Sweetscents FOTD

I have a few entires planned to get written up tomorrow but I thought I'd leave you with yesterday's FOTD while I'm up and waiting for midnight so I can close my Youtube competition.



For this look, I used some of my Sweetscents pigments. I will be doing a more in depth write up about Sweetscents, but I must just say they are one of my absolute favourite mmu brands!




I used:
-Afterglow foundation "Cameo"
-MAC Shadestick "Beige-Ing" over lid as base
-Sweetscents pigment "Orange Sherbert Pearl" inner 1/3 of lid
-Sweetscents pigment "Medium Yellow Shimmer" middle 1/3 of lid
-Sweetscents pigment "12th Night" outer 1/3 of lid and lower lashline
-Sweetscents pigment "Lapis Blue" damp as upper liner
-MAC "Nylon" highlight
-Boots No7 Dreamlash mascara
-Urban Decay blusher "Score"

FOTD 24/02/09

I'm quite into the neutralish lid with a coloured crease or liner right now. I'm hoping to get back into my brights soon. Most of my recent Youtube videos have been quite soft and neutral. Make me a suggestion!!

You'll notice the sample still in the baggie in the photo. I really hate using samples out of bags but I'm waiting to order some jars (friday payday!!) and really wanted to use that colour today.



I can't always be bothered with a full face of make up if I'm at work but I had some time this morning so I made the most of it.



I used:
-Gosh Velvet Touch foundation primer
-YSL Radiant Brush foundation "#1"
-MAC Shadestick "Beige-Ing" as base over lid
-L'Oreal HiP loose eye shadow "Tenacious" on lid
-Dreamworld pigment "Surf's Sup Smurf" on lid and lower liner
-MAC eye shadow "Naked Lunch" as highlight
-Stila Smudge Pot "Bronze" top liner
-Diorshow mascara
-MAC blusher "Springsheen"

You know, I have a huge list that's growing by the hour of posts I want to write! First, I still need to get the one done of the Too Faced palettes! I have 100s of pictures on my computer waiting for entries to get written.

Beauty Favourites Tag!

Taken from the lovely Sophie!

What's your favourite eye shadow colour to wear?
Green, absolutely green!

What's the one product you wouldn't leave the house without?
Lipbalm, I get very dry lips.

What's your favourite make up look - high drama OR natural?
Since I have to just pick one, then high drama! I can rock the neutrals but I love colour in my make up.

Which feature do you play up the most?
Definitely my eyes.

Which feature do you try to downplay/cover up?
My lips. I think the reason is pretty obvious!

Your favourite make up brand, if you could only pick ONE to exist?
Evil question!! Um, MAC. Probably like most people!

Which product have you repurchased over and over again?
Body Shop Vitamin E Face Mist. I use it as a mixing medium nearly every day. I think I'm about to start my 4th bottle.

Which product would you NEVER repurchase and why?
MAC liquidlast liners. Good idea in theory. They turned out to be a huge pile of FAIL. All mine went into my Back2MAC bag this morning.

One beauty treatment you would ALWAYS pay to have done?
Brow shaping.

One beauty treatment you would NEVER pay to have done?
Hmm, is that something I just wouldn't get done or something I do anyway but wouldn't pay for? I wouldn't pay to have my hair dyed, I'll just do it over the bath.

One beauty trick you would share with everyone?
Highlight your browbone. A subtle highlight makes your eyes look more awake.

Best advice you've ever been given regarding beauty or make up?
Remember, it washes off.

New video!

I've been having great fun putting some looks together for Beautycounterdirect. I created a pink and brown look today, two colours that I think go together really well. It wasn't a pairing that I had really considered up until recently. When I was into making clothes, I used to hang around on a load of forums and blogs. Like the make up world, people would get into colour combos which more and more people picked out. Pink and brown was one of them. A pairing of colours that I've carried over to the make up world!

Pretty much everything I used for this look came from Beautycounterdirect, apart from the MAC shadestick. I've got plans (and a pile of photos) to do a review for the YSL foundation they sent. Also, I'll be showing the Too Faced palettes in more detail along with some swatches.



I used:
-YSL Radiant Brush foundation #1
-MAC Shadestick "Beige-Ing" over lid as base
-Benefit Show Offs "Powder Puff" pressed onto lid
-Too Faced palette "The Starlette" deep brown eye shadow in crease and lower liner
-Too Faced palette "The Starlette" light gold eye shadow as highlight
-Too Faced palette "The Cupcake" blusher
-Too Faced Lava Liner "Chocolate Lava" upper and lower liner
-L'Oreal Panoramic Curl mascara
-Pout lipstick "Doll Face"

The Benefit "Powder Puff" is an incredably pretty eye shadow. Gorgeous pnk with a gold shimmer, one I think I'll be reaching for quite often.

