No7 Haul!...

1/31/2012 06:30:00 pm
As always, the expiry date on the No7 £5 vouchers approached far too quickly, and I had five to use up!  In the end I only used three, the sales assistant manage to both extremely confuse and con me!  Ended up paying £5 more than I should have because she convinced me to use the No7 3 for 2 promotion, even though I insisted I didn't want to!  GRRRR: note to self, trust your instincts!
Anyways, onto the haul.  My first thoughts were to pick up the No7 BB Cream, however after swatching the normal/oily cream in medium, I was worried although the tone was deep enough, it leaned slightly too pink, so I will be trundling back at a later date with a MAC sample pot to decant myself a little sample!  In the end, I really liked the look of their new skincare range, and picked up the Beautiful Skin Foaming Cleanser for normal/oily skin - retailing at £9.00 here - to use with me old Clarisonic - foamy face washes seem to work better with this.  I had been using the Body Shop Passion fruit gel type cleanser, which lathers up pretty well, but doesn't reaaaaally seem to do anything except clean.  First thoughts are that I really like this cleanser, and I will do a review on it in the near future.
L-R: Beautiful Skin Foaming Cleanser, Beautiful Skin Starter Kit, Beautiful Skin Purifying Exfoliator
I also picked up the Beautiful Skin Purifying Exfoliator, which retails at £8.00 here, as I love me a good old scrub - although I have limited my scrub days to Monday and Thursday as I can get a bit over-zealous with the amount of days I scrub!  Again, first impressions on first use are wonderful, I really like it and will do an in-depth review soon.
I picked up the mini kit for my mother, which was a bargain at only £5!
Makeup-wise, the first thing I picked up was the Perfect Lips Pencil in Fire!  I have only recently got into the whole red lips thing, and have been using my nude lip liner as a base, but really needed a red one, so picked this up!  
Perfect Lips Lip Liner in Fire
Stay Perfect Nail Colour in Temptress, Perfect Lips Lip Liner in Fire, Stay Perfect Nail Colour in Pinky Pure
The Last of my bits are my fail-safe options when it comes to No7 Vouchers - Stay Perfect Nail Colours.  The colour temptress is my classic vampy red shade, and has been since I was 18, I am sure you will see a nail of the day with this colour very soon.  The second nail colour is Pinky Pure, which I think may be a Limited Edition colour, as I picked it up from the Limited Edition stand.  I am currently wearing this, and will be doing a nail of the day on it ASAP! 
Stay Perfect Nail Colour in Temptress, Perfect Lips Lip Liner in Fire, Stay Perfect Nail Colour in Pinky Pure

Hope you enjoyed this little haul of mine!
Love A.x

A face is too slight a foundation for happiness.

1/30/2012 06:00:00 pm
So I recently blogged about my love for Dior Forever, and my love has in no way waned! But I love the alchemy of mixing all different foundations to make an even better foundation - a super-charged SUPER foundation! My previous fave foundation was MAC Matchmaster in 4.0 - what I really loved about this foundation was the way it adapts to your skin, has good coverage and leaves your skin matte but fresh. So I decided to use this as my first pump of foundation that I massage into the skin with my hands.
L-R: ELF Powder Brush, MAC Matchmaster 4.0, Bourjois Healthy Mix Serum 53, Dior Forever 31, Sigma F82
Now, I recently bought the Bourjois Healthy Mix foundation in 55, which ended up being too dark for my skin, but I adored the silky texture and finish - and let's be honest, I'm a sucker for anything with supposed skincare benefits!  So, on a trip to Tesco with the mother I picked up shade 53, which I can get away with, BUT I do feel sometimes it looks a tad light for me, and nooooobody wants real-life ghost face (btw, why is it so hard to find shade 54?!).  I therefore, for no reason, decided to mix it with a pump of my Dior, and whaddya know?  It made the Dior even more perfect! As if I ever thought that could happen!  I put a pump of each on the back of my hand, mix with my finger, use the finger to spread it sporadically on my face, then use my trusty F82 to stipple, stipple, stipple - quick dry off on a tissue - then buff, buff, buff!  But now, for a NEW step in my routine!!!! I purchased the ELF Powder brush a looooong time ago, but couldn't get it to work with powders, but the other day, whilst contemplating purchasing an F80 that I couldn't really afford, I remembered this little brush, and after the above foundation routine, used it to buff my foundation even further into my skin!  And OMG the results were just amazing - not only did my skin look perfect but somehow, the brush stays entirely clean!! 
So that is the update on my foundation routine - I hope maybe you'll consider sampling either one of all of the foundations I mentioned, they are fabulous together and alone!
Love A.x
A face is too slight a foundation for happiness.
Mary Wortley

