I don't expect many people to read this post since this blog has been inactive for so long, so I guess I'm mostly just writing this to myself. But if you do read it, feel free to let me know in the comments.
So it's been a long time since I wrote much on here and even then it was mostly about nail polish. That's the only part of my beauty routine that I'm actually varying at all. I do a new mani at least 3 times a week and I've been buying soooo much nail polish, it's shameful. Make up, not so much, although I have bough the odd blush or lipstick, even foundation, I haven't really been keenly following the new releases. I guess it's partly because I have a massive stash already and most of the new releases look similar to what I already have, and I simply don't need any more. Not that I need more nail polish, but that's another matter. Anyway...
Despite owning a massive amount of make up, I have only been using a very small portion of it. Why? Mostly due to lack of time in the morning, partly due to how my make up is stored. So I tend to just use about 5 different blushes and maybe 10 different lipsticks, hardly get around to wearing eyeshadows, and things like highlighters - what's that? This evening I was looking for a couple of old Mac face products as I was reminded of the summer collection from 5 years ago by a blogger and in the process I decided to look through my 6 drawer chest that contains most of my Mac blushes, MSFs, lots of other blushes and a whole drawer full of again, mostly Mac lipglosses. I don't think I'd opened that drawer for a good year if not longer. This gave me an idea.
From now on, starting tomorrow, I'm going to try and use as much of my make up as possible. Instead of frantically trying to find something in the morning, giving up and settling for the same blush I use most days, I will pull out a few products the night before and actually plan my look in advance. I will also document what I wear on here (might not be photos of my face, maybe just the products for starters) as well as keep note of it on a spreadsheet (which I'm yet to put together). Why? Because I need to get out of the rut and realise just how many wonderful products I own and need to use. I will also aim to post pictures of my manis and nail polish purchases which I will also try to finally curb, but that's another matter.
So here we go, first step out of the beauty rut and onto a journey to rediscover my stash. Who's coming with me?
Showing posts with label stash. Show all posts
Showing posts with label stash. Show all posts
Wednesday, 22 April 2015
Friday, 18 January 2013
Guerlain Spring 2013: Meteorites Perles du Paradis
For me the most anticipated product in the Guerlain spring collection was the new Meteorites named Perles du Paradis. As you probably know, I collect Meteorites and if you want, you can check out my extensive collection here (although it doesn't include the holiday Meteorites which you can see by clicking here).
Now about these new Meteorites. They come in a gorgeous light pink cardboard container (the old style, pre-2010 before the tins with the lids) which looks very glam and pretty. It's a larger than normal size (comparable to the 2008 Butterfly Pearls container) and contains 53 g of product which is 23 g more than the regular Meteorites. The pearls are bigger too, probably not quite as large as the Butterfly ones, but prety big. The container also comes with a pink furry powder puff with a black bow on top of it.
When I opened the container and removed the puff I was shocked to see how little there was at the bottom of the container. I know that promo images usually show more products and more vivid colours, but I was still very surprised to see that the container is basically half full and the colours are quite a bit duller than the promo images were. There has to be quite a big gap left for the puff, it's more bulky than the usual sponge on top of the pearls, but it does look rather odd that there are only 2 layers of pearls at the bottom of the container.
Product-wise it's also a little disappointing as I was expecting it to have more of a colour payoff, I was hoping it would be useable as a subtle blush (like the Blushy Blush Red Pearls from years ago). It's not, it's pretty much colourless. It is also not at all shimmery on me, which is a bit odd since they named it "Illuminating Sparkling Powder". It's basically another finishing powder which is fine, because that's what Meteorites are supposed to be. So I'm not saying it's bad, I just probably had a bit high expectations. All in all it's a lovely product, very pretty and smells gorgeous. And the container is just so adorable.
The new Guerlain spring collection is now available from Debenhams, House of Fraser and other department stores and online retailers. You get 53 g product for £43 or it's only £38.70 from Escentual. Debenhams are giving away a free Guerlain mascara sample with every order, plus you get 500 extra points if you spend £35.
See lots more pictures after the jump!
Now about these new Meteorites. They come in a gorgeous light pink cardboard container (the old style, pre-2010 before the tins with the lids) which looks very glam and pretty. It's a larger than normal size (comparable to the 2008 Butterfly Pearls container) and contains 53 g of product which is 23 g more than the regular Meteorites. The pearls are bigger too, probably not quite as large as the Butterfly ones, but prety big. The container also comes with a pink furry powder puff with a black bow on top of it.
When I opened the container and removed the puff I was shocked to see how little there was at the bottom of the container. I know that promo images usually show more products and more vivid colours, but I was still very surprised to see that the container is basically half full and the colours are quite a bit duller than the promo images were. There has to be quite a big gap left for the puff, it's more bulky than the usual sponge on top of the pearls, but it does look rather odd that there are only 2 layers of pearls at the bottom of the container.
Product-wise it's also a little disappointing as I was expecting it to have more of a colour payoff, I was hoping it would be useable as a subtle blush (like the Blushy Blush Red Pearls from years ago). It's not, it's pretty much colourless. It is also not at all shimmery on me, which is a bit odd since they named it "Illuminating Sparkling Powder". It's basically another finishing powder which is fine, because that's what Meteorites are supposed to be. So I'm not saying it's bad, I just probably had a bit high expectations. All in all it's a lovely product, very pretty and smells gorgeous. And the container is just so adorable.
