There's only five weeks to go until Christmas (aaah!), so I reckon it's definitely time to start sticking up some fairy lights and thinking festive thoughts.
This time of year always brings parties, fancy work lunches, and the excuse to be a bit more glittery than normal, so here's a super easy makeup tutorial that should help you out if you're in a festive face fix!
I was very kindly gifted some makeup from
No7, so I could have a play around with their new
#TaDah makeup looks. To be honest, I think I always walk past No7 in the shops (it looks so grown up, and I still shop like a teenager!), but I'm a new convert - and some of the products are so easy to use, I feel almost a bit guilty for badging this as a tutorial.
For this look I used the following:
- Benefit Porefessional primer
- No7 concealer (in Deeply Ivory)
- No7 Stay Perfect foundation (in Deeply Ivory)
- No7 cream blush (in maple silk)
- No7 Instant Radiance highlighter
- No7 Stay Perfect Shade and Define eyeshadow pencil (in Glistening Ray)
- No7 Stay Precise liquid eyeliner
- No7 Lash Impact mascara
- No7 High Shine lip crayon (in Statement)
To start, I tidied up my eyebrows (using products from my
everyday makeup), moisturised and used my favourite Benefit primer to smooth out my skin. Then I used concealer and foundation - my skin gets quite dry easily, so I tend to look for a foundation that isn't too heavy (and doesn't mask my freckles!).
Once you've got your base down, dab some cream blush into your cheeks and blend in.
Take the highlighter stick and dot it on your cheekbones, your browbones, the inner corner of your eyes and down the centre of your nose! Less is more - with highlighter you are aiming for a lovely glow, rather than a twilight-esque sparkle (...I'm aware it's 2014 - can I still reference twilight? I'm going to say yeah. Yeah).
Then take the eyeshadow pencil and build the colour up on your eyelids, and along the lower lash line. This goes on quite sheer at first, but should build to a nice gold colour very quickly!
I get the rage with cream eyeshadows that crease quickly, so am pretty pleased with this guy - it did not budge at all and was still in place in the morning, after I'd fallen asleep with makeup on (shh, this is why I'm not a beauty blogger).
Now, line your lids with liquid eyeliner, flicking it out into a small cat's eye. If you aren't practised with liquid eyeliner,
this tutorial should help, or the pen-style eyeliners are great if you don't have a particularly practised hand.
Then, take your lip crayon and colour in your lips! This goes on quite light at first, but you can build up the colour as much as you want. And that's it! (told you it was easy).
I know it's a simple look, but I seriously love it. It's a pretty classic look and is just SO quick and easy to pull together - perfect if you are rubbish at makeup, or have ten minutes at your desk to descruff and turn into a more put-together human!
I'm seriously impressed with the lip crayon too. I love lipstick, but sometimes I can't be bothered with the faff of putting it on, worrying it's wearing off weirdly, only managing to reapply in perfect light, etc - so this product is perfect if you want a nice colourful lip, but don't want that hassle. Hooray!