Boots Haul: No 7

Here is the second half of my Boots haul. I've already posted about the bits I bought from Ruby & Millie, so this post is on the No 7 eye make up items I also treated myself to!

First up is this gorgeous eye shadow palette, its called the 'Define & Shimmer Eye Palette'. This was £7.12, reduced from £9.50. Linky!

You get 4 eye shadow colours and a pretty decent 2 ended applicator brush in this set. I've taken photos of each end as it has a slanted end and a curved end - this is a brilliant idea and the brushes are very good quality to say they came in a palette. I'm very impressed by this attention to detail from No 7.

The colours themselves are quite unique - I haven't come across a selection quite like it and I certainly don't own anything similar to the olive-y green shade. I've swatched them on my inner arm to show you, and here's a photo taken in sunlight to demonstrate the shimmery tones:

 

[please ignore the random shadows on my arm!]

I really like these colours. The pearly white/cream isn't the most pigmented eye colour I've seen but it will definitely be useful for highlighting and creating a more multi-faceted eye look. The green as I've said is SO different to any green I have I'm really excited about creating a look around it. Its very shimmery so will be perfect for a night out. The two darker shades are really nice too and might be good for incorporating into a more natural daytime look. They're quite bold and nicely pigmented.

Overall I feel that this palette was superb value for money and I can't wait to start experimenting with the new shades! I also love the mini double ended brush that came with the set - so much better than those crappy sponge applicators you get with other brands!

 I also bought this set of Metallic Eye Liner Pencils, 5 colours for £10.12, reduced from £13.50. Linky! I bought the pencils in the 'Candy Cane' range as I thought the blues and greens would be more appropriate for me as I already use these colours on my eyes quite a bit.

Here are the pencils - they're quite small but you do get a nice range of shades and they are all gorgeous shimmery metallic colours. From top to bottom: Candy Lavender, Candy Lime, Candy Blue, Candy Green & Candy Pink.

 

Here are the shades swatched in the same order as pictured above. Apart from the Candy Pink shade, I was very impressed by the soft application and consistency of the bold colour with these pencils. I especially like the two greens and the darker blue, which will be great for a night out combined with the colours I got in the eyeshadow palette & also some of the Ruby & Millie shadows I posted about previously. Not too keen on the Pink but it does come out as more of a cream shimmer which is quite versatile and might be useful for opening up my eyes when used in a natural day look. 

I would definitely recommend these pencils - I think they're very good value for money and the shades are nice and varied. There's nothing worse than buying a set of pencils that turn out to be variations of the same colour!

xx

In Her Eyes - eyeliner

I'm back as promised with what will hopefully prove to be a useful beauty-oriented post! I've invested in some new bits and pieces of late and intend to update you on them over the next day or two! I'm currently going through a big coloured eyeliner phase, and to reflect this I'll start by posting about eyeliners!

Until a few months ago I never strayed beyond simple black eyeliner - usually kohl on my waterline or the most basic of liquids just above my upper eyelashes. A friend of mine suggested I take the leap and try a coloured liner, as I have queer coloured eyes and she thought using different coloured eyeliners could help to bring out the different colours in my eyes. Boy was she right!

My first purchases were from E.L.F. If you haven't heard of it already, E.L.F. (Eyes Lips Face) is a big drugstore brand in America, with most items selling for $1 over there. The company recently began selling through its own UK site, and most standard items are £1.50. I purchased 3 coloured eyeliners, one 'Brightening Eyeliner' in the shade 'plum', and two 'Shimmer Eyeliner Pencils', in the shades 'gunmetal' and 'plum passion'.

The gunmetal shimmer shade is at the top, the plum passion shimmer shade is in the middle and the plum brightening shade is at the bottom. I've worn all these eyeliners out for the day (on different days, obviously!) and will comment on them each in turn.

The gunmetal shimmer eyeliner is a really nice metallic, soft shade & goes on nicely. The lovely practical-minded people at E.L.F. kindly make all 'Shimmer' range eyeliners with a pencil sharpener in the lid! A nice touch. In terms of wear-ability, it's not as metallic on the lids as I'd hoped, but this does mean that the shade is suitable for daywear and isn't too garish or shocking. It stays on for most of the day (around 7 hours until it starts to fade and look a bit rubbish) which I thought was brilliant value for £1.50!

The same applies to the plum passion shade of the shimmer eyeliner. This is a delightful shimmery colour and I've worn it out a few times, but it does seem to lose its pigmentation much quicker than the gunmetal shade. Again, very good value.

The plum 'Brightening Eyeliner' is my favourite of the three - it kept its pigmentation well into the evening, and it's a divine colour. Very well pigmented in general and goes on very easily. E.L.F. send you a pencil sharpener with the eyeliner, but it's loose so will probably get as lost in your make up bag as it has in mine! Recommended - an absolute steal at £1.50 and I love it!

Next up are some Collection 2000 eyeliners. Although obviously a big fan of the E.L.F. ones above, I really can't praise the Collection 2000 range of eyeliners enough, they're definitely my favourites. At £1.99 for a pencil and £2.99 for a felt tip they're excellent value too.

This is the Collection 2000 'Kohl Eyeliner Precision Colour' in shade 'Kingfisher 20'. I am head over heels in love with this colour, it's such a luscious shade and is very highly pigmented and lasts and lasts and lasts! I put it on at 8 in the morning and it was still bright as ever when I removed it at 11pm at night.

I like to wear it when I'm going for a more rock chick look as I think it's a bit edgier than most other colours. My favourite eyeliner, I would recommend this without a shadow of a doubt. I bought mine from Boots for £1.99.

Here are the other three Collection 2000 eyeliners I purchased using the Boots 3 for 2 offer that's on at the moment. The top one is an 'Extreme 24hour Felt Tip Liner' in 'Blue', the middle one is another 'Kohl Eyeliner Precision Colour' in shade 'Purple Passion 29', and the bottom is 'Kohl Eyeliner Precision Colour' in shade 'Brown 2'.

Starting at the top, the felt tip liner is the most lasting liner I've ever used. Collection 2000 don't mess around when they label something '24hours'! Although the shade of blue is duller on the skin than I expected, it's still a really nice shade, if a little dark. I prefer to wear this liner on a night out, but it has a lovely metallic navy edge to it. Very easy on, a steal at only £2.99!

Next is the pencil eyeliner in 'Purple Passion 29'. A lovely bright purple colour, this is similar to the blue above - goes on nicely, excellent durability and overall very good value for money at £1.99. I prefer the blue shade to the purple but I think that's more personal preference than anything else!

Finally, the pencil eyeliner in 'Brown 2'. There's nothing new to say about this one really. Obviously it's a brown/neutral shade so the colour isn't bright but it is easy to put on, stays on a long time and to be honest in all the shades of brown eyeliner I've come across, this is a nice natural nutty colour which will look great for a day to day nude make up look. Again, recommended as it's only £1.99!

I hope this somewhat hefty post on eyeliners has left you seeing these products more clearly (!) and I hope if you haven't done so before, you give coloured liners a go, or even place an order with E.L.F. for the first time! If you 'like' E.L.F. on Facebook (search eyeslipsface) they often post discount codes and offers on their page which is a great way to get an even better deal on your make up!

xx