Floamia

Monthly Favourites–February

noreply@blogger.com (Floam) — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 19:00:00 +0000

I apologise to you now – my media card has gone missing, so these are all photographs from elsewhere on the internet, as I can’t take any photos. Sadness.

1. Sleek Blush in Flushed

Very, very recent purchase, but… Its pretty. Its slightly shimmery, but not in an omg-pores way (which apparently a lot of products are doing for me lately. Thanks, teenage skin! *fistbump*) Its just very pretty, despite how slightly terrifying it looks in the pan. Who’d have put me down as a deep purple blush fan?

2. Illamasqua Light Liquid Foundation in 120

I should stop declaring holy grail products and trying new ones. I think I’ll be alternating between this and the Skin Base depending on what sort of face day I’m having. Either way – Illamasqua base products are wonderful. I’ll go anywhere for colour products, but I’m actually developing a bit of brand loyalty for Illamasqua with their base products. I won’t stray, now. They’ve earned that.

3. Sleek PPQ Me, Myself & Eye iDivine Palette

Have you seen my swatches of this? No? Go, look. And then you won’t have to question why this is a favourite: Sleek PPQ Me Myself & Eye iDivine Swatches.

4. 17 Falsifeye Mascara

Old, old purchase. Still love it. Its my go-to mascara. This would make Yearly Favourite, too. And its cheap! Reviewed (a long, long while ago): 17 Falsifeye Mascara Review. (Also… the packaging is pink. Just throwing that out there.)

5. Nyx Color Lip Balm in Merci

In case my not-quite-posting-to-deadline hasn’t informed you already, I’m exceptionally lazy. Moisturising lip product that has a nice hint of colour and makes me look like I’ve made an effort? Yes, please!

LINKS

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Tried any of this month’s wonder products? What do you think? What have been the wonder products of the month for you? Let me know in the comments!

Spring is Springing!

noreply@blogger.com (Floam) — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 19:00:00 +0000

Well, it may not seem like it is, but it is, honest! The trees are looking slightly less dead, we’ve had pancake day, and hopefully it shouldn’t snow anymore. *fingers crossed*

So it may not technically be Spring yet, but if the S/S 2012 collections are being previewed, and it isn’t pitch black when I leave for and get home from college each day, then surely this must be celebrated with a slightly springier layout!

Okay. Its not that springy. It was never going to be pastels and little flowers, but its certainly a lot less doom and gloom, no? ~~Doom and gloom when thing’s go boom… in Dexter’s lab!~~

LINKS

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What do you think? Spotted any bugs/mismatching colours? Let me know in the comments!

The Meaning of Life, The Universe, and Everything

noreply@blogger.com (Ruth) — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 19:00:00 +0000

Alternately: I reached 42 followers! And if I have to explain that reference… I will be a sad thing.

So yeah, its not really a massive milestone, and when I get to 100 I’ll do a big giveaway or somesuch, but for this mini-milestone of 42, you get a Douglas Adams inspired FOTD!

^{Look! My face looks like space!}

^{You must always have your towel with you, travellers…}

Face

Illamasqua Skin Base in shade 02
17 Hide Away Concealer Cream in Fair

Eyes

NYX Jumbo Pencil:

Black Bean (base)
Milk (waterline)

Model’s Own Navy & Gold Sparkle shadow
GOSH Extreme Art Eyeliner in 17
Inglot pinkish shade that will be difficult to find out the name of

Lips

Illamasqua lipstick in Disciple

People seeing this who know me irl might find this a bit scary for me, but don’t worry, I’m (mostly) harmless…

LINKS

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Potted Week

noreply@blogger.com (Ruth) — Sun, 19 Feb 2012 19:00:00 +0000

As in, my past week put into small, manageable, easily-put-under-headings doses. I used to have an English teacher who was very fond of vignettes and potted versions of things – perhaps he just had a short attention span?

WHAT I’VE DONE

I took photos of my cat, looking like a very grumpy thing!

Also, I’ve been on half term, and thus met up with lots of people and had great social funtimes and totally did all of my homework and coursework and revision too. *cough*

I also attempted – and failed – to cook a nice dinner for Valentine’s. Luckily (for him), my plate was the one with all the solid and unappetising chunks of garlic. His looked quite nice.

WHAT I’VE LISTENED TO

I saw a photo of a friend of mine with Charlie McDonnell and Alex Day, and of course I had to go channel the extreme jealousy I felt by going and listening to Chameleon Circuit, their Doctor Who themed band.

Oh, poor Mr Pond. When’s Who coming back, anyway? I need my fix! Though I’m not sure I’ll be able to handle the Ponds’ exit…

WHAT I’VE READ

Not even saying anything more about this. It was beautiful. It actually, I think, lived up to the hype. Its definitely better than his previous books, by a mile.

WHAT I’VE CLICKED

Posts like these make me actually want to have fingernails, as opposed to little stubs: Look Beauty – Kimono

I love haul posts, and MAC Haul! is no exception. I guess its exciting to see all that stuff in one place?

Eyeshadow Thoughts & A New Face: In which I am glad to find out that I am not the only person who makes ‘new faces’ using all newly bought products.

WHAT I’VE LOOKED LIKE

My Valentine’s FOTD! Click on the picture for the full post.

LINKS

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What have you done this week? Let me know in the comments!

