Look - Smoked Out

Just a quick, smoky eye I did last night to go to a gig. I was feeling decidedly under the weather, so a smoky eye seemed like the best choice to go with.

Halloween Photo Shoot

Today, I worked on a Halloween-themed photoshoot with Karl Walsh Photography. I took a couple of shots myself, these haven't been edited or Photoshopped at all, and they may be a little blurry (it was cold out there), but they give the basic gist.

Inglot - AMC Eyeliner Gel 77

 Because I was so impressed with Inglot's AMC Eyeliner Gel in shade 87, I decided to replace my Bobbi Brown Long-Wear Gel Eyeliner in Black Ink with Inglot's Gel in shade 77.

I've been using the Bobbi Brown gel liner in my freelance kit & it replaced MAC's Fluidline in Black Track. I vastly preferred Bobbi Brown to Fluidline, but, now I've had a chance to use Inglot 77, I won't be buying the Bobbi Brown gel liner again.

EOTD - Pylean

Another look inspired by Angel, this time I took my inspiration from the character of Lorne. As with Illyria, this was another test run, so I only did one eye & used no other make-up. Again, it could use a little perfecting, but I liked the basic idea.

Inglot - AMC Eyeliner Gel 87

A while back, I dyed a bit of my hair teal. I was trying to do my eyebrows to match it for a night out & the only teal liners I had were shimmery. I've been known to do glittery eyebrows on occasion, but this liner had golden shimmer in it & it looked odd, even with a powder eyeshadow over the top.

I went on a hunt for a nice, matte liner & stumbled across Inglot's AMC Eyeliner Gel in shade 87. As it turned out, I didn't keep the teal hair for very long, I've since dyed my hair red & black, but this little pot of goodness still has a loving home in my make-up stash.

Glitter Gal - Silver

 As you may have gathered, I'm a tad obsessed with the Glitter Gal holographic nail polishes. When I noticed I was running low on my China Glaze silver holo polish, OMG, I decided it would be a good idea to try Glitter Gal's Silver to see how it performed against OMG.

For a photo of how OMG looks, check out my nail art tutorial using OMG as the base shade.

EOTD - Illyria

It's been an absolute age since I last posted a look. Anyway, this one is a bit rough & ready, I got the urge to do this first thing this morning. I did one eye only, no other make-up at all, it was a test run of an idea I had kicking around.

I'm a huge fan of Buffy the Vampire Slayer & its offshoot series Angel, with Angel being my favourite of the two shows. So, I got the idea late last night to do a themed look, the inspiration being the character Illyria.

Urban Decay - The Vice Palette

The minute I saw the new Vice palette from Urban Decay, I had to get my hands on it. Twenty shades of shadow & all of them previously unreleased - how could I say no to that?

It's only recently that I've developed a bit of a thing for the Urban Decay palettes, two of my favourites have been the Smoked palette & the 15th Anniversary palette. I think that the Vice palette may well end up becoming a favourite, too.

Illamasqua - Wisdom Precision Ink

Another item I picked up on my recent haul from the Illamasqua Generation Q collection is Precision Ink in Wisdom.

Although I'm a slave to a good, black liquid liner, occasionally, I like to change it up with another colour. Wisdom is still dark, but it's definitely a deviation from black.

Lush - Independent Liquid Eyeliner

Recently, Lush announced their "Emotional Brilliance" range of make-up. Being a big Lush fan & having previously bought make-up from their now-defunct sister company, B Never, I went to have a peek at things.
I was quite overwhelmed by the choice of colours, but figured I'd play it safe by trying out their black liquid liner, Independent, first. A girl can never have enough liquid liner.

I love these cute little glass bottle. All of the make-up is packaged in these, the lip colours have doe-foot   applicators & the eye shades have thin brushes.

Glitter Gal - Teal Green

The last colour I got in my recent haul of the new Glitter Gal polish shades is Teal Green. The minute I saw this one, I fell in love with it. I'm big on greens & teals right now, so this shade was right up my alley.

Illamasqua - Empower Eyeshadow Palette

One of the two new eyeshadow palettes from the latest Illamasqua collection - Generation Q, Empower has three powder shadows & one Liquid Metal cream.

 The four shades included are -

• Blink - a beige nude matte
• Synth - iridescent pale pink with glitter
• Fervent - reddish brown with green/teal duochrome
• Slick - metallic charcoal grey Liquid Metal

Glitter Gal - 24 Carat

The second colour from my recent Glitter Gal haul is 24 Carat. I'd been after another gold holographic polish, I find my China Glaze one far too yellow & it isn't a linear holo, which I prefer.

24 Carat is quite a pale gold, and it has a cooler tone to it than most gold polishes. It also has a very slight green tinge to it in certain lighting.

