Saturday 30 April 2011

mac- lilicent blushcreme♥


A few weeks ago I had a sudden urge to purchase a couple of new MAC blushers. I literally begged my mum to come along with me at 6pm at night to Meadowhall to get them, and in the end she agreed. I bought blushbaby, peachtwist and I was suppose to get peaches, but just as I was telling my mum what to ask the scary MAC ladies for, I thought of Lilicent, the blushcreme that has just been discontinued. I had wanted this for some time, but had never got round to getting it. I just thought maybe they'll have a few left over, and to my utter shock they had ONE. I was so excited!
(this was taken when I first got the blush obviously)

I would describe Lilicent as a nudish/peachy colour. Very natural, fresh and pretty. It is the perfect subtle blush to accompany a dark smokey eye, but on the other hand it also looks fab teamed with a few simple coats of mascara and a nude lips. It gives a polished, dewy look.

I have been a fan of Ladyblush for a while now, but this is more my type of colour. It is quite a thick consistency to begin with, but once you start blending, it quickly becomes silky soft and blends in beautifully. It is very pigmented though so a light hand is definitely advised. I personally like to apply this blush with either the Elf stippling brush or my fingers.
(I took these pictures outside and I was freezing, hence why I smudged it about abit and ran inside hehe.)

It's probably abit mean of me to blog about something that is now discontinued, but you never know if you ask instore they may have a few lurking...

If you happen to have this blushcreme, what are your thoughts on it?

 Thankyou for reading,
 Oh and don't mind my 3 William and Kate pictures down the side ;) I could have kept adding to them, but I restrained myself!

Wednesday 27 April 2011

chanel vitalumiere aqua foundation♥

I purchased this foundation a few weeks ago after seeing some rave reviews about it. I had £15 worth of beauty card points at debenhams so paying an extra £17 wasn't too bad, but £32 for a foundation. Jeezz! It better be good for that amount of money!

What Chanel say..

A new-generation texture. An unprecedented sensory experience. A unique makeup result. Rapid and easy application.

VITALUMIÈRE AQUA. Apply your makeup without thinking about it. Its soft and evanescent ultra-fine fluid texture is a real surprise: although exceptionally delicate and light, it offers an incomparable “second-skin” perfecting result. The complexion appears amazingly even, fresh and energized. The skin glows with seemingly nude beauty. As if lit from within. Bathed in light… Its formula, endowed with a UVB sun filter and mineral sunscreen, protects the skin from damaging sun rays (SPF 15). Its crystalline fragrance accentuates the sensation of freshness and pleasure on application.
Packaging - I have never had a Chanel foundation before, but I think they are all normally in glass bottles. Well.. I actually really, really like the packaging of this one. It looks like you get about 10mls of product the bottle is so small, but you actually get the same amount as the other ones, 30mls. I would much prefer all my foundations to be packaged like this, so dinky (small) and perfect for travel. It doesn't have a pump either (see picture), it's more like a little hole/nozzle/squirty 'thing', again really like this. It doesn't just pour out as the tube is squeezy meaning you are in complete control of how much product you want to use.
Application - As this is a water based foundation it needs a very good shaking before use or it will come out looking abit watery and 'split' looking. It is really so easy to apply. Shake, squirt, dab around the face and blend in with fingers, I found this the best way. I would say it is a light coverage foundation, definitely not enough to cover the couple of acne scars around my chin, but I would rather have to use a little concealer on areas of concern rather than piling foundation all over my face. It evens out my skintone making my skin look like my own, but better kind of thing. It's not too luminous either which I was worried about. It's inbetween luminous and matte which I quite like. 

It has spf15 in it too, which is always good as you are protecting your skin from the sun whilst also getting some decent coverage. It also smells gorgeous, really fresh, holiday kind of smell. love it!
Durability- I found that it lasted about 5-6 hours before I needed to touch up. I became a little shiny around my nose area, but I always do so I can't really say that this foundation made me shiny.

Packaging - 10/10
Price - 7/10
Product 8/10
Re-purchase - if I didn't find something better I would!

Have you tried this foundation? and what are your thoughts?

Thankyou for reading
xx

Monday 25 April 2011

spring nail polish favourites♥

I am really loving bright colours for my nails at the moment. I would normally wear pastels throughtout spring and then the brights in the summer, but for some reason I want to wear brights now and I am absolutely loving it.

