Eye Makeup: Intense Turquoise and Purple Pigments

Wednesday 25th June Eye Makeup Look

I did this crazy eye look for a themed end of exams party I attended last week where my theme was 'Space'. It was so so fun to do, I used two pigments I've had for ages and a bright blue mascara. Again sorry the picture quality isn't as amazing as it has been but I was getting ready at a friend's house.

(On the cheek is glitter).

Yeaah I really went all out, with both the makeup and outfit.

You can kind of see the blue mascara in this light, it's something not 100% noticeable in the dark or normal lights, but when your eyelashes catch the light it's a bright bright blue.

 Although I know this look is very out there, it probably is something I'd wear again. My lids are really hooded so it can still look quite subtle, and anyway sometimes if you're dressing quite plain it's still nice to do something crazy on the eyes.

Here's a list of the products I used.

As always I used the NYX jumbo eye pencil all over the eyelid as a base for something for the pigments to adhere to. Again as always I used the white from the Soap and Glory Lid Stuff Palette in 'What's Nude' for a browbone and inner corner matte highlight, and a mixture of the other two matte shades as a transition shade in the crease. The pigments I bought ages ago from Primark probably for a super cheap price, but they're good quality! I doubt they still sell them though, even though they've recently brought back a makeup range. I packed them on with a small brush sprayed with fix plus and then gentle blended them together in the transition of the two to make it slightly more smooth and less stark. I also lined the lower lash line with the same pigments. To line the upper lash line I used the L'Oreal super liner and for mascara the Colossal Volum Express in Blue by Maybelline.

Also,

On my lips I used this frosty sheeny white called Shell by 17 (Boots). Due to the finish I basically only use it for fancy dress.

Let me know if you would try this look out in the comments below!

Eye Makeup: Smokey Eye with Pink and Purple Lower Lashline

Sunday 28th June Eye Makeup Look

It's a simple smokey brown eye with a pop of pink and purple under the eye on the lower lash line.

I absolutely loved this look because it was so fun and different, but again quite subtle.

I did a very strong winged eyeliner, as I love to do.

I apologise for the bare brows, but I hadn't filled them in yet (or done my face makeup, hence the freckles haha).

Here's a list of the products I used.

As a base I used the NYX Jumbo Eye Pencil in milk. For the eyehsadows on the lid I used the Stila in the Light Palette. I used bare all over the lid (a matte skintone shade) as a transition shade I used bliss, kitten all over the inner 3/4 of the lid (and in my inner corner), and on the outer quarter I used sandstone and sunset. For the lower lashline I used the pink and purple from the Lime Crime Palette D'antoinette which I did a full post/haul on here. I used the L'oreal Superliner and Rocket Maybelline mascara as usual.

Do you like this look? Would you recreate it? Let me know in the comments below.

June Superdrug Haul!

A little present to myself for finishing exams...

I really haven't bought much makeup recently, because I'm well aware that I already own way too much. But there have been a few things I've really wanted recently and after much thought decided to finally pick up from Superdrug.

I have tried some of these products already, so I'll let you guys know a few first impressions.

Makeup

Ignore the moisturiser, I'll deal with that in the skincare section!

I picked up some really exciting makeup bits.

Firstly is something I've been so excited to pick up, but at first I was hesitant as I do own many foundations, a lot of which I don't currently use because even though I buy the lightest shade every time sometimes it's still not light enough for my winter colour skin!

This is the Max Factor Face Finity all day flawless 3 in 1 foundation which was £11.99, supposedly a primer, concealer and foundation all in one (which is a claim that really annoys me). I got it in the lightest shade, light ivory 40. The match is perfect for me, thankfully. I still have used a primer with it, just to make the application more smooth. But I did find amazingly that I didn't need to use concealer when I used this! It gave me the medium plus coverage I needed.

I wanted to buy this because Max Factor and Covergirl have many of the same products just repackaged and under different brand names, and I felt like I was missing out every time someone raved about the Covergirl Outlast Stay Fabulous 3 in 1 foundation, which is clearly the same product as this Facefinity foundation. So I thought I would never get to try this product out, but thankfully it recently got released under the Max Factor umbrella very recently this 2014 Summer.

