FOTD

Hi all! I actually had time to take some pics for a fotd post this morning (YAY!!) It’s a really plain everyday look but I really love the eye shadow, I’ve only used two different colours and they’re both from Accessorize which is easily one of my favourite drugstore brands for shadows (and lip glosses and blushes and nail polishes etc etc)

Face
Smashbox photo finish concealer
Match Perfection concealer in 10 (new purchase and this is the first time I’ve tried it)
Double wear foundation in fresco
Estee Lauder blush in rose nuance
Pixi highlighter from the energy blush and highlighter duo
Laura Geller balance and brighten powder in fair

Eyes
Accessorize eye shadows in soft pink and sage
Bourjois double-ended pencil liner in noir & blanc
Collection 2000 Sky scraper mascara (another new purchase)

Lips
Laura Geller lipstick in berry banana
Bourjois 3D effect lip gloss in number 29
Thanks for stopping by ♥

Awesome 17 goodies and GWP

Good morning all you lovely people! Hope you’re having a nice day so far… it’s too early to tell how mine is gonna go cos I’m not exactly awake yet, it’s not even 6am and I’m just outta bed :)

I wanted to do a post on this little 17 haul from Boots, partly cos 17 is one of those brands that I seem to like more each time try something new! I’ve been on the lookout for a new concealer and I’m after something really creamy that wont dry out and leave me looking cakey – my skin just can’t handle the drier products now that the weather is changing!

So I picked up... Hide away corrector cream in Fair £3.99
Candy collection blush and go in Strawberry Swirl £3.99

And these 2 items came with a GWP that includes a black liquid liner, shimmery grey eye shadow and berry lip gloss
Now that’s a lotta good stuff for less than 8 quid! Hmm, the lip gloss looks much less blood-like in real life... Anywho, I'm off to get showered and ready for work and will definitely do a fotd post if I have time! ♥

This or that beauty tag

Good evening all! The lovely Alice from Pretty Wonderful recently posted a tag about, well, loads of stuff! I really enjoyed reading her answers (yep, I'm a right nosy sod) and figured I'd have to go ahead n do the tag myself so here goes...

Makeup

Blush or Bronzer?
Definitely blush, thanks to being milk bottle pale most bronzers makeup me look like I’ve washed my face with mud

Lipgloss or Lipstick?
Lipgloss, although that’s probably cos I can generally get away with applying it without a mirror

Eye liner or Mascara?
Hmmm, mascara cos I don’t think I’ve ever worn eye liner without it

Foundation or Concealer?
Foundation. I’d give my right arm to be able to just wear concealer!

Brushes or Sponges?
Brushes all the way! Sponges have their place n all but I’m not a big fan

Nails

Long or Short?
Short. Low maintenance always wins me over

Acrylic or natural?
I personally find acrylic nails look kinda, you know, fake… which doesn’t really appeal to me so it’d have to be natural

Brights or Darks?
Brights cos there’s way more variation!

Flower or No Flower?
Flower?! Totally don’t get this question at all! Does it mean flowers painted on nails do you think? That’s gonna be my assumption and I’ll go with a hell yeah!

Body

Perfume or Body Splash?
Perfume makes me feel all grown up so it’s gotta be my first choice

Lotion or Body Butter?
Lotion sinks in more quickly and easily so I’d have to go with that. Showing my lazy side again

Body Wash or Soap?
Body wash. Though I’ve kinda rediscovered soap recently; L’Occitane do some totally yummy ones

Fashion

Jeans or Sweat Pants?
Jeans. The only time I’d ever opt for sweat pants over jeans would be if I was going to the gym

Long Sleeve or Short?
Long, I’m always cold!

Dresses or Skirts?
Dresses kick ass. I love how you can buy one item and it’s basically a whole outfit. The only way you can do that is to buy a jumpsuit or something and I just like the thought of a dress way more
Stripes or Plaid?
Plaid… especially with brogues and an old fashioned satchel style handbag

Flip Flops or Sandals?
Sandals cos I hate that slapping sound flip flops make when they hit against your feet as you walk, it’s gets on my nerves something rotten

Scarves or Hats?
Scarves. I’d love to be able to say hats but they make me look like a French tourist. I’m not even French!!

