Products I'm Loving Right Now - February 2010

I know I promised a post on my Illamasqua cream blushers today but it'll have to wait I'm afraid.I wanted to do a January favourites but it's the middle of February so I figured it's a bit late! Instead I've done a products I'm loving right now post for you.

'Close to Real' lipstick from MAC. Wearing this in the photo to the right. This was LE with the 2009 High Def collection. When I bought it I wore it a few times and then it ended up being a bit neglected to be honest. I put this on again last week and fell in love - can't for the life of me figure out why I didn't love it before. It's amazing. I'll be so gutted when this runs out - it's the perfect nude for me. I'm praying for a repromote at some point!!

Wearing flowers in my hair. Also shown in the photo, I got that headband for £1 or something from Primark, bargain. I also have some gorgeous flower hair clips from h&m that I've been loving lately and they're a lot more subtle than the big flower headband is. Ok so this isn't a 'product' but it's definately something I'm loving right now ;)

'Nude Beige' Rimmel Pro nail varnish. I love the 'mannequin hands' look - the name that seems to be floating around for nude nails. I think it's such a classy look and very work friendly. I have to keep my nails painted as it stops me from biting them. For some reason if I have no nail polish on I think it's ok to bite!! They're at a lovely length now that I'm really happy with. Sometimes I don't want to wear bright colours and this is just perfect and so easy to apply with the 'pro-cision' brush even if you're not the best at applying nail polish.

Pigments - any pigments really. Been loving them for just a wash of colour on the eyes. I'm not the biggest user of eyeshadow, I much prefer a pretty blush and lipstick but lately I've been loving a neutral shade pigment to make my eyes stand out just that little bit more. I have big eyes as it is but they are my best feature so I always try to highlight them. I'm trying to pick up some of the old packaged mac pigments while I still can!

'Cleanse Off Oil' from MAC. I wasn't sure of this to begin with but now I use it daily. The reason I wasn't sure was because of my combination skin - I didn't really want to use an oil based product on my skin but I find that when using my usual cleanser afterwards that it hasn't created any problems with my skin at all. I read a few reviews on this before I purchased and all the ones I read were raving about it and I can see why - removes all my make up except some mascara but I use a LOT of mascara so I expect to have to use a separate eye make up remover.

'Mad as a Hatter' OPI. From the AiW collection. I wasn't sure about this at first as I expected it to be a lot more purple based as I saw in photos online but now I love it. It's fantastic. I've worn it on my fingernails and on my toes. I applied it to my toes over a week ago and it hasn't budged at all. I like wearing something a little more jazzy on my toes.

Don't forget to enter my giveaway here. You have until the 2nd March ♥

My Illamasqua Collection - Post 1- Lipgloss & Lipstick

Illamasqua is my favourite brand of the moment. I don't own many items from them, 4 lipglosses, 1 lipstick and 2 cream blushes but I wanted to share what I have as I think they're stand out items in my make up collection. I've also found that there aren't many swatches of Illamasqua items online and hope this helps in some way if you're looking to get one of these items and weren't quite sure - even if my photography skills are still awful ;) This isn't a review, it's photos and swatches. I've decided to do this in 2 parts over the next couple of days so the posts aren't too long. let's get started...

My Illamasqua Lipglosses & Lipsticks

Illamasqua do two kinds of lipglosses, sheer and intense. I own two of each type.
I only own one lipstick but know I'll be purchasing more!!

Flash

No Flash

Petulant (Intense)

Electrify (Sheer)

Kindle (Sheer)

Besotted (Intense)

From the photos, Petulant and Besotted look very similar and this is extremely close to how they look in the tubes however on the lips Petulant is much more a bright pink and Besotted is a true intense red.

Besotted was a present from one of my best friends in the blogging community - Steph. She bought me a couple of things for valentines day that I absolutely love - she couldn't have chosen better things for me, she knows me so well! A million times thank you Steph ♥

Sonnet

Flash

No Flash

Swatches on my hand

(same order)

Swatches on my lips

(it's bloody hard to take these photos yourself..!!)
HELLO TROUT POUT!!
and please forgive hideous spot!

Petulant

Electrify

Kindle

Besotted

Sonnet

Are there any that you think I should check out?
Check back tomorrow for cream blushers!

EDIT I should have mentioned that I grabbed kindle in the 50% off sale on the website and I believe it's now discontinued. Possibly still able to pick this up in stores but I'm not 100% sure.

Twitter..

Hello lovelies, just a little post to say I've got a new twitter account. Bit lonely over there at the moment so come along and follow me! @_AntiqueRose.

