Empties #19

Too Faced Better Than Sex Mascara

I feel like I spend a lot of timing looking for a mascara which works for me!  I've not been particularly excited about any since they discontinued the Bourjois one I loved - there are cruelty free disputes about them now however so it's probably not a bad thing.  

When I went to Paris in June we obviously had to go to Sephora so I thought I'd splash out a bit and try a Too Faced mascara as I'd heard good things about them.  There were a couple to choose from and in the end I went for Better Than Sex.  

It's the biggest tube out of all the range and it's really quite heavy and chunky actually, I'm not sure if it's supposed to remind us of some sort of vibrating sex toy or if that's just me being dirty minded!  Anyway... moving on, as you can see from the photos below, it's also got a huge brush.  You can't see it all that well but it's twisted and in an hourglass shape.

Below are some photos to show the effect of the mascara.  In the first one I have no make up on at all, then for the next two I applied foundation, concealer, brow pencil and finally the mascara.  Please ignore the drunk look in the middle one, my eye kept blinking haha!  I think mascara works really well at both lengthening and curling the lashes - I didn't even curl them before this.  

I am loving this mascara, definitely the best one I've used in a long time!  It lasts all day and I've not had any problems with flaking.  However, I normally don't wear mascara on my bottom lashes so I think it would transfer if I did, as every other non-waterproof one does, but I wanted to show it applied in the photos.  

What's also great is that removal is easy and comes off quickly with my Body Shop Camomile Eye Makeup Remover.

The only negative I have come across with this is that I seem to always get it on my eyelids which isn't something which happens with other mascaras!  I think it might just be because it's such a huge brush which I'm not used to, so hopefully I'll get to grips with it soon...

I would definitely repurchase this however it seems to be really popular and sold out almost everywhere at the moment!  As I mentioned above, I bought it in Paris and it was about 23€, and from what I can find online I think it's £19 here which isn't too bad.  Boots and Debenhams both stock Too Faced but are out of stock online, however BeautyBay are selling it here for a bit cheaper at £16.91 with free delivery.

I would like to try the Better Than False Lashes which has nylon fibres you apply in between coats but this is £32 so maybe once I have a bit more money...

<3

St Patrick's Day Nails & Eyes!

(Also sneakily including Nail Varnish Challenge #4!)

I went for a green colour out of my box of unused polishes to celebrate St Patrick's Day.  By 'celebrate' I mean sit in my house and eat Indian food.  Obviously.  

I've never actually gone out for St Patrick's Day to be honest even though I am Scottish and we Celts should stick together but never mind.  I tend to avoid bars/clubs on big events like this, Hogmanay, even Hallowe'en I'll be avoiding next year, it was just far too busy for me!  

Moving swiftly on from my thrilling social life to nail varnish...  This one is Peace on Earth by China Glaze which is a metallic sort of olive green.  I've used two coats but it was almost opaque in one which is great!  This one is a keeper!

Onto the eyes:  This is totally recycled, I'm sorry!  I did this make up on Christmas but it's green so I'm definitely allowed to recycle ;)  To read what I used etc click here for the post. 

Hope you all have a lovely week!  I am back to college and we're starting our final block - I can't believe how quickly it's passed!  It means my graded unit is coming up though which is terrifying but hopefully it should be okay...

<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

FOTD: BBQ & College Practice

This is the make up I wore to a family BBQ on Sunday - it rained obviously - and I also wanted to do a  trial run for the make up I would wear to college the next day.

I actually ended up forgetting to put on eyeliner the next morning, also my mum had told me that I was too pale so I darkened my foundation slightly but those were the only differences in make up!  Oh and excuse my hair in the photos, I'd clipped it up to do my face haha!

• I first used Two Faced Primed and Poreless mainly on my forehead and under my eyes.
• Then for foundation I mixed Illamasqua Skinbase in shade 2 with a little bit of Bourjois Healthy Mix in shade 51, on Monday I used slightly more of the Bourjois one to darken it.
• Under my eyes I used Mac Studio Finish concealer in NW20 (not CF) and powdered over it with Benefit Powderflage.
• I filled in my eyebrows with Avon eyebrow pencil in Brown (not CF).
• On my cheeks I used No7 cream blush in Rose Silk then went over it lightly with the Covergirl (not CF) blush I'm trying to use up, and highlighted using Physicians Formula highlighter that I love.
• For my eyes I just lined the upper lashline with Mac Fluidline (not CF) in Blacktrack and applied Benefit They're Real mascara.
• Finally on my lips I wore ELF Moisturising Lip Tint in Berry.

