Festival Make Up: Pick of 3!

So the festival season is upon us and I thought I ought to do a blog post relating to it somehow, as this is my first year ever going to a festival I'm pretty excited, I'm going to Reading next week! It's come around so fast and hopefully the weather will last and not be too rainy for once.

I've come up with three very different make up looks that I believe would be perfect for any festival and would suit pretty much anybody, they're obviously open to interpretation just wanted to give everyone a bit of inspiration! Just know they they really are very basic, no one wants to be spending a bunch of time on make up every day when they can be out enjoying the festival! These looks are made to fit into the time we have and bearing in mind we want to pack as little as possible!

Number 1:

The Bare Minimum

I thought that a large proportion of female festival go-ers may well not want to bother with make up every day when they know they're just going to get muddy and could just think that it's unnecessary when you're camping! Here is a look that requires very little products but is still quite effective, it also takes 5 minutes max. All you will need is:

1. One foundation/BB Cream/Tinted Moisturiser
2. One blusher
3. Two eyeliners, one white or cream and one brown or black
4. Your favourite mascara
5. And a vaseline or lip balm of your choice

I chose a BB cream as they're light and if it is hot and sunny you don't want to be sweating off your make up and you're also going to want a bit of UV protection, which this has! I also opted for my cream blush by Topshop (see my recent post to see my thoughts on that), my ultimate favourite mascara, L'Oreal Telescopic False Lash Effect, my creme brulee vaseline which is amazing, a white eyeliner by barry M and my current favourite brown eyeliner by Topshop! All of these products in total cost £30 which is not bad for a whole face of make up from good drug store brands.

This is what the make up looks like and here's how you do it!

As you can see I only have pictures of the eye make up (which still doesn't even show up too well on camera) as the rest is pretty self explanitory, you apply a thin layer of your BB cream, dab on a bit of blusher, moisten your lips with the vaseline or lip balm and that's your face make up done, that really wouldn't take very long and the eyes are just as speedy!

Now I would never normally do this look on a daily basis at home because I don't think it has very good staying power, I can imagine it would need topping up regularly but at a festival who really cares?! Firstly take your white eyeliner and really roughly line underneath your eyebrows and just in your inner tearduct, using your ring finger smudge it and blend it out so that this acts as your highlight, if you look at the picture again I think this is noticable! Next take your brown or black eyeliner and really roughly again line your eye how you would normally, taking the same finger as before smudge it out but bring it up towards your crease, this will just add a bit of colour and dimension to your eyes and give them a slight smoky effect. If you want to spend a bit more time on it apply a bit more eyeliner directly onto your finger and blend into your crease to make it a bit darker, this will really make it seem like you've spent a lot of time and effort on your make up, try it out beforehand just to see how simple it really is! Take your eyeliner again and line your eye normally to give some definition, add your favourite mascara and you're done, it really is that simple! This look is good because it seems as though you've put a lot of effort in but takes so little time and takes up so little room in your bag!

Number 2:

All Glammed Up

This next look is perfect if you want to go for messy hair or a topknot and want to direct the attention elsewhere... like your face! This look requires slightly more products and a couple of tools as well, it's a look for those wanting to make a statement or just really enhancing what they've already got! All you need is:

1. A fluffy shader brush
2. A fluffy face brush
3. Eyelash curlers
4. Foundation/BB Cream/Tinted Moisturiser
5. Face Powder
6. Bronzer
7. Shimmery eye shadow of your choice
8. Liquid eyeliner
9. Mascara
10. Red/Bright Orange/Deep Pink Lipstick

As you can see this look uses a few more products but it really doesn't add on to the time too much, I think this is the look most people will go for when at festivals so here's my spin on it!

Apply your foundation just using your fingers, this will take hardly any time at all and can even be done without a mirror if you're in a rush or being a bit lazy. The powder is completely optional but I can imagine it will be nice, I also reccomend a set powder because if you are doing your make up in your tent you don't run the risk of it getting everywhere if it's loose! Use the fluffy face brush to apply this. Using the same brush collect a small amount of the bronzer and lightly contor your cheeks, if you don't have a very big mirror or are finding it hard to do your make up without being jogged I'd use a VERY small amount as it can go wrong very easily! Pat a little bit on the apples of your cheeks and that's your face make up done.

Moving onto eyes, you can choose any colour you like for this step, I chose All That Glitters by MAC which is a gorgeous pinky/shimmery colour and goes with any eye colour and is very eyecatching so good for anyone! Take your liquid eyeliner and wing it out along your upper lash line, if you're someone who likes to line your lower lash line I reccomend taking a pencil as well as these are easily smudged in to look more natural whereas a liquid eyeliner can look very fake. Curl your lashes using your eyelash curlers and add a few coats of your favourite mascara, really try and make your eyelashes as long as possible as they will draw a lot of attention to themselves and away from your muddy wellies or messy hair! The next step is my favourite, grab your lipstick of choice and really pack it onto your lips, I chose a bright coral colour as it's technically still summer and I want to get as much use out of it as possible. This is the part of the look that will really make your make up stand out and make you look very glamarous!



