A very Yummy Swap!

Beginning of November, Kia from the fabulous blog Yummy411 and I got talking about doing a make-up swap. In fact I dropped her an email to see if she'd be interested in doing one with me. I wanted to do one myself before I opened it up to my readers. Trial runs are always a good thing.

After a few emails back and forth we settled on a budget and our wishlist of items and set about getting the bits and pieces for each other. It was a very chilled swap. I thoroughly enjoyed it! She got me a fair amount from my list. I was very happy. See for yourself!

L'Oreal Decrease, Loew Cornell Brush Jar, MUFE 92, NYX eyeshadow in Rust, MAC Zoomlash mascara, NYX lipstick in Fushion, beauty cleanser sample, NYX jumbo pencil in Pots and Pans, Smashbox Black gel liner, Black Opal Stick Creme stick foundation

Looking at this swap one might think it's a little bit *random* but let me assure you a lot of the items I received have long since been on my wishlist!

MUFE 92 I have been on a waiting list with Guru Make-up Emporium for over 10 months just so I could get my hands on this eyeshadow. Please don't ask me why they haven't called me yet. I don't know. Each time I talk to them they say it's out of stock. So I gave up trying. No bother. I have it now and the hype around it is pretty justified. I have to say however that it is not the easiest colour to blend. You HAVE to have another eyeshadow beneath it to allow it to blend appropriately or else you'll be sitting there for hours trying to make it happen.

Black Opal Creme foundation Stick I need more of these in my life. I really do. Kia chose a colour for me that that pretty darn close to my skin colour. Over the internet I might add. Across the atlantic! The girl has got skills. I love this foundation and it is serving me well. Granted it is not the best for oily skin, the coverage is awesome. This particular shade works well for the outer perimeter of my face. I would like to try and get a more yellow based stick for the centre of my face to see if I can get a more natural finish. I feel a growing love for these coming on...

NYX Round Lipstick in Fusion Ah, of all the lipsticks that Kia picked, she picked this one. And I wonder why? Could it be because I have a serious love affair with lipsticks in this colour family or was is it a lucky break. I'll go with the former. She was so spot on with this! I'm gonna feature this little number in a few FOTD's to come...

NYX eyeshadow in Rust I'm not sure why I've wanted this eyeshadow for so long. I just have. And it did not disappoint. Perhaps its the love affair with redy/bronzy/browny/goldy colours I'm going through at the moment. Either way I'm happy.

L'Oreal Decrease I just wanted to try another drugstore eye primer. I'm slightly obsessed with keeping colour on my lids for excessive amounts of time just for kicks. Decrease has received interesting reviews and one of these days you guys will find out exactly why from my perspective. I do like it but it's a strange one, this primer.

Loew Cornell Brush Cleaning Jar I think Kia must have wondered why on earth she had to run around looking for a glass jar for this crazy African woman over in England. Well you see the thing is this. A long time ago I saw a review by a beauty blogger who used this nifty little jar to wash her make-up brushes. I was so totally sold on it, the jar just lived on my wish list for an age. I have it now and I hope that it lives up to the lofty reputation I have for it in my mind :) 

Can you believe that I have never used a MAC Mascara in my life? Hence why the MAC Zoomlash has officially become my first. This was a very special extra Kia threw in for me, as well as the Smashbox Gel eyeliner and Purity Facial Cleanser. The lady is very generous and I am grateful to her.

If you haven't done so already, please go and check out Kia's blog. The chances are you already know her but just incase....I say definitely go take a look. Better yet, subscribe. She's fabulous and when she churns out her FOTD's, the girl means business!!! Don't believe me, check this post out. I was floored when I saw it. Still am....

Stay Blessed lovlies xxx

FOTD:- That Showy Reckless Woman

Today I received a little present from my lovely girlfriend Diana in Atlanta. I'd mentioned that I'd love to try some L'Oreal HIP eyeshadow duos so she posted me these two :)

Below:- Reckless and Showy

I know I am like 59 years behind the whole L'Oreal HIP explosion but for me its still so novel! Of course as a result I had to try them and see for sure what all the noise was about!