<3

Collection: DIY Palettes #2

I decided to created my own mini palettes to condense my individual eyeshadow collection a little bit.  I was going to do them in the one post but it started to get a bit long so I am going to divide it up into 2 posts instead!  Here are my 3 palettes that I have so far:

In my last post I showed you the Unii Palette (the red one) and so the next ones to discuss are the small E.L.F. ones.  I actually have 3 of these but only 2 are filled at the moment!  These palettes are quite handy, they come with an insert to fit 4 standard size eyeshadows/blushes which E.L.F. sell individually on their website.  The palette and refills are £1.50 (well they were last time I checked, they are bumping up their prices something awful, argh!) which is quite a bargain!  In all honesty the refills are not the best, they are really gritty and I won't be buying anymore of these.  The palette however is great, you just need to pop out the insert and then using some double sided sticky tape, stick down the metal sheet which lies beneath the insert.  So then you can use however many products you want/can fit in it!  You can also decorate your palette as well if you want - I had little rhinestones on the corners but they fell off as I used to keep it in my make up bag!

So although they are quite small, for £1.50 they are really easy for putting together a few similar colours.  They are definitely not as durable as the Unii palette for travel, I had one eyeshadow smash on me in one, and that was with the insert in place!  But I think for the price they are fantastic!

In the left-hand side one I have got black and white themed eyeshadows.  They are by Too Faced (grey and black), Avon (the white and grey - not CF) and E.L.F. (the white one, see how gritty it is?!)

In the other one I have got some blushes.  The big one is Berry Merry by E.L.F. (love this blush!), beside it is Merlot by Arbonne, and the round one is another £1.50 E.L.F. one (again note the grittiness).

I am going to a post about my obsession with purple toned blusher at some point, I'd like to get my hands on NARS Sin first but it's just so damn expensive!

<3

Collection: DIY Palettes #1

I decided to created my own mini palettes to condense my individual eyeshadow collection a little bit.  I was going to show them all in the one post but it started to get a bit long so I am going to divide it up into either 2 or 3 posts instead!  Here are the 3 palettes that I have so far:

The first one I am going to talk about, the big red one, is a Unii palette.  These are really great as they are so sturdy and durable, and they also come with a sheet of adhesive magnetic for you to cut out and stick to your products.  Inside it has a massive mirror and a rubber bumper to help prevent any damages if it gets bashed, which makes it perfect for travelling.  It also comes with a little thumb grip but I have removed this as it was taking up too much room.

The downside to it is that it's really quite expensive considering it's an empty palette!  I think mine worked out to be about £21 if not slightly more, due to exchange rate and shipping.  However this was when they were relatively new and I got it directly from the Unii's US website, now they have a UK website which is fantastic and are available at an introductory price of only £15!  They are also discounting it if you buy in bulk, so if you buy four or more you will get them for £12 each!  The p&p is £2.95, which isn't too bad, and free for over £60.  Unfortunately they have totally changed all the colours and the one I have isn't available anymore, but they do have a nice selection of pastelly colours which are really pretty!

The Unii palette fits a lot of different brands which are all listed on their website (link above) and it also explains how to depot any products which have got packaging which is quite handy if you're not familiar with the techniques.

In my palette I have got quite a few different brands: Avon (not CF), Too Faced, MAC (not CF), Urban Decay (not CF) and Virgin Vie (no idea about their cruelty-free status but I would assume they are not!  I've never bought anything from them before, this was part of a gift set.).  I have tried to group colours together and this one is my earthy/neutrals palette!

<3

EOTD: Copper on Mother's Day

Today was Mother's Day so we had my grandparents and a family friend over for afternoon tea!  I decided to do something with my eyes - as much as I love eye make up I hardly ever do it, only really for nights out or special occasions!  This is a really quick and simple look which I've done a few times now.

I took this quite late on so it's a bit creased (even though I used primer!)

• I applied Urban Decay Primer Potion all over my eye up to my eyebrow and underneath too.
• Next I used Urban Decay 24/7 Pencil in Whiskey over the lid and I blended it in with my finger.
• I then used the darker side of Too Faced eyeshadow duo in George & Weezie all over the lid and used the lighter side to blend it in slightly.
• I used the eyeliner pencil under my eye along the outer half.
• Then I used the darker side of George and Weezie again over the eyeliner under my eye.
• Lastly I applied Bourjois Volume Fast & Perfect mascara on top and bottom lashes and filled in my eyebrows with the E.L.F. eyebrow kit.

I was going to put either a liquid eyeliner or pencil in black on my top lid but by this time I was supposed to be making pancakes and tidying the living room so I just finished it off with mascara!  I also used a peachy/orange blusher from a random Virgin Vie kit I got for Christmas and my Mac Studio Finish Concealer under my eyes.

Hope you all had a lovely day and my thoughts are with those who have lost their mums as today must be so difficult.  My mum's friend's mother died on Friday so today must be so hard for her.

<3