My Autumn Wish List

As a student at university I can rarely afford the 'it' products. The products that the whole wide world seem to chatter on about 'ohh have you tried this yet? It is amazinggg'... I do save for the things I want and slowly I can buy these products - 6 months after the hype - Literally if I could I would buy the makeup department in Debenhams. I thought I would do this little quick post about my wish list and hopefully by Christmas I will own most of these products! When you are as in love with makeup as I am it is hard to remind yourself that rent and food really do come first :/

The famous Naked palette, a few of my friends have this and it just looks like heaven in a row. The colours are so highly pigments and feel so smooth. This is for sure the first thing on my list, I cannot wait for the day I will do a review on this, it will be filled with selfies and all...

 Annndddd to go with my eye shadow what a perfect combo, none other than the Urban Decay Eye Shadow Primer! I first heard about this from a fellow makeup friend, she was obsessing about how it actually glued her eye shadow on, and for an entire night AND an entire shower... the eye shadow did not budge! Urban Decay has created genius!

By now I am sure you have figured out that I like Urban Decay... There is nothing more irritating than having to reapply makeup in a club when you may have had a few cheeky drinks - under the influence shaky hands. - Well, Urban Decay have a series of setting sprays, and again a fellow makeup friend had purchased the Long-Lasting Setting Spray and her makeup was perfection all night long! They have such a good street cred, and as an aspiring makeup artist I feel I should already own one and be well over the hype - But then I remind myself I am a student!

Face Lace by Phyllis Cohen is seen everywhere in fashion, it is absolutely gorgeous. Obviously this is not something I would buy for myself but I would love to have Face Lace in my kit and create a portfolio image. It is quite expensive at £25 each, so I think I will wait until I feel more confident creating a look, so I don't end up wasting my money.

When I finally purchase these products I will post a review letting you know if they were worth the dollar ;)

Sam xxx

Quote of Today...

Cara Delevingne...

So my last post was about Lady Gaga and I wanted to carry on the celeb theme as I just wanted to share my love for the model of the moment Cara Delevingne, she is so beautiful and where ever I look, be it a magazine or a blog she is sure to be there!
What caught my eye about Cara Delevingne is her eyes, they grab you attention straight away, and she definitely highlights this feature with her makeup designs/choices. I for sure think her bold eyebrows make her eyes stand out, in fact since she has become the name on everyone's tongue sales in tweezers have gone down - no joke - read the article here http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2391190/Cara-Delevingne-eyebrows-reason-falling-tweezer-sales-says-Google.html

I personally love Cara's look because it is like no other, I have mentioned before I love it when people have that natural style that just stands out from everyone else - Kylie Jenner is another whose style is just crazy, her blog is full with beautiful style inspiration, anything cool is in her blog http://kalifornia-klasss.tumblr.com/

Below are some of my favorite makeup looks on her and a few that I have cheekily copied ;) Enjoy and I hope these images may give you some inspiration for future looks!

Sam xxx

Lady Gaga...

So have any of you been tracking Lady Gaga recently? I am just in love with her makeup, it is so different to anything going on right now! Always a trendsetter never a follower and I love it!! I just adore the mix of colours. Below is an image that came up on my Facebook about where the inspiration for the makeup came from for her new music video Applause. Notice how Alex Box's name comes up more the once and they both did work together for Lady Gaga's US Harper Bazaar Cover shoot.

I'm sure during the anticipation of her upcoming album Artpop, there will be plenty of  makeup looks coming our way each more crazy than before, just the way I love it!!! 

Lady Gaga we Applaud you...

Sam xxx

The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams...

A year at Uni - Studying Makeup for Media and Performance

I am about to enter my second year at university where I am studying a degree in Makeup for Media and Performance. This year was all about experimenting, learning our way and understanding the degree, the real work starts this September - wish me luck. I finished my first year with a 2:1 which I was very happy with :) I thought it would be nice to show you a few images of what we have been up to, and if any of you have a strong passion for makeup maybe this is a degree for you?

Sam xxx

 The result of a rainy Sunday afternoon with my housemate...

 Inspired by a close up of a toads eye...

 Knotted this mustache hair by hair, took 4 weeks and a lot of patience 

 Bald Cap - Not perfect, this was my first attempt...

 Hair weaving, this is so time consuming, but I found it so fun and relaxing, you weave a single hair at a time into the string - not for everyone...

 1960s inspired..

 Bullet wound 

 Burn from the BBQ... Hence the BBQ in the background...

 A burn for an 18 Certificate film - BBQ explosion...

 BBQ burn for stage - I used glitter as when the light is on it, it will be visible from the back row of a big theatre ...

 For our brief we were given Beatrix Potter characters - mine Mrs Ladybird - and we had to use inspiration from the Muppet's to create a design suitable for a stage production...

 A fashion shoot I worked on in my own time... Inspired by the sea..

  Our last project was for a music video in the 18th century, hence the white and big hair...

