Shimmery Brown Smokey Eye Tutorial

I decided that I'd be a bit different with this blog post and show you a tutorial for a shimmery smokey eye which I created using the MUA Undress Me Too Palette. It's a really wearable look for everyday and pretty easy to create. I hope you enjoy wearing this look! Feel free to send me pictures of this look if you do create it.

 First of all, I make sure I prep my under eye area. The skin under your eyes is quite delicate, hence the occurrence of those dreading dark circles and shopping bag eyes! I use Boot's Vitamin E Gentle Eye Cream which was a recommendation by a blogger friend of mine ItsAmiieeism. I seem to always go back to this eye cream as I find others make my eyes water and nobody wants puffy eyes before applying makeup! I highly recommend this eye cream. I place a few dots under my eyes and pat it in with my ring finger. It hydrates the eye area and makes for a great base for concealer (it can prevent concealer creasing and stops you from getting dry under eyes). 

After the eye cream, I apply a light primer on my eyelids and under eyes to keep the eye shadow and concealer in place. As you can see this is a face primer, not an eye primer but I think eyelid primers are a bit of a rip off to be fair. Most primers will do the same job in keeping your makeup in place all day. This Revlon PhotoReady Face Perfecting Primer is super light and smooth. It feels like velvet when applied and does not transfer like some silicone based primers. It hides pores and fine lines and just makes an amazing base for makeup.  

Then apply the Color Tattoo by Maybelline in 'On and on Bronze' with a flat blending brush. The Colour Tattoos are an amazing base for eyeshadow and are long wearing. Once applied they are hard to budge. On and on Bronze looks amazing on it's own also and would make a great simple smokey eye if you want a quick yet dramatic look. I look how easy these are to apply. I take some of the product on a blending brush and pat the product on before blending it in so that I can build the pigmentation. 

I then take the MUA Undress Me Too Palette. I use the shades Lavish (a matte chocolate brown shade) 

I contour the crease of my eye with Lavish using the Real Technique's Base Shadow Brush. I then apply Fiery/Tranquil over the Colour Tattoo. If you'd like a more defined eye then you can add the colour Obsessed in the outer corner of the eye using a smaller eye brush. I then use the Base Shadow Brush to blend those colours together. This brush is so soft so it's really easy to blend with. 

I then take the Loreal Super Liner Blackbuster to line my eyelids. Keep the liner as close to the lash line as possible so you don't draw attention from the shadow. It will also help to emphasise your lashes. I absolutely love this eyeliner. Liquid eyeliner is very much like marmite. You can end up looking like a panda with most liquid liners, which is why pen liners are so brilliant. This Super Liner Blackbuster is so easy to use and creates similar drama and pigmentation to a gel liner. It also does not dry out easily which is what I dislike most about pen style liners.  

You can then tight line your upper lid using Maybelline Gel Liner. 

I then take the Scandal Eyes Kohl Kajal Eyeliner in Bronze  and apply it to the lower lash line. You can smudge the liner with an angled brush for a more smokey look. 

Take the The Rocket Volum' Express Mascara by Maybelline and apply this to the top and bottom lashes. This mascara adds volume and length. I've always adored the Max Factor False Lash Effect mascaras and never seemed to like any others. This mascara is just fantastic though and makes your lashes stand out without looking too clumpy or false. Apply two coats of mascara from the root of the lash and shimmy the wand up the lash (shimmy means to shake the wand if you didn't know). 

I then take Mac's Studio Finish Concealer in NC15 and apply that in a triangular shade under the eye. I applied the concealer using Real Technique's deluxe crease brush. Because of it's domed shape it is great for applying concealer under the eyes and blending the product. I love this Mac concealer as it has a great coverage but does not look to cakey. You can set the concealer with powder to stop it from creasing. It really brightens the under eyes and covers dark circles amazingly. 

So here is the makeup look! As you can see it's super easy to create. I also applied Bourjois's Healthy Mix and Rimmel's Natural Bronzer as well as applying Lavish shadow to my eyebrows. 

I hope you like the makeup and if you have any requests for other makeup looks, comment below with suggestions. 

Lots of Love 

G x

MUA Undress Me Too Eye Palette (UD Naked Dupe?)

Like the majority of the Beauty Blogger world, I have been lusting after the Urban Naked Naked Palette since the moment my eyes meet it's beauty whilst blog browsing last year. The only thing that has prevented me adding it to my collection is it's hefty price tag. At 30 pound it's not the cheapest of eye shadow palettes and not everyone has the money to fork out on such a product. 

