'no make-up' make-up.

not once had i ever seen the appeal of wanting to look as if you have no make-up on all the time. for me, the fun in make-up lies in the fact that you get to look 'done'. you get to be a little bit ridiculous. i wouldn't say that make-up ought to act as some kind of mask, but i personally believe that people should be playful and embrace the possibility of looking different every day. but each to their own. i got a bit sick of my own face and so went for something natural myself, so i guess i better shut up and sit down now - unfortunately i couldn't go completely natural as my skin is awful right now, so i had to cheat... 

face: sephora illuminating primer, mac studio fix fluid (nw30), clinique airbrush concealer (03 light), paula dorf magic stick (#2), mac mineralize skinfinish (medium plus).

eyes: urban decay primer potion, urban decay eyeshadow (naked), no 7 perfect eyes pencil (brown), maybelline gel liner, lancome l'extreme mascara, mac eyebrow pencil (stud).
cheeks: no 7 blush tint (blossom).
lips: vaseline.

ps - look at all the stuff my mother has dumped in my room, tsk. :( LOOK HOW STRAINED AND OPPRESSED I APPEAR.

late for work.

yesterday i was late for work. not because i woke up late, or took a wrong turn - i just saw the words "SALE" in dorothy perkins (in victoria station, in case you were wondering) and wandered in, like a moth to the flame. i don't think i have ever shopped in there before. i've popped in and out, but never saw anything i remotely liked or would even buy for someone else. but VOILA - this dress cost me a whopping £10. it hasn't beaten my favourite bargain which was a £50 leopard print zara dress reduced to £8 (perhaps due to missing belt and the fact that it would probably be deemed as hideous by many) but it does comes close. it's so dreamy, and i will probably live in it for the next month - in fact, i wore it today!

dress - dorothy perkins, shoes - office.

review: bourjois bronzing powder.

i can't admit that i'm a bronzer-maniac - i only touch the stuff for the purpose of contouring, should i feel like it. i never, ever use it to look more tanned and so if that's your sole purpose for using it, i wouldn't continue reading this because i have no experience of that... saw-wee.

SO, i was wandering around the boots near work and finally stumbled upon bourjois' bronzing powder - usually i can never ever see the damn thing anywhere! it is elusive. at £6.99 it is still more expensive than the vast majority of high street brands, but still a LOT cheaper than mac or nars. long story short: i really, really like it.

loooooook atttt ittttttt...

... okay, i know i'm in the minority here, but i don't like the packaging. that's right. look at it. yes i know it's meant to look like chocolate (good enough to eat?), but i don't even like chocolate. :( boo. bourjois, you waste such things on horrible people like me. i like the way the bronzer itself actually looks like chocolate, but to me the exterior just seems unnecessary... maybe it's because bourjois don't usually do gimmicks (unlike gimmick champions, soap & glory, 9 parts gimmick and 1 part soap/glory) and so i suppose that's why it seems a bit odd when viewed amongst row upon row of simple, round packaging. however, it smells absolutely lovely. i know that the smell of bourjois blushes are like marmite in that they split the crowds who either love them or hate them, but everyone absolutely loved the smell of this.

unlike other high street brands, it is NOT doused in glitter, which is so refreshing as not everyone wants to resemble a disco ball that has just stumbled out of sugar hut. i think there is the teeniest amount of shimmer, but it is so minimal that you need a magnifying glass. it is such a great flattering shade too (which i can imagine suiting a wide range of skin tones), and not intimidating to work with. this is because it is easily buildable and blends really easily, meaning that you can easily get whatever desired amount you want to adapt with your skin. it does exactly what it says on the tin/fake chocolate box, and for £6.99, it's bloody good. not saying it's dark or strong enough to give you cheekbones like snoop dogg, but still, A++ WOULD RECOMMEND.

 nothing is matching in this photo, oh god oh god OH GOD.

face: 17 primer, bourjois healthy mix foundation (52), clinique airbrush concealer (03 light), mac mineralize skinfish (medium plus).

eyes: rimmel exaggerate liquid liner, clinique high impact mascara (01 black).

cheeks: bourjois bronzing powder, duwop blush (peach).

lips: no 7 perfect lips liner (nude), no 7 sheer temptation lipstick (attract).

in other news: i bought tickets to see demetri martin when he comes to london in october! two rows away from the stage. awwww yeah. what if i start shaking and crying? i love him, i think i fancy him, and i want us to write palindromes together. he is my dream, when in reality all i ever attract is ugly, egotistic, scummy dickheads. i'm pretty sure that if i combined all of their iq points, it would still be less than a peanut. think i'll knock back some prozac now, if you don't mind.

