WEEK 10: Make up Tools

Hola Dalimoos,

So we have now reached the final week and it is all about make up tools.

I am not going to be showing my collection but take a few brushes from my collection and talk about their uses etc...

The first tool I would mention is your hands, Mary Greenwell has always promoted using your hands to apply make up.  If you are not a germaphobe and like to get stuck in then this is the cheapest option for you!  Every part of your hand has a job when it comes to applying.

Awkward hand picture!!

Use your fingers to warm the foundation up and buff into your face, the warmth of the fingers will melt the make up giving you that natural look; you can use your index finger to blend eyeshadow; you can use your thumb to apply cream blusher; you can use the heel of your hand for contouring pushing and rolling until it is blended well; you can use your middle finger to dab on lipstain; you can use your ring finger for your eye area as this is the most delicate dabbing never rubbing; lastly your little finger could be used to put a dab of highlight in your inner corner.

If using your hands do not appeal to you then you have many different types of brushes to do the job you need:

Face

Top: Foundation brush - GOSH
Bottom:  Real Techniques Buffing Brush

There are differently types of foundation brushes to use, i.e. Real Technique have an array of face brushes to apply foundation.  I personally like the good old flat foundation brush doing downward brushstroke and side way strokes until there are no "paint brush" marks.

Real Technique Powder Brush

If you need to powder or set your make up you can use a powder brush this is usually a biggish brush as it covers the most area.  One I could recommend that works brilliantly is the Real Technique's powder brush.

Top: round blusher brush - ebay
bottom: Real Techniques Blush Brush

There are different types of blusher brushes, you have the small round ones that are the right size for your apples of your cheeks or you have the domed shape ones.  I use the Real Techniques Blush Brush, the blush is put on longer tip of the brush and the shorter bristle act as a blender at the same time, I love the application from these brushes.

Left: Real Techniques Multi-task
Right: Real Techniques Contour brush

When applying bronzer you can use a large powder brush all over your face, this helps give warmth to your face or a smaller brush which is good for contouring and giving dimension to your face.

Left - Real Techniques Setting Brush
Right - Fan brush (ebay)

To highlight the high points of your face (i.e. cheekbones, nose, cupids bow) you could use a small fan brush or the brush I use is the Real Techniques setting brush which I think is a really nice size brush to do the job you want.







Eyes

Top:  Flat shader - ebay
- crown brushes
- Real Technique shader brush
Bottom: unknown

There are different sizes of flat shader brushes and these help pack on the colour on your eye lids.

These brushes help with putting depth into your crease and you normally use a darker shade to your eye lid and to apply you do the window wiper motion.

Top:  GOSH
Bottom:  Crown Brushes

I use these to put a small amount of dark colour to my outter corner of my eye and then I use a clean fluffy brush to blend it all in, This is great for a creating a smokey eye.

Top: No 7 Blending brush
Urban Decay
MAC 217

These brushes blend your eye make up seamlessly so there are no harsh lines.












I don't think you need to go expensive on brushes to get a nice finish on your make up.  No7 do the best blending brushes, they are excellent and I own about 5 of these!  Real Techniques I prefer for face brushes and my favourite eye brushes are mish mash. (GOSH and Ebay).

As long you as you take care of your brushes they will last you for an eternity.  You should spot clean as you go using a spray brush cleanser.  I use Bare Minerals brush cleanser and I spray a flannel and then swirl the brush around until the colour has come off.  It dries your brushes instantly so you can carry on using the same brush for a different colour.

I deep clean my brushes once a month.  This is probably too long to deep clean but I am lazy and it is so time consuming that I tend to do it when I have no clean brushes left!  I am going to do a separate post on how I wash my brushes so look at for that in the next week.

Anyway my lovelies, I hope you enjoyed my 10 weeks of "Starting Out"...

Until next time

Ciao for now xxx

WEEK 9: Lipstick/Lipgloss

Hola Dalimoos,

Well we are on the penultimate week of the #SOproject.  This week it is all about lipstick and lipgloss.

I am more of your lipstick type of girl than your lipgloss type of girl.  I do not own that many lipglosses, I am not a fan of the stickiness or overly wetness of your lip when it has been applied.  When choosing lip glosses I do tend to gravitate towards the more of the pigmented glosses as they have more of a lipstick feel, although saying that I do love No7 Ultimate Volume glosses, these give a lovely sheen with a hint of colour and are not overly sticky.

Top:  Revlon Colour burst - Adorned
Middle:  Rimmel Apocalips - Apocaliptic
Bottom - 17 Ultimate Volume - Peach Melba

There are different finishes of lipstick, below are a few lipsticks I have in my collection for reference:

Matte:  Matte Lipstick has no shine at all and can look quite drying on the lips.

