Project 10 Pan - 2 Items Down

Well today I finished my second item on my Project 10 Pan experience- a 2g pot of ID Bare Minerals Foundation in Medium Beige. This is my summer colour- as my tans faded I have been mixing the last few grains with a lighter shade but sill it's all gone -2 down 8 to go x

A Review Of The ELF Studio Kabuki Face Brush

I must apologise a review of this brush was requested erm how can I say this months and months ago when I actually bought it and you've had to wait for the miracle of scheduled posting to see it - sorry I'm a bad LouLou. Anyways I purchased this brush for a number of reasons , first of all I love ELF brushes, they are great value for money, they aresynthetic and the Studio ones especially are super soft, secondly I already have the ELF face kabuki from the Mineral line and I have to say I hate it, it's hard and dare I say it even a little bit scratchy. So looking a for a cruelty free kabuki, I ordered the Studio Face Kabuki.

A duo fibre brush made from synthetic, anti-bactrial Taklon this one is the complete opposite to the mineral one - it so, so soft anf fluffy so much so that Tallulah actually stole it and lay with it in her doughnut thinking it was a mouse (don't worry I throughly cleaned it afterwards ;). The hairs are quite densely packed but being so soft I don't find this a very good brush for the swirl, tap, buff routine of mineral foundation, to create any sort of strength in the brush you have to actually grip the hairs together as you can see below (apologies its dirty - eek)

It just doesn't seem to have the strength for the best application method for mineral foundation, so I've been using this brush for dusting loose powder over my face and also highlighter application, and I think it's done a great job. Ideal for when feather light application is neccessary it's great for applying a small covering of powder to your t-zone, or a tiny bit of powder highlighter to your cheek bones, especially since you can change the shape of the brush for really precise application. So if your looking  for a kabuki brush to dust a bit of highlighter or a bit of loose powder on your face this is a goodie, for mineral foundation I personally will be sticking to my id Bare Minerals Flawless Face Brush. I purchased the Studio Kabuki Face Brush from ELF for £5. Any questions please let me know x

Impressing With My Powders and Pigments

By the miracle of scheduled posting I'm here when in reality I am probably lying on a sun lounger oh bliss! Anyways don't worry I've written a few posts to keep you amused whilst I'm away, starting with this one. A little while ago I decided to go ahead and try and press my loose powder shadows and blushers. I think I got the bug after my little attempt at pressing MAC pigments, I have loads and loads of powder shadows, pigments and blushers and to be honest I wasn't using them, loose powders just seemed a bit fiddly and too time consuming for everyday use so pressing them seemed to be the answer. Obviously it isn't as simple to press mineral shadows as it is to press MAC pigments, with MAC you just need a bit of alcohol however with mineral shadows and dazzle dusts you need a bit of filler, normally silicone alongside the alcohol, so I followed this tutorial from the lovely Lipglossiping use the same products as she does here. Generally I found it to be pretty successful but I learnt a few lessons along the way - first of all mattes are nearly impossibly to press, I found the more shimmer the better the result, I also learnt patience wait until they are dry before attempting to touch or press them otherwise disaster will strike. Another tip I would pass on is to be careful when adding the liquids a few times my mixture was way to wet I had to add more pigment to make it usable, and lastly be careful with them twice I dropped unpressed shadows and blushers on the floor and twice I dropped the pan when mixture was wet big mistake! I might be just a klutz but it you want to try it take care. I bought the alcohol and biosilk from ebay and the pans and palettes from Stars Make Up Haven who are great and usually include a freebie often one of their shadow singles :) On to the part you've all been waiting for pics of my handiwork - first of all blushers I've included some swatches for you so you can see how pigmented they are even after pressing, and I've made my pics a bit bigger than normal too x

Top Row From L-R - id Bare Minerals - Promise, Avon Mineral Blusher - Blushed, id Bare Minerals - Frisky and id Bare Minerals - Confidence

Bottom Row - First Light Minerals - Mistral

Pretty huh - bit of a colour theme developing there tho lots of peaches and corals :) OK eyeshadows - this palette isn't full yet but I still have a few to press and I'll probably need another palette to finish them all off but here it is at the moment, again with swatches :)

1st Row L-R - ELF -Natural, ELF - Earthy, ELF - Girly, id Bare Minerals - Poise, Space, ELF - Partier, id Bare Minerals - Motivate

2nd Row - id Bare Minerals - Pure Joy, ELF - Earthy, id Bare Minerals - Delight, Collection 2000 - Hazy Daze 20, id Bare Minerals - Bravo, Barry M Dazzle Dust - 91 Silvery Black, and Barry M Dazzle Dust - 51 Mushroom

