Easy Fresh Spring Makeup

Another YouTube vid, another FOTD post...

A few weeks ago, I got a request to 'do something' with MAC Sumptuous Olive E/S. This is a shadow that can easily become muddied if too much smokeyness is added, so I kept the inner corner light and just blended the Sumptuous Olive out at the crease. Teamed with glowing coral cheeks & lips, this kept the overall look fresh and spring-like.

I know I wasn't pouting when I took this pic, so not sure why it looks like I was !!

Chanel Pro Lumiere

Sleek Primer Palette

MAC Sumptuous Olive E/S

AVON Gel Shock Liner

Clinique Naturally Glossy Mascara

Clinique Bottom Lash Mascara

MAC Omega E/S (brows)

MAC Select Cover-Up Concealor NW20

DIOR Capture Totale Loose Powder

Benefit Coralista

Estee Lauder Blazing Sun Crystal Lipstick (available online from 28th Feb)

Sleek Primer Palette

Ok. We all know that Sleek are a Budget Babe's Benefit. Their products are fun, quirky, excellent quality (for the most part), have an incredible variety of highly pigmented colours and are an fantastic High Street pitstop for those with darker skintones.

Even knowing this hadn't prepared me for quite how much this unassuming little 'primer palette' was going to impress me. I picked it up in Superdrug for £6.99 on Wednesday after seeing 2 or 3 tweets about it. I was absolutely blown away by how pigmented the paints were - I used the blue all over the lid as a base for the Rihanna video and the pay-off was intense!

These swatches below are done on the back of my hand, underneath a daylight bulb. Each swatch is just one swipe of the colour with my finger tip. Incredible. Check out that black!

Unfortunately, I can't put any names to the colours as the card that came inside was clearly printed out of order. It was the same on the other 2 I bought a day later...

Q&A

I have been inundated with questions over the last couple of days about it's quality, staying power etc. So here we go...

Do the colours crease?

I found the colour settled into my socket line, but it was the tiniest thinest line. And even though a little amount settled, it didn't drag the colour from other areas. It didn't go patchy, slip or smudge under my eye.

Could/Should I use a primer underneath?

if you have very oily lids, you may want to use a little primer to stop this slipping, but if you have slightly oily or normal/dry lids, then you'll be fine. All products, whether cream, paint or powder will eventually crease & settle at some point. No product is bullet-proof.

Do the colours stain?

I was really worried I would have to go into work the day after filming the Rihanna vid with turquoise lids, but it didn't stain at all.

Can the colours be blended or do they set?

I found they took a good 5 minutes to 'dry', so plenty time for blending, if you wanted to wear them alone. The fact they stay wet for a good few minutes means you have plenty time to get your shadow over the top too.

Is it Limited Edition?

I don't think so! On the Sleek website, it introduces the palette as the latest addition to the family, so I am assuming it's a permanent product. If you are interested though, you will probably still need to buy quite quickly before it sells out.

Is it value for money?

Yes!

You can buy yours here or alternatively, you can win one if you skip on over to my YouTube channel & subscribe! once I hit 2000 subs, I will be picking a winner at random.

A x

Sleek Bad Girl Palette

As per usual, Sleek have produced (for the 'cheap at twice the price' price of £5.99) a fabulous little palette of 12 eyeshadows, combining a range of shimmers & mattes, lights & darks.

The palette ticks all the boxes (the shadows even have names now!) but I now have 5 Sleek palettes and I'm starting to lose interest.

If this would be your 1st Sleek palette, it's a brilliant one to start with as it has everything you need to create a variety of dramatic looks and caters for all different eye colours & tones. I'm just feeling a bit 'meh' as the novelty, for me, is wearing off! I'm sure I'll use it though... I'll try get a FOTD done soon using it.

Thoughts?

A x

Sleek Makeup 'Nailed' Polish

evening!

soooo, what's new? well exams are all over and I am loving it! Have had a couple of days off from work (back on wednesday) and I've been enjoying the sun! Hasn't it been lovely? I've even been learning to like my freckles!

I had been planning on doing a week's worth of blogs this afternoon, but instead I fell asleep in the sun in the garden, but I am now lovely golden brown (no I wasn't wearing an spf, yes I know how bad that is...)

Anyhoo! I promised a couple of reviews of things I'd picked up at the weekend - one of the LE Sleek polish colours included - so here it is! The bottle cost £3.49 and 4 colours were available. I picked up 'pastel pink'.

I've never used any of the Sleek polishes before (as you all know I rarely stray from Nails Inc or Chanel) so didn't really know what to expect. My observations are... The brush is fine, quite firm and easy to control. The polish is very thick and almost a bit gloopy. The colour is great though, 1st coat was minorly streaky, but after it had sat for a few seconds, it evened out. I applied a 2nd coat because, well... I always do!

