What's In My Current Makeup Bag?

I don't tend the wear the same things everyday as I like to experiment. I used a different blush, eyeshadow, highlight everyday usually but recently I have been really loving this little combination. For the days that I am in a rush, feeling lazy and just want my face slapped on quick... this is what I have been using. 

Foundation - Rimmel Lasting Finish 100 Ivory 

Concealer - Miss Sporty Perfect Stay 10hr 001 Light 

Powder - Rimmel Stay Matte Peach Glow 

Blush - H&M Pure Radiance Powder Cherry 

Contour/Bronzer - Primark Contour Kit Light 

Highlighter - Technic Get Gorgeous 

Eyeshadow - Primark PS...Precious Metals Liquid Eyeshadow Copper

Mascara - Urban Decay Perversion 

Eyebrows - Models Own Now Brow! Eyebrow Kit Medium Brown 09

Lips - Tanya Burr Cosmetics Liquid Lipstick Martha Moo

Mothers Day Gift Ideas

  One      Two      Three      Four     

Shopping for a Mothers Day gift can be quite difficult, it is so easy just to fall into the bunch of flowers category and I don't know if its just me but I think flowers a crappy gift. They die and they aren't personal. 

I have tried to find a selection of ideas for varying price points so hopefully you find this helpful!

1. Emma Bridgewater Mug

Emma Bridgewater makes the most gorgeous mugs! Isn't this one lovely? Emma Bridgewater mugs are very expensive for mugs, it is not something you would buy for yourself which is one reason why it would make such a lovely thoughtful gift!

2. HP Sprocket

If you are looking to spoil your mum just that little bit extra then this is a great gift. I got this for Christmas myself and I am in love with it. It is an inkless mini printer that prints directly from your phone. If you have a tech savvy mum then this would be a fab gift, if you don't then this might be a bad idea as you will get constant phone calls asking how to use it! 

3.  Woodwick Summer Sweets Trilogy Candle

Mums love candles, it's just a fact. You can't go wrong with a beautiful candle and this one is especially fancy with the three layers of varied scent and wooden wick. If I'm stuck on a gift idea, I always go for a candle!

4. Gold Spot Scrapbook

As a gift to go with the HP Sprocket or just for a mum who loves to collect memories or is a craft fan, this lovely scrapbook will go down a treat! You can also have the cover personalised which adds another little personal touch!

What will you get your mum for Mothers Day? Or are you gonna go for one of my suggestions? 

Too Faced Chocolate Bar Palette DUPE?!?!

There are countless dupes in the drugstore for high end products but none quite as brazen as this! 

This palette is the Naked Chocolate by I Heart Makeup, I Heart Makeup is a brand under the TAM Beauty umbrella and is a much loved value drugstore brand these days! They do a huge range of Chocolate Bar palettes, more varieties than Too Faced themselves even! 

This particular palette isn't a direct dupe for any of the Too Faced palettes but others in the range very much are! I Heart Makeup's original I Heart Chocolate palette is pretty much a complete copy shade for shade of the original Too Faced Chocolate Bar palette. 

The packaging is not an exact dupe but the idea is much the same, the Too Faced palette is sleek metal in the shape of a chocolate bar where as this one is plastic and although still in the shape of a chocolate bar, they do look different. They are not complete copies. 

Both are attractive, the Too Faced is much more luxurious feeling but for almost 5 times the price, that is to be expected! 

The shades inside this palette are lovely, a fantastic combination of nudes both darker ones, lighter and everything in between! You can create countless looks with just this one palette. The shadows themselves are great quality, very buttery and pigmented much like the Too Faced shadows, they are a little powdery at times but nothing that would make them unusable in any way. The quality is certainly not as good as Too Faced but they are pretty damn amazing still!

I huge selling point of the original Chocolate Bar Palette is obviously the incredible chocolate smell and this palette has that too! It is not as intense and not as good but it is still satisfying. I still shove my nose in it before I use it everytime!

I didn't take notes of the shade names here but if you want to know them just leave me a comment and I will get back to you!

As you can see, the shimmer shades are intense and pigmented. The matte shades are much the same, very rich and lovely in every way!

Often, cheaper eyeshadows don't have as much impact in the lighter shades. A lot of the time they just blend away to nothing so for me, these shades are a great way to see the quality in a palette.

Look at these swatches though? So shimmery, so pigmented and smooth! 

What do you guys think? Will you be purchasing one of these little dupes over a Too Faced palette or like me, would you like to own both? I'd love to know your opinions!

Purchase Here 

My Introduction to Too Faced!

I am pretty set in my ways when it comes to makeup, I like trying new things but usually from the same brands (Urban Decay I'm looking at you) but this year it is high time to mix it up and try something new!

