001 Spring Flower

I'm not one of those people that erm, people come to and say, 'Oooh, nice hair' or 'Nice eyes!' There are some lucky sods that get that alot. But...people do often ask me what blush I use, ha. Quite often total strangers will come up to me and say 'Hey rosy cheeks, what blush do you use?' And then we lol. So yeah, pink cheeks have become a bit of a signature for me I suppose. Pink is actually the only colour that suits me blush-wise I reckon. I've been using a Rimmel one for years and then I bought this guy the other day. It says it's new on the packaging but hells, I thought this was the one I've always been using. And it's pocket-friendly for fellow scrimpers like me! Enough rambling - it's 001 Spring Flower. And look - three shades - fun!

Filler post alert!

Rightio, so life has gone bonkers. Gloss is gonna have to grind to a halt. Thanks for your awesome entries to the giveaway so far - they're bill, I love reading them! So to erm, fill up the 'filler' - here are some old pics of my God-daughter and I from when we did this shoot.  My head tilt strikes again! Recently read this on Twitter: No one is as ugly as their driver's license, nor as good-looking as their Facebook profile pic. Ha! I met a blog reader the other day and I looked like absolute heck. Am caked in Nars make-up below. Don't really look as made-up/demented as this in real life!

Sigma Winner & your make-up tips!

Congratulations Anna Roberts! Random.org has crowned you the winner of a lush set of Sigma Make-Up Brushes. Please email me your postal addy so we can send these off to you.

Thank you to all a hundred and eleven of you that entered - crikey!

These were a few of my fave tips

Jo said:

Money-saving make-up tip:
Get every last bit of pretty goodness out of your beloved lip balms, gloss pots and lipsticks by using a cotton bud or lip brush to dig it out of those unreachable corners.

Violet said:
Powder your lashes lightly before applying mascara and apply the mascara in a zig-zag movement.

Sophia said:

Never store your makeup in the bathroom. 

The humidity and the temperature will make them last shorter.

Avatarlady said:

The best makeup tip I gotta share is let the skin breathe for certain days if you don't have anything special going on with your life. (Bit tricky if you work full time but I agree!)

Liz said:

My tip is that when you are buying foundation, no matter how good the tester looks on your face in the store, ALWAYS check it sunlight.

Romola said:
I always struggled to find the perfect colour for my cheeks, so I've discovered the best colour for my skin tone (or anyone!) is to buy the colour my cheeks turn when I'm flustered or after a gym session. As well as pinching the cheeks helps too! :) (Haha, love that!)

Che said:

Have all your equipment/application area near to a window or as much natural light as possible. If you apply make-up in a dark room or orange lighting you end up over-doing it and walk out into the natural day like a drag queen. (not cute) (lolz)

Oh Darling Bride said:

I have small eyes and as you’ll see from my wedding photos, when I smile they turn into little half-moons. When I want my eyes to look bigger, I line the bottom inside lid with a long-lasting white eyeliner. Works wonders! I’ve also found curling my eyelashes before coating them with mascara, opens up my eye. 

Raffles Bizarre said:

I always heap translucent powder under my eyes (or my models) so when applying eyeshadow if any escapes onto your face the powder will catch it and you can just brush it all away with no evidence!

Jacci said:
When you have a makeover, don't immediately buy what they've applied to your face. leave the shop and harsh lights and walk around a bit or go home and see if you like it in a more natural light. many times i've come home and got freaked out when i've seen myself in the mirror!

Man oh man, there were literally over a hundred awesome tips submitted. Some of you took the time to write such amazing lengthy replies! I was wracked with guilt for forgetting to mention that I was drawing the winner randomly, rather than from the best tip submitted.  But if you fancy some make-up advice, check out the comments on the giveaway. There is some gold in there!

Win a set of Sigma make-up brushes!

A few weeks ago, a couple of my fave Brit bloggers posted about these brushes and I thought, hells, I would like me a set of those. For years, I have been using a crazy old brush (a relic from the 80's no doubt) that I rescued from my mom's make-up chuck out my mom gave to me. I always examine the brush sets at Clicks and Woolies but I can never bring myself to fork out the loot for them. So you can imagine my excitement when the Sigma gals emailed me and offered me a set to review and a set to giveaway. I usually decline blog SWAG but I had to snap these babies up. First impressions? LOVE the big old powder brush. And the angled blusher brush is dead nifty. Been loving getting my smokey eyes on with all the eye shaders. Pre-Sigma, I'd simultaneously give myself a smokey hand. Heh. The eyeliner brush is also really handy for smudging a kohl line. Finding the foundation brush a bit of a mish to use. After two days, I went back to sponges 'cuz I find they make for a quicker application that goes on more evenly. Oh, and the brushes also came in a swish case. Bonus! But let's talk giveaways, eh? Sigma have one of these brush sets to give away.

To enter: Leave a comment telling me your best make up tip

(So I, ahem, we all, can improve our slap.)

This giveaway is open worldwide. Anyone can enter!

The winner will be drawn a week from now. Best of luck!
Oh, and you can shop Sigma here.

I got the idea to store the brushes in my Starbucks mug from Emma. She's a cutie, that one.

(Taryn, if you're reading - cheers for my mug, I luuuurve it. A little piece of London!)

Nose-liner: A Spring 2010 Must-Have

Hey hey! Here are the (bigger) snaps from the shoot for Circus. A bunch of us bloggers were invited to ask a child to do our make up - funsies! I asked my God Daughter, Kaylynn and her talented mum, Nikki, snapped the pics. Please excuse my ridic expression in the second pic. Kaylynn on the other hand is a complete natural - watch your back Grace Coddington, there's a new stylist in town and she's pioneering the blue nose for Spring 2010. Totally rocking this look to work tomorrow!



