Christmas Gift Ideas - Beauty

Eyes
⚡ Viseart Libertine Palette - This looks beautiful, fun, but wearable and not overwhelming. £43.50

Hair
⚡ Silke London Silk Hair Wrap - I do not know why I want this so much. But I really do, and I suspect I may try to get away with wearing this without actually being in bed. We know that silk pillowcases can help your skin and hair but for those of us who wake up looking like pre-Always Bon Jovi this is the business to keep your hair in place. £50

Lips
⚡ Charlotte Tilbury Hot Lips Charms - I love the new limited collection of Charlotte Tilbury Hot Lips lipsticks (although I still hate the name) and these minis are really cute and at a great price point. £25

July 2017 News

You may have noticed that it's been a bit quiet here for the past month and that's because Jack arrived on 2nd July. Not a girl as predicted and almost exactly on time. He's been a little distracting so things may be a bit erratic over here for the next couple of months but I will try my best. All things baby related will be over on www.blueskyandbunting.com where I am also wageing a war against plastic.

New Releases

• Urban Decay Naked Heat - has finally been released and has sold out in quite a few places. I was lucky to be sent one which I am trying at the moment (it's on my lids as I type) so there will be a review of it up in the next couple of weeks. There's plenty around already but I'm going for everyday, wearable, quick and easy looks so I'll keep you posted 

News and Events

• UK to ban microbeads (microplastics) by 2018 - this is great news as they are terrible for the environment and do nothing for your skin. If you use any kind of exfoliator check to see what it is that is exfoliating your skin. 
• NARS to sell in China - this is last months news but there is now a petition with 65k signatures. I can't see what the point in this is really. I would love for them to change their minds but I don't see it happening.

Monday's Make-up Muse - Gwen Stefani

Ok so a new feature I've been thinking of for a while. How many times do you see a picture of someone or watch TV and think 'next time I do my make-up I'm going to try and do that'? Well I do it all the time and for so many different kinds of women purely depending on my mood. So I thought I'd have a look at each of my 'make-up muses' and pick out the bits of their look, style and make-up that I love. Now this may seem done to death but this is my blog and these are my make-up muses so some of them may be unexpected and Audrey Hepburn will not feature. It will be the first Monday of the month and you can search for them by clicking 'Muse' in the tag cloud in the right sidebar.

Thought I'd start this off with Gwen Stefani because, apart from the classic icons she has been one of my make-up muses since school and is still doing it! Whenever I see a picture of her even if I don't particularly love the outfit it is guaranteed that there will be a fab item of jewelry or a new lip colour that I covet. She is a modern version of the classic 50s icon - the blonde hair, the red lips and nails, even her eyebrows but she is so up-to-date it hurts.

I suppose with Gwen we should start at the top with the hair. When I fist went blonde a billion years ago it was party because I wanted to look like all the fantastically cool 80s metal bands that I loved (yes they were men, what?) and then along came No Doubt and Tragic Kingdom and she looked so cool and I wanted her hair. How the hell does she maintain it? How? I need her hairdressers number. I'm having to have a break from dying mine because it was so damaged and she never even has a root visible. There's a secret I know there is... I need to find it out.
 
Her make-up (what I think of as being classic Gwen Stefani though she actually changes it up quite a lot) usually involves a flick of varying degrees of drama, a red lip, and flawless skin with not a whole lot of blusher and bronzer going on... just enough. She always hits the right note of made-up but not overdone, again a real classic look that's hard to do. What makes the eyes work is the use of pale shadows and slight contour to make the shape perfect and the ideal backing for the black liner and lashes. Even when she goes for more dramatic eye make-up and a nuder look she still seems to ooze classic style.

What I always feel when looking at Gwen Stefani is that if there were no stylists and make-up artists in the world she would probably look pretty similar to what we see. If you remove the bindi in the Don't Speak video you'll see she's already got her signature make-up look going on. Love, love, love her.

Gwen Stefani Make-up Must Haves:

Eye Shadows - neutral tones and slightly darker matte shades for contouring are the best backing for a classic looking flick liner. For neutrals try Brulee or Blanc by MAC and for the darker shades Wedge and Omega are great. Or you can get a palette with similar colours in - Sleek Make-up I-Divine Palettes in Au Naturel or Oh So Special are my picks. My top pick is the Essential Eye Palette by Louise Young.

Eye Liner - choose a gel liner like my favourite 77 from Inglot or Blacktrack from MAC with either an angled brush (266 from MAC is my preference) or a Real Techniques Fine Liner brush or a pen liner if you find that easier. I prefer the ones from Eyeko or Collection. 

