Tiny Pockets

Because Who Wouldn't Want To Look Like Marie Antoinette?

noreply@blogger.com (Alloson) — Fri, 24 Jun 2016 18:17:00 +0000

So as an up and coming freshman at college going to study history, you could only imagine my love for makeup trends and applications through about each and every time period in history. Some days I wake up and think it would look cool to be a Greek goddess and others I do an Egyptian thing. Today, it happened to be 18th century France.
!8th century s one of my favorite time periods in American history, yett there wasn't a lot going on in the makeup area there, so I turn to France for that one thanks to my good friend Marie here.

So that's what I did. I made myself into a pretty close recreation of her look with a bit of a modern twist.

I know, Allison, Damn, that blush though.

I know, you're thinking I look crazy, but trust me, it's pretty freaking amazing.

I did a lot of research on this topic, meaning I watched a YouTube video of my favorite lady to watch as far as historically accurate makeup goes:

And of course I didn't go full out, but I did lighten my very tan skin. Because I am tan for once in my life.

I also found the same picture that she had just about and I translated each of the places for the beauty patches and found out that where the mark is on the side of my face that I always end up using concealer on would make me passionate, as I went with it and that's what I did. Instead of using eyeliner, though,I made mine with a piece of an index card I colored black with a sharpie,cut it out and used eyelash glue to glue it onto my face over the mole think on the side of my face.

Here's the pucture you can translate if you speak french, or if you took 5 years of it in high school like me, you can use google translate like I did.

<3 Allison

The Dupe Struggle

noreply@blogger.com (Alloson) — Sat, 23 Jan 2016 18:54:00 +0000

So as I mentioned in my Grunge makeup post, I use a matte medium brown all over my lid, and although I don't do full out grunge eyes every day, I do like the look the matte colors give my eyes. Tight now I am using the third shade in my Makeup Revolution Iconic 1 palette, which works great, but I am afraid of running out of that shade soon and want to get a new shadow without buying the whole new palette, because all of the other shades are still really full in that palette.

And as you can see, the Iconic 1 is the equivalent to the Naked palette from Urban Decay. SO that had me thinking that I could just buy Naked by itself because I knew it wasn't exclusive just to that palette. So I looked it up and this is what I found:

I AM NOT SPENDING 19 DOLLARS ON AN EYE SHADOW! I want this color and I want a matte brown so bad though! So thus began my ridiculous online hunt for a dupe for Urban Decay's Naked eye shadow

Now if you type in dupes for Urban Decay Naked, all you get is dupes for the palette, and that is more frustrating than anything. So first, I tried to find a Wet N Wild shadow, since that is my favorite, but nothing was striking me, so I mewed on. My mom said she had a Milani shadow that looked similar, but upon further inspection, we found out that it was a satin-matte color and that will simply not do.

I don;t want to buy a whole new palette but all of the browns that look remotely right are all really shimmery and I can't find anything I really like. This is becoming a real struggle. And i thought I just had a few, but as I was inserting pictures into this post, I found swatches online that revealed them to be shimmery. ERRRRRR!

Someone haw any ideas?

<3 Allison

90's Grunge is a thing again

noreply@blogger.com (Alloson) — Thu, 21 Jan 2016 22:32:00 +0000

So i'm not gonna lie, but I really actually like this. I own a wrong amount of flannel shirts, 3 Nirvana albums, and have been smudging my eyeliner. So I decided, since I have been slacking on the blog lately, I would actually do a post about my new favorite look. Now I haven't done anything this extreme before and will not wear something like this out of the hose, But the thought of it is really cool to be honest.

So I started it all off with my Rimmel Stay Matte foundation with my real techniques miracle complexion sponge, which makes me look pale and dead and my stay matte powder and made myself look like a white matte ghost (which if you're really going for the grunge look and not the fake grunge look, is what you should look like).Then I did some light contour to make look sickly, but not enough to make e look like I went out in the dun. I filled in my eyebrows like normal, then primed my eyes to ready for the large amount of medium matte brown shadow I put everywhere, I put a deeper matte brown in the crease and blended it. I also put a bit of both colors under the eye too. I next lined the eyes completely black with an elf eye pencil and did my water and tight line as well. Curl the lashes and put on a ton of mascara! Look like you just rolled out of bed, nothing is perfect.

Then I used my elf moisturizing lipstick in party in the buff on the lips and put more powder over that so that no shimmer is left anywhere on your face. If you're dead, you can't have moisture on the lips. None of that!

Add cool lighting and some Instagram filters, and you'll be set!

