♥ ♥ ♥
Wednesday, 29 February 2012
These are a few of my favourite things
Wow, February has soon come to an end hasn't it?
♥ Bobbi Brown Long-Wear Gel Eyeliner
This is a recent Buyapowa purchase and as its such a cult product in the beauty blogging world, I snapped it up the moment it appeared as a co-buy. I've loved using it in addition to my next favourite...
♥ Louise Young LY25 Brush
An IMATS purchase that has really helped me to perfect my eyeliner technique
♥ Topshop Cream Blush in Neon Rose
I swear this product features in pretty much every favourites post I do?! Brilliant product with a great long-lasting finish.
♥ Illamasqua Intense Lipgloss in Femme
A beautiful pink coral lipgloss that really packs a punch! And it only cost £5; thank you IMATS!
♥ Sleek Rose Gold Blush
I've recently been using this a ridiculous amount and I'd forgotten just how beautiful it is on the skin. A lovely coral-pink shade with just the right amount of light diffusing shimmer for the perfect complexion
♥ Illamasqua Liquid Metal in Surge and Illamasqua Pure Pigment in Chasm
I've obviously been having a bit of an Illamasqua fest this month, and these are two items that I picked up at IMATS that go really well together. I really love the versatility of the pigments - I've used them as shadows, highlights, eyeliners and even in franken polishes. There are swatches of this combination on my IMATS haul post :)
♥ Avon Naturals Nourishing Indulgence Sugar Plum & Vanilla Room and Linen Spray
I bought this on a whim as it was a purse friendly £1.50 just to freshen up my room - nobody loves the smell of nail polish do they? - and it smells absolutely divine! A definite one to repurchase.
~*~
Which products have you been loving lately?
~*~
Which products have you been loving lately?
Monday, 27 February 2012
Review: Illamasqua Pure Pigments
Firstly, apologies for being so quiet on the blogging front this month, work has been hectic and I've barely had time for myself let alone blogging and tweeting, but fear not, I'm back now and I've decided to review the Pure Pigments from Illamasqua!
Clockwise from top left: Berber, Chasm, Beguile*, Involve
Product
Illamasqua say: Made to be played with. A metallic, high-shine, pure-colour powder that highlights eyes, cheeks and brows.
I say: I love playing around with Pure Pigments! They're such a versatile product which makes the possibilities pretty much endless. My first foray into the world of Pure Pigments was quite a while ago when I purchased Alluvium. Sadly I no longer have it, but it made not only a great shadow, but a lovely franken nail polish. Fast forward to a recent Glossybox where I did a swap with a fellow blogger and got Involve which is a beautiful purple shade that I love to use with a purple smokey eye. I was also lucky enough to be invited to the Theatre of the Nameless blogger event where I received Beguile which I was chuffed to bits with because it is GORGEOUS. I've used it as a shadow, highlight and in franken polishes. As soon as the collection launched online I bought Berber which is a stunning red shade and I love to wear it as a shadow and also as a liner when mixed with Sealing Gel (which you also need in your life by the way!) My most recent addition to my Pure Pigment collection is Chasm which I bought at IMATS a few weeks ago after seeing it on a member of the Illamasqua team. Impulse purchase ;) It looks absolutely beautiful as a shadow and I cannot wait to try it out as a liner and a franken polish!
Application
Illamasqua say: Mix with eye shadow, blusher or use it on its own to intense effect. Bring out your bold side.
I say: Pure Pigments work well on their own, but to intensify the colour I love either using them over a base like a Cream Pigment or a kohl pencil, or mixing them with Sealing Gel as a shadow or liner. Mixing them with a nail polish is fairly easy and can automatically bring new life to a polish that you're bored with! The pigments can also be used to mix with blusher but the shades I have wouldn't really work for every day wear. The one teeny gripe I have with these is the packaging. I can see why they are how they are but sometimes it's just a pain to try and get product out, especially when you're near the end of a product. I would absolutely love it if they came in pots with sifters instead of just a small round hole in the centre covered with plastic.
Price: £15.50
Size: 1.3g
Available from: Illamasqua stores, counters and online
Ratings
Product: 10/10
Price: 8/10
Packaging: 8/10
Overall: 9/10
Repurchase: Absolutely!!
