MAC Lightscapade | Review

Having never owned a powder highlighter before, I was absolutely desperate to try one out! I'd seen a few reviews and Youtube videos of people using MAC's 'Soft and Gentle', I thought I'd browse what else they had and I didn't really fancy something so bronzed looking. I saw a picture of 'Lightscapade', and instantly fell in love. It looked like the perfect dusty, sparkly white I was looking for in a highlighter, and it was immediately on my Christmas list. My sister was kind enough to fulfill one of my Christmas wishes, and got it for me.

Applying it with a standard powder brush to the places I knew should typically be highlighted (above my cheekbones, above my brow bone and my cupids bow)I wasn't really sure how I felt about the product.

Another item on my Christmas list was a fan brush, and my good friend Lauren (check her blog out here, it's awesome) was kind enough to get me a Smashbox one from Boots.

I was super excited to try these two together, and when I did I was extremely happy.

The brush perfectly distributes the highlighter across your cheekbones, brow bones and cupids bow, carrying the perfect amount of product on it so not to look overbearing, but still noticeable.

Lightscapade really is a gorgeous highlighter, with silver glitter in its dusty white powder with blue and bronze undertones. In the picture I have swotched it on my hand, but the lighting is bad and it is a very subtle highlight.

Before Lightscapde

After Lightscapde

Although it's really subtle, you can see the difference between the before and after pictures, and when the product catches various different lights (which unfortunately I can't capture on camera) it really is lovely. You can see that my top lip looks fuller, and my cheekbones are definitely more glowing.

If you are looking for a subtly sparkly glow and highlight, I would definitely recommend Lightscapde. It applies beautifully, it would compliment any skin tone because it's so subtle and neutral and it is definitely not choppy. Just elegantly smooth, silky and long lasting. It's been a pleasure to highlight with for the first time.

What highlighters would you recommend?

Dani Alexandra
Xoxo

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This January I'm Loving....Nude Nails

After the gold, red and glitteryness of my Christmas nails, I'm really loving the plain old nude look this January. 

  

I'm loving pairing them with my simple Pandora rings (black rose and May birth stone) and Pandora bracelet. I just think it's a really subtly classic look, as well as being a little bit out there and vibrant with the length and shape. Can't be too boring after all...

Dani Alexandra

Xoxo

Dark Pink Cool Eyeshadow Look Using Naked 3

I am in no way a pro at doing eye shadow, quite the opposite actually, a complete beginner! But I've been experimenting and I quite like how this look turned out, so if you wanna know how I did it, keep reading! It is really super simple and easy and I've only used 2 shades!
I started off by priming my entire eyelids with the Urban Decay Eyeshadow Priming Potion that my Naked 1 pallet came with.



I then take the shade Nooner from Naked 3 and use a Sigma E40 Tapered Blending Brush to put the product into the outer corner of my crease and then just blend it along the line of my crease up to the middle using windscreen wiper motions.

          

          

I then take the shade 'Strange' and use a Sigma E55 Eye Shading Brush and dab the product from the inner corner of my eye up to where Nooner starts. I focus more of the product on my inner corner so that it's most pigmanted there. I then blend every out with a Sigma E25 Blending Brush.

          

          

When I do eye shadow, I always do it before my face make up as it makes it easier when there is fall out. I do the rest of my eye make up after my face make up though.

On my face, I'm wearing:
Benefit POREfessional
Clarins Superprimer Colour Corrects Dullness
Clarins Superbalanced Foundation in 03 Ivory
NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer in Custard
Bobbi Brown Sheer Finish Loose Powder in 5 Soft Sand
NARS Bronzer in Laguna
Bourjois Blusher in Healthy Mix
Rimmel Eyebrow Pencil in Black Brown
Mac Lightscapade (Highlighter)

After adding a line of W7 Paint the Line Liquid Liner to my lash line, and Benefit Bad Gal Pencil Eyeliner to the corners of my upper and lower waterline, I then use 2 coats of Benefit They're Real Mascara on my lashes and lower lashes, and that's my eyes done!

          

I finish the look by lining my lips with MAC Half Red Lip Liner and Mac Mehr Lipstick as I think this colour goes so beautifully with the eye shadow!



And after using Urban Decay Chill Make Up Setting Spray so that nothing budges for a while, that's it...!





Hope you enjoyed!
Dani Alexandra
Xoxo

OOTD

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Dani Alexandra

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Daily 'Off To Work' Makeup

Because I work in a supermarket, I don't like to go too OTT with how I do my makeup day-to-day, although the makeup-oholic in me still can't resist waking up an hour and a half before I need to leave to spruce up. 

