FOTD - Calavera Cupcakes

A few days ago I spotted Fyrinnae 'Calavera Cupcakes' sitting, unused since purchase, in my eyeshadow drawer. I'll admit, I wasn't exactly blown away by it when I first swatched it so I've been more or less ignoring it! I figured I'd give it a go today...

 

EYES - TFSI, Darling Girl 'Glitter Glue', Fyrinnae 'Calavera Cupcakes', Fyrinnae 'Superstar', Darling Girl 'Obviously a Wig', Mad Minerals 'Camisole', Madd Style 'Plan 9', MUA 'Shade 12', Illamasqua sealing gel, Sleek white, cream and black eyeshadows, Collection 2000 pencil eyeliner, mascara.

FACE - No.7 'Beautifully Matte' foundation, Natural Collection 'Shine Away' foundation (this stuff is crap but fine for mixing with other foundations), Collection 2000 concealer, Collection 2000 powder, Detrivore 'Spoiled' blush.

LIPS - MAC 'Creme d'Nude', Beauty UK 'Sweet 16' gloss.

I'm still not sold. 'Calvera Cupcakes' is staying firmly in the 'meh' category for me! It's pretty but not very interesting or bold. This reminds me that I haven't swatched my last Fyrinnae haul, which arrived AGES ago. Keep an eye out for that, because I received some very non-meh shades, too :) In the mean time, check out some cupcakes I am definitely a fan of!

Despite the promise of death and Hell, these are the salted chocolate cupcakes I made using the recipe on Lipglossiping. They're delicious! Plus, how pretty is my cake platter?! Mum was going to give it to me for my 21st, but she got too excited and gave it to me early!

What's your most dramatic silver eyeshadow? Favourite Fyrinnae eyeshadow? Tastiest cupcake recipe? Let me know!

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NOTD - Vintage Roses

My Mum's latest obsession is watching nail art tutorials on Youtube - guess who gets to be her guinea pig first client? Me! I asked for the vintage rose pattern which was oh so popular with nail bloggers last year...

First, we tried the tutorial from Cute Polish, but it went a bit wrong and ended up looking...odd. So we looked around for a few more and settled on this technique by Emerald Sparkled.

 First a pale mint shade (Stargazer 'Mint Creme') was applied over a base coat, then hot pink splodges (Beauty UK 'Strength') were added with a dotting tool, highlights were painted on with a pale peachy pink (Beauty UK 'Hope'), leaves with a green (OPI 'Jade is the New Black'), gems were added and then a topcoat...

Don't you think she did a great job?! They remind me of fancy tea cups, '50s housewife dresses, vintage cars...All those things you marvel at in old, happy films.

What design do you think she should try next? What are your favourites?

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NOTD - Psychedelic Brights

This started off as a gradient that went awfully wrong, so I thought 'Sack this!' and moved on to marbling instead. I wanted to use fun, tropical shades to compensate for the utterly MISERABLE weather outside...

 I used a a pale yellow Barry M shade as a base, Beauty UK 'Strength' (hot pink) and a turquoise mood polish from Claires. I love the patterns marbling gives, kinda like tie dye. If you want to try it out yourself, check out this tutorial.

I might give gradients another go...but not for a while... My left hand simply doesn't understand the idea and loves splodging colour everywhere except where I want it. Ah well!

Are you any good at gradients? Got any tips?

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NOTD - Pink Leopard Print

Today's nails remind me of 'Bringing up Baby', a fantastic '30s film about a woman and her pet leopard. I think it's safe to say that 'Bringing up Baby' is one of my favourite films...though I could never figure out why! Perhaps because I first saw it when I was a kid and which kid doesn't want a leopard as a pet?!

HOT PINK - Beauty UK 'Strength'

PALE PINK - Beauty UK 'Hope'

BLACK LINES - Colletcion 2000 'Fast Stroke' liquid eyeliner.

GLITTER - Barry M 'Hologram'

 

Fun, bright and kinda tacky - how very me :) Leopard print is super easy to do and doesn't even require a steady hand - that's my kinda nail art! If you want to know exactly how, check out Fee's fantastic tutorial.

What are you wearing on your nails? What's your favourite kind of nail art?

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Beauty UK 'Paint for Life' Polishes

Beauty UK have recently released a set of three pink polishes in aid of Breast Cancer Research. The idea for this 'Paint for life' set came about from a lady named Sam, when she suggested the idea as a competition entry on Liloo's blog. Each set retails at £5.99, with £1 of that going straight to Breast Cancer Research. What's more, Beauty UK are aiming to raise a minimum of £50,000!

The polishes are named 'Hope' (pale, peachy pink), 'Strength' (hot fuchsia) and 'Love' (bubblegum pink). The shades themselves are all beautiful, staple pink shades which could find a home in any polish collection!

