Inglot Neutral Palette - Swatched

Not long after I picked up my first Inglot palette I had to go back for more! This time I decided to get some more work friendly neutrals. I picked up a palette of three smaller pans, which come in a slightly different palette with a mirror.
These shadows are the Pearl formula (similar to Mac’s Veluxe Pearl finish), they are very pigmented, smooth and blend very easily. So you won’t have to spend an eternity, trying to blend them.

I can’t remember what numbers these were, but if anyone’s curious I’ll try to prize them out of the palette!

Sleek Pout Paint

‘Intensive Lip Pigments With Staying Power…That Are Made To Be Mixed’
I cannot wait to get my hands on some of these Pout Paints, something very new for the British high street, a lip product designed to be mixed allowing you to create your perfect shade, a more accessible (and way more affordable) version of OCC Lip Tars and Mac’s Lip Mix.

You will find these in any Superdrug's stocking Sleek and on Sleek's Website priced at a very reasonable £4.99; when they are released on August 3rd.

These are all touted as long-wearing, full coverage lip mixes that dry to a satin finish, Ill be testing them out for wear time, and ease of use in a couple of weeks.
Any of these taking your fancy? Will you be trying to mix your perfect shade of nude/red/pink/peach that regular lipsticks just can’t give you?

July Favourites

Thought I’d better get this in quick before the months over!

Naked Mild Shampoo: I’ve been using SLS free shampoos for a few month now, and this is my favourite so far. Normal shampoos had left my scalp red, sore and flaky, this shampoo is aimed at sensitive scalp’s so I thought it would be worth trying out. My hairs in a lot better condition, and I’m no longer having problems with my scalp, so this shampoo is a winner for me.
Estee Lauder Double Wear Powder: I prefer to wear a tinted moisturiser in the summer, but I still feel I need a bit of extra coverage, so this powder is perfect for me. It’s high coverage and comes in a wide range of shades to suit cool, warm and neutral skin tones.
Mac 217: I love this brush, I use it for buffing in concealer and blending my eyeshadow. Seriously, yoiu need this brush!
Mac Beauty Powder Oh So Fair: Released with last years Christmas collection, I hadn’t paid this much attention, until the weather started perking up and I wanted to warm up my complexion. Oh So Fair is a sheer warm pink perfect for adding warmth to pale skin.
Gosh Defining Brow Gel: I’ve been using this stuff everyday, read my full review here.
Beauty UK Lip Lust Cocktail: A fuss free lip colour, to add some colour to you face, completely non-sticky and easy to apply. Full review here.

Models Own Lip Balm In Fuchsia

I’m fickle when it comes to lip balms, I tend to pick them up without thinking, use them non stop for about a wee, then put them in some unseen part of my room and lose interest in them. I have a feeling this wont be happening with this one.
Don’t be fooled my the term Lip Balm, this product really packs a punch! It’s a true fuchsia, with a slight iridescence, the colour reminds me of Mac’s Full Fuchsia (that was released with last years Christmas Collection). I would recommend applying with a lipstick brush, to control where you are putting the colour, as well as for hygiene reasons.
I think I will be reaching for this a lot while I’m on holiday, as I don’t want to spend time on doing heavy eye make up, I’d much rather slap on a bold lip and be out the door.]

You can find Models Own Lip Balm in Boots priced at £6.

Handbag Essentials:Benefit Posie Tint

When I’m at work I’d rather not have a bag full of different products, so rather than carry a blusher and lip product with me I like to take Benefit’s Posie Tint with me.
A cool toned pink perfect for a pop of colour for the cheek or lips, it takes my complexion from dull to fresh and awake (which when you start work at 6.45 like I do comes in very useful)

By lunchtime I find that whatever lip product I put on at about 5am has worn off, and I’m starting to look a little tired, I don’t want to spend ages redoing my make-up, and frankly I don’t have the time. So I simply pop some Posie Tint onto the apples of my cheeks and my lips and I feel I look more refreshed and awake.
The texture, is gel like (as opposed to the liquid texture of Benetint) and is very easy to blend with fingers, no brushes required!

