Late to the Party

Getting excited! It's the last week before Christmas! At the end of last week I tried out some samples of mineral foundation that Annabelle Minerals sent to me. I've never tried a powder foundation before and previously, never even considered them as a viable option - erroneous presumptions on my part again! The matte powder foundation I tried was AMAZING! I don't think I've ever been so instantly impressed by a foundation. So I ended up making an order from Annabelle Minerals and I'm eagerly awaiting the arrival. Will follow up with a post when they get here and when I've had a chance to play with them.     * Foundation - Annabelle Minerals Powder Foundation samples * E.L.F - Under Eye Primer (not pictured) * Under Eye Concealer - Maybelline Age Rewind * Contour - Makeup Revolution Contour Palette (not pictured)   * Highlighter - Fenty Beauty Kilawatt Highlighter * Blusher - Nars Orgasm * Mascara - Ciate Wonderwand * Eyeshadow Palette ...

It's my birthday this week but if you're expecting to see exciting party-pick makeup choices, there'll be no sparkle, glitter and pizazz here! Just my usual makeup routine. However, I've never made too much distinction between night and day looks. If I want to wear a heavy smoky eye in the day, then I will, because I can!   * Foundation - IT Cosmetics CC Cream - Haven't used this for a while and I forgot how amazing it is! Moderate cover, but it really does make your skin look healthy. * Under eye primer - E.L.F (not pictured) * Under eye concealer - Maybelline Age Rewind * Powder - TonyMoly Cats Wink Compact (not pictured) * Highlighter - Nars Copacabana Cream Highlighting Stick - This has turned into a real mess. There's hardly any evidence of 'stick' about this any more. It's turned into a wobbly stack of putty. If I hadn't chosen this as one of my 20/20 Vision Project products, I may have been tempted to de-clutter this. ...

  I managed to get through Black Friday without succumbing to too many deals. I didn't buy any makeup and made sure I only took up offers from brands who were already on my skincare wish list. I very almost bought a Jouer 'Skinny Dip' highlighter as Cult Beauty were offering 30% off - but by the time I stopped dithering and decided to purchase, the deal had ended. I think this was probably a good thing in the end - it would have purely been an impulse buy and not something that I'd been thinking of buying previously.   I de-cluttered a couple of items this week  - The Ordinary Colours Foundation and the Model Co concealer. They just didn't work well and I don't feel like giving them any extra time to prove themselves - life's too short and there's plenty of others to take their place! I also finally finished off the Illamasqua Gel Sculpt Contour stick. I really liked this and would consider buying it again some day.   * Foundation - L...

Still going reasonably strong with my 'one month one palette' challenge - although at times I'm really wanting the inclusion of a blue-toned shade in the Morphe 35O Nature Glow palette, to compliment the copper shades in the palette! * Primer - Pixi - Probably going to need a primer this week due to the inclusion of The Ordinary foundation. * Foundation - The Ordinary - Coverage Foundation -I thought I'd remembered that the last time I used this (probably back in the summer) it hadn't been so bad. But it's actually quite cakey on me and I'm thinking that if it doesn't perform well this week then I might end up de-cluttering it. * Under Eye Primer - E.L.F * Under Eye Concealer - Model Co Instant Radiance (not pictured) - after using the Maybelline Age Rewind for a few weeks I can really notice the difference in performance (even after using the E.L.F under eye primer which usually sorts every concealer out) between the Maybelline and this conc...

Week two of using my new Morphe 35O Nature Glow palette and not even slightly bored yet! However, some of the other basics in my weekly makeup bag might feel a bit boring as they're all items I really want to finish off - particularly the Missha BB Cream. I've promised myself that if I finish a couple of foundations/BB Creams then I'll buy some Estee Lauder Doublewear Foundation.   * BB Cream - Missha Perfect Cover BB Cream * Undereye Primer - E.L.F * Undereye Concealer - Maybelline Age Rewind * Contour (not pictured) Illamasqua Gel Sculpt Contour * Highlighter - E.L.F Baked Highlighter in 'Moonlight Pearls' * Blusher - Nars/Sarah Moon in 'Isadora'. I'm finding this a little too dark for my complexion at the moment, which is a shame as it's a lovely blusher. * Eyes - Morphe 35O Nature Glow Palette * Mascara - Ciate Wonderwand  

