Tuesday 23 September 2014

Urban Decay Haul, featuring Pulp Fiction & More


So  I did actually scream when MAC announced the Rocky Horror collection but in the meantime the Pulp Fiction Collection from Urban Decay really caught my eye!

Overview of what I picked up
 First of all, it is a hugely iconic film and being an avid lover of all things Tarantino, I HAD to buy the palette. PLUS, at just £17.50 it seemed really rude not to! (Almost like me saying "No Thanks UD, I like to pay £36+ for your palettes" ;) so I really could not leave Debenhams without it...).

Close up of Palette
Swatches of Palette Colours

The first thing I have to say is that this palette is just extremely good value for money.
The shadows are so soft and butterey, blending like a dream! The colour pigmentation is so strong and y'all know I keep on saying Sugarpill need to release a nude palette, because even though we like nude shades, that doesn't mean we don't want any colour payoff!? UD hit the pigment hard which I like. The White, , is slightly shimmery too and that mixes it up a bit. I think if you're still umming and arring, just go buy it!? What's £17.50? A pair of shoes or a jumper from Primark!?
Upon first look I thought that the Black/White duo of Furious & Anger would be similar to my Nars duo eyeshadow in Pandora; take a look at the comparison below...
Furious/Anger, Pandora
I think I prefer Anger as a white and Pandora's black aha!

I then remembered I don't actually own any of their recent lipsticks so decided to have a gander. After just recently purchasing a whole load of new bright lippies from the drugstore I couldn't justify anymore bright pinks...I have too many red as is, but I do love nudes and I need a good replacement for when my Viva Glam Gaga runs out! So this lipstick in Naked2 was a must, I then remembered that I needed a nude lip liner so the Naked2 of that seemed like a great idea too ;D





Lipstick left, Liner right.
The liner is just slightly deeper in colour, completely matte and very smooth. The lipstick is a bit more satin than the liner (still more matte than satin though as a finish in itself) and is so creamy. It just looks beautiful applied to the lips. I find the duo together last a good long while with me drinking from a cup etc. I will definitely be buying more liners!


After this I then had to make it up to over £50 to get Debenhams' special offer of an extra £10 worth of points! (Of course!?) so I ended up purchasing one of the new flushed palettes-I already have the original so Streak looked like the next best one for my colouring.



I was a tad upset when I got home that my palette has been kinda pushed over to the left, however, it is quite sturdy in there (just a few millimetres space to the right) and I have been using it with no problems nonetheless :) I am sure you know it's disappointing when this kinda thing happens though :(... In my swatches it kinda shows the bronzer part as being shimmery, this really does not show shimmery when applied to my skin at least not really noticeably. I use it as a contour over my scarring and it doesn't show them up more so. I love the blush colour, I think it's so gorgeous :') I really love the original but I find this one so much easier to just whack on when in a rush. A* product.


Well Done UD, I am so converted to you over Benefit!? Benefit just kinda cheat me out with their staff, I find UD Staff so much less pushy, anybody else?
Hope you like my overview and I highly recommend you go get the Pulp Fiction Palette! x x x

Friday 19 September 2014

Elf Brushes. Yes or No?

Elf brushes have always been talked about as being good quality and I don't know about you guys, but I am convinced with brushes you get what you pay for. So, I had to try for myself to see if they were any good or not. At £3.95 a pop I decided to get 3 and the Lip Exfoliator (Can you tell Emily Noel from YouTube is being my guide here ? ;))

Overview of the brushes I got!
 
BUT have I been converted?? First up the Powder Brush!
1)
Powder Brush Close Up

 The Powder brush is soft yet firm enough, picks up hard pressed powders well and is good at tapping off excess from loose powders. It's a lovely brush and I love the cut of it, I haven't tried it with any cream or liquid products because to be honest...I kinda think it wouldn't work with a liquid foundation very well as I feel the bristles are almost too soft/not dense enough for that. Overall, great brush for a great price, would I recommend it for blush? Just, Powder all over the face? Absolutely, Contour? Urr...I feel as though it's too wide for that but you could! All over blending? Heck Yeah!


2) Small Stipple Brush;

Front View
Side View!





















 The only trouble with elf packaging! The Plastic cover it comes in squishes the brush! So my brush is more of a fan shaped, still I love this brush. On first touch I was worried the bristles were too soft but on Emily's recommendation I powdered through trying x2 different creamy blushes on my cheeks with this. It's fantastic. It is very small, but I feel as though this makes for a better application! It's small & cute but gutsy, it picks up product from the pans well and distributes across your face and cheeks wonderfully, makes even the stickiest "cream blush" glide onto your cheeks. I am SOLD. I will be buying these for all my friends for Christmas!


