Step by Step guide to Highlighting and Contouring

Hey Lovelies!

Okay so you know how everyone thinks that highlighting and contouring is hard? Well ... that's just plain not true. You could do it with your eyes closed!

Honestly it's super simple and once you have the right products (you only need 3 - a Foundation about 3 shades darker than your skin colour/ Bronzer, a Highlighter & a Blush) then this must-know makeup technique becomes a walk in the park. Seriously, if I can do it, then you definitely can too.

See the diagram below? All you have to do is follow it and apply the products as shown. It's as simple as that... sort of like colouring by numbers!

STEP 1: Apply your dark foundation/ bronzer to the brown areas;

STEP 2: Next apply your highlighter (I dab it on with my fingers) to all the yellow areas;

STEP 3: Then apply your blush to the pink bits.

Finally get out your big fluffy blending brush and BLEND BLEND BLEND!

Honestly, this (the blending, that is) is THE most important step when it comes to highlighting and contouring. You need to keep blending until you can't see any lines or where one colour starts or the other stops.

And watch those sculpted cheekbones emerge.

Look at you ... you're a Brazilian goddess!

So....what do you think? Think you can do it? You KNOW you can! Go on, get sculpting and have fun with it.

Until next time, Love ya lovelies!

xxx

Amiena

Subscribe if you found this helpful, or drop me a comment and let me know how you're getting on with it. Xxx

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas !

Oh my! With Halloween done and the stores already dressed up in baubles and tinsel, I swear it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

I become crazily excited getting Harris' gifts that I almost pass out with pleasure. Just as good is squirreling them away in the dark recesses of my cupboards, then snatching stealthy hours to wrap and set them out for when he wakes on on Christmas morning... it's the best BEST thing ever! 

Added to that, my guilty pleasure: Christmas songs and Chris Rea's husky voice on repeat with Driving Home for Christmas ... .

What's the 1 thing you love most about Christmas? And what's your favourite Christmas song?

Happy Halloween with Darth Vadar

Halloween came to Little Hands Montessori with lots of spooky shenanigans on Friday 31 October.

Harris (Darth Vadar) and his motley crew of vampires, bats, ladybugs, fairies, princesses, skeletons, pirates, Bob the Builder and all manner of ghoulish characters celebrated the occasion with great gusto and lots of sugary sweet tric-a-treating.

.

Makeup on the Run - under 3 minutes!!!

How to go from Blah to Bombshell in just 3 minutes, using just 3 drugstore products.

 

It’s 8am and you’ve got to be at work in exactly 30 minutes and instead you’re staring at a tired bare face sorely in need of makeup.
What to do?! EEEEEKKK!

Right! Take a deep breath and stay calm. Help is at hand (I think)

I’m going to let you in on what I do. It’s not perfect by any means and I cheat a bit by doubling up on one of the products but hey, it gets the job done, and all in under 3 minutes!

 STEP 1.

 

Using my Garnier BB Cream (Combination to Oily Skin) in colour - medium

I draw a ‘triangle’ under each eye and BLEND.

Dab a dot on each eyelid and BLEND.

Dab another dot on my upper lip and BLEND.

(I only use BB Cream on my problem areas i.e. undereye circles, eyelid, upper lip)

 STEP 2.

 

Using my Yardley Supermoist Lipstick in Cranberry Crème

I slick some on my lips.

Draw little x’s on the apple of each cheek and BLEND for a natural blush.

 STEP 3.

Using my Loreal Volume Million Lashes Excess Mascara

I liberally coat my lashes. 

 Then just a quick fluff of my hair, and VOILA I’m ready to step out! 

All in under 3 minutes!

If you dont want it then you better TAKE THE RING OFF IT

5 months since my divorce … and I’m still wearing my engagement ring.

The wedding band’s long ago been chucked to some long forgotten drawer. That happened almost two years back when we first separated and honestly I don’t know where it is. About the same time, I moved my engagement ring to my right hand and it’s stayed there. All well and good …

BUT … we’ve been divorced for 5 months and … It’s. Still. There.

And lately I’ve been wondering about that.

Here’s what started all the wondering. A couple of weeks back I got sucked into having a smokey eye done at one of those pop-up makeup kiosks in Cavendish Square. My cheeky makeup artist when surveying her handiwork at the end of my makeover said, ‘baby, hubby gonna luuuurve you tonight!’. Straightaway I said ‘I’m not married, I’m divorced’.

To which my paragon of wisdom, planting her talons on her skinny-ass hips says, “why you still wearing his ring hmm?!” and I sputtered out something along the lines of ‘cos I can, it’s mine and I still think its really pretty.’ Well she fixed me with an eye something awful and pursing her nude glossed lips said “long’s you wearing dat ring baby, you pushin all dem good men away.” And … well … I couldn’t think of a single comeback, so I just laughed it off and quickly got us onto a safer topic.

But see I am still wearing the ring. And for the life of me… I don’t really know why. Do I want him back? No. Do I still love him? No. If there was a chance in hell at a reunion, would I still want to be married to him? Heck no.   

… so what’s the holdup?