MUA Goodies!

A while ago, I did a little post about the Superdrug MUA line - well, it's finally launched! I'm pretty sure that most of you will have tried this by now, but I just wanted to share with you the goodies that I picked up everyday.

Just in case you don't know what this is, this is a new Superdrug make up line with everything costing just £1! The current range includes:

• Solo eyeshadows**
• Eye Dust**
• Lipstick**
• Lip Gloss (squeezy tube* and wand tube* varieties)
• Blusher**
• Pressed Powder
• Bronzer
• Mascara
• Liquid liners *
• Glittery liners (like the Collection 2000 Glam Crystals)*
• Nail Polish

Phew! That's quite a list! Also, * means I've swatched the product ** means I own something in this range.

Ok, enough chatting, let me show you what I got:

 (L - Blusher in Shade 4 R- Lipstick in Shade 7)

 (Just in case you're wondering, I've swatched the Blusher extra heavily for photo purposes)

Let me start with the Blusher - you've maybe heard me harping on before about wanting to find a dupe for my beloved Botanicals Hollyhock blusher.... this isn't perfect, but it's pretty darn close. A gorgeous blue-toned, slightly plummy pink with a teeny hint of shimmer. This gives a lovely wash of colour to the cheeks and has a very buildable tone. My only complaint is the smell - it smells like old ladies :( Sort of rose and talc. Once it's on it's fine, it's just when you're opening the pot! 

Next, the Lipstick. I'm in two minds about this one. When it's swatched on my hand, I adore it! It's creamy, buildable and a gorgeous colour. On my lips though, I'm not sure what to think. It's not drying, it just feels a bit err... odd. I can't quite describe it....but I don't think I've heard this from anyone else so it could just be me! The colour is still nice and buildable, although it looks slightly more frosted on the lips than it does swatched. It doesn't last for ages, but I've definitely paid more for lipsticks that were a lot worse

(L - Eyedust in 4 C+R - Eyeshadows in 7 and 11)

Ok, I'm in love. These are stunning. The Eyedusts are pigment packed, sparkly (but not glittery) and this particular shade is a divine golden black infused green. The Eyeshadows are just incredible - amazing colour payoff, long lasting, blendable, rich pigmentation, beautiful colour range with a mixture of mattes and shimmers. Amazing. In my opinion, the Eyedusts and Eyeshadows are worth far more than £1. Also, you get tonnes of product in them! Much more than most drugstore brands would give you. I'm currently restraining myself from buying the entire range in one go. If there's only one thing that you try, please make it these!

So a bite of a mixed bag really - nothing I've tried has been truely awful (although from my swatching experience I woudln't recommend the glitter liners) and some of the products are incredible. For £1, I think it's definitely worth giving a few bits a go!

Have you tried MUA yet? Do you want to?

Bourjois Pretty Paris Eyeshadow review and FOTD

Hello lovelies,

I've decided to call it a day on foundation fortnight - sorry that I didn't do quite as many foundation reviews as I'd hoped to... I've lost a bit of my blogging mojo recently and just wasn't really feeling it! Anyway, I thought I'd go back to basics and treat you to a little FOTD and also show you the two beautiful Bourjois eyeshadows I picked up from their Pretty Paris Collection.

The first is a beautiful soft lemon yellow (it reminds me of great quality ice cream) called Citron Givre

This is beautiful base colour and blends gorgeously with the other colour from this collection. The colour in the picture is slightly lighter than in real life (sorry!). This gives a sheer wash of colour, although a stronger colour payoff can be achieved if you foil it. Personally I like keeping it subtle. I think that this colour would be a gorgeous highlighter as well as it has a hint of shimmer.

The second is a lovely gold infused brown called Tabac Blond:

This colour creates a really pretty neutral look when blended with Citron Givre, but could also be used for a much more dramatic evening look! I have to say that one of the most lovely things about this range is definitely the packaging - what a gorgeous design! As with all Bourjois eyeshadows, these two have a lovely soft velvety texture and excellent staying power!

These are availiable from Boots and Superdrug and cost £5.99 each (although at the time time writing, they're currently part of a 2 for £10 offer in both Boots and Superdrug as well!)

