Matte about You!

The whole world seems to be crazy about mattes- matte lipstick, matte eyeshadow, matte face, mathematics... (wait, that's not right...)

I love the trend and I think it works well in our hot, humid weather. And if you have a matte lip stain, you have half a makeup kit in your purse. To achieve this, you'll need the following:

A matte lip stain, an eyebrow pencil in medium brown, some black mascara, matte face powder, an eyepencil in any colour and a baby.

Yes. A baby.

First, put the baby down. This will immediately give you a panic attack and a headache and a time limit of 15 minutes, because the baby will start howling. Apply your makeup normally and then use your fingers to dab on he matte lip stain on your lips and cheeks. And your face is made up pretty! Now pick the baby up, because your neighbours don't deserve that noise in their lives.

New Fashion work

I shot this with photographer Yomi Black, a wonderful model Paula (she's baesd in the UK) and a stylist. It was such a fun day and we finished quite late. Thanks to everyone who participated. And my favourite products of the day was Make Up For Ever flash palette and Sleek pout paint in Port Red.

Will the Real Slim Shady please stand up (part 3)

Sorry guys, have been immersed in so much work recently. But I will finish this up today.

There is a lot of fake everything on the market nowadays. You have NO idea how bad it is. So if you must buy stuff, do yourself a favour, shop from these places. I've been to them an can assure you they're all perfectly safe.

• Black Up retail stores (malls in Lagos)
• Sleek Studio (Awolowo road, Ikoyi and Apapa, those are their main branches, for me)
• MAC cosmetics store (Ikeja mall)
• Gifty's Daughter (Toyin street, Ikeja and Port Harcourt)
• House of Tara (sold at most stores in Lagos, HQ is Lekki Phase 1)
• Makeup Designory (MUD) studio (Lekki Phase 1, Lagos)

If you notice, I didn't mention any stores in Trade Fair or Balogun. I've shopped there before and I've bought fakes (as have several people I know). I have a few stores I go to there, but only to buy products I'm 99.9% sure of I can spot a fake. I certainly won't buy a brand like Mary Kay from there.

Also, I'm deliberately not mentioning stores in the malls (you know those ones that sell a bit of everything, bah?). I've seen a lot of fake MAC sold at full price there or N400 cheaper than in the MAC store. Don't fall for it, buy only if you're absolutely sure. Remember, MAC is produced in laboratories in the US, but mostly in Europe, their brushes are made in Japan and France. It will say country of origin on the body. And all the companies I listed above, sell brands that MUST conform to the same standard and look of the package. So if you want Iman pressed powder in Clay Medium, and you see it in Clay Medium Tan, and the seller says "madam na the new one made in Spain", just drop it and walk away.

For you, dear readers, I'm going to find out a trustworthy dealer of popular affordable brands like Mary Kay. I can honestly tell you the wholesale dealer of Milani products is in Trade Fair, once you enter their main gate and look up and left, you'll spot them.
 I'd love to get more stores around Nigeria, so if you know authentic, honest dealers, let me know and I'll look into them.

Will the Real Slim Shady please stand up (Part 2)

Hey Chicas, how are you?

So, we've kinda established the fact that it's pretty hard to figure out what's real and what's fake. However, all hope is not lost (dramatic music should be played whilst reading this blog post btw). I put heads together with a lot of clever people and we came up with some guidelines, titled:

HOW NOT TO BUY FAKE MAKEUP

Step 1: Check the price. We are Nigerians, ladies and gentlemen,  we love money. So if we buy something to sell, we want to make a profit. If a pressed powder costs N2,500 to import into the country, there's no way an average Nigerian will sell it for N900 in the market. For the price to be that MUCH lower that actual sale price, it's either of 2 things: the powder is defective/expired, or it's fake. No matter how much the seller bought it on sale or wholesale, shipping and overheads MUST be added to the price, abi?

Step 2: Check how your product looks like. Take a look at the picture below, the upper one is real MAC (lip-pencil in Currant) and the lower one is fake MAC (no name, has a number).

