Big Night Out: Get Ready With Me!

Every now and then a special occasion comes along which calls for more preparation than your average night out - or in my case, any preparation at all! Last Saturday a blogging friend and I were invited to the IN! Magazine Awards in Belfast City Hall, where we were both finalists for the Online Personality of the Year. Get ready with me as I prep for the red carpet...

One month before… The Dress
I bought a dress. I’d been told the theme was Gatsby (it actually turned out to be Old Hollywood Glamour, but hey…) so I googled Flapper Dress on Shopstyle.co.uk (brilliant site), found a black fringed and sequinned one with great reviews (seen behind the make-up above), ordered and loved it. Sorted. I also picked up green suede peeptoe heels from Zara, thinking I’d pair them with a large clutch, cuff and dress ring. Little did I know that my son would come down with chicken pox the week before the event and I’d actually have one hour to find all of the above; I ended up with accessories that I didn’t love, but still added a pop of colour - a Monsoon glass bead necklace and green New Look bag.

A few days before… Brows & Nails
I got my monthly brow grooming session with Dee from Studio D in Belfast, who I’ve been going to for a year now. She is a fabulous brow obsessive who many of my friends also frequent for brow and lash wonder working. Dee has just introduced Bio Sculpture Gel Nails and gave me a gorgeous red mani for the occasion. I was so pleased with the glossy results from this treatment which actually nourishes your nails… Dee was so meticulous in her prep and application - I loved watching her work and being pampered!

I also began my tanning regime at this stage, though will cover that in a separate post or we’ll be here all day!



On the day… The Hair
I’d booked in to Paul Stafford Hair for a colour and cut with Aidan and Erin, who both did an amazing job - I’m one of those people who could happily go to the hairdressers every week if I could - I just love the whole experience! After blow drying my hair, Erin added big curls at the ends with a wide barrel tong before brushing them through for a smooth, wavy finish - and backcombed the crown a little to add volume. I’m definitely going to try this at home.

One hour before… The Make-up
Yes, I had one hour to do my make-up and get my glad rags on before the taxi arrived, so I stuck to foolproof products that I knew would last the evening.

For my base, I used Dermalogica Primer, Laura Mercier Creme Smooth foundation and Make-up Atelier concealer, before camouflaging under eyes circles with Bare Minerals Stroke of Light (I swear this stuff has magic powers). I set my make-up with Jurlique Rose Silk Powder and added a little contour and highlight using my beloved Hourglass Ambient Lighting Powder Palette and applied Clinique Cheek Pops in Plum Pop with the Kiko Flat Top Face Brush (great for a whisper of colour).

I prepped my eyes with NARS Smudge Proof eye shadow base before using the lightest and darkest shades from the Bobbi Brown Nectar & Nude Eye Palette, pressing the golden bronze over the centre of my lid for a little sparkle. I then lined my eyes with Eyeko Liquid Metal liner in Black Onyx, black with a subtle gold sheen and easy to apply, even for a liquid liner scaredy cat like me. My hands were literally trembling as I applied false lashes (Ardell Demi Wispies), not least because I had minutes to spare and was still in my jeans! It worked… and they even stayed on all night (I brought the lash glue with me just in case - been there before!). I added a teensy bit of grey eyeliner on the outer corners of my lower lashline and a slick of Kiko mascara, which is flipping amazing. Brows were filled in with my trusty Anastasia Brow Wiz in Ash Blonde, as per.

Lips had been prepped with balm while I was doing all of the above, to which I added Bourjois Rouge Velvet in Hot Pepper.

By this point the taxi was outside, the kids were hanging onto my ankles and yep, stress city. Standard.

