LEAVING WORK HAUL

You may or may not (but probably don't know) that for the past 11 months I've been working as a healthcare advisor at Boots (and I won't say which one, but it is probably the best Boots out there in the coolest location). Alongside this came the single greatest thing in my life, a discount card. As Sunday was my last day at work, my mum and I did a huge Boots shop before I had to give back my discount (</3), so I thought I'd share some of the things we bought.

Skin Care
I did a stock up on my favourite skin care staples, which are the Boots tea tree and witch hazel foaming face wash and cleansing and toning lotion, the Neutrogena oil-free moisturiser (life saver) and the Quick Fix anti-blemish mud mask. Oldies but goodies, all of them.

Makeup
The first lot of makeup is stuff I bought myself. Firstly, I bought myself a new Natural Collection concealer stick, which is my current favourite concealer, and the Rimmel soft kohl eye liner pencil, as my current one from Body Shop is nearing the end of its life. I also bought, because there was an offer on Rimmel, the Lasting Colour Rush balm in 'Keep Mauving', which I have been lusting after for absolutely ages after buying a different colour a couple of years ago and loving it. The last makeup item I bought was the No.7 extreme length sensitive mascara. I was on the hunt for a good mascara, and I had this one years and years ago and really liked it. I don't need my mascaras to do too many fancy things, just simple length and colour, and I have really, really sensitive eyes, so this one ticks all the boxes for me.

All the other makeup products are Essie nail varnishes that I was given as my leaving present from my colleagues, as they know how much I love Essie nail varnishes. Firstly, I was given 'Chinchilly', which everyone knows is my all-time favourite nail varnish, and I was also given two duo sets. The first one is the 'Anchors Aweigh!' set, which contains two slightly shimmery nail varnishes, 'Naughty Nautical' and the immensely population 'Bikini so Teeny'. The other set is the 'a Sprinkle in Pink' set, which contains the also immensely popular 'Fiji' and the 'a Cut Above' glitter top coat. I am very spoilt and very emotional over this.

Miscellaneous
Miscellaneous products, aka the ones that didn't fit into their own category but I wanted to mention. Firstly, a set of three clear wash/makeup bags, always useful; then my favourite Denman hair brush because I haven't had a new one in over ten years. Finally, a new electric toothbrush that I can bring away to uni with me (plus spare heads, not pictured).

Rosie

Significantly poorer than I was before

AN EYELINER CHEAT

It's a sad fact of life that I'm not very good with liquid eyeliner. The saying always goes that practise makes perfect, and I am practising, but I've blinded myself more times than I can count. In the meantime, I've come up with my own easy cheat way to achieve the 'eyeliner-on-the-top-lid-look' (I can't think of a name for it) that I am very proud of figuring out. 

My secret is eyeshadow and those cheap sponge brushes that come with eyeshadow palettes. I use the shade 'Noir' (the black shade, obviously) from my Sleek 'Oh So Special' palette, and all I do is pick up a bit of colour with the very tip of the sponge and drag it straight across my eyelid right on the lash line. It goes without saying that a brush is so much easier to control than a pencil or felt tip liner, it's so much easier to create a nice straight line without blinding yourself or making any huge messes or mistakes. The tip of the sponge also creates a slightly thicker line than an eyeliner would, so there's no need to keep having to build up until you get the thickness you want; it's also so easy to build up colour if you want your eyeshadow to look darker. 

I don't know how well I've explained this, in my mind it's simple, but I know what I'm talking about. So to summarise, black eyeshadow, tip of the sponge eyeshadow brush, straight cross the lash line, keeping almost on top of the lashes to avoid any gaps. Simples. 

I'm going to keep practising with liquid liner at home, but for the time being, out in public, this suits me well. 

EYE EYE

Happy 101st post to me!
(Really annoyed that I forgot to acknowledge it on the last post)

I decided recently that I'd like to be a bit more adventurous with my eye makeup as the only thing I was ever wearing was pencil eyeliner on my water line and just below my eye, and it's good, but slightly boring. I'm not going to lie here, I do have a fear of all things eye makeup (i.e. liquid liner, eyeshadow, eyebrows), purely because I do not know how to work them properly. But I'm trying. And I'm branching out. And it's rather fun.
This post is a kind of eye-themed haul of recent eye product purchases in the past couple of months.