Too Faced is a brand that is so raved about and so coveted that it is frankly ridiculous that it has taken me this long to try! 

When trying to narrow down what I wanted to try first from Too Faced, it wasn't too hard. This palette is beautiful, the packaging, the shade collection and the hype alone confirmed to me that I wouldn't be let down.

 And I wasn't let down ever in the slightest!

I felt that this palette was a safe choice as it contains core shades, browns, golds and a few stand out shades such as the reds and purple. I thought it would be a practical palette, useful for everyday and easy to use. I was right but also wrong in this sense, it is an easy palette to work with but the shadows  when applied are each truly incredible in there own ways. 

Hazelnut for instance is just a light brown in the pan but this one shade alone can create a whole eyeshadow look. It might well be my very favourite shadow in this whole palette, I can't explain why it is so special but it applies like a dream (all the shades do), it blends so effortlessly (all the shades do) and somehow just looks...more. More effort, more intense, more beautiful than any other light brown shadow I have ever used. 

Another favourite shade is Creme Brûlée, I have many other shadows in my collection that look similar in the pan but Creme Brûlée is different, it glides on like butter and shimmers so intensely that I have just fallen head over heels in love with it. 

Left: Hazelnut - Creme Brûlée - Milk Chocolate -  Salted Caramel :Right

These four swatched above as my most used shades so far but I'm certain eventually every shadow will be used and loved.

I also want to mention a few other shades that tickle my pickle, Amaretto and Black Forest Truffle are the darker red tones and I love them. A little harder to wear on an everyday which is why they aren't so used but there are delectable. 

I also want to mention the smell of this palette, I knew it was chocolate scented before I bought it but i didn't care much about it. A smell doesn't effect the use right? It does! They not only smell like chocolate powder but they feel like it too. The smell is so sweet and lovely, it really does just enhance the palette as a whole.

I cannot recommend this enough! 

Purchase Here

If this palette is a little out of your price range but you need some chocolatey goodness, Sundays post will be about an incredible dupe! 

MAKEUP OBSESSION

Top Row From Left:     Pearl    Bare    Moon

Bottom Row From Left:    Chrome    Precious    Radiance

I'm sure you have all heard of MakeUp Obsession by now. It is a Boots own brand of refillable/customisable palettes with a huge array of refill pans including eyeshadows, highlighters, blushers, contours and more recently lip products. The palettes can also be engraved as part of the Boots Emporium which is freaking cool.

I thought it was a snazzy idea when I first saw it but in the blink of an eye it felt like all the British youtubers/bloggers started taking about it like crazy! So many good reviews! Especially of the highlighter in Moon which is my favourite highlighter at the moment and I can't see that changing anytime soon! It is truly incredible.

(These swatches are actually in the wrong order! They are Bare, Moon and Pearl)

In my palette, I chose to go for just highlighters because they were what was being the best reviewed. I went for three standard pressed powders (top row) and three strobe creams (bottom row).

Lets take about the powders first, I am in love. Head over heels, truly, madly, deeply in love! They are all so buttery and smooth, little to no kick up when you sweep the brush through, highly pigmented and in the most beautiful unique yet wearable shades. 

Moon (the lilac) has been raved about all over youtube and it is totally understandable why! Look at that pigment! It looks so good on my pale skin tone and although I haven't tried it, I think it would look lovely on a more tanner lady too. Pearl is a gorgeous slightly golden toned highlight, if used with a light hand it is a great everyday highlight or layer it up for a seriously blinding highlight! Bare is probably my favourite. It is a baby pink, very simple but can be build up to a blinding glow which I adore. 

What is so great about these is that they can be worn in a very natural way or built up to look super intense, they are very versatile. A makeup collection staple in my opinion.

The strobe creams are not as loved by me but they are still great. They are very creamy, very pigmented but not as pigmented as the powders. If you're going for a simple everyday look then these will work well for you but what I like to do is wear them under the powders to intensify the pigments even further. I'm not afraid to glow so I really enjoy doing this, I can't even explain to you how intense this method makes your highlight! 

These all also work beautifully as an inner corner highlight!

You need these in your life! I am so pleased with them! Such good quality for such a low price, I actually think they are better highlighters than many high end ones I have tried!

Shop MakeUp Obsession Here

Urban Decay Lipstick Palette in Junkie

I'm super lazy and can't be bothered with wearing lipstick everyday, making sure it always looks pristine. So spending a lot of money on separate lipsticks is a waste, they won't get used often but because of this I don't get to try out different looks when I do fancy wearing a little lippie. 

When this was palette was first announced I knew it had to have it, finally a way to try a little of everything!

The packaging is gorgeous, I love the gun metal case and the sleek rectangle shape. Beautifully embossed with VICE on the front. Everything about this palette is sexy.

