FOTD: Twinkly kingfisher blue and peach

Thank you all so much for your support, kindness and love regarding my previous post. I don't want this blog to become a woe-laden space of wailing - so here's a face of the day from last week where my hair didn't look so bad (H&M, your braided headbands have saved me!)

The main shadow shade is a beautiful dusty kingfisher shade by Marks and Spencer Autograph, following a recommendation by that most enabling of enablers, Lipglossiping. I purchased the taupe she recommended and this shade. The shadows are creamy, impressively pigmented and excellent quality for £6. I've also patted on the prettiest microglitter shadow I've come across, Ellis Faas Lights on E301, a beautiful white gold sparkle, over the turquoise. I really love Ellis Faas, the packaging is annoying but the products are incredible - especially the lip shades. I have the driest lips in the world, and the only matte shades I've been able to wear comfortably are EF ones.

Base:
L'Oreal True Match concealer in Cafe Creme under eyes


Eyes:
Urban Decay Primer Potion (Original) as base
M&S Autograph eyeshadow in Kingfisher all over lid
Ellis Faas Lights in E301 over Kingfisher
17 Lacquer Liner in black for upper lid lining and flick
Avon Supershock pencil in black on waterline and to tightline
Maybelline Colossal Mascara
Rimmel brow pencil in dark black-brown

Face:
NARS Taos blush
NARS Albatross as cheek highlight
Rimmel Stay Matte powder in Translucent

 Lips:
Clinique Chubby Stick in Mega Melon

FOTD: Interview Makeup feat. MUA Undress Me Too palette and MAC Plumful

It's been a while since we've seen my face around here, isn't it? Luckily we're getting some lighter days now so I can actually take some makeup pics that look ok.

For job interviews, presentations and the like, I nearly always wear a version of this look. It's polished, pretty (the last thing you want to be in an interview, unless it's for a makeup artist or other creative post, is edgy), and just makes me feel confident.

I can't quite believe that before Charlotte's post drew my attention to an inexpensive taupe shadow, which I then snapped up. that this colour was totally lacking in my eyeshadow collection. It's the perfect soft shade for brown eyes, and goes really well with purples and plums. Suffice to say, I'm obsessed with the colour now. I've always thought Elizabeth Arden makeup was boring and poorly pigmented but after seeing Charlotte's swatches and finding out it was THREE POUNDS FORTY NINE PENCE I ordered it. It's more purple in tone than MAC's Satin Taupe and is a beautifully soft, pigmented and high quality shadow. It's still in stock, too!

I managed to pick up the new Makeup Academy paletty Undress Me Too which is generally agreed to be an Urban Decay Naked 2 dupe. I passed on both Naked palettes and the MUA take on the original Naked because I have a lot of eyeshadows, am drawn to colour more than neutrals and the first Naked palette and its dupe had far too many grey-toned shadows for me to use. If there's a guaranteed way to kill my skintone dead and make me look tired, it's a dark grey eyeshadow. (Taupe, on the other hand has warmth to it which means it works with my skintone rather than against it).

The Undress Me Too palette is just lovely - the shades are all warm and wearable for me, and I'm so, so impressed with the textures of the shadows in this £4 palette. I thought the shadows might fade but after eight hours they looked as good as when I applied them. It's absolutely incredible value - and I'll be job-lotting this as gifts for my aunts and cousins the next time I go to Bangladesh.

I've waffled about Plumful before but now you get to see it on me. HOW pretty is it? It's now my most worn lipstick and one of few I would actually repurchase when I finish the tube.

