A Budget Base

I really love a good cream eyeshadow base, and when it comes in at £1.99, it's even more exciting. This is the Miss Sporty Glossy Shadow in 160 Peanut Butter, and I think it is amazing and you need to go buy it right now.

You can see here that the colour is a beautiful, high- gloss, almost wet- look mauvey browny pink? Would you say? This is such a versatile colour, and can be used as a base for a bronzey brown eye look, a pink look, a purple look, or a peach look. Pretty much all the looks I regularly do, and I love the glossy finish so it looks great by itself too. Powder eyeshadow miraculously blend into the cream seamlessly, without setting it first, and I haven't noticed any creasing once I've layered other products over the top.

I finished my eyes off with these products (as well as liner and mascara, obviously). I used Kiko shadows in 233, which is a beautiful cranberry/ purple satin shadow, and 220, which is a really shimmery golden peach. I used 233 in the crease and on the outer half, and then dusted 220, which is fairly sheer, over the inner part. I then used this cream eyeshadow pencil from Collection on my inner corners.

I really love this look, and especially the Miss Sporty eyeshadow pencil, which I think is amazing quality and a beautiful colour for the price.

Hope you enjoyed this!
Thanks for reading,
Lou x

GOSH Forever Eye shadow stick | Quick Review

I had an eyeshadow stick moment in Superdrug the other day, and ended up buying four. I've only been able to try one of them so far, so here is a quick review of the GOSH cosmetics Eyeshadow stick in 02 Beige.
As a swatch, it looks like a total dream... I don't know about "beige": it looks more like liquid gold to me.

When applying, it went on very smoothly and blended perfectly. However, as the day went on, I realised that it started looking... odd.

I don't know if any of my pictures show it properly, but it dried down after a couple of hours to a really weird texture and looked almost dry and patchy- you can almost see in the picture below, it's settled into a crease on my eyelid, which NEVER happens to me. Ever.
I don't know if this was because I have quite dry skin in general, and so maybe my eyelids are pretty dry, who knows.

So I'm not super impressed with this stick so far, which is a shame because it was pricey as highstreet make up goes, I think they were £6 each. I'm gonna give it another go, maybe on top of a base like a Maybelline Colour Tattoo, to see if it performs any differently.

 One of the other sticks I bought was a darker colour in the same range from GOSH, so I'll try and review that soon to compare the two.

Hope this is useful, thanks for reading!

Lou x

5 Summer Essentials

I've been planning for my holiday for months now, and one of the most exciting things about going on holiday- for me, because I'm sad- is packing my make-up and beauty supplies. Very sad.
Here are five things which have been on my list since the very beginning, and will eventually come away with me.

1. Fairly crappy sunglasses. I would -obviously- rather spend money on skincare and make- up, and of course, on the holiday itself. So, I am not inclined to spend money on my sunglasses, the main reason being because I can break anything practically just by looking at it, meaning that pricey sunglasses just aren't a practical idea for me. Secondly, I'd rather have a selection of choices than just one pair. Primark is the place to be for sunglasses, This pair of classic sunglasses were a single pound, and they also come in black. Amazing. I have a couple more pairs which also cost between one or two pounds, but these are definitely my most- worn. Bargain!

2. Something cheeky. (D'ya see what I did there?) Summer is definitely the time for intense highlight, sparkle, shimmer, and peachy shades. All of those things come together in this Make Up Revolution Baked Highlighter in Peachy Pink Kisses. Obviously, this is dupe for the Too Faced blushes, but I have to say the quality of this is absolutely top notch.

It is intensely high-shine, so definitely not one for those who don't like a healthy helping of shimmer. However, the glitter is very fine , so you won't end up with chunks all over your face, which is always good. I use this as a blusher, with the peachier side, or as an intense highlight, OR both, with a tan and some bronzer. Loverly. These are £5 each.

3. Something Easy on the Eyes. (I am so full of puns today its insane. Punsational.)
Intense blending and layering of eyeshadow is something I don't have time for on holiday, and I tend to lean towards more cream- formulated eyeshadow. These two shadow sticks are fabulously long-wearing and pigmented. they can be worn allover the lid, as a smudged- out eyeliner, or even together to create a burnt-peach smokey eye.
The top shade is from Bourjois and its one of their Colourband  2-in-1 Pencil and Liner in the shade Rose Fauviste which is a kind of peach/gold colour. It's an amazing formula which sets pretty much as it hits your eyelids, so you have minimal blending time, but it sticks to your lids all day. The brown shade is from Collection and its their Eyeshadow Pencil in Hot Chocolate. Same idea as the other one, great staying power and handy application, and the colour is a beautiful bronzey- brown, perfect for an easy- smokey summer eye.

3. SPF for your face. Very very important for holidays. I like to use this Kiehl's Ultra Facial Moisturise with SPF 30 to keep my skin safe and well- moisturised. Nothing much to say about this one apart from that its my perfect summer moisturiser- nourishing but not too heavy.

5. Finally, a mini- selection of bright nail varnishes is an essential for any holiday. I love a mint green in the summer ,especially if I look a little bit tanned. Lilac is my favourite nail colour for all- year round, so this Barry M Paint in Blueberry Icecream is a must- have. A red nail will never get old, but for the Summer, a more orangey- red looks great with tanned skin. If you already have darker skin, bright polish will already look fabulous on you all year round -lucky!

Thank you so much for reading!

Follow the blog on bloglovin' to keep up-to-date

Lou x

Top 5 Undiscovered Beauty Gems

There are a lot of things in the beauty internet world which get a lot of mentions, and most of them deserve it.

However, there are at least a few things in my collection which I absolutely love and I've never heard anyone speak about.

