EOS Lip balm

I didn't know what these things were called at all, A friend of mine had been to America on holiday and brought back this weird looking pod shaped lip balm and I remember being fascinated by the shape of it.
Nearly two years later I spotted the same weird wee pod on a make up tutorial on Youtube and at last it had a name! EOS or Evolution of smooth to be precise. A quick Amazon search later and I had purchased a pack of five and waited impatiently to get my tiny little hands on them. Apparently they were also featured in a Miley Cyrus video and lots of other celebs have been instagramming about them. I don't really follow celeb culture very much so I was amused that I was very on trend for once!

Finally they arrived!

They are so cute and colourful and they smell soooo good! Each one is packed with shea butter and jojoba so your lips feel lovely and soft almost instantly.

Green - Honeysuckle honeydew   Purple - Passion fruit  Blue - Sweet mint  

Red - Summer fruits  Pink - Strawberry sorbet.

My favourites are sweet mint and strawberry sorbet, The sweet mint one has a little tingle to it and it smells and tastes like softmints/mentos. The strawberry sorbet smells just like its name suggests and it does leave a slight sweetness on your lips.

The others are very pleasant and quite subtle and they all smell exactly as you would expect them to going by their names. The only one that I wasn't really keen on was the summer fruits, I found it a bit sharp and tart for my tastes - however do not weep for this disregarded pod as it has made its way to a new home with an owner who loves it.

                                                This is what they look like inside.

When I twisted it apart the first thing I noticed was the insulated lid (my Dad is an engineer so I always notice structure first!) The beauty of this is that it means that your little lip balm wont melt in your pocket or anywhere else you store it. Nothing worse than a gloopy melted lip balm! The shape and texture of the balm itself is perfectly designed for a no mess and no fuss application and it leaves a really nice natural shine on your lips with no feathering or slipping or a yucky after taste.

It is perfect on its own and it is also fine under lipstick too and it doesn't cause your lipstick to slide off after 5 minutes. I also use mine constantly and they haven't changed shape or look worn down at all.

I am totally sold on these and I would definitely recommend them. I found them on Amazon.co.uk and there is a huge selection of flavours and colours, I can't wait to try out some different ones.

Leave me a comment if you have any questions or if you are an EOS user and tell me what flavour you prefer.

Love and Sparkles x

Geek Chic Cosmetics Haul

Geek Chic Cosmetics haul

Hello! I recently placed an order with Geek Chic Cosmetics and had been waiting patiently for them to arrive.
They are finally here and I thought I would do a little blog type thing about all my treasures:

Lipstick - Ron Burgundy

It is a really gorgeous and rich burgundy colour with a slight pearly shimmer to it.

In terms of application it is very silky and very easy to make a mess with if your are not careful (I found that out the hard way sadly ha ha). Easiest way around it is to use a lip primer or a lip liner with some concealer around it. This is fast becoming my favourite lipstick and has been in my handbag since I got it. I love the packaging on it too, really appeals to me, lets face it who doesn't love Ron Burgundy.It sadly doesn't smell of rich mahogany but it does have a really subtle sweet smell to it, on the site it says it is toasted marshmallows but I'm not sure if that's what it reminds me of! All in all I would give this a huge thumbs up and I would definitely recommend this and I will be looking into getting more in the future. 

Loose Powder Shadows

I have only recently started using loose pigments in my make up routine as i always found them very hard to work with. Now I know that it was simply down to not having a decent base or a good quality brush to work with.

All of the swatches below have two versions of each colour. On the bottom or furthest right (depending on the photograph) is of the pigment alone and the one above it is the pigment used over NYX jumbo eye pencil in the shade Milk. I have included a couple of pictures of each swatch to get the best angle to show the colours. To be honest, photographs do not do these pigments justice at all.

Element Zero (N7 collection)

A really pretty and delicate frosty blue with lots of shimmer and microglitters. Application wise it is very smooth and surprisingly fallout free. I did find it to be very sheer but enough to leave a hint of the colour and you can always put a lighter base under it and pack it on for a more intense colour if that is what you are after.

Companion Cube (Portals collection)

This is probably the most vibrant and bright sparkly pink I have ever had in a make up and as you can see, it doesn't make a blind bit of difference if you have a lighter base under it or not. This powder is much finer than the others and I found it really messy to use. The best way to apply this one is to put it over a sticky base like a cream shadow or a tacky primer, this will make it stay better and minimise fallout and it will also help against staining as I found this one to stain quite a bit. That being said, it did come off eventually with make up remover and a wee bit of elbow grease.

Mischief Managed (Witchcraft and Wizardry collection) 

This one was really hard to photograph, it is so beautiful but the camera just doesn't capture it. It is like a shimmery tan colour with loads of pastel holographic microglitters, really warm toned and had a kind of antique gold feel to it. As you can see from the pictures, it totally shifted from a warm toned colour to a cool toned colour when placed on the white base. I have to say I really liked this effect and the application of it is really smooth with minimal fallout.

