Strobing Trend | Summer Glow Makeup Look

When Mario Dedivanovic became Kim Kardashian's personal makeup artist they both made the contouring technique the new makeup craze, and it seemed nothing could take over. Contouring is obviously still and will always be a huge makeup trend as it can make such a difference to the shape of the face. However there seems to be a new craze. The new STROBING trend seems not to have taken over but to have become a trend in its own right.

My question with this trend,

'IS THIS ACTUALLY A NEW TREND?'

Strobing has been around for years but it's just been given a new fancy name. In the whole scheme of things Strobing is just the promoted name for Highlighting.

The idea of strobing is to Highlight the key features of the face and it is a great trick to make your skin look flawlessly smooth. You do need to be care with this though as your skin needs to be relatively smooth in order for this to work. If you apply highlighter to the skin with a break out then it will just highlight the top of the breakout, making this more visible. If I was suffering from a breakout I would not go anywhere near it with a highlighter.

I am in love with Dewy/Summer Glow looking skin. I think it looks effortless and healthy. It is perfect for the summer period, but a dream throughout the winter months. Just because the weather is dark and drury, it doesn't mean your makeup has to be.

This look demonstrates how flawless and perfect the skin can look. The Highlighter will do most of the work for you as the metallic tones in the Highlighter will reflect the light; giving the impression of silky smooth skin.

This is a very fresh look, there isn't a great amount of detail to it as I wanted to make it more about the strobing technique.

The key areas I apply my Highlighter to are, 

Tops of the cheek bones

Above the eyebrow & the eyebrow bone

Down the bridge of the nose and the tip of the nose

Centre of the forehead

Top of the cupids bow

Centre of the chin

The Highlighter you use is very important, it needs to be a nice shade to match your skin tone but it doesn't want to have glitter in it otherwise you will start to look like a discoball. I swear by The Balm Mary Lou-Manizer. Its a beautiful light golden shade that has the right amount of Shimmer. I have used the Makeup Academy Undress Your Skin Highlighters before and they are a dream especially for £3.00, such a bargain.

Products Used

Smashbox Photo Ready Foundation Primer

Bourjois Healthy Mix Foundation | 02 Vanilla

L'Oreal True Match Foundation  | Rose Ivory

Rimmel Lasting Finish High Coverage Concealer  | 020 Ivory

Collection Pressed Powder | 18 Ivory

Rimmel Good To Glow Highlighter  | 003 Soho Glow

Makeup Academy Blusher  | Marshmallow

Collection Pressed Powder  | 15 Warm Bronze

Bourjois Maxi Delight Bronzer | 02 Tanned Skin
The Balm Mary Lou-Manizer Highlight

Virgin V Eyeshadow | Zanzibar (Discontinued)

Rimmel Lash Accelerator Endless Mascara  | Black

Anastasia Beverley Hills Dipbrow Pomade | Medium Brown

Collection Work The Colour Eyebrow Kit

Rimmel Lasting Finish 1000 Kisses Lip Liner | Tiramisu

Virgin V Far From Basics Lipstick | Shimmer  (Discontinued)

Smashbox Be Legendary Lip Gloss  | Pout

Pop over to any of my social media's and say hello! Any comments leave below.

Katy xoxo 

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Getting Lost In It

If you are a Makeup or any type of Art enthusiast you will understand the term 'Just Getting Lost In It'. This is so easy to do when you’re creative freedom is let loose and your eyes start to see the world and life in a whole new light. After my makeup post 'Butterfly Tropics', I developed a love for over exaggerated makeup. That look was very colorful and vibrant; I began to feel I needed to experiment with darker and gothic inspired tones. I didn't want it to look vampire-esque as I do feel sometimes it can become slightly childlike and you start to morph towards a Halloween inspired look. I wanted to keep it high fashion and have a depth of femininity to it.

