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Wednesday 27 October 2010

Swatches - NYX Round Lipsticks

Hey guys sorry I've been MIA for a few weeks, placement and uni work combined = stressed out Jade! As I've assessed my beauty stash and realised I do have WAAAAY too much stuff (if that is at all possible?!?!) and I'm currently poorer than Tiny Tim, I've decided to use up ten items before I can buy another one. With so many half empty bits and bobs I've already used up three this week but in the mean time I'm going to try and swatch as much of my collection as I can, in the hope of rediscovering some old favourites and making some new ones! So, on with the swatching...
I got these off eBay for a couple of pounds each, there is a ridiculous amount of colours, seriously when I get some money I'm going to get more of these badboys! The wear time isn't amazing and they can be a bit drying but for a quarter of the price of a MAC lippie I feel these things can easily be overlooked. The only thing i would say is that some of the colours can be a little bit frosty which I don't like but with a bit of lipgloss it doesn't show. There are plenty of swatches online so have a good look before you purchase as the swatches on some websites are notoriously bad! Mine are from the seller joy017, all products were received well packaged and around a week from payment, not bad at all! Recommended!

Tuesday 5 October 2010

MAC Superslick Liquid Eye Liner - Signature Blue

Despite my recent MAC hoardings (whoring?!) I managed to restrain myself and only purchased one item from the Fabulous Felines collection - this beautiful badboy
Ladies, this is MAC's Superslick Liquid Eye Liner in Signature Blue, part of the Palace Pedigreed Fabulous Felines collection. And I am in love with it.
I haven't had a lot of experience with liquid liners such as this, I have a few coloured ones by Wet N Wild and No7 but I don't use them regularly as I have a tendency to get it EVERYWHERE, in my eyelashes and all over my face. Which makes my lashes go all spiky and then I can't put on mascara, basically it makes it a big old hassle. But right now I'm going through a navy blue shimmery shadow kind of thing, I have been trying to restrain but this was beckoning me. I tried to ignore it but by the time I reached the MAC counter for a concealer after a bad day at work, this and Creme Cup were in my excited little hands!
Instead of a brush it has a sponge tip which I do find easier to work with. It isn't too soft and maintains a degree of stability which makes it much easier for a plonker like me to apply and it makes it easier to build it up from a thin line to a strong effect.
Swatches are with no flash and with flash, click to enlarge and see the beautiful sparkles! They are probably best demonstrated on the brush, SO pretty! I have green eyes and I don't think that blue is supposed to particularly go with them but I don't care!
I have worn this out on a few occasions and it wears beautifully, it didn't fade (although I did wear it over UDPP) and didn't flake, just stayed awesome!
I only had one issue and it wasn't one I noticed at first. The first time I wore this I build up the liner to a stronger winged look. A few days later I tried i
t again and noticed that it can be patchy, so just a word of warning, it may take a few swipes to get the full effect of the sparkling opaque colour!
Overall though I love this and I am so glad I bought it, I don't think I've seen any product recently like this, though I am talking drugstore, I don't regularly shop at the high end counters. If I ever run out, and it wasn't limited edition, I'd definitely buy again!
Signature blue is £14.50 and is available from MAC counters and the website. I can only apologise for the shoddy camera pictures and the shoddy state of my eyebrows but I just wanted to show you the sparkles! I am yet to do a really dramatic eye with this but I will be soon!

Monday 4 October 2010

Random buy - China Glaze Kiwi Cool-Ada

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This was a part of my last few weeks mega purchasing spree. There is no other way to describe it, it has been a spree. It is by far the randomest makeup purchase I have ever made. Neon green nail varnish? Green is my favourite colour but still...this is a stretch. At least it was only a pound. And it may (read: definitely will not) look good on toes in the summer time. Anyways, swatches.
Application is that of a typical neon, this is it after two not stingy coats. It has a matte finish, which isn't something I'm keen on in the majority of shades. I only painted two nails as I had to take it off straight after and couldn't be bothered to paint my whole hand in case it stained. The brush is just standard, none of the OPI/Rimmel wide brush stuff, which I don't mind, in fact I often make more of a mess wielding a wide brush.
It took four coats for me to make this opaque, I can usually understand as I tend to do thin coats as I smudge my nails SO easily you wouldn't believe. But as I wasn't going to keep this on I didn't hesitate in layering it on and it still took four coats! It may be a six coater if you do it thinly and don't like seeing a visible nail line!
I got this from Sally's in Hull for £1, to be honest if it hadn't of been that cheap and green wasn't my favourite colour I probably wouldn't of bothered. I think this was from the summer Poolside collection and there were plenty more cute shades that I would be more likely to wear but unfortunately as long as China Glaze costs £6+ in this country I'll continue buying from eBay, buying colours I'm more likely to wear :)

