Fashion Fair Carnival Collection: Review and Swatches

Staring out my window with the sun shining brightly, and despite the rain we have been experiencing recently - I feel inspired to believe that Summer is finally around the corner!

One of the things I love most about Summer is the sunshine which always encourages me to shed the dark colours of autumn/winter and move into more vibrant hues, whilst also allowing my skin to get a beautiful bronzy glow from the sun (with protection of course) 

So when Fashion Fair offered to send me a few samples from their Carnival Collection, It sounded like it would be perfect for summer. Inspired by the sun kissed Caribbean and festivities of the Carnival, the collection is a mix of oranges, metallic gold, bronzes, vibrant pinks and purples.

L - R ( Safari Brown, Sahara Sand)

I was sent a selection of metallic golds and bronzes and starting with the eyeshadows - I just have one word. Gorgeous! Highly pigmented, they are beautiful shades that are highly wearable even during the day and they show up beautifully on darker skin tones.

My favourite is Safari Brown, which is a perfect brown skin nude on my skin tone and I can actually wear it on it's own.

The shadows go on extremely soft and are so easy to blend with other colours. Below is a swatch of the lipsticks and shadows.

L - R (Sepia, Confidence, Safari Brown, Sahara Sand)

The lipsticks I will admit, made me extremely nervous when I first saw them in all their bronze and gold glory, all I could think was circa 90's! But I was pleasantly surprised. 

L - R (Confidence, Sepia)

Confidence is more on the golden side and on its own doesn't work for me, but it can be combined with a darker lip colour to create a nice ombre effect and also worn over a nude lipstick. 

The star of the show however is Sepia lipstick, which completely wowed me - It has a brown/ bronze tone to it which also works as a nice nude colour. It's such a pretty shade and is long wearing and soft on the lips. 

The Carnival Collection is available from selected Debenhams and Boots.

Max Factor Creme Puff Blushes on Dark Skin: Review, Pictures and Swatches

How gorgeous are these blushes?

I'm a big fan of the Milani Baked Blushers, which sadly is only available in the states. You can however sometimes find it online. I had also heard that these are a great drugstore dupe for the Hourglass Ambient Light blushes, which I'm yet to try.

So when I spotted these little beauties, I couldn't wait to try them out.

Max factor launched these Creme Puff Blushes in six shades. and although they all seem pretty, when I swatched them in Boots, these two were the only ones that I thought worked on darker skin. All the other shades were either a little too light, shimmery or pink (but think baby pink). 

They have a beautiful marbled effect of colours and because they are baked they go on incredibly soft and merge the two different tones with a slight shimmer effect.

I just love the soft focus of the blush and how it provides a glow, making you look like you are lit from within.

The two shades I picked up are

25 - Alluring Rose - which is a brown, rose gold and peachy shade. This has more shimmer in in and is still a little light in my skin tone so I much prefer to either wear it as a highlighter or to layer it on top of another blush. If you have any spots or open pores which I do, I would recommend using a light hand with this blush, as shimmer can highlight any areas you are trying to hide.

30 - Gorgeous Berries - is a berry and pink shade and is my favourite. It's the darkest shade of the line and is a soft and pretty tone on my skin tone.


These are them swatched on my skin and a few images of me wearing them.  I actually layered them on top of each other. (I'm trying to start taking more pictures of myself and seriously struggled with the camera so if anyone has any tips on how to take selfies with your dslr camera, please please share) 

These blushes are available from both boots and super drug and retail for £8.99

Have you tried any of them and will you be picking it up?

Have a lovely weekend

Xx

Combat the shine: Fashion Fair Oil Control Powder

Ah the great British Weather! The last couple of weeks have been completely boiling in the UK, with temperatures reaching 30 degrees! Now whilst I absolutely love the warmth of the sun dancing across my skin, sadly my makeup does not! And I have been forced to bring out all the big guns for fear of my makeup (on days when I wear it) sliding off my face.

Enter in my current oil control hero in the form of Fashion Fair Oil Control Pressed Powder in Sugar – A bit of a mouthful, but all is forgiven due to its efficiency.

