Tsunimee's BFF Contest

It has taken me ages to get round to doing this look. Over on Liloo's lovely blog she is running a competition until Wednesday 16th Feb. You can see the full details here. It is to create a look inspired by Birds, Fruit, Flowers. Well I was stupid and read it as 'and' when actually it was 'or' and I could have done just one element, but hey-ho.

Here's a list of the products I used to do this OTT look:

No 7 Lift & Luminate foundation, Alabaster

NYC Skin Matching Foundation, Light-Medium

Collection 2000 Lasting Perfection Concealer, 02 Light

ELF Shimmer Mineral Booster

No 7 Perfect Eyes Eyeliners, Black and Brown

Rimmel Soft Kohl Kajal, Pure White

Sleek palettes, Bad Girl and Circus

Manly 120 palette (eBay)

Sleek Blush, Scandalous

No 7 Exquisite Curls Mascara, Black

Collection 2000 Big Fake Lashes Mascara, Ultra Black

Sleek Pout Polishes, Electro Peach and Scandal

Now before you all go yuck, this was my first ever attempt at such a look. What do you REALLY think?

Jaynee x x

FOTD: 17 Glam Rock Palette

It's Christmas Eve, I've been on the vino, so not many words (shocker, I know) I'm gonna leave it to the pictures. Ish.

I bought Boots 17 Wild Curls in Wildest Black a few weeks ago when they had a promo that if you spend a measly £6 then you got a FREE 6 shade Glam Rock Palette!! The mascara was £6.99 itself so one word springs to mind - BARGAIN.

It comes in a nice black and purple card box, then a sleek plastic palette of the same design. Inside there are 3 shimmers, 1 glitter and 2 matte shades (click for larger image):

1. Top left (TL) is a pearly white shimmer (inner corner + brow highlight), 2. TR silver shimmer (blended out crease), 3. ML glitter pewter (packed in middle of lid), 4. MR bronze shimmer (all over lid, lower lashline), 5. BL matte purple/lilac (crease), 6. BR matte black (outer corner). Yup, I used all them bad boys.

Complete look:

Smile..? No? Ok.

Products used:
Eyeko Glow Cream
(Mixed) Revlon Color Stay 'Buff' and Bourjois Healthy Mix 52
Maybelline Dream Matte Mousse Concealer 'Rose Beige'
Sleek 'One' Finishing Powder
ELF Complexion Perfection
Rimmel Eyebrow Pencil 004 Black Brown
ELF Eyelid Primer
17 Glam Rock Palette
L'Oreal Super Liner 'Carbon Black'
Yves Rocher Kohl Liner 'Black'
17 Wild Curls 'Wildest Black'
ELF Studio Blush 'Mellow Mauve'
Boots No 7 High Shine Lipgloss 'Happy'
ELF Mist & Set Spray

And Moll was always there to lend a hand, or in her case, Powerful Paw.

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!!!

Hope you all have a lovely time over the festive season :)

Jaynee x x

Diary of a Spendaholic: Part 2

Morning all.

So it's 5am and I'm at work (in my break folks, don't worry), and I've just taken a perusal at my Bank Account. And it was painful.

Following my last post about spending I (think) I mentioned that I made the decision to give my debit card to my boyfriend. Well this worked brilliant saving me around £150-£200 thus keeping me out of my overdraft. However, I then needed my card for a few days as I had a few Xmas bits to get for the boyfriend and had to take my broom broom to the garage.

BIG mistake.

It was far too soon to be let out alone with it. In two days I spent over £250 (including car stuff but still). This was on various lovely things like some Lush Cosmetics and some Christmassy bits in Wilko's. And the unnecessary whopper, 3 for 2 on Fearne Cotton @ Boots. There is a deal whereby the Hat Box is on offer from £40 to £26.99 and is still included on the 3 for 2. So I got that and the two nail polish sets. The word whoops springs to mind. I also made an order from ELF which I didn't need and had actually lied about (I was uber jealous I got no freebies - how lame?!)

