My attempt at strobing

        So lately I've been hearing a lot of people talking about strobing, it makes me think of some kind of rave but basically it's a form of highlighting. I am more than interested in anything that can make my sad cheek bones stand out a bit and I do love glowy skin so I thought I'd give it a go.   I started with the Elemis pro-radiance illuminating flash balm. This is the limited edition version, they donate some of the proceeds to breast cancer which is amazing, plus the packaging is just gorgeous. This is both a moisturiser and primer but gives the most gorgeous, dewy sheen to the skin that I thought would be perfect for today's look.  

I then used Benefit's high beam on all the high points of my face, I actually used quite a lot of this as I wanted it to really show through my foundation. I applied my Rimmel match perfection foundation over the top of this. I applied this very lightly using a stippling brush being very careful not to rub the highlighter off.  

   

After I applied my foundation I went over the top of the highlighted areas with the Loreal lumi magique pen. I then carried on with my normal makeup. I don't think it's showing up amazingly in the pictures but it real life it's a look I quite like. I would definitely reccomend the Elemis flash balm as an illuminating primer too, my makeup seemed to go on really well after using it.   I hope you enjoyed today's post, keep checking back for more. I have to say I apoligise for having simply terrible hair in these pictures, let's all pretend it's much better....thanks!

Valentines make up look

        Hello!   It's nearly time for the most Marmite of all the holidays, valentines day. Me and the boyfriend have never been very big fans but I do love an excuse get a bit girly and wear some very pretty and feminine makeup. I thought I'd share what I'll be wearing just in case I get unexpectedly swept off my feet...      

 
I kept my skin light and glowy (as I always do ha) by using my YSL touch eclait foundation. I also used my Maxfactor CC corrector stick under my eyes to get rid of any dark circles and then went over this with the the Rimmel wake me up concealer to make my eyes look nice and bright.    

  I wanted to keep my eyes quite simple but with a little bit of sparkle so I used my Loreal la palette nude as this has some nice peachy shades and a mixture of shimmers and mattes. Unfortunately the colours aren't named but I used one of the peachy shades all over the lid with a medium brown through the crease and outer corner. I smudged the darkest brown along the lash line as thought liner would be a little but harsh for this look. I curled my lashes and applied a few coats of the Bare minerals lash domination mascara. Looking at the pictures I actually think some falsies would have looked nice, I would probably have gone with the Tanya Burr every day flutter lashes. I used my Soap and Glory Archery pencil on my brows, not a lot to say about these though as they are safely hiden away under my massive fringe.  

I used the Benefit Coralista blush from the Go Tropical palette. This blush gives a really nice warmth to the skin and has just enough shimmer. I haven't used the high beam or cha cha tine in this look but I really like both of these too. When it comes to valentines day I think it's best to keep lips simple. Most men I know aren't big fans of heavy lipstick and if your planning on having a few cheeky valentines kisses it can be a bit of an issue. I decided to go for the Loreal rouge caresse in the shade lovely rose. This is really hassle free as it's more like a tinted lip balm, the colour's really pretty too.   So there you go. I hope you all enjoyed today's post and have a lovely valentines day whatever your plans are. I have quite a lot of makeup posts planned foe the near future but would love to do some more fashion ones soon too. Please let me know if there's anything in particular you 'd like to see.

The YSL touche eclat dupe

Hello!

 Regular readers of TheRobynChristina will know what a big fan of the YSL Touch eclat I am. I've mentioned it in almost every post recently. This sadly means that it probably won't last too long and at around £25 a pop it isn't something I'm too keen to re-purchase. You can imagine how happy I was when I discovered the Loreal lumi magique stylo touche de lumiere (world's longest product name). It is almost identical, like literally the same product. YSL is actually owned by Loreal so they often have very similar products and of course are always much more affordable. The Loreal version is around £8.00 which I am much happier to pay.