Described as

“A translucent silky, pressed setting powder that is oil – absorbent and eliminates shine”

I love the packaging; its design is sleek and discreet enough to happily touch up on the go, even on the tube!

I decided to try it out during one of the hottest weeks of the year so far and did the test using my normal moisturiser (not oil free) and minus a primer, just to see how it would perform.

The results? It really does what it says on the tin

It mattifies and controls my shine throughout the day without leaving me looking grey or like I’m applying for a role in a Marie Antoinette film.

January Favourites

I can't believe how quickly January has flown past and it's now a few days into February! 

So January saw me challenging myself to transform my skin into the skin I have always wanted, which started with me using a new exfoliating brush.  Needless to say, I didn't read the instructions, started off with too high a setting and ended up with a sore and irritated face combined with an angry rash to boot :-( 

So I decided to take it back to basics in terms of what was being applied to my face and these first two products absolutely saved it

Maybelline Fit Me Foundation & Concealer Review

I recently picked up the Maybelline Fit Me concealer from Superdrug as I had heard so many good reviews about it, and whilst I was there, I decided to try out the foundation seeing as they had all the darker shades available.

Makeup Muse: Kerry Washington at the Emmys

Image courtesy of Getty

One of my favourite celebrities for style and inspiration has to be the absolutely gorgeous Kerry Washington. Ever since I got hooked on Scandal a few months ago I have been obsessed with her style, and have also decided that when I grow up I most definitely want to be Olivia Pope!

So I finally got round to watching the Emmys, which I had missed, and I can see what everyone was raving about. Her makeup was so flawlessly radiant and beautiful, so I went hunting for her makeup look and thought she would be perfect to start my new series called Makeup Muse. The series will highlight celebrity beauty looks and will try to find the makeup they were using or offer alternatives to achieve the look.

How to revive a dry Mac Paint Pot

Don't you just hate it when your creamy makeup product dries up long before you finish with it?

Well the other day I opened up one of my favourite creamy eye bases, in this case Macs paint pot in Constructivist and it was so dry that it looked like it had been basking in the sun! What sun? I hear you ask...exactly its 10 degrees and rainy!

Anyway I had at least half of the product left in the pot and didn't really want to waste it so I did a little research and found a way to revive it ...woo hoo!

Here is a little tutorial below and I hope it helps someone else.

Kiko Haul

So I recently popped into Westfield in Stratford for a meeting, and noticed a little beauty store called Kiko, obviously like a child surrounded by candy (yes that is what beauty is to me- i find myself resorting to full toddler speak of "its mine and i want!") I couldn't resist popping in to have a look.... Fast forward 10 minutes and my hand is completely covered in a rainbow of pretty colours of lip glosses, nail polish, eyeshadow etc..

To give you with a bit more information about the brand, they are an Italian cosmetics brand with a couple of branches here in the UK and best of all, are very affordable. They recently launched 5 new shades for darker complexions which I would love to try out  next time. Check out their site for more information about the brand http://www.kikocosmetics.com/eshop/uk/home

Here are a few pictures of my mini haul of products that I left with. I will do an actually review soon and let you guys know how they worked out.

Have any of you tried out their products before? What did you think of it?

 

#70 Bobbi Brown Tinted Eye Brightener

You might remember my recent post about Bobbi Brown's new collection called Makeup Facelift. The collection was designed to give women all the tools to look well-rested and bright eyed – in five minutes flat!

Well I was recently sent the Tinted Eye Brightener in Dark Bisque from the collection to try out and I am so in love with it! I tried it out yesterday morning after a late night out on Saturday and it instantly made me look well rested and more awake. I also have it on today and have been told I am looking “decidedly perky” It has also helped to brighten up any shadows and smoothed out the area under my eyes.

The colour of the Dark Bisque is a pink/peachy colour that works well with my skin tone. I love that it comes in a pen format rather than in a pot as this makes it easier to apply since the consistency is quite fluid. I also love that it instantly brightens without looking heavy or caked on and it dries really nicely and doesn’t settle into your lines afterwards like concealer can.