These are a few of my favourites, which I seem to be wearing alot lately.
L-R
China Glaze 'light as air', Barry M 'pure turquoise', No7 'spice', Models Own 'sophies pink'
Not pictured Illamasqua 'radium' swatches here.

China Glaze 'light as air' is a beautiful milky lilac. I bought this last year, but had hardly worn it as I find these pastel polishes so hard to apply as a simple mistake/smudge looks a million times worse in my opinion. It has a lovely consistency, not too thick or thin, and it is fully opaque in 1 coat.

Barry M 'pure turquoise' is a turquoise obviously. There is nothing mega special about it. I just like it. Like all Barry M polishes, it applies nicely and is very affordable and easy to find. Also looks gorgeous with a tan!

No7 'spice'. I raved about this a while back, and yes I still love it as much as I did back then. It is one of the most perfect milky coral/pink polishes I have ever found. It is a fab shade for spring/summer and again.. will look amazing with a tan (which I don't have hmpff!).

Models Own 'sophies pink'. This is hands down my favourite models own polish. It is very bright almost neon in certain lights. I actually wear this all year round, I don't care if people think I'm mad. I don't really 'do' pink polishes, but I just love this one for some reason, definately recommend it!

Illamasqua 'radium'. I did a whole post about this nail polish here, with swatches so check that out if you like.
and finally as I wasn't going to keep all different coloured nail polishes on one hand, I figured I might aswell apply the Barry M nail effect in white over top, which I blogged about a few days ago.
 I like it over 'light as air' but I really don't like it over the other three.

What do you think?

Thankyou for reading
xx

Sunday 24 April 2011

mac fashion flower collection - my picks♥

Fashion Flower is the next soon to be released collection from MAC.. and I can't wait!

I absolutely love the promo image for starters....how pretty!!
I actually have the 'Dolled up' image from 2002 blown up and framed in my room because I love it so much, and I am now considering getting this one done too.
It's not a massive collection (thankgod) but they still have a nice selection of products, from eyeshadows to beauty powders, lip gelees, lipsticks, an eyeliner and finally a mascara.
The products I am probably going to be purchasing are..
Alpha Girl beauty powder. Soft peach pink with gold nuances (Repromote) (Limited Edition)
Light Sunshine. Pastel neutral pink with soft gold and pink sparkle (Limited Edition)
L-R
Ever hip, Growing trend, Mlle, Summer shower

I would like..

Everhip x3
Growing trend
Lucky green eyeshadow - Frosted mid-tone lime (Veluxe Pearl) (Permanent)
Groundcover Mid-tone warm grey (Matte) (Limited Edition)
Frosted mid-tone yellow white (Frost) (Limited Edition)

and possibly
Metallic hunter green (Satin) (Limited Edition)

What is on your wishlist?

Thankyou for reading
xx

p.s My MAC giveaway ends in 2 days, so don't forget to enter!!

Images from Temptalia

Monday 18 April 2011

barry m - instant nail effects white♥

I purchased the new Barry M nail effects in white yesterday. They had the blue and pink one there too, but I was very good and just bought the one. I'm thinking this will look cool over pastels for spring and summer. Over the weekend I have been wearing 'four leaf clover' by china glaze which is really bright green. I tend to wear this when my poor little nails all snap as it is about the only brightly coloured nail polish I can face wearing when my nails are short. Weird but true.

Anyways onto the notd - notice the 'white' nail effects has actually turned YELLOW when I applied it! Why is this? I waited for the green to properly dry aswell. Oh well it's not too bad. I'm still not in love with these shatter type polishes, but I do like this white one better than the black one. I'll probably give it one more chance over a pastel nail polish before I make up my mind.
My nails all snapped! :(

So what do you think? Love or loathe the shatter/crackle nail polishes?

Thankyou for reading
xx

p.s you can enter my MAC giveaway here. Not long left now.

Wednesday 13 April 2011

new lipsticks & a fab freebie♥

I had three b2ms to trade in last week, so off I trotted to Meadowhall (again) to get me some lovely lippies. I hadn't really thought about what I wanted before going so had a completely open mind. When I got there I decided I wanted to get some colours slightly out of my comfort zone. After what seemed like 100 swatches I decided on..
costa chic - frosty light coral. This is my favourite of the three. I kind of bought it because of the hype that seems to surround it. When I got home and tried it, I actually really liked it! I am thinking this will look even nicer in the summer with abit of a tan.

 politely pink - dirty pink frost.  I would never go for a lipstick as pale as this but when I swatched it and saw how glossy it is, I had to have it. I don't love it on its own but layered it looks fab!

please me-muted-rosy-tinted pink. such a pretty everyday colour, very pigmented, I love it.

