Makeup Meets Beauty

Sales Haul

2012-01-31T14:00:00.003+01:00

Hello beauties!
These past few weeks I've been shopping like crazy especially for shoes. I only buy shoes when they are on sale as normally they are quite expensive so I was super happy when I came across these three babies which were all on sale.

Dorothy Perkins Loafers - €14

Stradivarius flats - €10 instead of €25

I love these particularly as all my flats are either brown or black and this can add a very autumny pop of colour to my wardrobe, which matches most of my earth tone clothes.

Random shop - €5 (!!!)

I have been wanting a structured hand bag for ages as all the bags I own are very flimsy, so since Accessorize are on sale I decided to pop in there and see what they have. I came across this beautiful bag which was €29 instead of the original €59. I love it as it is both black and brown so it matches with almost all of my shoes.

Have you bought anything on sale? Tell me what below!

First impressions: Inglot cream concealer

2012-01-21T11:39:00.002+01:00

Hello Beauties!
The only makeup products that I really splurge on are face products. I have always believed that you could do a great look with inexpensive eyeshadows (my very maximum budget for single eyeshadows would be €4 - €5, unless its a neutral eyeshadow that you can wear with almost every look and occasion) but, I think that you cannot make a foundation or concealer which is not of the perfect consistency and coverage for your skin's needs work well and look good, so that's why i permitted myself to spend €16 on a teeny tiny jar of concealer :)
To make a long story short I had been looking for a concealer that actually worked and matched my skin tone for ages, and I was going to buy MAC's studio finish concealer but having taken into consideration, that i'll have to first send it to an english friend and then she send it to me, it would come even more expensive than Inglot's cream concealer which retails for €16, and i wouldn't have the opportunity to at least swatch it, or see that it matches my skin prior to dishing out the money.

So yesterday I was in Sliema and I decided to go and buy myself a cream concealer. When I first went in I didn't think that I would buy this concealer because of two main reasons:
a. It looked horrible in the container out of many usesb. It looked too liquidy and melted
When i tried it however, i did change my mind, because it has a very sticky consistency (which I figured would mean that it has a very long lasting power on the skin), a very yellow undertone and AMAZING coverage.
I haven't yet tested it on my face, so I will give you more information when i actually do, but I am really hoping that it works for me!
Have any of you tried this out? What were your thought?

Mary Poppin's Purse

2011-12-07T18:11:00.000+01:00

Hello beautiful people!
How are you all? Today, I made a little lists of blog posts to come as i sometimes get stuck with lack of ideas about what to write so this little list will hopefully help me more. Today I decided to do a "what's in my bag" post. I love to see these kind of posts on other people's blogs as I feel like you both get to know the person a little bit better and you can get a few ideas on what to carry with you.
Here is my bag:

This bag is by Accessorize and I got it for €25 when it was on a 50% off sale and it's my favorite out of all my day time bags. I love it so much because of the hardware detailing and the colour which is a nudish pink which goes with almost everything.
Here is what's inside it:

O'Neill pencil case, Pukka pad notebook (I write school notes on here when I don't take my laptop with me), Vaseline hand cream (AMAZING stuff), Peacocks sunglasses & glasses pouch, Handbag hanger, Samsung Chat phone, Tissues, Makeup bag, Halls (for sore throat), Stradivarius wallet, house keys with Me to you and glass slipper key chain.

My "Makeup" bag is more like a medicine chest in a bag! I don't really carry makeup with me except some lip balm and the days lipstick because i never touch up.
What do you hold in your bag ladies?

NotW - The smoked teal

2011-11-28T17:18:00.002+01:00

Hello beautiful people!
How are you all? Today I had a day off school so I decided to give myself a manicure after around two months of not wearing any nail polish and having ugly uneven nails. So here is what I went for:

The nail polish is smokey brown from ELF and the crushed shells are from eBay. I just polished my nails as per usual and dipped my ring fingers into the shells and then put a top coat over everything.

Do you guys like teal and brown together? I absolutely love them!

Little Treasures

2011-11-07T21:36:00.002+01:00

Hello all!
Long time, no blog! I've been - and still am, extremely busy. And when you are that busy sometimes you just need to go shopping, even if it's just for one or two things!
So last Monday I decided to visit the shops and hunt for some bargains (all these were on sale). I primarily went for some plain and warm long sleeved tops and ended up buying these instead:

Tally Weijl - €4.50

New Look Granny Cardi - €11

And any shopping trip wouldn't be complete without a few pieces of jewelry of course!

Peacocks - €4.50

And to the highlight of my little shopping spree:

Peacocks - €4.50

Aren't these earrings simply beautiful?! And they are turquoise which is my all time favorite colour! I totally love them!

Have you been doing any shopping lately? Tell me below!

Sleek Haul

2011-09-22T18:50:00.000+02:00

Hello beauties!
It's been nine days since i last blogged, but a combination of being very busy due to several things and not being in the mood to blog, made me skip blogging for the last couple of days.
A few days ago a friend came over from England and as I wanted (and 'needed' :p) a few makeup items that would have other wise been quite expensive to ship to Malta, i decided to send them over to her and then she gets them here for me.
I got Sleek products from their Au Natural collection since I've been loving natural makeup lately. I got the palette and the blush from this collection which are both gorgeous.

Look out for swatches and a review once I tested them out properly :)
Do you own any of these?

Pink Zebra Print Nails

2011-09-13T12:15:00.000+02:00

Hello lovelies!
A few days ago mum received a set of nail art pens from e-Bay. She had a set of generic ones which didn't work well at all so she got a set of Fraulein38 ones and naturally I decided to put them to the test. Here is what I came up with:

I used:
Base coatRimmel Portobello Pink on all of my nailsSaffron Glitter Polish no.3 on my ring fingersFraulein38 Black nail art pen to create the zebra printTop Coat
I will be posting a review of the Fraulein38 nail art pens very soon so keep an eye out for that if you are interested! :)
Do you like nail art on your nails or do you prefer just a nail polish?

30 in 30: Question #9 Picture of Your Makeup Collection

2011-09-09T19:55:00.000+02:00

Hello lovelies!
As promised yesterday, here is my 9th question tag and I require to show you a picture of my makeup collection. In my case it is several pictures as I thought I'd show you what in each drawer. So here goes :)

This is the basic area that I use for storing my makeup. I have a drawer for each type of product as I will show you below.

This is the way that I store my face and eye brushes.

These are the first two drawers of the orange drawer set. The back drawer contains all of my liquid foundations and primers, while the front contains all my powders or mineral foundations.

The other two drawers in the orange drawer set. The front drawer contains bronzers and highlighters while the back drawer contains all eyeliners and mascaras.

I only use two of my green drawer set. The front drawer contains what i like to refer to as tools, such as e / s bases, eyelash glue, eyebrow fillers, tweezers, etc ... & my gel liners (because I couldn't fit them else where). the back drawer contains all of my concealers be it cream or liquid.

As for my loose eyeshadows and blushers, I bought a cutlery organizer from a pound shop and placed everything in it. I separated pigments from shadows. I also put blushers in here (on the right side). I also put some falsies.

I have a drawer filled with the larger palettes which i didn't photograph.

This is a technique that i adopted only very recently, before everything was stored in the orange drawer box but it was getting out of hand as my collection grew and many products were being neglected as they sat hidden at the very back or in "products that I don't use often box". Like this I can see everything.

How do you store your makeup?

OotD - Falling Leaves

2011-09-08T23:17:00.001+02:00

Hello lovelies!
How are you all? Just a quick Outfit of the day today before I go off to bed. I apologize for not posting the tag post for two days now but I need to take some photographs for question no. 9 and I haven't had time yet - expect the post tomorrow though! Also, I have made my first Sleek purchase and I am so excited until my friend comes to Malta and gets me the items! Any way, here is today's outfit:-

This outfit was very much inspired by Fall and the colours of the dry falling leaves. I bought the shorts and the cream shrug (?) recently and I am really loving them!

Racerback Top: Tally Weijl (€4)

Shorts & Shrug (?): Random store (€5 each)

Sandals: Debenhams (€7)

Satchel: Tally Weijl (€25)

Necklace: Miss Selfridge

Bracelet: Primark

Belt: (Came with a dress) Stradivarius

Have you been inspired by anything when creating your outfits lately? Tell me below!!

ELF Studio Conditioning Lip Balm SPF 15: Review, Swatches

2011-09-06T12:10:00.001+02:00

Hello beautiful people!
How are you all? I thought that it was about time that I reviewed these lip balms as I have been testing them out all summer long and I could provide you with a good review.
The two lip balms that I own from this range are Peaceful Pink which is a pale pink with blue undertones and Mellow Melon which is a pinky coral. This is my personal favorite for the summer months.

Peaceful Pink

Peaceful pink swatch

Mellow Melon

Mellow Melon swatch

These products are very creamy, non sticky and very pigmented considering that they are lip balms. They also have multiple benefits as they are conditioning, they contain an SPF of 15 and you don't need to wear anything else over them as they give the lips a beautiful and visible colour. They are also very long wearing and I can prove this as they have been tested thoroughly by yours truly:- One application of these balms have survived through around five dives in the sea and when I got out of the water the balm was still on my lips and as moisturizing as ever. These have become beach bag essentials for me and I didn't go a single day to the beach without wearing one of them.
These products do carry a slight scent of sun block but I personally like the scent. Keep in mind that these do have SPF so a little scent is to be expected.
A little draw back I find in these is the packaging. It looks really good but it is way too bulky especially if you plan to carry them with you. I took a comparison photo so as you can get a good idea of how large they are:

Appart from this little problem, I love these very much and I will definitely repurchase :)
Have you ever tried any of these balms? Do you like them?

30 in 30: Question #8 What's Your Favorite Daytime Look?

2011-09-06T11:19:00.000+02:00

Hello lovelies!
Today's question is *Drumroll*:
What's your favorite day time look?
With day time makeup I always aim for very natural and glowy looking skin. I try to use as little product as I possibly can and I almost always use my hands to apply foundation in the morning, as this provides very natural application, unless I have some nasty breakout that needs more coverage in which case I use a dense stippling brush. During day time I also try to avoid excessive use of blush and try to keep it to a minimum by just applying a tiny amount on the apples of the cheeks. Instead I use bronzer over the areas where the sun hits, not as a contour. I also use a tiny bit of highlighter through my cheekbones and temples.
Eyes wise, I just define my brows with a little bit of brow gel and apply eyeliner to the top lash line and mascara.
I will be doing a detailed tutorial about this mentioning the products I use and a few tips and tricks on how to achieve the most natural makeup possible, so keep an eye out for that ;)
What do you like to wear on a day to day basis?

30 in 30: Question #7 What's Your Favorite Eye Shadow Color?

2011-09-05T11:57:00.001+02:00

Hello you all!
How are you? I am sorry that yesterday I didn't post the day 7 tag but i was out of the house all day long (I left at 9 am and came back around 11pm by which time I was super tired!). So here is the 7th day tag :)
What is your favorite eyeshadow colour?
It all depends on the kind of eye I'm aiming for but if it was for wearable makeup it would be neutrals such as browns and blacks and golds. It's only been lately that I've been really into these kinds of colours because before I would never, ever use neutrals but I guess I'v out grown colourful makeup now :)
What is your favorite eyeshadow colour?

30 in 30: Question #6 Do You Wear False Lashes?

2011-09-03T17:40:00.001+02:00

Hi ladies!
Today's tag question is: Do you wear false lashes?
The answer is yes but only very rarely, and when that happens its usually either for a special event or in the weekends. You won't catch me wearing them to school or some where casual. It's not that i don't like them, because once you find the perfect set for you which are comfortable (mine are elf's dramatic lashes) then they won't bother you. But i really feel like they are too much hassle and can ruin a look by being over done. I only wear them when I want extra done up makeup and extra flattery eyes, other wise they're a no, no.
What about you girls? :)

30 in 30: Question #5 What's Your Favorite Lipstick, Lip gloss and Lip Liner?

2011-09-02T16:02:00.001+02:00

Hi Beautiful people :)
Today is the 5th day of the tag and today's question is:
What's your favorite lipstick, lipgloss & lipliner?
This is another case where I don't really like to chose favorite especially when it comes to lipsticks, which I love especially if they are colourful. But I do have certain shades which I reach out for more often then others :)
With lipsticks it's a tie between elf's Pouty petal, which you can read about in this review, and NYX's tea rose, which you can read a collective review about here. I love elf's pouty petal because it is the perfect "my lips but better" shade for me. On the other hand NYX's tea rose is simply gorgeous and if i want a pop of colour versus a nude lip then this is what i will wear.
Regarding lipgloss, I am very fond of NYX's smokey eye which is a gorgeous neutral gloss with very tiny shimmers in it and with a very nice, non sticky consistency.
My favorite lipliner is without any doubt Rimmel's exaggerate lip liner 030 Natural. This lip liner is one or two shades darker then my own lips and slightly more peachy so it goes great with a very nude lipstick and makes your lips look plumper with it on.
What are your favorite lipstick, lipgloss & lipliner?

ELF mineral lipstick in Pouty Petal: Review & Swatch

2011-09-01T18:47:00.003+02:00

Hello beauties,
How are you all? Today I am going to review one of my favorite lipsticks which is e.l.f's mineral pouty petal.
The ELF mineral lipsticks come in a white box with a swatch of the product and it's name printed on it. This is very helpful but the swatch isn't very true to what's inside (as you will see below). The actual tube is very sleek and gives off a very professional and expensive look.

This lipstick is a "my lips but better" colour for me. On the elf website it is described as a sheer cool pink/lilac with gold shimmer and that's exactly how I would describe it (the gold shimmer isn't very over whelming but it gives a nice "glow" to the lips). It could also be described as a mauve-y pink. The colour is very sheer (as it rightly states on the website), in fact I had to swipe on the lipstick several times in order to achieve the opacity of the swatch below. Having said that, this lipstick is great if you want just a small amount of colour so that you do not go out with bare lips or if you want a lip colour which you could pair up with smokey eyes.

