My Favourite MAC Shadows

I don't normally do this but I've been scheduling my YouTube videos as kind of a test for my vacation time next week and I just don't trust the system to work so I will be posting a couple over here on my blog in the next few days as a back up. The first is today's, my favourite MAC shadows. I will do a separate post with swatches etc if you'd like but if you just want up close photos and names you can see all of that here. These are the shadows I put together to take away with me plus I ended up getting in to my others while I was at it so if you're interested in that kind of thing and not averse to watching a video rather than looking at pretty pictures... here it is...

Sorry if this was a frustrating post, I personally hate to see videos on a blog with no real textual content but for those that may have missed it and wanted to see.. I hope you liked it!

Miss BB

MAC - Most Wanted

Last week I was desperate to get my hands on some of the new Glitter and Ice collection from MAC but since I had to put off my shopping trip I've decided my money may be better spent elsewhere... 

There are a few things I've wanted for a while... these are they...

Brow Set in Show Off £11.50

Studio Sculpt Foundation £23.00

Quarry Eyeshadow £11.50

Humid Eyeshadow £11.50

Pro Eyeshadow Palette x4 £6.50

Viva Glam V Lipglass £12.50

Studio Sculpt Concealer £13.50

Paint Pot in Groundwork £13.50 

Now OBVIOUSLY I'm not about to run out and get all this in one trip but this is my fantasy shopping list I'll keep handy when I next visit my local counter. I have wanted to try Studio Sculpt Foundation/Concealer since I bought the Studio Fix Fluid and it broke me out. I loved the coverage and the finish but I couldn't live with what it did to my skin. Apparently the Studio Sculpt is a lighter alternative as it's gel-based and hydrating so shouldn't have the same, ugly effect but does offer buildable-full coverage and a nice finish. 

The eye shadows are just more must haves I'm told I "need" by bloggers far and wide and the brow set I will need to try before I buy. My brows are light and sparse, I'd love to find a quick way to groom them in the mornings but as yet nothing looks as natural as a powder which takes some time and requires a palette and brushes.. I would be over the moon if MACs brow set did the job in one swipe but I'm not holding out much hope. I want a pro palette quad because it's handier than the 15 palettes I have and I feel like I am more likely to rotate the shades and get more use out of what I have. Because I'm a palette fiend I'd likely buy quarry and humid in refill form. Lastly, Groundwork - I haven't found a paint pot I really love for daily use yet but this seems a light enough neutral taupe brown to be worn every day and the lip glass is the gloss version of my go to MAC lipstick so I must have it, right?

Have you got anything on my list? 

Do you have any major MAC recommendations?

What are you currently lusting after?

Saturday Sparkle

I popped to Boots today on the hunt for these new 17 Wild Metallics eye shadows and came home with a few more bits all of which seemed to lean on the sparkly side.. hence the title of this post. I can tell you I am more than happy with my purchases and I got everything in this post for less than £15! That's 3 Nail Polishes, 3 Eyeshadows, a Liquid Liner and a Lip Gloss.. now that's bargain hunting! First up I had to decide between the gorgeous new shades from 17. I must admit I was drawn immediately to the neutrals and I may just have to go back for them later but I decided to go for these... more party friendly for the upcoming season I thought.

Wild Silver and Wild Midnight Blue. The consistency is more mousse than cream/gel. I'd liken it to Maybellines Dream Matte stuff crossed with Rimmels Colour Mousse range.. consider it a sparkly lovechild of the two. The reason I decided to go for these shades in the end was my absolute hatred of glitter fallout. These seem to have just as much impact as your average glitter-packed shadows without any of the annoying side effects migrating to your cheeks. I can't wait to try them out in a look.. I'll try and make it a tutorial and really road test them for longevity for you guys. I'd imagine as with all cream-type eye colours these will crease but that shouldn't be a problem if you use a primer or even a powder shadow over the top.. again this is all speculation.. I will let you know once I've tried it for myself. I'm almost certainly going to be going back for more colours as they are just £3.99 (can be bought here).. very reasonable if you ask me!

Another awesome bonus from 17 is the free gift you get right now if you purchase 2 or more products. I already knew I had to have at least 2 of the new shadows so I was on to a winner before I even stepped in the store. The Femme Noir gift set is a really cool freebie, the contents of which exceeds my total purchase price for the other 2 products as it is so really terrific value for me.

