If the scheduled posting works, this should appear at about 11:45pm when most of the UK will be out getting drunk. I'll be out at a party, my first New Year's out in quite some years. I thought it best to write up this post before any alcohol was consumed.
I'd just like to thank all my readers for being there in 2010. I appreciate each and every hit that registers on my stat counter. I'm still amazed that people actually care what this girl in Lincolnshire has to say about anything. Especially since there are those bloggers living in much larger cities with access to much more recent products (yeah, MAC collections) than I do.
Stat Counter has registered an amazing 250000+ hits for 2010! That's a lot!
I didn't attend any events this year, and I found it wasn't something I missed. They all seem to take place in London so it's always a long trip with a hotel stay. It ends up getting very expensive. I got a few invites, usually only a few days before the actual event. So there would be no way I could get down to London!
2010 saw me very busy with blogging, even though there were some points in the year that I didn't blog so much. I think I've developed some kind of balance with YouTube and blogging now. Basically, if I'm at home I've got my blog posting page open!
Even though I haven't attended any blogging events, I've still met bloggers! When I found out Cosmetichameleon was only 20 miles down the road, we just had to meet up! We've met up a few times now and I think the next plan is a trip over to Nottingham to go and raid MAC.
I expect 2011 will continue in the same way as 2010. Plenty of reviews coming up, photos, swatches and hauls. However, the hauling will be greatly reduced due to the trip over to the US that I'll be having in September! I'll be meeting up with LiAnn of Sparklecrack Central and attending Dragon Con in Atlanta. Something I've always wanted to do. I cannot wait for the shopping!!
I plan to record and upload more and more reviews, along with continuing to post in this blog! I do get asked a lot about doing tutorials, but the truth is that I'm completely uninspired with them these days. I've got a lot to say about products, so I'll be continuing with the reviews!
I can't even begin to count how many requests I've had for this review! New Sleek MakeUp palettes always seem to make us a little over-excited! This is only going to be available for a little longer so make sure you grab one if you see it in stock at Superdrug.
Sleek MakeUp palettes are available from selected Superdrug stores or the Sleek MakeUp website for £5.99.
Sleek did quite well releasing this in time for the Christmas and New Year parties. I'm planning on wearing this palette when I go out for New Year. Well, I'm planning to. I'll probably change my mind when I sit down to actually apply my make up!
You're getting 12 shades, 8 of which have glitter, 3 have shimmer and one is matte. These seem a little different in texture to my other Sleek palettes. The three that just have shimmer don't have the rich creamy feeling that other palettes have had in the past. They were sheerer than what I have been used to from Sleek and have a slightly powdery texture. The glitter shadows have a texture very similar to that of the Urban Decay glitters (Midnight Cowboy, I'm looking at you!). A sticky primer should take care of the worst but I also got some fall out from the base colour, not just the glitter. Hopefully, Sleek will be going back to their usual, creamy texture for the next palette!
Cranberry is a very bright pink toned red. Be careful of staining! This palette contains the usual matte black: Noir. However, pigmentation seemed to be lacking compared to other palettes. You can see how sheer it came up, even with a couple of layers.
I think the two purples are very close in colour, maybe the palette didn't need both.
Wear time with a good primer is about what I'd expect from my Sleek palettes. The excessive fall out was annoying though, as was the Urban Decay type glittery texture. Use some Pixie Epoxy with these shadows to help the glitter stick.
We braved Lincoln today for the sales and to spend Christmas vouchers. I didn't spend mine and Lincoln was mental. I bought all of two shower gels from The Body Shop sale and that was pretty much it.
I used: -Benefit POREfessional Primer -Diorskin Nude Foundation "020" *-ELF High Definition Powder -Urban Decay Blusher "Score"
-Urban Decay Primer Potion -Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy *-The Body Shop Eye Trio "Moonlight Lustre" -MAC Shadow "Jete" - highlight -Bobbi Brown Gel Liner "Graphite Shimmer Ink" - top liner -MAC Kohl "Heirloom" - lower liner -L'Oreal Panoramic Curl Mascara
-Boots No7 High Shine Gloss "Smile"
Can't wait for my hair cut this week! Definitely prefer short hair, mine has got to the "what to do with it?" stage of growing.
As soon as this appeared on the ELF Cosmetics website, I got asked by loads of you to review it!
The ELF Studio Make Up Mist & Set spray costs £3.50 from ELF Cosmetics. You get a 60ml bottle (2 fl oz) with a spray top. It contains Aloe, Green Tea, Cucumber and Vitamins A, C & E to moisturise and sooth the skin.
