You all need to go and check out Sparklecrack Central! She runs a fab blog and is completely mineral addicted like me! We were recently chatting over Twitter and I mentioned that I had missed out on ordering some eye shadows from the She Space closing sale from one of my favourite collections. She offered a few samples up for sale, which I gladly accepted. I wasn't expecting a box to arrive!
-Suspicious Stepmom
-Fairest Of Them All
-Dragon Breathe
-One Broken Stiletto
-She Does Sparkle
-Pumpkin Head
-Proven Fabulous
But, she also sent along some birthday treats! Along with birthday cake!
I've had Red Velvet cake once before and it was delicious! I'm a little nervous of what cake frosting in a tin is like, it's not something I've ever come across before. I think I'll make it up this weekend.
All those little baggies on top of the frosting are various Aromaleigh samples! I can't wait to play with those, but I'm sure I'm going to want full sizes of some of those and I've just spent all my money on an eReader.
Thank you so much LiAnn!
I have been talking on Twitter and my videos recently about my upcoming haircut. I was going for quite a drastic change and I had responses that varied from "ooh, can't wait" to "omg! No!". I've had enough of long hair for now.
Here's the mess I left the house with this morning. It needed something doing to it at least.
And here's what I have now!
I'm loving it! I don't think the nape of my neck has been bare in around 10 years.
I've pretty much loved everything I've bought from Urban Decay. They were, after all the very first "high end" make up brand I bought from. I would say "high end" was something I couldn't get at Boots, but we can get Urban Decay from Boots these days. At the time I thought spending £5 on one item was a lot! I bought my first Urban Decay from Pure Beauty in London. That really was a great shop, I wish they were still open. So we're going back about 10 years!
However, the loose shadows just don't work. I only bought one and I was very disappointed.
This is in "Shattered" which is a tealy-blue with shimmer.
The packaging looks pretty. I love the detail that Urban Decay put into their packaging, but this just doesn't work! The loose shadow is held at the bottom of the tube and the lid holds a brush that you use to pick up the loose shadow and apply. To get the shadow out without the brush, you have to tip it into something else, which is going to waste a lot of product. I couldn't fit any of my eye shadow brushes into the pot either.
That wouldn't be so bad if the brush was actually useful.
The brush feels like it has natural bristles, it's very short and stiff. This means that it flings eye shadow everywhere when you try and use it. Also, the whole brush seems to get covered in the loose shadow so that gets dropped everywhere. If you look closely in the photo, there's drops of loose shadow in the background. I'd tried my best to tap off the brush, but I still got chunks falling off.
Another issue I had was that most of the colours were available in pressed form anyway. I think that was the biggest reason why I didn't bother buying any more. I think they were a little more than the pressed versions and I think you got a little less in there as well. I'm not completely sure as it was on the box, which I no longer have.
This is the pressed version of "Shattered", which I've had for a little while. It's the same colour as the loose shadow.
When I bought the loose version, I was shown that the best way to use it was to use it wet. The SA tipped some out and added a drop of liquid, mixing it to create a paste. It certainly does look a lot more metallic when you apply it that way, but you are going to waste a heck of a lot of eye shadow that way. I don't think I ever bothered to use it wet and anyway, the magic of Pixie Epoxy will do that even with the pressed version.
I usually used this with Urban Decay's Primer Potion and it lasted just fine on me. I didn't get any creasing or fading, which is usual for Urban Decay's shadows for me.
And, finally, here's some swatches.
If you can find this at a discount price then you might as well go ahead and get it. It's not worth it for the full price. I've not included pricing information as I'm not entirely sure this is a current product in the UK.
I've only just discovered you. I was looking forward to spending a fortune and working my way through all the collections.
Please read the post on Aromaleigh's news for more information, plus a 35% discount code which is running for the next 2 weeks.
Good luck, Kristen. I wish you all the best in the future.
Today isn't a bright make up day, I needed something a little more neutral.
