Tuesday, 19 June 2012

London Haul

As promised, here's my haul from London. The other half and I went for a long weekend away for our 5 year anniversary and I managed to pick up loads of goodies after dragging him round the shops! 
I also managed to grab a fair few of the items on my wishlist too!


NARS Laguna Bronzer
NARS Orgasm Blush - I originally planned on getting the shade Deep Throat, but preferred the other colour when I tested them out.
MAC Hue Lipstick.
MAC Blankety Lipstick.

I also included these two Essie nailvarnishes which I picked up at Boots when I got back.
I got the shade Mint Candy Apple and Fiji.


I then went to American Apparel and got my hands on the Disco Pants in black. I also picked up 3 bandeau bra tops to wear underneath low armed tees.

I'd seen this next item on Zara online and loved it. I bought it in the red colour and would have definitely bought it in blue if they had it but I went in about four Zaras and couldn't find it in the other colour. You may see a theme running in the next few items...


STUDS GALORE!
I walked past this denim studded jacket in Topshop and nearly died. I had to run back and snag it for myself. I absolutely love it.


And this last item wasn't on my wishlist as I never thought I'd actually get them but my lovely, lovely boyf surprised me and got me them as an anniversary present. They are the Jeffrey Campbell Spiked Litas in black...HOW AMAZING ARE THEY!?!


They will probably sit on my shelf for most of the time looking beautiful as I'm not sure if I'm brave enough to wear them out on a casual basis... do I or don't I? I think I'm going to have to practice walking around in them at home before I venture outside haha!

Hope you all are having a lovely week. 
Thanks for all the comments recently, I really love reading them all :) 
xxx

Monday, 18 June 2012

How to: Pluck and fill in your eyebrows!

Hi guys! I posted a picture earlier today and a few of you commented on my eyebrows being 'perfect'! To be honest they are far from it and I very rarely pluck them, but I just thought I'd show you how I do my brows day to day, as well as how I trim and pluck to keep them in shape.

I do my eyebrows every day and it is now a staple part of my makeup routine. I would do my eyebrows first if I was ready to rush out of the door. I think they frame your face and are very important to making you look smart and well kept.

On with the tutorial!

This is my brow before plucking. I've been using tweezers for years and years and my brows don't seem to grow very fast any more so I very rarely need to pluck any more.


In the picture below I have just used Tweezerman tweezers to tidy up slightly around the underside of the brow. I hardly ever pluck above the brow either, simply because I think the shape is okay.


I don't do this next step every time, just when I feel it appropriate. I take an old spoolie brush or clean mascara wand and brush all of the hairs upward.


I then take some nail scissors and carefully trim the long hairs that sit above the natural brow-line when brushed upward.


I'm very careful not to take too much off. Work slowly as you don't want to chop off your whole brow.


We're now ready to fill in the brow. I use a MAC 208 angled brush to apply the brow powder.


Personally, I like how powder looks on the brow. I have used pencil in the past and the best one I used was Spiked by MAC, however it seemed to run out very fast, so I switched to powder. Up until recently I used Urban Decay Brow Box in Brown Sugar to fill in my brows which is absolutely brilliant but I've just run out. I now use two eyeshadows by MAC called Brun and Charcoal Brown.  Brun is the darker colour on the top row and Charcoal Brown is the lighter brown below it.


A staple product I use every time I apply my brows is MAC Fix+. I use this to dampen my brush so that I'm able to make a sharp, clean line with the powder. I simply hold my brush over a tissue and spray once on either side of the bristles.


I apply my foundation as usual at this point and then move on to the brows. Pick up a small amount of product on your brush. I work from the underside first. I apply from about 10mm in from the front of my brow and draw the arch right down to the tail of the brow.


I then use what's left on my brush and swipe gently upwards at the front portion of my brow. I like the inner portion of my brow to look quite natural. I don't like the boxy look, so keep the powder relatively sparse in this area and gently sweep it upwards to make sure it's blended.


I then load up my brush once again, using Fix+ if necessary to fill in the top line of the brow. Sometimes I accentuate the arch of the brow slightly but mainly follow the natural curve of my eyebrow.


This is how it looks after applying the products.


To soften some of the lines I take the spoolie I used before and gently brush out any harsh lines.


And that's it. This is the finished look.


If you're having trouble with what shape to draw your brow, a lot of people go by these rules. 
Use a makeup brush and sit it vertically along the side of your nose and eye. Where the brush handle sits is where your brow should start. I never pluck my brows on the inner side as they naturally fall at this point on my face. You may need to pluck some if you have brows that grow close together, or you may need to fill in a little extra if your brows lie further apart.


