FOTD - Fun Bright Youtube Inspired Look

Just like most beauty bloggers i absolutely adore watching Youtube Gurus and today was no exception. After watching a tutorial by BeautifulYouTV i had some serious Inglot envy. Inglot as far as I'm aware do not have an online store that ships to the UK. And where I've not had the time to travel to London to visit their store i do get a little strop on from time, I'm dying to try out their eye shadows! But while swatching my latest sleek purchase i found the Curacao Pallete had some shades that were extremely similar so i ran off to attempt this look! 

 

My camera is making the green a little brighter than it is in real life, sorry! The swatches will be a truer likeness.

Eye shadows and me have only been friends the last couple of months in the past I'd stick to one shadow if any and I've been desperate to try out some new looks! I absolutely love the colours in this.

Products used:
Urban Decay Primer Potion
Maybelline Falsies Mascara
Sleek Curacao Palette - Green Iguana - Martini - 
Singapore Sling - Expresso Martini

This turned into an Eye of the day due to my skin being terrible and the photos i took reminded me i desperately need to use a pore strip, yuck! As you can see I'm no expert and I'll probably never be posting tutorials on here, but I'm learning! I'll also be uploading the swatches and reviews on the Sleek Curacao and Oh So Special palettes this week!

You can visit BeautifulYouTV's Youtube channel and watch the video i used to do this look here.


Thanks for reading!

Oops i did it again...

The picture says it all! If you didn't already know E.l.f are having a massive 50% off sale this week which ends tomorrow at 1pm. I would of posted this a few days ago but I've been a bit poorly. I do not need any more E.l.f products since i have a love/hate relationship with most of them but i cannot resist a sale. So i decided to pick up a few repurchases of the products i love and some random bits and bobs. I've done a few posts on E.l.f in the past so i wont bang on.

So if you haven't had a chance to try this brand out now is the perfect time to do it :)

You can go straight to the website here.

xx

Mac Haul

So this is a little late, but better late than never! I managed to take a detour on my way to a wedding last weekend to stop at Newcastle's Metro Center specifically to go to their Mac counter. Needless to say i was like a kid in a candy shop and had very little willpower over how much i actually spent. But it's not every day (or even year!) i get to go to one so i decided to well and truly treat myself. I've had some time to try out all the stuff i got and I'm pretty happy with it all (apart from one but I'll explain that later). So here's what i got and my opinion on them so far. I'll try to keep this short and sweet :)

 Powder Blush - Dollymix - £17
I love pink lips and cheeks possibly a little too much and I've been eyeing this blush up for ages! It's a sheertone finish and is like the name implies a little on the sheer side. Built up it gives a gorgeous pink flush to the cheek, although I think i still much prefer my favourite Benefit's Bella Bamba.

Heavily swatched and sheered out.

 Pro Palette Refill - All That Glitters - Beauty Marked - £9.50

This was the most exciting part of my haul for me. I've been wanting a Pro Palette for quite some time now but just couldn't justify the money. Like a dozey Magpie i was drawn to beauty marked, in the store it looked like a gorgeous black with red/purple shimmer. Unfortunately logic didn't kick in until after i purchased it even when i swatched it on my hand in the store all that went through my head was 'ITS PRETTY AND GLITTERY YAY' .... dumb ass. It's a velvet finish and is still pretty wearable but next time I'm at a Mac counter I'll definitely remember not to get over excited and loose my common sense. On the other hand All That Glitters (Veluxe Pearl) is absolutely stunning, I've been wearing it nearly every day without fail, it definitely lives up to all the hype.

                                   All That Glitters                    Beauty Marked

Lovelorn & Lustering Lipsticks - Lustre - £13.50
Oh look more pink things... It's becoming a bit of a trend lately. Lustre finishes are on the safe side being quite sheer and since I'm not confident with opaque lips yet they work just fine for me. Please excuse the bad pictures i had to try and photograph them in the hotel so i could get a chance to try everything out! They are a little on the drying side though so a good lip butter and exfoliate is a must with these.

Lovelorn - Lustering

Paint Pot - Blackground - £13.50
I've not been brave enough to wear this out yet so top of my things to do list is to try to achieve a wearable smokey eye with this. I say "try" because i generally suck a smokey eyes but I'm dying to wear them more often. It's not completely opaque which i love and shimmer softens it. I really just need to get my bum in gear and get using this!

