FOTD: Workwear

Hi there! 

I've been really enjoying shopping my own stash recently, its great finding products you'd forgotten about and can use again without spending any additional cash.

I had a bit of time before starting work the other day and decided to photograph my face of the day to share with you.

These are the products that I've used for this. Naked Skin is a great foundation for lightly covering blemishes but without masking skin as if it needs to be coated. The Make Believe bronzer is one I use rarely but its such a lovely natural glow.

The Perversion liner is the best I've ever tried and the blush is another that i forgot is quite similar to Coralista. The Naked palette needs no introduction really!

I do like how my skin looks quite natural after using Naked Skin especially on my forehead. The concealer is great for covering dark circles for its price and I've set it all using Stay Matte powder from Rimmel.

Having not used a brow kit for a while it took a few attempts to get them right as Gimme Brow is so easy to use but the Sleek brow kit allows you to have so much more control over the shape and definition.

The blush and bronzer gives a gorgeous colour that also looks really natural:

The Naked palette is a staple most people have in their make up wardrobes; I love how you can apply a wash of a colour or intensify it quite easily as they're so pigmented. As they're nudes the colours are perfect for day time and evening and so are very versatile.

After this I applied UD's 24/7 liquid liner in Perversion to my upper eye lid and 24/7 eye liner pencil on the inside rim of my lower eye lid.

After that it was a slick of the Rimmel Wonderfull mascara to my lashes with argan oil in and I was almost done.

I completely forgot to include the lip products in the first two images so apologies for that, to complete my Face for the day i just applied a quick coat of Naked Lipgloss to finish it off.

It's amazing how many products you can use on a face with a natural ish look.

Do you go product light or product heavy for work? Are you adventurous with colours on your eyes or lips?

I'm never brave enough for work as nobody else seems to wear much!

L xxx

Urban Decay Pulp Fiction Mia Wallace Lipstick and Lip Liner

Good morning!

It's almost the weekend hooraaaaay!

And with a new weekend means a new lipstick - obviously.

I'm a rather big fan of Tarantino and his weird and wonderful ways; there's nothing more classic than Pulp Fiction, I've always wanted to wear a white shirt and black trousers on a night out and hit up the dancefloor. It's even more of a must now that I have the official Pulp Fiction Mia Wallace lipstick and liner from none other than the absolutely amazing Urban Decay. It is bordering on obsession with my collection but hey ho, I could be a drug addict and that's clearly a lot worse mum ok??

The packaging is spot on, matte black and with the PF logo on it. The lipstick itself is a Revolution Lipstick which we already know from the lovely Native lipstick we were given previously is a top quality, super pigmented and creamy lipstick that just lasts and lasts. The colour itself is the most perfect blood red shade that Mrs Mia Wallace sports in the film in her totally badass ways.

The packaging itself is pretty badass and is a black gunmetal shade instead of the lighter pewter colour of the normal range. The lipstick bullet itself just looks so creamy and perfect, it was hard to use it the first time as it was so pristine but alas, that feeling didn't last long and I soon had it on my lips!

My absolute favourite part of all the packaging?

This:

HOW FREAKING COOL.

The most infamous quote of the entire film goes right from one end of the box to the other and honestly, opening this up was one of my favourite 'ooooh' moments. Make up really does excite me that much, and details like this even more so. Studying forensics is all in the details and these always impress me.

As for the lip liner, in the exact same packaging the 24/7 liner helps to create a pout worthy of Mrs Wallace by preventing feathering and defining your lip line for the lipstick to be placed on top. I don't own a red lip liner and this one has been invaluable now that the weather is turning a bit colder and the darker lip colours are coming out. And it really does glide, no dragging on the skin whatsoever!









The colours are perfectly matched as you would expect and you can see them swatched on my hand below with the colours from the matching eyeshadow palette I also had to snap up. See how perfect the line is from the pencil:



I've been wearing this lipstick and liner a few times recently and have been super impressed. Honestly, once they're on and have dried they do not budge, not even the tiniest little bit.