They went with the top two pics. Personally I thought the freaky white eye one was the clear winner!

Circus Blogger Beauty Peek

Yesterday Nadia blogged that Circus have done a sneak peek of their first Bookazine! Remember the Nars goodies I blogged about? Well this is what I used 'em for! My precious little God Daughter gave me a makeover and her mom snapped the shots. More pics to follow when the mag is out :)

Goodies from Nars

On Friday, I received a super package in the post! So super, I had to coax it out of my mom's hands. (Luv you Mama Mia!) Circus invited a bunch of bloggers including myself to do a shoot with Nars make-up for their next Bookazine. The concept behind the shoot is so sweet, I can't wait to tell you more about it! Fingers crossed I can make the deadline (and my minging break out clears up stat!) I decided a while back that if companies ever did send me anything via the blog, I would only post about it if it was something I would personally buy myself. We're all spammed enough with sneaky advertising as it is - I promise I will not be doing that here! Well, Nars is one of those brands I've always wanted to treat myself too. When my mom and I were in the UK, we could only afford a pot of Nars lip gloss - converting pounds into rands is quite traumatic! One lipgloss = a steak dinner in South Africa (not even sure I'm exaggerating!) so to receive this lot is such a treat. Thank you Circus and Nars, I promise to do my best slappin it on. PS: LOVE the rubberized packagaing.

Flowers on the cheeks

I went to Moyo today where they dip your hands in rose water, paint petals on your face and cook you a traditional African dish. It's nice to be a tourist in your own country sometimes. I think the real tourists are going to have a great time soon!

Blush in a box!

I want to tell you about this blush I’ve fallen in love with! It’s called Dandelion and it's by Benefit. I’ve bought Benefit cosmetics as gifts for people but until a few weeks ago, I’d never treated myself to any. I got this blush before my mom gave me the Benefit Cheek Tint (thanks again ma!) so now I switch between the two.

Dandelion makes me smile every morning and not just because I have to dust the apples of my cheeks. As you lift the lid off the box, you get a delicious whiff of scented blush! Inside you’ll find a little pink brush to sweep some on. It’s probably a touch too light for my skin although it’s perfect for a natural, springtime look. I think the idea of ‘blush in a box’ is genius because you waste less product and there’s far less chance of breakage. I can’t tell you how many times, I’ve dropped and shattered a palette of blush. Maddening, that is. Now, I want to know what your favourite blush is. Tell! 

Benefit Rose Tint: Hello Sweet Cheeks!

Yesterday, the parentals swung round with chocolates, copies of Grazia, roses and rose-tinted make up! I've always wanted to try Benefit's cheek stain and now I have my very own bottle. Thanks mom! You simply apply a few dots to the apples of your cheeks, blend in and viola! The trick is to do it as quickly as possible as it is a stain afterall. It gives you a fantastic flush which would look super on dewy cheeks. My skin is a little porous so next time, I'll use a spot of primer before applying it. South African girls can find it at Woolworths (our version of M&S) and I believe it's one of the products they're most proud to stock. I hope you like. x








PS: Next Monday, I'll have a new blogger interview for you! I thought I'd give the bloggers a break over the Easter weekend. x

Clinique All About Eyes: A winning concealer!

Today, I found one of my favourite make up products in an old handbag! I can't believe I'd completely forgotten about this concealer. On New Years Eve '09, my friend Jess and I were getting ready for a night out on London Town. We were having one of those sessions where you try on 40 million outfits and have a good dig through each other's make up bags. Inside hers, was a tube of Clinique Concealer called All About Eyes. Jess's skin always looks amazing so I dabbed a bit on. Oh my goodness, it was like photoshopping my face! I was broke as a joke at the time, but the next week I took my temps wages and popped into Selfridges to get myself some. I ended up having a full-on makeover which was fantastic and they gave me a few freebies to boot! (Clinique is awesome when it comes to value-added lippies and make up bags etc) So, yeah, if you haven't tried this concealer, give it a go. It's thick and creamy yet it blends in smoothly. My beloved tube from London is just about finished so I'll definitely get a new one soon.

Have you used this concealer before? If so, let me know how you found it. Or, tell me what some of your faves are! I also want to say a special hello to all of you who have popped over from Carrie's blog. Thanks for sharing your links with me, I look forward to reading all of your blogs! Also, tomorrow, I will be posting the the list of links that were added to this post. I've so enjoyed reading your replies! You can still add yours tonight. x

Giving vintage-inspired make-up a go

Hello! This blog has become a bit of a girl fest, hasn't it? Today, I'm going to show you what make up I used when I attempted a vintage-inspired look for the wedding I went to. I must admit to having a dodgy past with make up as I do with clothes. The first time I ever wore make up was 1996. I went to a nightclub to meet a boy wearing only some foundation and a heavy helping of grey eyeshadow. Delightful! It was the smoky eye taken to emo extremes. Anyway, I like to think I've improved my look since I discovered a few extras like blush and mascara. Below the pics is a list of all the products I used. I hope you like!




Ageless Colourfast Smoothing Foundation in Ivory from Woolies (or M&S if you're overseas), Yardley Pressed Powder in Natural Beige, Revlon Pink Blush, Chanel Beiges Velours eyeshadow as a base, Chanel Sparking Satins eyeshadow on top (or a R10 colour palette from random store), black Dipliner from Woolies, Double Extension Mascara from Loreal and a lipliner called Nightmoth by MAC. Both the Chanel palettes were gifts for my 25th birthday and they have lasted two years! Thanks mom! You only need a little and the shadow will last you all day and night. It must be said that I feel completely ridiculous taking these pics of myself but I'm having too much fun playing dress up with ya'll! x