Wedding make up

Last weekend was the wedding of the very beautiful Katie and her new hubby Andy. Katie is James sister and she asked me to do her make up for the big day. I was very flattered and insisted we practice lots before to get it just right. As a natural beauty Katie does not wear much make up, well none other than mascara normally so the pressure was on!

Katie and Andy

We set a few dates where we would try different looks and see how Katie felt and what they looked like on camera. The following pictures were from our first attempt - we ended up curling Katie's hair to get a better effect. Katie wanted a neutral look, very light foundation, cover her under eye darkness and accentuate the eye area and a subtly lip. After each and every stage i stopped and showed Katie what i had done and if she were unhappy i could change it there and then. Luckily we had very few problems and her make up was quick and easy.

Curly hair

 After about four trials using my make up and about a month before the wedding we went shopping for some basics. We hit the department stores and tried a variety of brands, colours and finishes of foundation, concealer and lipstick until we hit jackpot on the Dior counter. The lovely lady matched Katie's skin tone perfectly using Dior Skin Nude - Natural Glow Hydrating Make up. Katie has great skin and only really needed foundation to even her skin tone and this worked great. After also finding the perfect lipstick (i can not remember the colour off the top of my head) the lady kindly gave us a tiny sample of concealer to use on the day, a lipstick sample, mascara sample and some face care stuff.

To supplement this stash i used:

• Smashbox photo finish primer
• Dior skin nude tan 002 sunlight
• Nars Orgasm
• Mac Mineralise Skin finish - light
• Urban decay primer potion
• Palmers cocoa butter lip balm
• Loreal false lash telescopic waterproof
• Urban Decay Naked palette - Virgin, Sin, Naked Dark horse
• Selection of brushes including my favourite Samantha Chapman real techniques stippling brush, Body shop concealer brush, Mac 187, Mac 275, Mac Kabuki and Avon lip brush

Wow sounds like a lot when it is listed! Katie has some step by step photos from our trials on her camera which i might steal and upload for anybody who is interested.

Here is how she looked on the day

And the make up artist

The wedding was out of this world amazing, Katie looked beautiful and the couple so happy

xxx

Nars Orgasm and Sleek Guipure dupe review

I have owned Nars orgasm since Christmas and have loved using it. The colour is very pretty and super build-able. At first i found the glitter a little too much but i have learnt to work with it and it has become a daily essential. Some time ago i received a Sleek palette as a gift and have only just got round to trying it. I have read many reviews on the elusive Sleek Rose Gold blush and how similar it is to Nars Orgasm but found another of their blushes, Guipure, could be used as a dupe. The Sleek Palette retails at a very reasonable £9.99 whilst Nars blushes set you back £21.

Sleek Blush by 3 palette and Nars Orgasm

Sleek: Crochet, Guipure, Chantilly Nars: Orgasm

 These blushes are different, Nars has a pinker undertone while the Sleek is rather more golden however on the skin they have quite a similar finish.

 Nars Orgasm has a strange texture, it seems gritty in the pan and to get a swatch with your finger you have to rub very hard. I found this puzzling when i first started to use this blush but have found it does work well with a quality blusher brush. Sleek Guipure on the other hand is very powdery, it takes very little pressure to pick up lots of product and only requires a light hand.

L: Nars R:Sleek

L:Nars R:Sleek

L: Sleek R:Nars

Ok these are not identical but they are both great blushes with a pretty golden shimmer. I personally think that Sleek Guipure would look fabulous on holiday and make the best on my tan, wheras Orgasm suits my very pale skin tone. If your strapped for cash grab the sleek palette, you wont be disappointed especially as you get two other beautiful colours for under £10!


xx 

Get ready with me

Join me on my bad skin day make up routine

Bare faced, sleepy and spotty

Lasting perfection concealer,  Collection 2000 - Fair 1

Mac Studio Fix NC15

Nars - Orgasm

Loreal false lash telescopic mascara- Magnetic black

Loreal Gel intenza eye liner 01 pure black

Avon Fucia fun

Finished

Thank goodness for make up!

xx