No-Makeup Makeup

Today we’ve got two looks from the last two weeks, both nice, natural, and very suitable for daytime wear.  I’ve just got a new mineral powder foundation which matches my skin tone- although sometimes it comes out a little TOO pink- which inspired me to do looks that are that quintessential “no makeup” makeup style.

 

On another note, my leg is much better!  All the bruising is gone, and the deep grazes are healing well, although slowly.  Where the ankle and foot strap were on my heels still hurts like hell though, but other than that.  Yay!  Getting better!

 

Take a look at the makeup after the jump.

I have an excuse... really!

So, major oops!

I know I said I was going to post makeup from Friday, and a weekend look, and a tutorial... but my camera is dead.  I also fell down the stairs at said party on Friday night and banged up my leg, so I wasn't really in the right mindset (that being PAIN FREE!) to do my makeup.  But come this weekend, I'll try get onto that tutorial about general contouring.

I also have to make a note to save enough money to buy Brooke Fraser's new album Flags... and somehow manage to save ANOTHER amount of enough money to afford the concert.  Eeep!

That's all for now.  Look forward to an update this weekend guys!

xx
Allie

Another Spring Look…

Today, I feel like singing that Summertime song.  The one by Ella Fitzgerald.  Everything is still, all the birds are singing, it’s so warm and sunny out… and I don’t have any theory tests until Thursday… although I may have to do a mock-mock exam for my practical- facial, makeup and waxing- tomorrow… or Tuesday.

It’s almost the weekend though, and you all are going to get double (possibly triple if I can be bothered over the weekend) makeup dosages.  One look today, a party tomorrow night which screams for a decent evening look, and maybe a nice, natural bronzed babe look over the weekend.  Take a look at today’s picture after the jump.  NB: Excuse the shine, it’s damn hot outside and that makeup has been on for a couple hours.

Also, I was thinking about doing a contouring/highlighting photo tutorial, that’s the same basic look for all face shapes.  Let me know in the comments if you’re interested, or if I would just be wasting my time.  Also, if you have any requests for looks/tuts, I can so do that.

Loving the Sun…

No makeup today, but I just had to post a few pictures from this gorgeous summer day.  I’ve spent about the last three hours sitting outside on the couch on the deck, soaking up the glorious sun and heat, and reading Dead as a Doornail by Charlaine Harris, book 5 in the Sookie Stackhouse novels.  I have my iced water with lemon in hand- plus my awesome neon yellow crazy straw-, my sunglasses and absolutely NO makeup on!  Unfortunately, I’d just changed out of my sundress because I was about to leave for the gym when I decided to go lie out for another hour or so, because I decided to wait for mum before I left.

Cheers to spring, everyone!

Summer-tiiiime, and the living is-- oh. It’s still SPRING?

It’s been so warm here lately- by lately, I mean for three days, and that is a LONG time for Wellington- with only a little wind, and relatively blue skies.  The weather is amazing, and as soon as I post this blog, I think I might go lie outside in the sun, just to channel my inner Sookie Stackhouse.

Finally, another update for my few followers, haha.  If you know people who are on Blogger, link them to the Unbranded Girl Blog.  I’ll follow them, if they follow me.  A nice, simple and colourful look for today, plus you get to see my new haircut (done by Emily, at Boosh hair salon in Mana).  Take a look after the jump!

Night-time Natural

Had a great time with the girls last night.  I hosted a little games night; monopoly, articulate, cluedo and the game of knowledge.  We missed out playing Scrabble though, unfortunately… :(  I also worked out that Passionfruit 42 Below + Lemon Soda Water + Ice = a delicious, relatively low in sugar, and not too sweet, drink.  Very refreshing, although –very- moreish.  Take a peek at my makeup from last night below.

p.s.  When did I get a moon face?  Hahah!

Keeping Cool in Spring

I’ve done a simple look today, using a cool colour palette which enhances the natural colours of my skin.  I have a pink/blue undertone to my skin, which along with my blue eyes and fair hair, makes me a “cool” skintone.  For the look today, I only used my kabuki brush, an angled eyeliner brush, and my fingertips.  Take a look after the jump and feel free to make a comment!

Spring!!

Second day of spring, and you would have thought it was still mid-winter.  Outside, it is freezing cold with icy rain, bitter gale force winds, and completely overcast skies.  Hasn't been a bit of blue since about 9.30am this morning!

