what: Gosh Cosmetics Smokey Eyes Palette in shade 02 Brown
how much: £7.99
where: Superdrug shops nationwide
disclaimer: palette was bought by me
Sunday, 3 June 2012
Swatch Sunday: Gosh Smokey Eyes Palette
what: Gosh Cosmetics Smokey Eyes Palette in shade 02 Brown
how much: £7.99
where: Superdrug shops nationwide
disclaimer: palette was bought by me
Thursday, 31 May 2012
Freebie Fursday: Mon petit bonbon
It is not without an intense feeling of awkwardness and shyness that I went to work today with my wonky slaughtered brows. (catch up on brow gate here). Fortunately, I was busy with a conference and that helped keeping my mind off my brows. However, I just couldn't help thinking about another thing: the free Ciaté nail polishes in the July edition of Marie Claire magazine (£3.70) out today, and I couldn't wait till my work day was over to check the 3 shades of polishes on offer: Jelly Bean, Purple Sherbet and Bonbon.
I am not sure how much the word bonbon is used in everyday conversation in standard English but in French we use it all the time, and it is the most commonly used word to mean 'sweets'. The name certainly helped, but ultimately, it was not my memories of sweets eating times in France which led me to buy Ciaté Bonbon: it was its delicious shade reminding me of Smokey Lilac (BeautyUK), Innocent (ELF) and Steady as she rose (OPI). I am not the best at describing colours. For me it's a dirty nude lilac, and it's right up my street.
Unlike My Fair Lady, the Ciaté freebie we got a year ago, Bonbon's coverage was much better and I achieved the opacity you see on my pictures in 2 coats. The formula was a dream to play with and the flat brush made the application even more dreamy. This polish is such a good quality, it's worth its £9 retail value and more. So you can imagine how chuffed I am to have managed to get it for a mere £3.70.
If I listened to my heart, I'd rush to the shop to get a back up. However I must stay sensible. I have nowhere finished the nail polishes in my collection that Bonbon reminds me of and having a back up of bonbon would just be pure gourmandise. I wish it had been sunny today, I like photographing my nail polishes using natural sunlight you see and I can only apologise for these indoor snaps, and inability to wait for a sunny day to capture and share my impressions on Bonbon. I like it so much, I want to frame it.
What: Ciaté nail Polish, in shade 'bonbon'
Where: a decent place which sells Marie Claire Magazines
How much: £3.70
Read more ...
I am not sure how much the word bonbon is used in everyday conversation in standard English but in French we use it all the time, and it is the most commonly used word to mean 'sweets'. The name certainly helped, but ultimately, it was not my memories of sweets eating times in France which led me to buy Ciaté Bonbon: it was its delicious shade reminding me of Smokey Lilac (BeautyUK), Innocent (ELF) and Steady as she rose (OPI). I am not the best at describing colours. For me it's a dirty nude lilac, and it's right up my street.
Unlike My Fair Lady, the Ciaté freebie we got a year ago, Bonbon's coverage was much better and I achieved the opacity you see on my pictures in 2 coats. The formula was a dream to play with and the flat brush made the application even more dreamy. This polish is such a good quality, it's worth its £9 retail value and more. So you can imagine how chuffed I am to have managed to get it for a mere £3.70.
If I listened to my heart, I'd rush to the shop to get a back up. However I must stay sensible. I have nowhere finished the nail polishes in my collection that Bonbon reminds me of and having a back up of bonbon would just be pure gourmandise. I wish it had been sunny today, I like photographing my nail polishes using natural sunlight you see and I can only apologise for these indoor snaps, and inability to wait for a sunny day to capture and share my impressions on Bonbon. I like it so much, I want to frame it.
What: Ciaté nail Polish, in shade 'bonbon'
Where: a decent place which sells Marie Claire Magazines
How much: £3.70
Tuesday, 6 March 2012
Anxiously waiting for…
... the release of the Smokey Eyes Palettes from Gosh Cosmetics. Ever since I saw Beaut.ie's post, I've been regularly checking my local Superdrug to see if they have arrived. We're talking about 3 to 4 times a week. Today, I've finally asked for more information on twitter and rumour has it that it won't reach our British shores (the palette has already been made available in Ireland for a while) before 'sometime' in April.
I am particularly desperate for the brown quad as it's designed to feature exclusively matte shadows and that good quality eyeshadow palette which doesn't break the bank are very hard to find. I've been using this little matte fella from Gosh to death and it's about time I purchased a replacement. I love gosh eyeshadows: They feel a little hard and dry at first, but in return they offer a good colour pay off, have very little fall out and are easy to blend.
I am told that the palette will be sold at £7.99 and will be released sometime in April. Watch this space, as there is NO DOUBT, this will end up in my home and on my eyes. Yeeha!
