Sunday 9 October 2011

FOTD #1

So this is my first ever FOTD! And also my return to blogging - I'm really going to start using this properly now.

Face: Benefit That Gal Primer (also used as highlighter),  Collection 2000 Concealer, MAC Studio Fix Foundation, Collection 2000 Pressed Powder, Rimmel Blusher in Santa Rose, as well as Bronze for contour.
Today I went for a bit of a different look than my usual, with browns on my eyes instead of my usual blacks and greys. It's a bit more of a natural, toned-down look and was a nice change for me.

Eyes: matte brown base from a Rimmel pallette - shade unknown, L'Oreal Colour Appeal in shade Silver Brown towards inner corner, Boots No.7 Eyeshadown in shade Matte Brown in socket line and smudged under eyes, and 17 Eyeshadow in shade Style Queen for inner corner and brow highlight. 
Collection 2000 Extreme 24hr liquid liner, Maybelline Colossal Cat Eyes Mascara and e.l.f Brightening Eye Pencil in Black.
Eyebrows: Rimmel Eyebrow Pencil in shade Brown Black.

I quite like this look and think I'll wear it a lot more often in the future!

What do you think?

Thursday 1 September 2011

e.l.f products!

I recently went on a bit of a shopping spree on e.l.f, and my products arrived today. I'm so excited to use them all!


Top l-r: Daily Brush Cleaner, Eye Blending Brush, Concealer Brush, Eye Smudging Brush, Nail Polish in Teal, Nail Polish in Dark Navy,.
Bottom: Dramatic Lash Kit, Mineral Concealer + Brush, Corrective Concealer Kit and Nail Polish in Desert Haze.

Saturday 27 August 2011

For any e.l.f fans, there's a bank holiday sale on right now!

50% off everything when you spend £25 or more! This is well worth it, I just bought 13 items and the total came to £17.75 or something including delievery. There's so many great things on that site, you could easily spend that much. Go have a look!

Sunday 21 August 2011

The Perfect Foundation? Mac Studio Fix Fluid Foundation Review!

Finding the perfect foundation is a nightmare, right? Testing loads of different brands and shades in the shop, then going outside and looking in your mirror to check it looks okay in natural light, then taking your chosen product home to discover that it doesn't actually suit your skin at all. Women waste so much money on foundations that aren't even suitable for them, and it can take years to find your perfect foundation.

Personally, I have tried countless brands. Some have been alright and some have been terrible. And some have been nice on me at first, but then my skin changed slightly and it was no longer suitable (for example, Illamasqua's Rich Liquid foundation - used to look great and now makes me look ill. Read my short review of it here).

So around two weeks ago I set out on a mission to find the perfect foundation for me. I went into Glasgow with my best friend Lauren and we went into Debenhams to have a look at the various counters. I was willing to spend a little more than usual on the foundation, but I am an unemployed student, so my budget was still fairly low.

First of all I tried Urban Decay's Surreal Skin Creamm-to-Powder foundation. This wasn't terrible, but I felt it looked too powdery and a little cakey on my skin.


Next I tried a Benefit Playstick, which was also a Cream-to-Powder. I will point out though, that this is what the woman at the Benefit counter chose to try on me, I didn't pick it myself. The end result of this looked alright, however the woman did use a cleanser, toner, serum, primer, the Pore-ffesional, Moonbeam highlighter and blusher on me (I didn't ask her to do this). So although yes, my skin did look quite radiant actually, I knew this wasn't down to the foundation. I wouldn't be using any of the other products except the primer at home, so this wasn't a true representation of what I would look like each day.

By this point I was feeling a little disheartened, as I'm really impatient and I was just getting pretty fed up. I had been thinking about trying a mac foundation for a while, but I just assumed that they would be really expensive. I headed over to House of Fraser just to check how much they were and I was pleasantly surprised at the price. Most were around the £19 mark, though some were a little more expensive. I asked a woman there for help and she recommended the Studio Fix Fluid. She tried three different shades on me (none of the other make-up counters done this) and chose shade NC15. I was delighted with the final effect of the foundation and knew this was definitely the best one I had tried. I bought it for £19.50.



