February favourites!

Photo from Penelope Row

This is Boots Natural Collection Moisture Shine Lipstick in Rose Bud. I love it because it's a subtly pretty pink that's suitable for day but still pretty for night

Photo from Midnight Violets

This was free in 17's winter GWP and for ages I didn't use it as it looked oppressively red, but recently I have used it - it's a lovely dark pink that I think would suit all skin tones.

Photo from Boots

I was given this as part of a gift set two years ago, but only just started using it - and it smells really nice. Mine is a mini, which means it's quite good for putting in the bottom of my bag for when I've got to school and am melting.

Photo from Boots

This Soap and Glory hand cream and I have an ongoing love affair. It smells so lovely, of marshmallow and so on, and it works really well. I've also used it as a face moisturiser in a pinch, and it works well for that too. I've currently got a full size one and a mini on the go, and a spare of each thanks to Christmas and my birthday

Photo from elf

This primer has made a huge difference - it means that my eyeshadows stay on just that little bit longer. Plus, because I have it in Champagne rather than Sheer it works well as a pale base across the whole eyelid.

On hindsight, this is a very pink favourites list... Oh well, I'm a teenage girl!

What have been your favourite products to use this month?

FOTD: It's Party Time!

It's my friend's birthday party tonight, which I'm really excited about

Products used (in order):

• elf Nail Polish in Purple Pleaser (mentioned here)
• elf eyelid primer (mentioned here)
• Hello Kitty Liberty eyeshadow palette (the white shade in the inner corners of the eyes, and then the dark reddish and the dark silver glitter over the eye)
• Collection 2000 Extreme 24H eyeliner (upper lash line)
• Rimmel Soft Kohl Kajal Eye Pencil in Black (lower lash line)
• Natural Collection LashCurl Mascara in Black
• Collection 2000 Shimmer Shades in Blushalicious
• Natural Collection Loose Powder
• Benefit Watt's Up! highlighter
• 17 Ultimate Volume lipgloss in Very Berry

FOTD: Summer Simple

Yes, I do know it's not technically summer yet - after all, it's still not 20 degrees out. But, it is warm and the sun is bright, so here's an easy simple look for summer!
Products used:

• Rimmel Soft Kohl Kajal Eye Pencil with a thick line on the upper lash line and a thinner line on the lower line
• Natural Collection Moisture Shine lipstick in Rose Bud, used as a lipstick and also as a blusher, for which it's quite good as it's neither shimmery nor sticky.
  

FOTD: Pencil it in

I realised that whenever I wear eye makeup, whatever I do the liner lasts longer than the shadow, so I thought I'd use my eye pencil as shadow.

Products used:

• Rimmel Soft Kohl Kajal Pencil in Stormy Grey (as shadow) and Black (as liner)
• Elf blusher in Shy
• Natural Collection Moisture Shine Lipstick in Rose Bud

I think this is definitely a look I'll repeat, maybe with other eyeliners.

FOTD: Recreating Zooey Deschanel's look from the new sitcom 'New Girl'

If you're anything like me, and since you're reading this you probably are, I bet you have a girl-crush on Zooey Deschanel. She's great, and so pretty! I've been watching her new sitcom, New Girl, and it's really funny - in last week's episode they attempted to defrost a turkey by putting it in the spin-dryer.

Anyway, I thought I'd have a go at recreating her look from the show.

I used the following products, in this order:

• Natural Collection Corrector Stick (it's light green, to neutralise red cheeks)
• Natural Collection Cover-up Stick (beige)
• 17 BB Cream (Light shade) - review to come
• elf Eyelid Primer - review to come but mentioned here
• elf eyeshadow palette - review to come but mentioned here
• Collection 2000 Extreme 24 Hr Felt-tip liner - review to come but mentioned here (on the top lash line)
• Rimmel Soft Kohl Kajal Eye Pencil (black) - mini-review here (on the bottom lash line)
• Natural Collection LashCurl mascara (black) - review to come
• Collection 2000 Shimmer Shades in Blushalicious - review
• Natural Collection Moisture Shine Lipstick in Rose Bud - review to come

Gosh, looking at the list here it really emphasises how much stuff I already have that I haven't yet reviewed for the blog - thank heavens for Project Pan, eh?

