Maybelline 24HR Color Tattoo - 40 Permanent Taupe - Review + Swatches

I know these have been out in the States for a while now, but they've just been released here in the UK. However, I don't think they released as many colours as they have in the States. The only colours I saw in store was the taupe colour I'm reviewing, a bronze colour, a bright blue slash teal colour, and a gold colour. I've just checked out the Boots website and the colours in the Superdrug I was in stocked: And On Bronze, Eternal Gold, Turqouise Fvr, and the one I bought - Permanent Taupe. The other colours on the Boots website are: Endless Purple, Immortal Charcoal, and Eternal Silver. I believe the names have been changed as well as I am quite sure that this Permanent Taupe colour is the same as Tough As Taupe. 

If you don't know what these are - they are cream eyeshadows that are meant to last 24 hours. They can be used as a base to intensify any eyeshadow colours placed on top and to make them last longer, or it can be used on its own as an eyeshadow colour.

I really should have taken pictures before I swatched this, but I was just too excited. There wasn't a tester of this colour in store so I wanted to test this out to make sure that this was the Tough As Taupe colour. This is the only one I got, although I thought that the And On Bronze and Eternal Gold colours were beautiful too. I believe Boots and Superdrug are doing a 3 for 2 on Maybelline products and thinking about it now, I should have picked those two up >< However, I am supposed to be abstaining from purchasing any cosmetic products, which I have failed. But I really wanted to check it out and do a review ^^. I was pleasantly surprised to see that they are retailed at £4.99 each because I thought they would be around £6 each.

The top two pictures are what the cream shadows are like when first applied to the skin. The top left is with flash and the top left is without flash. The bottom two pictures are what it looks out when blended out (left without flash, and right with flash).

This taupe colour looks matte but it actually has really small flecks of glitter, but it is very subtle. This dried pretty quickly, so it's not as creamy as I thought it would be. They do blend pretty well though. I know they are comparable to MAC Paint Pots, but I don't slash have never owned any, so I can't comment as to whether or not that's true. What I can say is that I am super impressed with this product. I love the colour and I love that once it dries, it just does not budge. This is going to be GREAT for those with oilier lids, and for the hot summer time. I used Urban Decay Primer Potion and an eyeshadow from the Naked palette and by the time I reached work (around an hour later), my eyeshadow had already creased! I know this is going to happen a lot during the summer, so I am glad that I have this as an all-over lid colour. But now I'm a little bummed that I didn't take advantage of the 3 for 2 offer. I swatched the And On Bronze colour which reminded me a lot of Half Baked from the Naked palette and it when I washed my hands a few times (with soap of course!), it still didn't budge.

Overall, I think these Maybelline 24HR Color Tattoos are amazing. I would totally recommend on getting your hands on these! I know that this is going to be a handbag staple - it's quick and easy to use.
I would give this product:
❤❤❤❤❤ (5 out of 5 hearts) ^^

This is the first time I've given a product five stars, and well deserved I might add.

I feel like I won't need any more eyeshadows, all I need are these in a few colours and I am good to go! Perhaps when I finish my no makeup buying challenge, I will purchase 3 more of these =DD

And until next time..
- Diem xo

Models Own 'Concrete Mix' Nail Polish - Review + Swatch

I just finished painting my nails and thought I would do a blog post on the the colour. Apologies for the quality of my nails and how poorly I painted them. I'm desperately trying to grown them but they just keep breaking. Even though I use a nail repair base, it just doesn't seem to like me >< I was also watching NCIS whilst painting them so I got a little distracted - oops.

