The Lipstick Drawer: 2015

Friday 25 December 2015

Thursday 24 December 2015

I love watching Christmas movies with a mug of hot chocolate and gingerbread. These are my favourite films. I also like Die Hard which is defiantly a Christmas film because of all the Christmas puns. Anyway let me know which are your favourites in the comments

Elf
I first watched this a just a couple of years ago. I'm not a Will Ferrell fan but I absolutely love this film it's hilarious for all ages. Buddy is a human being who has spent his whole life believing himself to be an elf working in Santa's toy shop. When he grows too big for the elf-sized working environment, Santa suggests that Buddy head to New York to find his biological father. Still wearing his elf clothes despite being 6 foot 5, the good-natured Buddy finds himself in all sorts of scrapes as he gets used to his new family and surroundings - and they get used to him.
Amazon £2.99 here

A Christmas Kiss
Wendy leaves theatre set designing to work for Priscilla in her interior design business. While running errands for her demanding boss, Wendy bumps into a handsome stranger in a lift which leads to a spontaneous kiss. However Wendy’s dreams of impressing her boss get complicated when she realises that the mysterious man she kissed is Priscilla’s boyfriend, Adam. While decorating and preparing his home for an Christmas charity fundraiser Adam and Wendy’s friendship grows. Priscilla is forced to take drastic measures to make sure her engagement goes forward as planned. Will Wendy and Adam connect before it’s too late?
Available on Dvd £7.20 here

The Holiday
This film follows two women at Christmas frustrated with their loves lives, impulsively booking a holiday on a home exchange website. Iris (Kate Winslet) moves into Amanda's L.A. house in sunny California as Amanda (Cameron Diaz) arrives in the snow-covered English countryside. After arriving at their destinations, both women find the last thing either wants or expects: a new romance. Amanda is charmed by Iris's handsome brother Graham (Jude Law) while Iris mends her heart when she meets film composer Miles (Jack Black.)
Available on dvd £3 here

A Cinderella Christmas
This is a modern take on Cinderella, starring Emma Rigby (Hollyoaks) as Angie. Angie
works hard to run her uncle's event planning business, while her cousin Candace takes all of the credit. In exchange for ownership of the business, Angie helps Candace get an invitation to the famous Christ-masquerade Ball being held by wealthy bachelor Nicholas Carmichael. But when Candace gets sick, Angie puts on the mask and goes in her place. She meets Nicholas and they have an instant connection. When he vows to marry the mysterious woman from the Ball, Angie finds herself torn between either losing the business she's worked so hard for or losing the love of her life. The Christmas masquerade is beautiful and I love the game of having to match the bag full of clues to the right person.
Dvd Amazon here £6

Arthur Christmas
Animation with comedy thrown in that adults and children will enjoy. The film follows the Santa family's meticulous operation to deliver presents to all the children across the world before Christmas Day. Central to the operation is the S-1, which is rather like the Star Trek Enterprise spaceship that houses a toy making factory and distribution warehouse. However despite all this technology a child got missed out and it's up to Santa's son Arthur to save the day.
Available on dvd here £3

It's A Wonderful Life
A Christmas classic, the film is directed by Frank Capra in 1946 so it's in black and white but don't let that put you off! The film begins with Guardian Angel Clarence being summoned to help George Bailey who is close to suicide. All his life George Bailey has wanted to escape his small town to realise his dream of building big buildings and travelling the world. Unfortunately he's had to put his dreams aside for various reasons and a money crisis at his company Building and Loan tips him over the edge as he realises he's worth more dead than alive and wishes he'd never been born. Before he can throw himself off the bridge he spots a man drowning and goes in to save him. This man is Clarence who shows George what life in the small town would be like if he'd never been born. The town is worse off without George's kindness and generosity which previously had changed people's lives. This is a little like Dicken's Scrooge with mean Potter having a negative effect on the town while George learns his value as part of a small community. It's ultimately a feel good film.
Available on dvd here £5.90

Bridget Jones Diary
From catching Mark Darcy's eye across the New Year turkey buffet to kissing on the snowy London street at Christmas (sans trousers/skirt as you do), Rene Zellweger plays Bridget Jones and all her lovable flaws to perfection. Not to mention you have a choice to drool over Colin Firth or Hugh Grant. I can't wait for the next Bridget Jones film which will be released soon!
Available £2.61 here

