Kiko, A new Italian brand!...

Hey Everyone!

Hope your all good and wrapping up warm in this cold weather! Also a quick reminder that the clocks go back Sunday so we get an extra hour, woohoo! 

So moving on to todays post which is about a new Italian brand I've come across called Kiko. A store has been opened in Westfields, Stratford and thats where i first saw it. So i went in, had a nose and spent some money :-). I bought some eyeshadows, lipstick, and mascara which will be covered in this blog post.

Inside the shop.

The 3 eyeshadows i bought are below. There are many colours but i chose to go for some autumn colours including a burgandy, a brown and a gold. They have really good pigment and have worked as well as my Mac ones. Here they are:

This eyeshadow is number 101 and is ideal to use for a lighter shade or a blending clolur.

This eyeshadow is perfect for autumn and is the colour 137. Its a burgandy red.

This is lovely for doing a smokey eye effect with some warmer shades. The colour is 131.

A swatch of the colours.

 The mascara i bought was the Luxurious Lashes Maxi Brush Mascara. I find it isnt very good for a going out mascara as even though the brush is quite big theres not enough volume however, its ideal for a casual day make up.

Pretty gold mascara.

The final item i bought was some lipstick. Its really pigmented and moiturising and feels yummy on the lips.

Colour is 392 Rosso Mela.

So i only bought a couple of items but i think Kiko is fab and so affordable. The online site is all in Italian and the prices are in euros but i did not pay more than £5 for each products with the mascara bring £3.90. I think for the value the products are very good. 

If you do want to go on to the website and have a nose heres the link. Kiko Cosmetics

If you have any queries or requests please let me know and ill speak to you soon.

Much Love,

Lorna xoxox

Swn Festival!...

Hello my beauty obsessed friends,

I've been an exceptionally busy as I am a third year student so sorry that the breaks between my posts seem to be getting longer :-( I do still really want to post all the time but I need to put uni first atm. But I am nearly at 5000 views so a big THANK YOU to everyone who cares and thanks to those of you who don't as well e.g my sister!

I have been extra busy because this weekend I had some AMAZING work experience at the SWN festival in Cardiff (SWN means sound in Welsh.) So I know this blog is usually about make up but I thought I'd tell you a bit about it. The Swn festival is a massive music event and showcases new, up and coming talent (most of them being welsh) around various venues across Cardiff. I worked mostly at the Cardiff Student Union with rep Kerrie and another volunteer Matt. We were pretty much amazing :-) My main job was to look after the artists- artist liaison to be posh! So I fed them, organised their dressing rooms, got them on stage and in some cases chased them down the road. (Don't go there) It was very hectic but I loved every second of it and think I may be one step closer to choosing a career path! There were 8 acts over the 2 days including 'The Joy Formidable', 'The Fall' and 'And so I watch you from afar'. At first I found it quite difficult to deal with all of the artists demands especially when they were being annoying and asking for a meat platter, but in the end I got over it and thought if the tables were turned id probably ask for a selection of farmyard animals all dressed in cute dresses :/ On the Saturday night, after the acts were gone, I worked at the Silent Disco which also held at the SU. Well I say work I just basically had a laugh!

Here I am as a Swn Vol!

For two hours of my day on Friday, I left the SU to help out at the Welsh Music Prize in the KuKu club. It was the first year of the prize so it was all very exciting. I was on the door (dressed in my usual clubbing attire) and had to make sure everyone got in ok. Me, being the idiot I am, never recognises anyone so when I said 'excuse me I need you name' and these men replied 'We're the Manic Street Preachers' I nearly died of embarrassment. Anyway a big congratulations to Gruff Rhys who won the award because of his album 'Hotel Shampoo.' The award was founded this year by John Rostron (Festival Director) and Huw Stephens (Festival Director and BBC radio DJ).

If you haven't heard of Swn or have never been I really recommend you go next year. It is held at loads of venues including Tiger Tiger, Clwb Ivor Bach, Glam, Dempsey's and Chapter Arts! There was even a surprise performance this year from Charlotte Church! I also got to catch a glimpse of Katy B's set at the SU :-) Not to do with the festival though so shhh!

So thats it for today folks! Just want to say a massive thank you to John, Llinos, Helen and Kerrie for letting be involved in this amazing festival! Also to Matt who thinks I'm a controlling nightmare :-) Heres the link for Swn http://www.swnfest.com/

Next blog post is on the new Italian brand of make up called KIKO! It will be this week I hope. As always if you have any beauty questions just let me know!

Much Love,

Lorna xoxox

Tom Ford-Beauty! Part 2...

Hey everyone :-)
A long time coming i know but ive just started back uni and its ruining my life! So here's part 2 of the Tom Ford makeup range included is eyeshadow palettes, blushers, mascara, brow sculptor/eyeliners and a small section on the skin range.

Eyeshadow Palettes

The Tom Ford Palettes are, in my opinion, the best part of the makeup range. They come in a beautiful compact with a mirror and have 4 colours in each. Each quad is multifunctional and all the colours compliment each other, so you can use for smokey eyes, bold eyes and even use one colour for an eyeliner. There are 10 quads in total that retail at £62, here are 2 of my favourites:

Burnished Amber - Perfect for Autumn/Winter.

Silvered Topaz - perfect for the ultimate smokey eye.