The photo below was taken after the NYR event in Bristol a few weeks ago. I had eaten, drunk, talked and drunk some more and 6 hours later my lipstick still looked as perfect as when I first applied it:

Excuse the excitement; drinking on trains seems to get me quite giggle!

Even when I'd had a few more cocktails and got home later without reapplying once the colour was still completely perfect on my lips. It looked like it had stained my lips but using micellar water the colour came right off.

I'm 100% obsessed with this and cannot leave it alone. This time last year I just about wore red lipstick on occasions but now my collection has grown to about 8 dark red and berry shades!

This Mrs Mia Wallace is such a classic colour and the liner is perfection, no dragging and defines the lip line with ease.

I'd suggest you all run out and get it asap if only for the beautiful packaging, they cost £15 for the lipstick and £13 for the liner. Money well spent if you ask me!


Did you buy anything from the Pulp Fiction collection? Do you love the reds closer to the winter months?


L xxx

Urban Decay Perversion and Subversion Mascara and Lash Primer

Hey dolls!

As I'm sure you are well aware Urban Decay are pretty awesome. We're both big fans on here and probably own the majority of their stock between us (addicts!).

When I went in recently to pick up the Pulp Fiction palette I was made aware of the £50 spend = £10 in points at Debenhams and well, it would have been SO RUDE not to snap up some more product goodness for my already overflowing stash.

Say hello to Perversion and Subversion, the bigger, blacker, badder mascara and lash primer that UD have recently released. This combo packet comes in at £17 and there are a limited amount available so I'd snap them up pretty quick if I were you! 

I cannot fault the packaging and the wording on the boxes; it draws you in and makes you want it no matter how much you may not need 'another mascara'. I didn't think I needed but still ended up with it in my basket!

I love the black/white, night/day, bad/good, devil/angel vibes that these products give off. The good guy is Subversion, the white coloured lash primer used before Perversion, the black mascara giving you the biggest, baddest, blackest lashes. Perversion is their most highly rated 24/7 liner pencil producing the most pigmented colour you have ever seen. It's not surprising that they've produced a mascara to match given how popular it is.

The inside packaging matches the outer boxes and the two products look really good together.

They call Subversion 'foreplay' for lashes, a whipped, creamy primer that conditions and primes for mascara application. They say it works by adding weight to your lashes and giving the mascara something to hold onto. The thicker brush allows it to coat your lashes from root to tip for even coverage.

The Subversion primer contains panthenol and vitamin E whilst also being paraben and fragrance free to keep your lashes in tip top condition.



Perversion mascara is a mascara that's not too wet, and not too dry. It glides through lashes providing even coverage and 'insane control'. You can apply so many coats of mascara and it still doesn't clump or get brittle. The formula contains Hairdensyl, a blend of proteins and amino acids. Marine glycogen stimulates lash growth, honey extract provides deep nourishment, sea idrolised elastine stimulates the hair follicle and marine collagen products.

Again the massive volumising brush manages to grab every lash leaving a clump free even coating of product for a beautiful finish.

So after all that jargon, what does it actually look like?

The photo below shows the primer on my lashes on its own. It starts off being white but does dry to clear and seems to absorb into your lashes which is good. It was hard to focus on the lashes with my phone but you can get the general idea!

More importantly, with Perversion mascara applied on top:



How amazing?!

I absolutely love the effects, and this is with 1/2 coats which is my normal day to day wear. I could easily apply additional coats and still not get any clumping but would get additional volume and length.

You can see below there are absolutely no clumps whatsoever, just bigger, badder and blacker lashes which is the ultimate goal.

This mascara and primer duo are 100% worth the cash. I'm interested to see if the primer would work as well with other mascaras and I'm yet to try that and see if it has such a good results.

