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!

Tom Ford Shade and Illuminate

Until I did my makeup training I had no idea what 'highlighting and contouring' meant, but after purchasing the famous Kevyn Aucoin book 'Making Faces' and familiarising myself with it, I was amazed at the difference it could make. Simply put in the words of the master Kevyn, 'Dark colours shade and make areas recede, for instance the hollows of the cheek, temples, under the chin, sides of the nose. Light colours highlight and make things come forward - the apples of the cheek, under the eye, the brow bone and middle of the chin.'

I prefer to work with creamy textures on the face as I find them easiest to blend and I had been searching for a creamy format contouring kit for a long time. Enter Tom Ford's Shade and Illuminate. Like anything Tom Ford the packaging and the attached price tag is expensive, however the product is lovely and easy to use. The contour shade is realistic and certainly gives a more convincing shadow than a powdered bronzer would do.

Although my brother would beg to differ, I don't have anything too irregular on my face to correct so when I contour my own face I mainly focus on the hollows of my cheeks to make my cheekbones more prominent. I then add the highlight to the tops of my cheekbones and to my brow bone. 

Before  - no sculpting of cheeks

After - having contoured and highlighted around my cheekbones

Before

After - it is not so obvious when you are not face on

I've done my best with some before/after shots above. I am no photography expert and this was my first attempt using my new light and tripod!

So when would you use this? Obviously it is not something I would bother with on a daily basis, but if I know i'm getting my photo taken or if I have a big night out, that is when I would add in this extra step.

Tom Ford Shade and Illuminate is sold at Selfridges (here) for £55.00. It comes in two shades - intensity one which is for white/caucasian skin tones, and intensity two for darker skin tones.  If you would like any details of what other products I have used above please don't hesitate to ask in the contact box below.

Duty Free Bits n Pieces ….

So I managed to pick up a few 'essentials' as I departed London for Sydney last week. Ok, there was actually nothing essential about what I bought, but I was about to embark on 24 hours of hellish torture so I needed a little something-something. 

Tom Ford Lipstick in 'Indian Rose'  - oh mother, this is good. It is as close to my beloved MAC Cosmo lipstick as I can find except the price is substantially steeper and the packaging is more luxe.  It is a gorgeous rose shade like my lips only better and I love it in all it's beautifully packaged glory. 

The duty-free price of this was £30.60. Tom Ford cosmetics are sold in David Jones in Australia. Unfortunately they don't list prices on their website so i'm unable to link it for you.

Clinique Chubby Stick for Eyes in Lavish Lilac - purple is definitely the new brown for me and I would encourage any green-eyed girls to try it if you haven't already. Purple tones really bring out the green in your eyes, and as weird as this sounds, many of the ones I have discovered have a brown undertone so they just work. It is very sheer so perfect on its own for daytime, and for a night look I ramp it up a little by adding some deeper purple powder shadow in the crease. 

The duty-free price of this was £14.15 and you can find this product here in Australia for $35.00.

I also repurchased the Clinique High Impact Extreme Volume Mascara which I tried earlier this year. What sets this mascara apart from the others for me is it's incredibly fine applicator which makes coating each and every lash ultra-easy. 

The duty-free price of this was £14.15 and you can find this product here in Australia for $38.00.

I've gone cold turkey on the makeup purchasing front while i'm in Sydney. Even an obsessive like me can't justify the crazy prices over here.

How to - Bright Lipstick

I've bought a new necklace! I've never had a piece of jewellery dictate what makeup I wear before now. This necklace by Delfina Delettrez is HOT pink - fluro pink. And it makes wearing any other lip colour with it impossible.  Thankfully I have a Tom Ford lipstick in Pure Pink* which is as close a match as I will ever be able to pull off. Here is how to apply bold colours with ease.

Lips must be hydrated and exfoliated, so I recommend using the Sara Happ Lip Scrub (more details here) first then popping on some Lucas Pawpaw ointment while you do the rest of your makeup.

Blot off the remaining Pawpaw ointment off with a tissue, then apply a lip primer such as the Kiko Lip Base (£5.90 here). The primer neutralises the colour of your lips so you can draw your lip line in where ever you want it to be. The neutral base also helps to make your lipstick colour pop.

I have fairly full lips so I draw my natural lip line in using the Kiko Invisible Lip Liner (also £5.90 here). This is a waterproof clear pencil that provides a barrier so that the lipstick doesn't bleed. 

Finally I apply the lipstick using a lip brush until I have a clean line, then I fill the lips in using the lipstick straight from the tube to make the colour intense. If you plan to go out all night, or you want the colour to last through your first coffee of the day, I would blot with a tissue and apply a second coat. 

*My tube of Pure Pink was a gift and sadly does not look available anymore, but there is this colour here, Flamingo, which looks pretty close!