Another trip to Inglot

So on Monday I went to Westfield shopping center with the intention of going to Inglot and getting a 10 pan eyeshadow palette full of very bright colours that I wouldn't normally wear. Normally the 10 pan palettes are £35, which I think is brilliant value for money anyway, but when I got there I was told that they actually have a sale on, 20% off! So I managed to get a 10 pan palette for £28, I was very impressed. Anyway here is what I got.

So as you can see I got some very bright colours, and a mixture of mattes and colours that are matte but have particles of glitter running through them.
I'm not going to do any swatches on this post because what you see in the pan is what you get, but if you do want swatches just let me know. They eyeshadows themselves are lovely, quite buttery and super pigmented. The only downside to these eyeshadows is that you sometimes get a bit of fallout.
I also want to comment on Inglots customer service as it is fantastic. All the Sales Assistants are very friendly and knowledgeable, and they don't have the stuck up air that some shops have. The lovely lady who served me remembered me from my first visit to the shop, which I always think is lovely as you feel like they are making a effort.
As for the freedom system, I think it is brilliant. There is always a colour in a palette that you don't like, and this eliminates that as you get to pick all the colours yourself. They also make lovely gifts as you can pick a mix of eyeshadows, face powders etc and make a really nice customisable palette for someone.
The only issue I have with the freedom system is that they products are not named. I have a pretty bad memory and can't remember what colours I picked up last time, and I was worried that I would pick up a colour I already had. Luckily I didn't but I feel like this is a mistake I will make in the future.
So yea, lots of Inglot love from me, its such a shame there is only one in the UK, but I am grateful I live in London. Whilst I was in Westfield I had a cheeky spend in Mulberry too, so maybe I will do a post on my new baby in the future....

Bright Eyes EOTD

Yesterday I went to Inglot again and got some very bright eyeshadows. I don't actually own many bright shadows and felt like experimenting, so here is the eye look I came up with.

This was very out of my comfort zone to wear, but I really liked it when I looked in the mirror and one of the first things my friend said to me when I met up with her is how she loved my eye make up, I am still undecided, what do you think of this look? Is it too much and do I look like a hooker or is it still wearable?
Sorry for the lack of face, but I forgot to pack my foundation so all I did today was my eyes, I couldn't even be bothered to sort out my eyebrows!
Expect a post tomorrow about my experience at Inglot and what I got there.

MAC brushes

So about a week ago I was having a very bad day, so to cheer myself up I went to MAC and decided to get this brush set:

If I remember rightly it was £40 for the five mini brushes, and it came in a cute tartan bag. The five brushes are:

• 187, this is the duo fibre brush and I have used it for my foundation a few times and it gives a lovely flawless finish.
• 168, I have been using this for my blush and I find it blends out very nicely.
• 252 This packs on colour really well, in fact I have never had a brush that transfers this much colour.
• 219 A pencil brush which once again transfers a lot of colour. I actually have the sigma version of this brush, and I have to admit the MAC one is slightly better, more colour transfers and although the hairs are just as soft on both, the MAC one is slightly denser so they don't move as much, which is what you need if you are being precise in the crease.
• And finally the 209, a eyeliner brush. This is the only one I haven't used as to me it looks quite thick. I will give it a go though with my trusty Bobbi Brown gel liner and see if I can get a nice thin line with it.

This is my first experience with MAC brushes. I own a set of Sigma brushes which I have owned for two years and are the only brushes I use. As much as I love my Sigma brushes and think they are good, the MAC ones are slightly better, but then again they are a lot more pricey aswell.

A couple of the Sigma brushes I have are the same ones as the ones in the set, so I can do a proper comparison if anyone is interested, so you can see the difference in the way it applies shadow and how it looks.

I am quite happy with this little set and I think it was a nice way to try out a few MAC brushes for a cheaper price. Does anyone have a brand that they would recommend for brushes? I am really loving my Illamasqua ones too so I think I should branch out.

A little update

So for anyone who doesn't know, I work in retail, so this is the busiest time of the year for me. I am currently doing five 9 hour days a week, some days are going for longer then that so this is why I haven't been posting that much.
On my days off I am very tired and ill and can't really be bothered to post which makes me sad. I am also getting frustrated at having to use my iPhone for pictures as the quality is so poor.
Basically what this all means is I won't be posting until after Christmas now, when hopefully I should get a camera as well, yay! I actually get a full 4 days off for Christmas, which is a lot in retail so hopefully I will come back rested and with more inspiration.
Happy holidays everyone!

New Glasses, yay or nay?

So bit of a different post today. For Christmas my nan is paying for me to get a new pair of glasses as I have been wearing the same pair for the last 4 years.

I went glasses shopping with my friend, and she is very into the geek chic glasses and encouraged me to get a pair. I ended up getting this pair, but I am unsure.

