You Know You're A Beauty Blogger When...

You Know You're A BBlogger When....

Images courtesy of Google Images

There's plenty more, let me know your favourites that keep cropping up

This tongue-in-cheek post is based on my observations, I'm not by any means suggesting you must do/buy these things.

FOTD & How Much Is Your Face

Recently I've been wearing the same makeup on a daily basis so I thought it would be a good time to do my first FOTD/How Much is Your Face.

As usual the lighting in my house is horrendous, so after running round the house taking photos at every window I had to resort to using the flash. These were the best of a bad bunch!

Face:

Chanel Vitalumiere Aqua Foundation £32 here

Collection Lasting Perfection Concealer £4.19 here

Urban Decay Eyeshadow in Foxy to set Under Eyes and T-Zone (NAKED 2) £36 here

MAC Harmony Blush to Contour £17.50 here

MAC Desert Rose Blush on Cheeks £17.50 here

MAC Mineralize Skinfinish Soft & Gentle £21.50 here

Face Total: £128.69

Eyes:

Eyeshadows-

Crease-Naked

Lid-Buck

Liner & Outer V-Creep

NAKED Palette

£36 here
DJV Beautenizer Volume Lash Mascara £18 here
Rimmel Pro Brow Pencil Black/Brown £2.99 here

Elf Brow Kit £3.75 here

Eyes Total: £60.74


Lips:

Lasting Finish by Kate Moss £5.49 here
Bourjois Effect 3D Lipgloss Rose Charismatic £7.69 here


Lips Total: £13.18


How Much Is My Face Worth?
£202.61 

I don't think this is bad at all, admittedly I would usually apply primers which could hike the cost up.
I also forgot to include Fix+ £13.50, still there's a good mix of high end and high street compared to some I've seen I'm practically a superscrimper!

Have you done this tag? Please, Link it below!

Disclaimer: All Products were purchased by myself. Links included for your convenience, I am not affiliated with any companies listed.

Smokey Cat Eye Tutorial

It's been a while since I posted a tutorial on here, I don't know why as these are the posts I enjoy the most and it seems you do too. I will be posting them more regularly, let me know if there's any specific looks you would like to see.

I've broken down step by step the quickest, easiest cat eye tutorial. I was rapidly losing natural daylight so by the end I had to use flash, to be honest this shows the look a lot clearer and in hindsight I wish I'd used it from the beginning.  Anyway I'll stop rabbiting on, let's get to the photos.

1. Start out by priming your lid with your favourite eyeshadow primer 

(Bad lighting makes my brows look like fuzzy felts, as you can see in last two photos they do actually look like brows)

2. Apply a light, neutral shadow all over the lid and highlight the brow bone, this will set primer and make blending a lot easier

3. Taking a black kohl pencil trace along the outside V and crease as shown above. This does not need to be perfect as we will be blending it out, however ensure pencil does not come below the crease

4. Using a short, synthetic brush blend out the pencil, again this doesn't need to be perfect as we will be setting this with shadow. 

5 & 6. Repeat steps 3 & 4

7. Taking a black, matte shadow on a pencil brush trace along the outside V and crease as we did with the pencil then blend this out. Repeat these steps until you're happy with the colour density. 

8. Take kohl pencil under lower lashline, set with matte black shadow and blend.

9. Line the top lashline with a black gel/liquid liner and extend with a flick which follows the shape we've created

10. Using a black waterproof pencil line both tightline and waterline. You could end the look here, just curl lashes and apply mascara but who doesn't love a bit of glitter? 

11. Taking a mixing medium wet a flat shadow brush and use to pat glitter on to the lid upto where the black begins and also in tearduct area.

12. Clean up any glitter fallout, apply mascara and admire your handy work! I would usually apply false lashes with this look but I seem to have tidied my stash of lashes so well I can't find where I've put them!

Is this a look you would wear? 

Will you be trying this out?

Leave me a comment below!

As I said above, if you have any requests then leave me a comment and I will be happy to do it.

