Purple Rain

Happy Halloween, everybody!

I hope everybody has a spooktacular Thursday, whatever kind of plans you have in store.

Although it's Halloween, I have something that's not so.. Halloweenish. But just look at how gorgeous and vibrant these colours are - I'm completely in awe with this striking colour combination and I hope you will be too!

For today's look I used a combination of Anastasia Beverly Hills, Concrete Minerals and Girls With Attitude products (are you surprised? I'm obsessed!).

I also swatched and photographed all of my Concrete Minerals loose eyeshadow so I can show you how beautiful they are when they're used alone, so keep an eye out for that in the near future because believe me when I say they will blow your mind.

Enjoy your night and take care!

EYES:

• Anastasia Beverly Hills Covet Waterproof Eyeliner in 'Azure' all over lid as a base and along lower waterline
• Concrete Minerals 'Bulletproof' eyeshadow all over lid
• Concrete Minerals 'HiFi' eyeshadow blended into crease and lower lash line
• Concrete Minerals 'Temptress' eyeshadow on center portion of lid, layered over 'Bulletproof', and along lower lash line
• Anastasia Beverly Hills 'Black Diamond' eyeshadow (from the 'Lavish' palette) to deepen crease area
• Anastasia Beverily Hills 'Cream' eyeshadow (from the 'Lavish palette) to highlight brow bone
• MAC 'Blacktrack' Fluidline to line eyes and upper waterline
• Eyeko Skinny Brush mascara
• Girls With Attitude 'Notice Me' false lashes (from the 'Extenstions' line)

BROWS:

• Anastasia Beverly Hills Brow Wiz in 'Caramel'
• Anastasia Beverly Hills Tinted Brow Gel in 'Caramel'

Eldora False Lashes: Product Info and Review

If you're an avid beauty Instagrammer like myself, then no doubt you will have seen Eldora False Lashes being used by a pretty impressive amount of makeup artists from all over the world.

I own four sets of Eldora Lashes (D141, S302, H105 and H125), so I thought I'd take the time to write a little bit about each pair for you, and talk about the brand in general.

So, if you're a lash-lover, then keep on reading!

Maleficent - Also 20% off your Concrete Minerals Order!

Hi, make-up lovers, I have a great offer to share with you today!

Firstly, today I bring you yet another look that would be perfect for a more glamorous Halloween costume, inspired by none other than than the ultimate Disney villain (Maleficent, of course!). Naturally - as I'm so excited about them - I immediately reached for my Concrete Minerals eyeshadows to put this together!

Like in my previous look, I kept my complexion as pale as possible. And it would hardly be a Maleficent inspired look without jet black, villain-esque eyebrows to accompany it, would it?

To complete the look, I paired it with my current favourite lashes from Girls With Attitude.

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And now for the exciting part! I'm able to offer all of my lovely readers a unique discount code that will get you a whole 20% off your next Concrete Minerals order! My coupon code is valid all day Friday through Sunday up until 11:59PM PST, and I urge you to take advantage!

To receive 20% off your whole order, enter my coupon code ' NICOLA20 ' at the checkout, and enjoy!

EYES:

• Urban Decay Primer Potion
• Concrete Minerals Pro Matte Eyeshadow in 'Queen' blended into crease and lower lashline
• Concrete Minerals Pro Matte Eyeshadow in 'Jet' to deepen crease
• Concrete Minerals Mineral Eyeshadow in 'Swamped' all over lid and and lower lash line
• Motives by Loren Ridinger 'Blizzard' eyeshadow to highlight browbone
• Motives by Loren Ridinger Luxe Precision Eye Line in 'Jet Black' to line eyes
• Inglot AMC Gel Liner in #77 to line upper and lower waterlines
• Eyeko Fat Brush mascara
• Girls With Attitude 'Mesmerising' false lashes (from the 'Glamour' line)
  

BROWS:

• MAC Fluidline in 'Blacktrack'
• Concrete Minerals Pro Matte Eyeshadow in 'Jet'
• Eyeko Curvy Brush Mascara

Spooky Spiderweb

I'm finally getting in the mood for halloween, yay!

So, in true halloween spirit I bring you something a little bit more spooky.

For this creepy look I teamed up my brand new Concrete Minerals loose eyeshadows, bold black brows and, of course,  it wouldn't be halloween without a ghostly pale complexion.

I am also LOVING lashes from Girls With Attitude at the moment. I can assure you that you will definitely be seeing a LOT more looks using both Concrete Minerals and Girls With Attitude because I am officially OBSESSED. I urge you to check out both of these brands if you haven't already and I'm hoping to get some swatches of the Concrete Minerals shadows up soon!

What are everybodies halloween costume plans this year? I'd love to hear what everybody has in mind.

