MaXfactor Colour Elixir Lip glosses

Blogging on a Sunday again? Yay! 

Sorry, I just momentarily had to congratulate myself for actually getting to blogging in amongst essay writing / creative writing (it's deadline week...). Anyway! I have a product for you that I just have to show you right now. I wore one of these out last night and it reminded me exactly why I bought them! It's not one of the things I bought the most recently (they will be blogged soon!) but in fact I bought these a few weeks ago when I went home and went shopping in Reading with my lovely Mum. 

I went to the MaXfactor stand in search of a new mascara - which I also bought but it's practically a repurchase as I have already talked about it on here but my previous version was the small sample one that you get free when they do promotions. It's the Masterpiece MAX Mascara (yes they write it like that on Boots website so I have copied...) and I love it even more now I have the full size version even though the brush is exactly the same. 

So I'm at the stand and I spot these lip glosses - the lady came over, as usual did the 'oh these are new and amazing' etc etc etc thing. I wanted a nude lipstick at the time (more about that soon) but hadn't had any luck and these looked like the perfect nude colours, they brand them as being non-sticky but high shine and I thought, perfect! the formula looked good when I opened a tester and I thought about it for a bit before deciding I definitely needed to try one. With the mascara and the lipgloss I could get a third item free so I decided to go for another lip gloss because, well let's just say I had been standing there a long time trying to choose just one colour out of the four available (the lady told me there are more coming soon!). If I remember rightly there were two more shimmer shades and two matte so I went for one of each. 

Wow my hand looks such a different colour!! I promise you - I haven't edited these at all! I think I only have Radiant Rose on my hand in the picture on the left as I was testing lighting but it really shows the shine factor!

I got Pristine Nude (more tan / matte colour, this does give a more 'nude' colour to the lips and is perfect for when you aren't wearing much make up and just want a simple look) and Radiant Rose (shimmery, very high shine without being over-powering pale pink, I would say that it doesn't really give a pigmented colour on the lips as much as it gives shine and a pretty look)

I love these, you do have to reapply them throughout the day if you want to keep the colour/shine but they look super pretty and I wear them all the time. The packaging is simple and nice, the applicator is a good shape and applies well and £7.99 isn't too much of a purse busting price really. There are so many cheap lip glosses out there but I think this is worth the price and I can't wait for more colours because I'll definitely be thinking about getting more! I think my next lip gloss purchase may have to be a Tanya Burr one though... Any recommendations?! I quite fancy a red lip gloss? My only red is getting a little old...

Em x

Showtime!

I love dancing and at uni I have had the opportunity to be in some shows. Show make-up I don't think is too different to normal makeup, it's just in this case - more is BETTER!

I'm on YouTube!!!

I've finally persuaded myself to have a go at YouTube and i'm pretty scared but excited about it too! I will have to work hard to get lots of videos up to get it properly started but the first is up and that was the biggest hurdle... Now just for people to actually watch it! I enjoyed filming it and editing - I hope you like it too!

My first video features a few of the products that I have blogged about recently so hopefully it'll give you a chance to see them a bit better!

Em x

MaXfactor False Lash Effect Fusion Mascara

For a long while now I have not strayed far from my trusted Maybelline 'The Falsies' mascara. I really liked it and I still do like it a lot. I started using it because of Tanya Burr and now it seems that I will only try a new mascara if it is one I have seen someone else use - i've had a few bad purchases with mascara in the past and they are expensive to replace! 

I wasn't intending to replace my mascara just yet but then I got conjunctivitis and definitely did not want it to keep coming back so I was forced to bin my old one and buy new. 

I took the opportunity to try a new mascara and break out of the habit... I chose MaXfactor's False Lash Effect Fusion because it promises volume and length, but mainly because I had seen Alix (click her name to see her blog) using it and saying that she loved it. Her eyelashes looked great so I thought i'd give it a whirl. Here is what I thought...

Apologies for the bad photo, the mirrored writing really didn't want to work in the lighting.

My Capsule Makeup Bag

Okay, so it's the end of summer. I am totally aware of this fact. Schools started again and everyone is starting to think about Autumn/Winter, and not which suncream to pack for holiday. However, I have just been camping this summer (blog posts here and here!) and i've just returned from Lanzarote and therefore i've thought a lot this summer about how to pack for going away. I love these products and personally use them all the time, I just think that they are also perfect for holidays. You've probably heard of a capsule wardrobe and this is my capsule makeup bag. To a lot of people they might say it's not exactly small, it's not just the 'essential 5 items' or something... but it's what I took and it's what fits into my travel makeup bag! (And I stand by the fact I needed it all...)

Lets start with the makeup bag, I adore this and i'd wanted it for ages before I decided to actually spend the £10 and buy it, rather than just looking at it every time I went into Boots! It's Ted Baker and I love the shape as it fits everything perfectly. Sometimes makeup bags are just completely the wrong size (I hate it when I have a lovely one but it doesn't fit makeup brushes for example) This bag literally fits everything I needed and it's gorgeous too. (On a boring practical note - it's also really easy to wipe clean if anything spills on it!)

My Gorgeous Little Firecracker!

One of my trips away this summer was up to Birmingham to see my friends Louise and Lisa, I had a great time and whilst I was there I took advantage of the little bit of free time Lisa and I had, and I did her makeup before I had to leave to catch my train! I even just about had time to curl her hair and she did my face too!

Little Things

Sometimes just changing one thing about a makeup look can really change your appearance. Today it's all about the lips. I was chatting to my friend and she told me that she's bought one of the Revlon ColourStay Ultimate Suede Lipsticks and she is delighted with it. It got me thinking about the one that I own. I wrote a post about the collection a while ago (check it out) and I really like the range. The lipstick that I have myself is one of my only really dark lipsticks that I own. I do actually own a pure black lipstick too but that is generally reserved for Hallowe'en when I generally dress as a cat... (Really imaginative I know). Anyway, I decided to do a look and show you how it looks with and without the lipstick. I haven't really done a 'going out' look for a while on here so it's a little bit of a change - i've even stepped out of my comfortable golds and browns on my eyes for a bit and gone silver! 

Prom Queen!!

I was asked a while ago to do my friend's makeup for her prom and we had a couple of trials beforehand. She doesn't often wear much makeup so she wanted to see what she liked and I obviously wanted her to have the look she wanted, plus I am always up for doing hair and makeup! She is an incredibly beautiful girl and looks amazing without makeup but prom calls for a bit of extra effort. I got the privilege of adding some sparkle. 

Out for drinks

I am blogging from my new desk at home!! YAY. I love it as there is so much more space even though it's a little shorter than my old one. It is much deeper and the height is better. Plus I have my new adjustable desk chair so i'm much comfier. I spent 3 hours in the Wembley IKEA yesterday desk shopping! (I bought a couple of other bits too...)

As always, i'm running late. I've been at work all day and then I went and did a trial for my friend Tess's hair and makeup for her prom. That was great fun but I forgot my camera as I went straight from work so there aren't any pictures that I have. There are some on her phone that I'll ask to steal if possible.

Onto today's post, (it's not just me rambling - I promise!!)

I'm about to go out for birthday drinks (it's a joint thing for two of my friends from back at school). I thought i'd do a sort of OOTD and FOTD -

...

Collective Haul

There are a lot of products in this haul and I definitely didn't buy them on the some day! They are all products i've bought since my birthday in May. It's primarily a make-up & brushes haul but for some reason I also decided to add in a little wildcard hair band too that I bought and thought i'd throw into this haul! Also, this isn't in any order of when I bought the products.