January Loves

Beauty is the focus for this month. I'm in need of facials, smoothening balms and a core make-up kits that will ease me into the summer months. The masters of make-up, MAC, really delivered this year (along with the mother!) and I received the Christmas collection set as seen above. This set contains an eye shadow palette (black and white sheen), which I've been using as a highlighter on the brow bone and to compliment a dusty eye affect. Along with this the set also has Pro Pencil Eyeliner in Engraved,Jet Black Mascara and a beautiful black oval cosmetic bag. Blue eyeliner is a massive trend set to hit the beauty world for the coming season, so I managed to do some research for my perfect blue over Christmas. And although I went with MAC Pro Pencil in Mountain Air, Butter is brand which I've only heard great things about and would highly recommend for bold, bright colours. 

Contouring is a brand new feature to my life and after waisting alot of money, and patience, I think I've finally settled on the best approach fo me to take, based on my tone and skin type. More to come on this later in the month along with a feature on MAC Pro-longwear foundation.

As January is such a crap month, financially and socially, I've been spending a lot of nights in. Ideal for catching up on boxets that I've been meaning to watch over the past few months.  At the minute I'm hooked on Sons Of Anarchy (season 5!!!). But candles, candles are the main highight of my cosy nights in. Already a fan of low, dusty lighting, I strongly believe that these just so much more of a relaxed athmosphere to any room. My fave are Yankee Candles, ovbiously. 

All iteams, including links to buy, can be found here

Love C X

Bobbi Brown: Make Up Brushes Full Set

I had been thinking for a while that Ive wanted to invest in some really good make up brushes. I usually pick up some as I tend to need them, like a new foundation brush every so often, blusher brush every few months, the odd eye shadow brush here and there. But this time I did things a little differently, I bought a whole 24 piece brush set. I have used MAC brushes in the past, and I'm not saying they are bad because let's face it they're not but I wanted to try a brush that I hadn't used before and I have only heard great things about Bobbi Brown. I have to say I'm a bit biased because I bought the Bobbi Brown Make Up Manual about a year ago, so I've been wanted to try the actual brushes for these specific looks. I know I gave in.... 

For me, a good brush brand has always been determined on the basis of how good the foundation brush is, simple but true. Some brushes just don't blend the foundation on my face (not that I'm using a lot of foundation by any means). With my skin being dry/combination, I use a an oil free foundation mostly and I like one that gives a light matte finish which requires a make up which sets properly, which just can't be achieved with a bad brush. My personal view is whatever the cost, I'll pay it if the job is done right! 

When my brushes arrived, naturally I was really excited to get going and try them out. I'm a big fan of BB cream and always try and put this on before my foundation, I tested out the Bobbi Brown foundation brush for this, and I was really, really happy with the result. The brush is also quite strong so it can hold the harsh blending against my skin which can often be the case when applying. For my actual day time foundation I use my Chanel #6 foundation brush still, as much as I'm loving my Bobbi Brown brushes I can't bear to stop using this one. It's the best one I've ever used because my make up sits perfectly on my my face after I use it and after I wash it, it doesn't feel out of place or clumpy which can often happen. 

Other than the one exception of using my Chanel brush, I've been using my Bobbi Brown brushes and I'm so pleased with them. I just think that it's important to point  out that I have not been asked to review these brushes by any company, I just really enjoy using them. I'm also the type of person who will use a different brush for everything. Yes, I'm that annoying person! But since I first started to really become interested in the different angles of applying make up I have become fascinated on how much better my overall look is because I've used a brush, and properly also. It is really important to learn how to apply properly. 

Another result of this investment, I went away and bought a new Urban Decay Naked palette, it's the only real way to experiment right? Well, this palette is just simply stunning anyway and I'm sure most of you are all too aware of beautifully easy it is to blend the rich tones. I have a few of my favourite combination which I will put together in a blog post soon. 

