Nails!

Lately i've been trying to keep my fingernails painted almost constantly, because having pretty nails has really helped me to stop biting my cuticles and the skin around my nails. I haven't stopped completely but i'm a lot better now, i used to have horrible wounds and the whole area around my nails were red and sore. Having pretty polish stops me biting so much because i don't want to chip my polish. So i think this month is going to be pretty nail heavy :)

Here are just a few pics of some manicures i've done recently including my first ever attempts at nail art (apart from french tips)

 

Candy Cane nails

 

My fist attempt at Marbling (little-finger-nail did not go well :P) supposed to be like a peppermint.

 

Models Own Disco Mix (LOVE this one)

 

GOSH holographic (SO so beautiful)

Lime Crime - The Girl can't help it.

How long has it been since good old Limey was found doing something sneaky and dodgy? Well i posted about it last saturday, but let's give her the benefit of the doubt and say her awful newsletter went out on friday, so giving her a full week of not doing anything hilarious.

Now this, which was spotted by someone on the good old funny Examiner thread, is absolutely hilarious.

This is now the front page of Limecrimemakeup.com note how underneath the picture it claims 'Doe Deere is wearing opaque lipstick in Retrofuturist'

Ok, now let's go back in time to the beginning of October 2008, when (i believe) Lime Crime Makeup hadn't even launched yet (i think it happened around Halloween of that year, but i may be wrong) and The Candyfuture lipstick collection was a mere twinkle in Limey's eye. Here's an interesting post:
http://www.doedeereblogazine.com/articles/porcelain-doll-makeup-tutorial

So you were wearing a lipstick that hadn't been invented yet were you Doe?
Also check out the difference in colour from the original tutorial to the photo on the front of her webpage. The lipstick which was originally a slightly brickish orange based red is now a bright, blue based, pillar-box red.

Though this can't be proper proof as she still mentions a Revlon lipliner in the tutorial, this shows evidence that originally she was wearing a Revlon Lipstick:
http://i41.tinypic.com/b87kw0.jpg

But even if that person was discussing the liner, it doesn't make a difference, how has Doe managed to get a lipstick that didn't come into existence for another year, and then why change it's colour using photoshop?

Lol lol lol.

Hi everyone!
Sorry for my lack of postings and commentings lately, i've had a it of a busy weekend and then today was my lovely Claire's birthday so i've been baking cakes and cooking her meals and just generally spoiling her :)
I'm hoping to get some long promised reviews and things done this week but i'm not sure i'll have the time because wednesday is my sisters birthday and my other sister is bringing her new baby over so tomorrow i need to make sure the house is clean and sterilised :P Then on thursday we're going out to celebrate and at the weekend i'm going to see my Grandma for her birthday (SO many birthdays!) and then it's easter. Busy busy! But hopefully i'll be back soon because i've got lots i want to post!
See you soon!
xxx

Quick Lime Crime Drama Update

Recently i've been writing up a big big long post focussing on showing evidence (as much as there can be with Xenia deleting everything she can on the net) of Lime Crime's various shady shenanigans (duct taped dress, calling my mum an asshole, shillbidding, fake charity auction, false claims about her products being vegan, attacking competitors like Sugarpill, sexism and stereotyping gay people, repackaging makeup, threatening to sue someone for a bad review etc etc etc) and that's taking a long time because i want to be as concise as possible and... well there's just so much to chronicle! (I'm still trying to be as fair as possible and not post anything just to be bitchy, like the utterly hilarious video to SF Disco she released that is saved on Claire's computer for the lolz) .

But here's a quick update. For a while Limey has been relatively quiet, even allowing some bad reviews (such as Anastasia's fair but negative review) without feeling the need to sue or getting team Candy Future on the case. But now she's back again.

Temptalia, which is one of the biggest beauty blogs i know of, posted a review of Lime Crime lipsticks a few days ago which was really fair in my opinion. Christine who writes Temptalia was aware of the drama and negativity surrounding Lime Crime but refused to even comment on it, instead leaving the review to focus solely on the quality of the lipsticks which she was sent for free. Christine said there were things she did like about the lipsticks such as the packaging and pigmentation and said some colours actually applied very nicely, but overall her review seemed more negative, describing a lot of colours as 'chalky' or 'streaky', the formula was quite drying, the packaging felt cheap and she just felt they were overpriced. She provided lip swatches for all the colours and you could see what she meant, some of the colours looked fine but some looked very patchy and even looked dry. She gave them a C- overall.