The new Guerlain spring collection is now available from Debenhams, House of Fraser and other department stores and online retailers. You get 53 g product for £43 or it's only £38.70 from Escentual. Debenhams are giving away a free Guerlain mascara sample with every order, plus you get 500 extra points if you spend £35.
See lots more pictures after the jump!
Monday, 14 January 2013
Topshop Nail Polish Swatches
In my 2012 Favourites post I showed you some of my Topshop nail polishes, a brand I discovered and grown to love in the last year and I thought I might as well show you what they looked like swatched. Since I never have time to do proper nail swatches, I have finally acquired some nail wheels and put them to good use.
These are just some of my Topshop polishes, I actually own 35 of them, these are just my most recent purchases. I cannot go into Topshop and not buy their nail polishes, they always have so many lovely colours, glitters, duochromes, the lot.
The swatches below were done with two coats. I have already shown you Rising Star (click here to see details), so I decided not to scoop out any of the stars for the swatches because there aren't that many of them in the bottle. As you can see, some of the glitter polishes would work best on top of a darker colour, also Plume would probably look more amazing on top of a black polish to bring out its duochrome quality best. Some of them though are nicely opaque in just two coats.
See lost more pictures after the jump!
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| Front row: Mercury Rising, Plume, Ashes & Fire, Hope Floats, Sleepwalker, Bowl Me Over Back row: Rising Star, Neptune, Dark Knight, Brazil, Jem, 3D |
These are just some of my Topshop polishes, I actually own 35 of them, these are just my most recent purchases. I cannot go into Topshop and not buy their nail polishes, they always have so many lovely colours, glitters, duochromes, the lot.
The swatches below were done with two coats. I have already shown you Rising Star (click here to see details), so I decided not to scoop out any of the stars for the swatches because there aren't that many of them in the bottle. As you can see, some of the glitter polishes would work best on top of a darker colour, also Plume would probably look more amazing on top of a black polish to bring out its duochrome quality best. Some of them though are nicely opaque in just two coats.
See lost more pictures after the jump!
Friday, 4 January 2013
2012 Favourites - Part 1: Lips
As it's now a new year, I thought I'd do a recap of my favourite make up products of 2012. I'll only included products that were either newly released in 2012 or new to me, no point in me repeating myself over and over again (I still love Vaseline and Pleasureflush MSF is still my favourite highlighter, nothing new there).
So I'll start with lip products. The brand that stood out for me in 2012 when I think of new lip products was definitely Revlon. While I still love Guerlain lipsticks very much and wear them often when going out, on days when I'm staying in or not needing a bolder lip colour, I often opt for Revlon's Lip Butters. I acquired 10 of them over the course of the year and they've become my most used lip products.
They are moisturising, very comfortable to wear and some of them are absolutely gorgeous and actually pretty pigmented. On days when I don't need to wear lipstick but want something more colourful then Vaseline, I reach for these, and of course some of them double up as lipstick due to their fantastic pigmentation. Raspberry Pie, Lollipop and Sweet Tart are my absolute favourite shades. I did a full review on these Lip Butters here, so if you need any more details, check it out!
See which other products I loved in 2012 after the jump!
So I'll start with lip products. The brand that stood out for me in 2012 when I think of new lip products was definitely Revlon. While I still love Guerlain lipsticks very much and wear them often when going out, on days when I'm staying in or not needing a bolder lip colour, I often opt for Revlon's Lip Butters. I acquired 10 of them over the course of the year and they've become my most used lip products.
They are moisturising, very comfortable to wear and some of them are absolutely gorgeous and actually pretty pigmented. On days when I don't need to wear lipstick but want something more colourful then Vaseline, I reach for these, and of course some of them double up as lipstick due to their fantastic pigmentation. Raspberry Pie, Lollipop and Sweet Tart are my absolute favourite shades. I did a full review on these Lip Butters here, so if you need any more details, check it out!
See which other products I loved in 2012 after the jump!
Saturday, 22 December 2012
Chantecaille Painting in Venice Palette Review and Swatches
If you've been reading my blog for a while you will know that I love Chantecaille and have quite an extensive collection of their pretty palettes and powders. I also have a couple of big palettes that I've managed to buy on eBay for much less than their retails price (which is somewhere around the £130 mark here in the UK) and now I have a new addition to my collection: the Paining in Venice palette.
I believe this palette was released in 2003 and it contains 7 eyeshadows and one blush. Most of the shades are actually permanent, but the beauty of this palette is that even though it's really expensive, it's still a great value. Refills for Chantecaille palettes cost $25/£23 each, that makes $200/£184 plus the empty "Ma" palette (the large 8 pan palette) costs an extra $52/£48(?). So $135/£135 is really a bargain, right?
Of course it's not just about the money, Chantecaille products are very high quality and the colours in this palette are really lovely. You get cheek shade in Joy which is a bright rosy pink colour, and 7 eyeshadows in Lasting and Shine finish: Agate, Freesia, Pyrite, Lemongrass, Peony, Patchouli and Perle. They are all really lovely and well pigmented, smooth and blendable, plus they stay on all day without creasing (over a primer).
