The Power Pout

“Beauty, to me, is about being comfortable in your own skin. That, or a kick-ass red lipstick.” Gwyneth Paltrow 

I know a lot of people think it can be scary to rock bold lips - but paired with a nude face and little eye makeup, it can make you stand out in a crowd with that classic 40’s glam look. The red pout is a favourite amongst celebs including Rihanna who pulls it off every time.

There are so many different shades of red lipstick out there; I guarantee you can find the perfect shade for your skin tone and completion. There are bright, vibrant reds that give you the wow factor, light reds to give you more of a natural look and reds that have brown undertones to give you a softer look but still make you stand out.

There is one simple rule to follow when rocking red lips, and that is: If you’re wearing red lipstick all other makeup MUST be kept to a minimum. 

That means not too much bronzer, natural coloured or no eye shadow and a slick of black mascara. Similar to the ‘Legs or Cleavage’ rule, this must be obeyed at all times.

Checklist:

- Lip Balm or Vaseline

- Lip brush

- Concealer

- Red lip liner

- Favorite red lipstick

- Your favourite Lip gloss

- Tissue

First off you need to make sure you don’t have dry lips or the lipstick won’t set properly - so make sure you exfoliate your lips beforehand (I use an old toothbrush and lightly brush it over my lips to get rid of any dry skin). Then apply quite a thick layer of Vaseline and leave it on for a while before blotting off any excess moisture with a tissue.

Then cover the lips with a light layer of foundation or concealer. This gives your lips a brilliant base and allows the lipstick to take properly. I do this because I find the colour of a lipstick sometimes doesn’t look the same if applied straight to your lips, so by covering the lips with foundation it just makes a perfect clean canvas for the colour.

Now for the lip liner – some people like to work from the inside out and apply the lipstick first but I find that if you apply the lip liner first you won’t run the risk of going outside your natural lip line. When applying the lip liner, just make sure you blend it in towards the centre of your lips, don’t just draw a blunt outline – this is because if your lipstick wears off throughout the day your lip liner is more stubborn so will leave you with a look similar to this (not the best look)!

If you don’t have a red lip liner you can always use a small lip brush to outline the lips, however this can be tricky and requires a very steady hand!

My absolute fav red lipstick at the moment is Barry M, it is such a flattering shade, no matter what your skin tone and at only £4.49 (a perfect investment) – but over the years I have collected a variety of different colours so I will show you how to adjust the colour you use to best suit you.

When applying the lipstick you need to use a firm lip brush (I find the smaller the better) this will help work the colour into your lips and a smaller brush will just make sure you don’t go out of the lines. But remember; don’t worry if it’s not perfect because you can go over any mistakes later with concealer.

Brush the lip colour on then blot with some tissue to get rid of any excess lipstick. Depending on what lipstick you use, you will get a different finish, some leave a glossy finish whilst others leave a matte finish. 
However I find that a glossy finish can sometimes look too much so once I have blotted my lipstick I dust a light layer of translucent powder over the top of my lips to give it a more natural look, it also helps the lip colour say on for longer. Max Factor does a brilliant translucent loose powder which is around £9.

This is the Barry M lipstick, however if once you have applied your lipstick you don’t think it suits you, simple take another colour and blend over the top.

This is a YSL Rouge Pur Shine lipstick which has a brilliant pearl shine to it.

And if you like the shiny finish, I have just taken a red Chanel lip gloss and blended over my Barry M lipstick.

To finish off, take your concealer and brush over any mistakes around your lip line and blend in, then hey presto...the perfect pout!

Nicki Minaj & OPI

I was so pleased to hear that the queen of hip hop and one of my favs, Nicki Minaj has collaborated with OPI to create her very own nail lacquer collection, and I have to say...it looks fabulous!

I loved her collaboration with MAC and the Viva Glam collection and now it looks like she’s done it again with these ‘Barbi-fied’ nail polishes.

The collection features six limited edition fierce shades, including two glitters and one shattered polish. 

They are fantastically bold and bright so have obviously been inspired by her own personality and are all named after songs from her Pink Friday album: ‘Pink Friday’ ‘Super Bass Shatter’ ‘Metallic 4 Life’ ‘Save Me’ ‘Did It On ‘Em’ and ‘Fly’.

I literally can’t wait to get my hands on these and I am especially lusting after the Pink Friday polish!

Mr Louboutin tops himself

His trademark red-laquered soles are known the world over, and when it comes to shoes, this French designer is most certainly king. So when I saw the new Capsule Collection from Christian Louboutin to celebrate his 20 glorious years in luxury French fashion I just simply had to blog about it.

Remember these paw shoes, now unlike S.J.P and Blake Lively, I’m not sure I could pull them off , but I thought the idea was absolutely fantastic and guess what...he’s done it again. 

