Simple & Elegant Valentines Day Makeup Tutorial

Smokey eyes and glitter eyeliner are not always the best route to get the love of your life to swoon for you first thing in the morning, but here I present to you the effortless, simple Valentines day look- it's beautiful and neutral and easily dupe-able whether you have the Naked 1 palette or not!
It takes you from day to night without looking over the top for a light lunch, a picnic, the cinema or a late dinner without looking either overdressed or underdressed.
It's low maintenance in terms of upkeep because of the neutral lips!
(Also no one likes sticky lipgloss kisses...)

Nyx Jumbo Eyeshadow Pencil Milk Review - is it worth the hype?

Like lots of impulse purchases, I justify it by saying to myself that a lot of other people have said great things about it and told me, me personally (through the internet screen) that I need it and that it will change everything about how I apply my makeup.

I believed that the NYX jumbo pencil really was the missing piece to my makeup bag that would actually enhance every eyeshadow that I had ever purchased by providing such a pure white canvas to show the true vibrancy of every eyeshadow.

This is half true.

I find application of the NYXjumbo pencil in milk a little clumsy, it is a true white no doubt, but it simulates putting tippex on your eyelid and is tricky to get neat as the pencil sort of tugs at the eyelid:

When I try and smooth out the scruffy edges with my fingers to make my tippex eye look less ridiculous, the colour is dilutes by the blending to a milky grey with my skin peeping through:

and if I try to go over it again with the pencil then I have the scruffy edges and go through the whole blendy-to-no-avail process over and over again.

Next, the texture of it when I apply it is kind of tacky, not smooth and matte feeling at all, I expected it to be like Mac paint pots but in a pencil form, I know the the prices between these products are not comparable but I had my expectations because of the amount people went on about this product. The tacky-ness also equals creasing so I would recommend to use a good quality primer or base below the pencil rather than depending on the pencil by itself to avoid creasing mishaps.

Does the pencil make my shadows look brighter and bolder... No. Not enough for me to notice or to persuade me to repurchase the pencil.

Over to you:

Guess which picture (A) or (B) I am wearing just the Milk Jumbo Eyeshadow pencil in as a base, and the other one I am wearing absolutely no base, just eyeshadow
I will tell you which is which at the end!
N.B These photos have only been cropped and labelled, absolutely no effects have been put on them whatsoever!

 I wonder if this is down to one of two things:
1. The base that I having been using to this point 'Painterly' by Mac already does a really good job that using the shadow pencil I do not notice a difference

or

2. The eyeshadows that I use are already of a pretty high quality and pigmentation so to use the shadow pencil would be better suited to colours that do not have a great pay off.
-My issue with this is: If an eyeshadow does not have a good colour pay off then I get into the habit of not reaching for it before throwing it or giving to someone who wants it. I don't like to work hard to get an eyeshadow formula to work with the building, building and building up of colour pigmentation but I do see how the Jumbo eyeshadow pencil could make this whole process easier if you have a lot of drugstore eyeshadows, or a lot of large palettes that tend to neglect pigmentation in the sheer volume of colours.

That's my 2 cents on the pencil, and in my opinion, I'd save your 2 cents for something better.

Answer:
Picture (A) I am wearing the Milk Jumbo Eyshadow Pencil
Picture (B) I am wearing no base of any kind, just eyeshadow

Summer Dress Daisy Daze

It's not even a little bit sunny, it's nearly 3pm and I am wearing normal clothes with a dressing own wrapped around me, sat under my duvet, the only horrible thing is having to have my fingers out to type as they always get chilly.
Nonetheless, I love browsing for clothes for a sunnier day, my winter wardrobe is comprehensive and full but my summer wardrobe lacks choice, which is to be expected given the proportion of time in the year that it is appropriate to wear summer clothes versus winter. A little dress caught my eye with its enchanting daisy print and a cute soft white tshirt underneth.

I saw it and it immediately reminded me of Miss Honey from Matilda (the film not the book) as I was certain that she wore something similar with a tshirt underneath a strappy swing dress, but I couldn't find it on Google images so perhaps that was just my imagination.

