Alice in Wonderland

Some of you may know that this is my all-time favourite childhood story! I love the Disney classic to this day and last year I finally got a copy of it on DVD. I had my reservations when last year I heard Tim Burton was producing his very own take of Lewis Carroll's amazing novel.

Firstly I kept an open mind because it is a favourite story of mine and when you feel that way about a book or film etc. you want to keep it sacred. Second I was a little worried that expectations and hype might make the final outcome feel disappointing and thirdly I was also concerned that maybe Tim would perhaps make it too dark, steering away from the innocence of the tale...

I went to see it yesterday and even though I kept that open mind that I'd reserved for a year, I was bowled over. The CGI is amazing, the costume design is absolutely beautiful and the makeup of course was something I was keeping a very keen eye on too. As you've probably seen from the advertisements and press it's so fun and crazy and perfectly enhances and plays upon all of the characters' personalities! Tim took the story to new levels but meanwhile respected the original tale enough to preserve the feeling, excitement and wonder that Wonderland has to offer.

Needless to say I'll definitely be picking up a copy of the DVD when it finally comes on sale. Talking of more Alice in Wonderland inspiration - I came across another photo shoot along this theme. I love, love, love the shots - everything's gorgeous and I want all of the clothes, ha! Ever the obsessed Alice fan I am, here are the photos for you to all share in the fun...

Photos from fabulousmag.co.uk - you can also find out where to buy the outfit pieces here!

Urban Meadow

Items in this set:
Scallop Lace Half Sleeve Body, Topshop £25
Paris Flippy Skirt, Topshop £35

Playing around with outfits online again: I've put together my outfit Plan of Action for the Man's Birthday on Saturday! I can't wait - Design Museum, Borough Market, much meandering in London and then The Diner in Shoreditch. Bliss.

I'm loving the 'underwear-as-outerwear' look at the moment. I now have a lovely lace body which I love to pieces - I'm a huge lover of lace! And I couldn't help but pick up this gorgeous skirt the other week - it doesn't help when people say "Oooh this would look great on you!" They're just helping me fuel a habit I can't kick. Now really... *rolls eyes* : )

I also love flowers in the hair, but anything really feminine, floral and sweet in the hair goes for me. But to avoid the sickly-sweet feeling, a leather jacket toughens up the look along with some cute leather ankle booties : ) Yay!

Speaking of outfits, more fashion-feasting is to follow...

Blog Awardness!

Yay! I love blog awards - it always helps to know that my blog is helping and inspiring you guys out there : )

Imogen, author of Write About What? and Novel Ideas kindly awarded me two lovely blog awards a couple of weeks ago. The first being the Humane Award, awarded for being a blogger that makes others happy by leaving nice comments and helping them - aww, well I do try, hehe. It's my pleasure to help you all, so please just drop me a line!

And the second is the Sunshine Award. Thank you Imogen, it's lovely of you to share those with me.

I'd like to award the Humane Award and the Sunshine Award to both Georgie at So Full of Twilight Dreams that Glitter and Amanda at A Fairycake Tale. Georgie writes amazing beauty blog posts with fab product reviews and is incredibly helpful if you ever have any queries. If you ever have a culinary query I urge you to ask Amanda at A Fairycake Tale - she's quite the chef and an expert in the kitchen!

x

Product Review - Too Faced Shadow Insurance Eye Primer

Hello my lovelies! Well, you may remember me saying a few months ago that I couldn't get my hands on this eye primer for love nor money. So you'll be pleased to hear that this is available individually at Boots stores but as it had sold out in my local Boots I managed to get hold of it in the Eye Shadow Insurance Policy kit at Debenhams. This includes an excellent eye shadow palette but that's for another juicy instalment for another day ; )

This post today will be looking at the eyeshadow primer and whether it's a fine enough match to Urban Decay's legendary Primer Potion that thousands of you all know and love! With that in mind, below is Too Faced's introduction to their Shadow Insurance primer...

