Mini MAC Haul and Reviews including Office Hours and Face and Body Collections

Hi Everyone!

A small haul and mini review for you. I popped into House of Fraser to have a look at the latest collections. I only picked up 2 LE products but I also picked up 2 regular line products.

The LE's I picked up were the Pro Longwear Lipglass in Forever Rose from the Officer Hours collection and the Pressed Pigment in Warming Heart from the Face and Body collection.

The other 2 things I picked up were the Eyeshadow in Satin Taupe and Dazzleglass in Date Night.

(Top Eyeshadow: Satin Taupe, then L-R: Warming Heart, Forever Rose and Date Night)

Satin Taupe: This has already managed to make itself a staple in my makeup bag. I always wonder if i'm going to be disappointed by really hyped products but this one has lived up to every rave review I have read. I've used this loads since I bought it, both as a all over the lid colour and as a crease shade for a subtle daytime look.

Warming Heart: I think I have a love hate relationship with this. The colour, shimmer and finish on the lid are beautiful. However it had tonnes of fallout and has to be layered onto the lid as its very sheer - its almost like its a pressed Reflects pigment rather than a standard one. Will keep using this though, even if I have to go back to doing my foundation after my eye make-up, the finished look is worth it.

(L-R: Satin Taupe, Warming Heart, Forever Rose and Date Night)

Forever Rose: Love the formula of the Pro Longwear glasses, I find them a bit less sticky than some of the other lip glass varieties. The shade reminds me of Viva Glam Cyndi and they are very very close with Cyndi being slightly more warm toned. This is a very wearable soft red shade and I think its going to get a lot of wear this fall.

Date Night: I've had an obsession recently with any lip products that have a blue or aqua shimmer. I've also been looking for a sheer plum lip gloss... so when I found both rolled into one I had to have this. I've been wearing this loads and i'm glad this is permanent as I can see myself using this up. This looks great worn over mid toned rose shades to liven them up a bit. I also like to wear it over plums, deep pinks and berry shades.


The 2 LE's I mention are still avaliable in House of Fraser and are online on the MAC website.

Thanks for reading :)

Sleek Blush by 3 is Back! plus Lace Review

Hi all!

I walked into one of my local Superdrugs the other day (not intending to buy anything) and saw that the Sleek make up display had had a face lift. On the display there were spaces for lots of new products that were previously online exclusives such as the i-Divine Snapshots palette and the Sleek Corrector and Concealer Palette. Theres lots of new products on their website too. One of the things I saw was the Blush by 3 that came out as a limited edition last year. The Superdrug near where I work never got stock in of these so I missed out on this the first time round.

I could not pass these by again so I picked up Lace, mainly as one of the colours looked like it was a dupe for my beloved Sleek Pan Tao Blush (from the Avoir la Peche collection). I also had a Rose Gold esque colour and a beautiful bright coral (which i may even like more than Pan Tao).

They come in traditional Sleek matte black packaging, feels sturdy and a large good quality mirror.

and here are the shades in the pans

(L-R: Crochet, Guipure and Chantilly) - Love the themed names!

These seem to be as wonderfully pigmented as the standard Sleek blushes and I love their warm shades, they give a lovely healthy glow to my face. I also like to layer the blushes, the middle blush gives a peachy golden highlight to either of the other two shades.

(L-R: Crochet, Guipure, Chantilly)


I mentioned dupes earlier... and they are.

Crochet is a dupe for Pan Tao and Guipure is a dupe for Rose Gold. So if you have both of those you probably don't need this one, but there are 4 other varieties. I think i might pick up Pink Sprint next. I had my eye on Pumpkin but its orange/coral shades again so I think i'll go for something completely different, though i'm sure if these stay permenant i'll soon own all 5.

(L-R: Pan Tao, Crochet, Rose Gold, Guipure)

Thanks for reading! :)

New No7 Match Made Foundation Matching Service Review

(and some short reviews of the foundations)

Hi Everyone!

I'm suprised that there doesn't seem to be many reviews about this so I thought i'd just jump in and do one. I was matched about a month ago as I wanted to try some of the different foundations and be able to give my opinion on them and their wear.

I popped into my local Boots and ventured over to the No7 counter, which has recently been updated along with the products and looks fantastic. The idea is is that the MUA uses a small device that compares your skin tone to its library of shades to find your best match. Full info here for those who want to know more.

