Detox, VIcky Vox and Willam!: LOTD with OCC Black Metal Dahlia

What does one wear on one’s face when they’re off to see their favourite drag queens? The same shit that they hawk themselves, naturally – a little OCC!

 

 

My hair was setting, I didn’t go out like this!

Eyes: Illamasqua Neutrals Palette and Scribe Liner, MAC Reflects Gold Glitter, Kiko Precision Brow Pencil in Shade 03
Lips: MAC Vino lipliner, OCC Black Metal Dahlia
Cheeks: Sleek Contour Kit in Light, Sleek Suede blush

Black Metal Dahlia is super gorgeous, but it takes a little work so putting it over a deep lip liner is my favourite way to wear it. This is easily one of my favourite looks I’ve done all year.

 

And here are the lovely ladies we spent all our rent money on going to see!



DUCK FACE WITH DETOX. It was so hot in the little venue we were in my hair dropped right out, boo! I am 100% ridiculously in love with her. I was always rooting for Detox on RDPR but having met her and seen her perform I can’t even. She is just a perfect being and I want to be her slave or some shit. Absolutely beautiful.

 

SO QUICHE. I’m sad that this is the photo we got because I am standing at a way dodgy angle which makes me look like a brick. I mean, bricks are fine and all, but I don’t want to look like a brick next to Willam. The boy people in the photo are my cousin and his boyf. Anyway, they were flawless, it was flawless, too fucking flawless. If you get the chance to see them, go. They got it down pat, and they sing and rap pretty damn well!

#byefelicia

Simple Girl-to-Boy Makeup

I’m practising girl-to-boy makeup at the moment for an upcoming shoot, and thought I’d share the simplest way you can do this. When doing boy-to-girl makeup, you can rely on wigs, colour cosmetics and styling a little more than you can when you’re doing girl-to-boy makeup. No, not all girls wear lots of makeup and have fancy hair, but plenty do and you do rely on stereotypes when trying to express gender with makeup almost as much as you do on physical clues.

For inspiration and instruction, I turned to Making Faces by the amazing Kevyn Aucoin. If you don’t have this book, get it. If you don't have any of his books, get them all. I referred to this page of the book where he explains how he turned Gwyneth Paltrow into James Dean. Yes bitches, that's Gwyneth Paltrow.

This was a very quick look for Kevyn – he used a pre-made brow piece, so it only took him 15 minutes. However, he does into depth about how to do the brows yourself.

Male eyebrows are often lower than female eyebrows, especially as more women than men shape their brows to open up the eye area.. I didn’t want to cover my brows and draw new ones on just to lower them for practicing, but it’s an option1 I individually drew in hairs using thin brow pencils in two colours, extending past my own brow on both ends, and used a clear brow gel to brush the hairs up and add texture. If you don't have a thin pencil, use the tiniest brush you can and a brow cake or matte shadow with mixing medium. Try and mix a couple of colours If you have thicker brows this will be a little easier than if you have non-existent blonde hairs like me!

My male modelling just reads as confused. I look like Karl Pilkington here.

 

I added a very light layer of Illamasqua Skinbase - it's got quite a realistic texture - and did a little spot concealing, but nothing too polished. Moisturiser is fine, but don't do anything to change the texture of your skin in terms of smoothing or pore-filling products like primer - keep it as natural as possible. Don't bother concealing under the eyes either, as after I did my brows, I blended Wolf eyeshadow from Illamasqua, a cool brown, under my eye and across the lid, taking care to really, really blend it out to create natural looking shadows and the illusion of a deeper eye socket. I decided not to use any mascara, but I think next time I will add a bit of clear mascara to the lashes as it didn't look quite right next to the Charlie from Busted eyebrows. Then I swept the same matte eyeshadow across my jawbone to give the illusion of five o’clock shadow.

