The AMAZING Illamasqua Lip Set

When I went out to London last year (well, December so it really does NOT feel like last year ;)) I went to the Illamasqua store (just off Carnaby Street) I bumped into it after going into the Benefit Carnaby Street Boutique and I nearly died, the store is so beautiful, if you ever get the chance-GO!

The assistants were very helpful and looked amazing, wish I could go to work with blue brows on!
But seeing as I went in to get myself a lil' something, I got the Perfect Pout set which was £60 (if I remember correctly! :S) for 6 lipsticks, which I thought was pretty good :3

Outer Packaging

With the sleeve removed...

How Pretty is this paper!?

Inside the pamphlet...
(Please note I really turned up the brightness on this photo
so the swatches in this photo in real life are not as vibrant)

A sneak peak of the catalogue I also got.

The packaging was extremely luxurious...the paper and bag were really gorgeous too :3

An overview of the lippies...

Another view of the lippies...

Over
Described as a "Bright Coral Pink"

Fable
Described as a "Bright Rose Pink"

Plunge
Described as a "Bright Mauve Pink"

Scandal
Described as a "Warm Coral Pink"

Isis
Described as a "Red Pink"

Esp
Described as a "Vivid Violet"

My Favourite shades in this set are Esp (and you can see that famous NYE look with it here: http://tinyurl.com/n67cafb) and Plunge! Plunge is the most awesome bright pink with an orchid tinge! I LOVE IT.

These lipsticks are all matte, apart from Esp which I feel has a little shimmer in it. ALL of them have outstanding colour pay off and are not overly drying, I feel like MAC's mattes are really drying, these aren't as bad as those...Though I still recommend applying lip balm before you go for these!

The only shade that is limited edition is Isis, the "Christmas" red so if you can get your hands on Esp I really would! (don't forget Debenhams online sell Illamasqua too!).

Hope you liked this post and I'll see you in the next one! x x x

So...You're NOT following me? ;)

Here's just a few of my Twitter highlights:

So I tweet a lot about my animals...Lady Gaga, funny vines...I do also tweet about Makeup and my posts (a little) XD

Here's some of my Instagram Highlights (so far, I've only been on since January/December):

I do LOVE this ring, if anyone know where it's
from orignally could you let me know?? :)

Yes, I know these are twitter posts but it was much easier to find them on twitter than my Insta (but You'll see a LOT on Insta you wouldn't see on Twitter! Like...did you know I am a huge Adventure Time fan?! :O)


Here's just a snapshot of my Facebook posts:

Aanndd Facebook tends to be the more serious posts and makeup side haha!

So, if you're not following me on these social media channels...WHY NOT!? Go Follow, Like and all the rest now! Go Tweet/Comment me your questions/requests all sorts!

And as always, Thanks for your support x x x


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Healthy Eating & Excercise post #1

So I didn't really start my New Years' Resolution of healthy eating & exercise until the 6th, but I am convinced that if I had started on the 1st I would've broken it by now, but day one went really, very well!

For breakfast I had an Option's hot choc (only 60 calories and after my drive home from ed's I was cold :P) And a bowl of Tropical muesli. What can we take away from this? That I had a good source of vitamins and dairy from my Muesli and a sugar and calorie intake-which wasn't physically necessary, more mentally ;)

For lunch we were out at Costa but instead of having something with rich cheddar in I went with the lower in fat Mozzarella and Pesto Panini (I was looking for the Chicken Tikka as this would've been better again but they were out :/) and a bottle of water. So after this I have had all my Dairy for the day, a good amount of Carbs but like no Protein or Veg yet-So I was looking for dinner!

For Dinner I had roast chicken-Quarter plate (no skin & breast only), a slither of stuffing (left over from our Xmas supplies ;)), half of my plate filled with Peas, Carrots and Green Beans and 2 Roast potatoes (I don't know why mum never does anything but roasties with chicken-may need to have a chat :P).

So, you can see that my day has been a very balanced diet day-Yay!

