.Cheap Finds.

I went on a little accidental Superdrug spree around a month ago and whilst waiting for the boyfriend (who was a bit late so it's his fault) I remembered I needed a pressed powder and was up for finding a new pink blusher as for a long time I'd been sporting a peachy cheek. 

As a makeup artist one of the questions I get asked most, by friends and colleagues rather than clients, is 'whats a good affordable powder, blusher etc'  and normally for a face product, like powder, I usually prefer a high end product so I thought this was a great excuse to try a cheaper one out!  After wondering around trying not to pick up the whole shop, I remembered I had heard someone recommend the L'oreal True Match powder.  As they had 3 for 2 on L'oreal, I decided to go for that one!

I also picked up a pink blush in 115, a bronzer in 102 (the brunette one) and, because I can't help myself when it comes to nail polish, a Rimmel Pro in Aqua Cool.

I have used the powder everyday since I got it, and I love it!  I can't tell it apart from a higher end product, and would put the finish and longevity somewhere in between Mac Mineralize Skinfinish Natural and Mac Blot powder.

The bronzer, in a word... yuk!  Its shimmery and orange, like an old school, year 9 bronzing product from the 90's.  Looked great in the packaging, should have swatched before I bought it, but ah well thats what 3 for 2 offers will do to you!

I lurve the blusher, it really is fabo.  Gorgeous colour and lasts all day, it takes me two applications on the apples to achieve the intensity of colour I like but thats perfectly acceptable. 

(bottom - blush, middle - bronzer, top - powder.  Obvs but there you go)

If you look at my last few posts I will be wearing the powder and blusher for sure, not, however, the bronzer!

I'm a big old fan of these polishes because I love the big wide brush for ease of application  and the colours always have great pigmentation.  I'm not 100% sure on this colour yet but I'm sure it will grow on me.

Hope you liked this post guys and found it useful/interesting! 

If you haven't already entered my Lauren's Way Self Tanning Lotion giveaway, please do!  Just click on the picture near the top of the page on the right for details, its a real easy to one to enter and so worth it if your a self tan fan! 

x Lucy x

p.s I just want to send my love to all people who have been affected by the recent trouble around the UK, I find it shocking and have still not really registered its all real, but it is and its pretty bloody terrifying/awful.

.Muted Yellow Nails.

I got sucked in by this nail polish in Topshop on Friday...

I bought the Barry M yellow polish last year, hoping for something like this, but instead after two coats it was quite bright so when I saw this bad boy I couldn't resist!  I wasn't disappointed by the colour at all but I found it took quite a while to dry and was quite a thick consistency.  If you were careful not to get streaks, with the highly pigmented polish, you could probably get away with one coat which may help with drying time.

Overall I'm a fan!

x Lucy x

.Naturally groomed no fuss nails.

Hi guys, im writing this post mainly to test out my new blog press app on my iphone! Quite strange not being able to see how its actually going to look on screen!

Anyway I thought I would use this opportunity to tell you of my rediscovery of an old school favourite nail product of mine whilst bored, perusing the shelves of my local pharmacy!

Its the Rimmel nail white pencil, been around for yonks, costs a couple of quid, and reminds me of my teens big time!

I am not blessed with long, strong, pretty nails. Short, weak and generally stumpy looking is a more appropriate description and also would for my hands too so please excuse my less than beautiful trotters but here is the products I think create a natural, quick and easy, no drama nail, suitable for any occasion!

And here are my nails after this two second job, nothing spectacular, but a lot more acceptable than they were before!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone 

P.S. Just had to fiddle with this a bit on the comp after I posted it with BlogPress, as it didnt look very good, plus the photos were blurry :( but other than that I enjoyed the app for ease and speed!

x Lucy x

.Jemma Kidd Freebies with Red Magazine.

I always love it when a magazine does a really good makeup freebie, and this is one of them!  The Jemma Kidd Makeup School 'High Shine Silk Touch Lipgloss' worth £14 each, not bad for £3.80 then!

