I love this sweeter-than-candy shoot. There’s something so 1990s Just Seventeen magazine about it, from the perfect pink lips to the straight brows and the just perfect hair! I love that her hair doesn’t look real; it looks as if it’s been coated in candy floss. Amazing shoot for Design Scene.
A couple of months ago – yes, months, which shames me – I popped out* to Up to My Eyes in Greystones to have individual lashes attached to my own lashes, in order to give me the appearance of a woman who is blessed with naturally long, full lashes. (I know, the things we do for femininity.)
I’d had lash extensions before, so I knew the drill – individual lashes are glued to the base of your natural lashes (not your skin) – but at Up to My Eyes that’s pretty much all they do, so to say these ladies are experts is a bit of an understatement. I was brought upstairs to the lash treatment area, where I lay down on a memory foam mattress while my therapist painstakingly applied lashes to my closed eyes for approximately two hours. Yes, I fell asleep; and yes, I snored. Several times I woke myself up with little, throaty snorting sounds. So attractive.
And the result? My lashes looked amazing, and for the first time ever that I’ve had false lashes, no one knew instantly that they were fake – even close friends who I’ve known for years remarked upon how lovely my eyelashes were, before asking where they’d come from. (In the past I got the usual, “wow, your lashes look really real, how much were they?”)
And I’ll be honest – I love having fake lashes. My natural lashes are quite short and sparse, so having falsies really makes such a big difference, especially at really stupid, inane moments such as first thing in the morning, or at the gym when you’re not wearing a scrap of make-up! Mine lasted about four or five weeks, at which point they began to fall out naturally (and really I should have had them replaced but found myself too busy doing x or y). A full set of lashes at Up to My Eyes costs €99 and refills (every four to six weeks) cost €40 – so it’s an expensive habit, but a really big part of me (a part I’m currently fighting) thinks it’s worth it!
Have you tried lash extensions? Are you a fan? Can you justify the cost?
* When I say “popped out”, I really mean “made the trek” because, unless Greystones is near where you live, well, it really is not near where you live. But there’s plenty of on-street parking and, when I didn’t have change for the meter (woe!) the women in Up to My Eyes were all to happy to help me out with some change, which was much appreciated.
I seriously need to stop reading the internet – at this rate I’ll be working all night on blog posts and God knows what else! Check out Burger King’s new direction – what do you think? It’s better than this, anyway!
This shoot was done last weekend, with shots taken by the Times’ own Alan Betson and hair and make-up by Emma Farrell. I wanted to go for a very preppy, Tommy Hilfiger feel to the styling – really clean, fresh, wholesome youngsters – and for the hair and make-up to look really natural and almost as if they’d just got out of the water. I was thinking of those Tom Ford ads and Swimfan, in a weird psychological combination.
Check out Liam Gorman’s great article about the Gannon Cup and the painstaking credits for each of the photographs above. What do you think of the styling? And, more importantly, what do you think of those twins? (Yes, I have a twin obsession, so sue me.)
Well, this post does exactly what it says on the tin – it’s the magazine cover we’ve all been waiting for, and doesn’t Cate (age 42) look stunning? Naturally, unphotoshoppedly, stunning. More of this, please.
Now here’s a competition worth getting in there for – worth €190, the lovely folks at Make Up For Ever on Clarendon St have offered me a mother-daughter make-up lesson and makeover for Fash Mob readers! You’ll both be treated to a glass of champagne at the Make Up For Ever HQ in Dublin 2 before your hour-and-a-half lesson begins, tailored to your needs – so, suitable for novices or absolute pros.
To enter, head on over to the Make Up For Ever Facebook page and like it (you obviously already like Fash Mob). Then come back here and leave a comment telling me your funniest mammy memory – everyone’s got one! If you tweet / share the competition, you will make me happy and I will be more likely to let you win. Simple!