You really need to exfoliate and mositurise your lips before applying these lipsticks as they really show up any dry flaky bits you have on your lips.  The colour pay-off is usually highly pigmented and very long-lasting.  I like matte lipsticks on a night out as I do not need to reapply much through the night.

left: elf matte colour - coral
Revlon colourstay - Ultimate Suede 010
Collection 2000 cream Puff - Cotton Candy

top to bottom:
elf matte colour - coral
Revlon colourstay - Ultimate Suede 010
Collection 2000 cream Puff - Cotton Candy

Top to Bottom:
Maybelline: 16 hr Superstay in 745
Maybelline: 16 hr Superstay in 764

Cream: Cream lipsticks are not nearly as a fuller coverage as matte lipsticks but still wear just as well and the bonus is they are not as drying as matte.

L-R:
Rimmel Nude Pink
MAC - Hue
Collection - Vintage Rose

Top to bottom:
Rimmel Nude Pink
MAC - Hue
Collection - Vintage Rose

Frost: Frost are like a shiny more sheer lipstick that have a metallic look when applied.  They tend to be quite pale in colouring.

L-R:
L'oreal Caresse - Coral and Floral
17 - Shell
17 - Sweet Shizzle

L-R:
L'oreal Caresse - Coral and Floral
17 - Shell
17 - Sweet Shizzle

Recently the beauty market has been inundated with moisturising lip pencils/lipstick balms.  These range from a slight wash of colour to an intense pigment of colour.  I have quite a few of these as I like them for day to day quick and easy to apply and feels very moisturising like a lip balm.

Top to bottom-
Revlon just bitten - Cherish
MUA Power Pout - Broken Hearted

Bottom to Top:
Revlon just bitten - Cherish
MUA Power Pout - Broken Hearted

Left to Right:
Revlon lip butter - Berry Smoothie
Revlon lip butter - Raspberry Pie

Left to Right:
Revlon lip butter - Berry Smoothie
Revlon lip butter - Raspberry Pie

You cannot do a post on lipstick without including red lipstick.  In my younger days I never had the guts to wear bright bold lipsticks especially red lips, but as I am getting older I don't care what people think as much and I am really enjoying bold and red lips.  You can get different tones of red lipsticks: you have blue toned red which are excellent for making your teeth looking white, orangy toned red and your more muted red/brown red.  There is a red lipstick for every one whether you want to be out there "look at me" or your more "not brave for bright but still want a red" kind of person.

L-R:
Maybelline Colour Sensational  - Hollywood Red
Mac - Lady Danger
Collection - Valentine

L-R
Collection - Valentine
Mac - Lady Danger
Maybelline Colour Sensational  - Hollywood Red

The last thing (or really the first thing to think about) for you lips is lip pencils.  Lip pencils are great to stop bleeding and to help your lip stick stay on longer.  You can also cheat a fuller lip if you apply it carefully.  Always make sure your lip pencils are sharp.  Start from the inside of your lip and move towards your cupid's bow.  Try and use a shade that is as close to your lipstick colour as possible, if all fails use a nude lip pencil.

A few top tips:

Always exfoliate your lips and moisturise your lips to keep the dry, flaky chapped lips at bay.  You can use a homemade lip scrub or you can even use an old toothbrush.  Drinking lots of water can help with hydration but when your not using lipstick use a lip balm.

When apply dark or red lipstick it is always best to use a brush.  I like to use a square flat brush for this.  It helps with a precision application that applying straight from the bullet doesn't do.

I hoped this was helpful and you enjoyed reading.

Until next time my lovelies.

Ciao for now

WEEK 8: Eyeshadow

Hola Dalimoos,

This week on the SO Project it is all about eyeshadow.  Eyeshadow is great to experiment with.  I am not one for completely following the rules and this whole thing about what colours you should wear with certain eye colour...nope don't follow, I love wearing bright bold colours and your more muted natural colours whenever the fancy takes me.  Wear what you feel comfortable with.  If you don't dare to wear what you want and you feel you should stick within the rules, then the general rule of thumb is:

Blue eyes: eye shadows with a brown, gold, orange or red undertones will make your blue eyes pop.

Brown eyes: eye shadows with a blue, purple, pink undertones will make your brown eyes pop.

Green eyes: eye shadows with a brown, purple, taupe or gold undertone will make your green eyes pop.

It is great to experiment and have fun it is only the real way of finding a look that suits you.

There are different types of eyeshadow.  There are powder, pigments, and cream products.

