Recent Empties

I have never done a post like this before, but I'm always interested to see what other bloggers are using or have used up, and whether they would repurchase or not, so here goes!

First up is my Bobbi Brown Skin Foundation SPF 15 in shade 0, Porcelain (£29, here). when I first bought this foundation I was delighted simply because I had found a foundation that was pale enough to be a true match. However, it really wasn't all that appropriate for my skintype (as mentioned in my foundation routine post, here) and was transferring and smudging in my T-zone area after only a couple of hours wear. I began using it as a base for apowde foundation, which was marginally more successful and so I have used it up. I would not repurchase this formulation again but I would definitely purchase another formula from the same brand, as i think they are great quality and you can't fault the shade range.

Next is my Collection 2000 Lasting Perfection Concealer in shade 1, light. (£4.19, here) As you might know this is my asolute HG concealer and I already have a new one on standby.

The nail polish remover is something of a staple for me and I buy it regularly. This particular one actually came from Poundland and was really great because it had a flip-top cap with a very small opening, which meant that you didnt loose anywhere near as much through evaporation when it was open, and it was easy to open with one hand (great for when using the foil method of removing glitters!) unfortunately I havent been able to get another bottle of this from Poundland, but I have managed to track some down on Amazon, for the princely sum of £4.38! It's not as good value as Poundland, but it's still a very effective nail plish remover. You can find it here.

MAC Brush Cleanser (£8.50, here). This was my first bottle and I already have a backup ready to take it's place (actually I've had it for weeks!) it lasted much longer than I expected and I've found it really effective.

Lastly is this little sample-sized pot of Seaweed Mattifying Day Cream (Full size £9.00, here)  by The Body Shop. I got this in a little sample set with 3 other products from the seaweed line ages ago, and only recently got around to trying it. I LOVE this, it moisturised my skin without leaving it oily, and contains dimethicone so it also makes a great primer. The little pot also lasted quite a while but it's now completely exhausted. Unfortunately this has been out of stock in the five, yes FIVE stores I have been to, and is out of stock online too! Please, The Body Shop, get this back in stock!! I need it in my life!

Everyday Makeup 2

It was really grey and gloomy when I took this photo so please excuse the hideous lighting!

Face: YSL Perfect Touch Radiant Brush Foundation in shade 1 (£34, here), Collection 2000 Lasting Perfecting Concealer in shade 1 (£4.19, here),  MAC Studio Fix Powder Plus Fondation in shade NC15 (£19.50, here) MAC Cremeblend Blush in Ladyblush (£17.50, here), MAC Mineralize Skinfinish in Lightscapde from the Reel Sexy collection (£21.50, here) Benefit Box Powder in Dallas (£23.50, here)

Eyes: MAC Paintpot in Morning Frost from the Glitter and Ice collection (no longer availible), MAC Eyeshadow in Satin Taupe (£12, here), MAC Fluidline in Blacktrack (£14, here), Maybelline The One-By-One Volum' Express Mascara in Black (£8.49, here)

Lips: Rimmel Lasting Finish by Kate Moss Lipstick in shade 19 (£5.49, here)

Nailed; Ivory Rose

I think I've found my perfect nude polish! I first saw this on Makeup Savvy and as soon as I saw it I knew I had to have it! I got it in Superdrug where I took advantage of their current 3 for 2 on all cosmetics offer.

It's from the Maybelline Forever Strong line and I absolutely love it. It's much more peachy than my other nude polish, which is from the same line but is the shade Rose Poudre. I think this is a great nude for fair skin as it doesn't make your hands look 'dead' or make them look red, which can happen with some nudes. I think it would look nice with a glitter topcoat too, if you wanted to liven it up a bit.

Everyday Makeup 1

Face: YSL Perfect Touch Radiant Brush Foundation in shade 1 (£34 here) Collection 2000 Lasting Perfection Concealer in shade 1, Fair (£4.19, here), MAC Studio Fix Powder Plus Foundation in shade NC15 (£19.50, here), Benefit Powderflage (discontiued, boo!), MAC Blush in Fleur Power (£17.50 here), MAC Mineralize Skinfinish in Lightscapade from the Reel Sexy collection (21.50, here)

Eyes: MAC Paintpot in Rubenesque (£14.50, here) MAC Eyeshadow in Mulch (£12, here) MAC Fluidline in Blacktrack (£14, here) NYC High Definition Separating Mascara in Carbon (£3.99, here), NYC Eyelash Curler

 Lips: 17 Mirror Shine On lipsick in Nudist Peach (£4.59, here)

I really like this look, it came out looking quite soft and romantic, perfect for the sunny weather we've been having. This is the kindof look I wear day to day, when I'm not doing anything special.