I bought this palette on eBay and paid $80 plus $15 shipping, so it was certainly a lot cheaper than even the original retail price. Plus this isn't actually available anymore, although most of the shades are. Anyway, I'm very happy with it and will be keeping an eye out for other palettes on eBay.
You can see my rather out of date post on my Chantecaille collection that also contains my other two big Chantecaille palettes by clicking here.
See more pictures including swatches after the jump!
I believe this palette was released in 2003 and it contains 7 eyeshadows and one blush. Most of the shades are actually permanent, but the beauty of this palette is that even though it's really expensive, it's still a great value. Refills for Chantecaille palettes cost $25/£23 each, that makes $200/£184 plus the empty "Ma" palette (the large 8 pan palette) costs an extra $52/£48(?). So $135/£135 is really a bargain, right?
Of course it's not just about the money, Chantecaille products are very high quality and the colours in this palette are really lovely. You get cheek shade in Joy which is a bright rosy pink colour, and 7 eyeshadows in Lasting and Shine finish: Agate, Freesia, Pyrite, Lemongrass, Peony, Patchouli and Perle. They are all really lovely and well pigmented, smooth and blendable, plus they stay on all day without creasing (over a primer).
I bought this palette on eBay and paid $80 plus $15 shipping, so it was certainly a lot cheaper than even the original retail price. Plus this isn't actually available anymore, although most of the shades are. Anyway, I'm very happy with it and will be keeping an eye out for other palettes on eBay.
You can see my rather out of date post on my Chantecaille collection that also contains my other two big Chantecaille palettes by clicking here.
See more pictures including swatches after the jump!
Monday, 3 December 2012
Mac Sequin Lipstick Review and Swatches
This is not a new purchase, but I wore it the other day and felt it was rather unappreciated in my collection, because it's actually a really lovely shade. I bought Mac Sequin lipstick with my Back to Mac empties a while (2 years or so) ago, but I've not really given it much love.
Sequin lipstick is a frost finish, so can be a little uneven, but two layers should sort that out. Mac says is "plum-pink with pink shimmer", but it looks more brown-pink on me. It's a nice colour and it's very suitable for my colouring. It lasted on me for an average 2-3 hours depending on whether I drank anything or not, it did not last through eating.
As with other Mac lipsticks it costs £14 for 3 g. Sequin is one of Mac's permanent lipsticks, so it is available to purchase at any time. Check it out next time you're at a Mac counter!
See more pictures including swatches after the jump!
Sequin lipstick is a frost finish, so can be a little uneven, but two layers should sort that out. Mac says is "plum-pink with pink shimmer", but it looks more brown-pink on me. It's a nice colour and it's very suitable for my colouring. It lasted on me for an average 2-3 hours depending on whether I drank anything or not, it did not last through eating.
As with other Mac lipsticks it costs £14 for 3 g. Sequin is one of Mac's permanent lipsticks, so it is available to purchase at any time. Check it out next time you're at a Mac counter!
See more pictures including swatches after the jump!
Saturday, 24 November 2012
NOTD: Enchanted Polish Once Upon A Time
Time for another NOTD post. This time it's Enchanted Polish Once Upon A Time. Enchanted Polish is quickly becoming one of my favourite nail polish brands, their polishes are really gorgeous and quite different to everything I own. Although having said that, Once Upon A Time did actually remind me of China Glaze Liquid Crystal, only better.
The glitter particles in this polish are smaller than in Liquid Crystal, making the whole effect smoother, and this also has subtle holo, something I love in Enchanted Polish nail polishes. This was the polish I wore in my Nail Polish Stash And Storage Video if you want to see it "in action".
I used 2 coats for the coverage you see in the pictures,which is pretty opaque. I had a tiny chip after about 24 hours and managed to chip another nail quite badly the next day, but after patching it up I wore it for the total of 4 days. So all in all, a good little nail polish. I bought mine from Llarowe, it cost $15 for 15 ml, although sadly it's not available anymore. The only downside of this brand is its very limited availability. She only makes them in very small batches and once they're gone, they're gone. If you like this though, check out China Glaze Liquid Crystal for a similar effect.
See more pictures after the jump!
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| Taken without flash in direct sunlight |
The glitter particles in this polish are smaller than in Liquid Crystal, making the whole effect smoother, and this also has subtle holo, something I love in Enchanted Polish nail polishes. This was the polish I wore in my Nail Polish Stash And Storage Video if you want to see it "in action".
I used 2 coats for the coverage you see in the pictures,which is pretty opaque. I had a tiny chip after about 24 hours and managed to chip another nail quite badly the next day, but after patching it up I wore it for the total of 4 days. So all in all, a good little nail polish. I bought mine from Llarowe, it cost $15 for 15 ml, although sadly it's not available anymore. The only downside of this brand is its very limited availability. She only makes them in very small batches and once they're gone, they're gone. If you like this though, check out China Glaze Liquid Crystal for a similar effect.
See more pictures after the jump!
Thursday, 25 October 2012
My Guerlain Holiday 2012 Haul Part 4 - Meteorites Wulong Exceptional Pressed Powder
The most anticipated items of the new Guerlain Holiday 2012 Collection for me were the Meteorites Perles and Meteorites Wulong Voyage Powder. I collect these two powders and am always very eager to purchase them.
