A Makeup & Beauty Blog – Lipglossiping

…of liquid eye liners?

I have a real problem with most liquid liners.  I either love the tip, but find the product too thin and unpigmented (yano where the blacks come out as a watery grey) or, I love the product but daren’t put the tip within 2 feet of my eye without risk of blinding myself.

I’ve finally found one that applies like a dream and is also a gorgeously pigmented black.

Ruby & Millie’s I-Writer is an odd looking contraption.  A few of their products utilise this futuristic x-ray type design.  It’s novel, interesting and pretty functional.

As you can see, the tip is VERY fine.  It’s also flexible and soft fibred, which means that it’s not gonna drag on your eyelid.  The brush has a wide enough base to offer some support to the tip which gives it just enough stiffness.  It tapers into a lovely sharp point for precision lining and the product disperses itself fairly evenly along the fibres when you give the other end of the pen a little twist.

I love the brush so much that when I run out of product, I’m gonna can use it with my gel liners.

The I-Writer retails at Boots for £10.50 and is available in a few different colours (I also have this in green, but don’t recommend it.  the formula is a bit too sheer for an eyeliner).

Next time I use this in a FOTD, I shall make a note of it in the products used so you can see it in action!

[starreview tpl=14]

Nails Inc still isn’t a favourite brand of mine.  I find the formula a little too thick – great for achieving opacity in 2 coats or less, but not so good for clumsy types like me.

Belgrave Place is a beautiful inky blue and although I love the colour, this polish isn’t a keeper for me.  Despite use of a base coat (I’m obviously not using one good enough), this stained my nails quite nastily upon removal.

Will I ever find a Nails Inc. polish I’m in love with?  The search continues – recommendations very welcome!

Sorry for so many NOTD posts, it feels like a bit of a lazy cop out as they’re much easier to do than full on reviews.  I have some MMU haul posts as well which I really need to be doing and I have a HG to share with you all – ‘citing!

A lovely, lovely nude that’s a dream to apply.  I enjoy being able to get away with keeping nudes on my nails a bit longer, especially this one which only suffers minimal and even tip wear.

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Anyone else looking forward to the UK ELF Studio launch as much as me?  When it comes to cosmetic shopping and looking after the pennies I often (shamefully) fail in the attempt to beat down the quantity over quality urge.

After the initial “Look how much makeup I got for £20” excitement fades, I inevitably conclude it’s all a load of crap.  I look in my collection and see that I’ve already got 30 cheap eyeliners that pull and scratch so how stupid must I be to waste my hard earned money on more?

I must shop with an innocent but ultimately futile optimism that I’m going to uncover the next high end dupe for under a fiver – pfft!

Now with this, you can understand my skepticism with regards to ELF’s new Studio range.  Oh. My. God, I so want it to be as good as the hype.  I know it won’t be.  I will be more than satisfied though if I can find a couple of pieces to become make up bag staples until the next big (cheap) thing comes along.

In particular, I’ve got my eye on: (all photos nicked from the ELF website):

Eyebrow Treat & Tame:

They say: <snip>…Treat your eyebrows with a hair re-growth, vitamin infused gel formula to help stimulate hair follicules so your once thin and sparse brows become thicker.</end snip>

I say: Wha?  Hair Regrowth?!  Really?  Really really?  You’re not exagerrating or overstating are you ELF?  Will this really be the solution to overplucked eyebrows everywhere?  Sign me up!

Complexion Perfection:

Some of the forums I read have this down as a bit of a miracle product – I’m ultimately dubious, but that of course isn’t going to stop me from buying it anyway.

Blush/Bronzer compact:

*eternally optimistic inner el-cheapo ego* Oooh look, it’s just like Nars…

*slightly more realistic alter ego* Don’t be so fucking stupid.

Under Eye Concealer & Highlighter:

I’d love this one to be the business.  Oh, to be able to conceal and highlight under the eyes effectively with one portable little wand.

Anyway, I’m practically peeing myself in anticipation of  the ELF Studio release.  I know it’s pathetic and my little optimistic self is probably going to be cruely crushed and bruised come mid august when the dust settles… but I can’t help it.

What are you looking forward to trying most from the line?

Products Used:

Face:
EGM Foundation – Danielle
EGM Blush – Cool Pink

Eyes:
UDPP
EGM Eyeshadow – Bering Strait (foiled on lids)
EGM Eyeshadow – Finnish Waters (as a liner)
Avon Colour Trend Mascara (still using this up)

Lips:
ELF New Moisture Care Lip Color in Pink Lemonade

As you can see, I’m still well into my mineral makeup and I have to say I flippin’ love Earthen Glow Minerals.  Aside from the quality of their products (which is fab) I’ve simply never received better or friendlier customer service with an e-tailer anywhere.