Glitter Gal - Citrine

The news of new shades of nail polish from the fab Glitter Gal had me as giddy as a small child at Christmas. I spent ages drooling over the pictures & finally made my decision. One of the new colours I went for was Citrine.

Yes, it's a warm shade, not what I usually go for. Yes, it's orange, which is also low on my list of desirables, but I couldn't help it - Citrine had me from the get-go.

Deborah Lippmann - Flash Dance

Another fabulous glitter nail polish from Deborah Lippmann, this time it's Flash Dance.

Flash Dance is a mixture of fuchsia & purple glitter. Two or three coats of this gives you opaque glittery nails.
As with all of the DL polishes I've tried, this applies really easily & smoothly. The finish definitely needs a glossy topcoat. Although it does feel a little rough, it certainly isn't the worst glitter polish in that regard.

Flash Dance - with flash

Kat von D - Lock-It Tattoo Foundation

 As soon as I heard about Kat von D adding a foundation to her line at Sephora, I was chomping at the bit to try it out. When it was added on to the Sephora site, I spent ages pouring over the swatches trying to find a good colour match. I chose Lock-It Tattoo foundation in Light 42.

Firstly, the packaging is nothing short of stunning, as with the rest of the KVD line. The box is embellished with the rose design that appears on other items from the line.

Chanel - Vitalumiere Aqua Foundation

I'd read lots of good things about Chanel's Vitalumiere Aqua liquid foundation. Being the somewhat-obsessive foundation junkie that I am, I had to give a whirl for myself. I bought the palest yellow-toned shade - 10 Beige.

The first thing I noticed was the packaging: I love the bottle! It's smaller than most foundation bottles, yet it still houses 30ml of product. It's a tough plastic, so carrying it around for touch-ups is easy; it doesn't take up much room or weigh you down. Then there's the nozzle - no open bottles here, so you won't waste loads.

Urban Decay - Smoked Eyeshadow Palette

The newest addition to Urban Decay's palette line-up is Smoked. What Naked & Naked 2 do for neutral shades, Smoked does for deep jewel tones & smoky eyes.

Included are ten shadows, a full-sized 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencil in Perversion (matte black), a mini tube of Primer Potion & a booklet that gives step-by-step guides to different looks you can achieve using the shades in Smoked.

Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics - OCC Skin Primer

I ran out of primer in my freelance kit recently & decided to give something new a try. Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics OCC Skin Primer has some rave reviews, so it seemed like a good option. Before I use anything on a shoot, I like to try it out on myself to get a feel for it. I've been using OCC Skin Primer for about a month on myself & on shoots now, and I think it may well be love.

Firstly, the packaging is great. Whilst the bottle seems quite small, it's a good thing; it doesn't take up as much room as previous primers I was packing. A tiny amount of this primer goes a long way - a month's worth of use & the bottle still looks full. As the bottle is plastic, there's no danger of it breaking & because of the small opening, you won't end up dispensing too much & wasting any product.

Deborah Lippmann - Swagga Like Us

Today's polish is Deborah Lippmann's Swagga Like Us. This is a metallic, almost chrome-finish, polish with a duochrome to it.

The base shade is a coppery gold shade that gives a great chrome effect on nails. Add in the duochrome, which is a green/blue/teal shift, and it takes it beyond your average gold polish.

Deborah Lippmann - Just Dance

As you may have noticed, I'm a sucker for glittery things. Deborah Lippmann's nail polish in Just Dance is indeed a glittery thing, and what a pretty glittery thing it is!


Just Dance is a stunning turquoise glitter polish, it's definitely not a top coat. Two coats of this baby & you have full, opaque glittery nails.

Just Dance

The glitter is a mix of small glitter and larger, brighter-toned glitter. Together, they make a perfect turquoise that's just gorgeous.

Just Dance - outside, no flash

Deborah Lippmann - Ray of Light

Deborah Lippmann's nail polish in Ray of Light is a gorgeous indigo blue with what's described as "3D holographic" finish to it. The flakes, which are well-mixed throughout the base shade, shift colour with flashes of copper, pinky-orange, green & teal. Mostly, you'll notice the copper to pinky-orange tones.

The base is a jelly, but it's not quite as sheer as some jelly polishes. Two coats gave an almost opaque coverage, whilst three gave a true opaque finish, but I found that it flaked off too easily with three.

Ray of Light - outside, no flash, no top coat

Urban Decay - Gunmetal Eyeshadow

The third colour I have chosen to put in my create your own palette from Urban Decay is Gunmetal. This particular shade has appeared in the original Naked palette and there's no colour difference between the two versions, although the single pan does seem a tiny bit smoother.

As with Blackout & Mushroom, I have depotted this for my palette, but it can be left in its original packaging.