Confessions of a Make Up Addict

Review: Sleek Eye Dust "So Sleek"

2012-02-26T10:00:00.001Z

I think the Sleek Eye Dusts are a very underrated item in the brand line-up! There's quite a good range of colours available, including a few mattes. They're around £3.00 from selected Superdrugs and the Sleek MakeUp website. You get 6.5g of product, which is loads! The packaging is basic, just a clear jar with a black lid. It does mean though that you can see the colour of the pigment if you have a few stashed in a drawer.

The Eye Dusts do come with a sifter and sticker seal. However, when I opened most of mine the sticker seal has come off. I remove the sifters in these. There's a good seal around the lid and jar so there isn't mess without the sifter.

So Sleek is a pink-fuchsia with a hint of blue iridescence.

So Sleek isn't as clumpy and creamy in texture as many of the other Eye Dusts. It's much more of a typical loose powder eye shadow texture. This also means that it's not quite as pigmented as other Eye Dusts I have. As it lacks the creamy texture that other Eye Dusts have, it doesn't stick quite so well and definitely needs a primer.

MAC Shadow: Lucky Green

2012-02-25T10:00:00.000Z

Throughout February I'm going to be clearing out a backlog of photos so I can start fresh with swatches and product photos in March! I've got photos that have been hanging around in my folders for 18 months at least!

One of my all time favourite MAC shadows that was finally made part of the permanent line up!

Lucky Green was released a few years back and was a definite stand out shade of whichever collection it was in. Mine is in bronze limited edition packaging but now you can buy it as a pan or in the usual black pot. It's a really juicy golden lime green. It's gorgeous! It's part of the Veluxe Pearl line and is one of the better of the finish. It's very soft and smooth.

Even without primer there's plenty of pigmentation. But, as always with MAC eye shadows, a primer really does show it as its best. Without a primer the shimmer is more evident than the base colour but with the primer the shadow looks much richer. As is usual with MAC eye shadows, I get a full day's wear out of the shadow when I wear it with something like Urban Decay Primer Potion.

MAC Shadows are available from MAC (website/stores/counters):
-Pro pans are £10.00
-Pots are £12.00

FOTD #34: 23/02/12

2012-02-24T21:40:00.000Z

This was yesterday's and I was a little lazy when I got home from work!

I used:
-Fyrinnae Velvet Gel Silica Primer
-Laura Geller Balance & Brighten "Fair"
-Collection 2000 Lasting Perfection Concealer "Fair"
-Benefit Coralista

-Urban Decay Primer Potion
-Silk Naturals Stick 'Em Shadow Enhancer
-Silk Naturals Shadow "Spell Bound" - over lid
-Fyrinnae Shadow "Steampunk" - outer lid
-ELF Studio Shadow Single "Sand Dollar" - highlight
-Vivo Cosmetics Liquid Liner "Brown" - top liner
-Urban Decay 24/7 Liner "Stash" - lower liner
-Maybelline One by One Mascara

-Buxom Gloss "April"

Blog Of The Week 24/02/12: Reenie.nu

2012-02-24T21:00:00.000Z

This week's Blog Of The Week is Reenie.nu!

Well, I just had to feature the blog belonging to one of my all time favourite YouTubers! I adore Irene, she's someone I really appreciate having in the beauty blogging world! Her video reviews inspired me to become a better reviewer. She's honest and fun to watch.

Her blog is more of an "along side" to her YouTube channel. On her blog she reviews the things that don't quite need a full video, along with things like her favourite gold eye shadows or something that she wants to buy.

Want to get involved?
It's simple! Leave a comment below with your favourite blog, your own blog or how ever many you want to share! Don't worry though if I don't pick your links straight away. I follow 400 blogs myself and there are only 52 weeks in a year!

Review: Sleek Eye Dust "Outrage"

2012-02-24T10:00:00.003Z

I think the Sleek Eye Dusts are a very underrated item in the brand line-up! There's quite a good range of colours available, including a few mattes. They're around £3.00 from selected Superdrugs and the Sleek MakeUp website. You get 6.5g of product, which is loads! The packaging is basic, just a clear jar with a black lid. It does mean though that you can see the colour of the pigment if you have a few stashed in a drawer.

The Eye Dusts do come with a sifter and sticker seal. However, when I opened most of mine the sticker seal has come off. I remove the sifters in these. The powder is somewhat clumpy so it doesn't come out of the sifter without a lot of shaking. There's a good seal around the lid and jar so there isn't mess without the sifter.

Outrage is a deep, rich black with silver shimmer.

Outrage is so, so pigmented that it can be difficult to use! I have to be so careful when I apply to make sure that I don't get too much on and minimize fall out. The texture is really creamy, which is not unexpected when the ingredients are looked at (hi there, Dimethicone!). That does mean there can be some creasing without primer, with primer I get a full day out of it.

The Sleek Eye Dusts are pretty awesome, definitely worth having a look next time you're at a Sleek stand.

Review: MAC 130 Brush

2012-02-23T18:00:00.001Z

I'm busy emptying folders of review photos on my computer so I can get going without a huge backlog. I thought I was getting there, then I found another folder of MAC brush photos!

I remember the MAC 130 brush as being a bit of a spur of the moment purchase. I definitely prefer the eye brushes from MAC to their face brushes but I saw this on a limited edition stand and it looked quite interesting. It has since been added to MAC's permanent brush line up and is available from shops, counters and the MAC UK website for £28.00.

It's roughly the same size as the MAC 188 brush, which us also a small duo-fibre brush. However, it is a bit denser and has much shorter white bristles. The black bristles are natural fibres and the white are synthetic.

I prefer this over the MAC 188 brush as I find that a little floppy to do much with, the white fibres are too long for the small brush. But the MAC 130 is pretty useful for cream blush, actually that's what I use it for 99% of the time! It's also pretty good for liquid foundation application but due to its small size, it can take some doing! Plus, I find that I get quite heavy coverage from my foundations if I use this brush to apply it.

I'm not sure that it's an essential brush to own from MAC, but it has its uses.

Review: Laura Geller Eye Duo "Sateen Fresco/Mystic Sea"

2012-02-23T10:00:00.001Z

Still busy clearing out photos, some of these were taken in August 2010 so it's definitely time for a blog post!

I got this duo in a Laura Geller kit from QVC, that (and ebay) seem to pretty much be the only place you can find Laura Geller in the UK. In Atlanta I bought some from Ulta and saw a counter in Macy's. I blogged about the kit when I bought it and posted a FOTD using the shadows. I have used the shadows since then, the darker side has a definite dip!

I'm not quite sure on pricing as I bought this as part of a kit and the Laura Geller kits on QVC are always good value. In Ulta the duos are $23.00. You get 1.8g of product. The packaging is pretty much the same as the Balance & Brighten and the blushers that I have, just a smaller version. There's a tiny (and pretty useless!) mirror in the lid.

The shadow duo is split 2/3 and 1/3, rather than in half. The pink side, Sateen Fresco, is the larger side and is meant to be used as an all over lid shade. The dark blue side, Mystic Sea Eye Rimz is supposed to be used with a damp brush as an eye liner.

I found the texture of these to be on the dry side, baked shadows can be a little dry in texture. Sateen Fresco is quite sheer and really does need to be applied over a good, sticky primer to show the colour off. It has a very subtle blue sheen which I didn't notice until I applied it with Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy. Mystic Sea is a blackened teal with blue and green sparks. It's quite dry and chalky if you don't apply it wet though. It really creates a gorgeous liner when you apply it with a damp brush, the blue and green sparks really show up.

Review: Laura Geller Ethereal Rose/Sateen Subtle Berry Blush Duo

2012-02-22T16:00:00.002Z

Well, that's something of a long name! As with previous posts, these photos have been on my computer since August of 2010. This blush duo came with a kit from QVC that I blogged about when it got here. I took the photos to review the stuff in the kit straight away and then ignored them for 18 months! I'm not sure on individual pricing, Laura Geller only seems to be easily available from QVC in the UK. In Atlanta I found a stand in Ulta.

The packaging for Laura Geller is fairly standard. It's the same as the Balance & Brighten and a larger version of the eye shadow packaging. There's a mirror in the lid but it's tiny and I've found it to be pretty useless.

Ethereal Rose isn't intended to strictly be a blush, I think it's kind of a highlight powder as well. But I'm pale enough for it to work really well as a blush on me, it's too dark and pink to use as a highlight. It's a light neutral-toned pink with some pink shimmer and copper glimmer. The other side, Sateen Subtle Berry was a surprise for me. It's one of those pretty, marbled baked products but looked far too purple in the pan. I tried it anyway and found that it morphs into a pretty, purple-tinted mauve with a subtle glow rather than obvious shimmer.

And I forgot to label this photo, but I think it's fairly obvious which side is which! The Ethereal Rose isn't as pigmented as the other side but as it's more of a highlighter that's to be expected. The Sateen Subtle Berry is much more pigmented. I apply either side with my Illamasqua Blush Brush and the blush blends nicely into my skin. I don't tend to have too much of an issue with blush fading on me and they lasted all day.

Review: Vivo Cosmetics Mattifying Loose Powder

2012-02-22T10:00:00.002Z

As far as I know, this is only available in Translucent right now. There aren't any spaces on the Vivo stand for any other colours. This is available from selected Tesco shops and costs £3.00 for 9g.

The packaging is pretty standard for loose powder, it comes with a seal over the holes of a sifter so you can either peel the whole thing off or poke through a few. Peeling the whole thing off allows much more of the powder to come through.

To apply you can either tip some into the lip and swirl a powder brush and apply or you can apply directly from the sifter. I find that even with the seal removed, not a huge amount of powder comes through.

The powder itself is a pale yellow-peach. While it blends invisibly on my skin tone it may give an ashy finish on darker skin tones.

It does work to keep some of the oiliness off my skin but I do need to apply a couple of times a day to keep from looking too shiny. The fact that it's loose powder does mean that it's not travel friendly so when I'm out and about I tend to use the ELF Studio version, which is pressed.

I'm not sure yet if I'll buy this again. I think I'd prefer something pressed so I can cart it around with me.

MAC Shadow: Mancatcher

2012-02-21T16:00:00.002Z

One of MAC's better purples and it's more lilac than a proper purple. But it was limited edition unfortunately.

Mancatcher was released back in 2006 so there's not really a lot on the blogs about it. It needs to be re-released as it's one of MAC's better versions of purple. It's a lilac with some pink tones and lilac shimmer. It's a Frost finish but it's more like a "good" Veluxe Pearl finish in that it's very soft and smooth.

It actually shows up quite well without a primer but it doesn't last on my lids more than 4 hours! With a primer the base colour is much stronger and it will last all day on my lids with some fading around the 10-12 hour mark.

It looks really good packed on the lid over Fyrinne Pixie Epoxy with a really deep blue or green in the crease.

MAC Shadows are available from MAC (website/stores/counters):
-Pro pans are £10.00
-Pots are £12.00

Review: Sugarpill ChromaLust "Hysteric" & "Magpie"

2012-02-21T10:00:00.000Z

I really must be the last blogger to get round to reviewing Sugarpill! But anyway, I have two of the loose eye shadows to show you today! I remember the blogging world going absolutely crazy when these were first released. Rightly so, these are awesome.

ChromaLust loose eye shadows are available from Sugarpill for $12.00, you get 5g of product.

The packaging is absolutely gorgeous! There's clearly been a lot of thought and time put into creating a clear and cohesive brand image and it shows. The boxes are distinctive and so pretty! The jar lids are actually printed with the Sugarpill logo, rather than having stickers. The base has a sticker with the name and ingredients of each colour, along with a little logo for each colour.

The jars don't have sifters. That isn't an issue for me, but I know some people prefer them. Due to the lack of sifters, be careful when you first open them! There can be a little puff of powder since they're shaken up from shipping.

-Hysteric - is a bright purple shimmer with turquoise sparkle.
-Magpie - is a deep, shimmery teal with a black base and blue sparkles.

When applied, they are absolutely gorgeous!!! Seriously, some of the best loose shadows I've come across. However, they are a little on the floaty side and need something to stick to. They work nicely with a primer such as Urban Decay Primer Potion but it is quite easy to over blend them. However, they just turn into amazing, complex gorgeousness when used with something sticky (or foiled). I like them with Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy or NYX Jumbo Eye Pencils to really show them at their absolute best!

I don't have a FOTD posted yet with Magpie but you can see Hysteric below.
-22/01/12
Isn't that lid shade beautiful!

You get a glittery Sugarpill sticker with each order! I'm planning on ordering again soon, I just need to narrow down which to get!

Review: MAC 219 Brush

2012-02-20T16:00:00.000Z

I'm still clearing out folders full of blog pictures and just found one full of MAC brush photos! My computer tells me I saved this in September 2010. That's pretty much why I'm emptying folders right now!

The MAC 219 brush is available from MAC shops, counters and the MAC UK website for £19.00. I should imagine it's available world wide, wherever MAC is sold.