It's texture is very smooth and moisturizing once applied although given time on the lips it will dry up slightly. I wouldn't suggest for you to wear this lipstick without lip balm in fact, especially if your lips tend to be dry and chapped.
I hope that this review was helpful :)
Have you ever tried out any elf lipsticks?

30 in 30: Question #4 Do You Like Wearing Foundation?

2011-09-01T08:59:00.000+02:00

Hey Ladies!
I'm back with the tag :) Today's question is:
#4. Do you like wearing foundation? If so, what's your color and favourite?
Yes, I do like to wear foundation. I also wear it on a day to day basis. The only thing that I do is I alternate the way I apply it between days when i just want to enhance my skin and make it look better, either for school or for running errands and the days when I am going to wear actual eye makeup.
During "school days" I normally apply foundation using my hands and then I just use a small blending brush to do more detailed covering where I need it. During these days I focus on getting the most natural look possible out of my foundation and try to make it look like I'm wearing no makeup at all.
On the other hand when I am going to wear eye makeup (actual eyeshadows versus the eyeliner and mascara I use on a day to day basis), I apply my foundation with a dense stippling brush which gives me a lot more coverage. I still work on getting a natural look but at times like these I want to make the look complete by having totally perfect skin versus when i am aiming for no makeup - makeup where I do leave some of my skin peeking through.
My all time favorite foundation for these two tasks is definitely Revlon colorstay. I love it so much because of the huge list of good traits that it has such as:

Its very long lasting
prevents shine
very build-able coverage; as I mentioned above you can apply it with your hands and have very minor coverage or apply it with an appropriate brush and achieve almost full coverage
Two skin types to choose from; Normal / Dry, Combination / Oily
A lot of shades and undertones to choose from: which is great for people like me who find it extremely difficult to find a foundation with very yellow undertones
Amongst other things :)

My favorite shade, or in other words the shade that suits me best is 180 Sand Beige, which is a very yellow based shade and matches me perfectly.

Having sad all that, I do sometimes go out without foundation when i'm not in the mood to wear it in the morning so its only on preference that I wear it and because I feel more made up when all my blemishes are hidden :)

30 in 30: Question #3 What's Your Favorite Brand?

2011-08-31T10:56:00.000+02:00

Hello lovelies!
Today is day 3 of the 30 in 30 tag. And today's quetion is:
What's your favorite brand?
This is a really tough one. I honestly like to try many different brands and i'm not the kind of person who sticks to just one brand. I do have favorite products from different brands and if something works for me i don't really care if it's from MAC or from ELF (i mentioned these two as they are two brands from totally opposite sides of the scale). Let me mention a few of my holy grail products and the brands they come from:
Favorite foundation: Revlon colorstayFavorite powder: Maybelline dream matte powderFavorite mascara: Covergirl lash blast OR Rimmel lash MaxxFavorite lipsticks: NYX round lipsticksFavorite pencil eye liner: PrestigeFavorite bronzer & highlight: MAC golden refined bronzer, MAC pink rebel lustre drops
As you can see each and everyone of my favorite products are different brands and in some cases those are the only products that I have from the particular brand.
Having said that, if I had two chose a brand that I really love it would be ELF because they have a very vast range of products, they are very affordable for someone with a student budget like myself, and most importantly they have never failed me :)
If I had to splurge from a higher end brand though, I would chose MAC. Even though its an expensive brand I really love their vast amount of shades especially when it comes to blushes and eyeshadows.
What is your favorite makeup brand?

Jewel Tone smoky eyes

2011-08-30T13:34:00.003+02:00

Hello lovelies!
Yesterday I was watching Lisa Eldridge's smoky eye tutorial and I got inspired to create something similar as I absolutely loved the look. My version is slightly different as I couldn't decide which e / s to use over the black so I used them all and came up with this.

The three main colours that I used apart from the black are sunny daze pigment by MAC, ELF dreamy mineral eyeshdaow and barry M dazzledust in purple.

*UPDATE*

Lara asked me to do a tutorial for this look, so here I go :)

Artedco cream e / s base (all over eyelid, brow bone, inner corner & lower lashline)

ELF Black cream e / l (over all of the lid applied in a cat-eye shape)

Prestige black eyeliner (on lower lash line & waterline)

MUA matte black e / s no. 20 (tap all over the cream eyeliner & lower lash line and blend the edges away)

MAC sunny daze pigment (applied to inner corner using tapping motions)

ELF dreamy mineral pigment (applied to center of the lid using tapping motions)

Barry M dazzledust no. 74 purple (applied to outer corner with tapping motion and blended on the outer edges)

MUA matter black e / s no 20 (applied lightly all around the outer edged of the colours)

Rimmel lash Maxx mascara (two coats on upper and lower lashes)

I then used a slightly tinted brow gel to make my brows messy and "spiky" at the top to add to the fierce look

As lipstick I used Rimmel's Nude delight

Would you like to see more looks like these? Tell me below!

30 in 30: Question #2 How did you learn to put on makeup?

2011-08-30T10:32:00.000+02:00

Hello lovelies!
Today's question is - How did you learn to put on makeup?
Youtube and practice :) I learned greatly through youtube but in my opinion practice is best! And the more I practice the more i discover new techniques that work best for me, although obviously youtube gurus have helped me a lot and I mostly owe their makeup addiction to them :)

NotW - Alternating Pastels

2011-08-29T21:52:00.000+02:00

Hi ladies!
How are you all? Today I decided to do a slightly different mani then i usually do. Here it is:

ELF nail ploish in "Mint Cream"

ELF nail polish in "Lilac"

This was mainly inspired by Hayley's post. I just wish i had three more pastel nail polishes just like her's so I could do here exact mani, it's so pretty!

Have you ever done a mani similar to this?

30 in 30: Question #1 When Did You Start Putting On Makeup?

2011-08-29T09:50:00.001+02:00

Hello lovelies!
Today I decided to start something slightly different. I saw this thirty-day tag on Jessica Allison's blog & I decided to do it as it seemed quite fun. I've always wanted something that I can post daily as a review a day is slightly time consuming so I may not do that every day but this is different :)
Let's start the tag :)
When did you start putting on makeup?
When I was around 7 years of age. And, no I never went out with it on! I just played with my mum's lipstick & shadows while in the house and that's it.
I started actually wearing makeup when I was 12-ish but only a little bit of eyeliner on the weekends (when I went out with my parents) other wise i never went to school with makeup on, unless you count a tinted clearasil that I used to use on my blemishes. But I don't think that counts as makeup as it was a treatment for curing acne.
When I was around 13 or 14 years I bought my first foundation because I had a wedding and wanted my skin to look perfect, and two cream shadows by essence which creased horribly until the end of the night lol! Again - I wore this only during weekends.
The big makeup craze started when I was around 15 or 16 when I came across pursebuzz, panacea81 & jJacks48 on youtube. From then onwards, I never went back to being makeup less :)
When did you start putting on makeup?
I tag anyone who wants to do this tag!

EoTN - The Blues

2011-08-27T11:51:00.000+02:00

Hi lovelies!
Hope this post finds you all well :) Yesterday I went out to dinner and this is the look that I created. Once again I was inclining to a golden look (for a big change LOL), but I made myself use some colour so that you all won't get bored. Here is what I came up with this time 'round.

The creasing is due to the fact that I took these after I came back so the makeup was on for about five hours

Here is what I used:
Artdeco cream e / s baseELF Dawn cream e / s (across the eyelid)ELF beauty encyclopedia basic eyes - Top highlighter (Inner corner & brow bone)ELF beauty encyclopedia basic eyes - Middle highlighter (all over lid)Essence Wild at Heart e / s - CreaseELF Beachy e / s - Crease (to create depth)MUA e / s no 20 (matter black) - Crease (with a very thin brush) & lower lash lineELF Black cream e / lRimmel Black Lash Max Bold Curves mascara
Have you ever worn blue eyeshadow?

Photos from Heaven

2011-08-24T20:44:00.001+02:00

Hello beauties!
Not a makeup related blogpost today as I am super tired - i just came back from a wonderful day in Paradise! lol not really, more like Paradise Bay. I thought I would show you some pictures because I couldn't help but think that you will love the place too!

This beach is actually called Paradise Bay and in my opinion its the most beautiful beach in Malta. I'll go now and leave you to enjoy the pictures :)

Bargains, Bargains & More Bargains!

2011-08-23T18:03:00.001+02:00

This morning I went to the City to buy a Birthday present for two friends. I came across these two tops at Bershka which I immediately fell in love with and bought them. Strictly speaking I declared myself on a "makeup & clothes shopping ban" for the time being because I am trying to save up for a holiday but I definitely couldn't resist these at such a cheap sale price (€5! Each) and as one of them was paid for by my mum .. well ;)

Super Geek-Chic if worn unbuttoned on a t-shirt and semi tucked in to a pair of jeans. I need to take it in a few cm as its a size medium and i am a size small.

This shirt is perfect for my taste: It is a very pale teal (my all time fav colour), flowery and the belt it came with adds the perfect vintage touch to it!

Have you ever come across any great pieces during a sale? And if yes, what are they?

Look of the Night - Golden

2011-08-20T20:00:00.000+02:00

Hi everyone!
Two posts for today :) I just finished my makeup and decided to post a Look of the Night as I've still got some time before going out. I took the opportunity to use some of the e.l.f products that I got in the mail this morning. Here is the look:

Please excuse the little eyebrow hairs, I waxed yesterday but I think I've overlooked them

Lately I've totally been loving golds and browns and neutrals for makeup so you will probably be seeing alot of golden looks in the near future :)

What I used:

Artdeco e/s base

ELF eyebrow lifter and filler - the filler side - brow bone and inner tear duct

ELF Dawn cream eyeshadow - all over lid and into crease

Artdeco e/s no 16 - Over Dawn

ELF cream e/l in black

MUA brown eyeshadow no 19 - lower lash line

MUA black eyeshadow no 20 - pushed into lower lashes to give the illusion of fuller looking lashes

Rimmel Curve Maxx mascara

Where would you wear this look to?

love, Daniela x

My little brown box :)

2011-08-20T12:15:00.001+02:00

Morning all!
How are you? I just finished unpacking, taking pictures and swatching the contents of my little ELF box. I was really happily surprised this morning as I expected my goodies to arrive on Monday as they shipped them only on Thursday afternoon. Came just for the weekend :)
Here is what I got:

Dawn Cream eyeshadow from studio line (review coming soon)

Black cream eyeliner (Review coming soon)

Custom compact - I got this because I am planning on getting a few MAC shadows when my mum's english friend comes over. You save £2 from each shadow if you buy them as a pan refill so I got this so I have a place where to store them as I heard they fit perfectly well into it :)

Goddess superglossy lipshine - got this for free with the free shipping + free lipgloss promotion and I really adore the colour!

Black Waterproof lengthining and volumising mascara - I got the brown version of it and I absolutely adore it - mum does too so she got the black version but I'll obviously be giving it a shot :p (Review might be coming)

Have you gotten anything from e.l.f with the latest offers?

love, Daniela x

Montagne Juenesse: Cream & Honey skin polisher Mask review

2011-08-17T19:22:00.002+02:00

Hello ladies!

How are you all? Today I am going to review a mask that I've been using for the last several weeks and this is the montagne jeunesse skin polisher mask with cream & Honey.

Image courtsey of Montagne Jeunesse

Montagne Jeunesse masks come supplied in a plastic packet which is very fun and automatically makes you want to try the product. Despite this they aren't that handy when it comes to preserving the product its self once opened. The packaging was the main reason why in the first place I stopped buying these masks because I used to open them and i barely got two uses out of the mask as it dried out and went to waste. It was only when I stumbled across a very helpful tip on a particular blog (which unfortunately I don't remember) which suggested to store these in an old container, that I went out and bought this mask again.

On the other hand all the masks i tried from this brand never disappointed me.

What about the skin polisher?

The skin polisher claims to:

"Our Skin Polisher is a hive of goodness exploding with sweet Honey & nourishing Cream. The delicate Jojoba beads that will help unclog pores & we’ve extracted ultra-moisturising Cocoa & Shea butter to leave skin velvety soft. "

As soon as you open the mask a strong sweet scent of honey mixed with something else (cream I suppose because the scent of honey in it is very potent) emerges from it. I admit that for some (including me) it might be a little too strong but give it a while and you will get used to it.

The product itself is considerably thick (not as thick as their clay masks though!) but since it is a cream you can spread it very easily. The product has a white colour with beige beads (although as the brand often states, colour of the masks may vary as the ingredients are natural).

What i love about this particular mask is the fact that its a 2 in 1 scrub & mask (I never came across a mask which has tiny exfoliating beads in it). When on the skin it gives of a burning sensation which i never experienced with any other mask before, be it from this or any other brand. Having said that, it didn't irritate my skin, far from it, it left it feeling as soft and clean as ever.

To my absolute amazement I got eight uses out of this mask (and I used it generously every single time!). This amazing considering that it retails for only £1.09 from their website (€2.05 from Malta).

Have you ever tried these masks? Do you like them?

love, Daniela x

NotW - RIMMEL Portobello Pink

2011-08-02T22:53:00.000+02:00

Good evening!
How are you all? Today I went to the pharmacy and bought a new nail polish as all of my pink polishes have either dried out or finished. Here is what I bought and what I'm wearing right now.