Here's the video, enjoy!

New foundation

How's that for a match? I'm an absolute mineral foundation girl but a bottle of YSL foundation made its way into my mail to try. I'm loving it! I've got a video up my sleeve so keep your eyes open! I'll be reviewing this soon, I took loads and loads of pictures tonight before I started using it!

It came from the lovely people at Beautycounterdirect for £23.99 (price correct 18/02/09).

Cool stuff

So, that little box of numbers at the bottom of the page links to some pretty cool stuff. I can see how people have found my blog, what has been put into search engines to end up here, stuff like that.

My favourite feature, however, is the recent visitors world map. I expected the US, Canada and the UK to pop up. I didn't expect Thailand, Romania, Mozambique or Malaysia!

I love that map and I'm happy to see my little corner of the beauty blogging world is beaing read all over the world! Thankyou for visiting!

Shimmering neutrals with turquoise

This look went up on Youtube last night. I forgot to do this post at the same time! Anyway, I love the neutral(ish) look with bright liner, it's a great way to introduce some colour if you don't want to use brights on your lid. Of course, you don't have to use something quite as bright as this! Adding a plum or deep teal liner would look wonderful. This is the method I recommend to all those who ask me how to introduce some colour into their make up.



Yeah, my penguin pj's are awsome.



What I used:
-Lily Lolo foundation "Candy Cane"
-MAC Shadestick "Beige-ing" over lid as a base
-MAC pigment "Blonde's Gold" pressed into shadestick
-Saffron eye quint "02" (Olive shade) outer lid, slightly into crease
-MAC eye shadow "Nylon" highlight
-Boots No 7 Stay Perfect Liner (no label, turquoise shade) upper liner
-Shu Uemura liner "ME Olive" lower liner
-Diorshow mascara
-MAC blusher "Springsheen"
-Benefit Highbeam on cheekbones
-MAC "Eden Rocks" lipstick
-Jesse's Girl liquid crystal lipgloss "Wicked"

Review: Ben Nye Lumiere Grande Colour Palette

I've noticed the Ben Nye palette popping up all over on Youtube so I thought it was time to dig mine out and show you some pictures and swatches. As you can see, mine is scuffed and well loved! It's the palette I take away with me. Even though it looks really bright, you can create just about every look you need to.

I bought mine about 4 or 5 years ago from Screenface for about £50. Sounds a lot but it has seriously been worth every penny! Here's the Ben Nye page. The price has gone up a bit since I bought it.

Ben Nye is actually a theatre make up brand so some of the products are a bit heavy for "regular", more everyday use. These Grande Lumiere colours don't feel like anything other than a regular eye shadow. There's no heavyness to these but they are very highly pigmented.

And here's what's inside. Click on the picture, I've left it huge so you can see just how gorgeous these eye shadows are!



There's shimmer to every one of the shadows, some have more of a "glow" than outright shimmer but there are no mattes. Each of the shadows has "BN" embossed into the centre, as you can see I've worn away one or two of them! That's how often I use this palette.

Here are the swatches!



I used a small eye shadow brush and they're swatched over a thin layer of Urban Decay Primer Potion. I origonally planned to swatch them in order but I missed out the "Tangerine"! So they're not quite in the right order.

So, overall I have to say this is one of my favourite items in my collection. The shadows are richly pigmented, soft and are very easy to blend. A base must be worn though as one or two of them will stain (Azalea, Cosmic Blue, for example). "Chartruese" is pretty much my favourite eye shadow I own. For me it's the perfect shade of green.



This is one of my favourite ways to wear "Chartruese". It looks fab with the "Jade" shade.

Used:
-MAC Shadestick "Lucky Jade"
-Ben Nye "Chartreuse" on lid and lower liner
-Ben Nye "Jade" crease and outer lower liner
-Ben Nye "Cosmic Blue" outer crease
-Ben Nye "Ice" highlight
-Bobbi Brown gel liner "Ivy Shimmer Ink" top liner
-Boots No7 Lash 360

Sinful Colors "Mama-San"

Just a quick entry before bed. Here's my current NOTD (nails of the day). The snow is coming down heavy tonight.

Too Faced FOTD and Video

I recently received a parcel from Beauty Counter Direct with some absolutely gorgeous goodies.



