Whats in my makeup bag? - Plus mini reviews

I thought I'd show you what currently lives in my makeup bag which I use every day when I'm just going to work and don't have time to do much with my makeup. I need to just get it on and get out the door. There is a mixture of higher end makeup and drugstore products - one of which has become one of my favourite mascaras from No 7 which I will be repurchasing.

Bobbi Brown Skin Foundation, Soap & Glory Kick Ass Concealer and Rimmel Wake Me Up Concealer

Bobbi Brown Skin Foundation - £30
Lightweight and like the name says, looks like skin. Blends effortlessly and has a light to medium coverage. It is best suited to normal/dry skin. I really like this foundation, in fact I love the range of Bobbi Brown foundations as there is something suitable for everyone. Considering I am shade 3 in the colour range (I have a light/medium skin tone) which is the 5th shade from lightest, there are plenty of shades to try - Alabaster (0) being for the fairest skin and going to deep dark skin with Chestnut (9), a total of 16 shades!

Rimmel Wake Me Up Concealer - £5.49 Boots
This has what Rimmel are calling an 'Anti-Fatigue Effect + Radiant Glow' which is supposed to make your skin look brighter and more awake. What that means in reality is that there are teeny tiny light reflecting particles in the product which bounce light off your skin creating to effect of radiance. Does it work? Yes it does. I like to use it under my eyes because of this, my permanent dark circles could do with a bit of brightening up. I don't use it on spots though because I don't want to be doing any highlighting of them. The coverage is pretty good, most people would find it substantial unless you are like myself - the only thing that is going to rid me of dark circles completely is Photoshop.

Soap & Glory Kick Ass Concealer - £10 Boots
This is a creamy concealer which includes two shades plus a setting powder and powder puff. The lighter shade of concealer is a bit more whipped and creamy as it is supposed to be used under your eyes to brighten them up and the texture making it easier to apply with no drag. The darker colour is supposed to be used on blemishes. I'm not too keen on using it under my eyes as it can look a bit crepey and sit in the fine lines due to my dry skin. It does work really nice over spots and blemishes though as it melts into the skin seamlessly. The powder is way too light and doesn't look like a transparent powder at all to me so that bit in my opinion is useless to me plus it is not as finely milled as I like. The colour range is appalling too, there are only two colour combinations to choose from, leaving anyone who has dark skin left out.

MAC Mineralize Skinfinish Natural, Topshop Blush Head Over Heels, Urban Decay 24/7 Waterproof Liquid Eyeliner,
No 7 Lash Adapt Mascara

MAC Mineralize Skinfinish Natural - £21
I've been using this powder for ages now. It is a great colour match for my skin tone and the powder is really finely milled. You can use it super lightly or apply it heavier. I've even applied it on it's own to even out my skin tone when I was in a rush. You get a ton of product in the pan too so even though it is quite expensive, you wont need to repurchase for a good while. There are 10 shades in the range and many people may find that they can cross over two colours because they are sheer.

Topshop Blush in Head Over Heels - £6
Topshop blushers are becoming really popular and I really like them too. This one is my favourite one because it gives a lovely natural glowy colour or you can build it up to become stronger. I love how the Topshop blushers set and still retain a slight dewiness. For the price of them, you can't really go wrong.

Urban Decay 24/7 Waterproof Liquid Eyeliner - £14
I love a really inky black non flaky/smeary/runny eyeliner. I'm a fan of the feline flick so I need something that will stay put all day and not rub off if I get hot or run if my eyes water. I used to use a MAC Superslick but this one is cheaper and performs the same. It also has a different applicator, this one has a fine brush so you can get really thin lines but may require more practise and the MAC one has a tapered sponge applicator. I always found that the sponge would make me draw the line a bit thick at the flick and I'd have to remove and redo. This is one better for me. Oh and a lot of people find liquid liner hard to do, I've never had much problem with it but find pencil liners really hard to use unless I smudge them haha. The long handle of this one does make liquid much easier, it is like using a pen.

