Competition Entry - Beauty and the beach

Hey guys!  Random one tonight, the folks over at Travelsupermarket are running a competition at the moment to create a look for hair, makeup and nails fit for the beach :)  Never one to shy away from a challenge I thought I'd step up and see what I come up with :)  Here's my look - I hope you like it xxx

Inspiration

So, my inspiration for the look may seem obvious (the beach) but hey, that's what we're creating a look for :)  For the different elements, I've sourced different inspiration. 

Nails - inspiration is Mother of Pearl

Hair - Curvy sea shells

Makeup - Bronzed / sandy

images taken from Pinterest

Hair

So as I mentioned I took inspiration from curvy shells - like the one pictured above.  Now, if your hair is anything like mine, it's hard to bare to have it fully down when you're somewhere windy i.e. the beach.  So, I did a side parting and did a front twist, pinning it back on the side using two bobby pins (crossing them over).  This keeps the bulk of the hair at the front, out of my face #winning.

Nails

So nails, I wanted to create something that is similar to mother of pearl / pearls / golden.  So to do this I used two of my favourite nail polishes, I used Essie's Fiji (loooove this colour!) and Rimmel's Disco Gold for the top coat.  Even if I do say so myself, I love this combination!  How have I never put these together before?  Even though I did these for a competition, I'll be keeping them going as long as I can and will probably re-do them :)  TIP:  To make sure your nails last for your day at the beach, make sure you use a good base coat and top coat - my favourite is the Seche ones :)

Makeup

What I wanted to achieve with this look is a lovely golden, bronzed and well highlighted look - a sort of dewey finish.  Here's the look, how I created it and why I chose what I did :)

Eyes

For this I used... quite a lot ;)  After priming I started off with a base of the Maybelline colour tattoo in On and On Bronze.  I then used 2 shades of the MUA Undressed palette.  Shade 4 for the inner half of the eye and shade 10 for the outer half (you can see the difference more on the eye on the left).  I then used shade 1 under the browbone and on the inner corner of the eye, taking it under the eye for about 1/3.  Then I took a L'Oreal eye liner in (contour khol) in 164 Chrome Brown underneath the eye all the way a long the line.  (it's also worth noting I brought the colour tattoo underneath the eye too).  Next, I took my Chanel liquid eyeliner (black) and lined the eye, winging it out a little.  Then I curled my eye lashes and applied my Maybelline One by One mascara.

Skin

For foundation, I opted for the Ginvera BB cream as it has SPF 30, so it's giving you protection when you're in the sun.  If I didn't have a BB cream, I would have opted for the YSL touche eclat foundation to bring luminosity to the skin.  I concealed with the Maybelline Dream Lumi touch under the eyes, on any troubled areas, and where I wanted to apply a highlighter (cheeckbones, down the nose, cupids bow and on the chin a little).  Then I took out my Barry M Natural Dazzle bronzer and contoured with it (in the hollows of the cheek, on the temples, around the hairline and down the jawline).  Then, I used my L'Oreal Glam Bronze trio, I used the bronzer on my cheeks, cheekbones and lightly went over my temples to create a glamourous bronzed look.  Next step was blush, and for this I used my NYX blusher in Pinched - this has a lovley golden glow which added a beautiful shimmer to my cheeks.  Then I took my Sleek highlighter, applied that to the cheekbones, dusted it across my forehead, down the nose, cupids bow and on the chin. 

Lips

I wanted to keep this simple.  The last thing I'd want is to wear a gloss, have my hair flying everywhere and my hair sticking to my lip (my pet hate!) so I opted for Givenchy gloss/balm - it's the most amazing texture, even though it's a gloss, the texture is a balm, so you're keeping your lips hydrated when at the beach, and adding a touch of sparkle.  Perfect.

I teamed up this look with pearl drop earrings, a pearl bracelet, a mae movement rose gold bracelet, and my Michael Kors rose gold watch.

I hope you like the look I created and where I got my inspiration from for it, I must admit I had really good fun creating it - and I learnt that my husband is great at taking close up pics of my eyes - something I'll have to get him to do more often :p

Pixi3 out

xXx