Halloween Make-up | 1920's Flapper Girl // Great Gatsby Theme.

This is a 1920’s flapper girl look I did for a college newspaper article thingyyyy. I thought it would be perfect to do a blog post on this look with it being so close to Halloween – this makeup is so quick and easy to do and would make a great “last minute Halloween plans” costume. Throw on a feather headpiece and it’s the perfect Great Gatsby-esque look! Being a history student and makeup lover, with a particular place in my heart for the 20’s, I’m hugely interested in makeup through the eras and the Jazz Age was one of the most innovative times for makeup trends. This post is going to include a list of the products used and a little more information on makeup at this time if you’re interested!

The 1920’s is such an exciting period in the makeup world! A new century had brought new inventions, (like the traditional swivel lipstick in a tube we use nowadays!) and heightened feminist/ suffragette movements along with female employment in typically male dominated fields made women embrace their right to wear as much makeup as possible. The Great War had ended and makeup was no longer seen as solely for harlots, it became commonplace for the everyday woman. The look I’m doing is a very dramatic and stereotypical of a flapper girl performer at this time, most women would not have worn their makeup to this extent on a daily basis but the techniques applied for all of those who wore cosmetics! I think it’s important to mention that this look was really only sported in the states. I’m not sure about the UK, but I know Ireland was extremely conservative in regards to women and their looks at this time, so you can bet there wasn't a woman in Connemara rocking a smokey eye!

I chose not to photograph a step by step tutorial for 2 reasons; a) it is SO simple... seriously guys, the messier and more blown out the better – no winged liner and no fuss! And b) my most recent Autumn FOTD (linked here with step by step photos) is the exact same concept and placement. The only difference is with a 1920’s look, keeping the eye shape circular and rounded on the edges is key – blown out but not winged out! The desired eye look of that time was a very heavy down-turned, almost “sad” eye. This was aided by the very overly plucked, thin and rounded brows of the time. I chose not to glue my brows down and redraw them because thin brows just aren't my thing. You can of course keep yours true to their natural shape and it will still look good, but if you want to keep it historically accurate then that’s something to think about! Remember that you can always take different bits of this tutorial and alter them too suit yourself and your preferences… there’s no harm in a modern day flapper girl!

New | Maybelline Colour Tattoos + Velvet Lip Pencils.

I went into Boots for eyelash glue and came out with a bag full of stuff (plus eyelash glue). Oh well... it's all for the sake of the blog really, isn't it? Does any other beauty blogger tell themselves that after a beauty shop? Anyway, I noticed Maybelline had some new (ish) products out and I decided to give them a go. I'm not exactly sure how new these specific Colour Tattoos are, because I haven't seen any talk about them, but I know the Lip Pencils are a pretty recent addition to the line. 

First Impressions | Lush Cosmetics Rub Rub Rub Shower Scrub.

It's not quite a shower gel, not quite a scrub. It's an even mixture of both products in one little black pot. I actually bought this for my boyfriend originally and decided to try it out myself when I was in his house last weekend. I actually found it to be a bit of a 3 in 1 product. Here are my first impressions!

FOTD + Step by Step How To | Uninterrupted Mythology.

Finally, here is an autumn inspired face of the day! I've been itching to put this much makeup on my face and photograph it for you guys. This is a halo/spotlight type look, with the colour lightest in the centre. I like to call this a sort of "pretty grunge" look, because it's using some red and bruise toned colours in a very blown out shape but still manages to look made up and girly. I've really been enjoying this lately because it looks great even without winged liner and can be blown out quite a lot around the edges. Saves a lot of time and looks really nice with those kind of colours. I did a post all about some of my favourite eyeshadows for autumn/winter (link here) - you could easily take other shades similar to those that I mentioned and recreate this look to your taste. It could be made less burgundy and more brown, less rose gold in the centre and more gold or bronze, it's really up to you! I also gave the options of a dark lip and a nude lip, and I'd wear this look with both depending on my mood but, of course, you could opt for the nude lip if you preferred! Let me know which lip you would wear with this look down below! :)

Collective MAC Haul | All MAC Everythin'.