Sleek PPQ Me, Myself & Eye Limited Edition Palette

noreply@blogger.com (Ruth) — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 19:00:00 +0000

This was one of my IMATS purchases.

Last year, Sleek teamed up with fashion house PPQ to release this palette to go with the S/S 2012 colours – S/S 2012 is on its way, so I don’t feel this review is out of place! The shade names are all, from what I recognise, named after musicians, and I realise that’s going to make me seem really young that I don’t know some of the references. Ah well.

The outside packaging is the same as always, matte black with “Sleek Makeup” in glossy black, but then it also has “PPQ Me, Myself & Eye” printed on in a pale grey shade, which I think makes it the only Sleek palette to have the name printed on the front. (Which, by the way, Sleek, wouldn’t actually be a bad idea to implement with the rest of your palettes. I own seven, now, it would be nice to not have to flip it over and read the small print to find out what I’m looking at!)

And now to the interesting part, of the swatches? Colours are swatched clockwise starting from the top-left shade, and are swatched heavily in the top photo, and just one swipe in the bottom.

^{Barry White, Black Box, Fade to Grey, Blue Monday}	So its clear from these swatches that these colours all build up beautifully. Interestingly, Blue Monday is actually a dark green, but it won’t photograph very well. I was surprised that Barry White was a shimmer shade, I’m used to that spot in Sleek palettes being a matte white. The black was broken when I bought it. Sadface.
^{Salt ‘n’ Peppermint, Simply Red, Supernova, Chris de Burgundy}	Again, my camera is quite anti-green today! Salt ‘n’ Peppermint is actually a beautiful mint green, which I’m really looking forward to playing with, it seems that its a relatively rarely done well ccolour. These four are much more pigmented, and all matte. Supernova required the most layering.
^{Pink Beret, Primal Green, Lilac Allen, Golden Silvers}	Okay, click on this to enlarge it. Do it. Primal Green is beautiful. Both it and Lilac Allen came off in one swatch as if they’d been foiled. More than make up for the sheerer Pink Beret and Golden Silvers. Just. Go look. Primal Green is this gorgeous green-gold-khaki sort of shade. I’m in love with it.

This seems a lot less cohesive than some other of the Sleek palettes to initially look at, but I’m really looking forward to using this to get back into proper brights again, after I’ve fallen into a bit of a neutral kick eyes-wise lately.

Now go look at Primal Green again. Its beautiful.

Would I rebuy? I can’t imagine I’d need to, but that mint green is beautiful. If the entire cosmetics industry stops selling mint green eyeshadows, then yes, I’ll rebuy it.

Would I recommend? The colour combinations aren’t for everyone, but if you do like the colours, the high pigmentation, soft shadows and affordable retail price definitely makes it worth looking at.

The PPQ Me, Myself & Eye palette retailed at £6.49 and is an online exclusive off the Sleek website. For non-UK readers, you could probably find it on eBay or Amazon for a slightly higher price.

LINKS

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Do you own this palette? What do you think about the more varied colour combinations? Let me know what you think in the comments!

FOTD: Valentines

noreply@blogger.com (Ruth) — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 19:00:00 +0000

I feel like I’m the only blogger who isn’t anti-Valentines, doing a FOTD with *le gasp* red and pink.

Now I know that its commercialist rubbish, and it serves to alienate the single and non-mainstream couples, and it causes a lot of but-what-if-I-do-and-they-don’t worrying and such, and I know you should let your significant other know that they’re special every day, not just this one designated day of the year, but, you know what? I like having the excuse. And heart-shaped foods are cute, dammit.

^{No open-eye shot, my sleep pattern is fucked lately so I look a bit deranged, even with some helpful healing brush Photoshopping to make my eyes look less dead even in this shot.}

Face:

Illamasqua’s Light Liquid Foundation, shade 120

Eyes:

Sleek’s PPQ Me, Myself & Eye palette:

Salt ‘n’ Peppermint in the inner corner and with a small bit blending out the crease
Lilac Allen on the inner half
Simply Red on the outer half
Chris de Burgundy in the crease

Maybelline’s gel liner, lashline and waterline
17’s Falsifeye mascara

Lips:

Revlon’s ColorStay Ultimate Liquid Lipstick
Boots’ Natural Collection clear gloss

And yes, I know I look a state. Alternating between 4 and 14 hours of sleep per night does not a happy body make.

Friday’s post will have a full review and swatches of the Me, Myself & Eye palette that all the eyeshadows were from! I’ll come back and add the link once its posted.

LINKS

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Pro-Valentine? Anti-Valentine? What’s your stand?

Seven Deadly Sins

noreply@blogger.com (Ruth) — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 19:00:00 +0000

I saw this tag over at Sophie Etc and at RottenOtter’s Thoughts, and thought I’d give it a go myself.

1. Greed: What is your most inexpensive beauty item? What is your most expensive?

My most expensive, though a gift, is definitely my Freak perfume by Illamasqua, particularly as it came with one of the gift sets with other makeup alongside. Eep. I absolutely adore it though. I squealed like ~~a pig~~ a very excited person when I opened it at Christmas. My most inexpensive would be my NYX jumbo pencils, which were I think £1 each at the time of purchase.

2. Wrath: What beauty products do you have a love/hate relationship with?

Liquid eyeliners. Just… liquid eyeliner. When I get them right, I love how they look, but all too often I’ve completely screwed up an eye look with one of these.

