NYX Custom Eyeshadow Palette

The brand new NYX counter at Boots Cardiff is truly amazing. It's a color lover's heaven, especially when it comes to eyeshadow. They have every color you could want and in both regular and refillable formats. I really like it when brands make their eyeshadow in refills as if you have a lot of them you can put them all in one palette.

NYX sell both 4 and 9 color empty palettes allowing you to customize them. There were quite a few colors I liked, so I just got myself an empty 9 color palette and found 9 refills to fill it with. 

Top - Galactic,  Electroshock, Turn It Up
Middle - Electric, Kandi, Poolside
Bottom - Butterscotch, Money Maker, Diamond Lust

After using all of them I think the pigments are amazing, you don't need to use a lot to get the colors to show up and they all have a nice soft texture to them. The mattes don't feel dry either which is a good thing.

Blending was really easy too and I had a lot of fun creating different looks with this palette.

Once on they didn't crease or fade and stayed on all day.

Urban Decay Alice In Wonderland Lipstick

Recently Urban Decay released an amazing Alice In Wonderland themed collection. To go with the eyeshadow palette, the brand have also released a small collection of limited edition lipsticks. If like me you love dramatic and crazy colors, you are in for a treat with the colors from this collection.

The color I liked best is called Time and is a shimmering dark blue lipstick. It also comes in limited edition packaging for the collection.

This has to be the most unusual color in the collection and my favorite. It really is one of colors you can have fun with, and definitely one for the person who likes to experiment with color. 

Now this lipstick has amazing pigment to it. It goes on nice and smooth too and doesn't take a lot of work to get intense color. Although not a matte, it does have pretty good staying power. Once on it stayed on for most of the day and didn't need much reapplying later on in the day.

It looks amazing on too. Check out this color.

The Problem With Makeup Testers

So my last post I did really gave me some inspiration for something to write about. I'm pretty sure anyone who's been in a makeup store like Boots or Superdrug really knows what I am talking about. And it's nothing to do with the staff, but much to do with a number of customers who shop there.

You can probably guess what i'm talking about, this certain type of customer who treats the testers like they are there own personal stash. People who insist on trying the makeup on out of the testers and see no problem with doing it. You people are a complete menace and the reason why nasty skin infections like impetigo and conjunctivitis exist.

Now I understand that not all makeup shoppers are the same and thankfully there are many that when using a tester just swatch on the back of the hand or arm. If they want to try anything on they just get the staff on counter to do it or ask for some applicators. That is completely fine and nothing wrong with that. But seriously why do some shoppers insist on grabbing a lipstick and just shoving it straight onto the lips without even cleaning it first. You don't know where that tester has been or who's mouth it has been on. To the person who went shopping and was like 'I have to try that color, so i'm going to put it straight on my lips.' Guess what. The person 10 minutes before you did just the same thing and they had a nasty cold sore on the face and what's even better, you're going to have it too.

Yesterday I had a look at the shiny new NYX counter that has opened up in Boots in Queen Street. The counter looks fantastic and has loads of colors to play with. The thing that really bugged me wasn't the crowds of people or how hard it was to get past everyone. No, it wasn't even spending a lot of money there or the heavy rain shower that just went by. It was the stupidity of a small number of people shopping at the counter. One of them grabs a lipstick and is directly putting it onto her lips like it's her own lippie. Her friend went and did the same with another color. These people are the scourge of beauty counters, they spread infections and make the tester all nasty and grubby. It's thanks to them infections are spread easily. And what happens when they get impetigo, they go to a solicitor and try to sue the makeup company. When it wasn't the fault of the company but their own stupid behavior. If those people had one brain cell it would be lonely.

There is a very good reason why when you get your makeup done at a counter, the brushes are always cleaned before. It's to stop cross contamination. As a makeup artist myself I know the importance of keeping your products and tools clean. If I had a client that had a nasty cold sore, conjunctivitis or even impetigo, I wouldn't even bother doing their makeup as it's just not worth it. 

One of the big makeup counters where people like to apply lipsticks to themselves is at MAC. Now I have seen people going up to some of the products and applying them straight on, but if any of the staff at MAC see you doing it they will rightfully disinfect the product first so it is nice and clean for you. This is just how it should be and i'm pretty sure if the staff at NYX saw some of the customers yesterday they would insist on it too. This only really happens at manned counters where you get staff keeping an eye on everything. Cleaning products first is never heard of at Rimmel and Maybelline, unfortunately. 

Talking about MAC, some woman in America claimed that she got an infection from a lipstick she had tried on at a Rihanna concert. Apparently the person who put it on her didn't use a disposable brush. If this was true it's really bad practice especially from a company like MAC, which is probably why they do get quite fussy about hygiene as getting sued really is no fun.

