Barry M Textured Nail Effects Nail Paints

Hi! Today you get a look at my terrible stubby fingernails. I've been trying out these new Textured Nail Effects polishes by Barry M and I really like 'em!

 

These are pastel coloured polishes with a special gritty effect. The pink is called Kingsland Road, the yellow Station Road, the green Ridley Road and the blue is Atlantic Road.

They retail for £3.99 each but I picked them up at 2 for £6 from Superdrug (at the same time they were at 3 for 2 in Boots which would have saved me about 3p :P If you shop around you can usually find a deal on Barry M somewhere)

Now have a look at them and please ignore my poor ravaged cuticles. I've posted lots of photos to try and show the textured effects.

  

I don't know if you can see in the pictures but the yellow has a slight shimmer to it, the others are matte.

The effect is very easy to apply, you just paint it on like any polish and the grit gets more pronounced as it dries. Applying it really feels no different from a regular polish either. These photos all show 2 coats of polish over a base coat (they were all nearly opaque in 1 but the extra coat made the grit more defined as well as making it completely opaque). Oddly I found that, though the bottle specifies to use one, the effect is much more pronounced if you don't use a base coat so in the future I probably won't bother with one. I've heard some people say these are a nightmare to remove but I didn't have a problem at all, it's much easier than glitter!

The feeling of these on the nails is an acquired taste. At first I felt really creeped out touching them but then I got a bit obsessed with it! It doesn't feel too gritty, just sort of bumpy, and luckilly they didn't catch on my tights at all. These lasted about 4-5 days before the started chipping, which was pretty good considering you can't really use top coat on them. Oddly the different colours had different rates of chipping, the yellow was the first to go, then green, then blue and finally pink.

Anyway I really like these. I love the easter-egg colours and the gritty texture takes them away from being too pastel and ice-creamy. £3.99 is a good price for a polish but like I said shop around. If you like the effect but are interested in other colours then in the US Milani have just released some (see swatches here at Nouveau Cheap) or Nails Inc have a few but they are much more expensive (still might get the pretty grey one though). What do you think?

Barry M Croc Nail Effects Review

Most people seem to be 'over' crackle polishes, but not me! I love them, I'm still not over the novelty of watching the little fissures appear in my nails and they're brilliant for livening up a polish I've gotten bored of or hiding smudges/chips/tip wear and stuff. I was really excited when Barry M came out with the 'Croc Nail Effects' polish because it was a new kind of crackle! The idea of it basically is a crackle that looks like crocodile skin, so rounder with smaller gaps. I waited ages to get it because it was never available anywhere near me but recently I picked it up.

Unfortunately I'm a bit disappointed. 

When I applied it to the first nail I did it as I would any other crackle, over a completely dry base coat of colour (in this case Barry M Nail Effects Silver Foil). After a few minutes this was my result:

 

It just wasn't what I was hoping for, there's hardly any cracks and lots of lines that aren't making the round 'croc' shape it's supposed to.
Then I read the packaging and iscovered I was applying it wrong, with this it says you're meant to put it over slightly wet polish, so for my next few fingers I applied another coat of the silver, waited about a minute, then applied the croc effects. This was my result:

 

...Oh dear.

So then for the last nails I tried leaving the base coat for a few minutes, so it was basically dry but not completely:

 

So these are... about the same as the first one.

Maybe I'm just applying it badly somehow (if anyone has any tips please let me know) but as it is I can't recommend this to people, it's too messy and I just really don't like the effect. Big disappointment. But I'll try it again sometime and will update if I can make it work.

My besties of 2011

Right it's time to step away from the negativity and go onto something positive! I thought I'd finally share my favourites of last year, i'm only just in February so not as bad as last year where I just never got around to it.

(I stole the catergories from jennifaes awesome blog, because I am too lazy to make up my own! I did add a couple of things though and removed some that i don't have favourites of though). Some of the categories have contenders which are products that only just didn't make the cut.

