Stila Written in the stars

This über pretty eye shadow palette called "Written in the stars" is part of the Light Up The Night series, Stila's 2012 Holiday collection. The palette contains 12 shades, all such pretty warm and rich colours, perfect for those neutral looks I love so much. The star/snowflake design of the palette is super cute to look at, but to be honest it is a little bit annoying when actually using the palette. Each slot is really small and too narrow for a regular size shading brush. Thank god for my Real Techniques shading brush that I have come to love, it fits perfectly. But except for my "issue" with the actual design of the palette, I have nothing but good things to say about it, just an all-round great new Stila palette.



 

I had a hard time getting the swatches to show up properly on camera. On my lid I always use my trusted UD primer potion, so I can't say how they preform without, but with primer they have good pigmentation and good staying power :) But like with most other Stila eye shadows, be awear of the fallout.

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Maybelline The Falsies

I am really late to the The Falsies party, but better late than never I guess :) I got my Falsies Volum' Express Mascara a few weeks ago and have more or less been using it every day since. I was a little apprehensive about the wet formula at first, as I am not a big fan of mascara ending up under my eyes later in the day, especially since one of my BFF's had experienced this with the Falsies. But I have to say it has just been amazing and completely smudge free. It really does add a lot of volume and I'm really loving the doll-like lashes it gives. I really feel like it opens up the eye and it's definitely a new favourite.

 



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Bobbi Brown Corrector

The past few weeks I have been trying out the famous Bobbi Brown corrector in the shade light to medium Bisque. I had been debating between this or Benifits Erase Paste to battle darkness in my under eye area. Both have a peachy/salmon undertone to them that should work well if the dark circles under the eyes have a blue tone too them, which mine do. Like I said I have been using it for a few weeks now and to be honest I can't make up my mind how I feel about it. I wasn't blown away by it, sometimes I find it to be a little cakey, but at the same time I don't totally hate it and I keep using it. I've tried applying it with both my fingers and my Sigma P80 brush, but I don't find that it makes that much difference with the end result. I think it might be that I really wanted this to be a super great product, which I don't think it is. It's perhaps just a good product, that for the price and the hype, I just had much higher expectations for. But I'll keep using it, but might try the Erase Paste once I finish with this one :)

 



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MyBeautyBox #2 Picture Perfect Skin

MyBeautyBox #2 has arrived and the theme for this box is Picture Perfect Skin. The 4 items in the box are a lip tint from Rimmel, nail varnish from Sally Hansen, eye shadow from Jemma Kidd and a cleanser from Clean & Clear. Included in the box was also a "gift card" with discount codes for shopping on the MyBeautyBox website.

 

 

But let's look at the goodies :) First up is the Rimmel London 1000 Kisses transferproof lip tint + balm in the shade 200 Grippy Grape. Having just fallen in love with Rimmel's Wake Me Up foundation, I was pleased to see something else from this brand in the box. The tinted end is like a felt-tip pen and it does kind of feel like you're colouring in your lip with a big marker :) Luckily the result is good and it is easy to work with, plus it smells a lot better too. I have always been a bit apprehensive when it comes to a red lip. I think it looks a bit vampy, a bit much..on myself that is..I know plenty of people who can rock a mean red lip. But I tried this on and I actually really like it. The red is subtle enough that I think I might actually wear it out in public :) The balm seems nice as well. It has no tint or colour at all, it has a very thick texture which seems perfect for the colder months.

Next is the Sally Hansen Diamond Strength No chip Nail colour in 92 Deeply Violet. I am not really a big fan of purple/violet, but I have to say that I really like this one. It is dark and pigmented enough that the purple isn't too dominating. It reminds me of the Stylenomics from Essie in that sense; they are both really dark, so much so that the green or purple is only visible in a certain light. This was actually my first Sally Hansen varnish. I am not too impressed with the formula to be honest, it was too runny and I found it hard to get the right amount of product on the brush, plus the first coat took forever to dry. In the end I resorted to Seche Vite top coat as I didn't have to patience for the second coat to dry either. I do really like the colour, more than I thought I would, but the jury is still out on the formula.

 

Then there is the Jemma Kidd Tone on Tone Duo Shadow in 01 silk. When I opened this one it was love at first sight! The colours are amazing! Silky champagne shades, one matt and one metallic. I am wearing them today as a base and I absolutely love them. The matt shade is a bit heavier and thicker in texture and is excellent as a primer. The shimmer shade is a little sheerer, but looks great dabbed over the matt one. I am so happy with this duo, my favorite item in this month's box by far :) The swatches by no means do them justice.

 

Last item in the box was the Advantage Spot control cleanser from Clean & Clear. Like I have mentioned a few times I have super sensitive skin and am very reluctant to try new skincare products. I was not familiar with this brand beforehand, but it is a Johnson & Johnson brand, so nothing dodgy or anything :) But what I am really missing with this is a list of ingredients. It wasn't listed on the card that came with the box, or on the tube itself. This cleanser is meant for acne and blemish prone skin, so I just wanted to check that it had salicylic acid, glycolic acid or even benzoyl peroxide in it, as these more or less have to be in a product for it to actually help this skin type. I tried turning to my trusted friend Google and even if I couldn't find this specific product I did find that Clean & Clear products do on a whole contain salicylic acid or benzoyl peroxide. So far so good..I will try this out and see how it works on my skin.

