I finally got round to buying the Sleek Contour and Blush Palette...

So after recently purchasing the Sleek Make-Up Face Form Countouring and Blush Palette, I figured why not do a review and maybe a tutorial on how to contour correctly with this product. So over the next couple of weeks I will have all this coming your way, so stay glued to Beautiful Illusion! xo

To see more photos like the one above, and see my recent purchases before anyone else, follow me on instagram: @alexandraking__

It's that time of year again...

Just like last year i'm hoping to attend IMATS London again, I had the most amazing time last year and I adored every aspect of it. I was surrounded by everything I love, and it was a perfect day out! So it's time to get saving my pennies if I want to go this year!
If you haven't been before, it is honestly a wonderful day out!! Every corner you turn there is more and more amazing make-ups to witness, and who can forget the discounted prices across most major brands ;)
So who else is planning on going ey!?

Once again i'm going to have a voting bar at the side of my page, as i'm curious to who of my blog readers is going to be taking a trip down too!

Below are a few photos from my IMATS London 2013 trip, I had a great time and it's a memory that will stay with me always :)

 Keep up to date with my life and make-ups by following me on twitter and instagram:
@alexandraking__

Sweet As Sugar

I have been on the hunt for some new nail polishes recently, but ones that weren't overly expensive.
When I was in Superdrug the other day, I came across this Rimmel I <3 Lasting Finish polish in the shade 704-Sweet As Sugar. I think this is one of the new colours Rimmel has brought out in this range, but i'm not too sure.
I loved the look of the colour and I thought it would be a great summer colour and therefore bought it.
The colour is gorgeous, and is a very very pale blue colour. It goes with all my outfits as the colour is so neutral... unfortunatley to create the colour as bold as it is in my picture, I had to do about 5 coats of the nail polish.
It is extremely watery, and doesn't give great coverage with just 1 or 2 coats; if you are willing to wait for each coat to dry and keep applying then it is a definite must have for your collection though.
I paid just under £3 for this polish, which I thought was a great bargain.
I've had this colour on for 1 week now, and it hasn't chipped much at all... but I also think this might be because of my Nails Inc Top Coat I apply after all my colours as I know Rimmel nail polishes usually don't last very long on my nails without a top coat.
Overall I think for the money you pay, it is worth buying and just having in your collection. I am a fan of the colour, but I have to admit doing 5 coats of the polish was very time consuming, and was my downfall of the product.

Bye Dry Skin!

As most people suffer with in the winter months, I have been getting a ridiculous amount of dry skin. It makes your make-up look horrible, and is far from attractive. I have bought numerous moisturisers etc. to try help, and they have.. but not as much as I needed it to.

I was out for the day shopping in York yesterday, and as usual I went in to the shop Lush. I was taking a look at the fresh face masks, and one of the staff came over and as they all do, asked if I needed anything. I told her how I was interested in one of the face masks, not for any specific reason, just fancied getting myself one. She was extremely helpful! I told her about my dry skin, and instantly she grabbed the product Oatifix. Oatifix is full of the products which are great for tackling dry skin. She tried some on the back of my hand, and after washing it off after only 1 minute, I could feel a major difference in my skin. This sold it for me.

Later that night I tried the product properly for the first time. I can't say I look at all attractive with it all over my face, and my boyfriend looked at me strangely... but it did the job!! After leaving it on for 10 minutes, and washing it off with warm water, my skin felt and looked amazing and so much better.
I have just applied my foundation for the day, and it has applied so well, and no dry skin is currently visible.
I have never recommended a product so much for anyone with dry skin. After one use, it has made my skin feel and look so much better.

To the woman who works in the York Lush shop, thank you so much for taking the time to explain the product in detail, because it is my new skin life saver.

The pot costs £5.95, and needs to be refridgerated to keep it fresh.

The product smells so nice, and it did amazing things for my skin. I am not saying this will work for everyone as everyone has different skin types; but it worked great for mine and really helped get rid of my dry skin.

The link for the product if you are from the UK...
https://www.lush.co.uk/product/304/Oatifix-Fresh-Face-Mask

Thank you...

In the last hour I just reached 10,000 pageviews, and I just need to say thank you so much to every person who has ever read this blog.
When I first started Beautiful Illusion, I never imagined it reaching 100 pageviews, let alone 10,000, and i'm so grateful for each view I have ever had!
There has been times where I haven't posted as much and thought maybe I should just delete the blog; but days like this make me happy that I haven't and never will.
It's a great feeling knowing over 10,000 people are interested in what I have to say, and I just love receiving comments and emails from viewers asking questions or just letting me know they like my blog.
So thank you to everyone who has helped me reach 10,000.





