in:  budget,Get The Look   |   May 22, 2013 - 8:01 am   |  by:  Elissa Hudson

The Best Of Cannes Red Carpet Beauty

Stars that impressed us with their red carpet beauty looks at Cannes were the likes of Jessica Biel, Kirsten Dunst, Cheryl Cole and, of course, the adorable Carey Mulligan. Plenty others deserve an honourable mention, including Jennifer Lawrence and Emma Watson who always manage to get it right when it comes to make-up. All that gorgeousness got us rifling through our make-up stash trying to figure out how we can recreate elements of our favourite celebrity Cannes looks, and we think we’ve got it covered!

First up is Gatsby’s leading lady, Carey Mulligan, who was just as beautiful on the red carpet as she is in the film. We particularly loved the bold, red lip she wore to the premiere of The Great Gatsby in Cannes, and we’ve managed to track down the exact products her make-up artist used to create the look.

Nars lip pencil in ‘Jungle Red’ (£16.50) was applied all over her lips, acting as an adhesive base for the lipstick, also in ‘Jungle Red’ (£18.50), that was applied afterwards. A top tip when wearing a bold, matte lip colour like Carey’s is to apply a coat of the lipstick over a lip pencil, as described, and then take a tissue and press it between the lips, blotting away any excess product. This creates a stain, meaning less touch ups will be required. Finally, add another coat of lipstick to ensure the finish is even and opaque.

Kirsten Dunst’s make-up was gorgeous, and it was her choice of blusher that particularly caught our eye. She went for a bronze-toned peachy shade that surprisingly complimented her pale complexion beautifully. Her cheeks has a lovely, subtle glow which we suspect might be down to MAC’s ‘Margin’ blush (£17.50), which is very similar in tone to the one Kirsten wore and gives a shimmery sheen to the cheeks.

Jessica Biel went for a toned-down nude lip which made her natural, pale skin appear even more striking. Again, we suspect her make-up artist may have reached for a few MAC products when creating this look. To get Jessica’s pale nude lips, we suggest applying MAC’s ‘Subculture’ lip pencil (£11.50) all over the lips, before following with a slick of MAC lipstick in ‘Shy Girl’ (£14). ‘Shy Girl’ is one of MAC’s cremesheen finish lipsticks, which means it’s moisturising but still packs a punch when it comes to adding colour to the lips.

Cheryl sported her usual bronzed look with some serious added contouring. Her make-up artist chose a more orange-toned bronzer, as she’s not naturally very pale and her skin tone can carry more warmth. Her skin still looks very natural and isn’t too powdery, so we suspect this might be a result of the infamous Chanel cream bronzer, ‘Solieil Tan de Chanel’ (£31). Blend it into the hollows of the cheekbones, the temples and the jawline for a defined, sculpted look like Cheryl’s.

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in:  budget,Get The Look   |   May 16, 2013 - 8:10 am   |  by:  Elissa Hudson

Five Festival Beauty Essentials

Last month we were teased by photos of celebs like Rita Ora and Katy Perry looking stylish whilst having fun in the sun at Coachella festival in California. Well, the UK’s summer festivals are on their way with the season being kicked off by Radio 1′s Big Weekend in Derry-London Derry next weekend.

For any beauty lover, the thought of spending a weekend in a muddy field with no home comforts is slightly daunting. As beauty junkies ourselves, we’ve put together a capsule list of products that keep us feeling and looking as good as possible whilst roughing it.

1. Clinique Super City Block SPF 40 – £16, Boots

If we had a pound for every time we’ve spotted sore, red sunburn at a festival we’d have enough money to buy the entire range at a Tom Ford beauty counter. Sunburn on your face however, is on an entirely different level of horrific – a huge no no, think of your poor collagen! Clinique’s City Block range of SPFs are perfect for every day use. They sit beautifully underneath make-up and provide both UVA and UVB protection, meaning they’re great for sunnier days in the UK.