The competition closes at midnight on Mother’s Day, March 18th (tomorrow). One entry per person. Good luck!
This foundation came complete with a primer and a brush for application*, with stern warnings that the use of the brush in conjunction with the make-up was critical! All advice I happily ignored. I jettisoned make-up brushes and sponges years ago on the basis they simply absorb half of your overpriced product anyway.
Applied with fingers, this foundation worked quite well. It’s super light and gives off a natural pinky hue. In truth, it’s probably suited to eh . . . more nubile skin. It works the au naturel look very well, though my old-lady skin is probably in the market for something au industriel. Verdict: good, a bit thin for coverage.
Then, purely for review purposes, I applied the same make-up with the brush, and lo – dramatic transformation. Coverage this time was excellent, probably reducing the amount required by a third. Verdict: Made for a much more sculpted, and very natural look.
The primer doesn’t float my boat. Probably evens out skin tone and closes pores, but give me Beauty Flash Balm or Laura Mercier any day for that just-f**ked look. However, the brush effect has certainly made me think twice about using this technique in future.
* I was given a sample kit to try; my tester would prefer to remain anonymous.
I’ve written about Dermablend before, when they released that amazing video with Zombie Boy, but it never occurred to me that it would be a foundation I would particularly like. I have good skin (if I say so myself) with nothing that really needs concealment, bar the odd patch of redness or the occasional blemish, and for daywear I like to wear MAC Face & Body which is one of the lightest coverage foundations out there – so the likelihood of my going for Dermablend‘s ultimate coverage foundation seemed slim, to say the least.
But I am not one to look a gift horse in the mouth – so when Vichy sent me a tube of Dermablend to try out, I thought, what’s the worst that can happen? By some miracle, the sample they sent out – which is no 25, Nude – was almost the exact match for my skin (it’s a little bit darker, but nothing that a bit of bronzer on the neck doesn’t fix) and so I found that I could give it a good week’s trial with no one being too much the wiser. Except for, oh yeah, the fact that this make-up is amazing. Honestly – I put this on in the morning and instantly my skin is smoother, clearer, more even, and it lasts all day long.
See this picture?
That is, quite literally, the difference it makes. It’s astonishing; I feel so much more made up with it on, and while other foundations fade and rub off during the day, this really doesn’t – although I’ll admit I haven’t tested the 16-hour claims. It’s replaced my Estee Lauder Double Wear as my going-out make-up of choice, and when I’m on television there really is no comparison. What’s more, it feels really silky on my skin and not heavy and cloying like some heavy-duty foundations tend to.
The only downside I’ve found is that, through prolonged wear, it can really dry out my skin – and my skin is oily to begin with. So if I wear this for three or four days, you can bet I have serious dry patches by the end. I can imagine for those of you with dry skin, this would start to show up a little sooner, so it’s worth bearing in mind.
I don’t believe that anyone really needs a super heavy-duty foundation for everyday wear, but for the occasional bit of extra making-up, Dermablend definitely does it for me.
Does this sound like something you’d like to try? It’s available from most pharmacies and priced at €21, which is less than you’ll pay for most high-end brands. The only catch is that it comes in but five shades, so you might be lucky – or, more likely, you might be unlucky … Let me know how you get on!
When I saw this video, I was just dying to see how Cher got her flawless finish – so I asked Emma Farrell, make-up artist extraordinaire, to have a go at seeing if we could recreate it at home.
Serious architectural shoes by Finsk – I felt so sorry for the models in these shoes, but there wasn’t so much as a stumble!
I also loved the socks with the shoes – this is a trend that is not going anywhere, either – although I haven’t quite managed to pull it off myself yet. I think it’s because my calves aren’t modelesque enough …
Those covetable Cambridge Satchel Company lovelies …
I seriously loved these ombré lips, too – so sexy yet not overtly so. Check out this tutorial – swap out for black eyeliner and a red lipstick and you’re set!
Pics via Getty Images