Best High-End Beauty Brand

Illamasqua
 A lot of my favoutite products come from Illamasqua, they tend to have really high quality, beautifully packaged, excitingly coloured and richly pigmented makeup.  I also just love Illamasqua as a brand! Here's why. 

Best Drugstore Beauty Brand

ELF
ELF tends to be a bit hit and miss with their products but the majority of those I have tried have been really brilliant, particularly those from the Studio section of the brand. The prices are fantastic (basically everything is under £5) and the packaging is really nice considering how cheap it is.

Contender
Sleek
Sleek are another great Drugstore brand. I love that they have very pigmented, bright and interesting shades and exciting products like their Molten Metals and Pout Paints. Their shadow palettes are also fantastic and (even with the stupid price hike) great value.

Best Indie Makeup Brand

Darling Girl
Darling Girl is one of the newest indie companies I've tried but they've quickly become my favourite. All the products I've tried have been fantastic quality and come in lots of gorgeous colours. The prices are fair and Susan (the owner) is one of the nicest, most helpful people you could hope to deal with. I've never had a problem with an order and TAT are always reasonable. I have a proper review coming up soon :) 

Contender
Sugarpill

The reason Sugarpill didn't win is that they have fewer products to choose from and also I find it hard to catergorise them as an indie company! The packaging, branding and quality of the products is absolutely amazing and wouldn't seem out of place in a High End brand. 

Best Pressed Eyeshadow

Sugarpill
Sugarpills pressed eyeshadows are just the bees knees. They're insanely pigmented, bright and true to colour and also apply smoothly and blend easily. They're also really reasonably priced at $34 for a palette of 4 huge pans of shadow or $12 each. At the moment there are 9 fantastic rich colours and a tonne more are coming out soon!

Contender
MUA Pressed shadows
MUA shadows are nice, particularly the pearl finish ones which are creamy and easy to apply, but not amazing. However as they cost £1 each they're a fantastic bargain!

Best Loose Eyeshadow

Darling Girl, Shiro, Sugarpill, Venomous Cosmetics, Fyrrinae
I couldn't choose just one brand for this. All of the above make amazing shadows, pigmented, creamy, easily blendable, great range of colours, long lasting etc. I'd say they're all about equal in quality. Sugarpill tends to have the brightest, boldest colours, Fyrinnae the most complex, Darling Girl has fantastic unusual neutral shades and lovely duochromes, Venomous has great sparkle and Shiro has wonderful soft shades.

Contenders
Illamasqua pure Pigment, Barry M Dazzle dusts
Both of these are lovely too but more expensive (particularly the Illamasqua)

Best Pencil Eyeliner

Illamasqua Medium pencil
I really like these because they come in a multitude of colours and you can use them anywhere on your face, which means you can finally have a pale green lipliner or bright red eyeliner if you wanted! I also just really like them, they're soft enough to leave an easy line but not so soft as to break or smudge easily and they last longer on my waterline than the average eyeliner.

Best Liquid Eyeliner

Illamasqua Precision Ink
 This eyeliner has a really great applicator, it's a felt style one (not a felt-tip pen style though) but is a bit longer than average (I think? Something's different anyway) which makes it really easy to apply precisely. The formula is great, completely opaque and slightly glossy. It dries quickly and does not fade or smudge at all.
It's only available in 4 shades which is a bit of a shame in one way because I love coloured eyeliner but in another it's great because I love this stuff but my bank balance does not :P

Best Glitter Eyeliner
Collection 2000 Glam Crystals Dazzling Gel Liners
Just the best glitter Eyeliners ever. These are packed full of glitter which means you don't need to layer it over and over to get a proper glitter liner look (unlike some glitter eyeliners *coughUrbanDecaycough*). They come in lots of lovely bright colours including some holographic ones and also dry quickly.