Boyfriend went slightly, nay very mad and I subsequently felt like crud all guilty and ashamed. I realised I never actually wanted the stuff I got. Then the epiphany came.

I seem to be addicted to browsing, choosing, queuing and PIN entering. Getting that bag and the receipt is a WOW feeling for me, regardless of what I'm buying.

I have now returned all the Fearne stuff (they took the points back too, narf), and have also paid to return the ELF stuff therefore wasting money on delivery and return. Other things like the Lush and Wilko's I kept.

It is still really difficult, especially when there is so much I think I want. I am ashamed I lied to my boyfriend. I am ashamed I bought when I knew I shouldn't and I'm ashamed that this is so silly and pathetic.

JUST DON'T SPEND!

Simple eh...?


Jaynee x x

Blog Neglect: Diary of a Spendaholic

Hello everyone,


So it's been around 5 months since my last post I am ashamed to say, however there are reasons for this.


This sounds extremely pathetic (and ironic given my blog name), but I found I was spending excessive amounts of money on makeup and beauty products; money that I did not have to spare. As some of you know I bought my first house with my boyfriend in March this year, and I didn't seriously assess my spending, and it slowly spun out of control.


Around July/August time it hit me when I finally got to the end of my overdraft (albeit it's only £700 but I rarely went into it before I moved). To put it in perspective, my actual OCD boyfriend saves around £200 a month. Quite incredible and self-disciplined but hey, having OCD has its perks. I was spending maybe £250 on MYSELF. What a selfish bi-atch.


Anywho, this all relates to blog world as I found that reading about everyone else's shopping hauls and reviews of new products made me insanely jealous and all keep-up-with-the-Jones' so I was spending more and more the more I read about stuff. And of course loving what I was reading about those products and wanting to buy them.


I decided to stop blogging, and to avoid as little makeup-related stuff as possible. I haven't been completely brilliant and have still made purchases for myself - there have been a couple of ELF purchases which I made with boyfriend's knowledge which I am actually ashamed of! Like a naughty child sneaking into the biscuit barrel!!


On the whole my spending has significantly reduced through my own willpower but I found it still wasn't as little as it ought to be so that I can pay off my debt (overdraft, credit card and a Littlewoods account). After a stupid vets bill, stupid car tax and stupid car insurance I didn't budget for, I realised I couldn't carry on by myself. I spilled (almost) all the beans on my troubles and my boyfriend kindly gave me some dosh from the savings (building up for a new bathroom - water and cracks are driving his head nuts... damp in wall...wall rots... wall falls down... house collapses... life as we know it is over). In return I forced him to have my debit card so I can no longer make those impromptu little spending trips down Tesco and Superdrug, or the sandwich and Monster Munch binge on night shifts :)


As a result, I am spending nothing but petrol out of my account. Been doing it for 2weeks and haven't bought makeup for well over a month. And I feel proud of myself.


I realise how incredibly ridic and stupid all this sounds, and it's not the worse debt anyone has ever had, but it was straining my relationship. I am pleased to say I now feel confident to return to a world I do miss, and all those lovely ladies :) 


I see this post as one of my final steps (bit like AA meets whereby they write the apology letters to those they've hurt, explaining why and what they've done). Next step will be proving I can control my spending.


Next step: weight loss. Now there's a saga....


I thank everyone who has offered me words of advice and support, I know I can rely on you for your understanding as well.


Jayne x x x

Woo Shopping trip: LOTD

Oops.

The word that came to mind yesterday when I got home and realised I had spent quite a tidy sum of cash (which I don't really have to spare) on yet more unnecessary makeup.

Who am I kidding, most of what I have is unnecessary, but it sill doesn't stop me buying more!!

So I toddled off to the miniscule Boots and Superdrug in my town and lavished myself with goodies to preen and pamper.

I invested in the No 7 Hot Cloth Cleanser (LUSH by the way...), more rosewater, some sun lotion (Piz Buin BOGOF in Superdrug at the mo, bargain) and also some Girls Aloud Festival Lashes (will do a post with pics next week as they're real perdy).

