Archive for the ‘Eye pencils/eye liners’ Category
I am going on holiday to Marrakech soon. It will be 7 days in the (here’s hoping for) scorching north African sun, and I am looking forward to getting my first sun tan in almost 18 months.
One thing I am determined to do is to minimise on my packing with make-up and beauty products for two main reasons: I will be flying by no-frills airline Easyjet who are notoriously difficult with luggage dimensons and weights (total size includes wheels and handles for crying out loud!). Also I want to leave enough room for any potential purchases I will find difficult to resist from the souqs.
I took a heaving bag of make-up on my last getaway and shamefully I didn’t even use two-thirds of the contents. What is it about going away that sends us into a panic that we might need several palettes and lipsticks? It’s a holiday, not a fashion shoot!
So here are the essentials I’ve whittled down to:
- Maybelline’s Volum’ Express The Rocket Mascara – my current favourite mascara (not photographed)
- Illamasqua’s Precision Liner in Abyss
- Illamasqua’s Skin Base (12)
- MAC Pro Longwear Concealer (NW35)
- L’Occitane’s Sublime Beauty Cream – BB Cream in Medium*
- GOSH BB Cream in Warm Beige
- Bourjois cream blusher in Sweet Cherry (04)*
- Nars cream blusher in Maui
- Avon Supershock Gel Liner in black
- Clinique Chubby Stick Intense in Roomiest Rose and Mightiest Marschino*
- Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stain in Crush (005)
- Smashbox Megatint in Punch*
- Bourjois 3D Effet lip glosses in Brun Exotic and Brun Rosé*
- Hourglass Extreme Sheen High Shine Lip Gloss in Icon and Empress
- Elemis Pro-Radiance Illuminating Flash Balm* – doubles up as a primer
- Liz Earle Sheer Gold Shimmer
I have purposely avoided products which need brushes as well as powders, and subsequently I am leaving out the eyeshadows because frankly I can’t be bothered with all that faffing around.
Bourjois’s new collection of cream blushers are not until 15th May but you can read a review and see swatches by Leanne of Do Not Refreeze. Light and slim in packaging, these are perfect for travelling so I’m popping one in the bag.
I am also looking forward to putting L’Occitane’s new BB Cream through its paces and I will be posting a review on it.
All of these fit nicely in my relatively small Bourjois make-up bag*. Honestly my make-up bag before was hand bag size!
Is there anything else I should take? I know I’ve overdone it with the lipwear but the trouble is, I don’t know which ones I will wear (depending on how I feel at the time) so I’m taking a few. Madness. I would love to know if you try to downsize your make-up when you go away or if you take more than what I am packing.
On a separate note, if you’ve been to Marrakech, please let me know your recommendations about what hidden gems I should visit or try. One thing that is an absolute must is a hammam and massage and picking up some argan oil. Can’t wait!
*PR sample
Well it’s been a very busy week for Just Nice Things and one special event which I have to tell you about was an evening hosted by Smashbox Cosmetics and haircare extraordinaire Bumble & Bumble.
Joined by a few blogging girlfriends, we had our hair coiffeured, make-up done rounded off with a cheeky photo shoot with top fashion photographer Mike Blackett (whom some of you may remember papped me at a previous Smashbox Click, You’re It event).
Smashbox is launching some lovely new products next month and we had a sneaky peak at their luscious Mega Tints, a cross between a lip balm and lip stain though as you can see from the swatches, they are very pigmented and have a consistency similar to matte lipsticks. The Mega Tints are soft to apply, have staying power (as I discovered while trying to wipe them off with a piece of tissue) and they also don’t dry and flake. (Damn, I want that red!)
There are also two new mineral blushers from the Halo Long Wear Blush range (the coral Peachy Dream and the pink In Bloom) and these, along with the Mega Tints will all be available in Boots stores from 3rd April but online two weeks prior.
I will bring you my thoughts on the latest new products in a separate post but for now, let’s chat styling and photo shoots!
So what did the crew do to me? Well my usually sleek Cleopatra bob (which is long overdue a cut and colour) was given a messed up look thanks to Jose using Bumble & Bumble’s Thickening hair-spray (£21.50) and Does It All Styling Spray (£21.50). It didn’t long nor did it require much effort and the simple products Jose used gave my tired locks a much needed lift.
