Leopard Print Skirt

Ebay has become my new best friend. I got this fantastic assimetrical maxi skirt a while ago for peanuts and decided to give it a whirl today. I wanted to celebrate the Jubilee in style but decided in the end the weather wasn't colaborating and changed to something more demure and cozy.
But are we going to waste a perfectly good outfit?
No we are not, we take pictures as an excuse to register the outfit combo for future reference. Or, as I did, make the boyfriend take the pictures and make him forget about something he'd left in the oven. The things we do for a blog post, tut tut.

I really want to pair this skirt with a nice light coloured vest paired with sandals or wedges.
That would make it a perfect beachy and relaxed look.
But for that I need to go shopping (and for that I need dosh, therefore a JOB, sob sob), so I decided to see how it looked with some peep toe heels and a quarter sleeve blouse, making it more of an evening look.

The skirt is from Ebay (link here!), the blouse is from Primark (last year's collection I think), shoes and jacket from Portugal and spike necklace from Ebay. (link here!). Cheap as chips this one, hey?

Slap-wise, this is just my "less is more" everyday make-up look, let me know if you want a breakdown on the products I use.

Hope you all have a fantastic, royal weekend!

Review - Elf products and Maybelline The Colossal Volum'Express Cat Eyes Mascara + FOTD

Hi there my pink babes :) 

 Today I'm reviewing a few new products I used for my FOTD, including some ELF products I received yesterday on the post. 

 First of all I'll talk about the ELF Mineral Infused Face Primer. I think it has a neat, professional look about it and I love the fact it has a pump. As far as primers go, I can only compare with the only other primer I've ever used - the Sephora smoothing primer that retails at about 11€. 

I loved this primer by ELF, it left my skin so soft and smooth and allowed my foundation to glide on effortlessly and made it easier to blend. For only 6£ (or in my case, with the 40% discount - 3.60£) I think you can't go wrong with this one! It certainly does its job and the container is pretty to look at!

Next I applied my usual foundation and concealer (Revlon PhotoReady and Erase Paste by Benefit) and after that the ELF HD Powder. 

Its description states:

 This high definition loose powder creates a "soft focus" effect to the skin. Masks fine lines and imperfections for a radiant complexion. The incredibly soft and invisible powder is great for on screen and everyday wear. Directions : The microfine particles are designed to be used with high-definition camera technology or fot everyday wear. Apply powder all over face for a professional and youthful look of perfection.

Now I don't really know what to think of this powder. I was expecting a kind of matifying powder just to set the make-up really, but in the end it just left my face looking all powdery and chalky looking, as you can see by this terrible picture of me - gosh why I am posting this on the internet I will never know.

Excuse my bright pink dressing gown

But me being me, I don't give up easily on my make-up, so I applied my bronzer - Avon Arabian Glow, with my new Elf complexion brush (that I love by the way!).

Thankfully the chalkiness disappeared and I continued my make-up. To be honest, I don't really know if the powder made any diference to my complexion, but I took a few pics of my finished look with my "high definition camera" - haha, just to see if in the end you're marvelled with some miracle change on camera, like Edward Cullen in direct sunlight or something. (hmmm, I think not!)

 I tried a few eye shadows from the 32pc Eye Palette by Elf, just to see what they're like, but I wasn't really bothered with all the fiddling about with eye shadows, blending and whatnot, so I made a half-hearted effort on only one of my eyes - what a sexy look. 

The eye shadows seem to be quite pigmented and good quality.

I'll try to show you a proper FOTD using this eye palette to better review it. 

Appearance-wise, it looks very professional and neat, in its black matte slim case, not flimsy at all. 

Next I apllied the Elf cream eyeliner with the Elf angled eyeliner brush. 

Wow, what a difference! I got used to using my faithful Rimmel Glam'Eyes Liquid Eyeliner, and it's fairly easy to apply (contrary to my friends' opinion that seem to think that liquid eyeliner is something like Dan Brown's unbreakable code in "Digital Fortress"), but oh boy, this Elf eyeliner, applied with the fantastic angled brush is a breeze to put on! 

Finally I applied my most recent favourite mascara - Maybelline The Colossal Volum' Express Cat Eyes Mascara (that's a mouthful!). 

I asked my mum to bring it over when she came to visit, although we do have it over here in Portugal.

I asked for it mainly because of how cool the packaging looks! 

Come on, leopard, yellow, bronze and the rounded shape of the container?? So pretty to look at, if nothing else! Also, it has a curved shaped brush that I've been dying to try.

