Monday 11 October 2010

Review; MAC Venomous Villains Her Alter Image

evil queen her alter image

This is a lovely lilac colour. I find it doesn't go on as dark as it appears in the pan, it goes on a lot lighter, which is unusual seeing as it is a veluxe pearl finish and they are normally very pigmented and deep in colour.

It is still lovely in shade and smooth in application, but the colour pay off is a little disappointing.

I'd say if you have Digit or Crazy Cool you don't really need this shade.

MAC Venomous Villains Evil Queen Her Alter Image

MAC Venomous Villains her alter image

Sunday 10 October 2010

Laura's look book! Teal-icious

I messed up the liner on this look, but the colours were just too lovely to skip it!

teal/steamy look

Products Used;

MAC Teal pigment
MAC Steamy

This look I love, it is a light teal that is blended into the outer corner and crease with a darker teal. A very simple look, but with some lovely colours! I love greens, so these are two of my favourites to use. What looks would you do with them?? :]

Review; MAC Venomous Villains Bad Fairy Nail Lacquer

MAC Venomous Villains Malificent Bad Fairy

This is a red and orange/yellow duochrome. On the nail it looks a bronzy colour, very red based, however when the light hit it at a certain angle it appears more orangey gold. It is such a unique colour, and I have been complimented on it a lot already. It is no wonder this was a popular item from the venomous villains collection.

The formula is really good. I am so glad this isn't a cream formula as they are too thick and soft. This is a pearl and it is smooth, quick in drying, and pigmented. If it was a frost it most likely wouldn't have been a lot less pigmented, so the MAC pearl formula is a hit with me.

Price-wise, I'd say this is very good value, £8 is cheaper then OPI and around the same pricing as China Glaze, so it won't break the bank to get a unique and good quality lacquer!

MAC Venomous Villains bad fairy

Thursday 7 October 2010

Review; MAC Venomous Villains She Who Dares Mineralize Eyeshadow Duo

MAC Venomous Villains Malificent She Who Dares

This one was a bit of a disappointment to me. In the pan the smaller section of the duo is black with light green swirls and glitter, the bigger section of the duo is black with navy and light blue swirls, however on the skin it just doesn't translate. The background black just doesn't show through well enough, it isn't as pigmented as I feel it should be, so therefore the glitter just doesn't pop, it is just sparse glitter. If the black came through stronger then these colours would really pop, but as it is, it just doesn't deliver. Maybe I just don't have enough black in my pan and someone else's might prove to be different, but as it is, this could only be used wet.

MAC Venomous Villains Malificent She Who Dares

MAC Venomous Villains She Who Dares swatch

Review; MAC Venomous Villains My Dark Magic Mineralize Eyeshadow Duo

MAC Venomous Villains Malificent My Dark Magic

This is a beautiful mineralize eyeshadow duo, and if I am honest I bought it because it looked so cute, but also because I have wanted to try mineralize eyeshadow for a while now. But is it as nice as it looks?

Well the smaller part of the duo is black based with lilac swirls and blue-based purple glitter, however when applied it looks more black with purple glitter. It is still a lovely colour, but the lilac doesn't come through when applied. The bigger part of the duo is black based with fuschia swirls and glitter, however when applied it looks brown based with red-based purple glitter, so overall comes across as a plum colour. I think this mineralize duo is my favourite out of this and She Who Dares, which I will also review, as the colours come through really strong on the skin, and it is very smooth to apply in comparison.

The colour doesn't really translate on your skin how it appears in the pan, however the colours are pigmented, it is very and glittery, so if that's your bag, the go bag yourself one :]


MAC Venomous Villains Malificent My Dark Magic

MAC Venomous Villains My Dark Magic swatch

Wednesday 6 October 2010

Review; MAC Venomous Villains Revenge Is Sweet Lipglass

MAC Venomous Villains Malificent Revenge Is Sweet malifi

This looks very scary when in the tube, however do not fear, it is very sheer and more a hint of colour unlike the others which are pretty pigmented. This may be a disappointment to those who bought Violetta lipstick and wanted a shocking purple lipgloss to match. This goes on very glossy, and gives lips a hint of colour, however it is very very pinky nude with a hint of shimmer. I actually really like this, although it is sheer and not buildable I like the subtlety of the purple. It would be nice on a pink lipstick to give it another dimension and to transform the colour.