So although it may seem harmless just grabbing a tester and just putting it on your lips, it really isn't worth it. I honestly don't know what goes through some people's minds.

The Opening Of NYX Cardiff

A few weeks ago I had heard that NYX were opening a counter in Boots Cardiff. I've tried a few NYX products before but could only really get them online as they didn't really sell the brand in many stores over here. 

Yesterday when I was shopping in Cardiff I did notice that NYX had finally landed in Boots. The counter or counters as I should say were not surprisingly, extremely busy. I didn't expect NYX to have that many items for sale. I honestly thought it would just be a small counter with a limited amount of stock. I was completely wrong, NYX managed to take up quite a bit of space, which is a fantastic thing. It meant that they had the full product range as well as staff on hand to help you look for any colors you need as well as applying anything you wanted to try on.

For someone like me who loves their color, this was heaven. I really like the Macaron lipsticks NYX do and I was really glad to be able see the full range of colors from that collection. They had the Wicked lipsticks too which are perfect for people who love metallics. 

One thing that really did bug me was some of the customers on the counter. I know this isn't just NYX it happens to but other brands too. Some people really have no concept of hygiene and were actually getting the lipstick, gloss and just applying it straight out of the tube. I'm pretty sure NYX had some applicators around where you could put on some color without any contamination. Seriously though, why do people even do that, then they are the first to complain when they get a skin infection. If you want to try color on, ask one of the staff and they will either apply it for you or give you an applicator. I heard about someone getting a nasty skin infection from MAC once because she applied the color straight out of the tube. I could rant about this all day and I think I will in a separate post. It isn't NYX's fault but some of the brain dead people who go to Boots. 

NYX were also giving out free wristbands so you could meet some well known people from Instagram. I passed on the opportunity as I was really busy.

The new counter is superb and definitely worth a visit as you will not be disappointed.

Yankee Candle Vs Village Candle

Scented candles are really popular at the moment and one brand i've been liking lately is Yankee Candle. They do a good range of scents in all different types of candle. From large jar candles to samplers, there is something for everyone.

The other month when I was shopping, this other range of candles really caught my eye. At first glance I thought it was Yankee, but turned out to be a completely different brand altogether called Village Candle. They look almost identical, very similar packaging and have designs on the candles too. They do however have their differences and do completely different scents. I decided to try some of their scents out.

Village, like Yankee offer three different sizes of jar candle, samplers, tea lights and even wax melts.

Village Candle

Yankee Candle

Unlike Yankee, Village candles have two wicks instead of one. At first I was a bit curious about the two wick thing. I've only really used one wick, so two was something different to me. Village also do scents that Yankee don't such as Rio Carnival, Margarita and Warm Buttered Bread.

Not only are the candles different, Village ones seem to be cheaper too as you get more for your money. A small jar candle at Yankee can cost £8.99 and you get 104g. Village's small jar candles are bigger at 701g and are £9.99.

Tropical Getaway
This one is definitely a scent for summer and is scented with coconut and pineapple. It's quite a strong scent and you can sort of smell it not long into burning. The two wicks these candles have create a larger wax pool and make the scent more noticeable. The scent got stronger the longer I burnt it and reminded me a lot of cocktails with Malibu. 

Warm Buttered Bread
This one has exactly the described scent - warm buttered bread. It's a really nice warm scent and does actually remind me of taking freshly baked bread out of the oven. It's not a seasonal scent, although this is just the scent you need on a cold, wet day in winter.

Both brands offer a good product range, although after trying these Village Candles, I do sort of prefer them to Yankee. The scents are definitely stronger due to the two wicks and it stays in the room much longer too. I could still smell the scent two days after I burnt the candle. The wax pool goes to the edge of the jar much better with Village. Even after burning a small Yankee candle for hours, you still don't get the pool going completely to the edge.

I still like the scents that Yankee bring out and I will continue to buy their candles. Out of the two I definitely think Village is better.

Benefit Hoola Goodies

Those of you who are familiar with Benefit, will know that they do a really awesome bronzer called Hoola. This year they released a brand new range of products all themed on Hoola. Now available are Zero Tanlines Body Bronzer, Dew The Hoola Liquid Bronzer and Hoola Bronzing and Contouring Brush. Also available online is a personalized Hoola. You can have your name put on the box, which I think sounds great.

I saw the new items when I was shopping in Debenhams. I decided to get the Hoola Bronzing and Contouring Brush along with Dew The Hoola. I do love a gift with purchase and when you bought two items from the Hoola range you got this makeup bag for free.

