One Swipe Eyes - School Run Edit

One swipe - Eyes. School run Edit

Us mums know the drill... Kids are all fed, packed n ready for school leaving just all of 2 minutes to look some sort of presentable! 

My solution is eye crayons, they're quick, easy and very hard to get wrong.

My top picks..

Maybelline Colour tattoos are so quick and to easy to add a 'pop' of colour to the eyes. They come in some pretty shades depending on what you're looking for. My favourite shade is 'On and on bronze' and 'Pink Gold' both are really pretty everyday shades for a daytime look. Once on they stay put and don't budge until you are ready to remove. Are lovely and creamy to apply which make a perfect eye-shadow base too.

Clinque chubby sticks

Softer and more blend-able before they set, there are plenty of pretty shades to choose from. Twist up mechanism no sharpener required, so no product waste either. The only down side is they are on the pricey-er side but lovely as a treat maybe to buy with boots points.

Kiko is such a great affordable luxury quality cosmetics brand and their eye sticks are just amazing!! Really do last all day and come in a fab array of colours.

Soap & Glory

The daily double lid shadow and liner sticks are 2 in 1 eye-shadow pencils that are so handy to have in your make-up bag. I'm not kidding once on these last on the eye lid until you remove them! The only down-side is we need more colours please!!

Side-note: If you're looking for a sharpener that fits these pencils I use my bourjois one

N07 Stay Perfect Shade & Define

I used my No7 voucher towards this eye-shadow stick. Have to say I really like it, doesn't budge. I apply to the lid and smudge in with my fingers. Love that the sharpener is in the end of the pencil, no more routing around in your make-up bag.

Bare Minerals Primers also come in different shades which are great for priming the lid but also can add a wash of colour to the eyes.

Additional mention goes to these

Colour Chameleons by Charlotte Tilbury. 

(Forgot to photograph them with the others! oops)

What I love about these is she really does take the guess work out of the equation. 

They are actually colour coded to suit your eye colour. With a shade for a day time look and a night one too.

The formula really is spot on, you get a few seconds to a minute to blend and work in on the eyelid then it sets for All day. Will not smudge budge or move!!

I have green eyes so my shade picks for me are...

Day: 'Bronzed Garnet'

Night: 'Amethyst Aphrodisiac' 

Bronzed Garnet which is a sexy bronze brown shimmer shade, lovely for day time wear.

'Amethyst Aphrodisiac is a sultry purple shimmer shade. When I say shimmer it's a fine shimmer, not big chunks of glitter that are visible. A sort of metallic.

Both shades really make green eyes POP and are so easy to do... just like colouring in your eye-lid!!

So there's my go-to eye shades I grab when I have to be up and out on the school walk.

 Take time for you. Take care and look after yourself.

Thanks for popping by luv acesparklestar xoxo

Real Techniques Contour Brush, Is it worth the investment?

 Real Techniques Contour Brush 

from the New Bold Metals Collection

I love the original real techniques brushes they are such great quality for their price. Wash well and mine have lasted me well over a year now. There's usually some sort of offer on at boots, so you also get your boots points as an added bonus.

Now when I saw they had released a new collection I was so excited.... that was until i saw the prices....

In total it would cost you a whopping £130 for all 7 brushes from the collection!

I went into boots ADAMANT I would not even look for them, all my resolve melted when I actually saw them out of the corner of my eye, it was like they just called to me.

Reluctant to say they are just so pretty and well shiny!!

My justification: A cheek contouring brush is one brush I actually haven't got, at the moment I just use a normal blush brush which is definitely far too big!
So £22 later I walked out of boots with my fingers crossed, hoping that it really is as good as they say it is.... lets be honest - I want it to actually contour my cheeks for that price!!

The rose gold handle looks and feels luxurious and as for the bristles they are so soft and provide an accurate line of contour to create cheekbones where the don't exist. Can also be used to apply the highlight shade and if used on its flat side the blush too so is very versatile.

So is it worth it?

Brushes are always worth investing in as it's not always the make-up, that makes a look, sometimes it's the tools used. For example, I've used £1 eyelash curlers, whilst they do curl my lashes the curler itself will inevitably will break or fall apart. I find that my Eyeko ones curl my lashes but somehow make the curl stay and have lasted for months and are still going strong. Same goes for my MAC 217 blending brush there's no shedding and I find it washes really well and keeps its shape. Compared to cheaper versions that shed mid application.

Sometimes you do get what you pay for and in this case I feel IF you are in need of a new brush, it's a good investment. So yes I do think it is worth it. Having said that I do wish they had priced them slightly lower, I don't know if it's the mum in me but I am painfully aware of the teenagers who are already hooked on the real techniques brushes, wanting and needing the new additions to the collection.