I love the texture of them, not sticky at all, they have medium to high pigment which I like and I can predict I will be wearing these a lot!  My favourite is the pink/nude (17 petal) but I also really like the orange/coral (15 coral), there is also a 'perfect red' shade available which is apparently exclusive to readers but I couldn't justify a 3rd copy for a colour I know I won't wear!  

Anyone else purchased more than one copy like me?  Please say yes!

x Lucy x

.Z Palettes.

I have wanted some z palettes for a while now, in fact I have wanted them for aaaages, ever since I saw Kandee Johnson with them!  We must be talking years in that case :/ but anyway when I got the email saying there were two days in February they were offering 20% off I thought I definitely couldn't hold off any longer and if anyone, like me, has ever worked for a makeup brand you will know how you get given loooaads of eyeshadows just in their pans and mine were just sitting in a draw so I went ahead and purchased the Z Palettes!

After the expensive shipping charge (they were coming from America) and the £20 customs charge plus the charge from the post office to get them re-delivered I might as well have bought them from PAM in Sheperds Bush (typical long-winded me) but anyhoo I have them now and can finally use some gorgeous colours I had from NARS, By Terry and Chantecaille that I absolutely LOVE.

This is what they look like - 

Anyone else own some Z Palettes?  Tell me what you think of yours!

x Lucy x

.My Current Favourite Lippie.

This week I have been loving Barry M's lipstick in shade 147, its a very matte formula and so is a bit drying for my lips but a thin coat of my Lucas' PawPaw is all it takes to fix that.

A swatch for you!

Whats your current favourite?

 x Lucy x

.glitzy-glam... or sh!*ty sham?

after a rare viewing of allthatglitters on youtube (elle), i purchased a personalised makeup bag from www.glitzy-glam.com.  i thought it seemed a nice size and that having my name on it would be fun, so, after seeing the price ($30 incl. shipping) which is more than i would normally spend on a toiletries/makeup bag i thought... ahh so its prob ok quality then... ill treat myself!

for starters the picture of the one i was supposedly buying was lavender/blue colour and black letters, the one i received was purple and pink, could have been an error on my part but it obviously wasn't clear on the website.  so i was a bit dissapointed about that, but then when i opened the packet it came in i could tell straight away that the quality was awful, loose threads on the embroidery and zip stitching, horrid stiff plastic material lining the inside and cheap feeling fabric!!!  i think if i actually ever use it, it will fall apart straight away in my luggage bag!

anyway its now been shoved to back of a draw to live a boring life without the pleasure of carry around my toiletries and makeup, heres some pics for you to get an idea...

these pictures don't show how horrible it feels to touch.

i dont like to be negative normally but i really feel i wasted my money here and i don't want anyone else to do the same!

has anyone else bought anything from glitzy-glam?

xxx

.i love nails inc and diet coke.


i missed out on the last nails inc/diet coke dealio so i was excited when makeupsavvy posted on twitter that the offer starts today!

i went straight out and bought four bottles of cherry diet coke and am now the happy owner of these babies!

caramel and plum

ive just tried caramel with my seche vite top coat

i love how quickly seche vite drys but im sure my barry m top coat is better at keeping the chips at bay!

actually i keep meaning to mention where i bought it, if you dont already know about this ebay shop then go have a look, opi, essie etc for £2 or £3 a pop! if you are buying more than one let the seller know and you can just pay one shipping fee. http://stores.ebay.co.uk/Top-nail-shop?_rdc=1

im tempted to go and get the other two colours from the nails inc offer tomorrow..... yehh think i will!

anyone else taken advantage?

xxx

.christmas in november.


i know i am one of very few, who loves the fact that christmas starts earlier and earlier every year,  i am always trying to re capture the excitement i felt as a 5 year old or pretend i'm in 'its a wonderful life' as i skip through the snow in my woolies...... more like, barge past everyone on oxford street with too many bags in my hands, but you get what i mean!


