Hello my lovelies! 
Apologies for the lack of posts recently, after getting back from holiday I had a fair bit of catching up to do with clients etc as well as actually working and washing all those holiday clothes (glamorous I know!)

Anyway, I've thought of a couple posts that may be of interest to you so over the coming weeks I shall try my best to get these up!

This is a quick post and mini review based on the Instagram picture I put up regarding the Illamasqua Mystery Boxes, excuse the picture quality in this post as they are from my phone!:

There's two versions of this box that came out last year and as far as I know I think they were only exclusive to Debenhams.  
I chose this "Alter Ego" box as it only has one nail polish in it (the other "Eyes and Nails" box has two), which I wouldn't use as much. My box included 6 full size products, 4 of which are mystery shades.
I happened to come across these a few times but was too worried I'd get products I won't use, but whilst strolling past the sale table in the Lakeside Debenhams I saw the price had been slashed down to £17.50 from £35, I couldn't say no.
One blush alone is around £18, so this was certainly a steal and even if I got products I wouldn't personally use, I know I could always use it in my kit or on a shoot (my failsafe excuse for any makeup purchase!).

what I got in my box!

Shades in my box: 
*Nail Varnish in Collide (neon pink) [revealed on outer box cover]
*Liquid metal in Electrum (metallic antique gold) [revealed]
*Intense lipgloss in Move (mauve rose pink)
*Lipstick in Fetish (violet/blueberry)
*Powder blusher in Panic (red with pink tones)
*Powder Eye Shadow in Fallen (lilac-grey)
Everything except the nail polish is swatched below:

The box is worth up to £96.50 based on current prices however some of these products are discontinued, for instance Fetish lipstick and Fallen eyeshadow. Having said this, as I mentioned on my Instagram account I'm really pleased with my mystery box; I know some other bloggers/reviews have had some not so wearable shades but I believe it was pot luck that I picked a good box, considering! It felt like the lucky dips you get as a kid, when you wish for good stuff but mentally prepare yourself for something you may not have wanted lol!

I love the colours I got, even the neon pink nail polish is surprisingly pretty and something I would wear in Summer. I was dubious that Move lipgloss would be too light for me but even that looks fine on my generally dark lips and it doesn't feel sticky.

If you happen to come across one of these boxes at your local Debenhams, be sure to snap it up as you'll get more than a bang for your buck and as you know I'm massively a fan of their products as they are super pigmented so you can't go wrong!

Did you get any of these mystery boxes? What did you think of it and which products do you like best?

 

Illamasqua Paranormal collection launch!

Earlier this week I was lucky to be invited to the new Illamasqua collection launch and as always I was enthralled to meet the faces behind the brand and of course Alex Box and David Horne.

The new collection, entitled "Paranormal" is inspired by a sense/feeling of something different and the collection boasts a range of textures and colours to explore this "paranormal" area. Illamasqua again challenges normality in the beauty world and asks "Why be normal when you can be paranormal?"

If you follow me on Instagram you may have already seen some of the preview pictures like the visual above which I absolutely love!

The launch was filled with darkness, smoke and blacklights hanging from the ceiling everywhere, the polishes were a-glow under the lighting and the rest of the products were scattered around the manicure area for us to view. The other side had a glowing bar area with glowing drinks and flowing smoke bowls.. all mystical and paranormal!

I chose to get the pink polish (Ouija) done with a feature/accented purple (Séance) nail:

The polishes looked amazing under the black light - Seance glowed a pink colour and Ouija glowed a sort of coral colour; I took a picture with Nilmini from Illamasqua who had her nails painted with Omen (green) and Seance:

The polishes are limited edition and available for £15 each. The Top Coat "Geist" glows a blue colour and is £13; it can be used on top of normal or UV polishes or alone.

