A little quickie for humpday, oo er!

My wore it Wednesday was OCC's Harlot Lip Tar. I'm wearing it in my picture to the right and I wore it to salsa on Monday and got a tonne of compliments on it.

So yeah I jinxed myself posting that eyeliner tutorial because my eyeliner was a hot mess Monday night! Hence no eye close up hahaha.  So I thought I'd distract from that with a bright lip.

Sorry bout the lighting, it was almost 9pm when I took this so the sun light was almost gone!

<3

Love & Stuff
Sal xXx

21:01

Wearable orange eyeshadow.

Orange looks totally awesome on blue eyes, so I wanted to do a look with orange shadow that was bright but still wearable. I think I did ok and in real life it looked good, but I was having a total camera fail day (and a bad eyeliner day, but let's not go there), so my pics pretty much suck.  My hair was also pretty hilariously high, I have no idea what was going on so I cropped it out! hahaha.

I used the bright neon orange from the Revolution Redemption Matte Brights Palette. It's an awesome shade but being matte it does need a sticky light base. I used OCC RO concealer for this.  I really couldn't get a good pic of it though, because it was too late for daylight when I took these. So it looks a bit muddy, it's way brighter in real life.

I also patted a bit of ELF glitter glue over the top of it and added some Sugarpill Supercharged pigment from the Elektrocute collection over the top, for some spangle!

Lips are OCC Zhora lip tar that I'm maybe just a little bit in love with!

Hopefully next time my pics will suck less! Happy humpday all.

Love & Stuff
Sal xXx

18:43

I couldn't pick what I liked most this week, so I cheated and picked two!

Starting with OCC's Grandma Lip Tar (V). I also used the OCC Grandma pencil (V) in this look.  It's freakin. Gorgeous!  I love orange lips and this is the perfect peachy orange. B.E.A.UUUUUtiful.

Second was the liner. I love blue & orange together so instead of blank liner, I used Sugarpill's Royal Sugar Chromalust Shadow (V) mixed with Illamasqua sealing gel.  I didn't like how it just muted the colour and the sparkle when I did this so I patted some more dry Royal Sugar over the liner after I'd applied it wet. That way it was brighter and still sparkly. YAY!

Full Face....

Side shot because I liked how my blush/highlighter looked (it's ELF's HD Blush (V) in Superstar and MeMeMe's Moonbeam highlighter (CV) respectively!)

Not that this pic shows it all that well but look how rad my earrings are! (I love Claires!!)

Have a good weekend all.

Love & Stuff
Sal xXx

20:03

The Sleek Rio Rio Palette & OCC's Hoochie Lip Tar! Full Face of the Day post today, with a list of all the products I used at the bottom of the page.

On Monday I posted swatches from the latest offering from Sleek and here is the makeup that I created with it this past Saturday.  It was probably a bit much for a birthday party in a friend's garden, but hey... I like to overdo.

I started with a purple lip, using OCC's Hoochie Lip Pencil and the Lip Tar of the same name. I absolutely loved this lip, it's a gorgeous colour!  I did end up changing it though.

Artificial light full face

Artificial light:

 Daylight:

Artificial light

Daylight:

 Daylight full face:

As I mentioned above, I actually ended up changing the lip tar out for another OCC produc; their Stained Gloss in Aurora, because the Hoochie was lovely and would've been great for a night out, but was a bit too much for a garden party! haha.  So here it is with the alternative lip (and a moody face).

And a bonus wet hair/concealer highlighting sexeh face!  Hmmm!

