Teeny Tiny Illamasqua Haul - My Friends Are Great At Gift Giving

So, a couple of days ago it was my 20th Birthday. Despite lamenting the fact that I can no longer revel in my own teenage angst, I had a wonderful day. I had lunch with my friends in my favourite pub in London (The Alice House in West Hampstead), and then had incredible cocktails in Freud Bar, which is just so goddamned hip (one tasted like an alcoholic chocolate milkshake. So. On. Board.)

Now, what is a Birthday without presents? Disappointing, is what it is. Anyway, I got some damn fine make up from my amazing lady friends and here it is.

The Nail Polish is called Melange and the Cream Eye Shadow is called Bibelot.

 The formula of this nail polish makes my heat soar. It's well pigmented, so one coat can be enough, I just prefer to have two (there are two coats in the photo). The glitter in the polish means that, despite the texture of my nails, it still looks hella good. I've had one coat on for a couple of days and there have been no chips, so I'm feeling real good about this polish. It's quite low maintenance as nail polishes go, and that's the fastest way to my heart. Also, the colour, I'm all about this colour.

Next up is this pretty little pot of deliciousness (not that I'm suggesting you eat it, that would be gross). The lid is a rose gold and is just so damn stylish and the packaging has some weight to it, which is nice. This lady is not going to break. The colour is gorgeous, and very autumnal, which is great. The texture is much like other cream products I own, where it's quite firm until you move your finger across the surface, where you can pick up product. It's not too liquid-y, which is nice. I hate it when you stick your finger in a product and it's creamier than you think and your whole finger just plunges into the product. Not cool.

On the left the colour if blended (not very well, sorry), on the right is a single swipe from a finger. The pigmentation is good, the glitter shows really nicely, even when blended and it has good wearing power (getting the swatch off my hand was a bitch). I wore this product (set with an eye shadow) on a night out where I was dancing for hours in a hot, sweaty room and not even a crease was found. Beauty.

Bird Makeup - Utilising Crazy False Lashes With Even Crazier Makeup

So I recently wrote a blog post about a Nyx haul I did, and in that haul was this handsome pair of lashes with red feathers sprouting from their outer corners. Thus, this look was born.

I recently saw a showing of a performance of The Tempest at The Globe (the original performance being at the Globe, I saw a recording of it at a cinema, where it was so nice not to have to stand throughout the entire three hours). In this performance the actor who played Ariel had this really cool makeup on, which was a wash of red extending from his eyes towards his temples. I was inspired. So with this in mind and these beautiful lashes, I came up with this look.

 All the shadows I used are Inglot. The red is shade 382, the yellow is 343, the white is 373, the peach on the lid is 612 and the dark purple in the crease is 452. On the lips I used No 7 Lip Pencil in Fire, with Rimmel Kate Moss Lipstick in 01 over that, followed by Barry M Lip Gloss in Valentines. On my skin I used a mix of Bourjois 123 Perfect Foundation in Light Vanilla and Stargazer White Foundation. I blended the red eye shadow into my cheeks as a blush, used Sleek Contouring and Blush Palette to contour and used MUA Pink Shimmer Highlighter on my cheekbones, nose, cupids bow, chin and forehead. 

 For my brows I put Nyx Jumbo Eye Pencil in Milk on to a spooley and pulled it through the hairs. I also used Milk on my waterline and inner corner. I used Bourjois Liquid Liner for a Cat eye to better blend in the lashes. The lashes are, of course, Nyx Super Power. I also used Nyx Jumbo Eye Pencil in Yellow as a base for the yellow shadow.

Et Voila!

Haul Of All Sorts - Literally No Excuse For This One, I Have A Problem

I've been popping up and down to London like nobody's business these past few weeks house hunting (which is a soul sucking experience). This has given me the excuse to be around well stocked Boots and Superdrug stores (I shop to forget). And, well, you get the idea. I bought some things and thus far I'm loving all of them.

From Left: Real Techniques Stippling Brush; Real Techniques Miracle Complexion Sponge; MUA Lipstick in Shade 1; Seventeen Rock Hard Nail Effects in Blue; Seventeen Rock Hard Couture Nail Effects in Charm Bracelet; MUA Undress Your Skin Shimmer Highlighter in Pink Shimmer.

