FOTD - Get that Bohemian palette before it's gone!

So, on to my final look from Sunday. By now I was seriously running short on time and these pics are the best of about 8. I'll put this into context for you...I have been known to take getting on for 100 to get the look I want. My skills are improving but my skin isn't and my slap head, well that's not going anywhere. I did the fringe thing while I was at school and I'm not going back there. Fact of the matter is I wear a hat most of the time anyway light sensitive creature that I am and so it's not so noticeable as it is in these photos. However I wanted to share them because I loved the effect I got combining Illamasqua Solstice and the Sleek Bohemian palette, which I believe is only available until today. So get it while you can, I love this palette:)

Base: Smashbox Photo Finish Light

Face: a mixture of Boots No7 Lift & Luminate Foundation in Porcelain (too yellow) and Illamasqua rich liquid foundation in 145 too dark - approx 3:2 this didn't look bad at all....I got compliments while I was out anyway and I wouldn't, wearing either one alone!

Smashbox Camera Ready Concealer 2.0

Smashbox Halo in Fair

Brows: Illamasqua Liquid Metal in Enrapture

Lashes: Rimmel Sexy Curves

Shadow: Illamasqua cream shadow in Grace as a base

lower lashline and lid - Illamasqua Liquid Metal in Solstice

blended with Bohemian Palette - Gilt and a touch of Clover below the outer corner - for colour name see the ever lovely Lipglossiping who's names for the shadows in this palette were adopted by Sleek!

Cheeks - My very favourite blush from a smashbox highlighter quad with no name - I'll put a photo up sometime

Lips: a touch of BarryM Lip Laquer Crayon in Cherry Red

then a Models Prefer (QVC brand no longer available) lipstick in Riviera Rose

Wooowooowooo! I made it 3 posts in 3 days and I'm a happy bunny :D

Subtle Lime EOTD from the FrontCover Mermaid Dreams palette

So, on to my second EOTD from Sunday using the Frontcover Mermaid Dreams palette. It's much more subtle than the looks I tend to post, but looked really pretty and is definitely something I'll be doing again sometime soon.....

Base: UDPP

Shadows from Frontcover Mermaid Dreams palette - 

lid - Sunbleach

brow - Cloud Dance

Outer V and  below the outer corner - Lime

Inner lower lash line - Sunray

Brow - Sunray

Water line Bourjois Regard Effect Duochrome Vert Dore 61

Mascara - you know what I can't remember - not greatly impressed with it in the photo though, think it's past it's best lol

If like me your new to describing where on your eyes you've put which shadow, check out this great post from Temptalia

OK so that was 2 different eyes in one go.....definitely the way to go for my time pressed life at the moment lol. Got myself well caught up and did an FOTD as well....can I make it 3 posts in 3 days? We'll see....

FrontCover Mermaid Dreams EOTD

I don't suppose you're going to believe me when I say that I really didn't set out to make my first play with the Frontcover Mermaid Dreams palette, look like a fish!

I've been so pressed for time recently that when I got the opportunity yesterday morning to have a play, I decided to aim for a couple of EOTD's with the palette rather than a complete face.

Base: UDPP

Brow: Sleek Bohemian Palette - Russet

Lashes: Rimmel Sexy Curves, with a touch of Rimmel Flash the Max to the top outer lashes (it was then thrown in the bin for being too gunky - Sexy Curves has much better longevity of use)

Waterline: Bourjois Metallic Eyeliner in 54 Bleu Clinquant and Bourjois Regard Effect Duochrome Vert Dore 61 - the blue was too vibrant alone so I turquoised it a bit with the green.

