What's in my make-up bag today?

Morning Sparkles!

I've been chilling out in Ireland this week with the family and operating on a reduced make-up selection given some rather last minute packing at Casa Josephine.

The look to the right has featured almost daily (mostly minus the double vision effect, other than on a slightly longer than anticipated evening in Dublin last week, I'm sure).

So, here's what I've been surviving on (not really a very small kit and caboodle but all fits very neatly in my little Illamasqua cosmetic bag - quite impressive effort from me there)...

What's new Wednesday - L'Oreal Infallible Matte

Greetings Chaps and chapettes

It's been a wee while since I have been blogging, with all sorts of real life fun and frolics taking up the hours and mental space (not to mention a horrid cold over the Easter weekend when I had intended to draft a few posts for April...the road to hell and all that). However at the behest of one of my favourite blondes, I am back. For how long who knows!

Anyway one of my favourite new purchases - well, I guess two if I'm being exact, is the L'Oreal Infallible Matte primer and foundation duo.

My nearest to work display only had four or five shades so I plumped for Shade 12 Natural Rose.

Following on from a few reviews I was hoping for full coverage and an all day finish.

Happy New Year!! Welcome to 2015!!

Good morning Sparkles!

I hope you're not feeling too jaded this morning after the NYE exuberance. I always love watching the fireworks - and let's face it any excuse to cover myself in as much glitter as possible. Not that I require it to be New Year to do that!

I got inspired by drag queens (particularly Bianca del Rio) and the swinging sixties this year with my makeup:

Killer Cheekbones - Contouring for Evil Queens

Salutations Your Majesties

Thanks for popping by again for your Humpday make-up update. Per requests, today's post is a "How to" for one of the most essential weapons in the arsenal of any beauty queen - some cheekbones second only to your wit in terms of sharpness.

As beautifully illustrated by Mr Williams the key here is to make the cheekbones stand out through highlighting the top while creating a shadow underneath, to emphasise the bone structure. This pictorial is for a much more subtle look than that sported by Kim Kardashian - but I think that's ultimately better given that we don't walk around everyday under a million flashlights.

Smokey Eye Looks: Colourful version

Greetings Guys and Gals,

So I started the smokey eye series back in February when I first started on the blog and actually never quite finished before disappearing into my rather dull day job for a few months. Now I've re-surfaced and joined the blogging world again I thought I'd finish the original eyeshadow series.

For my skin I applied Illamasqua Cream foundation (#133) on my cheeks, centre forehead, chin, upper jaw and centre of my nose. I then used MUA Cosmetics concealer on my temples, under my cheek bones, edges of my chin, lower jaw and sides of my nose. I set that all with translucent powder and went to work on the eyes.

Getting started series #3 Concealer

Oh hai there, my lil' Beauty Addicts and Explorers alike

Today's letter is C and the word is CONCEALER! Definitely a must have in any gal or guy's beauty arsenal - certainly on a Sunday which can tend to be the morning after the night before for most of us. However, this is the step in my painting which I struggle with the most. 

What do I need to buy to get me some photoshopped, drag queen, modelista, diva perfection realness under dem eyes?! 

I've been using concealer ever since the Rimmel spot zapping version I first got in my local chemist's at age 10 (early developer in many ways - the worse of which was the Pizza Face spotty forehead department). Thankfully I've managed to move on a little from the slightly too dark / too orange / not blended enough version of concealing of 1994 :)

I do really believe that concealer is something which gets better as you spend a little more money on it - both in terms of the shades available, the undertones included and the lasting power. But that's not to say there aren't some wonderful little finds on the High Street which I've also included here for your perusal ;)

There are four basic formulations which I use, each for different things:

- Mineral - great for blemish concealing - I've only used Bare Minerals, great but the shade selection is a bit dire. Pale girls take note, you will be told to buy Bisque. RESIST THIS. I guarantee you, if you are not the soft pink colour of a marshmallow, summer bisque will be a better match. Also - note that Well Rested is not a concealer. 

- Cream (left) - high coverage needs e.g. redness or BAAAD eye bags / shadows - Bobbi Brown and Eve Pearl do great salmon-undertones correctors, but use sparingly as they crease. Becca and Laura Mercier have duo pots (medium and high coverage) but I've not tried the LM as yet.

- Liquid (right) - for me, everyday under eye and some highlighting - I love MAC's Moisturecover and Bourjois Healthy FX - maybe slightly too yellow for me. Rimmel's Wake Me Up concealer is nice, but lighter coverage and there's a Collection (formerly Collection 2000) version which is super dooper according to the 'Net.

- Illuminating pens - I use these more for highlighting than coverage - YSL's Touche Eclat is the ultimate, Liz Earle does a nice version and Well Rested by Bare Minerals is a powder version of the same. No7 and L'Oreal do some nice High Street versions you can play with too - watch the pinkness in the L'Oreal version.

