We have spoken to the girls in the office, friends and family about what order they apply makeup and it seems it can be an individual preference for the right order. This could be because of routine or even being taught a certain order when they first started wearing makeup.

This is just our suggested order that will help eliminate any smearing or smudges from eye shadow, so coloured speckles don’t fall onto concealer or foundation.

1)    Cleanse tone and moisturise your skin for the day ahead, making sure to use a good quality moisturiser or BB cream. This will prepare your skin so your makeup will glide on and stay put longer

2)    Apply a small amount of our Prime Focus Eye Primer on your eyelids to make your eye makeup easier to apply and will maintain the colour longer.

3)    Add your eye shadow and blend several colours together to get the right look (see last week’s blog for tips, How to achieve everyday smoky eyes look). It’s always best to apply eye makeup before foundation or concealer as excess eye shadow might fall under the eye. It can be easily removed with a cotton wool pad at this stage. This will avoid smearing it in your foundation and dis-colouring.

4)    Our Natural Eye Liner can be added to upper and lower lashes to complete your eye makeup.

5)    Now your skin has time to absorb the moisturiser and it isn’t too greasy, you can apply your foundation.

6)    Concealer can be applied to all the necessary areas, usually under the eyes and the side of the nose and blended for a flawless finish.

7)    Add a light covering of bronzer or blusher to help your skin glow.

8)    Accentuate your lashes with Lash Alert Mascara in either black for a dramatic look, or brown for a more natural effect.

9)    Finish off with a lipstick or lip gloss. Its best to choose a colour that is in the same shade family as your blusher, pink with pink peach with peach.

Everyone’s got different regimes for application, these are just our recommendations. What are yours?

Lily Lolo x

Our brand new range of pressed mineral products launches with four eye shadow duos. Most of you have been eagerly waiting for a pressed range to be added to our award winning loose powder products.

Well, the wait is finally over!

Pressed Mineral Eye Shadow Duo

The centerpiece of the collection, the new duo’s effortlessly combine two gorgeous shades in long lasting complimentary colours. Use to create an easy everyday look or to add drama to the eyes by creating a more striking effect.

Natural Lipstick

Natural creamy lipsticks for beautiful and nourished lips. Now in Parisian Pink, a dusky rose shimmer and Rose Gold, a natural golden beige shimmer.

Natural Mascara

Creamy Lash Alert natural mascara is easy to apply and will volumise and lengthen lashes to produce a dramatic effect. Now in Brown

What’s your favourite?

Here at Lily Lolo we know that ‘smoky eyes’ are always a look that you would like to perfect.

Before starting, try using our Prime Focus Eye Primer as a base. This will help to conceal or correct any discolouration and dark areas around the eyes while providing the perfect base to apply your eye shadow for extra staying power.

Cover the whole eye lid area up to the brow bone with a light coloured eye shadow like Vanilla Shimmer. Using a darker shade, we’d recommend smoky brown; apply to the outer edge of the eye socket to make your eyes really stand out. You can also sweep the colour along your lower lash line for more definition.

The Natural Eye Liner in black can then be used to put a line along the upper lash line, use a blending brush to smudge this to complete the smoky effect and add our Lash Alert Mascara in black or brown to finish.

Remember you can use any colour eye shadows to get this look. Our pastel shades Green Opal and Parma Violet will look great over the summer months.

Check out this video of our makeup artist Nadira Persaud, showing you how to create a more dramatic night time smoky eye look.

Lily Lolo x

This month we would like to take a closer look at our popular Green Opal mineral eye shadow, which continues to attract the attention of both our new and existing customers. This pastel shade is bang on trend for this Spring, with most of the high street stores showcasing clothes, accessories and shoes in soft greens, purples and mellow yellows influenced by 60’s style .

Our range of loose mineral eye shadows are highly pigmented for a long lasting, durable finish and are extremely gentle on eyes. The shimmer element of this shade will reflect the light and make your eyes shine.

Why not try sweeping a small amount of this eye shadow across the whole eye socket then use a wet makeup brush to add a more intense line above your eyelashes.

To create a more dramatic ‘night time look’, use the Green Opal on the whole eye area and define with Witchypoo eye shadow at the edges of your eye and blend in around your eye socket.

The Green Opal will also compliment other pastel shades in our range, Parma Violet and Pink Champagne will give you the perfect Spring look to make your eyes the center of attention.

Lily Lolo x

Although you wouldn’t think it with the horrendous weather, it is now officially Spring. As many of you will be Spring cleaning your houses and wardrobe, don’t forget to have a clear out of your makeup bag.

It is always best to empty everything out on a towel in case any of the products have lost their lids and to avoid spillage. The girls here at LL HQ like to split their everyday wear and weekend makeup. As you can imagine we like our makeup items and we find it quicker to get ready without rummaging through all the different products. We would recommend throwing away any products that you have had for over 3 years.

While you’re cleaning your bag out, this is a great time to wash your makeup brushes , though it is recommended to do this every couple of weeks to keep them lovely and clean and hygienic. This can be caused by the build-up of makeup, dead skin and oil.

You can use any gentle shampoo, one that works for your hair is less likely to irritate your skin.

