IT'S A WRAP!

Tonight I have been doing my Christmas wrapping. I don't like to do it to early as this is the one job that really gets me in the Christmas spirit...my usual routine involves watching a festive film, eating chocolate coins and wrapping!

1. Brown Postal Paper

This is my best friend when it comes to presents. Generally speaking if you get a gift from me at your birthday or christmas it will come wrapped in brown postal paper. This is a great cost effective way of wrapping as I hold a roll of it at all times and therefore don't need to go and buy themed paper for each ocassion! You can then personalise it/glam it up as you wish.

You can buy 8 meters for £2.99 at HobbyCraft

2. A stamp and Ink

This year I am using  a stamp and ink. There are so many different stamps that you can buy ranging from pictures to words. I have gone with a star for this year and black ink : simple! Get as creative as you want.

3. Brown tags

As a child I remember my Mum telling me to keep christmas cards and use the front pictures for tags the next year. I prefer to keep it more neutral and brown tags are reall versatile, once again these can be used for any ocassions present and you can personalise them using different pens, stamps etc.

4. Ribbon & Raffia

I always have a stash of ribbon and raffia. Hobbycraft is a great place for this and do all sorts of colours and patterns. This year I am keeping it simple with pinks, blues, black.


Ready for Christmas Day and everyone appreciates the little homemade effort!

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1960’s CLASSIC EYE MAKE-UO - THROUGH THICK & THIN

When I think of inspirational era’s when it comes to hair and make-up, one that always excites me is the 1960’s. With it’s Mod subculture, celebrating the love of modern jazz and ultimately all night partying, enter a make-up look that is accemetric in form and striking: pure facial art! The 1960’s Modernist look, is one that sees a revival every decade and more so now than ever before, teamed with a Twiggy style ‘pixie cut’ or a backcombed ‘Bardot’ updo, this look will have you experimenting with your classic black eye liner.

Choose your weapon!?.....

Kohl, gel or liquid liner? For a professional finish, I would opt for a fine liner brush and a little pot of jet black, waterproof gel (MAC Cosmetics ‘Fluidline gel liner’ in ‘Blacktrack’ £15.00) for the ultimate in statement party looks

* Prepare your perfect base make-up.

* Add a frosty white shadow to the mobile lid, blending into the socket line and adding a subtle highlight under the brow (MAC Cosmetics ‘White Frost’ £12.50)

* Following the natural line of your socket, draw a seamless fine arch with your brush and gel liner and flick outwards at the outer edge (The shape you create should also compliment the line of your brow)

* Now take a sweep of liner at the lash line and flick outwards and upwards at the outer edge. Mirroring the first line you created in the socket.

* Draw a finer line under the eye at the lash roots and if you really fancy adding some drama, draw on some ‘faux’ lashes at the outer corner - just little flicks of black under your natural lashes.

* Add a strip of false lashes to your upper lash line (Eylure - Girls Aloud ‘Nadine’ lashes, superdrug.com £3.59) Load both your natural lash and the strip lashes with your favorite black mascara to blend the two together.

* Open up the eye further by adding white eye pencil in the lower ‘tear line’ – it’s a fabulous trick for brightening the eye instantly!

* Pat on a pale, nude, matte lip colour to finish (MAC Cosmetics Freckletone £15.00)

If you don’t fancy the brush and gel combo, then a liner I use daily and love (although it’s not waterproof!!) is L’Oreal – ‘Perfect slim, super liner’ in ‘Intense Black’ (superdrug.com £6.99) It’s felt tip applicator makes contouring and creating smooth, fine lines, fool proof!

Now, slip into that tailor made suit, jump on your Vespa – and go party!

Lorraine x

www.lorrainemilligan.com

www.vintagebette.co.uk

YOUR WARDROBE: BRILLIANT BASICS

Forget a capsule wardrobe, I believe that everyone needs a few brilliant basics (BBs) in your closet that you can literally pull on to bring any outfit to life. You will get good cost per wear out of these items as they are so versatile and go with so many different items. So if you can spend a little more on these items do, as the investment will be worth it. Here are some of my favorites. 

BB 1 - The animal print shoe.

