FOTD: Malted Milk Ball

Hey lovelies!

A quick little FOTD for you today!

I've been absolutely loving my new Too Faced palette so i thought I'd attempt a full face with it. I'm still on a real neutral kick and have been experimenting with more day time wearable smokey eyes. I've also been on a mission to shop my stash more often and I'm glad i did because I've fallen back in love with my Skin79 BB Cream. I'm a foundation whore and fall in and out of love with sheer and then full coverage foundations and I'm definitely favouring the sheer option at the moment.

Eyes:

Too Faced - Shadow Insurance
Too Faced - Marshmellow, Malted Milk Ball, Black Sugar, In The Buff and Lovey Dovey Eyeshadows.
Elf - Black Liquid Eyeliner
MUFE - Smoky Lash Mascara
MAC - Omega (Brows)

Face:

Skin79 - Hot Pink BB Cream
Maybelline - Dream Lumi Touch Concealer in Radiance
Laura Mercier - Secret Brightening Powder
Maybelline - Dream Matte Powder
Nars - Laguna Bronzer
Too Faced - Papa Don't Peach Blush
Too Faced - Candlelight Glow Highlighter    

 

I'll be posting a full review of this little beaut of a palette soon!

Have you rediscovered any of your stash lately?

xox

FOTD: Baby Its Cold Outside

Hey Lovelies!

Its officially two more sleeps until Christmas, eeee! I'm a tad bit excited if you can't already tell. I had a bit of a pamper day Saturday and decided to try out quite a few of the new goodies i picked up lately. And after battling with my camera trying desperately to capture the AMAZING Lit glitter i used, this was the best shot i could get, it does not do it even nearly enough justice. I also gave my Dinair airbrush system another bash, its definitely not perfect but i was pretty happy with the end results. Its really easy to go from not being able to see it to BAM too much, I'll get the hang of it eventually. I plan to do a full review on most of the new products used in this soon and hopefully *fingers crossed* be able to get a decent picture of the glitter, it is absolutely STUNNING.

Eyes:
MUA - Eye Primer
MAC - Vanilla, Omega and Phloof! Eyeshadows
Lit - Clearly Liquid Glitter Base
Lit - Champagne Wishes Glitter
Elf - Black Liquid Eyeliner
Makeup Forever - Smoky Lash Mascara
Anastasia - Brow Powder Duo

Lips:
YSL - Rouge Pur Couture The Mats Lipstick in 203
(I may actually be in love with this lipstick)

Face:
Darling Girl - About Face Velvet Gel Primer
Dinair - Airbrush Foundation
Laura Mercier - Secret Brightening Powder
Mac - Sculpting Powder in Sculpt
Mac – Lightscapade
The Balm - Frat Boy Blush  

(around 50 shots of my eye and this is the best i could get... boo!)

I've found three new products that I've fallen head over heals for; The YSL lipstick, Lit Glitters (need moar now) and my Dinair system. So needless to say i am one happy blogger right now.

Have you tried any of these products?

Hope you all have a wonderful Christmas!

xox

My Month In Pictures

Heya Lovelies!

I'm pretty new to this Instagram business but i thought I'd give a new sort of post a whirl. I'm no genius when it comes to taking photos, I'm pretty much the opposite. But i thought I'd share some of the months favourite snaps with you lot!

 

1. Zoya Ivanka

2. Rearranging my indie cosmetics stash

3. USA goodies! ♥

4. Wagamama's pud

5. My fur baby Star

6. Perfume lusting

I'll be trying these sort of posts out on a monthly basis to start with, but if you'd like to keep up to date with me on Instagram follow katiexlou.

Do you have Instagram? Leave a comment with your user name!

xox

FOTD: Winter Is Coming

 Hey Lovelies!

 My blogs been choc full of hauls lately, so i thought I'd change it up a tad and share the look I've been wearing quite a bit over the past few weeks. I love the whole rock chick trend at the moment and I've been obsessing over anything studded and bold, berry lips! Its a simple look as I've been pretty lazy on the eyeshadow lately, which needs to change soon. I've not been brave enough to try a black, burgundy smokey eye, but that's next on my list!

