BARGAIN Stila Beach Palette Review :)

I know, I know, I know - you can buy Stila for the pound shop now. And that is an amazing bargain!! But it sells out fast and is usually shades & stuff no one is buying any more. TK Maxx also do great prices for Stila, I have bought a few pieces there.

However - for a full price, limited edition palette, I think the £10 I paid is awesome. I bought one of the Beach Palettes from Escentual.com in my haul you can see here. I put my swatches there but I'll show you the pics again in case you feel too lazy to look back haha!

It was the Limited Edition Beach Palette in Living it Up in Laguna, which I bought here.

Eyeshadows clockwise from top left: Sand Dollar, Sunset, Bonfire, Cove

Blusher: Seashell

Bronzer: Pacific Coast Highway

First impressions of the palette are still what great value it is. A single Stila eyeshadow sets you back about £13, and in this palette you get four co-ordinating colours plus a blush and a bronzer. Even without the face colours, the eyeshadows would be £2.50 each - serious bargain.

The palette itself is pretty flimsy, it's super cute but made of cardboard so not overly sturdy, and there's no magnetic (or otherwise) clasp to shut it. It includes a mirror and a little guide on how to use the colours. Again, for the price, I'm happy.

Top pic, l-r: Sand Dollar, Sunset, Cove, Bonfire

Bottom pic, l-r: Seashell, Pacific Coast Highway

I chose this palette as I am a total UD Naked addict and felt like a wee change, and I know pinks and purples are good for green eyes. There are other palettes you can choose from for the same price.

The colours work really well together, they are pigmented and go on softly and true to colour (although not true to the colour shown on the back of the palette - don't know what that's about). The guide on how to use the eye colours is not how I would ordinarily use them, as the shade Sunset is a very strong pink, and blending the mauvey Cove on the lash line doesn't seem to work, poor Cove gets lost. But there's lots of opportunities to play about with these colours.

The blush/bronzer are not as great, they are quite pale and almost chalky. The blush, Seashell, is almost purple toned, and I certainly wouldn't be dusting the bronzer all over my face as it's too pinky! But they maybe would suit girls even paler than me haha!

Here's me trying out the look, using the guidelines exactly:

Eyeliner: Collection Gel Liner

Mascara: 17 Peep Show

Eyebrows: Christian Eyebrows in Taupe

Annoyingly, the colours are actually a lot more vivid in real life, they look more neutral here. But the lighting just now is awful, so dark inside! We don't have the lovely London sun. :(

I do think these colours make my eyes appear greener, although it's not as obvious in the photos! 

And here's with a full face of make up...

(Right pic with flash)

Bronzer: Sleek Contour Kit

Blusher: NARS Orgasm

Lips: Dior Addict High Shine in 664 Pink Protege

What do you think? Do you like Stila make up? Do you try colours other than neautrals? Would you 'innvest' in one of these bargain palettes?

Let me know!

~ Lauren ♥

New Favourite Mascara - Bargain!! :)

I am on a constant quest for the best mascara ever. I have quite long, naturally curly eyelashes but I only have about three of them haha. So I look for a thickening mascara, which obviously still adds a bit of length, too much tho and I look like I have spiders legs on my eyelids - not a good look.

I've tried all the 'favourites' - Lancome Hypnose, Dior Diorshow, Benefit BadGal - I liked them all but I didn't LOVE them. I currently use Urban Decay Super Curl which was a surprise hit for me as I got it as a wee trial size thrown in when I bought some other UD goodies. It gives me a nice, natural look for day-to-day wear.

Here are my natural eyelashes:

Top pics are without any makeup, bottom pics are with all other eye makeup.

So although I was pretty happy with my current mascara, I always crave a bit more!!

And More! Magazine provided this. :) I am part of the More! Beauty Hot 100, where we give suggestions/feedback to the magazine about products, are given the opportunity to contribute to the magazine, win goodie bags (like I won HERE!) and also test and review new products. They recently sent us 17 Peep Show to try and I was quite sceptical, as I tend to go for high end mascara.

How cute is the packaging??

