cherry-myth

Eco Tools Eye Brush Set

2012-01-28T19:01:00.000Z

I thought I'd do a brush collection for you lovely ladies since I seem to have a pretty decent sized collection now even though none are 'designer' brushes apart from the one MAC one I own but the post would have just been huge.

So I thought it'd be a little easier if I just split them up. The first thing I thought I'd show you is my Eco Tools Eye Brush Set that santa gave me!

I love this set! They're minature brushes and they're so easy and convinent if you're someone that travels a lot. There's pretty much everything you need in here for any eye look. The handy pouch also helps to keep them nice and safe so you could just throw them into your suitcase if you're jetting off somewhere nice and not have to worry about them.

I have two more Eco Tools brushes and they're really good and pretty cheap! I know you can sometimes find them in places like TkMaxx for a little less. The only problem I find with these brushes is that they're never the same colour! I know it's sad twining about the colour of brushes but if I buy a few from the same brand I like them to all match! They also tend to 'crack' a little over time and just look a little bit shoddy compared to plastic ones.

I'm not a big fan of the canvas material the pouch is made of as it seems like It will just attract a lot of dirt so I've been trying to make sure my brushes are relativley clean before I put them back into it. I'm not sure how easy it's going to be to clean with having a mirror attached to it but I'll cross that bridge when I come to it.

Every brush has written on it what it's job is which I adore! I like to try and use thr right brushes for the right job. I mainly use the crease brush and It pretty much just lives in my handbag so I can touch up my eyeshadow at any point through the day if it needs it. (Which it never does so I'm not actually sure why I do this!)

Overall: They're lovely brushes and have a handy pouch with a mirror for "on-the-go" makeup as it says! I really am fond of thislittle set and it's something I've used every single day since I bought it (With my heaven and earth palette of course).

MAC Pencils

2012-01-26T19:04:00.001Z

I tried so hard this last week to remain strong and not visit the MAC website. Unfortunately for my bank account I have once again failed. However as soon as my lovely post man turned up with all of these baby's for me I was happy again! I'm not quite sure why I bought the Kohl pencils since I rarely wear it and I especially don't wear bright colours (I stick to nudes mostly).

I apologise that I've not swatched any of them! I was sure I had but there's not pictures of it at all. They all look the exact same as the colours shown on the tube's though. I've also missed out my Teddy Brown kohl pencil since It was buried at the bottom of my handbag but I love it!

From L-R: Sky Blue, Magenta (Lip Pencil), Taupe (Eyebrow Pencil), Silver, Green, Smoulder, Fascinating.

Sky Blue and Magenta

These are really lovely eyeliners and on the rare occasions that I want to wear it I reach for either Smoulder or Teddy Brown. The Magenta lip pencil is such a beautiful bright shade and is a much more wearable colour than red! I just need to find the perfect lipstick to go with it now. Taupe tends to be the eyebrow pencil I reach for if I'm in the'natural' mood when I don't really fancy having my really fake defined brows that I tend to wear everyday (I use Mystery eyeshadow by MAC).

Overall: If you're really into your bright and bold eye liners then these do the job perfectly well! They're pretty soft so don't hurt like some eyeliners can and the colour payoff is really brilliant.

Love Laura xoxo

Dumb Blonde

2012-01-23T20:21:00.000Z

I've recently had quite a few blonde highlights put in my hair and after having jet black hair for so many year's I fancied something a lot brighter and I love it! Unfortunately with bleached hair comes the dryness. I'm normally not one for taking care of my hair at all. For about 5 years I dyed it black every 4-5 weeks, backcombed it to oblivion every single day and never used conditioner but amazingly it never felt damaged. I've no idea how.

It wasn't until I got highlights that I noticed how damaged it was getting so I've been trying so hard to take care of it. I did a bit of research about products designed for blonde hair and I came across this TIGI Dumb Blonde conditioner for 'after highlights'.

It's packed full of proteins apparently (and wheat which isn't great since I have a wheat allergy so I'm a bit weary about using it too much). I have to say though I'm impressed by it. The first time I used it I didn't notice a difference at all but now I've used it a few more times my hair's feeling much more nourished.