<3 Allison

This is Halloween

noreply@blogger.com (Alloson) — Wed, 11 Nov 2015 17:30:00 +0000

This year I was, once again Sally from Nightmare Before Christmas, and this year I went all out, becasue I could. And this is what happened....

Surprised, aren't you? We knew you'd be!

Just thought I'd share my terrifying pictures of me with no eyebrows with you. Just because I could...

<3 Allison

Homecoming 2015: The Success of Gatsby

noreply@blogger.com (Alloson) — Sat, 07 Nov 2015 17:14:00 +0000

So here they are on all of theyr glory: Homecoming 2015 pictures! As this was my last homecoming, I went to all the highs and did everything I could to make this year the beast homecoming, and I think I won!
So here's a rundown of everything
Makeup:
I did everything I could to recreate the 20's without looking too much like a costume. And if you're wondering I used both the sugar plum fairy and my new fav lipstick, cherry bomb by Wet N Wild.

Eyebrows on Fleek!

Hie: I honestly can't tell you how i did this, but just enjoy it.
It was just experimental. Lots of bobby pins!

And here is my group of friends looking beautiful! (and Handsome)

As Well as my glamours pictures:

<3 Allison

Even More "Gatsby" and 1920's inspired looks

noreply@blogger.com (Amy Ellis) — Wed, 07 Oct 2015 15:36:00 +0000

Since Allison posted a while back about her Homecoming plans for a 1920's inspired look, I thought I'd tack on my 1920's look from Halloween last year. Since the holiday is coming up, it's all just perfect timing.

I went more dramatic than Allison's tutorial which wasn't a problem because I was attending a Halloween party, not a homecoming dance.

I had a load of fun doing this look although around halfway through, I was CONVINCED I was going to have to start over because I looked so crazy.

Here's the video I followed:

Happy Halloween!

-Amy

Stila "In The Moment" Palette [Swatches]

noreply@blogger.com (Amy Ellis) — Sat, 03 Oct 2015 15:28:00 +0000

Yet another amazing TK Maxx Haul for me! I had literally popped in to grab a couple of new tea canisters for my growing collection of teas but just had to stop by the makeup section to see what they had (and if any of it was free from dirty fingerprints... ahem...) By some gift from the makeup gods, this beautiful palette was there, in its box, completely untouched. Praise!

I bought it for £10, a £15 pound discount off the sticker price! I figured it was okay to treat myself considering I'd just turned in my major project for my master's degree.

Anyway, here are the swatches!

From Left to Right: Instinct, Impulse, Glance, Improvise, Catalyst, Desire, Wonder, Spontaneous, Whim, Captivate

Left to Right: Desire, Wonder, Spontaneous, Whim, Captivate

From Left to Right: Instinct, Impulse, Glance, Improvise, Catalyst

The color payoff is great for all of the colors. The only ones really effected by primer are Instinct and Impulse which seem to stick a bit better to primer.

I'd also swatched Catalyst on top of some glitter primer to help bring out the purple glitter in the black shadow. It seemed to help keep the glitter in place.

Anyway, another great TK Maxx haul! I love nearly everything about this palette and it was definitely one of my best makeup purchases.

-Amy

L'Oreal Feria Hair Color

noreply@blogger.com (Alloson) — Thu, 01 Oct 2015 00:40:00 +0000

I know that all I seem to talk about is hair, but I love my hair and it is my specialty and I will talk about it as much as I want to talk about it and I find my hair therapeutic. Also I feel that Amy has not done enough hair, so I would like to fill the gap and help out those of you that might read that love hair too. And if you don;t like hair,I'm sorry, go to the makeup tag.
So as you may or may not know, I decided to dye my hair for the first time near the beginning of July using Garnier Nutrisse hair color and it did not turn out as well as I had hoped, but it was fine for a first try. That hair color also faded so fast that I looked like I had brown hair again. Oh it was horrible. I wouldn't recommend it, even if it is on sale and there's a coupon. Just don't do it.

So the next time I dyed my hair which was about 6 weeks later, I decided to use the L'Oreal Feria which I had heard nothing but good things, and let's be honest: the power reds chimerical that comes on YouTube videos was so tempting, I couldn't help myself. (Also if you find a upon in the paper for any kind of L'Oreal hair color, including the preference, it will work on Feria, so definitely look for one!) So as I have said before, my hair requires 2 boxes, so I did that and although this hair color is a bit more expensive, it is worth it.
I dyes my hair and made a mess of the red dye in my bathroom, but luckily I cleaned it all up. (2 boxes is a lot of Dye). And I can only say that I LOVE it! I get nothing but compliments and I have used this since then to touch up my roots. I did my roots first and worked it through my hair and I only had to use 1 box to touch up. So I love this stuff. I use the color Power Reds R57 Medium intense Auburn in Cherry Crush. And this is what it looks like. Just like the box and that is pretty amazing to me!

