My Absense & My Make-Up Story

Hello all!

Long time, no see :-(

I posted this picture to my Instagram a few days ago, and it shows that I haven't posted since April 24th! Almost a month ago.

I've been sooooo busy this past month and have been at work most days - boo! I had been working really hard and it just took all my energy, by the time I got home the only thing I wanted was a cuppa, my dinner and bed! Sorry poor blog! 

I have got lots and lots of posts in mind, and things I had already photographed and edited before I took my impromptu break from blogging, so you shall be seeing those soon. Sometimes it's nice to have a little break and it makes you realise how much you miss writing posts and thinking up blog ideas, but I do apologise to anyone who reads regularly - sowwi!!

If theres anything you would like to see me post about or content ideas for the blog then please leave me comments or feel free to email or tweet me. All my links and buttons are on the right-hand side of my blog ------->

So......that aside, I thought it would be a great time to share that I have a new job which I am so so so incredibly excited about!

I posted this picture to Instagram a little while ago now, and yep, I will be working as a Beauty Consultant for Estee Lauder! The picture was taken when I was watching the training videos and reading through the guide that my Counter Manager gave me.

I was so lucky to get this job, and I feel very blessed and happy that I will be in a job that I will hopefully really enjoy! :-)

I'll tell you all more about it in my next post and let you know how I'm getting on. 

In this little chatty post, I thought it would be fun just to talk about how my love for make-up started and how I got to where I am now.

So like a lot of little girls, it probably started with my Mum. I always used to watch her putting her make-up on, she never left the house without foundation and lipstick - even if she was just dropping me to school in her pyjamas!! My Mum has always had so many lipsticks, and she always mixes her own lip colours to get different combinations and shades. 

In year 7 I was obsessed with wearing make-up, my usual tipple being Maybelline Dream Matte Mousse foundation which my Mum also used to use and we both now agree that it's awful - haha! I was partial to pink and peach eyeshadows when I was around that age, and me and my best friend Bethany got told to wear less make-up to school or they would make us take it all off - naughty!!

 In year 8 I found myself in love with a bronze eyeshadow from Victorias Secret that I used to use on my cheekbones for a glow - I was literally obsessed with it and would wear it everyday - on my eyes too. It came in a cute little pointy pot with a sponge tipped applicator - it's on eBay here, I might have to order one again to see if it's still as good as I remember! The shade was called "Gold School". 

In year 9 I used to love doing black eyeliner only on the top with a flick and some mascara. I used to use a black liquid eyeliner by Rimmel, the one with the pointy top, and after that dried, I'd use a black kohl liner by Rimmel make it really black and smooth looking. People always used to ask how I got my eyeliner to last all day without it smudging off - thats how! I always wanted to get it perfect, I've always been a perfectionist with make-up and I'm constantly searching for better ways, better techniques and better products. 

During school I always used to wear Benefit's Some Kinda Gorgeous and went through quite a few of them. I remember going to the Benefit counter with my Mum one day, and she went there to buy her usual foundation, the twist up pan stick one, and I remember them telling her they had discontinued it. I think we both tried the SKG and she also bought me Dallas blush which I completely used up over about 2 years - I wore it every single day! I also used to wear Benefit's That Gal primer on it's own a lot as it brightened my face when I didn't want to wear foundation.

Year 10 was a lazy year for me, and I never really wore make-up, I really relished those extra minutes in bed at that time and make-up became an after thought. Year 11 saw my make-up love come back and my signature look was liquid and kohl on the top lashline and just kohl on the bottom lashline. I wore that pretty much everyday for a year or so. 

Going into college I started to get more and more into make-up and began to buy the more expensive stuff. I had a Saturday job for a few years and would happily spend my whole weeks wages on make-up in town when at college on Monday - oops! I discovered MAC and bought my first eyeshadow from there - Naked Lunch. I started to pencil in my eyebrows before moving onto MAC Espresso eyeshadow in my brows with a MAC 208 brush. I wen't through a bottle of Benefit's High Beam and loved wearing it on my brow bone, cheekbones and anywhere I could put it really - LOL! 

I didn't really wear much foundation until my second year at college as I felt my skin looked fine without it. Going into my second year at college, I became obsessed with concealer and started buying every concealer I could get my hands on. Stemming from the hatred of my dark circles, I tried to find the 'perfect' one that would hide them, and started wearing mineral foundation too. 

