E.L.F. Haul August 2013!

Well, Elf had a 60% off code, which I did link on my fb page (Like it to get regular codes and sale notices from me-Button in the sidebar :) ) and I could not resist. After my last haul which you can see here: http://tinyurl.com/qb5c396 I really wanted to try more of their eyeshadows as the pigments had impressed me a lot.

So here's what I got!

All the Products in my haul :)

Matte Eyeshadows in Charcoal & Mint

Let's start with the very first thing I tried, the Matte pigment style Eyeshadows in Mint & Charcoal.
I wore them as a smokey eye and cannot lie....I am so in love with these I am going to buy any other colours there are as soon as I get another money off code (and get paid...haha!)! These were super easy to blend, lasted aggeeess, were smooth, nicely pigmented. The only thing, as with all pigment-ey type products is the application isn't always easiest as you get fall out and you can easily tip the product everywhere (that may have occured with the black one all over a friends' mum, oopsss! :S) but if you're very, very careful and have a makeup wipe at the ready for just in case moments, you'll be fine :) Like in my last haul with the studio eyeshadows, I took out the sifter from the top. Overall: A++

Mint in middle/Lid section & inner corner, Charcoal as
wings, crease and along lower lashline

Studio Pigment in Innocent Ivory

 Carrying on with eyes, Studio Pigment in "Innocent Ivory": As you may have read I did quite like these from my last haul, but this colour. WOW. I do not know where to start with it, well...It's not White! Let's start with that! It's a really pretty Iridescent Pink! I almost screamed with delight when I swatched it upon arrival...it's soooo super pretty! I feel all fairy like and cute when I wear it XD AND it works really well on it's own or atop a darker colour as a shimmer adder :D

Innocent Ivory and nothing else on the lids :)

Cream Eyeliner in Punk Purple

Now moving onto the cream eyeliner in "Punk Purple": This wasn't AS pigmented as I had hoped, seeing the product in the jar...but it is a little bit buildable and is a very pretty colour. That aside-it has AMAZING staying power, I had to really scrub to get it off at the end of the day! It lasts until you take it off with no smudging or moving around and is most definitely waterproof. I am very impressed with this. Overall: A- (minus for the pigment issue...)

Single Eyeshadows Pebble on the left & Amethyst on the right...

Some, single eyeshadows...shall we? I bought the colours "Pebble" & "Amethyst": Upon first swatch these were so dissapointing...but Pebble is a really wearable soft, taupe colour (making me think now, do I need to buy Nars' Alhasa Shadow?) and I think it blended really easily into my crease...it's not as buildable as I'd like but that is due to the colour of the product rather than the actual product itself. Amethyst is a similar story really but I prefer the colour :) Overall: C...mehh, they're nothing overly special.

Innocent Ivory on centre then Pebble blended out through crease

Amethyst Swept across my lids...

Glitter Eyeshadow in Night Owl

Last eye product-the Glitter Eyeshadow in "Night Owl": I bought this because I tried Urban Decay's Glitter Shadow in the shade "" and I thought this could be a good dupe for that...It is not. I don't know why they've marketed this as a glitter eyeshadow there is not NEARLY enough glitter on my lids for my liking, the actual eyeshadow has pigmentation, the grey is very strong but there is minimal glitter. Not hugely impressed but the shadow is of very good quality. Overall: C.

Night Owl on top of Amethyst...

Swatches of (L-R) Pebble, Amethyst, Night Owl & Punk Purple Liner.

