#StayFlawless

www.benefitcosmetics.co.uk

I really don't know where the past few days have gone! I can't believe it's been a week since I last posted- bad Lucia. Last week I was invited to Benefit's #stayflawless event in Bristol and despite the crappy weather had a fabulous evening. I grabbed a cab from work (it's only a 5 minute walk away) because it was absolutely chucking it down and I couldn't very well turn up to a beauty event with wet hair and running makeup! The event was held in the Living Rooms, I've actually been there before for a networking event and it's such a lovely two-floored bar and restaurant that I really should visit more often whilst I'm still in Bristol. We sipped champagne on arrival and then were given a lovely welcome talk by the Benefit HQ team and their head makeup artist Lisa Dixon, who I was also lucky enough to have perfect match my Hello Flawless foundation for me. 

Stay Flawless is what Benefit call a 'Makeup Magnet' and helps keep your makeup on for up to 15 hours and I have to say after a few days of using it I'm really impressed. It glides on silkily and then  dries with a matte finish, but when I put on my foundation it still looks dewy which is important for me! You need to apply your make up whilst the primer's wet for it to set perfectly and they aren't lying about the 15 hours, after a long day of work then out dancing till the early hours my makeup stayed firmly in place.

During part of the evening they held a competition with a chance to win one of their new 'Fake Its' kits so of course I was determined to get my hands on one! I managed to win and chose the 'The Bronze Champions' kit which I was most triumphant about. I expect I'll be featuring it in a beauty post shortly to show you all. We were then all treated to an amazing array of canapes, and I'm not ashamed to say Katie and I left with a takeaway bag crammed full of them ha! Thanks so much to the gorgeous Benefit team for having us and putting on such a wonderful evening.

She's So Jetset! Benefit Makeup Kit

Hello my lovelies. Happy new year first of all, I hope you all had a good one! As I mentioned in my last post I'll be doing a series of Benefit beauty posts following the amazing amount of it I got for Christmas (lucky girl!). I'm starting with the 'She's so Jetset' make-up kit, inside you get a primer, set of shadows, face powder, lipgloss and a mascara, a really good selection for one make-up kit I think. The set comes with a great how-to guide on how to get certain looks, and although I usually like to do my own thing when it comes to make-up but I found the eye tutorial especially really good. 

I went for the daytime look in this picture, starting with the base I used the Porefessional primer, mainly on my problem areas: my t-zone and chin area. Porefessional its great for giving you a smooth and even canvas to work on. The foundation I used is Revlon Photoready in Natural Beige. I also used Benefit's 'Stay Don't Stray' around my eye area and over blemishes, its really a primer for shadows and concealers but works well as a concealer alone.

I then used the First-Class face powder accross the apples of my cheeks, lighter side above, for a subtle glow. For my eyes I went for the 'daytime look'. For the base I covered my entire lid with 'champagne please' then worked 'pretty in mink'  into the creases of the lid and used a bit of 'gold card' in the inner corners.

Finally I applied the gloss to my lips, its a gorgeous colour but is a little sticky so be sure to use a good amount of balm before applying this one, then last of all the ever-amazing 'their real!' mascara, its always been a favourite mascara of mine for a while now- if you haven't tried it yet girls you are missing out! The photo came out a little over-exposed so doesn't entirely do it justice but I hope my description has given you all the jist. Next up is the Cabana Glama set! 

Also something else I'd like to share with you guys are a couple of articles I did for Whatson Bristol Magazine, some of you may know I do the odd bit of free-lancing here and there and this is something I made for Whatson's January issue, let me know what you think!

Basic Make-Up!

Well this is a bit of a different post for me! I did a make-up post as I've seen some lovely ones around lately so thought I'd try one of my own. This is just my basic every day sort of make up. Before I do anything I put on some lip balm, I'm currently using M&S's ingredients coconut lip butter, which I love, its super moisturising and the white balm gives my lips a nice pale tone. I then use Benefit's Porefessional primer, you only need a teeny bit that spreads over your whole face and it leaves your skin with a silky smooth finish! Before I put on my foundation I use Benefit's Erase Paste to cover any blemishes on under-eye bags, a little bit of this also goes a long way, I've had that pot for nearly a year now.

 I use Revlon PhotoReady foundation (shade: 008 Golden Beige), in the past I've always had problems with foundations that tend too look great after you've just applied it but then starts to look patchy after a few hours. So, after many many different bottles and tubes of foundations and tinted moisturisers, I finally found the one! It sits just perfectly on my skin, and can be layered up depending on how much coverage I need, and leaves no patches what so ever! I use the Bodyshop foundation brush to apply it which I've forgotten to include in my photo! 

For my eyes I firstly apply Bodyshop eye liner to my lids (shade: black), I tend to wear pencil eye liner during the day because its a little softer. This body shop one lasts pretty well but does tend to smudge a little after a few hours, but is great for blending and creating smokey eyes. I apply the line across my lid and always have a flick of some sort - it varies from day to day! I also blend the first half of the line to make it look a little softer towards the front. 

Then for my eyebrows I use Chanel's eyebrow pencil (shade: 04). I know its quite an extravagant brand for an eyebrow pencil but I bought my first one in duty free a year or two ago and I haven't been able to buy another since! I love this particular shade because its not too far off from my natural colour, but it's a little richer and gives my eyebrows a bit more presence. What's awesome about this pencil is that it has a super little blending brush on the end and comes with a cute little Chanel sharpener, if you're still searching for the perfect eyebrow pencil I would definitely recommend this one, its a little pricey but so worth it!

Hope you all enjoyed this post! As I said its a little different for me but I really liked doing it, what do you think, should I do more beauty posts? Let me know what you think! 

Budget Buys + What I Wore Today

I've been trying to save money recently for holidays and festivals this summer so I've been on a bit of a budget! So, first stop was Primark where I picked up some new shades, a cute vest, and some gorgeous zebra print slipper-style pumps! I'm also wearing my new Levi's high-waisted skinny jeans, i found them in a charity store on Park Street (for those of you that know bristol!), and fell in love with them! They are teeny-tiny but I was absolutely determined to squeeze my derrière into them because the cut and fit are amazing! They're authentic originals too, so with an £8 price tag I couldn't not have them. Another money saving buy I've purchased is through my monthly magazines! The free gifts with some of this months Fashion monthlies are absolutely amazing! Firstly with Elle Magazine there was a limited jubilee edition free Reiss vest top, It's light and so wearable for the summer, Glamour also had an amazing free gift with a piece of Benefit make-up for every reader, either their iconic Bad Gal mascara, Porefessional Primer or That-gal primer. I planned to but all three but unfortunately they only had Badgal and Porefessional in my local Tesco :( I also picked up InStyle magazine which had 2 free eye-liners form Bodyshop in black and a gorgeous navy. So all in all I've had a brilliant couple of bargain filled days :)

Yellow print vest, Pumps, Glasses - Primark

Levi's, Hoop Earing, Cross necklce - Vintage

Aztec earing - Topshop

Bracelets - Various market stalls