Now Louboutin seems to have topped himself (excuse the pun) with this statement "Pilule" bag, in the shape of an actual capsule. His collection also features brightly coloured pumps, embellished flats and feather decorated heels, but I thought this bag deserved its own blog post.

Shaped like a prescription pill, the handbag is a shiny blue and white cylindrical shape and comes complete with "500 mg" stamped in red. 

This is defiantly a bag to be worn by those who don’t take themselves too seriously, and I think Katy Perry rocked it at the Viktor & Rolf A/W 2012 runway show in Paris.

The Worlds Best Concealer!

If you're fed up of forking out your hard earned cash on over-priced makeup, I want to let you all in on a little secret....Collection 2000 ‘Lasting Perfection Concealer’. At an AMAZING £4.19 it is a complete steal and by far the best Concealer I have EVER used, and I’ve used a lot!

I now buy this Concealer religiously and will not be switching anytime soon - it really does the trick. No matter how late I was up the night before or how bad my skin is, this Concealer will ease any trace of dark circles or blemishes. It really does make you look more refreshed and awake, which is brilliant for 9am on a Monday morning.

It promises up to 16 hour wear and really does deliver, there is no need for touch ups, it doesn’t leave that creased, cakey look, and doesn’t dry out your delicate eye area.

It comes in 4 different shades: Light, Fair, Medium and Deep.  I have quite olive skin and tend to use the medium shade (which is still quite light). It comes with an applicator, similar to that of a lipgloss, so you don't need a brush and It is the perfect size for your pocket (I literally carry this around everywhere with me). I personally dab a few dots above and below the eye, then rub it in thoroughly with my fingers. 

So what’s the verdict??..I have been using this Concealer for over a year and I still can’t believe how good it is. It’s not even the fact that it’s good for the price, I think it is probably a strong competitor for some designer brands on the market. It does exactly what it says on the tin and the fact that it is ridiculously cheap is simply an advantage.

If you haven’t already, you should definitely test it out!

Hot or Not? Isabel Marant Wedge Sneakers

I am absolutely in love with these Isabel Marant Wedge Trainers (or as they say in America, sneakers) and they seem to be a favourite for celebs, bloggers and fashion lovers in general.

When I saw this picture of Beyonce with new baby Blue Ivy, I could not help but fall in love with....her trainers; I think they are just amazing, they look really flattering whilst still being quite girly – which is hard to do with trainers. The shoe includes a 3.5 hidden wedge heel inside, so, in theory, they make your legs look longer and thinner like high heels.The only down side to these shoes is, they sell for around £450 - so that killed that idea there and then, but a girl can dream!

Despite what some people may think, I’m not much of a girly girl - I’m not a massive fan of painfully high heels (apart from on nights out of course) and I most certainly don’t like wearing anything flowery or floaty...so these are quite possibly my perfect shoe.

Beyonce is obviously a die-hard fan as she also wears them in her video for ‘Love on top’.

For me it was love at first sight, I knew from the moment I saw them we were meant to be together!...And when I finally sell my kidney for the money to buy them, I feel like I could get away with using the phrase ‘Bad ass kicks’ without sounding like a complete tool :) 

What do you think? Would you wear them?

The Nail File

The latest fashion trend to take the world by storm is the statement nail polish, from subtle to the more.....extreme of designs, it is definitely safe to say, that when it comes to nails, bare is boring.

I think my 'statement-nail' idol has to be Katy Perry, she’s so creative with them and my favourite has to be these Sushi inspired nails, absolute genius! 

         

From the ‘Crackle’ polish to pictures of their favourite celebs, it’s clear that women are becoming more and more creative with their nails, seems they have become the new fashion statement. These are just some examples of my favourite statement nails.

I have to admit, in the past I was never big on nail polish, my nails were always breaking, they would chip within hours of painting them and they just took waaay too long to dry (I am a very impatient person). But like many fashion trends I’ve come to love them, so thought I’d give it a go with these leopard print statement nail wraps. They were about £6.50 from Boots and include 16 individual nail wraps, not ideal if you are looking to get two sets out of them, although if you put them on correctly they should last you quite a while.

They were really simple and easy to apply, you just buff the nail to get rid of any shine, peel of the designs and stick them onto your nail, then file off any excess. Like any nail polish, it was a bit trickier to apply to the hand you write with but other than that I found them so straight forward and a lot less hassle than having to paint your nails and wait for them to dry. 

 

It says they will last up to 11 days, which I’m a bit apprehensive about but I will keep you updated. I’ll defiantly be purchasing these again; I think they’re great to wear with a simple outfit on a night out to make a real statement.