Smokey Eye Tutorial Featuring Naked Basics Palette ♡

    Recently for my birthday, I received the Naked Basics Palette  as a present. Being ever so excited about this, I felt the need to do a tutorial with it ASAP! Let's start with a review, shall we? The Naked Basics Palette from Urban Decay is significantly smaller and more compact than the previous Naked Palettes, containing six compact eye shadows as opposed to 12. Therefore, it is perfect for travelling and proved this when I took it to Florida last month. (That's travel-friendly checked off the list). The Palette is mainly made up of matte shades, which drew me in straight away) and has a variety of neutral colours ranging from light to dark. All colours have great pigment and quality.

• Venus- The only shimmer in the palette. This is a pearly, off-white colour and shimmers in the light. It is great for highlighting the inner corners of the eye and the brow bone. 
• Foxy- Cream, nude matte perfect for a less obvious highlight.
• Walk of Shame (W.O.S)- Another light nude matte with a pinker undertone than Foxy. 
• Naked 2- Light taupe matte, perfect as a base colour all over the eyelid. 
• Faint- Warm, dusty brown matte. 
• Crave- Black matte, ideal for smoking out any look. 

Swatches in order

    Now onto the tutorial!

This is an overview of all the products I used to achieve this smokey eye look. I did my eyebrows prior to the eye makeup. Further detail of the products will be mentioned throughout the post, so keep reading!

1) Apply one small strip of sellotape evenly to the side of each of your eyes in a slanting angle. Make sure that the sellotape is smoothed out to achieve a very precise look. You do not have to follow this step but it will create a much cleaner edge to the makeup and also help later on with eyeliner, if you tend to struggle in that area. Also, make sure that it isn't too tight as it'll be there for a while and you don't want to be uncomfortable. 

2) Apply primer. I used the Seventeen 'Photo Flawless Skin Primer'. Using this will make your eye shadow go on smoothly and evenly, and will prevent creasing. 

3) Place Naked 2 all over the eyelid as a base colour. This will be your starting point, and if you're like me, conceal your veiny eyelids. This is the Real Techniques 'Shading Brush'.

4) Use Faint on a fluffy crease brush into the crease and repeat to build up the colour. Repeat this step on the outer third of the eye to begin the smokey effect. Be sure to blend well! This is a Seventeen Brush. 

So far your makeup should be looking like this...

5) Using a tiny, pointed brush, use the smallest amount of Crave over Faint. Black eye shadow can be very harsh and easy to mess up so be sparing and build up the colour. Again, make sure to blend well. To do this, I used a Seventeen brush. 

I went back over to blend with the shading brush I used earlier. 

What a difference blending can do...

6) Place Foxy on the inner third of the eyelid and the brow bone to lighten up the light and show the gradient more clearly. 

7) Blend this together for a more gradual look. I used the shading brush once again. 

8) Repeat the previous step but with Venus instead of Foxy. This increases the highlight and adds some shimmer. 

9) Eyeliner. Apply a thin line of eyeliner to make the look really stand out. I find that liquid eyeliner will work best but use whatever your heart desires. I used the Collection 'Extreme 24 Hour Felt Tip Liner'... That's a mouthful!

 Makeup Update- It should start looking like this:

10) Peel off the sellotape to reveal clean edges. If this is too clean for you, I suggest taking a cue tip dipped in makeup remover (I used the Garnier Micellar Water-highly recommended!) to blend out the line a bit. In reality, this stage isn't nearly as painful as you'd expect, haha. 

11) Mascara time. Let's lengthen and make those eyelashes stand out! I used the Maybelline 'The Falsies' Mascara. This is a pretty straight forward step so I will leave out the details. 

Eeeee, don't judge me but I'm pretty excited about this gif!

12) Concealer. This step is useful to keep until the end in order to clean up and cover any fall out you may have had from the eyeshadow. I used the Collection 'Lasting Perfection' to cover my dreadful bags!

13) Finally... (I knew it'd be a long post!) With a angled brush, go back to Faint and bring it under your bottom lash line. Bring it about half way across. This completes the smokey look and TA DAAA you are finished! Off to a fancy dinner, party or wherever you feel like rocking this look. 