3. Gluttony: What are your most delicious beauty products?

Okay, I have two categories of delicious here. My Lush lip scrub in Bubblegum is obviously the most edibly delicious, but dear God, Illamasqua, what do you put in your foundations? They smell so good!

4. Sloth: Which beauty products do you neglect due to laziness?

Primers. They make everything look better but they take that bit more time…

5. Pride: Which beauty product gives you the most self confidence?

Concealer! The things I see first in my reflection is whether or not my hair looks ratty, and then if my eyes look puffy/smudgy/dark. And my hair always looks ratty, but I’ll feel considerably better about myself with a bit of concealer under my eyes making me look not-dead.

6. Lust: What attributes do you find most attractive in the opposite sex?

Tut! This has nothing to do with makeup! And to be honest… hands. Really lovely hands I will fall apart for. If I met a guy with hands like mine (weirdly small and squidgy with horribad cuticles), even if he looked like Robert Downey Jr, I couldn’t be attracted to him. After hands… probably bone structure. Nice jawline, nice cheekbones, etcetera, etcetera. (And for the record, Boyfriend has beautiful hands. *happyhappy*)

7. Envy: Which item would you most like to receive as a gift?

Gosh… A Selfridges or Harrods voucher for A Very Large Amount of Money. Then I can buy myself lots of gifts!

I tag… anyone who wants to do this. *is lazy and doesn’t want to exclude people*

LINKS

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If you do do this tag after reading this, link in the comments? I’d love to see!

Potted Week

noreply@blogger.com (Ruth) — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 19:00:00 +0000

WHAT I’VE DONE

I had to learn how to live without internet! It was horrifying! I also caught up with Boyfriend for the first time in a month, after we were separated for a month by the snow (All together now: Aww!), and attended the birthday party of a mutual friend and it was all merry and jolly and yay.

I also had a very under-attended theatre rehearsal, as most people didn’t go in through the snow. (I came in through 20 miles with a hangover, guys, and you’re skiving because of the snow? Shame on you.) Aside from that… it was a pretty uneventful week, actually.

WHAT I’VE LISTENED TO

I’ve had this song for a while after someone recommended her to me and I just downloaded I Speak Because I Can as an album and didn’t really notice it otherwise. Then I caught this song on shuffle and just… kept listening to it, really. Huzzah for shuffle!

WHAT I’VE CLICKED

I’ve been a bit of an absent-minded bookmarker this month, I actually only have two this time!

RottenOtter’s Thoughts’ Seven Deadly Sins – Tag post, which I’m going to be doing my own one of… tomorrow, in fact!

Sophie Etc.’s tips: stop biting your nails!! because… well, I need to stop biting my nails. Can’t put it more frankly than that.

WHAT I’VE LOOKED LIKE

^{Okay something I’m wearing here is making my eyes look creepily intense and I’m not sure I’m so fond of the effect…}

The lips are one of the OCC mixtures I made up and the eyes are the taupe from the ColorWorks Palette, with the crease and highlight shade being the Inglot palette I talk about buying here.

OCC Lip Tars and Sleek Pout Paints

noreply@blogger.com (Ruth) — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 19:00:00 +0000

Okay, I slightly had this post planned for a really, really long time. As in, back when the Sleek Pout Paints were released last year. Oops. I procrastinate…

Anyhoo, my thought at the time was that a lot of people were writing posts comparing them, battling them against each other, declaring brand loyalties etc. etc. But I was thinking… if they’re both made for mixing, why not use ‘em together?

^{The parts of Sir Not-Appearing-In-This-Photo played by OCC Lip Tar in Tone and Peachy Keen Pout Paint.}

Believe it or not, I did actually own two other Sleek Pout Paints, but one is playing the part of Sir Not-Appearing-In-This-Photo because it is currently lost, and the other is playing the part of Sir Not-Appearing-In-This-Stash because it fell out of my bag shortly after purchase. May we weep, now, for this loss.

So, yes, you might see that my Lip Tar stash far outweighs my Pout Paint stash, so there’s going to be a bit of bias of mixing in the following swatches, IE everything + Mauve Over. It is really quite frustrating that my nude tones have both vanished, because they’re the two I’d most like to mix with… Flargh.

Without further ado, on to the mixing swatches!

(Okay, there were meant to be more photos than this, but the ones of the un-mixed blobs all came out blurry. My arm does not like to be photographed.)

So apart from some appalling mixing on my part, they do all blend together. I think the nicest one there (and unfortunately the blurriest one) is Mauve Over + Grandma, it made a really nice neutral sort of peachy rose.

As for the wear, I find the combined formula very comfortable. Just Lip Tars on their own I can find a little bit drying, because of the high levels of pigment I guess? But together they feel much more smooth on the lips, and the pigmentation levels are still absurdly high – it took tiny little blobs to cover both the swatches on my arm, have a lot still on the brush, and cover my lips.

Maybe when I have a more photographic arm, and my nude-tones return, I’ll update this, with better photos. Until then, I’m off to play more with these colours… Toodles!

LINKS

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IMATS Haul

noreply@blogger.com (Ruth) — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 12:59:00 +0000

Told you I went to IMATS! I bought considerably more than last year, too. Well, particularly as I only decided to go about the weekend before, last year, whereas this year I had time to save. And then splurge...

