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.

MAC Tenderling Sheertone Blush

After asking the utterly gorgeous Strawberry Blond for some tips on where a well feed face should apply its blusher she replied with a couple of links to You Tube videos showing how to contour and where you should put your blush. The Sam Chapman Contouring video was exactly what I needed, so good I had a go at contouring with Em's bronzer and whilst the colours were way off the effect was what I was after - out of the chub cheekbones appeared, well sort of!

Throughout the video Sam uses MAC Tenderling for her contouring.  Much googling later and I was pretty certain that it was exactly what I was looking for in a blush.  This is a hard thing to describe as the poor MAC SA in the Trafford Centre today found out!  I wanted to check that I wasn't totally wide of the mark with Tenderling so asked her if I could try it, she went to the stand and dithered about for a bit til I point it out to her (guessing she was relatively new!) and then told me it was much too pale for me and wouldn't show.  She tried to tempt me with Gingerlily (I think, it was very orange to my eye) then another that had shimmer, shimmer, she soon learned, was out, and in the end I relented and let her apply a sweep of a shade she thought would work on me.  At this point I was able to explain that the particular shade was exactly the colour I go when I am too hot and therefore made me looked flushed and uncomfortable.  She nearly tutted but did a commendable job of holding it in!  I then politely requested that she apply a bit of Tenderling to my other cheek. 

This is my MAC Tenderling being rained on, propped up on the dustbin by the back door so you can see the actual colour!  To my eye its the powder equivalent of Uncommon which I adored in a cream blush and which MAC decided to remove from their range. Bastards.  I loved that blusher, even if occasionally it mixed itself up with my foundation and gave me muddy cheeks!

This gives me just the merest hint of warmth.

 

And I completely love it! I am also wearing Clinique colour correction yellow stick, Clinique Moisture Surge Tinted moisturiser and Clinique Colour Correction powder in these pics, as you can see not as much pink as usual. Still promise a proper post on these soon.

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?

FOTD - 21st Feb

Was taking pics for a guest post I am writing for another blog - watch this space! - and thought this would be a good fotd pic.


Eyes - tightlined with Darkhorse, Sin on mobile lid, Buck in crease.  Brows Clinique superfine liner in Soft Brown. L'Oreal Mascara.


Lips - Bobbi Brown Cocoa pencil and Buff Heather Cream Lipstick


Face - Lancome Teint Miracle and MAC Creme blush in Lillicent.


Googled tightlining recently, just hope I am doing it right? Loading very straight Ruby and Millie eye liner brush with powder shadow, putting into lash line and wiggling it down onto base of lashes?  Whether my techinique is actually tightlining or not I love the effect.  Wish wish wish I had taken a pic sat eve as I did a full on smoky eye with Creep as tightliner top and bottom and into crease with Sin on mobile lid, black kohl liner on water line top and bottom and stacks of mascara and just made sure that my eyebrows were extended a smidge further out than would be usual for day time. It was a much more made up look than I would have considered even a few months ago. In my opinion they looked bloody fab - and UDPP underneath made sure it all stayed perfect through a marathon 7 hrs of drinking, dancing and merriment!  Also used the last of the Chanel Vitalumiere Aqua for the evening, its a bit too dark for the day but perfect for a night out so am building up my secret stash for an Chanel purchase asap!

FOTD - Sin and Hustle

Eyes - UDPP, Sin on lower lid, Hustle into crease, Darkhorse upper and lower lash line, smidge of naked below lower lash line to soften.  L'Oreal telescopic mascara. Clinique ultra fine brow pencil in soft brown.

Face - Bobbi Brown Moisturising foundation (its an on/off love affair and I can't commit!) MAC creamblush in Lilicent and Pixi highlighter (so not me, so loving it!)

Lips - Bobbi Brown lip pencil in Cocoa, Creamy lip colour in Heather Buff.

Sin is super shimmery so decided any brow highlighting would be a lily gilded.  Hustle is lovely, blended into sin it takes on an almost purpley hue, very soft and neutral looking.  Seriously have never had so much fun doing my eyes!  

Good old Emily!

Bless her, she went to Selfridges in her lunch break and bought 3 more copies of Glamour, sold 2 to her colleagues at work and is giving the other to her friend - but first she swiped the sachets of Chanel Vitalumiere Aqua out of them for her mother, isn't she a total honey?!  Of course she told the ladies who purchased the mags what she had done, in case you think she is a heathen!

