Eylure Brow Palette

Time to review a new purchase :) My eyebrows are currently the bane of my existence and are a constant annoyance....I have been using pencil to fill them in a lengthen them but find that it comes out quite dark..which with my current choice of bright white blonde hair can be extremely shocking. So....I had a little look see at different eyebrow palettes and powders and what not...and finally decided to test out the eylure one. Now I've not seen this on any blogs or anything  so it was a chance to look at something with a completely blank slate. 

the little handbag size palette

inside you have a light powder, dark powder, wax and highlighter as well as an angled brush and mascara wand for the wax, plus stencils

better view of the different stencils

It's a really cute little package and what I like best is that it comes with both light and dark shades which you can then blend to make you ideal brow shade :) I also like the highlighter aspect too as I haven't seen many kits that come with that :) 



So I've only used it once so far and haven't tried out the stencils the yet, but so far so good. I mixed my own custom shade, although my brows are a little darker than I'd like they are a lot lighter than when I do it with a pencil, a lot softer and more natural looking too (which you expect with powder) 

before :)

after :)

Ta da!!  


Would definitely recommend this palette and at £10.99 its good value as you do get both the light and dark powders :) 

I got mine from Boots. :) 



Can anyone else recommend any good eyebrow products they have??





Toodle Pips 
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Yay for the lovely weather!!

I've been very bad and have seriously neglected the blogesphere lately. I haven't read any or updated my own in awhile and I feel quite bad. 

But the weather in my little part of the world has been rather amazing (for March and April) so I've been taking full advantage of that :) 



Which leads me to this mini post of....EVERYONE LOOKS GOOD IN A PAIR OF SUNNIES!!! 



I have noticed so many people on facebook and twitter uploading their 'yay look its sunny pics' and everyone looks great. The sunshine, the effortlessness of donning a pair of sunglasses and looking like a celeb. Love it. 


So here as my...yay look its sunny pictures :) 

 Hope you've all been enjoying the weather too!!


Toodle Pips!!
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MUA Eyelashes Vs Eldora Eyelashes

Hello lovely people :) 



I got rather bored this afternoon and decided to fiddle about with my eyelashes. I currently have a couple of pairs of false ones I haven't tried out yet so I decided I might as well give them a test run. 


First up.... MUA False Eyelashes in Sassy retailing at £2.00

 Ok, so ignore the eye primer I shall do a review of that later on....just focus on the lashes :) 




For only being £2.00 they are really impressive, the band is quite thick but its easy to disguise with some eyeliner. They are quite dramatic so good for a night out. Overall I am quite impressed with these lovelies and I shall be trying some of MUAs other styles :) 

Here they are in action..so to speak :) 






Ok now for the Eldora ones in B142...retailing at £6.95 (i think) although I got these ones free with Faceon Magazine!!

 Firstly it took me nearly half an hour to measure them to my eye...trim them and get them on. NIGHTMARE!! The band is very lightweight and very thin which makes them blend with your natural lash line perfectly but like I said a nightmare to put on. They added volume and length and still looked reasonably natural, they are a style I would wear in day, although for daytime wear I do tend to stick to the individual lashes....but these are really pretty!


I think with a bit more practise I wouldn't have as many problems putting them on...so if you are a dab hand at eyelashes it shouldn't be a problem for you. 

 Ta da!! 




So....overall both are pretty awesome and I will undoubtedly be wearing them both again for upcoming social events :) 






Do any of you use Eldora or MUA lashes? What do you think?






Toodle Pips!
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Animal Testing...

I was browsing through twitter today I noticed that MUA cosmetics had retweeted something by a follower stating that they are glad they've discovered them as they recently found that MAC tests on animals....

WHAT?!? MAC tests on animals??!? I had to research this and check it out, all the Yahoo answers and forums suggest that no, MAC do not test on animals, but these are from a either a few months ago or quite a few years ago. So I went to the PETA (people for the ethical treatment of animals) website as they publish and regularly update a list of who does and who doesn't test on animals. 

Companies who DON'T

Companies who DO


I'm extremely shocked by the amount of companies that do, although there are far far more companies that don't. I also had no idea that it is a LAW to test certain pharmaceuticals and chemicals on animals. 



I feel quite ashamed about not knowing this information and now that I do I'm slightly confused on how to proceed. I do think animal testing for frivolous reasons is wrong, but if the chemicals and things in certain cosmetics are needed to be properly tested by law and apparently animals are the only way to do it...leaves me...extremely conflicted. Some might say we should just then produce entirely vegan cosmetics that contain nothing too harsh. Or pay humans to be tested on. I prefer the second option, it may cost companies a lot more but at least people KNOW what they are putting themselves in for and understand the risks, although I'm sure it's probably not ethical on some level. 

