The makeup marathon?

On Friday I had to get ready in a hurry (thank you bf for short notice!) for a formal dinner. At times like this, when I know I have to look the part with minimum fuss, I go back to basics. So I thought I would share with you my little routine for knocking their socks off in under 20 minutes ;).

Before I start I make sure my skin is clean and I take 5 minutes to put my hair up in hot rollers. I usually do my eyes first as I know when I am in a hurry there will be fall out and I will just get flustered trying to clean up. First eyebrows are filled in with powder, no matter how rushed you are please don't forget about your brows! For eyes I stick to 3 shadows- lid, crease, highlight, followed by thick eyeliner and lashes. Yes, false lashes are not for those in a hurry, but they usually take me under 60 seconds flat and I figure that lashes will give your eyes extra impact so there is no need to mess around with shadows too long. (Here I used UDPP, MAC digit all over lid, violet pigment mixed with carbon in crease, vapour as highlight)

I then like to use a pretty full coverage foundation as this saves time with concealer and I know it will last the night. My top pic is Maybelline's superstay 16hr silky foundation (if you want a review please leave me a comment). I may add a little Bobbi Brown corrector under the eyes to counteract the blue, but apart from that the foundation will cover all other flaws. I then set foundation with MAC MSF natural, add a little laguna bronzer, a sweep of blusher and lipgloss and I'm done.
I have always been more of a sprint than a marathon runner ;).

So by the time the makeup is finished and I am dressed I take out the rollers, and after a quick tease and pin I am out the door, or as Calvin Harris eloquently puts it "I put on my shoes and I'm ready for the weekend" ;).

This time I decided to tease a little more at the crown, and pin back the top half as I was traveling for 2 hours and wanted everything to stay in place. As you guys know I never wear a middle parting, but I was inspired by a photo of a 60s starlet to go a little retro.

What is your routine for getting ready in a hurry? Do you have any time saving tips?
xxx

Proenza Schouler Runway 09' Heels + Neon PInk Pencil Skirt = Party Queen!!

My friend, Cathy bought the very same necklace from Fallon as me. However, we didn't tell the differences until today she brought hers over. She bought it from Shopbop.com and I bought it at Barneys. It is obviously that hers has bigger cross, clasp, brass cone.....than mine!! I would say I adore mine since it is just more subtle in sizes!! We joked that Cathy has longer torso than I do so she needs something "chunkier" on her frame!! haha...

 c

You can tell that left one has bigger cross than the right one. We are wondering how come they are so different but made by the same company for the SAME THING!!!!

My ODJ!!

1. Top:

• turtle neck top
• Splendid top
• Kay Park Gray blazer w/ shoulder details
  

2. Bottom: Wesc neon pink pencil skirt

3. Accessory: 

• Heidi Dew heirloom ring
• J Crew diamond necklace
• some necklace from my Dad
• Steven Madden for Steve belt
• Gray/charcoal tights
  

4. Shoes: Proenza Schouler platform cap toe heels 09'

5. Bag: Alexander Wang 09' gray Coco Duffel bag in leather





Thanks to my friend, Cathy, who has been so supportive to me in everything, my post, my outfit, and help feeding my kids when I am doing my posts!! haha.. 

Cathy gave me this Neon Pink skirt which couldn't fit her."NOW-she is at my house and we are going to take kids and my parents for a window shopping in a minute" .... oh, just in time so I instantly took off my Hudson jeans and wear IT instead!! lol

I am so happy that I work everything in Gray from my wardrobe!!

I am a mannequin again. 
 

Love the side look of the Proenza Shouler heels!!!

Aww... both of us are amzed that the skirt works, ....I mean the whole outfit came out unexpected fun!!! :)

What do you think, girls??!!!  :)

Gotta GO n' have a great evening!!!!!! 

Graphic Eyes: Scary or Futuristic Fab?

Although I'm not normally one for heavy eye makeup, I'm loving the graphic eye looks that are around at the moment. Leona Lewis has been sporting this look ever since her appearance on X Factor and Beyonce has a similar look in her new video for 'Videophone' with Lady GaGa. I was reading Look magazine and Leona's makeup artist, Jane Bradley has said that she used Bobbi Brown Long Wear Cream Shadow in Black Pearl to create the look below, then a gunmetal grey powder shadow ovet the top of that to set it. I think it would work best with something that has a slight metallic finish to it.

I am so tempted to try this look and possibly tone it down for my own colouring by using a navy blue shade instead of pure black which could be too harsh on me. I must admit the precise and dramatic look scares me a little since you have to get the lines so perfect. I just think that it has such a glamourous look to it and you could even use bronze tones depending on your mood or even make the shape finer so it doesn't go so far over your socketline. Obviously the rest of your makeup would have to remain pretty neutral and not too 'shiny' to make sure all the emphasis was on your peepers! I would only ever wear this as a night-time look...I wouldn't fancy popping to the shops with this look!

Nic from Pixiwoo also did a tutorial inspired by this look http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5iS5ilXEIqM.

So what do you guys reckon, are you loving this look or do you think it's a bit much?

Bobbi Brown Creamy Concealer Kit

I was sent this product by the lovely people at Bobbi Brown PR, it's the Creamy Concealer Kit (Sand) which I have wanted to try for a long time now.

The Bobbi Brown webite describes this product as "a yellow-based Creamy Concealer that instantly camouflages dark circles. The creamy formula goes on smoothly with skin conditioning ingredients to help minimise the look of fine dry lines. This kit includes Creamy Concealer on top and Sheer Finish Loose Powder on bottom to set concealer for long-lasting wear".I really like the idea of combining the setting powder with the concealer however, as many people have commented before, the powder compartment does get very messy after a while as there's no way of controlling how much product comes out. So the design of that could be improved on. The powder is super finely milled and creates a really natural finish but as I said, the packaging makes it awkward to dispense the product without ending up getting it everywhere.

As for the concealer, I was very impressed by the consistency and long lasting effect it gave. It brightened up my whole eye area and the consistency is, as the name suggests, creamy but it's not one of those concealers that take forever to sink into the skin. It blends in really well and doesn't sit on top of the delicate skin surrounding the eye, it doesn't have that 'tacky' feel that some concealers have. The most important thing about undereye concealers has to be that they don't sit in the fine lines or look heavy/cakey. This product really delivers on that score as it feels light to wear, a little goes a LONG way. As long as you don't overdo with the application, you will be left with a natural looking, brightened eye area. Because I have under eye dark circles that are hereditory (which means they never completely go away), a product like this is fantastic for dealing with that problem. It doesn't dry the skin or irritate my eyes.

Although the concealer is yellow based and a pink based concealer would normally camouflage dark circles more effectively, this product works really well. If you have more problematic dark circles, then you can always apply a salmon pink colour corrector before applying a concealer over the top. Keep in mind though, that you should always apply product sparingly under the eye as you don't want to heap a load of product on there or it will just highlight the area rather than disguise it.

The other great thing about this concealer is that there's a wide range of shades available so you can get an exact match to your skintone. The shades can be viewed here http://www.bobbibrown.co.uk/templates/products/sp.tmpl?CATEGORY_ID=CAT6087&PRODUCT_ID=PROD72642. The website also offers a Face Shade Guide so you can match what concealer you should be wearing in relation to your foundation shade. These kind of additions to cosmetic websites are so much more helpful than just providing a 'light', 'medium' and 'dark' concealer shade.