But it does have that kind of cool, American vibe to it, I think.
I picked the dress up, and put it back, a week later I was still thinking about it, considered ordering it online but was put off by the high postage costs before eventually seeing it in store again and ceasing the daisy day!!!

Now all I need is a wink of sunshine so that I can try it out!

Full Face coverage - Before and After

It's true, all foundations are not made equal, and it's even more true that you do get what you pay for. If I had to suggest one area to 'splurge' in your makeup bag over all the others- I would hands down say go in big on your foundation and loosen the purse strings a little. Eyeliners and blushes, lipsticks and mascara are very tricky to distinguish the £6 from the £16 or the £26! But the foundation is the foundation for your makeup, your face and your look. The foundation is out under the most pressure and has the toughest job to do, create a seamless, flawless natural looking canvas that can withstand it all. Cheap foundations, like the cheap foundation on a house, may look okay at first but the first sign of a grey cloud it crumbles and melts away.

I have dabbled back and fourth with all sorts of foundation and concealer combinations but often return to the Revlon Colorstay in the oily combination skin formula and the Mac Studio Sculpt concealer.
However, not wanting to miss out on anything better out there I am currently using:

Mac Studio Fix Fluid in NC15

Kryolan Dermacolor Wheel Rainbow Circle

The proof, as they say, is in the pudding, and this is the completely unedited, as-it-is, result that this little combination gives me!

The foundation I have gone back and fourth with, it's full coverage with a matte finish and I wear shade NC15 to even out my complexion, with the Kryolan colour wheel I use all of them, mostly a combination of the two palest colours for under my eyes and the rest I darken according to the contours of my face. The formula of the concealers are almost on the dry side as they are very thick, and feel like face paint. Although on the skin they do not look cakey like you might imagine face to paint to look, but it is the fullest coverage that I have ever gotten from a concealer and super resiliant to wear.

Sometimes straying from what you're used to is a good thing!

Soft and Romantic Valentines Day Makeup Tutorial Urban Decay Naked Palette 3

You're thinking that Valentines day is approaching and you want to look cute for the day! Well I have you covered, today I uploaded a super sweet Valentines Day Makeup tutorial that is effortlessly beautiful and chic! Panic over! For this I used my beloved Urban Decay Naked 3 palette, and today it makes its debut to my YouTube, although it's had a special place in my heart for a while now.

  The Naked palettes aren't the cheapest palette available, so check to yesterdays post for a super detailed run down on what the palettes are about, what one is best for you and whether they are worth it.

I couldn't resist this tacky photograph effect! Love heart confetti all over my face, what could be better?

Naked 1 vs. Naked 2 vs. Naked 3 Urban Decay Palette

Whew, this is going to be a long side by side comparison, rammed full of photographs and descriptions- so grab yourself a warm drink and get into your comfies before you continue reading.

The Naked palettes are a 'cult' favourite product that cast and addictive spell on anyone who buys them to convince them that they need the next one, and the next one.

How many shades of neutral are there? Really?

Well, a lot- it would seem, and maybe there are even more yet to be invented, or reinvented by Urban Decay.

A little outline of the palettes:

Naked/ The Original Naked/ Naked 1

This palette is full of rich deep warm browns that are mostly shimmer. The palette works in a gradient from the light colours to the deepest darkest
# of Matte colours: 2
Most original shade: Gunmetal (Blue-Grey on the far right)

What's great about the palette:
A whole spectrum of very high quality, rich buttery eyeshadows.
It fills in every gap in your browns and is perfectly portable
There are endless combinations
It comes with a reasonable quality brush & mini primer potion which most people love (I am not one of those people but that's another story)

This lets the Naked #1 down:
After a while one shimmery brown, becomes another shimmery brown and once placed on the eye it's tricky to distinguish one from the other.The majority of shimmer shades make it less day-to-day wearable for those who do not like wearing shimmer in the day time, there are only so many ways to use the matte colours alone
The case is a velvet that gets unbearably dirty from eyeshadow or general powder fall out
The mirror is fairly dinky and does not make full use of the lid space

The final word:
A lot of people claim that this is a palette best for 'brown eyed girls' I don't agree with this, I am not really one to follow that 'this' is for blue eyes and 'this' is for brown eyes- I really think that colours are transferable universally across all eye colours. The only person who I would say that this palette is less suitable for is mature skin, there are a lot of shimmers which can be less forgiving if your eyelids are not as perky as they once were- also, it tends to be mature women who shy away from wearing shimmer eyeshadow in the day time which limits the looks that the palette can give you so things may get repetitive quickly.