Read more ...
I am particularly desperate for the brown quad as it's designed to feature exclusively matte shadows and that good quality eyeshadow palette which doesn't break the bank are very hard to find. I've been using this little matte fella from Gosh to death and it's about time I purchased a replacement. I love gosh eyeshadows: They feel a little hard and dry at first, but in return they offer a good colour pay off, have very little fall out and are easy to blend.
I am told that the palette will be sold at £7.99 and will be released sometime in April. Watch this space, as there is NO DOUBT, this will end up in my home and on my eyes. Yeeha!
Wednesday, 29 February 2012
It's live. My five minutes of fame.
Please allow to indulge in this moment. It's not everyday that I am featured on the front page of a website. There is my photo and everything. Today, I have been featured by Spank the Monkey, aka the Buyapowa Monkey as part of the Buyapowa Blogging week.
This means that the co-buy for the Shu Uemura Smoky Layers False Lashes is live and that you get your lashes for half price (£10 instead of its usual steep RRP £20) if it reaches its best price on Buyapowa.
Buyapowa? CoBuy? Best price? What does all that mean? If you missed my introductory post about Buyapowa and the photos of what the Shu Uemura look like applied on me, you can catch it up all here.
Be quick though. The sale might be opened for the next 45 hours, but the stock is very limited.
For my review and more photos of the lashes, click here or on the photo below:
p.s This isn't a sponsored post, I'm not being paid for this post, or compensated in any way for taking part in BloggaPowa Buyapowa Bloggers week, I am just addicted to BuyaPowa, I just love the concept and am beyond thrilled that little old me got invited to take part.
Read more ...
This means that the co-buy for the Shu Uemura Smoky Layers False Lashes is live and that you get your lashes for half price (£10 instead of its usual steep RRP £20) if it reaches its best price on Buyapowa.
Buyapowa? CoBuy? Best price? What does all that mean? If you missed my introductory post about Buyapowa and the photos of what the Shu Uemura look like applied on me, you can catch it up all here.
Be quick though. The sale might be opened for the next 45 hours, but the stock is very limited.
For my review and more photos of the lashes, click here or on the photo below:
p.s This isn't a sponsored post, I'm not being paid for this post, or compensated in any way for taking part in BloggaPowa Buyapowa Bloggers week, I am just addicted to BuyaPowa, I just love the concept and am beyond thrilled that little old me got invited to take part.
Saturday, 25 February 2012
Smoky, Stormy and ... Scenty from Revlon {notds}
When Revlon released its first scented polishes, I couldn't help but feeling very unimpressed. The concept of 'scented polish' make some people feel a big uneasy and uncomfortable. I was very much welcoming the idea but the concept didn't quite work out for me. I was faced with a huge dilemma: It had to be a compromise between the shade of the polish (which is essentially why you buy a nail polish for, right?) and the scent.
If I wanted the orange polish, I had to contend with the smell of papaya, which is by no means my favourite smell. I blame my mother for that and a childhood growing up surrounded by nauseatingly smelly overripe papayas. Then you had this gorgeous blue polish but which smelt of loo freshener. To add insult to the injury, they had my favourite scent in there (coconut) but Revlon decided to make a shade of silvery streaky shimmery off white mess. Since when coconut are shimmery? What a waste of potential good polish.
Revlon is back in 2012 with a new collection of scented polishes.This time round, all the polishes all have a jelly glittery finish and are based from fizzy fruity drinks to explain the existence of glitter rather than the fruit itself. Will 'Orange Fizz' smell of Fanta rather than a delicious fresh orange is only one's guess but I am disappointed again. Maybe scented polishes and me are not meant to be. If they are your thing and you want to try them out, they are on offer at Boots and Superdrug whereby you can get 2 polishes for £10 and make a little saving (Usual RRP is £6.49)
To make your time a bit more worthwhile, I wanted to show you some very quick 'swatches' of the two other 2 Revlon polishes I bought last year. I didn't think I would ever write about them: Smoky Canvas and Stormy leave me as cold as the thought of eating a lettuce leaf. But I'd figure I might as well show them you, as there is a special promotion on Revlon products at the moment.
This isBoring Concrete, Smoky Canvas
Both polishes applied easily enough despite a very runny formula. Opacity was achieved in 2 coats which is a good thing as I didn't enjoy applying them. Bottom line the design of the bottle puts me off: There is something so 80s retro about the gold ring on the cap of the bottle.
I mean it's a decent grey but nothing special about it.
I am not doing a good job at writing about products which leave me unimpressed, am I? Let's end the carnage here, shall we?
Let me know if you have purchased some of the new (or old) Revlon polishes. I’d love to hear your thoughts and see your pictures
xx
Read more ...