My Foundation Routine

My foundation routine is something that has changed quite a lot recently. I was using Bobbi Brown's Skn Foundation SPF30, but it realy wasn't all that appropriate for my skin trype, and would end up sliding around an trasferring onto my handsor clothes in my T-zone area, which is prone to getting a bit oily. I'd wanted to try a MAC foudation but my skin is seriously pale, and none of their liquid foundations were light enough. When I was there recently, I decided to look into getting a powder foundationfrom them, as my Mineralize Skinfinish Natural  in Light is a good match, and I'd heard that their powder foundations come up lighter than the liquid versions. This led me to purchase their Studio Fix powder foundation in NC15, which is a pretty good match for me.

Anyway, into my normal routine. I usually start with a light coverage liquid foundation base, and this varies as to what I use. None of my liquid foundations are particular favourites, so Im in the proscess of trying to use some of them up, to make room for new things. I am yet to find my ultimate HG foundation (Any suggestions would be much appreciated!!). At the moment I'm using up my YSL Perfect Touch Radiant Brush foundation with the brush removed in shade 1, (£34, here) which I applied with my MAC 130 brush (£28, here)

Weird shadows in m room make my face look really asymetrical! Next I apply my Collection 2000 Lasting Perfection Concealer in shade 1, Fair, ( £4.19, here) to my chin, under my eyes, the middle of my forehead, my nose, my nose-to-mouth-creases and to any breakouts I might have. This is absolutely my holy-grail concealer. The coverage is great, the shade range is small but the shade I have is perfect for me, and it lasts all day without smudging or migrating.

After I blend all of that in with my fingers, I apply my MAC Studio Fix Powder Plus Foundation in NC15 (£19.50, here) using my Royal and Langnickel Flat Top Kabuki (£6.38, here)

This foundation gives a really nice matte finish, though it does become a bit less matte thrugh the day, though it never makes my skin look overly oily or shiny, which is important to me. It's also quite high coverage but feels very light on the skin.

The last step in my foundation routine is to apply a small amount of Benefit Powderflage to my T-zone area using a small powder brush. I think powderflage has been discontinued now which is such a shame as I really like it, though it is still listed on the benefit website, just out of stock. You might be able to find it on cheap smells or similar. You can view it here.

What's your favourite fundation?

Opportunity for guest posting!

Hey guys, some of you might remember that last summer I went to Uganda to volunteer in a primary school. Well, this summer I'm going back, and I leave in less than a month! I'm so excited, I can't wait to see all the kids and the friends I made there again. This does mean that this blog will be a little quieter than usual, which is where you come in! I will be writing and scheduling posts so that you guys get one a week, but I want to supplement that with some content from my followers. If you are interested in writing a guest post for me, please comment below or email me at lucy_rox5@hotmail.com. I will be blogging over on my Uganda blog again, about my experiences while I'm there, though posting may be a little erratic as sometimes the power is out for several days, which means the Internet cafe will be closed! You can read about my adventures at 123lucyinuganda.blogspot.com. Are you going away anywhere this summer?

Nailed; Rose Poudre

Today I decided on a slightly more sophisticated nail look than I usually go for... I've been searching for the perfect nude polish for a while now, and I'm not sure that I'm there yet. This is however, the best nude shade I've found so far, and it is Maybelline Forever Strong Pro in the shade Rose Poudre.

This is such a hard colour to describe. Its a pinky, almost lilac toned nude. It looks very pretty in the bottle but it makes my hands look a little bit dead, so I think I need something a bit more yellow toned for the perfect nude. I thought it was a bit dull on its own so I layered on a single coat of Barry M Silver Glitter on my ring fingers.

I love this glitter. It's more interesting than your bog standard round or hexagon glitter, as it's actually little silver rectangles (click the picture to see them!), very similar to GOSH Silver Star.

What's your perfect nude shade?

MAC, Gilly Hicks, Boots and Superdrug Haul!!

Yesterday was my last day of exams, so one of my friends and I went for a bit of retail therapy and lunch to celebrate! We were shopping in Stratford, mainly at Westfield, but we did also stop off at the rather downtrodden looking Stratford Centre too on our way back from uni.

