New Year's Resolutions

I don't make many of these but this year I've decided that it's time to stop being so sloppy.

My resolutions are simple in nature..

1. Wear some form of makeup every day.  This is really simple, I do go through phases of putting a full face on but then I get bored very quickly.  So far this year, I've worn a decent amount everyday.  I think the trick is to get products that you can slap on quickly and actually make a difference to how you look.  The problem is finding those little shits.  I've finally found my ones and have been using them since I went back to work last week. 
2. Make some effort with my hair.  You all know by now that my hair is curly.  I swear I say that more than I think I should.  I usually straighten it for work as it is easier to manage..although the recent spate of winds we've had have tried to put an end to that.  What I really need is to find some decent styles that I can wear to work, I should Google some actually, that'd be a start.  When my mane is curly, I just pin it back and it looks quite nice so that's sorted.
3. Tweee my brows.  Don't get me wrong here, I'm a threader and will be one until I'm too old to take the pain.  What I mean here is that I will tweeze between threading so that I don't have to go so often.  I always mean to do this but it never happens.  

If by some small miracle I actually manage to do all three of these, maybe I'll look presentable around 70% of the time!

Happy New Year!

To everyone who happens to come across this blog post, I wish you all a Happy New Year!

I won't go through the usual "make this year count" bollocks because I don't think you can control that.  I thought 2010 would be my year but 2011 was the making of me.  

The main things I learnt this year were..

Do not underestimate the value of your family.  Family>money any day of the week.  Don't get me wrong, fancy things are nice but a designer handbag is no solace if you have no-one to ramble about it to, yeah, I'm talking about you Mon.  My family make me the person I am and I like to think that I have a hand in their successes *ahem*.

When shit goes wrong, let it go wrong.  Good comes from bad!

When things are going well, ENJOY THEM!!

If a blue eyed, blonde haired man asks for your hand in marriage, you say yes.

Don't ever change who you are!  This isn't just something from this year, it's something I've done my entire life.  Being the frizzy haired girl with a laugh like Muttley has served me well so far so long shall it continue.  If you change yourself to get a man (as I was told to do many times) then the man will fall for the person you're pretending to be then you're fucked once you get married.   

The only thing I will be working on is trying to not get stressed as quickly as I do as that is firstly not good for me and secondly it's not good for people around me.

Anyone else got any resolutions?

Merry (early) Christmas!

Now I know that today is NOT Christmas, you can't even really call it Christmas Eve Eve Eve although technically, that is what it is.

The first thing I'd like to say is that this year has really flown by.  It feels like only three months ago that I was writing my Christmas post for 2010.  Clearly, it has been 11 and a bit months.

2011 was a very good year for me, the highlight of which was getting married (in New York no less) to my gorgeous husband.  A husband who is as near to perfect a man I could have wished for.  Our relationship is not perfect, but then who wants perfect?!  We're still in the flat and I do love it here as it is really convenient.  I do realise how lucky we are that the flat is in Zone 1 and that we aren't renting it but I still want a townhouse.  But then I've wanted a townhouse since I was 17..  I'm a lot closer to having it now than I was then and one day soon, it will be mine!

As you can tell, I'm in a very good mood whilst writing this..finally in the festive spirit!  Spirit being the key word as the drinks trolley made its rounds today at work.  The only time of year when it comes around on a day that is not Friday..  I was on the sauce at work and I've had a few JD and Cokes since I've been home.

I've been told that we usually get to go home early on Christmas Eve but seeing as this year, that falls on a Saturday, we're not sure what time we finish on Friday.  However, we can wear what we like and we can drink all day..which is a-ok with me!

Remember this time last year?  I do because it snowed and I had to bring the turkey home on the frigging bus!  Bringing a turkey for 20 people home on the bus is NOT fun.

This Christmas at my house (it is mine whilst my parents are away as I'm the oldest child..) is going to be a very simple affair.  Last year it was a larger affair as there were twenty people present but this year it will only be me, my brother and my husband.  It still feels strange calling him that..when people ask me about my "husband", I give them a blank stare before realising that I am indeed past the strage of bethrothal and that I do come with a husband as standard.

So..why is this message coming out early?

Many reasons..the main one being that I've neglected this blog over the past few months..I can't say why as the matter I'm working on at work is confindential (and it is SO hard to keep my mouth shut) but all will come out eventually.  In fact, some is already out..

As I am solely in charge of the Christmas dinner this year (as my mum, dad and youngest brother are in America), I've been run off my feet.  The stress of feeding three people so much food is nearly too much to take.

My brother has brought the turkey home, I've been carting the veg etc.. home from work.  We're all but done now.  I want a Christmas ham which I will pick up tomorrow but I'm not sure as our turkey will feed eight people and with the rest of the fam back on the day after Boxing Day, it might go to waste (although food seldom goes to waste in my house..)

My youngest brother is, as I mentioned, in America and is getting daily emails from me about what I'd like.  I've told him to steer clear of stuff I can get here as the exchange rate is not too good.  He's bought me everything I've asked for so far so I'll be buying him a watch in the sales this year.  I've told him to not take advantage of my good nature but he's my brother so he'll get the best watch I can afford.

Talking of sales, I'm a bit concerned about the economy.  In years past when I've rushed to John Lewis/Selfridges after work to get some last minute presents, it has been heaving.  I went today and it was totally not busy.  I've seen some nice things in the River Island sale but me and my middle brother need to have a tete a tete about things and make one combined order. 

That just adds to my theory that things are too expensive!   I remember the days when the January sales actually started in January!  I might chance it and go to Harrods, Selfridges and Harvey Nicks but I'm not sure as I'll just waste money on stuff I won't even use.  I bought one thing in the sales last year and I've not even worn that so the lesson there is to be more selective.

Having said that, I treated myself to a Balenciaga bag the other day and I can stuff so much into it which is brilliant.  However, this does not mean that I'm totally happy as the next thing I need to buy is a decent leather purse which is what I'll be getting in the sales.

That reminds me, when did New Look make their sizes so big?! I bought a size 14 top the other day and it is huuuuuuge on me.  I might just wear it as slouchy as I don't have the time or inclination to return it again.

Going back to the sales, I've been cheeky and taken next week off work.  One day I need to pick my parents up, three days I will go sale shopping and one day I will help my brother move into his new place.  Then back to work..when two weeks later, we'll see Easter Eggs in the supermarkets..

With regards to presents, I know that I am already getting the NARS Danmari palette and some new Uggs.  I haven't really asked for much but I will be buying a laptop in the sales.  My dad, however, is convinced he will buy this for me but I won't let him.  He's also told us that his gift this year is "a gift for the family"..which is something I cannot wait to see, how has he managed to buy ONE THING that will be universally acccepted by a makeup lover, a techy bod, an MMA nut and my mum is beyond me...  I've tried guessing but I guess we'll find out come the day after Boxing Day.  He's locked his office and hidden the key so I can't snoop either, boo!

That's enough rambling for now..

This message has gone "live" whilst I'm at work..probably looking for my NYE outfit.  This year I'm going to an unofficial Back to School: 2001 rave and I can't wait, I've not heard any decent garage music for ages! 

So..

M E R R Y  C H R I S T M A S ! ! !

To everyone who comes across this post, be you a long time reader, first time reader or one of the non beauty blogging people who follow me on Twitter (because I'm all eclectic and shit) then I wish you all a Merry Christmas and  fantastic New Year!  If you're feeling a bit crappy now then remember that things can only get better! 

EOTD: I'm gonna make him an offer he can't refuse

This look was the result me having too long to get ready.  I was dressed before I knew it and then I faffed around with eye makeup, using three shadows to create this very standard look.  But you know what happens to me, I practice in my own time but when it comes to wearing it out, I fall back onto looks I know I can pull off, just in case something goes wrong.

The liner here is not an angled wing as I feel that looks harsh on me sometimes..and I have finally managed it to look even on both eyes..

I like the way this manages to make my eyes look brighter..not not too stark, and how the eyeliner vamps it up a bit.

You'll probably have to really stare to see the three colours I've used but they are there, one for the inner corner, one for the lid and one over the crease coming inwards.

These are the products I used..

