March favourites!

This is a bit of a 'basics' favourites post, as I found up the five things that make my life pretty easily :)

Remington S7902 Wet2Straight Hair Straighteners

I've had these since October, and they're generally fab, but it was at the debating conference I went to that they came into their own. You see, I was really stupid and forgot to take a hairbrush (d'oh) - but I found that once I had straightened my hair with these you couldn't tell at all. Plus, since my hair is so thick, it would be impossible to fully dry it before straightening - with these I don't have to! I use Schwarzkopf's got2b Guardian Angel Heat Defence spray with them, which seems pretty good.

These have an RRP of £84.99 but retail on Amazon for £42.99

17 Mirror Shine Lipstick - Belle

(image from the fab Catherine's Loves blog)

I have been keeping this lipstick in my pencilcase for most of the past month, it's perfect for a quick swipe. The colour is fairly sheer, with lots of shiiiine and it's really pretty. That the colour is sheer means that you can just swipe away even without a mirror, as if you miss a bit/go off your lips it's not at all noticeable. 

Plus, the packaging is pretty snazzy too - it's fairly difficult to lose this bright blue tube in your bag.

It sells for £4.59 from Boots.

Elf blusher - Shy
(image from the fab Sugar Coated Muffin blog)
This blusher is a really good every-day blusher in my opinion, as it produces a soft pink which goes with everything and is really difficult to overdo. Plus it lasts really well to. Does what it says on the tin, really.
It sells for £1.50, either for 2g in its own thingy as shown or for 1.5g to go in their Elements system, from elf.

17 Solo Eyeshadow - Walnut Pearl (top left in this picture)
I love this eyeshadow - it's a lovely everyday basic colour, and goes with everything - basically the eye makeup equivalent of the blusher above. It's really long-wearing, too.
It retails for £3.89 from Boots.

17 BB Cream
The main reason I like this is that it is low coverage - it's really just a me-but-better look. I have been using it in Light, but I think I need to move up to Medium as I've started to pick up a bit of a tan. It lasts all day (always a bonus!) and generally helps me feel like a more polished version of me.
It sells for £6.99 from Boots.

What I took with me: Haileybury MUN

Last weekend was my last ever high school Model United Nations conference (geek alert!)

This is what I took with me make-up wise, and a rundown on how useful each item was:

1. Natural Collection Moisture Shine Lipstick in Rose Bud - I wore this and it worked well for me - fairly long-lasting and a nice neutral colour
2. Natural Collection Cream Blush in Rosy Pink - I didn't use this
3. 17 BB Cream in Light - I did use this, I think I might move up to Medium now I've started to pick up some colour in my face
4. Benefit Watt's Up highlighter - I used this for the party, when it was going to be dark
5. 17 Mirror Shine Lipstick in Belle - another good neutral lip shade
6. Marks & Spencer blusher in Ginger (now discontinued but I have found a dupe)
7. Natural Collection Cover-Up Stick - did use this as I have broken out a tiny bit
8. Miss Sporty nail polish - I had this in my pencilcase for touchups as and when
9. 17 Pencil Sharpener
10. Rimmel 1000 Kisses Lipstain and Balm in Carry on Cherry - I used this and it lasted really well, plus it came across really well in photos from the party
11. Natural Collection LashCurl Mascara in Black - I used this each day and it was good as usual, but it's starting to dry out, which is sad as I've had it less than three months - but then it was only £1.99
12. 17 Photo Flawless Eye Pencil in Copper/Black - I used this each day to line my lower lash line
13. 17 Metallic Eye Liner in Green - I didn't actually use this
14. Collection Extreme 24H Felt Tip Eye Liner in Black - my favourite eyeliner. Ever. Did thin discreet lines one day and nice chunky 'Cleopatra' lines the other.
15. Elf eyelid primer in 'Champagne'. Works as it should, no questions asked.
16. Revlon Blush Brush
17. elf Blush/Bronzer/Blending brush
18. Liberty/Hello Kitty eyeshadow palette - I used this, especially the pale pink and adjacent reddy shade
19. Collection Shimmer Shades in Way to Glow - I used this each day
20. 17 All About Nude palette - I used the eyeshadows from this
21. elf elements palette containing a) Sage eyeshadow, b) Wisteria eyeshadow, c) Driftwood eyeshadow and d) Shy blush. I mainly took it for the blush, which I used each day

There we go, a nice summary. I think overall the most useful thing I took was the Rimmel Lipstain - I'm in love with the colour.

Here are a couple of photos from the weekend:

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?

Swatched: 17 Solo Eyeshadows

So, I had these eyeshadows lying around, which are actually really good quality for the £3.89 you pay (it's the same price for normal and glitter shadows, the only difference being that they say '17 Glitter' on the lids rather than '17 Eyes')

Clockwise starting in the top left, the shades are Walnut Pearl, Night Sky, Regal, and Green Glimmer. The Night Sky is glitter and the others are standard shadows, though as you can see even in the non-flash photo (the top one of each pair) the Green Glimmer is fairly light-relective, and in the flash photo all four shades are shimmering.

The Walnut Pearl is one layer of colour; the other three are two. It's easily the most pigmented of the four, but it also sheds - when using this eyeshadow it's definitely a good idea to do it before the foundation.

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.

Review : Rimmel 60 Seconds Nail Polish - Shade 610, Pompous

This nail varnish is definitely my favourite, so I thought it would make a good first review.
I bought it on a whim to match a dress I was wearing for a Hallowe'en party, and have worn it almost constantly since. I used to be a Barry M nail paint devotee, but that's all changed.
As you can see in the swatch, it's sparkly, which is always fun for nails, especially during the holidays and for parties. The sparkles in this polish, though, are quite subtle, and just add to the catching-the-light effect.
So now we now that I love how it looks - is it actually any good?
Yes!
It doesn't fully dry in the 60 seconds suggested by the packaging and name, and nor can I get the full colour payoff in the one coat stated on the bottle, but it's darned good. It dries almost fully in a couple of minutes, and enough to put the necessary second coat on very quickly - usually, by the time I've put he first coat on my second hand, the first hand is ready for the second coat.
Durability is a key issue for nail varnish, and one I can report back on with a smile on my face with regards to this polish. I've had this polish last three or four days with only tiny nicks before, and since it dries so quickly, touch-ups aren't an issue. For some polishes, I've noticed that due to slight colour variations it's very obvious where I've 'mended' the polish, but for this polish it isn't. Presumably it would last even longer if I could be bothered to put a topcoat on it.
Also, and this is a big bonus for such a dark polish, it doesn't seem to stain my nails when it comes off.
This polish sells at £3.69, and in my opinion is definitely worth it.
http://www.boots.com/en/Rimmel-60-Seconds-Nail-Polish_867420/