Luscious Lashes

Everyone has one or two favourite things about their appearence. Some take pride in their hair, others in their figure and some in their lips or eyes. Well, I'm always at a loss of what I like about myself let alone what I like best. After all, the grass is always greener and everyone always looks thinner, prettier etc. However, when I did my eye make up yesterday I kind realised I was really happy with my eyes. It's amazing what a little colour can do - even if it's black like my favourite extension mascara.

I've been using Model Co's Fibre Lash Mascara for over a year now and think it probably is the reason why I like experimenting with eye make up so much and usually stay away from falsies.
It's what I asked my make-up artist to use for my wedding make-up. Have a look at some of the shots.

In case you haven't stumbled upon this mascara yet, Model Co's Fibre Lash Mascara is applied in three stages. First you coat the eyes from base to tip with the big black bottle. Then you use the Lash Fibre bottle, applying a layer of white thin fibres to your lashes. The final step is to apply some more extension mascara which colours the fibres black!

The end result? Luscious lashes that take you from day to night.

Big Hair Number 29

Okay, first things first - I've had a bit of a rushed week and with the sun going down mid afternoon these days my photography attempts last week were very weak.

Now, I know, I could take all my pictures on the weekend but in all honesty? That's not what this blog is about. I am not here to give you advice on fashion or make-up or anything. I'm just sharing my favourite stuff and that means, spare of the moment blogging. It's like grabbing my phone to text my BFF when a cute guy has just chatted me up in a bar. I don't wait until the lighting conditions are better to text "OMG OMG OMG" right?

(Note: I'm married. The text would probably be toned down a little!! ;-) hah)

So, I will only semi-apologise for the photos below as I do realise, they are a bit rubbish as I took them in the evening but hey, at least you'll know what this nail varnish will look like when you go out! :D

So, in today's post I am looking at my new favourite red friend! Let me introduce to you, Collection 2000's Hot Looks Fast Dry "Big Hair" (Number 29) nail varnish:

I've met him on my recent trip to Boots and fell in love ... I don't normally wear red nail polish. In fact, I think this is pretty much the first one I bought.It looks really nice. It's not too sticky, not too runny and does indeed dry fast.

Two layers of this pretty shade of red later and this was the result:

I think I should have applied a third layer but I was a little tired. It literally took less than a minute to dry and it lasted for a good 2 days. Mind you, I scrape my nail polish off or bite it off when I'm nervous or concentrating so a normal person can probably go a good 3-4 days without having to re-apply!

Right, this is it for now -  have a nice week my lovelies!

xoxo
Kate

Budget Make-Up Test Part 1

As promised in my previous blog post I have been putting budget Make-Up to the test the last couple of days, starting with Collection 2000's "Angelic Eyes" which comes in at just over £4 at my local Boots Store.

With all sorts of vibrant colours in this eye shadow set, I decided to test the blue shades and run with the whole Under the Sea theme which is inspiring the fashion world right now. Here's the result: 


Whilst I am by no means an expert when it comes to applying any kind of make-up here's how I did it - in case you'd like to give it a try yourself..

• I started by generously applying the light silvery colour (1) to my entire eyelid using a fluffy round eye shadow brush, making sure to cover both the outer and inner corner of my eye and brushing up to the browbone and highlighting it at the same time. Then I lightly dusted below my lower lash line using the same colour and removed any excess powder with a cosmetic tissue.

• After lightly scraping the sky blue shade (2) with the end of my eye shadow brush to reach a colour rich result, I went to sweep the medium shade in a half-circular move on the crease of my eye lid. To add some depth I blended the shade down towards my upper lash line with a round-tipped brush that had no product on it. (I find that it's easier to avoid unwanted smudging by using a clean brush for blending heavy contrast shades)

• Next I went to softly dab the purply blue (3) coloured eye shadow just up onto the outside corner of the eyelid and using my little finger I went to blend that same shade ever so lightly into the inner corner of my eye lid.

• I used the navy blue shade (4) to accentuate the eye crease and applied a light grey eyeliner to my upper lash line, the inner corner and the outer corner of my lower lash line as well as a few dots on my brow bone. Then I finished the Under the Sea inspired look by applying some black mascara.

The application of the eye shadow took me a bit less than 10 minutes and its removal was straight forward leaving no ugly dark stains (as some other colour rich eyeshadows are known to do) so all in all I was extremely happy with the result.

As to the colour strength/pigmentation, here a little colour swatch so you can see all colours in this set

The colours lack a bit in intensity despite the fact they look so vibrant but there's nothing a good primer (as a base) and a good strong brush won't fix :) I actually used my Studio Secrets Primer from L'Oreal - have a look at this Review I wrote a little while ago if you want my opinion on some current Primers on the market.

So here we go, a big thumbs up from me to Collection 2000 Angelic Eyes - eyeshadow palette.
Really good value for money.

My piggy bank is happy and so am I. :o)

xoxo
Kate

Budget Make-Up Shopping Haul

I am sure, I'm not the only one who finds it hard to save when there are so many things out there available to buy!! *sigh*

Normally my Make-Up bag is never questioned by my piggy bank. However, today's the day. I just cannot keep spending money on high end product without giving Superdrugs Finest at least a try...

So, here is my budget Shopping Haul...

Angelic Eyes by Collection 2000

Smokey Eyes by Collection 2000

Eye Shadow Pallette by Rimmel London

Single Eyeshadows by Collection 2000 and Maybelline

Overview of all product bought

I shall spend the next week testing these products and telling you all about them. Fingers crossed that we can keep the piggy bank happy and like these pieces... :)

Have a great weekend, my lovelies! x

xoxo

Kate