Contender
MUA Glitter Eyeliner
These are almost as good as the Collection 2000 but have a worse brush (it's too long and splays and is just a bit odd) and only come in about 3 shades, but they're also just £1 yay!

Best Mascara

Benefit They're Real
I've been using this as an alternative to my absolute favourite mascara (Lancomes Oscillation) since I discovered that lancome test on animals (or support animal testing or something, it's hard to tell :/ ). It's a really good mascara giving wonderful length and volume (doesn't add much curl but my lashes are naturally curly so I never bother with curling mascaras) and it doesn't flake or clump easily. The brush is a plastic one which I always prefer to bristles and has a cool little spiky top part that helps to lift the lashes up and coat them right to the roots. I have found that it's dried out a bit though and is not as good or easy to use as it was when I first bought it.

Best Lip Balm

Models own
When it comes to bog standard lip balm used just to moisturise your mouth I don't really have a favourite, I'll use anything as long as it doesn't taste disgusting, but these Models Own ones are amazing. Look here for a full review but these are highly pigmented, lip softening, super shiny, delicious smelling little pots of joy!

Best Lipstick

MAC Amplified Creme Lipsticks
My favourite ever lipsticks, these are creamy, soft, not at all drying and easy to apply. They glide over my lips and are beautifully pigmented with a slightly shiny finish. They come in lots of pretty colours and while they don't have any very unusual ones like blues or greens they do have bright oranges, pinks, purples and reds. 

Contender
Mac Matte Lipsticks
I tend to just like Mac's lipsticks in general but only have a few that aren't either Amplified Creme or Matte formula so Matte would be my contender. A couple of the shades are hard to use (Ruby Woo i'm looking at you) but in general they tend to be slightly dry but not bad and not drying to the lips. They're very pigmented and have a lovely retro finish.

I have swatches of all my Mac Lipsticks here

Best Lipgloss

Illamasqua Intense Lipglosses
I just looove these. They're super opaque, ultra glossy, smell delicious, come in fantastic shades like grey and molten silver along with pinks and reds and last longer than any other gloss I've tried. See my full review here and swatches here


Contenders
Darling Girl Holo-glosses/venomous cosmetics Lip Poisons
Darling Girls Holo-glosses are fantastic (generally) clear or sheer glosses packed with lovely glitter. They last beautifully and are amazing layered over lipsticks. Venomous Lip poisons are actually quite similar to the Illamasqua Intense glosses, they're opaque and long wearing and lovely but just not quite as good (in my opinion) You can see some lip swatches here.

Best Blush

Illamasqua powder blush
Amazingly soft and blendable but ultra pigmented. You need a light hand with these! They last all day and come in a myriad of colours to suit every skin tone (from the palest pink to deepest plum). The majority of these are matte but a couple of shimmery shades have just been released and have a lovely hint of shimmer but not over the top sparkle.


Contender
ELF Studio
ELFs blushes are also incredibly pigmented, easy to blend and cheap at £3.50 each but I find them just slightly chalkier and the sparkle in some shades can be a bit brash for me.

Best Bronzer

ELF Studio Cool bronzer

I don't generally use bronzer to look bronzed or sunkissed, I just use it occasionally to  contour my face. To do this properly it's best to use a matt contour shade as the sparkle in bronzer reflects light (and when you're contouring you want to create shadows, which should not reflect the light) and this bronzer is great for that! It's matte and has 4 shades in the one pan that you can mix together or use seperately to get the right depth of colour. It's very pigmented though so you need to use a light hand. 


Contender
  Sleek Contour Kit
Sleeks contour kit has a beautiful formula which is really easy to apply and blend. It comes in a few shadesto suit different skin tones. I use the 'light' shade and it works well with my ultra pale pink skin. It's not super pigmented but I find that a good thing because it looks more natural. However it has shimmer in it which as I said before is not brilliant for contouring (for me anyway). 


