Make-up Box - Product of the Week - No 5

Shu Uemura Brush Cleaner

I've been using baby shampoo to clean my brushes but I have wanted a brush cleaner for a while now. I got this Shu Uemura cleaner from Space NK in Harrogate for £11 and it's made cleaning my brushes so much more quicker and easier so that's why it's reached my product of the week.

I think it's definitely worth investing in a brush cleaner for cleaning make-up brushes rather than a baby shampoo as the cleaner gets the brushes completely clean therefore making it them more hygienic!

A full review on this will be following on the blog!



Birthday Presents!!!!

30th Birthday Presents

So this week I turned 30!!! I had a fantastic weekend last weekend celebrating and then on my actual birthday I got took to Harrogate (love that place and lots of fantastic shops) and was spoilt with lots of treats (tea at Betty's being one yummy)!!

I thought I'd post a couple of pics of things that I got for presents, consisting of a lot of beauty products as well as accessories such as the fantastic Mac brush set my big sis got me :-). I will be doing reviews on all the beauty products as I use them, as well as doing some posts on all the accessories!

Anyone else had a birthday recently or had a milestone birthday that they have passed??

Tiger crackle nails grrrrrrr

Models Own - Smash Up in Black

I haven't done a nail varnish post in ages!!! I basically haven't pained my nails for ages and I think that's why my nails have just gone absolutely rubbish, I find that when I paint them it makes them stronger and they grow much nicer!

I decided to do something different for my birthday night out and decided to use this Models Own Smash Up varnish which I bought ages ago and had never used!

I painted my nails in a base colour using Nails Inc Brook Street (a coral/pink colour), let that dry and then painted one coat of the Smash Up on. It basically does what it says on the bottle, it smashes up straight away to create this nail effect which I likened to Tiger stripes :-)! I absolutely loved the effect it gave and the colours totally matched the skirt I was wearing from Topshop which was black with a coral band around the bottom so they just finished my outfit off! Both Nails Inc and Models Own are hard wearing so they last really well and don't tend to chip for a few days, I painted these on a Saturday afternoon and took them off on the Tuesday and they hadn't chipped at all which I thought was really good.

I will definitely be using the Smash Up again with different colours and it totally funks up ordinary nails making them look ultra fab!

Anyone else dabbling with nail effects??

The perfect match?

Collection 2000 - Colour Match Foundation in Ivory 1

As I have stated in previous posts I do struggle to find foundations that match my skin tone, so when I saw this product I was interested to see if it does what it says i.e. match to your skin tone!

I don't buy Collection 2000 foundations mainly because their palest shade which is normally Ivory is just too dark for my skin tone which is really annoying. This product here is in Ivory so I thought it would again be too dark so resisted getting it at first, however as it is supposed to match to your skin tone I did a tester again and decided to give it a whirl, plus it was on offer for £5.99 in Boots so a bargain really.

I was relatively impressed by the skin tone match as it did match my skin tone quite well, the texture is quite thick and creamy and it does blend in well to the skin, I used my fingers to apply it for quickness really more than anything else. I do have to powder throughout the day to combat shine, but generally the foundation lasts well throughout the day which for a cheap foundation is really good. The bottle is glass and therefore gives it a more expensive feel for a drugstore product. If you want to see what I look like wearing this check out my Illamasqua fake eyelash post as this was the foundation I was wearing at the time!

If you are looking for an inexpensive foundation this is definitely the product to get and I would say is definitely one of the top drugstore foundations I have tried (and I have tried lots!).

Free goods :-)

No 17 - Peep Show Smokey Eye Palette

I'm off work today and tomorrow (tomorrow is my 30th Birthday :-)) so  thought I'd catch up on my blogging and get a few posts out so expect to see lots coming in the next day!

I got this lovely little eyeshadow palette free with a No 17 Peep Show Mascara (review to follow soon) from Boots. I hadn't realised it was free and had picked it up independently and then got to the checkout and the lady behind the till said it was a free gift with the mascara so as I am a mascara lover I got the mascara as well, killing two birds with one stone and all :-)!

This is a good palette for creating a smokey brown eye as you have a pink colour a mid brown and a dark brown, all of which are shimmery eyeshadows, then there is a matte charcoal grey colour which could be used along the lash line as a liner. I have only used the pink and brown colours as I'm personally not too keen on the grey colour. The colours are great and blend easily the only thing is they crease really quickly so say I apply my make-up at 7am on a morning for work, by about 11am they are creased, so not particularly long lasting for day wear but would be ok for say a night out. I do however think possibly with an eyelid primer they would last longer. I mean all in all it was a free gift with the mascara, and it's No 17 which is a cheap make-up brand so you can't complain too much about it not being too long lasting. If you love a bargain or free gifts then this is something to keep and eye out for, I personally don't think I would purposefully buy any eyeshadows from the No 17 range but they are great as a free product.

A sprinkling of fairy dust :-)

Lily Flame Candle in Fairy Dust

I absolutely love candles (maybe I was a witch in a former life!!?? lol), and this is my favourite candle to date! Lily Flame candles are fantastic they have some delicious smells, although some are a bit potent, but Fairy Dust to me is their crowning glory! This is the third one I have had and was bought for me by Jason (my Fiance) as a stocking filler for Christmas as he knows I love them. For me I think candles are better than air fresheners as they are less fake in their smell and look prettier!

I think this is most peoples favourite and the reason I make this statement as it is quite often sold out online and the shop where I buy it from in Durham (the Mugwump - one of my favourite shops) hardly ever has them in because as soon as they get stock in they sell out really quickly so it's best to grab them when they are there as they will soon be gone!

Burn time is around 35 hours, and it has the most fantastic smell nothing of which I have experience before in candles, it's sweet but not sickly and is rich and quite powdery in it's smell and makes the room you are burning it in smell delicious! You can also get Fairy Dust in a room spray and a reed diffuser (I had one of those in the bathroom and it smelt subtle and divine).

Do you have a favourite candle??

Extreme Lashes

Illamasqua - False Eyelashes 013

I've never tried false eyelashes before (crazy I know as I love dark black eyelashes), I was always worried of them falling off mid day or evening, or the whole applying the lashes thing always looked tricky. Anyway I am now a convert after buying these from the Illamasqua website in the sale (£5 bargain). I had a practice try session with them before wearing them out and I love them!!!

I wore these at the weekend for Birthday drinks in Durham and I think they looked fantastic! They give you fantastic dark eyelashes, they do feel a little heavy on your lid but you get used to it. The glue that comes with them keeps them on really well as well (although had a minor worry because I thought one was coming off but it didn't).

This is me with the lashes on in Whisky River in Durham (a lovely bar down by the river), as can be seen the lashes look lovely and dark and are great if you are wanting high impact lashes! Definitely a preoduct worth checking out!