Make up: Before & after and the Awards roundup

The Quest awards were last Friday night and I had my very good friend and extremely talented Rebecca Kate come over for an afternoon of makeup, giggles and champagne. Is there any better way to spend an afternoon? Errr, no.

One of the many reasons I love hanging out with Bec is because she knows all the tips and tricks about makeup and is always happy to educate me. A few months ago she shared her top 10 makeup products. You must check this list out. She has recently discovered Arbonne products and was keen to show them off. The foundation is amazing. It has great coverage and didn't feel 'makeupy'.

I wanted my makeup to be all about the eyes and soft n' pinky everywhere else. Just over an hour later with slick eyeliner, lashes of lashes and my almost 40 year old skin looking dewy and fresh. I felt amazing and ready to rock the awards.

Before and after

The Awards

Some notes from the night:

1. I didn't win. Michel's Patisserie won my category. Congratulations to them and I hope they have many happy and successful years making spinach rolls
2. Chocolate makes me almost as happy as winning
3. Don't make silly promises. I had promised to thank "Jodi and Andrea" in my speech and do the caterpillar. I am not one to back out of a promise, but I do an awesome caterpillar
4. Don't accept silly dares. I was dared by someone (my sister, Kerrin) to put a sticker on the Mayor's back. After stalking him for 15 minutes common sense took over. It was either that, or my drink was empty
5. You can't eat too much finger food
6. My great friend Toni from Beautiful You won for best Beauty Services. They really deserve the win

Rebecca lives on the Northside of Brisbane, does weddings, events, workshops, individual lessons and more. You can find her on facebook at www.facebook.com/rebecca.kate.

Top Makeup artist's top ten beauty products

A great friend of mine is an amazing makeup artist. With a stroke of her brush and a flick of her wrist she creates dewy gorgeousness on the dullest complexion, sexy goddess looks on the quietest wallflower and delicate beauty on a tired worn out housewife. In fact, she did all this to me in one go. Yes, she is that clever. 

Over the years Rebecca has tried, sourced, begged and discovered hundreds of products and she is happy to share her top ten favourites of all time. I adore it when people are happy to share their knowledge.

1. Inglot Primer. This makes your skin velvety smooth and preps it perfectly for foundation to be flawless and keeps your foundation lasting all day long. $35 at Ingot stores. These are located at most Westfield Shopping Centre
2. Benefit 'Stay don't stray' eye primer. You can use this product all around your eye area. Apply it to your eye lid as a primer under eyeshadows or under your eye before applying your concealer. This has the cutest packaging too. This is $45 and you can find it David Jones.
3. M.A.C. Paint Pot eye primer. Rebecca uses this product on all her clients. It's a gorgeous primer that makes anything you put on your eyelid last forever. It also prevents shadows creasing in the socket and it is the one of her favourite 'I can't live without' products. $35 and they come in many colours. M.A.C can be found in Westfield Shopping Centres.
4. Kranberry Lipstick from Youngblood. Her perfect red lipstick. This is a stunning colour and looks amazing on. Red lipstick instantly makes you feel sexy and glammed up. $32 Beautiful You in Margate stocks Youngblood. You can buy online too.
5. Napoleon Perdis coal eye liner pencils. Rebecca uses the black one daily. $28
6. Maybelline Volume Express Waterproof Mascara. Beside making normal lashes look thick and lush, Rebecca has never had a client react to it. $16
7. Youngblood Brow Artiste kit. This helps creates gorgeous thick, arched, defined eyebrows. The kit includes two powders, a gel, a stiff brush and a pair of tweezers. They cover all brow colours from platinum blonde to black. $69
8. Napoleon Perdis Light Patrol luminizer palette. This is a beautiful highlighting/contouring palette. You can have perfect apples and give definition by creating perfectly highlighted cheek bones. Use the highlighter all over your face to create a luminous glow. This is perfect for spring.  $72
9. NARS Illuminator 'super orgasm'. Use it on your cheeks or mix a little in with your foundation for this spring/summer season ahead and give your foundation a little kick. It will look dewy and youthful. Great for a girl's night out. $48 at Mecca cosmetics.
10. Ardell Duralash lashes. These are Bec's favourite lashes of all time.  You can buy them online or at your favourite Terry White chemist. They are 100% human hair and are cheap as chips. $8.50 for a packet or strip lashes start from $10.95.

Thanks Bec, for sharing your top ten. I love your work. xx

Rebecca lives on the Northside of Brisbane, does weddings, events, workshops, individual lessons and more. You can find her on facebook at www.facebook.com/rebecca.kate.

This is not a sponsored post :)

Image credit

Smoke and Mirrors

I unashamedly think of myself as make-up tart, foundation floozy, product junkie, lipstick addict, etc etc.   What I didn't know, was how much I didn't know. I have been so wrapped up in the beauty of the packaging, the scent of the products, the unattainable dream of perfection, the romance of hiding the years and completely missed the skill of application, the knowledge of products.

I have a friend, Rebecca Kate, who is a makeup artist.  I have known Rebecca for a few years and she always looks gorgeous.  I have seen work she has done and her clients are always happy and look amazing. So, I dug deep and worked up the guts to asked if she would drop by and give me a few hints.  She readily agreed.  Now, I could take this two ways:

1. She was tired of looking at my face with great products, poorly applied; or
2. She thought it would be really cool to hang out for an afternoon and talk makeup.

I have decided to go with the second choice because the other one is too painful and embarrassing to contemplate for too long.

Rebecca placed a stool in front of a mirror and over the course of an hour, educated me about products and application.  She would show me her product and then find a similar one in my stash, then show me a way to apply it.  The idea was that at the end of our lesson, I would be able to achieve a similar look with practice within 30 minutes and this time will reduce in time.  I do feel confident that I can achieve this.  But, that's not unusual, sometimes my confidence level exceeds my skill level.

There are not many people that I would place unflattering before photos up for, but the lesson was completely worth it.  Thank you Rebecca you are talented, awesome and I had a wonderful afternoon.

You can find Rebecca on facebook at  www.facebook.com/profile.rebeccakate

Freebie Alert

I squealed with joy in Woolworth at Bluewater this morning when I saw this weeks issue of Grazia. Sure the article about "The New Power Bloggers" looked interesting (before you ask, no I was not mentioned, I think I might be about 85,000 viewers short a month) and the "Guide to Summer Style" looked informative but I was very excited about the FREE Model Co eyeshadow palette worth $39 attached.

There are 3 choices.  I naturally gravitated towards Bronzed Goddess palette and at the last moment decided to be wild, exciting and unpredictable and I chose the Smokey Eye. After taking it home to play I have decided to rename it "Punched in the Eye".

Lucky, tomorrow I have the wonderful and talented Rebecca Kate coming over to give me a much needed make up lesson.