As per usual, I used my "go to" brushes which are from Models Own and ELF.

I used my second base as I call it (the No7 shadow) all over the lid, the Wet n Wild shadow was from Tesco for about £2 and it formed the lid cover and the Urban Decay shadow is Sin which I find is similar to the glitterbomb that is Midnight Cowboy but applies easier.

I concentrated the glitter on the middle and inner part of the eye because I wanted a bit of the crease to be defined.

The final shadow touch was adding my second base to darker the crease, i.e. take away some of the glitter.

Collection 2000 pencil in the waterline and the Active liquid liner on the upper lid.  I am going to find that Active liner again as it was one of the best ones I've ever used.  It's trumped any that I've used since it finished.  The mascara is Maybelline's Falsies which I didn't like at first as it clumped like hell.  I finished the tube the other day and it only started applying without clumps when it was near the end.  Not a repurchase!

The title of this post is in homage to these Godfather socks that Simon got..

I honestly thought that "I'm gonna make him an offer he can't refuse" meant that you'd be an idiot to turn the offer down as it was too good.  The analogy I always use is ten pairs of shoes for £100 which would be a bloody bargain.  I didn't realise it meant "accept the offer or I will kill you".  They say the Mafia are all about subtlety but that isn't subtle..it's confusing if anything.   And plus, you could just whisper that you're going to kill them if they don't agree, that's subtle.  Simon loves telling people that I misunderstood this, as if he's never gotten anything wrong in his life.

Also, I've only noticed this now but if you look at my eye from the left hand side lower lashline counter clockwise around to the left hand side of the upper lashline, my eye looks positively fishy in shape.  Is that a desired eye shape?  Fishy?  I wonder if that'd ever take off..they've got feline, why not diversify into fish?

Brands and the social media demon that is Twitter..

I joined Twitter ages ago and set about following the bloggers who I spoke to and those who had blogs that interested me.  Along the way I also started following brands that I liked and interested me as I thought they'd tweet things that were useful for those interested in their brands.

Unfortunately, this was not the case.  Now, I'm writing this post solely about the beauty brands that I follow, I don't know if y front brands, candle brands or trouser brands do the same kind of thing.  Come to think of it, are there brands that solely make y fronts or trousers?

Anyway, I don't think certain brands have realised how best to use Twitter/what Twitter is there for.

This is my list of what I feel brands should/shouldn't do on Twitter..and as I'm the consumer, I think I'm well within my rights to ask this of brands.

1. Don't be a seasonal user.  If you've gone to the effort to show that you move with the times and you have a Twitter account, don't just spam your followers when you want to whip up publicity about a giveaway/promotion.  Use Twitter as often as you can!  Consumers are using Twitter more and more to get a quick answer from brands, what's the point of having Twitter if you use it once in a blue moon?  I think it's better to not even join Twitter in the first place if you're going to do that as it just looks like you don't commit otherwise.
2. Engage with those who buy your products.  If people are buying products for your brand, they're essentially paying your wages and effectively they're paying you to tweet.  The least you can do is answer them when they have a question.  If they have a blog and want to post about your product then don't ignore them.
3. Engage with those who are sent your products as PR samples.  There's no denying that blogs influence a great deal of purchases that are made.  If you've sent someone your item and they ask you for some extra information, the least you can do is share the information with them.  They are after all advertising your product for free.
4. Rise above it.  Consumers get mad. It's a fact of life.  I went apeshit at T-Mobile a few weeks ago (with good reason) and their tweeter was still polite..not very helpful but still remained polite.  Don't go apeshit and a consumer with an issue because the chances are that someone somewhere will see your tweet and retweet it before you've calmed down and had the chance to delete it.  And one bit of bad publicity can turn a lot of consumers off.
5. Show a bit of personality.  Engage with those that follow you and are consumers.   There a few PR companies and brands who are fantastic at this, one in particular who I'm always tweeting whenever The Godfather is on TV.
6. Don't spam your users by overusing the retweet function.  You want to show off how the people love your brand.  That's understandable.  What I can't tolerate (and has caused me to unfollow this brand) is when a brand constantly searches Twitter to sweep up any mention of their brand and then retweets this to their followers.  And this is all they tweet.  I don't really care if people think your brand is great.  I'm following you because I want to know what you're doing.
7. Follow back.  If someone is tweeting you constantly and you're replying to their tweets, I think it's only common courtesy to follow them back.  Plus, it's easier on you because you can see their tweets in your timeline.
8. Address criticism.  If someone bought your product and has an issue with it and they tweet you about it, don't ignore them.  Give them suggestions re. how they could use it better/offer them a replacement.  It's totally true that people are more likely to discuss bad customer service over good.  I'm not saying offer them a replacement just because the product doesn't work.  If the product is broken (e.g. a shattered eyeshadow) then a replacement builds goodwill and that person is more likely to tell someone else.
9. Stop telling your followers to constantly like your Facebook page.  If someone follows you Twitter, them not liking you on Facebook is not the end of the world.  There are people who use Facebook but not Twitter and vice versa.  As long as you have the alternative channels there for people, they'll find you.
10. Don't ask if you can't take the answer.  If you ask your followers a question, don't ignore them when they answer you.  One brand in particular is really bad at this and I no longer follow them because of it.

