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Hey gorgeous people I hope you had a brilliant Halloween and Guy Fawkes night, this year seems to be flying over now and everywhere I look it seems Christmas is fast approaching, which is fantastic!

My post today is a ‘What I Wore’ for a family day out to Fremantle

The navy and white striped skirt and white cropped top are both from Dotti, I saw them hung together in the shop and loved them as an outfit. I’m also wearing flat white sandals from Forever New and a dark denim jacket also Forever New.

I used bumble and bumble hairdressers secret oil in my hair then curled it with my straightening iron, I ran my fingers through so it had a waved effect rather than tight curls.

My make up is NARS Sheer Glow Foundation MECCA, MAYBELLINE Instant Age Rewind Eraser Concealer Priceline, NARS Orgasm Blush MECCA, Bobbi Brown Bronzing Powder in Golden Light BOBBI BROWN and MAYBELLINE Lash Sensational Mascara Priceline.

Sophie is wearing the girls kinetic 3/4 leggings, t-shirt and zip through hoodie all from Target kids sportswear with her DC neon hi-tops.

The weather was a little overcast but we all had a lovely day. Fremantle always has free things to see and do for kids and lots of bustling street entertainment. I always feel like I’m on holiday when were strolling around, especially on a weekend when the markets are all set up. We’ve had brunch at a few of the cafes on the strip now and it’s one of my absolute favourite things to do. It’s hard to describe the vibe, but if you like vegan, or granola, tie dyed clothing or anything with a relaxed hippy type feel you would love Fremantle.

As always hanks for reading and I hope you all have a lovely weekend whatever you’re up to.

Nicola x

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If I Could Only Pick One…

If I were to go on vacation somewhere exotic these items are the ones certain to make it onto the trip.

Bow Trim Wash Bag Ted Baker

Base / Foundation Vitalumiere Aqua CHANEL

Radiant Creamy Concealer NARS

Eyeshadow Palette NUDE ON NUDE BOBBI BROWN

Bronzer Matte Bronze M.A.C

Blush Diorskin Rosy Glow Dior

The Ted Baker makeup bags not only look exceptional on your bathroom shelf, they are waterproof, roomy and remain in their rigid shape, fantastic for keeping your makeup in tact. I have this smaller pink and gold number as well as the larger version which I use to hold my deodorant and skin care. They are 9 months old and look brand new so I would defiantly recommend them.

Chanel Vitalumiere Aqua has cult rave reviews, and rightly so. The luminous, dewy, finish and light to medium build-able coverage makes this a fuss free and reliable holiday option. The truly second skin look and feel of this foundation are perfect for achieving a fresh and glowing base. The low spf of 15 does not create too bad of a flash back for an evening, and for day time you could mix this with a higher sunscreen for better sun protection.

Nars Creamy Concealer and I have had a love hate relationship. I would not bandy about the word creamy when in my opinion it is in-fact an incredibly thick and dry consistency. It always creased on me no matter how I applied it or what I set it with but as it was not cheap I persevered and have found a way to get on with it. I apply this slightly below the socket of my eye, a few tiny dabs and then over extremely thick moisturiser buff in the concealer with my real techniques setting brush. With the lightest hand imaginable I hover a tiny amount of my hourglass ambient lighting powder over it and voila. For hot weather when the skin is effervescent shall we say it will work even better and the coverage is amazing so you really can achieve a flawless base with this product.

Bobbi Brown NUDE ON NUDE Palette is a real golden goddess eye shadow option. I did a swatch post on this palette at the weekend if you fancy a more in-depth look at it. A beautiful and incredibly holiday appropriate must have.

A bronzer that flatters your skin tone is a must. Especially if like me, you have been diligently wearing a hat and factor 50 to avoid further wrinkles and sun damaged skin and as a result your face is now a wildly different colour to the rest of your body ( I’m not alone here… ??) I always come back to M.A.C bronzer, I use it to bronze, contour my face, as an eye shadow and to slim my nose, it is well loved.

Healthy Glow Booster Blush is designed to universally suit all skin tones. It reacts to the moisture in the skin to custom develop and create a naturally flattering shade custom fit to each wearer. Now that is some blush if you ask me. It is easy to apply a light natural flush of colour and it can also be built up be for an evening for a more intense pop of colour.

The next items are hypnose Mascara Lancome

Addict Lip gloss in Sparkle 2015 Holiday Limited Addition Dior

Creme Cup Lipstick M.A.C

Prep and Prime Fix + Spray M.A.C

Prep and Prime Highlighter Radiant Rose M.A.C

Hypnose mascara is one of those ‘why did I never try this before now??!’ items. One layer of this defines, separates and coats each lash for a fluttery look, another coat and you have full on false lash effect. It never looks clumpy, never gives me panda eyes and apart from when I’m running close to the expiration date does not flake.

M.A.C Creme Cup is my holy grail lipstick. I adore it. I’ve been wearing this for years and I love the look and feel of it on my lips. It is a cremesheen finish, and a blue based pink. I have blue eyes and a cool undertone and I think this suits me all year round, but especially with a tan.

Fix + is just fantastic for all stages of makeup application. My favourite use is as a spritz at the end of a full face to dial things back and tie everything together. I do have quite the heavy hand when it comes to contour blush and highlight and a few pumps of this blends everything together.

