Face of the Day ~ starry eyed

  Eyeliner ~ Maybelline Master Precise

Dark blue lipstick ~ Illamasqua in Disciple 

After having reviewed Maybelline's Master Precise liquid eyeliner I thought I'd try a look with it. Due to the weaknesses I found with it (that it leaves a shadow on the lid) I decided to apply it where that sort of thing didn't matter so I used it for my lower lid line and for a little extra flair in the form of stars. I thought it would be good to test and see just how easy precision application is as well - pretty good I'm pleased to report. I really love doing little details like this and am definitely going to do more of them in the future (e.g. Marina and the Diamond's adorable little heart beauty spot).
I've also been wanting to wear my navy Illasmaqua lipstick as well (which I reviewed here), I still think it's such a perfect shade. I need to wear it more often but it's one of those lipsticks that I just don't want to run out of so I use it less often (it's a bit catch 22 really).

Metallic Teal Nail Varnish Dupes

A colour I've been seeing surfacing recently, especially in terms of nail varnish is teal (or turquoise). And more specifically metallic teal; really lovely multi-dimensional sea colours that vary from being quite blue to rather green. I personally own two and I love them so I thought I would share with you a few affordable varieties from a few different companies so you can find your favourite perfect shade

17 Fast Finish ~ Peacock, £2.99

 Image Source

Rimmel 60 Seconds ~ Green with Envy, £3.69

 Image Source

Gosh ~ Ocean, £4.99

 Image Source

Fashionista ~ Dragon, £5.00

Image Source

Miss Sporty ~ Hypnotic Turquoise, £1.99

Image Source

Barry M ~ Teal, £2.99

 Image Source

MUA ~ Shade 13, £1.00

 Image Source

So, what's your favourite?

Outfit of the Day ~ bricks & bones.

{Without an answer, the thunder speaks for the sky, and on the cold, wet dirt I cry.
And on the cold, wet dirt I cry.
Don’t you wanna come with me? Don’t you wanna feel my bones
on your bones?
It's only natural.}

~ Bones, The Killers

Wow, that's a pretty New Look dominated outfit. So, the boyfriend moved the other day which means I now have more locations for outfits, not that I'm ever short of them really but these will be within walking distance, yay! We wanted to take more photos in the tunnel but some youths wouldn't clear out and then it started raining. I swear the world just doesn't want me to do outfit shoots - it is always interfering. As you can see I'm still feeling the goth/grunge vibe, in fact the boyfriend asked me if next time we do an outfit I could include a bit of colour. I'm considering it, maybe. I did hasten to point out the trousers aren't black - he wasn't impressed.
I really love this jumper, I pretty much wear it all the time. It reminds me of sugar skulls from the Mexican Day of the Dead celebrations and I really dig the wide scoop neckline as well. I've been wanting to try out the whole collared shirt under jumper look that I've seen everywhere but it's taken me this long to find the perfect combo, I'm pretty chuffed though.

Highlights of recent include going to London to do a shoot with the wonderful Hiven. It was really cool meeting her and sitting in Pret whilst two ladies attended to my hair and face then wondering around some random market and getting scowled at by a florist. Hopefully I'll be able to show you all the photos at some point.
I'm also nearing 100 followers of GFC and as my new layout is pretty much ready to go I thought as a celebration I could put it up once I actually reach 100. I can't wait to show you it! I've (well, we, since the boyfriend has helped me with it a lot) been working on it for ages.
I recently added my blog to Fashion Infatuation's UK blogger map. If you're a UK blogger I'd recommend doing it or looking to see if there are any other bloggers in your area.
That's about it - hope you're all having a good week!
As usual these photos were taken by the wonderful boyfriend, check out his tumblr here.