Best Highlighter
ELF Studio Blush in Gotta Glow/Illamasqua Illuminator
 Gotta Glow is a pearly white pressed powder with some golden sparkle. It's great for adding a bit of shimmer to the face and highlighting large areas like the cheekbones however it's not very pigmented. Illamasqua's Illuminators are cream highlighters that are insanely pigmented and really reflect light. They have fantastic sparkle and dry really quickly. You can apply them sheerly for a hint of a glow or more thickly for a real sparkle with more opaque colour.


Contender:
ELF Studio Radiance Enhancer
This is a highlighting cream that comes in a handy brush applicator which makes it really easy to apply (especially to places like the cupids bow where you only want a hint of highlight). It gives a nice glow but is not very pigmented and takes a little while to dry.

Best Liquid Foundation

Illamasqua Skin Base 
I love this foundation (though ignore the claims that it's like a BB cream, it isn't) it's buildable from sheer to full coverage, easily blends on my skin, lasts brilliantly and gives a really lovely natural looking finish to my skin. You can see my full review here.


Contender
GOSH X-ceptional Wear
A great foundation that blends easily into the skin, leaves it looking matte and lasts all day.

Best Powder Foundation

BFTE 
To be fair I've only tried 2 powder foundations, BFTE's and Physicians Formula. The PF one is pressed, I find it quite hard to apply and the lightest shade is too dark for me whereas the BFTE is a loose powder which applies beautifully and comes in lots of shades (Alabaster suits me well). It's super easy to apply, you just buff it in, and it leaves my skin looking flawless. You can see me in it here.

Best Setting Powder

ELF Studio HD powder
This is just a good, bog-standard powder. It's colourless so should work for most skin shades (though if you're very dark skinned I think it could make you look a little ashy as it could leave a white cast) and sets foundations brilliantly, leaving you with matt skin. You only need to use a little bit and it's cheap at £6 (or cheaper in the US or with one of ELFs millions of codes).

Best Makeup Brushes

ELF Studio

I love the ELF Studio brushes, they're really cheap (generally £3.50), synthetic and thus cruelty free and just work brilliantly! I can honestly say these are on par with my Illamasqua brushes that can cost up to 10x as much. It's hard to explain why they're so good, they just work! I have a video about them here

Contender
Illamasqua
Illamasquas brushes are great, synthetic, soft, easy to use and apply and blend makeup easily.

Best Nail Varnish

Illamasqua
While Illamasqua nail varnishes are among the priciest I've ever bought at £13.50 each (though I always wait for a sale or discount code as I am cheap :P ) they're probably the best quality too. They're generally very pigmented needing only 2 coats to be fully opaque, come in beautiful colours, dry really quickly and last for ages without chipping or wearing.

Contender
Models Own, Lynnderella, GOSH
Models Own and GOSH polishes are great and dry quite quickly. I generally need 2-3 coats but the finish is smooth and glossy and lasts for days. Lynnderella polishes aren't quite as quick drying but they are so unusual and gorgeous that they're worth it!

Sorry for the lack of posts everyone, My laptop is being fixed so I have to use claire's and don't have access to my files and photos. I'm getting it back soon though.


If there's any other catergories you'd be interested in knowing my favourites of then comment and I'll add them in :)

FOTD - The Walk of Shame

Last saturday I went dancing with a friend of mine. All was going well and we were having a gay old time ala the Flintstones until suddenly and without warning she disappeared. I was lost and worried and very stressed . I  found out later that she went out for a ciggy and the bouncers wouldn't let her back in. She had no credit and I, being stupid and slightly drunk and wandering around the club looking for her, didn't think to try and ring/text her. When I found out what had happened she had already started off for her home, so I was very worried about having to journey home on my own at night as I can barely leave my house alone when it isn't dark and scary and I'm not inebriated and vulnerable. Luckilly we had gone to a club run by someone I know and he took me back to his house and let me sleep on his sofa (good old Carl!). In the morning I was so embarrassed and shy and worried about having been an imposition I got up before him and went on my merry way.