I used:
-Urban Decay Pore Perfecting Primer
*-Sassy Minerals Foundation "Cool Light"
-Benefit Coralista
-MAC Paint Pot "Bare Study"
-Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy
-MAC Shadow "Gingersoft" - on lid
-MAC Shadow "Satin Taupe" - in crease
*-Coastal Scents Hot Pot "M19" (matte white) - as highlight
-Bobbie Brown Liner "Black Plum Ink" - top liner
-MAC Eye Kohl "Rosemary & Thyme" - lower liner
-Rimmel Sexy Curves Mascara
And here's a full face, complete with gorgeous and crazy morning hair.
ETA: Did I really post that picture? I should not be allowed near the internet at that time of the morning. Still, my foundation looks good :)
While I was on Blogtv last night, I got asked to post a tattoo update! So, here it is 2 weeks into healing. All the scabbing has fallen off (wasn't it fun to find bits of skin everywhere!) but it's still a little sore and raised. I can sleep on that side now, which I couldn't last week but I'm still not wearing a bra strap over that shoulder. Multi-way cross over back bras have been a life saver! Along with Germolene.
Remember girls, if you want a tattoo on your shoulder, buy a multi-way bra! I didn't even consider bra straps when I chose to put it there.
I'll probably give you another update in a couple of weeks when it should have pretty much healed.
Here's another lip product review, as promised! I don't have a huge amount from Gosh as the brand has never really wowed me (apart from the eye liners, those are pretty awesome) and I think this is the only lip product I have from the whole line.
Gosh products are available from Superdrug in the UK, and in some other European countries (not sure which, sorry). I couldn't find these glosses on the Superdrug website, but I'm thinking that the rrp is somewhere between £7-£9 ish.
I've had this gloss for a little while now and it has been a while since I even looked at the Gosh stand, so I don't know 100% if these are a current product. There were quite a few colours available though, but this was the only one that looked like a colour I could wear. "0058" (no actual name on this) is a shimmering mid-toned pink. There's a tiny bit of sparkle in this, but on the whole it's nicely pink without any frost. A nice, safe pink for those like me who don't like drama on their lips!
The packaging is pretty plain: clear tube with a black lid, which fits in with the rest of the line. I don't like the texture of the lid though. It's got that Nars-esque matte rubberised texture that shows every scuff and bit of dirt.
It comes with a doe-foot applicator, which I don't mind (I know some people out there hate those). It's pretty decently pigmented so one swipe is plenty for my lips. I actually get decent wear out of this, maybe a couple of hours of colour before I'd need to reapply. I know that doesn't sound much but I seem to wear off my lip gloss very quickly. Maybe I just lick my lips a lot or something! It's not drying but not really moisturising either. There's no obvious scent or taste.
I complain about the state of my feet to pretty much anyone who will listen (along with quite a few who aren't interested). They're not nice. I'll spare you the photos but I have nasty feet. Thick, dry, cracked skin on my heels and big toes. I spend a lot of my time wearing safety shoes, which don't seem to help the condition of my feet (I'll take nasty feet over broken feet any day though).
Some of my birthday gifts definitely had a foot care theme! I received a voucher for a pedicure at my nearest Spa which I cannot wait for! It's booked for the morning I'm off on holiday so I'm going to have pretty feet for Turkey. I also received this lovely gift set from my brother and his girlfriend.
I just adore the Peppermint foot stuff from the Body Shop! I love the scent and the fact that the products actually on work on my feet. The only product I hadn't tried in here was the foot scrub, all others I've used previously.
It's available from The Body Shop and comes in an adorable metal carry case. I'm going to have to find a use for it, it's going to be useful for something! You get mini sizes of the products in this set, but all are available for sale in larger sizes.
-Peppermint Cooling Foot Spray - I've had a lot of bottles of this over the years. It smells fantastic (like the rest of the Peppermint line) and really does cool your feet down when you spray it on. That's probably due to the evaporation of alcohol, rather than the peppermint. Alcohol is the first ingredient in this and it does come with a flammable warning. Still, this has been fantastic for hot shopping trips or after walking the dog. A quick drink and spray with this stuff and my feet feel so much better!
-Peppermint Cooling Foot Lotion - I don't really find this cooling on my feet. It does a great job of moisturising after I've exfoliated my feet. I normally slather this on then pop some socks on for a couple of hours. I get nice smooth feet for a couple of days. And the peppermint smell is delicious.
