Operation Beach

It's almost time to head off on Summer holidays here in the UK and this year I am so excited as we are heading to Croatia for the first time. I don't tend to wear much makeup when i'm away, but I will be slipping a few fast favourites into my clutch. Here my little edit for operation beach.

Becca Beach Tint in Guava £20.00 - Glowing colour for your cheeks which is also waterproof.

Chanel lip gloss in Imaginaire (similar here) £26.00 - The perfect coral gloss.

Tom Ford lipstick in Paradiso (similar here)  £36.00 - A more intense coral pink colour for dinner out.

Chantecaille Just Skin Tinted Moisturiser in Nude  £58.00 - For when you need a tiny bit of coverage (with SPF 15).

New CID i-gloss Compact Shimmer Powder in Coral Crush £24.00 - A quick swipe on the cheeks which also works as a highlight.

Clutch by Star Mela at Iris £32.00 - I just can't go past a boho embroidered clutch!

May Favourites

I haven't done a favourites post in a few months - naughty me! I don't know where the time has gone ... and, I won't bore you with my excuses! Straight into it, these are my most-used and most-loved products of the moment.

1. RMS Beauty Raw Coconut Cream. It took me a while to fall in love, but now I look forward to cleansing with it every night. It melts immediately on contact with your skin and it removes everything. I use it as my second cleanse after removing my makeup with Bioderma first.  I love anything related to coconuts - this smells fantastic and leaves my skin ultra-soft. You do need to make sure you wash it all off completely with a flannel and warm water to avoid breakouts. 

2. Eye pencils to achieve a little flick. Black eyeliner, particularly liquid or gel liner doesn't look good on me which means I have missed out a little on the feline flick trend but lately I have been giving myself a flick with an eye pencil. I tend to go for a dark brown or dark grey and find it gives a nice little line without looking as harsh as liquid liner can. Another bonus is that if you wobble, make a mistake and can't face starting over, you can always blend it in for a more smokey eye look.

My top 3 eyeliners, from top, Estee Lauder's Blackened Cocoa, Marc Jacobs Ro-cocoa and Chantecaille's Hematite

3. Nude Stix Lip + Cheek Pencil in Mystic. This is a newbie and has gone straight into my daily makeup mix. A full revisited review on this brand is coming soon, so all I will say is that this creamy lip crayon is the answer to my no-makeup-makeup prayers right now. Big love.

4. Sage Roll-on Perfume Oil in Diamond. This range was introduced to me by My Showcase* and is simply delightful. My birthstone is diamond and this blend of essential oils such as sandalwood, musk and amber is so appealing. The packaging is also beautiful and ideal for travel.

* I am a Stylist working for My Showcase. You can read more about my involvement here.

Transitioning from Sydney to London, Summer to Winter

Last Friday I flew back to London after my month long holiday in Sydney. These are the ways I transition my makeup from the highest high's of Summer to the deepest depths of Winter, so if you are Sydney based and planning a trip far north - i've got you covered!

It's amazing how everything changes as soon as you step off the plane. The first thing that is noticeably different is the light. The light in Sydney is just so damn bright. London in Winter has a certain, may I say bleakness to it. This means that colours read differently and even something as simple as the shade of foundation you wear may need a rethink as you travel between the hemispheres. After totally living in tinted moisturiser, I am now reaching for something with more coverage, and i'm switching for a more dewy finish to something a little more matt.

Chantecaille Just Skin Tinted Moisturiser - £57.00 / $94

By Terry Terrybly Densiliss  Wrinkle Control Serum Foundation - £75.00 

After spending the past month using a nude lipstick shade, this suddenly looks way too insipid and I find myself reaching for berry shades to give my face some life. 

Paul and Joe Lipstick on Shade 207 - £19.50 (similar shades here)

Kiko Velvet Matt Lipstick in Cherry Red (609) - £6.90

I also tend to shelve the moral coral and neutral blush shades and go for something rosie.

Bourjois Cream Blush in 02 - £7.99

Bobbi Brown Pot Rouge in Rose - £19.00 / $44.00

While you may feel like a goose wearing eyeliner and mascara on the beach, in London it is definitely the way to go so i'm going to go crazy. Lately I have switched it up and have been using a dark brown eyeliner rather than a black which still defines the eye nicely, but looks a little less severe. I am also upping the intensity, moving from a light wash of colour over the lid to something with a little more punch.

Clinique Chubby Stick for Shadown Tint for eyes in Lavish Lilac - £17.00 / $35.00

By Terry Ombre Blackstar in Velvet Orchid - £28.00 / $62.00

There are a few things that stay the same no matter my location. I always use a broad spectrum sunscreen, even when it's 4 degrees and raining. My trusty black mascara is also a key product that I am never without. 

My new thing - Tubular Mascara

Recently I bought a pretty pricey mascara by Chantecaille (hangs head in shame). Clocking in at £45, (yes, I know. I can't explain what came over me) obviously it is so high up on the luxury makeup rictor scales that I had very, very high hopes for it. It is the Supreme Cils Mascara by Chantecaille, one of my all time favourite brands. So the big question is, is it worth the luxury price tag?

