EOTD: Come Play With Me - GOLD!...

Absolutely delighted that the beautiful Cathy over at SilverScreenBeautyQueens has joined in the fun of IndieAna's Come Play With Me series, and chosen the current theme - "Gold". And with the Oscars looming on the horizon, it was the perfect choice. I haven't featured gold in my eye looks all that much in the past, so this was a great excuse for me to put to the test the various ones I have in my kit. On it's own, I don't think gold does my particular colouring any favours (see below), but as an accent or feature combined with a rainbow hue, I just adore it!

This orangey gold shadow has been languishing in my collection for way too long (like quite a few others!) - it's from the Chi Chi Wake Me Up Before You Go Go palette, years old, and yet it's still wonderfully vibrant, creamy and rich...

And below is a selection of looks using different golds paired with two of my favourite shades, purple and green ♥

Both this pinky purple and the pale gold are from the MUA Poptastic palette. Totally in love with this barely-there gold - could probably use it as a cheek highlighter as well!

This is Sugarpill Midori over a base of Mirenesse Secret Weapon 24 Hr Eye Liner in Pure Gold - I also lined the top and bottom lashlines with it. A brilliant liquid liner, but keep it away from your waterline... 

And for this look I used the slightly darker and more yellowy gold from the MUA Poptastic palette, along with the fabulous Sugarpill Elemental Chaos - my camera just doesn't do this passionate purple the justice it deserves...

Cathy's gorgeously gold look is here...
Have a look at what the amazingly talented MUA Hailey put together here...
And check out Indie's ultra-glam creation here...

Do you "Go for Gold" in your eye looks?

Take care of you,
kats xxx

COME PLAY WITH ME: Underneath the Mistletoe...

Happy 2015 lovelies! Couldn't go past day one of the new year without posting my version of Hailey's Come Play With Me Theme - Underneath the Mistletoe, which was the perfect theme for December 2014, and one I meant to have a crack at long before Christmas, but never made it. I eventually got there yesterday, so here we go...

Yet again I used the Sleek Acid palette - the brightest neon green this time, however I wanted more of an emerald, so I patted it down over a base of Mirenesse Superlong Wear Mineral Face Colour in Denim Jewel (blue)...

And to transform the look from everyday green to something far more mistletoey, I dug out my Chi Chi glitter in Murder on the Dance Floor - I haven't used this for at least 12 months and it's still 100% viable! Love this stuff because the glitter bits are suspended in a clear gel, so I can get away with not necessarily applying it evenly. Of course, the trick with glitter is to let it dry completely before you do anything further - a little of it lifted off when I curled my lashes, but I just dabbed on a few drops more to fill in the gaps...

I blended a teeny bit of the Acid green along the lower lashline (you can see how different the hue is without the blue base on the inner corner), swiped some SleekV2 matte Ink into the crease, and added NYX Wonder Pencil in Light to cover my blotchy waterline...

Click here to see Hailey's beautiful face and eyes...
And Indiana's gorgeous look is here...

Take care of you,
kats xxx

COME PLAY WITH ME: Flower Inspiration...

 Darling Indie has chosen "Flower Inspiration" for the next theme in this fabulous and fun series, and I've chosen Fuchsia - hardly a surprise as they're such pretty, dainty little flowers, plus the combination of bold pink and purple are standout hues in my wardrobe and makeup kit. Mind you it was tough choosing which one of nature's treasures I would try and recreate, so much so that I'm inspired to have a go at a few more in the coming weeks...

Photo source Wikipedia

I used essence white kajal as a base, added the brightest pink from the bhcosmetics Take Me To Brazil Palette, and then deepened it with the raspberry from the L.A. Colors Wildflowers palette. The purple is courtesy of  the W7 Shades of Mauve palette..

I patted the deepest matte purple from the Take Me To Brazil palette into the crease, and lined the waterline with essence white kajal...

And here's my fuchsia'd face - lips are Shanghai Suzy Miss Georgina Pink Plum (massive thanks to Tried and Tested Blog for sending this to me ♥ - I'm in love!) topped with Chi Chi Valley Doll Lip Lacquer... 

Cheeks are Revlon Photo Ready Cream Blush in Flushed, and the brightest pink from the BYS On the Brightside blush trio...

You'll find Indieana's magical Sun Flower look here. Aching to see what you other Come Play With Me'ers create in the next few weeks ♥

Take care of you,

kats xxx

COME PLAY WITH ME: Futuristic Love...