I love the colour of my bedroom wall....Gonna change it though!

Grrrrr! I'ma a Love Tiger!

Ok. So what do I think?

I think they are pretty good for drugstore. I can understand why everyone seems to love them.

However.

The pearly purple in the Reckless duo [which looks a bit like MAC's Stars and Rockets] took a lot to build up. It just kept fading. And I have no idea why! I layerd upon layered it and I'm convinced I can still see my skin through it. Not good.

I do like the fact that one side is matte and the other is shimmer. Helps to give good dimension. The dark blue from the Showy Duo worked really well in the crease and its pigmentation was nice.

So I reckon over L'Oreal Hip Duos are quite good. I suspect there may be a few dud eyeshadows in their collection somewhere but overall pretty cool!

Stay Blessed lovelies :0 xxx

ps I still wanna get a few more of these Duo's. Update on UK -US swap coming shortly :)

Recessionista Hauling.

Hi guys!!!

How y'all doing!?!? Well I is good! It's a pretty day today and I decided to get out bright and early and get myself into town for a little bit of retail therapy! It's a haul I didn't really plan for it was fun!

My local superdrug doesn't stock Sleek so a lovely friend of mine bought the new Safari palette for me and it arrived today in the mail! [Thanks Madu!]

*Sleek Divine Palette in Safari £4.88
*Stargazer lipstick in no 134, 30, 128, 126 £2.99 each then £1.50 from New Look
*Bourjois La Creme des Levres in Praline dolce £0.89
*Rimmel Cool Touch Creme Shadow in Champagne Frost £0.99
*L'oreal Cashmere Perfect Blush in Bronze Touch £1.69
*Cheap hair bands from Primark in multiple colours £1.00

Left to right:- 128, 30, 129,134

For me it is very strange to buy brown goldeny lipsticks. But today these particular colours caught my eye. [Before you say it, I am not mellowing out!] A few swatches for you...

Left to right, top to bottom:- 128, 30, 129,134
Bourjois Lipgloss, Rimmel creme eyeshadow, L'oreal Powder Creme blush

That first purple lipstick is like Amethyst from Sleek and I think thats a pretty close dupe for Violetta. Any one correct me if I'm wrong. The no 134 lipstick on the far end is the one i'm loving the most. It won't show on here but it is quite red and looks delicious. The other two are just as nice but hey you know my favorites.

The Bourjois lipgloss feels really nice and soft on the lips. I'm wearing it as I type and I think its gonna be a keeper. The Rimmel creme eyeshadow will work well as an all over colour or colour base. I'm disappointed that the L'oreal didn't show up on here. It is so so so pretty!!!! Hopefully they'll be a FOTD with it featuring sometime.

As for the Safari palette y'all know that I will do a full FOTD for ya!!!

Stay blessed lovelies!

Catch up Haul

Evening ladies,

How y'all doing? I am finally better and back on my feet. I've had two full blown colds in the last 4 weeks. And they both took me out completely. But I'm back and I'm finally gonna get on with life!
Twas my day off today and I went hauling. My days. It started off as essentials then quickly turned into just plain shopping :) I'm sure someone out there can relate!!!!

Make-up

I finally got round to picking up the GOSH Eyeshadow Brush, Flat. You can get it as Superdrug for £6.85. I've been collecting the GOSH Waterproof Eyeshadow sticks. I think they are cheaper alternative to MAC's Shadesticks thought they aren't as bright. They are still quite good. I bought the shade "Love that Brown!"I had run out of my trusty Rimmel London Professional Eyebrow Pencil in Dark Brown so I got bought it for £2.93. It works so well for me I haven't bothered trying anything else. It's kinda one of those if it aint broke type things...

For the longest time I've been eyeing these Prestige Lipstick and today I thought to myself why not and got two in "Aftershock" and "Pout" from Boots for £5.86. Now this is after I'd been to the Barry M stand and swatched this crazy matte lipstick called Shocking Pink. It was wild. No joke. I'm still trying to figure out how to work it in my head cause I secretly like it.