Any holidays I went on were a certain excuse to spend all of my spending money in one hit at Duty Free after splurging on MAC and Chanel amongst others. By my 18th birthday I had got myself a little collection together that is still ever growing. Delving into high-end foundations, blushes, make-up brushes (which aren't cheap) amongst many other things, I'm sure that over the years I've spent a small fortune on make-up - sue me!

Make-up is something I've always loved as I've always wanted to look the best version of myself. I remember doing my Mum's make-up for her if she was going out, and she used to always say 'why don't you be a make-up artist?' which I always shrugged off as it seemed so impossible and I thought make-up artists were only for celebrities and film stars. I've wanted to be a make-up artist for a good few years now, and aspire to train and gain my qualifications. Make-up artists aren't all about TV and Film, you can make over brides, someone with a special event to go to, it might be someones birthday or they might simply want some help looking good for a night out and are unsure how to do it them self. Make-up is about making people feel beautiful in their own skin and giving them the opportunity and the confidence to feel they can be anyone they want to be. I've always loved the way make-up can transform a face, how you can feel like you have flawless skin, or long eyelashes, even if you don't. 

Some people probably think it's odd that I love make-up so much, or think I'm vain, or that the make-up I wear is unnecessary, each to their own. I love it, and that's all that matters. I love it because to me it's magic, it's art and there is an incredible amount of skill and knowledge involved in make-up artistry that I really admire and aspire to be able to achieve myself one day. 

I hope you enjoyed this post - just a little about the inspiration behind my blog, and how I got to be such a lover of make-up!

"The point of make-up is not to try to look like someone else, but to look your own best"

- Tom Pecheux 

What do you think about make-up? I'd love to know!

Mini MAC Haul

A very, very "mini" MAC haul of a couple of things I ordered online recently! I do love it when they do their free delivery periods and I only wanted to pick up some small things.

So I guess you're wondering why there is a picture of my beloved Estee Lauder Double Wear in this post? No, I don't love it so much that I feel the need to mention it everywhere (although I do), but the black pump is actually from MAC!

I had read online in loads of different places that the MAC foundation pumps that fit the Studio Fix Fluid also fit perfectly with the Double Wear bottle. I originally thought that I didn't mind having to pour the foundation out, but it's just so fiddly and I always poured too much, which is such a waste of product. I picked this one up from MAC for £3.50 and it works a treat! I now do a pump or two of foundation straight onto my Beauty Blender instead of pouring it out and getting in a flap. I really, really recommend this pump if you use Double Wear, I don't know if the pump would fit other bottles, but it's always worth a little research online! The pump has a great 'locking' feature which allows you to twist the bottle right and left to lock and unlock the pump, meaning no messiness in your make-up bag and no waste of product. 

The pumps working for both brands does make sense as MAC is owned by Estee Lauder, although they probably didn't mean for people to catch on! For anyone who has struggled with the 'DW no pump situation', I hope this helps! 

I also picked up another Pro Palette, but a 2-shadow one this time. I got Carbon eyeshadow to go in one pan and I am thinking about getting a neutral 'all over the lid' colour to pair with it. This will be such a handy little palette as the black shadow is great for adding definition to the lash line, adding over gel liner or creating a smokey eye. The neutral colour will be great for all over the lid and blending out shadow as a transition colour. The palette is lovely and small and has earned a place in my 'everyday make-up bag' as when I've added another colour, it will be a great 'basics' palette to have.

Carbon is nicely pigmented, not chalky and a great intense black shade. I think a black eyeshadow is essential for everyone as it's so versatile and handy to have!

So that's my little MAC haul - I have also recently ordered the large Pro Palette after it being out of stock since the beginning of time (no exaggeration) so I am looking forward to filling it with lots of lovely eyeshadows and maybe blushes! 

I'll do a review on the palette once I get it so you all know what it's like and how many eyeshadows I think it can hold.

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The 2-shadow Pro Palette is £6.50 and the eyeshadow refill pans are £10.00.

Have you bought anything from MAC recently?

A few of my favourite things.....

Just wanted to share with you a few beauty bits that are my favourites! There are some very old favourites along with a few newer ones - enjoy! 

MAC Eye Kohl in Teddy

I only used it on my bottom waterline in this photo, and I've been doing that a lot lately. The colour is so rich and smokey, it's a deep copper-brown that is metallic and is such a great alternative to black or brown liner. This is my absolute favourite eyeliner ever and it has been for some time now. I'm so happy that I found this shade - I hope it never gets discontinued!