Exercise: 6 minutes cycling, 6 minutes rowing, 6 minutes weights, 6 minutes stepper

So I've been doing this for 2 weeks now and most day's after this have been similar and I've decided to take a few piccies of stuff to show you :)

My Kenwood Smoothie 2Go!

As part of the whole healthy living thing...and this is something that's quite fashionable now too. Smoothies! My favourite recipe so far has to be Pineapple, Peaches, Banana and Spinach (But please trust me you cannot taste the spinach, it's there purely for nutritional content and to make it green).

You can search for loads of recipes online and find your favourite one (I've been using tinned peaches and pineapples-just check it's not in syrup or has added sugar, if it's just in the natural juice you're good to go :)).

Another recipe I like is blueberries and yoghurt but I am not overly keen on raspberries/blackberries in with it too as all the pips do my head in!

Frozen Bananas and Raspberries behind!

I've been eating oranges by the Bucket Load!

An example of my lunch

Now when I am not out and about my lunches are consisting of a split pot yoghurt, a wrap (or two, if I am at work), X5 pringles (or 4 depending on the flavour) a glass (or two) of smoothie and sometimes a chocolate chip snack a jack. Plenty of fruit too! I am quite partial to a Pear or Banana (if I haven't had a nana in my porridge that morning).

Then for Breakfast at the moment I am enjoying either a tropical muesli (with sultanas, dried pineapple, coconut and banana) or porridge, which I make with unsweetened Almond milk (I find this is healthier and more natural tasting than added sugar ones) and add either a chopped Banana or Fresh fruit chopped up (in this picture you can see I went with plumey type things and kiwis) I also like the Golden Syrup flavour porridge (which you can get from the basics range in Tesco).


















I went to my Doctor's (on an unrelated note) and whilst there mentioned that after doing this for two weeks I have not had any cystitis, whilst this doesn't conform to any scientific facts he agreed that every person is different and every person's digestive system and habits work differently so to just keep on monitoring it. He also then asked if I had weighed myself since starting, I said no through not wanting to dishearten myself yet, I was planning to weigh myself at week 6 and at the end, week 12 of my programme. To which he said well let's weigh you now, I have already lost 3 kilos in just 2 weeks! This really filled me with joy that he was encouraging me and that I had already lost weight! Now let's keep it up!

ooh and I almost forgot, this website is definitely food for thought...: http://summertomato.com/how-toeat-less-without-noticing/ and helped me with deciding on fundamental things like how quick I eat etc.

So, what do you think? Tweet me if you've stuck with your resolutions or not!!

Crazy Dark Lips...Vampy for the season of Winter LOTD Plus 52WODN

 Hello! And Welcome Back! :)

So the first Look of the day and the first 52WODN of the year! Woo! (Sorry it's a tad late, as I am sure some of you saw my tweets/statuses/everythingss saying that my SD card reader gave up on me and I had NO WAY of uploading pictures! Apart from on Instagram so if you're not following me, go do that now.)


My first look, especially this time of year, would surely not be okay unless it was a winter-ey dark, kinda thing...I am rambling.
Here's my full face!

Ma POUT ;)

So as you can see this face is very fresh considering it was just after all the Christmas eating!
Really nice vampy dark lips, with a soft eye, kinda golden-esque.

All Products Used...

All the products I used are above, for the lips I used Estee Lauder gloss in Extravagant plum with NARS' Valparaiso underneath it. Fashionista Eyeshadows in Nude Glimmer (mainly). MAC's Saturn mineralize blush (from heavenly creatures collection).

Now for the 52WODNs: I wanted something not sparkly/with no glitter for once!

My Left Hand

My Right Hand :)

I am in love with this Matte Polish by Revlon "Emerald City" and the Purple is Plum Night (Both of which I either got at Poundland or a market-so KEEP YOUR EYES PEELED PEOPLE!) you can get some real bargains at Poundland atm, I got 2 L'Oreal polishes for £1 each instead of £4.99 each!

So, I hope you like this first post, stay tuned and more regular posts will start popping up again, love you all! x x x

New Year's Eve and Santa Babay Looks!

