Veruschka - The Amazonian Barbie.

When you think of fashion in the Sixties, you immediately think of Twiggy, with her defined crease and her drawn on bottom eyelashes. The Sixties will forever be immortalised as the decade that Twiggy took the fashion scene by storm, becoming a renown model through out the world.

However for some of us, such as myself we regard another model to reign as the Queen of the Sixties. Vera Gräfin von Lehndorff-Steinort or Veruschka for short is definitely one of my favourite models of the Sixties. A Prussian heiress to a wealthy estate, she was soon spotted during her studies in Florence, and soon became a full time model after meeting Eileen Ford, head of the prestigious Ford modelling agency.

Some may say that once a model reaches a certain age, they dwindle and don't every perform like they used to do. Somewhat true, however Veruschka has made sure her face and name isn't out of the limelight, in 2006 she had a acting roll in James Bond 007 movie Casino Royale, and even took to the runway once again in 2011 for Giles' S/S 11 show. Even though her popularity may not be as what it once was, she still holds the crown of being the Amazonian Barbie.

Giles S/S 2011

For my time assessment at University, we have been briefed to pick an era and recreate the look that has inspired us the most. Unfortunately my immediate choice of era was not in the criteria, which was the 20s. I was really disappointed as I feel that makeup artists such as Pat McGrath totally own modernising that era.

My second choice was of course the Sixties, however I don't want to recreate another Twiggy inspired look. I am inspired by the metallic shades of the 60s Space Age, where the possibility of something out of this world was something that was unimaginable back in those days.

Photographs by Franco Rubartelli

I plan to create a homage to the Sixties beauty, whilst making it my own. I plan to use iridescent pigments, and of course for the styling element acrylic! I'm keeping it as a surprise so keep tuned!

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Halloween is upon us!

Halloween is upon us and which brand do I instantly think of that will help me create no matter what I think of? Illamasqua of course!

Illamasqua definitely holds the crown when it comes to the dark and beautiful of the British make-up scene!

The question is, who will I be dressing up this year as? Last year I went as both Iggy Azalea and the fabulous Queen herself, Brooke Candy. Well this year Matthew I will be going to the ball as Donatella Versace! Opulence in its finest! Here are some of my favourite Illamasqua products I'll be putting to use to finalise my look, which I will post on my Instagram and blog around nearer the time (as I need to shave, and I want to keep my facial fur for at least another week or so.)

To create that perfect collagen injected lip I will be using my favourite Lip Colouring Pencil in the shade WOO!

These pencils are perfect to line your lips and keep those pucker colour saturated all day long!

This colour is perfect for that over drawn lip to trick the eye into thinking you've actually had those Donatella worthy lips done.

£15 at www.illamasqua.com

We all know Donatella is a bronzed goddess herself coming straight from Italy!

Since I am an English Rose *LOL* - basically I'm pale, don't think I could call myself an English Rose, but you get my idea. I will be definitely using Illamasqua's Sculpting Powder Duo in Illuminate and Nefertiti to spruce up my complexion and give myself that glow every bronzed queen needs.

£26.00 at www.illamasqua.com

Every bronzed goddess such as Donatella needs that sultry smokey eye that will evoke admires from afar to come in and take a closer look!

I will be taking these four perfect shades from Illamasqua's new Semblance palette to create my show stopping smokey eye. I'll be using Hollow as a base and a transitional shade and then using the bottom two to smoke it out and blend, whilst using the top two to highlight and define.

This palette is perfect for that every day look when we aren't prancing around pretending to be Donatella, this palette also comes with the perfect shade of Blusher in 'Hussy', a gorgeous Gleam cream in Mirage, and a brow cake in Thunder. All products can be bought individually, but what's the point when they've all been compacted together in this gorgeous palette.

£45.00 at www.illamasqua.com 


Rona Skuodas, last years winner of Illamasqua's Distinction in Makeup Artistry awards has definitely come up with some floor stopper looks!

Don't forget to check Illamasqua's YouTube channel for more Halloween inspired tutorials. 

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High End Smoking hot titanium... with a Cranberry twist!

The Autumnal and Wintery months have finally descended, my favourite time of year, not only for make-up but for fashion! I just always find, especially with clothing that the textures and trends are just that tiny bit more exciting in the colder months! Think it's because I'm a fan of coats and moody colours!

Today I got the chance to create this wonderful smokey eye makeup look on my beautiful friend Eve.
I basically had 20 minutes at the end of our lesson to create something juicy on the eye and this is what I chose to do.