A little bit of excitement this week! I have decided to attempt a 'One Month One Palette' project. I have a few palettes that were just too big and exciting to be constrained to one week's use, so although I won't be doing this every month - I'm going to attempt it with some of the palettes I own.   * Foundation - Missha BB Cream * Under Eye Primer - E.L.F (not pictured) * Under Eye Concealer - Maybelline Age Rewind * Powder - TonyMoly Cat's Wink Compact * Highlighter - Wet n Wild Mega Glo in 'Precious Petals' - I won this as a review prize last week and it's absolutely stunning! * Contour - Illamasqua Gel Sculpt Contour * E.L.F Blusher/Bronzer Duo in 'Fiji' - Decided that if I'm going to be wearing my ultra-light shade Missha BB Cream then I might benefit from a wee bit of bronzer this week so that I don't look too washed-out when wearing that and the shades from the Morphe 35O palette! * Mascara - Hourglass C...

It's Halloween week! This has absolutely no bearing on my makeup choices - just thought I'd mention it! Makeup choice-wise this week, it feels like a bit of a 'holding' week. Lots of items I want to use up plus it always feels slightly incoherent when I choose to incorporate my single eye shadows into a weekly makeup bag. But I'm actually looking forward to attempting one-palette-one-month for November and it starts towards the end of this week - so before Thursday, I'll be using the singles and duos in my stash. * Foundation (Not pictured) - Using up some samples of Estee Lauder Double Wear. When I get through some more of my opened foundations in my stash, I'm pretty sure this is the next foundation I'll buy. * E.L.F Under Eye Primer * Under Eye Concealer - Maybelline Age Rewind . I de-cluttered the Ellis Faas concealer from last week as it was far too orange. * Powder - MUA Stay Matte Loose Powder * Highlighter - Wet n Wild Megaglo Hig...

  I was so ready to put away the Nars Natural Radiant Longwear foundation from last week's bag!! If it had cost several quids cheaper it would have already been de-cluttered, I can tell you! I can see that it's going to be a foundation I end up using in a d.i.y foundation cushion mix because it really is almost impossible to use without patching, caking and sinking into pores on it's own. I had so much more joy using the Morphe 35T palette. As I suspected, a week wasn't really long enough to fully appreciate this palette, which is why that I've decided I'm going to (in the future) actually try it for a monthly palette. I have four palettes that I think I could bear using for an entire month - the Morphe 35T, The Lorac Mega Pro 3 palette and my two build-your-own Obsession Makeup palettes. I've decided to start for the whole month of November using the two Obsession palettes. But here's what's in my bag this week:   Foundation: Homemade ...

Another week choosing a palette that's big on choice. This is my rather sorry-looking Morphe 35T palette (which I bought with the two smashed-up pans already there). Last time I only used this for the one week and a week just wasn't enough time to have a full play-around with all of those shades.   * Primer - Pixi by Petra Flawless & Poreless Primer  - I don't usually use primers as I've never really met one which does a job so well that I mind having an extra layer on my face for. But because I've pulled out the Nars foundation to use this week, I'm thinking that I'm really going to need something to smooth the way! This is part of my 20/20 vision project, but I hardly reach for it. * Foundation - Nars Natural Radiant Longwear Foundation - My most expensive foundation but one that I hardly reach for. This was a big disappointment in terms of delivery - it needs a lot of work to make it sit well, and I don't think that many people want t...

Rubbish skin and rubbish nails this week! I've got a couple of spots and just feel a bit red and badly textured on my face this week so although I've chosen he Erborian BB Cream for my base, I have a feeling that it's not going to quite cut it this week...   * Erborian BB Crème * E.L.F Undereye Primer and Missha Under Eye Brightener (not pictured) * Powder - TonyMoly Cats Wink Compact * Highlighter - L'Oreal True Match Highlight * Contour - Illamasqua Gel Sculpt Contour * Mascara - Hourglass Caution Extreme Lash Mascara - After last week's slightly unfavourable 'first impressions' on this mascara, my feelings towards this have grown immensely! Touch wood, but it seems that the early 'clumping' fiasco seems to have rectified itself. I've been able to control the amount of product on the brush better and, although I wouldn't call them fluffy, my lashes haven't been half as clumpy as on day three! I can't see how an...

