A palette a day - week 3

A Palette A Day

The weeks go by so fast!  Week 3 of my Palette A Day challenge was definitely more of a neutral one, but largely is down to the palettes that got picked out.  It's all completely at random, they're written on pieces of paper and I pick one with my eyes closes.

If you want, you can look at Week 1 and Week 2's looks.

Read on to see what makeup mishaps I got up to last week.

Best of the brand - Essence

Best of the brand - Essence

Essence is amazing, just saying.  For years I saw this wonderfully cheap brand on blogs and wished I could get my hands on it.  Just under 2 years ago the brand hit British soil when it launched in 4 Wilkinsons stores.  None of these were near me so I waited, impatiently at first.  I actually sort of forgot to keep checking and then a few months ago I went to my local Wilko, and lo-and-behold, there was a huge Essence display.  Hurray!  Since then I've tried out quite a few of their products so thought I'd show you my favourites.

Dupes for MAC Blue Brown Pigment

Dupes for MAC Blue Brown pigment

I love duochrome shadows, LOVE them!  One of the first ones I had was Urban Decay Lounge which it now turns out it a dupe for the more famous Blue Brown pigment from MAC.  I recently realised I had quite a few similar shades in both pressed and loose form so thought I'd compare them all.  All of them are a fairly warm medium brown with a green/teal shift to them.

Duochrome shadows are a really easy way to take an average, every day look and make it stunning.

Read on for close-ups and swatches plus my verdict on which to buy.

A palette a day - week 2

A palette a day challenge

If you saw my Palette A Day post last week you'll know that each day in July I'm using a different eye shadow palette, each day picking out one at random.  I'm using solely those shadows, no others.

It's a way for me to use ones I've forgotten about or ones I find tricky to use and so avoid.

Below are the looks from each day, along with which shadows I used.  As you can see, I was drawn to pinks and purples again this week.

London IMATS 2015 - vlog, haul, tips

On Saturday 11th July I went to the London IMATS, a massive makeup trade show, for the 3rd time.

I definitely get more organised each time which helps to make the day even more enjoyable.

If you are an MUA, makeup student or just and enthusiast, then it really is the event of the year.  For just this weekend all of these brands get together offering great discount alongside demos by famous MUAs.  Many of the brands are difficult to buy online in the UK so it's a really good opportunity to stock up.

Now on Youtube, eeek!

For those who don't follow my Facebook  page you might not know that I'm now making YouTube videos.  I'd never used editing software before 2 weeks ago so I still have a lot to learn.

I am CCing any spoken videos so I hope that helps some people!

I'd love it if you could leave any feedback, I want to improve; and it would be amazing if you subscribed!

Videos below...

A palette a day - week 1

Every day in July I will be using a different eyeshadow palette to do my eyes, with no help from other shadows.  I tried this in January 2014 and it went well except for 4 days in hospital and then a few more in bed.  I'm trying it again, mainly to unearth palettes I've forgotten about.  I have more than 31 palettes (shock! horror!) so to keep it fair I've written them all on paper and pick one out at random each day.

Each Monday (or Tuesday if I'm late like now), I will do a round-up post of the week's looks.  Obviously July didn't start until Wednesday so I have just five looks today.  I'll show you which palettes I used and which shades.

June Favourites

June Favourites

Better late than never right?  I've had an unexpectedly busy week, I had barely any plans and then suddenly it filled up.  Hopefully I'll get more done this coming week...before everything goes on hold for IMATS (wohooo!).  The hot weather doesn't help, my inner workings seem to come to a halt when too warm.   Anyway, here are the beauty items I've been loving for the last month or so.

Read on for mini reviews!