End Of March Beauty Wishlist

My wishlist is pretty extensive and expensive for the end of this month, and I for sure won't be getting it all (unless I want to not leave the house for the rest of the month). But here is my March 2014 wishlist!

MAC Eyeshadows in 'Orange' and 'Ricepaper'


MAC Pigment in 'Rose'


Two Face Shadow Insurance Glitter Glue


LOreal Paris True Match Foundation


Collection Lasting Perfection Ultimate Wear Concealer


Tanya Burr Lip Gloss in 'Afternoon Tea'


Clinique Ginger Pop Blusher


Real Techniques Core Collection Brushes


NARS Sheer Glow Foundation


Smashbox Bronzer in Sun Tan Matte


Revlon ColorBurst Matte Balm in 'Mischievious'


Dani Alexandra
Xoxo

Rimmel Wake Me Up Foundation | Review

I wanted to get a drugstore 'cheap' foundation to use as my everyday one so that I could save my more expensive ones for special occasions, I'm not made of money after all and was pretty much using my YSL one so much, you woulda thought foundation was going out of fashion! I heard good things about the Rimmel Wake Me Up Foundation, and at £8.99 for a bottle, as well as a Rimmel 3 for 2 offer at Boots, I thought why the hell not!




Coverage- Medium to Full
Longevity- Long
Price Range- £
My Rating- ♥♥♥


I really don't have a lot to fault about this product. It's cheap, it applies and blends nicely, and it lasts pretty much all day.

In terms of its lifespan, I'm not too sure as I only got it at the end of last month, but I will say that I've used it pretty much everyday since, and there still seems to be a fair amount left.

I like the coverage because it is pretty full, depending on how much you apply. I probably use about a pump and a half, starting with just one, directly onto my brush (Sigma F80) and dot it all over my face, then blend it in and repeat with another half pump or so if need be.



Although it is pretty natural looking as it isn't too matte or shiny (although powder is definitely essential because the consistency is quite watery) I wouldn't say it felt like the most light-weight foundation I've ever used; I'm definitely aware that it is on my face (well I did apply it so you would think so, but you get what I mean) and it does have a very slight sticky feel to it.

I apply, go to work for 9 hours, and when I get home I feel it has lasted the day pretty well, which I usually find very unusual with cheaper foundations. I do find my t-zone does feel slightly more oily as the day goes on with this foundation as oppose to higher-end ones, but that's nothing a little bit of powder won't fix, and lets face it, there are too many pros for this con to make me even care that much.

After reading about it on the Boots website, it apparently does all this good stuff to awaken skin and prevent aging, so that's gotta be good, right?

Overall, I'm really happy with this foundation, I think for the price it does so many great things. Definitely more of an Autumn/Winter foundation in my opinion, but I will repurchase as I think it's great to have in my kit, especially for those days where my skin is feeling a little more spotty, because I think the coverage is great.

Here are some before and after pictures of my oh so lovely face so you can get an idea of how it works. The after pictures are with literally just the foundation, no powder or anything. I use the shade Soft Beige.









Dani Alexandra
Xoxo

February Favorites

Better late than never! Not much majorly stood out for me in February, but keep reading to find out what did!



Lush Face Mask: Cosmetic Worrier

Seriously, can this weather piss off so that I can stop having SUCH bad skin. I wake up and I swear everyday a new, unsqeezable boulder had made a nice home on my face. It appears that my chin and forehead are prime locations. Fortunately, thanks to Lush's amazing face masks, my skin can become somewhat silky smooth and slightly less spotty. Give one of these masks a go. They make bath time so much more luxurious and relaxing, and my skin is getting a whole load of goodness at a time where it really needs it.

NARS Laguna Bronzer and Benefit Hula Bronzer

It is all about the bronzer at the moment. I mean if you live in the UK, you need a bronzer. We are in February, truly a time where the summer tans are completely gone and we are in no way getting any sort of sun to give us any kind of glow. A sheet of foundation is necessary for my to hide my pasty, spotty winter skin and in order to put a nice wash of colour back in my complexion I NEED bronzer. A bit of a cheekbone and forehead contour does the trick. And I'm loving these two at the mo. A lot of blending and you've got yourself a nice, natural, sun-kissed glow.

Sigma E40 and and E60 Brushes

These have definitely been my favorite brushes this month. The E40 has been great at subtly blending a little bit of bronzer into my creases, creating depth to my eyes and, of course, a bit of a summery glow, as well as blending out brighter colours really nicely, because who doesn't love wearing bright colours to brighten up these dim months? The E60 is great for setting my eye foundation/concealer. You can really get into every little crease and line and I've found that since I've started to use this opposed to a normal powder brush that my eye makeup doesn't crease or cake and lasts virtually the whole day!