No 7 Lash Adapt Mascara - £12.95
This is a mascara I have really enjoyed using. It makes my lashes so full and voluminous. It doesn't flake on me and barely moves if I have watery eyes. Obviously it is not waterproof and it failed the onion chopping test (which my boyfriend found hilarious) but honestly, I don't like waterproof because it is so damn difficult to get off and I hate rubbing my lashes with remover. This one suits me perfectly well and even though it doesn't beat my favourite mascara, Chanel Inimitable Intense, Lash Adapt gives me just what I want from a mascara and the price isn't too bad. Oh and it lasts well too, usually a tube of the Chanel will dry out in a few weeks, making it useless. My Lash adapt is almost empty and I've used it for the past 3 months.

What's in your everyday makeup bag?

Jennifer xx

My first water marble AKA Birthday Nails

So last month it was my 23rd birthday. I decided to do something different on my nails that I'd never tried before and had wanted to do for a while. Water marbling! I've read that a lot of bloggers found it hard to get it to work for them at first but I got lucky with the colours I'd chosen and it worked first time. (Subsequent attempts have been failures haha)

The colours I used were all from China Glaze - I'd read that they tend to work well for water marbling. They were For Audrey, Electric Beat and Blue Year's Eve.It took me two hours to finish but it was worth it :) Only two nails weren't as nice because I smudged them when pulling them out of the water.

If you want to see some brilliant tutorials for different designs, please look at Colette's blog My Simple Little Pleasures and check out her YouTube page. She is so talented at marbling and you will learn so much from her. She also deserves more followers and subscribers.

Jennifer xx

Urban Decay Vice Palette

Most makeup lovers will have at least one Urban Decay palette in their collection, they are so popular - especially their Naked palette. Now, if you are someone who likes their neutrals but also playing with brights, you need to get this one. It is fantastic. Really.

Almost every single colour in this palette is gorgeous, well pigmented, easy to apply, blendable and long lasting. It does however have a couple that aren't as great, one being pretty nasty for fallout and pigmentation - Jagged - shame because it is a lovely colour in the pan. I still don't feel let down though. Every single colour in this palette is brand new and exclusive to it which is great because a lot of UD palettes have crossovers. It is fantastic value at £42 for 20 shades and a double ended eyeshadow brush and all housed in a lovely palette complete with a full size mirror. £42! Bargain!

Read on for more and swatches.

Whimsical Ideas By Pam - Kee-Wee

Today I have an indie polish to show from a brand called Whimsical Ideas By Pam. Kee-Wee is a really fun looking polish. I love green so had to order it. It is a lime green with silver and green hexagonal glitter plus some bright green micro glitter. I love how the jelly formula gives it so much depth with the layers of polish over the glitter. And I only used two coats so you don't need to layer it so much like some jelly finishes. It also dries really glossy.

Pams bottles are so nice too, I love the labels and the bow details. I really like the shape of the bottles too with the tall cap. She has made them very unique compared to other brands on the indie market.

Slightly out of focus but hopefully you get the idea.

I ordered from her a while back although she now only ships within the US. US customers can find the details on her Facebook page and place your orders by emailing her with your list which she will send you an invoice for. Each polish costs $10.

Jennifer xx

P.S. most of my future posts wont have as nice photos as these, I no longer have access to my Mum's macro lens for my camera so making do with the lens that I have :( I need to save up over £500 for the one I used for these shots (Olympus 50mm F2 Macro Zuiko ED).

Happy Halloween!

Hope you are all having a great Halloween if you celebrate it. Here are the nails I did for the occasion.

Colours used:
China Glaze Liquid Leather
Barry M White
Barry M Red
Essie Orange It Obvious?

Jennifer xx

Pahlish - Fire in the Taco Bell

First off, the name of this polish is so funny! In case you don't know, it is a reference to the song Danger High Voltage by Electric Six (video link at the end). I always find the song funny.

Anyway, this polish by Pahlish on Etsy and Llarowe is a gorgeous jelly glitter. It has a tangerine orange jelly base filled with fuchsia squares, fuchsia holographic hex, pink/gold shimmer, fine pink microglitter and sheer purple iridescent hex glitters.

As it is a jelly, it is sheer so you can either apply 2-3 coats (I used 3 in these swatches) or apply over another polish such as a creme to make it more opaque. It is supposed to look squishy and give the glitter depth through the layers of colour. It is such a pretty colour and the glitter just glows. I love all the different colours. It is easy to apply but do leave it to dry a bit between coats so not to drag any glitter or move the base.

