How To Get A Perfect Matte Make Up Look

Bonjour again! This is going to be a long post but it will be worth it!

One of my pet hates (apart from these ones I talked about in my 11 questions for the Liebster Award) is having a really shiny face day to day. Don't get me wrong, I love the illuminated slightly shimmery finish everybody else seems to be able to achieve, but no matter how much Benefit High Beam I use, or how much illuminating primer I buy, I still look like I have run 800m and not bothered to fix my face afterwards.

So, now I love having a matte base whenever I do my make up, whether I'm going out or day-to-day. I have spent ages perfecting this and trying a thousand and one products to achieve a lasting matte finish, and I think I have just about got it. This process works for me, but don't take it as gospel! Just thought I'd share my ideas!

My first tip that I must stress is a matte finish does not begin and end with foundation and powder. No way. Clay face masks are your saviour when it comes to matte skin, as are squeaky clean faces! So use a decent facial cleanser and follow with a clay based face mask a couple of times a week to clear impurities, excess oil and prevent future blemishes.

On to make up!

Always use a primer. It helps your make up to stay on longer and by buying the right one it can help prevent shine and even out your skin tone. I love 17 Stay Time Primer or POREfessional and Stay Flawless Primers, both by Benefit.

Now I have spent most of my days trying to find a foundation that lasts and gives a lovely even finish that covers everything I need to cover and stays matte.

There are three matte finish foundations I have tried and LOVED recently.
The first is 17's Stay Matte foundation, the cheapest of the three but by no means any worse. I have recommended this and recommended it again to everyone I know. Their make-up in the past year or so has got so much better, and I have noticed them trying to match new products of premium brands which is a really clever idea as the brand is really good for those on a budget. The foundation does exactly what it says and is just all round brilliant. I am on my third bottle I think, and for someone who switches foundations with every outfit, that's a winner in my book.

The second is Rimmel's newest foundation, Stay Matte Liquid Mousse. 'Mousse foundations dry my face out.' WELL THIS FOUNDATION DOESN'T. Because it's a *Liquid* mousse this seems to make all the difference. Who knew? Stays matte all day and goes with my desert island product: Rimmel Stay Matte Powder. Fab-las.

The third and final foundation, also my most recent purchase is No7's Stay Matte foundation. I bought this because as we were going into winter I noticed all of my already ivory and porcelain shades of foundation were getting too orange and pink for my ever pale skin tone (Curses of a strawberry blonde welsh woman) and I knew that No7 did a shade that, let's not beat around the bush here, was practically paper white. It is called Calico and it is the closest shade I have ever bought to my natural skin tone. The foundation itself is great. Stays in place all day and provides a natural looking matte finish. It's a really good foundation.

Applying foundation with a brush or sponge always helps to stop shine as applying with your fingers means you're transferring oil onto your face from your hands. I love Real Techniques stippling foundation brush and the Model's Own foundation egg sponge. These help to create a flawless airbrush finish.

So once you've applied your primer and matte foundation, it's time to add concealer.

Instead of Matte concealer I like to use quite heavy coverage ones to cover spots, scars and under eye circles. My top three are:
- Boing! Industrial Strength Concealer by Benefit
- Touche Magique Concealer by L'Oreal
- 17 Stay Time Liquid Concealer by 17

Then go crazy with your finishing powder with a big brush. Or don't. You don't want to look like, in the words of my cousin recently in Dublin airport, 'like you've dipped your face in baby powder'.

My one product I will NEVER stop using is Rimmel's Stay Matte powder in Translucent, but I also like No7's Translucent Loose Powder and Maybelliene's new 24hr SuperStay Powder. You really need to use it to set your make up and absorb oil to really achieve a matte look.

Well done for making it all the way to the end! I hope I have given some useful tips, and I'd love to hear what products you use to achieve a matte look which stays put all day.

GG xx

Sorry Boys, I'm In Love With A Handbag

Evening,

As the new Spring season approaches, I get very excited and saving stuff on my favourite websites like New Look, Topshop and ASOS. These are a few of my favourites, to give you an idea of the kind of things I'm wearing this season and what's online.

