MAC X Aaliyah Collection

MAC X AALIYAH

“Aaliyah Haughton is truly one in a million — an inimitable icon whose ground-breaking work in R and B music and film continues to inspire us all. Now, we celebrate her impact with the countless fans who asked M·A·C to honour her. Powered by 90s-glam shades, M·A·C Aaliyah Haughton expresses every fan's devotion to the music and style trailblazer of a generation.”

MAC Cosmetics Haul

 MAC HAUL

For the longest time I've been using MAC Studio Sculpt, but I've been wanting to change up my foundation for a while. I went into MAC at Westfield in Stratford to try and find a new foundation. I sat down with a lovely MAC artist, who asked me what I wanted in my new foundation. I wanted, a foundation that was not heavy and wasn't too full coverage. She picked up Mineralize Moisture foundation for me to test out.

VIVA GLAM - Taraji P. Henson

Viva Glam - Taraji P. Henson

Well long time no blog. It has been a while since I've been on here, for those of you that still come and check out the blog even without up to date content...THANK YOU!

So Taraji P. Henson aka Ms Cookie Lyon, is someone who has been doing her thing for a long time. But in recent years has been slaying the game, and I couldn't have been happier when I saw that she was gonna be launching again with MAC Cosmetics, this time with Viva Glam.

Makeup Wishlist (November)

Here are some makeup items that I am lusting after:
1. Morphe 350 Palette

2. Anastasia Beverly Hills Liquid Lipsticks

3. NYX Butter Lipsticks

4. MAC Studio Waterweight SPF 30 Foundation

5. Jeffree Star Velour Liquid Lipsticks

6. Anastasia Beverly Hills Brow Wiz

7. NYX Butter Lip Gloss

8. Too Faced Better Than Sex Mascara

9. Too Faced Born This Way Foundation

MAC Chestnut Lip Liner

MAC Chestnut Lip Liner - £12.50

 Trying to create the nude effect for darker skinned women to me has been quite the struggle. Nobody wants concealer looking lips...well I definitely do not. Finding that right balance can be tricky. 

Real Techniques Expert Face Brush

Expert Face Brush

£7.35

I purchased my first REAL TECHNIQUES brushes last year for my birthday as a little treat to myself. I'd wanted them for the longest time and haven't really used anything else since I cracked open the packaging.

MAC Studio Sculpt Foundation and Fix+

When I went to get my Back 2 Mac lipsticks I was also on a mission to get a new foundation. 

For the longest time I used MAC Studio Fix Fluid, but that was not the right foundation for my skin type and I always found it to be too heavy. I knew I needed to change it but it was sheer laziness, me not doing my makeup as much, wanting to use up what I'd paid for and the fact that I don't live close to a MAC store that stopped me from updating this any sooner. Yeah excuses excuses, but I finally did it. After doing some research I knew what I wanted to try next, Studio Sculpt. I've only ever heard good things about this foundation and the concealer everyone was obsessed with before it was discontinued.

BTW: Never keep using a product just because you've paid for it. If it doesn't work get rid f it, sell it on or give it to family or friends who can benefit from it. Doing this is also a good way to have a clear out of your makeup.

BACK 2 MAC Lipstick Haul

MAC Cosmetics Lipstick

For those of you who do not know this, if you return 6 empties to a MAC counter or online you get a free lipstick. I think that is pretty frickin sweet considering that their lipsticks retail at £15.50.

So I headed to MAC in Stratford Westfield, with my empties in tow. I had such a lovely girl at MAC (and I wish I could remember her name) helping me choose the my lipsticks. If you've been to a MAC store or counter you know how daunting it can be as they have a vast selection of colours/finishes. I kind of had an idea of what I wanted before I went in, it was just finding the perfect shades for me.

MAKEUP: Taylor Momsen Inspired

Hey guys and dolls,

OK so I was totally unprepared this week, and had no posts planned. So I decided to do a  quick make up look, based off of one of the actors/characters from Gossip Girl. I've been wanting to do this ever since I finished re-watching the series. The person I got inspired by was Taylor Momsen (Jenny Humphrey). Her look is very grungy, and as her character developed that look slowly made it's way onto the show. I really loved how this turned out. So if you want to know how I did this, keep on reading.