I just love the Too Faced palettes, close up photos and swatches of them will be coming up soon. The eye liner is just so soft and the Pout mascara adds a lot of length! I'll be doing a full review on everything very soon.

Today, I did a look using two of the palettes. I've had a few requests for a soft Valentine's look and came up with this slightly smokey pink look. Perfect for a romantic dinner!



What I used:
-Gosh Velvet Touch foundation primer
-Dreamworld minerals foundation "Morrigan"
-MAC Shadestick "Gracious Me" on lid
-Too Faced Quickie Chronicles Pink palette "Dusky Pink" over lid
-Too Faced Quickie Chronicles Pink palette "Greyish Taupe" lower liner
-Too Faced Quickie Chronicles Plum palette "Deep Plum" on outer edge of lid
-Too Faced Quickie Chronicles Pink palette "Pink Blusher"
-Too Faced Quickie Chronicles Pink palette "Pink Lipgloss"
-Too Faced Liner "Chocolate Lava Gloss"
-Pout Mascara "Brown"

Coastal Scents goodies

I ordered from Coastal Scents a couple of weeks ago and the other day, my goodies arrived!




This one was mainly for brushes, I ordered this before my trip to Lincoln where I found my lovely crease brush. I also took the oppertunity to pick up a couple of other items.




Spatulas, exciting! I've begun pressing some pigments and didn't have anything to mix the powder/alcohol with. These are really thick and sturdy spatulas so these are going to last me quite a while. I'll probably wash them after use and use them quite a few times. I only really needed 10 or so but the smallest pack size they had was 50! Also bought a couple of micas. They sell samples of their base micas for $1.00 each (1 teaspoon). So I bought:

-"Metallic Pixie Purple"
-"Metallic Olivia"

They're actually pretty unique, even in my collection! I can't wait to use them. They also sent me a baggie sample of an eye shadow called "Frenzy".




And now - the brushes! I love the brushes Coastal Scents offer. They're not MAC quality (in my opinion), but they're about 85% there! I'm more than happy to add them to my collection. They're great for filling in the "gaps" before spending a lot on MAC's brushes. In some cases, I haven't even upgraded the brush as I've loved the Coastal Scents ones so much.

The picture shows a tape measure in cm for size comparison. I was going to use a coin, but as I guess a lot of my readers will be in the US they won't know how big a 10p coin is and I don't have any US currency. Not to mention my fellow Brits probably won't know how big US coinage is. So, my size comparison will be my trusty tape measure!

The brushes from top to bottom:
-Italian Badger Round Crease Brush ($2.49)
-Tapered Crease Eye Brush ($2.49)
-Chisel Fluff Large Shadow Brush ($2.75)
-Pink Deluxe Oval Shadow Brush ($1.99)

Prices correct 22nd Jan 2009.

Reviews to follow as I use them. The Chisel Fluff reminds me a lot of the MAC #239, and the Tapered Crease is supposedly a dupe for the #226. I'll probably never own that brush so I won't be able to compare.

She Space Storypeople Video

There's a limited edition collection at the She Space right now called Storypeople. It's only available up until 13th Feb. It contains some gorgeous brights! They're really not scary colours as they're more pearly shimmers than real opaque brights. After ordering the full set of samples, I found it hard to pick favourites, but this is the look I did for the trip to Meadowhall. I recreated it in a video tutorial.



I used:
-"Stories of Glory" - wet in inner third of lid.
-"Feathers & Crayons" - wet on outer 2 thirds of lid.
-"Lured by Life" - dry in the crease.



The swatches are applied with a dampened cotton bud, I've found it's the easiest way to swatch. The yellow is "Stories of Glory", the green "Feathers & Crayons", the blue "Lured by Life". Maybe next time I'll remember to label the pictures!

Here's the video, enjoy!

Gosh "Holographic" Nail Polish

Isn't it pretty? I can't stop looking at my nails! I can't wait to see this in daylight.

Gosh "Holographic" Nail polish. Available at Superdrug. Cost me £4.89.

This is 4 coats of polish and a coat of Seche Vite top coat. I made the mistake of applying a base coat the first time I tried to apply the polish. Big mistake! With the base coat, the polish just would not apply. The first coat went on streaky, but the second just picked the first coat up onto the brush and I ended up with patches on my nails without any polish!

Without the base coat, it works so much better! The first couple of coats were really streaky but the third covered most of that up. The fourth was just to make sure it was all even.


A lot of work for a polish so this one might only be used very occasionally!

