Beauty Storage -Downsized!

Since I moved to Paris (have I mentioned this yet?) I have had to seriously downsize my beauty products and there is a large percentage of them still in London. Particularly my nail varnishes which I am starting to miss! So since my original post I thought I'd share what I have now. Which, on a plus side, actually includes a proper table :) I also have a chest of drawers which have come in handy, although they were originally on the floor I don't need them there. Perfect for organising beauty bits. Anyway here it is...

My dressing table.

Bags, mirror, brushes & perfume.

My solution to having no jewellery tree - white tack on the wall! Easily accessible and not too ugly to look at!

My claireabella bag - when not being used for shopping/picnics etc it stores my hairdryer and ghd's.

Some skincare bits.

My make up drawer

Hair bits (yes don't get too excited at how interesting this photo is)

So that's the lot at the moment until I marry a millionaire or find a few million lying around. Then my beauty storage will be a sephora and my room will be at the plaza athenee. Obviously!

Maria xx

Beauty organisation - Everything I Own

Did some tidying and organising yesterday and managed to get my beauty kit more organised. My goodness I seem to have more than I thought! I counted roughly 15 lipglosses & lipsticks, 7 mascaras, and I could guess at roughly 40 eyeshadows. 

Is this too much? About right? Not enough? Let me know what you think!

Below is how I've organised it and some of the things I have...

This is everything - skincare, eyelashes, face products, blushers, eyeshadows, eyeliners, mascaras, highlighters ,primers, lipticks, lipglosses and brushes etc

Brushes, eyelash curlers etc All stored in a Vegas mug.

Lip glosses and lipsticks in a black box - It used to have a pretty lid with white flowers and birds but it makes it harder to store this much!

Eyeshadow compacts and individuals, eyeliners in black, blue, brown, grey, silver, pink and purple. Mascaras in black, waterproof black, black/brown and brown.

Clinique skin care product and Elizabeth Arden 8 hour cream!

Eyelashes, foundation, blushers, concealers, highlighters, primers and fixers.

Hair and Make up - Keira Knightley inspired! OOTD

I had been reading this months Glamour magazine, which I love, when I saw this little picture of Keira Knightley in the beauty section (below). I love how she looks here, even if she isn't smiling, it seems quite classic and I think she looks really pretty.

As I mentioned before I'm moving to Paris for a while in a few weeks so last night my little sister had arranged a family night out before I leave. We had a meal in Cote restaurant on Tavistock Street in London then went to a comedy night in Covent Garden near Embankment Station. It was so much fun! We had french food, champagne and then cheap beers at the comedy. We were front row and of course got picked on! I laughed so much though!

Anyway, I used this night to have a go at creating my own version of this make up look. I just wish I had a lighter pink lipstick - does anyone know of any good ones?

I used my Rimmel gel liner to create the winged liner look. I had to lengthen and check the shape as I went, at first it was much to short. I suggest doing the same though as you don't want to make it too long then ended up smudging it all over your face trying to get it off. The lip colour I used is the Rimmel Apocalips in Stellar. I love this colour as it's so bright, brighter in real life though, the pictures make it look darker.

For my hair I used many many many kirby grips and buckets of hairspray. I made sure it was clean, and dried it straight then used my ghd's to go over any kinks or frizz so that it was smooth. I then got a section from the top on each side and twisted it back and pinned it. I then did another 2 sections underneath and pinned it at the back. (To be clearer I twisted and pinned 3 parts on each side at the back.)

I then picked up the hair, like I was going to put it into a bun and twisted it round. Then, instead of using a hair bobble I pinned it all in place using around 20-25 kirby grips. Once it was secure I used hairspray all over and then repeatedly sprayed the back about 5 more times before I went out. It managed to stay in all night from about 3pm to 1am so I was impressed, I just had to rejig the pins every now and then if any started to slip.

My outfit was a black and white print dress from Mango, Green Blazer (one of my favourites) , leggings, Grey Stiletto ankle boots from Forever 21 and a white and green small handbag.

Let me know what you think of the look and if you have tried any beauty or hair from celebs or magazines for inspiration. Post any links below.

Maria xx

MUA Virgin - My first go!

I recently bought some make up from MUA (Make Up Academy) for the first time. I have seen it in stores and had never really thought about using or buying any of the products. At least until I started blogging and reading other bloggers reviews and tweets about MUA. Then I saw they were having a 50% discount online and decided to order some items (even though the site was a bit slow).

I seemed to get loads for the £15 I spent so I was chuffed with that.
I received - 

• Pro Base Fixing Mist - I can't wait to see how this works tomorrow at work. I have pretty long hours and a moderately stressful job so fingers crossed!
• Mascara in a brown shade. I've never used a brown before so paying £1 for one was a bargain!
• Pro Base Complexion Kit - It has cream to powder foundation, concealer and highlighter.
• False Lashes - To be used this weekend! They look really long but not too heavy which is perfect for me.
• Pressed Power in shade 4. To be placed under the fixing spray tomorrow.
• Mosaic Bronzer in Sunkissed Glow
• Matte Perfect Primer.
• 12 shade glitterball palette eye-shadow which I have used below.
• 3x 3 in 1 contour pen in Smoked Plum, Gun Metal and Auburn - aka purple, grey and brown.

I liked the 3 in 1 Contour Pens as you can use them for different effects (hence the name). Here is a sample on my hand - 

Will be using Gunmetal tomorrow I reckon along with one of the colours from the Glitterball Palette. Love the grey and silvery white colours. I had a go at using them and I like the colours, especially the glittery/shimmeryness of them. You need a few coats to make the colour stand out but very good value for the money.

Have you got any tips or reviews of MUA? Let me know via twitter or commenting below!

xxx

*I realise shimmeryness is not a word... but I don't care!