The five o’clock shadow wasn't reading very well on my camera – in real life it looked pretty good, but then, I know what I look like without it so I thought it needed to be more exaggerated. I stippled Illamasqua brow cake in Thunder into a rough goatee shape and took it along the jaw and up into my hairline. This is where I need to experiment a little more – the shadow was the right tone and I used it both wet and dry to create more depth, but I'm going to order a special stippling sponge to nail the texture - it's not quite shoot worthy yet! If you're doing this and wearing it out, make sure you use a good setting spray or, if you're really invested, alcohol activated face and body paints will last and last.

Lastly, I pursed my lips really tightly and rubbed in a tiny amount of foundation that was slightly lighter than my lips to make them look a bit more chapped and rugged. Any old foundation or concealer will do. I didn't want to do my uber-long hair, so I went with a hat. MANLY HAT.

 

And a cheeky colour shot/comparison. I look like my dad but with a better beard – Sorry Dad!
This is a really simple way of looking more like a boy - concentrate on your eyebrows, add a little depth around your jaw and ignore what you'd normally do to your skin, and you'll be pretty much halfway there. I’ll be back again with a heavier, more theatrical version of female-to-male makeup soon – think reverse contouring, heavier brow bones, exaggerated skin texture/wrinkles!

Have you ever gone drag king/queen?

Illamasqua Neutrals Palette

I had a little Illamasqua haul recently and the Neutrals palette caught my eye. I love neutral eyeshadows and was in the market for a smaller palette to take with me to my wedding later this year. I’ve never been fussed on the Naked palettes, my Inglot palettes are too damn big to travel with and I’m worried my trusty MUA Undress Me Too wouldn’t stand being bashed around in a suitcase – for all it’s awesomeness, that is some flimsy packaging right there. I read amazing reviews of this palette from Illamasqua, so thought I’d take a chance.

 

 

 

Isn’t it a handsome looking little palette? A very simple but chic combination of colours, all wrapped up in that glamorous Illamasqua shape. You get 6g of shadow in this palette, so the shadows aren’t full sized – the single Illamasqua shadows contain 2g each.

 

 

 

L-R, Stealth, Vintage, Wolf and Obsidian. Applied on bare skin on top and NYX Jumbo Eyeshadow in Milk on the bottom. 

According to Illamasqua, Stealth is a ‘creamy buttermilk, matt finish.’ Wolf is a ‘rich chocolate brown, matt finish.’ I find Wolf to be quite cool-toned.  Obsidian is a ‘rich black.’ Vintage is an ‘antique gold’ with a satiny finish and is exclusive to this set – the rest you can buy on their own. This is both great because Stealth, Wolf and Obsidian are such great staple colours, and sucky because Vintage is really gorgeous and richly pigmented and I’m sure would sell well as a single! The pigmentation on the matte shades is good too – Stealth looks a little weaker because it’s closer to my skin tone than the rest, but it performs well. Obsidian isn’t the blackest of blacks, but I find that a plus as  really rich blacks can be harder to work with. I have some from some older Sleek palettes for example that are black as sin, but are awful to apply and blend!

 

Vintage on the lid, Wolf in the crease, Obsidian and Wolf together on the outer V and lower lashline, Stealth as inner corner and brow highlights.

 

 

Stealth all over the lid over a light layer of NYX Milk pencil, with Wolf blended softly into the crease and on the lower lashline, with Wolf pressed onto the upper lashline.

 

 

I’ve really been enjoying this palette – Vintage in particular is really gorgeous and looks great with my eye colour, and the rest of the colours are so handy to have. I’m not sure if this is the one for me for my wedding – I think I’ll still take it, but supplement it with a warmer brown more along the lines of MAC Swiss Chocolate. But it’s six months away, so we shall see! If Wolf were warmer, this would probably be my favourite quad of all time. I do still really like it, but it’s not my 100% perfect neutral set.

Do I think this is a nice palette? Yes indeed I do, a very nice palette! Do I think you can get equally nice neutrals for a lot cheaper? Yes. It’s not the cheapest palette in the world – but it is better value to get a quad where your eyeshadows will run you £5.60 per gram as opposed to £7.75 per gram. If you’re a fan of Illamasqua’s eyeshadows, want to try a palette from them, or simply love the classics, this is a really nice quality item and you can’t go wrong with the colours. You can pick it up for £34* on the Illamasqua site.

