Indie Halloween Collections...

A list and links of the indie companies who have come out with Halloween collections so far! Those with *s are companies I have tried and would recommend, those without are ones I haven't tried but have heard nothing but good things about :)

[[ Source. ]]

Darling Girl Cosmetics *
Fyrinnae *
One Hand Washes The Other *
Hi-Fi Cosmetics *
Venomous Cosmetics *
Haus of Gloi (ok, so really an 'Autumn Collection' - but close enough for me!)
Rockabetty Beauty

I know I've missed a certain 'big' one, but that's because my experience with said company isn't a gleaming one. Anybody else I've missed off?

Have you bought from any indie Halloween collections this year? Are you planning to?

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?

FOTD - Digital Faerie

I realised today that I hadn't used two of my favourite eyeshadows in a long, long time - Fyrinnae 'Digital Faerie' and Urban Decay 'Honey'. Blue and gold look fantastic together, so luckily I could combine them in the same look...

[[Why yes, I do like slightly clumpy mascara...]]

[[ THE CLAW! THE CLAW! ]]

EYES - TFSI, Hi-Fi High Impact Shadow Fix, Heavenly Naturals 'Hummingbird', Fyrinnae 'Digital Faerie', E. Funkhouser 'Risque', Yaby indigo, Yaby white, MAC 'Nylon', Kryolan liquid eyeliner, Urban Decay 'Lucky' pencil liner, Urban Decay 'Honey', Soap & Glory 'Arch de Triumph' pencil.

FACE - Kryolan Ultra Foundation, Collection 2000 Matt + Minerals, Sleek universal powder, Accessorize 'Bermuda' bronzer, Sleek 'Peach Glo' palette.

LIPS - MAC 'Honeylove', Taxi 'Mile End' gloss.

'Digital Faerie' is SUCH A PAIN to photograph accurately, it's a gorgeous, gleaming blue with vivid sparks of green and gold. It looks incredible foiled! This was one of the first eyeshadows I ever bought and I still love it now - a true stunner.

What's your favourite Fyrinnae eyeshadow? Found any old treasures in your makeup box lately?

FOTD - Leopard Print with Sassy Minerals

I opened my eyeshadow drawer today and figured I should get more use from my Sassy Minerals! The colours are all beautiful and so easy to blend, shimmery but not too in your face and what's more - they're rather affordable at only $4.25 for a 5g jar packed with product. You can see my Sassy Minerals swatches here, but I'm not impressed with the photo quality and will re-do them at some point!

EYES - TFSI, Hi-Fi eyeshadow base, Sassy Minerals 'Vixen', Sassy Minerals 'Understated', Sassy Minerals 'Happy Hour', Sassy Minerals 'Gasoline Rainbow', MUA gold liquid eyeliner, Collection 2000 Extreme Felt Tip eyeliner in 'Purple', Gosh black pencil eyeliner, Illamasqua sealing gel.

FACE - Kryolan Ultra Foundation as concealer, Collection 2000 Matt + Minerals foundation, Sassy Minerals finishing powder in medium, Accessorize 'Bermuda' bronzer (love this stuff!) and the Sleek Peach Glo palette.

LIPS - MAC 'Honeylove' and a touch of Sassy Minerals 'Happy Hour'

Leopard print is so fun and easy to do! It's a bit cliché now, but heck, I'll still wear it if I want to :) All you have to do is blob on some coloured dots (gold in this case) above the crease, getting smaller as you get towards the nose. Then take a darker eyeliner (purple) and squiggle 1/2 - 3/4  the way around the outer edge of the dots. DONE! EASY!

I'm loving the high shine of this MUA eyeliner, and for only £1 it's a bargain in its truest form! I'm going to buy the silver when I'm next in Superdrug.

Have you worn leopard print patterns on your eyes?

FOTD - Platinum Violets

I fancied doing my make-up today as a break from college work :) As is often the case in Bad Habit Land, purple was the order of the day...

EYES - UDPP, Hi-Fi base, MAC 'Platinum', MAC 'Violet', MUA 'Shade 12', Sassy Minerals 'Understated', mascara, purple gems.