3rd Row - id Bare Minerals - Purist, FirstLight Minerals - Bali Sunset, Collection 2000 -Stonewash, Space, First Light Minerals - Cornish Copper, Space, Collistar Lurex Pearl 2

4th Row - NYX Loose Pearl - 19 Mink Pearl, id Bare Minerals - Strength, Barry M Dazzle Dust - 3 Pink Gold, Boots Natural Collection -?, NYX Loose Pearl - 20 Mocha Pearl, Barry M Dazzle Dust - 101 Buff, and Barry M Dazzle Dust - 29 Yellow Gold

I hope you enjoy these pretty splashes of colour. Any questions on anything please let me know xx



FOTD - A Naked Cover Up

I did some a quick make up before we took the cats to the vets for their jabs this morning, I say super quick because it probably took less than 5 minutes which is a bit of a record for me - it was probably just as well because it took 10 minutes to get Jake into his basket - he ran up and downstairs about 5 times before we managed to catch him, and by that time my make up had just about given up hope! - I don't think it's the vet he dislikes, more the journey in the car he is exactly the same when he goes to the cattery :( Anyways normally I wouldn't have bothered with any make up for such a little journey but last night I tried a little bit of facial waxing - big mistake - my chin was bright red and all flaky, and more than a bit sore :( So I used some mineral make up which is much more gentle and less of an irritant to cover it up, and it seems to have done the job thankfully, I also had another little play with my Naked palette which is perfect for no make up, make up - Enjoy xx

awful FOTD pic




weird eye pics again






Today I Wore

id Bare Minerals Foundation - Medium Beige
ELF Sheer Mineral Booster
Boots No7 Trio Concealer
The Balm Time Balm - Light*
MAC Powder Blusher - Tenderling
MAC MSF -By Candlelight
Urban Decay Eyeshadows - Naked and Hustle (Naked Palette)
GOSH Velvet Touch Eyeliner - Truly Brown
Collection 2000 Big Fake False Lash Effect Mascara - 17 Ultra Black
NYX Lip Lacquer Pot - LLP04 Georgia Peach


Georgia Peach isn't that pigmented but it gives a lovely pale nude glossy glow :) Any questions please ask xx

(* provided for review purposes)

GOSH Show Me Volume Mascara Review and a FOTD (Pic Heavy)

I don't know if you remember but just before Christmas I was sent some GOSH goodies by the lovely people at Superdrug - I actually already owned most of the things they sent so I just kept the mascara and gave the rest away in a giveaway :) Anyways the mascara I kept for this review was the GOSH Show Me Volume Mascara in Black.
Like a lot of mascaras this GOSH mascara comes is quite a chunky tube which is black with silver writing and a silver lid - tres chic


Unsurprisingly enough the spool is also quite chunky in a fat Christmas tree bristle style. Whilst this is good in the sense that it cover the lashes quite easily it's size makes it harder to get too close to the inner corner and quite difficult to do the lower lashes without dabbing it on your skin

I personally found this quite a dry mascara - it was OK at first but as I've used I've found that it tended to dry out and that as a result made it a little flaky on the lashes after a while. Despite the inclusion of E, B, and C vitamins I even found the mascara a bit drying on my lashes - the colour itself is good though as you can see here.

Described as a mascara which will give you "exaggerated visual volume" I thought I'd show you some pics
My Bare Lashes

One Coat

Two Coats

Three Coats

As I am sure you can see you certainly need more than one coat, the more you apply the more you see a volumising and even an slight lengthening effect. There is a little bit of clumping as you can see but other than the issues I've already mentioned the application is OK.
So what do I think? well I think this mascara is OK certainly no more than that - the finish is OK, but the formula seemed a bit too dry for me, and of course there is my usual issue with some mascaras with big wands lol. I personally think there are better mascaras on the market for the price - If you want to try this it is exclusive to Superdrug in the UK and retails for £7.50, and if your interested GOSH is currently on 3 for 2 :)

FOTD

Since I was taking some pics of my mascara for my review I thought I'd show you some pics of the make up look I wore. The lighting was awful today and as per usual my camera washed the colour out but I decided to have a play with some colour today lots of purples and lilac, pale pink cheeks and glossy baby lips :)
My eyes the colours aren't coming out very well apart from the liner which looks blue here grr













Today I Wore

id Bare Mineral Foundation - Medium Beige (my summer shade but for how long it's freezing today hmm)
ELF Sheer Mineral Booster
MAC Prep + Prime Eye - Light
Lancome Palette Mix Complexion Kit - 1 (Medium Shade Only)
ELF Studio Blush Tickled Pink
MAC MSF Porcelain Pink
George Eyeshadow - No.22 Jellybean (all over lid)

Indulge In Beauty - Urban Eyes - Modern Eye Palette (*light shade to highlight, dark shade on outer corner)

