Essie 'Looking For Love'

 I love pastel and neutral colours for day time in the summer and Essie's 'Looking For Love' combines these both in one gorgeous polish!

Looking For Love is a lovely, soft grey toned lilac, which looks very subtle on the nails. I don't usually go for purples on my nails, but I feel that this tone is a lot more wearable for me than a bright purple and I do really like the colour. The only down side of this polish is that it is very sheer. So sheer that to build up this colour it took me four coats and as you can see the tips of my nails are still slightly showing through. However, as it is so sheer, it is very fast drying, so doing each of the four coats wasn't too much of a trouble, but this definitely isn't something I would grab when in a rush!

With my top coat (Sally Hansen Insta-Dri) my nails look super glossy and these stay chip free for days. The long lasting formula is part of the reason that I love Essie nail polish, it is one of my favourite brands and I am so glad they are stocking it in Boots now!

Do you like Essie polish? What colours do you have?

Nars Cream Eyeshadow Duo 'Camargue' & LOTD!

Nars definitely has to be one of my favourite makeup brands. I love the packaging (although it attracts dirt like nothing else!) and the quality of the products is amazing. I have really been getting into cream eyeshadows recently as I love the finish it gives worn alone and the intensity it gives to a colour when worn as a base. 

I picked up a cream eyeshadow duo from Nars in the colour 'Camargue', which is described as "Golden Moss/ Sienna infused with multi-coloured reflections". 

The Golden Moss colour is a very shimmery gold with a subtle hint of green, which I have been loving using as a base all over the lid.

The Sienna is a warm brown with flecks of multi coloured shimmer throughout, which works lovely alongside the Golden Moss to darken up the eye.

Some people may find the amount of shimmer over powering, but I actually really like it for an evening/night out makeup, and love that the colours are buildable and can look fairly sheer or quite bold.

I have read that these crease fairly easily on some people, and for me, after a few hours I will start to notice some creasing, so I do like to set it with a powder eyeshadow, but still allow the shimmer to show through. I love how the colours work together and the finish of the cream eyeshadows. 'Madagascar', 'Summer Time' and 'Unconditional Love' from this range have been added to my 'to-buy' list!

Have you tried the Nars cream eyeshadows? Or do you have a different brand of cream eyeshadows that you favour?

Look Of The Day: Mac Scene Eyeshadow

A few posts ago I spoke about my 'Scene' eyeshadow purchase from Mac, and said that I was going to post a look wearing it. Well, here it is!

As I mentioned in my previous post about this eyeshadow, I bought it as I was getting into a routine of always using brown eyeshadows, and wanted to mix it up a bit. 

'Scene' is a blue toned grey, which I usually stay away from as I have blue eyes, but I warmed it up a little by blending Mac's 'Cork' out along the crease. 

Face

Clinique Superbalanced Makeup '36 Beige Chiffon'

Collection 2000 Lasting Perfecting Concealer 'Medium' (Under eyes)

Mac Studio Finish Concealer 'NC30' (Blemishes)

Rimmel Stay Matte Powder '001 Transparent'

Famous by Sue Moxley Bronzer 'Tahiti'

Mac Blush 'Harmony' (Contour)

Nars Blush 'Deep Throat'

Brows

HD Brows Palette Bombshell 'Medium Blonde'

Eyes

Maybelline Color Tattoo 'Permanent Taupe'

No.7 Eyeshadow Palette (Skin toned colour, inner third)

Mac eyeshadow 'Scene' (Outer corner and through crease)

Mac eyeshadow 'Cork' (Blended out through crease)

ELF Eyeliner 'Pearl White' (Tear duct) 

Bourjois Volumizer Mascara

Lips

No.7 Lip Pencil 'Nude'

Mac 'Angel' Lipstick

I really like this look, I think adding 'Cork' through the crease takes the harshness away from the blue toned eyeshadows, making it wearable for me.

What eyeshadow looks have you been going for recently?

x

Review: Revlon Lip Butters

I have been meaning to try out Revlon Lip Butter's for ages now, but it's been one of those things that I kept forgetting to pick up and then gets put to the bottom of my list of 'to-buy's'. I was on Buyapowa recently, and saw an amazing deal they were having for three of the Lip Butter's for £9.50. I thought this was an absolute steal as they normally retail for £7.99 each, so getting three for under a tenner was a great deal and plus, they were all colours that I had wanted to try out.

The colours I got are Strawberry Shortcake, Lollipop and Sweet Tart, which are all variations of pink. 

Strawberry Shortcake//Lollipop//Sweet Tart

I had heard these were a lot like the L'oreal Rouge Caresse Lipsticks which I lovee and have been wearing a lot recently and I actually picked up a couple more the other day (post to follow). When comparing the two, I would say that they are in fact very similar, but the Lip Butter's are slightly creamier whereas the Caresse Lipsticks are more glossy feeling.

Strawberry Shortcake

Lollipop

Sweet Tart

The Lip Butters are lovely and glossy, and are almost a three in one of lip balm, lipstick and lipgloss together when on the lips. The colours are gorgeously pigmented, but can definitely be sheered out to add just a wash of colour if you wanted. They are very wearable, and could be dressed up or down.

Strawberry Shortcake//Lollipop//Sweet Tart

I love all three of the colours I got and will definitely be looking out for some other colours in the range. I think the coral toned one would be right up my street!

