Maybelline Superstay Foundation Review

Hi my darlings - hope you are all having a good week so far and there is not too much last minute xmas prep to be done. I am sure most of you aren't as unorganised as me!!

Recently I decided to give some drug store makeup a go - back in the day when I was a young girlie I used to love using some of the cheaper brands, but that was mainly because I had the most amazing Garnier base that they stopped making.  Hate that.

One of the foundations I picked up was Maybelline Super Stay 24.  I am a sucker for a foundation that claims to be long lasting but absolutely nothing lives up to double wear in my experience (if you disagree let me know as I would love to find another!!).

The packaging is pretty boring but I do like that there is a pump on the top which makes it easier for application.  It retails at the around £9 mark.  As a lot of the high end drug store ones do these days.

I really like the finish of the foundation.  It's very smooth and sets pretty well.  I wouldn't say it lasts 24 hours though!! Definitely not.  It really needs a touch up come home time. 

It's not cakey or drying though which is a major positive for me at this time of year as I find certain foundations just don't agree with me at all and cause flaky skin.  Not good.

This is what it looks like in the flesh anyway.  I should say also that I am wearing an immense amount of MAC cream highlighter in this picture and MAC strobe cream as a base so it's highly likely you could make it a lot matte-er, if that is something you are in to.  Personally, I prefer a more dewy look these days - hence the sheen!!! Also, this is work makeup so forgive my tired eyes and poor chapped lips - this is pretty much how I REALLY look :(

Rockstar Shellac - Christmas Nails!

Tis the season...  For amazing nails!

Shellac Rockstar Nails

(For videos see here.)

Dinner and Drinks FOTD

Happy Sunday everyone! Last night I went out for dinner and drinks with the boyf. I hit Northern Quarter in Manchester and tried SoLita which was very nice! Yummy food. (I am going to have some serious gym work to do in the new year). Anyway, after a wash and dry of the hair and trying out some new products (hello new obsession with L'occitane!) this is the look I ended up with and the products I used.

Dinner and Drinks - Makeup Look
with NARS, M.A.C

Products I used:-

• L'occitane Precious Eye Balm and Face Cream
• MAC Studio Sculpt Foundation 
• MAC Mineralize Powder
• MAC Lustre Drops in Sun Rush
• Brown e/s from Costal Scents 88 Palette for contouring and filling in brows
• Estee Lauder Double Wear Mascara 
• Lancome Liquid Black Eyeliner
• NARs blush in Orgasm
• NARs lipstick in Niagra
• Rimmel in Tiramisu 

Mint Shellac - Shade St Petersburg

Most of you will  now know that I am partial to a gel polish.  It started with Shellac manicures every two weeks until I moved and purchased my own at home kit because to continue getting them done in Manchester would bankrupt me!

I have now used Shellac, Gelish, Red Carpet Manicure and Sensationail.  Shellac is still my favourite, but I am not trained so I can't really get hold of that.  So generally I use red carpet manicure and the lamp I had also is red carpet manicure.

Last week I spotted a new brand I had not heard of at the clothes show.  Namely, Mint Shellac.  They seem to be pretty new on the scene and their products definitely look to copy Shellacs.  They even have a Mint Shellac Solar Oil!! As far as I know though they are not in any way affiliated with Shellac.  Cheeky!

Anyway, they were offering manicures and had quite a wide range of colours and accessories so I was pretty interested.  In the end I managed to pick up four colours and a lamp for a real bargain.  Things were reduced but normally colours are £10.99 and the lamps are £69.99.

I picked up the lamp because it is a UV one (mine is presently a LED one) and I can fit in the whole of my hand (not just four fingers like my LED one).

The colours I got are St Petersburg (grey), San Diego (pink), Ciaro (nude) and Monaco (deep red) and I can't wait to try them all but for now I have tried the grey and I love it.

Having tried both the polish and the lamp I am so impressed!  The colour is deep and so you only need two coats, with my red carpet manicure and sensationail the colours are always quite sheer even after a couple coats.  It applies easily and cures well.  I think that's partly due to having a lamp that all of my hand can fit in too as the lights aren't just based at the top, so the sides of the nail get cured too.

Here's the result...

Shiny shiny!

Definitely going to be buying more of these.

You can our base them here.

Sunday Afternoons...

Magazine Catch Up Times

MAC Lipstick in Ruby Woo and Hair Dyeing

Without Flash

With Flash

So I wanted to try and find a red that would work for Christmas time but red can be a very intimidating colour when it comes to lipstick. 

I spotted a lot of pictures on the net with girls rocking MAC's Ruby Woo though so I thought I would give it a go too. 

I really like it.  It goes on matte - so watch out for it sticking to dry bits - I used my MAC Lip Conditioner underneath it so it applied nicely.  I should also mention that I applied using a brush and built up the colour.  It felt safer although I am not sure that I will do that next time.  Was a pain!

What do you think??

Also, I dyed my hair using L'oreal's sublime mousse - got to say that I wasn't that impressed but the colour can be seen above. 

Hmmm

Clothes Show 2012 Haul

I promise that not all my posts will be haul posts in the foreseeable future (feel like that is all I am doing at the moment).  Mainly because I have no money to shop with now haha!

I had to share this with you though.  

Absolutely amaaaazing time at the clothes show and lots of goodies!!!

Dedicated fashion show post coming soon!

When It's Dull and Wintery - Brighten Up Your Makeup!

*Old Photo*

I found this photo whilst going through my old files.  It's from about a year ago.  Not sure why I didn't post it as I quite like this look!

What do you think?

It's making me want to chop my hair again too - think it looks better shorter..?

Haul Time - Review Preview!

This week it has been all about the cheap makeup

well that and a bit of MAC which will get previewed shortly!!

Loving the Fix Me UP 

Not loving the naturally matt - so far. 

Review sonnie!!

Hope you're having a good week lovelies!