Weekly Work Look #2: A Touch of Spring

Another week, another work look! Yay! I'm really pleased you all liked the concept of this series, I just hope I can continue to come up with looks that aren't too samey!

So this week I swatched and reviewed the MUA Pretty Pastel's palette and as I always like to do a look with the palettes I review to try and show how they perform, I thought what better opportunity! 

 I kept the lid pretty neutral, with liner as always (although this look would look nice without too!) and used a matte brown eyeshadow in the crease (I used MAC Moleskin but Urban Decay Buck/Naked would also work!) I find with these shimmery pearly eyeshadows, it can be easy to go overboard on frost, so the matte brown keeps everything nice and wearable! I then added a pop of the cute mint green shade under the eye, following the shape of the wing. I think this adds a nice pop of colour, really brightens the eye and looks fresh faced and very "spring" like! 

First shade for brow highlight, second all over the lid, third shade as the minty green under the lash line.

I hope you liked this look and will maybe even try it out yourself! 

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MUA Pretty Pastels Palette Review & Swatches

Hello everyone. So today I thought i'd review and swatch the MUA Pretty Pastels palette. Pastels are always a popular choice for spring so I thought it would be a great time to inject some pretty pastels into my make up routine.

A good pastel eyeshadow is pretty hard to come by I've found. They either appear too chalky, too sheer or really dry. MUA have actually done a nice job with this palette, creating a selection of shades which have pretty good pigmentation and nice formula. But lets get onto the swatches shall we?

The first four shades include two pearly cream highlights. These are decently pigmented and can be doubled up on both the lid but also as a cheek/eyebrow highlight. The 3rd shade is a pretty shimmery cool toned brown. I really like this all over the lid as its not too dark so perfect for daytime. The last of the four is a minty green - a stunning shade which I wish was a bit more pigmented. 

The first of these four is a nice pastel blue. Its decently pigmented when built up and very shimmery. Following that is a nice lilac, perfect for spring and nice all over the lid followed by a sunshine yellow. I really want to like this shade but it does take some building up. Its fairly sheer and does fade. This is followed by a cool toned peach shade. 

The last four include a very sheer white/green. Not the best formula, followed by a similar purple shade which again was very very sheer. This is followed by a pretty pink. The pigmentation is pretty nice when built up. The last shade in the palette is again a very sheer grey toned mauve.

As you can see there is a nice selection of pretty much all shimmery shadows. They have a LOT of shimmer, being highly reflective and pearly. I really like this, but I do think it can end up frost overload if you don't team the eyeshadows up with a good matte shade in the crease.  I like using Buck or Naked from the UD Naked palette or Quarry/Moleskin by MAC.

The shades are pretty sheer and do require some building up but they do perform a lot better over a primer (which is what I swatched over) but one huge gripe I found is these faded quite easily and quickly. It only took a little bit of blending and the eyeshadow would disappear very quickly. They faded dramatically during the day and this did disappoint me, I usually do 8-12 hour days with barely time to top up so I NEED my eyeshadow to last all day.
While this is annoying, I do like the palette and some of the more pigmented shades such as the vivid pink, blue and purple (darn it, wish they had names!) perform perfectly and do last the extra mile. These definitely do require a sticky base though, to fulfil their full potential - something like MAC paintpots or Lime Crime Candy eyeshadow helper. 

Overall, I do like the palette, but its not the best. The quality of the eyeshadows is lovely, they are soft and buttery but some do struggle to last. Having said that for £4, you simply cannot complain and this palette will definitely get some use from me.

What do you think? Would you buy this palette? Have you tried it?

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Weekly Work Look #1: Dreaming of the Beach

Hey everyone. So today I thought i'd introduce a new series called "Weekly Work Look"! I asked on twitter about whether you guys would like to see a series of neutral looks suitable for work and I got an amazing response! I guess ya'll like neutrals!

 I know its easy to get stuck in a rut with make up. I'm pretty good at rotating my stash and using different things, often doing a different look for work a week so I can experiment and try out all the neutrals I own. But I've been in ruts before where you get stuck with one look and an obscene amount of make up which never gets used...so hopefully something in this series will inspire you to shake the rut and pull out some of your older unloved palettes!