WHY ARE YOU NOT MY BOYFRIEND DEMETRI, WHYYYYY??!!!!!!! I LIKE THAT TRICK YOU'RE DOING WITH YOUR HANDS I LAUGH AT YOUR JOKES

purple rain?!

this is a blog post about purple things. it is pouring down outside, hence the post title. i do feel really shallow blogging about make-up when livelihoods and family homes are being smashed or set ablaze - so i hope that no one assumes that i do not care, because that isn't the case. today and yesterday have been absolutely awful for london - the rioters have spread like parasites, and copy one another as if they're sheep. it's an absolute disgrace, to be frank, and sickens me to my core. i am lucky in several respects: i moved out of north-east london in mid 2008, and now live in a quiet area where there is no trouble; my workplace is not in an area where much can go on either; and i do not know of a single person who has advocated that behaviour whatsoever. however, i wish i could say that all of my friends lived within my area... they're actually spread all over london. literally. so, it's been stressful. all i can do is stay out of it, and hope that this shameful period comes to a close.

back to business. a new lipstick arrived from illamasqua today. i'll post about it properly soon.

purple is my favourite colour right now. england hasn't had much of a summer what with its constant torrential downpour, so i'm not feeling hot pinks and corals anymore. bringing out the purple usually happens for me in autumn, but it works nicely as a transitional colour and can be worked into both daytime and evening looks rather easily (as i hope i have demonstrated!). as i applied my make-up for daytime (rioters take note: i actually go to work five days a week) i just went for a wash of colour on the eyelids and kept the rest looking relatively natural and glowing~~ 

face: 17 primer, bourjois healthy mix foundation (52)*, clinique airbrush concealer (03 light), benefit gilded highlighter (tangerine gold). 

eyes: urban decay primer potion, rimmel kohl eyeliner (black), urban decay 24/7 pencil (lust), maybelline gel liner, mac eyeshadow applied wet (azuki bean), urban decay eyeshadow (twice baked), mac eyebrow pencil (stud), max factor false lash effect mascara*.

cheeks: mac blush (well dressed).

lips: the body shop lipbalm (passionfruit)*.

as you can see, i've asterixed a few things. the foundation? absolutely brilliant. blends like a dream when you apply it with your fingers, has decent coverage, and feels lightweight. it also smells wonderful and fresh. the mascara? a total love/hate relationship, perhaps bordering on abusive. the more observant of you will notice that i use it regularly, and that is because i love the look it gives. however, as a contact-lens wearer, it can be absolutely brutal if you have sensitive eyes. it could also potentially clump a lot if you're not very sensible with it either, or flake. however, it gives a lot more impact than other mascaras i own, and so it is thus the reason as to why i keep going back. :( last but not least, if you're looking for a nice balm with a marginal amount of tint, i would really recommend this. not the most hydrating one on the market, but feels really nice.

last but not least in this heffer of a blog post, one final purple addition: 'wild lilac' by gosh. it applies like a dream. colour-wise, it is about as close as you will ever get to illamasqua's 'jo'mina' nail polish on the high street. gorgeous in its own right, but not as electric.

peace out. let's sing.

forever 21.

today i checked out the new forever 21 shop (store? shop? store?) in oxford street, london. if i were to sum up my impression of the place in one word, it would be "yuck". cheap clothes, cheap quality, cheap service. cheap, cheap, cheap. and not cheap in a h&m sort of way whereby you find the odd gem and leave happy knowing you didn't pay all that much for it. this was just... blah. i wandered around thinking that perhaps i'm just too old for forever 21 - that is, until i saw people my age/older clutching bundles of clothing in their arms. the staff are horrifically slow, but i think that is because they are new recruits and still learning the ropes.

