Maybelline Color Tattoo 24hr Gel-Cream Eyeshadow in 65 Pink Gold

I've been meaning to review this eyeshadow for ages, but only just got around to taking pictures, swatching it and wearing it. I hate not having time for my hobby.

Anyway, the good news is, the review is a positive one. I really like this eyeshadow, it performs very well. I wore it today for a run, had shower and washed my hair and it was still there on my eyelids, not creasing at all, although the edges did fade a tiny bit (which is fair enough). I tried it out with and without primer (Too Faced Shadow Insurance) and it performed very well both ways. In fact it's still looking good 12 hours later.

I find the name Pink Gold a bit misleading, because it's not gold in the slightest, it's more of a muted rosy pink. Actually I wasn't sure if I needed this colour because I thought I'd already owned cream eyeshadows that were very similar. I was kind of right, it is pretty close to Mac Fresco Rose paint pot (discontinued), although Pink Gold has more of a sheen/shine. It is definitely more metallic and possibly a bit lighter. I also compared it to Rimmel Colour Mousse in 06 Get Fresh which is a lot more metallic and a bit lighter. I may have other cream shadows Pink Gold close to, but these were the ones that came to mind. Incidentally it's nothing like Mac Feminine Edge fluidline which is so frosty and sparkly, it cannot possibly compare to this.

So while I didn't exactly need this eyeshadow, it's a nice one to have. I like cream eyeshadows, I use them on days when I have little time to do my make up as a quick sweep on the lids is enough. Pink Gold actually needed a bit of building up, but it didn't take long and it didn't cake, was still very smooth to blend. It did dry down very quickly and when I swatched it on my arm, I needed make up remover to get it off, simply rubbing it didn't make it budge. (Or having a shower for that matter.)

Maybelline Color Tattoo eyeshadows cost £4.99 and you get 4 g (although it doesn't actually say on the packaging, but I have one of the US colours and that one says 4 g, so I'm assuming this is the same). There's currently a buy 1 get 1 half price offer on make up in Boots. It's a great price (considering that Mac paint pots for example cost £14.50 and you only get 1 g more), and finally there are 8 shades available in the UK (still not enough though if you ask me).

Have you tried these eyeshadows yet? Let me know what you think in the comments!

See more pictures after the jump!

Mac Haute & Naughty Lash Mascara

This is my first ever mascara from Mac, I got this as a gift with purchase a while ago and after finishing my Maybelline Lash Stiletto mascara, I decided to give it a try and see for myself how good it is (or not). I have already worn it in one of the FOTD posts I've done lately, so click here to see what it looks like on my lashes.

The mascara is a weird double one, it has a two-in-one wand. I don't really know how it works exactly, but if you only screw off the pink end, then you get a thinner wand with less coated bristles, but if you screw off both the pink and purple together, then you get a thicker wand with thoroughly coated bristles. It's one wand, but I think the width of the hole you pull it through determines how much mascara coats the brush. Check out the pictures below to see what I mean.

Neither of the options work very well for me, it either takes several goes to coat my lashes properly or it makes my lashes stick together and the mascara clump. If I use the thinner end, it does a good job of separating my lashes at least. I prefer the spikey brushes instead of these bristley ones for separating my lashes to be honest. It gives quite good volume and length, but it's not my favourite mascara for either. I find it too hard work and I've not been reaching for it when I'm in a rush, simply because it takes a while to apply.

The formula wasn't the best for me either. It smudged on me, especially under my lower lashline, which is practically unheard of, none of the other mascaras I've tried smudged on me. It's very black which is nice, but equally it takes some work to wash it off. It's not waterproof at all, but you need a good make up remover to take it off properly.

This mascara costs £18.00 and you get 9 g which is pretty generous. The other good thing about it is that when you're finished you can take the empty tube to Mac and you get a free lipstick for 6 empties. I think it's too expensive for what it is and I know that Rimmel does a very similar mascara for half the price (although I haven't tried it myself), so that might be a better option. I'm personally happy I didn't pay for this.

See more pictures after the jump!