It's a lot cheaper than the other make up setting spray that I'm going to be reviewing soon - the Urban Decay version.
To be honest, this is not something I'm going to be using again. This product and I just did not get along with each other!
The spray is really fine so you will get an even mist over your face. However, I really hated the smell. It's not floral or medicated or sweet, I can't place the actual smell. I just didn't like it.
It did actually help my make up last all day. My foundation lasted longer on my chin (where normally I get oily, even with primers). I probably got a further 3 or 4 hours of wear our of my make up. However, it dried my skin up something awful. After a couple of hours of use my skin felt dry and tight and after a couple of days of testing my skin was sore and flaky.
As I would class this as a skin product (rather than a colour cosmetic) I would normally test this for several weeks before reviewing. However, I was forced to stop using this product after 4 days. Your own reaction to this product may be different. I am not normally so reactive to a skin product, but there is something in this that just isn't agreeing with my skin.
This product was provided free for review/tutorial purposes. This has no effect on the review I give.
Earlier on in the year I got the set of 5 By Lauren Luke palettes to review. I got as far as doing 2 of them and kind of neglected the rest. Oops, I am naughty! Anyway, it's not so bad! I've got the pictures ready for the last 3 and my swatches are better now than they were.
Here we are with the My Luscious Greens palette. It's available from By Lauren Luke for £23.99 and there are currently five palettes available.
In each palette you get nearly everything you need to create a full look (aside from foundation & mascara!). Each palette is set up in the same way: 2 primers, black liner, large shadow, 2 smaller shadows, blush and 2 lip colours. I know some don't like cream products in with powder, but I do think there's enough empty space in the palette so that the worst of the powder should stay away from the creams.
-Nude Slip Primers - I haven't used these from this palette. When I initially used the first palettes, I found the primers to be too creamy and oily for my lids and I got creasing very quickly. -Golden Fern - Lovely golden toned green with shimmer. A little on the sheer side, I did have to pack this shade on. -Evergreen - Deep slightly greyed green. Not too much shimmer in this, it would make quite a good liner shade. Careful when blending though, too much blending will make this lean too much towards grey. -Golden Morning - Perfect highlighter shade to go with the Golden Fern, this is a cream with a lovely golden shimmer.
-Sun Kissed Blush - Shimmery peachy pink. Very, very sheer. With heavy application I could barely get this to show up in the swatch. Shame really as it looks like it's going to be so pretty. -Petal Dew & Tiger Lilly Lip Colour - Two pretty shades of neutral pink. There's no obvious warmth or coolness to these shades so they work really well with the greens. -Raven Black Liner - I'm not sure a black liner was the right shade to include with every kit, I think it's too harsh with these greens. Also, there isn't an airtight seal and the top of this liner has started to dry. I had to dig into the liner to make these swatches. That said, it's still a very intense and pigmented black liner. It's quite a creamy liner so it can get a bit smudgy.
Here's a quick eye look using the shadows and liner.
This product was provided free for review/tutorial purposes. This has no effect on the review I give.
Yes, this is from last week. I am extraordinarily bad at taking NOTD pictures and I wanted to forget I'd taken that picture. My plan for 2011 is to wear and photograph more polish so I can get better at it.
This is one of the new polishes from ELF Cosmetics. It's part of the £1.50 line and it's actually pretty good! I was expecting to have to apply quite a few coats to get it looking good, but this only needed two coats! The first applied like a streaky, sheer mess but I couldn't believe the difference a second one made. Absolute perfect opacity! I love the rich purple shimmer and there's tiny silver microglitter to add a little more interest.
It lasted a couple of days on me, but my job destroys nail polish so getting a couple of days out of a manicure is pretty amazing!
This product was provided free for review purposes. This has no effect on the review I give.
While spending today going through all my stacked up blog photos, I found an ELF tutorial that I haven't shared with you yet!
This look was created with the 32 eye shadow palette (which I've got some pictures done for, just need to complete the swatches!). The palette is still available on the ELF Cosmetics website for £9.00.
Hmm, perhaps I should hurry up and get on with some reviews? I've got a few limited edition things sat here waiting to be photographed. Anyway, I am not working between Christmas and New Year so I will have ample time to get everything photographed! Might take me a little longer to actually get round to reviewing stuff though!
Today, we have another mascara review! This is one from Boots No7, their new Exceptional Definition mascara. It's available from Boots for £12.00 and comes in Black and Brown-Black. Mine is in Black.
The tube is sleek and metallic emerald green. It's quite expensive looking but recognizably a Boots No7 mascara.