-Peppermint Smoothing Pumice Foot Scrub - This little pot is only going last me two more applications at most. Smells amazing, really sharp peppermint. Didn't do anything for the really bad parts of my feet at all. I just use this around the arches and balls of my feet rather than my heel. My feet feel a little oily after rinsing. I had a quick look online at the ingredients and it looks like there is plenty of oil in this. Might try it on my elbows next. Pumice is the second ingredient in this so if your feet aren't as bad as mine then this might exfoliate quite nicely for you.
In this set you also get a pair of toe dividers (I'm sure you can work out how to use those), a mini foot file (the wood is birch, in case you were wondering) and a massager. I've got a larger version of the foot file, which I love! The coarse side is rough enough to remove my thickened dry skin. I'm not sure about the massager. I think you're supposed to put it on the floor and run your foot over the top. I must just be hideously uncoordinated as I keep managing to shoot it in all directions when I try that.
This is described as a kit to help with beach ready feet. Add an industrial sander and I think we're pretty much there.
I promise I'll have a real post for you soon, rather than a load more FOTDs. I've got several half written posts sat on my dashboard. I'll make it my mission tonight to get one of them finished!
Had a couple of comments about the eye make up today, I loved the colours. And this was the last of my Sweetscents samples in my "untried samples" box.
I used:
-Boots No7 Shine Free Make Up Base
-Revlon PhotoReady Foundation "002 Vanilla"
*-ELF Translucent Matifying Powder
*-NYX Cream Blush "Rose Petal"
-MAC Paint Pot "Bare Study"
-Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy (yes, again)
-Sweetscents Pigment "Jardin" - inner lid
-Sweetscents Pigment "Hazelnut" - outer lid
-MAC Shadow "Jete" - highlight
-MAC Fluidline "Shade" - top liner
-Prestige Total Intensity Eyeliner "Intense Olive" - lower liner
-Rimmel Sexy Curves Mascara
-Gosh Lip Gloss "0058"
I haven't used the PhotoReady for a whole so I had forgotten how awesome it looks in photos! It didn't last so well throughout the day today though. I suspect that was a combination of hot weather and the wrong primer. I've never got on that well with the No7 Shine Free primer, I might try it with one of my more "slippery" primers tomorrow to see if that helps.
Wow, those are some sexy eye bags. Get more sleep Sirvinya.
I do apologize for the poor blending and lack of a full face photo today. I was pretty much still asleep and trying to cram my breakfast down my throat before rushing off to work as I was applying my make up this morning. Also, I'm trying out one of my other mineral foundations and I really don't like the colour (too much yellow).
I used:
-Urban Decay Pore Perfecting Primer
*-Afterglow Mineral Foundation "Cameo"
-Boots 17 Blusher "China Pink"
-MAC Paint Pot "Bare Study"
-Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy
-Sweetscents Pigment "Myst" - over lid
-Sweetscents Pigment "Calypso" - in crease
-Sweetscents Pigment "Silver & Diamonds" - in crease
-MAC Shadow "Jete" - highlight
-Stila Smudge Pot "Bronze" - top liner
-Rimmel Max Volume Flash Mascara
And here's someone keeping an eye on my breakfast, making sure none of it got stolen.
Mmm, purple again. These colours definitely suit me much better than the overly warm shades I wore the other day. It was particularly hot and sweaty today and I'm impressed at how well the Pixie Epoxy holds everything in place.
I'm currently finishing up trying the last of my samples from Sweetscents which is why all my FOTDs recently have featured them. I think I've got 5 left to use. Some have worked for me and some haven't. As all my samples from Sweetscents are micas and not blended eye shadows, I've found the Pixie Epoxy works wonders with getting them to stick. In the past I've either foiled or used something like MAC's "Beige-Ing" Shadestick.