2. Korres Lip Butters – £4.88, thehut.com

Excessive drinking dehydrates the skin like nothing else, and this is often most visible on the lips. Korres Lip Butters are well known by beauty insiders for their moisturising properties. Not only do they keep your lips soft, but they come in an amazing range of colours, meaning you can ditch the lipstick but still feel a little put together despite doing your make-up in a compact mirror whilst sat on a camping chair – not so glamorous! The best thing about these is that you can get them in stick form online, which is much more hygienic and perfect for festivals.

3. Cream Eyeshadow in ‘Happiness’ – £14.50, Lush

We like to keep our make-up bag as light as possible at festivals – the lighter our bags, the better! Multi-tasking products are therefore an essential, and Lush’s Cream Eyeshadows work brilliantly for adding a little bit of colour to the eyes whilst being tiny enough to fit in our festival beauty bag. The shade ‘Happiness’ is also great for adding some glow to the tops of the cheekbones and looks lovely on tanned skin when applied sparingly.

4. & Other Stories Body Mist in ‘Moroccan Tea’ – £12, stories.com

This stuff smells like a mojito in a bottle: fresh, minty and sweet. Taking our favourite fragile, glass-bottled perfume for a weekend in a field is a risk we’re not willing to take, so we like to opt for a cheaper body spray to keep us smelling fresh! This one has pretty good staying power and is from our new favourite high-street store, & Other Stories, which has recently opened on Regent Street. If fresh, sweet smells aren’t your thing, there’s so many other scents to try, so nip in and have a sniff!

5. Urban Decay De-Slick Oil Control Setting Spray – £9 (travel size), Debenhams

Things can get a little hot and flustered when you’re in festival crowds, and you’re guaranteed to be up partying until the early hours. That touch of concealer and dusting of powder doesn’t look so great 12 hours after you’ve applied it, and once you get home and see photos of your spotty, sweaty face plastered all over Facebook, you start to wish you’d made a bit more effort. We like to spritz Urban Decay’s De-Slick Spray underneath and over the top of our minimal make-up to ensure that concealer keeps on hiding our festival induced eye bags and blemishes all day (and all night) long. An absolute festival must-have – this stuff works!

Obviously cleansing wipes, hand sanitiser and dry shampoo come along with us too, but they’re a given! We can’t guarantee you’re going to look as great as the celebs at Coachella, but these products certainly help us to feel a little more confident when we haven’t got our extensive beauty stash to hand!

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in:  budget,Get The Look   |   May 9, 2013 - 7:19 am   |  by:  Elissa Hudson

Met Ball Make-Up On A Budget

Whilst this year’s Met Ball may have seen a whole host of disastrous outfits (Kim Kardashian we’re looking at you in particular), the make-up on show was, for the most part, absolutely gorgeous. The Ball’s theme, ‘punk: chaos to couture’, clearly had the celebs’ make-up artists thinking two things and two things only: dark vampy lips and smouldering  smoky eyes.

Cara Delevingne, Taylor Swift and Kristen Stewart all wore a striking, dark smoky eye paired with a toned-down, nude lip. Kristen updated this classic look to match her dress with a slightly red toned shadow blended across the lid – risky, but we think she manages to pull it off! To create the look at home arm yourself with Avon’s Supershock Gel Eyeliner Pencil, it’s the softest, most pigmented pencil eyeliner ever. You can get it for just £6 on the Avon website, or you can get one for free with this month’s Marie Claire magazine, such a bargain, it’s the best eyeliner you’ll ever try!

Simply line the upper and lower lash line and blend, blend, blend! Use a firm blending brush to pull the colour up towards the crease of the eyelid until it fades out subtly and for the bottom, keep it closer to the lash line to avoid looking like you’ve been punched! Finally, take a light, shimmery eyeshadow and highlight the brow bone and inner corners of the eye to keep your eyes looking bright. If Kristen’s look is more your thing, use MAC ‘Cranberry’ eyeshadow (£12) and lightly blend it over the top of the smudged out eyeliner – simple!

Katy Perry and Miranda Kerr opted out of the smoky eye in favour of a bold, vampy lip which looks equally as striking. Going easy on the eye make-up is a must if you’re wanting to have a go at this one and a simple, black winged eyeliner keeps the look feeling classic whilst ensuring your eyes are more subtly defined.

