Category Archives: beauty products

We’ve got a serious public service announcement: professional makeup application is available at Benefit boutiques! We recently remembered this glorious fact & got super excited about it—especially as the holidays are approaching.

Having our makeup done is the ultimate treat for special occasions, important parties (hello, crush!) & when we need a little beauty refresh. And we always learn SO MUCH from the super-talented Benefit beauty artists. Curious about getting glam by a professional? Read on about our recent experience at the Fillmore boutique in San Francisco.

Good news! You can now book appointments ONLINE for a range of services, like waxing, spray-tanning & makeup application. We made one for the following day, then breezed right in to meet our beauty artist Amanda. We learned that we wouldn’t just pay for the makeup application service—instead, we could buy three full-size products and then have our makeup done for free! You can either replace some staple items (we chose they’re real! liner, hoola, and majorette—in case you were wondering) or wait until after your makeup consultation to pick up faves used on your look.

Because Amanda is, clearly, a mystical sorceress of makeup, we decided to let her work her magic on us without specific direction. But feel free let your beauty artist know about your upcoming special occasion, or a look you’re after (a sexy, smokey eye, perhaps). On us, she used hoola and watt’s up! to lift and contour our face, rockateur to make us glow and the perfect, subtle they’re real! liner wings to make our eyes pop. She topped it off with a few coats of they’re real! mascara and OMG! The makeup was sooo major—we still looked like us, just like a better, glow-y, super-fine version of us.

If you’re looking to pair your makeup application with other Benefit services—because getting waxed and airbrush tanned are both necessities for a party-ready regimen—try to plan ahead. It’s totally fine to get tanned immediately before a makeup appointment, but we suggest making any wax appointments the day before. Amanda told us that appointments aren’t necessary, but she did warn us that during the busy seasons (like holiday!), it’s best to call ahead or book an online appointment to ensure you’re accommodated.

To be fair, we’re totes obsessed with all things Benefit, but everything about this experience was beyond. Will you be heading to Benefit soon to get a professional makeupper?

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Heirloom Mix

If you’re ready to go bold with your beauty, you’re in the right place with MAC Heirloom Mix. I have a few bits and bobs from the collection to swatch, and they are sumptuous! MAC Heirloom Mix is a big collection launching in November (wait til you see their gifting sets – the best ever, I think) and it’s all about luxe and lustre. (Actually it’s all about anti-antique and a contemporary spin on aristocratic allure, but you know.. bit of a stretch.)

MAC Heirloom Mix Pure Pigments

MAC Heirloom Mix Pure Pigments are so, so shimmery – full on light catchers that illuminate the lid. I have Regal Affair (a silver white) and Prim & Proper (a pewter shade) above.

MAC Heirloom Mix

The black packaging has also been shot through with shimmer. The two lip shades I have to show you are Salon Rouge (red matte) and No Faux Pas (matte hot pink). If I tell you that I cannot get the swatch marks off my arm after three cleanses, then you’ll realise this is above and beyond on pigment. I’ve also got the Cremesheen Glass in Courting Chic (tried it on, terrified my postman) which is a deep, deep berry red packed with golden glimmers.

MAC Heirloom Mix

The MAC Heirloom Mix selection is very adventurous – so dramatic and graphic – there’s a dark prune liner that I want to try called Prunella. I think you have to pick and choose carefully from this selection – it’s drama at every step and there’s only so much one face can take! The collection hits all MAC counters and on-line in November.

The post MAC Heirloom Mix appeared first on British Beauty Blogger.

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I went to my Mum’s for the weekend and in a quiet little moment to myself, thought I’d film a “What’s in my Makeup Bag” video. I haven’t done one in ages and I wanted to show you some of my current essentials, though I am something of a creature of habit and so you’ll have seen lots of the items before! The MV Organic Skincare moisturiser for a start – I literally don’t go anywhere without it, now. It seems to work on my pregnancy skin as a kind of multi-purpose salve, soothing everything from the itchy rash that keeps coming up on my lower shins to the little red patch that appears on my chin at regular intervals. And you’ve seen me bashing on about the Chanel foundation loads now: it’s just marvellous. So easy to use, such a great matte-but-glowy finish. No need to powder and doesn’t cling to flaky bits.