This is an interesting little brush that I've had now for quite a few years! I don't have any absolute definite use for it in my routine and I can easily go a few months without even picking it out of my brush holder. MAC calls it a pencil brush and that name is definitely true for the shape! It's quite small and pointed, much smaller than the MAC 217 brush. The bristles are made of white goat hair (the same as the 239 and 217 brushes) and it has a good firmness to it. I find that the bristles don't splay out after cleaning as long as I reshape them.

I use this brush for a few different things. It can add a touch of highlight to the inner corner of the eyes to brighten up the eye area. I have used it in the past to add a very defined crease, it's definitely useful for creating a sharp cut-crease look. I do mainly use this for smudging eye shadow on top of pencil liner on my bottom lash line. Though I'm much more likely to use the MAC 214 for that these days.

It cleans up just as easily as my other goat hair brushes, I just use MAC brush cleaner to give them a good clean. It can stain with highly pigmented blues, pinks and greens but I find that it will slowly rinse out over a few cleanings.

I have got the Sigma dupe, the E30, but I have found that it's a much softer brush and doesn't work quite so well for me.

MAC Shadow: Knight Divine

2012-02-20T10:00:00.001Z

Throughout February I'm going to be clearing out a backlog of photos so I can start fresh with swatches and product photos in March! I've got photos that have been hanging around in my folders for 18 months at least!

This one was on my wish list for ages! I just kept forgetting to buy it but finally got my hands on it during one trip to London.

Knight Divine is a dark grey with silver shimmer. It's one of the Veluxe Pearl shadows and feels like one of the slightly drier versions of the finish. It's still nice and smooth but it's not quite as soft as Shimmermoss, for example.

This is definitely one that needs a primer! It just doesn't want to stick onto bare skin and needs the primer to show anything really! With a primer you get the deep grey base colour coming through and plenty of the shimmer. This will last through a full day for me when I wear it with something like Urban Decay Primer Potion with no creasing and only minimal fading after 12 hours or so. It does make a great smokey eye!

MAC Shadows are available from MAC (website/stores/counters):
-Pro pans are £10.00
-Pots are £12.00

Haul: 18/02/12 - Lincoln

2012-02-19T20:13:00.001Z

Why yes, this is my 4th blog post of the day! I did a little shopping with Cosmetichameleon yesterday and finally spent some Debenhams vouchers I was given for Christmas.

I bought a few staples that I use all the time! Everything seemed to run out at the same time.
-Lush Whip Stick Balm
-The Body Shop Hemp Hand Protector
-Urban Decay Primer Potion

We had a good look in our TK Maxx but the pickings were very poor. The whole beauty section was a bit grubby and very picked over. I did find a few Leighton Denny nail polish duos for the grand total of £9.99, which is just under the retail price of one Leighton Denny polish. I dug through and found the best duo of the pile!
-Leighton Denny Polish "Liquid Silver"
-Leighton Denny Polish "Daylight Robbery"

The pink Look Beauty box contains something that had clearly been dropped so I'm going to *try* and get a replacement next weekend. Even when make up is broken, getting it exchanged is really not easy!

Also, there's a sample of the new Chanel foundation: Perfection Lumiere. I didn't want to spend £30+ on a bottle without trying it first!

Aaaaaaaaand, finally:

Yes, I know I said I wasn't. I had Debenhams vouchers and nothing else that I fancied.

Review: Vivo Cosmetics Baked Bronze "Healthy Glow"

2012-02-19T16:00:00.000Z

I think this is one of the best products from Vivo Cosmetics. If you only get one thing from Vivo, get this!

Vivo Cosmetics Baked Bronzes come in a few shades and cost £5.00 each from selected Tesco shops. You get 12g of product. The other shades are much deeper, shimmering bronzers.

This comes in a larger version of the baked blush packaging. It's sturdy and should survive a little abuse (don't drop it on a hard floor!). There's no mirror or applicator, which means more product for your money! There's a sticker on the back giving all the product details and ingredients.

This is a lovely highlighter. It has some pretty veining which only adds to the "ooh" of the product, rather than having any effect on the applied look. Healthy Glow is a cool beige-cream shimmer with slight golden tones. I wouldn't say it belongs under the "bronze" label though. It applies a little on the sheer side, which is a good thing for this type of product. I definitely prefer more of the "glow" look, rather than some obvious shimmer. It's quite close to my skin tone so I get a really awesome glow when I apply this to the tops of my cheek bones. It really does give that "lit from within" look we try to attain.

I utterly failed to get a swatch of this. It was too close to the skin tone on the inside of my arm so I couldn't get anything to show! I can't find any FOTDs where I used this, but I know I have! Must have just forgotten to add it to the product list.

FOTD #33: 18/02/12

2012-02-19T12:00:00.000Z

This was what I wore yesterday when I met up again with Cosmetichameleon for the day. There is a haul post coming up later!

I used:
-Black Radiance Shine Control Primer
-Bourjois Healthy Mix Foundation "51"
-ELF Studio Translucent Matifying Powder
-Collection 2000 Lasting Perfection Concealer "Fair"
-Benefit Coralista

-Urban Decay Primer Potion
-Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy
-Victorian Disco Shadow "Archduchess" - on lid
-Sugarpill ChromaLust "Magpie" - in crease & lower liner
-ELF Studio Single Shadow "Sand Dollar" - highlight
-Urban Decay 24/7 Liquid Liner "Siren" - top liner
-Gosh Velvet Touch Liner "Majestic Sea" - lower liner
-Lorac 3D Lashes Mascara

-Bare Minerals Buxom Lips "April"

Review: L'Oreal Infallible Eye Shadows

2012-02-19T10:00:00.001Z

I'm trying to clear out my product photo folders on my computer, there are things waiting to be reviewed that are months old! Like these L'Oreal Infallible eye shadows that I bought pretty much as soon as they were released. These have just been released in the US and Canada as well but I believe the colour range and names may be slightly different.

These cost around £7 from the usual L'Oreal stockists such as Boots, Superdrug, Tesco and other supermarkets. They seem to be on offer quite regularly at the moment, I've seen everything from 3for2 to £3.00 off. You get 3.5g of product for that price.

I spent ages picking out the first three I bought, I decided to go for the more interesting looking ones available (though most look worth buying!). The three I have do have some kind of shimmer but there are a few mattes available. The packaging is pretty good, fairly sturdy plastic with ingredients and colour names on a sticker on the lid. There isn't a photo to show the base but the colour of the product shows through, matching the sticker which I felt was a nice touch! Helps to find the one you're looking for when digging through.

Comparisons with Giorgio Armarni Eyes To Kill are inevitable. They both have the plastic to keep the product squished in the jar. I may get round to a comparison post some time before 2014 (but I'm not promising anything!) but briefly, they are a good drugstore/high street dupe but I wouldn't call them exact copies. The texture and pigmentation of the Giorgio Armani is a step above these, and the L'Oreal offering has some of the smoothest and richest shadows that have come out of a drugstore in a long time.

Oops, forgot to label that photo! Anyway, the three I initially went for are:
-Eternal Black - satin finish deep black with lots of silver sparkle,
-Permanent Kaki - very shimmery light sage green,
-Flashback Silver - shimmering grey with lilac tones.

Flashback Silver is definitely the stand out shade of the three. It's something that I've not come across in pretty much any range of make up and it's absolutely gorgeous. I have been searching for something that's between grey and lilac for a long time and this just happens to be it!

The texture of these is interesting. They are pressed pretty solidly but it's easy to dig out a chunk. They apply with the creaminess of a cream shadow and do require application with either a synthetic brush or your ring finger. A densely packed natural haired brush will apply them, but not as well as the other two options and you've got pretty much no chance with something softer.

Pigmentation is really good. I've had eye shadows that cost double the price with less pigmentation than these! The grey-lilac and green are very smooth and creamy in texture, it's easy to apply almost too much in one go! The black is slightly drier feeling due, I expect, from the sparkle it contains! One thing you do have to be careful of is product clumping! I find this is less of a problem if you apply with your ring finger but I just don't really like doing that. I'm not a fan of sticking fingers in products, no matter how recently my hands were washed (mmmm, Staph. aureus). Blending isn't too much of an issue either.

Now, I haven't tested the 24 hour wear promised but with a primer, I've had a good 14 hours wear out of these without any fading or creasing. Without a primer, it was getting creased at around 6 hours. My lids are getting oilier (who decided skin dried out as you got older, mine's turning into a grease pit) but those of you without oily lids shouldn't have too many issues with the length of wear from these shadows.

Overall, it's most definitely a product win from L'Oreal. They're proving a massive hit all over the blogs and I'm definitely planning on buying a few more!

Nails: OPI Merry Midnight

2012-02-18T16:00:00.000Z

Oh, why must I torture myself by trying to photograph purple based nail polishes? This still hasn't come out right but this was the best of the bunch. Hopefully when there's more light in the evenings I can get better pictures.

I bought this ages and ages ago from ebay. It's an interesting shade, a plum/purple with shimmer and flakies! However, it's so damn sheer. Which is why I haven't used it that much. Then I struck upon the genius idea of layering! This is one layer of Merry Midnight over one layer of Nails Inc Savile Row. The Nails Inc is a rich plum cream that I'm pretty sure came with a magazine. Anyway, prettiness.

Review: Vivo Cosmetics Diamond Sparkle Lip Gloss "Candy Floss"

2012-02-18T10:00:00.001Z

I think this is currently the only Vivo Cosmetics lip product that I have. The lip range isn't as large as the eye product range and seems to be based on a few fashion shades. I'm not much of a lip product person so I'm not one to get excited over another nude lipstick. But while digging through the Vivo stand at Tesco, I found some glittery lip glosses!

I'm not exactly sure on the prices, I did have a price list and now I can't find it. Less than £4 I expect, given the price range of the rest of the brand. There are 3 or 4 shades available. You get 14ml of gloss, which is loads! (More research perhaps, Becky!)

The packaging of this is not my favourite. I much prefer the usual wand in a tube packaging for my lip gloss. This is a squeezy tube with a brush at the end. The gloss is quite thick so it can take quite a bit of a squeeze to get any gloss out. I found the brush doesn't apply the gloss very evenly. Fortunately the gloss is more of a sparkle than a dense colour so it's not as noticeable.

Candy Floss is a sheer pink gloss with a heavy filling of silver and pink sparkle. It doesn't feel gritty on initial application but that feeling develops as the gloss part wears away and the sparkle remains. I find it only lasts an hour or so on the lips but I'm not someone who can get lip stuff to last on me.

Here's a FOTD where I have used the gloss:
-02/01/12

Blog Of The Week 17/02/12: The Sunday Girl

2012-02-17T20:00:00.001Z

This week's Blog Of The Week is The Sunday Girl!

I'm pretty sure I found The Sunday Girl through some blog roll hopping. But I was impressed with what I saw so I stuck around. She's rather prolific and has posted 70 posts so far this month! And 110 for January! Fortunately her posts are of high quality so there's definitely quality and quantity!

Her posts are easy to digest, with plenty of great pictures (I adore the backgrounds she chooses for the products!) and short bursts of information. A good range of brands are shown on the blog, with plenty of lipstick/lipgloss reviews. I always find a few posts to read when I'm looking through her archives!

Want to get involved?
It's simple! Leave a comment below with your favourite blog, your own blog or how ever many you want to share! Don't worry though if I don't pick your links straight away. I follow 400 blogs myself and there are only 52 weeks in a year!

MAC Shadow: Illusionary/Burning Ambition

2012-02-17T10:00:00.000Z

Throughout February I'm going to be clearing out a backlog of photos so I can start fresh with swatches and product photos in March! I've got photos that have been hanging around in my folders for 18 months at least!

I've got another Mineralize Duo for you today, this one isn't one I reach for often enough. The richer shade is just gorgeous!

Mineralize shadows are a little more expensive than the regular pressed eye shadows but you get 2.2g of product compared to 1.5g (or 1.3g, depending on the texture).

Illusionary/Burning Ambition is one of the "plain" Mineralize Duos, meaning that both sides are just one colour. That doesn't mean that the eye shadow itself is plain though! While the colours are more of the toned down variety compared to many of my eye shadows, they are still absolutely gorgeous! Definitely one of MAC's better quality eye shadows!

One side of Illusionary/Burning Ambition is a golden cream shimmer with strong golden iridescence. The other side is a rich, golden brown with some bronze tones to the shimmer.

Pigmentation is pretty good for a MAC Mineralize Duo. It's not nearly as light and floaty as other Mineralize Duos I have. It almost has a little creaminess in the texture. The lighter side isn't as strongly pigmented as the brown though. I find a sticky base (Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy or NYX Jumbo Eye Pencil) is still needed for the lighter side to show its best but the brown will work just fine over something like Urban Decay Primer Potion.

The haul that featured this was actually one of my very first posts on my blog! Check out my Meadowhall Haul! I also dug out a very old FOTD post where this was used:

-09/11/09

MAC Mineralize Shadows are available from MAC (website/stores/counters) for £16.50.

