Favourite product picks for professional photo-shoots!

Hi beauts,

If you have been following me and what I have been up to you will notice that I have been involved in quite a few professional photo-shoots. Since I have been involved in many through out my make-up artist journey, I thought my next blog post should be on my favourite recommendations on my go to make-up products for the camera! 

So, for those who have never been involved in a professional photo-shoot and are just starting out here is a little insight into what it involves:

Firstly, it is important for you to have an appropriate date to fit the shoot simply due to the fact that it will be an all day shoot, especially if you are new to this experience. Of course, you would need yourself to create your magic, a model to create the magic on and of course a professional photographer with a studio!

Photo-shoots are definitely a one of a kind experience. It is the best way to get to know professionals and see how you work yourself in an environment of the same sort. It is definitely an experience which will help you build yourself as a professional in the industry of make-up artists. 

Now on to the recommendations for photo-shoot make-up! Many of my shoots have been based on Asian bridal and fashion looks. The top make-up products which I have picked, are essentials within my make-up kit and are great products to use in and out of studio! 

When creating a make-up look for a professional photo-shoot, do keep in mind that you will have to be slightly more heavy handed that usual. This is because the lighting in the studio will wash most of the make-up away, so the key trick is to apply just enough so that the make-up still shows through the photos captured on camera! 

Foundation and concealer picks

The best foundation picks, I must say would be the Kryolan TV paint sticks and Mac studio fix fluid. These products are perfect to use in and out of the studio, the liquid foundation is perfect for beauty shots and the TV paint sticks, for more of a heavier make-up look for example Asian bridal! My favourite concealer to use most definitely is the Mac Pro studio fix concealer palettes! They come in a range of different colours which are the essentials required for your professional kit, the palette comes in shades light, medium and dark. These are also great for contouring!

Blusher and highlighter picks 

The best blusher products in my books, would be either the Sleek blush palettes or MAC blushes. These blushes are insanely pigmented and will definitely show up on the camera, alongside the heavy artificial lighting set up in studio. The greatest and my all time favourite highlighter is Illamasqua's hightlight in Gleam! If you cannot get your hands on this highlighter then you can for sure use, Nars Albatross or MAC's soft and gentle the all time classic! 

Brow product picks
The best brow products, must go to the one and only Illamasqua brow gel in strike. Alway's shade in your brows a little darker than usual to make them stand out for the shoot! Of course, do not go over board with the shading but you get the point! Another awesome product to use on the brows for a natural finish is MAC's eye-shadow in Brun!

Hope this post has helped at least a few of your ladies, who are considering booking a photo-shoot for your make-up portfolios!

Love,
Taran x

Rose gold neutral smoked

Hi beauts,

If you have been following my instagram for a while, you will know that I used to create picture collages of make-up looks I would create on some days. I did it for a short time but then stopped! BUT I have decided to start them all over again! 

If you would like to know what products I used in the picture collage below then keep reading! 

Product details:

Eyebrows - Illamasqua brow gel in 'Strike'

Lashes - Red Cherry lashes in #415

Eyeliner - Avon kohl stick in black, Collection2000 liquid liner pen

Eyeshadow - Illamasqua cream pigment Hollow, Tarte cosmetics 'Tartlette palette', Make-up Revolution foil shadow in 'Rose gold'

If you like this post, follow me on Instagram to keep up to date with regular make-up posts! 

Instagram: @tarankaurmua

Love,

Taran x

Superdrug facial buffing sponge

Hi beauts,

Hope you are all good and well, today's post will be about a lovely new and affordable addition to my current skincare regime. The facial buffing sponge by Superdrug!

If you know me, then you will know that I tend to search for the perfect way to cleanse and polish my skin, I have seen the Clarisonic and really want it however the price is quite something in itself! So I though let's see what I can find at a reasonable price before I splash the cash!

The facial buffing sponge by Superdrug really is something great to have in your daily skincare routine. It gently removes dry skin and deeply cleanses the skin on the surface of your face as well as your pores beautifully too! I find that it most definitely polishes off my nose very nicely too (and the pores on and around my nose are something I am quite conscious about). 

The sponge has a slight harsh texture to its surface to carry out the cleansing and gentle ex-foliation using your daily face wash and cleanser however if you feel like you are in the mood for a deep and thorough ex-foliating cleanse then you can also use this with a facial scrub! 

This of course will be slightly harsher on the skin, so try to limit the use of both to a minimum to avoid irritation or redness on the skin. 

In my opinion this little beaut of a sponge is a must have in your skincare routine and to top it all off it only retails at £1.99! I mean what more could you ask for right? 

Definitely recommended for those who also suffer from acne, this little addition to your regime will help you keep your pores clean from all that dirt and bacteria helping to improve your skin! 

Hope you enjoyed reading this post! 

Love, 

Taran x  

DIY: make-up brush conditioner spray

Hi beauties,

So as you can tell I have taken a liking to making DIY products and have been using cute little packaging to store all my DIYs in.

I spent my whole afternoon washing my make-up brushes as you know that is part of the deal if you are a make-up artist! Whilst washing my brushes I thought to myself how can I condition the brushes without using conditioner and keeping my hands under water, why not make a little spray! 

