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!

Armani Eyes To Kill 'Lust Red' Intense Eyeshadow

As soon as I saw this post and this post by Grace at London Makeup Girl I knew I was going to buy this. It's everything I love in an eyeshadow; dark, rich & slightly shimmery.

The Eyes To Kill Intense eyeshadow range are vibrant, complex, multi-dimensional colours housed within a hybrid formula which feels like a cream but behaves like a powder. It is, in effect, a loose pigment, but is smooth and compact. According to Armani, the formula is composed of an unprecedented association between binder elements and pearls that creates an exceptional luminosity depth and intensity of the eye colour. I have no idea what that means. I don't particularly care. What I do care about is how it looks, applies & lasts. Lets see, shall we?

I particularly like the little press that comes inside. In fact, more brands could learn from this packaging for pigments.

I'm impressed that the eyeshadow appears in real-life as it does on the promo shots. It's a dark black, shot through with purple/red glitter, not dissimilar to MAC's Beauty Marked eyeshadow, but with infinitely better pay-off.

The website states that the pigment can be used wet or dry. The swatch below is a swipe of my finger, dry. I tried it wet too & it looked exactly the same. Usually you would apply a shadow with a damp brush to intensify the pay-off but this doesn't need it. I'm pleased that the red glitter isn't just for show & disappears as soon as the shadow touches the skin.

These swatches on my lid are the shadow applied directly (no base shadow or primer) using a MAC 217 brush (I thought the brush would disperse the pigment too much & dilute it but it worked fine for me).

Apparently these are supposed to last 24 hours, but can be wiped off easily. I don't know about 24 hours! That's a fairly hefty claim; I will get back to you on that one!

So, what do you think? I love shadows that are interesting enough to be worn alone & all over the lid. I don't have the time (or the inclination!) to faff about doing a crease, shading etc in the morning & favour shadows that can just be chucked on & look amazing with no work and I think this does just that. I'm scared for my bank balance. There are at least half a dozen other shades I need and at £24.50 I'm probably going to have to get a 2nd job...

PS: massive thanks to Pip for traipsing to 2 Selfridges to buy this for me. Go check her out on YouTube

Tom Pecheux; Orange Crush Pure Color Collection

This is one very limited LE collection from Lauder! Comprising of only 2 eyeshadows & 1 lipgloss, you're going to have to be quick on the 17th June to be able to get your mitts on it.

Another winner from Tom Pecheux's Pure Colour Collections, this is 'Orange Crush' and is inspired by the looks Pecheux did for Derek Lam's SS11 runway show. At the time, Pecheux used an orange lipliner on the eyes, but this collection makes it accessible for everyone, just in case you're not a supermodel...

The 2 eyeshadows are stunning. On the left is 'Orange Crush' and the right is 'Sugar Cube'. Orange Crush is a matte shade, a deep corally blood red orange. Sugar Cube is a gorgeous satin, crisp white, that isn't chalky & just adds a touch of light to the inner corner of the eye.

And if you don't fancy orange on the eyes, you can still nail the trend with the lipgloss, also named 'Orange Crush'. The pigment in this gloss is insane, so strong & vibrant. It almost appears like a very glossy lipstick & the wear goes on & on.

The reason I haven't posted an FOTD with these is I haven't yet decided if I even want to use them properly - they are so so beautiful & I'm tempted to keep them as collectors items! We'll see though. That orange eyeshadow is just begging to be used!

This collection will be available exclusively in Harvey Nichols from the 17th June, in Edinburgh, Leeds, London & Manchester.

PR Sample

Kat Von D Makeup Tutorial

NOTD: Black & Red French Manicure

Yesterday I had a little treat at my favourite beauty salon, Preen Beauty, and instead of having my usual black gel manicure, I went for something a little different. What do you think? I LOVE it! This is a biosculpture manicure & will last 3 weeks.

Next time, I think I'm going to get these...

Kickin it old skool...

I love just snapping away when I'm out & about but hate having to carry my camera everywhere & always feel that iPhone photos lack that je nais se quoi, so was delighted to be introduced to Hipstamatic, an iPhone app that equips your phone with a variety of lenses that give your photos a bit of a 'szhooszh' !

I've been clicking away like mad this week, trying to be arty. Here are some of my faves from the week...

Remember my vegetable patch post? This is a radish baby! I made life!!

Debrorah Lippmann's Ruby Red Slippers Swatched

A super quick post as I'm running out the door, in a rush, eating skips for tea. They aren't even skips. They are called melts, the Aldi version... anyway, I digress!

This is a swatch of Deborah Lippmann's Ruby Red Slippers, blogged about here. I haven't been able to capture even a tenth of how amazing it looks in real life, but here is a couple of picaroos...

sorry for the poorness of the pics - I just am a crap photographer!