How I Achieved Todays Make Up Look

I'm off to a wedding in the lovely Lisnavagh House in Carlow today. I am wearing a gorgeous Bastyan dress from BT2 Dundrum. Its black high neck with a gaping back. As the dress is quite statement I want to keep my make up simple but defined. Here's how it was done:

First I started by applying MAC Strobe cream all over my face- I love the glow it gives to my skin. I followed this with MAC Studio Fix Fluid in NC30 applied with the AYU Duo Fibre Foundation brush. I then applied MAC Pro Longwear concealer in NW20 under my eyes in an inverted triangle shape, down the centre of my nose and on my cupid's bow with the AYU Pro Blender brush to create light in this area. Next I applied MAC Groundwork underneath my cheekbones for definition, then at the sides of my forehead, the tip of my chin and the tip of my nose to disguise them with the same brush- I am never neat at this stage as next I will blend both the concealer and the groundwork until there are no lines and just perfectly contoured finish. I blend the areas with my foundation brush- I find the left over foundation on the brush helps to blur all the lines! I applied a small bit of MAC Peaches blush to the apples of my cheeks and added a little MAC Soft & Gentle to the tops of my cheekbones for an extra sheen. To set the foundation I used MAC Mineralise Skinfinish in Medium all over my face as I need the make up to stay in place all day!

For my eyes I used an ISA DORA eyeshadow quartet in 44 Muddy Nudes. I LOVE this palette! I applied the cream colour all over my lid to my brow bone, then the pink from lash line to crease and blended it out. Next I applied the medium brown all over lid from lash line to crease again and blended around the crease line, and I finished with the dark brown in the outer corners of my lid and blended it up and out to lift my eye up. I applied the medium brown underneath my eye as well to give a blurred smokey effect. I only used two brushes for all of this which were the AYU problender to apply the colours and create the shape with my dark brown and then the AYU Blender 206 to blur everything out. For mascara I did two coats of MAC In Extreme Dimension Lash.

I finished the look with MAC Creme Cup on my lips as it's a gorgeous nude colour that is really moisturising and the colour does not take away from the eyes!

All AYU Brushes mentioned above can be purchased here.

Wedding Makeup Service

The best part of the job is getting to apply other people's make up and seeing the transformation. Today brings us to The K Club for wedding makeup. We've used AYU's fab makeup brushes find them here and a mixture of makeup brands to achieve the look. Ready for the ball!

Have a great weekend!

AYU Professional Make-up Brushes

Hey Ladieeeeeeeeessss!!

Our whole new AYU Brush range is available to order through our website www.ayu.ie 

Happy Shopping x

How to Conceal Pink Sensitive Cheeks

Most of us lovely Irish ladies were born with a natural blush in our cheeks, but what was cute when we were 10 isn't as lovely when you reach your teenage years and beyond! So how do we conceal that pesky pink/red colour on our faces? The following are a few easy tips on how to fake an even gorgeous skin tone!

1. Make a fresh start! Cleanse and moisturise your skin.

2. Use natural hair brushes for your make-up where possible. Natural hair will not irritate the skin like synthetic ones so will minimise the risk of any extra unwanted blush in your cheeks.  (FYI- Shameless self- promotion about to happen… AYU Foundation brushes are a mix of goat & synthetic hair but are soft enough for even the most delicate of skins)!

3. Keep your Make Up routine simple! The fewer products you use on your skin the less chance of sensitivity!

4. Use a green tinted based primer. This will help visually correct the skins colour and even out your skin tone. (I love Smashbox photofinish colour correcting primer in Adjust)

5. Use an oil free foundation and concealer. Try using a natural hair brush like the AYU Pro Blender 200 for your concealer as you will be working in areas that are prone to sensitivity (around the nose, cheeks and under the eyes). (I use MAC Studio Fix Fluid foundations & their Studio Finish concealers)

6. Mineral powders are great for setting your make up and they won’t irritate sensitive skin. (Again, I use Mac Mineralize Skinfinish Powder- I just love this powder for setting my make up or worn alone on days when I like to look au natural!!)

7. Use blush sparingly if your cheeks are of a high red colour- you don’t want to end up looking like you've gone ten rounds with Tyson!!

8. There is no 8- you’re done…pretty easy wasn't it?!!