And yeah, I love it so far. The first time I tried a bit of this on my skin, applying it with the Real Techniques Essential Foundation Brush (not something I normally use), the brush and the foundation together was an amazing match and gave a phenomenal effect.

This reminds me of my favourite foundation ever, the L'Oreal True Match which I actually am in love with... But I think this Max Factor one might actually be a little better! It's early days, I tried it on briefly and I've worn it out once all night,was impressed with the results both times, but only time will tell.

The only downer is that it has SPF! I guess it's good for summer, but not those nights where you know you'll be getting photographed with flash photography, as it might cause flashback- a white cast.

It was three for two on L'Oreal, so naturally I obliged and picked up three things because I've been wanting to try the L'Oreal Paris Glamshine Stain Splash's especially the purple shade, and I thought I would buy two to test out the shade range.

They retail for £7.99 each, and I got the shades Marilyn (lighter one, on the right above, and left below), and Milady (the deeper purple pictured above left and below right).

The idea between these is that they have high pigmentation but stain your lips and so have a better staying power, and they're good.

The scent is fruity and sweet, it's beautiful, and undoubtedly the colours are beautiful. I do find they work even better on top of a lipstick (nude for the light pink one, or a deep purple for the purple one) because they enhance the colour of the lipstick and kind of seal in the lipstick because of their staining power.

And of course there are naturally comparisons to the YSL alternative, because L'Oreal and YSL are owned by the same umbrella brand.

Marilyn, Milady

Everyone always mentions this, but it really is annoying that they don't have the product name on the outsides. The packaging is beautiful though, and the applicator is sort of heart-shaped and applies quite well, although not as well as the Rimmel Apocalips applicator which is the best lipgloss applicator EVER.

So yeah, so far I quite like them, they really do stain well, I couldn't get the last of the stains of these off my swatched hand 24+ hours after and using much makeup remover! But I shall let you know how my thoughts change or develop and perhaps do a full review.

Finally for makeup, I got this single eyeshadow from the Color Riche L'Ombre Pure range in 307 Smokey. This is really hard to track down online, but I'm pretty sure this was between £3-6.

L'Oreal have some amazing eyeshadows, and this is another one. It says it's 'gel infused', and I'm not really sure what that means but I think it contributes to how super creamy, blendable and buttery this product is. The colour is also a beautiful silver shade.

I did really get this because I had already got two L'oreal products, so picking out one for free, but I do actually love this product. The pigmentation is amazing, as you'll see from the swatches below.

Single eyeshadows are something I rarely get, but this colour was so beautiful and it's something I always wear as my standard eyemakeup look for a night out, so it'll be perfect for summer. I haven't worn it on the eyes yet but I know I'll get a lot of use out of it.

However I have realised that it's almost identical to another L'Oreal silver I own, the Colour Appeal (another amazing L'Oreal eyeshadow range) in 150 'Real Silver'. The only thing that's slightly different is the texture, this one having a drier texture in comparison to the one I picked up here.

Skincare

Witch naturally clear cleansing and toning wipes, £1.99, Simple kind to skin cleansing wipes, £1.48, Freederm deep pore cleansing wipes, £1.99. They all have 25 wipes in each packet. The Witch ones I haven't tried yet, but the Simple and Freederm ones I have. This may seem an excessive number of face wipes to buy, but I'm going to use them one at a time (I've started with the Witch ones), and they'll last me for ages. 

You'll see empty-reviews of these as I finish them, letting you know my thoughts on them. I know I love the Simple ones and Freederm ones for different reasons; the Simple ones are very gentle and do clean the skin, but the Freederm ones, my personal favourites of all time, I have noticed really do make a difference to my spots, and make them a lot less horrible to go through! Seriously try these if you haven't already.

By the way, I don't souly use makeup wipes to remove my makeup. I use the Bioderma and Nivea double effects to remove my eye and face makeup. I haven't been using makeup wipes at all for probably up to a year now, but I decided to try them again just to use for a final cleanse of my skin and make sure all the last bits of face makeup are removed. I've missed having makeup remover wipes!