Dazzleglass - Love Alert - £16
Yet again i was distracted by glittery things, but this time it was a good distraction. Love Alert is described as a Raspberry Red with Red Pearl and i love it. It's a little stickier than Lustreglasses but the colour and shimmer are stunning. I'm glad my Magpie senses went off with this one!

Mineralize Skinfinish Natural - Light - £18.50
Apologies for the poor qualify picture underneath, Light was a pretty good match for me and my camera decided it really did not want to focus. Another item I've been eyeing up for some time now. Although i already own more powders than I'd like to admit i had to have this! I love having a flawless face but lately I've been trying to go a little more natural. This is perfect for setting my foundation or touching up during the day. So another thumbs up from me!

Should i really have splurged this much? Not really. But i really couldn't help myself. I think this is probably all the Mac I'll buy till around Christmas unless they release an irresistible collection (although judging by this years, they probably won't!). I'll stop blabbering now!


Ta for reading guys :)

xx

Liquid liner addict?

Some people use the same look more often than others. I've always loved makeup but until recently I've not had the dosh to splurge on it so my collection was generally quite small. I mostly got all my higher end goodies for my Birthday and stuck to buying drugstore foundations and powders. I look back on nearly every photo of me and I've realised... I'm a full blown liquid liner addict. On a night out i wouldn't been seen dead without my thick black eyes, I'd occasionally pop a shadow on or change up my blush but the eyes were a must have. I've steered away from this recently since i realise how extremely repetitive it is and have to resist the urge to fall back onto my bad habits. But definitely having the money to buy more products has made this addiction easier to give up... And possibly started a new one.

(I'm also a little bit of a poser if you hadn't noticed.)

Do you have any beauty bad habits like this?

I'm sure i have many more that I've not spotted yet.

xx

FOTD - Summer Gold

 

I've been wanting to start doing posts like this for some time, but I've been rather self conscious about it. I certainly am not an expert when it comes to Makeup and most of the time i generally cock up what I'm trying to achieve. But on this day i was pretty happy with the outcome. Please excuse three things with this picture, firstly for some reason i couldn't get it to upload in better quality and my skin and eyebrows are terribad but luckily I've just had them waxed, yay!

Eyes: 

 Urban Decay Naked Palette - Half Baked, Smog and Virgin

         E.l.f liquid liner in black. L'Oreal Paris Volume Million Lashes Mascara

         Urban Decay - Primer Potion

Face:  

Estee Lauder - Double Wear Foundation with Skin79 BB Cream
         Smashbox - Photo Finish Primer
         E.l.f - HD Setting Powder
         Benefit - High Beam
         Nars - Orgasm Blush

Lips: 

 Korres - Guava Lip Butter
        E.l.f - 2 in 1 Conditioning Gloss in Super Model

Hopefully I'll be able to get some better quality pictures up soon. I really need to focus more on new looks rather than new products! But i just can't help myself! :)

xx

E.l.f Studio Blushes

 Ello!
I thought it was about time that i started reviewing and swatching all the E.l.f products i have and decided to start with blushes. Blush is generally one of my favourite things to buy and over the last few months I've picked up a few. The first stand out point about these is their Nars-esque packaging which is great but without the smudgey rubbery casing that annoys me with Nars products. They also have a teeny mirror inside which is extremely useful when out and about! So i guess I'll stop rambling and get onto reviewing the actual product.

 Top Row: Candid Coral - Peachy Keen - Mellow Mauve
Bottom Row: Fuchsia Fusion - Gotta Glow

I'll start with the obvious non-blush. Gotta Glow is E.l.f's version of Nar's Albatross and without trying that i can't actually compare the two. Like all of the Studio Blushes I've tried its a little on the chalky side and i find it a bit hard to work with. It looks gorgeous in the pan but if you're not a fan of glitter I'd stay clear of this one as it has rather large chunks in it. It's an okay product for the price, I don't reach for it very often as i generally prefer liquid highlighters. I think i'll be splurging on the real thing some time soon.

Now onto my favourite out of the five... Fuchsia Fusion is an absolutely stunning bright pink shade with again a ton of glitter. Luckily I'm a fan of shimmery blushes but it does take a little building up to get decent colour pay off. Until i recently purchased Benefits Bella Bamba i found myself wearing this one most days and building it up for a more dramatic effect at night. The downside is that it doesn't really stay in place for long so having to reapply it every few hours is a real pain.
 