The only difference I can really see is that the Touch eclat is slightly more pink toned which may work better for under the eyes than the Loreal version but apart from that they are very much the same. The beautiful packaging of high end products can sometimes sway me but with these two even that is almost identical. Basically I think I know which one I'll be reaching for in the future.

Contouring: The Kimmy K Way

Hello!!   My sister asked me to do a post on contouring a little while ago, even though she was blessed with much better bone structure than me. I thought I would split this into two posts starting with the very sculpted method, ala Kim Kardashian. Prepare for some pictures of my face looking a little bit weird.  

   

 

To create strange picture number 1, I used the Maxfactor yellow CC stick and the Loreal lumi magique stylo touche de lumiere (these products have very long names). I used these on all of the high points of my face and the areas that I wanted to catch the light.

 

 

I then used the Bourjois bronzing primer on all the areas where I wanted to create shadow. I applied this with the Real techniques contour brush. At this point you look like an extra from the Lion King but it's all starting to come together.

 

I then applied a small amount of my YSL touch eclait foundation to even everything out which I applied using the real techniques miracle complexion sponge.

And taa daa you have a more sculpted face! It's not showing up as well as I would have liked in the picture but it does create a really nice effect. I think this would work best on darker skin, paler skins have to go a little bit more delicately or risk looking like they've been tangoed. You could also go over this and add some more highlighter to make it extra glowy.

 

I hope this was helpful. I'll have a second contouring post up soon to show a slightly different technique so remember to keep popping back.

 

 

 

What's in Milly's make up bag

Hello!!   Over Christmas time I, like everyone else, spent lots of time getting merry with friends and family. I always like to have a little look through there makeup bags to see if they have any thing I might want to copy cough borrow cough! I thought some of you might like to see them too.   The first lady whose makeup bag I snook in to is the lovely Milly, my brother's girlfriend. She had a few little gems I liked the look of so I asked her what was what and why she liked them so much.  

Rimmel exaggerate automatic lip liners Milly has 2 of these in the colours red diva and east end snob. I actually have both of these myself and I'm a big fan. According to Milly, east end snob is a great dupe for pillow talk by Charlotte Tilburry which she won't risk taking out the house.

 

Urban Decay Pallettes Milly has the shadow box  and the naked basics palette. I only have the naked one palette which I love so it was nice to have a little snoop of some others. Milly said that the Shadowbox was great and brilliant to take on the go but doesn't have many crease or matte shades so she uses the naked basics for this. She uses these every day for eyes and brows and thinks they last really well.

 

Loreal telescopic mascara This is a blogger favourite which I've actually never tried. Milly told me how long it makes her lashes. I've seen them and I have to say that it is definitely working! I'll be picking this up at some point for definite.

 

Collection lasting perfection concealer I used to use this all the time and it's definitely a blogger favourite. Milly liked it for the coverage and I would have to agree, it can cover anything!

 

Brushes Milly had the real techniques blush brush and stila number 6 brush. I actually own the blush brush and love it. The way its tapered makes it really easy to add the right amount. The stila brush looks great for blending shadow.

 

 

So there we go, a nice little nose around someone elses makeup bag. I love posts like this so hopefully you do too. Thanks to Milly for letting me ratch through her stuff! Expect to see a few more of these in the near future, I'm gonna try and space them out so it doesn't get too samey though. Let me know if there's anything you'd really like to see on here.

Autumn Palettes

 

Hello!!

 

This time of year the department stores start to fill up with beautiful high end Autumn/Winter palettes with shades so beautiful I could weep! Sadly, the prices bring a tear to my eye too, which leaves me and many other people popping them on our Christmas list in the hopes that Santa will fill our stockings with them but just in case our hints get ignored, I decided to have a little look at what the high street had to offer and I must say I've been more than impressed with what I found.

 

 

First up is the MUA undressed palette. This is only £4, for 12 beautiful shades, what a bargain!! With a lovely range of matte and shimmer bronze shades and a couple of darker grey shades you could really create some lovely Autumnal looks with this palette. I've always found MUA to be brilliant quality with excellent colour pay off. I definitely think this one is worth picking up if your after something new for this season.

