My New Foundation - Sonia

Long over due blog post guys! I'm currently in Istanbul, it's a nice evening and I'm just relaxing on the sofa on a Friday night and thought I better get this post done. I'm such a procrastinator and literally got a text from Fyza saying "do a blog post!" 

I recently started using a new foundation and concealer, I'm always searching for the ONE...foundation that is. I may have found the one but there's a drug store one and a high end one. I have oily skin so primer is a must, I'm using Maybelline baby skin Primer at the moment.

For every day makeup I go between L'Oreal True Match Liquid Foundation in W6 (I use a darker shade because of my tanning mousse) and Makeup Forever Ultra HD foundation in Y335.
I blend my foundation in with a Beauty Blender and use Tarte Creasless Concealer in Medium Tan for under eyes. 

To set my makeup I prefer to use a loose translucent powder, MUFE HD loose powder is great to buff everything together but make sure to blend this powder a lot to get the flawless finish that is awesome for photographs to.

I keep Yves Saint Laurent Touhe Eclat Blur Perfecter in my bag to control the shine on my face. This product is like an oily skin person's saviour in a little case! It oil control's the areas you want without removing or budging your makeup at all! It's weightless and the pretty packaging is most definitely a bonus.

If you have oily skin and have an olive undertone be sure to give these a try. Foundation has always been so difficult to find, especially for my skin tone so I had to share my current favourites :)

Sonia X

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Fun Blue Make-Up Look

I love a little colour once in a while! Recently I thought I haven't done make-up on my sister, Sonia in a while...so on one of my days off I decided to do that. I didn't think of a look in my head I just went with the flow.

She already had a fresh tan with the help of Million Dollar Tan and the 48C Middle East sun, so I knew I wanted the skin super bronzy.

SKIN PREP
I started skin prep with Kiehls ultra face moisturiser, Primed with Benefit Professional primer and i let that sit on the skin for a while before starting on the base.

FACE 
Colour Correction - of course I can't do a make over with out this. I corrected the redness around her nose with green corrector, a salmon coloured concealer around her eyes slightly. Once I blended that into her skin I used Benefit Cosmetics Boing concealer to conceal any blemishes individual with a small brush and also the under eyes, I used the concealer to go over the areas I corrected with the green and salmon concealer.

Using Motives Cosmetics colour perfection quad in medium dark I slightly contoured below her cheek bones, nose and forehead- I did this before applying any foundation, concentrating on perfecting the skin with concealer, it's always best to use more concealer than foundation. Using a mixture of L'oreal True Match and MAC face and body in C4 with a Beauty Blender to blend the contour and concealer together. I take a while to blend it all together until it is seamless, you're not supposed to be able to tell where you started and where you stopped. The skin should be glowing and contoured to perfection at this point - no harsh lines or muddy looking nose (if you want to know more about tones to contour i have a blog post on that too!)

To add a little OOMPH! to the under eyes I used Maybelline Age rewind foundation in Classic beige, this brightened the under eyes without the ashy/grey look. Blend with mini Beauty Blender for the best result.

EYES AND EYEBROWS
Primed with Benefit Stay Don't Stray eye primer, as a base colour I used a black kohl pencil starting form the lash line, I smudged that up to the crease using a Wayne Goss #20 Brush, I created a wing with the kohl pencil and smudged it to give a smokey effect, using the colour Naked from the Naked Palette I applied it to the crease using a Wayne Goss #19 brush, for the main blue colour I wet my Wayne Goss #18 brush  and with L'oreal infallible eye shadow in midnight blue and pressed it onto the lid, this intensified the colour. I blended that in the a clean fluffy brush so it blended in with the Naked crease colour, I finished the eyes by smoking out a black kohl pencil on the lash line and water line, wetting the brush again with the midnight blue colour and applying that on the bottom lash line.

I highlighted her brow bone and inner tear duct with Laura Mercier candle light highlighter.

For brows I used MAC brow pencils in lingering and spiked, setting them with Benefit Cosmetics Gimmie Brow blonde - this technique lightens the brows!