Remember not to immerse the full makeup brush into the water as this can affect the glue bond that holds the bristles together. Hold the brush upside down, and with bristles pointing downwards run warm water over the brush from above.

Use the shampoo on the bristles, gently working it into a lather. Work the shampoo from the base of the bristles outwards, then rinse the lather away holding the brush in the same position. The water will run cloudy from the old makeup, so continue the process until the water runs clear.

Always leave your makeup brushes to dry naturally, preferably laying them on their side to prevent any water running into the handle, as this will loosen the bond.

We don’t know about you, but we always love the feeling after we have cleaned our makeup bags, we feel more organised instantly.

Lily Lolo x

We have been exceptionally busy in preparation for the launch of our new spring summer collection which will be available next month. Following on from the success of our Prime Focus Eyelid Primer which has been extremely popular, we will be introducing a brand new range of pressed mineral eye shadow products! This is an exciting extension to our popular range of loose mineral eye shadows. Some of our product development team took a trip down to the printers based in Halifax in the UK to check on the progress of the packaging.

While they were there, they got to have a tour around the factory to see what processes are involved in creating our very special boxes! There were lots of hi-tech machines for printing, cutting, folding and gluing. They were amazed at how much attention to detail is paid at every part of the production process to make sure the end result is flawless!

Our box supplier have lots of major clients in the cosmetic and pharmaceutical industry and you can only imagine how many boxes get printed each day (something like 10,000 an hour apparently!) and as a result how much waste is produced; therefore it was good to hear that all the waste is 100% recycled.  Here at Lily Lolo we want to make sure that every part of our supply chain supports our ethical stance. We are also proud to be supporting a UK business at a time when many companies are going overseas for lower costs regardless of the ethical implications.

Ahead of the launch we wanted to give you a sneak preview of what the packaging will look like for the new pressed eye shadow, hot off the printer… and available to buy soon!

We hope you are all having a lovely time and all the mums out there are being treated and pampered on this special day.

We have been speaking to some of our regular customers this week to find out how they will celebrate this Mother’s day, whether you are sitting down to a home cooked roast or the family is having a meal at a fancy restaurant, everyone always wants to look their best!

Instead of the usual box of chocolates or bunch of flowers a lot of us have opted to treat our mums with some mineral make up!  For a special gift our collections always go down a treat! However, a lot of you have decided to buy your mums some of your favourite Lily Lolo products that you use yourselves as people are always commenting how refreshed and healthy your skin looks. The natural mineral foundation and the mineral blush have been popular choices.

Mums, for an easy way to create a glamorous day look with your new Lily Lolo products have a look at the video below and don’t forget to start with Prime Focus Eyelid Primer to make sure your mineral eye shadow lasts day to night!

Whatever gifts you have bought or received, we hope you have a wonderful day. Special Mum’s deserve celebrating and need spoiling.

Lily Lolo x

The start of a new year is the perfect time to embark on a healthier lifestyle and clearout your makeup bag of products containing harmful and totally unnecessary chemical nasties.

Lily Lolo Mineral Foundation is free from Nano Particles, Bismuth Oxychloride, Synthetic Dyes, Synthetic Fragrances, Petrochemicals, Parabens and Talc, making us the perfect choice for you to try in 2013.

We’d always recommend trying two or three samples of our mineral foundation first to ensure that you find your perfect match, samples are available for just £1.29 each + p&p or why not give the gift of gorgeous skin by treating someone to a Ready, Set, Glow collection for £11.99 + p&p

To choose your shade you first need to determine if your skin has cool pinky undertones, warm peachy undertones ,  olive yellow undertones or if your skin-tone is balanced, in which case our neutral foundations are a great place to start.

You can also find help choosing your shade with our online guide http://www.lilylolo.co.uk/assets/images/pdf/001.pdf

LL Tip – Mixing two foundation shades can help you find your perfect shade if you’re in-between two.

Applying your mineral foundation is quick and easy to do,

• Step 1 – Moisturise your face and allow a couple of minutes for the moisture to absorb, your skin needs to be dry for the best results.
• Step 2 – Shake a little powder out of the jar and into your lid before swirling the product onto your Super Kabuki brush, tap off any excess powder and remember a little goes a long way.
• Step 3 – Using circular motions buff the powder into your skin, blending evenly as you go.  Build up your coverage in light layers until you reach your desired finish.

Watch our latest Mineral foundation application video for more hints and tips on applying your new foundation.

We all love to give and receive gorgeous gifts at Christmas time, but sometimes the choice can be overwhelming.

Here at LL HQ we’ve tried to help you out by picking out a few of our favourite combinations for stocking fillers and putting together some stunning gift sets that are the perfect present for that special someone in your life or a tempting treat for yourself!

Eye, cheek and lip products are fantastic as stocking fillers as there’s so many shades to choose from! Here are some our favourite shades and combinations,

Black eye pencil & Lash Alert mascara

Miami Taupe & Moonlight, Pink Champagne & Golden Lilac, or Sticky Toffee & Smoky Brown, eye shadow

Ooh La La or Sunset paired up with our super soft Angled Blush Brush

Love Affair lipstick & Damson Dusk lip gloss for mauvey pinks or Demure lipstick & Peachy Keen lip gloss if a lover of peachy shades.

