Playing with minerals

After reading a blog post by Lollipop26 which featured an E.L.F mineral shadow in Natural, I was influenced to buy it. But I couldn't just make one lonely purchase so instead I made three :)

We have Natural (shimmery champagne), Caffeinated (bronze with olive and gold undertones) and Confident (frosty brown).

They are £2.50 for 0.85 grams and can be ordered from E.LF's website. The downfall of the E.L.F website is that the online swatches can sometimes differ from the real thing and they don't offer shade descriptions. I played it safe and googled for alternative swatches which I found more helpful although a little time consuming.

I used two of the shadows yesterday and here is the finished look, taken at approximately 9pm so they are long wearing.

For eyes I applied Natural all over with a tiny bit of Caffeinated in the crease using the 219.

And for everything else....

Face - Revlon Colorstay Sand Beige - I find this heavier than my SFF and a bit too light for my face but I want to use it up.

Cheeks - Smashbox Tint

Lips - MAC Pure Rose L/S - Released in the Emanual Ungaro collection and I really wish I had of bought a back up :(

Next combination.... maybe a light dusting of Caffeinated with Confident in the crease?

Todays Face of the Day

I opted for a subtle smokey eye today which isn't very dramatic at all but still has that little bit of definition.

I also incorporated lots of shimmer into todays face, something I rarely do.

Onto the products used...

Face:

- MAC SFF NC30

- Smashbox blush in Tint (I adore this product so much)

- Natural Collection bronzer in Golden Glow which is my bronzer of choice this week.

Eyes:

- Painterly paint pot

- Naked Lunch applied all over lid, under brow and down the centre of nose

- Patina on the outer third

- Twinks - Just a tad concentrated on the crease for some depth

- Blacktrack fluidline and lashings of Maxfactor false lash effect mascara

Lips:

- YSL Rouge Volupte No. 7

I couldn't resist a pouting pose, it's not often i'm daring enough to sport a brighter lip :)

On another note I think i've conquered St Moriz! I have to apply a generous coating of moisturiser and let it set a while before applying the tan.

Enjoy the rest of your bank holiday weekend x

Packing light

When it comes to packing I tend to overdo it and end up with everything bar the kitchen sink in one suitcase all to myself.

Clothing is a big issue and is not an area I can afford to bring too little of however with beauty and skin care I can downsize a little.

Every year i've made the mistake of lugging about full size bottles of everything and with limited luggage weight allowance, it's not the way to do things.

This time I'm going to organize myself properly and attempt to pack light.

As part of my mission I bought several travel size products including tiny bottles of Tresemme shampoo and conditioner and mini Sensodyne toothpaste all of which can be purchased from Superdrug.

Now unfortunately my skin care regime isn't available in handy sized bottles so as an improvisation I picked up an empty travel set from H&M for £2.99.

How cute are they?

Included in the set is a squeezy bottle and two small plastic jars with screw off lids which are embossed with Hello Kitty's head.

My nail varnish remover has been allocated to the bottle and i'm thinking of filling the jars with moisturiser but i'm wondering if that will be enough to last me for 2 weeks?

I get overly excited when it comes to packing and become a tad OCD, I make lists of everything although i'm undecided what to do with my MAC palettes and how to travel safely with them.

What is the best way to pack them so that none of my shadows break in transit?

Outfit of the day: 4

Technically this constitutes as an "Out of the evening" as it was only about an hour ago that I decided to get dressed :D

Sundays for me are a day to lounge about in sweats/pj's, catch up on YT, and watch House.

My choice of outfit was really lazy and kinda rushed but it was ok because i was only going to the McDonald's drive-through.

Outfit consists of:

- Navy nautical style top from Primark with white sleeves, and yes the flash on my camera has picked up my bra underneath.

- Topshop skinny jeans. I really do live in these! Next on my shopping list is a pair of bootcut or straight jeans. If anyone has any recommendations let me know.

- Black flats, again another bargain buy from Primark.

- Too top it off flat, unstyled hair.

Not only did I return with a yummy McChicken sandwich meal, I got a free limited edition pink can style glass. You get one with every large meal or salad and there are six colours available.

What are Sundays all about for you?

Itty Bitty Haul

I think we all now know that the first Thursday of every month (well at least in the UK) marks the release of a new MAC collection of in this months case, three.

1) Graphic Garden

2) Love that Look

3) Baby Bloom

Two collections from which I made purchases.

