Wednesday 29 August 2012

Top Ten Video Pt 1


young, fat, fabulous

Thought I would include some of my second favourite hobby in my blog: dressing up like the fierce bitch that I am! This outfit is one of my recent favourites, it's a black body-con dress with peplum from New Look. It's realllllly tight and kind of fun to wear - it's the kind of thing that a couple of years ago I would never have worn but absolutely love being in now. I like knowing that looking like this is not in society's expectations of fat women! And it looks awesome paired with Illamasqua Kontrol lipstick, a really gorgeous blue-violet.

Alison xx

Tuesday 28 August 2012

Tuesday Tumblr Roundup

So here's something I'm doing... a Tuesday Tumblr Roundup. It's mostly going to be nail art, but I will throw some feminism in occasionally, just so you know!

These gold swallow nails are just beautiful. Maybe it's because I have swallows tattooed on myself but I love this design, and the gold and blue is a lovely combination. I'm totally rubbish at freehand nail art which breaks my heart right now because I want this on my nails EVERY DAMN DAY.

Chalkboard Nails did these wonderful cross stitch nails using nude, turquoise and hot pink. I use turquoise and hot pink in eye looks as well and it's such a brilliant combination. This nude is lovely and I love the pop of colour. Neon and nude has been a massive trend the past season for nails and it actually works a lot better than you'd think!

I have to include these nails because of the wonderfully geeky blog name: One Nail To Rule Them All. Although every time I read the blog title I think it says Rule The Mall. Ha. So this nail art actually looks pretty achievable. I reckon with a dotting tool, I could go for it! Maybe sometime... I have very low confidence with nail art but I keep trying!

And two non-beauty related items....

Joseph Gordon-Levitt on how to play a young Bruce Willis.

So the cursor on this is hella irritating, but this article made me cry.

Enjoy!
Alison. xxx

All-Time Top 10, the final five!

Just to be clear, this really isn't in any particular order - that would be like naming your favourite child! This list is more about essentials in my kit than necessarily the products and colours I would use every day. In terms of LOUD eyeshadow and lipstick, I will probably have to do another top 10 post - pigment and colour are my watchwords.

6) Illamasqua Sealing Gel
A bit of a weird choice, not one of Illamasqua's most publicised products nor one that is sold by many companies. About as cheap and cheerful as Illamasqua gets, £11 gets you a packet with two teeny little bottles. As you only use a drop at a time, this is actually LOADS of product for your penny - my favourite. But Sealing Gel is my favourite for a couple of reasons. Long wear is something I push all of my make-up products and looks to achieve. I really hate going to have my make up done and to have it halfway down my neck before I've left the shop. Eye products should stay roughly in the eye region, my eyebrows should be as Scouse at night as they are when I leave the house in the morning, and my personal bugbear is lipstick that disappears as soon as you eat or drink. Sealing Gel basically means that these dreams are a little closer to coming true. Let's face it, sweating, crying and eating (especially oily foods) are basically Public Enemy no1 when it comes to keeping your make-up looking wonderful. I placed a very thin coat of Sealing Gel over my lipstick last Christmas Day (Illamasqua Salacious, a gorgeous berry red) and it lasted TWELVE. HOURS. I kid you not. Through Christmas Dinner, which in my family is a serious f'ing affair, through Christmas tea, which is similarly quite the big deal. It lasted. It was drying as all hell though, which is why it's a special occasion thing to do - and will probably be less effective over glossier textures. Illamasqua lipsticks tend to be very matte with very little 'slip' and gloss anyways so they respond well to the sealant. It's also amazing paired with another product...

7) Illamasqua Pure Pigment (particularly Ore)
I had a major hatred for loose pigments and powders when I first started playing with make-up, but I think this was mostly because I had literally no idea how to use them! I would slap them on as eyeshadow, think they looked alright, but have no idea how to elevate them above that status. The first time I realised how much I adored them was trying Illamasqua's beautiful pure pigments, which have incredible amounts of shimmer and need just a tiny amount to create an incredible effect. Pairing any loose powder pigment with Illamasqua's Sealing Gel creates a beautiful liquid that is incredibly intense, which works really well as eyeliner, eyeshadow or even lip colour! My next trick will be using loose pigments to create nail looks, which I've seen pictures of online and is pretty! In my video I will discuss why Ore is the greatest product ever. Almost.

8) NARS Orgasm & Laguna Duo
Whilst I was determined not to go for specific shades in my Top 10 - because obviously what looks good and is comfortable for me is not necessarily going to be the same for everyone else - I couldn't NOT include Orgasm & Laguna. Holy Grail for me and so many other people, this duo is great value (compared with many other NARS products) and simply beautiful to use. Orgasm is the ultimate blush: totally neutral in tone to my eye, with a perfect mix of orange and pink and a smattering of gold shimmer, it's meant to recreate the flush of...an orgasm. I'm not sure I turn glittery when I come, but it's definitely got that 'natural glow' thing going for it. My favourite thing about both these powders, and I never thought I'd say this, is that they are sheer and therefore buildable. It's really really difficult to overdo these shades on the skin, which in blusher and bronzer I think is so important. Laguna is brown enough in tone that it does not turn orange on the skin, and Orgasm has enough of that orange-coral to keep you away from a clowny look. They're just really excellent quality products that do what they need to do, really really really well.