And finally, my FOTD:

Foundation Fortnight: Collection 2000 Lasting Perfection

(Photo from the Collection 2000 website)

This is a foundation that you've probably heard a fair bit about - I know that a few bloggers have been talking about this in recent months and it was Mizz Worthy who tipped me off on this one.

Described as "ultimate wear foundation", this foundation promises flawless skin, 16 hour wear and claims to be transfer proof and water resistant. All of that, and it has and SPF of 20, is oil free and costs a mere £5.99.

You might have heard me ramblingon before about being afraid of foundation - I think it's just one of those things that I decided to scare myself into being afraid of after seeing so many women wearing either foundation that was too dark or too cakey. Hence anything that says "ultimate wear" makes me think of freaky mask faced women in department stores. So how did I get on?

Finding a match
Amazingly, I found a good match for my skin tone pretty much straight away. This almost never happens. I have skin that is pale but in an olivey weird way and find it really difficult to get most "drugstore" (hate that word by the way) foundations to match me. Therefore I was pleasently surprised when I found that Ivory (shade 2) is a perfect match for me! Don't believe mr? Look at my cheek/neck/ear:

Not too shabby really.

Wearability
(I've decided that it is a word....) Lovely. This blends really easily into my skin, although it does set quite quickly so you need to work fast. I've applied with with both a traditional foundation brush and my ELF powder brush and have had no problems with streakyness with either method. Although it "sets", it never looks cakey. This foundation gives a medium - heavy coverage and I found that it covered all my redness/blemishes/rubbishness easily with no need for concealer. I find that this is probably my most long lasting foundation, and my make up will look just a lovely in the evening as it did first thing.

Anything else to know
This foundation has a slightly matte/slightly dewy finish (there's probably a less oxymoronic phrase I could use, but nevermind) and is availiable from anywhere that sells Collection 2000 (Superdrug and some Boots stores I think)

Finally, a picture of me with a fully made up face so that you can see how it looks. If you want a comparison shot to see how my skin looks naked, check out this post. If you want to know what make up I'm wearing in this shot, just ask and I'll let you know :D

Oooo and, whilst I'm here, let me just show you my favourite lipstick at the moment:

Yum! It's The Body Shop Colourglide Lip Colour in 62 Velvet Wine. (Apologies for my retarded lips .... they refuse to have lipstick applied to their inner regions.)

Foundation Fortnight: Lily Lolo Part Two

Urgh, running is taking over my life! I'm sure things will settle down when I don't have to die everytime I come in for a run, but apologise for the interuptions to normal service whilst I get back into the swing of things.

Finally though, I'm bringing you part two of my Lily Lolo review in which I tell you what I think about this foundation and also show you my stripey face!

Ordering
If you've never tried mineral foundation before (and you're UK based), I'd really recommend giving Lily Lolo a try. A while back I was asking around to find out your favourite mineral foundations and for UK peeps, Lily Lolo definitely came out high. I was hoping to maybe try some Meow foundations as well, but the postage just worked out a bit too expensive.

Lily Lolo have just redone their website and it looks really pretty - it's also incredibly easy to navigate which I always like. They sell samples of their foundations for a mere £1.25 and samples come in a little plastic pot - much more useful than a plastic baggie. The pots are still incredibly small though, so I tend to tap a little into the lid of my Body Shop mineral foundation so that I have enough room to swish my kabuki around. According to the website, you get 0.75g of product per jar - definitely enough for many applications! Postage was extremely quick and UK orders up to 50g cost a mere £1 for p&p. Bargain!

Finding a match
One of the best things about having such cheap samples is that you can buy quite a few in order to find your match. Again, the website makes it really easy to know which samples to choose, with categories ranging from pale to tan, and great descriptions of all their colours including whether the foundation has cool, warm or neautral undertones. I know that I'm neautral leaning towards warm, so only ordered colours with those undertones. One thing I will say is that Lily Lolo don't really offer much for Women of Colour, but I'm not really best qualified to comment on this so I'd advise googling for better reviews on this subject.

Now here comes the moment you've all been waiting for ... stripey face:

 (Top to Bottom: In the Buff, Blondie, Warm Peach, Popcorn)

Don't worry, I do know that I've applied it quite thickly, but this is just to give you an idea of the different colours. I also did this myself when I received the samples to see which matched my skin tone best. From swatching like this, I can already see that In the Buff and Popcorn are too orange toned for my skin at the moment. Blondie looks a little pale, but to be sure, I blended them out a little with a mini kabuki.