LL Tip – Team our clear lip gloss over any shade of our luscious lipsticks to add a high gloss finish to all six shades.

Our Limited Edition collections, Retro Glamour, Glamour Eyes and Shimmer Eyes are a quick and easy choice if you’re unsure of what colours to choose for someone else.  Containing a selection of products in classic shades and catwalk colours you can’t go wrong as there’s a way to wear them for most skin-tones and ages.  £14.99-£24.99

Buying a gift for a Lip Gloss lover? With three options to choose from our Gloss-ary sets are a must-have! Choose from, Pinking of you, Cue the nudes and Gloss around the clock and you’ll receive three stunning ‘full size’ lip glosses all packaged up in our Gloss-ary presentation box for just £17.99.

Give the gift of gorgeous skin – For someone new to minerals our Ready, Set Glow kit will give everything needed to get started, each kit contains a selection of three sample size jars of foundation, a sample of our award-winning Flawless Silk finishing powder and our handy sized Baby Buki brush all packaged up in a stunning gift box, choose from light, light-medium or medium for £11.99.

Every makeup lover knows the importance of using the right tools, treat them to a Lily Lolo 7 Piece Luxury Brush collection all wrapped up in our luxury faux leather case, £39.99.

Don’t forget you can have your orders packaged up in our beautiful gift wrap box with gift card if you want to put together your own gifts .

With more than 30 shades to choose from, we understand that it can be difficult to choose your favourite Lily Lolo mineral eye shadow shade, that’s why we’ve put together some details on which shades compliment which eye colour.

Blue or grey eyes look perfect when teamed with taupe, grey, violet, purple, silver or browns.  We’d recommend Miami Taupe, Sticky Toffee, Golden Lilac, Bronze Sparkle and Choc Fudge Cake for shades you can reach for again and again.

If your eyes are green then brown eye shadows from the lightest beige to deep chocolate browns will look stunning on you. Soft Brown and Black Sand are firm favourites for a matte finish or to add a little shimmer, look to Sticky Toffee and Moonlight. Brown shades are great for creating an alternate smoky eyed look. Be bold by adding a pink or purple into your look too, you may be surprised at how beautiful they can look when teamed with glistening green eyes.

Brighter colours such are pinks and purples will also work beautifully if you have hazel eyes. For a delicate touch of colour our award winning Pink Champagne or soft Parma Violet are perfect, add a flash of colour with our Deep Purple shade as an eyeliner or to add depth to the socket line and really make those eyes pop!

Most eye shadow shades will work well with brown eyes so why not experiment with a bold bright shade such as Pixie Sparkle? Greens work beautifully with brown eyes, shades such as Cosmopolitan and Khaki Sparkle give you a choice of finishes and are so versatile that they can even be used as an eyeliner with a wet eye definer brush.

We all love experimenting with our makeup so if there’s a shade that you love, don’t be afraid to try it.  Our eye shadows can be dressed up or down as you wish, from a sheer wash across the full lid to applying with a wet eye shadow brush for a more intense colour.  Using a smudge brush or eye detail brush will allow you to get creative with the shades from a smudgy, smoky eyeline to the slickest feline flick, our eye detail – eye smudge brush is the perfect tool for the job!

Our skin can be left feeling taut and uncomfortable in the colder months, so now’s the perfect time to reassess your skin care regime and switch to a moisturising cream designed to protect against the harsh elements, rehydrate your skin and create the perfect base for your Lily Lolo mineral foundation.

Colder temperatures and central heating can play havoc with your skin, leaving it feeling drier and dehydrated, even oily and acne prone skins become dehydrated if the correct balance of moisture isn’t maintained so just be sure to use one that’s non-comedongenic to help prevent flare ups. Don’t forget; our Flawless Matte finishing powder contains Kaolin to help keep oily skin under control throughout the day if your skin still needs it in the colder weather.

Choose a good quality moisturiser that’s packed with nutrients such as Vitamin E, Shea Butter and Glycerine to help keep your skin plump and fresh looking. Rosehip seed oil is renowned for its hydrating effects on the skin as it’s packed with essential fatty acids and vitamins. It’s important not to neglect the lips at this time of year as the skin here is extremely delicate, so keep your pout protected with our lip gloss which contains jojoba oil and Vitamin E.

If you suffer from dermatitis or eczema it’s a good idea to also seek the advice of a dermatologist who will be able to offer you specific treatments needed for your winter skin.

Finally, don’t forget a weekly nourishing face mask for the ultimate at home pampering session. Making your own avocado mask is a quick fix for drier skins as it’s full of vitamins and antioxidants to help fight the dryness. Simply mash up the avocado and mix with a little olive oil, leave on the face avoiding the eye area for 20 minutes before washing off and applying a generous layer of moisturiser.

Now it’s time for some well-deserved beauty sleep…

Gone are the days of having to choose between being a lipstick or a lip gloss girl, with rich colours and moisturising formulas our lipsticks and lip glosses have something for everyone!