I leave you with my suprise Valentines delivery because I'm beaming about getting them... totally unexpected, I don't have a clue who they are from! Hope you're having a lovely day xx

Mini Blog Sale

Rules

1) uk and paypal only please

2) state what items you would like and your paypal email address and I will invoice you

3) first come first served

4) postage is £1.75 + 50p for additional items

If you think I'm charging too much, make me an offer ♥

Whats for sale....

Soap & Glory Sexy Motherpucker Lipgloss in 'Plum Juice'

used once - £4.00

MAC Dazzleglass Creme in 'Perfectly Unordinary'

used once and have box - £9.00 - SOLD

Lush Vegan Lip Balm in 'Let Them Eat Cake'

never used - £2.50

Barry M Dazzle Dust in '20'

never used - £2.00

OPI 'Lincoln Park After Dark'

used once - colour not showing well in photo is a really dark purple almost black

£3.00 - on hold.

Benefit 'You Rebel' Tinted Moisturiser

used a few times, still loads left £9.00

MAC Strobe Cream

used twice no box - £13.50

Fake Bake Golden Bronze Faux Glo Wash-Off Instant  Tan

never used - £6.00

MY MINI GIVEAWAY!!!!

Hello lovelies. I mentioned on twitter earlier today that I would be doing a mini giveaway today. The prizes have gone up from one to three but the other two are just litle ones I've thrown in :) This isn't a giveaway for reaching a number of followers or anything, just feeling generous! There are a couple of rules and a number of ways you can enter. Before I show you the prizes, here are the rules.

♥ Although this isn't a follower giveaway you MUST be a follower to enter

Sorry, just the way it works.

♥ Please be over 18 or over 16 with your parents permission -

I will need whoever wins address in order to send the prizes to them.

♥ If your email address isn't on your blog - please leave that too

That's it - pretty simple. On with the fun part....

♥ Soap & Glory Righteous Butter (Travel Size)
♥MAC LadyBlush Cream Blusher
♥3 Creme Eggs! Yummy!

Okay so you have four possible ways to enter this. You must do the first one in order to enter..

♥Comment below saying 'enter me'
♥For one extra entry - pop a link to my giveaway in the sidebar on your blog
♥ For one extra entry, make a blog post about this giveaway
♥ For one extra entry, tell your twitter friends about this giveaway

This is open worldwide -  anyone anywhere can enter.

This will close 2nd March 2010 so you have three weeks in which to enter.
Winner will be decided via random.org

Good Luck Everyone!

♥

Colour Eyeliner - What do you think?

I'm not sure how I feel about eyeliner in colours other than 
black or brown. I've been looking into some recently, ones
that I already had in my collection and ones that I've purchased more recently.

The photo shows me wearing just a tiny bit of No.7 Metallic Eyes Pencil in 01 Green. Retails for £7 but I used a voucher last month so paid £2. Today I wanted a simple make up look but wanted something a little different, so I swiped a small amount of this eyeliner across my waterline.

No.7 says 'Soft and creamy, long lasting pencil glides onfor maximum colour intensity'. This pencil does exactly what it claims to do. It really is so soft compared to some other coloured eyeliners I have which I tend to stay away from because they're too hard for my waterline where I really dont want to be applying a lot of pressure to - it hurts and I'm sure isn't very good for my eyes either! This pencil can be soft when applied with a light hand or quite dramatic when applied normally. However as I was going for a daytime look, I only used a tiny bit. I'm keen to try out other eyeliners from No.7 if the rest are as good as this one.

Other colour eyeliners I have include Prestige's Eyeliner in 69 'Disco' which is a gorgeous light blue however to even swatch it i have to drag it along my hand and its not exactly a pleasant feeling so this has gone nowhere near my eyes. I got this eyeliner for free when I bought my beloved Prestige mineral highlighter as there was a promotion in Boots when you spent over £8 on Prestige products, you got a free eyeliner. Then I have Rimmel's SpecialEyes in 121 'Azure Shimmer' which was extremely popular at the boarding school I went to when I was around 14. It's nice. That's the only word for it, nice. It's nothing special. I never find myself reaching for this.

MAC Powerpoint Eye Pencil in 'Lilacky' is actually the oldest make up item I still own. I've had this for years - still soft and creamy and still gorgeous. I checked on the MAC website and this isn't on there anymore, that's how old it is. I love this but I like to wear coloured eyeliner on my waterline and this just doesn't show up there no matter how much I apply. Shame because this could be one of my favourite eyeliners of all time if it worked how I'd like it to.

