Lush's Sugar Babe scrub

I thought I would do a quick post about my thoughts on Lush’s Sugar Babe scrub. I went to a wedding a couple of weeks ago and brought this because I was going to use a light fake tan on my legs to take the edge off so I decided to buy this for my exfoliation.

I asked in the shop how this was to be used and the man said that you make sure your hands and body are wet and then you break a little off and rub it into your skin and you do not put the scrub underneath the water as it will dissolve really fast. He also said that you would get about four exfoliations out of one bar. Feeling really excited I paid my £2.50 and off I went.

I was very impressed with this product, I didn’t think this was like any other exfoliation product I had used before and I could see why you would get four exfoliations out of the bar because a little bit seemed to go a long way. It felt really nice on the skin, it feels rough and exfoliating to start with, then goes into this nice soft texture and I felt really soft by the end of using it. For me, this was the main difference in comparison to anything else I have used, it seems to exfoliate but dissolve into a really nice soft texture on the skin, leaving you feeling super soft. I would recommend buying this because I definitely will be.

TAG! Where do I blog?

I was tagged by WinterBlossom's Random Thoughts to do this - thank you. It has been a few days because I haven't really been on here so I shall get straight on and do this.

Where do I blog?
I blog on the sofa in my living room. I usually blog here with a few exceptions (I do the odd post at work or in the garden), the TV is usually on in the background while I write a post on my laptop.

What are you wearing?
Black trousers and a white blouse with blue stripes - see the above comment, I am at work.

Last thing you read?
The last book I read was Breaking Dawn, the last thing I actually read was an email from somebody at work.

Do you nap a lot?
No, it's very rare if I take a nap. If I do take a nap it will be after a huge Sunday roast.

Who was the last person you hugged?
My husband, before we left each other to go to work.

What's your current obsession/ addiction?
It is a brown smokey eye and I have been using either the MAC Holiday 2009 Smokey eye palette or my own combination. I'm obsessed in particular with Satin Taupe eyeshadow because it really suits me and I just love it. I'm also obsessed with the Apprentice, I have begun watching Series 1 on YouTube.

What's for dinner?
My dinner is going to be salad, potatoes and broccoli quiche (yes, I know this is not very exciting).

What was the last thing you bought?
Ambre Solaire No Streaks Bronzer Dry Body Mist Light and a Maxfactor False Lash Effect. I'm going to a wedding on Friday and I didn't want my legs to look pale white as I'm wearing a dress. I brought this because it's quick, easy and gives a lovely light glow to the legs which is what I wanted. I brought the MaxFactor Lash Effect because it was on offer and my other one has dried up.

What are you listening to right now?
Nothing, it's pretty quiet here.

If you could have one superpower what would it be?
It would be the power of persuasion.

What is your favourite weather and why?
The hot weather. I love the sun and I love it when it's hot because it makes me feel happy.

What time do you get up?
I get up at 6:50am. Yuck!

What is you most challenging goal right now?
I am trying to get a new job as I hate my current job.

Something to the person who tagged me.
Her style reminds me of me and some of the things she has said I completely agree with . I love it when she talks about "what she has learnt today".

What is you favorite item of clothing?
I have a brown Punkyfish t-shirt that I love. I don't like to wear it to much because it has started to bobble.

What is your favourite pair of shoes that you go back to over and over?
My Converse trainers but they have a rip in now because I have worn them out (they are also limited edition with flies crawling up one side).

What is the one thing you cannot live without?
I want to say something shallow here - erm. Failing miserably I will say my husband.

What time do you go to bed?
Between 11:30pm - 12:00am

Wake up anywhere where would it be?
Australia!

I tag anyone who wants to do this.

My May Favourites!

It's that time again when I do my favourites of the month. I have been a complete geek this month and actually wrote them down as I went along. I will start with the product I have fallen in love with.

Yves Saint Laurent Lipstick in Tea Rose - Love, love love it! I brought this because it's an absolutely gorgeous colour. It is a nude with a pink undertone and is the nicest colour on me. It took me by surprise that not only does a lipstick suit me this well but the fact that this is now my no 1 lipstick! Does anyone know whether this is limited edition? It's £20 but I will stock up if need be.

Benefit's Dallas - I have had this since last year and I just adore it. This requires a very light hand when applying it because I'm quite pale but it does leave me a gorgeous bronzed colour. This is not something I wear in the winter but over the summer months, this gives me a gorgeous glow. This is my no1 bronzer!

Maybelline Mineral Blush in Moonlight Mauve - This is really pretty, it's a pink mauve and when applied on the cheeks it leaves you with a gorgeous soft pink sheen. This is possibly one of my favourite blushes. These Maybelline blushes are really good, I also have Plum Alchemy and I'm impressed with both of them.

