High Roller

I have a love/hate relationship with velcro rollers, it's as simple as I love them and they hate my hair. Until recently I could spend hours (literally hours, I have a LOT of very thick hair) carefully coiling my hair onto velcro rollers, waiting patiently for the curl to take and then unwrapping my hair from the rollers with the enthusiasm of a child on Christmas morning only for my hair to look exactly the same as it did before I spent the best part of an afternoon attending to my mane.

However, I was browsing Boots about a month ago when I stumbled (quite literally, somebody had left the box on the floor) across *these* Trevor Sorbie rollers. The voice of experience told me to leave them whilst the voice of "oooh look how many and all different sizes! For only £15!" said: BUY THEM. So I did.

I forgot to take a 'before' picture so just think 'flat'.

Fitting nearly a whole box of rollers in my hair left me feeling very pleased with myself!

I varied the size of the rollers I used, keeping the largest ones for the crown area to create maximum volume. I kept to mid-size to large rollers as I knew there was no way, even in hair roller heaven, that these babies would curl my hair. That, unfortunately, requires serious amounts of heat and patience.

Before I placed the rollers in my hair, I ran my GHDs through each section of hair to provide the heat the style needed to set. The hair cools around the roller and takes shape that way.

Ta-da! Volume AND bouncy hair! After taking the rollers out my hair looked as though it'd just been blow-dried at the hairdressers; I always love my hair after it's been blow-dried at a salon, mainly because I don't have the time nor the patience to do it myself. However, the rollers gave me the same effect and I most certainly have the patience for them! Kate Middleton hair, be mine!

One more grainy webcam shot just for fun :)

Are you a hair 'high roller'?

Vicky xoxo

OOTN: Back to Black

On Saturday my friend held her 21st birthday party as a joint event with her twin sisters who turned 18. I didn't take a camera but I snapped a few pictures on my BlackBerry to share with you all.

This picture amuses me greatly...

I know you can't really see my makeup very clearly but I'll break it all down here anyway :)

Face

Soap and Glory 'Glow Job' moisturiser

Illammasqua Skin Base Foundation in 04

MAC Light Peach Colour Corrector

Chanel Loose Powder in  20 Clair

Eyes

MAC Paint in Bare Canvas

Inglot shimmery white (not sure of the name - can't get it out of the palette!)

MAC Electra

MAC Expensive Pink

MAC Hepcat

MAC Sketch

Urban Decay Naked Palette 'Creep'

Max Factor False Lash Effect mascara

Ardell 109 lashes

MAC Reflects Gold pigment

Cheeks

MAC Pearl Cream Colour Base

MAC Sculpt contour powder

MAC Dame Blush

MAC Petticoat MSF

MAC Vanilla Pigment

Lips

MAC Angel

Chanel Rouge Allure Extrait de Gloss in 57 Insolence

 Tan

Fake Bake (not impressed with the application - will post later!)

Nails

Barry M Pink Flamingo

Perfume

Paco Rabanne - Lady Million

Outfit

Dress - River Island

Heels - New Look (old season)

Clutch - New Look

Bracelet - Pandora

Have a lovely week!

Vicky xoxo

Wonderful Wednesday

 

Image from Google :)

 After a horrible start to the week with all the unrest and riots around the country which unfortunately reached my local area,Wednesday saw the trouble stop here and the chance to get back to normality.

I started by baking cupcakes...

They are lemon flavour and I'm too scared to eat them because the cases are too pretty!

Myself and two friends then decided to go out for a quiet evening which included:

Bowling... as you can see, I'm not very good!

Sangria in a cute Mexican restaurant...

And a hat that was far too big for me!

All in all it was nice to have a relaxing day in the middle of the week for once.

I hope you're all having a lovely week.

Vicky xoxo

Sleek Pout Paints: Swatches and Review

 Shades (Clockwise from top): Cloud 9; Pinkini; Milkshake; Peek-a-Bloo; Rosette; Minx.

Applied with: Crown Lip Brush

Price: £4.99 each.

I've seen a lot about the new Sleek Pout Paints lately and whilst having a mooch in Superdrug at the weekend I saw they were currently on a 3 for 2 offer, with this in mind I snapped up four shades plus the two 'mixing' colours.

There are 11 shades to chose from, including Cloud 9 which is a white paint used to lighten colours and Peek-a-Bloo which is a blue paint used to add depth and warmth to shades. In a way only I can, I went from the four most similar shades!

The paints have a precise little nozzle and as with all products of this nature, you only need the tiniest amount.

Believe it or not, the top picture was taken in exactly the same light as the others... strange camera.

The first thing I will say about the Pout Paints is they can be bloody awkward to apply! I'd like to think I have a pretty good technique when it comes to making up my lips but you'd never see it in the above pictures! The packaging says to apply the product directly to your lip brush but as always, I opted for the back of my hand; I can only imagine the mess I'd have made had I applied it as directed!

The pigmentation is a little hit and miss; whilst Rosette, Pinkini, Minx and Peek-a-Bloo were all very opaque, I found Milkshake to be watery and streaky. Whilst the other shades certainly have a good deal of 'slip' to them and apply easily, Milkshake just would not stay in place nor enable me to build an opaque colour and I noticed Cloud 9 is of a similarly watery consistency and also streaks. Has anyone else had this issue or did I buy a dud? 