Wandering home in a sleep deprived stupor I felt very wicked and cool and youthful for once. It was a bit like having a one night stand, I would imagine, but without the awkwardness of having sex with someone for the first time.

Anyway the reason I'm relating this whole underwhelming story is that, somehow through a night of dancing, hours of sleeping scrunched on a couch and slight tears of stress, my eye makeup remained practically perfect!

 

(I shoved some lipstick on for the photo but the eyes were left alone)

And all that without primer!

Wearing:

Eyes: Sugarpill Magentric all over lid, Illamasqua Static in browbone and slightly in inner corner, Barry M Fine Glitter dust in 23  in outer v and crease.

Lips: Makeup For Ever lipstick in 152 (I think its discontinued)

I hope everyone in the US had a fun black friday and didn't get run over by stampedes of bargain hunters!

Speaking of, we're having a big sale!

 

Yes, I know, plug plug plug :P

FOTD

Here's quite an old FOTD, but for once i can remember most of what I was wearing! Yay! 

 

Here my Paris Hilton eye is particularly strong!

Wearing:

Face: don't remember. Probably Avon tinted moisturiser and some powder, Possibly Sleek Flamingo blush

Eyes: Inglot shadows. They were a prize in a giveaway and come in a freedom palette so i don't actually know the names, one is black with tiny gold shimmer/glitter and the other is a very light gold.

Lips: Barry M Mandarin Lip Lacquer

Not very complicated, but still more than my very lazy lipstick-and-mascara-alone looks that i do the majority of the time :P

NOTD

I absolutely love my nails at the moment. I decided to use my Barry M Nail Effects for the first time and absolutely love it! Now I want crackle varnish in every colour of the rainbow. I neeeed the China Glaze ones but am poor :(
Anyway here they are:

 

 

I used Sinful Colors Let's Meet which is a shimmery yellow with a tiny hint of pink to it's pearl, then the Nail Effects.

I Loooove watching the Nail Effects crack, it's so cool, I could watch it forever! It hypnotises me. 

I actually preferred it without the top coat because then the black shatter is matte which, against the contrasting shimmery glossy polish underneath, looks amazing. But I wanted it to last a long time so i put on a shiny top coat. It still looks great.

Here's a picture of it sans top coat:

 

I love this. The black crackle look both classy and grungy at the same time and looks a bit like leopard print from a distance. Not only that but it covers up any problems in the application of the base coat (if you look very closely you can see some air bubbles in the yellow) :P

But of course now I want to get rid of it to have a valentines mani! But as it's still perfect I won't.

What you wearing on your nails at the moment? What are your feelings on shatter/crackle polish?

Swatcharama - Barry M Lip Gloss swatches

 Here is the last lot of my Barry M lip swatches, today it's the lip gloss wands and glossy tubes :)

Firstly the wands. These retail at £4.49 and come in a hard plastic tube very similar to a Mac dazzleglass. The opacity changes according to the colour. I don't find these sticky at all, they're sort of silky feeling. They're not particularly long-lasting but don't disappear immediately.

No 5 - Bubblegum Pink

 

Slightly disappointed with this one to tell you the truth, it's a lot brighter in the tube than on the lips and not completely opaque. Still pretty though. Smells like bubblegum, but not too noticable once it's on the lips.

