Sunday 30 January 2011

The search is on...

With my hair appointment booked in tomorrow afternoon, I am desperately trying to decide what weird and wonderful instructions I should give to my lovely hairdresser.With my hair growing back to its old length (to waist), I am bored of the brown and have been for ages. I just cant seem to stay one colour!

Having been in hair limbo for the most part of my time in London, I just have had no inspiration.. Yes the thought of setting my hair alight to a bright red had tempted me on numerous occasions- I want to do something that will carry me into Spring/Summer 11!

So Im thinking.... Colour! What better way to throw myself into the beautiful new world of bold, block colours and Christopher Kane neons... off to get these ends dipped in some of those stunning brights

Now...just what colour exactly?

Dip-Dye And Ombre Hair Colour Trend

Brilliant brights!?
Nicky Minaj... love.



Bold Bohemian?
Daphne Guiness' neice Mary Charteris


Obessively Ombre?
Always amazing- Alexa.

xx

Cheeky choice choker...

At the recent Chanel Haute Couture show in the romantic flyaway hair was thanks to Sam McKnight. Perfect accompaniment to the beautiful makeup..

“The collection comprised of a palette of pale pinks and greys referencing the paintings of 1920s French artist, Marie Laurencin. With the colours being so pretty and feminine Karl wanted the hair to have a boyish silhouette, so I pulled hair into a side parting and pinned it back into a messy and unfinished fold. The style was strong in structure but still feminine in its dishevelled quality. Karl provided these exquisite ball pins which were clipped into the hair and for the finishing touch we tied chokers around the girls’ necks and pinned them up into the chignon.”

xx

Sunday 23 January 2011

Horrific band name but play some really nice tunes..



These guys have been around for ages, but theyrve been playing non stop on the playlist at work so am reminded of their brilliance.
x

MAC Artist Tip!

Sorry guys its been a while since I last posted a MAC artist tip..
But Ive come back with some goodies from the lovely Sacha Jade, a sweet and talented artist that I work with!

                                                  
           

Sacha's background is in a solid freelancing career, and has also worked for Chanel on their Pro Makeup Team. Lucky for us, she has been with MAC for a while now and even giving the team the pleasure recently to understand a few of her top tips..

Her favourite products to use personally and professionally are:

1.Chanel Bronze Universal. Using it religiously for most clients, she loves the warm winter glow it gives in a nutty brown colour- so avoiding any orange tones. Great for fair skins!
                                                  

2. MAC Moisture Cover Concealer. A really hydrating concealer to use on skins that are dry and when the under eye area can be papery and line/wrinkle ridden.

3. MAC Paintpots. As Ive mentioned before, this product is a universal MAC artist fav, being used under every eye look we create, to give amazing pigment payoff, removal of lid oil and to prevent creasing.

4. Laura Mercier Primer. great for all skin types Sach believes this is the primer going around! A must have for her with any application.

5. MAC Mineralised Compact. For a warm winter glow, that keeps the skin hydrated and protected (SPF 15), this compact is easy and convienient.

And now for Sachs Artist tip.....

Around counter Sacha is known for her ability to look amazing, and what brings her look together is her undereye concealer. The under eye is a common issue clients have, and so many at the moment are trying to mimic Kim Kardashian's look with a much lighter, contoured undereye look- created by her makeup artist Mario Dedivanovic.
                                            

Sacha's been ever so kind in giving us her top tips to perfect the undereye concealer on any look to brighten the eye up!

1. Invest in a good eye cream. Clarins is one she rates.. I personally LOVE the Creme de la Mer eye serum, but can be pricey. Just make sure its one of good quality and will help reduce puffiness, dark cirles and help reduce/prevent wrinkles and dryness.

2. Bobbi Brown Correctors. A product that Sach swears by and uses on every look she does with her freelance, the correctors help remove any blue, violet or dark tones under the eye. Place the corrector in a triangle from the corner of the eye to the other corner and down to nostril. Creating a triangle affect.
                                             

3. MAC Moisture Cover/Prolong Wear Concealer. After applying the colour corrector, with a good concealer brush with light, controlled strokes apply the concealer. When choosing the right shade, you can choose to remain the same shade as the rest of ur look, for a much more natural finish or you can do the Kimmy K and change the colour so the concealer is pink based and at a much lighter shade. Pink based concealers under the eye conteract the colour many asain/yellow skin tones have under the eye. Make sure though at the lash line you apply a colour that matches your foundation and then blend the much lighter shade down..ending it just at the tops of your cheekbones.