It may be that I am not used to glasses this size? I think the square shape suits me, but I am unsure. What are your opinions? And sorry about the reflectiveness of the lenses, they are plastic at the moment, need my optician to put in prescription lenses for me!

Also excuse my face, this is after a day of work with very little make up!

FOTD with orange eyeshadow

So if you didn't know, I am attempting to experiment more with colour. I think orange is quite a experimentation! I used the orange from the Inglot palette I got the other day and toned it down by using more neutral colours. Anyway here is how it turned out, I actually really love this look!

Face

NARS Sheer Glow - Mont Blanc

MAC Moisture Select Concealer - NW15

MAC Blush - Melba

Eyes

Inglot Orange

MAC Wedge in crease

MAC Twinks to darken crease

MAC Blanc Type as highlight

Illamasqua Precision Ink

Illamasqua Brow Cake in Storm

MUFE Smokey Lash mascara

I have bare lips in these pictures but in the end I decided to wear Jazzed lipstick from MAC. Oh and for those that asked last time, these are my natural lashes, but I think it shows that the LiLash is working!

So what do you think? I love this and think it is quite wearable, considering it's orange!

Girly FOTD

So I have decided recently that I am still young and I should be experimenting more with my make up, so yesterday I went for the girly romantic look.

I used my normal Sheer Glow foundation with MSF natural to set it and my Moisture Select Concealer. For the eyes I used the pink and purple from my new Inglot palette with MAC Dazzlelight as a highlight. I also used my new Illamasqua Precision Ink and Brow Cake, I love the brow cake so much! For cheeks I used Oh So Fair, and finally for the lips I used Viva Glam Gaga lipstick and gloss.

This is very girly and quite young, but I had fun wearing it so enjoy!

Tacky NOTD

So I love a bit of tackyness, and you can't get much tackier than pink and purple nails, so here is what I came up with.

I'm quite impressed with how neat the tips are considering I never do French manicure style nails. The pink is China Glaze Sugar High and the purple tips are Sephora by OPI Domestic Goddess. I used two coats of the pink and one for the tips. It didn't last long however, by the end of the day I had major chips.

Inglot Haul!

So after going to Illamasqua on Saturday, I decided whilst I was in London I should check out Inglot. For those of you who don't know, Inglot it a Polish make up company that has been around for over 25 years, but we only have one in the UK and it is in the Westfield Shopping Center in London.
Above is the two palettes I got. The top one is from the boyfriends parents to me for Christmas so I can't swatch it, but the bottom one is for me to do more girly looks with. The palettes where £20 each, which for five shadows I think is brilliant. They have different styles of palette, I opted for the magnet style ones that you can stack up but they had your normal on a hinge style palettes that had a mirror in the top.
The palettes are not pre made with the shadows. Inglot have a thing called the Freedom System. Basically you go in the store, they give you a flat metal board and you pick from the hundreds of shadows which ones you want to go in. They have colours ranging from neutrals and pastels to the brightest neons and everything in between. The palettes also come in different sizes and you can get circle pans too. As well as eyeshadow you can fill the palettes with concealer, face powder, lipstick etc.
I only checked out the the eyeshadows, and they where all so good. They where very pigmented and felt buttery on the fingers. Below are some swatches of the lighter eyeshadows I got, please excuse the goosebumps!

I had such a amazing time in London on Saturday, and I would really recommend going to Inglot if you can, a 5 pan square palette with the eyeshadows costs £20, a 10 pan square palette with eyeshadows cost £35 and a circle pan palette costs £32 so great value for money and a brilliant place to go if you don't own any palettes! I think if I ever manage to get to 50 followers I will have to do a giveaway with one of these palettes because they are amazing, but I know how awkward the limited location makes it to try them out.

Illamasqua Haul

So following on from yesterday, after meeting Alex Box I had £30 to redeem and I also had some extra tax money so I picked up a few things in Illamasqua.

I got the eyebrow cake in thunder, the precision ink in abyss, intense lipgloss in petulant and a eyebrow brush and blending brush.

The eyebrow cake looked really good in the demonstration, and I am a bit obsessed with eyebrows. Normally I just use a eyeshadow to fill mine in so I thought why not treat myself to a product designed specifically for the eyebrows. Mika the lovely sales assistant matched me up with a shade, he did one eyebrow for me then gave me the brush to see if I liked how the product applied when I did it myself.

I used the eyebrow brush and fell in love with that too. It is a lot wider then any angled brush I have seen and Mika showed me how its the right width to just turn at the end of the eyebrows to give them a really neat finish. I use angled brushes a lot so I decided whilst I am there I may as well get one.

I also got the blending brush because I only actually have one blending brush, and I think it is a brush that you definitely need more than one of! The Illamasqua one is very soft, a bit softer than my Sigma one, and it is also a little thinner than my sigma one. All my brushes are Sigma so I am quite excited to try some high end brushes.

