Mojoless Monday?
I know the feeling. I am pretty sure the fact that we are well and truly in the thick of the “Silly Season” isn’t helping much either. With Christmas parties, finishing up (or starting) the last minute shopping, all the stresses of the Season, and tying up the loose ends at work, who could blame us for feeling trés mojoless at the moment? Talk about a daunting time of the year. No wonder we all seem so “over it” before we start. Think of this Get Even More Gorgeous With Beauty Marked! blog post as a not so subtle reminder to Go The Red, Orange, Coral, or Pink Lipstick and be done with it. Seriously. The bright lip works wonders absolutely every time we need a boost. Promise. When wearing a bright lip, your makeup Mojo will come racing back so quickly, you might start to doubt if you ever actually lost it in the first place. We love that!
It’s Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas…
Dooo Do Do do dooo…I dare say it’s probably worth putting up with my woeful singing in order to get the goss on these divine bits of golden Christmas gorgeousness from The Body Shop. The Golden Sparkle Collection LE Make-Up by The Body Shop is just brimming with gleaming metallic shades contrasted with multicolored gem tones that are fully loaded with scintillating shimmeriness which are sure to set your summer ablaze!
Although only one of the palettes are pictured (sorry guys) there are two special edition Metallic Eye & Cheek Palettes on offer in this beautiful Holiday collection. The Palettes offer four smooth, silky and darn near creamy yet powder eyeshadows (no doubt compliments of the Community Trade Marula oil added to all the products in the Collection to moisturize) and one powder blush to support all the breathtaking eye action above.
Metallic & Cheek Palette 01 (pictured)
Teal Green
Platinum Grey
Quartz Pink
Diamond Pink
Pink Blush
Metallic Eye & Cheek Palette 02
Emerald Green
Bronze Shimmer
Copper Beam
Gold Flecks
Bronze Blush
The other bright stars in the Golden Sparkle Collection are:
Metallic Liquid Eyeliner
Bronze Brown
Gold Dust
Glitter Liquid Eyeliner
Starlight
Brush On Beads
Simmer and Glow
Sparkle Pot
Fairy Dust
Ultra Lip Gloss
Metallic Pink
Molten Copper
The Body Shop Christmas Limited Edition Make-Up Gold Sparkle Collection is in store now until the 26th of December 2007. What beautiful ways to makeup the Holidays!
Now I Have A Few Questions For You…
- What makes you feel most beautiful?
- If you could have three beautiFULL wishes fulfilled, what would they be?
- What moves and inspires you?
I’ve always wanted to know this about you…so I’d just thought I’d ask. Please email me your answers or post them as comments below. I am, so very much, looking forward to reading all about them. *happy dance*
-BM! xx
A Quick A For A Quick Q.
Q.
Hey BM!,
I’ve got dark skin and even darker under eye circles. I’d like to use concealer to rid them, but am not sure how many shades lighter, if any, to go and do you think those concealers with shimmer in them would be good for me?
A.
Quick answer in two words: One and Nope.
*takes a bow*
*Long answer alert* One shade lighter (than your foundation that is) in concealer is generally plenty. If you go too many shades lighter, dark circles will look like grey LCD lights beaming back at you in the mirror. Not the look you’re after, I’m sure. One shade lighter in the same undertone colour as your skin (foundation) will subtly lighten the dark circles which allows them to blend in quite naturally with a further flawless application of your foundation when set.
Illuminators in concealers are all the rage at the moment, I know. But between you and me, I don’t tend to go for them on darker skin tones as the pearlizing ingredients added stand out a lot too much on darker skins. The end result being that you can get alarmingly shiny looking (read: greasy) under-eyes or the dark circles are transformed into ashen circles. Ugh! Again, not a wholly flattering nor natural look on most. I hope that helps some. Please let us know how you get on, as we’d love to hear from you!
Times When A Breakdown Is A Good Thing.
I often get asked if it is really necessary to remove all of one’s makeup from the day’s adventures if you are going out for the evening and still wish to wear makeup. To be honest, I don’t feel it is always 100% necessary to remove all of your makeup and cleanse, but if you’ve got the time and energy…go for it! If not, this is when I’d go “the breakdown”. Breakdown the bits of your makeup that are looking a bit battle weary and blot, perhaps powder and reapply. This treatment, of course, doesn’t really extend to mascara as that’s a whole other kettle of fish altogether.
So for everything non-mascara related, just lightly remove or take back by gingerly wiping off with a tissue and or cotton bud. When you’ve done this ever-so-gently, blot your entire face (t-zone especially) with cosmetic blotting paper or film. *whispers* One square of single-ply, super cheap loo paper works fantastically by the way. After you’ve blotted away any excess oil or perspiration that would have naturally managed to creep to the skin’s surface after a day’s wear, just barely powder your entire face (loose or pressed powder is fine). When you’ve finished your ‘barely there’ powder, feel free to reapply your makeup to your beautiful heart’s content.