Review: Vivo Cosmetics Baked Blush

2012-02-16T10:00:00.001Z

I initially planned on reviewing these individually, but as I'm trying to clear a massive review backlog these are getting done together!

Vivo Cosmetics Baked Blushers are available from selected Tesco shops for £4.00. Four shades are available but I only have three of them. The fourth is another pink, I felt it was too close to the pink I already have so I haven't bothered to get it.

The Vivo Baked Blushes come in fairly sturdy plastic cases which are quite tall in order to fit the domed blush. They don't come with a mirror or an applicator but do have the ingredients on the back. The blushes are smooth in texture and all four shades have shimmer. I've dropped mine on carpet a few times (oops) and they've survived. I'm not sure how they'd manage if dropped onto tile flooring or a trans-Atlantic flight. Baked products do tend to be a little more fragile than regular pressed products.

Peaches & Cream is a golden peach with pink tones. There's some gold shimmer and I find this shade really warms up my complexion. There is some veining with some more pink tones but it's not distinct enough to be able to concentrate your brush to apply a slightly different colour.

Rouge Shimmer is a mid-toned pink shimmer. It leans to a cool toned pink and has a brighter pink shimmer to it. This has a lovely glow when blended into my skin but can look a little too much if I apply too much.

Cinnamon Glow is my favourite of the three I have! It's a cool, muted, dusty pink and is quite an unusual shade. It's really flattering on my skin tone and the one I wear the most!

They're decently pigmented and definitely show up better when applied to my cheeks than the swatches. Blush swatches are really hard to photograph for some reason! I use my Illamasqua Blush Brush to apply these, it picks up just the right amount of the blush and blends it into my skin quite nicely! These don't apply as shimmery as they look, they tone down slightly when applied to the cheeks.

Here are some FOTD posts using these blushes. I do tend to use a light hand when applying my blush.
-02/02/12 - Cinnamon Glo
-31/12/11 - Peaches & Cream
-21/12/11 - Rouge Shimmer

FOTD #32: 14/02/12

2012-02-14T20:39:00.001Z

I tried out a different Urban Decay 24/7 Shadow Pencil, this one without any glitter. It works so much better so I'll be reviewing that soon. I also gave it a slightly different type of long wearing test.

I used:
-Black Radiance Shine Control Primer
-Bourjois Healthy Mix Foundation "51"
-Collection 2000 Lasting Perfection Concealer "Fair"
-Vivo Cosmetics Mattifying Loose Powder
*-ELF Studio Blush "Mellow Mauve"

*-Silk Naturals Kisser Slicker "Sweetheart"

-Urban Decay 24/7 Shadow Pencil "Sin" - over lid
-MUA Pearl Shadow "Shade 9" - in crease
*-ELF Studio Shadow Single "Sand Dollar" - highlight
-Bobbi Brown Gel Liner "Black Plum Ink" - top liner
-Gosh Velvet Touch Liner "Rising Sun" - lower liner
-Benefit They're Real Mascara

Products marked with a star (*) were received free for review.

MAC Shadow: Fresh Green Mix

2012-02-14T10:00:00.000Z

Throughout February I'm going to be clearing out a backlog of photos so I can start fresh with swatches and product photos in March! I've got photos that have been hanging around in my folders for 18 months at least!

I remember MAC's first releases of Mineralize shadows. In the days before the UK MAC website, you had to phone the Pro store down in London to order stuff, I phoned and ordered a couple on the release date. Their first Mineralize shadows (released in 2004-ish?) were something of a disappointment. They were pretty sheer and hard, I don't own those any more. Fortunately, MAC has got better at the finish!

Mineralize shadows cost a bit more but you get 2.2g of product, rather than 1.5g (or 1.3g for some finishes).

Fresh Green Mix isn't my favourite of the Mineralize shadows I own but it's pretty to look at! The duos get released with different patterns. Sometimes they're plain, sometimes one half has a marbled finish, sometimes the other colour is a circle and not half the pan.

One side of Fresh Green Mix is a bright, juicy yellow toned green with golden yellow pearl. The other is a mix of shades: mint, olive, grass green, yellow green. When mixed together it gives a darker, more olive toned version of the other half.

Pigmentation is good, but it definitely needs a primer. It's a very soft and floaty feeling eye shadow, you need to stick it to something! Alternatively, you can apply these "foiled" (applied with a damp brush) as the mineralize finish allows for wet application. These look far more metallic when foiled, which I like! You get a similar look when applied over something like Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy.

Overall, I'm a fan of this finish. In fact, one of my all time favourite MAC eye shadows is a Mineralize shadow!

MAC Mineralize Shadows are available from MAC (website/stores/counters) for £16.50.

Review: Vivo Cosmetics Pearl Eyeshadow "Pale Gold"

2012-02-13T10:00:00.000Z

Throughout February I'm going to be clearing out a backlog of photos so I can start fresh with swatches and product photos in March! I've got photos that have been hanging around in my folders for 18 months at least!

I've got another treat to show you from Vivo Cosmetics today! The eye shadows from Vivo Cosmetics cost the grand total of £1.50 and come in 2 finishes: matte and pearl. I haven't tried any of the mattes yet but I've got a few of the pearls. They're available at selected Tesco shops and you get 3.8g of product.

The packaging is pretty sleek but not too flimsy. The lid doesn't snap shut too securely so I'm not sure how this would stand up to being carted around in a make up bag. There's no foam applicator, which to me is a bonus as I don't like them. The word "VIVO" is stamped into the shadow, quite deeply so it's going to last through a few uses.

This shadow feels a little drier in texture than Mink, but it's still fairly smooth. Pale Gold is a light, shimmery beige-gold. I initially thought something called Pale Gold might be on the whiter side but I like this beige toned gold, it makes it a nice neutral to wear without being too stark on the skin.

This has a good level of pigmentation, showing nicely even without the primer. But it's a much smoother looking shadow and lasts much longer on my lids when used with a primer, such as Urban Decay Primer Potion.

This shadow features in this FOTD post:
-17/01/12

Blog Of The Week 10/02/12: Smoon'Style

2012-02-10T20:00:00.000Z

This week's Blog Of The Week is Smoon'Style!

This is a little bit different to my other Blog Of The Week posts as I've known of Simone for quite a few years. She's one of my favourite vocalists and fronts the symphonic metal band Epica. Who are made of awesome. I really need to get to see them this time round (they need to release some UK tour dates soon).

But anyway, she's also a freaking Beauty Blogger!!

She's posting a bit more at the moment as the band isn't quite on tour yet. While the band is touring you get a few travel posts along with the make up.

Want to get involved?
It's simple! Leave a comment below with your favourite blog, your own blog or how ever many you want to share! Don't worry though if I don't pick your links straight away. I follow 400 blogs myself and there are only 52 weeks in a year!

MAC Shadow: Firespot

2012-02-09T10:00:00.000Z

Throughout February I'm going to be clearing out a backlog of photos so I can start fresh with swatches and product photos in March! I've got photos that have been hanging around in my folders for 18 months at least!

Here's another strong contender from MAC. While they don't do purples very well, their orange based shades seem to be pretty good!

Firespot was released as a limited edition a while ago, I can't remember the collection but the whole collection came in pearlised white packaging. It's a fiery orange shimmer with some golden glimmer. It's much brighter and less copper/red toned than Coppering. It's a veluxe pearl finish shadow and has the smoothness typical to the best of the finish. It's not quite as creamy as some but it's not one of the dry ones.

This has plenty of pigmentation, even without a primer. But, as always, it works so much better on me with a primer. Without, the orange base colour dominates and I get about 4 hours wear before it looks really quite faded. With a primer, the golden shimmer and glimmer really shows well. I also get much better wear and it lasts pretty much until I take it off. Like Coppering, I can find this shade hard to wear. It's not quite as red which helps and the gold shimmer means I can make it work, but I do find it difficult to find something to pair it with.

MAC Shadows are available from MAC (website/stores/counters):
-Pro pans are £10.00
-Pots are £12.00

FOTD #31: 07/02/12

2012-02-07T20:51:00.000Z

Thanks for all your lovely comments on my previous FOTD post, I'll make sure to feature some stronger lip colours in the future! Today's look didn't come out quite as intended, the idea I had in my brain didn't quite translate. Plus it's 5:30am and I'm not quite awake yet!

I used:
-Black Radiance Shine Control Primer
-Collection 2000 Lasting Perfection Concealer "Fair"
-Sassy Minerals Foundation "Cool Light"
-Stila Custom Blush "Self-Adjusting Coral"

-Urban Decay Primer Potion
-Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy
-Wet n Wild 8-Pan Palette - silver shade on lid, navy shimmer in crease
*-ELF Studio Single "Sand Dollar" - in crease
-Stila Sparkle Waterproof Liner "Starry" - top liner
-MAC Kohl "Hyacinth" - lower liner
-Benefit They're Real Mascara

-Bare Minerals Buxom Lips "April"

Haul: Love Hues

2012-02-07T10:00:00.000Z

I recently bought a few more things from Love Hues!

I ordered 4 full sized jars and the seller sent along 4 samples as well. It just so happens that one or two of the samples were colours that I had been looking at buying! This came pretty much a week after I ordered, which is nice and fast from the US.

All swatches are done with a dry brush over primer.

My full sized jars:

-Duckling - Brown, icy taupe.
-Wonderstruck - Gold, pink, purple iridescence.
-Dragon's Wing - Green teal with golden glimmer.
-Blueberry Pie - Blue-based violet with strong blue shimmer.

And my samples:

-Heartfelt Whimsy - Silvery rosy nude shimmer.
-Dream Dust - Smoked, slightly lilac toned grey sparkle.
-Pretty Little Secret - Soft brown shimmer with a touch of silver.
-Underwater Chameleon - Aqua green with golden shimmer.

They're so pretty! Which is basically what I say with every Love Hues parcel I get. I need to order full sized jars of all these samples. Can't wait to get these worn in FOTDs. And order more, of course!

YoooooToooobe

2012-02-06T20:05:00.002Z

So, YouTube. At the moment I've completely lost my video mojo. I just have zero inspiration and desire to create videos and it's frustrating! YouTube is where I started all this and right now I just can't get on with it. I've got 3 videos sat on my computer, waiting to be edited and I just stare at the editing software and go "huh? Bleeeeh".

I'm not planning on giving it up entirely but I just have to face that right now, my brain is not focused on YouTube. I'm planning on taking the rest of February off from YouTube and seeing if that helps. If I manage to get these videos edited then I'm going to upload them but I don't think I'll be creating any new ones for a bit.

So damn frustrating.

Nails: Rimmel 60 Seconds "Pompous"

2012-02-06T10:00:00.000Z

This is a nail polish that I have debated over buying for ages. I don't know why, it's not like Rimmel polishes are going to blow my budget. These fast dry polishes come in at less than £4.00 in the Tesco I buy my lunches from (my local one doesn't sell any make up).

Purples are so hard to photograph! It still is showing a touch too blue, which is annoying but purple polishes are notoriously difficult to photograph accurately. The colour is pretty gorgeous though, it's not quite the delicious Cadbury purple but it's close and it has some lovely red and blue micro-sparkle. It's not quite as fine as shimmer but it's not large enough to be a definite sparkle.

This shows two coats. The first one was so thin that I thought this just would never work but it was perfect after the second coat. I find fast dry polishes do dry to a slightly dull finish so a top coat is definitely needed with this.

It was actually lasting quite well, I'm trying out the Zoya Color Lock system right now and it seems to be working. Until I spend part of my afternoon shovelling snow from around my car!

FOTD #30: 05/02/12

2012-02-05T19:37:00.002Z

Today's FOTD is something a little different for me. I recently had an email from a reader who was nervous about wearing red lips as she felt her lips were a little too thin for it. I began composing a reply saying that she should give it a go and rock the red lips before I realised what a bloody hypocrite I was. In all my years of make up wearing I have avoided red lips for that exact reason. My lips are thin (as people on YouTube are so eager to point out, repeatedly) but today I decided to wear the red lip.

I used:
-Rimmel Fix & Perfect Primer
-Diorskin Nude Foundation "020"
*-ELF Studio Pressed Powder "Porcelain"
-Collection 2000 Lasting Perfection Concealer "Fair"
-Benefit Coralista

-Urban Decay Primer Potion
-L'Oreal Colour Infallible "Sahara Treasure" - over lid
-MAC Shadow "Antiqued" - in crease
*-ELF Studio Shadow Single "Sand Dollar" - highlight
-MAC Fluidline "Blacktrack" - top liner
-Kryolan Kajal - lower liner
-Benefit They're Real Mascara

*-Silk Naturals Kisser Slicker "Reddy"

Yes, my hair is interesting today. I've been in and out of hats all day.

Bonus Crunchie picture!! There was snow, he was happy.

