Radiant Daytime Make Up Tutorial

I've created this make up look for a transitional look from Summer into Fall with light neutral smokey eyes and bright pink undertones to highlight the face and create a dewy, radiant face that captures this time of year perfectly.

Don't worry if you don't have the exact products that I'm using just use something similar that you have already!

I've recently been suffering with lots of spots and redness so to combat that I moisturised my face first then used my new MAC Studio Sculpt Foundation which is a high coverage foundation and has SPF 15 great for this time of year when the sun is still out to protect your skin.

I squeeze a small amount onto my beauty blender from Real Techniques then blend onto my face and down my neck, I keep repeating this until I have full coverage of my face, I've found this foundation quite drying so I'd recommend a dewy moisturiser beforehand. 

As I have dark under eye circles I always need to use a high coverage concealer like this Collection Lasting Perfection one but you might prefer a lighter concealer when using a high coverage foundation.

I use my Real Techniques Expert Face brush to blend my concealer.

This has provided me with enough coverage to hide any redness and blemishes but still giving a natural look.

I always use the wax part of Benefits Brow Zings to fill in my brows as I like the colours and how the formula holds my brows in place all day.

I've been growing my brows back out as I guiltily over plucked so I fill them in with a sharp angled brush in short strokes.

I've been setting my brows with a clear brow gel, like the one from Natural Collection.

If I want my eye make up to last all day and night I prime my eye lids with the Nars eyeshadow primer, I'm choosing MAC's 'Nylon' as a highlight for the inner corners of the eyes, on the base and the brow bone as the yellow tones brighten the eyes.

I use a blending shadow brush (e.g. MAC 217) for this then brush it first onto the inner corners then build onto the base of the eye and highlight my brow bone.

Using 'Liar' from Urban Decays Naked 3 palette I blended it in the corners and crease, blending it out to smoke into the 'Nylon' shade I applied just before, this bronze shadow adds some colour and radiance to the face.

Using the shade 'Factory' from the image pictured before I blended this into the corner and slightly into the crease to give some depth to the eyes. 

I used the shade 'Blackheart' pictured above with a sharp angled brush to line the top and bottom eyes and to create a cat eye flick then I blended it out with a shadow brush.

I curled my lashes then applied my Maybelline Falsies mascara on the top and bottom lashes, using a black mascara intensifies the darker eye shadow and highlights the eye colour more.

I then applied a luminous highlighter pen and blended with a flat sided foundation brush to brighten areas of the face.

I used my MAC Mineralise Skin Finish Powder to set the make up with a large powder brush, this powder gives a golden glowy look to the skin.

I then contoured the cheekbones with my Nars Laguna Bronzer which has delicate flecks of shimmer in it to add a natural highlight to the face.

I then added some pink blush to my cheeks using a stippling brush and a shimmery peach nude lipstick to complete the look.

This is a really feminine look that's great for work, during the day and switch the peach lipstick to a raspberry red for night!

The glowing shimmers in these products give you a dewy summer glow, the pink tones lift the face and the smokey cat eye defines your eyes, pretty easy and quick to do this has been my go-to make up look for August.

Let me know any make up tricks you'd like the know how on in the comments!

Spring Beauty Haul and Review!

I decided that my make up bag needed an update for Spring so over the past couple months I have managed to collect some new pieces that I have been incorporating in my beauty regime and with so many gorgeous new products coming out I couldn't help myself! 

One of the things I needed to pick up was a foot cream and foot file with Spring happening I have been wearing sandals and nobody wants to have rough feet so in Boots I picked up the Soap and Glory 'Heel Genius Foot Cream' and foot file. I have been using both and they have made my feet silky smooth the cream smells divine and the file has two sides one rougher and one that buffs along with a mini file that pulls out from the handle.

I've been watching lots of make up tutorials on youtube and noticed a lot of the beauty bloggers were using the Urban Decay 'Ammo' eyeshadow palette so I decided to pick this up to introduce new colours (that weren't neutrals shock) into my Spring make up look. You also got a flat shadow brush and primer potion which I have tried before and loved so I was glad to have a sample back in my make up collection.

The eyeshadows from left to right are; smog, mildew, oil slick, last call, chopper, maui wowie, shattered, polyester bride, grifter and sin.

If you haven't tried anything from Urban Decay before I would definitely recommend their eyeshadow palettes I have the Naked 3 palette and use it constantly they're really pigmented as you can see from the swatches above and when used with the primer last all day and all night. I think I'll get the 'Smoked' palette next to create some dark coloured smoky eyes!

When I picked up the 'Ammo' palette I paid for it at the Bare Minerals counter and noticed this new lipgloss the holographic colours on the packaging made me open it in curiosity and when I pulled it out I couldn't believe this fantastic product. This is one of Bare Minerals 'Marvelous Moxie' lip glosses the tube is clear glass with a silver handle and lots of interluding colours including purple, blue, pink, yellow, orange and green with high shine. 

