Swatches: ASOS Beauty Box (November)

In September ASOS launched their very first beauty box to coincide with their new, own-brand makeup line and revamp of the current beauty department (now known as "Face + Body"). I've been tempted each time as there's 5 items inside, priced at £12 and there's no subscription, you just buy it outright if you like it that month. It's taken until this month for me to go for it.  This time it contained (all full-size) items from their own-brand range rather than other brands. I'm always keen to trial new stuff, so this seemed like the perfect ooportunity. The box is incredible value for money with the palette alone retailing for £12. Yep, the liquid lipstick, mascara, blusher and eyeliner are all free. The whole makeup line is affordable anyway, but it's still a £29 saving.  Read on for swatches and a closer look at what's inside the ASOS Beauty Box (November edition).

Monster High Monday: Roller Maze Clawdeen

Long time, no Monster High Monday huh? I've just not had time for it recently as it's so very time consuming finding dupes and applying them in a way you wouldn't normally, so it's not something you can do quickly. It's back though and I thought I'd ease myself in, with something relatively simple. I have to add my attempt was a little half hearted and I was lucky it turned out as well as it did, because my head was elsewhere, spacey girl! Anyway it's glitter galore, which was rather scratchy to take off last night!  Oh and we've got a little post-Halloween effect to the photos this week!
Clawdeen Wolf is one who often changes her hair colour, which is rather lovely. For the Roller Maze line everyone had a flash of lime green in their outfit or hair and makeup, so the gorgeous lilac hair (seriously loving that hue) has lime streaks and on the lids, you'll hopefully just be able to see green before the gold and glitter. Her lips are a shade of pink that just screamed Viva Glam Gaga to me! So that was an easy find.
I started with the eyes and this is where like I say, I was a bit "hmmm, that's close enough, it'll do". I'm not much of a gold eye girl, my collection of silver and pewter on the other hand is ridiculous! So I did struggle to find the exact tone and one that had that strong metallic finish, almost like a foil. First I applied Urban Decay Primer Potion and then Lancome's Petit Tresor eyeshadow from last Christmas in S112 Fil D'or. It's not quite the right gold colour, mine was lighter and less yellow than Clawdeen, but then you also have to remember her skin is a lot darker than mine, so it's going to look different.
I applied this directly under the eyebrow down to the crease and also under the lower lashline. On the lid up to the crease is where the green goes and again I didn't have an exact match. I had one that was too yellow and lots that were too green, so I decided to mix the two. I applied the dark green first as a base, which was 17 Solo eyeshadow in Green Glimmer. Then the lime from surprise, surprise MAC's Eyes On Manish palette aka 'Monster High Monday palette' over the top. It's not a perfect match, but I guess I don't own too many lime green shadows! I ignored the black line Clawdeen has in the crease. Sometimes I feel I need it, sometimes I don't bother.
I lined upper and lower lashlines with L'Oreal SuperLiner GelMatic* and created the long flicks with L'Oreal SuperLiner Perfect Slim*. On my lashes I'm wearing Guerlain Maxi Lash and I filled my brows with L'Oreal Brow Artist* in Brunette, then it was time for glitter! I kind of went a bit overboard with the sparkles, possibly because I was applying with my finger rather than being precise. The entire gold section isn't glittery on Clawdeen, it's just a highlight really. I applied Urban Decay Heavy Metal Glitter Eye Gel in Backstage (antique gold) and Roadie (green). It's best to apply it to the hand and then just pick up a tiny bit and press onto the lid, so it doesn't remove the eyeshadow underneath (by swiping).
On the face I wore Lancome Teint Miracle in 005 Beige Ivoire (just bought my third bottle, as I'm using this so much) and Dainty Doll concealer in 002, using 001 as a highlighter and The Balm 'Bahama Mama' bronzer as my contour colour. I finished with Paul & Joe UV pressed Powder in 003 Beach Baby and although Clawdeen isn't wearing any blush, I wore Mark Good Glowing in After Glo.
Like I said earlier, my lips wear easy peasy. I lined with Kiss Australia Lip Liner in Cashmere and then lots of MAC's Viva Glam Gaga lipstick. Perfecto! Although the flash has washed out the colour on Clawdeen and changed the tone of my lips a bit, but in real life they were good dupes for one another. Phew, I managed it! How do you think I did? I'll have my corresponding outfit (did someone say "Little Mermaid top"?) finished later this evening hopefully.

