Clinique Superbalanced Foundation

If you’ve been reading my blog for a while you will know that I’m a bit stingy. I like my bargains. So when I say that I would happily pay more than the £19.50 Boots charge for this foundation you know it must have really, REALLY impressed me.

Funny story: Recently, still smarting from my recent failures of foundation purchases, I was walking through the duty free shopping for a new one. A lovely girl offered to help. Turns out she didn’t work for one brand though... oh no. She kept taking patches of my foundation off and trying every brand in the shop on me. This was great as I probably walked out with the best possible foundation for me. However after my flight when settling in at my parents I caught sight of myself in the mirror. PATCHWORK FACE!!!! No wonder the flight attendant looked at me funny...


I digress. For your £19.50 you get 30ml of product in a substantial glass bottle. Again no pump which is annoying but as it isn’t as thick and gloopy as Revlon Colorstay it is a little easier to control how much comes out. Clinique claim to have a magic potion here which will moisturize dry bits and control oil in shiny bits. It sounded perfect for my combination skin, and do you know what? It is! I scoffed at the girl when she told me but honestly it works for me. The flaky bits caused by Colorstay have gone and it lasts a good 5 hours on my oily nose before needing to be powdered.

The colour selection is a winner for me too. All too often I find brands have pink options or yellow options and nothing for those in between. Here I have shade 27 Alabaster N. The N stands for Neutral. Score! It is by far the best match I have ever owned.

Again I like to apply this with my ELF Studio Powder brush. I need very little to get fairly decent coverage. I would call it medium though you can build it up without fear of it turning cakey. The finish blows all of the drugstore foundations I’ve been trying lately out of the water. It looks like my skin but better. It isn’t matte, but it isn’t dewy. It’s just right.

I would repurchase this in a heartbeat. If they put a pump on the bottle I’d love it even more. In fact the packaging is the only thing I would change about it. So thank you kind lady at Glasgow duty free. This is the closest to a holy grail item I’ve ever come! x

Mac to the Beach – Lazy Day Lipstick

This is the only thing I purchased from the to the beach collection. If I’m honest, summer collections rarely grab my attention. I’m a Autumn/ Winter kinda gal. I’m happy to dabble in corals and pastels but have never ever owned a bronzer.



Despite my aversion to sunlight Lazy day called to me. Even it’s tango packaging didn’t put me off (actually I’ve grown to like it). It’s a gorgeous soft pink with a slight blue undertone. Light, but very wearable. It’s a lustre so whilst there is no shimmer it does create a shoft shine on the lips. It is swiftly becoming my go to work lippie!

I find it soft and creamy though not moisturising. With my super dry lips a balm underneath is a neccesity. Wear is pretty standard really. It survives a cup of tea but need reapplying after lunch.

All in all I’m very glad I picked this up!

Giveaway Winner!

Thank you so much to everyone who entered. And welcome to all my new followers! I was thrilled when I hit 50, can you imagine how excited I was to hit 100?! I really enjoy writing this blog and knowing other people enjoy reading it makes it all the more worth while.

The results are in. I used www.random.org to generate the winner. So congratulations to....

Vedra!

I have emailed you. Just let me know your postal address ASAP and I can get the prizes off to you!

Have a great weekend everyone xxx

Revlon ColorStay

Ooh that felt wrong. I’m suddenly morphing into an old teacher of mine and inwardly wincing at spelling colour ‘color’. But it says ‘ColorStay’ on the bottle so I guess I’ll have to get over it!

Having given up on the Revlon Photo Ready foundation and donating it to a dry skinned friend (who is singing its praises from the rooftops I might add) I thought I’d try ColorStay for normal/ oily skin. I must say I’m impressed but it isn’t foundation perfection.


The good points include the colour range. The lightest shade, Ivory, is once again a very good match for me. It’s fairly cheap at £11.99 and Revlon is usually on offer at Boots. The coverage is more than plenty for me and I would call it full. Unlike the Photo Ready it doesn’t run screaming from my oily nose lasting about 6 hours before it needs powdering again as long as I set it with powder in the morning. If you want a fuller coverage, long last foundation you could do a lot worse!