Full list of products used:
Face:
No 7 Superlight Foundation in Calico (CV)
OCC Conceal in R1 (to correct my dark circles) and Y1 (blemishes) (V)
Collection Lasting Perfection Concealer in shade 2 Light (under eyes) and 1 Fair (to highlight as in the above dumb selfie! (CV)
SEVENTEEN Skin Wow Liquid Highlighter (CV)
Makeup Revolution Liquid Blush in O' Boy (AV)
Marks and Spencer Autograph loose translucent powder (CV)

Eyes
OCC Conceal in R0 as a base (CV)
Makeup Geek eye shadows in Peach Smoothie & Latte (crease) (CV)
Sleek Rio Rio i-Divine palette, shades: Sao Conrado on the lid & Bossa Nova in the crease. (AV)
GOSH Velvet Touch Pencil in Sky High on the waterline and lower lash line.  I set the lower lash line with a bit of Leme from the sleek palette too. (CV)
Barry M Single eyeshadow in E1 Cream on the browbone (V)
Limecrime Uniliner in Quill (V)
Barry M Lash Vegas Blackest Black with Fibres Mascara (V)
Anastasia Beverley Hills Dipbrow Pomade in Blonde (AV)

Lips
OCC Hoochie Lip Tar & Hoochie Pencil (V)
(& OCC Stained Gloss in Aurora in the alternative pic) (V)

Happy humpday!

Love & Stuff
Sal xXx

13:10

So this weekend was London IMATS and I've been dying to go for years but had always been working. But as I left my old job at the end of last year, I was free! hurrah!

Here's a pic of my swag (well most of it, I didn't snap the boring, bridal kit stuff)

First up, brushes. I was excited to see the Bdellium stand as I love their brushes and they had all the Bambu brushes up front and centre on the stand.  From left to right, I got the 949 Pointed Foundation, 945 Contour, 954 Duet Fibre Slanted Kabuki, 776 Blending brush (I got 2 of these as I have one already and love it so wanted some back ups), I got a 735 Tapered Blending (again I already have 2 of these so this is a kit back up) and a 760 Liner/Brow which I also already have one of.

Then I was happy to find that the LoveMakeup stand had some Limecrime stuff. They had sold out of Coquette lipstick which I wanted to buy but they did have the Uniliners. So I got Blue Milk and Quill. I wanted Quill because I've being trying to find a black liquid liner I like as much as my old Bourjois one, as I don't buy from them anymore and I like the brush and formula of these liners.  I also picked up the Wicked Velvetine, which is really the only one from the Clueless Witch collection that interests me.

 Swatchy swatch, it's pretty obvious which colour's which! :)

OCC, the second stand we went to (I had marked it on my floorplan!) and we went twice. Mainly because it was cash only and I didn't have enough on me for everything.  I got the new pencils (YAY) in Hoochie, Grandma and anti-feathered, which is clear so can be used with any lipstick or lip tar.  I got the Lip Tars in Hoochie and Black Metal Dahlia* and the stained gloss in Aurora and I finally got my hands on the concaeler in R1, which has been out of stock for ages on the websites I normally buy for.

* I am SO freaking excited for Black Metal Dahlia, been trying to get this for months but it's been out of stock and it's so damn purty!!

L-R: Aurora, Hoochie, Black Metal Dahlia, Hoochie Pencil, Grandma Pencil.

I picked up a couple of essentials, a small Z-Palette and some Skindinavia setting spray. Been wanting to try this for ages and I finally used up my Neve one this week.

And onto my first stop of the day. I actually marked this on the floorplan and our route to it from the entrance.  I got Olivia, which is the limited edition loose eyeshadow and I got the Sparkle Baby Eyeshadow in Candy Crush, which is a lovely sparkly baby blue.

Candy Crush top, Olivia bottom.

I also got some stuff for my kit like a new bag and a Graftobian concealer palette (which isn't vegan, hence I didn't show it) and some sponges and sundries.  

I loved IMATS and I can't wait to go back next year. I even got to meet lovely Amy/Shrinkle from Sugarpill and have a photo taken with her. I just wish I was less awkward so I could've actually talked to her.. haha ah well there's always next year! :)

Did anyone else go? Would love to see a pic of your swag if you did!

Love & Stuff

Sal xXx

13:17

Errrr hellerr everyone. Hope you are enjoying your bank holiday weekend?

