EOTD: A little too much Shimmah Shimmah

I love Makeup Geek (hence the shimmah :p) Anyhoo I was mucking about trying to come up with something to wear for New Years and this turned out to be an epic fail. I got a little glitter happy and not a single matte shadow was used. As a result I don’t really like this but what the heck, I photographed it so now you folks get to dislike it too :p 

Products used were:

Urban Decay Primer Potion in Sin

Urban Decay Underland (Alice palette) on the lid

UD Curiouser (Alice Palette) inner part of lower lash line (fall out off this is a pain in the bum)

Sleek Bad Girl shimmery dark purple in the crease and outer corner and outer part of lower lash line

Sleek Bad Girl shimmery beige under brow (this is where the shimmer got a bit silly)

Front cover Mermaid Dreams palette Sunray in and above crease

FC MD palette Cloud dance as inner corner highlight

ELF Studio Cream eyeliner in Gunmetal on upper lashline (for crying out loud woman stop with the freaking shimmer please?)

Bourjois eye pencil in Noir on waterline

Max Factor Masterpiece mascara

I’m aware that there are more eye shadow colours on there than are strictly necessary but that is what happens when I’m left unsupervised at my dressing table. Now I’m off to figure out what I’m actually going to wear tonight.... x

*All of the above products were purchased by yours truly*

A New Year ramble

I love this time of year. I really do enjoy the process of looking back over the year that’s gone and figuring out what I want to do differently and achieve in the next. I’m in a good place right now. This year I got married, I graduated and I’m working full time. I’m grateful for all of these things but that doesn’t mean there isn’t room for improvement. I like my job but it isn’t what I want to be doing for the rest of my life. Whilst I’m grateful to have a job at all in the current economic climate I’m nervous of getting complacent. If I don’t move on I’ll get stuck in a rut and I’ll never find the courage to really have a go at my dream career. 

Anyone who has gotten married or done a degree knows that neither of these things come cheap! 2010 was the year of the debt for me. Between ill pets (damn you non paying insurance companies!), the honeymoon and the wedding we have accumulated more debt than I feel comfortable with (and that’s without even thinking about the mortgage!) We’ve made a good start at paying everything off but there is a lot left to do.

So here are my new years resolutions:

* End the year with no debt (apart from student loan and Mortgage, both of which I’ll be paying off until the end of time) and savings in the bank.

* Get my foot on the ladder of my chosen career.

You may have noticed down the page a little ticker with a countdown to Jan 1^st. That’s because I was on a no buy and do you know what? I stuck to it! I didn’t buy one single makeup item during the month of December! I received a few things for Christmas but not one penny of our money was spent. It was hard at first but by the third week I wasn’t even contemplating purchasing anything. My wish list could wall paper my flat but I’m in no hurry to buy anything from it. It’s worked so well that I’m continuing it for January! I will be allowed three items (two pencils from Cham Pale and the Sleek Molton Metals) but nothing else. Anyone care to join me and start 2011 off on the right foot? 

What are your new year’s resolutions? Do you ever keep to them or are you (like me) guilty of making the same ones every year with little success? Let me know/ link to your posts in the comments! Have a happy and safe new year to everyone. I hope 2011 brings you everything you wish for.

Benefit Coralista and Mememe Comparison

I was lucky enough to get the Benefit Some Beauty To Love gift set for Christmas. It contains a little Bad Gal mascara, That Gal Primer, Eye Bright (which I already have so I’m not sure what to do with this one) and full sized Coralista boxed blush. Cute isn’t it?

I’ve wanted this for so long but at £23.50, even for a whopping 12g of product, it just wasn’t a spend I could justify. I believe this set cost just under £30 making it the bargain of the century! I’ll be keeping my eyes peeled next Christmas to see if they do the same with any of the other shades. Anyway to the actual product. The brush is soft etc but so thin and flimsy that it went straight in the bin. The first thing I noticed was the scent. It smells sweet, a little bit like those love heart sweets. I know a lot of people love it but I find it a little sickly. It doesn’t linger though so it’s not a problem.

I thought it might be interesting to compare it with Benefit wannabe – Mememe boxed blush in Rouge. These cost £8.50 though you get a bit less product at 8g. I have never ever finished a blush though so the Mememe option is definitely a more purse friendly choice (I have done a full review of it if you are interested). It has the same style of packaging although it has a mirror in the lid which the Benefit doesn’t. In the pan they look similar, Rouge perhaps looks slightly darker and pinker. My lighting was giving me all kinds of hell. The actual colour is somewhere between the flash and no flash pictures though I think the swatch pic looks pretty true to colour. Benefit is always on the left, Mememe on the right. 

In the swatches they looks totally different. Coralista is much lighter and more shimmery. It looks less coral to me too. I will say that I feel Coralista blends ever so slightly easier on the cheeks. Clearly there is no dupe here which is in my opinion a good thing. I like the fact that Mememe are giving us a cheaper alternative but if they were blatantly copying exact shades I think it would be more than a little cheeky given how many other Benefit dupes they already have (e.g. their versions of Benetint and the highlighters). 