I am slightly confused though....Estee Lauder (who own MAC and various other big beauty names) have said on their FAQ page that they do not test on animals see here, however they are on the list of companies that do. This is probably due to the fact that certain chemicals they use are required by law to be tested on animals. So they can't be 100% cruelty free. Which isn't their fault entirely...

It's all a little confusing to be honest.  What are your views on animal testing and what do you make of this information I've found? Toodle Pips!! x x x

My New Hair....and Old hair disasters...!

That's right...the 6th of March has been and gone...and with it...my hair appointment!! 
I was so relieved to finally be sat in the chair, having the amazing and talented Angelina of Hair Design in Banbury, work her magic. I've been going to her for about 6 years now, she is the only person I will trust with my hair. I've had quite a few mishaps with it with previous hairdressers and also with things I've done to it, but she can always, always fix it and make it look great.

One of my major mishaps with a hairdressers was when I was about 17, I had my NUS card because I was at college and they told me it would mean I can get a 20% discount. Yay! So they told me that with the discount my hair cut would only be £24. Bargain. So, she started to cut my hair, if I remember rightly I was having a blunt fringe, layers and it was about shoulder length. But when she finished she hadn't put in the layers properly...I don't know about any of you...but with the ends and layers (unless specifically asked for) they should be sort of feathered right?? Chopped into so the hair flows properly (Very bad description but hopefully you know what I mean) and it was closer to jaw length, the fringe however was ok. The layers looked like steps...she hadn't blended it at all. When I asked her to blend it a bit more she got extremely huffy with me and insisted that this was what I'd asked for (it wasn't) and that her next appointment would be here soon. At 17 I felt really intimidated, so I didn't say anything else and just got up to pay, thinking at least I'm not having to pay full price. So you can imagine my shock when they said that will be £30 please. I stammered and stuttered that I had my NUS card, to which they replied that it doesn't count in December. My face flamed red, I only had the £24 pounds on me....I managed to blurt something about needing to go to the cash machine then because I was told it would only be £24....they just looked down at me and said fine, watching me all the way. In hindsight, and being slightly more ballsy and confident than I was, I should have told them to stick it, it was a rubbish hair cut that I was told a different price for and after all that I'm not paying. But being the honest person I am, I got out more cash (which I couldn't actually afford) and paid. Don't worry, I didn't leave a tip! I then ran home and cried to my mum. Pathetic. She phoned them up and had a major rant and rave.....and they lost quite a few customers through our word of mouth. And a few years later, they closed down anyway!




When I first went to Angelina, it was just after I had got back from living in New Zealand...where I travelled a lot, partied hard, never got a hair cut and generally turned my hair into a giant haystack. Which she managed to transform into a gorgeous chocolatey brown long bob. With a few 'flashes' of blonde in the front. It was sooo lovely. She did everything I asked for and she did it perfectly. So my perfect hair dresser was found!


Fast forward to now: I have wrecked my hair with bleach in the last few months, I have mentioned it on here...I honestly thought it ad gone beyond repair though...and even Angelina was worried about how it would turn out...but she sorted it as I knew she would. It is still stupidly dry after the bleach but she's really worked wonders.....

I decided to go for this look, instead of the ones I'd posted before... I love Agyness Deyn's hair. With a passion. She is the reason I wanted to be blonde. So I thought, why not go for a similar style too...


The finished result (I'm not wearing any make up in these either!) 

front view

front view again

side view

 Hope you like it as much as I do. I really love having short hair at the moment....I was meant to be growing it for the wedding...but naaaaaah! I will welcome any ideas for how to dress it up for my wedding though?!






Toodle Pips
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MUA Lipsticks....

As promised some more in depth reviews of individual products!! 
First up from my lovely MUA Haul we have the Lipsticks....

Ok So here we have (from left to right) Shade 14 Bare, Shade 15 juicy and Shade 11. All at only £1!!

 The swatches on my hand are in the same order as the tubes, the one on the very end of the right is the gloss, but I shall be doing a separate blog post about that at another time :) 
As you can see the colour pay off on my hand is really good, they are full of pigment, which for a £1 per lipstick is excellent. 

This is shade 11, when I originally ordered it online I thought it was more of a browny colour, but as you can see it's much more orangey brown or even reddy brown. Still a nice colour though, but not something I'd wear every day, my Mum however really loved it and with her skin tone it looks lovely, so it would suit her for everyday use. 

