Nars Pierre Hardy Blush Review - Boys Don't Cry

Hiya Lovelies!

A month or so ago i was lucky enough to be chosen as one of the winners of the Nars Instagram challenges and received the Pierre Hardy range. But as always, although i didn't pay for this little gem myself my opinions are 100% honest and my own. I'd actually been lusting over this blush for quite a while so i was quite a happy bunny when they contacted me letting me know i had won!

Both the Pierre Hardy blushes are larger than the regular line and are the size of their bronzers, you get a 13g of product  and a slight twist on the regular packaging with the designers name printed on the front. Boys Don't Cry is an absolutely gorgeous bold, matte, corally-pink-red (i really am the queen of colour descriptions, right?), but the beautiful gold shimmer pattern is just an over spray, making it perfect for all you matte fans!

It is extremely pigmented so heavy handed me has had to be very careful when applying this as it is such a bold shade, but as you can see in the swatches below it blends out beautifully. Considering the pigmentation i think it would work great on a whole host of skin tones as even my pale complexion can pull it off.  It’s a pretty much perfect bold summer colour.

As a limited edition collection it does have a slightly higher price tag at £30, but as i mentioned earlier you do get more grams of product for your buck. Its available through the Nars website but for all you students, you can pick it up from ASOS with 10% discount and free delivery.

Oh and i forgot to mention, i actually received two of these... So keep your eyes peeled for a little giveaway coming soon!

Whats your favourite Nars blush shade?

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xox

IMATS London 2013 - The Haul

Heya lovelies!

If you've seen my previous post you will know i attended IMATS London this weekend and this little lot is what i have to show from it! If you've not seen my last post, go have a looky because there really was some amazing talent on show. I was savvy enough to arrive early and managed to get the majority of my shopping done before the place got manic. The queue for NYX by 11am was absolutely huge so I was really thankful i nipped there as one of my first stops! The Nars booth was hectic due to a combination of around 60% off a selection of products (obviously i couldn't resist those) and the booth was really badly set out so it made grabbing the bargains extremely difficult!

I managed to get the majority of what i wanted on the day and a few little extras, of course. But this year was less about the shopping for me and more about the experience, i even came home with a little bit of money left over... Madness! I'll try and remember prices as best i can and silly me forgot to add my Parian Spirit to my haul pictures, but expect a review of that little beauty soon because it smells absolutely amazing!

I'd wanted to replace my Embryolisse for the longest time but had specifically waited for IMATS to grab it with a little discount, its my go-to moisturiser for any type of sore skin. I was a little disappointed with OCC as they didn't have their airbrush foundation or polishes with them this year, so i opted for some Kett foundation for my airbrush and Guru Makeup Emporium had a decent discount on all their products. I did however manage to snag the OCC concealer I'd been lusting over forever.

Embryolisse - £15

Kett Hydro Foundation - £18

OCC Conceal - £10

As i mentioned earlier Nars had a whopping discount of around 60% off selected products and were not selling their full range (sad face), but i jumped at the chance to snag a few bargains! I wish I'd grabbed a few more things to try out but as the booth was so crammed it was hard to see and grab what you wanted.

New Order Highlighter - £8.50

Never Say Never Matte Pencil - £7

Sin / Albatross Duo - £12.50

Ben Nye Banana Powder is ridiculously famous in the beauty world, but even in a shopping frenzy i was smart enough to know that it really wouldn't work on my super fair complexion, so i opted for their fair translucent powder. It has a gigantic 85 grams of product! I then grabbed a Nyx Taupe blush for contouring and a couple of lip liners to add to my collection too. Oh Velvetine, you are mine now. I'm a real whore for matte red lips so this was my first purchase for the day since they were bound to sell out. And my beloved Smoky Lash, we meet again! MUFE Smoky Lash is my all time favourite mascara, so snagging it with a discount is wonderful.

Ben Nye Translucent Powder - £6.10

Nyx Taupe Blush - £4

Nyx Lip Liners - £2.50

Lime Crime Velvetine - £9.20

MUFE Smoky Lash Mascara - £12

And last but not least, the brushes! I think i was very well behaved when it came to brushes this year. I knew what i wanted and stuck to my list for once. The amount of brushes Crown Brush UK stock is incredible but i was restrained and picked up two of my favourite angled brushes, I've been using them to create sharp lip lines as well as my brows lately so i needed a few more. The Pro Blending Crease has quickly become one of my all time favourite brushes, i picked a couple up online a few months ago and have been using them religiously ever since. I also couldn't resist grabbing another 217 style blending brush from Bdellium Tools.

Crown Angled Brow - £2

Crown Pro Blending Crease - £4

Bdellium Tools 776 - £5

So not the biggest of hauls but I'm mighty chuffed with what i managed to get my paws on. Such a shame IMATS is only once a year! 