I used:
-ELF Mineral Infused Primer
-Lily Lolo Foundation "Candy Cane" - it's all gone now :(
-MAC Paint Pot "Bare Study"
-Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy
-Sweetscents Pigment "Amethyst" - on lid
-Sweetscents Pigment "Dark Silver" - in crease
-MAC Eye Shadow "Jete" - highlight
-Urban Decay Liquid Liner "Crash" - top liner
-Urban Decay 24/7 Liner "Ransom" - lower liner
-Rimmel Max Volume Flash Mascara
-Boots 17 Blusher "China Pink"
-Urban Decay Lipgloss "Naked"
Wow, don't I look tired?
Hmm, I don't really review much in the way of lip products do I? Stuff for my lips tends to be something of an afterthought for me so I never think to review. I'm going to try and do more reviews for things that aren't eye related products! There's a whole world of foundations, blushers, highlighters, lip glosses and lipsticks out there!
Anyway, The Body Shop Liquid Lip Colour in "Dusky Lavender". I don't know if this type of lip gloss is being discontinued as there is only one colour option showing on the Body Shop website and it's listed at £3.00. I bought mine a couple of months back for (I think) about £8-£10 and there were quite a few colour choices. I'm pretty sure I've got another couple of these around somewhere.
Fairly typical, minimalistic Body Shop packaging. It's in exactly the same tube as the Shimmer Glosses and the Lip & Cheek Stain. Most of the Liquid Lip Colours I own are glittery, which is probably what drew me to it in the first place!
A closer look at the glitter...
The Body Shop website gives a product description of "intensely coloured lip glosses". Well, no. Not really.
This is most definitely sheer. In fact, there's barely any colour at all. This is pretty typical for the Liquid Lip Colours I have, so I have no idea why I keep buying them! I can feel the glitter on my lips as a gritty layer, both while the gloss is on there and after it has worn off. And once the gloss is applied, the glitter isn't that apparent. I can feel the gloss on my lips for only about half an hour before I'd need to reapply. It smells a little of a fruity something, but doesn't have any taste.
Give these ones a miss. The Body Shop's Shimmer Glosses are much better.
Perhaps a red/orange based look was not the best idea with my slightly red/puffy hayfever irritated eyes. Ah well, I'm showing you anyway.
I used:
-ELF Mineral Infused Face Primer
-Lily Lolo Foundation "Candy Cane"
-MAC Paint Pot "Fresco Rose"
-Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy
-Sweetscents Pigment "Tibetan Ochre" - over lid
-Sweetscents Pigment "Smoked Burgundy" - outer edge of lid & into crease
-Sweetscents Pigment "Satin" - highlight
*-Bee Luscious Liquiliner "Sterling" - top liner
-Urban Decay 24/7 Liner "Rockstar" - lower liner
-Rimmel Sexy Curves Mascara
-Urban Decay Blusher "Score"
*-ELF Plumping Lip Glaze "Oasis"
I think the problem with this look was the "Tibetan Ochre", it's very red/orange. I'd been shying away from using it for quite a while and I can see it just isn't working on my colouring. The "Smoked Burgundy" pigment is gorgeous though!
Items marked with a star (*) were received free for tutorial/review purposes.
I used to use Collection 2000 mascara all the time. They're very much a budget brand, this mascara cost me about £3.49. Collection 2000 is available from Boots, Superdrug, Tesco, Asda, etc.
As it's a budget brand, I've got aims to work through as many of their mascaras as I can. However, most of them just aren't that good! This one seems to be one of the better ones that I've come across though. This comes in the usual Collection 2000 colours (blue & silver) with a matte tube. Each mascara in the range has a slightly different tube so you can identify them easily. I think is available in three colours: Black, Brown and Ultra Black. I'm reviewing the one in Ultra Black. I usually pick the Ultra Black option for Collection when it is available as their plain black mascaras can be a little weak in colour.
Again, a black mascara pictured on a black wand! I think it is interesting to see all the variations in shapes of mascara wands though! This is pretty much what a "traditional" mascara wand looks like to me. The stiff bristles (rather than the rubberised ones) and a slight tapered shape to the wand. It does a good job of coating all my lashes and it's not difficult to get the outer edge or lower lashes. It was a little more difficult to coat my very inner lashes, but only marginally so. The formula seems somewhat unremarkable to me. Not thick, gloopy, runny or anything. Just average. The wand doesn't pick up too much of it.
