Sirens Haul #2 and Quick Looks! (A Bit Picture Heavy!)

I posted this haul yesterday on youtube, however I was asked by Kelly (Happy1234) to post some pics on here too due to her having problems with the sound on her computer...

I visited my Illamasqua counter on Friday and picked up another haul from the "Sirens" collection...

I picked up a set (exclusive to Selfridges) containing false lashes, two nail varnishes, lip gloss and "Solstice" liquid metal.

"Solstice" is an amazing product, which can be used on eyes/lips/face to add a beautiful golden glaze, and can be made as sheer or strong as you want... The lipgloss is a beautiful shade, a pale cool peachy pink shade shot throught with a subtle gold sheen.

The Illamasqua nail varnishes are really well pigmented and you get "bottle colour" in one coat with most shades. They seem to last well under everyday wear as well!

Sorry the lashes didn't photograph well her they are as the appear on the website!

I also picked up shimmer creme and two "fat pencils" which are metallic soft blendable pencils which can be used anywhere on the face or body... Here they are with swatches.

Next on the hitlist was a bronzong duo which I bought in the lighter shades ("Glint" - the lighter of the two, and "Writhe" the darker shade.) Both sides have a very subtle shimmer to them, which seems to add a lovely sheen to the face. I am SOOOO pleased I bought this!

Finally, I picked up a powder shadow in the shade "Intense", a beautiful deep teal blue/green shade, which I think will add a perfect twist to a smoky eye...

I had a little play with my collection this afternnon and came up with a couple of quick looks (Please note - I am not wearing any foundation in the pics so forgive the skin... I'm having a slight breakout issue at the moment!)

Firstly I did a daytime look -

This was really easily achieved using the bronzing duo to sculp and highlight the face a little. I added a little shimmer creme over the brow and cheekbone, a slick of the lipgloss and used the fat pencil in "perverse" to make my eyes a little shimmery.

I then had a play with the other products to make the look slightly more night-time -

Here I smoked up my eyes a little using bronze and teal shades from my large SirensPalette (http://mizzworthy.blogspot.com/2009/04/illamasqua-haul-sirens-collection.html), and added the light gold shade as a brow highlighter. I then very lightly used solstice gold liquid metal on the cheekbone, added a little of the peach blush and a pop of solstice to the inner corner or the eyes. On the lips I used my fat pencil in Wilful (Copper) and topped this off with copper liquid metal ("enrapture"), dabbed a little of the gold shade in the middle of the lips and blotted...

Unfortunately the light was rather rubbish by he time I took these and hence the pictures look a little less bright than they did in real life... but hopefully you get the idea!

Let me know what you think!

MizzWorthy xxx

Illamasqua Eye Liner Cake...

Hi Everyone!
Hope you are all well....

A few posts ago I shared a haul of Illamasqua products (http://mizzworthy.blogspot.com/2009/03/illamasqua-haul.html), and one of the ones I was asked most about is the eye liner cake, so I thought I'd share a few thoughts on it since I've had more of a chance to play with it!

Picture - Illamasqua website.

The liner and sealing gel come together and cost £16... Just to compare with a few other high end liners, MAC's fluidlines cost £10.77, Bobbi Brown long wear gel liner is £13.70, and Urban Decay 24/7 pencils are £8.81. That makes this a pretty expensive eye liner!

Illamasqua say - Take the art of making-up to new extremes. Apply with an Illamasqua Eye Liner Brush to create bold, dark, dramatic eyes. Colour-intense, quick-drying and non-smudge, it comes with an Illamasqua Sealing Gel that ensures your creation lasts all night.

The product looks like an eye shadow powder, but has a very hard texture... It is used by adding a couple of drops of the mixing medium (ie Illamasqua sealing gel) to the cake and mixing to a cream like consistency. The thickness of the liner you produce can be adjusted - more mixing medium means a thinner and less pigmented liner, whereas less liquid produces a more dense and pigmented liner. I have found that you can also make the cake transform to liquid liner by using a spritz of fix+ or Body Shop Vit C/E Facial mists... I then use the sealing gel over the top of my finished look to make it smudgeproof.