MAC Face and Body Foundation in C5 and Chanel Rouge Coco Shine in Evasion

I have loved Face and Body for over a year now, it is the most fabulous product ever. It has the same ingredient in that they use in lip stains, which means it is like glue! It's waterproof and can be used all over the body - legs, arms, you name it! It would be great for a night out to give your legs that high-definition look. It has a beautiful glow to it and looks just as gorgeous when set with powder. This foundation is almost magic, just when you think it couldn't get any more amazing - when you buff it into the skin, it actually becomes more opaque and thick the more you buff, so great coverage can be obtained from it! A beautiful product that I will always, always repurchase.

As for the lipstick, it's my absolute favourite of all time. It is the most beautiful pink shade that is quite nude and quite close to the colour of my own lips, so it's definitely a 'my lips but better' kind of colour. It's lovely and sheer, really moisturising and leaves lips with a slight sheen and wash of colour. I love it because I can apply it without a mirror and always know it will look good. I highly, highly recommend!

My custom MAC Pro Palette - (Shades clockwise from top left): Satin Taupe, Naked Lunch, Espresso, Soba 

I love my MAC quad, and it comes with me whenever I'm travelling or staying away, it's always in my everyday make-up bag. Naked Lunch was the first eyeshadow I ever bought from MAC! Ahhh memories. This is a really nice neutral palette that is really versatile - the Satin Taupe is great used as a taupe liner, Espresso is great for my brows and as a crease colour, Soba can be whacked all over the lid on it's own and look fab, and Naked Lunch is really brightening and looks great on the brow bone and inner corner of the eye. 

Nude, round nails!

I am loving my current nails - rounded shape with a nude gel polish. I don't know the name of the shade (sorry!) but it's Calgel, which I have spoken about in my nail post here.

Estee Lauder Double Wear a.k.a the Mothership

Needs no introduction - me and Double Wear are in a very intense relationship right now. Review here!

Biologique Recherche Lotion P50

A great exfoliating toner with tons of tingly ingredients including Horseradish (the smell is....interesting to say the least!) and Glycolic Acid. At £49.00 a bottle, this stuff isn't cheap, but it has improved the texture of my skin so much and will be so good for my skin in the long run, in terms of lines and ageing etc.

Elizabeth Arden Eight Hour Cream

A staple of mine! It's always in my bag, possibly the best no-fuss lipgloss ever! Looks great over any lipstick and oh so nourishing. I wear this on it's own a lot, and it's great for spots too! A firm fave.

Bioderma Crealine H2O

 A cult beauty product in the beauty world - and rightly so. I wouldn't use anything else to remove my make-up, although sometimes an oil based product is needed if I have heavy make-up on my eyes etc. The giant 500ml bottle lasts me for ages and is 100% worth the money. I order mine off of eBay from monseiurgeorgew.

The Original Tangle Teezer and Tangle Teezer Compact Styler

I love love love my Tangle Teezers! They are perfect for my hair as it's very thick and I end up pulling out chunks with normal hairbrushes and hurting myself in the process! These are so gentle and get rid of all my tangles without being painful or difficult in the slightest! Perfect for Afro-Caribbean hair that is weak and prone to breakage. The pink one is the compact version that I keep in my handbag at all times!!

Classic Beauty Blender

My sponge companion for make-up application on a daily basis - I love this lil pink guy! Makes all make-up look flawless and airbrushed, brushes just don't do it the same for me after this! I have reviewed it here!

Just a few of my faves ;-) 

I hope you enjoyed this post!

The Beauty Blogger 'Get To Know Me' Tag!

1. Is your hair naturally curly or straight?

VERY curly! Frizzy infact!

2. Do you dye it yourself or go to a salon?

Dye it myself with Garnier Olia - it's fab!

3. Do you wear the same style everyday, or do you change it?

I do it pretty similar everyday but sometimes I chop and change.

4. Do you do your own mani/pedi or go to a salon?

I go every two weeks to get my nails done, but I do my toes myself :-)

5. How often do you change your nail polish?

2 weeks (I wear gel/Calgel).

6. Do you polish your toes in the winter or just the summer?

I get a bit lazy with them in the Winter and tend to just have a clear polish on them as no one ever see's them but in Summer I do try to always have them painted.

7. How long does it take for you to put on makeup?

If I'm going 'out out' then I can take up to 45 minutes, but everyday maybe 25-35 minutes. It depends on what make-up I'm doing.

8. What do you do first? Face or eyes?

Face if I'm not wearing eyeshadow, and eyes first if I'm wearing eyeshadow.

9. Do you collect makeup or just buy what you need when you need it?

Collector! A hardcore one *hides face*

10. How often do you wear false eyelashes?

Hardly ever, I can't apply them to save my life!