I caught up with David in the manicure area and he explained that the Hydra Veil (£27.50) is not just a moisturiser or a primer; it's basically a cosmetic care layer of water for your skin to enhance makeup application and even out the surface of the skin. He showed me how the gel when mixed with the spoon, it evens itself out and doesn't stay hard; in the same way it helps smooth out the skin:

I then caught up with the amazing Alex Box about the whole collection; I asked if Illamasqua would be branching out into skincare after Hydra Veil but it doesn't seem to be the case and to be honest I prefer it when brands stick to cosmetics as it can become quite diluted and unfocussed; and Illamasqua sure is a creative cosmetics brand.

We talked about the Paranormal palette (£34) and how the textures are putty-like; Rose from Illamasqua's PR team wore Possession (cool-bright green) as a highlighter and it looked absolutely amazing; the rest of the colours are just as impressive!

without flash

with flash

The two lipsticks from the collection (ESP and Posture, both swatched above) to my delight are both shades of purple and can be used together to create amazing ombre lips. The true shade can be seen above of both colours with flash- ESP is a vivid violet colour and Posture is a cool mauve/lilac. Both are £16.50 each:

The newest Gleam (or highlighter) Illamasqua created for this Paranormal collection is in the appropriately named "Supernatural" and is available for £18. It's an unusual warm bronze shade and would be perfect for warmer skin tones:

swatched with flash

There's also a new black eyeliner - Precision Gel eyeliner (£18) which is waterproof too. Like all gel eyeliners, this one applies smoothly and is a pure black colour. I didn't get a picture of it unfortunately but it is pictured in the image below of the full collection:

All in all, I'd say my favourites from this collection are the Hydra Veil, the nail polishes and the palette; I love how bright it is and the texture is an amazing gel/putty like feel but dries to a powder/matte finish which is also waterproof - win! The polishes are also amazing as I've been wanting to shoot a UV/glow in the dark themed shoot for a while so it will definitely come in handy. As for the Hydra Veil, it would be perfect to wear underneath my Skinbase foundation, or around the eye area as I tend to get dry there and sometimes makeup doesn't sit right!

The collection will be available from Illamasqua.com and counters from 30th April 2013 (this coming Tuesday).

Which are your favourites from the collection? Will you be buying any products?
 

FFF: Purple-Green makeup look

This weeks FFF includes one of my favourite colours - purple! I used a green at the bottom for a mix that is sometimes seen in Asian clothing, so I hope you enjoy this look!

Products used:

Eyes:

> UDPP

> NYX JEP in Milk

> Sedona Lace 120 palette (2nd edition) - all eyeshadows

> MAC fluidline in Blacktrack

> UD 24/7 eye pencil in Covet

> UD Heavy Metal glitter liner in Stagedive

> Daniel Sandler Jumbo Jet mascara

> Khuraira ACC in Light

> MAC Studio Finish concealer - NC35

Face:

> YSL Le Teint Touche Éclat Foundation - BD50

> UD Razorsharp powder

> UD Baked Bronzer in Toasted

Lips:

> MAC lipstick in Quick Sizzle

> UD lipliner in Naked

> UD Stardust lipgloss in Andromeda

After I primed the eye with UDPP  & NYX JEP in Milk, I applied a matte lilac-purple (from the Sedona Lace palette) to the whole eyelid, followed by a more reddish purple (with slight shimmer) in the crease. A matte light pink shade was added to the brow bone and blended down into the reddish-purple in the crease.

I added a bit of a green shadow with a liner brush to the bottom lashline followed by UD Covet eye liner and Stagedive glitter liner on top.

For the topliner I used MAC fluidline in Blacktrack and also on the lower waterline.

Both Khuraira and MAC concealers were applied under the eyes and Daniel Sandler Jumbo Jet mascara to the lashes.

Trying to capture the glitter from this angle!

For the rest of the face I used a sample of the new YSL Le Teint Touche Eclat in BD50 and set it with UD Razorsharp powder.

I then used UD Baked Bronzer in Toasted on the cheeks and MAC Quick Sizzle (matte fuschia) first on the lips:

I then used a more nude colour on the lips (UD Naked lipliner) for those afraid of bright colours!: 

And finally added a bit of gloss (UD Stardust lipgloss in Andromeda) for a nude shine:

And there you have it! If you have any requests for makeup looks please feel free to comment below, email, tweet or write on my facebook page!