 More below the cut :)

Swatcharama - Barry M Lip Liners and Lip Lacquer Crayon Swatches

Today I have some swatches of Barry M lip pencils for you :)

Firstly the lip liners. These are your regular common or garden lip liner pencils, they last very well, they're very dry because they're all pigment and wax and very little oil, so if you were to wear these alone I'd highly suggest using a balm underneath, or a lip gloss on top. They apply quite nice and smoothly if you take the time. I did not :P  They cost £2.99

No 13 - Baby Pink

 

More under the cut :)

A couple of things you've probably seen before

But I just thought I'd post anyway, just in case :P

1. You can get a free Barry M makeup kit with Buzz magazine from the Sun on saturday. You just need to collect one voucher this time, and the kit includes a pencil eyeliner, lipgloss and nail varnish worth 'over £9'. It looks nice, I looove Barry M, but there's no way in hell I'm buying the Sun! :P

2. No 7 are having a 'best wink' competition to celebrate their new Exquisite Curl mascara. Upload your picture or video to their facebook page and you could win a goody bag or a star prize of a pampering weekend including a makeover by Lisa Eldridge. That would be awful for me, craven creature that I am, but I'm up for a goody bag! :P Also I like the advert because the musical backdrop has a proper 70s glam rock drumbeat. Just needs some 'heys!' with air punching. And a man with dodgy hair and platform shoes... Ok i'm waffling. The competition ends on the 15th so get your wink on ladies!

... Now I want some Glam Rock!


Oh boy!



Disclaimer: Someone from a company representing No 7 emailed me and informed me about the competition. I am sharing because I thought the Idea was cute and interesting. This is NOT a sponsored post, I am under no obligation to post about it and recieved nothing in return.

Swatcharama - Barry M Lip Paint swatches

I've decided that as it would appear I own all the lipsticks in the entire world I should swatch them all. First I will list them by brand, so if you're interested in, for instance, Nyx lipsticks, you can look at all the colours I have. Then I'm going to organise them all into colours, so if you are looking for an orange lipstick you can see swatches of all the different ones I own and decide if there's any you like :)
For starters here are my Barry M Lipstick swatches (some of these and some of the writing comes from an old post)

The swatches were done quickly, with no lipliner, lip primer and applied from the bullet (no lip brush) so if they're messy I apologise. Also some might be a little blurry, I've chosen the ones that show the colour the most accurately and in some cased out of focus shots I took were more accurate.

Actually some of them still aren't great, the camera I usually use is out of battery and we can't find the charger. I used my Mum's which, despite being much more expe nsive and in theory better, just completely sucks! Maybe I'll redo some of them when we find the good camera's charger.

I love Barry M and particularly their lipsticks. They're £4.49 each, come in over 30 colours ranging from the sillier ones like green, blue and black to more conventional reds, pinks and nudes. The formulas are mostly creamy and smooth, but there are some exceptions. Some of the more matte colours can be a bit dry (in my collection no. 147 Peachy Pink is the worst for this) and some of the others apply patchy. They're very long lasting and (generally) very true to colour and opaque. To me they don't seem to have any scent at all. I love them and suggest you pick up a few if there are colours that excite you!

Anyway on with the swatches!

No 37 - Black

 

More under the cut:

FOTD's

Full faces from my Sugarpill review.
Yesterday:

Avon tinted moisturiser, avon powder, ELF concealer, MAC joie de vivre cremeblend blush, ELF Studio eyebrow kit  in light, Sugarpill pressed eyeshadows in Buttercupcake, Flamepoint and Poison Plum, Sugarpill Chromalust shadow in Goldilux, Barry M Lip Laquer crayon in Mandarin, Lancome Oscillation mascara.

Today:

 

Avon tinted moisturiser, ELF concealer, avon powder, ELF studio eyebrow treat and tame in light, Sugarpill chromalust shadows in Asylum and Goldilux, Lancome Oscillation mascara, Avon lipstick in Ruby in Gold

Right, time for bed! xxxx

Barry M Lip Laquer Crayons

I probably should have waited for some sort of offer to be on to buy these as Superdrug and Barry M often have special deals on. But i couldn't wait, as soon as i saw these i had to try them, even going as far as to naughtily open some seals because there were no testers. And after testing them i had to buy all but one. The one i didn't get was no. 5 Ballet Pink which is a very very light milky pink, it's also incredibly frosty and much sheerer than the others.





from left to right the swatches are no. 3 Mandarin, no. 4 Party Pink, no. 1 Scarlet red and no. 2 Cherry red.

