Green shimmery-smokey eye

So the other day I came across this Bourjois smokey eye trio in Vert trendy, which I bought a looooong while back. I can't remember why I decided to get it in green, as I normally go for browns or black for a smokey eye. Anyway I threw caution to the wind and just tried out a simple smokey look. 

I simply used the lightest shade over the lid then mixed the medium and dark to smoke out my outer corners. The lightest shade especially had a very pearlescent/shimmery finish  which really caught and reflected the light. All the shadows I found very easy to blend and apply and had hardly any fall-out at all! Although I am not completely sold on the green shade for myself I would definitely pick up another set in a different colour. It is the perfect smokey eye in a single palette!

Lady in red

Today I gave my new bright red bag it's first outing. I am normally quite a neutral bag lover, sticking to beige, black and dark colours. However I saw this in a little local bag shop and loved it! I let the bag pop by pairing it with a plain denim dress and some thick black tights.

Rimmel apocalips; Galaxy review

So, I gave in to the hype, and I am so glad I did! As I approached the Rimmel stand in Boots, Christmas giftcard in hand, I saw that a lot of shades had already been completely snapped up, including a few I had my eyes on. However this meant that with my options narrowed I reached for Galaxy, a purple-y shade that I would not have otherwise picked. 

The first thing that impressed me was the packaging, the clear part at the bottom of the container means you actually get a true to life visual of what the product looks like, rather than faffing around with dirty testers etc etc. Then came the application, the doe foot applicator holds the product nicely, and one sweep over your lips leaves a super pigmented not-too-glossy lip colour behind. They feel incredibly light on your lips, almost balm-like. I am very pleased with how Galaxy looks on me but I will certainly be making another trip to pick up the colours I missed out on, and probably all the rest too!

Food for thought

Marinated salmon and sweet potato mash                                          Stuffed pumpkin

  

Thought I would share my latest culinary creations as I have to say they both tasted uh-mazing. Firstly, the salmon, a recipe I stole off my mum and adapted slightly to suit my student food cupboard;

You will need

• Salmon fillet
• 1/2 onion
• 1 inch ginger (grated or finely chopped)
• roughly a tablespoon soy sauce or fish sauce 
• 1/2 tablespoon of lemon juice (this was my substitute for lemon grass!)
• tablespoon of sweet chilli sauce (I used this instead of actual chilli as I don't like things too hot)
• 1 clove of garlic (grated or finely chopped)
• a bit of butter 
• tinfoil

So, once you have gathered everything it is pretty simple, it basically all goes into a tinfoil parcel and popped into the oven at 170 for 20 minutes. For the mash I used 2 sweet potatoes, a bit of milk and butter and also ripped up a big pinch of chives into it. The salad was just from a packet, and, boom! a tasty and pretty healthy meal.

Next we have a yummy stuffed pumpkin, we followed this recipe, but pretty much ended up adding everything in our fridge! We were really pleased with how it came out as it was pretty much just experimentation.  

B. and MAC review

So I recently had my first foray into MAC (kind of) as from a blog sale I picked up their Cream colour base in Bat Black (which is no longer sold). This is a black cream with small red-ish/magenta flakes which as a green eyed girl I should apparently wear to make my eyes pop. I started to imagine all the cool smokey eye looks I could make with this and subsequently realised I didn't have a nude-y lipstick to pair with it. I had recently suggested to my mum that she try a micellar water to take her make up off at night rather than wipes, and we saw that the newly launched B. range at Superdrug sold this one for 3.99 which seemed like a good place to start. So, as I was picking that up for her I had a casual browse at the other products B. had to offer, my eye was caught by their lipstick in the shade  dolls house it seemed like the perfect colour to pair with my Bat Black smokey eye.

This was during the day so I tried to keep the smokey eye quite subtle.

MAC Cream colour base:

I was actually not as impressed with this as I thought I was going to be. The colour was quite nice and it was a more interesting alternative to plain black. However even with a primer underneath and some black eye shadow on top it still creased really quickly. I don't know if there is some secret that I don't know about in terms of getting it to stay put? the CCB's that MAC now sell are more targeted as highlighters and blush bases which I think would suit the formulation a lot more. This is the first product I have tried from MAC and though I am not really impressed it certainly hasn't put me off trying more, I'm thinking maybe a lipstick next?

B. Intense colour lipstick:

Firstly, I must mention the awesome packaging, instead of being your standard lipstick tube with a lid. This is a tube, and you have to push down on the end of the lipstick to make it then pop out  so that you can then pull it out (like the end of a click-y pen). I can't explain it very well, but it basically means no more top-less lipsticks accidentally rolling about in my make up bag and getting ruined. This is a  creamy, pigmented lipstick which stays quite glossy but eventually dries to quite  a satin like finish. The lasting power is pretty good, I topped up after my Starbuck's, which is standard really. To keep it perfect I would probably top up every few hours as it is lighter than my natural lip and quite a soft, glossy formulation. I will definitely be checking out more of the B. range, especially as it is currently on a introductory price offer.