Now, the wand is interesting! It has three parts, one of which I find utterly useless. Firstly, there's a spiky ball wand at the tip. This is supposed to be used to get all the little tiny lashes, to me it's completely useless. You get a small gloop of mascara at the tip when you remove the wand from the tube. No matter how well I wiped the end of the wand, I ended up with clumpy lashes. The second part is at the top with the wider teeth. I use this side to apply the mascara to my top and bottom lashes. The bristles do a fantastic job of grabbing the lashes and giving them a really good, even coating. I get plenty of volume and a bit of extra length. They just look defined!! I then use the final, finer side to comb through my lashes to give extra separation.
Naked lashes!
I love how defined this mascara makes my lashes, there's good volume and some lengthening. It's not enough for an evening look as I've found it doesn't like too many layers. I haven't had any issues with smearing or flaking and the mascara itself isn't too set either.
This product was provided free for review/tutorial purposes.
This palette was released as a two part set recently. The other, which I think was Good Girl was limited edition. This one, Bad Girl became part of the permanent line. However, on a recent visit to a Sleek MakeUp stand there was no space for this palette. It's still sold on the website, so it may now be a website exclusive. When I bought this, the other palette had completely sold out.
When this was released, I got asked repeatedly if this was a dupe for Graphite, which was released about a year ago. The colours are similar and I think if you missed on the Graphite palette then this is a good enough replacement. You can see my swatches for Graphite over here.
These palettes are available from selected Superdrug stores and the Sleek MakeUp website for £5.99.
This smokey look based palette is going to be fantastic for the party season. I love a good smokey look when I go out and this palette offers choices for grey, purple, blue and deep green smokey looks. It also offers a couple of highlight shades and a solid, matte black to complete your look. The matte black makes a fantastic liner when used with a damp liner brush.
As always, these are intensely pigmented and a little crumbly. So be careful of fall out when applying. There are names included with the shadows now! A little disappointing that they're only labelled on a clear piece of plastic inside the palette, rather than actually somewhere on the palette. I quite often lose these inserts.
There are two blacks in this palette, one with shimmer and one without. They are both insanely pigmented! While I'd normally complain about that matte black being in every single palette, it is a very useful shade.
Be careful when using Obnoxious, I found the deep blue base to stain so make sure to use a good eye shadow base. Finally, Twilight is just a gorgeous purple.
I've got a quick review for you tonight about one of my favourite skincare products! If I had been organised even slightly then I could have done fancy pictures showing this removing stuff. But I'll put the video in at the end so you can watch it instead.
This is available from places such as Tesco, Asda, Superdrug and Boots. Prices seem to vary but I usually pay around £3-£4. Sometimes it's on offer (I think I got a buy one get one free recently as I have two full bottles floating around).
It's a two layer product, with an oil layer on the top and I assume a water based on the bottom. You shake up the bottle before use.
I use this in several ways. Firstly, if I have a really deep or dramatic eye look, I'll use it to remove the bulk of my eye make up before going on to use a cleansing oil to remove the rest of my make up. Alternatively, if I'm photographing mascara I'll use this between products. Finally, I'll use it to remove swatches of highly pigmented products from my arm.
It says that it'll remove waterproof mascara but I have noticed that it needs too much rubbing in order to do that. It is pretty good at removing those gloopy liquid liners that glue themselves to your skin. The MAC Liquidlast type ones. I don't particularly like those liners so I don't currently have any.
When I use this on my eyes, I do notice that there is a film of oil left behind. Usually, when I'm going on to cleanse with a cleansing oil it doesn't matter as it's being washed off. If I'm only using it for mascara removal, I have to use a toner to remove the film.
I haven't noticed any scent with this, which is a huge bonus. I dislike strongly scented products for my face. Also, there have not been any issues with breakouts around my eye area.
I actually recorded this right at the end of November but have managed to procrastinate my way through half of December before sitting down and getting this video edited! My new set up experiment didn't work out too well and I've got to alter the colours and brightness manually before uploading.
But, in other news - I've finally got a Facebook fanpage set up! I was a little worried about seeming a bit big-headed by doing it but I've had a huge number of requests and everyone on twitter seemed to think it was a good thing! The page is here, I can get a shortened URL once there are a few more likes.
So, here are November's favourites.