The whole process is very quick and it matched me to the shade Calico. The MUA asks me about what coverage I like, the finish I like and what I want from the foundation. I like medium coverage with a semi matte finish. I got paired with No7 Stay Perfect foundation, this is their long wear foundation. The foundation was applied onto my skin in store and the match was perfect, it disappeared completely into my skin. The coverage was medium and the finish was pretty matte. I didn't buy it on the day as I like to see my colour matches in natural light and see how it wears for the rest of the day.

Boots was running its money off No7 vouchers so I popped back a couple of days later and picked up the foundation.... and a few others *whoops*. The great thing about their range is that you don't need to be rematched for each foundation, the shades are the same for all the foundations.

I picked up:

(L-R: Stay Perfect (liquid), Instant Radiance, Beautifully Matte (liquid) and Stay Perfect (compact).)

and open... same order:

(look! the compact even has one of those protective covers on it so it doesn't dry out :) Sorry... that impressed me. And they all come with pumps so no trying to shake it out the bottle.)

I'm going to do a quick review of all of these below so you can see what I thought of them.

Stay Perfect (liquid): This reminds me a bit of the Rimmel Lasting Finish foundation. This gives a smooth even medium coverage. It will last all day on my skin and doesn't seem to develop much shinyness during the day. It does a good job of hiding my large pores and doesn't settle into them during the day. I've applied this with a foundation brush, stipple brush, flat top brush and fingers and it looks great using any of them. My prefered way of applying most foundations is with my fingers. I've worn this quite a lot and no signs of break outs.

Instant Radiance: This is my favourite of the bunch, I was afraid it might turn oily on my skin but it does in fact just remain a perfect glowy finish all day. The foundation has a slightly more peachy undertone that the others which I find brightens up my skin. This is also medium coverage. I would definately consider repurchasing this and it definately comes near the top of my all time favourite foundations.

Beautifully Matte (liquid - this also comes as a mousse): This is definately matte, a little to matte for my skin. I have combination skin with my forehead, nose, eyelids and chin being oil slicks and my cheeks being dry (sometimes to the point of being flakey). This works great on my oily bits and I would really recommend this foundation for oily skin as it did keep me matte all day and didn't fade away. The problem I did have is on the dry areas it did show up any flakey bits and became really powdery during the day on those areas. I'll continue to wear this I just have to make sure my cheeks are well moisturised before I apply. This one is high coverage.

Stay Perfect (compact): This a compact form of the Stay Perfect. It states it is medium coverage like the liquid but I would say that this is medium/high coverage. This is my only compact foundation so it was a bit of an experiment. I have to say i'm not a fan, its hard to apply and it doesn't seem to sit smoothly on my skin. Its possible its me not the foundation and i'll up date if I find a way to apply this that works.

All of these match me well colour wise which I think helps make them look good on my skin.

(Same order as before - this doesn't really show the different textures except the compact but I thought i'd throw it in anyway.)

Thanks for reading!

Bye

Favourite Products Series: Part 1: Lipgloss

Hello again!

Today I have some favourite lipglosses for you, some of these I think are discontinued or may have been limited editions.

Here they are:

(L-R: ELF Super Glossy Lipshine (this one is Goddess), L'Oreal Glam Shine Holographic (Gold Holographic), MUA Lipgloss Shade 4, KIKO Pencil Lipgloss (shade 16) and Benefit Lipgloss (Foxy Lady))

ELF Super Glossy Lip Shine: I picked Goddess to show you as this is probably my favourite of the ones I own. Its a peachy pink with a dark pink almost fuschia shimmer. I have many other shades I really like to. The glosses are all pretty opaque with good pigmentation. I get decent staying power with them but I do find them to be a bit sticky, which I don't mind too much. All the shades have shimmer to them and a fruity scent (which isn't vanilla YEY! - I can't stand vanilla yet so many companies use it). These are £1.50 each from www.eyeslipsface.com.

L'Oreal Glam Shine Holographic: I only own one of these sadly, in Gold Holographic, but totally fell in love with it. Its a bronzey rose shade with greeny gold duochrome, yeah I know that description sounds really weird but hopefully you'll be able to see in the swatches. I love the formula of these (all Glam Shine's I own various ones) its smooth and non sticky and all the ones I have are really pigmented and give the colour in the tube. I also love the heart shaped applicator, picks up the perfect amount of product so i don't have to re dip my wand. Glam Shines are still avaliable from drugstores but this shade it no longer avaliable.