Candid Coral, Peachy Keen, Mellow Mauve. These three are ones i just don't seem to use ever. I find these have the worst colour pay off of the E.l.f blushes i own, I'm around an NC15 possibly lighter so frankly that shouldnt really be an issue. I've tried to make these work for me but i just can't. I was really hoping Peachy Keen would be a little bit like Benefit's Georgia but i was sadly disappointed. Although i know a lot of E.l.f fans rave about these but i guess they're just no good for me!

Candid Coral - Peachy Keen - Mellow Mauve - Fuchsia Fusion - Gotta Glow
(Heavily Swatched)

I was sold on these purely for the price, at £3.50 each i wasn't loosing too much experimenting with them. Fuchsia Fusion is the one I'd definitely recommend but again it is still a little on the chalky side. The pigmentation on all of them to be honest isn't great and with most all you can hope for at best is a sheer wash of colour. I really think there are better 'Drugstore' blushes on the market and i intend to find some of the better ones!

These are all priced at £3.50 on Eyeslipsface.co.uk.

As always thanks for reading my ramblings. If you have any E.l.f reviews up let me know! I'd love to know if anyone else got on with them better than me.
 :)

xxx

Small Mac Haul

Hey guys!

So this post is a little late since I've spent the weekend travelling to the other side of the country and attending a lovely wedding! I've not been to one since a child so i was a little nervous to say the least! But obviously this gave me a chance to splurge a little on some quality makeup for the day. I only picked up a few things since i have managed to convince my Bf that stopping at the Mac counter as soon as we reach Newcastle was a must. So these are just a couple of things i have ordered online and I'm pretty happy with all of them! I overspent a little on Mac while i was up there and shall be doing a post on the goodies i got in the next few days (when i can manage to get some better lighting!)

 

Please excuse the god awful picture, the lighting and focus was not on my side with these! The swatches are a much better likeness of colours. I'm not a big lipstick girl and have been feeling this is one part of my collection that was severely lacking. I've not got the greatest lips, my top lip is on the thin side and i feel a little self conscious with lip stick on but i think it's time i remedy this and experiment! These were the two with a lot of googling for swatches i decided on.

Bombshell (Frost) - Chatterbox - (Amplified Cream).

Bombshell is probably my favourite purely because I've not had the guts to wear out Chatterbox yet although it is a lovely colour and I'm determined to pluck up the courage. I'm really glad i did an extensive search for swatches because Chatterbox wouldn't have been one I'd pick from the Mac website. Southampton NEED's a Mac counter... please?!

 

  Wonderstruck - Lustreglass

I've not owned a Mac gloss in years and i have no idea why. I owned Flusterose a few years ago and it was probably my favourite gloss for a long long time. I love the finish, it's not the longest lasting gloss but i can honestly not get anything to stay put on my lips for longer than an hour while I'm out due to drinking and my (unhealthy and yuck i know) bad smoking habit. I love the shimmer and the light vanilla scent that all Mac's lip products have.

Gorgeous pink with silver shimmer. Not very sticky so a thumbs up from me!

Paint Pot - Bare Study

I'd heard a lot about Paint Pots in the past but never really seen the need for me to buy one. As I'd had a specific look in mind that i wanted to wear this weekend this seemed the perfect opportunity to get one. Bare Study is a soft, shimmery pearly nude which is primarily used as an eyeshadow base. For some reason at the weekend while in a little bit of a rush I'd managed to completely miss primer out of my routine (how? i really do not know) and this did crease throughout the day but nothing a little smudging couldn't sort. I used this on my lid with a thick winged liquid liner and it looked lovely. I'd tested this look a few days before while at work and with a primer it really did not budge at all, even through heat. I'm really quite impressed!

Being able to splurge on Mac products is one of my favourite things to do as i can rarely justify spending so much. But it's all worth it! I shall get a new post up by Thursday on the things I'd bought from my first ever trip to a Mac counter, eee exciting stuff!


Thanks for reading guys. :)

xx

Blood. Feathers. Lipstick

Hey all!

Just a quick post to introduce those of you who aren't already following her to my good friend Jane. Shes actually the one who first convinced me i needed to start blogging! Shes holding a giveaway with MUA products to celebrate getting over 50 followers here on blogspot.

