Festive Five #4 - 5 Neutral Blushes to Wear with That Festive Lip or Smoky Eye

If you’ve logged onto YouTube lately, no doubt you’ve seen a barrage of ‘festive makeup tutorials’ following a similar principle – bronzer, shimmery eye and a big bold red lip! I’m not knocking this trend as its stunning and I love clicking on to watch a few of the videos (though Vlogmas gets my heart beating faster!) but I’m far more interested in what blush people choose to pair with their Christmas look! I’ve rustled up 5 of my favourite neutral blushes (most ended up being luxe brands, ooh la la) that I reach for if I’m wearing a bold lip or smoky eye.

1. Chanel Joues Contraste in Accent

One of the most revered Chanel blushes kicking around Instagram and blogs at the moment, I am so pleased each time I see a snap of it that I added this to my collection! Limited edition of course, this is along the same lines as Chanel Jersey so perhaps you could substitute with that if you’re interested in Accent.

2. MAC Poised

This was posted about here after I’d forgotten I owned this stunner, and it turned out to be one of the most used blushes in 2014 for me. It’s a nice easy to wear neutral that has really impressed me, and because of that I think I’ll be looking into more MAC blushes next year!

3. Dolce & Gabbana Caramel

This took a lot of hunting around for, and it surprises me that hardly any blog posts exist praising this silky smooth luxury blush. I ended up purchasing from ebay if memory serves, and though it isn’t my favourite neutral blush it is definitely a thing of beauty that I’m glad I own.

4. Chanel Joues Contraste in Jersey

This was the only blush I took along on our honeymoon – a serious thing for a certified blush fiend such as myself! I actually think I love this more than Chanel Accent and find it so pretty that I can’t get sick of wearing it. Definitely worth checking out if you are a fan of neutral blushes, or even Chanel blushes in general like I am.

5. Tarte Amazonian Clay Blush in Exposed

I couldn’t leave this out of a neutral blush line-up – it’s my all-time favourite blush and the one I wore on my wedding day. Need I say more!

 

 

 

 

 

Are you a fan of neutral blushes? Are you sick of the traditional Christmas YouTube videos, or are you loving them like mad this year?

-Emma xx

Wedding Makeup Inspiration - The Bridal Trial

It's only a few days until the big day and I've had my bridal trial, which I booked in for before my kitchen tea to kill two birds with one stone. I brought in a few Pinterest and Instagram snaps to show my gorgeous makeup artist Renee at Inglot and told her to go to town!

I really liked how subtle this look was

the metallic finish is stunning but that liner doesn't do it for me

this was to show how I wanted a neutral blush and lip to tie in with it

general vibe down pat

I told the makeup artist to choose whatever she thought would suit my eyes and said I wasn't afraid of a bit of eye makeup, but when it came to the blush I brought out my beloved Tarte Exposed to match it to something in the store. I think on the day I may still choose Exposed for my blush...After the wedding I'll be sure to post details of what we ended up going with on the day, if you're interested :)

I was actually quite nervous when I was in the chair, though I trusted Renee completely as she has been doing my makeup for years and is always my first choice. I guess I realised that this was a practise run for what is essentially the most important makeup of my life? Sounds quite dramatic but I can't ever see myself paying for photos and a videographer like this again, haha.

with Mumma Bovary!

 

with my beautiful maid of honour, Candice

I think we will make some slight adjustments to the products used on the actual wedding day (I know the lashes will be different...) and I'm tossing up on switching the golden cheekbone highlight to a more champagne tone...would love your thoughts?

I don't even know what lip colour I am wearing on my wedding day, how terrible for a beauty blogger!! I want something neutral/nude and probably matte so it lasts longer in between touch ups...any ideas?

 

Not long now!

Emma x

Makeup Diary #1

It seems I need to work on rotating my bases and blushes...I took a snap of my daily makeup for a week and love being able to pick up patterns in the photos! I am very much into neutral eyes at the moment (and you can see I hauled towards the end of the week!) and lips have been quite low key most of the time.

Getting back into a Nars frame of mind, the standout for this lazy errand day with my sister in law was definitely the taupe shade from the Grand Palais duo. 

Sticking the the Nars trend but stuck Lorac Pewter over the top for some jazz! I went wedding shopping with Mumma Bovary and oh she looks stunning in her 'mother of the bride' dress!

Working out how to pull off silver eyeshadow and wearing my beloved MAC Poised blush. After dinner we hand delivered a stack of wedding invitations and it felt so good!

Tried to keep the eyes nice and simple with Burberry Pale Barley, as this was the only day this week that I wore a bright lip! Bourjois Rouge Edition Velvet in 02 Frambourjoise was the lip of choice, and thank goodness the lasting power is great because I forgot to bring it along with me for touch-ups!

