Drugstore only contest entry

Hey everyone,

Hope you're all having a great week.

Just in time, I did a quick look for @AbbieAndBrian's drugstore only make over contest.

She has a fantastic beauty blog which I've only recently discovered.

I've got a real mixture of high end and drug store make up so I thought it would be interesting to see if I could pull something together using just drug store make up.

Mainly based on the colours I have in my collection decided to go for a green and gold look with a hint of turquoise on the eyes with nude lips. Again, please excuse my scruffy eyebrows, I can't wait for a wax on Saturday!

Products used were:

Base: Revlon Beyond Natural in 210 Light Pale

Powder: Max Factor Naturals Minerals Foundation in 40 Creamy Ivory (I use this as a powder as it doesn't even come close to providing enough coverage for me).

Contour: Revlon Bronzer in 02 Sunkissed Bronze

Blush: Maybelline Pure Blush Mineral Powder Blush in 40 Quartz Peach on top of MEMEME Pussy Cat Cheek & Lip Tint

Concealer: Collection 200 Illuminating Touch in 1 Naked

Eyebrows: No7 Beautiful Brows Pencil 15 Blonde and No7 Lash & Brow Perfector

Eye shadows: Maybelline Color Definer Waterproof Shadow Stick, Natural Collection Eyeshadow in Spring Green, Barry M Dazzle Dust in 82

Liquid Eyeliner: No7 Stay Perfect Eyeliner in Jewel (this is a fantastic dupe for MAC Liquid Last Eyeliner in Aqualine)

Pencil Eye liners: No7 Metallics Eyes Pencil 01 Green on the outer edges of the eyelids, GOSH Velvet Touch Eye Liner in 006 and a tiny bit of Bourjois Kohl & Contour in 01 Noir Expert in the tightline

Mascara: L'Oreal Voluminous in Black

Lipbalm: A tiny bit of chapstick, not sure what brand

Lipstick: GOSH Velvet Touch Lipstick in 134 Darling

Lipgloss: Barry M Glossy Tube in 2

Tools of the trade for eyes: Mister Mascara eyebrow groomer, Body Shop small shader brush, Ruby & Millie Eye Brush (M) - SHORT, square edged brush from Marks & Spencer (this came in a Christmas gift set), GOSH smudger brush

Tools of the trade for face: Body Shop blusher blush, Body Shop Powder Brush

Hope you guys like it, I'd really appreciate any comments or feedback! I've also included some pictures of the products used.

If any of my lovely friends in the UK who I haven't seen for a while are reading I just realised you will get a sneak peak of my engagement ring in the main picture!

LottieB xxx

P.S I find blogging about beauty so relaxing, it's the perfect way to wind down!

I'm going back to MAC

Hey everyone,

I hope you all have had a happy, fulfilling and productive start to the week.

So, I am very excited to be going to Manchester this weekend and it's going to be very, very girly!

I guess this post is kind of the antithesis of a haul blog post because I am going to be writing about some of my MAC products which are gone but not forgotten.  I have 12 little empty pots altogether and I'll be taking them back to the store as part of the Back to Mac recycling scheme they do. 

It's cool because for every six pots you get to choose a lipstick of your choice to take home for free!  I think they are normally about £12.  It may be a credit crunch, but it's definitely not a creative crunch and I'm hoping to get some lovely pink colours.

So here's what's going back:

Studio Tech in NW20 This is great stuff.  It's really handy when you're in a rush to get ready as you can just put it on with the sponge which comes with it.  Alternatively you can use a squarebrush like the MAC191.   I think I'd probably but this again but it's not something I need urgently.

Powder Blush Satin in Fleur Power This was my first and only MAC blush so I don't have anything to compare it to in the range.  It's a completely different colour to the swatch on the website it actually really looks like the swatch for Frankly Scarlett on the website.    It's a very strong pink, it's almost a 'fake' colour rather than very natural so it depends on what you're looking for.  The pigmentation is very strong so you only need a little bit and it blends really well.  I'm trying a mineral blush at the moment but I'll probably go back to a MAC one at some stage and really want to try Well Dressed which is a gorgeous soft pink.

Select Moisturisercover NC20 I was using this as a under eye concealer.  On the plus side, it does what it says on the tin!  It moisturises which is great especially in the winter and blends beautifully.  I liked it but I'll be trying a few different things before I rush back.

Studio Finish SPF35 Concealer This is a wonder product and I think I shall probably be tempted to buy again. It covers everything even scars and apparently even tatoos!

Fluidline in Blue Peep I had such high hopes for this but sadly things didn't work out.  I had the idea of using a thin brush dipped in water to create the line, however, this seemed to dry it all up and then it started falling apart!  I really prefer their liquid liners but maybe I should try again?

