Bargain Hunting: Too Faced Eye Shadow from T.K. Maxx

Well hey there peoples, look at this, two blog posts in the space of one week - you're sat down for that piece of information, right? Phew, because I'd really hate for anyone to hurt themselves ;)

So, yep, you guessed it. I have been a-bargain hunting yet again - there is virtually nothing quite as satisfying as finding something super cheap is there? And unlike usual, I've actually not picked this up from a Charity Shop, but actually my local TK Maxx.

I have quite a love/hate relationship with TK Maxx:

a. Mine is so god-damn hot, and I mean verging on tropical climates, due to their huge roof windows (they're waaay too big to be classed as Sky Lights, surely?!)
b. I just cannot be bothered to actually search through all the crap, in order to find the rare gems

But that last fact is actually why I do still occasionally force myself up those ever-elusive escalators (I seriously just forgot how to spell "escalator"...yeah, moving on!)

One area that I do always try to browse around in, is the Beauty Section. Admittedly, more often than not, this section is full of a heck of a lot of crap and stuff that is still stupidly expensive. Although, why are the bottles of shampoo in TK Maxx always so GINORMOUS?? Like, even bigger than the huge Tresemme ones? They're like £10 and would probably last me a year!

Anyone, whilst in the Beauty Section recently, I scrambled across three boxes of Too Faced Eye Shadows and I decided that I would buy one, so lookie what I picked up:

I actually had a nightmare picking between the colours, because there were two that I liked, and looking back, I do wish I'd bought both, but I was on a tight budget at the time. This one is Socialite:

Socialite is a really strange shade, because it looks like it's a gold shade:

But then, it kind of looks like a bronze-brown shade. However, the Too Faced website describe it as a "pink copper", but personally I don't see pink when I look at it in its container.

And even when swatched the product on my finger, I can see where the copper comes into it, but not too sure about that pink:

However, when I applied it to my lids, I definitely felt that the colour had reddish undertones, and I wasn't too sure about it. However, Socialite actually works beautifully with a green pencil liner, which seemed kinda weird - in my head - but it looks great.

Even the sample colour on both the Too Faced and Boots websites looks more pink than mine does!!

So, this product is currently selling for £13.50 on the Boots website, but I only paid an absolute bargainous £3.00 - pretty good, huh?

What colour does Socialite look like to you? 

I'd really love to know if I'm going crazy!

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Yves Saint Laurent The Black Eyeliner

A couple of weeks ago, I was approached and asked if I would like to try out a beauty product courtesy of the Debenhams website. I don't accept many offers for products these days, however, how could I possibly refuse this one? And ultimately, this is what I chose:

Why did I pick Yves Saint Laurent's The Black Eyeliner?

Choosing was an incredibly tough decision, but I decided quite quickly that I wanted a liquid eyeliner, and it pretty much stemmed from there.

I've had a rocky love affair with liquid liners since my late teens, when I first tried them out. As I don't have a very steady hand, I've struggled to apply them, and I found that thicker brushed liners were a complete nightmare for me. So, for years, I avoided liquid ones all together. That was until I discovered my now usual go-to liquid liner: Rimmel's Glam'Eyes Liner. I've only managed to master applying liquid liner over the past 12 months, and from using the Glam Eyes one, I've definitely come to the conclusion that finer brush liners are the best option for me.

There were several reasons why I decided to finally choose the YSL option:

1. I've never tried anything by YSL before
2. It had a fine brush
3. It was one of very few eyeliners, that had a score of 5 out 5, and ratings are incredibly important to me, because it's nice to be able to gauge how other people have found a product.

First Impressions and Expectations

Well, you know that you're buying a product that is a little bit more upmarket, when it not only comes in a box, but it also comes with instructions! I honestly don't think I ever imagined to get an instruction leaflet with an eyeliner!

I actually got a little bit excited when I picked it up and opened it, because this is a brand that I consider to be a "luxury" type of item, especially compared to my usual brand, which is of course Rimmel. Price-wise this is totally the opposite end of the spectrum, which meant that I had high expectations that this would not only beat but wipe the floor with the product it would hopefully replace.

Packaging

Packaging-wise it's pretty much what I expected. It keeps strong the tradition of gold that I know YSL is famous for, and I love that the wand is relatively long:

I love long wands for eyeliners, because I find that they offer a little bit more control in order to get the look that you're after. For example, if you are after a simple, light line then holding the wand loosely creates that, allowing you to create something precise and neat. The neatness of the line is also helped by the fine brush. On the other hand, if you want something more dramatic, the length allows you to easily flip it around in your hand so that you can easily transfer from drawing the line across the inner lid, to creating the all-important flick.

