Me and My So-Called ‘style’

DAY 1

Since winter has rolled in and I’ve gone from shorts/jeans and polo shirts to my usual style of clothing which is rather 1940s influenced, I’ve been getting SO MANY people commenting on the way I look and the way I dress and people staring at me when I walk by. Admittedly I do dress a bit unconventionally because I hate fashion trends – I just wear what I like and to hell with everyone else, basically. But literally, the past few weeks, if I go out, at least one person will compliment me. Which I find incredibly weird because.. let’s just say my whole life I’ve been kind of used to being the weird invisible kid in the corner doing her own thing in her own little world. It’s nice weird, but still weird. I think the weirdest it’s got was a month or so ago when I went to South Kensington to pop into the Royal College of Music to see some old friends, and a bunch of Japanese guys in identical business suits were following me up the road with a video camera. I have NO idea what that was about but I can’t say I enjoyed the experience too much. Obviously they’d mistaken me for someone else.  Anyway I’ve also had a few people encouraging me to do a post on what I wear, so today’s post is just going to be showing you an extremely typical day look – like what I’d wear to go out food shopping or something. Basic slob gear really.  The weather is dismal outside and even standing in front of the window it’s horrifically dark so I’ve tried to lighten it a bit by using a really crappy basic programme but I look kinda washed out.

The hair is a bit different to what I usually do when I curl it. Tried for ringlets today – it didn’t really work. 

 

  <Regular every day face:   (looking horrendous because I’ve not had a decent night’s sleep for about a week now)

 

Foundation: Maybelline Dream Matte Mouse in Sand, Concealer is the Lancôme foundation I tested the other day (see here for review) Brows: Collection 2000 Kohl in Brown, Eyeliner: Collection 2000 black waterproof liquid line, Cheeks:  Natural Collection in Sweet Cheeks  Lips: L’Oreal: Star Secrets in Rouge Penelope (the Penelope Cruz one)

 

 

<- Nails. With 2 coats of the Nails inc primer under and one over. When I took this, I’d put the polish on over a week ago. (And I’m very hard on my nails)

 

 

 

 

 

Somewhat embarrassingly, I’m like the poster girl  for primark in this photo. Minus the shoes, the whole outfit is from there. I love Primark, not only in the ‘I can’t afford to buy anything else’ way, but in the general ‘I really like their clothes’ way too.

You can’t really see the skirt in this too well, but I’ll wear it tomorrow and take a photo then so you can see it more clearly.

belt and skirt detail:

 

 

DAY 2

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Again – regular face, using same makeup as above, but wearing the NYC lipstick in Dubonnet. Main difference is the light when I took the photo and the amount of sleep I had. Hair bow was improvised from an old bit of ribbon I found at the bottom of my drawer. Tied the bow around a pencil and then pushed a hairslide through the knot at the back to fix it to my hair. It’s a bit rough around the edges because it’s pretty much as old as I am – I used to wear it as a sash around my waist when I was about two. So i’m going to go shopping for some new bits of ribbon soon, because as dorky as it sounds, I like wearing bows in my hair.

Went for a sort of 20s-30s look

navy blue top, grey cashmere jumper – tucked it in because the skirt is high waisted and it looks better than being over it because it’d cover the detailing on the front of the skirt (which you can sort of see in the entry beforehand) (primark) and a belt just didn’t look right with it because of the silk scarf around my neck – just made it look too cluttered. Grey ribbed tights from topshop (i think? I remember them being about £7 anyway) and patent 2-tone brogues from New Look.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Day 3 (today)

Found this dress in Primark for £1 and thought this is so vile that it’s actually pretty cool!

The top part is a really vile sort of salmon peach colour. One colour I absolutely DETEST but the dress actually fits pretty nicely so I attacked the top bit with a red DYLON pen which I picked up for £3 at a local sewing shop.

I wear this over a navy blue top because it’s too cold to wear as-is at the moment  and it tends to slip down a bit – there’s none of that sort of rubber stuff you get in other tops that are supposed to hold themselves up, so I don’t really want to end up flashing people so i just pin it to the top to hold it up.