 

Katy went for a more purple toned hue, whilst Miranda opted for a deep red stained look. Sleek Makeup’s ‘Vamp’ lipstick, which you can get at Superdrug, is a purse friendly way to give dark lips a go, so if you decide they just aren’t for you it’s no great loss at just £4.99.

So, whilst the highlight of this year’s Met Ball most definitely (and disappointingly) wasn’t the dresses, we think the make-up made up for it!

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in:  budget,Get The Look   |   May 4, 2013 - 11:19 am   |  by:  Zoe Griffin

VIP Beauty Trial: James Harknett Celebrity Spray Tan

Until recently, tanning expert James Harknett had only been accessible to the celebrities and the glossy magazines. Geri Halliwell, Lisa Snowdon, Jessica Jane Clement and X Factor’s Brian Friedman are a few of the celebrities that Twitter with delight over his handiwork and he’s been credited in Harpers, Tatler and Stylist magazine fashion and beauty shoots.

But now the rest of us can get that golden celebrity glow! James has opened up a HQ at the W Hotel in London’s Leicester Square, where you can get a tan that leaves you feeling as invigorated as if you’ve had a massage. At his base in the AWAY spa at the W, there is none of this ‘get in, get undressed, move like a robot and get out again as soon as possible’ rubbish that I have experienced before while getting spray tans. From the moment you walk into the spa reception area on the sixth floor of the W hotel – all white beds and swishy curtains – you feel relaxed.

Sitting down with a glass of water and a shot of grapefruit juice (it’s the little extra touches that make you feel special), James will ask you about the colour you want to go. He is the UK ambassador for Sienna X tan, which comes in several different shades.

The numbers on the front of the bottle explain how much tanning agent is in the bottle.

 

Faced with all these numbers I’ll admit I got a bit confused but James made it more simple by talking in language that I understand. Did I want to look like Sarah Jessica Parker with a natural caramel hue (the New York), Kate Moss  with a mid-tone tan that brightens the complexion and whitens teeth (the London), Penelope Cruz with creamy cappuccino tones (the Barcelona) or Jennifer Lopez with burnished bronze, shimmering with chocolate tones(the Santa Fe).  I went for a slightly darker Kate Moss which is a shade 10. I’m a London girl, after all!

The room the tan is carried out in is large enough to be a treatment room (and it does mean a lot  to have space to get changed rather than strip off behind a chair, which I have done before). It’s lit up by some divine scented candles to make the experience even more pleasant.

 

 

The candles show off some of his press cuttings, re-assuring me I am seeing a tanning expert!

Another highlight of getting a tan by James is he makes you feel at ease by getting you to move like you’re dancing as you’re being tanned. To get an even coverage you need to raise arms and stand to the side with one leg in front and stand backwards with your arms in the air and James actually made this process fun. How I don’t know, but it has to be seen to be believed . Thanks James!

And now…for what you’ve all been waiting for – the evidence. That night I was a golden goddess (see below), which is the final benefit of the tan. You can go in and go about your day as normal as it dries so fast. I promise you, I was not that brown when I woke up that day and it looks natural, doesn’t it?

 

You can book appointments with James Harknett at the W hotel NOW by calling 020 7758 1071. Treatments cost £40. And for more evidence about what this man can do with a bottle of tan see his website.

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in:  budget,Get The Look   |   May 1, 2013 - 9:18 am   |  by:  Elissa Hudson

Alessandra Ambrosio’s Manicure Secret: Essie Nail Polishes

So many celebrities rave about Essie nail polishes. Victoria Beckham, Emma Watson, Jennifer Lawrence and Alessandra Ambrosio have all been spotted wearing them at various star studded events, and Alessandra even Instagrammed a photo of her favourites:

How beautiful are those shades?! With so many celebrity fans, we had to investigate their range. Last year Essie finally came to the UK and their dazzlingly bright white stands are now in some Boots and Superdrug stores. Their colour range is extensive to say the least, but the ‘best sellers’ section makes it a little easier to know where to start. The pick of the bunch has to be ‘Fiji’ though – the most perfect pastel, off-white pink shade that’s amazing for summer:

This shade, along with their pastel green ‘Mint Candy Apple’ will look super flattering in summer with a tan! They last a good three to four days chip free, which is pretty good going and apply nice and smoothly. It also looks like ‘Fiji’ was the shade Jennifer Lawrence opted for at this year’s Oscar’s, just look how similar it is!