Accessory decisions were cast aside as I threw everything on and promptly tripped and fell down the first set of 4 stairs - too cool, still got the bruises. The following pic (thanks Stephen Potter!) was taken approx 15 mins later after Avril and I made a mad dash over cobble stones through the wind and rain…



Selfie


Coats off and a quickie selfie before the cocktail reception… we had the best night ever in the incredible surroundings of Belfast City Hall followed by an after party at Zen - the whole event was super glam. Avril looked completely stunning in her full length twinkling gold dress - please go visit her blog to read her side of the story with a transformation from School Gate Style to Old Hollywood Glamour HERE.

Thanks to IN! Magazine for an amazing night and congrats to the very deserving winner in our category, Neil, NI Gossip Guy.

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Clinique Cheek Pops: Review & Swatches

As someone with a total weakness for blusher, I’ve been completely spoilt with recent releases.  Just when I thought it couldn’t get any better than these Hourglass numbers, Clinique Cheek Pops landed and knocked me for six with a set of dreamy blushers that perform as beautifully as they look. Not everyday that happens…  Clinique has come up roses (Gerberas actually) with this quartet, which have lured me in with something akin to beauty magic.

Reasons I love Cheek Pops:

1. Just look at them. Make-up doesn’t get much prettier than this. And the Gerbera design is quite deeply cut, so it’s hanging around for a while.

2. The texture. Looks like a cream, feels and behaves like a gel-silk-powder hybrid. These are extremely finely milled. I know they are powder, but they don’t feel powdery to the touch. The reason for this ‘magic’ is that the formula actually began as a liquid, slow baked into a silky, lightweight powder. 

3. The colour. Cool pink, bright pink, peachy coral and terracotta. They look bright in their little compacts, but sweep a brush across them and it will look like there’s almost nothing on the bristles. Applied to cheeks, the same thing happens… a sheer whisper of colour appears. Keep swirling the brush on your skin and the colour builds - yep, you guessed it - like magic. Although subtle, the colour is definitely buildable, just add a little more - and go easy, because they do become bright as you layer them up - though still look almost invisible in texture, as if part of your skin.

4. Consistency. Each one applies evenly, blends easily and lasts well (I may have been spotted wearing a different colour on each cheek as part of this research)

5. The packaging. Sturdy, simple and displays the colour on both sides for easy selection, storage and maximum prettiness (why would you want to hide those flowers away?). If one shade is not enough, you may like to know that they stack really neatly too (see pics below)

 

From top left: Plum, Berry, Peach and Ginger Pops.  Peach looks more coral in real life and Ginger, more brown toned - as you can see in my first pic above.

Swatches

Even on my fingers you can see the sheeny, sheer, buttery is-it-cream-or-powder texture. Magic I tell you.

Plum Pop is not plum, but a pretty pink with blue-verging-on-lilac undertones (that’ll be the plum bit - more obvious in the pic below) and a slight shimmer. I expected this to look overly pastel-y and shimmery on my cheeks, but it really doesn’t - and is in fact my favourite of the bunch.

Berry Pop is a more red toned pink and the brightest of the bunch. I like to add a pop of this on the apples of my cheeks, layered over the Plum Pop, a la Charlotte Tilbury blushes. It brings cheeks to life with a just in from a seaside walk type flush.

Peach Pop is my second favourite, a lovely corally peach that adds warmth to the face and is really easy to wear.

Ginger Pop is the other shade I didn’t expect to like, but I can’t be unfaithful to any of these so far… this colour is more subtle than I expected, works well as a neutral blush with natural or evening looks and has enough brown to add contour and bronze to certain complexions.

Presentation

I do love glamorous packaging, but sometimes simple is best - and with contents as pretty as this, Clinique was right to let them do the talking.

The extent of my enthusiasm for this product emanates from the fact that I seriously didn’t expect to be so impressed. Such a small amount of these pretties is required and they last so long on the skin that I think they are great value for money. And as always with Clinique, they are 100% fragrance free and allergy tested.

Clinique Cheek Pops are due to hit counters from 21st March rrp £16.50 and have been released online early this weekend at Clinique UK or Sephora (which now ships to the UK).