EOTN & fancy dress.

18th Birthday of a friends' son on Saturday eve and it was fancy dress.  The words that strike fear into the heart of anyone that abhors attracting any more attention than is absolutely necessary, I hate it.  Anyway needs must, I settled on Puss in Boots on basis that I had black leggings and black boots and could hire a shirt and a hat with a feather in it and once I removed the hat I would be dressed in "normal" clothes!  I have nothing but admiration for people that go all out for fancy dress, I just have no desire to go out looking any worse than I need to!  Anyway having settled on the outfit on Saturday eve I decided to do a pretty full on eye make up, with no time to spare I suddenly realised that it might have been an idea to have had a bit of a practice.  Initially I thought I'd go for a full on black smoky eye but decided that could look a bit hard so I thought I'd add some silver and then I had a flash of inspiration and thought "cat"!  Which meant green, in my head at least.  So this is what I came up with:

I use black pencil to do the flick out at the side first (still not happy with that I am not sure it works on me and on one eye it went up and out and the other along and out which took some sorting!) then on the lash line top and bottom.  I filled in the outer triangle with Creep from the Naked palette, then decided to put Gunmetal the same palette on my mobile lid.  Then added a dash of GOSH Golden Green next to that and finally Halfbaked into the corner and taken underneath my eye on the inner corner as well.  Blended like a demon.

I was really pleased with how it turned out and if I am being honest I didn't think I looked too bad in the full Puss in Boots costume, so here's a couple of pics!

 Bloody hell!  So come on then, fancy dress - love it or loathe it?

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.

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!  

UD - Naked just messing!

Boring evening with nowt on tv so thought I'd have a bit of a play with my Naked palette.  Weirdly for a big night out I might give this one an outing.  Half baked lower lid, Gunmetal into crease blackened into crease with a dash of Creep, Sin on brow bone, whisky water line top and bottom and Gunmetal lower lash line.  Pixi highlighter on cheek bones - took me aaaaaaaaaages to find them, MAC cream blush in Lilicent.  Oh and the other eye is Toasted and Hustle - which isn't as shimmery as I had thought so going to get an outing soon - with a bit of Virgin and Half Baked thrown in for good measure.  S'cuse dodgy flash photo's.  Sat in guest house breakfast room looking like a hooker, must dash before someone comes in and offers me a tenner.

Quick FOTD

Eye - Whisky liner, Virgin all over, Buff in Crease, Face - Chanel Vitalumiere Aqua Beige Tendre, Dusting Diorskin translucent powder nose and chin, MAC cream blush in Lilicent, Lips - was Bobbi Brown Cocoa pencil and Cream lipstick in Heather Buff

No prizes for guessing what I used!  Whisky liner top and bottom, Virgin all over and for a change (!) Buff in crease, its quick, effective - I think, and I don't have to think about it, with UDPP under of course.  Having used the palette a couple of times now I would have liked a matte light shadow - virgin is a tad shimmery for me to be completely happy with it on lid, fine for brow highlight and perhaps if Hustle and/or Toasted could have been matte too, not used them yet and tbh am a little put off by the shimmery'ness.  Tomorrow might try my UNE matte cream shadow all over and maybe try Toasted or Hustle in the crease. 

UD NAKED - EOTD!

Late to the party doesn't really cover it I know, but hey I'm there now.  A tiny part of me was really worried that this might just not live up to the hype, even if that "hype" is other beauty bloggers raving about it and we all know no-one slates a crapster like a beauty blogger, so if they say it's good, you know it will be.

As you may have anticipated - it's love.  With bells on.  I know everyone that blogs already owns this but I have a couple of friends that don't blog who are interested so please bear with me through a couple of swatch pics before a couple of EOTD's.

So photos:
 
Outdoors, overcast day. 


Virgin, Sin, Naked, Sidecar

 
Buff, Half Baked, Smog, Darkhorse


Toasted, Hussle, Creep, Gunmetal and Zero (black) and Whisky (brown) eye pencils.
Thanks for the loan of your arm Em!

To paraphrase Forrest Gump "this palette is like a box of chocolates" it was so hard to decide which ones to dive into first so I thought I'd play it safe.

