FOTD - Friday's Face

Hello my Dears!

I hardly ever (as in "I've done it once I think.") FOTD posts but as I really enjoy reading other people's to check out how they put a look together and get inspiration on colour combos and products to try out, I've decided to try and do one of these every Friday from now on.

I moisturised my skin with Simply Kind to Skin Replenishing Rich Moisturiser and popped some Garnier SkinNaturals UltraLift Anti-Wrinkle Firming Eye Cream on my eye area (don't you love a nice, short-and-to-the-point product name...).

And now on to my Make Up!

As it is pretty spring-like around here (here being the North East close to the Scottish border) I felt like creating a natural face with lightly bronzed skin, a peachy blush and some shiny lips.

I applied one layer of my L'Oreal Nude Magique Eau de Teint Foundation in 110 "Warm Ivory" (1.) with my fingertips starting from the centre of my face and blending it out towards the edges of my face.  I then popped a very thin second layer on my cheek area and my chin.

I love the finish this foundation gives - glowy but natural and once it has set on to the skin I can't even feel that it's there.

(I need to be very careful though when getting it out the bottle as it is very liquid and has a certain mess potential).

I set my foundation with a light layer of my  Bourjois Healthy Balance Powder in 52 "Vanilla" (2.) and then lightly contoured my face with my new Physicians Formula Mineral Wear Talc-Free Airbrushing Bronzer (3.).  This bronzer works great for my somewhat pale skin and looks extremely natural.

I popped some peach baked blusher by Milani in the shade 05 "Luminoso" (4.) and placed it just on my cheek bones blending it carefully.  I topped this already luminous blush off with just the lightest touch of the "To Reflect Shimmer Palette" (5.) from Wet n Wild's Fergie Collection - this highlighter creates the most gorgeous, subtle champagne-coloured highlight.

Moving on to my eyes I applied a light, golden champagne shade on my lids (1.) and blended a light, bronze colour (2.) through my crease to give some natural defintion to my eye area. I just love my new Physicians Formula Shimmer Strips in Nude!

I finished my eye look off by applying a double coat of my Max Factor Wild Mega Volume Mascara in "Black" to my top lashes only.

I finished my "Friday's Face" off with a slick of Maybelline's  super glossy Color Elixir Liquid Color Balm in 025 "Mauve Mystique".

Thanks so much for reading this post and have a great weekend!

What's on your face today?

It would be great if you subscribed to ensure that you are always the first to read my new posts!

See you soon!

Mountainbeauty2013

*All views expressed in this blog post are my own*

US & UK Makeup Swap with "Beauty with SandyNoemy"!

After some hold up in customs and a somewhat annoying VAT Bill my US swap package from from Sandy Noemy arrived! 

(Current state of play: Gifts are tax free up to a value of £36, any purchases are tax free up to a value of £15)

(You can check out her blog "Beauty with SandyNoemy" here  and read her swap post here, follow her on Twitter here and check out her Instagram here).

I was super excited to open it and play with its contents!

This post will just be an overview as there is just too much stuff to go into detail :), so I'll be doing separate "Brand Focus" posts over the next couple of weeks to do all the lovely products justice!

These are all the products I got - it was a bit difficult to get them all in one picture...!

Here is an overview of all the super awesome eyeshadows I got!

Lovely neutral colours!

Clockwise from the top:
Sally Girl - Single Eyeshadows in "Midnight", "Brick", "Cranberry", "Cinammon" & "Champagne"
Physicians Formula - Shimmer Strips Custom Eye-Enhancing Shadow & Liner Nude Collection
L'Oreal - Infallible Shadow in 892 "Amber Rush"
Wet n Wild -  8 Pan Palette "Comfort Zone"Middle
NYC - Sparke Eye Dust in "Smokey Topaz"

A handy travel-friendly palette!

E.L.F.-  Beach Beauty 28 piece night palette

Green & purple hues!

Clockwise from the top:Cover Girl -  Eyeshadow Pencil Flamed Out Collection in 350 "Melted Caramel Flame"
Revlon - Color Stay 12 Hour Eyeshadow in 21 "Silver Fox"Maybelline - Color Tattoo Pure Pigments in 5 "Never Fade Jade" and 50 "Forest Fatale"
Almay - Intense I-Color in "414 for green eyes"

Colours made for smokey eyes looks!

Clockwise from the top:Wet n Wild -  Coloricon palette in 248 "Lust"
Cover Girl - Smokey Shadow Blast in "Purple Plum"Wet n Wild  - 3 pan palette in "Don't steal my thunder"
E.L.F. - Brightening Eye Color in "Teal Dream"
Wet n Wild -  "Take on the Day" eyeshadow primer

Quite a few mascaras to try out!

