Time away

Hello dear reader,

I've had a bit of time away from this working on work things, but my interest in beauty hasn't waned during this interim. I've been posting on Instagram which you can catch up with here. Highlights include a continuing series of 'Face of the Day' flatlay posts, meeting Lisa Eldridge at a book-signing for her gorgeous Face Paint book, some stunning Wayne Goss brush purchases, and a big ol' hair chop.

Hope to be back soon,

DB x

re.create: Day 4, Step 4 - Liner - Shaping up!

The fourth and final day of liner week is upon us! (I know, a four-day week....if only!)

Today is less of a tutorial and more of a discussion about the different ways that you can adapt your eyeliner. You might want to do this in order to exaggerate your eye shape in particular ways, for example to make them appear larger or longer, or just for fun to create different effects! There are no hard and fast rules for how to shape your eyeliner, and the best way to find out what you like is to experiment!

re.create: Day 3, Step 3 - Liner - Perfect gel

Day 3 of liner week begins now! Today we have the holy grail of eyeliner - gel or liquid.

Now opinions are divided as to which medium is longer lasting or allows you to achieve that sought after dark dark black colour. For me, I like both! And I will show you both options today. Gel liners tend to come in a small pot and there are decent options available from at lower and higher prices. Some of the most popular include:

• Maybelline gel eyeliner 
• MAC gel in Blacktrack
• Inglot gel eyeliner, Black
• Urban Decay eyeliner in Perversion

 I have yet to try is the Inglot one, but I've heard rave reviews of a matte black finish, see for example Jinglehart's review here. Urban Decay is newer to the market but has also received good reviews. MAC Blacktrack is not the blackest black ever, but it is very smooth and I find the texture easier to work with than the Maybelline one that I owned previously.

re.create: Day 2, Step 2 - Liner - Pencil thin

Welcome to Day 2 of liner week!

Yesterday I guided you through using an eyeshadow to create a soft winged eyeliner and today we are moving on to pencil.

Pencil is my method of choice for an 'everyday' eyeliner as it's quick and mistakes are more easily corrected than gel. It is however, not quite as long lasting as gel or liquid so if you have somewhere to go in the evening and want it to last all day - practice with this and hang tight for the tutorial on gel/liquid eyeliner tomorrow!

I used a black pencil today but of course you can use another colour if you have a lighter skintone/haircolour or if you want to make an impact with a brighter colour. Here is what I used:

re.create: Day 1, Step 1 - Liner - Powdered smoke

Welcome to Day 1, Step 1 of liner week!

The first step that I took when learning to do liner was a) to use a forgiving medium, and b) find myself a crutch to create the wing.

It's for this reason that I suggest, if you are new to lining your eyes, that you get practising with a dark eyeshadow. It doesn't necessarily have to be black or brown, it could be a deep maroon, plum, or khaki for the autumnal-look.

Here is what I used:

• Naked Basics palette, Urban Decay
• Paint pot in Bare Study, MAC
• Fluffy eyeshadow brush
• Angled eyeshadow brush (or paintbrush)

So here we go! Start with your nude eyelids. Then apply some sort of primer, I used a MAC paint pot in Bare Study which is slightly shimmery. I applied matte eyeshadows from the Naked basics palette on top of this though, with a little of Naked 2 and a spot of Faint in the crease then a soft sweep of W.O.S on top of the lid and nearer the eyebrow. It is perfectly fine to line your eyes without any sort of base colour, particularly when using gel or pencil, but it does help to have some sort of primer on your lid to help the eyeshadow hold.

[Sorry about that stray wispy hair to the right!]

Back to Blog!

After nine months off blogging I am back with some more beauty chat.

It's been a tough few months with studying and I've been doing a lot of writing on other things. But I've still been experimenting with lovely beauty goodies and I even went for a couple of DIY dramatic hair changes! I'm very pleased with them both, but more on this soon.

Moreover, I'm back with a special week of posts too! This week is eyeliner week. After reading some comments on YouTube I thought I'd pull together what I've learnt having struggled through learning to line my eyes this year and offer a plan of attack to those on the same road. So, everyday for the rest of this week there will be some ace eyeliner action going down on this blog with tips and tricks to get that oh-so-sought-after dark wing.

So, see you soon!

DB x

re.commed: SALE at Illamasqua!

Just a quick post to alert or remind you of a great sale going on at Illamasqua.com at the moment. It's a great brand and they've added a few new lines to the sale here  including some pigments that I've been waiting to try out for a while now in 'Ore' and 'Furore'. I've also just placed an order for some of the powder and cream blushes.