The Snowman/ The Snowman and Snow Dog
A childhood classic animation of Raymond Brigg's children's book The Snowman. I remember being so excited when I could play this on the recorder in primary school! The original is sweet and the sequel is just as good. It isn't Christmas without hearing Walking On The Air.
£7 Amazon here

Love Actually
This film follows the lives of nine very different couples dealing with their love lives in the run up to Christmas. Their stories are loosely interrelated. Some of the stories include: Billy Mack is a rock and roll singer who is releasing his Christmas single in the hopes that it will become the no.1 single. A man who's in love with his best friends wife and there is another man writing his book in his French holiday home. It also covers the love life of Prime minister at no 10 Downing street. Hugh Grant plays a very dashing Prime minister. The film also stars Colin Firth, Martine McCutcheon, Keira Knightly, Emma Thompson, Martin Freeman, Rowan Atkinson among many others.
£4.57 Amazon here

Friday 11 December 2015

November Beauty and TV Favourites

The Body Shop Body Butter in Mango and Olive
These body butters blew me away especially the Mango body butter. I wasn't expecting it to be as moisturising as it is, because I find the Body Shop's products a bit hiss and miss. But the dry skin on my elbows have vanished and now it feels baby soft. Although I knew The Body Shop's body butters were popular, I thought it was just because they smelled so nice, but what impressed me the most was that the Mango moisturiser kept my skin so soft even 48 hours later. It's formulated for very dry skins and although my skin is more on the normal/sensitive side this is perfect as an intensive winter moisturiser. It contains mango seed oil, sweet almond oil and cocoa seed butter. It smells fruity and I often catch myself opening the tub just to smell how gorgeous it is! The Olive body butter doesn't smell of olives, but of something fresh, like a cucumber, which reminds me of my tweens for some reason. It's formulated for dry skin and contains olive fruit oil, shea butter and cocoa seed butter. While it isn't as intensive as the mango one, it's still great to use as a winter body moisturiser.

Rimmel Provocolips in 730 Make Your Move
This is a perfect 90's nude brown that doesn't break the bank! This defied my expectations after trying one of the Kate Moss lipsticks which tasted of very cheap candy, but this liquid lipstick doesn't have a taste or smell and what's more is that it's long lasting!

Max Factor Crème Puff Blush in 30 Gorgeous Berries
These are touted as a dupe for Hourglass's Ambient Lighting Blushes and they share the same marbled/baked powder appearance and both give a soft focused colour and sheen while at the same time remaining pigmented and easy to blend. Gorgeous Berries is a plummy pink berry colour perfect for winter.

Once Upon A Time
Set in a small fictional town of Storybrooke, the inhabitants are characters from various fairy tales who have been transported to the "real world" American town and robbed of their real memories of their fairy tale lives by a powerful curse cast by Regina The Evil Queen who now resides as the town's mayor. Once upon a Time is a fantasy series that plays with timelines, parallel lives and inverts all the traditional fairy tale stories you thought you knew. Season 5 has been a real game changer with Storybrook's former saviour Emma turning dark leaving Regina the Evil Queen to take on the role of Saviour instead. The show still plays with time as the first two episodes showed Emma as dark and evil and all the inhabitants memories have been wiped. Just as the inhabitants are trying to fill the gaps so are we, as we follow Emma's journey into a darkness that threatens their world. Once Upon A Time is available on Netflix with new episodes on Wednesdays.

The Vampire Diaries
Initially I didn't think I'd like this show as I loved Buffy The Vampire Slayer in the 90's/00's and felt the second wave of vampire books/film/TV weren't nearly as good- yep I'm talking about Twilight.
The Vampire Diaries is set in Mystic Falls, a fictional small town which seems to have more than it's fair share of vampires, werewolves and witches. Elena and her brother Jeremy are orphaned when a car crash kills their parents. Elena later finds out that her classmate Stephan actually rescued her from the crash and decides to stay in her life, enrolling at her school. However Stephen is actually 150 year old vampire and Elena is the doppelganger of his ex girlfriend Katherine. I really got caught up in the love triangle between Elena, Stephen and his brother Damon. Things get complicated when Katherine and a family of Original Vampires are out to harm Elena and Mystic Falls. I think this show must be a great show for the actors involved as they each get to play different characters and different side to the characters as they get turned into supernatural beings. Series 1-6 is available on Netflix and the current season is on ITV 2 and iTunes.