 

 

This is the Bourjois smoky stories palette in the shade rock this khaki. I think palettes like this make it so easy to create a look as all the shades compliment each other perfectly. I don't normally wear green eyeshadow but I really liked the look of these and thought I'd step out of my comfort zone a bit. I think it would be nice for creating an  Autumnal twist on a smokey eye. This one was £7.99 which I don't think is too bad at all.

 

 

Next is the Rimmel glam eyes palette in Brixton brown. I'm really excited about this one as I know it's been compared to the Charlotte Tilburry Dolce Vita palette several times and at £6.99 is obviously a fraction of the price. Similar to the Bourjois palette this is nice and easy for creating a full look. I don't know how often I'll be using the rusty colour but think this adds something a little bit different for getting into the festive season so I'm excited to see what I can come up with.

 

 

Last up today is the L'oreal la palette nude in Rose. This is a new release and what I would describe as L'oreal's take on the Naked palette. This is the most expensive of the bunch but at £14.99 is still massively cheaper than most of the high end palettes that are on the go. This has a mixture of shimmer and matte shades and a bigger variety of shades than the naked palette does. I'm especially intrigued by the berry shade at the end as I think this will be something a little different without being too crazy. I think this is rather beautiful and think it makes a good replacement for the naked palette if you don't fancy paying as much.

 

So there's my little round up pf high street palettes. Of course we can all still secretly hope for some Tom Ford or Charlotte Tilburry treasures under our Christmas trees this year but if you aren't lucky enough then definitely check some of these out because I really do think they are just as good.

 

Hope you enjoyed today's post. I'm going to try and upload more regularly so watch this space!!

 

Robyn  xx

Top 5 foundations

Hello!!!

Next in the series today is my top 5 foundations. I've tried to keep it mostly high street/drugstore but their is a cheeky high end mention in there too. Hope you all enjoy!

5. So first today we have the Rimmel perfect match foundation. This is quite a new purchase for me but I've worn it every day since getting it and have really been enjoying it. It's a very liquidey formula which I'm not always great with but I've found this one easy to work with. It blends easily into the skin and is pretty undetectable as it isn't overly duey or matte.

 

4. Nest is the Loreal lumi magique foundation. This one is very light weight and makes the skin look very luminous and dewey. I would say it has a medium coverage but could be built up nicely without looking cakey on the skin. It doesn't have an SPF so it's ideal if you know your gonna be having pictures taken as you shouldn't get any flash back!

 

 

 

 



3.Next is the Bourjois healthy mix serum. This one holds a special place in my heart as I first tried it when I was in Paris for my 21st. The serum formula means it glides onto the skin and blends perfectly, I normally just use my fingers to do this and find that this works best for me. It has a faint fruity scent which I know isn't for everyone but I don't find it offensive and it hasn't ever broken me out.

 

2. Next is the YSL le teint touche eclat. I have to say that this one is very similar to the loreal lumi magique as the companies are owned by the same people this happens quite often with products. Obviously the YSL version is pricier but I do prefer it. It has a slightly better coverage and whilst it is still glowey I would say it is more of a "lit from within" type of glow. I do find that I get compliments on my skin when I wear this one and that's always nice!

1. Today's big winner is the Rimmel wake me up foundation. This is definitely my most re-purchased item of all time and I absolutely love it. I know this has been raved about for a long time but it's easy to see why. It has excellent coverage without feeling too heavy, blends really well and is dewey without looking too shimmery. I know someone people have complained about this having obvious glitter in it but I van honestly say I have never found this. I like to apply this using the real techniques buffing brush so that its really worked into the skin and find that it lasts really well on the skin after this. I really can't recommend this enough, especially for Spring/Summer. Give it a go!!

Ok so that's foundations covered. I hope you enjoyed this one. I only have a couple of posts left for this little series so let me know how you've found it and if I should think about doing something similar in the future. Thanks for reading.

Robyn xx