Which combination do you like best? Would you wear this look?

 

Illamasqua Generation Q launch

This Wednesday night just gone, I was invited by the lovely people at Illamasqua to attend the launch of their AW12 collection - Generation Q.

The last collection if you remember (here) was about an explosion of your alter ego and reversing traditional beauty.

This season's collection stems from the Beauty Before Age campaign earlier on this year where they scouted for real people of all ages to use in this campaign (as opposed to models). The collection is about beauty having no age limits, or prejudice of gender or colour.. and about lots of shimmer!

I have to say it got me thinking about how I view makeup now and how much I love colour and probably always will.. I definitely don't agree with the industry norm of sticking to "safe/matte" colours once you reach a certain age and have never told clients/customers to steer clear of brighter colours/glitter. In fact I've loved applying a bit of glitter or colour on an older lady, there's something about the sparkle that makes you feel happy and why should more maturer ladies not feel that?

At the launch of the collection we were able to have a play around with the products and get a feel for them whilst everyone filtered in. My first impressions were: omg lots of purple, LOVE!

In true Illamasqua style there were cocktails in mismatched teacups and iced tea in cocktail glasses.. which was a fantastic idea!

We sat down next to a few of the products from the range (and glittery popcorn fitting with the cinema theme) whilst David Horne and Alex Box (my most favourite makeup artist!) explained further about the new collection and what it means to them, explaining that more maturer ladies are made to feel like they should hide under a sea of beige when in fact it's these women who hold the wisdom and confidence to pull off whatever they like. I couldn't agree more, I'm not afraid of getting older but that's because I believe you're only as old as you feel and it showed in the lovely Evelyn (72) who was one of the chosen models for the campaign and who attended the event too.

The collection is actually amazing, not only because of the purpley-ness but also because it's very wearable by pretty much anyone. 

I managed to get swatches of a few of my favourites, such as the gorgeous powder blushers (Sophie & Allure) and the unique Opulent lipgloss described as a "rainbow beige". I found Allure to be more pigmented than Sophie although both have great colour payoff. Sophie is aimed more at lighter skintones so anything too pigmented would have to be used very lightly anyway. The Opulent lipgloss had me mesmerised with its purple tones standing out more to my eye!

My personal favourites; the Opulent lipgloss reminds me of pretty fish scales/shells!

Other favourites of mine include the Wisdom Precision Ink liner (olive/antiqued gold), Magnetism lipstick (above) and the matching wine-coloured nail polish Charisma (below). Creator nail polish was being sported by the lovely Evelyn too who rocked it beautifully!

The other Intense lipgloss Boost (a metallic blueberry violet colour) and Underworld lipstick (blueberry violet shimmer) were lovely colours but not something that I think would suit my full lips.. it'd be more suited to going out or used in a photoshoot.

The rest of the range includes two new palettes (Complement and Empower) and their Gleam highlighter in Aurora (a light champagne pearly finish).

 

I managed to get a pic with Alex Box too who I also managed to meet at the IMATS last year (here):

All in all I have to say I'll be looking forward to the release of this collection in September (yes it's that far away!) but hopefully will be able to review in full closer to the time!

What are your favourites from this collection? Do you worry about getting into a rut with makeup once you're past a certain age? Would love to hear your thoughts!

 

FFF: Purple Smokey makeup look

So this weeks FFF is inspired by the DDP products from the last post (here). It's just a quick purple smokey look so I hope you like!

Products used:

Eyes:

> UDPP

> NYX JEP in Milk

> DDP eyeshadows in 54, 55 & 60

> Sleek Au Naturel palette - Honeycomb, Bark & Noir

> DDP eye pencil in 01 (black)

> DDP mascara 95 (Very Violet mascara)

> Khuraira ACC in Light

> MAC Studio Finish concealer - NC35

Face:

> UD Surreal Skin Cream to Powder foundation - Supernova

Lips:

> MAC Viva Glam Nicki lipstick

After priming the eye with UDPP & NYX JEP in Milk I applied DDP 54 (soft lilac colour) to the inner corners of the eyes and DDP 55 (purple) to the middle of the eyelid. DDP 60 (shimmery black) was used in the crease and outer corner of the eyes, buffing it upwards slightly, followed by Honeycomb (Sleek Au Naturel palette) on the brow bone, blending down into DDP 60.

