Tuesday 31 December 2013

New years eve FOTD

Even though my new years eve plans have consisted of nothing more than rushing to Asda to get some food before early closing, I did this quick glitzy look.  I patted the Collection 2000 glitter liners on top of eyeshadow.  I also used my new Chanel gloss, as the glitter in that is very fine, so it didn't look OTT when paired with the sparkly eyes.






Products Used

Face
Illamasqua Skin Base Foundation (a mixture of 02 and 06)
Illamasqua Skin Base Lift in White and Light 1
LancĂ´me Poudre Majeur Excellence Translucent Pressed Powder 
MAC Alpha Girl Beauty Powder

Eyes
Too Faced Shadow Insurance
Sleek Circus palette 
MAC Parfait Armour eyeshadow
MAC Plumage eyeshadow
Collection 2000 Glam Crystals liners in Shake it up! and Dancing Queen
MAC Black Russian Pearlgide liner
Rimmel Glam Eyes black liquid liner
Urban Decay 24/7 pencil liner in Zero
Lancome Hypnose Star mascara
Active Cosmetics false lashes
MUFE Aqua Brow

Lips
Benefit Posietint
Chanel Levres Scintillantes Glossimer in Aragonite

Monday 30 December 2013

Christmas beauty haul

I arrived home yesterday after spending Christmas with my parents in France.  I did quite well this year as far as beauty gifts go, and I thought I'd share some pics of my goodies with you all.  Some of these I was bought, others I purchased with money I was given. 

My first gift. Chanel Levres Scintillantes Glossimer in Aragonite (151) was given to me by a friend.  Given my love of all things glittery at the moment, this gloss couldn't be more perfect.  It's packed full of golden white and pink glitter, that looks absolutely stunning when it catches the light.  This is the ultimate glitzy new years eve party gloss, and I'd highly recommend it to anybody wanting to add a little extra something  to their celebratory look. (Keep scrolling for swatches!)



My second beauty gift I received was from my brother.  He joked that my presents each year get smaller, but more expensive!  They also get prettier.  I'm sure I've mentioned my love of Armani's Lip Maestros before, as they're an incredible formula.  A liquid lipstick that drys down to a modern matte finish that last comfortably for hours.  Armani's Christmas collection this year looked more to me like a summer collection.  A collection filled with vibrant pinks and oranges.  I fell in love with the bright pink lipstick (505), and was super happy to find it wrapped up under the Christmas tree waiting for me.  The swatches below make it look more coral than it is, but I'm sure that I'll be showing it's true colour off in a look soon.



Next up are a couple of items that I bought using some money I received.  I'd had my eye on one of the lipsticks from Guerlain's Crazy Paris collection, and was hoping it would pop up in the post Christmas sales.  I was lucky and managed to nab the Rouge Automatique in Illusion for half price!  It's described as a 'subtle sparkling plum'.  It's a deep pink-fuchsia with pink sparkle.  It's sheerer than the Rouge G formula that I'm used to, but it was love at first sight with this shade.



I also spotted a the glosses from Guerlain's fall collection in the sale, and just had to have Madame Fascine, a deep purpley-plum.  Applied it's quite sheer, deepening my natural lip colour.  It's a really nice every day shade for the colder months, and I'm sure I'll be getting a lot of use out of it!

Here's some swatches of the above products.  As I said earlier, the Armani Lip Maestro is far pinker than the swatch here looks. 



Another product that I splashed out on was quite a find for me.  Back in October I read Temptalia's review of Guerlain's Crazy Meteorites Radiance Powder.  I own one lot of meteorite pearls, which I love.  They're quite often the finishing touch that I apply to my makeup just before I head out of the door.  So when a pinkier, pressed version popped up, I knew I had to have it.  But do you think I could find them?  Most stores, whilst carrying the Crazy Paris collection, didn't stock the pressed meteorites.  The one store that did (I think it was either Harrods or Selfidges) sold out before I got there.  I then tried the French Sephora site, hoping I could get it sent to my parents.  No luck.  Then I scoured American websites, with the thought that my friend could forward it on.  All sold out.  So I gave up.  Then, whilst visiting the town of Agen with my parents, I dragged them into Sephora.  It was only as a passing thought before we left that I checked the Guerlain stand.  And there I found my meteorites!  I'm sure my parents and brother thought I was mad, but I knew that I'd kick myself if I didn't get them!  So now I am the proud owner of Guerlain's Crazy Meteorites Radiance Powder.  And at less than half the price of the regular pressed meteorites, it's worth every penny.  I don't like the packaging as much, but having got my hands on it made my day!