Barry M Metallic Liquid Liner in No.4 (silver) is the only liquid liner I have that isn't black. Again, it's nice, doesn't swatch very well and I find myself having to apply a couple of layers to make it show up the way I want it to. It's worth a look into but it's not something I ever plan on repurchasing and never seem to reach for it.

So what have I found? Well, I've found that when I want that extra little bit of colour but don't necessarily want to spend lots of time applying eyeshadows and the likes, just a little bit of colour eyeliner on my waterline will make my eyes stand out just as much, if not more. Will I be trying more? Yes, I don't see why not.

What do you think? Are you a fan? Do you regularly reach for that purple eyeliner or do you stay away from any other colours than brown and black? I'd love to hear your opinions and if you do like them - what do you recommend to me?

Things I'm Loving Right Now

Post Who doesn't love a nice letter or parcel delivered to them?! I know I do. This week I've had MAC, Illamasqua, a ton of false eyelashes I ordered from ebay, teeth whitening strips (they hurt so bad, but bloody well work!) and it's been exciting! I even managed to break a nail trying to get into my MAC parcel. I was desperate to get to my products, heh.

Music More specifically, rediscovering music I forgot I loved. Lately it's been Jimmy Eat World. I love the 'Bleed American' and 'Futures' albums and they make me feel quite nostalgic.

Illamasqua I don't have loads of their products but the ones I do have (cream blushers and lipgloss) I am adoring. I went to Birmingham the other day and popped to the Illamasqua counter in Selfridges and the MUAs were so friendly and not at all intimidating which I often find with other brands. They seem to genuinely care about their products and I love them too. I'm especially loving their cream blush in 'Sob' at the moment.

Box Sets I've been watching loads lately. Not just shows I haven't seen before but series dvds I already had and forgot how much I love. Lately I've been watching 90210 and The L Word. I've just finished 90210, not sure what to start next!

Reading I love nothing more than escaping into someone elses world through a good book. I love to lounge on the sofa with a cup of tea and indulge in a few chapters of my current read.

photos fromwe heart it

MAC - All Ages, All Races, All Sexes Collection

I've been fairly uninspired by the MAC collections lately. In fact I think fairly uninspired is a bit of an understatement. From Warm and Cozy I picked up two items - By Candlelight MSF and Mulled Cider Eyeshadow and from Love Lace I picked up one item - Feline Kohl Pencil. Having seen multiple YT videos about the MAC in Lillyland collection, I can safely say there is nothing that grabs me. Originally I considered a lipgelee but they're so glittery and too much glitter on my lips is not a good look for me. The cream blushers do nothing for me either - so bright and on my pale skin even blended out I'm not sure that they would be particuarly flattering.

I have picked up a couple of items from All Ages, All Races, All Sexes although again, I don't think the collection is anything particuarly special. I toyed over the lipsticks 'Equality' and 'Myself' but after testing them out in store, they're so sheer and I can't pull those kind of lipsticks off. So, I chose 'Banshee' Eyeshadow and Personal Style Blush.



'Personal Style' is an unusual shade compared to all the other blushers I own. I'm pleased to have this in my collection, it adds a lovely natural finish to my cheeks for those days when I don't feel like wearing a lot of make up - or at least attempting to give the illusion I'm not wearing a lot of make up!! Haha. 'Banshee' is a lovely shade, a Lustre finish which I tend to avoid but there's something that really attracted me to this and I'm glad I got it. I had it for 10 minutes and it was already depotted and sitting pretty in my palette!



My usual camera died a painful death and the one I'm currently using didn't seem to pick up the colours very well when I swatched so I leave you with the above photo of me with Personal Style on my cheeks.

Have you picked up anything from Lillyland or All Ages, All Races, All Sexes? Are there any upcoming collections you're looking forward to?

My Everyday Make Up Routine

I thought it might be fun to do a post on the make up products I use every day. This obviously changes from time to time as I'll use a different blusher, or I might put eyeshadow on but I'll mention that as we go along. So, here goes!



After cleansing and toning, I use my fingers to apply the Nivea Moisturiser. I'm not using a primer at the moment, they really don't work for me. I apply my Revlon ColourStay foundation in 'Ivory' after my moisturiser before all the moisturiser has sunk into my skin. I like the dewy finish that this creates. I use my fingertips to blend my foundation in. After that I apply Benefit 'Boi-ing' to any problem areas, mainly on my chin and around my nose.



Then I set my foundation with MAC 'Mineralize Skin Finish' in 'Light Medium'. I use my ELF 'Total Face' brush for this as it covers a large surface area. Then I would usually pencil in my eyebrows, but I haven't taken a photo of this.



