Illamasqua Fatal

Spot of post Christmas Shopping in Leeds with a lovely friend, Hi Anna! and high on my list of must visit was the new Illamasqua shop in Leeds Victorian Quarter, beautiful location for a beautiful shop tbh.  Everyone knows about Illamsaqua SA's already don't they?  The girls from the MAC counters without the MAC attitude, they are friendly, helpful and don't look at someone over the age of 40 with pity and insist that the blusher the purchaser knows they want and need is the wrong colour (MAC Selfridges Trafford Centre, I'm looking at you).

So after Anna and I had had a peruse of all that was on offer downstairs the lovely SA asked if we wanted to see the sales section upstairs? Illamasqua make up at discount prices, nah we'll leave it thanks love. Not.


Ooh the pretty.  Instantly purchased Em some amazing blue false eye lashes (must take pic) for £5.  Then decided I needed a £7.50 eye shadow.  I was really taken with an amazing bright blue (googles Illamasqua site - it was Victim and its still on sale on their site and I waaaaaant it now) but chickened out and opted for a safer bright purple, Fatal.  I had reservations about wearing colour and asked the SA what she thought, God she was brilliant! Her advice is to do my usual neutral eye and then add a pop of the colour just on the corner of the mobile eye, so that initially you don't look as if you are really wearing colour, until you blink and then "pow" there it is!  

Usual purple photo nightmare - it is brighter than this really

Of course I couldn't wait to give this a whirl and I was really pleased with how well it turned out.  

I used Virgin from my beloved UD Naked all over my lid just to give an even base and to help with blending.  Then put Naked into the crease and finally Fatal onto the mobile lid, up to but not into crease.  I used Fatal with my flat eye liner brush to push it into the top lash line and then on a small round brush to smudge into lower lashes.

Having tried this with Fatal I decided to dig out my MAC Fig. to see if I would now be able to use this as well, after craving it before my holiday and then being really disappointed in it when I got it.  This is the same look but using Fig. instead.

If anything Fig. works better as it is a bit more pigmented.  Close ups for comparison:

Illamasqua Fatal

MAC Fig.

 Here's how they compare in the pan and swatched

Fatal and Fig.

Fig has more redness to it that Fatal in the pan and swatched but on the eye I don't think there's much in it.  I like both but am not blown away by either, neither are as opaque as I would like, they take some building up although I guess thats a benefit if you are trying to be subtle! If I had one wish for 2012 it would be that Urban Decay would bring out a matte palette of colour and nudes!  Do you need both Fatal and Fig.?  Personally I'd say not.

I had a play last night and this technique worked really well with some of the other colour shadows I have but am scared to use and I discovered that if I layer the bright blue from the UD Peacock palette, Pain Killer, over my Revlon matte navy I am getting close to the bright blue of Victim, although that worked better with the darker Buck on the crease than Naked.  Then I put Creep in the crease and that was fantastic with the bright turquoise!  So lots more to try out and lots more photos to be taken.

Revlon Black Cherry & Boots No 7 Metallic Grey Eye shadow stick

I am celebrating recovering from a very very stressful 30 mins.  I went to the hairdresser, Modesty Brown has probably just passed out - the words "hairdresser" and "stressful" in the same sentence are all too familiar to her.  For the last 9 months the same person has cut my hair and I have loved it every time, he makes me look fabulous which is no mean feat.  Today he said "what are we doing" and I said "EXACTLY the same as last time, I love how you cut my hair please don't change a thing, especially not the chin length bits at the front, not them, dont cut them, I need them the length they are".  He heard "whatevs mate, anything you fancy tbh, here sits a woman that doesnt care".  I was feeling physically sick in the car on the way home, convinced he had fucked up my hair.  He had cut layers into the sides and sliced into the chin length front bits so that they were no longer the longest bit of my hair, making the term "graduated" redundant at best, he said "I have trimmed this bit up so it gives it a rounder shape".  Can he not see my face?  It's round. I do not need roundness in my hair.  Just to put this into perspective for you, 98% of the time the only bit about me that I like even a tiny little bit is my hair. It is that vital. 

Anyway panic over! I got home, washed and blow dried and its all ok.  He has sliced into the front bits and whilst in my opinion that warrants me coating his testicles in honey and letting fire ants loose on them, most normal people would probably consider that an over reaction.  Prior to the hair debacle I went into Boots on a mission for Revlon Black Cherry lipstick for my "big night out in Manchester".  I am planning the full works; smouldering eyes and wanton lips.  Black Cherry is a storming lipstick for a wanton lip! I can't do red red it makes me look and feel a bit weird but this I just drank a gallon of red wine lip colour is wonderful, I feel like sex on a stick to be honest!! It definitely needs a lip liner and then careful application with a brush, applying from the bullet is likely to end in tears.  Oh and your lips need to be in tip top nick too.

I also found a No 7 voucher lurking in the purse and the Metallic Grey eye shadow stick was just yelling my name, its a cream shadow and my plan was to apply it all over the lid as a base and then build up my smoky eye from there.  I have discovered you need to work quick with this stuff, once it sets there's no budging it and blending is not happening.  That said as a teflon base its fantastic, I applied black shadow to the crease and blended for about an hour and a half, light shadow on brow bone and then full on sparkly lighter shadow into the corner to stop me looking like a witch.  Frankly I could snog myself.  Want to see a photo. Or 2?

Getting messy drunk wearing this much slap is going to be abyssmal.  A word to the wise - if you are coming with me to Manchester and post pics of me on facebook taken at 2am when this lot has slid all round my face,  you and I will no longer be friends. 