Wearing this out to the pub tonight -  this is the hair and makeup side of things. I’m not very good at doing Victory Rolls – I’ve only just  started trying to do them so I still need a lot of practice – I have trouble getting the side bit curling rather than flopping so if anyone has any tips on how to do that better, then let me know!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

the whole outfit, with the top bits painted red with the dylon pen. Looks much better, no?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And now the shoes:

 

 

 

 

 

 

(tights aren’t blue btw – they’re black woolly ones. just not as black as the shoes. )

OR tone it down for daywear with less fussy hair and flat shoes like these: (tip for suede, give it a squirt with suede protector before you wear them outside – so if it rains they don’t get totally wrecked)

Deviantart photosplurge

I’ve not been on deviantart for AGES – lieterally since photoshop broke, I’ve barely shown my face there.

Decided to have a look there today to see what the folk I watch have been buys producing, and thought I’d post my some of my faves from the past 2 months here : )

 
 
 
 
 

Makeup Test: Day 3, Organic Glam & Sisley

First off, the circles this morning: This is the last one I’m going to be posting for a while. I’m honestly not seeing one shred of difference with this stuff and it’s kinda pointless posting a photo of my naked undereyes every day so the next one I’ll post up will be on Sunday – give it a few days and see if there’s any difference there. Today I used the Organic Glam foundation in 03 and the Sisley concealer (you know the one where the sales assistant went for my eyes with her finger like a rabid seagull), and that was in shade 03. Which was pink.

Please excuse the rollers. They were both so useless that I didn’t bother putting the rest  of my makeup on. The face I’m pulling is one of my many ‘unimpressed’ faces. I just scrubbed it off and re-did it with my usual cheapo Maybelline.

The organic stuff didn’t cover up a thing. It was a bit too dark for me anyway but it was like I was just slicking fake tan on my face. The formula was really thin and drippy – it felt light…. kind of like a runny moisturiser with fake tan in, and actually made me look worse than I looked without it. Those dark patches on my face aren’t there normally.

On the website it says “

Organic Glam Luminous Antioxidant Foundation: A luminous sheer foundation that gives a flawless radiant complexion. The formulation imparts a natural look that is light and comfortable to wear.  Antioxidants help protect the skin from pollution and free radical damage, while mineral colours correct imperfections leaving the skin fresh and luminous. This unique formula can be layered for light, medium or complete coverage resulting in a natural looking, radiant complexion, protected by antioxidants.”

And it clocks in at £29.31 for 40ml. The models on the website really do look like they’ve had makeup absolutely slapped on with a trowel. The website also boasts that this product won Gold on the Bridal Beauty Awards for ‘You and Your Wedding’ Magazine 2009. Good job a majority of brides wear veils. I personally would never buy this product, even if the shade was right for me because it simply just doesn’t cover up anything. I like that it’s organic – I like the principle of not wearing any more chemicals than necessary. The sales assistant gave me a catalogue that’s like 1cm thick and half of it is some fat long preachy list of chemicals commonly used in makeup that are apparently carcinogenics. Like I’m going to memorise 6542 different names for chemicals I can’t even pronounce let alone remember and then scour the backs of products searching for them.  I don’t think so.

I think there is a fine line between promoting organic products that are great for you – like Canterbury Whole Foods – when I lived in Canterbury I did a LOT of my shopping there – it was run by hippies who took your old plastic bags off you and reused them etc, and all the stuff was there and you were left to makeup your own mind about what you wanted – like a lifestyle choice. The other side of the organic market is the side I don’t like. The fashionable ‘ooh lets be organic and spend insane amounts of money on things’ side when, in essence you really don’t have to spend ludicrous sums of money to support local businesses and have organic stuff – and the ‘this chemical is bad it gives you cancer, if you drink coke you will get fat and die, this is why you need to use our product because we’re high and mighty and ORGANIC and you must bow down before us and worship us with your money’ preachy side. I don’t have people tell me what to do. If I want to find out what a certain chemical does, I’ll look it up. If I want to buy a foundation, I just want to buy something that works and looks good – I don’t need to be confronted by a ton of scientific technobabble that I don’t understand and frankly don’t care about in a preachy attempt to freak me out enough to spend an exorbitant amount of money on the product. The sales assistant was nice, but I don’t like the sales pitch the company is giving me.

The Sisley stuff was the wrong colour for a start, secondly it didn’t really cover anything up. Was light but a bit oily, and about £50!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

HAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHA

hahahahaha

haha

ha

Or not. No wonder that woman came flying at me – bet she’d have got a fat commission for that. Blimey. The Lancôme stuff does a superior job of concealing to this stuff. and from this three day marathon of testing, it has come out triumphant. I really love that product and if I had £26 to spare, I’d definitely buy it.

