Wednesday 28 November 2012

Rimmel Beauty Insider How-To Videos!

Hi everyone!

As most of you know, I was the lucky girl chosen to be Rimmel London's Beauty Insider for Girlfriend Magazine! One of the prizes was to fly up to Sydney to film beauty how-to videos and they're finally up to see!

Each video was focused on perfecting different aspects of your makeup, and I had the amazing job of interviewing Laurel Brown, one of Rimmel London's top makeup artists on her best beauty tips.

If you want to check out the videos, here they are below :)

Beauty Insider How-To: Perfect Base

Beauty Insider How-To: Dark Red Lip

Beauty Insider How-To: Glam Nails
 

Videos courtesy of Girlfriend Magazine and Rimmel London

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Monday 26 November 2012

I've gone OMBRE! + Outfit of the Day

When I was younger, I experimented with purple hair, red hair, blue hair (all wash-out dyes - thank god), but never with blonde. There is no such thing as a natural blonde Asian (at least, I have never met or seen one) and Asian hair is notorious for turning orange when you try, but I really REALLY wanted to see what it would look like.

BUT, I knew I didn't want to go full blonde, so after a few weeks of decision-making (and a lot of pay packet saving) I finally took the plunge and ombre-fyed my locks!

So to show off my new do, here's a quick outfit of the day - as you can see, I'm pretty obsessed with pastels at the moment ♥









Shirt - Jay Jays
Necklace - eQuip
Shoes - Miss Shop
Messenger Bag - Typo
Jeans - Sportsgirl
Belt - Valleygirl
Would you ever try ombre hair? Let me know in the comments below!

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Friday 23 November 2012

Urban Outfitters Mini Haul + 50K View Giveaway!

It's official. I am in love with Urban Outfitters! Here in Australia we don't have UO, so instead of going into a store for a quick browse, I end up spending hours trawling the online store piling things onto my wish list!

And I may or may not spend a few minutes every night looking up the New Arrivals list on my Urban Outfitters iPhone app...

That aside, here are the beauty prodz that I bought...

NYX Glam Shadow Stick in "Pink Ruby"
I think this will be perfect for lazy day eye makeup, or rushed mornings!

NYX Eyeshadow in Sahara
Such a pretty highlight colour for the inner corners!
The Finished Edge Makeup Blending Sponge
Now for the GIVEAWAY!


A few weeks ago, Taken By Surprise reached 50,000 VIEWS!!

Which is super duper exciting and couldn't have happened without my gorgeous followers who read my posts and leave me super sweet comments - thank you so much from the bottom of my heart ♥♥♥

So to say thank you, I'll be giving away a pretty little eyeshadow palette - or more specifically, the E.L.F Little Black Beauty Book!

I bought the warm edition, so it has some great earthy tones that will suit any skin tone, and the fact that it's little makes it perfect for popping in your handbag for on-the-go glam!


Gosh, so cute!
I opened it so you could see what it looks like, but it's brand new!


So, how do you win this lil cutie??

To enter, you MUST:
1. Follow Taken By Surprise on Google Friend Connect (GFC)
2. Like Taken By Surprise on Facebook
3. Comment on this post with
-your name
-email address (So I can contact you if you win!)
-what kind of entry you submitted (followed on GFC, Twitter, etc - I'll be checking!)

For extra entries (include these in your comment!):
1. Follow Taken By Surprise on Bloglovin' (+1 extra entry)
2. Follow @hi_JLY on Twitter (+1 extra entry)
3. Follow me on Instagram - username: j_lyy (+1 extra entry)

**Readers who came to this post via Facebook, you can enter the giveaway by:**
- Liking Taken By Surprise's Facebook page
- Leave a comment on the giveaway post with what kind of entries you submitted (Liked, Twitter, Instagram)
Extra entries
- Follow @hi_JLY on Twitter (+1 extra entry)
- Follow me on Instagram - username: j_lyy (+1 extra entry)

Thanks again everyone, and best of luck in the giveaway!

xxx

Entries close: 00:00 AEST 7 December 2012
Giveaway is available worldwide.
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Wednesday 21 November 2012

SOME VERY EXCITING NEWS!!!

Hi everyone!

Today I have some really exciting news that I have been dying to tell you all, and now I finally can!! 

Some of you may know that earlier this year I entered Girlfriend Magazine’s Rimmel Beauty Insider competition, and after weeks of keeping everything hush hush, I can finally reveal that… 

I’m the Rimmel Beauty Insider for 2012!!! 


Thank you SO much to everyone who supported me and wished me luck – you guys are the best and I thank you all from the bottom of my heart! 

It has been so hard keeping it a secret when I’ve been wanting to shout it from rooftops, so being able to finally tell you guys is such a great feeling. 

A while back I was flown up to Sydney to film five Rimmel Beauty Insider How-To videos, and it was an amazing day where I was able to interview one of Rimmel London’s top makeup artists, meet the gorgeous winner of the Girlfriend Model Search Grace, and GF mag’s beauty editor! The videos should be up on the Rimmel London Australia Facebook page pretty soon, so keep your eyes out for that! 

And to now see my face in a magazine - it's so surreal!!!



