Quick Make-up Tips: Lips

Try giving your lipstick shades a boost by combining lipstick with lip gloss!

This will add extra oomph to your pout for a great night out look.

Bridal Photo Shoot at High Elms

Hello all my lovely readers,

I thought I would fill you in on my lovely day yesterday, I have recently been speaking to a local photographer about setting up some bridal photo shoots and yesterday was our first one together. After a rough start (as the model we booked didn't show up) but Amy the hair stylist managed to find a friend to fill in and it turned out to be a great day!!!! 

The photographer was Rob Purbrick of Purpix Media and Photography, see more of his amazing work here www.purpix.co.uk

The Hair Stylist was Amy Hemmings a freelance Hair Stylist

The Florist was Liz Williams of Williams Wedding Florist, see more of her lovely work here www.williamsweddingflorist.com/

And of course, the make-up artist was me! Take a look at more of my work here www.daniduffymakeup.co.uk/beauty.html

The shoot was at High Elms Manor in Watford, check out the location here www.highelmsmanor.com/

And the lovely model was called Fran.

We set up for a lovely bridal shoot, wanting a very natural look and that's definitely what we achieved.  Here are a few sneaky peeks at the images from yesterday.

Here's me and Fran, just putting the finishing touches to the lips,

Here's Liz adjusting her lovely flower hairpiece

The first finished hairstyle 

The amazing Fran looking lovely as a natural bride.   I kept the look very simple and light to make sure Fran's lovely skin and delicate freckles glowed through. I added some colour and highlighter to the apples of the cheeks and kept the look fresh-looking and summery.

 We then changed the look slightly and made it a bit stronger to match this lovely dark interior of this room. We also got to try out this lovely headpiece.

Here's a picture of the lovely stairs at High Elms Manor

And just a couple of shots showing how much fun we had during the day!

The day was a complete success and we all really enjoyed it! Fran looked amazing and really helped us all capture the images that we wanted.

Hope you all liked them too, I can't wait to see the final photographs!

Quick Make-up Tips: Cheeks

When picking a highlighter for your cheeks, choose a light champagne colour if you have fair to medium skin.  For darker skins, choose a pale gold shimmer.

Quick Make-up Tips: Eyes

Apply white eye liner to the inner corners of the eye (& waterline) for instant brightening effects

Quick Make-up Tips: Lips

To add some extra volume to your lips, try using a high shimmer shade of lipgloss all over the lips. This will add dimension to the lips as the light bounces of the shimmer particles

Make Up Tip No.3 - How to choose and apply the right concealer

Do you ever look at yourself in the mirror and think, where on earth did those bags come from? I know I do!

Whether it was a heavy night, not enough sleep or just natural shadows we all have those off days when our under eye shadows can really get us down. So rather than skulking back under the duvet, be proud of your skin and use some concealer to hide those under eye circles.

Image courtesy of http://www.hellomagazine.com

To begin with, don't get confused between colour correctors and concealers. Colour correcting products should be used to even out skin undertones and wont help to conceal blemishes and under eye circles.

When choosing your concealer, pick a colour that is closest to your foundation colour and skin tone.  The colour should exactly match your skin to give a flawless look. You should also consider the consistency when picking your concealer products, to cover blemishes opt for a creamier consistency whereas a more fluid formula is better for covering under eye circles.

To apply, use your ring finger (as it applies less pressure) and dab small dots of concealer along the under eye area and then gently press into the skin.  The skin around your eyes is so delicate you should not rub this area.

Apply concealer before your foundation, then apply foundation in the normal manner.  If required add a touch more concealer on top and then dust with translucent powder to set.

Happy Concealing my lovelies!!

Product Review: Model in a Bottle

Hello lovely followers,

I have recently discovered an amazing blog and website called makeupgeek.com, the main artist on there Marlena has some great tutorials and looks.

So while I was at work, I checked out a few of her video’s and a very interesting one was of her showing her followers what she packs for a Bridal Shoot.

http://www.makeupgeek.com/articles-reviews/how-to-pack-your-traincase-for-bridal-work/

In this video, there was one product that really jumped out at me, it was the Model In a Bottle: Make up setting spray.  I had never heard of this product before but as I have a couple of Wedding Make-ups booked, I was intrigued and just had to try it.


This item is made in the USA and as far as I could tell from a quick scan of the internet in my lunch break, there aren’t many places that sell this.  However, there are a few UK based sellers on Ebay that do!  So I managed to get my hands on a bottle for £16 (including free delivery) and it was at my door within 48 hours!  I couldn’t believe it!

So today, as part of my more dramatic work look, I finished it all off with a couple of sprays of this Model in a Bottle.  The packaging tells you to apply your make up as usual, wait for your mascara to dry.  Close your eyes and spray evenly 1-2 inches from your face and then wait 20-30 seconds for it to dry before opening your eyes.

I have to admit, I was sceptical I didn't think there could be anything that could keep my make-up on for the whole day!  Be warned, this isn't a miracle cure, your make up does still fade and run slightly but I don't think anything will ever stop that completely (but we can keep hoping).  But it does work!  For the first time in a long time I have actually returned from work and I still have a full face of make up on!

I’m prone to breakouts, especially on my chin, so usually by the time I come home I look like I went out with no make up on.  OK, so maybe I’m exaggerating a bit but I still look worse than when I went to work.  But today, I looked loads better! Hmm, maybe I’m not explaining this properly, today I came home with a full face of foundation still (a bit oily in the normal area’s but as I said its not a miracle cure), I still had colour on my cheeks and my eye shadow was in tact.

To summarize, this product is a hit!! At £16 for a bottle, that is said to hold 300 sprays I think this will become a permanent resident in my make up kit and on my shoots.

Fridays Question Time

What would you do if you were the last person on Earth?

I think I would have to run through all the designer clothes shops I could never afford to shop in and try on all the wonderful clothes and shoes!!

Make Up Tip No.2 - How to choose the perfect foundation

Choosing the right shade of foundation is a very crucial part of your make up routine and it’s one that you can easily get very wrong - Which is why there are so many Oompa Loompa’s walking around nowadays (you all know exactly who I mean!)

Foundation should never be used to add a tan to your skin, but should be used to create a flawless base for the rest of your make up. Think of yourself as an artist and where you have to prepare your canvas before applying the paints.

The shade of foundation you choose should perfectly match your skin tone (not darker or lighter) an the tip to find this is to lightly apply the foundation along your jawline and see if it disappears when you blend it. You use the jawline because it is an area on your face that is least touched by blemishes. Now I know this may make you look a tad silly when you’re standing in the aisle of Boots but trust me it’s worth it when you can walk around with perfect looking skin.

It is also important to check the colour in natural light rather than artificial to make sure the colour is right for you!