Limited Collection Tin Gift Set

I've finally had to time to get around to having a proper look at my freebies from Marks and Spencers! This little gift set is brilliant, it's got everything you could possibly need to create christmassy looks. There are some lovely neutrals and some more dramatic evening colours together in this palette, and I've decided to create a look to show you what the contents of the tin are like!

 

 

 

 

 

I used the dark green shade from the tin as this isn't a colour I normally go for. I also used a tiny bit of eyeliner on my lower lid. The mascara in the tin isn't really anything to write home about, but it adds a slight lift to your lashes and just defines the eyes a bit more.

 

I slapped a bit of blusher on, I was quite surprised at how much I liked the colour of this! It looks quite boring and bland in the tin but it gives a really nice pop of colour to your cheeks.

Finally, to finish off the look I applied the lip gloss. This is a really nice peach colour in the tube but it applies quite sheer, with a hint of shimmer.

So thats my look! What do you think? This gift set is £12.50 and is available here.

Bourjois Goodies!

I've had this selection of goodies sitting around for a while, because I bought them just before I got sick. Boots were running a promotion with Bourjois which offered a free make up set worth £29 if you spent £15 on Bourjois make up. I've never owned any Bourjois stuff before, despite lusting after the adorable little pots of blusher and eye shadow, so I decided to get stuck in!

 

 



I picked up the Color Boost lip crayon in Plum Russian and one of the cute little blushers in Jasper Rose. The blush is a lovely peachy pink, which works well with my pale skin. I love the little brush that comes with it! Very cute. Also, I'm not sure if it's just me but this blush seemed to be lightly scented. Sort of vanilla-y?



And because I'm currently obsessed with lip crayons and berry shades (along with everyone else this winter!) I had to grab this! It's more glossy than I thought it would be, and the colour is gorgeous. Very wearable for daytime and into the evening. I didn't notice that this had any particular flavour, and I've not tried it out enough to get a feel for how moisturising it is.

Swatches!

 

 

Onto the freebies! The set included a Smoky Eyes mini palette, 3D effect lip gloss, a mascara and a nail polish. Altogether, these are meant to give you the ultimate glam holiday look. I haven't tried them all on together, but I've given them a go individually.

 

 

I was intrigued by the gloss, as I was expecting it to have the standard rounded applicator, but it actually has a tiny brush. I'm not sure how I feel about the brush really. It does help to get the gloss precisely where you want it for outlining, but it also smears the gloss when you apply it onto the inner part of your lips. It's incredibly pigmented though, and I could definitely see myself using it at christmas parties.

 

 

 

 

This trio of eye shadows is great. It definitely does what it says on the tin! I was really surprised when swatching these to see just how smoky they really are. My favourite shade out of the three is probably the middle one, and I'm quite keen to experiment with all of these for the ultimate smoky eye!

 

 

 

I've got to admit, I was apprehensive about this mascara. When I saw the size of the brush, I thought I was going to have trouble. I don't know why I can't get on with the bigger brushes, I just always seem to stab myself in the eye more frequently! But I was pleasantly surprised. The mascara applies quite well, and definitely gave my lashes some added volume. I'm not quite sure it's replaced my beloved Lancome though!

And finally, this lovely red polish! I'm hoping to crack this open for a nails of the day post in the next couple of weeks, so keep your eyes peeled for that. You can't beat red nails at christmas!

 

 

 

Did you take up Boots on this offer? Do you like Bourjois make up?

E.L.F. Haul

Since liking E.L.F. on Facebook, I've noticed that they've been having quite a few flash sales with codes for free shipping or 50% off everything. I managed to nab some goodies during the 50% off everything weekend deal, and I'm pretty pleased with what I've got!

Big box of goodies!

I'm going to start with the lip products! I might have gone a little bit crazy with these...

 I love the look of these liquid lipsticks! The texture is sort of like a gloss, but quite creamy. I made a bit of a mess swatching these, as they're the kind that needs twisting to get the product, so inevitably I twisted too many times and ended up with lipstick everywhere. 

 

 

 

The jumbo lip gloss sticks are quite fun too. They apply as a sort of tinted gloss, but they're really buildable too. I had to use a few strokes to get these swatches as bright as this. I also bought the Super Glossy Lip Shines which smell fantastic, and the Mineral Moisturizing Lip Tint which applies in a really cute pale pink shade.

 

I managed to not go as crazy with eye products, although I still got quite a few.

This is a swatch of the eyeshadow, it's a bit more matte than I thought it would be, but I still really like the shades together. I'm interested to see how these last without a primer!

I think the jumbo eyeshadow sticks are probably my favourite item from this haul! I love the shimmery shades, and I'm really tempted to buy the rest of the range now! I think these will need a primer, because they're so creamy. I've also got a swatch of the mineral eye liner in Ash. I wanted to get the coffee brown shade but unfortunately it was sold out, so I nabbed this instead. I'm pretty happy with it. It doesn't seem like it needs a heavy hand application-wise. I also bought the Lash Extending Mascara to try out.