Pros

- love the way you can adjust the shade, and this cake will last for ages - I've barely made a dent in it yet!

- Makes you feel like an old school hollywood starlet when you mix upthe colours, and "paint on" your liner

- Some pretty colours available (I have it in the shade Zest, a dark green, but I like the look of Suggest, which is purple, and Danger, a dark teal blue)...

- Once set with the sealing gel this stuff is going Nowhere! Doesn't sweat off, smudge or flake off.

- Colour stays true and doesn't fade.

- Stay on til you decide to remove it

- Gives a matte effect when dry, which is different to gels and liquids...

Cons

- I suspect a lot of people will baulk at the cost of it...

- It takes practice (esp if you aren't massively skilled with eyeliners like me!) to perfect applying the liner.

- Doesn't dry as quick as a gel liner, so therefore a bit more difficult to work with, which I'd say doesn't make it a great liner for people who aren't used to using gel/liquid liners...

-Not as portable as other forms of liner, so you may not find you use it for travel etc..

- Could be a bigger range of shades.

So What do I Think?

I think this is a product people will either love or hate... If you like trying different products and application methods then you'll probably like it, whereas if you like simple applications you may not like it.

I personally really like this, and I am planning to get the purple shade too (Suggest), but I can see that not everyone will like it and people might find this complicated to use and difficult to apply. To me the result you get in terms of colour and stayability are worth it, and I love the novelty of the product, like I said - it makes me feel old school glam!

To me, makeup and makeing up can be a stress relieving activity in itself. Lavishing time and effort on using different products to create new looks or even everyday looks with a twist is one of the things I enjoy doing... And this is one of those products that make me feel that way!

Hope you enjoyed reading this - if you have any more questions, please let me know!

Love MizzWorthy xxx

Makeup Induced Mental Health Issues...

Hi Everyone!

Sorry I've been a little quiet on the blog front for a few days - I've been struck down by some kind of virus. I'm still not feeling great but there is only so much time I can spend in bed... I needed a break from feeling rubbish so I decided to catch up with all you lovely ladies! I hope you are all well and non-viral by the way...

So anyway, I was sitting in the house the other day on my day off. I had no particular plans and just decided I'd treat myself to a lazy day lounging about in the house in my pyjama's. So I repeat, absolutely no plans, not going out, not seeing anyone. So why then was I sitting watching Phil and Fern discussing some trivial aspect of modern life on 'This Morning' (British TV morning current affairs type programme...) with a full face of makeup on? I mean I was wearing concealer, foundation, blusher, contour, highlighter, lipstick and gloss, and a fully made up eye look, mascara, and I'd even done my eyebrows.... I realised that I, like many of you reading this post probably do this regularly without ever knowing why. Well I have diagnosed myself with Makeup Induced Mental Health 'Issues'.

Symptoms include;

• Wearing a full face of makeup with pyjama's, and having no intention of getting dressed.
• Putting a full face of makeup on about an hour before you plan on going to bed.
• Checking YouTube for videoes about a new shade of lipstick/eyeshadow/blush/whatever that you have bought that day.
• Looking for reviews of something you want, subscribing to people who give it a positive review and not even finishing to watch the negative ones lol.
• Actually dreaming about makeup. and makeup you want.
• Knowing more about a product than the makeup counter girl due to your online obsession.
• Putting more thought into planning your makeup look than your clothes for a night out.
• Imagining that in another life, you would actually be a leading and world famous makeup artist, who would be paid millions and have a massive collection.
• Actually wondering if it might be viable to move somewhere that has a spare room that you could just use to keep your makeup in.

Well, those are the symptoms I have identified so far, but have you experienced any extra ones?

Keep me informed, we could be on the verge of a medical breakthrough here! LMAO!

Love MizzWorthy xxx