Overall: The bright yellow colour put me off a tad at first but I'll forgive that fact since I like it so much. The smell is really strong and I know some people will hate it and some will love it. I personally think it's nice.

I think it's a lovely product to use and it does what it says it will!

Love Laura xoxo

Make your own exfoliator!

2012-01-22T18:04:00.001Z

This is something I've been doing for a little while now and I absolutely love how lovely and soft it makes my skin feel. Plus, it tastes like lemonade! Which is a bonus.

So firstly you just need lemon juice. I'm not incredibly fussy so I didn't bother buying organic or anything like that (if it's even possible to get organic lemon juice?) You know what I mean though anyways.The cat ball in the corner is optional of course. Not quite sure how it's ended up on my kitchen worktop.

You also need a small bowl and some sugar and a spoon and that's it! It's so cheap to make and it takes about 30 seconds.

Okay, fill your bowl with a little bit of sugar. It depends on how much exfoliator you're wanting to how much sugar you will need. I tend to just do enough for my face and then if I have any left over I use it on my arms but if you're doing a full body exfoliation then you'll need a bit more!

Pour a little lemon juice into the sugar and mix it up until it's sort of like a thick paste. Start by adding a tiny bit of lemon juice then adding more. It's easier to add than to take it out! (Thought I'd take an action shot of me pretending to stir).

When it looks like this just go ahead and pop a spoon full into your hand, rub them together, then apply to your face/body! I tend to use it for around 60 seconds then I exfoliate my hands with the remainder afterwards. Then I wash it all off and just apply a moisturiser and once that's dry I have lovely baby soft skin that didn't cost me a fortune!

Sometimes I also mix in a little bit of Vanilla Extract (I've got no idea if this is safe or not on the skin?!) but I never have any issues with it. It just makes the exfoliator smell so yummie, not that it smells bad without it.

Well, I hope this has been useful guys. Get exfoliating!

Love Laura xoxo

Nail Polish Collection/Barry M

2012-01-21T23:04:00.000Z

I've been meaning to get around to doing this for a while so here we go! Since I always wear acrylics I only ever paint my toes (and it's a tad wierd posting 'toe polish of the week' posts) so I thought i'd just show you my collection instead.

I just keep them all in a little basket to keep them all neat and tidy!

I love Barry M varnishes. More for the range of colours than the coverage (if that's the word). They do take quite a few coats to look really bright. I couldn't find my other glitter ones when I was taking these pictures, sorry!

Okay so it's mainly just a Barry M post since it'd be a massive post if i pictured every single polish individually. The only ones I've bought myself are the Barry M ones and one or two others so I'm not too sure where the rest have all come from. I seem to just accumulate them! I didn't bother putting the Barry M shade names up since you can pretty much just see a picture of their polishes and know which is which in the store just by looking a them.

Love Laura xoxo

My MAC Collection #3- Extras

2012-01-18T20:13:00.000Z

The final part of my MAC collection! These are just a few other bits and pieces I own. It's not allot but I'm still working on my lovely little collection! I was supposed to include my Zoomfast Blacklash Mascara in this post but I mentioned it in another post the other day so I decided to just leave it off.

These are a few bits my mum picked up for me in the MAC shop in Liverpool for Christmas along with a few lippys & foundations which were in the other MAC posts. There's some disposable mascara wands, some powder puffs and some foundation sponges. I feel bad taking the sponges out of the packet and getting them all grubby so they're still sat in there looking nice and pretty!

I finally bought my first ever MAC shadow and thought I'd buy a small palette to put it in and then I could buy three more nude shades to make up a baby sized palette for my everyday makeup. I want to eventually get round to buying a large palette but I'm moving house soon so buying furniture is my priority at the moment!

Sorry I know the eye shadow's clearly not even in the packaging it came in but I still took a picture anyways just in case someone didn't know what they looked like when they arrived (like I didn't!).