Dove Summer Glow Nourishing Lotion and Clarins Liquid Bronze Self Tanning

Being tanned is important to me. Call me shallow, but I just don't feel nice if I'm not tanned. Don't get me wrong, if I could pull off the 'pale and interesting' look (and I so wish I could) I would rock it all the time, but alas, I don't. These are my 2 go-to fake tans which, at the moment I'm using a couple times a week. They're both gradual tanners which I love because neither of them streak, they give me a really nice glow, they don't go all weird and horrible as they fade, and you can control how dark you go depending on how often you apply it. I use the Dove on my body and the Clarins on my face and I actually think the Clarins makes my skin look so much clearer...Although that could just be colour.

Colgate ZigZag Toothbrush Scraper Thing
Bit of a random one, but I've been loving using the tongue scraper on the back of my toothbrush to exfoliate my lips! It really helps get your lips nice a smooth and rid them of any dead skin you may of inherited from the cold. Great for you lipstick lovers like me.

What were you loving in February?

Dani Alexandra
Xoxo

Happy Pancake Day :)

American style pancakes with brown sugar glazed crispy streaky bacon and maple syrup!















Recipe found here, except I oven cooked the bacon instead of frying!

What kind of pancakes did you have today??

Dani Alexandra
Xoxo

Lorde and Cara Delevingne Inspired Makeup

So after seeing a photo of Cara Delevingne with bright neon pink lips I was desperate to have a stab at copying the look. I also love Lorde's eye makeup in the "Royals" video so thought I'd have a go at putting the two together.





My attempt is no where near as good or perfect, but if you wanna know how I achieved it, then keep reading!




I started by priming my nose, as I always do, with Benefit Porefessional. Then using a Sigma F80 Flat Kabuki Brush I coated my face with a couple of layers of YSL Touche Eclat Foundation. Cara's skin is completely flawless and highlighted (probs thanks to a bit of airbrushing) so in attempt to achieve the same look I highlighted my forehead, cheekbones and cupids bow with YSL Touche Elcat and concealed my under eyes and any blemishes with NARS Creamy Concealer. I used my F80 to blend the Touche Eclat and my finger for the concealer. Then using a Sigma E60 Large Shader Brush and Rimmel Stay Matte Powder I set the makeup round my eyes, and set the makeup on my face using Bobbi Brown Sheer Loose Powder and a Sigma F30 Large Powder Brush.


Using the NARS Ita Brush and NARS Laguna Bronzer I contoured my cheeks and temples and then blended it out really well because I only wanted a really subtle contour. The I applied NARS Gina Blusher with a Sigma F50 Stippling Brush to achieve a really subtle sunkissed flush to the cheeks.


Using a Smashbox Fan Brush with MAC Lightscapade, I applied a generous amount of highlight to the center of my forehead as Cara is really highlighted there in this photo, and a little bit to the sides of my mouth (Excuse the AWFUL pictures, but hopefully you can see how my forehead is now glowing).


I drew my eyebrows in nice and thick as that's what Cara and Lorde's eyebrows are like in this look, with a Rimmel Eyebrow Pencil.


I dabbed a little bit of my Lightscapade using a Sigma E55 Shading Brush on the center and outside of my eye, then just drew a line of Topshop Gel Liner up towards my crease, then along my crease slightly with a Sigma E65 Small Angle Brush. Don't worry if it's a bit messy, we're gonna be blending like there's no tomorrow.


Then using the shade Creep in the Naked Palette and a Sigma E30 Pencil Brush I blended over those lines made with the gel liner. So much blending, just keep working it back a forth until it looks like how you want. And you literally only need the tinniest amount of creep because that gel liner acts as like a shadow when it's blended as well.


Then back with that E55 and the Naked shade Virgn, I just dabbed a little on the middle of my lid, swiping it slightly towards the outside. Then you wanna blend it all with a Sigma E40 Tapered Blending Brush. Just keep going backwards and forwards with the eyeshadows and various brushes until you get it how you want it. It took me a very long while and a lot of brush switching but I got there in the end! That E30 was my best friend by the end of it!


Then back with that E30 and a little bit more creep, I lined the underneath of my eye, focusing the most pigment on the outer corner. And then with Benefit Bad Gal Eye Pencil, I lined the outer corner of my waterline. Top and Bottom.


Eyes almost done! I then coated my upper and lower lashes with YSL Baby Doll Mascara (which smells AMAZING).


You can see in the photo of Cara that her lips are lined with a reddish lip liner so I just took MAC Ablaze to line my lips, then applied NARS Schiap Lipstick generously to my lips. Such a cool colour.

And that's it! I really hope this was clear and that you like the look! As always, sorry for the quality of the photos, I am gonna be getting a proper camera soon!








Dani Alexandra
Xoxo