Eye: Shadows from FrontCover Mermaid Dreams palette -

lid and liner (using FrontCover Shadowline) -  Seagrass

brow and lower lash line- Plunge Pool

below lower lashline blended out with Seaspray

inner corner and highlight (on top pic) Moonstruck

also a few touches of Comino and Sparkle in the blending

I really love being able to use shadows as liners because I feel it gives a more harmonious effect than trying to find the right shade of liner to complement the shadows. I have other mixing mediums, and people use all sorts of things from water to wet wipes, but the FrontCover Shadowline is great for simplicity and convenience. I really like the tip for firmness and precision, which just calls to me to do wings and flicks. Hence the Fishy look!!!!  And once I'd noticed, I couldn't help but add a few more lines for a fuller 'tail'.....
I did a totally different look with the same palette on the other eye, hopefully get that up tomorrow :)

NOTD Barry M Red Glitter / Nails inc Tate

It's been a hard old week, getting back into the swing of the school run. Well walk actually, although there is sometimes running involved, if I stay on here too long or a look takes that bit longer than I bargained for :D. I calculated that this year it's getting on for 24 miles a week.....the exercise is great but it sure does leave me shattered......

Hey enough of my excuses for going AWOL for over a week and back to the fun stuff....

Before the Easter holidays I saw a blog post about the re-release of China Glaze Ruby Pumps, ooh I so wanted that look. I went to Sally's to investigate, thought about it and walked away, even though they had China Glaze on buy one get one half price. The thing is, I've got a bit of an embargo on nail polish at the moment as I have enough Nails inc to keep me in NOTD's for quite a while.....doesn't quite stop me slipping up with some drugstore polishes though!! Hence I ended up with an extra BarryM Red Glitter for myself when i was shopping for giveaway prizes recently.

A friend bought me the Green Glitter a few years back, I loved it and had similar high expectations of the Red Glitter. I still remember how disappointed I was with my first ever glitter polish, when I expected it to look like it did in the bottle. With the Green Glitter, I was immediately converted to Barry M Nail Paint because it does actually look like what's in the bottle.

I was really pleased with the Red to start with too, but the thing I'm finding, is that being very amateur in the application department, what I think looks great on my fingers looks less than impressive when I photograph it. I find this very frustrating and being of perfectionist tendencies, hard to post on my blog.... sometimes posts just end up in the bin because I'm not happy with the way the application looks in the pics. It's an issue I'm working on, so despite being less than impressed with the way the application looks in some of these pics, here goes:

So sparkly, but the photos show just how much nail you can see even after 3 coats, time for a little experimentation... No time to get the Barry M Bright Red which I would like to have used, step forward Nails inc Tate.
 

This is just one coat! I'd forgotten how gorgeous a colour this is, and nearly didn't go through with the glitter plan... What does get me every time with Tate though, is just how runny it is compared to many of Nails inc's other colours. I have serious clean up problems everytime I use this one.

So back to the glitter......

2 coats of Red Glitter and finally the effect I was after.

I'll certainly be doing this again, a gorgeous look, that because of the structure supplied by the glitter, last's much longer on me than my usual 24 hours max! It's also fractionally easier to remove than just glitter alone, but if you're having difficulty with glitter removal check out this post by the Lovely Lipglossiping!

Time for an Itsy Bitsy giveaway me thinks........*Now Closed*

So I've been laying in wait (well actually tied up with the Easter hols) to produce a bit of a giveaway when I reached 50 on Google Friends. To be honest I would have done it earlier but it seems to have been one thing after another around here recently.

It's an Itsy Bitsy giveaway because the prizes are small.....but there are 4 of them.....because I wanted to give more chances to win. Hurrah!

So to enter I want you to pick the prize you'd like to win most :D
Just leave a comment giving a 1st, 2nd and 3rd choice.

Here we go:

Prize ACID PALETTE - still my favourite Sleek palette

Prize NAILS INC - Warwick Avenue and St John's Wood

Prize BARRYM SUNSET - I picked these Dazzle Dust colours ( Yellow 76 & Orange 77 ) because I thought they might be colours people wouldn't necessarily have already and Nail Paint in Red Glitter 150 after all, who can resist red sparkles (not me anyway, got one for myself as well, naughty girl that I am).

Prize PEACOCK - had to get my favourite colours in here somewhere!! BarryM Dazzle Dusts in Lime 75 and Aqua Gold 92 plus Collection 2000 Eyeliners - Glam Crystals in Le Freak 5 and Glam Metallics in Grunge 6.

OK so I can't see the point of making you follow me just to enter, but if you are following, I'll give you 2 extra entries.