So this week's look is inspired by the pants weather England seems to have again. Spring lasted for all of two days and now we are back to torrential rain and gloomy skies. I for one am dreaming of the day I can ditch my winter coat and boots and start wearing pretty dresses and go to the beach! So I whacked out my Sleek Storm palette (which is an fav of mine! So so good!) The storm palette has a nice range of sandy hues, perfect for a look that is dreaming of beautiful Caribbean beaches while sitting in an office in rainy ol' England! 

Hope you enjoy :)

 So I hope you liked it and will maybe even pull out your own Storm palette and try something similar. I used the colours that are marked above to create a simple sandy look that really brightens the eye and definitely dreams of summer. I then added some pencil eyeliner to create a wing. I myself always add winged liner but if its not part of your normal routine then thats ok! I used pencil as I sometimes think normal liquid liner can be too harsh, especially with softer looks like this. I used the Urban Decay 24/7 pencil liner and then "set" it with the black shade from the storm palette. I then added a pop of colour with an orange lipstick to really bring the beachy look together!

I'd love some requests for perhaps palettes that you own that you would like to see a weekly work look from or something else! I already have one (Lazy girl make up!) which I'm going to work on for next week. Hope you like this new series!

What has been your work make up this week? I'd love to know!

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P/S Amid fears of GFC going under, I'd love it if you could follow me on Bloglovin or any of the sites up there ^ ^ ^ . I don't want to loose any of you! 

Like my blog? I'd love it if you'd consider nominating me for a Cosmo Blog award here under Established Beauty Blog! It'd really make my day! :)

Make Up Look: Spring Speckles

Spring is well and truly here! I couldn't be happier, life is so much better with sunshine! A little while ago I went to a blogger meet up in London! It was amazing fun and we ended a fantastic day with an event hosted by the wonderful peeps at She Said Beauty! Lots of different brands took the time to come and see us including the amazing guys at Illamasqua. I took the opportunity to get the Speckled eyeliner look done - this new and interesting way of adding a twist to winged liner looks like it takes quite a lot of time - but was in fact done in under 3 minutes! I couldn't wait to get home and try it out for myself! 

I added a slight twist as I was feeling inspired by Spring and added a few different colours in, including light blue and a pop of orange! I feel like this looks fresh and fun for spring. Its not too dramatic, I feel like this could easily be worn in the day to add a unique twist to normal winged liner, you'd be surprised how wearable and easy this is! 

I hope you like my take on the speckled liner! 

I used HD Brows Kit for the first time in this make up look and I can really notice the difference! 

I used Illamasqua liquid eyeliner in Havoc and Lime Crime eyeliners in Lunar Sea (White) Blue Milk (Blue) and 6th Element (orange). 

I really like this speckled eyeliner, its such an easy way to spruce up your eyeliner for spring. I also want to try blue, pink and white speckles as I think that will be super cute for spring! 
Hope you enjoyed!

Have you tried the Speckled eyeliner trend? 

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150 Day Spending Ban: Week 16 Update

Hey spending banners! So i'm approaching the finishing line, the end is in sight, I can see it! How have I done the past couple of weeks?

Pretty good! MAC released a bunch of new collections which to be honest, my heart was holding out that they would be released late May. I had all I wanted in my basket but couldn't bring myself to do it. Pretty much everything is sold out now that I wanted, so even if I had money and could get it, I wouldn't be able to so that makes it a little easier but still! I am proud! I always fall for MAC collections I do have serious skippers remorse right now, but I'm sure I'll live!

Other than that i've had a few niggly bills to pay, prescriptions to pay for ect... so a pretty expensive week for me. Now... I did buy some things!
 At the beginning of this ban in January I had enough skincare to easily last me, or so I thought. But I ran out of moisturiser, cleanser, eye cream and night cream as well as face masks all in one week. To be honest I wasn't too happy with my skincare routine, I was finding my skin was just horrendous especially towards the end as I was using up anything and everything in my stash to try and get rid of it. I decided to try out some new things to try and get my skin back on track and as I am allowed to repurchase, I don't consider this breaking the ban. 

