Fake it baby!

I’m sure a lot of you, like me, raise an eyebrow at the thought of paying £45.96 for San Tropez’s bronzing kit.  Well, my eyebrow was raised, but I bought it all the same.

I have to say, it worked very nicely as there was no green tinge and it was fairly easy to apply. But, for the price tag it came with, it wasn’t worth it.  There were still streaks here and there, no doubt from the cheap foam mitt they provided. It also lasted three days (no doubt because of the moisturizer), but I’m sure that Nivea body would work just as well.

So, that’s when it came it me.  It was time for somebody to discover a fake tan which didn’t cost an arm and a leg and which looked even better than St Tropez.  And would you believe it, I found it!

Ok, I know that it is a terrible rip-off version of St Tropez, they even called it St Moriz for goodness sake! But it does work as well, I promise, and it only costs about £2.00! I found mine in Savers (don’t judge me) but you can also get it online.

With is costing just a fraction of the price of the original, you don’t have to feel guilty about applying it  above your skirt hem in an effort to save every last drop as you do with St Tropez.  It lasts just as long, comes in three shades, smells nice and dries quickly.  This fake tan looks great not only for special occasions, but even every day at the office.  It means you can ditch your foundation (which I usually often use just to give colour to my deathly white winter skin) by adding warmth to your natural colour, giving you that sun kissed glow.

There are a few points to remember though in order to make the most of your application

• Buy a good tanning mitt.  Boots and Bodyshop always have  them.  (if you don’t use one you WILL end up with chocolate colored palms, with lots of residue between the fingers.)
• Before you fake tan, have a shower and exfoliate.  Even if it’s just with the loofa.
• Moisturize after exfoliation  (otherwise it will clog your pores and you will look dirty!)
• Work slowly and methodically round your body.  Don’t blotch it here and there and then rub it in because it will leave big brown stains, which is never a good look
• Less is more when on your face.  But remember to always to your neck and ears.
• If you get it on your hands toothpaste gets it off.

So that’s it, an affordable tanning lotion.  Now you girls can go ahead and glow this Autumn.

Orgasm, Deep Throat and Sin, NARS’s products that will make you blush!

Its not just the racey names of NARS’s collection of 27 blushes which gets people talking, but their astonishing array of colours.  The blushes are all highly pigmentated so there is no need for touch-ups during the day.  They blend flawlessly and suit every skin tone.

All come packaged in a slim matt finish flat case, which is shaped perfectly so that product can be used until the best of all is shaped so that your blush can be loaded up,  and the product can be used the very end (unlike Benefit’s beautifully but impractically packaged blushes) easily until the very end.

Here are my top three favorite colours especially chosen for pale, olive and darker complexions.

SIN by NARS

Complexion reccomendation – for chestnut / blonde girls with light skin and blue / gray eyes. This blush is perfect for girls with cool colour tones  in their complexion.

Sin is best suited towards the pale / cool skin tone range, this blush comes in a delicious berry tone with a golden shimmer.  The plum/berry glow transforms lighten skin tones providing contrast and adding warmth.  Don’t be put off by the mauvish colour in the pan, once on your skin it becomes lighter and more pink hued.

The nature of the hues in this blush add a sophisticated look to your makeup, and the slight shimmer will add a glow to your cheeks. This blusher is best teemed with grey smokey eyes, keeping the tones of your make up cool.  Another positive is that like ‘Deep Throat’ the shimmer is finely milled so won’t make you look too sparkley.

The negative- use a light hand with this blush, otherwise you may risk purple tones – a little product goes a long way!

 MATA HARI by NARS

Complexion Recommendation – for girls with a medium complexion.  Universally perfect for blondes, brunettes and red heads!  Also great for Asian girls.

MATA HARA is a striking, bright candy  pink which though looks intimidating gives a nice health and awake flush of rosey pink.  This shade is easier to wear than ‘Desire’ which can sometimes look too 80’s.

This vibrant and fresh blush gives a very beautiful natural flush to the cheeks and has something girly about it which I just love. It blends best into warm skin tones as it blends in to give a healthy glow.  Unlike most of the NARS blushers, this blush is shimmer free so can be built up as much as you like or accented with a blush highlighter.

The negative – stay away if you have very pale skin as it may wash you out.

DEEP THROAT by NARS

Complexion Recommendation – for brunette girls with dark eyes and skin, the golden hues and subtle pink with perfectly suit your complexion.

Deep Throat is suited towards slightly darker, olive skin tones and is a pretty peachey pink with subtle shimmer. This blusher brightens the face without it looking artificial and gives a natural glow to your skin.

