Beauty Trends
Draping: How to Contour with Blush
Draping with MAC Peachykeen Blush

Contouring is definitely a must for this decade. Sculpted cheeks are in, and there are many ways of doing it. I've noticed beauty trends from the past come back in different names and this 'new' trend we have this year is called 'Draping'.

The actual technique of draping is not new to makeup artistry. It is the art of using blusher to chisel the cheeks. You can do this in multiple ways:

1. With one blusher: Use a pigmented blusher beneath the cheekbone just under the apples of the cheeks and gradually pale away to the top. I find MAC Sheertone blushes to be excellent for this purpose as they contain no shimmer and are easily buildable.

2. With two blushers: Apply a darker blush where you would apply contour powder, just beneath the apples of the cheeks, and pat a paler blush on the apples.

You can use as many shades as you like to create a gradient effect. Just make sure the darker shades are at the bottom, with lighter shades on top.

For my wedding makeup look last year (pictured), my MUA used the first method. He used MAC Peachykeen blush on the cheekbones and faded away to the top of the apples of my cheeks. If he named it 'Draping' then, he would be ahead of the times!

Are you a fan of contouring and what do you think about the 'Draping' technique?

Love it or Leave It? Leave a comment below!

Livia | The Skin and Beauty Blog


02/08/2016

Draping - How to Contour with Blush

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A throwback to our ballerina days we have been busting out our romantic purple and lilac eyeshadows this season and teaming them up with our ballerina hair buns. The trick is to avoid the 'bruised lid look' that these colours can sometimes do... Here are our tips to wear the right shade of purple for you:

15/09/2014

The Secret to Lilac Lids

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Confused about which flirty falsies to wear for that special night out?

Amidst the sea of lashes in the world, there are a few brands we always turn to. A higher price tag does not necessarily mean higher quality and some of the best are available from your local drugstore. Here are a few tips on what we look for in a good pair of falsies:

12/09/2014

How to Avoid Fake-Looking Falsies

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Its fall once again - my favourite season for beauty and makeup trends. I just love the rich vampy reds, pinks and purples. I am so excited to show you a new lipstick trend which has graced the catwalks for this season. This is the season of Petal-Stained lips!

Lanvin

28/08/2013

Beauty Trends for Fall Winter 2013-2014 - Petal-Stained Lips

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Giles, Diane Von Furstenberg, DKNY
 
 I have always been a fan of big fat hair,
and I'm especially crazy about the stunning Katherine Pierce's do on the Vampire Diaries 
(yes, I am a fan, and I'm proud of it!) 
 
 
However as you might notice, I don't do a lot of hair care posts and reviews on my blog, 
because unlike most beauty bloggers, I am incapable of styling my own hair.
I have never been gifted with talents of using hair tongs and irons for hair curling/straightening purposes.
 And I am, therefore, constantly searching for ways to get the oomph I want with minimal effort.
 
Enter the VO5 Plump Me Up Hair Care Range!
 
 
We have been together for 6 months now and going strong.
 
I have been religiously using the following products:
 
VO5 Plump Me Up Shampoo
VO5 Plump Me Up Conditioner
VO5 Plump Me Up Dry Shampoo
VO5 Plump Me Up High Definition Blow Dry Amplifying Lotion
VO5 Plump It Up Heat Defence Volume & Lift Spritz
 
Reasons why I love this range.
- deliver weightless volume to my hair
- conditioner makes my hair feel soft  without taking too much time to work in the shower
- my scalp does not feel dirty with the dry shampoo, unlike some others
- does NOT cause any acne breakouts
(I tend to get acne on my chest and back with some other shampoos and conditioners)
- volumising hair spritzers have heat protection
- affordable price
 
My hair care routine.
I wash my hair every other day with the shampoo and conditioner. 
The gaps between washes prevent my hair from drying out too much.
With my trusty hair dryer, I then dry wet hair by flipping my hair upside down.
In between washes if my hair feels yucky or if I'm in a pinch, I use the dry shampoo to quickly dissolve any grease and make my hair feel fresh again.
Before meeting friends or nights out, I spritz some of the hair volumisers, spread through my hair and then blow dry with hair flipped upside down.
 
If my hair feels dry, I apply 2 pumps of L'Oreal Elvive Extraordinary Oil UV Filter on my palms and run through my hair, for added softness and shine.
 
Simples!
 
PK, myself and Kate
 
These products mentioned are available from your local drugstore or the Boots and Superdrug websites.
 
What are your favourite products for big hair? ♥
Livia xx
 
All products mentioned bought with my own money!

29/05/2013

Beauty Trends for Spring/Summer 2013 - Big Hair feat VO5 Plump Me Up Range

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Dolce & Gabbana, Valentino, DKNY
 
  I love this beautiful trend. Glowing skin just makes one look so fresh, fitting for spring.
The key to this look is getting a liquid foundation with a dewy finish.
Alternatively, you can water down thicker foundations with a bit of moisturiser.
I love using a mix of Sleek Makeup New Skin Revive Foundation and MAC Oil Control Lotion.
It gives me just enough coverage but leaves skin looking naturally dewy.
 
To get this look:

1. Moisturise your skin. I use 2 sprays of NUXE Huile Prodigieuse oil to cover my entire face and neck.

2. Mix 1 pump of Sleek Makeup New Skin Revive Foundation and 2 pumps of MAC Oil Control Lotion.

3. With a MAC 188 brush or fingertips, apply and blend the mixture all over the face and neck,

4. Highlight the bridge of your nose, cheekbones, and underneath the eyebrows with a creamy highlighter - I love using MAC Pearl Cream Colour Base.

Tidy your brows, put on mascara, blush and some lip balm - and you're good to go!
 

