My March favourites...

Here are my March favourites:

The Body Shop Shea Lip Butter -I put this on every night before i go to bed and i love it!

Nip+Fab Dark Circle Fixer -I'm not sure about it getting rid of dark circles (i wish!) but it is nice and soothing and makes the eye area plumped and soft.

Nip+Fab Night Fix -This is a a night cream with a gel texture. I really like the way this hydrates my skin without being too heavy.

Revlon Nearly Naked Foundation -as with everyone else i love this foundation, it just evens out the skin nicely, and is really light.

Kate UV Make up Base -This is a Japanese brand, and i love this. Better than any other make up base i've tried, and it doesn't have silicone in woo!

Collection Cream Puff in Cotton Candy -A matte lip cream, this smells AMAZING!

Revlon lip butter in Strawberry Shortcake -I'll never get bored of my lip butters and i've been in a pink mood lately.

Dainty Doll blush in My Girl -A beautiful soft pink colour with a little shimmer.

Rimmel Match Perfection creamy compact -I use this most days (i've reviewed it here http://shellsenseless.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/rimmel-match-perfection-creamy-compact.html)

OPI nail polish in Skyfall -I know it's not really a Spring shade, but i love a deep red, and this one is my new favourite.

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I have a blog sale...

Hello :)
Just a quick post to let you know i have posted a blog sale. I decided it was time to have a Spring clean! If you fancy a nose click the tab at the top.

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Easy nail art...and a shot glass!

Does anyone else find nail art annoyingly hard, but really want to try something different with your nails? Well, i do! I was contacted by a company called Gifts Online 4 You to take part in their challenge of 'alternative uses for a shot glass'. I thought it may be a useful prop for nail art....

 They sent me a rather lovely engraved shot glass to use, and i got to work. I decided to try using the shot glass to 'concoct' various glitter mixes. I used a combination of chunky glitters from ebay, and Mac reflect glitters, and nail glitters from Gosh, and Andrea Fullerton.

It was a simple case of putting different glitter combinations in the glass, putting a layer of clear polish on my nail and dipping the nail in. The shot glass proved handy in making it a lot tidier than my usual nail art experiments! haha. No spills, and i could also press my nail against the side to compact the glitter.

This was my favourite glitter mix. I like the contrast of the different colours, and sizes of glitter :)

So, that was my idea for an alternative use for a shot glass, and i'll definitely be using this method in the future. Can you think of any more uses....?

I posted a video on my channel here (including an easy way to remove glitter polish): 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NTFR7vWBVBY

Here's some more ideas from other bloggers:
Desert in a shot glass: http://giftsonline4u.tumblr.com/post/45343996496/personalised-shot-glasses-with-a-shot-of-fun
More desert recipes (yum!): http://www.giftsonline4u.com/blog/personalised-shot-glasses-with-a-shot-of-fun/
A candle shot glass: http://giftsonline4u.tumblr.com/post/45272090487/alternative-shot-glass

I think the candle idea looks brilliant!
(^_^)

http://www.giftsonline4u.com/ provided me with the engraved shot glass to take part in the challenge (thank you!)

My chunky lip pencil obsession!

I happily admit my biggest make up weakness is lipsticks! As far as i'm concerned you can never have enough pretty coral shades (ans red shades, and pink shades, and lilac shades.....) For some reason i particularly love chunky lip pencils. Apart from the fac they look pretty in my cupcake mug sitting on my desk, they are so practical, to carry around, and apply on the move.

I have inadvertently made it my mission to try as many as possible!

From left: Soap & Glory Sexy Motherpucker Gloss Sticks- These are very sticky, but the shade Fushia-ristic is lovely.
Revlon Just Bitten Lip Balm Stains- These are my favourite, they have a lovely colour range, great payoff, and are nice and moisturising too.

Chit Chat Juicy Lipsticks- These are great, and even better they are from poundland so a bargain! Don't be put off by that though, they are very pigmented, not at all drying, and have some lovey shades.
Lioele Lip Colour Sticks- This is a Korean brand that i got through ebay. The colour payoff is pretty good, and best of all it smells of strawberry milkshake! 
Ted Baker lipsticks- These were from an xmas giftset and to be honest are pretty disappointing. The colour is very sheer, and shimmer heavy.
Tony Moly Petite Bunny Gloss Bar- This wins on cuteness alone! Another Korean brand, this is a sheer tinted lipbalm, and you can get many different shades (each shade has a different bunny face!) I'm definitely planning on adding more to my collection!

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Review: NYC Smooth Skin Mousse Foundation

I've never really been a big fan of Mousse foundations, especially after trying the Maybelline Dream Matte Mousse. I never understood what all the fuss was about, i found it made my skin look mega dry (and my skin is combination/oily patches so that was some mean feat!)

After seeing this NYC version in Superdrug a while back i thought i'd give it a go. Straightaway, the first bad point is that it only has 3 different shades, which is pretty poor. Although i would usually always go for the lighter shade it ALWAYS seemed to me out of stock so i bought Natural Rose, which was the middle shade.