Today's spring look is inspired by the colour green.  New life, new trees, new grass for cute little lambs to graze and lie in... green.  The essential spring colour, closely followed by yellow, which unfortunately makes me look like I have jaundice so we won't be seeing a yellow look any time soon.

Take a look after the jump!  Feel free to let me know what you think of the look, and if you have any spring-themed suggestions for makeup.

Lighting: Tips for taking photos

There are many different types of light, all of which affect makeup in different ways.  The four main kinds are fluorescent, flash/white, incandescent/filament, and natural.  Of all the different ways of lighting a photograph, natural lighting is the most suitable as it does not produce any unnatural tones such as fluorescent- blue and green- or incandescent- yellows and reds-, meaning that makeup on the face is as close to its true colour as possible.

I’ve included three examples of how light affects makeup after the jump.  The most common form of incandescent lighting is candle, or mood, lighting, of which I unfortunately don’t have.  Take a look at fluorescent, flash and natural lighting after the jump!

Fake Lashes.

Went to a party last night… and now wish I hadn’t.  People stole my drinks and someone fell into me and drove their elbows right into my shoulderblades.  Left way earlier than I intended.  Five hours earlier.  On the plus side, that meant the makeup I forgot to take pictures of before I left still looked almost perfect, although it’s certainly missing a bit of blusher- thanks a lot hostess for spritzing me with a barcardi & vodka spray bottle all over my perfectly matte face- and some lip colour.  Take a look after the jump!

8 Days ‘til Spring!

Damn it’s been a long time since I posted last… so I sure hope this look is pretty enough to make up for it!  I decided to focus on the eyes this time, and try out a new nude lipstick I bought on Saturday.  It’s the first time I’ve used this eye pencil as well, and I’m giving myself a big facepalm with a hand the size of those foam baseball fingers that I never tried it before!  Take a look after the jump.

Haul!

Finally thought it was time to show all of the new products I’ve fallen in love with over the past month or so.  I gathered all my new products and took a photo, so take a look!  Product names/colours after the jump.

Here's my first haul post.  :D

FOTW: Faces of the Week

So I had fresh blonde foils put in on Friday, which was a cause of celebration; I celebrated by buying new colourful studs, cute little bow barettes for my hair, and having friends over for pizza!  Naturally, that involved a fantastic, girly face of makeup to match my hair and my clips (the green one even matches my favourite striped socks!) so that's one face.

The second face was for a hairdressing competition.  My friend Jess did my hair, for the pre-apprentice hair up section of this competition, and I did my makeup.  The vintage look doesn't really match the extreme volume, in my opinion, or even look like competition makeup, but that was what she wanted...

Take a look at them both after the jump and let me know what you think!

Silver Wedding Makeup

irst ever makeup for a client was done today; makeup was applied for the bride and two bridesmaids, with a natural face and focused eyes.   Photos after the jump.

Makeup used for the eyes was BYS Creme Eyeshadow 'Animal Instincts' Palette and Blackbox Eyeshadow Palette in Black-brown (bride) and Brown (bridesmaids). All foundation and lipstick belonged to the client. All foundations used were liquid; the Bride used Shiseido, and the bridesmaids used Revlon Colorstay and Nutrimetics.
Foundation was applied using a synthetic foundation brush, and buffed to a smooth, even finish using a wedged sponge. A translucent powder was applied to the cross of the face (lower forehead to top of chin, mid-cheek to mid-cheek) using a natural fibre(unknown origins) kabuki-style brush. Eyeshadow was applied using a synthetic smudging brush and a flat eyeshadow brush.

A Few Spare Looks...

Found these in my gallery on Makeup Alley.  Figured, Hey!  May as well post them.  You'll have to forgive me for not filling in the details; they're from March and June, so I can't remember exactly what I used.  Most of the colours will be from the Blackbox or ChiChi eyeshadow palettes though, my foundation and powder is exactly the same as usual, and yes.  That is definitely a wig.

Take a look at these three faces after the jump!

Too Long!

Boy, has it been way too long since I've posted or WHAT?

I'm doing a wedding tomorrow, and this is the general look for the bridesmaids eyes; the bride will be a little lighter, with a fresher, brighter colour graduation towards the brow.

I will post pictures of the final looks tomorrow.

Take a look at the bridesmaids look after the jump.