Base:
L'Oreal True Match concealer in Cafe Creme under eyes
NARS Sheer Glow foundation

Eyes:
Urban Decay Primer Potion (Original) as base
Elizabeth Arden shadow in Smoke all over lid
MUA Undress Me Too shadow in Obsessed (cool matte brown) blended in socket and outer corners
MUA UMT shadow in Reveal (cool silvery shimmer) on inner corners of lids and on brow arch as highlighter
17 Lacquer Liner in black for upper lid lining and flick
Avon Supershock pencil in black on waterline and to tightline
Maybelline Colossal Mascara
MAC Brow pencil in Spiked

Face:
Sue Moxley blush in Breath of Plum
NARS Albatross as cheek highlight
Rimmel Stay Matte powder in Translucent

 Lips:
MAC Plumful (Lustre) lipstick

FOTD: Gothic Forties

This is one of my favourite looks of late. I know every blogger and their cat has blogged about Armani Eyes To Kill Intense shadows, but I love the Purpura shade I was given for my birthday (and I've pretty much decided it will be used in my bridal look! I know standard practice is to opt for a natural, fresh-faced type of look, but meh, I'm not really a neutrals kind of girl). It was  a bit of an accident, this combination. I wanted to wear my new Revlon Just Bitten stain in Twilight as I was wearing this Warehouse dress, and I wanted to go for a Dita von Teese-esque frosty, cool look to match its awesome gothic Forties-ness. Yup, me, about the other side of the skin tone spectrum to Miss Teese. I initially planned on a silver shadow, but don't have a nice one, so I used Purpura instead. I love it paired with the vampy lip!

check out the stripy hair!

Impossible to capture its complex loveliness, the interplay of gold, silver, pewter and purple...

Base:
MAC Moisturecover Select concealer

Eyes:
Urban Decay Primer Potion as base
Armani Eyes to Kill Intense Eyeshadow in Purpura
Avon Supershock pencil in black on waterline
Maybelline Colossal Mascara

Face:
MAC Brow in Spiked
Sue Moxley Breath of Plum blush

Lips:
Revlon Just Bitten lipstain in Twilight


Enter my giveaway for sparkly Kiko goodies!!!

FOTD: Best purple liner ever! Kiko Double Glam Liner 05

So this is a FOTD that looks like several other FOTDs I have done in the past. However, I had to post about this liner. I don't know what it is about my most beloved shade, purple, that makes it such a tricksy thing. It's tricksy to photograph purple, and it's tricksy to find decent pigmented liners and shadows anywhere. From MAC to NARS to pretty much every other brand, with only the rare exception, you'll find a stiff matte purple shade that's chalky and blue-toned, and a pinky purple shimmer that's a bit cheap and nasty looking. Purple liners are even more disappointing, either pulling blue, red or hardly showing up at all.

For ages I've been looking for a great purple glitter pencil liner, one that would be what I'd hoped MAC's Rave liner would be. For swatches of that, check Temptalia. It's pretty, but gritty and not as pigmented as I wanted.

Finally I've found it. It's actually the other end of the Kiko pencil I travelled to Stratford Westfield to purchase, the dupe for my all time favourite eyeliner, MAC's Pearlglide Intense in Undercurrent (please bring these back, please!) But not only is the teal end of the dual ended pencil a perfect dupe for Undercurrent (hallelujah!), the purple is amazing too. It's almost too soft, so this first look is a bit wobbly, but amazing colour payoff, and once set it doesn't budge or flake (so one better than even my MAC pencil). It's quite pricey at £9 for what are ostensibly 2 small pencils, but so very lovely. The only drawback is that you can only get Kiko from the Stratford store at present in the UK (but I might have a little surprise coming up shortly that might compensate!!! shhhh!)

Two other notes - I'm wearing a lipstick that everyone in beauty-blog land has raved about, namely Boots 17's Mirror Shine lipstick, mine here is Belle (though I've acquired a few others). These are indeed amazing - particularly if you don't want full on colour and want something more moisturising and glossy (like my beloved MAC Slimshines, RIP). Belle's a pretty, plummy nude pink shade, and as close as I can get to nude without looking dead, weird, or dead weird. It's a v useful nude shade for pigmented lips, hard to find on the high street.

Also hard to find on the high street, apart from at Sleek, are decent blushes for darker skins. But this Sue Moxley one is really pretty - again, plum, my favourite. I remember swatching it against a MAC plum blush and it coming close to duping it, so I opted for this one. I'd definitely recommend, the only thing I've tried from the range, but I'm really impressed. It's got a little strip of shimmer that's useful to change the look from matte to sparkly, too.

crazy eye, but check out the sparkle and pigment!