 Real Techniques Miracle Complexion Sponge: 

This sponge is just so God damned brilliant. It just makes foundation and concealer look like I've always wanted it to look. Smooth. No unfortunate thick patches of colour, or streaks. This just blends it all away, baby. I wish I'd bought this sooner. The shape is great for doing different areas of the face, like I use the point for under my eyes and around the nose and the flat section for the rest of my face. I use this to blend in concealer and to blend foundation after it has been applied.

Real Techniques Stippling Brush: 

Again, I love this brush. I've a few Real Techniques brushes already in my collection and not a one has disappointed me. The bristles are wonderfully soft, the handles nice to hold and I'm rather in love with the different colours. I have a friend who needs all her brushes to be black with a silver ferrule - like Mac brushes. I, on the other hand, rather like the hodge podge of colours that my collection is. 

 The sparse bristles at the top allow a nice light, even coverage, and boy does it deliver. My face is looking pristine with this brush coupled with the sponge.

 MUA Undress Your Skin Shimmer Highlighter in Pink Shimmer: 

I'm an avid watcher of Nikkie Tutorials on YouTube and she has recently been recommending this highlighter. Now, seeing as this is MUA and therefore hella cheap, I made it a goal to purchase this.

 Seeing as I own a total of two highlighters, this seemed like a good investment to me. I have a liquid highlighter that is very gold toned, and a powder highlighter that is also gold toned, but to a lesser degree. So having a colder, pink based highlighter seemed like a good idea. The packaging isn't the best quality, but I think it looks good and it will hold together.

On the left is the highlighter blended out and on the right it is a single swipe of my finger. So it has good pigmentation, and the shimmer is just darn pretty. Which is all I really want out of a highlighter.

 MUA Lipstick in Shade 1:

This is another product recommended by Nikkie Tutorials. She recently did a review on her blog of MUA lipsticks, two were disappointing, this one was not. And she's right, cos this Lipstick is great. The best bit? It cost £1. The packaging isn't the prettiest I have, but it's functional, and I like the colour being at the bottom (it's actually functioning lipstick too!).

The colour applied like a dream boat. Smooth and pigmented in one swipe. The colour's also just great. Because who doesn't like a nice, rich red? The wearability is also pretty great, considering I wore it on a night out and I only had to reapply once. If your lipstick's still intact at four in the morning, it's a keeper.

 Seventeen Rock Hard Couture Nail Effects in Charm Bracelet and Seventeen Rock Hard Nail Effects in Blue:

 Now a friend of mine has been wearing Charm Bracelet for about two months now and every time I see it, I want it. I mean, just look at it. So I finally found it in a Boots and snapped it up. The colour does not disappoint (for both of them). I have been doing two coats, but one is perfectly acceptable, especially for Charm Bracelet. Also, being the formula that it is, it dries in no time and doesn't smudge, which makes me so happy.

These have both had two coats of colour.

Now here's the crux, these chip like little bitches. Like, I will have at least three nails chipped at the end of each day. I tried applying top coat, no dice. The only consolation is that it dries so quickly that fixing the manicure is a breeze. Also, the texture enables that even with many patch ups, the nails still look nice. So, this has been the longest manicure I have in a while, and that says something.

Emmeline out.

Nyx Haul - For When Needing To Replace One Thing Turns Into Buying Four Things

So, Nyx's Jumbo Eye Pencil in Milk is a certified staple in my make up collection. It's a rare day that I do not reach for this product (sky falling? blue moon?). So when I was down to a measly stub it was time to stumble back to the Nyx website and do some buying. Because who just orders one thing from online? Not me, certainly. Like, I'm paying for postage, I better make the most of it. Thus, Nyx haul.

Now, I have a bit of a split position on Nyx products. Some I absolutely adore (jumbo eye pencils, yo), others I'm fairly ambivalent about (glitter cream palette, anyone?). I've tried their nail polishes, that, whilst having an incredible range of colour, are a bit so-so on the formula side. Their eye shadows are buttery and pleasant to work with, but I very rarely use single eye shadows any more. I'm pretty in love with their Glitter on the Go shakers, but they're being discontinued. So, with these past experiences, I cruised on over to the false eye lashes. I was not disappointed. I also bought a lipstick, because I just want to love them, because a lot of them are named after Greek Gods, and that is a very fast way to get into my heart (and also my collection - see also Nails Inc polishes named after London Streets).