I feel there is a lot of movement in this look even though makeup obviously doesn't move. What I mean by this, is that you can move around with this type of look and it redefines the shape of your face from all different angles. It is mind blowing how you can change the face with makeup by targeting certain areas to enhance certain features, and hiding those flaws that you don't want people to see.

You can see this in the transformation below; the look is very heavily focused around the eyes and the eyebrows. However I am very happy I stayed true to my vision that darkness doesn't need to be blood and gore. It reminds me of a very sensual Queen of The Damned type of look.

 Products Used

Bourgois Healthy Mix Foundation | Vanilla

Maybelline Eraser Eye Concealer | Light

The Balm May Lou-Manizer

Makeup Revolution Redemption Eyeshadow Palette Essential Mattes

MUA Single Pearl Eyeshadow | Electric Purple

Eyeko Making Eyes Gel Eyeliner | Plum Wine

Maybelline Lash Sensational Mascara

Makeup Revolutions Amazing Lipstick | Black Heart

As you can see from the Products used above, not a lot of makeup was used for this look and surprisingly it did not feel heavy. I really liked wearing it actually; it was such a change to what society deems your everyday makeup to be.

I hope you like this fun look and if you have any inspirational looks you would like me to experiment with then please these those in the comments below. If you are a blogger and would like to collaborate on an exaggerated post please either leave your comments below, email me or tweet me. I will definitely get back to you.

Email | katy.harmston@gmail.com

Tweet | @katyharmston

Have a lovely Saturday and if you want to express yourself, why not...

Katy xoxo

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Greasy To Glamorous | 5 Hairstyles for Dirty Hair

This video is for those days that your hair is too dirty to leave down and you loose patience with it so you stick it up in a boring ponytail. There are numerous hairstyles you can do to make your hair look great, but here are 5 that I usually opt for when I don't have enough time to wash my hair. These hairstyles will take you from feeling uncomfortable and disgusting to down right beautiful.

If you like this video! Please RATE and SUBSCRIBE to stay upto date with my Channel. If you like these hairstyles then make sure you leave your comments below and tag me in your photos. 

Instagram @katyeharmston 

Twitter | @katyharmston

Katy xoxo

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Cherry Berry Makeup Tutorial

This look is part of my colour series on my channel. I have not done an inspired colour look recently so I thought it was about time. This cherry berry colour is one of my favourite colours. Its so vibrant but has darker gloomy tones to contrast against my pale skin tone. It defines and adds extra definition to my blue/green eyes, making them really pop.

Products Used

• Garnier Moisture Nourish+ Moisturiser
• Smashbox Photo Ready Foundation Primer
• Sleek I-Divine Ultra Matts V2 Eyeshadow Palette | Shade Pale Tan, Burgundy and Brown
• Mac Fix+
• New Look Pure Colour Baked Eyeshadow | Cream
• George Liquid Eyeliner | Black
• Eyeko Making Eyes Gel Eyeliner | Plum Wine
• Benefit Erase Paste | Light
• Bourjois Healthy Mix Foundation |Vanilla
• Maybelline Eraser Eye Concealer | Light
• MUA Fixing Mist
• Bourjois Maxi Delight Bronzer | 02 Tanned Skin
• Bourjois Little Round Pot Blusher | 95 Jasper Rose
• Anastasia Beverley Hills Dipbrow Pomade | Medium Brown
• MUA Undress Your Skin Highlighter | Pink Shimmer
• Maybelline Lash Sensational Mascara | Black
• Collection Lip Definer | Damsen
• Essence Longlasting Lipstick Nude | 03 Come Naturally

Watch this tutorial on my channel and make sure you hit that SUBSCRIBE button for more videos.

If you would like to see a look with your favourite colour then leave that in the comments below.

Thanks for stopping by!

Katy xoxo

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RSI Wrist pain and Art Supply Wish List

Recently I have been experiencing so much pain with my wrist. I went to the doctors and they sent me to the hospital to have an X-ray. It turns out I have RSI, which is Repetitive Strain Injury and it is very common. Drawing is the cause as I am putting a lot of pressure on my wrist by drawing for hours at a time. There isn't a quick fix which becomes very annoying because you use your wrist with everything you do, so resting it is very very difficult. 