As you can see, Popcorn and In the Buff are still too dark (although I think Popcorn might make a nice summer foundation). Now that I've blended them out, I think that Blondie looks a little too ashy, whereas Warm Peach tones down my redness without making me look deathly pale. Therefore I conclude that my shade is Warm Peach!

Wearablility
(Is that a word?!) In short - I love them foundations. They apply easily, have extremely buildable coverage and look nice and natural. I have very sensitive skin and it hasn't been irritated at all by them. They cover my redness really nicely and give a matte finish (no Edward Cullen skin for me thank you very much!). I've not had any problems with them rubbing off on clothes, they don't seem to cling to dry patches and they last through the day.

Anything else I should know?
Errr... Lily Lolo are bunny friendly (hurrah!) and UK based. They contain no parabens, fragrances or fillers, and are Bismuth free. Products are availiable online only from Lily Lolo and cost £1.25 for sample size and £12.00 for full size.

Any other questions ladies? Have you tried Lily Lolo? What did you think? If there's anything you'd like to know that I haven't covered, please do feel free to ask. Also, do check my previous post to see how much more lovely my skin looks when its been Lolo'd

Foundation Week: Lily Lolo Part One

As promised, Foundation Fortnight is go! To start off, here's a wee look at Lily Lolo Mineral Foundations. This will be a two parter - this morning you get to see how Lily Lolo works and how it looks on my face. This evening. I'll show you me finding the right colour match for my skin (well, as close as possible with my samples) and tell you a little more about the brand itself and what I think.

So, to start, here is my very naked face:

Yes, I have the nose of an alcoholic.... not a clue why. Also, can you see that huuuge spot on my cheek. Seriously, it's the biggest, most annoying spot I've ever had. Grr.

Now this is me cheating and using a Body Shop lid and Body Shop Kabuki:

For reference, this is our computer chair. It is frequently this covered in make up.... yet my husband still manages to love me.

Ta-da!! Alcholic nose, where are you now?

Can still the spot a little, but hey, it is freakishly large!

Apparently, I can only smile in a normal way on photos that see me wearing properly done make up. This features Muchness and Queen from the UD Book of Shadows, Bourjois Ultra Black Volume Glamour Mascara (of course), 17 Blush and Glow in Strawberries and Cream (I think) and The Body Shop Love Gloss in 16. Much better :D

News flash: Foundation Week becomes Foundation Fornight Scandal!

Ok, it's not really that scandalous, but I've decided to extend foundation week to a fortnight due to my own shoddyness as a blogger and utter lack of posts this week. There will be a post tonight though (it features me with a naked face AND a stripey face - stay tuned folks!)

And just why has there been a lack of posts?
Monday - epic shopping trip in Manchester and a visit from the in-laws
Tuesday - Husband's birthday (which featured two 10 mile bike rides, a trip to a National Trust property and a meal out at an amazing Thai restaurant)
Wednesday - I foolishly signed up to the York 10K and my whole day was spent psyching myself up for that (and finishing off some stuff at my old job). I also did my first run out with a friend.... 4 miles in just under an hour (don't laugh) - I subsequently spent the rest of the night attempting not to die and went to bed at 10pm.

How has your week been thus far? xx

Foundation Week: What's your Holy Grail Foundation?

Hello lovelies!

This week has been slightly quieter than normal as I've been trying hard to sort some difficult things out in my head and also I've been enjoying having many a free evening to spend with the husband :D I hope you're all well and happy.

I thought I'd start foundation week a little early with a question - what is your current holy grail foundation? If you don't have a h.g., what's you're favourite at the moment, the one that you reach for automatically without even thinking about it?

I think my current favourite is a combination of Lush Colour Supplement in Dark Yellow (which reminds me, I have an update post to do about the Lush Colour Supplements... watch this space) mixed with a little moisturiser and then either Lily Lolo Mineral Foundation in Blondie or The Body Shop Mineral Foundation in 03.

My favourite bits of Body Shop make up

As promised in my last blog post, here's a very quick look through some of my favourite bits of make up from The Body Shop. Most of this was bought with my own pennies but if it's marked with a * I was given for review purposes (longer reviews will be coming!)