MAC Venomous Villains Revenge Is Sweet swatch

Review; MAC Venomous Villains Strange Potion Lipglass

MAC Venomous Villains Evil Queen Strange Potion

This is a lovely orangey peach colour lipgloss, and like most of the lipglasses in the collection it is very pigmented. However, I found it went on patchy in comparison to the others, I found it hard to get the colour on the lips evenly. It isn't such a big deal, but it would have been nicer if it was as smooth to apply as the others. Maybe it was just my lipglass? I don't know. I think this is a lovely colour for the coral/peach lovers as it really is a lovely colour that really stands out, and I'd say the uneven application is the only drawback of this product.

MAC Venomous Villains Strange Potion swatch

Review; MAC Venomous Villains Hot House Lipglass

MAC Venomous Villains Evil Queen Hot House

This is a lovely hot pink! It goes on sheerer then in the tube, however it is still very pigmented. It isn't as glossy as the other glosses in the collection since it seems to have more glitter in it and the glitter seems to make it thicker in texture. The glitter seems to be multi-coloured, predominantly silver looking, but there seem to be bluish shimmers in there too. It seems to have a purple tinge to the pink, so I wouldn't say it was a completely pinky pink, if that even makes sense. I'd say this is definitely one to own if you like bright pinks or purpley lipglosses. It is one of my favourites.

MAC Venomous Villains Hot House swatch

Review; MAC Venomous Villains Wicked Way Lipglass

MAC Venomous Villains Cruella Wicked Ways

This is a beautiful red lipgloss. For a MAC lipglass it is very pigmented in colour, and a little goes a long way. It applies evenly, didn't settle into lines, and had a lovely glossy shine to it (more so then Hot House, which I will also review). It is a lovely pinky cherry red, and it is very bright, but if you dab it with tissue it can be made into a sheerer dark pink/light red, if you preferred it to be a little lighter, though to me that defeats the point of having the lipglass.

Definitely one of my favourites from the whole collection, and in my eyes a must have red!

MAC Venomous Villains Wicked Ways swatch

Laura's look book! Swimming with the Seaweed

I am not sure why I call this swimming with the sea weed, I guess because it looks like the colour of the sea and the colour of seaweed, and there aren't any fish colours there... that would be a sensible reason... maybe. Anyway...

aqua green lookProducts used;

Barry M Liquid Liner in Green
MAC Aquadisiac

This is a very glittery look, so possibly not for everyday wear (though I wore it ti the shops :] )

So, onto the questions I always ask... what would you so with these products? What other products would you use? Pictures welcome :]

Tuesday 5 October 2010

Laura's look book! Clean Cut Pink

I hashed the liner up on this one :[

fotd (my liner needs work :[)

Anyways, a simple and clean cut pink using Da Bling & Cranberry with a Bourjois liner and 2000 calorie mascara. It is very simple and doesn't look too over the top, though cranberry needed to be blended out a lot to make it look more pink then red.

What products would you have used? Also what looks would you do with those products? Pictures welcome! :]

Laura's look book! Blue N' Lilac

Practicing my liner!

elecric blue

Products Used;

MAC Crazy Cool
Barry M Blue Liquid Liner

A simple but bold look. What would you have used for a similar look? What looks would you do with these products? Pictures very welcome! :]

Laura's look book! Tropical Greens

Here we go again :] If you don't like green, look away!

Tropical Greens with flash

Products used;

MAC Sweet & Punchy
MAC Steamy
MAC Teal
MAC Humid

What look would you do with these products? Go on, have a bash! Pictures very welcome!

Laura's look book! Dame Edna

This is something new I'm doing, I put up a pic of a look I did with certain products and you say or show what you would do with those products!

MAC Dame Edna Look Flash

Products used;

Dame Edna trio "Royal Tour" (so not a whole lot of product!)
Maybelline Falsies (I think!)

So what look would you do?? :] Pictures are very much welcome!