An EOTE (Eye Of The Evening) with some pretty awful pictures




I heart summer an awful lot. Being of ginger skin (I love being a pale 'un and having freckles but it is IMPOSSIBLE for me to tan on the majority of my body) the sun can have its issues but my god those issues are infinitely easier to deal with than chapped skin and lips, windmangled hair and rain making my hair into a flat mess. Here is a teesy weensy look I wore a couple of times throughout the summer, I got Paradisco at the CCO in York and couldn't quite figure out how to wear it and this is a variation of my first attempt. And I'm still getting the hang of the whole photographing thing, I cannot for the love of god keep my eye shut properly to show the colours which does not help! So I know this was badly rushed and you can tell but it reminds me of summer, yaknow, the yellow and coraly peach for the sunset and blue eyeliner for the sea....tenuous....but yes?
Here is what I used;
-The yellow from NYX Runway Collection 10 Color Eyeshadow Palette in 01 Jazz night
-Polyester Bride from Urban Decay Ammo Palette in inner corner
-MAC Paradisco on outer corner and in crease
-Collection 2000 Dazzle Me! in 21 Paradise as highlight that needs to be blended sooo badly!
-GOSH Velvet Touch Eyeliner in Pretty Petrol
and last but not least my baby Prestige My Biggest Lashes Mascara in Black.
Do you have any other suggestions or ideas how to wear Paradisco? It's such a beautiful colour but I haven't a clue how to wear it without looking like a crazy person! It looks a lot brighter in real life I promise!

Sunday 3 October 2010

Free Ciate Nail Polish with Marie Claire Magazine!!


Just a quickie guys after the behemoth post below....
This beauty was free with the new Marie Claire magazine! There are two shades to choose from, this and a darker blacky red (I can only apologise for the poor description there). This is 039 Mistress.


So that is without flash and with flash (duh!) and aside from my shoddy pictures and nail painting skillz (I can't wear nail varnish to work so this is just to show you the colour) you can see this is a really beautiful shade. Described as "true red with a touch of coral", It is bright but certainly doesn't scream slut, even if it is called Mistress. Shown here with two coats and no top coat, it is close to opaque, with a little nail line seen. The brush and application definitely makes me want to try more Ciate polishes, maybe starting with the Asos sale. Worth a go, it is free with a magazine I normally buy but I am pleased to own it! RRP at £9 and available from the Ciate website. The colour does look similar to the coral that came with InStyle this summer, will post comparisons!

I shouldn't be allowed out..... (be warned it's a long un!)