Naked 2

This palette is crammed with cool toned neutrals. The palette is a mix of creams, browns, greys, bronzes, silvers and blacks
# of Matte colours: 3
Most original shade: YDK (Purple sparkle, 3rd from the right)

What's great about the palette:
This palette gives a great deal of variety as it dips into the golds, pinks, silvers and purples as well as having a true universal staple to take anything from a neutral to dramatic look which is an outstanding quality, rich, buttery matte black in Blackout. The packaging is a beautiful steely cool metal, that is hygienic, a nice neat clasp closure and a generously sized mirrors

This lets the Naked #2 down:
The double ended brush that comes with the product is not great, the supposedly fluffy blending brush isn't as dense as it could be. Also, there is what I consider the worst thing that UD could have done through including a repeat colour, there is 'Half Baked' in the Naked 1 and Naked 2 palette. The colour itself is lovely, but I think that to not come up with an original shade is borderline laziness.

The final word:
This is without a doubt the most versatile palette for all tastes, this contains something for every taste, light natural looks, darker daring looks, bridal looks, shimmer looks, matte looks. If you're someone that likes it all, likes experimentation, choice and variety then there is nothing that you won't love about this palette of exquisite colours


Naked 3

This palette is a porcelain girls dream, a whole palette tinted with pink. I know that it's easy to run away screaming when I say pink eye shadows with visions of having bruised eye sockets or eyes that look riddled with infection. But this palette is really nothing like that, and is a pleasant surprise to skeptics, and just as good as anticipated by the rest of us. It managed to achieve this by combining rose colours with just a hue of brown to tone them in the right way. Pink eye shadows can be a challenge to pull of, but these are on a scale of their own, granted I think that this would suit fair skinned girls, but there is something here for absolutely everyone of all ages. If you are a makeup artist or considering getting into bridal makeup then this is an essential addition to your kit, this is a natural-beauty brides fantasy come true, gorgeous romantic colours that enhance and compliment the face.

# of Matte colours: 3
Most original shade: Blackheart (colour on the far right)

What's great about the palette:
The Naked 3 is consistent in the theme that this is without a doubt a rose gold infused palette, and there's not many people who haven't indulged in that trend. This palette normalizes pinks, makes them accessible and less frightening. It's also a wonderful transitional palette into the warmer months. Every single colour is beautiful and wearable, like sweet, indulgent little chunks of chocolate in a gorgeous rose gold case with all the greatness of the Naked 2 palette (large mirror, sturdy case etc) but with some pleating detail on the packaging.

This lets the Naked #3 down:
There are some dupes between the Naked 3 and it's older sisters including:
Naked #1 Darkhorse and Naked #3 Darkside
Naked #2 Foxy and Naked #3 Strange
Naked #2 Tease and Naked#3 Nooner

The final word:
If you are a neutral girl, that has exhausted the browns and bronzes and you're looking for a fresh twist, then the Naked 3 is astounding at filling that little void. The concept of the palette is romantic and the first of it's kind to really run with this theme but some of the colours are dupe able. If you are torn between the Naked 1 and Naked 2 then I'd say go for the Naked 3, to me it is like the best of them both married together with a girly twist.

Verdict:
My most used is the Naked 2, but the most original in my collection is the Naked 3. I only tend to pull out the Naked 1 for the summertime but this is perhaps an odd force of habit that I have imposed upon myself.
If in doubt, follow the packaging to indicate what is inside

Let The Good Times Roll - Lush body and face wash

Something this glorious is, in my opinion, wasted to be smeared across the expanse of my body. No, this is much too lovely and I have branded it 'too nice for anywhere else'

Closing my eyes, hooking my nose over the edge of the pot and the smell of the funfair fills my nostrils. Not the ones from today, the one just like that fair in 'The Notebook' where even the grass looks like it could have the scent of candyfloss singed into it. Think caramelised sugar, butterscotch- sweet and low scented as opposed to Lush's infamous 'Snow Fairy' with it's strong and loud cotton candy blend.