This is the first time I've used a Models Own nail polish and I've to say - I like. I actually own four Models Own nail polishes and this is the first one that I opened. I got this polish in a trio on asos.com for an absolute bargain of £5.50 (one polish is £5). As you can tell by the name of Concrete mixer, it's a concrete colour which is a matte nude grey colour. I'm liking the formula of this nail polish - the colour looks really creamy (if that were possible?!) When I paint my nails, I like to use medium-thick coats, but the trouble with that is that it could end up with air bubbles. I think I got one or two really unnoticeable air bubbles, and out of seven fingers that I painted, that's not too bad (I painted the other three fingers a different colour, as see in the above picture.) They dried pretty quickly (quicker than the other colour) and is really glossy. It didn't dry too quickly when I was painting them which is one of my pet hates in nail polishes. It didn't come out streaky and was pretty opaque. Although the picture shows my nails with two coats, I think if I was in a rush for time, I could have gotten away with just the one coat. The colour is very true to how it looks in the bottle.

Overall, I would give the Models Own 'Contrete Mixer':
❤❤❤❤♡ (4 out of 5 hearts) ^^

Hope you guys have been enjoying spring and daffodils, and until next time..

- Diem xo

HD Brows - Review + Swatches

As you may rememeber, many months ago,  people received a HD Brows kit in their Glossybox. I've just opened mine to check out if it's any good or not. The main reason why I cracked it open was because I wanted more matte colours - most of the neutral colours I have are all shimmery (blast you Naked palette for only having two matte colours).

Let's get started on the review:

The HD Brows palette is in 'Foxy' and comes with four colours:

Nude (first colour in swatch, top left in quad) - The lightest of the colours. I have natural black hair so I obviously won't be using this for my brows, but I will be using this colour to blend out my eyeshadows when I'm doing a smokey eye because it's quite close to my skin colour (as you can see in the swatch above).

Warm Brown (second colour in swatch, bottom left in quad) - this is a brown with very warm undertones. I use this for the outer half of my brows, as I find that using this for the whole of my brows leave them too dark. Although the swatch shows that it's not anywhere close to a natural black colour, it is actually a colour I would recommend for those with dark brown slash natural black hair.

Carbon (third colour in swatch, top right in quad) - Though it shares the same name as the matte black from MAC, it's actually an extremely dark brown colour. Although I have natural black hair, this is a colour that I CANNOT use - this is too dark for me and any attempt in using this will make my eyebrows look drawn on. Perhaps those who have thick brows will be able to get away with using this, but I sure as hell cannot. It may also be suitable for women of colour as the other colours may be too light on the skin (and too ashy looking). I will also be using this as an eyeshadow rather than for my brows - I don't have a dark matte brown eyeshadow colour in my collection.

Ash Brown (last in swatch, bottom right in quad) - although this colour looks quite light and taupe in the swatch, when applied to my brows, it actually is quite dark. I could definitely get away with using just this colour for the entire of my brows.

I find that this palette is perfect for filling in my brows, but I don't think it would be suitable for those who do not have dark brown slash natural black hair, even though this is described for brunettes. They have a palette called vamp which is said to be for dark hair, but I think palette is already dark enough for natural black hair. So if you have light or medium brown hair, I would suggest to get Bombshell which is meant for blondes.

I wouldn't use the brush it came with, but I wouldn't use the brush that most palettes come with so I don't really care about that. The eyeshadows(?) themselves are pretty nice. They are pigmented, finely milled, and feel very silky and smooth. They do crumble slightly when I use my angled brush (Real Techniques Brow Brush), but it's not too messy. I have also dropped this on laminated flooring and it didn't completely crumble (thank god!). The packaging is nice, it comes with a reasonably sized mirror - perhaps it could have been a bit slimmer and sleeker.

Overall, I am extremely happy with this quad, I think it's perfect for my brows as well as using for my brows. I'm not sure what 'Bombshell' and 'Vamp' compares, but I would definitely recommend this quad for those with dark brown to black hair. Unfortunately, when I went to their website, it was sold out. I think it did retail for £19.95, but hopefully they'll have more stock soon.

I would give the HD Brows
❤❤❤❤♡ (4 out of 5 hearts) ^^

I'm defo gonna get some good use out of these, and I'm extremely happy I was sent this in my Glossybox all those months ago.

Until next time..