Monster High Monday: Picture Day Lagoona

One of these days my Monster High Monday post will actually be uploaded on a Monday. Maybe! It's usually late afternoon until I sit down to start writing the post and see how the photos have turned out and by then I only have an hour or so. Plus Monday is a busy TV night for me (Hart Of Dixie (trashy I know) and hooked on Under The Dome), so I never have time for more after that. Totally going off on a tangent here, but I feel like I didn't watch anything on telly recently and all of a sudden my evening schedule is full! I've decided to watch X Factor USA again which is on twice and don't even get me started on the fact CSI: NY is on four times this week, er hello, when am I supposed to do anything?  Plus I have Covert Affairs, then our X-Factor at weekends.  Phew!
Anyway yesterday was like a summers day, it was actually warm and sunny. So I thought I'd look for a nice bright dolly to replicate and of course that would involve Lagoona. Did you know the reason behind the blue streaks in her hair? It's because she spends most of her time in the pool and the chlorine has discoloured her blonde hair.  I think that's a cute little MH fact! As usual she doesn't stray too far from her pink lip and turquoise/pink eye. There is the addition of a nude lid this time and her lips are a dusky, slightly lilac pink. I had no major problems finding dupes, the pink eyeshadow could've been a little more neon (mine was darker toned than Lagoona's). I never realised MHM would require so many different shades of pink eyeshadow, something I have some but not much of.
So starting with the eyes, I applied Urban Decay Primer Potion and applied the pale pinky shade from Givenchy Prisme Again in 1 Zen Pastel on the eyelid up to the crease. I applied Estee Lauder Pure Color in 41 Aqua Pool, a matte turquoise, under the eye and MAC's Eyes On Manish palette came in handy yet again, where I used the bright pink in the socket. I then took a really thin brush to apply the darkest purple from Dior's eyeshadow quad in 970 Stylish Move directly along the crease.
Under the brows, I applied W7 Glitter Eyes gel in 02 for sporadic sparkle like Lagoona.  I ran Laval Kohl Eyeliner Pencil in Lilac through my brows for a purpley effect and used L'Oreal Super Liner GelMatic* on the upper and lower lashlines with perfect Slim* for the flicks. On my lashes is YSL Babydoll mascara.
On my face I'm wearing YSL Le Teint Touche Eclat in BR10 with Dainty Doll concealer in 002 on blemishes. I used the concealer in 001 as my highlighting colour and the dark tan shade from Diorskin Nude Tan in 001 Pink Glow as my contour colour. I swirled all four colours together for my blush and am wearing The Balm 'Sexy Mama' pressed powder.
For the lips, I found a couple of colours quite similar but one was leaning too warm while the other was too lilac. I decided to mix both together for the perfect shade. The lipsticks were MAC Viva Glam Gaga and Viva Glam Nicki 2. I wore Pout's Lip Liner Definer, a colourless liner underneath.
I think this week turned out really well in both application and colour.  It was pretty simple to do too.  What do you think?  My outfit for The Shoe Girl Diaries is up now, featuring a new dress with an adorable print that you have to see.

