My July Favourites!

– L’Oreal Volume Million Lash
This mascara has lived up to my initial expectations. It is fantastic. If anything, I like it even more now. I haven’t noticed the overpowering scent for a while; the careful light hand approach (which is required) now seems effortless and it still looks very classy in it’s gold casing.
You can read my review here http://essjay23x.blogspot.com/2010/07/mascara-mascara.html

– Sable and Satin Taupe
I’m loving Sable eyeshadow at the moment. I know that you might think it quite a dark, heavy colour for the summer but since I’ve been laying off the foundation, I have needed more striking eye make up. I’m finding that shades closer to my skin tone such as Modellette and All That Glitters just highlight my poor skin and the lack of foundation.
Sable is a way to get striking eyes with the minimal of effort. Colour block it, a slick of mascara and that is my eyes done. I love Satin Taupe but I feel it needs more work (usually with another shadow and liner) to create the same impact.

– Hue
I can never stay away from my first Mac lippie for long. I love Hue. A nice natural, low maintenance lip for the summer. I also like the fact that it is not that red or pink as I’m finding some of my more pink/red lips draw attention to any imperfections or sore skin on my face. You can read more about Hue here https://essjay23x.wordpress.com/2010/01/19/the-first-date-my-mac/

– Lipgloss
I am not the biggest gloss fan but I have worked them a little this month. I’m finding that they have felt increasingly refreshing and moisturising on my lips as the temperature has risen. I have found myself picking up two lipglosses often. One is Underage from Mac ( pictured above). I have always been a bit wary of this gloss as sometimes it looks a bit artificial on my lips and messy like the lipsticks, Barry M 101 and Gosh Darling. However when I use a light hand with Underage, the slight shimmer is much more flattering. You can read about my first impressions of Underage back in January here https://essjay23x.wordpress.com/2010/01/19/the-first-date-my-mac/
Also Kim has done a great review of Underage here http://misskc027.blogspot.com/2010/07/mac-lipglass-comparisons.html.
Gloss-wise, I also like the Jodie Kidd Shell and not just because it was a freebie from a magazine. Shell is very similar to Underage but I prefer the formulation. I find Shell nicer (easier) to apply. I’m always surprised that it looks less pink then Underge in the tube as I think they give a similar finish on the lips with Shell maybe finishing slightly more neatly.

– Dark hair
I have dyed my hair again. Last time I dyed it, I chose Medium Golden Brown. This time, I have gone a shade darker to a Warm Dark Brown and I like it. The Medium Golden Brown was ok but I preferred the colour before it started lifting. So I thought it would be an idea to go one shade darker.

In my dreams, I would love to be a blonde. Oh, how I would! However, I am now starting to face the fact that in reality, I’m always happier when I keep my hair at the dark end of the spectrum. It seems to frame my features better.

– Intimately Beckham
This is an old favourite but I particularly like it in the summer (yes, I do wear it in the day), it is one of those scents that seems to intensify in the heat and linger a while. It is gorgeous and reminds me of carefree days in Ibiza. This perfume never fails to make me smile.

– Eat Love Pray
I have always been a little bit curious about this book. Angela’s (http://ohsheglows.com/) recent posts and news of the forthcoming film only heightened this. So when I finally got my hands on Eat Love Pray,  I devoured it in less then a week. It is a brilliant read and very thought provoking. I might go through it again now with a marker. I do like a good quote!

So that was my July favourites. Interestingly, there are not really any new products in there. So that makes me think that either there isn’t anything that new and exciting out there at the moment or just maybe I’m getting the hang of this saving thing (yeah, right, after that TopShop haul)! What do you think? Have you any July favourites? Is there anything I’m missing out on?

X

Three Things!

Here are three things that I’m liking at the moment.

1/ FRENCHED

This Benefit lipstick has defined the last week. Ever since the PixiWoo Christina Agrilia trutorial and Pixi2Woo wearable red lip one, I have being heading towards pan with this beauty. I am going to do a post/vlog very, very soon (I am wearing it in my new perfume collection videos http://www.youtube.com/user/essjay23x )  but this is a true, true red. No compromise or safe bet like the pretty but nowhere near as daring as Viva Glam Cyndi. Frenched is a berry red, a real red and I can wear it! Yay! And what is more, no gloss is required, a beautiful pigmented creamy finish is delivered by Frenched all by itself.

2/ SATIN TAUPE

I’ve always liked this one. It is so verstaile and can be used just for the lid or it can be the lid in a smoky eye or the contour in an everyday look. I’m favouring the mono look in the day and then smoking it up with carbon and sable (or one of the browns from my Sleek palettes) at night. I knew I liked this one but didn’t realise how much I wore it until I was flicking through some photos earlier. I love Sable but I think sometimes that is a little bit red for me. Satin Taupe is more of a greyer brown akin to Barry M Mushroom rather then chocolater colours.