Each polish is opaque in three coats and dries quickly. 'Hope' is the stand out shade to me, finally a pale pink that doesn't look horrific on my yellow hands!

Beauty UK 'Paint for Life' sets are available at £5.99 each from Superdrug and online.

5 Fab Make-up Products under £5

No make-up addict can deny that the little, random, bargain buys can make us *almost* as excited as the more luxurious buys. Maybe it's the thrill of finding something cheap but fabulous? Or that we can pop in to practically any beauty store and pick them up? Whatever it is, these are my current favourite make-up products for under £5...

1. E.L.F Cream Eyeliner, £3.50 - When I first reviewed this, I wasn't the biggest fan and only picked it up again once I ran out of my Kryolan liquid eyeliner! It is perfect for smudgey, smokey eyeliner with some serious staying powder.

2. Barry M Nail Paints, £2.99 - A constant favourite, these are the only polishes I buy again and again! Most are opaque within two coats and stay chip free for roughly three days (which for me is a miracle).

 [[ Shiro Cosmetics 'S.S. Anne' // Darling Girl Cosmetics 'Cider' // Shiro Cosmetics 'Golem' ]]

3. Indie Company Eyeshadows - Ok, ok, a bit of a cheat, I confess! I love buying eyeshadows from indie companies since A) They're generally excellent quality B) They're very affordable and C) You can get some stunning, unique shades you wouldn't find elsewhere! Right now I'm loving these three I've swatches above.

4. Beauty UK 'Sweet 16' Lip Lust*, £2.99 - A sheer, pinky, slightly pearly gloss with a non-sticky formula. Perfect for lazy make-up days, quick touch ups and layering over lipsticks.

5. Barry M Lip Paints, £4.49 - Barry M lip paints can be hit and miss, though generally they have a wonderful, smooth formula with decent pigmentation. My top three would be Shocking Pink, Vintage Rose and the 'Magic' paint.

What are your favourite beauty/ make-up products for £5 or less?

* Received free for review purposes.

FOTD - Glurple

EYES - UDPP, Fyrinnae pixie epoxy, Sugarpill 'Lumi', Fyrinnae 'Omgwtf', Shiro Cosmetics 'Link', Beauty UK purple from the 'Night and Day' palette, Too Faced 'Sweet Cream', Sleek dark purple, Illamasqua gel sealant, mascara.

FACE - Kryolan ultra foundation cream, Collection 2000 'Matt + Minerals', Kryolan powder, Shu Uemura 'Matte Peach' blush.

LIPS - OCC 'Trick' mixed with OCC 'Hush'.

Whenever I ask if anyone has favourite combinations for eyeshadow/ requests for FOTDs I always get the reply 'Green and purple!' so I figured I'd go for that today :)  I very rarely wear green eyeshadow because completely green looks always seem a bit off on me thanks to my very yellow undertones. Both green and purple are amazing for making brown eyes POP though - don't you think?

FOTD - Phoenix and Flames

Still clawing my way out of a neutral rut, I reached for hot pink-red, orange and purple eyeshadows. This is such an easy combination to pull together and works well with either bright or muted shades.

 EYES - UDPP, Fyrinnae 'Pixie Epoxy', MAC 'Helium' pigment, Venomous Cosmetics 'Phoenix', Yaby hot pink pearl paint, Venomous Cosmetics 'Ogopogo', MAC 'Nylon', Beauty UK wine and purple from the 'Night and Day' palette, E.L.F black cream eyeliner, Kryolan black eyeliner, mascara.

FACE - Kryolan Ultra Foundation as concealer, Collection 2000 'Matt + Minerals' foundation, Kiss my Sass Cosmetics 'Suntan' bronzer, Kryolan powder.

LIPS - Beauty UK 'Sweet 16' lipgloss.

Seriously, MUFE 92 has the most AMAZING colour, but the worst formulation I've ever come across in an eyeshadow. Save yourself the pain (and expense) and get yourself the Beauty UK 'Day and Night' palette instead - the purple is a fairly close match to MUFE 92 but 100x better in pigmentation and ease of application. I have MUFE 92, and despite its cult beauty status, I always reach for the Beauty UK palette instead!

Help me out of my rut and suggest some colour combinations?

REVIEW - Beauty UK Pearl Eyeliners and Lip Lust

Recently Beauty UK have released a range of new products, including baked blushers and eyeshadows, lipsticks, two new mascaras, six new nail polishes, false lashes and those I have been sent to review - pearl eyeliners and lip lusts.

[[ Beauty UK Pearl Eyeliner in 'Purple Haze'  - click image for maximum detail! ]]

Pearl eyeliners are liquid eyeliners which dry with a long lasting, bold, gleaming finish. I found 'Purple Haze', a strongly blue based purple with fine coppery pink shimmer needed to be layered to achieve full opacity. The first layer seemed to separate, with an indigo liquid (most likely a dye) which feathered out from the rest of the product, however, the second coat covered the blue patches easily. 'Purple Haze' lasted the day without flaking or fading and washed away easily at the end of the day. I love the finish of these and now have my eye on the black and mahogany shades!

