Scrub Vs Polish

This is a wonder product by Dermalogica. I literally force my clients and brides-to-be into using it.

All skin needs exfoliation in order to look good and to keep cell turnover at the pace it should be trucking along at, and it is SO important to refine the skin as a makeup base. Foundation can only look as good as the canvas underneath.

Most skins can get a little sluggish from time to time, especially so if they have been smothered in moisturiser, SPF and false tan on a regular basis.

Skin needs to breathe and it needs a bit more help than regular cleansing to clear itself out. What it doesn't need is to be abrasively attacked with severe scrubs. Harsh products with big grainy bits can really damage the skin by aggravating any underlying redness and even tearing it. It will look upset and annoyed and won't please you by being pretty and you'll only have yourself to blame for treating your precious skin so badly. Enough of a guilt trip? Shall I go on?

This Daily Microfoliant is a rice powder based exfoliator and as you mix it with water it forms a soft paste which you then massage all over the face. It is gentle enough to use every day as the name suggests. The overall effect after about one weeks use is of glowing, polished, smooth skin that looks like you love it and it loves you back!

Keep the heavy duty scrubbing for your body but be sweet to your face, your skin can be your greatest ally if only you're nice to it!

(Get it here...)

I'm Feeling Blue

No, not really. I'm perfectly happy thank you and I was even more so when I saw these blue beauties here...

Blues and turquoises just mean SUMMER to me! Can't get enough...

AND there's a sale on. Go, Go, Go

From the Streets

Not many people could carry off this ruffle, but isn't it great on this Audrey Tatou looking girl...

Lady in Milan... great coat, great attitude...

Now that's dapper! This Milanese man certainly rocks a brown linen suit and check out his accessories...

Pictures from The Sartorialist...the best street style photographer of the lot in my eyes!

Free Stuff!

Allow me to introduce The Friday Freebie!!

Yes, I know it's Tuesday today but I have to give you advance notice. Every Friday on Ellie loves... I will be giving away some delectable, desirable and downright lovely makeup products to one of you lucky, lucky people!

As I am sent a lot of products to try out by the cosmetic houses, I have asked if I can pass some on to my dear readers. Don't worry, I won't be sending you used products; yours will be brand spanking new!

All you have to do is read Ellie loves... sign up to follow the blog if you wish but most importantly leave a comment below The Friday Freebie post and I will pick one of you and contact you for your address.

I am beside myself with excitement for you!

Minerals Rock

Mineral makeup. Such a huge new wave in makeup on these shores (even though they've been around for 20 years in the US). They are a whole new concept and technique to embrace. It will take a bit of getting used to, but it's worth it if you ask me.

The original format is the loose powder in the shakers which are buffed on to the skin with a brush. Minerals are also put into liquid foundations now which are better for those who can't get their heads and hands around the powders.

In case you don't know the benefits of these types of products let me tell you there are many! They are (mostly) 100% natural but you must check the ingredients; they should not contain talc...if they do, the company is cheating by trying to cut the pure powders with talc to make them go further.

They have a natural SPF of 15-20 and are really soothing on the skin. So much so that they have been used by dermatologists and plastic surgeons for years on sensitised skin and even on post-procedure skins. They have a high level of pigment so a little goes a long way and you are in control of the coverage; you can put on as little as you want for a sheer veil of colour or as much as you need to tone down any skin issues.

Minerals by their nature have a slight iridescence, it's all the crushed rocks basically; you know when you look at rocks and see sparkly bits? Well that is what is crushed and on your face!

I think the leader of the pack are Bare Minerals. They have been formulating these foundations for longer than the rest and the powders are silky and long lasting. You must learn to apply them properly because you will feel let down if you try it incorrectly and it ends up a mess. They are worth putting the time in at a counter to get a demonstration from their makeup artists.

In the liquid category the Mineralize SatinFinish by MAC has my vote. I have started using it recently and it is my current night time foundation ( I still can't be swayed away from their Face & Body for day!). It has the same benefits as the powders but the minerals are suspended in a liquid, so apply using a flat foundation brush in the traditional technique and you are good to go...

Every cosmetic company have jumped on the mineral bandwagon, but you must be careful in your choice. The products shouldn't be too powdery or too sparkly because you will excessively dry or shiny; both bad.

Other good examples of minerals that perform well are the Jane Iredale powders (not her liquids) and Maybelline have a nice liquid which is a great budget option.

Go forth and try, my friends!

The Bride Got Style

I am seriously swooning over this Australian wedding. How fabulous is this bride? Amazing dress...check out the shoulder detail and the veil hanging from the collar...

Wedding boots!

Sexy bridesmaid dress...no baby pink froth here.

This is the winged flower girl...ADORABLE!

The photos are by Oz's best wedding photographer. She is a fine art photographer and is utterly fantastic at capturing events. Have a look at her site...

(images via Erin Ever After)

New Find

I have a new favourite website. Emersonmade is a husband and wife team who make clothes, fabric corsages and fabulous clutch bags among other things...

