Illamasqua/Pixiwoo inspired doll makeup

London Haul

Where am I?!

Totally aware that my blogging (& YT'ing!) has been more erratic than an erratic thing, but I just wanted to let you know why I haven't been posting as much (nothing dramatic!)

I rescued a little cat 2 weeks ago & it's been fairly hectic getting her settled, vet appointments etc. After a couple of days she started biting & generally feeling very miserable, so she went for the little kitty snip & I'm pleased to report her behaviour is now verging on angelic! Anyhoo, here are a couple of snaps of the little nincompoop who has been taking up all my time! And I shall be back once we are all back to normal!

Belle

Magazine Freebies Galore!

This month is clearly the month for a bargain hunter. UK mags are becoming increasingly savvy with their free gifts, especially with beauty products. No longer do we get a no-name brand green glittery eyeliner that was a favourite back in the day with Just Seventeen. Instead we are treated to full size, on trend actually usuable products!

This month, we are being treated to a full size Leighton Denny Polish with Harper's Bazaar. Worth £11 and in 3 gorgeous shades, this is definitely worth the £4.20 price tag for the mag (which is fabulous anyway). I picked up Viva La Diva, a gorgeous cool red but the other 2 shades Do Me a Flavour (orange) and Supermodel (greige) are super pretty too. You can see some fab swatches of them over on A Vain Woman. Even if you bought all 3 mags, that's still only £12.60 for £33 worth of polish.

My other fave is the Jemma Kidd lipgloss, worth £14 with Red Magazine. Again, 3 shades to choose from. I picked up the coral shade, but there is a red shade created exclusively for the magazine & a lovely nude shade too (which I might go back for...).

Also, there are a 4ml size of Benefit's Posy Tint, High Beam or Benetint with Glamour (which is £2!). The full size products are from around £18 - £25 depending on what you buy and are usually around a 12ml size.

Finally, with Marie Claire UK, there is a choice of a Inika mineral eyeshadow or eye pencil. The mag states that together, the 2 products are worth £23.50 & MC was about £4.

A couple of people on Twitter had asked what the eyeshadow was like, so here are a couple of swatches. The shade is Gunmetal. The base colour appears to be a lovely soft grey-ish taupe-y purple with an overlay of high shine light grey. Really pretty & I'm glad I didn't overlook this one!

NARS Dogon

I am about 4 and a half weeks behind blogosphere with this particular purchase. I had been keeping an eye on the various posts that had been popping up here, there and every-bloody-where, trying to make up my mind if I really *needed* it. Turns out yes, yes I did.

This is NARS Dogon (apparently pronounced doh-gone). A limited edition eyeshadow duo, consisting of a duochrome taupe shade, a lighter version of MAC's Club and a gorgeous gorgeous gorgeous matte navy blue black.

This is my 2nd only ever NARS purchase (I KNOW!!). I trawl the counters every time I'm in Selfridges or House of Fraser, but there really is nothing that ever takes me fancy. I can appreciate the gorgeousness of the eyeshadows, the lure of the 'orgasm' and the delights of Laguna, but I have just never really taken the plunge.

I'm glad I listened to my heart on this one. It has been love at first sight. I love the packaging - it feels weighty & substantial. I love the size of the shadows. Most importantly, I love the colours!

The colour on the left is really like Club - from the brown/taupe overtones to the chocolate/green duochrome. The swatch on my hand below is the same finger swipe of colour, but my hand is tilted in & out of the light and you can really see the complexities of this shadow.

On the right is the darker shade, a stunning matte blue-black. It looks fab blended into the taupe and it transforms from a blue-black into an amazing, only-seen-on-the-feathers-of-tropical-birds electric greeeny-blue loveliness. I am crap at describing things.

And this is it. Love.

This was £23.50 from Selfridges. It is limited edition, so I can't say how long it will be around for. So, just buy it. go on, you wont regret it!