George at Asda - Nail Varnish Haul!

There has been a lot of noise recently about the barginous line of nail varnishes available from George at Asda. I bought a few recently and was impressed so yesterday I went to get more. Unfortunately the price had gone back up.... to £1.50. That's right, £1.50. Fab! They were only £1 before but at these prices i'm not too upset. So here is my George line-up: (from left to right)

37 Raincloud - The first polish I bought from Asda. The application was great and I got 4 days wear out of it before I had any damage. 2 coats made it opaque and I love the dusky gray colour.

36 Smog - A dark gray but not too dark. I hate it when dark grays turn out black but this one looks light enough that it won't. I haven't worn it yet though so time will tell.

26 Moccha Ice - A gorgeous shimmery warm toned neutral.. I am currently wearing this shade and I love it. Unfortunately the application was crap compared to Raincloud, the formula is unforgiving and will drag before you have finished one nail unless you paint at the speed of light. So far 24 hours with no tip wear or chips.

14 Iced cream - I'm not really sure why I bought this as it will probably be too cool toned for me. It is a very pretty cool toned shimmer pale pink neutral. I'll give it a go but I personally prefer the similar Moccha Ice.

34 Be Mine - For some reason this looks more gray in the pic that it does in real life. It is actually a grayish lilac that i'm quite looking forward to wearing on spring weekends. If spring ever comes...

32 Streamer - I LOVE this colour. A cool minty green that is totally different to everything else I own. Pastels tend to divide people, they are marmite colours. I for one love them.

20 Lavender Fantasy - Not so much lavender to me. This is a strong bright purple with no shimmer at all. Good, all my purples are metallic.

On a final note has anyone else noticed that the No7 bottles and the George bottles are clones? Hmm....

EOTD - Playing with my new shadows

Ooh, a double post day! I had too much time this morning so I played... You may think with this much makeup on I had somewhere special to go. Nope. I went to Asda and got some very funny looks. I did buy some more of their polishes though, maybe this will be a three post day?

So in my (terrible because my new camera isn't charged so I took these on my phone along with all the other photos on this blog so far) pictures I am wearing: (along side foundation and concealer - Maybelline Dream Creamy foundation, Maybelline Dream Mousse concealer and Rimmel Stay Matte pressed powder)

Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion
Urban Decay Underland shadow (from the Alice collection) across the lid
Front Cover Clemantis lining lower lid (using the Shadowline)
Front Cover Moonstruck lining upper lid (again using Shadowline)
Benefit Badgal mascara
Bourjois double ended eye pencil noir on the waterline

I did originally use the black eye pencil that came in the Alice set but it didn't last long enough for a photo so I topped it up with the Bourjois. Staying power is so far fine, I've been wearing this for 5 hours with no creasing. The only thing I've noticed is a very faint trace of silver from the Moonstruck transferring to under my brow.

So what do you think? Please be kind... I'm new at experimenting with makeup ...

TRESemme Heat Defence Styling Spray

I'll admit it, I am guilty of hair cruelty. I dye it at home, wash, blow dry and straighten it everyday and I usually forget to buy/ use a heat defence spray. Cue the tiny violins playing the worlds saddest song just for my hair. I'm always a little skeptical about how they work but i've been spending so much time lately trying to rescue my skin from the effects of winter I thought I should probably try to spend all of 30 seconds a day treating my hair too. Enter TRESemme heat defence styling spray.

I have always been a fan of TRESemme products. They are reasonably priced, fairly low fragranced (for some reason heavily perfumed shampoos like Herbal Essences make my hair snap off), they work (for me) and they come in huge bottles that mean I don't run out of conditioner every week. This particular product claims to protect hair from damage due to styling and also very importantly claims to reduce frizz whilst adding shine. I have a HUGE problem with frizz. It doesn't seem to matter what I do but the hair around my parting reaches for the stars on a daily basis. I usually resort to flattening this down with a serum of some kind but if there is so much as a hint of humidity then the rest of my hair jumps up to join it.

Does it work? Well I have been using this dutifully for a week now. I can report that my hair is definitely softer and feels healthier. It is also shinier but this is probably because I also dyed it. I don't really know if it is 'protecting' my hair because I haven't been counting broken hairs but as I said, it does feel better. But all of these things pale in comparison to the real issue....