TA DAAAA!We are finished, here is the final smokey eye look for whether you are going out for a fancy party or dinner.

The Final Transformation...

 Thanks for reading this extremely long post! 

Jennie xo

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February Favourites ♡

I know that this is a little late but these are my February favourites! I can tell this is going to be a long post so enough rambling, let's begin.

Beauty

 

Earlier in February I picked up the Collection Lasting Perfection concealer, after hearing many youtubers rave on about it. This is by far the best concealer I have ever used. It covers up my dark under eye circles amazingly and does not crease or become cakey. Also, the doe foot applicator makes it very easy to apply. I got the shade 'Cool Medium'. Next are the Tanya Burr Lipglosses. These were brought out at the very end of January. The first shade is 'Vampire Kiss' which is a very dark, vampy red... perfect for the evenings. The other shade is 'Let's Travel The World' which is a more orange toned colour.  This is much more wearable in the day. The quality of these is very good and they are highly pigmented. Also, they smell amazing! Lastly, the Revlon Lip Butter in 'Juicy Papaya'. This is a great creamy, light shade... very subtle and light for Spring.

This was shown in my 2013 Favourites but I've been wearing the Body Shop Pink Grapefruit body mist every day in February. I can't get enough of the scent and it is so light and perfect for Spring.

Fashion

I am in love with this jumper! It says 'Ain't Laurent Without Yves', which is a play on the brand 'Yves Saint Laurent'. It is oversized and has fleecy lining, making it the perfect slouchy jumper. I got it on eBay for £16. Maybe it is too warm for Spring but I couldn't resist!

These have been my recent jewellery must-haves. I got my rose gold boyfriend watch from asos, however I think it is sold out now. I have had this watch since christmas and it has barely left my wrist. The orange and yellow braided bracelet was a gift from my trip to Madrid earlier in the month- a kind man selling them on the streets was kind enough to give this to me free as a present. The red bracelet in the back is also from Madrid, it has a beautiful engraved pattern on it. I love stacking braided thin bracelets in the warmer weather. The bow bracelet is from Brandy Melville. It is a simple gold, thin ring which I bought last Summer. It goes with most outfits and being gold, it matches my watch perfectly. The six silver rings came as a pack and are from H&M. They are all different sizes, some are normal rings and some are midi rings, which is a new trend for 2014. 

These shoes are from New Look and were around £14. These have been my most worn shoes since Summer. They are so comfortable, are very sturdy and being black and white, they go with pretty much everything. 

I recently bought these sunglasses from eBay for £2.99... what a bargain! These are knock off RayBan Clubmasters. These are the black ones with gold rims. When buying these, I thought that the lenses were black but once I tried them on, I noticed they had a slight purple tinge to them. This made me love them a lot more. Excuse my face in the second picture haha!

Electronic

Towards the end of February, I discovered 'Boyce Avenue' on Youtube. If you love acoustic, meaningful covers of well-known songs, check them out, they are amazing! Being a sucker for acoustic covers, I was immediately drawn in. You won't be disappointed, I promise.

If you know Hannah Hart, Grace Helbig or Mamrie Hart, you would have been aware of the release of Camp Takota. This is a film about a woman (whose work life and love life have gone to pieces) who is summoned back to her childhood camp to become the counsellor. She is reunited with her two old friends who have pretty much never left the camp. When the camp is put in jeopardy, they must work together to save it. It is a great film with lots of laughs along the way. You can buy it on iTunes for £7.99 which is a great price for such a good film.

I know that I'm late on this bandwagon but I have finally watched Despicable Me for the first time. Wow, what a film! I was always unsure about it but it was on tv recently so I thought I'd see what all the hype was about. I can see why it is such a popular film, it is heart warming and hilarious! I think I'm going to have to watch the second one soon. 

In February My Mad Fat Diary returned to UK screens. I watched this series last year and absolutely loved it. The context is so real. I knew that Nico Mirallegro (Finn) was in it and I've been a fan of him ever since he played Newt in Hollyoaks. You will fall in love with him, he is so perfect! Season 2 came out and I have loved every single episode of it.

