MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!

"And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth."

Philippians 2:8-10

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL AND TO ALL A GOOD NIGHT!

Festive Face

Seasons greetings :)

With Christmas coming up, we're required to look good for multiple dinners and nights out, Christmas day and New Year's. I wanted to try something new again so here's a make-up tutorial for how to dress up your face a bit for this festive season. Enjoy...

Face

Step 1:

Use primer to even tone and ensure long lasting make up.

Step 2:

For a natural look and minimum waste, mix a pea sized amount of foundation with the same amount of moisturiser and blend- a tide line is not the one. With my 2 in 1 brush (H&M £2.99), I use the foundation brush to apply and buff with the blush brush.

Step 3:

Cover with powder. I use Clique's stay matte pressed powder.

The Eyes

Step 1:

Cover eyelid with a shimmery neutral tone.

Step 2:

Use a lighter shadow (much lighter than your skin) and use in the inner corners of your eyelid and blend. This fools people into thinking you have big doll eyes.

Step 3:

Add a dark shadow to the outer corner, edge, 1/3 of the lid and 3/4 of the eye crease and blend. I used black because of my dark skin and cheap eye shadow palette. 

Step 4:

Cover the space in between the dark and light with a gold/bronze tone and... you got it- BLEND!

Step 4:

Apply liquid eye liner along the lid and up to the edge of the black eye shadow.

Step 5:

Add a pair of fake lashes.. because I'm from Essex. Eyelure is good, I tend to make a quick trip to primark for their £1, "natural look" (they're really not) lashes, but I bought these in a pack of 10 for 99p off ebay- thanks China. 

Just buy good glue and the lashes don't really matter.

Step 6:

Add mascara to bottom lashes.

Step 7:

Apply pencil/kohl eye liner inside the bottom lid and inner corner of the eye then use the neutral shadow to neaten up the line a bit. All these hi-lights make the eyes look bigger.

 

 The Brow

Step 1: 

Brush upwards

Step 2:

Use the brush to shape brow- this makes it easier when it come to pencilling it in.

Step 3:

Line the brown and lightly shade in. I use black eye liner for my eyebrows because I like them to look fairly thick dark but go for a dark brown for a more natural look.

Step 4:

Use finger to blend the pencil into the eyebrow, just a quick wipe across will do. I'm not really into the whole  obvious and square brow look so this creates a naturally thick look.

The Lips

Step 1:

I still haven't gotten around to buying dark lipstick yet because this Barry M one was more of a deep red than the dark purple I expected, so try lining the lips with eye-liner if you're in the same dilemma. 

Dark lipstick is very in so it there's any time to try it, it's this winter season.

Step 2:

Fill in with lip stick and BLEND. I used Barry M Black cherry 160 (Boots £4.49).

The End

 So this is my final look with and without flash.

Excuse the shocking lighting in my room...

As you can see I've only done basic face coverage, my eyes and lips as I'm not the kind of gal to wear blusher or contour but Youtube it and there'll be a million videos on all that jazz.

 In conclusion

If you add enough gold and red- you're ready for this holiday!

Add to this look with some false nails from Primark- £1 a pack.
Mix and match for a new look each time!

Stay Beautiful x

Curly Curls- How to get that 'natural' look

Erykah Badu, Lianne La Havas and Solange Knowles- Gorgeous gyals with gorgeous hair! If you're anything like me, you dream of having hair that just does this... however, having relaxed my Nigerian hair multiple times I actually have no idea how it would look "naturally". I've considered shaving it all off and starting again but the idea has had an extremely mixed reaction- plus I can see myself rocking it like Jessie J for about 2 weeks then crying for a weave for years to come. What I need is a cheat to effortlessly natural curls and luckily, I have it. I love doing this because it means I can frizz my hair up in an orderly fashion rather than the rain and wind making it totes cray cray.

Please note that this isn't just for black people. I actually learned how to do it from a girl at school who was white so I'm going to assume it works on pretty much all types of hair (unless it's already in extremely tight curls, of course). 

Here are some images I prepared earlier...

Step 1: 

Separate your hair into sections and add a tad bit of water. 

Or do this just after washing it.

Step 2: 

Twist hair and continue to until it folds around itself.

Step 3:

Tie a  hair band around the bun. It should look like this.

 Attractive right..

Step 4: 

Go to sleep!

I prefer to do this before bed as it avoids using heat which can be 

damaging hair and it saves time. 

Alternatively, you could  use a blow-dryer. 

Step 5: 

Remove the hair band, untwist and run fingers through each section.

You can use a wide tooth comb but if you brush it too much or the teeth are too 

close together the curls could be lost and a wild creature can appear. 

Stick with your hands and it should be fine. 

 Step 6:

Style as desired!

I usually do an upside down French plait at the back of my hair and stop about 

two thirds up my head. 

 Apologies for the messy plait, I was in a rush. 

And that's it!

I did the same thing on my flatmate Dawn's hair for the photoshoot too.

Her hair is fairly thick and has natural loose curls that I split into about 7 large sections.

 

Extra tips:

-The smaller the sections, the tighter the curls.

-The thicker the hair, the more water you may need for the method to be effective.

-If you have quite short hair like mine, small sections are best in having an even texture from top to bottom.

-Try plaiting or twisting your hair too. Experiment- You might discover something you never thought your hair could do.

That's it from me for now. Send me some pics of you giving it a go if you want- @brokeblackbeautiful on instagram or mail it to my g-mail account (check my profile). 

Stay beautiful...

My Little Vintage Project

Evening :)

I know a few people will start doing Christmas posts around now but don't worry, that probably won't happen for another few weeks. This is just a little post about a little project. 

Whilst visiting Retrospect a few weeks ago, the owner, Mr Psychedelic Jim, told me that the local Cancer Research store was looking for someone to help revamp their vintage section so I want along to the store and now I'm volunteering there weekly.

I've been told I have complete free reign over the section and, even though it is only a small section, I think it'll be a fun bit of work where I can do just about anything and put what I've been learning the past 2 years studying retail and fashion into practice.

Each time I go in, I'll upload pictures of my (what I hope will be) progress. 

Week 1

I forgot to take a 'before' picture but here's what I've done so far.

Couldn't find a full mannequin but a limbless torso is more than I expected in all honesty
and it's perfect for this gorge oversized blazer.

Vintage tweed blazers. My favourite got sold before I could buy it...
No more Mrs Nice Girl

I love a good tapestry bag

Aiming for small and mighty. Watch this space.

Stay beautiful,