Hi everyone! Happy New Year! I have had the loveliest couple of weeks
off work and I hope you had too! The week before Christmas I did a sneaky order
from Beauty Bay and treated myself to these guys! Like everyone else it seems I
jumped on the Makeup Geek bandwagon and bought myself a few shades to see what
the fuss is about and boy am I glad I did! I also invested in a mini Z palette
to house them in and these are a match made in heaven!
Being the neutral lover that I am, I went for some brown shades in a
mixture of matte and shimmer finishes including Homecoming –a medium brown
shimmer with gold, Taupe Notch – a shimmery taupe shade, Barcelona Beach – a medium
brown matte shade and Mocha - a deep
matte brown shade. Each pan is £4.95 from Beauty Bay and they fit perfectly
into the Z palette with a satisfying magnetic click!
This palette is perfect for travelling with and I loved having it with
me a few days ago when I was in Amsterdam! I used the two matte shades for
during the day with Barcelona Beach all over the lid and Mocha in the crease
then at night I either used Homecoming or Taupe Notch all over the lid with
Mocha again in the crease! I also took the Urban Decay Naked Basics 2 palette
with me so used that for highlight and liner!
l-r top row: Homecoming, Taupe Notch, Barcelona Beach, Mocha
All four shades are beautifully pigmented and some of the best payoff I’ve
ever got from swatches for blog photos! They blend so easily and it won’t be
long before I fill the rest of this palette up with more from the brand! I
actually went to order a few more but one that I wanted was out of stock and I
know Beauty Bay sold out really quickly when they first started stocking them
but they seem to have a good selection back in stock now!
l-r: Homecoming, Taupe Notch, Barcelona Beach, Mocha
The small Z palette which was £8.95 also comes with magnetic stickers
for any eye shadow pans that may not stick by themselves! I actually regret not
getting a bigger Z palette now as I have a few depotted Benefit eye shadows
that I have in a cheap plastic palette from eBay which I glued in so I might
get another one at some point and re depot! It doesn’t bother me that it doesn’t
have a mirror on the inside as I like to use a big mirror anyway but if there
was one thing I would change it, would be that the palette didn’t swing back on
its hinge when opened as it sometimes closes by itself when I’m in the middle
of applying the eye shadows!
As I have hooded eyes and am blessed with oily lids I find no eye shadow
lasts all day on me however these wore away evenly and didn’t transfer but if
you have any eye shadow primer recommendations I’m all ears! I currently switch
between Too Faced Shadow Insurance and Benefit Stay All Day and love the
consistency of both but they’re not long lasting enough for me! I’m thinking of
trying the NARS Smudge Proof Eyeshadow Base next but would love to hear your
suggestions!
Just a quick word on Beauty Bay too as I see so much negative press on
their Twitter page but I order from them all the time and have never had a
problem! I ordered this (along with a Zoeva eye brush set) late at night on the
21st and it was here on the 23rd and they also do great
samples when you spend over a certain amount! Everything’s always been packaged
well and dispatched quickly so I would really recommend them!
Have you tried Makeup Geek shadows before? Any neutral recommendations
for me?
Hi everyone! I hope you all had a lovely Christmas and got everything
you wanted! I’ve just got a quick post today on the makeup I got for Christmas,
I haven’t got a chance to use everything yet so I’ll hopefully do a few more posts
in the New Year with swatches and reviews but here’s what I got!
I've had the Too Faced Melted Kisses and Sweet Cheeks set on my wish
list for the longest time and I’m so glad I have it now! It includes three mini
melted liquefied long wear lipsticks and three of their love flush blushes. The
set includes the melted lipsticks in the shades Nude, Fig and Peony and the
Love Flush blushes in the shades Love Hangover, Justify My Love and Your Love
is King!
I also asked for the Zoeva Naturally Yours palette which is full of
gorgeous neutral tones and has a mixture of mattes and shimmers! I know
everyone seems to really love the Cocoa Blend palette but this one stood out to
me more!
I then got a few Soap and Glory bits and pieces including the Perfect
Ten eyeshadow palette and Well I’ll Be Glammed makeup set! As you will have
seen from posts here and here, I’m no stranger to Soap and Glory makeup so when
I saw this set with a few of my favourites like the Archery brow pencil and Solar
Powder bronzer in, I asked for it too! There are a couple of products in it that
I’ve tried in the past that I know I don’t like such as the blush which I get
no colour payoff from and the mascara which does nothing for my lashes that I
will probably pass on to other family members but I love everything else in the
set and the brushes are so soft!