Comparison

When put side-by-side, it's easy to see that the Rimmel liner has a longer handle, but this isn't really that much of a big deal, because whilst the handle/lid of the Rimmel one is longer, the YSL one makes up for it, by having a lengthier "stick":

Personally, I prefer the longer handle of Rimmel, purely because it allows me better grip. However, that is just a matter of taste, and I don't really feel that it effects the ease of application in any way.

The most important difference, for me, between the two, is actually the fineness of the brushes:

As you can see (or maybe I'm just being too pedantic), the YSL one does have a brush that is a little bit fatter. It doesn't look a lot, but I think that it can make a difference when you are looking to create a softer, thinner line, especially when - like me - you are a little heavy-handed. For heavier looks, it obviously doesn't matter at all.

So, the real question is how they compare - colour-wise - to each other.

Both of these were applied in the same way, initially with little pressure (how I would apply for a thin line) and then with added pressure (to simulate a thicker line). The first thing I noticed is that it's not quite as easier to create a finer line with the YSL liner. However, for dramatic looks, it's pretty much perfection.

The second thing I noticed is that the Rimmel liner seems to have a much brighter and glossier finish, which I do prefer, but it's not something that I'd probably argue about, because before I put them together, I was perfectly happy with the look of the YSL one.

Application

Before I took any of the pictures featured in this blog, I actually lined both of my eyes and found the application to be nice and smooth. It wasn't quite as easy to create the finer-type line, but I think that it was really something that I'd need more time to practice.

Straight after applying the YSL liner, I didn't give them any time to dry and went straight to photographing the product. All the while, I could feel the heavy wet feeling of the liner on my lids (does liquid eyeliner make anyone else's lids feel heavier??) and I was absolutely convinced that I had totally ruined the look that I had only minutes before created.

The interesting thing was that ten minutes later, I went to see what damage had been done and amazingly the liner hadn't smudged at all. It wasn't dotted on the top of my lid or anything. For me, this is a huge plus!

As of writing, I have now been wearing the eyeliner for around four hours and having just checked - I'm not very impressed with the longevity of the product, and I've not even been anywhere, so it's not come off due to sweat or the weather.

Overall

I have to say that I am a little disappointed in a product that was considerably more expensive than my current liner, and one that had received such good ratings. For me, it hasn't created good fine lines - so far, at least - and it hasn't stood the test of time either.

It is a shame, and I'll definitely give it another try, because I never fully judge a product until I've been using it for a while.

If you fancy giving this eyeliner a try, it is £24 from the Debenhams website!

Have you tried Yves Saint Laurent's The Black Eyeliner?

Do you love it or hate it?

I would love to hear all about your personal experiences :)

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First Impressions: Primark Eye Shadow Palette

It's been so long since I wrote a review, that I think I've half forgotten where to get started! Well, to be honest, this isn't really going to be a review, more of a first impressions because I'm still just playing with the product, so it's still too early to do a full review.

Anyway, last week I found myself in Primark and having a snoop around in their Beauty section, I picked up one of their £2.50 eye shadow palettes.

Packaging: 

The design of the packaging is really pretty with the pink flowers and the birds. It's quite delicate. In style, it reminds me of the Urban Decay palettes that I have, except this one is made from plastic, whilst I think that the Urban Decay ones are cardboard?

Initially, I felt that the packaging seemed quite cheap because it was made from plastic, but in hindsight, I think that I actually prefer it because it seems quite solid and sturdy, as if it could handle a few knockabout's.

No filter used on this image.

Open the Lid:

Inside you get a variety of eight different shades, including two mattes and six shimmers. You also get a double-ended brush included, and the lid features a huge mirror.

I really love the mirror, because it's a great size. The double-ended brush, on the other hand, I'm not too keen on. One end is a sponge, and I'm not a huge fan of sponges for eye shadow application, and the bristle-brush at the other end is just completely wrong - in my opinion - for eye shadow. It's the wrong shape and the wrong consistency, and I doubt that I will use either end.

I love the colours in this palette, and can only describe them as pretty. When I first picked up the palette, I had it in my head that this was quite a "neutral" palette, however, since swatching the colours, I'm unsure if that's entirely accurate, but again, that's something I'll discover better from playing around with it. On first impressions, all but the last dark pink shade on the bottom row seem to be quite neutral.

Swatches

This is a palette that seemed like a complete nightmare to swatch, on camera. So, I'm including images unedited, and with filters to try and help give as close a representation as I can because I don't - personally - think that many of the colours like the same as they appear in the palette. Typically, most of the shades are paler, hence why the unedited images were a pain, because at least one shade struggled to pick up properly.