Base:
MAC Moisturecover Select concealer

Eyes:
MAC Paint in Bamboom as base
Kiko Double Glam pencil in 50 (purple end of course :) )
Avon Supershock pencil in black on waterline
Maybelline Colossal Mascara

Face:
MAC Brow in Spiked
Sue Moxley Breath of Plum blush

Lips:
17 Mirror Shine On Lipstick in Belle

FOTD - 1990s

Welcome to a retro-FOTD. I got all nostalgic when I did this look, because this is pretty much how I used to do my makeup in 1996 when I started wearing it - I had a cool-toned purple and light lilac duo shadow from Rimmel that was almost exactly this shade (I also had a matte chocolate and dark gold one, and those and a liner and Max Factor 2000 Calorie, were pretty much all the makeup I owned then). I wanted to try out my new brick-toned Max Factor lipstain, so despite the fact that it didn't go with my eye makeup, I wacked it on. The Max Factor lipstain tastes revolting and makes my lips very dry, so it's back to Revlon Just Bitten for me. The next on my list is Twilight, the really dark one - I'm in the mood for a deep, near-goth stain!

The pencil hasn't shown up very well here, but it's a very pretty new addition to the Bourjois Line - one of the Effet Smoky pencils in Sparkling Navy. It's described as navy, but I'd say it's a very cool purple, with a shot of gorgeous lilac glitter. It doesn't show up as well as I'd like on my skin tone, though, which is a shame, but I'd really recommend it to paler readers.

Base:
MAC Moisturecover Select concealer

Eyes:
MAC Paint in Bamboom as base
Bourjois Effet Smoky pencil in Sparkling Navy on top lid and lower lashline
Avon Supershock pencil in black on waterline

Face:
Estee Lauder Blushing in Port Passion
MAC Brow in Spiked

Lips:
Max Factor Lasting Lip Tint in 05 - which is apparently "Marshmallow" and a pink-nude, but weirdly brick red on me?

Now I want to go and watch Reality Bites, which I was obsessed with then, and still know all the lines to. Ahem.

FOTD - Super-natural

This is a FOTD from a while back (I have been meaning to get back to the blog for a while!) when I acquired the Garnier Caffeine Roll-On concealer in its newest "Dark" shade. I'd been hankering after this for a while, but was so sad to see that only two shades were available, both far too light for me. I was a bit tentative when I bought shade "3" because I thought it would probably still be too light (I'm shade 5 in YSL Touche Eclat). But it's perfect! I often go without makeup when I'm working from home, but with this light concealer I feel just a bit more perked up (I really hate my dark circles). I wanted to try it with a natural makeup look to see just how little makeup I felt I could get away with and still look ok. (For a fully made up look, I still use my MAC Moisture Cover Select concealer as the roll-on only gives sheer coverage). I felt confident enough to wear this to work; which is great because it's a practically no-effort job.

I've always envied those girls (and my mum) who can get away with just a slick of lipstick - with the Garnier concealer, I feel I can go almost as makeup-free. (Not that I do!!! Makeup is fun for me, and when I wear it, I love to wear it, and both the application, and the effect, are enjoyable for me.) Seems a bit cheeky to post as a FOTD when there's barely any face to it, but it's a bit different for me (and not having my signature flicked liner felt a bit odd to me!)

By the way, I really do love this gloss, one of the Poppy King for No 7 glosses. I know that many bloggers didn't like the pricing, but I got mine on one of the 3for2 deals, and the texture and shades are so much nicer than any other glosses I've found on the high street (which are usually sticky and in cheap, shimmery colours). These are shiny, creamy, and totally non-sticky. I heart!