Products Used:

MAC Painterly Paint Pot

MAC Eyeshadows Brule & Shroom

Avon Black Kajal

Urban Decay Eyeshadow Blackout

Illamasqua Pure Pigment Beguile

Clinique Brush on Cream Liner

DJV Beautenizer Volume Lash Mascara

What's In My Overnight Makeup Bag

I stayed at my mums house overnight last night, I just started putting away what I took and as I enjoy these types of post I decided to blog it.

 It's 10:30pm so I apologise for the bad lighting, if you would like me to review any product I mention drop me a comment below.

The Bag

Just a bog standard, 3 for £3, clear plastic, makeup bag from Boots.

Base Makeup

MAC Fix+

Chanel Vitalumiere Aqua Foundation

Collection Lasting Perfection Concealer

MAC Studio Finish Concealer

Lancome Poudre Majeur Excellence Loose Powder

Cheeks

MAC Desert Rose Blush

MAC MSF Soft & Gentle

MAC Harmony Blush

Sleek Contour Kit

Eyes

NAKED 2 Palette

Rimmel Brow Pencil

MAC Painterly Paint Pot

HD Brows Brow Gel

Maybelline The Falsies Mascara

DJV Beautenizer Volume Lash

ELF Eyebrow Kit

Cosmopolitan Eyelash Curlers

Lips

Rimmel Lip Pencil

Lasting Finish by Kate Lipstick 101

Figs and Rouge Lip Balm

When I whipped out my makeup bag this morning my mum and sister had a good laugh at the size of the bag and amount of products. I don't think this is too much, do you? Everything serves a purpose right?

What do you take? 

Poshe Super-Fast Drying Top Coat

Poshe Super-Fast Drying Top Coat £8.50 here

What They Say:

Poshé Super-Fast Drying Topcoat is a five-time Allure Editor's Choice winner, which for an independent brand that doesn't advertise is a serious achievement and testament to its effectiveness. This protective top coat has an extremely diverse, loyal following of beauty addicts and celebs, from Kate Beckinsale and Elizabeth Taylor to Jessica Simpson. Poshé stops nails from turning yellow and is even safe for cancer sufferers and those in remission to use as it's free from Formaldehyde & Toluene.

My Opinion:

Five-Time Allure Editors Choice Winner! You've gotta be kidding me! 

I've been using this for a couple of weeks now and feel like it's had a good enough road testing to be able to review. 

Firstly let me tell you I have tried to make this work! I started by using it as intended as a top coat, it chipped almost instantly. 

I tried again paying more attention to the tips of my nails, it still chipped a lot very quickly. 

I then tried sandwiching my nail polish by using it as both a base and top coat, the whole nail colour popped off in one!

There are cheaper and better quality top coats on the market. 

What I will say is that it is indeed super-fast drying but what's the point of a top coat that needs a top coat? 

I've given up trying to make it work, mine has gone in the bin! Don't waste your money on this one.

Rating:

♥♡♡♡♡

Have You Tried This?

What's Your Favourite Top Coat?

Disclaimer: Link provided for convenience, I am not affiliated with this brand or product
Image: Cult Beauty (It was impossible for me to get a clear photo myself)

Favourite Foundations

My Favourite Foundations

L-R Chanel Vitalumiere Aqua, Bourjous Healthy Mix, Illamasqua Skinbase

1. Chanel Vitalumiere Aqua - B50 £32 here

Coverage: Light/Medium

Finish: Dewy

Buildability: Very Buildable

I used to have oily skin, I was a huge fan of Chanel Matte Lumiere (discontinued) however since I had my daughter my skin type has really changed a lot. I would class it as combination however the majority of the time my skin leans more towards the dry end of the scale. So when Matte Lumiere was discontinued rather than purchase Perfection Lumiere, which was the new foundation released a hybrid of the discontinued Matte and Pro Lumiere I decided to try a lighter, water based more dewy foundation and I purchased Vitalumiere Aqua. 

My first application I used my Real Techniques Expert Face Brush, it applied ok, I wasn't wowed and it still showed on my skin.The main reason for be buying this was how natural it was said to look, undetectable on the skin therefore I was pretty disappointed.

