Review: Illamasqua Powder Eye Shadow in Angst/How To Wear Red Eyeshadow

Red eye shadow is one of those products that can be extremely intimidating. Matte colours in particular can be difficult to work with in brights but with a few tricks all kinds of red can be very easy to wear and they really make eye colours "pop". I've always enjoyed using orange and rust coloured eye shadows but I'd never really tried to use bright red. It's always something that's been on my "must find" list so I was ecstatic when I found Angst in the Illamasqua sale for just £5! I know it's a bit 2010/11 trend-wise but I think there's always a place for red.

Angst is a bright, matte, red shadow packaged in Illamasqua's signature plastic container. If I'm absolutely honest it was a little less pigmented than what I was hoping. On clean skin it appeared quite pink. It is however, very soft and has minimal fall out. Wear time can't be faulted either. It was pretty much perfect until I removed it. I found that it was best used over a white base such as the NYX Milk pencil to get a true colour. I personally used the e.l.f Sheer Eye Primer and MUA eyeliner in Snow White respectively for my looks.

 Block Colour

"Peeking" Liner

(please excuse brows in above looks. Oops)

I personally find that when it comes to using red like this, trying to create anything hazy or smoky will result in making you look a bit tired/self medicated (not great.) Obviously combining red with browns/blacks will combat this and there are some great tutorials out there for red smoky eyes but for mattes it's best to go for clean, simple looks. The best and most wearable, in my opinion, are block colours and using it as a liner. Obviously mine aren't perfect and I'm no make up artist but these are both looks that I'd be happy to wear out of the house.

Block Colour:
Think about the shape that you want to create. Pick something that will be flattering for your eye and face shape. I personally have a round face so I always like to wing my liner and shadows upwards to elongate my face. Gently sketch out your shape using the shadow until your happy with it. It's then just a case of filling in your design and adding any liner or mascara you wish! A super simple and fast way to a wearable high-fashion look.

"Peeking" Liner:Even faster is this fun, easy look. Usually I would always use black liquid against my lash line but since I had the Illamasqua Havoc liner to hand I thought I'd try it out! It's simply a case of applying any dark liquid or pencil to your lash line and then, using a small brush, follow the line just above using your shadow. I was unsatisfied with the pigmentation the first time I tried this so I went back and applied a white pencil liner under the red. This improved the colour 100 fold and I'm very happy with the result! This technique can make any bright colour very easy to wear. I often do this using black liquid and neon orange pencil and always get complimented.

Essential Tips to Make it Wearable:
1. Always use some kind of primer. Not only will it improve the pigmentation and staying power but it will prevent the staining that is very common with colours like this
2. Try to remove as much redness from your face as possible. Any blemishes or red pigmentation will clash with the look. This includes particularly blood shot eyes - red shadow doesn't go great with a hangover. Brightening eye drops can help.
3. Simplify the rest of your make up by using nudes or products in the same colour range. Red eyes and nude lips look great.

Obviously you don't have to use red like this, it's just a suggestion!

So what do you think to these looks? I hope you liked my tips and I'd love to see any red looks that you've created.

Lauren

How I Stopped Biting My Nails

I had been biting my nails for as a long as I can remember. I can never recall having lovely white tips and shiny nails as a child or teen. It's actually a really irritating habit and can be quite painful; no end of times I had been ripping away at my nails or skin and suddenly they had begun to bleed and sting. I was constantly berated by my Grandmother for it and she would smack my hand away whenever she saw me do it! Plus, I was always very aware that people could see my nails and I became paranoid that they were judging me because of it. "Was she nervous and liable to make mistakes?" "Did she have no self control?" "Did she just not care about her appearance?" None of these things were true about me. I simply found myself doing it every time I wasn't fully occupied. I would do it when I watched films or sat on the internet or when I was waiting for anything! It was unsanitary and unattractive.

So this year, I decided that being 19 was a ridiculous age to still be nibbling at my fingers, and more than anything I wanted to be able to have lovely long nails that I could file and paint.

1. I made sure to think about the bad things associated with nail biting (is there anything good?!?) and kept them in my mind whilst I went cold turkey.

2. I bought a great hand cream so that I could nourish my dry fingers and cuticles. 

Hand Food by Soap and Glory (Buy at Boots) was my choice. At £5.00 it was affordable but not so cheap that I could think about wasting it by not keeping up with moisturising.

But no matter how soft and lovely my hands were I just could not stop focussing on my nails. As soon as the tips started sprouting I kept unconsciously bringing them to my mouth and stopping myself as I noticed. (Disgusting I know...) So,

3. I bought a multi use nail block.

This six-sided battered-beauty came from Boots at a mere £2.50. 

For about a month I was not seen sitting still without this with me. Every time I got the urge to bite I would file, buff and shine my way to satisfaction. My nails gleamed. People would ask me if I had a clear varnish on. It was a great feeling. Seeing my nails growing and gleaming was so encouraging and I couldn't wait for when they had enough growth so that I could paint them!

4. Finally! I bought my very first nail polish, aged 19. It was Barry M's Coral and a Top and Bottom coat to go with it. 

 I spent the entire length of The Little Mermaid (very appropriate for the colour I thought) carefully applying my varnishes. I was thrilled with the result but it felt so strange having these bright orange/pink nails and I would keep noticing them when I was walking or reading etc. 

Once I could paint them it was so much easier to keep up with my new lifestyle choice. No longer being able to see the white tips stopped me thinking about biting them all together. At that point I was changing the colour every two or three days because as soon as it started to chip I would get the urge to bite again. Humans are so weird. 

This is not to say that I didn't ever slip up. I absolutely did and I felt so awful that it completely strengthened my resolve. 5 months later, I can happily go varnish free and it no longer bothers me. I officially destroyed a life long habit, and it feels great! 

Have you beaten this habit or are you still suffering with it? How did you stop?

To sign off I'll leave this list of celebrity nail biters for you to chew over. (Puntastic! I'm so ashamed haha)

David Beckham

Phil Collins

Uma Thurman

Britney Spears

Elijah Wood

Lindsay Lohan

Kylie Minogue

Bruce Springsteen

Lisa Marie Presley

Prince Harry

Eva Mendes

Tony Robbins

And many more!

Lauren