9) Blink&Go Hi-Definition Mascara
I didn't want to include this, for the sole reason that I've nearly run out and can't afford a new tube and it breaks my f'ing heart. However, this is an incredible mascara. A tubing mascara, which means that it will not shift until it gets really wet and then it peels off in literal tubes. I mean it. IT WILL NOT SHIFT. It's beautiful. It coats each lash individually and makes them thicker, longer and more voluminous. I will use the last scraps of my tube in the video tomorrow to show how amazing it really is. It's just perfect. Perfect. Can't say anything else.

10) Seche Vite
Ahhhhh. Seche Vite. It is full of chemicals that will give me cancer. It stinks to high heaven. You can only use like three quarters of the bottle until it becomes unusably thick and sticky. What I'm saying is - there are lots of problems with it. And yet. AND YET. It is wonderful. It flows onto the nail and provides a rock hard, glass-shiny finish that will essentially double your wear time. It doubles my wear time because I can only usually get chip-free wear for about 24 hours without it. I get a whole two days with Seche. So yeah. This makes it worth it. And it's only a tenner. Which very soon will be a fifth of my weekly income. But never mind.

Monday 27 August 2012

Top 10 Products (1-5)

- I will be adding a video to this post at some point -

So when I asked for suggestions on what kinds of things people might want to see on a beauty blog, someone mentioned my Top 10 products. This instantly got me thinking. I do love reading posts like this for other people, and made me wonder what I might put on the list. I think it might change at some point but for now, here is my all-time, top 10, most amazing products EVAR. Turns out this is now in two parts because I do like to talk!

1) Urban Decay Primer Potion
Such a clichéd choice now but for me it remains the only eye primer I have bothered trying because it does everything I want it to and more. Available in four different finishes (my favourite is Greed, gold shimmer), each giving a slightly different effect, UD's primer gives a smooth base and vibrant crease-free colour for hours. The longest I've tested is 10 hours and even complicated, blended eye-looks with three or more colours still look basically perfect. I find it makes blending easier, really important when you're new to it. Another reason I love it is Greed is shimmery and instantly adds more glitter to whatever eye look you're creating. And I do love glitter!

2) Lanolips Lip Ointment With Colour (Sunshine)
This is tinted enough to be used as a lip look in itself but I just apply a coat every few days before I go to bed. I have suffered from dry lips in the past and used to be obsessed with always having lip balm with me. When you're like me and you love matte lipsticks and long-lasting formulas dryness can be a major problem - and adding lip balm reduces the efficacy of these products! So applying this at night is brilliant, it soaks in while I'm asleep and I haven't had any problems at all with dry skin since I started using it. I also love it as an emergency treatment for my cuticles when they are very very dry. Apparently nipple balm is a decent enough dupe for this - as is anything with a high lanolin content - but, um, I just can't.

3) Urban Decay Blackout eyeshadow
So I go on lots of beauty blogs and apparently people have an issue with finding black eyeshadow with a nice texture and decent enough texture. I have never had this problem, because way way back a long time ago I bought the Urban Decay Black palette, which has this beautiful black shadow named Blackout. It is the ultimate. It is the Holy Grail of black eyeshadows. Even blends with very light shadows beautifully. God, I love it. I JUST LOVE IT.

4) Brow powder
I'm not specifying which brand because this is such a personal thing, in terms of what shade you want to use, and even whether you prefer wax, powder, pencil...but I do truly believe that if you are doing a make-up look, it just is not finished until you have eyebrows. Skip anything you like, but do not skip eyebrows. Granted, this may be because I'm from Liverpool, but seriously, eyebrows are important. Not having your eyebrows done when you've done the rest of your face is like hanging a picture on the wall with a manky old frame. I've relaxed on how much I pluck or wax or thread my eyebrows because I have an unnatural horror of them all falling out when I hit 40, so I definitely like using sealing gel or wax in order to fix them down a little, because they are pretty hairy. But yeah, it's important.

5) Sleek i-Divine eye palettes
Oh, Sleek... How I adore these things. 12 eyeshadows for £7.99. I'll just say that again. It's 12 eyeshadows for £7.99. And they're usually beautifully soft and pigmented, with a couple of bum shades in each palette. My favourites are the Monaco and Ultra Mattes Brights. The shimmers are always beautiful, and since the two Ultra Mattes palettes have been released the formula of their mattes has improved so much. I adore these palettes and in terms of value for money they are basically second to none. If you're trying to start or expand your eyeshadow collection, these are the best place to start. They have limited edition and permanent palettes, and whilst availability in Superdrug isn't always brilliant - not that they don't have them but they've usually been attacked by teenagers - but the Sleek website is pretty awesome.

Friday 24 August 2012

First post!

I've been thinking about starting a beauty blog for such a long time so I have just taken the plunge and done it! 
I'll be posting videos and pictures, with tutorials and reviews....
Some posts that are on the way:
  • Highlighting and contouring
  • Monday Manicures
  • Applying strip lashes
  • Cut crease eye looks
  • Smokey eyes and why they are awesome
  • Why 'nude' is not a colour