There's not really much point in me posting swatches of this, as those who know meteorites will know how subtle the effect is, and how difficult it is to catch on camera.  The effect is a healthy glow from within, a radiance which looks natural, rather than achieved by makeup.  For someone like me who suffers from a chronic illness (or two!), and therefore has a tendency to have tired looking skin, this is a luxuary that's well worth having.


My final piece to show you isn't so much makeup related, but continues on the Guerlain theme.  I'm not one for perfume, but a year ago I fell in love with Guerlain's La Petite Robe Noire Eu De Parfum.  With notes of black rose, black cherry, and patchoucli, fading down to reveal vanilla and licorice scents.  It's sweet, but not overwhelmingly so, and it wears well on my skin.  So when I unwrapped a bottle of La Petite Robe Noir shower gel, it was guaranteed to be a hit.  I would never spend such a large amount of shower gel for myself, so it was a wonderful present to receive.  The smell alone makes it feel so luxurious to use, as it's a far more complicated scent (especially compared the the Original Source shower gel I'm used to!).  You don't need a lot for a thick lather, which means it will last me for many washes, and the smell remains on my skin for a good few hours afterwards.

I feel so incredibly lucky this year to have gotten my mitts on so many wonderful beauty items.  There certainly was a Guerlain theme!  I also received a Remmington Pearl Curling Wand, which I may review once I've had a proper play with it.

I hope you all had a great Christmas, and that you all have a happy new year!

Saturday 28 December 2013

Urban Decay Vice 2 - swatches and initial thoughts

Another palette I got to play with when my friend visited was Urban Decay's Vice 2 palette.  Whilst I don't have any looks done with this (maybe my friend will oblige and send me some of her look photos *hint hint Rae*!), here are some swatches and my initial thoughts.  All swatches were done with one finger swipe.


Like Vice 1, the palette is a hefty box, which feels like your eyeshadows will be fair safe should you need to take it traveling.  It has a double ended brush, and a large mirror on the inside lid.


From left to right:
Smokeout, Lovesick, Shellshock, Coax, X-rated,
Prank, Maddness, Strike, Stash, Poison

Smokeout was the disappointment of this batch, as it's quite chalky.  It can be built up though.  Strike also looked quite sheer when first swatched, but it's easily packed out, and the resulting colour is richly pigmented.  Coax is probaby my favourite out of the whole palette.  I'll be on the hunt for another pink just like this for myself!

From left to right:
Radar, Damaged, Voodoo, Betrayal, Derailed,
Dope, Toxic, Habitat, Ambush, Rewind

Once again Urban Decay have excelled themselves with their neutral shades.  Radar, Derailed, and Ambush are incredibly pigmented and their texture is buttery soft.  Voodoo was sheerer and more powdery, but again I found that it could be built up easily.  Dope would probably be the first colour I'd hit the pan on, as it's the only real highlight shade in the palette.  Again, the texture on this was beautiful.

I raided my own stash, and pulled out a couple of eyeshadows that were comparable . 

Left: Betrayal, Urban Decay Fishnet (old formula)
Right: Shellshock, Urban Decay Oz (Glinda palette)

The blue duochrome in Betrayal instantly made me think of Fishnet.  However the base colour is more blue-toned, and the blue duochrome is stonger.  The two silvers on the other hand, are pretty much identical.  Oz has some micro-glitter, but as this doesn't translate when swatched, this wasn't really a difference.  Shellshock is ever so slightly softer in texture.

Left: Urban Decay Blackout, Smokeout, MAC Carbon
Right: Lovesick, MAC Black Tied

When placed next to a true black shadow, the brown undertones in Smokeout are more apparent.  I'm not even sure why I bothered placing MAC Carbon next to it, as it's such a poor quality shadow!  Lovesick and Black Tied are very similar.  Lovesick, whilst somewhat powdery, was not as dry as Black Tied.  I also found that the silver glitter in Lovesick translated better.

 Prank, MAC Contrast

The colour of these two shadows are quite similar,  however my swatches show the complete difference in formula.  MAC Contrast can be built up, but I think this picture reveals the difference in quality, showing that just because the colour is similar, it doesn't mean that they are true dupes!

Looking at my swatches again, I'm pretty sure that Ambush is similar to MAC Woodwinked, but unfortunately I no longer have the palette to compare!