Xenia commented on the thread in a way that actually made me feel like she wasn't that bad a person. She just said it was an individual experience and she was sorry that Christine didn't like the lipsticks but other people have loved them and that they had a no-questions asked returns policy (which certainly wasn't the case before, but at least this shows improvement in her customer service). This seemed like a fair and normal reply to criticism from a company and i actually thought it was quite decent of her.

However, it has now come to light that Xenia was not at all happy about this fair review as she wrote this in the latest Candy Future newsletter:


'Finally, we wanted to discuss a less-than-favorable review we received on Temptala.com. The review gave our Candyfuture opaque lipsticks a C- rating... We don't agree! Do you? Here is the link so you can see for yourself: temptalia.com/lime-crime-lipsticks-reviews-photos-swatches

We would like to encourage all of our futurettes who have had good experiences with our company and products to make yourselves heard. Please don't keep your happy opinions to yourself! Feel free to email Christine (Temptalia) at [Her personal email address] and share your positive Lime Crime experiences with her, let her know you disgree with her review, or leave a comment on the article letting everyone know your personal view on our products and company. Please be honest, respectful, and polite!'

So basically not only are Lime Crime asking people to spam the article leaving positive reviews to try and debunk Christine's views of the product, but are actually encouraging people to spam her personal email (she has a temptalia email account which presumably is what is viewable to people on the site, this one must be her personal address so i find it very creepy that Xenia is giving it out like she has the right) telling her she is wrong about a product that she has had for months! This can't be usual business practice can it? Actually asking your fans to  harass anyone who leaves a less than favourable review? People had already replied to the article saying they had experienced different things from Christine so did she really need to set the goons on her?
And what good is it going to do? Setting a bunch of fans on Christine telling her that somehow she was mistaken, the lipsticks didn't apply streaky, it isn't at all drying, they don't taste bad, she was somehow fooled by her own senses and really they are the worlds best lipsticks ever!!!!
At least as an afterthought she tells them to be honest, respectful and polite.

But what really disgusts me is the fact that this was once again a two-faced attack. She acted all sweetness and light to Christine, saying she was sorry she had a bad experience and still thanking her for the review, but behind her back she's telling people to gang up and debunk her fair review and send messages to her personal account. It's written as nicely as possible but to me it just sounds like a call to attack Temptalia.

Anyway i hadn't bothered to comment on Temptalia's review up til now as Christine obviously didn't want the drama mentioned on her review and i respected that. However seeing as Xenia is asking people to leave their honest, personal views about the company and it's products maybe i'll just do as she asks.

Also, i HATE her name is Xenia because my best friend is called Xenia too, so when i'm talking to Claire or someone i have to differentiate between the lovely Xenia and the low little lying money hungry Xenia.

Illamasqua Week has ended!

So my Illamasqua Week (yes yes it was more like a month, but i'm still calling it a week because i'm stubborn) is now finally drawing to an end. I really liked having the focus on one brand because it forced me to write lots of reviews, where often i can be quite lazy and keep to quick, easy posts, but reviewing all my products and doing looks and things in one week was a rediculous idea, and there were times I wanted to post about other products but didn't want to because i was doing this Illamasqua project. So i think i will do more themed posts similar to this, but will do it in months to give myself enough time to review everything thoroughly and also continue with other posts unrelated to the theme.

So since the start of this project my feelings for Illamasqua have not changed, i still love them dearly and they are my absolute favourite high-end brand, but that does not mean i love everything they make, the cream eyeshadows were very disappointing and i really didn't like the one lipstick i've tried (though i don't believe what i thought would be true of all their lipsticks, i need to try another colour) and while i like their powder eyeshadows i don't think they are particularly special. However their lipglosses and pencils are the best i've ever tried, the blush i have is amazing in it's staying power and pigmentation and i really like all of the other products I have tried. I love the ideas and aesthetics behind the brand, i've found their customer service to be very friendly and helpful and, well i just love them. I want to try all their products.