I decided to make today's blog post about nail polish, to give you some ideas for vegan options. The ones I've picked are (as far as I know) fully vegan polish lines.  This doesn't mean that all their products are.... just the polishes!

Orly
I'm kicking off with Orly, because I am in love with their base & top coats. I was looking for a fast-drying top coat to replace my Seche Vite. I love Seche Vite and it really does dry quick but it stinks and it goes sticky and unusuable sooo fast.  So I tried this one and I love it.  It dries quick and it's lovely & shiny. Because I liked it so much, I bought the rubberised base coat too. Generally regular polish lasts less than 24 hours without chipping on me* but since using this duo, I get a couple of days out of a mani (way WAY longer on toes!); which is pretty good for me.  (*This is the main reason I prefer gel manicures!)

I have lots of Orly colours too which I like a lot, but most of those colours are in my salon.

Nubar
I researched long and hard when looking for a brand of nailcare products to use in my salon and I settled on Nubar. Not only cruelty free and vegan, but also awesome. Their mani & pedi products smell lovely and Gelicure is just a fantastic gel polish. They have a huge colour range and you can get matching polish usually, if you like your Gelicure colour!

Barry M
Hands-down my favourite 'drugstore' polish brand, if not my favourite in this entire post.. I absolutely love the Gelly polishes but they have a massive range of glitters, regular paints and nail effects like crackle polish (untrendy though it may now be!). Price point wise it's brilliant too.

China Glaze
Massive fan of China Glaze. I really love the polishes and I love their orange scented cuticle oil too; which I really must repurchase asap!! Not too expensive but also not that easy to get hold of; if you have a Sally's near you, you'll likely find some in there, if not you'll have to get them online.  Again, most of my CG polishes are down in the salon but I have some Neons that are fab and I love the polish pictured on the right below (That's Shore Bright, which I featured in a recent Friday Favourite post).

Jessica
A professional salon brand; I've never seen this available to buy in stores, only in Jessica salons. I think they are fantastic polishes with lots of colour choice. (Their Geleration gel polish is also vegan in case you have a Jessica salon near you; I don't know about their mani-pedi products though!) They are a bit pricier than some brands, but they're worth it.

Deborah Lipmann
This is the only DL polish I own; not because there aren't about 7 others that I want but because they retail at £16 each, which I think is FAR too much to pay for a polish. But dang, this is soooo pretty!

ELF
Good old ELF and their awesome veganness! Unfortunately I only own 2 ELF polishes because the 2 I have totally blow! The formula is terrible and really hard to work with.. I hated them, so I never bought more. I keep meaning to try a couple of others and see if I just picked turkeys or if all of them suck. Anyone have good experiences with ELF polishes??

NYX
I've said before that NYX have crappy customer service and they are not willing to take time to find out which of their products are vegan when you ask, so you have to go buy ingredients lists, if possible. So I am not sure about all of their polishes, but according to the PPK list that I have linked to below, the salon forumal polishes are vegan. I like these; they're nothing to write home about though.

MUA
Again, check ingredients lists on these because I only have a couple and they look vegan to me from the ingredients lists.  MUA is super cheap and I like the quake polishes which are basically crackle polishes.

Butter London
Again I only own one. For years I didn't buy any because I HATE the names of these polishes, I mean they're even worse than the stupid names that OPI give their polishes. Trout Pout, Slapper... etc? UGH! But people seem to like them so I bought this one when I was in Leeds. It sucks, it's really sheer and would probably take 5 coats to get a good colour. However, I don't think that's true of all the shades, I think I just picked a bad one. Needless to say I'm not in any rush to spend £12 on another bottle.

Illamasqua

Pricier / high end brand and not as widely available; unless you have a store or counter near you, you'll have to order online. However, Illamasqua do brilliant sales and offer discounts for returning customers on their website. They have loads of colours and so far, I like the formula of the ones I've tried!

OCC

I love OCC! I love that they are totally vegan and cruelty free. I love their pigments, their lip tars.... I really quite like their polishes too. Pool Boy polish was also a recent Friday Favourite of mine - although it does take 3 coats to stop it looking a bit streaky. That mani lasted really quite well!