Let The Good Times Roll is all the fun of the fair in a little pot.

It has a texture like rich, stiff butter cream icing but is a dense mustard colour and, do a little poking around and you will find fully formed, individual pieces of popcorn!

I have no idea how I scrub these into my face, I suppose it is all part of the sensory experience.

The paste is at first somewhat dry so needs water to be activated into a smotherable form.

I whip up a little little bit with the tip of my finger, and rub it into a wet palm of the alternate hand before applying to my damp face.

It does not have much of a lather to it, so do not expect frothy bubbles, once applied it is colourless if you distribute a thin layer evenly enough and has a very very slight grainy feel to it. With this in mind, this face wash is a nice treat for 'every other day' if your skin can survive it all like mine but if you're more of a delicate daisy then once a week will be terrific.

Asos Trouser Glory!

I am not normally a jazzy trouser kind of girl I never really tend to go *there* as it all seems too daring for me and high maintenance.
When am I going to wear a hot pink pair of trousers, in January? Really?

I end up believing that this whole fling with the idea of statement trousers is over
and over and over
and over
until I decide that I keep being drawn back to fun print trousers and jewel tone colours, what good reason do I have for it not to be -oh so me- ?
I took the leap into trouser choice heaven (Asos

They may not seem that exciting to you, but to me this is a Pretty Big Deal 
My drawer of trousers contains lots of shades of denim, lots of textures of black, some khaki green and coffee coloured cords.

I took the plunge and ordered a few pairs in a few sizes- I wasn't sure at this point of the damage that Christmas may have done to my thighs. I opted to begin building up a selection with this raspberry/crimson tailored pair that have a cute crop to them.

I know it's probably impossible to tell which one is a stock photographs and which one is being modelled by yours truly..

I won't lie to you, chilly ankles in this weather, but if I am popping out for lunch and I'll spend most of the time indoors then I can take the cold for a few moments.
I pair them with a cream knit jumper, embellished with roses in blue, yellow and an almost identical pink, the jumper is quite open knit and loose to give the whole look a 'casual winter brights' appeal that I hope I pull off.


The next pair are the jewel in the crown, delicious sort of iridescent blues, embroided with roses that resemble textiles only used for curtains in a time gone by.

Something about these scream oriental, so I just had to have them. They are light, and silky to touch and look very 'casual classy tailoring' with a cream blouse. I cannot get enough of them but feel that they are harder to look 'right' in Autumn/Winter because the blue is so fresh and spring-like whereas my pink pair are like a zingy stab in the dark winter days.


My style does not change often, and I stick to what I know meaning that I have pieces , in my eyes, that still work after years and years. This was a little off the wall for the likes of me, but what a fun and rewarding switch from the denim winter blues.

New video makeup tutorial: Urban Decay Naked 2 Palette Smoulder Look

Who doesn't love simple great looks at your disposal to whip on time and time again that look just great, are simple and fool proof?

Here is another of those classic looks that use a few colours (dupe-able) to create something striking, it's a simple case of dark colour on the corners of the eyes and the crease, with a paler colour in the center of the eye lid, the real key is blending blending blending, and a little bit of adding the dark colour at a time, it's much harder to 'blend away' dark colours once you've applied too much, so keep a light and gentle hand and take your time at first!

Yesterday my Naked 3 palette showed up, and I got to have a little play around, so my next few tutorials may have a little something on that, I'm also contemplating getting a good quality microphone to begin creating voice overs to some or all of my videos, I'm not too savvy with the editing though, so it may be a step too far for me!?

A little shop called Mac...