In the set you get a Glitter Eyshadow in Night Sky (which I cannot wait to try over the metallic silver!!!), a liquid liner in black and an Ultimate Volume lip gloss in Very Berry. The glitter shadow is a wash of gun metal sparkle, the liquid liner is pretty basic but will be used and the lip gloss is GORGEOUS! The absolute perfect shade for the holiday season.. I just can't believe it was free!

Lastly here are the other bits I picked up. I was on the look out for Models Own Juicy Jules which unfortunately was out of stock so for the same money I bought 2 polishes from Barry M. Hologram is a repurchase.. Mine dried out forever ago and I've been meaning to replace it for the longest time and Peach Melba is a relatively new addition to the range which having seen all over the blogsphere was also on my list so it didn't take long to pick once I was at the stand. After I'd paid for my purchases I received one of those lovely £5 off No7 vouchers which was nice so I went and got ANOTHER polish (money) which ended up costing me £2!! It was a great day for bargain hunting!

I also bought my wedding dress from Primark for £17 for anyone interested... I posted about it on my other blog here. Like I said... great day for budget shopping.

I feel like I haven't shopped in forever, I've just had no spare cash and now I'm saving for a new laptop I really don't want to part with any that I don't have to but I guess I'll have to get used to spending less with the baby on the way.. still... don't expect my blog to run dry. I will always have something to say as long as you're here to listen.

Pretty "First Date" Drugstore Makeup

I've had several requests for a full face of drugstore makeup and a couple for "first date" looks so I thought I'd kill two birds with one stone. I'm uploading my tutorial to YouTube now but it's a bit blurry (I've had it with trying to film using my SLR) so here are some photos of the look and a run down of the products I used. Hope it's helpful.

I used mostly MUA, their new pro range has some fab stuff. I threw in my new 2true liner as an alternate as I don't have a basic black from MUA and I must say I was impressed. I'll be using that again! I love the overall look but the standout discovery for me has to the mosaic blush. When I first bought it I didn't think much of it, it didn't seem to have an colour pay off when I swatched it and I don't think it ever even made it on to my face. Well... I'm very glad I used it in this tutorial 'cause it's awesome! It gives a really sheer wash of colour and a beautiful sheen, not sparkly at all just glowy, I wish they did a neutral highlight powder in this formula because for £2.50 that would be my number one drugstore product. I have a mosaic bronzer too so I'll be trying that out tomorrow. Just goes to show you should give things another go.. I am often too quick to judge and once something is put away in my collection it could be lost forever.. I would have been seriously missing out.

I also want to point out I used a tiny bit of lipstick with the gloss to create a more tinted lip.. this lipstick is a really bold pink when used normally.

Mosaic Blush in English Rose £2.50

Dusk Til Dawn Palette £4

2True Khol Liner £1.99

Extreme Curl Mascara £2

Lipstick Shade 3 £1

Lipgloss Shade 4 £1

Here's the tutorial video...

What are your favourites from MUA?

Naked Shimmer from Fashionista

I was excited to try out the Fashionista palette I put together so when I went out for my friends birthday last night I used it and this is what I came up with.. pretty samey for me but I thought I'd share my first "look" from the range. I used Nude Glimmer on the inner corner blended out to Berry Brown in the outer corner and crease and Black Out to define my lash line. First impressions on applying them.. the pigments pretty standard for drugstore shadows. They are very similar to the MUA Heaven and Earth palette so if you have that already I'd recommend you branch out into colour from the Fashionista line. I don't feel like I've added anything new to my collection here but they are nice to work with and these pictures were taken at 1am (after we got home) so I can definitely vouch for their staying power!

*Please don't scrutinize my eyebrows too much... I'm putting off tinting/plucking until I have time to film a how-to video*

For my original swatch post from this palette check this link

Have you tried any of these shadows yet? I am going to have to go back to get a colour quad so any recommendations are very welcome

Fashionista Shadow Swatches

 You may have seen my original post about this range but if not you can find it here

I was waiting to see it in one of my local stores rather than order online. There aren't that many posts online about this brand yet so I had no swatches to go by.. I needed to see for myself. First of all I want to mention the awesome deal that is a quad palette. When I first looked into it I saw that each shadow was £4 and the palette was £5 but what I didn't see was if you bought a full quad you paid only £12!!! Bargain!!!