Models Own

Models Own have a fab colour range, the formula is generally very nice and they're available in Boots, at a decent price point. Win! See that Hed Kandi polish, second from right? GORGEOUS!! So freakin gorgeous. Not sure if it was limited edition but if not, you should buy it because it's the most lovely orange red (it's called Hedonist!)

GOSH

Last but definitely not least, GOSH. I love GOSH, you guys know that and their polishes are pretty freakin ace too. They have a gorgeous holographic polish, pictured left below and it's soooo pretty but it's really really hard to get on without going streaky. I keep trying though because it's gorgeous.

Honorable mention also goes to Spa Rituals, which are all vegan but again, I only have a few and they're in my salon and Zoya - as above. A lot of people rave about Zoya, I found they chipped really quick but I haven't tried them with my awesomesauce Orly base & top coat yet, so I will have to dig them out!

Anyway, hope that gave you a few ideas and if you want some more brands that are vegan, check out this list on the PPK which is awesome.

Enjoy what's left of your long weekend all!

Love & Stuff
Sal xXx

17:41

Holy crap it's April already!!

Which means it's time for March favourites. I'm jumping straight in with...

B. Vivid Eyeshadow - Cinnamon (V)

I bought this recently in one of my many Superdrug browsing sessions and ever since, I've been loving it as a crease/transition shade. Lovely warm brown.

Eyeko Skinny Brush Mascara (V)

This mascara is AWESOME. It's a bit of a biatch to get off, but it's worth it.  I'm working on a vegan mascara comparisons post which will hopefully be up this month, so keep an eye out for that if you want to know more.

OCC Conceal (V)

This one is a grower. At first I really didn't like it because it's so creamy and I have so many lines under my eyes that creamy concealers just look horrendous after about 5 minutes. But I've learned that if it's used super sparingly it's really great. It's great for blemishes (I use shade Y1 for that) and for under the eyes I blend R0 & R2 (they were sold out of R1 when I bought these but it's on my list for future purchase!) to cover the dark circles then Y1 over that. I really use the tiniest amount and only put it where the darkness is, avoiding any liney areas. Then set it with loose powder, the teeniest amount and it's pretty great.  I like to use this brush for blending out my concealer.....

Sigma P80 Small Precision Flat Kabuki (V)

It's rad. You need it. That is all.

B. Lipstick in Doll's House (V)

This is the perfect peachy pink shade that I have been reaching for pretty much every workday this month. I keep it in my handbag and it works with pretty much any eye look. I don't have much time in the mornings as during the week I go to the gym before work so my makeup is minimal. This is great as it's not too overpowering for simple eyemakeup.

MeMeMe Blush Me - Pink (CV)

I've had this blush for AGES and I still love it. It's a lovely pink and although it looks quite glittery in the box, it's really not.

Real Techniques Buffing Brush (V)

I love my Sigma F80, really love it. But recently I've been reaching for this brush much more often. It's not as dense as the sigma, it's softer, but it makes super easy work of blending in foundation flawlessly.

GOSH Eyebrow Pencil - GreyBrown (CV)

Someone mentioned on the PPK that Anastasia's products might not be vegan. I think that they're covering their arse a bit because there's nothing suspect in the ingredients list of the Brow Wiz. But either way, much as I love the Brow Wiz, it's forkin pricey and not that easy to get hold of over here. So because I love GOSH so much I tried their pencil and I love it!!  It's a perfect shade, doesn't pull ginger, which a lot of brow pencils do on fair skin. It's a nice texture, soft but not too soft that it goes on heavy.  And it has a spoolie on one end which is vital for brows. If you're looking for a brow pencil, I'd totally recommend you trying this one out!

That's it for March Faves.... what's been your favourite products this month? Leave me a comment and let me know or hit me up on Facebook or Twitter - links for those above right!

Love & Stuff
Sal xXx

13:09