FACE - GOSH primer, Kryolan Ultra Foundation, Revlon Photoready Foundation, Rimmel stay matte powder, Ben Nye pink blush, The Balm 'Hot Mama'.

LIPS - Stargazer 128, GOSH 'Darling', Soap & Glory 'Cotton Candy' gloss.

I forgot how awesome MAC 'Violet' and 'Platinum' can be, I wish I could have photographed them properly for you, but all the close ups came out looking really flat :/ I'm surprised at how much I like this lip combo, too, it's a really strange almost neon pastel pink....very strange, but very pretty.

Have you rediscovered any of your old makeup lately?

Vamping it up with Sleek Cosmetics

Hola! I felt a bit vamptastic today, so I pulled out two 'holy grail' products and created a tutorial using them. The products in question were the Sleek 'Storm' palette and 17 'New Black' lipstick, both of which I have mentioned before - but I just can't get enough *starts singing The Cure*...

[[ Click here for the tutorial! ]]

[[ Click here for the tutorial! ]]

I adoooore the blue shades in the Sleek 'Storm' palette, I think the silver-blue is particularly unique. I love rockin' some blue smokey eyes using these shades, they're so pigmented and easy to work with! 17 'New Black' is the perfect black-plum-red hybrid for me, it's actually much darker than it photographs (thanks, flash)...

EYES - UDPP, Hi-Fi base, Sleek 'Storm' palette silver-blue, dark blue and black, Too Faced 'Cream', mascara, Barry M 'intense black' eyeliner (heap o' crap btw, I don't recommend it).

FACE - Kryolan cream foundation (as concealer), Revlon Photoready foundation, Collection 2000 Matt + Minerals foundation, Kryolan powder, The All Natural Face 'Persimmon' blush

LIPS - 17 'New Black' lipstick

(P.S) Super large pics - yay or nay? 

REVIEW - Hi-Fi 'High Impact Shadow Fix'

I feel like I haven't expressed my love for this stuff loudly enough yet...so here it is...

I LOVE HI-FI COSMETICS SHADOW FIX MORE THAN...BACON.

(and that's saying something)

But seriously, this primer is so many degrees of awesome that I feel like putting it on a pedestal. And so I am. Lucky for me, a sample of this was in my youtube guru/ blogger kit, otherwise I'd probably have just gone with the hype surrounding Fyrinnae's pixie epoxy (which I still want to try) and forgotten all about it.

[[ Image Source - Hi-Fi Cosmetics ]]

What is it? Ingredients aren't listed, other than 'glycerin based, contains aloe vera' so I can't say exactly, but I will say this -  it's a goopy, sticky, scent free, translucent gel. EDIT - Ingredient list and info added 08/ 11/ 10 here.

So how exactly does it work? You prime your eye area as usual, with something like Urban Decay Primer Potion, smudge the tiniest (I'm talking pin head size) blob of the shadow base over the top and pop your eyeshadow on ever that. The base GRABS the eyeshadow like glue, making the 'shadow colour true and intense. Because the eyeshadows stick so fast, they can become a little awkward to blend - nothing a little layering wont solve, though! I've used this with my weakest eyeshadows and BOOM, they're super bold :D Lets have a look, shall we?

[[ HISF, UDPP, no base - MAC 'Rose' pigment ]]

[[ HISF, UDPP, no base - Make-up Enigma 'Sunshine' ]]

However - it doesn't work with matte shades. There's actually a little warning about this on Hi-Fi's Etsy listing, but I tried it anyway (as you do). Mattes become patchy and completely unblendable, so you have to be careful with where you apply the base if you're going for a multi-textured look. Also, removal can be a pain, I recommend an oil based remover, though moisturiser also does the job pretty well.

Overall, I deem this a saviour of crap eyeshadows and a...glorifier of fabulous eyeshadows :) I've even used it on clients - how much confidence does that show?! I would definitely buy this in future!