To follow my everyday life and view my make-up creations, follow me on instagram: alexandraking__

Kate Moss Rimmel Lipstick: Shade 20.

I came across a gorgeous lipstick colour from Rimmel when I was out shopping the other day and just had to buy it.
It is from the Kate Moss collection for Rimmel, and the shade number is 20.
The colour is very durable and stays on for hours- I occasionally top it up due to getting paranoid that it has faded (I presume most women do this too?). The colour of the lipstick is really pigmented, and stands out so much; the only way a could describe the colour is by saying the word Barbie! Pink lipsticks are not usually a favourite of mine, and especially not bright pink; but I can't help but think this colour is just gorgeous and will suit most people!
It looks amazing as a statement lip with very little eye-makeup; I usually have a thin line of liquid liner and some mascara on when I use this lipstick.
Its great value for money, and I have completely fallen in love with this lipstick.
Its a gorgeous colour to get in for spring/summer.
On the photo of myself I have toned down the lipstick for a less obvious pink tone; I lightly put the lipstick on with my finger to give my lips a pink tone to them. It's great to do this for a day/work look.

To keep up to date with my recent purchases and day to day life, follow me on Instagram: @alexandraking__

Birthday Bargain Shoes!

Last week it was my birthday, and I was on the hunt for a nice pair of shoes that were not overly pricey as I knew there would be a chance on a nightout that they could get damaged(thankfully they didnt get damaged at all).
A place I usually shop for my heels that are not expensive is New Look. I'd say 80% of my heels are from here!
I came across a beautiful pair of wedges and instantly knew they were what I wanted... and even better they were in the sale!! On the shoe itself, the price tag originally was £30, The sale price over the top of this was now £12... Bargain! I then went to pay for the shoes, and was even happier when I found out the shoes were lowered even more and only cost me £5. BARGAIN!! They are gorgeous shoes and 100% comfy. I had no pain in my feet all night! and I wore them for 7 hours straight and danced for hours in them.

The first look of them, I thought they were extremely big and that they would of been very uncomfy; But the style of them is great... which takes me to my main point... If you are planning a night out or going somewhere you will be stood up for ages, get a wedge that does not angle your feet down massively like heels usually do. I am still amazed at how comfy these shoes were; especially when usually my heels have been taken off within 2 hours and i'm walking around bare foot because I start to get that burning pain in the balls of my feet.

To anyone out there wanting new shoes but doesn't have £60 to go spending on a pair for one night; BARGAIN SHOP! You'll be amazed at some of the stuff you can pick up for so cheap and how nice it is!

IMATS LONDON- Are You Going?

I am heading to IMATS LONDON this year, and I want to know how many of my blog viewers are going aswell! On the left side of the page, there is a poll, if you are going to IMATS LONDON then click yes!!  If you are viewing this on a mobile, then at the bottom there should be a section to switch the blog to the classic website view so you can go to the poll aswell and let me know!

and some good news for you all...

NEW BLOG POSTS COMING SOON!! :) 

If there is anything specific you'd like to see, leave a comment on this post!
xxx

What I have been upto...

Hello everyone!
So I haven't posted on this for a few months, So I thought i'd share a couple photo's of what I've been upto instead of posting!
These are a few images of the make-up and hair I've been planning, designing and creating for some college assessments over the last few months!
Enjoy!
To keep up to date with me, follow me on Twitter @AlexandraKing__  or follow me on Instagram to see the make-up and hair i've been doing recently @alexandraking__

My current nail polish favourites!

 Recently I seem to be having a spending spree on nail polishes! I currently have 3 main favourites so thought I would share them with you all!   Some cheap, some pricey. I found the Chanel one lasts a very long time and does not chip easily, same for the Sally Hansen polish. I can't say the same for my other favourite, but I do love a good old Rimmel London Polish, and when I stumbled across this metallic silver beauty I just had to have it! If you want to know anything about the polishes, then just leave a comment and i'll reply asap!

- Rimmel London I <3 Lasting Finish  in the colour 239 YOUR MAJESTY

Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure in the colour 520 SHRIMPLY DEVINE

- Chanel Nail Colour in the colour 18 ROUGE NOIR.

This is my winter choice of nail colour. I love the warm spice colour it gives. Really reminds me of Christmas (i'm not sure why).

Lady Gaga Fame Perfume!