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1/30/2012 12:43:00 am
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Kiko!

1/28/2012 10:15:00 pm
So...
before Christmas, dashing around Westfield getting all my last bits and bobs for everyone I wandered into what I will now describe as a magical grotto full of all the things I love. And it was called Kiko!  Haha, basically its a little shop that is full of beautiful make up bits and pieces, the range of products and the actual shop are on par with MAC.  But here's the extra amazing bit - the products are, dare i say it, better than MAC! Shock!  My MAC story is that I was obsessed with them at first, but now am down to 2foundations, 2 lippies 2 paint pots, and a 4-pan palette, because frankly, I find the pigmentation of their eye products just do not show up on my skin, and many of their lippies just aren't forgiving at all on my perpetually dry lips.  
Anyways, back to Kiko.  On that first trip, as a Christmas promotion, all eyeshadows were down to £3! So I picked up 118 - a very light, very shimmery gold that I use on the inner corner of my eye, under the brow bone, and as a face highlighter.  It is incredibly pretty, and so soft, buttery and pigmented, and looks amaze balls when MAC Constructivist Paint Pot is used all over the lid, and 118 is used as the inner colour.
118, 178, 180
Next up is 178, a very dark charcoal-cum-black with teeny tiny silver and dark purple iridescent sparkle running through it.  Now unlike a lot of people, my everyday eye always has black in it - I find the shape of my eye requires a lot of definition in the outer corner, and find that a lot of blacks just don't cut the mustard.  This eyeshadow has all the amazing properties 118, with the added extra of sparkle! This also is amazing over MAC's Blackground Paint Pot for amazing, forget-me-not night-time eyes, with lashings of mascara and eyeliner!
118, 178, 180
The last of my single eyeshadows is 180, a matte carbon black, again with amazing colour pay-off.  I use this nearly every day, as my crease and outer corner definition, but it also applies incredibly well on a wet brush as an intense eyeliner.
I came across a kind of bargain bucket, where I chanced upon a load of beautiful quad palettes.  I purchased a nude one for my sister, and to be honest, I want one myself!  But for some reason I ended up being a bit of a daredevil and purchasing a more colourful palette for myself!  So I picked up the 'Color Fever Eyeshadow Palette - Luxurious Gold and Plum.'  
The packaging of these palettes is just wonderful, they come in a box, and when you open it up a little suede/velvet-type pouch falls out (very similar to a Guerlain one I used to own), and when you finally pull it out, the actual compact is a bronzey-goldy colour that it just lovely.  So, onto the colours: I generally use nudes, browns and blacks, but occasionally I like to add a little pop of colour (dark-toned colour) onto the inner third or middle third of my lid, and sometimes under the lower lash line.  
This quad has in it a series of gorgeous dark-toned, rich colours, and to be honest, is everything I wanted my (much more expensive) Guerlain palette to be.  Top left is a Champagne-gold, top right is a dirty olive gold, bottom left is a mid to dark purple, and bottom right is my obligatory black.  The top two are full of very fine shimmer, and are very, very buttery and pigmented.  The bottom two are more matte, with sporadic shimmer, and are slightly chalkier - although don't get me wrong, pigmentation is still incredible!  The palette has a full sized mirror, and clicks shut very satisfyingly! I can't guarantee that I will wear all these shades, after all, I am a creature of habit, but I am ridiculously pleased with it!  I can't remember how much these were anymore, but they were definitely under the £10 mark.
Next I wandered over to the lip section of the shop and ended up picking up the Kiko Pencil Lipglosses in 07 and 09.  These lip pencils are very much between a lipliner, a lipstick and a lipgloss.  They are in the form of a pencil, apply very smoothly, last about as long as a lipstick on the lips, and have a shine like a lipgloss.  07 is a milky pink, such a beautiful colour, very like my Nars Turkish delight, and 09 is a light beige-nude, which is effortless for day-to-day, and brightens the face!  I also picked up a darker nude for my mother, which she loves! On my second trip to Kiko, being pleased with the two I already had I picked up another one in 02, a shimmery bronzey-nude, which I have been wearing non-stop! And my mother decided to pick up another one for herself, being so impressed with the first one!  From what I remember, these were £3.90
Double Glam Eyeliner, Gloss Pencils - 07, 09, 02
Double Glam Eyeliner, Gloss Pencils - 07, 09, 02
The last of my second Kiko haul was an eyeliner that was on sale - the Double Glam Eyeliner in 09, a dark chocolatey brown, and a dark plummy colour.  I think it was about £3.90 in the sale, and frankly, I love this product!  I think the only way to describe this is if my Avon Supershock eyeliner had a child with an Urban Decay Liner.  It is buttery, it is pigmented, the colours are gorgeous AND the wear is ridiculously good, and completely smudge-proof!  I am definitely going back for more!
Double Glam Eyeliner brown and  purple, Gloss Pencils - 07, 09, 02
Double Glam Eyeliner brown and  purple, Gloss Pencils - 07, 09, 02
So there is my Kiko haul, and thoughts on it - hope you found this interesting, and maybeeeeee you'll venture away from MAC to try out these cheaper, but in my eyes, better products!
Love A.x