Review; Paul & Joe Light Cream Foundation S

Paul & Joe Light Cream Foundation

I wanted to love this so bad, I really thought it would be my HG foundation... but alas it was not to be :[

This is an expensive foundation, around the same price as Chanel, and for me it just didn't deliver to the level that Chanel ones do. I could barely wear it as it caked so bad on my dry skin, but it is supposed to be good for dry skin, so it didn't deliver the moisturising properties it is supposed to. It says to apply it with your hands, however when I did that it went patchy, uneven and did not cover well at all. When applied with the ELF Studio powder brush it did apply evenly, however still caked. I would say this is a sheer coverage, not medium, it didn't even really even out my skin it was so sheer.

On the upside it comes in a beautiful bottle and has a very helpful pump. It was very gentle on skin, and it comes in a range of colours, the 00 matched my NW15 skin well, so I am sure there is a colour match for the majority. The negative to this is that the majority can only buy it online, and therefore it is difficult to know what shade is for you.

Overall, it is dear and I find it doesn't deliver enough for it to be worth the amount it is. It is a cute product and I like the idea behind it, but it just didn't work on my skin, but my skin is very difficult. If you want a Chanel equivalent (in terms of delivers what this promised but didn't) I'd go for prolumiere, moisturising but also with medium coverage.

Venomous Villains, too limited?

The title is pretty self explanatory! It was only online in the UK for a matter of hours and the nail varnishes, beauty powders, blushes and a couple of lip glosses/lipsticks were gone! I'm glad I got in early and was able to get the stuff I wanted.

Considering it went online earlier then expected, and the email saying it was available only came today, it makes it so weird that a lot of it sold out yesterday. I just accidently happened to click the wrong bookmark and ended up on the MAC website when I found it! So for it to be sold out when it wasn't even expected to be online means that a whole lot of people have missed out until it hits shops, and even then they will have to be early!

So were you clicking on the site everyday to see if it was online? Did you get everything you wanted? And do you think that these products are just too limited, and that they should make more so everyone gets a chance to buy what they want?

I can't wait for my goodies to arrive! :D

Review; Revlon Colorstay Foundation

Revlon Colorstay Foundation

For a cheap as chips foundation, this is really good and has really surprised me by the quality. I am rubbish with foundation, I was blessed with pretty good skin and so rarely need to use it. However this means I am rubbish at applying it, however this is very easy to work with.

With this the coverage I would say is more light to medium since it did make my skin even, however it didn't cover my freckles and I still needed concealer on my dark circles. You can't get a full coverage as it starts to cake if you apply too many layers. I have dry skin so normally foundation will cake on me with most minimal amount on, however this is fine until you apply too much. I don't know about the oily skin one since I haven't used it/don't need it.

As I have mentioned, it could go cakey if you applied too much, so you need to use it sparingly! I exfoliated before use as well as moisturised and there were still areas around my nose and eyebrows where it would cake and be obvious I was wearing make up as it just wouldn't blend.

There isn't a massive colour range, however the colours are good, Ivory matches my light skin perfectly (MAC NW15), so I'm sure the majority will find a good match. Also the fact it has all the colours in both an oily combination or dry combination is really good as everyone has different skin needs and this foundation caters for them.

In terms of staying power, it really does stay on all day, and there is no transfer to clothes, and it doesn't oxidise or change colour.

For newbies to foundation, I would say this was a good option for you!

Monday 4 October 2010

Review; GOSH Miss Minty Nail Varnish

Gosh Miss Minty Nail Varnish

I tried this as a dupe for Revlon Minted, however it is really nothing alike. Although the name states "Minty" It is really more turquoise as it is too blue to be classed as green. It is still a lovely colour, and I wouldn't say it was comparable to For Audrey either as it is too light and greenish.

The formula is so so. For the price it is ok, it was a bit patchy on first application and it was quite gloopy, but it was buildable and could be evened out. I found it went all over my fingers, because of the consistency. The varnish would probably be easier to use if the lid wasn't so big.

Gosh Miss Minty

Review; GOSH Holographic Nail Varnish

Gosh Holographic Nail Varnish

I missed out on the Chanel Holographic AND the China Glaze "OMG" holographic collection, and considering I love holographic things I was very sadface about that! So, when I saw this in Superdrug I was at the till in seconds buying it!

I never expected it to be fantastic since it was only £4.99, but actually it is really good, it isn't as glossy as Chanel or China Glaze, but the holographic effect is just as fantastic. It didn't take all that long to dry, however it needed about 2-3 coats to get it opaque and even as the first coat goes on very patchy and uneven. You can tell whether it is dry or not as when it is wet it appears glossy and shiny, however when it is dry it appears more matte, so it saves you having to guess if it's dry or not.