	Alright, I've slightly developed a bit of a Sleek obsession, and own pretty much all of not not-Limited-Edition palettes. Thus, the next obvious step - onto the Limited Edition ones! I really wanted to pick up the Luminaire concealer, because I've read some pretty good reviews, but this was one of my last buys, and my budget was running a wee bitty bit low. I was glad this palette was there - I saw loads of swatches online and didn't realise it was never released instore - I went and checked my poor little local shop every day after school, and it never arrived... But now I have it! And I am happy. Also, the Sleek stall, looked really, really cool. I wish I'd got some decent photos of the place - I didn't bring my DSLR because I was worried it would get battered in the crowds, and the only alternative was my phone camera which was a bit... pants.
	Make-Up Artist magazine! A very old back issue, it turns out. I won't lie - I slightly only bought it because it had the headline "Down Under to Downtown", and I misread it as Downton, and thought there'd be articles about the makeup for Downton Abbey. Alas, there were not. On the flipside, there was an interview with the Monty Python cast/MUA, which was amusing, as I love Monty Python! I also, for some reason, got a free Royal & Langnickel Eyebrow brush - Eyebrow C490 - which is, believe it or not, pretty damn good on my eyebrows. I like having eyebrows now, I feel a bit naked without them. I don't think this was the same magazine I bought last year, I really should pay more attention. I think I liked whatever magazine it was last year better, too... But this was nice! Something to read on the train home.
	Oh lawdy, the Illamasqua stall. The discounts there were ridiculous. All colour products £5, all pencils £2, foundations £7.50. I actually thought I was buying the Skin Base foundation - I've recently realised its as close to a Holy Grail as I can get, foundation-wise, and wanted a cheap back up, but as is, I now have the Liquid Foundation instead... Worth investigating to see if it is to a similar standard, methinks? The blush is beautiful, incredibly pigmented. Shade called 'Panic'. Unfortunately the hinge on mine is broken, but I think that might have happened during transport, rather than how it was at the stall. The three pencils are Obscene - purple; Eratic - black; and Rowdy - a rusty orange. The lipstick? Disciple - dark blue. Yep, really. I'll work out some way to wear it...
	The NYX stall! Also known as the only stall where I spent more time queuing than shopping. Of course, I had to get the Jumbo Pencils in Milk and Black Bean, what sort of makeup enthusiast would I be if I didn't? I also had to get the obscenely glittery Glitter Cream Palette in Sweet Chocolate Browns, because... glitter. Another mistaken purchase (I should be more careful) - I thought the hot pink number on the left was a matte lip product, same as its coral-y neighbour. I was incorrect, but not unhappily - for a tinted lip balm, its very nice. I don't think I have anything interesting to say about that lip pencil in the middle! The shade is Pumpkin, there you go. (And the shades of the other two lip products were Merci and Nude, left to right.)
	OCC Lip Tars! Beta, Tone, and Grandma, from left to right. These were on a 3-for-£20 deal, which was definitely cheaper than last year, where they were £8 per (I remember this due to a very confusing mixup with currency...) Of these, Grandma is definitely the most wearable... Nude, to be honest, like Illamasqua's Disciple, I'm not sure how I'll wear, but I'm sure I'll find a way! I feel cruel, but I don't think I've even worn Beta yet! I'm neglecting it! Though probably not as much as I neglect all of OCCs non-lip products. This was another stall where the display was pretty nice, actually - though not as striking as Sleek's. Still, it made me seriously consider their eyesadows too... but the blogosphere talks about them considerably less? Mayhaps I shall do some research... I wonder what they'd choose for their most infamous product to be if they'd been able to?
	Eep! First purchase! I was so excited to get these - it was impossible to even get within arm's reach of any products last year. I'm excited about the shadows, but the service was a bit... meh. Anybody else find this? The staff seemed to really take their time, considering how drastic the ratio of customers to them was. Huh. The stall was mahoosive, though. One day, when my budget is a little less strict, I'm definitely exploring more, particularly their nail polishes... and that's saying something, because I barely have nails. That's how pretty I think their polishes are. I would give up biting my nails for their polishes. (But then, given the price range, I might have to bite my nails just to be able to bite something, as I'd probably have to give up food to afford them.) Why do the colours have no names? Sadface.

I also saw Terry Barber's presentation - does he remind anyone else of the guy from Devil Wears Prada? It can't just be me, it just can't. That was interesting - I loved how much he played off the colour of the model's hair.

I was also lucky enough to see the Warwick Davis transformation - I was probably one of the last 10 or so people to get in? It was moved to the Saturday, which I was glad for, because I was really interested in seeing it. It was interesting to watch with Warwick Davis himself giving so much of the presentation - it was an unusual change from the model just serving as a silent body to be painted. It was very informative, and also highly entertaining.

I've seen a lot of people saying how they wouldn't have paid the entry prices to get in if they'd known what it was going to be like, which I disagree with. Granted, my ticket was a Christmas present, but I think I probably saved near to the cost of it alone with the Illamasqua discounts, and the whole experience was amazing in and of itself, regardless of what I actually financially 'earned back', as it were.

I apologise if this reads terribly, I'm really quite tired at the time of writing this, but I really wanted to keep to my new schedule... And now, off to do the Maths homework due tomorrow (or today, depending on how long this takes to upload.)