This is what happens when I have a stressful couple of weeks. I know it could be worse but for me, especially I am supposed to be reining in my spending, that is a LOT of stuff......
From the back left -
L'Oreal techni.art Color Show Finish Spray - £2.25 from Sally's.
I have recently had my hair highlighted (meh, I know autumn usually means darker but I don't look nearly as pale and ill with lighter hair) and when my hair is lighter it loses a bit of its shine so hopefully this will remedy that and give my hair a bit of hold too.... I haven't really used this yet, I'll see how it holds up at work throughout the week.
Tigi Bed Head Dumb Blonde Shampoo and Dumb Blonde Reconstructor For After Highlights, Damaged or Chemically Treated Hair - £4.99 each from TJ Hughes
TJ Hughes is one of those places that can have some goodies, it just requires hunting. That is something I cannot always be arsed to do so I avoid the place unless I'm in the mood. Luckily today I struck gold! These were recommended to me by my friend a few months ago and I either didn't have the money or forgot to get these and now I actually am blonde (kindofnotreally) I figured why not. As above, I haven't used these yet as I'm still working my way through my Louise Galvin shampoo and conditioner but I will review when I do.
Neutrogena Multi-Defence Daily Moisturiser SPF 15 - I think £7.50 or so from Boots
I'm almost out of my Nivea Oil-Free Moisturising Fluid so I've been on the hunt for a replacement for a while and although I'm only 23 and don't really worry about wrinkles just yet, I am pale as hell and would feel a lot more comfortable wearing a daily SPF. Most of my foundations contain a SPF to some degree but by the end of the day they have generally slid off so I would like something else for some extra protection. It says it's for normal to combination skin so hopefully it won't break me out!
Sanex Deodorant - Can't remember how much but it was buy one get one free in Tesco I think.
I LOVE Sanex deodorant. I know it's gross but I can be quite sweaty (I'm sure I'm not the only one) and this is literally the only deodorant that has stood out to me in that at the end of a day running around on my feet in a boiling hot department, I still have dry pits! I do get the 48hr protection one just to be on the safe side....
Charles Worthington Results Shine All Over Gloss Spray - Around £3 on offer from Sainsbury's
Again this is just for a bit of shine after using dry shampoo and the like. I have used a Charles Worthington shine spray before and liked it, although it wasn't this exact one, and as it was on offer thought I'd give it a bash.
Phil Smith Xrated Shine Serum - £3.99 from Sainsbury's
I've run out of my beloved Tara Smith Foundation Serum and I can't find it anywhere! So onto pastures new and I thought I'd try this, it was cheap as chips so I won't be peed off if it isn't great.
Girls Aloud by Eyelure False Lashes Kimberley - £4.95 from Boots
I've never really worn false eyelashes before, a few aborted attempts and never again. One of my friends always manages to pull them off and that inspired me to try again and I have definitely had better results this time around! I've worn these twice and they are still usable but I will probably get some more after next time. These are quite natural, I didn't want to go all out Cheryl when I'm pretty much a lash virgin. They don't make me look like a tranny and the glue seems to be pretty good. I did take some dodgy phone pictures I'll post separately.
Max Factor Facefinity Compact Foundation in 01 Porcelain - £10.99 from Boots - currently on 3 for 2
My mum was using this as a foundation and I sneakily borrowed/stole some to set my ColorStay/PhotoReady combo before a long day out. Blow me sideways (ha!) my foundation stayed in place all day, no sliding off my nose or chin, nothing! I've never had anything hold my foundation in place like this before so I thought I should probably purchase my own.
MAC Pro Longwear Concealer in NW15 - £12.50 but Debenhams were having an event so I got 10% off
I'd bought Select Moisturecover the week before as the MUA told me the colour (NW20) was peachy enough to cover my dark circles. He was right, but when I wore it with some of my foundations the difference in colours showed, so I went back to get NW15 to mix with it but there was no Moisturecover left so I thought I'd give this a go. Only 3 days in but so far so good!
Urban Decay Naked Palette - £27 then Debenhams 10% discount
Need I say more? I can't believe it took me this long. Nerves of steel...for a while....
Urban Decay Lipsticks in Indecent and Jailbait - £3.99 each from TJ Hughes
Another TJ Hughes bargain! The display was all new and neat and I destroyed it hunting for some non-tranny looking shades! I had contemplated paying full price for these badboys before so I'm glad I held out. So far I've noticed a hideous smell but I'm hoping I can get past that...
Ciate Nail Polish - free from this months Marie Claire magazine
Swatches to follow....
MAC Superslick Liquid Eyeliner in Signature Blue - £14.50 from Debenhams
Awesome so far, I have only worn it twice though. Dodgy phone pictures and swatches to follow
MAC Select Moisturecover in NW20 - £12.50 from Debenhams
I decided enough was enough with my caking Bobbi Brown concealer. This is much better but as above, the colour wasn't quite right.
MAC Cremesheen Lipstick in Creme Cup - £12.50 from Debenhams
I've been after this for ages, since I bought Angel and it was always been sold out. On my Select Moisturecover/Superslick venture it was FINALLY there so I snapped it up and I am not regretting it!
Urban Decay Shadow Primer Potion - Mini from Naked Palette
LOVE!
MAC Blushcreme in Ladyblush - £16.50 then 10% discount from Debenhams
This is what happens when I'm kept waiting. The MUA went to find a Moisturecover in NW15, when I was waiting this caught my eye.....
Wet n Wild Mono Eyeshadow in Fine Wine - £1 from Poundland
I rarely find goodies in these kind of stores but I heart Wet n Wild eyeshadows and since Tesco have stopped doing the Mono's I stocked up, buying the remaining two in this shade...
China Glaze Nail Polish in Kiwi-Cool-Ada - £1 from Sallys
I don't know. I like green.

So, that is loooong winded but I will follow with some reviews, swatches etc in the week once I've had more of a chance to play! Have you used any of these or anything similar? Do you have any suggestions? Let me know!