A relatively makeup free day, I evened out my complexion (I'm currently in a terrible skin phase...) and added mascara to feel human. Cake batter lip balm, by the way? Genius!

I told you it was Nars-centric! I chose to try out Nars Orgasm blush (from the Danmari Cheek Palette) this time around, as I still don't love it as much as everyone else seems to. The Turkish Delight gloss is a whole other story though, I adore that pale pink shade.

As soon as my Nars And God Created the Woman palette arrived I snapped the obligatory blogger shots then threw it on my lids. Absolutely swooning over this tiny palette.

I'm the kind of person who finds a base she likes and sticks to it, and Illamasqua Skin Base is no exception. It's one of the few foundations that matches my pale skin but I have been needing a whole lotta undereye concealer lately, so had to pop some YSL Touche Éclat over the top of my Maybelline Age Rewind to make things half-decent.


So that is my makeup diary for the week! If you like peeking into the makeup bloggers use everyday, check out Liz's post which is what inspired me to keep my makeup diary! If you want to know more about anything in these shots just let me know, I would love to chat more about them.


Do you wear similar products for your everyday style?
What blush gets a heavy rotation for you?
Emma x

Date Night Chocolate Smoky Eye

I have to admit that most of the Bovary household date nights are mainly coffee dates that are short and sweet, rather than my ideal dinner and movie combo (yes I am that much of a cliché, what can I say my minor at uni was cinema!) This look was created for a night out at China Bar, which is an amazing all-you-can-eat Asian Buffet place that we'd never tried before but ended up really loving! I pretty much ate my body weight in prawns and spicy calamari, but I like the think that my smoky eye added a little elegance to our face-stuffing session!

This makeup look could also serve as a favourites post of sorts, such is my love for many of the products I ended up using. I am a big fan of a chocolate smoky eye and sometimes wish that I felt more comfortable wearing a deep chocolate shade for daytime wear (that way I would get a lot more use from many of my makeup palettes, for sure!) I used a mix of the brown shades from my Too Faced Chocolate Bar palette to create this easy smoky eye, and finished off the look by tapping some of that golden shade onto the centre of my lid to create some depth.

While I was waiting for the Revlon Lacquer Balms and Matte Balms to be released in Australia, I had this idea in my head that I would pick up heaps of them and add them to my Colourburst Crayon collection (which contains almost all of the original shades released!) Then I realised that I only wear my very favourites from the line up anyway, and so the sensible side of me won and I only grabbed one Lacquer Balm to enjoy. Ingenue is simply beautiful, a great nude that I find easy to wear.

Products Used:
Too Faced Chocolate Bar palette
Rimmel Scandaleyes Rockin' Curves mascara*
Covergirl Outlast foundation in 810
Physician's Formula highlighter
MAC Mineralise Skin Finish Natural in Light
Tarte Exposed blush
Revlon Lacquer Balm in Ingenue
Beyoncé Rise perfume*

photographer is obvs a fan of moon face close ups...

Do you have any cool date ideas for us?
What chocolate eye shadows do you love?

Emma @ emmabovarybeauty

*Provided for consideration. Honesty, always.

Weekend Makeup Bag

Over the weekend we took Charlie away for a little holiday at the beach house, after his photoshoot which we won from Max and Molly (pet division of StudioMax) Here's a peek at the products that I packed for the 4 days.

Forget low key makeup for a relaxing weekend - I prefer to use time away from home to play around with different looks and I tend to bring along products that are exciting to me. My base was the usual Covergirl Outlast Foundation and MAC MSFN (still not 100% in love, but happy to use it up) I brought my essence Metal Glam highlighter in Gold Digger because it's actually really impressing me right now and I quite like a strong highlight when we go out for dinner. As an aside, I can vouch for Paul Loueys Chinese restaurant for some yummy food (probably quite Western but so am I!)

Lip options were all glossy with my new essence goodies being quite prominent, as was Dior naturally. Only two blushes made the cut (that was me showing control, you see?) with Hourglass Ambient Blush in Radiant Magenta and Tarte Exposed being tossed into my makeup bag.

I stuck with two eyeshadow palettes with my Too Faced Chocolate Bar palette and the new arrival, Wet & Wild's Comfort Zone palette which I just nabbed off eBay. Only one mascara came with me, the Revlon Lash Potion which I am still really enjoying.

I actually ended up using pretty much everything that I brought along with me, which for me is the sign of successful packing!

Are you a chronic over-packer, or are you talented at narrowing your needs down?