In terms of music, I have been listening to a lot of Maroon 5. My favourite songs from the Songs About Jane album are 'This Love' and 'Sweetest Goodbye'. The songs are so upbeat and the tunes are very catchy! Also, I've been addicted to Eminem songs recently, especially this past month on the plane and coach to Madrid. My favourite songs from his old albums are 'Without Me', 'The Real Slim Shady', 'When I'm Gone', 'My Name Is' and 'Lose Yourself'. Although I've too been loving 'The Monster' as a more recent song. I can proudly confess that I know all the words to Slim Shady and can rap along to the song without losing my breath haha! 

You may think that this is just a small red cube but it is so much more! This is a Juice Cube. It is an on-the-go charger for your phone. You charge it at home and then it is ready to charge your phone when you're out and about without any plug sockets. It comes with eight compatible adaptors: Apple, Blackberry, Nokia, Samsung, HTC, LG, Sony Ericsson and PSP, Nintendo DS. This is also a USB charger, a mini USB charger and a micro SD charger. This has been so useful and I especially used it in Madrid. It is very small and compact, perfect for putting in your bag. It comes in six colours. I bought mine from Currys for £24.99, which I think is definitely worth it.

In terms of apps, I found one called 'QuizUp' for free on the app store. This was recommended by beautycrush on youtube. It is a quiz game, where you can go against other players playing different categories. It is very addictive and a great game to play and relax with. 

Miscellaneous 

At the start of the month, I bought this desk. It is the 'White Micke Desk' from Ikea. It cost £60. I have never bought anything from Ikea so this was very exciting for me! It has a large drawer, a smaller drawer and a side door with optional shelves. You can choose whether to have the side drawer and door on the right or left side of the desk. This is a very durable desk with plenty of space on top. I decided I needed a desk this year for revising and homework and it has also become my makeup station. I have fallen in love with this desk! I highly recommend it. 

After hearing great things about it and seeing as the film is coming out soon, I thought it would be good timing to read 'The Fault In Our Stars' by John Green. This is a well known book and is very popular. I have wanted to read it for a long time and only just discovered that my sister had the book. I'm only half way but it is already my favourite book. It is so well written and is just an amazing read. I bet my friend £1 that I wouldn't cry.. let's see how that goes! I really recommend this book if you haven't read it already. 

I am usually lacking on the exercise part of my life but I've decided to try and become healthier and get into better shape, not that I wasn't happy with my body before but it could have improvements. I decided to try the 30 day shred after hearing many good things about it. I started watching it on youtube however only level one is on there so I picked up the DVD from Boots for only £4.99. I am only just starting out but I have already noticed a difference in my stamina and endurance. I can't wait to see visual results.. I might write a blog post review on it once I have finished it. My black sports bra with pink detail is from H&M. They do great sports bras with breathable material, the quality is great. There is a whole range of colours and I definitely need to go back and get more. The red dumbbells are from TK Maxx, and I found them for £5.99. They aren't very heavy but I don't think I could manage much bigger ones. 

Going hand-in-hand with the exercise, I have decided to eat a lot healthier. It makes me feel better and also will help me lose weight. I have been enjoying greek yoghurt with berries and honey for breakfast or as a snack. It is delicious and is still great for my sweet tooth. I have given up coke and other fizzy drinks for lent and have been enjoying eating more fruits and vegetables. 

On the other hand, these have been my treat from all the healthy eating. I found these chocolate covered oreos in Madrid, and was recommended them by my friend Sharee. These are amazing! They are so much better than regular oreos. Unfortunately, you can't get them back in England but I found that melting chocolate and dipping oreos in them works just as well. 

Being a very organised person, I like writing to-do lists in notebooks instead of reminders on my phone. Ticking off boxes is the most satisfying thing ever! I have been using these two notebooks for writing down my thoughts and lists. The black faux leather one on the left is from WHSmith and the turquoise, black and white chevron notebook is from Wilkinson. 

Thanks for reading- Jennie xo

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