I don’t really have any circles or lines under my eyes just a few fine ones which are more dehydration lines than anything else so I can’t say how it would work on heavier lines, however on my fine lines it worked perfectly and really helped to smooth out the whole area. I would think though that if you have heavier lines or very dark circles you probably need something with more concealing power as this is meant to brighten rather than conceal

Word of warning though, you need to use it very sparingly and I would say just apply it around the inner corner, close to your lashes and lightly on any dark shadows under your eyes. Otherwise if you go in there all guns blazing with a heavy hand you could end up emphasising the areas you are actually trying to hide.

It retails at £22 so it’s not exactly cheap, however a little goes a long way so it should last you quite a while. It also comes in 8 different shades so you should be able to find a suitable colour for your skin tone. I will definitely be repurchasing this once I run out as I love how it brightens up my whole face.

Xoxo

#69 Still in a Nars beauty state of mind

Other looks I love from the SS2010 trend report are

Derek Lam

This was very colourful with a tribal and carnival rainbow of colours. The focus was very much on the eyes and I just love the playful use of colour in greens, purples and pinks.

To recreate the look

Face:

· Blend NARS Sheer Glow Foundation
· Apply NARS Nico Blush to highlight
· Dust NARS Desire Blush onto the apples of the cheeks
· Layer NARS Taj Mahal Blush on top and up towards the temples

Eyes:

· Draw the emerald green from NARS Misfit Duo Eyeshadow along the lower lash line straight across until just past the outer corner
· Dust NARS Jolie Poupée Duo Eyeshadow on the eyelids and fade into the temple joining the green
· Highlight the inner corners of the eyes with NARS Bains Douche Glitter Pencil (NEW for Spring 2010)
· Curl lashes
· Lightly stroke NARS Méditerranée Duo Eyeshadow along the brow bone
· Apply three coats of NARS Larger Than Life Volumizing Mascara on the top and bottom lashes
Lips:

· Dot lips with NARS Red Square Velvet Matte Lip Pencil
· Outline the lips with NARS Easy Lover Lip Gloss (NEW for Spring 2010)


Marc Jacobs

I thought this was just so theatrical and creative (although not one I personally will attempt to recreate). Created by Francois NARS himself the inspiration was contemporary dancer, Martha Graham and the look was Left-over stage makeup. “The models weren’t meant to have perfect makeup- rather, they were meant to encompass a “just came off-stage” effect. “Dancers in theatre and opera always have white faces, pointed lips and an eye that is drawn outward,” said François NARS. He stressed the importance of the eye for this look, noting that “the slashes of white is something they used to do in the 70s to bring a 3-dimensional feeling to the makeup

#68 A NARS beauty state of mind : The Orgasm Illuminator

So last week I attended a press event with NARS Cosmetics to launch their SS 2010 collection and the much awaited Orgasm Illuminator. It was hosted by NARS international makeup artist Jane Richardson and lets just say I was in NARS heaven! I also knew I wasn’t the only one in a NARS heaven state of mind, as when the Orgasm Illuminator was introduced, a collective Ooooh literally went round the room. I can now completely understand why so many of these little tubes disappeared at Fashion week and why the beauty world is already buzzing about it.

A new product category for NARS, it joins the cult-followed collection of NARS Orgasm-hued products, loved by makeup artists and women worldwide.

I was lucky enough to get one of these tubes and it definitely lives up to its buzz! It’s extremely WOC friendly and flattering, gliding on nicely to give my skin a beautiful luminous glow with hints of gold. A multipurpose product, you can use it all over your face for a barely-there, healthy glow or wear it on the neck, shoulders or décolleté for a subtle eye-catching sheen. I personally found that I really liked it either mixed with my foundation for overall luminosity or as a highlighter for a glimmering accent on my cheekbones. The lovely Jane taught me a little trick with the illuminator - she suggested that using circular motions I should try to feel under my cheekbones to really contour and add a subtle definition to my face. I tried it out and it worked and looked great! All in all each time I have tried it, I literally look like I have just had the best sleep ever.

