So? Fragrance Reveal! The return of the Body Mist!

So? Can anyone remember this brand from back in the day? Cast your mind back (if your old enough) circa 1995/6, ‘So Kiss Me’ was a much coveted body mist often found frequenting the (usually enormous, yet half empty) handbag of teenage girls throughout the nation! Ah the nostalgia!

Well, anyway- they are back… And tipped to be the next big beauty must have, body mists are an affordable way to smell divine without bankrupting yourself!

So? are kicking off the retro of the body mist by bringing us 6 new flavours and  I was fortunate enough to be invited to the ‘reveal’ launch party, held at Icetank in London! I attended with my trusty blogger babes in tow – Vicky, Annie and Lee! We were able to smell and sample the fragrances and were offered themed mocktails and surprisingly tasty vegan canapés to boot! They even had a Photo Booth (one of my favourite things to do basically)….

Here are the fragrances:

The fragrances themselves are feminine, fruity, floral and fragrant (see what I did there?). Here are some descriptions for you to imagine such scents combined in one bottle!

• Floriental: Floral and Fruity – (deep breath) starting off with Apple, Pear and Mandarin and moving into the scents of Freesia, Violet, Amber and Caramel to end!  Wowzers!
• Fruity: ‘Zingy Mandarin’, Peach and Lily of the Valley all combined! Sounds cute right?
• Vanilla Milkshake: One of my favourite food choices, so this one is bound to be a winner with me. Peach and Plum, ‘rolling into a Heart of Rose’! Sounds like Perfection!
• Watermelon: Watermelon, Red Berries and Apple Blossom followed by Apricot and Honeysuckle with a Sugar Candy base- sounds so edible it should be given a Michelin star! Mmmm!
• Fresh Musk: Mandarin, Peach, Jasmine and Lily of the Valley finished off with Cedar Wood and Vanilla- sounds like a fine wine!?
• White Petals: Starting off with Bergamot, Freesia, Waterlily and finally settling into White Musk and Cedar Wood. Sounds divine…. Sigh!

Vanilla Milkshake is by far my favourite scent followed closely by Watermelon! I was given a goody bag with some to try and I must say they wear pretty well! I even gave my teenage niece some to wear at college and it got her mark of approval as being a long lasting fragrance!

Overall

These are an affordable, drug store alternative to expensive perfumes but still offer a quality and lasting fragrance – well worth their £3.99 for 100ml price tag!

So? Body mists go on sale on September 26th in Superdrug so not long to wait until you can go and try for yourselves. you can follow so? on social media @Sowithattitude and check out their website here.

Body mists are set to be bang on trend so go and jump on it… and of course let me know your thoughts!?

Mwah xxx

Note: As previously mentioned I was given some So? Body Mists at the event for the purposes of review. I am in not in anyway affiliated with So? or Superdrug. xxx

The Nuisance With Nudes!

Hello all- I’m back!!!

Wow…What a Hiatus!!!  I apologise very sincerely for not blogging for so many weeks. I’ll be honest- I lost my blogging mojo temporarily due to work and various other kids stresses! I won’t bore you with the gorey details but I’m back now with a bang!  Today’s post is on my troubles with finding the perfect nude liquid lipsticks!

Now, being a person of colour, I have come to accept that not every nude lipstick works well for me! It can actually be quite hard to find the right nude for a lot of us and being totally frank a lot of the ever popular Kylie Jenner style mauve/pinky/ browny nudes are the exact same colour as my top lip! This results in it looking like it looking distinctly like I’m wearing concealer on my lips if i just plonk it on! Another issue I face is that my lips are actually quite different in colour. My top lip is darker- that sort of pinky mauvey brown I mentioned earlier, but then my bottom lip has is a lot more red/pink in it- this is also common if people with mixed or darker skins. It can make it difficult for nudes to work well also! But, have no fear people- there is a way for it to work!

I have bought tried and tested so many nudes – I’ve built up quite a collection over the past year or so in search of the right nude!

I was determined to make it work and to find the right lipstick for me, and after trialing testing and gleaning information from all sorts of people in the know- I found out how to rock almost any nude regardless of skin or lip colour.

Lip Liner is key!

So, sticking to this fundamental rule makes it possible to wear almost any nude. Always use a liner. If you feel like the colour your wearing is too light or too contrasting for your skin tone you can try using a darker liner or even a darker shade of lipstick round the outside of your lips. This offers a contrast to your skin tone and the colour! You can even ombré the two colour together beautifully- this works particularly well if your bottom and top lips are different colours like mine are.