Their new collection, Body Electrics, is coming out next month. Their blog described the collection as '"Due for a mid April launch across all counters in the UK - and May in the US - Body Electrics celebrates the body in motion, enhances your individual contours and is an explosion of electrifying energy. Again, we have new product textures and some otherwordly shades and unique finishes." I cannot wait! I'm so excited.
I have been invited to go to the blogger event to preview the products and words can't described how happy and honoured i am. This will be my first ever blogger event and i'm just so overwhelmed that i would be invited. It will be a big step for me to go because of my bravery (i imagine i will need a lot of Dutch Courage) but i am absolutely going to go, i'm not going to let my anxiety stop me doing something i really want to do. I need to feel the fear and do it anyway :)

In other news my sister had a baby boy yesterday, both of them are fine and he looks like a creepy old man/alien/pig thing like all babies do to me :P

Illamasqua Week - Brush Review

 

From left to right: Blending Brush 1, Highlighter Blush, Blusher Brush 2, Blending Brush 2.

This is the only post on Illamasqua where i did not buy anything myself (or nick it off my girlfriend :P), 3 of them were a prize from the Illamasqua competition i came 2nd in and the other (Blending Brush 1) was a present. At first when i recieved the 3 that were my prize i was a bit disappointed as, if i had had the choice, i would not have picked any of the 3 but i decided to keep them and now i'm really happy i did. Illamasqua brushes are all synthetic and so cruelty free, which is wonderful. So far, having used them for several months but, very shamefully, only washed them once i have not noticed any shedding whatsoever. The brushes are very, very soft and dense, firm but not stiff. The brushes range in price from £18 to £35 which, i think (though may be wrong) is normal for a high end brand.

Packaging wise these come simply in the little 'jacket' you see in the photo. It's 'frosted' looking with black writing. Inside some of the brushes were protected by little plastic tube things  over the bristles. One thing i didn't like is that once you took this protective covers off you cannot put them back on again as it's impossible to get them back on over the bristles (they just splay and refuse to go in) and you can't pull them up over the bottom as part of the handle is too wide. But this isn't really too much of a bother because, personally, i probably wouldn't remember to put them back on every time. The brushes themselves aren't particularly exciting looking but are attractive and classic looking, with black bristles and shiny black handles which are light but somehow feel 'right' in my hand.

The Blending Brush 1 is probably the most used of the brushes, but i am terrible at blending so i can't really use it to it's full potential. However i really like it, it's very soft but i can control it easily and it's the perfect size to blend out my socket line. The Blending Brush 2 is the least used because, frankly, i'm not sure what to do with it. It's basically the same as number 1 but just slightly bigger, so it's not really big enough for blending out concealer or blush but then i wouldn't use it for my eye shadows because i have number 1 for that. Any thoughts anyone? The Highlighter Brush is like a larger, slightly more domed version of the blending brushes. It works excellently for applying both cream and powder highlighters lightly and evenly and is also great for blending the edges of blusher or getting face products into the nooks and crannies of my face, like around the nose (thanks for the tip Jenn!). Finally Blusher Brush number 2 is one of my favourites, it's a quite thick brush with a softly angled top and i fnd it perfect for getting under my cheekbones to contour my cheeks. It's also wonderful at applying blush in one sweep from cheek to hairline and highlighter too.

I don't own any other high-end brushes (apart from one Lancome lip brush that i nicked off Claire) so i can't compare them to Mac or anything, but i'll briefly compare them to my ELF brushes (the majority of my brushes are ELF studio, i'm going to post a review of these bad boys soon).  I adore my ELF brushes, which are absolutely fantastic value (all £3.50 apart from the Kabuki brush which is a fiver) they are also all synthetic and cruelty free. The ELF brushes are actually very similar in quality to the Illamasqua, they are soft and shed rarely. However they are not as soft as the Illamasqua and are a bit less firm causing them to 'splay' more and making them slightly less easy to control. I don't have any ELF brushes that are for the same purpose as the Illamasqua ones so it's hard to really compare them.

So would i buy more? Well if i had the money to be buying high-end brushes i would definately buy more of these. The ones i got as a prize i never would have chosen myself and yet i now wouldn't want to be without them, so i'd love to try some of the ones i actually would have picked. They are amazing quality in my opinion and knowing they are all cruelty free pleases me immensely. I wouldn't call them overpriced but they certainly aren't cheap and i couldn't afford more at the moment. I really like the way they look, though i'd also like some more gaudy over-the-top brushes too.

Illamasqua Week - FOTD 6

Very very squinty photos because it was too bright for me (i have a problem with my eyes, they let in too much light, i have to wear sunglasses all year round).

 

Face: Illamasqua Powder blush in Nymph, Avon tinted moisturiser.

