All the Berries

You know it's Autumn when its acceptable to rock that dark lip or smokey eye without being in a club and as we go into the colder months, I find myself wearing far too many berry shades, not just beauty products but some fashion items as well and so I thought why not share with you all the berry items I have been loving!
Just recently I have found myself wanting to wear a lot more purple and berry tones on my eyes which is a little different from my usual neutrals that I find to be a safe place as far as eye makeup is concerned. But what is a change in season without a change in makeup? And so I've been reaching for my Morphe Jaclyn Hill Favourites palette and to be specific, the bottom two rows have been what I've been using more than anything. This palette was limited edition but the shadows can all be bought separately from Morphe, and a few shades I would recommend are 24, 74, 11, 48, 68 and 71 but I love these shadows because they are so pigmented and easy to blend out! But I feel like with palettes that contain such a wide variety of shadows, can you really go far wrong?
Another palette I have been using is the MAC Burgundy x9, which as the name suggests contains nine shadows all based around the burgundy colour. I love these palettes because they are so small but you do get nine shadows which makes them perfect for travelling or on the go because you can create so many different looks and it won't take up a lot of space. However I must admit I do find that these shadows aren't as pigmented and easy to blend as the regular size shadows but it's only a little bit of extra effort which I really don't mind! The shade range in this palette is also a positive and I found that a lot of the shades were ones I was thinking about purchasing anyway and so it was a cheaper alternative to buying the individual shadows.

Staying with the theme of eyeshadow, I have been using the Kiko Long Lasting Shadow Stick in shade 37 as a base for some of the berry toned looks I've been wearing.I love this shadow stick because it is a true burgundy colour but I find that it doesn't crease at all during the day and it's one of those products that you can just chuck on blend out and wear alone if you wanted to! And for a shadow that looks shimmery in the stick, I have to say that when it's on the lid, it isn't chunky glitter, it is shimmery more than anything and if layered up and made completely opaque, it looks almost like a foiled shadow! But I find that shadow sticks are always handy for throwing in your makeup bag as well, and since trying this one from Kiko I feel the need to own more!
The last eyeshadow I have been wearing a lot is from Makeup Geek and its the shade Bitten which is a matte deep purple with red undertones to it, and I like to use this mostly in my crease and outer v to really deepen up the eyes, but this is a shade that could be worn on the lid if you wanted a really dark purple look! I also find that when I'm doing a more smoked out look, this is a shadow that can be used on the bottom lash line but is also a shadow that is so easy to blend out without it looking too much! But I would highly recommend all Makeup Geek shadows because they are crazy good quality for the small price tag!
If you're not into the whole berry toned look for the eyelids, then I also have a lot of things that you could use for the lips to make yourself look autumnal! Personally I find that when working with darker or bold lipsticks, that I always want to use a lipliner, and so I have two different ones that I tend to use for most of the lipsticks that I'm going to mention. The first one is a MAC Lipliner in the shade Nightmoth, which is pretty intense and dark lipliner for the deeper berry shades, however I do find that this lipliner all over the lips with the Rimmel 107 lipstick on top looks really nice because you have the deep purple mixed with the more red toned purple on top!

Another lipliner I like to use which also isn't as pricey, is the Maybelline Colour Sensational Lipliner in the shade Midnight Plum which is a lot more berry toned and lighter in colour, and I find that this lipliner looks good on it's own as well as under lipsticks! I like to pair this lipstick with the Gerard Cosmetics lipstick in the shade Berry Smoothie which as the name suggests is a berry toned lipstick that is very wearable, and this is one that I would recommend to anyone who wants to start wearing darker or bolder lipsticks because it's easy to wear and isn't too in your face if you're not too used to wearing purple toned lipsticks!
A new lipstick that I have recently added to my collection is the Revlon Super Lustrous Lipstick in the shade Black Cherry, and this is a dark lipstick so I would only recommend this is if you are someone who is used to wearing dark purples otherwise this could be too much! I have seen this been compared to the Charlotte Tilbury Glastonberry lipstick and if you are looking for a cheaper alternative, I would recommend picking this up! The only downside to this lipstick is that you do have to keep it topped up uring the day as it does have a tendency to wear off quicker than a higher end lipstick would but this is only to be expected by a drugstore lipstick!
The final lipstick that I have to talk about is the Maybelline Colour Drama Lipstick in the shade Berry Mulch, and I love these lipsticks, I think I now have four shades and they are lipsticks that are so easy to use because of the pencil shape that they are in. I find that I can use this lipsticks to line my lips as well as fill them in and even the darker shades wear pretty well for the price they are! Berry Mulch is a beautiful shade, and it is a true berry which isn't too dark and I also find that these lipsticks are so hydrating even after wearing them for a full day!

New Routine with Old Products

Entering the colder months can only mean one thing, a bit of mix up in the make up department and lately I have found myself reaching for the same products when it comes to my eye make up! And with only three staples (sometimes four, depending on laziness levels), it's becoming a quick and easy routine!

Remember when the Maybelline 24 hour Colour Tattoos made first made their appearance, well I was one of those who went and bought one in almost every colour and then forgot to use them as they got thrown to the back of drawers! But alas, I have found a use for them, and I'm beginning to wonder why I waited this long to start wearing them. The shade I have been wearing pretty much everyday (what a creature of habit I am) is On and On Bronze which yes, you guessed it, is a bronze!

Before I use the Colour Tattoo, I prime my eyes with the MAC Paint Pot in Soft Ochre, which I know seems crazy, using two cream shadows but I feel like these paints pots really do help keep eye shadow in any format in place, which is great for people like me with oily lids! But back to the contender of this post, I then put the colour tattoo all over the lid with a finger and then use a clean finger to blend out all the edges before adding any more to the lid if I feel like the colour isn't opaque enough.

After the shadow is how I want it to look, I use mascara and I haven't had a particular mascara that I've been using at the moment, instead of being using a variety but I am enjoying the Rimmel Wonderfull Mascara and the Maybelline Falsies Volume Express Mascara but those are the three main products that I have been using on a day to day basis. However, I have decided to add in a little bit of colour with the Urban Decay Naked palette on rare days, I have been taking the shade Half Baked and just placing that on the centre of the lid and blending out and this adds a lovely golden shimmer to the already bronze tones that are there!

This make up look is so quick and easy to achieve, I would suggest it to those of you who don't like to spend too much time of eye make up, or simply don't have enough time to spend on it because this is something that can be worn for pretty much anything!

How many of you have been hoarding the Colour Tattoo's in the back of the make up stash? Time to dig them out and start using them!

Autumn Preparations

September is upon us and that means Autumn is coming and for anyone else like me, this is exciting. I've always been someone who enjoys the colder months and so knowing that winter is coming, I cannot wait! Not only am I excited because it's getting colder, but it means I can change what I'm wearing both make up wise and clothing wise.

With all the AW14 previews making an appearance, I've spotted a few things I'd like to pick up and it's also given me the chance to sort through my make up and pick out some items that are more suited to the upcoming months.

Blog Post ~ Autumn Preparations by abigailwilliams95 featuring black high waisted jeans

Blog Post ~ Autumn Preparations #2 by abigailwilliams95 featuring Miss Selfridge