The subtle shimmer adds luminosity to the skin without you ending up looking like a disco ball, even if you load the product up on your brush.  This beats the accoladed ‘Orgasm’ as though similar in colour it is much sheerer, and without so much shimmer, this providing a much more natural highlight

A definite must for olive skinned ladies who want to enhance their natural beauty by adding a peachy glow to the cheeks with this naturally toned blush.

Negatives – the embarrassing name!

Application – 

Thanks to the shape of the pan, any brush can access the powder.  Though, be sure to stay away from large brown brushes, otherwise you won’t achieve the accuracy needed to highlight your cheekbones.

I would reccomend Bobbi Brown’s Blush Brush which works wonders with NARS blushes as it is absolutely goof-proof and applies blush smoothly and precisely with hardly any  fall out.  It has a luxuriously soft and natural feel that glides the product onto your cheeks.

So go ahead, try out one of these vibrant and naughty shades! They don’t disappoint!

MAC’s miracle mattifier

I’ve struck gold. I’ve finally found the perfect product for setting foundation, minimizing pores and all this without ruining the colour  of your foundation.

MAC’s Prep + Prime transparent finishing powder is translucent and is applied after your foundation in place of compact powder.  Normally, compact powders have their own colour shade which is not always the same as your foundation.  This has always been a problem for me as its colour clings to particualrly shiny areas and builds up on colour.  Exactly the opposite of what I wanted.

But, with Prep + Prime, your foundation sets perfectly.  Pores become almost invisible and all shine is removed.  It sets the foundation softly, and very little of the product is needed to transform your make up.

A word of warning: the product comes out of lots of small holes, so its best to cut the sticker so just 3 or 4 holes let loose powder out, otherwise you may end up getting white powder everywhere!

For best application, a large rounded brush should be used in order to equally cover all areas and not deposit too much product.  With this product, its much better to start with very little and build it up, otherwise you may be left with a white sheen if you dowse yourself in this product.

How to finish the look? 

After, blusher and bronzer can be applied.  On top of this powder base I would recommend powder blushers and bronzers as they’ll blend in more easily than creams.

I love finishing off with MACs magically cool liquid powder.  Not only does this powder leave a cool, almost liquid like feel to the skin, but is made up of minuscule glimmering minerals, adding luminescent rather leaving sparkles. Perfect for a natural, gorgeous finish to your make up.  I personally like the colour ‘truth and light’ as it leaves the most natural finish.

I hope you enjoy this miracle product as much as I do!

Choosing the right foundation

For me,  when I go and buy a new foundation its a risk.  A heart stopping, panicky risk.  Waiting to try it on at home is like waiting for your number to come up on the roulette wheel.  Rarely, its one of those life changing  ‘can’t live without it’ miracle foundations.  Usually, I just think ‘Why did I waste all that money on something that makes me look orange and greasy!?’.  Here are some tips on choosing a foundation and review on my favorite foundation.

Tips on buying foundation

• Don’t try the colour out on your hand! It’s a completely different colour and texture to your face.
• Choose two colours.  One closest to your natural skin tone and one slightly darker. Going lighter will wash you out.
• Try the makeup on your jawline – and make sure your make up free when you do it otherwise you won’t see the real coverage
• Be careful with foundations with a ‘pink tinge’.  These can make you look very red.  Better to choose a more yellow shade and build warmth with a blusher or bronzer.
• Don’t buy it immediately, wait until you get home and see how it looks.  It will always look good in the shop, and the fancy packaging will lure you in.  It will be worth looking two-toned for an afternoon if it means finding your dream foundation
• Don’t buy a foundation which is more than two shades darker than your natural colour. It’ll be much harder to blend into your neck and the difference will be too obvious.

My personal favorite foundation (and believe me I’ve tried a lot!)

This foundation is perfect for all skin types. Benefit’s Play Sticks. Very little of the product can completely transform your face.  It provides a light coverage giving a beautiful natural look but can also be built up in order to cover those red areas or bags under the eyes.  It leaves no greasy residue and lasts for months.  Foundation is always a tricky one as often it can leave you looking orange or greasy but this light stick foundation really is one of those ‘miracle products’  that just works. The only negative I have to add is that there are few shades to choose from, especially for people with darker skin tones.  Oh, and it’s pretty pricey at £25.50 so definitely try and get it at the airport.

After the success of this product, I went wild thinking that Benefit was some kind of godly foundation creator and bought all the other types – Some Kind of Gorgeous, Hello Flawless and You Rebel.  These were all disastrous mistakes. All of which were more like tinted moisturizer and provide little to no coverage.  They are also fairly greasy and the fluid separates easily.