But I would definitely recommend this product for the effects, I can easily add extra layers of mascara without clumping or brittle pieces falling off and they don't feel crunchy either, which is something I really hate!


Have you tried Subversion or Perversion? Do you rate lash primers? Are you a fan of the highly pigmented Perversion range?

They've got me hook line and sinker, it's a firm favourite in my make up bag now and I can't see it leaving any time soon. I like it when a random purchase becomes a new favourite!


L xxx

Simply Bare

Hey All

Last Thursday I was invited to Simply Bare to look around which is a new waxing boutique in Cardiff owned by the lovely Leah. Leah is good friends with one of my housemates so I've met her before and had seen all the plans for the new boutique so I was excited to get to see it in person!

photo from simply bare facebook

It certainly didn't disappoint, it's a beautiful sleek environment decorated in neutral colours so suited for both female and male clients. Simply bare uses Lycon wax which come in variety of different flavours. Simply bare stock a few including chocolate, strawberry, lavender and some more manly scents as well as some that are more suited to sensitive skin. All the waxes smelt amazing not too sickly or overpowering.

The flavoured waxes are all hot waxes which give a much butter result on intimate skin or delicate areas. The hot wax forms a seal type around the hair so it's pulling out the hair. Before any wax the area is cleansed and pre treatments are put on including and oil which protects the skin from the wax and helps the wax just stick to the hair!

Post wax the skin is treated to soothing creams and oils to help prevent redness and treat the skin post wax. I love that the oils in the rooms are set up to match the fragrance of the wax you are having and provide the skin with protection as well as moisturising it.

Simply bare has also started offering massages and facials. I love that they do late night evenings to suit people that work 9-5 hours. It's great to be able to pop in after work and get waxes etc done so you don't have to waste your Saturday!

I tried out the chocolate hot wax on my arm. It doesn't use a strip the wax itself sets and this is peeled off. It honestly didn't hurt my arm. I have had bikini waxes done before using the hot wax and found it gave a much better result!

Simply bare is situated in high street arcade and also sell the Lycon products so after your wax if you find yourself loving the oils and lotions you can purchase them there! With over 35 years of waxing experience between the 3 ladies you know your in safe hands!

Congrations Leah on a fab salon! I'll be popping in soon. You can check out their facebook page here.

Love M

xxx

Review: Bleach London Bruised Violet and Washed Up Mermaid

Hey All

I'm a massive fan of coloured hair. I love to have my hair different colours and Bleach London are colours I've been aware of over the past year but never tried till now. (I love there white toner but that's a whole other blog post!)

My hair is currently pretty white blonde and has had all the colour lifted on it various times at Kamigata and had the amazing Aveda colours in (you can see a post on it here). Matthew who works his colour magic on my hair is leaving soon so I decided to grab my housemate and try colouring my own hair again. 

I actually did a strand test. Usually I don't bother but as I couldn't decide which colour to do (I also bought blullinni.

After the strand test I decided I loved bruised violet and washed up mermaid so after watching Matthew do a colour melt technique on my hair last time I decided to try doing that. Basically you need three tint brushes. One for each colour and a blending one. You add the top colour at the roots and the bottom colour to the tips leave about and inch in the middle and use the spare brush to mix excess colour from the two to blend in the middle. This helps avoid as harsh lines.

I did like that they were premixed as it makes application easier and means if you want to experiment with colour you don't have to use the whole bottle in one go!

As I can't see the back of my hair I explained to my housemate what I wanted and she kindly did it for me. After applying it to freshly washed damp hair I waited 20 minutes and rinsed. First thing I noticed were on a full head of colour both were darker than the stand tests.

Secondly it hasn't taken brilliantly in some places which is a bit disappointing. I had expected better results. But saying that I do love the shades and I can't wait to see how it fades. I'm hoping it's as pretty and even as Aveda colours!

But I do have to say my hair is feeling very soft and not at all dry!

Have you tried bleach london colours? Any tips or colour suggestions?

Love M

xxx