First things first, we have these BEAUTIES. Like, hot damn. These are the parrot lashes. Who knew I wanted to look like a tropical bird? Now, wearable is not a word to be caught dead in the same room with these lashes. But that's OK. Wearable isn't everything and I love doing crazy editorial looks. Also costume parties.

Just take a minute to fully appreciate these lovelies.

Next up are the Super Power lashes. These are more toned down than the Parrot lashes and I can conceivably see myself wearing these out. Because red and black are match made in the fiercest heaven.

I'm just in love.

Now we have the lipstick. It is called Hestia, who is the Greek Goddess of the Hearth. Now, this lipstick is far from homely. It's sex in a creamy and well pigmented formula. I often find Nyx Lipsticks a bit too creamy, I feel like they're just going to slide off my lips, despite having a respectable amount of staying power. I just feel like the formula is just sitting on my lips, rather than sinking in and feeling a little more natural. However, this lipstick felt a little nicer, to the degree that I will be reaching for this lipstick a lot. Because, guys, this colour. Dark red lips I feel are my spiritual lipstick home. I constantly get drawn to them, when buying and reaching for one to wear.

The ease of application caught me off guard. I was expecting to have a streaky and unpleasant mess with my initial application, but I got a nice even coverage that I went over to just build the colour a little. I'm one happy bunny with these purchases.

Water Colour Nails - For When You Feel Bad For All The Nail Polishes You're Not Using

 So I recently started using Pinterest, which is great, but also steals quite a bit of my time. I keep seeing cool nail things that instantly make me want to try something new. Discounting this one 'fish net manicure' that suggested using the netting from a loofah to give you cool nails and just didn't work - like I swear to God, I tried so hard and got nothing save a huge fucking headache - I've been loving trying all these new things. I can't tell you what picture in particular inspired this manicure, but using sponges on my nails has always worked well for me, so I was on board for these nails.

 Excuse my shitty, mismatched nails

 Here is everything you will need, different colour combinations such as blues and greens would also look awesome. From left to right: Rimmel Nail Nurse (as a base coat), No 7 Nail Colour in ME! ME! ME!, Barry M Gelly Nail Paint in Rose Hip, Barry M Gelly Nail Paint in Papaya, Topshop Nails in Listen To Me and Ciaté Speed Coat Pro for the top coat. Also a sponge, this is integral to the look.

Start with the base coat (duh), and wait for it to dry fully. Then do two coats of Papaya, waiting to dry between each coat. (The paint in my image has a weird texture because of the plastic, not the formula).

Now paint some of ME! ME! ME! on the sponge and blot off some of the excess paint.

Now pat the colour onto the nail, starting at one corner and blending it towards the middle. Wait for it to dry.

 Next do the same with Rose Hip, starting from a different corner and blending so there is plenty of overlap. Again, wait for it to dry.

Now pat Listen To Me in the centre of the nail, blending out a little, but less than the other colours. Wait to dry, longer than I did as I smudged the colours together a little (if you like how that looks, wait until it is no longer tacky, but would dent if you touched it).

Finish with a healthy dose top coat. Voilá.

More Club Make Up - And My Poorly Made Life Decisions

 So, me and my friends planned a night out which happily coincided with my friend getting a job, so reason to celebrate. I did these lady's make up, as well as my own (obvs) and I think it all turned out rather cool looking. It's a shame the night did not end up cool for myself. Who knew that drinking a bottle and a half of wine in a short space of time was a poor idea? I was snug in bed before midnight, is all I'm saying about it. The other girlie's had a good time, though.

This is Megan, I've introduced her before - for her Prom make up - so you're familiar with my difficulties with her eyes. I feel I've got it down now, though. This look started with the hair. It's all about the hair. I used a teeny tiny (1/2 inch) curling tong and alternated the direction of the curls so they don't 'sit' in each other. I then got Megan to pull her fingers through the curls and rough it up a bit. Thus creating a fun and summery look. This was my inspiration for the make up.

 I primed the eyes using Two Faced Shadow Insurance. I then used a Mac 217 and an Inglot Freedom System Rainbow Eye Shadow (it's three complementing colours in one pan) to buff and orange colour all over the lid and under the eyes. I used the middle shade to do this. I then patted the lightest colour in the centre of the lid and the darkest colour to faintly darken the outer corner and the upper and lower lash lines. I then used Nyx Jumbo Eye Pencil in Milk on the waterline and inner corners. I used a shimmery white from Sleek in the inner corner and blended it slightly into the lid. I then finished with Bourjois Liquid Liner for a fine cat eye and Loreal Volume Million Lashes on curled lashes. For a Summery look I like a face to be highlighted and bronzed, so I used Topshop's Glow (a lovely golden, liquid highlighter) and Rimmel's Natural Bronzer in Sun Glow.