2011's Favourite Products: Part 1 - Eyes

As 2011 is drawing to a close, I decided to do a series of posts about my favourite beauty products of the year. To be honest though, I do find it quite difficult to do posts like this, because a year is a pretty long period and I often find if I think of my favourites of a certain period, the latest favourites will most likely be included rather than the ones I was crazy about 6 months ago. But I will try to be as objective as possible. I'm not doing detailed reviews on everything since I have actually reviewed a lot of these products, so I will just link them back to the posts if they've already been reviewed.

First up are base products. My favourites are in no particular order: Barbara Daly (for Tesco) Even Smoother Eye Base, Mac Paint Pots and Rimmel Colour Mousse 8hr eyeshadows. Click on the links for the reviews. The only one of these three that I haven't reviewed yet are the Mac Paint Pots. I don't know why, I've just never got around to doing it. I actually own a lot of them, having bought 10 with the last 2 Mac collections and also the permanent ones, or older limited edition ones that I'd already owned. They can be used as primers as they don't crease at all or just on their own for a subtle (or in some cases not so subtle) colour. My only problem with them is that my older ones are beginning to dry out, even though I keep them upside down and sealed properly. They are the most expensive of the bunch at £13.50 for 5 g.

Keep reading to find out what other eye products made it into my favourites this year!

My Ever Growing Nail Polish Collection Part 3 - GOSH, Models Own, Dior, Chanel

As promised, here's the third and final part of my nail polish collection overview. If you missed part one and part two, you can check them out here and here.

So let's just get on with it shall we? Any questions, please feel free to ask in the comments!

My GOSH nail polishes

See more pictures of my collection after the jump!

Finished! The September edition

Not too many things this month I'm afraid as I finished an awful lot of products last month and there are quite a few products that I've been using every day and they refuse to die. Hopefully there'll be a lot more next month.

First up is actually a product that I was planning on including in last month's Finished! post, but it simply refused to run out. I used it pretty much every day and it still lasted another month. Actually it still had some life left in it, but since I'd actually had it for about 2 years already, I decided it had to go. It's Givenchy Phenomen'eyes mascara, one of my HG mascaras, I love it, it really works for me. I have reviewed it already, so read this post if you want to know more about it.

See which other products I've finished this month!

Finished! The August Edition

Another month has gone by and I've managed to finish a few more products. Mostly skincare, but there are a couple of mascaras in there too. Let's start with the one thing I don't have a photo for, that's because I took it with me on holiday and managed to leave it behind. It was nearly finished, and since I don't have it any more, I'll consider it finished. What I'm talking about it a sample of Clinique's 7 Day Scrub Cream. It's an okay scrub, but not too special. Certainly not £17 per 100 ml special, so I will not be repurchasing it.

Onto the next Clinique product, I also had a sample of Take The Day Off make up remover. I did like this one very much, it's very effective at removing make up, and I will definitely buy a full sized one once my current Estee Lauder make up remover runs out. The full size (125 ml) costs £14.50, it's not cheap, but it is certainly a very good make up remover.

Read about all the other products I've finished this month and see more pictures!

FOTD: Blue and Purple Look With Urban Decay

I'm having quite an Urban Decay week aren't I? This is the look I did with Rimmel Moisture Renew lipstick in Sweetheart Tulips that I reviewed a few days ago, so I thought I'd do the breakdown for it as I really liked how the eyes turned out. I think Mary Jane is a beautiful shade and also a really great eyeshadow, one of the best ones from Urban Decay. I also love Fishnet, it's a Deluxe eyeshadow and it is beautiful. Let me know what you think in the comments.

To create this look I used the following:

Eyes:
Urban Decay Primer Potion (original)
Urban Decay Mary Jane eyeshadow all over lid and on lower lashline
Urban Decay Psychedellic Sister eyeshadow (UD♥NYC palette) in crease
Urban Decay Fishnet eyeshadow (Deluxe palette) above crease and above inner corner
Urban Decay Hot Pants eyeshadow above crease
Urban Decay Virgin eyeshadow (Naked palette) on browbone to highlight
Urban Decay 24/7 eyeliner pencil in Binge on lower lashline
Givenchy Phenomen'eyes mascara in Black
Mac Brow Set in Show Off

Face:
Guerlain Lingerie de Peau foundation in 03 Beige Naturel
Mac Magically Cool Liquid Powder in Truth & Light
Urban Decay Quickie blush

Lips:
Rimmel Moisture Renew lipstick in Sweetheart Tulips

See more pictures after the jump!

