1.I cut off the bits of flowers that I thought would make for a nice arrangement

2.I arranged them inside the folder A4 sheet of paper

3. I closed the paper booklet, put it on one catalog, piled everything else on top

4.Wait, leave the pile somewhere it will be undisturbed, I left mine inside a cupboard, I'll pull it out every few days to see how it's getting along, but this whole process may end up taking weeks!

Hint: Sit on the stack of heavy books just to get the whole process moving along! Above is my most unflattering crotch shot!

I wish that I could include the result in this post, but I suppose that will be in a 'Flower Pressing Part 2 - Disaster or Delightful!' It's too soon to tell what the outcome will be!

Get naked Makeup Tutorial

Todays Makeup tutorial is entirely from the Urban Decay Naked palette, yes, that old gem!
I use a fair few colours for this one look that I guess in the end turned out to be pretty dark and smokey, but I still wore it in the day time and felt that it was equally appropriate!
I hope you love this one!

New Video: Bad to the Bronze Makeup Tutorial

I've had both good and bad things to say about the beloved Color Tattoos, however Bad to the Bronze or 'On and on Bronze' as it was bizarrely renamed in the UK is one shade that I simply cannot get enough of, Is there anything it doesn't look good with? Please tell me. My belief at this point is no!
This is my current 'every day' makeup look that I drool all over. The creamy texture of the base is delightful. Then I use Stila 'Kitten' over the top which hurt my pocket a little bit as it is essentially just a higher end drug store brand for a little pan about the size of a coin. Nonetheless, I take it all back Stila, as this is an equally essential part of the makeup look, although I have no doubt you can find a wonderful Dupe in the Naked or Naked 2 palette, or probably even in the Undress Me palette by MUA

Cue the highly vain close ups:

Enjoy!
I will see you next week for a new video, and in the meantime I will be blogging here daily

Makeup brushes: The essentials

If you're looking to start out with some makeup brushes it can be a bit confusing, there are so many different shapes and sizes and brands and colours and hairs and fibres!

Here I'm going to share with you what I would consider to be the 'essentials' this is for the face and the eyes because it is true that your fingers, sponges, and sponge tip applicators that you get with some makeup is sufficient. Investing in some brushes is the next slightly more serious step in your makeup collection.

First of all, I will always recommend synthetic (man made) hairs over natural (animals such as ponys and goats) haired brushes, they are more durable, often cheaper and to be honest, kinder. My initial brush set came from BareMinerals which uses only natural hairs, the brushes are good but knowing what I know now, if given the choice I would purchase all synthetic

The brush breakdown:

1. A foundation brush. If you're a liquid user then a flat foundation brush will work a treat. Mine is from Boots No7 range and I used a money off voucher aswell. If you're more of a powder foundation girl then a kabuki brush is the way foward

2. An 'other' powder brush. It will often be called a face brush, or a bronzer brush. Its just flat and fluffy and is a universal tool to apply bronzer, blusher, highlighter and finishing powder.

3. A flat eye brush, this one is fluffy and broad enough to cover the whole eyelid in a shadow easily, but used on it's tip it can get into the crease aswell. It's a universal brush and you will always have a need for it. This is called the 'Contour shadow' brush by Bare Escentuals

4. Finally, the best til last and my favourite brush of all time, my 'desert island' brush is the MAC 224, although there are plenty of cheaper alternatives. This is the mother of blending brushes. It turns a smokey eye that looks like a black eye into a Beyonce makeup look. Where it's bristles swirl, the world is a better place. I use this brush every single day, and I've not found another I like more. It blends a lot, it blends a little, it tones down colours, brightens eyes, softens edges. Gah! I don't know what it's made of, but it must be filled with fairy dust.

The brushes really do the work for me, I don't consider myself to be especially talented over anyone without brushes at makeup, the brushes to me are kind of like cheating because they are so good, it is very hard to go wrong. They erase all mistakes and blend all flaws and I just swirl the handle in a logical way hoping for the best.

The easiest Teddy Bear chocolate cake recipe

I am no cake baker and I certainly don't pretend to be any good in the kitchen but I do know for one thing, that this chocolate cake tastes really good and there is just no way to mess up a recipe with two steps.
They are as follows:

1. Mix 200g of self raising flour, 50g of cocoa powder, 125g of butter, 250g of caster sugar, 2 eggs and 160ml of water together until the mixture has changed from a darker to a lighter shade of brown (add some vanilla essence if you're feeling 'adventurous')

2. Pour into a pre greased cake pan and place in a Moderate temperature oven

Conversion: Moderate = 180 degrees celcius = 350-375 Fahrenheit = Gas mark 4-5

It takes about 30 minutes to cook, but keep checking on it to ensure it doesn't burn, the mixture is quite 'wet' so I find that one moment it looks of a mousse texture, and the next it's got a burnt top

I made an unsuccessful teddy bear shape the first time around due to not greasing the pan (from Morrisons, £4) well enough, so I was not taking any chances this time.

If I can give you one magic tip it would be to wait until your cake is stone cold before icing. Stone cold doesn't mean a bit warm, or just warm on the bottom, it means cold as though it has been left alone so that every single crumb can cool. It's the most painful part of baking I find, but then I remind myself that there is no point taking all that effort and love to make something, to ruin it at the last hurdle. Happy baking! Happy Bear!

Raw Vegan Chocolate Pudding Delight

Today I had three avocados going ripe and no clue what to do with them, until I suddenly remembered that I've been dying to try out an Avocado dessert because it sounds so strange!
So here's my little spin on it and it turned out a treat, I don't even like avocados but I simply could not get enough of this!

You will need a blender or food processor
An avocado, peeled and chopped
30 grams cocoa powder
85 grams of honey
60ml Almond milk

Presentation isn't my strongest point, I'm all new to this food photography malarky!

Blend blend blend until it's all smooth and delicious and creamy and there's no avocado lumps, and serve to unsuspecting individuals and ask them to guess what makes that wonderful creamy base!