ABCs Tag and a video from England (the first, anyway!)

I'm back from England! We had a really nice trip. I got to meet some of my husband's extended family, explore London and even got to meet a fellow blogger, Robyn! It was so much fun, I'm a bit bummed to be home. I always visit and say that I could totally live there but then I think about my family and friends here at home and get homesick. So anyway, it's nice to be home.

I hit 500 followers while I was on vacation so first off, welcome to my new followers (I think there's 10-15 of you!) and as promised, I will be doing a giveaway of a few bits, including some China Glaze Tronica polishes! I just got home last night so I'll try to get the giveaway up tomorrow. I'm still deciding what I want to do for it and would love some reader input: if I made additional entries for submitted looks, would you do it?

I don't have too much in the way of posts to do, I'll have some follow me around/day in the life videos from my vacation and will probably post a few of the more interesting photos I snapped in a separate post. I did buy makeup and clothes in England, so if you want swatches of the makeup bits, let me know! Soon I'll post the video I recorded with Robyn showing what we bought (INGLOT!) so you guys can all see :)

In the meantime, I do have a video and a tag to post. First up, the video. It's basically shopping with me in England at Morrison's and Asda (grocery stores), so you get a little idea of what food prices are like over there:



Next, the tag. I think I took this off of Lillian (Funny Face's Place)... it seemed kinda cute.

A. Age: 23
B. Bed size: Queen! Even though it's a borrowed bed -.-
C. Chore you hate: Toilets! I will admit that the disposable Clorox wands have made my life easier but just... ugh. I hate getting near it.
D. Day: Tuesday.
E. Essential start to your day: Agreeing with Lillian, brushing my teeth. Can't stand that taste, yuck!
F. Favourite colour: That's really tough, I bounce back and forth a lot. I'd say purple because it's what I like most of the time.
G. Gold or Silver: Silver looks better on me, though I do like antiqued gold and pale gold.
H. Height: 5'1
I. Instruments: None really now... used to play violin but then lessons got too expensive (and the rental, my parents couldn't afford to buy me one outright), and same with guitar.
J. Job title: Paralegal/office manager/phone grunt
K. Kids: Don't have any and not sure if I ever will.
L. Live: Virginia Beach, in the USA!
M. Mum’s name: Kathy.
N. Nicknames: Wendus, Wendelias, Wendelina (thanks Amanda for all of those, lol), Woozer (parents, don't ask), Shortstuff, 'Hey You', Dork and Babybee (Rob)
O. Overnight hospital stays: Never done!
P. Pet peeve: I have lots but right now I'd say it's people who think that because it's the internet, they can be a jackass.
Q. Quote from a movie: "Fuckin' prawns"
R. Right or left handed: Right.
S. Siblings: One older brother, an older half brother and an older half sister
T. Time you wake up: Around 6:30AM
U. Underwear: Oh man, how personal is that? Um... I have some on.
V. Vegetables you dislike: Lima beans, BLEH, I also don't really like zucchini unless it's hidden well in my food. I like the taste of cucumbers but not the seeds.
W. What makes you run late: Uh... I'm female? Usually I don't start getting ready early enough before what time I need to leave the house.
X. X-Rays you’ve had: Just teeth and my foot a while back after I dropped something heavy on it.
Y. Yummy food you make: I do good pasta, I'm admittedly crap at cooking meat unless it's in a pan where I can easily keep an eye on it. My confession is that I've never cooked a steak! I also do good cheesecake.
Z. Zoo: Haven't been much, the local one isn't that awesome.

Anddd... that's it! I'm tagging anyone that wants to do it :). Anyway, good to be home and I'll get back to blogging soon! <3

e.l.f. Beauty Book (Smokey Eyes Edition) Review + Swatches

I showed you the Bright Eyes Edition last week and now I'm back with the smokey eyes one!

Same info and basic review as the other one, but in case you missed it:

e.l.f. is available from Target (limited range) and also from elf.com, and occasionally at dollar stores. I picked this up on clearance for $3.12, but they normally cost $5.

