March Favourites

I can't believe its April tomorrow! I'm quite happy about time going quickly because it means I only have 10 months left at my current job. This month I don't have a huge amount of favourites, I have been on holiday and hardly touched make up there, and I haven't been using my current skincare routine long enough to deem it a favourite yet. Anyway here is the small selection I have come up with for you:

Now the reason I have picked these products is because this month I have been very lazy with my make up. I have had a lot of early mornings so I want to get my make up done in under 10 minutes, and these are the products I have been using to appear fresh face and glowy. I use my normal foundation concealer etc, and on my eyes I have been using Vintage Selection paint pot, I just apply it quickly with my ring finger. After doing that I will use my Illamasqua precision ink to line my eyes, then use MAC Vanilla pigment under my brow bone. To keep my cheeks nice and glowy I have been loving NARS Deep Throat blush. It is a gorgeous pink/coral colour that really suits my skin tone and stops me from looking like a corpse in the morning. To add a bit more fake radiance I add MAC Vanilla pigment to the top of my cheekbones to highlight. I then slap on whatever lipstick is to hand, and I tend to have about 10 in my handbag anyway, and that's it, my 10 minute make up! Oh and mascara, can't forget mascara!

I have also included in this months favourite Andrea Furletons Gemstone topcoat that I got from superdrug. It is really gorgeous and a very good copy of GOSH Rainbow. I really recommend you check this out if you like flakeys or missed out on the Rainbow polish.

So how has every ones March been? Looking forward to April? I know I am!

Duty Free Haul

So not everything I got was in the airport, but Lanzarote is a duty free island, which means cheap fags, booze, perfume and cosmetics woo!

The only thing I actually got in duty free I forgot to take a picture of was my usual MAC concealer. I had actually saved up a fair bit of money to spend on duty free MAC only to find out pretty much most of what I want is high street exclusive. Very clever MAC, very clever.

Anyway here is the stuff I did pick up on the island:

I wanted to include a picture of the boxes because they are shiny. I am a magpie. But onto what I got. So I got a YSL Rouge Vulupte in number 13. It is a lovely bold but wearable colour, and the lipstick is lovely and creamy. I have wanted a YSL lipstick for a while, but the price always puts me off. I think I managed to get it for 17 euros though. Next up we have the Helena Rubenstein Lash Queen Mascara in Feline Black Waterproof. I'm not going to lie, half the reason I went for this mascara is for the packaging. I used to love trying out loads of different mascaras, but after using MUFE Smokey Lash I haven't bothered, but being able to get the high end mascaras cheaper has made me want to branch out again. I bought this for 19 euros and the cheapest I have seen it online in the UK is £27. I also got a YSL Teint Radiance foundation in the shade 03 Opal. I decided to get a colour for in the summer when I am darker, although this is darker then my usual foundation it is not dark enough for my skin right now so I have to wait for my tan to fade a little bit because I'm a bit stupid. And last but not least we have DiorShow Blackout mascara. This is one of those mascaras you always hear about so I thought why not.

So that is what I got. Reviews to come of the foundation and mascaras. But yea on my second day back on being in England I am most definitely depressed to be back.

I'm back!!!

So just a very quick post to say I am back, and here have a picture of my freckled mug: Freckles are a funny thing. I used to really like mine, now not so much. They make me look a lot younger, but at the same time I feel they age me. I also get slightly embarrassed by them now, after all the pictures of skin damage I feel like people think I am a sun worshiper or something, when that is not the case. Oh freckles, you troublesome things. Anyway enough of freckles. The holiday was amazing, so nice to just relax and do nothing, no Internet or phone for 7 days, it was bliss! For anyone who doesn't know I went to Lanzarote, which is a duty free island, woo! That means I have a upcoming holiday haul blog, you always buy more when you are on holiday, don't you think? I tend to forget that just because it isn't pounds it is still real money. Anyway time for me to catch up on a weeks worth of blogs, YouTube videos, emails and facebook!

What I am taking on holiday

So tomorrow I am going on holiday for a week to Lanzarote, yay! (Which means no blogging for a week :( ). I thought I would share with you what I am taking away. I don't even know why I am taking anything, as chances are I probably won't end up wearing any make up!

So as usual my Urban Decay Naked Palette is accompanying me. It has all the colours I need to do my eyes and eyebrows, and its quite a nice, light, compact palette.

I have my trusty primer potion, because its going to be hot and I want my eyeshadow on my eyes, not down my face.

My normal concealer and MSF natural, but I have switched to my Laura Mercier tinted foundation for on holidays as it is my shade when I tan, its nice and lightweight for in the hot weather, and it has a SPF in it which is really handy.