So to be in for a chance to win these goodies head over to her blog here and enter the competition :)

xx

"Prime It" Illuminating Face Primer

Hey all!

When it comes to face primers over the last year or two I've been using the same one, when i actually bothered with them at all. And as of late it's become something if I'm going on a night out or special event i wouldn't go without! Somehow I've managed to keep myself in sample and tester size Smashbox Photo Finish Primer for a good year or so, so i haven't had to splurge on a bottle. At around £33 the Smashbox one isn't cheap, and it's one of those products i know i need and HATE spending money on. So I've been on the hunt for cheaper primers and came across this one!

Technic - "Prime It" Illuminating Face Primer

I'd seen a few reviews online and a friend had said they loved this product and at £3.99 the bargain hunter in me just had to have it. Some people are comparing it to Benefit's Bad Gal Primer, i wouldn't really know as I've not used it because as I've said before i illogically don't like spending a lot of money on primers. 

Above is a picture of the product and it blended out on my hand. This probably isn't the best example since my hands are very dry (naughty me needs to remember hand cream more often!) and I've had to crop the picture since the silly angle i took this at made me look like an amputee in every one! As far as this primer goes it's obviously not similar to the Smashbox one, this one is illuminating and has a lot less slip. But if you're looking something to brighten up you're skin under foundation i suggest giving this a bash! It's definitely not one to wear alone as it would just be too shimmery.

Overall i think it's a decent primer considering the price. I'd actually quite interested to know how it stands up against the Benefit one and shall do some investigating when I'm in town next! I'm also extremely interested on how Lanacane (Anti Chaffing gel, yuck i know) stands up against Smashbox since the ingredients are extremely similar! I'm planning to compare the two when i finally remember to pick the embarrassing stuff up from Boots!

You can buy "Prime It" from LoveThyMakeup for £3.99.

Also just wanted to say a big HI and thanks to my new followers. Hope my ramblings arn't too boring. :)

xx

Cute and affordable storage

So I've had this post saved for a couple of days without uploading it. But after seeing all the lovely storage ideas from the #Bbloggers chat on twitter i think it's about time i do. My storage is a little messy primarily due to lack of space. But I'm hoping with some of the ever so popular Ikea drawers I'll have ample space... for a few weeks or so. This is how most of my makeup and skincare is set out currently (well actually its messier now, it's been a few days.) Also if you have any cute storage ideas let me know i weirdly love reading and watching storage posts/videos.

I really don't know why everything in my room has to be pink. I honestly do not even own one pink item of clothing as it's not really my style but i find myself obsessed with pink storage. Odd, i know! The pink and black drawers were the first thing i purchased, i really did luck out and found them for £6 on sale in WHSmith. 

Okay as much as i love these they were a tad overpriced. These were from GlizyGlam.com and were it not for the free international shipping weekend i wouldn't of even dreamed about buying them. But instead i managed to nag the Bf and convince him i NEEDED these. The brush holder is nothing more than a little pot with some coloured stickers on it. The makeup bag is a little better and has a plasticky inside so if something explodes its easy enough to wipe clean. I think these were both about $15 each.

This was my newest addition to my storage collection. I really couldn't resist at £5 from Wilkinsons. I just wish they were a little bigger. But they fit in nicely with everything else i own.


I really do wish i could stop wanting more more more! Actually no i don't, i love getting things through the post it's like Christmas but with actually getting the things you love!


Thanks for reading guys!

Elf collection & favourites

Hey guys! So i thought I'd do a long overdue E.l.f collection post! I've not got the biggest collection but i only started buying from them a few months ago. A lot of their products are hit and miss but for the price i don't mind experimenting. Here's a look at my collection and a few of my favourites! I'm going to do a more detailed post with swatches when i get a day off. If you have any collection or review posts or videos link me them in comments because i love hearing how products work for other people.

 

Eyes

I haven't really got around to using some of these products as i haven't really had any place in my routine for them, the Eye Transformer, Lashes and Shimmer Palette being the main culprits there.

 Brightening Eye Colour - Drama. £1.50
Perfect little smokey eye quad complete with mini mirror. Some of the quads are a little chalky but for the price you can't complain. They come in a ton of colours, some more pigmented than others. I only personally have two but will probably be getting some more in the near future as they are quite handy.

