December Favourites

Hi Everyone!

Well the festive month of December has unfortunately come to an end, so it is timer for my favourites post. This post contains the products that I have used a lot and loved over the last month including some festive picks so let's get started!

Top Row (L to R) Tiara, Goldilux, Bottom Row (L to R) Paperdoll, Weekender

Sugarpill Chromalusts
I have really been loving my Sugarpill Chromalusts this month, especially Tiara which is a silver, Goldilux which is gold and Paperdoll and Weekender which are both purple shades. The Chromalusts all apply and blend really well. To read my review of them please click here.

MAC Mineralize Skin Finish Natural
I used my Mineralize Skinfinish Natural as my foundation setting powder for a long time and then switched over to the Smashbox Halo Powder for a while and now I'm back to the MSF! I definitely prefer a pressed powder as they are much easier to work with in my opinion and this one is amazing quality.

(L to R) Lady Bug, Barcelona Red, Viva Glam Cyndi

Red Lipsticks
Christmas and red lipsticks go hand in hand for me! Lady Bug, Barcelona Red and Viva Glam Cyndi are my favourites. Lady Bug is a true tomato red and is great for a pin up style look. Viva Glam Cyndi and Barcelona Red are very similar to each other, they are both coral- reds and are very wearable.

Top (L to R) Aqua, Disco Queen, Hot Candy, Bottom: Urban Decay Liquid Liner

NYX Candy Glitter Liners
You can't have too much sparkle at this time of year and these NYX Candy Glitter Liners are brilliant! They come in loads of amazing colours and are really affordable. I like to use them over a black liner but I also use them over a pressed shadow all over my lid for a full on glitter look.

Urban Decay 24/7 Liquid Liner in Perversion
I have wanted to try this liner for ages now and I finally got it in the Book of Shadows 4. It is pretty easy to use considering it is a liquid liner which can be quite tricky. It gives you a really nice sharp glossy line.

(Top to Bottom) Milk, Oyster, Rocky Mountain Green, Purple Velvet

NYX Jumbo Eyeshadow Pencils

I always like to use an eyeshadow base and I find these NYX pencils are amazing at the job. Milk is great to use to brighten up the inner corner of your eyes and brow bone area. I have been doing a lot of green looks recently and Rocky Mountain Green is perfect. For pink and purple looks I like to use Oyster and Purple Velvet.

Vera Wang Lovestruck Perfume
My fragrance of choice at the moment is Lovestruck by Vera Wang. I love her fragrances and Princess is one of my all time favourite scents. I was really drawn to Lovestruck as Leighton Meester advertises it and I am a big fan of hers! This is a gorgeous fruity, floral scent.

Ardell Lashes
False lashes are a must have for me on a big night out and Ardell are my favourite brand. My most worn lashes are the 107's which I have repurchased over and over again! They are fairly natural looking but make your lashes look so much fuller. I also picked up some of the Flirty lashes which have a row of gems on the outer corner of the band which adds some extra festive sparkle to your eyes!

(L to R) Snow Globe, Divine Swine, Rainbow Connection, Love Marilyn

Glitter Nail Polishes
I have gone full out with the glitter polishes this holiday season and the polishes shown in the picture are my pick of this year's new glitters. Click on the polish names below to read my individual posts for these polishes and to see swatches!
China Glaze Snow Globe
OPI Divine Swine
OPI Rainbow Connection
China Glaze Love Marilyn

Back Row (L to R) Christmas Cookie, S'Mores, Front: Marshmallow Peppermint

Scented Candles
There is nothing better than a lovely scented candle in a room to make you feel all warm and cosy! My favourite scented candle of all time has to be the S'Mores candle by Slatkin and Co. I am also loving their Marshmallow Peppermint candle and the Christmas Cookie Candle by Yankee.

I hope that you have enjoyed reading my post. I also hope that you have all had a great Christmas and I wish you well in the New Year!

Maz x

OPI Rainbow Connection - Review & Swatches

Hi Everyone!

New Year's Eve is just around the corner so some fun party nails are needed and I have found the perfect nail polish to inject some fun and sparkle into your manicure! I have applied OPI's Rainbow Connection from their recent Muppet's Collection for Christmas 2011. Rainbow Connection has a clear base and is packed full of small and large, round, multi-coloured pieces of glitter. You can pick up so many beautiful colours in there including green, red, silver, orange and gold.

