In love with the Amazon: Review of the Amazon Combo Palette (Beautyuk) and Eotd (makeup look)

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Forget everything I have said before about my favourite eyeshadow palette from BeautyUK, this 'Amazon' combo eye shadow and eyeliner palette is my new unexpected favourite of them all. Unexpected as I never planned to buy this palette at all. For one, I never use cream/gel liner. Segundo, the photos from the website had never been very appealing to me. I knew I liked what I thought to be the red eyeshadow in the palette, but other than that, I was not too bothered to be honest.



 



This was until I saw the palette in real life in Superdrug and I just had to have it. What I thought to be the red eyeshadow - the sole object of my desire from this palette - turned out to be the most gorgeous orangey coppery shadow and had my name on it. It was also the first time I had ever seen this palette in real life, they only had that one, looking at me with its puppy eyes and it was no brainer: get it before nobody else does. I am glad I didn't have to use force.






So this palette boasts 6 soft eyeshadows with a soft and not overpowering shimmer, 2 cream eyeliners and a double ended applicator thingy: on one end a fluffy brush and on the other an eyeliner brush, all this packed all neatly in the usual beautyuk palette.






And now swatches time. How gorgeous is this! Yes, I was a bit disappointed at first that there was no red eyeshadow, but this was until I saw what is the star of this palette for me: this orangey copper shadow. no other word to describe it other than WOW. My second favourite eyeshadow is the gold, and then all the others which complement each other very well.

I need to stress out again that the shimmer of all these shadows is very easy to work with and that droopy eyelids like me can ever wear in and above the crease. 


  


Now for the liners. Let's not beat around the bush. They are hardly going to replace my trusty liquid eyeliner from H&M. I like my upper lid eyeliner to be very black and sharp, which I don't think I will achieve with these. However, these would be good if you want to achieve a softer or even smokey eyeliner look. 






The other surprise from the palette was the brush. I was ready to ignore it completely as most of the time, the little applicators/brush which come with palettes are just, well, a bit useless to be blunt. The eyeliner side is actually really good and I used it in my look today to apply some eyeliner on my bottom lash line. As for the fluffy brush, it is actually really soft and I used it to define my crease and I am beyond chuffed with that.






For the look today, I used all the eyeshadows in the palette apart from the brown on the right hand side and the black eyeliner on the lower lashline, applied with the eyeliner brush provided.





 
 



I absolutely love this palette and at £3.99 what a bargain. The copper eyeshadow alone is worth £3.99 and more.






Oh and this is the first picture I have taken with my shorter hair. I had a hair cut last Thursday and had about 10 to 15 cms removed!





Edit. Addendum. OMG. Where has my head gone? I can't believe I nearly forgot to post this. You will know from my blog that I am a big fan of beautyuk nail polishes. Check out these new babies due to be released on April 13th. If you're impatient like me, you might want to follow @blissmag on twitter as they were sent these exclusive polishes before anybody else. A little bird tells me they might want to paint and tweet soon...

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“Become an Aussie Angel” Competition: “Put a spring in your Spring”

I am super excited to introduce you to a fun competition sponsored by Aussie Haircare.
The prize: Becoming an Aussie Angel

 
Aussie is scouring the luscious lengths of the United Kingdom (and Ireland) in search for their next Aussie Angels. What's an Aussie Angel? It's your girl-next-door blogger who gets to try the latest Aussie Haircare producs when they are launched and is happy to share their Aussie Products experiences with their audience.

In addition, Aussie Angels have the chance to  participate in fun activities and events to know more about the brand, how to use the products and tips and tricks to raise your hair confidence and feel fabulous. Last but not least you get to mingle with lots of bloggers and make friends. Pretty amazing really!

What's the competition? What do I need to do?


1. You need to be an active blogger, and resident of the United Kingdom & Ireland.
2. Put your thinking cap on and answer the following question (in the form of a blogpost):

“Put a spring in your spring! Tell us:
How would you lighten up your life?
#AussieLight”

  

3.  Answer the question in the form of a blog-post on your own blog.
4. Tweet the link of your blog to @yummyhair (so Aussie know where to find it!)


