Bloggers Made Me Buy It Tag

I love me a good tag - this one I saw over on Parisian To Be's blog and knew I had to get it on mine, not least because a beauty stash based 95% on blogger recommendations meant I would have heaps of material... Let us commence!

Who are your most influential bloggers?
Obviously, obviously Anna from ViviannaDoesMakeup - a no brainer there! I also super trust the opinion of Siobhan from LetzMakeup and Sharon Farrell. Of course, I rarely watch a Lisa Eldridge video without my blogging notebook at the ready for some product recommendations. More recently, I have been swooning over That Grace Girl and some lush picks on her part!

Who are the ones you rely on for reviews and swatches?
I don't really have an answer for the swatches part of this question other than my old friend Google, as it's rare that a blogger I follow has the exact same skin tone/hair colour combination as I do, and I find this helps make a huge difference to how a product will look on me. In terms of reviews, Temptalia is probably my first port of call, followed by Makeup Alley too.

Do you buy a product solely as a result from one review of your favourite bloggers, or do you look for more reviews from others?
I want to say that I am a good girl and always shop around with a range of reviews from different sources but I would be lying to you. I hope that now I have learnt the error of my ways as there is plenty of evidence of the disappointment I have felt when I've just bounded from one blogger's rave review to Feel Unique/Space NK/Boots.com (delete as appropriate) without doing sufficient homework.
I'm not perfect guys (hard to believe I know!)

What is your favourite item you have bought as a consequence of blogs?
Right now I think it's got to be Effaclar Duo! As you will know if you saw my Skincare Update last week I am a big fan of this little white tube and it has really helped keep blemishes at bay now that my acne is too mild for my old prescription treatment. It's also true that the new formula is some how even better than the old one.

Name five products you have bought recently based on blogger recommendations!
I am currently obsessed with the No7 Shade and Define Eyeshadow Crayons (I have 3 shades so far, for me that's a pretty big deal!). I also bought another Bourjois Rouge Edition Velvet, this time in the shade 08 Grand Cru, whose colour is beautiful but the formula appears to be seriously dodgy. I have also bought the Body Shop Honey Bronzer, Origins VitaZing and Clinique Anti Blemish Solutions Clearing Gel in recent times too.

And we will leave it for the tag there (I deleted some questions I felt were too repetitive!)

I hope this tag sparks you to get answering these questions too - if you do this tag please let me know so I can show some lovin'!

July Favourites

Well well well, what have we here? It's a favourites video folks, and it's just for you... enjoy!

Sunday Wishlist #2 The Brush Edition

I love, love, love me a good wishlist... They work to get out my spending itch in a more constructive and less bank-balance-bothering fashion, and if  I can afford to, reading other people's is the perfect spending inspo. 

This wishlist is a brush themed one as I have told myself many a time that you can never have too many brushes (or skincare... one for another wishlist!) Given that at the time of writing I am currently curating my favourite brushes from my present stash, I felt it was the ideal opportunity to give you the lowdown on what other brushes I have my eyes on...

The High End Heroes

Charlotte Tilbury's Powder and Sculpt | Louise Young's LY34 | Paula Dorf Sheer Crease | Suqqu Cheek

These lovely ladies have been on my wishlist for what feels like an eternity... Pixiwoo, Lisa Eldridge and of course Charlotte Tilbury are all responsible for the lust that I feel for these four. The Paula Dorf and Suqqu Cheek brushes in particular have been on my mental wishlist for a good couple of years now; I am thinking their purchase will have to be save for a very special occasion!

Sold On Rose Gold

Zoeva's Rose Gold Set

But of course! This particular pick has received arguably more blog coverage than any other set (with the exception of perhaps Real Techniques' Core Collection) so I won't bore you too much with its merits but good LORD it is GORGEOUS.

Bobbi Brown Beauties

Full Coverage | Face Blender | Blush | Eye Sweep | Eye Smudge

I'm a real fan of Bobbi Brown and her brushes are no exception... So far there is just one in my collection but I wouldn't say no to having a fair few more as the quality and look of these brushes is just fabulous...

Those are my choices, I hope you liked 'em - what are the brushes you are drooling over?

In Defense Of Luxury Makeup

Everyone has their vices.

For some it's smoking. Others gambling.

Mine is expensive-ass makeup.

Most people recognise that of the addictions I could have got hooked to, makeup really is a pretty harmless one - but there'll always be the odd voice that says, "But why?"