Are any of you Zooey fangirls too? Let me know

FOTD: pretty in pink

Products used:

• Rimmel Colour Rush Quad eyeshadow in Urban Flower - I used the pale pink matte shade all over the eyeshadow as a base (reviewed here)
• elf Custom Eyes in Wisteria (swatched here). I found that I wasn't really using this shadow to its full capability, only as an interest point to lighten up other eye looks, so I wanted to use it as a focal point. And it's really pretty!
• Boots 17 Photo Flawless Eye Pencil in Carbon Black/ Copper.(reviewed here).
• Boots Natural Collection WaterGuard mascara in Brown/Black
• Collection 2000 ShimmerSquare in Blushalicious (currently with £1 off at boots.com, which means it's down to £3.19)
• Benefit Watt's Up highlighter
• Boots 17 Mirror Shine Lipstick in Belle

FOTD: it's Spring!

The trees mostly still have bare branches, but the grass is growing bright green and there were daffodils in the florist's shop yesterday. So it's spring! Yay!

Today's face of the day is a laid back look that took less than five minutes in front of the mirror - which is always good, really. Because it's Sunday and I like to let my skin breathe at least one day a week, I moisturised but didn't use foundation or BB cream today.

If you've read my blog before, you might know that I'm basically in love with my elf eyeshadows (on which note, they've got a free gift sale today and free shipping too, til 10pm). The only problem is that they have a lot of fallout. They definitely fall into the category of eyeshadows that you put on before your foundation. Today I decided to try and apply them with the minimum fallout possible. And I managed. The trick is to use your finger rather than a brush - somehow that reduces the problem hugely. It works because of how lovely and soft these shadows are - I've ordered another shadow and another blush, so there's now a queue of things to go into my elf palette (yes, all right, I forgot to include a second palette in my order...)

I used 'sage', a lovely lovely green, all over the eyelid, and 'wisteria', a pinkish lilac, above that close to the lash line. I really like the effect of that, and I think I'll team the colours up together like that again.

I used a metallic teal eye pencil - Boots 17's, though it's no longer in the range. It was a present from my lovely friend Philly (who runs her own blog) who had two of the Gift With Purchase that included the pencil (summer 09 as far as I can tell from the Internet) and gave me the second, because she's lovely like that. I guess the nearest equivalent now would be the blue eye version of the Photo Flawless Eye Pencil.

I used my elf blush in 'shy' which is a really pretty colour, as you can see on my cheek to the left of the picture - my camera isn't handling light and dark very well at the moment, as you can see, but the colours on the left of the picture are truer to life. Unlike the elf shadows, which are very soft and which I think I'll hit pan on very soon (especially sage), the blush is fairly hard, and despite having used it a lot I've barely made an indent on the top of it. I've ordered another elf blush as well, because I like this one so much. To finish off I used Boots 17 Mirror Shine lipstick in shade 'Belle' - which is, as others have said, fab. It's one of those your lips but better lipsticks.

Ta-dah!

Boots hauls!

Over the past few weeks, I've been to Boots numerous times, so I thought I'd amalgamate everything I've bought into one big post.

This is really a bit fab. I've seen a few posts complaining that it didn't live up to its promises, but personally I love it. It is very light coverage, but I like that - there's nothing worse than looking 'caked' in foundation in my opinion. If you've got very pale skin, this probably wouldn't be the product for you - I'm not that pale but I found the 'light' shade to be perfect on me. 

Lots and lots of Natural Collection stuff!