Ideally..

1/27/2012 08:17:00 pm
So, my boots points FINALLY amounted to something. I had actually been saving for Soleil Tan de Chanel, but we all know the palaver occurring with that, so I then decided to buy Gucci Guilty Intense - I bloody love it, so sweet but sexy yum yum yum: however, on my first, and I must say last trip to Westfield Stratford, I chanced upon an Arabic perfume stall, where I purchased a couple of perfumes - one being a copy of Gucci Guilty (I shall review these soon, as they are oil based, so PERFECT for the cold-blooded like me). 
Anyways, train of thought running wild again - the point of this story is that in my never-ending uhb-sessed quest for skin perfection, I have been admiring Estee Lauder Idealist Even Skintone Illuminator, but have been spending way too much of late, but suddenly - due to 3 for 2 on Christmas gifts, special 1000 point when you buy blah blah, and those boots tokens that come in the post that I normally throw away but my sister never receives - why Boots, why? - I suddenly had 4400 points! However, i need £46 worth of points, and whilst pottering around at home, cleaning as she does, my sister found a buy £10 worth of skincare and get 150 points, so New Year's Eve I trundled down to Boots. Why New Year's Eve I hear you ask? Why indeed - well because my spending ban came into force at the strike of Big Ben! Anyways long story short, I purchased Soap and Glory peel, Nivea oil-free daily lotion for the sissy, a Denman Hairbrush, some shower gel (Original Source Chocolate + Mint and Lemon, as they were on half price) and two teensy bottles of hand sanitiser (also on half price), plus cough mixture for my dad - not really relevant but you know - and I had enough points! So I ran straight to the Estee Lauder counter and my love was purchased!
Right so the facts: Estee Lauder claims: This fast-acting serum is proven to significantly reduce the look of blotchiness, past blemish marks and discolourations. Instantly, skin looks fresh and radiant. 79% of women saw an improvement in the look of uneven skintone. Skin looks noticeably clearer, brighter and more even-toned. Oil-free formula is proven gentle and effective for all ethnicities 
I have been advised to use it twice a day for 2 weeks, then reduce it to just morning use, and that the 30ml should last me 3 months. Plus apparently there is a money back guarantee - although I'll have to rummage in the bin for the receipt, I'm terrible like that!
So, I have been using this now for 27 days apparently, and what do I think? Well I think - it works! Don't expect instantaneous miracles, the effects of this baby will just punch you in the face one day, and you'll think 'wow this stuff works!' So, what did it do for me? Well up until about a year ago I had pretty perfect skin - a few pores, a few scars, but that was it. But the past year, after an op on my ovary - which is what I think triggered the skin issues - I started getting spots on the lower half of my chin. Nothing much, nothing serious - definitely not acne, but spots nonetheless! My skintone is middle of the colour chart - I am light-medium in terms of Asian skintone, and even if I do not touch a spot, it now leaves a mark, so it is these marks I was aiming to correct. Now these marks aren't all gone, but are lightening up steadily. When I asked my sister if she thought it was working on my face after a week she said "no, your marks are still there, but your skintone is more even." So I referred her back to the name of the serum - Even Skintone Illuminator! So I reckon even after a week it was working! 
It is definitely a bit of an investment piece in your skincare routine, but I reckon its quite worth it. Am I going to repurchase? Well I think there's still 2 months worth left in my bottle, but after that, being the curious little critter that I am, I might try another serum, perhaps the Clinique Even Better Dark Spot Corrector. But I will always know, in the back of my mind, that this serum works, and I can go back to it whenever I like! 
Hope this helped! 
Love A.x 



