New In: Beauty

Hi guys!

A recent shopping trip to Westfield White City with two girlfriends left my purse a little barren shall we say!

I had a few beauty products on my shopping list so headed to House of Fraser to try out a few. First up, a new foundation. After hearing Victoria from Inthefrow highly recommend the Maestro Glow by Giorgio Armani, I knew I wanted to buy something here. However, my skin is very oily, so the lovely lady advised I should try the Luminous Silk instead. Maestro Glow does what it says on the tin - make you glowy. I don't need any more shine as I have enough from my super oily t-zone come 3pm!

I go for foundations with more pink based tones than yellow as this just works for me, so bought shade 4.5.

I am very lucky with my skin, I'm generally free from any spots and the tone is pretty good. I do get a bit of redness around my nose, but I find a concealer helps with this. I'd heard good things about the Urban Decay Naked Skin concealer and was advised to try shade light warm. It is very lightweight and a shade or two fairer compared to what I had been using, so this a great brightening concealer for under the eyes and down the nose. So far I like!

Also whilst checking out the Urban Decay counter, I picked up their make-up setting spray. A bit of a cult item if you will. They do three types, so I went for the oil control one. The guy at the counter reeled of some spiel about the contents, sorry but I'm no chemist so I have no idea about the ingredients and what they do. All I know is people love this. And that is good enough for me. It can even be kept in the fridge and used as a cooling mist too - love this idea for hot weather.

Finally new tools! I love Real Techniques, so if you've never used any of their brushes before you definitely need to try them. Created by two make-up artists, the collection has everything you need for flawless make-up. I've been raving about their miracle complexion sponge for months now and even mentioned it in a '5 Holy Grail Beauty Products' video on my sister's YouTube channel. My current one is in a bad way so bought a replacement and I grabbed the core collection for my base at £20! It has a large brush for buffing, a smaller brush for contouring, a tapered brush which is great for getting in to corners and I love it for my powder highlight. And lastly a mini brush which I now use for lips!

Do you have any of these products? Or have anything new you can recommend I need to try?

Chloe x

Beauty Buys

I just wanted to update you on some of my most recent beauty buys. These items I purchased the week of the my wedding in an almost panic that I wasn't happy with what I already had!

Base: I heard amazing things about Bobbi Brown's Skin Foundation and had tried a few testers and fell in love. It is super light and silky, a little goes a long way and gives great coverage. I wanted something that didn't feel too cake-y, and used Bare Minerals Mineral Veil over the top to set and take away any shine for the wedding photos!

Eyes: I purchased the top eyeshadow a few months back when I had a tutorial with Bobbi Brown in Canterbury. Then I had seen the two below on another shopping trip and fell in love. The first colour is Smokey Quartz, this goes well over light colours or blended to the outer corner of your eye and has a gorgeous glitter in it, best used with your finger not a brush.

The middle shade is Champagne Quartz which I used as my all over eyelid colour, this also has a nice sheen to it - I hardly ever use matte shadows. This can also be used as a lovely golden brow highlighter if you wanted to take the colour all the way up to really make your eyes pop and gives a gorgeous glow.

Finally the bottom colour is Ballet Pink which I used in the middle of my lid to emphasise the colour of my eyes, this also has a glitter to it which I lightly dabbed in the inner corner of my eye.

My mum has tried so many mascaras so I know her word to be true when she gives a recommendation! She has always trusted Lancôme hypnose and I've found their mascaras last, don't generally smudge or give you panda eyes at 3pm! 

I went for the Hypnose Drama Waterproof in case I cried! It lasted all day and didn't smudge - result!

Can you tell a trend to the brands I always buy?!

Finally, a purchase I've made since the wedding is the new Lancôme Vissionaire Cream. It says it is advanced multi correcting and feels almost like a serum because it is so light and silky. It was £59 at House of Fraser but I have to say it is money well spent! I use it morning and night, my skin feels more hydrated, has reduced redness and appears more plumped! Great!

Skincare products for me are so important, I see them as an investment and will hopefully mean I don't need Botox in later life!

What beauty purchases have you made recently?

Chloe x