So today's DIY post will be on how to make your own little brush conditioner - the trick to keeping your brushes beautifully soft for longer! 

Materials:

- decorative paper (optional) 

- scallop paper cutter (optional) 

- travel spray bottle  (click here to get the same bottle as me for a reasonable price!) 

- organic conditioner (any will do)

- fragrance oil (I chose Jasmine but this is optional) 

- double sided tape

Instructions:

1. Cut the decorative paper to size so that it fits around the diameter of the travel sized bottle

2. Label the bottle 'brush conditioner' and stick the scalloped cut out paper to the decorative paper with double sided tape, leave this to one side - we will be sticking this after the mixture of the spray is complete! 

3. Open the bottle and squeeze in 1/3 of the conditioner

4. Now pour in 2/3 of water to fill up the bottle 

5. Add a few drops of your chosen fragrance oil and screw back on the spray nozzle! 

6. Stick double sided tape, on the back of the label you created with the decorative paper. Stick this around the bottle to create your finished DIY! 

YOU'RE DONE! 

Shake the bottle well before use, and spray your brushes when you feel they need a little TLC!

You can also use this on the ends of your hair if your hair feels a little coarse and dry! 

Hope you enjoyed this DIY post! 

Credits:

Thank you to All in packaging for sending me this product for my DIY project! It works a treat!

Love,

Taran x

Party: Nude two piece

Hi beauts,

So last week one of my lovely friends decided to throw a little private party for all us girls to let loose and have fun! 

All with uni stress, work and other life commitments keeping us busy, we all deserve a break at some point don't we! So this was our little break - a fun evening jam packed with great music and delicious party food! 

Below is the outfit I put together for this party, this outfit is perfect for a night out with the girls! Keeping it simple yet on trend - you cannot go wrong! 

Outfit details: 

Nude two piece - Boohoo 

Clutch - Warehouse 

Heels - New Look 

Hope you liked this post! 

Love,

Taran x

DIY - white musk & jasmine bath salts

Hi beauts!

This is my FIRST ever DIY post, as I love all things beauty related I thought hey, why not try out some home-made beauty DIY's?! 

So for my first DIY, I have decided to go ahead and do my own easy receipe on bath salts. This week I haven't been feeling very well, and I feel as thought I would love to relax in some way - a hot bath? But just a hot bath will not satisfy me so I thought why not make some bath salts that smell great! 

I didn't specifically use any accurate measurements for this, I simply worked it out visually and smelt the salts as I went along! 

Check out the details below on how to make your own bath salts! 

Things you will need:

1. Any suitable salts that you can use in the bath, preferably Epson or Sea salt however for this DIY I used Rock salt as this is all I had to hand. (Rock salt is totally fine too!) 

2. Mica powder (optional to colour the salts) 

3. Essential oils or fragrance oils (I used fragrance oils - White musk & jasmine) 

4. A glass or plastic air tight jar (to purchase the same air tight jar used on my blog: click here) 

5. Bowl to mix the salt, oils and powder in

5. Spoon ( to mix the mica powders, oils andsalts together) 

6. Ribbon (optional) 

Instructions:

1. Pour the desired amount of bath salts into the bowl, and begin by mixing the mica powders. So this slowly so that pigment is light to start with and eventually you can work your way up to the colour you want! 

2. Once your salts are the colour you want them to be, you can now go ahead and add the fragranced oils. Again, add slowly and mix and then add more if you wish to have a more intense scent. It is best to keep the fragrance light as the whole point of bath salts is to create an atmosphere which is relaxing! 

3. Once all the mixing is done, pop the salts into the air tight jar and you are done!! 

4. You can also add little pretty touches to the jar of you were going to give this as a gift to a friend. It's a unique gift and definitely beautiful! 

Check out the photos to my little jar of bath salts! 

Hope you enjoyed this post, if you recreate this for yourself let me know how it went for you by commenting below! 

Credits:

Thank you to All in packaging for sending me this product for my DIY project! It works a treat!

Love,

Taran x

Review: Cougar beauty wild caviar serum

Hi beauts!
Today's post will be about a product from the Cougar beauty caviar skin care range and the product that I will be reviewing is the Cougar beauty wild caviar facial serum! 

The Cougar beauty skin care range uses quite unique ingredients to create the range they have to offer to customers. The products, from the caviar skin care range contain ingredients such as fish roe, seaweed and wild caviar. These unique ingredients revitalise and regenerate skin cells to help protect against skin ageing whilst protecting your skin from the surrounding environment too. It also contains vitamin e too which is great for your skin! 

The purpose of the facial serum is to prevent any ageing from occurring, and this is best noticeable with regular consistent use of the product range. 

The facial serum itself, is transparent and has a pleasant fresh scent! The texture of the serum too is quite luxurious and smooth. It does not feel heavy on the skin and feels quite refreshing! 

With my personal experience of using the product I feel as though as soon as I apply the serum with my finger tips, I can feel the serum penetrating my skin. It almost feels like it is uplifting my skin with a firm feel to it. It is also very smooth itself in consistency and texture! 

Check out the full skin care range here, it really is something quite unique and different to what you would usually find on the market out there! 

Thanks to Cougar beauty for sending me this product to review, it is definitely a thumbs up! 

Love,

Taran x