Number 3:

Pop Of Colour

This is by far my favourite out of the three looks, probably because I am a make up fanatic and this is the look which uses the most exciting colours! This is for the more adventurous people who just want to have fun with their make up whilst away, I don't see it as a burden but more of an expression so this is for those who agree with me! All you need is:

1. A BB cream/Foundation/Tinted Moisturiser
2. Concealer/Brightener
3. Blusher
4. Eyelash Curlers
5. A silvery-shimmery eyeshadow
6. A blue or green eyeshadow
7. Your favourite black or brown eyeliner
8. Your favourite Mascara
9. A soft pearly lipstick

This look is great because it doesn't use a lot of tools however they are optional, you can use them if you would like a more tidy, clean cut look. I however chose not to include them because I like the carefree, airy feel to this look.

Start off again with your BB cream, I chose a BB cream for this look because I wanted it to be as light and natural as possible (except for the colour pop obviously!). I chose to include a concealer for under the eyes because this really brightens them and makes you seem a lot more awake, it will be nice to feel refreshed and alert after spending a few nights sleeping on the floor of a tent! I chose a shimmery, peachy colour for the cheeks and I'll just apply that with the brush it comes with, I don't reccomend applying a powder blush with your fingers, cream blush is okay but if you're using powder I think it's best to bring a brush. A little bit of colour on your cheeks can really change a look, this will make you look so much more natural and healthy and I love the glow this blusher in particular gives (Sugarbomb by Benefit).

The next couple of steps are more fun, using your ring finger apply a generous amount of your silver shadow to your lid and into your inner tearduct, applying it here will widen your eyes and make them a lot more brighter! The next step, using the same finger but on the opposite hand get a small amount of the blue or green eyeshadow and apply directly to the bottom lashes, if you try to apply underneath the lashes you won't reach right up to the eye and this way it has a more complete look, swipe back and forwards about half way in and then back to the edge, this is what gives the look the colour and it's what people will notice first when they look at you! Apply your favourite eyeliner to your upper lash line and smudge it out slightly for a more natural look, curl your lashes and add a few coats of your favourite eyeliner and that's the eyes finished!

Make Up really doesn't have to be difficult, like on this occasion you can make it really fun and exciting, even when you have no tools and are away from home! Apply your lipstic and there you have it, your final look! I decided to add my favourite daisy headband to this look to add to the 'natural' theme, I think I will definitely be wearing this a lot next week, I love it!

If you want to know where any of the products I used are from just ask in the comments, I hope you try out one or two of these looks whether you're going to a festival or just need something to do to cure your boredom! It's great to see what effects you can achieve without using any brushes, who said you need to spend a bomb on make up for it to look good?! :)



 



My thoughts on Topshop Make Up!

When I first heard that Topshop was coming out with a Make Up range I was really not very excited, I thought it was going to be another poor attempt for a clothes shop to widen it's product range with something that they really didn't have a clue about, for example: H&M, Primark and New Look. I know these shops are all on the cheaper end of high street shops  compared to Topshop but nonetheless Topshop is a high street shop and so I thought their make up would be just as bad as the others.

After hearing a few good reviews I thought I would go to Topshop and have a look. I hadn't actually seen the products in real life before because I don't really shop in Topshop as it's very expensive, it turns out it isn't just the clothes that were expensive either! The make up isn't department store expensive but it's definitely drug store expensive, this made me reluctant to purchase more than one thing but it intreigued me that it might actually be good (I stand by my favourite saying, you get what you pay for)!

Below are the products I purchased to review:

When I decided I wanted to purchase something to test I thought it'd be best to only get one thing and if it turned out to be good go back and purchase more. I bought this cream blush in the colour 'Head Over Heels' which is a really peachy pink, it was actually the softest, most pastel colour out of all the ones they sell (4 in total), I chose this because I'm not very daring when it comes to cheeks as I'm scared I'll look like a china doll! I love the packaging, I think it's great, it's plain and simple and it's really different from the rest of my make up, I love the spots and how the black box it comes in has the product drawn on the front. The plastic is also heavy which is nice because it feels good quality, there's nothing worse than cheap plastic that feels like it's going to crack when you pick it up. The only downside to the packaging is that it can get quite dirty, it has a matte effect which seems to attract make up that sticks to it so it constantly needs cleaning!

Now I never normally go for cream blushes, I like powders because simply I like applying them and I just feel like cream blushes are hard to get right and they get all over your fingers. I bit the bullet and bought this one though as it did look so nice, it's soft to touch and VERY pigmented so you don't need a lot which is great. It says on the back of the packaging 'dot on cheeks and blend' so I just pick a little bit up with two fingers and apply it to the apples of my cheeks, it's amazing, when it's on your fingers it feels like a cream but as soon as it touches your face it feels like it's turning into a powder! I wear this during the day and night, it's the perfect blush for literally any occasion and I would love to have it in every colour!