Studs or Dangly Earrings?
Dangly… I think they balance out my cartoonishly round face better than studs

Cowboy Boots or Riding Boots?
Oooooh, now this is a toughie as I’m loving both at the min but I think I’ll have to go for cowboy boots

Jacket or Hoodie?
Jacket for the most part but I like throwing a hoodie on when I’m walking the pooches cos they’re so comfy

Hair

Curly or Straight?
Straight. No curly. No I mean straight. Errr, definitely curly. Damn, I dunno, this one is too difficult

Bun or Ponytail?
Ponytail

Bobby Pins or Butterfly Clips?
Butterfly clips cos I find them less fiddly to use which is always a bonus

Hairspray or Gel?
Don’t use either very often but I’ll go for hairspray… it’s one of the only beauty products my mum always used when I was a kid

Long or Short?
Long! But that’s probably more to do with the fact that I could never pull off short hair. Though if I looked like Hilary Swank I’d say short

Light or Dark?
Dark

Swept Bangs or Full Bangs?
Swept. Much prefer how it sounds :)

Up or Down?
Down when I can be bothered, up when I haven’t got round to washing it for a couple of days

Random
(all pictures from Google)

Rain or Shine?
Shine! I already miss the summer… the months of cold weather stretching out ahead of me are kinda depressing

Summer or Winter?
Summer, I like being outdoors without a coat on. Doesn’t seem like much to ask but here in Belfast I can only get away with going coatless for about 2 months every year. If that

Fall or Spring?
Fall, mostly thanks to spending ages in the park with the dogs every day; it looks all pretty when the leaves are changing colour and falling off the trees

Chocolate or Vanilla?
Chocolate if we’re talking about food and vanilla if we’re talking about scent

I tag anyone else who has 5 minutes to spare and fancies doing this tag!

Is this not the best beauty idea ever?!

My Glossybox for the month of October

When I stumbled across Glossybox online I couldn’t help wondering how the hell I hadn’t heard of it before! The idea is simple but absolutely brilliant - in my humble opinion - so I figured I’m morally obliged to do a little post on it cos when something is this good you really can’t keep it to yourself :)

“So what is it?!” I hear you ask! Well, for £10 per month (plus £2.95 P&P) Glossybox will send you 5 sample size high-end products. Now when I say sample size I don’t mean those little sachets you get stuck to the pages of magazines… The products I received were sizeable enough to allow me to really try them out and decide what I think of ‘em. In fact the Leighton Denny nail polish and Stila eye liner are actually full sizes (and would cost £11 and £13 respectively)
Leighton Denny nail polish in Sex Kitten
Stila smudge stick waterpoof eye liner

My favourite thing about this is how it lets you try products you wouldn’t necessarily consider picking up when you’re out shopping so there’s always a chance you’ll come across a little gem that really works wonders

Hmmm, scratch that, my favourite thing is actually how you can include your skin type, tone and problems when you sign up so any products you receive are specific to your needs. Genius, no? Dermalogica Age Smart multivitamin thermafoliant and multivitamin power recovery masque. They also threw in a little Dermalogica makeup bag and renewal lip complex
3 bottles of Robert Piguet Eau de parfum

Hang on, hold the phone, wait a minute! I’ve just realised that my actual favourite thing has nothing to do with the products at all, it’s definitely the packaging. I’m not kidding when I say that the parcels are more prettily wrapped the most birthday presents I get (and give!) so it’s a real treat to open this… kinda like a little surprise pressie every month. And what could be better than that?
I’ve just realised that I sound like I work for (or actually own) Glossybox but nope, I just really really like the idea :)

Thanks for stopping by. Oh and if you've already discovered Glossybox do let me know what you think! ♥

L'Occitane freebie with Marie Claire

...Talking of awesome freebies with mags this month... Marie Claire are giving away little bottles of L'Occitane hand cream! I’ve only ever used the regular 20% shea butter version from L’Occitane so was rather chuffed when I spotted the little limited edition bottles as the different scents all really appeal to me. Oh and the packaging is rather cute too
I picked up the Hibiscus Flower one but I’ll probably get the others when I’m on my lunch break tomorrow. Way too hard to resist if you ask me :)

Cowshed hand cream freebie with InStyle

One of the things that makes me feel slightly less guilty about spending over 3 quid on a magazine are the awesome freebies that I’d have to buy anyway. I mean it’s winter; chances are I’ll buy at least half a dozen different hand creams/lotions/balms over the coming months so by buying Instyle this month and getting a 50ml bottle of Cowshed Soothing hand cream I’ve actually saved myself money. Cheers all round!