This year's Wulong Voyage Powder is very similar to the permanent Mythic powder and the limited edition Imperial powder form 2009, only the colours are different. I prefer these powders to have more intricate designs, like 2010's Poudre D'Or or 2008's Radiant Butterfly Voyage Powder, but I'll take what I can get anyway.
Voyage Powders are basically Meteorites in pressed form, which means they're more travel friendly. These powders are the ultimate luxury items, the powders are gorgeous, soft, velvety, and they come in gorgeous compacts. This year's compact is black with mother of pearl rosette detailing. These compacts are very expensive, with the product costing £110, the powder refills are around £30 so the compact is basically the difference. They are, obviously, refillable, but you can't normally get the limited edition refill, only the permanent Mythic powder refill.
You get 7.5 g of powder, so gram per gram these compacts are way more expensive than the loose Meteorites Perles, but they make an excellent collector's item and these compacts are just so cool to pull out in the ladies room. Incidentally, if you watch Homeland, did you notice Carrie had one of these (the permanent compact) in one of the earlier episodes?
I apologise I haven't swatched this yet, I didn't want to mess up the powder until I get myself a back up (yes, I am that crazy). I managed to get this one on eBay for quite a bit less than £110, so hoping to be able to score another one, if not on eBay, then in the after Christmas sales.
As you know, I collect these beauties and in case you haven't see my collection, you can check it out here, although it needs updating as those pictures don't include Poudre D'Or (which you can see by clicking here) or Wulong.
PS. My computer monitor has broken, so I'm typing this on my laptop. Hopefully I'll be able to get a replacement monitor tomorrow, because I really hate editing pictures and typing on the laptop, but in the meantime, please bear with me.
See more pictures after the jump!
This year's Wulong Voyage Powder is very similar to the permanent Mythic powder and the limited edition Imperial powder form 2009, only the colours are different. I prefer these powders to have more intricate designs, like 2010's Poudre D'Or or 2008's Radiant Butterfly Voyage Powder, but I'll take what I can get anyway.
Voyage Powders are basically Meteorites in pressed form, which means they're more travel friendly. These powders are the ultimate luxury items, the powders are gorgeous, soft, velvety, and they come in gorgeous compacts. This year's compact is black with mother of pearl rosette detailing. These compacts are very expensive, with the product costing £110, the powder refills are around £30 so the compact is basically the difference. They are, obviously, refillable, but you can't normally get the limited edition refill, only the permanent Mythic powder refill.
You get 7.5 g of powder, so gram per gram these compacts are way more expensive than the loose Meteorites Perles, but they make an excellent collector's item and these compacts are just so cool to pull out in the ladies room. Incidentally, if you watch Homeland, did you notice Carrie had one of these (the permanent compact) in one of the earlier episodes?
I apologise I haven't swatched this yet, I didn't want to mess up the powder until I get myself a back up (yes, I am that crazy). I managed to get this one on eBay for quite a bit less than £110, so hoping to be able to score another one, if not on eBay, then in the after Christmas sales.
As you know, I collect these beauties and in case you haven't see my collection, you can check it out here, although it needs updating as those pictures don't include Poudre D'Or (which you can see by clicking here) or Wulong.
PS. My computer monitor has broken, so I'm typing this on my laptop. Hopefully I'll be able to get a replacement monitor tomorrow, because I really hate editing pictures and typing on the laptop, but in the meantime, please bear with me.
See more pictures after the jump!
Sunday, 21 October 2012
Update On My No-Buy
You might remember this post about me going on a lipstick, lipgloss and nail polish no-buy a month ago, so I thought I'd do a little update on how I've been getting on.
I'll start with the good bit. I have only bought 4 lipsticks over the last month and those were all on my wishlist, so that's all good. I have now reached my 400 limit, so now I have to be very strong and not buy any more. I can still buy 4 lipglosses until I reach my limit of 600, I have only bought the 3 Mac By Request ones lately. I've not been tempted by any, so hopefully I'll be able to resist beyond the 4 I'm allowed.
Now onto the bad bit. I am embarassed to say that I have totally and utterly failed when it comes to not buying nail polish. The bag in the picture above contains over 70 polishes and I bought most of them in the past month. This is now a serious addiction I have to address. I think the problem with nail polish is that there are always so many new colours, glitters, holos, it's very hard to resist, whereas once you have 10 red lipsticks, you're pretty much set.
So I have decided I really must stop buying them now. There are a few I absolutely must buy (Echanted Polish Magical Mystery Tour and I Am A Walrus for example), but after that I will write a wish list for every nail polish I see and think "ooh, I must have this" and then only allow myself a few (5?) every month. That way I really will only buy the ones I really really want and hopefully think twice about whether I actually need a certain shade.
For now I have on my wishlist: Color Club Halo Hues polishes (x6), Gift Of Sparkle, Fame And Fortune, Zoya Aurora, Blaze, Electra, OPI Polka.com (Spring 2013), Butter London Scuppered and Shambolic.
Wish me luck! I will update again in a month's time.
