Tuesday 10 July 2012

Complex Complexion


Since moving to university I have had to curtail my make up buying habits which is something that I am 100% not happy with. Since the age of 17 I have had a roughly £150 a month Benefit cosmetics habit, if they brought out a new product or colour of eye shadow or blush I had to have it and I had to be one of the first to try it. I got to know the women of my Boots Benefit counter extremely well, I might as well have had I WILL BUY ANYTHING YOU PUT IN FRONT OF ME tattooed on my forehead and once the Benefit Brow Bar opened up, it was another thing to spend my meagre cinema wages on. However, this is not a Benefit Addicts meeting and having Benefit in my life I’m 90% sure has improved me to the point of feeling near perfect. I had perfect brows, perfect winged liner, perfect blush, and perfectly concealed imperfections.
But as I mentioned earlier, this fairy tale had to end. My money was now earmarked for rent, food and a larger quantity of vodka than I’m willing to admit. Therefore I had to make a pact with myself that I would only buy what needed to be replaced and I would not get seduced by new products, I would not buy the makeup brushes and I would not let myself be strong armed into buying more because of points offers or free makeup bags.
I might as well tell you now I only managed a couple of those things. The new products I bought were the following:
·         Porefessional
·         They’re Real Mascara
·         Benefit False Lashes in Pin Up
·         Benefit Lash Glue
·         Magic Ink Liquid Eye liner

And of course I maintained my brow shaping habit, my face is nothing without a good brow arch but luckily I don’t need a tint at the same time.
Everything was going fine until the worst possible thing happened; my Benefit stopped stocking Play sticks (a heavy concealer/ foundation type thing). For me, this product was the one thing I could not live without. It covered blemishes, my freckles and bags under my eyes and it lasted a full day without making my greasy vile skin worse.
I didn’t know what to do; did I look at other brands to see if they had something similar? Did I allow myself to be seduced by something new from Benefit? Did I just give up on foundation all together and show the world my imperfections and be exposed? OK, I’ll admit that at this point I am being over dramatic about the whole thing, it’s only makeup right? WRONG. Having the perfect base can change the way you feel about the day and yourself, but I do acknowledge that lots of people don’t need it to feel good about themselves to which I say good for you and teach me your ways.
If, however you are like me, I am going to tell you how to survive if the one thing that helps to make your face fanciable stops existing.

1.       Crying yourself to sleep is not an option, put your big girl knickers on and think rationally about how much of said discontinued product you may have left and if you’ve reached that god awful point of having none left at all then decide on a plan of action
2.       Create a short list of possible brand replacements or a list of different products that do the same job within the same brand
3.       Once a decision has been reached on whether or not to go for the same brand or a different brand see what they’ve got and what is going to work for you, for instance I know that I hate Maybelline and liquid or mousse foundations which puts me in quite a difficult place as most foundations come in this form.
4.       Agree on a price limit, on the happy occasion that you’re new product is cheaper than your old one then feel free to run around high fiving store workers but if what you need isn’t then you have to ask yourself if it’s worth it, which of course it will be but if it’s £20 more than what you’re used to paying then I suggest you look again.
5.       If you have gone for a different brand reassess the colour to use, it may look like the same shade you’re used to but different ingredients and pigments will definitely look different on your skin so you may need to go lighter or darker depending on what you decide to go with.
6.       If you have the luxury of having a little time before the product of your dreams runs out then Try Before You Buy is a must, casually stroll to wherever you buy your make up from sans foundation and if they have a counter get one of the overly complimentary ladies to fix you up, you don’t have to deal with this alone.
7.       Once you’ve found the right replacement product, in the right shade and in the perfect price range, buy it and try not the let the memories of your old product taint how you feel about your brand new shiny lovely product.
I decided to stay with Benefit (as I was home at the time and my mother, god love her, said she would give me the money) and (eek) I went for the new Hello Flawless Oxygen Wow liquid foundation in Honey (I'm so money).

My new foundation with the shade I went for, taken from www.benefitcosmetics.co.uk

 My shade of liquid foundation is warmer than my usual playstick shade but I made that decision because it’s summer so I’m not quite as pale as I usually am (and I managed to buy the wrong shade of powder, the one thing I buy from a different makeup brand, Natural Collection, it’s £1.99 and just as good as the Benefit Hello Flawless pressed powder). I have previously expressed my hatred of liquid foundations, I find that they don’t last long enough on the face and in general and they are a lot harder to get an even coverage without an expensive foundation brush and sponges soak up more than they apply. But this liquid foundation was not like the rest, like most Benefit products it seduced me with it’s cutesy packaging, witty shade names and (sort of) value for money. My Benefit girl Becky knows me enough to not over sell what she wants me to buy and told me that she wears it and doesn’t find it as heavy or shine inducing as other liquids, she put it on me after a brief discussion about how uni was going and what our summer plans were (we have the perfect sales/consumer relationship) and it felt like someone was putting a cooling face mask on me which sounds weird but it really did. Once fully applied it didn’t feel like my face was caked, my face didn’t feel waxy or slippery and I didn’t look shiny or dewy (oh how I hate the phrase ‘dewy complexion’ to me it’s like saying you look a bit sweaty but I’m going to be polite about it) and it had covered and evened out my skin tone to an acceptable degree. I was happy with it but only time would tell if it truly could live up to what Play Sticks had done for me.
It has been 3 days since I purchased Oxygen Wow and I am extremely happy, my only complaints are that it doesn’t cover my freckles and it takes up more space in my far too small makeup bag (which I got for free when I spent over £25 on Benefit in House of Fraser in January, which let’s face it, isn’t difficult).
I may never truly recover from the loss of my lavender scented Spin the Bottle Play Stick, but Hello Flawless Oxygen Wow will certainly fill a void that I only ever imagine alcohol could fill.