MUA Lip Gloss: This is shade 4, i'm not a fan of the other 4 shades (there are 5 total), they are all really sheer and hardly show up on my lips. This one however is almost a lipstick in a tube. Its a berry pink shade with gold shimmer. The formula is smooth and non sticky but I don't find the formula to be partliculary long wearing but I don't mind reapplying glosses. I would really recommend picking this up, its only £1 from Superdrug.

(L-R taken in natural light: ELF Super Glossy Lip Shine, L'Oreal Glam Shine, MUA Lipgloss, KIKO Pencil Lip Gloss, Benefit Lip Gloss)

KIKO Pencil Lip Gloss: I only have one of these in shade 16. This is one of the shimmer shades but they also have creme shades. This applies really smoothly, feels like a balm going on and I do find this to be quite moisturising. It doesn't have a mirror gloss finish like a traditional lipgloss, its more of a high shine lipstick finish. I am planning to buy some more shades of these soon. They do have a website www.kikocosmetics.com. I picked mine up from the KIKO store in Westfield. These are £3.90.

Benefit Lip Gloss: I have lots of Benefit mini lip glosses but out of all of them this is the one I will be buying full size. This is Foxy Lady, a peachy pink shade with aqua shimmer. Its so beautiful and unique, lovely smooth formula, not too sticky but has decent staying power. If I had to pick just one favourite lipgloss I think it would have to be this one. It look good with neutral and smokey looks and warm and cool toned shades. Full size of this is £18 but this shade it so worth it.

(L-R taken with flash to try and show shimmer/duchromes: ELF Super Glossy Lip Shine, L'Oreal Glam Shine, MUA Lipgloss, KIKO Pencil Lip Gloss, Benefit Lip Gloss)

Haven't picked what to do next in this series, maybe eyeshadow or palettes.
I'm also planning to do the products i'd repurchase tag from youtube which i'd list the 1 of each type of product i'd repurchase if my make up all suddenly vanished.

Next up will be a review of the No7 foundation matching service.

Thanks for reading!

10 Products I Regret Buying

Hi Everyone!

I've decided to do a products I regret buying post, i've seen loads of people do videos for this so i thought i'd have a go in a post. I might venture into videos eventually but at the moment i'm sticking to blogging.

 The usual disclaimer: i'm not bashing these products, i know some people love these products. This is my personal opinion and experience of the products only. Everything shown was bought with my own money.

Ok now thats out the way... lets get started. This post isn't products I hate, its products I regret buying - it might be that I don't like them but it could also be I found them disappointing, over hyped or just not worth the money. I've tried not to include things just because I don't like the colour (e.g. something that was to light/dark etc). These will be quite short reviews, i'm not going to go into tonnnes of detail about each product.

With any shadows I mention I always wear primer... i'm not trying to get these to work on bare lids.

1. Wet N Wild I-Sparkle Palettes. I bought 3 of these in Utopia, Paradise and Oasis. I've had an excellent experience with Wet n Wild in the past so I wanted to give these a try.

(Top: Oasis. Left: Paradise. Right: Utopia)

The pigmentation is what let these down, the colours are lovely (in the pan these are really really pretty but such a let down) but they don't transfer at all. Paradise was the worst followed by Utopia. Oasis is just about ok if your willing to really work with it but i did find i had to be careful blending as even the shades that had ok pigment just blended away even on a sticky base.

Spot the first 3 shades.... yes there are 3 before the first brown and two more before the next brown...
Left to Right is Paradise then Utopia then Oasis. You can at least see all four colours of Oasis. I have to say the copper in Utopia is really pretty but the palette just wasn't worth it for that one shade. Paradise just has no pigmented shades at all.


2. ELF Flawless Eyeshadow palette in Golden Goddess.

These seemed to have so much potential as I thought they would be a better version of the brightening eyecolor quads (which for the most part i like). I actually think the quality of this, at least the first three shades, is worse. Lets look at the swatches.