Sunday 25 October 2015

The Best Halloween Makeup and Costume Tutorials

Group Makeup and Costumes

Courtesy of ET Online

Make like a badass and dress up like the girls in Taylor Swift's Bad Blood music video. This post from The Gloss has helpfully put all the Youtube Bad Blood make up Tutorials in one place : 17 Bad Blood Tutorials To Make Your Group Costume Slay. If that's not your thing then Lauren Conrad's Party Animals post has some easy D.I.Y animal headbands you can make yourself.

Be inspired by the girls from Pretty Little Liars who wore Disney princess dresses for their prom. Bustle gives you 12 tutorials to choose from. If you'd rather not go the princess route here are 7 Easy Disney Halloween makeup ideas of other characters you could take your inspiration from. There's also an amazing and I mean a-mazing D.I.Y mermaid costume tutorial (The Little Mermaid) by Lauren Conrad here. Georgina from She might be loved shows how to dress up as Ursula.

Going as the Ice Queen from Narnia or Hans Christian Anderson's Snow Queen is another idea and there's an incredible tutorial by Georgina on She might be Loved who used makeup glitter and eyelash glue to make the frozen ice eyelashes.

Stitched mouth, Skull, Doll, Vampire & Double Eyes

Onto the gory looks, I've seen the stitched up look around Shannon from Shaaanxo shows that it's easier than you think.

Zoe Newlove has a picture tutorial of drawing half a skull on her face, but ringing the changes is Sophie Jenner with her Skulls Galaxy tutorial below.

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Channel Pretty Little Liars with this easier than it looks broken doll tutorial from Dulce Candy.

Katerina of Katerina's Beauty Blog shows you how to do a sexy, simple Vampire face.

Another great tutorial from Shannon from Shaanxo she shows you how to do this creepily effective double eyed look.

Saturday 24 October 2015

I Heart Makeup The Chocolate Palettes

I Heart Makeup the sister brand of Makeup Revolution have brought out three Chocolate Palettes, I am reviewing the I Heart Chocolate palette and the Death by Chocolate Palette. They are quite similar to each other so you many only want to buy one of them or maybe collection all three. The lid of each look like 3D chocolate bars. They actually remind me of the fake plastic chocolate bar from the Fisher Price Kitchen set from the 80's! The I Heart Chocolate has a warm reddish brown lid while the Death by Chocolate has a darker lid. Each palette has 16 eye shadows including two larger pans that I assume are for highlighting under the brow (one matte and one shimmer.) Each palette also has a large mirror which makes the palette heavier that most, but I'm glad they included it.

I Heart Chocolate Palette

The I Heart Chocolate palette is hailed as a dupe for the original Too Faced Chocolate Bar palette. There are 4 glitter shades, Piece Me Together (dark brown with gold glitter), Love Torn (aubergine with multi coloured glitter), What A Way To Go ( a darker brown with multi coloured glitter) and Unforgivable (purple with glitter.) Alongside these there are 6 matte Shadows and 6 shimmer ones. I have used this palette a lot and like the fact that I Heart Makeup have included some other colours besides brown. Without primer they only lasted 4 hours on my oily lids so I definitely recommend using an eye primer. The performance of the light coloured matte shadows (You Need Love and Meet Chocolate) was disappointing, they were very chalky and not as pigmented as the other shadows. Additionally the glitter shade Unforgivable didn't seem to contain as much glitter than the others. It seemed as if the glitter was only on the surface and after a few swipes it went. However the three other glitter shadows are fine and I think the glitter just about shows up in the photos.

I don't have the original Too Faced Chocolate Bar palette on hand to swatch and test the difference between the two palettes. I think that if you aren't fussed about the 3 disappointing shades which aren't that unique (apart from Unforgivable) then this is a cheaper alternative dupe for the Too Faced Chocolate palette long as you use any eye primer.