Naturally enough I am now all about taking care of my brushes |(I'm afraid to admit that this wasn't always the way). I try my very hardest to clean my brushes at least once a week and I've noticed that it makes me make up appear much better as a result, mainly due to the fact clumps of old make up is now gone from the brush. I'm aware this is common sense to most people but honestly, cleaning brushes regularly is such a new craze for me and I'm loving the results. The product that has been highly recommended to me over the years is MAC Brush Cleaner. I'm still discovering the best method; at the moment I'm mixing with water and rinsing the brushes through. It does give a deep clean but I would love to know if anyone has other tips or tricks for cleaning brushes. 

Another exploration for me with my new brushes is I'm experimenting more with eye make up as I previously mentioned. So I picked up a new Urban Decay Naked 2Palette, which is mainly made up of dusty tones of brown, gold, deep lilac, blending beautifully together to give a wide variety of overall looks. 

Have you tried the Bobbi Brown brushes? What are your thoughts? 

Love C X 

The Beauty Shift

Every so often a beauty trend comes along that revolutionizes the way we look at make up. In recent years the craze has seen everything from the smoky eye, to contouring to the comeback of the statement lip. The one fundamental aspect that we all crave for is a look that fits us! Personally, I believed for years that this could be found in the form of the perfect foundation. For years I tried and tested them all, Revlon, Rimmel, MAC, Clinique,  Max Factor, Laura Mercier, the list goes on, and although I did find a foundation that does exactly what I need it to do I still seem to crave that "natural" element to my look. Cakey make up is something that I think every female dreads, so how do we avoid this if we are a fan of a heavy foundation?

Until recently I believed that I would never truly be able to answer this question truthfully, but that was before I welcomed BB cream into my life. My first encounter was the battling question of; BB VS CC? How can one possibly understand which is going to work best for what we are looking for without testing both? And the answer is you can't. My initial understanding was that CC was going to be my obvious winner, as someone who has suffered with skin blemishes my whole life this seemed like my answer. So I tried No17 CC cream and the results were incredible, for awhile. I suppose my positive reaction mainly develops from my scepticism from the beginning, I genuinely believed that this was not going to work and a waste of money but I'm a sucker for a beauty craze. This product works wonders for those who do not want to apply make up and are looking for light coverage, but this isn't want I want. This product is too light to wear alone but too heavy to act with foundation. So this brings me to re-examine how I shop for BB/CC creams; Can it work with my existing beauty routine?

My next route lead me to a MAC counter. With a few friends who work for the brand I decided to give it a go, already a fan of their lip, eye and powder products I was willing to give it a go. So I purchased the BB compact cream and began to test it. I applied under my foundation and it worked relatively well. It was light enough to work under my foundation and gave me more coverage than my concealer was offering so it seemed like all was well. After time the product just seemed to be drying up my skin which was the tell tale sign that it had to go. Now I suppose at this stage you are probably wondering why I wouldn't just ditch the foundation but for me this probably boils down to an insecurity. As I have previously stated in my posts, foundation is my friend! Again, it has to work with my existing beauty routine.

For those of you who don't know my foundation is Clinique, Stay Matte. I wrote a review on my love for the product here. So I just went to a Clinique counter and asked the question that I probably should have asked at the beginning, what is the best cream to work with this foundation? Naturally, she was going to say a Clinique product, which I had already prepared myself for and was okay with. I just wanted the right product that was going to do what I wanted it to. After explaining what I wanted from the product and the results I was looking for she suggested that BB cream was best, and this was what I went for. I've been using Clinique BB for two weeks now and honestly, I am really happy with it and the effects it has on my skin. The "Naked Face" trend seems like it's here to stay so why not discover a product which can not only achieve the look but gives you confidence also.

Love C X 

The Future is Looking Bright

A new year can only mean one thing; new trends! This generally equals to the fact that new colours are coming that we are all going to be lusting after. Looking at this from a beauty perspective always fascinates me; how is it that everyone,with a vast range of complexions and skin tones, can all wear certain shades so well.

Moving into spring/summer '14 has already given me hope for bright colours. With this in mind I have reason to believe that colours that we we all want to brand our lips with are soft berries and electric oranges. We seem to have exhausted every other form of berry so it only seems natural to test the waters with a lighter shade. Personally, I am a massive fan of deeper burgundy shades. They create a bigger impact and compliment my features better. Now I am not saying that I will not at least try these shades but with regards orange, I am not feeling too confident.

