BLOG SALE - HIGH END MAKE UP BRANDS

It's blog sale time again!  I have all of these things on my Depop but I thought I would put them on here as well as I know some people don't like using that app.  All prices include postage but if you are buying a few things then of course I would be happy to give a discount, also feel free to make me an offer!  Everything is 100% genuine branded products.  Any questions just get in touch either in a comment, twitter or email.

All payments through Paypal, I will send an invoice so please give me your email address along with items you want and it will be posted once payment has come through.

Limited edition Nars palette Barely used, a couple of colours swatches and the lipbalm used once. Includes Orgasm blush - all products listed in 2nd photo. 

£25 SOLD

Benefit Finding Mr Bright Brand new, never used. 

£20

Bobbi Brown Bronzer/Blush Duo with Bahama Brown and Pink Peony. Brand new, never used. 

(RRP £30) £23

Illamasqua Powdered Metal in Ether Highlighting face and body powder with a golden sheen. Only swatched a couple of times. I think this is discontinued? 

£14

No7 Radiance Boosting Hot Cloth Cleanser brand new (without cloth). 

£6.50

Bobbi Brown Skin Foundation in Golden 6 Brand new, never used. 

(RRP £30) £23 

Bobbi Brown Moisture Rich Foundation in Warm Sand 2.5 used once. 

(RRP £30) £19

Bobbi Brown High Shimmer Lipgloss in Black Ruby used once with brush
(RRP £17) £12 

Clarins Kabuki Brush in case with mirror. Like new. 

£20

Bobbi Brown Foundation Brush £27

Bobbi Brown Lip Brush (extendable with cover) £17.50

Bobbi Brown Angle Eye Shadow Brush £19

Bobbi Brown Concealer Brush £17.50

MAC 109 Small Contour Brush £21

MAC 227 Large Fluff Brush £18

I have got some clothes and other bits on my Depop which I've not added on here yet but feel free to have a look at my page here and get in touch if you're interested in anything.

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Illamasqua Precision Brow Gel Review + Brow Tutorial

I have been through numerous of Liz Earle's Eyebrow Pencils (review here) now so I decided to try something a bit different.  The Illamasqua Precision Brow Gel has been around for a while but only recently have they added a wider colour range.  Strike was the original which is for brunettes; they have now added Glimpse for redheads; Awe for blondes and Stare for dark brown/black hair.  I went for Strike as although my hair is light brown with blonde through it I prefer my brows to be darker.

Louise Loves #11

H&M Necklace

I bought this necklace a couple of weeks ago from H&M for £7.99.  Now, I am the sort of person who wear the same 2 costume necklaces on rotation so I thought I would mix it up a bit and get some new ones.  I am on the look out for longer ones as the ones I usually wear are short chunky pieces.  I got a lovely one from Topshop but it broke the day I got it so I took it back and didn't bother getting a new one.  This H&M one caught my eye because it looks much fancier than it is.  You can't see in the photo but chains are actually beads which are multi-facetted which makes them really sparkle in certain lights.  I love that I can just wear a plain top and throw this on and it looks like I've made more of an effort!

Gosh Nougat Crisp Lip Liner & Make up Revolution The One Lipstick

I wanted to find a product which would give me the sort of nude/brown 90s style lips that are all over the place at the moment but I have quite strongly coloured lips so I wasn't sure if it would suit me.  I found this combination in Superdrug for a total of about £5 so I could try it out without spending too much money!  The liner is really nice, it's a softer version of the colour of my lips and it applies easily.  The lipstick is a semi-matte nude and works well on top of the liner in the middle to lighten my lips slightly.  I will do a separate post on this with photos of them together on my lips.  I also got another lipstick which is more nude and true matte but I haven't tried this properly yet as I loved the first one I tried so much! 

Illamasqua Precision Brow Gel

I've had this for a while now but I'm going to be honest, it scared me a bit!  I was really excited when it first arrived in the post but when I tried it out I realised you can't just paint it on as you would with a pencil or eyeshadow, so I took to youtube and found some gel brow tutorials and now I am loving it!  I am going to do a post soon to show you how I use it, what tools and other products I use it with.

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EOTN: Belated Christmas Night Out

This is how I did my make up for a night out I went on with my friends for Christmas, just a bit late!  I was wanting more of a purple effect on my eyes as the colours I used from the Urban Decay Naked Palette are purpley toned but it turned out quite neutral still, silly Urban Decay :(

Eyes

Urban Decay Primer Potion

Urban Decay Naked Palette - Sin, Toasted, Hustle and Virgin to highlight

Mac Fluidline in Blacktrack (not CF)

Liz Earle Brow Pencil in Dark 02

Bourjois Fan-Tastic Volume Mascara

Face

Bourjois Healthy Mix Foundation in 51

Illamasqua Face Base in 02

MUA Pro Conceal & Brighten in Porcelain

Hourglass Ambient Lighting Powder in Dim Light

Illamasqua Powder Blush in Kiss

Lips

Bourjois Effet 3D Lipgloss in Rose Romantic

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NOTD: Speckles!

This week I took another break from my Nail Varnish Challenge and tried out this little Illamasqua number I've had lying around for months!  I think I got this back in May when they did one of their amazing promotions.  I ended up getting it for just under £6!!!  In general I think Illamasqua are a little bit overpriced but they certainly make up for it by doing 50% off promotions and having really good sales!

I'm so pleased I got this.  I don't really like any of the other colours from the I'mPerfection collection, but this one is lovely.  I've used 2 coats and got an opaque finish.  I was worried the sequinny bits might be hard to spread evenly but they weren't too bad.  I have a couple of more 'bald' areas (see ring finger) but I guess that's part of the charm as well!