When you open it you are greeted with a clear black flip open cover which I really like as it will protect your lipsticks when you are just using the huge mirror. It reads...

...Lipstick Is My Vice.

The outer cardboard packaging is super alluring, the boldness of the colours shown just makes you lust so hard to see what is inside. 

The palette includes a retractable brush for easy application, I usually never use included brushes but this one is a must. Applies product perfectly, it is a great shape and density but the best thing is that you can load the brush with product, retract it then take just the brush out with you for quick touch ups! Not sure if this is intended purpose but it sure works well!

Top from left: Disturbed   714   Carnal   Safe Word   Studded   Whip 

Bottom from right: Wrath   Big Bang   Firebird   Vanity Kills   Speedball   Junkie 

There are two palette options, "Blackmail" is a more wearable palette which I was temped to get for that reason but I went for "Junkie" was because I felt the included 12 shades were more interesting and varied. 

There is a good variation of shades available from wearable nudes, pinks and sexy reds as well as more unique shades like the green and the lilac. 

Now for the best bit, SWATCHES!!!

The top left in the palette through the top line then onto the bottom line also from the left. 

There is a selection of finishes here, metallic, mates, sheer and creams so as expected they all apply very differently. Some better than others. 

There are a few shades that aren't the best such as Whip because it is so sheer that you get almost no colour pay off so it really isn't worth even applying. Vanity Kills is a tough one because I actually love the colour and it wears quite well but in the pan it is dry and crumbly so really hard to work with. Junkie is pretty much the reason I went for this palette over the Blackmail palette, it is a super unique glittery green shade and I was so excited to try it but honestly it's crap, so sheer and patchy just making my lips looks mouldy. which obviously isn't a good look! 

All the other shades apply and wear well. I will definitely have a great time experimenting with them all!

A favourite is Big Bang, it is a really weird shade. It is impactful but at the same time the sheer look makes it super easy to wear and it wears off the lips so well it doesn't need re applying too often. 

My absolute favourite though is Studded, it is such an individual colour. A sort of bronzy, silver but with fine glitters and a sheer finish. It is so cool and standout without being in your face, I'm considering buying the full size of this beauty!

Ultimately I would say that this is a fantastic palette, if you are like me and just want to try new lipsticks without spending hundreds on the Urban Decay Lipstick Vault then this is a must for you. If you already own a whole loads of lipsticks then maybe it isn't necessary as it does include a lot of shades that you may already have something similar too but it certainly wouldn't be a waste if you did want to give it a go! 

Purchase Here

Benefit They're Real Big Sexy Eye Kit

Benefit recently released the They're Real Big Sexy Eye Kit, they released this palette which contains three shadow duos and also a selection of single duos. The singles retail for £19.50 and this larger palette cost just £9 more so it seemed like a no brainer to go for this one!

I am a lazy cow so anything that makes my morning makeup quicker and easier is a must for me. Benefit describe this palette as...

"Three beyond easy, eyeshadow duos"

...and it comes with a custom shadow blender. The idea is that you swipe the dome shaped sponge applicator over two shadows and then swipe them across the lid. It is supposed to create a polished eye look in one sweep, the lighter shade across the lid then the darker in the crease or vice versa. 

I like the packaging, I mean, it's cute. Eye catching, sturdy, good quality and it would definitely not break any of the shadows if you dropped it off the Eiffel Tower. Basically what I'm trying to say is that, it's bulky as hell.

I have no idea why Benefit thought this was necessary, the majority of the container is empty. 

Although, it takes up bloody loads of room in my makeup collection, it is pretty so I can deal with it.

Let talk a little about the shadow duos... from top row to bottom.

Naughty Neutral 

Both shimmers but the dark brown is a more finely milled formula, the lighter is highly shimmered. Neither are particularly pigmented. I feel like they require further blending to make them look decent,  you have to get a brush involved which defeats the object of the custom shadow blender. 

Beyond Nude

The pink tones of the palette, a lighter baby pink with a dusky pink. Both shimmers, neither very pigmented but I actually like this one. They are very sheer, very shimmery so if you are looking for high pigment this is a no go but it does do what is said on the tin and does go on easy. Creating a no frills everyday look. I do reach for this when I'm running out of time and just need to leave the house before I'm late for work. 

Bombshell Brown

This is the darkest of all the duos, a lightly shimmery cream tone with a deep milk chocolate brown shimmer. I don't like this one at all, it requires so much blending and can often end up looking muddy. The applicator doesn't fit in my crease properly so I end up with dark brown smudges in entirely the wrong place. 

I'm sure you can guess by now that there are a whole lot more negatives then there are positives here. It isn't the best product Benefit have to offer but it is an innovative idea that they could build on in the future so it's not a complete fail. Better luck next time Benefit! 

Purchase Here