basic look.

(check out those bags!)

face: sephora base subliminatrice, mac studio fix fluid (nc35), clinique airbrush concealer (03 light), no 7 illuminator (peach), mac mineralize skinfinish (medium plus).

eyes: maybelline gel liner, max factor false lash effect mascara.

cheeks: mac (ladyblush).

lips: revlon (kiss me coral).

illamasqua eyeshadow in 'taboo'.

recently i've been embracing a lot of colour... is this some sort of subconscious happy response to my new-found unemployed status?

i have always loved this look at dior's s/s show... what's not to like, with bright colour and 50s referencing? dreamy. i luv u dior.

unfortunately, blue and yellows (as pictured above) do NOT work with my face. i AM yellow, so no jaundice look will ever work for me. i'm not even saying this to be cute - there is honestly just something about my face which doesn't go with those colours at all.

however, i have found my saviour in illamasqua's eye shadow range. it's a pretty vast at that, and i wish i could afford all of the colours* because i fangirl so hard for them. so, so hord. buuuuut after much oohing and aahing i settled for 'taboo', a beautiful bright green. illamasqua's products are so highly pigmented that what you see is basically what you get (unlike YOU lancome, sit down). to make it easier, i apply my eye make-up backwards - i begin by blending in the socket line first to get a shape going (usually using urban decay's crease brush or a mac 217) and then patting the colour down until it is as intense as i want. i always apply primer beforehand, so i have had no trouble with the shadow fading or losing any of its colour by the end of the day.

(bad blending, whoops!)

so yeah... i've been wearing this sort of make-up an awful lot as of late. if i was truly elated i supposed i'd pair it with a horrifically hot pink (revlon's 'stormy pink') or a bright orange (no 7's 'gay geranium') but i've got lots of international environmental law to read on and so that won't be happening for a while.

face: 17 primer, mac face and body (C2), collection 2000 lasting perfection concealer (02), paula dorf magic stick (#3).
eyes: urban decay primer potion, illamasqua eyeshadow (taboo), rimmel exaggerate liquid liner, max factor false lash effect mascara, mac eyebrow pencil (stud).
cheeks: duwop (peach).
lips: vaseline.

i also have become really attached to mac's face and body despite me initially hating on it. this is basically a textual equivalent of me realising that i was wrong in an argument and begrugindly apologising. generally speaking, i hated the smell and how sheer it was - it couldn't cover my spots or any real blemishes on my face.

now... if i'm honest, the smell is still a bit of an issue (seriously, WHAT is it), but touch wood my skin has been better behaved than usual. so much so that i no longer use concealer on my face except under my eyes. i've probably jinxed myself right? because of this, it just evens out my skin tone and feels really silky and dewy, also being easy to build up. when your skin is clear the last thing you want is to wear 'heavy' make-up and lumping on more coverage than you need to, so it really has been perfect. i don't even know what's caused it as my diet is awful. maybe it's just the weather. i'm on my period soon so i can kiss good skin goodbye anyway... /tmi.



* apparently the shadows are greatly reduced in price at their launch parties and events but i am too terrified to go. i really need to a) re-learn social skills and b) get on that. 

fashionista magnestism nail laquer.

how cool is this?! i treated myself to fashionista's magnetism nail lacquer range yesterday. there's a 3 for 2 offer at superdrug, so i bought two shades and the magnet (the shades being 'notorious silver' and 'purple me up'). there isn't really any con here as it does precisely what it says on the tin.

you're meant to apply two coats (i get overexcited and whack on about 10), hold the magnet above it for 8 seconds, and voila! it's done. it honestly is that easy. so much so that i did my nails during my lecture break and felt like a sales lady doing a demonstration as everyone was ooh-ing and aah-ing. if anything, i actually found this much more straightforward and quicker to do than applying regular nail polish, as it also dries immensely quickly. the effect is holographic almost, with tonal waves - in silver, this gives your nails a great industrial look. i hope they expand this further and work on new patterns!

nails - fashionista (notorious silver).

i am alive.

i haven't blogged in so long! shocking behaviour, i know. i wish i could attribute this to having some form of life but unfortunately, that is not the reason. i have been working long hours, been settling into my masters degree, and was also ill for six weeks. i didn't have the time. BUT, i will be keeping it up.

my masters is definitely a peculiar step. sometimes i still sit there and think what on earth i am doing or why am i even there. this isn't to do with the place i'm going to at all - it's just that i still have zero clue of where i am heading career-wise. i haven't bothered making friends (is this bad of me? it probably is) but as an institution, i do prefer the university i am currently at. i did my undergraduate degree in one of the best universities in the country (and supposedly, THE WORLD~), but it just didn't feel like it at all because i hated my course. everything was so traditional and so rigid and very red-brick. however, in my new university, the atmosphere is a lot more chilled out and calming. the careers service is 1000x better. the department office plays billie holiday. in these last few weeks, i've seen a more diverse range of people than i ever had at the place i was previously at.