While looking straight forward, tilt the brush from the corner of your nose so it lies through your pupil and over your brow. Give or take, this is where your arch should be at its highest point.


Tilt the brush again so it sits on the corner of your nose and the outer edge of your eye. Where the brush passes the eyebrow is where the tail of your brow should end. You may need to lengthen the brow slightly with your powder or pencil if you think your eyebrows are a little too short.


This is just a guide, obviously go with whatever you think compliments your face. Remember when plucking, less is more. Work slowly, you don't want to over pluck or over trim.

I like my brows quite prominent and dark but I don't think I can be classed as having a Scouse Brow as I tend to soften the edges at the end. But, in my opinion you should go with whatever you like! This is just how I do my brows every day. Once you get into a routine it only takes a minute and will be a staple part of your makeup routine in no time. Trust me, once you do your brows you will never go back!

Hope you found this helpful!
x

Quack quack!

Tried out some new makeup purchases today. Fully taking advantage of duck face while on my break at work. Hope everyone's well. I've not been posting as much as I should recently so I hope you don't mind some odd instagram picture posts here and there.

Thank you to all of my new followers, too! I don't know where you're all coming from but you're trickling in and I'm so excited! Leave a link to your blog if I'm not following you already and I'll check yours out! :)


Sunday, 17 June 2012

Going to London...

...to buy Heat Magazine!

Got to be done, no?


For those of you who haven't a clue what I'm talking about, check out this old TV advert for the magazine...



En Route back home!

Spent a nice few days in London town with the better half for our 5 year anniversary. Have some goodies to show you but for now I'll just leave you with a picture from today in Camden.

Sunday, 10 June 2012

London Wishlist!

So I'm off to London in a few days for a long weekend away with the other half. I've made the mistake of having a browse online and putting together a wishlist of things that I will keep my eye out for.

There's a lot here, I know! But a girl can but wish!



1. Zara Studded Slipper. BUY HERE.
2. Converse All Star Ox Lo White. BUY HERE.
3. Zara Studded Ankle Strap Sandal. BUY HERE.
4. Zara Leather Cross Over Sandal. BUY HERE.
5. Zara Bag With Tacks. BUY HERE.
6. American Apparel Disco Pants. BUY HERE.



1. NARS Laguna Bronzer. BUY HERE.
2. MAC Lipstick Blankety. BUY HERE.
3. NARS Deep Throat Blusher. BUY HERE.
4. MAC Lipstick Hue. BUY HERE.
5. YSL Touche Eclat. BUY HERE.
6. Benefit Erase Paste. BUY HERE.



How to: Glitter French Tips!

Hi everyone. It was my day off work today so I decided to try out some new nails. They didn't turn out exactly as I wanted but I do like the glitteriness, so I thought I'd share.


I bought these stick on nail guides months and months ago..pretty sure they're from Poundland. I originally bought them so I could try out a traditional French Tip manicure but never got round to it so they've been sat on my shelf ever since.


I started with fresh, clean, slightly haggered nails.


Applied a nail guide - which are pretty crappy as they didn't seem to actually stick very well.


Coat the tip and edge of your nail with a clear varnish and dunk it into your chosen glitter. Mine is from a local craft store.


Repeat the process on each nail. I worked with one nail at a time, rather than sticking strips on every nail all at once. This makes it a little less faffy.


Brush away any excess glitter that may be stuck to the nail. i just used a makeup brush. A q-tip/cotton bud works just as well.


This is how it looks after they're cleaned up a little.


Think I found some inspiration for a future nail art while I was waiting for these to dry...


Hello!


Finally, add a couple of coats of a clear top coat to finish off. You may want to use a cheaper varnish that you don't mind the brush picking up a little glitter because I now have little flecks floating around in my Sech Vite topcoat. Good job I like sparkle!


This is how they turned out. They're not the neatest but they look fab from a distance ;)

Hope you like it!
x

Monday, 4 June 2012

Royal Jubilee and a MASSIVE THANK YOU!

Hi guys, 

I'm sorry for the lack of posts recently, I've not been feeling too well and have spent most of my time in bed!

I decided to do a little nail art to celebrate the Queen's Royal Jubilee and here's how it turned out.


Anyway, I just wanted to do a quick post to say a massive, massive thank you to all of my followers. I recently hit 100 followers on my blog and I can't actually believe it!
I appreciate every single one of you and love reading your comments. Thank you so much for liking my musings enough to click the follow button, I really, really do appreciate it so much.

If you'd like to share my blog on twitter or facebook or any other social networking site, I'd be more than happy to, in return, check out your blogs and share, too. I'd really like some new ones to follow! :)

Also, you can contact me/follow me here:

email: neeny.art@gmail.com
twitter: @_neeny
instagram: neenyh