LINKS

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Lustables – Hair (Pinterest Edition!)

noreply@blogger.com (Ruth) — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 19:00:00 +0000

Lustables is a monthly feature of whatever I may be lusting after at the time – whether its a viable purchase or not!

Hair – perhaps a little out of the standard fare for a beauty blog, but after a haircut-gone-wrong this past week (it was salvageable, but the complete opposite of what I asked for), I’ve been fantasising somewhat about my ideal hair…

This month, all the photos are from Pinterest! If you want an invite, let me know, I haven’t given any of mine out yet, and clicking on the photo will take you to the pin.

Two things here are the lustable element. The actual cut, and the colour. Now, apparently it surprises most people who find out that I want to dye my hair this colour/get stretched ears/get a lip piercing, but maybe I’m just not particularly vocal about it as its banned til I’m eighteen. Sigh. As for the cut, this was what I asked for at the hairdressers. That fringe. If you see the most recent photo of me… Yeah. None of that is going on!

Alternately, y’know, I’ll pass on the whole head of colour and just go for these bits. I never have the dedication to grow my hair this long though, I chop it all off once it hits collarbones. If only wigs were socially acceptable! I suppose some would say extensions would be a more reasonable solution, but pfshh, I say.

Alright, I admit, I pinned this one myself. But I want this fringe. With the tapered bits at the side so my face isn’t all “lolbald” if I try to put it up! Alas, I’ll have to grow out the stupid stumpy fringe I got before I can attempt anything like this. Until then, I can merely fantasise. Sadness.

Potted Week

noreply@blogger.com (Ruth) — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 17:37:00 +0000

WHAT I’VE DONE

Last weekend I was at a residential summer school type shebang, which is something I’ve been to in the holidays but never just for the weekend before. Different dynamic, and I slept in the attic, but I met some bloody amazing people, and it was genuinely a fantastic experience. When I try to explain it to people, it just sounds weird, but you have to go to it for it to not sound crazy. (Still sounds a bit crazy, though. Just… the good kind of crazy.)

I also got a haircut! Which I loathed to start, it was not what I asked for at all. But it turns that it actually looks pretty good… rumple-y. Blow dried and straightened, it looks naff. Left in a towel and ruffled a bit? Tousled! And being the lazy bugger that I am, I’ll always embrace the opportunity to not have to blow dry.

Also, IMATS. There’ll be a write-up of this properly, but I was there yesterday, and… Yeah. It was amazing. So much better than last year, I think, for me.

WHAT I’VE LISTENED TO

This song, on repeat. The first song I listened to by Regina Spektor when she performed it on I think Friday Night with Jonathon Ross, but it might have been a different chat show. 80% sure on this, though. I just really, really love the chorus in times where everything else is overwhelming, because its just… you do until you don’t. That’s all there is to life. That’s how it works. May or may not have sung this on top of the motorway bridge… (Sing on top of a motorway bridge. Nobody can hear you. Its fun, trust me!)

“You’re young until you’re not, you love until you don’t, you try until you can’t, you laugh until you cry, you cry until you laugh, and everyone must breath until their dying breath…”

WHAT I’VE CLICKED

Not strictly over the past week, but I’d rather share with you posts I’ve recently liked regardless of posting date:

Fashion Hippie Loves’ 26012012 look is the sort of look I love when I’m going out – and I’m loving the shoe porn in the background!

My eyebrows are the bane of my (face-oriented) life, but some of the tips in Killer Colours’ How I do my brows post make it so, so much less hellish. (Though my sister nicking my brow powder, moreso.)

My Makeup Obsession is a blog I only recently discovered, but her FOTDs, such as FOTD: Green With Envy are absolutely stunning.

WHAT I’VE LOOKED LIKE

I wonder how different these photos will look when I get a remote and won’t have my arm intruding in the corner…

LINKS

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Review: ColorWorks Eyeshadow Palette

noreply@blogger.com (Ruth) — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 15:44:00 +0000

This palette has no name! How does it smell? Awful!

Yeah, I know that’s not how it goes, hushabum. But still, I dislike not being able to name it properly in the title, which is of course one of my most original ones…

So I picked this up in Superdrug ages ago, took swatches, photographs… and them promptly forgot about it. But here’s the review!

I didn’t get a photo of it closed, but the lid is just clear plastic with “Colorworks” printed on it. Lets ignore the Americanism now, y’all… The packaging doesn’t feel that sturdy, its all plastic, and it feels like if I dropped it somewhere, it might definitely crack. For the purpose of flinging in handbags, (I rarely fling makeup into my handbag, but this is always a comparison made, so I won’t be one to go against the majority) it seems like it would hold up. Its got a sturdy little clasp at the front, and judging by the well in the front, I imagine it came with a sponge applicator, which I presume I disposed of.

On the inside, it looks like this:

No a bad assortment of colour, no? Mainly blues and greens, with some more neutral shades and a slightly out of place fuchsia in the bottom-right. Ah well.

For the swatches, I’ve divved the palette up into columns, in order of left to right. Above the black line is one swipe of product, below is it layered up to show full pigmentation. These were swatched with my finger on a dry hand.

		Formulation-wise, these all vary. Some colours were on the sheerer side, but most of the built up to a reasonable level of pigmentation for the price.
		The more glittery shades were much grittier to the touch, but still applied well. The only colour that applied badly was the black in the last column, which was patchy.
		The most pigmented colour in this palette is the orange at the bottom of the penultimate column. Its incredibly bright, and looked as if it was foiled when it wasn’t.