I'll start with the good bit. I have only bought 4 lipsticks over the last month and those were all on my wishlist, so that's all good. I have now reached my 400 limit, so now I have to be very strong and not buy any more. I can still buy 4 lipglosses until I reach my limit of 600, I have only bought the 3 Mac By Request ones lately. I've not been tempted by any, so hopefully I'll be able to resist beyond the 4 I'm allowed.
Now onto the bad bit. I am embarassed to say that I have totally and utterly failed when it comes to not buying nail polish. The bag in the picture above contains over 70 polishes and I bought most of them in the past month. This is now a serious addiction I have to address. I think the problem with nail polish is that there are always so many new colours, glitters, holos, it's very hard to resist, whereas once you have 10 red lipsticks, you're pretty much set.
So I have decided I really must stop buying them now. There are a few I absolutely must buy (Echanted Polish Magical Mystery Tour and I Am A Walrus for example), but after that I will write a wish list for every nail polish I see and think "ooh, I must have this" and then only allow myself a few (5?) every month. That way I really will only buy the ones I really really want and hopefully think twice about whether I actually need a certain shade.
For now I have on my wishlist: Color Club Halo Hues polishes (x6), Gift Of Sparkle, Fame And Fortune, Zoya Aurora, Blaze, Electra, OPI Polka.com (Spring 2013), Butter London Scuppered and Shambolic.
Wish me luck! I will update again in a month's time.
Thursday, 20 September 2012
I'm going on a no-buy!
Okay, first of all can I just say how much I hate the new Blogger layout? The older one was so much easier to use and I can see this is going to take me a lot of time to get used to. Meh.
Anyway I have decided that due to the number of products in my stash I have to go on a no-buy*. I have been addicted to buying make up all the time for the past 4 years or so and have accumulated a crazy amount. The worst areas are lipsticks, lipglosses and nail polish. I now have nearly 1000 lip products (over half of them are lipglosses) and over 500 nail polishes. There is just no way I can even make a dent in them let alone use most of them up in the next year or two. So I have decided it has to stop. (*I've just re-read my post and want to clarify that the no-buy only relates to lipsticks, lipglosses and nail polish, just in case you all think I'm going to give up buying make up altogether!)
I am going to allow myself 4 more lipsticks and 8 more lipglosses until I reach the magic 1000, and then I will stop buying them. I have given myself a very few exceptions, like limited edition Guerlain Rouge G lipsticks (I love those too much) and Mac Dazzleglasses, possibly Lip Gelees. Do you know what? It's actually been quite liberating to not be able to go out and buy lots of lipsticks, I've been carefully planning what to do with my last few remaining choices, and have only bought 3 lipsticks in the last 3 months. I still have one choice left after buying lipsticks from the Mac By Request collection and I don't know what it's going to be yet. It's almost exciting!
Nail polishes as well, I have bought so many over the past couple of years, it would take me 1.5 years to use them all if I painted my nails every day. Which I don't do. So let's make it 3 years, and that's only using them once each. Yes, it is that crazy.
So I guess what I'm saying here is that you won't be seeing many reviews on lipsticks and lipglosses in the future, but on the other hand you will be seeing lots more nail polish posts and I will maybe continue with the "Swatching my stash" posts because that way I can also be reminded what lipsticks I already own and not be sad about not being able to buy a new one.
How long will the no-buy last, I don't know. Initially I'm thinking a year. Then we'll see. Right now even that sounds thoroughly scary, but I just have to be strong. I will no doubt continue to buy other type of make up, so that should help too. It's not like I actually need any more make up for a year (or ten!), but I can't go cold turkey. Make up is my hobby, my passion, so it would be like giving up a small part of me and that would certainly not be nice.
Right, enough waffling. Feel free to let me know in the comments if you've ever done a no-buy and how it went.
Anyway I have decided that due to the number of products in my stash I have to go on a no-buy*. I have been addicted to buying make up all the time for the past 4 years or so and have accumulated a crazy amount. The worst areas are lipsticks, lipglosses and nail polish. I now have nearly 1000 lip products (over half of them are lipglosses) and over 500 nail polishes. There is just no way I can even make a dent in them let alone use most of them up in the next year or two. So I have decided it has to stop. (*I've just re-read my post and want to clarify that the no-buy only relates to lipsticks, lipglosses and nail polish, just in case you all think I'm going to give up buying make up altogether!)
I am going to allow myself 4 more lipsticks and 8 more lipglosses until I reach the magic 1000, and then I will stop buying them. I have given myself a very few exceptions, like limited edition Guerlain Rouge G lipsticks (I love those too much) and Mac Dazzleglasses, possibly Lip Gelees. Do you know what? It's actually been quite liberating to not be able to go out and buy lots of lipsticks, I've been carefully planning what to do with my last few remaining choices, and have only bought 3 lipsticks in the last 3 months. I still have one choice left after buying lipsticks from the Mac By Request collection and I don't know what it's going to be yet. It's almost exciting!
Nail polishes as well, I have bought so many over the past couple of years, it would take me 1.5 years to use them all if I painted my nails every day. Which I don't do. So let's make it 3 years, and that's only using them once each. Yes, it is that crazy.