At £7.99 they’re not the cheapest, but they’re still affordable compared to the likes of OPI and Deborah Lippmann. They’re available at larger Boots and Superdrug stores, and you can even get your hands on some discontinued shades for just £1.99 at fragrancedirect.co.uk!

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in:  budget,Get The Look   |   April 25, 2013 - 8:27 am   |  by:  Elissa Hudson

Get Alexa Chung’s Effortless Beachy Waves: Bumble And Bumble

There’s something appealing about that ‘I just rolled out of bed look’ that Alexa Chung loves to channel through her slightly dishevelled, textured hair. The irony is that achieving any kind of effortless look, whether that be with your make-up, hair or even clothing, often takes far more time and effort than going for a more polished finish.

Getting beachy, textured hair without actually having to visit a beach is a genius idea, but not a new one. There are so many sprays and waxes claiming to give that effortless, messy effect, yet it’s a struggle to find one that really does the job. Until now!

One celeb who manages to continuously perfect the look is Alexa Chung and we’ve managed to track down her secret: Bumble and Bumble Surf Spray. Blow drying her hair after sprizting this through the lengths leaves her with that undone, messy and effortlessly textured hair that we’ve strived to achieve for years! We’ve also heard One Direction’s Louis Tomlinson is a fan of the Surf Spray and his hair stylist uses it to give a messy finish before he goes on stage – who would’ve thought?!

To get the Alexa look at home, apply a bit of hair oil first to reduce the risk of the salt spray drying the hair out (we love the Jenoris Pistachio Oil) and then spritz the Surf Spray through the lengths before moving onto the hair dryer. Rough dry your hair (without a hairbrush or comb) whilst gently scrunching it, and you’ll be left with textured ‘just stepped of the beach’ wavy locks.

Avoid brushing your hair for the best of the day, as this will fluff out the texture that the salt spray has created and ruin the effect. If you suffer from tangled tresses and the thought of not running a brush through your locks during the day fills you with dread, don’t worry. Bumble and Bumble sell a mini version of their Surf Spray, which is perfect for popping in your bag should you need to re-spritz whilst you’re on the go. It’s also a good option if you just wanted to give it a go, as at £8.50 it’s less than half the price of the full size version.

You can pick up Bumble and Bumble products in larger Boots stores, or from the Boots website. The full size retails at £20.50 (125ml), whilst the miniature (50ml) will set you back just £8.50. Other stockists include Space.NK, Liberty, John Lewis, Fenwick and Selfridges.

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in:  budget,Get The Look   |   April 18, 2013 - 9:22 am   |  by:  Elissa Hudson

Eva Longoria’s Perfect Red Carpet Foundation: Giorgio Armani LSF

When it comes to make-up, Eva Longoria’s look is always flawless. Sultry but subtle, she loves a smoked out eye paired with a nude lip and a flawless base.

The perfectly concealed yet luminous base that Eva (or rather her make-up artist) achieves when it comes to her foundation is something that we want a slice of. After half an hour of Googling her favourite beauty products, interjected with several intervals of lusting over her faultlessly chic outfit choices, we have the answer to Eva Longoria’s perfectly polished make-up: Giorgio Armani’s Luminous Silk Foundation.

After hot-footing it to Fenwick for a sample, it’s official… this is the most beautiful foundation ever, and coming from someone who has tried everything from Bourjois to Nars to MAC with flirtations with every other brand under the sun in between,  that’s quite a statement. It offers a medium coverage but is very buildable, meaning it can be applied more liberally where necessary without looking too heavy. The finish is perfect: it’s flawlessly glowy without being too dewy, meaning it’s great for anyone with normal/dry, normal or even normal/oily skin.