Monster High Monday: Dot Dead Gorgeous Operetta

I have to confess that I haven't watched any of the Monster High webisodes for some time now (just haven't had time). I have seen the 'newer' character Operetta in some of the DVD releases though.  Although the way MH are releasing new characters, Operetta is pretty ancient by now! I think the doll looks more 'grown-up' than the rest of the gang (definitely not school age) and comes across as older than the others. In the cartoon series, she does have an air of maturity around her and can be quite snooty towards the others which is rather amusing! She's not an enemy of the central characters, but I wouldn't say she's in that inner circle either.
Anyway, I think she's a really beautiful doll and character. She always has pin-up, rockabilly type clothes and accessories.  Her fiery red hair with black streaks is usually styled in quiffs or victory rolls which look awesome. As the daughter of The Phantom Of The Opera, she's marked down the side of her face and on one arm and always wears a little mask to disguise that, with 'tattoo' like coverings down the arm. I think it's a unique concept to see on a doll targeted at 'children'.  Certainly in my day it was a decision between blonde or brunette, you had nothing like this to choose from!
Operetta is wearing her signature red lip here with bright pink eyeshadow paired with a rich bronze-brown and some glitter under the brow. I even tackled the beauty spot which I forgot about last time. No major issues this week, colour matching wasn't perfect but as close as I could find in my stash. Not surprising really as pink/bronze eyes and red lips aren't usually my thing.
So for the eyes, I began with Urban Decay Primer Potion. The closest pink I could find (the correct tone, but could have been a little brighter) was Anna Sui Eye Color Accent in 303. I applied this from the lashline, up to the crease using the sponge applicator in the compact for a bold effect. Thankfully I bought this palette the other week, or else I'd have been stumped for the brown shade. On Operetta it's matte, mine has a shimmery, metallic finish, but the depth of colour was correct. It's the very centre shade from the new Dior Mystic Metallic eye quad in 384 Bonne Etoile. Expensive, but really stunning, I'm so glad I bought it. Anyway, again I applied it with the sponge applicator for less glitter fall-out and to really press that strong colour on. I took this upwards and outwards and tidied it up with a little Micellar Water on a cotton bud for a perfect, straight line.   
Under the brow I'd applied Urban Decay Heavy Metal Glitter Eye Gel in Backstage and because it's quite green toned, I applied some gold shimmer powder over the top as Operetta mostly has gold glitter. It's a loose powder I got from a Fearne Cotton set one Christmas from Boots. My liner is L'Oreal Super Liner GelMatic* with Perfect Slim* for the flicks. On my lashes is Guerlain Maxi Lash and I finished my brows with L'Oreal Brow Artist* in Brunette.
I could not find a lipstick dark enough within my collection, so had to get creative to find the right red. It was still a little bright, but it was either red or wine and nothing in between, so I didn't have much choice. I applied Dior Lipliner Pencil in 883 Magenta Brown all over the lips (a dark purple), then Wet'n'Wild Silk Finish lipstick in Raunchy Red over the top. It looked patchy, so I reapplied and kept blotting until it looked even. I used L'Oreal Super Liner Blackbuster* pen to apply the beauty spot right next to my lip, like Operetta.
On my face is Lancome Teint Miracle in 005 with Dainty Doll concealer in 002 on blemishes and YSL Touche Eclat #2 under the eyes. I used DD concealer in 001 as my highlighting colour and The Balm Bahama Mama bronzer as my contour shade. I know Operetta isn't wearing blush, but I used some Diorskin Nude Tan in 001 Pink Glow on my cheeks. I finished with a light dusting of Paul & Joe Pressed UV Powder in 003 Beach Baby.
The eyes were much heavier than I'd normally wear, but actually grew on me until I put the lipstick on. I think with my hair, my outfit and all those makeup colours it was a little much (not on Operetta). I loved the subtle beauty spot though and think despite the colours not being a perfect match, the look was a successful one. What do you think? Also I've just finished the outfit post to accompany this look, you can find that here along with another outfit from last week here. Three posts in one day peeps, bam!