Shimmering Facial whip in Lilac Petal

Next up lets talk about the Shimmering Facial Whip in "Lilac Petal":
As I am sure you're aware, I LOVED the first colour I bought "Spotlight"...this is no exception though I probably wouldn't of named it Lilac Petal, in person it looks more pink but on camera it does look lilac so I guess that makes it ok but aside from that I LOVE this too! Lasts a good amount of time doesn't make me look greasy, stays well, nicely pigmented....can be difficult to blend so work with little and build :) Overall: A

Before & After Lilac Petal Shimmering Facial Whip

Maximum Coverage Concealers in Porcelain & Sand

Now, last but certainly not least-The Product I spent literally Months trying to get my hands on!-The maximum coverage concealer. I bought the shades "Porcelain" & "Sand". These concealers do exactly what they say they should: They're blendable, wearable, customisable coverage and they're very highliy pigmented meaning you only need the smallest dot to cover stuff! They do last very well throughout the day too. If you can get these, definitely do-I think they're an acne sufferer must have. Overall: A+

Before & After Porcelain around my eyes

Before & After Sand on my cheek's spots

Before & After Sand on spot on chin

Swatches (L-R) Sand, Porcelain (Concealers), Lilac Petal Shimmering Facial Whip.

I would say this has been a good haul all in all! :P As I said I do always post discounts/baragains on my facebook page so if you haven't liked it yet...Why not? haha! You can click the link in my sidebar just up there>>>

I am sorry it takes me aggeess to write these reviews/hauls but I like to go into detail and really try the products before telling you about them so you can make an informed decision :3

Have you got any new elf products, did you try the new baked palettes?? Let me know as I missed out on them due to lack of funds! x x x

LOTD 26.8.13 -Inspired by the 80s with a bit of colour blocking!?

Today I wanted to try out my LOOK beauty mono shadows I bought in my most recent haul (stay tuned for the review and swatches-hopefully next week now!) and so I decided to use Jewel as the blocked colour, Gillet as a crease/blending out colour and Couture as a Bottom lash colour/liner.

My Full Face

Of course, if I really wanted to go all out 80s I should've taken the colour right up to the brow and drawn thick brows on, with a lot of blush blended out to the hair line, but....I kinda needed it wearable for walking round a car boot sale...lmao >.<

Ma Colour Blacked Eyes...

I then swept some Benefit's One Hot Minute over my cheeks, popped some High Brow Glow under ma brows, whipped up my lashes with some of that MaxFactor Wild Mega Volume Mascara (which almost disappears into my skirt-a skirt which I did NOT wear for the day haha!) and lastly, slicked on some Tarte's Amazonion Lipstick in the shade Whimsy.

All products used :)

Thanks for reading guys! Let me know if you actually like a weekly Look of the Day?

Love you!

52WODN Banana! Minions would be jealous of these nails... :P x

Minion!

This is the second week in my 3week Fruit Fest! My Kiwi's actually lasted over 10days without chipping-so that's really good, and you can see them here: http://tinyurl.com/mn3ep3e  But back onto this week! I kinda hinted at Bananas and when googling it, very few designs came up-however! I really, really liked this kinda pop-art-ey Andy Warhol Banana design...







 I used Barry M's 295 "Pure Turquoise" as the Blue Base coat, Barry M's Textured Nail Paint 304 "Station Road" as the Yellow Banana colour (the fact it's textured I think made it slightly better...more banana-erey. :P) I then used a black nail art pen (from Paperchase) to draw the outlines of the 'Nanas XD

My Left Hand :)

Left Thumb :D

My Right Hand XD

My Right Thumb!

I actually think ALL of my nails look really great!! Maybe this week Left Fingers get the gold rather than left thumb :P but right thumb is NOT that bad for once! :P I think you should all go and try this as it seemed to work really well! haha

x x x

The wonders of the eBay world!

I have been an avid user of eBay for a few years now. Started out on my mum's account, buying stuff then giving her the money and as soon as I turned 18 created my own account and have started selling stuff.
You can make a lot of money, so here's my tips on how to get people to bid/bid good money :P *Please note this is all just my opinion and not all of these things may work for you. But they may help :)

1) Be Honest. There is nothing worse than reading a description of someone selling a face cream (for example) saying oh I've only just touched this pot of cream, looking at the photo and seeing it's got maybe a penny sized piece left in the pot. Or, someone lying about the condition of an item, using a photo that was taken a few years ago. When the item arrives it looks dreadful this is not only a disappointment when it happens to you but can make your buyer leave you bad feedback. So just be as honest as possible.