With a creamy, nourishing formula our lip glosses offer a range of eight shades with glossy finishes, with or without shimmer.  They’re not sticky so you won’t find your hair getting caught on them in the wind and with a balmy texture they’re perfect to protect your pout.

Damson Dusk is fast become a makeup bag must have with a deep, dusky pink mauve shade it echoes the colour often found in natural lips and with a strong pigment it bridges the gap between lipstick and lip gloss. LL Tip – Damson Dusk is the perfect shade to wear on top of Love Affair lipstick for added intensity and shine.

Our lipsticks are super smooth and a far cry from dated drying lipsticks, since they started to re-appear on the catwalks our customers have been crying out for a Lily Lolo lipstick and in July this year they got their wish!  Choose from six stunning shades, natural peachy beige ‘Demure’ to dramatic and daring ‘Desire’ our cool, intense red.

With a rich, creamy texture they’re packed with vitamin E and rosemary extract which will keep lips nourished and protected while giving a natural glow which you can build upon for added colour intensity.

Why not take a break from your norm and give a lipstick or lip gloss a try, we’re sure you’ll love them just as much as we do.

As the months grow colder and the nights draw in it’s the perfect time to change your eye makeup and bring in warm, rich shades that will create dramatic eyes!

Miami Taupe, Mystery and Soul Sister are must have eye shadow shades to create a base colour for your new look, take a wash of colour across the eyelid before choosing a complimenting darker shade such as Moonlight, Cosmopolitan, Khaki Sparkle or Witchypoo to add depth and drama to the socket line of your eye.  Be sure to blend well using the Eye Blending brush to create a soft edge between shades.

Taking a little of the darker shade underneath the outer corner of your eyes too will pull the whole look together to give smouldering, dramatic eyes.

Highlight the inner corners with Orchid or Gold Digger before using the black eye pencil to draw on your eyeline as close to the lashes as possible (this will help give the illusion of full thick lashes) and flick up towards the end of your brow to really bring those eyes to life.

Finish off with two or three coats of our fabulous Lash Alert mascara and you’re good to go!

LL Tip – When creating drama on the eyes be sure to keep lips soft or neutral.

With party season fast approaching we’ve created three shimmering limited edition eye shadow shades.  Whatever your eye colour there’s sure to be a way to wear them as our mineral eye shadows are so versatile when used wet or dry.

Amethyst - A Gorgeous Purple Grape with shimmering golden undertones

Midnight – A twinkling Midnight Blue with shimmering silver highlights

Mystical - A Shimmering intense Silver Grey

 If your eyes are blue or grey then a wash of Mystical over the entire lid teamed with a fabulous feline flick using either Amethyst or Midnight with a wet eye definer brush is sure to make them pop, or why not try Midnight applied with a wet eye shadow brush to really enhance the colour of your eyes.

A jewel like shade such as Amethyst can be perfect for bringing out the glamour of green eyes and enhancing the beauty of hazel eyes, add depth to the socket line by adding Midnight or Mystical to create a twist on a classic smoky eye look.

 Brown eyes really allow you to experiment and be bold with the eye shadow shades you wear, a smudgy, smoky eye line applied with the smudge brush to the upper and lower lash-lines with any of our new shimmering shades will create an stunning, edgy look.

Our three shimmering shades are only available as part of our limited edition gift collections, Shimmer Eyes contains all three shades for just £14.99 – you’ll be shimmering all season long!

It’s that time of year where Christmas is just around the corner and everyone’s starting to think about what to add onto their Christmas list and what presents to buy.

For winter 2012 we’ve launched three stunning collections, perfect for the party season or a glamorous gift.

Emphasise eyes and lips in classic shades with our stunning Retro Glamour Collection for just £24.99.  Containing exclusive limited edition Mystical eye shadow, an exclusive limited edition mini lip brush, a glamorous silver grey eye pencil, our must-have Lash Alert mascara and nourishing Desire lipstick all enveloped in our gorgeous new faux leather makeup bag it’s the perfect gift to create twinkling eyes and a perfect pout.

Our Glamour Eyes Collection allows you to give the gift of catwalk glamour for just £19.99. This glamorous gift contains two brand new and exclusive limited edition eye shadows in Amethyst and Midnight, along with our exclusive limited edition mini dual end brush and our gorgeous Lash Alert mascara. Packaged to perfection in our new faux leather makeup bag you won’t want to give this give away!

For the ultimate shimmering eye shadow gift we’ve added a glistening twist to our Eye Spy gift box and put together our limited edition Shimmer Eyes Collection containing all three limited edition eye shadow shades packaged up exclusively in our Eye Spy box for just £14.99.

• Amethyst – A Gorgeous Purple Grape with shimmering golden undertones
• Midnight – A twinkling Midnight Blue with shimmering silver highlights
• Mystical – A Shimmering intense Silver Grey

As the final few days of London Fashion Week are upon us, we love what we’re seeing. It’s fascinating to see so many new creative trends in store for us over the coming months!

A lot of the looks we’re seeing on the catwalk are winter florals with a bold print twist, and it hasn’t stopped there, with makeup looks matching the same striking, vivid hues.

