A Short Hiatus

Unfortunately, I have exams in the next three weeks, so I won't be blogging until after then. As much as I'd love to ramble on about beauty, I'm going to have to be rambling on about neuroscience-y stuff instead. So, until then! Wish me luck!

April Haul

It's not often I splash out on a lot of products at once. Unfortunately, last week my bank account was left feeling a little hurt! This month saw me making my first MAC and Illamasqua purchases, and branching out in terms of eye makeup.

MAC 168 Large Angled Contour Brush (£26): I hear so many good things about MAC brushes, but I went for the Real Techniques brushes first. This was kind of a impulse buy: Real Techniques do have a contour brush that I haven't yet tried for contouring, but as soon as I stepped up to the counter I found myself asking for the 168. I haven't used it too much yet, but so far so good.

Eylure Katy Perry 'Sweetie Pie' False Lashes(£5.95): I've never worn false eyelashes before, but these look so natural that I decided to give it a go. I haven't tried them yet - I'm a little scared!

NARS Sheer Glow Foundation in 'Deauville' (sample): Another product I've heard nothing but good things about. I was matched to Siberia a couple of months ago, but the sales assistant applied it so thickly, and over the makeup I was already wearing, that I walked away and promptly tried to forget about it. Everyone kept raving on about it though, so I nipped back to the NARS counter and got a sample instead.

Illamasqua Powder Blush in 'Unrequited' (£16.50): I drool over Illamasqua's blushes all the time so it was about time I purchased one. The sales assistant put this on me and it added such a lovely warmth.

GOSH Long Lasting Brown Pen in '004 Wheat' (£6.49): Essie introduced me to this product, and after seeing how amazing her eyebrows looked using the A La Carte brow pen, I snapped this up.

GOSH Eyeliner in '003 Brown' (£6.49): I have been searching for a brown liquid liner for so long. This was in my shopping basket quicker than Usain Bolt.

Illamasqua Skin Base Foundation in '03' (£25): This was a total impulse buy. I never intended to buy anything from Illamasqua this month, but I nipped in for a look. The sales assistant was so nice, friendly and chatty but not pushy, so I agreed to be matched to this foundation when I asked about it. I just can't resist nice sales assistants, so I ended up walking out with a new foundation too.

MUA Eyeshadow in 'Shade 19' (£1): Nothing too special, just something to set my eyebrows.

MAC Powder Blush in 'Harmony' (£17.50): Searching for a contour product with such pale skin is a huge pain. A lot of people seemed to recommend this, so I bit the bullet - and I am impressed!

Urban Decay Naked 2 Palette

For years I have shied away from eyeshadows. I never knew what shades would look best on my pale, cool skin and with my cool blue eyes, and beyond that I just never knew how to apply it to make it look good. And that’s before we start thinking about the crease and outer V!

I surprised even myself, then, when I jumped in with both impulsive feet and splurged on Urban Decay’s Naked 2 palette, but I can’t say I’ve looked back.

It veers cooler than the original Naked palette which suits my skin tone perfectly, although there are some warmer shades in there. These tend to be the shades I ignore, though I can’t say there isn’t a shade I don’t use at all. Overall it’s a good selection of neutral shades, all of which can be mixed and matched. I think the palette is organised very well, showing obvious combinations of shades (Suspect and Snakebite sit together, for example, which just so happens to be my favourite combination in this palette), but there is absolutely no reason to stick to these subtle hints. Perhaps most importantly, the shadows have very good pigmentation and last most of the day without creasing (even without a primer); there’s very little fallout too, although there are a couple of shades, usually the really shimmery ones like YDK, that are the exception.

I wasn’t overly impressed with the brush that came with it at first, but it has grown on me. It’s really handy if you’re travelling as it sits tightly in the palette itself. The packaging is wonderful, and the large mirror inside is excellent, once again really good if you’re off travelling. Oddly, it comes with a mini lipgloss – the primer supplied with the original Naked made more sense – but it’s okay.

The Naked 2 palette retails for £36 which seems steep, but you get a good collection of shades here, most of which I use regularly. I think it’s definitely worth the money, and if I hit pan on all the shades I would go out and repurchase in an instant.