I’ve been very curious about Bumble & Bumble but felt overwhelmed at their display unit in Boots (which has now started stocking B&B) and clueless about what I would like to try so having the chance to see how some of their products would work with my hair was fantastic. It strikes me as an exciting range that delivers on its promises and I like their quirky approach to hair styling as well as their packaging AND THE NAME TOO. I love it! It makes me think of bumble bees!
Then it was onto make-up artist Emma White Thurle who added some glamour with Smashbox Limitless 15 Hour Wear Cream Shadow on my eyes (I think it was shade ‘icon’), a thick line of Smashbox Jet Set Waterproof Eye Liner AND she gave me some cheekbones too before I had to perch on a stool before Mike’s lens and strike a pose. Terribly. I swear I’m too old for this posing malarkey – I could only manage a few standard expressions.
But it was so much fun and you can see how good and accessible the Smashbox and Bumble & Bumble products are in completely transforming a look into something good.
There was also time to be snapped with a couple of my favourite blogging beauties – Fei of Peonies & Lilies and Polly of er, Hello, Polly. Don’t you reckon we could be the new faces of Benetton? Both Fei and Polly are wearing the new Mega Tints by the way.
Smashbox has got to be the brand that excites me the most at the moment – they’ve clawed their way from the back and are seizing the crown with their refreshing approach and attitude plus their products aren’t half bad either. In fact they’re pretty perfect.
Have you managed to get yourself down to a Smashbox counter in Boots? And if you’re a fan of Bumble & Bumble, what products would you recommend I try? I’d love to know your thoughts.
For more information on Smashbox, visit www.smashbox.co.uk and for Bumble & Bumble, see www.bumbleandbumble.co.uk. Don’t forget both are stocked in large Boots stores nationwide and online.
Over the months I’ve accumulated a spectrum of gel liners by Inglot. The latest purchase is red and I discovered I haven’t even opened the lime green one found in my make-up storage drawer.
They are highly intense in pigmentation, thicker in consistency, apply smoothly in one swoop and cost less than the popular MAC Fluidline range. The black (#77) is the blackest of black in a matte finish and it’s true that once on these gel liners don’t budge.
But a massive problem with them is they split or crack down the middle. Always. Within a month or thereabouts. Keeping the lids tightly shut makes no difference. The texture of the pots is thick so that may explain the inevitability of the gel liner drying up.
Regardless of this, it is so annoying when you add up the total cost but also it never happens with other gel liners whether they are the budget ones or the high-end choices so why does Inglot’s formula fall apart?
Purely by chance I was cleaning my brush with Clarins’ latest eye make-up remover with its oil-based properties which made Inglot’s gel liner more manageble so perhaps this is one way of dealing with the dryness. Is it true glycerine would also help?
Let me know what you think and how you have managed to combat the problem if you use Inglot’s gel liners. I don’t want to have to throw these away.
Inglot’s gel liners cost £10 from their only UK store in Westfield London or www.inglotuk.com.
So purple is massively in this winter and this new violet gel liner from Maybelline is so new that it’s not even listed on their UK website yet I bought in Superdrug last weekend.
I find gel liners are easier to work with and there are many alternatives on the market to rival the high end brands. Maybelline’s Blackest Black gel liner is one of them so I figured their purple version would be just as good.
The pot is very dinky but a suitable size and it comes with a decent sized brush. I hate those piddly little ones that you can barely hold with your thumb and forefinger.
The formula is very smooth and I have noticed from using Blackest Black that it doesn’t crack easily like Inglot’s gel liners. The brush size is excellent too; it applies the desired thickness in one swoop. I did have to go over a couple of times to get an intense colour though. (Apologies for the wobbly application!)
Dark purple adds an alternative twist to the conventional black without being too daring and this offering from Maybelline is budget-friendly too. Not bad, not bad indeed. Some more new colours wouldn’t go a-miss too…
Maybelline’s Eye Studio Gel Liner in Ultra Violet costs £7.99.