This is 'Mystery' and it's lovely. It's darker than it looks in the pan but it's absolutely amazing in the crease (with a bit of one of the browns from my MUA Heaven & earth palette over the lid). If anyone can suggest some lovely shades I can fill my palette up with it'd be appreciated!

MAC Eyebrow pencil in Taupe. I'm normally quite a big fan of the 'fake' eyebrow look and tend to favour quite a strong dark brow so I normally use eyeshadow to fill them in (with a MAC 208 brush which I've forgotten to include in this post) but I thought I'd attempt to try a slightly more natural look, at least for work anyways so I bought this pencil. It's really good. I'm most impressed. I always feel that eyebrow pencils never really work properly and they never seem to actually put any colour onto my eyebrows, if that makes sense? But this one certainly does and it's nice and quick and easy on the day's I'm running late for work (which is most).

Hope you liked my MAC collection! There will be a few more MAC bits this week since I wasn't strong enough to resist the urge to visit their site and buy some goodies.

Love Laura xoxo

My MAC Collection #2- Foundations

2012-01-15T20:12:00.000Z

I've not included my much loved MAC Pro White face & Body since I've mentioned it in 2 posts this week already and I don't want anyone to be under the impression I love it too much (which I do). These are the foundations I own by Mac and my personal favourite is the Pro longwear! It gives such a lovely dewy finish. There's one concealer I've snuck into this list too and it's the only MAC one I own but I use it every single day without fail. All of the things in this list are either NC15 or the palest shade that was available (I think the Matchmaster was 01 or something along those lines).

(Full Coverage in White is a MAC Pro Product)

Studio Fix - Pro Longwear - Studio Finish Concealer

Pro Full Coverage in White

Face & Body - Matchmaster

I tend to favour quite a heavy coverage so the majority of these products provide that, aside from the Face & Body which was my first ever MAC foundation purchase and almost put me off trying any others. I Also had the Select (I think that's it's name) but I absolutely hated it and wouldn't recommend it what so ever. Apart from those two I really am fond of MAC foundations! The Pro Longwear and Studio Fix are by far my favourites though.

What's your favourite MAC foundation/Concealer?

Love Laura xoxo

Every Day Favourites

2012-01-14T18:25:00.000Z

I use these products ever single day (among many others) and my makeup routine just wouldn't be complete without them. Obviously over the months the products that I love do tend to change but this is what I'm in love with this month!

Mac Zoom fast Black Lash Mascara: I got this for Christmas and It's one of the best mascara's I've used in a long time. It gives length and volume and doesn't flake. perfect!
Clarins Lipstick in Tender Rose: My mum bought this for me back in August when I was her bridesmaid for the wedding day. It's a lovely subtle colour and smells lush which is always something I tend to be quite picky about with lippys. I have a lovely Lip liner that I bought to go with this (Also by Clarins) but I've no idea what shade it is!
Mac Myth: LOVE! On days when I'm not wearing my Clarins lippy I'm wearing this one. I think i showed a swatch of this in my Mac Collection post a few days ago. It's the perfect lipstick to go with anything so I have it in my handbag every single day no matter where I'm going.
Wilkinson's Eyelash curlers: I feel like I've mentioned these loads but my eyelashes just look awful unless I curl them and these are by far my favourite tools to do the job, plus they're pink!
Mac Pro face and Body in White: The pale woman's beauty essential! Without this my foundation would always be 10 shades darker than my skin tone. It's a life saver for us fair folk! I can't even state how much I adore this product.

Love Laura xoxo

Pale People Foundation & Dainty Doll Review

2012-01-10T21:35:00.000Z

So I'll start off by saying that I'm a natural redhead so as you can imagine I'm awfully pale and I'm covered in freckles. For years I've been trying and failing to hunt down a foundation that will be pale enough for me and if you're a fellow pale lass then you'll know just how pointless this hunt is. I just thought I'd share with you the only 3 products I've found that ARE pale enough!

