Spider Lashes & Red Lips

I've never been one for a red lip, in fact, I'm far from a lipstick aficionado and normally the most you'll ever see me do when it comes to my lips is whack on some Chapstick or a sheer lip gloss.  'Why?' you may ask, well mostly because lipstick never stays on, you constantly have to reapply it and I'm always paranoid that it has somehow transferred onto my teeth - so as you can see, it's somewhat of a fraught relationship. 

However, I decided to be less Scrooge-esque in my attitude towards lipsticks (I'm still going to keep saying 'Bah, Humbug' though because it's not said enough these days if ya ask me!) and try out a red lipstick-style look:

I give great 'serious face'.

 
As you can see, I decided to keep the rest of my makeup pretty minimal and focus mostly on my lashes and my lips. 



*Act natural*

My favourite part of the look (besides my letterbox-red pout) was my spider-inspired lashes.  Normally, just the word 'spider' can offend me and make me start feeling paranoid that I have an eight-legged fiend crawling up my arm but when it comes to my lashes then I can just about put this slight qualm to one side.  I'm mature like that, you see.

I did a bit of research on spider lashes (or 'tarantula lashes' as they are also know - less comfortable with that alternative name.  'Spider' I can deal with, 'tarantula' I cannot.) and found that this mascara style features in the 'it' hair stylist and makeup artist of the moment, Lou Teasdale's, hair and beauty guide called 'The Craft' (which I am yet to buy but desperately need to)!  I love the grungy and dramatic glamour of this lash look and the simplicity of its creation - all you need are some tweezers (to clump your lashes together) and boatloads of mascara.  Simple enough! 



LEFT: one coat of Benefit's BADgal Lash Mascara on the upper lashes.
RIGHT: spider lashes using Benefit's BADgal Lash Mascara on upper and lower lashes. 

 I also used this fab YouTube tutorial to help create my spider lashes, check it out:

If you watched the above tutorial then you'll see that she used an eyeliner as well for the look which was the only thing that I didn't do as I felt that I didn't need it.   



From let to right:  Benefit High Beam (RRP £19.50), Cargo Cosmetics Water Resistant Blush in Ibiza (RRP £19), Benefit BADgal Lash Mascara in Black (RRP £17.50), No7 Perfect Light Loose Powder in Translucent (RRP £10.50), Rimmel Lasting Finish Lipstick in 220 Retro, GOSH Velvet Touch Foundation Primer (RRP £7.99), Benefit Browzings Brow Shaping Kit in Light (RRP £24.50), MAC Studio Fix Fluid Foundation in NW10 (RRP £21.50) and Revlon Colorstay Foundation for combination/oily skin in 110 Ivory (RRP £12.49).        

The rest of my makeup is pretty simple - I used my GOSH Velvet Touch Foundation Primer and mixed a splodge of my Benefit High Beam product with it and applied this all over my face and left it for about 5 minutes just to sink into my skin.  I then applied a small amount of Revlon's Colorstay Foundation for combination/oily skin in 110 Ivory to my foundation brush and applied it to my T-zone area and buffed it out so that it really was a very light and subtle application.  Afterwards, I grabbed my MAC Studio Fluid Fix Foundation in NW10 which I use as a concealer and applied it to a couple of blemishes that I have (YAY! Aren't blemishes just the BEST?!......Or not.) and finished it off with a dusting of No7's Perfect Light Loose Powder in Translucent.  Moving onto my brows, I normally use a bit of powder, wax and eyebrow gel on them to create a precise brow but this time I wanted a soft and natural look so I just lightly filled them in with the powder from my Benefit Browzings Brow Shaping Kit in Light using a soft eye shadow brush to achieve this.  I then curled my lashes and created my spider effect using Benefit's BADgal Lash Mascara in Black, I added a subtle pop of colour to my cheeks using Cargo Cosmetics' Water Resistant Blush in Ibiza and finished off with my Rimmel Lasting Finish Lipstick in 220 Retro. 

If make up products could be best friends then I'm pretty sure that these
guys would be the ULTIMATE best friends.  Whatever that means.

 
I won't lie to you, I am still wary of vibrant coloured lipsticks as I'm lazy and can't be bothered to keep reapplying my lipstick on a night out because I'd rather be shaking my booty up on the dance floor (and embarrassing myself horrendously by thinking that I can twerk like a pro when in reality I can't twerk to save my life.) but once in a while I do think that a beautifully bright lipstick is worthy of my attention because sometimes it's just nice to have a change.  The spider lashes on the other hand will definitely be making an appearance on a fair few nights out, not only do they give you lashes with drama without having to reach for the falsies but they're also so easy and quick to do - plus you can go as over-the-top as you like with them making them perfect for your Halloween makeup this month!

Let me know what you think and drop me a comment belooooow!