Here's a lovely swatch of the lipstick (MAC's Captive), liner (Collection 24hr Liquid Liner) and Cream eyeshadow (Bourjois 24h cream to powder in a mysterious colour)

Check out my YouTube video to find out more :)

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCECys22qgk3G01ozysH6rcA

thanks so much for reading/watching, please subscribe and follow my blog to keep up to date :)

Lou x

The Weekend Edit ~ Travel Make-up Bag

 I find packing a travel make -up bag so much fun. I think I'm a bit weird, but I love challenging myself to cut it down to a small selection which offers me a wide range of options. So here's my latest edit, I'm at my parents' for Easter and the few days ahead will hold family gatherings, photo opportunities, and some trips out to see friends etc, so my make-up bag has to be quite versatile. I'll talk you through my picks so hopefully you'll get some ideas :)

Face

Three concealers I hear you say, well- let me justify it.

The Rimmel BB cream is a no-brainer, it's my absolute favourite at the moment. Light to medium coverage, brightening and flawless looking. Light enough for a casual day, but with a bit of neatly placed concealer, it can become a bit more flawless.

The Collection concealer is for blemishes which might rear their ugly head. Dotted onto bits-I-want-to-cover, this concealer is perfect for heavy coverage jobs. And everyone is bored to death hearing about this one, so I'll move on.

Maybelline Fit Me concealer is a strange one. It's looks darker than my skin tone but when blended in it's actually fine. I use the shade 15. I use this as an eyeshadow base to even out my pigmentation on my eyelids, as well as under my eyes to cover those dark circles.

The L'Oreal Touche Magique is for those days which I want a little extra summin-summin. Stripped over the top of the Maybelline under my eyes and down my cheeks a little, it can look really brightening, and on a really good under-eye day, I could just wack this on atop my BB cream for a really luminous face. Brill.

 Blush, Bronze and Highlight

Bronzing/ contour goes straight to my Body Shop Honey Bronzer in 01 Light Matte- perfect for both a chiselled cheekbone, and a sunkissed glow. 

Blush was a hard one, I wanted to take my MAC blush, but I've not been giving my other blushes much attention, so I've thrown in this Revolution blush in Love which is really really nice and fresh. It is matte but it lasts well and is a perfect Spring-pink.

For highlight, I gave the Mary Luminizer a break, and threw in this Technic Highlighter (available on Amazon) which is basically an amazing dupe for Benefit's High Beam, and a tenth of the price. I've had this for years, and it's perfect dabbed on the cheekbones or under the brows.

I chucked in my Rimmel Stay Matte powder in Translucent for shiny days.

Eyes

I feel like this is such a condensed choice, I am so proud of myself.

For my brows, I went for my Revolution Aqua Tint in Fair which I love, and it lasts really well, as well as my Natural Collection Clear Mascara for combing them through.

I have two cream eyeshadows which are great for bases, and for quick washes of colour. I went for Creamy Beige from Maybelline because it's matte, and everything else I'm bringing is shimmery so I wanted the option. The other is Petale de Glace ( i think) From Borjouis- the name has rubbed off but it's a really beautiiful dusty pink which looks so fresh and pretty. 

I'm loving this Collection Eyes Uncovered palette in Nude Bronze, it's got a really good selection of shades, and the quality is amazing for the price. Also the packaging is so travel-friendly.

Mascara was an easy one- Va Va Voom from 17, my go-to mascara. Same with eyeliner- the liquid pen from Collection is the best. I threw in a pencil black eyeliner just incase, it's the Rimmel Scandaleyes.

Lips

Stuff happening this week will mostly revolve around eating, so no bold lips are welcome. The Revlon Lip Butter in Pink Truffle is a nice balmy dark pink, the Rimmel Kate Lipstick in 103 is a matte mid pink, and the Maybelline Colour sensational in Glorious Grapefruit is an orange-y gloss. All fresh and spring-y but not high maintenance. Oh, and some Lip Balm from the Body shop which is chocolate smelling. Yum.

Other bits

Just a couple of extras. Baby skin primer in case I feel a bit pore-y, my lash curler because its an essential, and Barry M Topcoat, Basecoat and Nail Hardener in case I need to get rid of my current colour and I can't deal with naked nails.

So that's everything! Hope you enjoyed it and found it useful :)

Thanks for reading!

Lou x

Maybelline Colour Tattoo On and On Bronze ~ Does it last a whole day?

If you haven't heard about the Colour tattoos by Maybelline yet...have you been living under a rock?

The most talked about shade- by far- and the first one I purchased, is 'On and On Bronze', or Bad to the Bronze in the USA.

I love this as a base or on it's own, and I thought I would test it's longevity ( it does claim to have 24 hour wear) and document a whole day's wear without eyelid primer or even concealer to keep it in place.

Here's the original hand swatch. You can see how amazingly pigmented and shimmery this cream eyeshadow is with just one swipe.

 So here's how it looked about half an hour after it went onto my eye. I was  short of time this morning so there's absolutely nothing else on my eyelid apart from the colour tattoo.

Two hour time check- the colour looks roughly the same, I do notice that it fades slightly from when you first put it on and doesn't pack the same punch as when first applied.

Here's about four or five hours later. I notice with this shade the colour seems to fade but the shimmer stays put really well. It doesn't look noticeably faded and patchy, but doesn't compare to the original swatch. 

Here's the last check up of the day. I swapped eyes, I'm not sure why but they look identical to be honest. This photo is after over nine hours wear, and I have to say, for one swipe of product, this has held up pretty well. I definitely think with a concealer or primer underneath the colour would hold up a little better, or even if I just packed the product on in a second or third layer. I think this is a really good one for quick morning make-up, as the shimmer and colour stay pretty well throughout the day.

(I have to say the photos show my mascara and how well that held out during the day too- it was Maybelline Falsies)