I’ll have to do a post dedicated to my fab experiences with them and swatch some of my lovely piggies, but in the meantime definitely try them out for some gorgeous shades.

Confession time… this is… hand on heart, the first time I’ve ever worn a blue eyeshadow.  I just don’t usually go this bright.  Even as a teen, the brightest my eyeshadow got was Lilac.

As a result, I spent the day feeling pretty self-conscious and wondering if it looked a little…

Ooh, I’m getting brave!  Go me! Who knows, I might even try green next *insert faux shock face here*

Much love, me xxx

I love GOSH polishes, I find them consistently good quality, with lovely pigmented shades that are easy to apply – never needing more than 2 coats to achieve opacity.

This one is no exception… look!

Hello beautiful!

Carmine is a lovely shade which is pretty hard to describe (and photograph).  It’s a beautiful rich, sophisticated magenta with flashes of scarlet and gold.  Applies like a dream… this is 2 coats:

This photo sadly does not do it justice at all.  It looks scarlet here and doesn’t show off the beautiful hot magenta.  I think you can just about make out the magenta more towards the tips and the gold flashes more at the base of the nail (particularly on the little finger), but it’s far, far more apparent in real life.

I’m flippin’ loving GOSH this summer – and it’s back on a 3for2 in Superdrug at the moment!

I’m off ‘oop North’ for a week to introduce my lovely daughter to her paternal grandparents.  Hope the weather follows me!

I don’t have any posts lined up, I’ve been incredibly slack this week, I even let my next NOTD post slide and am now sporting chipped nails with no photos taken of them back when they were fresh (and thus no blog post) *sigh*

To make up for it, I’ll leave you with a current Benefit discount code celebrating Wimbledon…

Enter code: BENETNNI at the checkout for 10% off all orders valid ’till 5th July.  Click the Benefit logo above to be taken to the Benefit (UK) website.

If you happen to make good use of the code, let me know what you bought!  Since I’m now spending every penny I earn on Pampers and Gripe Water… I’m living vicariously through your hauls however big or little they may be!

Cheerio for now fellow beauty addicts xx

I shouldn’t even call this ‘bronzing’… it’s more about finding a summer look that works and toning down the blueness of my complexion and replacing it with a subtle wash of warmth.  I’m liking this simple and fast look for the summer.

Products Used:

Face: Cory Cosmetics Mineral Foundation in Ivory Beige
Cory Cosmetics Mineral Blush in Whatever

Eyes: Sleek Ink Pot in Black
Avon Color Trend Mascara in Black (trying to use up this nice but dull mascara!)

Lips: NYX Round Lipstick in Darling

I’m loving the quality of these NYX lipsticks, and I shall definitely be hauling some more shades soon…

Ceto:

Chaos:

Darling:

Rea:

Hmm… after seeing these, I think I’m prefering the subtlety of Ceto over my original fav Darling.  Share your favourite NYX shades so I can develop some more lemmings!

A gorgeous, vibrant shade shot through with a sophisticated glitter.

This polish is fantastic and would easily make it into my top 10 list. 

It’s a lush cherry red that I can’t stop looking at!  It goes on smoothly and evenly.  The texture feels a little gritty thanks to the glitter, but it’s nothing that a sweep of top coat wouldn’t fix. 

The above image shows 1 coat(!) after 4 days of wear.  There is very minimal and even tip wear.  This is my first experience with China Glaze polishes and I’m so impressed by the formula of this one, I’m looking for more!  Anyone care to share their favourite CG polishes?

Quick PSA thanks to catching this on moneysavingexpert.com before heading off to bed…

If you’re near an Elemis counter (John Lewis) today or tomorrow (Friday/Saturday) – take any old bottle or jar of moisturiser that you don’t use anymore (even if it’s empty) and swap it for a shiny new 15mls of Elemis Pro Collagen Marine Cream (apparently worth £22.50) – perfect for travelling!

Love these generous Rimmel promotions, I discovered the original Sexy Curves formula through winning one from their last promotion.

To celebrate the launch of Rimmel London’s NEW SEXY CURVES WATERPROOF MASCARA they’re giving us the chance to try a FULL SIZE sample worth £7.82.

There’s 4000 to give away so we’re in with a shot!

Click the image to be taken to the promotion.