I was very much in two minds as to whether I was going to post up my “Brit Awards” makeup look – there’s something about it that irks me. I think partly the lighting – I like filming in natural daylight so much more – but it could be, as I mentioned a week or so ago, the little “winged” bit at the edges of the smokey eye. I don’t know. But it took ages to film and edit and so it has been released out onto the World Wide Web for your enjoyment. (Or disdain, depending on how seriously you take these things!)

As you enjoyed the step-by-step photographs so much in the last makeup post, I have included them again. They are stills from the raw video footage rather than “posed” photos, so forgive the lack of smile. Next time I will most definitely keep it in mind that I want some nice pics and will hold the brushes daintily and give you little “smizes” and happy vibes!

Right – let’s get on with it. Base was the current “usual suspects”; Charlotte Tilbury’s Wonder Glow and Light Wonder foundation, buffed in with a Zoeva brush. I added extra concealer underneath my eyes, the Clarins Concealer Stick, but actually, looking back, I could have done with some light-reflecting malarkey too. Touche Eclat or something.

I finished the skin with Vichy Dermablend Setting Powder, my new best friend for makeup longevity, and then I swept a light, matte bronzer over my cheeks and temples.

Star of the show, I suppose, is the Vintage Vamp palette, also by Charlotte Tilbury. (I’ve been having a love-in couple of weeks over Tilbury’s makeup, but shall stop harping on soon, lest I do your heads in! Rest assured, please, that there is no kind of paid placement going on – sponsored content would ALWAYS be marked on the post and video.)

In the photograph above I am applying the base shade from the palette all over the lids. You can get a better idea of this process if you watch the video, below, but I know that some of you are allergic to Youtube and I completely understand. These photos are primarily for your benefit!

I then took a Zoeva “petit crease” brush and pushed the second shade in the palette, a reddish plum, into the outer edge of the socket crease and a little along the lashline. I used a fluffier brush to blend it in:

And thus the foundations of a smokey eye were born. I went in with the darkest shade (it’s for accenting, but it’s only a smidgen darker than the preceding shade, really – slightly less warm, too) and smoked along the lashline, top and bottom, all the time buffing and blending with the fluffy brush so that I could build up the colour.

Once I was happy with the preliminaries, I went in with an eyeliner pencil – Urban Decay 24/7 (all links below) – and did my waterline, bottom and (ugh!) top. One fair old coat of Max Factor’s Wild mascara finished off the eyes…

…though I did go back in once everything was done, just to tweak them a little bit and add some more darkness to the lids to balance things out.

Highlights on the skin and the juicy lipgloss were both new launches from Laura Mercier in aid of her Ovarian Cancer Fund range; you can find the range here online –  100% of the profits go to the fund. There’s a wonderful palette of cream cheek colours and highlighters called the Bonne Mine:

You do a kind of fingerpainting session with them, building up a bronzed base and flushes of natural-looking colour on the cheeks. A very slim, lightweight palette, this one – certainly more portable than a load of separate cream products! You can find that here.

And so the Laura Mercier products finished off the makeup – I went back in, as mentioned, to tweak the eyes…

…but that was pretty much the look done. Hair had been crimpered (#crimperscrilly) by VO5, as I was working with them at the Brits, earrings were from Stella & Dot.

Do you know, I’m going to put my head above the parapet and say that I really do like this smokey eye! I like the way that the light shimmer blends into the smoked part and the winging doesn’t really bother me so much. When I do it again there won’t be quite so much of a wing, granted, but overall I’m satisfied. I would never normally have picked up a palette with the kinds of shades that are in Vintage Vamp, but after my success with the KIKO palette a few weeks ago, I’m getting quite into these warm, reddish plums.

Products Used:

Charlotte Tilbury Wonder Glow: http://rstyle.me/n/fbfnrt6a6

Charlotte Tilbury Light Wonder Foundation in 4:http://rstyle.me/n/fhnhnt6a6

Clarins Concealer (shade 2): http://tidd.ly/df2613c

Vichy Dermablend setting powder: http://tidd.ly/7865b23e

Body Shop Honey Bronzer in shade 3: http://goo.gl/K4d47f

Charlotte Tilbury Eye Quad in Vintage Vamp:

Urban Decay 24/7 Pencil in Hustle: http://tidd.ly/ed7c2518

Max Factor Wild Mascara in Black/Brown

Laura Mercier Highlighter 2 and Lip Gloss here online

What I Wore:

Earrings are from Stella & Dot

Alexander Wang Dress (was in the Net-a-Porter sale!)

Bangles by House of Harlow

Shoes by LK Bennett HERE: http://tidd.ly/80743e63