Beauty ¦ The one sweep wonders

Now don't get me wrong I love a complicated smokey eye with 7 different shades of maroon but early in the morning my brain doesn't really co-operate so it's all a bit much for me so today I decided I would show you the eyeshadow shades I reach for when I just want a bit of colour to sweep across my lids. 

I couldn't write a post about eyeshadow without mentioning my Urban decay naked palette now could I? Half baked is the most amazing shade to use if you want to dress your makeup up a little bit. I wore it a lot at christmas time as it's the perfect easy but a little bit glitzy shade. 

The Balm D3 is a much cooler gold compared to Half baked. It's a little bit sheerer and it just leaves the most gorgeous sheer wash of gold over the lid. I've actually been wearing this a lot for school as it is nice and subtle. You can expect to see a review of this palette soon! 

Mac All that glitters is a new shadow in my collection but I've been reaching for it so often as it is just so easy to sweep across the lid. A very similar shade is the Body shop Honeycomb eye shadow which is from the shimmer cube in 06 it reminds me a lot of all that glitters just with a little bit more orangey bronzeyness. The final shade I have is the Maybelline on and on bronze colour tattoo which is the easiest eyeshadow in the world and I tend to reach for it when i'm in a big rush. 

 From left to right - Urban decay Half baked - The Body shop Honeycomb - Mac All that glitters - Maybelline on and on bronze - The Balm D3 

Beauty ¦ Nars Virtual domination

 Santa did pretty good this year. I asked my nana and grandad for this and I can't quite believe they managed to get it. I practically screamed on christmas day. I mean just look at it, the outer packaging is stunning and feels really sturdy and expensive. In previous years the christmas palettes from nars have had 6 products in but I quite like the fact that the bronzer is twice the size it actually means that you get more laguna than you would if you buy a full size. That would set you back £27 before even thinking about the blushes so its a pretty good deal for £45. Packaging aside lets get on to what you really want to hear about! 

Miss liberty is a super glittery highlight. If you are in the market for a nice subtle everyday highlight this is not for you. It's a gorgeous peachy shade but in all honesty I do wish that it had a little less glitter. The other two permanent shades are Deep throat which is my favourite blush shade out of the palette it is a really pretty muted corally pink shade with gold glitter in it and I am just so in love with it. I think I was probably most excited to finally be able to try Laguna it's not overly orange and despite it having a little bit of shimmer in it i've been using it for contouring as on the skin the shimmer is not detectable on the skin. The two limited edition shades are Sex fantasy which is a really subtle matte pinky lavender shade which I wasn't sure about when it was in the pan but on the skin I really like it. The final shade in the palette is Final cut is the other matte shade and its an amazing peachy coral. These matte shades are both beautiful, not overly powdery, have amazing pigmentation and blend into the skin beautifully. 

From left to right - Miss liberty - Sex fantasy - Deep throat - Final cut - Laguna 

Beauty ¦ The at home Mani-Pedi

I love a good salon manicure as much as the next girl but when it comes to people touching my feet I'd much rather do a little DIY pedicure so today I thought I'd show you some of the products I used last weekend when I had a little pamper. 

Lets face it feet are just a bit gross in general but if your feet are anything like mine they have ended up a bit battered from to many pairs of heels over the party season. The Micro pedi is perfect for getting rid of any hard skin with ease. I also really like to scrub my feet with the Body shop peppermint foot scrub which if you read my empties post you will know I just finished. I then like to file all my nails and I use a 4 way file and buffer to make sure my nails are ready for the polish. 

Polish wise I start of with the P2 anti split base coat and then use my polish. For this particular Mani-Pedi I went for Nails inc Richmond which is the most beautiful pearly pink shade on my toes and Models own Pink fizz which is a stunning pink glitter on my fingers. I then top them off with the Nail magic Wet high gloss topcoat and sit and watch some youtube whilst I wait for them to dry. 

Once they are dry I like to use the Soap and glory Heel genius on my feet, at this point I like to give them a nice massage and then put on some socks to hold in all the moisture from the cream. On my hands I used the Soap and glory Hand dream super cream massaging it into my cuticles and really slathering it on to moisturize my hands. 

As you can see from the image above this is the finished manicure. 

What are your favourite Mani-Pedi products? 

Beauty ¦ My Mac palette

Since I started blogging I've wanted a Mac palette and for christmas this year I finally got a quad. I've had a lot of interest on my instagram and on my what I got for christmas post so I thought I would do a post! 

In terms of pigmentation I've been really impressed, something I have noticed though is that they aren't quite as creamy as urban decay shadows (Which are my all time favourites) In terms of longevity they last well but as with all eyeshadows there wear time is prolonged. I find they last about 6 hours without any fading/creasing without a primer and about 8 hours with a primer.

The first shade I picked out was Patina which is the most beautiful golden brown shade. I've been loving sweeping this one over the lid and then using one of the other shades I got on the outer v and through the crease.

All that glitters is probably my favourite shade in my palette. It's a gorgeous pinky champagne shade (In the photo below it's coming across much more peachy than it is in real life.) I love this one just sweeped all over the lid on it's own as just a little hint of colour.

Woodwinked is one of the most hyped shades in the blogosphere and I completely get the hype. It looks amazing on it's own as it tends to settle a little darker in the crease. I think i'm going to get a lot of year out of it in the summer as it's the most amazing summery bronze goddess type shade. 

The final shade in my palette is satin taupe, i've been wearing this with patina and I really love the way they look together. It's the perfect shade to add a bit of dimension in the crease, it also looks gorgeous smoked along the lower lash line.