Naked lashes!
It certainly does add plenty of volume, but definitely not the 5x it says on the tube! Most mascaras are going to add the illusion of extra length as they colour in the lighter tips to your lash hairs. This one is no exception. After two coats this mascara has given quite a good effect, my lashes were volumised, longer and nicely separated. Until the mascara dried, anyway. As it dried, it stuck my lashes together. Combing through really didn't make that much difference (but I don't have a snazzy metal lash comb). However, it doesn't hold the curl in my lashes at all. My lashes will usually stay curled without any problem, but with this mascara they just straightened right out.
Overall, it's not bad. I'll probably use this tube a few more times but it's not one I'll bother replacing. If you're looking for a good mascara on a budget, I'd suggest the ELF Mineral Mascara for the same price, even if it is not as volumising as the Collection 2000 mascara.
Just having a dig through my "ready to post" picture folder on my computer tonight and I've come to the conclusion that I need to retake most of them as I'm doing my photos differently now. These ones were good enough to keep though!
Today I'm reviewing the Coastal Scents 42 Double Stack Shimmer Palette, available from Coastal Scents for $24.95.
I've gathered a few of the Coastal Scents palettes now, and I'd say this is the one I use the most. The colours in this one are bright! This palette is not for you if you prefer your eye shadows to be more neutral or toned down. The first thing I noticed about the palette was its weight! When it's all wrapped up for shipping, this thing weighs a lot (nearly 2lbs as mentioned on the website) but it got to the UK without damage. This palette does come with applicators, I forget what kind as I don't bother saving them.
The palette is made of a very sturdy plastic, which I expect adds to the shipping weight. It doesn't feel as though it would break through normal wear and tear, but I would be weary of travelling with a palette this large. I expect it wouldn't take much for the hinge to be damaged during travel.
For a closer look at the two layers of the palette, click on the thumbnail below. The image is huge.
The Blushers:
Both of the palettes available (the matte and shimmer) contain the same 10 blushers. Three of the blushers are matte, the other seven contain shimmer. The ones with shimmer aren't actually too shimmery, it works to give a nice glow of colour. The darkest of the blushers are extremely pigmented - to the point where I just can't wear them on my pale skin. Those with a deeper skin tone than mine should get on with them a little better. The lighter shades aren't as pigmented, but still aren't too bad. They are a little powdery though and you need to be careful not to blend most of the colour away. I also have an issue with scratching the blushers with the top layer of the palette (as the blushers sit in the bottom layer). A couple of my blushers are looking a little beaten up now!
The Eye Shadows:
All 32 of the shadows in the top layer are shimmery. If you prefer matte shades, then a matte version of the palette is available. The shimmer ranges from very shimmery to metallic. There's nothing toned down about the shimmer in these eye shadows! There's a very good colour range. It goes from a very pale gold (which would make a good highlight), to golds, pinks, reds, purples, greens, blues, browns and black. So as long as you don't mind shimmer, you can create plenty of different looks. I've done a really bright look with the greens, something a little more subdued with the golds and browns, and smokey looks using the black.
These shadows are all really pigmented, even the black (some shimmery black shadows can be very sheer). They are also very soft. This softness combined with the pigmentation can make them a little tricky to apply. I know I'm always picking up too much shadow and I end up with a bit of fall out. Just make sure to only pick up a little at a time. I seem to be working through these shadows very quickly. Some shades are already forming a dip. I expect it's just due to the softness and the fact that it's so easy to pick up too much. They also have a very creamy texture which is quite interesting.
A little cosmetic chemistry here! The third ingredient listed on the site for the shadows is something called Phenyl Trimethicone. This is a derivative of silicone. We're all familiar with the "cones" aren't we? They're what give primers the smooth, slick feeling. This is probably what is causing the smooth, almost creamy texture to the shadows.
It really is fascinating to Google your cosmetic ingredients...
