MUA Shade 3 Pearl Eyeshadow

Ahh how I love finding drafts from a year ago! Retro!...

After being pleasantly surprised with the few MUA products I had tried I decided to plunge back in to the pool of cheap cosmetics and purchase Shade 3 Pearl, 2g of pure shimmery silvery wonderfullness encased in the typical MUA black plastic packaging. To say the product is only £1, you get a lot of product for your money, and a lot of pigmentation too. Admittedly, its not the softest metallic eyeshadow I've ever seen, infact its a bit 'gritty'. It's very easy to blend and easy to apply and is maybe slightly too buttery for my liking. Of course will all buttery eyeshadows there is a high risk of the pan cracking if you drop it, its for fairy fingers only! Also another slight issue is that it does product a bit of excess fallout in the pan, but its nothing that isn't manageable.

MUA Shade 3 Pearl Grey Eyeshadow

Advantages - Good pigmentation for price

Disadvantages - Perhaps a little gritty

Overall Rating - (7/10)

Availability - £1 from the MUA website or Superdrug

July Favourites

Please excuse the fact I'm cutting this a bit late, I've been in one of those moods where I just don't wanna sit down and write for 40 minutes straight! However this months favourites are ones I feel really really confident about recommending to you all. These are all things I would strongly, strongly advise you try. Some, such as the Collection Lasting Perfection Concealer probably aren't anything new to you guys, however it's always great to find new ways to apply or use a product or in the NSpa shower smoothie's case, fall in love with something you ordinarily wouldn't.

- Korres Lip Butter in 'Quince' £7 (Click for review)

I've got every female member of my family obsessed with Korres because the quality of their products its simply exceptional! This 'Lip Butter' is a lipgloss/lipbalm/lipstick hybrid with a yummy yet unusual taste. It litter ally melts on your lips and although the colour looks really rather bold in the pot, it can be rubbed in more for a light wash of pale pink or applied slightly heavier for a full opaque bright pink lip. Even better, its just £7!

- Collection LP Concealer applied with Bare Minerals Blemish Remedy Brush £4ish

Now I'm sure this isn't anything new to you guys, but the Collection 2000 Lasting Perfection Ultimate Wear Concealer (talk about a mouthful!) just had to make it into my favourites for July. In fact if I was to do an all-time favourites posts it'd probably pop up there too! This is here for this month in particular because I found a way to make it work differently. I mentioned in my 'This Or That Tag' that me and concealer don't necessarily get on, but using the Bare Minerals brush I got with the 'Blemish Remedy' I can apply it seamlessly!

- N SPA Coconut Ice Cream Shower Scrub £4ish

A friend bought this a while ago for me but me being a definite hater of coconut scented products (or so I thought) I threw it to the back of a drawer and completely forgot about it up until last month. Now its exfoliating claims are absolute rubbish, as you can see above the particles are very sparse. However the smell is something else, It's really made me want to venture out and try other coconut scented products I otherwise would have ignored!

- Daniel Galvin Jr Hangover Hair Shampoo (and conditioner) £6

And now for the star of the show, my definite all time favourite shampoo. 'Hangover Hair' has for quite a bit of time been the shampoo of choice for many salons and in fact many celebrities! (Including the very popular amongst bloggers - Millie Mackintosh) It's described as a 'luxury shampoo' and I can for sure agree with those claims. It sounds weird but when your rubbing it into your hair it doesn't feel like most other shampoos, a good kind of different. It has a strong scent of Lavender I should warn as it might put some off buying. Available at Waitrose.

What were your favourite products of July?

The This Or That Tag

Recently I was tagged by the lovely Molly in the 'This Or That' tag. I haven't done a tag or QA kind of thing for a while so I figured why not! Please do excuse the odd photo selections, they were just whatever was remotley related to this tag and sized ready on my desktop! Here goes:

MAKEUP:

Blush or Bronzer?
Blush, I've got olive skin and I find bronzer can make it look 'dirty' *urgh* Blush adds a nice fememine flush, which I love!

Lipgloss or lipstick?
Lipstick (even though I own more lipglosses!)

Eyeliner or mascara?
I don't wear eyeliner, but even if I did I'd still say mascara

Foundation or concealer?
Foundation - concealers hate my face! There isn't a perfect shade for me, they make my skin look grey and never blend as I want them to!

Neutral or coloured eyeshadow?
Is black classed as coloured? it's barely neutral really, is it?...

Pressed or loose eyeshadows?
Pressed, unless it's a metallic or glitter shadow

Brushes or sponges?
Brushes, occasionally sponges for powder foundation

NAILS:

OPI or China Glaze?
Yet to try China Glaze, although im not really that crazy on OPI either!

Long or short?
Short I guess, my best friend has cat claws and its really put me off!

Acrylic or natural?
I think sometimes it's nice to have a change and go for acrylics, they look better with my hands too! Although squared off tips and dodgy backfills are deadly!

Brights or Darks?
Brights! They make you happier, especially with cute nails art!



BODY:

Perfume or body spray?
Perfume, it's much more long lasting and looks prettier on the dresser!

Lotion or body butter?
Lotion in Summer, butter in Winter - simple!

