Halloween .....oooooohh!

This year for Halloween I went to my friends party in Newcastle. Jen dressed as Ursula from The Little Mermaid and I went along as Queen of Hearts. If I do say so myself, our outfits were pretty cool but I was mostly impressed with our make up which I did myself for us both.

I had tweeted a lot about this over the weekend so I thought I would show you the results.

Meet Ursula and Queen of Hearts ...
Depending how you look at it either Jen is teeny or I am massive. I am sticking to Jen being teeny, okay?! ;)

The unfortunate thing about going as Queen of Hearts and having loveheart shaped lips is that I looked permanently p****d off the whole night. Oh well, I guess it made me look a little scary in the spirit of Halloween of course.

Onto the make up ... ahhh I was so pleased with the make up...
I will give you a quick summary of the products I used:
FACE: EL Doublewear foundation in Al Fresco (this shows up a little pink on my skin and doesn't photograph too well), MAC select cover up, MAC MSF Natural
CHEEKS: Nars Laguna, Illamasqua blush in unrequited, MAC pearl highlighter
EYES: Bourjois pale blue shadow over the lid, Teal from EL Blue Dahlia collection under eye and in crease, Alice from UD AIW palette over lid and under eye, illamasqua sadist in crease, illamasqua roulette blended out at crease along with Queen from UD AIW palette and FINALLY illamasqua immortal on browbone. All this teamed with MUFE smokey lash mascara, Nadine Girls aloud lashes, Mac fluidline in blacktrack .... phew!
LIPS: Illamasqua lip pencil (unsure of name), MAC russian red

The heart gems above my eyebrow and on my cheek placed as a beauty spot was from a set of Broadway nails, nail & body art kit. I also used these on my nails. Nails in China Glaze Ruby Pumps, NYC white polish in manhattan and a glitter polish over the top.

This kit really deserves its own mention, the gems are still on my nails 4 days later and they show no signs of budging.
Now onto Ursulas make up. Ursula in the movie is obviously purple but I didn't want to paint Jen's face purple otherwise we might lose the effect and we also still wanted her to look attractive despite playing the role of a villain for the evening.
Make up summary
FACE: MUFE HD Foundation in 125, MAC MSF Natural
EYEBROWS: Lined with MAC carbon
EYES: Urban Outfitters blue eyeshadow all over lid, Zara purple duo shadow blended into crease and underneath the eye, MAC fluidline in black track to line the eye, a purple glitter liner underneath the eye, Sarah Girls Aloud party lashes (not shown in this photo)
LIPS: Lined with an illamasqua pencil, Gosh red lipstick
I then shaded and contoured Jen's face with the zara purple duo eyeshadow. This doesn't show up so well under the flash but looked fantastic on the night. Ursula's beauty spot was filled in using Urban Decay liner in zero.

Thats the finished look. I have to say I was a bit gutted to wash all that make up off after the effort that went into creating it but it has definitely got me in the mood for being more creative.

Did you dress up for Halloween?

x

Updated NOTD - China Glaze Liquid Leather

Well, the GOSH Black Passion was on for less than 24 hours and I just couldn't live with it. It's just too much of a grey shade for me albeit a much more sophisticated grey for nails. It just wasn't me so decided to re-do the nails this morning.
I decided to opt for a full on black this time in the form of China Glaze Liquid Leather. This is my favourite black polish - not that they vary too greatly in terms of shade or colouration but i like the glossy finish of this.
I do love black nails, gothic yet tasteful.

x

NOTD - GOSH Black Passsion

I was perusing in Superdrug today and was having a look at what GOSH had to offer. In fairness I haven't felt the need to buy much recently and I'm a bit bored of what's out there just now but today something caught my eye.

It was Gosh Black Passion nail lacquer. Now, I don't do green nails and I definitely don't do grey nails but I do love black nails! However, Black Passion rather than being a simple black as the name may suggest - it is more of a Pewter shade. There is a subtle silver shimmer through this polish that gives the pewter effect and stops it being as harsh as black but not as wishy washy as grey.
I tried the polish over black polish to see how it affected the intensity of the shade but to be honest the pigmentation is so good to start with that it doesn't make a major difference. You could definitely get away with one coat of this but I stuck to 2 for good measure.