All the shots seem to be taken at their house and they model everything themselves...

Such cute clutch bags...

Great polka dot blouse...

I love a skirt with pockets...

I love their colour palettes and styling...

Corsage 2 ways...

Three High Heels

From M&S...cool fashion forward heels. Who knew?!

I like the tweedy finish...great with denim.

I love a nude shoe and the pale shade makes cage sandals look less clunky on the foot (and I bet they're fairly comfy being from M&S!)

I'm going to try them on...

A Bit of Sparkle

Wouldn't this top be lovely over some beaten up jeans shorts on a cloudy summer day or even slim fitting combats or white skinny jeans...

I love this dress. So Summer sexy with sky high heels, messy hair, low key eyes and a pop of bright on the lips...

Team Jen

I have always had a style crush on Jennifer Aniston! I know people tend to think she's a bit boring but I heart the way she rocks the classics with a twist. The sparkly dress and fitted tuxedo jacket above are really cool and the legs, the legs... the girl can work a mini that's for sure.

Yes, it's a little demure, but it's a perfect fitted shift dress and I love the grey suede shoes.... Again, the legs *sigh*... I'm going for a walk in my Fit Flops right now!

A Rant About Freckles

I LOVE freckles and I HATE when people ask me to cover them up. They are so pretty and I think if you have them you are meant to show them off. Why is it that us women often want the opposite of what we naturally have? False tan on pale skin, covered up freckles, plucked to nothing brows that should be full and fabulous...

As a makeup artist I think that the trick to looking good is to accentuate the positive and eliminate the negative, but that doesn't mean being false, it means learning to harness your natural beauty and thus feeling good in your skin.

In our makeup courses we teach that your best look is your most natural look. We never stray too far from your original palette colour-wise and when it comes to texture it's all about sheer, sheer, as sheer as possible.

You gotta love what your Momma gave ya!

Whew...had to get that off my chest!

Try Tangerine

This is Tangerine by Laura Mercier and is part of her Summer collection. Now, I know it's verging on a coral which we have been programmed to hate but it's lovely! It looks fresh and summery and on-trend. So much softer than the strong oranges that are around now that are cool but a bit tricky to wear. Try it out...it'll do wonders to your face and is heavenly with a tan (I promise!)

Lulu's Shoes

I have just ordered these shoes for Lulu from Pediped in the US. Aren't they sweet! She has started to walk but still tentatively with lots of wobbling and crashing down on her bum. These shoes are apparently really soft to allow for easy walking without being too hard on her little feet. Pediped also donate 50% of the sale to the Make A Wish foundation, isn't that lovely. I cant wait to get them! Here marks the beginning of her love affair with shoes, if she's anything like her Mum!

Chanel Eyes

I have started my usual looking forward to the next seasons makeup trends and this interesting design from the Chanel A/W 10 shows caught my eye. They were created by makeup artist Peter Phillips and his inspiration was the texture on Karl Lagerfeld's boots! He achieved the textured eye by using a base of a grey-taupe shadow from Chanel's new collection and then he dotted black kohl eye liner around the socket towards the temple. Nude mauve toned lips topped with balm finish it off. Sam McNight is responsible for the chic teased hair.

I love it...would you dare?

(images via here)

Smokey Combinations

I've been playing with this compact lately and am impressed. It is one of Dior's iconic 5 Colour Artistry palettes in Smoky Design. I am frequently wary of palettes as I think there is always at least one dodgy shade in there that you will never use. Not so with this little gem.

Each shade here has a different texture and therefore a different role to play within a dark eye makeup. Of course, you don't have to go completely dark with this; a wash of one of the paler shades over the lid with a brush dipped into the creamy black to line the upper lash is lovely.

If you want the smokey look just work from light to dark to build intensity... One option is to apply the pale shade on the lid, gunmetal grey to contour in the socket, shimmery silver patted over the ball of the eye and black to line above and below.

The beauty of these palettes lies in the amount of combinations you can achieve. I know there's a maths equation to that effect but I wasn't paying attention...

Pop of Yellow

...just because the sun is shining!

J Crew Video

So you all probably know by now that I love J Crew and I love all things French! So when I saw the two combined in this new video for the J Crew Collection that they have just posted on their site I was pretty giddy with all the loveliness...

I love the styling. The orange lips, the great sunglasses, the big ornate earrings...

Messy hair...so chic.

Stripes for day, stripes for night...swoon!

(By the way, J Crew is now on Net-A-Porter so we can buy it over here at last)

Sweet Stationary

I'm really into stationary. Unfortunately I think it's pretty hard to find good, unique designs here in Ireland so I buy a lot of stuff from the web. These pretty designs are by Frenchie and Flea on Etsy. Supermarket is another cool place to find good stuff...

Cool labels! Makes me want to put labels on everything!

I really love the lace motif going on here. These are place cards but I'm loving them for invitations or anything really...