Base:
Garnier Caffeine Roll-On in "Dark"
MAC MSF in "Dark"

Eyes:
Avon Supershock gel liner in black on waterline
Maybelline Colossal mascara

Face:
MAC Brow in Spiked

Lips: 
Poppy King for No 7 lipgloss in Seduction

FOTD: Peaches and Plums

Here's a fairly standard FOTD, but using one of my favourite shadows of all time, MAC's Expensive Pink. Usually I tend not to use a crease shade as the shadow is so glowy but today I paired it with the plum shimmer Rockstar shadow from the Urban Decay Book of Shadows III, a favourite crease shade of mine. The two together make me think of sunsets.

I'm wearing one of the No 7 Poppy King lip glosses here in Confidence - I know some people have found the shade range a bit dull and the pricing high, but I got them in a 3for2 and I really needed some toned down glosses in my collection. The somewhat browned, muted shades I got - Seduction, Confidence and Glamour really work on my skintone as nudes that don't make me look dead. Plus they're inoffensively scented, non-sticky and glossy - a trio I think is hard to find in many high street glosses.

Base:
MAC Moisturecover Select concealer

Eyes:
Urban Decay Primer Potion on upper lids
MAC Expensive Pink mixed on lids and Urban Decay Rockstar in the crease
No. 17 liquid liner in black
Maybelline Colossal mascara in 100% Black

Face:
MAC MSF Natural in Deep
Estee Lauder Blushing in plum with NARS Albatross buffed over the top
MAC Brow in Spiked

Lips:
Poppy King for No. 7 Lip Gloss in Confidence

FOTD: Red lips!

I don't do red lips very often, but I do love the look when I do. But it's odd, I get stared at so much when I wear red lipstick. Very weird!

I'm wearing a New Look dress here that I got for £8 in the sale, and which has satisfied my hankering for a peter pan collar. I wasn't sure the taupe would work on me but it's just different enough from my skintone to look ok. I'll try to get an OOTD featuring it soon, because it's quite lovely. But here are two of my favourite bloggers wearing it in the meantime: Afeitar  and Dani Don't they both wear it beautifully? The hairband is from Primark, and is intricately beaded with pearls and grey stones. It's as close as I'll get to one of these babies, alas!

What I'm wearing:

Base:
MAC Moisturecover Select concealer

Eyes:
Urban Decay Primer Potion on upper lids
MAC Woodwinked and Urban Decay YDK mixed on lids and a shadow I can't recall in the crease
Avon Supershock Gel liner in black
Maybelline Colossal mascara in 100% Black

Face:
Bobbi Brown Skin Foundation
Sleek Scandalous blush with NARS Albatross buffed over the top
MAC Brow in Spiked

Lips:
Rimmel Rouge Diva lipliner (a really fantastic red lipliner which is so pigmented and smooth it could also be used as a lipcolour)
MAC So Scarlet lipstick (LE from my beloved Cult of Cherry collection)

FOTD: Riviera

This was the look I went for with my Paris print dress. I think it's late 50s/early 60s in inspiration. The lipcolour is a Gloss Stick in Ablaze, part of Topshop's new summer collection. MAC used to do a similar product called the Slimshine, which was glossy, sheer and ultra-moisturising but they stupidly discontinued them so I'm glad Topshop have taken up the idea (though there are only two and limited edition!) This looks like a red hot coral in the tube but on is such a lovely creamy pinky-coral, a colour I've never worn before but am now really taken with. (The other colour is a gorgeous creamy plummy pink colour). The packaging is a bit on the cheap side but the colours really aren't.

What I wore:

Base:
MAC Moisturecover Select concealer

Bobbi Brown Skin Foundation

Eyes:
Urban Decay Primer Potion
Shu Uemura Pressed Eyeshadow in P Green 450 on lid and lower lashline
Bourjois Ombres a Paupieres shadow in Noir Emeraude in crease
17 black liquid liner
Maybelline Colossal mascara

Face:
Shu Uemura blush in P Red 19D
MAC Brow in Spiked

Lips: 
Topshop Gloss Stick in Ablaze

FOTD: Psychedlic Chiffon

I just adore my Urban Decay Book of Shadows III (the packaging less so than the shadows, but I'm seeking to rectify that at some point!) And one of my favourite colours from it is the vibrant purple shade, Psychedelic Sister. As most of you may guess by now, purple is my favourite colour, but decent purple shadows are actually few and far between. They're often sheer, powdery, blue or cheap ultraviolet affairs. This most definitely is not!