Designer Louise Gray once again gave us bold shades creating a strong statement with bright eye shadows and pink blush in contrasting opposite shades for a modern twist on a fun, girly look. This can be easily achieved using our products. For the eyes apply Pixie Sparkle mineral eye shadow all over the lid with a flash of Gold Digger across the centre. Then apply a bright pop of pink blush to the apples of the cheeks such as Surfer Girl or Ooh La La, layering as you go until you achieve your perfect fashionista look.

Antoni & Alison gave us a twist on smoky eyes, with richer, brighter shades than usual, contrasting with nude lips and no blush.

Steal their catwalk style by applying your mineral foundation base and concealer only where needed, apply eye shadows in shades such as Bronze Sparkle across the lid, with Deep Purple blended heavily into the socket line and sweeping outwards. Add a thick line of Black Eyeliner and lashings of Lash Alert mascara. For added intensity on the eyes, keep your pout looking natural with a lipstick shade such as Demure or a slick of Clear lip gloss.

As the weather starts to take a chillier turn our thoughts turn to updating our look and getting a warm autumnal glow, our brand new shades are perfect for adding a warming touch of colour, are easy to apply and give you a natural, healthy look.

Using Soul Sister Mineral Eye Shadow, sweep a wash of colour across the eyelids. Soul Sister has a flattering demi-matte finish which gives just the right amount of lift to your eyes. Add depth and drama next by blending Cosmopolitan into the socket line (our Eye Blending Brush is great for this).

Finish off your eyes with two coats of our fabulous Lash Alert mascara.

Top Tip: Cosmopolitan used with a wet Eye Definer or Eye Detail brush will give a stunning eye liner shade too!

Using Sunset Mineral Blush will help to create a healthy looking, rosy glow to the apples of your cheeks or give skin a natural shimmering lift with Goddess.

For a dusky pink lip, Damson Dusk Natural Lip Gloss is ideal, echoing the shades often found in natural lip colours to enhance your perfect pout, you’ll fast find it becoming your everyday essential!  Or why not try our glistening Cocktail shade for a warm lip gloss to add a touch of glamour to any look, this deep, peach apricot shade has just the right amount of shimmer and is on trend for a stunning catwalk lip look.

We all like to change our looks, with many of us having a natural daytime look and a more glamorous look for an evening out. And, we all know what it’s like – a last minute evening out can leave you needing a quick makeup fix to take your look from coffee to cocktails!

Mineral eye shadows are versatile enough for a quick makeup fix without needing to carry your full makeup bag around all day.

Daytime look

Shades such as Sand Dune, Vanilla Shimmer and Cream Soda are the perfect wash of mineral eye shadow for a day at the office or natural daytime look.

Add depth to your eyes using Miami Taupe, Mudpie or Sticky Toffee by blending into the socket lines, and then add definition by using an eye liner close to the lash line. Our natural eye liner is soft, quick and easy to apply and can even be used on the waterline. They’re also perfect for those busy mornings when you’re short on time.

If you’ve got more time during your mornings, then a mineral eye shadow is perfect to double up as a natural eye liner. Simply wet your Eye Detail – Eye Smudge Brush or Eye Definer Brush and sweep a line of Black Sand, Mudpie or Miami Taupe across the lash line. Adding some colour underneath your eye lashes will also give you a wide awake look.

Finish your natural look with a coat of our Lash Alert natural mascara to help volumise and lengthen your lashes.

Evening look

By adding more drama or shimmer to your eyes, you can quickly take your daytime look into the evening. Try blending a mineral eye shadow such as Moonlight into the outer corners of your eyes, and then using a wet Eye Detail – Eye Smudge Brush or Eye Definer Brush, draw on a thicker lashline and take it outwards towards the end of your eye brow to give a stunning feline flick. For the ultimate retro glamour look, apply Witchypoo eye shadow as your eyeliner.

Don’t forget to apply two further coats of Lash Alert natural mascara – and you’re ready for anything!

Are you ever left pondering over which shade of lip colour to wear with your mineral blush? The answer is quite simple – match them together!

The general principle still stands: Your blush shade should be one that accentuates your skin tone. Think of the flushed tone of your cheeks after exercising and that’s the colour you should aim for when choosing your blush. The perfect colour is one that looks as natural as possible.

When choosing a lipstick, lip gloss, or lip liner, base your selection on your natural lip colour. For example, if your lips appear more pink, stay within the pink and peach/pink family of shades. If your lips appear more red, use reds or orange based shades. Fleshier skin tones should use mauves or shades with a brown undertone, and for the darkest skin tones use dark reds and plum.

The following blushes and lip colours match beautifully:

Pinks

Surfer Girl and Candy Girl mineral blush with Scandalips and English Rose natural lip gloss.

Dusky Pinks / Reds

Rosebud and Flushed mineral blush with Bitten Pink natural lip gloss, Romantic Rose, Desire and French Flirt natural lipstick.

Peaches

Cherry Blossom, Beach Babe, Juicy Peach and Clementine mineral blush with Peachy Keen natural lip gloss, Demure and Intense Crush natural lipstick.

Browns / Mauves

Rosy Apple mineral blush with Love Affair natural lipstick.