This stuff is super easy to apply and work through the hair and the smell isn't even that bad to be completely honest. The only downside I can find to this is that when you wash your hair, it bleeds. You will see red dye in the water no matter how long it has been since you dyed your hair last. And it will bleed all over towel sand the backs of shirts too. Just a warning.

Other than that, the color is very true to what you see on the box, it is easy to use and follow instructions, the conditioner is comes with is top notch, and it lasts SOOOOOO long in the hair.

I also know that in the future I want to experiment with more and so I have compiled a list of some of the colors I think I want to go. But I just don't know yet.

I really want to go purple with the power violet probably when the red I do for homecoming fades,I will go purple just for a little while. I have always wanted to go copper, and I don't really think it will look that good on me, but I think this color which is deep copper would look better on me than the brighter copper color which is power copper, even though that color is bomb. I do really like being a red head though. I do wan to go back to the color I am now eventually if nothing else seems to work. Nut if I give up on dying my hair, then I a,going to go back to that deep golden blonde shade that I found is the closest to my hair color naturally sis and I will just let it grow from there.

I think I might do a color care post later, but that's all I have to say about that.

<3 Allisin

Here's the plan: Gatsby

noreply@blogger.com (Alloson) — Sat, 26 Sep 2015 19:37:00 +0000

So I know, you haven't seen me lately, but a lot has happened lately. In that list of things, school has started...Ugh. I am super busy, but still want to be able to blog for you all. So on Friday I learned that my homecoming theme this year is going to be Gatsby
Gatsby? What Gatsby?
And I am not sure if I've mentioned this, but I love everything vintage and retro, so this is straight up my alley.
So here's the plan:
Makeup:

This is one of my most favorite makeup youtubers that I actually found through this series of historically accurate makeup tutorials about a year or two ago and have been watching her religiously ever since. Now obviously she has a lot of hinged products that I don't have, but there is a makeup palette by wet and wild out now that I don't know the name of, but I plan on getting it for the eye shadow part. I also have a pair of ELF eyelashes that will do the job, I just need to get better lash glue, which will probably just get duo lash. For the lips,there is a number of colors I am thinkg about and I want some opinions, so here are the options:

Miloni Black Cherry

Wet N Wild Cherry Bomb

Revlon Black Cherry

and Wet N Wild Sugar Plum fairy

The Two Wet N Wild lipsticks will apply more matte, and the others will be shinier. I am leaning more towards sugar plum fairy, but it might be kind of hard to find, so i need to figure out which one I want to get.

I probably won't be doing the while cupid's now lip shape thing because i don't want to look costume. This is homecoming of my senior year, it has to look really good this year! As well as thee way I apply blush and my eyebrow filler, I don't want to look crazy.

Hair:

Now, if you don't know, I have extremely long and extremely red hair at the moment.I plan on redying my hair with my FAVORITE hair dye(R57 Cherry Crush by L'Oreal Feria power reds)

SO now that you know what my hair looks like, I would like to take a second to explain how opposite the trends were in the 1920s.

In the 1920s, hair was revolutionary in the way that women were now cutting their hair super short instead of veing traditional and keeping it as long as mine is now or possibly even longer.So the challenge for me is, I want to make my hair fit into the time period without giving myself a costumeish faux-bob type look.

So I'm thinking this

I did this for a dance a few years ago that I had a 20's vibe for, but this was different, so I couldn't look as sultry as I wan tot go this time. So I want to do this hairstyle oer with the same feather jeweled headband and instead of making it looked polished and pretty, I want to make it loser and curlier allover the sides and the tops of the head. (Also I apologize for the poor makeup application in this picture. Oh the eyebrows are so bad!!!!!!)

I also found some inspiration from these pictures online too

Dress:

Even before i knew the theme, I decided I would be wearing the dress I wore my freshman year to homecoming Simpy because I hate most of the dresses in the stores this year and I have so many, there is no need to buy another one. So let's look at little Allison for the dress

Accessories:

Instead of the shrug I am wearing in the picture on the left is not god enough is it, no it isn't little 14 year old Allison. So I am going to borrow a little mess beaded shawl with tassels that looks very sensual and classic, without being too costumeish.