So first of all I want to say sorry for not having posted anything in a while! Been so busy with college etc. that I just haven't found the time to post much!
Anyways back to the main point of this post... I received my Glossy Box for this month a few weeks back and got a tester of Gaga's perfume.
I'm not going to lie... I am a big fan of Lady Gaga so I had been wanting to smell her perfume since it came out not so long ago! But I'm also aware that celebrities perfumes, well, they aren't the greatest to put it nicely. I find that usually they all smell very similar, the bottles they come in are very plain and simple, and frankly.. they don't even smell very appealing.
So I was taken to a surprise when I discovered the fact I loved the smell of Gaga's perfume and it was nothing like other typical celebrity perfumes! It's a strong scent and is what I would call a 'winter perfume'... to people who don't understand what I mean by that... it isn't overly floral, and it's a nice heavy scent.   So of course, I fell in love with this perfume instantly and was determined to save up my money( as I am skint recently ) to be able to buy it! Lucky for me, my adorable boyfriend bought me it as a surprise the other day, which I was soooo happy about! The actual perfume liquid is the first of its kind, as the liquid is black in the bottle, but when it hits air it becomes clear!
The bottle it comes in I find beautiful! I hate when I usually pay a lot of money for a perfume, and it comes in a plain simple bottle. I usually throw away the bottles from my perfumes once i'm done with them if they are simply designed, but this is one I shall be keeping as it looks so damn cool!   The bottle is what I would say is very 'typical' Gaga... by this I mean it represents her perfectly.
  It is definitely a perfume I recommend going and testing in Boots, Superdrug etc. It really has a beautiful scent to it!
One flaw I have to admit, is I've found it doesn't last very long on my skin. Which is a shame, but it still doesn't stop me loving it! Everybody has different skin though, so although it may not last long on mine, it could last all day long on someone else.

Marble Nails!

I'm always looking for new ways to 'jazz' up my nails. Marble nails is a technique I have attempted many times and never been able to master. But finally a few days ago, I managed to figure out how to do it properly and easily!  So I thought I would share ' the way of the marble nail' with you all.

 - You will need:
- Glass of water
- Cotton Buds
- Cotton Pads/Tissue
- Nail Polish Remover
- Chosen colours of nail polish

- Apply a light coloured base coat.

- Drop in one of the chosen colours of nail polish.












- Add different colours. Keep the drops of nail polish close together.










-Cut in half a cotton bud, and use the end without the cotton on, to pull the colours together and create a pattern of your personal choice. You can create so many different patterns with the polish, so just find a pattern which works for you!









- Slowly put your nail into the water. Place it on the area you want the pattern on your finger to be.

- Then take the other end of the cotton bud, and swirl in the water around your finger, to get rid of the excess nail polish.







- Remove the nail from the water slowly.


- Use the nail polish remover and cotton pads to remove the excess nail polish on the finger, then use a cotton bud, to remove the nail polish closer to the nail so you get a clean finish.








- Clean the edges up as much as you can, then apply a clear top coat to protect the nail polish from chipping easily.

- Repeat the process for all nails, or only do one nail as a 'statement nail'.  You can use lots of different colours, but I chose only 2 colours so it was a subtle effect.




Hope this has helped anyone wanting to achieve the Marble Nails look. If you have any questions, or need any advice, then leave a comment below and I will reply as soon as possible! 

Leopard Look!

                                                       


 So at the weekend I was heading to a fancy dress party. I didn't have much money to be able to spend on a great costume, so I knew I had to do something good with my make-up. On the night of the party, I didn't have as much time as i'd of hoped to get ready so I had to whip up something quick and simple. So here it is.... 

 I planned on doing the designs on the sides of my face. I applied my usual plain make-up to begin with( foundation,mascara etc.). Pin back your hair so it doesn't stick to the design you are about to do.

 I then took a bronzer to add depth to the design.
Here I used Laura Geller Balance N Brighten.

I applied the bronzer to the outside of my face and down to my neck. This is a guideline as to where you want your print going.
















Take any colour you wish to use.. I chose pink as it went with my lilac/pink hair well.  I used a Rimmel London pink lipstick.  Make lots of different size and shape circles from your forhead down to your cheek bone, then down to your neck. Make sure they all have some space between them.

Take a black eyeliner. I found Gel liner was the best to use. Here I used Bobbi Brown Gel Liner in Black Ink. Take a medium sized brush and apply a tick amount to the brush.

Roughly go around the shapes you have done. Making it rough gives the effect of there actually being fur.















Continue the same technique down the face. and add some black rough lines in between some of the coloured print.

Take the black liner and create a small winged line on the outer corner of the eye. Then take a black pencil liner and fill inside the water line and make a small subtle point on the inner corner.















Do the same to the other side of the face. They don't have to match at all.. that's what makes it so easy and quick!

Below are a few camera phone quality photos of both the sides complete. Hope this helps anyone attending a fancy dress party soon or just wanting to try it out for fun! If you have any questions then feel free to leave a comment and i'll reply as soon as possible!