The first place we visited was actually Superdrug in the Stratford Centre (which is accross the road from Westfield Stratford City) as it is much bigger and usually has a much wider selection of brands than the branch in Westfield. I picked up a few things, taking advantage of their current 3 for 2 on all cosmetics offer. I got the 2 new Sleek Ultra Matte palettes, brights and darks, and from what I have seen so far they are lovely, nice and pigmented, as we have come to expect from Sleek.

They have stopped pressing the criss-cross pattern into the shadows, which I don't love, I thought they looked more high end with it, but its hardly a massive change!

Sleek Ultra Matte Brights Palette

Sleek Ultra Matte Darks Palette

While at the Sleek stand, I also spotted their (relatively) new Eau La Liners, which I picked up in Nutcracker and Bullion. These liners are really soft, though Nutcrackerwas much smoother than Bullion, I geuss thats the price you pay for shimmery formulas! They seem pretty long lasting too, I haven't actually tried these on my eyes yet, but the swatch was really difficult to remove, they definitely wouldn't slide off.

Left; Bullion  Right; Nutcracker

Next up, we headed over to the Barry M stand where I found 2 polishes that I fell in love with, they had to be mine! I got the shades Blue Glitter and Raspberry. I also got a Maybelline Forever Strong polish in Rose Poudre, which is a really pretty lilacy nude colour.

 Lastly I got a couple of lip products. I read about the new Alexandra Burke with MUA Lip Booms recently, and when I saw them in store I really wanted to try them out. They are a similar idea to the Max Factor or Covergirl Flipsticks, with a pigmented lipstick at one end, and a 'highlight' at the other, which is a shimmery pink gloss. There is also a little pot of pigmented colour at the bottom of the lipstick, but I don't really rate this bit of the product. Though at £3, you can hardly go wrong! I got the shade 'Bring it'.

I also picked up one of the new Kate Moss for Rimmel lipsticks. I loved all of the original ones, and she has just brought out some new colours, I got number 19.

After Superdrug we headed over to Westfield where we had lunch at Pizza Express, and then went to check out MAC. I go to the MAC store quite a lot, but I don't normally buy anything because it's usually heaving, and absolutely boiling! yesterday it was a bit quieter than normal, and I actually felt inspired by all the products for once, so I ended up getting a Mineralize Skin Finish in Lightscapade and a blush in Fleur Power.

The MSF is completely beautiful. I'm in love with it! I kept looking at it, and then telling myself I couldn't have it, and then going back to gaze at it for a bit longer.... it had to be mine! In the pan it looks a sort of champagne colour with cool blue viens and lots of other colours running through it. (click to enlarge the photo) when you blend it all together it makes such a pretty highlight colour, much lighter than it appears in the pan and just SO pretty. I'm in danger of becoming a bit obsessed with this!

Fleur Power is really pretty too. It's quite a bright, slightly coral toned pink. It doesn't have any shimmer as I prefer matte blushes, and the colour payoff is really nice, pigmented enough that it shows, but not so much that you get clown cheeks!

After MAC we wandered off to Gilly Hicks, the very newly opened store which has a half naked man stationed outside for you to be photographed with. We weren't really up for that, and sneaked in without getting snapped, but hey, whatever floats your boat! Gilly Hicks is owned by Abercrombie and Fitch (they also own Hollister) they mainly sell underwear, but they also do the standard hoodies and joggers too, with the odd handbag or dress thrown in for good measure. I got some blue Cropped Banded Sweatpants, which are really comfy and will be good for the gym. You can see them in the top picture.

Lastly I got some concealer in Boots. Collection 2000 Lasting Perfection Concealer is my absolute HG concealer, the coverage is awsome and the shades go light enough even for me. I usually get shade 1 fair, but that comes up a tiny bit light on me (which is useful in lots of circumstances!) so I got a ne one in that shade but I also went for the next shade darker, 2 light, for when I want something a bit darker, though the difference is really very slight. I'm also I hoping I might get a bit of a tan this summer, when it finally arrives!

Top; Fair, 1, Bottom; Light, 2.

Gradient Manicure Barry M Racing Green with Nicole by OPI Glitter in my Stocking

Today I did this gradient manicure with two new polishes that I recently acquired. The Barry M Racing Green I've had my eye on for ages, I don't know why I didn'y get it earlier really, these polishes have such reliably good formulas and they certainly don't break the bank at £2.99. The glitter polish I recieved in my swap with Marla, but I forgot to include it in my swap haul! (D'oh!)

It's such a pretty colour, and the glitter is really dense, I've used it for an alternative french tip colour and it's absolutely gorgeous with that paired with Barry M Peach Melba. for this manicure however, I applied it with a tiny brush and dragged it down towards the base of my nail of a gradient effect.