Radiant Rose has a salmon pink colour which counteracts dark circles as well as adding a highlighted effect under the eyes, on top of cheek bones and down the nose. This has more coverage than touche éclat, which makes it more versatile and if I had children that slept through the night this would be the only concealing product I would use.

I hope you liked this little product review post and if you have any holy grail products I’d love to hear about them.

Thanks for reading gorgeous people, as always Nicola x

BOBBI BROWN NUDE ON NUDE Eyeshadow Palette

 What a divine palette. There is no look, season or occasion that this would not be perfect for, it truly is Just Gorgeous.

I received this as a gift and I am absolutely over the moon with it, so that may have tinted my view but I think these 12 shades are so incredible I would have been just as happy if I’d gotten this as a treat for myself.

Firstly the packaging, all black and sleek with a firm closing lid is right up my street. It is sturdy enough for a busy life and still looks luxurious on a vanity or muji drawer.

There are cool and warm shades and a good mixture of matt and shimmery shadows. I don’t wear glitters on my eyes often and have been leaning towards all matt palettes lately, but because these are so buttery and soft they add a sheen or a slight sparkle without looking too chunky.

‘Ivory’, the top left shade is a perfect base shade or highlight. ‘Espresso’, bottom right is fantastic in the lash line for a softer liner option and I love ‘Naked’, 2nd row 2nd column, for my crease colour / transitional shade. I take ‘Truffle’ the shade under ‘Naked’ on a pencil brush under my lower lash line to add depth to the eye and make them look bigger and ‘Birch’, the shade above ‘Espresso’ in the outer v of my eye and slightly blend it out to elongate the eye.

I could not get Ivory to swatch at all, but as soon as I dip my brush in, the colour picks up beautifully, it is a matt off white eye shadow. The shades from right to left are Chiffon a sparkle, Golden Pink a metallic and Graphite also a sparkle.

The Second row is Gold, sparkle, Naked, matte, Nude Beach, metallic and Birch, matt. As you can see the glitters shadows are not super pigmented and give more of a wash of colour so they are great to layer over the matt shades, while the metallics make the shadows underneath them look almost wet. The third row has Smokey Topaz, metallic, Truffle a matt, Golden Bronze, metallic and Espresso also matt. 

I have the feeling this was a limited edition palette however all the colours can be purchased as separates or you can custom make your own Bobbi Brown palette, with your favourite shades. I have just seen the ‘Greige’ palette while I was finding links, oh my goodness that’s going on my list to swatch, it looks incredible. If you’ve managed to bag that please leave a link to your website below.

Thanks for reading gorgeous people,

Till next time, Nicola x

The Smokey Eye…Just Practice

This is from a while ago when one of the most beautiful people I know agreed to let me practice on her

@shauna.mua is a free lance makeup artist working in WA, i know I’m bias but I can’t recommend her enough. Go follow her Instagram and check out her work.

Here we spent the whole day practicing the ever coveted Smokey Eye

Here are a few tips and tricks we have picked up since then, on clients and in class.

Start with the eyes

Fall out (my old foe) is the pitts, it turns all concealer and foundation that came before it turgid, and it can turn any eye design into an unsightly mess. If you are going for a full on vampy black look start your makeup look with your eyes then any fall out can be easily wiped away, less mess, less stress.

Find a primer that works for you

I am an Urban Decay Primer Potion junkie, but e.l.f has a great eye lid primer at a fraction of the cost, there are lots of others on the market.
If you have oily, dry or normal lids a primer will help this look stay put for longer so you look the bomb for longer

Colour in the whole socket with black eyeliner

This will help the black eyeshadow to stick and intensify the colour. All black eye shadows I have tried are not as pigmented as some of their brown counterparts and they need a little help.

Yes you will have to spend longer taking your makeup off, but eye makeup removers such as BioDerma melt everything away in minutes and a few extra minutes is worth it, to look so much more intense

It will look horrific at the beginning and middle…

…but keep going.

Tap off the brush
Pat the eyeshadow on all over the lid,
blend,
repeat.

Polish off the look

Add a good black mascara and a gel or liquid liner to define the eyes and fill in any spaces between the lashes.
Fill in brows, and don’t be frightened to go darker with them than you normally would as dark eyes looks amazing with strong brows to frame them.
It is not the quickest or simplest look but it is certainly the most dramatic the best known, it is perhaps the only eyeshadow look my boyfriend knows.

Practice, practice, practice

You will not be amazeballs the first second or maybe fifth time you try this out but you will get better, and as with everything, practice makes perfect.

My Top Picks

Shadows

Urban Decay Naked Basics Eye Shadow Palette MECCA
Sleek I-Divine Eye Shadow Palette Sleek
Shany Cosmetics Smokey Eye Palette Shany Cosmetics

Black Liners

BOBBI BROWN Long-Wear Gel Eyeliner BOBBI BROWN
STILA Stay All Day Waterproof Liquid Eye liner MECCA
Urban Decay 24/7 Liner in Perversion MECCA

However you wear your smokey eye, you rock that!

All for now,

Have a gorgeous day xxx