-Shiro Cosmetics Samples - I'm just loving these minerals! They're all really pigmented and so easy to put a look together with. -Diorskin Nude Liquid Foundation "020" - I love the formulation of this. So much so, that I went and got a new one after the shade I had didn't seem to match me very well. I think this shade is a much better match. -Sigma F80 Brush - Quite possibly the best liquid foundation brush I have used so far. It gives a perfect, airbrushed finish to liquid foundation application. -Bare Mineral Flawless Definition Mascara - I need to review this soon! It's not going to replace my favourite Panoramic Curl, but it is lovely. -Dior Hypnotic Poison Body Cream - smells so good and is just complete decadence!
June 2011 edit: If you've been directed here from that delightful troll of a blogger, then welcome! This is one of my favourite eye looks I've created :) I'm sorry I do not create "perfect, qualitative make up" but let's have some fun with the colours available to us and I hope you enjoy your stay!
Something bright and fun was needed for braving the Lincoln crowds on a Saturday so close to Christmas. It was about as hellish as expected but my Christmas shopping is now complete. There's no haul to show you, I bought one thing for myself. It was just too crazy to even attempt make up shopping.
I used: -Benefit POREfessional Primer -Diorskin Nude Foundation "020" *-ELF Translucent Mattifying Powder -Urban Decay Blush "Score"
*-Coastal Scents Shadow Worx Matte Primer -Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy -Aromaleigh Shadow "Concrete Jungle" - over lids -Aromaleigh Shadow "Frigid Gloom" - in crease *-Coastal Scents Hot Pot "S29" - highlight -MAC Fluidline "Nightfish" - top liner -MAC Eye Kohl "Blue Yonder" - bottom liner -L'Oreal Panoramic Curl Mascara
-Boots No7 Lipgloss "Smile"
Products marked with a star (*) were received free for review/tutorial purposes.
Well, this was a bit different! I've seen quite a few reviews of fish pedicures on other blogs, but only in major cities like London or Manchester. So I was a little surprised to see a fish pedicure place in Lincoln! I apologise in advance for the lack of pictures, it just wasn't feasible to ask about taking too many pictures with it being so busy.
Ticklfish is based in the Waterside Centre in Lincoln (lower level, opposite Superdrug, where the Chinese Medicine place was for those familiar with the area). They opened a couple of weeks ago and I've been planning on getting over for a pedicure.
The shop is pretty simply laid out. The fish tanks are in the front (much to the amusement of those watching through the windows), with additional treatment areas in the back. The tanks contain the Garra Rufa fish (also known as the Doctor Fish). These fish scrape away (and eat) dead skin, leaving the fresh skin untouched.
Prices are very reasonable, the basic treatment is 15 minutes with your feet in the tank and a quick foot massage for £10. Other length treatments and massages are available.
Before I put my feet anywhere near the tank I had to fill out a health questionnaire and have my feet examined. If you have any cuts, infections or anything that's potentially contagious, you will not be allowed to use the tanks. Also, my feet were washed before they went into the tank. I was pretty impressed here, I did have questions about hygiene. Also, the fish are fed regularly so your skin is not their only source of food. I also did notice that the tanks are rotated. Not all were in use at once. I had to wait a few minutes for one of the closed tanks to be ready to use again.
The sensation of the fish is pretty weird. It felt like tiny vibrations, rather than fish. They are pretty quick to find the dead skin and get eating. They'll also work their way up your leg as far as you've got it in the water, that was a little more sensitive. It was quite entertaining to watch the bigger fish shove the little ones out of the way to get to the "better feeding areas". And it really does tickle when they get going on the soles of your feet. The fish also liked to shove their way between the toes, that really did tickle.
So, did it work?
Yeah, a bit. I'd need to go back for weekly treatments to notice a huge chance (but isn't that true of every kind of treatment anyway?).
Let me explain the condition of my feet before and after treatment. I have thick, hard skin on my heels, along with very dry skin on the backs of my ankles, and on my toes.
The fish went straight for my ankles and the dry skin has been greatly reduced. The thick, hard skin on my heels is slightly improved but would definitely need repeated treatments to see a vast improvement (or I need to stop wearing my steel capped work shoes, but I kind of prefer having toes!). My cuticles on my toes have never looked better! All the little patches of dry skin around my nails has gone as well.
The mini foot massage is nice as well, just a couple of minutes on each foot but lovely when you've been walking around a shopping centre!
I'd definitely go back, but I doubt I'd make it a weekly treatment.
Just thought I'd post yesterday's FOTD while I build up the courage to go out in the ice.
