Summer Make Up Edit

I think I've made the complete transition to Summer make up. Actually my entire taste in make up has changed. I am  loving a light, glowy base, a clean eye, just keeping it more natural really. I've been wearing this exact make up on weekends or if I have somewhere to go. It just fits every occasion. Also I think it looks best if I have some tan on! Still loving my Cocoa Brown Gentle Bronze in the tanning department.

I'll start off with my Clarins Instant Light Complexion Base, Chanel Vitalumiere foundation, Clarins Instant Concealer, Clarins Bronzing Compact, Clarins Blush Prodige and a tiny bit of Clarins Loose Mineral Powder. (wow, that's a lot of Clarins!)

For my eyes, I start off with MAC Paint Pot (Painterly) and I have been absolutely loving the Clarins The Essentials eyeshadow palette. I am learning to tight line my eyes using the Clarins Waterproof Eye Pencil, then finish off with the YSL Baby Doll mascara. Oh and for brows I use the Sleek Eyebrow Kit and a tiny bit of Maybelline Brow Drama.

My favourite Summery lip colour is the Clarins Jolie Rouge lipstick called "Coral Dahlia". It is such a beautiful colour and is such a silky, glossy lip product. Plus it smells amazing! Like strawberry sweeties!

Hope you like this make up look! I'm currently trying to find something to do with my hair that is a little less maintenance as well. I've been looking into getting a Loreal Steam Pod, it's a bit of an investment but they are absolutely amazing and I think would be a lot better for your hair overall. Anyway! enough rambling!  Thanks for reading!

Fresh Spring Make Up!

Spring is definitely well on the way and as such, I always  feel the need to change up my make up slightly. Winter is a time for heavier make up and I like to go a bit "lighter" when Spring comes along. I have some new products to play with today, and decided to show you what I am using.
Just yesterday I treated myself to a new foundation, I got Chanel Vitalumiere. I heard it is quite good for dry skin and so far today it looks great and has lasted a good few hours without emphasising any dry patches! MAC Cinderella is also making an appearance, as is the Clarins The Essentials palette which I won in the amazing Make Up Monster's blog giveaway! Thank so you much again!

Here are the products I used with shade names:

Chanel Vitalumiere Foundation - 10 Limpide

Sleek Eyebrow Kit - Light

Clarins Instant Concealer - 01

MAC Paint Pot - Painterly

Clarins The Essentials Eyeshadow Palette

Lancome Grandiose Mascara

YSL Babydoll  Kiss & Blush - 10 Nude Insolent

MAC Cinderella Iridescent Powder - Coup d'Chic

Clarins Jolie Rouge Lipstick - Coral Dahlia

I decided to go quite light on the eyes and I have ditched the eyeliner, instead I am favouring just using a dark eyeshadow and blending it up from my lash line. The Chanel foundation is lovely and so lightweight, I am really happy with it so far. Maybe I will do a full review of the foundation when I get to grips with it.
The MAC Cinderella powder I use as a highlight. It is way too sheer to use as a blush and it just adds a little luminosity to the face. It is lovely to use, perhaps not the best highlighting product out there, but it looks cute!

Hope you all have a great Sunday!

My Eyeshadow Palette Collection

This is my very modest collection of palettes! I suppose this is a lot for me. I don't wear eyeshadow very often, just at weekends and on my days off.

 This is the Kat Von D Ludwig palette. I ordered this one from eBay several years ago. I love this one a lot, but I haven't used it in ages! I almost forgot I had it. I love all the shades in here, especially the greens! The eyeshadows are also really good quality. My favourite shadow it probably the white one in the middle! It is a perfect highlighting shadow and also amazing used on its own.

 This is the Sleek Sparkle 2 palette. I got this one last Christmas and as you can see, it's barely used. These eyeshadows are all really lovely, however they are not sparkly when you actually apply them. They all look beautiful in the palette. My favourite shades are the gold and the cranberry colour. As with all Sleek shadows, I think they are amazing quality for the price, and there is such a wide variety of shades here to create many looks. I will have to start using this one!

 This is the Sleek Oh So Special palette! Have you ever seen so many pink shades? For a while there, I was kind of obsessed with using pinks for my eyes, so this was my go-to palette for a long time. I loved the beige colour and the sparkly baby pink. This was the first Sleek palette I ever bought and I remember being so impressed with it and with Sleek as a brand. I like the combination of matte and shimmer shades. This is probably my most used palette overall.

 This one is my current favourite. Oh my goodness, what can I say. This is the Clarins Splendours palette and it is fabulous. Each shade is just stunning, super quality and just very elegant. I wore this all summer. The gold shade is just stunning. The shadows are slightly shimmery but it's quite subtle. They last all day and are very easy to apply and blend. I adore this one so much.