I actually really like this mascara!! What do you think?

It goes on nice and evenly, with no clumping, even after a few coats. I wore it for a full day and had no smudging either. Although I was sent this mascara to trial, you can buy it in Boots or online for £6.29.

Have you ever tried 17 mascaras? What's your favourite mascara ever?

Let me know!

~ Lauren ♥

Barry M Limited Edition NOTD

I 'accidentally' went shopping again - I need to stop doing this, I have nooo money! Hahhahah. So I managed to not spend too much, but I did have a bit of a Barry M splurge. Here's what I got in Boots:

I needed loose powder as my ELF HD one has ran out, so I decided to try the number 17 Shine Control Loose Powder (£5.49), and as it was 'buy two cosmetics an get this free totally pointless make up bag' I also bought the BB cream (£6.99). I normally use the Garnier one, but it's nearly finished so I thought I'd give this a go.

The Barry M Nail Paints were a bit of a con! I was immediately drawn to the sparkly silver, it's their new 'Limited Edition' polish, and it was free if I spent over £6 in Barry M stuff, excellent! Only problem was, the nail paints are only £2.99 each so I actually had to buy three in order to get the free one. Meh.

I have been eyeing up the red glitter for AGES, I just think it's so festive and lovely, and I wanted to green too for Christmas nails. As I had to buy an extra one, I figured Peach Melba was the way to go as it's so wearable.

Limited Edition, Peach Melba, Red Glitter and Spring Green

I rushed home, eager to try the Limited Edition colour and BOY was I disappointed. I'm not sure what's meant to be special about it, but it's literally just a silver glittery nail varnish. It would work as a top coat if you applied it as one layer, but I wanted a solid colour so I did three coats untiil it was opaque. It went on easily enough, took a wee while to dry but that might be because I was slapping on the layers thickly (oops) to try and get it looking how I wanted it to.

The red coat was also sooo dissapointing when I used it - more like a top coat too. Why can't it look like it does in the bottle?! But I persevered, and after three coats, it looks sooo pretty! I love it, it's so festive.

APOLOGIES for my nails. I'm in a never ending battle of nail biting, and right now it's not going well. :(

Without Flash     ¦        With Flash

Without Flash   ¦       With Flash

So I defo think the red glitter is super cute, but the silver just left me feeling a bit let down.

UPDATE: I wrote this post a few days ago and scheduled it (cause I'm super organised like that) and I have to say, since then my opion has changed a bit. I put on another two layers of nail polish, taking it to five coats, and I'm much happier. I don't know if it's because I've never really worn glitter varnish or whatever, but everytime my nails catche the light it's soooo pretty! So maybe I like them a bit better now. =p

Anyways..

I also popped into Sainsbury's and saw their Dirty Works products. They look a bit like a rip off of Soap & Glory, but I thought I'd give them a try as I'm always willing to try new stuff! I bought 'Bye Bye! Dark Circles' which is a little cube you open up that has two different shades of concealer inside.

Here are the swatches:

Without Flash     ¦         With Flash

They felt very creamy to touch, and quite soft actually which I'm not sure about. I've not tried them out for their intended purpose yet, but I will let you know!

I just wanna say a huge THANK YOU to all my loyal followers, and a big HELLO to my new ones! Every single new follower and every single comment on my blog actually makes my day, so thank you, thank you, thank you!

Anyways, enough of the cheesiness now. Have you tried to the Barry M Limited Edition Nail Paint? What do you think about glittery varnish? And have you ever tried Dirty Works?

Let me know!

~ Lauren ♥

p.s. Stevie at Things That Make You Go Ooo! recently did some interviews with her favourite bloggers, and I was one of them! Check it out, it's a really interesting post to find out different bloggers' tips and opinions! Thanks Stevie!! ^_^

p.p.s. I'm now gonna look super popular (hahah) because Tara at Me, Myself and I...My Loves, My Life has also interviewed me for her blog! It's a completely different interview from Stevie's, so make sure you check it out too. Both ladies have done an amazing job of turning my mundane life into something iteresting!! Thank you Tara!! =p