Duty free shopping - MAC, Boss Orange, Sanctuary Spa

Anyone that follows me on twitter will know that before I went on holiday I had a list as long as my arm of the things that I wanted to get in duty free!

I spent an AGE on the MAC website sorting out the 4 shades of eye shadow that I wanted to get to put in to a palette.  I finally settled on Contrast (blueish purple), Fig. 1 (aubergine matte), Copperplate (smoky grey matte) and was going to pick a lighter one at the stand although Vex (green/peach duochrome shimmer) was of interest.  Quick note: MAC aficionados please excuse my gauche descriptions of MAC eye shadow finishes, I have no clue!

My plan was to pitch up at the MAC stand at some ridiculous time when the scary, snotty over made up SA was half asleep.  So as soon as I cleared security I grabbed Em and hauled her off to duty free at 5.45am.  I needn't have worried, seriously the SA was so lovely it was like she had been meant to go to Illamasqua and just ended up on the wrong concession!  She was incredibly helpful and chatty and didn't seem at all put out that a crepey eyed old bag was waving a print off of the four shades of eye shadow she wanted in her face. Yeup, I was that tragically over prepared!  Of course I didnt realise that they don't have the pro palettes in duty free, which rather put the mockers on my plan, didnt really see the point in paying more in duty free for shadows in a pan than I would have paid for them ready to go in the pro palette if I bought them in Selfridges, even if I did have to weather the disdain of the SA's to do so!

I was also hugely glad that I had done my homework. There is something immensley under-whelming about a stand full of MAC eye shadows. None of them leap out and yell buy me crepey eyed one, they all just look a bit meh.  I knew I wanted Copperplate more than I wanted to go on holiday, well almost, so I nabbed that and then having had a play decided that as I already had a matte blue (Revlon one) that it would be wiser to get Fig. 1 to have a matte purple that I couldnt get on the high street than to buy Contrast. So that was my decision made; Copperplate and Fig. 1.

Copperplate and Fig. 1 both from Matte 2 collection

Fig. 1 and Copperplate in shade, fairly heavy swatches

Same but in direct sun

I used both on holiday, in the evenings and I think Fig.1 is great for a wearable smoky eye on my blue eyes, will have to take a pic next time I do one.  I think I do actually prefer it to Copperplate now that I own both. Haven't been totally wowed by these tbh, they are a bit powdery and can a pain to blend.  Will do a more detailed review of each with an eotd post.

That job done I headed off to purchase the Hugo Boss Orange shower gel and body cream I had been wanting since my birthday. Never, ever want something, it will pretty much make it unobtainable!  They did have the body lotion but not the shower gel, so I purchased that and decided to head to Boots for a shower gel for my holiday as was so convinced would be purchasing in duty free hadn't bothered to pack anything (there is an irony to this which will become apparent by the end of my "holiday" posts!).

This is delicious, so glad I got it, sinks in quickly, leaves my skin glowing and soft and smells like heaven. Added advantage is that it makes my Orange Sunset last longer too!

Nothing in Boots, unless I fancied taking Sanex on my holidays. Was almost despondent so had to go to Frankie and Bennys for breakfast, pancakes cheered me up!

So on the plane perusing the in flight duty free and there like a shining beacon was a Sanctuary Spa gift bag with body butter, scrubby shower gel, bath float and body exfoliator in a lovely zingy orange bag for £10!  

Bright enough?!

Couldnt get the money out fast enough - so my bathing needs were fully taken care of before we even landed!

Quite a bargain for a tenner don't you think?

EOTD - GOSH Green & Revlon Blue

When I bought the GOSH green eye shadow I had always intended it to go with the Revlon matt blue.  This morning seemed as good a time as any to give it a whirl!

Really pleased with how this one turned out, it was exactly what I had in mind - always nice when that happens!

Gad knows why I appear to have a jaunty eye in this pic!

Have to say I do think the Revlon orange lip gloss I quite fancied would have been good with this, although when I mentioned it to Em this morning she rolled her eyes and said "you aren't starting that whole orange thing again are you?" so maybe not!

Over the Taupe

See what I did there?  Decided to have a play with my recent purchases so inevitably ended up with a blue eye and nude lips. What do you think? It IS over the top for day wear but when I do EOTN its dark and I cant take proper pics so decided to do it in the middle of the day so I could share.


Excuse the hair, it's having a moment all of its own today.
 

Decided to have a go at "contouring" as well. Nicked Em's bronzer and had a swipe about although frankly would putting a brown stripe down the side of a football contour it? I think not but at least the bronzer is better than blush would have been *hello clown face*.


Used Revlon shadow in Peacock Lustre over mobile lid. Revlon Matte in Riviera blue into crease and underneath.  Tightlined with No 7 Gel liner in blue top and bottom. Virgin from Naked brow bone and inner corner.  MUA in bright green inside of mobile lid and the usual L'Oreal mascara and Clinique brow pencil.

Lips are a combination of GOSH Cappuccino and Revlon Matte in Mink - just a hint of this to give it a bit of colour.  Was sure I couldn't do nude lips, am LOVING this! So be kind if you think it looks vile, but for godsake tell me!
 

Took pics with grown up camera with $$ wide angle lens, hope I don't look too melty faced as a result!

Oh and finally quick point and shoot snap of eye in close up.

 As this is a total deviation from the norm for me would really appreciate your feedback!
Post edit: am now worrying about that rather vast ski-slope forehead (savage receeding hair line or wot?!)