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You are here: Home / Archives for cosmetics

cosmetics

Nails of the Month January 2014

February 2, 2014 By Julianne

Models Own ‘Southern Lights’ from the Wonderland Collection (£5)

 

I didn’t change my nail varnish very much in January, mostly because I applied this in the first week and loved it so much I left it on until it started to properly chip, which took ages. Although a large piece chipped off my right thumbnail on the third day and I had to repaint that nail, that must have been a fluke and otherwise I just got only minor tipwear, even without a base coat. This is only one coat of polish. It was hard to apply evenly but it doesn’t really matter as the holo effect hides almost every mistake. It’s slightly lilac-toned and lovely. I’m pretty sure I didn’t take it off until the third week!

Barry M 322 Instant Nail Effects Purple (£3.99)
This is the second time I’ve tried this polish. It definitely looks best over a light base polish. I tried it before over dark glitter and it looked so rubbish I didn’t bother Instagramming it! When you first put it on (and this is true of the black version as well) it looks quite matte and dull but after a day or two it gets shinier. It does wear off the tips quite quickly but you can always put more on. Crackle polishes can cover a multitude of sins.
I did wear the silver polish on its own for a couple of days before I put the crackle on, but as it’s from a brand
that was discontinued about 8 years ago (Kolor, a former Superdrug own-brand) I didn’t take any photos.
I read the other day that apparently grey is the next big fashion trend in nail polish. Unfortunately I can’t remember where, if I do I’ll edit this and put in a link. I own a few silvers but not a single grey. I love grey in clothes but I don’t think I want it on my nails – I prefer bright or glittery nail polishes.
Have you read anything about upcoming nail polish trends? Do you care about what’s in or do you pick out polishes to match your mood or personal style?

Filed Under: Makeup and Skincare Tagged With: cosmetics, make-up, nail polish, nail varnish, Nails of the Month, review

2013 Make-up Favourites

January 9, 2014 By Julianne

1. Collection Lasting Perfection Concealer

I don’t have a close-up picture of this because the packaging is so worn looking. The one annoying thing about this product is that the print wears off the plastic and onto your hand/make-up bag/other products. Beyond that, I have no complaints. It lives up to the hype around its concealing ability, and it’s cheap as chips. It’s not as good at concealing my dark undereye circles as my Lily Lolo concealer, but it is a lot quicker to apply. I bought it to take to a festival as I couldn’t be bothered fussing around with powder, but I’ve carried on using it on days when I’m going to work in a hurry to save a couple of precious minutes!

2. Bourjois Color Boost Glossy Finish Lipstick

I’m going to give these a full-length review with swatches and everything but for now I will say that this are fab. It seems like almost every brand has lip crayons out right now and the quality and pigmentation varies drastically. These are extremely well pigmented, and they have SPF 15. I completely adore the shade ‘Red Island’ and have been looking in every Superdrug/Boots I can in an attempt to find ‘Plum Russian’, so far to no avail.

3. Aromaleigh Penelope

I went through a massive pastel obsession in spring 2013 and was rummaging through my mineral eyeshadow stash and testing out lilacs when I found Penelope, one of the Pure Eyes Lustre eyeshadows. I’d all but ignored it before but I quickly fell in love and it became one of my go-to products. When in doubt, I wear Penelope. It’s currently in the Aromaleigh weekly sale!

4. Barry M Wink Eyeliner Pen

I bought this on a whim because it was in the Boots bargain bin for £1, but I’m quite impressed. The first eyeliner pen I ever tried was from Maxfactor, and was also my first ever liquid eyeliner. Sigh. I’m not sighing because I’m sentimental, I’m sighing because it was really crap. Poorly pigmented – basically, it was grey – and it dried up in about a month. I’m happy to say that Barry M’s Wink is much more pigmented, but unfortunately after a month or so’s use the tip got damaged and now I can’t get a precise line out of it. There’s still product left, so I was happy to discover that is almost perfect for tightlining – the tip is easy to press between my eyelashes and it lasts. I’ll probably buy a pen with a smaller nib next time but this is great for now.

5. Seventeen Lacquer Liner

My favourite liquid eyeliner is by Bourjois – Liner Pinceau. It has a proper brush, not one of those stubby foam things or one of those weird super-thin brushes that are the same width from base to tip. We were very happy together. But while I was using up my last bottle, I was tempted to try this Seventeen Lacquer Liner. Wet look eyeliner, I read. Yes please! And it is delightful, properly black, and shiny. The brush isn’t quite right, but after a few goes I got the hang of it. When I opened up a new bottle of Liner Pinceau, it seemed not quite black enough, and I missed the shine. I guess I’ll just have to keep buying both.

6. Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy

If you’ve never heard of this before, it’s basically glue for eyeshadow. It’s designed to hold on loose powders but is great to use with pressed powders too. It makes glitterbombs like Urban Decay’s ‘Midnight Cowboy Rides Again’ actually wearable. I got this in 2012 but didn’t get the hang of it until late 2013 because I paid too much attention to all the application advice that warns you only to use a tiny bit. It turns out that yes, only a very small amount is needed, but I need need quite a bit more than as little as possible! I suggest you start with the smallest amount you can, but try a little more next time if it doesn’t seem to be working very well. Now I’ve worked out exactly how much I need to apply, I’m really happy with it.

7. LA Colors Jumbo Eye Pencils

These are only £1 in Beauty Base at the Westfields and they are great. The white, ‘Sea Shells’ makes a fantastic base for just about everything, and I regularly use the purple, ‘Bikini Time’ (yes, these do have the worst names ever) as a base for purple eyeshadows. I have two more that I haven’t used much yet – the black, ‘Sunglasses’ (seriously, worst names!), and another purple, ‘Tropical Bliss’.

8. Sun, by Gorilla Perfumes at Lush

This is one of the happiest things I’ve ever smelled. It’s basically sunshine in a bottle. Citrussy and floral at the same time. Because of the mimosa, it smells quite like the Sakura scent, which is used in the Sakura bath ballistic and the Rub Rub Rub body scrub, but most sunshine-y. I’m sorry, I’ve never tried to describe a perfume before. It’s probably best if you just go smell this…

Special mentions go to all of last year’s favourites. I still love them all, except Lush Cosmetic Lad, because it started giving me spots.

I’ve really enjoyed reading other bloggers’ 2013 favourites, here are those I liked the most:
gh0stparties
Do Not Refreeze
Stay Beautiful
The Beauty Milk

Have you written a 2013 favourites post? Leave a link in the comments! Up next: 2013 skincare favourites, a harder one to write!

Filed Under: Makeup and Skincare Tagged With: Aromaleigh, Barry M, Bourjois, Collection, cosmetics, favourites, Fyrinnae, Gorilla Perfumes, LA Colors, Lush, make-up, Seventeen

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Hi! I'm Julianne and I have so many different passions I have to be relentlessly organised to keep track of them all! On this blog I document my current obsessions and share my tips for juggling multiple interests while maintaining your creative energy. I believe that advanced planning brings advanced peace of mind - so join me, and plan to succeed in everything you do! More...

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