Last but not least is the intense lipgloss. I got it in the shade petulant, which is a lovely blue pink. I got one of the intense glosses because they are so shiny, they look like glossy paint on the lips as they are very pigmented. Be aware with the glosses though, they look different in the tubes to what they do when swatched so try them out!

I am very happy with what I purchased and got to try it all out before I buy it. I also recommend that you visit a counter if you live near one. The MUA on the counter may look intimidating, but unlike some MAC artists I have come across, the Illamasqua ones are very lovely and want to help you, not show off.

Meeting Alex Box

So for those of you who don't know, Alex Box is one of my favourite make up artists ever, so when Illamasqua posted a blog saying how she would be doing a masterclass in the London Selfridges store I knew I had to sign up!

It was £30 for a 2 hour masterclass, but it is redeemable against product which I think is a fabulous price because I wanted to get some bits anyway.

It was a fairly small group, 20 or so women with varied backgrounds in make up. We went to a conference room away from the crowds and took a seat as we watched Alex create a master piece!

She had a model with her, and asked us what we would like to see and decided to do a normal look, but take contouring to the extreme to show us how we can push make up. Rather than trying to teach us make up she was demonstrating how she does it, as she is very into taking the products and being inspired by them instead of laying out set instructions.

She took questions as she was going along and also explained some more technical things about make up and how the eye sees things and why you do what you do with make up. She also talked about make up periods and how to make make up more glamourous or editorial.

After her demonstration she answered questions about make up in general and the brand Illamasqua. I went in not really knowing what to expect, I know some arty people can be stuck up their own arses, so I was very glad Alex was lovely and encouraging as apposed to thinking she is the bees knees (which to me she is).

We then went off in little groups to tables where we had some champagne and got to speak to some of the counter workers. I was in a group with a guy called Mika, who I am a little bit in love with.
After all this we had a little private shopping session in the room the masterclass was in, which is great because it was so packed downstairs in the beauty hall that I probably would've made purchases I regret. I decided I wanted to get a eyebrow cake because I am a little bit obsessed with brows. Mika helped me pick out the right shade, and he also helped me pick out a intense lipgloss as I wanted to try one of them too. In the end I got the ultimate eye liner, a eyebrow cake, intense lipgloss, blending brush and eyebrow brush. I will do a little haul blog tomorrow.

I had a lovely time, and all the staff are real ambassadors of the brand. I would say if they ever run something like this again and you are in the area try and get to it!

I have a few pictures of the demonstration, and a really bad one of me and Alex Box, but I shall include them anyway, enjoy and sorry for a lengthy post!

November Favourites

Reading other peoples favourites is one of my favourite type of blog posts to read. I love reading what other people think is worth buying and using. Unfortunately I don't have that many for November because I have been experimenting with old products and products I overlook, but I do have a few key items that I have been using pretty much daily, so here we go.

So first off we have MAC Cream Blush in So Sweet, So Easy. Its a very bright baby pink, and I love using it in colder weathers because it gives me the effect of being a Ski Bunny. You know the ones in all the snuggly clothes, but sit around the lodge rather than actually skiing? Yea that's me.

We then have NARS Multiple in Orgasm. So this is one of the products that I have rediscovered. I'm still not overly keen on it, but have been using it daily as a cheek highlight. I get a lot of compliments on my skin when I wear this, but despite me using it and it looking good I still don't like it. Not sure why. Bit weird to have a product I don't see the hype in to be on my favourites, but I guess I have been using it.

Next is MAC lipstick in Violetta. I am normally a pink lipstick kind of girl, but it being a bit colder I have moved into more berries and darker colours. This is the perfect berry colour for me, it looks a lot different on the lips then in the tube, but it is a beautiful colour. I got mine from the Venomous Villains collection, but you can get it from MAC Pro, so I don't need to worry about running out!

Then we have a nail varnish. Essie Angora Cardi. I love purple, and purple is such a good colour for November, albeit a cliche one, but I still enjoy. This is a lovely polish with a great formula, you only need two coats and you can walk out the door.

My last favourite is NARS Sheer Glow foundation. I love this foundation. I have used it pretty much every day since buying it, and if I haven't used it it's because I wasn't wearing make up on that day.

So there are my favourites for last month. Can't wait to read other peoples favourites, also I will be talking more in depth about my all time favourites at Lady of the Lanes blog tomorrow so be sure to check that out! I am so glad its finally December because I am so excited for Christmas!

It's snowing FOTD

So while the rest of the world had snow I was patiently waiting. My patience was rewarded as when I woke up this morning the streets where covered and it was still coming down heavy. So today's make up is quite fun, not something I would wear out, but its inspired by the snow, so enjoy!

