DIY Lipstick Palettes

Hello my lovelies and welcome back, ok so this post is a bit of a weird one for me, I could almost call it a DIY post but it’s not really, it has been requested, it hasn’t just popped out of thin air and I figure why not give your readers what they want if they were nice enough to ask for it plus I really think I would like to write more posts like that as they’re really fun to write and photograph.

Ever since I got back from the USA and you guys saw my MAC lipstick palettes I have been asked about how I did it and how it works so that is exactly what I’m going to talk you through.

As a makeup artist I own a lot of lipstick both personal and in my professional kit. As you have seen from previous posts I do keep my personal lipsticks in the bullet form but that’s just personal preference because I like being able to just chuck them in my bag when I’m going out, but in my professional kit carrying around multiple single bullets is just a pain, takes up unnecessary space and adds to the weight of my already insanely heavy kit.

As a makeup artist I have realised that decanting lipsticks into palettes is a hygienic, convenient, space saving way to store all your lipsticks in the one place. I have also heard a lot of people choosing to do this with the lipsticks that they do not use on a regular basis to save space within their makeup storage.

You Will Need

·         Lipstick

·         Scissors or Knife

·         Large metal spoon

·         Spatula

·         Lighter or matches

·         Candle

·         Empty Palette

Step 1

Choose the lipsticks that you want to go in your palette, at this stage if you’re as OCD as I am you may want to colour co-ordinate them as well but again this is personal preference, none of my professional palettes are colour co-ordinated and it actually doesn’t bother me.

Step 2

Using a sharp knife or scissors cut the lipstick to the amount you think you will ned to fill your pan (don’t worry you can add to it if you don’t cut enough, it’s always better to have too little than melt too much and waste the melted lipstick that doesn’t fit in the pan) I am using my MAC lipstick palette and with the 12 insert it can actually fill the whole lipstick in so I cut all the way down to the plastic and then scoop the rest out with the tip of the knife. If you choose the 24 insert for your MAC palette rather than the 12 this only fits less than half the lipstick but admittedly I do think it looks a lot prettier, but I’m all about the practicality rather than the looks.

 Step 3

Place all the lipstick into a large metal spoon, large serving spoons or soup spoons are the best I have found.

Step 4

Light your candle and hold the spoon over the flame but make sure it isn’t to close as you don’t want the lipstick to boil.

Step 5

When it looks like the lipstick is fully melted take your spatula and mix the liquid to make sure there are no lumps.

Step 6

Carefully poor the liquid into the palette (please be careful as the spoon and lipstick are both insanely hot and I’ve learned this the hard way) if the lipstick doesn’t dispense evenly over the pan just pick it up and tilt it in whichever direction is necessary, make sure you do this quite quickly as the liquid solidifies very quickly once it’s away from the heat.

Step 7

Ensure you wipe the spoon clean with a tea towel or thick cloth before melting a new lipstick (CAUTION REALLY HOT) I have found your better to wait 5 to 10 minutes between each one to give the spoon time to cool down.

That’s it your done, you now have a beautiful new lipstick palette and more space in your kit/storage.

I really hope this post was helpful, if you liked me to do more posts like this please let me know in the comments below and if you choose to make a palette with your palettes please send me the photos, I would love to see them.

NYX Butter Gloss's, My New Obsession

Some of you may already know that lip products are my favourite beauty items, you will especially know this if you have read my beauty storage and collection post (here) as I have a whole drawer dedicated to my lip products and the top of my ‘Her Clutter Box’ is covered in lipstick stands,  so it should come as no surprise that when I discovered the famous NYX Butter Glosses I became a little obsessed. On my recent trip to Orlando for my birthday I picked up 5 of these little babies, unfortunately one has gone missing with my MAC ‘Bronze Shimmer’ lipstick which makes me really sad but I am sure I will find them hiding in a handbag somewhere so. Today I wanted to show you my little collection.

There really isn't much to say about these that someone hasn’t already said, I know you have probably read 101 reviews on them, but what’s wrong with one more, I suppose my opinion could be different to that of others.

These glosses are insanely creamy, lightweight and really comfortable to wear. They’re are non-stick which is always a plus because you don’t have the ‘hair getting stuck in the lip-gloss because of the wind problem’ and I know I am not the only one who suffers from this problem and the extra bonus is that they smell deliciously sweet (the scent kind of reminds of vanilla and the smell of the MAC lipsticks and who doesn’t love the smell of them).

All of the Butter Glosses I've tried so far have semi-opaque colour coverage, some more sheer than others and the wear depends entirely on what I'm doing, but I usually get a few hours out of these.

Now onto the shades: I currently own 5 (one is missing), I might sound crazy saying this but I really do want to try pick up the whole collection, if you've tried them you might understand my obsession because you know how great they are.

Ok so onto the colours, first up is Vanilla Cream Pie, which is a great everyday pink if you're looking for something that's a step up from a nude, but still pretty neutral. Merengue is a very cool-toned lilac pink. I really love this shade right now and I like that it can be built up or sheered out I also find myself wearing a lot over my MAC ‘Up The Amp’ or my Lime Crime ‘D’Lilac’ lipsticks to give them a nice glossy finish rather than a matt.