As far as shoes go,I originally wore some sparkly silver heels with this dress, but this time I am wearing the satin shoes with silver sparkly jewel details on them that I wore with my first 20s dress. I don't have a picture of them, but they are four inch heels with straps that buckle on the side. They aren't super 20s, but they will work and make the outfit look a bit more modern.

I have a retro clutch that I borrow from my mom every time I need a black clutch for homecomings/dances.

I am planning on going to Charming Charli to get some kind of long necklace to wear to complete the look. I might get new earrings as well, but if not, I can wear the earrings I borrowed from my mom pictured in the picture of my hair from the first 20s outfit.

Thta took a long time to write,did I miss anything?

If you have any suggestions, feel free to leave a comment and tell me your thoughts especiallyon hair and makeup because I am kind of not really 100% on it all yet.

<3 Allison

Finding a decent deodorant in the UK. Is it possible?

noreply@blogger.com (Amy Ellis) — Sun, 06 Sep 2015 16:05:00 +0000

Sorry for disappearing for the last month. Allison and I took some time off because we had a lot going on in our family and recently lost a loved one. We needed some time.

I've also been hard at work on my major project for my Master's degree (which I should be working on right now because it's due in 19 DAYS!!!) but I'm taking a short break to talk about armpits. Awesome, right?

As you know, I moved to the UK a little over a year ago and since then I have not been able to find a deodorant that I like. As someone who grew up using Secret stick deodorant in the US, I'm a little weary of roll on/spray deodorant so I've been working my way through Superdrug's stick deodorants for ladies and so far, I'm disappointed.

I've tried Nivea Stress Protect 24 hour stick deodorant only to find it lasts about... 4 hours before I can start smelling my own personal brand of... unpleasantness. That's just unacceptable. I moved onto using Sure Cotton Stick Antiperspirant but I'm about to run out and while it's certainly done a better job than Nivea, I'm still finding myself reapplying during the afternoon sometimes.

I'm not a particularly active person so having deodorant wearing out on me is, to me, quite shocking so I'm reaching out for help. Any UK ladies have some good deodorant suggestions?

My 'Everything You Will Ever Need' 'Bag

noreply@blogger.com (Alloson) — Fri, 31 Jul 2015 18:31:00 +0000

So last year in the middle of the school year, I decided to make kind of a survival kit. This has taken me forever to find things around my house and my many bags to put in here, but I think I have covered pretty much all of my beauty needs in one bag to help me survive anything and everything. So grab an old Ipsy bag, and let's get started!

The first thing is hand lotion. This is great for the winter and I think I got this free at Bath and Body Works with a coupon we got in the mail.This is in Paris Amour and is great for the winter months especially when your skin is all dry and stuff.

I have a little roll on perfume I found in Amy's room and stole.I is Jasmine scent and is good when I forget to pt anything on in the morning (and I do that a lot).

I have a small tube of ELF concealer. This is for when a zit pops up on your face in the middle of the day or for little touch ups. (I don't really like this concealer that much, but it;s what I had and it is better than nothing I guess.)

Next is more for anyone with braces, like i used to have, but oragel. It is a necessity if you have mouth problems and I keep it just in case, even though I don't have a lot of issues anymore.
I also have chopstick, which is self explanatory.

A tiny thing of floss is always key if you get something in your teeth. Flossers would work too as well as if you he braces or a bonded retainer, bring floss threaders to make your life easier!

A travel sized stick of deodorant will save you from smelling bad in the days wen your brain is non-existent and you forget in the morning. I did that one time and when I realized it ran to the bathroom at school and fixed it. I felt so satisfied with myself.

Something all girls should keep is hair bands, bobby pins, and if you use little elastic bands, then those will always be needed. I don't have any normal hair ties in there, because I always have a few on my wrist, but usually thee are a few.These three items will save you from a hair don't.

This weekend I was staying in a hotel and in the bathroom they had theses little packs of makeup wipes and I thought that this would be perfect, So I took them and added them for any makeup oopsies.

Band-aides, because I am always getting injured.

And lastly I have a little sample of makeup I found in a magazine that my friend let me borrow. I asked before I took it, and it was cool. So this is just for emergencies.

Some things I need to add are:

A travel hairbrush
Shout wipes or a tide to go stick
wax (if you have braces)
hand sanitizer
hairspray
any kind of makeup you need to touch up on throughout the day usually
tissues

<3 Allison

Finally setting up my UK battlestation.

noreply@blogger.com (Amy Ellis) — Mon, 27 Jul 2015 13:56:00 +0000

I've been struggling to have access to my whole makeup collection since I moved to the UK. Yes, I brought it all over. Yes, it took up nearly 1/3 of a suitcase. No, I don't regret it.