 

Products Used :  

MAC Paint Pot - Painterly - £15.50 UK  | $16.00 USA

MAC Cranberry Eyeshadow - £13.00 UK | $16.00 USA

TOM FORD Titanium Smoke Palette £63.00 UK | $79.00 USA

TOM FORD Eyeshadow Brush £43.00 UK | $56.00 USA

TOM FORD Smokey Eye brush £42.00 UK | $52.00 USA

TOM FORD Blending Brush £43.00 UK | $56.00 USA

TOPSHOP Cream Highlighter POLISH - £9 UK | $16 USA

Steps : 

1. I created the base using Painterly by MAC.
2. I then used the Blending Brush and loaded the brush with Cranberry eyeshadow, and swept it all over the lid and blended it out into the crease.
3. I then used the 'Sparkly' Graphite shade in the Titanium Smoke palette, and using the eyeshadow brush I packed the glittery shade onto Eve's lid. I made sure to build the colour up to an intensity I was happy with. I then blended this into the crease using the same brush that had the Cranberry shade on.
4. Next I used the eyeshadow brush and using the Matte Black/ Grey shade of the Titanium smoke palette I gently defined Eve's outer V on her eye and deepened her crease. I then blended to a seamless finish.
5. I then took the cranberry shade underneath Eve's lower lash line, and then built up the colour and used a tiny bit of the black close to her lash line, this just pulls the whole look together.
6. Finally I used the Smokey Eyebrush, using the Highlighter from Topshop I used this on Eve's inner corner of her eyes. This just brightens the whole look up.

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Being a finalist in the Illamasqua Distinction of Make-up Awards.

I kind of forget to tell you guys I was a finalist in the Illamasqua Student Category of Distinction of Make-up Awards. In my books that was a hell of an accomplishment, especially being noticed by a brand that I hold very close to my heart.

I applied a month or so before the actual closing date, I really cant remember, but I didn't expect to get in at all! When it comes to my own work, I always have a shadow of doubt, but obviously this has proven that I don't need to!

Here's the two images I submitted for my Beauty and Fantasy looks, which are two pieces that are required when entering the competition.

    

I then received an email and the brief of Josephine, who is the Events Manager at Illamasqua, and also Spobs daughter! The brief for this year was Textiles vs. Art, which I was very excited about! It took me a few days to collect my thoughts and ideas together and I started to create what I created on the day.

Leading upto the day was very stressful, exciting and a bag full of nerves all rolled into one! But when the day came I was very calm surprisingly, until I got onto stage, oh my god! I decided to wear my hair down, as I knew I would be having my photograph took with my fabulous model afterwards... big mistake! My brow just poured sweat... ew, ew, ew! At first I thought it was nerves, but no it was my hair creating heat on my brow, so I quickly swept my locks back and sanitised my hands and cracked on with my look!

My idea was inspired by Indian culture and Hinduism, regarding Snake gods as almighty beings, also known as Nagas. I wanted to put forward the idea of creating a world where we have renewable sources of exotic skins to use in arts such as fashion, instead of using real live animals and killing them for out own gain.

To finish off this post, I would like to thank Illamasqua for the great experience I had on that day, thank you for choosing me as a finalist, and I am overwhelmed by your feed back and support.

Good luck to the other finalists, and we shall see who the winner is tomorrow ;) (Tuesday)

Here are some action shots taken by Sharon Lloyd, our fabulous Make-up Lecturer at University.

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A modern day image of a Geisha.

Whilst watching Memoirs of a Geisha, it is hard to ignore the elegant fashion and styling that is present throughout the whole of the film. The colour palettes and textures of the Geishas kimonos are simply enough to blow ones mind. Colleen Atwood was the mastermind behind creating the costumes for the movie, subsequently winning her an Oscar in 2005.

Photo : Traditional Kimonos from Vanity Fair IT [1]

Above is a trio of three traditional Kimonos in which a Geisha would have worn during the times that it was popular in Japenese Culture. As we can see the form and silhouette of the garment, is almost none existent, making the waist the same width as the Geishas shoulders and hips. In the film we see a modest change to the traditional Kimono. Costume designer Atwood, explained to the LA times that creating a newer and updated silhouette was important for the movie is it added a bit of 'glam' to the costumes. She then goes onto explain and justifies her decisions that she was changing the kimonos structure as the traditional structure wouldn't have looked correct on film, as well the film is not a documentary it is a depiction of a fictional book by a male writing about a Geisha.

The thing that I enjoyed seeing the most within the film is the evolution of how the main character Sayuri is dressed throughout the film.

I think it is a clever way that both the stylist and film directer illustrate the social status of the main character, through the change of her Kimonos. 

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An Afternoon in Selfridges and the V&A.