I quickly decided to buy this as I just knew I would be thinking about it constantly if I didn't pick it up and I'm so glad I did as you can see in the swatch the colours pick up in the light so no matter what angle you stand in the light will reflect a different shade with an overall orchid base. I love getting this lipgloss out to apply as others can't stop looking at it and it just makes my make up bag that more prettier this has been my favourite beauty purchase so far!

Even though I use the Sleek 'Rose Gold' blush every day I decided that in preparation for Summer I would pick up a peach blush just incase I'm feeling a change in my make up routine I picked up this 'Life's a Peach' Sleek blush as I love their pigmentation also they don't break the bank!

I've been letting my nails grow using the 'Mavala Scientifique Nail Hardener' so I kept buying nail polishes for when they were longer the nail polishes I bought for Spring that I have been enjoying using are (from left to right); Tanya Burr 'Mini Marshmallows', Revlon 'Lavender Soap', Essie 'Bikini So Teeny', Topshop 'Au Naturel', China Glaze 'For Audrey', Revlon 'Wintermint', and Revlon 'African Tea Rose'.  

I always incorporate nose strips into my skincare routine to cleanse my pores the ones I choose are the Biore 'Deep Cleansing Pore Strips' as I have found they are the best ones to fully cleanse your pores out. I have also been using this body lotion from & Other Stories called 'Couture Carnival' which is my favourite scent for summer it's a really fresh with fruit and citrus notes. It has a thin liquid consistency which is perfect for a light summer moisturiser and the scent really holds for at least 8 hours I have received lots of compliments when wearing this lotion and even bought my sister one.

The face duo that have been my favourites for Spring are the MAC 'Mineralize Skin Finish Powder' in Light Plus the powder is transparent when brushed onto the skin but provides a good coverage that sets your make up I have found that it is really light on my skin and don't really notice it weighing on my face. I have also loved using the Nars 'Laguna Bronzing Powder' to bronze and contour my face I was using the Benefit 'Hoola' bronzer before and felt it was too dark and heavy on my skin. Laguna has a slight shimmer to it which I find works better on my skin and works for my fair skin to add subtle colour and contour to my face I have been using the Real Techniques 'blush brush' to apply this.

I saw the new 'Kate Moss for Rimmel Mascara' in Boots which are still on offer for £4.99 so I picked up shades 'Jet Black' and 'Sapphire' I have been using the black one everyday for a couple weeks and really like that the formula is wet so holds a curl well. The 'broken heart' shape of the fibre brush bends well around the eye to make sure each eyelash is winged out, the sapphire blue is just to say noticeable but I have really dark eyelashes so would work better on someone with fairer lashes.

Next are lip colours that have never left my make up bag in Spring first up is the perfect orchid lip combo which consists of Bourjois 'Rouge Edition Velvet 06' normally when I go for a statement lip it's red but when I was in Boots I saw these new Bourjois velvet lips and instead of picking the red i decided on the purple as I saw it went really well with a green dress I picked up in H&M. I also noticed that Tanya Burr's 'Exotic Island Lip Gloss' went perfectly so I picked that up in Superdrug you can wear the lip gloss on its own for an orchid lip or with the Bourjois lip product for a deeper colour that last longer. 

When I've gone for heavier eye make up these past couple months I've been wearing Revlons 'Colourburst Lip Butter in Peach Parfait' which is a beautiful shimmery peach/pink and super hydrating on the lips combined with Tanya Burr's 'Chic Lip Gloss'. For the gloss I just dab it in three spots on my bottom lip and rub my lips together as Tanya's lip glosses have really great colour payoff and in this look I just want a subtle shine from the gloss. This is a really great everyday to night lip combo and is my favourite pink lip to go for as it makes the lips look voluminous and the skin peachy.

The coral lip this Spring is all thanks to MAC's 'Costa Chic' which is a frost formula and is really creamy on the lips I have found it lasts for hours and the frost formula gives a nice shine to it, if you're looking for the perfect coral lipstick I would definitely recommend this one!

I do love the Revlon Lip Butters this gorgeous light pink is called 'Cotton Candy' and is buildable sheer baby pink tint with gold shimmer I find that this colour really pops when I wear white and reminds me of a 'Victoria's Secret Angel' pink.

For a bright pink when I was feeling particularly brave I opted for this Topshop 'Macaroon' lipstick the formula for the Topshop lipsticks are really nourishing for the lips with great colour pay off, this Spring I have been really playing with statement lips and wearing just black eyeliner and mascara on the eyes. 

That's all for my Spring Haul this has been bought over a couple of months not just in one go! I hope my reviews of these products can help you and let me know of any beauty faves that you've been using during Spring by tweeting me @stephgreenwoodx and I'm always on Instagram so it'd be great if you followed me @stephgreenwoodx