So I know we're all now into the New Year and all but I had to show you my two favourite looks from the Christmas Party Period. So up first is my Santa Baby look that I wore to Nicki's (yup, the awesome gal who held the Pirates vs Mexican's-boy does she know how to throw a good bash ;)) and I really love this look as even if I wasn't wearing the Santa outfit, it's just a cult classic look.

My Full Face, from a photo taken at the party.

The design I made for the look...with the dodgiest Lip drawing ever seen!

All Products Used :)

So a few of the staple products used in this look were Benefit's Benetint, Benefit's Browzings and Rimmel's Apocolips lip laquer in Big Bang. The eyeshadows and liner aren't too much of a problem to the look and the primers, face products etc are simply personal preference :)


Next look is my famous NYE drag-esque look that everybody liked! It's definitely a favourite look of mine that I've done in a looonnngg time!

My Full Face :)

Ma Eyess...

All Products used :)

And for this look there are a few staples once again, Illamasqua's Lipstick in ESP was definitely the focal point (please note the inspiration for this look came from the Purple Leopard print dress all the products are sat on in the photo above). Too Faced's shadows in Cream Coloured Ponies & Ooh La Orchid were the only two eyeshadows I used and I also think that the Urban Decay Flushed palette's mix of contour, blush and highlight was perfect for this look :) I am sure you'll notice the repeat in face products used, this is because these face products make the best combination for coverage and staying power on my skin and when I know my makeup needs to stay all night and endure, drinking, dancing, partying etc. These are the same products I reach for everytime

So, I hope you liked this post on my festive looks and I hope you guys had an awesome NYE whether you just sat at home watching Gary Barlow or out getting absolutely wasted ;) I am so looking forward to this year :) x x x


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Best in Beauty 2013! Including my Top 3 Favourite 52WODN

SO let's hit it straight off with my Best in Beauty for 2013!

My favourite Beauty Products this year goes like thisss...

1)      FAVE PRIMER-BENEFIT STAY FLAWLESS

This primer, although came out towards the end half of 2013 is by far my favourite primer it works so well-It says you get 15hr wear, more like 23 hr wear! It's AWESOME. Go buy it ;)

2)      FAVE FOUNDATION-REVLON COLORSTAY

This, I think will always be my favourite foundation, it just works so well with my skin and matches it perfectly. Lasts well and doesn't slide off of my face...also works incredibly well with the Stay Flawless ;)

3)      FAVE CONCEALER-BENEFIT FAKEUP

Another end-ey year Bene-product, I LOVE this, It goes on so smooth, blends so nicely and looks amazing-no creasing and is perfect shade.

 

4)      FAVE POWDER-URBAN DECAY DE-SLICK POWDER

This powder is my HOLY GRAIL for keeping my skin matte and I actually only bought it in November! It's so smooth, lightweight, doesn't cake up my foundation, keeps my skin matte, doesn't make me look white. Just looks beautiful.

 

5)      BRONZER-NARS, LAGUNA

Nars, Laguna...DO I really need to say anymore? It is the perfect shade for most skintones, can be buffed out and blended well, looks natural and lasts well all day. Plus, it's Nars and that just makes it feel extra special >.<

 

6)      HIGHLIGHT-MAC MINERALIZE SKINFINISH (ANY!)

These are just so beautiful, so luminizing, so soft and easy to use, blend etc. Very easy going products that are pigmented and last all day. SO worth the money.

 

7)      BROWS-ILLAMASQUA BROW CAKE, THUNDER

Again, I only got this in December and I am so happy I've finally got something that's the same colour as my eyebrows! Took me long enough...this is easy to work into your brows and stays well.

 

8)      LIQUID LINER-LOOK FLIRTY FLICK

This. This just stays put. DOES NOT MOVE until you take it off, is a great black-wish it could be a bit more matte-but is just the perfect eyeliner.