Meadowhall Shopping Haul!

Since this was the view out of my window, I decided I'd be better off spending my time this afternoon sharing my teeny little Meadowhall haul with you. I mean this:


There is rather a lot of it! I thought it'd be best to go through by brand/shop.

Meeting up with Sophie was so much fun! Although, there was some question as to whether or not both of us would make it in! Look at the top photo in this entry and times that by about 100. That was the weather on Monday! I left my house at 06:15am to get a bus to the train station. I got in to Meadowhall at 10:10am. Quite a long trip! Sophie's coach was running late but she got in eventually! Meeting up was great but a little strange at the same time. We'd seen eachother's videos, chatted on msn and sent loads of texts to eachother so it was like we'd already known eachother for ages.

I have never known Meadowhall so quiet! Even on a weekday it's normally absolutely packed. But on Monday it was empty. That was great for actually going into shops and being able to actually look at what you wanted to! However, most shops we went into took advantage of the quiet day and were doing their stocktake! So there were a lot of empty spaces on the shelves.

Onto the haul!


We're a bit behind with the MAC collections over here, otherwise there would have been some goodies from the BBR (Blonde, Brunette, and Redhead) collection. I want the #226 brush!!

I stocked up on a few of the "basics" this time. Things like bases, cleanser, etc rather than going for everything brightly coloured!

-Cleanse Off Oil - I've got a full bottle of my Shu Uemura oil but I've been wanting to try the MAC one. I'll be comparing the two at some point.
-Mineralize Eye Shadow Duo "Illusionary/Burning Ambition" - Very pretty shimmery neutral duo, both sides have pretty decent pigmentation.
-Paint Pot "Rubenesque" - Pinky gold colour. I've seen this used over Youtube so I thought it'd make a good addition to my paint pot collection.
-Pigment "Spiritualize" - Not sure which collection this was from but I'm not going to pass up the oppertunity to own another pigment! Lovely green/blue shimmer.
-Shadestick "Beige-ing" - Neutral base used by a famous Youtuber. I've wanted this one for a while but it was out of stock last time I visited a MAC.
-Frost Lipstick "Delish" - Got this as a freebie as I had some emtpies for Back2MAC. Nothing too bright as I'm not one for bright/deep coloured lipstick.
-Paint "Untitled" - A staple for me. I use it under bright and dark eye shadow bases. My second tube of the stuff!
-Cream Colour Base "Pearl" - Planning on using this as an everyday base. Couldn't decide between this one and "Luna" but decided "Luna" was too brightly white in the end. This is a soft, shimmery gold.
-Blusher "Peachykeen" - Reminds me of a deeper "Springsheen" which is one of my favourite blushers.


There's a little discount beauty shop just off the food court at Meadowhall. Sophie noticed these nail polishes at the back of a shelf. Sinful Colours! I've heard a lot about this brand through various Nail bloggers and nail message boards. I didn't think I'd find them in the UK, and certainly not for £2.99!

-"Tokyo Doll" - Pretty red with a red iridescence.
-"Show Me The Way" - Gorgeous fresh green with green sparkle.
-"Shausha" - Purple with golden shimmer.
-"Mama-San" - Somewhere between mauve and brown with shimmer.

I'm absolutely useless at describing colour! Most of the polishes were the ones no one had wanted, mostly cream peaches and oranges. We dug out the few stand out shades they had.


Boots, as always, proved to be a drain on my money! Several 3for2 offers and I found a coupon for extra points if you spent £35 or more. Which I did.

-Boots No7 Lash 360 - Got a sample a while ago and absolutely love it!
-Prestige Skin Loving Minerals Bronzer "Pure Shimmer" - Have been debating this for a while. I've seen several reviews on Youtube. Sophie decided I had to buy it there and then. It's gorgeous!
-Boots 17 Eye Shadow "Shocking Pink" - Very pink, very cheap! Really pigmented as well.
-Boots 17 Eye Shadow "Statuesque" - Lovely frosty neutral. I needed a third Boots 17 product for the offer and this eye shadow jumped out at me.
-Boots 17 Blusher "China Pink" - Soft, shimmering pink blush. I think it'll look lovely on pale skin for a light flush of colour.
-Urban Decay 24/7 Eye Liner "Stash" - Hmm, olive bronzed brown perhaps? I adore these liners but this is only the second one I've bought.
-Urban Decay Liquid Liner "Revolver" - Shimmering dark grey with a little bit of sparkle.
-Urban Decay Eye Shadow "Mowie Wowie" - I needed a third item again as these were on 3for2. Has some glitter so I'll need to be careful! Slightly on the side of neutral, in colour at least!