I haven't used a serum to flatten the frizz in 3 days! I haven't needed too! Yes it's not totally gone but it's good enough now for me to not bother adding more products to my hair. I would say around an 80% reduction in plane spotting hairs. For this reason alone this has become a star product for me and I will definitely be repurchasing when I run out. In fact according to the Boots website (yes I shop there a lot, there is a big one a block away from me) it is currently on special offer at £3. I may stock up!

March copy of Instyle (UK) - 100 Best Beauty Buys?

I was rather exciting to see that Instyle this month came with a little booklet of their 100 top beauty buys. I'll be honest, I bought the mag solely to have a peek at this list and see if I agreed. It certainly does make for interesting reading! On the one hand it is always nice reading other peoples opinions of products which is why I spend so much time reading beauty blogs. On the other... do they realise that the economy hasn't exactly bounced back just yet? Oh sure, there are some obligatory 'Best Cheap Buy' products (products of note include Simple cleansing facial wipes and Soltan suncare) but these feel like token mentions in a sea of premium brands and £35 lipbalms. Seriously! £35 for a lip balm. I'm sure it's wonderful stuff but I can't help thinking of just how much Carmex I'd get for £35. Comfortingly i'm not so appalled by the prices of the cosmetics they have chosen, it's mainly the skin lotions and potions that have got my back up. Best night cream? At £435 a pop i'd be very disappointed if it wasn't the best night cream in the entire world! At that price i'd expect to wake up finding that not only did I have the worlds most perfect skin but that my boobs had grown, teeth were whiter and all my house work had been done by magic face cream pixies.

New Maybelline Dream Creamy Foundation

As I have previously moaned it's been dark and cold up here for a very long time. This means that my normally pale skin has taken on new vampiric hues and my normal foundation is now too dark for me (i've been in denial about this for about a month now). It took a good half hour of trawling and swatching before I found a pale shade that didn't make me look either orange or yellow but I eventually settled on Maybellines new Dream Creamy foundation in light porcelain. I think this is their lightest colour which highlights the problem pale girls have. Whilst this colour is fine for me I have paler friends who would probably still find this too warm. It should be noted that the colour does go on a lot lighter than it appears in the pan.


I do like the packaging. I'm not sure that you get quite as much product from the little pan as you would from a bottle foundation but as I normally apply foundation with a brush the pan is actually easier to use. The product, as you can see in the photos, has two section. A bottom compact style compartment containing a surprisingly good applicator sponge (it's good, but I'l stick to my brushes simply out of personal preference) and a twist off section with the foundation. The packaging feels nice and substantial for plastic packaging and would easily survive in even my handbag of doom. The handy sponge is also useful for touch-ups on the go.

This product claims to be a solid foundation that turns to a liquid when applied with a 'light weight' formula which also moisturises the skin. I do find these claims to be true. The cold wind and rain means the dry bits of my face (mainly my cheeks) have been feeling worse than usual so every little helps. The product blends well and is great for evening out skin tone. My only two concerns are that it does take a while to properly sink in so I feel aware that i'm wearing foundation for up to 45 minutes after applying it and that the coverage is a touch too sheer for me and my wintery skin. This is easily remedied with a quick brush over with some powder, something that I do normally anyway. Without powder this foundation gives a soft, almost dewy finish that would be perfect for spring. Ladies with shiny noses like myself really would benefit from adding powder or you could be in danger of drifting from dewy to reflective.

All things considered I would consider purchasing this foundation again. The slightly sheer nature of the coverage means that the colour match is fairly forgiving (which might explain why they have only released 5 shades) and I do like the finish I get but only after adding powder. At only £7.99 (in Boots) I find this good, not perfect but perfectly good, foundation to be an excellent replacement for my now redundant MaxFactor Colour Adapt Foundation... colour adapt my arse...

Rimmel Lipsticks - on offer at Boots!

In recent weeks I have ventured out from my trusty lip gloss bunker and into the big wide world of lipstick. This new found bravery is due to my recent purchase of Urban Decay Lip Primer Potion and a decent lip scrub from Lush. Ordinarily, having very full lips with a patch on my lower lip that simply would not hold colour and the rest of them being too dry for lipstick I found that lipstick just didn't work for me. Now though with liberal use of the two aforementioned products I am discovering the joys of lipstick shopping. Huzzah!

