Cheeks Must Have's

Part 2 of 5, of the 5 essential Must have's :)

Cheeks! 

Now for Blusher's it really depends on what lip colour you are going to be applying, as my blush often compliments my lipstick choice.

For those of you that are going to be daring this autumn/winter, like myself and opt for the Plum shades on the Lipstick colour spectrum! I'd recommend, a plum/brown blusher, I think the colour i'd use to describe the perfect blusher for this look is MINK, like a Malt Chocolate colour, with the prime colour being brown, but with subtle plummy undertones..yummy, sounds almost edible...pink's and peaches work just aswell with this look, and I think I would often, if not feeling daring, opt for a subtle peach/pink blush :)

Sooo my recommendations for the daring amongst us is, Either Mocha, or Prism by MAC, apply this to your cheekbones, which will act almost as a contouring medium, and it will really add some depth to your cheeks, and then take a highlighting powder or a lighter (pink) blusher and dust it over your upper cheekbone, up towards the outer corner of your eye, also paying attention to the apples of your cheeks! 

For those of you that will be opting for the natural lip with this look, I'd advise using either a peachy tone or a soft pink. Melba, by MAC would be my choice for this alternative look. Still concentrating on the lower part of your cheek bone, and also apply a dusting over your upper cheek bone and the apple of the cheeks as well, for a soft, warm glow :) enhance the upper part of your cheekbone with highlighter if needs be! 

If you are going to be contouring, with a darker medium, then application of blusher to the lower part of the cheekbone isn't necessary, just apply your blusher to the apples of your cheeks, in a sweeping motion towards your temples :)

So now that you have a lovely glow to your cheeks, a highlighter can be used to enhance the cheek/brow bones! Giving you some extra lustre, more app at night as apose to during the day!

ELF do a brilliant highlighter, that can be applied with ease, and blended into the area using my brush specified in the previous blog, the flawless concealer brush from ELF. 

Benefit also do a lovely highlighting powder called 'luster duster' that can be used in the same way as the cream based highlighter, it often depends which medium you prefer working with, I often think that if my face MakeUp is cream based stick with cream based blushers, and cream based highlighters, but if you have gone for powder products, then stick with a powder highlighter! :) Makes sense, otherwise you may find that a cream based product, used over a powder, can cause unwanted movement of the powder, which will alter and essentially ruin your flawless look :( however powder over cream works, as the denser medium is the cream, so the powder effectively just sits on top of the creamy face MakeUp!

So for the Ultimate Cheek...I'd suggest purchasing a Peachy Blush, a Plum Blush, a Highlighter, a Contouring Brush, and a Face Brush! Different combinations of the above products will give you soo many different looks, that can be combined with an array of different eye MakeUp looks as well! Versatile MakeUp choice, is the ultimate skill to have, if you have an eye for different colours, and different mediums that you think will combine well together, then you have a head start, when aiming to achieve these day to night MakeUp looks :)

Up next...Eye's Blog!

Keep Reading,

Alexandra Louise

xXx

Face Must Haves...

First of all, I don't know about you, but I have normal skin, which for the majority of the year is absolutely fine! However as winter approaches it dry's out, only slightly but when applying MakeUp it often doesn't quite give the finish I always aim to achieve...FLAWLESS, and this frustrates me! So first of all, a good moisturiser is an absolute necessity!

Now there is a few I would highly recommend:

• Garnier Soft Essentials, Replenishing Day Care Cream, essence of Rose water.
• MAC Studio Fix Moisture with SPF 15 - avoid if having photos taken!!
• Garnier Moisture Match - Ultra Hydrating (perfect for winter)

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My preferred of the above three is the garnier rose water, its light, suits all skin types, and from home bargains its a steal at £2.99 :) It also and most importantly provides a great base to apply your MakeUp onto.

Each of these products have other products within their range for the different skin types, for those of you with Oily skin (your skin will be brilliant during winter), or Dry Skin (you may need a very intense moisturiser) the 3 I have mentioned above will all cater for your needs! They all smell great, and more importantly do a fabulous job of looking after your skin, in the cold winter months :)

Apply before putting your foundation on, OR combine your foundation with your chosen moisturiser, for a very natural coverage! Which in the winter, and during the day I opt for anyway! MakeUp that looks inches thick is NOT attractive...avoid this look at all costs! 

Now for the foundation, I'm a big believer in less is more! Especially during the day, more is more becomes slightly more acceptable and necessary when we are making the transformation from day MakeUp to Night time MakeUp!

At present 'BB cream' is a huge success! I personally use the Garnier BB cream, which is lovely and light, and provides quite a dewy, medium coverage!

If I was going to apply my foundation, I would mix it with one of the above moisturisers, the foundation I use is a MAC Studio Fix, which provides full coverage for a night out, but still doesn't look too heavy, so combined with a moisturiser, gives a lovely natural looking finish, which is perfect for wearing during the day!

I have also whilst shopping around come across another brand of foundation, which is just like the MAC studio fix, only a little lighter, meaning less coverage for the daytime look..The brand is Fashionista, which at the moment is reduced from £12 to £3 BARGAIN, they have a wide variety of products in their range, and they provide great quality for only a fraction of MACs cost, always a winner :)

For those of you that prefer using powders instead of foundations! Which sometimes for speed, I also use instead, I would 100% recommend the MAC mineralize Powder, use it either on its own, for a lovely light, yet flawless finish, or set your foundation with it, this will not pack your foundation out, making it look like you have a lot of MakeUp on, it will just take any unwanted shine out of the skin, and give you an all over beautiful, flawless look..also fab for contouring (future blog to contain information on contouring, watch this space)

With regards to brushes, I have a variety of different face brushes, all bringing different qualities that assist, and enhance the application of the face MakeUp.

I use different brushes to apply foundations with, but one brush in particular that I couldn't live without, is theMAC stipple brush, number 187, this brush enables a full, flawlessfacial coverage. It can also be used to apply face and cheek powders.

Crown Brushes are a new favourite of mine and they do the exact same brush for a fraction of the cost, of the same quality!! A smaller version of this brush is also available on both MAC and Crown Brushes websites. 

This YSL touche eclait is another must have, its not necessarily a day to day essential, but can easily be made into one, if you have dark circles under the eye, or if you want to highlight certain areas of the face! My ultimate brush for applying concealer, and it now also gets used for pretty much every aspect of makeup I do is the...The flawless concealer brush from ELF...great for creamy based product application, and also for blending powders :)

Next Blog to contain 5 Must have Cheek Products...These are my 5 must have face products, every single one of them, on their own or combined will enhance your natural beauty, showing that MakeUp really is Beauty's Key Accessory...

Keep Reading,

Alexandra Louise

xXx