I think I was most looking forward to the Sleek make up at Superdrug. It's a fabulous, very cheap brand. The loose eye shadows are so pigmented and I'd heard many good things about their gel liners. Unfortunately, it's not sold in every Superdrug and this one is my closest that sells it. I kept debating various things but Sophie pointed out that I'd regret not buying everything I wanted since I can't get Sleek near me.

-Eye Dust "In The Nude" - Frosty silvery taupe. Very pretty!
-Eye Dust "Dirty" - Rich chocolatey brown. Will look fab as a crease colour.
-Eye Dust "Inferno" - Looks like flames in a jar! Orange and red with red shimmer.
-High Shine Lip Gloss "Shacked Up" - Haven't heard anything about the glosses. This one's quite a dark one for me, on the red side of pink. Felt more like a liquid lipstick in the shop.
-Liquid Eye Liners "Silver" and "Gold" - Your basic liquid liners with sponge tips. Nicely pigmented metallic shades.
-Face & Body Highlighter "Peach Shimmer" - One of the things Sophie told me I'd regret not buying! Really pigmented so it's going to be fun using this! Five strips of peach shades.
-Ink Pot "Dominatrix" - Basic black gel liner. Heard really good reviews on this.
-Ink Pot "Stone Cold" - Deep, flat grey. Nice alternative to black.
-Ink Pot "Purple Rain" - Deep purple shimmer. Mine looks a little dried out but still goes on without a problem.



A little bit of everything else! A few other bits from Superdrug and The Body Shop. And a close up of the holo nail polish!

-Body Shop Vitamin E Face Mist - I use this as a mixing medium for applying pigments wet and also for swatches. I get through quite a lot of it.
-Superdrug Hand Cream - I have really dry hands and need something really moisturising.
-Gosh Velvet Touch Foundation Primer - Supposedly a Smashbox Photofinish dupe. Will report back on that one!
-Gosh Nail Polish "Holographic" - A beautiful silver polish with a rainbow holographic reflection.
-Bourjois Smokey Eye Brush - Apparently it's for smudging liner. Has been on my wishlist for a little while.

Review: Mineral Fusion brushes

Well, I've had my trip to Meadowhall to meet up with the fabulous Sophie. We both spent an absolute fortune on make up and had a wonderful time! A roundup of the day and my massive haul will begin in the next entry.

Today I will be doing a little review on some brushes I found at a natural beauty shop in Lincoln. The brand is Mineral Fusion, not one I've come across before. Now, I've been on the hunt for a crease brush for quite a while now. The MAC #217 is just too wide for me. It's great at what it does, but it's not my perfect crease brush. Likewise with the MAC #219 and #224. I saw a table at this shop that had some half price cosmetics, and these brushes were in a pot at the back. To be honest, if they had been full price I wouldn't have bothered picking either of them up. As it happened, they were half price.

I picked out these two:


That's the Crease brush at the top and a wide eye shadow brush at the bottom, which they have called the Eye Base brush. The Crease brush was marked down to £7, and the Eye Base brush was just under £6.

So, first impressions. The heads are very soft, but densely packed. The Crease brush is made from squirrel hair and the Eye Base brush is made from pony hair. As expected, the Eye Base brush has a stiffer feel than the Crease brush. It's marked on the website that the animals used are not killed to make the brushes.

I always wash my brushes before use and neither of these brushes shed a single hair. No hairs are bent out of shape and they dried just as soft as they were before. The Crease brush has been washed 5 times at this point and still has not lost any hair. The Eye Base brush has been washed twice and hasn't lost any hairs.


Here, you can see the shape of the heads. The point to the Crease brush allows a precise application, whereas the shape of the Eye Base brush packs on a great wash of colour over the whole lid.

I've used the Crease brush nearly every day since I got it and I am hugely impressed. It packs on the colour exactly where I want it. Other crease brushes have been either too thick or too thin but this one is the perfect size. The softness to the brush allows blending but as the brush is so dense, this softness does not prevent it from depositing the eye shadow. I think this is fast becomming a staple for my every day eye shadow application.

The Eye Base brush is great for a colour wash over the lid, or adding and blending a highlight. I don't consider it as much of a must have brush but it's great for the days when I can't be bothered with a full eye look and just want a quick wash. I've also tried it as a highlighter brush which it works really well for. It blends the highlight in with the crease very easily without "over blending" the colours away.