Would You Rather...Tali's Tag

I feel I've been rather absent from Blogger lately, I think we all go through this from time to time. I go from blogging every day to not blogging for a couple of weeks. Partly because of lack of time, partly because of lack of inspiration. Today I have both so yay!

Today is my boyfriend and I's 4 year anniversary. It's hard to believe it's been that long and I'm glad that we are both still happy. We're going to go out for a meal later to celebrate.

On another celebratory note, I was pleased to see when I logged in today I have 199 followers. I see 200 as quite a milestone, and it doesn't seem that long ago I reached 100. I don't want to be presumptious, but hopefully 200 is just around the corner! I know it sounds cliched, and fake, but I genuinely mean this: I would still blog no matter how many people were reading this, it's my little space on the internet to talk about what I love and I love interacting with those of you that share this interest with me and it just means even more that there's so many of you. Remove all the negativity and this is really a great community.

I thought I'd get back into blogging with a tag as I haven't done one in a while, and I came across Tali's tag that interested me so I'm going to go ahead and do that.

Would you rather...

Never use mascara again or bronzer again?

This is pretty tough, but I would have to lump with giving up the bronzer, at least I could substitute it with blush. There's no substitute to mascara, except maybe false lashes but I couldn't be doing with applying them everyday.

Only be able to buy high end make-up or drugstore make-up again?

I like to mix the two! I'm going to say drug store though, high end is more of a luxury for me than a staple part of my make-up. Most make-up items have a drugstore brand that works really well, I couldn't choose just one drugstore brand though.

Be in love or be loved?

I think I'd rather love. I'm pretty sure if you love something enough it will eventually love you back. I can't imagine not having love for someone!

Go out with chipped nail varnish or unshaven legs?

I could deal with chipped nail varnish, I don't like it and I end up picking at it profusely if I see a chip and I have no access to a bottle of nail varnish remover, but hairy legs are a no-no.

Go out with messy hair or no make-up?

Messy hair all the way. It's not uncommon for me to not brush my hair some mornings.

Leave the house with an orange tan or peroxide-gone-wrong ginger hair?

Orange tan as tacky as it is. I've had bad hair experiences in the past and it makes you so self-conscious, people can notice it from the front, from behind you, your hair is really one of the first things people notice, so at least with orange skin I could try and hide my face a bit.

It were winter forever or summer forever?

Summer summer time! I'm a total sun worshipper, now the days are getting shorter it's increasingly hard to get out of bed, I feel like a flower that curls up without the sun! I'm not a fan of the cold either. I love most things associated with summer though, long days, ice cream, trips to the beach, generally being outside doing things you can't do in the winter.

Have permanent 2 inch roots or permanently unplucked brows?

2 inch roots are OK in my opinion. Unless you have black hair dyed peroxide blonde, bit too much of a contrast. I don't pluck my brows much, I plucked them a lot when I was younger, thankfully not too thin, so the unwanted hair has taken a hint over time and isn't growing back. So neither of these things really bother me.

Leave the house with dried toothpaste drool or crusty yellow sleep eyes?

Dried toothpaste, yellow eyes are pretty disgusting, at least toothpaste is a sign you tried to clean yourself.

Give up all MAC or all Illamasqua products?

Illamasqua, I haven't really jumped on board of the Illamsqua bandwagon yet. I'm quite easily swayed though, so it could happen.

I tag...you! If you want to do it!

Purity Organic Skincare - Product Range Overview

I've mentioned my love for Purity before and reviewed a couple of their products. Recently I entered a competition of theirs and although I didn't win, I was kindly sent some products as a thank-you for entering. I was really not expecting all these lush goodies, so it was a lovely surprise in the post. Below are the cleansing products. I have previously purchased the Conditioning Cleansing Lotion myself before, and this is a product I find very effective and kind to my skin. It has quite a milky texture and is a gentle way to remove my make-up at the end of the day. Because it's conditioning, it also leaves a nice smooth finish on my skin. I have also bought the Exfoliating Wash before which I'm sure I've reviewed so won't go in to detail here, but it's another great product and one I will repurchase when this runs out. I alternate between this and Lush's Angels on Bare Skin, and they both seem to do wonders for my skin. The Facial Wash is one I wanted to try out so I was happy to see this in my parcel.

