Illamasqua Multi Facet Palette- My New Travel Essential

So there are make up basics that you'll always want to have with you when you travel if you're wanting to wear make up when you're away. For me that's my current face base of choice, mascara and tools (a few of my favourite brushes and an eyelash curler). If you're wanting to go further than that, this palette- Illamasqua Multi Facet in Aura- does pretty much everything else (aside from lips, I have yet to find anything to help me kick the habit of bringing about 10 'just in-case' lipsticks everywhere I go). The best thing about this is that it combines 2 cream products- the taupe contour (which also use to fill in my brows and as an eye shadow base) and gorgeous cream highlight, with 6 powders- a pretty blush, 2 matte neutral eye shadows, a lovely highlight shadow and a black with a little bit of a silver shimmer running through it. There's also a dark brow powder, though as it's far too dark for my eyebrows I use it as another matte shadow. So you get a lot in such a tiny, travel friendly palette- I can get my (quite small) hand around it relatively easily. The brush is tiny and so cute, the slanted liner/brow end is particularly good but the other brush is a bit small to get anything done and you're going to need a few other brushes to best use this palette any way. The quality of the products is good but unspectacular, not worth the £45 original price, but I received it as a gift and I believe its on sale at half price on the Illamasqua website. All in all, this is a great little palette to travel with or to take out with you if you're wanting to change your make up look from day to night on the go.

What are your make up travel essentials? See you soon- hopefully it won't take me as long to get my next post up!

Eva xx

A Beauty Birthday Wishlist

My 18th Birthday is coming up next week so (mostly because I love making these collages) I decided I'd do another little beauty wishlist. Again, I'm not expecting anyone to buy me any of this, in case you needed a disclaimer.

1. Nuxe Reve de Miel lip balm- because while I really struggle to justify spending more than £3 on a lip balm for myself, none of my lip balms have really been cutting it this winter and I'd love to try something new.
2. Mac Lipsticks- because with so many shades to choose from, you can never have too many. Top of my wishlist are Plumful, Lady Danger, Russian Red, Cosmo and Sunny Seoul.
3. Real Techniques Bold Metals Flat Contour Brush- because of all the beautiful new Real Techniques brushes, this one looks like it'd be the most use to me as I have neither an easy contour brush in my collection nor the skill to create a good contour without one.
4. Hourglass Ambient Lighting Blush- because they're just so beautiful, although I've yet to go and swatch them so I don't know which one I'd like the most.
5. Charlotte Tilbury Matte Revolution Lipstick- because everything about these appeals to me, they're supposed to have an amazing formula, I love almost every shade and the packaging is gorgeous.
6. Daniel Sandler Watercolour Blush- because I love a dewy blush, especially coming into Spring.

Let me know what's on your wishlist at the moment! See you soon!

Eva xx

Gel Nail Varnish- Maybelline vs Barry M

(Maybelline Super Stay 7 Days Gel Nail Color in 'Uptown Blue' and Barry M Gelly Hi-Shine Nail Paint in 'Almond')

I've become a big fan of these gel look nail varnishes recently, they apply very easily, seem to have a thicker, more opaque formula than most nail polishes and often claim to look better and or last longer. Today I'm putting two of these from the drugstore up against each other- Maybelline Super Stay 7 Days Gel Nail Color and Barry M Gelly Hi-Shine Nail Paint.

Lasting Power- Maybelline wins this hands down, it is the one claiming to last 7 days after all. Nail polishes tend to chip within the first few days on me and the Barry M polish was no exception to this- in fact the extra thick and shiny formula seemed to make it chip more quickly and easily. The Maybelline polish, however, lasted far longer without chipping, usually about 5 days on me rather than the claimed 7.

Opacity- This is about the same in both polishes- I'd say the Maybelline was a little better but both need two coats.

Application- The formula of the Barry M polish makes it pretty painless to apply despite a very skinny brush which does mean a slightly streaky first coat and longer application time. However, in the Maybelline polish the brush matches the formula- its big, flat and makes application quicker than in any other nail varnish I've tried.

Colour Range- This is where the Barry M Gelly Hi-Shine polish wins hands down. There's just so many colours, and a lot of them are very unusual ones, the shade 'Almond' (pictured) for instance, is a lovely kind of pink-grey colour I've never seen before (and would in no way associate with almonds, but there you go). Online, I can see that the Maybelline polish has a much bigger range of colours than I've ever seen in Boots, but they aren't as unique and diverse as the Barry M ones, although the shade 'Uptown Blue' (also pictured) is gorgeous, its popularity among beauty bloggers last summer was not unjustified.

Price- Barry M wins by 50p, £3.99 vs £4.49.

I'd love to hear any of your nail recommendations. See you soon!
Eva xx

Feeling Peachy

Lets just ignore the date on the calendar and the ice I slipped over on when I took my dog for a walk this morning, I'm embracing the spring colours early this year. And my favourite way to bring spring into my daily make up is peach cheeks and lips. So today I'm running through my 6 of my favourite drugstore peach blushes and lip products.

Lips
Revlon Lip Butter in Peach Parfait- very pretty and easy to wear, though I'm always a it unsure about the gold sparkle running through it.
Maybelline Baby Lips in Peach Kiss- you have to build this up for the colour to really come out but its really moisturising.
Rimmel Moisture Renew Lipstick in 705 Lets Get Naked- Goes on smoothly and easily, smells and looks lovely, though its moisturising formula means its not very long lasting.