I have been using this for about two weeks now and I absolutely love it. It was exactly what I was looking for! I've noticed that when I put my powder over it, it gives an airbrush finish and my skin looks so smooth, with a nice glow that I haven't experienced with any other foundation. It lasts all day, though I may have to touch up my nose slightly, and a little goes a long way- I've hardly used any of it, so it's great value too.



I'm so pleased that I decided to try this foundation, as it suits my skin so well. I used to think that maybe mac was more about the hype and I wasn't sure if the products lived up to it, but this foundation certainly does, and I would recommend that you try it if you're on the hunt for a new foundation!

Have you used any mac foundations? What did you think of them? And what is your perfect foundation?

Tuesday 16 August 2011

Deleting my Youtube channel!

Hi everyone, just a quick post to say that I will no longer be uploading videos to Youtube. There are several reasons for this which I won't go into. I really enjoyed doing the channel but it's just not right for me at the moment. Thank you so much to anyone who subscribed to the channel, watched or commented on any of my videos - I really appreciate it. I might go back to Youtube at a later date but for now, I won't be making any more videos.

I'll still be running this blog, though if there doesn't seem to be much interest in it I might forget about this too.

Thanks for reading,

Shannon xxx

Tuesday 9 August 2011

Beauty Haul! Illamasqua, Maybelline, Collection 2000, Elf and more!

My beauty haul video is up on youtube now, you can watch it here:

The first two products I spoke about are face products. First is the Rich Liquid Foundation from Illamasqua. I use the second lightest shade. I feel like I need to re-apply this quite a lot throughout the day, but when it's on it does give good coverage.

The second was elf's Clarifying Pressed Powder. This is a bargain at £1.50, but unfortunately I bought the wrong shade for myself, it's far too dark. It does take the shine away though, so I'll buy the correct shade next time!


Now on to the eye products! I bought elf's Brightening Eye Liner in black. Again, it's only £1.50 and it's good quality. It does smudge quite a bit however. but for smokey eyes etc, that wouldn't be a problem.

I tried out Collection 2000's Extreme 24hr Felt Tip Liner and loved it! The tip is great for making precise flicks and it does last all day. I've heard quite a few people say they found it difficult to get off, but my facial wipes take it off perfectly fine.

The Boots 17 Eyebrow Shaper Pencil in Natural Brown is the best eyebrow pencil I've used. There is a small brush attached to the lid to help neaten your brows. It's fairly cheap and is really good quality.

My favourite mascara at the moment is The One By One by Maybelline. It gives great volume and curl - my lashes look so thick! I often layer this on top of my Maybelline Colossal Mascara as that gives really good length.


I also talked about Sexy Mother Pucker by Soap and Glory. I got this a few months ago but didn't use it because the smell really put me off. It's supposed to smell like chocolate but I don't think it does, I just don't like it! However, I gave it another try and it actually is a good lipgloss. It plumps your lips so you can feel it tingling a little, and it really does work! The shade I have is pink apricot.


The final product was Collection 2000 Hot Looks Fast Dry Nail Polish in the shade BMX Bandit. It's a great summer colour as it's quite bright. It really does dry in fast and at £1.79 it's a great buy.

So have you tried any of these products? Let me know what you think!

Thanks for reading,

Shannon
xxx


Sunday 24 July 2011

Hair Products Review!

I've just uploaded a new youtube video on hair products. Watch it here:

I don't use too many products in my hair, but here are five that I do use. Have you tried any?

First up was the Nicky Clarke Great Body Volumising Spray. I spray this into my roots before I dry it, but I wouldn't really recommend it too much, I don't think it's very effective.


I would recommend Paul Mitchell's Extra Body Daily Boost Root Lifter though, but it is a little more on the expensive side. I'm pretty sure you can only get this at selected salons and shops such as Salon Services.

After using the Nicky Clarke, I spray Pantene's Colour Protect Instant Nourishing Shine Spray. I love this product! It's made my hair so much healthier and it looks really shiny! I didn't have high hopes for this as I thought it was a bit pointless but I was pleasantly surprised. I'd definitely recommend it!


The final product I use before drying my hair is Tresemme Thermal Creations Blow Dry Potion. Again, this has made my hair in much better condition since I began using it. I only use it on my ends, but you can use it on the lengths of your hair too. My ends were very dry and I had a lot of split ends after having my hair stripped and bleached, but after just a month nda half, most of the slit ends are gone and my hair is much healthier.