3) Small Tapered Brush;
Small Tapered Brush sideways on
This brush. This is the pick of the bunch for me. The size is just perfect for getting right in that contour line y'all know you need! For even the smallest of faces and cheeks, this is amazing. Soft bristles, blends out powders so nicely (I tend to do a lil' back forward blend and it just blends in even the darkest contour powders beautifully :')). If you're looking for the Perfect Contour/Highlight brush this HAS to be it! Again, some friends' will find this in their stockings!

Overview of the brushes;
Good Quality Bristles
Good Quality Handles
Look Nice
Don't shed all that much (only expected with new brushes)
Packaging they come in can squeeze or alter the brushes shape for a little while
They're like never in bloody stock online!? -Seriously Elf please just get up to date with suppliers, I almost didn't bother!
Elf almost always have a code or promo on their site so you may even get the brushes cheaper or with free shipping! Woo!

 The last thing I got was the Lip Exfoliator...

Close up on the exfoliator
 I love this product so much. It is now a Holy Grail Product of mine, it's so deeply exfoliating-almost harsh on lips, so if you don't like really hard exfoliators then don't go for this. If like me you suffer with crusty lip syndrome sometimes and you lips almost feel itchy, this is great! Going to get rid of all your scuffiness plus where it's made of all sugar and oils etc it tastes amazing! It reminds me so much of the Lush lip scrub but it is in a much more accessible lipstick form. I cannot express my love for this product it is simply incredible. A***!


So that's it for my lil' tiny elf haul! Hope you like my mini reviews of the products, quite a lot of love in here!
See you in the next one, it feels great to be blogging again x x x

Saturday 13 September 2014

RELAAAUNNCHHHH! I am back! :D

So, you're probably wondering what the hell Tash? Where ya been?

First things first, let me set it straight....I had NO COMPUTER or INTERNET for ALL this time I've been off! Yeah, I had my phone and tablet but have you tried to use the Blogger app? It is so ridiculously bad you can't do a thing. No, Blogger you really need a PC or Laptop for, I have now bought myself a secondhand Lenovo thinkpad, which I am quite happy with for £70.00 it's really better than my old PC plus it has windows 7, which is great as 8 is rubbish for my old XP loving brain!

Second thing, my job! Life on Reception at the hotel is incredibly hard work, it's fast paced & extremely tiring and trying to juggle that with commuting, seeing Ed, seeing & working Apollo. Something had to give whilst I caught my breath.

Third thing, Ed. Ed and I simply did not see enough of each other before, we're now a lot better at managing our time.

Apollo! I have been so busy these past few weeks I have only had time to ride him once a week!! Which I hate, if I had it my way there would be an extra day in the week to have off so I could have another day to ride. My lessons are still going great though and we are progressing well together.
 
Apollo & Me enjoying a hack out back in early August.

BUT what's been happening Makeup wise!? If you follow me on Instagram you will see that I have been posting on there nearly daily with products, looks etc. It's definitely an easier blogging tool whilst out on the go ;), I DID go to IMATS London and I might be bashed for this but...although it was fun and a great experience, I found there wasn't much discount on products (certain brands were amazing though!) Huge Shoutout to Sugarpill for coming over as that madeeee my trip really! :') Also....it really was not big enough, me and my mum got there for opening, waited outside in line for maybe 10 mins and then were in an out in an hour 30?!

The high quality of my Samsung's front facing camera...


#nofilter ;)
So that is my bringing you up to speed!-
I am aiming at the moment to post once a week, hopefully I'll be able to write maybe two or three posts on one of my days off and post periodically, I am hoping I will do one LOTD and one Review each week...but this all depends, I am trying guys! I love you all so much and everyone asking after my makeup and blog has really touched me, I hope we can build a good future of it together! (Plus, have you seen the previews of the XMAS kits!? OMGGGG!).

I am planning on redoing my room too so stay tuned for pics on that and details on where everything is from....I think you're going to like it!


Love you all,

Natasha xxx

Thursday 11 September 2014

Relaunch Date...THIS SATURDAY 13.09.14

Just to give you a quickie update, I will be relaunching The Month of January on THIS Saturday the 13th of September!! So stay tuned guys!

Lots of Love,

Januarybeautyful x x x