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

Spring Green LOTD

I am sick as a dog right now, but also sick of looking like it, so some makeup was much needed! A little pop of colour from the old Sleek Circus palette – which I haven’t touched in ages! – and some fluttery lashes did the trick and perked me up a bit, even if it was only for a duvet day!

 

Eyes: Barry M Kohl liner in brown. Neutrals from MUA Undress Me Too Palette. Green from Sleek Circus Palette (discontinued)
Lips: L’Oreal Extraordinaire lipgloss in Nude Vibrato. Brows, Kiko. Lashes, Vintage Lash Company Gracie.
FACE: MAC Face and Body, Rimmel Stay Matte powder, Collection2000 Lasting Perfection Concealer
Cheeks: MAC Buff, Boots No 7 Vital Enlightening Highlighter

I do miss wearing colour! I need to do a proper, all-out bright look soon!

Are you looking forward to the warmer weather? What are your favourite colours to wear in Spring?

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.

Getting back into eyeshadow: LOTD with Sleek Acid Palette

I’ve hardly been wearing eyeshadow at all this year and I feel like the last few times I’ve applied it I’ve felt like a newbie! I can’t wear whatever makeup I like to work anymore, so I tend to wear a cream eyeshadow that I can easily apply on the tube. With Christmas and going snowboarding and having various coughs and colds I’ve missed wearing eyeshadow, so on Saturday this weekend I decided to wear something bright!

 

Eyes: Sleek Acid Palette, Illamasqua liner in Scribe, Collection 24/7 Extreme pen liner.
Lips: L’Oreal Extraordinaire Gloss in
Cheeks: Hourglass Ambient Lighting Blush in Diffused Heat
Face: L’Oreal Eau de Teint, Bobbi Brown Creamy Concealer

If I’ve been neglecting eyeshadow, I’ve *really* neglected this palette! I thought the neon would look great with a pop of white, although in reality I was probably a bit too rushed to make the liner look as nice as it should have. And I think I ought to have used lashes too. Oh well, it was fun and so nice to wear something bright after so long!

Is there a palette you haven’t used for a long time?

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?

Jessica…Dragit? Drag makeup experiment

Netflix added RuPaul’s Drag Race a week or so ago, so naturally I’ve been doing nothing else except watching that! I am absolutely fascinated with drag makeup, and even though I’m, you know, an actual girl, I kind of love doing it. It’s certainly a challenge to do and there’s a *ton* of stuff you can learn from doing it, so I kind of see it as a worthwhile waste of a couple hours!

I apologise for the nasty picture quality , but it’s dark and dingy here constantly, and I have a new camera I don’t know how to use yet. Score!

I went more old school, comedy drag than sexy drag which was fun to do!However, let’s just say there are a lot of things I’d try differently next time! I like how the false brows worked out, but I really need to suck it up and try to cover my own brows properly instead of finding creative ways to draw over them as this didn’t work out so well.  I like how the cheeks worked out (low contour inspired by Divine yo) but I can’t for the life of me work out that frigging nose thing all the queens do at the moment. Boo!

 

Next time I try this I’m not going to be scared like I have been, and I'm really going to pile that face on and let it bake! I just physically can't bring myself to apply that much makeup...yet!

I used a whole bunch of crap for this, but if you’re gagging on my eleganza and need to know what I’m wearing please just say and I'll let you know.

Soft purple glitter LOTD with Sugarpill and Madd Style Cosmetics

Happy New Year, everyone! I barely wore any makeup over the Christmas period, so when I got back from visiting the family I thought I’d go for a wee touch of sparkle. Just to sit in my PJ’s and finish off the Quality Street, mind you.

Eyes: Lid, Hi-Fi Cosmetics Between the Stars (now defunct company), Sugarpill 2am, matte vanilla from Barry M Natural Glow palette, warm matt brown from MUA Undress Me Too palette, Collection 24/7 Pen Eyeliner in Black and Madd Style Cosmetics Glitter in  Nymphette
Lips: Stained pink with Australis mint lipgloss on top.
Cheeks: Benefit Dallas, Barry M blush from the Natural Glow palette (soft, soft pastel pink)

I got a new camera for Christmas and have to work out how to use it, so if my photo quality is a bit wobbly over the next few weeks, I do apologise!  Continuing the ‘being useless’ theme, I’m still getting to grips with using the Lit Clearly Liquid base  – it seems a bit of a faff and I’m sure it’s down to me missing something. I’m going to review it soon as it’s a great budge-proof product for adhering glitter!