Mac Pro Full coverage Foundation in White

See Above

Dainty Doll in Shade 001

Mac Pro - Face & Body in White

Top: Face & Body in White - Bottom: Dainty Doll in 001

Top: Mac Prolongwear in NC15 Bottom: Dainty Doll in Shade 001

On a day-to-day basis I tend to mix half of White Face & Body with Mac's Prolongwear in Nc15 and it is still too dark for me but its the best I can get with the coverage that I need. It's certainly much paler that any other foundation I've tried.

The Dainty Doll foundation Is the only foundation I've ever found that's been the perfect shade for me! Unfortunately the foundation itself Isn't too wonderful which is such a shame. It seemed to just 'melt' off my face and the coverage was just terrible. I was so gutted that the foundation itself wasn't as amazing as the shade.

CK One Shock

2012-01-08T18:21:00.000Z

Since It's a new year I thought It was about time for a new perfume! I didn't really have any idea what I was going to get but with help from the lady at the perfume counter I decided on this one. It was apparently on sale so I got a 100ml bottle and a body lotion for £28 which seemed pretty good to me. It's really fruity & sweet but it smells sort of grown up. If that makes any sense at all. I normally wear things like Lacoste so I just wanted to go for something I'd never used before and I'm really happy with my choice!

Obviously I can't explain what it smells like via blogging but if you're near a perfume counter at any point then go and give it a smell!

Love Laura xoxo

My MAC Collection #1 - Lippy

2012-01-08T17:52:00.000Z

I've been wanting to do this for a few days so I've finally got around to it! Hope you like it my lovelies. I'll be uploading the other parts throughout the week. My apologies that they're such boring colours, I tend to just stick to wearing nudes every day with dark eye makeup.


Shy Girl

Ravishing

Chili

Myth

Russian Red

Creme D'Nude

Full Speed (A redish shade but it isn't showing well on these, Sorry! Click This - Hope it helps)

Gotta Dash!

(Top L-R) Gotta dash, full speed.
(Bottom L-R) Shy Girl, Ravising, Chili, Myth, Russian Red, Creme D'Nude

I've only just recently started collecting MAC product so my collection isn't big at all, I've just collected a few different pieces from here and there. The majority of the products I own by them I really do like though (especially my Shy Girl lippy) so I will continue to purchase things and will slowly build up my collection so that it's hopefully a little more impressive at some point.

Love Laura xoxo

Fake Tan Failure

2012-01-07T23:24:00.000Z

Firstly I'll start off by saying that like many other poor Brits, I'm the palest of the pale. It's so difficult finding foundations/powders that are my shade (which non aside from the palest of the Dainty Doll products are) so It sometimes just makes life so much easier putting fake tan on so I don't have to trail on an endless mission to find cheap products that match my skin tone! Normally I don't bother as me and fake tans just don't work well together anymore. Even though I used to wear it all the time and wouldn't leave the house unless I'd topped it up at least 4 times a week. (You can imagine just how orange I was).

I normally used to use St Moritz since it was so cheap & I didn't have a job at the time and even though it was good it certainly had it's flaws. I got to a point last month when I decided I'd try to start wearing tan again so I thought I'd try a more expensive one thinking It'd be better, without forking out for the higher end tans that are all just hype like St Tropez.

I decided this L'Oreal tan was a good middle ground so bought a bottle (Mum also bought me one for Christmas). I have to say I've never haded a fake tan this much and I've tried what feels like hundreds over the years. There was no guide colour which left me with loads of white patches after the colour developed, It stank, It gave me a horrid yellow look, It was way too runny and just went all over the place. Ok so that just sounds like 99% of all fake tans but just, trust me. It's certainly something I wont be considering purchasing again and now unfortunately I've got 2 full bottles of it just sitting.

Love Laura xoxo

Rihanna: Get The Look

2012-01-07T21:29:00.000Z

Just thought I'd try something a little different today...

I'm not quite sure If I'm keen on this or not but I wanted to just see if I could get this to work! I hope you like it?!

Love Laura xoxo

2012-01-07T18:09:00.000Z

I bought quite a bit of stuff in town today but I seem to be having such bad luck with camera's at the moment and the photo's just aren't good. So I'll just upload this photo for now.