Gosh Velvet Touch Eyeliner in Silver Screen - What can I say apart from the fact it's silver and I love silver. I wear this with a flesh coloured eyeshadow and I love it! It's great as a quick make up look because it looks really pretty.

Mascara of the month: Maybelline's Lash Stiletto - This has been the mascara I have reached for everyday over the last month and it has never disappointed me. It gives great length and curl and makes my lashes stand out.

My favourites that are still going strong from last month:
Mac's Perfect Topping - I still reach for this everyday, it is turning into my 'go to' highlighter.
Lily Lolo Mineral Foundation - I go to this everyday, this is now my HG foundation.
Mac's Satin Taupe - This is one of my favourite eye shadows. I never would have expected a taupe brown to ever reach the top of my list. But it has.

A Short Lived Quickie Chronicle

From left to right: The Cupcake, The Life of the Party and The Plaything of Passion

Just a quick post on what I thought to the Too Faced Quickie Chronicles. I bought these on Ebay for only £9 (see post below) and I was really disappointed. I tried them out last week and my first instincts were the eye shadows were ‘nothing special’, they are mainly matte, some have silver reflects and they are not very pigmented. I know there is nothing wrong with building up colour but when I did add layers to my lids they looked the same as when I started. The blushes are nice colours with a matte finish (a few silver reflects) but again not very pigmented, although they did seem buildable. The lip glosses were the worst - they were incredibly sheer, the deepest one (centre palette) didn't look very deep on the lips. I wanted more pigmentation out of them but my lips just looked like I wasn’t wearing anything with the lighter shades I've tried.

I haven't tried everything from the three books and I doubt I will.

Ebay = Cheap Make-up

I'm sure all you lovely ladies know that Ebay is great for picking up make-up bargains and on Sunday I decided to order a few bits. It all started the day before when I went by a Too Faced counter and noticed a pile of little books on the side that were still in their cellophane, looking all new and shiny that were not properly displayed on the counter. I picked up the tester and it was a Quickie Chronicle - I hadn't seen one of these in the flesh before and it reminded me of the searches I had done on Ebay a while ago. There I was the next day sitting in the lovely sun searching once again for Too Faced Quickie Chronicles.

I found these three:

• The Plaything of Passion


• The Life of the Party


• The Cupcake

These are just the mini ones but the larger ones can be found on Ebay as well. I did expect them to be bigger but only because I wasn't sure how big the mini ones would be. The seller was completely accurate in the descriptions, they are unused and they were really good value at £5.99 + £2.99 for postage and packing. I cannot believe it - at just nine quid. I think I'm going to enjoy having a play with these!

10 Minute Make-up

I have realised that I have a certain look that I go for if I only want to do something really quickly that looks pretty too.

These are the products I use:

• Urban Decay's Blunt all over the lid and Gosh Velvet Touch eyeliner in Silver Screen to line my top lash line ( a thick line as it's the main feature of the look) or


• Mac Silver Pigment swept over the lid up to the crease


• Mac Technokohl liner in Graphblack to line my waterline


• Mascara


• Lily Lolo mineral foundation


• Benefit's Dallas as my blush colour


• Bobbi Brown Shimmer brick in Bronze to highlight

What are your quick make-up looks?

MAC Nail Lacquers

I have to firstly say that I'm not "that into" nail varnish - until I started reading blogs and posts about nail varnish. Now I am want, want, want. I have bought some Barry M ones, three of those little Eyeko ones and MAC - which I wished I hadn't wasted my money on! I bought two nail lacquers - Peppermint Patti and On The Prowl from the Hello Kitty collection. I was incredibly disappointed with both of these, the Peppermint Patti was awful, it took me three coats to get it to a semi decent finish and then On The Prowl was no better. I can really see a difference in consistency when I compared these to the Barry M nail paints - which take two coats maximum and my nails look great.

I bought Barry M's Mint Green off the website in the end (I gave up looking in Superdrug even though it has now finally reached the shops) and I'm so pleased I did because the MAC equivalent was dreadful. I will definitely not be buying any more MAC nail lacquers because of the poor quality of these two. They seem to be thin in consistency, do not give good coverage, do not coat my nails the way I think they should and they chip easily. It's Barry M all the way for me from now on because they are less than half the price of MAC - and better quality. What do you think to MAC nail lacquers, are they any good? Is it just me?

What I think to Sleek Make-up

I'm working from home today (yes I am very lucky) so I thought I would write a quick blog post about my thoughts on Sleek make-up. I have recently bought the Sleek Original and Storm eyeshadow palettes and a couple of the Ink Pots.

Sleek is reasonably priced at £4.87 for the eyeshadow palettes and £3.91 for the Ink Pots. They are not only value for money but I also think they are really good products. The Original eyeshadow palette (on the left in the picture) are all shimmer eye shadows and are quite bright colours, the Storm palette (on the right) are neutral colours with a mixture of both shimmer and matt finishes. The eye shadows give a really good colour payoff, they blend easily, the mixture of the colours in the palettes work really well together and all complement each other.