I was always going to buy 4 and the palette but this was I saved £9! It's practically 5 for 3.

I don't know if this will be the permanent offer but just in case I intend to go back for more over the coming weeks. My first impressions are that much like W7 and MUA the shadows are hit and miss. The metallic/shimmery shades are best as you'd expect, there are some with glitter fall out that aren't so great but I can tell you the few matte shadows there are are pretty good. I didn't immediately need any of the blushers so I stuck to shadows this time but I swatched some and they seemed ok. You never really know til you try them out of course but I wouldn't rule them out in future. As usual I plumped for a neutral selection first. I would love to buy a few palettes and fill them with a range of colours but given that I've just left work I'm not in the ideal financial position to do that right now even at £12 a go.

 Clockwise - Nude Glimmer, Bella, Black Out, Berry Brown

L-R Nude Glimmer, Berry Brown, Black Out, Bella

Nude Glimmer and Bella come across as similar I know but Bella is really sheer and packed with fine glitter where are Nude Glimmer is a really dense, highly pigmented formula. Berry Brown is much the same and Black Out is a matte black. As with most brands the matte black is the most difficult shade of the bunch but I thought I'd give it a go, It's not the worst I've tried but it's nothing special. I will do a look with this palette soon.. I'm looking forward to layering Bella over some of my other shadows to give some extra sparkle.

Here's my Fashionista review video...

Have you tried anything from the Fashionista Brand yet?

Everything seemed good value for money size-wise so I will be trying more of it for sure

My MAC Palettes

Now I know of course that these are not MAC palettes but since I got my Unii Palettes I have found them more user-friendly so my depotted shadows are housed there instead. I have two and I've separated them into neutrals and colours. There are a couple of Urban Decay colours mixed in but the majority are MAC.

First up my neutrals...
I've tried to organise them somewhat, my favourites are my matte shades so I put them all together. 

Then my colours...
As you can see I have blues on the top, pinks/purples on the bottom and anything else in the middle.
My favourites from this selection would have to be Sumptuous Olive, Rule and Trax.

I actually don't get a whole lot of use out of my none-matte MAC shadows, I find the quality lacklustre compared to my favourites from the Naked Palette. MAC palettes are a bit of a collectors sport really and once you've started it's hard to stop but unfortunately there are definitely some duds to be found and they're not cheap so it can be disappointing. What are the hits and misses you've found at MAC?

I will swatch mine for another post and hopefully find some cheaper alternative offerings for you bargain hunters.

Talking of bargain hunting, is there a particular beauty product on your wish list right now that's just a bit more than you want to pay? Visit this post and leave me a comment, let me know what it is and how much you wish it was... who knows, maybe I'll be announcing a great deal on that very item soon! It will never work unless we get involved!

Too Faced - Natural Eye Palette

This is the first Too Faced palette I've bought and I didn't know what to expect. I always considered them to be Urban Decays poorer sibling. It seems to be they bring out very similar products that just aren't quite as good but cost more money. Anyone else get that impression? Anyway.. I was pleasantly surprised by this little box of shadows so I thought I'd share some swatches with you. I know it's been out an age already so it's hardly breaking news but for those of you still wondering here are some swatches and my take on the product.

When you get it opened up you see that in a similar way to Urban Decays Book Of Shadows the bulk of the product is wasted packaging. There's a tiny "drawer" in the front that houses a dual-ended applicator of no use to anyone and in the lid there's a pull out section with "how to" cards which is a nice detail. It is unfortunately missing a mirror which is disappointing and makes it not so great for travel but if it's going to live on your vanity then a mirror is wasted anyway! As with all of the Too Faced shadow collections there are 3 rows of colours offering 3 different looks each with a base, a highlight and a crease shade. This totally takes the hassle out of your everyday eyes which I think makes this a great little package. I really like the design they've used on these collections and I think I'll be purchasing some of the others.

Top Row Swatches - "Day"

Middle Row Swatches - "Classic"

Bottom Row Swatches - "Fashion"

I favour the Classic row for everyday with a little of the Cocoa Puff from the Fashion row and the Velvet Revolver from the Day row. I love my neutrals and all but for the crazy yellow gold Honey Pot this is a really useable, beautiful palette for everyday eyes. I wouldn't swap it for my beloved Naked palette but it's definitely a valued addition to my collection.

