Catrice Liquid Camouflage High Coverage Concealer

Long time no speak!

I'm not going to make excuses for not posting, I've been busy with college and with life and also about 6 months back when I came onto the blog to write a post, I noticed that all my photos had disappeared from every post that I have ever written, and I couldn't figure out how to get them back. Which was so disheartening to see all the time that I put into making my posts was wasted so I just didn't want to write anything else for a long time. But today I feel like writing! :) 

A few months back I had run out of my Seventeen lasting perfection concealer, which I really love, and took a stroll down to Boots to get more. Of course with Boots being Boots, every bloody tube of concealer had been opened and messed with (why do people do this!?) so I wasn't going to buy any of them because no one wants a concealer that someone has been playing with. Annoyed I then went to Cara pharmacy for a nose and spotted a new concealer from Catrice that I hadn't seen before. I purchased a tube of their Liquid Camouflage concealer in shade 010 Porcellain, thinking 'ah sure it'll do until I can get the other one'. 

Let's just say I haven't bought the other one since.

On the side of the tube the concealer claims to be high coverage, being able to cover under eye circles, spots and even tattoos as well as being ultra long lasting. I don't know about tattoos as I don't have any, but on spots it works a treat! It is also great on the under eye circles, it doesn't crease and stays put all day. I have a lot of redness around my nose and on my chin too and it covers that really well too. As for the ultra long lasting claim, I'd say it is long lasting and doesn't budge for the majority of the day, but I have noticed that if my skin is oily in places, it breaks down a little and starts to go a bit patchy but I have mostly dry skin so this isn't a huge problem but it is something to bear in mind if you're on the oilier side.

The Liquid Camouflage Concealer costs under €4.00 and is well worth trying, I'm so glad I accidentally found this concealer, it's fast become a make up bag staple of mine!

What's In My Makeup Bag #3

 Hola! Getting ready this morning I was digging through my make up bag and was thinking there's a lot of stuff in here I'm not using, this isn't practical - I need to sort this out! 

So I reorganised the contents of my make up bag and decided I'd show you what products I'm currently using the most because I haven't done it in a while! It's always interesting while I'm doing these posts to look back on my last one and see what products have made their way in - or out of my make up bag.

Base Products

This may be the only part of my make up bag that never changes! I've been finding that my beloved Bourjois healthy mix serum is a tad too yellow for me lately for some reason, so I have started to use my other favourite foundation Revlon Colourstay more, I'd be using this over the healthy mix serum at the moment anyway on account of my skin being awful. Then I have my 2 trusty concealers - Collection's Lasting Perfection and Maybelline's The Eraser.

Blushes, bronzers and powders

This hasn't changed too much either - Benefit's Rockateur is still my blush of choice, I usually pair this with MAC's MSF in Adored used with a light hand as a highlighter and I get a really lovely glowy effect that makes me look really fresh and awake. I contour everyday now, which is unusual for me! But I use Dainty Doll's Money Talks Blusher as a contour and it's just perfect for the job when you have Casper's complexion! My powder of choice these days is Maybelline's Super stay 24 hour powder. I just really like the coverage this gives without looking cakey and it doesn't cling to dry patches or break down when your skin is oily - my ideal powder!

Eyeshadow

The only eye shadows I have been using are from MUA's Undress Me Too palette that i received in a swap from Georgie, you can see the swap here if you'd like! I absolutely adore this palette and have actually mostly been using the darker shades which again, like contouring is somewhat of a big change for me make up wise!

Mascaras, Eyeliner, brows, etc

I have been using 2 mascaras. Seventeen's superlash and my favourite Lancome's Hypnose Doll Eyes. My Doll eyes has nearly run out and I'm trying to scrape every last bit out of the tube and I'm also trying to get to grips with the Super lash - I'm still not sure that i like it. My brow products haven't changed, I'm still using MAC's Fling brow pencil and a clear brow gel the one in the photo is Catrice's, which I really like as the brush has a traditional mascara wand like side to it and the other side has more of a comb type of thing going on. The eyeliners I've been sporting lately are Stila's Smudgestick in Damsel and Rimmel's Scandal eyes in nude. And lastly -  I couldn't be without my Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion!

So that's everything I've been using. Not a ton of stuff compared to the amount that was in the bag before I re organised it! It's going to be much easier to not have to root through piles of stuff that I'm not even using! 

What's in your make up bag at the moment?

FOTD #3: Fresh Faced

Quick FOTD for you all today! 

This has been my go to daily make up look lately, it's really easy to do and perfect if like me, you're rushing around doing last minute things in preparation for Christmas!
You'll have to forgive me for the not so great photos they were taken in a rush before I headed out the door this morning!

As usual my base consists of Bourjois Healthy Mix Serum Foundation, Maybelline the eraser concealer for my undereye area, Collection Lasting perfection concealer for redness/blemishes, topped off by a light dusting of MAC MSF Natural in Light. And Benefit's Rockateur on my cheeks. 

At this point I brushed my brows into place with Catrice's brow gel, then filled them in slightly with MAC's Fling brow pencil.