♥ ♥ ♥
Are you a fan of the Illamasqua pure pigments? Want to get your hands on some of the favourites? In that case, head over to Buyapowa this week where you can get your hands on my Bloggers Week co-buy of 3 cult Pure Pigments!! Will you be snapping their hands off? I know I will! Be sure to check out the other Bloggers Week co-buys too! I've popped the badge on my blog as a reminder :) There are some fabulous items coming up so get clicking!
Friday, 24 February 2012
IMATS London 2012: The Haul
Ladies, do I have a haul post for you! I was quite sensible this year and only bought things I absolutely *knew* that I'd use so there are totally no frivolous purchases here whatsoever *ahem*
Brushes & Accessories
I may have gone a bit brush mad this year. I visited Crown Brush, Real Techniques, PAM and Royal & Langnickel and came away with these beauties.
My first stop once again was Crown Brush. This year I took way more notice of the price and got a lovely selection for around £25.
With all the hype over the Real Techniques brushes, and being a huge fan of Sam Chapman, I couldn't not stop by the Real Techniques stand. I picked up the Core Collection:
Talking of Sam, I know she loves her Louise Young brushes, so when I happened to see a selection of Louise Young brushes at PAM, I picked up 2 of her eyeliner brushes, the LY24 (top) and the LY25 (bottom):
As I mentioned in my IMATS post, I was invited to the Royal & Langnickel Blogger's Lounge and I was totally surprised to be given a complimentary brush set which is absolutely beautiful. I also purchased this beautiful pink brush roll for a bargainlicious £20!
Leanne and I both chose not to get face charts last year, but this time we decided to go for it, so we stopped by Pro Chart and this year they were doing a deal - 2 for £25 - so Leanne and I went halves and got one each which made them £12.50.
We then found out Make Up Designory were selling something similar for just £4. See, it pays to shop around!
Cosmetics
Make Up For Ever
I was quite excited that Make Up For Ever were having their own independent stand at IMATS this year, so I wasted no time in heading straight there to make a few purchases as I had a couple of products on my shopping list, but I sort of made a few spur of the moment purchases. And with 35% off the marked price, it would have been rude not to, right?
HD foundation in shade #110
HD blush in shade #5
Aqua Cream in shade #01
Kohl Pencil in shade #6K
Aqua Liner in shade #5
Lab Shine Star Collection lip glosses #S0 (top) and #S18 (bottom)
#S0 was a repurchase for me as I have it and absolutely love it! Sheer, long lasting gloss with a non sticky finish and a beautiful peachy scent and erm taste?!
Swatches
L-R: Lab Shine Star Collection Lip Glosses in S18 and S0, Aqua Liner in #5, Kohl Pencil in #6K, Aqua Cream in #1, HD Blush in #5 and HD Foundation in #110
L-R: Lab Shine Star Collection Lip Glosses in S18 and S0, Aqua Liner in #5, Kohl Pencil in #6K, Aqua Cream in #1, HD Blush in #5 and HD Foundation in #110
L-R: Lab Shine Star Collection Lip Glosses in S18 and S0, Aqua Liner in #5, Kohl Pencil in #6K, Aqua Cream in #1, HD Blush in #5 and HD Foundation in #110
Inglot
I was quite good at Inglot and I was only going to pick up a couple of lipstick pans but you know, it was such a bargain to get 5 plus a palette for just £16 so here they are!
L-R: 10, 13, 29, 64, 68
Swatches
L-R: 10, 13, 29, 64, 68
Charles Fox
Nothing really took my fancy at Charles Fox this year but I did pick up an edition of Make Up International and another whimsical purchase was a Kryolan Glamour Sparks in Aqua which is blinking beautiful!
Swatch
Sorry it's a tad blurry, but it picks up the beautiful blue sparkles! I love layering this over shadow.
Illamasqua
Without a doubt, I spent most of my money at Illamasqua. One could say I went overboard... Although I did get a few things for other people so it wasn't all for me ;)
My stash:
Foundations were just £7.50 so I picked up a cream foundation in CF210 and a light liquid foundation in 120
Everything else was £5 a piece on Saturday, then on Sunday it was 3 for £10 so here is my ridiculous amount of Illy goodies!
