Giorgio Armani Blogger Event

I was kindly invited to a beauty bloggers event at the Giorgio Armani counter in the Cardiff Debenhams this past Thursday.  Having never tried any of their makeup before (I'm usually too scared to even look at the posh-looking counters) I thought it would be an excellent way to to be introduced.

Topshop Chameleon Glow Eyeshadows: Review and Looks

Despite having a few very good make up items from Topshop, I always seem to forget about their range.  Every now and again I wander in and discover something new and amazing.  Like this week.  I am such a fan of finding things that are unlike anything else I have in my collection.  The Chameleon Glows are such a product.  Part of Topshop's Festival collection, they are powders than can be used anywhere to create a "multi-dimensional, iridescent finish".  Basically they are beautiful duo-chrome eyeshadows (I think they're a bit too chunky to be used anywhere else).  Of course I couldn't choose between them and got all three.

My Top Lip Tars

I have been planning to do a Lip Tar post for ages and I thought now was a great time as there will be an OCC booth at London IMATS this coming Saturday.

Lip Tars are a liquid lipstick made by Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics.  Unlike most liquid formulas they do not set and so feel more comfortable on.  They come in three types; Matte, Metallic and Stained Gloss. I mainly own Matte ones and while they have no shimmer, I wouldn't say they're matte as they have some shine to them. They have a slight peppermint smell and tingle.  Lip Tars are great for mixing, the formulas blend together perfectly and you can create a limitless amount of shades.  They are my favourite lip product by far.

It was so hard to pick out just five favourites.  I ended up going for ones that I find easiest to wear and go with a lot of looks. 

Zhora 

Colourful Cut Crease with Sugarpill

On Saturdays I like to be a bit more colourful that usual as I'm not in work, yay. This is a recent look, which I've called a cut crease for lack of anything else to call it.

I wish I had taken step-by-step photos for this look but I was not planning on making a post about it.  I didn't know just how well it would turn out!  I based it on a look I saw on Instagram that I really did not think I would be able to recreate successfully (unfortunately cannot find the original but if I do I will edit this).  I love the look and thought it would be pretty awesome to give a thumbs up to Sugarpill as they'll have a booth at this year's London IMATS, YES!

...It is so annoying when I don't realise there was a mascara smudge until I see the photos!

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

Shopping My Stash

May was a spending ban month for me. Ugh, torture, especially when certain websites have big sales on things I want (yes, I'm looking at you love-makeup.co.uk and feelunique.com) and Boots have their 3 for 2 offer on.  Despite that, I managed to stick to the ban and bought no make up. 

One of the ways I survive a ban month (I also did it this February) is to shop my stash.  This is when you go through all of your drawers to see what you've forgotten about and not used for ages. I thought I'd show you what I endeavoured to use throughout May.