No.7 Perfect Lips Liner

I am a huge Lisa Eldridge fan. Seriously, if you haven’t seen any of her “How To” videos, you are missing a treat. Make-up artist to the stars, she is also a very down-to-earth and honest lady who seems to be entirely humble about her amazing make-up skillz. I also love the fact that she looks like a normal human being without her face on - she has some blotches, spots, bags, dark circles (although she is still gorgeous despite that) - but then takes you through a tutorial which turns her into the epitome of natural (but glamourous) perfection.

As an avid reader of Lisa's blog (and having recreated a few of her “looks” for myself, to varying degrees of success), I do like to try out some of the products that she uses or recommends in her videos. My “want to buy” list currently averages about 100 items, and I would probably attribute at least a third of these to products that I have seen Lisa use to magnificent effect.

That brings me on nicely to my recent purchase – No.7 Perfect Lips lip-liner. Lisa uses the Nude shade frequently in her videos, but I have also recently seen her use Blush – seeing as Boots had a 3 for 2 offer on No. 7 products when I paid a visit, I thought this was the perfect time to try out both shades to no further financial detriment.

Shade 10 – Blush is a softened berry-pink shade. Lisa used it with a feather-light touch and managed to make it look like the most perfect “just-bitten” lip stain. This shade is particularly gorgeous under a light pink lip gloss such as NYX Sweetheart – the lip liner just gives it a bit of depth and oomph.

Shade 20 – Nude initially worried me – the arm swatch looked distinctly brown (which, as we know, suits me NEVER). However, undeterred and having faith in Lisa, I tried it on my lips and lo! Behold! My natural lip colour turns this into a fantastic neutral-toned base, which will literally go with every neutral lip shade I own.

L = 10 Blush, R = 20 Nude. The twist-up mechanical pencil design is one of the best I've found.

L = 10 Blush; R = 20 Nude

10 Blush - shoddy application (my bad)

20 Nude

 

Out of the two colours, Nude is the creamiest and the nicest to wear over longer periods. That’s not to say that Blush is terrible, but it does have a little more tug and pull when applying than Nude. Although I haven’t worn either of them for longer than four hours, I can envisage that I will need a decent dose of Lanolips when I remove the Blush shade, but Nude (although not actively moisturising) didn’t seem drying at all.

No.7 Perfect Lips liners are currently available from Boots for £7.50 each.

Jen

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MUA eyeshadow palette - Heaven and Earth

Is anyone superstitious out there?

In order to try to alleviate some of the Friday 13^th blues, I thought I would introduce you to my new favourite eyeshadow palette (for now, at least!).

I love neutral eyeshadows. They’re just so easy to wear – either just as a wash of colour over the lids for the daytime, or built up into a smoky eye for the evening.

This 12-shade palette has got a great mix of work-appropriate as well as more dramatic shades. I feel as though this leans slightly warmer than other palettes I’ve got, but cool-toned ladies will be able to work with this too (unlike the Naked palette…!). The finishes are all satin-shimmer, so if you’re after some matte shades this isn’t the one for you. However, none of them venture into disco-glitterball territory so ladies of all ages and dispositions can wear this with pride (although I personally don’t subscribe to the whole “older-ladies-can’t-wear-shimmer” mindset – who made that one up?!).

I have taken to wearing one of the lighter shades all over the lid during the daytime, as it takes about five seconds to apply (more time in bed!) but the subtle shimmer really gives your eyes a boost, and makes them look more awake and twinkly.

Some of the darker shades would benefit from being applied over a primer as they do crease a little, but to be honest I tend not to bother on a day-to-day basis.

There are loads of these in the MUA store. I’ve currently got my eye on the Undressed palette (‘cos a girl can never have too many neutrals, yano?). Apparently it’s a fabulous dupe for the Naked palette; although I already own Naked I would be interested to see what the differences are. I also quite like the look of the Glamour Days palette, it seems to have some interesting purply-colour shades I’d love to try. And for a mere £4.00 each, I think this is an addiction I can afford to fuel….!

Anyway, let’s have a look at Heaven and Earth:

Top row

Bottom row

Are there any others you think I should try?

Jen

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Make Up Academy - mini haul

A very, very quick one -  I was very excited to place an order on Superdrug’s website last week for 13 items, and for it to cost me the princely sum of £17.

Yes, you read that correctly – seventeen pounds.

I think I am a bit late to join the Make Up Academy (MUA) bandwagon. Lots of other beauty bloggers have got there before me and probably evaluated them a lot more clearly, succinctly, humourously and sexily.

I couldn’t wait for this package to turn up – I was desperate to see how the £1 lipsticks could be anything more than coloured blobs of wax. As well as seven lippies, I invested (ha!) in a few blushers, a mascara, a nail polish and an eyeshadow palette (the highly acclaimed set of neutrals, “Heaven and Earth”).

So far I haven’t thoroughly road-tested anything, but was so excited by the whole prospect that I ripped the package open and swatched the first things I could get my hands on – the lippies.

Detailed reviews of everything, along with slightly better swatches, will be coming over the next couple of weeks – watch this space! In the meantime, cast your eyes over this pile of cheap and cheerful gorgeousness.

L-R: Shades 7, 8, 10, 11, 14 (Bare), 15 (Juicy), 16 (Nectar) - yes, some of them are just numbered but the newer shades have names, too

MUA cosmetics are available directly through their website, or some branches of Superdrug. I for one will probably buy one of everything – I’ve definitely got my eye on the new Undressed eyeshadow palette, which is hailed to be one of the better dupes for Urban Decay’s famous Naked.

Jen

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Urban Decay - Naked palette

Just a quick one today folks – I’ve had the Naked palette for about a year and must admit I use it……… occasionally. Certainly not daily, which is what I was expecting from such a “versatile palette of neutrals”. Unfortunately, most of the colours in here are a bit too warm for me. Might potentially splash out on Naked 2 at some point, as I’ve heard that that it leans a bit cooler. Then again – do I need yet another palette of neutrals………? Answers on a postcard, folks.

On the upside, the packaging is nice – picks up all the dust though, and when you leave it on a windowsill for as long as I have…… tsk tsk, it’s a mess. Can’t say as I have used the kohl liner much either, although the black (“Zero”) is very  black, it is also very spready-roundy, and therefore ends up all over my face by lunchtime. Not a good look, unless you’re deliberately trying to attract pandas or something.

Anyway, pics.

Dust? Anybody? No?

L-R: Sin, Virgin, Naked

L-R: Sidecar (major-league fallout!), Buck, Halfbaked

L-R: Smog, Darkhorse, Toasted

L-R: Hustle, Creep, Gunmetal

 Nighty night!