**Digression**

You ladies of colour out there...how do you wear colours like Lavender Whip, Gladiola and anything lavenderish?! There is a Barry M colour called Palest Lavender that is very similar to Lavendar Whip. I swatched it and I'm pretty good at imagining colours on my lips and I just couldn't see how it. With my skin tone I think it wouldn't look too hot. However the hot pink somehow holds a glimmer of hope for me. Any suggestions?

Face and Body

I'd run out of my facewash so I thought I'd try something with Witch Hazel again. I have combination/oily skin and witch hazel has worked quite well for me before. Boots had an offer their Tea Tree and Witch Hazel Skin care range for I got the Foaming face wash and Night Treatment gel for £5.00. I look forward to seeing how these work for me. I've been using my husband's exfoliator of late (yes I know...he exfoliates!) and it's quite good but the dude put his foot down and told me to get my own so I picked up No7 Radiance Revealed Exfoliator for £2.25 (£5 voucher. Shazam!) I've used it before and it's quite good.

The Superdrug I went to day was out of my usual moisturiser so I was forced to pick an alternative in the form of their Vitamin E Nourishing Night Cream for £2.44. Yes you read right. I bought the night cream. Why? Cause the day cream had SPF 15 in it and I didn't want that. It leaves me looking ashy and I'm indoors about 95% of my day at the moment. (England and its DUBIOUS weather...) Plus there ain't nothing wrong with getting a little extra moisturization is there?!?! The Glycerin B.P., with retails for £ 0.97 from Boots, is to use with my body lotion. I mix about 3/4 body lotion with 1/4 glycerin and some Mac Vanilla pigment to make a shimmering super moisturising lotion. Keeps my skin supple soft. I thank my mama for that :D. Might post a mini-tut for it.

Make-up Removers

A few weeks ago I ran out of my trusty Expert Sensitive Gentle Eye-make-up Removal Lotion from Boots. It retails for £2.43 at the moment. In my desperation I picked up the Rimmel Gentle Eye Make-up Remover from Asda which claims to remove Waterproof mascara.

My Foot.

It took me 30mins to take of my Define-a-lash Mascara the other day with this make-up remover and swore never again to get something I ain't sure about! Foolywang I tell you. 30mins taking off mascara? I could have cried. Honestly. So I think I'm gonna offer this to anyone who wants to try it. Pay for postage and it's yours! Lol....doubt anyone will want it but hey it's out there if you like.

Anyway as a result of my traumatic mascara removal event I bought two bottles of my Expert Sensitive Gentle Eye-make-up Removal Lotion plus a tube of L'Oreal De-maq Expert Cashmere Milk make-up remover for £4.36 and the Absolute Eye and Lip Make-up remover for £3.86. (why do all these products have such long names?!?!?!) They've both gotten mixed reviews on MakeupAlley but I'm willing to give 'em a go. Can't be worse than that dubious Rimmel shinanigan.....

Jewellery Mags and Supplies

One of these days I'll have to post a pic of some of the jewellery I make so y'all can see what I do. Today I bought April/May's edition of BEAD Magazine and a special issue of Bead Style called Beading 101 both for £3.95. Can't wait to read them. And then I bought something rather random. Shrink Plastic. Also known as Shrinkies for £1.59 from HobbyCraft. Shrink plastic is a very interesting material. Basically you draw what ever you want on a this plastic sheet, colour it in and cut it out to your desired shape. Then you pop it in the oven for a bit and it shrinks down to 7 times it's former size. The colours come out more vibrant and you can do all sorts of things so I'm gonna give it a go! I'm excited. Hopefully y'all will see the fruits of my labour in my next post :) I also got some Sharpie Permanent Markers for £11.54. I'm hoping they will give me the vibrancy I want. Keep a look out!

I hope to be posting a whole lot more interesting things for you this week ladies. I'm still working on the tutorials I promised. It happens to be my pc that is causing the delay and Husband will help me sort it out tomorrow. Till then!

Sweet Dreams!
xxx