3/ CURLIER HAIR

It must be the green tea because I am a ‘Sleek’ freak and almost always wear my hair straight on a day to day basis but I would say I have curled, flicked or waved in some way at least three times over the last month and I think I act differently with curled/waved hair. I’m more relaxed, more ‘blonde’, I guess. Maybe I think that I’ll get away with more as curly hair is so not me. It does take some heavy conical work to curl/wave my hair so that it wearable. My hair is not straight so I presumed (pre-curling action this month) that it was wavy or curly but no, curls actually fall out in a quicker time duration then the transformation from my straightened hair to frizz. I have come to the conclusion that my hair is just one great big puff ball. Although the Garnier Fructis Bamboo Finish and Hold Extreme (obviously) hairspray seems to help a lot!

What are you liking at the moment?

X

FOTD: MAC London

Hi Girlies

So here is a face of the day with the rest of my MAC haul from London. Sorry about the picture!

 

Face

Revlon ColorStay Ivory

Erase Paste No 1

FCUK Bronzer

MAC Sheertone Blushbaby

(Note I would normally finish with my MAC Mineralize Skinfinish in Natural but apparently this is not too flattering in photos. I think I got this tip from Pixi2Woo.)

Eyes

Benefit Cream Shadow RSVP (a base)

MAC All That Glitters (Lid)

MAC Satin Taupe (Crease)

MAC Carbon (To line)

Benefit Cream Shadow Skinny Jeans (To line)

Max Factor Lash Extension Effect Extreme Lengthening Mascara

Brows Mid Brown powder from Sue Moxley Famous Brow Kit (love)

Lips

Boots Fresh Vanilla Lip Balm

MAC Patisserie

Let’s break down My New MAC . . .

I do like Patisserie. I think it will look great when I need a polished but subtle look. I think it will work well with looks where I want to look groomed rather then ‘Look at my lipstick’ looks. The MAC assistant said that I could use it with Snob and it would more or less create the MAC Angel colour. It is a lovely lipstick and I will probably use it lots but I’m not sure I could describe it as exciting. A good friend rather then anything more!

All That Glitters reminds me of Modellette in the pot but when it is on the lid, it is certainly more shimmery and oranger. I wasn’t sure when I first put it on how much I liked it. As usual, I had done my eyes first but when I started painting my face around it then All That Glitters came in to its own. It looks quite neutral in the pot but I personally would not wear this shadow without more or less an entire face made up.

 

I love Satin Taupe. I wore it on my lid the other day even though a lot of people suggest it for the crease and contouring. Let me tell you, Shale has a little bit of competition. I thought that this was beautiful and today, I thought it worked very well with All That Glitters.

Carbon has created a lovely line. It went on quite evenly and even though, I deliberatly kept it light. You can certainly see a black outline on my lower lash line.

I purchased my three shadows with a MAC pallette, I have one more spot left. I nearly grabbed Knight Divine but wasn’t sure how me it was and if I would wear it. There is another purple one, is it Satellite and Rockets (?) that has caught my eye. What do you think of these shadows. I think I am looking for one that edges towards a smoky night look, any suggestions?

Now on to blush . . , my first MAC blush. When I went to the counter, I looked at Pink Swoon and Well dressed (mainly because these were the only two that I remembered people mentioning). They were so different. One was so bright and the other, you could hardly see at all. I sought the assistants advice as I wasn’t sure whether with my pale skin I should go all out there and add a bright colour or spend the money on a blush, that you would hardly be able to see. The assistant advised that I go for an inbetween and recommended Blushbaby. I was a bit puzzled as it didn’t look at all pink like the two I had been considering. It looked like a brown in fact I would have said it was more of a bronzer but when the man swatched it, it looked ok and I decided since I already had blushes from Benefit , both pink and peachy, that I might as well do something different with my MAC blush.

It certainly made me look a bit more radiant today but apart from that, I am not sure what I think. I think when I finally do a post on Coralista, I will look at this baby too.

So that is my little MAC haul.  I hope you enjoyed it. After all, Snob and I were parted for at least five minutes to do this face of the day! If you fancy adding to your MAC collection, why not check out Sophie’s blog (BeautyMarked19, link in the sidebar) as she is giving away a limited edition MAC ColourCrafted lippie?

X

PS Don’t forget, you can still qualify for my competition that ends this weekend, See the Competition Post for details!