Revision Ate My Life

To the extent that I've only acquired three new things recently. I bought two, and one was a lovely present from my mother, hurray!

Here we have Chanel No. 19 Eau de Parfum, Illamasqua Skin Base foundation in 02, and Illamasqua lipstick in Eurydice (from the new Human Fundamentalism collection).

The perfume was the gift, earlier this month, after I went through a phase of loving No. 5 again. It is a bit of a shock when you first smell it if you're used to standard popular fruity/sweet scents, and I wasn't sure I liked it when I first wore it. I'm happy to say it's grown on me, and I now love it. It's a very green floral, heavy on the iris, and almost woody - perfect for this wet spring we're having! Victoria has a lovely review, as does Angela on Now Smell This. It's completely different from any other scent I own, and I can see myself getting through this bottle pretty quickly! I must say it doesn't last as long on the skin as you might expect from an EDP, but then again I do like my perfume obnoxiously strong, so maybe it's just me.

I reached the halfway point in my exams on Friday (I now have a week "off" to revise for the next set), and wandered over to Selfridges in the afternoon to peruse the Illamasqua counter. I did nip into the Beak St store first, but got fairly terrible service (for the first time ever, I may add) so left, shame! Anyway, I was keen to test the Skin Base foundation in 02, the next shade down from white, since I'd seen swatches of its pinky-pale brilliance - and I was not disappointed. I've only worn it twice, but the match is perfect and if I moisturise well in the potentially flaky (delightful) areas around my nose the finish is also lovely. Very pleased with this so far!

And of course I bought this lipstick. It's bright blue-pink AND matte, two of my favourite qualities in a lipstick. Need I say more? Well, it's incredibly long-wearing, without being too heavy-feeling or cakey on the lips. This is my first lipstick from Illamasqua, and I'm impressed.

My tea break is now over, and I shall slink back to my land law revision. Woe is me. Hope everyone is well and looking forward to summer! (Eternal optimist alert.)

Till next time,

Josephine x

PS. I am so impressed with myself for only having bought TWO things on Oxford St. I nearly bought four more (two blushers from Dainty Doll, and a blusher and lipstick from Topshop) but just wasn't enthused enough to get to the till. A sea change in my spending habits, perhaps...I can only hope!

More New Things, feat. MUFE and Stila

Subtitle: "Natural Light, What Natural Light?"

Let me introduce you to Make Up For Ever Mat Velvet + foundation in shade 15 Alabaster, and Stila Convertible Colour in Lillium, my latest purchases.

I acquired the foundation from Precious About Makeup. Miscellaneous influences: rave reviews on Youtube, such as Tiffany's; noticing it on Cami's wish list; promisingly pale swatches on Glossed in Translation. It wasn't cheap, but I kind of impulse bought one evening. Very pale, pink undertones, matte - this had potential. And I'm pleased to say I am in love with it.

This is only the second foundation I've ever had that I can apply straight from the bottle AND IT MATCHES (the other being the Illamasqua Light Liquid Foundation in LF115). Immediate plus. I applied it on top of the Murad mattifying primer (double whammy) in a morning rush as I was leaving for a weekend in Oxford - I know, sensible timing. But this stuff went on like a dream (I used my fingers to apply it), looked great - and more importantly still looked great by the evening. No powder required at all, and it didn't look cakey. My friend couldn't tell I was wearing foundation at all - which isn't to say this doesn't even out the skin and look pretty flawless (hideous cliche but it's true). Genius. So far, worth the price tag. Now if only MUFE was a bit easier to come by, I think we'd be entering Holy Grail territory here.

And in Oxford, I bought more makeup. Obvs. Specifically, this Stila cream blush. Well, the Boots on Cornmarket had a new Stila stand, next to the Orly stand (I bought Rage, though I haven't applied it yet!), and I gravitated towards these. I do love me a good cream blush, and Anna had mentioned this one a few times on her blog, so I had a swatch and went for Lillium, a warm pink.

The packaging is a winner - fairly small and light, but substantial-feeling and cute (with a mirror, always a plus since I use cream blush to touch up during the day). The formula is very different to my favourite cream blushes by Topshop, which are cream-to-powder and set matte - this is almost sticky, and never dries completely matte. "Dewy", I believe, is the relevant makeup cliche buzzword here! When I first applied this I didn't realise how pigmented it was and had to rectify the situation with foundation and powder, so beware. I found this a tad tacky to blend with fingers; it works better with a brush, like the MAC 188. So I don't think I'll be trading in my Topshop blushes anytime soon, but this is a delightful addition to my horde of blushes!