I think it is, and let me tell you why. This is a tubular mascara. This means it coats each lash and creates a tiny tube around it. Once this mascara goes on, it will not budge for anything. You can sweat in it, cry in it even swim in it (if you are careful not to wipe your eyes after). It just stays put all day and night. So what makes it superior to say a waterproof mascara? Well the genius is in the way it comes off. You just need to rinse with warm water, wiggle the lashes between your thumb and forefinger and it literally comes off in your hands. Gone are the days of trying to remove waterproof mascara - I used to have to rub so vigorously that half my lashes became detached to get that stuff off.  So I am a total convert.

Tubular mascaras have been on the market for a few years now (i'm just a bit late to the party). You don't need to go so far up into the luxury price bracket to reap the rewards. Here are some other tubular mascaras:

MAC's Opulash Mascara £14.00

Trish McEvoy High Volume Mascara £22.50

Kevyn Aucoin Curling Mascara £22.00

Clinique Lash Power Mascara £17.00

L-R: Chantecaille, Clinique, Kevyn Aucoin

The frustrating thing is they don't seem to have any reference to being tubular in their names, so if you are shopping for new mascara it is worth enquiring whether they wash off in warm water as that seems to be the main indicator. 

Psst: i'm actually in Paris today. Stay tuned for a post on the beauty junkies guide to Paris which will be coming soon!

My Foundation Wardrobe

There are some new and really interesting foundations on the market (hello By Terry, Terrybly Densiliss). I don't need any new foundation but I want. So in a bid to remind myself why i'm not allowed to add to my foundation wardrobe, here is a run down of the foundations I currently own.

Chantecaille Future Skin

This is the only foundation I have ever repurchased! It is an oil-free gel foundation which is great for my combination skin. I love the texture of a gel foundation and find this goes on best with hands instead of a brush.  I used to be 'Nude' in colour but have become 'Vanilla' since moving to the UK. There is a range of 10 shades so there should be match for most. My only gripe is that it comes in a pot so its' not ideal for travelling, but a positive to the pot is that you can control how much product you dispense and you know you can access every last drop. At £58.00 / $105 AUD it is certainly at the luxury end of the spectrum, but my god it is good. You can pick it up here in the UK and here in Australia.

Bourjois Healthy Mix Serum 

This is also a gel formula foundation - I told you like a good gel formula!  It is radiance-boosting, anti-fatigue and claims to blend instantly and flawlessly. For the money (£10.99 / $32 AUD) it is a really good light coverage foundation. I have colour 52 Vanilla which is a touch too pale for me, however the next colour up was a little too dark. Limited 5 colour choices is one of the down sides to a cheaper product. I use this for low key days when I have nothing exciting happening. It is a good back up foundation. You can pick this up here in the UK and here in Australia.

 YSL Le Tient Touche Éclat Foundation

An illuminating foundation based around the iconic Le Touche Éclat highlighting pen. This certainly gives you a lovely glow. Sometimes I do find it a little too oil-enhancing on my t-zone, but used in the right conditions in cooler weather, it is lovely. Great packaging for travel too. I am colour B40 and there are an impressive 22 colours in the range. £29.00 / $78 AUD, you can buy this here in the UK and here in Australia.

By Terry Sheer Expert Perfecting Fluid Foundation 

Oh By Terry! I really, really do love their products. This is so light it is verging on being a tinted moisturiser. The colour is an absolute perfect match for my skin (No 8. Intense Beige) so it just blends in flawlessly for me. All her products have the most delicious smell too. I have never been disappointed with anything from the range that I have purchased, my main problem is knowing when to stop. £44 / $89 AUD here in the UK and here in Australia.

In Shade 02 Ivory

Bellápierre Mineral Foundation

I had a bad experience with mineral makeup a few years back so I was hesitant to go there again however I was introduced to 

Bellápierre makeup when I did my course at The Session School and was very impressed. To be honest, I don't love the process of buffing powder in to my skin, but I do find this gives a nice even coverage. You need to prep the skin correctly and I find the Bella Pierre primer underneath is a must. There are 10 colours in the range and it is very easy to mix them together to create a bespoke shade. If mineral makeup is your thing and you want pure pigment without any added nasties, then you should give this a try. £34.99 / $79.95 AUD, you can buy this here in the UK and here in Australia.

I am also really keen to try Chanel's Vitalumiere Aqua and Georgio Armarni's Luminous Silk - but not until I use up some of my existing supply. 

Match My Makeup

I have discovered a gem of a website that helps you to match your foundation shade to shades in other ranges. Match My Makeup. Could you just imagine how much awesome online makeup shopping this will facilitate? Imagine the scenario - you read a great article on Georgio Armarni's foundation and would love to jump online and buy it except that you don't know what shade of foundation you are. The tiny little example colours shown on the website do not help you in the slightest. If you go to matchmymakeup.com and complete their little 3 step online form they will tell you your corresponding shade so you can purchase with confidence. It is brilliant. 

So how can they do this? They have an actual colour-reading machine as well as a team of mathematicians, scientists and makeup artists that manually test the products. Rae Morris, the Queen of Australian makeup artists is one of the names behind this site which is certainly reassuring.

When I first looked at the site  a few months back I was slightly disappointed as some of the brands I use such as Chantecaille and Bourjois were not listed as options, but this has recently changed. They are also adding more and more brands as the weeks progress so I think the site is only going to get better and better.

Does it actually work? I did a little test match using my Bourjois Healthy Mix in 52. Vanilla as an example and was given 45 possible matches! Some of the matches were other products that I own, so I know the colours are matches that work on me. 

So what do you guys think? Do you think you will be using this site?