FOTD #14- A Not Very Productive Week

So this week ought to have been brilliant as a beauty blogger, as I bought so much beauty stuff you wouldn't even believe. But as I'm feeling rather uninspired and underwhelmed about blogging at the moment I didn't actually bother to write anything up. Maybe it's the weather, maybe it's from being ill last week, maybe from unemployment... I don't know. It's proving a rubbish few months. Anyhow! I got lots of stuff from Boots, Superdrug, M & S, DHC, OCC and Nyx, which will pop up at various points from now on. So today's FOTD, with full on smoky eyes... to stay in the house and stare at my laptop. See? Uninspiring. I need to get my arse in gear.

 

Face- MUA Pro Primer

Gosh X-Ceptional Wear Foundation in 11 Porcelain (applied with Gosh Foundation Brush)

elf Complexion Perfection Powder

Eyes- MUA Pro Professional Eye Primer

MUA Pro Palette 'Starry Night'- shade 11 (purple grey) all over lid, shade 4 (silver) dabbed in inner corner of lid, shade 12 (deep lilac) patted along upper lash line. (applied with fingers)

17 Va Va Voom Volume Mascara in Black

Cheeks and Lips- M & S Lip and Cheek Tint in Pink Mix

WOW this FOTD is so MUA full. Also that last sentence had too many capital letters in. Hmm. I'm actually really pleased with this look- I can't do a smoky eye to save my life (what is this 'blending' you speak of?) but this actually looked really pretty and very night sky like! I'm loving the cheek tint- which I believe was around £3-4 from M & S? Very good value, and easy for the blusher phobic to use!

Love B xxx

Random Days: Mini Haul :D

I had another mini haul yesterday and the day before, as I had a few girly days out to say goodbye to my friends :(

The first haul came from Folkestone, which is lovely (from the limited view of the inside of Primark) and got some little treats! I got several headbands from New Look, and some super cute dresses from Primark. I'll update this post with photos of them tomorrow once I've actually got some light to see them in!

The second haul came Canterbury, I was actually quite restrained (no really) especially we essentially went in EVERY shop in the town haha!

I came home with this little lot:

From M & S! I'm really not a orange person, but this is the first shade I've seen that isn't really harsh or neon. It's really pastel and sherbet-y and lovely :D This was about £3.

I'm not a big mascara buyer either, but I saw this Maybelline The Falsies on someone's blog (can't for the life of me remember whose it was!) and loved how amazing it made the blogger's lashes look. See my earlier post on the M & S eyeshadow to see how it looks on, so far it's amazing! This was on sale at the cheaper price of £6.19, but I managed to get it with my Boots points :-)

I'm happy with normal shampoo for washing my brushes, but after seeing this video by Tiffany D (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uT8LpwDjwNI) I couldn't resist a quick way to clean my brushes, hoping it will save me a lot of time! This was £8.50 I believe.

This actually came in the post this morning, but nevermind :D I have been lusting after this Light Liquid Foundation for a while because of Illamasqua's amazing shade range and brand ethos. First impressions are AMAZING colour (in the lightest natural shade LF115) but need to experiment with application because it's tough to blend and get even, but hopefully I can try it lots and get it looking amazing :-)

Will update with more pics tomorrow!

Love Luxie xxx

Beauty LAT: M & S Eyeshadow Palette is yummy!

So after seeing the new range of beauty products from M & S on Katie's Beauty Blog (see here: http://mesluxes.blogspot.com/2011/06/m-summer-beauty.html) I knew I had to go and check them out! I actually really love M & S beauty, I have several of their perfumes, one of which is my favourite perfume ever, so I was really excited to see the new range.

And I was really impressed! I didn't manage to get a picture of the display, but there were lots of products, most for under £5. I snapped up this....

The packaging is functional rather than exciting, but it does feel reasonably solid, and it's nice to be able to see the colours from the outside.

This shade selection is called 'Lagoon' and is a selection of brights (there was also a palette with neutrals). Although the colours look quite matte from outside, once swatched they have a beautiful shimmer to them, and are lovely and soft. As they are shimmer rather than glitter, that means no fall out too!

The first 4 shades from the left. You can really see the difference when using the flash between the apparently matte finish and then the shimmer that comes out. Also sorry I changed the shade order between photos... *fail*.

The 4 shades from the right.

I honestly love all the shades (maybe the baby blue a little less). In particular I adore the sea green and the orange. I'm not a big orange fan but this is a nice muted non-neon shade!

A look (quickly thrown on with finger application) of the yellow and orange:

On the lids... the pigmentation is less impressive. I didn't use a primer here, so that would probably help, and with brush application. It also looked better in a different light than it did in these photos! Even as a subtle wash of colour though, they are very nice. On a separate note look how LONG my lashes look with my new mascara! :D

Overall then, although they aren't anything fancy, this palette is a great way to get some pretty and essential colours into your eyeshadow range, and at £5 you can't really go wrong!

Love Luxie xxx