I bought these beautiful little baby's today from Topshop and they were £28 and I momentarily turned into a child and ran towards them in the store since I thought they'd all been sold out weeks ago. The studs on them are actually silver but for some reason they look pretty black on here.

I'm so happy I finally got round to buying these!

Love Laura xoxo

Elf Haul

2012-01-06T18:08:00.010Z

I 'accidentily' stumbled accross the Elf website a few days ago and I just couldn't resist buying some goodies for myself. All of this cost less than £40! I love that Elf is so good yet so cheap. I didn't feel like I had enough makeup brushes and none of the ones I had, minus a few Eco Tools brushes really matched so I decided I might as well buy a load of brushes and I have to say these ones are amazing. I'm in love with the powder brush especially and for £1.50 (for the white ones) & £3.50 (for the black) they're a must-have!

I was so happy when this all arrived in the post! Makeup brushes, Daily Brush Cleaner, Shimmering Facial Whip in Spotlight, Corrective Conceiler (Erase & Conceil), Shimmer Pencil in Black Bandit, Liquid Eyeliner in Pearl and Matte Eyeshadow in Nude.

I haven't got round to using the Shimmering Facial Whip yet but I've swatched it on my hand for you all on the right there but it's just as pale as me so it's so difficult to see, I'm really excited to try it out tomorrow though! The conceilers are fab and I think there was two different kinds of these pallettes but I can't quite remember what the other one was. I've wanted colour correcting conceilers for so long and I'm glad I finally got round to it. As for the Matte Eye Shadow in Nude, It's really quite pale but it's lovely and creamy and gives a really subtle yet pretty look which would be great for work/school/collage!

I think the most expensive thing I bought here was £3.50. I'm such a fan of Elf and I can't Fault anything I bought aside from the shimmering Eyeliner Pencil which, as good as it is, just isn't very shimmery. However the liquid eyeliner in pearl is really nice. The daily brush cleaner is something I thought was a really good idea but it has such a strong smell to it! So hold your nose if you use it girlies.

Love Laura xoxo

First Ever Glossybox

2012-01-06T17:09:00.000Z

I was absolutely over the moon this morning when my postman walked into work with this for me! My mum bought me a 12 month subscription for Christmas. I won't bother doing a review on anything or talking about what's in it since this is December's box so there's thousands of blog posts and YouTube videos about it! I absolutley love the nail polish though.

Love Laura xoxo

Nivea Pure & Natural Day Cream

2012-01-05T23:35:00.000Z

I'll just start off by saying there will be no negative comments whatsoever about this product from me. I absolutely love it and It's become by far the best moisturiser I've used. I use it twice a day without fail! It's got such a lovely scent, it dries quickly but not quick enough to feel like it's not made a difference to your skin & It's 'natural' (well, it's as natural as a chemical product can be I suppose). My skin's so lovely and soft after using this for about a week or so every single day and It's caused no breakouts which often moisturisers tend to do to my skin so I normally just use nothing other than E45 cream for the job, until now!

Love Laura xoxo

Best Heat Protection Sprays

2012-01-05T19:29:00.001Z

I don't really use heat on my hair that often except my hairdryer and occasionally on weekends or if I'm going somewhere other than work I use my Cloud 9 styling wand, but on the occasions that I am using heat on my hair I do try and use some form of heat protection spray since I've got loads of blonde highlights now and I've noticed how dry and horrid it gets if i don't take good care of it.

These are the three I love the most!

I'd say out of the three the GUM hair one is my personal favourite simply for the smell! It's gorgeous! If you're not a fan of thermal protectors that have a really sweet smell then i suggest trying the InfaTreat since it doesn't really have much of a scent at all and the got2b one is a great middle ground and I think it's the cheapest of the three but I'm not 100% sure since I bought the other two ages ago!

Love Laura xoxo

Bright Eye Shadow Palette

2012-01-05T19:11:00.001Z

As I'm sure I've said before I'm not really one for bright eye shadows but I didn't actually purchase this for me. my mum bought it for my step sister for Christmas but it arrived a few days afterwards so she just let me keep it instead.