I was speaking to a nurse in the Xray department in the Hospital and she advised me if it is possible to assess other options or techniques to improve the strain on my wrist. I did quite a bit of research and I came across PanPastels.

PanPastels are professional quality soft pastels for artists, they are packed into small pan tub almost like a single eyeshadow. The PanPastels would be perfect because they glide on to the paper, so there would be no pressure on my wrist causing further damage. The tool that is used is called a Soft Tool, it is almost like an eyeshadow brush so it becomes very close to applying makeup, but your apply it to paper.

I love drawing portraits but to get all the tones and the pigmentation in the skin I have to put a lot of pressure onto the pencils which then causes the wrist pain. These pastels are on my top art wish list. 1 because I think they will give the most beautiful soft appearance for the skin and then I can top this up with pencils, 2 it should make so much of a difference to the wrist pain I am experiencing and 3 I like the fact its almost like painting or applying makeup. Something I love doing and blogging about. All these reasons are just pushing towards these pastels and I cannot wait to order them.

You can see the Portraits that I am use to drawing above. I like photorealistic artwork which involves a lot of detail, time and effort. However when your told you can't draw because it will cause further damage. Your left with no other choice than to explore other options. This is the option that I feel will work 100%. I will definitely get a review up on my blog about these PanPastels when I have received and experimented with them.

Katy xoxo

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A Mini Makeup Brush & Cleanser Haul

I was in dyer need of a new Real Techniques Miracle Complexion Sponge so after work in the week I headed to boots, when I arrived the Real techniques stand had the offer Buy One Get The 2nd Half Price. At that point I realised I was already doomed. Sometimes when I go shopping for something in particular I always end up spending more money on things I don't necessarily need but may want. This is a prime example. I went in for one thing and came out with 5 and a £40 bill on top of what I was intending on spending.

Real Techniques Miracle Complexion Sponge

£5.99

The Real Techniques Miracle Complexion Sponge is a dupe for the very popular Beauty Blender however it is ridiculously cheaper and works like a dream. It is my go to foundation applicator to ensure a flawless face.

 Real Techniques Blush Brush

£9.99

  Real Techniques Sculpting Brush

£9.99

  Real Techniques Stippling Brush

£11.99

As part of the offer I purchased the Real Techniques Blush Brush, Sculpting Brush and Stippling Brush. I have not yet used these brushes so I cannot give a verdict on how good they are, but I have not yet encountered a bad Real Techniques Brush.

Eco Tools Eye Enhancing Duo Brush Set

£6.99

I watched a Youtube video recently of a girl going through her favourite brushes, this Eco Tools Eye Enhancing Duo Brush Set were amongst her favourites. I have never used Eco Tools before but I have heard great reviews to how soft they are. They are very inexpensive and as I was clearly on a roll with buying brushes so I thought, why not? Plus you get four different brushes for under £10.

No7 Makeup Brush Cleanser

£8.00

I have been meaning to buy a good brush cleaner as I cannot really remember the last time I cleaned them. Clean brushes make all the difference. I was told by the cashier in Boots that her sister has this No7 Makeup Brush Cleanser and raves about it, so I thought I would give it a go. I will be filming a review for this cleanser today so make sure you click on the Youtube Link at the bottom of this post for that and other videos.

All in all I think I got scammed by my own brain. I clearly have no will powder when it comes to Beauty offers.

Let me know if you use any of these brushes or products and what your verdict is...

Katy xoxo

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STEP BY STEP TUTORIAL | 4th Year Anniversary

Good Afternoon Loves,

Me and Al have been dating for over 4 years now, its strange to how fast it has flown by. We first began dating after been friends so we were already pretty comfortable with each other. It was really easy to be myself around him and not feel on edge like you may do with someone new as you juggle with the fact you might not want to show your full self to someone when your trying to make a good impression. Me and Al live together now and money can be tight so we just went out for a nice meal, it was nice just to go out and have a relaxing meal together. 