Pahlish is a really lovely brand too. Shannon's shipping was fast and it was packed really well. Obviously there was a little wait as Pahlish is a US based company and I live in the UK but some indie companies I have ordered from have taken a while to actually send my parcel, making it take ages to arrive. I also like that the Pahlish Etsy store is often well stocked so you don't need to wait long between restocks and you can quite easily get what you are after rather than it be a race to get in first with only 2 bottles of the same colour available.

Pahlish colours are $9 each (£5.73 approx at time of writing) and available from Etsy and Llarowe

Jennifer xx

Drawer of Lovely Indie Polishes

Spot the brands!

Jennifer xx

A little... long awaited update

Hi everyone!

Long time, no posting. I've had to put blogging to one side because I've simply not had time to think about it let alone write or take photos. I'm moving house you see, out of my parents and into a flat I am renting with my boyfriend. I've got so much stuff whirling around in my head and the whole thing is just so stressful.

Being people who have never lived away from home, we have had to buy all of the normal household stuff and we are still not finished! It's crazy to think about how much stuff us humans surround ourselves with which back when our cavemen ancestors were around, they didn't have any of it and managed to live.

Because of all of this, my makeup spending has been very very low. Since finding out that our offer had been accepted, I haven't spent anything on makeup. And actually, if I am truthful, it is quite refreshing... oddly. I've got so much makeup and the like that I really need to sort it out and use up what I can. I think once I've moved it will be easier to do so because I will have my own space and can make things to my liking whereas at home in a shared bedroom it is very hard to keep things organised.

The packing... oh my gosh! ARGHHHHHHH!!!!! I've not got any furniture to take as that is with my boyfriend apart from pieces that we have bought and are already at the flat. But what I thought would be a simple task is actually a nightmare. I said before that I've not got much room in my parents house and this is so much worse when you have boxes to stuff. You would think it would be easy to take stuff from one place, pack it up and then put it in another place ready for loading into the car. Nope. So not what I thought.

Also, because I can't drive, I am relying on my Mum to take my stuff to the flat. Luckily it is Summer holidays at the moment so she is not working... I however am so I've not had much time to sort things. And even though our car is quite big, it is going to take at least two trips. Thankfully I'm only moving about a 25 minute drive away.

So I've got to be sorted and packed by Saturday morning, then I am off. Then I have to unpack it all and assemble the flat pack furniture. Can't wait...

I am so glad that I am doing this with my boyfriend though, if I was on my own I would be going crazy. Or crazier than I am going anyway haha.

Soooooo.... Once I've moved in and sorted all of the unpacking and adjusting, I still wont be able to post as I wont have any internet until we sort that out.

Anyway, if you managed to get to the end of my waffle and moaning, thanks and I will get a post up as soon as I can :)

Jennifer xx

Leighton Denny Shipwrecked and Drama on the Dancefloor

The base colour here is Leighton Denny Shipwrecked - a beautiful pistachio green creme finish from Leighton's S/S 2012 Castaway collection. It is a lovely colour with the same fantastic formula as the rest of Leighton's nail colours. Over the top I added Leighton Denny Drama on the Dancefloor (QVC exclusive) which is a chunky gold hex glitter with gold micro glitter thrown in. I used one easy coat and as you can see, it is easy to get even glitter distribution.

Please excuse the state of my nails in these photos, they were taken a few weeks ago when my nails were very dry. I also managed to knock my middle finger while the polish was drying so it has a mark near the free edge.

Jennifer xx

MAC Heavenly Creature - Mineralize Skinfinish Review

Clockwise from top left: Earthshine, Centre of the Universe, Light Year, Star Wonder

I love Mineralize Skinfinishes. Ever since I discovered them, I've been a bit of a collector so I get quite excited for new ones to come out. Heavenly Creature brought four new swirly pans of goodness and of course, I purchased them all.

They are all lovely and have very good textures. There's no chunky glitter in them like some MSFs have. They apply smoothly and look so beautiful on the skin.

Centre of the Universe

Centre of the Universe is a gorgeous golden glowy shade and works nicely as a bronzey blush. It looks really flattering, love it.