Blushers

There are 6 Tom Ford blushers and all give you a different looks from sexy to bold. As Tom Fords range is designed to give the perfect structured face the blushers act perfectly as a coloured luminator. The blushers retail at £45 here are 2 of them below:

Ravish - Perfect for a wintery glow.

Flush - Go for bold.

Mascara

I havent yet old mascara to customers as it hasnt been in stock, so im only going by makeovers i have done and from what I've seen Tom Fords mascara is good. I wouldn't say its the best mascara I've used but its good to give a really dark and intensified look. I dont think its available anywhere at the moment but if you do find it let me know. Its only in black at the moment but i would imagine this will stretch to other colours as the range evolves.

Extreme Mascara

Brow Sculptors/Eyeliners

I LOVE LOVE LOVE the Tom Ford Brow Sculptors and the colour i use is espresso-because i love dark eyebrows. The way the tip is designed is perfect to get the best defined eyebrows going from wide to thin. The opposite side of the pen has a grooming brush and their is also a specially designed sharpeners so the the tip stays in perfect shape. It retails at £32: 

The sharpener- colour blonde

The eyeliners or Eye Defining Pencil as Tom likes to call them, are good but in my opinion they are equally as good as Mac or Rimmel which are lower in cost. There are 6 colours with some metallics which are really pretty, but in my opinion i wouldn't spend £25 on them when you can get a better colour selection from Mac. However saying that they are very long-lasting and dont smudge so its best to go in and try them and figure them out for yourselves. Here they are:

Skin Care

Not all of the skin care is available yet but i have tried the testers. The Tom Ford Primer is beautiful, it lumiates the skin and evens the skin tone so you have the perfect base to start with. It has an SPF 12 so you get a little bit of protection as well. On top of that there are moisturisers eye cream and even makeup remover. Once i have tried them a bit more i will do reviews on them-be warned i think the moisturiser is £160!! Heres a photo i found of some of the skincare looking quite pretty.

Witwoo!

Ok so thats it folks! If you have any questions or requests let me know :-)
Dont forget to follow me on twitter: Lornastedham     Speak to you soon lovers!

Much Love,

Lorna xoxox

Tom Ford-Beauty! Part 1...

Hello Everyone,
Hope your all well and enjoying the apparent 'Indian Summer'. Todays post is about the new Tom Ford makeup range which i have been working on in Harrods since it launched a few weeks ago. It is limited only to London and will launch in New York in December. The makeup range is really fabulous and has some amazing colours and textures. The only downfall is that it is pretty expensive, so may be something to save up for as a treat :-) I have split this blog into 2 parts as there is too much to discuss!

Firstly Tom Ford has released 2 new fragrances to compliment the makeup launch. My favourite is the Jazmine Rouge. Its a delicate blend of Jazmine and Roses and smells really fresh and lovely. The other new fragrance is Santal Blush. This isnt really my cup of tea but it has been very popular in store. Its more of a spicy and sophisticated fragrance i think. They retail at £120 for 50ml and £270 for a 250ml which comes with a dicanter.

My favourite of the 2 fragrances.

Lipsticks and Glosses
You may be aware that Tom Ford already had a range of lipsticks before he launched his full range of beauty products. He has only kept 5 of his original lip colours in his new range and has launched another 12 brand new colours. All of the colours are powerful and very long lasting. i literally have to attack my lips with makeup remover to get it off after a shift at work. The lipstick retail at £36 and here are two of my favourite colours...

An original-True Coral.

Pink Dust.

 The Tom Ford Ultra Shine Lip Gloss collection is equally as yummy as the Lipsticks. It really smooth and moisturising and makes your lips look fabulous. They retail at £32 and here are my 2 favourite colours...

Peach go Cherry-Looks lovely on its own or with a colour underneath.

Looks really lovely over the lip colour Wild Ginger.

Foundations and Concealers

There are only two forms of foundation that have been launched for Tom Ford, one a liquid and one a stick. The foundation liquid-Traceless Foundation-is a 3 in 1 foundation which is really light weight, but still gives great coverage. It has an spf 15 and complex ingredients which really help to protect your skin. It is suitable for all skin types and leaves skin looking smooth and luminous. The Traceless foundation retails at £60.

Foundation Liquid

The traceless foundation stick is a great foundation but i find can also be used as a concealer. It is nourishing for your skin and ideal if you are somebody how doesnt want to have a full coverage. It retails at £60 also.

Foundation Stick

The illuminating highlight pen is ideal for creating contours and also to use as a cover up. Tom Ford also has a range of concealers specifically designed for blemishs and dark circles. The illuminating pen comes in 4 colous  as do the concealers.  The illuminating pen and concealers retail at £40.

 Shade and Illuminate
The final product im going to show you tonight is the Shade and Illuminate set. The purpose in shading and illuminating is to contour your face and give it a structure. You can give the illusion of cheek bones a slimmer face and a smaller nose. It comes in 2 intensitys and retails at £55.

Make your face look the way you want it!

Well thats it for tonight-i hope you all enjoy my post. Please comment it means the world.
Part 2 will be up in a few days and includes blushers, eyeshadows and even skin care! If you would like to purchase any of the products shown on tonights post you can either go into store (Harrods, Selfridges-London, Harvey Nichols) or go on their websites, although not all the products are not available online.
Harvey Nichols
Harrods

Follow me on twitter: Lornastedham

Much Love,

Lorna xoxox