SETTING POWDERS AND BLUSHER
I set the under eyes with Colourless Ben Nye loose powder, I powder contoured with Smashbox bronzer, Cheek bone highlight by Laura Mercier loose powder in candle light, blusher is MAC fluer power.

LIPS
Estee Lauder Lip liner in nude with Nars Lipstick in Chelsea Girl



I used the buffing technique to blend it all together at the end!
If you want to know more about the buffing technique I use you can watch this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I7XjD4a7xv8


I hope you benefited from this post.

Fyza xoxo
Instagram.com/soniaxfyza
soniaxfyza@gmail.com

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The Contour Kits Hype!

So since last year the hype of "contouring" hit social media with a bang! 'Contouring' is a beauty method that involves "carving" the face with a darker shade of foundation or powder - creating the illusion of more defined cheekbones, a slimmer nose, shorter nose, slimming the face, temporarily getting rid of a unwanted double chin and it's also used on the body for creating cleavage, abs etc - it's been used in the industry for years! Even Marylin Monroe's Make-Up Artist contoured her nose to make it look more narrow (she had her nose done and they said it still wasn't small enough so that's where contouring came to the rescue!)

using Sonia as my muse.

(This type of contouring is used for photo shoots and red carpet events)

Contouring isn't a new thing for people who have been in the industry for years, it's just become popular to the world because of social media, all the pictures and videos you see being posted on the Internet. I want to explain (my own thoughts) the types of contouring products you can get to use on yourself every day, I don't mean you have to spend two hours every morning drawing lines all over your face, Contouring is meant to be quick, easy, yet effective. If I could do it at the age of 18 with no social media pictures (I would have 15 minutes to get ready for college every morning) so can you! I would use a cheap eye shadow that was COOL toned and a shade darker than my skin to shade the sides of my nose and the tip, a little dust on the hollows of my cheeks too - in 5 minutes my contouring was done, I instantly had a smaller nose and high cheekbones!

Many companies out there have taken advantage of this contouring hype and created contour kits - but do we REALLY need those? do we need all 6 to 8 shades? Yes if you're a Make-Up Artist maybe, but I know of many Make-Up artists in the industry that don't store these contour kits in their make-up kit because there's either products that work better, just as good and they save more kit space. I have used almost every new contour kit out there, powder to cream to those contouring sticks, to realise what makes these so different to concealers and foundations? these companies have just stuck the word "contour" on anything so we buy them, it's the hype, the IT thing, we all want it!

I recently purchased the Laura Mercier contour kit, the shades are perfection, the consistency is heaven and I love how they glide on, but I realised the staying power of this product is not the best, I used it for weeks and I was really disappointed, it melts off after four hours and if you have oily skin it's not the best. People will say set it with powder contour but how many of us have the time to layer our makeup for work, school, college etc? not everyone is a professional Make-Up Artist with a whole day to do make-up and touch up. I decided to write this post to tell people out there you don't need to spend a ton of money on these hyped kits that have contour written on them when you can use any cream foundation or powder that's cool toned and a shade or two darker than your skin.

Many of us probably already have concealers in our make up bags that are a few shades darker because we use them for the summer or we got matched wrong - use those to practise your contour! I will give you a few examples of products that you can use to contour. I prefer cream concealers because they are quick to blend out, make sure they are cool toned - they help mimic colours of the natural shadows on our faces. (check out my post about cool and warm tones if you want to know how they are supposed to look.)

Fave products to contour with - that don't have the word contour on the packaging!

Laura Mercier Camouflage Concealer SC8

It has a warm and cool side - the warm shade is perfect for correcting and the cool is a great contour shade.

Milani Secret Cover Concealer Stick

lovely make-up brand with great products and the shade range for these are great, some cool toned concealer sticks that are affordable.

Cover Girl - TruBlend Fixstick Concealer 

love the tones and the easy use!

LA Girl Cosmetics - HD PRO Conceal

These concealers come in many colours, Love them for contour because it already has a brush applicator! 

Motives Color Perfection Quads

My most used, it's meant to be a foundation but I was one of the first Make-Up Artists on Instagram to use this for contour early last year. love the shades and consistency!