- Diem xo

No Buying Makeup For The Next Month? + Makeup Collection/Storage

I must admit, I am completely addicted to buying makeup and I must stop. A lot of my makeup aren't even open because I already have loads open and I don't know how long it'll take for me to get through all my products! I've been giving away part of my unopened collection and throwing away really old products that I don't think I'm going to use anymore. I've probably given away slash thrown away around a quarter of my entire collection. I probably won't need anymore for a while, so I propose a self challenge of no buying makeup for AT LEAST the next month. Since getting into makeup, I don't think I've gone a month without getting ANYTHING. There's always a sale, or a free gift, or some sort of bargain, so I just spend, spend, spend. >< But no more, I say!

That means, no:
Makeup (Eyeliner, eyeshadow, blushes, foundation, etc)
Makeup brushes
Nail polishes
Lip Balms (even though I wanna try out the new Body Shop Born Lippy lip balm sticks)
Perfumes (with the exception of the new Nina Ricci fragrance which my mum will get at the airport - VAT free ^^)
Skincare products (face wash, makeup wipes, moisturisers etc.)
Body products (Shower gel, bath products, body lotions etc.)
Hair products (Hair sprays, gloss sprays, hair oils, etc.)

I have more than enough products to tide me over for the next three months - at least!

 In saying that, I've been waiting FOREVER for the Revlon Lip Butters and Maybelline Tattoo what-you-call its - if they come out, I will get them! Although, I know that the Revlon Lip Butters have sold out on Boots online =(( So I will buy them WHEN I can get my hands on them, but I was planning on getting only two of each, so that's not too bad. Actually, scratch that, I can get them when this challenge is over. I want to see how I last.

Here's a couple of snaps of my collection:

As you can, I don't need any more nail varnishes, I have all the basic colours, and then some! These are two nail polish stands that I got from my local nail supply wholesaler - and I love them! I had about 75 nail polishes, but I've given quite a few away to free up some space - I don't have enough rough on my drawer to fit another stand. I just ordered 24 nail stripers from eBay - for £8!! I only have one row free so I will have to store some somewhere else. My favourite nail polish brand would be either Barry M or the 17 Supreme Shine ones. I also just tried out a Andrea Fulerton (available at Superdrug) and it was pretty amazing too! Nails Inc disappoints me, and for the price, it's a complete waste of money. I would rather get something from ELF. The Nails Inc polishes I own mainly come free from magazines, I would never spend £11 on it. I think Essie is overpriced too, the colours are AMAZE, but I'm not too fond of some of the formulas, some can be too streaky. My absolute worst nail polish was a Collection 2000 Hot Looks (I think its called?) one. It was really cheap (£1.79) and it dried waaay to quickly, was too streaky, and no matter how thin a layer I applied, I always wound up with air bubbles. Now I've been told that they were a friend's favourite, so I was completely bafted. The ones she owned were metallic and maybe they were a different formula because the one I tried was a matte mint green one and after using it a few times, I gave up and gave it away.

I got this drawer from Ikea and its complete crap. If you put anything remotely heavy in it, the drawers collapse - don't get it! It has three drawers, and I did keep my unopened makeup products, hair and skincare products in here, but it got too heavy and the drawers would just collapse everytime I pulled one out. My makeup collection also grew so I ended up getting another drawer (which you will see below). The top drawer has some hair products in there - hair sprays, leave in conditioner, etc. and some random stuff, like blu tack - lol. The second drawer has makeup tools and false eyelashes. Makeup tools include eyelash curlers, puffs, new makeup brushes, etc. I cropped out the bottom drawer because it had too much junk in there - it contains my makeup bags, new body puffs, my shower cap, and other random stuff.