But hold your horses! Before you run off into a corner to cry about the lack of Naked Palette in your life, why not try a budget alternative? 

Meet MUA's Undress Me Too Palette. Now MUA has never been one of my favourite makeup brands. I can hear you all screaming 'WHAT KIND OF BEAUTY BLOGGER IS THIS WOMAN!?'. MUA has been a much raved about budget makeup brand since the beauty bloggin' world was created, but I've never personally seen the hype. Do not get me wrong, I've never been a snob when it comes to makeup and I love a bargain just as much as the next folk but my love for MUA has never been ignited (possibly because of my CRAZY dislike of their lip products). 

That is until I acquired this gorgeous palette. The only products I've really liked from MUA were their shadows and this set is no exception. When I was given this palette in a recent beauty swap I couldn't wait to give it a try. I'd heard some rave reviews about it and had sadly not been able to get hold of it in my local Superdrug (*sobs*) so was more then ecstatic about it's arrival through the post. The first thing I really noticed about this palette was just how versatile it was. As I'm either at college or work most days of the week, I like to keep my day look's simple and demure. The neutral shades in the Undress Me Too are just so wearable for everyday and allow you to create the most simple of looks. 

The shades within the palette include Naked (a light nude/yellow toned colour which is great for highlighting), Devotion (cooper golden brown), Shy (pearlescent nude/creme), Fiery (shimmery dark bronze), Lavish (light toned brown), Dreamy (dark, shimmery brown), Tranquil (shimmery, light brown), Exposed (grey hued shimmer), Reveal (pearlescent taupe), Wink (shimmery Mocha), Obsessed (dark expresso shade) and Corrupt (black matte). As I have quite dark brown eyes, brown shades are a massive love for me. I love the way that these shades can be used to create a more smoky, shaded look or even a matte shadow with a defined crease (was it just me that laughed at that last part?). 

The fall out for this product isn't the worst I've ever experience was it not great. I use my FCUK shadow brush and a blender brush, pressing the shadow into the lid rather then swiping. I still, however, feel that I am left with slight fall out from the darker colours within the palette, which is one of the most annoying things about a shadow due to the fact it often leaves you having to re-do your concealer/foundation. The staying power of this shadows are acceptable. I find that the lighter shades literally have the staying power of a buttered fly especially Shy which creases within the first few minutes of application. The darker shades however, particularly Obsessed, Dreamy and Wink have long wear. I find they do not crease throughout the day and would probably have even more staying power when applied after eye shadow primer. I have to say I was a little disappointed with the pigmentation of the matte shades within this palette. Lavish and Naked have little pigmentation and are not as true to their shade as I would have liked. However, the more shimmery shades such as Devotion, Fiery and Tranquil apply really nicely and are great for creating a more defined brown eye.  

I did swatch the shades for you below but it isn't the best lighting in the world. As you can see, these shades are really simple and understated which really help to create that 'barely there' makeup look. Overall, I really enjoy this palette. It helps me to create an everyday look perfect for spring. I have yet to try the Naked Palette so I can not say exactly if this is a great dupe for Naked, however, for 4 pound, this set of shadows are a great price for such a good product. Their shades are VERY similar to those found in the UD Naked Palette, Shy being a great dupe for Virgin and Tranquil a dupe for Dark Horse. The palette itself is also a lot more versatile and functional. It's small and secure enough to pop into your handbag on the go and fit's into my dressing table snug as a bug alongside larger palette neighbours. I still would LOVE to get my hands on Urban Decay's Naked but feel that MUA's Undress Me Too is a great substitute for those who want a bargain and can't defend spending 30 pound. It's a great price for a great product that I feel a great deal of you will LOVE. You won't be disappointed with this perfectly neutral palette. 

Let me know if you have tried this MUA product yet and how you compared it to the UD Naked if you have tried both! I'd love to hear your views. 

Georgia 

oxo

All That Jazz Beauty: Blogger Beauty Swap

One of the first beauty blog posts I had ever read was about a beauty swap. Ever since that memorable day I've been obsessed with the idea of swapping beauty products with another bblogger! However, there was always a nagging doubt in my mind. Sometimes beauty swaps sound too good to be true and I can't even remember the countless amount of times I've stumbled upon a horror story in which some poor soul has spend 30 odd pound on makeup and in turn received a used lipstick alongside a pair of nail clippers. It's always a risk you take. 

