MAC Sumputous Olive and Arctic Grey

I own a small MAC collection really and I especially don't have many eyeshadow's, which I'm going to try to work on this year. But I wanted to show you two of my favourite MAC eyeshadows, the first is Arctic Grey which is from an MAC Chill (an old collection 2009 I think) and the second is a Veluxe Pearl in Sumptuous Olive,I say they are my favourites but as with my other MAC eyeshadow's that I own I tend to only use for special occasions or nights out. Sumputous Olive is a lovely metallic khaki, as with all MAC eyeshadows it is very pigmented and applies lovely. I decided to show you a eye look using sumptuous olive,

I have used my Next Cashmere palete for eye base, MAC sumptuous Olive, Barry M in Old Gold 24, Collection 2000 Mascara in Brown. This is a look that I have used before on nights out as I like the darken green golden effect.

Now Arctic Grey is from an old MAC collection, I think it was MAC Chill, and I had picked this up from The Cosmectic Company at Bicester Village.

This was a colour that fits quite nicely into my eye collection and again is super easy for me to wear. I also so think at the time there wasn't many other things I liked at The Cosmectic Store, I hate leaving there with nothing! bUt I really liked this shadow it's a great shimmery grey and as with the MAC shadows I have tried its really pigemented.

For those who don't know The Cosmectic Company is a store that is normally in Outlet Shopping Villages and sells brand ranges at a discounted rate. You will normally find brands such as MAC, Clinique, Estee Lauder etc. I think you can find the stores at the following:

Bicester Village, Bicester

Gunwharf Quays, Portsmouth

Cheshire Oaks, Ellesmere Port

Designer Outlet, York

Designer Outlet, Swindon

Junction One, Antrim

I am hopefully going to pop to Bicester shortley to get some new bits!

For the rest of my face I had used:

Lily Lolo Peepo

Benefit Erase Paste in Fair

Benefit Benetint

Collection 2000 Bronzer

Any ideas and suggestions of MAC eyeshadows I should put on my wishlist?

Thanks

Benefit Bella Bamba

So last night me and K, went into London for Benefits launch party for their new boxed powder – Bella Bamba. It’s actually Benefits 9th boxed powder.

We also had an opportunity to play with the new High Shine Lip Glosses as well.

The event was held in Benefits Covent Garden store. When we arrived we were greeted by Champagne cocktails and platters of yummy Sushi. They’d also had a gorgeous looking cake all made up for the event.

After a quick introduction from Jasmine, the Digital Manager for Benefit, we were given a quick demonstration by the lovely Darren on how Benefits brow arching differs from most. The lucky volunteer for the demo was Amrita from 6inch Stilettos.

After this we were on to the main event. Head makeup artist, Lisa then showed us how to use Bella Bamba to its full potential, and explained why it’s been called a 3D powder,

She explained that it has three dimensions of pink which helps to brighten, sculpt & define. The powder is made of pink and shimmering gold undertones, which definitely helps to perks up your skin. We were shown how if you apply a light dusting over your whole face, it really just helps to make you glow in a good way!

Oh and it is highly pigmented, so less is more with this little baby. On the plus side, a little goes a long way.

What I also like is how the design of the bow has also changed – the lid is now attached, so no more messing about and losing/breaking them. They’ve also gone a stuck a mirror in the lid as well – which is always handy. Finally they’ve also changed the shape of the brush, to a slight curve to allow you to apply the powder easy to your face. Overall I love the new packaging.

After the demo, we were given the chance to have our eyebrows waxed and shaped, as well as have our makeup done. Whilst they were playing La Bamba – love it!

I was actually one of the first up (never had my brows waxed before!) and ended up having my brows tinted as well. My brows and lashing as so white, that they’re impossible to see and I’ve never been brave enough to have them tinted before, but decided to just go for it. Managed to persuade K as well.

Here’s us looking like a pair of loons,

I think K’s comment was that we looked like someone from Lazy Town ha ha.

Once they were tinted, I then had them waxed and shaped.

(loving the Bella Bamba in this pic)

What we both liked about the service is that once you have you brows done (which was only 10 mins for tint and 10 for the wax), Benefit will then do all your makeup so you can look normal when leaving the shop – making it a great option for lunch time. K actually found a kindred spirit in her makeup artist – another person who mixes about 4 of 5 different foundations, concealers, and highlighters together to get a good base for they’re makeup J

It was nice to also have a good play with the new glosses, which launched last week. They’re all such gorgeous colours!

