BarryM Illuminating Strobe Cream

If there's one thing that took the beauty industry by storm, in the last year, it's STROBING. As we waved ta-ra to our matte finish products and stocked up on any highlighter we could get our hands on, it's clear to see this is very much still trending. From cream, powder and liquid highlighters, the list goes on and it can seem pretty overwhelming... which one should I use? Which brand is the best? What do I do with it?! Thankfully our beauty gurus are here to save the day with endless tutorials and social media posts. 

As the high end brands launched such items they've now trickled down into our more affordable high-street brands and I'm in love with BarryM Illuminating Strobe Cream! It's most comparable to my usual go-to Benefit Watts Up Highlighter however,surprisingly, I find it has a softer application and is more easily blend-able. It's light, velvety texture glides with ease and it's almost impossible to apply too much. Where as, I find, the Benefit Watts Up is too thick to apply directly from the stick; I always have to apply it with my fingers or a sponge. What I love most about this product is it's light enough to wear on a daily yet it's easily build-able, so you can achieve those Angelina cheek bones when hitting the town. 

The strobing cream comes in two shades, 'Frosty Pink, which is a cool toned pearly pink, perfect for my fellow pale faces and 'Iced Bronze' which is a champagne shade, for a golden glow and tan enhancer. If you're new to the strobing scene and looking to venture in, I'd definitely recommend this and did i mention? It's under a fiver!

Neeks ☯

2015 Fresh Spring Look

Aloha!

It came to my attention that I hadn't blogged in like a week but of course as a lot of you know it was my birthday so I was busy celebrating! I had a few new products I wanted to try and kinda put this together on a whim but after posting on Instagram a lot of you were asking me what products I used, so I thought it would be nice to write a make-up look for you guys. This is my favorite style of make-up to wear at the moment, as we are coming into spring, it's warm and fresh and can be worn to day to day. Not only that it's reallyyyy easy to do!

FACE

Ok so I won't drown you with endless information but after my usual prep routine I'll begin by dabbing Maybelline Instant Pore Eraser across my T-Zone. Unfortunately for me I have oily skin which is tends to come with larger pores. This is a good way of reducing the appearance and it's cheaper than some other brands; I actually wrote a comparison on this one see here. I'll then start stippling Maybelline SuperStay Better Skin Foundation, working from the center of my nose outwards (never start on one side of your face) I'm not going to preach too much about this foundation but I think it's good for a high street brand, I mean it has good coverage and lasts all day so although it doesn't magically give me flawless skin, I gotta say, it's a good one. 

I think I've almost come to the conclusion that when it comes to concealers an expensive brand won't necessarily give you the best result (psst, will be doing a post on this). Max-Factor Mastertouch Concealer has good coverage and is particularly good for people with fair skin.I found it easy to blend and it's yellow based so is good for dark circles. Lately I've been loving Bourjois Java Rice Loose Powder (another blogger made me buy it!) This is not a powder you want to buy if you're going for the matte look,  it's easy to end up using too much and end up looking like a disco ball! A light dust is all you need for that radiant look. 

I'm the kinda of person that looks ill if I don't have some form of blusher on so it's in my knowledge that Bourjois Little Round Pot Blusher (Cendre de Rose Brune) and Bourjois Chocolate Bronzer are the perfect spring time combo! Trust me, I can't actually stress enough how good these products work together. I always start by applying my bronzer in 'the magic 3' (under cheek bones, temples and jawline) and then lightly dust my blusher over the apples of my cheeks, before finishing with Benefit Watt's Up!. This is a cream highlighter that's easy to use. It blends well and because it's a soft focus highlighter you can use it during the day without it being 'too much'. On the other hand, you could layer to accentuate your cheek bones even further. 

EYES/ BROWS

I pretty much always have the same routine with my brows. I always use Rimmel Professional Eye Brow Pencil (Hazel) as it's the closest shade to my natural colour. I'll then seal my brows with L'Oreal Paris Perfection Brow Artist Plumper (Blonde for a long lasting finish (nothing worse than getting home from work and realising you've rubbed half your eye brow off) I love this because you can wear it on it's own for a more natural look. 

Firstly before I apply any sort of eye shadow I will apply the legendary Urban Decay Primer Potion (Original), this is the one product I know 100% will never let me down! It makes your eye shadow more vibrant and will keep it on for hours with no creasing! I then chose a few shades from the Urban Decay Naked 2 Palette . With a flat brush I patted Verve onto my lids and then blended Pistol into my crease, with a large fluffy brush. Lastly I used Booty Call to highlight the arch of my brows and inner corner of my eyes. I love this combo, it's almost impossible to get wrong and due tot he light shades and shimmer, your eyes will appear bigger. 

I then lined my upper lash line with Bourjois Intuitive Liner (Ultra black), I was sold by the 'easy application' factor but personally I think this it's the sort of eye liner you need to practice with. Saying that, once you have the knack of it, it's easy to create ultra thin or dramatic lines, plus flicks are a doddle! To finish off I applied Max Factor False Lash Effect 24 Hour Mascara (Black). Now I've been using the original version for 6 years but this one has great staying power! The only down side is it's ridiculously difficult to get off! (I mean not being funny but I didn't take the whole 24 hour thing literally) Saying that it defines each lash and adds length and volume for that 'fluttery' look. 

LIPS

For this look I used Max-Factor Colour Elixir Lipstick (Star Dust Pink). It's a subtle pink nude that adds a young fresh element. It's also infused with shea and aloe butters, which keep lips plump and hydrated. I actually got this for free in a promotion but probably would have ended up buying it otherwise.. it's effortlessly applied and fits any skin tone. 

Neeks x