Shopping My Stash | The Festive Edit

Since Christmas is just around the corner (quite literally! How quick does time fly?!), I decided to have a little route through my makeup drawers the other day in search of some festive makeup inspiration.  As I'm on a bit of a budget this year and haven't really got an excuse to splurge on a selection of new products - I thought it would be perfect timing for my first ever 'shopping my stash' themed post. I always love reading these on other blogs but I've never done one myself.  As a fickle bunch, us bloggers do have a tendency to forget about the fabulous goodies we already own in favour of treating ourselves to a new little luxury or two (guilty as charged)...but sometimes, it's much better to re-discover old favourites.  As a family, we always go out for dinner and drinks on Christmas Day.  It's basically a fabulous excuse to get done up like a dog's dinner and for me, a good time to experiment a little bit with my makeup - if ever you're going to break the rules and get away with the smokey eye/bright red lip combo (with a dash of extra glitter for good measure) it's on Christmas Day! Here's what I picked out...

First up is a blogger classic, Mac's Cranberry. I love this shade in the autumn/winter and it's just perfect for this time of year.  It puts a nice little twist on a classic smokey eye and is surprisingly easy to wear - it looks lovely on the centre of the lid if you're not brave enough to go full-on with it.  I also picked out Urban Decay's 'Zodiac' - a beautiful shimmery deep forest green.  I've only ever worn this once on New Year's Eve last year but it looked absolutely stunning and I'm determined to make it work again for me this year.  The shimmer is perfect for creating a festive themed smokey eye and the consistency is simply divine.  Urban Decay always get it right when it comes to texture and this shade in particular is so soft, creamy and pigmented. I adore it. I reckon I might wear this Christmas Day...

I also picked out a smokey eye favourite - Nars Mekong.  This stuff is seriously rich and I reserve it purely for nights out and special occasions simply because it can be a little too much at times - but I adore it nonetheless.   It's a beautiful deep brown shade with tiny flecks of gold running through it. It looks gorgeous worn on it's own, blended out and concentrated on the lid - it gives your eyes so much definition and it's such a good shade for creating a more sultry look.  It's probably the most pigmented, richest brown shade I own. Last up, my favourite gold is Look Beauty's Shade 13 'Luxe' Eyeshadow.  I spoke about this in a recent post here if you want to read up about why I love it so much, but it's one of my faves.  It's akin to a pressed pigment in my opinion as it's so rich and creamy - it gives your lids an almost foiled look.

Next, I headed straight for the statement red lipsticks. I have a couple of favourites that I always use around this time of year - some happen to be drugstore cheapys (MUA Shade 1 is a winner) but when it comes to Christmas, I always feel a little more inspired to reach for some of my more luxurious lippies. The festive season calls for a bit of luxe, doesn't it?!  Mac's MAC Red has to be my ultimate pillar box red.  It's a fairly neutral, cherry sort of shade and the satin finish provides opaque colour without being overly drying.  It featured in my Mac Lipstick Collection post here, and also in my Top 5 Autumn/Winter Reds post - it's very well loved.  I also fell head over heels for Bobbi Brown's 'Old Hollywood' last year.  It certainly lives up to it's name and simply screams glamour.  It's a little more bright in tone than MAC Red - I wouldn't say it's orange toned but it's definitely a little more warm - it looks beautiful both day or night.  The creamy formula applies like a dream and provides full colour pay off. The packaging is also perfect for the season - the weighty gold bullet and satisfying 'clicky' lid is right up my street. I wore it in this post if you want to see more of it.

Swatches L-R // Look 'Shade 13' // Mac 'Cranberry' // UD 'Zodiac' // Nars 'Mekong' // Mac 'MAC Red' // Bobbi Brown 'Old Hollywood' 

Lastly, I picked out a couple of Barry M polishes that I always make a beeline for around this time of year.  'Raspberry' is a gorgeous deep maroon shade with a super glossy finish - I've been wearing this non-stop just recently.  Glitter polishes are also a bit of a guilty pleasure when it gets to Christmas time and Barry M's Gold Glitter is a stunner.  I'm not the biggest fan of the full-on glittered nails look if I'm honest so I tend to paint my nails with a red colour first, and then concentrate the glitter towards the base or the tip of my nails to create a more subtle gradient finish.

Which products have you got lined up for Christmas Day?

POP Beauty | Lid 'Amethyst' Eyeshadow Palette

Happy Easter to all of my lovely readers - I do hope that Mr Easter bunny has hopped over to your neck of the woods and bought you some wonderful edible goodies! For most of you, I'm sure the day will consist mainly of chocolate-egg devouring - maybe with a cheeky Sunday roast thrown into the mix, all together with a little dose of crappy telly. Easter has got to be the one day of the year that you can eat all the chocolate you could ever want, purely guilt free. What's a girl not to love about that?! Anyway, chocolate aside, I thought I'd type up a little post today on one of my newest additions to my eyeshadow drawer - the POP lid eyeshadow palette in 'Amethyst'. I've wanted one of these palettes for yonks now, but never ordered myself one simply because I swear by my Urban Decay Naked Palettes so much - I just couldn't justify my need for another palette. However, justification flew out of the window well and truly when I spotted one in the lovely Gemma's blogsale. I simply had to get my mitts on it.

