Sunday 22 April 2012

Human Weakness

Oops...


Yep, I may have strayed a little bit when out researching water filters. It turns out that Superdrug stock a bigger range of the oh so desirable Revlon Lip Butters and this time I 'accidentally' purchased the shade Pink Truffle. This is a slightly darker hue than Peach Parfait (as featured in my last post) and verges towards the plummy side of the spectrum. It is also free of any shimmer or reflects.



Swatch time:


Apologies for the veiny hand. It seems to be quite warm in the flat today. Hooray for vasodilation (big word of the day).

Hope you're all having a lovely weekend :)


Saturday 21 April 2012

Haul: Revlon, Elvive & Yankee Candles

I thought I'd start the weekend with a little trip into town to pick up some new shampoo and as usual ended up with a little more than I anticipated. At least I actually got the shampoo; most times I end up forgetting the item I actually went out to get in the first place.

I didn't really have any particular shampoo/conditioner in mind so I walked blindly into Boots and came across this new release from L'Oreal Elvive. The Nutri-Gloss Crystal range:



I picked up the big bottles because they were on a half price offer, quite a clever thing to do seeing as I haven't even tried the stuff yet.

This was a surprising choice for me because I usually tend to run a mile from anythin overly pink and glittery (no thanks), but something about the 'crystal' bit has me intrigued. The bottle states: "embedded with visible Micro-Crystals + Pearl, the sparkling formula illuminates and smooths the hair's surface for better light reflection and crystal shine." - Yes please.

As much as the thought of glittery hair makes me cry, I can't wait to wash my hair and see the results.


Next you can see that I caved and bought a Revlon Lip Butter and too many Yankee Candle sample tarts. I'm far too indecisive aren't I? Anyhow I hope I enjoy the choices I eventually did make:




What are your favourite Yankee scents? I'd love to hear your recommendations so I can go and buy even more.

So, on to the Revlon Lip Butter. I went for the shade Peach Parfait, which was an amazingly easy choice as I wasn't that impressed by the range my store had in stock. Plus I wanted to try one before going out and getting any more. Logical right?


I'd apologise about being late on the bandwagon here, but I'm not going to because these have literally only just become available over here in the UK! I do quite like the packaging; it's a little different. I suppose some might say that the translucent plastic case looks a little tacky, but I don't really have any complaints - it does the job.



Broken record time, yes the formulation is lovely and I am really impressed. This particular shade is a perfect everyday hue and is a nice cross between a gloss and a lipstick - perfect for me really because I don't always want the stickiness of a gloss or the solid block colour of many lipsticks. The added moisturising quality is a bonus. I think I'll be picking up some more of these...

Sunday 15 April 2012

Depotting MAC Eyeshadows

As you may have seen in my second to last post I recently purchased one of the MAC 15 shadow palettes with the ambition of depotting my loose shadows into it when I could spare half an hour. I thought I'd document what I did (injury-free thank goodness) so you can have a go yourselves in your own time.

Here's what you'll need:
  • A towel or something similar to protect your work surface
  • A candle 
  • A sharp pointed knife
  • Tweezers
  • A MAC palette (obviously!)
  • Some adhesive magnets - I bought mine off eBay
  • Scissors in case you want to trim the labels 


So without further ado, let's get started!


1) Pop out the pan insert from the casing: Open the eyeshadow and VERY carefully wiggle the end of the knife into the groove where the pan insert meets the outer casing. Keep wiggling until the pan insert pops out. Make sure you don't press too hard and let the knife slip. Blood in your eyeshadows is not very becoming.


Once it has successfully popped out, you'll have something that looks a bit like this (note lack of blood):


Set the outer casing aside for now. You'll need it a bit later.


2. Removing the pan from the pan insert: Take your tweezers and hold the pan over the flame of the candle. Make sure you don't hold it IN the flame; you don't want to melt the plastic completely. Hold it there for around 30 seconds until you can see that it has softened.


Once you think this is the case, gently poke the bottom of the pan insert with the end of the knife to prise up the eyeshadow from the plastic.


If it doesn't want to come out, don't force it - the plastic just isn't soft enough. Hold it over the flame a bit longer and give it another go when you think it's ready. The plastic will be VERY hot when you do the poking so use the tweezers to hold it steady.

3. Stick on the magnet: Pretty self explanatory really. When the metal on the underside of the pan has cooled a bit and the glue on the bottom is still tacky, stick an adhesive magnet to the back (carefully so you don't damage the eyeshadow). Centre it by moving it on the tacky glue.



4. Removing the name label: This bit is optional, but I like to stick the label to the bottom of the shadow so I can keep track of the colours and finishes. As you can see this one is Modelette, a lovely matte brown.