Shade 14 Bare.... I LOVE THIS, I never really liked neutral lip colours before, but I find myself reaching for this one all the time. I love how moisturising it is! At the moment I'm quite addicted to really heavy eye make up so teaming that with a nude lip is good :) 

Shade 15 Juicy, I also really love this one, its much more corally coloured in real life, very summery, very pretty!!




So there we have it, I would definitely recommend the MUA lipsticks, they are brilliant. Only downfall is you do have to reapply quite a lot as they fade very quickly, but for only £1 I'm quite willing to put up with that!!!




Toodle Pips!!
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MUA Haul

I've been so excited about doing this post! Although it may not be my best as I am quite poorly at the moment...but here goes nothing :) 



So MUA Cosmetics (Make Up Academy)....are a brilliant purse friendly cosmetics company, their core range are all only a pound. That's right, just a pound!!! They also launched a professional range last year and everything is still under a tenner!! WOOHOO!!! 

Ok now I'm usually quite a sceptic about really really cheap cosmetics, I do worry that they wont be up to scratch...but since I've never seen a bad review for MUA....ANYWHERE... I was extremely excited to give them a go!!! 

 Here's my little bundle!! Overall it only cost me £25.50. Utter bargain considering how much is there and the fact that they are pretty decent quality products!


So we have:
12 Shade Pretty Pastels Palette
12 Shade Heaven and Earth Palette
Blusher in Shades 1, 2 and 4
Bronzer in Shade 1
Mascara in Shade 7 (pink) and Shade 5 (black)
Eye Dust in Shade 5
Pencil Eyeliner in Snow White
Eye Brow Pencil in Brunette
Extreme Felt Eyeliner in Black
False Lashes in Sassy
Eye Primer
Lip Gloss in Shade 3
Lipsticks in Shades 11, 15 (juicy) and 14 (bare)




As I only received my package on Monday I haven't had much chance to test the products out fully yet, but I did have a go at a browny gold smokey eye for my hair appointment yesterday and the pigment in the eye shadows is absolutely awesome! I also used the eye primer and it was so smooth and lovely and made my eyeshadow last all day and took A LOT of cleansing to get it off so I was impressed!!




I will do some proper reviews of a few of the products individually soon as well!!




Toodle Pip!!


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Real techniques Brushes

Just a very quickie post, as I haven't actually used them yet, about my new Real Techniques Brushes!!


Basically just to show them off really!!! 



You all probably know they are designed my Samantha Chapman, who's an amazing make up artist and runs an extremely popular make up channel on you tube with her sister Nicola!!
http://www.pixiwoo.com/ 



I bought the 'starter set' which is basically just for the eyes :) They used to only be available on http://www.love-makeup.co.uk/ but now Boots stock them!! Although at Boots they are a pound more expensive (but totally and utterly worth it) 


I bought mine in Boots, I had to use extreme self control not to buy the entire collection right there and then!!


But here we go.....

First impressions, they are so soft and pretty. And I definitely love the little case that turns into a stand. Genius!!


Can't Wait to try them out!!!!




Toodle Pip
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New Rimmel Products

After trying a free sample in my glamour magazine of Rimmels new Wake me Up Foundation I have to say it was brilliant. Along side that I also bought Hide the Blemish Concealer and Stay Matte Powder. 

Rimmel is one of my favourite 'drug store' brands, its a good price and good quality. 

 So starting with the foundation. Its a liquid, and quite runny at first. Its gives medium coverage but is definitely buildable. I had a light layer on for the day which gave me a healthy glow and then went for a fuller coverage in the evening. 


I used the shade soft beige which, I think, really matched my skin tone well. 
 Here's a swatch...

 And this is it blended in, lovely huh??

Next we have the blemish concealer in shade natural beige, it's shaped like a lipstick, and using Bobbi Browns tip, I bought it in the same (near enough) shade as the foundation and then applied it after the foundation. It's a bit cakey, thick and doesn't blend that well, it did hide the redness of my spots, but I feel it might have highlighted them a bit more and that made me feel quite self conscious. So this one I wouldn't really recommend, not even for under your eyes as it really doesn't blend well. 

And my powder, in transparent, does what it says on the tin really. Keeps my face looking matte but still lets the glow of the foundation come through which I liked and keeps my make up in place!!!



Overall I would say I would definitely buy the powder and the foundation again not so much the cover stick!!

 The finished look on my face. You can still see my freckles which is good, but everything else looks even and bright. I hope anyway!! 


Excuse the hair its scraped back...still need to visit the hairdresser...cannot wait until the 6th march!!!!