Clockwise from the top:Physicians Formula -  Organic Wear in "Ultra Black"
Smash Box - Full Exposure Mascara (trial size)Covergirl  - Bombshell Volume by lashblast mascara in 800 "Very Black"
Covergirl - Flamed Out Mascara in 325 "Very Black" (water resistant)
Pixi-  Lash Booster Mascara in No. 2 "Blackest Black" (trial size)

Now moving on to face products!

Clockwise from the top:
Physicians Formula - Happy Booster Glow and Mood Boosting Blush in "Pink"
L'Oreal - Project Runaway Super Blendable  Blush in "The Queen's Blush"
Milani - Baked Powder Blush in 05 "Luminoso"
Physicians Formula -  Mineral Wear Talc-Free  Mineral Airbrushing Brozer SPF30
Wet n Wild - Fergie Centrestage Collection in "To Reflect Shimmer Palette"

Clockwise from the top:
Maybelline - Master Glaze Facestudio Blushstick in 10 "Just Pinched Pink"
Revlon - Whipped Cream Foundation in 110 "Ivory"
Sally Hansen - Natural Beauty Luminizing Face Primer

And here  is the most amazing selection of lip products - liquid lipsticks, balm sticks, classic lipstick and glosses!

I can't even remember how long I've hankered after Maybelline Color Whispers!

Left to right:
Maybelline - Color Whispers in 20 "Mocha Muse", 50 "Cherry on Top" and 40 "Orange Attitude"

The Revlon Colorburst Lacquer & Matte Balms have now also come out in the UK and I've already earmarked them for getting additional colours as they are such a fab product!

Left to right:
Revlon - Colorburst Lacquer Balm in 150 "Enticing" and 130 "Tease"Revlon - Colorburst Matte Balm in 220 "Show" and 250 "Standout"

These super shiny Maybelline Color Elixir Liquid Color Balms are just too fantastic for words!

Left to right:
Maybelline - Color Elixir Liquid Color Balm in 025 "Mauve Mystique" and 080 "Captivating Carnation"

Super long-lasting lip stains!

Top to bottom:
Wet n Wild - Megalast in
"Back to the Fuchsia" and "Pocketful of Roses"

More gloss & one long-lasting lipstick!

Top to bottom:Almay - Liquid Lip Balm in 700 "Cantaloupe Cream"
NYC - Liquid Lipshine in "Clear"
Wet n Wild - Mega Last Matte Lipstick in "Cherry Bomb"

She clearly identified my love for all things lip-balmy!

Left to right
Maybelline - Babylips Dr. Rescue in 55 "Coral Crave" and 45 "Just Peachy", Babylips in 50 "Twinkle" (LE), 70 "Coral Crush" (LE), 95 "Strike a Pose" and 70 "Pink Shock"

Top to bottom:
Cover Girl - Lipslicks Smoochies in "Tweet me" (2x) and "Text me"

Thank you very much again for my super amazing swatch package - I had loads of fun putting together and planning this swap with you and it would be great to do it again!

You can check out her post on the UK half of the swap here!

I'm sure I'll enjoy these products loads & my first swatches and try outs have already shown me that they are fabulous and that the colour selection is very me!

Thanks so much for reading this post.

Have you done an international beauty swap?

It would be great if you subscribed to ensure that you are always the first to read my new posts!

See you soon!

Mountainbeauty2013

*All views expressed in this blog post are my own*

New Year Inspiration #2014bloggerchallenge

In the two weeks leading up to the "Going Live" date of the #2014bloggerchallenge, I was considering what inspires me and is really a defining feature in my life. Now this being a blog with somewhat of a beauty bias you - and maybe even me - might have expected that my defining inspiration sprang from somewhere in the beauty sphere.

However, thinking about if the one thing which has shaped every year since I turned 17 and after having wanted to experience it for much longer, came into my life just before my 18 birthday (no, I'm not talking about sex): 

Skiing.

(I should also add that I met my future husband which I'm going to marry on 18 January in Innsbruck on the way to a week's skiing holiday in the Italian Dolomites).

I was hooked from the first day I carefully slid down the beginner slope, very much focused on progressing on to the "real mountain" - and that I did!

For me skiing proved to be one of those things that once experienced never let you go again - a bit like possible (allegdly) heroin addiction and also possibly as or even more costly than a Class A habit.

However, for me it was a bit like an ephiphany - I live to ski. When I'm not skiing, I quite possibly think about skiing, when to go next, for how long, where, whether to opt for experiencing new slopes, mountain ranges or even countries or to go an revisit old favourites (as no run ever is the same anyway due to chaning conditions and people around or just due to the way you feel while you are skiing it).

So therefore here is a little bit of a picture collection of my first ever skiing trip which has inspired and motivated me to improve further and to push myself harder ever since!

(also will give a nice flashback to 90s ski fashion...)

 

And this is how it all began!

Please leave your links below if you are doing #2014bloggerchallenge!

Thanks so much for reading this post.

It would be great if you subscribed to ensure that you are always the first to read my new posts!

See you soon!

Mountainbeauty2013


*All views expressed in this blog post are my own*