Monster High Monday: Ghouls Rule Clawdeen

This week I decided to go all-out with MHM, in my most daring yet. I tackled a glitter mono brow, one leopard print eye and completely lilac lips. Oh yeah! Monster High released a DVD to coincide with the Ghouls Rule range and as the characters attend a Halloween party in it, the clothes, hair and makeup is a little more wild than usual. Clawdeen Wolf gets a makeover with long lilac hair and shaved leopard print sides, with crazy makeup to boot.
I'd just written my review of the new L'Oreal eyeliners when I realised I could use them to their full potential on a Monster High Monday as mad as this one. I found the Blackbuster marker pen one was the easiest to use and you can read my full review of the liners here, where I've used them more conventionally.
If you look closely at Clawdeens eye makeup, you'll notice there's actually two different shades of green around the eye. On the 'plain' eye she has a dusky green up to the brow and under the eye a brighter limey green. On the leopard eye, the dusky green then surrounds the lime under the eye. So I managed to find two colours close enough to Clawdeen, although I'm not sure you'll note the difference here in the photos as it's quite subtle. I began with Urban Decay Primer Potion and applied the green from Wet'n'Wild 'Exotic' Eyeshadow Duo from lashline to brow.  Under the eye is Bourjois Ombre Stretch in 05 Very Etirable. The plain eye then has YSL Babydoll mascara on the lashes, L'Oreal Super Liner GelMatic liner (top and bottom) and Super Liner Perfect Slim for the flick.
On the leopard eye I used the same eyeshadows, but took the WnW one under the eye along with Bourjois. Again I lined with GelMatic along the top and lower lashlines and used Perfect Slim for the flick. For the leopard print pattern, I used L'Oreal Super Liner Blackbuster. As it's like a felt tip, it's easy to work with. I angled it so I was using the pointed tip as I wanted a reasonably small pattern. I copied Clawdeen exactly in size and placement, but because I have a very large area from my eye to brow, I added a few more prints because it looked quite sparse. Then I decided to take the Perfect Slim liner and following the socket of my eye, traced a line around it like Clawdeen (on both eyes). This one bled a little, so looked a little rougher than I'd have liked but it was worth a try.  It wasn't until I started taking photos of the finished look, that I realised I'd leopard printed the wrong eye!  I didn't even think about it to be honest, just did it, oops!
I should also mention, I took some foundation over my 'leopard' brow to conceal it and took the eyeshadow up over that one. Then for the glitter, I used F2 (Fudge) Luminous Jumbo Crayon in Matisse (a copper shade) for a base, drawing over my brow and across the top of my nose, into the centre of my face. I did have a gold glitter eyeliner, but it was all dried up, so had to use NYX Candy Glitter Liner in 03 Hot Orange instead. It's definitely more orange than Clawdeen, but was all I had. I just applied it over my metallic line and let it dry.
On my face I'm wearing, Lancome Teint Miracle foundation in 005 with a little Paul & Joe Pressed UV Powder in 003 Beach Baby. I applied Dainty Doll concealer in 002 on blemishes and 001 as my highlighting colour. I used The Balm 'Bahama Mama' bronzer as a contour and applied a little Diorskin Nude Tan in 001 Pink Glow on the cheeks.
For the lilac lips, nothing in my stash came close enough. Not MAC's Lavender Whip, Viva Glam Nicki 2 or Fashion Mews. Everything leaned a pinky lilac and Clawdeen is straight up blue lilac. So I improvised using NYC Jumbo Pencil in 866A Purple Paradise. It was spot-on! It's creamy enough to apply on the lips, although it didn't wear well.  For the benefit of the photos and task it worked well enough.
Unfortunately I didn't get to wear this look outside, click The Shoe Girl Diaries for my full outfit including my gorgeous gnome heels! I've been slammed this week and was a little disappointed that so much effort went into this look and my outfit...for nothing. You've all seen it now though, so it's not wasted entirely : ) What do you think? Definitely one of the least 'wearable', but worth a shot and perhaps inspiration for Halloween.

