Miss Sporty Mono Eyeshadows

I love makeup, the only thing I like more than 'normal' makeup, is cheap makeup, GOOD cheap makeup.
In Australia, makeup is expensive, but the real annoyance is the difference between a 'drug store product', and a 'premium product' is not huge because 'drug store' brands are SO expensive.  In the UK ( and America, but I'm not living there) the most noticable difference is that the divide is bigger.  The premium products, are a bit cheaper, but the drug store products and HUGELY cheaper.  Further to this, there is a better range, so while the Loreal, Revlon and Max Factor products are readily available, and so are the Maybelline, Rimmel and Bourjois, there is, and always has been a good selection of even cheaper drug store brands.
Australian bloggers already know some of these secrets, such as the Collection Lasting Perfection concealer, the MUA eyeshadows and the Sleek Palettes and blushes, but I'm going to showcase a few other items from a some other 'cheap' brands you might have never heard of.  Mostly just for fun.

Today, it is the turn of the Miss Sporty Mono Eyeshadow.  Most of you probably know that my relocation of the UK was not a move, but a move 'back'  I was born here, and lived here until I was 17. At that time, on a teenager's budget I used to use all of these brands, and I remember feeling like there was a higherachy of drugstore products, with Miss Sporty and Collection (Collection 2000 back then) at the bottom.  Isn't it funny that 12 years later, on a grown up budget, I am now CHOOSING to buy these products, because if there is one thing that (sometimes) comes with age, it is wisdom, wisdom that 'names' don't mean a thing when it comes to quality.  So without further a do....

Miss Sporty Mono Eyeshadows in Candy -a metalic teal and Romance a matte pinkish bone colour, with just the slightest hint of a micro glitter.

I must admit, when I bought these, I actually bought them for my 4 year old, who has decided makeup is fantastic, and rather than let him have my Inglot palettes to play with, I decided to buy him his own.  At £2 each, I figured it was the best bet.  HOWEVER, when I got them home and swatched them, I fell in love, needless to say I bought Jamie some other ones.

You can't really see romance, maybe the hit of a pale matte finish to the left of Candy, and this photo doesn't even begin to do justice to the stunning pearl finish Candy has.

I wore these colour together, over a primer (of course) Romace as the base and then Candy throught the crease, they easily managed the full day, although that might have been due to the hard working primer.

The only real issue I have with these are the names, Romance is a true nude shade, so I suppose I could see the name choice, but Candy? Where the hell are you getting metalic teal Candy? 

Am I missing something? If you can shed some light on this name choice, answers on a postcard....alternatively....you could just leave a comment.

Samples Challenge Week 4

Thankfully I am getting through these samples, although I must say, I seem to have collected a few more over the last few weeks.

This week, just 2 samples, as most of the samples I have left are either perfume or skin care, I will only use a 2 at a time.  Although I don't have sensitive skin, I hate to use too many new products in one hit, so if I do react, I can figure out what to.  I also don't wear perfume every day, so I simply woudn't get through too many samples.

This week:

Marc Jacobs Daisy- I love Marc Jabcos perfumes, so looking forward to it.

and Laura Mercier Flawless Skin Face Polish I've never used a Laura Mercier product that wasn't makeup, or at least a primer, so I'm eager to give this a shot.


How's your sample stash? is it dwindling yet?

Rimmel London- Exaggerate Undercover Shadow Primer Review

I'm a complete eyeshadow primer devotee, it's just not worth it to not wear a primer.  That being said, I am ALWAYS on the hunt for a good value primer.

I picked this up the other day out of interest more than anything.  I have no idea how long it has been around, and with such plain packaging I might well have passed it by many times.

What they say:
Rimmel's unique primer to maximise the colour and wear of your shadow!
Makes colour waterproof! Apply to lid, let dry, apply eyeshadow colour.

What I say:
This is a budget primer.  The applicator is the same as a traditional lip gloss wand, which I hate because it feels gross to rub it on your skin and put it back in the container.  I do tend to put it on my finger and apply that way.

This has a fair amount of slip, a liquid feel rather than a cream, it makes it easy to apply, once set, it acts as an excellent grippy base for shadows.  Sometimes, with the cream basked primers I find that they can be tricky to blend with, either because you didn't use enough and so the edges are rough, or because they are thicker on the lid.  This was not the case here, it was a dream to blend over, and a full 12 hours later my eyeshadow still looked as fresh as it did that morning.  I haven't yet put the 'waterproof' claims to the test...

For the money, and even though it has a less than fab applicator, this is an amazing primer.

You can get this in the UK from Rimmel stockists for £4.99, but always look for specials!
A quick look over the Priceline and ASOS websites tells me this product is not currently available in Australai, but use the powers of social media to find out and nag!

March Empties

 The lot.  There were a few empties this month.

The Samples. The sample challenge is well under way, I must admit I forgot to keep some of the empties from some of the samples, especially the Philosophy skincare.  Also, although I have set the challenge in March, not all samples are created equal, so I find I get through some in one try and others take longer because they are bigger.  Simple.

Both of these samples are from Benefit
It's Potent Eye-Cream.  I had a trial jar of this in Australia, and I quite liked it, but this sample seemed a little harsh on the delicate eye area, so I won't be buying it.
The Big Easy. Pretty much as soon as I tried this sample I knew I was going to buy it, it's brilliant. The correcting side of it is great, this was, what I thought, tiny sample, and I combined a few of the shades, but it did such a perfect job with a small amount, and then was all velvety and lovely like a powder.  I'll be doing a more in-depth review of this soon. When I was in a department store a short while after trying this, they had 10% off and claimed it was 'pre-release' by a day, so I grabbed it.