Today, I consolidate my reasons into one handy post, so that next time that voice pipes up, I can hand them a piece of paper with the URL of this page on it, and my troubles will (hopefully) be over.

1. I am pale. I have yet to find a cheaper foundation that has both matched my skin and my formula needs, so it means that when it comes to base, I am happy to pay more if it means I'm not orange.
2. The. Packaging. By and large, this is where high street brands really fall down for me and high end just sprints ahead: the frosted glass on my Giorgio Armani foundation bottle... the exquisite opening of a Chanel Rouge Allure Velvet Lipstick... And Tom Ford. Oh boy, Tom Ford.
3. That stuff is going on ma FACE. I want it to stick around... Higher end products that really work justify their price tag to me, not least as their cost-per-wear works out as pennies...
4. Colours. Some drugstore shades are up there for sure, but when I think of iconic or unique colours, I'm thinking MAC Satin Taupe, Laura Mercier Sable, Nars Cruella, Clinique Black Honey... most of the time, it's higher end brands that have the shades I love.

That's me done for now... I could of course wax lyrical for months on end, but I figure you probably have better things to be doing! Are you a high end honey or drugstore diva? I am desperate to know as always!

Mini Budget Haul

Guys, I have a confession...

I may have gone to Boots and some accidental shopping may have occurred.

If I'm honest it felt like good deals were just fighting to be exploited.

I couldn't not.

Here you go my loves!

7 Days of Makeup

In case you missed it, last week I posted my week in makeup (with products linked in the description, easily the longest description I've ever been responsible for!) and very exciting it was too.

Each look took 15 minutes or less to complete so they'll be super easy to recreate should you fancy it!

Let me know your thoughts - which day was your fave? And are there any you'd fancy a tutorial on?

Exciting News For Pale People...

It's not often that the drugstore caters to anything but medium skin tones; those of us with skin tones at either end of the colour spectrum are rarely catered to by cheaper brands.
I am planning a post about brands and products for paler girls, but I felt this couldn't wait: Rimmel have introduced a new shade, 10 Light Porcelain, to their Wake Me Up and Match Perfection lines. It's actually a match for my skin, to my shock, and while I didn't feel the need for another foundation I was still chuffed to see this addition.
The Wake Me Up Concealer hasn't come out with a paler shade, but I still feel this is a step in the right direction; let us hope other high street brands take note!

Nars Contour Blush in Paloma: Reviewed

So, recently I've been rocking a bit o' contour. Shocking probably only to me, but still, let's share this moment.

I had read an awful lot about the Nars Contour Blushes and was very eager to try them (I am too far from a Space NK to try out the Kevyn Aucoin Contour Powder... gutted). I went for the shade Paloma, the medium shade, as Olympia was too pale to do anything whatsoever on my face and surprisingly pinkish in hue. With only three shades, I'd say these contours are pretty darn limited in terms of who can wear 'em - I reckon if you're darker skin-tone-wise, you may well be disappointed.

Paloma is actually quite warm in tone (now that I've looked at a million other contours out there) and while I do think I was able to "make it work", I also think this is probably not a Holy Grail, be all and end all product, and I would urge you to do more research than I did before picking this up.

As you can tell from my little swatch on my arm, the pale shade really, really doesn't do a lot - truth be told I've now stopped trying to use it as I've yet to notice a difference from it. The swatch of the contour shade looks very warm, maybe a touch warmer than it did in real life, and on the cheeks it is cooler still -  you can see me wearing it here:

So the long and the short of this one is that Nars Paloma is a bit of a meh product for me. I think I'm just gonna have to bite the bullet and get my hands on Kevyn Aucoin's version when I get fed up with this guy.

TAG: Why do you wear makeup?

The only intro pic I could find!

This post started life as a Youtube video that was so deeply disrupted by one of our lovely cats that I figured I'd just turn my little prompt notes into a blog post and share it with you guys. This is the link to the original ViviannaDoesMakeup video that inspired this, it's an oldie but a goldie!