Rimmel 60 second nail polish - 230 Portobello Pink

Have you tried Rimmel 60 second nail polishes? Do you like them?

love, Daniela x

ELF False eyelashes review & pictures

2011-07-23T17:09:00.001+02:00

Good morning!
How are you all? Today I will be reviewing a set of false eyelashes that made me start loving falsies. Before I ever tried elf lashes, I used to use a set of 10 falsies I got of e-Bay for around €2. These were an absolute nightmare to apply because they were so thick and evidently used synthetic hairs and IF you ever manage to apply them they will lift away like its their job. So after having seen so many youtube gurus apply their lashes so easily I thought that I would never be able to apply false lashes. A review from Dulce Candy convinced me to buy these as I know that she does use high end brands but she really liked these.
Moral of the story: If you have never used falsies and would like to try them don't go for the cheap e-Bay once, but buy ELF and if you take good care of them you will manage to get a couple of uses out of them :)
Here are the lashes:

Dramatic lash kit in Black

These lashes are quite long so they will fit most eye shapes and sizes. Of course if you have smaller eyes then you will need to cut them down. Personally I remove two to three hairs from the outer corner of each lash. Even though they are called "Dramatic" they look considerably natural when applied but they do add a lot of volume and length and a bit of a flair as well.

I personally think that these are synthetic simply because they cost so little but if they are so they feel and look extremely natural.

You can see how fine, long and curled the lashes are

When I use them I never have to apply mascara to bind my natural lashes to these but this depends on how your lashes are (mine are quite long). The band is very thin so it is very easily concealed just by using a thin line of eyeliner.

I've never used the glue that comes with them so I cannot tell you anything about it. I use they Eylure eyelash glue which I really like.

Here is a picture of me wearing them:

The lifting is due to the fact that the photo was taken at around 2am and the makeup
was applied at around 6pm

All I did was curl my natural lashes and the falsies with lash curler to bond them better, pretty natural looking eh?
These retail for £1.50 / €1.70 at the ELF website.
love,
Daniela x

MAC Pink Rebel lustre drops: Review, Pictures & Swatches

2011-07-22T14:41:00.000+02:00

Hello beautiful people!
How are you all? Today I am going to review one of the most loved products I own: The MAC lustre drops.

MAC lustre drops - Pink Rebel

The narrow nozzle

Packaging

It comes in a sturdy plastic bottle with a very narrow nozzle which is perfect for the product as it's a liquid therefore you can control how much product comes out.

An extreme close up of pink rebel

Pink Rebel when blended

Product
The product it's self is a non watery liquid therefore application is very easy as it does not go every where. You also only need a very small amount as it is very pigmented.
The colour looks like a pink on the MAC website but in reality it's more of a champagne colour with gold and pink reflexes running through it which makes it a very natural looking highlighter.
Best way to apply

Apply on areas where you want to highlight such as the tops of your cheekbones, nose bridge, chin and eye brow bones
This product looks gorgeous when used with bronzer - gives the perfect summer dewy glow
A good idea would be to mix a small amount of these with a matt foundation
I personally prefer to apply this with my fingers as it blends in better and less product is wasted

This retails at £17.00 from any MAC store.

I am totally in love with this product! This together with bronzer are the perfect combination for beautiful dewy skin. It gives such a natural & healthy glow to the skin. Even though the price range is a bit steep I will definitely buy it again because its so worth it.

Tomorrow I will be posting a comparison of this to another very low end product which does quite a similar job. So keep an eye out for that ;)

Have you ever tried lustre drops? Or a dupe to them? Answer below!

love, Daniela x

A messy updo

2011-07-21T22:49:00.004+02:00

Something different for today, Ladies!
An up-do, when have I ever done that?! Last Saturday I had a cousin's wedding and lately I've taken to completely avoiding the hair dresser's. I am currently growing out my hair and I really need it to be re shaped because my layers have grown out and it's totally style less, I know that if I approach the hairdresser's salon I will surely have it trimmed, so I am avoiding the salon up until the end of Summer.
Anyways, I needed an up-do and I knew I wanted something messy. I researched a little bit just for inspiration and to see how the style is done and here is what I found. I mostly followed the first picture but was inspired to add the poof by the one before last. Here is it what I came up with:

Excuse the blurry picture but I took this photo myself and well, I couldn't see behind my
head

A side view of the fringe (Please excuse the creepy looking eye, but this was the best side
shot I had, I promise there is a normal eye underneath there!)

I know that this style looks as though its a normal messy bun with a few tweaks, but it took me around an hour to create and I really loved it!
Do you want a tutorial about this style? I was half way through writing one but I thought it was way to long for a blog. If you would like me to post it simply leave a comment and I will do so as it's still saved :)
Do you want to see more hair styles & up-dos? Answer below!love, Daniela x

MAC & Clearasil Haul

2011-07-20T18:52:00.002+02:00

Hello lovely people!
How are you all? I need to excuse my self for the long absence from my blog, its summer and the extreme heat (30°C today - this week is even going to reach a sizzling 34°C ) is draining me out of all inspiration or will to blog (or do anything else for that matter!). But today I'm back with a combined mini haul.
Here are the items that I got:

Clearasil's ultra Deep pore treatment Toner - Used it twice and I'm really liking it up till now

MAC's Virgin kiss lipglass - Got this from a blog sale that the lovely Ray is holding

MAC's sunnydaze pigment - Got this from Ray's blog sale as well. Currently I'm loving gold and taupe eyeshadows and this is the perfect combination of both with a beautiful sheen, I can't wait to actually use it in a look!

Have you tried any of these producrts? What do you think of them?

love, Daniela x

New Look & Stradivarius Haul

2011-07-08T11:12:00.002+02:00

Hello lovelies, how are you all?
Yesterday me and my friend went shopping so I wanted to share what I got with you all. It isn't much because last Tuesday I did a boohoo clothing haul (still waiting for it to come in the post). I primarily went for two pairs of shoes: a nude one for a wedding I have next week, and a wedge one because I only have one pair of wedges, but this is what I came across (all of which where on sale) :)
New Look

Nude peep toes to go with the satin cocktail dress I showed you here

Detail of the bow

Stradivarius

I got this slouch bag to accent the many plain tops i just recently realized I had while organizing my wardrobe.

Simply loving the peacock trend this year! So pretty :)

Hope you enjoyed this haul :)

love, Daniela x

50% off ELF haul

2011-07-05T16:11:00.001+02:00

Happy Days, Happy Days!
My 50% off everything ELF order just arrived half an hour ago while I was cleaning out my closet, super fast shipping as always! I got to get a few things which I've been wanting for ages but I've been procrastinating on getting, but now I couldn't resist with such an amazing offer :)
Here is a (crappy) picture of what I got:

Please excuse the poor quality of this picture but I took it with my phone and used just day light instead of the usual set up & camera, but I was really excited to show you my haul :)

I got (from top left to bottom right):

Mist & Set

Mellow Melon SPF 15 lip balm

Peaceful Pink SPF 15 lip balm

12 lipgloss wands (& underneath those, therefore not shown) a packet of powder puffs

Eyebrow filler & highlighter in Ash (for my mum)

Waterproof Lengthening & Volumising & mascara in Dark Brown

Two pairs of dramatic false eyelashes in Black (because I love them SO much)

Matte finisher top coat

Lilac Nail polish (for my mum)

Pouty Petal Mineral lipstick

Nicely Nude Mineral lipstick

The best part of all of this order? I got all of these products for just €20 where's without the offer it would have cost me €40!

Have you ordered anything during there 50% off offer? What did you get?
love, Daniela x

June 2011 Favorites

2011-07-04T20:44:00.001+02:00

Hello gorgeous people! :)
Today's post is something which I never did before although many bloggers post it every month. I don't normally have monthly favorites, so I won't promise that I'll post this every month. But this month I stuck to these products and used on a daily basis. Here goes:

From Left to right:
MAC lustre drops in Pink RebelRevlon matte lipstick in Strawberry SuedeRimmel MAX lash curvesArtdeco High Precision Liquid LinerArtdeco perfect teint concealerRevlon Colorstay foundationKirkland powder brush (to apply bronzer)Artdeco Eyeshadow baseMaybelline Dream matte powder MAC Refined Golden Bronzer
love, Daniela x

MAC Refined Golden Bronzer review & pictures

2011-06-30T17:56:00.002+02:00

Hi lovely ladies & Gents - if any :)
How are you all? Today I am going to review a product which will probably stay in my daily makeup routine forever. I've been using this on an everyday basis ever since I got it which was in the beginning of June (having said that, keep an eye for my June favs which will be coming soon).
Say "Hello" to MAC's Refined Golden Bronzer!

Packaging

It comes in a very sleek & professional looking package; just like all of the other mac products. In contrast with the other MAC powders, the wording on this one is bronze, to signify the fact that it is a bronzer, I would guess. When you open up the packaging it has a mirror on one side and (obviously) the bronzer on the other.

The retail price of this bronzer is £17.50 which may seem a lot but I can assure you that it is totally worth the price.

Product

The shade of the product is a very brownish shade, which i love since it looks very natural in comparison to other bronzers which turn orange when applied. Also, it is very sheer therefore it is very build-able and with this, there is no chance that you are going to end up looking muddy or with a stripe-y face. When you first open it you can see golden shimmers in it which may scare some people but in fact they are very fine and once applied this product is very matte - you can only see the shimmer if you really look closely. Also, it is very long lasting; sometimes my foundation would have faded by the end of the day and this is still there.
I cannot really find any bad things about this product because I thoroughly love it and I would definitely buy it again because it is worth every single penny.
Quick Tip: I love to apply this using an all over powder brush because this disperses & blends the product much better then a Kabuki brush would.
Have you ever tried this? What do you think of it?Have you ever tried a product that sounds as good as this? If so, what is it?
love, Daniela x

ALERT! Big Bargain Alert!

2011-06-28T11:40:00.002+02:00

OK, I never post these kind of offers on here but today I though I would as I've personally been waiting for an offer like this for ages!

I placed my biggest ever makeup order yet! Haul will be coming soon so keep an eye out for that ;)

So hurry up before all the good stuff will be gone!
love, Daniela x
PS: I'm sorry that I haven't been blogging frequently but we have been setting up an exhibition at school and it has been so, so hectic! Also, yesterday I participated in my first ever fashion show (at school as well)! It was a very wonderful experience!

Summer makeup must haves

2011-06-15T16:54:00.001+02:00

Hello lovelies!
As summer is right behind the door, and for some it already started, I thought that it would be a good thing to list the items that I think you must have for summer. In no particular order (because all of these are very important to me) here goes:
Lip Balm with SPF - One I suggest is: Nivea Soothe & Protect SPF15. Tried (in extreme sun) & approved by yours truly, this lip balm moisturizes, and protects your lips from the burning in the sun all day long and it smells a little bit of mint which is always good
Foundation with SPF - May I suggest Revlon colorstay. The one for oily skin has SPF 6 while the one for dry skin has SPF 15. Unfortunately, I don't trust anything that is called sun screen on my face so I'll have to use foundation. If you find foundation is too heavy for the summer months try to find a good tinted moisturizer with SPF
Bright coloured lipsticks - I found NYX round lipsticks to be the best for this one. These are super cheap, BUT have a huge array of colours and moisturize the lips better then any other lipstick I've tried. Here are some of my top favorite lipstick shades for summer:

Deborah No. 06 lipstick isn't very pigmented but it is a very pretty colour none the less

TREND ALERT - This summer is big on orange lips.
To me there is nothing prettier in Summer, then bright coloured lips with beautiful skin, some highlighter on the cheek bones and brow bones, bronzer and a bright coloured blush and some mascara.
Sun screen (for the body) - One with at least SPF 30, to protect you from damaging your skin!
Body mists - Particularly ones that smell like the sea lol! I love my body shop body mist which is called Oceanus - the scent of it relaxes me so much and in summer I love carrying it in my bag and spritzing it all over when I feel like it.
Face Bronzer - Because for an unknown reason my body gets really dark and my face remains as pale as it was in winter. The one I use (& love) is Refined Golden by MAC
Liquid highlighter - I use Pink Rebel by MAC and I've never set eyes on a prettier highlighter then this. I prefer liquid highlighters rather then powders as I think they look way natural
I think that those are my must have items for summer! What are yours!
love, Daniela x

Tea Tree Oil: The Miracle worker

2011-06-14T22:22:00.003+02:00

Tea tree oil is one of those all natural products that work wonders on a large spectrum of problems. I have been using it lately on my biggest skin problem which is acne and the scarring that it leaves behind. This is the particular tea tree oil that I use on my skin and it is the only brand of tea tree oil that I ever used.

The Body Shop - Tea tree oil

Before buying this product I had heard a whole lot of awe about it and therefore I did a little bit of research and found out that true to what I heard, it is a very good acne treatment and a great way to eliminate acne scarring.
"Tea tree oil is an essential oil obtained by the steam distillation of Melaleuca alternifoglia, a plant leave native to australia."http://altmedicine.about.com/
Technical words apart, what makes tea tree oil that great? It is an antibacterial product therefore it fights the bacteria and acne and it together with vitamin E stimulates tissue regrowth which means that scarring can be "cured".
I have been using tea tree oil for about a month now and I have experienced less and less acne as more time goes by, apart from the occasional small break out, the many scars I had on my skin were reduced although not yet eliminated.
All in all I am totally loving tea tree oil and I am already on my second bottle of it! I always make sure to use a very good moisturizer with it as its a fairly drying product, but apart from that, it works wonders!
Have you ever used tea tree oil on any problematic areas? Do you like it?
love, Daniela x

New Look & Miss Selfridge Haul

2011-06-09T19:15:00.002+02:00

Hello beautiful people!
On Tuesday it was a public holidays & since the shops where open I decided to go shopping mainly for a clutch bag for an upcoming wedding. I already knew witch one I was going to get as I had set my eyes on it ages ago and it fitted perfectly well with my dress.
Here it is:

New Look Clutch

As I was there I also picked up these sunglasses which I totally love:

New look Sunglasses

Now off to the bargain shopping! I found these two gorgeous dresses at Miss Selfridge on the sale rack. They where both 70% off, wait until you hear the before & after prices!