Nope, your mind is not playing tricks on you. I am, in fact, uploading a blog post. I feel like the past month has been nothing but "ahhhI'veBeenSoBusyErhMaGawdSorry" but it's so true. I haven't been bogged down with many assignments or exams, but finding the time to blog when I have tonnes of reading to do is a struggle. I promise Autumn FOTD and FOTD posts in general are coming soon, very very soon.. I've been itching to put makeup on my face and photograph it for you guys!

ANYWAY. I went back home for my birthday at the end of September and this post is pretty much the result of several things. 1) I wanted one (ONE) eyeshadow from MAC for a long time and had tried 3 different MAC counters on 4 different occasions but the results were fruitless (more on that later!). 2) Having wanted only one (ONE) thing from MAC, I of course took my birthday as a good enough excuse to treat myself to said item and a lipstick (if you follow me on Instagram you'll probably have already seen my "Happy Birthday to me" self pity purchase). 3) My mother was going to Berlin and ended up texting me that she was in a MAC Pro Store.. and sure when your mother is in a MAC Pro Store don't you grab that opportunity to text her a list of "Pro only" things you'll reimburse her for?! 5) I had 2 fellow makeup junkie friends staying over for my birthday (one actually has the Youtube, so check that beaut out here) and we ended up getting into each other's makeup bags.. whoops.. terrible thing really. So, as a result of product enabling, I wanted several shiny new MAC things (also more on that later) and the girls wanted Anastasia Dipbrow Pomade... can't blame them really, it's pretty feckin' deadly! 6) I had a couple of things to Back 2 MAC and finally, 7) I had recently (ish) read a Viva Adonis post featuring some comfort shopping MAC items and decided that retail therapy was definitely a thing. Definitely. I hadn't bought quite a lot of stuff from MAC's permanent line in ages - I JUST WANTED TO OKAY :(

In short, this post could have been called a number of things; "Collective MAC Haul", "MACalackin", "I Am A Broke Student And Am Now Eating Baked Beans For The Next Month", "My Boyfriend Knows Exact Locations and Opening Hours Of Every MAC Counter In The Country" or "Product Enabling Is A Real Thing SHUT UP AND TAKE MY MONEY" ... you get the idea.

I think you'll all agree the lipsticks look a lot nicer with the lids off! ;)

Favourites | Autumn Eyes.

I wasn't really sure what to call this post, and I'm still not fully sure how to accurately describe it but sure we'll go for it. Autumn is such a great time for bold, but still somewhat neutral eyes. I find a lot of inspiration in nature when it comes to autumnal themed makeup... if it looks like a colour that fell from a tree, then I want to put it on my eyeballs. I've done a favourite blushes for this time of year, and will be doing a lipstick follow up post too. I wouldn't necessarily say that these are my "Top *definite number* eyeshadows for fall" because they're not all eyeshadows, it's a mix of products and it's more of a general guide of season appropriate colours that I love to incorporate into my makeup during this time of year... make sense? It did in my head, I swear!

I'm going to be showing you some great colours that look particularly lovely this time of year, and different ways of wearing them. I think those of you who are all about eye makeup and aren't feeling dark vampy lips will benefit most from this, but I think there's something here everyone can take from it. I've been wanting to do some autumnal inspired FOTD posts, and sorry they've been slacking, but I've been trying to deal with terrible lighting in my college home and just finding the time to sit down and actually do my makeup during the day! Another thing I realised is that I do a lot of different variations of the same looking during this time of year. In the sense that I'll use a lot of plums, browns, maroons and golds and use them differently on the eye (for example with or without winged liner, with gold in the inner corner or on the centre of the lid etc). It's using the same products, but give a different effect. So, I naturally had to include the stand out products that I've been using on all, or most of my FOTD's in this post :)