It retails at £21 and will be available exclusively at Space NK from the 18th of February and then will roll out nationwide from the 1st of March,

Here it is in use at the Thakoon show where the look was Samurai warrior meets Surfer girl

To recreate the look:

Face:
· Apply NARS Sheer Matte Foundation to conceal imperfections
· Use NARS Orgasm Illuminator (NEW for Spring 2010) on cheeks, nose, forehead and chin
· Contour and sculpt cheeks with NARS Malaysia Multiple Bronzer
· Highlight cheekbones with NARS Hungry Heart Blush Duo

Eyes:
· Apply NARS Alhambra Duo Eyeshadow on the entire eyelid up to the brows
· Blend NARS D. Gorgeous Single Eyeshadow (NEW for Spring 2010) with NARS Kuala Lumpur
Duo Eyeshadow (NEW for Spring 2010) into the crease and around the eye
· Apply NARS Bali Single Eyeshadow to the upper and lower lash lines
· Dust NARS Night Snow Single Eyeshadow on the inner corners of the eyes

Lips:
· Mute lips by using NARS Concealer
· With finger, dab NARS Ophelia Lip Gloss (NEW for Spring 2010) to center of lips

#43 The Beauty of Colour: Foundations

I don’t know about you guys, but for me finding the right foundation has always been a bit like looking for the Holy Grail, essentially impossible to find. I can never seem to find the right colour or the right tone that doesn’t end up looking grey, ashy, mask like or change colour halfway through. The other problem that tends to occur is that, I hear about some new foundation that apparently works wonders and I usually trot off down to the store only to find that the selection seems to stop at some pale peachy skin tone that doesn’t do ethnic skin types any justice. Or when they do offer darker shades, it sometimes feels like it’s a bit of a token gesture and there are usually just two shades in the range – the lovely honey caramel shade that is Beyonce or the dark beautiful mahogany shade that is Alek Wek. This means that me, who is somewhere in between these two is usually left scratching my head and wailing, what about me!! In all my time of wearing makeup, I have never really found a foundation that I was completely happy with….well until now that is (yes my prayers have been answered)

Now then before I start expanding on about my new loves, let me explain what prompted my decision to go foundation hunting in the first place. I came across some information from Bobbi Brown who recently conducted a survey into the trials and tribulations concerning women and foundation. For women of colour they found the following stats, see below – I personally found myself nodding in agreement on every point

Survey Results for Women with Brown/Black (Dark) Skin

1) 54.5% have bought on average 8 different foundations trying to find their perfect one.
2) 62.5% spend £125 on the wrong foundations
3) With 34.6% saying the makeup of choice they would splash their cash on would be foundation
4) 45.5% said their biggest beauty nightmare is mask like foundation that differs in colour from jaw to neck line

When I saw this, I decided it was time for a bit of research to see what else was on the market and what would hopefully work for me or for others – here are some of the foundations I tried out and my thoughts below

Giorgio Armani – Luminous Silk Foundation in 11

They don’t have a wide selection for darker tones and this shade seemed to be the darkest one available, which thankfully was right for my skin tone. Initially when I tried this, it actually looked a bit grey and I thought, Oh No! This is not working but then strangely enough, about an hour after applying it – it seemed to settle down well with my skin and provided a nice glow. I found that you need to be careful with how you apply it and build up your colour slowly. I also found that less is more when applying your moisturiser/sun protector beforehand, otherwise unless you have the driest of skins you might end up looking shiny rather than dewy, When applied properly though – its dewy, smooth and luminous and gives a lovely finish to the skin. It retails at £30 and is available from Giorgio Armani retail counters

K by Beverley Knight – Light Coverage Warm Mocha

You might remember me posting about the K by Beverley Knight range of makeup that was launching for women of colour. What I love about this is that Beverley decided to create this brand out of her own frustration at not being able to find a range that provided the full range of colours that she needed. The K by Beverley Knight has 10 shades for dark skin tones (black and asian skins), providing for colours across the spectrum ranging from a light dark to a deep dark. I tried out the Light Coverage Oil Free Foundation in Warm Mocha which gave a nice soft natural finish. The coverage really is in the description as it’s quite subtle so you need to build it up to get more of a medium coverage but it provides a good lift to your skin minus the heavy feeling of foundation. For my skin I found I did need to use concealer to help out with some scarring as the coverage is quite sheer– but if your skin is blemish free this would work well for giving your skin a nice boost and for that she has nice skin, I wonder if she is wearing any makeup look? The Light Coverage Oil Free Foundation retails at £22 from Selfridges and John Lewis and is also available on the website http://www.kbybeverleyknightcosmetics.com/


The following two foundations I totally loved! Simply because they just worked perfectly for my skin in that when I used them, they looked like my own skin, but only better!

