Ariana Grande Look and Lipstick Review

Hello everyone!

If you follow me on instagram then you will have seen I purchased the new Ariana Grande lipstick from the Viva Glam collection due to the release of her latest album 'Dangerous Woman'.

As you can see, the lipstick is very dark which is meant to be the 'Dangerous Woman' side of a girl. There is also a matching lip gloss for the duo but it was unfortunately out of stock. The lip gloss is in the MAC lip glass formula and is a very pale pink with tiny glitter bits in it which is meant to be the innocent side in a girl.

The lipstick has a matte finish which can be a bit drying. The formula of this one is not as chalky as some of the other MAC lipsticks however I would highly recommend moistursing your lips prior as flaky bits of skin on the lips really show up on dark colours like this. It does tend to crease a little in the corners of the mouth but overall I love the colour. It is a very bold dark purple, and I love it! It is probably as close to black as I would go for a lip colour without actually going for black.

I decided to do a whole makeup look to go with this dark and sultry lip, so started by doing a smokey eye using tape at the side of the eyes to create this dramatic edge without using liner. I loved the sharpness of this look, and I used concealer to really neaten up the edges.

Next I had to add the signature Ariana pony/ half up do style.




I scooped up the whole of my hair as if to do a pony tail but then left the back loose and down. This style adds length to the hair as it cleverly looks as if your hair is tied up but actually has the length of your loose hair. I added a chunky side fringe which she sometimes sports. I finally smoothed some oil through my hair to make it look sleek, smooth and shiny like Ariana's

And this is the final look. Although I felt the look was quite dramatic, I got used the dramatic look throughout the day. I would probably only do the whole ensemble for an evening event due to the darkness of the whole look.

Cloud Nails

  

Hello everyone, today's nails are inspired from the 'iScream nails' nail art book I got when I was in Melbourne.
These little cloud nails are so cute so I felt like these should be the first nails I do from the book.



I love the colour scheme they used so I copied it exactly. I started off using a baby blue. I used my blueberry scented Model's Own polish as a base. As the purple is a pastel colour I first used a pastel purple however this did not show up at all. It is better to use a darker colour than will fade into a pastel shade when it is blended with the pastel blue. I went for my Michael Kors polish called 'Envy'.

It was tempting to leave the manicure as it is because it is sch a pretty ombre, however I knew the little clouds would just top it off. With a nail art pen, I painted thick blobs onto my dotting tool and did clusters of dots to form clouds. At first, mine all looked the same so I went back and made them more irregular shapes which looked much more effective.

I absolutely LOVE this manicure. It is so cute and simple and can be really easily recreated. Watch out for more recreations from the iScream nails book because there are some great designs in there! If only I had the actual iScream Nails polish too!

Instagram Update

 Hello everyone! It's been a long time since I have done a ManiMonday but here we are.

If you couldn't tell already, this manicure is inspired by the new Instagram update that happened last week.

It has been a little controversial, some people comparing it to Windows Power Point programme where you could ombre the backgrounds, however after a few days of getting used to it, I think I like it.

I did this as a manicure as I thought the colours were perfect for getting us into the mood for the summer evening we have been starting to get.

For this manicure, I had to give it a few tries before I got it right. In the end, the winning solution was to start with a white base, then using the right angle of a sponge, painting on a half rainbow of colours and then sponging like that.

The colours I used were:

Lemon - Barry M

Speed Dial - Ciate

Scorchin' Hot - Seche

Purple Burst - Jessica (Neon collection)

Although the actual logo has hints of pink and blue, I found my purple was quite pinky, and the blue just darkened the whole look and didn't make it look as nice.

What do you think of the new Instagram? and on that note... don't forget to follow me at whatalooker

Turning Myself into Snapchat Filters

I will be the first one to admit that I have arrived so late to the Snapchat party it's unreal! Having only just got it back after a failed first try, my friend pointed out that I have missed out on 13 months of amazing snap chat stories from my travels. Besides the wasted opportunity to brag, I have found myself opening Snapchat excitedly every day to see what new filters it has in store for that day.

If you follow me (stephlooker) then you will tend to just usually see me trying on every single filter and having a giggle to myself.

One particular favourite of mine is this bejeweled beauty.

One thing I love about these filters is that you can be sat there with no makeup on and look fantastic because the makeup looks fairly realistic!

This diamond eyes look got my creative juices flowing and I thought as festival season is coming up, this would be a great look to wear when you don't have concealer to hand to cover up those 3-days-of-no-sleep dark circles.

For my look, I did put makeup on underneath just to replicate the dark eyes, pink cheeks and lips. I used all the products below, and used eyelash glue as the adhesive to attach the little gems I had. I was given these as a gift so can't say where they are from but if you go onto any nail art suppliers, costume or craft shops, I'm sure you could find them there.

I made the mistake of wearing skin makeup when I recreated this look which made the gems and glue harder to stick to my face. This is another reason why this look would be great at a festival as you just need clean bare skin for it to last.

Using tweezers, I picked up the gems and made a vague triangle outline over the area I wanted the gems, and then I filled it in using green, white, yellow and purple gems.

Although the gems in the filter are slightly chunkier, these lasted for ages and have a more delicate look.

I wore my Clinique chubby stick in watermelon and then really rosey'd up my cheeks and this is the finished look!

I can see myself doing more Snapchat filter looks in the future so let me know if you have any suggestions! There is also the pop art tear look that reminds me of a look a did a while ago now.

 To read all about how I did that look, click here

Caudalie Vinosource Skincare

As you may know by now, I am a big fan of French brand Caudalie. In the past I have blogged about the various body care products as well as other skin care ranges, however I have noticed that the Vinosource has been popping up a lot on different social media platforms recently which I think is down to the recent repackaging of the Vinosource range which looks beautiful. I still have the old packaging unfortunately as I think the new ombre pinks for the range look so sweet and would look amazing as a collection on your beauty table.

I have written about this range before but I thought I would do a little updated version.

The Vinosource range is for dehydrated skin. Its Polyphenols are the most powerful antioxidants in the world, and the grape water is instantly hydrating. The scent is sweet and the products are light, perfect now we are coming into summer and the weather is heating up.

I have used a majority of the products from the range, excluding the moistirsing midnight recovery oil which retails at £26.00 is on my wish list!

The 'S.O.S Thirst Quenching Serum' is designed to go right down to the deeper layers of skin, and to hydrate them so they're healthy and plump for when they reach the skins surface. This serum absorbs so quickly and leaves your skin feeling really soft, and a perfect, plump base for your moisturiser and makeup. The serum is only £29.00 which is amazing value for such a beautiful product.

The 'Moisturising Sorbet' which retails at  £23.00, has calming chamomile, and again, absorbs really quickly into the skin. The smell is beautiful and a little goes a long way. I love that it is called a sorbet, as it makes you think of a mouth watering exotic dessert in the summer. Saying this, the sorbet is perfect for me during the summer but I find in the winter I prefer something thicker. This is where the option of the 'Moisture Recovery Cream' from the range would do a better job, and even the 'Intense Moisture Rescue Cream' for particularly dry skin.

To really complete the collection, I have also been using the 'S.O.S Morning Eye Rescue', which is a beautifully light and cooling eye cream that hydrates the delicate skin under the eye. Again, the smell of this is lovely, and the light consistency doesn't block the pores under your eyes, and leaves you feeling refreshed and ready for your day. As it's hydrating, it also plumps the skin and reduces the look of dark circles.

If you are wanting to try a natural skincare range then my first suggestion would always be Caudalie. It is such a beautiful brand and every single product excites me.