I'm not against contour kits, I have a fave too but for women who love to wear make-up you shouldn't have to break the bank to find the right beauty product. You can still be in trend but you don't have to follow what everyone else is using. Try any of these products and I know you will LOVE at least ONE, they save space in your makeup bag, easy to carry, pack and the staying power of these is much better because they are a concealer formula :)

I hope this helped some of you, I try my best to explain everything without going on and on. I don't always use high end products, I love to experiment with different brands just so I can give my feedback. If you have any confusion about shade picking be sure to check out my post where I explained all of that including powder contour products,

love, Fyza x

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OUR TOP 7 CONCEALER PICKS

The last few months have been really hectic so we're really sorry for not updating. My sister and I have been meaning to post about concealers for a while. We were actually going to post on our instagram but thought it would be way better on the blog since we can post more pictures and explain a lot more in detail.

Under eye concealer took me years to master and I'm still trying new ways till this day!

As most of you may know by now that I (Fyza) am the makeup artist and my sister (Sonia) is my model/muse. I test all my techniques on her so we both can review the product together. Sonia has probably been through more concealers than I have as a makeup artist, We are both beauty junkies so we hope both our opinions will benefit a lot of you out there!

Sonia tries concealers that are more for everyday whereas I test them out for photographs since all my clients are going to be photographed at shoots or events. So here are our picks, let us know your faves  too and why :)

1. Laura Mercier Secret Camouflage Concealer.
This concealer is probably my most used. It has two tones in one which allows you to mix both colors depending on how you want your under eye concealer to look. It is amazing for redness and it blends beautifully. I love how long wearing this product is and it is suitable for all skin types (yay)
I like to use this product with my fingers because the warmth of my skin helps melt the concealer and makes it easier to apply (i love using my ring finger because it doesn't tug the under eye like a brush would.)

2. Maybelline Instant Age Rewind Concealer.
A drugstore concealer! yes! The price isn't the only good thing about this because the product itself does wonders! It already has a soft applicator attached which is perfect for the sensitive eye area. This product works great as a correcter for dark circles, puffiness and fine lines! I love the light weight feel of it and it's for all skin types. Everyone should try this at least once (perfect for everyday)

3. NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer.
Probably one of the best concealers out there. The name of this product basically speaks for itself. It's creamy, light weight, blends so well AND is creaseproof! I love a concealer that will work well with all skin tones/types and this is one of those concealers that is great for the kit and one for your own makeup bag. The coverage is buildable and it creates a soft, glowy under eye that almost looks like a blur effect of an app - so it's great for your selfies!

4. Benefit Cosmetics Boi-ing Concealer.
This concealer has a love-hate relationship with some people but i really like this product. I like the consistancy and a little goes a long way, again this is one of those products that works best when using your fingers. It works really well for under eye discoloration and the coverage is perfect. The shade range is good because of the undertones of the concealers, they work great as correctors because of the salmon undertone.

5. Tarte Cosmetics Colored Clay CC undereye corrector.
Tarte is one of those brands that has so many great products that have benefits for the skin too. I came across this concealer randomly, It's more of a corrector actually. It is available in two shades which is the only downside to it. Th coverage and texture is just right and works SO well for discoloration and dark circles (it even improves the appearance of skin after you use it for a while) I would usually use this under foundation.

6. MAC Select Cover Up
I like using this concealer after a correcter because it is so light in texture and it worked perfectly as a under eye highlight. I blend this concealer with a beauty blender and it melts in with the corrector. Radiant and has the 'no makeup makeup' look to it. If your afraid of the whole contour and highlight I suggest using this as a subtle highlight. I love the fact it comes in a tube :)

7. Clinique Airbrush Concealer 
Best for those girls who never have enough time to apply their makeup in the morning! It is a concealer twisting pen/ brush applicator. This concealer works best for when you want the under eye bright look if you look tired. I did notice how good it is for fine lines. The coverage is ok, it's a light weight concealer that is perfect for everyday work/school makeup.

We have chosen these concealers as our faves because we have tried and tested them. I hope you guys find the right under eye concealer because we all have different preferences and that's one of the things that was the toughest to perfect. If you have tried any of these let us know how they worked for you :)


Fyza and Sonia x

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