I would like to get the Mememe Coral blush and Benefit Georgia next but unless I win the lottery I know which one I’ll be picking up first! X

*Mememe Rouge was purchased by me, Coralista was a gift from a family member*

Best of 2010

Hello folks, here is a quick rambly video on some of the products I've been grabbing for most over the last year. If you're a regular reader you've probably seen me talk about most of these before.



As for life in general? Well 2010 was the year I got married to a wonderful man and graduated with a degree in psychology. For all the little niggles and low points I think those two alone make 2010 a pretty good year :-) xxx

Chanel Rouge Coco No5 Mademoiselle

I suppose you could say I’m a bargain hunter at heart. I love high street makeup and buy more of it than I do high end. That doesn’t stop me going all warm and fuzzy when I occasionally do get to own a properly luxurious item though. To me this lipstick is in every way exquisite. 

The packaging is weighty and cold to the touch as it is made of metal. It closes with a quiet but satisfying snap.  The bullet has Chanel carved into is and the lipstick has a beautiful rose scent. It smells exactly like good quality Turkish delight actually. It feels, looks and smells special every time you get it out to use it. 

Does the lipsticks live up to the promise of its packaging? I think so. This is the deep browned pink work by the gorgeous Vanessa Paradis in the advert. I know some people have found it a bit dark but on my highly pigmented lips it looks very subtle and natural. The texture is smooth and while not totally opaque it is fairly pigmented and leaves a glossy finish. I don’t find it very moisturising but it isn’t too unforgiving on my chapped winter lips. Lasting power is distinctly average on me. 

Now these cost £21.50 and I honestly do think you get your moneys worth. I know some people think if you’re going to treat yourself to a luxury lippie you should buy a really unusual colour but I love that this is something I could happily wear every day. I want to get a lot of use out of it if I’m spending that much money! I have my eye on another one already x

*I got this as a Christmas present, thanks Nan-in-law!”

Get Thee To Lush... and other upcoming posts

Somehow my husband found himself unsupervised in Lush yesterday. As you probably know the Lush Christmas gift sets get reduced after the big day. This entire load cost £56. That’s 50% off everything apart from the face mask. Bargain! 

Some of the products are permanent so expect reviews on these soon. Also coming up in the near future will be;

·         Best of 2010 (probably a video)

·         Chanel Rouge Coco Mademoiselle review/ swatches

·         Benefit Coralista review/ swatches

·         Some more nail polish round ups

·         Primer reviews including MAC and Benefit

I was thinking about doing more EOTD posts. I’m slowly getting the hang of taking non blurry photo’s of my own face. Now I’m about as talented at applying makeup as I am at art in general (I couldn’t draw a straight line with a ruler) however it is sometimes useful to see what colours actually look like on the eye rather than in a swatch. Any thoughts? What would like to see more of on this blog? I’d really appreciate any feed back xxx

Sample Sunday – Rituals Awareness Night Cream

The box of samples is starting to look a little less full which can only be a good thing. I had three sachets of this ‘intensive regenerating treatment’ which I smooshed into a sample jar. I got 6 days use out of it and whilst that isn’t long enough to really judge a skin care product it is long enough to see how my fussy skin will react. Generally if a fragrance is going to cause a reaction it will react within 3-4 days. According to the site this is full of all sort of lovely things:

• “The ingredients Squalana & Vitamin E restore and repair your skin’s moisture balance
• Vitamin F & Glycoproteins have anti-aging properties
• Natural Kombuchka makes your skin smoother and reduces blemishes
• Contains anti-oxidants
• This intensive regenerating treatment is specially developed for all skin type
• Dermatologically tested”
“Rituals has developed Awareness night cream: a wonderfully nourishing and restorative cream.
Ingredients include Kombuchka, which is a tea made from fermented yeast enzyme. The ancient Chinese referred to it as the 'Prescription for Immortality'. In other words, an ultra healthy and excellent ingredient, and one that helps create healthy, smooth and glowing skin. Add the nourishing properties and relaxing scent of creamy-soft Rice Milk and sweet dreams while your skin renews itself! “

Recently my skin, which is normally combination with an oily nose and very dry elsewhere, has reached whole new levels of awkward. My nose still looks like a chip pan. Everywhere else stubborn dry flakes have appeared and even more bizarrely I have broken out in what appears to be acne around my mouth. I have NEVER had acne. I suspect a primer I’m trying to use up is to blame so I’m going to go makeup free for a few days and see if it goes. Anyway my current night cream isn’t cutting it so I’ve been trying these samples and I have to say I’m impressed.

There is a very faint fragrance but it isn’t overpowering and my skin is tolerating it well. The texture is very thick. It certainly feels like a rich night cream and is rather luxurious to apply. It managed to be thick without being greasy. It sinks in within 30 minutes and rather strangley leaves my skin feeling like is has a primer on it. Not a greasy silicone primer, it just feels softer and smoother. As I said I need to try skipping the primer that I think is breaking me out so I don’t know if I believe the anti blemish claims just yet. After just a couple of uses my skin did feel less tight and the flakies are disappearing.