Now for something more adventurous, I have Maple Blondie and Peaches and Cream. If I'm in the mood for hot pink lips, I need to look no further than Peaches and Cream, really bright summery bink great for adding pop of colour to an otherwise neutral makeup. Maple Blondie is a beautiful hot coral pink, which is a colour I always have a weakness for it looks a bit more pink in the tube but when you wear it you realise it’s a beautiful bright coral colour again perfect for the Summer time and adding a pop to an otherwise rather boring makeup.

(L-R Vanilla Cream Pie, Merengue, Maple Blondie, Peaches and Cream)

The NYX Butter Glosses come in a variety of permanent shades and I know really wish I had picked up more as they are obviously not so easy to find in the UK and Ireland but I’m sure I will hunt them down and start building on my collection soon.

Have you tried the NYX butter gloss’s what are your thoughts, what shades do you have?

MAC Alluring Aquatics Collection, Golden Bronzing Powder

Unlike many beauty addicts that I know I’m not really one to have a large collection of bronzers, I pretty much always stick with one product that works and use it until it’s gone (can’t say the same about lip products) I have gone from using my Urban Decay Baked Bronzer to my beloved Laguna Bronzer from Nars. I’ve had my ‘Old Faithful’ Nars Laguna bronzer since my 21^st birthday which was back in March and I haven’t even nearly hit pan yet.

When I decided I was in the market for a new bronzer I decided to go a shade lighter  because I felt like ‘Laguna’ was a perfect contouring product,  but I really wanted a bronzer to use all over the face for a gorgeous Summer glow, especially in the warmer months. Please welcome ‘Golden’ from the MAC Alluring Aquatics collection, this bronzer is actually a part of the permanent collection but I had to pick it up as part of the Alluring Aquatics collection because the packaging is so damn gorgeous. I picked up one of the lipsticks from this range to because I really just couldn’t resist I picked up the shade ‘Pet Me, Please’ but it will be a part of my updated MAC lipstick collection post.

A lightly frosted tinted powder that gives skin sheer, natural colour effects and highlights. Ideal for enhancing a skin tone or to accent or strengthen a tan. Skin – conditioning and formulated to provide a smooth, even application on all skin types.

The texture is very fine, soft and smooth. It is very easy to apply and blend, you can build it up as you like for contouring purposes or use it all over the face as I have been doing, it doesn’t come up easily on my brush in 1 swipe I have to repeat the process at least 3-4 times to do any proper contouring which I’m really not used to because ‘Laguna’ is perfect in just one swipe.

(Apologies for the quality of this picture, you wouldn't believe how insanely hard it is to get a good swatch photo of a bronzer)

Again as all MAC products, staying power is quite good. In fact, it doesn’t budge anywhere for at least 4-5 hours.

I am in love with this as I knew I would be. I had tried it a few times in the store before deciding to pick it up in the airport on the way home, its staying power, colour, coverage, packaging, everything, what can I say MAC really can’t do anything wrong in my eyes.

I dread the day that I find a MAC product that I don’t love.

I love it and thoroughly recommend it to everyone; obviously you’re unable to pick it up now from the alluring aquatics range but I’m almost positive that it’s part of the permanent range of products so check it out for yourself.

Did you pick anything up from the Alluring Aquatics range?

Makeup Storage and Collection

Hello my lovelies, today I have my makeup collection and storage post for you, this has been one of my most requested posts so I thought what better post to come back with than this one.  

Starting off by explaining where and what I store all my makeup in.  My makeup is stored in my clutter box (I will explain more about this now) on my desk in front of my window, unfortunately my student room is quite small so I don’t have enough space for a dressing table so all my makeup is stored on my very small desk, only good thing about this is its right in front of my rather large bedroom window so I have loads of natural light for doing my makeup is the mornings which is always good. 

OK so onto my storage, all my makeup is stored in my beautiful Clutter Box I have the 6 drawer box with individual dividers (here, they also have a sale on right now).

I had always wanted acrylic storage for my makeup and for ages I had been looking at the Muji drawers but in my heart I knew they just weren’t big enough for the amount of makeup I had, soon after I found “Her Clutter Box” on Instagram and immediately knew I needed one of these beauties in my life.

I was lucky enough to receive one from my gorgeous boyfriend as part of my 21^st birthday presents (haul post here), honestly when I opened it I cried, it was perfect.

As I have mentioned I have the 6 drawer box it has 5 large drawers and the 6^th bottom drawer is even larger perfect for holding pallets or things like your hairdryer and GHD. Each box comes with a set of dividers and you can buy more separately if you feel you need them but honestly in my opinion one set is plenty, I still have some of my set left.

Although “Her Clutter Box” is more expensive than the likes of other acrylic storage such as the Muji drawers I really feel it is worth it, I absolutely love mine and I’m so tempted to buy another.