Death By Chocolate Palette

The Death By Chocolate Palette contains 6 mattes and 10 shimmer shadows. There are no glitter shades and the palette consists mainly of metallic shades although there is one purple shade. Apart from White Light the mattes are much better quality than the I Heart Chocolate palette, in particular the black shade All is Not Lost and the dark brown Devour Me are incredibly pigmented.

The I Heart Makeup Chocolate palettes contain 16 shadows for £7.99 which works out on average as 50p a shadow which is a bargain! It also scores highly for the unique packaging. Although I included the I Heart Chocolate palette in my August Favourites post, after trying the Death by Chocolate palette I decided that I actually prefer that, because the quality of almost all the shades are much better and I love the metallic shades. However if you love glitter shadows then I Heart Chocolate would be a better choice.

I Heart Chocolate palette is available on Superdrug while the Death By Chocolate palette can be found on Makeup Revolution online.

Friday 16 October 2015

Hand and Nail Creams Review: Lacura and Champneys

Champney's Hand and Nail Cream comes in two sizes, full sized 75ml and the mini size 40ml which I find great for popping into your handbag or on your desk and applying throughout the day. The packaging is a tube with a gold flip lid with gold and brown print and is actually quite simple for a luxury brand.

Champney's Hand and Nail Cream contains shea butter and sweet almond oil, both staples hand cream ingredients as well as Vitamin E and Pro-Vitamin B5 to strengthen nails and soothe your skin and sodium PCA to soften hands. The addition of liquorice and vitamin A is supposed to reduce the appearance of age spots but as I don't have any I couldn't test this. It smells of liquorice and essential oils- particularly lemon and Bergamot although it also contains orange and other essential oils. It does contain silicon which I thought I'd mention it as some people are allergic to it.

It is a light cream but does take around 10 minutes to dry. It did make my hands softer as well as moisturised and repaired the skin around the edges of my nails which often gets dry and raggedy. I did notice that my nails became a little bit softer and less dry but the difference was slight.

At full price £3.50 for 40ml and £6 for 75ml, you don't get much product for the price. However it's currently on sale in Boots for half price (£1.75 for 40ml and £3 for 75ml.) As it's no longer on the Champney's website I think these will soon be discontinued so grab them while you can.

Lacura, the Aldi skincare and makeup brand have three hand creams in their range, but this is the only one for both hands and nails. They all come in one size, a generous 125ml for just 75p! The tube is an easy flip lid but perhaps a bit too big to chuck in your handbag.

Lacura Hand and Nail Cream contains beeswax and lanolin. Lanolin is used for it's moisturising properties while the beeswax acts as a protective barrier against water and the elements. The fragrance is light and not overpowering at all, it smells pleasant: a fresh, sweet smell. The cream is light, like a lotion and absorbs quickly, so you can get on with other things after applying it. The cream is not sticky or greasy as such, but it does leave a waxy protective layer on the skin. The beeswax locks in the moisture rather than restores it. The benefit being that when you later wash your hands the water won't wash all the cream off. The not so good thing is that while it locks in some moisture it's not incredibly nourishing. This explains why when I first used it, it felt drying on my knuckles because it doesn't restore moisture. However apart from that one occasion it has felt comfortable on the skin and repeated use has made my hands feel really, really soft. I've tried other hand creams and they've never left my hands feeling this soft. It has also healed the raggedy skin around my nails. As for the nails it coats them in beeswax and kind of waterproofs them when you wash your hands so that they don't lose as much moisture. My nails gradually became a little softer over time but the difference was fairly small. You don't need much, the swatch above was enough to coat both hands.

I would say that the Lacura Hand and Nail cream is great for making your hands silky soft and is incredibly good value for money- you can't beat it. Although I would say that if you're after a more intensive moisturiser for sore hands to try something else. However this is an excellent bargain and would be good for students and those on a budget. Available at Aldi in store 125ml for 75p

To sum up both creams make your hands softer and can heal the skin around your nails, although they only made a sight difference to my nails. Champney's hand cream has more expensive ingredients such as the essential oils which explains the higher price and reflects the luxury brand. Personally I prefer the Lancura over the Champneys Spa Hand and nail cream since I like the smell better, it dries quicker and is better value. Saying that the Champneys spa hand cream is currently half price at Boots which makes it better value for money.

