Tuesday 28 April 2009

Review: Too Faced Lip Injection

The Too Faced Lip Injection came as part of a set and is also sold individually (approx. £12).
Whilst I don't actually need a lip plumper, I decided to give this a try. When using a lip plumping product it is expected that there will be a tingling sensation, so I was not surprised when I started to experience some tingling, I was unprepared for how unpleasant it actually was. I haved plumpers in the past and expected a cool almost minty tingle as it has been before. Initially, I didn't feel anything but after about a minute a horrible feeling almost like having hundreds of hot, tiny needles jabbed into my lips or having finely ground glass rubbed on started to take over. This persisted for about 10/15 minutes before subsiding and feeling like a normal gloss. I did not notice any major increase in the size of my lips nor do I think that the gloss was particuarly good, if I wanted a gloss the MAC lipglass is cheaper, there is more of it and it is comfortable to wear. The gloss did have a taste similar to Red Bull or one of those medicines you take for a cold as a child. I was seriously disappointed in this product, in the highly unlikely event that I ever use this again farless use it all, I would not buy this particular product despite being a major fan of many of Too Faced's other products. If you have very thin lips and are desparate then it might be worth it but it is likely that you could get a nicer product for less and which would wield better results. 2/5

Sunday 26 April 2009

Update/Other stuff

I have set up a weightloss blog to avoid clogging up this one.

Student Loan is due in on Monday and I plan on getting some stuff and doing some reviews and possibily even a haul depending on what I get, possibily putting in an order to Nars and trying to stay calm for the week and a half until MACs Doubledazzle is released (7 May- we are always so far behind the US it is not even funny, they now have Rose Romance as well although there is only a couple of things I want from that, the two pigments and the blushers). Also considering getting the two 88 pallets and some stuff from Lime Crime but worry about the postage fees between the US and the UK (might just bite the bullet and buy anyway since it is the last loan until September/October and that needs to go on books, stationary and bus fair aka boring but necessary stuff).

This months Instyle magazine has an article with the impossibly glamourous Dita Von Teese. Although she appears to wear very little makeup, it apparently takes her up to 2 hours to do it which, to be honest I don't envy, I can do a full face well in under 30 minutes and walk out the door. It's a very good article and tells you some of the makeup she wears (i.e. MACs Russian Red lipstick, of which she has 30 tubes of, and false lashes, foundation etc) but then again Instyle is a brilliant magazine ( been buying it since I left school although I have read Glamour since it first came out, I tend to go straight to the beauty pages and not bother with the rest of it), I think I saw an Instyle from the US in Borders a few months ago dedicated to makeup but I haven't seen it since and am beginning to suspect that either I imagined it or it was the regular US version but it was special issue/one off which is starting to annoy me a bit.

Wednesday 22 April 2009

FOTD: Turkish Delight



Yet another FOTD,this one is inspired by the colours of the sky at sunset in Turkey (it's getting into the summer holiday season and I want to go back). The liner on the upper lashes could do with being a little thicker and the liner on the waterline is just not bold enough. Thought I'd roadtest the lip products I got this morning (absolutely love recieving that little black box). The lighting is not very good unfortunately.
Face as with the last look minus the prep and prime and using Maybelline pure mineral foundation in Ivory Rose (I think it is called that, the number was '02') instead of MAC.







EYES:



MAC s/s Beige-ing



MAC p/m Melon



MAC p/m Fuschia




MAC p/m Violet



MAC p/m Pink Opal



GOSH velvet touch eyeliner Girl Power



MAC f/l Blacktrack



Too Faced Lash Injection



Bourjois brow pencil






LIPS:



MAC Prep& Prime Lip




MAC l/l Beet



MAC l/s Violetta*



MAC l/g Dreamy






*Violetta doesn't seem to be on the main lipstick section yet but I found it under the SS09 Tendertones (LE) and it is avaliable from MAC PRO (PERM).















Sunday 19 April 2009

FOTN 17/04/09



First non review post, unfortunately I was I a bit of a rush, so didn't take as many photos as I normally would but it shows what I want it to. This was just a look for going for a celebratory pub dinner with my mum and brother (I sued my former landlord over a year ago and he's only JUST paid up).




FACE:

MAC Prep and Prime Face

MAC Mineralize Satinfinish Foundation- NC15

Barbara Daly concealer- Fair

Too Faced Bronzer- Sun Bunny (hollows of the cheeks)

MAC MSF- Perfect Toppping

MAC Blusher- Dollymix

MAC Creme base- Luna




EYES:

UDPP

UD Deluxe e/s- Scratch (lash to brow)

- Shag (inner half of lid)

- Underground (outer half of lid)

- Zero (crease)

- Honey (brow bone)

Bloom shadow liner- Ebony Brown (upper lashline)

MAC eye kohl- Costa Riche (lower lashline and waterline)

Maybelline Great lash mascara- Brownish Black

Bourjois eyebrow pencil




LIPS:

Elizabeth Arder 8 hour lip balm

MAC Prep and Prime Lip

Bobbi Brown lipliner- Sandwash Pink

MAC lipstick- Morange

MAC lipglass - Clear





Thursday 9 April 2009

Review: Bobbi Brown Makeup Manual

Bobbi Brown Makeup Manual (£20 at the Bobbi Brown Counter, £13 at Tesco)

