The £20 challenge

I was inspired by Kelanjo's YouTube video and Panda Does Makeup's blog post to do Kelanjo's idea of the £20 Challenge. The challenge is having just £20 to spend on cosmetics and seeing how much you can buy with that amount of money. I think I did this at the wrong time because there are not many offers on at the moment (there is a 3 for 2 on Revlon and Prestige have an offer on some of their bronzers but that's about it) so all the things I brought were all things I wanted without any offers attached (apart from the 10% Superdrug discount). Anyway, today I got things that I would normally look at and put back but this gave me the "excuse" to buy a few things that I wanted. Anyway here's what I got:

Sleek's The Original eyeshadow palette (£4.87)

Sleek - Ink Pot in Dominatrix (£3.91)

Eyeko Beauty - Eyeko cream (£4.88)

Eyeko Beauty - Pretty Polish for neat nails (£1.94)

Eyeko Beauty - Pink Polish for neon nails (£1.94)

Collection 2000 Shimmer & Shade in No3 Just Peachy (£3.91)

This little lot came to £19.69 because I got a 10% discount on the items I brought from Superdrug. I was very pleased with everything I got, there was something very satisfying about getting a few things that I wanted without it costing a fortune and it was a really enjoyable thing to do.

MAC delivery code

For free delivery at maccosmetics.co.uk, enter 'KITTY' at checkout. This delivery code is available until 30 April 2009.

Lily Lolo Foundation Review (and my view on mineral make up)

I am going to start off by saying why hadn't I tried mineral foundation before? It's because I never liked the idea of powder being my foundation, how would this work exactly without it looking powdery? How would it blend into the face? It just never made any sense to me. If I couldn't have tried a sample from the Lily Lolo website then I doubt I would have bothered ever to buy a pot of mineral foundation, it never got my interest. How wrong could I have been? This maybe the type of foundation that actually suits my skin. My skin usually breaks out a little even with products I am overall pleased with, I figured this was all part of it, acne prone skin and foundation will always lead to some break outs - until now...

I have been using Lily Lolo mineral foundation everyday for a while now and I just can't say enough about how pleased I am with it. Firstly, I ordered samples off the Lily Lolo website and it was so easily to find a shade that worked with my skin tone. I think the shade looks completely natural on me (I am the shade Warm Peach). The application buffed into my skin really easily with no problems - no cakeyness and didn't look powdery like I was expecting, not even on my forehead where I have fine lines so I was a little shocked. This foundation is completely buildable. You can build a little into your skin or can keep building until you are happy with the amount of coverage you are looking for. It feels really light on your skin , weightless and completely natural, not heavy at all. I also find that it lasts all day and doesn't sweat off the skin.

In the first few days of using this foundation, I thought the overall condition of my skin felt healthier and softer, I don't notice it now but that might be because I am used to the difference.

I have been wearing this everyday and I have not had any breakouts or redness from using this infact, my skin looks really clear at the moment (I feel so lucky right now). I noticed the most difference when I went away for the weekend and took my Nars Oil Free foundation, I do like this foundation but I noticed that my skin was looking less healthy and more red than it had been when I had used liquid foundation for a few days.

Lily Lolo has very few ingredients in it and is inexpensive - it's £12 for a 10g pot in comparison to a whopping £17.50 for Bare Escentuals Bare Minerals 3g pot.

My opinion would be that I would recommend this foundation because I have only had positive results from this foundation.

My recent pick-me-ups!

I thought I would do a post on the items I have brought over the last month and what I thought to them. Bobbi Brown Platinum Pink Shimmer brick - I really like this, it look fab on the cheek bones and cheeks either over or under your blusher, worn alone it a very soft subtle pink. I am really pleased because it really enhances your cheeks and am debating to go out and buy another shimmer brick from the permanent range because I am so pleased with it. Any recommendations?

Mac's Peppermint Patti Nail Lacquer- I was really disappointed with this, it took three coats to get a half decent finish, that in my book does not make a good nail varnish. I only brought this because I couldn't find the Barry M 304 and it felt like I had looked in every Superdrug and Boots across the West Midlands. I still look when I go into either of these, just in case...