Rimmel Moisture Renew Lipstick #215 Sweetheart Tulips Swatches and Review

Every so often I pull a lipstick out of my ever growing stash that I'd forgotten about and realise how much I actually like it. Rimmel Moisture Renew lipstick in Sweetheart Tulips is one of them. A bright cheerful pink shade, with a nice texture and good price tag is something every girl needs.

I can't really say whether the lipstick itself is moisturising, but it's certainly not drying. I don't normally have dry lips (thank you Vaseline), and they certainly don't feel drier after using this lipstick. It has a nice creamy texture and lasts quite well one me, probably 2 to 3 hours, and it fades pretty evenly. Rimmel lipsticks have a slight plasticy sweet smell, but it's not as strong as some (Maybelline, I'm looking at you!) and disappears quickly anyway. Sweetheart Tulips is a pretty bright, but not too in your face pink shade. Available from Boots for £6.29 (there's currently a free gift offer if you spend over £6 on Rimmel).

What do you think? Would you wear this lipstick? Do you own it already? Let me know in the comments!

See more pictures and swatches after the jump!

Rimmel Colour Mousse 8hr 013 Galaxy & 014 Mermaid

Just a quick post to show you these two shades that I've just recently purchased since I had had very good experience with these mousse shadows and decided not to purchase the Mac Flighty mousse shadows. I have reviewed these once ages ago (see my review here) and also included it in my Back to the Bases video. To sum it up, these are excellent, they go on very smooth and stay put for 12 hours+, don't crease or fade, they make excellent bases and also work very well on their own.

These mousse eyeshadows come in 8 shades, I personally would love to see a lovely green shade added as well, and maybe a silver and a gold too (just checked Rimmel's website and there's also a Gunmetal shade shown there, but I have not seen it in store and it's not on the Boots website - maybe it's new?). Hopefully Rimmel will add to the range if they sell well, which they should as they are excellent and at £4.99 each (plus there's a special offer on these regularly, right now it's 3 for 2 at Boots!) they are very affordable. Do you own any of these? Let me know what you think!

I'll leave you with some more pictures and swatches after the jump!

FOTD: Make A Splash With Rimmel Colour Mousse!

Here's a quick and easy look I've created with Rimmel Colour Mousse in Splash. I used it as cream eyeshadow and just added a bit of highlighter, coloured eyeliner, mascara and voila! As this mousse eyeshadow is absolutely brilliant, it doesn't need a primer and still stays put, doesn't crease or fade all day. It's very easy to apply and I absolutely love this colour, it has a gorgeous gold sheen to it. Just to add, I don't think Rimmel Colour Mousses are waterproof, but I think they'd probably be okay with a bit of splashing.

To create this look I used the following products:

Eyes:
Rimmel Colour Mousse in 004 Splash
Mac White Gold pigment to highlight browbone
Urban Decay 24/7 eyeliner pencil in Zero on lower lashline
Urban Decay 24/7 eyeliner pencil in Electric on lower waterline
Diorshow Black Out mascara in black
Mac Brow Set in Show Off

Cheeks:
Bobbi Brown Apricot Shimmer Brick

Lips:
Mac Thrills lipstick

Sorry, no idea what foundations and setting powder I used for this look, probably Maybelline Dream Satin Liquid and Mac MSF Natural. Anyway, let me know what you think of this look in the comments!


See more pictures after the jump!

Back To The Bases

In the light of Mac's new Flighty collection I've decided to check out what cream eyeshadows and coloured eyeshadow bases I own and created this video. Enjoy!