This one is an absolutely gorgeous cocktail Satin Dress. It's colour is a beautiful taupe & when its on its super flattering especially on the chest area (Its not supposed to be that wrinkly but before i took the picture it was sitting in a paper bag all squished up). Perfect for a friend's wedding, dinner, bar, or anything else for that matter :) Original Price: €53 ... Sale price: €16 !!!

I fell in love with this gorgeous dress as soon as I saw it! i was super lucky because it was the last one and it was my exact size. I love the colours and the flowers on it and even the cut! When its on its much more flattering then it looks on the picture. Original Price: €63 ... Sale price: €19!!

I saved €81 on the two dresses together! I love bargain shopping :) Do you?

love, Daniela x

My first MAC products!

2011-06-08T18:30:00.001+02:00

Hello lovelies,
How are you all? Two days ago my boyfriend came back from his trip abroad and with him he got me my first ever MAC products! Obviously I told him what I wanted, as he doesn't understand a thing about makeup, so while he was at the airport he went to the shop and got them for me as a present from his trip. (I only asked him to get one of them as i couldn't afford to get both of them but he got them both for me and told me they where his gift from the trip :)
I am very, very excited as I've never seen a real MAC product except on photos (as there aren't any MAC stores in Malta and I haven't been abroad in years), let alone own one hehe! Here they are:

From L-R: Refined Golden Bronzer, Pink Rebel Lustre Drops

Simply Gorgeous! I got two bronzing products as summer is coming by and I'm simply loving the very natural, no e/s, glowy skin look. I have only tried them twice until now and I'm very impressed about the quality and lasting power. Reviews about both of them will be up soon but today I wanted to tell you all about the start of my MAC collection :)
love, Daniela x

EotN - Warm Shades

2011-05-28T11:21:00.003+02:00

Good morning Sunshines!
This is the look I wore yesterday to go clubbing. I noticed that lately I've been leaning toward a lot of neutral looks. This look was inspired by this video by Marlena of Makeup Geek who in turn was inspired by Mila Kunis' oscar look.
Here is my version of it:

Here is what I used to create this look
Face
Maybelline Superstay 24hr foundation in 30 SandArtdeco Perfect Teint Concealer no. 9 (under eyes)Max Factor creme puff powder in Truly FairRimmel Blush in Tuscany (used as Bronzer - Cheek bones, nose, Forehead & chin)NYX blush in Peach (Apples of the cheeks)
Eyes
Artdeco cream eyeshadow baseArtdeco eyeshadow no. 16 (on lid)ELF 32 eyeshadow palette Christmas edition - Top right hand corner Brown - Taupe shade (colour not neutral) (crease)eBay 120 colour pallette - coral shade (blended between crease & brow bone)ELF beauty encyclopedia Basic eyes - Vanilla colour (Brow bone)Prestige Ultimate eye definer in Blackest Black (Upper & lower waterline)Artdeco precision liner (Upper lash line)Rimmel Maxx lash mascara - Two coats
I hope you enjoyed my version of Mila Kunis' Look :)
love, Daniela x

ELF brownstone quad: Swatches & Review

2011-05-26T18:22:00.001+02:00

Hello sunshines,
I've been wanting to get this quad for ages but its either been out of stock when i ordered or else i simply for got about it while placing an order. Last Saturday I came across it at a super market and i got it. Here are my thoughts about it.

Top Row: Without primer
Bottom Row: With primer

The colours in this particular quad are more on the cool tone. They aren't powdery at all, so they don't have a lot of fall out. The pigmentation is great especially if you use a base under neath them. This quad will come in very handy if you are in a hurry and you want a quick look because you have the brow, lid, crease and deep crease colour all in one palette. It is an ideal palette for school or work makeup. I quite like these e / s and for €1.70 per quad it can't get any better! I will probably buy some of the other quads as well.
Have your tried any of ELF's eye shadow quads? What do you think of them?
love, Daniela x

NOTW - ELF mint cream

2011-05-25T15:49:00.003+02:00

Hello makeup lovers!

How are you all? Yesterday I looked at my finger nails and i was shocked at how dry and un-lady like my cuticles where, and my nails where all different lengths and shapes and looking un-healthy. Ever since I got my job where we can neither have long nails neither wear nail polish, I've neglected my nails greatly & since this week i don't have any work at all i gave myself a manicure. Here is the colour I painted them:

ELF - mint cream

I decided to go with one of my favorite colours of nail polish since I only rarely have the opportunity to paint them. I love this colour! And even more so, for summer :)

What do you think of ELF nail polishes? Which one is your favorite?

Tell me below!

Mini Shoe & Makeup Haul

2011-05-23T18:28:00.005+02:00

Hi everyone!

Quick post today, as I need to go finish off my assignments. On Friday I popped into the city to shop for a pair of flip flops. I checked in peacocks which is one of my favorite stores for shoes (huge range!). Here is what I got...

Really pretty and comfy too!

I also wanted a pair of brogues but even though I searched a lot for a pair that suited me well, I only came across a pair that I've loved now. And they where on sale too! Got them for €13 instead of the original €26. Here they are:

The details...

Pretty Aye? :)

Lastly, I went to a supermarket and guess what I came across? ELF! I got the brownstone quad as I've wanted it for a long time but never got around to get it!

Hope you enjoyed my haul!

EOTN - Contrast

2011-05-21T10:36:00.000+02:00

Hello beautiful people!

How are you? Yesterday I went out with the girls and I wanted something smokey but not too dark at the same time. So I decided to go with this:

What I used

Face

The bodyshop matte it face primer
Maybelline superstay 24hr foundation
Artdeco liquid concealer (underneath the eyes)
Max factor Creme puff powder
NYX powder blush in peachy

Eyes

ELF mineral eyelid primer
Max factor peach eyeliner (all over the lid & inside the water line)
ELF shimmering facial whip in spotlight (on brow bone)
Light pink e / s from 88 colours pallette
MUA shade no 18 (brown) (Crease)
MUA shade no 20 (black) (Crease)
Artdeco High precision liquid liner 01
Rimmel Maxx bold curves mascara (Two coats on upper lash line, One coat on lower lash line)

Did you like this look? Leave your comments below! :)

A foundation better then Revlon's colorstay?! YES!

2011-05-19T13:50:00.002+02:00

Good afternoon makeup lovers!

I think all of you have heard of the amazing Revlon colorstay? If not, here is a short and precise description: Very good coverage drugstore foundation, very affordable price, a large colour range, you can choose from two different skin types, amazing product!

Sounds good, right?

And believe it or not, i found something that is very similar, but in my opinion is even better then it!

Maybelline superstay 24hour foundation

Specs

No of shades: 12

SPF: 19

Coverage: Medium

Price: €10 (May vary according to where you buy it from)

Extra?: Micro-flex formula (makes it longer lasting)

Packaging

I don't normally write about a products packaging simply because you can clearly see it in the picture above. But I have seen a different packaging on the internet. I've read that it comes in an open mouthed bottle like the Revlon colorstay but oddly enough, mine had a pump. This goes for the shades as well, the shade that I am, which is 30 sand doesn't seem to exist on the website. Odd eh?

Texture

It is quite thick although not as thick as the revlon colorstay, in fact you can easily blend this one with your fingers whereas it is not a good idea to use this technique on the colorstay. It isn't runny either but just the right consistency between thick and runny. Unlike the Revlon colorstay, this isn't sticky at all.

Coverage

It doesn't give as full a coverage as the revlon colorstay does, but I think that this is way more build-able. Also, one can control the coverage according to the tool that one uses to apply it with.

Lasting Power

Superstay's lasting power isn't as good as colorstay's unfortunately. The one thing that ruins this foundation the most, is its lack of oil control. I find that this foundation lasts about two hours and then oil starts appearing. This contributes to the fact that it doesn't last as long on the skin.

Would I buy it again?

Yes, I would. All in all, I love this foundation. Only, if I wanted my foundation to last for a really long time and for oil to be more controlled, then I would switch to my colorstay.

A trip to heaven

2011-05-17T17:16:00.000+02:00

Hello lovelies!

Today me and some friends went to this beautiful beach and I decided to share some photos with you. Enough said, enjoy the beautiful scenery!

Haul: Hair & Beauty

2011-05-16T21:49:00.000+02:00

Good evening all!

This morning I had to go in to the super market for a packet of wax strips and ended up getting two other products. I visited the Body Shop so as to buy a makeup remover which i've been eyeing for a while, and since the one i'm using is almost finished I decided that it was time to buy it. Here is what i bought:

TRESemme Dry shampoo - heard a lot of good reviews about this & finally after a lot of searching, I managed to get my hands on it

Bon Bons Malizia deodorant: The first thing that got my eye was the fun design and as I needed a small deodorant for my purse, I picked this pink grapefruit one - very fun scent!

The Body Shop Camomile eye make-up remover: I'm guessing that a good review about this will be coming soon! ;)

Have you tried any of these products? What do you think of them? Leave your comment below!

Tag: My ABCs

2011-04-29T13:42:00.000+02:00

Hello Everyone!

Something different for today. I saw this tag post on Lara's and Gertrude's blog and decided to do it myself. Here goes:

Age: 19

Bed Size: Single

Chore you hate: Doing the dishes

Dogs: None but I've got two cats ^___^

Essential start of your day: Brush my teeth

Favorite Color: Turquoise

Gold or silver: Gold

Height: 5' 3"

Instruments I play (or have played): I used to play the electric guitar

Job Title: Media student & waitress

Kids: None

Live: Malta

Mom's Name: Marthese

Nickname: Dan, for short

Overnight hospital stays: Thank God, never

Pet Peeve: People who match all of their outfit around one colour (e.g.: green top, pair of jeans, green shoes, green earrings, etc...)

Quote from a movie: (About polyjuice potion) Mad Eye moody: "Fair warning, tastes like goblin piss" Fred / George Weasley: "It seems like you had experience with that, mad eye" (From Harry Potter 7) It made me cry with laughter during the movie!

Right or left handed: Right handed

Siblings: None

Time you wake up: Varies according to if I'm going to school / work / staying home

Underwear: I'm wearing it! haha :)

Vegetables you dislike: Broccoli

What makes you run late: In the mornings - over sleeping, in the evening - my hair & makeup

X-rays you've had done: None, Thank God

Yummy food you make: I make a particular recipe of my own invention which includes noodle with boiled eggs, sweet corn, spicy chicken and onions and a dash of curry

Zoo animal: Peacocks .. They are gorgeous!

I tag everyone who wants to do it. Leave a comment if you do it so i can see yours :)

PS: Are you watching the Royal wedding? I think Kate looks simply radiant!

Review: The Body Shop Skin Primer Matte it

2011-04-27T17:26:00.002+02:00

Hi ladies (& guys if any =)

Today I decided to review a product which I've been using - and loving, for around a month. This is The Body Shop Skin Primer Matte it. This is my first primer ever, so I cannot really compare it with any other primer.

Basic Information

This primer comes in a 25ml transparent tube. It is very handy as you can both see how much you have got left, and also control the amount of product you dispense. This cost me around €11 and can be purchased at any The Body shop outlet.

Consistency

It has a transparent, gel like consistency. Its neither thick nor thin; It doesn’t run easily but at the same time its extremely easy to blend in to the skin. Having said that, you only need a very small amount to cover the whole face, I would say half a pea size amount. This product has no scent at all. Once applied it feels really soft and smooth.

Results

The skin feels super soft once this is applied. Apart from that, foundation blends like a dream on to the skin with this underneath, and so does concealer and powder. I noticed that the large pores I have on my t-zone where almost invisible once the foundation and powder where on. This doesn’t shrink them because they are still visible when my skin is bare apart from the primer, but it does “fill them in”. This primer lacks in one factor, which is oil control. I haven’t seen a huge reduction in oiliness in my skin and my foundation seems to last the same amount of hours as before I started using the primer.

My final Verdict

Price: 4 ½

Amount: 5

Consistency: 5

Oil Control: 3

Look and feel: 5

Result: 4 ½

I would probably buy this product again, but if I found something which controls oil more then this, then I would surely replace this. For me, lack of oil control is this product’s only downfall.

I hope that this review was helpful! What's your favorite primer? Answer below!

Daniela

Review: John Frieda Brilliant Brunette Shine Release Shampoo

2011-04-26T18:12:00.000+02:00

Today, I am going to review a shampoo which I have been using for around a month. I bought this shampoo because my hair looks really dull right after I wash it, especially if I leave it to air dry. After hearing a good review about the sheer blonde products from the same line, I decided to give the brilliant brunette a go.

What the product says:

"exposes brown hair's luminosity; reveales multi-dimensional brunette shine"

"For lighter shades of natural, colour-treated or highlighted brunette hair"

The product itself has a gel like consistency because it is transperent and comfortably thick, but not sticky as a gel. Its colour is a sort of orangey-brown. The scent is one of my most favorite things about this product; on the tube there is a print that says that the product contains hazelnut and chestnut extracts. The scent resembles these two nuts but sweeter; as though there's a tinge of vanilla scent to them, and warmer.

The product lathers quite well and leaves the hair really soft. After rinsing and before applying conditioner I find that my hair tangles a little bit, but this happens to me with any shampoo that I use. Currently I am using a tresemme conditioner with this shampoo but I am planning to switching to the conditioner that goes with this shampoo after I use up the current one.

I haven't seen a huge difference in luminosity but my hair does feel a lot better after using this. This is perhaps because I am not using the other two products that go with this shampoo yet so maybe then I will see the full result. I noticed that ever since I've been using this shampoo my hair has gotten less oily at the roots which is a great thing.