It’s all about finding the right liner for your colouring and for what your trying to achieve. Kylie Jenner ‘Lip kits’ are so expensive because the come with a liner as well as a liquid lipstick- but my beef with that is, the liner which comes with the kit (which is nice and creamy in texture to be fair but not dissimilar to the Colourpop liners) is the EXACT same colour as the actual lipstick. This is great for someone wanting to over line their lips to make them appear fuller but no good for someone like me who already has full lips and darker skin and thus needing to break the colour up from the skin tone. If you already have full lips, nudes will make them look even fuller- which can be a blessing or a curse whichever way you look at it! Personally I like to use a liner a shade or two darker than whatever colour I’m applying to break it up a bit.

The liners I always use are MAC Chestnut, MAC Stone or Whirl. I’ve also heard a lot of people with fairer complexions like to use MAC Soar  or MAC Spice to line their lips with. These are all nice brown shades,-Stone is a very cool grey toned liner, Chestnut is an intense neutral brown and Whirl, Soar and spice are more mid toned pinky or mauve browns! I find they work best to break up my lips and skin tone!

 

My all time favourite nudes for colour, longevity and texture (with swatches from left to right and links) are:

• Limecrime-  Cashmere
• Colourpop – Chi
• NYX Embellishment
• Kylie Cosmetics- Dolce K
• Anastasia Beverly Hills- Sepia

 

Can you tell I like my cool toned nudes?  I find they suit me better- I’m not actually sure why? I guess it’s because I have a very warm, yellow undertone to my skin and cool tones are contrasting? I dunno but anyway they seem to work for me!

What nudes do you like? Warm, or cool? What are your favourite lipsticks and why! Do you have any hints or tips on choosing the perfect nude for you? Let me know!

Mwah xxx

Becca x Jaclyn Hill Champagne Collection Review and swatches!

Helloooooooooo!

Hope you’ve all enjoyed the long weekend – whether it be a UK Bank Holiday weekend or Memorial Weekend in the states…. or if you have been back at work today then I hope this blog post brings you some joy at least!

I had to jump on here tonight to write an emergency blog post because today -I GOT MY BECCA CHAMPAGNE COLLECTION PALETTES!!!! YAAASSSSSSS!!!

I was long awaiting the release of this Limited Edition palette and I new it would be popular, so I  was determined to get it even if it killed me! Release date was 26th May 2016, the time? 5pm (GMT). I needed silence, I needed to focus!  I demanded quiet from whoever was in the house at the time; the kids, the dog (yeah right!) and even the poor neighbour who was (sod’s law) at the door at five to five asking if I was coming to Zumba that night! With all distractions gone, I positioned myself at my computer, finger on the mouse, waiting with baited breath- 4.57 hit and I refreshed- Yesssss it was live!!! I clicked away, frantically loading my online basket and well- fortune favours the brave as they say! It appeared that fate was on my side (for that day at least) I was able to get one!

I was super impressed with the speed of service because I only ordered on Thursday evening and it’s made its way across the pond already (Monday and bank holiday at that).  The team at Sephora are doing good!

When I hear the names Becca and Jaclyn Hill in the same sentence, I automatically think luminous, glowy, shimmering, natural and pretty and ‘for everyone;.  Upon unboxing and examination – I see the these palettes have reached all those connotations and more.

The Champagne Collection Face Palette

The palette itself comes gloriously packaged in a gold and white shiny metal casing! It screams luxurious glamour and glowy shimmering perfection. It contains x5 pans:

Champagne Pop (0.19oz)- Glorious shimmering pinky, peach golden highlight- officially my favourite highlight of 2015.

Prosecco Pop (0.19oz)- a close rival to champagne pop, this highlight has more warm, golden hues- great for those with darker and tan skins- this highlight just pops!

Amaretto (0.12oz)- A matte mid brown- almond coloured mental  blush/contour/bronzer shade- great for adding warmth to the face.

Pamplemouse (o.12oz)- a warm, coral, pink shade a mineral blush -great for a warm sun kissed blush.

Rose Spritz (o.10oz)- a lovely two toned, peachy pink, luminous blush with a golden undertone- I love love love this blush- great for all skin tones too!

They really did think of everyone with this palette because the combinations are endless- you can mix and match the shades and layer them to create any desired look and every skin tone is catered for. They really are universal and would be lovely for a classy, glowy bridal look or evening make up! This palette would be one I would reach for everyday!

The Champagne Collection Eye palette

Like the face palette, the eye palette is very universal an comes with x5 0.06 pans with creamy shades that we can all use regardless of our skin tone and complexion. The colours are as follows:

Chardonnay -golden shade with pink and yellow hues- great under brow and tear duct highlight

Champagne Toast- my favourite shade, a gorgeous warm shimmering peach hue with  “a dash of cinnamon”

Cordial- matte, soft and warm, rose brown- deal for transition and crease shade.