Taylor Momsen Inspired Makeup

COPYCAT MAKEUP: Kendall Jenner

Hey guys and dolls,

I love when I can look at someones make up and be completely inspired. Scrolling through Instagram I came across this image of Kendall Jenner. Her make up was so simple yet she looked absolutely gorgeous. And I just had to recreate it. I posted my take on the look on my Instagram page. Now I am gonna show you what I used to do it.

 Luckily I had some random gems in my make up kit, that were perfect for the look. And the same colour. I used them previously in my Carnival look.

Keep reading to find out how I recreated this look.

MAKEUP: Carnival

Hey guys and dolls,

A few weeks I posted a very colourful make up look on Instagram. I thought I'd do a run through of what I did and the products I used.

Make up Monday: Demi Lovato Heart Attack Look 2

Hey dolls,

I hope everyone has had a great bank holiday.

Here is the second look I'm replicating from the Demi Lovato Heart Attack video. You can see look 1 here.

This was the softer look of the two, she looked so angelic, that may have been in large part to the white background behind her. She just looked so natural and pretty.

Make up Monday: Demi Lovato Heart Attack Look 1

Hey guys and dolls,

For those of you that live in London I hope you're enjoying the beaut weather today.

I'm a huge Demi Lovato fan and when she released the video for Heart Attack I just could not stop looking at the make up looks from the video. And I'd always intended to re-create it on myself. I saw the video the other day and it reminded me to get off my butt and get a make up look done :)

She had two very different looks in the video, the one I'm gonna do today is the rock chick - very heavy dark smokey eyes, soft cheeks and lips.

Makeup Monday: Sleek Garden of Eden make up look

Hey guys and dolls,

I was swatching my new products and decided to do a quick look using the new Garden Of Eden palette from Sleek. You can see my recent haul here.

Make up Monday: Katy Perry Dark Horse (look 2)

Hey guys and dolls,

Here is the second look inspired by Katy Perry's Dark Horse music video. I loved the whole Egyptian theme throughout the video, and the make up looks were just gorgeous. This has to be my favourite out of the 2 looks I've done. You can see the first look I did here.

Make up Monday: Katy Perry Dark Horse (look 1)

Hey guys and dolls,

I fell in love with the song 'Dark Horse' from the moment I heard it and was so excited when Katy Perry released the video for it. As you could imagine the moment I watched the video my MUA antennas went up and I just had to recreate the looks. 

So here is my take on one of the looks from the video. 

FOTD - Family BBQ

Hey dolls,

First post of September...woooo :)

Last night an old family friend was celebrating his birthday with a BBQ. Good vibes, music, people and the most bomb jerk chicken.

I love any excuse to get dolled up and do my make up. Even if it's just a family function. I've gotten a bit lazy and less adventurous with my make up these days and this has been my go to make up look. 

So here is what I used on my face.

 My everyday make up items.

 Base make up

FIX+

Mac studio fix powder - NW50

Sleek blusher in Flushed

 Avon eyeshadow primer

 

 Sleek Au Naturel palette

Toast - all over the lid

 Bark - the outer corner

Nougat - inner corner highlight

(Not pictured) MAC Shroom - brow highlight

Avon:

Spectra Lash mascara

Supershock black gel pencil

Supershock gel liner pot

I switched out MAC blacktrack fluid line for Avon Supershock gel liner in Shimmering Sapphire. Felt like using a pop of colour.

 Make up brushes

A mix of Inglot, MAC, Avon and a few randoms.

 Rimmel apocalips - Big Bang

The look

 Been rocking the fro a lot lately. But its being retired for the foreseeable future. Too much maintenance.

Keep an eye out for my august favourites coming in the next few days.

Sonya 

Follow Me :)

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*all products mentioned were purchased by me with my own money, everything is my own view and I have not been paid to do this post*

MAC Tropical Taboo

Hey dolls,

I took a little trip down to Westfield (Stratford) and popped into MAC. I dunno the last time I purchased anything from MAC so thought I'd treat myself. As you walked in they had one of their collections right in front of the door and I spotted this gorgeous creamy purple lip gloss and picked up a lip pencil to go with it.

My goodies :)

 MAGENTA Lip Pencil - £12

 Vivid pink-ish purple

I bought the lip pencil to wear underneath Narcissus for longevity.

NARCISSUS Cremesheen glass - £17.50

 I've never tried a cremesheen from MAC before, but this colour was just calling to me. I think there may be a few cheeky purchases in the future. The lip gloss is from the Tropical Taboo collection.