[[ Beauty UK Lip Lust Gloss in 'Sweet Sixteen' ]]

Lip Lusts are shimmering, non-sticky, non-drying glosses in a squeeze tube with a sponge applicator. I found 'Sweet Sixteen' to be fairly sheer, giving a slightly pearly finish with just enough colour to give a lovely 'my lips but better' effect. I wasn't a fan of the scent which must be either 'Papaya' or 'Strawberry', but to me smells more like 'Cheap Sweet Chemicals'.

Pearl Eyeliners are available in eight shades, ranging from black to brilliant turquoise. £3.49 each.

Lip Lusts are available in eleven shades, ranging from clear to deep raisin, £2.99 each. 

Beauty UK products are available online, in Superdrug, Internacionale and Select Stores.

* Disclosure - Products received for review purposes. All opinions expressed are 100% my own opinion.

My Favourite...Eyeshadow Bases and Primers

When I first started playing with make-up, practically all I wore was eyeshadow and mascara. For the longest time people told me I should invest in a decent eyeshadow primer and for the longest time I ignored them. I really couldn't see what kind of difference it could possibly make, but when I finally bought one I was kicking myself for not doing so sooner! Then I started using bases too, which opened a whole new set of ideas when it came to colour placement and different effects. So anyway, here are my favourite eyeshadow primers and bases!

Eyeshadow Primer

Preps the eye area for make-up, creating a barrier between the skin's oils and eye make-up. Makes eyeshadows bolder, easier to blend and longer lasting.

[[ TFSI alone, TFSI with UD 'Peace' eyeshadow, 'Peace' alone ]]

1. Urban Decay Primer Potion is a real cult classic - with good cause! A tiny amount spreads over the eye area smoothly and evenly, creating the perfect base for eye make-up. Eyeshadows last at least 12 hours for me without any signs of creasing or fading, though of course this varies person to person. £12 from Boots or Debenhams.

2. I prefer Too Faced Shadow Insurance to UDPP, since not only does it create a smooth, even base and make my eyeshadows crease and fade resistant, but it makes colours a touch bolder. I'd also say that it is a touch creamier than UDPP. Available from Boots and Debenhams for £16.50 (the price has SHOT up since I bought it for £11!)

Eyeshadow Bases

Eyeshadow bases are placed over an eyeshadow primer to either help the eyeshadow stick, make the eyeshadow colour bolder or alter the eyeshadow colour all together. 

[[ UD 'Lucky' alone, UD 'Lucky' with UD 'Honey', 'Honey' alone ]]

1. Pencil eyeliners. The first pencil eyeliners I used as bases were the Urban Decay 24/7 eyeliners, which I still love using today! Eyeshadow stick to them really easily and they don't crease at all. Fantastic :) I love using 'Lucky' in particular, it is the creamiest of the bunch and makes anything slightly golden look incredible. available from Boots and Debenhams for £11.50 each. 

[[ ELF black cream eyeliner alone, ELF black cream eyeliner with UD 'Fishnet' eyeshadow, 'Fishnet' alone ]]

2. E.L.F black cream eyeliner, this is fabulously opaque and easy to layer up. It will crease if you take it further that the lid, however, so I prefer to line my eyes, soften the edges and apply eyeshadow over the top for a smokey effect. Available in seven other colours, I'm eyeing up the copper shade next! £3.50 from the E.L.F website.

[[ Beauty UK 'Blue' metallic eye spark, Beauty UK 'Blue' metallic eye spark with UD 'Goddess', 'Goddess' alone ]]

3. Eyeshadow pencils. NYX jumbo eye pencils are probably the most widely regarded, especially 'Milk' which I have reviewed recently. I also love the Beauty UK 'Metallic Eye Sparks', although they do crease fairly quickly, even over a primer. NYX jumbo pencils - £2.99 from love-makeup.co.uk. Beauty UK 'Metallic Eye Sparks', £2.49 from Superdrug and the Beauty UK site.

[[ Fyrinnae 'Pixie Epoxy' alone, Pixie Epoxy + UD 'Absinthe' eyeshadow, 'Absinthe' alone. ]]

4. Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy/ Hi-Fi Eyeshadow Base. Both basically work in the same way, though I would say that Pixie Epoxy is less prone to creasing and takes to mattes much better than the Hi-Fi base. These are gels which give a 'foiled' look once eyeshadow is applied over them. They work particularly well with metallic and glittery eyeshadows. Pixie Epoxy is $7, available from the Fyrinnae site. Hi-Fi High Impact Shadow Fix is $5.99, available from Hi-Fi's Etsy store.

Have you tried any of these? What do you think of them? What are your favourite primers and bases?