“The Most Beautiful Make Up Of A Woman Is Passion. But Cosmetics Are Easier To Buy.” - Yves Saint-Laurent

I don't know about you, but I have an absolute nightmare when it comes to finding a make up brand I can commit to. It seems like every time I find a type of foundation that I love, it goes a little like this;

it's perfect for me
wow!
how did I ever live without this in my life??
...
actually it's a bit dry
its the wrong colour really
oh god I look HIDEOUS!

and this isn't just foundation, it's every piece of make up I own. I have my staple favourites (naturally, these are the ones that I usually have to take out a mortgage to buy) but my daily wear make up bag changes constantly. I've decided to stop wasting my money on trying every new cosmetic item that gets released and instead focus on trying to find the right shades and 'types' (do I want creams, mousses, powders?) of make up to suit my face.

I've never ordered from the Make Up Academy before but a lovely Twitter friend of mine told me about a sale they had on, so I went for it and bought a few items, just to try different things out.

For my base I got these items;

Matte Perfect Foundation in Fair - BB All in One Beauty Balm in Light Rose - Matte Perfect Primer - Matte Perfect Loose Powder in Translucent - Blusher in Shade 4

I haven't used a BB cream yet and thought I should give it a go considering all the hype about it. The foundation is nice and smooth and the colour isn't too bold but also isn't pale enough to wash me out.

For my eyes;

Pearl Eye Shadows in Shade 11 (a muted bronze) & Shade 15 (metallic dark grey) - Eye Dust in Shade 5 - 3 in 1 Extreme Contour Liner in Black Shade 1 - Glam Textured Lashes

For my lips;

Sheer Finish Lipgloss in Just Incase - Lipstick in Juicy & Bare - Kiss Proof Lip Stain in Fabulicious

I really wanted to try a lip stain as I hate the 'clarty' feel of more intense lipsticks but you don't always want a gloss. I decided to try this one out just to see if stains appeal to me.

Finally, for my nails I got;

Nail Polish in All Nude & Pistachio Ice Cream

I've seen a few posts about these calm pastel colours and at £1 each they were definitely worth a try!

Overall It only cost around £30 (about the price of one of those pricey foundations) and I have a lot of new items to play with. 

Has anyone else bought regularly from Makeup Academy? What are your favourite items?

Lots of love, Taz x

What If The Hokey Cokey Really Is What It's All About?

Hello All!

I've decided to do a HAUL post on things I bought at the MetroCentre in Gateshead. 

I don't go there that often, not since I left Sunderland, but I went a few weeks ago with the girls and got some great stuff. 

So I decided to go again this week and, since one of my best friends lives about 15mins away, we drove over on Monday. 

I'd heard about this American Candy place opening up and the week of it opening there were apparently queues out the door, so I was excited the check it out.

Well, evidently the reason the queues were out the door were probably because its smaller than my bedroom! It's a tiny place, for anyone who knows the MetroCentre it's in that little village set-up between the green & blue malls, so only teeny.

They had a few nice things, but my friend went to America for a couple of years and would send loads of stuff back so there was nothing that really stood out to me. I did get a couple of cans of Mountain Dew though because I've never had the proper American stuff, just that energy one you can get over here.

I also got some, more, candles. If you follow my blog / twitter you'll probably know I have a bit of an addiction to candles, and a quite substantially larger addiction to Yankee Candles...

BUT, in my defence, the Nature's Paintbrush is one that I've been after for ages!

 

Also, the Christmas Tree tealights were super reduced from Christmas so that's okay, right?! 

The Pink Rose one just looked pretty, and smelled nice.

And was only £1.50 from Primark. Bargain.

I have to admit to totally going off Primark in the last few years, and if I'm being honest, I got a bit snooty about it, thinking it was just cheap tat. BUT, I think they've really raised their game recently and although you can't expect to compare the quality against the more expensive shops, they do have some nice stuff.

The only clothing I bought from there was this Roxy Music top. It's really short so probably good over denim or high-waisted shorts maybe? 

I also got some stuff from the Home department, I really like some of the things they have on offer...

I loved this cushion, I'm redecorating my room with a neutral walls and colourful accessories set up so for £7, I thought this would fit in really well.

I also got these pillowcases, because they're so pretty, but mainly because they were only £2 for a pack of 2!

I got a huge bag for half price at only £5 which has a bright orange lining, and I was after some quite plain summer flats so I went for these nude snakeskin pumps for £5.

From Topshop I just got a couple of bits of jewellery...

The cross rings were £8.50, but the other ring was in the half-price sale so was only £2!

We went into That's Entertainment on the way home and I got some DVDs and some posters...

I'm not even embarrassed about the Avengers poster! It's only a mini one but I still unashamedly LOVE it :)

The DVDs, if you can't see them, are Three Kings, Tropic Thunder, The Office Series 1 & 2, Dogma and Pearl Harbour.

I also got two other posters which I havent put up yet, but they're big ones in the style of the "Keep Calm And Carry On" signs, but one's movie quotes and one's song titles. (I'll take snaps of them when they're up!)

I got a vest top from New Look for £8.99. I love the design.

Finally, I got a wooden sign for my room...

I like inspirational stuff like that.

So that's what I bought! (& spent far too much money on!) 

If there's anything you like that I've forgotten to say where it was from or how much then feel free to ask :)

I'm gonna sign off with something that me & my friend both absolutely adored but at £14 couldn't justify buying...

It tickled us anyway!

Anyway take care, Lots of Love, Taz x