  After I had chosen my lipsticks, I only purchased 2 palettes and shale in pan form, which is great because I would have normally gone mad in there. I was so proud! I didn't bother with pictures of the palettes and eyeshadow, as I'm sure you all know what they look like ;P

On the way home I got an email from MAC about the free haute and naughty mascara (£17.50!) that they were giving away for free with all orders, plus free shipping!! So I hot footed it onto the MAC site and placed two cheeky orders, thus getting two free mascaras!! I ordered 'Impassioned' lipstick and 'mischievous mint' nail polish from the Quite Cute collection.
The lipstick is lovely. I don't think I would use it as a full one lipstick because I don't have the confidence for it, but I do like using it as a lipstain though and it looks really pretty with a bit of clear gloss over the top.

The mascara I have used once on the 'dramatic' setting, as I don't really do natural lashes. It is very black and gives the lashes the perfect amount of volume and length. One thing I hate about it is the smell though. Phew, it smells of poison.

The nail polish is beautiful and although I thought I had something similar in my collection, I actually don't. It is a very pale, creamy mint, obviously. I am yet to try this as I'm still wearing 'Teenage dream', but I will get a notd up soon :)

Some lipstick swatches
Whilst I was browsing the lipsticks in MAC, I made a mental wishlist of the ones I want to purchase for summer. They include..

♥girl about town♥
♥vegas volt♥
♥pink nouveau♥
♥sandy b♥

What is your favourite summery lipstick? Let me know and I'll check it out!

Thankyou for reading
xx

Monday 11 April 2011

teenage dream♥

I apologise for not blogging in almost a week! Same 'excuse' as always I'm afraid. Had my niece and nephew alot last week and by the time their bedtime rolls round, I don't have a scrap of energy left. So sorry about that.

I thought I would show you OPI's teenage dream from the Katy Perry collection, as I absolutely love it!! It's almost a quarter of the way down already. Obviously as its a glitter it lasts a lot longer on the nails than a traditional nail polish, making it perfect for my busy week, last week!
Ahh it's just so pretty and easy to wear. I think I need a back-up!
Have you tried this nail polish?

Thankyou for reading
xx

p.s you can enter my MAC giveaway here

Tuesday 5 April 2011

favourite 'drugstore/highstreet' eyeshadows♥

I know I waffle on about MAC all the time, but believe it or not I do LOVE 'drugstore' makeup. It probably makes up 50% of my collection. There are some great quality products out there, for great, affordable prices. Today I thought I would show you a few of my favourite eyeshadows. I may do a part two to this as I have a few more that I forgot to take pictures of. ooops.
Bourjois eyeshadow '74'. I believe these were re-formulated at some point last year. Now the majority of them are really smooth and very well pigmented. This particular brown is one of my favourites out of the entire line. £5.99 each, available here

MUA eyeshadows in shade 11 and 12. I love MUA eyeshadows, so I may do a post about them, as I think I have 10! For £1 these eyeshadows really are amazing, everyone should own at least one. Number 12 is very much like 'club' by MAC. Its that gorgeous brown with a green duochrome to it. beautiful. Shade 11 is a taupe. They are both incredibly pigmented and very smooth. As they are only £1 I didn't expect these to last above a couple of hours on my eyes but they did very well and lasted just as long as my beloved Urban decay and MAC eyeshadows!! £1 each available here

Accessorize eyeshadow -Olive. These eyeshadows feel creamy! They are so soft, are very easy to blend and they have a gorgeous finish. They have some gorgeous eyeshadows in this 'Illusions' range especially this one 'acid lime'. How gorgeous! £4 each available here

Accessorize merged eyeshadow - golden brown. This is a really pretty, shimmery chocolate brown with gold veining. As they are baked they can be applied wet for a dramatic look or dry for a soft, shimmery eye. £4.50 each available here

All about face - blue lagoon. This was a total random purchase when I was bored in Tesco. It is very, very bright and although I don't wear it very often, I would definately recommend these eyeshadows if you are on a budget, as they pack a good amount of pigmentation and blend fairly easily. £1.50 available at tesco.