Lips - the most important thing is to get a red that suits your skin tone. My favourite red pencil is Redd from MAC but in terms of an actual lipstick there are so many out there to choose from. MAC Ruby Woo is a bestselling favourite but my go-to MAC colour is All Fired Up which is more flattering, as is Lady Danger. YSL, Chanel (Pirate for my preference) and Charlotte Tilbury (I love Lost Cherry) are also worth checking out. For more affordable brands Barry M's Lip Paint in 121 would work and my most recommended red lipstick is the mighty Revlon Fire & Ice.

Some links are affiliate links which means I will get a small commission if you click through and buy from them. There is no extra cost to you and if you are not comfortable with that then do feel free to open a separate window and google the product for yourself

Barry M Supersoft eye pencil

Now even though it may not feel like it summer is coming and that means bright makeup - at this rate it may be the only summery thing this year. Following trends has definitely become easier with great, cheaper brands available like Sleek Makeup but although on most of these new palettes the colour payoff is great sometimes they can have terrible drop down and staying power. Using a soft eye pencil underneath eye shadows really helps give a more vibrant colour and means they will stay on much longer and Barry M's Super Soft Eye Crayons are perfect for this.

Available in matt and shimmer colours - for doing bright eyes I like to use the shimmer ones - these fat crayons are easy to use and come in a great selection of colours. For only £3.99 each you can buy a couple of colours to play around with and be set for the summer. The only disappointing thing is there isn't a really light colour available that could be used under all eye colours but the green and blue that I have been using are just fantastic.

Simply scribble over your lid where you want the colour to be and buff and blend with a brush before pressing on the eye shadow of your choice over the top. It actually makes doing bright eyes much quicker as you need less shadow to get really impressive colour.

Blue Liner - Friday Video

I always wear black eyeliner so the other day I was brave and went for blue instead... You don't have to use as many blues as I did and it's also a great look for those of you who hate using brushes most of this can be done without.

Products used:

NARS Sheer Glow in Santa Fey
Collection Lasting Perfection Concealer in 03
Make Up For Ever Aqua Cream in 13
Sleek Oh So Special Palette
Zao Pearly Eye Shadow in 104
Eyeko Skinny Liner in Navy Blue
Barry M Supersoft Pencil in No 4
Inika pencil in 08 Peacock Blue
Rimmel Scadal'eyes
Cover FX Setting Powder in Light
Illamasqua Cream Pigment in Hollow
Maybelline Dreamtouch Blush
Lancome L'absolu rouge in 66
Real Techniques brushes

Halloween Green Eye Make-up - Friday Video

I always seem to be buying green eye makeup and then never wearing it because it's often a bit full on for me everyday. This year for Halloween, however, I will be wearing a bright green smokey eye instead of a proper costume... no one wants to arrive at the labour ward in full on fancy dress but a bit of bright eye makeup is probably fine. Right?

Bioderma Cleanser
Pro Makeup Shop Brush Cleaner
Origins Make a Difference +
Sleek Makeup Primer Palette
Collection Colour Intense Solo (in 15 Love and Money)
Barry M Fine Glitter Dust (in 2)
Benefit Shimmer Powder (in Pistachio)
Prestige Cosmetics Let Loose Shadow (in Show Off)
MAC eye shadow (in Green Smoke)
Barry M Super Soft Eye Crayon (in No 3)
L'Oreal Superliner (in black)
Smooch Mascara (in black lash)
MAC eye kohl (in Tarnish)
Sleek Makeup Contour Kit (in light)
Chanel Vitalumier Aqua (in 10 beige)
Benefit Sugarbomb
Cover FX Setting Powder (in light)
No 7 lip liner (in Nude)
Nuxe Lip Balm
Butter London Nail Varnish (in Snog)

Barry M Fine Glitter Dust (Make-up 1 - Top 10 for 2010)

I'm a little bit like a magpie about shiny things so doing glittery eyes is something I've always wanted to try but have frankly thought were a bit too much a pain to do. But after seeing Barry M's Fine Glitter Dust in a magazine I just had to give it a try. I'm still not sure how you apply this without looking like a childrens party just happened on your face but it actually stuck to my eyelids better than I thought it would and obviously if you are using this you can do the eyes first so you scrub any flyaway glitter off your face!

I had some silvery grey eyeshadow on underneath and then dabbed the Fine Glitter Dust in Silver on over the top. It looked really good and obvioulsy you can have as little or as much as you want and it comes in loads of different colours (I went a little crazy and bought loads). They are incredibly cheap as well so great fun as presents.