They’ve launched 4 new shades:

- nookie nookie (opal glaze)

- nudie-tude (goldspun twist)

- patootie (oyster pink)

- so frisk me (gilded berry)

and brought back 3 old favourites:

- life on the A list (bubble gum pink)

- who are you wearing (passion fruit pink)

- kiss you (clear fuchsia)

You can check them all out on Benefits blog - Hello Gorgeous!

I actually already have Life on the A list and would still say this is my favourite. It really compliments my complexion. Next up for me would be the Nookie Nookie, this is just the perfect gloss to have in for collection to use over lippies or over foundation on your lips – it gives a lovely natural shine. I actually had this put over Posietint on my lips when they did my makeup – LOVED IT!

K was also drawn to Life on the A list, but she has the same problem with lip products that she has with foundations – layers about 4 or 5 gets the perfect colour and then can’t remember which is which J

Once we were all done, we were given a little bag including the Bella Bamba and some other little treats.

All in all a great evening and we both love the Bella Bamba – so happy we got one to take home J. It’s a gorgeous colour and perfect for our skin tone. It’s easily a powder that will suit most skin colours. It retails for £23.50 and will be available in store from the 29 January 2011, however it’s already available online.

NOTD Accessroies Fudge with Revlon Star

Breaking away from my usual norm of Shimmer & Glitter free nail polishes – I’ve got a NOTD to show you using Revlon Top Coat in Star. I’d not seen this before and when I saw it in a bargain beauty stall I thought it give it a go. It was only £1.50 so it was a bargain!The Revlon polish, itself is made up a blue and silver glitter with large silver circles – the rest of the polish is a clear top coat.

I decided to pair it with my Accessorise polish in Fudge – mainly as it was on already and I was having a bit of a play.

So here’s the end result.

For me, its ok – other may like it but it’s just a little to sparkly then what I’m used to. I may give it a whirl on a night out but would never consider using it for a daytime nail.

Illamasqua Liquid Metal in Phenomena

I actually picked this up a while ago and not really got around to using it - as usual!

This is part of the liquid metal range and is a metallic cream. Illamasqua state that this can be:

'Use to adorn eyes, face and body, and apply with fingers or a brush. Release your inhibitions and illuminate your alter ego'

Ok so I loved it at the counter, but wasn’t really sure when I got home really.

Firstly, it's so the wrong colour for me to use as a highlighter - I would definitely need something a little warmer on my skin.

As an eyeshadow I'm not entirely convinced either. Once I had it on, it took a while to dry and just creased. Also it just not very pigmented - which is a big shock for me with Illamasqua products. You can see in the pictures that it hardly even shows up when swatched on my hand.

I think its ok as a base but still nothing special and still took a while to set.

Overall there's not much more to say about it, I was really disappointed. I don't know whether I should have really tried for a different colour - quite drawn to Surge on the website.

Quick Fix Nail Repair

First a quick warning this is a picture heavy post!

So last night when I was making tea, I managed to snap a corner or my nail. It killed!

Now I've not long stopped biting my nails, so they're not the strongest things yet bless them, but I'm really working on it. So because of where I snapped it - I couldn't face losing half a nail.

Well anyway I remembered that a while back I saw a great post about using a tea bag - yep you read that right a tea bag to fix it, until you it grows out (can't remember which blog sorry!).

So I gave it a go and thought I'd show you the results!

First the broken nail,

The Tools - a tea bag and false nail glue - although I think you could get away with using clear polish. You'll also need a nail file and buffer.

Step 1 - You need to cut a couple of little squares or whatever size you need them to cover the break,

Step 2 - stick the first one on,

and then the second one over the top,

Step 3 - Once both layers have dried, just file and smooth out the layer (it still doesn''t look great at this point)

(n.b. - Thinking about it afterwards I would probably stick a clear top/base coat over the top and smooth that out with a buffer as well, before applying any other polish)

Step 4 - Then apply your polish over the top,

Obviously I wouldn't go without any polish as it looks slightly strange, but I don't mind wearing polish until it grows out and when I want to change my polish I'm just going to make sure it's secure before I re-apply.

Some people have suggested using tissue paper - especially toilet roll, as it will go clear if applied with clear nail polish. However for me this didn't provide any strength to the nail and it still felt as though it would snap. Once I'd completed the above, my nail didn't feel any weakness even when I attempted to bend it slightly.

So I know this isn't the most glamorous post, but I hope it helps! I'm well impressed with the results.