Charlotte Tilbury Bronzed Garnet Colour Chameleon

I have been really intrigued by the Charlotte Tilbury make up for a while now -  it's refreshing having a new cruelty free high end brand to try!  My work buds from my previous job were kind enough to get me a Selfridges voucher (they said I am hard to buy for, hrmmph, haha!) which I decided to use on something from Charlotte Tilbury.  It took me a good few months to decide what to get an finally after numerous Selfridges trips and make up swatches I went for one of the colour chameleon eye pencils.

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.

Neve Cosmetics: French Royalty Collection Swatches

Neve Cosmetics are an Italian, cruelty free brand.  All the products are vegetarian and the majority are vegan.  They have a really nice collection of loose and pressed mineral eyeshadows and blushers which can be used wet and dry.

Their most recent collection is called French Royalty and is inspired by the ostentatious pomp of the French courts of the 1700s with a realm of precious stones and metals.  All of the products in this collection are vegan and it is made up of 4 eyeshadows, 2 blushers and 2 eye pencils.

You can buy Neve Cosmetics from cutECOsmetics and they have very kindly sent me the eyeshadows and blushers to try out and share with you!

Before we go onto the swatches I just feel I need to warn you about my gross, veiny hands hahah so enjoy that...

Mineral Blush

Noblesse is "pink brick with lilac satin".  I really love this one and have been wearing it quite a lot recently!

Boudoir is a "light peach pink with delicate mauve satin".  I haven't tried this one on my face yet as I tend to avoid pinks for some reason but I think the blue/purple duo chrome gives it a really unusual edge.

These are safe for use on lips and the full size (4g) costs £10.50.  [link]

Chateau Mineral Eyeshadow

Chateau is a "duo chrome brown with hints of mauve and pistachio green".  Swatched, this one looks quite similar to Mac Club or Urban Decay Lounge - see here.

Sang Bleu Mineral Eyeshadow

Sang Bleu is a "duo chrome with purple and blue highlights".  This is a really pretty colour both wet and dry, but wet it is so bold!

Versailles Mineral Eyeshadow

Versailles is a "bright and shiny gold with amber undertones".  This one applied like a dream!  There is not much difference between wet and dry except I think that the wet brings out the yellow/gold colours more.

Collier Mineral Eyeshadow

Collier is "silver with a light grey base, with slight blue satin sheet and glitter".  This one really comes alive when wet, all the colours are hugely magnified!

The full size pot (2g) costs £6.50. [link]

I will do a couple of eye makeup looks using these shadows later on, so look out for those :)

<3

EOTN: Smokey Eye with a Vampy Lip

I was having one of those days where I just felt ugly, I think everyone has those every so often!  I decided to do some nice make up to make myself feel better, and here's how it turned out.  I didn't even go anywhere after it (okay that's a lie, my dad made me go to Morrisons with him, how embarrassing haha!) I just went back to studying!

Photo from Instagram

I used some of the products I got from Liz in our swap; the eyeshadow quad and the Hard Candy blusher.  I'm really not very good at doing smokey eyes at all for some reason, I can't make it very dark or it just gets messy, I think it's maybe just that I don't suit very dark eyes in the first place.

• Primed the lids with Urban Decay Primer Potion.
• Used the silvery colour all over the lid.
• Then the brown in the outer third.
• Next I applied the darkest 'black' (it's not a very true black!) in the crease and blended it out.
• Then using the shimmery white I highlighted under the brow and in the inner corner.
• For underneath the eyes I brought the white out from the inner corner, then brown then the black in the outer corner meeting with the same colour on the top lid.
• I then lined my eyes with a black gel liner and tight-lined with a black eyeliner pencil.
• Finally I applied Benefit They're Real mascara to top and bottom lashes.

On my lips I am wearing Avon Ultra Colour Rich 24k Gold in Golden Wine (not CF), and on my skin I have Illamasqua Skinbase foundation in shade 2 and Illamasqua under-eye concealer in UC115.

I used the blusher from this set

<3

Cruelty Free Alternative to Mac Club Eyeshadow

I know I said I probably wouldn't be blogging much during my exams but meh, I'm an excellent procrastinator!