This orange come back reminds me of the 90's era where everything was a lightly bit brighter and crazier. 2013 saw the decade become very trendy again with the help of  Miley Cyrus, midi crop tops and high waisted denims, so it was only a matter of time before the colours which defined the 90's was going to make an appearance.

As I write this I am trying to figure out how I will style this shade. My new colour (clothes wise) is white, so I'm thinking this could be a great team together. With regards products, I'm putting my money on Michael Kors Lip Lacquer in Dame and Maybelline Colour Sensational Vivids Lipstick in Electric Orange.

Soft berry is a gorgeous to play with, particularly for day time wear. Given rise to a gentle finish for your look will definitely compliment clean, fresh colours such as white, beige and grey, all of which I am embracing in the coming months.

Happy New Year! 

Love C X 

All I want for Christmas.......

So I've decided to put together a little list of gifts/gift ideas that could make good presents for sisters, girlfriends, friends, secret Santa and also things that I would love to receive, so it's a mix of both really. This is purely based on my personal taste but it may give you an idea of what to get someone if you are struggling to think of something.


1. Etsy Phone Cover 

Over the past few months I have discovered Etsy, which basically is an online platform for really creative people to sell pieces that they have made or designed such as jewellery, clothes, personalised blogger templates and phone covers, just to name a few (there's much more). But as someone who loves a good phone cover I always find that etsy.com by far have the most original designs and completely unique from anything that you will find in any Carphone Warehouse shop. Also they are priced higher than your average phone cover but this is because they are one of a kind hand made gifts, and still reasonable to justify paying the premium. Below are some of the phone covers that I love which can be found by clicking into the Etsy link above.

2. Fur Gillet

For the winter it is essential to wrap up because it seems to be getting colder each year. So fur is the obvious choice, yes? And now I am mad about the idea of a fur gillet and was absolutely delighted to find this amazing one in my local Promod, and I wasn't even aware of this shop until recently. When I buy from the high street I usually try and stick to a specific budget and this would normally be out of my budget so I'm really hoping that if I drop enough subtle hints that it may just appear under my tree on the 25th........

3. Free People 

This next idea is inspired by a website called freepeople.com, which is an online fashion boutique based in Australia. I love this place because every thing they sell is bohemian themed and if I could afford it I would literally buy the whole website, but I can't! So for the minute I have just hand picked my favourite bits.

Khaki Vest $13

Denim Waistcoat $170

Beige Denims $22

Tan Ankle boots $145

Black Soft Leather Satchel $465 

All can be purchased at freepeople.com

4. Instagram Gifts

Instagram is fast becoming one of the most popular platforms for social media addicts. Personalli I cant get enough of it (@cicijewels) and think that these personalised gifts centred around photos that have been posted by your friends are a really nice and thoughtful gift. The following are just a few ways that you can create a really special gift for someone.

 StitchGram
This site allows you to personalise gifts such as pillows, christmas stockings, bags and purses.

Printstagr

These guys can professioanl print your instagram pictures and put it together like a book/memoir so you can remember those special moments long after your post has been published. 

Postgram

So if you have at least 50 images on your instagram account these guys can create a stunning poster similar to the one below. 

5. MAC Eyeshadow Palette 


AS I've stated previously, during the winter months I prefer to go darker and edgier with eye make up (even during the day), so I am always on the look out for colours that  1) I haven't used before or 2) that I haven't used in awhile. Right now I am searching for deep purple tones with a glitter underlay. It is also a common fact that investing in eye shadow palettes is definitely the way to go because of the variety of colours, tones and endless experimenting.  MAC offer a great palette containing four base eye shadows (of your choice) for 40 Euro. This is amazing value and will definitely make nay girl happy.

6. Downton Abbey Season 4 

If any of you follow me on twitter (@cicijewels) you will already know that I am OBSESSED with this series. Last Christmas I got the boxset with series 1, 2 and 3, and spent the rest of the month gripped by Lady Mary, The Crawleys and the waiting staff. If you haven't seen any of it, invest! And if you have I would say pick up season 4 because it doesn't disappoint.