i don't think american equivalents of high-street fashion ever really translate well in the uk, to be honest. they could be okay, but never as successful as continental exports such as zara, mango and h&m, amongst others. it could just be my experiences but people tend to "binge" in the same american shops and end up looking massively douchey (urban outfitters, abercrombie & fitch, hollister, i'm looking at all of you). in the eyes of american brands, people are compartmentalised and social groups probably resemble that of glee. urban outfitters - maybe a girl who likes quaint jewellery isn't a hardcore indie kid who doesn't want to team it up with curtain-esque florals all the time, and deserves a little more choice?

i know that to some extent, every shop has its own target market and you would probably have to fit within that market in order to like what they have. but, within british/european shops, i feel like the target audience is much more wider and encompassing. american brands seem to box up people into very specific categories - hipster, 14 year old teenage girl, sporty and so forth - and if you don't fit into that, you'll be hideously hard-pressed to actually love anything. british brands do appeal to certain styles (they have to, for marketing!) and as much as topshop pisses me off at times, it is an example of different types of people all coming within one shop and actually finding something that's for them - and it is that which i find to be lacking in american exports.

forever 21 is not this type of place.

however - praise the lord because i braved another floor. forever 21's saving grace is right there: the jewellery and accessories. it is actually really impressive! which makes me wonder why on earth no one is raving about it. why are the accessories so scarce in the window displays?! WHY AM I SEEING MORE FLORAL DRESSES ALL THE TIME?! seriously, my vision of america is all the women wearing floral dresses and making the streets of america resemble a wild, tatty meadow. the jewellery is all really, hideously cute. meet my new teddy! totally adorable, and a blatent nod to vivienne westwood's other teddy bear necklace. iz a smug bitch.

my advice? go in, ignore any piece of fabric you see, and go straight to the second floor. it's the only part that is worth your time.

soap & glory hand food.

this is the latest love of my life. we've been going strong for about five months now. by 'we', i obviously mean myself and soap & glory's hand food (£4.85). i, love, this. the smell is absolutely gorgeous, a mixture of shea butter, macadamia oil and marshmallow (apparently) ... (i don't smell no macadamia oil).

nail polish - barry m (lemon).

i really like using this during the warmer months as it is not overly intensive and therefore takes far less time to absorb into the skin. i never stick to products all-year round as i find that it doesn't work for me at all (i get by far better if i am actually responding to whatever is up with my skin) - but this would be great to have.

alternative hand creams i swear by are by dove and no 7. dove's rich nourishing beauty handcream (£2) is really rich and ideal for winter when the cold and central heating causes havoc with the moisture in your skin. doesn't smell too bad either actually, and the small size is deceptive; it will last you a very long time. no 7's protect and perfect hand cream (£10.50, ouch) is also a great product but more suited towards people with old lady hands as it contains collagen. i personally love it because it's even lighter than hand food and feels incredibly silky on the skin. for some bizarre reason, it does honestly make your hands appear younger, and photographs like a dream. that's right: if you've been dreaming of becoming a hand model your entire life, get your hands (ZING) on that product now.

brb gagging.

in other news: i've been busy at work and for some reason the deadline for everything (perhaps life itself) seems to be tomorrow. i got caught in the rain today too, it wasn't very pleasant.

bright pink lip.

the sunshine is out! seems as if london has finally got its act together. work was relatively sluggish all day, but the moment i had to leave i received a barrage of emails. just typical. my make-up was pretty low key, didn't have much on in the evening except drinks with a friend...

LOL jk i totally added buttloads of pink to my face. i hope the photo above demonstrates why i complain about my eyelashes being too long. i've always had relatively long eyelashes (nothing compared to my brother though) but following an unfortunate anger-induced incident with an eyelash curler, they were a little lacking. after approximately a month of using revlon's 'grow luscious' mascara to make them grow back quicker, they're back to their old self but... even longer. whoops.

face: sephora smoothing primer, mac studio fix fluid (nw30), clinique airbrush concealer (03 light), paula dorf magic stick (#2), mac mineralize skinfinish (medium plus).

eyes: urban decay primer potion, urban decay eyeshadow (midnight cowboy rides again), maybelline gel liner, rimmel exaggerate liquid liner, max factor false lash effect mascara, mac eyebrow pencil (stud).
cheeks: mac blush (fleur power).
lips: revlon (cherries in the snow).