Did you go to IMATS this year?

Feel free to share your posts!

xox

IMATS London 2013 - The Pictures

 

 Ello lovelies! 

So yesterday i had the hard task of dragging my bum out of bed extraordinarily early (4am to be exact) and hop on a train to London to visit this years London IMATS show. Oh its a hard life.... ha.

This was my second year attending the event and last year for me was all about the shopping! This year i wanted to take in more of what the show had to offer and spend a lot more time watching and enjoying some of the magnificent artistry on show. Oh, and do a little shopping of course. Unfortunately this year my partner in makeup related crimes is currently working in Florida (i know, how selfish right? :P ) but luckily good ol' Mum stepped in and offered to come with me for the day. Thanks Mum!

Because of our super early train times we arrived pretty early and were near the front of the queue. We managed to get most of our shopping done by 11pm due to sticking more or less to my prepared shopping list. I really do not like having a budget lol. There were a couple of minor disappointments on the day, Bobbi Brown were only selling to customers with a pro card, which to me seemed a little silly. Secondly Nars only had a small selection of products on sale, although having their whole range on display. I think this was due to only having a relatively small booth so they obviously couldn't stock the whole range, but to make up for this the stock they did have was significantly discounted (around 50%), so i gots me some bargains! I spent my last few hours there taking in the stunning artistry on show and as you can see from the pictures, it certainly didn't disappoint! I even managed to see Terry Barber from MAC work his magic on the main stage, but due to camera fails I was only able to grab a quick Instagram pic of his work.

I'll be posting a separate haul of all the goodies i purchased on the day

because this post is already huge with all the gorgeous makeup i snapped, enjoy!

We don't have a MAC store in Southampton, so this got me a little excited to say the least!

Oh Parian Spirit, why you smell so good?

Karla Powell MUA doing her thing at the Crown Brush booth! I wasn't around for the finished look but if you follow her on Instagram you would of seen her pop art inspired masterpiece. I really do love her work!

I managed to completely resist Inglot this year....

 

LOOK AT THOSE SHOES! (My bad for the blurry pic, but they were amazing!)

So that's all my snaps for the day. How amazing are those looks!?

Did you go to IMATS this year?

Feel free to link me your posts/hauls, i love a good nosey!

Up next, the haul...

xox

IMATS London - Shopping List

Hey Lovelies!

IMATS London is just a week away now, how exciting! I went a little bit mad last year and spent far, far too much money so this year I'm on a much stricter budget. Over the past few months I've been making a little list of the goodies i "need" to pick up while I'm there, I'm sure there will be many other things purchased but these are the bits and bobs I'm looking for. As much as i would love to splurge on Inglot i think i did a bit too much of that last year and I've yet to hit pan on even one shadow from them, so I'm trying to be a good girl this year. As you can see, my list is much more restrained!

NARS Laguna Bronzer
Its their first year at IMATS and I've recently hit pan on a couple of my products, so a repurchase of Laguna is definitely needed!

OCC Concealer 
I've been after this little beaut for a while now and everywhere i look R0 has been out of stock, so fingers crossed i can get my mitts on this.

MUFE Smoky Lash 
My all time favourite mascara. I purchased two last year which have completely ran out so more are needed ASAP!

Kett Hydro Airbrush Foundation 
Now I'm not totally set on which airbrush foundation i want yet, its a toss up between Kett and OCC so I'll guess we'll see on the day. I purchased a Dinair system before Christmas and its not seen a lot of love from me due to not liking the Dinair foundation formula so I'm eager to get a different brand and whack the airbrush out much more.

Glitter 
All of it.

Crown Blending Crease Brush 
You can never have enough blending brushes and this Crown brush has been one of my favourites so a backup or two is definitely needed. And knowing me there will be a few more cheeky crown brush purchases.

NARS Light Reflecting Setting Powder
 Again, I've had my eye on this little beauty for some time now. Its seen pretty much rave reviews online and I'm actually running out of both my favourite setting powders.

Limecrime Red Velvet Velvetine 
Now Limecrime aren't exhibiting themselves but there are a few places that stock them so fingers crossed they bring this to the show. I've been really put off purchasing Limecrime products for obvious reasons but I'm a sucker for matte red lip products.

Are you going to IMATS this year?

Whats on your shopping list?

xox

FOTD: Glasses Friendly Makeup

Hey lovelies!

I've been wearing glasses now for a good few months and finding makeup looks that don't look god awful with them has been a bit of a challenge. Mostly, I've been switching it up a lot with lipstick. Its been giving me a real excuse to have a good ol' rummage through my stash and pull out some unloved beauties as well as good some good use out of some of my old favourites.

I tried to escape wearing them on nights out as much as possible, but now I've been using them as a bit of a naughty excuse (to myself lol) not to wear a full on eye of makeup. So attempting flawless skin, a bright lip and a bit of winged liner has been the winning combo most of this month.