Earthshine

Earthshine is the only one that I'm just not sure on. I'm not sure how to use it really as it is quite dark and muddy on my skin tone. I might end up using it as an eyeshadow. I've tried it as a bronzer and I'm not quite convinced it works for me. I need to do more testing with it to find a way to make it work for me

L-R: Earthshine,  Earthshine blended, Centre of the Universe, Centre of the Universe blended

Star Wonder

This is a pretty pink shade which works well as a blush. It gives a soft glow and golden sheen to the skin. It would work on most skin tones.

Light Year

Light Year is a light peach shade with gold shimmer. It works more as a highlighter on me but can also be layered over blush. It is super pretty and is not a glittery highlight.

L-R: Star Wonder, Star Wonder blended, Light Year, Light Year blended

I really like these. Some people say that they find MSFs hard to wear because they can enhance pores due to the glitter in them. Try these, they might be easier to wear. I don't have noticeable pores so I can't say for myself. If I had to pick one only, I'd pick Star Wonder as the pink is very easy to wear and is the smoothest and most pigmented.

Jennifer xx

MAC Heavenly Creatures - Sky & Universal Appeal Eyeshadows

L-R: Sky, Universal Appeal

Every year MAC bring out a mineralize collection for the Summer, after their main Summer collection. They are always so beautiful with the swirls in the products and there are always lovely shades. I like mineralize products but I had to be practical with the eye shadows this year because I simply don't pull them out enough to get a bunch of them, no matter how much I like them. I chose two shades which I thought were quite unique compared to what I have already.

Sky

Universal Appeal

The things I like about the mineralize eye shadows are that you can use them wet or dry and when you apply them over different bases you get multidimensional effects which look pretty cool. I also like these swirly eye shadows because you can pick out different areas to use. Some people say you can't but I always use them like this so I know you can. You might not be able to pick out an individual colour but I do pick areas to swirl my brush in to change the shade of the shadow. Eg. In Universal Appeal, there is a dark purple, violet and gold. If I want it to be very dark purple, I choose an area which has more of the dark purple or if I want more violet, I choose those areas. 

L-RL Sky, Universal Appeal. Complete mixed colours swatched dry, no primer/base.

These two colours are quite well pigmented for mineral eye shadows when used dry, when used wet they are much better and yield plenty of pigment. Universal Appeal also appears more purple when used this way compared to the browner tone it has used wet. Sky is such a pretty shade of blue and has a teal undertone which makes it easier for me to wear, blue is not the best colour on me so I have to pair it well to work. Both colours apply smoothly and evenly and don't drop lots of fallout although all mineralize eye shadows have some fallout so care should be taken when using them. These have a much nicer texture compared to the chunky mineralize eye shadows MAC has released previously.

Jennifer xx

My current go-to neutral makeup

I am a creature of habit... and laziness. I really can't be bothered to search out different products every morning before work so I tend to use the same things for a few days and leave them in my makeup bag. Then I switch them out and try other products. This is probably because I have so much makeup and it is poorly organised to grab it as needed.

I've been wearing this makeup a lot lately and I often wear something similar to this. Gold is my favourite eyeshadow colour, I find it really flattering and brightens and opens up my eyes which is so needed when I'm tired. It also works well on most people. If you are curious, my favourite gold eyeshadow is Urban Decay Baked. It is a beautifully soft and pigmented gold which isn't too yellow or brassy, just perfect.

For this makeup, I wanted to make use of my pigments which don't often get much attention from me - they are harder to use than pressed eyeshadow and make a mess. I loved how it turned out and I need to use pigments more often.

What I used:
Urban Decay Primer Potion
MAC Water Based Mixing Medium
Illamasqua Marvel Pure Pigment
MAC Cocomotion Pigment
Shiro Cosmetics Master Sword
MAC Twilight Falls Mineralize Eyeshadow
a highlight shade (can't remember what I had in my makeup bag now)
MAC Superslick Liquid Liner in On The Hunt (black)
No7 Fanomonal Mascara
Illamasqua Thunder Brow Cake (eyebrows)

Jennifer xx

Leighton Denny - The Heiress

 This is what I have on my nails at the moment. I wanted to use creme colours as I'd worn a lot of glitter recently but still wanted it to be fun. I haven't done any stripes for a while either and last time I did them my hand wasn't as steady as it is now painting nails. I picked out one of my favourite Leighton Denny colours, The Heiress which is a beautiful purply-lilac with some dusky blue in it. On the Leighton Denny website, it is described as 'a blue-belle purple' which I think is very fitting. For the stripes, I didn't have anything in mind other than using black and white so I just made it up as I went along.