My holiday make up bag

Since I really enjoy reading about what make up people take on holiday with them, I decided to write my own post about it. As you know (or don't, but will now), I was away in Florida for 2 weeks last month. I always struggle with packing, usually end up taking far too much, clothes, shoes and make up alike, and while I will not go into details about the clothes and shoes, I can assure you, I did the same again - both for me and my 3 children (my husband packs his stuff). I swear we could have left at least one suitcase behind and not be without anything. I mean who would've thought you don't need long trousers, sweaters and raincoats in Florida at Easter? I always pack warm clothes just in case, but honestly, I didn't even wear a light summer cardigan, it was always over 25 degrees even at 10 o'clock in the evening. Anyway, moving swiftly on, here's what I took with me make up-wise:

My 88 Shimmer and Metal Mania palettes

All other make up products I took with me

As you can see, all of the products are fairly cheap, drugstore or similar products. I'm always really afraid to take expensive high end and limited edition products with me in case they get damaged or lost in transit. I find the 88 eyeshadows palettes (especially the Shimmer palette) very useful as they contain all the colours (including some really good highlighters) you ever need. Although the quality of the eyeshadows isn't that good, with a decent primer they lasted through most of the day, and it was usually over 30 degrees, so I guess that's not too bad.

So what else did I take? I managed to photograph it upside down, but you can see my Maybelline Dream Creamy Foundation (reviewed here) which I actually managed to finish on the last day of the holiday, talk about great timing eh? I took my Collection 2000 Illuminating Touch concealer (reviewed here) as well as my  Mac MSFN & Shimmer in Medium, great for setting foundation and highlighting. Not sure why I needed an extra highlighter, but I took a Ruby & Millie one, not sure what it's called though, it's from a set. I took 4 blushes: First Kiss and China Pink by 17, Sleek Rose Gold (see review here) and Laura Geller Tropic Hues (a handy travel sized one, full sized one reviewed here).

I took numerous eyeliners, all Urban Decay 24/7 ones, as I love their eyepencils and I like the variety of colours. I also took 3 mascaras: L'Oreal Telescopic Explosion mascara (reviewed here), Max Factor More Lashes waterproof mascara and a Rimmel waterproof mascara (its name escapes me completely, sorry). For my brows I took my trusty Mac Brow Set in Show Off. And of course my favourite eyeshadow base: Barbara Daly for Tesco (I've reviewed it here).

I took 2 lipliners and 8 lipsticks, plus 4 double ended lipglosses as well as several of my GOSH eyeshadow brushes, 2 blush brushes and a cheepo noname face brush. Oh and a double pencil sharpener.

Now, do you want to see how many of these products I actually used over the 2 weeks? See after the jump!

Rimmel Vinyl Gloss

I have been in a lipstick and lipgloss buying mood lately and as well as the lovely Rose Bikini lipstick (reviewed here) I bought 3 new glosses from Rimmel too. They are called Vinyl Gloss and according to Boots these "have a great shine magnifying formula for beautiful juicy looking lips that are bursting with colour. Its pampering technology features a boosted magnifying Vinyl Shine Complex for a perfectly sculpted pout that is up to 80% shinier! The formula also boasts incredible light refraction and high colour retention for incredibly sexy lips that are sure to catch attention."

Well, I don't know. I mean I like the colours and the formula is nice, non sticky, non drying, but to be honest I have not noticed any magnifying, and I haven't been attracting any more attention lately than before (or certainly not because of these glosses!). They are nice, don't get me wrong, I just hate all this pretentious blah blah.

Anyway, the colours I got are Fashion Icon (coral), Her Majesty (raspberry pink with shimmer) and No Regrets (purple with shimmer). There's also a bit of shimmer in Fashion Icon, but not as much as in the other two. The colours in the tube are very bright, on the lips they're not as bright, but show up well. They cost £4.99 each and there's currently a 3 for 2 offer on these at Boots. Vinyl Glosses are avalable in 14 shades, so there will be something for everyone.

