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.

First attempt at a mask

After watching Jazziebabycakes tutorial on YouTube I decided I wanted to have a go at doing a mask myself. I covered my eyebrows for the first time (not very well as you can see, it will take some practise), and used my Urban Decay Alice in Wonderland palette to start filling it in.

All the colours I used are from the palette, minus my gel eyeliner.

I definitely need a lot of work, but it was a lot of fun to do, and I was quite pleased with how it turned out! I used MAC Saint Germain lipstick on my lips to stick to a comic book theme. But anyway here is how it turned out, the top picture I have my super hero scowl on.

Heartless FOTD

I am loving my eyebrows in this FOTD! So this one is quite a natural one again. I wore the eye to an interview, and when I got home I decided to play with my venomous villains products again.

Face:

MAC Studio Fix Fluid NW15

MAC Moisture Select Concealer NW15

MAC Blush in Melba

Eyes (from the urban decay naked palette):

Naked e/s

Buck e/s

Virgin e/s

Sin e/s

Hustle e/s

Whisky e/l

Bobbi Brown gel liner

MAC Concrete for the brows

Lips:

Heartless l/s

Wicked Ways l/g

Good Things Review

So about a month ago I ran out of my normal skin care, but having no income means that I had to hit up boots to get some cheap stuff to see me through. After having a look around I came across a brand that I had never seen before, its called Good Things. The brand is free from SLS, parabens and the products are vegan, which is right up my street! I ended up getting the skin care for oily skin, and it was 2 for £8, saving myself £4 which is a nice little bargain.

After looking at the ingredients I can confirm that it is free from SLS, although it has a ingredient in it that is very similar. The ingredients used are pretty decent too, but the main ingredient in both products is water, but what can you expect for something that is about £4?

The products themselves have worked well. I enjoy using them, except they both have quite a synthetic smell, and the moisturiser feels a bit sticky on my skin.

The main reason I like these products so much is because I feel they have helped control my breakouts slightly, but I am sure that they have helped make the giant pores on my cheeks and nose a little bit smaller, which I have never had a product do.

The mattifying moisturiser is also brilliant because it is mattifying. My skin still feels lovely and soft after using it but without the shine I get from a lot of other products. I have just run my hand over my face and my skin feels a lot smoother.

So I am quite impressed with these products. I will be trying some high end stuff when I start getting an income again, but that's because I am one of these 'grass is always greener' type people, but for the price of these products they are great quality.

A cheeky steal from my Aunts make up bag

So a couple of weeks ago I was visiting my parents in London. Whilst I was there I was given the chance to interview for a really cool job, the only problem was that my make up bag was in my flat. Thankfully my aunt is a big make up fan as well so she offered to lend me some eye shadows and blush, and my mum is the same shade of foundation as me so I was able to borrow hers.


So anyway I was going through my aunts make up bag and there was some brilliant hidden gems in there. She is about twelve years older than me and tends to not throw anything away. Whilst going through her bag I found some amazing limited edition MAC bits and bobs, and lots of lovely Bobbi Brown things.


I found one eyeshadow that I totally fell in love with, so much so my aunt let me keep it because she doesn't use anything but mineral make up now anyway.

This is a Bobbi Brown shimmer wash eye shadow in Rose Gold. You can still get this colour on the website, but I think this is the old style packaging? Anyway it is such a beautiful colour. It has a similar finish to a MAC frost and is just as pigmented as any MAC shadow I have owned.

Its just very subtle and pretty on the eyes, great for doing a natural or a feminine look.

I feel like I often overlook Bobbi Brown because of my obsession with other brands like MAC and Urban Decay, but Bobbie Brown was one of the first brands I ever tried, and her 10 step programme is a great introduction to make up beginners. I think the reason I tend to overlook this brand is because of the price and because it is known more for being a pioneer or natural beauty, which can be a bit boring.

But it's always great looking through over people make up bags, and this was a lovely find so thank you Auntie for letting me keep it!

Kat Von D inspired FOTD

So this is losely based on some of the looks I have seen her do on LA ink.

Eyes:
The blue liner and shadow from the Urban Decay Alice in Wonderland palette.

Carbon e/s

Dazzlelight e/s

Collection 2000 glitter in silver

Spiked eyebrow pencil

L'Oreal liquid liner

Cheeks:

Bite of an Apple

Lips:

Dare you

Well this is on my Christmas wish list...

I got a promotional e-mail from Bobbi Brown and have decided that I defiantly need to get this, or at least add it to my Christmas wish list. I have already started hinting heavily to my boyfriend.


Anyway here it is, the Mini Bobbi Brights Palette

Its £45 for 20 eyeshadows. The eyeshadows are miniature size, but considering I don't do bright looks that often it suits me fine. It works out to £2.25 per eyeshadow so I think it is quite a nice value palette, and it has a lovely mix of colours and finishes. Lets hope the boyfriend picked up on the hint!