Coming up.. kinda 1940s. Ish… ‘What I’m Wearing Today’, basically.

Awesome Art Installation

Goin through one of my old mobile phones today and flicking through the pictures on it – got some awesome ones of a random art installation I came across in London around this time of year in 2006. I can’t remember if this was an actual building site that they artified or if it was just some random bits dotted around.. anyway, I thought it was a fantastic idea! I’m not usually one for sculptures or installations.. I mean, I thought Emmin’s bed and that pile of bricks were steaming piles of excrement and an insult to the art world, but these… I dunno.. beautifying the ugly, turning the mundane into something eye-catching.. made me smile anyway, and I like art that makes me smile. Anyway – enough gab; here are the pics.

The Cake of Awesomeness

A while back, I mentioned having baked an awesome Michael Jackson cake for my friend and that a picture would come. Well, here it is:

Makeup test: Day 2, Lancôme

Day one and 2 applications of the Elizabeth Arden miracle goop is over and I can’t see any difference yet. Early days though, and I did have a shocking night’s sleep last night so that probably hasn’t helped matters either.

Here’s the state of my eyes this morning. I decided to take the picture standing over by the window this time because it’s been really gloomy out lately and my camera doesn’t seem to like focussing when it’s dark. The circles don’t look so bad with that lighting, but they are actually darker than they were yesterday.

My skin did not agree with that horrible MAC foundation at all and my face has errupted overnight. Hormones aren’t helping, if we’re gonna be honest and feminine with each other, but in this case I’m going to say the MAC gunk factors in heavily with it’s nasty oily texture.

 

Today I’ve been testing  Lancôme’s ‘Teint Idole Ultra’ foundation in ‘Beige Porcelaine’. First off this is a great colour for me & the saleswoman did a great job picking it out considering I wouldn’t let her put anything near my face! haha

It smells DELICIOUS. It smells like summer. It glides on, has a smooth velvety texture and kind of dries to a soft, almost powdery finish. I’ve had it on for a few hours now and it honestly doesn’t feel like I’ve got anything on my face at all – no cakey ‘mask’ feeling whatsoever. It glides over pores and conceals them, eavens out skin tone really nicely, for blemishes I just patted a tiny bit extra over them and they disappeared. This foundation is £26.50 if you buy it in Boots, and I’d say that so far, it’s definitely worth it. It’s not got rid of my black under-eyes, but it is JUST a foundation. After trying this on I can’t wait to see what the concealer would be like – they didn’t have any samples of it so I’ll try somewhere else or brave someone wielding a brush near my eye. I can’t afford this right now, but when I do eventually manage to get a ‘normal person’ job that gives me money haha then this is definitely going to be on the ‘list of things to buy’ (providing none of the others I’ll be testing this week beats it.. but I really think they’ll have a tough job –this has set the posts pretty high.)

Here’s what it looks like on – along with all the rest of the crap I’ve put on my face (the lipstick, in case you’re wondering is a combination of Clinique’s long last soft shine lipstick in blushing nude (great name) and the L'Oreal Penelope Cruz aka #708  lipstick I reviewed last weekend (which I have warmed up to a little, despite the smell, because the colour is really nice) over the top.  I really hate having to take pictures of myself unless I’ve got like a proper theme in mind like the stuff in my DeviantArt self-portrait folder, so that’s the reason behind the totally gormless expression here… I may have to work on my 16 year old thrust out chest, bottom lip stuck out, holding the camera WAY above my head myspaz style poses.

 

 

 

 

 

<- 6 hours later…

It stayed on my face just fine, and I barely even got shiny, but it seems to have migrated from under my eyes somewhat. Maybe I was rubbing my eyes or something. Still want to try the concealer of this because I think it will be great! I’m not keeping it on ‘til 11 tonight again because I’m going to have a bath. Looks like it’d stay put pretty much all day though, so that’s good. All in all, a favourable review from me for Lancôme.

