Pretty As A Picture

I love collecting vintage prints and old postcards and now I've found the perfect way to display them...

(image via etsy)

Really Cute Wedding

Another great short dress...Perfect for registery office weddings don't you think?

Again with the yellow! I so love yellow for a bouquet...

Great accessories. I'm totally loving this San Francisco bride's vibe...

(images via green wedding shoes)

PhotoReady?

The Great Foundation Challenge is continuing unabated here at Ellie Loves...! The latest that I'm loving and one of the greatest so far is this excellent offering from Revlon. PhotoReady foundation is a star product in my eyes and I'm delighted to have found it. For years I was quite devoted to Stila's Illuminating foundation and then, as you know, the brand has left our fair isle. Up to this point I haven't come across a product that has come close to it in terms of dewiness yet with decent coverage. Well, fret not; here it is!

I have to admit to not using many of Revlon's products at all apart from the odd lip colour or nail varnish and I am an avid hater of their big seller ColourStay as I find it too heavy and dense.

However, I am so pleasantly surprised to see how the brand is changing into a real treasure trove for makeup artists. Makeup guru, Gucci Westman has taken over the helm as creative director and last winters deep violet-y plum tones were the best on offer in my opinion.

So, when PhotoReady arrived through my door I had high hopes. They were fulfilled!

It has a medium to medium- well coverage (to use some cooking terms!) and it's level of illumination is perfect; not too glittery, not too oily, just right. I think it is appropriate for all ages and can be used with a brush or with fingers to apply. A little goes a long way, so your bottle will last you a long time. One pump should blend well over your entire face; using too much of this product will result in it not looking good, so remember, as with all makeup...less is more.

I found it to last very well over the day as long as it is set with powder.

I also like that it has a high SPF of 20 and it doesn't negatively affect the coverage. Some other high level SPF foundations can cause the product to separate on the skin giving an uneven look.

Colour-wise, there are 12 shades including some true pale shades for our celtic complexions, so you will find your colour here.

Revlon, you rock!

My Lulu

I thought you may like to see some pictures of our little girl, Lucienne.

Lulu to us...

She is crazy about Guinness!

Swings...

More Swings (one can never have enough swings!)

Rainbow Books

I came across this shot the other day...what a cool way to display books. We have a big bookcase like this one in our sitting room so I'm going to attempt this tonight!

(image via cup of jo)

Great Skirt, Great Coat

Just a beautiful shot, and I am partial to a splash of yellow from time to time...

Swing coats... could be a fashion faux-pas in so many ways but this girl is rocking it! Very cool pink scarf and shoes too...

Painting Faces

(me doing the lovely Tara)

Happy Monday Peeps! Did you have a good weekend?

I had another makeup-tastic couple of days. Wedding season is in full flow so I was painting more faces on Saturday and teaching the Boylan & Balfe Basics makeup course on Sunday.

I thought I'd tell you a little about our makeup courses as a few of you lovely people have been asking...

( Yes, we look alike. No, we're not related, and no, we're not married to each other!)

Ken Boylan and I have been working in makeup for many years. In our past lives, I was head makeup artist for Stila and he was in the same role for Armani. We became great friends and set up a business with the goal to teach people about makeup from a non-biased point of view as we know how intimidating it can be for you all to shop at beauty counters! We have been teaching our courses for 6 years now to those who want to get out of their makeup ruts by learning new tips and using new products. It's so common for people to stick to one old faithful makeup look which, more often than not, isn't working so well for them anymore.

We teach three classic and beautiful makeup looks; day, evening and night time, using a huge mix of brands that we deem to be worthwhile using our years of experience as makeup artists, and we bust a few beauty myths along the way too... just because a product sells volumes, doesn't mean it is high quality; YSL Touche Eclat- that means you!!

We really enjoy teaching the courses and this weekend was no exception; we met some great women and I'm quietly confident that they got a lot from it too.

We have a great laugh on the courses; the atmosphere is very informal with music playing and makeup being thrown all over the place!

We always get our subjects to try new colours and techniques and shake it up a bit...it's challenging to see a different version of you when you look in the mirror, but I believe it to be fun and dare I say, empowering.

Have a look at our site, we'd love to see you sometime! If you've any questions, just comment below...