Sweet Tart

Have you tried the Lip Butters? What did you think? Let me know if you would be interested in seeing a more in depth comparison of the Lip Butters and Caresse Lipsticks :)

x

NOTD: No.7 Glitter Top Coat

If you saw my most recent haul post, you will know that I picked up one of the new No.7 Glitter Top Coats and I said that I was planning on doing a separate post dedicated to the polish. So here it is!

There's two colours in this limited edition range, Gold and Silver, I picked up Silver but I am definitely going to be trying out the Gold too! 

The varnish is basically a clear top coat polish with pieces of glitter running through it. What I love so much about this polish, is that there is different sized pieces, some smaller and some chunky, giving a very 3D and scattered effect on the nail. I have talked before about my beloved Barry M Silver Glitter polish, but I think this one mayyy have topped it, due to the chunkier pieces of glitter, which reminds me a lot of Essie's Set In Stones. 

I wore it over Leighton Denny's Babydoll (a baby pink colour and a combo that I love) and although I think this would look lovely over any colour, I think it could also be worn alone and layered up to create a fully silver nail. 

Overall I am really impressed with this polish. It retails at £8, but if you use one of the No.7 £5 vouchers that are flying around at the moment, it comes to £3, an absolute steal!

What do you think of glitter top coats? Do you have a favourite?

x

Review: Mac Scene Eyeshadow

I usually always go for a brown or gold eyeshadow on my lid because as I have blue eyes, I find that this is what suits me best. Recently I have really been getting into taupe's, silvers and grey's, and find that done in the right way, can create a more dramatic and intense look than with a brown. 

I was having a browse on the Mac website and came across Scene, a muted blue/grey toned colour. I think this will work lovely as part of a soft smokey eye bringing it into the crease, but won't be as harsh as using a black. 

As all Mac eyeshadow's are, this is nicely pigmented but easy to work with and blendable.

 Left- Blended Out    Right- Swatch

I definitely think as an all over lid colour, this wouldn't work for my eyes, but for a subtle hint in the crease or along the lash line, it will work nicely. I am planning on using this blended out with a little bit of Mac's Cork on the brush, to warm up the eye a little. 

Have you discovered any new eyeshadow's recently? Do you have a favourite from Mac or another brand?

x

The Coral Lip

I am a huge fan of everything coral as a colour, I think it is great to add a pop of colour and looks lovely in the summer against a tan. I love wearing coral clothes and even incorporating it into my makeup.

I find as a cheek and lip colour, coral can be very flattering, and allow you to keep the eyes completely naked but still seem as though you look made up.

 

 

 When doing a coral look, on the cheek I like to wear a pale coral blush from the eyeshadow and blush 05 palette from Blink+Go. It adds a lovely subtle hint of colour to the cheek and though very pigmented, can be blended out well.

 

On the lip I like to wear Revlon Super Lustrous Lipgloss in 'Coral Reef'. A lovely glossy bright coral, which you can either wear as a bold pop of colour or more sheerly for a more natural look.

Like I said, I love that wearing a bold pop of colour on the lips can allow you to leave the rest of the face fairly natural but still leave you feeling confident!

Do you ever wear a coral lip? Or do you have a different colour you love to wear?

x

Bronze Smokey Eye

The classic bronze smokey eye is my 'go to' night makeup look. I have fairly small eyes so I try and stay away from lots of black as it can make them look even smaller, so I try and use a mixture of golds and browns to compliment my blue eyes and really make the colour pop. So, here's how I do it! Prepare for a lot of photo's!

To start, I use Elf's cream eyeshadow in 'Bronze' as a base all over my eye lid, this will give the colours applied on top a real pop.

I then apply a skin tones colour from a No.7 palette all over the eye lid up to the brow bone.

I take a shimmering nude, champagne colour and place it on the inner third of my eye. 

I then apply 'Woodwinked' by Mac from the mid to outer eye lid, from lash line and up into the crease and blend it out with a fluffy brush to get rid of any harsh lines. I also take 'Woodwinked' mixed with a bit of 'Cork' under the eye using a small pointed brush.

I take a white pencil from Elf and put it under my brow bone to highlight, smudging it out with a Frontcover pointer brush. I also highlight the tear duct and inner corners of my eye using this liner. This will make my small eyes appear bigger.

I then use a matte dark brown colour from my Blush Cosmetics 88 palette and apply it to the outer corner of my eye to deepen the colour and add to the smokey effect.

Using a small angled brush and a black eyeshadow, I line two thirds of my upper lash line, blending the product up as I reach the outer corner. 

I then take my Mac 239 and blend to make sure all the shadows blend into one another.

 Using a brown eyeliner, I fill in the outer corner of my water line, going down into the lash line and making sure it blends into one another and up into the flick.

I then add some mascara. I'm using Maybelline The Falsies Volum' Express Waterproof, as this doesn't smudge and will last all night.

 I warm up my cheek bones and temples using Bourjois Chocolate Powder Bronzer and Real Techniques Blush Brush.

 On the lips I use No.7 Lip Liner In 'Nude' and L'oreal Rouge Caresse Lipstick in 'Lovely Rose'. As the eyes are quite bold, I want to keep the lips fairly nude.

 And here's the finished look! I hope you like it! It's perfect for summer nights or even day time, as using brown instead of black makes it a lot less harsh!

 Let me know what you think of this type of tutorial! 

What do you think of the bronze smokey eye? Do you wear it often or go for more of a black smokey eye?

x