Kat Von D - Lock n' Load Setting Mist

Since I love the Kat Von D range, I thought that I'd try out the Lock n' Load Makeup Setting Mist. Along similar lines to the Skindinavia & Urban Decay setting sprays, a light mist of Lock n' Load promises to set your makeup & hold it in place.

I've used it for several days now, in place of the Urban Decay All Nighter setting spray that I usually use & I'm quite pleased with it.

Lock n' Load is a very light mist going on. It doesn't feel overly wet. Nor does it feel sticky upon dry-down. It's very lightweight & although it gives you a touch of a glow, I found it to give less of a glow than the All Nighter spray.

Two Looks - Black, Pink, Silver & Blue, Purple & Green.

A couple of looks, one from last night & this morning's effort. Last night was gig night, again, (Michael Monroe was absolutely amazing!) & I felt the urge to do something involving pink. I used Sugarpill's Dollipop, Decora, Tiara, Stella & a touch of Bulletproof.

For this morning, I wanted to use some of my new Chromalusts I hadn't used yet. I picked Royal Sugar as the main colour & added some Hysteric, Absinthe & Poison Plum. Shock! Horror! I managed to put together a look where the only black I used was my liner, no black shadow at all. I'm suffering slight withdrawal symptoms. ;)

Beauty Bargain - MUA

Occasionally, I like to poke around places like Boots & Superdrug, just to see what's on offer. Although I love my high-end brands, I prefer to buy mascara from cheaper brands since I only keep a tube for a couple of months. Plus, I'm a little like a giddy kid in a sweet shop around make-up stands. :)

During my last visit to Superdrug, I happened across a small display for a brand I hadn't heard of before, MUA Makeup Academy. It wasn't a huge selection, but there were a fair few bits & pieces. Being the eyeshadow junkie that I am, I swatched a few on the back of my hand. I've got to tell you that I was really surprised by how good these are. Very soft texture, extremely pigmented & incredibly colour-true to the pan. Both the matte & shimmery finishes were like this.

I then came across the glitter eyeliners. These are just as good as the Urban Decay glitter liners. They go on smoothly & are packed full of glitter flecks.

Gold, Black & Orange look

Since I got my latest lot of Sugarpill goodies, I felt I needed to play with them. This is a retake on something I tried before but, because I didn't have an orange shadow that was bright enough, it didn't work as well as I'd hoped.

For this look, I used Sugarpill's pressed shadows in Flamepoint & Bulletproof with Goldilux Chromalust.

Flamepoint

Bulletproof

Goldilux

Zoya polishes

Breezi, Mira, Lolly & Apple

From the Summertime collection, I went for Breezi & Mira. I also got Apple from the Sunshine collection & Lolly from Mod Mattes.

Breezi

Breezi, when applied, looks darker than it does in the bottle. It's a denim-blue shade with a glossy, creme finish. Two coats gives good, opaque coverage. Applies easily & smoothly, no skipping.

Sugarpill Haul

I gave in & got the rest of the Chromalusts, I love these cute little pots of sparkly goodness. I also got Flamepoint pressed eyeshadow. I did a look a while back & none of my orange shadows or pigments were vivid enough for what I wanted.

Junebug

Sparkly, pretty forest green.
I love greens, especially darker ones. Junebug would make a really pretty smoky eye with a difference.

Absinthe

Bright lime green with a yellow tinge & golden yellow shimmer. More green than MAC's Chartreuse pigment.
Great spring shade. I'm thinking of trying this together with a purple shade or two.

China Glaze - Island Escape

Senorita Bonita, 108 Degrees, Electric Pineapple, Cha Cha Cha, Blue Iguana

Summer brights from China Glaze. The collection comprises six shades - Senorita Bonita, 108 Degrees, Papaya Punch, Electric Pineapple, Cha Cha Cha & Blue Iguana. Some have a shimmer finish, whilst others are a creme. Of the six, I chose to get five, leaving Papaya Punch out. I rarely reach for orange shades unless I'm using my Konad plates to do something with tiger stripes.

I like all of the five colours I chose, but two in particular really stand out  for me.

Senorita Bonita

The swatch completely failed to pick up how truly stunning this one is. Really pretty purple base loaded with pink shimmers that catch the light.
Good application, not at all streaky, but you'll need at least two coats to get the full effect of this shade.

MAC - Quite Cute

A very small haul from this collection - just the quad & the screaming pink goodness that is Candy Yum Yum lipstick.

Although I'm not huge on pastels as a rule, I do rather like this quad. I've only used it once since I got it, but can see it getting more use for those days when I feel like doing something a little more understated.

The four shades in the quad are Moshi Moshi, Goody Goody Gum Drop, Boycrazy & Azuki Bean. Although there's no matte shade, it's not all extreme shimmer: Goody Goody Gum Drop is a Satin finish.

Latest Sugarpill Haul, Swatches & A Quick Look!

I admit it. Since I got my first lot of Chromalusts, I've become addicted. For this haul, I got Paperdoll, Tipsy & Magentric Chromalusts & Love + pressed shadow.
Like an overly-giddy kid at Christmas, I just had to play with them this morning (I got them yesterday). That meant throwing a quick look together using some of my gorgeous new goodies.

On with the swatches!

Paperdoll


Stunning, sparkly lavendar shade. I can see this quickly becoming one of my favourite purples.

Texture, as with all the Chromalusts I've tried, is amazing. Really fine & soft. Blends easily.

Looks so pretty dry but using it with a damp brush turns it into a vivid, almost metallic, lavendar that totally pops.



For the swatches, I've done one swipe, used wet & another using the Chromalusts dry. To illustrate the colours & the shimmer, I've swatched them alongside MAC Pigments that, whilst not identical, are of a similar shade.

Paperdoll wet, Paperdoll dry, MAC Viz-A-Violet wet, Viz-A-Violet dry - inside with flash

Paperdoll wet & dry, Viz-A-Violet wet & dry - in daylight

Glitter & Rock 'n' Roll

Last night was gig night! The amazing Falling Red were playing locally & I felt I needed to do something pretty fabulous for the occasion.
I'm not entirely sure how much I loved this. It looked good, but in my head it looked better (if that makes any sense).
I used Sugarpill's Bulletproof, Stella & Darling, Illamasqua's Idol, MAC's Bough Grey (which is rapidly becoming my favourite shade to blend out blacks), a touch of MAC's glittery eyeliner in Peacocky was thrown in there for good measure.