If I'm straightening my hair (which I don't do often) I always make sure I use a heat protection spray. The one I'm using at the moment is Schwarzkopf got 2b Guardian Angel, which protects up to 220 degrees.



The final product is Shockwaves Boost It Volumising Hairspray, which I adore! I've used tons of different hairsprays and always come back to this one. It's perfect for any style, and really works well with backcombing. It keeps hair in place all day without giving it that rock hard texture. I would highly recommend this as it's just brilliant, and fairly cheap too!


Let me know if you have any other recommendations, or any suggestions for future videos/blog posts!

Shannon

xxx

Friday 15 July 2011

Fashion Haul! Topshop, H&M, New Look, Primark.

I've just uploaded a fashion haul video to my youtube channel! It's a pretty short video as the longer they are, the longer they take to upload and I'm too impatient for that!


The first item was these high-waisted shorts from New Look. I think they were £17, but I got my student discount. I'd been looking for a pair for months and finally found what I wanted!



Next was this navy body-con skirt from H&M - only £3.99! It's available in loads of colours, so they're a good basic to stock up on!


Another skirt next, this time from Primark. It was an absolute bargain at just £1! Unfortunately though, as it was in the sale, this isn't available anymore.



Another thing I bought from Primark was this really cute sleeveless shirt. As I said in the video, I have a thing for collars at the moment so I love this!


I also bought another sleeveless shirt from H&M. This has a sheer panel at the top, so it's a little more dressy. It's also longer than the back than it is at the front. I really love this, but it looks better on than it does in the photo!


I got this little black dress from Topshop, for just £10 in the sale. It has a slight pattern all over but it's really pretty plain. I love this as you can easily dress it up or down - I'll get a lot of wear out of this.


Lastly was this gorgeous dress from H&M; I absolutely love it! It's so cute and summery, I can't wait to wear it! The shape is really lovely, and again, it looks better on haha. It was £13 which I think is a really good price for it.


I'm really disappointed with the amount of youtube subscribers I have, so if you can, please subscribe? I'm basically talking to myself at the minute haha. I'd really appreciate it!


Thanks for reading,

Shannon xxx

Sunday 10 July 2011

Soap and Glory Review! New Video!

My second video is finally up! It took so long because I was staying with my sister for a week and didn't have the time to record it, then I had terrible problems with youtube saying it would take 9 hours to upload! Eventually, though, after reducing the quality and converting to another format, I managed to get it on.


I've been a huge fan of Soap and Glory for years now, and it was so hard to narrow the products down to just a few for my video! I'll hopefully do another one at some point.

The first was The Righteous Butter - an amazing body butter that leaves your skin smooth and silky all day! I absolutely love this product and would highly recommend it.


Secondly was the Flake Away body scrub. This product is alright but as I said in the video, it seems to go a little off after a while, so it's not my favourite.



However, the scrub I do love is The Breakfast Scrub. It is my favourite ever Soap and Glory product. It smells absolutely amazing, you have to try it out! And it's such a good scrub too, ddefinitely recommended!



Next up was a facial scrub - Scrub Your Nose In It. This is a two-in-one scrub and mask. Personally, this was not great for my skin, but it may work for you so give it a try!


Hair Supply was next, a deep conditioning treatment. This leaves your hair feeling incredibly smooth and soft, love it! However, it is not suitable for days when you are back-combing your hair as it makes it too soft to hold the back-coming.


The penultimate product was Hand Food. I have not used this on a regualr basis, however, when I have used it, it has been really good and it smells lovely! It's non-greasy which I was very happy about, so I would definitely recommend this if you're after a slightly more luxurious hand cream.


Lastly, I talked about the Off Your Face cleansing wipes. These are the only Soap and Glory product that I have not liked. They are far too dry and it takes a lot of scrubbing to get all your make-up off. They also leave an oliy residue and I was not happy with these at all.


So that's it! As I said, I'll make another video with some more Soap and Glory products in a while. I hope you liked this post/video; subscribe to my channel if you can, and maybe even leave a comment? I'd be very greatful!

See you soon guys,

Shannon xxx


Thursday 30 June 2011

My First Video!

My first youtube video is up now! This is just an introductory video to let everyone know what the blog is about really, so have a look and subscribe to my channel!