I began by applying 2 coats of OPI Matte Nail Envy as my base followed by a coat of OPI's Lady in Black nail polish which is a solid, opaque black polish. I always like to apply a plain nail polish under my glitter polishes as it helps them to stick to your nail and not flake off. I then added 2 coats of Rainbow Connection. Despite some of the glitter pieces being quite large the polish applies quite easily and gives you a beautiful effect. I then finished off with a coat of Seche Vite Fast Drying Top Coat.

I love this polish and have had so many comments on it from people asking me how I did it! It is so eye catching and festive and would be perfect for any party or night out!

I purchased my polish from Beauty for Nails for £8.99 several weeks ago. I know that this polish is really popular and has sold out in some stores and online retailers but it's worth having a look for as its gorgeous!

Happy New Year everyone, I hope that you all have a happy and healthy 2012!

Maz x

Sugarpill Sweet Heart Palette - Review & Swatches

Hi Everyone!
I really like Sugarpill cosmetics as their products are great quality and also vegan and cruelty free which is fantastic. I have a large collection of Sugarpill Chromalusts and love them so I thought that I would give some of their pressed shadows a go! The colours are really bright and eye catching and I fell for this palette when I saw it online! The Sweet Heart Palette contains 4 shadows and comes in a square case that has a magnetic, snap-shut closure. The front of the palette is black with pink detailing and the back contains the names of the shadows. There is a decent sized mirror on the inside of the lid.

The 4 shadows are really nicely pigmented and, if worn together, would create a really striking look. I think that I would definitely chose one or two of the colours at a time and use with some darker shades from my collection. The colours would also look great along the lower lashline as a bright pop of colour and to add more fun to your look. The shadows have a nice texture and apply to your skin well. I have had no problems with fall-out and have found that they all blend really well.

COLOUR DESCRIPTIONS:

Dollipop: Vibrant, matte hot pink.

Afterparty: Bright turquoise with a semi- pearl sheen.

Midori: Vibrant green with a slightly pearl sheen.

Tako: Pure matte white.

SWATCHES (SHOWN ON NW20 SKIN):

(L to R) Dollipop, Afterparty, Midori, Tako

Overall, this palette is great, it is on the pricey side I suppose, but the shadow sizes are really big (I would guess 2 or 3 times bigger than a MAC shadow). This palette would be great if you are a fan of bright colours or if you want to experiment with brighter shadows but do not wish to buy too many!

You can purchase this palette from the official Sugarpill website by clicking here. I purchased my palette from Love Make-up for £22.99 and these shadows can also be purchased individually for around £8 each.

Maz x

Red Christmas Sparkle Nails!

Nails Inc Villiers Street

Hi Everyone!

I decided to go for some sparkly red nails for Christmas! I went for a stunning metallic red nail polish from Nails Inc called Villiers Street which is unfortunately a discontinued shade but I am sure that you can still find it in selected stores and online! I also added a glittery accent nail and for this I used Love Marylin from China Glaze's Eye Kandy Collection.

China Glaze Love Marylin

I began by applying 2 coats of OPI Matte Nail Envy as my base coat followed by 2 coats of Villiers Street to each nail. This polish is fully opaque after 1 coat but I always like to apply 2. I have had problems with the application of some metallic shades in the past as they often have a rather streaky finish but this one is great and applies really smoothly and evenly! I then added 2 coats of Love Marylin to my ring fingers of each hand. This is a beautiful glitter polish with a red base and red and white glitter pieces. I then finished off with a coat of Seche Vite Top Coat.

I really love this nail polish look and I think that it is perfect for Christmas time! Please feel free to share your Christmas nail polish picks in the comments section below!

I purchased my bottle of China Glaze Love Marylin from eBay for around £7

Maz x

Christmas Baking!

Hi Everyone!

I was busy baking on Christmas Eve for our Boxing Day tea and I thought that it'd be nice to share it with you all! First of all I made a Lemon Sponge Cake:

This cake is made up of two layers of vanilla sponge sandwiched together using lemon curd and covered in a lemon icing. I then decorated it with Christmas themed icing pieces that I purchased from Sainsburys. You can find the recipe for this cake by clicking here.

I also made some gingerbread biscuits. I used my usual recipe which has been tried and tested many times which you can find by clicking here. I decorated them with coloured icing and Smarties and used festive shaped cutters rather than the usual gingerbread man ones.

I hope that you are all having a great Christmas!

Maz x

Christmas 2011

Merry Christmas to all of my followers and readers, thanks for all of your support this year!

Here's to a fantastic 2012!

Maz x

Urban Decay Book of Shadows Volume 4

Hi Everyone!