Saturday 3 October 2015

8 Autumn Winter 2015-2016 Makeup Trends

The Autumn Winter 2015-2016 runway beauty trends roughly fell into two main camps : the dark and dramatic look with the focus either on heavily made up eyes or dark lips. Others went for the natural look with a softer definition of features -nude lips and understated eyes with full thick brows dominating the catwalks (aka the Cara Delevingne Effect but at least we can hold the tweezers!)

1. Graphic Eyes

Statement eyes with creative shapes were trending across the catwalks, from the bold cat eye at Chanel (top left) to the strong dark colour blocks at Dior (top right). Bambi eyes were seen at Rochas where makeup artist Lucia Poeroni graphically painted the models' upper and lower eyelids with floating black liner (Middle right.) Similar but less elaborate shapes were spotted at House of Holland and Proenza Schouler. Over at Vaccarello models wore half stars at the corner of their eyes (middle left) while at Giamba models had small arrows on their cheeks. More wearable winged liner was also seen at Oscar de la Renta (Bottom left) while a lighter double winged eyeliner in brown was adopted at Anna Sui. (Bottom Right)

Top Right Chanel Vogue, Top Left Dior Jason Lloyd Evans Harpers Bazaar Bottom Left Anthony Vaccarello Jason Lloyd -Evans Harpers Bazaar, Bottom Right Rochas Vogue

Left Oscar De La Renta Vogue Right Anna Sui Hapers Bazaar

2. Kohl Rimmed Waterline

If graphic eyes seem too adventurous try lining the inner eyes. The look varied from classic kohl lined eyes at Lavin (top left), a slept in rock/grunge look, at Versace (top right) to smoked out liner at DVF (bottom left) Kohl rimmed eyes were also seen at Erdem, Issa and Jenny Packham.

Top Left Lavin,Vogue Top Right Versace, Vogue Bottom Left Cavalli Vogue Bottom Right Diane Von Furstenburg

3. Shades of Grey

Yep 50 Shades of Grey is back. No I'm not talking about trending the bestseller book list but the autumn/winter 2015 catwalks. I think grey shadow is a universal shade and will suit everyone. It's also versatile: neutral for work or glammed up for a sexy smoky eye. At Dries Van Norton a dot of charcoal eye shadow was applied to the inner corner of the eyes and then a slate colour was washed across the eye lids (top left.) The look was soft at Marni with a wash of colour (bottom left) and more defined at Burberry (top right) Marc Jacobs (bottom right) and Paul Smith.

Top Left Dries Van Norton Vogue Right Burberry, Jason Lloyd Evans Harpers Bazaar, Bottom Left Marni Jason Lloyd-Evans, Harpers Bazaar Bottom Right Marc Jacobs Vogue

4. Shades of Terracotta

Terracotta orange eye shadow was seen at Alexander Mcqueen ( top right along with white mascara which I hope doesn't catch on), Preen and more subtle and wearable at Pucci (bottom right) and Thakoon (Top left.) On the catwalks it was worn with pale porcelain skin, but I think it could work with other skin tones it's just a question of being confident enough to pull it off.

Top Left Thakoon Vogue Top Right Alexander Mcqueen Vogue Bottom Left Preen by Thornton Braggazzi Jason Lloyd-Evans, Harpers Bazaar, Bottom Right Pucci Vogue

5. Doll Eyed lashes

Elsewhere the 60's influence could be seen in the wide eyed Twiggy look, with defined doll like lashes at Rachel Zoe (Bottom left) and Rochas (Top left.) Giambattista Valli saw more natural looking lashes (top right.) Heavy 'spider legged lashes' (see bottom left photo) were sported at Versace and Fendi so don't throw out that thick clumpy mascara yet!

Top Left Rochas She look book, Top Right Giambattista Valli Vogue Bottom left Rachel Zoe, Bottom right Getty Cosmopolitan

6. Dark lips

Dark red and berry colours were spotted at Dolce and Gabbana, Carolina Herrera, 3.1 Phillip Lim and many others. Lipsticks were blotted down to give a softer stain appearance which looked more natural instead of perfect overly made up lips. Black 'blackberry' lipstick was seen at Giles along with matte skin, eyes slightly contoured but free of mascara so that the main focus was on the lips (bottom left.) Black lipsticks were also spotted at Emanuel Ungaro.

