Illamasqua Collection

The goodies that I purchased in the Illamasqua sale finally arrived, adding to my ever growing makeup collection!

I thought I would share with you my current Illamasqua products and show swatches which hopefully help you in any future purchases of this brand. 

These are the foundation products I purchased in my latest online shop. I repurchased 2 more Rich Liquid Foundations in the shade 320 (£10.00 each) Light Liquid Foundation in 320 (£5.00) and a Cream Foundation in 210 (£5.00). A total of £27 (with an extra 10% off for a loyalty discount) on 4 products which would originally have set me back £100! I love sales!! :)

Foundation products are my downfall! I love trying new products and mixing different shades to match my own, hence the range of shades in my collection! Also, I've only ever brought Illamasqua products online so sometimes find myself with a product too dark/ light do end up purchasing further products so I can mix and match and get use from all my products! It's a vicious circle of spending!! 

Foundations: Rich Liquid Foundation 320 (R.F 320)- This my favourite Illamasqua foundation in my current collection. It provides a heavy coverage and hides all those imperfections. It's very thick in consistency, and may seem too thick to people who aren't use to this type of coverage. I currently apply it with a wet Real Techniques sponge which makes moving the product around the skin easier.

Light Liquid Foundation (L.L 240)- This foundation is perfect for those days when you want a light coverage. However this shade is too orange for my skin tone, so I am not currently using it. (I may need to make another purchase!) 

Light Liquid Foundation (L.L 320)- I feel that 320 is the perfect shade for my skin and wanted to purchase this product for a lighter coverage day (or those days when I'm not feeling too great, which isn't uncommon when you work with kids!) 

The powder compacts I have are the P.F 230 and P.F 320. I find I need to blend the two to get the perfect shade. The powder is long lasting and provides a full coverage. 

I now own 4 of the Cream Foundations; 320, 240, 233 and 210. The 320 tends to leave me loookibg grey so, I mix it with 240 to give it a more orange tone. I also like to use 233 with 240 to create a close match my skin tone. My most recent purchase was 210. I didn't realise how light it would be!! I may use this as an under eye concealer or try and mix it with the darker shades. (If all fails, my sister had fairer skin than me and I'll pass it along to her!) 

This Is the the only lipstick I own from Illamasqua. I purchased in a sale where it was reduced to £5.00. I love the colour and the texture of it. It's smooth, silky but matte and is a beautiful orange based red. I love the sleek packaging and I hope to purchase more lipsticks in the future :) 

This is an eyebrow cake in the colour Stark. I originally ordered it to use as an eyebrow colour, but as you can tell it's got a red undertone which doesn't match my black eyebrows! It can be used both dry (left) or wet (right) however I currently just use it as an eyebrow colour. 

The final product I have to share with you is the Matt Primer. This is a white, watery liquid primer (not what I was expecting) I tend to prefer gel formula primers as I feel they are producing an absorbing layer on my skin to keep foundation lasting the whole day. I don't feel it does anything necessarily special to mattify my skin and I won't be purchasing it again. 

So that's all girlies, I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I have enjoyed writing it for you. What's your favourite Illamasqua product? 

Bye lovelies, until next time. Stay happy, healthy and appreciative of life :) xxx 

NYX Haul

Late last Wednesday night I was lying in bed fighting a losing battle with sleep and was casually browsing makeup sites. I had just made a £30 order with Illamasqua (which was very naughty of me) and then came across the NYX website. I never knew there was a Uk based website and furthermore they were having a SALE!! :O 

These are the products I picked up. 

So as you can see I picked up 2 lipsticks, a lip liner, a blusher and a setting spray. 

The lipsticks were part of the Black Label rage and were reduced from £8.00 to £4.00. The lipsticks actually came with 2 different types of outer card packaging and when I tried to put them into my lipstick holder, they were too big, 1 would go in slightly, whereas the other wouldn't fit at all. That's when I noticed the lipsticks were actually different sizes... strange, you would expect lipsticks from the same range to be presented the same.

Raspberry has a red undertone although I thought it would lean towards a more pink/ purple undertone, like a raspberry! 

Mid-night Dinner has a bright pink undertone although the name suggests it should be a dark red colour.

Rasberry is on the left and Mid-Night Dinner is on the right. Both lipsticks are very moisturising and long lasting. I love the packaging, although I wish they fitted into my lippy holder! 

I picked up a lip liner in the colour Nectar, which just sounds delicious! It was reduced from £3.50 to £2.50. I'm not one for lip liners, but wanted to try it out and see whether they made my lipstick longer lasting.

A peachy undertone, I think it will be perfect as a base for the majority of my lipsticks.

I purchased this setting spray because I had run out of my Mac Fix+. This was a product priced at £8.00 for 60ml, Mac Fix+ retails at £13 for 100ml, so I thought I'd give this product a try. It feels light to the skin and seems to do its job, leaving a matte finish to the skin. I think I will still repurchase MAC Fix+ but I'm in no rush!

This blush is perfect if you're like me and have an NC44 skin tone. The bright pink gets those cheeks looking rosy in no time! 

I had actually purchased a 5 shadow eyeshadow palette but when it arrived, the middle colour was smashed and some of the eyeshadow dust had spread to the rest of the products. I was gutted! I have emailed the website and sent images to show the damage, I will shortly be getting a refund on the product as they have run out of the palette. But I do get to keep the product which was reduced from £8.00 to £5.50.