The ink pots are gel eyeliners and I bought Dominatrix which is a black and Stone Cold which is a shimmery grey. I was about to go and buy the Bobbi Brown gel eyeliner because it is one the best gel eyeliners out there but then when I bought this and tried it I thought I won't need to visit the Bobbi Brown counter just yet. The black one is softer and creamier in texture than the grey one, this one is harder and less creamy which I actually prefer because I find it a little easier to work with. They also stay in place, don't smudge once set and they are very easy to work with. I have began wearing Stone Cold everyday because it looks great with pink eyeshadow (I wear pinks alot, especially to work). I have been using Clinique's brush-on cream eyeliners prior to these and I actually prefer these to the Clinique liners.

Overall, I would recommend all these products because the eye shadows are highly pigmented and the eyeliners stay in place, are easy to work with and are all very reasonably priced.

As I am a Mascara Fiend…

…I had to try Maybelline’s Lash Stiletto.

I did a post last month where I gave you my top three mascaras and I would say that this would replace one of my three. This mascara gives great length and separation and doesn’t clump yet it does thicken your lashes. It doesn’t give you great amounts of volume, I think it gives more curl, length and separation as opposed to volume but I think it gives my lashes a great amount of length. I am really pleased with it, it doesn’t irritate my eyes and it doesn’t flake although I think it smudges a little bit by the end of my working day. This would replace my Clinique High Impact Mascara as one of my three and I would repurchase Stiletto over the Clinique mascara. I'm so fickle...

I’m thinking about buying Bourjois’ Night Clubbing next because I have looked at the brush and it’s just like Mac’s Plush Lash and seeing that I loved that mascara (and I think it’s the brush and the way you use it why that makes that mascara work so well) that I might try this because it might not irritate my eyes! Have any of you guys tried this mascara?

My April Favourites!

There are not many of these this month.

Lily Lolo Foundation – I love this foundation – I don’t think I can say that enough. It works really well with my skin, this is the foundation I now go to everyday.

MAC Satin Taupe eye shadow – This is the eye shadow I have been picking up when I want to feel good, it really suits me and I love it! I've had this a little while but I've suddenly realised how much I love it!

Urban Decay Shakedown eye shadow – This is not an eye shadow that I thought would have suited me as it’s a green eye shadow with a dark undertone. I wear this as a daytime shadow and it really makes my eyes stand out.

MSF in Perfect Topping – I have been using this as a highlight and it looks fantastic, high lights the cheeks and the cheek bones really well and doesn’t show up my pores or my fine lines. This is perhaps my favourite highlighter.

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.

Gutted

I was wondering around Superdrug just looking at make up - this includes looking at things I already own (I know – crazy), I was just about to leave when I walked past MeMeMe and I noticed something that looked familiar – a dupe of Benefit’s Posietint. I would have been ecstatic because this is I something I had wanted since it first came out by Benefit and would have picked one up straight away but I brought Posietint a month ago. The reason I am so gutted is because MeMeMe do a few dupes by the higher end brands and they are really good, so if I had waited I would have brought this for £4.88 instead of spending £22.50.

Gutted…If only I had waited.

Lily Lolo Mineral Foundation

After watching Emma’s (from Magpie Sparkles) video on her mid March favourites and she mentioned Lily Lolo mineral foundation and how fantastic it was I thought I’m going to try this. I went straight on the website and ordered four samples, they came on Saturday and I found my perfect match, I have been using it everyday since and I ordered a full size one last night! I think this is a great foundation, it looks really natural, it gives good coverage, it is easy to apply, lasts all day ( it doesn’t flake off) and it seems to be really good for my skin (I think it has actually helped the clump of spots I had clear up). I’m used to wearing a foundation that after a few days breaks me out, but with this foundation, my skin feels soft, clear and in really good condition. I just can’t believe I have found something that works this well on my skin that I can use every single day! - Thank you Emma.

I also performed the test that gossmakeupartist performed in one of his videos to find out how good your mineral make up is and how good the SPF is in it. Now, this foundation actually failed this test because it sank to the bottom of the water straight away, I figured I didn’t care because SPF is not something I care about in my foundation because I use a moisturiser and a primer with SPF and because it seems to be so good for my skin, I thought it works for me and that is good enough for me.

Kreativ Tag

The lovely Lazula80 tagged me for this - Thank you Lazula!

List 7 things that you love, and then pass the award on to 7 bloggers that you love! Be sure to tag them and let them know that they have won. You can copy the picture of the award and paste it on our sideboard letting the whole world know...you are Kreativ

1. My husband

2. Make up shopping (well, of course)

3. Pixies (the band, not actual pixies)

4. Music

5. My cats

6. Food

7. The Summer

I tag the following blogs (I'm not sure how this works because I'm going to list bloggers that don't actually follow me or bloggers that have already been tagged by others but I want to include their blogs).

