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...

5 looks with Shiro's Seven Kingdoms collection

Shiro Seven Kingdoms collection

Finally, here are 5 looks with my wonderful Shiro Seven Kingdoms loose eye shadows (see swatches here).  Sorry this post has been so long coming!  I've just moved house and so had a few weeks of utter chaos.  The chaos isn't over but I've found a smidgen of time to crack on with this.

Look One

A super simple look here.  I used Hodor to blend from my crease outwards, dragging a little under the eyes too.  Then I applied Mother of Dragons all over.  Very easy but MoD is such a pretty colour that it is by no means boring.

Battle of the liquid lipsticks

Battle of the liquid lipsticks

The matte lip trend has been going strong for the last few years and isn't going anywhere!  Matte lips are easiest achieved with liquid lipsticks, which come packaged like a gloss with their own wand, but dry down in minutes.  More and more brands are bringing out their own liquid lipsticks and to be honest, I don't mind as most of them are a bit different in some way.  Plus the more colour options, the merrier!

I thought it would be good to have a bit of a showdown between my matte liquid lipsticks, to see just how well they dry.  For each one I show a lip swatch (one layer) and then what my hand looked like when I kissed it 5 minutes later.  There's quite a difference in how they all perform.  I've got 12 brands to show you here so grab yourself a mug of tea!

My favourite Urban Decay 24/7 eye pencils

Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencils

It's no secret that I'm an Urban Decay junkie and one of my favourite products from the brand are their 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencils.  I was originally drawn in by their wide range of colours (which has since expanded) and kept using them because of the amazing quality.  They are the best eye liner pencils I've ever tried; they don't budge at all and the colour stays intense all day.  I love that they set really well, my eyes are slightly hooded and other pencils can transfer up to the top of my eyelid but these don't do that.

Read on to see swatches of my favourite eye pencils.

Shiro Seven Kingdoms collection review

Shiro overload!  So a few months ago...actually probably less than 2 months ago, I ordered 4 of the Seven Kingdoms shadows from Shiro.  Once they arrived and I had a play around I pretty much ordered the rest of the collection immediately.  I'm a big A Song of Ice and Fire/Game of Thrones fan so these shadows are cool as each colour is inspired by one of the characters.  While you can get smaller size jars of the shades, full-size was the only conceivable option for me as the full-size feature drawings by Robert Hendrickson of the show's characters.

 I'm so obsessed with these shadows at the moment that I don't really want to use anything else right now and couldn't concentrate on other posts until this one was done.  The collection features mainly neutrals that wouldn't be out of place in the ASoIaF/GoT world but that doesn't mean they are boring.  Quite a few of them are duochromes and, as I've mentioned before, duochromes get me really excited!  

Shiro's shadows are loose ones, so if you aren't used to using them there can be a bit of a learning curve, especially when it comes bringing out the sparkle in them.  As well as doing a '5 Looks with the Seven Kingdoms collection' post soon, I also plan on writing a guide on using loose shadows so hopefully that will help anyone new to the world of loose shadows.

Read on for swatches of all 15 shades in the Seven Kingdoms collection!

Lit Glitter

Lit Glitters

 It's no secret, I'm a makeup magpie; I love anything shimmery and glittery.  I have quite a good collection of glitters and some of my favourite are from Lit Cosmetics.  They are a Canadian company with a massive choice of glitters...wait for it...over 200 glitters!  Not only do they have a huge selection of different colours but you can also get them in different sizes.  There are four sizes to choose from.  Size #1 is the smallest size of glitter, it would give a really dense concentration of the glitter colour but would only sparkle a little bit.  #4 is the large cut and would give the most glittery effect from a distance but you might feel the pieces on you more.  It really depends what effect you are going for.  I tend to favour a chunkier glitter as I want all of the sparkle!  Lit's glitters also come in different 'textures'; Solids are just one colour, Shimmers are transparent with a rainbow holographic reflect and Holographics are solid colour that reflects all primary colours.