And the following makeup items, all Sleek and MeMeMe which are my first goes at the brand...


The above is Sleek Cream to Powder Foundation; Shell, Sleek Revive Liquid Foundation; Shell, Sleek Kajal; Nocturnal, Sleek Volume & Curl; black, Sleek Pout Polish (after the freebie incident); Raspberry Souffle, MeMeMe Beat the Blues Highlighter; Moonbeam, MeMeMe Cheek'E Cream Blush; Pinki'E , MeMeMe Metallic Duo Eyeshadow; Earth Bound.

Today I had a fiddle with the new products. I simply cannot do the whole wait until you finish one before you start another lark (specifically foundation/mascara - I have about 7 of each on the go at the same time, all mood/day dependent).

I used the Cream to Powder foundation today, set with ELF's Mineral Booster, as well as their Undereye Concealer/Highlighter, and Eyebrown Treat and Tame (new found eyebrow love).

For the time being, as mentioned before, I'm having to use my iPhone for the pictures, which look OK when taken and even uploaded. Stick 'em on here and they are grainy and just pants. Cannot see the colour really as the blush is VERY pink, because I got a little apply-happy with it, and the Pout Polish is really pinky/purple, shame but hey ho.

Smile, duh...

Overall, very impressed with Sleek Mascara (review coming next), the Pout Polish which is very moisturisery and impressively lasting. Little let down by the MeMeMe eyeshadow, not very pigmented, quite difficult to build and nay happy I spent £5.50 on it. Will def not be repurchasing. The foundation was OK, little temperamental with a primer (I was prewarned by lovely ZebyK about this though) but I'd like to try it a bit more to give a proper opinion on it.

If anyone would like a further conflab about any of the purchased items let me know

:o) xx

NB All items were bought with my own money and all opinions are my own. I am not affiliated with any company mentioned and was not asked to review.

Feel Good Sleek and ELF Fun

Apologies as what you are about to see are some photos of a fabulous extreme bluey oceany look taken with a not so fabulous iPhone camera due to lack of another camera.

I got bored one day and thought hey, lets muck around with what I've got, so I whipped out my Sleek i-Divine Original palette and looked to see what colours were there which I may not normally use. This is mainly blues, as I have brown eyes so it doesn't always work well.

I decided to vamp it up with some dark eyeliner and false lashes as well as all out shimmer and glitter.

Here are the products I used, specifically the main 3 Sleek colours used:

The deep blue outlined above went on first (after using my ELF primer of course) all over the lid and blended out at the crease. This was topped over with a Barry M Dazzle Dust number 65, a kind of blue/green iridescent colour. The sleek blue went on the lower lash line along with the purple and my ELF Studio liner/shadow stick. The Sleek green went just above my crease. I did winged eyeliner using ELF Studio cream eyeliner black and also L'Oreal Superliner Carbon Gloss. Finished off with Maybelline Falsies Mascara and a pair of Eylure lashes. Cheeks got a brush of ELF warm bronzer and a bright pink blush from the large ELF collection. I also used this blush to set my ELF Mineral Lipstick in Nicely Nude with ELF Hypershine Lipgloss in Fairy. Foundation was L'Oreal Matte Morphose set with ELF Mineral Booster and ELF Studio unereye highlighter and concealer set with Complexion Perfection.

Also sorry that I may have forgotten to smile!!! I was getting very fed up that I couldn't take a close up photo to show off all the shimmer and blueyness, ah well.

My boyfriend didn't like it, said the blue didn't suit me :o( ho hum, I liked it and although some may say this is not a wearable look.. well I so would again, I like extreme!!!!

Sleek from www.sleekmakeup.com, ELF from www.eyeslipsface.co.uk.

Both are very affordable brands of makeup, Sleek also in Superdrug, ELF online only.

NB. I am not affiliated with either company and all items* were bought with my own pennies. All opinions are my own.

(*except ELF Studio Cream Eyeliner sent for free to try out - see earlier blog, I'd have bought it anyway!!)

