benefit – Megan Monroes

My absolute favourite thing to do is see an old movie on the big screen and having a FACT Picturehouse close to me, I’ve been fortunate to watch a few as they specialize in Vintage Sundays.

Yesterdays film was an Audrey Hepburn classic – Funny Face (1957) and being a pretty big Audrey fan I was extremely excited! Although I’ve got most of Audrey’s movies on DVD, I’ve only watched Funny Face once (!) and that was a while ago, so it was almost like seeing a new movie. I’m pretty sure I sat with a smile on my face throughout the whole film, it was just beautiful.

Naturally, going to see Audrey Hepburn on the big screen, I had to dress up myself! I decided to wear my green shift dress from Dorothy Perkins – I bought it as a potential birthday dress for my 21st last year and a year on – I still love it just as much.

Being a shift dress, the style is very 1960s and although I prefer the fit of 1940s and 1950s style dresses, I absolutely adore this one. Although the dress line is straight, it still fits fairly tight it and it’s always nice to change up your dress style every now and then. My favourite part of the dress has to be the neckline detail, the jewels compliment the green colour perfectly. It almost looks like you have sewn a set of leaves and added them to the dress.

Below the collar, the dress does separate and shows a bit of cleavage, more than I’m used to if I’m honest! However, don’t be daunted if you’re a bit self conscious like myself, you’re concealed very well and they key hole opening is fairly small. I find it pretty hard to spot green dresses, so this one is pretty special! It’s definitely one of my favourite colours to wear, I feel the colour green can almost have some stigma attached to it, but it’s all about finding the write shade and daring to be different.

As for my hair I pin curled it the night before and was very happy with the results, for a vintage film it’s only suitable that I have vintage styled hair after all! I decided to wear my cute little bow clips from Primark, I’ve got a few hair accessories from there over the years and they’ve lasted so well!

Also, I finally had a chance to wear and review my make up products for you all that I got for my Birthday;

The first item I tried was my concealer by NARS in Chantilly – the lightest shade. Before my new NARS products, I’d only tried one of their lipsticks from their Audacious Collection in Brigitte and I must say, it’s one of my favourites. Therefore, after finding the beautiful Em from My Pale Skin on YouTube and seeing her use this countless of times, I knew I had to try it! I’ll be honest, this is actually the first concealer I’ve ever used, I don’t know why as I’ve never been against them, I’ve just always stuck to Foundation and Powder. However, I’m so glad I branched out! The shade matches me perfectly, which is usually quite rare as I’m so fair skinned and I applied it after my Foundation and Powder. To my surprise, it blended in perfectly and I didn’t need any powder to control the creamy effect. I know it’s not very noticeable in the pictures, but I could definitely see the difference and will be continuing to use this in my day to day make up routine.

The second product I received was a blusher by NARS in Orgasm and I’ve heard great things about this blush so I was looking forward to trying it out. I’ve had the same pink blusher for years and whilst it’s very nice, I wanted to change it up a bit and try something new. The compact is so classy and the texture is really nice too, it has an unusual rubbery feel to it. I especially love when make up products have mini mirrors inside and NARS didn’t disappoint me! The blusher is a pink mixed with a slight coral tint and after applying I noticed it had an almost shimmery effect so further highlighted my face.

The final product I used was Benefit Roller Lash Mascara and I was beyond excited to try this item! I’ve always loved the Benefit Brand because it has such a vintage look to it and I absolutely adore the packaging for this mascara. The pink and black compliment each other perfectly and it’s so unique, I don’t think I’ve ever seen another mascara like it! The wand also matches the outer packaging and straight away when trying it out, I noticed the brush kept my lashes separated. Furthermore, unlike other mascaras, I could apply multiple coats and not see any clumps, I’ve not got very long or thick eyelashes so this is essential for any mascara I use. The brush has a special, “Hook ‘N’ Roll” effect and I found it fairly easy to change my hand position whilst applying the mascara as the brush fitted all aspects of my lashes.

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Hi lovely people!