Top Row

The Top Row features four shades that upon swatching all come out very differently to how they appear. The first pale brown looking shade, appeared almost silver on my finger, but when blended out on my hand, it came out much lighter and I thought that this made a really pretty light shimmer.

The second peach-tone shade is matte, and is one that my camera really struggled to pick up at all, and it blends in so well with my skin tone that I'm wondering if this would make a nice concealer. Whatever, it will definitely make a nice base for most neutral eye looks, I have no doubt about that.

The dark brown shade, which is also matte, looks like it is going to be a really highly pigmented brown, but in fact, it isn't. It's a very pale brown, that was also incredibly difficult to swatch, because it seemed to take a lot of effort for the colour to show up. I think that you just need to build this one up, or maybe it will just apply better with a brush, I'm not sure.

The grey shade on the end is quite an intriguing colour, because I liked it more than I was expecting to. But then, I'm not really sure what I expected from this shade. Again, it's a very light shade, but I think that it could definitely be built up to create a gorgeous smoky look alternative to black.

It's strange that both of the matte colours were difficult to swatch.

Here are the swatches without any kind of editing, using as natural light I could get:

No filter or editing.

And here are the swatches with a filter, to try and bring the colours out a little:

Filter used to draw the colour of the shades out.

The silvery shade (the first one) is definitely my favourite with and without the filter.

Bottom Row

This row was a lot easier to swatch, and all of the colours were fairly similar to how to appear in the palette, which is kinda weird.

The pink is a really pretty pale shimmer that is nice and cute, and perfect for when you want a bit of colour, but not too much. It's a really light shade, so ideal for day time looks.

The brown is quite similar, although it appears a bit less shimmery. However, it's also quite pale, and would be ideal for day time looks, when you're looking for something that is subtle, rather than overly dramatic.

The third shade on the bottom row, I had initially thought of as a green shade, however looking at the swatch and now at the above image, it's not green really. It's more of a gold shimmer with green undertones, and I think that this would look really pretty blended out in the outer v of the eye. In some lights, it can look quite a bold shade, but I think it's quite subtle.

As expected, the final plum-pink is the boldest colour of the entire palette, and it is definitely my favourite from this row. It blends beautifully and is such a nicely rich shade that would work as a contrast with many of the other shades.

Here are the swatches, without any filtering or editing.

No filter or editing.

 And here are the colours again, with a filter:

With filter.

Unlike the first row, I think that the unedited image is a better representation of what the shades look like in reality, but I still wanted to show you both, just so that you can see for yourselves.

Conclusion

This is a really pretty palette. It's not very pigmented, and most of the shades will probably need building up, but I can tell that these are all going to make some absolutely gorgeous smoky looks.

It's defintiely not bad for the £2.50 I paid for it, so I really cannot complain!

What do you think? 

Have you tried any of the Primark Palettes? Love them or hate them?

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NOTD: Ethereal Girl

This feature should be re-named Nail of the Month, or perhaps even year, since I get round to updating it so infrequently. But, I finally took some images of my most recent nail polish acquisition and I thought that you might y'know, like to see it, so without further ado, here it is:

The polish is Ethereal, from Rimmel's 60 Seconds Collection, and it is a gorgeous very pale pink shade that I thought was great for Spring, because it reminds me of Spring Blossoms and I think that we're all appreciating the milder weather that has finally arrived, so it seems a very fitting shade at the minute.

As the colour is both pale and neutral, I also thought that this might make a lovely bridal polish, so if you're getting married this is most definitely a great idea, especially if you're looking for a colour that is pretty and girlie, but reasonably priced and has pretty good wear (well, I think so anyway!)

The funny thing is, that when I bought Ethereal, I was actually looking for Rimmel's White Orchid, which my Mum had recently purchased and I'd loved. However, Rimmel don't seem to sell it anymore - or atleast, I haven't been able to find it in any shops.

Has anyone else noticed that a lot of shops appear to have been selling Rimmel off cheap, and the "normal" 60 Seconds and Lycra collections appear to have shrunk and been replaced with their Kate Moss collection. Don't get me wrong, the Kate Moss collection is really pretty and company's need to move forward, but it just seems sad that other beautiful shades get pushed out. but, hey ho!

You might also notice that I still have fairly long nails - go me - I have been a Non-Nail Biter for roughly a year and a half now. Although, I think think is probably the best they've looked in those eighteen months, with all but one nail (my pinkie finger) being relatively long. I say long, I have never gotten used to having long nails, and I'm preferring to keep them relatively short. This is of course getting difficult since my thumb nails appear to grow at the speed of light, so I seem to be trimming them quite regularly, whilst waiting for the other nails to (very slowly) catch up!!

I mean, seriously, look at that thumb nail....