On busy days where I haven't much time to get ready, I tend to skip eyeshadow, but lately I've been obsessed with one shadow eye looks. Basically where you only use one shadow on your lid and pulled up into your crease. 

I'd usually use a taupe shade for this, but instead I have been reaching for a blush to do this!  Enter Benefit's Rockateur!

A closer look at eyeshadow

 My now all time favourite blush has become a staple for one shadow looks. I don't know what it is, but it just works - it shouldn't but it just does. 

So I've been sweeping Rockateur all over my lid then blending it into my crease. It takes seconds and I think the result is really pretty.

Top that with my Lancome Hynose Doll Eyes mascara and if I have time Stila's Smudgestick in Damsel, and I'm good to go!

I wore this look to a family Christmas party last week as I didn't have much time to get ready and I got tons of compliments on my make up and have pretty much been wearing it this way since, I think it just makes you look really fresh faced and like you've just come in from the cold - but in a good way! 

So what do you think of using Rockateur as an eyeshadow? Do you think it works or is it just me? 
Do you use other products for things they're not intended for? 

What's In My Make Up Bag #2

It's been a while since I wrote a "What's in my make up bag?" post - so I thought I'd get myself to the laptop and knock up a quick post for you all on what I'm currently using everyday.

If you want to see what was in my first Make up bag post you can do that here.

 From looking at that last post, the contents of my day to day make up bag have changed completely since my last post, except for one item I believe.

Make up bag contents - alot more in here than I originally thought!



Face/Base Products

Left - Right: Real Techniques Complexion Sponge, Collection Lasting Perfection Concealer in fair for blemishes and redness (HATE that the writing on the tube rubs off!) Maybelline The Eraser Concealer in Light for under eye area, Bourjois Healthy Mix Serum foundation in 51 Vanille clair.

L-R: Benefit Rockateur blush, which I reviewed here. Sleek blush in Antiqued, MAC Soft and Gentle - click here for swatches, MAC Mineralise Skinfinish Natural in Light, for days where my skin is good, Maybelline Superstay 24hr powder in Ivory for when I need more coverage and when my skin is extra oily which is pretty much all the time now - stupid winter!

Eye shadow

Sleek Vintage Romance Palette

Lately I've been using Benefit's Rockateur on my lids, a light sweep of it looks so pretty don't over do it though or you can look like you've been punched in the face! 

I always like to have a palette in my make up bag though, and at the moment it's Sleek's Vintage Romance Palette - so pretty and has shades perfect for Christmas! So it's in here so that I'll use it more over the festive season!

Eyeliner/Brows/Mascara/Lips

L-R: Lancome Hypnose Doll Eyes Mascara, this mascara is now holy grail status for me guys! No7 High Shine gloss in Smile, great for looking pulled together quickly! Catrice brow gel, Rimmel Scandaleyes pencil in Nude for my waterline, I'm looking tired lately and this really brightens my eyes up. Stila smudgestick in Damsel, again holy grail peeps, seriously amazing! MAC fling brow pencil, really into filling in my brows lately and this is so easy to use it's fool proof! Lastly, there's my trusty Urban Decay Primer Potion.

Brushes

I have really only been using these 4 brushes lately, mainly because using the Real Techniques sponge has drastically cut down the amount of brushes I have to use daily. So L-R: Sigma F30 for powder, Sigma F40 for blush, Real Techniques setting brush for highlighting, Sigma E25 for eyeshadow application and blending - best eye brush in the world, really recommend it!

So I really am using a lot more products than I thought I was using, and I really do use everything every day - bar the palette! 

I was thinking of making these posts a more regular feature, let me know what you think! 

What's in your make up bag right now?

Affordable Neutral Palette Picks

I am without doubt, a neutral shadow lover. I own more neutral shadows than anything else, I cant get enough of them.

I have a good mix of higher end palettes along with high street palettes. (or what some would call drugstore) 

I use and love them all, I love some more than I love others. Surprisingly some of the cheaper options are favoured over the more expensive options. 
That's why i'm writing this post.
 There are so many neutral palettes being released, and the ones we're drawn towards are the pretty expensive higher end ones like Urban Decay's Naked Palettes, which are great, I own all of the Naked palettes, I adore them, but there are some pretty great cheaper highstreet/drugstore alternatives that are pretty great too.


Firstly, I wasn't sure if I was going to include them because people include them in the higher end side of things but Inglot has some awesome shadows. 

Inglot Freedom System Shadows L-R: 152,153,154

L-R:152, 153, 154,

Their freedom system is great you can buy an palette from them and pick out your eyeshadows from a huge selection of shades. 
If you're to buy the empty palette from them, it can get a bit more expensive, but if you own a z-palette or any magnetized palette already you dont have to buy the palette from them, meaning you can just pick up the eyeshadow pans alone and they're pretty cheap this way, I picked up 3 shadows a while back and I cant remember exactly but it came in at just over €15 for the 3 of them, which isn't terrible if you want a few great quality shadows that you can pick yourself without breaking the bank. 
These 3 Inglot shadows are some of the best shadows I own pigment and texture wise and I don't know why I don't use them, but writing this post and having to do swatches for them has made me realise how amazing they are again and now I have every intention of filling up the rest of my Z-palette with Inglot shadows, oops!