As usual I wish I was using a camera as apposed to my iPhone because it is pretty useless at capturing the colour. And in the second picture you can see my geeky new hat!

Face

Foundation - NARS Sheer Glow, Mont Blanc

Concealer - MAC Moisture Select in NW15

Blush - MAC So Sweet So Easy Cream Blush

Eyes

The white, light grey and blue from the Urban Decay Alice in Wonderland palette

For the thing underneath the eye that is meant to be a snowflake, MAC Petrol Blue Power Kohl, Collection 2000 Silver Glitter

MAC White Kohl

Lips

MAC Saint Germain L/S

Current Beauty Routine

So this weekend I have been very ill. My throat is swollen and all kinds of nastiness which means there will not be a FOTD until it clears up, so I was very glad that I came across this tag when reading Modesty Brows blog as it is something nice and easy for a monday morning. Enjoy!

Face
01. Cleanser: Good Things Stay Clear cleanser
02. Toner/lotion: Lush Breath of Fresh Air
03. Cream/moisturizer: Good Things Mattifying Moisturiser
.04. Facial mask: Lush Mask of Magnaminty
05. Exfoliator: Lush Ocean Salt
06. Make-up remover: Baby Wipes (eek!)
07. Shower gels/soaps: Lush The Olive Branch
08. Body lotions/creams: I tend to use massage bars from Lush.
09. Anticellulite/firming treatment: I don't use any, I don't think they work.
10. Body exfoliator: Lushy Buffy
11. Hand cream: Bliss Intensive Hand Cream
12. Lip balm or lip treatment: Carmex, always on the lookout for new ones though!
13. Perfume: Marc Jacobs Daisy
14. Shampoo/conditioner: Phillip Kingsley Itchy Scalp shampoo and Philip Kingsley conditioner (can't remember which one)
15. Mask or other treatments: I can't afford any atm :(.
Make-up
16. Foundation: NARS Sheer Glow in Mont Blanc.
17. Powder: MAC MSF Natural
.18. Blush: MAC Melba
19. Mascara: MUFE Smokey Lash mascara
20. Lipstick/lipgloss: MAC Viva Glam Gaga
21. Eyeshadow: I like my Urban Decay Naked Palette at the moment.
22. Eyeliner: Bobbi Brown Gel Liner

Sugarpill Sale

So today is Black Friday, but being from the UK there isn't that many deals for us. However Sugarpill ship worldwide, and I know that there is a lot of products I would like to try so 30% off means I will be placing a order.
There is so much I would like, but have also asked for some bits for Christmas so will have to be careful when doing a order.
Any other Black Friday offers us Brits can take advantage of?

NOTD - Essie Angora Cardi

So here is a sloppy picture of Essies Angora Cardi. I love this colour, I think its perfect for this type of weather as well.
The formula on this is amazing, its lovely and opaque, and not streaky. I normally do three coats of whatever polish I wear, but this is only after two coats, so you can see how opaque it is.
I'm not quite sure why, but I always lust after Essie polishes, despite the fact that I know most the time the formula is pretty poor. But when they get it right, they get it really right!

20% off Space NK?

So when I got the SpaceNK email on Wednesday night I wasn't planning to get anything, I have spent a lot on make up recently and it is coming up to Christmas, but then I remembered how much I loved NARS Fathom eyeshadow and I had to go back and get it. I may have decided I needed a new lip balm whilst I was there too....

Fathom is gorgeous, and the sparkle in it makes it ideal for the party season. I tried to get a decent swatch picture of it, but using a iPhone as a camera, and poor lighting does not make for a good picture.

I also got Kielhs Lip Balm #1. I am generally very fussy with my lip balms. I only really like Blistex and Carmex because I love the tingle feel it gives. Elizabeth Arden's eight hour cream worked wonders for when my lips started to crack too, but it just didn't wow me.

I am always on the lookout for a balm that will give me super soft kisseable lips, and I have heard good things about the Kiehls one so I thought, what the hell, I have 20% off, plus its winter, my lips need this. I'll give it a go and post a review.

That's my very small haul. I was so tempted to get Strada eyeshadow, which is a beautiful pale purple, but I have asked for a similar colour from Sugarpill for Christmas and have already spent way to much money this month. Did anyone else take advantage of the offer?

Happy Hair

So I wanted to share with you what I have been using to wash my hair as I am very impressed by the products, but first I will tell you a bit about my hair.

I started using these products in June. My hair was still recovering from when I was blonde and was dry and had lost all its natural shine. I was visiting my parents and tried the shampoo and conditioner and noticed that my hair was considerably more shiny and looked a lot healthier after a couple of washes. After mentioning it to my mum I received the shampoo and conditioner for my birthday, so here are the products I have been using:

First up we have we have the shampoo. I got this in the Itchy/Flaky scalp formula, as I have a very dry scalp and suffer from eczema from the back of my neck and all over my scalp so I have to be quite careful about what I use or else I end up with lots of open sores on my head.

