Soft, simple Valentine's look - inspired by Desi Perkins

Beautiful smoked liner done using only eyeshadows inspired by Desi Perkins..

Find out how here.... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-tQqzMvuM1M


Follow my instagram: @beautybybixo - like my page on facebook: Beauty by Bi

Bridal Make-Up! ♥

Soft, flawless bridal makeup!

So the other day, my beautiful best friend offered to be a model for me to trial a bridal make-up look on her, and this was my result.

I created this look using mostly Mac products.. I won't say you NEED to have the exact eyeshadows and other products that I used to achieve this look. That was something that would always frustrate me being a young girl watching makeup tutorials but not being able to afford any of the products used.

Eyes:
For the eyes I used Mac studio fix concealer and a matte cream eyeshadow for a base. I then used Mac - give me sun bronzer as a warm transition shade - you can use a matte bronzer or orangey/brown eyeshadow to get the same effect. In the crease with a smaller brush I used a darker brown just to add some depth to the outter crease. I popped a beautiful antique gold shadow by Mac all over the lid and then on the inner 3rd of the eye I used a white/gold highlighter out of the Sleek highlighting palette.
I did a little flick using my Maybelline black gel liner only coming in half way across the eye as I wanted the eye to look very fresh.
Finished the eyes off with some demi wispy lashes, trimmed down to fit just the outter part of the eye. For brows I used a brow palette from Collection and just simply followed the model's natural shape.

Face:
L'Oreal Infallible Mattifying Primer with Mac Studio Sculpt foundation over top using my Real Techniques sponge. Mac studio fix concealer to highlight under the eyes, chin, forehead and nose. Set all those places and the rest of the face very lightly with a translucent powder. I used my Anastasia Beverly Hills powder contour kit to ever so slightly bronze and contour the outer perimeters of the face.
I went back in to my Sleek highlighting palette to highlight the cheekbones, nose, chin, cupids bow and forehead. For blush I lightly dusted Mac - Love Joy mineralized blush on the apples of the cheeks and set it all in place with L'Oreal Mattifying setting spray.

Lips:
I used spice lip liner by Mac to line the lips very lightly, then went over the top with Mac - Jubilee which is a glossy nude lipstick but could easily just use a nice nude or clear gloss to give that lovely feminine effect.

I was very happy with how this look turned out. I think it's very subtle, flawless and effortless. Nothing over the top, understated - and just truly enhances this model's beauty.

What more could a bride want on her special day?!

X

Make-up Instagram Account! ♥

For anybody that may be interested I have started a separate Instagram account for my make-up!

It's @beautybybixo if any of you would like to pop over there and follow me, like my pictures, or not! 

My personal account is @biancatolleyx 

Xxx 

My top 5 drugstore/high street makeup products of 2015!

Hiya guys!!

Happy new year to all you lovelies! :-) 

Just going to share with you my favourite 5 drug store products of 2015... 

1. Infallible 24H Matte primer-

This primer smooths out my visible pores on my cheeks/nose and chin and keeps my foundation matte all day. It is clear and has that serum silky texture. 

2. L'Oreal True Match Foundation-

I have found that this foundation works perfectly with the above primer, for me anyway. Blends super easy, has a medium buildable coverage and stays all day. 

3. L'Oreal True Match Concealer-

There's a little bit of a pattern here... This concealer in my eyes is perfect! It's not too thick but has a great coverage for the undereyes. It's not drying, it moisturises the undereye area and still looks flawless once it has been set - I use the banana shade from my Anastasia Beverly Hills contour kit. 

4. Sleek Highlighting Palette-

I had to get this after seeing Holly Boon bigging it up on her YouTube channel! And I am so SO impressed! It has a cream highlighter in a pinky shade, then 3 powder highlighters in white/champagne, a bronzey peach and a pink. The peachy shade and champagne shade are my two favourites depending on whether I want a bold highlight or I use the peachy shade to add a sheen to my blush/bronzer. They are all super pigmented and worth the money considering you get 4 different highlighters. 

5. Sleek blush in Rose Gold-

I'll be honest I've never been a big blusher fan.. I saw this one and in the pan it looks REALLY bright. I dont know what made me swatch it to be honest because it's not something I'd usually go for. It's a coral shade with a goldish shimmer through it but when it swatches it's beautiful. I'm not a fan of bright blusher so I only use a teeny tiny amount but I feel like it's the perfect colour for me being fair but still looks lovely when I have fake tan on.

All of these items are no more than £9.99 each and everyone loves a bargain right?! Also if like me you are in the UK, Boots and Superdrug tend to do 3 for 2 on L'Oreal, it would be rude to say no really!

There are a few more items I am liking at the moment which are:

Bourjois Air Mat foundation, Revlon Colorstay for oily combination skin, collection loose powder & Rimmel wake me up concealer. 

I just thought I'd list these ones though as I wanted this post to be short and sweet.

I will be posting some drugstore makeup looks for you soon if anyone is interested :-)

Thanks for reading!

X 

Drugstore/High street make-up!

Hiya!!

So, I thought I should tell you a little bit about me..