This is generally the look I wear when going to work and as you can see there isn't anything too dramatic going on. No eyeshadow, no dramatic lips and a subtle wash of colour on my cheeks

These are all the products and brushes used to create this look, and I'll list them in the order I used them:

Benefit POREfessional

Clinique Superprimer Colour Corrects Dullness

Clinique Superbalanced Foundation in 03 Ivory

Sigma F80 Flat Kabuki Brush

NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer in Custard

Sigma F70 Concealer Brush

Bobbi Brown Sheer Finish Loose Powder in 5 Soft Sand

EcoTools Bamboo Powder Bruah

NARS Bronzer in Laguna

NARS Its Kabuki #21 Brush

Bourjois Blusher in Healthy Mix

Rimmel Eyebrow Pencil in Black Brown

W7 Paint The Line Liquid Liner Black

Benefit Bad Gal Pencil Liner

Benefit They're Real Mascara

Elf Lip Balm (I'm sorry, it's really old and faded and I can't find it online now to give more details!)

Mac Lightscapade

Sigma F40 Large Angled Contour Brush

So I start off by priming my t-zone with POREfessional to minimize the look of my pores as this is where they are the worst. I focus it around the creases of my nose cause they are really huge there! I then go in with my Clinique Primer and prime my whole face, including my t-zone. I just squeeze it onto my hand and give it a little rub with my index finger before I apply to warm the product up. Now onto my Clinique Foundation which again I just pour onto my hand and dab with my Sigma F80 then apply to my face with a mixture of dabbing, swiping and circular motions. This brush blends in makeup super easy so is doing all the work for you! Now time for the NARS Concealer which I dot under my eye. I blend in the very very underneath of my eye with my Sigma F70 then just use my ring finger to dab in the concealer to the darkest parts of my black circles. I also put the concealer up my forehead and down my nose which I blend with my F80, and around the creases of my nose and on any blemishes, which I blend with my F70. Now time to set everything with my Bobbi Brown Powder and EcoTools Brush and I just start but dabbing it all around my eyes to stop any creasing. Then I dab a good amount all around my t-zone and then lastly, just enough to set the makeup on the rest of my face. After I've dabbed it all on I just gently swipe the brush all over my face with no product on to make sure it's all nicely blended in. 

I now contour my cheekbones and forehead with my NARS Bronzer and NARS Kabuki Brush by just swiping the brush down my cheekbones in the line between the top of my ears and the corner of my mouth (I don't go all the way down, sort of up to where my pupil starts if I'm looking straight on). I then frame my face up towards my forehead and then down my forehead, bringing the product on the side of my forehead down more than the product in the middle. I then use my Bourjouis Blusher with the little brush it comes with on the apples of my cheeks and bring it up my contour line. I blend everything out really well with my EcoTools Brush because I don't want any harsh lines and just want a subtle contour for work. 

Next I fill in my eyebrows with my Rimmel Eyebrow Pencil and I don't really have a particular technique in how I do this, I just go with how it turns out that day! Obviously I aim to keep them thicker in the middle of my face, gradually getting thinner on the outside, and I don't really have an arch so I try my best to sort of curve them off. I hate really harsh angles at the beginning of my brows (although I think that looks great on other people), so I try to blend the product there with a cotton bud, my finger or the little brush thing that the pencil comes with.

Now onto my eyes which is really really quick, simple and easy! I start with W7 Liquid Liner. I literally just draw the thinnest line possible, not from the very corner, but close enough, all the way to the outer corner of my eyes. If I have time or can be bothered with the hassle I'll do flicks, but I couldn't be assed today so I didn't. With my Benefit Pencil Liner I'll sometimes line my entire waterline (top and bottom), but today I just opted for the outer corners. I think it just adds something nice, and makes my eyes look a little bigger. Mascara is super easy because Benefit's They're Real is amazing. I just do 2 coats from inner to outer corner, top and bottom. That's it. The mascara does the work for you. 

 

Almost there! I just use this Elf Lip Tint balm thing obviously on my lips to give them a little pop of colour and life, nothing too obvious and I wouldn't really get the chance to reapply lipstick at work so wearing a full blown lipstick would be a bit risky (hello bitty-ness)! 

I finish off by highlighting with Mac Lightscapade and a Sigma F40 Brush just above and below my brows, down my nose, above my cheekbones and on my cuspids bow. I don't go too crazy with this, literally just dab and a quick swipe kinda situation and VOILA. I am done.....once I've sprayed my face with Urban Deacy All Nighter Setting Spray to hold everything in place as much as I possibly can for a day of stacking shelves. 

Hope you enjoyed!

Dani Alexandra

Xoxo

OOTD

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Dani Alexandra

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December Favourites

There isn't actually that much this December i've really really loved (not worth mentioning anyway), but these are the products that do deserve to be acknowledged because I have absolutely LOVED them. Sorry about the quality of the pictures, I'm new to this!