I used DDP eye pencil in 01 (black) to line the entire eye, both topliner and smudged the bottom liner to create a smokey effect. 

The DDP Very Violet mascara was used on top and bottom lashes followed by Sleek's Bark & Noir from the Au Naturel palette for the brows; Khuraira & MAC concealers were then used under the eye:

For the rest of the face I used UD cream to powder foundation in Supernova and UD bronzer in Toasted along the cheekbones; for the lips I used MAC Viva Glam Nicki lipstick: 

I hope you like this weeks look and look forward to posting the next FOTD, it's gonna be a bright one!

Purple and orange cut crease FOTD makeup look

Hellooo, my lovelies!

So the other day I felt like doing an orange look and was thinking to pair it with purple.. I tweeted for suggestions and the purple was confirmed by Tinkerbelldani.. so here it is!

Products used:

> UDPP & NYX JEP in Milk

> Sleek Caribbean Palette - Bloody Mary, Purple Haze, Blue Lagoon, Apres Midori and Espresso Martini

> Sleek Avoir La Peche Palette - Sandstone & Tangelo

> UD 24/7 liquid liner in Perversion
> UD 24/7 pencils in Zero & Lust
> UD Cannonball mascara
> MAC select moisturecover in NC35
> UD baked bronzer in Toasted
> UD Brow Box in Brown Sugar
> MAC lipstick in Spitfire (WW collection), Toxic Tale (VV collection)

After priming the eye with UDPP (original) and NYX JEP in Milk, I used a liner brush to make the "cut crease" with Purple Haze from the Caribbean palette. I then used Sandstone from the Avoir la Peche palette on the inner corner and on the brow bone. Tangelo (avoir la peche) was then placed further along the eyelid, with Bloody Mary (caribbean) at the end. I used a blending brush to place Purple Haze above the cut crease, blending into Sandstone on the brow bone.
For the top liner I used UD Perversion liquid liner and for the bottom lash line I used a liner brush to add Blue Lagoon and Apres Midori, followed by UD Lust pencil on the waterline (and Zero on the top waterline!)
Finishing the eyes, I used UD Cannonball mascara, coating lashes twice as the liner is quite dramatic, so the eyelashes need to stand out more:

For the rest of the face I used MAC concealer under the eye and UD baked bronzer on the cheeks and forehead.

For the lips I mixed a combination of MAC's Toxic Tale (from the Venomous Villains collection) and Spitfire (from the WonderWoman collection).

I decided to darken the purple and added Espresso Martini to the Purple Haze as I wanted the cut crease to be more apparent and here's how it looked:

 

And the full face look:

Which look do you prefer? And what do you think about this crazy colour combination?!

Also, if you have any other colour combination suggestions, please do let me know!

<3

Purple Hot Mess NOTD

I don't usually do a lot of NOTD posts, mainly because I don't wear nail polish a lot; I'm not patient enough to sit and wait til it dries and my Sally Hansen Insta Dry is my best friend most times when I wear polish. I do however love nail art and envy those who have the time and patience to sit through and create amazing designs. One of my favourite nail art bloggers has to be Salla of OMG! Polish 'Em! Her designs are A-Mazing!

Anyway, I happened to mess around with two of my favourite polishes this week and created a new colour that I'm totally in love with! Here is the lovechild of Barry M Bright Purple with UD Hot Mess:

 And with flash:

First I put two coats of Barry M's "Bright Purple" nail polish (303), then a single coat of Urban Decay's "Hot Mess" from their Holiday Nail Kit (available from HOF only). I love the glittery fuschia by itself, but I thought I'd spice up my favourite purple polish with it and the results were surprisingly nice, I even got comments from coworkers about what a lovely colour it was!

I hope you like this NOTD, it's just a quick one but one I thought I'd share =)

<3