August Giveaway Winner

Thanks to everyone who joined the August Giveaway. The winner is Hope Talbot. Congratulations it's a fantastic prize - send me your postal address (corinnaharrrod at gmail dot com) and I will get the prizes out to you as soon as possible. If you entered the July giveaway then you have until the end of August to claim your prize. If I haven't heard from Megan by then then I will re-randomise the list and choose another winner so if you entered the July giveaway you could still be in with a chance!

I've come on holiday without the details of the September giveaway so that will be going up on 11th September xx

August 2016 Empties - Friday Video

Here's another empties video. With one of my most lovely thumbnails yet!

Sleek Makeup Solstice Hightlighting Palette

This palette is one of the biggest releases of 2016 and although I find highlighters pretty resistible I had to try this one out for myself. It's taken longer than expected though as I got stuck on just using the cream colour as an eye base and for a while I didn't get much further. But we're here now. I finally got my bum in gear.

So we should start with the cream product which is the one I've used most. For me if I had to choose I'd always want cream over powder. This is purely personal preference and this palette is popular despite only 1 of the 4 highlighters being cream. A lot of the reviews are from people who prefer powders. It is what it is. They say you can use this on the body. Again I would prefer to use a liquid - I still have a tin of Bettina from Benefit which I use if I need to (and remember).

The cream highlighter, Eclipse, and it's on the top left of the palette. It's a very pretty pale purple colour which, in my opinion, is lovely  used as a base for the eyes but is also the most subtle of the 4 to use on the cheeks. It is unlikely to last all day unless you don't touch your face or speak on the phone at all. But it doesn't last all day on me - but it's great for going out for drinks in the evening.

Airport Shopping

I like being in airports, despite hating to fly. I always have a long list of things I want to look at in Duty Free but this time I got a couple of old favourites and something I haven't ever seen before!

NYX Jumbo Eye Pencils

When NYX do something well they completely nail it. Where there's a high end cult product NYX can usually produce a similar product for a fraction of the price and not bad quality. The Jumbo Eye Pencil's fall into this category and though I have definitely found fault with them I keep using them and getting different colours and can see myself getting more.

What's good? These can be used as a liner or an eye shadow and it's the flexibility of these that I love. Most days I scribble one of these (preferably youghut or iced mocha) all over my eye lid and blend it out with my finger but if you want more intensity you can do a really good line along the the lashes. If you don't like wearing a lot of your eyes a line with the right colour one of these will make your eye colour really stand out without looking very over the top. You could also draw a heavy line along the lashes and smudge it upwards over the lid for a really effortless smokey eye.

The range of colours is pretty incredible and make these a great choice for those who want to be a bit more experimental with colour but don't want to shell out a ton of money. These are highly pigmented so they are great for pro kits who want loads of colour to work with and won't cost the earth. I don't use that many bright colours so I love having a couple of these to hand just in case.

Book Club

I've been wanting to do something like this for a while, not sure how it's going to work but will just be doing what I've read, favourite books and hoping that you will leave comments on the videos so we can talk books! It will most be on YouTube and my other blog www.blueskyandbunting.com

July Giveaway Prizes - Friday Video

A closer look at this months prizes...

This Works In Transit Camera Close-up

I've been using This Works In Transit Camera Close-up for months and yet still undecided on whether I love this product or just don't really need it. I've heard great things about it and I can see that it would be a great moisturiser to have in a pro-kit but there is something a bit lacking for me. Maybe it makes to many claims. It promises a greatness that is very hard for any cream to live up to.

This is a mask, moisturiser and primer in one. It is absolutely fine as a moisturiser and very nice under make-up so I suppose in a way it's a primer. I haven't noticed any effect on the longevity of my make-up. If you have very dry skin this isn't going to do much moisturising for you. But it's also quite hard to find a good moisturiser for the mornings. You can use this over an oil, or under an SPF. It's quickly absorbed, hence why it's so nice under make-up. Do wait for it to be fully absorbed first thought - about 10 minutes.

A lot of people seem to find that this reduces the appearance of fine lines. I have not noticed this but I actively avoid noticing anything to do with my fine lines. And I just don't see how it's a mask. Suggestions welcome.

I would say that this would be a good product if you are going away and want to take hand luggage or are able to pack a small wash bag. I'm not though I find myself imagining that maybe I'll just be taking this with me to France in a couple of weeks. This and some SPF. And my Environ AVST 2 moisturiser. I did originally buy the This Works In Transit Camera Close-up to take in my hospital bag when I went to have Jim - it did the job then.

Face of the day - 2nd July 2016 - Friday Video

So this face of the day features something I do a variation of most days... then I beef it up for the evening and slap on loads of extra products that you don't need to do. If you want to know some less expensive alternatives to a product then leave me a comment and I'll let you know.

I start off cross with the post office and end up sleepy with prosecco but... you get the idea.


Delph Factor 50
Lola Eye Primer
Louise Young Essential Eye Palette
Urban Decay Naked Palette
Make Up For Ever Ink Liner
NARS Audacious Mascara 
Benefit Hello Flawless Foundation
Dior Lip Maximiser
Maybelline Better Skin Concealer
Recover Correct & Conceal Red
Laura Mercier Secret Brightening Powder
Daniel Sandler Water Colour Blush (Rose Glow)
Daniel Sandler Radiant Glow
Hourglass Ambient Lighting Powder (Diffused Light)
Charlotte Tilbury Lip Cheat (Pillow Talk)
Charlotte Tilbury Lip stick (Bitch Perfect)
Charlotte Tilbury Filmstar Bronze & Glow

The Louise Young Essential Eye Palette

 Eye palette's are ten a penny and you can get wearable ones for about £4. That's all very fun but they are not long lasting it's hard to find any good matte colours and a good matte is necessary in any make-up collection. A nice shimmer eye colour can be flattering, fun and 'on-trend' but also the opposite to all those things and they often look so much better on top of a matte shadow. Also at best a shimmer shadow can be used as a highlighter as well as an eye colour. But get the right matte palette and you can do almost full make-up. And the Louise Young Essential Eye Palette is the right palette.

There are lots of things that make really great make-up artists stand apart from the others and with Louise I'm always so impressed by her eye for colour (she'd be able to tell you the exact inspiration for every colour in her range). Its why she's a go-to artist for vintage make-up and its what makes her brand so special. The colours are painstakingly chosen and developed so that every one in this palette are wearable for everyone and are incredibly versatile.

CLOSED - LMB Turns 10 - August Giveaway

As August is my birthday month I'm going to include something that is one of my absolute favourites, the eye palette I would have on my desert island and probably my most recommended products - the Louise Young Essential eye palette. I am so pleased to be able to give one of these away. When Louise sent it over I think I went ultrasonic with excitement. 

There are so many things I love about this palette I'm not going to list them all here but I will write a full review of it soon. You can my not-so-quick review of it here. I use it everyday and on most jobs I do. If you lost all your make-up this palette would pretty much have you covered - brows, contouring, smoky eye and simple blending. Black eye shadow fans, this is the only one to use.

To go with this amazing palette I have an LY30 Angled Brow brush perfect no only for creating great brows but for doing powder liner too and some NYX HD eye primer which I use pretty much every day.

To enter all you have to do is follow me on YouTube and leave me a comment below letting me know your YouTube username.This competition is open until 27th August 2016. Good Luck