7. MAC Lipstick and Liner 




So instead of picking obvious colours for my next lipstick purchase I decided to be a little bit more adventurous and I am going with brown! Normally I would not even think twice about this but while sampling various shades at the MAC counter, I really surprised myself at how much I warmed to the earthy tones. I finally settled on a tone : Lusturing  Lipstick  and Film Noir Lip Liner to match. A great fresh look for the party season which will be sure to grab some attention!



So that's it! My list is short but sweet and if I could have it all I would be a very happy girl :) Wishful thinking........

Hope you found this interesting/helpful.

Love C X 

Girl with the Iron Mask

This year I am really excited about Halloween. I love dressing up, but in particular I love dressing up in Gothic attire. I know Halloween is usually themed with death, blood and gore, but this year I am taking a slightly different approach. While in Paris I stumbled across this amazing costume shop (which was also really cheap) near Hotel Du Ville, and while looking around I found the most beautiful range of masks ever. After trying everything on I decided on a black lace masquerade style face piece and a matching black feather for my hair. This has pretty much been the focus for arranging my costume for this year. I have been racking my brain as to what clthes to wear with this, but I think I nearly have everything in place. 

The next big task when putting a creative costume together is figuring out what what to do with your hair and make up! For Halloween, the focus for your face is the crazier the better. I have this image in my mind that I am going to paint my face white, in contrast to the black mask for dramatic impact and bold black/deep purple lips. At the moment I am still experimenting with colours and styles of how this look will piece together on the night but I will do a follow up post of my whole look and how I put it all together. 

                     

 

                             

 

As I have blonde hair, I think the black mask will go well because of the disparity of tones. Similarly, I would advise that any brunettes to opt for a white or lighter shade mask for a resembling result. My plan is to use a silver coloured spray to add a "deathly" image to my look, crimp and backbrush. Lots of hairspray will be needed also so I have been stocking up! 

Although the last image above has nothing to do with the masqerade look that I am going for, I love it! Maybe this could be a look for next year :) 

Everything about my costume will be up very soon including what products I used and where they were bought. 

Love C X 

Ooh, you're making me blush

So here we are, another season and another "it" colour that will be taking up all of our wardrobes. Last year saw the significant popularity of Burgundy/ruby/maroon. I must admit, I am a serious fan of that colour so I splashed out big time, and my pocket definitely felt the burn! So I was curious to know what the big colour would be this winter, and various sources have claimed that the next big trend is all in the form of red!! Now, speaking from a personal point of view, red is not a colour that I would be in a hurry to put on! Therefore I will subtly be embracing, mainly through forms of accessories and jewels. Today's post is all about how you can embrace this colour, even if (like me) you do not want over kill.

When it comes to red clothes, I have always been a fan of coloured skinny jeans. I will definitely be breaking my pair out again and if you don't have a pair already I highly recommend Warehouse because they stay in good fitting condition for so long that they are worth every penny. The red skinny jean and the leopard coat is very east London hipster style but that's why I love it! If you want to be edgier with your style this is the perfect way to create that. A subtle red blazer/cardi/pullover under your winter coat is also another way to embrace the trend. I really love the one featured in the image above and will hunt the shops for something similar, and of course will let you know when I find one! 

A simple and easy way to add red into your style this winter is by wearing a chunky knit scarf! The one in the image above is amazing and something very similar is available in Pennys and will not the cost more than E6. If you want a guide on where to buy a red hat for the winter months, check out this post I did Hang on to your Hat! 

A red lip has been a classic look for years now, and is probably something that I would do anyway even if it wasn't cool anymore, but thankfully this season it still is! I experiment quiet a bit with all different make up brands and I have to say that MAC lip sticks are one of the best around but when it comes to shades it really is the best one for your skin tone and shading. I always ask the make up artists for advice because they know best and thankfully the girls at my local counter are so nice! 

Again, as I am sure you all know at this stage, jewels are my thing! As I come across amazing jewellery I will inform you guys but for the moment these are my fashion statements in the form of red! Let me know what you think :) 

Love C X