Your full-coverage insurance policy against all fading, creasing, melting, blurring, oil-slicked and hard-to-blend eye shadow accidents. Our silicone-based eye shadow primer transforms any eye shadow into a perfectly blendable color-drenched intensified version of itself then locks it down perfectly until you take it off. Our skin soothing formula evens out the skin tone on your lids and smoothes out lines while it secures a barrier between the oils of your skin and your makeup so no shadow catastrophes will ever happen again.

Secures against fading, creasing, melting, blurring, oily lids and hard-to-blend eye shadows?

Yes to all of the above! This primer is just as good as the Urban Decay primer at preventing fading eye shadows, stopping them from hiding in the creases in the eye and combatting the oil in the skin from dissolving the eye makeup. Eye shadows are also equally easy to blend when you apply them over the top of this primer, I am quite used to blending shadows on top of primers now rather than without so I don't know if there's a remarkable difference in the ease of blending. Needless to say however blending is perfect with the primer so a full thumbs up there.

Eyeshadows become perfectly blendable and intensified until you take them off?

Yes! Again with the above for blending but yes, all eye shadows come out remarkably when you use this primer. You'll wonder how you ever managed without it if you've never used an eye primer before. It will make your shadows ten times more intensified and that colour will last all day. When you get back in from a long day at work - check it out in the mirror and it'll be just as great as when you left that morning...

Skin soothing formula evens out skin tone and smoothes out lines?

I'm not sure about 'skin-soothing' - I don't feel any particular soothing sensations when using it, but the product is gentle on the skin and doesn't feel as 'cakey' as its counterpart from Urban Decay sometimes can. But it definitely evens out the skin tone on the eyelids which is an added bonus from using a primer.

I'm also not sure about the smoothing-out of lines as none of the people I've used this on so far have to worry about these! However if you're talking about the tiny creases in the upper eyelid that shadow can creep into, then this primer does a fantastic job of eliminating any shadow from ever disappearing into them!

Overall...

This product is just as amazing as Urban Decay's which came as very little surprise to me because Too Faced Cosmetics is owned by the same people who own Urban Decay! However in my opinion this product trumps Urban Decay's because it comes in an easy-to-use squeezy tube so unlike the Urban Decay Primer Potion:

• Product has nowhere to hide, i.e. in the curves of an awkwardly-shaped bottle meaning no product wastage and fuss-free application
• It's much more hygienic as you can squeeze enough out (literally all you need is a pin-sized amount for both eyelids) onto the hand rather than using an applicator which over time will get germy. This in turn affects the product's quality in the long-run (the bacteria affects the ingredients in the primer causing it to lose its effectiveness)
• And quite simply it's much easier to get the primer from the tube!

If Urban Decay's Primer Potion is the primer of dreams for you, but the bottle has been driving you round the bend I thoroughly recommend this as an alternative. At £11 it also comes in at the same price as Urban Decay - fairly pricey but this will last you easily at least 6 months if not more. The only inconvenience is getting hold of it is difficult because stock levels seems so erratic... Too Faced just need to send stock to their consumer retailers more regularly!

You can buy Shadow Insurance from Boots, Debenhams and online at ASOS.

Fashion & Beauty Shoot

Today I'm very pleased to be sharing with you some images from a shoot I did two weeks ago - an avante garde and a natural look were created. I really enjoyed producing the shoot and making up Rhiannon, who was our very lovely model for the day. I also styled the hair in the avante garde look which was great fun!

I hope you all enjoy the photos as much as I did helping to create them.

Thank you to Owen for the photography and Rhiannon for modelling!

More work is to follow soon from a very exciting editorial shoot that I was involved with last week so stay tuned!

Inspired by... Jonsi

Jonsi Birgisson is an incredible musician from Iceland. If you think the vocals and general sound are familiar when you hear his music then you won't be surprised to hear that he was lead vocalist and song writer from Sigur Ros. Jonsi has now gone solo and his debut album 'Go' will be released on April 5th.

His first single release taken from Go is his track 'Go Do' - this is such a beautiful track with all the amazement and sensational goosebumpy feeling that I got from Sigur Ros' previous work. I think he's incredibly talented and what's more the music video to his debut single is equally as beautiful.

Why do I mention it here? Check out the makeup, (costume and set design to boot!) in the video *here* and you'll see why...

So gorgeous it HAD to be shared!

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.