From Want to Need: Beauty

'No Makeup' Makeup

1. Mac Pro Longwear Foundation 2. Revlon Grow Luscious Mascara 3. Clinique Superfine Brow Liner 4. Nars Laguna Bronzer 5. Clinique Chubby Stick (Mega Melon) 6. Mac Powder Blush (Desert Rose)

If you're either lazy, time-poor or simply prefer a fresh face for day-to-day wear, no doubt you've got a few products that have been tried, finished, bought again and loved more each time that guarantee a basic never-fail look.

The Pro Longwear Foundation from Mac is already a medium-cover consistency however, for an even more natural finish, try mixing half a drop with your moisturiser (one less step in the mornings is most welcome). Cover problematic areas with a concealer of course (damn acne scars), Mac's Pro Longwear Concealer is a great counterpart to its foundation predecessor.

Good brows are an anally-retentive preoccupation of mine, for a more detailed overview of this check out the Brow Power post below...

A good bronzer, no shimmer, no orange-hue, and dark enough to contour subtly for the upcoming winter months makes a huge difference and once you've worked out the best way to contour your face, you'll do it quicker than you can say 'cheekbones-and-a-thinner-nose'.

Finally, if you struggle with nude lip shades like me, try a peach or neutral pink/brown alternative, Clinique's Chubby Sticks have a beautiful range of natural shades and I am a huge fan of their super-moisturising formula. Another great option is an Hourglass Femme Nude Lip Stylo, similar concept to the Chubby stick with its crayon form, and it comes in a range of nudes that will suit a range of skin tones.

Happy Shopping!

Brow Power

Audrey Hepburn

Brows are perhaps the one facial feature that I can manipulate easily without having to fork out thousands and/or going under the knife, so naturally, I have done a hell of a lot of experimentation over the years and my eyebrows have been every shape and size under the sun. After many over-waxed/over-plucked/over-drawn/over-everything incidents, I have developed a love for thick, well-shaped-but-naturally curved brows that have been made famous by many a celebrity over the years including the late Audrey Hepburn and the eternally beautiful Keira Knightly.

Keira Knightly

Jessica Alba

Deepika Padukone

Miranda Kerr

I would highly recommend having a professional wax/thread/laser appointment for eyebrows once a month (or less frequently if you can get away with it), plucking at home can be used to maintain the shape in between appointments but reshaping by yourself should be approached with caution. Note, some of the aforementioned over-waxing incidents happened as a way to 'fix' the damage I had done trying to reshape my brows by myself!

Of course not all of us are blessed with a perfectly full set of brows so cosmetic brow products are a godsend and there are plenty of high-street and upmarket options. Have a look below for some of my favourites:

Rimmel Professional Eyebrow Pencil

This pencil is quite soft so use a light hand and keep it at the far corners of the brows to define the shape, the brush on the cap comes in handy as well for blending. If you have black hair like me, pick the dark brown colour to avoid unnatural looking shading.

Mac Eyeshadow in Charcoal Brown

Yes you can make your darker eyeshadows multitask! I like to use this dark charcoal brown shade to fill in the inner halves of my brows that are sparse to give a much softer look than if they were filled in with a pencil.

Clinique Superfine Liner

These Superfine Brow Liners by Clinique are a dream to use and deliver exactly what the name suggests; a fine line and medium level pigment that can be blended in or intensified as necessary. Because this liner does not deposit a lot of pigment all at once, it can be used to lightly fill in the inner sections of the brows and then used in multiple coats to intensify the outer sections. Only criticism here is the relatively short lifespan of a couple of months at most, considering its $30 price tag.

What are your favourite brow products? Feel free to share any tips/techniques/recommendations in the comments below.

Happy Shopping!

AW14 Lip Palette

Chanel Rouge Allure in Envoutante

The colder months have crept up on us and along with a re-vamp of our wardrobes, I think a re-vamp of beauty products is in order. Summer is an easy time to get stuck in the rut of wearing the same old pastel pinks and nude lip shades; as flattering as they can be, if you're like me and wear a lot of monochrome and neutral coloured clothing, the overly simple lip shades tend to make outfits look bland and 'underdone'. Winter is definitely the time to jump ship and try something a bit more daring, think plums, wines, and cherry blue-toned reds with subtle eye makeup to avoid looking like drag queen. Take a look at some of my favourites for this season...