This is just a brand less eye shadow palette which are plentiful on ebay! I'm not too sure how much this one cost but it was definitely less than £10. Unfortunately for me there's not that many 'wearable colours' for me as I really only do ever wear nudes, blacks and greys.
I love the fact that this palette has a row of baked eye shadows though. I think those ones look so pretty but they are super bright! The pigmentation of this palette is surprisingly good too. If you're a fan of really bright and bold eye looks then you need one of these in your life. It's such a shame that I'm not into such bold shades otherwise this would have been a really great palette.

Love Laura xoxo

Christmas Claws

2012-01-05T18:02:00.000Z

Hello again guys! So I was planning on doing an elf Haul/Huge Mac haul tonight since my pretty new camera & my new memory card's finally arrived but unfortunatley it's incredibly dark in my room and the camera dosen't seem to be able to cope well with dim light but it's fantastic in the daylight! So I think this weekend I'll take all the photos I need to for next week and just gradually post throughout the week. It's dark when I go to work & dark when I come home at the moment so that's the only way I'll be able to manage it I think.

Now that that's out of the way, I'll post two or three bits I did manage to get decent pictures of.

Glitter Acrylics!

I really fancied something really christmas esque on my nails this time since I got them done a few days before christmas and I absolutley love these ones! It looks exactly like the Barry M red glitter polish (150 Red Glitter). Mine are acrylics but this polish looks exactly the same! It takes a good few coats just to build up the colour a little bit and like 99% of glitter varnishes it's such a pain to attempt to remove but it's worth it for lush Christmas themed nails or even just for nights out and parties since the Christmas season is over now!

What's your favourite glitter nail polish?

Love Laura xoxo

2012-01-03T18:02:00.000Z

Right, the memory card for my new camera's been dispatched so hopefully it'll be here within a few days & I can start blogging again! I promise it'll be worth the wait. I have a few large eye shadow palettes, a Cloud 9 styling wand, L'Oreal Fake Tan, a huge MAC haul, Dainty Doll foundation and various other little bits and bobs to post about for you lovely people.

Love Laura xoxo

OOTD: Office Chic

2011-12-26T13:57:00.000Z

I apologise for the poor picture quality once again! Plus, I can't remember the exact prices of anything!

Top - Topshop £32ish

Skirt - Topshop £32ish

Ring - Ebay £1.50

Earrings - Topshop (same one's once again)

Nails - Red glitter acrylics From Vibe in Carlisle

Hair - Used the Cloud Nine Wand - I LOVE IT.

Necklace - Topshop £4.50

Love Laura xoxo

Chrtistmas Rest

2011-12-21T21:15:00.000Z

Since it's almost Christmas I've stopped buying cosmetics for a little while since I've put so many on my list for Santa so there's nothing much I can blog about until then! Might upload my Christmas OOTD on Christmas eve since I doubt I'll be blogging on Christmas. I'll be too stuffed with turkey to move!

OOTD: Blue Monday

2011-12-19T16:42:00.000Z

Wow, my webcam quality seems to get worse by the day. Apologies for that one. This is just today's boring work outfit so it's nothing fancy or special whatsoever.

Blouse - Topshop £34

Skirt - Ebay £10 These look EXACTLY the same as the £22 Topshop ones

Earrings - Topshop

Flower Style ring - Tesco

Ysl Style Ring - Ebay £1.50

Bracelet - Topshop
Nails- Blue Glitter acrylics. I HATE THESE TIPS - £24.50 at Vibe Nails

Product Review Update: Barry M Silver Eyeliner & L'Oreal Mascara Primer

2011-12-19T16:34:00.000Z

I used the Barry M silver eyeliner and the L'Oreal Studio Secrets mascara primer today and I love them both. Especially the primer. Today's the first day in years I've properly applied mascara to my bottom lashes and not had it all over my face within about half an hour. I'm in love with it. it also made my eyelashes so much longer too! what more could I ask for?!