Sometimesredhead Stylefile

Birthday Cocktail Look as seen here

Cosmetics:

Lush Emotional Brilliance Face Powder as base
Lush Charisma dotted under cheekbones & blended as shader
Lush Feeling Younger blended over cheekbones, above eyebrows & into cupids bow as highlighter
Benefit 10 bronzer & blush swept up cheekbones (Really sad that this appears to have been discontinued)
Benefit They’re Real! mascara on upper & lower lashes approximately 4 coats
The Body Shop Purple Shimmer Cube Palette shaded onto eyelids, socket-line & browbone
Urban Decay Primer Potion used under eye colour
Urban Decay Brow Box in Honey Pot for brow definition
Urban Decay All Nighter Setting Spray over finished look

On my nails I used all Nails Inc products Hyde Park Base Coat, the colour was one coat of Hoxton Square followed by one coat of Eaton Mews (neither are currently on Nails Inc site & finished with Albert Bridge Top Coat.

I was at the start of the evening also wearing Illamasqua Growl lipstick applied with a brush in three coats & blotted but it didn’t survive the tapas & cocktails. It would have lasted better if I had slicked it straight on from the bullet & worn it thicker as it lasted ages the first time I wore it!

For my fragrance I chose Penhaligon’s LP No. 9 which I adore as the scent sticks really well on my skin.

Clothes:

Lace Dress with tutu skirt from ASOS Curve
Black tights - my favourite are City Queen which I buy for around £4 per pair on eBay as I’ve found no english brands that fit my frame. I am unusual in that whilst I am plus sized I am also tall so clothes need good stretch in both directions!
Black snakeskin platform stiletto shoes from Evans A/W 2012 range - no longer on sale

Accessories:

Silver sleeper hoop earrings - Bought several years ago from H Samuel
Silver locket - Birthday gift from 16 years ago!
Purple Sapphire & Platinum Engagement ring - Special commission by Tris from Hatton Garden

Book Review - Perfumes: The A-Z Guide by Luca Turin & Tania Sanchez

This book is filled with reviews of fragrances from many perfume houses Chanel, Dior, Lush, Penhaligon’s, Kenzo, Guerlain & more.

Turin an acclaimed scientist & Sanchez a longstanding perfume critic have written entertaining reviews of hundreds of well known scents giving each a star rating. Some receive glowing commentary while others get a downright contemptuous putdown.

My family & I had great fun looking up each of our favoured scents especially when we found flippant remarks about my Dad’s taste in aftershave!

On a more serious note this book is an incredibly useful read for those interested in learning more about perfume. The introductory pages contain a brief history of perfume, notes on how to connect the nose to the brain, information about feminine & masculine notes as well as an interesting question & answer section.

This publication is one to read if only to be amused by the acidic text accompanying those blends that the authors find disagreeable.

Valentine Idea #3 - Perfume

A traditional gift for your partner on Valentine’s Day is fragrance.

Do be careful when buying perfumes for your beloved though as fragrances will develop differently on each person due to the individual PH balance of the skin. It may be advisable to buy a smaller sample gift pack like these ones from Penhaligon’s & Gorilla Perfume if you are unsure so the recipient can try the fragrance before an entire bottle of something potentially unsuitable is purchased.