Saturday 23 August 2014

The Magic of Makeup





Hi, I'm Gemma, a 29 year old “Pom in Oz” with an unhealthy appetite for all things beauty, fashion…and food!
I moved to Australia four years ago with my then fiancé, now husband, James. We live in a remote mining town in the middle of the Australian desert and although we only ever planned on coming out for a few years, we are still here and we love it. We have two cats who you will no doubt hear about on a regular basis (yup, I’m one of those crazy cat ladies) and we just bought our first home so I should think you’ll hear a fair amount about that too, but first and foremost, I’m talking beauty, fashion and food. I really hope you enjoy my blog; I’m new to this so please bear with me while I find my flow. I’ll start you off with a thought for the day:

Have you ever asked yourself, or conversely, tried to explain to someone else, why you love makeup so much? I’ve yet to convince myself or anyone else, it’s a tricky subject. Some people will just never get it.  
For me, doing my morning skincare & makeup routine is such a pleasure, I enjoy every step from cleanser to mascara.
I am a product junkie. I love discovering new ways a brand new product can transform my look and there is so much to choose from that we can really express ourselves creatively without all looking like carbon copies of each other.
I have always been one to get bored with my look. When I was a teenager I got my mum to dye my hair for me every 2 weeks, from blue to red, I had braids, curls, short hair, long hair but was never one to really bother with makeup. That obsession is a relatively new one for me and I think the real turning point was when I decided to do my own makeup for my wedding. Not being a huge makeup wearer at this point, I concluded that the last thing I wanted was to go to a professional who I imagined would be a tad too heavy handed for what I was used to! So I decided to do a little research into how to apply makeup for my big day..enter YouTube! From this day the obsession was born, it started with Lisa Eldridge and grew to include many more heavy weights such as viviannadoesmakeup, essiebutton and Lily pebbles…the list goes on! Through watching their videos I then read their blogs and now I can happily say I follow them everyday and love that I can trust them for reviews and they are certainly enablers for me when it comes to adding to my vast and ever-growing makeup collection, and mile long 'want' list. (I’m looking at you viviannadoesmakeup).
I don’t think I’ll ever be brave enough to start a YouTube channel so blogging will have to suffice for now, but I’m excited and I hope you enjoy what I have to offer. So to end my first ever little (or rather large) rant, I ask you…where does the magic of makeup lie for you? I’d love to know what it is about makeup or skincare that you love so much.

To get your creative juices flowing I share with you this link from allwomenstalk.com, 8 splendid reasons to love makeup here.

P.S. Rocky road (pictured above) recipe coming soon!!

Thanks for reading

Gem






6 comments:

  1. Oh my gosh I don't even know where to start with this one! It is sooo true though, and such a common addiction I think!
    For me now, I've recently become a mummy, and while I don't buy expensive clothes and follow particular fashions, makeup is the best way to treat myself and feel that little bit special still! I've come to realise that while I love new lotions, potions, foundations, eye and cheek colours etc, lipstick and lip products are my absolute downfall. And the more expensive the better......explain that one to my husband!!!!! :)
    I'm glad there are lots of people out there who feel that same x

    ReplyDelete
  2. Also, what are the two pink lipsticks in the middle please, thanks! x

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hi Hannah! cheeks and eyes are a big downfall for me too...and lips of course...who am I kidding, i love it all!!
    The two pink lippys in the middle are Chanel Rouge Allure Velvet in 37 l'exuberante and YSL Rouge Pur Couture in 27. Check out my next post this weekend for details on the other purple/pink shade :

    Thanks for reading & commenting
    Gem

    ReplyDelete
  4. OMG I want to own all if this! The chanel and nars <3

    Btw your blog is amazing. Write to me if you want to follow each other on bloglovin or GFC. :)
    http://fashiionistah.blogspot.dk/

    ReplyDelete
  5. I honestly hate doing my make-up and have worn the same style pretty much every day since I was 14. Foundation (Clinique Supermoisture at the moment), pink blush (Bourjois or Benefit Dandelion), kohl eyeliner with liquid over the top (always Rimmel), mascara (Max Factor Masterpiece). I have two variations on my eyeliner, both of which are guaranteed to be smudged by late afternoon! I can never get my foundation to look smooth & lovely. And now I seem to have the added problems of *shockhorror* WRINKLES under my eyes :( Maybe this blog will teach me a thing or two?

    I was using the eye version of the Estee Lauder serum in your photo up until just over a year or so ago. Then they changed the formula and it seemed to be giving me wrinkles rather than taking them away! It also made my eyes all red & sore. Two other ladies in my family who had been long devoted to the little brown bottles also noticed the change and have switched to other brands. How long have you been using the serum? Have you noticed any changes from the old formula?

    ReplyDelete
  6. Hi Elle! Thankyou for your comment!
    I declare to make it my aim with this blog to have you loving putting your makeup on in no time :)
    It is interesting how you have done your makeup the same for so long. I think there are two kinds of makeup wearers, those who treat it like an experimanet every morning (me, I rarely wear my makeup the same two days in a row) and those who see it as a safety blanket, you know what works for you and you stick to it, although it sounds like you are not happy with yours right now. Lets change that! Stick with me as I have a couple of posts coming up that I think you will find really helpful. The first is a skincare series on exfoliation (this could help if you are finding your foundation is not going on smooth as that could be down to your skincare routine) and a post about my essentials for us fairer skinned beauties.

    With regard to the Estee Lauder serum I have actually only been using it since the reformulation and it seems to agree with me, in saying that though, when this bottle is empty I plan to look for something with a little less fragrance as this is quite likely what caused your reaction. I also had a similar reaction to an anti wrinkle eye cream that I was given a sample of so I now only use gentle products around my eyes. For your eye area try something un-fragranced and hydrating, I liked the Kielhs creamy eye treatment with avocado and I used an Avene sensitive eye cream for a while too, for a more purse friendly option try something from the body shop! Try to always get a tester first so you can see how your skin will react.

    Hope this helps! Make sure to follow my blog and get updates on those future posts!

    Thanks for reading : )

    ReplyDelete