Cream Eye Shadow in Crumble
Liquid Metal in Surge
Pure Pigment in Chasm
Medium Pencils were just £2 but the only one that took my fancy was Feisty:
Lipglosses in Femme (Intense), Violate (Sheer) and Galactic (Intense)
Nail Polishes in Propaganda, Baptiste and Throb
Swatches
L-R: Intense Lipgloss in Galactic, Sheer Lipgloss in Violate, Intense Lipgloss in Femme, Medium Pencil in Feisty, Liquid Metal in Surge + Pure Pigment in Chasm, Pure Pigment in Chasm, Liquid Metal in Surge, Cream Eyeshadow in Crumble, Light Liquid Foundation in 110 and Cream Foundation in CF210
L-R: Liquid Metal in Surge + Pure Pigment in Chasm, Pure Pigment in Chasm, Liquid Metal in Surge
L-R: Intense Lipgloss in Galactic, Sheer Lipgloss in Violate, Intense Lipgloss in Femme, Medium Pencil in Feisty
L-R: Baptiste, Propaganda and Throb
♥ ♥ ♥
Is it bad that I still think I didn't get a lot?! I don't even want to think about how much I spent overall but I'm pretty pleased with the things that I bought.
Did you go to IMATS? What was your best buy?
I may have gone a bit brush mad this year. I visited Crown Brush, Real Techniques, PAM and Royal & Langnickel and came away with these beauties.
My first stop once again was Crown Brush. This year I took way more notice of the price and got a lovely selection for around £25.
With all the hype over the Real Techniques brushes, and being a huge fan of Sam Chapman, I couldn't not stop by the Real Techniques stand. I picked up the Core Collection:
Talking of Sam, I know she loves her Louise Young brushes, so when I happened to see a selection of Louise Young brushes at PAM, I picked up 2 of her eyeliner brushes, the LY24 (top) and the LY25 (bottom):
As I mentioned in my IMATS post, I was invited to the Royal & Langnickel Blogger's Lounge and I was totally surprised to be given a complimentary brush set which is absolutely beautiful. I also purchased this beautiful pink brush roll for a bargainlicious £20!
Leanne and I both chose not to get face charts last year, but this time we decided to go for it, so we stopped by Pro Chart and this year they were doing a deal - 2 for £25 - so Leanne and I went halves and got one each which made them £12.50.
We then found out Make Up Designory were selling something similar for just £4. See, it pays to shop around!
Cosmetics
Make Up For Ever
I was quite excited that Make Up For Ever were having their own independent stand at IMATS this year, so I wasted no time in heading straight there to make a few purchases as I had a couple of products on my shopping list, but I sort of made a few spur of the moment purchases. And with 35% off the marked price, it would have been rude not to, right?
HD foundation in shade #110
HD blush in shade #5
Aqua Cream in shade #01
Kohl Pencil in shade #6K
Aqua Liner in shade #5
Lab Shine Star Collection lip glosses #S0 (top) and #S18 (bottom)
#S0 was a repurchase for me as I have it and absolutely love it! Sheer, long lasting gloss with a non sticky finish and a beautiful peachy scent and erm taste?!
Swatches
L-R: Lab Shine Star Collection Lip Glosses in S18 and S0, Aqua Liner in #5, Kohl Pencil in #6K, Aqua Cream in #1, HD Blush in #5 and HD Foundation in #110
L-R: Lab Shine Star Collection Lip Glosses in S18 and S0, Aqua Liner in #5, Kohl Pencil in #6K, Aqua Cream in #1, HD Blush in #5 and HD Foundation in #110
L-R: Lab Shine Star Collection Lip Glosses in S18 and S0, Aqua Liner in #5, Kohl Pencil in #6K, Aqua Cream in #1, HD Blush in #5 and HD Foundation in #110
Inglot
I was quite good at Inglot and I was only going to pick up a couple of lipstick pans but you know, it was such a bargain to get 5 plus a palette for just £16 so here they are!
L-R: 10, 13, 29, 64, 68
Swatches
L-R: 10, 13, 29, 64, 68
Charles Fox
Nothing really took my fancy at Charles Fox this year but I did pick up an edition of Make Up International and another whimsical purchase was a Kryolan Glamour Sparks in Aqua which is blinking beautiful!
Swatch
Sorry it's a tad blurry, but it picks up the beautiful blue sparkles! I love layering this over shadow.
Illamasqua
Without a doubt, I spent most of my money at Illamasqua. One could say I went overboard... Although I did get a few things for other people so it wasn't all for me ;)
My stash:
Foundations were just £7.50 so I picked up a cream foundation in CF210 and a light liquid foundation in 120
Everything else was £5 a piece on Saturday, then on Sunday it was 3 for £10 so here is my ridiculous amount of Illy goodies!