 

What’s your favourite neutral palette?


*I bought this item myself, but I am eligible for Illamasqua’s pro discount scheme.

Illamasqua Gleam Highlighter in Aurora

I love me a highlighter but I haven’t used a cream or liquid one for a very long time – not since Benefit discontinued their Moonbeam highlighter and I swore never to buy from them again (lies!). But everyone I know who has tried Illamasqua’s Aurora has raved about it, so I thought it was about time I gave it a go.

 

 

Standard Illamasqua packaging – beautiful! I still love the pinched shape, it's so elegant.



Aurora is a pale 'beige champagne iridescent' cream – there’s not too much pink or too much gold/yellow in it, so it should a decent variety of skintones from pale to medium. This is swatched heavily on the left and blended out on the right.



All Illamasqua products except my mascara and eyeliner – Illamasqua Neturals Palette, Skinbase in 03, Sangers lipstick and Touch lipgloss, Eyebrow Cake in Peek.

As you can see, it’s a really subtle effect on the skin – you’ll have to zoom in to see properly, but I’m just wearing the highlighter here – no blush or contour. In my opinion, a highlighter usually *should* be subtle. I love a strong look, don’t get me wrong, but most of the time, you probably don’t need a strong highlighter (or contour, but that’s another post in itself!) at all. The soft glow you get from this product is still beautiful and gives you a lovely dewy look. If you wanted, you could certainly build it up more, like in my swatch above, but it is quite an emollient feeling product so bear in mind that if you do build it up, that may affect the longevity. With a normal light application though, this lasts pretty well - better than most cream blushes I’ve tried - so I’m not afraid to wear it to work or on a busy day when I won’t have time to touch up. It feels very lightweight on the skin and the formula is very thin, but it doesn’t feel greasy or like it’s sitting on top of your foundation, ready to smudge and smoosh everywhere. It really is a fab formula!

It’s not a super cheap product at £18.00 , but the finish in my opinion is well worth the money. Definitely one to check out if you’re near an Illamasqua counter soon, and like all products, if you get the chance to test it on your face, do.

What are your favourite champagne highlighters?

 

Illamasqua Intense Lipglosses

Illamasqua are well known for their bold campaigns and fearless colour choices in their products and in my opinion, nothing embodies that view of the brand more than their Intense Lipglosses. I own eight of these beauties and I thought I would share just how gorgeous they are!

L-R: Boost, Touch, Shoot, Wanderlust, Violate, Galactic.

 

 

 

This is Shoot – isn’t she gorgeous? This is a newer addition to my little collection and I bought her for shoots, so I haven’t really worn her yet. She’s almost totally opaque, but due to the unusual colour I would recommend wearing a green eyeliner on the lips so if the colour moves around, you won’t see any pink underneath from your natural lip (which can really ruin the look of a green shade!)

 

This is Touch, from the 2014 I’m The One collection for Valentines Day. Not as unique as some of the Intense Lipglosses but certainly gorgeous! This has a lovely shimmer to it.

 

This is Boost – applied alone, and over a deep brown liner. Don’t you just love a duochrome? People went nuts for Boost when it was released and for good reason – it’s beautiful! This is fairly sheer for an Intense Lipgloss which tend to be thicker, but I suppose the effect is quite intense! I love the versatility of this shade.

 

 

 

Next up is Violate, one of my favourite Illamasqua products ever. I think this shade is really glamorous, and layered over a red is actually beautifully wearable. This isn’t fully opaque but you can get away with wearing it on your own.

 

 

From the Creator collection, this is Wanderlust. I LOVE this shade – if you like the brown shades of the 90’s revival that’s been going on in the makeup world, this is a really nice, different addition to that sort of trend. I can’t wait to use this shade on a model with deeper skin. And on a model with pale, pale skin. I just love it!

 

 

This is Galactic – very cool, but very strange! It doesn’t seem to have a base colour and seems to be made up of silver particles - if you click to see a bigger picture, you can see what I mean. This means it's hard to get a crisp line, but it's worth the work.

