a quick work face

So as some of you know being a make up artists is not my full time job, I also work as a key worker in the NHS and I have recently been cycling to and from the station (about 14km a day).

So as you can imagine my make up gets done once I am at worked and showered, I didn’t want to carry a ton of products in my backpack because cycling a Brompton uphill is hard enough!!!

So below is my must haves for a quick and effective face.

SPF 30 facial lotion because SPF is important at any time of the year in the fight against sun damage and premature ageing. I like this one as it smells nice, the bottle is light and portable and it absorbs nicely in my skin which is usually dry as a bone I may add.

Glossier stretch concealer – I love this concealer, it gives me great coverage but its hydrating enough for my under eyes. Less is more with this product and I know there has been a lot of complaints about it creasing but its not something I have encountered.

Charlotte Tillbury Dolce Vita Palette – I adore this palette, yes its a bit pricey but it covers every occasion with warm neutrals as well as a deeper shade for the crease and a pop of glitter for that extra pop. They blend amazingly and the pigment is stunning.

Maybelline brows – I do like this is reminds me of the mac shade and sketch pen. It has powder as one end and a rayon at the other so when I am in a rush I can use the powder to tint my browns and the crayon to fill in the hairs where needed and brushed up with a spoolie.

Milk Masara – It lengthens and is very black and lasts all day….what more can I say!

Creme eyeliner pen – I brought this whilst I was in New York at the Korean stand in Macys and I really wish I had brought more because it gives the sharpest most intense wing liner I have ever seen. Its got a firm brush nib and makes doing wings easily as it glides along very smoothly.

Nars Orgasm lip gloss – Its a beautiful pink gloss with a gold iridescent glitter and not too sticky.

So there you go, my must haves for a quick perfect work face.

What are your must have products for a quick face?

Vicky

OMG Vicky where have you been???

I am so sorry I seem to have been missing for a year! I guess life took over and the blog got put to the back on my mind.  Well now we are in these strange times I guess I have a little bit more time to get the blog up and going again now.  I am aiming to post at least once a week. So let me know what you want to hear about

Love

 

Vicky

Skin prep

Skin prep is uber important in the make up world! Yes its lovely to paint your face with all the products you can find but it all goes a bit horribly wrong if you do prep your skin beforehand.

How many of us have  said

‘my foundation just doesn’t last’

‘my make up goes patchy’

Sounds familiar? well it could be down to how your preparing you skin.  Lets be honest a decorator will not just slap some paint on a random wall without prepping first and we should do this to our skin.  So what prep do we need? Well its going to have to involve more then just a make up wife and a blob of moisturiser.

Lets think about your normal day to day make up. We firstly need to cleanse that skin you need a simple clean surface thats had all grime, pollution, excess oil and last nights make up reminance (we have all done it), next up is a toner I personally like to use a glycolic toner to help remove any excess dead skin and tighten my skin up.  Next up I pop on a lovely hudrating moisturiser and make sure I apply to all areas of the face.

The I leave it for a good 5 mins (or how every long it takes me to do eyeshadow) so it has time to absorb in to my skin.  I then go in with a primer and I like to keep the primer the same formula as my foundation.  So if I have a silicone primer I will use a silicone primer as this reduces the risk of the 2 products not working harmoniously (imagine oil and water).

And there you have it a simple skin prep for fab foundation application.

Please note this is not a skincare post so I haven’t included serums / sun cream/ oils etc.

 

So what skin prep do you love?

Let me know

My favorite long lasting eyeliner!

So if your in the UK you may have probably realised its a little bit toasty! As I write this its currently the hottest day of the year at 32 degree’s. Now even though I am a make up artist I personally don’t like to touch up my make up once its on. I also commute in to London everyday and use the tube so its safe to say I get hot and sweaty along with the majority of London.

I didn’t really think about my eyeliner until this week when I noticed that after a hot day and a lot of commuting I also did a 45 min boxing class so its fair to say my eyeliner took a beating! But it did not budge…….not a smidge or smear or even fade. So what is the eyeliner I hear you all shout?