The first three shades are really powdery, chalky and apply patchy. Its like its all shimmer with no base pigment. The main problem is when you apply these shades, all the shimmer falls out onto your cheeks leaving nothing on the lid. The final shade swatches really pigmented and applies ok but has a similar problem if i try and blend it out. This is also £1 more expensive than the brightening quads... and I definately think the quads are better quality, I can actually wear them. I have also got this in Tantalizing Taupe which i haven't tried yet... fingers crossed its at least a bit better.

3. Too Faced Single Cosmo Shadows - not sure what the official name for these were but they are the swirly single shadows with space related names.

Top left: Amber Asteroid. Top Right: Cocoa Comet. Bottom: Magenta Moon.

These are one of the ones that I sort of like but still regret buying. The concept of these is when swirled together they produce a duochrome brown. Amber Asteroid swatches as a brown with a greeny gold duochrome. Cocoa Comet is a brown and aqua duochrome (think MAC Club dupe) and Magenta Moon is brown with a pink and blue duochrome (the pink has a blue duochrome). The reason i regret buying these is that although they swatch beautifully the duochromes don't seem to pick up on a brush and just look plain brown on the eye (so it seems like I bought three identical brown shadows). Thankfully I did not get these at full price as they were being discontinued but I think I expected a high end brands eyeshadows to transfer their true colour onto the eye. *extra disclaimer - this is just what i thought at the time... i recieved the Too Faced Natural at Night Palette for my birthday and love it*
Heres some swatches of how they swatch becuase they are quite pretty swatched....

(L-R: Amber Asteroid, Cocoa Comet and Magenta Moon)


The next lot are grouped so I could swatch them together, they are:

(L-R: MAC Sheertone Blush in Peachykeen, No7 Lipstick in Coral Dream, ELF Hypershine Lipgloss in Vixen and ELF All over Colorstick in Pink Lemonade (yes its in a pot... more on that later).

4. MAC Sheertone Blush in Peachykeen: I know its called Sheertone but theres sheer and theres unpigmented.... this is unpigmented. I have to dig my fingers into it to get a swatch. I don't wear this often as I have to apply several layers for it to look like I have blush on. I guess I feel disappointed as I have loads of drugstore blushes with gorgeous pigmentation and shades and I paid loads for this and never reach for it as my drugstore ones are better.

5. No7 Lipstick in Coral Dream: This is such a beautiful shade swatched. But when applied it dries my lips out, sinks into the lines in my lips and goes patchy. It looks awful on. Its also far more frosty on the lips then when its swatched. I've tried using balm underneath, no luck. I've tried a gloss over the top to smooth it out so I can still wear the colour, nope still patchy.

6. ELF Hypershine Lipgloss in Vixen: so the website shows a bright redish coral... right...? Nope this is completely sheer, invisable on my lips, might as well be wearing a clear gloss....what more needs to be said, if i wanted a clear lipgloss i would have bought a clear lip gloss.

7. ELF All Over Color Stick in Pink Lemonade: its in a pot... the packaging was broken, it could not be wound up. Then the bottom popped off. So i depotted it. To be honest though i find the product too dry, i would have had to have dragged it really hard across my cheeks to get the colour. It blends kind of patchy too. On the up side it is really pigmented so i'm still going to see how i can make it work. I think i might try the shimmering facial whips, they come in exactly the same shades as the color sticks an may be smoother to apply.

 (L-R: MAC Sheertone Blush in Peachykeen (several layers), No7 Lipstick in Coral Dream, ELF Hypershine Lipgloss in Vixen, ELF All Over Color Stick in Pink Lemonade (this is darker and more pigmented then it shows up here).)

Ok three more to go, these are grouped too. No particular reason.

(L-R: Maybelline Illegal Lengths Mascara (Black), Benefit They're Real and VIVO BB Cream in Light)

8. Maybelline Illegal Lengths Mascara: This actually looks ok on, its nothing amazing but it doesn't clump or smudge. However it hurts... a lot. I constantly feel like i have some thing in my eye when i'm wearing this. I've tried it several times incase i applied it badly the first time. It hurts everytime. Everything else in this post i will try and find a way too use up but this will have to go in the bin.

Brush pic... people seem to like brush pics. (Maybelline Illegal Lengths Brush).

