Exams

Hello lovelies.

So, I've been gone for a while now and I thought I'd explain why. My niece and nephew were visiting this weekend so I had no time for anything than them, and other than that I've had a ton of work from school (Grr!) xx

Thankyou for reading.xx

SandyReads - Divergent book review!

Hello lovelies.
So recently I've been picking up a few new books lately, and have to decided to do a new book review series. For the first book, I picked Divergent because Elle Fowler recommended it on her youtube channel, EllesGlitterGossip. My friend at http://cherrysandchatter.blogspot.co.uk/ is currently reading this book from my recommendation and is enjoying it from what I gather!

This book is by Veronica Roth and is set in a dystopian world. In a city, people live in 5 factions. The main character, Beatrice (later renames herself to Tris!) is born into Abnegation who live to be selfless. However, she often will find herself struggling to live in the Abnegation ways, and when she goes for the test to determine which faction she should be in (before she gets to choose) she is named divergent. This means she doesn't belong to just one faction, and this is something to be very secret about in their city as it's considered dangerous. When Beatrice finally gets to decide her faction to live in forever, she chooses dauntless (the fearless) and is forced to leave her parents forever to enter into a scary world where she will constantly have to risk her life to fit in.

I really love this book. I finished it in around 7 hours, and couldn't wait to pick up it's sequel, Insurgent. I tried to buy it today, but the bookshop near me was out of stock. I really liked the way this was written, as it made the relatively complicated system in the city easy to understand. I found it easy to relate to Beatrice/Tris and the story continued to suck me in the further I got into the book. I would definently recommend this book and can't wait to read the sequel! If I had one critism, I would say that I would have enjoyed to learn more about why the city was divided into 5 factions (if there had been a war, starvation etc) but I think that takes little away from the great plot and writing style.

Do you like this new book series?

Thankyou for reading.
xox

Ecotools blush brush

Hello lovelies.

So today I have a review of a blush brush from Ecotools. Ecotools are quite popular as they make good, extremely soft, affordable and cruelty-free brushes. I had never brought any as they had seemed a little steep in price to me (we've all established I'm a bit of a cheap skate!) but I found a whole hoard of ecotools in TK Maxx (TJ Maxx in America?) and got it for only £5.99 compared to £7.99 from boots.

The handle is made from bamboo

I like this brush for highlight because it picks up very little product, so it creates a very subtle look. As you can tell, it has a very pointed, thin tip which means it doesn't fill the entire apple of the cheek. I'm not a huge fan of this for blush, but for contour and highlight it's lovely.

What do you think of ecotools?
Thankyou for reading.

Sleek Storm Palette

Hello lovelies.

So today I have a product I'm excited to share with you; Sleek's Storm (number 578) palette. In the beauty world Sleek palettes are pretty famous, and the Storm is their most hyped about. I brought this from Superdrug for £6.49. Sleek is only available in the UK but you can order online from their website.

The Storm palette contains 12 eyeshadows; 3 matte shades and 9 shimmers.

From L-R (top along, then bottom along) Shimmer burnt gold, Shimmer Champagne, Matte Camel, Shimmer gold, Shimmer pink, Shimmer cranberry, Shimmer chocolate, Shimmer Gunmetal, Shimmer forest green, Shimmer navy, matte brown, and finally a matte black.

I am so impressed with this palette! Firstly, I love the awesome pigmentation. There is only 1 shade (the 3rd from the left on the top row) which I would say has poor pigmentation. The particularily impressive ones are the Cranberry (last on top row), Gunmetal (2nd from left on bottom row) and the matte black (last on bottom row.) Their buttery texture makes them apply almost like a cream, which I was so impressed with!

Secondly, the price. This palette would impress me if it was to be released by Urban  Decay for £30, let alone for just £6.50 from Sleek! It's affordable for anybody to try.

 Lastly, the colour selection. On natural days, I will wear the Camel shade all over the lid with a tiny bit of the matte brown in the crease just for a little definition. On exciting days, I'll use all the fun blues and greens to create an unusual look. Everyday I use the matte brown to fill in my brows. It's amazing!
If I had one complaint, it would have to be the fact that the eyeshadows have a crossed pattern in them. Once you've been using them a while, this will go but it just makes the product harder to pick up initially!