For the very first time I visited the Mac shop instead of a concession, and it was quite something!
Having just had Christmas aswell as ordering myself the Urban Decay Naked 3 Palette, and some Nyx treats I was trying to only buy what I 'needed'.
One thing that I needed was foundation, and that was a complete need, A foundation is of course essential and I can justify buying a good one as the foundation has to be good to make everything else look good on top! I got the Studio Fix Fluid in shade NC15

N.B - I got colour matched by the girl in Mac and it all began well until the old chestnut came up as she began removing my foundation, she wanted to give me skin care advice. I understand she is of course trying to help, but it was irritating to me as everything she suggested I was of course already doing- she told me about using a toner- Really? I've dealt with problematic skin since the age of 13 and She does not think that I am
1. Using toner
2. Using a good skin care routine

I found the whole experience quite insulting, but of course she wasn't meaning to be rude and only trying to be helpful. But it did make me feel dirty, as though she did not think that I was washing my face and that was the cause of my breakouts.

So, to the counter I marched with the foundation feeling proud that I'd walked past the new stock, the Mac Pro Section, the paint pots, all without being swept in, until...!

A Bubblegum pink lipglass, well this is the very thing missing from my collection, the thing that I've been longing for, it will make my lips look fuller, it will match so many outfits, so many eye looks and people will say 'wow where did you get that bubblegum coloured lipgloss' and I'll say 'It's Saint Germain by Mac' and how much fun that would be...

So I had to get it and what a treat it is! It even smells of vanilla cake, oh I just love it!

Finally, my mum told me about a lipliner that she proclaimed 'incredible' and a 'Your lips but better' look. So I came home with that too. It is 'Nude' by No7 from Boots and is warm toned with a little bit of orange in it. It looks brick coloured swatched, but on it just looks lovely although it's smell is waxy and kind of putrid - but I think that I can overlook that for how practical it is.

Seeing The Snowman Live - A secret video!

My mum and I shared the most wonderful day today! We woke up early enough for a Saturday and headed up to London, I wore my new London fabric bag from Cath Kidston, I don't know if that's too cheesy but I thought that it was fun.

It was a little rainy but we headed to Oxford Street where I was able to pick up a lovely little dress moment New Look that I'd had my eye on for a little while, hoping as it's a summer garment that it would go into the sale, but I was out of luck. I paid for it, in the hope that it's wearbility and versatility will pay for itself. It's a black dress with daisies on it, it's style is a swing dress with a separate white tshirt underneath, I'll upload pictures in hone next couple days but for now I'm just trying to write down all the love lenses before my eyes clamp shut!

Then we went onto the Peacock theatre in London to watch 'The Snowman' we had seen it before two years previous and adored it so much that we decided to see it again.

 
It was just as magical this time around, and I couldn't resist buying a souvenir! A singing snowman, as opposed to the one that I bought two years previously at the theatre which while more accurate to the cartoon, sits mute next to my all flying, all singing new snowman toy.
The whirring in the background is the lovely, noisy wind which is unfortunately unstoppably noisy- so in this instance think of it as making the whole snowman theme even more authentic!

Then we went onto Covent Garden and had a little wander, I got swept into the Mac shop where I was colour matched for a new foundation, and picked up a Barbie pink lipgloss! I'll go into more details with pictures tomorrow, stay tuned!

Then we went onto Yo! Sushi and are ourselves silly with a pile high of plates, and then off to home we went! It was around half 8 by the time we arrived home, shopped out and feeling festive post-Christmas

My BIG Secret!

For my very first post of 2014 I wanted to do something a little different and share a special 'new years gift' with my very treasured blog readers!

This is my first ever ever ever 'Follow me around' video that I filmed on New Years Eve!
It is not public on my channel, so only blog readers will be able to find it, you could say that it is a SECRET video!
It's not that exciting really, but it was fun to film, funny to edit and lets you into my bedroom and at a few points I am even lying IN bed!

I look a lot like this for the most part, I am still so in love with these PJs!
 

New Years Eve was not very 'Rock and roll' I do not even put on makeup- but I had a peaceful day and I am starting as I mean to go on, hopefully 2014 will be peaceful, productive and promising!

Let me know if you like this type of video where I share a whole array of things that pop into my head, acne treatments, colouring in for adults, a new technique to wash my makeup brushes, a little peep into my bedroom- I don't know what wasn't thrown into this random video!

I just wanted to give you a little something different as a way of saying thanks for last year which was the best year on my blog yet!