Giveaway - A Thank You! Coastal Scents Go London Palette

Hey Everyone, 

A couple of days ago I mentioned on Twitter that I was thinking about doing a 200 followers giveaway. In case you did not know I am going into hospital on the 23rd of Feb for a major operation and as I would want the main giveaway to be extra special I have decided to wait until I am fully recovered. In the mean time however I have a small giveaway for you as a way of saying Thank You to my readers over the last few months. 

Up for grabs is...

The Coastal Scents Go London Palette! I picked London seeing as I am from England :)

Dimensions

Palette : 3.22" x 3.31" x 0.62" (8.2cm x 8.4cm x 1.6cm) 

Mirror : 2.72" x 2.72" (6.9cm x 6.9cm) 

Eye Shadow Pot Diameter : 0.62" (1.6cm)

The giveaway is open internationally!

The Rules

Mandatory

1. Comment below with 'Enter Me' and the name of your favourite city in the world + 1 Entry
2. Must be a follower via GFC - leave you name in the comments box below + 1 Entry

Optional

2. Follow me on twitter @beckysMABBlogs and leave your twitter ID in the comments box below + 1 Entry 

3. Tweet about this giveaway 'I just entered @beckysMABBlogs giveaway for Coastal Scents Go London palette at http://beckysmakeup.blogspot.com' and leave the URL code below 

+ 1 Entry


Just a little note, please leave your email address in your comment as this will make it easier to contact the winner!

The giveaway will close on the 13th February Midnight GMT and the winner will be drawn via Random.Org on Valentines Day!

Good Luck everyone!

Small disclaimer - all items purchased by me, I am not affiliated nor associated with the brands mentioned. All opinions are my own. Photo's obtained from the official Coastal Scents website which can be viewed by 

clicking here.

I selected this post to be featured on www.makeupblogs.org. Please visit the site and vote for my blog!

FOTD (Saturday)

Hey Everyone, 

So Sunday is now upon us and that dreaded 'back to work Monday' feeling is looming. Its a little harder for me as I have had a week off from the office and however much I enjoy my job, I enjoy time off so much more but I am looking forward to catching up with everyone :).

Yesterday me and my boyfriend took our weekly shopping trip and I thought I would share with you my 'Face Of The Day'. I never do these posts, not because I do not like them, just I rarely remember although with some time to kill whilst waiting for my boyfriend to get to mine I thought I might do a rare one!

Face

MAC Studio Fix Fluid NC 20

Collection 2000 Lasting Perfection Concealer No. 3 Medium

George Asda Matte Powder No. 2 Natural Beige

Sleek Contour Palette in Light 

MAC Powder Blusher - Melba 

Eyes

Urban Decay Naked 1 Palette - Virgin and Naked as base, Buck to contour and Creep used as eyeliner along top lash line

Blink + Go Long lasting mascara (came with GlossyBox Dec) thought I would try this out although was not impressed :(

Brows 

Clinique Superfine Liner in Soft Brown. You can read my full review on this product by clicking here

Lips 

Cargo Lipgloss in Morocco (I got this again with the Dec Glossy Box and love it!) May have to purchase full size...

Let me know what you think of FOTD's and whether you do them? 

MAC Melba Blush - Review and Swatch

Hey bloggers! This is just going to be a quick post considering I have done a couple of lengthy ones this week and you are probably bored of me already :) 

My all time favourite MAC blusher was always Dame, a gorgeous subtle pinky tone. That was until I found Melba. This gorgeous powder blush is a stunning peach colour with pink undertones. It is subtle enough to be worn during the day or layered up for the evening. I have always been more of a powder blush than a cream although I do like creams once in a while so this is just perfect for me and is now my must have staple in my makeup bag! 

What are your favourite blushes, they don't have to be a particular brand...let me know in the comments below as I am always open to trying and discovering new ones. 

Liz Earle Brightening Treatment Mask and Exfoliator Review

Hey Everyone, 

I hope you are all having a great Friday :)! Todays blog is going to be about some Liz Earle products. To give you a little background I only discovered Liz Earle a few months ago after hearing some amazing reviews on the Hot Polish Cleanser. And let me say it did not disappoint and I am now on to my second bottle having been completely converted. Having been so impressed with the cleanser I thought I would check out some of the other products in the range and whilst browsing in John Lewis 2 or 3 weeks ago I left with the 'Gentle Face Exfoliator' and 'Brightening Treatment Mask'. 