I then apply my eyeliner. At the moment I'm using MAC 'Feline' which I've recently purchased and I like to blend this out a bit with my smashbox double-ended eyeliner brush. Sorry it's dirty :/ Sometimes I'll use Rimmel's 'Exaggerate' liquid eyeliner which I've used for yeaaarrrsss. If I was to wear eyeshadow, I'd apply it before my eyeliner but I don't wear it everyday, hence why I haven't included any in this post.



Then on to highlighter. I change my mind about which brush I use for this on a daily basis. Shown is my ELF Bronzing brush and I use a small eyeshadow brush to highlight under my brows. This highlighter is the one I mainly use. This is Prestige skin loving minerals sunbaked mineral bronzing powder in '03 - Pure Shimmer'. Catchy name ;) haha.



Next I apply my blush. Again, I change my mind on which brush I like to use. Shown is a MAC 168 and Sonia Kashuk Flat Top brush. I always blend my blush out with my Bella Pierre blush brush. My two current favourites are NYX 'Silky Rose' and ELF 'Candid Coral' as you know, I love to rave about this. I often change my blusher. I also love Illamasqua cream blushers, Benefit Coralista, MAC Well Dressed and a few more. But these two are my go to ones.



I always leave my mascara until last. I hate applying mascara. I don't know why there's just something I really don't like about it but I love the way it makes my eyelashes look. Strangely, in my storage, my mascara draw is fuller than any other draw. The two mascaras shown are Rimmel 'Sexy Curves' and Eyeko 'Big Eyes' mascara. I always use two mascaras and these are the two I have on the go currently.



And finally(!!!) A bit of lippy. I have two that I wear more often than others. These are MAC 'Plink!' which I've just had to buy a new one of and MAC 'Hue'. None of my other lipsticks (maybe except YSL Rouge Volupte..) come close to these.

So thats it! It might seem like a lot to some people but It's my routine. I'd love to know if you use any of these products and what your every day make up is! Let me know!

Soap and Glory Skin Care

When I went to Boots on wednesday I saw that Soap & Glory products were all 1/3 off. I took advantage of this to try out some of the skin care products as, aside from the cleansing wipes, I'd never tried any before. The two products I picked up were 'The Fab Pore' 15 minute facial peel and 'Super Eyes, Super Eyes' moisturising eye gel.


'The Fab Pore'

This cost me £3.91 instead of the RRP of £5.88. Total saving - £1.97.
This face mask claims to tighten pores and smooth your skins surface. Soap and Glory claim that this is down to: ''Fomes Officinalis Extract' which is apparently a mushroom extract that helps tighten pores. 'Salicylic Acid' which loosens up the dead cells that contibute to pore clogging. 'Kablin' That's cosmetic for clay. It sops up extra oil on your skin and smoothes your skin's surface! 'Vitamins E & C' Antioxidants.'

We shall see. I tried this on wednesday night and my skin was left feeling soft. Soap and Glory say to leave it on for fifteen minute for a 'real deep-cleaning do-it-yourself kind of 'facial'.' So that's how long I left it on for. It's no facial, but my skin was smooth. Going to trial this for a bit longer before I give any real opinions on it though. One thing that does put my off is the scent. It's hard to describe but it's a little unpleasant.


'Super Eyes, Super Eyes'

This cost me £5.24 instead of the RRP of £7.87. Total saving - £2.63.
I've got quite nasty dark circles under my eyes. In my attempt to combat this I'm starting to try out different gels and creams for my eyes. Soap and Glory say to 'pat a layer of Super Eyes, Super Eyes around the contour of your eyes every morning and/or evening - whenever toy feel like you need a little lift'. This product contains 'de-puffing caffeine, pro-vitamin panthenol and soothing aloe vera juice'.

I was a little put off when I first opened this as the gel contains a pink shimmer in it. However, this doesn't show up when I put this under my eyes which is a good thing! My first thoughts.. well, I'm not sure yet. Going to also give this one a fair trial before I give my opinions.

Have you tried any of these products before or are you keen to? Let me know!

The Body Shop £1 Sale Goodies!

Walking past The Body Shop I noticed the '£1 end of sale' sign on the window so I nipped in to have a mooch, convinced that there wouldn't be anything left that I wanted. To my surprise I found these 3 lovely items all for £1 and they were also 3 for 2 so - £2!!



Silver Eye Colour Cream
Blush Trio '01' Cool Dusk
Eye Trio '01' Moonlight Lustre



I wanted the pink blush trio when I first saw it in the sale when it was £5 reduced from £12.50. I'm so glad I waited, £1 is a complete bargain. The eyeshadow trio was reduced from £9.50 to £4 and then to £1.