Opia Kohl Pencil - no name but the bright purple one - an absolute bargain from Primark

GOSH Show Me Volume Mascara - Black
ELF Luscious Liquid Lipstick - Baby Lips

(The GOSH Show Me Volume Mascara was provided by Superdrug for review purposes - this has in no way influenced my review which as per usual as my opinion and mine alone, your may vary)

Debenhams Extras

In all my excitement yesterday I forgot to post about the rest of the goodies I got with my Debenhams Alice palette - whoops - As well as the palette I purchased a bottle of Mavala Scientifique nail strengthener - I still have some OPI Nail Envy to use and some other things but I have heard good things about this so I thought I'd get a bottle to try out if everything else I'm using fails - I'm about half way through operation nail growth for this month and I have to say I'm so, so - I have actually broke two nails on my left hand - one right the way down so it really hurts - but I am trying to keep up with all the cuticle work and so on so you never know - I'll report back around March 7th.
As well as the two things I purchased Debenhams were also kind enough to enclose some free samples - the most exciting one was a 10 day supply of id Bare Minerals Foundation in Medium Beige which happens to be my summer shade, and the cutest although not necessarily the most useful baby kabuki brush :) I also got some Gucci Flora perfume samples and about 8 DKNY Pure sample sheets which are currently adorning my radiators and giving off a lovely smell x

FOTD Featuring Urban Decay

In honour of my Urban Decay Alice in Wonderland being dispatched today I decided to use a few Urban Decay shadows in my FOTD - Apologies for the iffy camera angle and odd lighting lol










What I Wore

Lancome Palette Mix Touches de teint Complexion Kit 01 (Concealer kit I use the 2 lightest shades)
Smashbox Photo Op Under Eye Brightener
MAC Prep + Prime Eye Base - Light
id Bare Minerals Foundation - Medium
ELF Sheer Mineral Booster
NARS Blusher - Orgasm
MAC MSF - Lightscapade
Urban Decay Eyeshadow - YDK
Urban Decay Eyeshadow - Twice Baked
Urban Decay Eyeshadow - Midnight Cowboy Rides Again (Glittertastic :( )
AVON Daring Definition Cream Eyeliner - Black
Collection 2000 Collagen Curl Mascara - 17 Ultra Black (first impressions not good!)
YSL Rouge Volupte - No. 2 Sensual Silk

FOTD - A Rushed Subtle Smoke

I had a day out with my godmother today - (purchases to come tomorrow ;))- it was an early start for me so I had to be super quick with my make up and I didn't have long to take pics but I hope you get the idea x

Strange light and sans specs


My eyes



With specs, different light and a messy ponytail



Today I Wore

Lancome Palette Mix Touches de teint Complexion Kit 01 (Concealer kit I use the 2 lightest shades)
Smashbox Photo Op Under Eye Brightener
MAC Prep + Prime Eye Base - Light
id Bare Minerals Foundation - Medium
ELF Sheer Mineral Booster
MAC Blusher - Well Dressed
MAC MSF - Lightscapade
By Lauren Luke Eye Shadow - Antique Pewter {Both from the My Smokey Classics kit }
By Lauren Luke Eye Shadow - Cashmere Cream
MAC Eyeshadow - Print
AVON Daring Definition Cream Eyeliner - Black
2true Instant Length Mascara - 1 Black *
YSL Rouge Volupte - No. 2 Sensual Silk

(*This went sent to me for review blah, blah etc. ;) )

FOTD Featuring By Lauren Luke My Smokey Classics

Right you have to excuse a lot of things in these pics - bad eyebrows, an evil spot, bad lighting ,wrinkly eyelids and bad hair but this I had a play with one of my Lauren Luke kits and this is what I wore today






Today I Wore
Lancome Palette Mix Touches de teint Complexion Kit 01 (Concealer kit 2 lightest shades)
Smashbox Photo Op Under Eye Brightener
MAC Prep + Prime Eye Base - Light
id Bare Minerals Foundation - Medium
ELF Sheer Mineral Booster
By Lauren Luke Blush - Peach Glow
By Lauren Luke Eye Shadow - Antique Pewter {All from the My Smokey Classics kit }
By Lauren Luke Eye Shadow - Cashmere Cream
By Lauren Luke Cream Eye Liner - Raven Black
The Body Shop Divide and Multiply Mascara - 01
2true Instant Length Mascara - 1 Black
ELF New Moisture Care Lip Colour - Baby Lips

Hope you like x

(Just to add I bought and paid for all of the products here myself apart from the 2true mascara which I was sent for review purposes - you can read my review here - I wasn't paid or told to use this mascara I am using because I like it, its nearly finished and I am trying to use it up xx)