Like I said, I have a few more favourites which I will probably blog about soon.

Thankyou for reading
xx

P.S You can enter my MAC giveaway here

Saturday 2 April 2011

illamasqua; gamma, purity and radium♥

I thought I would do a quick post about a few nail polishes I have been loving lately. I very rarely get excited for nail polish collections, but when I saw the nail polishes due for release with the Illamasqua 'toxic nature' collection, I knew the pastel shade 'purity', and two brights, 'radium' and 'gamma' had to be mine.
I purchased 'radium' when I visited London, and then I ordered 'gamma' and 'purity' with my ASOS groupon. They are £13.50 each, and you get 15ml of product.
These nail polishes apply like a dream. Really smooth, great coverage and they last a good few days before they show any signs of wear. I know alot of people expect a nail polish that costs £13.50 to last a lot longer than a few days, but as nail polishes normally chip on me within a few hours, 2-3 days is amazing to me.

'radium' is described as an acidic lime with chartreuse micro shimmer. My favourite of the three. I took a picture of the shimmer so you can see how pretty it is.
'gamma' is a neon orange, plain and simple. It is in your face bright, and that's what I love about it!
I smudged 'radium' and didn't even realise until I saw the pictures, sorry!! 
'purity' is a peach. I was hesitant to order this at first as I thought it looked like a models own nail polish that looks awful on me. Whilst I'm not as in love with this as the other two, I do really like it, and it's growing on me the more I wear it.

Overall I am very impressed with these polishes. They're not cheap but the quality definitely makes them worth the price in my opinion. I really want 'rare' and 'nudge' after seeing this post by jessica. How freakin' gorgeous!!
You can see the toxic nature collection here

Anyway, hope your all having a lovely weekend?

Thankyou for reading
xx

Friday 1 April 2011

too faced natural eye palette♥

I purchased this Too faced neutral eye palette about a year ago - which I'm sure you can probably tell by the state of it.
I had been admiring it for ages, and as too faced was 3 for 2 in boots at the time, I went for it.

It's a really small, cute looking palette and is great for travelling as it includes three rows of eyeshadows, separated into three looks; day, classic and fashion. It also includes three handy cards which give you step by step instructions on how to create each eye look included.
'Day' has three matte shades which are okay, but nothing special. I use heaven quite often if I'm pushed for time, swept across the eyelid with gel eyeliner and mascara, it works great. It's an creamy/ivory colour, really pigmented and one of my favourites from this palette. Velvet revolver is a taupe shade and abit blah to be honest, I don't reach for this very often as its not very pigmented either. Sexspresso is a deep brown, it has great pigment to it and I enjoy using this through the crease.

'Classic' has three shimmery eyeshadows and is my most used row. Silk teddy is my favourite eyeshadow out of the entire palette. It's a perfect peachy colour, which I love all over the lid, and around the tear ducts, its so brightening and makes you look awake, if your really not feeling it. I have had quite a few people ask what eyeshadow I had on when I was wearing this too! Push-up is lovely, and is also one of my favourites. It's a lovely bronze shade, nicely pigmented and really compliments my green eyes. Erotica is a medium brown with gold/green shimmer to it, it's pretty and very pigmented, but I must admit I rarely reach for it.
'Fashion' has some nice shadows, but for me nude beach ruins it. Its pretty to look at as its basically the same as silk teddy, but with huge, chunky glitter that sticks everywhere apart from your eyelids. Honey Pot is pretty, it's a gold and nicely pigmented, but I think this is quite similar to urban decay - half baked, which I must have ten times over in my urban decay palettes. For that reason I rarely reach for it. Cocoa puff is a lovely rich brown with very fine gold shimmers, which are hardly noticeable once applied. It is nicely pigmented also - definitely need to use this more often.
 Its quite pricey at £23.50, but as it was 3 for 2 it didn't feel too bad purchasing it, as I got an item free!
Overall I have mixed opinions on this palette, some of the eyeshadow's are gorgeous and one in particular is rubbish - looking at you nude beach! That being said I do think it is a great palette for beginners or people who travel alot. If I were to choose between this and the Urban decay 'naked' palette which this has been compared to, I would choose the naked palette, no competition.

Have you got this palette? What do you think of it?

Thankyou for reading
xx