Primer Wars

Howdy,

My post today is all about primers, one thing that I am quite new to but has become a staple in my personnel makeup case. I have pretty oily skin so it it is important that any primer that I use is oil free or I will break out.

I have tried a few different brands, both high end and cheaper drug store brands, but the one I have been using most recently has been Benefit's Pore Professional which gives you a silky layer over your skin to allow you to apply your foundation easily. It is pretty pricey at £23.50 . I was about to take the plunge to re purchase, when I got Septembers She Said Beauty box, which I reviewed here.

 I gave it a pretty harsh review when I saw the main brand was collection 2000, this was however before I had been able to give the products a run for their money - one of the products being a primer...

So what better than to put the two products head to head..

The Only Way is Essex 80's party

I have created this look after watching The Only Way is Essex on Sunday 30th July on ITV 2. The cast had an 80's party and I just loved Gemma Collin's eye makeup. She had a black, copper/gold coloured eye with dramatic dark lashes.

I used the following products to re create this look. I am allergic to eye lash glue, so have not added them to my look however. I think that they would Finnish the look very well.

 

Urban Decay Naked 2 -Colours used Blackout and Bootycall

MAC Cosmetics Glitter - Reflects Bronze

MAC Cosmetics Kohl - Smoulder

MAC cosmetics Penultimate Eyeliner- Black

Benefit They’re Real Mascara - Black

Rimmel Eye Brow Pencil - 001 Dark Brown

Step 1 

The first step in this look, is to create the black base on your eye lid, the items that I used for this step are below. I believe that the brush that you get in the Naked 2 pallet is perfect.

*Secret* - Don't worry if you cannot get the perfect shape with your eye shadow, or you bring the colour too high. Use a cotton bud that is slightly moist to mop all the excess up and gain that perfect shape!

• Add 'Blackout' all over your eye lid,creating a domed shape that goes just above your crease line. 
• Use the cotton bud to ensure that you have your desired  shape and clean up any mistakes.
• Bring Blackout under the eye, ensuring that you keep the colour close to the water line, using the applicator end of your brush.
• Use the fluffy end of your brush to blend the edges of your shape to remove any hard edges.   

                                          Tip - Use very light strokes to achieve this 

 Step 2 

 Add the kohl liner to your waterline and upper lash line

 

 Step 3 

You now need to add the Bronze/gold glitter to your lids.

• Use the flat end of your brush.Apply the glitter to your brush. 
• Ensure that you tap the brush to remove any loose glitter.
• Using a 'patting' motion, add the glitter over your lid on the same areas that you have already applied  blackout
• Use your Penultimate eyeliner to draw a thin line over your lash line.

Step 4 

When you are happy with the glitter coverage, add your mascara (and false eyelashes if using) I like to add lots of mascara for a real dramatic look.

Gemma likes to use quite a prominent highlighter on her brow bone, this is completely optional depending on the look that you prefer. In the pictures below I have used Bootycall on my brow bone.

What do you think of my re-creation of Gemma's look?

Send me your pictures as I would love to see them!

I am new to tutorials so please can I ask you to give me some honest feedback, I'd love to know if they are useful and how easy they are to follow. What would you change?

Thank you

Ellen x

Benefit Makeup Haul!

My most recent purchases' have been from Benefit. If I am honest I never thought that I would be shopping at Benefit in my 20's, they were a brand that I used to love in my teenage years, I think this was due to the wacky (I am prob quite boring so I class it as wacky) packaging and names that they gave their products and because all my friends at school and college bought it and this made you 'cool'.

The reason that I went back to Benefit after 10 or so years was due to a colleague of mine (yes I have a boring 9-5 job and we ALL are insanely jealous of anyone who does any slightly creative/interesting job and spend our days moaning about how nasty they must be) she was getting married and had decided to do her own make up on the day, she had gone around numerous beauty counters in town looking at makeup and like most of us didn't know what she wanted or needed and was intimidated by all the heavily made up ladies on the counters gossiping and laughing with each other, whilst she was trying to pretend to know what she was looking at, whilst putting eye shadow on her cheeks... a young girl came over and said I'm pretty quite at the moment do you want to come to my stand and have a makeover? so over she went to the Benefit counter and from there she became a Benefit Junkie and has since ended up buying every product they do I think..

 I then come into the story, when she came into work following her haul she instantly looked amazingly different (for the better) I couldn't believe it and needed to know what she was wearing immediately!.... when she said it was all form Benefit, if I am honest ,I was a little dubious to go and try them, but try them I did and ended up spending over £150 on products, whilst I am now again a fan after all those years, if I am honest not everything that I tried was suitable for me. here a few examples....

 Pore Professional - this is a pro balm which is designed to minimize the appearance of pores, I think it is new and it claims to be lightweight and oil free, I was told that is contains silicone which smoothes your skin... I can honestly say that if,like me,you can't be bothered in the morning to spend ages on your make up,this is an amazing product,it gives your skin a 'coat' that is not greasy but very smooth which allows you to apply your foundation flawlessly, I even found that I am using less foundation! you also get quite allot, so although a little pricey, I defiantly reckon this will last you a good while... the cost of this is £23.50 which I would consider quite pricey but it will save you money on foundation and will last you a long time! 8/10 you can purchase it here

 

Erase Paste - This product is a brightening camouflage for eyes and face and I was sold it to use under my eyes to cover dark circles,which I suffer badly with, it comes in a small pot which I just can't understand why they would put it in such a silly pot! the opening to the pot is very narrow (they even give you a spatula to get it out with! as if they knew this) you do need to get it out with your finger as I found using a concealer brush was quite difficult, and you ended up with too much product. Once the product is on, I think that the positive points are that unlike concealer it is very moisturising and does not dry out or crack under your eyes during the day, however for me I just don't feel it gives me enough coverage, I think that I need something with a more orange pigment to counteract the blue, this I feel just leaves me with an ashy tone under my eye... the cost of this is £19.50 however I feel that you can get better and cheaper products than this one.. Sorry! 4/10 you can buy it here

 

They're Real Mascara- Oh My this is the most amazing Mascara I have ever tried! I used to use YSL Luxurious Mascara for a False Lash effect which costs approx £23 and I vowed I would never find mascara like it however I believe this beauty from benefit has done it! It has a special brush which has a 'hedgehog' at the end which allows you to get even the smallest lashes; it also draws a decent amount of product out of the packet and covers your lashes oh so well! The only thing is it is a nightmare to get off unless you have a really oily eye makeup remover.. This costs £18.50 is a 10/10

 

So there you have my views on a small amount of the Benefit range, I am sure that I will pick myself up some more and let you know what I think, also check out the Benefit website as they have great makeup tips there too!

Thank you for reading Ellen xx