The Perfect Palette Tag

Best Packaging: Charlotte Tilbury Dolce Vita Palette 

I don't think packaging comes much better than Charlotte Tilbury. It feels so luxury and I love it so much.

Best Colour Payoff: Zoeva Cocoa Blend Palette 
A lot of the palettes I own have amazing pigmentation but I find the eyeshadows in this one are really pigmented without being over the top or hard to use. The shade 'bitter start' in the top left corner is the most pigmented white/cream shade I own. 

Most Versatile: Naked Basics Palette
I don't really know why I've chosen this one. I think if you gave this to lots of different people they'd probably all come up with different looks and it probably suits everyone. Although personally I only really use this for one look... I may have misunderstood this question and regret my choice wholeheartedly. 

Best for Travelling: Illamasqua Multi Facette Palette in Semblance

I love this palette because it has everything you need for your face in one place. I love the highlighting eyeshadow shade for all over the lid, the bronze shade is perfect for the outer corner and it even has a decent black shade so you have a full eye look. It has the cream pigment in Hollow which I use daily and a gorgeous blush shade as well. I used the eyebrow cake for a while and would use it again should I need to. I don't use the highlighter but I can go without that. All that comes housed in sleek packaging with a big mirror. Perfect for travelling. 

Biggest Regret: Smashbox Full Exposure Palette

Ooooh man, what a waste of my hard earned Boots points. I'm actually struggling to remember why I didn't like this because I used it so few times so long ago. I think it all looks really nice, the shimmers look stunning but it just doesn't work on the eyes I don't think. I don't like the mattes, they were chalky (if I remember correctly) and it will probably never get used again (still won't get rid of it though).

Best Colour Names: theBalm Nude 'Tude Palette

I only realised when taking the photo that they all begin with an 'S'. Love it!

Least Used: Urban Decay Naked 2 Palette

This might be surprising since the Naked palettes are such a cult product but I don't use mine half as much as I thought. I might have palettes I've used less (Smashbox Full Exposure) but when I bought this I thought I would absolutely love it and I just don't. It's never a palette I grab for, I don't really like the way my eye makeup looks when I use it. I'm glad I bought it so I could try it but it's not got the love I hoped for.

Most Used: Stila In the Light Palette 

My sister bought me this when I was first getting into eyeshadow and it was the only palette I owned for a long time and as you can see it was well loved. I used up every last scrap of 'Kitten' and 'Sunset' is still one of my favourite shades but I use it as little as possible because you can't buy it separately and I don't want to spend £25 to get one eyeshadow. It's such good quality and I love it dearly.

Most Loved: Charlotte Tilbury Dolce Vita Palette

I know I've said the same one twice but how could I not love this. It's perfection, I always love my makeup when I use this, it can do no wrong. 

Desert Island: Makeup Revolution Iconic Pro 2 Palette

Because it contains my favourite eyeshadow of all time. I'd buy a new one to take to the desert island.

That's all the categories! I hope you enjoyed this tag and let me know what you think of my picks. Thanks for stopping by! Lots of love,

twitter / instagram 

Lust List #3

Hi everyone! I haven't done a lust list in a while so it's definitely time for a new one. 

I've wanted a new phone case for a while (even though 5Cs don't really need one, I could throw my phone into the Grand Canyon and it would come out without a scratch) and Iconemisis has some gorgeous ones, I love the pale blue colour and the print is also really pretty. I also love this terrarium from Asda (they have some stunning homeware bits), I'm particularly into homeware at the moment since I'll be moving out in September and want to get stuff to make my uni room feel less like a uni room. I don't know what I'd use it for (I can't actually put a plant in it, that would be madness) but I really love the look of it. The Sali Hughes Pretty Honest book is something I've wanted to read for ages and I think it'll look really nice on my shelves. I've never been that bothered about Velvet Teddy from Mac before but then I saw a blogpost that had a really gorgeous swatch and now I'm thinking maybe I do need it. Anyone? I also bought my sister a Charlotte Tilbury lipstick and I have never seen anyone go through a lipstick faster, which tells me I need one too, I just have no idea what colour to go for. In my Getting Back into Highlighter  post I said that I wanted the Mac Mineralise Skinfinish in Soft and Gentle, I just wish it wasn't £24. 

Two fashion items I'm lusting after at the moment are these Jamie jeans from Topshop in a corduroy fabric. Cords remind me of being about 10 years old but I think it would be an interesting texture to add to an outfit and a nice change from regular jeans. And the hunt for the winter coat has begun. I really like the colour of this one from Asos because it's not black which is usually what I go for. I'm just teetering on the edge of taking the plunge and ordering this before it sells out (again). 

Let me know if you already own anything on my lust list in the comments. Thanks for stopping by, lots of love,

twitter / instagram

Lust List #1

Hello all and welcome to another post in which I lust after makeup and clothes I can't really afford (my life in one sentence). I hope you enjoy!

Jewellery:  If you can't tell by the above picture and previous blog posts, I love delicate and fine jewellery, particularly rings and 'hand jewellery'. It's my (not particularly successful) way of disguising my man hands. Asos have such a wide range of rings at reasonable prices and the hand harness is something I really want to try for the boho vibe it gives.