Eye Colour Cream Swatch


Blush Trio Swatches


Eyeshadow Trio Swatches

Have you got anything from the body shop sale? Or maybe you've put off buying something and got it for a bargain price? Let me know!!

No7 Spring Collection - Natural Radiance Highlighter

For those of you that aren't aware, of even for those of you who were but just forgot, the No7 Limited Edition Spring Collection launched in Boots today. The collection is small, comprising of two lipsticks, a highlighter an eyshadow quad. The only thing that really jumped out at me was the highlighter and after swatching, it had to be mine. I was umming and ahhing over the lipstick in 'Carnelian' but in the end decided that it wasn't for me. I'm quite picky about my lipsticks.



This is what the packing for the 'Natural Radiance Highlighter' looks like. Once you open the shiny silver box, you see this beauty. I don't know about you but I think it looks pretty and unique. As I've said before, No7 isn't a brand I buy from very often. This is because in my opinion, the products just aren't quite worth the price. But this highlighter, is a stunner. I also had a £5 off voucher burning a hole in my purse so I got this for £8 when it retails for £13.



The highlighter itself is a gorgeous golden shimmer and the swatch shown below is after just swiping it on my finger once. It applies smoothly and gives a lovely radiance to the skin - perfect for spring and even summer. No7 says 'This kind to your skin mineral highlighter glides onto skin highlighting and sculpting with divine shimmer. Lightweight and sheer in colour it contains our unique semi-precious stone complex of Ruby, Sapphire and Amethyst so light in diffused to give a natural, luminous finish with gemstone radiance and no imperfections.'



So, what do you think to the new collection? Have you been to check it out or is there something you've got your eye on perhaps? Let me know!

Over The Top Tag

I was tagged by these three lovely ladies - Nikki, Tanya and Jennie. Thank you ladies!

The rules: Answer the questions below and tag 5 other bloggers whose blogs you love reading.

1. Where is your cell phone? On my bedside table

2. Your hair? Straight for the first time in a couple of weeks. Looks shiny :)



3. Your mother? Is very scatty but very funny. Always there for me.

4. Your father? I'm afraid we no longer have contact. My choice.

5. Your favourite food? Subway!! Mmm would love one right now.

6. Your dream last night? All I can remember is Stephanie Beacham telling me I was wearing too much highlighter. Seriously.

7. Your favourite drink? Tea! Milk and two sugars please! I like my tea sweet.

8. Your dream/goal? To go to university. I'd be the first person in my family to go but I left college before I finished so it wont be any time soon. I'm still young and don't feel I know what I want to do for the rest of my life yet.

9. What room are you in? My bedroom

10. Your hobby? Blogging, cosmetics, cars/driving

11. Your fear? Falling and horses

12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? Like Tanya, I take each day as it comes

13. Where were you last night? Went to the cinema to watch Avatar. Loved it! 3D glasses too big for my face though, kept slipping off!



14. Something you aren't? Good with money ;)

15. Muffins? Starbucks skinny peach and raspberry please!

16. Wish list item? A HG foundation. I'm still searching!

17. Where did you grow up? West Yorkshire/Oxfordshire

18. Last thing you did? Sign for a delivery. Love getting parcels!

19. What are you wearing? I'm wearing leggings and a long cardi - often what I wear to lounge around the house but usually I'm in my PJs. I live in them, seriously.

20. Your TV? Has Twilight on. Again.

21. Your pets? I dogsit for a gorgeous black cocker spaniel called Boris. He likes to wiggle his bum all the time, snore, go walkies and teddy bears. He does not like birds or cats.



22. Your friends? I don’t have many really, just one really great one.

23. Your life? Will be better once I sort out a new job. Doesn't seem to be happening for me.

24. Your mood? Okay.

25. Missing someone? Nah.

26. Vehicle? Renault Clio, she's called Carla ;) Photo is from the day I bought her, she isn't usually that clean and I don't live in a retail park ;) I love my silver seatbelts :P



27. Something you're not wearing? Socks

28. Your favourite store? 'Drugstores', Topshop, Debenhams/Selfridges (for cosmetics), Lush, Primark, online ones.

29. Your favourite colour? In general, blue and black. For make up, neutrals.

30. When was the last time you laughed? At Family Guy earlier.

31. Last time you cried? A couple of weeks ago.

32. Your best friend? Jason.

33. One place that I go over and over? Bed? My room looks like an ikea showroom to be honest. Except the mess.




34. One person who emails me regularly? I don’t get very many emails..

35. Favourite place to eat? Pret.. Subway... I'm a big lover of sandwiches. And Pret's banana cake!

The 5 lovely ladies that I tag are:

Steph
Sinead
Bicky
Sophie
Jen