Its the artist of make up extreme art eyeliner pen. Artist of make up is a brand owned by and instagrammer and very talented make up artist called Zukreat who does a lot of Asian bridal looks, she sells some gorgeous products and when there is a sale on the website Its a refillable pen that you buy cartridges for which is great for the environment as I am not throwing away plastic eyeliner packaging just a ink cartridge. I have used this daily and it has lasted well over a year and the ink is a gorgeous true black ink and the pen has a a really easy to use brush tip which allows you to get a really fine line and a sharp wing super super easy.

The initial cost is on the higher side but since buying this well over a year ago I have not brought another pen eyeliner so its definitely worth the price in the long run. Its fast and easy to use and the staying power is intense!!!!!

This is available from Debenhams and online.

Have you tried this brand? or do you have a favorite eyeliner that lasts all day?

Let me know.

How did she do it???

Hi all

So if you follow me on instagram…….. click here to follow me

You may have noticed that I posted some behind the scenes pictures from a shoot I have recently done.  The model was a beautiful lady named Jess who was super lovely and working with my good photographer friend Andrew Clifton Brown.  Anyway the pictures involved a gorgeous glowy skin, brushed up brows and a bold red lip and I thought I would give a quick breakdown of what I used and in what order so you can create this timeless look in the comfort of your own home.

These were the images

Ok so I started with skin prep, there is no point skipping this step otherweis the make up just will not apply how it should and I am not just talking about a make up wipe.  I am talking clenser, glow tonic and some oil all massaged in to get a beautiful glow before we start.  Also I applied some firming under eye pads whilst I made a start on the eyes.

Eyebrows were just brushed up with SoapBrows

I used a mac paintpot as my eyebase just to even out eyelid colour and give the shadows something to stick too.  I used Viseart eyeshadows in a soft brown and a natural shimmer with a darker brown smudged along the lash line for a bit of definition.  Its a really simple eye look but so effective.  I also added on some strip lashes just to give a bit of lift and drama to the eyes.

The skin was a light veil of House of glamdolls foundation sheered out with the mixology and buffed in.  I also used Daniel Sandler water colour blush in the shade Acid and smashbox cream highlighter.

Now for the lips, we initially started with peaches and cream lip gloss in the shade babe and then when we changed it up to the red lip I used Make up designory lipstick in the shade burlesque.  It looks like an extremely dark in the bullet but as you can see from the image it applies in a really flattering red shade.

That’s it !! No heavy duty contours or tons of products just soft layers of good products.

Hair was super simple curled and brushed out and then scrunched with Bumble and bumble salt spray.

Now lets see yours!

IMATS London 2019

Hi everyone!

Yes that time of year has been and gone already, I for one do not know where the year is disappearing off too.  So last weekend (17th, 18th, 19th May) I took a trip to Olympia exhibition center in London for the international make up artist trade show.

I have been to this show a fair few times now and have always love the mix of education, demos and pro brands and I always seem to meet some really amazing people so its a great opportunity to network and spend a fortune of course.

So Friday is PRO day and I always use that day as my shopping day but don’t panic I wont list everything I brought or you will be here until next year. (give me a comment if you want to know what I brought and I can put that in another post).

Saturday and Sunday I usually reserve for education and catching up with friends as well as meeting different artists on each stand and a little bit of shopping that I may have forgotten or been convinced to buy from when seeing the demo.  All in all its usually a really exhausting weekend but also really inspiring and motivating.  Sadly as you can guess from my style of writing this year was a bit different to previous years.

The first disappointment for me was the lack of pro brands …..actually the lack of brands in general.  The big brands such as MAC, Bobbi brown,make up forever and urban decay were not there and a lot of special FX brands did not return this year.  I am not sure of the reason but last year I can imagine it was expensive for brands to book hotels for their staff due to the royal wedding and everyone descending on London and with the uncertainty created by Brexit I just wonder if a lot of brands not based in the UK were slightly put off.