after work today i planned to go straight home and curl up in front of the tele, but working at the bbc causes more than a few problems on departure when i am confronted with westfield shopping centre calling me in.  so off i went to westfield, i'd decided that i needed some gloves....


an hour later i walked out with a dress and a hat for my friends little girl.


realising how completely unsuccessful my little detour had been i decided i had better stop off at oxford st on my way home....


two hours later i trundle home with two more hats, some woolly bed socks, flowery pj's, a cardigan and some eye makeup remover.

okaaaaaay, so this is what happens when i don't have a boyfriend to come home to (he's out with the boys tonight)


before i hopped on the tube i realised how excited i was by the christmas lights along oxford st, but also how terrible the selfridges ones were...


literally this looks like a scene from the simpsons, wtf??!

the lights around selfridges windows

these are the lights down oxford st

i think debenhams lights pee all over the selfridges ones

so then i got home and popped my davina fit dvd straight in the playstation, got my yoga mat out and my work out gear on and did a lovely little aerobics workout, whilst laughing out loud at my lack of co-ordination skills, then followed it up with the yoga warm down (5 mins of heaven) i thoroughly recommend this dvd if you're wanting to do some exercise but cant be arsed with jogging in this weather, or any weather for that matter!


RANDOM blog post, sorry if i've bored you to tears.... i'm off to remove my makeup, brush my teeth, put on my new pj's and bed socks and read 'the time travellers wife' night!

xxx

.drugstore spree.

i love superdrug, i get very excited when i go in there and needless to say always buy lots of things i don't need.  but its such retail therapy for me because its almost guilt free even when i'm already feeling over spent (which is most of the time)

today i bought these goodies from superdrug

-barry m nail paint in 313 dusky mauve £2.95

-MUA glitter eyeliner in shade 2 £1

-me me me blush me in coral £7.99

the blush basically looks like a cross between benefits coralista and georgia with almost identical packaging.  it has a mirror in the lid and the colour payoff is really good.  the brush is synthetic but really soft.

i wanted the eyeliner ever since i saw the pixiwoo video on glitter eyeliners and realised the drug store ones were amazing for the price, ill probably never wear it so i thought id just buy one to have a play with and then throw it in my kit, i really like it, the applicator is nice and firm and you get a solid stripe of glitter.  only downside is it takes a while to dry but once it is it stays on very well.

swatch of the blush and the liner...

i loved the nail polish colour as soon as i saw it and also recognised it from a recent blog post i've seen (cant remember who's!)

i havent tried it on my nails yet (thats no.7 totally teal on my nails!) 

me trying and failing to capture the true colour, its basically what it says a dusky/dirty mauve with a really subtle shimmer of a pinky/purple running through it.

another recent find!! its beautiful, i no longer own it as i gave it to my friends little girl because it reminded her of dorothy's shoes.  plus after removing the bugger i probs wouldn't have worn it again anyway but its still a gorgeous colour none the less!

lastly from boots, my new favourite; no.7's totally teal....love love love

xxx

.sunday purchases.

these were my random purchases for today!  i already rate the bumble and bumble thickening spray and i needed to get another one but was also tempted to try the shampoo and conditioner too as my hair is just so pathetically limp and fine and flat and all things terrible in a head of hair at the moment so you can imagine my joy when i stumbled across a mini travel pack for £15 in work today!! (i work the odd shift in space nk)  the bottles are 50ml each which will last me a good few go's and i'm very excited!


as i was waiting for my train i naughtily popped in to boots, and decided to take the plunge and try and do something with me tash.....!  wait, before you think "what makeup artist would walk around with her tash out??"  well i'll have you know that its not very noticeable (i hope so anyway) and ive always been scared i'll just make it look worse with bleach or have it growing back with a vengeance if i remove it.  anyway i was bored and i wanted to buy something, so i bought some old school 'jolen creme bleach, mild formula plus aloe vera.'  i'm slightly concerned that 'mild formula' means orange tash rather than blonde tash but i spose ill find out later wont i!