Original products usually have embossed or engraved lettering on them (the logo is either raised on the surface or scratched in, either way you can FEEL it when you touch it), fake products usually just have the name of the product written on it, (and the lettering on the fake will be peeling). No company will wake up and change its logo. Even the package of the Iman I posted, the original had a computer bar on the back of the pack, the fake had nothing on it. If the logo looks different, walk away.

Step 3: Check the name. MAC names its products: Lady Danger, Ruby Woo, Woodwinked, Raizin. So if you see a product with a MAC logo and no name, it's probably fake. Same with Sleek, all their collections have names, a quick Google search will tell you if what you have in your hand was made by the company, if you can't find it online, it doesn't exist.

These are your best steps in avoiding fakes. In my next and final post on this subject, I'll talk about the feel of fake products and places I trust to shop. So keep reading and feel free to share this post with your friends.

Till next time!

Creative makeup

Hey bellas. How is this rainy weather treating y'all? Please do NOT say "Weather for 2", your mates in other countries are seeing this type of weather and thinking of planting crops and making money. You're dreaming of something else. Mschewwwwwww. LOL.

I thought I'd share some interesting work I did last year. I was going for a colour splash concept.

When it comes to creative makeup, there are rules to follow. You've got to be super-creative, research everything, tell a story. It's a good time to try out new techniques and play with colour and texture. Don't just throw your entire kit at the model and call it a day, crazy lashes does not make work creative.

I really love this picture, the photographer Hakeem Salaam is one of the best in Nigeria (he's shot every major job out there) and the model, Comfort, 16 and incredibly talented.

What d you think?

Beauty Breakdown

I haven't received the final images from this shoot but thought I'd do a breakdown on it, as a few people asked.  The model had a lovely bone structure but really dark under eyes, the type that almost nothing but clever lighting can take care of, after concealing.

I prepped the skin with some skincare and Paula Dorf normal to dry skin primer. I used Make Up For Ever HD foundation and concealer palette. Bronzer was Iman bronzing powders and highlighter was Revlon skinlights and Iman bronzer, a few MAC pigments and Paula Dorf eyeshadow. Contour was by my favourite duos from Bobbi Brown, but Sleek contour palette works just as well. Her lips were a blend of Revlon Love that Red, a Max Factor red and OCC NSFW in the middle, topped with gloss. Her brows were not finished here (I was rushing) but I used Tara eyebrow pencils.

Paula Dorf used to be sold at Kuddy Cosmetics and let me know if you need the Revlon, there's a private seller. Sadly, most of the shimmer on her cheekbones didn't show due to my crappy camera.


That's it, I guess.

Lips like Liquid

Seriously, I've gotta stop naming my posts so weirdly.
Lipsticks have always been a staple of any woman's makeup bag. As the years rolled by, however, women wanted something lighter and not so matte. Enter lipglosses. Again, after some decades, women wanted (yeah we're a fickle bunch who don't really know what we want) something that acted like a lipgloss, but was as pigmented as a lipstick.

Enter Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics (OCC)'s liptars.

Those babies pack a wallop and are amazing. However, a new challenger came to town (with a british accent).

Enter Sleek's Pout Paints.

Since both these products are available in Nigeria,  I decided to do a short comparison of both, to help you make an informed decision (or heck, just confuse you further, lol) as to which to buy.

OCC liptars
  • are very pigmented
  • are not cheap (price point is upwards of N3, 000
  • last for a long time, a little goes a long way and more than a dot of product will bleed everywhere (run       off your lips)
  • stains the lips after it wears off
  • you get more product in each tube than the pout paints

Sleek pout paints
  • are very pigmented
  • are cheaper (price point is N700 to N1, 200 depending on where you buy them)
  • you need more product to cover the lips fully
  • will not bleed off your lips, they're a little drier in texture than the liptars
  • you get less product in each tube than the liptars

So there you have it! Which will you choose, tell me?

Note: OCC liptars can be bought at Gifty's Daughter, in Lagos and PH, and Sleek pout paints can be purchased at most cosmetics stores, especially Sleek Apapa