Makeup Clearout!

Hi!

 

 

Yes I am writing this post as a form of procrastination... I have four essays to write over the next couple of days and I can't be bothered to do any of them. Serves me right for taking English Literature and History as a-levels...

Anyway this is much more fun to write about than the Russian revolution in 1917.

 

So I was looking through my makeup drawers and discovered that there are a whole load of products that I haven't used in ages...some of them too old/dried up/used up and I hadn't even noticed.

 

After doing some research I've found the lifespans for makeup products:

 

Mascara - 3 months

Pencil Eyeliners - 2 years

Eyeshadows - 2 years

Cream Shadows - 1 year

Lipsticks - 2 years

Cream Blush - 1 year

Powder Blush - 2 years

Foundations/Concealers - 2 years

 

 

Now...I'm not going to lie...I do NOT stick to these guidelines and personally I think some of them are myths.

I definitely don't throw away mascaras after 3 months...I throw them out when they've either dried up or I've used them up; I don't see the point in throwing out a perfectly good mascara. Similarly I definitely will not throw out an eyeshadow after 2 years if there is nothing wrong with it.

But its up to you! Personally I throw things out if I've used them up or if they can't be used anymore. Obviously if your lip gloss smells funny or your foundation isn't the same anymore then its probably time for a clear out. :)

 

 

I realised that there were some old, unusable products cluttering up my drawers and I thought that if I'm not using them anymore there is no point in keeping them.

 

 

Wow. That's a lot of makeup :P

I also threw out a couple of old, dried up nail polishes too so I've cleared up a lot of space in my makeup drawers.

 

1) Lips

 

 

This is the drawer that I think needed a clearout the most. There were several lipglosses that were old and some that were leaking (one of my biggest dislikes with lip products) and I just didn't want or need them anymore.

 

I threw out:

•  A L'Oreal gloss that I didn't ever even like... the smell was too strong and it was too frosty for me
•  A Natural Collection gloss that started to smell different and I hadn't used in months
• A Max Factor gloss I got for free a while ago. I LOVED this colour but now its old and I've used up most of it anyway.
• An Urban Decay mini lipgloss that came free with a set that I didn't like the colour of to start with.
• An old Lipmate lip balm that was really old
• My mini Benefit Lip Plump. I used this to mute out my lip colour before lipstick but I've used up most of it and even so I can use concealer for this purpose.

2) Palettes

 

 

These came from my "small palettes" drawer.

I got rid of:

 

• My Benefit The Realness Of Conealness palette. I've taken out all the mini products that came in this box and I've still got them. However there were 2 products in a pan in this box; one was the Lemon Aid which I've pretty much used up. The other was the Boi-ing which I dislike and anyway, its in the wrong shade. I felt it was time to get rid of this clunky packaging in my drawer!
• Urban Decay lip palette. This is really too old for me to justify keeping. I didn't even use the lip colours in there anymore anyway because they were old. I liked to keep a hold of it because its pretty packaging but its silly to let it take up space when I don't use it. 

3) Eyeshadows

 

 

I honestly don't know why I haven't thrown these out before now. Two of them were given to me by my sister ages ago and the other one was a shadow I never even liked.

Two of them are by Virgin Vie and the other by Barbara Daly and it had such awful pigmentation I swatched it and then it was shoved to the back of the drawer and forgotten about.

I also almost threw out a Body Shop eyeshadow that looks like a bruise. Before I remembered that I actually use it to look like bruises sometimes when I'm taking photos for my art projects (yes they tend to be quite dark...) so I decided to hang on to it :)

 

4) Eye...stuff?

 

 

I don't know what category these come under.  :P

One is the a Beauty Parlour eye roll on that never really did anything but was hanging around in my makeup drawers for a long time.

The other is the Bourjois Brush Concealer that I've actually used up now! It was very useful and I've finished every little bit of it now which makes me feel satisfied :) You can read a full review HERE.

 

5) Eye Liners

 

 

There wasn't a lot to throw out my my eyeliner drawer...apart from:

 

• My old Body Shop eyeliner. Again, this was given to me by my sister a long time ago and to be honest its too dry to use properly. I thought it was time to give up on this one.
• I also got rid of my Barry M glitter eyeliner. This stuff never worked even when I got it and has been drying out more and more ever since.

6) Mascaras

 

 

These were definitely ready to be thrown away...

 

• I have two of the Maybelline Great Lash and seeing as I don't particularly like either I thought it seemed right to throw out one (the older one) and keep the newer one just as a backup mascara in case I'm ever caught without any.
• My E.L.F Volumizing Mascara has now pretty much completely dried up and does nothing for my lashes now. You can read a review of it HERE if you want. It pretty much came dried up.
• Ah my Stila Fibre Optics Mascara. I thought I'd done a review of this but it turns out I never got round to it. For a while this was my favourite mascara! It's really volumizing and made my lashes thick and full without clumping up or sticking them together. I was a big fan of this and sad to see it go, however now I've pretty much used it all up.  

 

Wow that was quite a long post... :P

It was actually surprisingly fun to go through my makeup drawers and get rid of products that were taking up unnecessary space. I also discovered some products that I'd forgotten about in my drawers - ones that I'll definitely be getting use out of in the next few days and weeks.

 

And... I personally think the best thing about it is that now I'm able to go and find more pretty makeup items to fill those drawers - products that I'll actually use!