The Clean and Clear Dual Action moisturiser, £3.59, is a repurchase for me. I finished it back in April after it being one of my first moisturisers ever (and wrote an empty-review of it), and when I saw it I felt like I wanted to try it out again. It actually did help with spots and sank into the skin so nicely, making it feel refreshed and, well, clean. It's also oil-free so it kept my oily t-zone under control.

So those are the things I picked up!

What have you most recently bought from the shops? What makeup are you currently loving? Let me know in the comments below.

Eye Makeup: Silver and Purple Smokey Eye

Thursday 19th June Eye Makeup Look

Recently I've made the conscious decision to amp up my eye makeup looks. I always do a standard silver eye with a brown crease when I go out, but I decided to branch out and start doing some different looks. I realised I have so many beautiful colourful eyeshadows, and I love experimenting so am really trying to wear some different and interesting eyeshadow looks out- the best time to try something a little bit crazy is when going out at night! 

I'm going to post pictures of these eye looks when I do them. Some might not necessarily be looks suitable for daytime, but hopefully will give you guys some nighttime inspiration, an insight into what products I use when I go out, and inspire me too to keep up the "branching out" style. 

I'm going to be going out quite a lot in the coming months as exams are over- woooo! So these posts might become a regular thing. Let me know if you like them!

I used mainly the colours from the Lime Crime Palette d'antoinette (at the end there will be a picture of the products used and a full list), which I featured in a haul and did some up close swatches of each colour, so check that out if you're interested.

Basically I love this palette, and I plan on doing a green-orange look with it soon. The colours are creamy and apply beautifully, easy to blend and super pigmented. And surprisingly, there really isn't much fall out at all.

As you can see, the look is quite subtle and super wearable! But the pop of colour slightly adds to your usual eye look and gives it a little bit of something extra. You could definitely put the purple into the crease below the brown if you wanted even more drama, I might try that out next time.

I used a matte white as a browbone highlight (under the brow), then brushed a matte brown shade into the crease as a transition colour to really pull the look together. I then placed the silver from the palette from the very inner part of the eye from an inner corner highlight right to about 3/4 of the way across the lid. Then I placed the pink, overlapping it slightly and adding a few layers to intensify the colour, and right at outer edge of the eye I placed the purple, again blending them all together. I repeated the silver-pink-purple structure under the eye, as well as smudging a bit of brown on the outer 1/4 of the lower lash line.

Here are the products I used.

For the lid colours, the silver, pink and purple, I used the Lime Crime Palette d'antoinette (top left).

For the transition crease shade I used the top right shade from the Soap and Glory Lid Stuff quad in 'What's Nude' (the middle product).

For the browbone highlight I used the white (bottom row, three from right and well loved, as you can see, I've hit pan) from the Coastal Scents Smokey Eyes palette you'll see on the right of the picture, which is really great for colourful looks.

For eyeliner I used the L'Oreal super liner slim, and the normal super liner, both in black, and my mascara was The Rocket by Maybelline.

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This is a new thing for me to try so I would really love to hear your feedback, let me know in the comments below if you like this format and also of course if you like this look!

E.L.F. Loves and Loathes: Eyes Edition

E.L.F. Loves and Loathes (Eye Products)

This is first in a three-part blog post set, I'll be doing lip products next and then face products.

E.L.F. is an online brand but in other parts of the world you can even get them in drugstores! They're so popular because their products are really cheap, and yet they aim to dupe a lot of more expensive products out there.

Can I just firstly say that these are my opinions and my opinions only- some of you may love the products I hate, and vice versa!

So let's get into it!

I'm gonna start off with the loathes, just to get them out of the way.

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BAD PRODUCTS (2)

1.
Cream Eyeshadows
£3.95

It's not often I really hate a product, but these I really didn't get along with.

The packaging is beautiful and sleek and you seem to get a lot of product in them, but they're not smooth at all and therefore give you a patchy application. They also crease on the eyelids which is just not something you want for a cream eyeshadow- just go for the MAC ones; in this case it's worth the price.