Here is where it gets a little iffy. The packaging is an issue for me. One of the plus points to Revlon Photo Ready is the handy and hygienic pump dispenser. With ColorStay we are left shaking a glass bottle in the hope that we haven’t flung it across the room by accident before some comes out of the bottle (it hasn’t happened... yet). This is not only unhygienic it is also a pain in the backside. As many before me have commented there is a really weird smell to it. It’s kind of chemically smelling though it fades pretty quickly after application.

It’s a pretty quick drying foundation and you do not have long to blend it before it’s set. Once it has set it’s not going anywhere without a heavy duty remover so blend like your life depends on it! I find I get the best result if I use my ELF Studio Powder brush. Just tap some product onto the back of your hand, tap the brush onto to it the buff like a mad woman. This gives me an even blended finish and avoids the cakey mess I get it I apply it with a traditional foundation brush.
I’m utterly convinced that something in the foundation actively dries out oil and spots. This is great on my oily bits but not so great on my dry bits. Initially I found it created flaky patches on my cheeks and next to my lips but switching to a heavier moisturiser on these areas corrected it very quickly.

If you have oily skin and want a full coverage foundation I would recommend this. If they put a pump on it and sported the smell out it would be close to perfect! And whilst it isn’t the easiest liquid foundation to apply the very same properties that make it awkward when applying make it long lasting and matte on oily skin so the effort is worth it for me. I’m looking for something slightly lighter for the summer but come Autumn/ Winter I will most definitely be repurchasing xx

MAC Haul

AKA why I shouldn’t be allowed to shop unsupervised. Shopping for wedding eyeshadow was hard. Not because I couldn’t find anything I liked but because I was overwhelmed by choice. Eventually I just gave up, walked into MAC and said please give me the makings of a fairly neutral, classic wedding eye. Voila!

Here we have Wedge, Wood Winked, Corduroy and Blanc Type. All rather lovely colours that many view as MAC staples.

I also picked up a Studio Fix powder foundation in NC20 as I’ve been looking for a compact foundation that I can throw in my travel bag when I’m away for work. Liquids are just too much like hard work when you’re in a cold lonely Travelodge at 6 in the morning. Unfortunately NC20 is a touch too dark, NC15 was ghostly pale. I figure give it a month or so of sunshine and NC20 will be spot on.

Finally I bought some things I really didn’t need but desperately wanted. Lazy Day lippie from the To the Beach collection. Not crazy about the orange packaging but I love the lipstick itself so into my bag it jumped. I had wanted to pick up the Marine Highlight Powder but as I’d predicted it was long sold out. Before I knew it I’d been given the Mineralize blush in Dainty as an alternative. I have no idea how close they actually are but given that I only wanted the To the Beach powder because of the seahorse (admit it, so did you) I’m very happy with the replacement!

I had a look at the rest of the new collections and honestly I wasn’t blown away. The only other thing I really wanted from the To the Beach collection was Humid which I can get anytime so I passed for now. The Pret-a-Papier collection disappointed me to be honest. I had seen swatches of the lipsticks online and thought they looked nice but in person they weren’t really what I wanted. I took one look at the Coral Crepe Paint Pot which I’d also been lusting after and realised I would never use it. All of which I suppose is good news for my bank balance! I will be saving my pennies for the upcoming Venomous Villains and Fabulous Felines collections. If the preview info on Temptalia is anything to go by it’s going to be an expensive Autumn!

Swatches and reviews of everything will be up when I've actually had a chance to try everything properly xxx

Benefit Moonbeam

*Just a quick note folks – firstly welcome to all my new followers! Hope you enjoy the blog :-) Don’t forget the giveaway ends on Friday evening so if you haven’t entered make sure you do!*

Moonbeam came to me courtesy of the blog sale at Cosmetic Candy. Ordinarily it costs £17.50 which actually doesn’t seem like too much of a stretch considering I’ve used this daily since I got it and I haven’t even begun to make a dent. You get 15ml in the bottle and you only need a teeny bit at a time. The daily use should also tell you a little about how I feel about the product itself.