Haul: All About Face

Always one for a bargain that's me, none of this experiment with a £15 eyeshadow lark! So whilst I was conducting my weekly food shop I decided to stop at the makeup I normally drift straight past to go for Maybelline, L'Oreal and Max Factor. It is the Tesco make up range All About Face.

One reason for always drifting past is the presentation. Poor poor poor. These poor little fellows don't get their own display case thing with lights and mirrors. Instead they are the poor cousin sat on hooks in their cheap little packets. On closer inspection, I had a little surprise. I thought, hey this stuff doesn't look so totally awful.

They have quite a vast range of products from concealers, foundations and bronzers, to lipsticks glosses and eyeshadows.

On this particular trip I honed in on the eyeshadows:

I got four shadows. From left to right they are Baby Doll, Buttermilk, Meadow and Heather. All very obvious names for shadows. They are individually packaged in a plastic wallet thing with all the ingredient info on the back of this packet. They are then each in a little clear plastic holder with a pan of shadow approx the size of a 50p piece. They sell for £1.50 each but I got mine on offer 4 for £3 - bargain!

Swatches below in the same order above:

As you can see they are very light, near pastel shades. They are have a light shimmer to them, no glitter. Finely milled and pressed well into the pan so they don't go everywhere when you swirl a brush. I figured these four were nice spring/summer shades, and they give a nice light look to my lids. I did find that they aren't great for building colour so really are just if you're looking for a hint of colour. I have not tried them wet yet.

There are other colours in the range including a nice teal and a turquoise and some browns which I may acquire on my next trip! May also have a look at their lip colours again.

They are priced the same range as ELF cosmetics but I would say that ELF are better quality and you have that cruelty-free guarantee but without doing research I can't be sure All About Face is - it certainly doesn't say on the packaging, only that it was made in China.

A great value range (most items are £1.50) where you don't have to go elsewhere for, just pick it up amongst your bread, milk and baked beans. Clubcard points too which you all know I love!

Anyone tried any of the other All About Face products?

:o)

Review: ELF Large Makeup Collection

I am obsessed with ELF, it's true. I recently counted all the items I currently own and it's about 140. Oops. But I don't care, when makeup is this good at such a bargain price how can I resist?

I acquired for my birthday the Studio range Large Makeup Collection consisting of a whopping 141 pieces. It comes in slick black packaging with the same clear tile windows as the medium set.

Look o_o.... isn't it beautiful....

It's broken down to 84 eyeshadow shades....

36 lipglosses and 6 blushes...

And 4 bronzers, 4 concealers, 4 shimmer cream shades, 1 mini face brush, 1 mini lip brush and 1 mini duo sponge applicator....

The eyeshadows, blushes and bronzers are a combination of matte and shimmery. It is the bottom right bronzer which is best used as a countourer, and the top left as a highlighter.

All the powders are finely milled and pigmented; even though the eyeshadow pans are small there are so many it would take a while to hit metal. The bronzers are not too dissimilar from the Studio Golden Bronzer set (which I have). The 4 concealers are just like the Studio Corrective Concealer palette.

(I would have swatched, but there are rather a lot, so if anyone would like to see any particular shades, please comment below and I will be more than happy to oblige :o)...)

I would say though that the brushes are lacking considering how many products you get and not as good as the standard Studio brushes which is a real shame. The lip brush is good, but as above, the eyeshadow applicator is a duel end sponge applicator and I personally prefer a brush for powder, but it would work well with the cream eyeshadows I suppose, personal preference.

I die and go to heaven every time I whip this little beaut out. If anyone is starting out with makeup, this is the perfect set to get you going. Hell if you just adore make up and ELF it's brill too.

You can buy this item for £35 - thats around 25p per piece... erm, BARGAIN!!

From: http://www.eyeslipsface.co.uk/product~prodID~165.htm

Overall, I would rate this kit as a gazillion out of a gazillion.

It is just makeup lushness.

Does anyone else have this set? What are your thoughts?