Weekend Double Dose!

On Friday, we had Joyce Blok product training instead of class, and it really was interesting.  We learnt all about what the products do, and how some of them contain bovine placenta.  Yeah, that's right.  That vascular lump that attaches to the womb and feeds oxygen and nutrients to a baby through the cord.  Some of those products are having us put baby cow sustenance on our FACE!

We did a product knowledge quiz 'game' in the afternoon and we had to buzz- jumping up from our seats- to be able to answer the JB trainer's questions; if we got one right, we got to choose a product from the Joyce Blok range that she had up the front, and I chose their lip balm.  It's so nourishing, and it instantly leaves my lips feeling hydrated and supple.

Anyway, today I have two makeup looks in the post, both casual and very simple to recreate.  Take a look after the jump!

From Sapphire Blue to.... Green?

So I wanted to do something dark and jewelesque with my makeup, and I chose the beautiful sparkling and very dark sapphire blue from my Blackbox eyeshadow palette... and somehow, as soon as it hit my eyelids, it went green!  So either I am colourblind... very yellow... or the colour is just misleading!

Quite disappointing, but look at the now GREEN look after the jump!  Let me know what you think.

Sophie-Anne... of sorts.

God, it feels like it's been forever since my last post, even though I've actually had a makeup look just sitting there on my camera; I keep forgetting to upload it.  I've been pretty lazy on the makeup front lately, mostly just throwing on some concealer, powder and eyeliner in the mornings before I go to class, but I am absolutely going to do at least one look a week from now on, even if it is just a monday one.

I've also just started on a weight management plan (that sounds so much better than calling it a diet...) that my new gym, Curves, runs.  I'm hoping that the combination of the diet and the more intense exercise- I used to go to a vibrating gym, the ones where you work out on a high-intensity vibrating platform, but I didn't really see many results- will help me get to the size I want to be.  If only that label on my jeans read 14 instead of... well.  Nobody needs to know that!

Anyway, that's my life at the moment, and on to some makeup!

So, last post I said how I wanted to try a look like Sophie-Anne Leclerq, the vampire queen on True Blood, but I thought it was too casual.  I went to my mate's place for a party a little while ago, and I decided that I may as well rework the Sophie look into something that looked like an evening look, but still had a certain element of casualness to it.  I skipped the red lipstick- it goes so quickly when I'm drinking, and I'm hopeless at reapplying red once I get tipsy..- but the look is essentially still inspired by everybody's favourite ginga vampire.  Let me know what you think!

Bronze Town Look

I went shopping on Thursday (no surprises there) for my friend’s birthday present- she turned 19 yesterday- and I went into Postie Plus to look for some things, and I ended up coming out with the most inexpensive foundation I have ever found… that matched my skin perfectly. The product is Boots No7 Lifting & Firming foundation, and the colour is 01 Opal. It’s fantastic quality for what I paid for it- $10NZD- considering I put it on about 7pm last night, woke up at 9.15 this morning… and it’s about 80% still intact. Compared to my other foundations in the past, that’s brilliant. Of course, my skin is no doubt going to reap the downfall of wearing my makeup to bed in the next few days.

Anyway, for my friend’s birthday we went out for drinks, so naturally, had to do some pretty awesome evening makeup. I had originally meant to try to do a look like Sophie-Anne Leclerq (Evan Rachel Wood) from True Blood, which you can almost see in the photo.  Scarlet lips, heavy mascara, silver eyeliner and natural brown contouring, but I ended up deciding that even with the dramatic red lips, it wasn't quite 'town' enough for going to the bar down the road.  

The look I ended up going with is after the jump.  Let me know what you think!

Day... uhm... I forgot.

I'm starting to get so lazy with this blog already... but I think that's because I'm going to run out of ideas if I post every day. So now, I'm going to post once, maybe twice, a week with my favourite look, or looks, for the week.

Also, I have allergic conjunctivitis or something- it's not the yucky contagious one though, thank god.  It just makes my right eye lid really itchy and my eyeball a bit blood shot... which is good for getting out of having to get my eyelashes tinted, again... but I'm pretty sure that's the actual reason.  The skin surrounding the eye is incredibly delicate and thin, and I'm positive it's not designed to have a 3% hydrogen peroxide mix tint on it every week.  Unfortunately, while I'm not vain enough to allow myself to have my eyelashes redone which would make it worse, I'm still too vain to stop wearing my makeup.
Anyway, here's my favourite two looks for the week that's been. They're pretty lax on the eyeliner because we've had facials twice this week and tinting, and I couldn't be bothered doing my makeup great only to have it wiped off in the morning. Let me know what you think in the comments box.