Cognac – matte, coffee coloured shade great for the crease and intensifying any eye look

Bordeaux -rich, deep, matte  colour with deep chocolate undertones. Great for smoking out the eye, darkening the crease or cut crease looks and defining the waterline.

The eye palette can create any number of looks for any skin tones. It could be used to create soft, glowy, day make up look or dark and smoked out and packed on colour evening look. I was actually a bit dubious about buying yet another eye palette but this is gorgeous, and I love that its compact, small and great for the make up travel bag.

Edit: Becca & Jaclyn have pulled this palette! It will not be launched on 16thnjune at the restock or 21st in space NK or in store and will no longer be produced at all!  The reviews on it were bad, and apparently it was produced in China in order to meet time restrictions to launch the collection by a certain date. As you can see from the swatches the palette isn’t as pigmented as some other shadows I have previously swatches and after writing my review I tested the palette out and wore it for a dinner date with my brother and I really had to prime my eyes and pack the colour on for it to be at all noticeable. After talking with other bloggers and MUA’s this week I learnt they were also disappointed with the formula of the shadows too.  It seems sadly this palette was released in a rush and they have compromised on ingredients and therefore quality of the product. All palettes are being refunded apparently. I am not impressed at all and can only apologise to anyone who bought the eye palette after reading this blog and have contacted both Becca and Sephora to find out further information on being refunded and I will post an update when I have one. Disappointing to say the least! So many cosmetics companies have made major boo boos lately and everything seems to be driven by greed and social media hype! I actually think this calls for another blog post….

Fancy copping one for yourself?

Better be quick, this palette is Limited Edition….. meaning when it’s gone, its gone! It’s currently being sold on sephora.com and retails at $52 for the face palette and $40 for the eye shadow palette. It’s currently showing as SOLD OUT although it should re stock online launch in store on 16th June2016.Within the UK its due in the lovely Space NK on June 21st 2016 both in store and online- however  I still don’t know the UK RRP!

If your in the UK and can’t wait for our release, you can of course order direct from Sephora and they calculate the shipping and customs at checkout- remember the more you order, the less in shipping you will pay so maybe worth clubbing together with fellow make up lovers to buy this one- however the face palette is (sensibly) limited to x3 per customer.

What do you guys think? Do you have this palette? Is it on its way to you?  I for one, think on this occasion this product was worth the hype, especially the face palette! I love it and I can see myself reaching for this palette most days and I sincerely hope that Becca make it a more permanent feature!

until next time….

Mwah!

xxx

 

Exclusive Mac Pro-to-Pro Artist Textile Party

Wow! Second post this week? I’m on fire!!! So, a few of you asked me about the MAC Cosmetics event I was invited to last week and I thought I would squeeze in a quick blog post about it to tell you all.

So, I was lucky enough to get invited to the MAC Cosmetics Pro to Pro Textile party. Whats one of those? I hear you ask- well I wondered the same thing!  So i found out it’s basically a networking event with body painting!  I was actually really surprised to have gotten an invite as I’m not usually invited to such things (maybe I am finally graduating on to being a proper blogger and make up artist) so I was thrilled!  What’s more the invite said that there were free cocktails on offer courtesy of Tanqueray!

Eeeeeek! My favourite things all in the same place and at the same time! Make up, Networking, Mac cosmetics and cocktails!

The event was to be held at The Roundhouse in Camden, London. Such a beautiful venue and a great community  arts and events space!

So I dragged along my girl Fay as my plus 1 (didn’t think my boyfriend would be too eager to go) we went for a nice dinner  in camden before hand and arrived at the venue at around 9pm.

Wow it was buzzing, the event was full of industry professionals, make up artists and other generally cool people. It was a body painting event with an amazingly designed centre stage on which the models stood!  There was dancing and a lively DJ provided an eclectic mix of music and lots of rap, house and hip hop, which are my favourites! The cocktails and wine was flowing! Dominic Skinner – Mac’s lead make up artist and presumably the person responsible for creating the some of pieces of Art was there, networking and overseeing the event along with lots of other make up artists and professionals.

The body painting work itself took a team over over 30 body painters, over 10 hours to create- and was inspired by textiles and mathematics- lines and angles! It was created using Mac acrylic paints and was truly amazing to see.

I have posted a few pictures below, look at the models – it’s hard to believe they actually aren’t wearing any clothes!! It’s such intricate and fine work- it literally must have taken hours! I have so much awe for artists who can create this!