I am so excited to share this eyeshadow palette with you as I am so happy to have got it! This is the latest Book of Shadows from Urban Decay which was released a couple of months ago. It comes with 16 eyeshadows (including 10 new shades), a waterproof liquid eyeliner in Perversion, an original Primer Potion and a Super Curl mascara plus some special features which include a portable speaker and some tutorials for you to view on your phone.

As with all of the Urban Decay Book of Shadows the packaging is amazing! The top of the box features a magnetic snap-shut lid which opens to reveal some beautiful butterflies, a mirror, a slot to house your mobile phone and a card which has details of the make-up tutorials and how to access them.

There is a draw in the bottom section of the box that you pull out which houses the 16 eyeshadows, the eyeliner, Primer Potion and mascara. The 24/7 Liquid eyeliners are a fairly new edition to the Urban Decay range and feature a fine tip, Perversion is a dark black colour and is perfect for achieving the perfect cat-eye flick! The Supercurl mascara comes in a travel sized and features a really nicely curved brush which makes application much easier and finally the box also comes with a travel sized Primer Potion in Original which is an amazing eyeshadow base and a must have product. for everyone in my opinion!

(Top to Bottom) Super Curl Mascara, 24/7 Waterproof Liquid Eyeliner in Perversion, Primer Potion in Original

EYESHADOWS:

OFFICIAL DESCRIPTIONS:
Blue Bus: Bright blue with purple shimmer.
Gunmetal: Dark metallic silver with silver sparkle.
Cobra: Sooty black with golden shimmer.
Baked: Shimmering bright copper.
Bender: Shimmering dark mossy green.
Gravity: Deep vibrant purple with multi-dimensional glitter.
Lost: Shimmering dark brown.
Hijack: Grey-ish green with blue and green shimmer.
Midnight Cowgirl: Shimmering gold with gold sparkle.
Sin: Shimmering champagne.
Midnight Rodeo: Metallic medium brown with silver and gold glitter.
Crystal: Light silvery blue with subtle grey shimmer.
Bust: Taupe brown with subtle grey shimmer.
Missionary: Light taupe with pink shimmer.
Skimp: Shimmering ultra light nude.
Zephyr: Shimmering off-white.

SWATCHES (shown on NW20 skin):

(L to R) Blue Bus, Gunmetal, Cobra, Baked, Bender, Gravity

(L to R) Lost, Hijack, Midnight Cowgirl, Sin, Midnight Rodeo

(L to R) Crystal, Bust, Missionary, Skimp, Zephyr

As I mentioned above, 10 of these shadows are new and 6 we have seen before including Gunmetal and Sin which were featured in the Naked palette. I like that there is a mixture of neutral, more subtle shades and some brighter colours. Most of the eyeshadows have a pretty good amount of colour pay-off and apply nicely and blend well. As I have found with several Urban Decay shadows in the past, some can contain a large amount of glitter and/or shimmer which can make them much harder to apply and gritty in texture, but on the whole this is a really good set.

Overall, I have to say that I really like this palette. All of the Book of Shadows from Urban Decay are beautiful and are a must have for all UD fans. There are so many options for looks that you can create using this palette and it makes a wonderful gift for any make-up addict!

You can purchase the Book of Shadows from the official Urban Decay website by clicking here. I purchased my Book of Shadows from Debenhams for £41.60 (Normal price £46).

Maz x

Nicole by OPI Wear Something Spar-Kylie - Review & Swatches

Hi Everyone!

I have decided to keep up with my festive nail theme and applied another glitter polish! Today I took one from the new Nicole by OPI Kardashian Kollection (I will post a review with swatches of the polishes that I have purchased from this collection soon). Wear Something Spar-Kylie is a rosy pink glitter polish. It has a pink base and is packed full of small glitter pieces which are a slightly lighter pink than the base.

I began by applying 2 coats of OPI Original Nail Envy as my base coat followed by 2 coats of a white polish (Nicole by OPI's It's All About the Glam). I always like to layer glitter polishes over a solid base as it prevents them from peeling/ falling off the nail. I then applied 2 coats of Wear Something Spar-Kylie. The polish applies really nicely and the glitter is dispersed evening across the nail. As with most glitter polishes, this one dries really quickly. I then finished off by applying a coat of Seche Vite Fast Drying Top Coat.

As you can see this polish is beautiful.It is quite gritty when dry, even with the thick top coat but it's not too bad and I have definitely worn worse! The rosy- pink colour is really eye catching and feminine and makes a lovely change from the usual much brighter coloured glitter polishes.

I purchased my polish for £8.50 from Lena White.

Maz x

Sugarpill Chromalust Eyeshadow Pigments - Review & Swatches - Part 1

Hi Everyone!