ETA: Thanks a bunch for your comments :) I'll definitely be considering more red lips in the future!

MAC Shadow: Fashion

2012-02-05T19:23:00.000Z

Throughout February I'm going to be clearing out a backlog of photos so I can start fresh with swatches and product photos in March! I've got photos that have been hanging around in my folders for 18 months at least!

I think this is one of MAC's more interesting shades and the formula is pretty fantastic!

Fashion is quite an unusual shade for MAC. It's a slightly greyed soft blue with minute golden sparks running through. It is quite muted in colour, definitely not a pop of colour on your lids! This is one of the Starflash shadows (which I really wish MAC would make permanent!). It's a step above Veluxe Pearl. It's very soft and smooth.

While it has plenty of pigmentation, I find that as with all MAC shadows it needs a primer to really show it at its best. It can fade down to an uninteresting grey-blue on me without a primer, quite common for me with a lot of blue shadows. A primer also helps the tiny golden sparks to show through, along with giving a much truer colour.

MAC Shadows are available from MAC (website/stores/counters):
-Pro pans are £10.00
-Pots are £12.00

Blog Of The Week 03/02/12: Nihrida

2012-02-03T20:37:00.002Z

This week's Blog Of The Week is Nihrida!

This is a fairly recent blog discovery for me and I found it while trawling through blog links on other blogs. She blogs mostly about nail polish with plenty of make up posts but it was definitely the nail polish posts that made me stick around! Her photography is just stunning and I'd love to have just a tiny fraction of her ability to photograph her nail polish (mine are really bad, even after so much practise!).

Another thing that kept me reading was the wide range of brands she shows. Many that I have no access to! My nail polish wish list is definitely growing!

Want to get involved?
It's simple! Leave a comment below with your favourite blog, your own blog or how ever many you want to share! Don't worry though if I don't pick your links straight away. I follow 400 blogs myself and there are only 52 weeks in a year!

MAC Shadow: Coppering

2012-02-03T10:00:00.002Z

Throughout February I'm going to be clearing out a backlog of photos so I can start fresh with swatches and product photos in March! I've got photos that have been hanging around in my folders for 18 months at least!

Even though this colour is hard for me to wear, it's one of MAC's stronger offerings.

Coppering is a strong copper based shadow with a very slight hint of brown to tone it down. It doesn't quite reach the shine and brightness of a new penny but has that red-orange hint that a chunk of pure copper has. It's one of MAC's better Veluxe Pearls and has a rich and soft texture.

It's strongly pigmented, even without a prime. But as usual, a base will bring out the truest tones to this shadow. It does fade quite quickly on me during the day if I don't use a primer. With a primer this will last about 8 hours on my lids before I notice any fading and I barely get any creasing before I wash my make up off in the evening. As I said before, I can find this hard to wear with my cool, pale sink tone but I do pair it with Antiqued as it doesn't work too well with the cooler toned shadows I prefer.

MAC Shadows are available from MAC (website/stores/counters):
-Pro pans are £10.00
-Pots are £12.00

FOTD #29: 31/01/12

2012-01-31T20:17:00.003Z

This didn't quite end up as I expected. I got so distracted by the bright green on the lid that I couldn't figure out what else to add.

I used:
-Urban Decay Pore Perfecting Primer
-Collection 2000 Lasting Perfection Concealer "Fair"
-Sassy Minerals Foundation "Cool Light"
-Benefit Coralista

-Urban Decay Primer Potion
-Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy
-Virus Insanity Eye Shadow "Rave" - on lid
-L'Oreal Color Infallible "Sahara Treasure" - in crease
*-ELF Studio Shadow "Sand Dollar" - highlight
-MAC Fluidline "Shade" - top liner
-MAC Eye Kohl "Minted" - lower liner
-Benefite They're Real Mascara

*-Silk Naturals Lip Glaze "Heirloom"

Products marked with a star (*) were received free for review.

Nails: Online Nail Bar Plates

2012-01-30T10:00:00.002Z

I received a nail stamping plate this week and I've been having a play. Nail stamping is something I'm loving but just don't get to do often enough.

These image plates for stamping are available in sets of 10 for £10 from Onlinenailbar. They come with a plastic overlay which needs peeling off before use. The plastic actually makes it easier to take the photo of the plate and it's that which has the scratches you can see. The plate underneath is nice and smooth. The edges are a little sharp so be careful. This is plate M16. The plate came wrapped in some nice paper and in a little organza bag so there's some care taken with the packaging. The site owner says that they try and get as many packages wrapped up as they can.

For this I used Konad's special polish in Black Pearl and used the butterfly design from the centre of my plate. The plates are good quality with nicely defined designs. The transferred design is sharp and clear. The base colour is Model's Own Grace Green.

There are a couple of plates that I've got my eyes on with some really interesting designs. M1 has some cure birds and a spider, look at the shark on M27!!! So I might need to pick up both sets.

This plate was received free for review, this has no effect on the review I give.

FOTD #28: 29/01/12

2012-01-29T20:00:00.001Z

Just having a play with make up on a Sunday afternoon! I love settling down to get some blog posts done at this time of the week. I listen to podcasts and I've got twitter open and I'm chatting while writing blog posts for the week.

I used:
-Black Radiance Shine Control Primer
-Bourjois Healthy Mix Serum Foundation "51"
*-ELF Studio HD Powder
-Collection 2000 Lasting Perfection Concealer "Light"
-Benefit Coralista

-Urban Decay Primer Potion
-Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy
-Silk Naturals Shadow "Magpie" - on lid
-Aromaleigh Shadow "Bellatrix" - in crease and lower lash line
*-ELF Studio Single Shadow "Sand Dollar" - highlight
-Urban Decay 24/7 Liner "Bringe" - lower liner
-Urban Decay 24/7 Liquid Liner "Siren" - top liner
-Benefit They're Real Mascara

-Benefit Lipstick "Sugar Cookie"

Products marked with a star (*) were received free for review.

Review: Lorac Close Up Face Tutorial

2012-01-29T11:17:00.000Z

Now is the time to review one of my favourite purchases from Atlanta! I knew I wanted to try some Lorac but I had absolutely no idea what to look at. I'd looked at so much make up during that week that I had reached some kind of saturation point where nothing new was grabbing me. During the very last day (we were literally on the way to the airport to go home and worked out we could fit in a couple of hours shopping before our flights) we stopped at a much better Ulta and I finally grabbed this off the shelves. I must have looked quite pathetic at that point, I was just wondering aimlessly around Ulta grabbing a few random things off the shelves in a kind of "omg, last day to buy this stuff" kind of haze. Four days of a convention will do that to your brain.

I eventually settled on Lorac's Close Up: Face Tutorial kit. This cost $39 and has a value of $120. I really loved these kits I kept finding at Ulta and Sephora. They're a really good value way of trying out the brand. I also bought a Bare Minerals kit which I'll be reviewing at some point. I've still got so, so much of that haul to review for you.

In this kit you get:
-Instruction booklet
-Multiplex 3D Lashes Mascara in "Black"
-Front Of The Line Pro Liquid Eyeliner "Black"
-Couture Shine Gloss "Trend Setter"
-Blush "Soul"
-Starry Eyed Baked Shadow Trio "LoracStar"

The looks are definitely on the more "smokey neutral" side.

I had a quick look through the instruction booklet and liked the easy to follow instructions. The two tutorial pages do peel off so you can stick them to your mirror. Assuming you use a larger mirror that is! Otherwise, the booklet is designed to stand up as a flip chart kind of thing. There are also some good tips at the back of the booklet.

The liquid liner did not survive the trip home. The pressure changes in the plane forced all the product out through the brush. Liquid liners that have a brush dipped into a well survived better but the pen style just exploded black liner. Nice.

The mascara is quite nice but not something I'm planning on buying again. I'll be reviewing it in more depth as a separate blog post as part of my mascara series.

Now, one of the two stars products of this kit! The Baked Trio in LoracStar has fast become one of my favourite eye products. The colours are so smooth and richly pigmented. Even without using them with a damp brush (like you tend to have to with MAC's baked shadows), you get rich, metallic awesomeness. The three shades together can create anything from a fairly toned down look (as toned down as you can get with that much metallic!) to a rich, smokey look. They're definitely metallic rather than frosted though. I use the deepest chocolate shade quite often as a crease shade if I'm stuck for one to use when I'm in a taupe mood! I'm definitely planning on buying a few more of these, just as soon as I can track some down.

The Blush in Soul is the other star product for me. If you look back in recent FOTD posts, you'll see just how much use this has been getting. It's a dusky rosy-brown-nude shade that seems to work perfectly with my skin tone. There's a very slight amount of shimmer to it, definitely more of a glow than outright shimmer though. It's pigmented enough and lasts through the day on me.

The Couture Shine Gloss in Trend Setter is not a favourite of mine. The colour is a pinkish nude that should work quite nicely on me but it's just so frosted. It just doesn't flatter me at all. It's also way more pigmented than any gloss I've ever used which should be a good thing. But combined with all that frost, it just does not work.

Overall, this has been a good introduction to Lorac for me. I've found a couple of products that I'll look into trying more of and a couple that I'm not so impressed with. If I find myself back in the US then I'll definitely be stopping at a Lorac counter.

And here's the FOTD that uses most of this kit (minus the liner and gloss).

Blog Of The Week 27/01/12: Cosmetic Candy

2012-01-27T23:37:00.000Z

This week's Blog Of The Week is Cosmetic Candy!

I've had this fantastic blog tucked away in my favourites folder for a couple of years now. For some reason though, no matter how much I plead with the Google following thingy it won't add Cosmetic Candy :(

She features a lot of brands and products that I wouldn't normally have come across, making me want to spend all my money and trawl ebay for awesome stuff. But if something is just bad, she'll let you know. She's also one of my favourite bloggers to follow on Twitter.

Want to get involved?
It's simple! Leave a comment below with your favourite blog, your own blog or how ever many you want to share! Don't worry though if I don't pick your links straight away. I follow 400 blogs myself and there are only 52 weeks in a year!

FOTD #27: 26/01/12

2012-01-26T20:43:00.003Z

I really loved today's FOTD! I didn't want to wash it off. I originally planned on wearing some blues but found these purples while digging through some samples.

I used:
-Black Radiance Shine Control Primer
-Laura Geller Balance & Brighten "Fair"
-Collection 2000 Lasting Perfection Concealer "Fair"
-MAC Beauty Powder Blush "True Romantic"

-Urban Decay Primer Potion
-Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy
-Silk Naturals Shadow "Jump" - over lid
*-Black Rose Minerals Shadow "Phatom" - in crease & lower lashline
-Maybelline Gel Liner "Black"
*-ELF Studio Shadow Single "Sand Dollar"
-Benefit They're Real Mascara

*-ELF Mineral Lipstick "Rosy Raisin"

Products marked with a star (*) were received free for review.

Nails: Zoya "Faye"

2012-01-25T10:00:00.000Z

I fancied something a little sparkly and colourful, rather than the murky nails I've been wearing lately. I'm also trying out a new photo technique and using my daylight desk light rather than the flash on my camera. It does show the colour of the polish nicely but highlights just how dry my cuticle and nail area is!

This is 3 layers of Faye and there's still a little nail showing through. I do have very white nail edges though and they tend to show through more than a lot of people's.

Right, I'm off to apply some more cuticle oil!

Review: Stila Adventurous In Aspen Palette

2012-01-24T10:00:00.000Z

I've got plenty of mixed feelings about these palettes from Stila. On the one hand, they're $10 which is a bargain. On the other hand, the quality is just not what I'd expect from Stila. I think if this had been my first introduction to the brand I would have written it off and not bothered with it again.

They come in the usual card cases along with a mirror but not applicators. The names of the products are shown on the back. The case is the same card that a lot of brands are using these days. It'll stand up to plenty of use but make sure not to get it wet!

And I forgot to label the photo. You get 4.3g of eye shadow over 4 shadows and 2.7g of the convertible colour. I'm not a massive fan of mixing cream and powder products in one palette and there are already black flecks in my convertible colour after only a couple of uses. But for travel, it's about the perfect size and you've got shadows and blush in one place.

The quality of the eye shadow is ok, not brilliant and certainly not the silky, buttery texture I love in the single shadows. You get:

-Snow Angel - sheer lilac-grey with golden sparkle
-Glisten - golden brown with a golden shimmer
-Icicles - satin finish deep blue with grey tones
-Ajax - almost matte black with golden sparkle
-Rosy Convertible Colour - bright but light pink, cool toned with no shimmer

I'm really impressed with the Rosy Convertible Colour. This was the first time I'd used one and I loved how easily it applied and blended as a blush. It didn't last all day though and had faded at around the 6 hour mark. I should imagine setting with powder would increase the staying power.

