17 Vintage Love collection

17 have done it again! A new limited edition collection with some great pieces. As ever, I got pulled in by their 3 for 2 offer, and ended up getting six items from the new collection.

I just love all the shades, and the packaging of the eye palette. There were a few more nail polishes in the collection, and I think a lip gloss too.

Blusher in first kiss, eye palette in metallic nude, blusher in first flush. Even the names of the blushers are great!  I love all of these products, they are the usual high quality and value found in 17 products (£3.49 for blusher, £5.49 for eye palette). The shades are perfect for spring make up looks.

L-R First Kiss, First Flush.
Not the best photo, but you can see that first flush is very pigmented, and gives a lovely rosy glow when applied lightly. First kiss is alot lighter, and so might need a heaver application on some skin tones.

I stupidly didn't note which colour is which in the palette, but there is a great range. The shadows are all very creamy, and have a great metallic shimmer. They didn't last amazingly well when I wore them, so I would recommend using a good primer.

L-R Sweet Kisses, Woo Me, Heart Beat.

Again, not the best photo, buy hey. Sweet kisses is more pink than the photo shows. I love pastel shades for my nails, and although I have quite a few bright ones for the summer, I love that these are more subdued. My nails are in a terrible state just now, and I feel that light nail polish doesn't draw as much attention to them! The nail polishes were £2.99 each.

Did you get anything from the vintage love collection?

Barbara Daly concealer and eye base

L-R eye base, concealer.

This was a sneaky wee purchase a made a while back in Tesco, while there was an offer on Barbara Daly make up. These are the first things I have tried from the range, and I am pretty impressed. Unfortunately I can't remember how much I paid for them, and as I don't have a big Tesco near me here, I can't check the price. I am pretty sure both items are under £4 full price, and I got them with 20% off. I must remember to keep receipts in the future.

On to the actual products I got, which were an eye base and concealer. I have to admit, I thought this product was a primer until 2 seconds ago when I checked the label. I read recently that eye bases and primers are not the same, so maybe I have been using this wrongly, or expecting more from it than I should. I think I read that you should put a primer on before an eye base, but I didn't when I used it, thinking it was a primer. The package states that it 'Evens out eyelids and increases the wear and blendability of eyeshadows. Great as an ultra-light concealer too' So from that description it does sound like a primer. Anyway, however its supposed to be used, I used it straight on my eyelid, and then applied my eyeshadow on top. I like the fact that it is in pan form, as the other primer I have is in a tube (e.l.f). I think with a pan its easier to just add the amount you want. It blends on to the eyelid easily, and has that strange, wet but also dry feel that most primers have. The first time I used it I was amazed, I used it with a 17 shadow, and it lasted all day with no creasing. I have since used it with a few different eye shadows with variable effectiveness. Overall though, I think it is better than the e.l.f primer, although it is a little more expensive. Recently Bicky sent me a sample size of Urban Decay's legendary primer potion, as an extra in a giveaway prize, so I now have another primer to test out. In terms of shade, you can see from the swatch below that it is fairly light, but I think it would blend in and suit most skin tones.

L-R eye base, concealer.

The other product I got was a concealer, in fair. For some reason I have been wanting a pan form of concealer for ages, as I only have stick or liquid ones. This style is very handy to apply with a brush, and again easy to control amounts. I have tried the concealer on blemishes, and under eye, and it does cover up well. It did end up looking a bit cakey by the end of the day, so perhaps I need to apply more powder on top. The light shade is very light, so it is good for pale scottish skin like mine. I might even need the next shade up if I get any sun over the summer. Although this was ok under the eye, I will probably stick to using actual under eye concealer for there, and keep this for blemishes and red spots.

Overall, I am impressed with these products, and am glad I gave the range a try. I had another look last time I was in the Tesco at my bf's, but nothing stood out to me. Maybe if there is another offer on I will try something else!

Have you tried anything from the Barbara Daly range?

Or any other supermarket gems you have found?

Also, can you clear up my eye base/ primer dilemma? 

My e.l.f brush collection

I'm a little ashamed to admit that before I started blogging, I only owned 2 or 3 make up brushes, and generally just used sponge applicators and the like. Now however, I have quite a collection, most of which are from e.l.f (eyeslipsface). I have brushes from both the regular and studio ranges, with the regular brushes being priced at £1.50, and the studio ones at £3.50. I have quite a few brushes, so this post is quite long, but I wanted to give you my thoughts on them all. Some of the brushes I only bought last week, so haven't tried them all yet, but others I have had for some time.

Regular range

Eye brushes

L-R Defining eye brush, blending eye brush, 2x eye shadow brush, eye liner brush, smudge eye sponge, eye crease brush and concealer brush.

I really like the regular range eye brushes. They are a bargain at £1.50, and work well. I have had the defining eye brush, eye shadow brush and eyeliner brush for a while now, and use them every time I do my make up. In fact, I like the eye shadow brush so much I bought another. The others are from my recent purchase, but so far they all seem really good too. I wasn't sure what the smudge eye spinge would be like, as I thought it was a brush when I ordered, as it says that on the main page, but then says sponge when you click on it. However, it isn't a sponge like the sponge applicators you get, its more rubbery than that, and I think it will be good for smudging eye liner.