My darling friend Gemma came up with the scathingly brilliant theme of Futuristic Love for Indie's Come Play With Me series way back in mid-September, and this is my 5th go at it - quelle horreur! I usually don't struggle too much to come up with my interpretation of the chosen theme, but for some reason or another, this one had me completely stumped, and my earlier attempts were shockers. So why did I finally settle on a pastel rainbow? Well I've seen so many movies set centuries ahead and read numerous novels that paint quite a bleak picture of the future - the landscape is often decimated, the characters in despair, and the buildings dark and gloomy. I wanted to project what I would LOVE for the future, which is a clear and colourful message of hope ♥

I didn't include any black eyeliner or broody shadow in the crease in order to keep the look as fresh as possible - unheard of for me lol...

As with all my rainbow eye creations, I started with a base of white essence kajal, and also took it underneath my lower lashline, as well as adding it as the final touch to my waterline. I then went to town with my bhcosmetics Take Me To Brazil palette - it's one of my all-time favourites. The colours are matte but wonderfully vibrant, and they're super easy to blend...

In case you've forgotten, here's the palette again - I've marked the pans that I used...

And just for the fun of it, and to show you that it's not always a success story at kats colourings, here are a couple of my earlier attempts at this theme - I was toying with the idea of something to do with the sea and nature, but just couldn't get it to turn out how I pictured it in my head...

I'm often asked how do I fit all the shades into such a small space when I do a rainbow, and you definitely need a number of fine brushes to create this look - seven to be exact! It actually only takes a few minutes - I start by applying the green in the centre of my eyelid to make it easier to calculate the space needed to fit three more colours either side. Although in this particular instance, I decided to use the purple under my lower lashline instead of the outer corner. Before blending all the edges of the colours, I dipped my brush in Sugarpill Tako, a magnificent matte white...

Oh and in case you're wondering why my skin looks a funny colour, I've just replaced the globe in my makeup light - it's way too blue and will be swapped out stat...

Gemma's amazing aqua eyeliner creation is here...

Indieana's sensational silver look is here...

Check out Monique's stunning bejewelled look here...

and you'll be in awe of Hailey's skill here...

What does Futuristic Love conjure up for you?

Take care of you,

kats xxx

COME PLAY WITH ME: Winter into Spring...

Woo hoo! My turn to choose the Come Play With Me theme this time ♥ And true to form, no surprises here  lol - hey if I get to choose, then you can pretty much guarantee I'll come up with something COLOURFUL! And I realise it's still technically Winter (brrrrrrr!), but I figured I should put together something that might just entice Spring to show her pretty face (and flowers) ahead of time...

Of course if I'm going to do colour, then I'll invariably use my Sugarpill mattes - they're just so incredibly versatile and blendable, and I simply can't imagine a springish theme without them. I deliberately toned them down a few notches because I only wanted to create a tantalising little soupçon of Spring that would lure our most precious season out from the dark, and into the light...

It seemed appropriate to start this whole affair with an icy base, so I chose Maybelline Color Tattoo in Too Cool. Over this I added a hint of yellow (Buttercupcake) along the top lashline to represent the sun - oh please come and warm us all up! On the inner corner I then blended the two pinky purple shades (Poison Plum and 2am) to remind Our Fair Lady that we need a bucketload of blossoms to brighten the landscape and fill the air with exquisite fragrance. After this I included a fair whack of new leaf green (Acidberry) and a lush foliage shade (Midori) to encourage nature's growth spurt, and then finished it all off with a vibrant blue (Velocity) to encourage clear, cloud-free skies ♥

But I wanted to keep it real, and let's face it we're not quite out of the chilly woods yet, so I lined my waterline with a wintery green (bhcosmetics Huntress)...

So to all my darling Come Play With Me companions, how would you go about beckoning Spring from the dark depths of Winter? So looking forward to seeing your take on this hopeful theme ♥...

Woo hoo - IndieAna's fab look is up!

And you MUST check out Hailey's work of art - nothing short of exquisite...

AND Monique has just published her play time - a tribute to orange, so gorgeous...

Take care of you,

kats xxx

COME PLAY WITH ME: Wing It Out...

So here we are with Episode 7 of IndieAna's Come Play With Me mini-series - and I'm delighted to report we have a new member of the cast, the lovely AND talented Monique from make-up with monnii, who also chose the theme of Wing It Out. Monnii created a simple yet stunning winged eye look, and challenged the rest of us gals to do the same...

Adding a wing to my eye look always adds extra drama, so I went for a bold aquamarine pigment to conrast with the black of the MNY Master Precise Liquid Liner that I always use for my flicks. Can't imagine EVER using any other product for this purpose - it's superfine and super-easy to work with. I also blocked out the outer corner with the liner and softened it with the shadow. Just for a change, I lined my top lashline as well - I so rarely do this because it makes my spindly lashes all but disappear boo...