All in all I had a great night and it was nice I was able to take a friend along too. It’s great that MAC give back to their pro make up artists and support them in their networking, by putting on such a great event, which we otherwise my not have been exposed to.We had a lovely time, and we also had a fair few drinks and I think we left there slightly tipsy to be fair!

So, there you have it- a quick piece on my night out- it really was like no event I’ve ever been to before, have you ever been to anything similar? What do you think of body painting as art? I love it! Let me know your thoughts?

Mwah xxx

Top class Make up training: House of Glamdolls, London

Hi guys,

It’s been quite a while since I blogged last, I’ve been so busy attending make up training this past week and attending great training got me thinking about how many bad training courses there are in the beauty industry and that sparked another blog post. Training and teaching make up, nails and beauty seems to be the latest ‘in’ thing and seems just about anyone can do it (and charge an arm and a leg for it) using an Instagram account or Gumtree or Facebook advert. I have done lots of training courses in my time- in beauty, nails and make up and believe you me I have wasted A LOT of hard earned money on pointless, or dated training. I was looking to really hone my make up skills in order to build my confidence, but didn’t want to waste any more money. I was recommended the House of Glamdolls on another course I did, so I decided to check them out.

House of Glamdolls is based in London, and was founded and run by Chinyee Chu and David Horne. Chinyee and David know their stuff, they both come from a strong make up background with many years experience in various different managerial roles for MAC and Ilasmasqua. They have also got years of experience working on celebrity clients, editorial work, fashion week as well as product development and education.

Since finding them, I’ve done quite a few courses. I’ve looked at everything from achieving the perfect skin- from foundation base, colour correction and contour to a day on bridal make up and two days focused on eye shapes, eyeshadow placement and blending.

Because of the industry experience he has, David is able to give students little industry secrets and tricks, and unlike many tutors who are too selfish to share their trade secrets, David is always happy to share everything he can. He wants to push his students to be the best make up artists they can be. This training really is the best of the best! Another thing which makes the school stand out to me is David’s knowledge of skin especially his knowledge of Black and Asian complexions. I’ve never met someone who knows deeper skin tones quite this well, his colour theory knowledge is second to none and he taught me so much I am now very confident in skin complexions. If as a make up artist you want to learn how to do different skin complexions to develop your skills and work confidently with every skin tone then I would definitely reccomend a course. Even if you aren’t a make up artist, but just want to learn make up as a hobby or simply to do on friends and family, I would recommend a class to perfect your skills and learn new ones. Another great thing is because they are so well connected you get access to specialist master classes with industry experts and other well known make up artists. This could in turn lead to opportunities to assist and work with different people in the future.

Here are a few pictures of inside the house: Look at the amount of products you get to play with- David literally has something from every well known make up brand and I have got to test out and try so many new products I hadn’t even heard of before. House of Glamdolls also have their own products including various strip lashes and Glambase wheels which are cream based blushers, colour correctors, contour and highlight.

Yesterday we worked on complexion and perfect colour matching (If any one remembers my previous rant on foundation issues for women of colour (you can refresh you memory here) you will all know I have a nightmare trying to get skin colour matched. I was very happy with the finished results:

 

 

In the end we were able to find a great match for my NC45 (ish) skin and my tricky purple/ green under eye bags as well, this is where the Laura Mercier Secret Camouflage came in and obviously the Banana powder by Ben Nye (should be a holy grail to all yellow or olive undertones)  

I was also able to try out lots of different looks on different models under David’s guidance using visual stimulus such as pantings, or face charts. We were able to try out using lots of new and different products including bright colours and pigments, to step outside the comfort zone: like these super cool metallic lips and eyes I did on my model!

A few more pictures from inside: It’s a make up addicts heaven- they have Make up brushes for days and you can try any of them you please, there are palettes galore and don’t get me started on the amount of lip pencils there are!

After my time at House of Glamdolls, I feel so much more confident as a make up artist, attending training had given me inspiration, self belief and confidence as well as a thirst for more, its made me want to explore different areas of make up and push myself. I’ve also met some great people there and made good work and industry connections.

So when looking for training, don’t go just off someones instagram account or gumtree advert- anyone can talk it up in a written advert, anyone can photoshop a picture so you believe they are an amazing MUA and these days ALL training is expensive and price does not necessarily determine quality anymore- I would say do some research on the tutor- What have they done before? Do they have a professional CV? Do they have a proven track record?

What are your experiences with training in your home town or country? I know in America beauty training is much more regulated than here in the UK? What’s it been like for you wherever your from? Have you wasted money on courses? I would be interested to hear!

If your within easy reach of London its definitely worth checking out the House of Glamdolls and details of all their courses and further information can be found at www.houseofglamdolls.com 

 

 

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