Fairly simple picks this week. A couple of Model's Own products, one of my favourite Blushers and a brand new iconic mascara! * E.L.F Under Eye Primer * Missha Brightening Under Eye Concealer * Foundation - Models Own Runway Foundation in 'Natural Ivory' - Finally, a foundation that actually matches my skin tone! I'd forgotten that this is really not a bad little foundation. Medium coverage - doesn't patch or cake - lasts for a good few hours too.  * Contour  Illamasqua Gel Sculpt Contour * Highlighter - Models Own Sculpt and Glow Highlighter Stick in 'Moonlight' - This cream stick highlighter can be a little cakey and difficult to blend, but I like the colour so I'm keeping hold of it! * Blusher - Kiko Green Me in 'Coral View'  - I've come to the conclusion that after Nars, my favourite blushers all come from Kiko!     * Mascara - Hourglass Caution Extreme Lash Mascara - New to me this week. I made a post about my fi...

Now the Autumn Equinox has officially happened, it's definitely time to switch up the weekly makeup bag to celebrate this time of year, which is my favourite season. But as much as I love Autumnal shades I usually just stick to them for my lips and nails, because try as I might, the warm shaded eye shadow palettes really, really don't suit me!     Heavy on the 20/20 Vision Project items this week - 7 out of the 8 of these are included in the panning project. * Under Eye Primer - E.L.F and Under eye Concealer - Missha - depite still looking full, I think the Missha concealer is nearly finished, I'm not getting too much product out anymore and it's starting to feel a bit drier. * Foundation - Holika Holika Gudetama Cushion Foundation - This is such a highly-scented foundation (but handily, I like the scent) which is unusual in a face make up. It's also too light for my skin tone and the addition of a dewy, glowy finish does make me look even paler. I ...

Hot winds! The hint of approaching Autumn is in the air but the arrival of these strange hot winds this week has put the brakes on starting to think about Autumnal makeup just yet. I had already decided that I was going to pick a moderate coverage foundation this week after weeks of no foundation, BB Creams or very light coverage. And it felt quite weird having more coverage on my face. Not sure if I like it or not!     * Foundation - L'Oreal True Match in '2N' * E.L.F Under Eye Primer * Missha Under Eye Brightener *TonyMoly - Cats Wink Powder Compact * Illamasqua Gel Sculpt Contour Stick * Blusher and Highlighter (From Essence 'Eye & Face - Glow For It') - I would have de-potted the blusher and highlighter from this palette as I love those but not so keen on the eyeshadows. However, it's a fixed palette without separate pans, so I'll pan the blush and highlighter and then dump the rest of the palette. * Benefit Roller Lash Masca...

I purposefully missed out the week 35 makeup bag as I couldn't wear any makeup last week as I had an eye infection (also had to throw my L'Oreal Lash Extatic mascara away to be on the safe side!). This made me realise that if I had to choose just one item of makeup to wear then it would be mascara - a full face of makeup minus eye makeup (and in particular, mascara) just doesn't look right! Being makeup free for a week was interesting for what it told me about my relationship with makeup. I didn't feel weird, self-conscious or naked going out makeup free at all which was actually quite liberating! If I missed anything, it was the ritual of choosing and putting on makeup. I've decided to have another free-choice week when deciding which palettes to choose. I'm also re-evaluating my Makeup Revolution New-trals v Neutrals palette to see if I want to keep or de-clutter (I'm veering mostly towards the de-cluttering side!).   * Under Eye Primer - E...

Never thought I'd say this but I'm getting a bit bored of makeup! Not particularly my makeup collection, but just makeup in general. I just don't seem to be 'ooh-ing' over anything new I see at the moment. This is probably not a bad thing as it will hopefully stop me needlessly accruing items I don't need. I'm also currently feeling put-out by the idea of panning products at the moment too. I ended up dumping my sample of Nars foundation yesterday that I've been trying to use up recently, as it doesn't wear well and no primer seems to help, so why am I bothering with it? It was a free sample, for god's sake! I needed to let it go. So, to stop ennui completely taking over and putting the brakes on this project (that I hope to continue until, at least week 52) I've decided to have a free-for-all makeup bag week. I'll probably stick with the chosen basics, but I want to include several eye shadow palettes and not just use one per week...