The Chelsea Girl

Last night I had a catch up with my absolute favourite Chelsea friend, and we decided as it had been way too long since our last outing we’d go to a couple of our favourites.

We started off at Mandaloun, our favourite restaurant in Chelsea. Mandaloun, on Fulham Road very close to my old flat, is a beautiful Lebanese restaurant. It isn’t overly fancy, but it doesn’t need to be because the food is amazing and pretty healthy too! After dinner we walked down to the King’s Road to go to my favourite bar, which I’m sure you all know by now is Beaufort House.

So, what to wear and how should I do my makeup? Hmmm…

Well it clearly wasn’t a black tie event, but equally we’re in Chelsea - so it’s imperative to always present yourself well. I think last night was definitely a hipster kind of occasion (as much as I hate that word). In the end after throwing many outfits on the floor I opted for a bit of geek chic with my newly acquired Nasa t-shirt paired with my leather skater skirt and black suede healed boots.

When I’d finally decided what to wear it was onto makeup. I’ve always been a fan of the smokey eye, but find that going black is a bit too grungy. So I tend to use more brown eyeshadows, then just finish it off with black liner and mascara. Benefit do the perfect pallet for this, ‘World Famous Neutrals’, I also mix in a beautiful brown Mac eyeshadow called ‘Cork’. In the ‘World Famous Neutrals’ pattel there are really good directions for application so I won’t bore you with that now. My top eyeliner for as long as I can remember has been Chanel ‘Stylo Yeux Waterproof’. It is a roll up kohl eyeliner that is super easy to use and because it’s waterproof will last all night without smudging - just make sure you’ve got some good makeup remover to get it off at the end of the night. I’ve recently discovered a new mascara, Benefit ‘They’re Real’. It’s a UK best seller and I can see why. It gives amazing lift and curl fanning your lashes beautifully and it lasts all night long. Last but not least in the eye department don’t forget your eyebrows, I’ve never gone for the mega brow but I use Benefit ‘Browzing’, which in my opinion is perfect for everyone because you can go subtle like me or build it up to have a power brow! l In winter especially I’m a fan of bold lipstick shades. My favourite being a mat hot red one by Mac, ala Marilyn Monroe. The shade is ‘Ruby Woo’ and it’s from the Matt collection. As you can see I’m rebelling against the “you can either do lips or eyes rule”. However, I did play it down in the cheeks, just a soft pink glow. Start with highlight on the cheek bone (and brow bone if you wish), I use two Benefit highlighters mixed together for evening makeup. ‘High Beam’ and “Sun Beam’ - put a small amount of each on the back of your hand and mix gently with you ring finger before gently applying and blending along your cheek bone. Now for the rosy glow, I accomplished this with a combination of Benefits ‘Hervana’ and a pink Dior blush called ‘Petal’ from their rosy glow collection, which looks shockingly pink in the pallet but goes on a lovely shade. Use ‘Hervana’ to give you a contour and then sweep “petal’ over the top.

Below is everything you need to accomplish this look, including some things I haven’t mentioned such as my primer, foundation, concealer and powder.

For the final touch I went for loose wavy curls for my hair , which I achieve by just wrapping my hair around my straighteners. The finished look…

Hope this give you some inspiration for a look the works in a restaurant and a cocktail bar whilst you’re sipping pink champagne.

Just a few more photos from our night…

Lots of love,

The Chelsea Girl