1. Magpie Sparkles

2. Lazula80 (I know that she has been tagged and tagged me but I like her blog so she is worth a mention)

3. Lips and Lashes

4. Mizz Worthy

5. We Are Glitter

6. Rosie

7. ohmakemeup

Hello Kitty

I did buy a few things from the Hello Kitty range. When I went to Mac on Thursday I was actually quite surprised I guess. I expected the emphasis to be on the packaging rather than the colours but I actually really liked the colours in this range. When I looked at the lipsticks and lip glosses especially I had difficultly making up my mind what I should buy. I went there thinking I will get Fashion Mews and She Loves Candy lip gloss, however, I really liked Most Popular because it's a lovely deep plum/berry colour (a colour I thought I would love to wear) and Sweet Strawberry.

I wasn't drawn to any of the eyeshadow palettes, out of the two I would choose Too Dolly, but I found myself thinking it would be a set of shadows I would hardly use and if I really wanted to I could make up a palette just like it from Mac's permanent colours making a few alterations to fit my taste.

I decided to buy Fashion Mews, Most Popular, Tippy blush and Pink Fish. The lipsticks look really nice as I had hoped, I tried Tippy blush over the weekend and I am really pleased with the way it looks on me (Tippy is a deep pink with a sheen to it), nicely surprised by it because it looks nicer than I thought it would. Pink Fish lip conditioner gives a nice light pink colour to the lips. There is not a lot to say about this, maybe I was sucked in by the packaging on this and the way the colour looks in the little jar....

My Latest Products

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A Few of My February Favourites!

I thought I would do a post on the make up products I have been using and loving in February.

MaxFactor False Lash Effect - I have been swapping between mascaras at the moment, I have been swapping between Maybelline The Colossal, Clinique's High Impact mascara (which I remember it being one of my favorites but when I brought this recently and used it, it didn't give the results I thought I remembered) and my newest buy Maybelline Define-a-lash, the pink one. I tried my MaxFactor mascara again on Thursday and because I had been changing my mascara around, I realised this this was the best mascara for me, giving my lashes lots of volume and really making them stand out.

MeMeMe Beat the Blues in Sun Beam - I have been using this since I brought it (I brought it a week ago) and love it as a highlighter, I think I actually prefer this to my Benefit High Beam. I am going to buy the MeMeMe pink one so I can make a like for like judgement.

Laura Mercier Oil Free Tinted Moisturiser - I have been wearing this a lot for work lately and really like it, it gives a sheer coverage and my skin doesn't react to it, I don't get any break outs with this and my skin feels comfortable.

Nars Oil Free Foundation - I have been wearing this as well and again I love this because it works well with my skin and I don't break out with this foundation. I guess I have worked out that even with acne prone skin, I can find products that don't necessarily lead to me breaking out in spots.

MAC Technakohl Liner - I love using this on my waterline, it's quick and easy to use and lasts for ages. Since I have discovered this, I have been lining my waterline everyday.

Nars Laguna and Deep Throat - I use both of these together and I love the way they look. Deep Throat is a gorgeous colour and looks great on my cheeks, when I pair this with Laguna, my face looks healthy and vibrant.

On another note, I finally got Bobbi Brown: The Make Up Manual through the post on Saturday which I had been waiting for for a month and I have to say my first impression is that it looks like it's going to be a really good book. It looks like it going to cover a whole range of areas from basics to complicated skills. I can't wait to get stuck in.

What are your favourites at the moment?

Brushes from IMATS

I did say I would do a review on the brushes I brought at the IMATS once I had used them. I brought a flat bronzer brush (I had wanted one of these for ages), an angled liner brush, a fine tip eye liner brush, a deluxe crease brush, a lip brush (these were all crown brushes), an angled cheek brush and a brush that can either be used for concealer or cream shadow that were by a company called youcosmetics. Overall I am very pleased with most of the brushes I purchased (the fine eyeliner one has already splayed on me).


Flat bronzer brush (Crown) - this distributes the product really well; it seems to hold just the right amount of product on the brush and blends in really easily.

Angled liner brush (Crown) – This is probably the one I am most pleased with because the ones I already own are both scratchy and rough to use or do not apply product or do a good line, but this is soft yet applies a good line underneath my eye (and it cost £2). I don’t use this for eyeliner, I use this to apply shadow underneath the eye.

Fine liner brush (Crown) - This applied a fine line easily, however, I have recently just washed this and it has splayed on me.

Deluxe crease brush (Crown) - A crease brush was something I had wanted for a while and this one is tapered, dense and has an angle to it so it gets just the right product in the crease and blends and distributes it well.

