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: 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 Showtime!

So tonight I have my first poetry gig in quite a while, and I thought I'd do a FOTD for it. It's in a pub, so fairly dark, and I need people to be able to see my face.
I started with my new Boots 17 Blemish Balm, which had £2 off and so was only £4.99 - Boots 17 seem to have an offer on all the foundation-type-things at the moment, by the way.

Next was eyeshadow, and I used my much neglected Max Factor Smoky Eye Effect Eyeshadow. It's what I bought as a present to myself in early December, at the end of Oxford interviews, and I love it. Apart from anything else, it's fairly foolproof, as the colours have been selected to go together perfectly. Then I lined my bottom lash line with my standby Photo Flawless Eye Pencil, and a thin line of liquid liner across the top lash line, as it'll be dark and I need the definition. Last for the eyes was mascara - Natural Collection's is all I have at the moment.

Then what has become my standard blusher, e.l.f. elements in 'shy', and to finish a swipe of Mirror Shine Lipstick in Belle - it really is a 'your lips but better' finish.

FOTD: Simple green eye

Originally I wasn't going to post this, but today at school one of my friends said she liked my eye make-up, which I took as a go ahead to share the look.

So here it is, and you have Sarah to blame if you don't like it, haha.

I think this took less than five minutes to do in total, which is always good for hurried school mornings. Another thing about it that was good for it being a school morning was that it only used three products, so there was no scrabbling around, and walking back and forth from my makeup shelf to my bathroom sink.

As always, I started with this moisturiser. I put it on as I got out of bed to let it sink in while I got dressed - this was a key time-saving thing. If I'd worn foundation today I would have paused halfway through dressing to put it on, to let that sink in while I finished getting dressed. This dramatically reduces the amount of time spent at my dressing table, and increases the amount of time I get to spend having breakfast!

First was my trusty Rimmel Soft Kohl Kajal Eye Pencil, this time in shade 031, Jungle Green. It blends so well. Love it. I put this across the top lash line, and halfway across the lower lash line, from the centre outwards. It then smudges slightly as I put the eyeshadow on.

Next was eyeshadow - I used my e.l.f. elements one in shade 'sage' - top left in the palette in this picture, and centre of the swatches - across the whole eyelid. Simple but nice.

I then used the blush - 'shy' - from this palette too, which I have really loved using over the past week, as it's just pigmented enough, but not too brash, looks natural on, and blends well.

And ta-da, the finished look! Those of you who've seen previous Faces Of The Day will notice I've had my hair cut. I decided that cost would win out, and went to Supercuts, and I'm actually really impressed. The stylist was efficient, nice, etc, and always asking if the cut was okay. She was chatty but not too much, and the salon was nice and clean. So yeah, good.

I then decided to add some lip colour, and I used Boots 17's Lasting Fix lipstick, in the shade 'Chocolate Eclair'.

It's alright, but I don't think it will be a repurchase. It has a tendency to go bright pink after a few hours...

But here was the look totally finished:

2011 in review, and looking forward to 2012

In this post I'm going to review what my favourite products have been - my top three mainstays that have seen the most use - in 2011, and look at what I'm most excited about for 2012.

Well, of course, since I didn't really get into make-up until August, the review only really covers the last part of the year.

I think that my overall favourite product this year would be the Boots 17 All About Nude palette, which was their free gift when you bought two products for a while in the summer - I liked it so much that when it appeared on boots.com for 1.50 in the autumn I bought three more!
It has eyeshadow in shades Funfair and Walnut Pearl, a cream blush, and Mirror Shine lipstick in shade Belle. Since getting this palette, I've bought individual ones of the Walnut Pearl eyeshadow, which forms part of my everyday eye, and the lipstick, which is great just to add a little colour and shine if I've emphasised the eye. This palette also meant I searched the entire Boots store at Westfield for a cream blush, since I found it so so much easier to use than powder blush - though I think that's partly down to poor brush technique. I never was good at art.

Another of my favourites would have to be the Boots 17 Photo Flawless Eye Pencil which I reviewed a couple of days ago. I won't repeat myself here - suffice to say that it's great.

The last product to make my top three for 2011 is another eye pencil - the Rimmel Soft Kohl Kajal Eye Pencil. I have it in every colour except brown, and I think the standouts would be grey, which looks lovely as a base for a daytime smoky eye, and green, which I have worn by itself and been complimented on my eye makeup before. (That sentence doesn't quite make sense, but my brain can't figure out how to make it do so - forgive me, it's Sunday). Overall this pencil is lovely and soft, smudges like a dream when putting it on, but is then nice and long-lasting.

One other product I'm going to briefly mention (oh, split infinitive, my Latin teacher would be disappointed) is my moisturiser the Neutrogena Multi-Defence Daily Moisturiser. I started using this in the summer and I love it. That it has built in SPF 25 is a huge bonus.

In 2012 I'm looking forward to using the Naked2 palette by Urban Decay. I've seen swatches and reviews and it looks amazing, even if it is more than a week's pay...

I'm also making myself a resolution to actually use the Funfair shade of eyeshadow in my All About Nude palette. While not such a big thing as the Naked2 palette, it's all about being adventurous and using colours etc that I'm not used to.

The third key thing to do with makeup that I want to do in 2012 is to find a great foundation. The Natural Collection one I've been using is okay, but I'm sure there are better ones out there.

Now for the photos - I took one with the palette closed and one with it open - mine's a bit scabby and dirty due to months of continuous use, but apart from that it's held up well - I'm always surprised that I've not hit pan on Walnut Pearl.
Clockwise from top left it's eyeshadow in Funfair, eyeshadow in Walnut Pearl, the lipstick in Belle, and the blush.

The eye pencil by itself is the Photo Flawless one, and then the group is the Rimmel Soft Kohl Kajal ones.

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.

Something I have used up: Boots 17 Photo Flawless Eye Pencil

The main reason why I have used this pencil up already is that I love it, and I use it in conjunction with Boots 17 eyeshadow in shade Walnut Pearl for an easy everyday eye.
The other reason is that it's incredibly soft.
It comes in three slightly shimmery shades: blue, brown, and green. The idea is that you buy the same as your eye, and it draws the colour out. So, I have the brown one, but I might buy a green one to wear by itself or with green eyeshadow when I use up my green Rimmel Soft Kohl Kajal Eye Pencil, which I have in black, grey, green and blue, and which I'll be reviewing at some point.
That musing aside, this pencil really is good. The only caveat is that you have to not push too hard or it crumbles: my mum was doing my makeup the other day for some mother daughter bonding, and because she's used to slightly harder thicker pencils she pushed a little too hard. With a gentle hand, though, this is one of the best eye pencils I've ever used, and at £2.89 a pop, it doesn't matter that I go through the pencil fairly quickly. Once this pencil is one the eye, it stays on the eye, which is good - this pencil has great staying power.
I'm now on my second of these pencils, and after trying mine the other night, my mum's buying herself one too.
One thing I like about it is that it isn't too dark, so it helps to open the eye u, rather than making it look smaller, as lots of very dark liners can.
I would especially recommend this to anyone else with brown eyes/ brown hair/ fair-olivey skin, as I find it enriches my colouring. It's also one of the rare products that seems to look good whatever stage of tan I have.
Now, words over, let's have the pictures!
The first one is my eye without any makeup, then I've done one eye just with the pencil, and then done a 'full' eye make up with the pencil and the eyeshadow I mentioned above, along with Boots Natural Collection Mascara in Brown/Black
http://www.boots.com/en/17-Photo-Flawless-Eye-Pencil_1150614/