The Best of Drugstore: Cream Eyeshadow Edition

Maybelline NY Color 24HR Tattoo, Max Factor Excess Shimmer, Rimmel Kate Scandaleyes

Don’t get me wrong; I cherish the time I have on the weekends to put the effort into doing my make up. Buffed, blended and contoured galore, this is the way I wish I could have my face everyday. But, realistically, on a daily basis I’m usually rushing around at the last minute, (as a result of my terrible time keeping skills) and throwing things into my bag, half dressed, before I have to sprint out of the front door. However, this was before I was introduced to the vast majority of cream eyeshadows available on the market, making it a lot easier to look half decent during the day. On a little swatch mission in Boots, and with some great recommendations from other beauty bloggers, I discovered that there are some amazing cream eyeshadows available at such affordable prices and therefore practical for everyday use.

The ones that made the cut:

• Maybelline Colour Tattoo 24HR - £4.99
• Max Factor Excess Shimmer - £7.99
• Rimmel Scandaleyes Shadow Stick - £4.49

(See swatches at the end of the post)

The Maybelline Colour Tattoo 24HR pots have a Make Up Forever Aqua Cream vibe to them. They could essentially be the same product, minus the shade selection and creaminess. Nevertheless, it's still a long-lasting, pigmented and easy 'slap and go' product. I have one in the shade On and On Bronze. The shade captures the light beautifully and looks fresh and brightening all over the lid. You can't really go wrong with this product, I cannot recommend it enough.

Next up, the Max Factor Excess Shimmer. These have to be my favourite and I'm in love with the texture of these shadows. Whenever I open my little pot of Bronze i'm always reminded of a dark chocolate mousse. They're extremely creamy, have great longevity and are easy to blend. (These words may start to sound a tad cliché but it's true!) One thing I will say is that unlike the Maybelline 24HR Tattoo shadows, these need a little bit more attention when blending onto the eyelid. A fluffy brush does the trick in seconds. Overall, i'm a big fan.

The idea of having a cream eyeshadow in chunky pencil form is genius. Brands such as Bourjois, Collection and even luxury brand Charlotte Tilbury have taken to doing this and it's so cool. 

The Rimmel Scandaleyes is the easiest of the bunch. It's light in weight and the procedure goes as follows:

1. Colour in the eyelid

2. Quickly blend out edges with your finger

3. You are ready

It takes practice when you're working with powder eyeshadows. I feel cream eyeshadows are the way forward for people who want to add a wash of colour to the eye for work, university or a night out, but don't feel confident enough to use 4 different shades on their make up look.

Left to Right: Scandaleyes Rose Gold, Colour Tattoo 24HR On and On Bronze, Max Factor Excess Shimmer Bronze

Lets quickly talk packaging. All of these formulas have been put into small, neat and concise packaging that is so convenient for travel or just putting into your everyday bag.

Here's to turning into a cream eyeshadow hoarder, how exciting!  

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An exciting splurge: Double Exposure

The other week I had one of those 'I shouldn't, but i'm going to anyway' moments when I walked into Boots and saw (and grabbed might I add) this beauty at the Smashbox stand. As you can see from the tiny bit of mess on the palette in the picture below I have had a few dabbles into it and i'm really liking it. This product is so versatile in terms of the looks that you can create with it. Whether it be a light or dark look or a day to night look. There is also a nice balance between the cool and dark shades available to you. But it gets better, I didn't realise this before I bought it, but 14 shades turn into 28 with a sprinkle of water to your make up brush. However, the shades react differently. For example, there is either added sparkle, a transformation into a metallic finish, amped up vibrancy or added depth. Amazing!

Top Row L-R: Silver, Mauve, Peony, Blanc, Quartz, Flushed, Veiled
Bottom Row L-R: Midnight, Temper, Haze, Noir, Copper, Fig, Espresso

As mentioned in my last post i'm a hoarder of bronzy warm toned eyeshadows. (It's evident in the picture below that I jumped straight into the warmer shades when I first used it!). So I wanted to go for something different, but not too different. This was the reason I chose to go for the Double Exposure instead of the Full Exposure. There are some lovely shades in this palette and a great one to use if you're wanting to experiment with colour during the Spring/Summer months.