I bought their 'LashCurl' mascara in black, and it's far better than I would have thought - I will do a review at some stage, but for now it's enough to say that it's properly black and that it actually does make the lashes look more curled, so that's good.

The green corrector stick is to help neutralize my naturally very rosy cheeks, and it seems to work, which is good - this is certainly something that I wouldn't buy from a posher brand when I know it's available and very good for £2.

The lipstick, in shade 'Rose Bud' is brilliant. A really good buy, in my opinion. It's pink and springlike without being too pink and horrible. I'll probably have to stop wearing it when I pick up a tan in the summer, but for now it's great. It doesn't come off on glasses etc either, which you would expect for the price. 

Centre front are bronzing pearls - I gave these a quick go just now and they're really good - I like that the different colours blend together. On the right is some loose powder - I'm going to give this a go. 

On top of the two little pots is a lip liner. I felt I ought to have one, and it's a nice nude/pink shade. 

I got these six products in two separate 'three for £5' deals.

This is No7's Stay Perfect Nail Polish in shade 270 - Jammy. It would normally be £7 but  I used one of those '£5 off No7' vouchers they like to give at the checkout.

It's FAB. The brush is really good, for a start. It's almost a one-coat polish, but the second just helps to add depth etc to the colour. I've heard that it lasts really well too.

Face of the day - family dinner

Quite a simple face of the day here - apologies for the photo, I wrestled with my camera for long enough...Eyes: I used the pale pink and the green from Rimmel's colour rush quad overshadow in 016 urban flowers and elf's sage colour from their elements range. I lined my eyes in collection 2000's Extreme 24 hour felt tip liner, which I decided on as a replacement for my liner that got dropped earlier in the week... I then used Natural Collection LashCurl Mascara in black which is amazing, and I will get round to doing a review soon, I promise...

Face generally: Boots 17's BB cream which I love - it's so light on, for a start, and it does enough of a foundation job for me at the moment. Then my new Benefit Watt's Up highlighter, which is courtesy of britishbeautyblogger.com's giveaway. It's so amazing. Love the packaging as well - it looks like a lightbulb!
Then I used a really, really old Marks & Spencer blusher in Ginger, which I gaily went for with my total face brush and then realised I'd made a terrible mistake. Once I blended it out a bit though, and removed a little of the excess, it was fine. I then used the Natural Collection Moisture Shine Lipstick in Rose Bud, which I picked up in a 3 for £5 deal as my third item and never expected to like as much as I do - the colour is lovely, it's long lasting, it doesn't come off on glasses etc, and it really is moisturising. Plus it was only £1.99

FOTD: inspired by Chloé A/W 2011

I was browsing the blogosphere, and found a really interesting article:

http://pretty-easy.tumblr.com/post/12323011680/get-the-look-chloe-a-w-2011
Normally when I see posts like those, they need a particular shade of eyeshadow, for example, that I don't have. But to my joy I actually have everything needed to do this look - or at least a slightly toned down version of it.

I started with my trusty Natural Collection ShineAway Foundation. You know what, it may not be the best foundation in the world (I'm really looking forward to trying Maybelline's Dream Matte Mousse when I've finished this foundation) but it's still darned good for what I need.

Then I used a black Rimmel Soft Kohl Kajal Eye Pencil to line my eyes, as the original post suggested, to allow it to smudge... which it did, all over my face.

Then I used my much-neglected Collection 2000 'Color Intense Trio' in Cookie Dough. I don't tend to use this much, mainly because the shades are next to each other and shed quite a lot, and also because it just doesn't go on as well as the 17 eyeshadows. Plus they're not particularly pigmented. They were, however, just right for this look. I used the palest shade as a base and then blended the darkest shade with it, but not all the way out as the picture showed - I wanted it to be wearable, after all.