Remember that mineral blush and lip colours not only add a tinted hue to your skin, but they also provide depth and dimension too, making your face come alive.

Most of us refuse to leave the house without mascara because it makes our eyes appear bigger and more defined. Nothing else can frame your eyes and make them come alive in the same way. It’s every woman’s essential finishing touch to her eye makeup.

When choosing your mascara you should consider the formula you want. With natural ingredients being at the forefront of our minds, our new creamy Lash Alert natural mascara gives performance without compromising its natural ingredients – making it ideal for even the most sensitive eyes.

Lash Alert natural mascara will help volumise and lengthen lashes with its Glycerin based formula, ensuring that your lashes stay supple, conditioned and gorgeously groomed!

Tips for applying your mascara

Wipe excess mascara off the wand onto a clean tissue to avoid mascara overload.

Looking down into a mirror (preferably magnified), start at the base of the lashes using light zigzag strokes working up to the tips of the lashes. The zigzag technique helps to prevent lashes sticking together and gives them a more ‘feathery’ appearance.

Now gently apply to the bottom lashes.

Allow to dry before applying a 2nd coat using the same technique as above.

For added drama apply a 3rd coat. This gives a glamorous intensity to the eyes – perfect for a night out or special occasion.

Top tip: Avoid applying mascara to the top of your upper lashes as this forces them to fall flat and straight. Instead, apply underneath to create a beautiful ‘doll eyes’ look.

When it comes to makeup, most of us know the essential basics such as mineral foundation and mineral concealer, but many people forget about the useful corrector.

A corrector is often mistaken for being the same as a mineral concealer, but they actually serve a different purpose. They’re designed to correct and neutralise the appearance of discolouration – great for anything you want to camouflage. Mineral concealers, on the other hand, are intended for heavier coverage alongside your mineral foundation.

Our correctors neutralise the problem colour or discoloration by using an opposing colour for coverage. So, if you have redness of the skin from conditions such as spider veins, blemishes, acne or acne rosacea, you’ll benefit from using our green tinted corrector, Blush Away.

If you have pigmentation, dark spots (liver spots) or darkness around the eye area, then our yellow corrector, PeepO, is recommended.

Tips for using your corrector:

Before applying your mineral foundation, sprinkle a tiny amount of the corrector into the lid. Then using a Concealer Brush, work the corrector into the brush and apply sparingly to the areas you want to cover.

Never apply corrector over the top of your mineral foundation as it alters the makeup base and your skin colour will look off balance.

Then apply your mineral foundation - with a mineral concealer if heavier coverage is desired.

Remember, correctors neutralise the affected areas to blend in with your skin tone which makes your foundation appear fresher, leaving you with naturally beautiful looking skin.

Lipstick is the word on everyone’s lips here at Lily Lolo. And there’s little wonder, when we’ve just said hello to our first ever natural lipstick launch.

We’ve seen a huge increase in lip products over the years, but there’s something about the sumptuous texture of a natural lipstick that keeps us all coming back for more.

Every occasion was taken into consideration when developing our natural creamy lipstick shades, and without compromising on quality. They’re nourishing and protecting with Vitamin E and organic jojoba oil to ensure that your lips are kept soft and kissable.

But remember…prepped lips are the key to achieving the smoothest application! We recommend using a gentle lip exfoliator first and to moisturise the lips afterwards. This should stop the lipstick from sticking to any dry or flaky bits, which is never a good look when you want to look your best. Finally, to help avoid getting lipstick on your teeth, gently blot your lips with a tissue and you’re good to go!

With 6 new delicious shades to choose from, we think you’ll agree that they’re certainly something to be pouting about.

French Flirt – a rich, juicy, mid-toned red – makes a lovely pop of colour!

Demure – understated and coy, perfect for adding subtle definition to the lips.

Romantic Rose – you’ll look super cool wearing this bold pink beauty!

Intense Crush – pack a punch with this on trend peachy coral shade.

Desire – our deepest, most intense shade of red - only for those who dare!

Love Affair – a dusky pink that mimics the natural colour of lips – you’ll be sure to fall in love again!

When you’re not sunbathing by the pool or strolling down the beach, we want you to have the perfect holiday look without spending too long in front of the mirror.

Will you be a Beach Babe or Surfer Girl with our stunning summer collection?

Beach Babe – create your look

Apply Beach Babe mineral blush with our Angled Blush Brush to the apples of your cheeks to give a sun-kissed glow that will contour and define your face.

Add a touch of glamour to this natural beach look with a mineral eye shadow by sweeping Sand Dune Mineral Eye Shadow across your eyelids as a base or a natural ‘no makeup’ look using our Eye Shadow Brush. Then add depth to your eyes by blending Black Sand into your sockets with our Eye Blending Brush.

Surfer Girl – create your look

Using our Angled Blush Brush, apply Surfer Girl mineral blush to your cheeks to give a gorgeous healthy glow, as if you’ve just caught a wave! To finish the look, add a slick of Black Sand with your wet Eye Definer Brush over a dry base of Sand Dune, applied with your Eye Shadow Brush.

Our Clear Natural Lip Gloss with complete both looks and keep your lips soft and smooth.