The easiest way to turn eyeshadow into eyeliner: A tutorial!

I have an Indian function to attend soon and I want to wear a pop of blue on my lids.  There's no point kidding myself that I'd have enough time to blend any shadows on my lids so I've decided to go for something easier.

Someone mentioned that mixing butter and peanuts does really give you peanut butter.  For some reason, my mind equated mixing peanuts and butter to get peanut butter with mixing eyeshadow and liquid to get eyeliner.  This is where the idea was born..

What you will need:

• An eyeshadow colour that you want to wear as a liner
• A facial mist/setting spray (you could just use water in a spray bottle)
• A angled/non angled eyeliner brush (the cheaper the better because you don't want to be buying a NARS one that falls apart because you've gotten liquid into the ferrule and the glue has weakened).  All the brushes I have used will not break the bank and I can say that as I paid for two of them, one (the Revlon one) was a PR sample.
• A small bowl (if you're Indian, a standard koli will do)

I used the following:

Regarding the differences between an angled and non angled eyeliner brush, this is what I mean..

The Ruby and Millie and Models Own ones are angled brushes and the Revlon one isn't.  It's also naturally two toned, it's a bamboo shade.  The only reason it's a bit black is because I've been using it to apply colour to my waterline.  I've reviewed the Revlon one here and the Models Own one here if you want to take a look.

How to turn eyeshadow into eyeliner:

Practice this a few times before you wear it out just to ascertain how much colour you need.  You don't need to coat the whole brush in colour, it's enough to just coat the tip and a tiny bit of the sides.  I find it easy to do a thinner line first and then build it up but that's just me. 

The result:

I'm so pleased this worked out as well as I saw it in my mind.  You know how sometimes you have an idea in your head and then it doesn't work out in reality? I had a worry that this might be the case here but it worked out well.

I can't say I'd do this before work because I'm always rushing but I'm definitely going to be wearing these as liners when I'm on my own time.

If you want to go one step further and have two/three angled eyeliner brushes then you can be a bit more creative.

I could have worked it in a bit more on my inner eye area but it was dark, this was a practice run, the dog ate it, it was like

For this, I decided to utitlise my other eyeliner brushes.  You could do this look with just one brush but because I go back over and build colour up, I found it easier to use two. 

If you only have one angled brush then doing this kind of look might take you some extra time but it's easy to remove the colour from the brush.  I spray the brush with the ELF spray and wipe it on a tissue.  The faff is worth it because it does get people asking questions as to how you did it.

By the time I've finished, my eyeshadows are wet so I just dab at them with a tissue to take some of the moisture away.  I leave the palette open for about 10 minutes in a vain attempt to air dry it a bit.

This just goes to show that you don't need to fork out for coloured liquid liners (as these are easier to apply if you're new to liner) and that you don't need to spend a fortune buying products that specifically turn eyeshadows into liners.  For my eventual look, I've decided to mix the pink with the purple and that's given me a pretty good shade.