Surprisingly upon application it didn't come out too dark, as you can see in the picture, the colour match wasn't far off- Although this probably means those with darker skin tones may find this too light for them. I applied this with my Sigma round top kabuki brush- any brush or sponge that you can really buff into the skin will be perfect with this.

After some serious buffing the foundation blended really well, pretty much covering my freckles (i have tons of freckles and redness on my cheeks) and giving a nice medium coverage. It didn't feel too heavy on the skin (which i find the Maybelline version does) But throughout the day oily patches did emerge on my T-Zone.

As you can see in the close up picture it did cling to dry patches around my nose, and also on my forehead. I think this was partly down to the thick moussey texture, and also the amount of buffing needed to blend the foundation. I'd say if you have dry skin, this is definitely one to avoid! Other than that i was impressed with this foundation :)

I hope this review was helpful, and apologies for the huge close up pictures of my face!! You can buy this foundation in Superdrug for £3.99 (14g) The other shades are Natural Beige, and Sand Beige. Let me know if you've tried it.
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Bridal Make Up (my sisters wedding)

Last Saturday it was my little sisters wedding. It was an amazing day, and she looked beautiful. I did the wedding make up, and thought i would share a few pictures, and the products i used...

I always think the main aim with bridal make up is to make the face as fresh and glowing as possible. My sister wanted to add a slight retro pin up twist to the look with red lipstick, and eyeliner flicks. I like to use a mix of high end, and drugstore products.

Here are the products i used...

Face: MUA Undress Your Skin Primer, Diorskin Nude foundation shade 010, mixed with Topshop Skin Glow (brilliant product!), MUA Conceal & Brighten palette, Benefit High Beam, Look Beauty Fresh Cheeks in Melon (also amazing!) , Mac Select Sheer pressed powder.

Eyes: Urban Decay Primer Potion, Mac Paintpot in Bare Study, Mac fluidline in Blacktrack, MUA black waterproof mascara.

Lips: The Body Shop Shea lip butter, Look Beauty lip liner in Hyper Melon, Gosh lipstick in Lambada.

And i also used Soap & Glory Glow All Out on the decolletage.

The make up lasted brilliantly, and other than the lips everything still looked lovely at the end of the night after a lot of partying! 

DIY lip palette...

Lip palettes are a great space saver for bulky lipsticks, whether you're a make up artist or simply have a bazillion lipsticks! Rather than having tons of loose lipstick tubes, you can have all your colours in one easy to use case!

Below is my (almost) finished palette. I decided to make my first palette with MUA lipsticks, as they are cheap and if it didn't work out it wouldn't have been a disaster...

Making one is really easy. Here's what you'll need:

Lipsticks (obviously!)

A big metal spoon

A candle

An empty palette (i used this one from ebay: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/400257124545?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2649 for £2.51)

Something to scoop the lipsticks out with (i used clean nail scissors)

And if you are anthing like me baby wipes for spills!

All you need to do is scoop out your lipstick, and place it in the spoon. Hold the spoon over your lit candle, and wait for it to melt (it takes about 30 seconds). Then pour the liquid into your palette, and wait for it to set. It's as simple as that. I know some people use a microwave instead of the candle method, but either way make sure your lipstick doesn't burn, else it will be ruined!

As you can see i wasn't very steady handed when pouring the first few colours...but im pleased with how it turned out. I will definitely be making more of these palettes, next up i'm going to make one for my purples, oranges and crazy colours! 

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37 Facts about me tag!

I know the tag is 50 facts, but frankly i couldn't think of that many. So...

1. My name is Michelle, but most people i know call me Shell
2. I'm 26 years old
3. I am obsessed with Japanese culture, and collect kawaii stationery
4. My favourite film is Pulp Fiction (i love Quentin Tarantino)
5. I have a cheeky pet cat named Mr Lola:

6. I live in Birmingham, but i'm originally from London
7. I have freakishly small hands!
8. My favourite bands are Garbage, Queens of the Stone Age, Ladytron & The Smiths
9. I CANNOT walk in heels!
10. I trained as a make up artist with Sam & Nic of Pixiwoo
11. I like trashy horror films, particularly if they involve zombies!
12. My favourite lipstick is Mac's Russian Red
13. I have a phobia of needles
14.  I love anything vanilla scented
15. I hate early mornings
16. I have two younger sisters
17. I used to be a vegetarian
18. I love bargain hunting & charity shopping
19. Part of the reason i love going to the cinema is for the Ben & Jerrys :)
20. My fridge is never without Dairylea
21. If i ever get married i want it to be in Las Vegas, & conducted by an Elvis impersonator
22. I used to make music under the pseudonym Girl Afraid
23. I am obsessed with the TV show Buffy the Vampire Slayer
24. I hate lateness
25. As a kid i was a total tomboy, and used to love football
26. I have a terrible memory, so have to write everything down
27. My all time favourite item of clothing is my fake leopard fur coat
28. I am very competitive when it comes to games and quizzes (must win!)
29. My favourite manga is Deathnote (i love the film too)
30. I once got a detention in school because i couldn't stop laughing...
31. I love anything that involves peanut butter
32. I got sent home on my first day at a new job because i was wearing pink shoes
33. I am a homebody, and prefer a night in to a night out
34. I love all animals except for turkeys (when i was a kid one chased me & i thought it was going to kill me!!)
35. I hate the smell of lavender
36. I am the worlds biggest procrastinator 
37. My attention span          is        very


                      Short!

