Faux Eyelashes Made Simple!
If, like me, your meamorphsis from a Day Look to Night Look consists of refreshing your eye liner, glossing your lips and vamping your hair then I beg you to try something new . With party season in full swing and as New Years Eve is just days away, there is no better excuse to make more of a statement and I promise you, it takes far less time than I ever imagined.
Your eyes are the key to adding that night time glamour and no mascara accentuates the eyes like faux eyelashes! I used to hate them, I thought they looked too false and heavy, but over time, the creators of faux lashes have perfected their design and now they look far more natural and the biggest bonus of all, application has become easier and quicker than ever before.
I tried out Eylure Naturalites Evening Wear - available from Boots, Very and John Lewis. It took me less than two mins for each eye to apply the thin layer of glue and get the lashes in place on the eyelid. I then finished the look off with some smokey-eye make-up, which takes no time at all and adds a touch of drama! Very quickly I had a complete, glamorous night-time look and I felt sexier and more “vampy” than I normally do!
Give it ago and let me know how you get on!
Top Ten Party Tips…
It is party season once more and many of us have several events to juggle which means we also have several outfits to plan. It can be expensive to keep getting new hot, on trend dresses to dazzle the crowd in so I’ve come up with a few tips to help make an old outfit look fresh, to make the same outfit look different and to generally just rock the party season like a pro!
1. Switch up your Shoes! To give your outfit the edge, team it with some really bright heels. That simple change can make the most casual of ensembles a little more glam. Wearing the same Little Black Dress you wore last year? Bright red heels or cute detailed shoes like these from Kurt Geiger will really make you stand out!
2. Accessorize, Accessorize, Accessorize! Bright, bold, over-sized jewelry can dress up a simple dress and give it some added flare. However, you might rather just accessorize with an embellished bag as it gives the same results.
3. Don’t Crash Diet! Instead make it all about the outfit and find a dress that flatters your body. Crash dieting only makes your first drink go straight to your head and you feel low on energy all day.
4. Dressing for your Body! It is probably the most important factor of them all. If you have legs to die for or a cleavage to make Christina Hentricks envious, make sure you find a dress that shows off your very best feature. This will give you a confidence you’ll radiate all night and you’ll turn heads wherever you go.
6. Remember Facebook! A dress can be see-through or underwear shows through and you don’t notice until it is too late. Snap a picture of yourself before you go out to prevent any regrets later!
7. Always have a Back-up! You can never be too careful. A zip might break, you might feel bloated or a sequin could come loose. Having a plan B is always a good idea and saves a big panic on the day.
8. Pick a drink and stick to it! There is nothing worse than feeling like you made a fool of yourself the night before. Pick a drink at the beginning of the night and keep drinking it. Mixing just gets you more drunk quicker and makes you feel like hell the next day!
9. Hot Hair! There is a saying that your hair is your biggest accessory so make the most of it. Practice before the event so you don’t stress out on the night and play around with different styles. Also pick a hair-do that will best show off your dress. For instance, a strapless number often works best with a chic up-do.
10. Most importantly, have fun! Mingle with friends and strangers alike. Keep conversation light and relaxed. If you look and feel fantastic, your confidence will run through to every aspect of the night!
Do you have any hot tips?? Let me know!
Going Natural
I’ve never been much of a makeup junkie. I love creams and lotions that make my skin feel and look great but I have always felt makeup has threatened that skin-feel-good-feeling. I also never learnt how to apply it properly. What foundation suits my skin tone? How do I and why would I use a lip liner? How do I get the eyeliner to go on straight?! As you can probably tell, I am a little hopeless. As I’ve aged though, I’ve experimented with a few things and makeup artists at shoots have kindly offered advice and answered my questions.
However, I can’t help but feel the natural look works best. I’m not saying not to wear makeup, just that less is often more. To achieve it is easy and the low maintenance of the look makes it desirable to anyone with a busy life!
First off, find a good foundation that you love and stick to it. Go around all the makeup stands in Boots or Selfridges talking to sales teams, trying the makeup and seeing what feels best to you. My only sweeping foundation statement is: it needs to be light-weight. Anything that sits too heavily on the skin will not only look like a mask of makeup but it will clog up your pours and stop your skin from breathing. Foundation needs to be yellowy in tone to help conceal imperfections and even out your skin tone. You’ll know you’ve found the right one when it seems to just disappear into your skin upon application.
Secondly, apply eye makeup that is earthy in tone. Browns, beige, gold or plum for shadows and brown or charcoal gray for liner. I also prefer a brown mascara because it makes your lashes look your own, not false. Of course, you could always skip right to applying mascara if you want to keep the makeup really light. However, I think at least a bit of liner helps your eyes to pop.
Thirdly, put a small amount of blush on the highest part of your cheekbone. To choose a blush colour that is natural, find one that is the colour of your skin after you exercise!
It is up to you if you want to bother with lipstick or gloss but to achieve the look below, I just applied a nude lip with a bit of Vaseline over the top.
Simples! All in all it should take no more than 5 minutes of your time and you’ll look fresh, alert and natural.
Red Lips: Minx or Clown?
I don’t know what it is but I’ve always found wearing Red lipstick makes me feel like a clown. In fact, any bright coloured lipsticks make me very aware of my mouth and I simply feel uncomfortable drawing that much attention to to it. However, bright red lips is a massive trend right now (I blame True Blood!). In fact, it seems everywhere I turn, I’m seeing women rockin’ the red-lip-look and doing it well.
So I purchased a M.A.C Ruby Woo lipstick and decided to brighten up my lips! I actually really love it now. The first few tries I was constantly worried about it being on my teeth but soon relaxed into it. It made me feel sexier too, like I was a little femme fatal character! I wore it to an audition and got the job so I now refer to it as my “lucky lippy”. People commented and complimented me on how I looked when I wore it too and I think that’s because it really makes an outfit pop. It even dresses up work-wear for those all important after-work drinks! My only complaint would be that you have to reapply fairly often which is a little too high maintenance for my taste and I’d probably prefer a lip-stain.
I’d recommend giving it a go and let me know how it made you feel!
- Picture by Mike Fox Photography
Valentines Day Dresses
This year, I find myself alone for the first time in years on Valentines day. My good friend and even better actor buddie, Jofre, was taking part in The Secret Cinema and invited me to come along as a way to take my mind off it all. He drops in a few days before that it is fancy dress 1950′s style and I start to panic…What the hell am I going to wear?
In last minute situations such as these, I turn to another good friend… ASOS. First off, I knew I wanted to wear red. I absolutely HAD to wear red. I filtered down my search and trawled through the hundreds of dresses the site has to offer. With limited funds, time and choice, I went for a simple Vera Moda dress which was 1950′s style and wondered what to do…
When it arrived I grabbed my black Tutu, slipped it underneath and just like that, it started to come together! I teamed it with Nude heels to make my legs appear longer and finished the outfit off with a black belt to tie in the black Tutu and went off for my night of interactive theatre (which by the way, is fantastic and you must go!)!
I then went again a couple of nights later, this time wearing a simple black dress I forgot I owned and a long fur coat I had just been given. I still think I prefer the red dress but both looks made me feel and look the part. Which one do you prefer??
SPOTLIGHT CV