At first glance it is a warm yellowish highlighter with a pink iridescence when it catches the light. I use it on top of my cheek bones and it gives a radiant glow that has earned me a couple of compliments. I like to dot it on then blend in with my fingers, you really don’t need a lot. The consistency is perfect for this. It’s thick enough to not run whilst you dot it on but thin enough to blend out to a really subtle finish.

This is of course the sister product to Highbeam. To me Highbeam looks like it would be the wiser choice for those with cool complexions. With Moonbeam on my neutral skin looks warmer than it normally does. Highbeam is much pinker and cooler toned. Warm toned girls will of course fare better with Moonbeam.

I love this highlighter. It falls firmly in the “idiot proof” category with its easy application and its lack of glitter. I don’t want to look like a disco ball. I want to glow, not sparkle, and this certainly does the trick. The only thing I’m not crazy about is the applicator. Not because it doesn’t work, it does, but doesn’t that just look delicious on there... or not. Every time I pull it out of the bottle I put my best sarcastic voice on and go “mmm that’s lovely”. I’m nitpicking of course. It needs to look nice on my face not on the applicator. And it does xx

Lancôme Bi-Facil Instant Cleanser

On waterproof mascara days the Simple eye makeup remover just doesn’t cut it for me. I’m thrilled then that I received this little bottle of loveliness with a box of samples as a gift with purchase. A full sized bottle (150ml) costs a whopping £19.50 which I balked at but if I don’t find anything else that removes my Bobbi Brown mascara quite as well I may have to bite the bullet!

You shake the bottle vigorously to mix the two parts then apply with a cotton wool pad. I like to hold it to my eyes for 15 seconds and then wipe and 90% of my eye makeup comes off in the first swipe. This means no rubbing at the delicate eye area which is always a plus. It is suitable for sensitive eyes and contact lens wearers according to the Boots website and I’ve certainly never experienced any stinging. One factor which may sway the argument for me is that though it costs a lot (to me anyway) you only need a little. I’ve had this sample bottle a while (30ml) and I’m only a third of the way through. Unlike some eye makeup removers where you have to completely soak the cotton pad you need the smallest splash of this stuff.

My one little niggle is that though the bottle says non oily I do find I have an oily residue left behind on my skin when I use this. It’s not the end of the world and a wipe with a damp flannel removes it but it is very noticeable to me.

All in all I do like this product and if I can get over the price I will probably repurchase. It’s the best remover for waterproof mascara I’ve tried so far.

NOTD – China Glaze Grape Juice

Grape Juice came out as part of the Summer Days 2009 collection and is pretty easy to find. It’s a gorgeous purple with oodles of shimmer, almost bordering on micro glitter. The shimmer is silvery but flashes rainbow in sunlight.


The formula was surprisingly thin and it took 4 coats to get it this opaque. I’d love to be able to tell you how the wear was but as you can see I have fake plastic nails and they needed replacing 1 day after applying this. There was no tip wear or chipping after 24 hours though. The pictures show the colour pretty accurately though it’s perhaps a touch deeper in real life. Love it!

Sleek Kajal

In case you haven’t noticed I’m rather partial to a bit of eyeliner. It is my favourite makeup item and not a day goes by without me using it. When the new Sleek Kajal eyeliner came out recently I made a point of picking one up.



It’s a little bit different from anything I’ve ever used. The clever pointed design never needs sharpening as you use it at an angle thus keeping it pointed. The consistency is soft and very waxy. This is not the tool for creating a precise line. It lends itself better to creating a soft, smoky smudged look. I do like the effect it gives and it is supremely easy to blend.

The one downside for me is that with my hooded lids it transfers horribly. This is easily remedied by setting it with a bit of powder (this also greatly improves its lasting time) I also tends to melt off my waterline pretty quickly so I mainly use this along my top lash line.

The packaging is very appealing. It feels nice and sturdy and I love the little ‘tail’. It looks, no pun intended, very sleek indeed. It comes in black (nocturnal) and purple (odyssey) and costs only £3.99. It has quickly become a staple of any smoky eye look I do.