It contains no SPF which means it looks amazing in photos so no wonder Eva loves it for the red carpet – no tell tale white-cast flash back in sight! It’s also a big hit with Jaime King and Denise Richards and is quite the favourite amongst the pros in the beauty industry, but it often slips under the radar when us non-celebs are browsing the make-up counters for a new foundation. Next time you’re on the hunt for the perfect base though, make a beeline for your nearest Giorgio Armani counter and ask for a sample, you’re bound to love it!

Giorgio Armani Beauty can be found in selected John Lewis, Fenwick, Debenhams and House of Fraser stores, as well as in Selfridges, Harvey Nichols and Harrods. The Luminous Silk Foundation is priced at £34.50 and it’s worth every penny!

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in:  budget,Get The Look   |   April 10, 2013 - 8:50 pm   |  by:  Elissa Hudson

Pamper Like Willow Smith With Lush’s Newest Products

Halle Berry, Jessica Biel, Willow Smith and even Jude Law have all publicly professed their love for Lush products, with little Willow even popping into the store in California to stock up on pampering treats for a girly sleepover… how cute?!

Us Brits are no strangers to the waft of sweet smelling bath bombs when walking past Lush stores on a weekend shopping spree either, and here at Live Like a VIP we can never resist popping in for a sneaky browse! When we heard Lush were reformulating their already fabulous lip balms and massage bars, we just had to give them a go. And guess what? We love them.

The lip balms come in tiny little screw lid pots that are perfect for popping in your handbag or even slipping in your jeans pocket if you’re having a low maintenance, lazy day. They come in four lovely scents: Lip Service, Honey Trap, None of my Beeswax and Whipstick. Honey Trap is definitely the pick of the bunch though. It’s described as a ‘white chocolate balm for vanilla-honey kisses’, but it smells exactly like mint humbugs… even better! All the lipbalms are 100% preservative free and are all colourless once applied, so they’re perfect for popping on under that beautifully matte but crazily drying lippie.

The massage bars have been reformulated with an aerated formula which means they melt onto the skin like a dream with zero dragging. These are best used when you’re fresh out of the shower or bath, as they glide onto warm skin beautifully leaving your skin nourished with super moisturising essential oils. We’ve been loving using the ‘From Dusk til’ Dawn’ scent during a weekend pamper session; it’s a blend of sweet wild orange and lemon oils which is supposed to awaken the senses but it’s actually really relaxing and luxurious!

Both the newly formulated lip balms (£5.50) and massage bars (£4.95 – £6.95) are available for you to get your mitts on at Lush stores now, or you could pop a few in your online basket at lush.co.uk

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in:  budget,Get The Look   |   April 3, 2013 - 9:11 am   |  by:  Elissa Hudson

Get Holly Willoughby’s Glow With Xen Tan

Despite having a fair complexion, Holly Willoughby still manages to achieve a natural looking, bronzed faux glow by using Xen Tan. Holly is just one amongst many celebs that love using Xen Tan to achieve a golden, long lasting tan with not an orange hue in sight. Mollie King, Una Healy and Lady Gaga are all big fans and we’ve been testing it out to see what all the fuss is about!

Whether your skin tone is freckly and fair or deep and olive toned, Xen Tan offer something for everyone with their light, medium and dark tanners. For the record though, I have super pale skin that never tans and I’ve been road testing Xen Tan’s Moroccan Tan and have had amazing results. It leaves even the palest of skin tones with a gorgeously subtle, bronzed glow whilst naturally darker skin tones will see the tanner adapt to suit their natural tanning levels, meaning anybody who uses this stuff will look like they’ve just stepped off a return flight from the Bahamas!

Self-tanning can be a tricky business, so here’s a step by step guide on how I’ve been getting the best results possible from Xen Tan Moroccan Tan…

1. Exfoliate and Moisturise

Before you even think about picking up that tanning mitt hop in the shower with a pair of exfoliating gloves and scrub, scrub and scrub some more with your favourite creamy shower gel. I recommend Soap and Glory’s Clean On Me (£5.50 at Boots) – it’s nice and moisturising and smells amazing!