1) When did you begin loving makeup?
For me, it really has been a lifelong love affair. My first memories of using the stuff involve some deeply bold experimentations with Tammy Girl palettes - the turquoise blusher trend will catch on - and I remember my mum being bemusedly supportive of some of my more out-there looks. All I'm saying is, J Lo was fifteen years late to the yellow lipstick game.
  My favourite makeup adventure isn't actually one I remember but involves one of the sets my parents bought me to keep me busy during our car journey for a holiday to France. Apparently the lady at the ferry saw me, calm as you please, caked in makeup, chilling in the back of the car and was so taken in my skill and charm that we got an immediate upgrade.
  You are welcome, Mum and Dad.
  This wasn't actually a question but I started wearing makeup regularly at about thirteen or fourteen, venturing out with a simple line of brown kohl on the outer corner of my lower lashline and a super light slick of Natural Collection brown-black mascara. I was almost eighteen before my mum stopped tutting at me for wearing black mascara. I realise now she was probably right about that though!


2) How do you feel without makeup?
For the longest time I absolutely hated how I looked without makeup - I'd say from fifteen to about nineteen I was wearing makeup nearly every day. Things actually changed thanks to a mate of mine from my first uni - after hearing him bang on about how cool it was when girls were confident enough to go bear faced I was finally cool with being seen without it, and given how awful my acne was at this point, I'd say this was a pretty big deal. First and second years of uni saw me only ever opening my makeup bag (okay, makeup bags) for nights out and going bare faced as much as I could.
  Things picked up over my amazing summer as an aupair in Germany as the beautiful mum of my host family was just as much of a junkie as I am, and our mutual love of all things beauty and of course her gorgeous little girl really bonded us.
  As a teaching assistant I started out the year feeling like I had to wear a base, but eventually realised I was the only teacher in the whole school wearing foundation and figured there was absolutely no need. I did make the effort (!) to chuck mascara on every day though as I still wanted to feel I was in "work mode".


3) What do you like about makeup?
I used to be all about the creativity and reinvention side of makeup, and while I do still enjoy this I am also aware of a whole host of other reasons for my obsession.
  I really like the bond that makeup gives - it's one of those things we can pretty much all identify with and there's no easier conversation starter for me than "I love your lipstick/nail varnish/blush..." There's some kind of behind-the-scenes glamour that makeup has always held for me that I really love.
  Over recent years I have become much more confident doing other people's makeup and there's no better feeling than knowing you helped one of your friends or loved ones feel beautiful and confident for a nice occasion.


4) Three Holy Grail Products?

1. The MAC 217 is a brus any makeup lover should own, especially those wanting to up their eyeshadow game. At £18 it is an investment but not one you will regret; there is a reason this has such a cult status!
2. Giorgio Armani Luminous Silk Foundation is the foundation in my stash that I think will be the most universally adored as I have heard oilier and dry skinned fans alike waxing lyrical on its loveliness. I am combination and for me it is a fool proof winner, that looks best applied with my Real Techniques Buffing Brush (another potential HG product). L'Oreal's True Match is meant to be a dupe but as it is a drugstore brand I have found its shade range rather dodgy, whereas my Giorgio choice is always on point.
3. MAC's Ruby Woo Lipstick. I used it in one of my very first tutorials and I have been head over heels since its purchase last summer. You absolutely need a lip liner with this (and ideally MAC's Lip Prep and Prime) and if you don't like a super matte formula you may have to look elsewhere, but if you are cool with these then you will love this. The ultimate red lip.

I of course tag anyone watching to do this - if you do please leave your post or video link down below!

Nailed It: Tanya Burr's Peaches and Cream

I was ridiculously excited about Tanya's nail and lip gloss line and I truly have no idea what took me so long, but I grabbed the beautiful Peaches and Cream the other day in a Feel Unique order and I was not disappointed.

It is a few shades darker than it looks in the swatches on Feel Unique and looks slightly darker in the bottle, but I actually really love it and it is certainly very different from anything else in my polish collection (and my mum's, which is bloody massive). 

This doesn't have my favourite brush in the world, after about three days of wear chips are now appearing but my nails usually start chipping within 24 hours so this is actually pretty flamin' good. It took about two coats and I stuck my cheapy Essence topcoat on afterwards.

I am now debating what polish I am going to try out next as they are a nice size for a good price (£5.99 is a good few quid less than I was expecting!)

Quick Crahazay Liner Post

Hello lovely internet girlies and guys, I hope you're all well. Here's a few random photos of the crazy liner I did the other night (and wore out for a Christmas party last night), I hope you like them!

I won't do a full product list, as all I used was my Storm Palette, Maybelline Eyestudio Lasting Drama Gel Liner in 01 Black and Revlon Grow Luscious Mascara, also in Black.

So now you know what I get up to in the middle of the night when I'm doing my uni reading!

See you soon lovelies, I'm out on Friday night and if my makeup works well I'll show you that too!