As you may have already guessed I love the South, in particular London. To a Northern boy such as myself - there is so much more culture and opportunities down the South than there is in the North East of England. Don't get me wrong, I love the North East, but I suppose we are brought up to love where we came from right? I love my family and the few friends who I actually like in the North East... that's about it. Harsh but true.

University has been a huge door opener in my life, it has exposed me to so many more people, some of those have been the same old same old you encounter up in the North East. But others I have met this past year are just so interesting and fabulous, a few words to describe them. Also I'm about 1hr 20 from London, which beats over 3 Hours from Newcastle...

Anyways I thought that it would be a nice little day trip to go and see my friend Charlie, who lives in London. We planned to go and see Horst Photographer of Style exhibition, which a review will be popping up in the next few days. It was great to see a legends work close enough to touch, rather than just being spoke about in Lectures.

After that we headed to Selfridges for a spot of retail therapy of course, and to indulge in the fashions! Of course we were joking about planning Charlie's wedding and picking out her shoes, when a sales assistant over heard us. He obviously thought we were being serious and started recommending different shoes that would go with Charlies dream dress, bless. People say that the locals in London are so unfriendly, well he certainly wasn't! Unless he thought we were spending Daddies money, unfortunately we weren't. We ended off going for a slice of glamour and headed to the Charlotte Tilbury counter on the beauty floor *drools*. Basically this is what heaven looks like!

I bought the much raved about Dolce Vita palette to add to my collection, and Charlie opted for a lipgloss in a beautiful nude colour.

FOTD - 

Base and Foundation

Baby Skin by Maybelline

Skin Base Foundation 3.5 by Illamasqua

Chanel Powder - Poudre Universelle Compacte in Clair.

Contour

Illamasqua eyeshadow in Heroine

Eyes

I used only one cream eyeshadow for this look, and it was the Illamasqua Vintage Mettalix in Bibelot.

I have to say I am very impressed with this little gem! This endured 8 Hours of being on the train, running around tube stations and shopping until my feet started to ache. 

The pigmentation is second to none, and I didn't even have to set it! Which is a miracle since my pesky eyes normally enjoy creasing all of my cream eyeshadows. Well not this one.

At £16.50 I think that this is an absolute steal!

[Buy it Here]

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A little update about Uni and Life...

Hello all... some may remember me as someone who blogged frequently, basically I lost interest in a lot of things I used to enjoy for some unknown reason, which I have figured out in the past few months. Thus my blog therefore suffered greatly in content.

I am going to be back with a boom, and I will be posting more stuff about my life, uni and projects that I have going on.

I have had a very very very long break at home, and I am safe to say I am ready to go back down to Southampton, and get stuck back in. Sometimes we need a space to breath right? Yes...

Had a few odd jobs up in the good ol' North East, including a bridal make up of a lovely bride, I am still awaiting some professional photographs, but as soon as I get those then I will be posting asap.

Another big thing that is on going with me is that I am one of the finalists of the Illamasqua Distinction in Makeup Awards, so I will be competing in the student category, which to me is a mix of emotions! But I am so excited! I'll post how I get on :)

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All Legs on Leggsington.

Photograph - http://www.leggsington.co.uk | Stylist Unknown.

I received an email before I broke up for the Summer, inviting a couple of other students and myself to a styling session of around 55 outfits that were styled by Dejan Agatonovic for a new leggings brand called Leggsington and their lookbook.

The colours within this piece of styling is complementing, especially to those that are present in the leggings, which are supposed to be the main focal point of the photograph. The eyes of the consumer will be brought straight to the attention of the leggings, as the heavily patterned cheetah print contrasts and works well with the bright mustard colour of the blazer and black top piece. The stylist has gone with simple gladiator style sandals that are completing of the colour palette. I really like this outfit as I find it both appealing and I think it's interesting as it brings a lot to the plate, whilst using simple blocked colours for the sandals and blazer enables the leggings to be the show stopper.

This was the second outfit that I particularly liked during the styling shoot. I really like how the stylist has composed such a simple outfit, however has used textures and the feels of the fabrics to contrast against each other. I really like how the matte like shirt works with the 'wet' look of the leggings. I think this works well, and makes two simple pieces of clothing pop. I also like how the stylist has accessorised the shirt with a simple blocked chain. I think this works very well, and it makes the white shirt look that bit more interesting. The stylist has chosen to use a cream clutch bag, this is obviously so that it doesn't draw any attention away from the leggings.

I thought this styling session was a good insight on how a real styling team collaborates together to produce the final image. Which will be a look book for www.leggsington.