This shampoo gives me such a lovely shine. It smells pleasant too and isn't heavy so your hair isn't slicked against your head. It has worked really nicely on my scalp too, I haven't had as much itchiness and I haven't had any flakes or scabs on my head.

The only issue I have with this shampoo is that my hair type has now changed. This shampoo treated my bad scalp, and now it is healthy it is producing a lot of oil. I don't think using this shampoo is helping much for the oil production of my hair, as this is designed for a more dry scalp. My hair is getting greasy quite quickly now, but I refuse to get a new shampoo until I run out of this one because at £19 it's not that cheap.

I also got the re-moisturizing conditioner. My mum got me the litre size because she thinks that you use more conditioner than shampoo. But anyway, the litre size was £40. Pretty steep but it is a litre, and I'm not even a third of the way through in five months.

I'm not going to change hair conditioner any time soon as I am very happy with this. It makes my hair lovely and soft and I'm sure I don't get as many split ends.

Although it is very hydrating its not too heavy. I like my hair with a lot of volume and I feel that this conditioner allows me to have that whilst having soft hair.

So yea, I like Phillip Kingsley products and these have worked well at repairing my hair and scalp. I am on the hunt for a new shampoo, for oily hair now, but I will be sticking with this conditioner.

Konnichiwa

So today's post was going to be about the haircare products that have saved my hair, but I am too tired to do a proper post, so instead you can have a very light hearted one. This is what happens when I am left alone for too long with nothing to do. I try (and fail) to turn myself into a anime character.

Hope your all having a lovely Thursday and if your not, hopefully this will give you a giggle!

Todays Make Up

Today was just a normal work day, but for the first time in a long time I used a little bit of highlighter and some products I haven't used in a while and felt very pretty whilst wearing it. The eye is very similar to stuff I have already posted, but the face is a bit different. Very soft and feminine. It is also the best (and most even) winged liner I have done in ages!

Face

Nars Sheer Glow - Mont Blanc

MAC moisture select - NW15

NARS Laguana Bronzer

MAC Oh So Fair Beauty Powder

NARS Orgasm Multiple as highlighter

Eyes - From the UD naked palette

Buck

Naked

Sin

Virgin

Liquid Liner

Whisky liner on the waterline

Brows done with ELF brow kit in Dark

Lips

NARS Lip Pencil in Bettina

MAC Lipstick in Hug Me

I hate the way blogger puts in huge gaps between lines. Anyway, remembered my love for the ELF brow kit, and I never really like the orgasm multiple, but it is growing on me now. Its nice to mix up products every now and then!

My Lipstick Collection

So my very good friend Rachy did this blog post the other day, and I thought it was such a good idea that I would copy her. I am too ill to do a face of the day so instead I have swatched of all my lipsticks for you:

So from top to bottom we have:

Violetta (from venomous villains)

Lady Danger

Heartless (from venomous villains)

Russian Red

Dare You

And on this arm:

Hug Me

Myth

Jazzed (LE)

Viva Glam Gaga

Saint Germain

Impassioned

So there you go, my lipsticks. They are all MAC in case you hadn't guessed. I feel a little bit better about my make up collection now. Anyway I haven't quite figured out how to do posh links yet, but this is my friend Rachys blog http://allthingsrachy.blogspot.com

What I bought at SpaceNK

Following on from yesterdays post, I did buy a couple of things in SpaceNK so here they are:

I got the blush in Desire, which is a very bright pink, which is flattering on my pale skin.

I also got the eyeshadow duo in melusine. I like the duo a lot, but on second though I probably wouldn't use the silver as much.

When I had my make up done yesterday the MUA used the silver as a highlight for my brow bone so I guess that is what I will be using it most for.

I would do swatches but these are actually going away until Christmas day. My boyfriend gave me the money to buy my own Christmas present and this is what I got, but he still wants to wrap it up and put it away because he is being the Grinch.

I will definitely be going back on pay day and buying fathom because it was a really gorgeous colour that I can see myself wearing everyday. But yea very quick and small haul for you, enjoy!

NARS makeover

So today my local SpaceNK had in a head NARS make up artist. I found this out last week when I was in the store and promptly signed up for a complementary makeover. Anyway this is how it turned out:

I loved how it turned out and ended up getting a couple of products which I will post about tomorrow. The picture doesn't show how bright the blush is, but its so beautiful. I also had such a lovely time in the store itself, one of the sales assistants is leaving to start her own range and have taken my details so hopefully I will be getting a bit of assisting work which is super exciting! Anyway here are the products she used (as copied from the face chart) which are all NARS obviously:

Face:

Sheer Glow foundation

Blush in Desire

Luxor multiple as a highlighter

Eyes:

My own eyeliner

Fathom eyeshadow (I need this it's gorgeous!)

