Pre Oscar Party pics

Hey Blog Readers!x!

 

So I went to a  pre oscar party last night with two friends (Daniela and her friend Sal) and basically I have a ton of snaps on my phone! (looking forward to seeing the professional red carpet pics! btw: that was a scary experience a lot of flashing lights)

Anyhow - There's too many photos that are to similar for facebook so I thought I'd post them here!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was a gold party which is why I pulled out my gold herve leger bodycon style dress that I've actually had for a really long time but I've never properly worn it! It's tiny! so I always think I'll be too uncomfortable in it! but I've lost a bit of Christmas weight so it fitted perfectly last night! My heels are red soles and gold glitter so they fitted the theme as did my earrings which I got from an Indian jeweler on soho road in Birmingham (I LOVE indian style jewelry!). I did my own hair and makeup! I planned on trying to do my hair really big and backcombed but I'm not able to do it on myself :( so it didn't turn out as planned! I wore much bigger lashes than usual! I had Eylure #140 'Exaggerate' sitting in my makeup drawer waiting for a good excuse to come out so I popped those bad boys on with a gold smokey eye! 

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Can you believe my friend Daniela made her own dress??!... wowzers!x!  

I did my contouring and highlighting routine last night! if you missed it catch it below!! 

Lots of Love,

Shahira Xo

If your company would like a review or specific blog-post on a product, treatment, service or any other item to appear on www.shahirabarry.com email info@shahirabarry.com with the details.

Easy Contouring and Highlighting + Video

Hey Blog Readers! 

So I've done my 2nd YouTube video of 2015! and this time I decided to do 'How I contour and Highlight"! Lets point out I don't do these steps every day for a regular day time look but if I've a night out, a shoot or something special on I'll take the extra time to contour/highlight when doing my makeup!

I thought I'd add some extra info to this blog that may not have been covered in the video!

Incase you don't already know 'contouring & highlighting' helps to add or accentuate dimension on your face! if done right it is absolutely beautiful!
Contouring is to add shadow to an area and to make that are recede inwards. Highlighting will bring an area forward! Makeup artists have always known about this technique but it has really become a trend with the rest of us since Kim Kardashian posted the below photo of her makeup application and everyone wanted to know what she was doing! what is her secret??-its contouring/highlighting and it's out of the bag now! lol

 

The results are flawless!

The products I use to contour/highlight: 

1. Max Factor Pan Stick Foundation #14 
2. Makeup forever sculpting kit (the bronzer)
3. Maybelline Age Rewind Concealer in 'Light' 
4. Ben nye banana powder mixed with Ben nye super white powder. 
5. Young Blood 'Twilight' highlighter 

Brushes: 

1. Real Techniques contour brush 
2. Real Techniques buffing brush 
3. Real Techniques detail brush 
4. Any clean eye shadow brush with tightly packed bristles 
5. Real Techniques crease brush. 

Things to NOTE: 

• I had my foundation on before doing my contour/highlight - which is my last step in my makeup application!
• You can choose to do only one of the steps I show.. meaning: either the cream contour/highlight or the powder contour/highlight! however doing both will ensure it doesn't budge and will give a more extreme precise result for a special occasion. 
• If wearing during the day it is probably best to only do the cream/liquid technique as it will look more natural! 
• You don't have to use the products that I use - you can make do with what you have or opt for an alternative! the idea is simply to use any cream or liquid foundation that is a couple of shades darker than your skin tone to contour and a couple of shades lighter to highlight! 
• Don't make the mistake of using a bronzer that has a shimmer in it as this defeats the purpose! Think about it... the dark shade is saying to contour (recede) and the shimmer is saying to highlight (bring forward) so your makeup and face will look confused ;) lol. Make sure any bronzer you use is MATT! 
• The nose is individual! if you already have a thin/small nose then don't contour it - it will end up looking really small and strange and you have no need for it! If you have a nose that could do with a little extra contouring don't just copy any video you see (like mine) take the idea from it but then experiment on your own as everyone's nose is different and therefore will need to be inspected and then contoured differently in order to receive the desired results! 
• If your nose has a bump adding the contour colour to the bump and blending well will help to conceal it! and if your nose is long doing the 'Marilyn Monroe' trick that I refer to in the video will make your nose appear shorter! again use your own common sense: if you don't want your nose to look shorter then skip this step! 
• Adding highlight to the tip of your nose will make your nose appear more turned'upwards - if your nose is already turned up at the end then skip this step! 
• I was wearing eye makeup in this video so I didn't demonstrate that you can also contour along the crease of your eye socket to give more dept to your eyes and make them appear larger! 
• Remember highlighting brings that area forward and contouring makes the area go inward SO always examine you're own face to discover the best way for you to highlight/contour as everyone's face is different! for example if you have deep eye sockets which cause under eye circles but you also have puffy cheeks don't bring the highlighter as far down (in the sideways V shape) onto the cheek: instead do a smaller v shape higher up ie. only on the undereye circle which will then bring that area forward to appear flush with your cheek (I hope that explanation is understandable :) 

With all of that being said here is the video!! 