I love  a bit of glitter at this time of year, but didn't actually wear any on New Years Eve itself! Do you guys like glitter all the time or just for partying?

Green and Gold LOTD with MAC and Sugarpill

My other half suggested a green coloured look and who was I to say no? I used Sugarpill Midori as the main colour for this, which just goes to show that even though Sugarpill colours look bright as all hell in the pan, they can be toned down really easily as well. Of course, that really goes for all colours – if you’ve got a good neutral palette with colours that suit you, you can make the scariest, brightest shades work on any level.

 

Eyes: MAC Old Gold Pigment, Sugarpill Midori, MUA Undress Me Too palette to blend/highlight.
Lips: MAC Subculture lipliner and Viva Glam Gaga 2
Cheeks: Sleek Suede, e.l.f Gotta Glow

I was so annoyed it was dark that day as I couldn’t capture how nice this look was. MAC Old Gold looks wonderful with greens and I was happy I managed to find a way to make VG Gaga 2 work for me. I really need to step it up with my makeup – I’m not allowed to wear coloured makeup to work anymore and it’s really making me lazy in the evenings and weekends!

What are your favourite green and gold shades?

Quickie Review and LOTD: Loreal Paris Colour Riche eyeshadow quad in Trésors Cachés

Curiosity killed the cat… Having misplaced a lovely khaki eyeshadow my friend Wendy sent me, I went searching in Boots for something similar and picked up this little quad. I’ve barely tried any L’oreal products at all but somehow this found its way into my grubby mitts.

 

 

 

The quad is slim and compact – it’ll fit easily in your makeup bag. It feels very light – no heft to it at all really - and doesn't have a mirror, but I always carry one with me regardless so not a problem in my opinion.

 

The khaki colour was pretty much what I was looking for!  It didn’t have the olive sheen of the one I’d lost and was looking to replace, but I liked the shade and I  thought I could probably get away with it for work. The blackened cranberry colour looked interestingly vampy too. The black and gold colours I was less impressed with, but as this little quad was so compact I didn’t mind two colours I wasn’t overly impressed with.

Eyes: Loreal Trésors Cachés quad, just over primer.
Cheeks: Borjouis Delice de Poudre bronzer. Sleek Suede
Lips: L’Oreal Colour RIche Collection Privee Lipstick in Cheryl: Barely Greige

 

 

 

I don’t really know what to say about this quad… I kind of don’t have any strong feelings about it either way. The khaki and gold colours look lovely layered together, and the cranberry shade either has the bonus or the downside of blending out to a reddish brown, depending on your preference. Applied over a black base or brown base it retains its cranberry-ness, and is a decent colour to put in the crease if you're wearing a rosy shade on your lids. The charcoal colour is nothing to write home about at all. The texture of the whole set is pretty decent but again, nothing to write home about. "Trésors Cachés" translates into "Hidden Treasures" and for me that's not really true. "Alright for Work, Not The Worst" isn't such a catchy name really though, is it?

 

I have nothing negative to say about this palette, but I can’t find anything overly positive to say about it either. Do you ever feel that way?

L’Oreal Colour Riche Quads are £7.99 from Boots.

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.

Quickie Review and LOTD: e.l.f Studio blush in Gotta Glow

e.l.f recently had one of their nifty 50% office sale (I picked up some of my favourite brushes which you can see here) and I decided to throw ‘Gotta Glow’ into my basket to see what all the fuss was about. Famed for being an inexpensive dupe for NARS Albatross which I was drooling over instore with Rachael recently, I was really excited to try it out. I love golden highlighters, and the ones I had before this were either a really warm, yellow gold or more of a champagne-gold, and this one is more of a white-gold.

 

 

You can really see where the NARS comparisons come in! The compact had a decent heft to it and doesn’t feel cheap. The small mirror is a little pointless in my opinion – I wish it took up the whole lid, but then I do like that you can see the product without opening the compact.

 

 

 

I’d click to enlarge those photos and see the product close up, but as you can see, it’s actually a really lovely and subtle highlighter! I was initially worried at first that it would be too ashy or chalky on the skin it kicks up a lot of powder when you swirl your brush in the pan, but luckily that didn’t translate on my cheek. I’ll hazard a guess you don’t get that with the NARS version but I don’t have a problem with it really, especially for the price point. It also builds quite nicely into a stronger highlight if you want to double it up on the inner corner of the eye.

All in all – a lovely highlighter and a lovely bargain! I’m tempted to try some more of e.l.f’s blush range if they’re all this pretty– any recommendations?

The studio blushes cost £3.50 from eyeslipsface.co.uk