Overall I am very pleased with this month's box. I could perhaps have done without the skincare product, as I much prefer the more make-up related products, but 1 out of 4 I can live with :) I am already excited about next month's box! Pin It

E.l.f. Blush & Bronzer

Eyes Lips Face or E.l.f. is such a cheap make-up brand that at times it seems too good to be true :) I have a few e.l.f. items and my overall feeling with them is that it is very hit or miss. Either their stuff is amazing or it's just...well not. One of their brushes is one of my all-time favourites, but then I have tried some that literally came apart the first time I used them, so like I said VERY hit or miss. But one of their biggest hits in my book is the contouring blush and bronzing powder. I absolutely love this product and use it almost daily. I prefer running a big fluffy blush brush through both the blush and the bronzer, as I really like the "colour" and depth that it gives .The blush works fine on its own, but I think it looks so much better when they are mixed together. I have tried using the bronzer on its own as well, but to be honest the colour just looks a little off somehow, it doesn't seem to match well with my skin, but used together I love them :) 



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SOTD

I am totally loving everything maroon these days, which is excellent as it is one of the colours this season. It obviously also meant that I had to have these fabulous Converse All Star :) I absolutely love them, the colour really is fantastic and who doesn't love a good pair of All Stars?

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Once Upon A Time

I am without a doubt a big online-shopper and I get a lot of stuff from Amazon. I prefer to use the UK site because they offer free delivery to DK for any order over £26, the delivery is normally 3-4 days after the order has shipped and there is no additional charge as it is within the EU.
I get a lot of DVDs from there, mostly because there is a lot a money to be saved. Take for instance the first season of US show Once Upon A Time. This DVD would have set me back DKK 399, which is about £42, but I ordered my copy on Amazon and in total paid £24,16. So it is safe to say that I <3 Amazon :)

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Rimmel London Wake Me Up

I have been looking for a drugstore foundation for a while, a good cheap alternative to all the expensive high-end ones. I had heard a lot of good about the Rimmel Wake Me Up series and recently decided to give the foundation and concealer a try. Like with most drugstore foundations the colour range is very limited, the Wake Me Up comes in 4 different shades here in DK, which makes it hard to find the perfect match, but I decided to go with "100 Ivory", the lightest shade in the range. I picked this one because it was the only one that had a slight yellow undertone, which works best for me, and the other 3 were simply to dark.

 

I have oily skin and in most reviews I have come across it has been mentioned that this foundation might be best for people who didn't have oily skin. I would agree, but after having used it for almost 2 weeks I actually really like it. Obviously it doesn't give a matt finish and I do need to set it with powder, but other than that I think it has worked really well on my skin. It does give me more of a dewy finish, even after the powder, but it is perfect for the few areas of my face that are a bit dry and tend to get somewhat flakey with foundations specifically for oily skin. The formula is good, not too thick, but not runny either and a little goes a long way for me. I find it easy to blend and it gives a medium to full coverage on my skin. So over all I think I've found a really good drugstore alternative that I will be sticking with for a while :)



With the concealer I went with the shade "030 classic beige". It has a nice formula and is fairly easy to blend. It is not the best I have ever tried in terms of coverage, but it is a fairly good and cheap alternative to have in any make-up collection.

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Skyfall by OPI

This amazing maroon colour from OPI is Skyfall, part of their Christmas 2012 Collection inspired by the 50th Anniversary of James Bond. All the shades are named after a Bond films, such as Golden Eye, The Spy Who Loved Me and Live And Let Die to name a few. I believe there are 12 different shades in the collection, so there is something for every Bond lover. Skyfall is by far my favourite, Bond film and colour, the dark maroon is fantastic and perfect for the Holiday season.



 

If you haven't seen the film yet, go see it, it is the best one yet :) Plus don't miss out on Skyfall by Adel, the most incredible Bond song in ages.



 

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Too Faced Shadow Bon Bons

When I saw this set from Too Faced on BeautyBay I couldn't resist :) Shadow Bon Bons is part of the Holiday Collection 2012 "Love Sweet Love" and it is just too pretty to ignore! The set contains 12 shadows, an eye primer and a mascara, plus a mini booklet with how to get the look guide. It comes in a cute light lavender velvety box that has a mirror in the lid. Very "sweet love" indeed.

 

All the 12 shadows are on the subtle natural side of the colour palette, giving you coutless options for creating great natural looks. In each row the last colour is darker and more intense than the rest, which means that you can definitely do more dramatic looks even if the rest of colours do lend themselves to more subtle looks. All the colours have good pigmentation and staying power - when applied over primer. The formula is very similar to other Too Faced shadows that I have, which means that these do have quite a bit of fallout. I highly recommend tapping the brush before applying the colours and doing the rest of your face i.e. foundation and under eye concealer after doing the eye look. I absolutely love the colours in this palette, they are totally up my alley as I am a big fan of the warm subtle natural looks, which these prefect for.