Now that my face is finally back to normal I can start wearing make up again, so I thought I’d write my second beauty post! Yesterday, I went to town and bought a new eyeliner and a new lipstick, so they will be the focal points of this.

After my moisturizer disaster, I went back to using my Simple Clear Skin Oil Balancing Moisturizer, one I’ve used before. It’s really natural and drys pretty fast, which is good if you’re like myself and can’t stand the feel of it on your face for too long! As my skins been so dry since my allergic reaction, I’ve been using it twice a day – in the morning before I put my make up on and at night, after I’ve taken it off. I’d definitely recommend it if you have sensitive skin like me, plus it smells nice so that’s always a bonus.

After applying all of my face make up, it was time to start on my eyebrows. Now, I’m one of the few people who doesn’t like to do anything with them. I’ve been pretty lucky with the shape, but I have had a few comments about them being too light. I personally don’t mind that, there’s nothing worse when you see severely tattooed eyebrows and I definitely wouldn’t do that. Therefore, after watching the lovely Rose and Rosie’s Eyebrow Video, I was inspired to try something similar! I used my Rimmel London Eyebrow Compact and went for the second lightest colour on the left.

I used the bottom brush and slowly brushed the eye shadow into my eyebrow, following the natural line. It literally took a few minutes if that and is a nice subtle difference, if you don’t like to much change.

Here's my natural eyebrows. — *Here’s my natural eyebrows.*

The left one is natural, the right one has the eyeshadow on. — *The left one is natural, the right one has the eye shadow brushed in.*

Here's both of them with eyeshadow. — *Here’s both of my eyebrows with eye shadow.*

So here’s the final results, I personally like it and although I probably won’t do it all of the time, I think it’s a nice easy way to make a subtle change. After all, less is more!

Next, I used my new Rimmel Scandal Eyes Thick & Thin Eyeliner, there were three different ones available. The first was a really thick felt pen, which I didn’t want as I like to be able to build it up. The second was similar to one I’ve had before, it was a thin felt tip, I was tempted to go for that but I decided to try a new one. The third was my choice, the tip is defined to shape the winged eyeliner. At first I found it pretty hard to use, anyone who wears winged eyeliner will know that it’s not an easy task, but I had to be even more careful because of the shape of the eyeliner.

*The 3D precision slanted tip, which enables you to draw a thick or thin line.*

Sometimes, I find it hard to fill the tip of the lid by my eyelashes, without messing up the rest of my winged eyeliner. To do this I use Rimmel Glam Eyes Liquid Liner, the brush is so thin and perfect to fill in the hard to reach places.

*Another tip, when your felt eyeliner is running out, dip it in to the liquid one!*

Here’s the finished result, first without mascara and then with.

I used my Maybelline Mascara Mega Plush Very Black for volume and Maybelline Mascara Rocket Waterproof Very Black for separation. Lastly, I put Benefit Eye Bright inside my inner eyelid, it gets rid of any access eyeliner and brightens up the eyes by contrasting the dark winged liner.

Lastly, I used my Bourjois Rouge Edition Aqua Laque Liquid Lipstick in 07. I saw it advertised in a magazine and decided to give it a try. I think Bourjois is a beautiful brand, but I haven’t really used it much for some reason. I’ve always been wary about buying one of the liquid lipsticks as I wasn’t sure how well they would last. Therefore, I used my MAC Pro Longwear Lip Pencil in Dynamo first, to make it last better and to define my lips.

The brush is a nice change from using lipstick, but it was quite messy to put on and I needed to use quite a few q-tips. Obviously, blotting lipstick is a must, but with this you absolutely can’t forget to as otherwise it gets on your teeth, which is not a good look. However, it can be frustrating as it removes the colour because it’s in liquid form. I do really like it and would probably get another colour, but overall I definitely prefer lipsticks.

The lipstick is a beautiful colour, I love pink and red tones, they remind me of the 1950s Vintage Stars and the liquid form does give it a nice 3D look.

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Funny Face (1957)

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