Today's Purchases

 Cambridge was really nice, we had a lovely meal and walked around town for a bit. I behaved myself (kind of), and only bought The Viva Glam Cyndi lipglass... they're discontinuing it! I have the lipstick so I thought I'd get it too. It's actually more pigmented than the lipstick, and stays on longer!

I then got the Painterly paint pot... and Martin decided he liked 'Morange' so he bought it for me. He's way too nice to me :O <3

The pictures are quite bad so I apologise, couldn't get my hands on the good camera. I was basically trying to show how bright the lipstick is, but seriously none of these do it justice. It's the most pigmented, bright orange I have ever come across!!! When it goes on it looks kind of matte in person although it's not. You can also build it up from a small amount which is really nice and not too shocking. I rather like it :-) 

I resisted anything else, and the Estee Lauder lipstick... I really want Vanilla Truffle but it's on their permanent range so there's no rush. Also, it doesn't smell too great :-/


(the pic at the bottom is the yummiest starter ever, chicken potstickers mmmm)

Health, Money & The Self

So it's 3am and I still can't sleep... hmm.

I was just thinking, I think I realised why I indulge when I have the extra money that I COULD save...  because I never really had 'things'. My parents never had mass amounts of money, so birthdays and christmas' weren't much compared to what everyone else seemed to be getting. People get so many things from family and friends it amazes me, and... I get pretty jealous sometimes.

Finally having my own money means a turning point in my personal style and development... slowly I can buy the clothes I want, the shoes, the makeup etc.

I always wanted to be able to dress like this the above picture (Lily Donaldson, btw).
I have been a bit obsessed with reading Vogue, Bazaar and Elle... I love keeping up to date with fashion, but it never reflects in my clothing because I lack the money for it!


Most of all though, I don't have the BODY to dress like that- just because you like the style doesn't mean it will suit your body type. Which is why I go back to the fail safe jeans and t shirt I guess. Again, money factors in to this.


Living with Martin's parents is lovely, but they do not have a healthy balance of food in the house. It means I have to buy my own, but I'm at a loss because I have no idea where to start.
I need a healthy balance of affordable foods.

This is most definately why the doctors think I'm anaemic... and I can't actually help it. I need to start making a change. I need to do some research... I haven't been happy with my body for a while, I guess.

Ramblings

My current MAC wishlist:

Painterly Paint Pot
Omega
Sable
Patina
Shroom

I have been a bit disappointed with a few of the MAC shadows (generally the matte ones...)
Don't get me wrong, I love the colour pay off etc, they are just not as easy to blend as say the frost shadows. Saying that, I find a lot of the colours really unique, some just need a bit more work when blending and I'm quite lazy! haha :) I also love the vanilla smell ha! :)
I'm really looking forward to the Wonder Woman collection aswell... I need more blushes by MAC, and the ones from this collection look amazingly pretty! :-)
And I'm just in love with their lipsticks :)

I also really want some Estee Lauder, the new lipsticks look amazing.
Hmmm, if only I was rich!

I'm very new to this whole makeup thing, but hopefully I'll get better in time.


The eyeshadow colour in the picture at the bottom is Sketch (MAC), one of the colours I love to wear on it's own, along with the duochrome colour Club :) I find if I wear a more dewy foundation underneath it helps give the colour slip and therefore it becomes a lot more blendable.

 

Excited!

So, I just ordered two MAC lipsticks in Angel & High Tea... 
I wanted a nude & a pink to suit my skin tone.


I also got MAC pan refills in Embark, Satin Taupe & Cork... 
My reasoning behind this (lol) is that I wanted some neutrals (and to fill my palette some more), and I have been eyeing these ones for a while. 
 
I also got the NARS Orgasm blush. I was thinking about getting a 217 brush aswell, but I have the No7 contour brush which is a great dupe.

I'm terrible for buying makeup when I could be buying books for uni... I got the Urban Decay Naked Palette a few days ago aswell so I feel a bit guilty!! 

So...

 This is my pic of Promise Tamang Phan... if you haven't checked her YouTube out yet do it! She's really creative  just genuine & lovely.