Makeup test: Day 1, MAC

11.00 AM

I have to say I’m not overly impressed with MAC. I put on the foundation and the concealer. I was expecting, considering how everyone RAVES about MAC foundation etc that it would be like some little miracle in a bottle, but it really wasn’t. The concealer is ok – it conceals well but it’s quite thick and as you can see from the photo on the right settles into every little crevice in my skin and makes it look wrinkly, which I can assure you it isn’t. It’s great for covering blemishes but I don’t think I’d use it under my eyes again because it’s just too thick, and to be honest, under there,  my £1.99 stick of Boots Natural Collection concealer does just as good a job of brightening and concealing that area, if not better. It’s only been about 3 hours now – I’ll keep it on til about 4 or 5 and take a photo so you can see how it lasts (if it lasts). The foundation I thought was horrible. It’s really oily, it doesn’t really cover anything, let alone pores, and it just felt like I was smearing something really cheap on my face, like those awful  foundations by just-17. My face looked really greasy and I had to put a ton of powder on to take the shine off and now my face feels like it’s caked in theatrical makeup. I guess this product is ok if you like to slap it on with a trowel and wear tons of the stuff, but not for me. I don’t really like wearing makeup except for lipstick and around my eyes and maybe a little blusher on bare skin so if I have to wear something, I don’t want to feel it sitting on my face.

   

By about 5pm ^^^                                             and by 11:30pm ^^^

 

By about midday I’d scrubbed off all the foundation because it just turned my face to grease and my face has been really oily all day because of it. The concealer did stay put, I’ll credit it with that, but it was really cakey under my eyes.  So MAC is a no for me.

HELP

I made my first 999 call today. I went shopping and then I went to the bus station to wait for my bus. At the stop up from mine, a bus stopped and this guy who was probably in his 50s to 60s was really struggling to get out - he was clinging onto the door handle and his legs were giving way beneath him. NOBODY offered to help him. He was clinging onto the handle and reaching out in the air for something to stabilise himself because it's a big step to get down off London busses - it's a good 2 feet from the floor of the bus to the ground. NOBODY offered to help him. They just stood there and stared at him. What the HELL is wrong with people???!??? the guy was clearly disabled - he looked like he had Parkinson's disease quite badly from the way he stood (when he did manage to stand) and was clearly retarded which you could see in his face, the way he spoke, the absence of anything really going on behind the eyes and the fact that he was a bit on the grubby side and dribbling a bit, so I went up, grabbed his arm, steered him over to the seat, sat him down and asked if he was ok - he'd clearly been drinking because i could smell it coming off him, but alcohol aside he clearly wasn't right and he said 'can you call an ambulance' - he'd fallen over and hurt his back - took me a few goes to actually understand what he was saying - you know when a 2 year old talks in his own language and you generally just smile and nod and pretend to understand. So I called one and sat with him while he was being sick down himself - and everybody just moved away from him and stood staring at him from a distance like 'I don't want to help him, he's not my responsibility, somebody else can do it' - it gave me the absolute fucking rage, pardon my French, I mean what the hell is wrong with them - he's still a person, a human being - just because he's a bit retarded and a bit disabled and a bit drunk doesn't mean he's some kind of insect or something vile and inhuman - he's a living being that needed help - how would they like it if they needed help and nobody wanted to come near them because they looked a bit different, or like they were struggling. Why is showing physical or mental weakness so abhorrent to other people? I shouldn't have had to walk up to this guy from another stop to help him, I shouldn't have had to miss two busses to sit with him until the ambulance arrived and watch him be sick down himself and dribble everywhere and I shouldn't have had to sit in the freezing cold (10'C) for over 45 mins wearing only a miniskirt and a tshirt with a thin cardigan - not because I didn't want to help him, but because the other arsehole people who claim to be human beings who were only a couple of feet away from him or barging past him to get off the bus should have got there first.

There are times when I am embarrassed for what people have become, and I detest society for it. So utterly self-absorbed that they are only interested in what happens to other people if it gives them something to gossip about or if it benefits themselves in some way. Yes, I know I'm very angry, but I think I have got absolutely every right to be.

The Quest… and some foraging.

I was on a scouting/foraging mission today in my local shopping centre. I’m on a quest to find the perfect under eye concealer. At the moment I’m using the Clinique airbrush but that’s running out really soon and so I’m looking around to see what else is on the market, just out of curiosity. I’m perfectly happy with Clinique, but if there’s something that can banish my undereyes even more, so much the better!!

