The beauty scenario tag

Yay a tag post! I eat sleep breathe make up so having an excuse to write a post purely dedicated to it is perfect. I was tagged by the beautiful Esther !

1) You have to get rid of all your foundations and keep one high-end and one drug store. Which do you keep?
Tough one. I have to admit in recent months I've been having an exclusive relationship with high-end foundations only and don't actually own anything else...saying that if I had to pick one based on past experience it would be Rimmel Wake Me Up Foundation. Pretty decent for a fiver! Out of my high-end options it would have to be the newest edition to my makeup bag - NARS Sheer Glow in shade Barcelona. Light enough that it can used daily (unlike MAC Studio Fix) but good enough coverage for nights out. The lack of SPF is also great for nights out and relentless selfie-taking. Failing that any of the 3 in the photo below would suffice.

2) You go for an interview and the lady interviewing has lipstick on her teeth. Do you approach the subject or ignore it completely?
Christ. First and foremost if someone had lipstick on their teeth it's one of the first things I'd notice. Downside of being an overly observant person is always spotting things you'd rather not notice, as it means it's all you can think about/stare it for the duration of the conversation. I'd personally try ignore it all together and then tell her to read my blog post - 7 things more embarrassing than getting lipstick on your teeth. That should get the message across.

3) You're not feeling yourself and need a pick me up lipstick. Which do you go for?
This again is tough. When you own enough lipstick to paint the entire front of Notre Dame there are quite a few options. Having said that a stand out winner for me is MAC's Rebel. A rich purple shade it looks dark red on me but I always get compliments on it. Not really appropriate for everyday wear but is a firm favourite of mine for nights out.

4)You go back in time to your teenage years, how do you do your hair and makeup differently? 
This list is endless. Dear 15 year old Natassia:
1- Do not dye your hair black for Christ sake
2- Wear foundation that actually matches your neck not 4 shades darker
3- Step away from the pink & green eye shadow combo
4- Don't attempt to dye your hair blonde by yourself. It will go orange. Anyone that went to high school with me will remember this epic life fail

5) You ask your hairdresser for a shoulder length Pixie Lott hair cut but they hear wrong and give you a pixie cut, what do you do? A) Smile, say thanks, leave and call your mum crying hysterically. B) Cry in the chair and things get awkward. C) Complain to the manager and demand a refund. D) None of the above
I'll avoid confrontation by any means necessary so I'm definitely the type of person to pretend I love it then go home and have a nervous breakdown and write angry tweets about it.

6) Your friend surprises you with a 4 day city break and you have one hour to pack. Which ‘Do It All’ palette do you pack in your make up bag?

I'm not big on eyeshadow - in fact I barely own any. I did however cave in and buy Urban Decay's Naked 2 Palette a couple of months ago which is what I'd take just in case. Very wearable colours I'm pretty fond of this palette.

7) Your house has been robbed – don’t worry, everyone is safe – but your beauty stash has been raided. What’s the product you really hope is safe?
My perfume collection. Easy. 

8) Your friend borrows make up and returns it in an awful condition. Do you: A) Pretend you haven’t noticed B) Ask them to repurchase it C) Secretly do it back to their make up

One of the benefits of having naturally beautiful friends is they don't want to borrow any of my makeup. If they did and returned it in awful condition I'd just buy it again and never ever let them borrow anything in the future. 1 strike and you're out betches. 

I tag my beautiful cousin Jess!

Smashbox Studio Skin

When I find a new beauty product I actually love everyone needs to knows about it. My boyfriend will pretend to listen to me bleat on about it for ages because it's actually quite a rarity. So many products claim to reduce pores, even out skin tone, do your washing up for you and very few actually deliver on any of their promises. You'd only need to see how many foundations I've accumulated over the years to realise this.

I've been on the look out for a full coverage foundation to wear on nights out and the morning after nights out (I'm an eye bag lady). Cue Smashbox Studio Skin foundation! I was lucky enough to score a free full size one of these due to Smashbox's promotional event ''Foundation Friday''. Best freebie ever! Smashbox is a brand that is relatively new to me but I have to say I am desperately falling in love with it. Genuine quality, no gimmicky packaging and reasonably priced for premium makeup. It's a winner.

