IMATS Haul!

I finally made it to IMATS!  I have been wanting to go for the past 3 years but this year we actually put the plan into action and got it all organised.  I went with my friend Louise (confusing, yes) and we flew down to Luton on Friday afternoon and stayed over in a Premier Inn on the same street as Kensington Olympia, then the next morning we headed along to IMATS!

I think I was actually quite controlled with my spending!  My budget was £60 and from adding it up below (not including the concealer) I only went over it by about a tenner which isn't too bad!

Nars Make Up Artist Palette £12.50 - OH MY GOD isn't the price insane???
Nars Eyeshadow Trio in Calanque £10 - Such pretty colours and again, BARGAIN!
OCC Concealer in Y0 £10 - My friend asked me to pick this up for her, but now I want one, dammit!
Make Up Blending Sponge £3.25 - Worth a try for that price! Just need to work out how to use it now...
Bdellium Tool 975 £10
Bdellium Tools 776 £5 - Mac 217 replacement perhaps?!
Bdellium Tools 777 £5
NYX Nude Matte Shadow in Kiss The Day (light one) £3 - I hardly have any matte shades so I picked these two neutrals up
NYX Nude Matte Shadow in Tryst (dark one) £3
NYX Eyeshadow in Toffee Shimmer £3.50
NYX Jumbo Eye Pencil in Dark Brown £3.50 - I have Milk so I wanted a dark one to use as a base
NYX Eye Pencil in Sapphire £2.50
NYX Eye Pencil in Purple £2.50
Inglot Translucent Loose Powder in Shade 217 £7 - I've been looking for a yellow setting powder for a while now!

<3

EOTN: Nars Paramaribo Duo

As promised here is how I've been doing my eye makeup for most of the Christmas nights out I went on earlier in the month.  It is nice and quick as it only uses a couple of products so it was handy for my college night out where I stayed at my friend's; I could just throw the few extra items into my everyday makeup bag.

So all I used for this was my Urban Decay Primer Potion, NYX Jumbo Eye Pencil in Milk (both of these are optional, but my eyes crease like crazy), Nars Paramaribo duo, Nars Albatross (as a highlight, any will do but I like the gold tones in that one), a gel liner and mascara.  On my brows I used Une Brow Pencil in B04.

Sorry for the cropped photo, it was a full face but my eye bags are just so bad, ahhh!  I will be so sad when my Mac concealer runs out cos it works really well but obviously I can't repurchase... No idea what I'll use!  If anyone has any industrial strength dark circle concealer recommendations which are cruelty free and I can get in UK, please let me know!!!

Also my secret santa at work (no idea who it is, still on the hunt!) amazingly gave me loads of BUAV Approved makeup!  So I can't wait to try it out and let you know my thoughts on it.  I've never heard of it before but it's called Clubworks and it must be pretty cheap as the limit was £10 and I got those 3 sets!

<3

EOTD: Christmas Day

I got a bit carried away doing my makeup for Christmas Day seeing as the only time I left the house was to pick up my grandparents, and it was only them coming round!  I wasn't even going to blog this makeup but then my mum complimented it so I thought, oh why not!  However because I waited until later on, (and because I didn't use a primer as I didn't really need it to last...) it has gone all creasy, soz :(  I might redo it later on and change the photos to better ones!

On my eyes I used NYX Jumbo Eye Pencil in Milk and then what I like to call my 'earthy palette', which you can see in full here.  I used the Too Faced duo in Lucky Charm (the green one...), and then the lightest Avon shadow, which is the tiny one above the duo as a highlight.  Then I just lined my eyes with black gel liner and added mascara to top and bottom lashes.  On my brows I have Une Brow Pencil in B04.

On my cheeks I have MUA blush in Shade 6, and on my lips is my new Illamasqua Lipgloss in Boost which I love.  I will definitely do a separate post on that alone at some point - it's so pretty!  I only put this on towards the end of the day out of sheer curiosity!

Base

Eyeshadows

Blusher

<3

Louise Loves #9

I finally finished college for Christmas, yayy!  We had our night out the week before and it was actually amazing; we went for dinner, had giant cocktails, did karaoke, had too many Jägerbombs then had to attempt some compact spooning with 4 of us on the one couch! We had a class at 9am the next day but didn't make it in...  I didn't want to risk driving at that time anyway, the police are really cracking down on people driving 'the morning after' this year - terrifying!