Top Left 3.1 Phillip Lim Jason Lloyd-Evans Harpers Bazaar, Top Right Dolce & Gabbana Vogue, Bottom Left Giles Vogue, Bottom Right Carolina Herrera Jason Lloyd Evans Harpers Bazaar,

7. The Natural Look

The natural look saw full thick brows brushed through but not heavily made up, concealer, mascara and subtle neutral eye shadows to lightly define the eyes. Lips were bare or had a slick of clear lip gloss. At Hugo Boss, makeup artist Pat McGrath went for luminous skin, groomed brows and subtle definition on the eyes using beige shadow (bottom left.) While at Ralph Lauren, makeup artist Tom Pecheux used a little bronzer and brown mascara paired with a natural looking light base for a fresh healthy look (Top left.)

Top Left Ralph Lauren Vogue Top Right Jill Sandler Bottom Right Gucci Vogue Bottom Left Hugo Boss Vogue

8. Rosy Cheeks

Flushed cheeks were seen at Topshop Unique, Michael Kors, Donna Karen, Palmer//Harding and David Korma. At David Korma Andrew Gallimore used Nars Matte Multiple in Anguilla for a 'natural rose flush' (bottom left) while at Michael kors, Michael Kors Bronze Powder in Flush, Beam and Glow was applied. At Topshop the look was for "healthy, windswept skin, freckles, handsome eyebrows and wind-burnt lips." (See top and Bottom left)

Top Left Michael Kors Jason Lloyd-Evans Harpers Barzaar Top Right Topshop Unique Vogue , Bottom Left David Korma Bottom Right Topshop Unique Vogue

So there you have it, what trend will you be copying?

Wednesday 30 September 2015

6 Beauty Tools I use Everyday

Tweezerman Tweezers Boots £19.50
I put off buying these tweezers for years thinking that they were really overpriced but it's been the best decision I ever made. These are sharp and precise and they make plucking my eyebrows so much faster and easier. My brows are quite bushy and my hands used to ache holding tweezers but these wide grip tweezers make such a difference and my hands never ache now. They are still available in wide grip and I cannot recommend them enough.

Nail Scissors £1 Primark
Ever since I read that Elizabeth Hurley used nail scissors to trim her eyebrows in a magazine I've been doing the same, regardless of whether it's a celebrity myth or not. It helps them to look tidy and neat.

Real Techniques Blending Sponge Boots £5.99
I love this sponge, it's great for achieving a flawless finish to your foundation and the pointed and flat edge is good for getting under the eyes and around the nose. I don't think it's as bouncy as the Beauty Blender but you can still stipple foundation on. Real techniques are such a brilliant, affordable brand.

Eyelash Curlers £1 Primark
I was heartbroken after I accidently spilt nail polish remover over my beloved Cosmopolitan eyelash curlers, I felt uneasy using them near my eyes and Cosmopolitan are no longer making beauty accessories. So I popped into Primark and found these and they are pretty good for only £1! I was deciding between these and The Body Shop ones but these had more positive reviews. I love eyelash curlers- they're great for opening the eye and looking more awake.

Sigma Brush Cleaning Glove Dupe ebay £4.79 or ebay £2.19
Ok, so I don't quite use this everyday. This is really a silicone oven glove which I bought after reading a post by Fiona of Makeup Savvy to help deep clean my makeup brushes. It works best on short bristle face brushes such as Real Techniques Core Collection contour brush and Zoeva's 110, and 122. It helps to clean them quickly and easily.

Magnifying Mirror Tiger £2
For days when I don't want to wear contacts, this magnifying mirror helps me to apply eye makeup without looking like a clown ( I'm very short sighted.). It has two suction pads so you can stick it on a mirror or another surface.

Sunday 13 September 2015

I Love Makeup But...Beauty Rants and Raves

When life gives you lemons make lemonade. I was so sad to see my blusher shattered into pieces but at least I got a good photo out of it- last photo shoot before it R.I.P

As a beauty blogger of course I love make up- I love the way it can transform you and I love playing around experimenting with different looks. There's nothing I love better than getting ready to go out. I love the fact that it's an adaptable tool -you can decide how much to wear, change to suit your mood, the occasion or how you want others to see you and for many women and a few men it gives them the confidence to step outside and take on the world. But nothings perfect and I have a few gripes and I'm sure as fellow beauty lovers you will know where I'm coming from (I.e. feel my pain- emo style.) But stick around as I also share what else I love about makeup.