Collared blouse ~ New Look 

Skull jumper ~ New Look

Burgundy cords ~ New Look

Boots ~ New Look

Lips ~ Chinchilla by Lime Crime

Review ~ Maybelline Master Precise eyeliner

 During a recent shopping trip I decided to take advantage of Boots' 3 for 2 deal. I'd been meaning to try out an eyeliner with a felt tip style applicator for a while, so spent a while looking at the different options and finally chose Maybeline's Master Precise liquid eyeliner (RRP £5.99).

I really like the neat packaging and how much like a pen it looks (although I wish the lid popped onto the end like lids on pens do, but that's just me). It's sleek, elegant and easy to hold which makes application easy. As you can see it has a really fine tip which makes for some very precise, detailed applying which is great for doing unusual flicks and wings.
I found I had to layer up the colour a bit to get a properly opaque black look and due to the nib being so thin I had to do a bit of 'colouring in' to do a thick line (my go-to eye liner look), unlike with a brush applicator when you can just paint it in quickly.
I also noticed a more significant down side that for me is a bit of a let down. When I drew on my line extra thick and wore it for a few hours I found that after a while a shadow formed on the upper part of my lid where the line had been touching whilst my eyes were open. It's not easy to wipe away either, it's sort of like the shadow you get under your eyes if your mascara or eyeliner has the same tendency. If you only use eyeliner for thin lines then this isn't going to be a problem for you but for me, who mainly wear thick lines this is pretty big problem. I think the way I'm going to try and overcome it is by doing the main bulk of the line in a waterproof eyeliner and then the flicks I'll do with this. I also found it really hard to remove without a lot of rubbing which I really don't like doing.

So, all in all:

Pros:

• quick drying
• reasonable price
• packaging looks good
• good for precision and detailing

Cons:

• leaves a shadow
• needs layering to look opaque 
• difficult to remove

They also have a really cool website with suggestions on how to use it and different looks, I'd check it out just for general eyeliner inspiration.

Batiste Lace (& the launch!)

If you haven't heard already Batiste has released a new fragrance for their dry shampoo. Last Wednesday I went to their launch event where I got to inspect the new product and generally get pampered.
The venue (The Mayfair House) was gorgeous and decorated with the pink and black theme of the new can. The new product was everywhere and looked really good, I love the lace design. The minute I got hold of one I gave it a good sniff and it smells like Parma Violets! Which is awesome! There were also really cute cupcakes with tiny little cans of dry shampoo on them - edible of course and pick & mix available. Just generally everything looked really amazing.

Upon arriving me and my wonderful photographer in tow (not the boyfriend for once) Bekki were greeted by the lovely Lisa from PR, given pink champagne and whisked into hairdressing chairs where the extremely friendly professionals from Brooks & Brooks offered us a choice of hairstyles - I naturally went for the retro/rockabilly option and I think it turned out great! I also found out that dry shampoo can be used to add a bit of grip to hair (kind of like hairspray but not as sticky) which is a cool idea I hadn't thought of before. After that I had my makeup done, where the brand they were using was BeautyUK.

 Before hair & makeup and after

Bekki's hair turned out lovely as well, fishtail ftw!

Whilst all this was happening many a photo was taken and once we were done with makeup one of the photographers persuaded us to go into the little photo studio. Suffice to say Bekki and I aren't naturals in front of the camera. I also got interviewed so you may see my face talking about Batiste somewhere on the internet, though I'm not sure where. After that it was across to nails where I chose this gorgeous colour, again from BeautyUK called Smokey Lilac.

Ignore my creepy hand and just appreciate that lovely, dusty pastel shade

Once that was done there was a prize draw and then the evening was pretty much over. On our way out we were handed goodie bags, including a can of the new Batiste Lace. Isn't it lovely?? The pattern is so pretty and it smells really nice too, very sweet and like I said before, like violets.

So, that's about it really. Thanks to Batiste for inviting me, I had a great time.
As for Bastite Lace I'd definitely recommend going into your nearest Boots and Superdrug and giving this baby a smell, it's the same brilliant product but with a nice, new variation.