Here is the smokey eyes palette:

Top row of shadows, left to right. All swatches done over Too Faced Shadow Insurance.

First shade is a pale white-grey (shimmer).
Second shade is a medium 'blurple' (satin with loose glitter).
Third shade is a navy blue (shimmer).
Fourth shade is a very dark blue with blue glitter (satin with loose glitter).

Only so-so pigmentation on this. The colors in the pan just don't transfer onto the skin! The black/blue on the far right is crazy pigmented, though.

Middle row of shadows.

First shade is a fair skintone shade with grey undertones (matte).
Second shade is a violet burgundy (matte).
Third shade is a blackened burgundy (matte).
Fourth shade is a black with a hint of burgundy (satin with sparkle).

Does this look like the WetnWild Lust palette to you? It reminds me of it. Decent pigmentation here for mattes, the second shade in is my favorite. The first skintone like shade is a bit muddy and unnatural on the skin; you could use it as a color to blend out other shadows.

Bottom row of shadows.

First shade is a pale grey silver with a hint of purple (shimmer).
Second shade is a medium silver with a green overtone (shimmer).
Third shade is a dark grey with silver shimmer (shimmer).
Fourth shade is a flat black (matte).

This would be my favorite row if not for the crap pigmentation on the black. It's surprising because the blue higher up in the palette is SO pigmented. Anyway, the silvers in this row are quite nice. I think you could make a good smokey eye if you use a different black.

This palette has a better range of finishes than the Bright Eyes palette (which was mostly shimmers), so that I can appreciate. A few colors are disappointing, however... mainly the top row. They look gorgeous in the pans but really sheer out on the skin.

From here is basically the same overview I gave the Bright Eyes palette:


e.l.f.'s shadows are quite soft so you do have to pack on the color a little. You can't expect vibrant payoff with these -- they're meant to be a sheerer wash of color. You can get decent pigmentation out of some of the shadows with an eyeshadow primer, but you're not going to have anything eyeseeringly bright.

Now, my complaint is the design of the palette. These would be awesome for travel, but they're cardboard, for one, and second they are quite bulky. I get that they wanted to have a 'book' feel but they could have designed the palette into something more compact -- maybe 6 shadows across the top and 6 across the bottom, or a pull tray? There's just a lot of wasted space on these.

They also come with a little eyeliner but I would have foregone that to just cut off the entire bottom half of the palette!

As I said with the Bright Eyes palette, this would be great for a beginner who wants to experiment with smokey eyes or if you're not into really intense ones. I know I have trouble wearing them so this palette is appreciated for someone like me who prefers to create a softer smokey eye.

Guest Post: FOTD - Starry Eyed Surprise

*Hi guys, I'm currently in England on vacation so while I'm gone I'm featuring a few awesome bloggers as guest posters! Hope you enjoy and be sure to check out their blogs and subscribe!*

Hola! I'm Lily from Beauty's Bad Habit, taking over Turtle Beauty today with something a bit bright...

EYES - UDPP, Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy, Fyrinnae 'Rapunzel Had Extensions', Barry M hot pink (no name, it from in a gift set), Hi-Fi Cosmetics 'Mind Manipulator', Ben Nye cherry red, Too Faced 'Cream', Illamasqua sealing gel, Sleek matte black, mascara, Kryolan white pencil eyeliner, nail art stars, Duo lash glue.

FACE - Kryolan Ultra Foundation, Collection 2000 'Matt + Minerals', Kryolan powder, Shu Uemura matte peach blush, The Balm 'Hot Mama' blush.

LIPS - MAC 'Blankety' lipstick, Darling Girl 'Heart of Glass' hologloss.

I've been trying to use these nail art stars ever since I received them. Of course, I have no patience for nail art, so I decided to stick them to my face instead! Since I'm posting on a blog belonging to the queen of bright pink lips, I figured I'd switch it around to bright pink eyes instead...Even if darkening the crease killed the intensity a bit.