Bobbi Brown Skin Foundation SPF 15 in Almond

This foundation really blended with my natural skin tone and I love that although it’s sheer it provided the right amount of coverage while still looking natural. It had a smooth finish to it and I found it covered my pores and really evened out my skin tone whilst also hydrating and softening my skin. The only thing I wasn’t entirely happy with is that after a few hours it starts to wear off a little and you would need to blot/powder it down to stay put. Overall though I really liked what it did to my skin and found it did exactly what it described on the packaging which was to look like my skin but with the added bonus of looking luminous, smooth and with the right amount of coverage. It retails at £27.50 and is available from Bobbi Brown counters and on their website http://www.bobbibrown.co.uk/

Nars Sheer Matte and Glow Foundation in Benares

I tried out the new Nars Sheer Matte and Glow Foundations in my perfect shade Benares and found that it delivered beautiful coverage and radiance to my skin. The coverage was light to medium (but covered all my blemishes) and it glides on really lightly without a heavy foundation feel or look. The Matte is perfect if you are looking for a more sheer matt look – I found this works really well for me in the daytime when I’m out and about, as it stayed quite matt on my face, but I loved that it still looked really soft on me rather than powdered down. The Glow on the other hand is just perfect for evenings and I think it will also work well for me in winter when my skin tends to get a bit drier. It has a dewy look to it and gave my skin a nice satin and glowy finish. What I also love about the foundations is that Nars have widened their range to 20 shades which includes a wide selection of undertones to suit every skin type. It retails at £29 and is available from Nars counters and from the website http://www.narscosmetics.com/

I hope this helps anyone who is still looking for their holy grail in foundation, if you are still looking, go out to the counters, try out some foundations and walk around to see how it feels, looks and settles on your skin.

Xoxo

#19 Cosmetics Store! Where?

I am so disappointed! Why you ask? Well I was in central London the other day and had a spare half an hour, so I thought I would pop into Trocadero’s in Piccadilly to finally check out the Vanessa Blake Cosmetics store. Vanessa Blake is a new makeup line for women of colour and their store opened up in February 2009 but every time I have tried to go down there something always seemed to crop up. Anyway I finally got the chance, but when I got there it was such a big let down. First up I simply could not find the store! and after walking around Trocadero for about 15 minutes and asking a number of people who didn’t seem to have a clue of what I was talking about despite the fact that they all work there, I was finally told to go into the centre and look for all the stalls surrounding the escalators. (obviously this is where I had been going wrong as I was led to believe it was going to be a store)

Now on arriving at the stall I was immediately confused, the main sign above the stall had a completely different name, but right at the bottom there was a small poster with Vanessa Blake written on it, which had me thinking, well whose stall is it? I then noticed some beauty samples with the words “try me” but all of them were empty. At this point I became aware of the fact that the stall seemed to be manned by a large oriental man who (a) didn’t appear to speak a word of English and (b) was staring at me suspiciously while I was looking at the samples. Five minutes into speaking to him, I finally managed to convince him that I wasn’t trying to steal the empty sample bottles but was hoping to speak to someone else who could help. He wandered off and reappeared with another oriental lady who then led me to a limited stock of products with no samples to try out, and then proceeded to drift off to talk to her friends. At this point I realised my thirty minutes was up and I obviously wasn’t going to get anywhere.

Now not to be put off and still trying to play nice, I went home and tried to look at the website but the site seems to be disabled, I then tried calling the number on their facebook page but it always seems to go straight to voicemail. So ladies at this point I give up! It’s such a pity as a couple of other bloggers had written some positive remarks about the brand and I for one am always ready promote a brand especially if it caters for us women of colour but on this occasion it was unfortunately a let down. Having worked in PR I can’t stress the importance of branding and your perceived image!

Well If I ever manage to get hold of them and find out what is going on I will keep you all posted.

Xoxo