A couple of products I probably wouldn't have otherwise purchased were the two anti-aging products. I'm still just about the right side of 25, and I don't really think about aging although I feel like the cosmetics industry would have me believe that now is the time to start taking action to help prevent the effects it will have on my skin. I'm not buying into most of the hype surrounding anti-age products, but I think these products are a little bit different from your average anti-aging product. I won't name any brands, but there are some that claim far too much than they actually deliver and contain such a cocktail of chemicals, they end up doing the exact opposite to your skin than you were hoping for. I remember a programme a while back which studied a variety of products. Whilst using the products, skin might appear younger, but once stopped, and the skin examined, it was clear the signs of aging had been sped up. The brands with the fewer chemicals came up tops and that's why I feel like I might be having my eyes opened to Purity for their anti-aging range, I've actually used the serum mask once and I have very positive thoughts so far, so a review will be to follow shortly. The original Facial Moisturiser is my current moisturiser, I purchased this myself with the Cleansing Lotion, so it's good to have a back-up when it runs out. The other moisturiser is the Regenerating Overnight Moisturiser which I haven't yet tried out. I tend not to use rich moisturisers as my skin is quite oily, but going in to winter time this is less of a problem, and it is always beneficial to your skin to give it a good hydration from time to time so this is something I'm looking forward to trying.

I'm going to give using the products I haven't reviewed a little while longer before I review them in more detail, but my initial thoughts are pretty good and of the usual standard I expect from this brand.

Have you ever tried Purity?

UNE Eye Pencils

I'm on an Une role at the moment. I loved the foundation so decided to branch out and try their eye pencils. If there's one part of your body that you might want to avoid products with man-made chemicals in it's probably your eyes, and these are the first eyeliners I've seen that are natural. I wear eyeliner practically every day, liquid on the lashline, and a pencil or kohl on the waterline, and have done for years, so I know I'm not sensitive to any chemicals, but it's never too late to try and be good to my body.

There are a few different eye pencils available, and this is where you need a beady eye because they all look the same, same white packaging, same square shape, and the concealer is the same format too which I found the whole idea of a pencil crayon concealer quite interesting. But anyway, thinking about it, eye pencils are one of the most annoying things to buy, they will be put closely together and get so mixed up, you reach for a kohl and you get an eyebrow pencil, I also don't enjoy sifting through them to find one that hasn't been blunted (real word?). That wasn't an issue with these pencils since they took me the best part of 20 minutes to remove the security packaging when I got home. Still, you might need to look at these closely since the only clue to colour is on one end of the pencil, the names give nothing away as they are random letters and numbers.
Below is the eyebrow pencil in B01. There were only two shades available, and since I'm blonde I went with the lighter shade. This was a bit of a mistake since my hair naturally is quite a dark shade of brown, and so my eyebrows are not really blonde. I usually find dark pencils a bit too contrasting with the light hair so I don't want to go any darker than my natural brow colour. The B01 pencil has a slight reddish tone, so I would say this particular pencil would be great for a redhead, or someone with naturally blonde eyebrows. I swatched it on my hand so see the colour but sadly I will have to sell this since it's really not a match for me, it's far too light. I may go back for the darker shade but have a feeling this may be too dark for me, and since the eyebrow pencils are all sealed and there's no testers, I might give it a miss. From the swatch however, I was pleased with the quality of this pencil, some eyebrow pencils have to be pressed quite firmly on the skin just to get any colour pay off. This usally means they stay put once they are which is important because you really don't want to see your eyebrows smudged half way up your forehead. But I liked the way it just glided on with minimal effort and was hard to rub off my hand afterwards. The colour is buildable, I just got a faint bit of colour to begin with, but it doesn't look like an obviously drawn on line, just feathered, evened out colour with no patches which would look very realistic on your brows. Not so in my case since it's about 3 shades too light but you know what I mean! I had a terrible time opening these pencils, and consequently ended up breaking this one. This is the Absolute Blacks KOHL which was available in two shades, this one and a very similar looking one which I think had a hint of blue, but it was difficult to tell the shade just from the end of it. This is a very highly pigmented pencil, it has a very soft formula, similar to kajal, which is why it broke so easily, but it means this goes on like a dream, so soft! Initially, I really liked how easy this was to apply and achieve a dramatic look if you wanted, but a few hours in and I was not so pleased. I'd only worn this in my flat, and a couple of hours later, I looked in the mirror and I looked like I'd been to sleep in my makeup. Perhaps a slight exaggeration, but it was smudged up, to the point where I would be very wary about wearing this out in public. I've used a lot of kohls in the past, by many different brands and never experienced this, so it's a little disappointing, since this is the product I really hoped would work for me.