Lip brush (Crown) – I think this is a good brush, it applies lip products easily to my lips and the texture of the bristles are very similar to my Mac 316. It is also retractable so it can be carried around with me so it comes in quite handy. I like to use lip brushes when the product is too dominant on me otherwise, for instance I can’t wear Barry M’s 101 unless I use a brush to apply it.

Angled cheek brush (youcosmetics.com) - I brought an angled cheek brush because I wanted an alternative to when my other one is drying from being washed, this is good, it places cheek colour on my cheeks well. I like the angled brushes because they tend to distribute the cheek colour in just the right area.

Concealer/ Cream shadow brush (youcosmetics.com) - There is not a lot to say about this one, it is fairly wide and I like it for concealing my blemishes, I haven’t used it for cream eyeshadow because I would rather use something smaller.

Nars Oil Free Foundation

I decided to try this foundation because I wasn’t pleased with my Mac Studio Fix fluid. I went to a Nars counter and tried on the Nars Balanced foundation, (they didn’t have the oil free one that matched my skin tone). I think the difference between the two is the balanced one provides a sheer coverage and the oil free one provides medium coverage. I left this a few days to see how my skin reacted and went back a few days later and brought the Nars Oil Free foundation (even then I felt like I was taking a risk with my skin because it wasn’t the exact one I tried but I wanted medium coverage so I purchased the oil free one. I almost took this back for an exchange after I had left the counter for the balanced one but I told myself I should be ok with oil free).

I am really impressed with this foundation. When I first it applied to my skin, it felt really light yet the coverage was still flawless. I am used to feeling foundation on my skin but this was not like anything I had experienced before. I guess I usually feel that my skin feels heavy when I apply a foundation, my spots can sometimes feel itchy and irritated but this did not do this so I was surprised at how different this felt.

I found this to be a very buildable foundation; you can begin with a small amount and apply more if you want more coverage. I also found that this does not look cakey on my forehead which I find my other foundations tend to do. Even though I moisturise my forehead and then use primer, my foundation always tends to look flaky and dry on my forehead. I found that this foundation lasted all day and I didn’t feel that it slipped off my face. This foundation is a matte finish which I prefer, if I want to have a dewy finish, I mix a little of my Benefit’s High Beam to it.

The formulation is also quite thin, when you shake it you can hear it and you do not need a pump to get it out the bottle, it can just be poured out. I am directly comparing this to my Mac Studio Fix fluid. I had to go out and buy a pump because I couldn’t get it out the bottle when I tried to pour it out. The formulation is definitely a lot thicker with the Studio Fix fluid and when I apply this on my skin, I find this very heavy and it breaks me out if I wear it all day (something the Nars foundation hasn’t done) and it’s not a foundation I find buildable. I guess I’m not a fan of Mac foundations considering my review on the studio fix powder foundation.

Tag! A Few Random Questions About Beauty

I was tagged by Lazula80 to do this tag, so enjoy!

What’s your favourite eye shadow colour to wear? Silver

What’s the one product you wouldn’t leave your house without? A lipstick

What’s your favourite makeup look – high drama OR natural? Definietly high drama, I love experimenting with different intense looks. To be honest when I do a natural look, I like something to stand out (if I do natural eyes for example I will put on a dramatic lipstick).

Which feature do you play up the most? My eyes

Which feature do you try to downplay/cover up? My skin

Your favourite makeup brand, if you could pick only ONE to exist? I can't do this, sorry. (For instance with Mac I love their eyeshadows but i'm not keen on their foundations but i love Nars for their blushers and foundations).

Which product have you re-purchased OVER and OVER again? Benefit's Some Kind-a Gorgeous

Which product would you NEVER repurchase again and why? Studio Fix Powder Foundation because it brought me out in spots.

One beauty treatment you would always PAY to have done? Colouring my hair, I would never do this myself.

One beauty treatment you would NEVER pay to have done? I would pay for anything to be done if I could afford it.

One beauty trick you can share with everyone? Try vaseline to condition your lashes, mine are now longer because i do this and you should condition them anyway if you wear mascara a lot because it will keep them healthier and conditioned.

Best advice you've ever been given regarding beauty and makeup? Always remove make up at the end of the day before going to sleep because otherwise you are damaging your skin.

I'm not going to tag anyone, but feel free to do this if you want to.

Bye
Kloey7

My addiction to silver...!

This all started because of the book – Make Up: The Ultimate Guide by Rae Morris which I brought in September because I wanted to learn more about the application of make up and discover new looks. There are sections in this book that cover contouring, bronzing, highlighting as well as a brush guide (this book also began my addiction to make up books). There is also a section on five minute make overs and this is when I discovered the silver look which has lead me to being drawn to silver.