So I guess what I'm saying here is that you won't be seeing many reviews on lipsticks and lipglosses in the future, but on the other hand you will be seeing lots more nail polish posts and I will maybe continue with the "Swatching my stash" posts because that way I can also be reminded what lipsticks I already own and not be sad about not being able to buy a new one.
How long will the no-buy last, I don't know. Initially I'm thinking a year. Then we'll see. Right now even that sounds thoroughly scary, but I just have to be strong. I will no doubt continue to buy other type of make up, so that should help too. It's not like I actually need any more make up for a year (or ten!), but I can't go cold turkey. Make up is my hobby, my passion, so it would be like giving up a small part of me and that would certainly not be nice.
Right, enough waffling. Feel free to let me know in the comments if you've ever done a no-buy and how it went.
Wednesday, 12 September 2012
My Nail Polish Stash and Storage Video (and Lots of Pictures!)
I've spent a couple of days re-organising my nail polish storage and creating a spreadsheet, so I know exactly where every single one of them are, so I though I would show you the fruit of my hard work. Also I enjoy looking at other people's stashes, so hope you enjoy it too.
I have also taken pictures of the contents of each box and separate packs, so if you're interested, have a look! No individual pictures, but I did do a rather extensive series on my nail polish stash last November, so click here if you'd like to check it out.
See lots more pictures after the jump!
I have also taken pictures of the contents of each box and separate packs, so if you're interested, have a look! No individual pictures, but I did do a rather extensive series on my nail polish stash last November, so click here if you'd like to check it out.
See lots more pictures after the jump!
Saturday, 30 June 2012
My Guerlain Meteorites Collection - Updated Pictures June 2012
It's been a while since I last took some pictures of my Guerlain Meteorites collection, I thought it would be about time to do so. I now own 24 Meteorites which is almost every one ever released, I'm still missing 2 or 3 old ones (pre-2000), and I have a feeling I may not come by those as it's been too long. But let's not dwell on the past, let's look at what I actually own. 24 boxes of gorgeousness, that is. Enjoy!
See lots more pictures of my Meteorites collection after the jump!
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| My Meteorites collection (closed) |
See lots more pictures of my Meteorites collection after the jump!
Friday, 13 January 2012
Photos of My Chanel Eyeshadow Collection
I'm a bit frustrated at the moment because I have a very dry and itchy patch on my left eyelid and I've not been able to wear eye make up other than mascara, but there are so many products that I want to test and review and I can't. So I was scratching my head trying to come up with something to do a post about and I came up with this: I'm going to show you my Chanel eyeshadow collection. And here it is:
As you can see, I own a lot of quads, but there are a few singles, a duo and some of the new gel/cream eyeshadows, Illusion D'Ombre. I have most of the latest quads and a good few older releases, some of those I bought from eBay, so some are more used than others. I also have a quad that I'm pretty sure is fake, but it is so pretty, I haven't been able to make myself throw it out.
So without further ado, here are some more detailed pictures, hope you enjoy looking at them. I'm not doing swatches as well, but if you have any questions/requests, let me know in the comments!
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| All my Chanel eyeshadows |
As you can see, I own a lot of quads, but there are a few singles, a duo and some of the new gel/cream eyeshadows, Illusion D'Ombre. I have most of the latest quads and a good few older releases, some of those I bought from eBay, so some are more used than others. I also have a quad that I'm pretty sure is fake, but it is so pretty, I haven't been able to make myself throw it out.
So without further ado, here are some more detailed pictures, hope you enjoy looking at them. I'm not doing swatches as well, but if you have any questions/requests, let me know in the comments!
Sunday, 11 December 2011
More Guerlain Rouge Automatique Lipstick Swatches - 100, 163, 164
You might remember that a while ago I swatched all my Guerlain lipsticks including the new(ish) Rouge Automatique ones (you can find my post here). Well, since then I have acquired a few more of them (including the two Holiday Collection Rouge Automatiques which I reviewed here), so I thought I'd do a quick post on these. If you want to read more about the formula and packaging, please check out this post.
I have shades 100 Apres L'Ondee, 163 Rose Bengale and 164 Chamade to show you. Apres L'Ondee is a nude pinky brown, Rose Bengale is a pinky rosy colour and Chamade is less pink, more rosy brown. I know, I suck at describing shades. Anyway, see for yourselves what the swatches look like.
Do you own any Guerlain lipsticks? Which ones are your favourites? Feel free to let me know in the comments!
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| 100 Apres L'Ondee, 163 Rose Bengale, 164 Chamade |
I have shades 100 Apres L'Ondee, 163 Rose Bengale and 164 Chamade to show you. Apres L'Ondee is a nude pinky brown, Rose Bengale is a pinky rosy colour and Chamade is less pink, more rosy brown. I know, I suck at describing shades. Anyway, see for yourselves what the swatches look like.
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| 100 Apres L'Ondee, 163 Rose Bengale, 164 Chamade Taken with flash |
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| 100 Apres L'Ondee, 163 Rose Bengale, 164 Chamade Taken without flash in direct sunlight |
Do you own any Guerlain lipsticks? Which ones are your favourites? Feel free to let me know in the comments!
Sunday, 27 November 2011
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!
See more pictures of my collection after the jump!
So let's just get on with it shall we? Any questions, please feel free to ask in the comments!
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| My GOSH nail polishes |
See more pictures of my collection after the jump!