Here I am using all the products mentioned above, including Bourjois Queen Attitude Mascara
Etude House Brow Pencil, NARS Deep Throat Blush and MAC Cut a Caper Lipstick.
 
What do you think? ♥
Livia xx

29/04/2013

Beauty Trends for Spring/Summer 2013 - Glowing Skin Tutorial incl FOTD

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 Bottega Veneta, Diane von Furstenberg, Roberto Cavalli
   
Contouring is part of my daily makeup routine.
I just love having well-defined cheekbones as it helps make my puffy cheeks look a little bit less so.
I also contour my nose, temples, forehead and underneath the chin.
 
Contouring consists of 2 products - one for highlighting and one for shading.
 
Good highlighting shades are luminescent whites (for fair skinned), pale golds (for yellow toned people) or pale peaches (for more tanned individuals).
 
Good contouring shades are matte bronze colours. Red toned for those with pinker skin, and yellow or neutral toned for those with yellow tinged skin.
 
I have Oriental skin which has yellow undertones, and my go-to products are the following:
 
  MAC Pearl Cream Colour Base, Benefit Hoola Bronzer
(I love them so much and you can see I've hit pan on both!)
  You could say they are my holy-grail products.
 
I apply Benefit Hoola Bronzer with a large tapered brush (MAC 138). I suck my cheeks in and apply the bronzer underneath the cheekbones. I then brush some bronzer on the temples of my forehead, hairline, and underneath my chin. With my middle finger, I take a bit and contour the sides of my nose. 

I then dab some MAC Pearl Cream colour base on my ring finger and I apply it on the bridge of my nose, above the cheekbones and underneath my eyebrows for highlight.
 
And voila! Extra definition to enhance your features.
  
Are you a fan of contouring?
 
What do you think? ♥
 
Livia xx

06/04/2013

Beauty Trends for Spring/Summer 2013 - Sculpted

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 Lanvin, Diane von Furstenberg, Versace
 
This isn't an eyeliner look I usually go for. I tend to focus the eyeshadow on the upper lids and keep the lower lash line free from any dark shades to give me that bright doe eyed look.
This trend on the other hand focuses on lining the lower lash line with dark shadows
to make that smokey sexy grungy look - the 'not-so-innocent' bedroom eyes effect.
 
 The key to this is using a dark matte brown eyeshadow on the bottom lashes.
I find that using black makes it look a bit too dark and almost raccoon like,
where as dark brown is just perfect.
You also want the colour to be matte or satin as opposed to frosty. 
Makes it look a little more smokey!
 
 Surprisingly, I'm a big fan!
The breakdown of this look to come up in the next post.
 
What do you think? ♥
Livia xx

03/04/2013

Beauty Trends for Spring/Summer 2013 - Grunge Liner

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Zac Posen, Versace, Etro

Time to grow those brows girls! Bold brows are back!

There are two varieties - big bushy untamed ones, and clean shapely full ones. I much prefer the latter.

If your brows are on the full side - you're in luck!

For ladies with thinner brows opting for this look, I recommend growing your brows (yes leave them alone) for 2 weeks and then go to a professional to have them threaded and reshaped to your preference.

 
before, after

For tips on getting clean bold brows, read my very extensive Eyebrow Tutorial here: All About Brows | My Eyebrow Tutorial - It includes my tips on eyebrow shaping, trimming, colouring and shading.

Also, here's a link to a quick review of my favourite eye brow pencil: Etude House Drawing Eye Brow Pencil 

What do you think of this trend? ♥ 
Livia xx  

31/03/2013

Beauty Trends for Spring/Summer 2013 - Clean Bold Brows

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Westfield Catwalk

This weekend has been the Westfield London Fashion weekend for Autumn/Winter 2012. 
I was lucky enough to be invited for a makeover at the NARS counter in House of Fraser 
to re-create one of their key looks for this season:
this look's theme is Metallic with burnt oranges. 

The lovely Kasia did my makeup, and she told me as soon as she saw my oriental features, 
she was immediately inspired to do this particular look. 
With well-prepped and semi-dewy skin, 
I had metallic silver eyeshadow with a matte red-orange lip. 
To be honest, I was skeptical at first as I don't usually wear silver on my eyes, 
but I quickly fell in-love with this look!

Products she used (all NARS of course):


Skin Preparation:
NARS Skin Multi-action Hydrating Toner
NARS Skin Aqua Gel Luminous Oil-free Moisturizer
NARS Skin Optimal Brightening Concentrate

FACE
NARS Tinted Moisturizer in St. Moritz
NARS Orgasm Illuminator
NARS Deep Throat blush 
NARS Laguna bronzer

EYES
NARS Bali eyeshadow (brows)
NARS Eyeshadow Duo in Vent Glace
NARS Eyeliner Stylo in Carpates
NARS Larger than Life Volumizing Mascara

LIPS
NARS Heatwave lipstick






FYI -- all these photos were taken 3 whole hours after the makeover. I blotted some excess oil built up, but I did not touch up whatsoever. I am so impressed with the quality of these products and how the foundation held up, and I foresee another NARS visit in the future!

An instagram of the look fresh from the makeover

NARS Deep Throat blush is so beautiful. I think I might pick it up one of these days.

I am soo impressed with the Tinted Moisturizer. 
It has light-medium coverage, instantly hydrates my face without making it look oily, 
and it contains SPF30! 
Something to definitely check out, especially when the dry winter months come.

Other key looks Westfield fashion has for this season include Gothic, Golden Baroque and Digital Print:


Check out other lovelies I met who had trend-inspired makeovers too:

Zoe from the London Lipgloss
Lela from Lela London

What do you think? ♥

Livia xx

PS. Follow me on Twitter and Instagram!

10/09/2012

A/W 2012 Beauty Trends at Westfield London: Metallic with NARS Makeup

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