milly & her make-up: loreal double extension tubes mascara, sexy eye secrets and lovely photo shoot pics

Hello my little sausages - hahaha very festive :) !

Today I thought I'd tell you all about my lovely lash secret - Loreal Double Extension Tubes Mascara. On Loreals website, it says;

''For spectacular length discover Double Extension Carbon Black, our first fortifying and extending mascara. Lashes look up to 70% longer!''

So I was first drawn to this product as Kandee Johnson (come on, you must know by now that I love her!) recommended it. However, as my knowledge of youtube gurus and beauty bloggers has increased, I've started to take everything they say with a pinch of salt - you can never be 100% sure they haven't had a little old bit of compensation or free products to make them like that product just a little bit more. So at a price tag of £11.29 at Boots I wasn't exactly racing out the door!

But a mix of festive spirit, being bowled over by the lovely packaging, and lots of Boots points to use on my card, meant I got the mascara in the end, and boy, am I glad I did!

I've been using it for a month now, maybe longer, and I love love love it! It's so easy to pop on, people might complain about waiting for the white primer to dry before you put the black layer over - but I just go and pop my socks and shoesies on ready to go out! So on my lashes I first give them a coat of the white primer and then (after donning my shoes) layer over the black mascara - I got the mascara in 'Carbon Black' - and it's super black. I literally had my socks blown off the first time I used it, and I still do now - my lashes got soooooo much longer - I'd say atleast 3mm length are added on! It also volumises down around the lashline, not brilliantly, but enough to keep me more than satisfied.

I apply it most mornings, and it has lasted me through till the early hours of the mornings many times - and sometimes when I've been lazy and not taken my makeup off it has lasted through till the next day - with no smudging whatsoever, amazing! It also doesn't clump lashes together whatsoever, which I find a problem with a lot of mascaras. The wand is really easy to use too, and the shape ensures all my lashes are coated nicely with this lovely stuff!

So overall I love it! :)

If you fancy treating yourself, find it here...

http://www.boots.com/en/LOreal-Paris-Double-Extension-Mascara_984397/

Ooh, and if you're a makeup artist or just applying it on your friends or momma, keep hygienic by using disposable mascara wands - use a different one for every person. They're really cheap - so there's no reason for you to compromise yours or others eye health! Your peepers and precious, the windows to your soul, so don't let no bad infections in! :)

No, for my secret to sexy eyes that I use every day, I need you to study this picture very carefully!

OK, pop your specs on and study, then I'll meet you below the pic to tell you the sexy secret!

Now, our wonderful Marilyn is just plain hot in general, but there's something about those eyes that make them look oh so sexy! They look super long and extended, very cat like..

One of her makeup artists key tricks was something you might find odd - I did at first, but after road testing it, I am in love, and do this every day.

So look at her top lashes, on the outside edge of the eye.. but then look below this, at the very outside far corner of the bottom lashes. Now the lower lashes are just normal lashes, no tricks here, but a shadow from them continues far out from the eye. Do you see? You can see it best on the left and right images of her above.

This shadow is an optical illusion! Our eyes think it is the shadow from the super long top lashes, and 50% of it might just be that... but you can create this shadow with makeup! Just take an angle blush and some black eye shadow (or deep grey if you're not feeling too brave) and sweep it out where you'd expect the shadow of the lashes to be! I've done a very unartistic little picture on paint for you guys to show you just where to pop it - it's red on the picture! And as you can see, the lashes are very long and dark due to the Loreal mascara ;) :) ....

I really like this trick, stolen from Miss Monroes MUA, but I have also found a way to accentuate that futher.. I do this by just popping mascara in the very last quarter of my lower lashes, and it really helps make my eye look much longer, slimmer and cat like.

Try it out and tell me what you think! :)

Next up, some photos from you from all the shoots I've been telling you about! :)

Here's Sadhbh, the model from Irelands Next Top Model strutting her stuff in the snow! I blogged about it last Wednesday, have a nosey!

The model was Sadhbh Moore, and the photographer was Rose King, the black dress designer was Sian Tarrant, and the newspaper dress designer was Christina-Varvara Palmou, and little old me as the makeup artist. It's not one of my finest works but I love how the black lips are so striking and mean the model is not lost amongst the amazing back drop and quirky clothes. :)

This one's my favourite!

There's snow on the ground and her arms are exposed to the nation! Brave or what!

Here's another shoot I did last week, about Christmas makeup. It was the first time I've worked with a professional photographer, Ben Goulter, so it was interesting to see how the makeup fared in different lighting. The model, Rosie Steer, did look so different once I'd done her a full face of makeup (remember, she's the one I was on about last week haha when I was raving on about Clinques three step system), but I can see the colours I opted for prove too bland in photography... A lesson learned! However I still love the snaps, and loved working on this shoot :) It's been one of my faves yet.