Saturday, 26 November 2011
My Ever Growing Nail Polish Collection Part 2 - Zoya, Color Club, Mac, Nails Inc.
Here's the second part of my nail polish stash post, if you missed part one, you can check it out here. And don' forget to come back soon to see part three!
As you will see below, a lot of my nail polish sets are still in boxes, this is partly because I haven't used them yet (Color Club), or because they are actually more convenient to store like that. I apologise for being too lazy to remove them from the packs. If you really want to see detailed pictures, let me know in the comments and I'll see what I can do.
First up are my magnetic polishes, I only own these 3, and actually didn't like them much, so won't be buying more of them. I might just sell thm actually.
See more pictures of my stash after the jump!
As you will see below, a lot of my nail polish sets are still in boxes, this is partly because I haven't used them yet (Color Club), or because they are actually more convenient to store like that. I apologise for being too lazy to remove them from the packs. If you really want to see detailed pictures, let me know in the comments and I'll see what I can do.
First up are my magnetic polishes, I only own these 3, and actually didn't like them much, so won't be buying more of them. I might just sell thm actually.
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| Nails Inc and 17 magnetic polishes |
See more pictures of my stash after the jump!
Friday, 25 November 2011
My Ever Growing Nail Polish Collection Part 1 - OPI, China Glaze, Orly, Mavala
I had some requests to show off my nail polish collection, so here it is. I'm going to do it in 3 parts because I have a lot of nail polishes, so make sure you check out part 2 and part 3 as well!
Would you believe it that just a couple of years ago all the nail polish I owned fitted into this box?
Wanna see what's inside? A bit boring really, but here you go:
A bit samey, all pastels and hardly any colour. I just wasn't into nail polish, mainly because my nails are really thin and bendy, so nail polish chips off within a matter of days, and I couldn't be bothered to repaint them all the time, so I just used barely there shades. What's changed? I realised that there were some really gorgeous nail polishes out there from brands I'd never heard of! I also realised that nail polishes come in seasonal collections like make up, which of course made me buy even more so I don't miss out. And suddenly I don't mind painting my nails every 2-3 days. At the last count I had 130 nail polishes, which is really crazy, especially as some (most of them are large 15 ml sizes). I will now have to stop buying them and be sure to use them all, although that will certainly take a while. I'd say about 75% of the nail polish I own has not been used yet, so I'd better get cracking!
Without further ado, here are the detailed pictures. I haven't put the shade names down simply because it would take too long, but if you have any questions, just ask in the comments! Enjoy!
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| Some of my nail polish stash |
Would you believe it that just a couple of years ago all the nail polish I owned fitted into this box?
Wanna see what's inside? A bit boring really, but here you go:
A bit samey, all pastels and hardly any colour. I just wasn't into nail polish, mainly because my nails are really thin and bendy, so nail polish chips off within a matter of days, and I couldn't be bothered to repaint them all the time, so I just used barely there shades. What's changed? I realised that there were some really gorgeous nail polishes out there from brands I'd never heard of! I also realised that nail polishes come in seasonal collections like make up, which of course made me buy even more so I don't miss out. And suddenly I don't mind painting my nails every 2-3 days. At the last count I had 130 nail polishes, which is really crazy, especially as some (most of them are large 15 ml sizes). I will now have to stop buying them and be sure to use them all, although that will certainly take a while. I'd say about 75% of the nail polish I own has not been used yet, so I'd better get cracking!
Without further ado, here are the detailed pictures. I haven't put the shade names down simply because it would take too long, but if you have any questions, just ask in the comments! Enjoy!
Tuesday, 18 October 2011
The Great 30 Day Lipstick Challenge - Week 4 and Conclusion
The Great 30 Day Lipstick Challenge has now come to an end. 30 days and 30 lipsticks later I'm very happy I decided to do this challenge. I managed to use lipsticks I'd not actually used at all, also rediscovered some old favourites and found that some I wasn't too keen on at first I actually quite like after all. I also ended up throwing out one very funny smelling one (it wasn't even that old, I don't know what happened there), and put 3 up for sale - by the way, check out my Blog Sale if you haven't yet done so! I think I will definitely do this again, but right now I need to give some love to my other lipsticks. So many lipstick, so little time!
This post includes the last 9 lipsticks and once again I managed to choose a good variety of brands and colours. The lipsticks I used this week are:
1. MyFace Gigabite lipstick in 155 Strawberry Fields
2. Revlon Super Lustrous lipstick in 457 Wild Orchid
3. Mac lipstick in Costa Chic
4. Collection 2000 Volume Sensation lipstick in 4 Plum Perfection
5. No 7 Moisture Drench lipstick in 30 Plum Beautiful
6. No 7 Mirrorball lipstick
7. Urban Decay lipstick in Naked
8. Lancome L'Absolu Rouge in Voile de Rose
9. Mac lipstick in Playtime
Find out what I thought about these lipsticks and see more pictures including swatches after the jump!