And finally, I managed to limit myself to just two blushers!

Headliner is a liquid blush, which is not my usual choice. I tend to prefer powders. I think I will only need a tiny amount of this, its really pigmented, and quite creamy. The All Over Cover Stick in Pink Lemonade is meant to used as an all purpose product, but I think I will mainly use it as a blush. This is a kind of solid cream blush, and it's a really gorgeous dusky pink. I'm looking forward to breaking this out in the next couple of days!

In other news, the blog should be getting a shiny new layout soon! Keep your eyes peeled :)

Face of the Day #9

Hi guys! I've finally gotten around to properly trying out the NYC eye shadows that I was gifted recently. This shade is Tribeca Teal, and it's pretty lovely! This lasted most of the day without a primer, so I was pretty impressed. These shadows are available from Superdrug, but I can't spot this shade on their website.

 I also used my HD Brows blusher, MUA Lash Boom mascara, and MUA Matte lipstick in Pouty Pink.

Thanks for reading :) xxx

Face of the Day #6

I am pretty excited about the new MUA palettes I received, so obviously there had to be Face of the Day posts about them!

Here I have used a shadow from the Matte palette. These apply in a really smokey way, I think you could really create something crazy dramatic with these. For work though, I just used one of the neutrals to create a natural look.

 

 

 I have also experimented with one the new matte lipsticks. This one is Peachy Keen, I did have to apply some lip balm under this because these are seriously matte (and it's autumn, therefore, super dry lips). I love this peachy colour, it's not my usual style, but I think it's pretty cute for daytime.

Watch out for a Face of the Day post with the new Smokin palette from MUA soon!

New York Color Pressies!

Recently one of my friends gave me these New York Color items as a thank you present, and she did a pretty good job of picking out my kind of colours (Cheers Pippa!).

These eyeshadows are adorable, they don't seem to be particularly pigmented, but I think they could be built up.  I really like that they come with a handy little applicator. The packaging doesn't seem too sturdy, so I wouldn't say this is something you could just chuck in your handbag as I could see the lids breaking. These eyeshadows are available from Superdrug.

I've also got this lovely nail polish to try out at some point! I've got quite a few polishes in shades similar to this, I clearly just really love greeny blues.

Watch out for this bad boy in a Nails of the Day post soon!

Thanks for reading :) xxx

Face of the Day #3

This is look consists of 100% MUA products. Can you tell I'm a fan?


Eyes

The eyeshadow I have used here is a lovely shimmery yellow colour. It's from the Dusk til Dawn palette, which is currently sold out on MUA's website. I don't tend to use this palette an awful lot, as most of the colours are too dark for work. But this yellow colour gets used quite a lot, as you can probably tell from the picture!

The shade I used is the closest shadow, in the bottom row.

The mascara is one of MUA's latest products, Lash Boom. This is a total bargain at £3. I find that it does curl my lashes, but I also find it to be quite clumpy. I have to be very careful how I use the brush. I would say it's probably a medium mascara, in terms of lash curl and lengthening.

 Face


For my cheeks I used another £1 MUA powder blusher, this shade is Bon Bon. Again, as I've previously said, you don't need to use a large amount of product. I just use one finger swipe for each cheek. I love these, when I get paid I'm totally buying some more!

Thanks for reading :) xxx

Face of the Day #2

This look is a bit of cheat, because I don't usually wear lipstick/pigmented lip products to work, I find them a bit of a hassle to maintain throughout the day.


Eyes

For my eyeshadow, I used a colour from MUA's Top Model palette. This palette is absolutely jam packed with 28 beautiful eye shadows, a blusher, bronzer, and highlighter. I might properly review this palette on its own at some point. I really like the shimmery shadows, especially in the pastel colours, as I feel like I can wear these to work without them being too dramatic. I have to say, I think this palette is a total bargain for
 £7.

This mascara is my absolute favourite mascara of all time. Seriously. It is most definitely, a BIG mascara. It makes my lashes super long and curled, and it never clumps. I got mine in a past Glossybox, and when this runs out I will definitely be repurchasing this, probably from Feel Unique. You can also purchase it with a super jazzy illustrated outer casing for an extra £1.

Lips

For my lip colour I used a Revlon ColorBurst Lip Butter. This shade is Raspberry Pie. It's a much brighter shade than I would usually go for, but I think it suits me. As I mentioned previously, I don't tend to wear lip colour to work, so this was removed shortly after I took these pictures, and it came off really easily, with no staining at all. I purchased my lip butters from Boots for £7.99.

Face

I used a MUA blusher on my cheeks, this shade is called Candyfloss. These blushers are extremely pigmented, I only use one swipe with my finger for each cheek. These are an absolute bargain for £1 each. You can purchase them from MUA's website or from Superdrug stores.

Thanks for reading :) xxx