For my next application I used my beauty blender sponge and it applied patchy, maybe because of the damp sponge and a water based foundation combination. At this point I was really disappointed, it's not the cheapest of foundations and I've always really enjoyed Chanel foundations. 

Refusing to be defeated the next time I used Vitalumiere Aqua I went back to basics and applied it with my fingers, it was beautiful! I've continued to apply it this way since. The heat of your hands warms up the foundation and really allows it to work into your skin. This then gives the illusion of no makeup, just lovely, dewy skin.

I would recommend this to anybody with dry skin wanting a healthy glow.

2. Bourjois Healthy Mix - £9.99 here

Coverage: Medium

Finish: Natural

Buildability: Buildable

Firstly notice I haven't put my shade above, this is because I can't remember my shade as it's so long since I had it.

 I was under the impression that Bourjous had discontinued their darker shades as I have three Boots stores close to me, one being a megastore and every time I've been to repurchase Healthy Mix the darkest shade they have 54 is too light for me however as I love it I have been buying it anyway and adding a bit of my Illamasqua Skin Base in SB12 to match my skin. 

While looking for a link to add here I saw Superdrug offer an additional four darker shades online. 

Healthy Mix is my most repurchased foundation ever!

 I never wore foundation before I was pregnant,  I just never felt the need to. I still have pretty good skin, breakouts are very rare. I had a bad time when I was around 11/12yrs however once that cleared up and luckily left no scars I haven't had a problem since. Anyway, when I was pregnant I developed the 'pregnancy mask' (can't remember the actual medical term) and had crazy pigmentation on my face. I went straight out to buy a foundation to even out my skin and Healthy Mix was the one I chose. It was the delicious, fruity scent that swayed my decision as being pregnant and craving fruit I actually wanted to eat it! Luckily though I loved the foundation, smooth application, medium coverage which covered my pigmentation and a nice natural finish. 

Three years on I still reach for this most days over my high end foundations. 

Healthy Mix has been likened to the discontinued Chanel Pro Lumiere. Having never used Pro Lumiere I can't comment on that

I would recommend this foundation to anybody. 

3. Illamasqua Skin Base -SB12 £27 here

Coverage: Medium

Finish: Natural/Skin

Buildability: Buildable

The main reason for me buying this foundation was the tag line 'ultimate skin realism'. That's the look I prefer, I want my skin to look like skin. 

Does it live up to its claims? It certainly does! I like to buff this into my skin with my Real Techniques Expert Face brush and it is practically undetectable yet still covers any redness and imperfections. 

The shade range is fantastic too stretching from pure white to darkest ebony, a shade for everybody. 

The only problem I have is with the packaging, the tube becomes harder and harder to squeeze the right amount out the more you use it and I anticipate that near the end I will need to cut the packaging open or lose a lot of product. 

Again I would recommend this foundation to anybody. 

Have you tried these foundations? How did you get on with them?

What's your favourite foundation? 

Any recommendations you think I should try?

Please comment below.

Disclaimer: All links provided are for your convenience, I am not affiliated with any of these brands.

Jouer Highlighter - Champagne

Jouer Highlighter - Champagne

After receiving a sample of Jouer Luminizing Moisture Tint with a Cult Beauty order I tried it and was so impressed I purchased the full size that same evening. 

Whilst placing my order I decided I wanted to try more of their products and this highlighter took my eye.

It appears really pink in the pan but as you can see in the swatch below it shows up a lot more golden/beige on my skin.

It's a really lightweight formulation, it applies nicely with a stippling brush but I prefer to use my fingers as it just melts into the skin and leaves behind this beautiful sheen. Not to mention it contains vitamin e and shea butter which we all know are fantastic for our skin.

It lasted all day on my skin which is pretty dry at the moment however the way it melts into the skin I think will give it great longevity on oilier skins too.

Overall this is one of the best highlighters I've tried, I will be adding shade Tiare to my collection and trying out many more Jouer products, I can see them quickly becoming my favourite brand.