I used: -Benefit POREfessional Primer -Laura Geller Balance & Brighten "Fair" -MAC Blush "Peachykeen"
-Urban Decay Primer Potion -Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy -Fyrinnae Shadow "Atomic Afterglow" - on lids -Fyrinnae Shadoe "Samhain Spirits" - in crease -Some kind of highlight (this is why I should wait a day to post my FOTD!) *-Bee Luscious Liquiliner "Cognac" - top liner *-Rochas Liner "Brown" - lower lashline -Rimmel Volume Flash Max Mascara
I was supposed to be getting my hair cut last week, I got quite fond of the short hair. Unfortunately, I was still travelling back from London the day I had my appointment.
Products marked with a star (*) were received free for review/tutorial purposes.
If there's a sure sign that Christmas is approaching, it's the influx of holiday goodies from cosmetic brands! I received some of the new ELF goodies that other day and I couldn't wait to get playing with them!
The first item I'm reviewing is the Natural Eye Shadow Palette, which I can't find on the website right now. Check out the Christmas section on the website, there's plenty there (including this rather snazzy looking glittery Studio Brush set!).
In this palette you get 6 shades of golds, beige and brown. All of which are shimmery to some degree. You also get a small eye shadow brush in the box. There's also a little mirror in the lid, just big enough to see your eyes really. When I got this, I did have to clean up the case as there was quite a bit of loose shadow spread over the inside. None of the shadows were broken though.
The top row consists of a sparkly silver beige, sparkly yellow gold and shimmery golden chocolate brown.
The bottom row consists of a shimmery beige, a slightly muted shimmery gold and a rich chocolate brown.
They are quite pigmented, with the deeper shades being the most pigmented. They are extremely powdery. You're going to need a sticky primer with these. And I mean sticky to the effect of Pixie Epoxy or the ELF Cream Shadow Duos. Something is going to have to grab onto these shadows to show them to their best. I don't think Urban Decay Primer Potion (or ELF Mineral Eye Shadow Primer) is going to do it here.
The texture reminds me a lot of pressed mineral pigments without enough binder. They are still quite smooth (apart from the first sparkly beige shade), but fling up a large amount of powder when you apply.
I used all three shades on the bottom row for this quick eye look, pressed over Pixie Epoxy (with ELF Mineral Eye Shadow primer underneath).
They are going to take some work so pat your brush onto your lid, rather than sweeping. Also, be careful when blending. I managed to nearly blend away the deeper shade at first and had to work very carefully to get the two shades to blend together.
This product was provided by ELF free for review purposes.
Recently, I was asked by Emily of Sparkle and Shade if I'd like to take part in her Inspirational Interviews series. I was honoured to be asked (and be considered "inspirational"!).
You can read the interview here! It's worth following her, she writes a great blog!
The poor things have been sat in a Post Office waiting for the snow to clear enough to get here. The larger set is the Mineral 5 Piece Bamboo set (£20.00), and the smaller is the Mineral 4 Piece Bamboo set (£15.00).
I'll be reviewing both sets very soon, I've already washed them and started playing.
But, I have an extra 5 piece set to give away to one of my lucky followers!
This is my set, yours will still be in the packaging! In the set you get a brush case and these 5 brushes: -Complexion Brush -Concealer Brush -Eyeliner Brush -All Over Shadow Brush -Lash & Brow Comb
Want to win a set?
All you need to do is reply to this entry and tell me what your favourite ELF product is!
There are a couple of rules though: -You need to be a follower (well, this is a follower giveaway!) -Anonymous entries will not be accepted (you need to log in) -If you are only following this blog, your entry will not be counted -One entry per person (I'm not going to insist on tweeting or anything) -You must live in UK or Europe -You must have an email address that I can easily find so I can tell you if you've won -I can tell if you've come from one of those money saving boards -If you're under 16, make sure you get permission for entry and sharing your address
Good luck! This contest will close in a week so you've got until 17:00pm (GMT) 11th Dec to enter.
Brushes were provided by ELF Cosmetics for review and as a contest prize.
Yes, I know. Another haul is naughty! I didn't buy that much, I have spent much more in one go in London before. You can read about my adventures in my new blog - Many Variables. I wanted to do more rambling but didn't want to deviate too much from make up in this blog.
I only had a few items on my shopping list and managed to grab them all.
First stop was MAC inside Selfridges. Due to the hideous weather, the cosmetics hall was pretty deserted. -Bush Cleaner -Cleanse Off Oil -#214 Brush -Glamora Castle Shadow -Undercurrent Pearlglide Liner
I had actually planned on getting the Kryolan cream shadow palette, I've seen it on a few blogs and it looks amazing. Seeing it in person, I wasn't wowed and I liked this one better. Although, if someone had said to me on wednesday morning "you can get home right now, but you can't do any shopping", I would have jumped at the offer.