Lip swatches in the same order:



Mandarin is a sort of reddish orange, but is a bit brighter and orangey-er than it looks in this photo. It's got a lighter orange shimmer effect.



Party pink is gorgeous, a bright fuscia colour with lighter pinka and almost blue shimmer.


Scarlet is the most opaque and is a classic, metallic looking jewel toned garnet red.


Cherry Red is a more pinky/blue red than Scarlet, but is a bit darker and less pink than in this photo, it's definately red.

I absolutely adore these. The chunky pencil is really easy to use and makes a pretty neat line, though i applied these really quickly so they look a bit messy. I've heard a lot of people find these drying, i actually found them quite moisturising so i guess it just depends on your individual skin and lips. The colours are amazing, all the 4 i got are so bright and beautifully pigmented and have an amazing effect, It's not quite glitter or metallic, above i've referred to it as shimmer, but that's not quite right either. It's a sort of opal effect, it sort of reminds me of this effect in nail polishes:
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjg-jjYCa4JzIC6xGx_q5cCGaNt1tNyzmMUBwa1RCZGjm-JBZvqO8VwLBMOgVMP6UnsnLGI5tSpkOWNXPylSkPrtw9wIwH6U_nx48J1aPFGdXBVwQ-JAsDucI-RkEF7vtAld4X4DDQITcM/s1600-h/beautyexpo+027+copy.jpg
(thanks to nail juice for the photo :) )
but the colours are generally in the same colour-range. In Party pink this is almost duochrome with a blue sheen. You don't need much, one coat is basically enough to be opaque. I've been wearing the party pink one the most, about 3 times with a full lip coverage and i haven't needed to sharpen yet. I certainly will repurchase when these eventually run out and i really hope they come out with some other colours!

NOTD and formspring

I like asking questions so i decided to get a formspring:
http://www.formspring.me/lillianlow
ask me anything you want :)

Also i did my nails yesterday, they're nothign special but i thought i would share:

i'm wearing Barry M nail paint in Tangerine, which is a bright shimmery orange, this is 3 coats with a top coat. Very pretty and so far hasn't chipped, even with digby gentle chomping on my fingers. You can probably see the reason i haven't shown my nails before. I have a nervous habit of biting off my cuticles and the skin around my fingers. It's better now than it has been in years, but occaisionally i still do it and so i've got lots of little wounds around the nail bed.

FOTD - pink glitter

This was my look for the Devant gig. The photo is pretty terrible (i swear there is no good lighting in my house!) and i looked a lot more vibrant and bright in real life.



I was wearing:
Barry M lip laquer crayon in no. 4 Party pink (review and swatches of these coming soon)
Illamasqua blush in Nymph
and Hi fi cosmetics Glam Rock eye glitx in Electric
and my regular tinted moisturiser, powder and mascara.

And here is a really awful shot of my outfit. This was the first time i wore it and it's so pretty i wanted to show it.

And yes, i totally need to wear a girdle under this too. Sigh.

Jellyminx Thinks contest entry number 2 - Snowdrop

This time i based my look around one of my birth months flowers, and one of my personal favourites, snowdrops.

It's sort of an updated version of my mistletoe and wine look from before christmas.









You totally can't tell, because i couldn't get a good picture, but on my lips, over the baby pink pencil, the gloss has an amazing green reflect. Boo.

I am wearing:

face:
NYX liquid foundation in LM01 Pale
Avon loose powder
Illamasqua powder blusher in Nymph

Eyes:
white pencil eyeliner (on waterline and eyebrows)
ELF eye transformer (the green section) as a higlight
Hi Fi eyeshadow in Grinch all over lid
Barry M dazzle dust in the crease
white liquid eyeliner
black mascara

Lips:
Baby Pink Barry M lip pencil
Spell Hologlow gloss in Absinthe

FOTD

Pretty simple, i wanted to try out a new product i got in the mail this morning (review coming soon)





Just black mascara, Barry M lipstick in punky pink and hi fi cosmetics glam rock eye glitz in pyrotechnic.