Overall, this is a nice palette.  There's a good variety in colours, and it's always nice when a palette contains a good highlight shade.  Urban Decay do eyeshadows very well, and whilst some of the shadows weren't top notch, even the more powdery shades can be built up.  If you have a large eyeshadow collection you may find that you have colours that are very similar to some of them, as they're not particularly unique shades (I'm sure if I had gone through all of my Sleek palettes I would have found more dupes), but if you're looking to build a collection, Urban Decay's palettes are always a good place to start.

Thursday 26 December 2013

Boxing Day FOTD

Merry Christmas!  I hope you all had a great day yesterday!  Just a quick FOTD today.



Face
YSL Touche E'clat foundation in shade BR10
Illamasqua Skin Base Lift in White and Light 1
MAC Mineralize Skin Finish Natural in Light
MAC Mineralize Skin Finish in Porcelain Pink

Eyes
Too Faced Shadow Insurance
NYX Jumbo Pencil in Milk
Bobbi Brown Silver Lilac glitter eyeshadow
Sleek Oh So Special palette
Illamasqua black gel liner
Illamasqua pencil in Vow
Lancome Hypnose Star mascara
Active Cosmetics lashes
MUFE Aqua Brow

Lips
Chanel Rouge Allure in Rouge Noir

Tuesday 24 December 2013

Urban Decay Vice and Addiction nail polishes review

Whilst raiding my friend's makeup stash, I couldn't help but try out Urban Decay's nail polish offerings.  They only have four colours in their line at the moment, and I tried out Addiction and Vice.

First off, I love the bottles these come in.  The heavy silver cap with a skull on the end is definitely very Urban Decay, and it feels like a high end polish.


Vice is a deep, rich purple with subtle shimmer, and Addiction is a metallic pewter shade.  Addiction is the more unique out of the two, and was my favourite. 


The formula of both were impressive, although Addiction was prone to visible brush strokes.  That tends to be the way with more metallic shades though, and with careful application it isn't too much of a problem. It may also be worth noting that these are free of the big three (toluene, formaldehyde amd DBP).




Wear time on these was on par with other mid-high end polishes, with some mild tip wear after 2 days (I'm not very careful with my nails!).  I got 4 days before I had noticeable chips from Vice, and 5 days with Addiction.  Both polishes were removed easily.

I'd love to see Urban Decay bring out more shades, as these are really nice!  Keep a look out on the Debenhams website over the next couple of days, as they've been a little sale crazy recently, so you might be able to pick these up for a little less than the £10 they usually retail for.

Sunday 22 December 2013

Winter sunset FOTD

I love how the icy blues work so well with the purples and reds in Sleek's Celestial palette.  It reminds me of a winters sunset over a snowy landscape.



Products Used

Face
Illamasqua Skin Base Lift White and Light 1
MAC Mineralize Skin Finish Natural Light
Illamasqua Beg blush

Eyes
Too Faced Shadow Insurance
Sleek Celestial palette
Boots Natural Collection Soft Pink eyeshadow
Illamasqua black gel liner
Urban Decay 24/7 pencil in Empire
Lancome Hypnose Star mascara
MUFE Aqua Brow

Lips
MUFE Lab Shine gloss S14

Saturday 21 December 2013

Festive sparkle FOTD

Sometimes I like to just add black liner to the outer half of my upper lash line, as it creates a different eye shape.  I wish the camera picked up on the sparkle from the Bobbi Brown Sparkle Shadow.  It's so pretty in real life






Products Used

Face
Illamasqua Skin Base Lift White and Light 1
MAC Mineralize Skin Finish Natural Light
Fashionista blush in Butterscotch

Eyes
Too Faced Shadow Insurance
Beauty UK Shadow and Liner duo - black and white
Bobbi Brown Silver Lilac Sparkle Shadow
Sleek Sunset palette
MAC Beauty Marked eyeshadow 
MAC White Frost eyeshadow
Illamasqua black gel liner
Illamasqua Sophie Pencil
Lancome Hypnose Star mascara
MUFE Aqua Brow

Lips
MAC Nightmoth liner
Chanel Rouge Allure in Rouge Noir

Friday 20 December 2013

Another dark red lipstick review - NYX Jumbo lip pencil in Vixen

Are any of my readers still surprised when I review another dark red lipstick?  No?  Good, because I bought another one.  In my defense, this is my cheapest dark red purchase.  I wanted NYX's Jumbo Pencil in Milk (I was going to review this, but seeing as every other beauty blogger owns this, I'm sure there are more than enough reviews out there!).  I spotted this jumbo lip pencil in Vixen in the sale section, and had to give it a go.  The pencil has now disappeared from the UK website,  but US ladies who have more access to NYX may still be able to find this one.



