Beauty buys & smokey eyes

Here's what I've been up to for the past week or two.

#1 I went into Superdrug for one thing… I’ve seen this got2b styling powder everywhere so finally decided to give it a try. It does create volume that lasts for a while but it feels a bit sticky for my liking. The Superdrug’s own vitamin E body scrub is amazing - really big thick beads that feel like a massage when you rub them in, and I can’t quite put my finger on the smell but I can’t get enough of it. Decided it was time to look less like a ghost for the summer (fingers crossed there’s going to be one). I don’t get the attraction of smelling like food but I can’t find a better tan than the cocoa butter one, it always turns out perfectly even and doesn’t go patchy after a few days / showers. I treat this more like a self tan than a gradual tanner though, definitely wouldn’t use it every day. Needed a new liquid liner, this Collection one’s okay but no match for my usual Rimmel Exaggerate.

#2 and I couldn’t resist these new natural texture lashes from Eyelure! I bought them mainly out of curiosity as I thought they’d look either amazing or terrible. They are amazing if you like your makeup messy like I do, a little too thick for me though so I’m dying to try the thinner ones.

#3 I wore them to two of my friends’ joint birthday a few weeks ago, along with a new leather-look skater dress I’m obsessed with.

#4 On Wednesday I went to a Mexican themed party for my friend’s fiancé’s birthday- tequila is my favourite drink ever so I was in heaven. Had so much fun trying on various moustaches, playing battle shots and we even had a piñata!! No photos though unfortunately as I charged my camera but forgot my memory card :( 

#5 I bought the dark red carnations to wear in my hair to the party, when I put the rest in a vase I realised I’d forgotten how happy fresh flowers make me! Couldn’t resist the bright yellow ones when I saw them.

#6 This is Chanel Illusion d’Ombré in Mirifique, it’s a granite grey cream eyeshadow that you can build up to be almost black, and it’s very very sparkly. I’ve only ever worn it once before on New Year’s Eve but it’s so so so gorgeous.

#7 I used it to do a smokey eye look, building it up towards the lash line and blending it out across my eye lid. Mine has gone a little dry so it wasn't the easiest to work with, it took some blending but was well worth the effort.

#8 Here I am wearing it.

#9 I went to rock night \m/ with my friends and my boyfriend and his friends, plenty of drinking and dancing and it lasted all night ;)

I hope you're all well! I have deadlines and exams coming up but I'll try and post whenever I can.

Much love

Sophie xxx

Something for the weekend

Hey guys, here’s a look I put together to meet some friends I hadn’t seen in far too long for Bella Italia and drinks.

Urban Decay Book of Shadows IV

I did a goldy browny smokey eye using my Urban Decay Book of Shadows IV, this was originally around £40 from Urban Decay at Debenhams - as far as I know they don’t carry it anymore but you might be able to find one knocking around Ebay or somewhere! 

I used Baked, Bust, Sin and Midnight rodeo:

Swatches of Urban Decay eyeshadows in Baked, Bust, Sin and Midnight Rodeo (Left to right)

Baked is a gorgeous shimmery, brassy gold with orangey undertones, ‘Bust’ is a really soft, satin medium brown with pinky-purpley undertones, ‘Sin’ is a beautiful soft shimmery rose pink, and ‘Midnight rodeo’ is a shimmery medium brown with glitter particles.

Here’s what I did:

• Smoothed some Urban Decay Primer Potion (in Original - £14.50) over my eyelid with my finger, as I find that UD shadows work best and last longer with their primer underneath.
• Packed Baked onto my lid with a packing brush, and really layered it up to get a strong colour, all the way from my lash line to my socket line.

• Blended Bust into the outer corners and about half way across my socket line with my trusty Mac 239, winging it out slightly.
•  Took some Bust underneath the eye to add some definition.
• Tight-lined my upper waterline in a black eyeliner (Smolder by Mac - £14.00) and a really thin line of a dark brown kohl (Black Brown by Elizabeth Arden) on the top lash line, which I really smudged out and blended up into the shadow.
• If I could find my nude kohl pencil I would have used this on my lower waterline!
• Finished off with plenty of black mascara (Maybelline The Falsies Black Drama - £7.99)
• and just a touch of Urban Decay Sin as a highlight on my brow bone, blended down into the shadow underneath with a clean 239.

And here’s my face!

I went for my current favourite pinky nude lipstick – Hue by Mac (£14.00) and topped off with a super thick, light-reflecting gloss:  Angel Food Cake by Bare Minerals, as it’s so wet looking and glossy (if a little sticky!).

I wore one of my new black shift dresses (as discussed here) with lacy shoulder panels and ¾ sleeves.

I let my hair fall loose in my usual messy natural curls and finished off the look with my trusty black heeled shoe boots (New Look).

Thanks for reading guys I hope you liked the look! What are your plans for the weekend??

Sophie xxx