Versace...

1/27/2012 07:21:00 pm
...for H&M...
When the first Versace for H&M collection came out, I didn't really fancy anything from it - the colours were too bright, and the patterns too in-your-face for my liking, plus I like shoes and bags and jewellery, and there weren't really any pieces that caught my eye.  Anyways, a couple of weeks ago I saw a preview of the H&M Versace Cruise Collection, and was drawn instantly to the two pairs of earrings that were in the collection, and bought the following for myself!
 
I think they are beeeee-uuuuu-teee-full! They are much smaller than the image looks, maybe about 2-3cm in diameter, with a precious little 3-d butterfly on each disc.  They remind me of the ancient Greek or ancient Roman style and I love them!
So there we have it, I have a littttttle piece of Versace in my collection! Eeeek!!!=]
Love A.x

how to cure one's down-ness at gone midnight...

1/23/2012 12:53:00 am
Watch Arthur Christmas!=D
Title Image
"Dear Santa, are you real? If you live at the north pole how come I can't see your house when I look on Google earth? Are you St. Nicholas? 'Cause you'd be incredibly old. How do you have time to read all the letters from all the children in the world? And how many cookies and mint pies have you eaten in all of history? How do you get all the presents in the sack? Does your sack have to get bigger every year cause of exponential population growth?"

Completely delicious film, makes you smile even when you don't want to!
Makes me want to wrap things! "There's no time for a bow!" "There's always time for a bow!"
Seriously, watch it... Do it!
Love A.x

Haircut!!

1/16/2012 08:21:00 pm
Had a haircut after about a year! I love it! It feels all swisssssssssssssssssssssssshy..Look somewhat grumpy though, I think my face just falls that way...

Daisy daisy give me your answer dooooo....

1/13/2012 12:19:00 am
Just because it's pretty and I made it once
Love A.x

Aye-aye...of the day!..

1/08/2012 08:58:00 pm
An aye-aye is actually a little lemur-type thing (think King Julian in Madagascar) with one incredibly long, extremely creepy-looking finger! Here's the wiki page just in case you want to know more?!  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aye-aye  Anyways, point of this post is the following pic aka my general everyday eye look:
Sunday-eye using MUA Heaven and earth palette, Mac black tied and Maybelline the colossal mascara and Maybelline Volume express mascara

Check out the post below for details of my eBay clearout!
Love A.x

Ideally up and coming...

1/06/2012 10:42:00 pm
Sneak peek of an upcoming post...give it 2-4weeks =p 

Bluetits?