I've been doing my makeup at our coffee table pretty much since we moved here and mostly been using the same products that fit inside one of my medium sized makeup bags. The rest has been in the same giant plastic storage bags I brought them over in. For shame!

However, about a week ago, a couple moved out of our apartment building and pretty much left the entire contents of their apartment by the dumpster. I took this:

Plus a few serving bowls and a Brita pitcher, but I digress...

I knew as soon as I saw this three drawer organizer it would be PERFECT for my collection and I finally took the time to organize it (as best as I can at the moment) this afternoon. I definitely need some taller containers for inside which will make it feel less cluttered and make it easier to find things. Here's some makeup collection porn for you:

It's currently in a temporary home and my indie shadows and brushes have to stay on top since they didn't fit anywhere! Oh well. I still need a vanity. I got a lighted mirror for my birthday back in FEBRUARY and have yet to take it out of the box because I don't have a place to put it! Criminal.

-Amy

Surprise TK Maxx Haul

noreply@blogger.com (Amy Ellis) — Thu, 23 Jul 2015 18:39:00 +0000

Well, I went to TK Maxx to look for biscuit tins and a present for my boyfriend's birthday and left with a present for him and makeup for me. This should literally surprise no one.

I actually hadn't planned on looking at the makeup since the makeup section at my TK Maxx looks like it was raided by a group of twelve-year-olds having a slumber party and is therefore just usually full of opened makeup and grossness.

Not yesterday! Yesterday, I struck TK Maxx gold. I've always heard of people finding amazing makeup in discount stores but it had never happened to me until yesterday.

Yesterday... I scored.

I managed to grab a Nars Liquid eyeliner in Angel Eyes and a tube of Buxom Full-On Lip Polish in Dolly. HEAVEN!

Turns out, in true TK MAXX fashion, someone stole the brush that comes with the eyeliner. The eyeliner itself was untouched though and brushes are replaceable. The Nars eyeliner is MINE. It is also a discontinued product. That does not stop me from loving it any more though. And the best part? It was only £10!

I was also so stoked to see a huge shelf full of the Buxom glosses. They are usually £18 but I managed to snag mine for just £6! I got a sample of the Buxom gloss in Dolly in one of my Ipsy bags last year and was jsut about to run out when this shopping miracle occurred. I'm probably going to go back and grab one more gloss but I'm going to try to exhibit some self control and not leave the store with one of every color...

Anyway, happy hauling to the other Maxxinistas in the world.

-Amy

Manicure Monday [Swatches]

noreply@blogger.com (Amy Ellis) — Mon, 20 Jul 2015 19:31:00 +0000

Hello! Sorry for the lack of posts from me for the past two weeks. I was away on holiday (to Venice!) and then I got super busy with my major project for my Master's degree. I had a great time in Venice and it was so nice to get away from my laptop and work for a solid five days. I've been working around the clock nearly 7 days a week between my part-time publishing job, my major project, and writing a new novel. I am a very busy lady!

Here's a few photos from Venice. Note how sweaty I am! I barely wore any makeup while I was there because I just sweat it all off as soon as I walked out the door!

But that's not what you came here for...

After a very stressful day of housework, writing, major project feedback (ugh), and beginning to fill out my visa application to stay in the UK after my university course ends, I decided to take a little time to paint my nails. As usual, I was being horrifically indecisive and let Pete pick the colors to paint my nails. He picked Sally Hansen Lustre Shine in Scarab for my toes and Julep in Natasha for my finger nails "so I can wear red lipstick to match." Bless him.

However, as soon as I put Scarab on my toes, I just HAD to put it on my fingernails as well. I forgot how absolutely stunning this polish is. And the best part? It came from the pound shop!

I'm a huge fan of Sally Hansen's lustre shine line. The colors are just beautiful and multi-faceted. It's so hard to capture a good photo of all of the different colors you can see in the nail varnish. I'm absolutely in love with all of the colors in the line and actually have a spare bottle of Plume in case I run out!

Anyway, happy Manicure Monday. I'll do my best to be back with some more palette swatches later this week!

-Amy

Manicure Monday

noreply@blogger.com (Alloson) — Tue, 07 Jul 2015 00:37:00 +0000

Today's manicure Monday is a super cool combination tat I created when I had realized that when I painted my nails yellow with the Wet N Wild wild shine polish that I had touched something (my phone) and smudged them like crazy on my right hand. Now I am not saying this is an acceptable way to fix it and by all means you should probably just redo the ones you messed up, but I am lazy and took the shortcut to nice looking nails. I painted over the yellow with my black sparkle crackle paint from Funky fingers.
In some lights the black polish looks green over top of the yellow. I don't know why, I'm not a scientist. Also I discovered if your nails hip on the ends, it kind of adds a cool grungy effect and makes it look even cooler. I like stuff like this and have really been enjoying this polish.