Eyes: Illamasqua powder eyeshadows in Dizzy, Grope and Geisha, Jelly Pong Pong wakeup makeup (on brows), colorstay 24hr eyeliner, Lancome Oscialltion mascars

Lips: Illamasqua Intense Lipgloss in Fume.

Illamasqua Week - Sheer Lipgloss Review

 In a lot of ways these sheer lipglosses are very like the Intense Lipglosses, they come in the exact sme packaging, have the same scent and seem to have the same, or at least a very similar, formula. The difference, as maybe you can guess from the name, is that these lipglosses are sheer instead of opaque. Also there are fewer 'odd' colours as i guess a colour like green or blue wouldn't show well when it's sheer and just turn your lips a funny colour. But you can get some lovely shades of red, pinks, purples, peaches and nudes.  Again these are £12.50 for 7ml .

I only own one of these, Explode, but Claire has one too, Divine. I've only tried it on to take a photo, so i asked her to write a little bit about what it's like to wear properly and here's what she had to say:

'This was a gift to me from Lillian :) We were shopping around at the Illamasqua counter and she overheard me admiring it's Calpol-pink colour. When my back was turned she bought it on the sly to give to me later! Aww.

Divine goes on very smoothly, it's not thick or gloopy, nor does it feel tacky or unpleasant on my lips. I don't  wear a lot of lip products, so I'm usually very concious of the texture, and if something is too sticky or too drying, I can't tolerate it very well and want to scrub it off, and this is especially true of a lot of lipglosses I've tried. But i can put on Divine and forget i'm wearing it because the texture is so nice. Divine also doesn't seem as sticky as most of the ones I have, and I was especially impressed when on a windy day my hair smacked me in the face, and when I went to brush it away, it didn't stick to my lips in the same horrible way as other lipglosses do (for instance Pink Poodle by Mac is a similar colour but i find it a lot more sticky).


Because it's not thick, it's hard to build up the colour, but for a sheer lipgloss, you do get quite a lot of pigment onto your lips without much work. It's also quite long lasting for a gloss, it will vanish within about an hour without touching it up, but in my experience with glosses, this is pretty good, and I find it quite easy to apply considering it doesn't have a wand. I find the tip is a nice shape for pushing the gloss around on my lips, though maybe because it's sheer, I can get away with being a bit sloppy applying it, so it's easy for me to just pop it in my bag and carry it around if I want to wear it all day.'

Thanks Claire! Kiss kiss.

My findings when wearing Explode and briefly Divine are pretty much the same as hers. For something specifically called a 'sheer' gloss these are really quite pigmented, around the same as the average gloss you can buy. I guess calling it 'sheer' is to show to differentiate them from the opaque Intense lipglosses, not because they are super sheer themselves. They still impart a good amount of colour on your lips, but it is translucent instead of opaque.

To me they feel the same as the Intense glosses, even though the Intense ones must pack a lot more pigment. And, while they do wear off quicker than the opaque colours they still stick around for about an hour or 2 before you really need to reapply, which personally i find quite good for a gloss (don't know if it's just me but most glosses tend to last just a few minutes on my lips before they just disappear or feather away). As they are sheer hey are easier to apply and less high-maintenance than the opaque ones.

So finally here are the lip swatches of the two i have access to.

 

Explode - a lovely milky colour which shows mainly pink reflects but also some gold and a little blue. As you can see it covers the natural colour of my lips quite well.

 

Divine - Pretty clear bright pink.

So would i purchase again? Well i'm not as in love with these as i am the opaque ones simply because i love opaque lip products a lot more than sheer. However there are a few colours i really like and am interested in buying (the purples are lovels and some of the pinks are very pretty) . Another great thing about these is that you can layer them over lipsticks or liners to change the colour. Explode is really lovely over other colours as it makes the colour have a milky-pinky sheen but the original colour still shines through. I think for other people who are used to wearing sheer glosses or lipsticks these would be great though, their staying power, formula and colour range make them still really worth the money. I really like them a lot, just not as much as the Intense Glosses, which as you may know are one of my favourite ever lip products.

Illamasqua Week - Powder Eyeshadow Review

This is one of the hardest reviews i've hard to write because... well i just don't know what to say about these eyeshadows. They're not bad at all, but then they're not amazing either. I personally find it hard to compare eyeshadows to other brands because unless you have the same basic colour the colour, finish etc is going to be variable on purpose. By this i mean you could buy 2 peach shadows and one could seem much more pigmented and bright, but maybe that's just because the lighter one is designed to a paler colour.