You can buy Posietint from Benefit for £24.50.

A/W at ASOS

We’ve barely had a summer and it seems it’s already time to start thinking about autumn/winter trends; I’ve been browsing ASOS to see what they have to offer…

I love this skirt (£30.00) I like to wear sixties style silhouettes and colours in autumn and this is right up my street!

I really like that ASOS don’t follow other high street retailers lead in making all skirts and dress’ ridiculously short. I really like the cut of this dress(£50.00), its a flattering shape ( I have a couple of vintage dress’ in the same cut and they give anyone a gorgeous hourglass shape.

Mustard is one of my all time favourite colours for clothing, especially when partnered with deep reds or navy, it adds colour and warmth without being overpowering. I have a thing for cardigans, always giving myself a reason to buy another so I’ll probably be picking this one (£35.00)  up when the weather starts to turn.

And lastly this rather gorgeous jumper dress(£35.00), which I think would look beautiful with a classic black woollen coat and a red lip.
How about you, are you clinging on to summer or looking forward to autumn?

Secret Single Behaviour

I’ve been working shifts lately and have had a completely different schedule to my other half, meaning I have a lot more time alone, to watch Sex and the City re-runs. I was watching the episode where they discuss their ‘Secret Single Behaviour’. ‘Secret Single Behaviour’ (or SSB for short) being thing you only do alone away from your partner/spouse/friends. Carries for example was reading Vogue standing up and eating crackers with grape jelly.
Mine involve tweezers, copious amounts of Nair, nail clippers and polish, and as I’ve been preparing to go on holiday this week, I’ve been indulging in a fair few of my SSB’s ( I have obviously been a vision of beauty, with a face covered in hair removal cream, and clipping my toe nails).
How about you what beauty routines do you save for alone time? Or does nothing on the path to gorgeous embarrass you?

London Lust List

This Friday I will be setting off for London, and will be allowing myself an unrestricted amount of shopping (lets face it there’s no point trying to stop myself!) and since I’ve been trying not to spend as much the past few months there’s a few things I’ve been wanting to purchase…

Images from Google.

1. Soap and Glory: Peaches and Clean(£6.00); I have a serious thing about buying cleansers and this one looks (and smells) lovely. I’m very keen to try it out and put it through it’s paces.

2. Inglot; If there's one thing I miss about living in London it’s Inglot, I’ll be heading down to the Westfield in White City, to add some more pretties to my stash.

3 Mac Violetta (LE Version Pictured) (£13.50); I almost bought this when I was in London last year but I was distracted my the more fuchsia Show Orchid.

4. Cupcakes; I miss being able to frequent the Hummingbird Bakery, their cupcakes are amazing, especially their limited edition seasonal ones. One of my favourites being a Lemonade Cupcake I tried last summer,

5. Sleek; Sleek release their Pout Paints on August 3rd, I plan to pick a few up along with a palette (or two!)

6. Shu Uemura; I love the Shu Uemura boutique in Covent Garden and spent a lot of time browsing in there, I might actually buy something this time!

Beauty UK Lip Lust in Cocktail

After hearing a lot of good things about budget brand BeautyUK I decided it was about time I tried something out, after umming and ahhing over the blushers and lip products I settled on a Lip Lust in Cocktail.
I’ve been wearing this a lot since I bought it, it provides sheer colour in a lovely non-sticky formula. For the £2.99 price tag I’m very impressed with this, I’m not a big lover of glosses in general, as I tend to find the only ones that stay are any longer than half an hour are really tacky and sticky ( Mac Lipglass I’m looking at you!), Lip Lust however are not at all sticky and lasted about 2 hours before I wanted to reapply.

They come packaged in a squeeze tube, with a sponge applicator, making on the go application a doddle. It does have a slight synthetic fruity scent, but it fades quickly and isn’t very noticeable
Cocktail is a lovely sheer orange and a perfect introduction for those scared of this seasons trend of an orange pout. 