<3 Allison

I'm Following In The Red Footsteps

noreply@blogger.com (Alloson) — Sat, 04 Jul 2015 05:08:00 +0000

Against my sometimes better judgement, at two in the morning last night, I decided that I wanted to actually dye my hair. Red.

So here are my original color and the current color:

Before

After

I know I didn't do the best job at dying, but for a first shot, it sn't horrible. I still have a crap ton of brown in it, but the red looks good nect to the red which is mosyly just streaked throughout. I think next time since I have so much hair it will actually take two packs, so for future reference, that is my one biggest mistake. Make sure your hair is basically dripping with color.

So until te end of Huly when I get senior portraits taken, I will be a red head. I think I'm going to dye it back to brown before portraits.

I used the Garnier Nutrusse dye in True Red 66. It was super easy instructions and since I had helped a friend dye her hair with the same kind of color,I pretty much knew what to do. I do like how it worked out, I think it was mostly user error of not using enough dye to cover all ofm hair. So I think that next ime I will just ffix that and go on with my normal process.

But overall, I love the red. I kind of look like a combination of rose, Lucy, and Jessica Rabit. I love red.

<3 Allison

Poster Child Wet N Wild Palette- Review and Swatches

noreply@blogger.com (Alloson) — Wed, 01 Jul 2015 21:26:00 +0000

One of my favorite brands of eye shadow of all time for some reason is Wet N Wild. And if you for some reason have not tried one of their palettes yet, You should. Don't be fooled by the price, because you will be surprised at the amazing pigmentation and staying power of these shadows. Really, they are amazing.
I purchased this palette in the fall before homecoming because I wanted to do the forbidden thing of letting my eye shadow match the color of my dress. So I searched high and wide, and found that the crease shade of pink in this set was the closest.I paid a whopping $4.99 for the set and was so please to see how the eye shadows turned out.
I will admit I don't wear these colors every day because of how bright they are, but if you have a special outfit or costume to wear, this is the palette for you!

(Sorry, I'm to pale for you to see the first pink shade)

The picture on the left is from homecoming and I used the lid shade on my lid and the crease shade in my crease and I was very happy how this turned out. On the right is me dressed up as a pink lady and I used the same idea as the homecoming makeup but brought it out further and also added the brow bone shade on the brow bone and the inner corner.I also used the blue crease shade along with the bright green from the I Dream of Greenie palette to create a school spirit look for my homecoming football game.

You can seriously create all kinds of looks with this and considering you get 8 shadows for 5 bucks, that's pretty amazing if you ask me.

<3 Allison

Makeup Revolution Iconic 3 Palette [Swatches]

noreply@blogger.com (Amy Ellis) — Fri, 26 Jun 2015 08:31:00 +0000

If you live in the UK and you're in the market for cheap makeup, you've probably heard of Makeup Revolution. They're a relatively new company and have definitely given the other bargain makeup brand MUA a run for their money. (Luckily, Makeup Revolution ships worldwide so don't fret if you live elsewhere!)

I was so excited to try Makeup Revolution when I moved here. I almost placed an order last summer to ship to the US but decided against it since my makeup collection was already taking up too much space in my luggage--don't even get me started!

Anyway, I grabbed the Iconic 3 palette almost as soon as I came over because I was far to excited to get my hands on this Naked 3 dupe. I went through a serious "rose gold" eye shadow phase last summer and now my eyes are pink every day since that's essentially all I own now (sigh.)

Here are some swatches of the pretties!

All swatches were taken in daylight. The flash was making my skin FAR too yellow. Alas, here's some mildly cloudy weather daylight to get you going. Welcome to the UK.

As you can see, some of the colors are very pale and hard to photograph but make great base colors or highlight (in the case of #2 even though it's a GLITTER BOMB). Side note: #2 is the only real glitter bomb in this palette. The rest of the shimmers are pretty easy to work with and don't have to much fall out.

I love how #2 look grey in the palette but comes off as a beautiful purple color. And #12 looks like it should be purple but is more of a charcoal grey.

All in all, I love this palette. It's a great everyday eye shadow kit and for only £4, it's a total steal.

-Amy

Manicure Monday

noreply@blogger.com (Alloson) — Mon, 22 Jun 2015 19:29:00 +0000

Since summer has pretty much just started, I decided to go for a nice bright orangey sparkely nail.