The colours in the Sleek palette when used dry are notorious for producing a lot of fallout but when you use them in this way, you don't get any fallout.  The ELF spray (which has been featured here before) is £3.50.  I did say that it smelt of cheese farts when you applied it to your face but in this context, you smell nothing. The Ruby and Millie i-Define brush (also featured here before) cost me about £1 with the Boots vouchers.  It might have even been free actually, I can't remember..  You can use any angled brush for this but if you really want the Ruby and Millie one, I'd suggest you get to Boots sharpish because Ruby and Millie is soon to be pulled from their shelves and the brush is currently on for £1.66.

My journey in liquid eyeliner: 2009-2011

About two years ago, I decided that I'd start to learn how to use liquid liner properly.  It wasn't going well until I started blogging about it and other bloggers (namely Amina!) told me that it would come to me with a bit of practice. 

I look back at this photo and laugh now, wondering what I was so proud of.  The liner is about five metres away from my lash line and the flick is practically by my ear..

Then I graduated onto this.. I managed to get it near the lashline enough so that it looks decent out in public yet the winged liner was still a distant dream.  I was quite chuffed with this and I wore this look a fair few times.  I used the Collection 2000 liquid liner for this.  It applies like a dream but I wouldn't buy again as it goes off quickly.  If you can't breathe without putting your liquid liner on, then this is a good budget buy as it dries quickly and literally glides along your eyelid and doesn't get caught in your lashes.  The eyeshadow is a layered affair, taken from Bobbi Brown's Basic Eye palette..

This formed part of a post I had about taking my makeup from day to night..you can see that I've learnt how to blend two shades on my eyelid and the importance of having come colour in the lower lashline.  I find that wearing my liner like this only works well when I've got glasses on as otherwise, it drags my eye down.  This type of fluid line was a rare achievement by the way, it's seldom graced my blog since.

I did say the liner in the photo above was a rare occurence back then..and that's evidenced by this photo right here.  However, check me out managing to blend three colours on my lid when before I couldn't even manage one.  The liner is the Collection 2000 one again, notice what I mean about it going manky after a while?

Then we have the last one to feature on here.  Yes, the winged liner isn't its best but I was in a rush and compare it to photo 1.

I remember when I first started learning how to apply liquid liner properly and every was telling me how it would take time but you would get it in the end.  I always thought either you could line your eyes or you couldn't.

Then I found gel/cream liner and thought my prayers were answered.  Although that does give you more control in getting it closer to the lashline, getting decent flicks with gel is harder than with liquid as you really need to find a good brush..something which is easier said than done.  The best brush I've found for gel liner so far is Benefit's Get Bent brush.

This post clearly shows that with enough practice (I practiced very rarely) you can start to line your eyes properly and then in time, move onto a winged liner...

Obsessions du jour

The things are currently occupying my fickle mind are...

The Sopranos

I had two episodes recorded and as I came home early from work the other day, I watched them both.  I now have itchy feet waiting for the next one.  I have never seen this programme before but I already love it.  I love the fact they intersperse their conversation with Italian (as I do that with Punjabi), I love the way they openly use the word whack (something which I thought they wouldn’t really say), I love how the right hand man is called Pussy, I love how someone in the mob owns a strip club and you see a lot of boobers on the show.  I love the fact that you see the gruesome-ness, I have only seen two episodes but I have seen a man’s head kicked in and a man get his brains blasted over a butcher’s table.  I love how they don't edit things down, they way they happen is the way you see them.  True to life is what I think I mean.  Most of all, I love how easy it is to access.  I found The Godfather hard work the first time I watched it but I just slipped into this and it made very easy viewing.  The people who wrote it, directed it, produced it and acted in it have done very well.  And it doesn’t seem fake, it’s all very real.  Another thing that I liked was the fact that he stayed true to his roots..he's gone up in the world but he still conducts all of his business back where he was brought up.

Scented candles

You follow me on Twitter, you know all about this.  If you don't, step to it.  I've found a brilliant seller on ebay who ships super quick and has very reasonable postage.  The Yankee ones I have are samplers but they are big enough, I've been burning them a lot and each should burn for 15 hours.  How much do the samplers cost? Less than 2 quid.  However, you do need something to put them in, I wanted to be decadent and use a crystal Scotch glass or a rummer but attempts to permanently deprive (nice legal term for you there..thank you first year uni) my dad of one of his didn't go well.  My current favourite scents are Clean Cotton, Black Cherry and Mountain Pine.

