Makeup Must Haves: April

When it comes to makeup, I have always been a MAC fiend. Up until recently, everything in may makeup bag was MAC. Foundation, bronzer, blusher, concealer, even my brushes. I'm not complaining because I absolutely love the brand, in fact I can't get enough of it. MAC is high quality, does what it says on the tin and for professional makeup it's reasonably priced. 

MAC obsession aside, I decided it was time to branch out and start trying some different products. Below are my favourites for this month and oh my goodness, they are awesome.

1. Okay so first up, is the MUA-Trio Eyeshadow in Chocolate Box. I'm cheating a little bit with this one as I've actually been using it for about a year now. I bought this product on the off chance because I wanted a cheap eyeshadow (not my MAC ones) to take to a weekend working at last year's V Festival. We do the PR for the VIP area but accommodation is either winnebago or tour bus and you do lose stuff, so this was a good alternative option. This set comes with three eye shadows, hence the word 'Trio' and the colours are absolutely gorgeous, insanely long lasting (I have gone out all night wearing these and they haven't moved) and to top it off each palette is £2.50. There is also a guide on the back of the packaging which recommends which area of the eye to use each shade. I use this product pretty much every day, the eyeshadows are highly pigmented but you can also build the colour, depending on how dramatic you want your eye makeup to look. For this reason, MUA's Trio Eyeshadows are an amazing 'day to night' product. As you can probably see from the scruffiness of the box in the picture, despite being used day to day for the past 8 months, these are showing no signs of running out any time soon. Amazing product. Amazing value for money. I can't wait to try the other colour combinations. You can buy MUA Trio Eyeshadows from Superdrug or online here

2. NARS Lip Gloss in Turkish Delight is amazing. I've been getting back into Nude lips of late but where I used to cover my mouth in foundation when I was about 13 and put lip gloss over it - complete no, no - I understand that there is more of a skill to it now. Pinky nude - I can still see you have a mouth - lips are better than nude nude - your mouth has disappeared into your face - lips. Turkish Delight is part of NARS' Cult Classic range and one of their best sellers, for good reason. This looks amazing worn on it's own or over other lipsticks, I tend to wear this over my Dior Incognito lipstick - reviewed below. The lip gloss is enriched with Vitamin E, so it doesn't dry your lips out and there's none of that stickiness that you get with some glosses. The colour is a creamy, baby pink that looks great with any skin tone. The only thing that I will say is that due to the non-sticky nature of this lipgloss the product doesn't hold to the applicator very well and I find myself having to put it back in again 2-3 times for one application. NARS Turkish Delight is £17.50 and you can buy it here

3. NARS blush in Orgasm. I think most makeup enthusiasts will be familiar with this blusher. It's accumulated a high volume of coverage since it launched and NARS is best known for it's fantastic blushers. Although highly pigmented, Orgasm still gives a natural pink tint and the shimmer tone gives skin a glow. I put this on the apples of my cheeks, it blends seamlessly with my bronzer and lasts all day. I get home from work and it literally hasn't moved. I love this blusher and would buy it again and again. NARS Blush in Orgasm is £21.50 and you can buy it here

4. Yves Saint Laurent Shocking Mascara. I love a mascara that lengthens thickens, that doesn't clump and makes your eyes look bigger - not asking much then. Prior to purchasing YSL's Shocking Mascara, I was using Givenchy Phenomenon eyes which has a ball shaped brush, amazing for 360 application and for coating the smaller lashes at the outer corner of the eye. I wanted to try something a little more dramatic, that gave more of a false lash effect for day time so I went for the YSL. It took me a couple of wears to get used to it but I'm loving how long lasting it is and how it widens the eyes. It definitely lengthens and defines, although it is ever so slightly clumpy and I can tell that the formula won't stay as fresh as the Givenchy, which last months in the bottle without getting clumpy at all. Despite this, YSL's Shocking Mascara is definitely one of my favourites. It's £23.50 and you can buy it here

5. Dior Addict Extreme Lipstick - Incognito 316. I read Huda Beauty blog a lot. I absolutely adore Huda's makeup and one of the products that she raves about is Dior's Incognito lipstick. I bought this a few weeks ago and I absolutely love it. I don't even know how to describe the colour, it's almost a medium beige/ purple beige tinted nude. I know that sounds really weird and not very enticing but it looks absolutely gorgeous and so natural on. I put my NARS in Turkish Delight lip gloss over the top of it and it looks amazing. These two products mixed together is the new way forward for nude lips in 2013, in my opinion anyway. This Dior lipstick is also so hydrating, described as having a 'wet-look texture' it's matte with enough shine to keep lips looking moisturised and glossy - love it but it is quite pricey at £24. You can buy Dior Addict Extreme Lipstick - Incognito 316 here

6. NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer. Brand new to the market, there has been a lot of hype about this product and having used it myself I now know why. I've never really given much thought to concealer before, I have used it but it's always been very low priority for me. I don't have bags or particularly dark circles so if I've run out of concealer I've always just used my foundation under my eyes. With NARS' creamy concealer I realise how wrong I was. Concealer is ultra important for giving your entire makeup look a lift. I went to the NARS counter to get colour matched and was given the shade Honey. Described as a 'warm peach tone for light to medium complexion' apparently this is the concealer given to people with a light olive complexion. When I put this on under my eyes, the difference it makes is quite amazing, immediately I look fresher, brighter and more alert - perfect for hiding the results of an all nighter! Seriously, this is such an amazing product, there's no caking or creasing as is often the case with a lot of concealers. One tip that the makeup artist did give me was to blend the product out from the inside corner of the eye but not to put the concealer too far into the outer corners otherwise it will highlight laughter/ expression lines. NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer comes in 10 different shades, priced at £21.00 and you can buy it here

Must Visit: Dior at Harrods

If you only do one thing this month, you must visit the 'So Dior' exhibition at Harrods department store in London. I popped down to check it out with my mum and sister a couple of weeks ago and it is absolutely divine!

Dior Exhibition at Harrods, London

The 'So Dior' exhibition takes you on a journey from Christian Dior's first collection - presented on 12th February 1947 and highlights the initial 'shock value' associated with his creations. The collection, which aimed to restore femininity and elegance to women following the war sparked a fashion revolution.

One of my favourite elements of the exhibition is the area paying homage to Dior the couturier-perfumer, where mirrored floors are lined with the famous amphora-shaped bottles of J'adore perfume. The bottle was designed to represent the feminine silhouettes loved and pioneered by the couturier himself. Another highlight is of course, the iconic Lady Dior handbag, highly coveted and named after Princess Diana. I am completely obsessing over the candy pink and bright pink versions - aim = to buy one for myself, one day. An investment, after all.

Oversized Lady Dior handbag

Dress worn by Audrey Hepburn

After a browse around the exhibition we headed to the Dior Cafe, where we had the most sumptuous (I love that word) afternoon tea of sandwiches, fruit scones, lobster rolls and macaroons, washed down by copious amounts of green tea.

The Dior Cafe at Harrods

Afternoon tea at the Dior Cafe, Harrods

The Dior Exhibition at Harrods will run until 14th April - make sure you book in advance if you are planning a trip to the Dior Cafe. Decadence gets booked up fast!