*I bought a purple one just for my giveaway! Don't forget to enter :-) *

Blog award!!

The lovely Lauren over at http://lovelaughlauren.blogspot.com/ nominated me for a blog award! If you haven’t yet checked out her blog it’s a really sweet feel good read so get thee over there post haste!

The Rules:
1. Thank the person that gave this to you :) Go on, give them a virtual hug!
2. Copy the award and put it on your blog.
3. List 3 things you love about yourself ♥
4. Post a picture you love (e.g a person you adore etc.)
5. Tag 5 people you wish to pass this award on to :)

1. Thanks Lauren! Have a virtual hug and a cup of tea if you want one.

2. Done 

3. Ooh er! I guess I think I have a lot of common sense. I’m so damn logical I’m practically Vulcan. Secondly I’m good with animals. I have 5 fish tanks, 2 axolotls, 1 cat, 2 bearded dragons and 8 giant African land snails. I may spend several hours a day scooping poop but I love all my babies and they are all spoiled rotten! Thirdly I actually like how the mild OCD means I always know where everything is and I’m always organised.

4. Well you have all seen pictures of Taz so here is a pic of RifRaf, the male beardy. He’s a big lazy boy. His sister won’t sit still long enough for a decent pic.

5. I read an awful lot of blogs and all of them are fab. I suppose the ones I’ve been enjoying especially lately are: (Again the links won’t work. I don’t know if it’s me or blogger or both).

http://rosietint.blogspot.com/
http://pleasureflush.blogspot.com/
http://missyellieuk.blogspot.com/ (Who has a fab give away on at the moment! Go check it out!)
http://makeupaddict00.blogspot.com/
http://www.makeupsavvy.co.uk/
xxx

Give away time!! (Closed)

I pop out for some lettuce (yes, really) and come back to 52 blog followers! Thanks folks :-) It really does make my day. No actually hitting 50 probably = week. I never expected to reach that so thank you all. If anyone has a blog that they reckon I haven’t checked out yet please let me know so I can take a peep!

As promised I have put together a little giveaway. It’s nothing special as I still have none of the lovely monies... I just started back at work this week and pay day isn’t for a while.

So the prizes are;

OPI Kyoto Pearl
Sleek Nailed quick drying polish (I think ltd edition) in Turquoise
Barry M Berry Ice Cream Nail Polish
Sleek Kajal Eyeliner in Odyssey (Purple)
Lush Blue Skies Bubble Bar
Collection 2000 Big Fake False Lash Effect Mascara in brown black. (Which I forgot to include in the photo because my brain is running on fumes today).

This is open internationally (though I cannot be held responsible for any postage mishaps when posting outside the UK). All you need to do is;

1. Be a follower
2. Post a comment below to enter (1 entry)
3. Follow me on twitter and RT “Blog giveaway now on at http://eyeliningobsessions.blogspot.com/” (Gets you another entry)

Good luck everyone! xxx

P.S It would help If I set a deadline wouldn't it. Erm.... Sunday 30th at 7pm GMT.

TTFN (Would I repurchase)

For those of you not familiar with dear Tigger TTFN means ta ta for now! I thought it might be fun to do a semi regular feature of things I have actually managed to use up (partly as an incentive to actually finish things before moving onto the next fad) and ask myself whether I would spend my pennies on it again. Some of these things I have already posted about however sometimes my opinion has changed by the time I get to the bottom of a bottle.

First up we have a very empty bottle of Johnson’s 24 hour moisture extra-rich body lotion bought from Boots for the princely sum of £2.75. It promises to “turn 1 minutes of moisturising into 24 hours of softness”. I have extremely dry skin on my legs and so I do get through a fair amount of body lotion. Personally I thought this was ok, nothing special, just ok. It is not fragrance free so may not be suitable to sensitive skins however I find the fresh soapy scent to be quite pleasant. It smells clean but it is a little strong. It does tend to sit on my skin a little rather than being absorbed straight away and whilst it certainly helped my skin there wasn’t a drastic deep down change. In short it stopped it being too scaly but it didn’t provide deep down intensive moisturisation for me.