Liquid Liner - Black
I decided on not uploading a picture of mine since the E.l.f logo has completely worn off and has been in my essentials makeup bag for quite some time now. I have always sworn by Rimmel's Exaggerate Liquid Liner but thought I'd try this for £1.50. I LOVE it. In my opinion it lasts a lot longer on the eyes and applies easily. Some people have been complaining about the smell but i personally couldn't smell anything unpleasant. I just wish that the Glitter Eyeliners (which i forgot to put in my collection because they are awful and are god knows where in my room) where up to the same standard as this.

 

Lips
Most of the lip products I've tried are average in my opinion although i haven't really got a lot. The only real let down products for me is the Lip Primer and Plumper which smells delicious but doesn't really do anything and the Therapeutic Lip Balm which smells awful and has a horrid greasy consistency, yuck!

Hypershine Gloss - Flirt. £1.50
My favourite of the E.l.f lip products currently (apart from the applicator). It has a lovely cotton candy scent to it and is a pretty sheer pink colour. It's not overly stick and has a decent amount of slip. But again at bargain price is a product that's brilliant to have sitting in your handbag for beauty emergencys!

 

Face

Having a good base is probably the most important thing for me in my routine and i spend most of my time on foundation / blush / highlighting. I'm probably the fussiest with my face products as having really dry/sensitive skin can give me a lot of problems with products. There are quite a few miss products in E.l.f's face selection but also quite a few hits! And please excuse the grubby pictures, these have been in my essentials bag for quite some time now.

Golden Bronzer - £3.50

This product really surprised me. I've not had much luck in the past with bronzers (probably due to my dodgey application) but i really adore this. Being super pale has made me more than cautious when it comes to bronzers but this is light enough for even me. It's not great for contouring as it's very shimmery but lovely to add a bit of a glow to the face and chest. I will definitely be repurchasing this when it comes back into stock.

Complexion Perfection - £3.50

After my first go with this product i decided i hated it and shoved in the back of my drawer. But i luckily decided to give it another chance and with a much much lighter hand it works wonders. As i have dry skin using too much of this product makes me look dry and flakey, but a small amount swirled round on my Kabuki brush works wonders. I have a few friends who have slightly oilier skin and are in love with this. It evens out your complexion beautifully. The only problem with it is that I'm not sure it would work on darker skin tones due to how white the powder applies, for once being pale is a slight advantage!

 High Definition Powder - £6

I'd put off buying this for a while but after seeing other reviews and it being in stock while they had their 50% off sale i had to cave. The first thing i will say about this is that it is MESSY, you loose a lot of product every time you open it which may put me off buying it in the future but then again it's still not expensive. I've been using this to set my foundation and I've been absolutely loving it. Evens my skin tone out and leaves my face feeling silky smooth. If they sorted out the packaging it would probably be my favourite E.l.f product ever! 

 Nails

 

Nail Polish - Blush - Coral. £1.50

 I have a love/hate relationship with these polishes. I love some of the colours especially these two but i really really hate the texture. My mum teaches beauty therapy so maybe I'm spoiled as she's a varnish addict but the texture and staying power of these is a little frustrating. I put up with these two purely because i adore the colours.

Brushes

E.l.f make some surprisingly good brushes! I have however had some problems with broken brushes, they've been completely wobbly or in some cases come apart. But E.l.f have a lovely customer service team and with a photo sent to them i had those brushes replaced. I've not got any Mac or Sigma to compare them to but i definitely prefer them over Smashbox ones which i find a little rough. Some brushes are better than others which is obviously the same with most brands.

 Kabuki Face Brush - £5

This is probably one of my favourite brushes in my collection. It's definitely the best Kabuki I've owned. If it was a little denser it would be perfect. I've been using this nearly every day for months and I've had no problems. I've had very little to no shedding. Quite often they have 20% sales which makes this even more of a bargain.

 

 Powder Brush

As you can see i have quite a few of these! It's such a multipurpose brush, i use this for powder, liquid foundation, cream blush and lots of other things. This is why i have quite a few for different purposes. It's one of their most popular brushes and i can certainty see why. If i had to suggest one product to buy from E.l.f It'd be this.

Well i think I've rambled on quite enough for today! Thanks again guys for reading and I'll try to keep my posts a little closer together :P Again if you have any blog posts or videos link me them in comments because I'd love to check them out!
x