BEAUTY// LIBERTY X SHU UEMURA

In London, as I said in my previous posts, I popped into Liberty. A store which is famous for its outside as much as the inside.

The products I bought were all from Shu Uemura, a brand which I am acquainted with after visiting a brilliant store in Tokyo. I was helped by a lady decked head to toe in Vivienne Westwood, I was quite envious but that aside she was very pleasant and despite the fact it was very dark even around the cosmetic counters I tried some foundation and a primer/base. I'm quite picky with foundation as my skin is combination and often dislikes most drugstore brand though I am partial to Maxfactor's 3-in-1.

The foundation 'face architect' has a wonderful smooth consistency, applies with ease and alongside the POREraser it requires very little to give amazing coverage. Something of note was the soft airy lightness of this foundation, far from the feel of other brands such as MAC that I've tried in the past. The assistant advised me the base is great for neutralising any redness which my skin sometimes suffers from, a real bonus. I haven't been using these very long so may do a retrospect review in the near future.

Lastly this lip gloss is a new essential in my handbag. I stopped using them quite so much when my hair was longer as England is fairly windy at times, well to be honest most of the time. Lip gloss would make my hair stick when blown in my face, awkward. Now reunited with many girls favourite cosmetic, I chose a bright pink 'Laque Supreme' in Dreamy Pink 02. Being that my skin is a very pale olive/ivory I didn't want to go too plum or shocking red for Spring as I'm wearing quite a neutral palette clothing wise.

Review: Espirit Eyeshadow Palette

Hey lovelies, today I have a little review of an eyeshadow palette by Espirit. I bought this from, dare I say it, a pound shop. I know that sounds insane and you may fear your face could fall off using this but knowing it was ESPRIT I figured I'd give it a go. The blue was a lovely aqua and the other shades pretty neutral so on my student budget I decided to go for it.

Here is the palette, nice large pigment areas and a little sponge applicator. I personally prefer to use a blending brush than the little applicators that come with these things. 

This is the swatches using the little applicator. 

1. The brown actually came out a lovely shimmery golden brown which I was pleased with, the powder was very smooth and quite opaque. 

2. The aqua blue shade is a lot paler than I thought it would be but an appealing iridescent shade none the less. 

3. The yellow/gold is nice but I definitely wouldn't combine this with the blue. 

4. You can barely see this as it is very close to my skin tone, it is a very light pinkish shade, more for blending than actual pigmentation. 

The back of the packaging shows a guide to applying these colours, personally I wouldn't use them all together as it isn't a very complimentary combination but it is always nice to have these for ideas. 

Over all the quality of this was good, very much drugstore quality but the colours are enjoyable and the price tag is clearly going to reflect on this. I probably won't buy this again since it was just a one off and likely a discontinued palette but I am pleased I gave it a shot. 

Real Techniques Brushes

So I crumbled and bought the Real Techniques Core Collection. I've been frustrated with applying my make up from the little brushes that come with the make up I own. These were recommended by several blogs in the past and I wanted something with quality and a nice price tag. I saw Liz Earle are now doing make up brushes but one of their brushes was the price of this set! 

I'm looking forward to seeing the difference a good brush will make to the look of my make up, I think a good base will mean a great over all look.

Over all first impression is they're super soft, love the colour of them and they're in this perfect little carry case.

Make Up Fresh Peach

Since it has been a while since I refreshed my make up bag I recently invested in some basics so I don't clog my skin up with old product. 

Boots have a 3 for 2 on their No7 range so I went ahead and bought;

• Stay Perfect Foundation: Medium Coverage in Cool Ivory
• Beautifully Matte Make Up Base
• Stay Perfect Lipstick in Mischief 
• Extreme Length Waterproof Mascara in Black
• Natural Blush Tint Powder in Soft Damson 
• Stay Precise Liquid Liner in Black

I also picked up Barry M 318 Peach Melba Nail Polish & Collection 2000 Make Up Fixer for keeping the make up on longer. I'll likely do a review of the products at some point but as I just got them I think my views could change on them. So far I am happy with them all, I know that No7 is fine with my skin type and it is refreshing to get such great deals as they also do a £3 voucher for saving on their make up.