EYES:

• Motives by Loren Ridinger Eye Base
• Concrete Minerals Mineral Eyeshadow in 'Napalm' all over the lid
• Concrete Minerals Pro Matte Eyeshadow in 'Risque' blended along lower lash line
• Motives by Loren Ridinger eyeshadow in 'Blizzard' to highlight browbone
• Eyeko Skinny Liquid Liner in 'Black' to line eyes and create spiderweb effect
• MAC Fluidline in 'Blacktrack' to line upper waterline and lower waterline, and also smudged in-between lower lashes
• Eyeko Curvy Brush Mascara
• Girls With Attitude 'Mesmerising' false lashes (from the 'Glamour' line)

BROWS:

• MAC Fluidline in 'Blacktrack'
• Concrete Minerals Pro Matte Eyeshadow in 'Jet'
• Eyeko Curvy Brush Mascara

Wear It Pink: Breast Cancer Awareness Month

Not only is October the month of all things spooky, but it's also the annual Breast Cancer Awareness month.

Cancer is something that just about touches every single one of us in some way, shape or form and there are so many influential names that come into my head when I hear that dreaded word.

So - to show my support and to help spread a little bit of the love - I put together this purely pink look dedicated to the amazing Wear It Pink breast cancer awareness campaign, which takes place on the 25th of this month here in the UK.

The Cancer Research UK website makes it so easy to make an online donation, so please take a few minutes out of your time to go and check it out so we can contribute towards beating all types of cancer one small step at a time.

Will you be showing your support by wearing pink this month?

EYES:

• Motives by Loren Ridinger Eye Base
• 'Candyfloss' loose eyeshadow by Glamour Doll Eyes all over lid and blended up
• Light warm pink eyeshadow from the BH Cosmetics 120 Color Palette (2nd Edition) along lower lashline
• Light gold eyeshadow from the BH Cosmetics 120 Color Palette (2nd Edition) around tear duct
• Urban Decay 'Yeyo' eyeshadow to highlight browbone
• Eyeko Skinny Liquid Eyeliner in 'Black' to line eyes
• MAC Fluidline in 'Blacktrack' to line lower and upper waterlines
• Eyeko Skinny Brush Mascara
• Eyemimo #NTR04 false lashes

BROWS:

• Anastasia Beverly Hills Brow Wiz in 'Caramel'
• Urban Decay Brow Box in 'Gingersnap'

Fiery Ice

Just because it's mostly dismal outside doesn't mean I'm going to start slacking on the colour! If anything, it's giving me even more of a reason to try and brighten things up a little which is why I put together this fun and colourful look.

I do love the current autumn makeup trends but I always like to keep things a little bit more interesting instead of posting the same old same.

Speaking of variety, I'm also currently in the midst of trying to think of some halloween looks I can post before the end of the month and I've also had a few ideas for a possible future makeup series to bring something a little different to this blog.

Anyway! For this look, I used both contrasting cool and warm tones to bring this look together. I was actually inspired to use these colours as it's really quite chilly right now here in England, but the sunshine keeps creeping through every now and again...

EYES:

• Motives by Loren Ridinger Eye Base
• Bright orange matte eyeshadow from BH Cosmetics 120 Color Palette (2nd Edition) blended into crease
• Hot pink matte eyeshadow from BH Cosmetics 120 Color Palette (2nd Edition) to deepen crease and outer lower lash line
• Front Cover Cosmetics 'True Blue' eyeshadow all over lid and inner lower lash line
• Front Cover Cosmetics 'Blanc de Blanc' eyeshadow around tear duct
• Urban Decay 'Yeyo' eyeshadow to highlight brow bone
• Motives by Loren Ridinger Khol Eyeliner pencil in 'Angel' along lower waterline
• Motives by Loren Ridinger Luxe Precision Eye Line in 'Jet Black' to line eyes
• Inglot AMC Gel eyeliner in #77 to line upper waterline
• Eyeko Black Magic mascara
• Eyemimo #NTR06 false lashes

BROWS:

• Urban Decay Brow Box in 'Gingersnap'

Quirky Graphic Liner

Something a little more out of the norm today.

I love seeing different graphic liner styles and although this one is quite basic (yet effective) I think it's probably my favourite style that I've seen up to date. What's best is that it only needs a few products and a steady hand to create.

The Inglot gel liner is perfect for creating something a little more outlandish when it comes to eyeliner, as this stuff sets into place really quickly and from my personal experience is less likely to budge compared to the other gel liners that I own (MAC Fluidline and Maybelline Eye Studio).

I used a couple of different brushes for this: A small angled brush from BH Cosmetics to create the shape of the wing and my usual Screenface Domed Eyeliner Sable brush to work on the eyeliner that sits along the crease.

