Ladies who Lilac!

This spring's colour of choice is lilac. It's been making an appearance in the clothing department but now it's going straight onto eyelids this season for a pretty-as-a-picture stare! Here's the low-down on how to achieve the ultimate lavender love...

1. Skin needs to be left dewy

This keeps the look fresh and youthful, soft and as girly as the colour lilac itself. This is a colour of innocence after all, so you're after girl-nextdoor beauty! You want a highlight down the centre of the face to catch the light flatteringly.

2. Lips are ever so slightly glossy

There's no need to worry about what shade of lipstick to wear with this look because it doesn't really need any strong shade as such. Just make sure your lips are well moisturised with a touch of lip balm and add a dash of lip gloss. You can opt for either a clear gloss or reach for a peachy or nude tone that keeps the lips soft and pastel coloured.

3. Cheeks are bronzed

You can get away without blusher on this look but so as to avoid the lilac on the eyes draining the colour from the rest of the face you need to add a hint of colour. Add a bronzing powder to the cheek bones to contour the face. If you want to, add some to the temples and underneath the chin area for a well-sculpted and lifted face.

4. Lilac isn't restricted to the eyes!

Try it on your nails or lips as well for more pastel perfection. The key to this look however is all about making the lilac the centre of attention. Lilac can be quite a powerful colour and too much of it can make the look dated or make you look older than you really are. So if you can work in the lilac in your eyes/lips/nails but avoid it all over then all the better.

So now you have the tips on how to achieve this spring/summer makeup trend, here's a few tools to help you on your way!

For the foundation:

• Pick a moisturising/hydrating formula, rather than a full-on matte version.
  
  
• If you have oily or combination skin and are worried about looking more greasy than goddess with this then use your regular foundation
  
  
• To achieve the dewy, fresh effect you'll need some highlighting fluid/liquid. Benefit's High Beam and MAC's Strobe Cream are both perfect.
  
  
• Then powder with some translucent powder, but avoid going heavy with it - a light application is all that's needed. You don't want to lose the effort you went to when adding the highlighter

For the bronzer:

• I recommend using a matte bronzer as opposed to a shimmery bronzer as otherwise there will be too much shimmer going on making the face look too polished.
  
  
• MAC make a great matte bronzer called Blunt or for a more purse friendly alternative GOSH sell fantastic matte bronzers as well.

For the lovely lilacs:

• As for shades of lilac I really recommend MAC - Crystal, Idol Eyes, Digit and Beautiful Iris are all fab colours perfect for this look.
  
  
• As for lilac lipsticks, MAC's Saint Germain is gorgeous, as is their Pervette.

The Jumpsuit - a Fashion Debate!

Nobody seems to agree on this trend. I've had a few discussions with friends about it and have researched until the cows came home and most people:

• Agree to disagree
  
• Think it's a fad that will fade with Autumn/Winter of this year not to be seen again
  
• Don't feel they have the confidence to pull one off

Well I wasn't sure at first, but slowly but surely the idea warmed to me. A couple of months back I passed a Miss Sixty store and spotted a gorgeous white linen number that I instantly fell in love with (as I do with all of Miss Sixty's collections really - if I could live in a fashion store, theirs would be the one!). Sadly my budget doesn't allow for regular buys from there. After just having spoken with a friend about the beauties of Ebay bargains which I hadn't been taking advantage of the way I used to, I took the plunge, logged in and typed in "jumpsuit".

Within seconds I stumbled across pretty much an identical jumpsuit to that of the one in Miss Sixty, but for a fraction of the price, made of linen but bright red, by Mango (another of my favourite labels). Wow! It must have been the summer heat because I threw caution to the wind, made a bid and sure enough I won it. I figured it must be a sign, haha! After being inspired by mystylediary.stylehive.com I decided to take a snap of the results...

It's important, especially if your jumpsuit is made of a fabric like linen, to accessorise (and especially as mine is red!) or it can look like a pair of overalls haha! So to break it up I teamed it with a black belt, which also frames my figure that jumpsuits are notorious for hiding on any lady. I also paired it with a lovely pair of strappy stilettos to make it every inch feminine and some sunnies! I contemplated a headscarf, but for today I left it as is...

Speaking of Mystylediary - I came across this site a while ago and I think it's a great, fun resource for any of you girlies who want to be inspired by other like-minded ladies. Hundreds of girls share their wardrobe with others on the web by simply making a diary of snapshots of each of their outfits, at the same time sharing breakdowns of their clothes and accessories so others know where to go and also discover brands/labels they've never heard of before.

I think it's a goldmine for anyone who wants to either reinvent their look, get a little inspiration, or simply a gander at some gorgeous clothes at not-so-scary prices! Plus you could inspire someone too - it's free to sign up and share your own wardrobe diary as well so why not take a look?

Go to http://mystylediary.stylehive.com/ for more information!