It's awesome layered heavily for a smokey look, and usually I opt for vibrant over sheered out eye looks. But this colour I also love to wear ultra-sheer. It's very, very pretty this way.

I paired it this time with red cheeks and a sheer red gloss because I was wearing my bargain Oasis dress, but it looks even nicer with pink cheeks.

Base:
MAC Moisturecover Select concealer

Eyes:
Urban Decay Primer Potion
Urban Decay Psychedelic Sister shadow from Book of Shadows Vol. III blended out on top lid and bottom lashline
17 black liquid liner (brush style)
Maybelline Colossal mascara

Face:
MAC MSF in Dark
Shu Uemura Glow On Blush in P Red 19D
MAC Brow in Spiked

Lips: 
NARS Misbehave lipgloss

FOTD: Scandalously Sleek

A second FOTD this week!

This was my makeup on Valentine's Day, I didn't do anything of note (I was teaching and Bartimaeus was doing the same 130 miles away) but I wanted to use my new Sleek blush and pout polish and use my Avon silver liner more subtly!

The Sleek blush is beautiful, and I strongly encourage you to get in before the limited edition stock dwindles away (it's supposed to stop being available today, so run!) It looks a scary bright matte red in the pan and it is very pigmented (apparently a NARS Exhibit A dupe according to Wayne Goss) but when buffed into the skin it's so translucent and pretty. I used my new NARS Albatross over it and it's a beautiful combination. If you're scared of bright blush a highlighter can really soften the look.

The Pout Polish is nice too, though a bit orange for me when used full-on. I've used it more like a stain here. And it is sweet tasting as well as scented, where other Pout Polishes are not! A bit of a surprise.

The light's not great in this photo because it's 7am. Thank heavens for concealer!

I'm wearing the rose earrings my mum bought me last year for Valentine's Day, they're so pretty and are hand carved.

Scandalous Albatross (I wonder if those two words have ever been used in a sentence before?)

Rhamnousia of Desi Girl Does Makeup, one of my favourite bloggers and something of an eye makeup expert, gave me some tips on wearing silver eyeliner subtly, so I lined my eyes with the black Supershock first, then lined over it finely with the silver, and then went over the edge closest to my lashes again with the black, and smudged a bit. I think it looks ace, and really opens up my (very sleepy) eyes! Thanks my dear!

What I wore:

Base:
MAC Moisturecover Select concealer

Eyes:
MAC Paint in Bamboom on upper lids
Avon Supershock Gel liner in black
Avon Supershock Gel liner in silver
Maybelline Colossal mascara in 100% Black

Face:
MAC MSF in Dark
Sleek blush in Scandalous with NARS Albatross buffed over the top
MAC Brow in Spiked

Lips:
Sleek Pout Polish in Scandal

FOTD: Futurism

This is a much more dramatic look than I intended for my amble around Tate Modern with one of my best friends and her beautiful daughter. But I was caught unawares by the intensity of the pigment of Sleek palettes (it's been a while since I used one) and I was determined to get some use out of my Avon Supershock gel liner in silver, which hitherto had been really stumping me by being so intensely pigmented it made me look like a drag queen. I probably still do, to some extent! There is something about thickly applied silver shadow with a dramatic crease colour that gets "I Will Survive" playing in my head. But see how pretty Downtown is with cool eye colours! (and note what happens when I take scissors to my own fringe - hint: not good things...)

And the crease shade more clearly:

 Base:
MAC Moisturecover Select concealer

Eyes:
Urban Decay Primer Potion
Sleek i-Divine palette in Curious, purple and silver shades
Avon Supershock gel liner in silver and black
Maybelline Colossal mascara in 100% Black

Face:
Bobbi Brown Skin Foundation
Shu Uemura Glow On Blush in P Wine 25
MAC Brow in Spiked

Lips:
NARS Downtown lipgloss

MAC Fabulous Felines Inspired FOTD: Burmese Beauty (but without any of the products...)