I was working today which kind of sucked as we are having really nice weather this week in Scotland for a change!  I work beside a loch so it was mobbed with everyone in their summery clothes and ice creams, so jealous!  But anyway, I came home to lots of parcels which was really exciting!  One of them was this eyeshadow.

I can't even remember how I came across this eyeshadow but I think I hunted it down after hearing it was similar to Mac's Club.  I first saw Club in one of Tanya Burr's (Pixi2woo) youtube make up tutorials and thought it was just stunning!  However, I don't buy Mac because of them selling in China i.e. not cruelty free, so finding a cruelty free alternative to it was very exciting!

Unfortunately this post is not going to contain swatches, just because I don't have the best camera and trying to do this shade justice was impossible!  So instead I am going to do a make up look using this eyeshadow, which should be easier to photograph, hopefully!

As Urban Decay have rebranded all their eyeshadows with the new palette system I had to get this from eBay as I couldn't find it on legit websites, I'm pretty sure it's real... haha!  I got it here for £5.85, but it's now out of stock!

<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

EOTN: Makeshift Teal

Tonight my friends and I sang at friends and family night at a cancer unit.  We really enjoy singing as a group and have put together a choir totally just for fun!  We have been to a few different places now; we sang at that cancer unit and a care home around Christmas time last year, and we also sang at my friend Beckie's wedding (who is in the choir but obviously being the bride she didn't join in!).  Our general theme has been to wear black and then we all have different coloured folders for our song words which we match to our eyeshadow!  My folder is a dark teal sort of colour which is quite a tricky colour to find a matching eyeshadow for, so I just used blue and green and hoped for the best!

Photo from my phone, shows off the highlights better as they get washed out from the flash!

I actually hated this during the process but this happens most of the time for me lol!  I just persevered with it and ended up quite pleased with how it looked.  I used quite a lot of products so I will use bulletpoints below to try and make it clearer!

• UDPP all over the lid (no longer CF - grrrr).
• Covergirl 'green' all over the lid (not CF).
• I then pressed Barry M dazzle dust in 92 over the 'green' (which ends up blue anyway!)
• Then mixing Mildew and Oil Slick from the Urban Decay Ammo Palette (no longer CF) together on a tapered brush I applied this into my crease and blended it out.
• I then used the blue and green shadows from the E.L.F. Eye Transformer palette, blue around the inner corner and up then green under the brow bone, blending them together.
• I used the Covergirl 'green' under my lower lash line.
• Finally I applied black gel eyeliner along the upper lashline, and then mascara - Bourjois Fast & Perfect - on upper and lower eyelashes.

'Green' is second on the right - got this in Florida years ago

I used the two outer shadows here

The E.L.F. palette is fantastic, it is an almost-but-not-really dupe for the Naked Cosmetics Ivory stack.  These are perfect for highlighting the inner corner as they are subtley coloured.  From left to right they are green, gold, pink and blue.  You can also apply them over different colours such as black and it creates a really nice iridescent shimmer.

Oh and I had my music exam yesterday!!  It wasn't too bad,  it wasn't perfect and my nerves were definitely showing but we'll see in two weeks when I get my results!  I feel like I can finally relax for a bit now, phew!

<3 

EOTN: Matching Coral

I went out for a 21st last Thursday and I was wearing orange shorts so I decided to tie in my make up (for a change - I tend not to match make up and clothes!) with this theme.

I used a primer then MUA in shade 16 all over my lid up to my eyebrow, then in the crease I used a few orange shades the Coastal Scents 88 palette (not CF), some are hardly pigmented so I just played around until I got the colour I wanted.  After this I applied a thin line of liquid eyeliner to my upper lash line and used a brown eyeshadow on my lower lash line for some definition.  Lastly, I curled my lashes and used my Bourjois Fast & Perfect mascara - I already had a layer on from being at work that day which is why it looks more spidery than normal!

For my lips I realised that my Lip Butter in Tutti Fruitti would be perfect!  It's such a nice soft orange colour which went really well.  I love this Lip Butter but so many people have done reviews and things on it so I will give it miss.  However if you do want me to do one I will be happy to, I just don't want to bore you all!