Body wash or soap?
I enjoy switching between the two. Theres an amazing apothecary in my town that makes the best soaps, not like the stuff you get on the high street!

Lush or other bath company?
I think lush is good for facial skin care and the Gorrilla perfumes, The Body Shop is generally nice all round but I tend to get a lot of my bath stuff from boutique stores in my area (Yorkshire is brimming with them) they're pricier but I think it's good to promote small businesses rather than Multi-nationals sometimes

FASHION:

Jeans or sweat pants?
I don't own either!

Long sleeve or short?
Long sleeve pushed up in to 3/4 length sleeve seems to look good on me

Dresses or skirts?
Skirts, I think they're slightly more comfortable, but I love both!

Stripes or Plain?
I actually bought a striped crop jumper yesterday, so I'll go with stripes

Flip flops or sandals?
Sandals! Havent owned a pair of flip flops in years!

Scarves or hats?
Scarves, unless I'm at Wimbledon then im all for the wide brimmed floppy hats, even in the rain!

Studs or dangly earrings?
I don't actually have my ears pierced as I faint a lot and businesses aren't prepared to do it incase something goes drastically wrong (sucks I know!) so I'd take full advantage of actually having them done and get my Pat Butcher out!

Necklaces or bracelets?
You may have noticed I don't wear much jewellery, I think necklaces can look too much and bracelets rarely fit on my tiny tiny wrists

Hells or flats?
I wear heels whenever I can, I love them! They're uber femenine!

Cowboy boots or riding boots?
As a horse rider I'd be shot if I said anything other than riding!

Jacket or a hoodie?
A nice leather jacket is perfection!

Forever 21 or Charlotte Russe?
I don't have experiences of either but I'd say F21 based on what i've seen from others (F21 opening in the Trafford Centre soons EEEEEP!)

Abercombie or Hollister?
Would I be shunned If i said I don't really see a difference? Their hooded jackets are exactly the same...

Saks 5th Avenue or Nordstrom?
Lets go with Saks!

(this is what I mean by 'slightly odd' I took it about 3 months ago to show my friend my hair colour haha!)

HAIR:

Curly or straight?
Curly!

Bun or ponytail?
EVERY time I have my hair in a bun somebody ALWAYS makes a comment about me looking like a ballerina because I'm tall, have no visible body fat and really muscular arms (im not just for the record, I'd love to be though!) So ponytail for definate, even if I do look like basil brush with my huge wavy hair!

Bobby pins or Butterfly clips?
Recently I've loved using the teeny weeny butterfly clips you can get from Primark for a £1!

Hair spray or gel?
Can I be my usual controversial self and say wax? (for flyaways only of course)

Long or short?
Long! As long as possible! I had a horrid bob and full fringe up until I was 10 and It's scarred me since!

Light or dark?
Dark! My friend is blonde and has had so many traumatic experiences with highlighting and dying it that I've come to be appreciative of dark hair!

Side Swept bangs of full fringes?
Side swept. I hate a full fringe on me, I think they can look really sophisticated on some people, just not on me!

Up or down?
Down! I either look like a rodent, a boy, or a ballerina when I have mine up so its much easier just to leave it!



RANDOM:

Rain or shine?
Who doesn't like a bite of sunshine?

Summer or Winter?
Where I live we don't have much seasonal difference because of all the hills, its pretty much rain for 350 days of the year (or maybe thats just the UK in general I'm talking about!) But like I said who doesn't love some sun?

Fall or Spring?
(See above)

Chocolate or Vanilla?
Vanilla!

East Coast or West Coast?
Based on my in depth knowledge of the Bring It On! movies I'm gonna go with East Coast

I tag:

Lauren at Prettylittledaisies

Robyn at Olive

Molly at Mollyox



Primark A/W 2012 Lookbook

Sticking with their current streak of stylish, sophisticated lookbooks Primark has recently released the promotional images for their A/W 12 collection. The lines include all the colours we can predict for A/W like navy, duck egg and the Earth tones aswell as lighter knits with patterned ankle grazers and pencil skirts. Keen eyes amongst you will also notice Primark's common copy-catting skills come in to play as they release their (rather similar) version of the Zara leather sleeved jacket and nude heels (which some might also claim were a Louboutin rip-off). Built in wedge 'trainers' and high neck shirts also make an appearance. I'd have to say i'm most excited by the yellow skirt and jacket combo and the glitter infused leggings, what about you? What do you think about highstreet stores copying others designs - appreciation or a method of stealing customers?

Edinburgh Adventures

 A trip to Scotland isn't complete without a quick visit to Edinburgh. The day was indeed over quickly as the rain prompted a hasty evacuation of most of the area. We did a bit of shopping, ate a bit of Nandos did a bit of erm bungee jumping? (don't even ask!) It was a good day, regardless of the weather and I can defiantly see myself visiting again. I'd say the only place I wouldn't visit again is the city centre Primark, my god there's more tourists there than oxford street!

 

- Edinburgh Castle mounted above the city
- Unfortunately the rain appeared to clear the city in 0.05 seconds
- The old/new contrast in Edinburgh is amazing!
- I don't think this needs much explanation!
- These are placed outside every Olympic stadium, we saw an arena covered in flags but couldn't get close enough to see what event it was, if anybody knows do share!