When your favourite lipstick, foundation etc. is discontinued. *cries* And then you have to hunt down a dupe.... Or when the formula is changed...just nooooo.....why would you do that?!
When U.S brands such as Revlon and Maybelline fail to release products in the U.K despite being a global brand. I'm talking about all those Maybelline Color Tattoo shades that were available to the U.S market but not for us in Britain. And those matte bronzer quads Revlon brought out for the U.S. a year or two ago but weren't sold in the U.K. I mean have they been to the U.K? There's no sun! Whenever there is the whole country goes ga ga! All the rest of the year we have to fake our tan! That is why we moan about the weather- this isn't the Sunshine State of Florida! Matte bronzers would sell like hotcakes over here!
When there's no ingredient list on the beauty product or on the online website. If you discover that you're allergic to something the ingredient list is the only way to avoid using that ingredient again or have any chance of finding the culprit in the first place. Also if you're a vegan and want to avoid ingredients like beeswax how are you supposed to find out if that product contains those ingredients?
False advertising. Mascara ads that use false lashes or photoshop and claim the effect is all down to the mascara see Rimmel L'Oreal, Dior . Limecrime is notorious for their Velvetines shades that are advertised online being nowhere near to the actual colour you receive. They also market their products vegan even though they're not. A related issue is 'Delusions of Grandeur' such as when BB creams were sold to the western market they claimed to do a million things when they were really just tinted moisturisers.
Everyone can relate to this one- when the seal is broken on an item or when somebody has already used or switched a lipstick etc that you've paid money for. Ewwwwwww
Also when there are no testers available or when you're buying online and having to rely on a shade guide, you have to hope/guess that shade matches your skin or is as bright as it looks.
That there is still no Sephora in the UK, yes I'm still harping on about this!
The pressure from the beauty and advertising industry for women (and now men) to look younger and have a perfect body. This pressure is ingrained to our culture so that it seems normal and has enormous reach affecting women of all ages. Getting older is inevitable but it shouldn't make you feel less of a person or less valued. Also we are not museum pieces we are living, active people and will carry souvenirs from our lives be they sunspots, stretch marks, freckles, scars - what matters most is your health and happiness. (Remember most images are photo shopped.)

License: (license) photo credit: Coastal Scents Eyeshadow Palette matte/satin 2 via photopin (license) Changes Made

Thankfully there's a much wider range of foundation and concealers for olive toned, Asian and black skin tones on the high street/drugstore level than in the early '90s when I started to get into make up. We have Sleek, EX-1 cosmetics, Avon and Bourjois (who stock yellow toned foundations) offering an alternative to the predominant pink toned foundations out there. However there's still more work to do on this front.
There's also more good quality budget brands available. In my teens I loved Barry M, collection 2000 and Seventeen who are still holding their own but now there's Make Up Academy, Makeup Revolution, I heart Makeup and Freedom that give them a run for their money. Also good quality affordable make up brushes fill the gap between MAC and those crummy sets sold in Superdrug, Boots or supermarkets. Now we have Sigma, Zoeva and Real Techniques.
Western beauty companies experimenting with Eastern beauty trends such as different packaging and products. I'm talking about Lancôme and Kiko manufacturing Korean style air cushioned compact foundations, the BB and CC cream trend and sheet face masks.
Youtube. There are now millions of people online from beauty gurus, makeup artists and talented women and men that can show you how to do a smoky eye and flawless foundation for free in minutes. There's definitely a decrease in the number of clueless, inept teenagers now they have an MUA on their smartphone. Also if you're getting into makeup later on in life you don't need to meet anyone face to face and feel embarrassed you can learn from the privacy of your laptop.
Beauty Boxes are now a widespread trend across the world. It first began in 2010 when two Harvard business graduates launched Birchbox in America. Birchbox was dubbed the “Netflix of beauty” for its monthly subscription. Beauty boxes contain beauty samples and full sized products sent to your door for a subscription fee. While some people love having a box of surprise goodies to look forward to, others find that the service ignores their preferences or they weren't getting much for their box. I think the Latest in Beauty boxes have got it right, where you pay for a one off beauty box where you know the contents in advance, although they often sell out quickly.
Dry shampoo. While I haven't found the 'One' for me yet- I am envious that they weren't available when I was a teenager and badly in need of one.
Free products with magazines. I was chatting to someone on Instagram and they were saying magazines never come with free gifts in the U.S. which makes me feel lucky we have them over here. It's a good deal as often the freebie would cost more than the actual magazine. Well known beauty branded products are better than a generic lip gloss with the magazine title stamped on them. Some of them are sample sized, perfect for travelling or to try out the product before you commit to spending any money
The beauty community. Whether it's a chat thread on Reddit, project pan enthusiasts on Instagram and Youtube, or the beauty blogging chats on Twitter it's nice to talk to people who get your love of cosmetics and don't judge you or think that it's superficial, shallow or anti feminist. I love all you guys!