When it is a little darker, say dim lighting or dusk outside the nail varnish looks more silver without a lot of the holographic colours coming through, however in bright light and day light it really pops and the colours shine through so lovely! I'm not sure how it works, but it just does! I love wearing this, it is definitely one of my favourites.

Gosh Holographic

Review; Revlon Tropical Temptation Nail Varnish

Revlon 093 Tropical Temptation

This is a beautiful and unusual colour. One thing I love about Revlon nail varnishes is their unique colours and variety. However, although it is a lovely orangey coral I have to ask "Is this varnish worth the price?"

Now, I would wear this a lot if it wasn't for the awful Revlon formula. It goes streaky and uneven, it needs about 3 coats. It takes ages to dry so it means your manicure takes twice as long, and really the only good thing about it is the unusual colour. For the price I would expect the formula to be better quality then this.

Revlon Tropical Temptation

Review; Revlon Minted Nail Varnish

Revlon 028 Minted

I didn't want to buy this since I find Revlon Nail varnishes overpriced, so when they were on offer I bought a few, and this was my first choice colour. I had tried to dupe it, but nothing came all that close. This is a beautiful light mint green, and dupes I tried seem to have a blue tinge to them rather then being pure green.

Now, as you can tell I love the colour, however the formula is a different story. I hate the formula! it goes on very sheer, you need about 3 coats to get good even coverage. It takes forever to dry and it makes doing nails such a chore because it just takes so long. I also experienced some bubbling. If a better nail varnish company like China Glaze (or my favourite brand, Chanel) made this colour I would ditch this in an instance, but until I find a dupe, I am just going to have to deal with the formula because I love this colour too much :[

Revlon Minted

Friday 1 October 2010

Review; Chanel Le Vernis Paradoxal

Chanel Paradoxal Le Vernis

This was the last one in the trafford centre, luckily for me, the lady didn't even know if there were any left at all, but there was just the one left hiding in amongst other colours. I bought it in selfridges, as debenhams and boots didn't even have a place for it. There has been a lot of buzz about this nail varnish and it not a surprise as to why. There are many cult Chanel nail varnishes which end up "wanted products" such as Jade, Holographic, Particulière, Kaleidescope, and I believe Paradoxal will join the list. Such a weird colour. It's like a charcoal plummy brown, which smokes out purple glitter, and when light hits it the bright purple glitter shines through. They have so many unique and gorgeous colours that are difficult to dupe, as some of them are so complex. So so expensive though!

chanel La Vernis Paradoxal

Review; Chanel Le Vernis "Particulière"

Chanel Particulière Le Vernis

This is one of those cult Chanel colours seen worn by celebrities, and it sold out like nobodies business, however Debenhams currently have it stocked! (and although unrelated to Particulière, they still have Paradoxal!)

But why has this colour become so cult? Well, it is a beautiful greyish taupe and is one of those beautiful and unusual Chanel colours that not many brands sport. Although it can be duped pretty closely (but not 100%) by other high end brands like OPI, there are many reasons as to why this is worth a splurge.

It goes on evenly and pretty opaque, however it looks a lot better with 2 coats so you don't really need to apply that much, and the fact it dries so quickly (the quickest out of any brand I have tried, which is a lot of them) means that it isn't a hassle to apply. It is very glossy like the majority of Chanel Le Vernis, and even though I am possibly the most inept varnish applier it always looks fantastic after I've applied it! The brush makes it pretty easy to apply, so I don't have the "varnish all over the fingers" look due to the brush being too big (I always have that problem with Nails Inc. but that's for another review), it is very easy to use and control the brush. I have a very manual job and yet it is still as shiny as when I applied it, and it hasn't chipped, which is very good considering I didn't put a top coat on (I ran out :[ )

So if you love the colour and want to start getting Autumnal, I would consider the splurge, as you certainly get quality with this product. And if you collect Chanel Le Vernis, this is a must have for you're collection! I have had countless compliments of this varnish and have even had "Is that Particulière!?" So yes, it has my nails seem to get more attention then me!

Chanel Particulière Le Vernis