I hope you liked it! let me know if you have any questions or any requests for new videos - I would love to hear them!

Please remember to thumbs up the video and subscribe to my channel!x! 

And FOLLOWWW MEEE on Instagram/Twitter @ShahiraBarry and give a like on facebook!

Lots of Love! 

Shahira Xo 

If your company would like a review or specific blog-post on a product, treatment, service or any other item to appear on www.shahirabarry.com email info@shahirabarry.com with the details.

7 random facts about me blog

Hey Blog Readers! 

So for a while there everyone was writing facebook statuses which gave an insight into 7 random facts about themselves. Personally I liked these statuses because I found it interesting to learn some silly random facts about different people - it made me feel like I knew them a little bit more! BUT I know some people found the craze annoying (there's always a few right??). Anyway, I didn't share mine on facebook so I thought I'd share them here: that way only people who are interested will feel a need to click in to the blog link :)

Here we go... 

1. For years I hated my name 'Shahira' simply because it was different... I wanted to be called Rachel (after Rachel from friends) or Nicola because I think the nick name "Nikki" is cute! I had people call me by my nick-name for years (it rhymed with barry... cringe) I wouldn't change my name from Shahira now because I've grown to really like it and it also means 'Famous' in Arabic so that's kind of cool considering I'm pursuing a career in entertainment so it's a great stage name! By the way another random fact: my mum always says if she knew it meant famous she wouldn't have called me it and would have looked for something with a "deeper meaning" lol. 
2. When I was younger I hated photographs (you would never know that now... #selfie, lol!). The first pictures I thought were 'decent' were from when I made my debs in 2008! (funny because I cringe at them now). 
3. I've suffered from panic attacks and have a constant struggle to control my anxiety (even to this day - despite the front I may show to the rest of the world). I also went through a period of depression and at one point it was very serious. In general I would describe myself as a "glass half full" and a very happy person but despite having legitimate reasons for feeling the way I was feeling it still hit me like a tone of bricks and was difficult to make sense of or see past. These days I wouldn't say "I'm cured" because it's day by day (and I think it will always be day by day) but I am aware and I take extra care to look after my mental health. FYI I also hate that it's called 'mental health' a lot of the time people do have reasons for becoming depressed. My point is that depression can sneak up on anybody! The only reason I am choosing to share this here on my blog is because I genuinely don't think that anyone from the outside glancing in would have guessed it at any point (except for those extremely close to me) and therefore my message would be that we have to be kind to each other because you truly never know what someone is going through! I have chosen to share this personal information because if even one person reading this can relate: know that you are not alone and realise that through every dark night there's a bright day after that! I am also sharing because I think it's important for people who have struggled with this to speak out and not to feel ashamed! we are human and life can be hard! Not only do we need to take care of eachother but first and foremost we need to take care of ourselves! "Love Thy Neighbour as Thyself". 
4. I live a very healthy lifestyle (some may call it boring) I rarely go out and barely drink alcohol - I say barely because I don't want to put the label "i don't drink" on myself because I feel that's pressure and it's made into a big deal then if from time to time I decide to! (it's not the end of the world afterall). I used to enjoy partying as much as the next person (I started prettyyy young) but my priorities have been building a career and chasing my dreams for the past couple of years and to be honest I get more happiness and adrenaline out of being on set or progressing in that way then I do from a night out anymore and personally I don't think I can balance both. Safe to say this decision also lead me to realize who my true friends were and who were only around as "drinking buddies". 
5. I'm really out-doorsy! I love nature and animals! (I miss my pets a ridiculous amount!!) one of my favorite things to do is to go hiking! I also like adventure sports - kayaking, gorge walking, rock climbing, anything like that is right up my street but I don't get a chance to do them as much as I would like to! 
6. I'm a Taurus and probably a typical one in many ways... I'm stubborn, passionate and when I set my mind on something chances are I'm going to do it. I don't take no for an answer... where there's a will there IS a way! (obviously all within good morals) 
7. I have a very small family - My immediate family consists of just me, my mum and my sister and despite living in LA. I speak to my mum about 10-15 times a day and my sister maybe 1-2 x a day depending on our schedules! Viber is a great thing! There couldn't be a closer family and despite being small we are strong and so united! It causes me a huge amount of pain being so far  away from them and I'm not embarrassed to say they are my true best friends!x! 

So there you have it! 7 diverse and random facts about me that you may or may not have know depending on how well you know me on a personal level! 

Thanks for stopping by! 

Lots of Love, 

Shahira Xo

If your company would like a review or specific blog-post on a product, treatment, service or any other item to appear on www.shahirabarry.com email info@shahirabarry.com with the details.