Trousers: As someone who has to wear black for work I am always looking for black trousers and as someone who loves to wear black that is totally fine with me. Black trousers go with everything and I think everyone should have a pair in their wardrobe. However in an attempt to switch things up (but not that much) I think I'd get a lot of wear out of a grey pair. Both the trousers are from Topshop so, expensive but gorgeous.

Nail Varnish: If I had it my way I would wear autumn nail colours all year round. Essie's Bordeaux is a stunning dark burgundy and After School Boy Blazer is a definite blogger favourite and is currently on Fragrance Direct for £2.49 so I may have to place an order before it gets snapped up. 

Shu Uemura Eyelash Curlers: I'm getting pretty sick of stealing my sister's eyelash curlers to be honest and I'd finally like a pair of my own. 

Dark Red Lipstick: I mentioned in my last post that I was looking for a pure dark red lipstick without any plum or berry undertones and Mac's Diva and Nars Audacious lipstick in Olivia look to be the perfect fit however I'd need to swatch them first before taking the twenty four pound plunge.

The Virtual Domination Palette: I saved the best til last. Have you ever seen anything more beautiful? The Virtual Domination Palette from Nars is exclusive to Space NK, it features two limited edition blushers and the ever popular Deep Throat blusher plus a highlighter and Laguna bronzer and it is per-fec-tion. It comes in at £45 which is rather hefty but that's what perfection costs I guess. 

Thanks for stopping by! Lots of love,

twitter / instagram 

End of Lent Wishlist

The end of lent is still painfully far away yet I'm already thinking of the things I want to buy when it's over. Even worse, I've just found out there's a Space NK right near my new job. I feel the need to apologise to my bank account in advance. 

1. Does blusher get any cuter than these new Clinique cheek pops? It's a flower for the love of god. Nothing says spring like this new launch and let's just say I wouldn't kick them out of bed. 

2+3. I'm a total bandwagon jumper and if I see something on more than one blog then I have to have it. I'm sure I'm not the only one who acts this way. I'm also getting really into bases at the moment because I think if your skin looks nice then the rest of your makeup will look better too so I'm looking to try new things.

4. The thing I love most about the look of the retractable bronzer brush is how blunt the top of it is. I want to touch it, don't you want to touch it? I want to touch it. It would fit really well  into any makeup bag or storage and I bet the retracting motion is really satisfying. 

5. 'Ello 'ello 'ello whats this? Another base product? Well yes, yes it is but it's a mineral powder which is uncharted territory in my makeup history. However it's something that has been creeping on to my radar and I think its time I dipped my toes into the mineral powder water. 

6. What pretty lil' things these pastel shades are. I know there's more but I chose these two to represent the range. They're beautiful however I've never tried a L'oreal nail varnish before so that's another reason I want to try them. Although I have a feeling I will never find a nail varnish formula that will stick to my nails.

7. This would be an extremely naughty purchase on my behalf considering I am seeing no benefits of my makeup ban but I'm going to feel so proud of myself if I manage to go all of lent without buying any makeup I'm going to convince myself I deserve a treat. 

8. And last but not least I would like to try a felt tip type eyeliner, particularly one with a thin nib so I can be really precise with the ol' eyeliner wing. Hence this Topshop one but I'm also interested by Rimmel and Bourjois options. Decisions, decisions!

Thanks so much for reading! Lots of love, Annie xx

Wishlistin'

H&M Coat
£69.99

Kevyn Aucoin Sculpting Powder
£33.00

Stila Convertible Colour
£16.00

Benefit Lollitint
£24.50

MAC Cosmetics 208 Brow Brush
£16.50

Anastasia Beverly Hills Brow Pomade
£15

MAC 217 Brush
£18

L'Oreal Paris Miss Manga Mascara
£8.99

New Look Black Skort
£17.99




1. I've heard such mixed reviews about this Miss Manga mascara that I have to find out whether it works for me or not. 

2. This is the first of 2 cheek and/or lip products I've wanted to try one of the Stila Convertible colours for the longest time, the price tag being the only thing that's stopped me. I'm becoming more and more tempted by the day.

3. And the second cheek and lip tint is Lollitint by Benefit. I saw Gabriella of velvetgh0st use this in a recent tutorial and it looked stunning. I don't have any other products by Benefit but I think this would be a great first purchase.

4+5. The 217 brush has been added then removed then added, then removed again from numerous online baskets but I've never taken the plunge. Probably because it's not a necessity in my brush collection. The 208 brow brush however is absolutely essential. The brush I'm using at the moment was only meant to be temporary and my eyebrows deserve better.

6. Okay, so obviously I'm not going to spend £70 on a coat but I saw this on the H&M website and almost fell off my chair. I think it's amazing. It looks like it came straight off a catwalk somewhere. 

7.Here's another product that deep in my heart I know I'm never going to own but I'm always on the hunt for the perfect contouring powder and I've heard nothing but good things about Kevyn Aucoin's Sculpting Powder.

8. At first I was really on the fence about skorts but I'm growing to like them more and more. This plain black one from New Look seems like the perfect start for a skort newbie.

9. This is my most lusted for item at the moment. I am more than willing to spend £15 to get my hands on the Anastasia Brow Pomade. It wasn't until I saw Alix of ICovetThee use it in her Everyday Makeup Tutorial that I knew I needed this in my life. My slugs need some loving and I think this is the perfect product.

Thanks for stopping by, lots of love