Product Review - Mineral Warming Mask by The Body Shop

Hey lovelies!

Today I'm coming to you with a review of a face mask that I've been using for a little while now. It's called Mineral Warming Mask by The Body Shop, and let me first start out with the scent. I LOVE the smell of this, it's really authentically gingery, like proper fresh ginger. This could be a dealbreaker for some but I think most people would like it, it's just so fresh and lovely!

I apply this using an old foundation brush, but you could just as easily use your fingers if you don't have a brush. The warming effect comes on pretty quickly, and seems to intensify as it gets spread thinner, so I think it must react with the air.

They reccomend that you leave this on for 5 minutes, but I find that once it's on and doing its thing it's just the most relaxing experience, I usually end up leaving it on for about 15 mins. It doesn't 'set' so no worrying about not talking or smiling and no flaking either! My skin felt really soft after using this, although it can leave a little bit of residue behind, so make sure you really rinse it off.

(obligatory crazy looking face mask photo!)

All in all I'm not sure about the benefits of using this long term, as I've only done a couple of treatments, but as long as it doesnt cause some crazy breakouts (which it hasnt so far) I couldnt care less, it's just so relaxing! This stuff should be availible on prescription haha!!

Bumble Bee NOTD

Hey girls, just a quick post today to show you my spring-y bumble bee themed nails!

If anyone wants a tutorial on this, I'm happy to do one :)

Poison Arrow

I've wanted to do a really bright eye look for quite a while, and this was my first attempt. I feel a bit like my ideas just puked out of my head and onto my face, and I'm not too sure if I like it or not, but hey, it might entrtain you to see it!

I used;
17 Miracle Matte founation in porcelain,
mixed with Barry M foundation in White,
Collection 2000 lasting perfection concealer in 1, Fair.
MAC Studio Fix powder founation in NC15,
Sleek Blush by 3 Pinktini,

MAC Paintpot in Morning Frost (base)
Sleek Curacao Palette yellow (lid) and purple (outer corner) shades,
Sleek Monaco Palette Magenta Madness (crease)
Sleek Au Naturel Palette Nougat (brow highlight)
MAC fluidline in Blacktrack
17 Peep Show Mascara

MAC Amplified Lipstick in Girl About Town

Swap with Marla!!

hey girls! I'm so sorry I've been so scattered lately, but I've wored myself up into a bit of a blogging frenzy, so you can look forwards to scheduled posts for the next few weeks!

A few weeks ago, I did a swap with the lovely Marla, and here is the long overdue haul from it. I thoroughly reccomend reading her blog if you don't already, her eye looks are amazing!

this is an overall of everything she sent me. (I hope I haven't forgotten anything!!) The pink makeup bag is so cute, though i have no idea where it's from.

The lip butter by Revlon in Cherry Tart is absolutely gorgeous, a lovely, moisturising formula and pigmented enoughto show, but not so much that it's scary.

Revlon colour tattoos are something I've been lusting after for ages, it was a pretty funny coincidence that the day my package arrived containing this one, Bad to the Bronze, was the same day that they went on sale in the UK! I've now got five of them and I absolutely love them, they absolutely could replace MAC paintpots, though the texture is slightly different. This is a great shade (called on and on bronze in the UK) which is perfect for simply sweeping over the lid with some liner as a lazy, one colour look.

Maybelline dream bouncy blush is the wirdest formula of blush i have ever come accross, but I love it. You really do have to feel this to understand but it's so strange, a kindof semi cream, semi powder forumla in a squishy dome shape.... So wierd but just so right! I have this in the colour Pink Plum.

Last up for makeup products is the Physicians Formula Magic Mosaic Multi-Coloured Custom Blush (phew!) in soft mocha/mocha. this is a really nice bronzer wth a tiny hint of shimmer but not too much, so its goos for contouring, as well as creating a bit of a sunkissed glow!

Top-Bottom, Revlon lip butter in Cherry Tart, Maybelline colour tattoo in Bad to the Bronze, Dream bouncy blush in Pink Plum, Physicians Formula bronzer. 

Marla also included some sample of Julep hand scrub, brightener and cream, which I'm yet to try, but I'm excited to use the scrub especially!

And finally, she also sent me some cheeto's which we used to be able to get in the UK but sadly they are no longer. Apparently my flatmates missed them more than me as they made off with them as soon as they set eyes on them! 

So thats it for my swap! It was such a great experience, and I'd love to do another one soon! If you could, what products from another contry would you try?