9. Benefit They're Real: This is more a regret because of being overhyped and overpriced rather than not actually liking it. This small sample size (4ml) cost me £9. I'll make this clear this is a good mascara but thats all it is. Considering the hype and advertising i was expecting to be amazed and i really wasn't. I do like it and will very happily use this up but i have no plans to repurchase. I have several drugstore mascaras I like as much or more than this and are less than half the price of a full size tube. I think the regret is spending so much money on a something thats no better then other stuff thats out there. (I find the same with Bad Gal lash - i have never bought it, it has always come as part of a kit - its a great mascara but would not spend the money on it as there are plenty of other mascaras that are just as good).

And another one... I think I was just amazed my camera phone could focus that well. (Benefit They're Real brush)

10. VIVO BB Cream in Light: The main thing for me with this was the consistancy. Its very thick and greasy feeling. Its streaky when applied and leaves my skin very shiny even with powder over the top. Its the only BB cream i own (i have about 6 different ones) that feels like i have heavy 'make-up' on my skin. It feels heavier than even my highest coverage foundation yet it gives hardly any coverage, its all grease.

As I said earlier I am not knocking this brands, i have other products from every brand here that i love and are favourites. These just didn't work for me.

To make up (hehe pun :p) for all these products I didn't like I am planning to start a series of posts of favourite products. I've picked about 5 products from different catagories (lipgloss, eyeshadow, palettes etc) that i would repurchase straight away it they ran out.

I'm also planning to do a post on my experience with the new Boots No7 foundation matching service.

Thanks for reading!

MUA Blush Review

Hi all, today I am going to be reviewing these

The MUA (Make Up Academy) blushes from superdrug. I own all 6 shades of these and I like all of them.

Top - Bottom: MUA Blush shades 1 - 6. These don't have names just shade numbers.

Top to Bottom: Shades 1-3.

Shade 1 is a light bubblegum pink shade with gold sparkles. The sparkles don't really transfer to the cheeks. This is one of my favourites if i'm doing dramatic eyes.

Shade 2 is a everyday light pinky rose. This is a matte shade. This is one of my favourite blushes for a neutral everyday look.

Shade 3 is a rosy brown shade with very slight shimmer that cannot be seen on the cheeks, almost more of a bronzer than blush shade. I don't find myself reaching for this much.

Top to Bottom: Shades 4 - 6.

Shade 4 is a darker rose shade, very slight shimmer like shade 3 but can't been seen on the cheeks. I don't find myself reaching for this much as it is probably a touch to dark for my skin tone. With a very light hand I can make it work.

Shade 5 is a bright coral with gold pearl. Reminds be a bit of Sleek Rose Gold. This is my favourite of all 6 shades. I do have a bit of a coral blush obsession.

Shade 6 is a mauvey plum shade with gold pearl. I have never seen another blush anything like this. Its so unique. Quite dark and I have to use it sparingly but I do love this.

Top to Bottom: Shades 1 - 6 swatched with flash.

Top to Bottom: Shades 1 - 6 in natural light.

Overall I do love these blushes, they are very pigmented and a little goes a long way. I do find however that these can be quite powdery. I luckily have a very soft blush brush which doesn't kick up to much powder I do find my stiffer Estee Lauder blush brush dents these quite badly. Make sure you have a soft brush to prevent product wasteage. Despite that I don't find I get any fall out on my face, these apply, blend and stay were I apply them. For me wear time is pretty average, nothing special. These cost £1 each but you only get 2g of product. I don't nessacerily find this to be a bad thing though as I rarely finish a blush as I like to switch them around so having 6 small ones in different shades is great for me.

I definately plan to repurchase these and will probably keep back ups of shades 1, 2, 5 and 6 as I love them so much. Of all the blushes I own it tends to be one of these i'll pick over the others (unless its Sleek Pan Tao as its amazing and I haven't yet found a dupe for it).

Thanks for reading!

MUA (Make Up Academy) Immaculate Collection Eyeshadow Palette Review

Hi All!

I used this during weekly make-up shuffle #2. During the week I did several of different looks with this palette, some of which I posted as FOTD's.

I feel this palette deserves a full review as it is truely an amazing palette. I got this palette free with one of my MUA orders but it retails for £8 but I feel it is worth far more.

 Closed

You get 28 shades in the palette; mattes, shimmers and metallics all feature. You have pastels, neutrals and brights and a matte black for deepening the crease are all in there.

 Open

All the shades are really pigmented and although soft aren't powdery and give hardly any fallout. They also blend and layer well (if adding a crease shade over a lid shade the crease shade doesn't get 'diluted' by the lighter shade.