The bottle contains 250ml of product and I bought it at €8.49. I think it is slightly expensieve for the amount of product you get, but I like the results.

All in all I am quite happy with this product and most probably I will purchase it again, and the products that go with it aswell.

Consistency: *****
Scent:           *****
Results:        *****
Price:           *****

Final Rate:

*****

ELF Haul

2011-04-25T19:08:00.001+02:00

Hi everyone!

Last Saturday I recieved the ELF products that I ordered the Saturday before that during an offer in which you got free shipping and a free lipgloss in Mauve Lux. I haven't made an order from ELF in ages since I haven't really been in need for any makeup lately.

My main two products for doing this haul where the ELF everyday brush cleaner and also, the twinkle teal eyeliner but since I needed to spend 12 euros so that the offer could be activated I found a good excuse to buy some extras :P

I love each and every product that I got especially Twinkle Teal eyeliner and Dreamy mineral e / s mixed together, they create a gorgeous pop of colour for an otherwise plain & boring look.

I haven't yet used the lashes but I can already assure that I will absolutely love them. They feel so soft and like real lashes!

The brush cleaner is amazing and I've become addicted to using it on every brush that I use lol!

On a side note, I have got a flash gun for my D-SLR! And the best part is, I got it for free! And its absolutely fantastic! My dad had this flash gun stored in a cupboard for the longest time ever and he had forgotten all about it. Before D-SLRs came out he used to use film SLR to take photos and he had bought this flash gun. It wasn't until I asked if he had one that he remebered about it. Thank God, it fitted my D-SLR so know I'm its proud owner :) Having said that, now the photos on this blog will hopefully take a good step forward.

That's all for today!

NYX haul

2011-03-23T19:28:00.001+01:00

Hi everyone!

Firstly, as you may have noticed I just changed my theme and layout. The old one was getting old, boring and colourless and since spring is here I thought I would use some spring-ish colours and a flower theme, because flowers are one of my favorite trends this month.

Now on to the Haul. I bought these items about a week ago from this seller on e-Bay. I was really amazed that the products only took a week to arrive since the item location was the US which is quite a long distance away. The product prices and shipping prices were also very reasonable plus the products were packeged very safely. Having said that, if you want to buy any NYX products, buy them through this seller because she offers a very good service.

This is what I bought.

NYX mega shine lipglosses in Beige & Smokey look

NYX powder blush in Peach

NYX concealer in a jar in Green

NYX powder blush in Peach

I've heard so many good things about these blushes especially from Marlena at MakeupgeekTV so I thought I'd give them a shot. What can I say? I love it! (Please excuse the blurry picture but I did not focus my camera well and only realized that after I started editting the photos)

NYX concealer in a jar in Green

I've heard about this concealer from Lara and so I thought I would give it a go. I love it!

Left - Peach powder blush, center - Smokey look lipgloss, Right - Beige lipgloss

The lipglosses have amazing texture and colour payoff!

Reviews will be coming soon on the concealer and lipglosses but probably I will review the blushes once I get one or two more of them.

Look of the Day

2011-03-22T17:43:00.001+01:00

Hi Lovlies!

Last Saturday we went out for dinner and I created this look. I'm not going to list the products I used because to be perfectly honest, I forgot as I used about three or four different browns. All I remeber is that turqoise colour on the lower lash line is AMC no. 72 by inglot.

I hope you liked the look and sorry once again for not posting the products!

A well deserved mention

2011-03-12T18:15:00.000+01:00

Hi everyone!

Today I am going to talk about a product which I've been meaning to blog about for the longest time ever. The product is Vaseline's lip therapy in Rosy Lips. Probably you've all heard about it because it's really popular with the youtube community but I still thought that it's worth a mention to tell you just how much I love it! This product has saved my lips from chapping many times especially lately when the weather has been really cold (or a more accurate word - freezing).

The product comes provided in a really handy tin. It contains 20g and is sold for 2euros something (I'm not sure of the price as I took it off and I have bought the product about 6 months ago).

It's colour is a beautiful shade of coral which I totally love and it has a lovely smell which has a hint of roses. I guess that it is the smell of the main ingridients which are roses and almond oil.

What I love most about the product though, is its consistency and performance. The consistency of it is extremly smooth and not sticky, at all. You don't need a lot of product on your lips in order for it to work to its full potential and so this will last you for a very long time.

This is how little you actually need - I've been using this ever since last summer
when I bought it and that's all I needed to use.

I am very picky when it comes to lip products because in order for me to use them they have to be a 100% comfortable on the lips. Having said that, this is the most comfortable lip balm that I've ever used since its very smooth, not thick and not sticky at all. The best thing about it though, is that it really does do its job! A few weeks ago I had very chapped lips to the point where they were hurting. I applied this for the whole day and until the evening my lips were as smooth as ever. What I really like about it aswell, is that it doesn't dry on your lips but once it starts going away you can feel like its actually sinking into your lips and making them really moisturized.

Finally, I would like to share a little trick with you girls!

Once every week I like to take a small amount of oil and sugar, mix them together and apply them on my lips, scrubbing away with my finger. I rinse that off and then apply this lip balm and my lips will feel as soft as ever! (The oil and sugar trick isn't my own idea, I saw it on somebody's youtube but I don't know who she was, sorry!)

This is honestly the best lip balm I've ever used and it's definetly one of my handbag must haves!

Tag: How much is your face worth?

2011-02-24T16:17:00.001+01:00

Hi everyone!

Lara posted this tag and I thought that it was really fun to do. So here goes!

Skin Care:

Vichy Normaderm purifying cleansing gel - €10
Vichy Normaderm unclogging exfoliating gel - €10
Vichy Normaderm Purifying tonning lotion - €10
Vichy Normaderm Active Anti-Imperfection Concentrate - €10

Beauty formulas oil and shine control moisturizer - €3.30

Makeup:
Face:

Maybelline superstay foundation in 30 Sand - €10
Artdeco perfect teint concealer no.9 - €9
Max factor pan stik foundation in no.12 True Beige - €7
Max factor creme puff powder - €5
Blush (changes all the time) ~ €5 (x4)

Eyes:

ELF waterproof eyeliner pen in black - €1.70
Max factor false lash effect mascara - €13
Essence eyebrow gel - €3

Lips:

An array of NYX lipsticks ~ €2 (x4)
ELF mineral lipglosses - €4 (x2)

My face is worth: €128

Tag! You're it!!

Update

2011-02-23T22:28:00.000+01:00

Hi lovelies!

Firstly I would like to appologies for how long its been ever since I posted a blog but I have multiple good explanations for the abscense. Here goes:

Explanation number one: School has been super busy. We have handed in our assignments and right now its supposed to be 'the relaxed time' but we have already started with dead lines and we're being very busy with theory and research.

Explanation number two: I need a new computer, urgently. My computer still works but is very slow. Its about six or seven years old and poor old thing needs to go into retierment lol. It takes me about five minutes to get into facebook let alone editing photos. I refuse to post unedited pictures to this blog as I am quite a perfectionist when it comes to blogging and when I don't edit my photos I feel like the blog is not polished. This is the main reason why I'm not blogging.

Explanation number three: Work. Its taking most of the time that before was free for me so its taking time from blogging.

Don't worry though I will still blog and the new computer is on its way :) Haven't bought it yet because I'm still deciding between an iMac and a Macbook pro.

Mini Haul

2011-01-31T22:13:00.000+01:00

Hi sweeties :)

Today I needed a few beauty related bits and bobs and I went to a small and quick shopping spree and got them. Here is what I got.

Maybelline Super Stay 24hr foundation in 40 sand
(€10.50)

My revlon colorstay foundation has only a few ml left and since it has no pump its a pain to wait for the product to get out in the morning when i'm in such a hurry, I decided to get a new foundation. I loved the revlon colorstay to pieces but being a foundation wearer on an everyday basis (I use foundation everyday because if I don't have anything on I pick at my blemishes, but with foundation I don't), Having said that, this lasts me a really short time and I was trying for something less expensieve but with similar results. Having heard a lot of good reviews about this, and a lot of people who compared it to the colorstay I decided to give it a shot, it being €7 cheaper and having a pump. I'm really hoping for the same or very similar results!

Artdeco perfect Teint concealer no9 (€9.20)

I had bought this under eye concealer about 3 years ago and totally loved it. I used it to the last drop and even opened it up to use what was left inside (which never happens unless I totally dig the product). I never bought it again because its quite a small amount of product and I thought that the price was quite expensieve for that. After having tried a lot of different concealers from different brands this remained the best one. So here it is again!

Beauty formulas Oil and shine control moisturizer (€3.30)

I have never tried this one and never heard about it either but I needed a new moisturizer because my old one wasn't doing the job for the winter days (which means slightly drier skin then my usual oily skin) and this looked good. I am hoping for the best!

Reviews about these, especially the concealer and foundations will be coming soon, so watch out for them!

Have you ever tried any of these products? What do you think about them?

Graduation Makeup

2011-01-28T12:50:00.000+01:00

Hiya cupcakes!

Yesterday I graduated in a Diploma in art & Design and this is the makeup I did for the ocassion. I paired it up with shocking pink lips since the look was so neutral and colour less.

What I used on my eyes

The bodyshop christmas pallette 2009:-

Chocolate shimmer (crease & lower lash line)

Caramel shimmer (brow bone & tear duct)

Missha Vanilla Moon Pigment (Lid)

ELF waterproof eyeliner pen in black (flicked liner)

Rimmel special eyes eyeliner pencil in Black (upper waterline)

Max factor eyeliner pencil skin colour (lower water line)

Max factor false lash effect mascara (2 coats)

What I used on my lips

Elle cosmetics pink lip liner

Rimmel london colour show lipstick in Pink gossip

MUA lipgloss no.3

What do you think of this look? Are the pink lips too bright for a graduation ceremony?

Shoe storage

2011-01-25T15:36:00.000+01:00

Hi everyone!

Today I cleaned my makeup station and also my "shoe station" and i decided to show you the way that I like to store my shoes. Personally I get really frustrated to have to go through boxes and boxes of shoes in order to find the pair of shoes that I want. It's the last thing I want to do at 6.30 in the morning before I go to school. This is the way I store all of my shoes (This was inspired by one of my favorite youtube gurus TiffanyD)

I don't have a very big collection of shoes. I mostly have the basic colours and basic needed shoes along with some extra ones that I probably got on a sale. But I find that no matter how much or how few shoes you've got, this is a great way to be able to spot your shoes imediately. Also, if like me you tend to forget what shoes you own, this is really handy.

Originally these shelves were the home of all my dolls and soft toys but I decided to leave only my favorite ones out and remove the others and replace them with my shoes.

I hope you liked the idea!

ELF Haul

2011-01-24T19:27:00.020+01:00

Hello lovelies :)

How are you all?

I know that I promised to post this haul on Friday but on Friday I had to work unexpectedly and I didn't have time. Also, I was working all weekend so I didn't have time on that aswell. This week I don't have any school at all so I should be blogging more often (plus cleaning my makeup area and desk which are both a MESS).

Anyways, here's the haul I did from ELF. I wanted a few more products but they were out of stock.

Smokey brown nail Polish

Royal Purple nail polish

Au Natual Mineral lipgloss

Fierce - Mineral lipgloss

Fierce, Au Natural Swatch

Waterproof pen liners in Plum and Black

Plum, Black swatches

Reviews will be coming soon :) I hope you enjoyed!!

Collective Haul: Makeup & Jewelery

2011-01-19T14:13:00.001+01:00

Hello lovely people :)

Firslty, I would like to appologise for the three weeks that I haven't been on here. In the last three weeks I was super busy with assignments as this week and last week we had our assignment closing dates. Also I now have a job which takes up the free time that I had before to blog. So the two combined together made it almost impossible for me to blog in the last few weeks because when I wasn't doing assignments, I was working and vice versa. But don't worry because I am BACK! :)

These are some items that I bought seperately the last few weeks but I decided to do a collective haul and show you everything together.

The Body Shop Almond Milk Body Lotion - With this one I hit two birds with one stone because I really wanted a body lotion and the Almond body scrub because I loved the scent. So combined together I got an a body lotion with the scent I love! This body lotion is aimed towards normal / dry skin so I use it mostly on my arms and elbows and knees. I got this for €6.50 instead of €10 because it was on sale

Max Factor false lash effect - got this instead of the covergirl lashblast as it looks very similar and I heard really good stuff about this. I only used it twice with just one coat so I can't really tell if I like it.

Safron glitter polish in no 5 - A beautiful purple glitter polish which when put on the nails feels like a nail polish and not gritty like a glitter. I'm really in love with this one and I'll be going back to get the pink glitter probably! It cost just €3!

Accessorize Bracelet - gorgeous colourful bracelet with elephant and parrot charms ^___^ Got this for €6 instead of €12.50

Accessorize Necklace - I got this at a great deal - €9 instead of the Original €18.50. I think its gorgeous and I loved it at first sight lol! I bought specifically to go with my graduation dress (my graduation is next week - but no I haven't finished school yet :) By the time I finish I will have graduated three times). Its so pretty and very dainty and gives a pop of colour to any black outfit.

Watch out for my latest ELF haul which will be coming in the next couple of days (probably on Friday)

Best Products of 2010

2011-01-03T20:10:00.001+01:00

Hiya!