Why Justin's Week From Hell Made Me a BELIEBER

Justin Bieber at the London leg of his Believe Tour - O2 Arena 

I arrive at London's O2 arena, I'm surrounded by hordes of teenage girls and the excitement in the air is palpable. The lights go down, the screaming gets louder, reaching ear splitting volume and the chanting starts. Two rows away from me there's a girl no more than eight years old. She's crying hysterically, looking straight ahead where descending down from the rafters is an angelic looking teenage boy suspended by angel wings. I'm at a Justin Bieber concert along with 20,000 Beliebers, the term given to Justin's global army of followers.
It's the third night of the London leg of the pop star's Believe World Tour and for all my sins I'm pretty excited. This is the 19 year old who last year sold out two shows at New York's 20,000 capacity Madison Square Garden in 30 seconds. As of May 2012 he had sold 15 million albums and last year was named by Forbes magazine as the world's third most powerful celebrity. Bieber has amassed 35 million twitter followers (more than the population of his home country, Canada) with a reported growth of one additional follower every second. Last year he made it into the Guinness Book of World Records after becoming the first solo artist to have three No. 1 US and UK albums before the age of 18. Taking all this unbelievable achievement into account I thought it was about time I saw the musical prodigy in action. I say prodigy because although Bieber may not be everyone's cup of tea, with his sugary pop anthems and lovelorn ballads in my opinion, his talent can't be denied. Original, evidence of this from an unusually young age is visible via his documentary type film, Never Say Never and current evidence by the live/ acoustic performances on his YouTube channel.
However, as he launched into the first track of the night, there was something else sparking my interest and maybe a few others of the older demographic in the arena. The media frenzy during Bieber's stay in London town was unrelenting, most notable up to that moment was that earlier in the week fans were left left waiting up to two hours before Bieber arrived on stage, due to an apparent technical fault. There were rumours of arguments between Bieber and his management who were reportedly pleading with him to go out on stage whilst he sat in his dressing room playing video games - which if untrue is a pretty unwelcome allegation.
Prior to this there were stories of refused entry to nightclubs, partying until 3am and topless photos of him walking into his hotel late at night splashed across the front pages. I don't see a problem with any of the above, that's how 19 year olds behave and the world and all the drivelling parents, including the lady who took her daughter out of school to go on Daybreak to complain, need to wake up to the fact that Bieber is a teenager, albeit a very famous one, who has a right to enjoy himself and experience life.
Nevertheless, Bieber was on time on Thursday night, I was having a lot of fun with a buddy from work who was enjoying it just as much and 'controversy' aside he was putting on a good show.
Recognition for the moments where it's just Biebs and his guitar on stage put a sock in the mouths of any critics who suggest that he might not be able to sing. Everything was running pretty much like clockwork, microphone malfunction aside, until Beauty and the Beat, Bieber's collaboration with Nicki Minaj. Towards the end of the song he seemed in some discomfort and dragged himself off stage, breathless and woozy. There had beens signs prior to this when Bieber informed the audience that 'I'm never usually this out of breath.'
15 minutes passed with the DJ playing track after track, the dancers attempting to keep the crowd going but it was clear that something was very wrong and Twitter had gone into overdrive with rumours that the pop star had fainted backstage.
The appearance of Bieber's manager, Scooter Braun put any speculation to rest as he informed the crowd that Bieber had been complaining of shortness of breath for much of the show. We were told that he had been advised by the emergency medical team to go to hospital immediately and get checked out. An echo of devastation, a sound akin to a huge groan erupted from the audience before Scooter hurriedly finished his sentence, telling all Beliebers that Justin was insistent on finishing the show and that he would be back out in five minutes. Sure enough he came back on and fans left full of praise for the star who soldiered on.

Justin Bieber at the O2 Arena on Thursday 

The icing on the cake was the altercation that ensued yesterday with a rogue paparazzi, who I believe did everything in his power to provoke the reaction that he received from Bieber, resulting in footage that was more Dappy from N-Dubz than JB 'Swaggy' but nonetheless provided additional car crash fodder for the media.
I work in the PR industry and my head is constantly in newspapers and magazines, so I have followed the Bieber debacle closely as it has unfolded this week. Before we suggest that he is going off the rails, losing the plot or as one newspaper's front page headline read today, 'Bieber Goes Bonkers' let's for one moment put ourselves in this teenager's shoes. You're catapulted to stratospheric superstardom almost overnight, expected to maintain a level of responsibility to millions and millions of young, impressionable people and despite the knowledge that every single thing you do will be commented upon, analysed, criticised you still make mistakes because you are human. Not only do you have to deal with these mistakes on a personal level, the prying eye of every entertainment news outlet on the planet is watching, waiting, praying for you to mess up again, so that they can run a big shock horror story, effectively to sell more newspapers and drive more traffic to their websites. This is a person not a puppet, a person who has feelings the same way that you and I do.
Maybe Bieber does believe his own hype and maybe there is an air of precautiousness but having achieved what many artists could not even dream of achieving in a lifetime, I defy you to say that in his position you wouldn't believe yours too.
Although invasion of privacy comes hand in hand with being in the entertainment industry, it must be very hard to deal with all that this entails - including reckless photographers tailing you every time you go out in the car and having to be accosted by minders every time you set foot out the door.

Justin Bieber, Believe Tour at the O2 Arena on Thursday

Maybe the reason that I have such a strong opinion on the events of the past week is due to the fact that in the UK we are so used to coverage of talentless reality stars. They do everything in their power to get famous and when it happens, they realise it's not all it's cracked up to be and we, the public are reduced to their incessant moaning about invasion of privacy. With talented, high profile figures such as Bieber (again I direct you to his YouTube channel and live acoustic performances if you are still sceptical) who enter into the industry to entertain rather than for fames sake, the intrusion is not encouraged to further build up a persona due to a lack of real ability. The constant invasion of privacy is something that is supposed to be accepted and to which there doesn't seem to be a limit.
This Bieber situation has also struck a cord with me because anyone, like myself who has a younger brother or sister going through their teenage years can understand the vulnerability factor that is so very present during this period.
So, to conclude for fear of going on like I have a habit of doing, I hope that Justin Bieber has a great support team around him and I also hope that in my lifetime good news and positivity sells better than bad news and misery. We should be praising and embracing success in whatever form and let go of the mentality that we have in this country that it's okay to build people up only to vilify them in the future for being human.