The shadows weren't amazing. Snow Angel was very sheer and refused to build, even over Pixie Epoxy. I really wanted to use it as a lid shade but I just couldn't get it to work for me. It's quite smooth and soft though. Glisten was by far the best shadow out of the 4 and applied with plenty of pigmentation. Icicle ended up being quite patchy and sheered out to grey very quickly. My swatch shows it packed over a primer. Ajax was another shade that was quite good but not amazing. The golden sparkles didn't translate to the skin at all but the base colour was deep enough to use to smoke out your eye shadow.

FOTD #26: 23/01/12

2012-01-23T20:10:00.000Z

Review coming soon on the L'Oreal shadows, they're awesome!

I used:
-Black Radiance Shine Control Primer
-Bourjois Healthy Mix Foundation "51"
-Collection 2000 Lasting Perfection Concealer "Fair"
*-ELF Studio Pressed Powder "Porcelain"
-Lorac Blush "Soul"

-Urban Decay Primer Potion
-L'Oreal Infallible Shadow "Permanent Kaki" - over lid
-MUA Pearl Shadow "Shade 3" - in crease
*-ELF Studio Single Shadow "Sand Dollar" - highlight
-MAC Fluidline "Shade" - top liner
-Gosh Liner "Golden Moss" - lower liner
-Benefit They're Real Mascara

*-Silk Naturals Lip Glaze "Heirloom"

And I'm planning on inflicting my 5am face on you as much as possible. Earrings of the day: Cupcakes from Accessorize.

Products marked with a star (*) were received free for review.

MAC Shadow: Charred

2012-01-23T10:00:00.000Z

I'm not sure which MAC collection this shadow featured in, who can keep up with MAC's releases anyway?

Charred is a very deep charcoal (it's not quite black) with a slight sheen and heavy silvery sparkle overlay. It's listed on the back as a Frost finish but it's definitely more like the Lustre finish. It's harder than most of the other Frosts I have from MAC and needs some coaxing to be shown at its best.

A primer is most definitely needed with Charred. The base colour is so sheer on its own that it just blends away to nothing. It needs the base to stick. Also the silver sparkle just floats away and falls over your face if it's not stuck to a primer. With a decent primer (something nicely sticky like NYX Jumbo Eye Pencils or Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy) you get a quite interesting deep sparkly charcoal to use to create a smokey eye. I still find that you can't blend the shadow too much even with a primer or the silver sparkle works itself loose and you get it dropping off your lid.

MAC Shadows are available from MAC (website/stores/counters):
-Pro pans are £10.00
-Pots are £12.00

FOTD #25: 22/01/12

2012-01-22T17:45:00.000Z

I'm recording some videos tonight so I thought I'd have some fun with my make up today! There's not much more fun than some Sugarpill!

I used:
-Black Radiance Shine Control Primer
-Collection 2000 Lasting Perfection Concealer "Fair"
-Bourjois Healthy Mix Foundation "51"
-Lorac Blush "Soul"

-Urban Decay Primer Potion
-Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy
-Sugarpill ChromaLust "Hysteric" - over lid
-Look Beauty Statement Eyes "Slate" - in crease
-Vivo Cosmetics Liner "Green Lagoon" - lower liner
-Urban Decay 24/7 Liquid Liner "Siren" - top liner
*-ELF Studio Single Shadow "Sand Dollar" - highlight
-Lorac Multiplex 3D Lashes Mascara

*-Silk Naturals Lip Glaze "Heirloom"

The earrings are from Turkey. Silver & Turquoise, one of my favourite purchases from the holiday!

Products marked with a star (*) were received free for review.

Review: Fashionista Gel Liner "Style"

2012-01-22T10:00:00.000Z

I hadn't encountered the Fashionista brand until I found them at Superdrug in Meadowhall. The magnetic nail polishes have been mentioned a few times on blogs, but not much about the rest of the line.

I think these are around £7.00, they're not showing on the Superdrug website. They're sold in some Superdrug shops, it seems to be the larger ones. There is a good range of colours available, not just your usual black and deep tones.

I am not a fan of the packaging though! The snap-on brush is pretty useful, especially for those who are new to gel liners. For me though, it just makes the lid a little awkward. I'm also not a fan of the narrow and deep pot. While the product is full then it's not too much of an issue but as the product gets used up then it might be a little awkward to get to the bottom. I found the brush a little too soft to use to create a good line.

This was the best picture I could get of it! Style has a black base with plenty of blue and green sparkle. It's gorgeous and I haven't got anything else like it! However, it does need a couple of layers and it does take a while to set.

Just one more thing, the packaging is plastic so I'm expecting this to dry out faster than my gel liners housed in glass jars especially since I can't store this upside down.

An American Haul!

2012-01-21T15:05:00.000Z

I picked up a mysterious box from my local sorting office last weekend to discover that Sparklecrack Central had sent over some goodies! This is stuff from not long after Dragon Con, so not breaking my no-buy!

We'd failed to find any Kat Von D palettes while we were in Atlanta so I had asked her to do a custom purchase for me from the Sephora website. Unfortunately, one of the shadows had exploded during transit so I don't have all the pretty packaging. I will be reviewing and swatching soon!

-True Love
-Angeles
-Metal Orchestra

They're some seriously gorgeous palettes! I wish they were easier to get hold of as I'd definitely like more.

Wet n Wild Baked Palettes!! I wanted these as soon as they began appearing on blogs. They pretty much survived the trip over but a few of the shadows have cracks in them so I'm going to have to be very careful. I've got the eye liners as well to go with the palettes but I forgot to add them to the picture.

-Bake Off Contest - blues
-Baking A Cake - pinks/purples
-Baked, Not Fried - browns

Review: Vivo Cosmetics Liquid Eye Liner

2012-01-21T10:00:00.000Z

So, continuing with my exploration of the Vivo Cosmetics line today! I've got another pretty awesome product for you today - Liquid Eyeliners. They're around the £1.50-£2.00 mark (I did have a price list but can't find it now) from selected Tesco shops.

I have Slate Grey and Brown. There are a few more colours in the range, but nothing too daring. The usual black, plum and black glitter. I did ask Vivo over Twitter if we were getting some new shades and it looks like the range might be expanded for 2012. I can't wait to see what else is getting released!

The packaging is fairly similar to many drugstore/high street brands. The liquid liner is in a clear plastic bottle with a long handle and brush screwed into the top. The clear plastic allows you to see the colour. The plastic isn't too thin or brittle so I'd be happy throwing this into a travel make up bag.

The brush is pretty awesome. It's thin with a decent amount of firmness so it's very easy to control during application. It's very similar to the old version Urban Decay 24/7 liquid liners and just a little thicker than their new ones.

Both shades I have are metallic, as is the plum which I don't own. They're also nicely pigmented for such a budget brand as well. I only need to apply a layer or two to get a good line. They are very wet though and take a while to dry. Before I realised the longer dry time on these, I managed to accidentally smudge them.

These aren't even slightly waterproof. I don't have to put any effort in removing them at the end of the day. Fortunately, my eyes aren't that watery but if your eyes are you might want to give them a miss. On me they last through the whole day.

I've used these in a few FOTDs:
-12/01/12 - Brown
-31/12/11 - Brown
-21/12/11 - Slate Grey

Blog Of The Week 20/01/12: Swatch Storm

2012-01-20T20:00:00.000Z

This week's Blog Of The Week is Swatch Storm!

Cait's blog has been on the go since July 2010 and I can't believe I've only just found her blog! She writes a great blog about indie and the more commercial brand but it was definitely her swatches and product photography that got me interested! Well, she did call her blog Swatch Storm after all! She reviews both high and low end brands with the same attitude which I love. I get fed up of some bloggers who seem to think low cost=bad. Definitely not this blogger though!

Want to get involved?
It's simple! Leave a comment below with your favourite blog, your own blog or how ever many you want to share! Don't worry though if I don't pick your links straight away. I follow 400 blogs myself and there are only 52 weeks in a year!

FOTD #24: 17/01/12

2012-01-18T20:35:00.000Z

I really need to wear more colour. I seem to be on a neutral-ish kick at the moment.

I used
-Black Radiance Shine Control Primer
-Laura Geller Balance & Brighten Foundation "Fair"
-Collection 2000 Lasting Perfection Concealer "Fair"
-Lorac Blush "Soul"

-Body Shop Lipstick that has no label/product type

-Urban Decay Primer Potion
-Vivo Cosmetics Pearl Shadow "Pale Gold" - over lid
*-Coastal Scents Hot Pot "ME22" - in crease
-Lorac Baked Trio "LoracStar" (deepest shade) - outer crease
*-ELF Studio Shadow Single "Sand Dollar" - highlight
-Urban Decay 24/7 Liquid Liner "Siren" - top liner
*-Coastal Scents Hot Pot "S04" - lower lash line
-Benefit They're Real Mascara

Products marked with a star (*) were received free for review.

Review: NYX HD Grinding Blush "Menage a Trois"

2012-01-18T10:00:00.000Z

NYX is basically a budget brand so it hurts to pay $16.50 for just one blusher! Of course, we're ripped off in the UK and these cost £14.00 (converting roughly to $21). Considering that the regular powder blush is $6.00. Well, ouch. Fortunately this was bought during a sale and sent over by Sparklecrack Central. I didn't actually look at much NYX in Atlanta, despite planning to.

Packaging is quite sleek and expensive looking. It wants to be with the price that this costs! There's a mirror filling the top of the lid which I've already had to reglue. It fell out.

All I can see when I open this is "gimmick, gimmick, gimmick". Apparently the grinding prevents contamination of the rest of the blush. It's smooth to grind and plenty of powder is released. However, you really do have to make sure that you only free up enough to use immediately. The loose powder ends up all over the threads of the packaging and it gets messy quite quickly.

It's a really pretty slightly pinked peach with golden glow and a tiny touch of shimmer. It's decently pigmented but it doesn't seem possible to over-do the application on this blush. It blends into the skin very easily and looks like a natural flush of colour. It was also a pain to photograph the swatch photo! It lasted quite well, but not a complete day on me. Maybe 6 hours and I don't tend to have issues with blush fading too much on me.

I'm not planning on trying any more of these blushes. I'm not 100% disappointed with it by any means, I use this quite regularly and like the colour. I just feel like I'm wasting so much of the product with the grinding and at that price, I want to get as much use as possible.

Here are some FOTD posts featuring the blush:
-19/12/11
-03/12/11

Review: Vivo Cosmetics Pearl Eyeshadow "Mink"

2012-01-17T10:00:00.000Z

I've tried quite a few things from Vivo Cosmetics now and I'm impressed at the high quality and low price. The pressed eye shadows aren't my favourite products from the line but there are a few worth looking at!

Vivo Cosmetics Eye Shadows are available in two finishes - pearl and matte. They're £1.50 each from selected Tesco shops and you get 3.8g.

The packaging is pretty sleek. The plastic isn't too flimsy but I'm not sure how it would stand up to heavy travelling. It's quite thin as well with no space wasted for a foam applicator. The word "VIVO" is stamped into the surface. The stamped letters do stand up to a few uses before vanishing. Ingredients are listed on the back.

The texture reminds me a lot of the MUA shadows I reviewed a while ago. Not surprising really, as these Vivo Pearl shadows also contain mineral oil. It gives them that slippery, almost cream shadow texture. These do feel less oily than the MUA shadows so last longer before creasing.

Mink is a slightly plum toned silvery brown. I'm not sure I can call it quite taupe as it leans so brown toned. It has a good level of pigmentation and shows up well enough without primer. It does crease in only a few hours if I wear this without primer but those with drier lids might get on a bit better! With primer the silvery tones show more and I get much more wear before any fading or creasing.

FOTD #23: 16/01/12

2012-01-16T20:18:00.003Z

Playing with one of those bargain $10 Stila palettes today. Not a fan of the quality of the eye shadow but I'm loving the convertible colour!

I used:
-Black Radiance Shine Control Primer
*-Freak Laboratory Foundation "N16"
-Collection 2000 Lasting Perfection Concealer "Light"
-Stila Convertible Colour "Rose"

-Urban Decay Primer Potion
-Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy
-Stila Shadow "Glisten" - on lid
-Stila Shadow "Ajax" - outer lid
-L'Oreal HiP Cream Liner "Brown"
*-ELF Studio Shadow "Sand Dollar" - highlight

All Stila products are from the Adventurous in Aspen palette.

My face at 5:30am is not a pretty sight.

Products marked with a star (*) were received free for review.

Review: Accessorize Diamond Sparkle Lipgloss "Mysterious"

2012-01-16T10:00:00.000Z

My local Superdrugs don't stock Accessorize cosmetics and my nearest Accessorize shop only stocks a few make up items and plenty of the nail polishes. But when I visited Meadowhall at the end of last year with Cosmetichameleon, we were pretty excited when we found an Accessorize stand in the Superdrug there!

Accessorize Diamond Sparkle Lipglosses are around £4.00 and come in quite a good range of shades. The packaging of the whole brand is quite pretty, with butterflies being a design feature. I like a cohesive brand image (think MAC's sleek black packaging) and Accessorize certainly have a definite look to their packaging. You get 3g of product in these tubes.