I really enjoyed using this palette for my weekly shuffle and i'm sure it will feature again. This would be a great palette to take away on holiday as its got everything you could possibly need.

Onto the bit you really want to see... Swatches:

 L-R Shades 1 - 8

L-R Shades 9 - 16

L-R Shades 17 - 24

I think I like every shade in this palette but my favourites are 2, 8, 12, 14, 15, 17, 19, 21 and 24.

I have other MUA palettes which I will be reviewing soon and I plan to continue expanding my collection of these palettes, I have my eye on Heaven and Earth, Dusk till Dawn and Glamour Nights (I already have Days).

Thanks for looking!

Smashbox Eye Wish Palette Review

Hi again, this is a review for the palette I have included in this weeks make-up shuffle.

Its the Smashbox Eye Wish Palette from the 2009 holiday collection. It contains 12 Eyeshadows, 4 Eyeliners and a mini Photo Finish Eyeshadow Primer.
Here it is closed:

The main material is a sturdy cardboard and the outside of the palette is covered in a faux leather type material.

and open:

At the top there is a mirror which is good quality but the palette is a bit bulky to hold up when doing my makeup. There is also an Eye Wish Look Book which contains sample eyeshadow looks. I don't tend to use this as i like to create my own looks and i find the techniques in the book aren't ones i would use. For example it shows a classic smokey eye with the lighter colour in the crease and dark color on the lashline, i would place the light colour on my lids and the darkest shade in my crease for a smokey look. The look book does make it a great palette for those new to make-up or eyeshadow as it gives the basics for someone to get started.

The products:

Shadows: For the most part these are soft and well pigmented but like every other palette I own there always seems to be a couple of shades that aren't as good as the rest. And they do tend to be purple, not sure why but I find purples the most common culprit for having poor colour payoff.
In this palette it is shades 3 and 5 that just don't quite live up to the others. Shade 3 is a pale yellow satin shade, this is quite hard in texture and not very pigmented, in the pan where i have used it it has formed hard lumps of products. Shade 5 is the bright purple shade, also satin. This one just gives no payoff at all, i had to rub by finger in the shade several times to get enough colour to swatch it.
This palette has a good range of neutral and coloured shades in both cool and warms tones meaning there is something for everyone in this palette. I do find that in most of the palettes i like there is one shade that really wows me but this palette just doesn't have that. I like lots of the shades but i just don't love any of them.
I have also noticed using this palette again and trying to create todays FotD is that there are no really deep dark crease shades in here.

Swatches:

L-R: 1 - 12 in natural light.

L-R: 1 - 12 with flash

Liners: There are cream liners, 2 shimmery shades and 2 matte. These aren't the most pigmented cream liners i have used but they do glide on easily without tugging on the lids. I do usually have to go over my line again to get a completely opaque shade. The set does not come with a eyeliner brush and most people who are new to eye make-up (who i feel this palette is aimed at) would not have one. I think this palette might have been better if it just had 16 shadows or possible something more user friendly could have been added instead such as lip glosses or maybe a couple of blushes.

Swatches:

L-R: 13 - 16 with flash to show shimmer.

Photo Finish Lid Primer: Great thing to include, primer is pretty much an essential if you wear eyeshadow so having this one to try out is great. This is a good primer and does work to keep the shadow last longer and look brighter. Though like most of these mini tubes you feel like you are wasting quite alot as you can't get all the product out.

I had a quick play about in my collection and I think I see why I don't use this much. If I wanted a gold i would probably grab my Urban Decay Half Baked (possibly an exact dupe) or Honey rather than Shade 7. Or maybe a magenta shade; UD Fishnet is a much more unique and more pigmented shade than Shade 11. I mentioned Shade 5 having no payoff, so i'd grab UD Flash instead.
Theres no shade in here that makes me reach for this palette, even if it was just one shade as i would find myself using others to go alongside.

Though having done that FoTD #1 I did find I liked shade 1 as a matte highlight, reminds me a bit of MAC's Mylar shadow - will need to check this out next time i'm near a MAC.

Overall: I think this is a good palette but just isn't anything special. The colours are nice but again there is nothing really unique. I'd say this is good for beginners but if you have a lot of shadows already you probably won't find this to be anything amazing.

Thanks for reading!

Smashbox Eye Wish FotD #1

Heres the first look I've done with this weeks make up shuffle.