So far so good, a moisturiser rich enough for my dry bits without over exacerbating the oily nose. At £25.50 for 50ml from their site it is more than a little pricey but even so I think I’ll be picking it up next winter (I have too many other moisturisers to finish at the moment and it might be a touch heavy for my skin in summer). You can purchase it on the rituals website here xxx

*I received these samples with a purchase from their Heathrow shop*

Give away results!!!!

Thank you to everyone who entered! Last thing last night, kept up by a combination of indigestion (damn you turkey) and a clingy cat I went through all of the entries. Each one (comments, blog entries and tweets) were put into an Excel spreadsheet (I have a degree in psychology... I’m the spreadsheet maestro). This gave every entry a number. And now thanks to random.org we have our winner.

Congratulations to.....

Dyna!! You have been emailed :-) xxx

Happy Holidays Everyone!

Merry Christmas! Hope everyone managed to get to where they wanted to be and that Santa has been kind :-)

xxxx


see more Lolcats and funny pictures

No7 Liplicious Moisturising Balm (gloss) SPF 15 in a very interesting colour...

Well firstly it’s not a balm, it’s a gloss (albeit quite a rich moisturising one). These cost £10 at boots which seems a little pricey for a high street lip gloss though you get a hefty 12ml for your money. According to the packaging this is a new shade and as soon as I saw it I needed it. NEEDED IT I TELL THEE. It's called purple liquorice and in the tube it’s a deep blackened purple with hot pink sparkles. The packaging isn’t my favourite. It’s a squeezey tube with a slanted applicator. I just find these get a little messy but I know many people prefer them to wand applicators as you aren’t sticking anything in the product so it’s a bit more hygienic. 

There is a slight sweet scent but It’s not too strong and it does really have a taste, these are factors that I personally like. The texture is smooth and non sticky though the trade of for the lack of stickiness is that it doesn’t last too long on me. In the swatch I’ve piled it on and sheered a bit out so you can see what it actually looks like on the lips. 

Hmm... not quite the dramatic lip I was expecting. If you are looking for a crazy purple lipgloss then look elsewhere because this ain’t it. I’m not writing it off as a fail though. I really do like it. In fact I’ve been using it an awful lot lately. The weather is dark, cold and moody up here at the moment and I’ve been sporting the lips to match. Red or pink lipsticks that have been bright and cheery all year have been getting a sombre make over with this. The effect is similar to layering a black lip gloss over the top. The colour is deepened and made more vampy. Because it’ purple rather than black the effect is softer and I personally find it makes reds run slightly cooler on me when I layer this over the top. 

Even though I didn’t get what I was expecting I am happy with this purchase. I probably won’t buy any of the other colours simply because I’m not crazy about the packaging and the other shades weren’t as interesting x

*I bought this myself*

Estee Lauder Lucidity Translucent Loose Powder

I’ll preface this by saying that I am a fan of Estee Lauder. They were one of the first high end brands that I ever purchased from. As such I feel almost guilty about saying that as loose powders go I’m not too crazy about this. That isn’t to say it’s bad by any means but it probably wasn’t the best choice for me. We’ll start with the packaging. It’s a sturdy plastic pot with a good quality powder puff inside (though I personally never use these). The black lid and gold logo look clean and simple though not spectacular on the dressing table. The holes in the sifter are quite small so I find I need to tap it quite enthusiastically in order to get product out though this has the advantage of being slightly less messy than some of the other loose powders I own. For £24.50 you get a whopping 21g. The girl who persuading me to get this (ironically she told me it wouldn’t make me orange but the pressed powder would. More on that later...) told me she’d been using hers daily for a year and it was still over a quarter full and I do believe her. 

So onto the product. Estee Lauder say:

“Special ingredients diffuse light as it hits your skin, creating a "soft-focus" effect that visibly smoothes the surface of skin and softens the appearance of lines. Provides translucent matte finish so that skin never looks dry or tight. Changes the way skin looks in harsh lighting providing a smooth finish while protecting skin against visible signs of premature ageing.”

There is an ever so slight sheen to the product. We aren’t talking disco face, you know how I love my matte finishes and I feel quite comfortable in this, and it does stop short of looking dry or powdery. I don’t have lines or wrinkles so I can’t comment on that. It is soft and finely milled and a little goes a long way. I use this to set my foundation and oiliness sets in on my nose after about 2-3 hours which is normal for me. I thought my nose would calm down in winter. It’s gotten worse just to spite me. 

Here’s the thing. I have shade 01 Light (there are only 3 shades). The word translucent is in the name so you’d expect a one size fits all powder but nope. In the summer this looks fab but in the winter it is just a touch dark/ orange. I *think* it oxidises slightly on me which could be the cause. Either way when I pulled it out again today to write this and tried it on it wasn’t working for me. That said I do blend into the snow at the moment so I can forgive it that little foible. 

Would I buy this again? No simply because if I spend £24.50 on a powder I want to use it all year round. It’s a nice powder though and I  can’t blame it for my pasty skin. 

*I got this free but only because I spent so much in Boots that I was able to buy this with my advantage points... oh the shame...*