Initially I thought I had found a MAC Dazzleglass dupe. I like the formula and sparkle of those but don't like paying so much for so little product. However, these are way more intense than the MAC! Mysterious is a raspberry pink with heavy gold and pink sparkle. The gloss is so pigmented! I really wasn't expecting that at all from such a budget friendly price. It doesn't feel gritty with all the sparkle. It lasts about the same as any other gloss on me (seriously, how do people get 6 hours out of one application?), maybe an hour. But for me, gloss isn't a long lasting option. The colour wears down and leaves some of the sparkle on my lips. After wearing my lips don't feel particularly dry or moisturised.

I've used these in a couple of FOTDs:
-08/01/12 - Shade Divine
-21/12/11 - Shade Mysterious

I definitely plan on buying some more of these, they're a definite win for me!

Mascara Series: Maybelline One by One Volum' Express Mascara

2012-01-15T10:00:00.000Z

Aah, Maybelline mascaras. I've used them on and off for absolutely ages. I remember buying Define A Lash when it first came out and thinking it was expensive. I'm going to have to buy a tube soon and seeing if I still love it.

Anyway, they came out with a new mascara last year (and probably one or two since then, I move slowly) and I immediately got requests for it. It seemed to be everything I love in a mascara (deep black, spiky wand, under £10). This is available from the usual Maybelline stockists. I can buy it in Boots, Superdrug and Tesco. My local Asda doesn't stock make up but there are Maybelline stands in some. This costs around £8.49 and seems to be available in Black and Waterproof Black only.

Nice, distinctive tube. Also, packaging win from Maybelline. It comes blister packed like US drugstore mascaras. Awesome. Not only is it protected from being used in shops (seriously, I've seen people use the stuff on the shelves to apply mascara), but it makes life so much easier for Beauty Bloggers. Look:

A nice, clean, unused wand for photographing!! The wand is the winner here. It's all spiky and lash grabby.

So here are my naked lashes.

And here they are with curled lashes and a good application of mascara. I love it, I really do. It doesn't hold a curl too well for me. I can actually watch my lashes droop slightly. But I don't have really straight lashes anyway so half the time I haven't bothered curling them anyway. If you prefer more of a curl or have particularly curl-resistant lashes then I suggest trying the waterproof version, they tend to set a little harder so it should hold the curl better. I didn't get masses of volume (sorry, Volum') but enough to give the appearance of thicker lashes. I did, however, have a lot of extra length with this one and the brush grabs the smaller hairs that are often overlooked giving the appearance of more lashes. The brush really does grab on to each hair, they were defined after application without having to comb.

Even better, it doesn't have the unholy stink of Lash Stiletto.

A word of warning. While the brush really does an excellent job of keeping your lashes separated, it is spiky and will hurt if you catch your waterline with it. Not that I know from personal experience or anything.

I plan on rebuying. I like this, which is nice after so many Maybelline mascara disappointments over the last couple of years.

FOTD #22: 12/01/12

2012-01-14T12:10:00.000Z

I'm a little late posting this one, but better late than never! I've changed the comments layout as well to allow for the nested replies that Blogger has finally added. It's not working for every layout/browser combination but it's a much needed change!

I used:
-Black Radiance Shine Control Primer
-Laura Geller Balance & Brighten "Fair"
-Collection 2000 Lasting Perfection Concealer "Fair"
-Lorac Blush "Soul"

-Urban Decay Primer Potion
-Fyrinne Pixie Epoxy
-Love Hues Shadow "Chestnut Mulberry" - on lid
-Lorac Baked Trio "LoracStar" - deep brown shade - in crease
*-ELF Studio Shadow "Sand Dollar" - highlight
-Vivo Cosmetics Liquid Liner "Brown" - top liner
-Urban Decay 24/7 Liner "Stash" - lower liner
-Benefit They're Real! Mascara

-Gosh Lipgloss "58"

Products marked with a star (*) were received free for review.

Blog Of The Week 13/01/12: Pleasureflush

2012-01-13T22:09:00.001Z

This week's Blog of the Week is Pleasureflush!

I'm always surprised that Anitacska doesn't have more followers! Her blog is written to a very high standard and her photographs are clear and accurate. She posts about some gorgeous high end products that I'd love to get my hands on but she also gives love to the highstreet brands. She posts a good amount of FOTD and NOTD posts, somehow capturing lovely shimmer and duochromes that I just utterly fail to show properly!

Want to get involved?
It's simple! Leave a comment below with your favourite blog, your own blog or how ever many you want to share! Don't worry though if I don't pick your links straight away. I follow 400 blogs myself and there are only 52 weeks in a year!

Review: ELF Studio Single Eye Shadow "Sand Dollar"

2012-01-11T20:37:00.003Z

This month is going to be all about clearing my backlog! There are so many posts and photos waiting to see the light of day.

I was initially going to review the whole range of Studio eye shadows from ELF but then the pictures sat on my computer for months and I realised that this one was the only one that was actually getting any use. I much prefer the loose mineral shadows from ELF.

The ELF Studio Single eye shadows cost £3.50 from eyeslipsface.co.uk. You get 2.75g in each shadow. The packaging is pretty good for such a budget brand. The black plastic is sleek and sturdy. Mine has been carried around in suitcases and survived the journeys.

Sand Dollar is a white with a small amount of shimmer and sparkle. It's definitely not a frost!

Initially, I had no use for it as it was just so sheer. I had to pack this on to even see it on my lid and it just wasn't interested in playing nicely with Pixie Epoxy. However, it's a perfect browbone highlighter on me! It leaves just a soft glow on my browbone, brightening the area without being frosty or overpowering. It blends easily into the crease shades I use, creating a nice gradient.

This product was provided free for review, this has no effect on the review I give.

The Top 5 - MAC Shadows

2012-01-09T19:20:00.001Z

I found a couple of half done blog posts and pictures while digging through my computer folders. While the video for this went up in June 2011, it's still pretty much the same! I haven't really bought much in the way of MAC eye shadow since I recorded it. Oh, and Sea & Sky is still possibly the best thing MAC have ever put out.

-Sea & Sky - Bought after I'd seen Queenofblending do a tutorial with this. I can't remember which video it was but I knew I had to own it afterward! It's the most gorgeous pair of blues I've ever come across in make up.
-Shimmermoss - One of the creamy, pigmented Veluxe Pearls. I bought this right after it came out and I've made a massive dent in the middle. It's nicely shimmery and somewhere between green and blue but not turquoise!
-Nylon - Bright creamy white shimmer. Can look a little too much frost as a highlight but works to create something awesome if packed over a really dark shadow base.
-Steamy - In the same colour family as Shimmermoss but more blue.
-Lucky Green - I'm so glad this is in the core range now! It's a bright juicy green but not too yellow for my skin tone. It's smooth and pigmented and works really well with a forest green shade in the crease.

FOTD #21: 08/01/12

2012-01-08T20:21:00.000Z

I'm not sure what I think about the Illamasqua foundation yet. I like the texture but I'm not 100% sure the colour is right, it seems to be pulling a little too yellow toned on me.

I used:
-Rimmel Fix & Perfect Pro Primer
-Illamasqua Skin Base Foundation "07"
-Vivo Cosmetics Loose Matte Powder
-Lorac Blush "Soul"
-MAC Mineralize Skin Finish "Lightscapade"

-Accessorize Diamond Sparkle Lipgloss "Divine"

-Urban Decay Primer Potion
-L'Oreal Colour Infallible "Flashback Silver" - on lid
*-Coastal Scents Hot Pot "ME 18" - in crease
*-ELF Studio Single Eye Shadow "Sand Dollar" - highlight
-Stila Sparkle Liner "Royal"

Products marked with a star (*) were received free for review.

Blog Of The Week 06/01/12: Scrangie

2012-01-06T22:12:00.002Z

OK, I know I forgot to do this last week. We'll just blame Christmas/New Year chaos and start fresh today.

This week's Blog of the Week is Scrangie!

I probably found Scrangie while searching for a nail polish colour and pretty much immediately became a follower! Her nail swatches are absolutely amazing, she captures detail and colour shifts that my camera refuses to even acknowledge! She's my to-go nail blog for new collections and older releases.

Not only is she an awesome nail blogger but her EOTD (eye of the day!) posts are gorgeous. It's unfair. Completely unfair.

Anyway, there's a new Zoya collection coming out. I'll be right back after I see these swatches...

Want to get involved?
It's simple! Leave a comment below with your favourite blog, your own blog or how ever many you want to share! Don't worry though if I don't pick your links straight away. I follow 400 blogs myself and there are only 52 weeks in a year!

Review: Wet n Wild 8-Pan Palette "Petal Pusher"

2012-01-06T20:23:00.000Z

I've got three of the 8-pans to review (I'm not really a fan of the mattes so I haven't bothered with that one). The Wet n Wild 8-pan palettes are available from US drugstores for around $4.99. While in Atlanta I visited Walgreens and CVS and found them in both. You get 8.g of eye shadow which is a really good amount. Sparklecrack Central sent this over for me, along with the blue palette. I hunted down the third, more neutral, palette in Atlanta.

You'll notice that Petal Pusher is split into 2 quads. The left side is more lilac and cool toned, the right side is more plums and smokes. Each side has the shadows marked with where to use, plus there are instructions on the back. Of course, I like to mix and match the shades!

All 8 shades in this palette have some kind of shimmer. The two blacker shades have more of a satin finish with sparkle rather than outright shimmer.

They are mostly quite pigmented, with a couple of the lighter shades needing to be layered more. The left hand side browbone is very sheer and appears as more of a pink glow rather than obvious colour. The right hand eyelid shade is just utterly gorgeous and metallic!

These are all very powdery, very powdery indeed! They throw a lot of powder around as you apply so be careful when applying, you'll probably get a lot of fall out. I wore the left hand crease shade and managed to wear off the imprint in two uses. They're also very fragile. The first time we tried to get these over to the UK, they exploded. Black powder everywhere!! Fortunately they survived on the second attempt. I managed to get all the Wet n Wild palettes back on the flight home from Atlanta after I packed them tightly together so they didn't move around in my suitcase.

This isn't the best of the 8-pans that I have. The other two are generally more pigmented. I have to apply these over Pixie Epoxy, the shadow is just too powdery to use anything else.

FOTD #20: 05/01/12

2012-01-05T21:27:00.000Z

Woohoo! Today marks the 20% of the FOTDs done for Challenge 100! I've just got 80 left to do.

I used:
-Urban Decay DeSlick In A Tube
-Laura Geller Balance & Brighten "Fair"
-Lorac Blush "Soul"

-Body Shop High Shine Lip Treatment "Party Pink"

-Urban Decay Primer Potion
-Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy
-Silk Naturals Shadow "Hoity Toity" - over lid
-Aromaleigh Shadow "Midnight Mess" - in crease & lower lash line
*-ELF Studio Shadow "Sand Dollar" - highlight
-Bobbi Brown Gel Liner "Graphite Shimmer Ink" - top liner
-Maybelline One by One Mascara

Products marked with a star (*) were received free for review.

Aromaleigh Starry Night Swatches

2012-01-04T10:00:00.000Z

As soon as this collection appeared on the Aromaleigh site, I knew I had to get at least a sample set. This was a no-buy fail as I apparently have a twitchy shopping finger after a few drinks!

A sample set costs $16.00 and the full sized jars are $7.00 each. I ordered three full sized jars based on the swatches on the site. This collection was a lot more exciting than the Fall Collection that I've previously swatched. There are a few more that I wouldn't mind having a full sized jar of, plenty of gorgeous colours in this collection!

All swatches are carried out with a dry brush over Detrivore primer.

-Polaris - Frosty white with blue glimmer
-Sirius - Cool, silvery shimmer
-Capella - Yellow shimmer
-Rigel - Peach orange shimmer with some pink iridescence

-Izar - Bright purple shimmer
-Shaula - Warm purple shimmer with copper glimmer
-Bellatrix - Bright blue shimmer over a darker base with silvery sparkle
-Pollux - Grey silver shimmer with blue sparks

-Altair - Cool pink shimmer with green sparkle
-Aldebaran - Coral shimmer with green sparkle
-Antares - Red brown shimmer with silver sparkle
-Procyon - Golden brown shimmer

-Spica - Vivid chartreuse shimmer
-Betelgeuse - Warm brown base with strong green shimmer
-Saiph - Deep green with silvery sparkle
-Regulus - Muted green shimmer

I love pretty much all this collection! Look out for some FOTDs coming soon with these.

My 11 Favourite Discoveries From 2011!

2012-01-03T17:00:00.001Z

I've discovered plenty of new products over the last year so I found it quite hard to narrow down my favourite 11 products! Some of these aren't new products but are new to me in 2011. It turns out quite a few are from my trip to Atlanta!

1-Bourjois Healthy Mix Serum Foundation - A bit of an impulse buy from Superdrug, I didn't like this when I first tried it. You need to be careful with the primer you use with this. Once I worked that out, I found that this was a pretty awesome foundation!