Portal Blue (Portals collection)

This is an amazing bright blue, lots of shimmer and really nice texture to work with. Didn't find too much fall out with this one either.

Mind Meld (Go Boldly collection)

This is a beautiful bright green with a shimmer and a very subtle gold shift. Very smooth application and a wonderful texture to work with. This was just a sample I got but I really want to get the full size.

Wolf of Nothing (Auryn Collection)

Named after my favourite childhood film there was no way I could resist this set. This one is of course named after the terrifying Gmork who gave my Brother and I nightmares when we were little. It is a really deep grey/purple colour with blue and green pearly microglitter.

Again another one that the camera just couldn't capture how gorgeous this truly is in person. I have looked back at my notes and I have written AMAZING!!!! next to it, So true it is a really beautiful and versatile colour that can be used as a lid colour or as an outer corner or crease colour. I have used it a fair bit and it is actually a wee bit darker than the photograph shows. It has a really soft and feathery texture to it but it has amazing colour pay off too.

Strong Hands (Auryn collection)

I wasn't sure about this at first as I just assumed it would just be another shimmery silver but I was so wrong. It is a really pigmented sparkly silver and it was very easy to use. This colour reminded me a lot of Shellshock from the UD Vice 2 pallet but I actually find this one easier to work with and it has a lot less fall out than the UD one as well as a little more sparkle. Who doesn't love more sparkle right?

Voice of the still (Auryn collection)

This one is a really sparkly one. A pearly off white kind of peach tone to it - very beautiful and really easy to use and blend. I use this one as a highlight colour either in the inner corner or under my brow.

Moonchild (Auryn collection) 

This one is another gorgeous highlight type colour. Another off white but it had a very subtle rose gold pinky tone to it. Very pigmented and easy to use. This one had little holographic sparkles in it and is just so pretty.

Luck Dragon (Auryn collection)

Easily my favourite out of all of the Auryn ones. How gorgeous is that pink!!! its a delicate powder pink with rose gold holographic microglitters. It has loads of sparkle and shimmer to it. It is so pigmented and it blended beautifully and has a great texture. This one absolutely nailed it in terms of inspiration as I can actually see all the wee pearls and soft fur on Falcor when I look at this. I think I actually squealed when I first swatched this! Love love love this.

Son of all (Auryn collection)

This one surprised me as I wasn't very keen on the colour when I saw it in the pot but when I swatched it I was really impressed, Its a really nice rich bronze with coppery tones to it and lots of lovely rose gold microglitters through it. I don't usually go for browny colours but this one is really beautiful and it is very easy to use and blend.

That is all of my goodies from Geek Chic and I really cannot recommend them highly enough. All of their products are cruelty free and gluten free which means no sore face for me!

I hope you have enjoyed my rambling and if you have any comments or questions or if you want to see more of any of the swatches, please feel free to leave me a comment.

I will be doing a review of some EOS lipbalms that I purchased recently so if that is your thing, keep your eyes peeled.

Love and Sparkles x

First Post: Pleased to meet you!

First post! It's always a difficult place to start isn't it, the very start. So full of expectation and a fair bit of apprehension too.

Anyway lets get started - I should probably tell you a bit about myself, I'm a 30 year old beauty student in my first year at college and I live in Scotland with my Fiancé and my cat.

I don't look much like a typical beauty student apparently, I am plus size for a start and I am quite heavily tattooed and pierced. Now to be honest I never put any thought into my appearance and how that would affect my studies, after all we are who we are, but I noticed that I seem to stand out for all the wrong reasons from my classmates and I've come up against a bit of scrutiny from some people and also a lot of people seem genuinely surprised when I tell them my chosen subject.

Sure I spend some days dressed in black and punky clothes, listening to heavy metal and adding to my tattoo collection but the truth is, I'm such a girly girl at heart! My favourite colour is pink (even my engagement ring is pink!), I love glitter and make up, I have Jem and the Holograms and My Little Pony tattoos and my Daddy still calls me Princess. I love teaming my outfits with bright funky jewellery and I love geeky clothing like my beloved batman letterman jacket or my Buzz Lightyear hoodie.

I enjoy a variety of different looks - one day I'll look like I'm off to a Motorhead concert and the next I will look like I should be on a kids TV programme! But I wouldn't have it any other way :)

Another thing that I hold very dear to my heart is the sea and everything in it but especially sharks. There is just something fascinating about them. Its heartbreaking that humans are destroying them at such a rapid rate and it is something that I do feel strongly about.

In this blog you can expect to find me musing about everyday occurrences, Sharks, definitely some make up and beauty chat and I am starting to think about planning my wedding so there will be a bit of that too.

I will leave it there for now and hope I haven't bored you to death! Until next time, be happy and remember to sparkle :)

Gayle x