Emma @ emmabovarybeauty

The Birthday Face

Hip hip hooray, it was my birthday yesterday! Another year older and hopefully wiser as well. I had a lovely little day out with my family, and thought it important to share my 'birthday face' here to keep a record of the makeup memories. Every year my sister takes me out but keeps our destination a secret (some years it has been bowling, mini golf, fancy lunch, shopping spree etc) and no matter what we do I have an amazing time with her, so it is one of the main reasons I love my birthday so much. This year my niece Ella and nephew Hamish came along as well as Mumma Bovary, which makes the day even better! We went out for a nice lunch and I indulged in a bit of a shopping spree before we stopped off at Dairy Bell for a scoop of ice-cream!

I woke up in the morning to Charlie snuggles and a nice coffee made by Mister Bovary before he left for work, and spent the morning watching YouTube videos and reading Bel-Ami by Guy de Maupassant. Pretty perfect morning, right? The night was great as well, all of my family came around for pizza and my beautiful best friend Candice made the trip down from the country to make my day!

Products:

I took my time doing my makeup so it looked a bit spesh for my special day, and layered my foundation to cover any blemishes. I used my Urban Decay Naked 2 to create a daytime smoky eye with Pistol all over the lid, Busted in the outer crease and Foxy to highlight my brown bone. I then went in heavy with my essence Hot Chocolate liner as I wanted a thick line on my top lid, and I absolutely loved the effect.

I used my favourite Tarte Amazonian Clay Blush in Exposed but topped it with a little bit of Chanel Accent to spice it up a little, and then dusted some Dior Amber Diamond on top of my cheekbones like I do everyday. Lips were finished off with my Kardashian Au Natural Lip Set for a layered glossy nude look.

The Face:

no such thing as too much bling on your birthday!

Mumma Bovary and I out for lunch!

I'll be posting about the gifts I receive for my birthday next, I received such thoughtful gifts but am hoping that mister postman delivers my Naked3 in time for the post, and so that I can enjoy its awesomeness.

Do you have any birthday traditions?
Is it just me, or is the act of buying yourself a birthday gift (or 5...) so much fun?!

Emma x

Most Loved : July

August already, which is something I am finding hard to fathom. It feels like only yesterday, as cliché as it sounds, that I was beginning my post graduate course and pining over the thought of moving out of home one day, sigh. Now I can officially say “we’re moving in this month” and “I will be a qualified teacher soon.” I’ll stop the end of month musing there, and get on with the task at hand: sharing my most loved products of July!

 

Eyes were kept fairly neutral, with my Urban Decay Naked 2 getting some long awaited love. I hold a huge amount of love in my heart for the original Naked palette from the brand, but the second instalment sat unloved in my drawers for quite a while. I’ve been using Bootycall as a brow + inner corner highlight, Pistol as a nice crease shade and Busted when I want something a bit darker. The newest addition to my palette collection took a few weeks to steal my heart, but I can now say I am in love with the MAC Bare My Soul palette from the Temperature Rising collection.  I've also been popping a bit of my Beauty Attitude Jumbo Eyeshadow Pencil in Busted Brown in place of a traditional eyeliner, to add a nice frame to my shadows. If I’ve felt like a little pop of colour on my lids, I’ve barely stepped out of the neutral realm in using my Chanel Illusion D’Ombre in Epatant.

 

I do apologise for the reoccurrence of the cheek colours in each monthly round up post, but my love for these two shades really does know no bounds. The Tarte Amazonian Clay Blush in Exposed is the easiest shade to throw on, and I find it adds a warmth to my face that nothing else can. A pop of bright colour on the cheeks is almost always Chanel Pink Explosion, which looking back was a wonderful choice on Chris’ behalf for Christmas 2013. I have expressed my love for the idea of a new Chanel cheek shade each festive season, and this year I’m once again happy for him to hold the reins and select a shade for me to fall in love with.

Pink is yet again the theme of my lip choices this month, with my motto being the brighter the better! MAC Girl About Town is an amazing, long lasting and flattering lipstick from a brand that is often hit and miss in regards to lip products in my opinion. I’ve been wearing it a little too often this month, but it makes me smile wide and that is all that matters, right? For something a little more inconspicuous I’ve been turning to L’Oreal Colour Riche in Velvet Rose*, which has gone well with Busted + Busted Brown that I mentioned earlier. The other lip product that has captivated me is one I am not fully in love with, purely because of the lack of lasting power (even compared to other lip glosses) The Laura Mercier Lip Glace is Sweetheart is such a lovely shade that indeed leaves the lips glossy like a glass reflection, and the scent and flavour is so divine. It doesn’t stay around for long, though it must be said that having such a sweet scent makes reapplying quite an enjoyable task.  

How dark do you shadows go on a day to day basis?
Do you have a beauty tradition like our (will be) annual Chanel blush?         

*Marked items provided for consideration. Honesty, always.

NEON + neutral Makeup Look with Australis

note to self: hair oil exists for a reason, Ms Frizz!