Anywho, I hope that everyone is keeping well and enjoying the beautiful weather. What colours are your nails sporting this Spring?

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Thoughtful Thursday: 21.03.2013

Source: serendipityyoga.blogspot.co.uk via Kat on Pinterest

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NOTD: Metallic Green Grass

This is a Nail of the Day that I have been meaning to share for absolutely months, but am only just getting around to actually posting it - bad Kitty, I know!

Although this look probably classes as "nail art", this has got to be the easiest method of making your nails look fantastic, and it is of course using the popular magnetic nail polishes from Barry M:

It's crazy how effective this look is, especially when you realise how easy it is to apply, without any mess or hassle that comes with nail stamping or nail art pens.

I was introduced to this polish, and the blue one by fellow blogger B who I met last November during my trip to Edinburgh. Since then, I have introduced it to both my Mum and my sister-in-law. As a domino effect, my mum also introduced it to her work colleague who introduced it to several members of her family. My mum also bought a bottle of it for my cousin...so yes, it's fair to say that these magnetic polishes have gone down an absolute treat over the past couple of months!

What I used:

You'll probably notice that the pattern on my nail doesn't exactly match the pattern on the cap. This is because I don't like the pattern that came on this cap, so I swapped it around with another one. There are several different patterns, and I've seen no harm in swapping them around. I'm a fan of the striped effect as seen above, as well as the chevrons.

How it Works:

Basically, all you do is apply a coat of polish as you normally would and allow it to dry. Personally, I like to do two coats but you don't have to - it's completely up to you.

Next, apply another coat of polish, but don't let it dry.

Instead, using the magnet that you'll find on top of the cap that came with your polish, hover over your nail. You'll see that there is a raised bit at the side of the magnet, this rests on your skin, helping to prevent you accidentally touching the nail with the magnet. But, as you can see...what isn't always so easy....

I am always getting polish on the magnet!

The bottle recommends something like 5 seconds, but I like to leave the magnet hovering for longer, because I find that the pattern is more defined, and I personally prefer that, but it's up to you and of course perhaps even a little trial-and-error.

If you haven't had chance to try out Barry M's magnetic polishes, I strongly recommend that you give them a go.

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Simply Be: Banger Booster Review

I recently had the great fortune of being given the opportunity to try a product from Gok Wan's latest line of underwear, from plus size retailer Simply Be. I decided to try out one of Gok's Banger Booster's mainly because I needed a new bra, and because well, who would pass up the opportunity to try something from Gok's range :) This is what Gok has to say about his Banger Booster:

Taken from Simply Be website

Padding:

Initial Thoughts:

As a rule, I'm not a fan of padded bras, so initially I was a bit wary about the fact that the Banger Booster is a little padded, but of course that is probably what is going to give my boobs a boost, so I was willing to let that slide. Especially so, since the padding still appeared to be quite thin compared to bras I've owned in the very distant past when I was much younger.

Reaction:

My greatest issue with padding - in the past, at least - has mainly been the fact that I've always found that they have made my boobs look weird, and I always hate the fact that you can see the top of the bra through some tops. I find that incredibly annoying.

I did find that you can see the top of this bra through some tops, and when I'm sat down my boobs can look like they're about to pop out of it. However, despite that, it is incredibly comfortable to wear, and despite my concerns, my boobs have not - in fact - popped out, and I'm confident that they won't.

Detachable Straps:

Initial Thoughts:

Last time I owned a bra with detachable straps, I had an absolute nightmare with them, because the design has always meant that they came undone. I don't know if it was because the connective part was made of plastic, but I was intrigued to see that they were metal on this bra:

Reaction: 

I've not actually tried changing the straps over just yet, but you can either use the matching straps that come attached to the bra, or it also came with clear straps, that are ideal for a strapless dress / top or even something that is halter neck etc.

I do like the idea of being able to adjust your bra to match the style of top/dress that you're wearing, but I probably won't use it for anything other than as normal. However, some girls who wear strapless dresses without a bra, probably should consider a bra like this....for the sake of your bangers at least!!

Final Thoughts:

This bra is super comfortable to wear. I haven't experienced any kind of rubbing especially under the arm pits, where I've known the end of the under-wiring to rub me raw. This is a bra that is slightly expensive, but you can tell because it looks and feel built to last, and feels natural.

I do have issues with the straps always falling down - but that is not unique to this bra!!

Price: 

£32

Available in: 

Black and White

Sizes:

34A - 46C (at time of writing, all sizes were in stock!)

Where to Buy: 

Simply Be website


**This was sent to me to review for PR purposes, but has this had any bearing on my review? Absolutely not. I'm too moral not to be honest!**

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