Today I decided to list my favorite products of 2010. I haven't done this before because I find it very difficult to have a favorite product as I like change and I always try to search for an even better product then the one I have. That's why I never do monthly favorites. But I felt that the products below have stuck with me for quite some time and therefore they deserve to make this list lol. Here they are :)

St. Ives Blemish fighting wipes - These are Ah-Mazing! The packet above is my third one and if it wasn't for school break I have gone through that one aswell. I use them on a daily basis because: They smell amazing, They are super cheap (€6 for a packet of 40 wipes), They remove foundation extremly well, and lastly they dry acne pimples like no other. Please do NOT use these on the eyes because they make your eyes sting and water like crazy (as though you are cutting onions)
Kirkland brushes - I got this set off ebay although they are very rare to find and not very popular with the beauty community but I can assure you that they are brushes of amazing quality. The bristles are syntethic, they are super soft and an other plus is they do not shed. I bought for €15 for a set of 8 brushes and a pouch.
Mint Julep Mask - This mask does wonders to the skin. You can see how much I love it in the picture as I'm almost through with it and there's an 8.o.z one coming in the mail aswell. I use this twice a week on Wednesdays and on Saturdays. I saw a great reduction in black heads after using it and pimples dry really fast after using it.
ELF Studio Blush in Gotta Glow - I've been using this blush every single day ever since I bought it and I don't think I'm going to stop. I use it both as a highlighter on my cheek bone and on my brow bone aswell. The reason I love it so much because since it is a vanilla colour it gives a very natural glow and it doesn't look fake like white highlighters do.
Max Factors Pan stick - I have only had this for a few weeks but I can tell that I will be using it alot because the coverage and the consistency of it are amazing. The shade I got is a tiny bit pale for me (nothing that a little bit of powder cannot fix) but next time I will probably go for a slightly darker shade
Makeup academy pigment - This pigment is amazing and costs just £1. I just wish they made a larger range of colours because it is of very good quality.
Makeup academy eyeshadow in no.20 - This is the blackest, mattest and bestest black that I've ever laid hands on. Also, its just £1! What's not to love about it?
NYX lipsticks - I don't think I will ever buy any other brand lipsticks again. Its as deep of a love as that lol! These have everything you may want in a lipstick:- great scent, great texture, moisturizing, a ton of colours to choose from and best of all, they are super cheap! That says it all :) My favorite one is tea rose.
Makeup Academy blushes - Great pigmentation and texture, very pretty colours and just £1. I just wish they made more shades.
ELF nail polishes - I love these nail polishes so much! They have a large selection of colours, they last a very long time but best of all is that they dry super quick! Also they are just €1.70
Manicare nail hardener, top coat & base coat (3 in 1) - This product was a bit expensieve for what I normally buy (€5 something) but it made my nails grow so strong and healthy, and my nail polish last super long. For that it has stuck with me for so long and I will probably buy it again.

I've been awarded!

2011-01-02T14:11:00.005+01:00

Good afternoon!

I am really excited because I just found out that I've been awarded an award from the lovely Tania! Thanks so much sweety! :)

To accept The Versatile Blogger Award there are some rules to follow which are these:

Thank and link back to who gave you the award

Share 7 things about yourself

Pass it along to 7 blog you've recently discovered and enjoy

Leave your recipient a note, telling them about the award

Seven Random things about me:

I have been a Harry Potter fan ever since I was 9 years old and I have read all of the books at least three times each and I have never gotten bored of the plot.
I have had six cats - three of which have sadly passed away, one has disappeared and the other two are still here. Their names are Tabby and Blacky ^.^
My favorite kind of books are mystery, adventure and fantasy combined together
I love photography so much and as you may have noticed I try to include it in this blog aswell
I am not a very organized person but when it comes to this blog I am super organized
I hate summer because of the extreme heat but I love the beach so much!
I love to eat fruit, its my favorite type of "Candy" because its so sweet :)

1. Why did you create this blog?
I have been in the blogging world ever since I was about 13 years old where I used to have a personal blog. That went on until I was about 15 years old and then I stopped for about a year and decided to start making youtube videos. I wasn't really succesful at that because whenever I did my makeup I was in a hurry and didn't have time to film (and I hate putting on makeup and removing it immediately) so now I blog and I'm really loving it =)

2. What kind of blog do you follow?

Mostly beauty blogs but I do follow a few personal blogs aswell especially if the writter has a quirky sense of writting which makes me laugh

3. Favorite Makeup Brand

I think that it has to be either ELF since they have super cheap and super good quality makeup or Revlon because I love their foundations

4. Favorite Clothing Brand

Probably Tally Weijl and if their prices where a bit cheaper, Bershka. Regarding shoes and accesorise I would choose new look

5. Your Indispensable Makeup Product

IF i had good skin I think it would be a pink blush because it gives an instant glow and colour to the skin

6. Your Favorite Color
Turquoise

7. Your Perfume

I generally don't like to use the same perfume for to long because I get bored of the scent really easily but if I had to choose I think it would be Miss Dior Cherie

8. Your Favorite Film

I love old school disney movies such as Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty, So I think I would choose Cinderella because I have never got bored of it no matter how much I watch it

9. What country would you like to visit and why?

Probably Hawaii because I love beaches and Palm trees!

10. Make the last question yourself and answer:- What's you favorite thing about makeup?

My favorite thing is that I can be really creative on a small ratio - what I mean is that I get really bored to do a big painting because it takes too long to do it and I like change while makeup lets you be creative and complete a "work of art" in such a short time

I award and ask the 10 questions to:

I will choose three more people and update the list later on :)

My NY's Beauty Resolutions

2011-01-01T22:42:00.000+01:00

Hi everyone!
This year I got inspired from a few youtubers and bloggers to do some beauty resolutions for the New year appart from my other resolutions (which I haven't thought up yet lol).

Here are my beauty resolutions for 2011, and hopefully I will manage to continue doing these the rest of my life not just for this year!

Wash my foundation and concealer brushes everytime I use them - I already started on this one but I want to make sure that I keep on following it because its very important to keep your brushes clean
Wash my eyeshadow brushes at least every two times I use them. I have a bad habit of not washing my eyeshadow brushes very often, I don't use them too often either because usually I only have time to apply my e / s in the weekends so I don't wash my e /s brushes very often because I don't use them very often but i need to start washing them more
Not overloading my skin with products - I have a very bad habit of applying too many treatments for my acne and I only recently red how bad it is for the skin and that it may worsen the acne rather then clear it up. I stopped using to many products and stuck to the basics which are cleansing, tonning and moisturising, and I have seen a huge difference in my skin ever since
Not leaning my hands against my chin while in class / on the computer. This one is going to be the hardest to accomplish since I do it really absent mindedly, but I will try since no matter how many times you wash your hands they're still a breading area for bacteria

Otherwise I'm quite happy with my beauty habits :) Those are my new year's beauty resolutions!

Happy New Year!

2011-01-01T12:33:00.001+01:00

Hi everyone!

I am planning a few new things for the blog for the new year and hopefully they will start next week.

I hope you will have a New Year full of happiness and health!

Review - Max Factor Pan Stik

2010-12-29T19:23:00.002+01:00

Max Factor says: High coverage foundation. Get it covered.
Shades: 6
Skin type: Normal / Dry
Consistency: Thick / Creamy / Moisturising
Coverage: High

Max Factor - Pan Stik € 7.90 (9g)

Packaging:

It comes in a lipstick like tube: you turn the small dial on the bottom of the packaging and the product comes out. It is quite small for a foundation and quite large for a concealer - so it all depends on what you want to use it for. But it is really ideal for carrying in your purse because it would even fit in a clutch.

Review

Max Factor says that this is a foundation. Personally, even though I have a lot of scars, I think that this is way to heavy for a foundation unless applied very minimally, so personally I use it as a concealer. When I bought this what I had in mind was a concealer similar to Studio finish concealer by MAC which gives an excellent coverage for blemishes (as I’ve seen on YouTube because I never actually used it) and I believe that this does a very similar job. This product is made for Normal to Dry skin which I found very odd considering that stick foundations are usually made for people with acne prone skin. I think that this reacted for the best on my skin as I apply this on blemishes which are normally quite dry so this is very moisturizing on them and doesn't make them look dry.

Best way to use it

Apply your normal liquid foundation first and then use the pan stik using a fluffy blending brush on blemishes or scars that still show through. I also dab a little bit of this on my under eye circles (but be careful so as not to look cakey).

Final Grade:

4.5 / 5

Nail of the Week - Lilac

2010-12-18T15:40:00.003+01:00

Hi everyone =)

It has almost been a week and a half ever since I changed my nail polish because I didn't really have any time to do so. It was horribly chipped and there was no way I was going to leave it on further then today. Anyways, this is the nail polish of this week. I got this about two weeks ago in an ELF haul I did (which I didn't post here), and I never used it. I decided to use it this week since I have a lot of Christmas parties and it would be a really pretty colour that goes with a bunch of outfits.

ELF -Lilac Nail Polish

Do you like the background of this picture? It's my christmas tree with lights on and I thought it would look so pretty as a background =)

PS: After I posted this on my blog I noticed that the nail polish matches my layout so much! hehe

EotD - Silver Smoke

2010-12-13T22:53:00.002+01:00

Hi ladies

This is the makeup look that I did last Saturday night. We went to eat chinese for a friends birthday and the main piece of my outfit was a silver shirt with black designs on it, so this look went perfectly well with it. On a side note, I am really loving the way my new camera is photographing my eyes =)

What I used:

ELF mineral eyelid primer
ELF silver e/s from 32 Special edition Xmas pallette all over lid
Makeup Academy e/s no. 9 (purple) in crease (look really closely for the purple between the black e/s and the brow bone) and inner lower lash line
Makeup Academy e/s no. 20 (black) in crease and outer lower lashline
ELF sparkly white e/s from 32 Special edition Xmas pallette on brow bone and inner corner
Makeup Academy glittery eyeliner no. 7
Black eyeliner on top lashes and water line
L'oreal Volumounious Mascara

Do you ladies like this look? Tell me below :)

A few Updates

2010-12-11T16:34:00.001+01:00

Hi everyone!

Today, I thought I'd do something that I've never did before which is an updates blog.

As you may have noticed I just changed the total look of the blog. I did a simple layout with a Christmas theme. I know that the colours aren't red and green but they're soft colours which where inspired by the snow and the header's font has little stars in it which makes it more Christmas-y :). I also did a few tweaks which I've been meaning to do for such a long time but I never had the time due to assignments and school work. These things that I'm talking about are personalized fonts for my titles, etc ... , dividers for my blog posts and also a signiture with my name on it for all my blogs. I meant to do some other minor things aswell but my Paint shop pro x12 decided to give up on me when I needed it the most.

My second very important update is the camera that I bought this week. Its a Nikon D3100. Its a D-SLR which basically means that its made for more "professional" photography then a "point and shoot" like I had before. I did quite some research about what camera would be best for me and finally I decided on this for two factors: it's great for beginner photographers, and it was the right price for my budget. I'm loving my new cam so much :) I am still experimenting and although I know what everything is because I am studying Media and obviously we've learnt all the Shutter speed, Apperture, etc ... for film, I'm still trying to impliment them for my photos. Expect a whole lot of makeup related photos now! :)

Last but not least Christmas is very close and last week we started decorating the house. I need to clean up my room and decorate it. It will probably happen either tomorrow or on Monday I hope. Here is a little shot I took of our big Christmas tree using my new love <3 (the cam that is :) I managed to resize and add a link to my blog on this photo using good old paint since as I already mentioned before, my Paint shop pro decided to play dead.

And despite having a painful left hand due to about 4hours straight sitting on the computer chair fixing HTML codes and updating my blog I am really happy with the days work!

Makeup Academy (MUA) Haul & First thoughts

2010-12-07T14:58:00.000+01:00

Hi everyone!
About half an hour ago I recieved my Makeup Academy (MUA) haul from superdrug and I thought I'd do a haul and first thoughts blog =)

Firstly I didn't get this haul directly from Superdrug because they don't ship to Malta so I bought my chosen items and gave them the address to my mum's friend house and then she shipped it to me. So if you live outside the UK (since that's the only place to where they ship), unfortunately it will be difficult for you to get these products unless you have a British friend like my mum does.

MUA items sell for only £1 which is amazing and I got an even bigger deal! I got the nine items below for just £6!! Yes you heard right! lol! The reason that I got them for such a cheap price is because they are offering a buy 2 get the 3rd free + free shipping. So I chose 9 items and got three of them for free. Great huh?!

This is what I got:

Blusher: Shade 2 which is a gorgeous coral with not too overwhelming golden fleks, Shade 3 which is a beautiful pink with slight golden fleks
Pigment: Shade 5 is a beautiful dark brown with alot of golden shimer - a gorgeous colour for a brown smokey eye i think
Eyeshadow: Shade 9 is a beautiful purple with blue duochrome - I have been looking for an e/s this colour for soooo long and finally I found it and bonus, at such a cheap price, Shade 19 which is a matte slightly reddish brown and finally shade 20 which is a matte charcoal black
Glitter Liner: Shade 7
lipgloss: Shade 3
mascara: Shade 3

Both the blushers and the eyeshadows have very similar consistencies so what I'm saying counts for both. These are extremly pigmented and very soft and silky. Be careful because I read on a few reviews that they tend to break really easily. Well I'm obviously not going to test that lol! But I can say that one of my blushes got a small crack in one of its edges on its way here. Try to avoid dropping these even if its on a very short height .. be careful

There is no other way to describe it as gorgeous and very, very pigmented! That sums it up :)

Unlike other more expensieve glitter liners that I have tried, these create a thick and full line of glitter not just a glitter here and there. It really does create a line and the colour is simply beautiful. Two things that disapointed me about this liner where its brush - which is really hard, and mostly its smell. It has a very weird smell which smells really bad. But I know that the product is fine since it was sealed with plastic.

The lipgloss is a gorgeous shade of pink. It gives just a soft tint of colour to my lips. It is a bit sticky but not goopy or thick. It also has a faint smell of candy but it doesn't transfer on to your lips.

I haven't yet tried the mascara but the colour looks gorgeous! I hope it will turn out as aqua as it is in the bottle.