If you have any recommendations for cream blushes do drop me a comment, as I'd love to try some other brands (any excuse!). I have my eye on Illamasqua, but am open to suggestions!

Till next time,

Josephine x

PS. Speaking of Topshop cream blushes, there's a new one in town: a pink called Prime Time. I need.

Latest Face & Boots Bits

So, I'm entering the black hole of revision & exams until June. Worryingly, I seem to have forgotten how to revise, finals being all the way back in the dim & distant past (well, 2010).

This is what I've been wearing on my face if I feel like making more-than-no effort.

L-R: Murad Oil-Control Mattifier, Illamasqua Light Liquid Foundation in LF115, Revlon ColorStay Foundation in Ivory, L'Oreal Mattifying Powder, and NARS Douceur blush (bottom)

Primer: the Murad Oil Control Mattifier. I'm definitely a fan of this stuff - helps make-up go on smoothly, controls shine brilliantly throughout the day, and has SPF 15.

Foundation: I've been mixing Revlon ColorStay (Combo/Oily version) in Ivory with Illamasqua Light Liquid Foundation in LF115 (the palest skin-coloured shade). I used to wear the ColorStay on its own, but it is a) much fuller coverage than I need/want, and b) too dark/yellow, irritatingly. Mixing in the Illamasqua sorts both of these problems pretty nicely, giving a far better colour match and less cakey coverage. I mix them up on the back of my hand (really don't appreciate the fact the ColorStay has no pump, dammit) and apply with my fingers. I used to use a Sigma F80 flat-top kabuki brush but I find it soaks up half the product and is a right pain to clean, so fingers it is!

Top: Revlon ColorStay in Ivory; bottom: Illamasqua Light Liquid Foundation in LF115

LF115 is a good match for me on its own when blended out, if a tad neutral, but it does emphasise the pallor in a dramatic way which I don't always want, especially in the daytime. I also have this foundation in LF120, which is pinker, darker and a more easy-going shade. I can't say I'm in love with the formula on its own, as it has a tendency to look streaky/greasy, as if it's just sitting on top of the skin in an awkward way. Such a shame given the ah-mazing shade range! Must try Skin Base sometime. But am very happy to have discovered a way to use this one, really enjoying it at the moment!

Powder: the L'Oreal Transparent Mattifying Powder, sadly discontinued ages ago. I bought several of these from eBay when I realised it was no longer available in shops, so I'm now working my way through my stash. The packaging is a bit silly, as surely nobody ever uses the rubbish little brush in the lid - I just unscrew that and use a standard powder brush, obv.

Blush: NARS Douceur. Perfect everyday natural blush. I usually use a MAC 188 with this.

This, plus some mascara and lipbalm, is my standard leaving-the-house routine. I'm impressed by the Murad primer - I don't need to touch up with powder AT ALL during the day. Impressive. Although to be honest more often than not I will just use SPF and powder on top. Because it's only the library. If anything I prefer sticking on a bright lipstick - yesterday I went for MAC Girl About Town and remembered how much I looove it! - to cheer up my face, rather than spending ages on eyeliner etc.

Hope everyone's having a lovely weekend!

Till next time,

Josephine x

PS. Today's cheeky Boots haul:

Top to bottom: Soap & Glory Thick & Fast Mascara; Revlon Lip Butters in Macaroon & Sweet Tart, Soap & Glory Lid Stuff eyeshadow quad in Off the Wall Flowers

I fancied picking up these two Lip Butters having seen endless swatches on blogs. I now have six in total, five of which I like - Peach Parfait is the exception, since I find it gritty with obvious unflattering shimmer. I also had a poke around the Soap & Glory makeup, since I'd heard good things about their mascara, and ended up getting both the mascara and this random eyeshadow quad. In the end, the whole lot only cost £21 - the mascara and quad were £10 each, so I ended up with the Lip Butters for 50p each. Win. Chatting to the cashier is always worthwhile! This was something to do with a £2 off voucher which wouldn't scan properly, so he put them through as a pound! Nice one.

I definitely think my Lip Butter collection has grown big enough now. None of the other colours appeal to me as they're all too pale/shimmery, so I'll concentrate on actually wearing what I've got - revolutionary, I know. Will report back on the S&G bits at a later date when I've given them a whirl!