My next disappointment was probably a minor point for some but there was a lack of carpet. Now don’t get me wrong I am not a princess that needs a red carpet where ever I travel but if I am paying £80 or more for a weekend ticket I expect the area to look finished, so the floor had areas that look like they had paint cans dropped on them, stands were empty and it just did not give that professional vibe.

My last moan is about the lack of demos, in previous years the were rooms upstairs providing demos and talks all day and this year there was a distinct lack of these.  I only manage to watch 3 demos the whole weekend whereas previous years I may have watched 8 or more.  A lot of stalls had demos ongoing but these are a challenge to watch when people are shopping and also take a long time (as special effects and body paint rightfully will do) and after an hour of standing watching a demo I tend to get distracted by other things.

The great points were there was a number of smaller independent stands in attendance this year which I love as it gives me variety in my kit and the chance to see the up and coming trends.  I especially spent a lot of time at peaches and cream, my kit co and MUD make up and met some absolutely lovely people on these stands as well as watching some fantastic demos by James Malloy (who I could watch applying make up for hours and hours).

So as you can see I was feeling a bit meh about it and after talking to a lot of exhibitors I could see they were feeling the same and there was also a lot less people visiting this year, so I hope next year things pick up again because there may be even less exhibitors and I and many others may only go for the one day.

Sorry for the slightly negative review, please remember this blog is my thoughts alone.

Vicky

Below are some of the pics of the great bits of the show,  Please note none of this is my make up work.

 

Smashbox Masterclass!!!

So on a fine but brisk April I was uber lucky to be invited to a Smashbox masterclass in their London studio which is based just behind Oxford street.  So after wrapping up a shoot with a uber lovely and polite model I then hopped on a train in to central London.  It was only a 20 min journey so it gave me a nice amount of time to guzzle a much needed cup of tea.

So I will be honest in saying that I had no idea the Smashbox studio was located just behind oxford street on Mortimore street but it is absolutely gorgeous and a working photographic studio too which people can hire out.

So on arrival we were greeted with little fairy cakes and sweets as well as juice and bottles of water which was a lovely touch for someone who has a sweet tooth.

Such lovely refreshments

There was also a vast array of amazing face charts that has been completed by the uber talented http://www.instagram.com/meltrierbeauty.  I will be honest in saying these are not you average face charts, they are works of absolute art which artists could take parts of and interpret them.  I especially love the one below with the blue smokey shadow and brown lip which I may try to recreate on myself sometime soon.

pic

my favourite face chart

such beautiful works of art

 

So the masterclass its self in a nutshell was a gold pigment on the eye and a bold red lip I cant say I was massively overwhelmed by it as the models skin was already complete before we arrived and I am a massive skin fan so that was a bit of a let down for me.  Still whilst trying to keep positive it did give me chance to pick up some tips and tricks from all the staff in store as well as do a little (ok alot) of shopping.

My Favorite products that I did buy was the cali contour palette, primerizer and primer water, all of which have gone straight in to my kit and I promise to review these soon buts its safe to say I use them on every single shoot.

I do love attending these masterclasses not just due to the class content but it allows me to network and meet people whilst tapping their brains about make up products they love as well as their tips and tricks.

Have you tried any Smashbox products? I thoroughly recommend visiting the studio as the staff are so friendly and its a beautiful light airy space.

 

Just some of the amazing products

Vicky

Welcome!

Hi Everyone

Welcome to the blog.

Its been on my mind to start a blog for a long time but life takes over and I never seemed to get round to it properly.  I know that in 2019 blogging is not a favorite form of social media but I have a passion for writing and an even bigger passion for reading so I cant wait to get blogging and also discover some new blogs.

So the plan for this blog is to cover my work as a make up artist as well as general chat about cosmetics, skincare, hair care and health.  This is a place for positivity and self worth.  I want to focus my blog on empowerment so will not be getting involved in controversy or drama.

So if you have read this much and are still with me then welcome to the blog!

Vicky