Urban Decay Naked Palette & Maybelline Legendary Lilac came in the post today!!
Also incuded in this pic is the Sleek Molten Metal duo & the Sleek Primer palette, along with the Kat Von D palettes reviewed a few days ago. Just wanted to put a pic up of my current favourites :-)

Kat Von D 'Ludwig' & 'Love and Fury' (or Adora) Palette Review

 

 Ludwig swatches from left to right:
Lucifer, Orbi, Dimebag, Tequila, Clay, Downtown, Baroque and Leather.

Adora/ Love & Glory swatches from left to right:
Albino, Holy bible, Slayer (cream), Glock, Crixifix (cream), Bloodletting (cream), Ace of Spades and Oddfellow.


From an aesthetic point of view, both palettes definately look nice. Kat Von D played a part in designing them so this goes without saying really! :-)
The Ludwig palette has to be my favourite of the two. It is a lovely palette of 5 neutrals, two greens and a black.
The two greens, 'Orbi' (the darker one of the two) and 'Dimebag' both have a little shimmer in and are very pigmented, they are also really easy to blend.
One negative could be that the greens are not extremely individual colours, and are easily duped (which I personally do not have a problem with, but some people may). I have a MyFace Cosmetics palette with very similar colours inside, however, seeing as I got this palette for around £30, I am not complaining :-).
'Lucifer', the matte black, is extremely pigmented and very easily blended. I would compare it to MAC's 'Carbon', which is actually harder to blend out, I find. 
Now on to the neutrals!!  'Tequila' and 'Clay' are ever so slightly shimmery, 'Downtown' and 'Baroque' moreso. 'Leather' is a dark matte brown. As expected, they are all very blendable.
 There are a lot of potential colour combinations with these 5 colours, but my favourite thing to do it add 'Tequila' all over, and then add 'Clay', 'Downtown' and Baroque' to the crease and outer V, then blending it all out with 'Clay' again, finally adding depth to the crease with 'Leather', and then 'Lucifer'. Very unimaginative, I know! But this looks amazing. Of course you can always skip out 'Lucifer' :-).

All colours in the palette last well, although I do recommend using some kind of primer (I use MAC's paint pots) for more staying power and truer colours.
The palette as a whole is easily duped, but overall, I think it's very good value for money, and definitely worth it if you're a lover of neutrals.


Now on to the Adora palette! :-)
I love the colours in this one, 'Bloodletting' (a burgundy cream shadow), 'Ace of Spades' (a dark plum colour with glitter in) and 'Oddfellow' (a black with green, blue and silver flecks in) being my favourites. These 3 are quite individual colours in my opinion.
'Crucifix' is a cream black, which serves as a very good base. Both cream shadows 'Crucifix' and 'Bloodletting' are surprisingly easy to blend out and with normal shadows. Although I worry that they will dry out quickly, as I have read a few reviews about this. However, if you search the internet there are various ways that you can revive dry, cracked cream shadows.
'Ace of Spades' and 'Oddfellow' have recieved a lot of criticism because they are not pigmented enough, but I really like them. I recommend applying a good primer or a base such as a NYX jumbo pencil or even 'Crucifix' underneath, I have done this and have had no problems with them.
'Glock' is a well pigmented, shimmery dark grey which compliments the other colours, I find it very similar to Urban Decay's 'Gunmetal' shadow minus the glitter. Though I like this colour, it's not that exciting really.
'Slayer' is a light grey cream shadow with glitter in it. This one, I believe deserves the harsh reviews it has recieved, unlike the previous mentioned shadows. The glitter makes it blotchy and extremely hard to blend out, which is a shame because it has some potential. If anyone knows of a way to make this one look good please let me know :-).
'Holy Bible' is a light, shimmery blue/grey, which is quite opaque. I don't have much to say on this one either, I find it a little boring :-/.
And finally, 'Albino' is a sheer but buildable shimmery white/grey colour. I really like this for highlighting, especially when using 'Oddfellow' and 'Bloodletting'.

Overall, I think it's a nice palette with some awesome colours inside, it's just a shame a few things let it down. Definately not a palette for someone who is looking for something 'wearable'. I still think it is totally worth the money, and the only real disappointment is 'Slayer'.


And finally, here's a look using these palettes!