OPI Touring America miniature polishes

I personally love OPI polishes and when I really love a polish from there collections I find the money to buy it even at there high prices of £10.00 because honestly I think they are worth it, you get 15ml of high quality polish (even if you don't use the entire bottle). But anyway the more cost effective way of getting OPI polishes is buying the miniature collection kits which they come out with after a large new release. I loved the cream finishes to a lot of the polishes out of the Touring America collection but didn't get any of them because personally none of them were really worth it. But when I found this in my stocking at Christmas I couldn't of being happier I love all of the colours and I can now top up my nail polish during the day if I chip them (most likely as I take two art subjects at Sixform).

Even though this collection came out late last year the kit is still available at large department stores such as John-Lewis, Fenwick's and Sally's hair and beauty supplies.

This swatch picture doesn't do the polishes justice as you can't see the finishes each polish has but my favourites from this set is A-taupe the space needle and French quarter for your thoughts x

Stila smudge pot in Kitten

Stila smudge pots are considered to be a copy of MAC paint pots and I used to agree but when I purchased it I realised they were of the same quality except for the fact that if you leave the lid off they will most likely shrivel up and become impossible to work with, I witnessed this when I went to go and try the tester at the stand in Boots and finding it to be completely useless. But when just purchased they are creamy and easy to prime or cover your lids with.

I first heard of this on Meganrosettes channel on Youtube and In was very eager to try it out. The product does resemble Bare study by MAC but this colour has more of a peachy glow than just all over shimmer which I get with Bare study. Smudge pots where originally developed to be used as liners but I personally just use it as a base for any of my champagne eye shadows.

Top- When first applied    Bottom- Blended out
This product can be found in larger Boots stores and it retails for £13.00 x

MAC Golden Olive pigment

Iv'e mentioned before that I enjoy wearing olive colours on my eyes so when I went to London late last year I saw this it happened it to be an impulse buy but I certainly don't regret it. The colour is a bright dark green than a typical olive colour but I'm still in love.

If you don't know what pigments are they are just basically what they say they are, loose shadow pigment before they are pressed. They can be used in multiple ways; On the face and body these aren't just restricted to the eyes , they can also be used wet and dry and you get a stronger pigmentation I personally think when you use them wet (MAC fix+ or mixing medium is great for this). Be careful when purchasing pigments as some can be harmful to your eyes so be sure to read the box (These are normally red shades). Pigments can be mixed together and if you aren't wanting to buy a full pot of pigment you can purchase sample in little pots on websites such as allcosmeticswholesale this is a more cost and storage affective way of purchasing pigments. Even though pigments are loose they are easily pressed you can look up tutorials on Youtube and find how to do this but pigments are still finely milled so be sure to use a base such as a paint pot or primer ( This also stops creasing and fading).
-Pigment are great for highlighting you can also mix them with foundation to give you a glow. (I suggest colours such as Vanilla, Pink opal and Naked)
Using pigments as blush is fairly simple, you can mix the pigment with MAC strobe cream creating a cream blush. This technique also works for using them as lip gloss, just apply a clear gloss to your lips and gently press a small amount onto your lips for a hint of colour. There are many different ways to use and manipulate pigments but i think i'm going to stick with using Golden Olive as an eyeshadow.

Top- Wet    Bottom- Dry
I love wearing this all over my lid with something like naked or patina eye shadow blended out in my crease. The pigment cost £16.50 and the pot includes 4.5g, this product can be purchased on the MAC website, any stand or free standing store x

REVLON Blushed Wines

After watching Britain's Next Top Model last season I wanted to look up some of the make-up looks they wore at the shoots. BNTM is sponsored by REVLON so I knew it would be pretty affordable compared too, if they used MAC so I found the tutorials on there facebook and bought some of the products they used. 

The palette i want to talk to you about was used to create an english rose look and I think that is one of the many reasons I picked it up. I love REVLON products, they are good quality and even though they are one of the more expensive drug store brand they are definitely worth what you pay. The palette comes with four eye shadows, a rounded sponge applicator and a precise sponge applicator. The shadows are meant to stay for 12 hours, but since I use a primer this normally happens anyway so i don't know if this is true.

The shadows are well pigmented but not the best, with a satin finish. I think I could use these often but personally I think I will only wear them to recreate the look I saw. To see the tutorials visit the BNTM page and click on videos. The palette costs around £7.99 and can be found in all BOOTS stores as well as other drug stores x

TOPSHOP Tawny smokey eye palette

I recently went to TOPSHOP and found this palette on a table by the makeup section, iv'e being eyeing it up for a while the colours are warm and perfect for everyday use and they seemed to be quite creamy and pigmented. I finally decided that this would be the perfect edition to my collection and bought it without hesitation. And I'm quite happy to say that it performs well and is easy just to put in my bag for college for touch ups during the day.

 The palette contains 4 eye shadow colours that are pretty standard neutral colours and an olive green which is my colour to apply everyday as i think it suite my skin tone well. The colours are all highly pigmented and the palette comes with a guide to how to apply them on the back of the packaging if you aren't sure how to use them.

The palette is £10.00 and can be found at the TOPSHOP website or any TOPSHOP store x

MAC Ladyblush

First of all I apologize for the already touched product but that's because I normally take swatch photos first. I got this product as a Christmas present of my parents and I enjoy using when my cheeks need that little flush of colour so I look alive in the morning (I get up early). 

The Blush itself is a cremeblend formula and I first heard of this product when I was looking through some of Tanya Burr's tutorials on youtube and came across her Bella wedding tutorial. I loved the simplistic look she created and she is extremely talented, So talented that I went out and bought almost every product she featured in the video.

I do love this blush alot and if your a fan of cream blushes I highly suggest you check this one out. I can only describe the colour as a warm rosy pink with blue undertones the colour i am normally attracted to buy as i know it works well on my skin tone.

The swatch is fairly light you don't have to apply alot of pressure to get the desired colour. You can build this colour up to something stronger but this is the perfect amount of colour I like to apply. This product retails for £17.50 and can be found on the MAC website, MAC counter or a MAC free-standing store x