Here is Topshop description of this product: 'Lightweight cream to powder blush that melts into the skin giving a natural luminous, radiant finish.' It's exactly right, it really does melt into your skin and leave you feeling fresh and glowing rather than weighed down and oily. This blush costs £6 which really isn't a lot to pay for a product of this standard.

After having such great reviews for the blusher I decided I wanted to go back and get more and the next three products I bought at the same time. I chose this Kohl pencil in the colour 'Saddle', as I've said before I only wear brown eyeliner and this one really stood out to me. My favourite eyeliner is one from Urban Decay but I'm on a mission to find a cheaper alternative and this one is definitely a contender. I took a swatch of this on my hand and was amazed at the pigmentation, one swipe of the pencil and it's already so thick, it also has teeny tiny gold specs in which I LOVE because I wear a lot of golds and I do love a bit of shimmer!

The packaging for this is just as lovely as the blush, the cap on the pencil is in the same thick plastic and the polkadot theme is kept throughout. Whilst trying out all the different products at the Make Up stand in Topshop I was become more and more impressed with the quality of them. As soon as I tried out this pencil I knew I was going to buy it, at £4 it really is a must have product for people who, like me, love pencil eyeliners. Pencil is the cheapest and easiest eyeliner but I've tried literally every type going and pencils always stand out to me for their long lasting wear, value for money and really the sheer quality of them compared to some others. This eyeliner performs in all three of those areas and I will definitely be repurchasing it when it runs out (which won't be anytime soon)!

The next thing I bought was another 'shall I? Shall I not?' moment, I've never bought a lip marker before and from ones I've used in the past I wasn't too impressed, I like a lip product to be moisturising and a bit glamarous and I've found that lip markers just dry out your lips really fast. I tried this one out on my hand and it was surprisingly moisturising, I left it to dry whilst I browsed at other items and thought I'd come back to it.

When I eventually pulled myself away from the other Make Up I noticed it had dried nicely and left a very pretty, bright colour on my skin, I decided to get it because it is a very versatile lip product which I was excited to try. I am so glad I did decide to purchase it because as soon as I got it home and put it on my lips it instantly gave them a lovely pop of colour, I chose the brightest colour out of the ones they stock. Again it has the lovely packaging, the cap clips on nice and tightly so I'm not worried about it drying out, I've had the products for about two weeks now to give me a chance to try them and test them out in order to give an honest opinion but it's still just as good as when I first opened it.

The beauty of this product is that you can wear it alone for a matte look (as shown in the picture above), with a bit of vaseline to add a nice sheen or with gloss to go all out. It's lovely and small so I just pop it in my bag whenever I go out as it's so easy to use on the go. I love the pen as you can't really smudge it and it even lasts after eating so a perfect lip product for going out for a meal. This product was a bit more expensive than the others, it costs £8 which is what I'd normally pay for a lipstick, I'm just hoping it has the same long life as a lipstick too! I can't rave about this product enough I really love it :)

I first heard about the good quality of Topshop make up because of their nail varnishes so I knew I definitely wanted to buy one when I went back. I spent a long time umming and ahhing over the golds and pinks but I really wanted to try something new so looked more carefully at the other colours, it was very daunting trying to choose because Topshops colour range is VERY impressive, there's so many different shades of literally every colour there is! I settled on this beautiful shimmery minty green, it's such a summery colour and the little silver specs caught my eye straight away. I love shimmery nail varnishes and when they're this pretty, bright and eye catching it's hard to resist not buying 10 of them!

I put this on as soon as I got home and was very pleased that it only needed 2 coats, it was very thick and has one of those wide brushes making it even easier to apply. It lasted a good 3 days without chipping but I had to take it off for work before I could really see how long it would last. This is where it all went wrong. It took me a good 30 minuted to remove this nail varnish. I used the same cotton pads and varnish remover that I always do it just wouldn't budge! It was really frustrating and put me off wearing it again so I'm yet to reapply. I will obviously wear it again at some point but I will be sure to add a base coat this time which will hopefull help to lift it off easier, it's the glitter that just sticks to your nails that is the problem! I've worn 2 lots of different nail varnish since and I still have some silver shimmer glued to my nails. Don't let this put you off buying it, just make sure you use a base coat and allow yourself enough time to remove it before you have to go to work! Their shimmery nail varnishes cost £6 compared to the normal ones which are £5. For a nail varnish this size and this quality this is a very good price.

Everything I've shown here can be found at www.Topshop.com or in most Topshop stores! I will be going back to try more products because I was so impressed with the high quality of them and they are actually very good value for money!