I started with ye olde essence white kajal as a base, and added matte aqua from the bhcosmetics Take Me To Brazil palette to both the top lid, and underneath the lower lashline...

On the waterline is Mirenesse Superlong Wear Gel Mineral Face Colour in Blue Moon...

This was a whole lot of fun, even though I had to have a few goes at it (the first two were unpublishable disasters!), but I never give up without a fight, especially where eye make up is concerned lol...

You can see Monique Kerstin's edgy and expertly executed double-wing black and gold look here...

And IndieAna's goegeous green creation here...

Edit - If you're looking for a wow tonight, check out Hailey's stunning feathered look, it's magnificent...

Hoping some of the other gals will join in too, and I'll add their links as they come on line ♥

Take care of you,

kats xxx

COME PLAY WITH ME: How Low Can You Go...

This is Episode Six in the Come Play With Me Series started by darling IndieAna back in February, and the biggest challenge for me so far. My workday face usually takes around 25 products to make it happen, so for me to post a look with anything less than half that is mind-boggling. But hey challenges are interesting things - although it's taken me three attempts before I was comfortable with the photos, along the way I've discovered that in an emergency situation (like sleeping through the 4:30 alarm!), I can throw something together pretty quickly, even though the end result is not quite as polished or defined as I'd like...

So this is my "five product" face. My first two attempts included the usual two concealers under my eyes, but the interesting thing is that because of this particular challenge, I've found out that my huge baggies are far less obvious if I only use foundation and matte powder in that horrible area - woo hoo! So a HUGE thankyou shout out to MoniqueKerstin for prompting this major discovery ♥♥♥...

Here's what I used - started with Australis Ready Set Go Finishing Powder to matte down the shine from my moisturiser. Over that went Revlon Colorstay Whipped Creme foundation - I chose this one because without a primer, it gives me the best coverage for my spider veins, freckles and other age-related imperfections, and pressed the same powder over the top. For cheeks and lips, David Jones lipstick in Sunday Best was a god-send - it's a fairly neutral nudey shade but it has a wee bit of coral in it, and therefore makes a darn fine substitute blush, plus it has enough moisturising gloss to give my lips some dimension...

For contouring my schnozz and to minimise my puffy hoods, my fave MAC Omega matte eye shadow once again came to the rescue - such a versatile shade and it lasts me around 18 months (as you can see, I'm in dire need of a refill). For eyes I went with essence Sun Club gel eyeliner in BBC All Night Blue - a fabulous teal, and once it dries, it's there for the day, and I can also wear this on my waterline without any irritation..

Well that's it - SO delighted I can ditch the under-eye concealer, well at least for the time being. Here are the links to the other gal's attempts - Monique, IndieAna & Hailey, all of them astoundingly innovative and impressive...

What's the minimum number of products you use to create your "face"?

Take care of you,

kats xxx

COME PLAY WITH ME: Vamp It Up!

The beautiful Indie has chosen a hot and sexy theme for this round of Come Play With Me - dramatic and dark, I thought "Vamp" would be relatively easy as I often wear deep shades, but it's turned out to be quite a challenge. So much so that I've had to have a few goes at it, and still I don't reckon I've captured the essence yet, so I'll continue with the theme in mind this week until I'm satisfied. Meanwhile, here's a couple of my attempts...

This first one is a bit wimpy, and not much different to what I normally put together, but hey I had some customer meetings lined up on this particular day and didn't want to frighten anyone ha ha. I went for a matte shadow because it's far easier to achieve a broody look than with anything vaguely shimmery, and this one was super simple and quick (essential elements for work days)...

I used dark blue Physicians Formula Shimmer Strips Gel Liner as my base, and applied Sugarpill Velocity over the inner two thirds. I smoked the outside with charcoal from the SAX Sultry Eyes Kit, and used the same Physicians Formula blue gel on the waterline...

This next attempt is closer to what I had in mind - a bit more goth and moody lol. It's been interesting for me to see the difference it makes to eye shape when you use a solid block of dark colour all over and around the eye...

For a base I used Eye of Horus Charcoal Obsidian Goddess Pencil, and then applied MNY mini Purple (#533) over the top. On the waterline, I patted on purple Physicians Formula Shimmer Strips Gel Liner...

I deliberately didn't apply mascara to the top lashes as I didn't want anything to interfere with the blurry velvety kind of finish I felt was essential to this mood....

Let's see what else I can come up with :-)  Meanwhile...

Check out Indie's fabulous rock chick look (and mani) here...

And if you want to know how to create a sultry sexy vampirish face, Hailey is your gal...

Take care of you,

kats xxx