Curvy Is The New Skinny

There is a global crisis taking shape and it's worse than the obesity epidemic, it's spreading faster than any flu pandemic and multiplying quicker than bacteria - negative body image.
I don't know about you but I'm bored of seeing rail thin silhouettes in every magazine I pick up. Online entertainment sites are laden with news of celebrities who have gained and lost pounds and the government's advice on a healthy lifestyle and weight maintenance is so wrong it hurts. I'm going to let you in on a secret in a future post, a secret that all of the major sugar companies are hoping the public will remain uneducated on. You won't believe the shit we are fed (excuse the pun) every single day on how eating less and doing more is the key to getting to your natural weight and staying there. Weight Watcher's, low fat diet food, fat free snacks, counting points, counting calories - all of the above are contributing factors to the obesity epidemic but more on that later.

We're constantly presented with images of long limbed models who have been airbrushed within an inch of their lives and I'm constantly debating with my friends, the unobtainable nature of a Victoria Secret Model body. Yes, those women look fantastic, almost super-human in perfection but many of them have been blessed with incredible genes and have metabolisms faster than a Bugatti Veyron. I think it's so sad that so many women are discontent with their shape. Whatever happened to the celebration of a womanly figure a la Marilyn Monroe, who by the way was a size 12-14. SIZE ZERO WTF?! In my opinion women who have curves are far more attractive than women who have about as much curvature as a floor board. Forget emaciated, vacuous clothes horses, we need real women as positive body role models.
I've included my personal top 3 favourite women who are flying the flag for a healthy body image below for you - who are your top body role models?

Kim Kardashian

One of the most beautiful women in the world, in my opinion, although my mum would argue that she is 'fat' which annoys me greatly and proves my point that we have been brainwashed by the media. Beautiful figure, beautiful face - this woman has it all!

Kelly Brook

Katie Price recently called her a heffer but in real life Kelly is actually quite a bit smaller than she appears in photos - I have seen here in the flesh if you were wondering. Kelly has an amazing figure!

Sofia Vergara

Last but by no means least, modern family actress Sofia Vergara is the hottest 40 year old ever.

the mouth is reborn

It's been a while since I've posted as I've been re-thinking my blog's content for some time.
You probably won't know that I first started writing a blog when I was in my third year at university in 2010 and it was called the mouth.
the mouth was a more personal blog based on my life mixed with comment and opinion posts on celebrity stories in the media.
After uni I decided I wanted a bit of a blank canvas so I started Candy Frost - there was no particular reason for calling it this other than I couldn't think of anything else at the time but now that I've been around another year or so I'm thinking that the original name was pretty apt.
I have always been loud, I'm not afraid to voice my opinion (I have an opinion on absolutely everything) and I will hold my own like nobody's business in a debate.
I love talking, laughing and any opportunity for vocal communication or just generally making noise, I'm there. I've been reading up on loads of great blogs since I've taken time out from blogging myself and those I keep going back to and reading again and again, are the ones where I feel that the writer's personality shines through. You should check out two of my absolute favourites, beauty blogger Em Talks here and lifestyle blogger Rosie Londoner here. Em has a really chatty and personable style of writing that makes you instantly like her and with Rosie's you feel like you're catching up with your best friend.
So with this in mind I'm still going to be writing about the things I love but I'm going to start writing more personal lifestyle posts and comment and opinion pieces so that I can get more of my personality across through my writing. I'm going to say exactly what I think and have more fun doing it as at the end of the day that's what writing a blog is all about, it should be a hobby and a pleasure.

I'm also planning on getting a new, more professional look for my blog as well as moving over to a new domain in the next month, so please bear with me.

For now, I'll leave you with a photograph taken at my 21st birthday which brings to life the very reason why I've returned to my roots - the mouth by name, the mouth by visible nature.

the mouth by name, the mouth by nature