My current daily makeup

Recently I've really changed up the makeup I'm using on a daily basis, a few new things have come into my life and it'd be rude not to use them :)  The ones in the picture above are what I'm leaning towards every day.

Canmake BB cream*

I adore Japanese makeup, so this gorgeous addition is very welcomed to my collection!  There'll be a full review coming over the next couple of weeks, but as a first impression - it's thick and long lasting - at the moment I'm testing it with different moisturisers and primers to see what combination works best.

Dolly Wink liquid eyeliner*

Stop the press, I *may* have found a replacement for my Chanel liquid eye liner, I know, cray cray. I actually prefer the applicator on this one as it's finer and more precise, but exactly the same.  It's just as black, dries nice and quickly and doesn't budge.  A full review of this will be coming soon too xxx

Anastasia brow wiz

I bought this a while ago and didn't get on with it, but I figured that was because my brows were a bit unkempt and 'long'.  So after having them done for 'Brow arch March' I've tried this again and really love it, it just doesn't work that well with longer brow hair, as weird as that seems to say!

Giorgio Armani eyes to kill single eye shadow in No.3 (what a mouthfull!)

I love this so much.... there's a full review coming on Friday, I'm not going to go into it now, I'll save it for Friday, but let it be known, I love, love, love it!

Japonesque setting powder in 01*

I've told you before how much I love this, and I really do mean it - I've now hit pan on it which makes me sad, but it does just go to show how much I adore this.  It gives me such a matte finish without adding any colour to my foundation.  It keeps me shine free longer than any other powder, I'll definitely be picking up another one when this has run out :)  And, ermergherd, the packaging!

NARS pro-prime eye shadow base

There's hardly anything left in this, but I'm loving it.  My Urban Decay Eden primer is just too much of a 'wet' product to keep my lids crease free, if it dries up a bit I'm sure it'll work better, but for my super oily lids, this old NARS one is perfect, I just hope I can get a few more days out of it!

Canmake blusher duo in 01

This might just be one of the most perfect blushers for pale skin that's ever been invented.  I swirl my blusher brush over the whole product and it gives me the most beautiful soft flush of colour.  I first saw Miss Glamorazzi recommend this and when the opportunity came along to do a swap with a Japanese blogger, I knew this would be top of my list!

Maybelline colour tattoo in Barely beige

I'm afraid this shade was a limited edition one in America which I had in a makeup swap.  It's so beautiful, it's beige with a very soft slight shimmer, perfect for underneath almost any eye shadow.

Benefit Gimmie Brow in Medium/Dark

A new addition to my collection and a rather great one too.  There'll be a full review coming soon, but in short, you brush it against the hairs first, then brush it back, it adds colour and thickness and sets them in place.  Way, way better than the Maybelline brow drama wand which I really didn't like.  I'm not sure how this would work on unkempt brows, but mine were only done a week ago and it's working great for me right now :)

Giorgio Armani Eyes to Kill mascara*

This really is a lovely mascara, again, there'll be a review coming soon (trying to get on top of all the reviews I need to do!).  But it's great at adding volume and length and it lasts all day without flaking off everywhere, keep your eyes peeled for that review :)

So that's what I've been using recently, let me know what you've been using :)

This months Biggest-Pixi3 advertiser is the lovely Casey from A Topsy Turvy blog

 

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Weekend essentials

Whilst there are a million and one things I could take when going for a weekend away, I think I've narrowed it down to some pretty sweet choices.  I tend to go away quite regularly to visit family in west Wales, and when I do, I don't want to take a massive amount of stuff with me, so I thought I'd share with you the type of things I take and why.

Dior BB cream

This really needs no introduction, if you've been reading my blog for any length of time, you'll already be bored of me banging on about this.  It's lovely, light weight, reasonable coverage (at least if your skin is not terrible) and for me, doesn't cling to pores, move or crack much. If you're not sure what foundation cracking on your face is, give it a few years and you'll discover it.

Dior BB eye cream

You gotta love a set!  I first saw this on Estee's YouTube, she was busy raving about it and just after I discovered the normal BB cream from Dior.  Anyway, fast forward a couple of months and I'm in the middle of sorting out my makeup, low and behold I discover a sachet of this I'd ripped out of a magazine.  The next day I tried it, that was the day I fell in love with it.  I hastily ran out 2 days after that I spend my Boots points on it and haven't looked back since.  Yes it's expensive, but O.M.G it's worth it.

Max Factor clump defy mascara

I surprised myself by putting this in, but it's such a fool proof mascara.  It gives great lashes (even on the bottom set) and more to the point, it stays put.  It doesn't flake off all over my face leaving little black specks of super smudge sprinkles, nope, it stays where it needs to be, on my lashes.  It's the most expensive mascara I've bought from the high street, but I'm ok with that, the quality equals high end mascaras costing £10 more.

Chanel Ecriture liquid eyeliner

Yes I know, I did a whole post about how the Collection fast stroke liner is better, but I still love this one.  The Collection one does have a nicer matte finish, but the applicator isn't as good, it's harder to use and gets all over your lashes (making it harder to apply mascara as it sets hard).  Besides, I still have this to finish, and another one waiting to be used, it's so good though!

A palette

I know this is ambiguous, but it all depends what you'll be doing that weekend, to decide which one to take. At the moment I'm loving theBalm's Balm Jovi palette, it fits in my makeup bag neatly, has lots of well pigmented eye shadows, a beautiful highlight and an amazing blusher (I've worn the blush every day the last 2 weeks!).  It has a diverse range of shades, from deep dark bluey purples, to peachy neutrals.  Be careful if you use this though, there will be a little bit of fallout, but hey, it's hard to find a palette that doesn't have any fallout these days!