Would I repurchase? Probably if I saw it on sale because I like the scent but I’m still hunting for something a little richer for my scaly pasty legs.

Next we have the Max Factor concealer pen which I have reviewed previously. My feelings haven’t really changed on this. I like the packaging and the formula but it just doesn’t give enough coverage for my uber dark circles. I won’t be repurchasing for that reason. If you don’t have terrible dark circles you could do a lot worse but it isn’t for me.

We’ve all been there. Staggering in after a long hard days work/ propping up the bar. You know you should take off your makeup but you’re just so tired... I do not recommend using face wipes to remove your makeup on a regular basis however in those situations anything is better than nothing. For this reason I always keep a pack of makeup remover wipes in my bedside table so I never have an excuse to not take off my makeup. Here we have an empty packet of Johnson’s 3 in 1 facial cleansing wipes which claim to cleanse, tone and remove makeup (including waterproof mascara). Again these were only a couple of pounds and they have the same pleasant soapy clean scent as the body lotion. They are nice and moist (ooh er) and do a fairly decent job of taking off my makeup. They do make a start on waterproof mascara however generally it doesn’t get it all off without some serious rubbing. I have never found them to sting my eyes. I probably would repurchase these as I don’t use them often enough to justify paying for some really good wipes (I’d rather spend that money on proper removers that I use pretty much every day) and these do the trick in a pinch.

Then we have that little sample of the Body Shop Vitamin E Moisture cream (yes I will repurchase actually, It’s great for the scarring on my neck), ½ of the Nail Dr duo (the Rock on Hardener. I used it all up but it got really thick and hard to work with after only 3 weeks. Not impressed and won’t repurchase). And finally the Soap & Glory fab pore facial peel. Those of you who watched my YT video will know that despite loving this product I can’t use it again as I had a nasty allergic reaction to it. Needless to say I won’t be buying it again, much as I would love to be able to.


Please do let me know if you think this feature is useful. I personally often find that the real measure of a product is when you get to the bottom of it and either rush out to replace it of throw it with a sigh of relief at finally being rid of it. Of the products here only 2 (the Body Shop Vit E cream and the Johnson’s wipes) have been added to by ‘to buy’ list.
TTFN! xx

Happy Birthday Get Lippie!

One of the many blogs I read is the fabulous GetLippie http://getlippie.blogspot.com/ who is holding a rather fab giveaway in honour of her birthday! In order to enter we have to either blog about what makes us happy or email her. If you haven’t checked it out you should!

I suppose what makes me happy is this week really. In Scotland a lot of the degrees are 4 years and I finally finished my last exams on Saturday. I worked full time before university and to be honest it suited me much better. I was very fortunate though in that I was able to get a full time job sorted and I started this Monday.

This makes me happy for so many reasons. For starters I feel like a fish firmly back in water. I like working. I find I can give it my all during the day and then switch totally off when I get in, something I could never do with university. It gives me and my fiancé a degree of financial stability we sorely needed as money worries have been giving us sleepless nights for a long time now.

Most importantly though the job is quite possibly my dream job. I get to travel the country, work from home on occasion, train and learn new things and work with some fantastic people. It’s going to be very hard work but I’m never going to be bored! A lot of it is new to me, I’ve never worked in HR before, but having done the same job part time all through uni it’s a refreshing change.

So there you have it. My new job makes me happy. And being able to come home to my wonderful fiancé at the end of the day makes me even more so 

So to Louise at Get Lippie have a fantastic birthday and thank you very much for offering everyone the chance to win such fantastic prizes! xx

Boots Original Formula Haul

Whilst in Boots last week (as I usually am!) I noticed that the Original Formula range which I’ve been dying to try was half price! So I loaded up my basket. As you can see Taz greatly approved!

Since her op she’s been feeling much better. She used to be fairly disinterested in her surroundings, now everything and everyone needs to be investigated thoroughly. Anyhoo back to the haul.




