Happy New Year fillies! We hope this is the best year yet right? Right! And what better time to trial some new make-up looks to shake things up than New Year? Exactly, it’s hella perfect! So with a plethora of new products in our mitts and a “devil may care” attitude, we decide to do something out of the ordinary and try something freaky fresh and beautifully bad-ass. So click this way to see our grown-up take on gothic glam…it’s kinda spookily good…

 As part of my “New Year: Fresh Start” mantra – I am totally going to be a lot more daring and make a bit more effort make-up and hair wise. And when I say a bit more effort I mean more than a sweep or two of mascara and putting a brush through my hair as a minimum! Life is busy yes, but making time to indulge in a bit of self love and maintenance is something that shouldn’t be sacrificed. That being said, I tend to be prrrrretty scrupulous with my skincare and invest in great quality products, so it’s about time I built on my good foundation and shake things up in the make-up stakes!

To be fair, I do tend “oooh” and “ahhhh” in the make-up aisle and collect products like I am playing some kind of beauty version of Pokemon Go!, in the guise of “This will be FAB for *insert scenario here*. And more often than not on the occasion of *insert scenario here*, I will stick to what I know make-up wise. So, after a bit of a New Year haul, I gathered together this bevvy of beauties. Below are an assortment of old faves and new loves which I joined forces to experiment with. The result? Grown Up Gothic!

Throwing my hair up into my new fave go-to hair-do of 2017, space buns, it was time to roll my sleeves up and shake things the filly UP! Yup, throw a bit of caution to the (beauty) wind and experiment to get out of my self-imposed make-up rut! Up to the minute but ultimately timeless, I wanted wearable but I wanted a bit of drama and this little lot of lush created the below look which I think hit the right note.

To start this look, I agreed wholeheartedly with Meghan Trainor and shouted loudly that (with both booty AND make-up), it’s all about dat base! The below are my fail-safe combo for a glowy gorgeous glam look for skin, day or night, and forms the perfect building blocks for any look you want to create on top. Arbonne International’s 10 in 1 CC Cream in Light provides a dewy, blendable dream skin that blurs and buffs away in perfection whilst providing sublime skincare. If you read FDJ LDN regularly, you will know how much we love this next product here at HQ! By waving Bagsy Beauty’s Wonderwand (currently on offer at FeelUnique) over your skin, prepare to say goodbye to dull skin! With its pearly highlighter on one side and creamy lush concealer on the other, skin boo-boos disappear in an instant. Finally, sculpt cheeks with possibly the most perfect peachy pinky blush in the form Collection’s unbelievably well-priced blush in Bashful. I used my ever faithful and utterly instagrammable Wilko Luxury Blusher Brush with its ergonomic design and uber soft angled bristles, it’s perfect for sculpting out cheekbones a treat!

Base strong, it was time to go to the dark side! What IS it about Autumn/Winter that makes you want to reach for the richest, moodiest of lip colour you can get your paws on? Nothing is more satisfyingly sumptuous than slicking on a full-bodied wine coloured lippie! I created mine ever-so slightly ombred lining my lips with Maybelline’s Color Drama Lip Pencil in Berry Much before filling in with Primark’s PS… Lipstick in Mauve. I would like to go on the record to say for 80p lipstick this is better than some I have paid 10 times more for!

And now for the main event! As Anna Faris says in The House Bunny, “The eyes of are the nipples of the face” – so in 2017, I am going to focus on them a LOT! For this particular look, I used Covershoot Cosmetics eyeshadow palettes in Neon and Smokey Eyes. I loved Covershoot Cosmetics Contour and Eyebrow Kits (read our review here), so decided to head to Savers to stock up on a couple more products from the collection and wasn’t disappointed. These shadows pack a real pigment hit, so there’s no faffing around to build up an intense colour. I used the shimmering shades of the Smokey Eyes palette on my lids and then used the powerful purple from the Neon palette along my lower lashline. I used the my fave Nanshy blending brush to create a seamless finish. I was aiming for a slightly Emo look…but, like, an Emo that has got a great job at Vogue or something and had haute coutured the shiz out of their make-up!

To continue my shake up, it was time to face my nemesis – false eyelashes! Try as I might – we tend to have a love/hate relationship: I love them, they hate to be applied. I had spotted Threads Beauty on a fair few bloggers Instagram and they looked flutteringly fab on so decided to jump aboard…and wasn’t disappointed. Lightweight, flattering and perfect to add impact to any look, these Vava Voom Lashes are my new flash lash friend, plus the glue is awesome! The perfect way to top off my new look, after a strong feline flick of liquid eyeliner and lashings of mascara.

I have a confession though fillies…my love for all things as black as my heart has crept into my new favourite skincare product also! If you want the freshest skin this 2017, I suggest you nab yourself these LBWs (Little Black Wipes) NOW! Your eyes are not playing tricks on you! These Yes To…Tomatoes Detoxifying Charcoal Facial Wipes are BLACK. That’s because they are enriched with skin cleansing Charcoal which gets clears makeup away in a swipe. Seriously, yes, it is a bit odd when you first get one out the pack and yes, you are like “how can I tell that all my makeup has gone if the wipe isn’t white and covered in my disgusting facial beige and black mess?!”, but you will be able to tell after looking in the mirror at how effortlessly they clear every last scrape of even the most stubbornly fierce face. Plus they smell utterly UH-MAZING! Oh and my skin is the clearest it has been in a long time. Win!

How did you enjoy this Grown Up Glam make-up shake up? How are you facing the New Year in style and what are your resolutions? Stay tuned to FDJ LDN HQ for more Make-Up Shake Up posts heading to the blog soon.

We just want to wish all our fillies a happy and amazing 2017 and thank you for all the love and support our little corner of the internet has gotten throughout 2016. You guys are the best! There’s going to be lots of new and exciting content heading this way through the New Year.

Until next time fillies,

Leigh at Fashion Du Jour LDN HQ x

P.S. Wanting to add FDJ LDN HQ to your 2017? Well, it’s time to join our mailing list! Simply click the “Subscribe” button at the top right of the page and enter your deets. And hey presto! You’ll be in the know with all the latest FDJ LDN posts, delivered straight to your Inbox! You can also follow us on Bloglovin’. All over social media? Then get to following us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.