Bye lovelies, until next time. Stay happy, healthy and appreciative of life :) xxx 

January Glossybox First Impressions

Hi ladies, hope everyone is doing great! 

I came home today and was greeted by my January Glossybox (always a nice treat after a day of work!) and could not wait to delve in and see what goodies had arrived this month! I was even more eager as I'm used to receiving my box no later than the 10th-11th of each month. So I had been waiting anxiously for it. The box was only dispatched yesterday, so was delivered quickly.

The outside packaging was the same as usual, so I wasn't expecting any surprises.  

However, when I opened it, I was greeted with a much shinier (some may say glossier....) Glossybox! Imprinted on the top was the well known logo and name, which is also new. By this point I was very excited and had high hopes!! Eeek!

Tossing aside the info! I notice a much fancier logo imprinted ribbon encasing the goodies! I was thinking "Fancy packing must mean amazing treats!

After unwrapping the tissue paper I was disappointed with what lay in the box. None of the items seemed to pop out at me and automatically I classed it as one of the worst boxes I've received. :( 

Anatomicals: Puffy The Eye Bag Slayer Wake-Up Under Eye Patches:

The first item was from the brand Anatomicals. I've had products from this brand before, which I've got as gifts from friends. The brand always has witty descriptions to keep you amused, but from my experience, they have just been average products once you see past the appealing packaging. Each 'Puffy the eye bag slayer' packet consists of 2 gel strips which are applied under the eyes for 30 minutes to revitalise this area and reducing the appearance of fine lines. This product is the one that I look most forward to trying out. 

Full size: £6.00 for 3 pack

Sample size: 2 (worth £4.00) 

Balance Me Super Toning Body Wash:

This product smelt gorgeous, a blend of juniper, geranium and lavender essential oils and has a rich and thick consistency which looks like it would keep the scent clinging to your body after use. Perfect! 

Full size: £10.25 for 250ml 

Sample size: 50ml (worth £2.05) 

Vaseline: Essential Moisture Lotion

A non greasy moisturiser to use for everyday use and the flip opening will make it easy to use. But not what I expect from Glossybox as it's neither new or exciting.

Product size: £4.99 for 400ml

Sample size: 50 ml (worth 62p)

Yu-Be: Moisturising Skin Cream

This product was the most disappointing. 2 tiny sample products from an unknown Japanese brand. I don't see myself getting me much usage out of this product! 

Product size: £13.50 for 33g

Sample size: 2x 3g (worth 80p) 

The Vintage Cosmentic Company: Florak Slanted Tweezers 

These super cute tweezers will be a great add to my collection (as I'm always loosing them...Is it just me?!) And I much prefer slanted tweezers than straight or pointed ones. 

Product size: £8.00

Full size given (worth £8.00) 

Overall I was disappointed with my box. I expected a more unique range of products from Glossybox especially having waited longer to receive it. 

The total with of the box was £15.47, which isn't great seeing as the subscription is £10 (not including p&p). 

Let's hope February's Glossybox is better!

What did you get in your Glossybox? 

Which product would you be excited to receive?

Bye lovelies, until next time. Stay happy, healthy and appreciative of life :) xxx 

Procrastination Haul

I often find myself doing absolutely anything to avoid marking my kiddies books. From hoovering, dusting and even arranging things that have no reason to be arranged! But on one particular occasion, I found myself going to town and spending... rather unnecessary!
However, my excuse is (and yes there is one!) I had to return some online purchases to Newlook and I was in need of a mascara, although as you'll see, I didn't just walk away with a mascara!

Most of my goodies were on sale and I managed to grab myself some great bargains.

My first purchase was a bag from River Island, on sale for £20 (although the original price was missing, it was probably £30-£35). It's a great size and can easily fit A4 documents, perfect for College, Uni, or in my case School! It's navy in colour with a light grey strong strap for wearing over the shoulder. 

I've yet to use my second River Island purchase, but it was a small leopard print satchel which I though was too cute to not buy! Reduced from £20 to £10, it was a steal!

I was in need of some black heels and found this pair reduced from £14 to £10 in New Look. They were the right height and perfect to wear for any occasion. 

The second pair, also from New Look set me back £10! (Reduced from £22) and although I admit, very similar to the first pair, these have a double strap and a chunky gold heel and a zip at the back, making it easy to peel off at the end of the day! 

My last 2 items from New Look were these amazing necklaces both reduced to £4. Perfect for adding a bit of bling to a simplistic outfit. 

I purchased this Wild Mega Volume mascara, but it's not the best mascara I've tried. It doesn't seem to have much liquid product inside and therefore doesn't apply much to the lashes.

 I repurchased the MUA Extreme felt liner, at £1, it's a great product and makes creating a cat wing liner easy. 

I had heard lots of Youtubers raving about the Loreal Super Liner and wanted to see what the fuss was about. But actually I was left disappointed. For a product that was about £6, it doesn't seem to coat the tip of the liner with enough product, meaning that you can't apply your eyeliner in one stroke, but instead have to do it in several.  

My final purchase was another repurchase, this time of the Palmers Daily Facial Lotion which I use as a daily moisturiser before applying my makeup. I'm currently using 3 other products of the range for my skin care routine, including the Night Renewal Cream, Eventone Dark Spot Corrector and the Line Smoothing Eye Cream. All of these products have a thick creamy texture which leave your skin feel soft and supple.