This is my lovely friend Jordan, who looks ever so hip in a hat. Jordan wanted something fairly simple for make up, but still eye catching. So I thought an extreme cat eye and a red lip would work, and it looks damn cool, if I do say so myself. For the lips I used No 7 Lip Pencil in Fire to line and fill in the lips. I then went over this with Rimmel Kate Moss Lipstick in 01. I used a piece of toilet paper split open (as in it is always two pieces of thin paper stuck together to create a sheet) and Mac's Prep and Prime Finishing Powder to blot and mattify the lips.

 I used Maybelline Gel Eyeliner and the brush that comes with it to do the extreme cat eye. I first made a very fine line across the entire upper lid, extending the line quite a distance from the outer corner. I then thickened the line slightly starting with the other point, but keeping it fairly consistent across the lid. I did not want a '60s cat eye, I wanted something more modern, so I kept the line fairly straight from the outer corner and not too angular in the flick. I then lined under the lower lashes, leaving the waterline clean and I connected it with the upper line at both corners, creating a small point in the inner corner.

 For myself I just did a look I'm rather fond of, which, whilst extreme, I do adore. I used the Maybelline gel liner to outline and fill in the shape and then set it with Urban Decay eye shadow in Prank, from the Vice 2 Palette. I used Nyx pencil in Milk for the waterline. I used Eylure lashes in Dramatic 202. My skin routine is the same as detailed in previous posts (yeah, I'm lazy). For my lips I patted on some Rimmel Kate Moss Lipstick in 20.

So this night was a messy one for me, but my make up looked fabulous, so there's that.

Cyborg Make Up - For When You Want Your Exterior to Reflect Your Cold, Hard Heart

So, this is my friend Zoe. She is stunning and I swear to God hew face is just a dream to put make up on. She's has lots of lid space for me to play with, plus full lips and great bone structure - she makes my job easy. So whenever I can get my hands on her face for make up purposes, I do. I always end up doing something extreme and a tad weird, because she's not going to go out with it and it's my time to have some fun.

This time around I did cyborg make up. I can't tell you why, probably something to do with my love of doing fake tears. Liquid metal tears seemed like a fun thing to do, so I built the look around that concept.

 For the face I used Bourjois 123 Perfect Foundation in Light Vanilla, I contoured and highlighted with Sleek's Contouring and Blush Palette in Light. For the brows I initially brushed some concealer through them to lighten the hairs, I then covered the brows in Collection Glam Crystals liner in Hustle. For the Lips I patted Rimmel Kate Moss Lipstick in 01 in the centre and blended it towards the edges.

I used Urban Decay's Vice 2 Palette for the eyes. In the crease I used Rewind, which I then darkened with Lovesick. On the lid I used a base of Nyx Jumbo Eye Pencil in Milk which I then pressed Shellshock over. I used Nyx Jumbo Eye Pencil in Black Bean on the waterline which I set with a black eye shadow. I then used a Bourjois Liquid Liner to create a cat eye. The lashes are Fever Lashes, which can be bought at Smiffy's (which is where I got them).

 For the tears I used a small brush and Rimmel Kate Moss Lipstick in 01. Using a lipstick gives a shinier texture than a shadow, it also has a more translucent consistency if blended enough which worked well for what I wanted. I wanted the red to be a bit like the flesh being burned away by the molten metal tears. I then used Shellshock - previously mentioned - over the red to create the molten tears. I then covered the tears with clear gloss to make them look more liquid-y.

 For the Metal Panel in her forehead used gel liner to outline the area I wanted, I then filled it in with Nyx Jumbo Eye Pencil in Milk, which I then set with Shellshock. I then used the gel to add more lines and some dots to look like bolts. I then used Collection Glam Crystals Liner in Dancing Queen for the red lines and Madness from the Vice 2 Palette for the blue lines.

I then proceeded to take a billion photos because Zoe kept pulling silly faces. To be fair to her though, I did just do this to her face.