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My small but expanding Tom Ford brushes collection.

I've been pretty much hooked on buying brushes from the start. Is it the construction, the feel of the bristles or the overall application of the product, god knows what pulls me into makeup brushes I just seem to spend endless amounts of money on brushes. I treasure my more expensive brushes over any other brush. I mean I adore Real Technique brushes, but I love my NARS, MAC, Illamasqua and... Tom Ford brushes that extra bit more.

I obviously know who Tom Ford is, because he's simply a genius when it comes to the world of fashion - he's been around as long as I've been involved and interested in fashion (I'm only 20, nearly 21 eek). However his beauty and fragrance products are some what new to me. I've been obsessed with Black Orchid the 'unisex' perfume for a while now, and I suddenly decided to splurge just after Christmas on the 100ml after being persuaded by my friend Charlie. This is like her signature scent. I think when I smell Black Orchid, I think of many things. The time I brought someone back and began spraying it around my University room like it was glade airfreshner HA! to the times me and Charlie have been out together (bit worse for wear of course). But it's just a gorgeous scent and all those memories make me a giggle and cringe a bit inside at the same time. I LOVE IT!

Anyways, onto what I'm really writing about other than telling you my awkward love stories. But my Mum and Sean bought me my first Tom Ford brush for Christmas. They bought me the eyebrow pencil and the Smokey Eye Brush, it honestly feels like fur being brushed on your eyes it is that soft. I am going to be honest now and I am in no way being ungrateful, but I don't think I would have chosen the brush myself as there are others I do have my eyes on. However for myself, I don't have a decent pencil brush, as the one I bought from Crown feels like I'm scraping my eyes off, not good! But I can't find any fault with this brush, it picks up enough product and it is so easy to apply and blends the small area you apply it to flawlessly. The brush is £40 / $50, pricey huh! but it is definitely a keeper, and if you want your own special little collection of brushes then this is definitely one for you. It can be bought from Selfridges or Tom Ford online.

I'm going to apologise for not having my own images, so I am going to use the ones from the Tom Ford website. The reason being for this is because I left my SLR down at University and I am currently home visiting. Sorry guys!

Image from www.tomford.com

Onto the next brush that I bought myself using some bonus I had earned through work. I was in Newcastle centre one day and I thought I would call by the Tom Ford concession in Fenwicks. I didn't really know what I was after I just wanted a look really. I had a look at the brushes (again) and I was so impressed with the cream foundation brush, it's definitely dense, but it's not a dense where the bristles are hard and barely move... the brush just seems to flow in which ever direction you brush it in. It feels like silk on your skin. It's described as a cream foundation brush, but seriously who's ever listened to brush labels? Not me. I use this for my liquid foundation and it blends it with minimum effort and it my skin just looks perfect afterwards. It picks up the right amount of foundation and blends it so that it doesn't make your make up look too caked on. The brush is £56 / $72 and can be bought online at Selfridges or Tom Ford online.

Image from www.tomford.com

My last and final addition to my current collection is the brush that I purchased today from the Fenwicks counter. The woman who served me was so lovely, she even offered me a position to work on that concession store! However University calls down South! Anyways, a funny thing... I love how some sales assistants are so sales driven they are willing to tell you any old hoo har to close a sale. The SA (not the one who served me) tried to tell me that a lip brush was appropriate to use on the brows, I looked at her... um yes if you brows that require no angular definition what so ever... GIRL! Anyways, I still love the Tom Ford counter staff none the less (Who work for Tom Ford...) I bought the Shadow brush, this is a really weird eyeshadow brush, which is possibly a factor that had me sold. It was flat but full, it was large but small enough. It's just so weird, I can imagine this will be a great all around blending brush, to blend and to apply! 2-in-1 fabulous! The brush is £42/ $55 and can be bought from Selfridges or Tom Ford online.

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Matte Veil... Hydra Veils less shinier sister.

photo: hudsons bay

With the success of Illamasqua's hydra veil, they have set to launch a new and less 'shinier' product *haha pun pun* called Matte Veil. This baby will create the perfect matte primed base just ready for your foundation. I expect it will work as well with Skin Base as Hydra Veil did.

Set to launch in Spring/ Summer. Matte Veil has a creamier consistency than Hydra Veil, which is more a gel formula. Smelling like strawberries, you will be nothing less than bell of the ball! The new veil has beutyelene glycol and sodium hylaluronate in which help to dry oil patches, while keeping the skin hydrated and fresh.

This baby has already gone on sale in America (why on earth hasn't it gone on sale in the UK... never mind) But it will be £30 when it gets released.

I'm certainly excited to see this released! Are you?

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