Behind the scenes of the video shoot - videos will be up soon on the Rimmel London AU Facebook page!
All in all, I feel so blessed to be chosen – I want to write in magazines as a career, and now to be able to have my very own beauty column in Girlfriend Magazine for a year is such a dream come true! 

Thank you, thank you, thank you, to all of you who supported me, I love you all so much!! 

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 


See my video tutorial on the “Smokey Eye” (Scroll down to Jessica-Anne Lyons)
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Tuesday 20 November 2012

Bella Swan Breaking Dawn Part 2 Inspired Makeup

So the final instalment of the Twilight series is finally here, and while I'm not the biggest fan of the vampire love story, I do love Kristen Stewart's vampire Bella makeup from the promo pictures!

image source
The taupe, silver and black look stunning, especially paired with a strong defined brow and a grey plum lip colour. For my tutorial, I've gone for a blue-toned look for the eyes, as opposed to the pinkish one in the photo (I think there's a filter on it anyway). 




Taken By Surprise Tutorial:

Bella Swan Breaking Dawn Part 2 Inspired Makeup


*Before we begin, I have already applied my foundation, concealer and matte powder.

1. Bella's eyebrows here are very dark, so don't be shy to apply a little more eyebrow pencil than you're used to! Then use an eyebrow brush to soften the edges - because I don't have short brows like her, I've settled with just making sure my brow hairs are all neat by using a brow gel. No plucking for me!! 

Benefit Speed Brow Brow Gel
Rimmel London Eyebrow Pencil in "Black Brown"
Sportsgirl Brush With Fame Eyebrow Brush
2. Because this look is pretty intense, make sure you prime your lids to get the most vibrant look. Apply an eyeshadow primer all over the lid, up to the brow bone, in the outer third (because the eyeshadow will extend out) and along the lower lash line. 

Urban Decay Primer Potion in "Original"
3. Using a taupe or brown-toned grey cream eyeshadow, lightly apply to just the eyelids using your ring finger. This will be a base for the next colour.

Maybelline Colour Tattoo Creme Eyeshadow in "Tough as Taupe"
4. With a cold-toned light silver, gently pat the colour over the top of the creme shadow using a flat eyeshadow brush. Bella's eyes in the pictures are quite vibrant and silvery, so the creme shadow combined with this silver will really help the colour pop!

Urban Decay Naked 2 Palette in "Verve"
5. Using the same brush, take a dark silver/gunmetal grey and apply to the outer corners, gradually blending into the crease.

Urban Decay Naked 2 Palette in "Pistol"
6. Using a dark night-sky blue, apply to the outer third of the eyelid, gradually bringing the colour away from the lid to create an almond-shape. Go easy on the shadow - you can always build up the colour, but if you use too much, it's not as easy to fix! Then using a flat angled shadow brush, apply the same blue along the lower lash line, and blend for the smoky effect. 

Color Design Eyeshadow Palette in 308 Violet Magnetique

7. With a matte black eyeshadow, apply a very small amount to the outer V of the eye, and blend up into the blue. This will create a 3D effect that looks really pretty!

Urban Decay Naked 2 Palette in "Blackout"
8. To create the gorgeous highlight that Bella has in the pictures, use a soft - almost pink - shimmery white shadow in the inner corners, and bring the colour up onto the lid and along the inner third of the lower lash line. 

Urban Decay Naked 2 Palette in "Bootycall"
9. Now for some more highlights! Using a matte white shadow, apply to the brow bone to create the illusion of Bella's high brow arch. Then apply a white pencil liner along the waterline to open up the eyes - dark eyeshadow can make eyes look smaller, which white liner can counteract.

Urban Decay Naked 2 Palette in "Foxy"
Rimmel London Soft Kohl Kajal Eyeliner Pencil in "Pure White"
10. Using short thin strokes, apply liquid liner along the top lash line, staying as close to the lashes as possible. Apply up to where the lashes end.



11. Bella has really thick lashes here, so I'm going to show you my false lashes for cheats! First curl your lashes. Then I used Model Co's Fibre Lash Mascara. It's a dual end product, and first you apply a coat of mascara and while it's still wet, apply the lash fibres. Then apply another coat of mascara to cover the fibres and BAM long thick lashes!! It's faster than using falsies, so I love it :) For this look, only apply the fibres to the outer half of the lashes, to mimic Bella's. If you don't have this mascara, cut one fake lash in half and apply one piece to each outer half of your lashes.


First coat of mascara...
...applying the lash fibres to the outer half of the lashes...
...then mascara over the top! See how long and thick they are now <3
12. For the lips, Bella's are a kind of grey-toned rose, so lightly apply a purple-toned red lipliner all over the lips. Then with a neutral peach lipstick, apply over the top, straight from the bullet. Then with a lip brush, soften the edges for a romantic look.

Rimmel London Lasting Finish 1000 Kisses Lip Liner in "Wine"
Rimmel London Kate Moss Lasting Finish Lipstick in Rosetto "14"
And we're done!









Have you seen Breaking Dawn Part 2? What did you think of this Bella-inspired makeup look? Let me know in the comments below!
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