In Summer - FOTD

Hello my lovelies - my golly it's hot, isn't it?! I literally melted whilst chilling in a park in London yesterday, very much an Olaf-in-Arendelle moment (it was not as attractive on me as it is on Olaf). However, I shouldn't complain really as it is either this or downpour and I much prefer the sunshine!

Anyway, today's post is on my make-up look for this sweltering day as I headed out with my two best girls. 

 Products: Boots No7 Illuminating Instant Concealer; No7 Pressed Powder in Translucent; MAC Studio Fix Concealer; Urban Decay Eyeshadow in 'Sin'; Benefit Creme Eyeshadow in 'Bikini'; Yves Saint Laurent Le Teint Touche Eclat Foundation; Benefit High Beam; Bobbi Brown Rose Shimmerbrick; Urban Decay Naked Palette; No7 Mascara; L'Oreal Eye Kohl in Brown; Real Techniques Core Collection Brushes; Benefit Dandelion Blush.

Lipgloss - Chanel Rouge

Generally in the summertime or on holiday, I will opt for this slightly softer look using a matte brown or slightly shimmery brown eyeliner pencil rather than my usual black liquid/gel liner as it tends to stay put more in the heat of the day and can be a softer framing of the eyes. I also experimented more with my blusher - mixing my standard light pink Dandelion with the Bobbi Brown Shimmer-brick to give my cheeks a gentle highlight. I love both of these products, but I really only use the Shimmer-brick when the sun is out as I find that sometimes in the winter (without the sun to bounce off of) the shimmery colours can emphasise some imperfections on my skin. What I really love about summertime and going more for this softer eyeliner look is the more adventurous I can be with my eyeshadow. Whilst opting for my usual black eyeliner cat flick I try to stick to more simple shades so as not to deflect from the eyeliner, but in summer I can try all sorts of combinations. Today's shade was 'Sin', one of my all time favourite shades by Urban Decay, I first fell in love with it when using my 'Naked' palette (all those years ago...) and have now stored up with an individual pot. It is just the perfect mix of a neutral shade with a shimmery touch which adds a bit of Hollywood Glamour, and a great base to blend more shades into to create a variety of day/evening looks. 

Do you have a summertime look or a favourite eyeshade? Comment below to let me know!

Love,

Stephie x

Saturday's Outfit & FOTD - Weekend Styling.

Hi lovelies, how is it already Sunday?! I feel like it should still be Saturday, and not have the threat of work tomorrow morning... Urgh. Anyway, yesterday I was a busy bee with a trip to Westfield Stratford to have lunch with the boyfriend and with a two hour driving lesson - I was quite proud of myself actually and bought NOTHING in Westfields, despite my payday wishlist growing almost double in size in the past week alone. For my trips out, I decided to revel in my weekend wardrobe:

(( Dress: River Island

Cardigan: New Look

Leather Boots: Next

Belt: Boohoo))

During the week I tend to end up wearing the same dresses over and over again, as they are appropriate in length and style, so when it comes to weekends I try and wear things that are more student-y and less work just so I can have a bit of variety in what I wear rather than feeling that there is no difference between my work and weekend clothes anymore. This dress is definitely one of my weekend items, and I love just how versatile it can be when dressed up with different accessories. Yesterday, I went for a more natural sort of look with a tan cardigan and brown boots (maybe even a Cowboy feel?). Its also incredible comfortable, a plus when I am just wanting to chill out without having to fidget constantly to get comfortable or worry that its too low cut/too short.

 As it is the weekend, I also went back to playing with my make-up and using black eyeliner which I have cut down using during the week so I feel like I can do something a bit more special on the weekend:

((MAC Studio Sculpt Foundation 'NC15'; Benefit's Stay Put Concealer; Bobbi Brown Gel Eyeliner 'Black Ink'; No7 Creme Touch Powder 'Translucent'; Urban Decay's 'Suspect' 'Snakebite' Eyeshadows; Inika Brown Eyeliner; Benefit's High Beam; Benefit's Thrrrob Blush; Diorshow Iconic Mascara; Soap & Glory Sexy Mother Pucker Lipgloss.))

I went for a soft, smokey eye look yesterday to go with the more natural colours in my outfit, using Urban Decay's Naked2 'Suspect' as an all over colour, and then 'Snakebite' on the outer edges and crease line. I absolutely love the blend brush that came with my Naked2, as it blends the colours perfectly without losing too much of the pigmentation or mixing the colours together too much. I've also gone back to using Bobbi Brown's Gel Eyeliner as I love just how dark it comes out in one sweep, and the long lasting power it has - honestly, when it comes to washing my face at night it takes a good two scrubs to get it off my eyes! With a lot of focus having gone onto my eyes wit this look, I went for just a natural lipgloss to give me a bit of shine.

Are you like me and have a bit of your wardrobe designated for the weekends? Or style your make up differently on the weekends?

Love,

Polka Dots & Stripes - Nicely Nautical OOTD/FOTD

Hello my lovelies - how is your week going? We have hit the middle of the week yay!! Two more days to go before three whole days off - so excited for that! 

Anyway, this is technically not today's look, it is yesterday's look, but as I was seeing Avengers Assemble for the second time after work I hadn't the chance to come and blog about it! I'm actually quite proud of how I styled all these different pieces to create my ideal nautical look. My students were even impressed by all the co-ordination that went into this outfit - always a nice to thing to hear at work!