It's a really nice makeup bag and looks great for summer. It's a good size too and is great for storing all of your essential products and even brushes in.

Dew The Hoola

This is a liquid bronzer and is described as a soft matte color. Unlike the body bronzer this one is only really designed for the face. It comes in a really nice gold tube with a pump applicator. I really like the design as the applicator allows you to get just the amount you need and is zero mess too.

This liquid bronzer gives your face a year-round glow without the gleam. The smoothing effects and lightweight texture melt in for a shimmerless, natural look that’s so sheer, it’ll have you saying hoola-la!

I like to mix this in with my foundation to give my skin a nice warm glow to it. If mixed in with your moisturizer it also makes a good tinted moisturizer too. It's also possible to dab a bit of this onto your cheekbones too if you like a bit of a glow but not an all over look.

As it is a liquid it is best to use this before powdering as creams/liquids on top of powder do tend to go a bit patchy. Once on it does keep you glowing all through the day.

Hoola Bronzing And Contouring Brush

Also new for this collection is the Hoola Bronzing And Contouring Brush. To keep in with the Hoola theme it's this really nice gold color and has the softest hairs ever on a brush. It's so soft it doesn't actually feel like a brush when you put it against your skin.

It's a really good all around brush for bronzing. I like to use it to apply blusher too but don't really like to contour with it. Theres no reason why you couldn't contour with it, for me it's just personal preference. When I contour I like to use a flat brush as it makes it a lot easier for me.

Benefit High Brow

Brows are all the rage right now and finding the right products is a must for getting those brows perfect. There are many different products around right now and one I tried recently is High Brow by Benefit. My favorite product for brows is Dipbrow Pomade by Anastasia Beverly Hills. It's fantastic for coloring in your brows, but if you want your brows to look amazing, finishing off is really important. This is where High Brow comes in.

High Brow is described as a brow lift pencil. It's got a really creamy texture and has a linen pink hue to it. Once you have shaped your brows you basically get this pencil and highlight around them. It's great because it neatens up the brows and gets them looking fantastic. 

The highlight isn't too harsh too and has just the right amount of color to get those eyes standing out. The pigment is amazing and it doesn't take a lot of effort to use it.

High Brow is definitely my product of choice for when I fill my brows in. You wouldn't think that a pencil like this could make so much difference to your brows, but it really does. 

Miss Patisserie Box Of Bath Balls

In the Miss Patisserie blogger event on Saturday I decided to grab a box of bath balls. I love bath balls as they make some really awesome color effects in the bath. I've used quite a few of the ones from Miss Patisserie before and I noticed some brand new ones too. You an buy them individually or you can have a box of four. The ones I decided to get were Unicorn Hoof, Kyoto, Limelight and Pink Pepper.

Unicorn Hoof
Colored with blue, pink and yellow, you can tell that this one is bound to give a really colorful bath just by looking at it. It's not your standard bath ball shape either and does seem to look a bit smaller at first. Looks can be deceiving though as once dropped into the water it does give an amazing show of color. The colors appear right away and while the blue stays constantly in the middle, yellow and pink swirl out around the water. The more it fizzes the more effects there are. In the pink and blue a marble sort of pattern appears. Towards the end the bath ball splits in two with pink and yellow doing their own thing. The scent of this one is sweet blossom and peach.

Kyoto
This is another colorful one and unlike Unicorn Hoof this one works very fast. As soon as it is dropped in the bath, lilac and purple fizz and bubble, creating their own patterns. Halfway through, some blue starts to appear to create a really unique effect. Words cannot describe how amazing this one is. It has a floral scent to it too with peach blossom, orchid and honeysuckle. 

Limelight
Although not as colorful as Unicorn Hoof and Kyoto, this one still manages to deliver some color. Once dropped in the water, it starts to foam green before some pink gradually appears. Scented with lime and tiare flower, this is one of those medium speed bath balls, it's not fast like Kyoto but not very slow either. Halfway through, the green and pink foam begins to swirl and create its own pattern. Before it finishes fizzing the ball separates in two - pink/green and pink/yellow.

Pink Pepper
This is the least colorful out of the four and doesn't really have any amazing color effects. Once dropped into the water it immediately turns your water a bright pink color. As color goes, that is all this one really does. I would say this one is more of a scent experience rather than color. As soon as it is dropped the room is filled with this most amazing scent of pepper, vanilla and musk. It's a great scent at the end of the day as it is nice and warming. Pink Pepper also comes with this flower that floats around the water once it starts fizzing.

This is another great selection of bath balls and I enjoyed using them all. My favorite out of them all had to be Kyoto as the colors looked amazing.