The labels are usually very well stuck on so the best way of removing it without damaging it is to hold the casing over the candle at an angle to slightly melt the adhesive attaching it and a small area of plastic at the edge.


Make sure you don't hold it too close to the flame - burnt fingers/labels aren't amusing or attractive. As you can see in the clever split-picture below, once the plastic has softened you can take your knife and gently press down at the edge of the label to indent the casing. You should now be able to lift off the label causing little to no damage at all.


 The adhesive will still be sticky when you do this, so you will be able to place it straight over the magnet that you've just attached to the shadow. Feel free to trim it to neaten it up a bit.



5. Admire your handiwork!


It looks a little complicated at the outset, but the more you do it the more you'll get used to it. You'll be a pro in no time!

I suppose this means I now have to go and spend more money on seven more shadows to fill my palette. Any recommendations?

I hope you found this guide helpful - let me know if you have any questions :)

Thursday 12 April 2012

What I'm using right now!

This may or may not be pinched from a fellow blogger, but I thought it'd be nice to have a quick look at what I'm currently using. For you, so you can see my excellent taste in cosmetics and also for me so I can see how much of a brand/drugstore junkie I really am (delete as applicable).

Shampoo: Pantene Smooth & Sleek
Conditioner: See above (I like my matching sets)
Styling Products: Kerastase Nectar Thermique if that counts?
Shower Gel: Lush Flying Fox
Body Moisturiser: Clinique Deep Comfort
Deodorant: Nivea Invisible - the one with the pink top
Face Wash: Origins Checks & Balances
Cleanser: See above! I use this with my Clarisonic Mia
Exfoliator: Liz Earle Cleanse & Polish (gotta love those muslin cloths)
Primer: N/A - I honestly haven't ventured into primers...yet.
Foundation Brush: Sigma F60
Foundation: Revlon Photoready
Concealer: Maybelline Dream Matte Mousse 02 Natural
Powder: MAC Mineralize Skinfinish Natural (Light)
Blusher: Clinique Peony (the prettiest blush ever)
Bronzer: MAC Golden
Highlighter: Benefit High Beam
Eyeshadow Base: Too Faced Shadow Insurace or Urban Decay Primer Potion. Whichever is closest!
Eyeshadows: MAC Naked Lunch, MAC Mulled Cider
Eyeliner: Revlon Colorstay (Black), Stila Stay all Day liner
Mascara: YSL Volume Effet Faux Cils and Benefit Get Bent (for the lower lashes)
Lipstick: MAC Creme Cup
Lipgloss: MAC Oyster Girl
Nail Colour: OPI Mermaid's Tears
Aaaaand breathe. Wow, that sounds like a lot. I obviously don't wear all of the makeup every day but you get the general idea of what's in my makeup bag right now! 
Also if you have a blog, consider yourself tagged - I'd love to see what you're current go to products are!

Sunday 1 April 2012

Haul: MAC Tour de Fabulous (and a little extra)

I've had my eye on this little array of lip products ever since it came out in the US (it feels like a year ago) and was surfing the MAC website randomly and noticed that the Tour de Fabulous collection had finally arrived on the UK site. This collection consists of limited edition lipglasses and lip pencils and in my opinion is definitely worth a look.

I picked up three of the lipglasses that really stood out to me:

Comfort & Joy, Rich & Witty, Rich Bounty


Comfort & Joy is a cool-toned pale mauve with moderate shimmer - very pretty! Rich & Witty is surprisingly opaque; it's a medium rose-pink with some subtle shimmer. It strikes me as a colour that'd look lovely on the beach! Finally I picked up Rich Bounty. I'm not usually so adventurous when it comes to dark lip colours as I'm fairly pale, but the shade was just so gorgeous I just couldn't resist. It is a coppery red again with some subtle shimmer. I think this would be paired best with a lipstick underneath to prevent any unevenness showing (a slight drawback!)
Onto some swatches!

Comfort & Joy, Rich & Witty, Rich Bounty - same order as above, clever hey?


While I was online I used the free shipping incentive to pick up a couple of other bits. I'd run out of the wonderful Mineralise Skinfinish Natural (Light) and was slightly fed up of shining like a beacon so it was an obvious choice...

MAC Mineralise Skinfinish Natural - Light


I also picked up one of the MAC Pro palettes to house my MAC eyeshadows. I'm really looking forward to depotting them/burning my fingers once my magnets arrive. Here's a picture of my haul in it's entirety so you can see the chic black loveliness of the packaging:



All products mentioned are available at www.maccosmetics.co.uk (Tour de Fabulous for a limited time only). That's all for now, thanks for reading!