Sweet Paris // A Bourjois Inspired Makeup Look

Drawing on a collection from Bourjois which was released last year for spring, I created a Parisian makeup look influenced by macarons, sweet pastels and sugary goodness. I decided to recreate the look from the campaign poster down to the detail, and gathered up as many Bourjois products as I could muster to get in the French feel of things.

 

Creating a base with my Bourjois 123 Perfect foundation, I then went in with my Laura Mercier blush in Rose Desire to create a sweet but striking strong pink cheek akin to that which the model wears for the campaign. The eyes aren’t something I would wear myself, but I find it a wonderful experience to walk through a look step by step and see how close I can get to the image with the products at hand. I used a shimmery pale pink shade from my Bourjois Eyeshadow Trio to create the pop of light in the centre of the eye, and went in with a mix of Rose Desire (blush on eyes, take note!) and a random hot pink shadow to create a defined crease. I then mixed a few of my bright greens (MAC Bitter, MAC Juxt + Inglot) to create the chunky definition around the outer thirds of the upper and lower lash line.

I like the way the Clinique High Lengths mascara stretches my lashes out, but ultimately I think what this look needed was a good set of flared falsies to really add to the drama. Duo glue, I’m coming for you! If there were ever another time where I would rock this look, I would definitely tone down the green and bring it closer to the lash line, but I wanted to stay true to the advertisement so crazy it had to be!

I cracked out my Revlon Lip Butter in Strawberry Shortcake (which admittedly doesn’t get much love from me) and topped it with a little bit of Smashbox O-Gloss* to create more shine and gloss to the lips. I actually can’t stand the Smashbox gloss as I find it thick and uncomfortable to wear, but back when I created this look lazy blogger alert I was trying to use it up.

 

How often do you wear pastel shades?
Do you think I made it close to the campaign poster (keeping in mind that I am NOT a model, lol)?

*Marked items provided for consideration. Honesty, always.

Blush Week 02

Any time I feel as though I am in a blush rut, I set myself a challenge to use a different blush each day for a whole week. I find blush week really helps me to dive into my overflowing blush drawer to try shades that haven’t graced my face in a while. I pulled out a few favourites as well as some as yet unloved new shades for this second blush week round, and I hope you enjoy peeking into what I wore last week!

Prom Princess was the first to hit my cheeks, the mid tone pink berry Veronica shade from the MAC Archie’s Girls collection was well worth the hunt. I have been wearing Cream Soda from the Betty side of the collection more often than this pink shade, so I made an effort to put the satin finish onto my apples first off the bat. I tend to wear toned down lip shades when I use this so that I don’t look overdone, I prefer to keep this the star of the show with lots of mascara.

 

I really wanted to incorporate a cream blush into the mix this blush week, and the best cream blush I own is definitely Powdery Rose from YSL’s Crème de Blush range. I use the Samantha Chapman for Real Techniques Stippling Brush to apply this and I think it does a perfect job of blending it seamlessly into my cheeks. I think the benefit of cream blushes are definitely how great and seamless the finish can be if applied correctly, and the YSL pots are simply perfection for me, as I love that these are a crème to powder and don’t look too dewy without losing the glow.

Of course, during a blush week a moment of weakness is a definite possibility. I thought it would be a case of me reaching for Tarte Exposed (are you getting sick of me mentioning it yet?) but it turned out that L’Oreal The Muse’s Blush was what I gravitated towards without meaning to. The peach shade is really easy to wear and I love how large the pan is, I wish this Project Runway range was available in Australia but unfortunately I bought this from overseas (specifically from Lilladylife’s blog sale!)

Thursday saw me tired and with sore feet as I spent the day teaching and the night working retail, so I was pleased at the pretty flush that Laura Mercier’s Rose Desire left on my cheeks. I’ll be honest and say that I tend to reach for the eyeshadows in the Lingerie palette more than the two cheek shades that sit aside it, but now that I know how pretty Rose Desire is on my fair skin tone I think I will be wearing it a lot more often. Having said that, I will just drop in a mention of how amazing LM palettes are in general- very, very amazing. Highly recommend that you snatch up any you come across, as they sell out quite quickly (as Sleep and Water can attest to!)

Friday was another all day all night work day, and I leant on Rimmel’s Autumn Catwalk blush which is an old favourite of mine that is highly underrated. I’ve seen quite a few US bloggers/Youtubers mentions this line of blushes and I think that they are seriously impressive. The packaging is slimline and the colour of Autumn Catwalk is so lovely (I mix the three shades together, for reference) I am itching to get my hands on other shades from this range, perhaps I will turn to eBay or have a gander at ASOS as I know they stock some Rimmel goodies.

I had been chatting with Sarah from More than Adored and I managed to talk her into buying one of the Illamasqua Blush Duo’s* that I posted about here. I decided to take Ambition* out for a spin and wow, I had forgotten how pretty this shimmery blush is! I love the glow it gives my face and the muted berry tone of it is so pretty in pan and on cheek. I am pretty much a sucker for all things Illamasqua and this is a lot easier to throw on than some of the brighter shades, which my early mornings have appreciated.

To round up the week, I decided to take one of my brand new blushes for a spin! TheBalm’s Frat Boy is described as a peachy apricot and I think it is really pretty on the cheek. It reminds me of NYX Peach but perhaps a tad nicer on? I’m still undecided but either way I really like this, and the slimline pans the TheBalm are famous for really are awesome for storing and travel.

Are you as obsessed with blushes as I am?

What blushes have you been wearing lately? .

 

*Provided for consideration. Honesty, always