When I decided I really wanted to try this look and that it looked really simple to do, I decided to purchase L’Oreal HiP’s Metallic duo in Platinum from eBay, then this lead to Mac’s Silver pigment and then I was looking at Mac’s silver shadows where I purchased Electra, Idol Eyes, Silver Ring and Knight Divine.

Before I knew it, I was looking for different versions of silver. At Christmas I brought Nars Nightlife which was my first disappointment. The lady on the counter did warn me though, she told me that I would need something underneath this shadow to make it grip on – like Vaseline (I thought – what, Vaseline? Vaseline has many uses but helping your eye shadow cling on to your lid I don’t think so) or a cream eye shadow where she conveniently rubbed one of these on her hand and put Nightlife on top where it did really bring out the silver (and you couldn't see the light blue shadow underneath it). I brought Nightlife and left the cream shadow, I figured that surely my UDPP, Painterly Paintpot or trying it wet would do the trick right? Wrong, none of these worked and it barely showed up on my lid. There I went, to the nearest place that sold Nars and purchased Carioca cream eye shadow. On a positive note, when I do wear Nightlife paired with Carioca, it looks fantastic, it has glitter in it so it’s something a bit different to my L’Oreal HiP duo or my silver pigment because they don’t have much glitter in them (silver pigment has no glitter particles), they are much more pure silver and the silver pigment has a high intensity of colour when applied both with and without mixing medium.


Next I want Urban Decay’s Strip eye shadow, Dime eye pencil and Barry M’s Pale Silver dazzle dust. When will this end?

Do you have any looks/ colours that you are drawn to and can’t get enough of?

TAG! Products I am Using Right Now!

Hi,

I was tagged by Mizz Worthy to do this - this is my first tag! Thank you Mizz Worthy!

Shampoo - Elvive, the colour protecting one
Conditioner - Elvive, the colour protecting one
Styling - Remington Shine Therapy straightener and Mark Hill Heat Protection spray
Shower gel - An imperial leather one at the moment
Body Moisturiser - Soap and Glory Body Butter
Deodrant - a Nivea one
Fake Tan - I don't use it on a regular basis, when I do use it I choose Ambre Solaire No Streaks Bronzer mist for face and body.

Cleanser - Simple Facial Gel Wash or Simple Cleansing wipes or any cleansing wipes that are on offer.
Eye Make Up Remover - No7 Cleanse and Care Eye Make Up Remover
Exfoliator - Clinique 7 Day Scrub Cream

Primer - Mac's Prep and Prime
Foundation - Nars Oil Free Foundation (loving this!)
Foundation brush - Mac 187
Concealer - Mac's Studio Finish concealer in NW20
Powder - Mac's Mineralized Skin Finish Natural in medium
Blusher - Nars Deep Throat, Orgasm or Sin
Bronzer - Nars Laguna, Benefit's 10
Highlighter - Nars Albatross, Benefit's 10

Eyeshadow base - UDPP
Eyeshadows - Satin Taupe, Star Violet, Expensive pink, Silver pigment to name a few
Eyeliner - Clinique Brush On Cream liner in True Black or Smoke Grey
Eyelash curler - Not sure about the brand, it's a heated one and it was from my Secret Santa at work
Eyelash base - I don't use these
Mascara - Max Factor False Lash Effect
Lipstick - Barry M's 129, YSL Volupte in No1 and Benefit's Silky Finish lipstick in Skinny Dip
Lipgloss - Nars Turkish Delight (regardless of my post below I love this)
Nail colour - I don't paint my nails very often.

I think that's it for now.

I tag Lips and Lashes and Lazula80.

Bye

Nars Turkish Delight

I was so excited when I brought this lip gloss because I had wanted it for ages and it is my kind of colour, a cute pink that when first applied to the lips it looks gorgeous. The first time I wore it I thought this looks lush. I was really pleased – until I noticed something – that it seemed to disappear off my lips really quickly. I thought I need to give this another chance (I had just got into work and the cold could have made it disappear – as you can see I was looking for some kind of explanation). I have tried this many times now and I notice it does disappear really quickly (I'm sure it disappears after ten minutes!).

I am disappointed but I am still really pleased I bought it (ok - maybe not it did cost me almost £17), I still love the colour and I prefer the way it looks on me to Mac’s Underage, I will still wear it, it's just heart breaking when something costs you almost £17 and it’s not everything you expected it to be. I just wish it had some staying power….

What products have disappointed you recently?