If you publicize the giveaway in any way: blog entry, side bar, twitter, let me know in a comment and I'll add 2 more entries.

Names will be put in a hat and drawn by Mr Sparklz himself - not that he knows this - failing that I'll investigate random watsit!

What else do I need to say, I'll ship Internationally, but wherever you are in the world please don't get cross with me if the prize doesn't get to you. Postal services are a law to themselves after all.

And if you're under 18 you must get permission to enter.

I'll run this until 10th May or until I get bored  - so don't be a procrastinator like me lol

Oh, and as a sneek preview, I'll be having another giveaway when this one finishes, looking for a guest reviewer for the Illamasqua Powder Foundation in 145 that I bought at the IMATS.....

Sleek Graphite Palette - Would you pay £30?

OK so I love the Sleek i-Divine palettes, but to my mind the price the Graphite Palette is now going for on ebay is just ridiculous. Today one went for £30 ! I don't have this palette and at that rate never will. Are people mad to be paying that sort of price or am I seriously missing something here?

Come on tell me, do you have it? is it worth it? What would you pay to get your hands on it?


Edit: Eventually I picked it up at a sensible price, you can see swatches here.

I should do this more often when I'm stressed!

So, if your feeling a bit restless and a bit fed up what do you do - Go paint!

Face:

 Illamasqua Rich Liquid Foundation

All about Face Eyeshadow pencil in silver - applied all over

Boots No17 Eyeshadow in Viva Diva - pretty much all over at different degrees of intensity

Eyes:

More Boots No17 Eyeshadow in Viva Diva

Rimmel Volume Flash the Max Mascara

Urban Decay 24/7 in Zero - upper lash line

Bourjois Metallic Eyeliner in 54 Bleu clinquant - waterline and lower lashes

Lashes:

QVS - bought half price on clearance, my first ever attempt at using false lashes

Brows:

Soaped down a little - not enough, but then I didn't go in the direction I'd intended

Lips:

Aldi Kohl eyeliner with

Boots No 17 Eyeshadow in Viva Diva - applied over the top

And I felt a whole lot better when I'd finished : )

Face for the night - yay I actually got to go out last night!

I'd like to start by wishing everyone a Happy Easter!

It's a strange old thing really, that I could never get my head round as a kid. Easter is the most important event in the Christian calender, and yet we made Christmas into so much of a bigger celebration. Anyway I hope you're having a great one. x x

So, last night I actually got to go out!!!!! Yep it don't happen that often. I decided to have a go at playing around with a cut crease, inspired by recent blog posts from the lovely Simone at Give the Jew Girl Toys . Possibly not the most sensible thing, to try something new when you're going out, but I have to grab my opportunities when they present.

Face:

No7 Lift & Luminate Foundation in Porcelain - I used this with a sponge and without primer as it was a complete mess the first time I tried it with a brush and smashbox primer a few days ago.

Amazing Cosmetics Concealer

And just a touch of Illamasqua Rich liquid Foundation and Smashbox Halo ( I was not feeling very impressed with the No7 at this point)

Cheeks: Make-up designory (MUD) in BubbleGum

Lips: Models Prefer - discontinued QVC brand

Eyes:

UDPP

FrontCover Rainbow Eyes, Pink Lemonade and Super Pink for the lid, Riviera with a touch of Black Iris for the crease, Blanc de Blanc and Moonstruck for the brow bone and Moonstruck again for the lower lash line and inner corner.

Pink Lemonade with Shadowline fluid to line the upper lid with then

Collection 2000 Glam Crystals in Dancing Queen applied over the top and a little patted onto the outer corner.

UD 24/7 in Zero for the water line and lower lid ( I kept this to a minimum using the brush to push it into the lashes - see this Eyeliner Masterclass by Katy.)

Rimmel Sexy Curves Mascara

Brows:

I tried using some Illamasqua Liquid Metal in Solstice having had previous good results with Enrapture , but when I took the first few photos I noticed that this was giving my brows a green hue, so I went over them again with Enrapture and was much happier with the result.

Most of the shots are taken with a flash so they're very shimmery.

I got very few photos before the light faded:

See the lovely green tinge!!!!!

And the overall look: