Making Over Bethan!

So on Thursday I decided to give Bethan a 'Me' makeover.
I think it turned out rather well ;)
Needless to say thanks to my wonderful skills making her a classic beauty she was pulling left right and center that night at work.

I celebrated the success with a glass of bubbly.

 

Yummeh!

Till next time folks,

Merry Christmas!

Laura Lou x

'No Makeup' Makeup

I've been trying for a while to find a way of doing my makeup that makes me look 'naturally' beautiful and on Wednesday I think I achieved that goal!
I call it my 'No Makeup' Makeup look.
It's very easily done and with very few products, I'd be happy to do a video tutorial on it if anyone wants to know how I did it (just let me know).

 

I really liked this makeup because it wasn't heavy to wear, it was light coverage and it looked pretty natural. Plus it can be done with any old thing you have lying in your makeup bag.

It also works for a Gibson Girl look, which I have also been trying to perfect for a while.

 

I didn't use any products on my eyes. No eyeshadow, no eyeliner and no mascara which is why I'm surprised I'm even putting these photos online because normally you do not want to see be makeup free. It is not pretty *shudders*

 

I wore it with my favourite hairdo of the moment, the 1940s updo, I think it looked pretty cute.

 

And just look at how flawless my skin looks in black and white!

Till next time folks,

Laura Lou x

An Oufit Fit For Walmart

Well hello there folks!
I Just wanted to share with you all this look I threw together the other day. I wore it to go shopping in Asda Walmart, that's how glamorous my life really is, I got a few (a lot) of strange looks, non of which I think were appreciating my outfit but I didn't mind, I felt good in it.
I can't really pin-point an era that it was inspired by. I has a kind of Edwardian/1920s sporty secretary feel to it.

The skirt I bought from Primark about three years ago for around £12, the shoes are my little white plimsolls form Primark (which I have mentioned before) and the top was a hand-me-down from my oldest sister.

I love throwing little vintage inspired outfits together because I'm sad like that.

I shall leave you with this picture of me being extremely silly.

Till next time folks,

Laura Lou x

(not so) Marylin Monroe

Everyone who does vintage has their own Marylin Monroe makeup look so I thought why not do the same? But me being me I had to change it just a smidgen (a lot) so it ended up looking only slightly Marylin-esq but stunning all the same (well I think it is).

I probably should have done like a photo tutorial or something to go along with this post but that thought did not occur to me at the time so instead I shall show you some vainly posed pictures of me and explain what makeup I used.
For this look I decided to tone the eyes down with thin eyeliner and make the lips the main focal point.
I'll start with my foundation, it's collection 2000 Lasting Perfection (shade) ivory 2 then I applied some concealer onto my, ehem, blemishes and under my eyes for a but of a brighter look. Concealer by George at Asda Walmart (shade) light 01.
My blusher is a one I found in a Givenchy pallet I have from a while back sadly it does not tell me the shade on the back though so I'll tell you that it was basically just a light pink.
I have one of those 120 eyeshadow plattes that you get from eBay (not sure if any of you know of them) and I used the 2nd brown colour on my eyebrows. I also made my eyebrows thicker as opposed to my usual thin-ish brow look.
On my eyes I started with a MUA beige colour (shade) 17 then applied MUA (shade) 22 under my eyebrow as a highlighter. Then on my brow bone I used the 2nd lightest grey in the 120 eye pallet and not satisfied with the look i covered over the MUA 17 with a white from the pallet which turned out rather nice.
My eyeliner (on top lid) is Collection 2000 Extreme 24 hour felt tip liner which I ADORE! and on the outside of the bottom lid I used Collection 2000 Kohl liner in black. I only lined the corner of my eye though as I find that if I go all the way along my eye looks smaller.
I used NYC Show Time mascara which I am obsessed with. I have three unused tubes sitting in my makeup bag, that's how much I love it.
The lipstick Is Dior Diorific (shade) 013 Rouge Bingo Roulette Red, it is one of the best lipsticks I have had in a long while, then on top to give it a shine I applied a Lancome lip glass (shade) 110.
My powder press is also Collection 2000 (shade) 18 ivory.
And like I said me being me I added a non-Marylin hairstyle (a Gibson Girl to be exact)

 Excuse the pink strawberry dressing gown but it's just so comfy!

An aerial view of my hair. All I did was hang my head upside down, twist the hair then make it into a small bun at the front of my head, didn't even take a minuet.

Have a go at doing your own Marylin Monroe look, I'd love to hear about them.
Till next time folks,
Laura Lou x

Gibson On The Brain

Just a quick little post to tell you about some little beauties that I found yesterday.

So I was scanning youtube for some nice little vintage hair and makeup tutorials when I came across these beauties.
Gibson Girl hair and makeup tutorial! I tried the makeup one out today and it's really very pretty, perhaps not to everyone's tastes though.

This is the makeup tutorial. This woman also as a blog which I will post the link too, it's all about Gibson Girls and their beauty and fashion secrets.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RTH1AuWx8JU

And here is the hair. I can't wait to try this out, it looks so pretty.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X72_1cOARX8

and finally here is a link to the blog 'The Gibson Girl's guide to glamour'.
http://gibsonglamor.blogspot.co.uk/

Well I hope you all get some use out of these.

Laura Lou x

Ps. My new/old 1950s night dress arrived in the post today. I am in the middle of turning it into and outfit at the moment and once that is complete I shall treat you all you some pictures.

Hair from back...way back

Big Old Hair

As much as I adore and wear the styles from the 40s and the 50s I've always had an avid interest Victorian women's beauty and style, particularly their hair. 

Ever since I was old enough to really take an interest in History I have pretty much been infatuated with anything remotely related to the Victorian period from the quality of living (rich and poor people's), theatre, novels and of course the fashion. But  I have only just recently been researching Victorian beauty and hair and I have become quite interested in the 'Gibson Girl' style.

A drawing of a typical 'Gibson Girl' hairdo

 

The Gibson Girl first appeared in the 1890's in a humour magazine called "Life." Drawn by illustrator CharlesDana Gibson, she was his ideal woman with her tiny waist, lofty pompadour hair, and aloof beauty.

The 'Gibson Girl' appeared in  many more magazines of that time and quickly became a style sought after by women everywhere, and it's no wonder why.

In my opinion, although it is a style the requires the woman to have  'a tiny waist, aloof beauty and pompadour hair' it looks so natural, so effortless. It's as though they woke up and absently pinned their hair up and it just happened to look that wonderful even though it probably took them hours to perfect they style each day.

I suppose in many ways it is like women of today who spend hours in the mirror applying all sorts of beauty products to get that 'natural beauty' look. 

All I can say is, If I'd of been around in the late 1800s I would have been a Gibson Girl, just maybe not as good as these ones though.

Laura Lou x

PS. While researching all this I found two really interesting articles that I think you should all take a look at. The first one is just a small piece about tattooed women in Victorian times and the second is all about Beauty products and hair. Like I said they're really interesting :)

http://www.canonballblog.com/?p=1797

http://www.hairarchives.com/private/victorian1new.htm