Eyes:

MUA - Eye Primer

Elf - Black Liquid Eyeliner

Almay - Get Up And Grow Mascara

Anastasia - Brow Powder Duo

Lips:

Jack Black - Lip Balm 

Revlon - Kissable Balm Stain in Crush

Face:

 Darling Girl - Face Primer

Tarte - Amazonian Clay Foundation in Ivory
Maybelline - Dream Lumi Concealer in Radiance

Laura Mercier- Secret Brightening Powder

Nars- Laguna Brzoner

Mac - Lightscapade
Tarte - Amazonian Clay Blush in Flush

  

I really need to get some more stain like products, i love the Revlon Balm Stains, even though they are on the drying side! But i don't fear having clown mouth with them and they have superb wear time, love them!

Have you cracked any "wintery" shades out of your stash yet?

xox

My Travel Makeup Bag!

Heya lovelies!
Hopefully by the time this post is up i shall be in sunny Florida so thought it was apt to show you what i pack in my travel makeup bag! The bag itself if i remember rightly is Benefit's Gabbi Bag that i picked up many years ago and to be perfectly honest i kinda regret buying it, i think it was over £20 and has been used all of once... bad, i know! So i really wanted to try and get some use out of it, its sturdier than the rest of my makeup bags and has a little more padding which makes it great for trying to get bits and bobs home in one piece. I just wish i owned a few more travel sized brushes to pop in it!

For me this is packing light!

For normal trips around the UK my makeup bag is considerably bigger and I'd probably cart around a brush roll on top of all that. But bearing in mind the Florida heat and my love of shopping i thought packing the bare minimum was probably the best idea, if i desperately need something its just yet another excuse to go shopping! hehe! I spent a good while going through my collection working out what would be the best products to take, working out what could get damaged in travel or melt in the heat that i wouldn't die over if i lost, so i came up with this little lot.

See? It really is the bare minimum!

I'm quite pleased i managed to get this down to four brushes. My Elf Kabuki for blush, my Royal and Langnickel kabuki for powder, Crown Small Chisel Blush for contour and a travel size Sigma E25. I don't think I've ever gone with such a small range of brushes, but since you'll see my lack of eyeshadow later on that pretty much explains it. But these are just the basic four, so that if needs be, i can whack on a whole face of makeup pretty easily.

Okay, so i am a dinlo and have missed one of the key items out of this photo... My Sleek Contour Kit! There was no way i was lugging Lightscapade and Laguna round with me because there would be tears if i smashed or lost either of those, but Sleek's little kit is the perfect replacement!

Laura Mercier Tinted Moisturiser and Missha Perfect Cover BB Cream are the only two base products I'm taking and honestly it was a real struggle for me not to pack more. I'm a foundation whore and wear multiple ones each week, but the Laura Mercier one is perfect for day wear as it has light coverage and if i need a little more coverage I'll whack out the Missha Perfect! The Collection 2000 Lasting Perfection Conceal is  MUST, it hides my dark circles a treat and Maybelline Stay Matte powder thrown in to set it all. Deciding on blush was another hard one but in the end it came down to one powder, one cream! Nars Orgasm and Stila Petunia.

Again minimal products for lips and eyes, just enough to tame my brows, do a winged eyeliner and orangey-coral lip! All photographed it looks a hell of a lot more than it really is, i mean... no shadow?!

Hopefully I'll have a nice haul to share soon!

What are your travel essentials?

Thanks for reading!

xox

FOTD: Summers not quite over yet...

I've been on a real neutral kick lately, so after a bit of prompting from my lovely friend Jane i whacked out some of my gorgeous Inglot shades. To put it bluntly, we've had a real shit summer here in the UK, so mostly I've not been feeling very colourful in my makeup so having the chance to have a mess about with some brights was a nice change! I didn't have to leave the house today, as i probably wouldn't have been as comfortable with such a bright look but i really do love how this turned out! I just LOVE Inglot.

