Friday, September 30, 2016

THE PALE GIRL'S CONTOUR SHADE | BAHAMA MAMA THEBALM




As a fair-skinned lady, the most aggravating things about make up is finally purchasing THE contour powder that bloggers have been raving about and YouTubers have been praising, only to get it on my face and recoil in horror. It usually looks like I’ve wiped mud or fake tan under my cheekbone (neither options are ideal) and over the last couple of years I’ve been restricted to just two contour shades that don’t look whack AF. Aside from Illamasqua’s Heliopolis and NARS’s Laguna (with an extraordinarily light hand, I might add), every other contour shade has looked ridiculously obvious and silly. I still like to look at contour powders, despite my love-hate relationship with them, and stumbled upon theBalm’s Bahama Mama powder.

This is a contour like no other from a brand that I’m really beginning to love. theBalm is available online and in a few stores, but mine came from Superdrug and set me back a rather reasonable £15. The amount of product you actually get seems fair, I absolutely adore the packaging and you even get a decent sized mirror that isn’t warped at all (like so many are *eye roll*). What has really made me fall in love with Bahama Mama, though, is the actual tone of the shade. For many girls, they can slap on most contour shades. I even have friends who can just use bronzer as their contour! For us who resemble A4 paper, that simply won’t fly.

Bahama Mama has a distinct cool tone, and blends out under the cheekbone for the most natural shadowy-looking contour. I use mine with my Zoeva Rose Gold Face Paint Brush (don’t ask me why it’s called that, I have no idea) because it is slim and slides under the cheekbone to create a very chiselled, defined line. This contour slims my face really convincingly (Hazar! More doughnuts for me!) and I am starting to love contouring my nose, jaw line, under my bottom lip and temples for that real “I’m just casually giving myself plastic surgery on my face because I’m so talented at makeup” vibe. It’s not something I’ve been interested in doing before, but because this shade is so natural, it looks great and it flatters me in the loveliest of ways.

For those of you who struggle to find a decent contour shade because our genetics just didn’t want to play ball, then I’d recommend giving this a try. It’s a delicate, natural shade that blends out like a dream. I’ve also been using this as an eyeshadow because lets face it, if I’m paying £15 for something I want to be able to use it to contour, make tea with, hang my washing out on, drive it to university etc etc etc. But I am quite pleased with the value for money I got with this. Nothing but praise, well done theBalm!

Lots of love,
Jasmine x


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Tuesday, September 27, 2016

GREIGE IS LIFE | MAC STONE




For those of you who read my blog, it’ll come as no huge shock to you that I’m partial to a new MAC lipstick every now and again. My collection is slowly but surely growing, and MAC just keep on slinging new shades out that I don’t seem to be able to resist. Stone was one of MAC’s matte lipstick releases, and it had most of the internet screaming hysterically. It’s a beautiful shade of greige; the lovechild of beige and grey, but it is anything but neutral. I had a bit of a meltdown when I first saw the shade, but I must admit, I wasn’t sure if it’d be an easy one to pull off, so I held fire for a couple of months before deciding to splash the cash.

Handing over £15.50 to an impeccably made-up MAC employee is always going to be wince-inducing, but beauty is pain. I didn’t actually try this on in store before parting with my money. It was a bit of a Velvet Teddy situation where I KNEW it would be very close to being sold out when I actually found one in stock somewhere, so it’s more of a quick mission to get it out of the shop as quickly as possible – abandoning logic and rationalism at the same time.

MAC Stone disappointed me when I first got it home. I tried it on with the makeup I’d had on that day anyway and it just did NOT suit me, so I flung it in my makeup drawer and sort of forgot about it for a while. Then I saw some stunning makeup on a beauty blogger that I follow’s Instagram, and I realised she was wearing Stone. I went rummaging for it and, after completely plagiarising this girl’s face, was actually really impressed with the shade.