Although I tend to refrain from MAC limited collection hype, I really thought the Burmese Beauty look was stunning.

As I have recently bought MAC's Club shadow on a whim, and read that it's a better-pigmented dupe for the brown/green shadow that features in the BB quad, I thought I'd have a play at my own take on the look.

Club is a gorgeous green/brown duochrome shadow, but on the lids it needs a sticky dark base to really shine. I used a MAC Greasepaint Stick in Dirty, and blended, and blended. I also added Urban Decay's Money shadow from Book of Shadows 3 in the inner corners - this is fast becoming one of my favourites in the palette, on my skintone the green in this grey/green shadow comes to the fore (it's a brilliantly appropriately named colour!) and it's both muted and unusual. UD should really consider bringing out solo versions of most of the shades! It goes really well with Club.

So here's my take (together with smug, self-satisfied and very cat-like smile):

Closeup of duochromey goodness:

Base:
MAC Moisturecover Select concealer

Eyes:
Urban Decay Primer Potion
MAC Greasepaint Stick in Dirty as base over lid
MAC Club shadow over lid
Urban Decay Money shadow in inner corners of lids (BOS 3)
Bobbi Brown Gel Liner in Black to line top lid and waterline
No 7 Metallic Pencil in Green on bottom lid
Maybelline Colossal mascara in 100% Black

Face:
MAC MSF in Dark
Estee Lauder Blushing in Port Passion
MAC Brow in Spiked

Lips:

MAC Slimshine in Prudeaux

Interview FOTD: Pale Plums

I went for an interview last week (for a job I didn't get but that's ok as it wasn't right), and did a relatively polished, muted look in plums to go with my purple sweater and plum pearl earrings (I always wear pearls to interviews, they make me feel so much more put together and grown up!) I didn't get it, but interview experience is always useful.

I am loving Urban Decay's YDK shadow more and more. In hindsight it was perhaps a bit too sparkly for interview but it's such a pretty plum-toned neutral shadow. It really makes my eyes look huge! I think it's the major shimmer and brown tones.

What I wore:

Base:
MAC Moisturecover Select concealer

Eyes:
Urban Decay Primer Potion
Urban Decay YDK shadow
Bobbi Brown Gel Liner in Black
Maybelline Colossal mascara in 100% Black (really impressed with this, review coming up!)

Face:
MAC MSF in Dark
MAC Breezy blush
MAC Brow in Spiked

Lips:
NARS Lipgloss in Metis (an HG nude gloss for me! and Sheenie!)

FOTD: Soft Pinks and Gold

I've veered a little out of my colour comfort zone of late with a new cardigan purchase in coral pink. I loved the heart embroidery and thought a new colour would help refresh my outfits. My mum said immediately "that colour isn't you," my sister opined that "it's surprisingly not that bad" and Bartimaeus loved it. You can see a little peek of the cardigan in the below picture, but it is from New Look here. Much as I wanted to love the mint version with the lilac hearts it was far to pale a pastel for me and just looked wrong. The coral pink version can look a little too sugary on me, so I like to add some leopard print and bigger earrings to stop it looking too saccharine. I love the hairband below, it's years old. It's quite wide and always makes me feel quite Brigitte Bardot when I wear it.

Anyway to coordinate with the cardigan, I rediscovered my favourite all time eyeshadow: MAC's Expensive Pink. I cannot tell you how many times I've been complimented when wearing this shade. It's just amazing for women of colour. It's a duochrome gold-pink and has so much depth and richness and the wonderful Veluxe Pearl velvet texture. I paired it with the Bobbi Brown Chocolate Shimmer Gel Liner my sister bought me (in a gorgeous set with the Black Liner, a brush and a mini eye makeup remover that I think is hands down the best remover I've tried). Paired together, it's a soft, natural look, less defined than my usual black flick+shimmer shadow looks. The Chocolate Shimmer liner reminds me a lot of a more intense and longlasting version of one of my favourite MAC kohls, Teddy. Both have a bronze flecked shimmer that really brings out the different tones in dark brown eyes.