I thought that it would be fun to share my collection of Sugarpill Chromalust Loose Eyeshadow Pigments with you all! I have a large collection of them, 16 to be exact, which I have accumulated over the years! I think that these pigments are amazing, they have great colour pay-off and are excellent value for money. The pigments come in an array of colours, some of which are super bright and quite hard to find elsewhere.

(L to R) Magentric, Junebug, Weekender, Starling

(L to R) Birthday Girl, Decora, Darling, Magpie

DECRIPTIONS:

Birthday Girl: Sweet princess pink with iridescent fuchsia sparkles.

Darling: Stunning teal loaded with iridescent turquoise star bursts.

Decora: Delicious hot pink with iridescent bursts of green.

Junebug: Luxurious forest green with a burst of diamonds.

Magentric: Metallic deep magenta with a dazzling turquoise sheen.

Magpie: Dramatic silky black with metallic blue sheen and turquoise sparkles.

Starling: Vibrant, metallic turquoise with intense sheen.

Weekender: Metallic blue- violet with intense sparkle and sheen.

(L to R) Top: Birthday Girl, Magentric, Bottom: Decora, Weekender

(L to R) Top: Darling, Junebug, Bottom: Starling, Magpie

Swatches shown on NW20 skin (without a base):

(L to R) Birthday Girl, Magentric, Decora, Weekender

(L to R) Darling, Junebug, Starling, Magpie

I apologise for the rather poor quality swatches, we are having pretty bad weather here in the UK at the moment and the lighting is proving to be a big problem!

I tend to apply the pigments using a flat eyeshadow brush such as a MAC 239, over a primer such as Urban Decay Primer Potion and a base such as a MAC paint pot or NYX Jumbo Eyeshadow Pencil. There is quite a lot of glitter in some of the shadows so you have to be careful of any fall-out so I would recommend applying your face make-up after you have finished your eyes. The pigments also look amazing when applied wet using some MAC fix plus or Liquid Sugar by Eye Kandy for example, and the pigments then take on a high shine, metallic finish. The pigments have a lovely texture and are nice and soft and not gritty at all which I love, which means that they blend really well too.

You can purchase these products by visiting the official Sugarpill site by clicking here. I purchased my pigments from Love Make-up for £8.25 each, Cocktail Cosmetics for £8.45 each and Genie Cosmetics for £8.39 each.
Click here to read part 2 of the Sugarpill Chromalust Posts! Please let me know what you think of Sugarpill as a brand and the chromalusts in the comments section below!

Maz x

Sigma Make Me Crazy Travel Brush Set

Hi Everyone!

I am sure that many of you know, I love, love, love Sigma brushes! I think that they are amazing quality and excellent value for money! I have a lot of their brushes and I have found them to be as good as, or in some cases better, than my MAC brushes. I decided to purchase one of their travel sets in purple which is called 'Make Me Crazy.' The set contains 7 brushes (3 face brushes and 4 eye brushes) in a gorgeous light and dark purple colour. The brushes come with a brilliant, unique container that makes a great holder to store your brushes at home and when travelling.

Make Me Crazy Box

Brush Holder (Fastened)

(L to R) F30, F40, F60, E40, E55, E30, E65

BRUSH DESCRIPTIONS:

F30 Large Powder Brush: This is a large brush which is ideal for applying powder products to your face.

F40 Large Angled Contour Brush: A great brush for applying blush, highlighters and contouring powder.

F60 Foundation Brush: Use to apply liquid or cream foundation.

E40 Tapered Blending Brush: This is an amazing brush for blending out eyeshadows or for applying a sheer wash of colour to the lid. This is one of my favourite eye brushes from Sigma.

E55 Eye Shading Brush: This is a great densely packed, flat shader brush which is perfect for packing colour onto the lid.

E30 Pencil Brush: Pencil brushes are great for defining the outer V area of your lid and for smudging colour along your lower and upper lashlines.

E65 Small Angle Brush: This is a small angled brush which would be great for applying gel eyeliner, colour to the lashlines and for filling in your eyebrows.

(L to R) F30, F40, F60

(L to R) E40, E55, E30, E65

The brush selection that comes with this set is great and contains everything that you need to create your perfect makeup look. The brush handles are quite a bit shorter than the normal line but that can actually help with your application precision. I especially love the colour of the brushes as they really stand out from my other brushes. This set is perfect for travelling or for if you want a few back up brushes to use when your normal brushes are waiting to be cleaned!

Sigma also produce this set in coral, aqua and black and also in full size sets rather than travel sized. I purchased my brush set from Cocktail Cosmetics for £49.95 and you can get them from Sigma by clicking here.

Maz x