Black eyeliner on the top lid with a cute flick, a la Amy Winehouse, is the current number one trend for eye make up. However, if you want to stand out from the Winehouse wannabes, try using a bright, vibrant colour instead of black.

Urban Decay’s 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencil are smooth, creamy, soft and ridiculously easy to apply. After about 30 seconds the colour dries, staying in place for however long you want. And the best part is that they’re available in a huge range of colours. Play it safe with Zero, a plain black, or Bourbon, a brown with a hint of gold glitter. Or go all out and try Dime, a bright metallic silver, or my personal favourite Electric, a bright aquamarine with flecks of glitter.

They’re available at Urban Decay counters or online at Boots or Asos.

These pencils work well just by themselves, or paired with eyeshadow for dazzling look-at-me eyes.

Recently bright red lips have been the look brazen women everywhere have been sporting. In Autumn/Winter though, purple reigns supreme. Plum, blackberry and purple are all hot colours, especially on the lips.

Clinique has some great shades for A/W, including Rum Kiss, Cranberry Cream, and Crushed Grape, in their Colour Surge Butter Shine Lipstick range. This lipstick is rich, creamy, and won’t dry out your lips. These kind of colours work best matte, so leave off the lipgloss.

A good lip balm is always a great base for lipstick, or there are specially designed bases available that will help your lipstick last longer and prevented drying out. Clinique also have a range of lipliners that coordinate with their lipsticks that can be used to enhance colour.

Clinique’s Colour Surge Butter Shine Lipstick is available for £12 at Clinique counters and on the Clinique website.

Lancome’s Juicy Tube lipgloss has become a classic make up item over the years. The tube tip applicator makes them easy to apply, so there’s no messing about with a sticky wand. You get a long lasting high shine gloss with a hint of shimmer and they come in yummy flavours that don’t dry out your lips.

The main reason we love them though is their iconic tube shape that doesn’t leak, and fits into the tiniest of handbags!

Now Lancome have teamed up with hot new fashion designer Christopher Kane to produce a new range of Juicy Tubes inspired by cities all over the world. The new flavours include the brilliantly named Banana Ipanema, Cinnamon Soho and Sparkling Paris, with the tube showcasing artwork by Christopher Kane. These are limited edition, so get your hands on them and start globetrotting now!

Available at Lancome counters and Boots they cost £13.50 each.

I have applied my makeup in the same way ever since I was about 14, using a simple eye shadow, black eyeliner and mascara… boring, I know! So a few weeks ago I realised I needed a change and more importantly a make-up lesson so I popped into House of Fraiser for a peek around the Mac and Benefit sections.

I love Benefit make-up, I also use their BadGal Lash Mascara, High Beam and Non Fiction Foundation. A friend of mine recommended Big Beautiful Eyes to me while I was complaining about my lack of knowledge applying eye make-up. The product contains a dark circle concealer, pink base colour, cocoa shimmer contour shadow, chocolate brown liner shadow and an illustrated step-by-step makeup lesson. Brushes are included and labelled for each step! Its a great idea and I have been able to transform my boring look to sexy smokey eyes with very little effort and without going OTT.

Benefit’s Big Beautiful Eyes can be bought on their website for £17.50. It comes in a little pack that you can slot into your handbag and retouch when necessary.

I have fallen in love with the new Mac Electro Flash Mineralize Eye Shadow Duo Range. I think they are brilliant as I personally love mixing eye shadows and this is already done for you, the colours are amazing too and can instantly brighten up your look! There are a lot of colours in the range so you are spoilt for choice and there is something to suit all eye colours.

I haven’t quite made it to the Mac counter yet, but I know which one I will be opting for ‘Odd Couple’ as shown in the picture which boasts a warm gold with lavender and purple. Normally what I do when applying eye shadow so it doesn’t loose its colour or drop onto my eye lashes is apply a base beforehand.

The eye shadow is £12.50 available online at www.maccosmetics.co.uk.

I found a new cheek and lip colour from Benefit called Posietint, and at first I was a little bit hesitant on buying it, but I am now glad I did! It is a liquid stain that comes with a brush and when applied leaves a lush sheer pink wash of colour. I did find that when using it on your cheeks you will need to make sure you bend it into the skin, when done so looks fab. As it can be used on both lips and cheeks it have a double purpose; all the more reason to buy!

In my opinion I think this is a great little make up item to have for your day wear when going for the natural look, easily applied and small enough for your handbag. This can be bought online from www.benefitcosmetics.co.uk for £22.50.

I have been wearing this nail varnish now for the last week and I must say I am in love with it. The Revlon One Perfect Nail Varnish in Coral looks amazing the colour is so rich and most certainly completes a summery outfit especially on a nice tanned set of hands and feet, so is a must to take with you on holiday!

With the handy one coat quick dry it makes it nice and easy to do when in a rush, I had no problem with this, I do find most nail varnishes need two coats to make the colour. I will most certainly be purchasing other colours from this range as there are 24 shades to choose from, I’m sure I will not be stopping at just one.

You can get this from Superdrug for £4.29 at the moment… Bargain

The newest member of the too faced collection that I have succumbed to buying is Too Faced Shadow Insurance. This is a definite must have if you wear a lot of eye shadow and are tired of it creasing, fading or melting.

Once applying this to the eye lid wait a couple of minutes before putting your eye shadow or pigment over the top, it wonderfully fights off the oil and it allows it to stay put until its time to take it off. All the more reason to wear bright eyeshadow now knowing it wont crease!

It’s a bargain at £11.00 from the ASOS website.

The new exciting MAC Fafi Collection has been launched and can be found in the shops. This collection sports a limited edition packaging and the range of makeup has the most appealing colours. I must admit I did have a spree and bought a few pieces, I couldn’t resist the stylish packaging and striking shades. Starting with my first buy the Iridescent Powder; it manages to give your skin a beautiful sheen. (£15.50) I use it both on its own or mixed with another powder as its great for adding a nice pearly colour to my skin!

The second must have I had to have was this High Gloss Nail Varnish. You can get three different finishes – Cream, Sheer and Frosted, I wanted the “Girls Will Be Girls” shade which is the Frost finish. I love it and it has a pink with coral pearl look to it, which is a great colour to go with all the floral patterns that is in the shops at the moment.

The last thing I bought in my make up spree was an awesome bright lipstick which is great at making your final look on a night out! The limited edition FAFI Lipstick has 6 shades I chose “Flash-N-Dash” and stands out when wearing it with your eyes framed with some eye liner and mascara and cheeks with a pearly shine. A fun and exciting buy in my opinion!

I do love make up and enjoy trying out new products even if I didn’t realise I needed it. I recently bought a lip plumping lip gloss by Clinique called Full Potential Lips, the colour was what initially what attracted me to the product and I found it fantastic! The gloss has a gorgeous sheer and instantly gave me more noticeable fuller lips which stayed put for ages.

There are 10 exciting colours which can match with lots of looks. I chose 13 Luscious Lilac which is my favourite but there are plenty of nudes so if you’re not looking for a lot of colour and just want it for plumping then there are 6 to choose from. I must say I will be adding to the collection very soon! So for kissable lips I definitely recommend this one. Check out the Clinique Website for all the colours.