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 PERFECT PALETTE

So I haven't been wearing eye shadow for all that long and I'm a bit new at the whole thing bit I am completely in love with basic and nude palettes so I have got together a collection of my favourites. All of these palettes are under £10 as what is the point in splashing out on a Naked Palette costing £36 when you can get something a lot cheaper that has basically the same colours on the high street?

This is an awful photo but I couldn't get a decent one to show what the packaging looks like

1. Boots own palette (roughly £6)- I was given this for Christmas 2012 so sadly it is not available anymore but every year Boots bring out their own cheap makeup range with are all small and adorable and make the best gifts. I absolutely love this palette, it has six great colours that all have a slight glitter effect to them without being too overpowering.
It is definitely worth having a look at the Boots own makeup range every Christmas as last year's was really good, you can find it online in the Christmas section under 'teen beauty gifts' or in stores.

This is my favourite palette by far- you can't see well but all apart from the black are matte, the black is sparkly, and the one in the bottom right is a pale pink

2. Accessorize palette in Exposed (£8.95)- This is the most expensive palette I am going to review but it still comes to under £10 which I personally think is great for how many colours you get (32). This palette probably has every brown, pink, gold, copper or nude colour you will ever want or need in it, plus a couple of blues and a black as well. I saw this reviewed online but then couldn't find it on either the Accessorize or the Superdrug websites and had a bit of a freak that I could never have it and I wanted it, much to my great joy though they were selling it in my local Superdrug. A lot of these colours are shimmery or very VERY shimmery and I would much prefer a more matte selection for everyday use but they are great for going out or for special occasions. This palette is lovely but it is too shimmery for my taste, Accessorize have gone a little too over the top in their use of glitter here.

3. MUA (Make Up Academy) palette in Shade 12 Heaven and Earth (£4.00)- I was a bit wary of using MUA eye shadows as I have very sensitive eyes and I didn't know if cheap eye shadow would aggravate it like cheap eyeliner and mascara does but I couldn't resist this palette at £4.00 with such lovely colours. Heaven and Earth is MUA's best selling palette, and I must say it looks so much nicer in person than it does online; I was not as keen on this palette when I saw it online but now that I own it I am completely in love with it. It has the most beautiful colours that can be put together to make the prettiest eye lid ever and I just love love love this palette so much.
Another MUA palette that I wanted was Undress Me Too (also £4.00) but it was very similar to Heaven and Earth (which was my first choice) and it was always sold out in my local Superdrug so I decided to see how I got on with Heaven and Earth before I got another one; Undress Me Too is a beautiful palette though and it was an almost impossible choice deciding which one to get.

You can't easily see what some of the colours are here (sorry for natural lighting) but the top row first on the left is a creamy colour, top row third from the left is a goldy colour, and bottom row third from the left is a light beige colour.

Other beautiful palettes that I have found but won't be looking at here are:
-Soap and Glory Lid Stuff (£10)- Comes in three different choices which are all beautiful
-Flutter Pretty Purple Eye Palette (£4)- (available from Superdrug online) beautiful selection of purples, appealing even to me who is not a great fan of bright colours on my eyelids.
-The Lolita by Marc Jacobs (around £40 I believe but don't take my word on it)- Very pretty but you can still get great dupes on the high street for a much more reasonable price.
-Nude Tude Eyeshadow Palette by The Balm (£26)- I love this but (as you may already know) I am not a fan of spending overly large amounts of money on things like this; absolutely adorable packaging though.

I am thinking of starting a MAC palette in pinks, browns, neutrals and maybe a white, but as they are super expensive (£10 each) I am currently unsure. Much to my great joy though, MAC do palettes in a smaller size to fit only four eye shadows pans; still expensive but much cheaper than a full palette, and also perfect for holiday-ing as it is small and light.