Cream Eye Shadow in Crumble
Liquid Metal in Surge
Pure Pigment in Chasm
Medium Pencils were just £2 but the only one that took my fancy was Feisty:
Lipglosses in Femme (Intense), Violate (Sheer) and Galactic (Intense)
Nail Polishes in Propaganda, Baptiste and Throb
Swatches
L-R: Intense Lipgloss in Galactic, Sheer Lipgloss in Violate, Intense Lipgloss in Femme, Medium Pencil in Feisty, Liquid Metal in Surge + Pure Pigment in Chasm, Pure Pigment in Chasm, Liquid Metal in Surge, Cream Eyeshadow in Crumble, Light Liquid Foundation in 110 and Cream Foundation in CF210
L-R: Liquid Metal in Surge + Pure Pigment in Chasm, Pure Pigment in Chasm, Liquid Metal in Surge
L-R: Intense Lipgloss in Galactic, Sheer Lipgloss in Violate, Intense Lipgloss in Femme, Medium Pencil in Feisty
L-R: Baptiste, Propaganda and Throb
♥ ♥ ♥
Is it bad that I still think I didn't get a lot?! I don't even want to think about how much I spent overall but I'm pretty pleased with the things that I bought.
Did you go to IMATS? What was your best buy?
Monday, 20 February 2012
IMATS London 2012
The most exciting weekend in the make up calendar has happened, and it was as expected, a fabulous few days! This year was the second time I'd ventured to IMATS and I was able to book 4 days annual leave to have myself a make up mini break in London!
Saturday
Saturday
I was up bright and early on Saturday morning to get ready and hotfoot it to Wood Green to meet my BBBFF Leanne. Up to Ally Pally we went and unleashed ourselves on the spectacular which was day one of IMATS London 2012.
This year, IMATS moved to The Great Hall, which meant more space! A great improvement on last year as there was so much more mingling space so even though it was busy, it didn't feel crowded. I took a few snaps just so you get the idea of the sheer size of the place!
Of course, the very first place I headed to was Crown Brush so I could stock up on their brilliant value brushes. I wasn't disappointed with a large stall and plenty of room to shop! I knew getting up at silly o'clock would be worth it :D
Judging by the amount I brought home, the theme this year for me was make up brushes! I was excited to stop by at the Real Techniques stand and pick up the Core Collection (bronze brushes). I did actually get to see Sam and Nic Chapman again on the Sunday - both looking absolutely stunning as usual!
Talking of Sam and Nic, when I popped over to PAM, I saw they were stocking Louise Young brushes so I bought a couple of eyeliner brushes in a bid to help my eyeliner technique. Have to say, with the brushes I bought - totally nailed it!
There were some real sights to behold once again walking around the Great Hall - here are just a few of the best ones!
Check out this prosthetic make up from the artists at Guru Makeup Emporium.
He was transformed into this:
This guy was properly taking it seriously - charging at the crowds and roaring at them :/ Needless to say, I legged it haha!
~ On our way to a mid morning tea break (how very English of us!) we passed these guys getting ready for the Beauty/Fantasy competition ~
~ A model at Stage Line Professional ~
As I was making a weekend of it, I was determined to make it to some shows this time around. Leanne and I were lucky enough to get into the Nick Dudman talk in the afternoon which we were super excited about as he was making up actor Warwick Davis as Professor Flitwick from the Harry Potter films! We actually saw Warwick and his family arrive to Ally Pally on a chance trip outside - hop over to Leanne's blog to take a peek :)
~ A finished Professor Flitwick make up after Nick had made him look injured ~
~*~
Sunday
Day two of IMATS for us, was picking up things that we hadn't gotten around to on Saturday. I was aiming to be in and out within a couple of hours however, TFL kind of ruined that plan. For anyone that was following my tweets on Saturday, you may have seen a very angry tweet around 2am. This is the time I got back to the hotel I was staying in after leaving the Olly Murs gig at The o2 at 10:20pm on Saturday night. Needless to say, I wasn't a very happy bunny. Luckily, and no thanks to the snow, I did make it to IMATS on Sundaymorning afternoon.