The Palette comes with a double sided brush, one end is slanted and the other is more of a smudger brush which are both great tools for adding shadow under the eye to create a level of depth to the look.

At  £37.00 this was most definitely a splurge, but it is a great palette and it was an opportunity to wrack up the Boots Advantage Points, my favourite!

Ella xx

Quick, easy & bronzy

MAC Bronze, Zoeva 227, Sephora Rounded Crease, Marc Jacobs Beauty Highliner Gel Crayon in Ro(Cocoa), Nars Casino Bronzer, Seventeen Falsifeye HD! Mascara, Carmex and Vitamin E BB Cream

My current everyday make up essentials:

MAC Bronze eyeshadow along with Rimmel Wake Me Up Concealer, Nars Casino Bronzer, The Body Shop Vitamin E Cool BB Cream and a smidgen of Carmex Lip Balm.

I have come to strongly believe that if you are fortunate to have nice skin, the use of high or even medium coverage foundations should be left for a night out on the town. Therefore in an attempt to reduce the amount of product I lather onto my face on a daily basis, I have recently turned to The Body Shop's Vitamin E Cool BB Cream. I wasn't a huge fan of the All-In-One BB Cream, but as a religious user of the Vitamin E skincare range, I decided to try it and I now love it. The consistency is weightless on the skin and shouts out 'your skin but better'. The product has a moisturiser like texture that evens out the skin tone, adds the coverage you need and like it says on the packaging, is extremely cooling on the skin. Following the application of BB cream, i'll add a tiny bit of concealer under the eyes and i'm done.

I'm a bit of a sucker for bronzy eyeshadows. Scrap that, bronzy everything. And while I was strolling through the overwhelming beauty department of duty free, I came across the MAC counter. The idea of the products being tax free sort of forced me to purchase at least something (that's my excuse anyway), and so I found myself carrying MAC Bronze eyeshadow and Lady Danger onto the flight with me.

I apply the shadow all over the lid with my Zoeva 227 and it adds a gorgeous depth and wash of shimmery bronzy goodness to the eye. To blend it out, I add Nars Casino bronzer to the crease, Marc Jacobs liner in Ro(Cocoa) beneath the water line and a touch of the affordable yet immense Seventeen Falsifeye HD mascara. 

I really admire products that you can use for more than one thing, especially when you are using them on a daily basis. To finish off the face i'll add a touch of the same Nars Casino Bronzer on the cheek to add a wash of colour and a dab of Carmex Lip Balm to my lips. (My lips have a tendency to be extremely dry, the struggle is real). And that's a wrap!

This post feels like a bit of a ramble, but there's nothing more satisfying than finding make up that works so well for you!

Until next time, Ella x

Sephora Cream Lip Stain

I can never go back to the Middle East without taking one, two or three trips to Sephora. I usually don't have an idea of what I want to purchase, spend almost an hour in there and end up at the check out counter a million swatches later. However, after reading the pretty amazing reviews of the Sephora Cream Lip Stains I knew that I would have to try them out and they definitely did not disappoint! 

As cliché as this sounds, they are pretty much everything you want and need in a lip product: Long lasting, moisturising, affordable, highly pigmented and an overall high-coverage dreamy formulation.

Left to Right: 02  Peach Tart, 01 Always Red and 09 Watermelon Slice

I picked up the shades:

01 - Always Red

02 - Peach Tart

09 - Watermelon Slice

Left to Right: 01 Always Red, 09 Watermelon Slice and 02 Peach Tart

Always Red, a shade that I would describe as the perfect red and now my favourite matte red lip product of all time. This product is extremely wearable and looks great with or without a lip liner.

Peach Tart is a gorgeous brown, peachy nude that goes with every make up look.

Watermelon Slice is a beautiful, bright eye catching shade for the upcoming summer. An almost fluorescent coral pink shade that would really stand out on bronzed, sun kissed skin. I'm so excited to wear this.

Left to Right: 01 Always Red, 02 Peach Tart, 09 Watermelon Slice

These Cream Lip Stains are so exciting and I can't wait to buy more.