I love the slouchy, relaxed style (Especially rolled sleeves), so this tee from Topshop is perfect! 

Topshop £16.00 

Love, Love, Love this jacket! The lapels are really pretty and as I'm obsessed with blazers, this will go brilliantly! Topshop £40.00

As I said, I love the slouchy relaxed style, and as it usually gets cold in the UK, knitwear is a must for all seasons! This lightweight jumper from New Look will see me through until the summer months, shoved over some leggings or skinnies. Perfect!

New Look £19.99

This Warehouse dress is exactly my style. The skater dress is super duper flattering on anyone, and the graphic print is perfect for the spring. I would wear this with either little black flats during the day or tan platform heels for a night out, very pretty!

£33.00 (ASOS Sale - so be quick if you want it!)

As a proudly British girl, this tee is right up my street! I think it's really quirky and individual, and I love tees for everyday wear. Plus I love Tea, so I thought I'd announce it to the world...

ASOS £16.00

I LOVE THIS BAG SO MUCH I CAN BARELY CONTAIN MYSELF. It's perfect in every single way; the colour, the style, the gold heritage hardware...could it get any better? I first saw this on Sprinkle Of Glitter's blog and YouTube channel and I had to have it. Out of all of these things, this will be the thing I will be definitely buying!! LOVE!

ASOS £35.00

I won't be buying all of these things, although I would if I could! They're a taste of my spring wardrobe, with the touch of pastel colours and a more feminine style. Very pretty! 

Hope you enjoyed it, 

Love GG xx

Festival Hair! <3

Festival time is nearly upon us, and as my friend is throwing a festival themed party next week (Please pray for good weather) I thought I'd sort my hair out now and share it with my lovely new readers! 

Okay, so the hair I did was actually for people with Mid-to-long hair, but I actually only have just about shoulder length hair, so I did this with some clip in extensions. If you have shorter hair, then follow up to step 2 and then scroll down for my solution! 

1. Okay, so if like me your hair resembles baby hair, Eg, it's incredibly thin and limp, you need DAY OLD hair to do this. If you have thick hair (you incredibly gorgeous and lucky people) I imagine it will hold with a bit of product. 

2. Take the top third of your hair (as if you were going to do a half pony tail), brush it back and back comb underneath to give it body. Push it up so it creates height off of your head and pin in place. 

For Mid-Long Hair:

3. With the rest of your hair, sweep in to a low side pony tail which ever side you prefer and secure in place. If you have wispy bits on the other side hanging out by your ear, you can either curl them to create a wispy effect or plait them for a really festival-ly type look. Little plaits (or braids, whatever you call them is fine!)  look really effective and make your hair style look far more complicated than it really is. Nice tip for you there!

4. Next you need to look dishevelled enough to convince everybody you're a seasoned pro at festivals and at looking pretty and sultry all at the time, so back comb bits of your pony tail, you might want to plait/braid other bits and curl some other strands - however you want - until you consider it perfect! 

5. You can leave this look as it is but I think it needs some quirkiness and colour to be officially called festival hair, so I like to add a flower garland bando (you could add a bow or a chain bando), and leave it to sit just on my hair line. Tuck it under your ponytail to hide as much elastic as you can and to keep it in place. 

6. Spritz with hairspray, glitter, colour spray, whatever until you look like you truly belong at Bestival or Glasto. Lush. 

For Short Hair:

3. Once the half hair is pinned in place and you have enough height, take some hair that's left in front of your ears and plait/braid it. Then add a flower garland/bow/chain/whatever bando just around your head, resting on your hair line. 

4. Take the plaits/braids by your ears and wind them around the bando and secure at the back with pins or by tucking them in. 

5. With the remaining hair, create gentle beach waves either with small heated rollers, a styling wand or curling tongs, wait until the curl has cooled and comb out and separate with your fingers until relaxed waves are formed. Then go back to step six :) 

It Also Looks Fab As Just One Plait :) 

The flower bando in the pictures is from Accessorize and was around £4 or £6. Topshop, River Island and Primark do some great bandos if you are planning of festivalling this year. 

Send Me Your Photos!! 

GG xx