How lovely is the packaging! Here we have the bath oil (£3.89 reduced from £7.79), hand cream (£1.94 reduced from £3.89), bath foam (£3.14 reduced from £6.29) and body wash (£1.94 reduced from £3.89). The bath foam and oils both come in beautiful glass bottles. When they are done I will definitely be using them to put other bubble baths in!


So far all I’ve tried is the hand cream. The packaging looks like a metal tube but it’s actually plastic and squeezy. The cream is fairly thick and a little goes a long way and it does a nice job of moisturising my hands without leaving a greasy residue. The most noticeable feature is its scent. It states lavender on the packaging but whilst there certainly is a noticeable lavender tone it isn’t overpowering. It smells, well, it smells like a National Trust house. And I mean this as a good thing (being a proud member of the National Trust! For non UK people they are an organisation that look after old stately homes, gardens, castles and the like). It smells of beautiful well manicured gardens and pot pourri. It’s a pleasant floral scent but it is quite strong so is strong scents aren’t your thing it won’t be for you. I’m very tempted to pop back and buy the whole shelf full whilst it’s on special offer!

Overall so far I’m impressed and I do hope that the low prices aren’t indicative that they are giving up on the line. If anyone has any suggestions for other things from the range I should be trying then please do let me know!

ELF Complexion Perfection

I made another ELF haul recently. I’m learning fast, the normal line is mainly misses for me but the Studio line is blowing me away. The quality for the price (even regardless of the price) is great. And once again their customer service was faultless. Within 1 hour I had confirmation that my address had been manually corrected (their computer system doesn’t like my address...) and in less than 24 hours my order had arrived. Once again shipping was free over £30.

From their Studio line we have here their Complexion Perfection pressed powder. It comes in a sleek looking black palette with a substantial mirror and a whopping 13.5g of product for £3.50. Here is what their website has to say:

“Create a balanced and radiant complexion that is beautiful and healthy. The lightweight formula evens out the skin tone and absorbs excess oil. The sheer formula brightens, mattes and neutralizes the skin.

Directions
Blend the powder over the entire face to brighten and even out the skin tone as well as neutralize any redness.”


I have heard a couple of people complain that this can look cakey on their skin. I find it depends on what brush you use. I like the ELF Studio Kabuki (review coming soon) that I bought in the same order. With it you don’t pick up too much product and the end result is a mattified finish that is pretty much invisible to me. I have used other brushes that have made it look a little heavy tough so just bear that in mind. The point of the four different colours is to neutralise any redness and brighten the skin. I don’t have too much redness in my skin unless my skin is irritated from something (I’m looking at you Soap and glory..) in which case yes this product really does help disguise it. Don’t worry about the scary looking colours. You don’t end up with a patchwork face. You just swirl your brush around them and it goes on colourless.

I have a lot of finishing powders and I have to say this is one of my favourites (no ELF aren’t paying me, I bought this myself). I do have to apply it a couple of times throughout the day but then that is the norm for my skin. I will definitely buy a back up. All in all I’m very happy with it!

Simple Kind to Eyes Soothing Eye Balm

I’ve been on a bit of a Simple kick lately. Wait, that sounds wrong. I bought a lot of their stuff on offer. Hence the flurry of Simple skincare posts.

They continue their winning streak for me with this lovely little eye cream. The box claims it will refresh tired eyes and reduce puffiness whilst being gentle on even sensitive eyes. And do you know, it does! Something about applying the cold gel like cream to my eye area just clears your head like nothing else. It’ll wake you up more than that second cup of coffee will! The skin under my eyes feels less tight too.

I have a different eye cream that I use during the day as it has SPF which this doesn’t. This however does just the trick for soothing and refreshing the skin around my eyes after I’ve removed my eye makeup. It’s only £3.69 at Boots so it doesn’t break the bank. You don’t need a lot either so your pennies will stretch a fair way. Another win for Simple!

Benefit Creaseless Cream – Pre-nup

Was anyone else totally overwhelmed by the amazing blog sale Cosmetic Candy had recently? So much stuff! I picked up a couple of things including this shadow from her and I’m so pleased I did. The products are great and it was a super easy process buying from her. Really reasonably priced, she posted quickly and even stuck some goodies and samples in with the makeup! Thanks again!