2-Boots 17 Magnetized Nail Polish - I didn't get into the crackle top coats too much but I'm absolutely loving the magnetic craze! I've got all 4 shades available from Boots 17, for £5.99 each (and they include the magnet!).

3-Wet n Wild Shadow "Nutty" - Definitely not a new launch, but I only got my hands on it when I went to Atlanta at the end of August. For $1.99 (I paid $0.99 as it was on sale) you get a gorgeous, pigmented, silvery brown.

4-Black Radiance Shine Control Primer - Wasn't expecting to love this as much as I did! I had this on my "possibly buy" list for Atlanta but the price was good so I got it anyway. Does seem to work!

5-Vivo Cosmetics Baked Blushers - Eventually narrowed down my favourites from the new Vivo line. I seem to use one of these in pretty much all of my FOTDs recently. I just love the pigmentation and the glowy look they give.

6-Maybelline Gel Liner "Black" - Comes with an actual useful brush! Richly pigmented, it makes a more affordable alternative to MAC or Bobbi Brown.

7-Love Hues Eye Shadows - I knew I had to pick one of my Etsy discoveries and straight away I thought of Love Hues. They've become a favourite and I'm planning on ordering more just as soon as I can.

8-Giorgio Armani Eyes To Kill "#4" - An absolute frivolous purchase I planned after I saw these on some other blogs. I got the opportunity at the Duty Free. The colour is gorgeous, it's pigmented and it stays on all day. Love it.

9-Cover Girl Lash Blast Mascara - Came out a couple of years ago (ish), I only started using this a while ago. It's a pretty solid mascara for the price, the brush is good and the formula works well. I meant to buy some more from Atlanta but utterly forgot. Fortunately, Sparklcrack sent me a couple of spare tubes over to keep me going!

10-Urban Decay 15th Anniversary Shadow Palette - I knew I had to have this as soon as I saw the first promotion appearing on blogs. It was top of my list for things I had to get in Atlanta and we tracked it down on the first day we were out shopping. It's absolutely gorgeous.

11-Sephora Professional Mineral Powder Brush 45 - I had actually planned on buying a different brush from Sephora but this is the one that jumped out at me. It's proving pretty perfect for applying liquid foundation, even though it's sold as a mineral powder brush. I haven't actually tried it for that yet!

So those were mine! What were your favourite products of 2011?

Nails: Boots 17 Magnetized "Green"

2012-01-03T10:00:00.000Z

I'm really getting into the Magnetic polishes, far more than I did with the crackle topcoats. The Boots 17 Magnetized Polishes cost £5.99 each and come with a magnet. There are 4 colours available and I'll be showing the other 2 at some point.

You can see my NOTD post with the Grey one.

The Green doesn't offer quite as much contrast as the Grey but it's still pretty. I held the magnet the other way round this time to give lines going down my nails, rather than across. The photo isn't the best, once again there's no decent light in the British winter.

FOTD #19: 02/01/12

2012-01-02T20:03:00.000Z

I think I need to start posting more FOTDs if I'm planning on hitting my Challenge 100 target!

I used:
*-Bee Luscious Pore Perfecting Primer
-Revlon PhotoReady Foundation "002 Vanilla"
*-ELF Studio Powder "Porcelain"
-Vivo Cosmetics Baked Blush "Cinnamon Glow"

-Urban Decay Primer Potion
-Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy
-Wet n Wild 8-pan Palette "Petal Pusher" - left hand crease shade on lid, right hand crease shade in crease, left browbone shade as highlight
-Maybelline Gel Liner "Black"
-Maybelline One by One Mascara

-Vivo Cosmetics Diamond Sparkle Lipgloss "Candy Floss"

Products marked with a star (*) were received free for review.

MAC Shadow: Jealousy Wakes

2012-01-02T10:00:00.000Z

Back in 2011, MAC released a special collection where the products were created by some Beauty Bloggers. Unfortunately, it was an online exclusive for the US and Canada only. I was immediately drawn to the shadow created by Temptalia, Jealousy Wakes. Fortunately, Sparklecrack Central was eventually able to get one for me (it sold out very quickly the first time round) so I got my hands on it in Atlanta!

Jealousy Wakes is a gorgeous emerald green with teal tones and shimmer. It's a Veluxe Pearl finish and is one of the slightly harder textured of the finish. MAC doesn't do enough strong greens so I knew I had to get this one when Temptalia first posted about it.

As is usual with MAC shadows, a primer is needed to show this at its best. It's quite pigmented but also quite floaty so it needs something to stick to and the primer really grabs on to the base colour and makes this really stand out.

I used this shade in the crease with a brown shade on the lid for a FOTD:
-31/12/11

I wish this collection had been sold in other countries, it's the only collection from MAC in a long time that I would have bought a few things from. There were a couple of other eye shadows that I had my eye on but had to settle for just one.

Nails: Look Beauty Nail Pop "Kimono"

2012-01-01T11:25:00.000Z

I initially thought this might be a good dupe for Chanel's Peridot so I could get that same gorgeous colour but without using up all my limited edition polish. Look Beauty is available from selected Superdrugs and I think the polish is around £5.00. The whole brand seems quite reasonably priced and I'll review some things from it eventually.

This is two coats applied over a base coat with a fast dry top coat. Unfortunately taken with flash, the British winter doesn't offer too much sunlight for nail photos! The finish is a metallic foil, very pretty under direct light. I thought this would be that dupe but the base colour is far more olive and not the fresh green of Peridot but it still has a nice green flash around the edges. Still, it's different enough to remain in my stash I thought.

However, this was less than 12 hours later.

I hadn't even been hard on my hands that day. I wore it during a blogging session and I walked Crunchie. Big chunks started coming off very quickly so I wore this for around 14 hours. Very poor wear time, even out of a drugstore (I can get a few days out of Rimmel polishes for about the same price). I'll look at other polishes from the range as it may just be the finish on this particular colour that doesn't work.

FOTD #18: 31/12/11

2011-12-31T18:00:00.000Z

Went out to Lincoln today to try and spend some vouchers I got for Christmas and failed completely. Did manage to raid the Body Shop sale and stock up on Spiced Vanilla goodies. I've got enough shower gel to last me until about July now!

I hope you are all having a lovely New Year tonight and I'll see you all in 2012!

I used:
-Black Radiance Shine Free Primer
-Bourjois Healthy Mix Serum Foundation "51"
*-ELF Studio Translucent Mattifying Powder
-Vivo Cosmetics Baked Blush "Peach & Cream"

-Urban Decay Primer Potion
-Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy - new tube yay!!
-Model's Own Powder Eye Shadow "Mocha Pearl" - over lid
-MAC Shadow "Jealousy Wakes" - crease
*-ELF Studio Shadow Single "Sand Dollar" - highlight
-Vivo Cosmetics Liquid Liner "Brown" - top liner
-Sephora Flashy Liner Waterproof "Flashy Brown" - lower liner

-Space NK Lip Sheer "Rose"

Products marked with a star (*) were received free for review.

Beauty Blog Advent Calendar: 25/12/11

2011-12-25T12:00:00.000Z

Sparklecrack Central came up with this neat idea where three of us (Sparklecrack, Phyrra and myself) post a little beauty blog related tidbit every day, up until Christmas Day. Like a little beauty blog advent calendar! These might be posts from other blogs we've enjoyed, new products, swatches, just anything beauty related!

Beauty Blog Advent Calendar - Day 25!
Merry Christmas!!

I'm sure you don't need a recipe for a dessert today, but this one is worth saving for when you do. We came across this when watching Home Cooking Made Easy a while back on the BBC. We're making it for tomorrow. Can't wait to eat it. Recipe from the BBC website.

Chocolate Cheesecake With White Chocolate Icing
Ingredients
1x 400g/14oz packet chocolate digestives, crushed to fine crumbs
75g/3oz butter, melted and cooled slightly
800g/1lb 12oz cream cheese
icing sugar, to taste
400g/14oz milk chocolate (35% cocoa solids), or you can use a mixture of 300g/10½oz milk chocolate and 100g/3½oz dark chocolate (70% cocoa solids)
1 tsp vegetable oil
100g/3½oz white chocolate

How To Make Delicious Cheesecake
1. Mix the crushed biscuits and butter together in a bowl with the back of a wooden spoon until well combined.
2. Spoon the mixture into a 23cm/9in springform tin and press down very hard all the way around the base until flat and even.
3. Mix the cream cheese and icing sugar together in a bowl.
4. Meanwhile melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water, making sure the bottom of the bowl does not touch the water.
5. Pour a quarter of the chocolate into a jug, stir in the oil, then set aside and keep warm. (The chocolate can also be reheated in the microwave for 20 seconds if it cools down.)
6. Place a large dollop of the cream cheese mixture into the bowl of remaining chocolate and stir until well combined. Keep adding the mixture, one dollop at a time, and mixing it vigorously until the chocolate mixture becomes smooth and silky and you have added all of the cream cheese.
7. Pour the mixture onto the biscuit base and use the back of a large spoon to smooth the top, pressing down so that no gaps remain. Chill the cheesecake in the fridge for 20 minutes, or until the chocolate top begins to firm. The cheesecake can also be placed into the freezer for 10 minutes to set.
8. Melt the white chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water and make sure the jug of milk chocolate is nice and runny.
9. Remove the cheesecake from the fridge and pour the milk chocolate on top, spreading it out as you go until the top is completely covered. (For a smooth finish, pick up the cheesecake and tilt it back and forth, letting the chocolate run over and cover the cream cheese filling.)
10. Drizzle white chocolate lines across the top about 2cm/¾in apart. The neatest way to do this is by putting the chocolate into a piping bag fitted with a very small nozzle.
11. Place the cheesecake so the lines are running towards you, then take a cocktail stick and drag it from left to right, making lines from left to right 2cm/¾in apart to form a grid. Drag the cocktail stick once again from right to left between the toothpick lines that you have just made. You will need to do this quite quickly so the chocolate lines are still runny. Leave the cheesecake in a cool place to set for about two hours.
12. Run a sharp knife around the inside of the tin and carefully remove the cake. Serve in wedges with a drizzle of single cream.

Have fun!! And have a lovely day.

We've even got a tree! Click the days to see what we picked!

Beauty Blog Advent Calendar: 24/12/11

2011-12-24T20:26:00.002Z

Blog Of The Week 23/12/11: Silhouette Screams

2011-12-23T20:00:00.001Z

This week's Blog Of The Week is Silhouette Screams!

Jerry Dazzlepants posts some of what have to be some of the best FOTD posts out there! Her combinations are never expected, she is not afraid of piling some colour on those eyes! I love the combinations she creates and am often quite inspired after visiting her blog. Somehow she makes everything work.

Want to get involved?
It's simple! Leave a comment below with your favourite blog, your own blog or how ever many you want to share! Don't worry though if I don't pick your links straight away. I follow 400 blogs myself and there are only 52 weeks in a year!

Beauty Blog Advent Calendar: 23/12/11

2011-12-23T12:00:00.000Z

Beauty Blog Advent Calendar: 22/12/11

2011-12-22T12:00:00.000Z

FOTD #17: 21/12/11

2011-12-21T16:50:00.003Z

I've fallen in love with the Benefit Velvet eye shadows. They're so smooth and pigmented. Think I'm going to have to look into buying a couple more!

I used:
-Black Radiance Shine Control Primer
-Sassy Minerals Foundation "Cool Light"
-Collection 2000 Lasting Perfection Concealer "Fair"
-Vivo Cosmetics Baked Blush "Rouge Shimmer"

-Urban Decay Primer Potion
-Silk Naturals Stick 'Em Shadow Base
-Benefit Velvet Eye Shadow "Leggy" - over lid
-Vivo Cosmetics Pearl Shadow "Mink" - in crease & lower lash line
-Vivo Cosmetics Liquid Liner "Slate Grey" - top lash line
*-ELF Studio Single Shadow "Sand Dollar" - highlight
-Maybelline One By One Mascara

-Accessorize Diamond Lipgloss "Mysterious"

Behold the awesomeness of my christmassy earrings!!

Products marked with a star (*) were received free for review.

Beauty Blog Advent Calendar: 21/12/11

2011-12-21T12:00:00.000Z

Review: Rimmel Stay Matte Pressed Powder

2011-12-20T15:55:00.000Z

I had seen quite a few raves scattered around for the Rimmel Stay Matte Pressed Powder so I thought I'd give it a go.

I got mine in Transparent but tinted shades are available as well. The selection is limited and deeper shades are not represented at all. It costs around £3.99 from Rimmel stockists (I think mine was from Tesco) and you get 14g of pressed powder.

The packaging is quite flimsy. The lid is only just held on to the base by two little bumps. The plastic is quite thin so if you put this into your bag to carry round with you, it'll probably break and get the powder over everything.