1/06/2012 10:18:00 pm
I think bluetits are the birds on my make-up bag.  Not really sure though.  I suppose it's one to ponder.
Below we have my opened make-up bag, Shock!
This is the mess that occurs when I tip out the contents:
Ok so getting to the actual products, we have a teeny Mac sample pot, contents of said pot are Mac Matchmaster 4.0 foundation, which I carry around for 'just-in-cases'.  To be honest, I think what this point will prove is that almost everything in my travel bag is a just-in-case!  The other bigger pot is a moussey-type blush thingy from Inglot, in either shade 80 or 87.  Let me check.  Ah its 80.  Basically this is a brilliant multitasker for a just-in-case moment, it can also be used as a lip colour, and if you like the pink-eye look, as an eyeshadow.  The colour is gorgeous, kind of dusky pink, kind of powdery pink, really brightens up the skin, and is perfect if you need to top up your make up.  To be honest, I haven't been hugely impressed with Inglot's offerings - they always match me too dark and too orange, and I always feel pressured to purchase straight away, so recently an Inglot Foundation and Powder have been sold on eBay!  Also, the blush comes in liquid form too, in a cute little glass bottle, I had both in this shade, but found this moussey thing to work much better, and last longer on the skin.
This next little photo seems to be eyes and hair.  So of course there are hair grips and a hair tie.  Then, and I truly have no idea why, but some eyelash glue? Umm I hate false eyelashes with a passion, I feel like there's something on my eye (of course there is, a false eyelash!), and cannot stand it!  So who knows why on earth there is eyelash glue.  Might just chuck it out.  The last thing in this picture is the Avon Supershock eyeliner, which I love - I have one in this travelly bag and one with my actual make ups!  It is very black, long-lasting and smudgey!  I love smudgey eyeliner for my top lid, so it is perfect for me!  Also, it has lasted a freakishly long time, over a year - I know, my hygiene probably sucks - and still has a good three-quarters of the original size left.
Lipglosses next: first off, Nars Turkish Delight - bought this when there was a beauty offer on ASOS, and at first, I really wasn't impressed (I'm sure you all know the Kimmy K hype surrounding it), but after a couple of goes, I realised the secret to turning this pasty gloop in a milky baby baby baby pink gloss is giving your lips a good couple of smacks together to really work the product!  The second gloss is my absolute favourite gloss ever, but is sadly discontinued so I'm always on eBay looking out for it: the gloss in question is No7 Liplicious in Candyfloss.  Ultimate lipgloss perfection - hugely shiny, lots of fine shimmer, thick and therefore long lasting.  Probably my 8th tube of this stuff (p.s. just because I've now shared it with you, doesn't mean you can jump on all the eBay stock!).  The last gloss is a very new addition, and the story starts with me popping into The Body shop to buy my lip scuff that I had used up (love Lush much more than Body Shop, but Body Shop lip scuff is the best), and they had a buy one get one half price offer on most things, so I picked up this bronzey coloured gloss, and it's quite lovely really.
Lipsticks! I have loads of lipsticks, and have actually cheated in this picture. Why, I hear you ask?  Well I had 2 other nudes in here, but they were basically the same colour as lippy2so I took them out of here so as not to appear a mad woman. Blush. Ok, so lippy1 is a newbie - a Fashionista Lippy in 05 Buff, which is a gorgeous nude that leans slightly dusky-pink, or mauvey.  It sounds weird, but it is gorgeous, and the packaging is shiny red, and thin and sleek, so nice for carrying around, and it smells gorgeously sweet.  Lippy2is something I chanced upon when Maybelline were doing a 3for2 (haha when are they not doing a 3for2?!), and is the Maybelline Moisture Extreme lippy in Luminous Beige 742.  This is the ultimate nude lippy for me - it is moisturising, so can be slicked on at anytime without lip prep (my lips are always dry), is sheer, but easily buildable, and nice when you fancy a bit of a naturally glossy lip.  Lippy3is a Mac Limited Edition from the Villains collection, and is called Sinister, part of the Snow White evil queen collection.  It is a lustre finish, so fairly sheer but buildable, and looks quite scary in the tube - it appears as a darkish browny-plum shot through with pink glitter, but on the lips it is a kind of 'just-bitten-my-lips-and-they-turned-browny' kind of shade.  I find I feel more grown up with this on than with my usual baby pinks and nudes, and find that this can sometimes add that little extra finesse and polish to a made-up face.  The last lippy is on of the few Mac lippies that remain after my Mac lippy cull (along with the Villains lipstick, and Viva Glam Gaga1) - and maybe my ultimate fave!  It is Snob. Looks fairly bright in the tube, but on the lips turns out to be a muted dusky violetty-pink.  I love this applied heavily for more of a statement lip, or if I'm in a soft, girly mood, I apply a layer, and work it in with my finger, and it is beauuuuuutifull. 
I am uhb-sessed with lip care!  I try not to use anything with petroleum in as I find it just makes my lips greedy and thirsty!  The battered first lip balm is the original and best Burt's Bees Lip Balm - truly is the best, almost run out, so I went to repurchase it and ended up with the second lip balm in the picture.  Burt's Bee's Lip Balm in the mango flavour.  As a relatively sane person, I thought it would be exactly the same as my beloved original formula Burt's Bees, but with the addition of mango smell!  I was wrong - its not nice and thick and waxy like the original, it's a bit thin and I don't like it!  Well I don't mind it, but still.  Number three of the lip balms is Nivea Milk and Honey which smells divine and makes me feel like Cleopatra! Its fairly moisturising, and is marketed as using natural ingredient, so one hopes it does some good!
These are the last little bits in my baggy - some fragrances.  The first two are Lush solid perfumes in Lust and Vanillary.  Lust is very heady at first because of the jasmine, which was unnerving to me because I generally go for sweet scents, but after a while, I really loved it - it kind of mellows to be a bit more floral.  Vanillary is very vanillary, sweet and girlie, and I just love it - I feel like a cupcake wearing it.  The little tiny bottle is a tiny rollerball of my Vera Wang Princess, which I didn't even realise came in my set and found it 4 years later - it is very girlie and lovely.
So there you have my travelly make up bag and its contents! 
I hope maybe something caught your eye or intrigued you!
Love A.x