Anyway, what was I saying? Right, these shadows feel creamy but most of them blend together really well. There are one or two with a chunkier texture (almost like the more chunky MAC pigments) which take a little more work to apply and blend. I think you are going to need a base with these shadows. I always use something like Urban Decay Primer Potion or a MAC Paint Pot (not got round to trying these with Pixie Epoxy yet) as I expect these to crease very quickly on a bare lid due to the creamy texture of the shadows. Also, I found these just did not want to stick to my bare skin!
That purple is just delicious! These were swatched onto primer onto my arm. I probably went over each colour twice, about what I'd do for my lid. As you can probably imagine, that purple has been used a lot! And the fact my camera actually picked that purple up as true to colour justifies the £200 I spent on it.
So, overall if you like brights and want to expand your collection, or just have something fun to play with, then this palette is definitely for you. It's not perfect by any means, but I'm getting plenty of use out of mine!
This palette was received free for tutorial/review purposes. This has no effect on the review I give. As you can see, pretty much nothing gets a perfect review on this blog.
This seriously the parcel that was never going to see the light of day. The British postal service (which I normally adore) managed to lose this for a month, but in the meantime I was getting final demands for a customs charge for a parcel no one could find. Eventually it got tracked down and into my grabby little hands. I've finally got some of the new products from Bee Luscious for you!
This includes the Spring/Summer 2010 palette which I mentioned a while back. Some fo you have been poking me for reviews/tutorials with this so now I can finally get those done! Also included were a couple of interesting looking baked blushers which are quite pretty and shimmery when they're applied. I'll get that palette swatched for you this weekend, along with the gel liners which were tucked away in the corner of the box.
For those in the UK who have been asking me about buying the palettes without risking a customs charge: Coco Beau has a limited amount of stock of the Spring/Summer 09 palette available, which they've named the Garden Girl Palette.
Bee Luscious products are provided free for tutorial/review purposes. This has no effect on the review I give any of the products.
Definitely in something of a purple mood this morning. Something to take my mind off how bloody itchy my tattoo is! I'm being good and not picking, but it sure is driving me mental. I'll show you a new picture when it's all nicely healed. Pixie Epoxy is still the most amazing make up product I've bought in at least forever.
Oops, forgot I was on bigger pictures now.
I used:
-ELF Mineral Infused Primer
*-ELF Studio Undereye Concealer "Light"
*-ELF Studio Complexion Perfection
-Lily Lolo Foundation Candy Cane
-MAC Paint Pot "Bare Study"
-Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy
-Sweetscents Pigment "Steel" - on lid
-Sweetscents Pigment "Columbine" - in crease (I adore this purple)
-MAC Eye Shadow "Jete" - highlight
*-Coastal Scents Gel Liner "Royal Purple" - top liner
-Urban Decay 24/7 Liner "Ransom"
-Rimmel Sexy Curves Mascara
-Urban Decay Blusher "Score"
*-ELF Plumping Lip Glaze "Oasis"
I got one semi-decent full face photo this morning so I shall inflict that upon you. I cannot wait for the hair to go. I've measured it, 10 inches will get cut off at the end of the month. I've had long hair for years, time for something a little different.
Maybe I should just start being more of a camwhore and spam you with 30 pictures.
My latest order from Aromaleigh arrived today, speedily shipped once again! Oh, I've reached a decision about the pictures. Most will be sized so that they will fit full sized onto the blog page, rather than thumbnails. However, things like most swatches will still be clickable thumbs.
I ordered a few of the full sized eye shadows I liked from Victoria's Revenge, along with three free samples again. It's virtually impossible to pick just three samples, but I think I managed to find nice ones.
Full Jars:
-Mania's Locus
-Scratched Scruples
-Phantasm
-Skeleton Key
Samples:
-Morbid Curiosity (Gothic Lolita)
-Asphalt (Hot in the City)
-Dragonfly (Opulent Lustre)
What I love is the fact that each sample and full sized jar is labelled with the collection that it came from! Perfect for those who can be a little "obsessive" with their make up (like me then!). I'm stunned by the beauty and complexity of these pigments again. And yet again, my camera failed to pick any of this up.
This is probably going to be my last hauling for at least a little while. I've got a holiday just around the corner and I booked 30 Seconds to Mars tickets today (at the O2 - woohoo!!).