Toodle Pips




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Happy Lips!!!! :)

So, some of you may remember me complaining about how chapped and dry my lips have been this winter due to the cold harsh winds and then the central heating. 


I was recommended carmex by my lovely friend Becky, so I went to purchase some....however right next door to the carmex....and for a whole pound cheaper...was:

BLISTEX!!!!


I decided to pop this little treat into my basket and hoped for the best!!


Luckily I wasn't disappointed!! My extremely dry and chapped lips has been transformed in to soft smooth ones! YAY! 


The only down side is its a bit minty, which I'm not keen on as it feels like your smearing on toothpaste....but once its all soaked in my lips feel heavenly!!!!




So I definitely recommend this product to everyone fighting dry, sore and chapped lips this winter!!!! 








Toodle Pips!!!!!


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Random thought on Make up Magazines...

Just quickly, I know there is Make Up Artist Magazine....but are there any others??


They have an abundance of different magazines devoted to different types of paper craft, knitting, etc but they don't seem to have any devoted purely to cosmetics. 


I for one would love that!! I know fashion magazines do cover a few cosmetics, and have the odd tutorial, but it would be great to have some more magazines completely and utterly about make up, and make up to suit any budget, filled with reviews, tips from make up artists, tutorials, skin and health guides. 

Because as much as I love to read blogs and websites....(it's my book fetish all over again here) there is nothing quite like having that material in print in your hands, with glossy photos and ads to look at as well. And again you can take it with you in the bath!!! haha!

Anyone else think this would be a good idea??



 Toodle Pips!!


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How Lipstick is Made.....

So as you many know...I am eventually going to become a cosmetic scientist and spend my days toiling in a lab making all the fab products we love.....

And because of that I've decided I'd like to find out more, in advance, about how certain products are made. Every month I'm going to feature a product and look into how its made, it's ingredients etc. 



This month its LIPSTICK!

Lots of women wear lipstick, even those that aren't as obsessed with make up as we are tend to, slick a bit across their lips for night out. 

So what is lipstick generally made from??

The main ingredients are: wax, pigment, oil and alcohol

These then break down into more groups, so each lipstick can contain a number of different oils and waxes, as well preservatives and antioxidants. 

Other ingredients are often added to achieve a more glossy look, or to help moisturise and protect from sun (SPF) 
These extra ingredients can vary greatly as the consumer often want different outcomes and a wide variety of lipsticks. 


How is a lipstick made?


The lipstick making process can be split into three steps, melting, mixing and shaping.

Firstly the ingredients are melted, although separately in either ceramic or stainless steel containers...

They are then mixed together, along with pigment. The mixture then has to be pressed and ground in order for the lipstick to become smooth. (pigment can leave the lipstick grainy if this is not done). As this process can introduce air into the mixture it must be stirred for several hours to get rid of the air. 




The mixture can then be poured into moulds and cooled. 






Now this is a very very rough idea of how a lipstick is made, and there is a lot more to the mixing and moulding stages. Hopefully, once I'm mixing my own lipsticks I'll be able to show you in more detail with pictures!!!




But there you have it, a rough guide on how lipstick is made.....






Next month...... powder eyeshadow!!!






Toodle Pip!!!!
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p.s My wonderful friend Becky has just started her own Beauty Blog and its wonderful check her out http://booscribblesbeautiful.blogspot.com/

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Pink Nails!!

I'm having a very slow evening....the hubby to be is playing the playstation 3 (sometimes I think he'd rather marry that than me...hehe) the munchkin is all tucked up asleep in bed....so I thought I'd have a little me time and give myself a manicure. 

My favourite nail polish colour is definitely pink, I have lots and lots of different pinks...baby pinks, corals, glittery pinks, bright pinks, dark pinks.

Today I decided to go with a shiny metallic pink :) 

 It's called Shocker by Rimmel, the supposedly dry in 60 seconds range. Personally I think no polish can properly dry in that time...not for me anyway, I normally always end up smudging mine :( 


But it dry quite quickly so I was able to start the top coat on one hand after I'd finished the other. For my base and top coat I used the Rimmel 5in1 nail treat, meant to provide; longer, stronger, healthier, moisturised and shiny nails! 


I do really like Rimmel polishes and have several as I love the colour variety and that in most cases you only really need to apply one coat, and can last for a nearly a week with a proper base and top coat!!!


So here's the finished the result.....(oh and I did finish off each nail with a quick splosh of cuticle oil by Sally Hansen) 

So there we go :) that's how I spent some of my evening!! 








Toodle Pip!!
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