Thanks, Wendy, for asking be to be a guest poster - I hope you're enjoying sunny *cough cough* old England!

Guest Post Gone Awry

Hi guys. Just a quick note from Rachel, the author of the guest post gone missing. Blogger wouldn't let me log in for two whole days, so I couldn't write it up. So many apologies!

It's up now though and you'll find it here. I'm playing with red eyeshadow. I hope you all enjoy!

Guest Post by Robyn: Day to Night Look

*Hi guys, I'm currently in England on vacation so while I'm gone I'm featuring a few awesome bloggers as guest posters! Hope you enjoy and be sure to check out their blogs and subscribe!*


Hello beautiful people - I'm Robyn and I blog over at Stay Beautiful. I'm very excited to be guest posting on Wendy's blog today as I actually get to meet her tomorrow! We are.... shock, horror.... going shopping!

Anyway, I thought for this post I thought I'd post a quick look that I wore to work, and then amp it up when I got home for a funkier, evening look.


Day Look:

Eyes:
Lid: Fyrinnae Damn Paladins
Crease/Liner: MUA Shae 12 (Mac Club Dupe)

Lips:
Collection 2000 Love Your Lips gloss in Honey Bunch

Face:
NYC Creme Blush in Pink Flash
Benefit 10

Dead simple, but still fun with a hint of duochrome - what I like when I'm in a rush in the morning!


Night Look:

Please excuse my awful, awful hair in this post. I sunburnt my scalp on holiday, so no hair dye or blowdrying for me!

Added to Eyes:
Outer Crease:High Voltage Nocturnal Passion
Inner Corner: Fyrinnae Electric Stardust
Liner: Collection 2000 Extreme liner in Teal

Face:
As before

Lips:
Primark Well Licked Gloss in Sorbet

Not exactly rocket science - lots of liner, darken the crease, add a bit of fun and sparkle with a bright inner corner highlight and a brighter lip! Do any of you add to your makeup for the evening or do you re-do it?

Thanks for reading, guys! Wish my wallet luck tomorrow ;)

Guest Post: Rachel

*Hi guys, I'm currently in England on vacation so while I'm gone I'm featuring a few awesome bloggers as guest posters! Hope you enjoy and be sure to check out their blogs and subscribe!*


Hi guys! Firstly apologies that this post was blank when it first popped up. Blogger went mental and decided not to let me sign in for two days?! I'm not sure what was going on but I managed to get it sorted out.

I'm Rachel and I blog here. Today I thought I'd do a post on red eyeshadow, since it's been a 'thing' this year... And Wendy has covered the orange and pink lips that are big in 2011 :P

Red eyeshadow can be pretty unwearable, even if you're used to bright colours. It can make you look ill or be a bit too Gerard Way... But this is one of the ways I like to wear it.

EYES
UDPP Eden
Aromaleigh 'Spot of Tea'
High Voltage 'Little Red Cap' (outer corner and blended into the crease)
Sleek palette black (tightly in the crease, blended into the red)
Maybelline Lasting Drama gel liner (sorry for the mistake in the liner, I was getting used to the brush)
Collection 2000 Big Fake Lash

Cheeks are Accessorize merged blush in 'Pretty Pink' and the lips are a gloss with no name from Victoria Jackson.
The red shadow blended with the black took on a distinct plummy tone, but in better lighting it was very definitely red. The subtler red tone really contrasted with the green in my eyes: girls with true green eyes would probably find it beneficial to have a play with some red shadow!

Thanks Wendy for letting me have a guest spot!

Guest Post: My favorite SUMMER lipsticks

*Hi guys, I'm currently in England on vacation so while I'm gone I'm featuring a few awesome bloggers as guest posters! Hope you enjoy and be sure to check out their blogs and subscribe!*


Hi! I'm Jess. I am the author of the blog Weighing Down on Beauty. Summer is coming up soon and I can not wait!! These are a list of my favorite summer lipsticks. Let me know what you think and if you have any more to add to the list!!