11. Do you do a full face of makeup everyday?

No, I'd say I average on 4 days a week wearing make-up, I love to not wear any and let my skin breath/be able to rub my eyes LOL :-)

12. Do you wear makeup when you're home alone or with family?

I don't really, no. Unless I'm bored and putting on make-up for fun or to practice which I do a lot.

13. Will you leave the house without makeup?

Yeah, I do it all the time. It doesn't bother me. I think it's pretty strange when people say 'I can't leave the house without make-up on'. I'm pretty comfortable in my own skin.

14. How many high-end products do you have?

A lot LOL :-)

15. Do you plan your OOTD every night or decide when you're getting dressed?

If I'm going out somewhere then I always plan, if it's day-to-day then I might or I might not, it depends.

16. How often do you change your handbag?

Hmm....every month maybe? I don't know.

17. What time do you wake up and go to sleep?

If I have work about half 7am, on my days off I try to get up between 8am and 10am, depends how tired I am! And I go to sleep about 12pm every night. 

18. How often or when do you workout?

Never! Haha, I want to, but I'd rather be at home with a cuppa!

19. Left handed or right handed?

Right.

20. How tall are you?

5'3" - roughly.

21. Do you speak any foreign languages?

A little French, very little.

22. How many pets do you have?

My puppy dog Chilly who is my pride and joy, I also had a black Goldfish called Francois (after NARS) but he died :-(

23. How often are you on Blogger?

Quite a lot just browsing at other blogs and writing posts too, maybe once a day? I don't know.

24. Do you read comments posted on blogs?

I do a lot actually.

25. Do you keep a list of products to try as you see other posts?

Yes, LOADS of lists!

26. How did you come up with your blog name?

My middle name is 'Mykel' and I love Coco Chanel.....so I just thought of Coco Mykel!

27. What kind of camera do you use for your photographs?

Samsung NX1000 - I love it.

28. How often do you clean your house?

N/a - my Mum does it but I do sometimes hoover around and clean the bathroom if I'm feeling nice!

29. What's your favorite color?

Purple probably :-)

30. Do you swear?

Yes LOL.

31. What are you doing with the rest of your day?

Just about to hop in the shower and wash my hair ready to go and see my friend Michaela!

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Give this Tag a go if you like! I hope you enjoyed my answers :-)

Face of the Day - 14/04/13 & 15/04/13

So heres what my face has been looking like the past two days - interesting, huh? All jokes aside, I love knowing what products people are wearing and how they achieve each look. Both looks are pretty natural, the second being pretty fuss free but good for everyday.

Ignore the fact that I wear this necklace in 99.9% of my photos - I like it, okay?

Laura Mercier Oil-Free Primer

Estee Lauder Double Wear in 3W2 Cashew

Benefit Erase Paste in Medium No.2

MAC Pro Longwear Concealer in NW25

Illamasqua Eyebrow Cake in Thunder

MAC Fluidline in Blacktrack

Rimmel Scandal Eyes Waterproof Kohl Liner in Nude

MAC Eye Kohl in Teddy

Estee Lauder Sumptuous Extreme Mascara

Chanel Soleil Tan de Chanel 

MAC Cremeblend Blush in Something Special

MAC Cream Colour Base in Shell

Estee Lauder Pure Color Lipgloss in Rock Candy

Yesterday I only had to pop out for a bit so I thought I'd just do something natural. I'd been watching Made in Chelsea (MIC, don'tcha know) most of the day, and was loving the make-up that a lot of the girls sport on that programme. A flawless base, often dewy looking, neat and tidy brows, a smudge of black liner on the top lash line, super super curled eyelashes and lashings of mascara - top lashes only - bronzed cheekbones and a bit of gloss - done!

Laura Mercier Oil-Free Primer

Estee Lauder Double Wear in 3W2 Cashew

Benefit Erase Paste in Medium No.2

MAC Pro Longwear Concealer in NW25

Illamasqua Eyebrow Cake in Thunder

Avon SuperShock Gel Eyeliner Pencil in Black

Estee Lauder Sumptuous Extreme Mascara

Bobbi Brown Bronzing Powder in Deep 4

Jouer Tinted Lip Conditioner in Cosmo

Still loving my Double Wear, and my MAC CCB in Shell copious amounts - I'll do a review soon!

What make-up have you been reaching for lately?

Todays Make-Up (Video)

Omg guys! I took the plunge and made my first YouTube video!

I've tried to make one before but I absolutely hate the sound of my own voice and hate how I look on camera.....baby steps, baby steps....