I've choosen 3 other good picks from cheaper brands, 2 palettes and one trio. 
The first palette is Sleek's Au Naturel Palette.

i've done a post on this in the past here, so I wont go into too much detail but for swatches you should look at that post. 
The Au Naturel palette is really versatile, great quality and you get 12 really nice shades in there from browns, to some more greener and purple shades, all for under €10. So if you want a full palette but don't want to splash out on the higher end palettes this could be the way to go.

Next is another palette, Catrice's Absolute Nude Palette, which has 6 shadows for between €5 and €6. 

I've actually found myself picking this up a lot lately, the shades themselves are lovely, though the shadows are a little drier than the Sleek palette for example they're still easy to work with and you can get a few different looks out of it, ranging from very natural to smokey.
 There's less of a variety of colours in here though and it pretty much is shades of brown, so if you want a little more than just brown shades to play with i'd still go for the sleek palette for those few different shades. 
This however isnt something that should be ignored because of the price point as it's a really lovely little palette, which is included in a giveaway im doing, which you can enter here if you'd like to.

My last pick is a trio from 17. It's the In The Nude Trio.

It has the basics for a neutral eye with a light lid/highlight shade, a midtone and a deeper shade, so again you have what you need for a really basic look or you could do a light smokey eye with this. 
I actually fell in love with this trio after seeing Sineadycady from The Make Up Chair using it a lot in her videos. 
The colours are nice and easy to work with and it's nice to have all you need for one eye look in something smaller than a palette sometimes. 17's trios are around the €7 mark and there are a few more to choose from, including one similar to this but just more shimmery.

So there you have it, if you're looking for some good neutral shadows but are unsure of spending a lot of money, why not try these out first, you never know you may end up loving one of these more than one of the more expensive palettes. 

Do you know anymore cheaper alternatives for neutral palettes? Leave a comment and let us know! 

NOTW #3: Barry M Lychee With Catrice Kitch Me If You Can

L-R: Barry M Lychee, Catrice Kitch Me If You Can

I found myself in Boots Monday morning, wanting to buy something nice for myself but nothing that would break the bank either, so I spotted Barry M's Lychee Gelly Hi shine polish, which my Boots has never carried before and I've wanted it so badly so I wasted no time making it mine, also helps that I bought it with my reward points too so technically I didn't buy it at all! Sweet! 

Lychee is a nude, creamy off white shade. It's almost like someone took a white and mixed a bit of beige in there too but its so pretty and a really flattering shade and its now my new favourite polish. It's nice to have a nude shade that's different from the usual light pink shades.

Also I was a bit naughty and saw this Catrice glittery varnish in another local chemist it was so pretty I had to have it, the shade is Kitch Me If You Can and was only €2.99. It looks more purple in the photo but its actually more of a rose gold type glitter in a clear base, so pretty.

Naturally enough I had to try these two out when I got home and couldn't decide which to try first so I just tried them together!

I used Lychee on each nail, I used two coats. This applied really weird with the first coat, it was streaky but a weird kind of streaky, it actually looked like the peel of an orange with all these little dimples appearing in it, but after a second coat it looked perfectly fine and is really opaque.

I then applied Kitch Me If You Can to my ring fingers only, for an accent nail. I was going to pack this on originally but I ended up liking the way it looked with the Lychee showing through.

I really like the combination of these two polishes together, also both are lasting pretty well. I painted them three days ago now and there's no signs of chipping yet.

What's on your nails this week?

NOTW #2: OPI Kiss Me On My Tulips And Catrice 3D Effect Sugar Beads

Wow it's been quite a while since I've posted!

 Things have been a little hectic lately to put it simply, so I haven't had time to post anything, but I have a little time today to put up a quick NOTD and to also draft a few more posts.

 It's so annoying wanting to post everyday and I'm always thinking about it when I'm not able to, so its so relieving to finally be getting time to sit with my computer and plan ahead, I've really been missing blogging!

I've really been into doing my nails lately, as I recently looked at my box of nail stuff and thought Oh my god! Why do you have so much nail varnish when you NEVER do anything with your nails? So I've been using my nail polishes more.

Today I was looking at them and thought they looked a little boring (I had them painted with OPI's Sparrow Me The Drama from the Pirates of the Caribbean collection) and wanted to do something a bit more fun.

So I dug into my nail varnish and nail art boxes and pulled out OPI's Kiss Me On My Tulips, from their Holland collection, a stunning hot pink shade.

I did two coats on each nail, leaving my middle nails bare until I was ready to paint them and roll my nail into Catrice's 3D Effect Sugar beads, which are a 

cheaper way of approaching Ciate's awesome but very expensive caviar manicures. 

I waited for the beads to set, then placed a top coat over the beads to make sure they'll hold. So basically what I've ended up with, even though it wasn't intentional, is a really pretty nail for flipping people off - if the need arises! 

I'm really liking these accent nail looks lately, and would love to get ideas for more so if you have any ideas leave a comment below, or even a link to a post you have as nails have never been my strong point but I'm really becoming obsessed with them!