 

 

This is, Absorb. Alone, it’s.. well, on me it’s quite frankly nasty and a little um, biological, but it’s a great mixing shade, so I’ve kept it hanging around! Again, pigmented and glossy.

I *think* this may be Frenzy, but the label has worn off of this one so I’m not too sure. Sorry! However, I wanted to include it to show you again how lovely and pigmented these glosses are.

So there you are, thems my babies! The Intense Lipglosses do vary – some are sheerer than others, some have more of a creme finish for example – but on they whole they tend to be very pigmented, slightly thicker lipglosses that are nonetheless comfortable to wear and with fairly decent staying power. Out of these, Boost is probably the one I have to reapply most often. At £14.50, they’re certainly not the cheapest lipglosses on the market but if you want an unusual colour, I really don’t think you’ll find better quality. The only negative thing about these is that since they changed the packaging, sometimes the brushes in them are splayed which is very frustrating. However, because of the pigmentation of these glosses, you may wish to apply them with your favourite lip brush anyway.

Facade, Gender, Stranger and Absorb are next on my list. Do you have any of this range?

LOTD with Illamasqua Static

The good thing about the Illamasqua sale is that if there’s an item you want, chances are it’ll get reduced even further at the end of the sale. Being a total tightwad, I waited until what I wanted - their gorgeous purple-pink-blue iridescent pigment Static and the white liquid liner, Scribe – went down to peanuts and snapped them up.



 


Eyes: Black from Sleek Acid Palette, browns from MUA Undress Me Too. White liner is Scribe from Illamasqua, purple pigment in inner corners is Illamasqua Static applied wet. Waterline is lined with Kiko Long-lasting eyeshadow stick
Lips: Lord and Berry lipstick in Glazed Pink
Cheeks: Highlighter from Barry M Natural Glow palette (crap eyeshadows, lovely highlighter), Kiko blush in Active Mauve
Face: Bobbi Brown Creamy Concealer, L’oreal Eau de Teint.


Nothing overly special look-wide, but you can’t beat a smoky eye in my opinion!

I can’t believe I waited so long to try Scribe – this formula is amazing! Seriously will not budge. I can’t wait to use this in a more full-on look – white eyeliner is cool as hell. Static is pretty cool too – it’s like a pink version of Sugarpill Lumi! If you like strong iridescence, you’ll love this.

How do you like to add a twist to your smokey eye?

Quickie Review and LOTDs: Illamasqua Fatale Palette

Initially I wasn’t drawn to this palette at all, until I saw Karla Powell use it in a look on a models lips and had to have it! I’ve never tried a pressed eyeshadow from Illamasqua that wasn’t matte so didn’t really know what to expect. My experiences with the matte shades they make have varied from ‘meh’ to ‘pretty damn good,’ so I was interested to check out the shimmery shades and see what the payoff was like in real life – the moving swatch on the website made them look like the pigmentation was great!

L-R, swatched on bare skin:

Bronx : bronzed gold
Ensnare: sultry berry shimmer
Mystify: chestnut brown
Charm: seductive violet shimmer

The shade names are from the Illamasqua website. Apart from Ensnare, which in my opinion is much too cool to be called chestnut, these are pretty accurate descriptions. I’m happy to report that these indeed are pretty damn good. I’d venture to say excellent, actually. They feel very smooth and lightweight, and with the possible exception of Charm, which is a *little* sheerer than the others, they all give you really rich colour in one stroke. They’re not unique colours by any means, but the quality is certainly there. While I do prefer a mix of matte and shimmery shades in my palette, these aren’t so shimmery they make you look like a glitter ball and Mystify is dark enough to help give some definition even with the sheen it has.

Let’s see it on the old mug, shall we?

Bitchface ahoy

Eyes: Illamasqua Ensnare, Mystify and Charm, with Illamasqua loose pigment in Beguile in corner of lids.
Cheeks: Etude House Minnie Touch Highlight, MUA Blush in shade 2 (I think, label worn off), Too Faced chocolate bronzer
Lips: MAC Magenta, Illamasqua Boost

Ensnare and Charm actually work really well together – I’d never really have though to pair a cranberry and a light violet colour together but I think it’s a pretty combination. You can see on the lower lashline that the grey-taupe of Mystify is nice with Charm as well. I’ll have to play with those two together again soon.