Read on to see the Lit glitters that I have.

Shiro "Cheekbones" contouring powders

Shiro Cheekbones contouring powders

 Told you to expect more Shiro Cosmetics!  It's also yet another post related to contouring but it is a big thing right now and I'm enjoying it, so neh.  This contouring set is rather novel, as well as amazing; they are inspired by Benedict Cumberbatch's cheekbones, which are rather desirable after all!  The containers feature a picture by Amy Zen of Cumberbatch in his Sherlock role, and the names of each powder are references to the programme too.  I'm a huge Sherlock fun so this excited me no end, but also the collection actually caters to all skin tones and contains some of the most cool-toned (grey!!!) contouring products I've ever seen!  Remember, natural shadows = cool toned.

30 Day Blogging Challenge PLUS the highlights

You may have noticed I've been updating my blog a lot more frequently than normal the past 30 days.  This is due to me signing up for Sarah Arrow's 30 Day Blogging Challenge over on Sark e-Media.  I was googling some blog-related tips, can't remember exactly what, and a note popped up asking if I wanted to sign up for the challenge.  I thought it sounded interesting so entered my details and didn't really thing anything of it... until 6am the following morning when I had an email spurring me on for Day 1.

What difference does foundation make?

What difference does foundation make?

Foundation is a big deal.  The chances are if someone only ever wears one or two make up products they'll be mascara and/or foundation.  Foundation can come in various formulas with varying degrees of coverage.  Coverage ranges from sheer/light to full/heavy.  You may never ever need medium to full, or maybe you'll just want to use it at certain times of the month.  Foundations can also be luminous and dewy, satin or matte finish.  

I tend to go for medium to full coverage as I have blemishes and scarring and also get flushed really easily.  Sometime I will opt for sheer foundation with a full-coverage concealer if there are only a few spots to hide.  I also prefer matte finishes to my foundation as I'm naturally oily and a dewy base would make me an oil-slick by lunchtime.

There's no right or wrong coverage or finish for you; it all depends what you feel most comfortable in and what you feel makes you look your best.  The most important thing to get right is the shade.  Two tips: swipe a few shades of foundation vertically down your jaw line as this is usually the most true-to-colour part of your face; and always check how the foundation looks in day-light rather than just indoors.

Read on to see the differences between light coverage, full coverage plus doubling up.

Sparkly lip glosses

Top to bottom: MUFE D18, Illamasqua Opulent, Revlon Crystal Water, MAC Rags to Riches and Funtabulous, OCC Dune

In general I hate glittery, sparkly, girlie things; I always think they're tacky.  But when it comes to make up I'm a total magpie.  Give me more!  I love glitter; glittery lips, glittery eye shadows, highlighter and plain ole' glitter.  Just see my face today here for more proof.

I thought I'd show you my favourite sparkly lip glosses as they are definitely one of the easiest, and least messy, ways to incorporate glitter into your look.

March Favourites

March Favourites

It's the end of another month so I thought I'd share my favourite products from the last few weeks.  A lot of them will come as no surprise as they've been featured on my blog already or on my Instagram page.

I've enjoyed wearing a lighter base more frequently this month; MAC Face and Body is the perfect sheer foundation that evens things out a bit and doesn't budge.  My Face and Body is slightly too warm but I can just about get away with it.  When I'm wearing a lighter base I want to spot conceal with something heavy-duty and the Kat Von D Lock-It Tattoo Concealer has been the ideal partner for F&B.

Saucebox Cosmetics Forbidden Fruits palette

SauceBox Forbidden Fruits palette

Yesterday's Silent Sunday was a teaser for today's post focusing on SauceBox's Forbidden Fruits palette.  I've seen so many amazing looks created with their palettes.  Their Etude palette is probably the most popular as it contains eight cool-toned neutrals so can be used everyday and in so many ways.  I have a lot of neutral palettes so I went for something a bit different; their pinky plummy palette, Forbidden Fruits.  