The fruits of my scouting mission are as follows:

Lancome Teint Idole Ultra in 010 Beige Porcelaine – she gave me the foundation sample because they didn’t have one for concealer but she said they’re pretty much the same anyway. Says on the packet enduringly divine comfort makeup- 14h retouch-free Oil-free SPF10

MAC concealer in NW20 Select- that’s what she’s written at the bottom of the pot anyway. And just for laughs she threw in a pot of foundation in mineralise NWZO

Organic Glam Luminous Antioxidant Foundation in shades 02 & 03- a relatively new company – they;ve only been around for 7 years or so. On the packet it says A luminous sheer foundation that gives a flawless radiant complexion. The formulation imparts a natural look that is light and comfortable to wear. Antioxidants help protect the skin from pollution and free radical damage while mineral pigments correct imperfections leaving skin looking fresh and luminous. buildable formula that can be layered for a light, medium or complete coverage.

Elizabeth Arden Prevage eye anti-aging moisturising treatment- not that I’m worrying about wrinkles right now – I’m only 23, but it said on the stand thing that it’s supposed to help dark circles. It’s one of those twice daily cream things. Ok so I went in looking for concealer, but.. it’s free… so… This exclusive  eye treatment with I-Seryl Complex and clinically proven Idebenone helps fight the effects of environmental damage: fine lines and wrinkles, crows feet, dark circles. Visibly smooths, brightens and lifts the look of eyes. Proof… not promises.  And at £75 a pop it bloomin’ well should work! Obviously I can think of FAR better things to spend that kind of money on.. phone bills for about 7 months for example… I’m not vain or desperate enough to ever buy anything like this or even contemplate buying something like this, but hey, if it’s a free trial, why the heck not give it a shot.

Last, and by all means least – Sisley eye concealer with botainal extracts in 1 and 2. I did not like the sales assistant from that place one bit (hence the ‘and by all means least’) she was incredibly pushy, trying to convince me that my skin tone is pink – I think I know my own skin tone better than you love, and then despite me saying at least 3 times I’d rather have a sample to try on at home because the skin under my eyes is sensitive and it stings if it doesn’t like it. She then stood there going ‘but it’s botanical so you can’t have an allergic reaction and it’s great on all skin types’ – I’m sorry, but ‘botanical extracts’ do not qualify as completely botanical and/or organic. Let me put it this way… digitalis is organic. Pull up a few fox gloves in your garden and you can give someone heart failure. Ok so you’re not exactly going to ingest concealer unless you’re really really stupid, but I think I made my point… but disregarding all that, she then came at my face with her finger loaded up with a heap of  dark brown gunk. I’m trying to get RID of dark circles, not put them on!! I have a phobia of things being near my eyes in general which was made worse by burning my eyeball a few years ago when part of a lit match flew off and landed in it. To have anything - forget anyone else’s finger near my eye is an absolute ABSOLUTE no-go area. There is only one person I trust to have his finger near my eyes and even then with limits. Yeah and then she gave me the sample to take back in the 2 colours I said I didn’t want, and refused to give me the one I actually wanted to try on, because apparently she knows what colour skin I have better than I do, when I’ve been buying makeup for myself for over 10 years…

I’ll try it on and post photos for a laugh but even if by some miracle the thing looked good, I’m not going to get it on principle alone.  Coming at my eyes with your finger. Jesus. FYI it says on the packet ‘eye concealer for dark circles and under eye puffiness. Reduces signs of tiredness, masks imperfections and visibly diminishes lines.

My undereyes are pretty horrendous as I think the photo below demonstrates quite well. So i’ll try to remember to post updates of my makeupless eye at various stages of using the Elizabeth Arden goop so that if there is actually any visible difference, you’ll see it yourself, not just take an airbrushed model in a glossy magazine or sales assistants word for it.

If anyone has tested any of these products, please feel free to leave a comment and let me know!

Do You Want The Truth, Or Something Beautiful?