The picture is from the Bobbi Brown site.

Grey NOTD

Have a nice blurry picture! At least it shows the colour properly for once... So this is Models Own in Misty Grey, it grey outside so it's only fitting that my nails should be grey.

The formula on this is lovely, it only needs two coats but I always do three coats. I think Models Own nail polishes are over taking Barry M as my cheap and cheerful nail varnish. Barry M may only be £3, but if you buy 5 models own nail varnishes at once they work out to £3.60 each, for a considerably more amount of product then Barry M polishes.

Models Own often have really good discount codes as well. I'm waiting for the next 50% off one to do another haul, but I know if you like their facebook page you can get 10% off which isn't bad either.

Playing with colour - FOTD

My skin is terrible at the moment, so you will have to excuse that. I just wanted to show you my FOTD today, it is quite neutral with a bit of colour, I don't normally wear that much colour so this is a bit of a change for me. I originally wore this with the Viva Glam Gaga lipstick to an interview, but when I got home I decided to play around with the colour a bit more.

I used:

Face (all MAC) - Fix Fluid NW15

Moisture Select concealer NW15

MSFN

Bite of an Apple blush

Vanilla pigment to highlight

Eyes - Naked (from the naked palette)

Sin (naked palette)

Virgin (naked palette)

Buck (naked palette)

Rose Gold (Bobbi Brown)

Blue liner and shadow (from the Alice in wonderland palette)

Whisky kohl liner

White kohl liner

Black gel eyeliner (Bobbi Brown)

Lips - Violetta (MAC)

My Venomous Villains Haul

So I know everyone has seen these products a million times over and seen all the swatches so I don't have as much of a problem with putting up my very poor quality picture of the things I got.

I just wanted to share what I got and why as I always like reading these types of post.

So the first things I got where the Heartless lipstick, Wicked Ways lipgloss and Bite of an Apple blush. I got these products on the day that they came out and I am very happy with them.

I am a sucker for any red lipsticks, and despite owning a few, Hearltess is different to the ones I own so I went for it, and of course if I am getting a lipstick I have to get the matching gloss! Its a very pretty cherry red, and both are lovely and pigmented.

I got bite of an apple blush because I don't own many blushes, and this one is really unique so I went for it. Its quite a bright colour and has a lot of red in it, but it gives a really natural flushed look to the skin. I think this is my favourite thing I got in the collection.

I didn't actually intend to get anything else from this collection, but one of my friends got the Oh So Fair beauty powder and is a bit obsessed with purple lipsticks, so spurred on by her I went back to the MAC shop and got oh so fair and Violetta lipstick, both of which I am very happy with.

Oh So Fair can be used all over the face to perk it up, or if applied a bit more concentrated on the cheeks it gives a lovely glow. This compact also has a mirror in it, which I love because it looks really cute when you pull it out of your bag to check your make up (I know this makes me sound really superficial, but I can't help it, I am!).

Violetta is not as strong on the lips as it is in the tube, but its a very lovely colour, and a lot more wearable then I thought it was. I know this is available in the pro store, but I couldn't really resist Disney packaging.

I love everything I got from this collection, and I know a lot of people where disappointed by it and commented on how the products didn't look like the promo pictures, but luckily the ones I have got are a lot like those shown on the site.

A thing to note though is that my picture of the products really doesn't show their true colours. The picture was taken late at night on a iPhone and is the best quality I could get so if you want accurate pictures I probably wouldn't go by mine!

Welcome to my blog!

Considering this is my first post, I should probably explain what this blog is all about and a little bit about myself.
I have tried to write blogs in the past, but have often been distracted by other things, but after boring friends to death with my endless musings I have decided to try afresh with the whole blog thing and hopefully bore a wider audience with my obsession.
So the subject of my blog is going to be all things to do with beauty, from skincare and hair products, to my main love, make up! I love pampering myself and finding out what works for other people and I enjoy sharing what works for me, so expect plenty of reviews, hauls and FOTD's.
Now onto a little bit about myself. My name is Kelsey and I am 20 years old. I am East London born and bred, with a Greek father. Unfortunately I did not get any of his nice tan skin, in fact I am a NW15, so super pale! I tan pretty easily though, and go a nice colour which I am grateful for.
My favourite make up brand is MAC. I love so many of their products, and feel that the quality is high and that as an artist brand they are very creative and on trend. I also really like the urban decay eyeshadow pallets and eyeliners as they come in very fun and bright colours. Lets not forget that I couldn't live with out my Bobbi Brown long wear gel eyeliner. This is a product that I have been using since I was about 15 and is how I learnt how to do basic eyeliner. It is still my favourite gel liner out of all the ones I have tried.
So that is some basic information about me, I can't wait to get my camera back (my boyfriend has nicked it) so I can take some pictures to illustrate my blog with.
Have a lovely weekend!