And here is a photo of my face... before doing my hair obviously, not that it looked much better to honest haha I'm so bad at doing hair!  I would show you my outfit but all the photos of me from the night are actually hideous!!!

 <3

EOTD: Sleek Storm Palette #2

I wasn't actually doing particularly exciting when I did this make up, I was just going shopping (click for haul!) but I just felt in the mood to wear some eyeshadow and went with it!  It ended up looking quite similar to the make up I did for my friend's wedding but never mind, I enjoy purple eyeshadow!  I even remembered to take photos of it before I went out, yayy!

I applied primer (I think I forgot to mention this in my last eyeshadow post but I always need to wear primer as my eyelids are quite oily, mmm...) and then used 1 in the outer 2/3s of my eye lid, then 2 in the inner 3rd and corner to highlight.  I the applied 3 to the other corner but it ended up looking a bit brown and muddy so I used Sugarpill Poison Plum over the top and also brought it down under my lower lash line.  Next I used a liquid liner to thinly line my top lash line, and finally applied my Bourjois Fast and Perfect mascara to top and bottom!

<3

EOTD: Sleek Storm Palette

I usually get up an hour before starting work but recently since I've started at 11.45 a few days, I've been getting up at 10ish!  So I decided to actually wear eye make up to work.  On a normal work day my make up is usually concealer, brows, mascara and blusher which is just slapped on at the very last minute!  I still managed to run out of time and nearly forgot to make my lunch (I'd have cried!!) so I didn't take photos until about half 8 that night...  Hence it's not looking as smart as it did when first applied but hey ho!  Also excuse my bloodshot eye, you can't really see it in the photo but compared to my other eye it's noticeable, no idea what's wrong with it :(

I used the Sleek Storm palette simply because it was closest to hand.  I applied 1 all over my lid, then 2 in the crease and 3 in the outer corner of the crease.  I used Bootycall from the Naked 2 palette as a highlight, and I can't actually remember what I used in the inner corner!  Either Bootycall or the very pale one in the Storm palette...   I also ran 2 under my lower lashes.  Then applied some black liquid liner (it was black at some point, I swear, haha!) and Bourjois Volume Fast & Perfect mascara to the top, and very gently to the bottom lashes.

I'm hoping now that I'm pretty much free for the summer I will be able to do more eye make up looks, and I will photograph them at the time so they don't look a mess lol!

<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

Wedding Make Up!

I posted this on Tumblr a few days before my friend's wedding when I was trying to decide what to do with my makeup so I thought I'd put it on here too for anyone interested :)

Trying out make up for the wedding!  For some reason I totally forgot about my lips so I've just cropped them out... whoops, I'll worry about them later!  Also I am getting my eyebrows waxed tomorrow, cannot wait! They're actually driving me crazy so just try not to look at them...

• I didn't use a primer but I will use UDPP on the day as it is going to need to last!
• Painterly Paint Pot by Mac over the lid.
• I then used a mixture of Sin and Virgin from the Naked palette over the lid.
• Then using the two purpley colours from a limited edition Mac mineralize eyeshadow in Eccentricity, I applied these to the outer corner but unfortunately they ended up looking quite muddy and didn't appear very pigmented - probably my manky brushes...
• So I then used my Sugarpill eyeshadow in Poison Plum which is really nice and strong, to go over this in the outer corner and into the crease.
• I also brought this underneath the eye, and went over it with Last Call from the Urban Decay Ammo palette, to darken it as the red pigments in the purple made me look slightly ill!
• I also tightlined using Avon Glimmerstick in Black.

Here it goes slightly odd because I used different eyeliner on each eye:

• On the right eye (pictured) I used blue gel eyeliner in Indigo from Coastal Scents and used Avon Supershock pencil in Golden Fawn on my waterline.
• On the left I used Mac Fluidline in Blacktrack and Avon Supershock in Blackberry on my waterline.
• Lastly I applied Bourjois Volume Fast & Perfect Mascara.

So now I just need to decide on eyeliner colours, how big to make the wing, lipstick and blusher!

<3