Louise Gray for TOPSHOP

I have recently purchased three of the four new nail colours designed by Louise Grey, British-born designer who studied at Glasgow School of Art and Central Saint Martins. Colours include junkyard (glitter blue), hat trick (green glitter) and Dart (orange glitter). Altogether there is a twelve piece make up collection built around Louise's love of colour and texture. I love the bright and sparkly nail colours so if you get a chance pop in to your local TOPSHOP and take a look.

Autumn/winter make up trends 2012

Wow!It is that time of year again and I find myself looking forward to the autumn/winter make up trends. If you want to know what to wear and how to wear it then read on...

The most important word to remember is 'colour', it really is in abundance from statement red lips to bright peacock coloured eyes. For serious eye emphasis opt for bright shades of blues, emerald greens, pinks and purples. Also look out for shades of coloured mascara's as these are also back on the fashionista scene. For bold statement lips opt for berry tones, burgundy reds, even purples. Make cheeks more pronounced this autumn/winter with spots of colour; try a rose, pale pink or terracotta.

So now you know what colours to look for just how do you wear them?The trick is to make the trends adapt to you and your style. Make bright eye colours more wearable by smudging them just around the lash line rather than over the entire eyelid. This will achieve a subtle and ultimately more desirable sultry effect. If coloured eyeshadow is still a daunting prospect opt for a flick of eyeliner and coloured mascara with no eyeshadow at all.

If a statement lip seems more appealing than making up your eyes but that burgandy red you have just purchased still looks too daring create a softer stain of the lip colour by patting on with your finger tip or mix a little of the colour with a gloss to create your very own sheer glossy version.

If all of this still seems like too much effort you could change just one simple step in your make up routine like blusher. Try applying it in a new way by adding a spot of colour on the cheeks then blending well, maybe try choosing a new shade aswell. It really is amazing how by making just one small change can update your look and make you feel great.

Last week in pictures!

Last week I did make up and hair for a couple of film premieres in London. The first was Snow White and the huntsmen at the Royal courts of Justice on the strand. Between three of us we did make up for approximately 55 female waitresses who would be working at the after show party. The make up consisting of a red lip (MAC Russian red) and black kohl pencil (MAC Smoulder) smudged around the eyes. The hair was in a simple bun with a red rose to decorate.

I also did hair and make up for six dancers for the premier of Men in Black three at the Odeon, Leicester Square.
The girls wore sixties shift dresses so we did backcombed hair with high ponytails with a few different variations
The make up designed by my colleague Bethan consisted of a traditional sixties eye with false lashes and a nude pale lip (MAC Cherish).

This is a selection of pictures from the both events.

No.7 limited edition top coat

I have just purchased a gorgeous gold glitter nail polish from Boots No.7.

There are two colours gold and silver and they limited edition so grab them while you can. What I love about them is the glitter particles are circular and larger than the average glitter nail polish.

As these are topcoat's you can wear them over any nail colour or simply alone. RRP. £8. 9 ml.

Pinteresting!

My new obsession is Pinterest! If you love to create mood board's Pinterest is definitely going to appeal to you.

The concept allows you to create boards onto which you can repin images from other Pinterest users. You can also upload and add your own images which can then be repinned. You can follow other pinners if you share interests to keep updated on their new pins added. In particular I like to follow make up artists and photographers.

It is a great way to store all your inspirations in one place which can be extremely useful as well as really enjoyable. Personally as a make up artist I like to have creative and historical images of make up and hair styling to use as reference material. I am also getting married soon and I have all my inspirations pinned. I will for example be able to show my hairstylist my board related to bridal hair this should give her a clear vision of what I would like.

Many hours have been spent on my IPad searching through thousands of images carefully selecting my personal favourites to pin to my boards.

Those of you who have not yet had the time to check out Pinterest should do so soon. You can see and follow my boards at http://pinterest.com/nikimakeup/

My top ten beauty products used on photoshoots this week!

I have had a busy week with work and thought I would share with you some of the fabulous beauty products I have enjoyed using. To create uber gorgeous skin on a lingerie shoot I used MAC Face & Body foundation to add a hint of colour and even the skintone. I mixed this with my favourite body moisturiser Loreal Nutrilift which gives a beautiful sheen to skin. I used MAC studio fix compact to set make up used to cover tatoos and also to tone down redness on the skin. To finish I applied Daniel Sandler Billion Dollar Body Shimmer with a large powder puff to give the skin a gorgeous glow and sparkle.
I also worked alongside Make up Artist Daniel Sandler to glamourise the ladies at Conde Nast Traveller. Products I used included Daniel Sandler Cream rouge watercolour blusher in shades Soft peach and soft pink. MAC Splashproof Black mascara and MAC Eyeshadow in Woodwinked. Mister Mascara lashes were a firm favourite with all the ladies!
I absolutely love my Real Techniques Stippling brush it feels heavenly on the face, I have been using it to apply and blend foundations and moisturisers it helps achieve a beautifully polished finish to the skin.

I have listed below websites/stockists of all products I have mentioned and hope you have enjoyed reading.

www.danielsandler.com, www.maccosmetics.com, www.boots.com

How to become an expert in Eyeshadow tools

There are a variety of eyeshadow tools you can choose to use. These range from sponge tip applicators, brushes made from real hair ie. sable, synthetic brushes, cotton buds/q tips and your fingers.

When applying cream bases and cream colours I usually opt for a synthetic brush as it will be easier to clean product from than a real hair brush or I will just simply use my fingers.

For powder shadows I tend to prefer a real hair good quality brush. There are a wide variety of brushes to choose from. Generally a smaller brush will be used to create more definition and achieve a more precise application. A larger brush will achieve a softer, lighter payoff of colour.

A firm brush adds stronger colour to the eye, a soft brush therefore adds a light amount of colour. Soft, fluffy and tapered shaped brushes are great for blending colours. Very small tapered, rounded brushes are great for applying colour around the lash line.

Personally I tend not to use sponge tip applicators but they can be used to apply colour to the lid and are useful to pack colour on in layers to achieve a stronger colour. Cotton buds are excellent for cleaning up the edges of your eyeshadow especially the pointed cosmetic bud variety.

I would reccommend having a least two eyeshadow brushes. A firmer one for applying colour and a softer, slightly biggger brush for blending colour.

Small and firm synthetic pointed or angled brushes are best to apply any form of eyeliner.

I highly reccommend looking at the following brands when searching for good quality brushes:
MAC, Bobbi Brown, Real Techniques and Daniel Sandler.