I read on the fab A Model Recommends an interview with MUA Geraldine Shaker and when asked what her single most anti-ageing make up trick or technique was replied " Shade the socket of your eyes with a dark eye shadow – this will knock a decade off older eyes." which sounds like a sound plan to me!  Bearing that in mind I have done a couple of EOTD's.


First up yesterday:

Yikes, someone please remind me in future not to do that scary hair scraped back thing!  This is whisky pencil upper and lower lash line, blended.  Virgin all over lid to brow and Buck in crease.  Frankly I think I have the eyes of a 9 year old!

Now today:

This is whisky upper and lower lash line, Buff all over lower lid, Buck into crease and Virgin to highlight on brow, also used the UDPP on this one, so 13hrs later not a crease in sight.  Have had this palette 24 hrs and already feel like I have got my eye shadow mojo back - first time I have had 3 eye shadows on my eyes in what feels like ages!

I love how smooth all the shadows are, they all blend so easily and wear beautifully.  Sadly think the Bobbi Brown taupe is going to be very overlooked now.  I am dying to have a play around and do something a bit more exciting but think will have to wait for the weekend for that, am thinking might have a go at my first smokey eye!  Oh, one downside the lid on the black pencil, Zero was wedged on so hard had to get Steve to tackle it and in doing so he snapped the pencil.  Which might have been a trauma and I can sense some of you gasped at that! but I don't wear black eye liner and Em does, so I donated her the black and kept whisky (which I am unexpectedly loving, just as you had predicted Fee!) all for myself, so win, win!

 

 

Monday morning just got a whole heap better....

 









Swatches to follow for my non-blogging friends (Victoria that's you!) who don't already own this.  Huge love to Leanne OCD and Steve for this, it's like Christmas all over again!

UD - Naked Palette update

Have had email from Debenhams to say mine has been dispatched!  Am sooooo excited.  Seriously not been this excited since I asked Santa for a doll and a pram for Christmas, walked past it in a daze on Christmas day as he had put it at the end of my bed and not under the tree, then cried when he thought he had forgotten and then cried  harder when my poor mother hauled me back to my bedroom to see it!  

In exciting other developments it appears that it may now have a brush (great post Lyuba!) and not the 24/7 eye pencil, which frankly would be a massive plus for me.  Had already planned to donate the pencil to Em, sorry chick your loss but I'll let you have a swipe of Half Baked from time to time to make up for it!


Right, back to pacing up and down in front of the letter box.

Palette love.

Urban Decay Naked - no way santa is turning up with this baby is he?! Cant find it anywhere online. So have been having a re-think. Am thinking Too faced Naked palette.


Liking the Stila naked one a lot more but not convinced will be able to find that in either Leeds or Trafford Centre (if you know otherwise please please let me know in comments). Can't actually find that on the Stila site either although saw it on other bloggers sites, odd.


Buuuuuut, am also going to drag S along to the Bobbi Brown counter just to have a leetle peek at the Modern Classic palette.How incredible is that, 10 lush shadows, 4 fab glosses? Mind you for £60 S is going to have to be feeling the love too or it wont be happening! I reckon keep the shopping down to a dull roar, MAC counter for Em's bits, one other shop for her secret pressie (shhh. she reads this blog. And makes rude comments!) so he's not traumatised. Spot of lunch and then Wham! straight to the Bobbi Brown counter with promises of this being the absolutely last thing we have to buy.......unless of course its too expensive, in which case theres always Boots, Harvey Nicks, Debenhams .......! If that doesn't seal the deal nothing will. Watch this space! Can't believe that at the start of this year I never wore eye shadow and a palette would have been the last thing I would want, what have you bloggers done to me!

Urban Decay Naked Palette

Have spent ages trawling through all the blogs I could find looking at eye shadow palettes. After much musing have decided that I REALLY REALLY NEED the Naked palette. I didn't realise that thats a bit like NEEDING a four leaf clover - not happening. Well, not if I decide not to bother spending £50 on it on Ebay. Yea like thats gonna happen. I am just going to hope and pray that there will be an old broken crumpled box on the Boots stand in Leeds next week. Or else I am going to have to go for a Nars duo. Which is just not the same thing. If anyone knows if the Naked palette is fairly readily available in Boots or can recommend another fab palette please let me know.