Eyes:
MUA - Eye Primer.

Mac - Phloof!, Omega.
Elf - Liquid Eyeliner.
Urban Decay - 24/7 Liner in Zero.
L'oreal - Volume Million Mascara.
Inglot - Matte 362, Pearl 441, Shine 39, AMC Shine 17.

Lips:
Nyx - Slim Lip Pencil in Edge Pink.

Mac - Lustreglass in Wonderstruck.

Face:
Missha - Perfect BB Cream.
Maybelline - Stay Matte Powder
Nars - Laguna Bronzer.
Accessorize - Wowzer Blush.
Mac - Lightscapade.

Looks a tad messier than i had hoped for in the second picture, and my hair was not being obedient that day, but overall I'm really happy with it! I even had a compliment from my Dad about it whose normal reaction to eye makeup is "it's too dark"... Happy times!

Have you been wearing brights lately?
What are your favourite shades?!

xox

FOTD: Chinovi Neutrals

So i have finally gotten around to playing with my Chinovi Cosmetics goodies from my recent haul, hurray! And lets just say, i am not disappointed! But i wont go into that as my next post will be my full review and swatches, I'll just share a quick FOTD with you lovelies!

I've been on a real neutral kick lately, even my Naked palette is getting a bit of love, although on a whole its still far too warm for me. After swatching my new Chinovi shades i fell in love with a couple and have finally found a day time, smokey, neutral combo that doesn't pull too warm on me, yay! Just as per usual, ignore the brows, I've still not mastered those...

Eyes:
MUA - Eyeshadow Primer
Fyrinnae - Pixie Epoxy
Chinovi - Smoke Out
Chinovi - Nude Pearl +
Chinovi - Speechless
Elf - Black Liquid Eyeliner
MUFE - Smoky Lash
Mac - Fling Pencil

Face:
Estee Lauder - Double Wear Foundation
Bare Minerals - Blush (shade update later)
Nars - Laguna Bronzer
Inglot - Makeup Base

Lips:
L'occitane - Lip Balm

They were a dream to apply and such an easy look to do that i think this will be getting a lot of wear over the next few months. Also, I've managed to finally get my skin somewhat clear, I've changed a few things in my routine, like using non abrasive exfoliators and adding a few drops of tea tree to my toner and my skin is seeming to LOVE it! But again, another post on that soon!

What are your favourite neutrals?

xox

FOTD: Stuck In A Rut

Ello Lovelies!

I've been stuck in a little bit of a makeup rut lately, wearing the same look most days and not having much time to change up my routine too much due to work, boo! So over the weekend i was determined to crack out some different goodies and give a new look a bit of a try. Well here's how it went!

Eyes:
Urban Decay - Primer Potion

Nyx - Milk Jumbo Pencil
Victorian Disco Cosmetics - Frozen Throne (<3)

Sugarpill - Afterparty + Bulletproof + Taco

Mac - Omega (Brows) + Phloof!
MUFE - Smoky Lash

Lips:
Mac - Hue
Which looks really nothingy on me sadly.

Face:

Mac - Studio Fix Fluid mixed with Revlon - Colourstay
Fyrinnae - Confidence Hightlighter (as blush)
Collection 2000 - Lasting Perfection Concealer

Elf - HD Powder

Overall i was pretty happy with look. Sure its not the most creative look, but for me its pretty good! My foundation ratio was a little off, my Colourstay is a smidge too light and my Studio Fix Fluid (NW15) is FAR too dark so i like to try and mix the two so i feel like I'm not wasting two perfectly good foundations. I just wish i could get the ratios perfect every time i try, oh well!

I'm really looking forward to trying out some more bolder looks and well and truly getting out of my makeup rut! I've also got my eye on some indie pretties currently, so hopefully I'll have some bits and bobs to show and review soon, yay!

Thanks for reading!

xox