I'm lovin' it, it doesn't clump up, separates the lashes, keeps a decent curl and gives great volume and length! Also, the curved brush allows your lashes to slightly fan out - like cat eyes basically. I applied mascara to my other naked eye (no eyeliner or eye shadow), because I find that like that you can really appreciate the mascara's full extent!

Before - no mascara

After - with mascara

Made-up Eye VS Naked Eye

Naked eye with mascara

So my lovelies, are you still there after all this???
If so, then here's the final look (with only one eye fully done - lol).
Can you see any special "dewiness" given by the Elf HD powder? Not really sure about that, but if anything it might help keeping my T-zone from shining. I don't suffer from oily skin or anything, but sometimes I get the odd shiny-ness on the nose when captured on camera.

Flash vs No Flash

In case you were wondering, the lipstick I'm wearing is from the Kate Moss collection by Rimmel, no.08.

Thanks for reading! x


PS- By the way, have just realized how freakish my eye colour is. Isn't the colour sort of like Stephanie Meyer described the Cullen's eyes? (enough with the vampire references already!)

FOTD and "Go to" products!

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Hi guys!

Today I decided to do a quick FOTD with my "Go to" products, my favorite basics of my make-up bag that I love to death & use almost every day.

I have a different t-shirt here from the other photos, but they were all taken on the same day!

 

  

So basically this is usually my everyday look, with a few variations depending whether its a more casual look or not. Sometimes I'll skip the eyeliner on the lower lid so my eye looks more "open" and natural.

My favorite eye shadow ever is by 17 and it's called Statuesque. It's a shimmery nude pink, and it seriously goes well with ANYTHING I wear, it's so versatile.
Today I decided to play around a bit with the eye shadow and made a bit of a smokey eye with some black and white eyeshadow from my Avon True Colour Eyeshadow Quad. I love using the white eyeshadow close to my tear ducts to create an illusion of brighter eyes and make them pop. I use a bit right under my brows, simply because I've run out of highlighter, it's quite a good substitute in times of need!

My favorite mascara up till now - and I'm always on the search for the next big thing! - is the LashBlast Volume by Covergirl. I ordered it from Ebay, as we don't have Covergirl in Portugal. I'm not sure if you can find it anywhere in the Uk, all I know is that it's a very affordable brand in the U.S. It cost me about 7 pounds. Loads of american bloggers swear by this mascara!

My favorite blush is the Benefit's Bella Bamba. It's supposed to be a 3 dimmensional pink, that's brightening, sculpting and defining - all I know is that I love this shade and also it smells so good! It's like watermelon on your cheeks, yum!

The foundation I've been using and am very happy with is by Revlon PhotoReady, is really does leave your skin flawless and airbrushed. I don't put too much on, as you can see by my pictures I like to let my freckles peep a bit through my make-up!
I always use my Erase Paste by Benefit under my eyes, as I have annoying dark circles! If you know of any miraculous concealer that works wonders on dark circles, feel free to share! It really is one of my only complaints about my complexion.

So here are my "Go to" products:

 

CoverGirl LashBlast Volume mascara

17 Eyeshadow in Statuesque - taken with flash

  Avon True Colour Eyeshadow Quad in Smokey Eyes  

Bella Bamba blusher by Benefit

By the way, my lip colour was achieved by using Avon Ultra Colour Rich Lipstick - Satin in "Pout" followed by a thin coat of Avon Glazewear Sparkle lipgloss in "Cotton Candy".

Hope you enjoy lovelies! x

FOTD - Pink is the word

My first ever... I'm pretty new at all this, so let me know if it's any good!

I used:

• Revlon PhotoReady Foundation in Natural Beige 
• Benefit Erase paste Concealer shade no.2
• Maybelline New York Bronzing Pressed Powder 
• Benefit Bella Bamba blush powder
• Avon Glimmerstick eye liner pencil in Blackest Black
• Rimmel Glam'Eyes Professional liquid liner in Black Glamour
• Avon True Colour Eyeshadow Quad in Smokey Eyes
• Covergirl LashBlast volume mascara in Very Black
• I used a combination of Rimmel Volume Booster Lipstick in Flirt (016) with Rimmel  Lasting Finish in Pink Blush (006), for this bright barbie pink shade on my lips.

I'm in desperate need of a make-up haul, I've run out of so many important things, like primers! Anyway, thought I'd post my first attempt at a FOTD.
My hair is looking awful at the moment, in serious need of a cut and colour..I think I might be going to have it done tomorrow, and am considering going for the bob! I really want to have long hair, but at the moment it just seems too damaged for that.