Jouer Highlighter £16 available here

(Link provided for your convenience, I am not affiliated with the company)

50 Random Facts About Me

1. 2nd June 2010, the happiest day of my life. I gave birth to my beautiful princess Lyla Kendall.
2. My nickname is Pebbles, apparently I looked a lot like Pebbles Flintstone as a baby.
3. My favourite colour is pink my boyfriend won't let me buy anything else that's pink for our home, he says our house is gay!
4. Due to my love of makeup the other half calls me 'Dippy with her Lippy!'
5. I have 2 older brothers and one older sister, I'm the youngest by 10yrs!
6. I have 9 nieces and 3 nephews, I love them all to pieces
7. Family is the most important thing in my life
8. I absolutely love penguins, if I ever win the lottery I will keep them as pets
9. I'm from Liverpool and my family are all Evertonians
10. My favourite ever holiday was 3 weeks staying with my family in Vancouver (I've been twice so far) with a week in L.A in the middle

11. I would love to emigrate to somewhere hot but would probably miss my family too much
12. I have 3 beautiful God Daughters
13. I would love to be a Makeup Artist and plan on doing so when I am well and able
14. I have a phobia of anything that flies especially butterflies, moths, wasps and dragonflies
15. I love mafia films, my favourite film is Godfather II
16. I am totally obsessed with The Vampire Diaries, totally team Delena!
17. My favourite cuisine is Italian, tagliatelle pollo al forno? Si per favore!
18. I would not leave the house without mascara
19. My favourite soap is Home & Away, I'm fairly sure I'm the only person in the country that still watches but I bloody love it! Heath Braxton ♥
20. My favourite band is Oasis and has been since I was 7

21. My favourite chocolate bar is a Starbar
22. My alcohol drink of choice is Jack Daniels with Diet Coke
23. Mojitos are my favourite cocktails
24. I'm a pretty good cook and if I ever the time I'm considering having a cooking blog also
25. My favourite fast food is KFC
26. I could only eat chicken for the rest of my life and wouldn't care
27. I can only have my Telly/Radio volume on an even number or 33 and I have no idea why
28. Cherries are my favourite fruit
29. I'm fanatical about Christmas I start my shopping in June, start burning Christmas candles as soon as it gets cold and my 8ft Christmas tree is up part way through November
30. I love Karl Pilkington, the things he comes out with are absolutely hilarious!

31. I really despise adverts, thank the Lord for Sky+
32. I'm half Irish, my dad is from Co Wexford
33. I would love to go to Australia but it will have to wait until Lyla (and any other children I have) is older, I think it'd be unfair to travel so far while she's so small
34. My favourite flowers are lillies even though they're apparently the 'funeral flowers'
35. I can't wait to have another baby but will wait until Lyla starts full time school
36. I would rather go to the pub with friends for a natter and a laugh than clubbing
37. Everytime I go the cinema I fall asleep and miss the end of the film, even if I'm really enjoying it
38. I'm a shopaholic!
39. My favourite book series is Sophie Kinsellas Shopaholics series and the film was a bitter disappointment
40. I love karaoke

41. I love snuggling up with my princess and watching Disney films
42. 9 is my favourite number
43. I love being crafty and artistic
44. I love to have candles around the house, my favourite is Jo Malone Pomegranate Noir which I burn in our bedroom
45. My favourite part of a night out is the getting ready
46. I can't drive, I've never felt the need to but am hoping to get my license sometime this year
47. My perfect car would be a pink Beetle
48. My signature scent is Ralph Lauren Romance
49. I love singing, dancing and playing with Lyla. Her happy, smiley face melts my heart
50. I want to start adding video makeup tutorials on here but don't know if I'll have the confidence to speak to a camera

I did it! Wow! This is harder than it seems! Hope you've gotten to know me a bit better.

d.j.v. Beautenizer Mascaras Reviewed

Always on a quest to find the perfect mascara I spotted these in a duo set on Cult Beauty a few weeks ago and was intrigued. I googled them and read some varied reviews so I decided to try them for myself. 