And as you can see, i bleached my eyebrows! I hated it at first, now i rather like it. It's fun anyway, and temporary and i can pencil them in any colour i want :)
When i decide to go back to normal it's gonna look really really odd :P

Barry M Lipgloss swatches

Cherry Glitter:


This one smells of a sort of synthetic cherry candy. I like it but i can imagine other people might find it sickly or unpleasant. This one is quite sheer and i wouldn't recommend wearing it on it's own as it can go on a bit patchy. However i LOVE this over the top of a red lipstick or lipliner, the glitter is beautiful and not at all gritty or rough and the sheer red makes the red base look even more vibrant.

Here it is over the top of a red lipstick (have since forgotten which one)


Tropical Tango:


This one is less sheer and looks beautiful on it's own, but i imagine it would look even more vibrant and special over an orange liner. This smells absolutely delicious, it reminds me of fruit salad chews (these are an old-school british sweet, i don't know anything it might compare to outside the uk) i cant imagine anyone would dislike it because to me it's so irresistable, but it's quite strong so again check the smell before you buy.

Also i added some new lip swatches to my Barry M lipsticks post here:
http://lillianfunnyface.blogspot.com/2009/11/barry-m-lip-swatches.html

Secret Santa!

Today i recieved my present from Sabrina at http://a-littleobsessed.blogspot.com 's Secret Santa :D Yay!

I was in the bath when the postman knocked. I had to run down in my towel to get my parcel, the poor postman was horrified :P Then i rushed back into the bath, but was so excited to have recieved this mysterious package i opened it then! XD

Here's the lovely box it arrived in and the card that came with it:

(behold as i try and cover my filthy carpet with paper and fail!)

and here's what was inside the box:


(there were more Lindors but they may have been eaten in the bath... )

I love how everything colour-coordinates! The nail varnish is absolutely stunning and i can't wait to try it out, and i'm looking forward to making a nice eye look with the pencil. And Lindors are one of my absolute favourite chocolates :D

Anyway thank you so much Ellie! If you read this give us a comment so i can read your blog :)

I really hope the girl i am acting as santa for has got her present and likes it!

A day and night FOTD

Have finally finished all the illustrations! Phew, i've been so stressed!

Last tuesday i went up to The Foundry, which is a pub/bar/artspace that allows anyone to put their work up on various walls.

Here is my face of the tuesday:


And close ups:



check out my insanely bloodshot eyes!


I was wearing:
face: avon personal match tinted moisturiser in light, Barry M blusher in no. 3
eyes: Barry M Kohl pencil in no. 23, beautyuk glitter eyeliner in no. 5, givenchy phenomen'eyes mascara in black
lips: Barry M lip liner in no. 2, Rimmel vinyl 1000 carat lipgloss in Steal the show

Here is my night look, which was basically my day face but with some foundation and red lipstick:

Here's the changes:
Face: Nyx liquid foundation in LM01 Pale, ELF complexion perfection powder, Collection 2000 illuminating touch concealer in naked.
Lips: Revlon Matte lipstick in Really Red

And here's (most of) my wall and some people i don't know :P :


Last night i went to take my work down and discovered that between saturday night and sunday night someone stole 3 of my paintings. I am terribly upset about it. They weren't my favourite pictures or anything, but when you work hard and put your creativity into something and someone can just get away with taken things. This is how i'm going to make my living! It's just very hurtful.

I've been a very naughty poor person and had a huge haul recently. I just watched Confessions of a Shopaholic and found myself relating much too much to the main character! D:

Anyway i have a lot more time to blog now, so i'm back babeh.