My current HG concealer is Illamasqua's Skin Base Lift (Light 1 for me - left ) which can help with highlighting and concealing. Love, love, LOVE this baby! 

This has been comprehensive, but as I mentioned I do think getting the right concealer is something worth working at, given the wonders it can then do for your face. Hopefully it's been a little helpful…good luck with your search - let me know if the above has been helpful, or if I've missed off your HG, in the comments below. 

Thanks for reading, love til next time kitty cats

xx Josephine xx

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Twitter: @JojoSparklesNI

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Getting Started Series - #2 Base / Foundation

Greetings, Beauty Addicts & Explorers alike and welcome to the weekend, proper!!!

A declaration to make first of all - my name is Josephine and I am obsessed with full coverage, at all times of year - but I recognise that others are not so obsessed with 100 Denier foundations. So, in the interests of being a helpful soul I've listed below a range of bases you might want to try (high end and affordable, too) in a range of coverages. 

For those on either extremity of the skin tone scale, apologies in advance for the deficiencies in some of the brands listed below, as they're not always the friendliest to any of us non-medium skin tones (I get away with it when I wear bronzer and want to make my skin darker without fake tanning). 

Ok, let's step through the various coverages, one by one...

10 Denier: probably best to try a BB cream or a tinted moisturiser. I like No7 BB cream (although I use as a base with powder over it) and Garnier also have quite a nice one - beware pale ladies, of "fit all" shades. 
15 Denier: I like the Liz Earle sheer skin tint, which is a tinted moisturiser but has slightly more coverage then the BB creams I've tried. 
20 Denier: Bourjois Healthy Mix serum foundation is lovely. You can also try powder foundations - applied dry - which will generally give a lighter coverage
30 Denier: L'Oreal True Match foundation, or alternatively Bare Minerals Original formula (there's also a matte version available for oily skin types) which comes in a great range of colours.
45 Denier: Rimmel Wake Me Up foundation - I really like this for a dewy finish with a decent coverage. I think it's quite natural which can require additional concealer on bad skin days. 

60 Denier: Rather than use a single foundation I like to use the Bare Minerals (or other mineral) as a base colour and then tap on liquid foundation e.g. Bourjois healthy mix to give additional "dew" to the finish, while retaining fullness of coverage with the mineral make-up. Thanks Wayne Goss for that tip - and others.
100 Denier: Vichy Dermablend (liquid) - I have to say I love this foundation for FULL coverage with a  dewy and relatively natural finish. Can look slightly cakey with the powder in the morning, but this disappears in an hour or two as the foundation wears in. 

Illamasqua is a brand with a FAB range of colours on their skin products, I like their cream foundation but think it might not be for everyone, while skin base might be more accessible to a greater number of people - however my issue with Skin Base is that regardless of how great I think my skin is looking in a given day it just seems to find flakies on my cheeks and nose. Sad times as it does give an otherwise lovely finish.

Hope that helps - do let me know any questions, queries, comments or tips you have in the comments section below. 

Til next time lovelies!

xx Josephine xx

Make-up: Getting Started series

Hello and happy Thursday, Beauty Addicts & Enthusiasts!

Some of my pals have been asking for tips or recommendations for what's worth the money, where you really "must have" something and when you can just short cut it. So if I had to work out of one make-up bag for the rest of the year (*shudder*) I guess these would be my picks:

      
1. Primer
2. Base
3. Concealer
4. Eyebrows!!!
5. Eyeliner
6. Mascara
7. Highlighter
8. Bronzer
9. Blush
10. Lips

This would be the absolute minimum bag for me - and to be honest I'd probably have to stuff at least six different eyeshadows in there too, but I'm trying really hard to keep this as back to basics. 

The piccie above is my current make-up bag, but I've left my bronzer in my mum's car and included some eyeshadows (anyone who knows me simply wouldn't believe I wasn't carting around 12 shadows)!

So I guess the next question is where you should spend your money and where you can economise - or indeed just find excellent little bargains on the high street rather than having to go to high end brands for everything. Note: it's not always a case of more is more when it comes to price tags! :)

I'd say spend money on your skin care, concealer, mascara and bronzer. Note: darker skin toned lovelies, do not assume that bronzer isn't going to be really great on your skin tone too, more likely you'll just have very similar issues to us pale and interesting types when it comes to finding the right colour. We. Do. Not. Want. ORANGE!!!!

Chanel Tan de Soleil (birthday treat to myself on Boots points - £31, but HUUUGE!!)

Over the course of the next week or so I'll be publishing guides to all the above items, with high end and budget buys that are currently in circulation within my make-up bag so you'll know I'm putting my money where my mouth is. I hope you find it helpful, pop any questions below!!

'Til next time kitty cats

xx Josephine xx