I've tried these out a few times now and they've got pretty good staying power and they smell divine. They don't feel drying on the lips however it takes a good 10-15 minutes before I feel secure that the product has 'set' and won't slip all over the place. 

For anyone wanting to mix a unique lip shade for a night out or a photo shoot or whatever, the Sleek Pout Paints are a great bargain buy; the range of shades on its own is excellent and there is no limit to the colours you can create -- I would suggest you keep colour theory in mind however as I got a bit mix happy and came up with about 10 shades of purple due to my over enthusiasm with Peek-a-Bloo!

Positives

• Range of shades
• Good staying power
• They smell divine
• They're fun!

Negatives

• There doesn't seem to be any consistency with the erm, consistency of the products Ive tried
• They're awkward to apply - not great if you're in a rush
• You can buy a lipstick for the same price and save on the fuss 

Overall I think they're a fun product and they're good for what they are however I doubt many people will want to fuss about mixing shades or painstakingly applying this with a brush for a night out when you can buy a lipstick for the same price and know that you're good to go all night.

If you've tried the Sleek Pout Paints, let me know what you think :)

Vicky xoxo

Sleek 'Monaco' Palette: Twinkling Tropical Eyes

I love it when a product inspires me and the Monaco eye shadow palette by Sleek did just that. Like previous Sleek palettes, Monaco is a blend of shimmer and matte eye shadows and the typically pigmented bold colours really pack a punch. Despite being such bright colours, I find the Monaco palette to be highly wearable and versatile.

I created the above look on a whim; deciding on a colour clash eye, however the colours are far more wearable than the photo suggests.

Products Used

• MAC Bare Canvas Paint all over and up to the brow as a base
• Kiwi Zest over the lid and blended out just above the crease
• Humming Bird blended halfway across the lid from the outer corner and extended above the crease
• Magenta Madness mixed with Lotus Flower and blended on the very outer corner and slightly through the crease for definition
• Magenta Madness all the way alone the lower lash line
• Lotus Flower pressed over Magenta Madness on the outer corner of the lower lash line

I then added a mascara but I can't remember which one, whichever one it was it was clearly a little thick as you can see!

Vicky xoxo

Review: Illamasqua Skin Base Foundation

"The ultimate 'skin realism' foundation...." 

Shade: SB 02

Applied with: MAC 187 Duo Fibre Brush

Price: £25 for 30ml (1 Fl Oz)

For the past year my foundation of choice has been NARS Sheer Glow. I have indulged in brief flirtations with Bourjois Bio-Detox foundation, MUFE HD foundation and Illamasqua Cream Foundation; though I liked all three, none of them were able to usurp Sheer Glow as my absolute Holy Grail foundation though all three have subsequently found their way into my kit. 

After hearing numerous good reviews and words like "revolutionary" being bandied about, I headed off to Beak St. with exceptionally high hopes. Before I arrived I had already matched myself to shade SB 02 - which, excluding pure white, is the palest shade with a pink undertone, and upon arrival the MUA also matched me to this shade. There is a wide range of shades, all of which are helpfully numbered and separated into pink, yellow, pink/yellow and neutral undertones eliminating any confusion.

 L-to-R: NARS Sheer Glow in Mont Blanc; Illamasqua Skin Base in SB 02.

The foundation blends easily into the skin (a result of the 'water in silicone' formula), creating a flawless base. I tend to apply mine with a MAC 187 Duo Fibre brush though I also like the finish with the Crown Flat Bronzing brush, and buff the product into the skin. This enables me to control the level of coverage which I like to be sheer to medium in places. 

 Enough Skin Base Foundation to create full coverage on the back of my hand, ready for application.

The formulation of the foundation is creamy and a little goes a very long way. Although the foundation can look a little thick initially, it is lightweight on the skin and does not go on heavily. The foundation has a tendency to feel slightly tacky after application however a dusting of powder soon eliminates this problem, as does leaving the foundation to warm into the skin if you wish to forgo powder.

Despite Illamasqua claiming the foundation is suitable for all skin types, it certainly does not sit well with dry skin. My forehead was a little dry due to the fact it had caught the sun and the foundation only highlighted this. As a result of this, I now apply the foundation straight over my moisturiser and thankfully, it has not highlighted any dry patches since.

 Squeezy hard plastic bottle and pointed nozzle ensure you only use as much product as you need.

The lack of SPF ensures that Skin Base photographs beautifully under flash and is undetectable under a HD camera, which is music to my makeup artist ears and having to use an individual SPF under my foundation really doesn't put me out or add any time to my makeup routine.

After using this foundation every day for two weeks, here are my positives and negatives:

Positives

• Wide range of shades which are simply named
• Weightless feel on the skin
• Good coverage: buildable medium to full but can be sheered out.
• Easy to blend
• No SPF making it undetectable with flash and HD cameras.

Negatives

• Not great for dry skin
• More stubborn blemishes still require concealer

As you can see, for me the positives certainly outweigh the negatives and whilst this product will definitely be making its way into my kit due to the wide range of shades, the flawless finish it offers and the way it photographs, I will also be keeping it in my makeup bag.

If you have any questions, please feel free to ask.

Vicky xoxo