Melusine eyeshadow duo

Lips

Tash Kent lipstick

Striptease lipgloss

Christmas Wishlist

So my Christmas wishlist this year is relatively small. Apart from the items I am going to post here I have asked for a cupcake book, Alex Box's book and a couple of games. I have also asked for money so I can put it towards the MUSE 3 week course I am saving up for. Anyway here is the cosmetic side of things I am asking for:

Sugarpill Cosmetics Sweetheart palette. I also want a couple of the loose eyeshadows. I hear such great things about these products and I am enjoying wearing brights at the moment too. I think this palette has the nicest selection of colours.

Kiehls Creamy Eye Treatment. You're never too young to start preventing ageing and I once again I have heard good things about this product. I did want to try Kiehls skincare and was going to ask for cleanser toner and moisturiser for Christmas too, but I would rather have money to put towards the course.

Illamsqua Precision Ink. Yet another product that I have heard good stuff about through blogs. I am really interested in Illamasqua at the moment because all the products I have tried out from them have been amazing. I especially liked their lip products, but I feel I should use up some of what I already have before getting more.

So yea that's my wishlist, its pretty basic but I tend to prefer buying my own presents. Whats everyone else asking for for Christmas?

Experimental FOTD

So normally I don't wear greens, just because I end up looking like a hooker, but today I fancied having a play around with colour seeing as I am going no where. I quite like how it turned out! Please excuse the wet hair.

Face:

Nars sheer glow foundation in Mont Blanc

MAC moisture select concealer NW15

MAC Melba blush

Eyes (MAC unless stated otherwise) :

Green from Urban Decay Alice in Wonderland palette

Purple from Urban Decay Alice in Wonderland palette

Smut

Blanc Type

White eyeliner

Black gel liner

Concrete for brows

I have staff training later so I shall see how this goes down. Also I have been loving my NARS sheer glow foundation!

My MAC 15 pan palette

So today I was going to do a FOTD, but after a visit to the beauty hall of House of Fraser, my face kind of got butchered by the women on the Benefit counter, clearly I need You Rebel Lite and not the regular tango one, but anyway....

So instead I am going to do a post on my 15 pan MAC eyeshadow palette. This is my only palette and one of my most prized possessions as I worked hard to save up the money for this. Some of the shadows I had to depot myself, and some I just bought in pan form. I have to mention that I got about 8 of these shadows with a discount after doing a make up course at London College of Fashion which is why I was able to afford so much. Anyway here is my palette (my camera seems to have made the colours appear more green, please excuse this) :

Top Row : Dazzlelight, Honey Lust, Sable, Scene, Twinks

Middle Row : Blanc Type, Wedge, Mulch, Concrete, Sketch

Bottom Row : Brulee, Charcoal Brown, Antiqued, Smut, Carbon

I think my most used are Blanc Type, Brulee, Wedge, Sketch and Carbon. Concrete is another colour I use a lot, but I tend to use it as my eyebrow colour rather than on the eye. I also use Dazzlelight a fair bit as a highlighter, but I have quite a few shimmery highlighters which is why it doesn't get used as much. I also love Sable and Mulch a fair bit, but sometimes find it hard to create a look with them.

I love my palette, it definitely shows I prefer more neutral tones, but I think I have a good variety and I can create a lot of looks from these shadows, albeit neutral ones.

So yea I hope you found this helpful if you was looking into making your own palette or just wanted to have a good nosey as I know I love seeing posts like this. Have a lovely afternoon!

Day 2 at London Muse

So today is Monday, the day after, and also my first day of work and the first time I get to try out my NARS sheer glow!
Anyway yesterday was the second and last day of the catwalk trends boot camp. It was taught by Nicci Jackson and we covered using glitter with stencils, manga/geisha, supernatural and ethereal.
It was of the same format, theory in the morning practical in the evening. Nicci used students in the class to demonstrate the looks and she created them from scratch. I think that this course is different ever time it is taught because she did the look to suit the person she was using as the model.
Nicci is very inspiring and I found yesterday to be very exciting and it was my favourite out of the two days. It was a bit more avant garde, and I couldn't wait to come back from lunch and start the practical.
I had a lovely lady do a geisha look on me, which was very full on, and a lot harder to do then you would think, having a white base is a bitch!
We then swapped and I did ethereal make up on her. I don't have any decent quality pictures but hopefully someone will upload some soon so that I can steal them. I used a paler foundation on her and a mix of purple, silver and blue to create a out of this world look.
I also used a Illamsqua blush, that I am lusting after. We used a lot of different brands during the course, including MAC, Illamasqua, Bella Pierre, Dermalogica, Sleek and Chanel. It was nice to use a variety of products as its so easy to get stuck in the MAC rut.
Overall I really loved this course, a lot more so than the London College of Fashion one I did. I feel like it was better value for money and I was a lot more inspired. This course allows for a lot of creativity, where as the LCoF one was more like show and recreate.
I feel like MUSE as a company is amazing as well. They care for their students and will invite you back to events. If you do some of the longer courses as well they post assisting jobs on their facebook page and you can also go in for the day on future courses for free to refresh yourself.
The class size was small and Nicci took the time to learn every ones names which makes everything a bit more personal. All the girls are lovely and most of them, like me had heard of MUSE through Pixiwoo.
I am definently going to do the three week course they offer. Its very pricey but I want to do make up as a career and feel like this would be a great way for me to learn. They also offer a shopping day on the course which has a lot of industry discounts, great for building up your kit. They also offer 0% finance, which is how I think I will pay for the course.
So yea I had a amazing time at MUSE and would definitely recommend them as a make up school and would like to say thank you for making this a great weekend!