A couple of posts back, I regaled you with an adventure of the media variety – being on the set of Paloma Faith’s then upcoming music video. (To refresh your memory, click the picture of the set on the right)

Here’s Paloma’s video diary of the making of – The first part was during the day and the bit where she’s in the trailer was done probably in the final bits – coz she did the crying stuff around 10-11 – not entirely sure why she’s putting makeup back on, coz I thought we’d wrapped by then, but then what do I know… LOL

The guy with the big rectangular glasses was an absolute DUDE – I’m horrendous with names, but I think his name was Josh? he sat down with one of the extras (who I immediately named ‘duck’, for some reason) and I as we were the first arrivals, and set about explaining that they have an on-set choreographer and they were wanting a few shots of ballroom dancing but don’t worry if we’ve never danced before because the choreographer would teach us all the steps and everything…. the looks on our faces was that of pure horror which cracked him up and he told us he was only joking but we should just get comfortable because we’d be sitting down for a really long time. I think the guy with the baseball cap Enrique (?) was sitting a few seats away because between takes Paloma would come off the stage and jump him haha so he’s in it too somewhere, but you can’t see him.

The video is now out, and it looks great! it’s different to her others – it’s very simply done which works with the song – her others have a lot going on in them – like the backdrop of a bowling alley becoming New York, or being in a warehouse full of people in crazy costumes and burlesque dancers. Can’t really see any of us extras in it – we’re more indistinct shapes than anything and I find it mildly mind blowing that the director spent about 2 hours filming us in various seats, and shots over Paloma’s shoulder panning down the middle of the aisles of seats etc and  we did that stand up and cheer thing about 15 times – probably spent the best part of 40 minutes on that alone, and they put all that work into US and we hardly even show up – this isn’t me having a moan about not having my 15 minutes of fame at all – I’m just more stunned about just how much was cut – and trying to imagine what it must have been like for Paloma, and other actors and singers and on-screen people, when they’re one their feet slogging it out for 16 hours doing take after take after take, and that 16 hours of work  gets condensed into about 40 seconds of video and the rest of it ends up on the cutting room floor. It’s crazy.

Anyway – here’s the video – Enjoy!

 

About Art…

I know I haven’t really written much about art for ages, but with winter rapidly closing in, it’s just not the right weather for it. My studio is the shed in the garden and is not insulated, and with the horrendous weather and everything we’ve been getting lately I don’t really want to electrocute myself by running an electricity cable down 80 feet of garden in torrential rain, and it’s also just too dark with the bad weather and the nights drawing in. I still want to keep this blog going though because for some reason I actually kind of enjoy writing it, so I’ll be writing on.. well.. whatever takes my fancy until the weather improves enough to start work again. I’m also having to look for a job (I know.. URGH) over winter because if I’m not painting, then frankly, I need to be doing SOMETHING because I cannot tell you just how boring it is to be stuck indoors doing nothing. Some envy this bohemian lifestyle of mine – sleeping in til late and pottering around until 4am, but I promise, it’s solitary and it gets really old and really dull really fast. I can’t wait for summer to show its face again!

 

This blog is also kinda boring looking so I’m going to see what I can do about sprucing it up a bit and making it look  a bit more interesting. So.. we shall see what we shall see. Til then, Take care

x0x0

Simply Red

As some (if not all) of you are aware, I’m pretty obsessed with all things 1940s, and this also translates into the way I dress and how I ‘put my face on’. The key colour for 1940s makeup is red. Red lips, and red nails. Thing is, it is so easy to go wrong with red and end up looking like a bit of a slapper if you go too garish, and a bit of a goth if you go too dark. So. I just thought I’d rifle through my makeup bag and give a quick review/overview of what stuff I use to get my look (I will post up a picture soon hopefully – My camera doesn’t really agree with red values and I need to get photoshop so I can sort the lighting out so it does actually resemble the colours more closely – call me a snob, but windows live ‘fix’ thing doesn’t quailfy as worthy editing software.. if something is worth doing….

Ok: my face type. Quite pale, slighly olive toned, quite dehydrated combination/oily skin, a few blemishes, green eyes with massive black circles under them. Ok so it’s not exactly flattering but hey, at least I’m honest and not kidding myself.

All these prices are based on Boots prices

Base:  Maybelline Dream Matte Mousse in 030 Sand.  £6.84

I HATE using foundations – it makes my skin feel like it’s covered with a film and like it’s suffocating.. that kind of feeling that your face just feels gunky. Yuck. Bought this on the off chance and it’s actually great! it’s a really nice light formula, really good coverage and you barely need to put any on for it to work its magic, so it lasts for ages. Covers up large pores nicely without clogging them and stays on your face for ages.

