Neutral

At work I have to avoid wearing the kind of eyeshadow I usually favour (smoky eyed look/glitter/bright eyeliner) and tone things down a little.

!7 eyeshadow in Mardi Gras left, and Ivory Coast right.

I don't think you can really see it here but the brown shadow, Mardi Gras is quite a bit creamier than Ivory Coast. I've actually started using Ivory Coast as a base for a lot of my eyeshadows as I find it evens out my skintone beautifully.

I sweep Ivory Coast all over and then blend Mardi gras into the crease, the corner and a little along the outer lash line and ta-daaaah...Daytime look!

Absence

Wow it's been a looong time since I blogged. Between summer exams, celebrating the end of summer exams(passed them!), going on a little holiday and trying to find a job ( found one!) the last few weeks have been pretty hectic! But delightful. I love summer and it's so good to be free of college for a while!

This blog in particular really inspired me to start blogging again, Lorraine has such a great style of writing. Hilarity plus make up= I'm there!

How and ever, I'm back and planning plenty of posts so keep your eyes peeled!
Merry summer to all! ;) xx

NOTD Essence Most Wanted

A very quick nail post!

I usually love bright nail varnish so I was surprised to be drawn to this chocolate brown colour. I think it looks really lovely but it's probably a bit dark for summer!

Sorry for the awkward hand pose but it was the best light I could get!

I did polka dots on one accent nail on each hand (my ring finger) to lighten up the whole look and I can see this being a HUGE trend in my future nail polish adventures =D (please excuse the cuticles!)

Essence Most Wanted and Bourjois while nail varnish for french manicures.

One thing I will say about this Essence polish is that while it may be cheap (under 2 euro I think!) I found the quality wasn't great. It chipped after a day (grrr). Also two/three coats are most definitely needed tor the polish to be opaque. Not sure if I'd re-purchase another Essence polish I might just stick with the lovely & budget-tastic Catrice!

A brush with Bourjois: Brand love

Bourjois is a brand I love. I am very very fond of their healthy mix foundation (must review soon!) and I am also a huge fan of their little round pot eyeshadows. I am really surprised that I haven't reviewed anything by Bourjois before!! Here are two things I picked up recently that I'm loving!  :)

I am a total gel eyeliner convert after buying the amazing Maybelline gel eyeliner but every now and again I turn back to trusty ol' pencil liner. It's quick & importantly very easy to reapply when you're out and about.
Or in a rush first thing in the morning running to an exam.

Recently I'm loving Bourjois Effet Smoky (Smoky effect language fans!! Ooh lala!) in  Ultra Black.

And it really is Ultra black! It comes with a pencil on one end and a little blender thingy on the end which is great for doing a smoky eye.

I love this but bear in mind that it is pencil eyeliner and will need to be reapplied after a while!
7.99 euro Boots

The second  product I'm loving is their blushers, especially this one in 54 Pink Frisson

It's a lovely pink with slight shimmer and it smells GREAT!! Perfect for summer.

I'm still doing exams so posts will probably be few and far between 'til I finish, good luck to everyone else doing exams! :) xx

Foundation Trials: L'Oreal True Match foundation

My skin's looking a little worse for wear lately! Late night studying, stress and stress-induced comfort eating (mmm cholocate...) are the culprits! Exam time, huh?

Anyway, I've been looking for a new foundation that will give me a little more coverage to disguise this but still look sheer enough for day-time use. One of my friends praised L'Oreal's True Match foundation to high heavens so I decided to try it out.

Happily, I love it! I got in in N1 (Neutral). I'm pale but I don't really get this whole 'warm' or 'cool' skin idea really (Sorry MAC!) , some 'warm colours' look fine on me and some 'cool colours' don't suit me at all.

This is easy to blend, lightweight and best of all gives good coverage without feeling like a mask! Thumbs up! :)

The Royal Wedding

Oh April/May I don't know whether I like you or not... The weather has been beautiful but sadly this is essay-writing/study time for me as my final exams are in 2 weeks.. eek! Hence my absence from blogland!!

However, a certain event this week made me decide I had to do a post even if I am up to my neck in novels and essays...Yup, it's the Royal Wedding! :)

I know many, many people couldn't care less about this wedding and to be honest I was one of those people a week ago. Then I had the t.v on Friday morning and I couldn't stop watching it!!!

I loved Kate's dress, to me it seemed conservative enough for a royal wedding but still stylish... I fell in love with lace again just looking at it.

I liked Pippa's dress but I thought it wasn't really suitable for the occasion.. The colour, the fit was absolutely beautiful but for a wedding, as a bridesmaid? I'm not so sure! Then again, I presume Kate chose this dress for her sister so she must have been okay with it! I love the colour of the evening dress though... Gorgeous!

I'm a sucker for a fairytale and this seemed just like one! The kiss on the balcony was so lovely and that slight turn she did just as they left the balcony with a big smile on her face (top left hand corner here).. Magical.

(Please excuse all the gushing in this post!! I'm fond of weddings to say the least! ;) )

Pictures from http://www.popsugar.com/ & google image search