The Orange polish under the glitter is from Funky Fingers in the shade Kingston I think. I am pretty sure this polish came from 5 below and the glitter is just an orange glitter that came from Claire's. It is too sheer of an orange to wear on its own, so it is great to use over other polishes.

Also I am not the nail artist and I'm not sure why I am in charg of this from time to time, so just a side note

<3 Allisin

Making Long Hair Look Short

noreply@blogger.com (Alloson) — Mon, 22 Jun 2015 16:46:00 +0000

Me being me, I love hair and anything having to do with it so therefore havevery long hair. But soetimes I find myself in a situation where short hair is more acceptable than long and I really don't want to cut my hair, so this is what I came up with.

So here you can kind of get an idea of the actual length of my hair

Here is my hair pinned up after I curled it with my skinny rob curlers which hold in my curls best. Any kind of curl will do for this look as long as the pins have something to hold onto.

Her is the style when my hair is just naturally down and wavy. This style is not as sturdy b will still give you the effect if it is worked on ad styled properly.

And although this may look hard, it is actually really simple to do. All I do is take here sections of my hair: each side and the back and then take bobby pins and pin it to the hair underneath ad make sure it is secure. The longer your hair is, the longer it will be, unless you curl it, then it will become shorter. Also the tighter the curl is, the shorter the style will be and the better it will hold when you are doing things. Finish with hairspray and done! Now you have short hair and gake people out, which happens every time I do this!

<3 Allison

Rimmel Lasting Finish by Kate Moss [Swatches and Reviews]

noreply@blogger.com (Amy Ellis) — Thu, 18 Jun 2015 18:30:00 +0000

Like I said in my previous post, I've spent my past year amassing a huge collection of cheap-o makeup since I came to the UK. While I've been on a very, very tight postgraduate school budget, I've managed to find makeup salvation in the slightly smelly, mildly depressing place that is the Pound World in Reading, UK. It has become my Mecca for cheap makeup and while at times it's a nightmare (and the lines can be longer than you can even imagine), leaving with a big full of lipstick for only £5 is always welcome in my book.

Anyway, over the past few months I've managed to get my hands on a pretty decent selection of Rimmel Kate Moss Lasting Finish lipsticks. The holy grail of drugstore lippies. While I had bought #09 while I was living in RVA and had fallen in love with the formula, I found that the price was still a bit out of my budget (even with sales and coupons!)

In comes Pound World. Life changing.

Oh yes. This happened.

Here are some swatches.

From left to right: 01, 02, 04, 05, 09, and 103. The swatches above are without a flash and below are with a flash. There's not much difference because my camera is a potato.

I absolutely love 01. It is my go to red lipstick now (sorry Revlon Coverstay...)

Here's a shot of me and the man-friend at the Publishing MA Christmas party (hence the sweater) rocking the 01 Red Lip. It managed to survive a very long and silly night of "cheeky libations" out in Oxford with minimal smudging. Hat's off to you, Rimmel Lipstick.

I also managed to grab 04, which is a totally amazing and vampy shade of dark purple. However, I cannot seem to make it "wearable." Maybe I'm becoming less daring in my old age. Here's a selfie of the color in action. Excuse my face.

Seriously, this lipstick is baller but I don't know if I'll ever manage to wear it out of the house.

I picked up 05 a few days ago and found the color was quite similar to 103 (my only Kate Moss in a red tube) but has a slightly pinkier tone while 103 is a bit "dustier" but in a good way.

All in all, if you're looking for an amazing drugstore lipstick, this one holds up to its reputation. No questions asked.

-Amy

Manicure Monday [Swatches]

noreply@blogger.com (Amy Ellis) — Mon, 15 Jun 2015 17:32:00 +0000

Happy Monday!

I was inspired to paint my nails a bright vibrant red after watching a documentary on Netflix called Advanced Style which is about women aged 60+ who have incredible style. One woman in the film stated that "No woman should go out without her nails done" and I looked down at my poor chipped nail polish and hung my head in shame. Then I promptly pulled out my red nail polish (since that's the color her long, beautiful nails were painted) and I went at it!

I used this BEAUTIFUL red nail polish from Essie called Russian Roulette that I picked up last year from a shop called And That! It went on really smooth and only took two coats to get a nice opaque color (which was good because it was getting late and I didn't have 10 years for my nails to dry. Ahem.)