The next step was to use a little of the same shade as a blush/bronzer under cheekbones for definition. I wasn't sure which brush to use for this, and initially tried my blusher brush, but that loaded on way too much of the powder. So I decided to use the 'Way to Glo' shade of the Collection 2000 Shimmer Shades, as it's slightly less pigmented. That worked better.

The original blog post suggested black mascara, only mine's a bit dried out, so I used my Natural Collection Brown/Black one.

For a natural and neutral lip, I used tinted lipsalve, and then the No7 High Shine gloss in Whisper.

And a spritz of Chanel Coco Mademoiselle Eau de Toilette to finish.

FOTD: with Boots All About Nude palette

So today I decided to see just how nice a look I could get using every element of the All About Nude palette - as mentioned in my year review post, I never use the Funfair eyeshadow shade, so I thought it would be good to use it for once.

As usual, I started with my Neutrogena moisturiser and Natural Collection foundation. So far, so good.
Then I put the Funfair (a pinkish shade) across my whole eyelid and the Walnut Pearl on the outer half. I think I got a bit overexcited at this point as I didn't apply it particularly well, and I think I started it too far into the eye, so it covered way more than just the outer half of the eyelid, if that makes sense, and you can see that I didn't do the eyes particularly evenly (each eye the same) either.
Putting the lipstick on was odd. I don't own a lip brush so I did it with my finger... But it was still shiny and nice, yet not sticky. This lipstick is one that I don't use enough, I'm always surprised by how good it is.
The blusher was odd, it's less creamy in consistency than my Natural Collection one, which is to be expected I suppose because it's in solid form. One thing I've never liked about this particular blush is that for ages it is unnoticeable and then you put a minuscule hint more on and it's suddenly too much. But it's still easier to use - and less messy - than a powder blush.

To finish off I used my usual eyeliner - Boots 17 Photo Flawless eye pencil - and mascara - Natural Collection

This photo was taken a couple of hours after application - and after eating and drinking - yet you can see how long lasting the products have been.

New Years Eve look.

Right, so I had the joys of spending NYE with my parents this year, so this is a special family dinner kind of a look.

I wore a navy blue Miss Selfridge dress with a cream collar and trim, so I decided to go for a navy eye.

Picture 1 - my 'before' face

The first thing I did was moisturise with my Neutrogena Multi-Defence Daily Moisturiser. I started using this in the summer and I love it. Then I put some Boots Natural Collection ShineAway Foundation (I use shade 'porcelain') on my cheeks, to de-pink them a bit.

Next was a thick line of Rimmel Soft Kohl Kajal Eye Pencil in shade 021, denim blue, along the top lash line and halfway along the lower lash line. This will smudge easily as I add the rest of the eye make up.

Then I swept No7 Stay Perfect Eyeshadow in shade 69, Starry Night, ( another freebie from the gift I mentioned in my lipgloss review) across the whole eyelid as a base and to blend with. Next was Boots 17 Eyeshadow in shade Regal, a lovely blue, which I put towards the outer edge of my eyelids and blended with my finger.

Last came mascara (Boots Natural Collection in Brown/Black), lipgloss (No7 High Shine in Whisper, reviewed below) and blusher (Natural Collection cream blusher in Rosy Pink).
Then I was done :)

Picture 2 - the products I used, in order from left to right

Picture 3 - the 'after' face

In hindsight, looking at the photo, I could probably have done with a tiny bit more blusher. I also made a duff choice with the lip gloss which, while it was great that it didn't leave marks on my drinks glasses, did get lots of hair stuck to it on the walk into town for dinner, when it was quite windy. I can report, though, that the lip gloss has quite good staying power - nearly four hours after I put it on, after eating and drinking, while it's not as glossy as it was, my lips still look fairly shiny and glossy with a faint bit of the shimmer. The rest of the look seems to have held up well, though, and the foundation has done as promised and kept shine at bay.

Picture 4 - the 'hours after' face.

NB: you may notice that these photos are better quality than up to this point - that's because I took them on my proper camera rather than webcam for once.