 Its described as a dirty eggplant shade.

 Love the name ;)

Swatches

L-R: Magenta, Narcissus

(Without flash)

Top-Bottom; Magenta, Narcissus

(with flash)

Sonya 

Follow Me :)

Bloglovin

Instagram

Twitter

*all products mentioned were purchased by me with my own money, everything is my own view and I have not been paid to do this post*

How to: Clean your make up brushes

Hey dolls,

Happy Saturday everyone...

We all know that time when it comes to the old boring task of cleaning our makeup brushes. I feel about cleaning my brushes like I do about washing up dishes (which I cant stand). Its really important to clean your brushes as they have bacteria on them that can cause spots. 

We all have different ways to do it. Here is how I clean my brushes.

Spot cleaning

This just is just a quick fix to give your brushes a quick cleanse. You should really deep cleanse them once a week (which I will go into). I have to admit sometimes I'm guilty of not following through with this with my own personal make up brushes. Especially as I have loads of my professional brushes to clean I kinda let my personal ones fall at the waistline, I know I'm terrible, but its fine as I'm the only one using them.

MAC Brush cleanser
If you're a make up lover you know about this brush cleanser. This was the first and ONLY brush cleanser I've ever used. I have others I just have never bothered to use them cos I'm really happy with this one.

What you need:

• Brush cleanser
• Towel
• And of course your brushes :)

How to do it:
I squeeze some of the cleanser onto my brush or I pour some f the cleaner into the lid and dip my brushes in. Then I proceed to wipe the brush backwards and forwards and in circular motions onto a towel. Be sure to use an old towel (NOT one of your mum's good ones haha). If its a really dirty brush just repeat the steps. Once its clean reshape the brush and lay it on its side to dry, it shouldn't take long.

Deep cleansing

Is a way of thoroughly cleansing your brushes. Spot cleaning is like using a dry shampoo and deep cleansing is like how you wash your hair once a week with shampoo.

Mild or baby shampoo:
I use baby shampoo to deep clean my brushes, I got this cheap one from Tesco and its worked fine for me over the years. Sometimes if I have a really stubborn colour I will spot clean my brush in some olive oil then go ahead and shampoo it. I found that has made my brushes really soft.

What you need:

• Shampoo
• Olive oil (for the tougher stains)
• Towel
• Brushes ;-)

How to do it: 
Dampen your brush with some water, I use warm water when I wash mine. Squeeze some shampoo into the palm of your hands and then start swirling the brush around and getting the shampoo between the bristles. Then holding the brush upside down, rinse out the shampoo. Like your hair sometimes you'll need to rinse and repeat, depending on how dirty your brush is.

Its important when washing you brushes to make sure that you don't get any water on the handle or in the ferrule of the brush. The ferrule is the part of the brush beneath the bristles, its the part that holds the brush fibres in the handle. If water gets in there it will damage the brush fibres and melt the glue holing them in place and make your brush moult.

Hopefully this was helpful to some of you.

What are some of your favourite brush cleansers?

Sonya

*all products mentioned were purchased by me with my own money, everything is my own view and I have not been paid to do this post

FOTD - 14/3/12

 Hey guys and dolls,

I have a FOTD for you today. It was my uncle's birthday yesterday and here is what I wore. I used the images I uploaded on Instagram, if you wanna follow my instagram its: Sonyalovesmakeup :)

 

Face: MAC Studio fix powder in NW45

Cheeks: Sleek blush by 3 palette - a mix of Pink Parfait and Pinktini

Eyebrows: Sleek eyebrow pencil - Brown

Eyes:

AVON SuperSHOCK big duo eye pencil

• Hint of Mint - inner half of the lid (as a base)
• Blue Azure  - outer half of the lid (as a base)

Barry M dazzle dust - Lime - inner half of the lid

Barry M dazzle dust - Kingfisher - outer half of the lid

MAC Brun e/s - under the lower lashline

MAC Shroom e/s - highlight

AVON SuperSHOCK gel eyeliner pencil- black on the waterline

MAC Blacktrack fluidline - on the upper lash line

Mascara:

AVON Catwalk SuperCurlacious Mascara - Black

AVON SuperShock mascara - Black

Lips:

Make Up Academy (MUA) Lip gloss Shade 3

 S xxxx