I've just had a look on Illamasqua's website and this shade has been discontinued!! :(

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1920s Themed Murder Mystery

On Saturday night I went to one of my close friends Emma's Hen Do, there was also a day part to it but unfortunately I was working so I just met everyone else later on.  The evening section was a Murder Mystery set in the 1920s so we all hard to dress up accordingly.  There were 4 actors, a 3 course meal and lots of audience interaction, so all in all it was a good night!  I finished work just after 4 so I had plenty of time to get ready - I planned to go all out with the dressing up!  I thought I would share with you my clothes and make up from the night:

Make Up

Eyes Lightest shade from Sleek Storm palette all over lid up to brows, Urban Decay Gunmetal in the crease and Creep in the very outer crease.  On lower lash line Creep, Gunmetal then Sleek shade going from outside to inner corner.  Black eyeliner on waterline & black mascara on upper & lower lashes.

Brows Liz Earle Brow Pencil in Dark

Base  Illamasqua Skin Base in Shade 02 & Bourjois Healthy Mix in Shade 51

Concealer MUA Pro Conceal & Brighten Kit

Powder ELF Translucent Setting Powder

Cheeks Nars Lovejoy Blusher

Lips Topshop Inhibition

Costume

Flapper Dress Fancy Dress website from years ago 

Beads Found in an old jewellery box!

Coat Vero Moda

Hat Dickens & Jones

Shoes Next

~

I actually had heated rollers in for a good hour would you believe - my hair hates me!!  Luckily I didn't have to buy anything for this as I already owned everything!  I hope you enjoyed this more lifestyle themed post, I wish I had a better photo of my make up.  I am going to be having a blog sale within the next week, just swithering whether to put it up before or after IMATS, hmm, we shall see!

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Illamasqua Nail Varnish 'Haul' with Swatches

So remember I said I wasn't going to buy any more nail varnishes until I completed my nail varnish challenge?  Well, I lied.  It was an offer I couldn't resist!!

 

In case you hadn't noticed, over the Easter Weekend, Illamasqua carried out an 'Easter Hunt' game on their website where each day certain colours would be up to 50% off.  I really wanted them to do blushers but unfortunately they only did eyeshadows, nail varnish, pure pigments and lipsticks.  I took advantage of the nail varnish and pigment offers getting Hemlock (shown above) and Beguile.  I also really wanted (full price of course!) Pink Raindrops so I stuck that in the basket too!  Luckily I get student discount so I didn't pay full price for any items and paid just over £25 for the 3 bits - with free delivery.

I've never tried nail varnishes from Illamasqua before so I wasn't sure what they would be like.  I still haven't tried them on my nails yet but below are swatches of them both on a nail wheel.  I was a bit disappointed by Pink Raindrops to be honest, but maybe the sparkles will come to life with a top coat.  Hemlock is really pretty but obviously very sheer - I used two coats for each colour.  After first use I decided I hate the packaging!!  When I tighten up the square lids, they don't sit on straight and it makes me irrationally angry!  I love the Butter London packaging cos the lid comes off and there's a separate one underneath so the square lid always sits neatly - I think Illamasqua should consider that idea!

Just for fun I picked out a few colours I thought might look good with Hemlock on top, and I also put it over some of the ones which were already on the wheel so have a look below for those:

Nail Varnishes used in the first post were:

Nails Inc - The Southbank
Topshop - Hidden Treasure
Barry M - Silvery Lilac
Ciate - Skinny Jeans
Nails Inc - Haymarket

The other colours are from the neon Clubworks set I got for christmas.

I think it looks nice over the Ciate one, and the greens, orange and pink neon colours!  It adds an extra depth to the colour.

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Paperbacks & Beauty Facts: OOTD

The second video for Paperbacks & Beauty Facts is an outfit of the day!  Subscribe to keep up to date with the other girls'.

Dress - Primark

Jacket - Primark

Shoes - Flossy

Foundation - Illamasqua Skin Base in Shade 2 & Bourjois Healthy Mix in 51

Eyebrows - Liz Earle Brow Pencil in Dark [review]

Eyes - Urban Decay e/s in Grifter (lid), Last Call (crease), Sin (brow highlight) and Polyester Bride (inner corners); and Nars Kuala Lumpur II (crease).

Blusher - Illamasqua Kiss

Lipstick - Avon Golden Wine (not CF)

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Illamasqua Intense Lipgloss in Boost

I've had my eye on this lipgloss ever since it first came out in the Generation Q collection but as it was £14 and I'm not a huge lipgloss fan I decided to leave it.  However just before Christmas Illamasqua were offering 40% off full price items to make up students (it's usually 20%) so I just decided to get it as I probably won't get that opportunity again for a while! I also got the blusher in Kiss which I will be doing a post on too (when I can get a decent picture of it on my face!) and a medium pencil in Spell which is a bright pillar box red.  This cheeky wee discount brought the price down to £8.40 which isn't too bad although still pricey for a lipgloss!

The lipgloss is stunning, according to Illamasqua it's 'blueberry violet', but to be more exact it's a light purple with a shimmery blue duochrome to it.  Alone it isn't too opaque but it is still noticeable and looks really unusual, but over a purple lipstick it looks amazing.

I like that it comes with a brush rather than those ridiculous squeezy tubes or doe foot applicators, but I think that I got a dodgy one because it seems to have a bit of plastic sticking out from the bristles which isn't great!  It's only tiny but still annoying.

Onto the swatches!  Apologies for my gross dry lips... I tried to pick the best one out of a bad bunch haha!  In the bottom two I have applied it over Topshop Inhibition which is a combination I absolutely love!

Bare lips for comparison

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