Overall, very nice. I don't have great expectations for it last more than a couple of days, but the colour is lovely and very summery!

**forgot to say, it dried in seconds and within 10 mins was rock hard!**

FOTD

Happy Bank Holiday weekend everyone!

Last night, Mac and I went for dinner so I took the opportunity to try out a few newish products...

Eyes
Benefit Creaseless Cream Shadow in Strut
Sleek Blue Glitter Eyeliner
Elizabeth Arden Double Density Mascara in Black (keep your eyes peeled for a post on this in a couple of days)
Shu Uemura Eyebrow Pencil, Seal Brown Hard 6


Face
Barbara Daly for Tesco Facelift Foundation in 'Almond' (Post on this and other Barbara Daly products coming soon)
Benefit Benetint and Benefit Coralista Blush on the cheeks
Benefit Georgia Peach all over the face
Benefit One Hot Minute Bronzer
No7 Limited Edition Natural Radiance Highlighter


Lips
Vaseline!

This is to try and show you the No7 Highlighter - it's fab!

A xx

Jewel-ly Eyes inspired by Rae Morris

One of the pictures in the 'Eyes' section of Makeup, The Ultimate Guide by Rae Morris (I can't post the pic in case of copyright rules) totally captured my imagination last week and below is what I created using the pic as inspiration. The picture in the book is of a beautifully bronzed model with purple, pink and turquoise-y blue eye makeup and it's stunning.

I am a bit browner in the pic due to a combination of proper suntan and a little Benefit One Hot Minute Bronzer.

Other products used included the Purple, Pink and Blue glitter eyeliners by Sleek Makeup and the Acid I-Divine eyeshadow palette, with lashings of Benefit Bad Gal lash to make my lashes spiky as if they were wet.

Follower Giveaway!

Hello beautiful peeps!!

Well, the time has come for me to do my first ever 'thanks for following' giveaway! I really wanted to wait for 100, but I'm too damn impatient! Plus, I'm moving house tomorrow and wont be able to post at least til Monday now, so this is my way of saying sorry!

So, to give away I have...

1 Sleek Bohemian Palette

1 Victoria Jackson Eye Palette

1 Sigma Makeup E/S Blending Brush

1 Victoria Jackson Refillable, Retractable Bronzer

1 Duo Mister Mascara 'Tease' Eyelashes

1 Bottle of Sherbet Lemon No17 Nail Polish

So the rules are...

You need to be a follower. This is a giveaway to thank my followers, therefore to be in the running, you need to be a follower!

To enter, I'd like you to leave me a comment telling me about your Desert Island or Holy Grail beauty product. Just a few words, what it is, what you love about it and why it makes you feel good. It can be hair, skincare, makeup or body care - whatever!

For a second entry, you can either blogroll or post about this giveaway, but make sure you put the link in with your comment.

That's it! Make sure you leave an email address in your comment so I can contact you, if you're the winner.

The Small Print

The competition will be open until Midnight (GMT) Friday 2nd April 2010, so you have a little over a week to get thinking. Open to International entrants. All prizes are brand new - I do have my own Sleek Palette and the yellow nail varnish, but you will receive brand new products. I have purchased all the prizes myself, with the exception of the Sigma brush which was a gift when I bought some brushes recently. The winner will be selected by random google selection widget.

Good Luck!! A xx

Sleek LE Bohemian Palette

There's a web urban legend that, it only takes 5 clicks from any topic on Wikipedia, to find a way to a mention about Hitler. I reckon, in Beauty Blogosphere, the same could probably apply to this Sleek LE Palette. It's everywhere, having just been released a few days ago.

I actually almost didn't bother posting pics of the one I picked up on Saturday morning, as you could easily find plenty reviews and pics elsewhere, but then I thought, imagine everyone thought like that, there would be no reviews! Deep...

A lot of people have mentioned that the LE packaging is pretty cool, which it is with the black swirls on the cardboard (which I so prefer to the nasty plastic the palettes usually come in). I kinda wish it was still black though, as I don't really like to see my shadow dust everywhere! Overall, still very nicely presented and for £5, the value for money is ridiculous.

I'm really pleased to see so many matte colours/shades - sometimes we want simple, non-metallic eyes!! Not quite sure I understand the whole bohemian theme, but I do love the shades; in particular the burnt orange, 2nd top left and the 2 greens.

So, the good news is that this palette is mine! Hurrah! The BETTER news, is I have a 2nd one, in my kit ready to be given away... Keep your eyes peeled over the next week for details of how you can win this LE Palette and some other lovely goodies!!

A xx

FOTD & Happy Birthday Mum!!