I bought a new cleanser to replace Ultrabland (I went for the Emma Hardie one that everyone raves about) and a new day & night cream from Korres to replace my Lush ones. I also got 2 new serums to replace my Lush one also from Emma Hardie and a face mask from Elemis to replace the Lush Magnaminty. I also made a cheeky Redken purchase. I am not one to fuss about with my hair as I have scalp psorisis (sorry for tmi!). I was using T-Gel but after receiving some Redken samples in the #LDNBBMEET goodie bag, I found the itchiness and flaking actually got better! I didn't understand it especially as the samples weren't specifically for dry/itchy scalp. Regardless I purchased a Redken duo to use after I've finished my current T-Gel and conditioner. I know I'm naughty for purchasing it prior to actually finishing something, but I thought I might as well save on delivery costs and buy it along with everything else. 

So all in all, very expensive, but I haven't technically broken the ban as they are all repurchases :)

 Anyways, thats the end of this update. I only have about 3 more updates to write! Exciting huh!

38 days!!!! Sorry for the lamest picture ever (check out the autograph book ;)) but I just love Marie :)

Sugarpill Burning Heart Quad Review & Swatches

Hey everyone. Today I have a review that has been a long time coming. I think in September last year (although it could have been longer) I bought all 3 of the Sugarpill palettes currently being sold. But can you believe I haven't even touched them until just now?! Shame on me! Being on a spending ban and all, I delved into my stash looking for hidden treasures to review and swatch and whaddya know! This little beauty popped up! 

 I decided to review the Burning Heart palette today - but if you'd like to see the other two (I'll probably review them regardless) let me know! 

The Burning Heart quad contains 4 fiery colours not for the faint of heart. These were on my lust list for a long time as a lover of colourful eyeshadows and I wasn't disappointed!

First of all, I'll start how I always start, packaging first!

The Sugarpill palettes are all housed the same. They come in cardboard sleeves with a cute design on the front and names of the eyeshadows on the back. The actual packaging itself is also made of cardboard, but believe me its sturdy stuff. In fact it feels a lot sturdier than some of the Sleek/MUA palettes made of plastic. I feel like this would be travel friendly although it might start to get tatty. The design on the front is different and memorable. Its not my favourite design in the world but I can still appreciate it. There is a decent sized mirror and the back shows the eyeshadows layout and names. 

OK OK OK, lets get onto the eyeshadows! Swatch time!

Flamepoint is a very vibrant orange. Fantastic pigmentation and blendability. You can build up a very true to pan colour with just a couple of applications. It isn't chalky in the slightest and is very easy to blend.

Buttercupcake is a matte yellow and as far as yellow eyeshadows go, this is pretty impressive! This has probably taken number one spot as favourite yellow eyeshadow. While it is pigmented, its a little powdery and I find it overly easy to blend thus, sheers out quite quicky. However it is incredibly buildable and easy to get a very vibrant and pigmented yellow on the lid.

Love + is a crazy red. Its probably one of the most pigmented reds I have ever come across. It is very true to pan, blendable and just crazy pigmented. I'm really happy I have this as sometimes the red in my Lime Crime Chinadoll palette can come across too "deep" so this is a very nice true red that I'm incredibly happy to have!

Poison Plum is a lovely pigmented purple. I would have liked this to be deeper as I always like to have at least one "dark" shade to put in the crease, but I found this too light to add depth to the crease. Obviously that is personal preference and as far as purples go, this is very vibrant and unique to my collection. Even though it appears to have shimmer in the pan, it comes across relatively matte on the lid with a slight sheen to it. Again its very blendable and delivers incredible colour payoff, achieving a very true to pan colour.

All of the eyeshadows are very pigmented and are honestly a pleasure to use. The pigmentation is just unparalleled, I have nothing like it apart from my Lime Crime palettes. The quality is just lovely and it was incredibly easy to swatch and get good photos of these. They are very blendable which is a pleasant surprise as mattes do have a tendency to be stiff and dry.The pans are HUGE. They are almost the size of a MAC blusher and honestly, it'll be hard to make your way through these! Incredible value for money when it comes to the weight and amount you are getting. 

Sugarpill eyeshadows are well worth getting particularly if you are an MUA or someone who likes playing with colour! They are quite affordable especially as they are excellent quality and the pans are HUGE! You can purchase Sugarpill from their official website here for $34.00 and Sugarpill ships worldwide. If you'd prefer to get your goodies from a UK shop, you can buy from Cocktail Cosmetics here, or Genie Cosmetics here all for around £25. 
Have you ever tried Sugarpill? 

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As if you needed anymore reason to buy from Sugarpill, they are cruelty free too! :)