When I ordered this palette, I also got Boost lipgloss to go with it. It’s pretty sheer and the applicator is sadly terrible, but my gosh, it looks beautiful over hot pinks and magentas!

Eyes: Illamasqua Bronx and Mystify
Cheeks: MAC Margin
Lips: e.l.f Studio matte lipstick in Coral, Illamasqua Sheer Lipgloss in Provoke

A simpler combination, but one that I really like with my colouring. I don’t normally care about wearing colours that make my eyes ‘pop’ or not, but I do really like this pairing with my blue eyes

Pretty colours, no?  I think this palette would suit a decent range of skintones and that they all actually work very nicely together as well as. The warm tones are something I’ve seen on lots of celebrities at the moment and work well as part of a Christmas collection.

I thought this palette was pretty pricey – you get 6 grams for £34. It seems a lot, but compared to something like one of the little baked Chanel quads which is around £37 for 1.2g, it’s actually not that bad for something on the higher end of the scale. Even so, I probably wouldn’t have purchased this palette without my Illamasqua pro discount due to the price. I’m really glad I went for it though - the formula is lovely, the colours are on-trend and I just think it’s a beautiful little palette. A perfect treat for a beauty lover this Christmas!

If you’re up for putting this lovely bit of stuff on your face, you can get it at www.Illamasqua.com.

Review: Illamasqua Skin Base

I'm sure you've all heard of Illamasqua's Skin Base. Having tested several shades pretty thoroughly for a good while, it's high time for a review! Here’s what Illamasqua have to say:

“Inspired by the cult Asian market Beauty Balm creams, Skin Base Foundation is a brand new, refined formula unlike anything on the UK market. Easily blendable, it effortlessly creates a perfect complexion, and like the entire Illamasqua foundation range, is undetectable in a professional HD environment. Suitable for all skin types, it smoothes, softens and conditions your skin whilst providing natural, buildable coverage.”

So…basically sounds perfect, right?

This is a review I don't really want to have to write, and you can take it from that that it's not all that positive. This would be an utterly perfect foundation if it weren't for one big BUT/ I've bought a few shades of Skin Base to use in my kit, under recommendation of lots of makeup artists, bloggers and YouTubers who all sing it's praises. I'd heard that there was a learning curve with this foundation but that the results were worth it, so I bought some shades for my kit and one for myself. Please bear in mind that while all foundation reviews are very subjective and worth taking with a pinch of salt, I have tried this foundation out extensively on myself as well as on models and clients.

Let's start with the good things about this foundation, because there are actually plenty. The shade range is wonderful, so you shouldn't have too much of a  problem finding a match, with shades from white to almost ebony, and plenty of yellow, pink and neutral shades in-between. I ordered my shade using the foundation chart on the website and it was a pretty accurate match, but of course heading to a counter is still your best option. I've heard tell of plenty of people who haven't found a good match using the online system, and I've seen in person a friend who had used the online system to find a match and got a poor one then get a much better one from an Illamasqua artist on the counter. If you can't find one out their 25 shades to suit you, the colours easily mix together for custom shades, and there is a white shade which you can just pop in store and buy or order online, which is fabulous as lots of ranges either don't carry one, are a cream foundation, or are in a mail-order, pro range only.

If you're a makeup artist looking to buy for your kit, David Horne, one of the founders of Illamasqua, has suggested it's worth getting shades 01 (white), 02, 04, 06, 08, 10 and 12, but of course everyone’s needs vary. MUA forums and groups on Facebook will have tons of advice.

Swatches on the back of my hand of Skin Base in shades 01, 03, 04 and 06. I had another shade but lost it on a shoot. I has started to buy paler shades and then was going to buy a couple medium and a couple dark for mixing. As you can see, a little goes a long way – the lower swatch could have been blended out MUCH further. You can see from the last swatch that it’s starting to blend into the skin quite beautifully. It’s worth noting at this point that as the range has lots of undertones in it, if a shade doesn’t match you moving one or two shades up or down the range may not necessarily help you find a match.