1.Shimmer Cubes in Brown *
I'd always thought these looked a bit naff, especially as swatching them is pretty much pointless (they give a very sheer shimmery colour) However, I got chatting to the manager of my local store and she recommended spraying your brush with their Vitamin E Face Spray first... wow! Doing this turns them into gorgeous richly pigmented cream eyeshadows that really do stick (even without primer!). I haven't tried yet, but I imagine that you could just foil your brushes normally as well for similar effects.

2.Moisture Foundation in 04
I love the smell, colour, texture and wear of this! It gives a good medium coverage, doesn't "set" but also doesn't slide off and blends really nicely. Whenever I wear this people comment on my nice fresh looking complexion.

3.Natures Minerals Foundation in 03* and Natures Minerals Foundation Brush*
Shortly after my wee post about mineral foundation, I was asked if I'd like to give these a try. I'm still in the process of properly trying this foundation out (a more detailed review will come in Foundation week) but so far I really like it. It gives a light to medium coverage and is great for days when you want to look tidied up but not too done. Again, it's not cakey and doesn't make you sparkle like Edward Cullen. This brush is beaaaaautiful! So stunningly soft. I adore it. Very minimal shedding as well.

4.Love Gloss for Lips
If you saw my Rae Morris Exotic Eyes look I did a little while ago you'll have already seen one of these beauties in action. I own 2, my favourite being Raspberry Pink. They're quite buttery, smell/taste really nice and fruity and give beautiful colour payoff and shine. They're not at all sticky and they last a good 4 or 5 hours before needing a touch up. They've just bought out a very "on trend" Dusky Lavender, which would look hideous on me but would probably suit the rest of you beautiful people quite nicely!

5.Colourglide Lip Colour
I'm really starting to build up a little collection of these! Again, they smell so scrummy (seriously, The Body Shop makes the nicest smelling make up ever!), they're really moisturising and have wonderfully buildable colour. They have an incredible range of colours with pretty much something to suit everyone. My personal favourites are Soft Peony and Velvet Wine (I think... it might be Midnight Berry)

Do you use any Body Shop make up? What are your favourite bits?

(If I get time, I'll add some pictures to this post.... at the moment my camera batteries are still needing a charge!)

Stonegate Body Shop Make Up Event

Hello Lovelies! Hope you've had a nice couple of days - we had a nice time in Keswick although having a stupid injured foot made it really frustrating as me and The Husband LOVE hill walking and didn't get to do any ::(

Anyway, this is a post mainly aimed at my Yorkshire based readers (but that doesn't mean the rest of you need to stop reading!)

Tomorrow (Thursday 8th April 2010) The Body Shop on Stonegate, York will be holding a very exciting Make Up Event! It'll be going on all day and they've got lots of exciting things planned - arm and hand massages, free makeovers, makeup, hair and skin consultations and tonnes more as well.

They're a lovely bunch down at the Stonegate store and are extremely helpful (last time I was there they convinced me that I wouldn't look like an idiot in their red lip gloss and they were right) and would love to see you down there. If you do pop in, feel free to mention that you read about it on Sparkle and Shade (or just Emily's blog - they should know who I am!).

Also if the world of The Body Shop's make up is utterly bewildering to you, I'll be bringing you a post of some of my favourite make up bits from them later on today :D

*Disclaimer* I am advertising this event as part of my affiliation with my local Body Shop store. I am in no way paid to blog about this event and this affiliation is not connected to The Body Shop head office.

Away for a couple of days

Hello Lovelies,
Just thought I'd let you know that I'm off on holiday for a couple of days, so you probably won't see any more posts from me until Wednesday (I do have a pretty FOTD from Friday lined up for you, but my camera is sans batteries so I can't upload the pictures yet).

Also, apologies for the silence over the last couple of days - Friday was mine and Peter's day off and we had lots of Good Friday things going on and Saturday was our 6 month anniversary of being married which was meant to be spent doing lovely things in Harrogate but was instead spent in A&E and then on the sofa (I fell down the stairs in the morning whilst running for a parcel half asleep... we thought I'd maybe broken my toe or something but I've just messed up a couple of ligaments - ouch!).

I hope you all have a wonderful Easter and a lovely Bank Holiday (for those of you who get one) - I'll see you on the other side :) xx