What difference does eyeliner make?

What difference does eyeliner make?

Next up in my 'what difference does X make?' series is eyeliner.  For years and year I just wore a thick line of black eye pencil on my upper lash line and lower rim.  I wanted it to be as dark as possible and I thought it was really cool.  It still can be cool but not on me; I have fairly small eyes and it only made them look smaller.  Today I'm showing the difference that 3 different eyeliner looks make to your eyes.  Eyeliner primarily gives the appearance of thicker eyelashes but it can do so much more!

Benefit Vs Maybelline Gel Liner Pens

Maybelline Gel Liner pen

 I was intrigued when I saw the Benefit They're Real Push Up Liner which is gel liner in a flexible nib.  It's quite expensive at £18.50 and I was pretty sure it was just a gimmick so wasn't willing to splurge.  Enter the Maybelline dupe, the Lasting Drama Black Shock Gel Liner (why all the long names?) which at £8.99 I was willing to try.  

Real Techniques - Nic's Picks Set

Real Techniques Nic's Picks

I was supposed to be on a spending ban (self-imposed, again) for September but admittedly broke it for the Chapman sisters' latest offering to the beauty world.  The new Real Techniques set, Nic's Picks, is officially released on the 1st of October but some online retailers had it to sell early.  I got mine from Escentual.  I couldn't resist when I saw it was available early and was included in their sale.

(Don't worry mum/dad/husband, the spending ban has otherwise been maintained).  

5 Looks with the Naked 3

I've heard some friends say that they loved the look of Urban Decay's Naked 3 palette but that they weren't sure how to use it.  I have been loving it for a few months now so I have devoted the last week to the palette, coming up with looks for this post.

I think it's an easy palette to use.  Strange is the perfect highlighting colour for under the brow and around the tear duct.  It's hard to go wrong if you stick to the general idea of lighter colour over the lid, darker colour in the outer V and blended out with a mid-tone into the crease.  That's been the base for most of these looks.

For all of these looks I used either Urban Decay Primer Potion, original formula, or MAC's Paints in Sublime Nature.  I used Too Faced's Better Than mascara in most, if not all, of the looks.  My brows throughout are filled with Illamasqua Brow Cake in Thunder.  The double-ended brush that comes with the Naked 3 is quite good but I feel like you need a good blending brush and maybe a little smudger/pencil brush too.

Transformation Tuesday. Warning: Picture Heavy!

So I thought I would use the Instagram #transformationtuesday and go a bit crazy.  I've sifted through a ridiculous number of photos from the last 12 years or so and picked out ones that show how my makeup has changed over the years.  Unfortunately I wore the same look every day for most of those years, as you will see for yourself.

I saw a blog post in the last week where the writer said that Davey Havok was her high school inspiration, so definitely true for me.  I fell in love with all things AFI when I was about 13/14 and loved DxH so much that I made (and still have) a folder in which are about 1000 printed out pictures of him...in rough chronological order.  Sigh. Black was the colour.  Oh yes.  Black everywhere.  Let the pictures begin.

No face.  Black nail varnish. Yes. Age 13

Back in the Day with Urban Decay

For my first proper post I wanted to do something a bit special and close to my heart.
Urban Decay were the cause of my love affair with makeup.  Until I met their products I only ever wore black eyeliner and black eyeshadow that I applied with a foam applicator.  10 years ago all of that changed when I saw their colourful display in Boots.  Ahhhh I fondly remember there frequently being a 3 for 2 offer on their counter.  Those really were the days.
Seeing as their new Electric palette (officially due out tomorrow although I may already have it) is harking back to their vibrant roots I thought it would be fun to look at some of the first items I bought from the brand.