So my advise would be to pick just one that you need, that you don't already have and don't forget to use your boots advantage card - as that's quite a lot of points. oh and those coupons boots send in the post for double points etc. It all adds up!

Have you tried any of the Real Techniques Bold Metals collection brushes? 

What did you think?

Take time for you. Take care and look after yourself.

Thanks for popping by luv acesparklestar xoxo

Stila One Step Correct Primer Review

Stila One Step 'Correct' Primer

I have been after this primer for  aggeeees! No really! Everytime I went into boots it was always sold out!!

A chance pop in to the m&s beauty counters before Christmas resulted in me snapping up the last one on the shelf!!

At last I could try this popular primer for myself.

Here's my thoughts;

First of all Can we just take a minute to admire the helix Dna shape to it inside the bottle! It is a super fun design and interesting to look at!

It has shades Green, Peach and Lavender...

Don't worry as they are actually very subtle once applied.

GREEN Is to reduce any redness, which I definitely need for my cheeks.

LAVENDER Helps to counteract any dullness or sallowness, adding a bit of illumination to your face.

PEACH Helps to brighten, illuminate and even out the skin tone.

Left is one pump, on the right it is blended in.

As this is a primer I find one or two pumps spread over my face helps to prepare my skin for the next stage of foundation. I like to concentrate mainly on the areas I know will get oily throughout the day such as my t-zone, chin and forehead first. Then I concentrate on my cheeks ensuring the redness is nicely primed. I would imagine you could also wear this alone as it helps to even everything out but I wouldn't say it was a full coverage more of a subtle preparation ready for the foundation. I has a green tint to it when blended in which if worn alone may make you appear ill? 

As for the primer itself, it feels lovely and nourishing once applied, it's light and not sticky at all feels like a slightly thicker green moisturiser. It gives a really good base for your foundation to cling to with the added bonus of helping with the colouring too.

Overall I am so glad I snapped this up, I have been using it every-time I wear liquid foundation and can see me getting lots of use in the future, especially during the winter when the cruel wind ensures my cheeks are permanently red!!

Have you tried Stila's Colour correcting Primer? What are your thoughts?

Take time for you. Take care and look after yourself.

Thanks for popping by luv acesparklestar xoxo

January 2015 Favourites Round-Up

The first monthly round-up of 2015!! Here's what I have been using this past month...

Ok so this past month has been a bit of a chilly one so lip balms have been essential for me. Without them my lips get horribly dry and cracked so again my Rev de meil stick has been a staple.

Foundation, this month I have been trying out the Smashbox foundation I was lucky to pick up on their Halloween give away. Read about it here 

I have found it to be really nice to wear, long lasting and best of all doesn't cake or look overly thick. Feels lovely and light and is great to buff onto the face using RT expert face brush. Claims to be 15 hour wear - can't really comment on this as don't actually wear my foundation for that amount of time, but I will say it does stay put at least 9 hours. 

Another product I'm trying out this month is Stila's One Step Colour corrector. I was after this for ages, was always out of stock but finally managed to snag the last one in the M&S beauty hall!! Was worth the wait. Have to say it's a little bit scary looking when you pump it onto your hand as it does look very green, however with me having redness I very much want to cover up, this creates a great base for my foundation. It does also have shades of peach and lavender to also brighten the skin but the green seems to be the primary colour correcting shade. I love the Dna helix design of the bottle, plus you can see how much you actually have left which is always a bonus.

Adding a bit of colour to my pale face I have been using an old favourite Too Faced Chocolate Bronzer, not only is it a lovely matte shade but smells amazingly of ... yes you guessed it Chocolate!

Sometimes I feel a black eye-line is a bit too much for a day time look and i want something a bit more subtle but that still give definition to my eye. I have been loving using MAC's Teddy eye-liner pencil, as it is a pretty shade of brown with slight hint of bronze. It's lovely to apply and best of all goes on and stay put in my lower lash line. Something that not all eye-liners can say!

A swipe of Maybelline's colour tattoo or NO7's shade & define in 'Cool mink' is mainly what I've been wearing on my eyelids in 'On and on bronze' with MAC's Shroom eye-shadow in the inner corner to brighten and highlight.

Have been enjoying all the drama over on Celebrity Big Brother this month... oh sorry should I say the "Perez show!!" 

If you watch you will know all about the drama and activities that have gone on!

I'm definitely routing for fabulous Michelle Visage. 

So that's it my January Round-up, hope you have had a great month.

Take time for you. Take care and look after yourself.

Thanks for popping by luv acesparklestar xoxo