Having a few dryness issues with it today, have just had to rub some moisturiser into nose and chin to haul it out from pores in chin and to de-flake nose.  That said nose is still suffering from this hideously painful lump under the surface of the skin so that wont be helping.  Think will decant all 3 sachets into a little pot as have a feeling first squirt was the watery element and today got the powder side, perhaps if better mixed it will be balanced all the time.

Em and I planning girly shopping trip to Leeds on Saturday so thinking will try and get samples of Guerlain Lingerie de Peau (as raved about by Cheeky Beauty) Chanel Vitalumiere the normal version and MAC Studio Sculpt too as it's what Em uses and although I think it can look a bit mask like maybe with a lighter application it would good.  No plan to make rash purchase this time - am almost being grown up about this!  If anyone can think of any others they would suggest please let me know, ta.

MAC foundation brush update

It's love. £25 was not a penny too much, I have used this every day since I bought it, which when you consider I am doing my make up at 6.30am every morning is a clear indication that this brush gives incredible results; if the results were less impressive I'd have reverted to slapping my foundation on by hand in 30 seconds flat! I promise that I will take some pics but, as impressive the results I get from the brush, I am having face issues at the moment and don't want to scare the crap out of you. That said given the date I guess a scary faced pic or two this weekend wouldn't hurt!

Also loving Naked Coca de mer, think thats right, shower gel - smells lovely, skin soft and non irritated and lathers well considering lack of nasty stuff in it.

Models Own nail varnish still topping my list too, wore Purple Grey the other day, just love how this looks on.

Purple Grey and Grace Green.

Organic Surge, total obsession with the skin care range and really want to try some of the shower gels, Sweet Almond sounds particularly lovely as does the Spiced Lily bath foam, one for when we move! Bought the First Class face mask last weekend and tend to whack on a slap of it before my night cream and just let it soak in, it smells fantastic and my redness seems to be reducing which is great.


Slight less impressive, bought Dream Cream from lush for Em and Steve. Em has eczema on her leg and Steve's finger tips split really really badly. Both were slapping on aqueous cream til I read that the SLS in it could be making things worse. Did a google and Dream Cream was highly rated for the eczema and I thought would be worth Steve trying on his hands. Em has reverted to Bepanthen (god knows how you spell that!) which is working really well on her leg and Steve is still suffering. As a hand cream the Dream Cream is great, it seems to really soak in well and on my normal to dry hands is fine but I don't think its quite the miracle cure all we were hoping it would be.

Meeting Em in Huds at lunch time for a big of a mooch, am after a red nail varnish, cant decide if am going deep red cream or bright red with some sparkle, will post results of shopping trip later!

Trafford Centre Haul!!

Had a FANTASTIC time with Em at the Trafford Centre, although it is like shopping in hell - I have never shopped anywhere that is hotter, its bloody ridiculous.

Warning - photo heavy post! Got the "grown up" camera out, had great fun and took millions!



Got suede boots - Next microfibre stretchy, giant calf accommodation ones with a wedge heel, MAC Lillicent Blushcreme, having wavered on the Uncommon and than let the SA loose with Lillicent and her foundation/creme blush brush. Loved the colour and the application so I bought the brush too - fck me £25, oops! Does make my very old face look flawless though so it could be worth its weight in gold! But you are all sworn to secrecy, Steve must never know!


(embarrassed cough! - thats the brush, right there! shhhhh!)


business end








Em got a fab handbag, although there was a moment when she thought they hadn't got them and the bottom lip was coming out! Luckily I asked the SA on the MAC counter and she pointed us in the right direction, Em was so relieved she hugged her!





and a lush lip gloss, although secretly think she was happier with the huge yellow Selfridges bag than anything that was in it!






Nice top from Next too that I hadn't planned, Barry M Nail Art crackle from Superdrug and 2 new MUA eyeshadows, a pale green for me and a vivid purple for Em. She bought us tapas for lunch - lush!


I mean please, for a quid, how fab is this?











And then we hit Boots; an hygienic nose and ear trimmer (for Steve, honest injun!) and decided that as a straighten my hair every day now I needed a heat protecting spray, rather than spend a fortune (kept remembering that MAC brush lurking in my bag and breaking out in a cold sweat!) I opted for the Boots Expert heat protection spray and got one of their clarifying shampoos too as once a week I like to lather my hair in something containing masses of SLS and other toxic crap just to make sure its really clean! And with my £5 voucher I got myself the Boots No 7 eye shadow brush, having read this just before I left, great recommendation Fee, thanks!