Last week my mum celebrated her fif...shhhh birthday, but she was in Dublin for it, so we out for a quiet family meal this weekend instead. As I was running late, I had to squeeze getting pics into getting ready and yes, the first pic I am still wearing my dressing gown and my hair is only half done and very fluffy...

I was trying out some of my new Sigma brushes that arrived yesterday and have to say I am massively impressed with the fluffy eye blending brush I received. I will do a review post separately on these though.

so products used were...

Face

Benefit 'That Gal' brightening primer

Chanel Pro-Lumiere in 10

Chanel loose powder in Clair

Benefit 'One-Hot Minute' bronzer

Eyes

Sleek 'Original' palette E/S

Bobbi Brown Long Wear Gel Liner in Black

Benefit 'Bad Gal' lash waterproof

a very light touch of Shu Uemura eyebrow pencil

Girls Aloud 'Nicola Lashes' & Duo Lash Glue by MAC

Lips

Beaute Weightless Lip Creme in 'Girlina'

Today's FOTD

Hi there,

feeling inspired by yesterday's flash of colour, I decided to develop it a bit further today and add some E/S and blue mascara. The purple E/S I used was from my Sleek Palette 'Original' and even though it looks quite dark in the tray, it actually just gave a nice wash of pastelly lilac across my lid. I'm sure the colour would be build-able though, if required.

In addition to the Sleek E/S, I used Bobbi Brown Gel Liner in Cobalt Blue and 17 Mascara 'Va Va Voom' in 'Electric Blue'. Lashes were curled with Shu Uemura curlers and eyebrow finished with Shu Uemura eyebrow pencil.

I was a bit worried that it would look a bit 80's but it seems to have turned out ok!

EOTD

Hi Peeps,

I just needed a quick flash of colour today to match the sunshine, but didn't have a lot of time so just went for a bright liner and very natural elsewhere. No lippie or powder - my eyebrows didn't even get more than a quick brush! It's quite messy, but I wasn't going for (and didn't have time for!) a very polished look today!!

The blue really perked up my eyes though. This was done using my Sleek pigment in Blue Lagoon.

FOTD with Sleek Eye Dusts

Just a short one - this is a look I created using Sunset and Blue Lagoon eye dusts from Sleek.

What do you think?

Sleek Eye Dusts

I'm not exactly on a spending ban, but have been doing a bit of credit bashing of late, so when I spied these little pots in Superdrug (£2.99) each I figured I could get my fix without breaking the bank.

Although they are absolutely gorgeous colours (I adore the yelllow!), I'm not entirely sure when I'd wear them and fear that they are just going to end up in my 'face painting' kit rather than my make-up bag.

They are highly pigmented and the colour goes forever; you'd only need the tiniest dot to cover an entire lid. However, the packaging is infuriating and my poor bathroom will be stained in beautiful rainbow colours for a few days at least. Lipglossiping had similar issues but she created a beautiful EOTD with 'Livid Lilac' (also her pics are FAB!)

From left to right: 'So Sleek', 'Fantasy', 'JetSet', 'Sunset', 'Blue Lagoon'

Recent Recommendations

As I have mentioned several times, my other blog got deleted but I had made some recommendations for a couple of products/brands that I thought might be useful to re-blog for you. I can't put pics up again as I deleted them off my laptop after I'd posted, naively thinking I would not need them again!

So, I'd mentioned my new Michael Kors watch - I love his accessories and can be viewed at http://www.michaelkors.com/

I'd also posted about a bracelet Mac had given me for xmas from HultQuist Copenhagen, which is gorgeous. You can check out their catalogue at http://www.hultquist-copenhagen.com/

Beaute is a new cosmetics brand by Beau Nelson which has recently been launched in Canada and the US. I am currently coveting the 'weightless lip creme' so if anyone knows where I can get my grubby mitts on them, please email me! http://www.beaute-cosmetics.com/

As mentioned in the 'nails nails nails...' post, the 'Brights' look was achieved using the Acid Palette by Sleek Make-up. I spotted these palettes in Superdrug months ago but figured they wouldn't be worth the money. However after watching several Pixiwoo vids where they were used and after my friend Lisa buying one, I was convinced to give them a go. I picked up the 'Acid' and 'Sunset' palettes at less than £5 each and I have to agree - they're fabulous! The colours are amazing, they don't have that much fall-out and they blend like a dream. So definitely check them out. You can pick them up in Superdrug or go to http://www.sleekmakeup.com/

Also check out Pixiwoo at http://www.fashionface.tv/ where you'll find heaps of tutorials on make-up application, trends and looks.

Finally, and I'm not going to say much but Mister Mascara lashes are brilliant. All of the pics below feature me (except the Gwen pics) wearing MM lashes and they are simply superb. You can get 2 pairs for £9.50 in boots or go to http://www.boots.com/

Enjoy! A xx