Day Sixteen: Cinderell....y.

Today is a cold, miserable and grey day, so I decided I might do something cute with my makeup to try and counteract the ugliness outside.  I saw my blue bow headband and thought I might try a very simple, casual Cinderella inspired look for day.  For me, this meant none of those frosted blues or hard liquid lines, and instead something soft, feminine and easy.  I would have lined along the edge of my eyelid, but all my black eyeliners seem to have disappeared.  I must have put them somewhere, and forgot where!  Oops.

Anyway, let me know what you think about my version of Cinderella.

Day Fifteen: Just Line It

I wrote this nice blogpost… and then I somehow managed to delete it.  Damnit.  Anyway, it went like this:  I can now do CPR, I like how vivid the eyeliner showed up in the photos, let me know what you think, have a good weekend.  :D

Day Thirteen/Fourteen: Double Dose!

Uhoh… guess what I forgot to do again yesterday?  I took pictures and everything.  Anyway, less typing, more makeup!  If you have a Body Shop near you, I highly recommend their Matte It face primer.  It costs $30 for a tube about an index and a half in volume.  You barely need to use any; I get smooth and full primer cover from using about half the size of a 10c piece!

Now, here are the looks for today and yesterday.  Let me know what you think.

Day Twelve: Lavender Grey

Went shopping (again!) today and spent too much (again!) on things.  I got new sheets in a pretty mint green for winter- a bargain, considering they were half price... and I got a ChiChi blush and eyeshadow dust for $5 each- a REALLY great bargain- but that's where they end.  I got a graphite/silicon/ionised QVS tail comb, the 'Matte It' primer from the Body Shop,  a Natio lip balm (with jojoba, honey and cocoa butter), and no doubt wasted my money on some weight management products I've been meaning to try for a while.

Today's makeup comes entirely from the blackbox palette, and is just a mixture of the lavender and the grey shades that are in it.  Let me know what you think.

Day Eleven: Jaguar Green

Having a family friend over for a casual dinner tonight, but it could be my nonna coming for dinner and I'd still put my face on, haha.  Anyway, I've had a pretty boring Easter Sunday; one of my roleplaying buddies is online but doesn't feel like it, and the other hasn't been online since Wednesday or so, and she owes me a post.  GRR.

Today's makeup is inspired by a beautiful car, an amazing Jaguar XKE from 1974.  I love that signature Jaguar green colour, adn there just happens to be a shade similar in the new eyeshadow palette I got!  So excited, I just had to try it out after seeing a Jag in this colour yesterday.  Let me know what you think!

Day Ten: Accidentally Farrah

Had drinks last night... or at least, I was meant to.  Unfortunately, only my friend and his parents came (which is fine because they're awesome), but I was really looking forward to a few drinking games and a hangover this morning.  Anyway, that was probably a good thing anyway, considering I have gastroenteritis... very unpleasant.

On the other hand, here's my makeup from last night.  I meant to get volume in my hair, but I rolled the velcro curlers the wrong way, so I ended up with Farrah hair!  Oops.  I tried out the new makeup set I got last night; it's Blackbox, and an eyeshadow kit with about... 64 or so colours, I think.  There are matte, frosted and shimmer ones, so for only $15NZD, it's a pretty good steal!  Let me know what you think of the makeup.

Day Nine: Almost Typically Vintage

Yesterday, I wasn't able to spare the horrors of having my face cleansed, so my makeup only lasted a few hours before it was gone.  Bummer.  Anyway!

Today's look is as vintage as I can manage while still keeping to the few makeup rules we have on the course.  The most annoying one is 'no red lipstick' which completely defeats the possibility for a classical vintage look.  It's been so long since I've used a liquid liner, I'm surprised I managed to put it on okay!  Let me know what you think.