Review & Swatches: L'Oreal Super Liner* Range

One of the questions I'm most often asked, is how I get my eyeliner flicks so perfect. I always claim it's down to my choice of liner (either L'Oreal Super Liner or Lancome Art Liner, they are very similar) rather than any fancy technique. I've used both all my (makeup wearing) life and they're the best I've ever tried. The slightly flexi but not brush-like applicator makes the process so simple. So I've been a huge advocate of the Super Liner brand. L'Oreal have expanded their Super Liner range (but thankfully not discontinued the original liquid liner) and I've been trialling several of the new items for the past month or so. You'll have already seen some of them in action during my Monster High Monday FOTD posts, but I'll go into that in more detail later in the post.
The items I was sent to review are (from top) Super Liner Blackbuster in Black, Super Liner Brow Artist in 03 Brunette, Super Liner Perfect Slim in Intense Black and Super Liner GelMatic in Ultra Black. Blackbuster £6.99, could easily be mistaken for a marker pen with it's chunky appearance. It's the first graphic eye marker from L'Oreal with a smooth glide and black ink formula to produce a bold look which claims to last for up to 8 hours.  I was pleasantly surprised to find the thick line actually very wearable. If you've seen the print ads for this, the liner goes from lashline almost to eyebrow, so I was expecting something super thick and to be honest quite difficult to work with.  It's not, you can still apply a precise line, I've used it along the upper lashline and I've even managed some flicks with it.  The flicks weren't shaped as perfectly or as precise as I'd achieve with the original Super Liner, but it's still achievable and they certainly didn't look wonky or bleed at all.  It's a really easy product to use and of course if lashline to eyebrow is your thing, you could probably achieve that with this too!  
Brow Artist £5.49, is available in three shades; Blonde, Brunette and Dark Brunette.  It's the first brow product in the L'Oreal range combining three tools in one with a colour on one end and clear fixing wax gel on the other and a brush on the lid.  So what did I think?  Well L'Oreal are clearly seeing the power the likes of Cara Delevingne command with bold brows and now everyone can get the look with this product!  I've been trying to grow a section of my brows back for over two years now and fear 20 years of previous plucking has taken it's toll!  I'm not confident at filling my brows as I feel like they look really overdone or fake when I do.  Perhaps it just takes some getting used to.  I love that this pencil offers a complete kit in one slim product.  The Brunette shade was quite a good match for my brows, although leaned a little more red than I'd have liked.  It was easy to use the colour to define as little or much as I wanted and I liked that.  I just used feathery, light strokes.  The gel side of the pencil was a great tool to hold not only brow hairs in place all day, but to stop the colour bleeding.  The soft brush was also excellent at taming and keeping hairs in place. Overall,  I think this is a handy product to have in your makeup bag and simple to use.       
Perfect Slim £6.99, features a 0.4mm tip for a precise and intense sweeping line.  The grip zone hold offers the user optimum control during application.  Now I suppose this is most similar to the original Super Liner although there are many differences.  The tip is very elongated and I found it was easiest to use in a sweeping motion.  At first I made the mistake of thinking because of it's small tip it could be used to create tiny and really precise flicks and the like.  However it doesn't 'draw' well because of that long tip, it's best just winging it and letting it do it's thing creating a narrow but lengthy flick.  In saying that I have managed to use it to tidy up flicks I made using the Blackbuster some days (which I've pointed out below).  Another thing to mention is the curved or dipped section in the pen where you hold it, it definitely aids application.  