OH and for reference, I am wearing MUFE HD 125 on my face

Rimmel Crush-This is the perfect everyday peach lipstick. It goes with almost every type of look and it less than $6!

Inglot 401 Matte- This matte orange lipstick is gorgeous and super long lasting. It last 5-6, through eating and drinking too. Gotta love that!

MUFE 38- This is a new fav for me. It is a gorgeous pinkie/coral color and is perfect for almost any look.

NYX Power- LOVE! LOVE! this color. I really love to wear it with any pink or purple eye look. It is honestly one of my favorite purple lipsticks.

MAC Morange- PERFECT orange lipstick for the summer. The color is super vibrant and pigmented and the formula is very moisturizing and long lasting

Revlon Coral- This is a really great drugstore alternative for a really great orange lipstick. The formula is amazing and the color is very pigmented all for $10 or less.

MAC Brave New Bronze- I really did not want to throw in a LE product but this is seriously my favorite lipstick to wear in the summer with a bronzy eye and cheek look. It also looks amazing with a tan. If you missed out on this color, Wet n Wild Mega Last Lipstick 902 C is an EXACT dupe, which you can check out HERE.

MAC Speed dial- This is just an amazing pink lipstick and is not an, in your face bright pink lip stick. The formula and color is really beautiful.

MAC GAGA 2- I love to wear nude lips in the summer with a smokey bronze eye. GAGA 2 is really the perfect nude for my skin tone.

MAC Impassioned- PERFECT coral lipstick and my an absolute MUST HAVE for the summer.

Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetic (OCC) Lip Tar in Trollop- Really beautiful coral/pink lip tar. The pigmentation is amazing. I also love that it wears like a lip gloss, but looks like a lipstick on the lips.

I hope you enjoyed my list! Let me know what your favorites were and please feel free to add your favorites to the list too!!

Don't forgot to check out my blog as well, Weighing Down on Beauty

Thanks ladies!!

Guest Post by Lillian: My Top 11 Lipsticks

*Hi guys, I'm currently in England on vacation so while I'm gone I'm featuring a few awesome bloggers as guest posters! Hope you enjoy and be sure to check out their blogs and subscribe!*

Hullo Everyone, I'm Lillian from Funny Faces Place (plug plug plug :P ). The lovely Wendy asked me to share some of my favourite lipsticks with you because lippies are my obsession and apparently I take good lip swatches. And that was alright by me because taking photos of nothing but lip swatches means I don't have to put on a full face of makeup! Great for a lazy bum like me, possibly not so great for you as you have to see my pores, slight moustache and spots!

Now I was planning to make a top 10 of lip colours, but unfortunately it appears I can't count, so we're turning it up to 11! Choosing just 11 colours was insanely difficult, I own so many lip products I could easily make a top ten red lippies, pink lippies etc So I decided it was to be lipsticks only and I had to pick various colours and brands. Unfortunately the usual camera I take photos with decided to die on me a few days ago, so I'm using my Mum's which seems alright but messes with colours a bit, so I'll describe any discrepancies between the pictures and real life. Anyway on with the swatches!

1. First on the list is Funny Face by Nars, this was a present from my Mum some years back, my Mum calls me Funny Face so it was a sweet little gift and so this lipstick has a special sentimental place in my collection. It's also a stunning colour, a sort of bright fuschia with a blue sheen (in real life the blue is more prominent) and I've nearly used it all up as it seems to go with everything.

 

I think this is a great colour for summer, it's fun and bright and flirty :D

2. Next up is Really Red by Revlon which is one of their matte shades. It's a brilliant red that perhaps leans slightly to the cool side of the spectrum. It's truely matte without being at all drying

I really like how retro this looks, I think it's because of the matte finish and because it's a nice bold red.

3. This is my current go-to lippie, Just A Girl Lip Candy by High Voltage Cosmetics. It's the most amazing pale purple (the photo makes it look slightly bluer than it truly is and in real life it is a little brighter) that manages to be both flattering and look really cool and unusual. The formula is fantastic, creamy and smooth and smells like buttermints.