Day Eight: Green and Pink

I knew there was something I forgot to do yesterday.. and I didn’t remember until I had already taken my makeup off… so oops!  Doesn’t matter though, because you’ll get an extra makeup dose to fill in the days by the end of the week; I have people coming over on Sunday, I think it is, so makeup is necessary.
Today is a very simple bit of makeup because I ran out of time, so I just contoured with olive green and used pink on the eyelid; not very creative, but I only have fifteen minutes before I had to leave.  Oops.  Let me know what you think.

Day Six: Electric Blue

Today has not been a good day… I woke up an hour before my alarm because I could hear my parents stomping around the house getting ready for the day, then the washing machine decided that there was too much stuff in it, so it didn’t work, and it took far longer than it should have to find a nice outfit to wear today.  x.x
Anyway, today’s makeup is blue, because Sarah suggested it.  I hardly ever wear blue eyeshadow, although I worship my liner, so I hope I didn’t do it too badly.  Let me know what you think!

Day Five: Olive Branch

Went down to the mall last night because there were a few sales on.. and spent nearly all the money in my bank account; I have $30 left out of $190! I got a new shirt- only cost 10 dollars, GREAT buy- and some new skincare products from Za. I now own their Cleansemax water-based cleanser, which left my skin feeling so smooth and soft I swear I fell in love with it instantly. I also got the True White powder, that goes with their True White skincare range, and that left my skin feeling like silk.

I got a new ModelCo lipgloss (Wonderfull Lip Plumper in ‘Warm Chestnut’), a Burt’s Bees pomegranate oil and beeswax lip balm, and a new setting powder, by Nude by Nature.

Today’s makeup comes from the pallette I think of as an olive branch, and I’m using the new products I got. Let me know what you think. Oh, and by the way, I look a little eurghhh under the eyes because I am NOT feeling very well today... so yeah. Ignore that!

Day Four: Rose Brown

So, yesterday the makeup didn’t last very well, because I decided to try the Masquerade Colour Correcting concealer in Green. Total fail of an attempt, as it turns out it’s too creamy, it doesn’t adhere well to the skin, and it overall just gave a very uneven appearance to my foundation. A shame, because all their other concealers are fantastic. Hopefully it was just a bad run.
Today’s makeup comes from a single palette of 5 colours which I think of as rose browns; they all have a slightly warmer, pink tone to them… so yeah. Let me know what you think!

Day Three: Orange Vintage

Makeup from yesterday would have lasted really well… except that we did an eye tint. Damnit! Also had my eyebrows shaped, which is why they kind of look wonky… but wonderful news. I’m allergic to the aloe vera in the bleach, and the bleach itself gave me a horrendous burning and itching sensation (not the one you’re MEANT to experience) so I managed to skip that step. Thank god.

Today I was feeling in a bit of a vintage mood, so I tried to capture that with my makeup as best I could without using liquid eyeliner or my cream- apparently it’s too difficult to remove, augh!- so let me know what you think! I also wanted to get a bit of colour, hence the more orangey toned brown... and augh! Frowny wrinkle fat fold things when I raise my eyebrows. Not very attractive, hehe.

Day Two: Lovely Lavender

Yesterday's makeup stood up to the weather, thank god... until I had to chop up some onions and my mascara (unfortunately, NOT waterproof), ran everywhere. Oops.
Today was a mission to get the right colour depth that would actually show up. The two purples I have are a bright vibrant, '”too colourful for class” purple, and a very light, sheer lavender. I think I ended up achieving the right colour that I wanted, but I’ll let you be the judge. Here’s the look!

Day One: Neutral Browns

So, here goes my –real- first day of my blog. I’m not a makeup guru, and we haven’t started makeup in class yet, so excuse me if the way I describe things doesn’t quite make sense… but hopefully, anybody who reads this will get the general idea of what I mean!

The Beginning

So, this is my first ever blog post, and I really have no idea what to write... so here goes.

This is a simple little blog for people who don't want to, or can't afford to, buy products such as MAC, Smashbox or Bobbi Brown.

I'm currently studying to be a beauty therapist, so as part of my uniform for class, I need to wear make up. Basically, I don't see the point in wearing it just for a class of girls who couldn't care less how well your colours are blended or how great your contouring is because of their own vanity, so I figure I'll post a photo of my makeup nearly every Monday through to Friday...
I'll give a little description of the colours I used (and their corresponding product lines, if they're not unbranded), the sort of brushes I used, and how long it took me to do them. I'll also comment on how well the makeup lasted, how many times I needed to reapply anything, and if the colours ran or creased.