I really like that Illamasqua put all their foundations into plastic bottles - I much prefer a squeeze tube for hygiene, and it's lighter in the kit as well. Skinbase still has the rounded-square shape present in most other Illamasqua packaging for it's lid, which is a nice little addition. It's not as luxe looking as the rest of the range, but in my opinion it doesn't need to be.

  Okay. Onto wear…

This is a photo of when I tried Skin Base for literally the very first time – in direct light, in artificial lighting and with flash (It doesn’t normally look so shiny on the skin and I’ve taken flash photos wearing it where it looks a little shiny but not as much as here) No powder, concealer or primer. I wasn't overly impressed with how it looks on the skin - it didn't look patchy or anything, but it looked like foundation. Perhaps I was just expecting a lot, but looking at my camera, I really liked how it photographed. As I was after it for my kit, this seemed super promising and, excited, I got to work trying  techniques to make it look better on my skin in real life. I tried fingers and various brushes, including a buffing brush which a lot of people seem to like it with, but personally found I got best results using a damp sponge or beauty blender. Unusual for me as I hardly ever reach for a sponge, but I'll take it. This was a little annoying that I had to work out how best to apply it, but it’s certainly not the first or last foundation I’ll have to do this with!

 

Another not so great photo, but I’m basically just wearing Skin Base here. I posted this on Instagram and got comments saying how lovely my skin was – and I’m telling you, it ain’t this lovely!

The foundation feels very light on the skin and I really do think the 'skin realism' claims of Illamasqua are warranted – “natural, buildable coverage” I will certainly agree with Illamasqua on. It's not dewy but not too dewy, and I’d say while light, it’s still a medium coverage, although it is buildable to an extent and can be applied very sheerly too. I like how flexible it can be. Basically, it just looks like your skin, but better. “Hurrah,” I thought! “I've cracked it! I’ve found my Holy Grail!” But now, sadly, comes the 'but.'

This foundation. Does. Not. Last. After a couple of hours, it separates pretty badly on the skin, especially anywhere even slightly oily, leaving a not-that-nice look on your face. I am a pretty dry-skinned person and don't tend to have a problem with oiliness affecting my foundations at all, but Skin Base just will not sit on me and I've tried *everything*! I know you can't expect much from lighter, foundation in terms of wear (Skin Base is based on Asian BB creams) but this is…pretty bad.

Now I've tried pretty much everything to get it to last. Everything. I absolutely love Illamasqua's Hydraveil which was created to use with Skin Base and many has said it stops it from separating, and that doesn't seem to have an affect on application. I've tried every moisturizer at my disposal to use as a base, (and I have a lot!) to prep the skin. I've tried trusted primers from Benefit, L'Oreal, Too True, and MAC, some which I know control oil really well and help to prolong wear of most foundations.  I've tried setting it with setting sprays and it seems to separate underneath those as well!  It looks really lovely powdered with Illamasqua's loose powder, which is another favourite of mine, but doesn't last so well. I have an uber long lasting powder from a stage and screen brand that helps it out a little bit, but the ultra-mattifiying it gives is really not what I'm looking to do with this foundation. I’ve tried uber-thin, uber-buffed layers, but basically, nothing I’ve tried, nothing I can think of and on no skin type I’ve come across and used it on (I’ve tried it on dry skins and oily skins, teenage models and girls in their 40’s) can I make this foundation last longer than two hours max without looking awful. I kind of don’t mind it not lasting that much – I have a few BB creams and tinted moisturizers that don’t last well and for me that’s not always a problem. If it didn’t last for two hours and just wore away, I think I could maybe handle that, but it just sticks around, looking all separate-y and rubbish. Naturally, given that it wears so poorly, I can’t really comment on whether it “smoothes, softens and conditions your skin,” but it’s at least not drying. I find all this very sad and frustrating – not being able to find a solution makes me feel a bit thick, plus I was so excited for this foundation!

