The Base Dilemma #2

 

 On Friday I spoke about the dilemma of what to use to apply your skin base, today I thought I'd tackle the eye base. There are so many options to choose from so I've chosen a select few. You can go in without a base (I often do, ain't nobody go' time for dat) but if you're looking for a long wearing eye look, a base can really help. It also helps if you have any discolouration or veins on your eyelids that you would like to cover first.

Concealer

This is a great choice as many people will already have this in their stash (go us for no extra spending!) Just dab small amount on the lid and blend over. Done! Be careful not to be too heavy handed with it. A little can go a long way- you're only look for something for the eyeshadow to stick to, not to highlight/conceal your whole eye!

Cream shadow/ Paint pot

Any of the above will do. These are lovely if you're doing a specific eye look. I love using my Maybelline Colour Tattoo in On and On Bronze when I'm doing a brown eye look as it adds depth to the look in seconds. If not, something like MAC's paint pot in Painterly (which is a skin like colour) can prep the eye, even out any pigmentation/veins, as well as providing a base for your look.

Eye shadow stick

Very similar to the above but in stick form. I use this when I don't want to get my fingers dirty. The product can be just striped on and blended with a brush. Quick and easy application!

Primer

The most obvious of the bunch. You can get purpose built eye primers (for example Urban Decay Primer Potion) but really any sort of primer will do. I like this 17 primer for priming my eyes as it makes the look last longer and really smooths out the skin. This one is silicon based so doesn't agree with the rest of my face but just round my eyes is perfect.

So that's all the options I've got! Let me know if you use anything different or use any of these. I'm really interested as whatever I seem to use, I do end up with a slight ring of my make up round my eyes (booo!)

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First MAC lipstick- Girl About Town

*Why does Blogger  hate to centre everything for me?!*

Please excuse this unnecessary amount of photos. I was so excited about my first MAC lipstick, I took millions of photos and now don't have the heart not to publish them all! Let's get straight to the point, I love MAC Girl About Town! My sister bought me it for Christmas and it is what I would call your standard fuchsia pink. She did a great job choosing as I would have picked this colour myself!

It's an amplified creme lipstick, which is one of MAC's various finishes. Amplified finishes are meant to be packed with colour and creamy and I would definitely agree with that. You can barely brush this lipstick against your lips without getting some form of colour! It's a dream to wear as the creaminess is really comfortable. It's weird to describe a lipstick as comfortable but some have that not-so-great feeling (anyone know what I'm talking about?) and this doesn't have that. It glides on effortlessly and feels quite moisturising actually.

I can't comment too much on wear time as I've only just brought myself to swatch it, let alone wear it outside! I have worn it around the house once or twice however and the wear time is average; two to three hours. I think for how creamy this lipstick is, I'm quite impressed as I have others of a similar finish and majority of the colour comes off as soon as your lips touch anything.

All in all, a great buy Liv! Thanks!

What was your first MAC lipstick? Do you have any favourites?

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December Favourites

I'll get one of these favourites posted on the month it was for one day! As I'm at home, it made it a tad easier to see which product make the cut. Onto the products...

MAC Amplified Creme Lipstick- Girl About Town

Is it a cheat when you've only had the product for 6 days of the month? I can hear you screaming yes and I'm going to ignore you! I love love love this. The colour and the finish. It's an amplified creme which my research tells me it meant to be smooth, creamy and colour packed. I 100% agree with this. You can barely brush the lipstick on your lips and you've got a lovely colour. A new meaning to buttery soft for me

Montagne Jeunesse face masks

The mask pictured above is more an example of the whole brand as I obviously haven't tried that one. I remember these being a treat at sleepovers when I was younger so it's nice to see a brand make a comeback a such. They have some really nice masks that seem to have done wonders for calming my breakouts this month.

Clean and Clear Dual Action Moisturiser

I don't think I've mentioned these before which is crazy as it's my go-to spot treatment! I dab a blob of this on my spots at night and it calms them and makes them less angry in the morning. I was at first using it as an all over moisturiser but my skin didn't agree with it. It has salicylic acid in it so that may be why. Localized to an area though and it works wonders. A product I've been reaching for during post Christmas breakouts! :(

Exfoliating Gloves

Or scrubby gloves as my family call them. I've come to really appreciate these this  month as I've been going back and forth between university and home, sometimes without them. You just can't get an exfoliation like them. They're not too abrasive, just perfect for getting rid of all that nasty dead skin, as well as boosting circulation. Bonus!

PLJ

If you don't know what this is, it's pure lemon juice. You put a few drops in water and it's meant to curb cravings. I really hated this stuff. It tasted like grassy/ lemony water and not in the good way. My mum kept handing me glasses of water, which I'd take a gulp of before realising she'd put some in. Sneaky! I think it's actually starting to work though and I'm not completely hating it! I'm going to try it with hot water as a detox sort of thing and see how that goes

What have your favourites been? Mine have been a bit restricted with all the travelling this month

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Happy New Year and What I Got for Christmas

Another week late post. It's starting to become a trend isn't it? Anyway, the usual disclaimer that I'm not bragging about what I got. It's simply that I love reading these posts (because I'm a nosy gal) and also wanted to see how creative I could get with the photography (answer: not very!). I'm not going to look up how much everything was as I don't want to know but I'll try and give as much detail on the items as I possibly can.

Make Up

I didn't get much make-up this year. I don't think my family really know of my secret make-up addiction. What I did get though were these amazing lip colours. When I opened Mac (Girl About Town) from my sister, I squealed and even teared up a little bit. This is my first Mac lipstick and I couldn't be happier with the colour. I think picking a lip colour for someone else is a bit tricky, with personal preference and skintone to take into account but she did an amazing job! Even more so when I found out she had to order it so couldn't even swatch it! I also got Clinique's Chubby Stick in Pudgy Peony from my cousin, which also induced another squeal. Another perfect lip colour choice!

Apparel

I got these boots from Tesco from my Nana. I think she saw me traipsing around with wet feet (Converse don't hold up in the rain well) and decided to put an end to it! Thank goodness! From my aunt and uncle, I got this Matalan tartan onesie and I haven't been out of it since! It's made of that slightly fuzzy material (anyone know what I'm talking about?) and is so cosy. I love the fact that it has a hood too. Also from my aunt and uncle, I got this amazing techy warm set. Making perfect sense as usual. It included headphones incorporated in ear muffs, touchscreen gloves and a little phone sock. I probably won't use the phone sock but the others are coming in handy already! My other aunt got me this thick infinity scarf from Sainsbury's; another item that has hardly left me. I've even taken to wearing it in the house because I love it so much!

The slippers are actually from Next. They have a cushioned sole and feel so plush!

 

Other things

My mum got me a diary and calendar set with apt make-up quotes inside (she knows me well!) and also we're going to go to the theatre in the New Year which is exciting. I haven't been in years! What is Christmas without a selection box, this year a Galaxy one. The other bits are from a Next Cashmere Gift Set from my sister, which smells quite good.

I've taken a few things back to university already as it's less to bring back in the new year, so I did get a few more cheeky gifts including:

Cadbury's Chocolate

Money

Backpack (seen in this haul- LINK)

Matcing calendar to the diary

Amazing scrapbook with lots of pictures of me and my friend

I'd like to say a big thank you for all my presents (if any of my family happen to be reading this) and that I'm so grateful for all of it. I definitely did so well this year (present wise), despite that not being what Christmas is really about. I enjoyed spending some good quality time with my family and I cherished this even more this year, as there was a Grandad shaped hole in it for the first time.

I hope you all had an amazing time and HAPPY NEW YEAR. What did you get for Christmas?

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