Tuesday 5 June 2012

Jubilee Face Wasted

I know I'm a little late to the game with this but as you may or may not be aware this weekend was the Queen's Diamond Jubilee, if you are one of those people that didn't know I would like to say get off the internet and check the news for like, 5 minutes, then come back and resume the endless scrolling.
So any way, jubilee, yes.
I do nail stuff so I thought that perhaps now is the most relevant time to do something lovely and patriotic and celebrate Queenie being a total babe for the past 60 years.

Definitely not my best work but I've been a bit lazy recently and dropped the ball some what. However, went a bit off piste and steered away from the usually crowns and went for a bit of leopard print and gems and a little English Rose from Jan Christie.
Over the coming months expect various rants about me moving back home and various little summer things including nail art done on friends and little adventures!

Sunday 6 May 2012

This One Time, 2 Weeks Ago... I Ordered Shoes Off The Internet

I know it has been a while since my last post and I'd like to lie and say it's because I've been busy with uni work but alas no, I have been busy getting drunk, getting hungover and repeating the whole process until I got the flu, an ear infection and a possible surgical matter- but that's another story for another blog post.
A few months ago my friend Louise tweeted that she had just bought some adorable shoes in the style of Charlotte Olympia cat pumps and I was immediately jealous as those shoes are so adorable and literally everything I want out of life.
The originals above are £375 however my friend got hers for a cushty £23, I knew I had to have them.
It was then that she told me about Daisy Street Shoes, a place where I could get those shoes but for (at the time) £5 cheaper with free delivery! Clearly I was on to a winner.

So, student loan day came (thank you Government) and bang, there I was on Daisy Street living the dream. I ended up buying these beauts:
and these:
Now, buying shoes off the internet, in my opinion is usually very hit and miss. I have been very lucky with my shoe purchases unlike some others I know but these are perfect. They fit beautifully and they don't look cheap. If I had any issues with my use of Daisy Street I would say that although delivery is free it does take a long time to ship the shoes however I presume that this is because once in stock on the website the shoes sell out very quickly.
I would recommend Daisy Street to everyone who wants designer style shoes without the price tag (their replica Litas, or 'Solange's as they are called on the site are only £34.99) should pay them a visit.
Oh, and use the code NEW10 to receive 10% off your first order, you will not be disappointed.
www.daisystreetshoes.co.uk
It will change where you get your shoes forever.

Friday 23 March 2012

NOTD: Wild Thing and Deck Chair

I am fully aware that these are just stripy and leopard print but hey, it's a classic combo ;)
I also started doing the first 3 digits on my left hand different from the rest about 3 years ago because I'm a tragic hipster and why the hell not?
Colours used:
Collection 2000 45 Lemon Soda
Barry M Pure Turquoise
Models Own Nail Art pen in Black
nail art pen in metallic blue

The Time I Lost My Water Marbling Virginity

A few weeks ago I did an attempt on water marbling and here is what I found out:

  • Water marbling is messy
  • water marbling is time consuming
  • no matter how many youtube videos you watch, none of them are that helpful as every single one makes it look so simple.
  • pick colours wisely
  • pick brands even wiser, some brands just do not work for this
  • choose a base colour for your nails which is neutral, white is best but beige or taupe is equally as fine
  • the implement you use to make your swirls better be something you don't mind getting covered in nail varnish
  • invest in some scotch tape
  • have lots of nail varnish remover and cotton balls at the ready.
  • act fast
Colours used:
Barry M Boots Ltd. Edition 118
Barry M no295 Pure Turquoise
Barry M 301 Block Orange
Barry M 302 Fuchsia
Barry M 303 Bright Purple
Barry M 305 Pink Flamingo
Accessorize Nail Paint shade 6 Notorious
O.P.I Mermaids Tears
ASOS Paint by Ciaté Chloe
Collection 2000 no45 Lemon Soda
Models Own Baby Blues
Boots No7 White

Monday 19 March 2012

NAILS OF THE DAY: SPRING TIME ROSES

Today, whilst skipping my Language and Childhood seminar I got some inspiration for some nail sets, I did fish scales, polka dots, some crafty crackle effect but these are my favourite nails so far.
I know they are a bit pyjama-ish but I love cute little floral things like this so for me, this is a look that is going to stay!
Colours used:
Barry M 304 Mint Green
Barry M 305 Pink Flamingo
Models Own Red Alert
Nail art pens in green, white and pink

Sunday 4 March 2012

NAILS OF THE DAY aka procrastination

In an attempt to avoid work I have been working on a few nail ideas, taking inspiration from WAH! nails and the like, enjoy.
Colours used include:

  • Models Own Baby Blues
  • Collection 2000 no. 45 Lemon Soda
  • Models Own Red Alert
  • Boots 17 Nightshade (black)
  • Barry M 305 Pink Flamingo
  • Barry M 290 Spring Green
  • Barry M 302 Fuchsia
  • Barry M 291 Cobalt Blue
  • Boots 17 Woo Me (pale purple)
  • ASOS paint by Ciaté Chloe (taupe)
  • Models Own Gold Rush
  • OPI Mermaids Tears (green dots, 2nd row, 4th on the left)
  • Collection 2000 no.46 Fruit Loop (peach)
  • Nails art pens in black, white, red, brown, fluorescent orange and yellow