Products I Wish I Had Never Bought: Maxfactor Xperience Weightless Foundation

Last summer I began my quest for my Holy Grail foundation, not yet willing to venture to the realms of the Department Store to find it, I went into my ever faithful Boots to see what I could find.

After speaking to a perma-tanned Maxfactor SA (I should of recognised the warning flags there really) she decided that the shade Raw Silk would be right for my skin tone. Making use of the 3 for 2 that was on at the time, I bought 2 (big mistake) I got on with this foundation for about a week before I started to realise all its flaws.
I realised almost immediately the colour was completely wrong for me, in that it was entirely to orange! although I doubt getting the right colour would of really mattered as it oxidises after about 2 hours. So in short I looked rather like an Oompa Loompa.
I think I can say I put this foundation through it’s paces when I was living in London last year, a year full of Tube rides, a summer heatwave, and a blisteringly cold winter. My skin went from oily, to dry with bouts of sore skin and acne. The claims that this foundation is ‘weightless’ seem ridiculous to me, I could feel it sliding off my face (along with the rest of my make-up) after about two hours, something no amount various powders would change. It highlighted every single pore, I think its safe to say even my skin, at it’s worst looked better without foundation than with this one.
Even when my skin was less oily, in winter it still failed me by highlighting all dry patches of skin, make flakies appear where there were previously none.

In case you’re still interested, you can find Maxfactor Xperience at Boots or Superdrug priced between £7.99 and £9.99 ( depending on the current offers)

Indola Innova Smart Street Style Bloggers Competition

When approached a while ago about taking part in a contest to create a hairstyle using some Indola Innova products, I decided to base my look on the Fifties theme. I received, the Indola Innova Shine Spray, Thermal Protector Spray and Volumising Texture Powder to create my look, (for which I borrowed my sisters barnet as it was much more suited to the look).

To start with I prepped the hair with the Thermal Protector Spray, before straightening all of the hair with GHD’s. I’ve not tried many thermal sprays, but I liked the fact that this didn’t weigh the hair down, making it easy to style, it also smells amazing!

Once I’d straightened the hair I used the Hero Product for this look, the Volumising Powder. I’ve not come across anything like this product before, and I use a lot of volumising products. To use simple put the amount about the size of a ten pence piece on to your hands, the white powder will dissolve when you rub your hands together, then use this to create your desired style. Simples!


Finally, because my sister’s hair has been bleached a lot I wanted to add some shine to it, for the I used the Shine Spray I was sent, simply spraying the areas I wanted to add some life to. This is a really lovely product, it doesn’t replace normal hair spray but it adds a gloss to the hair without using shimmer or glitter, so it looks very believable.

After using these products on my own hair and on my sister’s I’ve found them to be very versatile and to most importantly do the job they say they will, the Volumising Powder and Shine Spray will be making it into my daily routine, and I will definitely be checking out some other Indola Innova Styling Products.
I would also like to say a quick thanks to my boyfriend, sister, her boyfriend for helping me with this post!

They’re all real charmers I assure you!

Disclosure: PR Sample

Christina Hendricks Inspired FOTD

Face: Estee Lauder Double Wear, No7 Concealer Pen, Benefit Coralista, Benefit Moonbeam
Eyes: Too Faced Shadow Insurance, High Voltage Cosmetics Chamoagne Supernova, Mac Wedge, Rimmel Flash Eyeliner, No7 Exceptional Definition Mascara
Lips: Dainty Doll It’s My Party

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Beauty Essential: Quickies Nail Remover Pads

I have something to confess. I’m extremely lazy, oh and clumsy. So a bottle of nail polish remover is just asking for trouble as far as I’m concerned; one too many time I have spilt an entire bottle over the carpet.
This is where Quickies Nail Polish Remover Pads come in. A box contains twenty pads pre-soaked with nail polish remover, perfect for lazy gals such as myself! I find two pads is more than enough to remove the average paint job.
The only thing I would say is to not but your nails any where near your mouth after you have used these, the taste will linger for a fair while. But I will forgive it that as I can get all my polish off in under five minutes.
You can find Quickies at Boots priced at £2.10