This drawer is where I keep a lot of my makeup. The first drawer contains most of my face and body skin care products which includes: makeup remover, makeup wipes, sunscreen, primers, moisturisers, deodrants, body lotions, etc. The second drawer contains unopened makeup products - eyeliners, eyeshadows, lipsticks, concealers, foundations, etc. The third drawer contains unopened face, body, hair products - body butters, shower gels, hair tamers, body scrubs, primers, etc. The bottom drawer contains empty packaging that I'm either saving to do reviews or comparisons as well as packaging I can save to return back to the store in exchange for a free product - Back to MAC, Lush. As you can see, the drawer is the most empty because I rarely use up a product, it just tends to get old and I throw it out. I hope to see that drawer a lot more full and the other drawers a lot less full before I start to buy any more products. I got this drawer from Morrisons, but I think you can get one similar to this at Wilkinson too. I think it cost around £15? It stores a lot too.

I also have a few other bath products stored elsewhere, they're pretty big and heavy and I didn't want to keep them in this drawer in case it got too heavy and it broke it, but the drawer is pretty sturdy. I also keep my nail polish stands on top of this drawer too ^^

This is where I keep my opened makeup. Apologies for the mess on top - I haven't had a chance to clear it out, I really should! The makeup brush holder is from ELF and cost me £6 (RRP: £12). I keep my face makeup brushes in the left, makeup tools and cheek brushes go in the middle, and eye brushes in the left. On top is too messy, The only things that should be on there are my ELF mist spray (completely useless btw), my Avon mini eye makeup remover, and my ELF kabuki brushes - the pink diamonte one is rubbish and rough and coarse, but the studio one is luuuuurvely. The top left drawer contains all my opened eyeliners and mascaras. The top middle drawer contains all my opened blushers. The top right drawer contains all my opened lipsticks. The right middle drawer contains all my opened foundations and bronzers. The left middle drawer contains all my opened eyeshadows and pigments. The bottom drawer contains a lot of junk - samples sachets, my false eyelash cases, my unopened contact lenses.

Let's see how long I can last without buying anymore - I must avoid bargains and sales! And I know Clinique are gonna have free gift with purchase soon, but I shan't be tempted. Sales and free gifts are always happening. I can wait until I NEED to get something before I buy.

Arghhh, this is gonna be hard!!!!!

Until next time..

- Diem xo

March Glossybox - Harrods Edition

I've been a subscriber to Glossybox for a while now - I think I signed up for the June box. They've had some hit and misses, but they're edition themed boxes (Christmas and Valentines) have been pretty awesome. So when I heard that the March box would be a 'mystery' box, I was more than intrigued. Each day, the Glossybox Facebook fan page were revealing a few letters each day and all the fans were trying to work out what this mystery box would contain. After a few days, people thought that the box was spelling out 'designer' and of course, it excited me. It was finally revealed that the letters spelt the word 'Knightsbridge' which could only mean one thing - HARRODS. All the items in our next box could be found in Harrods - exciting much?!

So, what did I get in my Harrods Glossybox - I know that the Glossybox team said that there will be variations so this is what I got in my box!

The Glossybox came in a white glossy box with the Glossybox logo and the Harrods logo at the bottom.

Inside of the box is the same but it had a Harrods green ribbon instead of the pink, and a Harrods sticker instead of the Glossybox one.

And now for the goodies! The first thing I saw was the YSL item and I was immediately excited. At first I thought it was a lipstick, but they come in a gold box so I was kind of disappointed, but hey, it's still a YSL product. It turned out to be the YSL - Forever Youth Liberator Serum. The next thing I saw was the Burberry item which I thought was going to be a miniture perfume but got really excited when I saw it was actually a mini lipstick! I've seen many YouTubes with Burberry lipsticks and knew I would never spend that much on a lipstick, but now I have a mini version (SO CUTE) that's the perfect size to pop in my handbag! The other three products were the Narciso Rogriguez - For Her eau de parfum, Molton Brown - Heavenly Ginger-Lily Moisture Bath & Shower, and the Clarins - Extra-Firming Body Cream.

Here is another look at the products in the Harrods' edition Glossybox.