If I wanted the orange polish, I had to contend with the smell of papaya, which is by no means my favourite smell. I blame my mother for that and a childhood growing up surrounded by nauseatingly smelly overripe papayas. Then you had this gorgeous blue polish but which smelt of loo freshener. To add insult to the injury, they had my favourite scent in there (coconut) but Revlon decided to make a shade of silvery streaky shimmery off white mess. Since when coconut are shimmery? What a waste of potential good polish.
Revlon is back in 2012 with a new collection of scented polishes.This time round, all the polishes all have a jelly glittery finish and are based from fizzy fruity drinks to explain the existence of glitter rather than the fruit itself. Will 'Orange Fizz' smell of Fanta rather than a delicious fresh orange is only one's guess but I am disappointed again. Maybe scented polishes and me are not meant to be. If they are your thing and you want to try them out, they are on offer at Boots and Superdrug whereby you can get 2 polishes for £10 and make a little saving (Usual RRP is £6.49)
To make your time a bit more worthwhile, I wanted to show you some very quick 'swatches' of the two other 2 Revlon polishes I bought last year. I didn't think I would ever write about them: Smoky Canvas and Stormy leave me as cold as the thought of eating a lettuce leaf. But I'd figure I might as well show them you, as there is a special promotion on Revlon products at the moment.
This is
Both polishes applied easily enough despite a very runny formula. Opacity was achieved in 2 coats which is a good thing as I didn't enjoy applying them. Bottom line the design of the bottle puts me off: There is something so 80s retro about the gold ring on the cap of the bottle.
I mean it's a decent grey but nothing special about it.
I am not doing a good job at writing about products which leave me unimpressed, am I? Let's end the carnage here, shall we?
Let me know if you have purchased some of the new (or old) Revlon polishes. I’d love to hear your thoughts and see your pictures
xxWednesday, 14 December 2011
*Deal Alert* Shu Uemura Smoky Layers False Lashes for £10 at Buyapowa (RRP: £20)
I don't usually treat myself to high end beauty products. Also if a product is not usually sold in an average size Boots or Superdrug store, I am not usually interested. But I am a massive false lashes addict and I have been lusting for as long as I can remember for a pair of Shu Uemura False Lashes and specifically the 'Smokey/Smoky Layers' variety. These babies usually retails at £18.50-£20.00 and even though I know for fact (and from my friend Cat (@perfectpolished) that they are extremely good value for money, I just can't bring myself to spend 20 quid in a single pair of lashes.
They say 'Layers of thin black lashes add volume to your lash line, creating a sultry eye look reminiscent of old Hollywood glamour' *cue photo*
Well today, the lashes are available to buy on Buyapowa and this makes me excited like a kid on Christmas day. The lashes were available twice before on buyapowa, but I missed both sales or co buys as buyapowa call them. The principle of buyapowa is simple. There is a very limited number of products available for purchase. The more people buy the items, the cheaper the item gets. In the words of buyapowa themselves 'Co-buying is a new form of shopping which brings shoppers together into a single transaction, so that you can benefit from the sort of discounts which have until now only been available to retailers buying in bulk'. To top it all off, the postage and packing (for makeup items) is £1 but in most cases free.
Are you tempted to try the 'Smoky Layers' yourself? You can buy them here but you need to be quick! At the moment they are £13 and there are only 15 left (14 December 2011. 12:53) and together we can get them down to a tight lovely round £10. Postage and Packing is just £1.
Boy, this is definitely the quickest blog post I have ever written.
I am so excited aaaaaAAaAaaaaaa :) :)
Read more ...
They say 'Layers of thin black lashes add volume to your lash line, creating a sultry eye look reminiscent of old Hollywood glamour' *cue photo*
Well today, the lashes are available to buy on Buyapowa and this makes me excited like a kid on Christmas day. The lashes were available twice before on buyapowa, but I missed both sales or co buys as buyapowa call them. The principle of buyapowa is simple. There is a very limited number of products available for purchase. The more people buy the items, the cheaper the item gets. In the words of buyapowa themselves 'Co-buying is a new form of shopping which brings shoppers together into a single transaction, so that you can benefit from the sort of discounts which have until now only been available to retailers buying in bulk'. To top it all off, the postage and packing (for makeup items) is £1 but in most cases free.
Are you tempted to try the 'Smoky Layers' yourself? You can buy them here but you need to be quick! At the moment they are £13 and there are only 15 left (14 December 2011. 12:53) and together we can get them down to a tight lovely round £10. Postage and Packing is just £1.
Boy, this is definitely the quickest blog post I have ever written.
I am so excited aaaaaAAaAaaaaaa :) :)
Monday, 15 August 2011
3 Smoky Eyes Palette, Collection 2000
While I was in Superdrug, I spotted this new little '3 smokey eyes' eyeshadow palette from Collection 2000, released last week.