Soap and Glory goodies.

The Righteous Butter. With the sudden change to a cold  freezing climate - going from Australian Summer to UK Winter - not surprisingy, my skin got dry, and I needed something to do some hard core moistuising. I love this, and because they have 'Christmas' packs which then are half price after Chrsitmas, I probably have enough to keep me going until next year, but if I didn't, I would be purchasing this again.

Hand Food. This is my fave hand cream, you don't need a heap, which is why it lasted so long it lost it's label.  It goes on smooth and is absorbed instantly.  Just what you want for winter hands.  I have re-purchased it.

Heel Genius. As the name says: it's genius, for your heels.  Also if you suffer from the dreaded scaly elbow it's also great to pop a bit on there, it will clear it up brilliantly.

I have re-purchased this one too.

Beauty Care Co. Green Tea Facial Wipes

I was not a fan, they were a bit rough and tough on my skin. Also, they did not remove mascara. Liar.

I got these super cheap from K-Mart, 13000 miles is a bit far to travel to get more, but even if I was in Aus, I wouldn't buy these again.

Smart Value makeup reomver pads.

These are the cheapest of the cheap but I love them, they're from Big W and I make a point to buy these. They don't have 'sealed' edges like so many cotton pads, and I find these edges a little harsh on my eye area, so I deliberately buy the cheap ones.  I can't repurchase these because of the distance, but I CAN hunt down an equivilent.

Bioderma Crealine Solution (or Micellar Water)

Absolute Godsend of a product.  I am currently using the B.Pure version because it is a fraction of the price, but if for some reason that became unavailable. I would jump back to this in a heart beat, it is THAT good.

Girlz Only Dry Shampoo

If you excuse the terribly tacky name, this dry shampoo is great. I hated all those before it, and most since.  It is possibly the 2nd cheapest dry shampoo available, but it works with my hair.  I'm currently using up another brand, but then I will be back to this.

Original Source Mint and Tea Tree Shower Gel
This stuff smells SO clean and does a fab job of waking me up in the morning.  I have another bottle to use up, but I will probably always have some floating around.

Clarisonic Refreshing Gel Cleanser
When I first got my Clarisonic brush, I didn't know what to use with it, so I bought the gel cleanser too. It did the job and meant I learned what the ideal product texture was.  I like it, but probably won't re-purchase.

There we have it, March's empties, a little later than I planned, mostly due to being away for most for the 1st week of April.  I'm hoping to have a few more for April as there are some products I'm really not a fan of that I just need to use up! I know you know what I mean....

A Heart More Broken than the Shadow selection- My fist Scottish Inglot experience.

 I love Inglot shadows, but then show me a Beauty Blogger who doesn't.
Recently I made a trek to the nearest Inglot store to me in Scotland, determined to increase my collection- seriously, I know I don't need to.....

I love Inglot so much, that on my wedding day, when I did my own makeup, they were the only shadows I used

Inglot shadows makeup a majority of the shadows in my pro kit.  I LOVE them.

So imagine how gutted I was to make this hour long trip to do some much needed colour (retail) therapy to discover a store that didn't even remotely resemble the Inglot stores I have been in Australia.

Initially, the store didn't even seem like a retail shop, focusing more on doing nails and other beauty treatments than selling products, complete with hand written 'specials' signs.

So unsure was I about the store, I actually asked if they sold the Freedom Palettes- yes, they did, but the miserable selection of broken, water damaged, dirty and faded shadows was all they had left (ok, her words might have been different) ALSO they only had 16 pan palettes left.  That didn't bother me, just an excuse to buy more shadows. Until she got the '16 pan palette' out and it was actually a 4 pan face palettes, but 'you can get 4 shadows in each one'

I politely declined on the grounds I am too OCD for that and I like they to look neat, also I knew I had a spare Z Palette at home and I could order the actual palette from the Inglot website, but I am reluctant to order any colours that way as I like to swatch.

I carried on looking for shadows, I enquired about the magnetic boards they usually give you to select the shadows- they had none- just put them on the counter.  Through dirt and faded shades, I managed to find a few I didn't already have.  It was made  slightly harder by the complete lack of organisation of the shades and finishes.

I picked my 16 shadows, after I was informed that they didn't actually had 5 of them, I paid for my 11 shadows, then the SA disappeared off and came back with a crumpled used 'other store' carrier bag, and without giving me the choice, put my shadows in it, informing me that they didn't have any bags and 'really needed to do an order'

So annoyed by this whole transaction, I decided to double check if this store was in fact even a real shop, it is, still listed on the Inglot website, and still apparently functioning as such.

Maybe Australian stores spoiled me, maybe they are of a higher calibre, or maybe this one was just miserably disappointing?  Either way, it left a nasty taste in my mouth and the decision never to return to that store.

When I took to Twitter with my concerns, the feeling was that I should email head office to inform them of the situation.  I have done this, I eagarly await their response, and when I get it, you'll hear it here first.

What about you? Have you ever been super exicted to go to a store only to be bitterly disapointed? What about Inglot stores? Have I always been lucky? Are they not created equal?