So that’s everything makeup related that I got for Christmas! I was
also really lucky to receive some other lovely presents including a FitBit
which I've wanted for ages! I’m hoping it will give me a bit of motivation to actually
get fit! (I love seeing how many steps my iPhone counts in a day but I don’t have
it on me all the time so hoping to see a lot more with this!)
You may also have seen a few bits I treated myself to for Christmas
over on my Instagram and I may have been tempted by a few of the sales too so
keep an eye on that if you want to see what else I treated myself to!
Let me know what you got for Christmas and if you found any bargains in
the sales!
First off, when did it become Christmas Eve! This month seems to have
gone so quickly and I can’t believe its Christmas tomorrow! Anyway, I thought I
would put a quick post up today, a little earlier than I usually would, to show
you the latest colour I can’t stop repainting my nails with - Essie Midnight Cami.This shade has not been off my nails the past month and it will be on them all
over Christmas too!
It's described by Essie as a deep twilight blue with shimmer and I absolutely
love it! It’s so dark its almost black but when you catch it in the light you
see a gorgeous subtle shimmer that gives it a little extra somethin’ somethin’.
My photo of this shade on my nails (and cuticles - oops) really doesn’t do this nail polish
any justice but hopefully you can see the shimmer a little more in the bottle!
(Sidenote - photography and editing are two things I really want to work on
this year!)
As usual I have been using my trusty OPI Nail Envy as a base coat and
Seche Vite as a top coat. I usually find that Essie polishes chip very easily
on my but this combo is working really well and its at least three days before I
have a few chips at the top of my nails! The Seche Vite also saves me so much
drying time! The Essie brush is wide enough that three swipes does my full nail
and the colour is opaque in two coats and it the most perfect wintery deep blue!
What do you think of this shade? Can you recommend me any others I might
like?
I hope you all have a lovely Christmas and get what you wished for and
thanks so much for all your comments this year!
Hi everyone, last empties of the year for me! These have been my
favourite posts to write but I always let my empty containers build up a little
too much so I’ll try and make them shorter in the new year! Have a scroll
through and let me know if you’ve used anything and what you thought!
Haircare
Garnier Fructis Fortifying Shampoo
Strength and Shine
This is one of my favourite shampoos, I love the smell and how clean it
makes my hair feel, it’s only £1 in Poundland and I've already repurchased!
Tressemme 24 Hour Body Blow Dry Lotion
I've had this for absolutely ages and use it nearly every time I wash
my hair. I don’t notice it doing much for volume but it smells lovely and
doesn’t weigh my hair done. I probably won’t repurchase straight away.
Philip B Forever Shine Shampoo and
Conditioner with Mega Bounce
I got these free with an order on BeautyBay.com and really liked the
conditioner but didn’t see anything special with the shampoo. The samples are
small so I maybe didn’t use it enough but the full sizes are ridiculously
expensive so I won’t be repurchasing! It has a strange smell but I quite liked it!
Philip Kingsley Moisture Balancing Shampoo
and Conditioner
I really didn’t like these, again because of the size I probably didn’t
get a great feel for them but my hair didn’t feel clean even after two washes and
the conditioner was just OK. I wouldn’t repurchase!
L’Occitane 5 Essential Oils Shampoo and
Conditioner
Again these were more samples that I got from this beauty box but I
really didn’t like them!
I have greasy hair so washing it with an essential oil shampoo did not
agree with it at all and I had to go back and wash it with my normal shampoo. I
ended up doing the first wash with this one then second wash with my own to get
it used up. The conditioner was OK but not good enough to make me want to
repurchase. If you have dry hair these may work better for you!
REN Pro Vitamin Conditioner
Not a fan of the smell of this conditioner and again because of the
size I found it hard to see if it made a difference. I wouldn’t repurchase.
Skincare
DHC Deep Cleansing Oil
I found this to be quite a dry oil when I first tried it but got used
to it and really liked it in the end! I got it in a beauty box and it lasted
way longer than I thought considering it’s such a small bottle but a little
goes a long way! Would repurchase!
Pixi Glow Tonic
Again another sample from a beauty box, I used this when I was away
last month to save me carrying my full size or having to decant it! I love this
toner and would have loved to keep the mini bottle for the future but it leaked
everywhere! Already repurchased the full size which you can read about here!