I just used a song for the background and sped up the video so it wasn't too long, it's just me applying my make-up today - nothing special! The song is Latch by Disclosure, it's been out for a while now but I love it. The audio will probably get removed at some point because of copyright on YouTube but we'll see, I just couldn't be bothered to find any royalty free music. 

Sorry if I look a bit grumpy, I'm still getting used to being on camera. If this video gets good feedback (please be nice!) then I might do more in the future....might!

The video got cut off as my camera ran out of battery - oops! But theres a photo at the end to show you the finished look.

Let me know what you think! And don't forget to subscribe to my channel just incase I end up making any more! 

Lots of love 

Revlon Nearly Naked Foundation in 190 True Beige - Review

Revlon Nearly Naked Foundation in 190 True Beige - £8.99 here.

Revlon's Nearly Naked Foundation is something I've read about and watched people talk about for a good while now, so I popped into Boots to pick up one and try it for myself. Having just written my rave review on Estee Lauders Double Wear (post here), I wasn't looking for anything to top it, because frankly at the moment that one ticks all my boxes. I don't tend to go for drugstore foundations, simply because I like a really good base and the ones I've tried haven't really cut it. I wanted to try this one as I know not everyone can afford/want to spend loads of money on high-end foundations and it's something different on the blog! 

This foundation has ten shades, and out of those ten I managed to find a really good match which is '190 True Beige'. I was impressed by the shade range and it's a nice change to see a drugstore foundation with pretty much a shade for everyone. Even one of their darkest looked like it would suit my Mum who is an NC50 in MAC and can never find foundations dark enough in Boots, Superdrug etc. (That's a whole other issue for another day, I will definitely do a post on discrimination of fair and dark skin tones in the make-up industry.) I'm not sure about the lightest shade as certain people are lighter than some brands lightest shade, but just pop into Boots and try some instore.

As for the packaging, it's actually really nice, much nicer than most drugstore foundation bottles. It's a nice, slim glass bottle with a white lid and the design looks very minimal - fitting with the concept of the foundation itself. The foundation has no pump (is this a new trend?!) which means you have to pour the foundation out, so be careful! Not realising that this was a water-based foundation, I decided to use it with my Beauty Blender - big mistake! Because this foundation is water-based, my sponge just soaked up a lot of the product, which is obviously a waste and required me to use more than I normally would have. The sponge does release product when you squish it down against your face, but a brush would be much more ideal! Keep this in mind when you are applying foundation - water-based ones work better with fingers or brushes and silicone or oil based foundations can work with either a damp, sponge, brushes or fingers. Sponge drama aside, I applied one layer and then just went over any other areas of redness that needed a bit extra.

Me wearing just the Revlon Nearly Naked foundation and nothing else.

As you can see the coverage is light, but the foundation itself is actually undetectable in the close-up photo. You can still see my freckles which is nice, and you can't feel it on your skin at all. So if you like your foundation to look like your not wearing any, then you may really love this. I have pretty good, clear skin, and no breakouts at the time that I tried this, so my face looks flawless and natural with this. As you can see, it hasn't tackled my under-eye darkness at all, but I wasn't expecting it to as it such a light coverage. The coverage is almost like a tinted moisturiser, but the consistency is very light and fluid, easily blendable too.

Here I added some MAC Studio Fix Powder in NC42 to my t-zone to set and mattify slightly.

I used my Studio Fix powder to add a touch more coverage in the t-zone, which you could do with any opaque powder. 

Rest of make-up done!

As you can see, the foundation looks really nice on and when the rest of my make-up is done. The beauty of this foundation is that it's perfect for down days when you just want a bit of coverage, a lick of mascara and thats it. If i were to do that with Double Wear, I get so much coverage from it that my face looks all one colour and the planes of my face need to be put back in with blush and bronzer - if that makes sense? Basically, this foundation makes you look like you, just a tad better. So if you have good skin, not many imperfections and just want to even everything out and look naturally flawless - this is for you! If you have more redness, lots of breakouts, pores etc then this won't really do much for your skin. 

Overall, I like it. I wouldn't wear it if I was going out, but on days if I am just popping to the shops or don't need to look made-up, a quick layer of this will do. The SPF 20 is great too if you're going to be outside during the day and want to protect your skin while still wearing a bit of coverage. 

Revlon's Nearly Naked foundation is available in Boots and Superdrug.

Have you tried this foundation?

(If you want to know what other products I used in this post, they are listed at the bottom of my previous one here!)