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

Art and Makeup Seminar

You may remember that last year when Art and Makeup came out I completely fell in love with not only the book but the creative force behind it, Lan Nguyen-Grealis. A genuine make-up maverick who has spent the last 14 years working her way up, completely self-taught and doing things her way. Any opportunity I have to see her work I take so I was thrilled to be invited to the Art & Makeup Seminar which was organised by Lan to showcase how she does some of her most iconic looks but she invited some incredible artists along to show their work too. It was really like an event planned for me - Daniel Sandler and Phyllis Cohen were two of the other artists and I love their work and the products that they create (and love how different they are). The third artist was Ruby Hammer who I have longed to see in action since discovering her as one half of Ruby & Milly the fantastic cosmetics line that is sadly no longer being made.

I've made a vlog about it - it's easier for me to explain by talking and you get to see a tiny bit of what we were able to see on the day and then a sneak peak at the amazing goody bag we were given, not including the haribo which I ate...

 

London Fashion Week SS16

Earlier in year I kept meaning to be really organised and do a post on my favourite looks from London Fashion Week AW15. Then I didn't feel at all enthused by any of the things I saw* and I deleted the post. For SS16 however there were a lot of looks I liked - red lips, glossy lids, creative pops of colour and full on glitter.

I've put links below to the Instagram accounts of a few that I particularly liked below if you want to investigate further... I hate putting up other people's pictures.

1. Andrew Gallimore for Zandra Rhodes
2. Lan Nguyen-Grealis for Teresita Orillac  
3. Val Garland for Vivienne Westwood
4. Andrew Gallimore for Studio Fulton
5. Issidora for Ivana Pilja
6. Val Garland for Anya Hindmarch

* I know there is a lot of creativity and talent to create those looks - they just weren't my thing and this is my blog.

Art & Makeup by Lan Ngyun-Grealis

Having grown-up with a passion for art but not knowing how to turn this passion into a job, Lan Ngyun-Grealis was one day asked to cover the make-up stand whilst working in retail to pay her way through university. Her eye for colour, detail and her knowledge of art worked with make-up and with a face as her canvas she had the added challenge of translating what the client wanted into a wearable look. Fourteen years later and she has published this stunning book, Art & Makeup showing how her love of art appears in her work and how she interprets these influences onto the face. She is also sick of people thinking that there is no creativity or talent required to be a make-up artist, especially in times of airbrushing and computers. If you haven't heard of Lan then maybe you've seen Paloma Faith, Lan is her make-up artist and responsible for all the incredible looks in Paloma's videos and shows.