 

Have you had a makeup clear out recently?

Thanks for reading!

Libby x

Post Christmas Haul!

Hi!

 

I hope you had a good Christmas if you celebrate it and if not, hope you all had a good holiday season! :)

Our 6 month old collie had a particularly lovely day...

 

Anyway, I went on a little shopping trip the other day and picked up some hair/nail/skincare things in the sales!

 

I picked up John Frieda Full Repair Hydrate & Restore Shampoo & Conditioner first of all....

I usually only get these when they're on offer as £6/7 is quite a bit to pay for shampoo when it doesn't last that long...particularly with me as I have long hair! There was a 3 for 2 offer on "premium haircare" in Boots so I also got the John Frieda Luxurious Volume Dry Shampoo too as I was intrigued by their "luxurious volume" range as my hair is quite flat sometimes. I decided to try just the dry shampoo though as I've only ever really tried a couple of different dry shampoos and wanted to see how a more expensive one was different.

 

I also picked up some double faced cotton pads from Boots too as I was running out... I love these as they have a soft side for toner for your skin and then the rougher side is great for removing nail polish. These are only about £2 if I remember correctly.

 

 

 

I also then went to Superdrug (I know it is a bit weird to go to both  but they have slightly different brands, honest!) and I was drawn to the Barry M Glitter Nail Polishes in 353 Ruby Glitter and 335 Copper. They didn't have such a big range of Barry M Polishes in Boots so I generally like to have a look in Superdrug to see if there are any others there. Definitely looking forward to putting these on my nails soon! They were £2.99 each.

 

I also looked at some Simple skincare products in Superdrug and got the Kind To Skin Moisture Boost Hydro Mist which was £2 off. I really love this stuff and its my third bottle. I used to use it a LOT a year or so ago but when it ran out I forgot to repurchase. However now I'm glad I did rebuy it as I love this stuff. I spritz it on my face after foundation and it gives a lovely glow and keeps my skin feeling hydrated all day. This was about £4 with the £2 off.

 

I also got the Simple Kind To Skin + Perefecting Beauty Balm as I was intrigued by it. I think this was around £7 and I was surprised to see they only had one "universal shade" which was curious.

I'll be doing a review on this soon although on first glance it does look a little orange... perhaps not as "universal" as they thought.

 

 A few days ago I also picked up some new face wash, toner and a new mascara which I'll also be reviewing soon so keep an eye out for that even though I don't have pictures included in this post.

 

Have a good day!

Thanks for reading :)

Libby x

 

*REVIEW* NYX Blush in Natural

Hi!

Quite a while ago I made a purchase from the NYX website (www.nyxcosmetics.co.uk/) and I only just realised that I never actually reviewed this item! If you'd like to see that haul you can view it HERE and as far as I can tell I think I've done reviews for all the other items I purchased. :)

 

This costs £6 from the website and they have 25 shades!

 I chose the shade Natural because having blonde hair, blue eyes and fair skin its harder for me to get away with strong blush colours and so I generally tend to stick to a rather muted blush look if at all.

 

 

 

 

The shade is a light baby pink with a slight bit of shimmer in it - it's looking a lot brighter in the photo than in real life!

The packaging is also nice and sturdy and the shape makes it easy when it comes to saving space in your makeup collection. :)

 

 

 

Here's a swatch:

 

 

Obviously I wouldn't apply the blush this heavily! :P

 

Generally I think this is a really pretty colour especially for those with fair skin.
As you can see its very well pigmented but not so pigmented that it makes it difficult to wear...I personally don't like hyper-pigmented blushes as I'd never wear colour on my cheeks that strongly!

 

I usually just tap my brush into this and then tap off the excess and apply it. The colour this way is very buildable and it's hard to over apply.

 

I'm really happy with this blush -especially for the price! I've been reaching for it quite often recently and it gives a lovely flushed appearance to the cheeks.

 

Thanks for reading!
Have you tried the NYX blushes yet?

Libby x

 

How To Get Studded Nails!

Hi!

 

I'm by no means the best at nail art...a combination of me being clumsy and also impatient usually renders my nails smudged and messy.

 

However you can still try, right? :)

 

 

I spotted these 17 Deconstructed Nail Studs on sale in Boots and from the moment I saw them I knew I couldn't leave without them!

I love the packaging too!

 

 

 

 

 

These studs are pretty tiny to be careful not to knock the little pot over!

 

 

 

1)

First I applied a clear base coat to my nails to stop them staining.

 

2)

I put on one coat of a dark charcoal colour with slight shimmer. You could either use grey or black which would both look great with these studs so its up to you! The colour I used as from the Nail Parade collection from The Colour Workshop that I got ages ago.

 

 

3)

 

When you put on the second coat of polish, apply the nail studs whilst the polish is still wet. I've found the best way to do this is to press them into your finger and then lightly dab the nail to apply them. If they need moving slightly or pressing in further then you can use tweezers or a cuticle stick.

 

 

 

 

4)

Finally, add a clear coloured coat of nail polish over the top to seal the studs and help them last longer on your nails!

 

I'm SUPER happy with the finished result...it looks so edgy and cool and I absolutely love it. I will definitely be using these all the time in the future!

 

The nails studs from 17 are about £4 and in my opinion worth every penny - they did a great job with these!

 

What do you think of studded nails? Let me know in the comments below!

 

Thanks for reading!

Libby x