I am also taking a waterproof mascara, obviously, and my favourite MAC blush in Melba, it looks brilliant when I have a tan.

I also got a Dermalogica travel set for normal to oily skin types. This has cleanser, toner, moisturiser, exfoliater and lip protector in travel sizes. You also get a sample of pre cleanse and a face mask, everything you need for a week away.

I used to use Dermalogica when I was younger, but haven't used it for a few years. My skin type has changed recently and I feel like trying their products out again, and what better way to try them then in travel sizes!

So this is what I am taking on holiday with me, I've tried to keep it minimal as I always overpack. Hope you all have a lovely week everyone and I will go enjoy the sunshine!

Don't ever get your eyebrows threaded at Superdrug, and mini haul

So that statement probably sounds fairly obvious. I probably deserve what I got for thinking that I could get a decent eyebrow thread in Superdrug, but no, the fact that it was the cheapest place to get it done made me talk myself into it.

I say it was the cheapest place, it was still £10! In East London you can get it done for about £4 if you know where to look, I normally pay £6. Damn this rich area. Anyway, I will show you a picture of my eyebrows after the threading, bare in mind, this is over an hour after it was done:

So as you can see very red.
I guess they aren't too bad, but they are a lot thinner then what I normally go for, and considering I only asked for a tidy, I'm pissed off that she changed the shape.
She also trimmed my brows. I hate having my brows trimmed and she didn't even ask, by the time I realised one eyebrow had been done so the other had to be trimmed to even it out.
The process was slow, and very painful. I have been having my eyebrows threaded for about 5 years, and I have been used as a training model and haven't been in this much pain. It felt like the hairs where anchored in and she was having to yank them out, rather than the quick movements that you normally get. She even managed to pull out one of my eyelashes....
The thread also broke several times, something that I've never witnessed before, which is fair enough, but when it broke the second time she accidentally slapped me in the face.
To top it all off, when she got to the end of the treatment, she put some stuff on too soothe the skin, but then decided to go back in with the thread, what was the point in that!
I feel like the therapist was under skilled, and you just sit in a area in the back of the shop in full view of everyone.
I guess you get what you pay for, so take my advice, pay more and don't get you eyebrows done in Superdrug.

To cheer myself up I did buy a couple of bits:

I wanted to pick up a waterproof mascara to take on holiday, and Maybelline Great Lash was the cheapest, and its pink, so I went with that one.
I also got the Andrea Fulerton Gemstone top coat, which I am sooooo excited about owning. It's meant to be a dupe of Gosh Rainbow. Rainbow coloured flakeys here I come!

Product Rave - Lush Tiny Hands

So when the mothers day range launched at Lush a couple of weeks ago I purchased myself one of the Tiny Hands, which is a solid hand cream. I am always on the lookout for something to soothe my hands, and I thought at £3.95, even if it doesn't work I'm not going to loose out too much.
I have been using this non stop since I got it, I am very much in love with it! You rub it between your hands to melt a little bit and then just rub the oil in like you would do a normal hand cream. Despite it being a oil it sinks in quicker then a normal hand cream does for me. This may be because it has talc in there, which mattifies the oil slightly.
It also has the oil of the minute in there, Argan Oil, as well as Cocoa Butter, Fair Trade Butter and Aloe Vera. All of which help soothe my eczema.
The scent is quite peculiar, it is meant to be vanilla and floral (it has marigold oil in it), but I just pick up on the floral tones, and its quite a sharp citrus floral. Not unpleasant, but not quite the creamy scent that I would prefer.
The fact that it is solid means it has no preservative or parabens in, for the environmentalists out there.
If you are worried about how to store yours, I just keep mine on my bedside table, but Lush do square tins that you can buy to keep them in. Lush are also running the offer that if you buy two of the Tiny Hands you get the tin for free.
Overall I would say this is a brilliant little product. It sinks in well, is very moisturising and the price tag is cheap and cheerful, I definitely recommend picking this product up and having a try next time you are in lush.

Barbie on Crack FOTD

So the other day I was playing around with make up. I was aiming for a pastel pink look, but it ended up being a lot brighter than what I was aiming for, but I still like it. Here it is:

Eyes:
Sugarpill Eyeshadow, Birthday Girl
Sugarpill Eyeyshadow, Poison Plum
Sugarpill Eyeshadow, Tako
Bobbi Brown Violet Gel Liner
MAC Kohl in Petrol
Make Up Forever Smokey Lash

Face:
NARS Sheer Glow, Month Blanc
MAC Moisture Select Concealer, NW15
NARS Blush, Desire

Lips:
Viva Glam Gaga

So a very bright look, but I like it a lot. Its a bit Barbie-ish.