Em spotted a stand with Britney Spears Circus on it for £10 instead of £20 with one bottle left, not for long though ...... yoink....!



I love spending time with my baby girl, how lucky am I that she is a shopping maniac who is more into make up than me, bless her!

Trafford Centre wish list

Off to the Trafford Centre with Em, she got a years worth of back pay yesterday - pay roll doing her saving for her! - so she is going to spend 10% and save the rest. She has promised me lunch, isn't she a huny!

Here is my wish list:
Barry M crackle polish









MAC Blushcreme in Uncommon (weird beige!)
























La Roche Posay Rosaliac Fortifying anti-redness moisturiser (redness on cheeks is doing my head in so want to have a look at this range if its in Boots)












Black suede boots, have the calves of a full back and usually struggle so fingers crossed!

Oh and one last, rather weird thing! Have got a hankering for Estee Lauder White Linen perfume. For some reason the smell has been haunting me for the last 2 days, yesterday it was driving me mad, kept getting a whiff of it and although it triggered a feeling that the smell created a memory, are you still with me?, I couldn't put my finger on what the smell was or the associated memory. This morning it was happening again and then all of a sudden it came to me, the smell was White Linen. I am a little concerned that yearning for an Estee Lauder perfume is the clearest indication yet that I am officially old?? Anyway am going to have a squirt on Saturday and see what happens. Fran, I apologise in advance and promise not to wear this if I am with you as I know you HATE it!

Actually I'd be interested to hear about your "scent memories". As everyone knows fragrance is very evocative - for Em Thierry Mugler's Alien is instantly the Emerald Hotel, Perth WA as it is what I wore every day we were in Australia, she only has to walk past some one wearing it and she says "Emerald Hotel, Perth" which I think is lovely. Do you have a scent memory? If so what is the perfume or smell, if its not a perfume, that triggers it and where are you the instant you smell it? I think my most powerful is honeysuckle, I am instantly 6 in bed, in the bungalow in St Keverne and its a warm summers evening and still light (being little I was in bed early!), the honeysuckle ran up past my bedroom window and on a warm evening, with the window open my bedroom was full of the smell of it. If you have a scent memory please share as I'd love to hear about it.

Life in freefall and a duty free haul

Selling a business and buying a house is exhausting and a complete and utter sodding nightmare, I am totally strung out and don't have the energy for photos of my purchases but have found a couple of great products that I want to share and I need to update on the Clinque eyebrow pencil I bought recently.

First up, best new foundation ever Max Factor Experience weightless foundation, it is billed as weightless flawless foundation and is frankly both and brilliantly. I honestly think it is the best foundation I have ever bought. Had loved Second Skin and was running out when I read this review on the Beauty Bite for this product and whilst on her lovely skin it looked like it might be a bit sheer I wasn't sure that it could be and still claim that all important "flawless" tag. Spent an age slapping it on in Superdrug (its not in Boots yet) and am seriously pleased that I did. I used Creamy Ivory in Second Skin and find that Beige Linen in this is actually a better shade for me. It has quite a dense, creamy texture which is great for my dry skin and gives great coverage, and builds well if needed. It is much less sheer than Second Skin so if you are feeling with the winter coming that you want a bit more between your pores and the rest of the world I would recommend this. I love it with my MAC Uncommon creme blush on top, will try and get some pics when I look less haggard.

Whilst in Superdrug I bought two MUA eyeshadows for £1 each, got shades 12 and 14 and am seriously impressed, Leanne has done a fab review so I recommend having a read of that.

After a week in Ireland stood in a field in the cold and rain, all in the name of earning a living (say it with me Fran "I must get a proper job"!) I decided that I NEEDED a duty free splurge. I got Clarins gentle peeling exfoliant, Clarins Eau Dynamisant shower gel, Chanel Aqualumiere gloss (a real treat!) and a clinique extra fine liner for brows. I also bought Em a MAC lip gloss in Bountiful, because she's my honey.

Having used the new Clinque brow pencil for weeks and struggled to draw my crappy brows into something that looked half decent I decided to go back to the super fine liner. I think the new thicker brow pencil would be great if you have fab brows that you just want to define, if you have crap brows that you have to create freehand then I for my money you'd be better off with the super fine liner. Lesson learned!