Patchy and not that pigmented- I'm going to throw these products away unfortunately

They won't last very long because the product dries out. I've tried 4 of these and both the lighter and darker shades are all awful.

2. 

I also got free once the 6 in one to-go palettes, or something. They weren't horrendous and the blushes and bronzers especially were quite nice, however a lot of the eyeshadows really weren't great.

I don't have them anymore because I threw out a couple of the bad sets and gave the rest to a friend who doesn't have much eyeshadow.

I didn't have any pictures of this and couldn't find it on the website, but here are some pictures on google if you're wondering what it looks like.

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SO-SO PRODUCTS (1)

1.

The Mineral Infused Mascara

£3.95

This is something I liked, but I can't say I completely loved.

It's a good enough mascara, and the brush shape means this is amazing for reaching the lower lashes without smudging mascara everywhere!

However the formulation is very liquidy and thin- with this mascara you get more of a lengthening effect than volumising. Further, it's not as long-wearing as I'd like in a mascara. But this product really isn't bad by any means! And I do get a lot of use out of it.

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GREAT PRODUCTS (4)

1.

Wet Gloss Lash and Brow Clear Mascara

£1.95

This is a great product, and sadly i'm almost out. You can see my spoolies are a bit tinted from use, but they were originally completely clear.

I used this over the top of my eyebrow products to set the brow hairs in place. And boy does it set the hairs in place! If you want a brow gel that means your lashes really won't budge at all throughout the whole day, then try this out. But if you prefer a more natural setting gel, and one that doesn't make them feel slightly stiff and very set-down, then perhaps try another one. The Body Shop one is good but a bit more natural-feeling.


 2.
Eyeliner and Shadow Stick
£1.97 reduced from £3.95

I got this in a free Halloween bag in 2012 and I've grown to love it. This is a much better cream eyeshadow than the ones in the pot first mentioned in this post.

It comes with two cream eye products.

One thicker end is a lighter shadow stick which I use all over the lid- it's a beautiful colour

Green is a colour which isn't really too far from the standard brown, but adds something new to an ordinary eye look. Try doing green all over the lid and pushing a brown into the crease, or alternatively doing a usual smokey eye but running a slight dark green amongst the brown in the crease.

The 'moss' shade is a slightly darker and thinner colour which is amazing as an eyeliner. It's not too noticeable as a green than a slightly off-black, so I've used this as an upper eye liner before, but it also works amazingly along the lower lash line.

 I really reccommend this product, and will hopefully try it in other shades too.

This is in the shade green/moss

3.

Eyelid Primer

£1.95

Sorry I don't have a picture for this one, I've just run out. I don't need any more primers right now but if i'm ever searching for a cheaper alternative, I definitely will. It's like a thinner version of the Urban Decay primer potion, and although I can't say it works exactly the same, it's a primer, and it primes well enough. I can't really fault it, especially for the price.

I got it in the shade sheer, as it was before they started having the options of other shades. It's here on the website.

4.

Eyebrow Kit

£3.95

This is another product I don't own anymore- so sorry, no pictures for this! But I'm sure you've seen it before on blogs or in videos as it's quite talked about. I had it in the shade ash, and you can find it here on the website.

And for good reason! It's not too thick of a consistency so looks quite natural, the colour selection is good and the powder nicely sets the wax in place whilst adding a second dimension to the just one sole colour.

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What are your favourite eye products from ELF? What are your least favourite? Let me know in the comments below.

Throwing Out: Beauty Treats Glitter Palette

I'm Gonna Have to Get Rid... Glitter Palette from Beauty Treats

New series I'm doing where basically I do a blog post on items I have decided to throw out due to either lack of use or deciding they're off and not something I can use anymore. Either that or they're just awful products with no better home elsewhere. This is different to empties as those are products I've completely finished up. These are not.

This is meant to be a glitter eyeshadow (but they're in cream form) palette. It's definitely aimed towards younger experimentation, and not the sort of makeup I practice now.

I recently had a big room-tidy (so nice to do every once in a while) and regrettably decided to throw this out. I've been keeping it mostly as a aesthetic thing (because it looks so pretty), but I just don't use it and it's an awful product so I put it in the bin.