Literally these go with anything. Jeans. Trousers. Skirts. Dresses. Shorts. Anything. I like to wear them with; 

• a ripped jean and statement jumper or plain t-shirt 
• a classic shift dress, boyfriend blazer and statement necklace 
• some skinny trousers and a casual shirt 

Don’t worry about pattern clashes, this just adds to the appeal!

BB 2 - The statement necklace.

Again they go with anything and will turn the most boring of outfits into something special. I have a collection of different ones that I have bought over time. 

I like to wear them; 

• over a denim shirt 
• over a chunky knit jumper 
• With a patterned dress 

Try Zara if you want to spend a little less, you can pick up a good necklace for £20 there.


BB 3 - The classy handbag.

A good quality handbag will immediately bring a touch of class to any outfit and its the one area I would advise to spend a little more money if you can. Black will go with most outfits but you do tend to find most styles come in a variety of colours, so the choice is yours. I like a bigger bag for the day and a simple clutch for evenings.

BB4 - A checked shirt.

Shirts like this go with every different pair of bottoms you would have in your wardrobe.


I like to wear it with:

• My leather look leggings and simple black heels 
• Skinny jeans and a pair of natural brogues 
• Black slim leg trousers with animal print heels 

A statement necklace can also look great over a checked shirt.
You should be able to find a good selection of shirts in most high street shops.

Susie x 

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FLAWLESS CANVAS

As we enter into Winter and the golden natural glow of Summer fades once again, make-up bases become part of our daily routine towards achieving what appears to be effortless, healthy looking skin. The A/W ‘13 catwalks see the return of models sporting flawless skin, courtesy of our favorite, but often misused friend ‘the foundation’

There are so many variations of ‘base’ make-up to choose from - liquid, cream to powder, mineral, stick - all boasting a variety of finishes and coverage - matte, dewy, sheer, barely there – which to choose? The trend this season, is keeping it ‘real’, skin that’s appears effortlessly natural, with matte perfection. As an artist, for me the finish has to be ’velvet’ and my foundation of the moment comes in the form of Chanel’s ‘Perfection Lumiere’ longwear, flawless fluid (£32.40 debenhams.com)

Liquid foundations provide a sheer to full coverage, depending on the finish you choose and technique of application. I use foundation brush and sponge – brush to smooth or buff onto the skin and sponge to blend seamlessly. This particular Chanel foundation I adore, as I can achieve that velvet complexion, with it’s soft almost matte, photo perfect finish. Choose your colour tone ‘in season’ keeping with your ideal A/W skin tone, which can always be warmed up with a sweep of bronzer, once your make-up is complete, imitating where the sun would catch your face.

Test your foundation on your jawline, making sure your face matches your shoulder and neck area. You can now create your perfect canvas – starting with gentle strokes on the forehead, temples, eyelids, under eyes, cheeks, chin and blending down the jawline, paying attention also to the neck (where the sun doesn’t shine) and the ears!

Team your flawless skin with a bright lip, for perfect contrast

Conceal or correct? 

Now for the professional trick of colour ‘correcting’ any grey areas under the eyes, that need a little more attention. Traditional light reflecting products are great for highlighting the bone structure, concealers are perfect for the odd blemish and extra coverage of corrected areas, but ‘colour correction’ for grey under eye areas, whether you are fair medium or dank skinned, should be peach/orange based, as this will neutralise the grey/blue tones.

Add your peach based corrector, to the inner and under eye area - I adore Bobbi Brown Correctors (£18.50 1.4g bobbibrown.com) Gently pat it into your foundation and watch the skin appear flawless. You will look awake and fresh faced - magic! Set your smoothed over eye lid area with a dusting of translucent powder and a sweep over your T Zone and you are now ready to design your desired make-up look. 

A Pro tip - try highlighting your bone structure, with a foundation a tone lighter than your base foundation… A sweep down the centre of the nose, dab a little to the mid cheek from the nose, a dot above the lips for fullness and a touch on top of the cheek bones and mid forehead will leave you looking sculpted and defined. Blend effortlessly into the rest of your foundation and keeping it light and subtle is the key to this pro finish!

Lorraine
x

www.lorrainemilligan.com

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