Lush Popcorn lip scrub
This is a daily essential for me, I love using it in the morning before
putting on my lipstick as it gives me such a good smooth base. Have already
repurchased and won one on VelvetBlush’s giveaway so my lips are very grateful!
Kiehl’s Creamy Eye Treatment with
Avocado
This is really creamy and hydrating and I love using it at night-time
but it’s too rich for me during the day. I have a few other eye creams to use
up then I will be repurchasing! Full review here!
Boots Essentials Eye Make Up Remover Gel
This isn’t the greatest at actually removing eye makeup but I love it
in the morning as its so cooling. Already repurchased!
Garnier Express 2 in 1 Eye Makeup
Remover
This has featured on my blog many times before as I love it so much!
It’s an oil based eye makeup remover and it’s so good at removing waterproof
eye makeup! Already repurchased and using!
Antipodes Vanilla Pod Hydrating Day
Cream
I really liked this, it’s light and hydrating, and perfect for taking
with you if you are travelling and have liquid restrictions to stick to. I
would repurchase in the future when I’m finished a few other moisturisers!
Eyeko Mascara Off Eye Makeup Remover
Wipes
I usually don’t use wipes at all but again I got these in a beauty box
a while back and took them with me on trips away. They were nicely moist, smelt
lovely and were very gentle and effective at removing my waterproof eye makeup.
They are about £6 for 10 wipes so I probably won’t repurchase but they were so
handy to have!
Bodycare
St Tropez Tan Optimiser Body Polish
My mum wasn’t using this so gave it to me to finish but to be honest it’s
not the greatest scrub I’ve ever used so I wouldn’t repurchase!
Nuxe Body Fondant Shower Gel
This lathered up well but smells horrible, so I wouldn’t repurchase!
REN Neroli and Grapefruit Body Cream and
Body Wash
This has quite a light refreshing citrusy scent but I don’t love it and
I wasn’t blown away by either of these so I wouldn’t repurchase.
Philip B Nordic Wood Hair and Body Shampoo
This smells a little like bathroom cleaner to me and I prefer my body
wash to be more perfumed so I wouldn’t repurchase!
Caudalie Hand and Nail Cream
This has quite an orangey scent but it’s not my favourite hand cream, I
feel like my hands were actually a little dry after using it, so I wouldn’t
repurchase.
Fragrance
Soap and Glory Mist You Madly Fragrance
Mist
This is my favourite Soap and Glory scent! It’s a nice weighty metal
bottle and it smells lovely however it’s dearer than the body spray which I
think smells slightly stronger so I’ll probably just stick to that for the time
being!
DKNY Be Delicious Skin Hydrating Eau de
Toilette Spray
Be Delicious is one of my favourite perfumes so when I saw this version
last year for around £15 I snapped it up! I love popping this in my bag for
touch-ups throughout the day and it’s so light and refreshing with a slight
apple scent. I already have another one of these!
Makeup
Laura Mercier Foundation Primer
Another beauty box sample, I absolutely loved this when I first got it
and saved it for special occasions. However, the best before on the back says 6
months and I noticed a sharp decline in quality after this time! I do have another
one that I haven’t opened yet and I’m hoping its OK because I really did like
this when I first started using it and thought it kept my makeup looking better
for longer! I love getting them in beauty boxes but I wouldn’t repurchase it on
its own!
Revlon Colorstay Foundation for Combination/Oily
Skin
This is my favourite daytime foundation; Buff is a really good colour match
for me, it has great coverage and last all day on me! Already repurchased and
using!
NYX HD Concealer
I loved this!! It’s so light, creamy and hydrating. I haven’t used it
under the eyes as I use different concealer for that but this is perfect over
spots and areas of pigmentation as it gives such good coverage. I already have
another one opened that I’m using!
Max Factor Mastertouch Under eye Concealer
This featured in one of my first posts here and I’m so glad to be finished it.
I have repurchased this concealer so many times in the past but the shade
wasn’t working for me and I wasn’t happy with the coverage. Won’t be
repurchasing!
Carmex Pomegranate Moisturising Lip Balm
I love this, it’s just a clear balm that lasts ages on my lips and made
them feel really hydrated and gave them a bit of shine. I have so many lip
balms to get through otherwise I would repurchase this straight away!
Apologies again for such a ridiculously long empties post! So glad to
get some of those sample sizes finished though! Let me know if you’ve tried anything
or what you thought of it!