This post includes the last 9 lipsticks and once again I managed to choose a good variety of brands and colours. The lipsticks I used this week are:
1. MyFace Gigabite lipstick in 155 Strawberry Fields
2. Revlon Super Lustrous lipstick in 457 Wild Orchid
3. Mac lipstick in Costa Chic
4. Collection 2000 Volume Sensation lipstick in 4 Plum Perfection
5. No 7 Moisture Drench lipstick in 30 Plum Beautiful
6. No 7 Mirrorball lipstick
7. Urban Decay lipstick in Naked
8. Lancome L'Absolu Rouge in Voile de Rose
9. Mac lipstick in Playtime
Find out what I thought about these lipsticks and see more pictures including swatches after the jump!
Tuesday, 11 October 2011
Lightscapade, Lightscapade, What Has Happened To You?
When I first heard about Lightscapade MSF being repromoted, I was very excited, because as you know, I love my MSFs and my highlighters and Lightscapade is one of my prettiest MSFs. It was first released in 2006 with the Danse collection and I was lucky enough to buy it a couple of years ago for not too crazy money. My old Lightscapade is a mix of pink, blue, yellow, orange and cream, the colours are quite vivid, but still give a very subtle colour making it one of the prettiest highlighters I own. So I was very excited to purchase some back ups when Mac's Fall Collection came out last week.
Unfortunately, it seems that this time around Mac didn't manage to produce the same powder. I ordered 2 from Debenhams online and then went to my local counter to see if I can pick out one with more colourful veining, but as you can see from the picture above, I didn't really succeed. The powder on the top is the one I hand picked and possibly has the most colour, but still is mainly beige and the veining is very pale. I literally looked through several Lightscapades at the counter and they all looked like the ones above. Quite disappointed really.
You can see in the picture below how much more colourful my old Lightscapade is (the one in the top right corner in case you haven't guessed). Fortunately I still have plenty of left of my old Lightscapade and despite the new ones looking quite disappointing, they swatch quite similarly, so the overall highlighting effect isn't that different. I've included a swatch picture at the bottom of the post, so make sure you scroll down all the way.
All in all, I am pretty disappointed not to have been able to buy another pretty colourful Lightscapade, but at least I have managed to pick up some which was already quite a big achievement considering how quickly it had sold out online. All in all, it's still a lovely highlighter and I hope everyone who wanted it managed to pick up one (or two).
See lots more pictures including a swatch picture after the jump!
Unfortunately, it seems that this time around Mac didn't manage to produce the same powder. I ordered 2 from Debenhams online and then went to my local counter to see if I can pick out one with more colourful veining, but as you can see from the picture above, I didn't really succeed. The powder on the top is the one I hand picked and possibly has the most colour, but still is mainly beige and the veining is very pale. I literally looked through several Lightscapades at the counter and they all looked like the ones above. Quite disappointed really.
You can see in the picture below how much more colourful my old Lightscapade is (the one in the top right corner in case you haven't guessed). Fortunately I still have plenty of left of my old Lightscapade and despite the new ones looking quite disappointing, they swatch quite similarly, so the overall highlighting effect isn't that different. I've included a swatch picture at the bottom of the post, so make sure you scroll down all the way.
All in all, I am pretty disappointed not to have been able to buy another pretty colourful Lightscapade, but at least I have managed to pick up some which was already quite a big achievement considering how quickly it had sold out online. All in all, it's still a lovely highlighter and I hope everyone who wanted it managed to pick up one (or two).
See lots more pictures including a swatch picture after the jump!
Friday, 7 October 2011
The Great 30 Day Lipstick Challenge - Week 3
Now that I'm into the second half of my 30 day lipstick challenge, I am having more of a difficulty picking out the lipsticks I want to wear. Even though there are approx. 60 lipsticks in the box with a variety of different shades and finishes, I feel that I find it hard choosing. Also I want to make sure I choose from different brands, so it's not too boring for you either. This week I actually used lipsticks from 6 brands and managed to choose a variety of shades too, so not too bad. We'll see how the last 9 days go, although this has been good fun, my Guerlain and Chanel lipsticks are calling my name. It's funny though as I suspect many of you out there don't even have 60 lipsticks, but obviously I get bored quickly and need to have a lot of them to keep me happy.
Anyway these are the lipsticks I wore this week:
1. Lancome L'Absolu Rouge in shade 350
2. No7 Moisture Drench lipstick in 50 Cameo
3. L'Occitane Pivoine Flora lipstick in 02 Rose Pique
4. Revlon Super Lustrous lipstick in 440 Cherries In The Snow
5. Maybelline ColorSensational lipstick in 148 Summer Pink
6. Mac Sheen Supreme Lipstick in Full Speed
7. Revlon Super Lustrous lipstick in 415 Pink In The Afternoon
Find out what I thought about these lipsticks and see swatches (including lip swatches) after the jump!
Anyway these are the lipsticks I wore this week:
1. Lancome L'Absolu Rouge in shade 350
2. No7 Moisture Drench lipstick in 50 Cameo
3. L'Occitane Pivoine Flora lipstick in 02 Rose Pique
4. Revlon Super Lustrous lipstick in 440 Cherries In The Snow
5. Maybelline ColorSensational lipstick in 148 Summer Pink
6. Mac Sheen Supreme Lipstick in Full Speed
7. Revlon Super Lustrous lipstick in 415 Pink In The Afternoon
Find out what I thought about these lipsticks and see swatches (including lip swatches) after the jump!
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