The coverage of this foundation is on another level. The best part of which is you don't need to apply much to achieve medium to full coverage. One application is more than enough to get a perfect looking complexion from top to bottom. I got the shade 2.2 due to my incessant need to fake tan - and I have to say this is a very very good match for my faux skin tone. It also claims to have hydrating properties which basically means it won't dry you out while you wear it - which is another massive bonus as with most foundations I've tried (except bareSkin) my skin is haggered and dry at the end of the day. Not with Studio Skin. My skin feels as if I haven't worn anything.

Now for the best part.....due to the fact Smashbox as a brand started behind the scenes on photo shoots and runway shows all their makeup looks exceptional in photos flash or no flash. My skin in photos with this foundation on looks like it was crafted by Jesus Christ himself. Beautiful. So if you, like me take 3972 photos on nights out/days in/any occasion this foundation is perfection. The fact it stays put for 15 hours is also great for nights out - I wore this on a night out recently and didn't need to reapply or touch up at all it was a makeup revelation for me. (Normally by 1 am my foundation is sliding off my face and making a dash for my neck. Not ideal)

Studio Skin is £28 and worth it! It was love at first pump for me (?!) and I can tell you now if you're looking for a medium to full coverage foundation you'll love it too. For best results apply after a primer and you'll have beaut makeup sorrrrrrted.

Too Faced Melted Kisses

I LOVE Too Faced cosmetics. The feminine packaging and the high quality products mean it is in my top 3 favourite beauty brands easily. It is a little hard to come across in the UK (which, being a typical female just makes me want it more) so I order all my Too Faced products either on ASOS or Boots.com. To this day I have never been disappointed with any of the products I've bought.

Today I'm focusing on a Christmas Gift but in all honesty is something I just bought for myself. Incapable of waiting for anything let alone December I ordered Melted Kisses ''The Ultimate Liquified Longwear Lipstick Set''. This set includes 4 deluxe sizes of the most popular liquified lipstick Too Faced offers, Melted Berry, Melted Fuchsia, Melted Peony & Melted Nude. (my favourite!) The beauty of these is that they are so nourishing but with the same great depth of colour you'd expect to get from a full-blown lipstick. Sometimes with other lipstick brands I shall leave unnamed MAC my lips feel really dry after about half an hour of wear and go all gross and flaky- not with these babies. They are just the right middle ground between a lipstick and a lipgloss while embodying the best of both. One application lasts bloody ages as well, I applied one coat and it lasted 2 hours before needing any touch ups!

As you can just about see from the swatches on my orange claw hand each shade is very pigmented, perfectly creamy and has a slight shine to it without looking too much like a gloss (and without the stickiness). The lipstick comes out onto a soft velvet brush attached to the tube, so no messy pumping action needed. Each shade is gorgeous with Melted Nude quickly becoming my all time favourite for day to day wear.

If you're new to Too Faced but like the look of these lipsticks I'd definitely recommend this set - £22 for 4 when a full size retails for £19! link! (Or if you're more selfless than me and don't fancy buying it for yourself whack it on the old Christmas list).

(This shade above is one I ordered previously in the full size and is the shade Melted Violet. I absolutely adore this colour and is so different to anything I've tried before. #nofilter)

The power of primer

Until I started working on a makeup counter very recently I was always really sceptical of foundation primers. I had the naive view that they were unnecessary and just a beauty company's way of getting us to spend money on more makeup than we actually need. I tended to moisturise and then put foundation directly onto my skin. I had the view that the closer the foundation was to my natural skin the better the result right? Wrong.

I was recently sent a Laura Mercier Foundation Primer in My Little Box and oh my god its amazing. This isn't a brand I would typically use myself and so the fact I got it in a subscription box was a massive bonus and gave me the kick in the right direction that I needed regarding primers and actually adequately preparing my skin before foundation.