What do you think of the Naked 2? Better or worse than its predecessor?

Instagram #2

1: Draw Something; 2: Godzilla!; 3: messy bun attempt two - getting there;
4: currently reading: Catching Fire, Suzanne Collins; 5: nostalgia; 6: train travel essentials;
7: shopping - oops!; 8: stacking rings; 9: breakfast.

LUSH Mask of Magnaminty

To borrow a phrase from the lovely Essie, I never thought I would be one of those people – you know...Lush fans. I never understood the hype, the packaging looked a little tacky to me, and don’t even get me started on the price of just one bath bomb.

But I’d never really looked into their skincare before. While I was in the market for a new face mask, I decided to give Lush a chance. And I will never look back.

The fresh face masks have to be kept in the fridge, so I decided to go for the Mask of Magnaminty, designed to help spot-prone skin. It contains peppermint to stimulate the blood vessels under your skin, and ground aduki beans to provide gentle exfoliation. The result is a tub of green gloop.

It looks even less appetising on, but looking like She-Hulk for fifteen minutes is definitely worth it. The peppermint gives a cooling, tingling sensation. It feels great, really freshening, and it shows as soon as you wash off. My skin is brighter, tighter, softer, smoother and, best of all, my spots have disappeared. It doesn’t stop spots forming completely, but I’ve found that when they do form, they’re much more superficial. They’re smaller, less inflamed, and stay around for a day or two, no longer.

At £4.75/125g (or £8.25/315g) it seems pricey, but a little really does go a long way. I’ve had mine for about a month now, using twice a week, and the picture above shows just how much I have left. I’ve actually been using more purposely just to try and use it up before the expiry date. I bought the large tub thinking a small one wouldn’t last long enough, but next time, I think I’ll go smaller.

What do you think? Has this helped your acne problems like it has mine?

Chanel Perfection Lumiere

Chanel’s Perfection Lumiere foundation was actually my first high end cosmetics purchase. As a milk bottle, I found drugstore foundations to be too limited in their shade ranges for my skin tone, and I had to suffer desperately trying to blend my foundation in and failing. I’m a sucker for a good advertising campaign, and Chanel drew me in with theirs: their biggest shade range yet, suiting all undertones? I was sold. Clutching my debit card, I nervously walked up to the counter in Boots and asked to be colour matched.

I was matched to 22 Beige Rose, the second lightest shade with pink undertones. Sadly, I’m still left scrubbing at my face in a last-ditch attempt to blend. In hindsight, I hold my hands up and admit fault: it was a perfect match under the artificial lights, but I didn’t bother to check in natural light – I was too excited! I should have asked for a sample rather than jumping straight in at the deep end, but there you go. I can make it work if I’m very careful about blending and applying powder afterwards, but it’s a lot of hard work. I also find that it does oxidise slightly through the day if I apply a little too much.

Really, though, it’s not a bad foundation by any stretch of the imagination. The above could probably be remedied if I’d just be more thorough with checking my colour match. It has medium, but buildable, coverage that evens out my skin tone and covers most blemishes fairly well. Despite that, it’s very light on the skin; you can barely feel it there. It’s also very long-lasting, both on the skin and in terms of the foundation itself: a little goes a long way. The matte finish is gorgeous, and it stays matte through the day when set with powder. And of course, top marks for the classic Chanel packaging.

The matte finish does mean it clings to dry patches though, so this particular foundation would be better suited to those with normal/oily skin. I don’t particularly suffer from dry skin, but it clings to any dried out spots I’ve got, and it’s not nice. I also find it’s hard to blend.

So, no, it’s not bad, but it’s just not great. At £36 it’s expensive, and I’ve definitely learned my lesson. Maybe I’ll go back and get a sample of the lighter shade, but to be honest, I’d rather look at alternatives.

What has been your experience with Perfection Lumiere? Should I give it another chance?

Instagram #1

1: spring; 2: The Fray's new album, Scars and Stories - love it!; 3: new camera;
4: currently reading: The Hunger Games, Suzanne Collins; 5: blogging; 6: messy bun attempt the first;
7: makeup wishlist; 8: #nowplaying; 9: will.i.am's face.