From left the right:
1. NARS bronzer in "Laguna"
2. MAC lipstick in "So Chaud"
3. Soap and Glory "Butter Yourself" Moisture Lotion
4. Benefit "They're Real" Mascasa
5. Urban Decay "Naked 3" Eye Shadow Pallet
6. Benefit "POREfessional" Primer
7. Philosophy "Purity" 3-in-1 Facial Cleanser
8. Soap and Glory "Hand Food"
9. Sigma "F80 Flat Kabuki" Brush


NARSBRONZER: I think this bronzer is amazing! It's the perfect tone for my skin, not appearing at all muddy with gorgeous golden tones in it which catch the light beautifully. Because it's quite subtle, it's great as an all over bronze (I have swatched it on my hand but because my lighting and camera are awful you can't really see!). I love using it to contour my cheeks and forehead though, and it is SO easy to blend, I'm telling you, it's like a dream. No harsh lines when contouring with this baby! Thank you NARS!


MACLIPSTICK: This lipstick is so gorgeous, being such a nice combination of red and orange. You can pack it on loads giving a really dramatic look, or gently dab it on creating a nice tint of colour. I've loved using this all month, with it being Christmas and all, and I think it's been a nice change from the standard bright red lip, with that slight orange tone making it just a little bit quirky and different. I love MAC lipsticks in general, they don't leave my lips feeling dry and just stay on so nicely. I've loved using this with their "Ablaze" lip pencil. Thumbs up MAC!

SOAPANDGLORYMOISTERIZER: For Christmas I got from my Mum Soap and Glory's "the Yule Monty" set, and I have been loving the Butter Yourself moisturizer. It smells so fruity and delicious, I've actually been tempted to eat it. Clearly I haven't, but yeah....It's got all different fruity ingredients in it including mango and fig, so obviously amazing for your skin. It feels so soft going on, dries really quickly and leaves my skin feeling and smelling amazing!



BENEFITMASCARA: I used to absolutely live by fake eyelashes, like I literally wore them everyday, even just to go to work (I work at Waitrose), but this mascara has changed my life. I have quite long eyelashes anyway, I just liked to wear lashes for the thickness. But now so so much time is saved every morning because of this mascara. People constantly ask me if my lashes are real. They look long, they look thick, it's just amazing. The wand has a sort of spiked end as well which I think makes separating my bottom lashes and getting into the inner corner lashes so much easier. If you're a lashoholic, give this mascara a try and you will be converted. Amen.



URBANDECAYPALLET: I got this and the first Naked for Christmas, my first decent eye shadow pallets, woohoo. Oh my god I love these colours! I didn't know if the underlining rose tones would look very good on me, and of course it's very easy to achieve the infamous "i'vejustbeenpunched" look, but nope, not at all! They are so pretty and have such a great mix of matte and shimmer shades. I love putting the matte shade "limit" (fourth one in) over my whole lid, and then blending shimmery "trick" (sixth shade) into my crease. They're so pigmented and easy to work with, and being an eye shadow beginner I am loving experimenting with this pallet.

BENEFITPRIMER: I use POREfessional to prime my T-zone, focusing on my nose and the creases around my nose because my pores there are huge! This is so good at hiding that though, like literally the second I apply it my pores are gone and it just makes my foundation go on so much more nicely and last longer, and yeah, I just love this product!

PHILOSOPHYCLEANSER: I saw this cleanser used by a Youtuber I follow called Jaclyn Hill and thought i'd give it a try because I haven't found a good cleanser yet, and I'm in love. As you can see in the picture I got the smaller bottle and next time I will be getting the biggest that money can buy because I will be using this cleanser forever! It feels so smooth and light on your face, not at all irritible, and when I say it gets every piece of make up, I mean every single little piece, and that's with like zero scrubbing effort. And not too mention, my complextion is like a zillion times better since I started using this.

SOAPANDGLORYHANDCREAM: In true Soap and Glory style, hand food smells delicious. It has shea butter, macadamia oil and marshmallow in it, again some great ingredients to keep skin soft and hydrated. Ever since I started using this, my hands have been amazingly soft, smelling gorgeous and like zero dry skin, which I used to have quite a bit of in the areas between my fingers. Another great product by Soap and Glory.



SIGMAFOUNDATIONBRUSH: This is hands down the best foundation brush i've ever used. It has literally cut the time it takes me to do my foundation in half. The flat top means virtually zero streaking and it pretty much blends your foundation as you put it on your face which obviously makes life a million times easier! I think it's so much better than your standard style foundation brush and blends a lot better than a stippling brush. It's just an absolute winner for me!


Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed and see you soon!
Dani Alexandra
xoxo