Crazy Purple Eye and Red Lip Look

Hello lovely internet guys and girlies.

The look I have for you today is the bonkers purple eye and red lip combo I did for our friend's birthday night out.

Recently I have been rocking a more neutral look, with a shaded crease, like this one, or silver smokey eyes (which are my standby look for any night out). Feeling a bit bored with both of these colour combos I wanted to go for something completely different, so came up with a look influenced by this video by Tanya Burr and this one by Pixiwoo.

Hence, a crazy purple eye, which I originally teamed with a nuder lip, that's a bit more wearable:

^ That one was originally the whole of my face, but it came out a bit creepy, so I cropped it for you.

An hour later I was sat admiring it and then remembered the Pixi2woo video and thought, yes, a mental red lip would go with this coo-coo purple eye perfectly. Et voila. Apologies for the very silly face pulling, this was at 4 o'clock in the morning the other day:

Products I used:


Face: 
Collection 2000 Lasting Perfection Ultimate Wear Concealer in no.2 Light (actually a touch too dark for me, but the lightest I could get when I was buying concealer in a rush this summer)
MAC Matchmaster Foundation in 1.5

Eyes:
MAC Pearlglide Eye Liner in Rave (this was a limited edition purple glitter kohl liner from absolutely ages ago, but any purple creamy textured product to use as a base would work as a substitute)
Urban Decay Eyeshadow in Fishnet
This was in an old palette of my flatmate's, but Urban Decay recycle colours so frequently in their palettes that you're bound to find it again. MAC Stars & Rockets is an okay substitute, though its texture's not as satiny. I used this all over the lid, up to the crease, and under the eye pretty heavily
MAC Eyeshadow in Swish
I blended this lightly into my crease
Benefit High Beam Highlighter
I used this under my brows
Sleek Bad Girl Palette
I used the glittery purple just on the lid, more concentrated close to the lash line, but very well blended so as not to darken up the look too much
Sleek Storm Palette
I used the matte black (which is actually featured in the Bad Girl palette now I think of it) to line all around my eyes. It actually lasted really, really well.
Revlon Grow Luscious Mascara

Brows:
Sleek Storm Palette - the matte darker brown

Cheeks:
Collection 2000 Bronze Glow in 01 Sunkissed
This was one of my birthday presents from my flatmates and I really like it - I've never owned a bronzer before! It doesn't show up as much in the photo though.


Lips:
For the neutral-ish lip:
No7 Sheer Temptation Lipstick in 40 Lovely
This really is lovely - so balmy and I got it in a free gift set!
For the red lip:
Max Factor Colour Elixir Lip Liner in Red Rush
I bought a replacement of this when I lost the first, I adore it so much! I used this all over the lips as a base
Clinique High Impact lipstick in 12 Red-y To Wear


And there you have it. I hope this was of interest to you - I intend to continue to be a bit bolder with my make up in future as this was so much fun!

Cut Crease Attempt From Ages Ago :)

Hello beautiful people of the Internet!

How are we today? Good? I hope so, I so so hope so.

These are some old photos of a subtle cut crease look I attempted ages ago (before I moved to uni, you can tell from the background!)

I used my beloved Steek Storm Palette again for this bad boy - man I love the Sleek Storm Palette.

Anywho, I hope you enjoy!

 Apologies for some of the weird face pulling, I'm new to this! And also, my skin looks ridiculously shiny -  I can assure you that in real life it definitely was not like that!

Products I used


Face:
MAC Matchmaster Foundation in 1.5
MAC Studio Finish Concealer in NW20

Eyes:
Sleek Storm Palette
Basically, the golds across the lid, the browns (bar the darker, sparkly brown) in the crease with a smidge of the black, and a teeny bit of the lightest gold as a highlight
Gosh Kohl in White
I put this along the water line and all over the inner corner of my eyes - I like that it makes the black eyeliner look a bit more graphic and cool!
Maybelline Eyestudio Lasting Drama Gel Liner in 01 Black (on the upper lash line)
Max Factor False Lash Effect Fushion in Black

Cheeks:
Bourjois Blush in Lilas d'Or

Lips:
Benefit Benetint Lip Balm
Vaseline Rosy Lips

Et voila! The video I used to learn about cutting my crease is this one by Ronnie at Bows and Curtseys. I would wear this look to go out at night, or on super hot dates!

Have a lovely day lovely people!