Vichy life serum

I tend not to take my full skincare kit with me when I go away for the weekend, I pretty much just take Bioderma.  So, the life serum is a life saver!  It works really well with unkempt and tired skin, wakes it up leaving it nice and refreshed and ready for makeup.  I've actually been using this every day regardless if I'm having a good skin day or not, definitely one to replace when it's empty (full review coming soon).

Bourjois matte primer

See yesterday's review for my full thoughts on this.  When I'm away I don't want to be fussing over my makeup all day, so having it stay in place and not so shiny is a must - this is great at doing that - read the review to find out why :)

Urban Decay eye shadow primer potion

This is another essential for me, if I don't use this, my shadow creases in about 1-2 hours, so it's a must.  I've tried others, but I always come back to this, but next time when this has eventually run out, I will try their matte one instead.

Bourjois 24 hr creme shadow

Another one where you need to go and read my recent review about it :)  In short, this is awesome, perfect cream to powder finish, helps keep my eye shadow in place better than the Maybelline Colour Tattoo and is so much easier to work with (less sticky & more blendable), I prefer the range of shades they have for this too, I think they're more sophisticated and delicate.

Setting powder

Another ambigious one I'm afraid. At the moment I'm trialing the Japonesque setting powder* (which is pretty decent, but early days yet).  I usually use my Maybelline fit me powder which I still haven't finished, but it's utterly on it's last legs with very little left - I'm on the cusp of just saying enough is enough and considering it done, I can't really get any powder on the brush any more.

HD Brow kit

No makeup look would be complete without some well looked after brows.  Mine are very pale and thin and in desperate need of filling in each day, so I don't leave home (for extended periods of time!) without taking my HD Brow kit in Foxy* with me.  The powder is lovely and soft and goes a very long way.  Have a look at my full review to find out more.

There you have it, sorry I've managed to waffle on for so long, but hey, you wouldn't expect any less from me!  Hope you're all having a lovely day xo

This months Biggest-Pixi3 advertiser is the lovely Amy from Srslylou

 

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Model Co - Dannii's Colour Essentials

To say I have a love hate relationship with this set is an understatement.  One minute I can't stand the eye shadow, how it's such poor quality, the next minute I find myself caught up in how beautiful it is once it's applied and how well the three colours compliment each other.

It's taken me a while to get around to writing this post for that very reason.  I'm finding it hard to decide if I like it or not.  And to be honest, I still haven't really decided.  So instead of me waffling on about how I can't decide, I'm just going to start talking about it.

In the kit you get 4 base products - an eye shadow trio, a kohl eyeliner, a bronzer, and a double ended lip gloss/lipstick.

The eyeliner

Pretty thick, and pretty creamy, very well pigmented, this is my favourite of the set.  It lasts pretty well on the waterline, and tightline and is a nice deep black, not like the blacks that seem to create a sheer line when you apply.  I love that the lid has a sharpener in it too, so useful, I'm always losing my sharpener!

The bronzer

At first sight, this was one that I didn't like - I'm just not keen on shimmery bronzers, plus the packaging feels pretty cheap and naff - not one for your bag.  It's not orangey or anything like that, just shimmery.  But, after playing around with it I realised it was actually pretty ok.  The shimmer didn't translate to anything noticable on my face but did contour pretty well.  It's a pretty solid formula, so you can really swoosh the brush on the product without picking up too much.  So, not a bad product at all.

The lips

Let me just say, this smells awesome!  The scent is like... strawberry or raspberry ice cream, like a raspberry ripple - it makes me want to nom it up!  Both the gloss and the lipstick smell the same.  Both products are really nice and decent quality.  There's also a handy mirror on the side in case you need to touch up your gloss on a night out - however, as nice as it is to have a mirror, you'd really need it for the lipstick, but that wouldn't work as the mirror is on the bullet part of the packaging, so rendering it useless for applying lippy.  The gloss is really pretty with a delicate shimmer.  It lasts well and in my opinion, is worth it just for the scent!

The eyes

I was hoping that by now, after writing about the other products I'd have made up my mind on what I thought about this... but I haven't.  So, I'm going to continue to love and hate it.  First off, what I don't like.  Similar to the rest of the products, the packaging feels a bit naff.  The shadows themselves are poor quality, with a lot of fallout.  They're not very finely milled and they're very soft.  Now, what I liked.  If you use the sponge tip applicator (they don't apply so well with a brush!) you can create a really pretty look.  Use one side of the wide sponge on the lightest colour on the inner third of your eye.  Take the other side of the sponge and apply the middle shade to the middle of your lid, and then the narrow sponge end on the darkest colour on the outer V of your eye and in the crease.  Then, take a fluffy brush and blend, and just run it all over to soften.

The three colours compliment each other really nicely, and do create a really pretty look.  I just think there are better trio's and palettes out there for your money, I hate to say that, and because I was given it to review, it does make me feel like I'm being ungrateful.  But I wouldn't want to say it was great, when I don't think it is.  Will I use the trio again?  Maybe, but probably not.  If I was given this as a first piece of makeup, I'd be over the moon, I think it's a great starter kit and super cheap, and if you ruin it practicing how to apply makeup, it's not too expensive to buy a replacement.

You can pick this up for £5.99 here.  They have put that it's worth £120... I struggle to see how when the quality just isn't there...

Have you tried any Model Co products?  Other than the eye liner that was in a recent Birchbox?

This months Bigest-Pixi3 advertiser is the lovely Hayley from Water Painted Dreams

 

Written by Georgina Kent