Production I worked called The Threepenny Opera. It was very futuristic and in the final play the makeup was a lot stronger and more bold! Such good experience!!

What's In My Makeup Bag?!?

When reading through other beauty blogs I always see a 'What's in my makeup bag' post, and it seemed like such fun, so here is mine! My whole makeup bag could do with a jazzing up but a lot of spare money goes towards makeup for my professional kit.

Like most girls, I have my essential products, but when I can afford to I love trying out new products. My favorite makeup moment is when I find a foundation that just glides on my face quite happily and stays! So lets start with the obvious, foundations...

I am currently using these two foundations, I have previously done a review on the 1 2 3 Perfect Foundation from Bourjois and you can view it here. So lets discuss the Make Up For Ever High Definition Foundation, firstly it is the most super duper, mind blowing , amazing, knock your socks off foundation! It would glide on my skin leaving a smooth most beautiful finish and with the right primer, stay on all day long!! Now I talk about this product in the past tense because sadly it has run out *tear rolls down cheek* but I like to keep the bottle as when I can afford a new bottle (It retails at £30.95) I will know my shade. I do also use Collection 2000 concealer, but I can not seem to find it, but it is one of the best concealer I have come across, only problm with this concealer is, if I have a dry patch of skin on my face, it very much highlights the dryness, so I am currently looking for a concealer that will not do this but gives a good coverage like this one! Any suggestions please feel free to comment!!

If I have time I use this ScreenFace Contouring palette to contour my face. I absolutely LOVE contouring, it is so much fun to see what a difference it can make to your face. This palette is actually part of my professional makeup kit, but I am tempted to buy another one for just me, it's so good!! If you are interested in a contouring palette I would advice you looking at Crownbrush's version here as it is great value for money and a little cheaper. Or if you want to look at ScreenFace's version click here. 

I thought I would now move on to the eyes, my favorite part! At the moment I have been working a lot so I have just been going for the natural eye look. The Lancome Hypnose Drama mascara is gorgeous, my eyelashes have never looked longer, I have never experienced clumpy eyelashes with this mascara and would recommend it to anyone! It retails at £22, which is not that bad for the time it lasts. When I bought this one a few months ago I also received a product called Bi-Facil which removes product from the eye area, you simply apply some on to a cotton pad and it removes all product from your eye in a matter of seconds! It is quite oily, so I always wash my face after, but would recommend using this over wipes any day! I do normally use liquid eyeliner but since I ran out a few weeks ago I haven't have any time to buy some! 

Next on to the cheeks, I have a blush from Sephora (If you have never been to Sephora it is makeup heaven, sadly they only have stores in Paris and America, I think maybe us makeup girls should start a petition as the UK really needs one!! #rantnotover) This blush is very pigmented so you literally need the tiniest amount and I know it is going to last me years! The other is my bronzer from Illamasqua, again this is so pigmented that sometimes I am affraid to use it, you can put the smallest amount on your brush and BAM, you have been tangoed, well it's not that bad but you have to be so very careful!!

My favorite thing in the whole wide world... Lipstick!! These are my collection of the best lipsticks I have come across recently. Sephora (on the far right) is a beautiful dark red in shade Rouge RO3, this is strictly used for nights out or occasions only! It literally sticks to your lips, it does not come off all night!! The lipstick in the middle if Bourjois which I done a review on here. The lipstick on the far left is a bright red lipstick from Revlon, the shade number is not actually on the lipstick so i can't tell you which shade it is :( these two lipsticks are my everyday lipsticks. Finally, the Kryolan Lips N' Cheek stain is actually from my professional kit but I loved it so much it has sneakily moved into my own makeup kit ;) It's a very natural colour, I believe the this one is in the colour Rose. A lot of makeup artist have been raving about this product recently, it really is beautiful.

Before finishing off my makeup, I sometimes add a touch of High Beam By Benefit around the cheek and brow bone to highlight. I don't use this everyday, mainly for occasions or for a night out, it really is a brilliant product for highlighting, and lasts forever so worth the money, it retails at £19.50.

Thank you for staying to read 'What's In My Makeup Bag' I hope you enjoyed and found some tips useful. Feel free to ask any questions and I am still new to the blogging world so if you have any tips please feel free to comment :)

Sam xxx

Rise Of The Golden Princess

How stunning are these images for for Luke Woodford Abandoned Fashion Series, called Rise of The Golden Princess. Karla Powell created the makeup look which left me speechless. The eyes are beautiful, I absolutely LOVE the gold leaf effect, and I see that Karla Powell uses that often. I also find the texture created on the models forehead so interesting, i am not sure if that is just using gold leaf or if something else has been added to the skin. I cannot wait until the next installment of Luke Woodford Abandoned Fashion Series. Every images inspires me to work harder and get to that stage in my career where I can be apart of a team that creates such beautiful images! Life would be amazing :) 

Sam