As always with MAC’s lipsticks, the finish is beautiful and the longevity is fab. MAC’s mattes are second to none with their velvety suede-feel and they don’t even suck the moisture out of your lips like so many other matte lipsticks do. I have found that a toned down eye in neutral smoky shades compliment this lipstick best, and it is so so SO easy to get this lip shade wrong, so I’m always a bit wary about which clothes I’m wearing and even what particular shade of silver my hair is on any given day. As usual, though, I rarely have anything negative to say about MAC products, except, of course, that they continue to test on animals and that really annoys me. I do adore their products, but for such an established brand that is bound to rake in millions of dollars a day, I don’t understand why they can’t pull their heads out from between their butt cheeks and figure this one out for themselves.

Lots of love,

Jasmine x

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Saturday, September 24, 2016

TOP 5 PRODUCTS | ZOEVA COSMETICS


The final part of my mini-series ‘Top 5 Products’ is a list of my absolute favourite products by Zoeva Cosmetics. I fell in love with Zoeva a long time ago when I purchased their Vegan Prime Brush Set. For a while, I didn’t even realise they did actual makeup, but when I did? Oh Lawd, did I have a slight heart attack! I immediately placed an order for some of their makeup, and then a few months later, decided to bite the bullet and splurge on the Rose Gold Vol 02 Brush Set. These are my Top 5 favourites by Zoeva!

Zoeva Naturally Yours Eyeshadow Palette
This palette was my go-to, everyday, trusty, noble steed of a palette for well over a month. That’s pretty good going for a fickle thing like me; I’m usually chopping and changing and I generally don’t stick to one palette for longer than a week or so. The shades are all neutrals, ranging from shimmering pale tones through to deep taupes and browns. There’s a makeup look in this palette for every single occasion imaginable, and it’s for that reason that I adore it.

Zoeva Cat Eye Pen
These eyeliner pens saved my entire life (no exaggeration) because I’m the most cack-handed div when it comes to liquid liner. Pens like this, especially this beautiful one by Zoeva, make it so easy to create sleek flicks. This pen is definitely one for someone who has used a lot of pens; it’s quite flimsy and therefore it can be quite easy to make a little error here and there. It’s quite like a brush, to be honest, and the formula is jet black and perfectly opaque.

Zoeva Luxe Color Blush in Shy Beauty
I wish I owned more blushes, but to be honest, I only ever buy shades that are identical to this one. Shy Beauty is a beautiful, peachy pink toned blush that looks natural and glowing. It blends wonderfully, stays all day and makes me look like I’ve got a natural flush of colour. It even has a really decent sized mirror in the compact lid too. Double points!

Zoeva Rose Gold Luxe Crease Brush
I’m not the most well versed individual in the eye brush department. I’m a sucker for fluffy brushes and can sort-of cope with angled brushes if I’m having a really good day. This crease brush makes amazingly light work of smoky eyes and I now use this pretty much most days. It blends powder eyeshadows out like a dream. Plus, look how beautiful it is!

Zoeva Rose Gold Buffer Brush
I already have a Buffer brush by Zoeva, and that’s why I knew I wanted to get the EXACT same one in the Rose Gold version. See? Logic! This brush is perfect for most of the foundations I use. NARS’s Sheer Glow Foundation demands a buffing brush, and so this brush makes my base look completely flawless. It’s also wonderful for concealers and liquid highlights. And again, it’s complete eye candy.

Lots of love,
Jasmine x


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Thursday, September 22, 2016

IN CASE YOU MISSED THEM | RECENT YOUTUBE VIDEOS






Hi guys! Just in case you’ve missed any of my recent YouTube videos, I thought I’d write a quick blog post so you can find them easily if you’d like to have a watch. They’ve been a little sporadic over the summer, but now I’m starting back at uni and I have my own flat to film in, I should be sticking to a much better routine. You can definitely expect more consistent content coming over the winter!
Let me know if you enjoy the videos!

Lots of love,
Jasmine x

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