September Round-Up (& MAC Express Makeover Review)

Deliveries from my fave tanning company | Hers and hers cocktails | MAC face
CC initials are where it’s at | Khaki nails | Aldi homeware – who knew?
Embroidered trend – tick | Lash deliveries | Birthday shoes

Hello my little angel faces! Yes I know we’re already a week into October so this round-up is late, but forgive me – I’ve been busy turning TWENTY-SIX YEARS OLD this weekend. And you know what? 26 is bloody brilliant. My car insurance has plummeted. It’s great; I should have turned 26 ages ago.

Anyway, back to September…

September 2016 was a good one at Vanity Claire HQ. One of the highlights for me was a lovely makeover I had at the MAC store in Grand Central (Birmingham’s newest and most exciting shopping centre/mecca for beauty fans, if you didn’t know). I was booked in for an Express Makeover, though this consisted of having my full face of makeup done and picking up loads of hints and tips, so there wasn’t really anything ‘express’ about it.

My makeup artist, Sophie, was absolutely lovely, and started by asking what sort of look I was hoping to go for. Her makeup was on point, so I basically requested that she made me look like her (which was probably a bit creepy, looking back). We chatted through each step, with her giving me bits of advice and putting up with all of my stupid questions, such as “how do I make eyeshadow look good when I basically have no eyelids?”.

Although she was always asking me for my preferences, Sophie also did things a bit differently than I normally do, all of which I LOVED. For example, I stopped wearing kohl liner on my waterline years ago because I thought it made me look like a piggy-eyed weirdo, but when she swiped the Feline liner across the lower lid it looks uhhhh-mazing. Similarly, she brought my highlighter (Soft and Gentle, which I’ve since received for my birthday – yassss) further in than I normally would, and I loved it so much I’ve started doing it every day myself. This resulted in one of my colleagues even commenting on my ‘new glow’. Insert nail painting emoji here.

I’ve had my makeup done by a few brands before, but I have to say that my MAC makeover was my favourite yet. Whereas I’m usually left feeling a bit bare-faced after someone else does my makeup, I felt like MAC fully understood my desire for a full face of slap. I left feeling sassier than ever before, and – as you can tell from that snap in the top left – I even had a smoky eye. My Express Makeover was complementary for review, but they ordinarily cost £20 – which is fully redeemable against any products you buy. So essentially if you need to pick up a new bottle of foundation, you can also get your makeup done for a night out completely free. Why the hell would you not? For more info on their makeovers and how to book, visit here.

What did you all get up to in September? Let me know in the comments!

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