The only thing that bothers me about any GOSH nail lacquer is the handle/top. It's so bulky and cylindrical it can be hard to get a good grip or decent control over the brush.

x

Halloween Solstice Star

So, I hadn't planned to go out for Halloween, If I had, I would have made sure I had a kick ass outfit. However, we decided last minute to get together at a mates flat and obviously dress for the occasion. Our dressing up box (yes, we do have one) is at my mother in law's at the moment since we are packing up to move so I had to use the resources I had at hand. Mainly make up!

Initially I was going to go as a doll but then decided I wanted a more casual approach (read: I hadn't tanned or de-fuzzed the legs so a dress was a no-no!). So in the end, I decided to wear a black assymetric top with black bootleg trousers which had a bit of a 70s vibe to it.... make up wise I took inspiration from one of Kate Moss' birthday looks a few years back.
I love this look and have always wanted to try it. I had hardly any time to recreate it so what I managed to churn out is a bit shoddy but I now know what I would do differently.
To create the look I used a Bobbi Brown Foundation stick - this is definitely one thing I would change, the coverage just wasn't enough for this look. I then concealed and contoured with nars laguna.
I used Illamasqua Liquid Metal in Solstice for the star - which looked great to start with but as the night wore on it creased really badly over the lid. I drew a light outline fo the star to begin with then literally coloured it in with the Solstice.
I then lined my eyes with MAC Fluidline in blacktrack then added Ardell False Lashes.
On the lips I used Rimmel Foxy with Gosh Darling on top.

The Hair? Don't even go there - it was a flippin' disaster!!

So that was my last minute Halloween look - what did you guys dress up as?

x

NOTD - GOSH Flamingo

Before Barry M's Pink Flamingo nail paint there was GOSH Flamingo.

I am going to a wedding tomorrow and will more than likely be wearing my new maxi so I thought this shade of pink would go well. It is quite a vibrant pink with purple undertones, almost like a cerise shade.
3 things I love about this polish:
1) The gorgeous colour and glossy finish
2) Smooth application and fast drying
3) 1 coat is all that is required

Hmmm ok, that looks like 5 things - hey, go figure! :)

Do you like?

Hope you all have a great weekend!!

x

GOSH Professional - Haircare

When i was in Superdrug on Sunday I noticed GOSH was on 3 for 2 again but this time instead of reaching for the cosmetics I opted for their haircare range. To be honest, I am not sure how long this has been available but it was news to me so I thought I would give it a go.

I purchased the 'Pump up the volume' shampoo and conditioner and 'Rescue me!' repair 'n shine serum.

I used the shampoo and conditioner last night for the first time but I am afraid I won't be using again. According to the blurb on the front the tube it 'contains special proteins which add body and fullness'. Initially I was quite hopeful - I am always looking for hair products that create volume so had my fingers crossed that this could be the answer. The shampoo and conditioner smell lovely, they contain shea butter which you can smell. The consistency feels very goo-ey (technical term) but not sticky, however once massaged into your hair it almost feels like it never washes back out again. A little bit like the way Pantene feels, so you feel like you hair is being coated rather than cleaned. Despite this, I still had high expectations for the part where it says 'Pump up the Volume'.
On to the styling ... before I dried my hair I applied the GOSH professional 'rescue me!' serum. Just a pump and a half of it was required, I massaged throughout the ends and avoided the roots as I was hoping the shampooo and conditioner had 'pumped up the volume'Once my hair was blow-dryed and straightened, it is fair to say, it had no body, shape or volume to it! My hair felt so soft and unmanageable. I am all for soft, sleek hair but when it holds no shape then it really is useless to me especially given the fact my hair is quite short at the moment. What I can say is that my hair was shiny and frizz free (although slightly static) which I am not sure is thanks to my natural hair type or the GOSH 'rescue me!' serum. All in all = Fail.

Has anyone else tried the GOSH hair products? Where they a win or fail for you?

x