Row 1 (left to right): Vanilla, Cute the Cake, Framboise and Coffee Bean

Row 2: Peach Fuzz, Candy Rose, Hot Cocoa and Lovey Dovey

Row 3: Nude Beach, Cinnamon Sugar, Marzipan and Licorice Latté

The Lashgasm mascara in black has the flexi-firm brush and promises to give a "climax of length and volume"...quite the tagline :) I have been a bit reluctant to try out mascaras with this type of brush/wand, but when I saw that this set came with one I thought it would be the prefect opportunity to try it out. I am still a little undecided as to what I think about it, but I am not hating it like I sort of suspected I would.

I do also have to factor in that it's black, as I am a 100% brown-mascara-kind-of-girl and only occasionally wear black I'm obviously not completely objective. But I like I said, I didn't hate it and had it been brown, I am pretty sure I would have really liked it. But it's good to try different things and I migth check out some of the drugstore brands that do mascaras with this type of wand in brown. In terms of legth and volume, I will say yes to the first, but I didn't find it to give that much extra volume.

 

The set also included the famous Shadow insurance in the shade Candlelight. This eye shadow primer claims to intensify colour and prevent creasing. Candlelight lives up to its name as the colour is a very golden shimmering luminous base. It can be used as primer or alone as a shimmering gold creme shadow. Again this is a product I have wanted to try for a while. I swear by the Urban Decay primer potions or my Rubenesque paint pot, but the shadow insurance is one of the most talked about primers, so I really wanted to try it out.
I am honestly not sure about the colour, I find it almost a little yellow and I am not sure I feel like it goes with the eye shadow colours in the palette. In terms of doing its job as a primer I thought it was fine, a little less sticky than the primer potions which is one of the things I like about the UD ones. Right now I think I'm still in favour of my primer potions, but I will still give this one a chance and use it a few more times to see if I change my mind.

 

Mini booklet with a step-by-step guide for a look from each row in the palette.

 

So overall I am super happy with this set. I absolutely LOVE the 12 eye shadow colours and know I will get so much use out of them. I was also glad to get the oppertunity to try out a few new products, so for me this was a great pruchase. If you are into the nautral looks this is a good place to start :)

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Shoes Of The Day

I not a big fan of animal print and I don't believe that I even own an item of clothing with the print, but for some reason I just love these zebra pumps :) I got these at Primark earlier this year for around £15-£20. The heel is a tad on the high side, but I still love them and think they are perfect with jeans or for adding a little extra to say a more neutral/conservative look.



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Calvin Klein make-up

To be fair I have never really seen Calvin Klein make-up sold in any drugstores or department stores, but my local supermarket sometimes has a jumble box with random CK stuff at very low prices. So a while back I picked up a bronzing powder and an eye shadow - each at about DKK 25/$4 - and thought I would just give them a try, see if they were a hit or a miss. Turns out I really love them! The bronzer is in the colour Enchance and I use every day. It is excellent for contouring, even though it has some shimmer to it, but it's very little and almost unnoticeable. The eye shadow is in the colour Vanilla cream and I also use this more or less every day. This has really become my go-to highlighter for under the brow bone and in the inner corner. Recently they had the jumble box out again, so I stocked up on both items, just to be on the safe side :)

 

 

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Rubenesque by MAC

I love the Rubenesque paint pot from MAC! The cream based eye colour is amazing! This creamy beautiful peachy gold is prefect to use as a tinted primer, but can easily be worn on its own with just some eyeliner on days where you are looking for a quick on-the-go look. I personally love using it as a base/primer, it applies easily with its creamy formula and dries quickly and never creases. It is also really long wearing, I use mine several times a week and you can barely see that I've used it. I really enjoy this product, especially and will obviously eventually repurchase ;)

 

Paint Pots retail for DKK 165;- Pin It

NYX Nude On Nude

I am a big fan of NYX eye shadows as I have previously mentioned and the Nude On Nude Natural Look Kit is an absolute favourite of mine. To be fair any shadow palette with nude/natural/naked in the name is a must have for me ;)



But this NYX Nude on Nude truly is one of my favourite palettes. Besides the amazing colours and the good staying power this is fantastic for travel. It fits in the palm of my hand and just gives you lots of great warm natural options in just one little palette. I have to say I haven't used the two lip colours much, but they preform fairly well and a good added bonus plus I think they could easily be used as a tint for the cheeks. I got mine of Amazon and will certainly but re-purchasing once this one runs out :)

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Shoes Of The Day

These shoes are so preeeetty! My fantastic grey Karen Millen pumps that I got at the Bicster Village Outlet last year. They have a silk feel to them which makes them shimmer and change colour in different lighting. These are mostly for days that do not require a lot of walking as the heel is about 9-10cm and very thin. Not a desired combination for the cobblestoned streets of Copenhagen, but perfect for looking chic under less strenuous circumstances ;)



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