In search of some fairly tame, work appropriate shades, I ventured into trusty old Boots. They had an offer on (3 for 2) on Rimmel products so I treated my self to 3 Moisture Renew lipsticks in 600 soft coral, 180 vintage pink and 010 summer angel.

* in the shot of the lipsticks from left to right we have soft coral, summer angel and vintage pink.
* in the swatches shot we have (confusingly, I hadn't had my coffee yet so shhhh) vintage pink, summer angel and soft coral from left to right.

The photos were done under artificial lighting (I'm in Scotland, it's dark and cold up here *grumble*) so the colours are a tad off. Summer angel looks slightly less bronze and more pinky in real life. That doesn't really matter though as i'm sure you can see in the swatches this my friends is an invisible lipstick. Seriously, where the heck is it? I have naturally dark colour lips so colour needs to be pretty strong to show up but even on my wrist all I can see is a faint shimmer. Pointless much? Vintage pink is a close call for my natural lip colour so even though it is fairly dark it doesn't look over the top. I find it nice and wearable though i'd probably wear it in the evening rather than to work. Soft coral is my favourite. It's a subtle pop of spring brightness and I think it would be suitable for warm and cool toned skin types (I lean more towards warm). Give it a month or so for the sun to come out and I think i'll be wearing this daily!

The formulas are great on all of these. So far I've noticed no flaking or drying at all as long as I prep my lips with a scrub and UDLPP. They last ok, I do find myself reapplying after a cup of tea but I don't find this any great hassle. All in all I'd buy Moisture Renew liptsticks again but i'll be more thorough about swatching in the shop in future to make sure I don't end up with another invisible colour.

Front Cover Rainbow Eyes Re-Born

It was £15, how could I not?

Having heard many good things about this product I thought i'd see what the fuss was about. Way back when it originally came out I bought it for my sister. She confessed recently that she stopped shelling out for her favourite MAC eye makeup in favour of Rainbow Eyes. A grand claim indeed!

Impressed though I am I wouldn't go quite that far. The range of colour is great. I like that it pushes me way out of my 'safe' zone of golds and purples and gives me an opportunity to play with some blues and greens. The applicators, which I had read bad reviews about from the original release, seem fine to me (maybe they have been changed?). They are nice firm brushes with a thick end for application and a nice thin end for blending. I'd be quite happy to use them if I felt too lazy to fetch my normal brushes. Unfortunatly one has already deposited a couple of fibres on my face so time will tell really.

I was desperate to try the shadowline out and it didn't disappoint. This product claims to be a magic potion which when applied to eyeshadow transforms it into eyeliner. The applicator is small and really firm which is great for getting a thin, accurate line. I found that I had to apply two layers of colour to get the vibrancy I wanted but as long as I let them dry properly it didn't transfer. Unfortunately my enthusiasm for it (and desire to wear a different colour eyeliner everyday of the week) leads me to it's greatest downfall... the bottle isn't exactly what i'd call generous. You can now buy replacements from the Front Cover website for £6.95 a pop.

Some colours apply better than others. Fern is a creamy dreamy green favourite but Chocolate Truffle (a rich brown that I thought I'd love) took a fair bit of encouragement to show up. They are all shimmery to varying degrees with the exception of Buttercup (bright yellow). Texture wise I do find them a little crumbly so be warned and knock excess off your brush before it ends up on your cheeks. The packaging also shows you several 'how to' guides that I will most definatly try out.

In short was it worth the money? Absolutely. I look forward to the Summer collection I have heard rumours about. When my shadow line runs out I'll probably keep the applicator but i'm not sure I'll actually buy more when I can foil shadows without it. Will I stop buying other eye makeups and worship solely the Book of Front Cover? Don't be daft.....

Front Cover Rainbow Eyes is Back!

Morning folks! Just a quick snippet to say that the very popular Rainbow Eyes palette by Front Cover is back in boots as from today. It even starts at a very tempting £15 rather than the usual £30.... hmmm... do I really need another large amount of eye shadow in my life? Yes. Is it worth it? Is anyone reading this?

Urban Decay Alice in Wonderland Palette

Fanfare please! My precious has arrived!

First impressions? Need you even ask? It is stunning. It makes me want to redecorate my very grown up flat with all things Disney. I keep glancing at my cat to see if she is grinning. I couldn't get a decent shot of the colours themselves but I can promise you they are fab.