You probably all know my feelings on Benefit products. I want them all. I don’t however want to pay what I feel a grossly over inflated prices for some of the products. Yes I know the products are for the most part amazing but still I have bills to pay! That said the creaseless cream shadow/ liners are probably one of the most reasonably priced items at £14 each (obviously I paid less than this at the blog sale). The packaging is a lovely substantial glass pot (make sure you fasten the lid very tightly to stop it drying out!) and you get 4.5g of product which will last you a very long time.


Here we have Pre-nup, a gorgeous rosy copper colour with a metallic finish. When they say creaseless they really do mean it! This stuff doesn’t budge once it is on your eye! Nor does it transfer up my hooded lids. I would definitely consider buying more. The only problem I have with it is that it is damn near impossible to blend. For this reason my favourite use for this is as a liner over gold shadows. It looks gorgeous and has even sparked a couple of compliments! I cannot stress enough just how good the finish and staying power is with this.

I tried applying this with a brush but it just made it go on cakey so I would recommend patting this on with your ring finger (unless using it as a liner in which case I do find the Benefit get bent liner brush works well. No I didn’t pay full price for that either. Cheapskate? Me? No....)

Anyone out there got any tips for me to blend this a little better? xx

Almost ready for a giveaway!

Hello folks :-) Just to let you know that as soon as I hit 50 followers I will be holding a giveaway! It will be open to everyone who follows. I'm really excited and have bought the prizes already but I shan't be giving anything away just yet ;)

I just want to say a quick thank you to everyone who follows, reads and comments on this blog. I started it a few months a go just for fun having been hooked on many other beauty blogs for a while. It's a great community and I'm been lucky enough to chat with some really nice people.

So keep your eyes peeled (and if you haven't already please do hit that follow button!)

Thanks all xxx

Collection 2000 Solo Eyeshadows

I am a fan of Collection 2000. They do some very pretty products for a very cheap price (Can’t remember exactly but definitely a lot less than £5). Yes the quality isn’t the best but for a quick mid week pick me up it certainly does the trick.



These three have been part of my collection for a while as you can probably tell from the gouges in them. Here we have Velvet (rich reddish burgundy with gold tones), Temptation (mid toned blue) and Sea breeze (greenish aqua with warm gold tones). All of these have shimmer and all of them lean towards warm tones. The back of the packet says lasts up to 8 hours and is crease resistant. Er no? Not on their own anyway but then most eyeshadows aren’t with me. With a good primer they do last though and Velvet is one of my go to colours for my outer corner on a work day with a gold colour across my lid. Just really do make sure you have used a decent primer or they do tend to fade.

The swatches are in the same order (Velvet, Temptation and Sea Breeze from left to right). They are highly pigmented and not at all chalky however they lack the smooth buttery texture of higher end shadows. For the money though and the colours I think Collection 2000 have once again provided us with a good product at a more than reasonable price. I would gladly purchase more!

Is it just me or are a lot of drugstore brands upping the ante on eyeshadow quality? I used to firmly believe that if you wanted decent eyeshadow you would have to fork out for higher end stuff but recently I’m being pleasantly surprised by a few brands. What do you folks think, is it high end all the way for you or do drugstore bargains hold a place in your heart?

MAC 188 Brush

Aw look. A baby brush! This is of course the baby brother of the MAC 187 (which I don’t have because it is silly money). This was a present from the wonderful hubby-to-be (1 month to go!!!!!!) Isn’t he a sweetie?


The 188 can be used for pretty much everything. Liquid foundation, powders, blush. Personally I think if you want to use it for your whole face, e.g. foundation, you would be better off getting big bro as this is a little dinky. However I love the size. It makes it perfect for the use I have put it too.

See! It’s a perfect fit for my beloved Maybelline Dream Mousse Blush. The white synthetic fibres pick up just the right amount of product and the smaller size makes it perfect for a more precise application. I have found that sometimes these particular blushes can blend out to nothing if you aren’t careful. Not so when applied with this! I get a much more pigmented finish. The brush is very soft and I haven’t experienced any shedding. Is it worth £25? Erm... yes I suppose. I certainly don’t have anything like it and it applies cream blush like nothing else. I don’t think I’ll bother saving for the 188 though. I tried this with foundation and it just doesn’t give enough coverage for me.

