Sunday 24 July 2011

UK Bloggers Map


Have you have ever wandered whether any bloggers are based near you? 
It may be to see if there are any great bargains nearby, or to find other fellow bloggers to meet up with.

Now you can find out.
Hayley from ceriselle.org has come up with a great idea of setting up an interactive map in which Fashion and Beauty Bloggers in UK and Ireland can add themselves.

If you see a 'pin' in an area near you, simply click on it and it will link you to the blogger who's based there.
It's 100% confidential, and will never display your address. 

So click on the above picture to see what all the fuss is about, and if you have a fashion or beauty blog you should definately add yourself to it! :)





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Saturday 23 July 2011

Bargain Buys with Swatches!

Whilst doing a bit of retail therapy I came across a few great bargains and products I thought I'd share with you!

I found all of these items in a shop that's fast becoming my favourite: Savers.

SUNMAXX SKIN STAR TAN

Whilst in Savers I picked up these three tanning products at just 79p each!
Left: "Secret Lace" - Dark Hydrating Tanning Milk, 50ml.
Center: "Rockin' Amber" - Super Hydrating Bronzing Milk, 50ml.
Right: "Cashmere Glaze" - Ultra Rich Hydrating Cream, 30ml.


They do larger versions of these, but I figured I'd try the smaller sizes to see if they were any good!
At a later stage I will be doing a closer review of these.

SUNKISSED RADIANCE COMPACT

Regardless of whether the sun is actually shining this summer, we still all want that radiant sun-kissed glow. I found this lovely bronzed compact in Savers for just £2.99.

Close-ups:
Swatches:


I love this compact, and how these colours pick up in the light. They make the perfect compliment to a bronzed complexion (real or not).

The lipglosses are lovely too! My favourite is the plum colour on the bottom left <3

Size Comparison:
MAC compact size comparison



SUNKISSED PALETTE

This is another great find, again from Savers
Part of the 'Sunkissed' range, it offers 12 neutral eyeshadows in a handy-sized palette at only £1.49.

Swatches:

This palette offers more great eyeshadows to compliment a 'sunkissed' look. I think it's a nice sized palette, though I doubt I'd be using the supplied eyeshadow applicators! 

Size Comparison:
Sleek Palette size comparison


CATWALK COLOUR PALETTE

Last, but DEFINiTELY not least, this has to be my favourite find of the lot.
The layout of the palette itself reminds me a bit of the Z-Palette.
This palette contains 28 eyeshadow in a great range of colours. 
It is by far the biggest bargain offering that many shadows at only £3.99!

Swatches:
Row 1
Row 2
Row 3
Row 4

It's hard to tell in the photo's, but the colour payoff is amazing, and the colours are so complimentary to each other, making it easy to create so many different looks. At a glance I can see at least 10 different eye looks you can create with this!


Size Comparison:
MAC Palette size comparison - Length

MAC Palette size comparison - Width

I'm so happy with my finds, and I definitely got a lot for my money.
And I hope this helps anyone in need of a spree without doing too much damage to their bank balance!


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Wednesday 13 July 2011

ELF Haul & Swatches

Over the weekend, e.l.f cosmetics held a money off event where they offered half price on all their essential eye products on orders over £10.
On friday I took full advantage of this offer and ordered 14 pf their products. My order was very speedy and arrived today!

Everything featured here usually retails at only £1.50! During this offer I got them for a mere 75p each!
Here is a glimpse of my delivery:
Note: all items have been swatched WITHOUT the use of primer so you get a better idea of how they really look.


I ordered 7 of their Custom Eyes eyeshadows, pictured and swatched below:

Wisteria, Periwinkle, Dusk, Mocha, Moondust, Pink Ice & Truly Pink
The Custom Eyes eyeshadows sit perfectly in my MAC palette
alongside a previously lonely shadow

I also ordered 4 of their All Over Colour Stick's, pictured and swatched below:


Finally I ordered 2 of their eyeshadow duo's, and one of their cream eyeshadow duos, shown below:


Custom Eyes:

Pro's: I love the colour payoff with these shadows, they're quite light but can all be built up easily and the colours are perfect to work within my regularly used eyeshadow colours. I can't wait to do an eye look with these. I've been itching to do an eye look on here!
Also, I love the fact that they fit perfectly within my MAC palette.

Con's: My only criticism is I wish there was more of a range of colours as there are only 3 more I need to get before I have e.l.f's entire Custom Eyes collection!

Other than that, if you CAN see a colour that appeals to you, I definitely recommend these.

All Over Colour Stick's:

Pro's: I actually really love these! My favourite colour has to be Lilac Petal, but I really like all of them. Toastie looks like it would be waay to dark for me, BUT I'm sure I can find a way to use this. I would probably just use it as cream eyeshadow. I love the colours they all give off, really looking forwards to properly working with these :)

Con's: I can't work out if this is a bad thing, but to me they kind of smell like water colour paints. I'm very arty, so to me this is a nice smell, but others may not like it so I've put this in the con's.