Sadly now I need to concentrate on studying for my Linear Algebra exam on 14th January, the thought it just so depressing I can't even tell you!

NYX Jumbo Eye Pencil in Milk

I have been using this every time I wear eyeshadow, which has been a lot more often than usual due to all the Christmas dinners and nights out!  It just creates such a smooth, even base for you to apply eyeshadows on top of.  It also really intensifies the colours in the shadows as well.  You can get these from a few UK stockists such as Amazon, Cocktail Cosmetics and Love Makeup which is where I got mine from, they also have their own UK website which I have linked below.

[£4.50 from NYX uk]

My Christmas Decorations!

I love my little light, I got it last year from Dobbies, it gives the room a lovely warm glow.  On my wardrobe I've got all my cards, advent calendar and a candy cane.  I've also got a tiny real Christmas tree with lights to go in but we haven't go a proper base for it yet :(

Nars Eyeshadow Duo in Paramaribo

I actually bought this in a blog sale for about £10?  I can't remember how much exactly, but much cheaper than the full price anyway!  This is in my favourites because it has become my go-to eyeshadow duo for going out, it's so quick and easy to apply.  Also because of the colours it is very versatile.  The only thing I'd say is that for some reason the gold/olivey one has a weird texture and sort of seals itself as if I've got it wet - which I haven't!  I'm not sure if this is a one off or if they all are a bit funny, I'm glad I didn't pay full price for it!

[£24 from NARS]

Eyeliner Brush

I've been using this for ages but again, I've been wearing eyeliner a lot more over the festive period.  This is actually a paint brush (hahah) but it applies gel eyeliner like an absolute dream, I love it!  I got this from The Art Store in Glasgow and it's an oil painting brush, number 0.  It probably didn't cost more than a few pounds as well.

<3

EOTN: Callanetics Christmas Dinner

On Friday I make a cheeky wee purchase in the House of Fraser brand event, I picked it up at work on Saturday and wore it out that night!  This is the Nars Duo you might have seen in my Christmas Wishlist - Kuala Lumpur.  I was going out for dinner with girls from my callanetics class just to local restaurant, it was so good.  My friend Jenny didn't like any of the starters so I had hers; I had tomato, onion and mozzarella bruscetta, then her goat's cheese and caramelised onion bruscetta - oh god it was so tasty, and I don't usually like goat's cheese!  Then for my main course I had seabass with a herby breadcrumb topping served with baby potatoes and salad, and for dessert I had vanilla cheesecake with chocolate sauce and strawberries, mmmm!!!  This was all (well 3 courses...) for only £19.95, what a bargain!

Okay I think I have rambled about food for long enough... Here is the look I created with the Nars Duo.  I did not wear anything on my lips as I find it pretty pointless when going for a meal!

For the eyes I used NYX Jumbo Pencil in Milk, then Nars duo e/s in Kuala Lumpur and also the paler colour from the Nars Hungry Hearts duo as a brow highlight.  I lined my eyes with Mac Blacktrack Fluidline, Benefit They're Real mascara (both not cruelty free) on my lashes and filled in my eyebrows with Une Brow Pencil in B04.  On my cheeks I have MUA Blush in Shade 6 and this Physician's Formula Highlighter.

Eyeshadow

Blusher

Brow Highlight

<3

Day 2. Two Makeup Products You Would Not Recommend

NYX Glitter Cream Palette:

My auntie brought me this palette back from when they went to Florida. I've just never been able to find a use for it, there is no way to stop it creasing because of the formula, even if you apply it over an eyeshadow or base, it just melts that eyeshadow and makes it crease too! Also although there looks like there is a lot of glitter in them, some of them are quite sparse when applied. I'm not sure why I'm keeping them, they are just so sparkly I don't want to bin them! Maybe one day I will find a use for them!

No. 7 Eyebrow Pencil:

I bought this after my Une pencil ran out as my friend had got it and said it was quite good. However the actual product in it is quite hard (it actually hurts my head 'cos I need to press it so hard to apply it!) and instead of being 'blonde' as it says, it is more of a gingery colour instead of being ashy as you would expect. I am going to try and use it up, grudgingly! One thing I do like about it is the wee brush on the end! Cost £8.


<3