I want to say off the top of my head that this palette cost £6.49, but being that I bought this before Christmas, I have no idea where I’m pulling this number from. I can’t find a price anywhere, but it was around the £6-£8 mark. For 18 colours that’s pretty good.

Would I repurchase? There aren’t any shades unique enough in this for me to repurchase this palette specifically, but I certainly wouldn’t shy away from buying from ColorWorks again.

Would I recommend? I wouldn’t recommend against it, per se, but the colours in this are pretty standard. If you want a lot of put-together-able colours at a decent price in one palette, this could be for you, but it isn’t something you wouldn’t survive without.

Lustables – Lipsticks

noreply@blogger.com (Ruth) — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 12:00:00 +0000

Lustables is a ~~weekly~~ monthly feature of whatever I may be lusting after at the time – whether its a viable purchase or not!

Today’s lustables of choice? Lipsticks. Well, you may have presumed that already – it’s in the title.

^{Photo from the Illamasqua website}

I feel genuinely slightly treacherous that most of the Illamasqua products I own, despite their brand ethos of alter egos and stunning promotional photographs, are base products. Foundations, primers, powders. Illamasqua’s Flicker is definitely on my lust list to change this, though – described as “Bright metallic bronze, shimmer finish”, it looks neutral-ish in the swatch, but not a natural one at that! I’ve sadly got less bold with my makeup lately, but this really looks like its ‘normal’ enough that I wouldn’t freak out about wearing it, but different enough to break me out of only wearing ‘normal’ lip colous.

^{Photo from the Mac website}

Mac’s Unknown Pleasures wasn’t a lipstick I was familiar with until I read about it: Killer Colors: Unknown Pleasures (which, incidentally, is a blog you should follow if you don’t already). I don’t really know why I like the look of it, as the colour is a bit… congealed blood-y? Iunno. Maybe it’s my inner vamp. But I do rather want this.

^{Photo from the Makeup Boutique site}

Lip Tars blatantly count as lipsticks, shush your face. It doesn’t really look it from the packaging, but Strutter is a deep brick red, and it makes a change from the reds I already have, which are either excessively vampy, or scarlet. A nice in between. I like. I want!

Potted Week

noreply@blogger.com (Ruth) — Sun, 13 Nov 2011 12:00:00 +0000

WHAT I’VE DONE

Not C25K, which I seemed to have said I was starting last time I wrote one of these… Oh, well. I’ll start it again in January, I’m not going to be able to be regularly running for a long enough time to make it worthwhile starting again now. It can be a New Year’s Resolution! ~~Because people totally keep those.~~

Other stuff I have been doing? Er, college. Work, and such. I didn’t get to go to TOWIB 2, because a particularly social event I’d been trying to arrange for ages could suddenly, somehow, only possibly be able to happen on that day. I’m sorry, blogging, I picked my social life over you. I promise, I’ll never do it again.

Er, you may notice I’m possibly being a little bit complex-sentence-y and elaborating on things far more than I should be – I’m doing NaNoWriMo right now, so this is slightly the writing pattern I’ve fallen into in order to be able to hit word count (which I’m not, incidentally, but I’ll catch up! Slowly…)

Oh, and I visited a ton of musuems. And by a ton, I mean two. But I visited the same two museums a lot… The Science Museum… three times, with three separate groups of people, and the Natural History Museum… with the same three separate groups of people, actually. And the same three occasions. Huh. Weird.

WHAT I’VE WATCHED

Rent. Rentrentrent. I love Rent. How had I never seen Rent before? Reeent <3 I choked up so much watching it, one of my friends just had to come hold me while I cried. I’m terrible, I know. I’m ashamed, truly, I am.

WHAT I’VE LISTENED TO

No day, but today <3 I’m sorry, I’m a newly converted Renthead. You can’t change that. (And the link for that video, incidentally, takes you to a Rent playlist. *cough*)

WHAT I’VE CLICKED

Sea of Shoes shows off her fantastic costume for The Fantastic Mr. Fox

Killer Colors uses Mirifique as an eyeliner in this gorgeous FOTD

Beauty’s Bad Habit reminds us why Beauty Bloggers Are Bizzarre

WHAT I’VE ASKED

Or, in fact, what I’m asking: Guest blogging over a two-and-a-bit-week period over December – interested? I’ll put out an official plea later and promote it and such and shiz, but if you want in, now… iwanttomakeup@yahoo.co.uk (and I really need to change that email to reflect the blog’s changed name!)

EOTD - Inspired By: National Chocolate Week!

noreply@blogger.com (Ruth) — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 19:29:00 +0000

Because everyone likes chocolate! And everyone also likes blown-up pictures of my eyelid, right? ‘course you do.

So, yes, tis Chocolate Week apparently, and I have celebrated this in two ways: Firstly, by eating a significant amount of Aero chocolate. Omnomnom. Fo srs. Secondly, by this chocolate-box inspired EOTD.

Okay, it isn’t inspired by any actual chocolate box I know of, but I always thought pink and lime green (can you even see those? The photo is somewhat washed out) would make a good combination on a chocolate box, and what with the choolate-coloured crease colour, and the chocolate-named outer-V shade (Chocolate Truffle, thank you very much), this could pass as chocolate-y.