Sleek i-Divine 'Oh So Special' Palette
It was either this or the Sleek 'Au Naturel' palette, but I opted for this one as I already have a more browny-nudey-natural palette (MUA 'Heaven and Earth' palette). I chose this one as, being pale and blonde, I think pinks and lighter browns work really well on me; my favourite from this palette is actually the shade 'Organza', as it is a more copper shimmery colour, and oranges/bronzes/coppers are meant to look really good with blue eyes as they make them stand out more. This palette is so beautiful, with it's mix of shimmers and mattes, even though it is the hardest thing in the world to open.
Thought I'd add in here that I definitely have my eye on the Naked 3 palette (hint hint for Christmas) as it has got to be one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen- you will soon learn that I really love pale pink eyeshadows.
Anyone else found that eyeshadow palettes are the hardest thing ever to photograph?

Maybelline 24 Hour Colour Tattos in 'Pink Gold' and 'Metallic Pomegranate' 
Most people seem to use these as eyeshadow bases, but I personally think they look good enough, and that they stand out enough, to wear successfully on their own. They're a tricky thing to apply, having spoken to people, most just seem to apply using their fingers which works well enough for 'Pink Gold' but not so much for 'Metallic Pomegranate'.
'Pink Gold' is, without a doubt, one of my favourite eye products ever, it's more of a subtle shimmer and so I find can be built up quite a lot without looking over the top. The pink is so beautiful and I have had many complements on it.
'Metallic Pomegranate' is a really gorgeous colour, but it has to be applied in moderation as it can give the impression of being punched in the eye if you're not careful. I think I am going to have to apply 'Metallic Pomegranate' with a hard brush, especially as it's a slightly harder and more solid product, as I think that will give an overall better look than with a finger. 'Metallic Pomegranate' may also be the one to use as a base, I'm thinking potentially with mattes or dark colours.
I also have my eye on two other Colour Tattoos- 'On and On Bronze', and 'Permanent Taupe'.
These are also very difficult to photograph: 'Pink Gold' is pale pink, and 'Metallic Pomegranate' is a beautiful plum-ish colour.

Liquid Eyeliners
I decided that I wanted to experiment with liquid eyeliner, even though it scares the hell out of me (don't even know where to begin with trying to use it).
I bought the Natural Collection liquid eyeliner (from Boots) which I personally think is one of the best places to start with liquid liner as it only costs £2. Not going to lie, I've barely used either of these products, there was a tragic accident of black blobs everywhere when I tried to use the Natural Collection one for the first time. I am, however, feeling good about this next product.
I actually got this eyeliner pen free in the September issue of Company magazine, which I was really pleased about as I was wanting to try an eyeliner felt-tip, without having to splash out on the Soap and Glory Super Cat liner one. Yet again, I've barely used this, but it's a good product for beginners as a felt-tip is much easier to use that any other brush-type.

Aims:
I thought I'd end this with my future eye aims, apart from to get better with eyeliner and to be able to wear eye products (looking at you eye shadow) without looking like an absolute prat.
My main eye aim is to get my eyebrows sorted properly and to perfect the art of doing them myself. My eyebrow sorting is a must-do.

THE ALIEN EXPERIMENT

When I was in my local large shopping centre in February half term I came across a Model's Own makeup pop-up store. After I purchased a beautiful pastel mint nail varnish called 'Apple Pie' (£5 in Boots or Superdrug) I was also given a free eyeliner. Now I'm not normally one for using free eyeliners etc. as I have very sensitive eyes but I couldn't resist this one...

I guarantee at some stage in everybody's life they have owned some form of blue eye makeup to heighten the idea that they are 'cool' and 'so very very random'. For me, it was the year 9 (age 13-14) cheap blue mascara that clumped your eyelashes together and made me the butt of my Uncle's jokes when I wore it to Pizza Express (but it was okay because I was confident in my 'randomness' and I also only wore it about twice because it was horrible). BUT NOW it is time to go back to my blue eyeshadow roots (who didn't own blue eyeshadow that they slapped thickly across their eyelids like a hooker when they were younger?) but this time trade it in for a metallic blue eyeliner. Bye bye black, it is time for blue (please, black, no, obviously I will still be wearing you most of the time).

Basically my experiment here is will I look like an alien/twat when I wear blue metallic eyeliner or will I actually be able to pull it off? Watch this space*.

Comes with a smudger thingy and the lid has a sharpener

*I can confirm that, while I haven't worn it out to see if I look like a twat, the eyeliner is actually not that noticeable from a far distance and it looks like I'm not wearing any unless you go up close.

Models Own Shimmer Eyeliner Pencil in Azure Blue- £4 in Boots