Forever a Foundation whoarder..Dior Forever...

1/06/2012 08:28:00 pm

Yes, I know that title isn't spelt right, but I didn't want to be rude!
As the title suggests, I LOVE foundation - I collect and collect, and then have to sell on eBay!  So, as of Christmas eve my favourite foundation was MAC Matchmaster in 4.0 (my skintone is the result of being both Sri-Lankan and Pakistani, very yellow-based like a Simpson, and generally a MAC NC37), which I discovered the minute they brought it out, and miraculously managed to snag one on eBay after a lazy person bought the wrong colour but didn't want to take it back to the store!  I will do a seperate post of Matchmaster, but as of Christmas Day, this is just leading into my new ULTIMATE obsession - Dior Forever Foundation in 031!
My Dior Forever Foundation in 031, and my little elephants. You'll probably be seeing more of them
I am in ultimate love.  My sister even said "Woah your skin looks good" and as much as we love each other - don't tell anyone I said that - we don't do compliments!  So what is it that makes me fall in love with this foundation? Firstly I am an odd colour: I have noticed that a few girls who have white, mid-toned skin use NC37, and yet, with my very obvious Asian skin I am the same colour!  I really am extremely yellow, although this is mostly seen when a foundation goes onto my skin, and I like a pretty darn good coverage!  If I don't get my base perfect at the beginning of the day, I feel like a mess within myself for the entire day!

So, I suppose I should give you the facts and figures first!  The price of this amaze-balls foundation is £29.50, so very expensive really, but I don't mind paying a lot for foundation, as I feel it is the 'investment-piece' of my make-up bag: also, try buying it when Debenhams do their 10% off Beauty - I know £3 off doesn't really seem like a lot, but its something!  What helps about this foundation is that it is readily available in Debenhams and House of Fraser, and as such, samples are available! I NEVER buy a foundation without a sample anymore - my tricky colouring has led me down many a wrong path, with both high and low end foundations - so much so that even in Boots I take a tiny pot with me to procure myself samples from the make-up stands! It comes in a beautiful square frosted-glass bottle with a pump - good hygiene practices - with a beautiful navy lid!