Having never tried any NXY products, I wasn't sure what to expect.  I've heard good things about their round lipsticks and jumbo pencils for eyes, but almost nothing about jumbo pencils for lips.  The jumbo lip pencils are the same size as the eye pencils.  They're pretty chunky, but they're still a nice usable size (think Clinique Chubby Sticks, rather than Urban Decay Super Saturated Lip Colour).

Vixen is a nice deep red colour, which leans more brown than purple.  It's a more pigmented version of Chanel's Rouge Noir, which I love.  However the formula is what lets it down for me.  I have a problem with super glossy dark colours that slide about everywhere.  They're just not practical.  And unfortunately the Jumbo Lip Pencil is just to wet for a colour this dark.  It does mean that it's a really moisturising and comfortable lipstick to wear, and quite forgiving on dry lips, but the colour just doesn't stay put.  If you don't eat/drink/go anywhere near your lips it'll last for about 3 hours, but it never sets down.  In a lighter colour this wouldn't be so much of a problem.  But this is the hunt for the perfect dark red lipstick, and whilst the colour is great, the formula just isn't.  I don't usually have to worry about lipsticks bleeding, but as you can see from the picture below, which shows the lipstick on it's own, you need to wear a liner with this one.


So whilst I love the colour, this is one lipstick which will probably sit unused in my makeup drawer.  It hasn't put me off of NYX lipsticks completely though, and if they have another sale, I may pick up a couple more in more forgiving shades.

Thursday 19 December 2013

Back to the Vintage Romance FOTD

I think that, along with Naked 3, Sleek's Vintage Romance palette is my favourite makeup release of this year.  I love my purples, and those, mixed with the gold and silver shades, makes it a palette that I always looks great on me!  I added some individual lashes to the lower lash line to make this look more dramatic.



Products Used

Too Faced Shadow Insurance
Beauty UK Shadow and Liner Duo black and white
Sleek Vintage Romace palette
MAC White Frost eyeshadow
Urban Decay 24/7 liner in Goldmine
Lancome Hypnose Star mascara
Active Costmetics lashes
Eylure individual lashes
MUFE Aqua Brow

Wednesday 18 December 2013

A Christmas tutorial

I did this tutorial before I came to France, and it was only upon going through the photos today that I realised how awful the photos are.  I've fixed them up as best as I can, but I'm afraid my photoshop skills aren't that impressive!







Products Used

Primer (Too Faced Shadow Insurance)
White pencil/cream base (Beauty Uk black and white double ended pencil)
Silver eyeshadow (Sleek Celestial palette)
Red eyeshadow (Sleek Sunset palette)
Dark red eyeshadow
Black eyeshadow
Matte white eyeshadow
Black liquid liner (Rimmel Glam Eyes liquid liner)
Silver glitter liner (Collection 2000 Glam Crystals in Hustle)
Black pencil liner (Illamasqua Sophie)
Black mascara (Lancome Hypnose Star mascara)
False lashes

1.  Start by priming your eyes with chosen eyeshadow primer and white base.  Pat the silver shadow onto the inner half of the lid using a flat shader brush.
2.  Apply the bright red shade on the second half of the lid, and up into the outer half of the crease.  Take the shadow in the crease as far over as the red on the lid.  I used the flat shader brush again.
3.  With the flat shader brush (again!), apply the dark red shadow to the outer quater over the bright red.
4.  With a fluffy brush apply the matte white eyeshadow to the brow bone, blending out the red.
5.  Using a pointed pencil brush, deepen the outer v with black shadow.
6.  Starting in the middle of the lid, apply black liquid eyeliner, winging it out at the end.
7.  Apply glitter liner from the inner corner of the eye, up and along the top of the black liner.
8.  Define the lower lash line with silver eyeshadow on the inner half, fading into black on the outer half.  I used the pencil brush.
9.  Apply black pencil liner to the upper and lower water lines.
10.  Add mascara and some false lashes, and you're done!

Tuesday 17 December 2013

This is a really simple look, and it's a nice twist on the normal winged eyeliner.





Products Used

Face
Illamasqua Skin Base Lift White and Light 1
MAC Mineralize Skin Finish Natural Light
Sleek blush in Antique

Eyes
Too Faced Shadow Insurance
Illamasqua eyeshadow in Slink
Illamasqua black gel liner
Illamasqua pencil in Vow
Lancome Hypnose Star mascara
MUFE Aqua Brow

Lips
MAC Nightmoth lipliner
Inglot lipstick 175

Monday 16 December 2013