Eyes:
Primer: Benefit Lemonaid (whoops - i forgot there was one in the palette...)
Lid: Smashbox Shade 7
Outer 1/4 and Crease: Smashbox Shade 10
Outer Crease and Outer V: Smashbox Shade 12
Browbone: Shade 1 (i actually really like this as a highlight)
Upper and Lower Lashline: Smashbox Liner Shade 13
Lashes: Sleek Lash Out Mascara

Face:
Primer: MUA Primer
Foundation: Rimmel Lasting Finish
Powder: Rimmel Stay Matte Pressed Powder
Concealer: Benefit Confessions of a Concealaholic
Bronzer: Constance Carroll Bronzer in Honey Glow
Blush: No7 Cheek Tint in Peach Glow with MUA Mosaic Blush layered over
Highlighter: Hard Candy Baked Bronzer in Tiki
Lipstick: Vivo Lipstick in Very Berry
Lipgloss: Benefit Lipgloss in 24K (yup naughty it wasn't from my shuffle but i knew the gold would bring out the golden shimmer in Very Berry)

Thanks for looking!

Weekly Make-up Shuffle #3

Hi, I have been very busy and haven't done a weekly make-up shuffle for a few weeks. Heres this weeks, i will be using a palette i seem to have neglected for a while.

(L-R: Rimmel Lasting Finish foundation, Vivo Diamond Sparkle Lipgloss in Raspberry Sorbet, Hard Candy Glossaholic in Fabulous, Coastal Scents Lip Smack in Near Peach, MUA Lip Boom in Vibe (the gloss end is laying across the top), Vivo Lipstick in Very Berry, MUA Lipstick Shade 4, Sleek Lash Out mascara in Black, MUA Mosaic Blush, No7 Cheek Tint in Peach Silk and Smashbox Eye Wish Palette (i think 2009 edition).

Heres what i'm using:
Rimmel Lasting Finish foundation - my shade is 100 Ivory. This foundation is a great match to my warm skin tone. It doesn't go pinky or orange on me. My skin isn't looking great this week so i'm going back to foundation. I usually used a tinted moisturiser, or this year a BB cream, during the summer (whats that?!?!) as its lighter on the skin.

Vivo Diamond Sparkle Lipgloss in Raspberry Sorbet - This is a squeezy tube lipgloss with a brush applicator which i really like. Is a decently pigmented red gloss thats still semi-sheer with some shimmer.

Hard Candy Glossaholic in Fabulous - you might have seen these in my holiday haul, they are on my list to review properly. This one is a light pinky rose with flakie glitter, the base is quite opaque so the effect is quite subtle.

Coastal Scents Lip Smack in Near Peach - a soft peachy color with shimmer (added by me), these are quite thin in texture and not very long wearing but are well pigmented.

MUA Lip Boom in Vibe - A newish product from MUA with a matte lipstick on one end and a complimentry shade of gloss on the other for all over or to highlight the lip. This one is a browny toned neutral.

Vivo Lipstick in Very Berry - this is a reddy/purple berry shade, not too dark with some subtle golden shimmer. This is like a lipstick version of MUA's lipgloss in shade 4 for those who have it.

MUA Lipstick Shade 4 - this looks like an bright pastel pink that would be completely unwearable except thats its almost completely sheer. Gives a lovely pink hint to the lips and is a great everyday shade to brighten up the face.

Sleek Lash Out Mascara - I bought this as it claimed to be a mascara that gives great length and volume in just one stroke... i think i tried it once and it got lost in my makeup collection. Its coming back out this week for a proper test.

MUA Mosaic Blush - for some reason i have never worn this, i think it got overshadowed by my love of the single £1 blushes (especially shades 1,2and5).

No7 Cheek Tint in Peach Silk - this is a more recent purchase with a No7 £5 off voucher so worked out very cheap. Only used once so far and love the peach glow, i think this would look lovely worn layered underneath a shimmer pinky blush.

Smashbox Eye Wish Palette - 12 Eyeshadow shades and 4 Liners. It also contains a mini Photo Finish Eye Primer. I seem to have neglected this palette recently, it has a great combination of neautrals and a few colours making it very versatile. Hopefully I will rediscover my love of this palette this week.

Thanks for reading!

Wet n Wild Santa Baby 'Naughty' Palette FotD.