Dainty Doll Haul

When i heard fragrangedirect.co.uk were selling Dainty Doll make up at a cheap price i had to make an order. Or two! I love this make up range, the shades are perfect for my pale skin, and the packaging is very cute- but at full price i find them a bit too pricey.

Powder blush in Money Talks, Your Are My Sunshine, & My Girl.

Cream blush in Orange County Girl, & Paper Flowers.

Eyeshadows in Lollipops and Roses and Teach Me Tiger

Lipstick in Stripped, Storm in a Teacup and Baby Love

It's My Party and Hey Sailor!

Concealer in abracadabra 002 & 003, and Loose Mineral Foundation powder in 002

Everything was priced £1.99 except for the mineral foundation which was £2.99.
(^_^)

Review: Stargazer Baby Pink Hair Colour

Today i will be reviewing the Stargazer hair colour rinse in the colour 'baby pink'. This is amonia free, and claims to be 'an easy to use semi permanent hair colour with conditioner'. On the box it shows a lady with intensely vibrant, solid pink hair.

I was originally sent a bottle of this to review by a website which i will link below. I applied it to my (pre lightened hair, except for the obvious roots which i knew wouldn't colour! I like dark roots :) I'm strange!) and left it for the maximum 30 minutes, but was disappointed to find it hadn't really done anything. I didn't bother to take photo's of that attempt!

I ordered 2 more bottles, and thought i'd give them the benefit of the doubt- being my hair is fairly long so maybe i should use 2 bottles (although the box does say only for 'exceptionally long hair', which i don't class mine as.) 

Onto attempt 2....

So this is the outcome! As you can see it has come out very patchy, and there's lots of blonde bits that seem untouched. I would describe it as if i'd drawn on my hair with a highlighter. The top part of my head has come out mostly good, but it gets lighter and lighter on the lengths and ends.... :(

I think if it was to be used on hair any darker, it would pretty much have no effect!  Considering the picture on the box, and that they call it 'vibrant colour' i'd say that's very misleading.

You can really see the patchiness in this picture!

I did a bit of research online (when i say research i of course mean google and twitter!!) and found a lot of people had had similar experiences. Needless to say i swiftly put a different branded pink dye over the top (Rusk). 

Overall i found this particular hair dye disappointing.  Have you tried Stargazer hair dyes? How did you find them?

(^_^)

One of these dyes was kindly sent to me to review by www.beautifeye.co.uk, i bought the other 2 from the same website myself for £4 each. This website is worth a look, they sell lots of make up, hair dyes, and specialise in colour & crazy contact lenses. I have a few pairs i will be doing upcoming videos on, and they are brilliant! :)

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NOTD

I'm enjoying my new L'Oreal top coat confetti. I think it looks cute over pastel shades. Here I've used it over Etude House in Breathless Pink, and Cotton Candy by Fearne (Boots set).

Korean Make Up Haul...

I was very excited that my Korean make up order arrived in the post today! I love the cute packaging of Korean make up, everything looks so adorable.

This is the Etude House lovely cookie blusher in strawberry mousse, it comes with a cute powder puff.

This is from Etude Houses latest collection called 'Sweet Recipe' and it's a cupcake all over colour in peach sugar cake.

I also got an Etude House 'Dear My Party Nails' glitter topper nail polish, and a Holika Holika pig nose clear blackhead peeling massage gel.
I bought everything from a seller on Ebay called 'f2plus1' they have a huge selection of Korean make up with free postage. All this cost me just under £20, and they also included 2 Etude House fresh cherry tint samples, a Missha BB cream sample, and a satchet of TheFaceShops papaya peeling mask.

I can't wait to try it all (^_^)

Anyone else a fan of Korean cosmetics?

(Sellers shop: http://myworld.ebay.co.uk/f2plus1/&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2754)

Rimmel Match Perfection Creamy Compact Powder

This is my new favourite powder: Rimmel Match Perfection creamy compact in Ivory (the lightest shade). I must admit this was an impulse buy after struggling to find a 3rd Rimmel item to make the most of a 3 for 2 offer, but i do love a good face powder.

The thing that love about this is the shade. Personally i prefer a pigmented face powder as apposed to a translucent one. I find this works well over foundation to offer a little more coverage, and mattify any oily patches. This powder is also great for those days when you don't want to wear foundation, as it evens out and smoothes the skin nicely with little effort.

The powder works well on any skin type, but the creamy texture of the powder lends itself particularly well to dry skin without caking. I prefer to buff this into the skin, and find it very easy to blend with my Sigma flat top kabuki brush. I've found this powder will last on my face all day, although does include a compartment with a sponge for any on the go application.  

You can find this powder is Boots and Superdrug usually for £5.99
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