Pixi Perfection

Hello and good evening! I figured I’d stretch my Sunday out a little bit longer by doing a blog post and watching a few makeup videos, as always the weekend has been far too short for my liking :(

So, a few weeks ago I had my first foray into the world of Pixi cosmetics; the brand isn’t widely available here in Belfast so I ordered a few bits n pieces from the good old interwebs and can’t remember the last time I fell in love with a brand so quickly. I’m a total sucker for cute packaging and adore the light green shade of these little beauties – Really stands out amongst all the blacks and creams in my makeup collection!
I was well disappointed when I opened the Enery Blush - a blush/highlighter duo - cos the blush colour looks ridiculously dark, so much so that I figured maybe they’d mixed up my order and this was meant for someone else (Naomi Campbell, perhaps) … Then I swatched it and it’s actually a gorgeously natural peach shade. My faith in internet shopping was quickly restored. Phew!!

I reckon I’ll have to do a FOTD post to do the highlighter justice as it might look a bit bland in the pan but it’s the most perfect shade to highlight the cheeks and brow bone as it isn’t matte but doesn’t have the out-n-out glitter ball quality that you get with a lot of other highlighters
This little 8 shadow eye palette really jumped out at me cos it has the right colours for creating a pretty day time look or dramatic evening look. The quality is great (a definite 8 outta 10) and I’ve found that the dark brown shade can be used wet as a rather lovely liner
And last of all I treated myself to some Vitamin Lip Silk, mostly just cos it sounds so… I dunno, luxurious? Although the colour looks a bit manky in the tube this goes on sheer and just adds a nice shine to the lips. It manages to look like a subtle pretty lip gloss but is packed with vitamins A, C and E and Beeswax to keep the lips in tip top condition. Mine are pretty much beyond repair I reckon so I’ll let you know if it lives up to the promises over the next few weeks :)

So overall I’ve been very impressed by Pixi; these 3 products are all I used over the weekend. I barely left the house so couldn’t be arsed applying a full face of makeup just to walk the dogs round the park and call into the newsagents for a magazine and some crisps (Erm, yeah, I really know how to live it up on the weekend, eh?) Using these meant I looked like I'd put in a little effort

A little more info...

Eye Beauty Kit : Shade No7 Mirage £18
Energy Blush : Shade No3 Naturally Sunny £14
Vitamin Lip Silk : Shade No2 Amfinite £10

Thanks for stopping by ♥

N.Y.C Autumn eye look

N.Y.C Metro Quartet Eyeshadow in Chelsea Chic

You know you’re a makeup addict when… It’s 6am, you can’t sleep and instead of making some hot milk (Bleugh!!) like a normal person you apply a full face of makeup just to see what an eye shadow quad looks like on. Instead of it feeling like a big waste of time I figured I’d post a couple of pics and let you know what I think of the shadows :)

So yeah, I bought this NYC “Metro Quartet” in Chelsea Chic way back but haven’t used it much, not least of all cos the colours are a bit meh and just not particularly stand-outty
Know what sucks? I only took this picture like half an hour ago and since then a spot that actually resembles an extra head has appeared on my chin. Le sigh :(
What with the weather changing and Autumn having well n truly arrived I decided to give this a go as the colours look kinda autumnal to me and the subtleness of the shades seemed like good day time options

The powders are finely milled and don’t pack much of a punch but with a good lid primer underneath they don’t look too bad at all. The pale minty green shade (very left of the quad in the pic) is surprisingly nice as it really brightens the whites of the eyes and I like how you can create a complete eye look with just this one little palette
Oh and I know I’ve kinda prattled on about NYCs liquid liner in the past but I totally have to reiterate just how much I love it! I usually veer towards pen applicators but the little brush in this one works a treat and is exceptionally easy to use
Thanks for stopping by ♥

The concealer that goes on like paint

Smashbox Second Skin Long Wear Concealer

Hi all, hope your weekend is going fantabulously well! Mine has been pretty uneventful… spent this evening cleaning and doing some washing. Woo! Really living on the edge :)

Figured I’d end the night doing something a wee bit more enjoyable…like chatting about makeup :) I should probably start by saying that I only ever use this concealer when my skin is particularly oily… I generally have combination skin but that changes; I can look like an oil slick one month and like a patch of dry cracked mud the next so I usually buy products to cover all the changes. But if you have dry skin then it might be best to steer clear of this one!
The texture is seriously thick and creamy so I find the smallest little blob is enough to cover all the blemishes on my face and the dark circles under my eyes. Which means the little 9.5ml bottle I have has lasted months and it hardly looks like I’ve used any!
This stuff sets quickly and doesn’t budge so if I get caught in the rain or find myself rubbing my chin (where I have horrible breakouts) I know this is gonna stay put

But the best thing about this concealer is the colour! I’m ridiculously pale and as you can probably tell from the pics the fair version is genuinely light so it actually does a great job blending into my skin tone

Thanks for stopping by ♥