I really should get a FOTD done with these soon. Gorgeous.
I've just finished testing the latest batch of mascaras for review so I've got 8 to work through for you! Starting with another winner from ELF today. This one is the ELF Mineral Infused Mascara.
This is part of the Studio line, but is "mineral infused". I'm not sure what that means, to be honest. The ingredients are available on the website if you want to have a look. It only comes in black at the moment and costs £3.50. I don't think it comes in a waterproof option either. The packaging is pretty typical of the Studio line: plain black and looking more expensive than it is. The plastic feels pretty sturdy as well, despite ELF being a budget brand.
The wand is one of the rubbery, flexible ones and has pretty short bristles. I quite like it as it feels as though it grabs my lashes. I don't have any problems coating all my lashes with this wand, even the little ones on the outside. As it only had short bristles, it doesn't gloop too much mascara onto your lashes so it easily coats the lower lashes. As you can see, taking a photo of a black wand from a black mascara doesn't give you too much to look at.
Naked lashes, I don't think they're curled but I took this picture a while back and now I can't remember. I curled my lashes before applying the ELF mascara though.
Oooh, I like this one! It's pretty decently pigmented and is quite a deep black, even after just one coat. I probably applied roughly two coats in this picture. It will hold a bit of a curl, but I do notice my lashes don't stay curled all day with this mascara. It gives a good amount of length, but not a huge amount of volume. I tried to build up the coats to add volume but it does get a bit clumpy after three coats or so. This means that, for me, it isn't enough to use for my more dramatic looks but it is pretty fabulous for my more toned down looks (probably "daytime" looks for everyone else!). It didn't smear on me but those with oilier lids might have issues with smearing as it felt like it took quite a while to dry completely.
No problems with removal, it comes straight off with either my cleansing oil or my two-layer eye make up remover (an oil & water based remover).
This mascara was sent for review and tutorial purposes. This has no effect on the review I give.
I just want to give a massive "Thank you!" to you all for the lovely birthday wishes I've had. After I got inked on Friday, we went and did a little bit of shopping in Lincoln. Or I at least tried to, I wasn't expecting to feel so completely exhausted after my tattoo. Fortunately, we went back in on the Saturday afternoon and I felt much more like doing some shopping!
I can't really tolerate a lot of the stuff from Lush, a lot of the bath/shower/soap stuff I've tried makes my skin very dry and itchy but they do have some very good skincare items. The Porridge soap is very creamy and moisturising and smells just delicious.
-Lush Lemony Flutter
-Lush Whip Stick Lip Balm
-Lush Porridge Soap
I raided Boots, as always. The two new brands I had been excited to look at were there and well stocked (Model's Own & Une). Nothing at all from Une jumped out at me to buy but Model's Own was on 3 for 2 so I had to try at least a couple of things! And I finally decided to try Revlon's ColorStay foundation. It smells like paint.
-Revlon ColorStay Foundation Oily/Combination "110 Ivory"
-L'Oreal Volume Million Lashes Mascara "Black"
-Model's Own Nail Polish "Top Turquoise", "Grey Day"
-Model's Own Neon Lip & Face Paint "Neon Blue"
Finally, two little bits that also came home with me:
-Collection 2000 Big Fake Mascara "Ultra Black"
-M&S Coconut Lip Butter
ETA: How do you feel about the larger pictures rather than the thumbnails? Now I've made my blog wider, I can put a larger photo in.
So, this is what all the mysterious messages on Twitter were about!
I treated myself to my first tattoo for my birthday. I've got to give a massive thanks to Heath at Something Wicked in Lincoln. He was absolutely great, even when I fainted after the first word was completed! I felt absolutely fine after that though and we got the rest done over the course of 2 hours.
It's on my right shoulder and right now, it stings like a bitch. The quote is from Arthur C Clarke "The 9 Billion Names of God". One of the most amazing pieces of literature I have ever read.
I'll show you again once it's all healed, it is looking a little manky right now!
