Primer+ COLOURCORRECTOR= SHU UEMURA

This was NOT my original choice.

When a lovely Shu Uemura representative at Liberty calmly explained to me that Shu Uemura had discontinued my original colour corrector, I wanted to weep. Uncontrollably. This was not a good situation. Having inherited oddly red splotchy Celtic skin from SOMEONE in my family, I need a daily dose of green goop to cover it up with a lightweight dash of foundation added for good measure. Then he showed me this.

 I was not altogether convinced. It shimmered for a start, shimmer doesn't cover, it HIGHLIGHTS, then he explained that aswell as acting as a primer, this was also a colour corrector and an illuminator. So TECHNICALLY not only was I being able to replace my old faithful, but I was getting a BARGAIN in the process. SO, sceptical, I bought it, took it home and tried it. And I have to say I was really quite impressed. It wasn't QUITE as good as the old one, lord knows why the dumb ass cosmetic Japanese folks got rid of it anyway, buuuuut given a chance it did exactly as I was promised it would. I applied it with a long thick eyeshadow blending brush ( I don't like foundation brushes and they don't like me) the first time layering with my foundation and now I mix it altogether. I applied all over my cheeks and under my eyes. It controlled the oil in my skin, looked beautifully dewy with my foundation and died down my red complexion without making me look ghostly. Infact considering the definite green colour, it made me look... HEALTHY. With the help of my Clarins Foundation it gave me a blank canvass to work with and made me look positively RADIANT! Happy times. You can BUY IT HERE which yes, is the US site, or can take a trippydoodle down to any fabulously flashy department store and buy it there too!

NEXT TIME:::   DERMACOLOUR PALETTE REVIEW!!!

inspiration to write from a fellow blogger

My perfect primer and beauty buy.- Thanks to a very useful review by SUNDAY GIRL I have decided to include my own review of a high end primer as opposed to the less sigh inducing high street versions. I first decided to try this when I had to get a Clarins press loan for the Kensington and Chelsea review. One of their lovely representatives based in Boots suggested I try it. It "fills and smoothes as it glides invisibly over the skin...Line-filling and skin-smoothing Acacia Micro-Pearls... lodge themselves in wrinkles and like tiny sponges swell and plump the skin as they absorb moisture." Well that it did. It has a smooth paste like consistency and you use a very minimal amount, I mean half the size of a garden pea amount, glide over your finger tips and smooth out in problem areas. I use it on my forehead, cheeks and nose. It is a fabulous 'base' for your base, it removes excess oil and sebum- less use for mattifying powders this way; and it DOESN'T dry out dry skin. I use it everyday under my foundation and it pats on a treat, you can also, as it suggests use it without foundation, just as a natural base, it is completely clear. My make up generally stays put anyway but this does give it a hand. It is quite expensive, £24.00 for 15ml, but it is worth it. A fab treat for yourself.


BUY HERE

'''BACK TRACK ON black track

Remember this one?

SO yes, originally I was quite doubtful about it, it's a gel eye liner and I don't DO gel eye liner... I tried an Inglot one once before and the results were so 'concrete' like and generally horrific I didn't use it again. The Inglot one I tried dried very quickly- too damn quickly if you ask me, you couldn't work with it, blend it or take it off... at all. No exaggeration. My first on location shoot a few years ago and I couldn't get it off the damn model. EMBARRASSED does not cover it.

Anyway: MAC. I generally don't do MAC either. I used to love their eye shadows until I found the eyeshadows started being less saturated with pigment and the foundations for me just aren't what I like to use. HOWEVER, after using this I have found it's pretty legendary. It's fab for any kind of style of eye, you just have to figure out what brushes you wish to use with it, a short rounded and small eye shadow blending brush is fabulous for under eye smokiness, layer as you wish to make the look darker/ heavier. If you wish to go for something more dramatic then I suggest teaming this with a fine angle tipped brush, you can really experiment with shape and technique with these.

Application and De Application? VERY very easy, and I like easy. It smoothes on beautifully, whether your first smooth on is a little or a lot, layering is easy and can leave you COMPLETELY saturated in darkness, fabilicious you do however have to wait a tiny while for it to dry properly- this is not necessarily a bad thing. Blending it isn't hard work either. Whilst it is largely waterproof and stays put after a good 12 hours at work, taking it off to be honest is just as easy as putting it on. I did my usual cleansing routine, damp cotton wool and putting a marrowfat pea sized portion of Simple Kind to Eyes Nourishing Eye Make Up Remover Cream and massaging gently over my whole eye area. I then proceeded to take it off by gliding my damp cotton wool pads over my eye. It literally slid of. YAY!!! No red puffy eye in SIGHT! MAC for ONCE I salute you!


BUY HERE

Getting back to PAKS

DENMAN::: You may recall me buying their Thermo Ceramic Self Grip Rollers, well I tried them for a wedding I did back in August. I tried them on the trial as luckily I knew the party on a personal level and the Bridesmaids played Guinea Pig for me. OK, they WORK. They were not the BEST quality in the world, and I am still not entirely sure which part of them exactly was ceramic, but they work. They did make the hair hold shape and give body which is generally what they are supposed to do. After tonging with a 38mm barrel, I used them on three front sections of the hair using the L'Oreal Curl Spray from before and a VO5 Heat Defence Spray. And I have to say even after brushing out they retained the curl and volume for the hair as intended. The ONE downside? The 'self grip' part is a real pain in the ass. If you are using them on relatively short hair, no longer than say 4 inches, then yeah fabulous, otherwise it's a messy matted up NO GO. The 'self grip' act like velcro and grip every piece of hair, which is great, apart from when you're wanting to undo them and have about 10 seconds to undo 20. NOT GOOD. But yes apart from that they do the job, like every product on here I have reviewed and haven't thought it be the best thing in the world, everyone's opinion is different, I gave these to one of my assistants so she could try them. I will ask her how she got on with them, maybe they're a hit with her...

The Chook+Karen Rothwell

Hair and Make Up: Kylie McMichael

Jewellery Featured: Karen Rothwell

Read the ARTICLE

cuts and [burns]

Whilst at a Charles Fox Masterclass sometime I ago, I accomplished these little lovelies-

a bit of bloglovin

good luck TRINE!:::

COURTESY OF VOGUE MEN SS12

PUBLICITY! A review of a review...

One of my good friends and professional acquaintances, Karen Rothwell is a fantabulous recent graduate of Central Saint Martins BA Jewellery Design. I met her whilst providing my Make Up and Hair Services for her second year show ( just over a year ago) which was covered by VOGUE. We have since struck up a great friendship and have become very trusting colleagues. I find it very hard to find a designer, especially one in the fashion industry nowadays that works very hard, knows their craft in depth and has a real and underlying passion for what they do and who they're benefiting, as well as themselves. Karen, for me is one of those people. Her travels to Kenya have heightened her enthusiasm for most things African, namely helping the communities within them, not by just throwing money at them in patronising sympathy, but in the admiration and multi- benifit utilisation of community skill and tradition. After working for her again for her final graduate pieces, Jewellery Focus and Africa on The Blog ( respectively) have picked up her fascinating and beautifully unusual pieces and written a couple of articles on them. All make up and photography work featured is by me, Kylie McMichael. All Jewellery featured is by the lady herself Karen Rothwell: