Friday 28 March 2014

Friday Video - Afternoon Tea Bright Lip

It's been ages since I did a video - the weeks have slipped by in a wave of unpacking boxes but here's a really simple look that is sort of a modern version of the classic black liner and red lip.

If you don't already then subscribe to my YouTube channel for more videos



Chanel Vita Lumier Aqua
NARS Sheer Glow
Sleek Makeup I-Divine Palette in Au Natural
Lavera Soft Eye Liner
YSL Babydoll Mascara
MAC Lip Pencil in Dynamo
MAC Lipstick in Impassioned
Marks and Spencer Limited Collection Bronzer
Accessorize Laguna Bronzer
Sleek Makeup Luminous Pressed Powder
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Monday 17 March 2014

Brilliant 1 Week Tooth Whitening Kit from Superdrug

I have quite big teeth. It's one of the first things a lot of people notice about me. So when I got married I spent a small fortune on getting them whitened by my dentist. You have your own set of gum shields made and this scary stuff that you squeeze into them every night from what looks like a giant syringe and then the occasional shooting pain of hyper-sensitivity during the day after you've been whitening for a while. But the effects are amazing so I was pleased that I'd done it.

Now although my teeth looked incredibly white and I can just go an buy top ups of the whitening paste for £15 from most dentists I wanted to know if you could get similar results from drug store teeth whitening kits and my husband was the perfect person to try it out on. I cruelly refer to his teeth as brown stumps - they aren't actually very bad but he never goes to the dentist and spent most of his time between the ages of 16 and 30 smoking cigarettes, drinking coffee and red wine so they are stained and being a boy, it's never really bothered him that much.

I ordered some gum shields for a couple of pounds from Amazon and decided that I would walk out of my front door and go to the first chemist I found (except the Campbells right at the end of my road... that place is expensive!) and get the most reasonably priced teeth whitening kit I could find. I ended up in Superdrug and for £5.99 I bought a Brilliant 1 Week Tooth Whitening Kit.

If I had my time over I would probably skip buying the gum shields first. Yes you can hold them in hot water and then mold them to your teeth so you feel like every tooth is getting it's very own whitening attention but they aren't actually that easy to mold and in fact the bottom set hardly worked at all. Most teeth whitening kits come with a shield/tray of some sort and I would say that that is good enough to use. You can always dab the whitening paste onto your teeth with your finger before them applying the shield as instructed to make sure every tooth is getting some whitening action.

Now we were supposed to use this for five minutes twice a day but because we were both using it we've just been doing it once for five mins at bath time. I did not expect to see anything impressive and because the gum shields are so unwieldy we spent a lot of those five minutes sniggering and trying not to dribble everywhere but honestly after three days I could see Joe's teeth were at least 1 shade whiter. And so far there hasn't been any of the  hyper-senstivity that I got when I was using the overnight whitening process.

I'm a complete convert to at-home whitening. I am pleased that for my wedding I got the full works because now I can just top that up with the drug-store kit when I need to and my teeth look super-white within a couple of days but Joe was never going to spend the time or the money getting his teeth whitened (and I have to say I think men with whitened teeth look a little bit odd) but just to get them a few shades whiter with minimal effort and input from him this kit has been fantastic. If you don't have the budget, or you don't want the hassle of doing this through your dentist or if you are lucky enough to just not need extreme whitening I would really recommend trying one from your local chemist.
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Sunday 9 March 2014

Julia Townend Body Painting Demo at Illamasqua

Julia Townened Body Painting Demo at IllamasquaA few weeks ago I was lucky enough to go along to the Illamasqua store on Beak Street in Central London to see the incredibly talented (and lovely) Julia Townend demonstrate the art of body painting. For those of you who know or have heard about Julia she a true multi-tasker doing everything from teaching, to TV make-up and launching her own body painting products and it's body painting where she has really made a name for herself. If you've been to IMATS you may have seen her live demo's (often for PAM) so you'll know what an inspiring person she is to see in action. If you don't go to IMATS chances are that you have seen her work in adverts and on the television.
Julia Towned Gold leaf detail at Illamasqua
Julia's own gold leaf used in the hair line


What I love about Julia is she is really down-to-earth and funny in an industry that can tend towards the bitchy side she has worked hard and let her talent do the talking. She chats (and tells insider stories) and somehow this amazing creation evolves in front of you. Only from listening to her speak do you realise what research and sketching has gone into the creation before it even makes it onto a body and how her use of colours and techniques from previous body paints influences her future one. I felt as though what we saw was just part of a link in the chain of her work.





JT makeup body painting at Illamasqua

It's also refreshing to meet someone in the industry who things of the model she's working on - to model for body painting often means wearing nothing but a thong but she is constantly checking that they feel comfortable and as warm as possible and when we arrived she'd already applied textures and base layers of paint to the bust area to make her feel more relaxed. By the end the model said she felt as though she was covered.
JT Makeup body paint at Ilamasqua

I try to go to as many demonstrations, open days, tutorials and events that I can. You never stop learning with make-up and not only did I learn so much but I felt completely inspired which has never happened to me with body painting. I went home wanting to try out these techniques and experiment with the colours and products I already have in my kit for regular make-up and I can't wait to buy some of her products when they are available. If you are a fan of amazing make-up then definitely check Julia out on her website, on Twitter, Pinterest and Facebook.



Julia Townend finished look at Ilamasqua
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