Laurie's nails

Nails!!!

I love nail designs and I love getting my nails done professionally 

Here are a couple of pictures of my latest designs. 

I'm going to do a post on the nail salon where I get my nails done sometime soon.

Hope you enjoy x

My 15 minute make up tutorial

I'm always rushing around and don't really have hours to spend doing my make-up, so I came up with a 15 minute make-up regime. This make-up can be worn both day and night.

I hope this tutorial is useful to you, oh and please excuse my messy morning hair and leopard print dressing gown!

Before I put on anyway make-up I wash my face with a cleanser. 

I have oily skin so I use a cleanser especially for oily skin. There are plenty of cleansers out there for different skin types. I then use baby wipes to get rid of any excess make-up. I use Elizabeth Arden's moisturiser visible difference.

I mainly use M.A.C products as they have a great range of shades for darker skin.

M.A.C foundations both powder and liquid give great coverage even for problem skin like acne, pigmentation etc.

First I use Studio fix powder plus foundation, I use a large powder brush to apply the foundation. I find brushes give a more even coverage. 

I then apply studio finish SPF 35 concealer. I use an egg shaped sponge to apply the concealer as my nails are too long to use my fingers!

I apply the concealer under my eyes to cover up any dark circles, this concealer is great for spots or any patchy skin.

Rather than a standard blusher I use a Elizabeth Arden's Sun Goddess Bronzer (deep). 

I always use bronzer over blusher as I find it hard to get the right shade for my skin.

After I have applied the bronzer I use Chanel highlighting shimmer powder to brighten under my eyes.

It really gives you a glow and can be used all over your face.

I use a brush to neaten my eyebrows. Eyebrows really frame the face so I think it's important to keep your eyebrows neat and tidy.

Now to start on the eyes. 

I use M.A.C powerpoint eye pencil liner, this shade is called Engraved.

I use the liner on the inside of my eye this makes your eyes pop.

I then apply M.AC mulch eye shadow. 

Mulch is a brown-bronze shade and is a great colour for all shades of skin. 

I have a great tip to save time but get that two shade effect with one colour.

Use a lot of eye shadow on the outside of the eye then lightly dust it on the inside it looks like you have use two different shades of colour.

I love experimenting with eyeliner, my standard look is what I call the cat's eye flick. It gives you that elongated almond shape eye. I use M.A.C penultimate eyeliner. This eyeliner is like a felt-tip pen, it provides precise bold lines.

Here is a close up look.

Now for the mascara. For me mascara is the most important item in my make-up bag. I get through tubes of mascara weekly! I love Lancome mascara they have a variety of mascaras and I regularly try Lancomes latest mascara and they never fail to impress. But today I've used L'extreme mascara. It's great for lengthening lashes and framing the eye. I apply it to the bottom lashes to get that doll effect. 

Here's a close up view.

Last but not least the lipstick. I have many different shades of lipstick by M.AC, I decided to use a shade called Touch today as it goes nicely with the mulch eyeshadow. Touch is a peachey cinnamon colour and is lovely on all skin colours.

Tada!! 

So this is the finished result. as you can see this make-up is great for day or night and doesn't take hours to do. You can experiment with different eyeshadow and lipstick shades to update the look. 

Product list:

M.A.C

Studio fix powder plus foundation

Studio finish SPF 35 concealer

Powerpoint eye pencil liner (Engraved)

Mulch Eyeshadow

Penultimate eyeliner

Touch lipstick 

Elizabeth Arden 

Visible difference moisturiser 

Sun Goddess Bronzer (deep)

Chanel

Highlighting shimmer powder

Lancome

L'extreme Mascara 

My Family Photo Album

I thought this would be a fun subject to write about as I had so much fun looking through my families photo album I thought it'd be fun to share too!

My family is full of fashionable woman, my Mum, my Aunt and my Nana. But one of the main men in my life, my Dad was and is still pretty fashionable too!

My Mum and my Aunt have the most amazing stories from when they were growing up. My Mum moved to London from Birmingham at the age of 19 right in the middle of the 80's, she met some amazing people and wore some beautiful clothes. I'll do a post about her experiences at some point, it will definitely make a good read! My Aunt travelled the world living all over the place. She speaks five different languages and now resides in sunny Barbados. My Nana is an amazing woman born and raised in Barbados, she moved to England in the 1950's. She always tells me about when she arrived in England everyone wore dark colours and looked dismal, and here came these Caribbean women in their bright yellows and pinks. My Nana is still very fashion conscious! And last but not least my Dad, my Dad dressed to impress and thats what caught my Mums eye. Still to this day my Dad takes pride in his appearance. Don't get me wrong he's not a metrosexual male but he is married to my Mum...

I have loads more pictures to share with you, Enjoy!

Basheba

xxx