My hair has started to fade from the purple I had originally to the grey she mixed with the purple to get a dark ashy purple. I didn't go for a full face of makeup as I planned to wear a purple berry top and I had purple hair so I thought it would be wise to tone it down. I decided to go with a nice subtle pale purple cut crease using the Urban Decay Naked 3 Palette.

PRODUCTS

Neutrogena Visibly Clear Pink Grapefruit Oil Free Moisturiser
Smashbox Photo Finish Primer

Estee Lauder Double Wear Foundation
Makeup Revolutions Blush and Contour Palette
Urban Decay Naked 3 Palette
New Look Pure Colour Waterproof Ink Eyeliner Pen
Rimmel Lash Accelerator Endless Mascara
Anastasia Beverley Hills Dipbow Pomade
Estee Lauder Pure Colour Envy Lipstick
The Balm Mary-Lou Manizer Highlighter
Umberto Giannini Curl Friends Skinny Curls Slimming Creme

Moisturise and Prime your skin, it is very important to ensure your makeup lays smoothly and it will keep your skin hydrated and healthy especially if you are putting a lot of products on to your skin. I used the Neutrogena Visibly Clear Pink Grapefruit Oil Free Moisturiser 
and Smashbox Photo Finish Primer.

Apply foundation evenly and work in a circular and patting motions, this will move spread your foundation evenly and the patting will set it in place. Otherwise you may not get even coverage. I used a small amount of Estee Lauder Double Wear Foundation in Bone and the Real Techniques Sculpt Brush, a small amount of this foundation goes an exceptionally long way.

Lightly dust the blush over the balls of your cheeks. This blush is a mixture of 2 different shades from the Makeup Revolutions Ultra Blush and Contour Palette in Sugar and Spice. The two bottom right shade's, Light Peach and the Shimmer Pink. I use the Real Techniques Powder Brush as it picks up less product so leaves a light layer of colour. I do find that smaller brushes apply too much product and your cheeks starts to look like a pink golf ball.

As I mentioned above I used the Urban Decay Naked 3 Palette to create a subtle purple cut crease eye. I applied the colour Strange to the eyelid for a base colour, lightly swept Buzz into the crease and applied Mugshot to darken the outer V. To add a bit more depth I created a very thin wing using the New Look Pure Colour Waterproof Ink Eyeliner Pen and applied plenty of the Rimmel Lash Accelerator Endless Mascara to my lashes.

Being a blonde I use the Anastasia Beverley Hills Dipbow Pomade in Medium Brown using the an angled brush. I only use a very small amount and then top up as I shape the brow line to create defined eyebrows.

A few swipes of the Estee Lauder Pure Colour Envy Lipstick in Intense Nude to define those lips and a light layer of The Balm Mary-Lou Manizer to Highlight for that healthy glow.

The only finishing touch is tame my hair. My hair is naturally curly so to gain these curls all I need is the Babyliss 2100 Elegance Hairdry, Umberto Giannini Curl Friends Skinny Curls Slimming Creme and Tresemme Spray Hair Spray (I am sad to say this has been discontinued). I do usually curl the tops of my hair for a more curlier appearance however I was happy with these loose waves.

This outfit is quite a smart-casual outfit but the colour scheme just came together perfectly. My hair, top and eye colour were all a matching dark berry purple. This top had chunky black beads on and I managed to grab this for £1 in the Next sale, Bargain Hey! My trusty Highwaisted Black Topshop Jeans and a smart black Blazer from Next, also purchased for £12. I added black accessories to pull this outfit together. The shoes are from Justfab and Bumbag is from Primark.

And were done and ready to get our butt out of the door, speed has never been my strong suit! Thanks for reading! If your like this post leave your comments below.

Katy xoxo

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