Review: Illamasqua Precision Ink in Havoc

Another lovely bargain that I picked up in the sales is the Illamasqua Precision Ink in Havoc. I love liquid liner and almost always would choose liquid over pencils (I haven't tried gel though!) because I just love the effect it gives. I've only ever worn black before and I thought that this would be a nice change. The colour is described as aubergine but it definitely leans more red than what I was imagining.

I really like the packaging. It's neat, sleek and the applicator has a nice long handle which makes it easy to manoeuvre. I love the simple, black packaging that Illamsqua use but it's a bit nondescript and I'm not sure if I'll be able to find this in my collection very quickly!

The nib is my favourite kind of liquid liner applicator. I find that brushes separate and I can't control them, but felt nibs are too hard and it takes me ages to do my eyes. This nib picks up a nice amount of product and it's flexible enough to do whatever shape you fancy.

Believe it or not this is actually dry! It dries to a high shine finish which I find rather strange. I've never seen a liquid liner dry to anything other than a matte finish. I'm not sure how I feel about it! It's certainly unique. As I said the colour is much more red than I thought it would be but I actually love the colour. It's a very safe way to wear red which can be extremely intimidating. Reds look absolutely amazing against green eyes (if in doubt, the opposite colour on the colour wheel will make your eyes pop the most. I might do a post on this in the future after some more colour research) It was really easy to use and it does live up to it's waterproof label. It stayed on all day and I didn't notice any smudging, flaking or transferral. It will require some proper make up remover to get it off. I used my No7 eye makeup remover and it came off quickly, but I used a make up wipe on my hand and it required a good scrubbing to peel it away from my skin. Just thought of doing that to my eyes made me cringe! For £5 I'm very happy with my purchase. Would I pay £17 for it? Probably not. The wet look is going to take some getting used to and it's not a colour I've ever seen before so if this looks like something you'd be interested in snap it up on the website! The sale ends at 12pm on 29th January.

Final Verdict: A truly unique look that's not for every one. Try it while it's in the sale!

What do you think to this product? Do you know of any high street brands with a wide range of liquid liner colours?

Lauren

Review: Collection Extreme 24 Hour Felt Tip Liner in Teal

I am a full on lover of liquid liner and am rarely seen without my black flick when I'm wearing make up, but  this time I was after something different. I love shades of green and thought this teal coloured liner would enhance the green tones in my eyes, and since it's a felt tip liner it would be very easy to control.

It comes in a sleek black pen with silver labelling and feels comfortable and sturdy. The cap (not shown) doesn't fall off and isn't at all flimsy. 

Here's a quick swatch on my hand:

I really struggled with this! I'm so used to the kind of ink-pot liquid liners with a brush that the felt tip just felt so hard and bizarre. Once I had actually go into the swing of things it wasn't bad at all, it was just a case of getting used to the change. I really love the vibrant colour of this liner, it's certainly different and I'd love to use it with a smokey blue or green eye. 

I trialled this liner on a cold, rainy, December day and the longevity really surprised me. It was nicely pigmented and didn't fade at all during the day. I had some slight bleeding from the rain (it doesn't claim to be waterproof) but other than that it literally did not budge. Obviously I didn't wear this for 24 hours. It annoys the hell out of me when companies claim 24 hour wear because honestly, I don't think anybody is really willing to test it! I've worn this a couple of times since and it hasn't let me down. Particularly now I've learnt to control the pen a little better. It is really easy to create precise shapes with the nib. I really wish Collection did this product in a brown because that's what I'm currently on the hunt for, but for a fun pop of colour you can't beat it. Particularly when it's only £2.99! Plus there's usually some great offers on with this brand so it's well worth giving them a look. 

What do you think to this liner? And which Collection products do recommend? (other than the concealer of course, we all love that!)

Lauren

December Eye Make-Up Challenge: Day 5, My Everyday Look

I like to keep my usual make up really simple and quick so that I can always do it in a rush. I don't actually wear make up every day as I'm fairly happy (ish) to go bare faced but if I have the time this is my go-to eye make up.

I know I've done fine with this because I've done it who knows how many times! The most important thing for me with every day make up is flawless skin. I'm quite lucky that I have never suffered from acne (I get about one spot a year) but my skin makes up for it by being ridiculously dry. I have to religiously moisturise or foundation will cling to my dry patches. I'm very self conscious of my dry patches as I used to get teased at school about it which is ridiculous as it's not even that bad! The things people find to use against you are so stupid.
For my eye make-up I make sure to use an illuminating concealer under my eyes and a little on the brow bone (mine is a Body Shop one) and then smudge a little bit of pressed powder over my lids to even out my skin tone. I've been sporting a black liquid flick for a couple of years now and I love the way it defines my eye shape and brightens the colour of my iris. This one is Rimmels Exaggerate Liquid Liner and I love it for it's pigmentation and ease of use. I like to keep my flicks fairly small and I don't flick up to much because I like to create the appearance of a longer eye rather than a rounder eye. (There is enough roundness in my face as it is!) Mascara is as always my Body Shop Super Volume Mascara in black.

I hope you liked my usual look! I'd love to see a link to what you usually wear.

Day 1/Day 2/Day 3/Day 4

I'm really looking forward to day 5's look as I'm planning to recreate this FOTD as a step-by-step tutorial as it's been really popular and a friend has said that she'd love to know how I do my make-up. This will be for you, Bex and Hannah!

December Eye Make-Up Challenge: Day 2 "Cat-Eye Liner"

I had to think long and hard about this one. I already wear a regular liquid eyeliner flick as my every day make up, so I really wanted to go out of the box and try something I've never done before. The end result was this:

Okay so obviously this isn't your average day-time look! I really wanted to concentrate on the idea of being a cat. I think this is more of a costume look but I could definitely imagine wearing it to a party.
To create this look I first used my Body Shop Eye Definer to lightly "map out" my graphic flicks. I then went over them with my Rimmel Exaggerate Liquid Eye Liner and created two separate flicks coming from my upper and lower lash lines. The hardest bit for me here was using the liquid liner on my lower lashline as it's something I've never done before! I made quite a mess and had to adjust several times. I'm still not 100% happy with the shape but for a first try it's not bad at all!
The shadow used here is the yellow-gold shade in the Sleek Sunset palette. I thought this would add just a subtle pop of colour and I'm really happy with my choice. (Even if it is a bit waspy/bumble-bee like) I did toy with using a green or red but I think the yellow-gold is quite regal, just how cats seem to think of themselves! Mascara is my trusty Body Shop Super Volume in Black.

Day 1

So that's look two all taken care of! I really hope you liked my interpretation, let me know in the comments. I've linked look one above if you wanted to check that out.

Lauren

P.S. Be sure to check out Beth's original version and enter into her competition if you like!