2) Take Clear Pictures: and Put up a LOT of them. As mentioned above with being honest, you need to be honest in your photos too. Take pictures of the item from all angles and choose the better ones by all means, but if there's a scratch, dent or blemish of some kind make sure you have a close up picture in good light. This will help make buyers trust you and bid honestly...and then go on to leave good feedback.

3) Be as descriptive as you can possibly be! Now, I am not saying you need to have got an A* at GCSE English to do this, all you need is to talk about your experiences with it, say why your selling it (Including if it doesn't work-when an electrical item!)-if the colour doesn't match your skin tone-say so! The buyer really wants/needs to know as much information as possible about the item BEFORE they bid. I personally hate it when I go to click on an eyeshadow for instance by Benefit and someone says in the description "Benefit Creaseless Cream Eyeshadow". AND THAT IS IT!?
-WHAT SHADE IS IT?
-HOW LONG HAS IT BEEN OPEN FOR?
-HOW MUCH IS LEFT IN IT? (I generally give a rough percentage)
-IS IT DRIED UP A BIT/Has it been affected in any way...?
-ORIGINAL PACKAGING?
-100% GENUINE?

These are just the bare minimums in my opinion and I have to say ALL of my items sell.

4) CLEAN THE ITEM(S): There is one thing worse than a mismatching description with real item, the item arriving all clogged up with the persons' old products, when you buy used makeup it should ALWAYS be sent sharpened, cleaned, sanitised, washed, wiped down, top scraped off, WITH NO USED SPONGES/APPLICATORS. This is DISGUSTING. I DO NOT want to be sat there cleaning off all your dead skin cells and eye gunge when I am excited about receiving the product. In fact, if the product looks like this in the photo, I generally recommend you do not buy it as it very unhygienic and could result in you becoming ill/contracting conjunctivitis etc.

5) Make sure you know your P&P charges: If you have a small dress, for example, that can be folded up and parcelled up neatly chances are it'll only cost around £3.35, however, if it's a massive makeup bundle with lots of products it can vary from £5.95-£10. So either make sure you know exactly how much it'll cost and put this as your P&P charge, otherwise you'll end up with the buyer having to pay the Post Office as it's incorrect postage-Thus leading too unhappy buyers and bad feedback for you. OR be prepared that if it is more when you go to send off the parcel to consume that much more it is yourself and not pass it on to the buyer. I recommend knowing your prices, google the weight/dimensions etc of your parcel and you'll be all good :)

6) Do put a disclaimer but Don't be rude: If you don't say it's from a smoke free or pet free home, they won't know! If you don't want any International Bidders-SAY SO, you don't wanna end up with that guy from Peru asking for your old collection of heavy teddies as this will be a pain to post! If you'd like them to pay within a certain time frame-SAY SO, Similarly Tell them how long it'll take you to dispatch the item from payment clearing. However, if you don't want international bidders don't say something rude or offensive (like someone I know-not naming names) like "No International Bidders, If you do not understand this ask someone who speaks English". This can seem really intimidating and rude to buyers, especially those that speak English! Another example is do not say threatening phrases like "if you do not agree to my terms..." or "these are my bidding rules..." as eBay does not like this and nor do your buyers!

Essentially the eBay world works like this:

Buyer: I want to buy something but don't want to/can't afford full price at retail
Seller: I want to sell this as I don't use it anymore and could do with getting some cash from it

Seller: *spends good 15 minutes taking pictures and writing description-makes listing*
Buyer: Ooh look! Here's one! *Click* The photos are amazingly clear and the description goes into a lot of depth, this person knows what they're talking about and is a good one to go with :D

*Item Ending Soon*
Buyer: Yes! I won! Oh boy I better pay right away as I can't wait to receive my item
Seller: Oh wow, this sold for such a great price! It was really worth my time and effort putting this listing up

Buyer: *Pays for item straight after winning, via paypal*
Seller: *Posts Item next day*

few days later...