Benefit's Some Kind-a Gorgeous

I love this…

When I first decided to go and try this out, I went to my nearest counter (very dangerous actually when I first started out with my obsession I loved Benefit and it’s only ten minutes walk from my workplace) and the assistant put this on my face. I left it and went away. I was very impressed, it seemed to provide sheer coverage, it felt very light yet my skin still looked covered. I went back a few days later and brought it. I am now on my third (after Studio Fix Powder failed me I found myself thinking, why mess with it if it’s not broken?)! It’s not like wearing a foundation, its very light and it provides a very sheer coverage, the main reason why I brought this was because I was looking for something that was light, sheer and quick and easy to apply in the mornings and this was all of those. It doesn’t bring me out in spots if I wear it everyday, it lasts on my skin all day but probably fades out in the evening, it doesn’t make my forehead look dry (some of my liquid foundations do this) and it’s a good base for my bronzer and my blush. I haven’t heard many positive reviews about this and I can understand why people don’t like this product, it doesn’t provide medium coverage and it isn’t like wearing foundation but for me it ticks all the boxes.

The bad points are that because it is a cream based product it doesn’t last very long, it is very expensive at £19.09 and doesn’t go far. I don’t wear this everyday because of my bad skin and I like to let my skin breath, if I did I would imagine it would run out in a few months. There are only two shades that are supposed to fit all – the regular one and a deeper one (the deeper one is fairly new) and I don’t think that this can be the case but it does work with my skin tone. The sponge doesn’t work it seems to absorb the product but then puts nothing onto your face. I use either a sponge I have brought in a pack or my flat foundation brush (both work well).

What do you use as a quick alternative to foundation?

How Mac's Studio Fix Powder Foundation disappointed me...

I brought this because I was looking for a foundation that would be quick and easy to apply in the morning before work, it sounded like it would give good coverage and wouldn’t feel heavy on my skin. I was using Benefit’s Some Kind-a Gorgeous (and I will review this in another post) which was running low and because it it’s a cream based product it doesn’t last very long and that was my reasoning to finding an alternative as I wanted to find something that would last longer.

I had done some research - I read some reviews and watched a few You Tube videos because my skin is very sensitive I put a lot of thought into buying foundation because of my acne prone skin.

I tried it on in the store, liked the look it gave me (I actually thought it gave me a sheer look which I prefer) and decided to purchase it. What I should have actually done is tried it on, left it a day or two and then brought it if I had no problems. Anyway, enough of the should haves…I wore it on my face for an entire work week and throughout the week, I slowly started to come out in spots, not everywhere just on my chin and by the end of the week, there was lots of clumps of spots all over my chin.

I was so disappointed because I heard no one complain about this product, and I was only hearing the opposite that people really like this product and I hadn’t heard anyone say that it wasn’t good for acne prone skin or that it can bring you out in spots. I wasn’t totally convinced it was the Studio Fix Powder that was doing this, so a couple of weeks ago I decided to try it again, but only for three days this time. And guess what?! It happened again, my chin came out in spots (I still have them now actually and my chin is only just beginning to recover). I decided to go back onto You Tube and do more research and there it was, underneath a Studio Fix Powder review in the comments box that an ingredient in this (isostearyl palmitate) is very comedogenic and was warning people with acne prone skin. Where was this advice when I needed it?

How do you find Mac’s Studio Fix Powder Foundation?

Vaseline as an eyelash growth product?

When I first heard that Vaseline has multiple uses including conditioning eyelashes I thought I had to look into this more. Was this a way of having longer eyelashes? If they are conditioned, are they healthier? And because of this, do they grow longer before they fall out? I did some research on this and although I only found negative viewpoints on this (mainly that Vaseline was claiming eyelash growth and for it work, it needs to reach a certain temperature). However, I went ahead and tried this anyway and I have to say I did see a difference, they look visibly longer when I’m not wearing mascara and when I do wear mascara my eyelashes look a lot longer and more noticeable (a couple of people have commented on my eyelashes as being long). I began using Vaseline in October and applying it every night before bed and by Christmas, I was noticing a difference. If you would like to try an eyelash growth product but think they are too expensive, why not try Vaseline? After all, what have you got to lose?

Mascaras, Mascaras, Mascaras

I have been trying a few mascaras out recently and thought I would do a quick review on what I thought to each of the ones I have tried.

Too Faced Lash Injection – I was really excited about trying this mascara, I had heard great things about this mascara and a formulation that I had not heard of before – that it puts little tubes around your lashes to give a false lash effect. I thought this was a complete disappointment, I don’t think it curled my lashes or added any volume, I don’t think it did anything for my lashes apart from clump them together. (It’s also very hard to remove and didn’t seem worth it!).

L’oreal Beauty Tubes – I tried this in hope that it would be a better version of the Too Faced Lash Injection, but to my dismay, this was even worse. I did the first step using the primer which I thought went on fine. Then when I applied the next coat, I found it was clumping my lashes, adding no volume or curling to my lashes. It felt like I was adding loads of mascara but all this seemed to do was clump them up. My lashes looked a mess and I haven’t used it since. Again, this was very difficult to remove.