How the cream glitters come out swatched

Sorry, I'm not sure exactly what this product is called. I couldn't find it anywhere online and I got it so so long ago.

It was a present from my mum many years ago. At the time I was like 'wow! this is the best thing ever!' as you are in a childhood way. But now it just never gets used at all.

It's a shame I have to throw this out but it feels good to de-clutter.

A thick, creamy texture with visibly glitter

Swatched. The texture probably has deteriorated somewhat due to the amount of time I've had it. 

The colour in the pan after one swatch

The problem with this is that the glitter is only there on the surface, so no matter how nice it looks, you only really get 1-2 uses out of it in the glitter form. What's left is a pale creamy-textured shadow and no glitter.

Another example: before swatch

Another example: after swatch

As pretty as this was to look at, it just wasn't something I was getting any use out of. The quality wasn't quite there.

What's the last product you've had to throw out? Let me know in the comments below.

Top 3 Neutrals Palettes

My Favourite 3 Palette Picks

On a day-to-day basis if I wear eyeshadows at all they are almost always neutral shades, so these palettes as well as my neutrals mac palette (see the blog post) are my most used. 

I usually wear light shades over my lid for a wash of colour, and sometimes but rarely attempt dark eyes (it washes my light skin out).

Into my top 3 most used neutrals palettes, in no particular order.

1. Urban Decay Naked 2 Palette

A Naked Palette being in here probably isn't surprise to anyone, however this is probably my least used palette of the three.

In hindsight I think the Naked 3 with rose-hues would have been the best for my pale skin. However the colours in this are amazing, there's no doubting, and I can create so many looks with this.

The transition colour Tease is amazing, as is Foxy for an all over wash of colour or browbone highlight. I also use the matte black Blackout quite a lot.

The price is around £40 which actually for 12 full sized amazingly creamy quality eyeshadows is not something I see as too expensive. 

The pigmentation is amazing with every single shade, even the matte ones.

I highly recommend this palette! Check out the naked palettes and see which of the three will best complement your skin tone. If you wear eyeshadow, buy one of these! Nothing beats Urban Decay for eyeshadow- they're definitely even better than Mac.

2. Sleek Makeup Storm Palette

This is a neutrals palette with a twist- the possibilities are endless. You can do a classic brown smokey eye, a blue one, a pink one or a green one. But I still count this as a neutrals palette.

The price is around £8 from Superdrug, and the quality is amazingly creamy. It has a lot of similar colours to my next palette, and the Naked 1 as well.

I actually like using the sponge-tip applicator on occasion as it applies a dense amount of highly pigmented creamy colour- using a normal brush with these can be problematic.

I use the two matte shades for my eyebrows- they're perfect for that and it lasts all day.

12 shades, £8, you do the maths. That's a great deal. Also Sleek Makeup have many fab palettes to choose from- you will find the one for you. I find this to be the one I'd use most.

The colours I use most in this are the second one along- a lot like Stila's Kitten and amazing in texture, and the two matte browns for transition colours and my eyebrows.

Sleek is worth checking out- I swear by their stuff and it's not gonna make you bankrupt.

3. Stila In the Light Palette

I love this palette, and with the others in this list this is well loved by beauty bloggers. I loved the look of this and had to get it.

These palettes are creamy in texture, but not chalky. None of them are duds- they all are amazing. The palette is priced at around £25, which for 10 shadows really isn't that much at all. Worth it? Definitely.

The colours resemble those in the Naked 1, and also some of them are very similar to the ones in the Sleek palette.

If you like the colours and think you'll get a lot of use out of them, definitely pick this up! You can buy it online from loads of stores, and even find it in some of the bigger Boots.

The pigmentation is like nothing else and texture is less chalky than the Sleek palette- you can definitely feel the difference, and why this one deserves to be priced so much more.

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I always suggest buying palettes, especially if you're just starting out with makeup. Don't bother buying individual shades just get a couple of palettes to start with!

I hope this post was somewhat helpful or interesting to you!

Will you be picking any of these products up? What is your favourite palette? Let me know in the comments below.