Once you’re out of the shower it’s time to moisturise. Use a heavy duty body butter on elbows, knees and any other dry patches and a lighter lotion everywhere else. Again, I can’t recommend Soap and Glory products enough, The Righteous Butter (£10.50) and their Smoothie Star Body Lotion (£10) are the perfect prep products when you’re self-tanning.  Grab a magazine and leave the moisturisers to soak in for a good 15 minutes before moving onto the next step.

2. Application

Self-tanning lotions like Xen Tan Moroccan Tan are best buffed in with a tanning mitt, which you can get hold of in Boots, Superdrug and even at your local supermarket for around £3. Tanning just before bed means the colour develops overnight and you won’t have to step out of the house sporting that green-toned guide colour!

Start off by buffing in a 5p sized amount on each arm and a 10p sized amount on each leg, and just a pea sized amount for your chest and neck. See how that goes and if you find it’s not enough, apply a tiny bit more very gradually – the worst thing you can do is use too much!

Once you’re done, check the guide colour is all even in the brightest room in the house – never tan in low lighting, it’s a recipe for disaster! Pop on the least skimpy pyjamas you own (a onesie is perfect for avoiding stained bedding), and hop into bed. In the morning, rinse off the guide colour in the shower and you’ll be left with a glowing, even looking tan.

3. Maintaining your Glow

The best thing about Xen Tan products is that they fade evenly, meaning there’s no patchiness towards the end of the week. The Moroccan Tan is also lovely and moisturising, meaning that unlike a lot of mousse self-tanners it doesn’t leave your skin feeling tight and dry. The fact that Xen Tan Moroccan Tan is so low maintenance means you can get away with as little fuss as possible post tanning. However, it never hurts to use a light body lotion every time you get out of the shower to help your tan stay in tact that little bit longer!

You can get your hands on Xen Tan products at xen-tan.co.uk, House of Fraser, Space NK and feelunique.com. If you’re unsure, go for the Moroccan Tan, it’s £24.99 and worth every penny!

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in:  budget,Get The Look   |   March 27, 2013 - 12:50 pm   |  by:  Elissa Hudson

Get Jennifer Aniston’s Glossy Hair On A Budget

Glossy locks like Jennifer Aniston’s never go out of style; healthy, shiny hair is always in. Blonde, highlighted hair like Jen’s is notoriously difficult to look after and can often look dull, but you don’t have to spend a fortune to beautify your barnet! Here are some of our top products for helping to achieve glossy locks, all for under £30…

1. The Hair Mask: TONI&GUY Nourish Reconstruction Mask – £7.19 at Boots

The first step to shiny hair is making sure you take good care of it. This means using a nourishing hair mask at least once a week and leaving it on for at least five minutes each time, allowing it to really work itself deep into the follicle. TONI&GUY do an amazing range of hair masks for blonde and brunette hair, but the best of the bunch has to be the Reconstruction Mask. Suitable for any hair colour, this stuff really injects life back into damaged, colour treated locks leaving them insanely smooth and glossy.

2. The Hair Oil: Jenoris Pistachio Oil – £24 (full size) or £2 (sample size) at jenoris.co.uk

Before blow drying the hair applying an oil is a must if you want to gloss things up. Hair oils smooth split ends, tame frizz and generally help to keep your hair feeling lovely and soft. I’ve tried my fair share of hair oils and the Jenoris one is by far the best, so I recommend giving this one a go if you’re a newbie to the concept. For mid length to long hair you should only need a 5p sized amount of product; be careful, applying too much can weigh down your hair and make it look greasy – not chic! Applying a hair oil to damp hair literally halves the drying time, but feel free to run a small amount through the ends of dry hair too, it can help to hold your style and works just as well in keeping your hair nice and soft.

3. The Shine Spray: Lee Stafford Shine Head Spray Shine – £5.49 at Boots

Once you’re finished styling your hair it should be feeling nice and nourished after using a mask and an oil, but it’s nice to finish things off with a spritz of shine spray for really glossy locks. Lee Stafford Shine Head is affordable, smells amazing and does exactly what it claims, leaving you with swishy, shiny hair just like Jen’s. Apply sparingly as a little goes a long way and using too much can leave you looking like you’ve not washed your hair in a week – less is more in this case!

 

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