Get Ready With Me: Royal Variety Show Using Smashbox 'Light It Up Set'

This time last week, I was lucky enough to attend the Royal Variety Performance 2016.

My super boyfriend is a Graphic Designer and worked on the tickets, brochure and other huge center pieces that go into the evening. Due to his hard work, he was able to nab tickets to the show and the after party, AND with a plus one. Yey for me!

It was such an amazing evening. The show was at the Hammersmith Eventim Apollo, and on entering the champagne reception I knew it would be a special evening. I got to see various comedians as well as David Walliams who was the host. Performing were amazing artists such as Robbie Williams, Emeli Sande, Gary Barlow, Sting, and my absolute favourite of the evening, Lady Gaga. There were also scenes from some amazing musicals on the West End, dance performances and magicians. It really was spectacular, and I am so grateful that I was able to go.

The after party was so much fun. Hosted at The Grosvenor House Hotel in Mayfair, we were rubbing shoulders with celebrities (namely the Chuckle Brothers!) and were serveda huge four course dinner with bottomless wine. This is a lifestyle I could get used to. The Evening was also sponsored by BMW so there were loads of cool cars outside including an old bat mobil. One of my boyfriends jobs was to make a huge timeline for the Royal Variety and also BMW, as well as designing the large stickers that went on the sides of the cars.

Proud!

Best Moment of my life!

The Royal Variety show is a very special evening, so a nice dress and immaculate hair and makeup was a must. After all, I was in the presence of Royalty (unfortunately Harry was unavailable, so it was Charles and Camilla), so here is how I did makeup for the evening.

I bought this 'Smashbox Light It Up' set in Boots a few weeks ago which is worth about £70. It contains all the Smashbox best selling products and I thought for the price of £35, it would be a great way to explore the brand as I have never tried any makeup from them before.

The set contains the primer, mascara, a lipstick, highlighter and kohl pencil.

Because I was doing quite a bold eye look, I did them first so I could clear up any drop down later on.

I patted on some concealer over my eyes so the makeup had something to sit on, and then went in with this palette.

A friend gave this to me a while ago and I have been dying to use it. The Nude'tude Palette by 'The Balm' has a mix of warm and glittery eyeshadows, perfect for the look I wanted to create.

I started with 'Sultry' as the base, and used 'Sophisticated' to smoke in the the outer corners and crease. As that started to build, I also went in with 'Silly' to really darken the outer corners and give that extra smokey effect.

Finally I used the light pink shimmer shade 'Standoffish' in the inner corners to brighten up that area.

It is worth mentioning that I have never properly invested in good eye shadow brushes but my friend (the same one who gave me the palette- shes so good to me) told me about these really cheap brushes online. This set of gorgeous rose gold brushes cost about £2.00 on Amazon and they are really good quality! Worth a look if like me, you'd rather spend your money on the makeup not the tools.

Next, I used the Smashbox Always Sharp Waterproof Kohl Pencil in 'Raven', to go around my water line and smoked that out to finish of the look, and then I used my Lancome Grandiose Liquid Eyeliner for a classic flick, and a lick of the Smashbox Full Exposure Mascara which I LOVE.

The wand is really chunky so allows you t really coat every lash and open up the eyes.

So here was the finished look.

Next was my skin, and I needed something that was going to last me till the early hours of the morning.

To start of, I used the Smashbox Photo Finish Primer which makes your skin feel flawlessly smooth. I know a lot of people don't like that siliconey finish you get with primers, but I find they do work the best, and this primer does have that texture to it.

After my skin was prepped and primed, I went in to use my foundation.

I used my Kat Von D Lock it foundation which is soooooo gooooood.

I will probably do a whole post on this foundation as its so great, but it is really full coverage, long lasting, and I also got it in a warmer tone as the shades can go really, REALLY pale. This shade is Light  47 Nuetral which is probably a fraction too dark for me in winter, but as I fake tanned for the occasion I thought this would blend in more seamlessly.

I buffed this on and then used another layer of 'Rimmel Wake Me Up Concealer' to cover my dark circles. I then used my Hourglass Blusher, and the Ambient lighting powder to add some shimmer.

Next was highlighter to add some more glam glow, and the Smashbox L.A Lights highlighter stick is so damn pretty. This gold shimmer shade is called 'Hollywood and Highlight'  and I think it is my favourite highlighter at the moment as it looks so natural but is really obvious too if you know what I mean?

I popped this on my cheek bones and then finished everything off with the final product from the set. A real red carpet worthy Hollywood red 'Be Legendary 'Lipstick' in the best selling shade 'Get Fired'

So here is the finished look! This would also work perfectly for any upcoming Christmas dos as you can never go wrong with a classic look like this.

I hope you enjoyed this post and also my pictures from the evening!

Oh and my dress was from ASOS!