You can even create a golden all over glow with a mineral bronzer! A sweep of our Waikiki will add colour and enhance your natural tan. Mix a small amount with your favourite body lotion too, as it’s essential to keep your skin moisturised when spending time in the sun.

P.S. Don’t forget the sun cream and plenty of water to keep your skin hydrated!

With summer almost here, we’re all making plans for those special occasions. Whether it’s a summer wedding or if you’re one of the lucky ladies visiting Royal Ascot this week, it’s all about the dress and hat – so we’ve put together some suggestions for your makeup to ooze style and beauty while complementing any outfit.

For a day at the races glamour is high on the agenda, so adding a touch of mineral shimmer will help lift your look with understated glamour. A soft natural mineral blush such as Cherry Blossom is the perfect peachy pink shade, and with a subtle shimmer it gives a touch of elegance to your look. Or, how about trying our ‘hero’ blush Ooh La La? This gorgeous matte pink shade is a firm favourite and our best-selling mineral blush.

Pastel mineral eye shadow shades such as Green Opal and Pink Champagne are beautiful worn alone or blended with our other shades. While natural browns are perfect for a summer look, a wash of Sticky Toffee is perfect for giving eyes a twinkle, and adding Moonlight to the sockets will give depth and definition to take your look into the evening.

Our brown or black natural eye liner will also define the eyes and help make your eye colour pop!

Finish off with a peachy or pink natural lip gloss to complement your blush. Peachy Keen is our favourite for a little shimmer on the lips, while English Rose will give you the perfect glossy pink pout for any occasion.

It’s so important to find the right shade of mineral foundation for your skin tone. Customers ask about this quite a lot so we thought we’d share some hints and tips with you to help you achieve your desired look.

The best starting point is to look at your skin in natural daylight. If you have slight pink tones, then your natural colouring is cool. If you look peachier, your undertones are more likely to be warm, and yellow undertones usually apply to olive skin. If none of these are particularly obvious, then the neutral tone shades will suit you better.

Another good tip is to look at the inside of your wrists. If your veins show a blue tinge, then you’re more likely to have cool colouring. If they look green(ish) then warm tones will probably suit you better. Again, if you’re not obviously either one, then try the neutral tones.

Try our mineral foundation samples to test the shades before you invest in the full size one. We’d recommend ordering perhaps 2 or 3 samples. You can even mix our mineral foundations to create your own personal colour. This works particularly well if you’re in between shades. This is quite common as the seasons change.

Test the shades along your jawline, as it’s important that your foundation blends seamlessly from your face to neck with no obvious colour change. The right shade should almost disappear into your skin – making it look like your own natural skin but even more gorgeous!

If a shade looks a bit ashy, then it’s too pale for you. If it looks orange – even a tiny bit – then it’s too dark.

It’s also possible to tone down your natural undertones by choosing foundation that’s a shade away from your natural colouring. For example, to tone down pinkness, choose a neutral or warm shade and if your skin tone is too yellow or sallow, try a neutral or cool shade to brighten it up.

Finally, build up the coverage in several light layers to achieve the look of natural, flawless skin. After all, that’s what we all want isn’t it?

It’s 60 years since Queen Elizabeth II became Monarch and we’re feeling very patriotic at Lily Lolo HQ.

To celebrate Diamond Jubilee Weekend, we’ve created a perfect royal twist on the smoky eye look by using the white and blue of the Union Flag and the shimmering diamond twist of the Jubilee.

A wash of our shimmering Gunmetal Mineral Eye Shadow will give the perfect base shade for this look before blending our gorgeous, smoky blue-grey shade, Greyzie Daze, into the sockets to add depth to your eyes. You can even line your eyes with our silver-grey natural eye liner to really bring out a royal sparkle in your eyes!

Finish with a dot of Orchid to the inner corners of your eyes to instantly brighten them and give you a pop of shimmer to start the celebrations.

Enjoy the Diamond Jubilee Weekend!

Lily Lolo x

We all want to achieve the perfect look and know that not only has the product to be right, but using the correct tools is also vital to achieving a flawless finish.

Your face should be the perfect canvas to create your preferred look. So choosing the right mineral foundation is essential for giving you the flawless complexion to achieve it.

Follow your usual skincare routine, ensuring your moisturiser is fully absorbed before moving on to applying your foundation. Our Super Kabuki Brush is the perfect choice for applying your loose mineral foundation. Its super soft, synthetic hair makes it so easy to build coverage while still allowing your skin to look flawless and not made up. Swirl your brush into the powder and tap off any excess. Next, buff your foundation in circular motions to build in light layers to get your desired finish.

If it’s a natural everyday look you crave, then you can’t go wrong with our new summer shades. A wash of Sand Dune across the lids with an Eye Shadow Brush will give the perfect base and make your eyelids look clean and fresh.

Our Eye Shadow Brush is shaped to give you the ultimate control when applying mineral eye shadow, which avoids any inconvenient drops of powder on your face.

Our Eye Blending Brush has larger, softer bristles to help swiftly blend in a darker shade such as Black Sand to the socket line, adding depth and drama to your eyes. Be sure to use this brush to soften the lines where the two eye shadows meet to give a seamless natural eye.