Day 1 at London Muse

So for those of you who don't know what London Muse I'll tell you now, it is a make up school, in London. It is run by a make up artist called Nicci Jackson, who has amazing credentials, and her team of selected make up artists, including those of YouTube fame, Pixiwoo.

I want to do a three week make up course, but at over £3000, I thought it would be best to try out one of the shorter courses to make sure the make up school was for me so I went for the catwalk trends bootcamp which is a 2 day weekend course.

Today was the first day of the course and I loved it. We was taught by Francesco Lo Cascio who was lovely and friendly and wanted us all to think of him as our dad.

The morning was theory, which suited me fine as I had a very early morning and would have been useless if I was handed a make up brush. We was first shown how to do 80's make up, and was told about how important is to know about make up in different periods. After the 80's he moved onto iconic make up and finally showed up how to block out brows and how to create different brow styles.

The afternoon was the practical part. We had to take one of the themes we was shown in the morning and run with it. I decided to pick the 80's theme as I am fairly comfortable with a smokey eye and wanted to practise something different. Here is how the make up I did turned out:

There was only 8 of us in the class so it was nice and intimate and we got lots of personal attention from Francesco who was very encouraging and always very willing to help. I had a lovely day and I can't wait until tomorrow!

A small haul

So today I ventured down to Bluewater shopping center and picked up a few bits. I have run out of my studio fix fluid and fancied a change so I decided on NARS sheer glow after all the rave reviews I got. I went to Space NK (who's customer service is appalling) and was matched up to Mont Blanc. I can't wait to try this out and will do a review after trying it out for a bit.

I also went into MAC to check out the latest offerings from the Tartan Tale collection and ended up buying two of the pearlglide eyeliners in petrol blue and undercurrent.

The picture quality is poor but it shows the shimmer in the product and you can get a clear idea of the colour. The one on the left is Petrol Blue and the one on the right is Undercurrent. They are both gorgeous colours and I think they are quite unique, I know I have nothing in my collection like these!

After swatching them on my hand I tried to smudge them but found they did not budge. 5 hours later the swatches are still on my hand so I am very impressed with these.

I think the fact that they didn't smudge means you could get away without setting them with powder too and I may even try using them as an eyelid colour.

Apart from the two pearlglides I was not impressed with this collection at all. I was tempted by the Romancing lipgloss, but not enough to get it. Everything is pretty but nothing else is truly unique or that pretty.

I think the sets are good for a person just starting to collect MAC, but I think someone who has quite a few of their products will already have dupes for most the colours in the palettes. However I do really like the brush bag sets, and I was tempted by the purple eye bag which had a fluid line and pigment in them as I don't actually own that much purple.....

Anyway today was a good shopping day and I also managed to get two pairs of sensible flat shoes and a pair of trousers, yay!

What I took home

So if you don't know, I am visiting my parents for a few days. I thought it would be handy to share with you what I took home. Normally I end up taking half my makeup collection back with me, but this time I managed to narrow it down, its still probably too much for 4 days but a lot better than normal for me! Anyway here is what I took:

So I have a selection of brushes, these are the ones that I use most days, basic things like a blending brush, eyeliner, blusher brush etc. Mascara, that's pretty essential, tweezers because I hate stray hairs, two eyeliners, one black one white as I think both are essential, a liquid eyeliner, primer potion, my mineralise skin finish natural, concealer, two lipsticks, one is viva glam gaga for every day use and the second is violetta for a more daring evening wear look, I also have my usual foundation (studio fix fluid) in a sample pot that I got a long time ago so that I don't have to lug around the full bottle, and last but not least my Urban Decay naked palette. I love this palette and it has all the right colours for creating lots of different looks. It is also a decent size and isn't heavy to it makes it great for weekends away. Oh I forgot my beauty powder in Oh So Fair. This is my go to colour at the moment, I was going to bring another blush but I thought for 4 days, really? But yea, this is what I took home, I think I did a pretty good job of choosing essentials!