I've always been a snob when it came to make-up. I would always want the best of the best, always trying out new and expensive products but this was back in the day when I had no bills and no responsibilities. I have since moved in to a house with my incredible, INCREDIBLE boyfriend. We have a wonderful little puppy and are giving the whole grown-up thing a go.

I am so so excited to have started this journey with Rudy - but unfortunately having bills to pay and mouths to feed means I can't have Estee Lauder this and Anastasia Beverley Hills that...

I can still treat myself every now and again but recently I have found myself trying out drug store makeup and what has been recommended by the likes of Kathleen Lights, Shaaanxo etc on YouTube...

I'm pleased to say I've been really impressed with what I've come across recently and would like to share it all with whoever wants to know!

So this is the direction my blog is going to go in.

I will do a mixture of whatever takes my fancy but mostly I am going to be trying out drug store make-up and seeing how it compares to the likes of Nars, Mac, Urban Decay etc etc.

Purely because I know how I felt seeing all these make-up gurus using the most expensive make-up and how frustrated I used to get because I couldn't always afford it and wished I could get the good quality stuff for a fraction of the price.
So for now I am on a mission to find all those little gems hidden away in the shelves of our drugstores and high street stores!

Speak to you soon!

X

ALL TIME FAVOURITE DRUG STORE/BUDGET FOUNDATION!!! ♥

Right... I feel like I have over-come my foundation snobbery with a little help of this beauty of a foundation - L'Oreal True Match!

I feel like I was SOOO late and took my time jumping on this bandwagon but I just couldn't believe it was as good as everyone said it was after watching the likes of Carli Bybel using it on her channel.

Anyway, I never had the urge to go out and buy it despite the craze and one day I spotted it in Boots as I had nothing to lose. I think it cost me £9.99 - wayyyy cheaper than the likes of Nars Luminous Weightless Foundation which had been my baby for a long long time. Like I said I had no hopes for this foundation at all, I expected to try it and throw it to one side never to be seen again (my foundation snob alter-ego shining through there...)

OH MY GOOD LORD, HOW WRONG WAS I?!

Here I am writing this blog post and I am on my SECOND bottle of this stuff!!!!! I can't stress how amazing that is... normally even if I LOVE a foundation, I'm never buying it more than once.


1. The packaging

OK so I'm 99.9% sure the True Match came first but it has the exact same packaging as the Infallible 24H foundation - not the Matte one. Nice neat glass bottle WITH A PUMP, gotta love a pump! It does make a bit of a mess though, my cap always ends up with dribbles of foundation on the inside but I'm not fussy like that so I don't mind too much just clean that mess up and move on with my life!

On the back this foundation claims to have 'Shade Micro-Precision : true to skin shades capture your skin tone and undertone.' and 'Skin Micro-Perfection : ultra fine pigments provide the perfect coverage without caking to naturally beautify your skin.' Now those are pretty big promises if you ask me and - like I said I'm a snob when it comes to foundation - I still had 0 faith in L'Oreal to come through with this foundation.


2. The formula

According to the L'Oreal Paris website 'The new formula contains 3 new shade enhancers for shade matching precision. Skin perfecting pigments and the ultra gliding creamy texture give a homogeneous finish. Even better colour matching, and more luminous and radiant skin than before. Even longer wear and better comfort. All you see is your skin at it's best.' This foundation I believe comes in 21 shades ranging from light to dark and warm to neutral to cool tones.

3. The swatches

Every time I use this foundation I fall in love all over again.
It's not greasy to touch and is very smooth - to me it just feels like a moisturiser. It dries very quickly and does not look cakey what so ever.

Now I use the shade 2N - Vanilla, as this matches me when I have my false tan on but I am going to need to invest in a lighter shade for winter as I cannot be stripping down and self tanning in these icy temperatures!
I - in no way, shape or form - have a Neutral tone to my skin, I am 1000000% warm toned, more so on my face than anywhere else. I do not like warm toned foundations as someone who has pinky/red undertones in my face anyway, I want to counteract that. And I feel by wearing a warm toned foundation I'm drawing attention to it.

I used to wear yellow based foundations but have come to realise since using this 2N shade, that they were just TOO yellow.
So for me personally the 2N shade works perfectly to match my tan and balance out my redness.

4. Before and After

OK, so I couldn't do this with a completely bare face as my lack of eyebrows would have sent you running for the hills so I'll save that for another day....

As you can see I have red/pink undertones in my face and freckles. I'm having a bad time with my skin at the moment, I can't quite figure out why but I suppose it's the perfect time to show you the full potential of this foundation.
I have visible pores on my cheeks and my skin is not smooth at all I have a lot of texture and under-the-skin spots/blackheads.
This is me with only a light day moisturiser on my face and chapstick on my lips.

This is after 2 pumps of the foundation. I used L'Oreal Infallible mattifying primer underneath. Now 2 pumps is a lot and I have only used this amount due to the condition my skin is currently in and me wanting to cover as much as possible without looking cakey. I haven't used concealer at this stage, just foundation applied with my damp beauty blender.

And this is my finished look! Just a simple, shimmery eye with no mascara on my bottom lashes for a glowy, fresh look!

If by any chance anybody out there would like to know how I achieved this pretty yet simple look, please by all means lets me know!

x