Carefully breaking down your makeup, blotting, lightly powdering, and reapplying will often give you a nicer looking and longer wearing base for your colour cosmetics than would freshly applied. Go figure? I suspect it has a lot to do with the artful building up of makeup and removing the excess oils, which leave mainly pure pigment behind. (Much like the Beauty Marked! technique for getting your lip to stick.) But don’t be tempted to skip the blot step, because it’s the buildup of oils that actually cause the cakey and flakey thing to happen, which is definitely not the effect we’re after. It’s now, after I’ve done the above, that I adore a quick and ultra indulgent spritz of rose water. Quite frankly, I can’t think of a better and more luxe way to set my makeup. Mmmm.
Now on to the matter of mascara. You know, generally, I am tempted to just leave it alone. I rarely reapply new over old, as that just seems to tempt fate, especially where the potential for clumping and flaking is concerned. But if you reckon there’s only a weensy bit or no bit on, then by all means reapply. Just be extra vigilant for clumps and ensure the lashes stay separated. You can carefully re-curl your lashes with a non clamp-style curler if you’ve got one. If not…use your finger to gently press the lashes towards your lid and hold for about 30 seconds or so before the mascara is dry. Sometimes the finger trick works so well that I often wonder why I bother searching for my curler in the first place, which, oddly enough, always seems to grow legs…especially when I’m in a rush.
So there you have it: Times when a breakdown might just be a good thing. Ultimately though, the most important thing of all to remember is to blot and don’t stress…because you’re beautiful!
Not Long Now.
I have quite a few bits and bobs from the gorgeous M.A.C. METAL-X Collection which is due to get all the Alchemists in a lather come Monday December 3rd, 2007. But I could not, to save my soul, actually bring myself to swipe the products in order to sample them. Oh the shame. They were just too darn pretty to touch. *hangs head*
But then, not quite out of the blue, I was able to summon up a bit of courage and give this beautiful collection a spin. I suspect my new found courage had a lot to do with that fact that my darling and ever so cheeky 4 year old daughter asked with the most perfectly straight (albeit angelic) face, with two METAL-X shadows already in hand, if she could use them on her dolls seeing that they were just sitting there! Eek! It was then…that I knew it had to be now, by me or what’s that expression… “If you’re slow, you’ll blow”? Yep. That’s it. So, I took a few deep breaths and planted the brush on the divine cream to powder shadow and applied. Oh.My.Goodness! *then faints* Luckily for me, as I have not yet regained command of speech/type post faint, the M.A.C. brief is 100% spot on:
M.A.C. METAL-X. A simple trace elevated to the richest most opulent extreme found in the creamy, colour-rich METAL-X Cream Shadow. An amalgam of pigment, shine, and dimension that through its intensity forges an unforgettable mélange.
To be perfectly honest, nothing more needs to be said, except for a big “sorry” for being such a big baby and not cracking these beauties open a lot sooner. METAL-X is just pure unadulterated alchemistic magic!
METAL-X Cream Shadow
Virgin Silver White with silver pearl
Pure Ore Metallic green gold
Goldspice Metallic coppery gold
Fusion Gold Light pinky beige with gold pearl
Pink Ingot Mid-toned blue pink with gold pearl
Metalblu Navy blue with silvery pearl
Cyber Metallic silver with silver pearl
6th Sin Forest green with silver pearl
Plum Electric Deep purple with red pearl
Glitter Eye Liner
Blitzed Yellow gold with multicolour glitter
Wonderwhite Silvery white with multicolour glitter
Enbronze Deep brown with multicolour glitter
Pewterpink Blue purple with multicolour glitter
Lime Dandy Mid-tone yellow green with green glitter
*METAL-X Collection is available on December 3rd, 2007 from all M.A.C. locations and online.
Culture’s Rarest Pearls.
We’ve got to hand it to M.A.C.. They really are just too cool for school. They are the cultivators of “New Cool” to be precise. There are no gradations where they’re concerned. The Stylistics Collection by M.A.C. is imminently due to hit our shores in true style. Like they’d arrive in any other fashion.
“The cultivated new cool of 21st century Hepcats. When it comes to style, design, and hip, they’re in the know…they’re the true jazz, culture’s rarest and richest pearls. Act smooth, be soft, but diamond-sharp…super cool. Their paradox is the mystery. There’s glamour in the je ne sais quoi.”
Stylistics Lipstick
In Vogue Neutral mid-tone brown with gold pearl (frost)
Soft Pout Sheer pink peach with pearl (frost)
Stylistic Vibrant yellow red (cream)
The Scene Deep Berry (cream)
Stylistics Lipglass
Conversational Sheer creamy white with pink pearl (frost)
Witty Intense red with red pearl (frost)
Tastemaker Deep wine with red and gold pearl (frost)
Hyper Chic Neutral caramel brown (frost)
Sheerspark Pressed Powder
Solitaire Beige with gold pearl
Warm Ice Soft pink peach with pink pearl
Pave Dirty pink with gold pearl
Fashionette Berry with red and pink pearl
Sheer Mystery Powder
Model Chic Warm beige
Lighthearted Caramel
Dark Secret Deep Caramel
Brushes
316 Stylistics Special Edition brush
224 Stylistics Special Edition brush
129 Stylistics Special Edition brush
Stylistics Clutch Vintage-inspired Evening clutch
The Stylistics Collection by M.A.C. available from December 3rd, 2007 from David Jones’ counters exclusively.