Bronzers

Never did I think I'd be the one using a bronzer but I've found that the right one can give you the shiny cheek look that I can never achieve with blusher.  I wanted a blusher without colour that just gave my cheek a bit of a highlight, now I realise that you need a bronzer to do that for you because they're easier to match to my skintone than a blusher is for this.  If this one works as well on me as it does on her, it shall have to be purchased.

What's everyone else loving?

There's gna be some changes around here!

Writing words like "gna" and "kinda" cause me a great deal of internal conflict as on one hand, I'm a complete grammar and spelling Nazi and on the other hand, I don't want to look like a goon using full on English words when they don't flow right.  Hence why I've let the inner rudegyal win and used the word "gna"..which isn't really a rudegyal word at all..

Anyway, this is a true to form rambly post where you don't get much by way of knowledge but you do get to see the inner workings of my genius (and, of course, modest) mind..

Re. the changes..they're nothing earth shattering and new..

The first is that I've finally pulled my finger out of my tokhes (word of the week by the way) and managed to get myself some contact lens.  I don't know why I do these things to myself..I've had lens on and off since I was 16 but this is the first time I've ordered them properly for a period of longer than three months.  I am wearing them at the moment and I keep doing that annoying "pushing your glasses up" thing, despite the glasses being off.  I suppose that will take a bit of time, naturally.

I'm not really sure how that connects in with the blog apart from the fact that I will be now be able to do EOTD's for people with porky eyes who DON'T wear glasses..

It will also mean that I can give face masks a more thorough testing as I won't be rushing to take them off so I can whack my glasses on and reintroduce the world to my eyes..

Number two is my resolutions..it feels odd using a singular word with a number higher than one..like I'm cheating on one with two..sorry one! Anyway, my two resolutions for this year were simple...

1. Get the brows threaded every two weeks without fail.
2. Make an effort every single day (i.e. WEAR the foundation instead of staring at it in the morning)

They're going well so far..I'm quite chuffed with myself because I've actually managed to pluck my brows so they're lasting longer.  The effort making is also going well, I've finally realised that wearing foundation without blusher is just asking for trouble because you look ill..blusher that mother on up!  Doing the latter also finally made Liz Earle's Cleanse and Polish work better for me.

There are also some blog related changes which I won't say too much about now but you will see them as they come about..

What else..I have a question about Sky +..does everyone who has it get the same programmes on their Anytime? I'm convinced they don't but Simon is convinced that they do..the only reason why I ask is because we have a mixture of ANTM, Cake Boss and tonnes of Premiership Years so they must know what we watch and put that on there..musn't they? 

Talking of Cake Boss, it is my aim for this year (along with learning crochet) to go to their bakery because their skills are amazing.  I watched the Christmas episode today and was amazed at how good their cakes looked..there is practically nowhere here that I know of that makes cakes like that around Christmas time.

I've also managed to successfully grow my nails..then the ring finger went and broke, boo!

But, I have a plan! I'm finally going to get around to sticking my Nailene ones on so that should cover the damage.

Talking of which, how could you forget that group, Damage?  I remember I was at school once in Maths (sums are my Kryptonite) and we were doing the usual mix of chatting shit and magazine reading whilst the teacher was out of the class..our teacher was an old cantankerous sod.  Anyway, he came back in and saw a poster of Damage on his desk and went flipmode..demanding to know who owned the post of Da-marge.  We nigh on pissed ourselves laughing at him which only made him angrier and angrier..he threw a chair through the window a few lessons later and it hit a guy in the Sixth Form and we never heard of him after that..

Anyway, if you muddled through until now, well done and I hope you see how much I scale back on my ramblings for the beauty orientated posts here..count.your.blessings!

Not your standard resolution post..

Seeing as it's been about a year since I originally pledged to start using up more of my stash, I've decided to see if I've actually stuck to the resolution..if I have then it's nothing short of a miracle as I've only ever been able to keep one resolution in my whole life.