... although i must say, the friends i made during my llb degree are second to none. amazing, twisted, bunch of psychos (my favourite). i love them. :3

bad luck.

things have been quiet, i know... after three weeks of having a cold, a throat infection and on/off fevers, i finally jumped for joy when it appeared that i had fully healed (amoxycillin, you are my one and only). however, this did not last long. i injured my foot on monday and have been bed-bound ever since! oddly enough, the injury involved no fall, with the nerves in my foot deciding to go beserk on me within a second. i'd get shooting pains in my left foot and knees very rarely, but never has it been consistent like this. so ya know, i went to the doctor, he couldn't figure out what was wrong (had tests today), but told me that i have inflamed joints anyway. woohoo! so sxc~

however, i have (sort of) been enjoying time by myself doing essentially nothing whilst doing something (working from home, it never ends). i've played computer games, watched films, that sort of thing.

in other news, work is MANIC. insanely busy to say the least. i've enjoyed working there full-time for sure, and only have a week left because it's back to working from home and coming in whenever i can. for that reason, i'm so desperate to have everything for the next event sorted so that my only remaining worry is making sure that people attend. however, i also have to work with the FLAKIEST club promoter ever (who frankly, is a bit of a dickhead) and have no say in the matter - it's really starting to aggravate me.

i also register for my masters next week, and really look forward to having a set routine again. i can't wait to get better and get back on my treadmill, and to get back on zumba (i somehow converted everyone to it and then ended up ditching it myself). it's going to be a busy week ahead!

rimmel glam'eyes eyeshadow: spicy bronze.

(today sucks, my dad is going and i won't see him until november at the earliest. if he doesn't come in november, it will be until after christmas.)

i'm sure everyone has several things in life which they love but forget about constantly. in a make-up context, rimmel's glam'eyes eyeshadow in 'spicy bronze' is definitely my #1. i always go long periods without even looking at it but when i do, i'm confused as to why i don't wear it every day. considering that it's not even that expensive, the eyeshadow feels a lot more luxurious that you would assume and is highly pigmented and easy to blend. i find it really hard to explain its colour as it seems to photograph differently depending on light, but it is not strictly bronze at all - more of a mix between bronze and coffee, i'd say. it warms up my complexion without being too 'in your face', and so for olive skintones it's definitely a must. trust me when i say this - there is a very, very small range of eyeshadows which i actually believe suit and look nice on me, and this is one of them. excluuuusive~

i decided to add a lot of gold tones in my face today. i usually hardly do this around this time of year (it's more of a spring thing to me) but felt lazy and fancied effortless make-up. i'm also pretty sure that everything listed here adds some form of luminosity or has gold shimmer added to it. if that's your sort of thing then just buy anything i say. BUY NOW.

face: no 7 lift and luminate day cream, sephora illuminating primer, mac studio fix fluid (nc35), clinique airbrush concealer (03 light), mac mineralize skinfinish (medium plus).
eyes: urban decay primer potion, rimmel glam'eyes eyeshadow (spicy bronze), maybelline gel liner, revlon grow luscious mascara, no 7 lash adapt mascara, body shop brow and lash gel.
cheeks: bourjois bronzing powder, sleek blush (rose gold).
lips: paula dorf (mermaid).

nails - bourjois (beige glamour).

subtle.

feeling grown-up. what a weekend of full on BORINGNESS. i have to choose my modules for my masters (being cheeky and doing modules with dissertations as i cannot do exams whatsoever) and i am trying to set up outlook so that my three emails all go through that. (i must admit, this is currently failing). i am also thinking about asking for a christmas present for the first time which totally ups my guilt but is slowly becoming unavoidable. i am in dire need of a new mp3 player as mine has been depleted of any free space and it is frustrates me having to delete music i do love in order to make room for new ones. all of these boring decisions has left me feeling relatively boring/safe with my make-up.

face: sephora illuminating primer, mac studio fix fluid (nc35), clinique airbrush concealer (03 light), mac mineralize skinfinish (medium plus).

eyes: revlon 12 hour colourstay eyeshadow quad (in the buff), no 7 eyeshadow (truffle), maybelline gel liner, lancome hypnose l'extreme mascara.

cheeks: nars bronzer (laguna), no 7 illuminator (peach), tiny bit of topshop blush (high five).

lips: mac (see sheer).

taken with flash.

also haz sadz because my dad is going tomorrow morning and won't be back until christmas. lame. now mum is going to ban all junk food and make us go to bed early and scream until her lungs explode.