 The YSL - Forever Youth Liberator Serum (5ml) is not something that I would use. I know people say that you should use anti aging products early on for preventative reasons, but I don't see myself using them until I'm at least 25. However, this is definitely not a waste or something I'm disappointed to have because my mum was super excited to be given this. Any anti aging products I receive in my beauty boxes go straight to my mum, who is a very happy receiver. She was more than happy to receive this product, especially because it was from YSL.

 The next item was a 50ml sample of Molton Brown Heavenly Ginger-Lily Moisture Bath and Shower Wash. I've never tried Molton Brown products before and I'm not a HUGE fan of ginger, but it is a perfect size for travelling and I'm intrigued to see how moisturising this will be. I'm sure I'll like it - I'm not a huge lover of bath products in my perfume, but at least I'll get some use out of it (unlike most of the perfumes). This will save me from buying travel sized bath products whenever I go travelling so I will save it for then.

 Also in the box is the Clarins - Extra Firming Body Cream. I've never used Clarins before, but it's a brand that I have been wanting to try out. I am happy to have gotten this in my box because who doesn't need an extra bit of firming in the body? Not sure how effective this will be, but I am excited to see if this works. And if it doesn't, it means that I didn't waste money on buying the full sized product and trying it out. This sample comes with 30ml of product which is a very decent sample size.

The next product is by far, my most favourite out the box, and perhaps of all the boxes I've received. The Burberry Miniture Lip Cover comes in the colour Rosewood No.4 and is a very nice rose-brown lipstick which a subtle hint of gold shimmer. From what I've seen on other blogs, there was a variation as to whether you received the Lip Cover or the Lip Mist. The Lip Mist is a sheer lipstick and came in the colour Copper. Although I prefer sheerer lipsticks over the more opaque ones, I feel like they don't last as long as lipsticks do. And seeing as this is such a luxury item, I would prefer to have an opaque lipstick over a sheer lipstick. I must admit that the copper colour looks absolutely gorgeous, but I have a similar colour in my lipstick collection so I'm not too disappointed. I love the packaging although it's a lot lighter than I expected. If memory serves me correctly, the full sized lipsticks have a magnet that locks the lid and lipstick together, I may be mistaken, but this is not present in the miniature lipstick. The actual lipstick also has the signature checkered pattern which I love! It's such a small detail but makes it all the more luxurious. The sample is 0.8g and the picture above depicts how far it winds up. All in all, I'm super happy about the lipstick and will definitely stay in my handbag.

As with most people, I'm sure, I HATE receiving perfume samples in my boxes. It's not just that it's so hard to cater for everybody's preference in fragrance, but it is such a cop out! I can easily get a free sample of this from anywhere! Unless it's a more substantial sample, I really think that this cannot be described as a luxury sample. If it were one of those bigger samples that come in the mini (and oh so cute) bottles, I wouldn't mind as much, even if I didn't like the scent. I've yet to receive a perfume sample that I like and would actually wear, let alone liking enough to purchase the full sized. I've seen other people received a Versace perfume that came in a miniature bottle, but oh well. I probably would have given it away anyway, so I guess this is all moot. I've smelled Narciso Rogriguez perfumes before and I am not a fan, at all. However, my mum said she doesn't mind it so this will be going to her.

Overall, I am happy with the box, I'm glad to see some high-end brands in the box, and I recognised all the brands that were in the box. I'm still going to stay subscribed to the Glossybox, but to tell you the truth, I'm unsure as to how long. I'm also subscribed to the Carmine box, and they also have some really good products in their box. I don't know whether or not I need to be subscribed to two beauty boxes a month, but I'm undecided as to which box I prefer. I'm also tempted to check out the Boudoir Prive and the Feel Unique box, but four boxes is definitely too excessive.

I hope you enjoyed reading about what I received in this month's Glossybox and maybe you can decide whether or not you want to subscribe. You can visit their website here. I think they've also started a Glossybox service over in the States so yay for all you Americans! And until next time..

- Diem xo