Seller: *Leaves good feedback to the buyer as they paid quickly and had no quibbles*
Buyer: *Leaves good feedback to the seller as they sent the item and gave perfect description, with reasonable P&P rates*

-The eBay world is happy and continues to revolve healthily.

haha! I hope you do actually get some help from this guys, remember these are all just MY OPINION, they're not always going to help/work but they should :) Don't forget to look out for free listings offers and Good Luck & Happy eBay-ing! :P xxx

20.8.13 LOTD, Dallas Bronzed whilst saying Goodbye...

Everyone knows what its like to lose a loved one, everyone knows how hard it is to say goodbye but those who do not get the chance often feel worse for not getting the chance. I can honestly say that any kind of pet can touch your life, your goldfish, your dog, cat, iguana-whatever it might be. But, there's something about a horse... something very different. They depend on you to keep them healthy, they're very time consuming, very costly but the rewards you get in return is second to none. The joy of hacking out or going for a drive in my case... you get to explore places in different paces. In beautiful surroundings no car can reach. Smudge taught me practically everything I know about horses, riding and driving and I cannot explain how much she means to me. She's ever so patient and always enjoyed what we were doing. She was the perfect pony to learn with. For that, I thank her with all my heart and I just hope she knows how much I love her and she means to me. How thankful I am to her for teaching me. Her & of course I couldn't of done it without my Aunty & Uncle who own her. I will always be so, so thankful to them for all the time and effort they put into my enjoyment and success! We won so much together, I have over 12 rosettes I won with her, a couple of trophies and Shields. But those experiences are invaluable.
 So, on the day I decided to say goodbye to her, for that last time...I had to wear makeup that was country girl enough, I thought! Also...some waterproof mascara!

My full Bronzed up face :')

My neutral Eyes...

I wanted really neutral makeup that would look nice on camera :) For my eyes I used Elf's Innocent Ivory eyeshadow & Pebble single eyeshadow (stay tuned for my Elf Haul & Review coming hopefully next week!). I then used Maybelline's the rocket volume mascara first, then coated it in the Collection's Killer Curves waterproof mascara to give them a touch of waterproofness. For my face I used Milani's Bronze Duo in 01 Sunset City, Aveda's Bronze Patina Stick and then Benefit's Dallas Ultra Plush gloss on ma lips :).

All products used

So, that's it :) I am sorry this was a tad sad of a post, but I hope you won't mind too much, I love you all and Thank you for your support x x x

Nomnomnom Polos :')

I'll love you forever...<3

52WODN 19.8.13 Kiwis! Part of my 3 week Fruit Fest XD x

Photo off of GoodThing's Facebook Page :)

After seeing the super cute pictures off of GoodThing's Facebook page: I have now decided to try them out for myself in a 3 week Fruit Fest!


So here is this week's creation: Kiwis. This one looked like the easiest to do. In fairness, it was simple to think through...but, not so easy to actually create :P Funnily enough, though, my first attempt (my left thumb) turned out to be my very best one! The trick to them looking good, I found, is that you make the white bit as big as you can and the black dots as SMALL as possible too, it's all about the detailing XD


So to get this look I used Sally Hansen's Mousseline as the base creamy/white colour all over the nail. I then used the end of a pencil (y'know the rubber that's usually more smudgey and messy than rubbing out-ey?) dipped in Illasmaqua's Radium. I then made the lil' dots with a black nail art pen :)

My Dodgy Left hand XD

My PERFECT Left Thumb!!!

My Not so bad Right Hand >.<

My ALREADY chipped right thumb :P

I was pretty shocked by how quickly my right hand chipped, but I am not sure if that's perhaps because I started doing stuff too quickly after painting them :/ However, from a distance these nails look SOO much like Kiwis! People have been guessing them correctly so they must do :P and up close...you can still sorta tell >.< haha!