I'm not one to dismiss a product too quickly though and I gave this another try today, this time applying just to the waterline, I think I put a little on the lower lashline last time instead of liquid liner, and it seemed to fare better when not applied directly to the skin.

The third and final eye pencil I got was this Sfumato Eyes Pencil. Now I don't know what Sfumato means to you, but for me, it means a great quality eyeliner, one that is kind on my skin, and doesn't give me panda eyes. I went for S11 (I have to add at this point how much I really don't like the name format of Une's products, it makes them very unspecial and hard to remember) which is a deep dark brown with ash tones. I use this in the same way I would use the kohl, but I was very pleased to find this does not move about of it's own free will, but stays nicely in place underneath my lash line. It doesn't last as long on my waterline but I think that's pretty obvious, the only colour that stays there for long enough is black, any other coloured eyeliner I've used there has generally faded after a couple of hours, maybe less.There were also some glittery pencil liners available which looked fun and perhaps next on my to-buy list.

Has anyone else tried any of these pencils?
Also, please get in touch if you want to take the blonde eyebrow pencil off my hands as I might as well sell it.!

Loving and Disliking Part Une...

Some things I'm loving and disliking (Because hate's a strong word!) lately.

Loving:

Sushi! Can't get enough of it lately

Katy B, there's something hauntingly beautiful about her voice, and in the genre she's associated with as a whole, I hope she takes off and gets the full credit she deserves.

Finding shoes that fit well. I love heels but it's so difficult to find the right combination of high heel, stylish and comfortable all rolled into one. Lately I've been successful in finding shoes that I like and don't hurt like hell either.

New beginnings. I'm excited that one chapter of my life has ended, and now another one is about to begin, exciting times ahead. :)

Disliking:

Breaking nails - I had them in such great condition, they were long, strong, the tips were white, so I painted them A LOT, and now I seem to be breaking them. :( Nothing lasts forever does it, but why is it when I break a nail it has to be so low down. Oh dear.

Shorter days, it's only September and it's noticable already that the days are getting shorter, booo!

UNE Skin Glow Foundation Review

In my last post I mentioned the UNE Skin Glow Foundation as my weapon of choice for my FOTD. Back in March, UNE received quite a bit of publicity as they were just launching and reaching out to new customers. Things got a little quiet since then, and admittedly, I hadn't heard of this brand until around a fortnight ago when I found the makeup stand at Westfield in Shepard's Bush, and came home with a bottle of this, bought partly on impulse, and searched the brand for more information.

Now I'm going to write this review based purely on my experience with this foundation and ignore what I've read, because so far, I don't feel like this brand has been painted in a positive light which with my experience isn't rightly so, because I have nothing really negative to say.

So a quick overview of UNE, they are a spin-off company from Bourjois, but differ quite considerably to Bourjois, or any other make-up brand in that they are a "natural" cosmetic company. I think if any brand is deserving of that title, it would certainly be UNE since in the foundation alone, 98.2% of the ingredients are from natural origin, 17.1% are from Organic Farming, and many of the products, if not all, are free from parabens.

There may be a brand comparable, but when you walk into Boots, that's not neccessarily obvious, and that's what singles this brand out, is it's accessibility. Since buying the foundation in a large branch of Boots, I have now seen a stand in my local Superdrug, which I was pleased to find, and glad that this brand is reaching out as accessible and affordable. I opted for shade G06 which I think is around a MAC NC20-25. The foundation was priced at around £13 for 30ml of product. Not cheap, but then not vastly expensive either. It's mid-range, cheaper than a lot of foundations I've tried and a price I'm willing to pay to not put a cocktail of chemicals on my face. Don't get me wrong, I'll slap on MAC like it's going out of fashion, but I do think it's important to give my skin a breather from time to time, and I am one of those paranoid people who's a little afraid of chemicals. If I could choose a product from another and the only difference was the list of ingredients, then I'd obviously plump for the one without the artificiality, and I'm sure I'm not alone. So I applaud UNE for going against the grain and releasing an authentic natural range.