Important Information


- Winners will be chosen by the Uncover Aussie team based on the most creative response that reflects the Aussie spirit. This means videos, pictures, stories or even songs can be their blog post entry – just as long as you answer the question.
- The competition closes on Sunday 20th March 2011, 23.59 GMT
- Full rules, terms and conditions can be found here or at http://bit.ly/aussielush


Further Information


- Aussie Official Website: http://www.aussiehair.com/
- Aussie Angels Website: http://www.uncoveraussie.co.uk/
- Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/yummyhair
- Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/AussieHair

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My long but luscious day …

We've all been there before: at times we feel very unhappy with our skin, like it's the driest/spottiest in the whole world and that it needs some serious drastic help. So do what we do? We go and buy the most heavy duty treatment we can find. Most of the time we find that the heavy duty treatment we've found is too harsh or that we've been overdoing it. 


If you feel the same for your hair, there are some new products for you to try. Aussie Haircare has just launched a range of new conditioners called 'Lusciously Light'. The idea is give you the same quality conditioning action (and legendary gorgeous smell) but with a lightweight formula. Did they just create one lightweight product just for one type of hair? No! They went to create lightweight versions for the 6 most popular conditioners and for two of their 3 minute miracle treatments.






I was very fortunate to be sent one product of the new 'lusciously long' range to try. In true Aussie style, it was delivered to me the most amazing way: emulating the new logo, a kangaroo being lifted by balloons, I received my lusciously light luscious long conditioner lifted by a giant helium balloon. How extravagantly fabulous is that!








Like a jack in a box, the balloon sprung out and was the first thing which greeted me (and my nosy colleagues) when I untied the Aussie purple ribbon of the huge parcel. I then had to give a little presentation to my colleagues about Aussie haircare and this new line of products. I felt ever so special. After work, one of my colleagues asked me if I wanted to have a 'lift' home. Usually I would skip on the occasion (pun intended) but this time, I just wanted to walk home and be noticed with my balloon, hoping to be asked what it was.

It’s been a long week, but what a luscious ending to it !
Thank you very much. Me (and colleagues afore mentioned!) can’t wait to try this new conditioner

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My first love

When little girls dreamt of being air hostesses, fashion designer or vets, my wildest dream when I was younger was to become fluent in English. My first love before anything else was the English language and even before being learning it officially in school, I had already asked people around me to teach me words. Exposure to the English language being obviously being very limited being born and living in France, I used to give myself extra homework and make up my own lists of vocabulary to learn because I thought 3 hours of English at school was not enough. All foreign films would be dubbed in French but the very rare times they would be shown in original version, i would embrace the opportunity with both hands and watch the film with a pen and paper to write down words and expressions which caught my attention.



At bath time, I would look out for bottle of shampoos and shower gels, with the list of ingredients translated in English and would read them out. When I came to live to England, my little habits carried on, but this time, I would read out loud stuff in the bath to practise my spoken English. One thing led to another, I ended up knowing by heart the ingredients and mode of use of Aussie Shampoo and Conditioner, the “Luscious Long” 'flavour' and the “Miracle Moist”. Not only I loved washing my hair with those shampoos but I really developed a soft spot for those in particular as the whole English of it was so different from anything I'd 'studied' in the bath before: humorous, light hearted and very friendly, yet not as 'childish' as Innocent Smoothies or as slightly adult orientated as Herbal Essences hair care range
So when Aussie Shampoos contacted me, after they've seen my very young blog to invite me to become an Aussie Angel, I was just over the moon.
'Would you like to be An Aussie Angel?” They asked me.
"Hell yeah”, I replied. “I am sooooo into your shampoos, I could recite the whole description of a bottle, on the spot”, I added.

What does it mean in practice to be an Aussie Angel: Well, I'm not quite sure as this is all new but from what I gather, I am part of a little network of beauty bloggers and I get invited to Aussie Bloggers' events when there are some.

One of my first 'assignments' was to choose which tribe I wanted to be in, as in choosing which shampoo I liked the best. Tough to choose at first between The Miracle Moist and the Luscious Long, but then the answer struck me as being obvious and I thought 'my hair had gone a long way for me, so it's normal to repay it' :) I told you I knew it by heart! So this my badge :)


Makeup being a hobby of mine, I wanted to create a look for the occasion and dedicate it to the lovely team at Aussie. Thank you for inviting me, and for my welcome pack.
I am super stoked!



What did I learn from doing this makeup? Well, always shave your armpits, ‘cos you never know... ;)

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