 

Cheeks: Tarte Amazonian Clay Blush in Exposed
Lips: Clinique Chubby Stick in Whole Lotta Honey + Barry M Toffee gloss

As promised, I put the Australis Neutrals & Neons palette to the test and created a wearable look to show you! The colours didn’t blend away (as some affordable brands tend to do!) and I found the shadows soft and easy to blend together for this look. I popped a bit of the acid green on the inner corners and used the first 3 neutral shadows to create an easy natural look with a twist. I used the Australis Curve Ink liner* to ground the look down (a great tip for those who are frightened of wearing brights!) and used lots of mascara as well, as I always do.

 

What shades from this palette would you like me to create a look with next?

Are you excited about affordable brands bringing out amazing palettes like this?

Which of the NEON shades are you most afraid of?

*Marked items were provided for consideration. The Clinique item was won on a social media competition. Honesty, always.

What's In My Makeup Bag

I’ve recently begun to appreciate a well-stocked makeup bag for every day, and so have been using this Lust Have It bag in my very favourite colour to tote around the basics so that I am prepared for whatever is thrown my way. Let’s dive in!

I always keep a mini perfume vial in my makeup bag in case I need to freshen up during the day, and at the moment Oscar de la Renta’s Sargasso* has the top spot. As a side note, I also keep a travel sized Rexona in my handbag, but it is too bulky to fit inside the actual makeup bag, as is my Uriage Thermal Facial Spray*. I also keep a small mirror that was a gift from Chris as well as my essence Return to Paradise blotting papers, to absorb any oil throughout the day.

 

I don’t always keep my Manicare tweezers* in my makeup bag, but I’m in need of a brow wax and am using these to tame them until I can get there. I also love keeping my YSL Touche Eclat* on me at all times, as I use it to cover any redness or blemishes that pop up throughout the day (I apply with clean fingers, not the brush) and Chris also likes popping a bit of this on if we’re heading out after work, to cover his dark circles. My current powder is the MAC Mineralize Skinfinish Natural in Light, but I have to say that I still prefer my Maybelline Dream Matte powder for both the finish and the oil control. I also keep the blush of the day in my bag (in this case Tarte Exposed) in case I need to top it up before work (I have been working in retail after placement + uni) or want to intensify the colour at all. I keep brushes for each of these powders, alternating them with whatever is clean that morning.

I always like to keep a selection of lip products on me in case my mood changes during the day, or I want to switch out the colour for evening. Chanel Rouge Coco Shine in Boy is something I am trying to use up (look out for my Chanel Boy challenge post next week!) and the Kool Aid lip balm is one of the nicest I’ve tried in a long time. I have been loving the new Max Factor Colour Elixir lip crayons (shade pictured is Couture Blush) and my Nars gloss in Oasis. Other lip products include my beloved Carmex balms*, Barry M Toffee lipgloss and Rimmel Apocalips in Celestial.

 

I love having my essentials with me all the time on long days – how much do you carry around on a daily basis?

What powder are you using at the moment?

Do you carry around as many lip products as I do?

 

*Marked items were provided for consideration, but were honestly in my makeup bag. Honesty, always.

What's On My Face // Placement Edition

 

I began the daunting task of my first rounds of student teaching over a month ago now, and though at first I shook like a leaf and was constantly lost, I am absolutely loving the chance to sink my teeth into what will hopefully be my future career. Since I'm used to wearing bright eye looks to work and university, the change to a teaching position means I've had to evaluate my look. I decided that though my school is quite casual in style I would still tone down my makeup, at least until I get to know the students and they are comfortable around me. I'd rather be known as 'that teacher who helped me with the tricky question' than 'that teacher with the cool eyeshadow!', you know?

 

My face staples have naturally been lazy morning staples such as Tarte Amazonian Clay blush in Exposed and Australis Curve Ink liner*, but I’ve been throwing a bit of essence Hot Chocolate liner in as well. Chanel Troublant and Stila Glaze are top lip picks, and Chanel makes another appearance with the Pink Explosion JC which lasts all day long on my cheeks.

My default eye look has been a simple one that I trust will last the long work day, and I'm really happy with how it has been working and lasting for me so far. As always, I set a base of MAC Painterly paint pot to give the shadows something to adhere to and to stop them from creasing up as the day goes on. I then go in with my Maybelline Bad to the Bronze Color Tattoo, which creates a nice bronzed chocolate base for my eye. I use my fingers for both of these cream products, and then I head in with a sweet of Maybelline Silken Taupe to ice up the look a wee bit, and just add some interest. It’s quite a strange mix that I stumbled across, but I like the way it makes my eyes pop and is easy to apply.

 

What makeup look do you turn to for work days? Do you tend to wear neutrals to err on the safe side?

*Provided for consideration. Honesty, always.