One of the sponsors of IMATS London was once again Royal & Langnickel - a makeup brush manufacturer. I was lucky enough to be invited to their Blogger Lounge on the Saturday where we met the Vice President of the company - hi Bill! - and had tea and a chat which was lovely! It was nice to be able to have a chat and find out a bit more about the company - they actually manufacture brushes for 4 of the companies with stands at IMATS. Interesting stuff! I also FINALLY met the gorgeous Zoe from The London Lipgloss!
This year, IMATS moved to The Great Hall, which meant more space! A great improvement on last year as there was so much more mingling space so even though it was busy, it didn't feel crowded. I took a few snaps just so you get the idea of the sheer size of the place!
Of course, the very first place I headed to was Crown Brush so I could stock up on their brilliant value brushes. I wasn't disappointed with a large stall and plenty of room to shop! I knew getting up at silly o'clock would be worth it :D
Judging by the amount I brought home, the theme this year for me was make up brushes! I was excited to stop by at the Real Techniques stand and pick up the Core Collection (bronze brushes). I did actually get to see Sam and Nic Chapman again on the Sunday - both looking absolutely stunning as usual!
Talking of Sam and Nic, when I popped over to PAM, I saw they were stocking Louise Young brushes so I bought a couple of eyeliner brushes in a bid to help my eyeliner technique. Have to say, with the brushes I bought - totally nailed it!
~ The ridiculously busy PAM stall with a very impressive 35% off MUFE! ~
Although this year, Make Up For Ever had their own stall and the prices were the same as PAM so I went a bit crazy and bought a few things that I'd wanted for a while and maybe a few spur of the moment things...
~ I want her hair! - A model at Make Up For Ever ~
There were some real sights to behold once again walking around the Great Hall - here are just a few of the best ones!
Check out this prosthetic make up from the artists at Guru Makeup Emporium.
He was transformed into this:
This guy was properly taking it seriously - charging at the crowds and roaring at them :/ Needless to say, I legged it haha!
As I was making a weekend of it, I was determined to make it to some shows this time around. Leanne and I were lucky enough to get into the Nick Dudman talk in the afternoon which we were super excited about as he was making up actor Warwick Davis as Professor Flitwick from the Harry Potter films! We actually saw Warwick and his family arrive to Ally Pally on a chance trip outside - hop over to Leanne's blog to take a peek :)
~*~
Sunday
Day two of IMATS for us, was picking up things that we hadn't gotten around to on Saturday. I was aiming to be in and out within a couple of hours however, TFL kind of ruined that plan. For anyone that was following my tweets on Saturday, you may have seen a very angry tweet around 2am. This is the time I got back to the hotel I was staying in after leaving the Olly Murs gig at The o2 at 10:20pm on Saturday night. Needless to say, I wasn't a very happy bunny. Luckily, and no thanks to the snow, I did make it to IMATS on Sunday
One of the sponsors of IMATS London was once again Royal & Langnickel - a makeup brush manufacturer. I was lucky enough to be invited to their Blogger Lounge on the Saturday where we met the Vice President of the company - hi Bill! - and had tea and a chat which was lovely! It was nice to be able to have a chat and find out a bit more about the company - they actually manufacture brushes for 4 of the companies with stands at IMATS. Interesting stuff! I also FINALLY met the gorgeous Zoe from The London Lipgloss!
Their brush sets were incredibly good value and brilliant quality so I just had to pick one up!
Inglot were once again, incredibly popular with the crowd and had a suitably large stand which was great and I didn't see it get unbearably crazy busy as it did last year.
Illamasqua was my outstanding favourite company this year - bargain central! On Saturday absolutely everything was £5 except for the foundations which were £7.50. I bought so much stuff! The photo below was as close as I managed to get it was that busy! I went back on the Sunday as I heard everything was 3 for £10. I spent around £75 in total and got 16 items! Can you believe it?! I'll showcase them all in my IMATS haul post which is coming up soon!
One of the things I enjoy watching are the Student Competitions and this year was no exception. I made sure to watch the character/prosthetic competition on Sunday afternoon. The work done was absolutely incredible considering the competitors had just 3 hours to transform their models into their chosen characters. I managed to catch the action on video for you!
Some fantastic entries right?!
♥ ♥ ♥
Congratulations if you made it to the end of this post! I'll be popping up my IMATS haul in a couple of days so you can see which fabulous bargains I got!
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