I've used it for just under a week now and holy shit. The difference it makes to my foundation is unreal. I pretty much have a compact mirror permanently attached to my hand throughout the day so I can keep an eye on my makeup and quickly fix any mishaps but with primer on my makeup stayed put all day - even when at work (which is quite an accomplishment really especially given that I wear enough makeup to comatose a rhino.)

Just a pea sized amount all over the face after moisturising meant my makeup went on smoother and lasted longer. I didn't have to touch up at all when I had this on which is pretty unheard of for me. Usually I find my concealer doesn't sit well for the entire duration of the day and foundation around my lips can wear away but not with primer on. It stays put without going cakey or wearing away. Result.

This particular primer is white and quite creamy in consistency. I haven't needed to use much to get the desired amount of coverage which is always good. If you've been a primer sceptic like me definitely give one a go. It's still relatively early days for me and so far I've only used this one brand but I'm definitely looking to try a few other brands and possibly a tinted primer - bareMinerals BB primer anyone? ;)

7 mysteries of the beauty universe

As great as makeup and cosmetics are there are a few unanswered questions you probably ponder every day. Why does my eyeliner never match? Why do I always run of conditioner before shampoo? Illuminati.  In this post I'm going to try and shed some light on some possible causes..

1)Where the hell do hair ties and grips go? Buying a pack of 60 means you'll be able to tie or pin your hair up at leisure for 3 weeks maximum - before they've all seemingly disappeared. Where do they go? Do they disintegrate after one use? Is my boyfriend stealing them? It's some kind of conspiracy to try get us to buy more I'm convinced. Even aiming to keep them in the same place doesn't help they still grow legs and go missing. Very odd. It's not even like they're really that expensive to replace but it's a real pain in the arse having to hunt around for hair stuff knowing you only bought them a week ago. 

2)Now I realise scientists definitely have bigger fish to fry and more important issues to tackle but why hasn't anyone invented a semi-permanent fake tan? Having to re-do it every week can be quite time consuming. Inventing some kind of semi-permanent product that lasts a month instead of a week would be a cosmetics miracle as far as I'm concerned. Plus I'm sure if there was a more semi-permanent solution more people would opt for the bottle instead of the sunbed, in turn reducing skin cancer numbers etc. Definite lifesaver. 

3)This one won't be applicable to those who don't wear false eyelashes but I'll throw it in anyway. I always seem to notice one end of an eyelash becoming unglued/loose when I'm in a situation where there's nothing I can do about it. Bugger. This never seems to happen when I've got time and equipment on my side to render the situation but always just before a date/interview/important meeting. This is an example of when cosmetics definitely isn't on my side. It's the best confidence boost ever when you're already shitting yourself for a job interview to then have the added worry of your eyelashes leaping off your face and landing on the table like a centipede. 

4)I say this 400 times a day but I really do love perfume. In the past 3 days alone I've bought 3 new bottles. But have you ever smelt someone else's perfume which smells gorgeous, gone to buy it yourself and it smells disgusting? Yep. Thierry Mugler Angel seems to smell amazing on everyone else but the second I apply it to my skin it smells like I've aged 50 years and had a fight with a cheap air freshener can. Yuck, I got a large bottle for Christmas 2 years ago and it still remains untouched.Obviously the whole thing about perfumery is about creating unique scents for different people and their skin chemistry etc etc I get that. But the difference in smell can be so vast between two people it always leaves me puzzled and a bit gutted my skin chemistry rejects ones that smell so good on others.

5)Shampoo and conditioner are definitely considered a necessity in this day and age and part of every person's beauty/hygiene routine (or I should hope so anyway) so I don't feel indulgent mentioning it. But why do we never run out of them at the same time? There's always some shampoo left when I chuck the matching conditioner bottle out. It seems obvious. ''It's because we typically use more conditioner per shower than shampoo'' but that isn't always true. On occasions where money has been tight I've tried to balance out how much I use and I still need to buy new conditioner before shampoo. This is not a coincidence there is a higher power at work here. Definitely not a coincidence. Nope. 

6)On the subject of hair - after a haircut why can we never get the style to look as good as when the hairstylist did it? Obviously hairstylists are professional and know what they're doing more so than me but after a new haircut I can never get it to look as good as the first styling before I walk out the salon. Even using the same products as the professional doesn't seem to help and I spend ages trying to emulate what they've done to no avail. One day I hope to earn enough to warrant having an on-call hair stylist but until then I'll just struggle on and deal with regular bad hair days. 

7)Saved the best 'til last. The biggest mystery of all. Eyeliner. There is a quote that goes something like ''never ask a girl with winged eyeliner why she's late'' and it's true. When applying eyeliner one eye always seems to go perfectly and how you want the other to look but despite using the exact same method the second eye never ever looks the same. This is a very lengthy process. Using the same products, application and doing them 2 minutes apart doesn't make a difference they still won't match. If anyone has found a solution to this royal pain in the arse I'd be truly grateful.

7 things more embarrassing than getting lipstick on your teeth

Although very quickly rectified, there's no denying the 3 second mortification associated with being told you have lipstick on your teeth. This is like the female equivalent of a bloke walking out the toilet with toilet roll on his shoe. But have some perspective. I think there are probably a few things that are equally - if not more embarrassing that happen in every day life that I've listed below to remind you that next time a complete stranger is staring at your mouth scrubbing their teeth with their finger - things could be worse.

Accidentally liking a tweet/Instagram post whilst stalking someone. Not bothered what anyone says on the contrary - everyone likes to have a little snoop on their exes/enemies now and again it's one of the benefits of social media. But accidentally favouriting something you shouldn't really be looking at in the first place is by far the worst thing that can possibly happen, ever. Knowing full well that regardless of how quickly you 'unlike' the post that person is gonna get a notification and know you've been snooping and you have to live with it. They've won that round!
Given that as previously mentioned I constantly have bits of plastic stuck to the end of my nails you can only imagine how many times this has happened to me...

Feeling smug in a new pair of shoes you've worn all day to then realise you haven't removed the annoying white sticker on the sole and now everyone knows you shop at Primark (no judgement). Manufacturers really ought to rethink their sticker placement because those stickers are impossible to remove and are a definite fashion faux pas.

Being caught taking a selfie isn't going to be considered embarrassing by a lot of people as these days it's considered the norm. But I personally try avoid snapchatting/selfie taking unless in the privacy of my own home as there's a definite 'self absorbed' connotation associated with openly taking photos of oneself in public...unless you're with another person in which case you share the embarrassment and it's totally fine. But sitting on a train and thinking you're alone to then realise there's a group of people sat 4 rows away that are watching you is always a massive cringe.

Causing a scene at self-checkouts. I HATE self-checkouts but I hate human interaction more so I always go to the self-checkout machine in a supermarket knowing full well it'll take twice as long, involve a lot of swearing and ''please place item in bagging area'' over and over again. Very rarely do I use a self-checkout without causing a scene and requiring assistance at least twice. This invention reassures me computers aren't really that intelligent and robots taking over the world is still a long way off.

Being told you look tired is basically being told you look like crap isn't it? Crawling into work to be greeted with ''awh you look knackered'' is not exactly a confidence boost. You spend the rest of the day paranoid about how you look overdosing on coffee to try look less ''knackered''. I'm not even sure what the correct response is to this so I avoid it as best I can with layers and layers of concealer. (All hail Mac Studio Fix concealer!)

Tripping over in public. This is a bit of an obvious one and has been depicted in cartoons (think slipping on banana skins) for as long as I can remember. But walking along feeling good with your iPod on to then trip over is always embarrassing. The immediate ''did anyone see that?'' thought process is always great fun too. Followed by a less than subtle scan of the area to see if anyone did in fact see. Due to the less than sensible choice of footwear I endure this happens to me a lot but only once have I legit fallen face flat. I never ever wore those shoes again. They were ridiculous wedges (which is largely why I think this whole thing about wedges being a 'better for your feet' alternative to heels is a load of rubbish) that we now utilise by using them as a hammer.

I have an iPhone permanently attached to my hand so I'm always pressing buttons by accident. And due to my exceptional taste in music on more occasions than I care to mention I've accidentally played music in a quiet room for everyone to turn around and wonder what's causing the noise. The only thing more embarrassing than that is the actual music playing. For me it always seems to be Backstreet Boys. I love me some Backstreet Boys but I realise it is actually 2014 and complete strangers in the hospital waiting room don't need to know that..

So next time someone brings your lipstick teeth to your attention remember it could be worse and they've probably got white stickers stuck to their shoes anyway.

The importance of cosmetics

There's often a 'vanity obsessed' connotation associated with talking about a passion for makeup. People making the assumption that anyone that cares that much about what they look like must be superficial, often considered unintelligent and ''scared to break a nail!'' I can't even tell you how often people have assumed I'm stupid because of the way I look. But do I change how much makeup I wear? Not a chance.

Cosmetics is more than just putting some products on your face. Cosmetics is about enhancing what you've got and putting your best face forward. It's about adding confidence and perhaps disguising parts of your face you aren't crazy about. This shouldn't be seen as a negative thing. A bit of mascara or a face full of makeup can make the world of difference to a woman's confidence and allow them to face the day feeling good about themselves. It's about self expression and given that we are lucky enough to live in a society where women can make their own choices about the way they look I say embrace it.

 On occasion I've overheard people describe how much makeup a girl wears as ''false advertising'' and that they wouldn't pursue her because of it. That just makes me question their own superficiality if anything. Beneath the makeup is still a real person. Loads of makeup doesn't automatically equal a rubbish personality. If anything it's these judgemental people that give makeup and cosmetics a bad name. Just because someone chooses to wake up an hour earlier so they can leave the house feeling good about themselves is their own damn choice. Not everyone is comfortable with ''embracing their natural beauty'' and that should be down to their own discretion to decide. For every person that tells me I wear too much makeup I reapply lipgloss an extra time that day. Society wouldn't publicly bash women who don't wear makeup so why should it be acceptable to bash those that do?

There's always the ever present argument about how much money is an acceptable amount to spend on cosmetics. I recently visited The Mona Lisa in Paris and have never been so disappointed in my life. That painting is worth approximately 1.5 billion dollars (according to Wiki) and is so underwhelming. People will pay unbelievable amounts of money for art/cars/fashion so why should spending money on cosmetics be frowned upon? Surely how women spend their own disposable income is their own choice? And I personally believe if Mona Lisa was painted today Da Vinci would definitely have whacked some false eyelashes on her I'm just saying...

Feeling pride in one's appearance is not a crime and if applying makeup makes you feel better about yourself go right ahead. I always get satisfaction out of surpassing people's expectations they've made based on how much makeup I've got on. Society shouldn't be so quick to dismiss a face full of makeup as vanity. It is so much more than that.

bareMinerals bareSkin Review

In all honesty up until recently I haven't had much experience with mineral makeup. I've always preferred the ''look how much makeup I'm wearing and I'm damn proud of it - girlpower'' look as opposed to anything remotely natural. 'Drug store' brands had sufficed in providing what I thought was good coverage, affordable, easily available etc.. That was until my whole world makeup bag changed.

bareMinerals are currently running a promotional campaign for their new liquid foundation bareSkin and I got myself a couple of samples to play around with. Oh my god. Everything I thought I knew about foundation was completely disregarded and I am now a devout believer in foundations that not only provide great coverage but are also kind to skin.

Because of my (less than subtle) tendency to fake tan I picked up bareSkin in the shade bareNatural which is from their medium shade range. It has changed my life. The formula appears quite watery (when not shaken properly)  but a tiny bit goes a long way. Just 4  tiny drops covers my entire face to a medium/full coverage and leaves skin looking dewy and hydrated. The foundation itself contains a serum which means theoretically it should be benefiting skin while you wear it - bonus.