UDPP
FrontCover’s Wild Lime (inner third)
FrontCover’s Blossom (middle)
FrontCover’s Clove (crease)
FrontCover’s Chocolate Truffle (outer-V)
Urban Decay’s 24/7 liner in Zero
17’s Falsifeye mascara

All the talk about FrontCover’s A/W 2011 releases inspired me to drag out my slightly abandoned (and somewhat crushed) Rainbow Eyes palette, so all of the eyeshadow colours are from that.

Honey, I’m Home!

noreply@blogger.com (Ruth) — Mon, 22 Aug 2011 14:58:00 +0000

Yes, I’m sure everyone titles their back-from-an-absence posts like that, but I never claimed originality…

I hope you enjoyed the trio of guest posts over the past week, I was very grateful to have them!

I’m also very grateful for – and surprised by – the sudden rise in followership: I don’t know if I should take it as a good thing or not that you seem to like me best when I’m not actually around, but I certainly shan’t complain. Welcome aboard!

I must confess, I’ve actually been back with internet connection for about 10 days now, as you may have ascertained if you follow me on Twitter, but they’ve been a very busy 10 days, and they seem like they’re going to get busier! I mean to do some tweaking and working out of my posting schedule, as I return to full-time education much too soon for my liking, and a lot of my makeup money is going to be going on paying for food and transport, and my FOTDs will end up a little less bold if I have to cram them in early in the morning most of the time! And I don’t wish to deprive you, so, yes, working things out a bit. Hopefully, though, these changed will be an overall improvement, rather than just trying to replace what was lost!

I’ve had a bit much sugar today, I’m abusing my exclamation marks, so I’ll leave you at the knowledge that yes, I am around, and I will be blogging some more. Until then!

Guest Post: Floamia-Theme EOTD

noreply@blogger.com (Ruth) — Thu, 18 Aug 2011 10:56:00 +0000

If you don’t already follow Fairies Stole My Lipstick, you should definitely check her out for her indie love and interesting and imaginative FOTDs! I’m very pleased to be able to have her on my blog today

Hi you might notice that I'm not Ruth. My name is Helen, I'm also known as Pixie Ala Mode on my blog Fairies Stole My Lipstick. Ruth asked me to do a guest post while she was away and I happily agreed. When I asked her what colors I should do for the look she suggested a look to go with her blog. I didn't add the dark purple into the look but if I had done a full face look I probably would have used a soft purple lipstick or a pink.

What I used:

Eyes-

Too Faced Shadow Insurance

Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy

Aromaleigh e/s in Impossible Things (An olive green applied to the lid.)

Detrivore cosmetics e/s in Kraken (A gorgeous teal applied to the crease.)

Fyrinnae Arcane Magic e/s in Leopard Print Galaxy (VERY close color to Impossible things run along the lower lash line.)

Milani eyeliner in black

Almay Liquid eyeliner in black

Mascara

If you like my post I'd love for you to come visit my blog. :)

Guest Post: Wearable Porcelain Doll Look

noreply@blogger.com (Ruth) — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 11:00:00 +0000

Lillian is one of the nicest bloggers I’ve seen around, with an eclectic style – self-described as similar to that of Gary Le Strange – which is evident on her blog!

Hello Everyone! I’m Lillian from Funny Faces Place Ruth was nice enough to ask me to share a FOTD with you while she’s away! For this look I was inspired by porcelain dolls Like this one:

…Only much less sinister (hopefully!)

So here’s my look:

Wearing:

Face: Illamasqua skin Base Foundation in 02, ELF Studio Pink Passion blush (applied heavily in a small circle on the apples of my cheek)

Eyes: High Voltage Cosmetics Brow Powder in Redhead, Sugarpill Pressed eyeshadow in Tako (opaque matte white applied over the lid only), Aromaleigh eyeshadow in White Wedding (sheer sparkly white eyeshadow applied from lashline to brow), black mascara

Lips: Mac lip pencil in Cherry, Models Own Lip Balm in Red Hot (both applied in a small cupids bow shape)

It’s a dead simple look to do but quite pretty and fun looking :)

If you wanted to make the look slightly more subtle you could use less blush and a sheer red lip but keep the shapes the same. Conversely if you wanted a more theatrical look I would suggest using a heavy foundation and powder to really hide your natural skin and add a matte, china-like look and applt the blush even more heavilly. You could also add black false eyelashes to both the top and bottom lashes to make proper dolly eyes.

I hoped you like my look and thanks again to Ruth for letting me post it!

Guest Post: Orange Leopard Nails!

noreply@blogger.com (Ruth) — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 11:00:00 +0000

I’ve always liked Lily from Beauty’s Bad Habit’s blog for her bright and wild FOTDs and nail looks, and I was thrilled when she kindly agreed to guest post here to cover for me while I was away!

Hello! I'm Lily from Beauty's Bad Habit Blog stepping in for Ruth today to show you my some easy peasy nail art. The Sun has been beaming down on us here in the UK recently and I think sunshine calls for two things - bright nails and garish prints. Why not combine them both into something fabulously...wild?

I've always been a leopard print lover and luckily for (the very cack-handed) me, it's so easy to do on your nails! Just apply your base colour, dot on some splodgey colours, roughly outline the dots in liquid eyeliner, dot on some random marks and apply your topcoat to seal it all in - done! It looks ace with a beige-brown base coat and gold splodges for a more neutral finish or neon shades for nights out.