Mac's Perfect Topping MSF - This is a lovely, it makes the top of my cheek bones look great! I am really pleased with this, it is not too glittery and working really well as a highlight. This and the Bobbi Brown shimmer brick has given me a bit of a fetish for highlighters!

Mac's 109 brush -I use this to buff in my mineral foundation (another one of my new loves) and love it! This is a great brush and by the sounds of it, a multifunctional one!

Bare Escentuals Bare Minerals Foundation - I brought a little pot of this because I was loving wearing mineral foundation. It was like I was just browsing one minute, being colour matched the next and then coming away with this lovely little pot. I had actually gone there the previous Saturday and they were giving away samples as a one off offer and because my skin didn't react and break out when I tried out the sample, I think I knew this would happen on some unconscious level...

Mac lipstick in Bubbles - I brought Bubbles because it can be used to tone down my deeper colours (it's a white glaze) and also I found myself thinking that maybe lipsticks like Barry M's 101 and 100 would work on me with this as a base. I looked at it as a really 'useful' product to own.

Mac lipstick in Angel - I had wanted Angel for a while, when I first thought about buying Angel, I brought Snob instead and I wished I had brought Angel because Snob is OK but Angel is nicer on me. I think that Angel is very similar to Mac's Creme Cup, Creme Cup is from the cremesheen range but Angel is a frost.

Mac lipstick in Lollipop Loving - What can I say about Lollipop Loving? It's gorgeous and it looks gorgeous on, even my hubby agreed with that!

Gosh Velvet Touch Eyeliner pencil in Silver Screen - These are great, they last all day and they have some great shades. I love this, I am wearing it today with a neutral eyeshadow and mascara and it looks fab.

Batiste Dry Shampoo - I wish someone had told me about this years ago. I have really greasy hair and I was washing my hair everyday but now I use this in between days. This really helps because now I can use this rather than feeling greasy all day and my hair feels fine, it doesn't feel greasy like I would have expected. This is probably one of the best inventions ever!

Rimmel Lipstick in Foxy - I brought this because dollyisglitter mentioned this in one of her videos (when she was still making videos) and made a comparison with a lipstick by Yves Saint Laurent so I thought I'll go buy the cheap version instead. It is a lovely colour, a pink nude and I love pink nudes. I'm wearing this at the moment.

Cath Kidston bag, a compact mirror and L'occitane Hand Cream - I thought I would include these because I picked them up when I went away over the Easter break and thought I would share them with you guys. I haven't used any of these yet.

I also have Mac's Love Rock on my desk because I ordered it online and it came today. I brought Grand Duo when they came out, I had two others in mind that I wanted - this one and Moon River. They are really well pigmented and I find I only need a tiny bit and because I was pleased with Grand Duo I decided to order my second favourite. I think I have a thing about blushers at the moment too. Is there anything I don't have a thing about?

Superdrug Voucher

If any of you guys from the UK shop in Superdrug, you may or may not know this already but you probably get a voucher (it looks like a receipt) everytime you shop in there that you pay little or no attention to. It looks like this:

I used to chuck these away, thinking they were rubbish until an assistant told me that if I logged onto the website that’s on the voucher (superdrugfeedback.com), filled in the short survey and wrote the code on the voucher on completion, you will get 10% off your next shop. I was also told that you can do this as many times as you like as long as you have one of these vouchers. The only thing with this is that you need to spend £10 or more and it cannot be used on multiple buys such as 2 for 1’s. Every time I get one of these, I fill in the online survey and use my 10% off. It really is worth doing.

I just thought I would share this with you guys.

What’s in my make up bag right now?

...Always a load of lip products.

Here are my delights that I am carrying around with me at the moment and I do like to change these around. The only other things I carry around with me are Burt’s Bees Cuticle Creme and a hand cream (I have Soap and Glory Hand Food at the moment but I intend to go back to good old faithful Nivea crème after this has run out.) I don’t tend to carry anything else around with me because I don’t reapply or touch up any other make up I’m wearing.