Avon nailwear pro+ Golden Vision

I am in love with this nail varnish! For starters, the lid is the perfect size to actually hold and work with, and the rest of the packaging looks lovely and glam. The brush has an almost stiff feeling and the bristles stay close together ( I really can't think of how to describe it). Which paired with the formula makes it so easy to apply this polish in thin, easy, coats which dry quickly and only 2 are needed for complete opaqueness.Then the colour, I have "Golden Vision" which is a gorgeous shimmery glittery gold, with extremely small glitter particles so it doesn't take an age and a lot of elbow grease to get it off! It is also fortified with acrylic gel so in theory should last longer than regular polishes.  Better still, Avon have it on offer here! Though for some reason this colour seems to have been discontinued? If you can get hold of it I definitely recommend this colour for summer. 

Summer face with Chanel, Clinique and Sleek

So now the sun has decided to show it's face I thought I would experiment with a  more tanned summer make up look. This features my ebay bargain find of Chanel's illuminating fluid that I nabbed for £15.50 and with an RRP of around £30 I thought that was pretty neat! This post also includes my first impressions of Benefit's They're real! mascara and Clinique's even better make up and sunset glow blush (all stolen from my ma's make up bag!) . It was really hard to try and capture it but here is the finished look;

And here is the make up I used to achieve it, I forgot to include W7's honolulu bronzer.

I will start by saying that last night I slathered on St. Tropez's gradual tanner so that I had a bit of colour to my otherwise pale-as-flour skin. I then used Clinique's even better make up  this is quite a high coverage foundation which I wouldn't normally choose for a summer-look but yet I was really impressed with the way it evened out my skin tone and covered my flaws without looking cakey and thick. I put some extra cover under my eyes where I have huge bags with another Clinique offering, this time in the form of Continuous coverage and extremely high coverage foundation/concealer that I think is initially targeted at covering up scars. I then set this with the yellow shaded powder in my Sleek Au Natural palette to counteract and blue-ness left. I then did some slight contouring with W7's Honolulu bronzer and dusted Clinique's Blushing Blush powder blush (what a mouthful)  in 07 Sunset glow onto my cheeks. A reddish-terracotta bronzey colour with a slight shimmer which compliments a tan (faux or real) perfectly. My Chanel highlighter was carefully dotted along my cheeks to give me a lovely healthy glow which unfortunately doesn't translate to well in the picture, but I love it!  Yet again Clinique found themselves on my lips with their Chubby stick in Fuller fig offering me a my lips but better shade with a moisturising glossy finish. 

I did some very subtle lining and defining in my eyes with a kahki and brown shade from my palette. I then tried Benefit's They're real mascara. With all the hype around this product I was expecting to be blown away, and all though it separates and defines my lashes very nicely it doesn't give me the length which I crave, so maybe one for the naturally long lash-ed of us girls.

So there we are! my first summer-y bronzed look, still needs a bit of tweaking but I am happy with how it came out. 

Love stuff box

So a little while ago I was lucky enough to win a competition over at love stuff box's facebook page  to receive a love stuff packet. We have all heard of beauty box's which will provide with some goodies from the beauty world to sample every month, but love stuff box provides you with lovely items from independent businesses and sellers. Without further ado, here is what was in the packet of goodness that dropped through my letterbox;

A notebook from Hey, Katie Designs

This cute little notebook printed with "the best is yet to come" is filled with plain paper and is the perfect size to keep in a little pocket in your bag. If you head over to the website as well there are plenty of designs and quotes to tickle your fancy, you are bound to find something to scribble away into!

A wish bracelet from Forrest Mush

This delicate little bracelet comes in a selection of colours and charms, there are also some adorable tote bags for sale on the website too. I think these would look lovely stacked up or on their own.

Pink petal lemonade teabags from Love and Leaf

A am not a big tea drinker, but I'm very much looking forward to trying this quirky flavour, seems like it will be right up my street. there are also flavours such as banana split, toffee apple, and mint choc if that is more your cup of tea! (sorry I couldn't help it)

Love heart soap from Essex soap box

This heart shaped soap boasting the word Hugs, like the much loved love heart sweets, has a lovely scent and a soft moisturising feel. Perfect to bring a touch of sweetness to any bathroom, plus you can get them in a range of colours so you can co-ordinate.

Voucher from Beckie Bray portrait artist

Last but not least I received a 10% of a sketch or 15% off a detailed portrait from Beckie Bray. Looking through her website I  particularly noticed her knack for capturing animals personalities, I would love get my crazy little dog Leo drawn by her. I also think that her art would make a lovely gift or keepsake.

I loved all my little items I received and think it is nice for some smaller independent businesses to get recognition for their hard work. Head on over to love stuff's shop  where you can get monthly box's or cheaper packs!