On top of my clutter box I have my lipstick stands which my darling boyfriend bought for me, we picked these up in a shop called “Home store and More” in Ireland for €3 each (don’t quote me on that) but I know there are other very similar items available on the likes of EBay or Amazon.

Finally onto the makeup and how I store it, we will work from the bottom up but before I do I would just like to say I am in no way bragging about the amount of makeup I have I am a professional makeup artist makeup is my job, my passion and my love and I work hard for it.

OK so onto the fun part.

Drawer 6

In the bottom drawer I store the products that I have spare or haven’t yet got onto opening, I also keep the palettes that I don’t use as much as I should such as my MUA, Makeup Geek, MAC ,Bobbi Brown, Hot Totty and Urban Decay palettes, in this drawer I also have all my false eyelashes and my false eyelashes box along with my Inglot brush cleaner and my Urban Decay De’Slick and All nighter making setting spray.

My MAC Palettes 

My Inglot Palettes

Drawer 5

In drawer 5 I keep my most loved and most used palettes i.e. my MAC an Inglot palettes, I have 3 MAC eye shadow palettes two neutral palettes and one with some colours but this one isn’t full yet, I also have a MAC blush palette but it’s also not full yet, moving onto my Inglot palettes I have two eye shadow palettes one 10 and one 20 and a blush palette , my 20 palette is my neutral palette and my 10 palette is my coloured palette and it has one space left (for a very special colour I haven’t quite chosen yet), I also keep to empty 5 palettes in this drawer as spares, I haven’t quite decided what to do with these yet as I feel they are just too small for me, who knows maybe I will use one for concealers and the other for brow products for my kit, (if anyone has reviews of Inglot concealers or brown products please leave your links in the comments below).

 

Some of my favourite lip products

Drawer 4

This is probably my favourite drawer, It’s my lip product drawer, split into four sections, the back to sections hold all my lip balms and lip pencils (as you can see I have a little obsession with Balmi’s and EOS) and the front two sections have my lip glosses and lip crayons.

Some of my favourite eye products

Drawer 3

This is my eye product drawer which I have split into 9 different sections the back three sections are eyeliners, pigments , glitters, duo glue and duraline, the middle three sections are eye shadow crayons, eyebrow products, eyeliner colour tattoos and pressed pigments/eye shadows and finally the front three are mascaras, MAC/ Inglot pigments and MAC Paint Pots and Paint Penitures.

Some of my favourite blushers, bronzers and highlighters

Drawer 2

Face products this drawer is split into 6 sections  the back three being highlighters, setting powders and unopened products and the front there being blush’s, bronzers and limited edition products.

Some more of my favourite face products

Drawer 1

Also face products and also split into 6 sections the back three being primers, mouse foundations and setting powders and the front three are foundations and concealers.

Finally on top of my clutter box I keep all my lipstick stands and my two brush baskets which keep my brushes and all my makeup tools in such as sponges, powder puffs, tweezers, tape and eyelash applicators.

I really hope you've enjoyed this and if there are any products you've seen that you would like an individual post or review on please let me know in the comments below.

Is there any products you've seen that you like, would you like a clutter box to store your makeup in? 

I'm Back, I've Really Missed You

Hello my lovelies and welcome back to Angels Secrets, I’m back and my god have I missed you guys and blogging; I honestly felt a little lost without it all.

As you may or may not have noticed I had disappeared on the blogging front over the past few weeks and it really wasn't planned at all but there is a reason for it.

I know you guys don’t expect me to explain myself but I feel a little explanation is necessary.

If you follow me on Instagram @BeckyPReeves you will know exactly what’s been going on as I did manage to keep that up to date but if not now you know, two words, EXAM TIME.

I am finishing up in my first year of Brushstrokes academy and have some really important exams to do, I've had other exams throughout the year which I was able to blog through but I don’t know what happened when it came to these ones I just panicked and it wasn't good so I knew I just needed to take a step back from a few things so I had less things on my plate to worry about during my exams and that’s exactly what I did.

Just because I have been missing the last few weeks doesn't mean I have given up blogging which a couple of you have asked me. I would never give up blogging it means too much to me, my bog and you guys as my readers and friends have given me so much confidence that I never had before.

I have completely lost my blogging schedule and honestly can’t really remember what it was but I am hoping to get back to blogging 3 days a week which really shouldn't be a problem for me over the summer holidays and I am so excited to get back to it.

I can’t wait to get back into my blog again and I am so glad I still have so many incredibly supportive followers and amazing friends on twitter that have continued to talk to me since my disappearance, the blogging community really is an incredible group to be a part of.

I am one exam down now and I have two more to do, the stress levels have reduced dramatically now so I have got back to writing, my first post to come back with is going to be my makeup collection and storage as it has been highly requested and I have so many more great posts planned which I am very excited about including a couple of serious hauls such as my insane IMATS haul thanks to my incredible boyfriend so if you’re interested to see what I've been purchasing watch this space.

Hope your all doing amazing and have had an incredible few weeks enjoying the sunshine.

(Google Image)