5 Looks with the Limecrime Venus Palette

Lime Crime Venus palette

I feel a bit naughty for posting about Lime Crime's Venus palette now as it is currently sold out everywhere.  However it is already difficult to limit this post to 5 looks, and that is just going to get more difficult the more I wear it. 

Lime Crime describe it as the grunge palette, inspired by the early 90s and Botticelli.  A very warm palette with a great amount of matte shades and a few beautiful shimmers.

Read on for swatches and my looks.

Nars Audacious Lipsticks - Anna and Anabella

Nars Audacious lipsticks in Annabella (top) and Anna

When the Audacious lipstick range from Nars was announced in August I swooned.  40 shades of opaque luxe lipstick in really pretty packaging  

I was lucky enough to receive an Audacious lipstick for Christmas, albeit not the shade I'd asked for.  My husband went to our local counter armed with a short-list of shades and somehow the lady sold him the wrong one.  Admittedly Anna could be confused name-wise with Annabella (there's also an Anita!)  Anyway, despite it not being the my-lips-but-better shade I was hoping for, Annabella is a rather gorgeous orangey red/ reddish orange that surprisingly suits me rather well.  He later treated me to Anna as well and so I can show you both.

Read on for lip swatches and my review.

What to get in the Illamasqua SALE

Illamsqua shadows Vapour, Pivot, Burst and Vulgar

Illamasqua is one of my favourite brands and it is so exciting every time they have a sale.  They're a fairly pricey brand but their sale are always excellent, this one starting at 50% off.  I thought I'd round-up what I can recommend from what's on offer at the moment.  I made a few purchases from the sale currently on and there are some things I've bought from them before.  

Kat Von D Beauty plus Blue and Purple Winged Eye

KvD Star Studded palette

 This is a quick post to show how I achieved the above look. I had no idea what I was going to do when I started with this look but on reflection I was definitely inspired by Dominique and Stephanie who I follow on Instagram avidly.  I really love a lower winged liner that comes out almost horizontal.  I like that it totally changes my eye shape and I also find it easier to get matching on each side than a higher wing.

I thought today was a good day to post this look at Kat Von D Beauty has just gone live.  It's a site when Kat shares her makeup line along with fan looks using her products (use #kvdlook).  I've been excited about this since she first hinted at it online.

I used the Kat Von D Star Studded palette which  I managed to get on sale at Sephora for $28 (just under £18).

Because it's now sold out I'll recommend similar colours you could use instead.

A Guide to Primark Mascaras

The 5 Primark mascaras

As far as I am aware, Primark sell 5 mascaras (plus occasionally a waterproof version of the Volumising Ultra Black).  I wondered how they differed in brush and formula so thought I'd give them all a go.  It wasn't too frivolous seeing at they 5 came to a grand total of £9.50.

I must say that I'm probably not the best person so road-test mascaras as I do have naturally great eye lashes.  They are long and have no problem holding a curl, plus it's very rare that they ever transfer down on me after the initial application and clean up.

Also, I should have taken photos of the mascaras without eyeshadow etc on but that would mean removing my makeup at least twice in a day and I have sensitive eyes so didn't want to do that.  So, sorry but you have to see past the rest of the makeup.

Blue Lips

If Instagram ruled the world there would be blue lipstick everywhere!  While blue lips aren't exactly on trend in the real world, makeup fanatics are all over them at the moment.  Whether you want to create some cool (get it?) lip art or are brave enough to rock them out in public, here is my guide to blue lip products.  Why do I have so many?  I'm not really sure, but the last photo proves at least that they are all very different colours.

Depotting Illamasqua Eyeshadows into a Z Palette

I love my Illamasqua eyeshadows, Like really love.  I rarely use just a quad for a look though, I like to mix and match between the quads and monos and it can all get a bit cumbersome and finnickity and so I find I don't use them as much as I would like to.  Enter the Z Palatte (and all others like it of course).  It's a magnetic palette with a clear top which you can store your eyeshadows in.  You can buy pans at MAC, Inglot, Makeup Geek etc but for other shadows it's a case of digging out of the packaging, or 'depotting'.  I had read and watched many tutorials on how to do this but was still daunted.  I tried it a few months ago with not the best success but last night felt determined to try again.  Armed with slightly different tools, it was a breeze...almost.

Read on for how I did it and what my final Z Palette looks like.