Shadestick Shadow in Shimmersand I brought this in Paris and really loved it!  I was a little sad when I used it all up if I'm honest.  These shadesticks are fantastic bases for really making your eye make up pop and Shimmersand is a fantastic colour which would suit everyone.   I wanted to buy another one but the other day in Superdrug I came across a cheap alternative: Maybelline Colour Definer in 20 Satin Dragee which is beautiful!  I think it was about £6 which is half the price of the MAC Shadestick.  There's a wide range of colours and it even has its own sharperner on the end.   The packaging is bright green which isn't as luxurious as the shadestick but it's a lot smoother and softer, I guess depends what kind of texture you prefer.

Then finally onto eyeshadows, I have two Ricepaper Frosts, Idol Eyes Lustre, Pink Freeze Frost, Phoolf!  Frost and Brill Satin which I obviously was very fond of; I used them all up!  I've replaced Idol Eyes with Barry M Dazzle Dust in 10 and Brill with GOSH Spa.  These are pretty spot on in terms of colour but I haven't really had time to test them out much in terms of texture.  Ricepaper is the perfect golden neutral shade which goes with most looks.  Phoolf is a fantastic highlighter and I'm already on to my next one.  Pink Freeze Frosh is another very pretty and versatile colour which can be incorporated into lots of looks.

So that's all from me!

I hope this might be helpful to somebody thinking of trying out some MAC products.

Please let me know if you have any questions and I'd love to hear your comments and thoughts on these products!

LottieB x

P.S I have a question, can anyone confirm whether there is a back stand at Manchester Airport Terminal 3?  If there is I might be able to save myself a few pennies at the duty free!

The make up diaries - January 2009

After all the Christmas festivities were over, the year started and I'd run out of lots of things I needed.  I brought the following bits and bobs and I'm going to let you know whether it was money well spent:

Foundation:

I'd previously got on really well with L'Oreal's True Match Foundation in C2 Vanilla Rose which I ran out of so so I thought I'm give Max Factor's Natural Minerals Foundation in 40 Creamy Ivory version a go.  Unfortunately, it didn't work out for me and my skin.  To me, it feels like a powder and doesn't give the coverage I need.  The L'Oreal one really sinks into the skin giving a nice natural sheer coverage. 

In any case, these power based foundations are a little messy to apply and I decided to go back to a liquid version I could apply with a brush.  I've gone for the APt Liquid Powder Mineral Foundation from Tracey Bell.  I couldn't be more pleased with this, yes it is pricey but it feels divinely smooth on and really stays put all day.  It's a mineral foundation which allows the skin to breathe.  It also contains SPF15 which is great too. 

Concealer:

I needed something to replace my favourite YSL Touche Eclat concealer.  This is really expensive for I normally buy those double packs for about £16 at duty free shops (living on the Isle of Man I normally get to them a good couple of times a year).  A lovely girl on Twitter called @shinygemma recommended I try out Collection 2000 Illuminating Touch which has been great.  Obviously, it isn't quite as luxurious as YSL Touche Eclat but it definitely does the job and at around £4/5 it's extremely good value.

Eyeshadows:

I'd heard some really good things about GOSH cosmetics from some of the YouTube makeup tutorials.  There was a 3 for 2 offer on at Superdrug and I got Effect Powder Eyeshaw in Spa and two Extreme Art Eyeliners in 08 and 02.  They were all very nice and easy to apply.  I went for quite subtle colours in the collection and I think they work well if you want to make a day time look a bit more exciting.

I had a lot of Boots points so decided to treat myself to Clarins Soft Cream Eye Colour in 01 which is a really pretty creamy colour.  It makes a really lovely highlighter and really helps powder eyeshadows to set.  I'd be interested to know how it compares to the MAC paints which I haven't tried yet.

I also picked out a BarryM Fine Glitter Dust in 22 which is a lovely charcoal black with very tiny flecks of gold in it.  Using a very small brush I find this works brilliantly for adding definition around the eyes when doing smokey looks.  I adore Barry M's range of colours.  Just make sure you have a good base on otherwise they can be very messy!

Lips:

While trying out all the eye colours at Barry M I also picked Supershiny Lipgloss in 2 which is a really nice nude colour.   It also tastes very nice! I love the colour but it's a little gloopy to apply.  For me, I think it also may be quite drying but the weather is actually probably to blame for that!

Nails:

Finally, whilst on my little haul in Boots I got a gorgeous nail polish from Revlon called Plum Attraction in 762.  I really love berry tones in the winter and this one does just the trick although two layers are best to get the most out of the colour.

Thanks for stopping by and reading this.  I'd love to hear your comments.

LottieB x