Beauty Haul

Hi everyone,

I have been collecting beauty items these past few weeks from events I have been too and just general shopping and thought I would share them with you :-)

Recently I have been experimenting more with wearing eyeshadow
(although I am still unsure about what suits me best), and picked up a few bits to try. The first one is Maybelline's Colour Tattoo 24 hour Leather Effect in Creamy Beige 98 (£4.99) which is a lovely dark brown with a hint of pink and slight shimmer. I have not tried this product yet but plan to wear it in the crease of my eye. The second product is MAC's Mineralize Eyeshadow Quad in Golden Hours (£17) that I was given during my internship at Sass and Bide. The colours are gorgeous, and come up so pigmented when I place them on my fingertips however when I transfer that to my eyes the colours seem to come out very sheer and it just looks like a block of shimmer on my eyes rather than a variation of brown tones. If anybody has any suggestions of how to make these eyeshadows look like they do in the packaging on my eyes, that would be greatly appreciated :-)

I have heard many YouTuber's talk about Charlotte Tilbury in the past and had been eyeing up the Colour Chameleon (Colour Morphing Eyeshadow Pencil) in Dark Pearl for Brown Eyes (£19) for a while, so I thought it was time that I purchased it. This has got to be my favourite purchase of them all it is perfect. It is a very versatile product that you simply sweep over the eyes and blend in with your fingertips and you can build up the colour towards the outer corners :-) I cannot recommend this enough, and it is available in many shades for many eye colours. Next, in my London Fashion Weekend goody bag there was a Maybelline The Colossal Volum' Express Cat Eyes Mascara (£7.99) that has a curved wand. Now I am not sure it gives my lashes volume but it definitely gives them added length which I love and surprisingly it does not uncurl my lashes like most non-waterproof mascara's do. 

This MAC Mineralize Blush in Gleeful (£21) was also given to me during my internship and I am still trying to work with it. It has a red-pink tone and is extremely pigmented, I need to find the perfect brush which does not pick up too much product to prevent myself having a large line of blush on my face! 

MAC's Lip Prep & Prime (£13) is heaven for the lips, it makes application of lipstick so much easier (without any product building up in cracked areas) and makes your lips feel very soft - I love it! The MAC Mineralize Rich Lipstick in All Out Gorgeous  is a lovely deep warm berry red perfect for night time. It has a slight shimmer to it and is very build able to create a strong make-up look where you want the emphasis on your lips. 

These next two Maybelline Colour Sensational lipsticks (£6.99) were part of an offer at London Fashion Week where you could get 4 Maybelline products for £18 - bargain! I purchased the shades Mauve Mania and Red Revolution. I like to wear Mauve Mania in the day time as it is a lovely deep pink colour, which is slightly darker then my natural lip colour and adds a nice healthy finish. On the other hand, I would personally wear Red Revolution in the evening as it is extremely bold and would need to be maintained constantly throughout the day. This colour is perfect for the upcoming spring season as it has a lovely vibrant pink-red tone and adds a nice pop of colour to any look. 

The last two products are nail varnishes I have specifically picked up for Spring. Topshop's Nail Varnish in Forsaken (£5.00) is the perfect lilac colour which applies like a dream. I have always been a fan of Topshop's nail varnishes but this one is definitely my favourite - even my sister who is a beauty addict was in love with the colour of my nails. Now, a little background to my last purchase is that I have been doing a project based on Burberry at University so whenever I was procrastinating I would browse through their website seeing what I could afford and what I loved on a student budget and then I stumbled upon their Nail Polish in Orange Poppy No. 221 (£15). Originally I was going to purchase it online, and then decided I would pop into the store to see if I liked the colour as much in real life and I am so glad I did. In their store, they had an interactive section next to their beauty products which included a screen with a picture of a model on it with no lipstick or nail varnish on and one square slot above and five square slots below. You could place a lipstick in the slot above and her lips would change to that colour, and you could place a nail varnish (or a few) on the slot below and her nails would change to those colours to give you a true representation of how the products came out. It was a great idea - me and my sister spent a while playing with it and the lady serving us did not mind - they were all so friendly in there! Anyway I am digressing, this is a lovely orangey-pinky shade which I am yet to use but cannot wait to have it on my fingernails soon! 

I hope that you enjoyed this post, although I rambled a little bit (I do apologise) and I will have a new blog post about my London Fashion Weekend experience soon :-) 

Lots of love,

Sarah Marie x 

Internship Experience

Hi everyone,

Today I thought I would share with you my internship experience at Sass and Bide. 