This is my 3 pan Inglot palette. I had never tried Inglot before, until the Irish Beauty Bloggers meet up in June when I bought this one. I wanted neutral everyday shades, and of course the fabulous orange shadow caught my eye, I couldn't leave without it! Each eyeshadow pan is such a generous size, and the Inglot Freedom system is so good that you can actually choose and custom build your palettes. They are quite reasonably priced too and the shadows are of a superb quality. I haven't used this palette all that much. I thought I was actually allergic to these shadows but I think it's very likely that the glitter in the orange shadow seriously irritated my eyelids so that they swelled up and were so painful. So this one has been neglected unfortunately. I have used the neutral shades on their own but I am so sad that I cannot wear the orange one, which was my favourite!


I just noticed that I haven't hit pan in any of my palettes!
It was actually fun photographing these palettes and writing about them, it has kind of inspired me to use them more and to create more looks with them and be adventurous! Right now I am experimenting a lot with natural shades, which is something I have never worn because I don't think brown tones suit my eye colour. I would love an Urban Decay Naked Palette!

How many palettes do you have?

Sleek Palette - Oh So Special

I am a big fan of the Sleek palettes! I have three of them, and this one is by far my favourite.

I guess it's predictable me, but these shades are right up my street. I love pinks and champagne colours, so I have gotten so much use out of this palette. Here is a quick look using these four shades:

Unfortunately I do not have the shade names anymore, the Sleek palettes just have a plastic insert with the shade names on and I have thrown it away a long time ago.

The shimmery shades are my favourite, they sparkle real nice in the sunlight! Sleek palettes cost £7.99 each, this is incredible value and the shadows are of amazing quality. Since discovering Sleek I find it so difficult to buy high end products now! I just can't justify it when I know that Sleek have amazing quality products for a fraction of the price. The shades are very pigmented and blendable.

If you haven't tried Sleek yet I highly recommend them, especially their eyeshadow palettes!

I love Sleek!

As you may have seen in my previous posts, I use Sleek products quite a lot so I thought I would show my collection. I love Sleek, it is a brilliant affordable brand and their products are amazing. Nothing in my collection cost more than £7.99, and their products are of excellent quality too.

I have three eyeshadow palettes - Oh So Special, Glory and Sparkle 2.
I have the Creme to Powder foundation which you may have seen in my previous post, I have the Luminous powder, the Eyebrow Kit, Blemish Balm, two of the Pout Polishes, a True Colour lipstick, a glitter eyeliner and the Molten Metal cream eyeshadows.

Left to Right - Oh So Special, Glory and Sparkle 2

I created this eye make up just using the Oh So Special palette, and the glitter eyeliner. I used the Creme to Powder foundation as concealer.

And this is the gold Molten Metal eyeshadow..

Sorry there are so many photos in this post!

I cannot recommend Sleek enough! Especially their palettes. I want to get the Storm palette next time and the contour kit. My local Superdrug has some stock, but not all. I have ordered from their website too and their delivery is very efficient, but it is hard to figure out what shade will be right without testing it first!

The only thing they don't do is nail polishes!

Monday Morning - Rush Hour! My daily make up

The weekends are just not long enough! :(

I don't always have a lot of time in the mornings to apply my usual make up. It's all about what is easy and convenient for me, while I am rushing out the door to go to work! Here are the products I use....

Sleek Creme to Powder Foundation (shade White Rose) - This is a very full coverage foundation,  a nice little compact which also contains a sponge applicator underneath the foundation pan. This is perfect for me in the mornings because it is so quick and easy to apply.

Sleek Eyebrow Kit - It's very important to me to have my eyebrows filled in, so this is a must for my every day make up. This brow kit is an excellent dupe for the Benefit Brow Zings, as you can see. And I think it only cost around £7.00 too.

Benefit Creaseless Cream Eyeshadow (shade RSVP) - I don't have time in the mornings to blend and contour any eyeshadows! So I just apply this all over my eyelids, and I just apply it with my fingers.

Clinique Brush On Gel Eyeliner - I love this eyeliner! I treated myself to this Clinique liner over a year ago, and there is still so much left! There are many cheaper alternatives, however.

Essence Get Big Lashes Mascara - I always use mascara in the mornings! I will use whatever mascara comes to me first. Lately I have been using this Essence one which I like.

Benefit Erase Paste - If I have any blemishes or any dark circles, I will use this concealer. It's amazing!

Benefit Hervana Blush - I love this blush, as you can see! When applied, it is a nice peachy/pink colour.  It's handy to use as well, and so compact.

Sleek Pout Polish (shade - Pink Cadillac) - For going to work, I will just keep it simple and use something like this tinted lipbalm. I have several Pout Polishes, they are very nice to use, and they smell so amazing too!


So that is my morning make up routine! And obviously these are my essential items. I'm usually running late getting ready for work and with these products it can only take me on average 5 minutes!