I actually didn't get a chance to photograph my nails until AFTER I'd scrubbed the entire upstairs floor of my flat with my hands and you know what? That polish didn't chip. Praise! So ignore my dry hands since I was doing some pretty horrendous housework and just bask in the glory of this stunning nail polish.

-Amy

The Bare Essentials

noreply@blogger.com (Alloson) — Sun, 14 Jun 2015 18:48:00 +0000

So hi, again. I'm Allison and this is my very first blog post on this blog and I just wanted to say this before I started just in case I do something silly or make a typo, although I will try my hardest to catch them. Also, I am no makeup artist, and my products might look dirty or sub par, but it's life and sometimes I do lazy things, and I'm sure yours aren't perfect either. So without further explanation,here goes nothing:

So as I was instructed to make a post before I left for a camping trip, I was out of inspiration. Then I got to thinking that we were actually going out in public places where it will be unacceptable to look like you've been camping and that made me worry, so makeup to the rescue!
So this is what I compiled to bring with me. I am bringing only what I absolutely need to survive out in the public world.
So moving from left to right, the first item I picked up was my NYC smooth Skin mattifying BB cream. This (As it says) is a five in one product that is super blendable and easy to apply without a brush. And it has sunscreen in it which is always a plus when you'e going to be outside camping.
Next is my NYC Smooth Skin translucent powder, which is pretty self explanatory and any powder will do.Along with that I have my elf kabuki brush to apply that with.
Next is optional, but it's my elf waterproof liquid eyeliner pen. I would suggest using a waterproof eyeliner if you plan on using liner since you will mist likely be sweating if you're camping.
After that is my elf eyebrow filler stick and my sort of clear eyebrow gel. I cannot go without filling in my eyebrows adn this is just one step no one should be skipping. (Eyebrows are the most important step. DON'T SKIP IT!)
The last product is my Rimmel Scandeleyes Retro Glam mascara. I would also suggest using waterproof mascara, but upon discovery today, mine was dried up, so I will be crossing my fingers and using this stuff sparingly.
I also have a small makeup bag and a travel irror with a normal and a magnified side on it that is perfect for ths trip.
Some other options would be concealer and an eyelash curler, but I didn't really feel like it was necessary since I am camping after all.
<3 Allison

I'm Back! (And I've got a partner in crime!)

noreply@blogger.com (Amy Ellis) — Fri, 12 Jun 2015 19:12:00 +0000

A lot has changed since June 2014 since I last blogged. That's a whole 12 very chaotic months of my life. Last summer, I moved back home and spent the summer preparing for a very stressful international move. I moved to the UK in August 2014 and started a postgraduate program at Oxford Brookes University. It was a very stressful, very tough year but the taught portion of my course is over and I'm spending the summer interning at various publishing houses and working on my dissertation.

I am also a workaholic now so I decided to bring back my makeup blog because apparently I need more things to do. I also spent the year amassing a huge stockpile of makeup that I have yet to swatch and yet to review. So that's happening.

A photo posted by Amy Ellis (@amesplaza) on Mar 13, 2015 at 3:25am PDT

Seriously.

And in even more exciting news, I'm bringing on board my little sister (who isn't exactly little anymore.) I'm excited to have her on the blog since she's gotten super into makeup since I left the US and I can't wait to see what kinds of products she's started using and what kind of looks she's going to share with you (and me!)

Without further ado, here's my beautiful sister, Allison.

She's 17 and (as of today!) a senior in high school so she'll be able to give a younger perspective on makeup that I unfortunately am too old to give now. She's pretty awesome so give her a warm welcome. We're back and we're gonna do it right this time!

June Wants

noreply@blogger.com (Amy Ellis) — Fri, 06 Jun 2014 17:09:00 +0000

I'm a little late this month putting together my June Wants because... my wishlist isn't really that long!! It feel so weird to say that but it's so true. I've got pretty much everything I want at the moment but just through this together with some stuff I've had my eye on.

Untitled #33 by tinypockets featuring a wet n' wild eye-shadow

I've been meaning to pick up the popular Wet N' Wild eye shadow trio in Walking on Eggshells, which is a Holy Grail drugstore item, so I've heard.

I also learned yesterday that the Milani Easy Brow pencils with the spoolie on the end are great dupes for the Anastasia brow wiz pencils so obviously I need one of those. I love my ELF eyebrow kit but I'm always up for trying new products.

I also want a stipple brush, some nice thick concealer for under my eyes, and the rose gold eye shadow from Scaredy Cat Cosmetics. I have GOT to put an order in with them BUT I just placed another Shiro order so I'm waiting a few weeks before giving myself the green light to order mo' makeups.

What is on your wishlist this month?