The palette is very cute, ultra portable and very affordable: £4.19.
These are my swatches, taken from a tester from the shop, on a cloudy day.
Call this sheep’s gate (sp?) blogging, I call it resourceful :P
Quick impressions:
The white (shade 3) is a big let down and is nowhere near pigmented enough
Big thumbs up for the silver (1), the two browns (5 & 8) and the black (2)
Shade 6 and 7 are adequate
Shade 4 could have been ok, but it is let down by a fly away glitter.
As for shade 9, well I need to hang in my head in shame about it: If you're anything like me, you won't read the instructions on the palette because you think you're too clever and you don't need them or because you don't want to be dictated on where to place the shadows. But on this occasion, I wish I had taken a picture of the how to at the back, as it would have helped me to understand what the cream is meant to do. Glossy eyes maybe?
Overall: the star of this palette is the lovely lovely lovely matte but not chalky brown in the middle (5), and the the black (2) and the silver (1), silver which is not very well showcased at all on my photo. Had the white been more pigmented, I could have tempted to indulge but for now I can’t warrant it.
Anyone can spot where the cream was used in the video?
Look at me in the eyes and tell me you don’t want to have a go at recreating this look. I absolutely loved the eyeliner and the popping of silver when the model closes her eyes. My fingers are itching already…
Saturday, 12 February 2011
Electric Smokes NOTD featuring Beauty UK
I am a happy bunny. After endless week ends of rain, the sun finally came out today and I was able to take some pictures for my blog. I am still very busy with my YouTube contest at the moment but you should be able to see some more posts from me on here. Boy, I have such a backlog.
Today, I want to show you my latest acquisitions in nail polishes: Electric Blue and Smokey Lilac both from Beauty UK (£1.99 each) bought with my own pennies.
Move over beloved Eyeko indigo blue, here comes Beauty UK Electric Blue. I can't believe this is only £1.99. It applied very smoothly, the formula was very easy to work with. I was a bit apprehensive I would have a streaky results due to the intense shimmer but it didn't happen. These are my nails with 2 sloppy coats on it. Ooo I love it when I can apply a nail polish without too much effort. I am in love. I've taken millions of pictures, indoors and in the sun. Am I spoiling you or what?
and under the sun.
The other polish I got was smoky lilac. I am a big fan of purple taupy shades but I was scared it would end up a little bit too 'lilac', like Berry Ice Cream from Barry M, which I ended up giving to a friend. At £1.99, I was happy to take the risk and I am glad I did it.
The colour reminds me of nails inc london (my no.1 polish in the whole world) and a hint of berries a la Barry M. My photos don't justice to the lovely colour but I hope you get the idea. 'Smoky Lilac' was also very easy to apply and because of its pale colour, I could even go even more sloppy than with the blue. Don’t my nails look so elegant, prime and proper here!
I want more! Which shades should I get? I am tempted by these already:
Read more ...
Today, I want to show you my latest acquisitions in nail polishes: Electric Blue and Smokey Lilac both from Beauty UK (£1.99 each) bought with my own pennies.
Move over beloved Eyeko indigo blue, here comes Beauty UK Electric Blue. I can't believe this is only £1.99. It applied very smoothly, the formula was very easy to work with. I was a bit apprehensive I would have a streaky results due to the intense shimmer but it didn't happen. These are my nails with 2 sloppy coats on it. Ooo I love it when I can apply a nail polish without too much effort. I am in love. I've taken millions of pictures, indoors and in the sun. Am I spoiling you or what?
and under the sun.
The other polish I got was smoky lilac. I am a big fan of purple taupy shades but I was scared it would end up a little bit too 'lilac', like Berry Ice Cream from Barry M, which I ended up giving to a friend. At £1.99, I was happy to take the risk and I am glad I did it.
The colour reminds me of nails inc london (my no.1 polish in the whole world) and a hint of berries a la Barry M. My photos don't justice to the lovely colour but I hope you get the idea. 'Smoky Lilac' was also very easy to apply and because of its pale colour, I could even go even more sloppy than with the blue. Don’t my nails look so elegant, prime and proper here!
I want more! Which shades should I get? I am tempted by these already:
Wednesday, 30 December 2009
Little bird goes clubbing
Yes, this is another contest entry. It’s for youtube Sara from SWalkermakeup. The mission was to create a party look, so you bet I just had to take part? Don’t you love makeup contests? I love them: not only it gives me excuse to play with makeup, it challenges me to create something new. And boy this was a challenge. I wanted to wear those lashes I bought in sale from Boots aaages ago.
To wear them, I had to trim 2 thirds off them, then to thin them a little, and then double them up with my beloved drama lashes from Claire’s accessories. This is the final look. I hope you like it :)