So, as I haven't done a foundation review before, I'll give you a little insight into how I apply it! Firstly, I always apply both a serum and a moisturiser - at the moment it's Estee Lauder Idealist, and Oilatum Face Repair, and then pump a pump of foundation onto my fingertips and massage the first pump into my skin.  I find that this allows the product to really become seamless on the skin, and the heat from my hand helps it all meld together, and plumps up the skin really well.  I then use a little concealer on any blemishes (currently alternating between Collection 2000 lasting perfection concealer in medium and MAC Select Moisturecover in NC35), and buff it in using either my No7 concealer brush or my amaze-balls Sigma F82 Round Top Kabuki brush - best brush EVER, and that's from someone who's got the entire Bobbi Brown Brush Collection!  Next step is to add another pump of the Dior Forever, using my fingers to apply it to the skin, and my beloved F82 to buff it in for the ultimate in seamless bases!  I then lightly powder using MAC Sheer Select pressed powder in NC35, and set using my secret weapon - Vichy Dermablend Loose Powder which is complete magic, and I will talk about soon!  Anyways, this routine provides me with full coverage foundation for around 10 hours, and my base looks perfect all day, with the exception that around 7 hours on my combo-oily skin, it does need a quick powder or blot, but even after this, it looks flawless.  The coverage is pretty much medium-full, and although mostly matte, has a slight dewiness to the finish that looks healthy as opposed to shiny! It just makes me look luminous but in a good way (matte is generally my preference, but I love this).

I think there are about 10 shades in the range, which is not too bad, but I believe very dark skins would have a problem finding a colour.  The shade 031 is perfect for my NC37 with yellow-undertones skin.  One gripe is that the beautiful lid gets fingerprinted very quickly!  It smells foundationny! There is not other word to describe it, but it is not offensive at all, in face I quite like it!  When my spending ban is over I am considering purchasing the matching powder! We shall see!

So there is my first foundation post, complete with pics! Scary stuff!
Have you tried Dior Forever? Would you like to?
Love A.x



What's in my battered bag?!...

1/06/2012 02:25:00 am
Hola!
So, I see a lot of these posts all over the beauty blogging world, and although I am not quite a fully fledged member yet, I thought I'd have a little go!
The bag in question is one I stole from my sister - a genuine beautiful but battered Marc Jacobs that I found for her on eBay for one of her birthdays, going cheap because the handles were breaking.  2 years down the line, and the handles are still very much intact, so a marvellous £20 bargain there!  I hope she doesn't see this post and ask for it back...
Next are the contents from the big pocket inside my handbag - although be warned, things do not stay in pockets or in their place, I have an issue with losing things!
First off is a new purchase (hurriedly bought before I enforced my spending ban!), my pink retractable powder brush from Ms Makeup, which I believe one can find in Boots, however, luck was on my side this day and I picked up for a mere £2 after spotting it whilst passing a market make-up stall.  Absolute bargain, but I have yet to use it for my touch ups.  Next to that we have some cheap Boots eye make-up remover pads - to be honest not really sure why I have these here as I always remove my eye make-up with cotton pads and remover (Simple, if anyone's interested), but I suppose they come in handy when my hands are colourful from swatching products whilst shopping, especially if I'm wearing white!  Or perhaps they're there just in case I need to take off my make up to do it again?  Possible you know.  MAC Select Sheer pressed powder in NC35for touch ups is next, and in front of that, for no apparent reason: some chewing gum!  No apparent reason because I never chew gum.  Confused face.  Black hair tie just in case I get grumpy and huffy and puffy and need to put my hair up, and in the middle of the hair tie, a Werther's Original!  Just because I love sweeties! To the left of those, the usual of 2 hair grips, a 5p that's obviously gotten lost and my mother's USB stick.  Again, confused face.
This is exceptionally peculiar, but in my small inside pocket I found my iPod dock remote control.  Did i think I could use it out and about? Oh and a penny.
Beautiful Leather gloves from my sister.