Max Factor Colour Elixir Lip Liner Review

Hello beautiful people of the internets :)

So there was a bit of a gap between my last post and this one, but in my defence, I did move out of the home I have lived in for the last twelve or so years and start life on my own as an adult at uni.

Being a student, I thought I'd never be buying makeup again, but the other day saw be in Boots spellbound over the new Max Factor Colour Elixir Lipsticks and Liners.

The lipsticks look beautiful, but at £7.99, I felt they were too much - plus I have all the lipsticks I want at the moment. I was however completely in love with the new liners, and went for the £4.99 lip liners, in the shade no.10 Red Rush.

First of all, wow. It is a gorgeous, true red that surely must look beautiful on all skintones.

Here's a poor attempt at a colour swatch:

And a photo of me wearing it, getting my chic on:

Just showing you my shrine to the queen of chic, Audrey Hepburn:

I love how matte it is - it's everything I had hoped Revlon's Matte Lipstick in Really Red would be, and it feels so light compared to Revlon's Matte Lipsticks.

Another silly one for fun!

Have you guys tried any of the Max Factor Elixir Lip Liners? I'm thinking of buying more colours, maybe a nuder one, and it'd be nice to get other people's thoughts.

MAC Matchmaster Foundation Review

So this is a newbie for both MAC and myself - I've had another MAC foundation (namely the Moistureblend) but this is almost completely used up, so my friend Corinne and I went on a trip to treat ourselves at the MAC shop on Cannon Street, Birmingham.

What MAC says:
New Foundation technology using translucent pigments to enable a fully personalised finish influenced by the subtleties of your skin's own undertone. Moisturising demi-matte finish. Medium buildable coverage. Line-reducing soft-focus powders.
A virtually "invisible"foundation with coverage influenced by your own skin tone. A breakthrough patented formula technology with a spectrum of 14 light to deep dark shades. Discover shade intelligence!

My skin is most definitely combination - to the point that the MAC lady admitted being surprised by just how dry my skin was, though it looks very oily on the T-zone. As I was after something matte and medium coverage, this one was perfect and so far, I have been really impressed with it.

"Invisible" definitely should stay in inverted commas - when I first put this on, it's very noticeable, but if you leave it to sit for about ten to fifteen minutes it becomes very natural, but if you're skin's as bad as mine you won't be fooling anyone that your skin is bare.

I tend not to powder this, as I like the finish as it comes and it is fairly long lasting (and I don't use primer, either, so that'd probably make it last even longer).

Oh, and I like that they're not using the NC/NW descriptors for this - it makes picking a colour a touch more straightforward for muggins like me that have no idea whether they're warm or cool toned.

This is my skin before:

Yummy! And immediately afterwards, without concealer or primer:

And after 15 minutes:

And there you have it. Again, apologies for the photos, but I hope this review was at least slightly helpful. I'm not a massive foundation wearer, but I've worn this quite a bit since I got it and still love it, which is pretty unusual for me!

First Ever Post

So I've had my other, rambly blog for about a year but have been thinking about starting a blog about make up for a while, and decided to bite the metaphorical lipstick bullet and get cracking this evening.

I recently vowed that any time I do a make up look that I particularly like, I'll take a photo of it, and it makes sense to stick these photos online to show people :)

So I did a super easy peasy look today, a modified version of this Adele look by Pixiwoo, and here are the results:

Products I Used


Face:
MAC Matchmaster Foundation in 1.5
MAC Studio Finish Concealer in NW20

Eyes:

Sleek Storm Palette
Annoyingly, I only have a webcam and can't figure out how to flip photos, so had to nick this photo from the internet.
I used the second colour from the left in the top row all over the lid, then built up the crease with the first four colours on the left of the top row, with a little of the warm brown colour (first shadow on left on bottom row).
I used the black to line my upper lash line, then used the lovely blue colour (third from right, bottom row) to line my lower lash line.
Maybelline Eyestudio Lasting Drama Gel Liner in 01 Black (on upper lid and both water lines).
Max Factor False Lash Effect Fusion in Black

Cheeks:
Bourjois Blush in 33 Lilas D'Or

Lips:
Benefit Benetint Lip Balm
Vaseline Rosy Lips
I am a lip balm nut and wanted a nice easy colour on the lips - I use these two together all the time instead of lipstick.


Apologies for the none too brilliant photos, but then this is my first post, right?

I think I'll do a review of the MAC foundation as my next post, as I am really impressed by it at the moment!