But recently, I stumbled upon a beauty blogger who goes by the name of All That Jazz Beauty! (If you haven't read her brilliant blog or watched her YT videos, I'll put a link below). I was already familiar with Jazz after watching the two documentaries she made for the BBC back last year so was interested in finding out what she had to say about all things beauty. She's not only got a great blog where she posts some super interesting reviews but her Youtube channel (which goes by the same username may I add) just had the best content, including some amazing tutorials and addictive hauls. As Jazz was pretty new to this whole beauty blogger just like myself, I decided to contact her in the hopes of potentially doing some blog calibrations in the future or a beauty swap if she was interesting (which must have been pretty daunting as I wasn't a known blogger). But Jazz got in contact and said she'd love to give it a go!

So we decided that the following week we would send each other a box of goodies. We had a maximum 15 pound spend but did not specific beauty products as we wanted to try a range of new products. So below are the items that Jazz sent me a two weeks back (yes, I am VERY late on this post aha) and I LOVE THEM. A few of the products Jazz sent me were items that I had wanted to buy myself but had either been sold out or had not been available to me so I was SO excited to try out the products.

Boot's 17 Blusher in 'Nude'

I absolutely love this blush Jazz sent me. It's a rich, rose pink toned blush in the shade 'Nude'. I've always been a massive fan of 17 products from Boots and have heard great things about their blushes. When I tried this blush out I was amazed at the pigmentation. I have been using a basic blush by Rimmel for years and was never really in to trying new blushes. However, this blush has completely changed my mind about trying new products! A change is always good and I've been loving using this blush for that everyday glow.

MUA Fur-Effect Nails in 'Fluff & Cuddles'

This is literally the coolest stuff ever! Although not completely practical for everyday use, Fur Effect nails looks so cute and is super fun to apply. You literally just have to put a base coat on and dip your nails in this baby and you'll have fluffy nails!? Yes, I did say fluffy!! Like a teddy bear!? Who thought nails could be so cute. I will say that this stuff is REALLY messy if you don't apply it correctly but it's so worth it to see the novelty of furry nails. The one Jazz sent me is in the shade 'Fluff and Cuddles', a oh so cute bubblegum pink. 

MUA Lipstick in 'Juicy'

I have tried MUA lipsticks before but I must say this has to be my favourite shade. The one Jazz sent me is in 'Juicy', a light coral pink shade which is in for the spring. I really like this lipstick alongside a brown smokey eye. It's subtle yet adds a pop of colour to any simple makeup look. Previously I have found MUA lipsticks aren't always true to their shade but when applied the shade is truly justified. This will more then likely be my staple lipstick for the warmer months.

Rimmel Soft Kohl in 'Jet Black'

I wonder if Jazz can read minds. I had written out my beauty shopping list for the week previous stating I needed a black eyeliner and Rimmel is one of my favourite drugstore brands. Their eyeliners are super soft and pigmented. A black eyeliner is a staple piece and is great for most makeup looks including the smokey eye. I love the fact this eyeliner is so easy to blend and isn't harsh. I've been turning to pencil eyeliners more recently as I often don't have the time nor the patience for liquid/gel liner so this Soft Kohl will be great for those lazy mornings were my eyes need a bit of definition.   

Boots 17 Eyeshadow in 'Funfair'

I have honestly fallen head over hills in love with this eyeshadow. This 17 shadow in the shade 'Funfair' is just the most gorgeous shade I have ever seen. It's almost a rose gold with this gorgeous shimmer which changes shade in different lighting. I've been wearing this with my Maybelline 24 Hour Tattoo creme shadow in On & On Bronze. It look's like such a statement with it's metallic hues but is so simple and quick. I really love this shadows pigmentation and would love to try some more from 17.

I have had so much fun doing this beauty swap. Not only have I received some amazing products and had great fun picking out products for Jazz, I have also made a new Beauty Blogger friend who I hope to do swaps with again in the future. If you have not yet done a beauty swap, I'd defiantly recommend it. The excitement when you receive your parcel, wondering what new products you'll get to try is so much fun. I'd love to try this again in the future and once again a MASSIVE thanks to Jazz from All That Jazz Beauty for sending such wonderful products. 

Check her blog out here: http://www.allthatjazzbeautyblog.blogspot.co.uk/

If any of you beautiful followers are interested in doing a beauty swap, you can contact me on Twitter: @thatgeorgiacoan. Leave me your blog and I'll be sure to check it out!!

Georgia

oxo