This is the first time that I have bought actual shadows from Urban Decay and *cringe* my first bottle of primer potion. I have to be honest, the much talked about angled brush doesn't look like it will actually get all of the product out even from the mini bottle. That's ok, plenty of great beauty blogs out there have reviewed methods of extracting the rest.

The eyeliners are great! Not as heavily pigmented as say a liquid or gel but then pencils never are. Their staying power is impressive (I was playing and now can't get them off without using remover). Flipside is actually a dead ringer for an old Avon pencil I have kicking around but I'm afraid that Urban Decay have Avon beaten. The creamy texture of flipside is phenomenal and doesn't drag your eye lid at all.

The shadows I haven't had time to fully play with yet but I can honestly say there isn't a single colour that I won't be wearing. The primer potion a will also need trial run so i'll be sporting it through work tomorrow to see it my normally oily, deeply hooded eyes do their normal eyeshadow eating trick.

Do I think it was worth all the fuss? Yes. A thousand times yes. If nothing else this palette represents sheer value for money. I dread to think what you would actually pay to get all of these products separately. It will look fantastic on your dressing table and it will make you smile every time you open the box. And that, to me at least, makes it worth every single penny.

There are two teeny tiny baby flies in this otherwise shimmery fairytale ointment... Firstly the 'mirror' in the pop up scene really is just part of the scene. You just couldn't use it. Secondly maybe it's just my stubby little fingers but to get the eyeliners out I need to tip the box up. I live in fear that in doing this a section of shadow will plop itself all over me.

* For some reason I can't upload photos at the moment. That's ok, my photos were rubbish. Google images is your friend.

Collection 2000 offer at Superdrug!

I was going to review the Urban Decay Alice in Wonderland Palette as my first review but unfortunately I can't pick it up until later. So here we go with an equally informative (if not quite as glamorous) post on Collection 2000 at Superdrug.

There is currently a rather special offer on! Buy three Collection 2000 products and you get a free eye palette containing 9 shades. There is a choice between a softer 'Angelic' collection and a brighter 'Poptastic' one. At least I think it was called poptastic.... it's still a little too cold for me to be rocking such bright shades so I played it safe (boo) and went for Angelic. Given the barginous nature of Collection 2000 I walked out with a strengthening nail varnish, powder compact and 'Brilliant Shimmer Eye Wand' (more on this another day!) all for the princely sum of £10.47. Huzzah!

So the product: Cute packaging! If you're the sort that manages to destroy cardboard packaging after one use you will hate it. I happen to quite like it! I like the range of colours too. If you excuse the crap photography you can just make out the shimmer each shade has. Me likey!

The shadows themselves feel relatively soft and easy to apply. The applicator is rubbish but I never use foam applicators anyway. Initially the pigmentation looks good but as soon as you start to blend you do lose the vibrant colour with it quickly turning fairly sheer. This means if you want a stronger look you need to apply a lot. It doesn't last too well either so I'd wear it with a primer.

In conclusion:

Favourite colour: The navy blue and the Turquoise on the middle row. They give the strongest colours and well, I do love 'em!
Worth the money: Are you kidding? They were free!
+ives: Great range, easy to apply, FREE!
-ives: Not terribly long lasting and require a whole lot to get a deep colour. Mind you that may not be what you're after, if you just want a shimmery hint of colour you've hit the jackpot!

Overall I liked it. It perked up my day without making my bank account cry. Win!

My first blog post!

That's right folks, today I'm popping my blogging cherry!
This blog is inspired by all of the wonderful makeup blogs that I have found on the interwebs. They are my favourite procrastination tools and a huge source of fun! Links to my favourites will appear shortly.

So what am I here for? I am a makeup obsessed cosmetics junkie and having relied heavily on other peoples reviews before buying new products I felt it was time to write a few of my own. I am a makeup snob in my head but without the matching budget, therefore there will be a wide range of cheap and cheerful products through to some more extravagent 'treats'. Speaking of treats I'm off to pick up my Urban Decay Alice in Wonderland Palette this afternoon! (Side note - I can't say anything about the product yet but props to the Debenhams girls. Fantastic customer service!) The review (my first!) will follow this evening.

I hope whoever reads enjoys and I will endeavor to make it as informative as possible. Chat soon!