Models Backstage

Firstly, I should start of with how I managed to get a placement to begin with and the main thing I suggest is to take a chunk of time aside to prepare for this. As my only experience on my CV was that I had worked in a coffee shop, I knew that I needed to gain more relevant experience in the fashion industry, and I really wanted the experience. London Fashion Week was soon approaching and I new this would be the perfect time, as fashion brands are always needing extra help around this busy time. 

My friend at uni, had actually told me that she had got an internship during LFW and how she got it and so I knew what to do. The first step was to make sure that my CV was up to date with all relevant experience, and to write a cover letter explaining what skills I could offer to the brand and simply to show that you are willing to do anything and everything. 

After this was completed I went on the london fashion week website and went through all of the designers, changing each cover letter to make it more personal, and sending an email to them and attaching my cover letter and CV. In the end I had e-mailed 62 designers and had responses from 4 designers and 2 PR companies which I was very pleased with. I chose to do my internship with Sass and Bide as I have always admired the brand and their clothing, and considering they had a new creative director I thought it would be interesting to see his approach on taking on the new role. 

Day One

The Chill Out Room

Everyday was a 8am start for me, which required me waking up at 4am and leaving my house at 5am. Though this was very tiring, it was definitely worth it. 

On the morning of my first day I met a few members of the PR team, designers, the creative director and photographers who had flown over from Australia, as well as two of the other interns who showed me around the studio. 

The Studio

The Dressing Room

The tasks of the morning included getting breakfast and drinks (I felt like Andy from the Devil wears Prada!) and collecting items needed for the day such as garment bags, fabric and tailoring equipment. My top tip here would be to make sure you always carry extra cash on you and to have an oyster card on you at all times if you are working in London - it will be your best friend! 

Once we had returned the afternoon was spent putting models into looks for their casting, and labelling up the looks with their names ready for the show the next day (although this did get confusing at times!). After this was completed we helped to pin up the looks onto a board in order with the models name, so the creative director could overlook and see what looks needed a model and if he wanted to swap any around. The day was then finished with putting together gift tags and lots of pizza! 

The Gift Tags

Day Two

Today was the most exciting of days as it was the day of the catwalk show. The show was not until later in the evening so there were many tasks to be completed beforehand in the morning and it was all a bit manic. Castings were still occurring, and looks were being assigned to different models, which made the process of knowing if the shoes belonged to one model or another very difficult. 

My role in the morning began with helping the head designer to collate all of the looks in order on the rails with the correct number tag next to it. Once models had been definitely assigned I had to zip the looks up in a garment bag, complete with accessories and shoes, and place a larger board over the top with images of the clothing on the model, so the dressers would later know how the model should look. Once this was complete we all helped load up the van, and got in a taxi to the venue (I was very excited at this point). 

Show Venue

When we arrived at the venue, which was absolutely beautiful, we helped to unload the van and put all the looks back on the rails in order and unzipping them. From now on, there wasn't a lot to do as there was other people hired to dress the models, make-up artists, hair artists then there were reporters and photographers  making it very busy backstage so all us interns thought it would be best if we took a back seat. 

Looks on rails backstage

Clothes from the show

The head designer asked us if we could go around and check that dressers had dressed the models correctly, as we knew the looks best, which was nice as it made me feel that they trusted me and the other interns for this responsibility. 

Models waiting backstage 

After all the models were lined up backstage, the show began whilst we waited backstage and chatted to the seamstress, who was so lovely! Once the show had finished, we gave the area a tidy up, had some champagne and then it was time for home for another early start.

Models post-show

Day Three

This was my last day so I wanted to take every opportunity to make the most of my internship and help out wherever possible. The day began with simple tasks such as clearing out the hired studio, getting breakfast and stacking up shoe boxes in preparation from when we arrived back from collecting the shoes. 

When we arrived at the hotel, we went to the penthouse suite and began to undertake tasks such as making sure no accessories had fallen out into the garment bags, removing labels from shoes and packaging them up. We then ensured there was one of every shoe out ready for the wholesale and press appointments, and I lint rolled the clothing to make sure it was nice and clean. 

Wholesale and Press Appointment Preparation

After we had completed our tasks at the hotel we travelled back to the studio, and began to pack up the shoes ready for shipping, as well as the clothing from the show. We were then free to go! 

I honestly have to say that although I only interned for three days, they have been the most exciting and rewarding three days of my life. I could have not asked for a better or nicer group of people to work with, that gave me greater responsibilities then I expected. I am so thankful for this opportunity, and I hope to obtain another internship in the summer. 

Lots of love

Sarah Marie x