Cheeks
MUA Blush Perfection Cream Blush in Yummy- So cheap, pigmented and gorgeous, I'm reaching for this blush almost everyday at the moment.
Sleek Face Form palette in Fair- The Nars Orgasm-esque peach blush in this palette with a gold shimmer running through it is so pretty and pigmented.
Rimmel Stay Blushed Liquid Blush in Sunkissed Cherry- While this can be a bit annoying to apply, its so long lasting and both the formula and colour look beautiful on the skin.

Is anyone else into peach make up in January? See you soon!
Eva xx

5 Mini Reviews

Today I thought I'd do a few quick little reviews of some beauty products I've either bought recently or been given for Christmas and have been trying out over the past few weeks.

Real Techniques Stippling brush- I bought this to apply cream blush which it does excellently, it makes it very quick and easy to apply it super evenly. I have tried to use it to apply liquid foundation and was not convinced- possibly because I'm not used to the comparatively time consuming stippling method of applying foundation.

Maybelline Color drama lip pencil in Keep it Classy- The colour of this is gorgeous but I have no idea how to describe it, in artificial lighting it looks a dark plum but it day light it seems much pinker- something of a muted fuchsia. This is also very easy to apply and I love the lightweight, long lasting formula.

Lush Mask of Magnaminty- I love the way this multi functions as a mask and a scrub but I haven't really used it enough to see a real difference in my skin.

Rimmel Exaggerate Lip Liner in Eastend Snob- This converted me to a lip liner lover in one use, its such a beautiful colour to wear on its own or with a subtle pink lipstick and is so easy to use to make your lips look bigger and your lipstick last longer.

Sleek Face Form in Fair- The highlighter and Nars Orgasm-esque blush are both beautiful and whilst I found the bronzer too warm toned to contour with, the formula of all 3 powders is lovely.

Have you tried any of these products? Please let me know your thoughts on them in the comments! See you soon,
Eva xx

2014 Favourites

Happy new year everyone! I hope y'all had a good break over the Christmas period, since I'm having a lazy pyjama day today (not that I haven't had one most days over the holiday), I thought I'd do a 2014 favourites post and run through some of the make up and skincare products that I've reached for the most this year.

Maybelline Color Tattoo in on and on bronze- This has been my go to quick eye shadow throughout the year. Gos with everything and never creases- even on my exceptionally oily eyelids.

Too Faced Shadow Insurance eye shadow primer- Admittedly, this is horribly over priced but a tiny tube has lasted me over a year already as you need so little at a time, plus it's never failed me, it makes even the worst quality eye shadow look pigmented and last all day without creasing.

Maybelline Great Lash Waterproof Mascara- Holds a curl, doesn't smudge, can be built up easily and has a little brush perfect for lower lashes and its only £5! I know not everyone likes it, but mascaras a personal preference thing and this one has served me well this year.

Urban Decay Naked 3 Palette- This was my first high end eye shadow palette and it's had a lot of use this year. The famous Urban Decay eye shadow formula is wonderfully creamy and pigmented and this palette is full of beautiful colours.

Mac lipstick in Brave- A beautiful easy to wear everyday colour with a lovely formula- not too drying, not so glossy that it doesn't stay put on the lips.

MUA Cream Blush- Cheap as chips, pretty, pigmented and very long lasting. I think I've been opting for this blush most days since I bought it a few months ago.

The Body Shop Honey Bronzer- In the palest shade, this does an excellent job of brightening up my deathly pale skin. It's not too pigmented, so you can build it up but it's not easy to over do. I also really like the packaging.

Burts Bees Lip Balm in Mango Butter- Nothing has yet managed to replace this as my favourite lip balm, it smells lovely and sweet and really sinks into my lips to moisturise them better than anything else I've tried.

Neutrogena Visibly Clear 2 in 1 Wash and Mask- I really love the not-too-strong marshmallow-y smell of this. It cleanses skin well leaving it feeling soft, clean and moisturised. Great value for money.

The Body Shop Camomile Cleansing Oil- Again this smells amazing (of camomile, obviously), it easily removes even the most stubborn waterproof mascara and leaves skin feeling soft and clean after removing make up, no need for a second cleanse.

Garnier Miscellar Cleansing Water- As a lover of lazy skincare I had to give this a shout out. Its the one step thing that I really love about this. It cleanses and removes make up so well and you don't even have to leave your bed to use it!

Anyone got a favourite product of the year to tell me about in the comments? See you soon!
Eva xx

DIY Christmas Gift Tags

For all you last minute gift wrappers out there, I thought I'd share the way I've made my gift tags this Christmas, in case you wanted to add a cute personal touch to your wrapping. I found this a really fun creative thing to do and it left me feeling very Christmassy. You just need old newspaper, watercolour paints, paper/ card (both in the colour you want the gift tags and white for backing) and a biro and a bit of glitter for the finishing touches. I drew simple, Christmas themed shapes on the back of a page of newspaper, cut them out and painted them with a wash of colour so that the print showed through. Then I stuck them on to the gift tags I'd cut out of brown paper backed with lined white paper and added the finishing touches- usually just a sprinkle of gold glitter, before hole punching them ready to be written and added to presents.

Do you get as into gift wrapping as I do? Merry Christmas eve eve, see you soon!

Eva xx