 

I've been wearing this a lot during spring, it's not quite a pastel but is pale, light and fresh looking.

4. Now for something truly obnoxious! This is Stargazer number 6. Well it was at least, the tube I have is from about 10 years ago (I know, I know, I should throw it out) and the packaging and numbering system has completely changed since then so I'm not sure if you can still get it :( It's a fantastic truly neon pink/red colour. The photo is pretty true to colour but it doesn't show how truly bright this is. The formula isn't great (well it wouldn't be after a decade!) but it's not horrible, it just wears out quite quickly and smells a bit like a wax crayon.

 

I wish the photo could capture it's glowy goodness! It's an eye searing fluorescent that actually glows under blacklights. I love it.

5. This is an odd one to be in my top 11 because I haven't actually worn it out yet. But it's such a fantastic deep vampy berry colour I wanted to share it. It's Sephora Rouge Cream lipstick in Bewitch Me 24. It's fantastically pigmented and creamy and just lovely. Also it smells of grape candy, which personally I don't like, but if you like grape flavoured stuff you're sure to like it!

 

I'm looking forward to wearing this with just some black eyeliner. 

6. I couldn't make a favourite lippies post without including at least one blue one! I love blue lipsticks, perhaps it's to do with my colouring (very pale and very very pink!) but I find them oddly flattering! This one may be my favourite, it's Serenity from Morgana's Cryptoria. It's a bright sky blue colour that is very very slightly shimery with a hint of silver glitter. It's just glorious!

 

Probably not the most 'wearable' shade of lipstick, but it's so so pretty.

7.  Mac Violetta is a fantastic purple, I think it's actually quite wearable. Sure it's a purple lipstick, but it's not really really bright or over the top. It's certainly not sheer but it's not completely 100% opaque. In real life it looks slightly more pink but it has a tiny bit of blue sheen over the top. It's an amplified cream finish which is my favourite formula from Mac.

 

I love pairing purple or magenta lip colours with silver eyeshadow.

8. Another lovely pink is Barry M number 145 Punky Pink. It's a sort of cerise colour, a dark, bold pink with a tiny hint of purple. It's loud and packs a punch! The photo makes it look slightly darker than in reality.

  Some Barry M lip paints can be a little dry but this one is lovely and creamy.

9. Another Barry M colour and another pink! This is number 52 Shocking Pink. It's a slightly blue based pink that lives up to it's name. It doesn't actually fluoresce like the Stargazer colour but it looks neon and really jumps off your face! This colour is a little dry to apply but feels alright on the lips and is very long lasting.

 I think this is another great colour for the summer, it's so shocking and fun it just feels right for wearing out in the sun.

10. I'm a big fan of red lipsticks of all shades, here's a lovely dark slightly blackened red colour. It's NYX round lipstick in Snow White. I know NYX are the brand-that-must-not-be-named in the beauty universe at the moment and with good reason, their sale was truly appalling. But I like their lipsticks and this one deserves a place in my heart. The photo makes it look ever so slightly berryish, which it isn't in real life, it's just a deep dark red. 

  

This isn't the longest lasting of lipsticks but it's got a beautiful sheen while being completely opaque.

And finally 11. This is Mac Kanga-Rouge from the Dame Edna collection. It's quite possibly my favourite red lipstick in the entire world and the only colour I've bought back-ups of. It's a blue based bright red that I find really flattering on my skin tone. It's got a slight glossiness that makes it less high maintanance than the Revlon shade. I don't really know what makes this shade so special, but it's just the nicest, most perfect red for me to wear. 

And just look at the packaging! It's so gaudy and tacky and fantastic!

 Anyway I hope you all enjoyed reading about some of my favourite lipsticks and seeing numerous photos of my lips! If you did I'm doing a project on my blog where I'm swatching every single lip product I own (yeah thought I'd throw in another plug :P) And thanks to Wendy for letting me post on her blog!