Concealer: Clinique Airbrush Concealer in 04 Neutral Fair.  £14.68

With my dark circles (which, before you say have nothing to do with lack of sleep or iron deficiency – they’re just like that) I really need some heavy duty stuff to cover them up, only heavy duty stuff tends to cake into the creases under my eyes and I end up looking about 80 rather than 23 within a few hours. This stuff doesn’t – it’s absolutely brilliant – it’s light, non-greasy, stays put and covers everything up. The price makes my eyes bleed a bit, but for what it does I’m willing to fork out for it. I know quite a few people swear by YSL Touche Éclat, but I actually prefer this. I literally only use it under my eyes so one of these things lasts me about 6 months.

Powder: Rimmel Stay Matte Pressed Powder 003 Peach Glow £2.99

Keeps the shine at bay effectively. It also has a light fresh fragrance, but you actually have to put your nose in it to smell it so if you’re sensitive to scented products this shouldn’t be too much of a problem.

 

Eyeshadow: Natural Collection solo eyeshadow in Sea Shell £1.65

I couldn’t find a photo of this but it’s basically a little pot of  a very pale beige eyeshadow that I put on my lids, which is good for the very flat 1940s style of makeup, and a little underneath – it’s lighter than the stay matte powder so it doesn’t cake as much and it lightens up under my eyes even more plus it’s very slightly shimmery so it reflects the light too. Fragrance free, this has been a staple in my makeup bag for about 4 years now.

Mascara:  Max Factor False Lash Effect in Brown Black £10.99

Every time I run out I try to use something else, although I tend to stick with Max Factor as my eyes don’t seem to mind it. This stuff.. I wouldn’t say it makes me look like I have false lashes (which is the main reason why I bought it – massive long lashes are one of the big features of 40s makeup – I wasn’t expecting them to actually look as long as false lashes, but a bit longer than this product actually gets them would be nice. One of my pet hates about advertising is they always use models with false lashes.. I mean.. how the hell am I supposed to judge how a product is going to look if you’re not even going to show it in use properly?!), but it’s pretty good. I like the big chunky silicone type brush – I hate having gunky lashes and this totally avoids that. For a 40s look – lots of big lashes on top but don’t do your bottom lashes.

Liner: Rimmel Exaggerate in 002 Absolute Brown £4.88

 

It’s ok – does the job – felt pen style at the end makes application easy and mess free – the tip is a little on the thick side for some people I suppose, but I like it personally – it’s nice and sturdy and doesn’t flick all over the place like some with thin brushes do. A common mistake for people doing 40s makeup is to go really overboard with eyeliner and flick it up at the edges – that’s 50s, not 40s. Look at the pics below – you’ll see there’s a lot of fake lash going on but not thick eyeliner.

Brows: Collection 2000 Kohl Eyeliner 2 Brown £?

Perfectly Manicured brows are VITAL to the 1940s look. You can yell ‘Audrey Hepburn’ at me all you want, but she was 50s, not 40s. Yes, I know I’m using an eyeliner, but I’ve found a lot of eyebrow brushes are far too gummy, crumbly, and it’s kinda like smearing kiddies facepaint on and it all gets clogged up. I like using this with a brush stuck on the end that i took off one of the ‘proper’ eyebrow pencils I had before I threw it away.

I can’t actually find this on the boots website – I hope they haven’t stopped doing them, coz this one is a good colour for me! this pencil is a good few years old though, so they might well have done.

Blusher:  Natural Collection in Sweet Cheeks £1.95

Yet another colour I’ve discovered isn’t on the website –I’m guessing Rosey Blush (or whatever it’s called) is probably similar

NOW FOR THE REDS:

NAILS:

Base Coat/ Top Coat: Nails Inc, Hyde Park £7.00

Firstly, if your nails are pathetic like mine and are weak and tend to peel, stick on a couple of layers of this stuff under your polish – I totally swear by it. I also have a problem with polish flaking off/chipping etc – apparently this is a problem that loads of people have – even relatively expensive polishes like Max Factor can’t make it through the day without chipping. Put a layer of this stuff over your polish and it’ll last at least a week. If you can’t find Hyde Park, Kensington Gardens is basically the same – same colour, smell etc – I dunno if they just changed the name or if it’s actually a different one, but they both work exactly the same. It’s expensive, but definitely worth it.