Bottom line: As you may have noticed I tried to get an array of different products from this brand just to try everything out. I only didn't get a lipstick and tube gloss + liner and nail polish since nothing really caught my eye with these but I am very happy with the rest of the items which I bought because they're just £1 and really good quality. One all over slight disappointmet was the packaging which seems a bit flimsy.

But for £1 and such good quality products I give them a 4.5 / 5 rating =)

MUA products can be purchased here.

Have you tried any of these products? What are your thoughts? Would you like to try them some time?

OotD - Florals and Khakis

2010-11-30T11:42:00.001+01:00

Hello girls :)

Hope everyone is doing great! Today's blog is another OotD. The one I promised in the previous blog is still to come but today I'm going to post an outfit I wore on Sunday. Lately I've been loving Khakis and browns mixed together as you may notice in this and the coming OotD.

Scarf: Stradivarius

Tank top: Tally Weijl

Jeans: Tally Weijl

Jacket: Random shop

Handbag: New look

Boots: Random shop

Belt: Stradivarius

Hope you enjoyed!

What are your current favorite colours?

Tell me below!

Look of the Day

2010-11-28T09:17:00.001+01:00

Hello lovely ladies :)

Today I decided to do a look of the day using the makeup look I did yesterday evening to go out. With it I wore a pair of Army green shorts, a grey tank top and a dark grey jacket. I will possibly be posting yesterday's OotD later on (I didn't have time to take pictures of the look yesterday as I went out in a rush, so if I have time today I will put it on again and snap a few shots).

Anyways, this is the look:

What I used:

ELF's mineral eye lid primer
Rimmel Special Eyes E/S in Rising sun (lid)
ELF's matte brown E/S from beauty encyclopedia in basic eyes (outer corner + crease + outer lower lash line)
ELF's frosty cream E/S from beauty encyclopedia in basic eyes (tear duct + brow bone)
Green colour from a Wales 88 E/S pallette I got off ebay (inner lash line)
Rimmel Glam eyes eyeliner in Black Glamour
L'Oreal Volouminous Mascara

I hope you enjoyed this look!

Outfit of the day no 1

2010-11-20T16:10:00.000+01:00

Hi girls!

Today I went shopping with my mum and I really loved what I was wearing. I was waiting for the right weather to wear this because the jumpsiut is very summery and I would have felt cold if it was bad weather.

Here my first ever OotD :)

Jumpsiut: Boohoo

Cardigan: Primark

Handbag: New look

Boots: Random shop

I hope you enjoyed my first OotD!

Do you want me to do more OotD? Answer below! :)

Haul & Review - NYX round lipsticks

2010-11-20T08:03:00.001+01:00

Hi girls!

This isn't my first NYX lipsticks haul. I had three of the below lipsticks for about six months before getting another six last week so this is why I am doing such an early review; because I already have tested these products thoroughly and as you probably noticed I like them very much because now i've got a total of nine of them.

I got these lipsticks on ebay for about €1.90 each (give or take a few since I bought these seperately). These lipsticks are only sold in the US hence if you want to get them you have to check on ebay or maybe amazon if you live out of the US.

PS: While reading this review please keep in mind that I am extremly picky on lip products.. in fact I rarely find a lip product that I am comfortable wearing regarding consistency

Click for a larger image so as to see the names

On to the review ..

These lipsticks are honestly the most amazing products I've ever tried - be it for lip or eye or face! These were the products that really drove me into my love for lipsticks as they are very comfortable to wear (more on this later). These come in a huge variety of shades which is always a plus as you have unlimited choice. I also think that since there are so many shades and they are extremly cheap (in price but not in quality) they would do a great lipstick set for a makeup artist. They are a little, tiny bit smaller then any other lipstick but nothing major.

Regarding consistency, I cannot stress enough on how great these lipsticks are. They are extremly soft, creamy and moisturizing, the pigmentation of them is amazing, it is very opaque and with one swipe your lip is full of vibrant colour. These lipsticks last a long time as long as you don't touch food or drink to your mouth. No matter for how long the first application has been on the lips, it doesn't dry them out. Also when you first open them up they have quite a strong but very pleasent smell which fades by time (or maybe that's because I got used to it :)

Here are the swatches of the ones I have

My absolute favorites are Tea Rose and Indian Pink (which now happily reside inside my handbag along with my other favorite lippies), Power and for a night out, Femme. I never liked reds but this one is totally amazing and really siuts me (well looking at it closely it looks more of a very firey coral rather then a pure red).

My lips with Femme on - I'm so happy that I finally found a red lipstick which I'm confident in wearing!

Have you ever tried any NYX lipsticks or any which are similar to them in consistency? Comment below! :)

ELF mineral foundation review

2010-10-28T09:07:00.001+02:00

Hello everyone!

I've been meaning to this review for the longest time ever but never came to it. But finally it is here :).

I've been testing this foundation for about four weeks now and I wear it every single day of these for weeks (appart from weekends because then I wear my liquid foundation). I had been eyeing this for so much longer then when I actually bought and the reason I held back was because ELF has such low prices that I was affraid it would make me break out since I have very acne prone skin. Finally I got it, because I was always satisfied with ELF products so for just €4 it wouldn't break the bank so I risked it (I also got the mineral booster which I will review another time).

E.L.F mineral foundation in Light

ELF's website

Buying from the ELF website is very easy but when it comes to swatches or colours of the product I always have to go on Google and find a swatch for the colour. Well, choosing a foundation shade is even more difficult not only from ELF but from any other website. As you all probably know, ELF has five shades of mineral foundation and the lightest two are called light and fair. Light is supposed to be darker then fair but after some research I did I found the light was the lightest and has yellow undertone while fair is darker and has quite an orange tint to it. Ofcourse, I got light and what do you know?! It matches my skin perfectly! I even dare to say that it matches me even better then other foundations that I swatched on my skin before buying.

Packaging

The packaging is like most traditional mineral foundation jars. A round jar with a sifter (this one has 12 holes) and a screw lid. The only downfall with this is that the sifter is right in the middle of the jar which means that you only get half of the jar which is filled with product.

ELF mineral foundation packaging

Product

The product it's self isn't extremly finely milled. If you have a mineral booster you would know that the product is super fine. With this it isn't that fine. The coverage for this foundation is great for a mineral foundation. My skin is very scared from previous acne and if I build this up and blend it well it gives me quite good covarage. Obviously don't expect a liquid foundation like coverage because all mineral foundations are meant to give a light coverage but with this one, once built up it covers quite well and even covers any redness and blotchiness. Also, it is a very matte foundation Lastly, NO it didn't break me out. I was really afraid that this would break me out, as I already mentioned above but I can promise you that my skin hasn't had any reactions from this product and that's coming from someone who suffers from acne. Truth be told, I felt like my skin was clearer after a while of using it, but I don't know if that's from the skin care I've been using or from it.

I would rate it as 5 / 5. I over looked the fact the jar is only half full because it is so cheap in price. This is definitely a taple item for me which I've been using every single day for four weeks now, and which I will definitely re-buy. Thankyou ELF!

You can find the foundation here if you live in the UK and here if you live in the US.

Have you tried ELF's mineral foundation? What do you think about it?

Disclaimer: I bought this product with my own money and these are solely my opinions. I am not affiliated with ELF.

Nails of the week

2010-10-27T14:55:00.001+02:00

Hi girls!

Today I decided to start doing a NotW or Nails of the Week blog every week. As I already mentioned sometime ago in one of my blogs I change my nail colour every week so I'll be able to post a blog like this everyweek.

Lately I've been growing out my nails so as right now they are not too short but they're neither long enough to put nail art on I decided to go with a beautiful dark purple colour.

Rimmel's Wear Maxx in 405 - Fantasy

This colours looks alot like a reddish purple with red shimmers in the bottle but once applied it looks more like a slightly bluish purple although it does have quite red undertones to it.

What nail colour are you wearing this week?

New name for this blog

2010-10-25T16:48:00.002+02:00

Hi everyone!

These last few weeks I was thinking about changing the appearance of my blog because I get bored very easily from layouts (so get used to that :)

Appart from that I am also thinking of a new name for my blog. Why? you may ask, well this blog's name is "Makeup by Daniela" but in reality this is the name of my youtube channel and on youtube I indeed do makeup tutorials but here I just do reviews so that doesn't fit. So I decided to create one word which sums up my blog and name my blog that. I want a fun and cute name but I'm still brain storming. I hope I'll come up with something good!
So if you see any changes and non matching colours, you'll know what's happening :)

Daniela

Lack of updates

2010-10-16T17:01:00.002+02:00

Hi girls!

I haven't posted a blog here in quite a while now. The reasons are many, first is because I haven't bought something or had the urge to review a product which I really like in ages. I am thinking about buying The rimmel mascara the big maxxxx pink one, I forgot what it is called right now sorry =S. So when I go buy that I will probably review it because it seems really nice. Ohh and I just remembered, I did a really super small haul from elf which consisted of a mineral booster and mineral foundation and the professional blending brush and I want to review those soon especially the foundation and booster. I am testing them out for break outs (if they break me out) and oxidization. So watch the space for those reviews!
Secondly I have started school and we have had assignments from the very first day we started plus when I arrive home from school I'm in the mood to do nothing. And when I'm in the mood to work I try to use that on assignments.

But anyways, I will try to blog more often but I'm really busy with tight deadlines mostly so yeahhh.

I'll talk to you guys later :)

Do your own manicure: Tips for strong, healthy nails

2010-09-28T16:01:00.001+02:00

Hi everyone!

Unfortunately not everyone is blessed with strong and healthy nails but I am sure that everyone wishes that their nails wouldn't break or chip as soon as you hit them against something. Fortunately I have quite strong nails but about a month ago I started getting really weak nails that would break as soon as they started growing out. As soon as I started using this routine every time I need to apply new nail polish (approximately once a week) my nails started growing out stronger and healthier and I haven't had a nail chip since then.

Remove your nail polish using an acetone free nail polish remover. Acetone isn't very healthy for your nails so try to avoid it. You should use acetone nail polish remover if your trying to remove glittery nail polish.

Grab a small scrubbing brush and using soap and water clean all of you nails both over the surface and underneath the nail if it is grown out. This will help remove dirt and also whithen your nails.

Next take a nail file and file the edges of your nails. If you need to do some trimming go ahead and trim your nails with a nail clipper but if you don't always use a nail file. This will only shorten your nails the slightest bit so even if you are growing them out this will remove only the slightest of length but help in removing edges which maybe breaking and therefore you are avoiding a bigger break or chipping.

Now take a four way buffer and follow the 4 steps to buff your nails. I find that this is the key to healthy and strong nails. This helps because it's removing the unwanted parts over your nails. I see this a bit like scrubbing your face i.e: by removing dead skin cells your foundation will apply better and your skin will be healthier. I saw a huge difference when I stopped buffing my nails and that was when my nails started chipping.

Now is the time to use your cuticle cream or whatever you find works best for you. Taking care of your cuticles is extremly important since it is from where the nails come out and if you have a healthy cuticle you will have healthy nails. Also, appart from the days where I do my manicure I try to use this atleast once a day.

After about 5 minutes of applying the cuticle cream, I take a good nail strengther which serves as a base and topcoat aswell (normally there will be written on the bottle that it serves all of those purposes) and I cover my nails from cuticle to tips making sure that I also coat the corners of my nails.

Finally I apply my choice of nail polish or do any nail art I like.

This may sure seem like a very long proccess but you can take half an hour from your day once a week and dedicated it to doing your nails. It is very relaxing to give yourself a manicure (even better if somebody else does it for you ;) and in the long run it is very rewarding to see your nails growing healthy and beautiful.

I hope this helps you in growing strong, healthy nails!

Do you have any nail strengthening tips of your own?

Hair cutting Tips

2010-09-25T17:33:00.001+02:00

Hi everyone!

This week I went to get my hair newly styled as it has been three months since I last trimmed it. My layers where grown out and it had lost its shape. This inspired me to give you girls a few tips for when choosing a new style. I can talk from expirience because I had a bunch of different styles including bob, really long, super layered (with layers as short as about two inches from my head) ... you get the idea. Basically I used to try and get my hair cut differently everytime that i went to the salon which was very often.

Here are my tips:

The first thing you have to think about is the cut you want to have. Probably your first shot would be to look through magazines. Always keep in mind that these are models and that the hairstylist has fixed their hair that way. You won't have a hairstylist to style your hair every single day so try to choose a style which can be worn without being styled if need be.
If like me, you like to change your hair style quite often avoid extremly short layers, shaved areas from your head and anything that might take too long to grow out.
Very short layers mean that it will be very difficult to put your hair in a pony tail or any kind of updo unless you want to end up looking like some one put a soup bowl on your head .. trust me on this one because I have expirienced it!
If you want a very elaborate hairstyle be prepared to style it every day unless you have poker straight hair.
If you have wavy hair the razor is not your best friend! The razor is that tool which thins out the hair, it does a great job at doing that but it will make your hair stick out since you will have a buzillion layers then. So if you want thinned out hair keep in mind that it will make your hair look fluffed out if you don't straighten it. Again I've had expirience with that.
If you see a lovely hairstyle with a shaved area especially over the ears but don't want to shave your head, a great tip is to get very small rubber bands (the ones they use for braids - they are supper cheap and you get alot of them in one packet) and when your want that area to looked like the hair is cut short, throw the hair behind your ears and collect a small bunch to keep it there. It won't be shaved but like this you won't have to wait for it to grow out!

Also, your hair is one of those things that can make your face shape look totally different. I don't know about all face shapes but I surely know about mine! So here goes:

Small and thin face shapes need hair with a lot of body. Try it! Try blow drying your hair instead of straightening it and using the brush really work at the roots. If that doesn't work try teasing your hair at the roots. That will surely give your hair body and your face will look chubbier and rounder.
Side Swept bangs suit thin face shapes very much because it makes the face look wider
short face shapes need either length at the bottom or length at the top. So you can either have long hair or else cut short layers on top of your head. This will make your face look longer.