I don't normally read makeup manuals as the information is either stuff I already know (i.e too basic) or Theatrical makeup (i.e. stuff I don't really care about). The chances are if I had been in a bookstore I wouldn't have been looking at makeup books for the above reason or if I had seen it at a makeup counter I would have ignored the books and went straight for the actual makeup. However, I was in Tesco with my Mum and only got it because she bought me it and I'm glad she did, I'm hoping to do a bit of freelance work and this book gave me a lot of good ideas as to what I should have in a kit, makeup for photography, booking work etc. as well as the usual make up application, with advice on how to deal with different products and brushes, how to analyse skin and how to do makeup for weddings, teenage skin and mature skin. Quite helpfully there is quite alot about how to do makeup for Asian skin tones and makeup for asian eyes and how best to enhance dark skin as well as white skin.
Whilst this is in no way comparable to studying makeup and beauty at college, it is helpful to those of us with an interest, who want to do some freelancing but cannot go to college due to other committments or the expense. I have also noted a distinct lack of decent online/distance learning makeup courses (except one in Spain but it is highly suspicious and they kept sending me a ton of stupid spammy emails for a month so...) so this would be quite good for people either wanting to do makeup for themselves or getting started and gaining experience. For a career in film and tv it would be of limited use and it would be better for people wishing to make a career in that field or as professional makeup artists full time to go to college, in my opinion. 5/5

I did not include pictures of the book to avoid infringing any copyright laws.

Side note: I do seem to have a lot of 5/5 reviews, this is because of my way of scoring it, if the product is good value and does as it is supposed to its likely to get a 5/5, if it is a good product but not quite worth the money it'll usually get a 4/5 etc. It isn't that I'm easily pleased (nor am I overly harsh) but felt that this should be explained.

Wednesday 8 April 2009

Review: GOSH nail varnish



GOSH nail varnish in Holographic (approx. £5)


I bought this out of Superdrug thinking that it was just a glittery nail polish, but saw on another blog that it was meant to be holographic so tried it out. The first coat looked like just a normal glittery nail polish, very pretty but could get much the same for cheaper, the second coat started to look more holographic, the third coat was holographic but I added an extra coat and it looked spectacular. It dried really quickly and I was really impressed with it. I also read that it doesnt work as well with a base coat so I just skipped that and applied a good top coat. 5/5

Picture is of 4 coats of the polish minus the top coat.

Tuesday 7 April 2009

Review: Too Faced Lip of Luxury



Too Faced Lip of Luxury Lipstick in Pink Flamingo (£11-12)

This is a product I have been curious about for a couple of months, since I saw the photos in the Boots catalogue at christmas time. The packaging is very pretty and the blurb on the box is extremely enticing and it claims that the lipstick is infused with champagne essence. The lipstick does have a nice goldy shimmer to it and the colour is quite subtle but very nice nonetheless. In regards to colour I prefer the bolder, brighter colours like MACs 'Girl About Town' or 'MAC Red' but I have found myself wearing this more than I had anticipated. The texture was quite smooth and feels a bit like a MAC lustre lipstick in my opinion and it lasted a reasonably long time . I did like this product but still prefer MAC and I will probably buy this product again as well as recommend it highly. 5/5 (based on the qaulity, not my preference of colours)




Saturday 4 April 2009

Review: Beautyuk Eyeshadow pallet





Beautyuk eyeshadow pallet (£2.93)




Bought this product today out of curiosity. Attracted to the bright colours I had expected that the product at only £2.93 would be of poor quality in that the colour payoff would be poor and the product would feel horrible and unpleasant and would not last very long. I was pleasantly surprised to discover that the colours were as bright on skin as they were in the pallet and that they lasted atleast a couple of hours until I purposely removed them. The texture wasn't unpleasant and it even has a mirror in the pallet and its size means that this is a convinient product to transport on a night out etc. The look of the eyeshadows themselves reminded me of the photos of the Coastal Scents 88 pallet but unfortunately I cannot compare the 2 as I don't have the Coastal Scents pallet. Since it is quite small you don't seem to get alot of eyeshadow but since it is highly pigmented and costs less than a mocha, I'd say its a bargain. Overall I think this is a good product and would totally recommend it. 5/5





Swatches of the product











The two greeny colours over MACs Cakeshop shadestick.





Wednesday 1 April 2009

Review: Bourjois Clubbing Mascara




Bourjois Volume Clubbing Mascara in Ultra Black (£7.82)




A really nice thick mascara, with a good sized brush not as big as the Diorshow wands but you can get it closer to the lashline without running the risk of stabbing yourself in the eye. It goes on easily, coats evenly and lasts quite long. The only 'problem' is that it is fairly resiliant and if not removed properly with a good eye makeup remover it can get very messy. That said if removed properly it is not a problem. Bourjois mascaras tend to be very good and I prefer them to MACs mascaras and I think that this was better value than the Diorshow (which was my favourite). This range is avaliable in different colours, including brown, ultra violet (I think this is black but shoows up under the UV light in nightclubs rather than the colour violet) and a waterproof formulation. Overall a brilliant product. 5/5. (Below image is 2 coats on curled lashes.)