BARRY M  £2.89

 

the name has rubbed off the label so I can’t read it but I think it’s the darker of the reds. It says 1A  315 on the bottom if that helps.. I have a newer one lurking somewhere that might be legible. When I find it I’ll post it up. It needs 2 coats and an overcoat.. in fact, they all do.

Collection 2000 Hot Looks fast dry in Diva £1.75

 

Needs AT LEAST 2 coats – it’s a bit lurid but once you’ve put on several coats it starts to look ok.

 

Rimmel 60 seconds in 320 Rapid Ruby £3.49

Nice thick formula – doesn’t dribble or drip, only need one coat because it’s pretty opaque as well as thick. Nice rich colour, although perhaps a little dark for some – it’s not as dark as it is in the photo. I love this one.

 

Bourjois So Laque in Rouge Diva (11) and Rouge Escarpin (10) £5.37

I’m actually kinda used to the rimmel one so I found going from this to Rouge Diva a bit drippy, if I’m honest. it’s pretty transparent so it definitely needs a couple of coats, but the shade is nice.  the Escarpin is quite a bit brighter but not so bright it looks tacky.

 

LIPS!

To start with my favourite and work my way down:

Sleek True Colour in Vixen.

It was about £2 in superdrug, if memory serves. I just went on the superdrug website and couldn’t find it, or anywhere else on the web come to that, but it’s definitely there because I only got it last week – but I think you’d have to go into one of the bigger stores in order to find it. I got mine in the Superdrug in Kingston upon Thames, so I KNOW it’s there. It’s IMMENSE! serious ‘voom’ power. Outrageous without being slutty. I think it takes some balls to wear this lipstick because it is really very red. once you’ve blotted it, it’s quite a matte finish (it’s pretty matte anyway) and it doesn’t go anywhere. Seriously – I can put it on at 10 in the morning, have tea,  eat sandwiches, do whatever and it’ll still be on at 11pm. in fact you have to scrub it off. It’s WONDERFUL stuff. Next time I go to Kingston I’m going to stock up because I don’t think this one will stay on the shelves long. I’ve actually had quite a few heads turning to stare at me when I’m wearing this but it doesn’t really bother me too much because my whole look is a bit ‘different’ if I’m honest, so I’m kinda used to it. The ONLY downside to this is that it dries my lips out a bit so I use ‘blistex ultra moisture’ and let that sink in before applying it.

Mac in Ladybug £ (I bought mine in Fenwicks for about £12 I think)

Love Love LOVE this lipstick.  It does wear off but it still looks good, moisturises nicely, stays put – no bleeding. REALLY NICE shade of red too – not garish at all, yet still vibrant. It’s a lustre lipstick so a bit shiny – personally I’d prefer it if it came in matte – but that’s mainly because I have quite long hair which I wear down and I hate getting my hair stuck to my lips (which is one of the main reasons why I avoid lip gloss like the plague.. the fact I think it looks pretty cheap and nasty and like you can’t stop dribbling or something also features heavily). I don’t think it’s scented per se, but it smells like the way makeup SHOULD.. if that makes sense…

NYC in Dubonnet

– don’t remember the £ and it isn’t listed on boots.com but I reckon it was about £4

a nice perky but subtle colour – I’d say it’s one of those that enhances natural lip colour rather than painting over it – I dunno how much sense that makes… I guess it looks like a pretty natural shade – like when you come in from the cold and your lips go bright red – like that.

L’Oreal Colour Riche Star Secrets, Rouge Penelope (708) £7.82

It’s a nice colour and fairly moisturising but that’s about as far as my good review goes. Designed for Penelope Cruz, apparently, for what it is, it’s expensive.  It stinks of flowers and the last thing I want near my mouth is something pungent and floral, and it wears off faster than you can blink. I’ve never bought a L’oreal lipstick before, but this is pretty off-putting. For the money I paid I expected a lot better.

 

I divided my mouth up in sections so it might be easier to see  - please excuse the retard smile but it’s kinda hard not to smile like a spaz when you’re holding a camera inches away from your mouth and trying to get it in focus.

From right to left (in the photo) we have…

MAC ladybug, SLEEK vixen, L’OREAL Penelope and NYC Dubonnet.

And here’s what they look like lined up:

it doesn’t look it in the photo but the one on the right – the ‘sleek’ is really about as scarlet as you can get. Brilliant lipstick!