In case you’re a neat freak like me and you’re worried about the lovely white bristles getting stained by cream blush don’t worry. I was given a bottle of the MAC brush cleaner with it and the stuff gets all of the colour off the bristles even in a spot clean. It really is lovely stuff and I think worth £8. But MAC, if you’re reading this (I can dream right?) PLEASE put a bloody spray on that bottle. The opening that comes with it is messier than a toddler with a can of paint. I resent paying £8 for a product then having to go and spend my time and more money tracking down an empty spray bottle just to make it useable. Just saying...

Maybelline Dream Mousse Blush

I have raved about these products before in my 2nd Youtube video. I still stand by them! They are relatively cheap (I think £6.99 but don’t quote me on that) wearable colours and pretty idiot proof when it comes to application .As you can see these two have taken a bit of a beating from my MAC 188 brush. I find that when I apply it with that I get a more pigmented finish as when I apply it with my fingers it sometimes sheers out a bit too much.



Here we have Peach Satin and Dolly Pink. The colour range isn’t huge I have to say but they all seem to be wearable colours. There is some shimmer, almost bordering on glitter, lurking in there so if you want a matte finish the this isn’t for you. Personally as I have a matte finish on the rest of my face I don’t mind a bit of shimmer on my cheeks.


They wear reasonably well though I do wonder if they might be prone to fading more when summer gets going. They usually have faded a little by the end of the day. I find this is easily solved by a light sweep of a powder blush over the top, used with a light hand they make a great base.

I love the mousse texture. It’s very creamy and easy to work with and if you do go all out clown face and accidentally apply too much you can pretty easily blend it out. I’d definitely recommend them (as long as you don’t mind the sparkles!).

MUA Eyeshadows (aka welcome to the bandwagon)

Ooh makeup for £1? Yes please and thank you! I have seen these on countless blogs but since when has that stopped me talking about a product? The £1/ item Make Up Academy (MUA) line that recently launched at Superdrug has been a big hit with preteens and bargain hunting makeup addicts alike. Many of the products have been called as misses but the eyeshadows have gained a bit of a following. Here we have 18 – a matte bright purple, 11 – a pearl brownish taupe and 16 – a matte peachy pink.
What first struck me about these shadows it how big they are for the price. You get a full 2g so you are getting a lot of product for very few pennies. The packaging is surprisingly nice too. Yes it doesn’t look especially sleek or luxe but the logo is actually printed on rather than a sticker and it doesn’t look as cheap as it is.



The swatches tell the whole story though. Number 11 is smooth, creamy and pigmented. The two matte colours however are chalky and hard to work with. The peachy pink is better than the purple but still not a patch on the pearl shade. Using a base does help, especially if you use a slightly sticky/ creamy one. Much as I love the colours I wouldn’t repurchase the mattes. If you are thinking of getting some get the pearl shades.

All in all I think Superdrug have done well here. There are some other bits and bobs in the liner I might check out and in these times of economic (and political) uncertainty a budget makeup line is sure to be a winner. Have you tried anything else from the line? What do you think I should pick up next? xx (And have a picture of Tazzybear playing with makeup too...)

NOTD – George Ultra Violet

Well hello there you sexy duochrome thang you. This is another little gem from George at Asda for the princely sum of £1.50. I do love these little polishes. They make picking up cat litter and milk (the milk is for me, not the cat) so much more exciting. This particular offering is a purple/lilac that flashes blue in any light. Sometimes a duochrome only shows its many colours in direct sunlight but I found this mesmerising indoors too. The formula is a little thinner and more watery than say Raincloud but it is easy to work with. My one little gripe is that this is 3 coats and it still isn’t opaque. Ordinarily this would be a deal breaker for me but for this colour it seems to somehow make it look more... delicate. Well done George whoever you may be. You do make some very interesting nail polish!