Top Left: Sleek Divine Original, Beauty UK in 1 and
Maybelline silk Glam in Purple Drama

You can use powder as just one wash of colour over your lid which i tend to do day to day, or you can use it to define and glam up a look.

You really only need to use 3 colours (if you do not include brow highlight) to achieve most looks.  Sometimes only 2 depending on how dramatic you are going for.

You need your lid colour which tends to be the lighter colour, then you use your crease colour which is normally a shade darker (you can leave it here if you wish) then you use a darker colour to add depth/definition to the outer eye and along the bottom lash.

Your fingers are a good tool than any other but when I am putting on powder I prefer to use brushes.  Above are a little snippet of the types of brushes I use.  I would use the oval shadow brush and Gosh flat brush to apply my lid colour.  I would use the Real Techniques shading brush and the angle crease brush to apply my crease colour.  I would use the round contour brush to apply my outer eye colour and then I would use my No. 7 brush to blend my eye colour through.

The other types of eye shadow is pigments and glitters.  These are like the purest of eyeshadow and you can apply them wet for a more foiled/metallic look or dry for a powdered/matte look.

MAC copper pigment Barry M glitter dust in No 2

Then you have the liquid, pencil and cream eye shadows.  You can use all of these as a wash of colour over your lid or as a base for your powder shadows to make the colour pop and help the staying power.  I personally think these go on really well with your fingers and do not feel the need to use any brushes when applying these.

collection work the colour eyeshadow pencil

Maybelline cool effect - 22 pretty cool

Maybelline color tattoo in on and on bronze

I have to say I absolutely love love love the maybelline color tattoos and I have a lovely little selection going at the moment.  The staying power is brilliant, I have not found any creasing and they stay all day without budging.

The important thing to remember is make up is supposed to be fun...go have fun...experiment, who knows you may like a combination you never thought you would.

Anyway my lovelies until next time

Ciao for now xx

Week 6: Mascara

Hola Dalimoos,

Welcome to Week 6 of #theSO project.  I cannot believe it has been running for six weeks, where has the weeks gone heh?!

This week it is all about my first favourite make up item and that is mascara (my second favourite being eyeshadow).  Even if I am having a no make up day I still need to put on my mascara!

There are 3 rules I always follow:

1. The most important rule is NEVER and I mean NEVER share your mascara no matter who the person is, this passes bactaria and you/both could get conjunctivitis.
2. Mascara should only be used for up to 6 months then it should really be replaced.
3. You shouldn't pump your mascara this lets air in and dries your mascara so swirl the brush in the tube before taking it out.

There are different types of mascara that do different things and different brush sizes, shapes and textures.  You have lengthening, volumising, smudgeproof, curling, waterproof, clear, bristle brush, plastic brush, curved brush...so as you can see there should be a mascara for everyone's needs.

 I tend to favour the volumising and curling mascaras,  although on a night out I like a false lash effect so use two mascaras, one for more length and one for volume this way I do not need to think about using false lashes.

These are my two night time mascaras

I am not lucky enough to have naturally curly lashes so I need to use an eyelash curler before I apply my mascara.  If your lashes do not hold a curl think about using waterproof mascara this helps keep your curl for longer.  The benefits of using an eyelash curler is it gives the appearance of bigger more open eyes.

I am someone that cannot apply mascara without getting it all over my lid which really annoys me especially when I have spent time doing my eyeshadow, so found this contraption on ebay which helps when applying mascara  not to get it all over the lids.  If you do not want to spend money then you can do one yourself with a business card or something similar, you just cut an oval/eyeshape at the bottom of the card then rest it at the base of the lashes when you are applying your mascara and hey presto no mascara on the lid but.

A good tip when applying your mascara is to look down (or put your head back but look down) and start from the base of the lash and use a wiggle motion to the tip, this helps with getting each lash coated and also helps with clumping.

There are different colours to choose from too.  You can have your more natural colouring black/brown, a nice mascara that I like is the Max Factor eye brightening for blue eyes this is like a grey colour which brightens your eyes and makes your colour pop.  I also love to use coloured mascara too, blue being my favourite and of course black!

You don't need to spend a lot of money on a mascara to get the desired look, yes there are a couple of high-end mascaras I like to use and would recommend them but I do tend to favour the drugstore/high street mascara and the ones above are the few of my favourites, so just think about what you want from a masacara and choice anyone as they all really tend to do the same thing in the end and just because there is one I don't necessarily like it could be your absolute favourite!

Anyway my lovelies, I hope again you enjoyed my latest installment..