The lines aren't perfect but I am pleased how it turned out and it is probably one of the best manicures I've done for myself :)

These photos are more colour accurate with some editing (purples are so hard to get colour accurate with digital photography).

 

 

 

What I used:

Leighton Denny Under Cover Base Coat

Leighton Denny The Heiress - 2 coats

Rio Nail Pens (black and white)

Seche Vite Fast Dry Topcoat.

Jennifer xx

I'm on Twitter!

Hey everyone! I've joined Twitter today after my colleagues persuaded me to join. If any of you want to follow me, this is my account. I've not tweeted much yet but once I get into the swing of things, I'm sure more will follow!

Jennifer xx

Herbal Essences Beautiful Ends Intensive Mask

My hair is very dry. It is also quite damaged at the moment and I'm not sure why. I've not used straighteners for a good while apart from the odd occasion and I've only been rough drying my hair. I also use a Tangle Teaser which is supposed to be more gentle on hair. For some reason/s my hair has been getting very dry and turning stretchy which is so bad. My hairdresser also commented that I was loosing a lot of hair while she washed it... worrying when you're only 22! The thing with hair is that you can have stressful times and it wont show on your hair until your stress is over them BAM it cries for some care. Skin is often the same case for me.

So I went to Superdrug in search for some sort of treatment for dry, damaged hair and found this hair mask by Herbal Essences. It says that it is a split end protection intensive mask for dry/damaged hair and for £3.99 I thought I may as well give it a go. 

It is a rinse out treatment which you use in place of your normal conditioner. They recommend that you use the matching Beautiful Ends shampoo (well they would, wouldn't they!) and then slather your hair in this conditioner, concentrating at the ends then leave it on for 5 minutes. A 5 minute treatment is great for me as it means I have time to do it before work and not have to relegate it to a weekend for those 15 minute treatments. They also say to use it once a week.

I applied it to my hair as per the instuctions and washed it out and I could tell my hair felt so much better already. Now it is not a miracle product that you use once and suddenly have amazing, beautiful hair. You need to use it continually to get it to the standard you want. After the first treatment, my hair was better but nowhere near how it used to be. I used it again yesterday (twice in the same week instead of once) and my hair feels much better now and is shiny. Still not how it was before but it is getting there. 

I think it might take another pot to get it perfect but I am more than willing to stick with this treatment. For £3.99 at Superdrug and Boots (supermarkets probably sell it too), I think it is worth every penny. It also smells very nice, as with all Herbal Essences products.

Jennifer xx

Accessorize Lovely Day Palette

Accessorize have recently released two new palettes into their make-up line, each filled with 32 colours ranging from neutrals to brights with metallic, shimmer and matte finishes. This is the Lovely Day palette which is overall more neutral in tone compared to the other palette which has brighter shades such as red and bright greens. 

Most of the colours in this palette are a metallic finish and apply so smoothly and beautifully and blend with little effort. They have such fantastic pigmentation and most of the shimmers follow suit. A few of the shimmers are a bit less pigmented and require a little more effort and the mattes aren't the smoothest. They are all good colours though and I've really enjoyed using the palette. I like having a lot of choice in one palette opposed to a palette full of neutrals which is what I normally pull out. This palette has enabled me to play with colour a little bit more in the morning because I don't have to hunt around for different shades as they are all close to hand in this. I love how slim and lightweight it is. The packaging feels sturdy and the pans are a good size. 

Some of the colours do cause a bit of fallout when applying them so care should be taken so that you don't end up with bright blue across your cheeks. The colours last well on my lids although I have found that the greens can look a bit muddy which is a shame. 

The palette is priced at £8.95 from Superdrug which I think is a bargain. It was actually on offer when I went to my local superdrug a couple of days ago at £5.95 (which I got the other palette for and one of these for my sister) so if you are interested in it, I'd go check your local store soon.

Swatches after the break...