The products were as follows..

The smudgepots..didn't get used as much as I had hoped..mainly because I show my Bobbi Brown liner too much love but also because the Jade one took a bit of work.  The purple one also dried out but I brought it back to semi life and have been using it as a liner for the lower lashline.  If anyone knows how to properly bring it back to its former creamy existence, let me know..  The black is yet to be used, I should really pull my finger out and start using it incase it goes the same way as the purple..

These have been used a lot since I made the resolution.  I use the liner right at the bottom (Stila Topaz) on a daily basis as it makes my eyes look bigger without being too stark against my skintone.  I tend to use the purple ones whenever I want to make my eyes look made up without putting much effort in.  The No7 one comes out as a dark purple and the Stila one is lighter.  The turquoise one is hard to wear to wear at work as it is fairly bright but it's one of my first choices on a night out..

Being the good beauty blogger I am, I have swatches..

Then there's my beloved Stila Noire palette.  When I first bought this, I bought blind.  I got home and saw how light the colours were and my heart sank, thinking I'd never get any pigmentation from them.  How wrong I was! This palette is probably the only one I have where the pastel shade comes out the same colour on my skin.

Looking at it in this photo I miss how clean it used to look as it now has fallout all over it and I should really tidy it up.  The black shade has been my "go-to vamp it up" shadow when I'm going out right after work..it has featured on the blog many a time and I yet again, have swatches..

The original Sleek palette..I loved this back in the day.  Now I'm not reaching for it so much.  Mainly because when I first had it, I didn't work where I work now and I could get away with wearing bright eyes to work.  Now it's mainly used for experimenting and party wear.  I use the black and navy as crease colours but that's about it..

Look how nice and clean it was at the start of the year and the state in which it saw the year out, I really need to clean it..  My feelings about this brand have changed drastically since I did my resolutions post, hence my reluctance to buy anything else from them..

I love 17.  Their products are on the whole, cheap and well worth the money.  The only product of theirs I didn't get on with was their felt tipped liner but apart from that, I love everything they do.  Their shadows are pigmented, smooth and cheap.

The good thing about 17 is that the shade they use in their palettes are available instore as a full eyeshadow, I can't remember the name of these off the top of my head but I have seen them instore before.  They also repromoted this very same palette (albeit under a different name) so I picked it up again.  This has been used a lot by me this past year and has slowly crept into an everyday colour.

This is the only product that I haven't really used since it was last featured.  I don't know why that is, it is really nice.  I think it has to do with the faff factor, I have other highlighters which are just easier to use.  I do reach for this when I have the time to sit down and do my makeup properly and am going on a night out but apart from that, it stays in the back..

I have plans for this baby..plans which will soon be revealed!

Anyone kept their resolutions from last year? Got any new ones? Anyone failed already?

2010: My beauty blogging year in pictures..and a "few" words

The idea to do this came to me last night when I couldn't sleep but was too lazy to get up and start typing.

These are some of the things that rocked my beauty socks in 2010..(click on the month to be taken to everything I rambled about during that time)

January

1. Matte nail polishes.
2. Failure of a matte blusher.  
3. Melting cleanser from Clarins.  
4. Started The Swatch Files.
5. Mousse foundation.  
6. Asked what the deal was with TE.  
7. Found my perfect moisturiser thanks to Korres.  
8. Found a makeup remover pen that worked.

February

1. Managed to cheat myself to a smokey cats eye.   
2. Grew my nails and showed my progress.  
3. Reviewed a very good eye cream.  
4. Had my first ever attempt at finding my crease. 
5. Reviewed a smelly (but good) degreasing scrub.  
6. Came across my first ever primer.  
7. Introduced my cheaper version of Philip King's Elasticizer courtesy of Dabur. 

March

1. Showed you my workday lip.  
2. Asked why Rimmel LONDON sell a wider range of products in the US compared to in the UK. 
3. Reviewed my favourite cuticle cream.  
4. Reviewed the infamous Korres lip butters.
5. Reviewed Tescos super cheap Vitamin E range.  
6. Explored nude eyeliner.  
7. Asked why some products held cult status despite not being liked very much.