What I wore:

Base:
MAC Moisturecover Select concealer

Eyes:
Urban Decay Primer Potion
MAC Expensive Pink eyeshadow on lid and lower lashline
Bobbi Brown Gel Liner in Chocolate Shimmer
YSL Faux Cils mascara in Noir Radical

Face:
MAC MSF in Dark
MAC Cheery Blushcreme
under MAC Springsheen
MAC Brow in Spiked

Lips:
Clarins Lipgloss in Coral


Closeup:

FOTD: Lower lashline colour (and a bad makeover story)

This look was inspired by three things.

Firstly, Alicia Keys' makeup on her MTV Sessions performance of Empire State of Mind here:



(It's a spine-tingling rendition I think although I cringe every time at the line "Some will sleep tonight with a hunger for more than an empty fri-ii-iidge...")

Secondly, this awesome look done by one of my favourite beauty bloggers Designer Spray.

Thirdly, the necklace I wore for my birthday. Ironically I didn't end up wearing it to the dinner I was going to because it looked too much for a casual meal with friends!

I was convinced that Alicia was wearing teal liner on her lower lashline in this performance, but I was clearly wrong! Either way, I was really taken with the bronzey smokey look (I think her makeup is often perfection). I loved Designer Spray's look but I'm not young enough nor by any means cool enough to pull off such a punchy look. And I wanted to pair bronze and green in a different way to my look here to match my necklace, with an earthier finish.

This is what I came up with:

I used an absolutely ancient blush for this look, which has since been discontinued. I don't use it often but it's a great plummy shade and well pigmented. I remember that my mum bought it for me when we had a day out at Bluewater and I had a voucher for a free mascara sample and makeover at the Estee Lauder counter. Hilarity ensued because the SA really struggled to work with my skintone (guess not that many Asian gals pop up at the EL counter at John Lewis) and caked it on as a result with dark grey smokey eyes (absolute no-no with my skintone, very ashen and made me look punched), bright cranberry shimmer lips and this plum blush. Ohhh I looked straight from the 80s! My mum laughed so much but we both agreed the blush was lovely and she bought it for me. I remember it being such a fun day, just the two of us, and wearing it again today brought back the memories.

I'm also wearing my new Sleek Pout Polish in Plum Perfection. The colour in real life is brownier than it looks here - I think it's a lovely autumn shade and you can wear it really sheer or build up the colour (I have the ltd edition Flamingo one too and Sleek say they've got some new colours coming out which I look forward to!) I really like the vanilla scent to these too and the moisturising texture. Out of all my lip products I think I like the tinted balm versions best - really versatile and easy to wear.

What I wore:

Base:
MAC Moisturecover Select concealer
Urban Decay Primer Potion

Eyes:
Urban Decay shadow in YDK on lid
Bobbi Brown Gel Liner in Black on upper lash line
No7 Metallic Eyes Pencil in Green on lower lashline
YSL Faux Cils Noir Radical mascara

Face:
MAC MSF in Dark
Estee Lauder Blushing in Port Passion with MAC Springsheen layered on top
MAC Brow in Spiked

Lips:

Sleek Pout Polish in Plum Perfection

Closeup:

FOTD: Cherry Orchard (with matching nails!)

Carrying on the nails-matching-Undercurrent theme, when the double glitter teal mani was just starting to wear out I wore a FOTD featuring my favourite eyeliner. I decided to pair it with berry lips this time - MAC "O" which is an awesome lipstick on pretty much anyone, with a coat of cherry Clarins gloss on top (their glosses are beautiful, I wish they brought out more colours. This has exactly the same taste as those round cherry lollipops we used to get as kids. It's yummy!)

See how well they match!

What I wore:

Base:
MAC Moisturecover Select concealer

Eyes:
MAC Paint in Bamboom
MAC Pearlglide in Undercurrent
YSL Faux Cils mascara

Face:
MAC MSF in Dark
MAC Breezy blush
MAC Brow in Spiked

Lips:
MAC "O" lipstick
with Clarins Gloss Appeal in Grape on top