My 18th Birthday Special Occasion Makeup

I turned 18 this weekend and I had a great time celebrating with my friends and family.

I love makeup as you may already know so I always love having the opportunity to make myself up for a special occasion, especially when quite a few of my presents were new, fancy makeup!:D 

I went out two nights to celebrate but wore very similar makeup looks on both nights-  here's what I came up with. 

Base & Cheeks

To make my makeup last all night I used the Smashbox Photofinish primer which has a gel like formula and smooths softly over the skin to give an even finish ready for the foundation to sit ontop.

This YSL Touche Eclat foundation was one of my birthday presents and it has been on many wish list's of mine in the past. It's a pricey foundation but I've always lusted over it and been waiting to try it for ages! So far, I'm really impressed- it applies really well and gives a dewy, healthy looking finish. The coverage is also great- one pump can give a very natural finish although I was also able to build it up to give myself a medium- high coverage for my special occasion. 

To give myself that extra glow I used my MAC Prep & Prime highligher in Light Boost on the tops of my cheekbones, down my nose and on my cupids bow. 

I've recently found that applying powder before bronzer, powdered highligher and blush works best and ensures the following products stick better to the skin. 

To mattify my T-zone and set  my makeup into place, I used the Rimmel Stay Matte powder in Transparent, another great alternative is Boujours Healthy Balance powder. 

I then used the Sleek Face Contour kit in Light to sculpt my cheekbones and give my face more definition. I'm no pro at contouring so I tend to do this very light handed until I'm happy with the result. 

MAC Skinfinish in Soft & Gentle is a beautiful shimmering highlighter which look's amazing gently sweeped over the tops of cheekbons. I always love using this for a special occasion. 

Brows 

I tend to get many compliments on my eyebrows which always makes me smile however truthfully I don't do much to them at all.

A staple brow product for me is definitely MAC's eyebrow pencil in Stud which I always use to gently draw out my brow arch and carefully draw in the hairs. 

My brows are pretty bushy and always need taming so I can't go anywhere without setting them into place- I use a cheap clear mascara from Collection. 

Finally, to give myself a really neat and sharp brow, I get a small concealer brush and the pink toned corrector in my MAC concelear pallete to outline my brows to give a neat finish. 

Eyes

I've wanted to try Urban Decay eyeshadows for a long time after hearing so many people rave about how good they are and my brother surprised me with this Naked Basics 2 pallet for my birthday present (Thank's big bro- I know you read this sometimes;')) and I decided to try it out. 

The shades are very neutral and you can easily create a natural smokey eye, the quality is also very good- the colours applied very well without a base and lasted all night without any fall out. 

I used a bit of all the shades and really liked the finished look. 

To give my eyes more definition, I used the Collection Fast Stroke liquid liner which I absolutely love and think is great for creating a neat, fine line which was just what I wanted. 

I've always strayed away from false lashes for some unknown reason; I'm really good at applying them on other people however when it comes to myself I am clueless! 

Although I had these Tanya Burr Girl's Night Out lashes which looked really nice and fluttery. 

I managed to finally get them on without poking myself in the eye with tweezers or glueing my eye lids together and I actually really liked the finished look they gave. 

They're quite dramatic however I loved how light and fluttery they felt. 

For a finishing touch I applied a coat of the Benefit Roller Lash mascara to give some extra definition and thickness. 

Lips 

I didn't want to wear anything bold on my lips so I decided to simply apply some Elizabeth Arden 8hr cream to hydrate and 'glossify' my lips:') 

I think that's everything I slapped on my face this weekend!!! I hope you enjoyed this post, what are your staple special occasion makeup products? 

Oh, before I go, did you notice my nose piercing in the photo? I randomly decided to get that done on my birthday .... Oh to be 18!!! hahaha