Some more nail art

I think everyone will get pretty sick of me experimenting soon! Anyway I am very proud of my latest creation, and here it is:
For the pink I used China Glaze Something Sweet, for the blue I used Essie Mint Candy Apple, the dark pink of the flower is China Glaze Sugar High, and the green is China Glaze Starboard.
For the white stripes and polka dots I used my Models Own nail art pen, and for the flower I used my cheap nail art brushes I got off eBay.
I think it looks very pretty and I'm impressed with myself! What do you think? Sorry for not cleaning up the cuticles!

Feather Hair Extensions

So a couple of weeks ago Kandee Johnson posted a video about feather hair extensions on YouTube. Personally I'm not a huge Kandee fan, but I did like the look of the feather extensions. I sent the video to my friend and she loved the look of them too so we decided to order a couple and have a girly night in with a bottle of wine and putting in extensions.
I ordered mine from eBay, http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Hair-Extension-Feathers-1-SET-w-bead-3-feathers-natural-/110657324826?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item19c3b0c71a They arrived in about 9 days and this is how they look:

So I got two different sets of feathers, a few beads and some wire to pull the hair through the bead. The only thing I will say about the eBay shop that I got mine from is that you don't know what colour you are going to get. You can request a certain colour in the comments box but it is no guarantee. The reason we went for this shop is because it was the cheapest ones that we could find, now that I know I like them I will pay out more for the next look.
They where very easy to install, we didn't actually have any pliers so used the blunt part of scissors. I have also washed my hair twice since putting them in and they wash up nicely and take to the same shape my hair is in.
Anyway, here is the pictures of the extensions in:

I am really enjoying these extensions. I'm so fickle with my hair and I love changing it around so this is a fast and relatively cheap way to change it. Its very subtle as well.
The feathers may seem pricey at about £5 each, but they are reusable, and they don't damage your hair, unlike all the other products I put in it!
So what do you think of feather extensions? Will you be trying them out or are they not your cup of tea?

Viva Glam Gaga Inspired Look

So before I actually purchased the new Viva Glam lipstick, I was inspired to try and recreate the look in the product promo images because I think it is beautiful. If you haven't seen it yet this is what it looks like:In the end my look turned out nothing like this, but its still very pretty and very wearable! My boyfriend did say I had looked like I had black eyes, which I guess is the risk you take when having the make up darker under your eyes. I also tried to bleach out my brows slightly with foundation, but it didn't really work out.
Here is how mine turned out:

Anyway here is what was used:

Face:
Foundation, NARS Sheer Glow - Mont Blanc
Concealer, MAC Moisture Select - NW15
Blusher, NARS - Deep Throat

Eyes:
Inner Corner, Urban Decay - Virgin
Lid, Urban Decay - Sin
Brow Highlight, MAC - Blanc Type
Crease, MAC - Wedge
Waterline, MAC - I Get No Kicks
Liner, Illamsqua Precision Ink - Abyss
Under eye, MAC - Twinks and Charcoal Brown
Lashes, Make Up Forever Smokey Lash

Lips:
Lip Liner, MAC - Stone
Lipstick, GOSH - Darling
Lipgloss, MAC - Woo Me

So what do you think? Do you love this look as much as me?

Viva Glam Gaga Swatch and Comparison

So today I visited my local MAC counter, as about 600 million (slight exaggeration) collections came out today and they where all pretty poor. I did however like the new Viva Glam Gaga that came out so I purchased it.
When I got it home I was worried it was similar to the other nudes I own, but luckily there is just enough difference for me to justify owning it.

Here is a picture of it on my lips:

It has a glossy finish and bleaches out my lips slightly, not enough to make them look like I've plastered my lips in concealer, but enough to be a very pretty nude.
I decided to compare the other nudes in my collection so you can get a clearer idea of the shade it is:

From left to right we have, MAC Hug Me, MAC Myth, GOSH Darling and finally MAC Viva Glam Gaga.
I also swatched them all so here is that picture, in the same order as above:
I thought it was going to be most similar to GOSH Darling, but it is a lot more brown. I would say it is closest to Myth, but slightly darker so you don't get the completely bleached out effect.
I really like this lipstick and think its lovely and wearable for every day, and would look great with a smokey eye for the evening. If you are umming and ahhing over whether to get it, don't forget all the money goes to a great cause!

Color Club NOTD

So just another quick NOTD. This time featuring Color Clubs High Society.

This is a lovely colour along the same lines as Metro Chic and Call Your Mother, but slightly lighter.
The formula is OK, slightly on the thin side and needs three coats for it to be nice and opaque. It is not streaky though which is great.
It is also lovely and cheap, I think they are about $2 or so from trans design. I feel like they are the American equivalent of Barry M polishes, cheap and cheerful, but with a wider colour selection and are even cheaper!