Shiro Cosmetics Salt and Stone

Shiro Cosmetics Salt and Stone

Bet you never thought you'd ever see a makeup post relating to Stannis Baratheon!  I made my first order from Shiro Cosmetics recently and bought four of the loose eyeshadows from their The Seven Kingdoms collection.  Each of the colours relates to a character from Song of Ice and Fire/Game of Thrones.  

I'm sure I'll show you the others in due time but first up is what I'm wearing today; Salt and Stone.  Shiro describe it as "Blackened green of House Baratheon, shining with the red light of R’hllor".  I would say it is a deep matte olive with red pearl.  Very pretty and quite hard to capture.

Look down for lots of pictures trying to show how pretty this shadow is.  Lots of pictures because tonight the clocks go forward so I'm racing to get as much sleep as I can before work tomorrow!

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!

The 1, 2, 3 of simple eye shadow looks

The 1, 2, 3 of simple eye shadow looks

I'm going back to basics today to give neutral examples of some really simple eye looks using either 1, 2 or 3 eye shadows.  No liquid liner, nothing fancy, just three really easy looks.  Great for beginners or if you are rushed for time, however I do looks like this every week as sometimes simple is best.  Admittedly I've used all tones that suit me, so cool, fairly muted shades.  You can swap these out for whatever would suit you.

I might do a more colourful version of this idea at a later date.

Real Techniques Bold Metal brushes

Real Techniques Bold Metals

Like the rest of the beauty community, I absolutely love the original Real Techniques brushes.  Affordable, good quality and with a really good range of shapes, some of them quite unique to the cheaper end of brushes.  From the Buffing brush to the Setting brush to the Accent brush, they are great staples to my own collection and to my kit.  I was very interested to see that Real Techniques were bringing out a more premium range, the Bold Metals.  These feature slimline metal-effect handles and are meant to be a lot softer.

My top 5 mascaras

My top 5 mascaras

My highly recommended mascaras are what I get asked about the most.  As I've said before, I don't have the best lashes for reviewing mascara as they're quite long already, fairly dark and hold a curl.  As such, mascaras aren't my favourite thing in the makeup world but I have endeavoured to compile my top 5 over the past few months, with some being long term favourites.  What I particularly look for in a mascara is for them to thicken my lashes a bit and look really dark black, not just dark grey like some do.  Another criteria I look for is that the mascara doesn't drop down on to my face throughout the day; rather than repeat it five times I will say now that none of these do that on me.

Read to to see my top 5, their wands, as well as how they look on me.

Topshop Contour Cream in Swerve

Topshop Contour Cream in Swerve

As I said two days ago on my post 'What difference does contouring make?', sculpting your face is a big thing right now.  With big brands releasing cream and powder contouring products-a-plenty, it's great to start seeing similar products coming from a high-street shop brand!  Topshop's Contour Cream really gives other brands a run for their money and makes contouring accessible for everyone...should they want it.

Spring Darling tutorial

You know what they say, more is more.  After finishing the look for the contouring post I decided that I actually wasn't finished, and wanted to develop my turquoise winged eye look a bit more with red/orange underneath.  I am really pleased with the results so thought I'd give you a bit of a look and tell you all what I used to achieve it.

What difference does contouring make?

I'd like to start off by saying that contouring is not for everyone, and it's not necessary at all.  Between the influence of drag queens and a certain celebrity, there's been a lot of fuss over contour and highlight in recent years, although it's been around in theatrical circles for a very long time.  I thought I'd just explain what it is and show the difference it makes. 

Contouring is the act of creating light and shadow on the face.  This can mask a double chin, shorten a face, chisel out your cheekbones or narrow your nose.  You use a darker shade where there should be shadow (in hollows), and a lighter shade where the more light would hit the face (raised areas).   

It's fairly time-consuming and not something I do everyday.  Also, as I'm at the very end of the skin colour spectrum, highlighting isn't so affective on me.  I pretty much have to use white for it to show up and so quite often do not bother.

Read on for the before and afters.