I was thinking the other day during one of my makeup musing moments that usually occur on the bus mid-Candy Crush, how back in the day when I was a student at college no one really wore red lipstick. I was really trying to rack my brains, but I seem to remember we were all in the grips of a slick of nude gloss on the lips, if that. Now bold lips are a bit of a daily norm. I even sported Shiseido Lipstick in RS 452 the other day with not much else in a last ditch attempt to channel some Parisian chic into my look, though it probably ended up looking like ‘sweaty girl who’s gone a bit too crazy in Big Bazaar and now can’t carry it all home’ chic. In fact one of my favourite parts of getting ready to go out is seeing what my lipstick adventurous best friend, is going to put on her pout. Hint: it’s usually a MAC Lipstick. But equally I still love a nude, albeit not the porno lips we all were pulling out a few years back – hello MAC Myth – but a ‘my lips but better’ shade equally balanced in the brown, pink and beige departments. But the question is, what one rules supreme in the lipstick charts now: bold or nude? There used to be a clear winner, but now the game has changed.
It dawned on me the other day that if I was to be put on the spot and asked to pinpoint my favourite beauty brand ever, I would probably end up ummm-ing and ahhh-ing for a good five minutes before concluding with a confused shrug. So deep I know. I can only imagine it’s like picking a favourite child (I kid, I kid). Though there are some brands who bring it across the board and who don’t really disappoint whatever product I decide to try and buy from them. So here they are; four G&M-approved suggestions that would be front runners for the aforementioned question…
Here’s a bit of backstory for you. Late last month I jacked in my role in marketing and decided to go it alone with the whole G&M thang. After squirreling away on it for three years it was finally at a place where I could pump my blood, sweat, tears and makeup musings into it as a more full-time thing, so for the past four weeks I’ve been working from home as a one man band. Just me, my laptop and a stack of beauty bits along with the occasional tub of Baskin & Robbins. A bit of luck combined with many the late-night post writing sesh has paid off and life is good. But don’t start getting grand visions of a Pinterest-able desk area; I currently work wedged between my sofa and coffee-table-turned-lipstick-strewn-control room. Cramped, but comfy. Obvious PJ-wearing benefits aside one good thing about being home bound is that I can go barefaced and layer-up the skincare throughout the day without getting shot bewildered stares, tending to puffy eyes and pesky oily patches while penning posts and here’s what’s currently making the coffee table cut…
I love a good peruse on Instagram I do. Pretty pictures of well laid out makeup, manied-up nails, people’s cats, lunch – I’m there scrolling and liking away. It’s up there in my favourite ways to while away the time with Candy Crush (don’t even talk to me about Level 33). I follow almost 200 accounts – told you I was an addict – so cutting it down for this post was tough but here’s a handful of snappers who are right on the beauty beat and well worth a follow…
Here’s a little confession for you – I’m horrendously unfit. So unfit in fact that even just a short sprint to catch the bus leaves me feeling wheezy, puffy and I spend the rest of the bus journey with my elbows in the air to resist the pesky sweat patches that are desperately trying to break through. After numerous repeats of this episode, combined with the whole ‘beauty from within’, your skin will thank you etc etc thing (and a new found love for Nike town), I’ve decided to step up my non-existent exercise routine. Feel. The. Burn. Having not partaken in any type of physical activity since P.T lessons at school it’s quite the task, so I’m starting off small. The discovery that a journey round the block equates exactly to one km was a good one, so I’m treating it as a lap and attempting to jog round every other morning (the earlier the better, not as many people about to gasp and groan in the faces of) until I feel up to increasing the mileage. After a week or two of this routine I still have to hold something when I reach the finishing line, but I’m working on it and slowly but surely I’m coming for two km.
So I’ve been scratching my chin, furrowing my brow and pondering the topic of skincare a lot recently. Priorities, right? But there’s just something about my current regime that just isn’t clicking. I’ve done my research, going out of my way to select formulas that settle on the right balance between both natural and effective ingredients, taken direction from the experts, drinking a shed load of water, heck even exercising – but my skin just ain’t thanking me for it. It’s redder in places than it’s been in a long time and a little uneven in texture – not horrendous – but it’s seen better days. So what am I going to do about it? Well luckily I’ve been keeping notes on this one…
Let’s play a game of eye shadow limbo. When it comes to getting a little smudgy under the peepers – how low can you go? An Olsen-esque downward smudge of epic shadowy proportions, a barely there ‘squint and you see it’ line or heck none at all? It’s a topic I’ve been pondering this week after spending long lengths of time I wouldn’t like to admit to pouring over pictures of the aforementioned Mary-Kate and Ashley on Pinterest. And I’ve come to the conclusion that I rather enjoy a bit of under eye shadow action. Uber easy to execute and acts as a bit of a ‘I’ve made an effort today’ makeup indicator. So I’ve assembled together a few tips on how to get low when it comes to eye shadow limbo…