Do you have any hair cutting tips?
Please share them below!!

Acne solutions - Steaming

2010-09-21T23:55:00.001+02:00

Hi everyone!

I have suffered from mild acne for about two to three years now. I have tried a buzillion products, spent hundreds of pounds, wasted tons of products but to no avail. The only thing that seems to work for me is medicine for acne but after finishing that I will still have a few blemishes here and there which occassionaly turn into a breakout. So this week I decided to start doing something which my mum swears by, which is steaming. I was convinced to try this after reading an article about acne where it mentioned this kind of treatment.

Basically, apart from the normal red acne spots the thing that anoys me the most are extremly small, skin coloured bumps called soft closed comodones which on nude skin can't be seen unless you will look very closely but ones foundation is applied ... va va voom!! They pop out and make your skin look so uneven.

And these are what I've been trying to eliminate because they cannot be treated by normal acne treatment (you have to wait for them to slowly come to the surface of the skin and then they take a long time to go away). I noticed that with steaming these are mostly gone. The first day that I steamed my face I noticed a big reduction in them immediately.

So how those steaming work?

Step 1: Boil some water

Step 2: pour the water into a bowl which is about the size of your face

Step 3: lean over the bowl

Step 4: Put a towel over your head covering the dish aswell so that the steam will come directly onto your skin and open up your pores.

Before Steaming I like to remove any makeup and cleanse my skin really well so that pores are unclogged.

After steaming I scrub my face to take away any dead skin cells that may have come out of the pores.

Then I tone and apply my acne treatment.

I try to do this every day before I go to bed to take off the day's gunk.

Until now I have used this about four times and its doing pretty well. I will keep you update since most of the products i use work on the first few days and then we're back to normal (a.k.a acne).

What treatment do use to reduce your acne?

Latest ELF Haul

2010-09-01T15:08:00.001+02:00

Hi everyone!

Last week on Twitter, I mentioned that a haul was coming soon because I placed an order from ELF. Ever since I tried elf they have become one of my favorite makeup brands (and they also went up to the top place of my favs ever since they have been doing their promo codes on facebook :P). Anyways, I placed the order on Wednesday at about 2.00 p.m and I recieved an SMS telling me they shipped the items at about 4.00 p.m of the same day which is amazing considering they had free shipping! I recieved my order three days later on Saturday morning.

Here is what I got:

Beauty encyclopedia in Basic Eyes

Studio Line Blush in Pink Passion

Nail Polish in Fire Coral

Studio cream eyeliner in Coffee

Mineral eyeshadow primer

As you can see this is a fairly small haul. I was going to get more items but then I got the beauty encyclopedia which costs 7 euros so that took the place of some other single shadows I was going to get.

Anyways, here are some swatches. I am going to write a separate post about the ELF beauty encyclopedia and review it there but here are the swatches of close ups of the other products.

Coffee Cream Liner

I love this! Its really really creamy but it dries really quick on the lid so it won't smudge. Its very opaque too. The only downfall is that when the colour is applied it looks more like coffee mixed with milk rather then coffee alone.

Nail Polish Fire Coral

Lovely colour, very opaque and dries really quickly!

Studio Blush - Pink Passion

I was a bit disappointed with This one. Its texture is very smooth and silky but its slightly powdery too. Also, it isn't as bright as the picture on there website shows. It is very similar to the blush called shy by their profesional line only two or three shades darker. Its a nice colour but not exactly what I expected.

Finally, the mineral eye primer. I have very mixed feelings about this and I am not going to review this before I really tested it out well. I have tried it about two or three times ever since I got it and I cannot really tell you what I think. It doesn't crease but it is very liquidy and I am used to working with really solid cream bases. So I will review that later on.

What are your favorite elf products?

Keep an eye out for the Beauty Encyclopedia and Mineral eyeshadow Primer Review which is coming soon!

Look of the Day

2010-08-27T18:03:00.003+02:00

Hi everyone!
Today I had some erands to run and I thought I would do this extremly simple look, in fact I didn't even record a video for this look because it would have been way to short. So I am going to explain everything on here.

Also, I was thinking to start a new series on my youtube channel entitled "illusion makeup" or something of the sort. This will consist of ways to enhance your eye shape or make it look like a different shape. In other words this will explain how to make wide set eyes look less wide set or close set eyes look less so. I will be using very basic neutral colours because really I want to explain the technique and not a makeup look so that it will be easier for you guys to recreate the same technique using the colours of your choice. What do you guys think?

Here is the look ...

What I used:

Artdeco e/s base
The body shop Christmas 2009 pallette

Lash line to brow bone - Shade 02 Caramel Shimmer
Crease - Shade 05 Chocolate Shimmer

Rimmel Glam eyes eyeliner - 001 Black Glamour

Prestige Ultimate eye deifner - 01 Blackest Black

L' Oreal Volouminous Mascara

Simple eh?!

So, what do you think about the new Series on my youtube channel?

Tell me below =]

What are you using tag

2010-08-25T15:27:00.000+02:00

Hi Everyone !

This is a "What are you using tag" which I thought was a fun thing to do. Read on ...

Hair:

Shampoo: Schwarzkopf Gliss Shampoo (for oily hair)

Conditioner : Schwarzkopf Gliss Conditioner (for oily hair)

Styling Products : CHI Keratin mist, Angel leave in Conditioner, Tresemme heat protector

Body:

Shower Gel : Kamill coconut shower gel

Body Moisturiser : None

Deodorant : Dove Waterlily

Face:

Face Wash: Vichy Normaderm

Exfoliator : St.Ives Apricot Scrub for oily skin

Makeup:

Primer: None

Foundation: Revlon colorstay in Natural Beige / Max factor Lasting finish in Natural Bronze

Concealer: ELF under eye concealer & highlighter / Rimmel hide the Blemish

Powder: Rimmel Lasting finish mineral foundation in Ivory
Blusher: ELF shy blush

Bronzer: ELF blush & bronzed duo

Highlighter: ELF natural radiance bronzer in Sun kissed (this is quite light on my skin and makes a great highlight shade

Eyeshadow Base: Artdeco Eyeshadow Base

Eyeshadows: 88 e/s pallette from eBay

Eyeliner: Rimmel Glam eyes liner

Mascara: L'Oreal Volouminous
Lipstick: Rimmel Lipstick in Nude delight

Lipgloss: Maybelline watershine lipgloss in Cotton Candy

Thanks to Misstania08 for this Tag!

Tag!! You're it :) If you do this tag please post the link to your answers down here so I can read them! Love to see your answers

New found love: Applying mineral foundation

2010-08-24T21:04:00.001+02:00

Hi everyone!

Two days ago I was at my boyfriends house and I was going to apply my makeup. When I looked into the tools I got I noticed that I forgot to take the kabuki brush that I usually apply my mineral foundation with. So I decided to use the blush brush from the kirkland brush set I have. It is a sythetic flat top brush. It resembles alot the 187 stippling brush from MAC but its way shorter and its very dense (because the MAC 187 doesn't look very dense).

This brush is a very versatile brush and I am going to do two blog posts reviewing the whole 8 piece kirkland brush set. In those blog posts I am going to explain the many uses of this brush but in this one I am going to explain the use of this brush for mineral foundation application.

I think that as this brush is flat and very dense it gives a very good application of the mineral foundation as it doesn't lose any powder in fly away (when you apply it with a round top brush the foundation you pick around the tappering part of the brush are lost in the air ... i hope I explained this correctly). On the other hand this brush is flat so all the product will touch directly to the skin. Also, it is very dense so alot of product will be picked up and it will give more coverege. This brush also gives an air brushed effect because of the very thin and seperated bristles.

These are the steps I use to apply my minerals:

Step 1: After I put some product in the lid I stiple the brush in, then swirl and then tap the excess product off

Step 2: I apply the product to the face in stippling motions and then in circular motions to blend everything out

Step 3: Finally I dampen the brush using a small amount of water and go over all of the face using stippling motions to create an airbrushed finish and remove any excess product (on areas where I need the most coverage I don't go over with the wet brush as this makes the foundation slightly more sheer).

What brush do you use to apply your mineral foundation?

Tutorial: Coral Sunset makeup

2010-08-21T09:52:00.000+02:00

Hi everyone!

Check out the makeup tutorial I just uploaded! I am not going to write down the products I used because all of them are mentioned by name in the video its self. A review about the kirkland brushes is coming very soon!

Thanks for reading / watching!

Nude Lip How-to

2010-08-20T19:48:00.002+02:00

Hi everyone!

Rimmel Nude Delight
Maybelline watershine lipgloss in Cotton Candy
Missha lip liner in beige

Yesterday I did a blogpost about the most amazing nude lipstick I found called Nude Delight by Rimmel. So today I am going to explain to you what products I use in conjunction to create the perfect nude lip. This is a great product but since it is so opaque it may look flat on its own.

This combo makes an ah- Mazing nudy becuase the maybelline cotton candy gloss has the exact colour of the lipstick in its sheen.

Step 1 - Normally I apply the lipstick first even though traditionally you would apply it as the second product over the lipliner.

Step 2 - I apply the lip liner. I apply it only around my lips and I apply a bit more at the corners of the mouth to feather them in. I use a really light hand with this because it has quite a browny undertone and I don't want that undertone to over whelm the colour of the lipstick. Applying this over the lipstick instead of under makes it easier to feather the liner well.

Step 3 - Apply a thin coat of gloss. Or else you could skip this step altogether to have an almost matte lip.

What is your favorite Nude lip combination??

Review: I found the perfect nude lipstick!

2010-08-19T22:39:00.007+02:00

Hi all!

This week I went shopping and decided to get my hands on the Rimmel Nude delight (700) Moisture Renew lipstick. I have been eyeing this lipstick for so long and I was a bit hesitant to get it because I rarely find a nude lipstick that suits me, especially if it is a brown based nude lipstick (it won't suit me one bit) and apart from that I thought that it was a bit expensive as it retails for € 7. But when I went into the shop and tried it I immediately fell in love with its pinkish undertones and decided to get it as pink lipsticks suit me the most.

What do I think about this lipstick?

Does it moisturize as the rimmel website claims?

Yes it does but please note that this isn't a lip balm. I wanted to mention this because the first time that I wore this I had really badly chapped lips and as soon as I applied it I took a bad impression of this lipstick. But then I decided to scrub my lips with a toothbrush and apply lip balm regularly and voila!! Beautiful nude lips in no time :)

How is the consistency of it?

It is very creamy and it doesn't contain any shimmer in it which I love because I think that shimmer makes me look old. At the same time it is very glossy but only gloss and not shimmer. Also it is a very opaque colour so one application will do the trick. It is also very smooth on the lips.

What about the packaging?
It comes in a very pretty purple metallic case. It has a silver lining around the middle part and the rimmel logo on top. It also has a sticker pictured above, which tells you the name of the shade and a "swatch" of the colour. I must say that the swatch is very misleading because it has a very brown tone to it which isn't any close to the real colour of the lipstick although the lipstick its self is a bit brown toned when applied its very pink.

I totally love this lipstick! I rate it 5 stars!!!

What is your favorite nude lipstick?

Review: L'oreal Voluminous x5 mascara

2010-08-04T23:52:00.003+02:00

Hi everyone!

Today I'm in a blogging mood and since this last month I've purchased a lot of makeup I decided to start reviewing what I bought. The first product is going to be L’Oreal’s voluminous x5 mascara (not waterproof). I bought this about a month ago or so, because my cover girl lash blast (which I love endlessly) had finished and although I definitely want to buy cover girl again, I wanted to try something new.

To give you an idea of what I'm talking about, here is a short description of my eyelashes:

I have fairly long eyelashes but they aren't extremely thick or dark. Also I don't have an extremely full lash line so basically what I look for in mascara is volume rather then length.

My lashes with no mascara

This mascara retails for € 12.25 but I got it at around € 10.00 because the shop that I got it from had a 20% discount on all cosmetics. You can find it in any drugstore as L’Oreal is a drugstore brand.

Does it create Volume?

When I bought this mascara I was visualizing full (from roots to tips) thick lashes. What did I get? I got really thick roots - which is always good because if you want to throw this on quickly and you have no time to apply liner it will make your lash line look really full, but going up to the tips there was almost no volume at all. I know this will happen with all mascaras because the roots naturally look thicker but I was expecting a little bit more thickness.

Rating: 3 / 5

My lashes with the L' Oreal Mascara

How is the brush?

I love the brush of this mascara so much! It has synthetic hairs and it is medium in thickness and quite long. The bristles go up in a spiral which angles slightly to one as it goes up. The bottom of it is thick but as it goes up it tapers in really slowly. The bristles are very gentle on the eye and the brush is very easy to manouver and really gets to the roots without transferring a lot of product on to the skin around the eye.

Rating: 5 / 5

The wand of this mascara

How is the formula?

The formula itself is another factor of this mascara that I love. It is neither to thick or dry and neither too runny, it’s just in the middle of them to make the perfect formula. It is very easy to remove (I have never had any problems with pulling out lashes while removing this mascara - remember that mine is not waterproof). Also, its pigmentation is amazing!! It says that it is carbon black and it definitely shows because it’s an extremely black mascara. The only downfall would be that as I mentioned above, it doesn't voluminize as much as hoped.

Rating: 3.5 / 5 (because it doesn't voluminise as much as I wished)

All in all I would probably buy this mascara again although I will search for one which gives me more volume. But honestly I am quite happy with everything else and I've been using it every time I do my makeup ever since I bought it so that means I really like it.

The overall rating is: 4 / 5

Have you ever tried L’Oreal’s voluminous x5 mascara? And if so, do you like it?

What is your favorite volumising mascara?

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