Anyway these eyeshadows come in tonnes of colours (there must be over 100) ranging from pale neutrals to near neon so i'm sure there's something for everyone. The majority of colours are matte but there are a few shimmers too, I'm actually pleased about this as i love matte shades and the majority of brands seem to favour shimmery or pearly shadows. They are £15 each and you get 2g. They come in the same exact packaging as the cream eyeshadows, so i'm not going to bother describing it again :)

 

Firstly i have 8 of the shadows but bought them second hand from Rhamnousia so got them for £6 or £7 each, instead of 15. The colours are (from left to right)

top:  Grope, Succumb, Dizzy, Lick

below:  Courtesan, Can Can, Creep, Geisha

 

 And swatches: Succumb, Grope, Dizzy, Lick, Geisha, Creep, Courtesan, Can Can

As you can see some of the colours are not very bright, but this is because i chose some pale colours boardering on neutrals as i honestly don't have any in my collection. When used in looks they certainly don't look dull, they are actually quite pigmented, they just don't look it here (if that makes sense)

I also bought (this time actually from Illamasqua at full price) the Dystopia collection palette in Pink Smoke which contains Quantum, Matter, Synth and Rasp shadows. This cost £29 and you get 4 shadows at 1.5g each. As a single shadow is 2g for £15 i think this is pretty great value. Illamasqua used to make custom palettes where you could choose any 4 of their cream or powder eyeshadows for the same price as this. I loved this idea and, after going a-swatching a few months ago, i had a list of colours i wanted to make into several palettes but sadly before i could order mine they discontinued the custom palettes. If anyone from Illamasqua happens to read this PLEASE consider bringing them back.

 

 

 

The packaging is basically the same as with the single eyeshadows only giant and without a window in the lid. Instead it has a really nice big, good quality mirror. Again i really like the packaging, it's very sophistiated and yet has a bit of an ususual, slightly gothic 'edge' with it's shiny black plastic and curved sides. One problem i have with it is that it doesn't say the colours of the actual shadows, it just says 'Pink Smoke' which is the name of the palette. This has caused a problem in actually knowing which colour is which.2 of the colours in the palette (Rasp and Quantum) aren't available seperately, Synth is and it's easy to tell which colour it is as it's a pearlescent white colour, Matter is on available seperately too but it is one of the 2 greys in the palette so i can't figure out which is which. I just have guessed that 'Rasp' is the pink shade because it hints at 'raspberry' but i might be completely wrong. And then out of the two greys i've just decided 'Quantum' is the lighter one and 'Matter' is darker as on the website it describes it as 'gunmetal'.

 

Swatches (sorry they're blurry).

Matter, Quantum, Rasp, Synth (or so i assume)
These colours are shimmery, except for Rasp. 

Now for the quality of these. Personally i think they are great. They blend wonderfully, the mattes are just as blendable as the shimmers and i have no problems with them at all. The wear of them is great, on me even without primer, these last all day without any creasing and with very little, if any, fading. The shimmery ones do have a little bit of fall out but nothing terrible. I really like the colours i have and, while they aren't the brightest eyeshadows around, they are well pigmented and very very pretty.

So would i repurchase? I'm not really sure to be honest. The eyeshadows are fine, wear well, blend brilliantly, and are very pretty colours. However they're not really particularly unusual and honestly i don't think they're worth £15. I might purchase again if i find a colour that's really new and different, or if they have a sale. I do, however, really like the shadows i've got, i certainly wouldn't discourage anyone from buying them as they are good quality in my opinion.

Illamasqua Week - 1920s Dystopia tutorial

Yesterday I wanted to do a really fun, avant-garde inspired FOTD with my Illamasqua products. I decided to take my inspiration from their Dystopia collection and the images they promoted it with and combine it with a 1920s flapper look. As it's unusual and fun i thought i'd try to do my first proper tutorial with pictures.

 

Face: Gosh foundation in Porcelain, Screen face white translucent powder, Illamasqua Illuminator in Fondle, Dainty Doll concealer in Fair.

Eyes: Illamasqua Illuminator in Odyssey, Illamasqua powder eyeshadows in  , kajal liner (unsure of brand, thanks Rhamnousia!), Lancome Oscillation mascara.

Lips: Barry M lipstick in 37 (black), Nyx lip liner in blackberry, Illamasqua Intense Lipgloss in Galactic

So if you'd like to learn how to do this tutorial please read below the cut :)