The makeup brushes shown are all total gems: the new Real Techniques “Bold Metals” shadow brush, their handy Duo Fibre Brush (brilliant for applying cheek colour with a light touch) and the Zoeva foundation brush with dense, stumpy bristles that just seem to buff your base into the most perfect finish. Only the Bold Metals is new to me; the other two have been staple tools for a while, now. I can highly recommend any of them for foolproof makeup application – I really must do a brush video, I have been meaning to for ages!

Here’s the vid – if you can’t be bothered to watch (please do: I’ve managed to shoot it using the most unflattering angle possible, it’s quite something. I’ve instantly gained around eight pounds, just on my face) then all of the product links are detailed below.

The post What’s In My Makeup Bag? appeared first on A Model Recommends.

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Lavender Three Ways. Lavender Three Ways! Have I actually just written that down as a title? I’ll get up really early and change it to something better.

If you’re reading this, I didn’t get up really early to change it to something better. I sat and watched a few episodes of Episodes (brilliant television series with Matt Leblanc, thank you Sam and Nic from Pixiwoo for that recommendation) and then read some of my book in bed and then fell asleep. So, lavender three ways, we are stuck with you. Good job I like lavender! I actually bloody love lavender. Not so much in perfumes or bodycare but most definitely in candles and bath oils and pillow sprays and other sleep-inducing things. I rarely have trouble falling asleep, but if I’m feeling highly-strung and my mind is doing that terrible whirring thing, I have a bit of a soak in the bath and add an oil or milk or foam (three ways, see!) to help me relax. (The ultimate relax potion is Aromatherapy Associate’s Deep Relax oil, but it didn’t have “lavender” in the name so it wasn’t allowed into my photograph. You can find it online here; it’s pricey, but you need just a tiny capful at a time. It’s very potent stuff. You wouldn’t want to operate heavy machinery after a dose of Deep Relax!)

Pictured above we have NEOM’s Tranquility, an organic bath foam with English Lavender, Sweet Basil and Jasmine, and then Dr Hauschka’s Moor Lavender Calming Bath Essence and Weleda’s Lavender Bath Milk. All of them are top-notch; soothing on the mind, kind to the skin. The scent of the NEOM foam is just exquisite – and don’t be put off by the idea of a foam, it’s not a skin-shrivelling synthetically-fraranced bubble bath! It’s not the most moisturising of lavender “ways”, but it’s certainly not drying. It’s £22 for 200ml from Selfridges here – I seem to have the old packaging, but the new is equally posh.

Browse other lavender-scented things…

The Moor Lavender from Dr Hauschka was a bit of a surprise when I first used it; I assumed that it would be an oil, but the texture is creamy and smooth. Whatever it is (they call it an “essence”) it smells gorgeous and you don’t need very much at all to turn your bathroom into a heavenly relaxation area. You can also add a few drops to an oil burner to scent a room, I’ve tried this with a few of my bath oils now and it works quite well! Find Dr H’s Lavender online here – it’s £16 for 100ml.

Last of the Lavender Three Ways; Weleda’s Bath Milk. I have recommended this a number of times and will recommend it again; it’s reasonably cheap (£12.50 f0r 200ml, here) smells beautiful and feels like a proper treat. I’ve just seen that Amazon have this for £6.06 for a 200ml bottle, here, which makes the whole situation even better. Has anyone bought beauty stuff from Amazon? I’m assuming that the Prime vendors are all verified and touting legitimate wares? I must do some research on that, but if anyone has any info then do let me know in the comments below.

More bath oils and unguents… 

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