GelMatic £5.99 is the first gel liner in pen form from L'Oreal, combining the intensity of a gel with the precision of a pen.  The pigmented formula promises 24 hour wear.  Wow, this is most definitely budge proof!  To the point that I struggled a little to remove it.  I'm confident my discontinued Lancome Baume Eclat would have kicked it's ass, but I ran out and I'm still getting used to my new cleansers.  It was removed easily with an eye makeup remover (Lancome BiFacil) anyway, so it's not too troublesome.  As most of you know I've favoured a more natural, smudgy look on my eyes recently, so it was strange to go back to a precise, bold line.  I didn't get off to a good start with this, when I first swatched it.  I twisted a little up and began to draw a line on my hand when the end snapped clean off.  I've never had it happen since and thankfully there's a nifty little sharpener contained in the opposite end of this, so no harm was done.  I've ended up really loving this though.  I've gone back to applying a bold line on my upper lashline and it looks so striking.  I don't think it's quite as black and glossy as YSL Waterproof Eye pencil which I've mentioned previously on this blog, but I like that about it.  You can actually create a really thin and precise line if desired and it works equally well on something thicker.  It lasts all day and won't budge a bit.  It worked well for me in my waterline on the lower lashline and although I tried applying it on the lower lashline then smudging it out, it works best on the upper in my opinion.  I was able to smudge it a little, if I did so really quickly, but that's not the intention of this product and I have others that would smudge more easily, so don't require it for that.  I love the fact it doesn't need a fiddly brush as this is the one thing that puts me off using a standard gel liner.  If you like your eyeliner budge-proof then this is for you.   
I've swatched them all below (Blackbuster, Perfect Slim, GelMatic, Brow Artist) from top to bottom or left to right.  There are two swatches of each as I angled the pen/pencil sideways first, then used the tip for the second swatch.  This way you get to see how thick and precise the product can be depending on how you use it (Brow Artist aside).  
I've also compared the three liner tips here, so you can see the difference between each one.  
Now I've collected together lots of FOTD photos I've taken over the past few weeks using these products.  Below was my first time using the products and I'm wearing GelMatic from inner to outer corner with Blackbuster for a flick with nothing on my lower lashline.  I was surprised I could create a little chunky flick with this, it's not a lengthy one, but still noticeable.   
This was my Monster High Monday look as Toralei and I needed a really bold liner for this.  I wore GelMatic on the lower lashline and applied Blackbuster from inner to outer corner on the top lashline.  Again I managed a decent flick and made it a little more precise using the Perfect Slim.  
For the two days below, I wore the GelMatic on it's own with no flicks.  Both days I was wearing dark and bold eyeshadow (green and purple) and the liner had no problem showing up over that.  I'm also wearing it on the lower lashline too.  
Below, I wore the GelMatic and this time used Perfect Slim for the flicks.  I'm not sure it looked as intense in the flesh as it does in the close-ups, maybe it's just the photo editing that's done that, but hopefully you can see a slightly different shape to the flick than when I used Blackbuster.  It's longer and more sweeping.  
For the close-up in the top left image (below), I wore GelMatic and Perfect Slim to create that long sweeping point at the outer and inner corners for my Monster High Monday look like Ghoulia.  The other images are from Monster High Monday Lagoona last week where I wore GelMatic and created a thin flick with Perfect Slim.  
I'm just wearing Perfect Slim for the flicks in these images.  I found the technique of starting at the end of the flick and then tapering that into my lashline gave me the best shape.  Sometimes it helps to just turn things on it's head a little!  
In this, I wore GelMatic creating quite a thick line and used Perfect Slim for the long flicks.  
Finally, I wore GelMatic as a base along the top lashline and then used Blackbuster for a cute l'il flick.  I think this looks really striking.  Again I tried the 'starting at the end of the flick' process.  I don't think any of these products could replace my beloved Super Liner but they are certainly all worthwhile additions and I've managed to create many looks with them.  I wanted to try and use them for as wearable looks as I could, to show that they aren't purely for those 60's, theatrical or catwalk looks (although I'd like to try some Twiggy-esque stuff with them).  I think GelMatic was my favourite followed closely by Blackbuster.  All of these products are out on L'Oreal stands now.  What do you think, do you have a favourite look from these?