Today is my 28th birthday! I've had a pretty great day and I'm going on blogtv a bit later this evening to have a little "online party"! I've just got to say a massive "thank you" for all the birthday wishes I've had from you today :)
So here's the FOTD I did this morning.
I used:
*-Bee Luscious Pore Perfecting Primer
-Diorskin Nude Foundation "010"
*-ELF High Definition Powder
-MAC Paint Pot "Bare Study"
-Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy
-Urban Decay Shadow "Baked" - inner lid
-Urban Decay Shadow "Absinthe" - outer lid
-Urban Decay Shadow "Protest" - crease
-MAC Eye Shadow "Jete" - highlight
-MAC Fluidline "Shade" - top liner
-Urban Decay 24/7 Liner "Covet" - lower liner
-L'Oreal Panoramic Curl Mascara
-Urban Decay Blusher "Score"
-Shu Uemura Lipgloss "BG 980N"
Items marked with a star (*) were received free for review.
So, here is my final haul from The She Space. As we're all aware, the owner recently shut down The She Space to begin her new site and sold off her remaining stock for a greatly reduced price. Due to lack of funds, I had to miss out on a few of the collections I wanted but managed to buy one of the grab bags that were sold at the end. I believe these were colours that never made it into collections, but I'm not 100% sure on that.
This set of 10 was sold for $20.00, plus shipping wasn't too expensive.
There are some beautiful colours in here and I just adore that darker green! I'm glad I liked all these colours, I've had grab bags in the past where I've not liked a few. $2.00 each for these pigments was a pretty good bargain!
So, what came in the bag:
-Cruisin' For Chickies
-Older Than Dirt
-The Magical Mimic
-Wax Trophies For Boys
-Wasted Integrity
-Culture Crash
-Failing To Thrive
-The Odyssey
-Smooching For Supper
-Stuck Like Glue
All the swatches were applied damp to my bare arm.
Now for a bit of a rant....
The owner has started the new site, streamlining the colours she sells and won't be selling 400+ colours (although there's absolutely nothing wrong with that!). But, I can't help but feel I've seen this before. I've been a customer from way, way back. Way into the original incarnation of Twisted Fayte when the same thing was done. Guess what, millions of colours came back.
That's not what I'm ranting about though. I do love the She Space pigments, I have a lot of them now, but I will not be ordering from the new site. I have simply have had enough of inaccurate shipping times. The time frame when I ordered was 3 weeks, this was not the first parcel that took longer than that. Not a great deal, but certainly not within the 3 weeks time frame stated on the site. I don't think I've ever had an order turn up when I've expected. I've ordered several times in the past and had to question where my parcel was, only for it to turn up about a week later (although I was previously assured by the site owner that this won't be happening again).
There are many, many other mineral sites out there that deal with huge numbers of products but can get my items to me within a reasonable time frames. And seriously, I was seeing people swatching colours from the new site before my order had been shipped. That kind of pissed me off.
Good luck with the new site, but I won't be one of your customers.
I've been having a little play with the layout of my blog. Not very much has changed, but I know next to nothing about html (I can make things bold or underlined, that's about it!) and I've gone in and changed it myself. All I've done is added some width to the boxes (I always thought the templates were too narrow) and as a result I had to take off the rounded corners. Let me know what you think!
I have been using the Pixie Epoxy again. I think this is one of the best make up products I've bought in the last few years. And do please excuse the usual "I'm not awake yet" look.
I used:
-ELF Mineral Face Primer
*-ELF Studio Undereye Concealer "Glow/Light"
-Lily Lolo Foundation "Candy Cane"
-MAC Paint Pot "Bare Study" - thin layer on lids
-Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy - over lids & crease
-Fyrinnae Pigment "Electro-Koi" - patted onto lid
-Fyrinnae Pigment "Incubus" - blended into crease
-MAC Eye Shadow "Jete" - highlight
-Bobbi Brown Gel Liner "Graphite Shimmer Ink" - top liner
-Rochas Liner "Brown" - lower liner & smudged
-Rimmel Volume Flash Max Mascara
-Urban Decay Blusher "Score"
I seriously don't think I can rave enough about Pixie Epoxy, it's the best thing ever.