Admittedly, it's not something that I would actually wear out, but I do love it nonetheless.

EYES:

• Urban Decay Primer Potion
• Urban Decay 'Foxy' eyeshadow all over lid
• Inglot AMC Gel Eyeliner in #77 to line eyes and upper waterline
• Rimmel Extra Wow Lash mascara

BROWS:

• Anastasia Beverly Hills Brows Wiz in 'Caramel'
• Urban Decay Brow Box in 'Gingersnap'

Tip #2: Basic Colour Theory In Makeup Artistry

Of course, there are no rules when it comes to makeup and what colours you decide to wear. However, there are a few tips and tricks you can choose to use if you are looking to enhance the natural colour of your eyes.

If you are an avid makeup lover, chances are you will already know all about basic colour theory. But it's probably one of the most important things anybody just starting out could possibly learn, hence the reasoning for this post.

Colour theory works for just about anything in life, and is not necessarily a tool solely for makeup artistry - but by using something called the Colour Wheel, you can easily differentiate which colours will naturally make your eye colour 'pop' and appear more vibrant. Colour Theory is also important in other areas of makeup artistry, including foundations, concealers, etc. but here I will be focusing more on the eyes.

It may look scary and confusing at first, but by knowing how the colour wheel works, you will easily be able to see what colours are best suited to your very own eye colour.

I threw this colour wheel together myself to avoid any copyright issues, so please excuse it's scruffiness.

Eastern Sunrise

Something a little more colour and cheerful considering that we're currently in the midst of the fast approaching long, cold winter nights.

Kudos to my big sis Becky for pointing out that these colours reminded her of something more Eastern, and thus resulting in the naming of this look!

I also tried something a little different with my eyebrows this day by creating a much fuller, rounded shape. I guess the only upside to having very sparse, fair brows is that I  have the ability to easily change the shape, fullness and shade of them. I did like the way they photographed, but I think I much prefer my usual brow shape for my typical makeup days.

Anyway, I hope this warms you up a little!

EYES:

• Urban Decay Primer Potion
• Coral pink eyeshadow from BH Cosmetics 120 Color Palette (2nd Edition) blended into crease
• Medium purple eyeshadow from BH Cosmetics 120 Color Palette (2nd Edition) to deepen crease, outer corner and outer lower lashline
• Motives by Loren Ridinger 'Gold Rush' eyeshadow on rest of the lid, around tear duct and inner lower lashline
• Urban Decay 'Yeyo' eyeshadow to highlight brown bone
• Inglot AMC Gel Liner in #77 to line eyes and upper waterline
• Motives for LaLa Kohl Eyeliner Pencil in 'Violet' along lower waterline
• Eyeko Skinny Brush mascara
• Eldora H125 false lashes

BROWS:

• Urban Decay Brow Box in 'Gingersnap'
• Eyeko Brow Gel

Fascinating Forest

Hello, Sweeties!

Although green is generally one of my favourite colours, I never particularly like wearing it. However, earlier today whilst I was playing around with some of the beautiful green eyeshadows I have never used before, I discovered a couple of forest green shades that I don't half mind on myself.

After creating this look, I'd now possibly consider wearing these colours out, which is - admittedly - something I have always steered clear of.

For this look I used a combination of green shadows by both Motives and Anastasia Beverly Hills. Now, I know for certain that a tonne of people - specifically on Instagram - are sick up to their back teeth of seeing and hearing about these brands due to their marketing techniques, but believe me when I say there IS a reason for all of the hype surrounding them. Yes, floods of posts by the same brands are annoying, but do not let that put you off trying out certain products because the majority of the time, they're worth it.

EYES:

• Urban Decay Primer Potion
• Anastasia Beverly Hills 'Moss' eyeshadow (from the 'Lavish' palette) on the inner portion of lid and lower lash line
• Motives by Loren Ridinger 'Forbidden' eyeshadow on the rest of lid and outer lower lash line
• Anastasia Beverly Hills 'Sienna' and 'Orange Soda' eyeshadows (from the 'Lavish' palette) blended into crease
• Motives by Loren Ridinger 'Onyx' eyeshadow
• Urban Decay 'Booty Call' eyeshadow around tear duct
• Anastasia Beverly Hills Covet Waterproof Eyeliner in 'Noir' along lower waterline
• MAC 'Blacktrack' Fluidline to line upper waterline
• Eyeko Skinny Liquid Eyeliner in 'Black' to line eyes
• Eyeko Fat Brush Mascara
• Eyemimo #NTR48 false lashes

BROWS:

• Anastasia Beverly Hills Brow Wiz in 'Caramel'
• Eyeko Brow Gel