On the plus side, mixing Skin Base with other liquids or creams doesn't seem to present a problem with separating, which is great, especially as that's what I bought the white shade for! I think I'll probably use my existing bottles to sheer out my cream foundations and concealers, perhaps for use on the body. I don't like to waste product if I can help it and I’m pleased that I can at least use the shades I’ve got. If I can recommend one shade of Skin Base the white one is still worth your cash!

I really hate to write this post as it does look very beautiful, and I know so many other people love it. But I've tested it as extensively as I can, and without sounding up my own arse, I'm pretty good with the ol' makeup. So if you know a way to magically make this stay put, please, please tell me as I'd love to love this foundation! And of course, for every negative review of this foundation I’ve read (and I’m always sceptical of website reviews – just because the SA matched you wrong doesn’t make the foundation itself crap, people!) I’ve read ten positive, raving, head-over-heels review, and I’ve heard other bloggers and MUAs I know and trust have issues with it that I don’t find at all. So if you’re near a counter, try it out. Who knows, it might be lovely on you!

Illamasqua Skin Base comes in 25 shades plus an illuminating shade, and costs £27.00. If you’re confident of your shade match, Illamasqua also do a web exclusive bundle where you can buy Skin Base, Skin Lift and Hyraveil for £50 which is a really decent saving,

Favourites roundup!

WAY too late for August but time for some favourites nonetheless! I’ve changed jobs recently and have to be pretty conservative with my makeup. I love *all* makeup and polish colours so wearing neutrals doesn’t really bother me, but does mean I feel I have to make sure my skin is looking reeeeeeal pretty, hence a couple of items in this post.

 

Clockwise from top left:

Kiko Colour Explosion Multi Tone Blush in  03 Active Mauve

I got this beauty on sale from Kiko for around £6. The four swatches on the right below show the blush tones, with the far right one being all the colours mixed together. I just love how this looks lightly applied – a really soft, slightly cool-toned rose that just looks *so* pretty. I love how each part of the pan is large enough to wear alone, too.



Illamasqua Nail Varnish in Hemlock

I’ve raved long and hard about this, so just let me say that a strong duochrome that is work appropriate and long wearing is amazing.



Impulse Cosmetics Opaque Matte Lipstick in Smoking Gun

You can read my full review of this bad boy here, but I’m loving this beautiful bold, bargain priced blue!



Weleda Skin Food

This stuff really is wondrous! I’d seen a lot of makeup artists rave about this stuff, and when my boyfriend had a nastly flare-up of dry skin I bought it to see if it helped at all – and it did! Being a dry-skinned babe myself, I had to try it out and while I’ve been using it for less than a month I have to say I’ve seen a difference. I apply it at night as it take a while to sink in, but when I wake up my face feels wonderful and after a cleanse I just slap on some Illamasqua Hydraveil as opposed to a thicker day cream, so it saves me time in the morning too! It’s very thick and to me smells like Campari, which I don’t particularly like. If it’s good enough for Posh (apparently), it’s good enough for me and at arond £8 for 75ml it really is a bargain. I know I’ll repurchase!

Silk Naturals Eyeshadow in Fusion

I dug this baby out when rooting through my work-safe colours and it’s a pleasant rediscovery! Well known for MAC and Urban Decay dupes, there’s no arguing Silk Naturals makes a banging neutral and this is no exception. They describe it as a ‘dirty copper plum…with golden highlights’ and that it’s one of the colours that’s ‘too cool for the cubicle.’ It’s a pretty, interesting taupe and it’s made me rekindle my fondness for this brand, so expect to see more from them soon!

Silk Naturals eyeshadows in Heat, Glory, Fusion and Hairpin.

Maybelline Baby Lips

I’ve only shown the mint one here and that’s actually my least favourite, but it’s the only one that I had to hand, the pink and peach tints are living in my drawer at work! I wasn’t sure what all the hype was about I first heard of these, and yeah, they’re just lip balms. They’re not the most exciting of beauty products, but I really like the garish packaging and they do moisturise while providing a subtle, non-staining hint of colour that actually shows up. For three quid I can’t not love that!

What have you been loving at the moment? Tried anything here?