The “Drugstore” Creeper…

When I go shopping I literally can not pass up the opportunity to go make up shopping. Seriously. Boots, MAC, super drug, John Lewis. My mum and sister will tell you a quick shopping trip is not quick when I’m there. So the last shopping trip I went on was no exception… Call me the “drugstore” creeper…

On my last little venture into Boots I actually picked up a few wee gems which you shall all thank me for as they were bargains! (And seeing as I am constantly giving you new bits and bobs to try every penny counts!) I am a massive fan of base products. When I was younger I had quite a bad spotty completion and since then have been obsessed with foundation, concelear, powder you name it. So this always tends to be what I pick up. So when I saw Revlon had a “2 foundations for £12” deal they had me (hey, if it’s good enough for Emma Stone!?). I picked up two different foundations;

1. Colour stay (which in all honesty I haven’t tried yet because, drum roll please…. It’s too light for me!!)
2. Photoready. Now this foundation I absolutely have fallen in love with! It’s packed full of light reflectors giving skin an airbrush finish bouncing light in any light leaving skin with a radiant glow. It’s texture gives it away as a “drugstore” product, however I didn’t feel it was watery like others can be I just found that it needed a brush rather than fingers and needed a bit more (than the one pump a premium cosmetic will give you) to give a fuller coverage. It wore really well and didn’t leave me super shiny which is common with me and foundations. All in all for £6 it was a massive find, has been in my make up bag ever since and if you follow me on Instagram (@stephmartistry) it’s been the foundation I’ve been wearing in most of my make up pictures. I went for shade 003 Shell but I think there are 6 shades to choose from the lightest, refreshingly, being pale and not a sickly yellow or pink colour!

Next on my bargain hunt was bourjois. I’m partial to a bit of bourjois, being from the same house as Chanel I find there products very similar… You just don’t get the same luxury. (Try and tell yourself you’re a bargain hunter when your holding a gorgeous Chanel packaging…. Yup we all love a bit of luxury.) These two bottles of loveliness are their new range of skin bases, Happy Light for matte or radiant Light, depending on your preference. The Radiant one is quite straight forward, a beautiful texture that leaves the skin feeling like silk and slightly wet for those that like a dewy glow (perfect for drier skins if you find foundation can stick in dry patches). The Matte has just an equally beautiful texture but certainly doesn’t leave the skin wet! The more you apply this into the skin the more the product starts to stiffen and meet resistance! Such a strange sensation! I found this held my foundation very well, I purposely didn’t powder (yes it was very hard for me… I’m okay now 😊) and I got through a whole wedding morning without feeling like I needed to powder. However using it on clients, It really has to be worked into the skin before anything else is applied on top or it will start to roll. I also picked up a cute wee blusher “love struck rose” which I was desperate for as I have so many pink blushers and wanted something warmer for summer. This blusher makes me smile every time I apply it. Bourjois blushers are scented with rose which is just my absolute favourite. Bourjois was also sporting a brilliant offer of 3 for 2 so these items cost me roughy £7 each.

And last but certainly not least because I think this is my best find….

I mean minus the gorgeous packaging but is that a bobbi brown shimmer brick or what!? This is from cosmetics brand Seventeen and cost just £5. There were two shades Gold Bronze and Pink Bronze I went pink as when I swatched them in store the Gold was very yellow… So be warned. It does have chunkier flecks of shimmer but over all it gives a lovely highlight and I’m a big fan of a highlighter. I used it on the tops of my cheeks, Cupid’s bow and the excess over my chin and bridge of the nose. I have also been taking the lightest shade on a small eyeshadow brush and highlighting my inner eye corner. Very versatile product and a great dupe for Bobbi Brown Shimmer bricks (although again you can’t beat a bit of luxury and their colour choices are much better).

I love doing a “drugstore” raid, picking up a few bargain bits and pieces always let’s me try what’s out there and you never know what little gems you can find! Not all of us can afford a premium make up bag but we should never let this stop us from feeling premium when we get dolled up!

As always I hope you find this useful and as always please tell me if you but anything I post! I love knowing how you feel about products as they always work different! Until next time my lovely people 💜

Ciao. x

Get glowing ( without the pregnancy) …

It has been suuuuuper nice in the uk at the moment, even more so in Scotland which doesn’t happen very often! Long may it continue I say… Even though for the last week we’ve had torrential down pours we are ever optimistic!

For the first time in my life I have a tan and I love taking advantage of this to wear minimal make up, which I have and I’ve had so many compliments and comments on my skin (even better is the reaction when I tell them I have no foundation on!) I thought I would write a wee blog on what I’ve been using.

So first I moisturise with garnier radiance moisturiser, this has lovely tiny light catching particles to brighten my skin and has an SPF 15 which is much needed in the sun. I then prep my skin with Estée Lauder day wear tint. This stuff is the shiz! It goes on clear and builds colour to your skin tone. It gives a real fresh sun kissed look, I use it as a base to give me a bit of colour but you could use it purely on its own if you were hitting the beach! Now if I were going to the beach I would probably miss out this next step but I’m not so what the hell. I love to contour so I use a concealer 2 shades lighter than my skin tone (I like to use different ones depending what mood I’m in and right now I’m LOVING bourjois healthy mix but its too light for me so I mix in a bit of disappear by Estée Lauder in shade 3) and I block contour my cheek bones, under eye, brow bone, forehead and chin. I then take my soleil de tan by Chanel on a stippling brush and I buff this into my shade areas mixing it with the lighter contour colour to blend everything together. This stuff is great and quite unique, its a cream form of pure pigment which dries beautifully matte but not flat. Because of its texture it’s incredibly build able for any skin tone or ability. I then quite heavily powder my skin with Clinique loose powder. This is a personal choice cause I like matte, but it will give your make up that bit better a lasting time in the heat. Finally I use Clinique sun kissed bronzer, anywhere I would take a tan naturally to give me that healthy glow rather than dark full on bronzed tan and Bobbi Brown shimmer brick in plum over the tops of my cheek bones. This gives a real nice subtle highlight and because it has colour through it rather than just highlight it gives a bit of warmth to the cheeks rather than adding on a heavy blusher.

Apologies I didn’t take a selfie but my hair needs died and is not fit for public! I have a lot more free time in August so I’m hoping to do another tutorial where I will explain the steps and take pictures!

I know this still seems like a lot of products for minimal make up but it’s light layers that make a bigger Impact and look MUCH more flattering in the sun. As they say natural light never lies so less make up is easier to get right! This would be the perfect holiday makeup bag essentials and I never go jet setting without them… 69 days till my next hope across the pond to Malaysia!

Happy sun soaking and holidays to everyone!