Fashion Icon, Her Majesty, No Regrets

Rimmel Moisture Renew Bronze Lipstick in Rose Bikini

I'd already owned a few shades from Rimmel's Moisture Renew lipsticks, but during my recent trip to Superdrug I discovered some new shades from the Bronze summer range. These lipsticks have SPF20 to protect your lips from the sun and also collagen to hydrate and condition your lips (or something like that!). I picked up shade number 020 Rose Bikini which is a shimmery peachy pink shade with fine gold shimmer. It's great for summer especially if you only want a sheer wash of colour on your lips. It has a really nice texture, glides on easily and doesn't dry the lips. Not very long lasting, ordinary lipsticks don't last too long on me anyway, probably lasts for about 2 hours without eating. I really like this lipstick, it's a lovely summery shade and the quality is great. It costs £5.99 and there's a 3 for 2 offer at Boots right now, so it's an even better deal. See more photos and swatches after the jump.

Rimmel Colour Mousse eyeshadow review take 2

A few days ago I told you about these new cream eyeshadows from Rimmel (you can find my initial review here) and promised I would let you know how they wore once I had a chance to try them out. Well, today is the day!

I don't normally use cream eyeshadows, or if I do, I use them as a base, but some mornings when I don't have time to do a more complex look, I just use one colour on my lids and if I have time I build on it later with powder eyeshadows. I normally use Urban Decay Primer Potion in Sin or Urban Decay cream eyeshadows as they're both excellent bases and look lovely alone too.

But today I decided to try out my new Rimmel eyeshadows, so I can write up a review. The verdict: the are GOOD! I used 005 Glitz all over my eyelid and it applied pretty evenly (also, you only need a tiny amount, so these will last you ages) and didn't crease on me at all.

I took the following pictures after 3 hours of wear and there's really no creasing as you can see. Please do keep in mind though that my eyelids are quite wrinkly (and that is especially visible when using more shimmery eyeshadows) and I have hooded eyes and loads of folds, so if you think you see creasing, it's just my eyelids! :)

I decided to play with it a little and added 012 Mocha in the crease, although it was a little hard to blend because these shadows do dry very quickly. Although I suspect if I had done the whole thing in one go, it would have been easier to blend the two colours together. I do like it that they dry quickly though becasue it means that they don't crease once you open your eyes and with my folds and wrinkles that's a pretty useful thing! :)

Here are some pictures of how the two colours looked together:

Not too bad, but maybe a little rough around the edges. So to finish the look off, I used a highlighter (I used the shimmery side of my Mac MSF Natural and Shimmer powder, but any highlighter or light coloured powder eyeshadow would do) and voila! I think the finished look is really nice. Also, I took these pictures 3 hours ago and I've just checked, still no creasing. So that's 6 hours now since I applied the first colour. I think we're gonna be good for 8 hours (although I hope we'll be good for another 3 on top of that because that will take me right through to supper time and I normally expect my eyeshadows to last until then).

I would definitely recommend these mousse shadows, I think they're nice and make a good creaseless base, although a little hard to blend as they dry quickly. However, with a bit of highlighter, this can be remedied easily.

See photos of the end result and let me know what you think!

Edited to add: After 12 hours still no creasing or flaking. Yay! :)

Rimmel Colour Mousse cream eyeshadow review

I purchased three of these eyeshadows for £4.99 each (2 for 3 offer in Boots) and I have to say I'm pretty happy with them. I bought a couple of the new Estee Lauder cream eyeshadows (blue and purple), but at £15 a pop I didn't feel like buying the beige and brown colours as well. But when I saw these shadows in Boots (especially the brown shade, Mocha caught my eye, which I couldn't buy as they only had some that were already open - hey guys, use testers!), I decided to pick some up. I especially like 006 Get Fresh, a nice light pink shade and 005 Glitz a beige/sandy shade, and while 004 Splash is nice too, it's the least pigmented. They are very soft and glide on nicely, but I can't tell you how longlasting and crease proof they are as i haven't worn them yet. They do claim to last for 8 hours though, so we shall see.

Edited to add: I've found 012 Mocha in my local Superdrug, so added some more pictures. I will let you know how they wear when I've used them.

Anyone's used them? Like them, love them, hate them?

See some pictures...