The Eye Detail and Eye Smudge Brush can finish your eyes by creating a number of looks. Using Black Sand wet, you can create a stunning, rich eye line with the eye detail end. Then turn this into a feline flick by continuing the line outwards and slightly towards the brow. Transform the line again into a smudgy, smoky finish with the eye smudge end.

A sweep of a natural looking blush such as Surfer Girl or Beach Babe is essential for giving you healthy cheeks. The Angled Blush Brush gives control so that you can apply your blush to the apples of your cheeks to emphasise your cheekbones and give added definition to your face.

Lastly, a light dusting of your chosen finishing powder will help set your look for the day. Our Powder Brush allows you to apply just enough powder to get the dewy glow or natural matte finish you require.

With summer just around the corner, it’s the perfect time to pull out your favourite Mineral Bronzer to get sunkissed colour for a warm, glowing complexion. When applying bronzer to your face, it’s best to sweep a light dusting to the areas that would usually catch the sun – your forehead, cheeks, chin and down your nose.

You can even apply it to your neck, chest and shoulders for a gorgeous glow to the upper body when wearing a strappy or strapless top. Coverage is best built in light layers using a Powder Brush to avoid overloading on your skin, so that your look stays natural. Don’t forget our minerals are highly pigmented so a little goes a long way!

Mineral bronzer is also great for contouring and adding definition to your face. Sweep the bronzer upwards towards your temples or in the hollows of your cheeks to give you an instant slimmer effect.

We have three fabulous bronzer shades to choose from. Waikiki, our lightest golden brown shade gives a stunning subtle shimmer to lighter skin tones, or can be used to highlight on darker skin.

South Beach is our medium bronzer with a matte finish. It has lovely peachy undertones to give a natural finish to your complexion.

Our darkest bronzer is Bondi Bronze. This shimmering brown bronzer has golden highlights that glisten in the sun and it’s also suitable for most skin tones.

Stay bronzed this summer and glow with our mineral bronzers!

As a Product Development Co-ordinator and Customer Service Advisor, I spend a lot of my time liaising with customers and suppliers to ensure we’re giving the service you need and providing the products you want. Many of our customers ask for more products, gift sets and the chance to re-visit popular shades from the past, and we try to provide these whenever we can.

We’re very proud that the UK is hosting the Olympics this year and we want to celebrate this with both our national and international customers. 1948 was the last time the Olympics were held in the UK which make this year’s games something really special, and we want to be part of that by cheering on the athletes in Lily Lolo style.

So, I started thinking about how we could become part of the winning community feel of the Olympics and produce something that’s also on trend.

I held a concept meeting to gather our team’s thoughts on what they would like to see as a commemorative product to mark the occasion. We quickly decided that it had to be a feminine twist to the usual sporty theme of the Olympics.

A soft, pretty gift box showing a view of the London skyline – an image that will be cast across the world this coming summer – was the favourite concept to be developed. And, as metallic is a key trend this season, we thought what better way to go than filling the gift box with our own collection of mineral eye shadow colours.

The colours were an easy choice as the current range already holds the winning combination. Our stunning Bronze Sparkle, Silver Dollar and Gold Digger mineral eye shadows make the perfect collection. Plus, we’ve brought back Silver Dollar by popular demand and for a limited time only during the Olympics.

To complete our limited edition collection, we needed a memorable and catchy name. We chose ‘If Eye Were A Winner’ as it seems to fit perfectly. I hope you like it as much as we do.

Finally, I love hearing what you think, so feel free to leave your comments or suggestions about our products below, or send me an email: emma@lilylolo.co.uk

Emma Cleary x

With spring in full swing and summer just around the corner, it’s the ideal time to refresh your make up bag to take you on trend with the latest catwalk looks.

The spring/summer 2012 catwalks provided a variety of looks from true minimalism to bold metallic eyes. Diane Kendal at Proenza Schouler gave the ultimate minimalist look by using only concealer, powder and blush for the face, and a nude slick on the lips. This look continued across the catwalk in shows from Missoni, Stella McCartney, Givenchy and Chloe.

Our brand new shades of Beach Babe and Sand Dune are perfect for creating your own minimalist look of barely there make up, while appearing effortlessly beautiful.

Gentle smoky eyes were key for Pat McGrath at Lanvin, with a pretty taupe and brown shimmer twist on the traditional grey and black smoky eye look. Create your own version with Miami Taupe and our new Black Sand eye shadow. Why not take the look from day to night by adding the rich chocolatey shimmer of Moonlight.

Dare to bare? Christopher Kane, Missoni and Thakoon all opted for a mascara free, simple look for their catwalk shows. Create your own fresh faced look with just foundation, clear gloss and a flush of our cool, pink Surfer Girl blush.

Metallic eyes were also all over the catwalks, which saw Fendi apply gold or silver leaf to the entire lid and brow. With a variety of our mineral eye shadows such as Gunmetal, Gold Digger and Golden Lilac to choose from, there’s bound to be a metallic look for you!

Whichever catwalk look inspires you this season, we’re here to help you create your effortless summer beauty…naturally.

Lily Lolo x