So, we have:

A Hello Kitty make up bag that was from H&M and a No7 mirror that was a free gift.

Gosh Lip Jams in 106 and 100 – I jumped on the bandwagon with these when Superdrug had a 3 for 2 on all Gosh cosmetics. Super sticky but I love the way these look on my lips, 100 is amazing.

Barry M Lip Paint in 129 and 136 – I brought 129 before MAC‘s Lavender Whip and Fashion Mews came out. I also brought 100 and 101 at the same time (it was a cold December). Neither of these two suit me, but I fell in love with 129. 136 is a gorgeous golden bronze and I apply this a lot at work.

Nars Greek Holiday – This is gorgeous nude with glitter in it, I love this but I wish it lasted longer on my lips. (Is this a common theme with Nars lip glosses? I still want Female Trouble...).

Benefit’s Rush Hour – I have had a while, I love this on my lips, it looks absolutely gorgeous and is a kind of a plummy brown. I haven’t worn this for ages, I will put this on for a change after my morning coffee.

Benefit's Her Glossiness in Kiss You and Talk to My Agent – This is part of a gift set and I have two more of these. This is in my make up bag because I love Talk to My Agent and I wore it to a job interview a couple weeks ago, I should really get a full size one.

Gosh’s Darling – The nude that suits me!

Mac’s Pervette – I love this pink lilac glaze!

Benefit’s Skinny Dip – This is a pink nude, I prefer pink nudes to beige nudes. I like the feel of these but I don’t think these last as long in comparison to a MAC lipstick.

Benefit’s Lady’s Choice – This is a beige nude.

Yves Saint Lauren Rouge Volupte in No1 – I absolutely love these (I only have this one). It feels great on the lips, smells lovely and looks great on the lips too. This is a pink nude.

Superdrug’s The Little Green Tin – This was from my Secret Santa in a bag full of goodies, I also got a heated eyelash curler, some Garnier Wipes and a Simple face mask (my Secret Santa clearly knows me too well).

Vaseline’s Rosy Lips – Great for a bit of moisture on the lips when you want a little bit of red shimmer (I have it on now). I prefer Benefit’s Benetint because I find it has more pigmentation.

My Top 3 Mascaras

I have decided to go ahead and choose my favourite mascaras at this point in time. I say that because I want to try some others that might completely blow me away (chance would be a fine thing, I think what I am looking for in a mascara is one that will basically act like false eye lashes and to be honest is that ever going to happen?)

Anyway the three that I have chosen are:

Max Factor’s False Lash Effect – I brought this mascara in January and I remember not being that impressed the very first time I used this (I think this stems to the whole false eye lash thing I always expect) but after that I thought it was one of the best mascaras I have ever tried. I use this most days now, it is a little hard to remove but I now feel it’s worth it.

Yves Saint Laurent Volume Effect Faux Cils – I know that everyone raves about this mascara and with good reason – it is perhaps the closest I have got to my natural lashes looking their best. I love this mascara, I would repurchase this over and over again if it wasn’t a high end brand (it costs about £20) and I found it had a very short life of about 1-2 months.

Clinique High Impact Mascara – This was a tough choice for me for two reasons. I wanted to choose Mac’s Plush Lash but thought I can’t really because this irritates my eyes and it doesn’t seem right to choose something as a favourite when I can’t really wear it (I still do though from time to time because I do love it and I want to make sure about the whole eye irritating thing – and yes I am still correct). Anyway, back to this mascara, it was also a tough choice with Maybelline’s Define-a-Lash as well so I wore one on each eye this morning and decided on this Clinique one as it adds more length, separation and makes my lashes look fuller. I find that Define-a-Lash adds separation and length but no volume (and I am using the pink one, the one that is supposed to add volume). Clinique's High Impact mascara used to be one of my favourite mascaras when it first came out and I think it still is.

The next mascaras I want to try are a couple of higher end brands and they are Diorshow Blackout, Lancome’s Hypnose and also Maybelline’s Stiletto. I think I will always be on the look out for the next fantastic mascara even though I have found some great ones! I don’t think I will ever change.