The real test is in how this make-up holds up. It's all well and good being natural, but if this make-up is gone without a trace in 2 hours, it's somewhat useless. NOT the case I'm glad to say! This is a "glow" effect foundation, and I am a combination/oily skinned client, so we are not traditionally a match made. I usually need something with "matte" in the title, particularly this time of year, late spring to early autumn and anything "glowy" or "dewy" on my skin usually=shiny. If I don't powder, I do notice a shine, but it's actually not something I can't live with, I don't feel like my skin is suffering under there, it's just a very natural look. It makes me feel like I can embrace the natural oily state of my skin, because it is still less oily than usual, and it evens out my skin tone, minimises my pores, all the while looking natural.

Here we have a blob. I wanted to give you an idea of the consistency and texture of the foundation. It looks like any other at this point I suppose.
Rubbed in a little, it's actually very smooth to apply, even on the dry skin on my hands it doesn't pick up any skin, just smooths over for an even texture. It's very creamy yet light feeling.

And rubbed in almost entirely, this is pretty much the coverage on my face, minus the cracks because my hands are a little dry lately. A little blob goes a long way which is another plus point, I don't like to apply a lot of foundation, I want a foundation that is going to last me a good few months so it's good value, and this definitely does the job.

So is this foundation for you? If you want heavy coverage then no, definitely bypass this, but if you enjoy make-up and want to go for a lighter, natural look than normal without skipping foundation it might be worth a look. I think this is great for people just getting into make-up aswell, people who might not have tried any foundations before, or if you have problematic, sensitive skin, this might be suitable as it's free from harsh chemicals. Even those make-up lovers who just want something for their down-days where you still want to wear a foundation but without the effort of a heavy coverage face, since this is almost like a tinted moisturiser. Since buying this, I've also gone back to my parents house to visit and lost my moisturiser somewhere in transition, so I use this after toning and it's become a make shift moisturiser/foundation. I love a good multi-use product.

FOTD using UNE Foundation and Sleek Jewels palette and NOTD 1/9/2010

It feels like England is clinging on to Summer now with a little burst of sunshine, even though technically it's September, we're now officially Autumn. This time of year usually means finding transitional makeup, makeup that's suitable for both seasons. For me, that usally means finding rich, plummy, golden colours, at least for my eyeshadow. A palette I find perfect for those rich, beautiful colours is the Jewels palette by Sleek, so I dug that one out and will show you a quick FOTD.I used the champagne gold colour all over the lid, it's a perfect wash colour, and probably one of only two colours I can use all over the lid. Then for the crease I picked out the plum/purple shade, and used the silver on the inner corner. Still a pretty neutral look, but the purple livens it up a little. Sleek is fantastic for their pigmented eyeshadows, they look so multi-dimensional once applied, so much depth to the colour. The only problem is finding a palette with an entire range of colours that I can wear. I wish they would bring out a neutrals palette, like the Urban Decay Naked palette, it would be pretty near perfection in a £5 palette. Close up of the eyes - I used Sleek Jewels, No. 7 Amazing Eyes eyeliner, (I found another liquid liner that actually compares to my HG Loreal Superliner!) it was given to me by my Mum since she couldn't apply it, and it's surprisngly very good, and I'd say pretty fool-proof too, if you're a shaky-hand-eyeliner-applier as I am.

Other products I used

EYES: Bourjois 1001 Lashes mascara, topped with Rimmel Volume Flash the Max mascara; Eyeshadows primed with TFSI;

FACE: Une Skin Glow Foundation in G06 (Love this, review to come soon); Rimmel Clarifying Powder, MAC Refined Golden bronzer.

LIPS: Maybelline Colour Sensational Lipstick in Rose Pearl.

And not to leave my nails out, since I really love this colour, I painted them in Barry M's Racing Green, which is truly a gorgeous colour in it's own right, it reminds me of old Jaguars, not just the colour but the finish aswell. I decided to turn it matte out of curiousity, and it turned out pretty good. It's a slightly irridescent colour, and you can still see the other dimensions to this colour, just in matte form. I'm going to be sporting this a lot through Autumn I think. I prefer dark colours for my nails so I'm not going to miss the summer pastel shades too much.

What are your favourite colours for autumn?