Dainty Doll Lipstick in It’s My Party

As I mentioned yesterday, I discovered the new Dainty Doll concession in Boots and the line of lipsticks caught my eye, knowing I had just enough Boots points to cover one I limited myself to choosing one ( not an easy task!) and settled upon the bright coral pink ‘It’s My Party’.
The outer packaging is gorgeous, I love the design on the box, and it’s nice to see something different to a plain black box with nothing but a brand name.


It’s My Party is a beautiful shade for paler skin tones, it isn’t too orange or too pink, so will suit cooler and warmer toned skin, and because it’s so bright it will suit darker skin as well. Its a matte finish lipstick, and a tad dry, but not uncomfortable,  so you will want to exfoliate and use some lip balm. Because of the finish the wear time is very good lasting around 4 hours on me before it started to fade, and this could be lengthened with use of a lip liner or primer.

It’s My Party swatched.
Have you checked out the Dainty Doll line? ill definitely be picking up some more of the lipsticks, and taking a look at the blushers!

A little haul…

I went into Boots this afternoon to get a hair dye and couldn’t resist using some Boots Points (so I haven’t technically broken my no buy!) to get something from Nicola Roberts Dainty Doll range which has recently cropped up in selected Boots stores.

I picked up a lipstick(£12.50) 003 ( it’s my party) one of five colours in the lipstick range, all aimed at paler skin. It’s my party is a bright coral pink, although it looks a lot redder in the tube. I’ll be doing a full review in a day or so when I have tested wear time!

I also picked up a John Frieda Precision Foam Colour in Deep Cherry Brown. I’ve used this colour once before and I’m a big fan of the foam, not only because its easy but I only need one box to do my hair, where as with traditional dyes I would need two!
Dainty Doll is available at Harrods and selected Boots, John Frieda Precision Foam Colour is available at Boots, Superdrug and supermarkets, and is currently on offer for £6.79 at Boots.

Products I Wish I Had Never Bought: MaxFactor Lipfinity Lasting Lip Tint

This product really doesn’t live up to any of it’s claims. I love the colour but since I bought it last winter I have used it once, and never again!
It comes in a felt pen type packaging with a thick stiff nib, something that makes it nearly impossible to get an even coverage with. Approximately 10 minutes after putting it on it had began to bleed all around my lip line and preceded to stain my foundation with red; not a good look. So any claims of it being long-lasting and surviving eating and drink (something I dared not attempt wearing this) are a steaming pile of crap!
It also dried out my lips to the point they became tight and sore, whilst the colour settled into the dry areas making it look a lot worse.

I thought I could maybe make some use out of it, by using it as a cheek stain, not so. It’s completely unblendable, so just leaves you with faint stripes.
This is definitely the worst lip product I have ever bought, and has put me of the lip marker all together.

Make-Up Icons: Christina Hendricks

All pictures from Google Images.
I think Christina Hendricks is someone who really knows how to make classic looks work for her and keep them looking fresh, she never looks overdone but always looks effortlessly stunning. I love the fact that she doesn’t just follow whatever trend is going like some other celebs, but wears what works for her (the same can be said for her style as well).
Expect a Christina Hendricks inspired FOTD later this week.

Clinique Deep Comfort Hand and Cuticle Cream

I am notoriously fussy when it comes to hand creams, if they don’t sink in immediately i lose interest in them and give them away. I hate the feeling of creams and lotions just sitting on top of my skin getting all manner of dust and fluff stuck to them.

Clinique Deep Comfort Hand and Cuticle Cream is a thick, rich cream designed to keep hands hydrated for up to twelve hours, it also claims to be restorative, in that it improves the skins ability to retain moisture.
I think I’m onto a winner with this hand cream, it’s rich and moisturising, sinks in straight away without leaving behind any unwanted greasy residue, and the plastic tube is easily portable. I tend to apply morning and night, and my hands are softer and smoother.