Wednesday 9 September 2015

August Favourites - Beauty and Netflix

My favourite beauty products during August included Makeup Revolution's sister brand I Heart Makeup I Heart Chocolate palette. It has a lot of neutral eye shadows which is great for summer so you don't look too over done in the bright summer sunlight (not that the U.K. got much of that this summer) and is also good for neutral work appropriate makeup for the rest of the year- there are 5 matte shadows and 10 shimmer but they're more subtle than Urban Decay Naked shimmer shadows and I will be doing a full review of it soon. I've also been using Too Faced Shadow Insurance in Candlelight, I'm happy that the formula isn't irritating to my sensitive skin and it does keep eye makeup in place all day. It's taken me a while to get used to a coloured eye primer, I'm so used to beige pink formation of the original ELF and the disastrous MUA eye primer that then get covered up by eye shadow. Candlelight gives a nice golden champagne highlight which is good to apply in the inner corner of the eye to look more awake. I love the packaging, there's an iridescent golden sheen to the white tube which invokes a Cinderella fairy tale magic to it. It's also the first eye primer I've used that comes in a tube with a narrow nib instead of a doe foot applicator, I actually like it as I think less product is wasted with the nib.

I also got a lot of use out of the E.L.F blush in Glow which doubles up as a blush and highlighter in one since it's is a peach colour with a golden shimmer through it, sort of like a budget Nar's Orgasm blusher. I've also been loving New C.I.D's i-crayon in Plum Cordial, it's a bright blue based pink which was perfect for summer lips, the colour is pigmented but incredibly moisturising too. It's great to wear on the lips as my lips have been really dry to the point where wearing lip gloss is uncomfortable and Vaseline doesn't really hydrate them and to my surprise this fitted the bill. It's so comfortable I will probably keep wearing this in the autumn. It does transfer onto glasses but it does leaves a stain on the lips so you do retain some colour. It's a twist up crayon which means no mess or waste sharpening the nib, although the finish is really a satin look rather than glossy which New C.i.d describe it as. This also doubles up as a cheek tint as well which will be good for the Snow White autumn look where the cheeks look flushed from the cold. This lip and cheek crayon has a perfumed sweet candy smell, at first it can be a bit overpowering but once on the lips the smell disappears. It's such a good multi tasking product I would be interested in buying more in other colours.

In other news I've really got into the TV show White Collar. The show is about Neal Caffrey a renowned art thief, con artist and slick counterfeiter. With only a few months left of his four year sentence, Neal escapes jail to look for his girlfriend Kate. Special Agent Peter Burke finds him again and sends him back to prison. So Neal makes a deal with the FBI to work as a FBI consultant as part of a work-release program. FBI Agent Burke agrees on the condition Neal wears an ankle monitor. Neal shares his expertise and helps Agent Burke to solve his white collar crime cases. Then there's also the mystery of what has actually happened to Neal's girlfriend Kate. Starring Matt Boner (who is pretty easy on the eye) Willie Garson as his friend Mozzie (who you may remember as Stanford from Sex and The City) and Tiffani Thiessen (Kelly from the Original Saved by The Bell.)

I hope you all had a lovely summer and will follow me into the autumn.