Swatched in same sequence as above photo. Check out the pigmentation of the Green and Black!

I love Sleek as a company as I think they offer great products, and unusual products for the high street which you'd only usually find in high end brands. I've never been disappointed by their products yet!


What's your favourite palette?
Thankyou for reading.

MAC lightscapade Mineralize skin finish

Hello lovelies.

As you can probably tell, I've been loving MAC lately. I have always wanted to try a Mineralize skin finish as I love highlighters and they are famous for being excellent. With a steep price tag of £21.50 (admittedly you do get 10g of product!) I have never invested, until I went to my trusty local CCO. When I saw lightscapade for sale, I almost wet myself with sheer joy. I brought it without even swatching for £15.25, which is a bargain considering that on ebay they are selling for £34+.

So beautiful!

Lightscapade is a breath-taking blend of white, cream, blue, green, pinks and bronzes. When blended together, it all comes together in a gorgeous, glowing highlight. It can be applied lightly with a blush brush across the cheeks and down the nose for a subtle highlight, or (as I do) apply it with a finger down the nose and with a brush across the cheekbones. I love this highlight as it's so versatile and perfect for my alabaster skin, and I'm hoping to pick up a back-up before they sell out as it's my favourite makeup product right now!

Thankyou for reading.

MAC Show orchid

Hello lovelies!

An exciting post today on a brand new lipstick I brought, Show Orchid. I've been lusting after this for months and after seeing Fleur De Force's recent post I was really desperate, so when I saw it for £9.50 in my local CCO I was thrilled!

Unfortunately Show Orchid is a pro product (and has also been released with many collections) so it's not available to purchase all year round for us average mortals, but if you have the chance to get this don't hesitate. It's a lovely bright fuchsia with blue undertones, which are great for making your teeth look whiter. As it's an amplified finish, it's very pigmented and creamy. I think I'm in love! 

Awkward smiling face - O_o



Thankyou for reading!

MAC cremesheen glass in Boy Bait

Hello lovelies.

Sorry I've been MIA lately, I just have been very busy with school work and haven't really had anything to share with you! I thought I'd show you one of my favourite lipglosses, MAC's boy bait.

I got this at my local CCO, at a discounted price of £12 compared to the usual £16 for a cremesheen. There are a few CCO's in the UK, so check online to see if there's one near you as they're absolutely fantastic and often have sold out LE products. I'm not sure I'd be happy paying £16.50 for any lipgloss, but I feel for £12 this is justified. It's a beige-pink, and very neutral. I love the formula of the cremesheen gloss as it's very creamy (as implied by the name!) and feels lovely on the lips. I love wearing this on 'no make up' days, to add just a bit more glamour to what would otherwise be a boring look.

What's your favourite ever lipgloss?

Thankyou for reading.
xox

MAC Dame blush

Hello lovelies.
Long time no see! Sorry for not being around, I've been insanely busy with school work. Anyway, I guess we'll get onto the review.

So we have this Dame blush, which was the first MAC blush I've ever brought. I really hate the price tag of these, and at £17.50 I really can't justify buying them regularily. I rarely wear blush as I suffer from acne scarring and it makes it worse, so I have to spend forever applying it. However, this blush is beautiful and I really wanted to share it with you!

So Dame is a blue-toned baby pink, with a very slight shimmer. It's pigmented but not overly so which makes it  easy to apply and very quick too.

How do you feel about MAC blushes?
Thankyou for reading x

NOTD - OPI Nicki Minaj Collection

Hello lovelies.

Sorry I've been MIA lately, I've been having a bit of a break and just kinda coming back into myself again if that makes sense. Anyway, I've been trying to grow my nails so I can do a little bit of nail art and I've achieved that goal! I thought I'd start by taking it easy,  so I did a simple pink and blue checker board-esque pattern.

First I painted 2 coats of OPI's Pink Friday from the Nicki Minaj Collection. Then I took the Models Own Black nail art pen (the brush part) and did a line horizontally and vertically. I found if I did the horizontal line slightly further up the nail rather then bang in the middle, it looked much better. Finally I put OPI's Fly from the Minaj collection using the end of a hair grip (or if you have a dotting tool that would be better) into 2 of the pink sections. Obviously if you have a better method then use that one!

Thankyou for reading and subscribing.