Until next time

Ciao for now 

Week 5: Blusher

Hola Dalimoos,

First I need to apologise that this is a week late, I haven't been feeling too great recently and with things going on personally I just haven't had the time to do a post, so you have a two posts to read this week!

Week 5 of the #theSOProject is blusher.

Blusher is something that brings a colour to your face and helps keeps that pasty 'ill' look at bay!  You use blusher on your cheeks, I personally believe there is not set rule as to where on your cheeks you place your blusher, I like that flush/sunkissed look so tend to put it over the apple of my cheeks and across my cheekbone and slightly towards the hollow of my cheeks.

photo taken from 2010 Harper Bazaar
Michael Kors runway NY Fashion Week

No matter where you prefer to have your blusher or how to wear your blusher, blending is the key and less is more.  The less you put on the more you can build to the desired look.

Tools are also key, you should use smaller face brushes as you only want a small area covered unlike face brushes or even bronzer brushes you have a smaller area to cover so use a brush to match.

Here are a few that you can use:

The smaller shape dome if you just want to keep it to the apple of your cheeks, you can even use a slanted blush brush, a fuller blush brush or my favourite at the moment The Real Techniques blush brush.  They all do a good job.  The first three brushes came in a set from ebay and was what I bought to start out and I love them and even though I love all my Real Techniques brushes I still reach for these on a regular basis. 

When it comes to types of blusher you have so many different types (i.e shimmery, matte, gel, liquid, creams and powder) for different skin types.  I have only ever used powder blushes so can only talk about that.

You also have the choice of so many different types of colours from your very vibrant bright colours to your more understated natural type blush.  

Above, is three of my favourite pinky shades.  The top one is W7 Cheek of it - in the Pink.  The middle one is Rimmel Live Pink and the bottom one is a Look blush in pinch.

The blushes above are more on the peach tone.  The top one is natural collection peach melba, the one on the left is the Balm Fratboy and the one on the right is W7 blush in 02 Princess.

Don't be put off by the more vibrant garish colours though as they are just as pretty just remember to use a light hand.

To apply the blusher I like to smile with my mouth closed so my apples really pop put a little bit of blush on there then stop smiling and blend towards my temples and blending down slightly towards my hollows of my cheeks and keep adding until I have the desired shade.  for the day time I use only the smallest amount to give me a natural flush but on a night out I am all out blush/bronzer look!  Personally I think as long as you have blended well and you do not have any harsh lines you can rock blusher where-ever you decide to place the blush on your cheek!!

Anyway my lovelies, I hope you liked this post even if it was a week late!

Don't forget to look at all my other posts in the series if you haven't already and check out this week's post which is all about mascara.

Until next time...

Ciao for now

WEEK 4: Bronzer

Hola Dalimoos,

Welcome back for week 4 of #theSOProject.  This week it is all about bronzer.

Bronzer is a product that is used to add warmth or colour to your face this can be matte or shimmery finish and is either swept across the whole of your face or applied as in a three shape from your forehead to your cheek to your jawline, anywhere the sun would hit naturally.

Bronzer is usually used after you have concealed and put your foundation on, or if you use powder after you powder.

Top: Bare Minerals (matte)
Below: W7 Honolulu Matte

Top:  Look Beauty in Ibiza (shimmer)
Bottom: Rimmel 025 Sun Glow (slight shimmer)

There are many different types of bronzers matte powder, shimmery powder and cream.   I have never tried cream bronzer's before but I would really like to try the bourjois bronzing cream but haven't got round to getting it yet, may be this is the excuse I need!  I tend to stick with matte colours but on the odd day I do like a bit of shimmer.

For the Bare Mineral's warmth powder I use the powder brush it came with.  For my normal day to day bronzing I like to you the Real Technique's multi-task brush.

You shouldn't really use a normal bronzer as a contour as bronzers are normally too orange/reddy, contours should be matte and of the greyish tone to give the more natural look, the aim of a contour is to give the illusion of more dimension to your face.  You can put contour down the sides of your nose, in the hollows of your cheeks, on your neck, under your jaw/chin...

I was going to upload a picture of the contour that I am using at the moment but I cannot find it for love nor money!  I love using the sleek contour kit or the sleek blush, highlight and contour kit.  For contouring I like to use the Real Technique's contour brush, this is just the perfect size for the hollows of your cheeks.

I have shown the bronzers I tend to use all the time.  I do have other's in my collection that are just as good/nice but didn't want this to become a "collections post" so whittled it down to just a few as I don't want to overwhelm you with too many.

Would you recommend something different?  What bronzer's/contour would you recommend?

Anywho my lovelies, until next time...

Ciao for now