Well keep your eyes PEELED for next week's addition in the 3weeksFruitFest...is that a clue? You decide! :P xxx

16.8.13 LOTD-Swinging Sixties Inspired with Beatles' Tribute Band Night at The Brook

So last night my friends very kindly took me to see The Silver Beatles (one of the very best Beatles' tribute acts in my opinion... ;D) at my favourite music venue in the south! The Brook, Portswood, Southampton. My makeup obviously could've gone two ways, sixties polished or seventies relaxed...I decided to go with polished makeup and relaxed long hair as this meant I could fit in both quite well :)

My Full Face :')

Ma Flick-ey Eyes XD

I popped the eye makeup straight over the top of my day makeup (which just consisted of a very pale shimmerey blue washed over the eyes), for the sixties, my belief is that everything is quite Matte and accurate. So for my eye colours I used the Urban Decay Basics Palette (WOS patted all over lid, faint in crease and foxy on inner corners, virgin as a slight highlight concentrated under the brow arch particularly for a really lifted arch look :)). I then used my Collection black gel liner to make my flicks. Sleek's brow kit in dark (you can see swatches of it here in my massive sleek review: http://tinyurl.com/mbnzxka) using the powder ONLY. I then wiggled some of Benefit's They're Real through my already mascara-ed lashes (Top & Bottom), then a little pinch of MAC's Cremeblend blush in So Sweet So Easy on the apples of my cheeks and finished with A LOT of pressed powder buffed & setting my face. Oooh! and MUA's Lip Boom in Cheeky-Lipstick side ONLY.

Main Products Used!

Have you seen many Tribute bands? I can say I have-I really love visiting the brook and seeing what's on :D You can catch The Silver Beatles on facebook here: https://www.facebook.com/silverbeatles?fref=ts
and on YouTube here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D_nY1x0Ej1o This clip is only very short but I think shows how fun they are :') x x x

Glitter Sticks for Face, Body, Anywhere! For HOW Much!?

So today I wanted to share with you yet another one of my FANTASTIC The Works (A Chain Store here in the UK :) ) FINDS! This one is rather exciting too!


It's these pwetty Glitter Sticks that go on your face, body (arms, legs etc) and Glisten, Gleam & Glitter! (and Sparkle but that was going to ruin my 3 G's :P).

Front Packaging

The Tubes themselves! How cute?? :3

The Product Sticks

The Packaging

 Don't you think this packaging is somewhat reminiscent of Benefit's Hello Flawless font?? Soo adorable!

Packaging

Back of Packaging-Instructions!

Swatches

Swatches in Pure Sunlight! To show you the shimmer :D

These aren't pigmented sticks with glitter in them. They're purely glitter sticks! I quite like them and think they're perfect for festivals! Only thing is they do stay sticky for quite a while after application, so keep that in mind when you buy them. Now to amaze you with the price...£1.99! They also came in a huge variety of colours, like blue, green, red etc. These were just the two that stood out most to me :)

I know! So amazing! I really want to re-iterate my love of The Works. It's such a good shop! make sure you ALWAYS give it a look through! Like me, you may get some gorgeous bargains.

My Makeup Bag is one of the many things I've picked up from there: http://tinyurl.com/osvugb4

JanuaryBeautyful's LOGO released!

As my blog is getting more & more popular and I my makeup jobs are getting more interest, I wanted to have a JanuaryBeautyful logo created so it's becoming more of a brand! Which is quite exciting for me :D

Anyhoo, I asked my amazing art-y friend Evie (yerp, the girl I went to Rocky Horror with ;) ) if she could come up for something for me :)

DRUM ROLL PLEASE!... ... ... ... ... ... ...

Isn't it pretty!? Let me know what you think and expect to see this a bit more in the upcoming weeks! eekk! XD

So if you want to get in contact with Evie to create something for yourself or a friend (she does beautiful commissions of horseys and things XD) please find her on her Deviant Art: ShadowDaChampionPony
and/or message her on Facebook for more details :)

I am going to be back on weds night so please bear with me for replying to emails etc! X X X