In the above photo I'm wearing colours from the Classic row. Silk Teddy, which I have all over my lid and highlighting the inner corner is the stand out shade for me.

Do you have this? What's your most used shadow?

Dior Mitzah Palette - WOW

I am in serious awe of Dior's new limited edition eyeshadow palette.

It will be available exclusively at Selfridges from 1st June but at £60 it's a ridiculous price even for such a beautiful collectors item as this. At £40 I'd have considered it but it would have still been a big splurge but £60? That's mental.

Anyway... I couldn't not share the beauty with you all, crazy money or not.. I'm sure many drugstore dupes will pop up in months to come so I'll be saving my love and my pennies for them instead.

PALETTE GIVEAWAY

I feel like I haven't done a giveaway in AGES so I figured I should do two at once!

Unusually I am posting it here before my youtube channel... so you blog readers get a head start.

The prizes are...

Eyeshadow Palettes!

There are 2 prizes and there will be 2 winners picked at random, one from my youtube channel and one from my blog. On my channel all you have to do is subscribe to win but because there's no easy messaging system in blogger yet it will have to work a little differently here!

Leave me a comment with a means of contacting you below... whether it be a twitter account, a youtube or an email address... whatever! If you don't leave me that you wont win I'm afraid because I wont be able to get in touch!

SO... it's really quite simple! You can enter twice or just the once, if you already subscribe to my channel you don't need to do anything at all.. you can consider yourself in the running.

I wish you all the best of luck... although only two of you will benefit from it and I will announce the winners after 1st July! You must follow this blog, the contest is open internationally to anyone of any age and there are no other rules.

Outlet Shopping Haul

On this glorious Bank Holiday Friday I took a trip to York Designer Outlet..

I thought I would share with you some of the bargains I picked up.

First up, I've been lusting after a Bobbi Brown Custom Palette for a while but it's expensive stuff.. not at the CCO though :) This 3 pan eyeshadow palette was just £25 and the single eyeshadow and lipgloss quad were around £10 each. It's all interchangeable so as you can see I switched them up to create a more useful combination for my on the go makeup bag!

L-R - Ivory/Sage/Forest

L-R - Ivory/Sage/Forest

L-R - Ivory/Sage/Forest

 I was soooo excited to find the foundation compact, this is no longer in production and they still had a lot of shade options, next time I go I will definitely pick up a spare for when I run out and I will use it VERY sparingly, only when I'm out and about - such a handy product! I got the shade "porcelain"

This is again discontinued I'm afraid, they do full pan lipsticks.glosses too I think I will pick one up next time.

The shade I got was "coral" I've listed the individual shades in the coral collection below.. 

clockwise - True Beige/Coral Pink/Ball/Guava

clockwise - True Beige/Coral Pink/Ball/Guava

You can then use the individual cases interchangeably too.. the description stickers are on the bottom of the pop out pans and the palettes have square spaces in the bottom (difficult to describe) so you can switch and change as you like and everything is just as useable as ever!

Here's a look at the underside... you can see here what I mean about the square spaces 

Next up is a HUGE bargain from Ted Baker. I've been lusting after the Louis Vuitton Neverfull again but as always I just can't come to terms with £465 for one bag so I've been on the hunt for a really great quality highstreet one.. I have LOVED Ted Baker for some time and last time I was there I picked up a purple patent purse that I have cherished.. when I saw this I knew I had to have it. Purple is of course my favourite colour but it also has the copper coloured shiny hardware and it's real leather so will wear nicely too!

You can expect some oot posts featuring some better pics of this gem very soon! Full price it was £125, it was on sale at £85... I still didn't really want to part with that cash but it was a beautiful bag... there were a couple of tiny scuffs and so Lee bartered the saleman down to £60.. yay! Less than HALF PRICE! Absolute bargain and it will be my summer arm candy for sure :)

I have already made a date will Lee to go back very soon.. maybe next month as I had my eye on these beauties from Kurt Geiger and I think I need them! 

I love them in both colours but I think I prefer the white/cream.. what do you think?

I've looked them up on the website since and they are full price stock online £85 but at the outlet they were just £49... must haves I think!

I could spend all day there I really could.. and we kind of did.. Ella and Lee are dozing now and I'm pretty wiped so here I go.. hope you all had a fabulous Good Friday!