 

9)      EYESHADOW PALETTE-NAKED 2

I am sorry that I don't use Naked 1 as much, Naked 2 is just so much easier to just whack in overnight bag (and not worry it'll break) and...yeah, you know the rest ;)

 

10)  MASCARA-MAYBELLINE ROCKET VOLUME

This is my favourite mascara at the moment...maybe even more so than my benefit They're Real!? 

Only because recently I've been wanting more volume and I find that They're Real gives more length and curl, I actually like using these two together :)

 

11)  LIP PENCIL-? WHAT? I DON’T HAVE ONE…Sorry! I just don't use lip pencil's often enough >.<

12)  LIPSTICK-MAC VIVA GLAM NICKI

The reason I like this best is because...it's a Satin finish that lasts well and is just such a PARTY colour!

 

13)  Fave subscription-I HATE THEM ALL!!! AND WHY DO WE NOT HAVE A GOOD MAKEUP MAGAZINE IN THE UK?? (sorry, just had a mini rant, maybe 2014 will see an independent MAKEUP magazine-I mean one sold in retailers-and a GOOD subscription box come into the UK?)

Onto my Top 3 Favourite 52WODN posts from this year!

Number 1!

So Number 1 had to go to the Top Bananasss ;) I simply LOVE these nails! See the full post here: http://tinyurl.com/mjmlz9p

Number 2

2nd place had to go to something glitter-ey as I have quite a lot of those ;) I decided to choose these as I thought they were pretty for all times and occasions. See full post here: http://tinyurl.com/keegfva

Number 3

I chose these Nude nails as I love the curved lines and contrast between the nude and black, I just think they're creative and chic >.< See their full post here: http://tinyurl.com/m88vjau


Well another year over...Keep your eyes peeled for my NYE outfit and makeup etc to be up by the end of the week and I wish you all a very Happy and Healthy New Year!

Thank you for all your support x x x

New Years Resolutions and What I wore to the Christmas Party

So as it's getting nearer and nearer to 2014...HOORAY! (cannot wait for 2013 to be over!)
I am thinking more about what I'd like to challenge myself to do for the first bit of the year-haha!

1) I've decided that I'd like to lose a stone. I love my body and it's not from an image point of view, but more from a health angle, so one stone to lose and keep off-I shall be doing blog posts about this perhaps once a month as I am really not going to be doing as a quick harsh diet change, I'd like to do it as healthily and steadily so I can make the changes more permanent. I did used to be the quite the butterball child and hate to think that even though I've evened out a bit more, that I am unhealthy-the main issue is exercise as opposed to an unhealthy diet-But we shall see what my plan becomes :)

2) Project Hit-Pan! So, I am sure you've seen a lot of other bloggers/youtubers etc do this tag or project. It's when you don't buy anymore makeup (oh dear god, I nearly choked on my gum typing it!) and try to aim to use up what you already have-which is quite a lot for me, so I think this is a good idea. I'll be doing once-monthly posts about this as well so I ACTUALLY stick to it!

3) DO at least 5 Good Deeds a week. I do feel as though I work hard already, but by good deeds I mean, making someones day-I mean like giving an old person your seat, helping someone who's car's broken down all sorts of nice, Selfless acts. I plan on making like a little checklist in my Filofax for each week to remind me :P

4) Maintain my brows more often! I do work on my brows and try to keep them groomed, between one to two months at a time as they don't grow too fast but they do need an upkeep more often I feel! Trim, pluck etc, quick lil' brow shape up!

So I think these goals are pretty achievable, they always say your goals need to be Achievable, with a good Time limit/Quantity



Next up is my makeup and nails for the HRTC Christmas Party!

Ma full FACEY!

My EYES O.o

All products used just chucked on my vanity... (sorry bout that >.<)

My Karla Chart I did as a guide...

Nailsss! LOOK AT THAT CAVIAR!

Right Hand XD

MA pwetty right thumb,which the glitter of is just AMAZE-balls.

I have a couple more posts before the end of this year including my 2013 Beauty Favourites! So be sure to stick around guys, thanks for all your support and if I don't post before, have a very Merry Christmas!

Much Love,

Tasha x x x