It’s a bit pricey at £16.00 for 75ml, but the 30ml sample tube I got from a recent Bonus Time, has been in constant use for over a month and is still going strong.
You can purchase Clinique Deep Comfort Hand and Cuticle Cream here.

My Inglot Palette–Swatched and Reviewed

I LOVE my Inglot Palette. It’s not often I declare love for eyeshadows but Inglot ones bring it out in me. They are simply the smoothest, most pigmented shadows and are a complete dream to blend. If I lived near to the White City Westfield, I would be tempted to say that I would probably buy exclusively Inglot eyeshadows.

I have a palette of five of the larger eyeshadows (all weighing around 2.2grams), which cost me a very reasonable £20, only slightly more expensive than buying two palette refills for a Mac palette, and for much bigger shadows.

The Freedom Palette system allows you to pick a palette size (they now make up 40 pan palettes!) and fill it with eyeshadows, blushers, eyebrow powders/waxes, concealers and lipsticks. You can choose from small round pans or larger rectangular pans. Most items are also available as singles.

Now onto the pictures!

Swatched with UDPP (top) and without (bottom)

My only pet peeve is that once they are in the palette, it is impossible to get them out, to check which colours you have, without risking a broken eyeshadow. When I pay them a visit next month I plan to ask them to write the numbers down for me.

I’ll definately be taking a look at more Inglot palettes when I visit London in August, aswell as picking up another palette. Hopefully Inglot will begin selling online here in the UK, but until then the only stockist is the Inglot store in the White City Westfield.

Hitting Pan

 Don’t you hate it when you wish you had bought a back-up of a limited edition item that ends up being a daily staple? That’s how I feel bout Smashbox’s Fusion Soft Lights in Baked Starlight. I picked this up from Debenhams last December for a mere £6 ( it was half price and I had £5 on my Beautycard)


Since I bought it it has been very well loved ( as I’m sure you can tell!) it provides that gorgeous, lit-from-within glow, that I hope to find in a highlighter. Its a very finely milled powder that blends out perfectly, I have been pairing it with my Too Faced Bronzer in Chocolate Soleil.
The colour is fairly cool-toned, but I think it would suit pale to medium skin, but it may look a bit ashy on darker skin, although guys and gals with darker, warm toned skin might want to check out Soft Fusion Lights in Soft Gold.

It was hard for it to capture the effect on camera (that’s a heavy swatch) but Im going to take that as a positive thing because there is nothing worse than really obvious highlighter. If anyone knows of any good powder highlighters I’m all ears, because I’m going to need a substitute for this one pretty soon!

Make-Up Essentials–GOSH Defining Brow Gel

 

As someone who believe a more natural, arched brow is favourable to an overplucked, tadpole brow, a la Cher Lloyd, I do need something to keep those pesky hairs under control. Not fancying paying the prices of the Mac or Bobbi Brown Eyebrow Gels, I snapped up this bargain from GOSH.

Now admittedly it isn’t the most exciting of beauty products, but this clear gel, does exactly what it says it will; tame unruly brows and keep them in place all day. It comes in a Mascara style tube with a simple wand.

I would recommend this to anyone with brows that need some taming, and can be found for the bargainous price of £4.99 at Superdrug.

Rimmel Lasting Fix - Apricot Punch

 

In my quest to start painting my nails again, I picked up this along with Rimmel’s Misty Jade, in the current 2 for £4 offer at Boots.

Both need 3 coats for a even coverage, but do dry quite fast. I found the formula of Misty Jade to be diffivult to work with, as it dragged a lot, but the formula of Apricot Punch was lovely, went on smooth adn didnt drag at all, so I guess it depends on the particular colour you have.

I cant comment on wear time as I only applied this yesterday. Overall I think these are nice nail polishes for the price, they are very affordable, and come in a wide range of colours from neutrals to brights, and some darker colours I’ll be picking up for autumn.