Firstly, the outfit:

Dress: Vero Moda

Cardigan: H&M

Eiffel Tower Necklace: Unknown (giveaway prize)

Belt: New Look

Hairband: New Look

Red Leather Pumps: New Look

I'm really into the nautical look at the moment - I love stripes especially with this dress that has a mix of both diagonal and horizontal ones, and mixing patters with a light grey polka dot cardigan. The red was just a last minute addition as I wanted to make the outfit a bit more bright & striking, and went the whole hog matching the hairband, nails (styled to be like Dorothy's stunning ruby slippers), and shoes for that little bit of glam in my day.

Then the make-up & 'Ruby Slipper' themed nails:

 Nails: Chanel's 'Dragon', Models Own 'Scarlet Sparkle'

Make-Up: No7 Creme Touch Powder in Translucent; MAC Studio Sculpt Foundation in NC15; Benefit's Stay Put Primer; Chanel Rouge Allure Lipstick in Gabrielle; Benefit's Thrrrob blush; Inika Brown Eyeliner; Urban Decay's Eyeshadow in Sin; Benefit's High Beam.

 After receiving this month's Glossybox (review to come later), I fell back in love with my first year university eye make-up which was just using a brown kohl pencil to do my flicks & a litle under eye outlining. I find this a much softer look for the daytime, especially with the neutral eyeshadow shades, that allows me to go dramatic with the lips & really widens my eyes. Usually, I only use my Chanel lipstick for special occasions but this week it has been getting used daily, letting me have my sneaky 1950s style at work. My big focus with make-up is emphasising my eyes and lips, so I've found this combination has it down perfectly for me without being too dramatic. What made me the happiest was my students telling me that I looked like I was from the 50s and how pretty I looked - unusual praise from them I have to admit!

Do you have a lipstick you feel glamourous in? What feature do you like to emphasise the most?

Love,

Saturday's FOTD: A Half-Baked Suspect.

It has been absolutely ages since I have done a FOTD post, getting waaaay too preoccupied with the new additions to my wardrobe clearly. Anyway, today I spent my Saturday gorging myself on heavenly food in the form of Wagamama's Katsu Curry & All Star Lanes Buttermilk Fried Chicken - Weightwatchers will be mortified with me & the weight gain! If any of you have an All Star Lanes near you, I would wholly recommend trying out one of their restaurants they do just the most American food & shakes omnomnomnom!

I know some of you out there must be loyal users of the Urban Decay Naked palettes, so did the title of the post give you a little hint about what products were used today? 

Here's another clue:

 

Eyeshadows: Urban Decay's Naked2 Palette - 'Suspect' & 'Half - Baked'

Concealer: MAC Studio Sculpt NC15

Powder: Rimmel Stay Matte Ivory

Blusher: Benefit's Thrrrob 

Eyeliner: Rimmel Exaggerated Liquid Liner

Mascara: Diorshow Iconic

The all over base colour is 'Half-Baked' - the perfect deep, shimmering gold shade that since discovering it in my second year of university, has been a staple in my make-up bag. On the outer edges, I blended in 'Suspect' which looks a shimmery silver colour, but actually comes out with bronze undertones which I love. As its the weekend, I decided to thicken the flicks to make the most out of being able to be a little bit dramatic before heading back to work next week. Being a little of a fail blogger here though with no lipstick - but to amend this faux pas, I have been swatching several pink MAC lipsticks that I have my eye on for next payday - shall keep updated...

I always find that I can be my most adventurous with my eyeshadow shades, because the rest of my make-up generally stays in the same style, but the different shades show my mood or if I'm feeling more wild than natural. Do any of you feel this way about eyeshadow? Or is there another make-up item that you show your personality through?

Love,

Feeling Floral - OOTD & FOTD

Hello my lovelies, hope you're all having a relaxing Sunday, and if not, at least a sunny one! It was sunny here again in Essex but not enough to go au naturale on the legs front, so the tights came back out to play, but not just any tights, oh noooo, baby blue & cream floral tights! I have been coveting after these babies for a good month or two now from M&S, but being £8 for one pair, I couldn't quite bring myself to buy them - but after spotting them in the sale, my need for them could no longer be surpressed! I have been trying to figure out what outfit works with them and not be too patterned that it hurts the eye, and I found the dress that worked perfectly with them:

 Yay for floral tights! 

 Dress: H&M; Tights: M&S; Shoes: H! by Henry Holland; Cardigan: H&M

Being one of my favourite dresses, I love how the plain cream colour works perfectly with the patterned tights and gets all linked in together with the navy cardigan and shoes - not too many patterns but definitely a few to liven it up! I just love these tights! Honestly, its that vintage blue flowery pattern that you can sometimes find on china or wallpaper, and I just loved that it came on tights! Plus being from M&S, they are incredibly comfortable and soft to wear.

For the FOTD, I have been showing some love back to the original Urban Decay Naked palette, that since Naked2, I'm afraid to say, has really only been used for its brush. I know, I know, talk about neglect! So today, I put away Naked2 and used 'Smog' & 'Toasted' from Naked to create this daytime, smokey eye look:

Concealer: MAC Studio Sculpt; Powder: Rimmel Stay Matte powder; Eyeliner: Rimmel Liquid Eyeliner; Eyeshadows: Urban Decay 'Naked' palette; Blush: Benefit's Hervana; Mascara: Diorshow Iconic

Another product that isn't one of my regulars was Benefit's Hervana blush that I stole from my mum's make up bag that I just thought was a nice change from 'Thrrrob' which is a darker pink created to give the flushed look, rather than the shimmery, more posy pink that Hervana creates. Eventually, when payday comes around, I will treat myself to this!

So this is my look for today - a spring dress with some spring tights to give warmth and a daytime smokey look! 

Have you guys been bad like me and neglected your 'Naked' palette? What do you think of patterned tights?

Love,