Mac’s Plush Lash – I brought this mascara because I had heard that the brush is very different to other mascara brushes. It has a flat side that you use first to coat your lashes with the mascara and then the plush side (the bristled side) that you then use to curl and lift your lashes. I loved this mascara; I found it curled my lashes, gave them volume, separated them, I found it easy to remove and didn’t flake throughout the day. The only problem I had with this one was that it irritated my eyes and I don’t use it for that reason.

L’oreal Voluminous – On my quest to find great mascara (as good as Plush Lash) that didn’t irritate my eyes I had heard amazing things about this mascara. Overall, I found this mascara quite good, it did give lots of volume to my lashes, give lift but I also found that it sometimes clumped my lashes (this is not every time I have used this mascara but it does happen). I didn’t find this mascara very good at separating my lashes and found it could flake throughout the day.

Maybelline The Colossal – I was really pleased with this mascara. The main thing I noticed with this mascara was the way it separated and curled my lashes, it did add volume as well (not sure about 7x) but I guess with all the hype this mascara had received I expected it to be fantastic and my lashes to really stand out. I didn’t notice it flake or smudge and I would buy this again.

Maxfactor’s False Lash Effect – I really, really loved this mascara. I thought it curled my lashes, added volume and made them look longer( the benefit to this one is that my expectations were not too high because there wasn’t so much hype than with Maybelline’s The Colossal). I haven’t noticed any flaking or smudging, a little more difficult to remove than L’oreal Voluminous or Plush Lash but I still really love it! I would definitely buy this again!

Exceptionnel de Chanel – I think this is perhaps one of the best high end mascaras. I wore this on Saturday night to remind myself of what it was like and I have to say I was not disappointed. I thought this curled and separated my lashes as well as adding volume. I felt that my lashes really stood out when I used this mascara (I guess this what I expected from The Colossal), I’m not sure whether it is as good as Yves Saint Lauren’s Faux Cils but its pretty close…

My view on IMATS

On Saturday I went to the IMATS and I have to say overall, I had a great time because I was so intrigued by the different types of demonstrations taking place throughout the day especially the theatrical make up demonstrations. I watched as a young woman was transformed into a vampire, this was very exciting because of the vampire teeth and the fake bruises! There was also a demonstration of what can happen to your skin if you do not wash your make up brushes - which looked so realistic. I found the techniques they used interesting and gave me a taste of how much work really going into the art of makeup (and how much I would still love to be a makeup artist). There were stalls with makeup brands; some that provided makeup to the film industry, but also brands such as Make Up For Ever and Mac Pro.

This brings me onto my next point that Mac Pro was there, NOT Mac Cosmetics which is what was originally advertised. It was only their Mac Pro range which I found very disappointing regardless of whether they were giving out Mac Pro cards at a small cost without needing to show any relevant qualification documentation. When a Mac artist asked me if I needed any help ( the Mac staff did seem to approach you even if you were not that close to the counter so I guess that was one good point), she informed me they only had three brushes available on that day - if I can remember I think these were the 187, 188 and the 190, they had no brush cleanser (I would have thought this was really important to makeup professionals, am I wrong?) and only their pro range was available. I overheard that the way to get a discount was to fill in a form for a mac pro card, they were not offering a discount or special offers like some others (like Charles Fox and Make Up For Ever for example). Overall, Mac disappointed me, I was much more interested in what was going on everywhere else, which is why I think I stayed for most of the day. If you are a makeup artist surely you would like to have been able to buy from their entire range (with your discounted Mac Pro card) not just the Mac Pro range? After all, I thought makeup professionals were the target audience? Or does Mac think that makeup professionals are only interested in their pro range?

The last thing I would like to mention is the array of makeup brushes that were available at really cheap prices across the trade show. There were Crown Brushes across the back wall and you could chose from a whole range of brushes and from what I have heard Crown Brushes are supposed to be good quality. I will do another post on how I got on with the brushes I picked on the day.

Overall, I had a really great day, I enjoyed the demonstrations and I managed to pick up an array of brushes (a bit of Make Up For Ever as well...).

About me...

Hi,

I have decided to set a blog to share my thoughts and interests on make up. I have always been into make up (ever since i was a teenager) and would always choose make up over clothes and shoes but over time I have become more and more into it and lately it has become a bit of an obsession.

I buy lots of different brands of make up, ranging from the cheaper brands to the more expensive. I would say it became an obsession (rather than just my main interest/hobby) about two years ago when i had a make over by Benefit and i thought the packaging was pretty and the products seemed a bit different in comparison to other brands i was using ( I already owned some Clinique but i was getting bored). I went through a stage of buying a lot of Benefit, thinking that this was the best, until I discovered Mac, Nars and Laura Mercier...

I work in an office at the moment but I would really like to become a make up artist so I am looking into options that might get me there one day.

I'm also going to IMATS tomorrow and I can't wait!