The powder just didn't work for me. The label says that it gives up to 5 hours of shine control but I didn't notice any shine control at all. I applied with a powder brush over the top of liquid foundation and I had to be very careful how much I applied. Even just slightly more than a very thin layer resulted in a powdery and cakey look to my foundation. I don't feel as though it set my foundation in any way or offered any shine control.

Despite this being called Transparent, this seemed to leave colour on my face. I would have expected it to be colourless. It was definitely too yellow toned for my skin.

For roughly the same price, the Vivo Cosmetics Mattifying Loose Powder works a lot better.

Beauty Blog Advent Calendar: 20/12/11

2011-12-20T12:00:00.000Z

FOTD #16: 19/12/11

2011-12-19T16:48:00.004Z

Clearly I've been slacking lately with my FOTD posts, even for me. But here's something for you now!

I used:
-Black Radiance Shine Control Primer
-Bourjois Healthy Mix Serum Foundation "51
-Collection 2000 Lasting Perfection Concealer "Fair"
-NYX HD Grinding Blush "Menage a Trois"

-Urban Decay Primer Potion
-Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy
*-Victorian Disco Cosmetics "Millennium Falcon" - on lid
*-Victorian Disco Cosmetics "Revolutionary Ball" - crease
*-ELF Studio Shadow "Sand Dollar" - highlight
-Maybelline Gel Liner "Black" - top liner
-Gosh Liner "Majestic Sea" - lower liner
-Maybelline One by One Mascara

-Lancome Juicy Tube "Barbe a Papa"

Products marked with a star (*) were received free for review.

Beauty Blog Advent Calendar: 19/12/11

2011-12-19T12:00:00.000Z

Review: Victorian Disco Cosmetics

2011-12-18T20:20:00.001Z

I hadn't seen anything about Victorian Disco Cosmetics before I got the chance to try them. But a quick look at their Etsy page had me interested!

I received a full sized jar and 7 sample baggies to try. Jars are $4.50 each and samples are available in jars ($1.75) or sets of sample baggies (prices vary depending on the number).

Photography is clear but the shadows look a little unremarkable. It can be very hard to get accurate photos of minerals in jars so I tend to go more on the swatch photos (if they're available) when shopping for minerals on Etsy. The swatch photos are much more interesting and show the complexity of the colours so much better than the jar photos.

Ingredients are not listed on Etsy but I found the owner very helpful so if you have any questions about ingredients then just send her a message! All items are listed as vegan. Ingredients are printed on labels that come on the full sized jars and the sample baggies. The label also lists if the colour is lip safe or not.

ETA: Ingredients are now listed on each Etsy listing.

The texture of these is very smooth, which is expected with the Carnauba Wax base. It's becoming one of my favourite bases, it creates a very smooth eye shadow. I did notice though that some of the lighter shades are a little sheer and definitely need a good, sticky base. The deeper shades were more pigmented.

The names of these are awesome.

-Atrophine - Light green shimmer with golden sheen and sparkles
-The Force, Use It - Pale blue-green with pink iridescence
-Millennium Falcon - Dark silver shimmer
-Archduchess - Dusky purple shimmer

-Droids - Yellow gold with shimmer and sparkle
-Baroque - Light golden brown with shimmer
-Leia's Bikini - Warmer brown with gold shimmer
-Revolutionary Ball - Black base with a blue-green iridescence

I will have a FOTD with these for you in the next day or two. I've been playing with these over the last week but my skin has been reacting to *something* so I've not really wanted to do a full FOTD. It's calmed down now so maybe it was just unhappy with the sudden shift to Arctic conditions.

I am quite impressed with what I've tried so far! My favourite shade so far has to be Archduchess, it's a nice dusky purple that doesn't lean too far into the plum tones. Revolutionary Ball makes a fantastic liner when applied with a damp brush.

Wear time is pretty average for mineral eye shadow. I wear all my mineral shadows over Pixie Epoxy and it happily sits there from when I put it on in the morning to when I wash it off in the evening.

I would probably order myself in the future. I especially need a full sized jar of Tuxedo Mask. Mmmm, taupey goodness.

These products were provided free for review. This has no effect on the review I give.

Beauty Blog Advent Calendar: 18/12/11

2011-12-18T12:00:00.000Z

Beauty Blog Advent Calendar! 17/12/11

2011-12-17T17:35:00.000Z

Blog Of The Week 16/12/11: Glitter Is My Crack...

2011-12-16T20:09:00.000Z

This week's Blog Of The Week is Glitter Is My Crack...!

Blix posts some of the most awesome FOTD posts! She has a lot of fun with different colour combos, brands and above all - glitter!! There are always plenty of pictures which are all really clear. The FOTD posts also come with a really detailed break down of what was used and where. I really like her style as well, which she shows in her outfit and club posts.

Want to get involved?
It's simple! Leave a comment below with your favourite blog, your own blog or how ever many you want to share! Don't worry though if I don't pick your links straight away. I follow 400 blogs myself and there are only 52 weeks in a year!

Beauty Blog Advent Calendar: 16/12/11

2011-12-16T12:00:00.000Z

Beauty Blog Advent Calendar: 15/12/11

2011-12-15T12:00:00.000Z

Review: Maybelline Eye Studio Gel Liner "Black"

2011-12-14T17:00:00.000Z

This came out in the US ages ago and I was waiting patiently to see if it was going to appear on this side of the pond. It eventually did so I grabbed one as soon as I found them for sale!

There is only one shade sold in the UK right now, Black, and it's available for £7.99. They're only $9.99 in the US and more shades are available. I'm hoping they're just testing the market over here before releasing new shades. I did buy a limited edition shade while in Atlanta, which I'll also review as soon as I can!

Unusually for gel liners that I've found, this comes with a brush. It's actually usable and I do use it to apply the liner. It applies quite a thick line but the brush handle is long enough to comfortably handle. The gel liner comes in a frosted glass jar which helps prolong the life of the liner. Gel liners dry out much faster in plastic jars. I have been using mine for several months and it hasn't shown any signs of drying out yet.

The liner is a rich, deep black. I thought it'd be a bit sheer but it's really quite pigmented. It's not quite on the level of L'Oreal HiP (but then not even MAC is!) but for a drugstore/high street brand, it's brilliant. The liner is quite solid in texture compared to some other gel liners I have but this doesn't make it difficult to apply. It's just not squishy.

It does take a little while to set. A little longer than a MAC Fluidline perhaps, but it's not too excessive. Once it's set on my lash line, it stays there until I take it off.

If more colours are released over here then I'll definitely look into trying more!

I've used it for some FOTDs, so you can see the application:
-11/12/11
-28/11/11
-04/09/11 (also used as an eye shadow base)

The outer packaging lists the shade name as Intense Black but the jar and all online distributors call this Black.

Beauty Blog Advent Calendar: 14/12/11

2011-12-14T12:00:00.000Z

Review: Oilatum Cream

2011-12-13T17:00:00.000Z

I recently reviewed the Oilatum Natural Repair Face Cream. I bought this one by mistake before I found the face cream.

I have a 40g tube, which is £2.55 from Boots. A larger tube is of 150g, which costs £5.99. This is a cream for soothing eczema and itchy or irritated and dry skin. When I realised I had bought this one I expected to shove it in the drawer where useless skincare goes to die.

Instead, I'll be buying another tube soon.

This thing is so useful!!! I've used it on my shins (which dry out so much that they flake, ewww), my ankles, my hands, my elbows, my arms and anywhere that's got a bit dry that needs a bit more moisture than lotions provide.

It can sit a little heavy on the skin if you apply too much so I apply in thin layers and wait for it to soak in before adding another layer. It has a slightly medicinal scent which doesn't take long to fade.

Love it.

Beauty Blog Advent Calendar: 13/12/11

2011-12-13T12:00:00.000Z

FOTD #15: 11/12/11

2011-12-12T20:05:00.002Z

This is actually from yesterday but I haven't had chance to sit down and get the photos sorted until now! I just went simple, I wanted something put together but would only take 5 minutes to throw on.

I used:
-Black Radiance Shine Control Primer
-Bourjois Healthy Skin Serum Foundation "51"
-Vivo Cosmetics Baked Blush "Peaches & Cream"

-Benefit Creaseless Cream Shadow "RSVP"
-Maybelline Gel Liner "Black"
-Kryolan Kajal
-Maybelline One By One Mascara

And that's it. I also look knackered.

Review: MAC Dazzlesphere Plum Ornament Crushed Metallic Pigment

2011-12-12T17:00:00.001Z

I don't usually do MAC's holiday collections and I certainly wasn't planning on it this year with my no-buy. This ended up falling into my hands as a gift, so who am I to refuse some MAC? There are three sets available (the other two include blues and a berry themed set) for £25.50 each. They come in this large plastic ball which will get thrown into the plastic recycling as soon as I've done the video review.

Previously they've just been packed into boxes, which is a lot more manageable!! I've got another set from a previous collection to review at some point. You get a massive 12g of pigment, split into 4 so it's going to last you for ages.

The texture on these is somewhat different. They're not quite like regular pigments in that they are clumpy. The clumps don't break up as easily as the ones you find occur in some pigments, you need to properly squish these with your brush. Grape, however, felt the most like a regular pigment. I find it easier to squish these with your eye shadow brush on the lid of the jars. If you try and do it on your lid then there tends to be quite a bit of fall out.

Three of the four are awesomely pigmented. The final one, Light Violet is just a chunky, sheer, glittery mess. Coincidentally, I've just dyed my hair the colour of Grape so I'm going to have to make sure to use it in a FOTD before that fades too much. Grape is the most pigmented of the bunch and the easiest to use.

Misty and Seasonal Cool are two quite cool toned shades, but more toned down than the purples. They're still highly metallic so probably not what I'd call strictly "neutral" shades.

Ignoring Light Violet, as that's just a mess, I get good wear out of these pigments when I wear them with something like Urban Decay Primer Potion. Easily 8 hours without any creasing or fading for Misty and Seasonal Cool but I got some fading of Grape around the 5 hour mark. After the last few years of pigment releases disappointing me, I'm quite pleased that MAC seem to have gone back to a product of better quality for their pigments. They just need to release these singly and not make them limited edition.

Beauty Blog Advent Calendar: 12/12/11

2011-12-12T12:00:00.000Z

Beauty Blog Advent Calendar: 11/12/11

2011-12-11T12:00:00.000Z

Nails: Rimmel "Camouflage Chic"

2011-12-11T10:18:00.000Z

I think this is a fairly new shade from Rimmel, I only noticed it when I went to Meadowhall with Cosmetichameleon in October.

Rimmel Pro polishes are sold in places like Boots, Superdrug and Tesco and cost less than £5. I definitely don't get the advertised "up to 10 days" wear out of them but I'm hard on my nails.

Camouflage Chic is an interesting slightly murky green with a very slight amount of silver shimmer. It looks a cream in some lights but has a slight shimmer under direct light. My photo was taken at night (yay for British winter!) with flash so the subtle shimmer is exaggerated.

I do like the flat brush that come with these polishes, I definitely prefer them to rounded brushes.

Beautiful Pigments: Fyrinnae "Solstice"

2011-12-10T22:30:00.000Z

Ugh, do you know how hard it is to get any decent photographs of Fyrinnae's eye shadows? I think it's the extra portion of awesome that the chemist mixes in that screws with the camera.

Unfortunately, this one appears to be discontinued. I do have a very extensive Fyrinnae collection so some of the ones I will show you will be unavailable. Full sized eye shadows are $5.90 and minis are $2.00.

This is such an unassuming shade of light brown in the pot. I didn't order this shade for ages, preferring the more interesting looking shades. But Fyrinnae tend to quietly discontinue poor selling shades so I decided to order pretty much everything I had on my wish list.

This is one of the smoother, creamier eye shadows from Fyrinnae. Some of them can be a little powdery. You still need a slightly sticky primer to show them off at their best, which is why Pixie Epoxy was developed. There is a mid-toned brown base and a glowing, warmer shimmer.

I thought I had a FOTD post with this, but I guess not! Love it as a lid shade with either a really deep shimmering chocolate brown shade or a navy in the crease.

Beauty Blog Advent Calendar: 10/12/11

2011-12-10T12:00:00.000Z

Blog Of The Week 09/12/11: Nouveau Cheap

2011-12-09T20:00:00.000Z

This week's Blog Of The Week is Nouveau Cheap!

Nouveau Cheap is one of my favourite US bloggers! Her blog was so helpful when I was compiling my shopping list for Atlanta. She's always so up to date with new products and sales, which usually ends up with me pestering Sparklecrack to get to a drugstore for me. Her swatches are great and really show the performance of the item. Reviews are detailed yet not too long and always honest.

Somehow she manages keep up with huge runs of new products and sales and I really admire her dedication to getting the information out to her readers.

Want to get involved?
It's simple! Leave a comment below with your favourite blog, your own blog or how ever many you want to share! Don't worry though if I don't pick your links straight away. I follow 400 blogs myself and there are only 52 weeks in a year!