Again (if you like cream blush's etc) I would recommend these!

Eyeshadow Duo's:

Pro's: Again, I like the colour pay-off, and my favourite is Berry Mix, particularly the darker berry colour. The colours look more distinctive in real life than in the photo.

Con's: Again, I'd say  not enough colour range, there was only a choice between 6, and the colour choices are all very simiar to eachother.

Cream Eyeshadow Duo:

I'm really disappointed with the colour pay-off of this one. As you can see it barely shows up on my skin, even when I attempted to build the colours up. You can just about see the pinky colour, but the beige/yellow one just looks like a faint smear of dirt :/

Not so impressed with this one, though will have a play around with it to see if I can get it to show up. The skin tone around my eyes will be slightly different to the skin on my arm where I swatched it, so hopefully I'll have more luck there.

Verdict:
Overall: I am SO happy with my purchases. It was my first time shopping at Eyes Lips Face, and will definitely be going back! I just hope they expand their Custom Eyes range so I have lots more to choose from on my next purchase!


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Sunday 10 July 2011

iFabbo Goodybag

I promised an upclose look inside the goody bag* I received from the iFabbo Event, and here it is!


Clockwise from top left: Rocktails new Frozen Cocktails, Elegant Touch False Nails, Eyelure False lashes (107 & 080), Colbert MD Eye Cream, Witch Cleansin Wipes & Blemish Stick

Paul & Joe leaflet with full-sized Paul & Joe Eyeshadow below, Murad product Guide with product samples: Pomegranate Lip Protector, Acne Cleanser, Acne & Wrinkle Solution & Anti-ageing Moisturiser

Left: Paul & Joe Eye Gloss Duo (002) Swatches. Right: Make Up Store Eyeshadow (Boheme)

Collection 2000 Cream Puff in Fairy Cake

Beautisol Body Self Tanner with Gloves & Instructions
We were truly spoilt in our goody bags, with so many different brands and products to try. 
As I get to know these products I will slowly start reviewing them. 

On first impressions I love the Make Up Store Eyeshadow, and can't wait to try out the self tanner!
I am of course looking forwards to trying everything else out too! 


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Friday 8 July 2011

1st iFabbo UK Event

Last night I, along with many other bloggers, attended the first iFabbo UK event.

It was my first event so was fairly nervous going up to London on my own for it. But I'm so glad I went as I really enjoyed it and met lots of lovely people. 

It was held at The Powder Room in Soho. It was such a beautiful and chic location, and we were all spoiled with cocktails from Rocktails and cupcakes from The Cake in a Cup. We were given an introduction for what iFabbo was about ( International Organisation for Beauty, Fashion and Lifestyle Bloggers), and then we were given talks by various brands as they introduced themselves and told us all about their products.
We heard from The Powder Room and their favourite brand Paul and Joe Beaute, Boudoir Prive, Murad and The Make Up Store.  


I met so many lovely bloggers at this event, 3 of which are pictured below.
I also met Louise from Makeup Lover, Jess from Star Violet Beauty, and briefly with Zoe from The London Lipgloss. There were other blogger who I met but sadly I have an awful memory when it come to names :(
There were also many other bloggers, some of whom I recognised, who I'd had love to have met but never got the chance to.

Below I'm pictured with the lovely Aletha from Confessions of a Beauty Queen, Becca from BeautyBecca, and Epiphannie from Epiphanniea. Had such a great night with these girls, and you should definitely check out their blogs!

With bloggers Aletha and  Becca
(Photo from Aletha's blog - click photo for link!)
With  Epiphannie
Beautiful cakes by 'The Cake in a Cup'
This tasted as amazing as it looked!
Boudoir Prive Talk

If you are on twitter you may have heard of the upcoming French brand Boudoir Prive. They were there last night and gave us a talk on their up coming launch - though they were very good at giving nothing away!

Paul & Joe Beaute Talk
Paul & Joe
The lovely Zoe from Murad
Zoe from Murad was at the event to talk about their products, and it was clear she knew her brand! I'd heard of Murad before, but never given them much thought. But since hearing about them I've been really looking forwards to trying their products as they have such an extensive range tailored to everyone's needs!

Murad
The Make Up Store Talk
We also heard from Swedish brand 'The Make Up Store', which I'm very excited about! I hadn't heard of them before the event, but definitely recommend checking them out - their up-coming Autumn and Winter collections look amazing!

The Make Up Store
More of the Event
The Goody Bags
(sorry for the blurry photo)
Each of us who went were treated to a goody bag with an amazing range of products from Beautisol, Colbert MD, Collection 2000, Eylure, Elegant Touch, The Make Up Store, Murad, Paul and Joe Beaute, Rocktails, and Witch Skincare.
My Goody Bag!
This is the only sneak peak I'll post of my goody bag for now! 
I have completely raided the bag and cant wait to properly try everything out!
If you're interested in what's inside stay tuned for my next post ;)

I had an amazing time, and would definitely recommend iFabbo to other bloggers! You can sign up on their website here.


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@ Beauty Not Just Skin Deep.