The palette contains 6 eye shadows which progress from the darker 'smoky' end of the scale to light neutrals. The shades are described on the website as 'cocoa and maroon' tones - and contain a selection of browns, pale pastels and pretty lilacs. I have green eyes, so I find lilac toned shadows bring out the colour of my eyes very well - and make a lovely change from the golds and taupes I usually opt for.  I'd heard through the bloggery-grapevine that these shadows were really buttery and soft to the touch - and I can indeed confirm that the blogger-grapevine was correct.  I don't find these shadows powdery at all - the darker shades inparticularly are unbelievably creamy and the pigmentation is fantastic. They smooth onto the lid perfectly, and are amazingly blendable.  I find that the 2 lightest shades need a little more building up, but that might just be my skin tone. I find all 6 of really great quality, and the subtle shimmer in a select few of them just gives that extra bit of something special.  I'm all for a little bit of shimmer in my shadows - I find it makes them show up a little more.

What I love most about this palette though, is the size.  I wish so much I'd taken a photograph of the sides (sorry..bad blogger..but let's be honest it wouldn't have made for a very interesting bit of photography would it?) The palette is wafer thin - at not even a centimetre tall it's practical for travel and storage, and above all else it's strangely satisfying. It almost feels as if you're gripping a little credit card in your hands! For someone who travels a lot, these little palettes are fantastic. It's almost weightless (hello extra room in your luggage!)

The palette also has little handy hints for eye-looks you can create on the inside - giving you a starting point for any smoky eye looks you might wish to create. I find the middle two shades perfect for a daytime bit of colour - it's subtle without being too dramatic. The lighter shades are lovely base colours, and are perfect for highlighting the brow bone or inner corners of the eyes. It also comes with a little handy applicator - I hardly ever use these to be honest but it's a nice little finishing touch for on the go. Wear time is up there with my beloved Urban Decay palettes - I use a primer beforehand but the stronger shades of the bunch will probably stay put regardless! Overall, a massive thumbs up for me. I love this palette more than I expected to. So much so that I have my eye on there other ones in the range (typical me.. I can't just stop at one) which include 'Monochrome' - perfect for smoky eyes, 'Nude' - a possible mini Naked Palette dupe?, 'Bronzer' (i reckon this will be my next one!) and 'Neon' - for the colour loving ladies amongst you. They also do other variations of palettes - some being stocked on ASOS here, alternatively you can have a nosey at the website for a bigger range.

Have you tried the POP lid palettes? Which one have you got your eye on?

 ♥

New Year's Eve Makeup | FOTD

Since one of my New Year's blog related resolutions was to upload more 'Face of the Day' posts, I figured I'd include a photograph of my 'NYE makeup' - I'm sorry I didn't manage to get any close-ups or further photographs - I'm waiting on my macro lens for my new camera so make-up photos will be a doddle and I'll be able to capture more detail... & also I was in a bit of a rush to pick my friend up! Excuses aside,  New Years Eve calls for a bit of glamour when it comes to hair and make-up, and I opted for smokey eyes, a mild orange/peach lip, and side swept hair. I love wearing blue, and always seem to pair it with an orange shade on my lips - it creates such a lovely colourful contrast. I also went for a stronger contour on my cheeks than I usually wear in the day, and just generally dramatised my everyday makeup and made it more night appropriate..

Topshop's Charmed is a beautiful shade of peachy orange, and is bright enough to make a statement but not so bright you can't get away with it in the daytime.  I applied it lightly and smudged it with my fingers to get more of a softer look, and applied a nude gloss over the top to tone it down. I bought this shade way back when it was part of a limited edition collection, but I've seen it in my local store just recently so I'm pretty sure it's now part of the permanent collection.

| Face |

YSL | Touche Eclat Foundation in 'B40' (review here)

Chanel | Soleil Tan De Chanel (contour) 

Mac | Mineralise Skinfinsh Natural in 'Medium'
Illamasqua | Powder blush in 'Lover'
Nars | Albatross Highligher

Nars | Laguna Bronzer

Sleek | Eyebrow Kit in 'Dark' with Mac | 'Beguiled' brow set

| Eyes |

Illamasqua | 'Obisidian' eyeshadow smoked out from lash line

Urban Decay | 'Bootcall' (Naked2) in corners

Loreal | Superliner Carbon Gloss
Maybelline | The Falsies Mascara
Eyelure | Cheryl 'Girls Aloud' False Eyelashes

| Lips |

Topshop | Lipstick in 'Charmed'

Barry M | Gloss in 'Toffee'

Dress - Motel via Topshop

♥