Posts tagged pretty 24/7

The lovely lovelies over at Pretty 24/7 dug around in my messy make up bag to find out what keeps me looking not-hideous.

Here’s an excerpt:

All-time favourite fragrance?

There can be only one: Thierry Mugler, Alien. Yummy.

And fragrance of the moment?

I’m quite enjoying Dior Addict to Life.

Who is your beauty icon?

It pains me to say (because I think her voice is dreadful), but I’m going to have to go with Rihanna. We have a similar shaped face and skin tone and she’s completely taught me that colour is my friend. I was always scared of short hair/ lipstick/ colourful eye make up until Miss RiRi showed us all that gutsy beauty can be gorgeous.

Favourite SA designer and why?

Oooh! This changes all the time, but right now I’m loving Thula Sindi. His creations are feminine, classic, modern, sassy… And I’m honoured to call him my friend.

Thanks for the little profile, Lauren!

I have a few mottoes: Life’s too short for instant coffee. And: A grown ass woman shouldn’t wear glitter - on her body or her face. I’m all for shimmer, bronzer, highlighter, but GLITTER?!

However, I know it’s a massive make up trend, so I’m thinking of experimenting (if not, why not, right?). And, if you’re going to experiment with glitter, you might as well do it properly, right? Right.

So, over at Pretty24/7, The Pretty Girl has posted a wonderful guide on how to nail this trend.

Add a few coats of glittery nail varnish to your finger or toenails. Glitter varnish looks great on its own, or over another colour.

Apply generous amounts of glittery lotion or bronzer with a finely milled sparkle pigment – either in a sheer or tinted formula – to your décolleté, shoulders and arms to get a hint of glitter without the in-your-face factor.

Glittery lipglosses are a win-win situation. Wear alone or over your favourite lipstick and focus the gloss on the centre of the mouth and cupid’s bow to really up the ante and the ‘wow’ factor – fuller, sexier lips with a whole lot of shine!

If you do happen to spill glitter on your face, try first to brush it away with a fan brush. If this doesn’t work, use a great trick I picked up backstage at Fashion Week. Take a little Scotch Tape – the milky sticky tape in the green tartan packaging – and use it to pick up the glitter off your face. This is a completely gentle tape and won’t hurt your skin or lift off your foundation!

Try a colourful glitter liquid liner just for fun. Keep the rest of the eye make-up neutral and fairly matte, then add a pop of joy onto the lash line with anything from sophisticated silver to a wild turquoise or bright pink liner.  

Pic via.

I know we’re heading into Autumn/ Winter here in South Africa and I’m supposed to be all about the plum/ red lips/ metallic eyes/ Halston hair, but to be quite honest: I’m already looking forward to Spring’s love affair with colour. That’s right, colour blocking isn’t only for clothes: we’re going to have very colourful faces, too.

Of course, no one wants to look like a clown (or Nicki Minaj), so you have to be very careful with how you do this…

Good thing Miss Shannon Smith’s on the case! She provides some great tips over at Pretty24-7 on how to do colour block beauty without letting the look wear you.

Some of her top tips are:

If you want to update your look in a flash, paint your nails the hot colour of the season. Most cosmetic companies launch a colour selection that includes both ‘safe’ and trendier colours. Choose the one that works for you.

Be guided by your daily life. If yours is a conservative occupation, then use colour conservatively – invest in a pretty eyeliner or sheer lip tint in a new shade. If you’re in a creative field, you’ll have more freedom with your day-to-day look. But the weekend is all yours – have fun with make-up; that’s what it’s there for.

Great advice, right? All I know is, I can’t wait to play with some colourful nails, pretty bright eyeliners and popping lipsticks. Now if only Winter didn’t stand in the way of my fun….

Pics of Hanne Gaby Odiele and Ming Xi in Vogue China Beauty via.

I might be a tad biased, given that I know Shannon Smith from our Fairlady magazine days, but I’m enjoying Pretty 24/7 sooo much.

My love of beauty products is well documented, so no wonder I adore the site, right? Pretty 24/7 is an independent, beauty-focused website, run by editors Shannon and Daniela Massenz and a cluster of leading industry professionals.

You can expect everything from product reviews, make up tutorials (yay!), directories for spas and salons and real in depth beauty related journalism.

And, if there’s one beauty expert I’d trust my skin, hair and cosmetics issues with, it’s Shannon. She’s super professional and undoubtedly one one of South Africa’s leading editorial beauty experts.