Now we're onto hand sanitiser - I'm sure I have millions of these floating around, but I grabbed this whilst passing it the other day, as it was down to 70p at Boots!  The little chubby black stick next to it is also a boots product, meant to be rubbed on your feet where you think they'll rub against your shoes - the premise is that it 'silkens' your foot, and no rubbing, hence no blisters, occur: it works.  Fresh mint breath spray was picked up from Savers because I saw it whilst I was in the queue and thought ooooo that's cheap, and next to that, the leftover hair grips from a pack of 50.  Does anybody else's hair grips literally just magically vanish?!  I say, check your carpet.
Grey pen, must have made its way in from my uni bag somehow, comb for topping up my backcombing (I've never used the end bit though, is that a waste?), couple of coins, another hairgrip and my last Boots and Savers receipts

 This is my purse.  I love it. One day I'll do a post on it, but for now, its patent black, with stitched roses, is by Steve Madden and I found it whilst rummaging in TK Maxx for £14.99
 My carry around make up bag - it's actually a WHSmith pencil case.  I'll show you what's in here verrrrrry soon.
And lastly, an oil based perfume in White Musk - actually smells like a 'heady' rose, and an inhaler because occasionally I have asthma!  It's special though, my inhaler - if you hold the label next to a light source it charges itself up and glows in the dark!

And finally we're done!  I think the moral of this post is I need to downsize.  But I don't think I will!
Love A.x
p.s. I think it's bedtime!

I love me a little Minnie...

1/05/2012 06:37:00 pm
Bought me some Minnie Socks!
£7.99 H&M


Kabuki Kabuki Kabuki! Sigma F82...

1/05/2012 01:07:00 am

Hola!
So, today's little bloggy is going to be about a little beauty I discovered a couple of months ago: the Sigma F82 Round Top Kabuki Brush!  This is one of the ultimate loves of my life!  So soft, so beautifully made, does exactly what it should and more!  Absolute perfection


Up until I started reading about the Sigma X range on many different blogs (I think it was on http://www.viviannadoesmakeup.com/ one of my favourite blogs that I read about it first), I had been firstly using my Bobbi Brown Foundation Brush.  Bobbi Brown brushes are of fantastic quality, as such the core of my brush collection is a Bobbi Brown Set (I will do a post on these at a later date).  So the brush I was using, the Bobbi Brown Foundation brush, did the job perfectly well, but as a flat, traditional foundation brush, I had been noticing that it would sometimes leave lines around my face, from the dragging of the brush, and, it would sometimes look as if my foundation was sitting on top of my skin.  So I then plumped for the Elf Studio Stipple Brush, in the hope that I could buff in my foundation.  I remember receiving it, and the first time I used it thinking "Woah this brush is the best!"  Boy was I wrong, I had no idea what was to come in the future.  

If I had to compare finding the F82 to something I would compare this 'finding out about brushes' experience to mobile phones.  When I had my beloved Nokia 7373 in pink, I though wow this is one cool phone, then I used it to death and had to begrudgingly buy a new one.  Settling on the Samsung Tocco Lite in Pink I thought wow how cool am I with this touch phone, until that one died too.  Then came my BB Storm 2, touch screen, Internet, BB capabilities! AMAZE-BALLS.  Until my current BB Torch - the Sigma F82 of Phones!  I know I went slightly off track there, but I really wanted to share with you the splendour of this brush!

So what is so amaze-balls about this brush?

Soft and Dense.
I think that literally sums it up.  So soft, and so dense.  I first of all use my fingers to almost prime my skin with a small amount of foundation, then place dots - although I suppose in my case they are more like lines - of foundation onto my face and use the F82 to buff buff buff away at the foundation.  Any spots needing extra coverage, receive a touch more foundation, and a stippling with this brush.

I don't really know what else to say about this brush apart from I should probably clean it more often! I don't quite remember where I bought it from, but it came to about £16ish pounds.  Also, any girlies out there with the SigmaX set, would you recommend having them all? Or is one more than enough?

Hope this was helpful!
Love A.x


The March Hare and the Hatter were having tea at it...

1/05/2012 12:29:00 am
 Just beautiful..



=]
Love A.x

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