EOTD - My First Cat's Eye

Ok, so today was my day off work and I wasn't planning on going anywhere so I was gonna do my nails, but then we (my partner and I) decided we would go out for dinner. Therefore I thought I'd give a cat's eye a go, and if it looked bad it wouldn't matter as it would be dark! I didn't want to take too long over it as sometimes that just makes things seem harder and you won't want to try it again - or perhaps that's just me? I used my No.7 Smoky Eyeliner as I thought it would make the look easier. Here are the results:

I used:

FACE

Actually nothing - I wanted to give my skin a day to breathe as I seem to have a few light spots at the moment and I don't want them to get any worse!

EYES

Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion
UD BoS II - Ecstasy - eyelid
UD BoS II AC/DC - crease
UD BoS II - Sellout - highlight
No.7 Smoky Eyeliner in Black - upper/lower lashline & cat's eye flick
Urban Decay 24/7 Glide On Eye Pencil in Zero - upper/lower waterline
No.7 Lash 360 Mascara in Black (freebie) - upper lashes
Barry M Lengthening Mascara in Electric Purple- lower lashes
Black glitter for the edge of the cat's eye (last minute decision)

LIPS

Avon Extreme Glazewear Gloss in Sand Shine

I wanted to add in one final picture today - which I think shows how long the No.7 Lash 360 Mascara lengthens my lashes - it kinda shocked me - it was the first time I'd used it since receiving it as part of a free gift (see here for details).

What do you think? I actually found it easier than I thought it would be and I love the way it turned out - I think I may be experimenting more with this in the future!! Thanks for reading :)

Blue Spark FOTD

I haven't done a FOTD for a bit - so here's todays look. I just opened up my Urban Decay Book of Shadows Vol II and went with the flow.

I used:

FACE

No.7 Shine Free Primer
L'Oreal True Match Liquid Foundation in (W3) Golden Beige
New ID I-Conceal in Medium
No.7 Perfect Light Pressed Powder in Medium
New ID I-Bronze in Rio
No.7 Cheek Tint in Maple Silk
New ID I-Glow in Ice Pop

EYES

Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion
Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy
Urban Decay BoS Vol II in Jinx - eyelid
Urban Decay BoS Vol II in Half Baked - inner corner
Urban Decay BoS Vol II in Twice Baked - crease
Urban Decay BoS Vol II in Sellout - highlight
Urban Decay 24/7 Glide On Eye Pencil in Zero
Wet n Wild Mega Length Double Action Mascara in Black

LIPS

Rimmel Exaggerate Full Colour Lip Liner in Ultimate
Avon Extreme Glazewear Gloss in Sand Shine

Please note - these pictures were taken after work - so I'd been wearing the make up for about 10 hours - in my opinion it has stayed in place really well!! What do you think? I've not done a look similar to this before and I think the colours have worked well. A green or brown eye pencil on my top lid would have been interesting...maybe next time.

No.7 Beside The Sea Stay Perfect Eyeshadow Palette

I realise this is really the wrong season to be reviewing a "beside the sea" eyeshadow trio but nevermind. I got it a few weeks ago with a Boots No.7 £5 off voucher of course so it was only a few pounds. It's normally £9.75 (click this link for the other 11 shades). I was really intrigued by these colours and more to be honest - but I'm trying to spend a bit less on make up these days - plus my birthday and christmas are ocming up so I'm hoping to get some goodies then! Onto the product.

It's relatively small, so perfect to carry around. However, it does contain 2g of eyeshadow, which is pretty good. It comes with a small brush - which I haven't actually used - it's the same general sponge applicator that comes with a lot of make up products. I love the choice of colours in this range - I'm definitely loving how bright these are too. I chose this palette because I'm a sucker for greens and blues, although lately I've been oh so tempted to be daring and get a vibrant red!

Anyway, I have swatched the colours above for you, the top row is the shadows on their own, then with Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion as a base, then using Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy as a base for the bottom row.

Hopefully the picture shows how much of a difference a great base can make, and how lovely these colours are. They're so pigmented that I only had to use two swipes to apply these to show you! This is my first No.7 eyeshadow and I doubt it will be my last. I've been really impressed with all the No.7 products since making the most of the £5 off vouchers.

I'm really hoping to get my hands on some more of these, they are so easy to work with and the colours chosen for each palette match perfectly! I really wanna try using Space Odessey - from the website it looks like it has a light grey, dark grey and orange/yellow colour...so much fun to be had!

Anyways I'm rambling now...so let me know what you think!

Nails Inc NOTD

I dreamed up this mani because I wanted to use more than one of my new Nails Inc polishes. I used Hampstead Heath and Savile Row. See below for my step by step :)

Nails painted in Hampstead Heath

Masking tape used to create a diagonal line for me to apply Savile Row

Savile Row applied

I then added on some nail art from my Art Deco set

Close up

What do you think? Have you done anything special with your new Nails Inc polishes?

Paramore Shiro Cosmetics FOTD

I've had a busy week and yesterday morning was pretty stressful so I really wanted to get into my bed and sleep rather than go to London and see Paramore. But once I was there I had a lot of fun!! Buy 1 get one free cocktails in the o2 VIP Lounge - who wouldn't! Thanks to Leoni Adams and her uncle Adam West (teehee).