Expect reviews soon (I also have a long line of recently bought products to write up about :s sorry!) but I would grab these pigments while you can! Vivianna Does Makeup has done a review of 'Ore' in a makeup look which you can check out here  and a charming birthday look here . Beautiful!

DB xx

re.commend: Everyday makeup brushes!

As many of us do, I recently went home to visit my family over the winter holidays. Trying to pack light, I faced the perpetual dilemma of what makeup to pack! In the first of a mini-series, I'll be sharing you the essentials that I managed to pare down my routine to. I will be posting about the brushes I eventually packed (actually turned out to be slightly different from these), the makeup I packed to travel for two weeks, skincare, and extra bits and bobs of beauty essentials. 

First up - my everyday brushes! 

re.view: Urban Decay Naked 3 palette! **UPDATED**

The Naked 3 Urban Decay palette is here...and boy it's a beauty! I was actually going to hold off buying this until the initial frenzy was over it was back in stock after a few months (since it's not limited edition, sooner or later you'll be able to get your hands on one if you want one), however I was lucky that I received this one as an early Christmas gift! 

re.commend: Mascara mix-n-match!

Problem: Have a mascara I like, have also a mascara I don't like. The mascara I like is finished...what to do?     

Solution: Mix 'n' match!



re.view: Dr Jart+ BB Beauty Balm (Platinum)

Oh the photos are on their sides again! Apologies for this persisting blip, but at least I bring you a positive review! The Dr Jart+ BB Water Fuse has been popular in the blogosphere for some time, but my preference is for the 'Platinum' formula.  Not only do I prefer the richer texture and glowing finish, and high spf (30) but it actually improves my skin!

re.commend: Naked 3 - out in UK stores

Thought I'd let you know quickly that I picked up my Naked 3 yesterday from House of Fraser but I also passed through Debenhams and they had released them too and only had three left that hadn't been reserved. They are due to be released online tomorrow in these stores and they may have more stock, but this will go quickly if you are hoping to grab one before Christmas.

Pictures and review coming soon!

DB
beautifulrecreations.blogspot.co.uk

re.view: Rimmel Colour Rush lip pencils

A lovely little (pinky) nude.

I bought one of these Rimmel Colour Rush lip pencils to compare with the Bourjois, Soap and Glory and Clinique chubby pencils.

...and I like it!

re.view: CND Sticky Base Coat

Apologies for the sideways pictures! My computer is playing up and not allowing me to swivel them. However, this product looks great any which way around and works even better. I am a real nail varnish fan and even more so of products that make my existing varnishes perform better. I read about CND Stikey* base coat somewhere on the World Wide Web and determined one day that it should be mine.... I got the opportunity to finally buy it recently to make up to a certain total to receive a discount and luckily I am rather pleased with it. 

Follow me on Bloglovin'

Hi everyone!

If you enjoy these posts, you can get them delivered daily/weekly to your inbox or to your mobile device via Bloglovin' and the Bloglovin' app. Simply click the link on the sidebar and sign up for a free account if you don't already have one. I love to look at my feed at lunchtimes and in the morning to help wake myself up!

DB

re.view: Sleek Blush by 3 Pink Sprint palette

My second Blush by 3 set from Sleek - the first being the popular Lace collection - I though this time I would brand out into some more plummy shades for Autumn. 

re.commend: Urban Decay Lip pencil in Ozone

Today's post recommends a product that looks rather uninspiring, but I couldn't do without it. I've seen a few brands make a lipliner, but I have this one, Ozone, from Urban Decay. 

re.view: Urban Decay Revolution Lipsticks

As promised, I picked up another Urban Decay revolution lipstick in 'Fiend' a pinkish-taupe! And 'Streak' a coral-nude that you can see in my Urban Decay Haul post. 

re.view: Urban Decay Revolution lipsticks

A little review on some Urban Decay revolution lipsticks that I've been enjoying! This review is for the shade 'Naked', but I've recently bought two more shades that I shall post pictures up for to follow this post. 

re.create: Make your own palette! Stage 1

A rather more adventurous re.create today! And a 2-part-er at that. Here is the first part of the DIY palette!

This is a actually easier than it looks, and would make quite a fun activity for an afternoon with friends of with a younger cousin or sibling. It makes a rather heavy palette, because of the materials used, but it would make a really unique and affordable gift for a friend.

In Part 2 we will fill in the palette with two options, ready made eyeshadow-blush-lipstick, or make your own of these too!