One thing to note about the regular line eye brushes, is that they can vary in appearence quite a bit. They can look quite different from the website, and from each other if you get multiples. Case in point, my two eye shadow brushes-

Apparently the same brush, but really quite different. The only other complaint I would have with these brushes is that they do come apart quite easily, as  in 2 of mine the handle has come out. This can easily be fixed though, and for the price I think they are great.

Face brushes

L-R Fan brush, foundation brush, total face brush.

I have to say, I have been quite disappointed with the face brushes from the regular range. I bought the foundation and total face brushes a while ago, and they haven't had much use. The foundation brush is quite stiff, and it just made my foundation look streaky. It could be my technique, so maybe I should try it again. The total face brush is ok, but feels a bit rough, and hasn't got much softer after washing a few times. I bought the fan brush last week, but just to use for putting face masks on. For that, it works a treat! So, I wouldn't really recommend getting face brushes from the regular range, I much prefer the ones in the studio range.

Studio range

L-R Fan brush, Blush brush, Complexion brush, Powder brush, Studio stipple brush.

As you can see, the studio brushes are made of a much softer, synthetic hair. This means they feel much nicer on the face, and I think give better application. The fan brush I haven't really used, even though it was one of the first ones I got. I think I like the idea of fan brushes as they look cool, but I am not so sure of what to really use them for. I think they work well with things like highlight, so I will need to try that out. The blush and complexion brushes I use daily, to apply blush and powder, and I love them. The next brush, the powder brush, I am sure you have read about on other blogs. I haven't ever actually used it to apply powder, as like most people, I use it for liquid foundation. It works amazingly for this, as it is very dense and allows you to buff on your foundation. A must have brush! Finally, the stipple brush. As soon as I saw this was released, I wanted it, but it was sold out for ages. I finally got it last week, but haven't actually used it yet. It feels very soft, but not very dense, so I don't think it would be great for liquid foundation as it suggests,but I am looking forward to trying it with my cream blushes.

Phew, that took a while. I hope this look at my brushes has helped somehow, and if you have any questions about any of the brushes, please ask.

Do you love any e.l.f brushes that I haven't tried yet?

No 7 Exquisite Curl Mascara review

Yes, I am late doing this review, and you have probably already read a million of them. Anyway, I was lucky enough to be offered the chance to review the new No 7 mascara, exquisite curl. This is the first No 7 mascara I have tried,and I was interested to see how it would fare against my current mascara of choice, Maybelline's The Falsies. 

First up, I like the packaging, it looks pretty classy, which fits in with the market No 7 are aiming for.

The brush itself is made of fibres (not sure thats the right word, I mean its not rubbery), and is a curved shape, not unlike the maybelline one I already have. In terms of application, I found the brush easy to use, on both top and bottom lashes. Importantly, there isn't really any clumping, something which I find very annoying in mascara.

The mascara in action-

My naked, tiny wee lashes.

One coat of exquisite curl.

Two coats.

Both eyes with 2 coats.

Exquisite curl costs £13.00, from boots. Currently there is an offer on where you get a free eye palette with 3 shadows in when you buy the mascara, and you can use a £5 off voucher.

Overall, I like this mascara. It gives my lashes volume, and some curl, without looking too heavy or clumpy. I prefer a more natural, understated mascara, and this is perfect for that. I think I prefer this mascara to my maybelline the falsies for day time. If you like a heavy, very dark and voluminous look, exquisite curls may not suit you. Would I buy it again? Probably not. The full price of £13 is above what I would normally pay for a mascara, and I wasn't so bowled over that I would want to pay that price. With a £5 off voucher, the price of £8 seems more acceptable. However, I am fickle when it comes to mascara, and I don't think I have ever bought the same mascara twice, as there is always a newer, more exciting one on the market. Since I started blogging, this has only got worse, and I now have a backlog of mascaras waiting to be used.

If you, like me, like to try a new mascara every time, get in quick with a money off voucher, and then you can give this a go, and get a bonus palette.

Have you tried this mascara? Do you like it?



Disclaimer: This product was a PR sample, but this did not affect my review in any way.

Whats happening, cupcake?

Long time no speak! Things have been getting really stressful with uni, its under a month until my dissertation deadline. I decided to stop feeling guilty about not blogging, and get back into it when I was ready. Seems the time is now!
I thought I would tell you about the cupcake course I went on this saturday. My lovely boyfriend got it for me for my birthday, and it was at Bibi's bakery which I have mentioned on here before. It is our favourite cupcake shop  which is in St Andrews, but they have recently opened a shop in Edinburgh too.

I have to say, I am pretty pleased with my efforts. The class was all day, and we made all the decorations in the morning, and then learnt how to do the piping in the afternoon.

I have now ordered some tools and things on ebay, so should be able to recreate these at home now. It was a really great day, and although it was fairly pricey, I think it was worth it.

If you would  like a post with some tips I learnt, please do let me know.