Another interview FOTD

So today's interview wasn't a office based one so I could go for something a bit more exciting. I decided to use the naked palette to create a smokey brown eye. I also used Ardell hottie lashes, which look pretty natural, benefit coralista blush and on the lips is NARS orgasm lipgloss. I am very happy with the way it turned out, que some posey pictures:

Whats I am doing this week.

I just thought I would let you know what I am getting up to this week as I am quite excited about it and will probably blog about it so I just thought I would share what I am doing with you!
Tomorrow I have a interview and a trial shift so I need lots of luck and expect a FOTD and probably a NOTD too!
On Wednesday I am going back to my parents house in London. My mum and I are going to the MAC tartan tale preview shopping event at Kings Road and then we will have a nice dinner. I am going to make my boyfriend give me some money so I can buy myself my Christmas present from him and I am after a couple of the glosses, they look so pretty!
Thursday and Friday will be quiet, but then the most exciting part of the week will be the weekend! I am doing a two day catwalk trends boot camp at London MUSE which is a make up school! The course looks so fun, from what I remember we will be doing power brows, glitterati, anime inspired stuff and more whimsical stuff, hopefully this will make me a bit more creative and improve on my technique. I will be taking my camera along to document what I have been getting up to so expect everything to be posted on here too!
Have a great week everyone.

October favourites

So today is the last day of October so I thought I would share what products I have been reaching for the most this month.

So first off we have L'Oreal super liner carbon gloss or whatever its called. This is a lovely liquid liner as its so opaque and the black is lovely and glossy. Normally I prefer gel liners to liquid ones but this month I have been reaching for the liquid more, I think because its getting darker outside I want my liner to be more intense? Anyway this is my seond pot of it, so definatly tried and tested!

Next up we have MAC Oh So Fair beauty powder. I only got this halfway through the month but I haven't stopped using it since getting it. Such a pretty colour and it gives you a lovely glow, and the fact that it has a mirror in it is very handy.

I have three eyeshadows that I have found myself using and loving this month, all MAC and they are Concrete, Sketch and Blanc Type.

Concrete for me is the perfect brow colour. It looks pretty dark in the pan but it comes out lovely and soft. I have used it in my heartless FOTD and interview FOTD if you want an idea of how it comes out.

Sketch is a very pretty dark purple, sticking to more autumn colours. I also used this one in my interview FOTD and have been reaching for this colour a lot. Its just a nice alternative to using a black and can either be lovely and sheer or very dark and opaque depending on how you apply it.

Blanc Type is also another one I have been reaching for a lot, it may even be replacing Brulee which is one of my firm favourites! I use this as a matte highlighter.

Next is a little lip combination I have been doing using Subculture lip liner and Hug Me lipstick. This is the perfect interview lip if you need something toned down or suitable for in the office.

Last but not least is Fascinating eye kohl. I have been using this in the inner corner of my eye before using a highlight shadow on top just to really brighten up my eye. Sometimes I use it under my brow bone too. I think everyone should own a white eyeliner, its every bit as much a staple as a black is to me!

So there we have all my favourites for this month, can't wait to hear everyone elses so I have some things to want to purchase!

Happy Halloween!

So yesterday I went to a Halloween themed party (I know it wasn't Halloween but better than on a X Factor night!). Originally I wanted to go as a pin up sailor, but I found out everyone was going to be going a bit gory so I decided to go as a dead emo sailor and this is how it turned out! The products I used are
Face:
MAC Studio Fix Fluid NW15
MAC Blanc Type e/s to white out my face a bit
MAC Carbon and Sketch e/s to contour my face

Eyes:
MAC redd lipliner
MAC sketch e/s
A cheap white eyeliner
MAC l/s in dare you for the tears

Lips:
Matted out with foundation
The blue eyeshadow from the urban decay book of shadows

Interview nails and face of the day

So today's nails and face are very boring because I was applying for a job in a office. I'm hoping for the job because it sounds amazing so fingers crossed eh.

Anyway, the nails are Models Own in Nude Beige. This is the perfect office nude colour and I rely on it a lot for the interviews. Its just a lovely taupe nude colour, and as you can see from the picture it is very glossy. I don't even have a topcoat on in that picture and it has that amount of shine, great for giving that groomed hands effect.

My face is just my normal foundation and concealer, the eyes are very matte. The products I used are all from MAC, as a highlight colour I used blanc type, brulee all over the lid, wedge in the crease and sketch to deepen the crease. I also used a gel eyeliner to do a very thin layer of eyeliner and lots of mascara.

Lips are lined with sublime lip pencil with hug me lipstick on top and I also have oh so fair beauty powder on as a blush. So very plain and simple, doesn't look like I am wearing much in the picture but just makes everything pretty.