Having been invited to meet the Estée Lauder team at their new pop up in Shoreditch’s Boxpark, last night I went to say hi to the PR girls and check out the new ranges. As well as a shift in demand for men, trends in makeup are huge news and thankfully not as intimidating as fashion trends. It’s generally not difficult and there’s little room for error meaning you can’t really get it wrong. After a meet and greet I was lucky enough to be sat down by the lovely Izzy on the famous Estée Lauder directors chairs for a few 3-minute beauty refresh sessions.

 

Contouring

Starting with the newest trend, I chatted to Izzy about the difference between using sticks, creamy palettes and powders to contour the face. There’s no best product to use, it simply depends on what kind of finish you want. I’m usually a fan of powder as it’s quick and easy to blend with a brush but can actually sometimes look quite dry on my face so for the first time, I tried a softer, creamy formula (shape and sculpt face kit, price £34). Izzy simply applied the product to the sponge and swiped the deeper shade under my cheekbones and blended up. It was then applied to my jawline (ear lobe to chin), blending as she went and then applied to each side of my nose to make it look thinner. For preference, Izzy also put a tiny bit across the bottom of the nose to create a ‘ski slope nose’. The lighter shade of this palette can also be used for ‘strobing’ but added to the darker shade, it can really set off the shape of your face. The lighter shade was applied down the centre of my nose, middle of my forehead, middle of my chin and at the top of my cheekbones.

Lips

Anyone who follows my Instagram will know I’m obsessed with a huge, fat, chubby lip. I usually use iridescent shades to catch the light and get a more 3d effect but according to Izzy, all you have to do is be clever with a lip liner. After applying the liner around the shape of my lip, she then drew four vertical brush strokes from my cupids bow down, two either side. This gives the effect of an ‘ombre’ look meaning lips look fuller and more plump. ‘Double Wear Stay In Place’ lip liner, price £17.50.

Blusher

I’m always confused about where to put blusher and if it’s ok to always use the same colour. Izzy pointed out that blusher should be the same hue as your lipstick (eg a natural brown lip with a red blush will clash) so as I was sporting a nude lip, we used a nude blush with a tan tone. Izzy explained that you should use a soft brush and simply create an X shape on the apple of the cheek gently (so no more scrubbing on a soft pink with an angled brush on my cheekbones for me). Pure Colour Blush, price £27.

Flicked Eyeliner

As I have dark brown eyes, I love a blacker than black thick liquid liner. One thing I do struggle with though, are flicks. When I opened my eyes and saw what Izzy had done, I actually did a little gasp. It was the most perfect flick I had ever seen. The trick she explained, is to look at where your lower lash line finishes and simply carry the line up. This is where the ‘flick’ will look more natural and accentuate the size of the eye. Next, draw the flick back down to the end of the upper lash line. To finish, create the line using the thicker end of the pen across the upper lid and ‘colour in’ the flick. This was by far my favourite product of the evening. Little Black Liner, price £22.



After a few glasses of Champagne, the team kindly invited me and a few others on to the exclusive members only club, Shoreditch House for cocktails and dinner. Guess what! I even got to sit next to my favourite blogger, Lydia Elise Millen who by the way, is even absolutely drop dead gorgeous in the flesh.

I’ll be using a lot more Estée Lauder products this season, including a purple lip and popping eye shade with my new Moschino cropped top (adventurous) and the poppy lip shades from the new Kendall Jenner range.

What’s your favourite Estée Lauder product? How are you finding this seasons trends? Is there anything that you’d like to ask the Estée team? Comment below x