Eyes:
MUA - Eye Primer
Elf - Black Liquid Eyeliner
Anastasia - Brow Duo in Ash Blonde / Taupe

Lips:
YSL - Rouge Pur Couture The Mats 202

  Face:
 MAC - Strobe Cream
Benefit – Porefessional
Estee Lauder - Double Wear Foundation in Shell
Benefit - Hello Flawless Powder in Shell
Maybelline - Dream Lumi Concealer in Radiant
Laura Mercier - Secret Brightening Powder
NARS - Laguna Bronzer
Benefit - Bella Bamba Blush
MAC – Lightscapade
 MAC - Fix + 

What face have you been wearing lots this month? 

Link me your posts in the comments! 

xox

FOTD: Spring Greens

Ello lovelies!

It might be snowing out, but today i've cracked out the good ol' salt spray and experimented with some colour! I'm a sucker for buying greens, after neutrals they are probably that colour I'm drawn to most. But as many as i buy, they are not reached for often, so with the weather *hopefully* getting a tad warmer soon i thought i'd give wearing some colour a whirl! And lets not forget, Emerald Green is Pantones colour of the year for 2013, so hopefully we'll see a lot of it around!
Eyes:

MUA - Eye Primer
NYX - Rocky Mountain Green Jumbo Pencil
Inglot - DS498, DS477, Pearl 418 shadows.
MAC - Dazzlelight
Collection - Extreme Felt Liner
MUFE - Smoky Lash Mascara
Anastasia - Brow Powder Duo

Lips:
Revlon - Peach Parfait Lip Butter

Face:
NARS - Sheer Glow Foundation
Maybelline - Radiant Dream Lumi Concealer
Laura Mercier - Secret Brightening Powder
Maybelline - Stay Matte Powder
Tarte - Glisten
NYC - Sunny Bronzer

What colours are you looking forward to cracking out as the weather gets warmer?

Next stop for me, orange/corals! Me and MAC's Vegas Volt are going to be best friends this summer.

xox

Last Minute Stocking Stuffer Ideas! ASOS

Ello lovelies!

So Christmas is only a week away, eeeee! I love to shop online for most of my Christmas presents and its getting to the last few days of online shopping before the big day. This post is in no way affiliated with ASOS but they have become one of my favourite online stores to shop for beauty and today is the last day for free shipping! (paid next day is available up until the 23rd) On top of that, if you're a student you can snag 10% off these beauties with an NUS code. So if you've still got a few goodies to pick up, here's my picks for last minute stocking stuffers!

1. Models Own ASOS Exclusive Nail Polish - £5

2. Benefit 6 Piece Skincare Set - £10

3.Bare Minerals Ready Eyeshadow Quad - £29
4.Korres Lip Butters - £7
5.This Works Silent Night Sleep Balm - £10
6.Illamasqua ASOS Exclusive Lip & Nail Duo - £21

7.Nars Blush - £21

So that's it! Are you super organised for Christmas or are you a Christmas Eve shopper kinda gal? Let me know!

xox

FOTD: Smoked Plum

Hey lovelies!

I am really loving the berry / burgundy / plum trend this Winter. Fashion wise, I'm not too big on colour so picking up some berry pieces for my wardrobe has been a nice change. I've also been adoring the berry lip trend and I've been wearing Revlon Balm Stain in Crush and MAC Rebel pretty much the entire month.  So I thought I'd give something new a go and switch up my look for a more vampy, burgundy smokey eye.

 For someone with a makeup addiction, i sure don't have a lot of plummy, burgundy shades in my collection! I had to go through every one of my palettes to find one. All the shades i found were too purple for my liking but i finally struck gold with Sleek's Monaco palette, which is sadly discontinued. But you can find these sort of shades everywhere currently!

Eyes:

MUA - Eyeshadow Primer

Sleek - Monaco Palette: Bamboo, Moors Treasure.

Sugarpill - Bulletproof Eyeshadow

Elf - Black Liquid Eyeliner

Covergirl - Lash Blast Mascara Waterproof

Anastasia - Brow Powder 

     

Lips:

Jack Black - Black Tea Lip Balm

Face: 

Mac - Studio Fix Fluid NW15 (mixed)

Illamasqua - Skin Base SB02 (mixed)

Maybelline - Dream Lumi Concealer: Radiance

Laura Mercier - Secret Brightening Powder

Nars - Laguna Bronzer  

Tarte - Amazonian Clay Blush: Flush

Mac - Lightscapade

I'm not a big fan of winter, but I'm loving switching up my makeup! Hopefully my creative juices (what little i have) will remain flowing and I'll be sharing some new FOTD's soon!

Whats your favourite winter makeup trend?

xox