4. A matte or translucent powder over the top to set and seal in the concealer. Sacha likes to use a tear drop shaped sponge to press the powder in to give it a smooth and well set finish. I think MAC's Prep and Prime Translucent Powder is perfect under the eye as it is super fine and so wont cake up the area.

And so after all is done, you should walk away with a beautifully brightened and well contoured under eye area!

Thanks Sachy! xxx

Sunday 9 January 2011

Times a changin'.

In with the old out with the new I'm afraid. Time to sneak out of your dark comfortable beauty hole to tweek your routines, to make way for some new and exciting Spring/Summer 2011 looks!

OLD                                                      NEW

Earthy warm tawny tones                      Glowy, golden tones
Deep berry lip shades (#sob#)               Precisely drawn red/coloured lips
Heavily kohled eyes                               Bright pastel shades
Grungy wavy wet textured hair               Blown out frizzy, crimped hair
Minimilist skin                                        Perfectly glowy, natural skin
Square shaped nails painted darkly          Long oval shaped, bright nails
Bold and brushed out brows                   Strong, well shaped brows
Smooth, sleek ponytails                         Romantically curled, flyaway hair
Headbands                                           Large, bold hair clips/pieces


Off i toddle to whip my routine into shape!

xx

Lindsey Wixson..





I cant tear my eyes away from this girl at the moment. Those massive bee stung lips,beautiful skin and big eyes mean great things to come for this model.

x

Saturday 1 January 2011

Makeup Trends Spring/Summer 2011



HAPPY NEW YEAR!

I trust you all had good times.. me and the boy had orginally planned a biggun seeing a few bands in Camden, but only fresh into the english freezeover, my poor baby has become quite sick :( so off our tickets flew to ebay and off we landed onto our couch for a quieter and more romantic night in. Perfect.

So, back before I got really into my trends etc I always used to think that living in Australia we were always a few seasons behind, and for most of the time we are- Unless! You really follow your fashion and as the S/S 2011 trends even hit stores in the Northern Hempisphere, you jump onto it before its even begun!

If you were really onto it you would have know, in the world of makeup the key trends around for the past while has been liner, dark lips, smokey eyes, red lips and beautifully velvety skin. But as we here in London are all snuggled down in the middle of winter and these trends, over back in Australia the extremely warm weather allows you to be really fashion forward and start wearing the trends that have just been release on the S/S 11 catwalks...

So! What are the trends coming out of S/S 11 FW's??

Perfect for summer and those hot days where your about to head out, but cant be fussed with piles of makeup and want something that isnt going to slide all around the face...

# Beautifully Bright Bold Lips...

                                                                             Fendi
Easy! Choose strong colours, that compliment your tones to wear with barely there skin...
Yes, when you first try these on you might find it far too outrageous for you, but once it settles on down, so will you! Wear your eyes neutral or with a bit of kohl liner in the inner rim.. hawt kids.

My favourite MAC colours to get your lips talking for a statement look are:

- Impassioned: beautifully richly pigmented corally pinnky/orange
- Rebel: deep pinky, bright purply colour
- Girl About Town: hot pink
- Up The Amp: bright lilacy purple
- Lady Danger: organgy red
- Lady Gaga: really light but bold light pink..
- Morange: the most amazing orange you have ever seen (huge this season)

And for the casual days or a lighter, easy burst of colour:

- Lustering (sheer bright pink)
- See Sheer (one of my favs for my days off.. darker orangy colour)
- Costa Chic (coral)
- any gloss or lipstick with bright colour done softly and in an opaque finish (flat, no shimmer)

 # Chunky block colour on the eye

aka rihanna style..


                                                                              
                                                                             Dior

Whether you wear it with a nude lip or a balanced brighter one, having an amzningly bright block of colour on the lid is a sure fire way of bringing the oomp to your look. Dont contour and dont smoke out, just use the one pop of colour to enhance and create a statement. Also, a very easy and fast way of looking good!

Best colours from MAC to use are:

- Bitter: lime green
- Sushi Flower: gingery pink
- Freshwater: blue
- Hepcat: cranberry purple
- Electric Eel: bright blue
- Goldmine: you guessed it smarty pants!

* Also another look that I heart alot at the moment is the beautifully soft gold eye.. using Amber Lights, Woodwinked and/or Bronze eyeshadow from MAC (most amazing pigment payoff..) apply this as discribed above, but also edge the colour into your lower lashes, to wrap the eye lightly in a soft wash of gold. This look was done perfectly at Louis Vuitton..


Again, enjoy... Ive been thinking about posting some blogs about how to create some looks for you! Breaking down the fun I have day in day out, having to create a look on my face for work each day..
Will see what you think!

Again, hope you had an amazing end to 2010 and heres to an even better 2011!

xx