Full sizes come in lipgloss-esque tubes with a doe foot applicator, 5.9ml of product, $5.99 (BARGAIN).
The sample I received came in a deep clamshell pot and contained a generous amount of product. Samples aren't listed, but I'm sure if you contacted Hi-Fi, they'd pop a listing up for you :)

FOTD - Mixed Metal

Today I decided to mix up my metal...lics. Silver lid, coppery brown crease and a little gold above that. I think this is another look that would have benefited from some nice, wispy falsies - but alas, the only falsies I own are ones a drag queen would be proud of!

[[ SHINY! ]]

[[ Clearly daydreaming about food...mmm, food...]]

EYES - UDPP, Hi-Fi eyeshadow base, Too Faced 'Silver', Fyrinnae 'Lights of Quebec City', Beauty UK palette 1 coppery brown and gold, Too Faced 'Sugar Cookie', Too Faced 'Cream', Yaby black, Kryolan black eyeliner, UD 'Lucky' pencil, mascara

FACE - Collection 2000 matt + minerals foundation, Rimmel powder, Ben Nye 'Natural' and 'Pink' blush, Sassy Minerals 'Tart' blush.

LIPS - E.L.F 'Fantasy', MAC 'Honeylove', Colour Works toffee gloss.

I quite like it! I think mixing the cool silver with warmer colours is a super simple way for warm toned ladies to wear silver without looking a bit scary. PLUS, since I have warm brown eyes, the silver really makes them pop! WINNER!

What are your tips for making 'unwearable' colours more wearable?

FOTD - No 'liner, No Blush, No Highlight

and very almost no mascara - but then I started worrying myself and grabbed for it like a fat kid grabs for nachos at a buffet. I've got to say, I did actually like the lashless look...

[[ No, I'm not a pirate, washer woman OR member of S Club 7 ]]

[[ The cranberry shade is lovely ]]

EYES - UDPP, Hi-Fi base, Stila 'Marrakesh' quad (both pinks and cranberry), MAC 'Nylon', mascara

FACE - GOSH primer, Natural Collection green concealer, Kryolan cream foundation, Collection 2000 matte foundation, Rimmel Stay Matte powder.

LIPS - Barry M 'Marshmallow' 101

 I'm surprised I didn't miss blush, since I usually pile it on like a fat kid's piles his plate at a buffet (I should probably stop with the fat kid similes now, right?) I'm also surprised that the frosty pinks didn't look so bad on me...Definitely ditching the head scarf look, though! OH. And look - there's a natural shadow under my cheekbone! Whaaat?! I never get that. My bid to gain weight failed, as I have somehow now lost 1 stone in less than a month. I need that fat kid to train me....

FOTD - To the Carnival...

I should be researching the golden ratio, perspectives and dadaism, but I find them all quite dull. As you may know, I'm currently doing an art and design foundation degree - so far we've spent three weeks drawing and not much else...Yesterday we drew plain boxes and pillars (with no shading allowed) from 9-30am to 4pm. As you can imagine, it was rather uninspiring! Next week we're doing textiles, then I think visual communications (looove) and then photography (love even mooore), so it's not all bad :)

ANYWAY. You're not in the least bit interested in my education, are you? No. So lets see what powders and liquids I've been putting on my face...

EYES - UDPP, Hi-Fi primer, MAC 'Melon' pigment, Darling Girl 'Kindle', Darling Girl 'Frolic', MUFE 92, Fyinnae 'Oberon', MAC 'Vanilla' pigment, Heavenly Naturals 'Hummingbird', Kryolan liquid eyeliner, mascara.

FACE - Barbie concealer (I kid you not), Collection 2000 matte foundation, Sleek cream foundation, Rimmel powder, Darling Girl 'Carnival' blush.

LIPS - MAC 'Honeylove' lipstick

Darling Girl 'Carnival' is such a funky, pigmented, blush and I'm liking it rather a lot. I didn't think I would at first, since it has a slight pink duochrome and sheen and I usually wear matte blush, but it really perked up my complexion. MAC 'Honeylove' - never ever going to stop buying this lipstick! 'Tis my favourite nude and I love it with warm looks.

Have you found a product you're surprised you like lately?