From Baby Bloom I picked up the Studio Moisture Tint in Medium. Although you can argue that it may be the wrong time of year to release a tinted moisturiser, there are no doubt people who wear one all year round not only for the summer months. My purchase was purely because i'm yet to go on my holiday and will like a lighter coverage. It also has SPF 15 so for those who are like myself and are not completely comfortable with sunbathing with zero makeup you get minimal coverage with a little bit of protection. I tested this moisturiser at the weekend. It was refreshing to say the least and it lasted extremely well.

My last purchase were from Love that Look. I picked up two shadows in Glamour Check and Style Snob. I skipped the Starflash shadows when they were originally released last year but decided to give them a chance this time around. Glamour Check is a brown/red with gold pearl. Style Snob is a light brown with purple undertone, to me it looks similar to Satin Taupe also by MAC.

Left: Style Snob Right: Satin Taupe

What did you pick up from these collections? Did I miss any essentials?

You!

The count down to my summer holiday has now begun and I'm itching to get packing my suitcase. But first things first I need clothes to fill it.

I don't have a lot of day time dresses due to the unpredictable Belfast weather, I play it safe with jeans. So for this month I want to invest in a few that I can take with me but also that I can wear when I'm home.

I popped into New Look because i'd seen some pretty 2 in 1 dresses on their website. Unfortunately they didn't have any left or there wasn't any in my size but as I made my way out down the store towards the exit I came across a boutique brand i've never heard of.

You! They had a small collection of dresses but one in particular caught my eye.

Its a strapless dress which ends above the knee. It also has a cinched waist to add some shape. I will probably cover the seam with a tan belt to define my waist that little bit more.

The dress is grey with lilac, purple and magenta flowers all over it. There are also buttons at the bust which is slightly a love-heart shape.

I plan to wear this with sandals on holiday and whilst at home I will team it with tights or leggings, flats and a cardigan.

Please leave any suggestions where I might find nice "summery" dresses.

I heart Hearts

I made my way to Accessorize today to se what bargains I could find in their sale. It turns out there were no, it seem I had left it too long.

However before leaving I did check out their new stock and picked up two sets of earrings.

The first are these gold vintage inspired heart shaped studs with floral design.

They aren't too small and they aren't too big so that they pull on my ears, they are the perfect size and light weight. They are very delicate looking and the floral pattern prevents them from appearing too plain.

The last pair I bought where small diamante heart shaped studs.

There isn't a day where I don't wear some form of earrings. My usual everyday pair are plain studs, so this pair will add a tiny bit of sparkle. I thought they were very cute and just had to have them.

Beauty Springclean

Over the past year I have accumulated so many beauty products I don't know what to do with. Many of which do the same job (I blame YouTube and Blogs).

I have drawers of current products i'm using, drawers for products i'm yet to use or to use when one is finished (kind of like a backup drawer), I have a large drawer dedicated entirely for hair care and a drawer for skin care accessories and tools. Now this seems a little excessive to me what about you?

Here is a pic of mentioned "backup drawer"

It is filled with spare lotions, shampoos I've never finished, self tanners and cleansers. It probably says a lot about my character, I can never finish anything :)

Starting today, I'm embarking on my own take on "Project 10 Pan". Rather than using up 10 products i'm going to be a little bit more lenient and allow myself to buy something new only when I have finished the equivalent product (if that makes any sense?). For example: I can only purchase a foundation once I have used up my current one.

Although this rule will only apply to certain items:

1) Foundation - I only have one face therefore one base will do

2) Self Tanners - I'm going to throw some of these out because the majority I have tried and hated so why hoard them?

3) Moisturisers - I don't have an excuse for why I have so many of these

4) Mascara - One of my previous posts explains this

5) Primers - I don't believe these actually work for me. I have dry skin anyway so my makeup tends to stay put anyway.

Thats all I can think of for now.

This idea was spurred on by L'oreal's Studio Secrets Smoothing Resurfacing Primer. I really want to buy this but at the minute I'm using MAC's Prep & Prime which is almost empty so when it is I will feel guilt free when purchasing the L'oreal one.

I have already gone through some drawers and thrown out products I hate and will never use again which included Dove's gradual tanner. I'm too much of a novice tanner for this to work for me, i'm all about the tans with guide colour :)

What do you think about this idea and do you have drawers where you hoard products?