Do you rock leopard print nails? What are your favourite animal prints?

En Recherche: Guest Bloggers!

noreply@blogger.com (Ruth) — Sat, 30 Jul 2011 13:58:00 +0000

Between the 1st and the 12th August, I’m going to be sadly unavailable for blogging. I have a few scheduled posts in the works, but not nearly enough to cover me for my entire absence, and I certainly couldn’t produce enough quality posts between now and the 1st.

Why am I telling you this, you may ask, if you have not read the title of this post (partially in French)? Because I would like to ask you, noble reader, if you would be interested in guest-blogging for me!

I’m open to all kinds of posts – I don’t care if you already have a blog, if you have a million followers or two, if its beauty or nails or fashion or baking, I’m always open to variety!

Interested? E-mail me at iwanttomakeup@yahoo.co.uk with your ideas :)

Lustables – Books

noreply@blogger.com (Ruth) — Thu, 28 Jul 2011 18:19:00 +0000

Lustables is a weekly feature of whatever I may be lusting after at the time – whether its a viable purchase or not!

Just to prove to you that yes, I really do read real books! Or at least, I would like to…

This is actually something I’ve wanted to read for a really long time – I ended up on an inexplicable mad goose chase around London once for this book, it was out of stock in every bookshop I went inside of. Very, very odd. Possibly spurred me on even more to want to read it! I mean, I could just order it online, but that’s not the same as bookshops… I do love bookshops. They just smell so book-y. And they’re full of books!

I really, really like looking at people’s sketchbooks (which makes me terrible and nosy and awful, I know). Sketchbook’d stuff seems more interesting than finished intentional Art Stuff, and. Iunno. I just really like it. So I like the idea of An Illustrated Life, which is looking into the sketchbooks and views and shiz of people varying from professional artists to people who just like to journal. I try really hard to not sounds horrible and pretentious when I talk about artsy stuff, and I think I fail, terribly, so I apologise.

Honestly? I have no reason why I should read this, apart from: I follow the author on Twitter, and think she’s hilarious; and this has an interesting premise (13 envelopes! With tasks! And money! And instructions! And they’re blue!)

I guess this doesn’t really prove that I read ‘real’ books, seeing as only one of these is a classic, but shh. I want to read them anyway. And if these turn up in a Potted Week at all, you know that I’ve wanting these for a little while!

NOTD: It Was Meant To Be a Gradient, Honest!

noreply@blogger.com (Ruth) — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 20:26:00 +0000

Anybody remember me saying how I was the last person on the planet to acquire a crackle polish? Well, here it is in action.

Inspired by (but alas, not half as good as Frog Claws’ night sky inspired NOTD), I attempted to use the technique she did to create her stars to create a gradient. Unfortunately, I don’t think my nails are long enough to show any gradient, particularly not one as subtle as the shift from blue to purple! I did it rather cack-handedly, so I tried to disguise that with the Barry M crackle polish. It… didn’t really work. Ah, well.

Products used:

Barry M Nail Effects polish in Black
Barry M Nail Paint in Blue Moon
Barry M Nail Paint in an apparently unnamed purple glittery shade

Sleek Gave Me a Black Eye

noreply@blogger.com (Ruth) — Tue, 26 Jul 2011 20:15:00 +0000

So I was playing with my Sleek iDivine Acid palette, and…

^{This is my best “I’ve been punched in the face” expression. It makes me look slightly chubby.}

…it hit me in the face. Yeah, no. I just had too much fun with the green and the purple shadows. And the neon yellow, actually, came into play there, which was a bit unexpected.

What do you mean this isn’t a real post? (Okay, yes, I know it isn’t. Shush. I can come back and laugh at it years later when I actually have enough skills with makeup to make a properly convincing black eye, aye?)

Potted Week

noreply@blogger.com (Ruth) — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 01:31:00 +0000

WHAT I’VE DONE

I started doing C25K, actually, which is a running program designed to get you from the couch to running 5k. First day I did it, though, it was pissing rain, and my iPod (with the C25K app on it) got so waterlogged that it conked out, and I had to run home, having no idea what time it was or how long I was meant to keep running for! Not all that successful a start, but, y’know. It’ll get better, ‘msure.

WHAT I’VE WATCHED

I had a Tipping the Velvet marathon recently, because I love Keely Hawes. Naturally, I’m now watching Ashes to Ashes from start to finish, as well, because all things in moderation was invented by somebody who did not appreciate television series marathons, dammit!

WHAT I’VE LISTENED TO

Astronaut–Amanda Palmer

I’ve known of Amanda Palmer and the Dresden Dolls for a while, but this is the first time I’ve actually listened to her, which is probably quite bad. If I listened to more of the musicians that I’d heard of, but never actually heard, I might have an iPod playlist of more than 200!

WHAT I’VE CLICKED

Cut-Throat Beauty reminds us of one of the kookier Disney villains with her Yzma-inspired look

Flutter and Sparkle shows a different take on the leopard print nail, in camouflage

Of Faces and Fingers demonstrates the new Sleek Curacao palette with her Bird of Paradise eye look

WHAT I’VE ASKED

I haven’t, actually, so I’ll ask now – what musicians would you recommend me? I’m musically stunted, I need to expand my range of artists!