April (the birthday month!) 

I turned 26!

 

1. Found my holy grail summer moisturiser.  
2. Reviewed my favourite facial soap.  
3. Swatched Stila liquid luminizer.  
4. Managed a decent eye makeup look using an eyeliner brush and one eyeshadow.  
5. Found a cheaper, better version of Urban Decay eye pencils. 
6. Introduced you to my favourite beauty tool, my face brush! 

May

1. Went a bit swatch mad with my Jemma Kidd items. 
2. Had my layering eyeshadow idea "appropriated" by Bobbi Brown.  
3. Reviewed two rose water based toners (one of which became my holy grail one and was discontinued *sobs*).  
4. Fell in love with my Body Shop facial massager.  
5. Showed you how I layered two eyeshadows.  
6. Found an easy way to take my eyes from day to night. 

June

1. Reviewed another gem of an eyecream.  
2. Recanted you with tales of me and my sporadic use of the epilator.  
3. Reviewed a Kryten looking lipstick from PURE.  
4. Found a brilliant Indian nose pore mask.  
5. Swatched a wide range of the Revlon Colourbust lipsticks.  

July

1. Another facet of my obssessions was revealed..sewing!  
2. The worst eyeliner brush I had ever used.  
3. A not so brilliant eye roll on. 
4. I finally learnt how to blend..
5. I found a budget alternative to Urban Decay Primer Potion.  
6. I swatched some bronzers from The Body Shop. 
7. I found a terrible nail polish remover.  
8. A brilliant hot scrub.  
9. My favourite gel liner ever. 
10. Reviewed Revlon brushes.  
11. Swatched my favourite quad.  

August

1. Swatched a lip and cheek tint from The Body Shop.  
2. Showed you my all time favourite lipgloss.
3. Bought too much glittery nail polish.  
4. Found three different ways of wearing black eyeshadow. 
5. Showed how I change the shape of my eyes/my work look.  
6. Made my own toner.  
7. Reviewed two different pore refiners.  
8. Showed you my favourites of the year so far. 
9. Dabbled with lomography.  
10. Found some sheet soap. 

September

1. Managed to make my eyes look super pepped up by using a baked eyeshadow.  
2. Was amazed by a foamy exfoliator.  
3. Told you why I loved the Models Own brushes so much. 
4. Managed to work golden eyelids.  
5. I became a walking stereotype and quite enjoyed it. 
6. I found a budget version of the infamous Clarisonic.  
7. Liz Earle's exfoliator sorted me right out. 
8. I found a perfect nude lip combination for women of colour. 

October

1. I found my very first mix it yourself exfoliator. 
2. I swatched one of my favourite palettes.  
3. I found a brilliant mud mask. 
4. How to get perfect curls.  
5. Did an 80's inspired EOTD.  
6. Jumped on the Barry M bandwagon.  
7. Found my perfect eyecream.  
8. Gave purple eyeliner some attention.  
9. Reviewed Shahnaz Husain skincare.  
10. Experiences with SLS free shampoos. 

November

1. I found a brilliant hairbrush cleaner and lectured you on Lord Denman.   
2. Showed off my mittens..twice.  
3. Was semi enamoured with ELF's large makeup holder. 
4. Found the first ever eye makeup remover that didn't sting my eyes (joy!)  
5. I swatched felt tipped eyeliners that don't budge.  
6. I managed to find the crease and blend it accordingly. 
7. Reviewed a mascara that gave me a mean curl.  
8. Ventured into mineral blusher.  
9. Celebrated Diwali.  
10. Used my first ever LUSH facial product..the toner tabs. 

December

1. I showed you what I took to Russia. 
2. I found my perfect winter warmer, a Japanese tummy wrap. 
3. I finally got around to swatching Revlon's Silver Fox Quad. 
4. I found a decent natural dry shampoo thanks to Batiste.  
5. I swatched Revlon's Suede Rhapsody lipsticks. 
6. I bored you with my Christmas wishlist. 
7. I bought some slightly less than practical winter shoes.  

Phew! That was the year that was..