Hi again, decided to post this seperately as the other post had gotten rather long.

For this FotD I used all the products I possibly could from the palette - Eyeshadow, Blush, Bronzer, Lips and i did try the Mascara... I then added the rest using random products from my collection.

These shades do look a lot deeper and brighter in real life, the natural light in this room has washed me out a bit. The top pic is truer to life.

Eyes:
Primer: MAC paint pot in Soft Ochre
Inner 3rd Lid: Grey/Lilac shade on the Right of the Purple Trio
Outer 2 3rds Lid: Pink/Purple on Left of the Purple Trio
Crease: Plum from Middle of Purple Trio
Above Crease: Pink/Purple on Left of the Purple Trio
Browbone: MAC Shroom
Upper liner: H&M Black Glitter liquid liner
Lower liner: Urban Decay 24/7 Liner in Lust
Waterline: Sephora Flashy Liner in Deep Black
Tearduct: NYX slim eyepencil in Crystal Glitter
Mascara: Mascara from palette with L'Oreal Million Lashes in Black over the top.
Lashes: Cool Flower Lashes in 061 trimmed down to be outer corner accent lashes

Face:
Primer: No7 Airbrush Primer
Foundation: Vivo Cosmetics BB cream in Light
Concealer: Benefit Confessions of a Concealaholic kit
Powder: Revlon Colorstay in Light Medium
Bronzer: Bronzer from palette
Blush: Blush from palette
Highlight: Hard Candy Baked Bronzer in Tiki
Lips: Lipgloss from palette

Thanks for looking!

Wet n Wild Santa Baby 'Naughty' Palette Review

Hi All!

Almost a month with no posts... need to do something about that. This is a review of a Wet n Wild Christmas edition palette that I had managed to get hold of on Ebay. Probably not the most useful of posts as it was limited edition and no longer avaliable but I thought i'd show it to you anyway.

The palette is shiny black plastic with a stylised snow flake (at least thats what i think it is) in silver on the front.
Inside you get 4 trios of eyeshadows (12 total), a bronzer, a blush, a lipgloss and a mascara. I mainly bought this for the eyeshadows as i had heard how amazing the quality of the Wet n Wild shadows are for the price. This palette cost me £6.99.

Pretty....
And lovely quality too. There was only one shadow that did disappoint slightly when i swatched which was the dark plum shade from the middle of the purple trio. However when worn it seems to work quite well i just had to build the colour slightly. Otherwise the shadows were soft and pigmented with little fallout. The plum is the only matte in the palette, all the rest are shimmers.

Natural Light

With Flash
(L-R: Green Trio, Purple Trio (you can see what i meant about the plum), Bright n Brown Trio (the green and the blue are much brighter in real life, they seem to be a bit camera shy), Smokey Trio (that black is gorgeous and the white has some gold duochrome))
Overall i am very pleased with the shadows, i do tend to do looks with them as they are in thier trios but its great to mix and match them too.

The blush and bronzer are great too but they need a VERY light touch. These are easily as pigmented as the eyeshadows and even softer. The blush is a matte berry pink and the bronzer is exactly that, bronze and shimmery.

Natural Light

With Flash
(L-R: Blush swatched, Blush semi blended, Bronzer swatched and Bronzer semi blended)

I do like these, especially the glow i get from the bronzer but they are not the sort of products i can grab if i'm in a rush. I need time to apply them carefully and make sure they are will blended.

The lipgloss suprised me, when i saw the colour i thought i wouldn't like it and have never worn it. Then i put it on for the purpose of the review and i love the shade, perfect for a bronzed summer look and looks great with the plum smokey look i did. Lesson learnt - don't judge a product based on what it looks like in the tube. Like everything else in the palette this is very pigmented and is shimmery as well. Is a touch sticky so those who don't like that sort of texture may not like this. I find the stickyness does make it a bit more long wearing than the average lip gloss.

 Umm the mascara... this is rubbish i'm afraid. The brush is small with hardly any bristles, the formula is thick and sticky and errr grey?!?!?! Does nothing for my lashes at all, it clumped them and added no colour at all. I did try wearing it for the FOTD i did to go with this review but i ended up grabbing my L'Oreal Million Lashes to go over the top.

I was going to post the FOTD here but i think this post is long enough as it is so if you want to see the look i did with this palette go to the next post.

Thanks for reading!