SWATCH TUESDAY - Going Green!

Green. The colour of plants, emeralds and those weird, foreign sweets you probably shouldn't eat. To me it's a fresh, zingy colour and I love every shade! I think green can be awkward to wear, namely because it's semi-yellow (the hardest colour to pull off imo), but a rich green suits EVERYONE. Find a perfect emerald shade and you're set. Also, the good ol' gold glimmer for warm skin tones, silver for cool skin tones helps a lot.

[[ Urban Decay - Protest, Shakedown, Absinthe, Graffiti, Covet 24/ 7 eyeliner ]]

[[ MAC - Old Gold, Landscape Green, Kelly Green, Teal ]]

[[ Heavenly Naturals 'Dragon', Glamour Doll Eyes 'Immature', Aromaleigh 'Spooky', Aromaleigh 'Radioactive', Fyrinnae 'Omgwtf', Fyrinnae 'Dragon's Wing' ]]

[[ The All Natural Face 'Ocean Green', TANF 'Mint Green', Darling Girl 'Wicked', Darling Girl 'Grotto', Sassy Minerals 'Bad Attitude', Make-up Enigma 'Poison Tree Frog' ]]

[[ Beauty UK Palette 2 lime, Ruby & Millie khaki green, Ruby & Millie forest green, Barry M 'Khaki', 17 'Seafoam Green', 17 'Green Glimmer' ]]

[[ Kryolan 'Emerald', Victoria Jackson 'Green Envy', Yaby 'So Vein', Yaby lime, 

Too Faced 'Wicked Green' ]]

What colours work with green? Gold, silver, taupe, purple, yellow and blue are my faves for pairing with green.

My picks? Yaby 'So Vein' is the most incredible blue-green hybrid - possibly my favourite 'shadow in my entire collection! The Beauty UK palette lime is really pretty, shot through with a radiant golden sheen. 17 'Green Glimmer' will always be a bit special to me - it's one of the first 'shadows I ever bought! I've not a clue why Armaleigh's 'Radioactive' goes by that name - it's supposed to be a super bright, funky green, but in reality it's the weakest one I own! Same goes for Kryolan 'Emerald'...emerald?! WHAT?! It's just a pastel green wannabe.

What are your favourite green make-up products? What brand do you think do greens best?

Make Your Own Perfect Polish :)

After scouring the shelves of Boots and Superdrug for a perfect green and a perfect Autumnal purple-brown-gold, I gave up and opted to make my own! I bought two bottles of clear Superdrug MUA nail polish at £1 each for my experiments.

[[ Pre-shaking ]]

I've never made a polish colour before so my 'method' was a bit muddled. I just flung a heap of loose eyeshadows into a metal paint palette and kept mixing and tweaking until I got my desired shade. I then made a funnel (out of a Superdrug receipt - how very technical) and taped it to the bottle to stop it moving about. Then I scraped the eyeshadow mix in, screwed the lid on tight and shook it like crazy. First from the mixing storm...

[[ Look at all of that gold goodness! ]]

[[ Dries with multi-coloured shimmer! ]]

A true 'WHAT ARE YOU?!' shade. In the bottle it looks like a dirty deep brown-purple with golden shimmer. On the nails, we have a coppery-brown-purple with strong golden shimmer and multi-coloured glitter. In some lights it looks gunmetal grey, in some it looks almost lilac! I used three different duochromes in this, so when I turn my nails you see a pink-purple gleam. So pretty and unique! I know I'll be wearing this A LOT nearer Christmas!

[[ Reminds me of insect shells...]]

Deep, metallic green with green, gold and coppery glitter. Not quite dark enough to be my perfect green, I'd also prefer a jelly texture - but hey, it's nice enough! I might buy a turquoise duochrome to add to this, it's just too...simple for me at the moment. I also made the rookie mistake of adding lots of glitter, which just makes it grainy. Ah well!

Overall I'm really pleased with the outcome of these polishes, especially the first - the photographs do it NO justice to how complex it is. I don't have a clue as to the exact 'recipes' for these colours, but I'm sure you can create similar ones with just some purple, gold and green shades. You have to use quite a bit of pigment, both of these are three coaters. I've tagged brands I know went into these at the bottom.

This was so much fun, I'll certainly be making more! Anyone care to name these two colours?

'Baggies are my Enemy' FOTD

Anyone else hate sample baggies from mineral make-up companies? I do. They instantly get forgotten. Out of the envelope, into my make-up bag and straight to the back of my mind. I'd rather pay a few extra dollars and have a nice, sturdy jar...anyone agree? In a bid to rid myself of a few baggies, I did an EOTD using some All Natural Face and Aromaleigh samples.

[[ How unimpressed/ gormless do I look?! ]]

[[ Please excuse mascara, had to use a crappy Kryolan one ]]

EYES - UDPP, TANF 'Just Peachy', Aromaleigh...can't remember (doesn't matter since they're closing anyhoo!), TANF 'Creme Brulee', TANF 'Deep Steel Blue', TANF 'Chocolate Brown', Prestige brown liquid eyeliner, Kryolan mascara, Kryolan pencil eyeliner.

FACE - Collection 2000 mineral mousse + Sleek cream foundation, Kryolan cream foundation, Rimmel powder, TANF 'Terracotta' blush, Lancome bronzer duo.

LIPS - TANF 'Plum Crazy' lip gloss.

(P.S) I started back at college this week, it's an art course so it's pretty involved! Pre-warning if I start to slip a bit on posting and replying!

There are BARGAINS to be had...

I just ordered from www.aromaleigh.com, since Kristen is closing shop I figure it was now or never. You can get 35% off your order with the code 'ADIEU35' as you check out.

I never ordered before, but have been aware of Aromaleigh for at least 3 years! Criminal! Anyway, they have some really unique, pretty colours and samples are only $1 (though baggies only, no jars - boo!). I've also heard nothing but good things about the products themselves, despite the on-going drama....

So, if you have pennies burning a whole through your pocket, join me in checking out Aromaleigh!

AND! If that isn't enough, Hi-Fi are celebrating their 1 year anniversary! There are plenty of deals going on, and although I haven't properly reviewed them yet, I'll just say - DON'T MISS OUT! And definitely get the primer!

Online make-up stores are lethal

Seriously. I remember when I had a job, I'd probably spend around £20 + on orders from Fyrinnae/ Mad Minerals/ various makeup sites every month. That probably doesn't seem that much to most folk, but to a (then) 16 years old student it was!

I ordered from Glamour Doll Eyes and Heavenly Naturals last week :D I've never ordered from them before, so I'm very excited for it to arrive! I also ordered some lip lustres from Fyrinnae. I hear they're like a balm/ lip stick/ gloss hybrid, so I'll be happy flinging them in my bag and applying in a dark club, cider and black in one hand, tube of goodness in the other.

Fresco Phyrra posted about Aromaleigh yesterday, and they're looking more and more intriguing. I've known about them for a while, but my Fyrinnae love was too strong for me to order from them at that point haha. Same with Beauty from the Earth. Such pretty colours, and I own zero of them! Criminal!

I know where my next make-up pennies are going....