Here is my look:

I used:

FACE

New ID I-Conceal in Medium
New ID I-Perfect Foundation in Vanilla
New ID I-Bronze in Rio
No.7 Cheek Tint in Maple Silk
New ID I-Glow in Ice Pop

EYES

Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion
Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy
Shiro Cosmetics Eyeshadow in Pikachu - eyelid
Shiro Cosmetics Eyeshadow in Squirtle - under eye
Shiro Cosmetics Eyeshadow in Hyperbeam - crease
Barry M Shimmering Eye Crayon #1 - highlight
Wet n Wild Mega Length Double Action Mascara
Rimmel Kohl Eye Pencil in black

LIPS

No.7 Wild Vlume Lipstick in Toffee Apple
Avon Extreme Glazewear Gloss in Sand Shine

Here's a random pic of my outfit and Hayley from Paramore too:

What do you think - do you go all crazy when you see a band??

Ted Baker Let's Glow - Kit Two Review

I was given this item as a gift by my sister last Christmas, and it's probably one of the best things she's bought me -that's how much I love it. I have to say I didn't know what to expect at first because obviously Ted Baker aren't known for their great make up products - but I was pleasantly surprised!

It's a relatively small palette so if you're travelling it's pretty good to take with you. The outer casing is pretty sturdy so it isn't likely to break, and protects the contents quite well. The design is really different - it's so colourful!

With flash

Without flash

It comes with a good sized mirror - you can actually see youself in it! I hate it when products have mirrors which you can't actually use because they are just too small! It also comes with a bronzer, two eyeshadows, a lip gloss, lip balm and three brushes. Perfect to enable you to do a few different looks whilst on the go.

The bronzer brush is great and makes it easy to apply the product - the other two brushes are ok, but they're not the best. The same can be said for most other palettes which include brushes. They're just like little freebie really...put it there just to complete the product. On the other hand the eyeshadows, bronzer and lip colours are all amazing. All quite pigmented so you don't have to use too much to get the look you desire. I'm a big fan of the bronzer (although to be honest I kinda forgot there was a bronzer in here, which is really bad) it's great for adding a bit of shimmer with not too much colour - as you can see from the two shades used to help give you a more natural look.

The eyeshadows are really good for neutral looks, as are the lip shades, which is something I tend to use for my on the go looks - they're normally the most simple!!

With flash

Without flash

I think this item was purchased from Boots - as it's approximately a year old you may only be able to get hold of it from ebay...but I'm not sure. Thanks for reading!!

Nail Polish Remover

Hi all,

I currently seem to be running out of nail polish really quickly! I tend to change my nails every 5 days or so. I don't think I should be running out of remover this quickly. Perhaps it's because I buy a cheap brand that it means I have to use more to get the polish off...?

 The polish remover I currently use is 99p from Boots

Does anyone have any good breand that seem to last forever??

Thanks!!

formspring.me

Ask me anything http://formspring.me/samwells87

FOTD - Comfort Green

I feel like whenever I don't have much time to apply make up I go for green! I wonder why that is? I thought to myself - perhaps it's my comfort colour...do we have comfort colours where they will work for different moods?? Who knows...wonder what I'll have on tomorrow!

I used:

FACE

L'oreal True Match Foundation (W3) in Golden Beige

No.7 Perfect Light pressed Powder

No.7 Cheek Tint in Maple Silk

No.7 Mineral Perfection Blusher in Soft Damson

EYES

Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion

Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy

MUA Shade #7 - crease

Collection 2000 Dazzle Me in Dreamland - all over eyelid

MUA Shade #6 - lower eye

Barry M Shimmering Eye Crayon #1 - highlight

L'oreal Volume Million Lashes Mascara in black

Rimmel Kohl Eye Pencil in black

LIPS

Avon Extreme Gloss Glazewear in Sand Shine

What item do you reach for when you don't have much time for make up??

Eye Pencil Collection

I haven't got much time today so I thought I'd show you my eye pencil collection. If there are any "must haves" missing that I should get please let me know :)

My collection

Top to bottom: Models Own - black, L'oreal - black, Rimmel - black, H&M - sparkly black, Pure - white

My favourite of these is the Rimmel and L'oreal pencils (hence why the Rimmel pencil is so small!!) they are so easy to work with.

Top to bottom: Gosh - 102 Lemongrass, Gosh - 103 Aqualife, Gosh - 008 Silver Screen, Gosh - Sparkling Coal

I love how bright these pencils are, they go on quite easily too.

Top to bottom: Urban Decay - Covet, Urban Decay - Zero, Urban Decay - Lust, Urban Decay - Eletric, Urban Decay - Lucky, Urban Decay - Zero, Urban Decay - Bourbon, Urban Decay - Zero, Urban Decay - Topside, Urban Decay - Zero, Urban Decay - Ransom

I really like how creamy these eye pencils are and how long they stay on for - pretty much all day!

Top to bottom: Barry M - black, Barry M - Shimmering Eye Crayon #8, Barry M Shimmering Eye Crayon #1

These shimmering pencils are great to use for a highlight or all over colour, they're quite subtle which I love. I haven't yet used the back pencil so I wouldn't know what that's like!

Top to bottom: Avon - In A Blink silver smoke, Avon - In A Blink steel smoke, Avon - In A Blink violet smoke, Avon - In A Blink green smoke, Avon - Chocolate, Avon - Surf, Avon - Metallic Bronzing, Avon - Arabian Glow Bronze, Avon - Arabian Glow Sunny

The smokey eye pencils are great because they are double ended and one side has eyeshadow in the lid to create the perfect smokey effect! The brown and blue pencils are so great to a striking effect - they're so pigmented! I love the bronze pencils too and they are perfect for my skin when I want to go for a natural but different look. I suppose I should buy a new Avon eye pencil as it seems I have quite a collection and love them all!

What do you think?