I got a pretty good deal, both mascaras for £27. Cult Beauty no longer have the duo for sale however you can buy them separately. After this review you may only want one of the two anyway. 

I think the simplest way of doing this review is looking at one at a time. So let's take a gander eh? 

d.j.v. Beautenizer - Fiberwig LX £18 here

What they say:

Fibrewig is a hi-tech fusion of brush-on, false-lash filaments & a hypoallergenic, liquid-to-film lash coating that you apply like regular mascara. The glossy formula holds the volumising, lengthening fibres in place for lashes so voluptuous you'll cause a breeze when you blinc. You can literally sleep in it & it won't flake or smudge, but removal is easy, with a quick soak in warm water it just slides off without any rubbing. As long as still wet, you can build up & out as much as you want.

Lets look at the brush seems as this is probably the first thing we do when buying a new mascara. 

Fairly basic lengthening style wand, curved to fit your eye shape with fairly short bristles.

What does it do? Lets see!

No makeup. 

(I struggled for light it's been a miserable day I can only apologise for how deathly white and washed out I look I was literally squashed against the window)

Curled Lashes with One Coat Applied

Two Coats

My Opinion:

I'm not going to beat around the bush, I don't like it! I don't think it does anything special. 

My lashes are fairly long naturally although the ends are very fair (no idea why, my hair is nearly black and I'm olive skinned).

 I would get the same outcome by curling my lashes and applying any bog standard mascara except unlike this I would be able to let a bog standard mascara dry between coats and build volume too.

Its not that Fiberwig does nothing, you can see little squiggly,  thin fibres on the ends of my lashes but I don't think that makes the lashes look longer, they just look a mess.

I feel that mascara is a very personal preference, I don't like it but that doesn't mean you wont. If you are already a lover of Fiberwig and disagree with me then please leave me a comment below. Tell me why you love it and how you use it and I'll give it a try.

d.j.v. Beautenizer - Volume Lash £18 here

What They Say:

Instead of fibres this mascara uses bodybuilding particles in the same 3D, film-coating formula as Fibrewig. Not for the fainthearted, this mascara gives you lashings of lashes so voluptuous & long they'll accentuate your eyes like a Manga cartoon. VL contains Panthenol for flexibility & definition, & a silk protein derivative for resilience. The formula is so budge-proof you can even sleep in it without smudging, plus it removes with a quick warm water soak so no rubbing or lash damage.

Lets have a nosey at the wand.

I'm a lover of voluminous lashes,  the more va va voom the better! I favour huge bristle wands as in my experience they're the ones that give you the most volume.

When I saw this wand I was really disappointed and wasn't expecting anything from it, lets see how I got on eh?

No Makeup

Curled Lashes, One Coat. 

Top - Two Coats Without Flash

Bottom - Two Coats with Flash

My Opinion:

The photos speak for themselves, I abso frickin lutely love it!

This is the best volumising mascara I've ever used!

The formula is like nothing I've used before, it's not dry but it's not wet. It's pretty thick but easy to work with. It's hard to explain the application but if I had to I would say it feels like dragging volume from the roots to the tips of your lashes. 

I usually wear one coat, I don't think it needs a second but that's just my preference. 

I will never be without this little magic wand for the rest of my life! I just can't see anything beating it, it's that good!

If you are wondering do they team up well to give length and volume? I experimented a little bit and this is what happened:

Volume Lash Over the top of Fiberwig 

Fiberwig Over the top of Volume Lash

My Opinion:

I wouldn't recommend using Volume Lash over Fiberwig unless it's Halloween! Again it's personal preference, you might like this look but to me it looks like tangled tree roots and I don't very much like to wear them on my face!

Fiberwig applies well over Volume Lash however to me it doesn't make enough of a difference to bother!  I'll just stick with my Volume Lash one coat wonder!

Have you tried either of these? How did you get on?

What's your HG mascara? 

Disclaimer: All products stated were purchased by myself with my own money. All views are my own. Links provided for your convenience I am not affiliated with any company spoken about.