Overall I abso-bloody-lutely love this foundation. I've read other reviews that have been mixed but for my skin it covers, hydrates and sits well all day with minimal retouching. In fact I wouldn't even say it 'sits well' as it doesn't feel like I'm wearing anything at all. If you use foundations like MAC Studio Fix or anything heavy like that this will be a welcome holiday for your skin.

 To use it to its full potential I highly recommend investing in the specially developed Perfecting Face  brush which comes with a 'dip' in the middle designed to hold the product and make blending easier. This brush is the softest foundation brush I have ever used!

 Give the bottle a good shake before applying to the brush to ensure the foundation and serum are equally mixed and boom! Beautiful skin that literally takes about 5 seconds to apply.

The brush retails for £24 and is available here
The foundation retails for £26 and is available here - I definitely recommend getting colour matched at a bareMinerals counter to ensure you get the most out of this product! There's a huge range of shades sure to match any skin tone. 

Fake it till you make it honey

FAKE TAN. Oh fake tan.  How I love thee. Providing me an alternative to milk bottle living/sun damage I could not live without you.

Now, I am the first to admit I have by no means 'always got it right' and have at times been renowned for my questionable skin tone...but regardless of my poor efforts I think there's gotta be more appreciation for this miracle product that in the event of wanting a tan could literally save lives. A much much much less damaging alternative to sunbeds/sun tanning and all the other scary lengths people will go to for a tan these bottles provide me year round colour. At times verging on orange a bit over the top (ahem) 8 hours of sleeping with this stuff on I awake a bronzed goddess. (I use the word goddess lightly)

People are always like ''but what about the smell? Don't you smell like biscuits?'' YES but I'd rather that than smell like burning pork after getting out a sunbed. Besides you wash it off as soon as you wake up so its hardly offensive. My solution to the fake tan smell is simply - put it on before bed and then its nobody else's business. And get dark bed sheets. Boyfriends may moan but I'm sure they'd rather one night of sleeping with a Hobnob than any of the potentially scary side effects of sun tanning...

My personal favourite product is without doubt St,Moriz. My god. 100% cheaper than its more expensive competitor this stuff is incredible. When it comes to most beauty products I can be a bit judgemental in regards to the price - but this stuff is just as good as the more expensive brands so don't let that fool you.

Due to work commitments I'm having to edge away from the 'dark' shade and settle for medium - but the colour still develops into a lovely golden shade. I do sometimes find the mousse not to be very moisturising so when applying I mix it with a gradual tan lotion to cover both bases*. My gradual tan of choice is either Dove Summer Skin or Garnier Summer Body. Both great, both affordable, both very biscuity. But as mentioned above the smell is only temporary and you kind of get used to it. 

I could probably talk about fake tan till I'm blue in the face and if there's one beauty product I couldn't live without besides mascara it would be this stuff. If I could encourage just one person to stop using sunbeds in favour of fake tan I would feel my job here is done. Sunbeds really are the devil. I'm all for a good tan but looking a bit browner ain't worth your health honey. 

*For the love of god always apply any mousse with a mitt/glove or else your hands will be an entirely different race as the product is dark when pumped out the bottle.

An Orgasm worth paying for

Blusher. A staple part of many a makeup routine. Regardless of your skin tone, skin type or style the likelihood is you will want a pop of colour on your cheeks over foundation to finish off your look. I have tried so many brands and shades of blusher, powder and cream formulas and there is one particular blush that stands the test of time and that I always repurchase - NARS Orgasm. Once you get over the tongue in cheek name you realise how pigmented, silky & shimmery this blusher is.

The shade itself is a peachy pink shade with a slight shimmer which leaves cheeks looking polished when the light hits them (and not remotely like you've dragged glitter over your cheeks circa school disco 1999).  The compact itself is strong and completely protects the product from handbag accidents. It also comes with a mirror which makes applying on the go a breeze - and I am notorious for touch ups throughout the day so this is a major selling point for me. It may look small but believe me a lot goes along way and it'll last you ages.

It retails at £22.50 and is worth.every.penny.