What strikes me most about the Liz Earle range is the price. For a 'higher' end brand they are reasonably priced at approximately £13 per item. The mask I got was 50ml however given that I will only be using this once or twice a week should last a considerable amount of time. The same can be said for the exfoliant which is 70ml. I opted for the pump versions, although as with most of Liz Earle products you can usually get them in tube form as well. I only opted for the pump as I personally like this style and find it easier to store in the bathroom :).

Starting with the exfoliator I have been using this a couple of times a week, this being about the 3rd week. I generally use the Hot Cloth Cleanser with my Clarisonic, remove with a muslin cloth and then use the exfoliant afterwards. I tend to use 1-2 pumps but 1 should do you good and just use the tips of my fingers to work all over my face concentrating on my problematic areas which tend to be the nose and chin. I then rinse again using the same muslin cloth. Now, I have tried ALOT of exfoliants and a majority of them have so few beads that they don't actually feel as though they are making a difference however this had a lot of small beads which felt gentle but actually felt like they were doing a job. And the smell is gorgeous. As with most of Liz Earle products they have a generic scent, it is kind of spa like, herb-like even. I know some people have mentioned they dislike the scent yet this is something that draws me to the product, I love it! The only problem I did find is that you have to really rinse to ensure that all the product is removed and it is an idea to tone afterwards to ensure that all the exfoliating product is removed as if you leave any on you can definitely feel it when you apply moisturiser. 

Moving onto the mask. I tend to use this on the days where I exfoliate and usually do this in the evening when I have spare time. The instructions state to leave this on between 30 seconds and 2 mins so I tend to put this on before I jump in the bath or shower which is perhaps a little longer than recommended. The mask is a clay mask however I found that it did not dry like regular clay masks, this may have been as I used in the shower/bath and the steam prevented it yet I would of like to have seen it dry slightly. So I found this a little disappointing. Again, I remove this with a muslin cloth although unlike the exfoliant and hot cloth cleanser I have not seen a huge improvement whilst using this. Maybe I need to give it more time but although I would definitely 100% buy the cleanser again I am not so sure that I would buy the mask again. 

Have you tried these products and if so what are your thoughts? 

Becky

New Make Up Storage and Organisation

Hi Everyone,

It has been a while since my last post and I apologise for that. I have been trying and testing a number of products in order to give you some good reviews which are coming up in the very near future. In the mean time I thought I would share with you my new makeup storage and organisation. My collection has been growing for sometime now so I had to invest in new storage. My boyfriend and I took a trip to our local ikea this week and as I had heard such great reviews about the Ikea 'Alex' collection amongst the beauty community I was desperate to get my hands on one of their chest of drawers. The 'Alex' comes in 2 sizes in this style, either 9 or 5 drawers. Originally I opted for the 9 however whilst picking it up I spotted the smaller one and opted for that instead, which was a slight pal-lava as I picked up the wrong one, cue some debating with the shop assistant I finally had to admit I was wrong, she was right and change it, but we got there in the end :)!

The Alex 5 drawer has 2 smaller drawers and 3 larger drawers at the bottom. They also go back really far and come out all the way so you can easily access things at the back. To view where to buy the drawers click here. It costs £55 and is really easy to put together. 

At the moment I have only filled 4 of the drawers, so it was probably a blessing that I opted for the 5 drawer and not the 9 as I would have felt inspired to fill it with more products :) which is not good for my bank balance! 

I like to keep all my items organised by products. I got these small plastic baskets from Tesco for a couple of pounds and luckily they fit perfectly into the smaller drawers. 


So in the top I have my 'eye' products. This is everything from mascaras, to single eyeshadows and eyeliner and brow products. Then I have my 'lip' products which includes all my glosses, lipsticks, liners and balms. I know some people like to go even further but I honestly do not have the room. 

I also have my UD Naked palette and other miscellaneous palettes and some random eyelash curler and sponges. 


In my next draw is nail products. All my polishes and removers, files and clippers etc. I know this is a little random to go from the above to this however I needed one of the shallower drawers for these. I also got from Ikea some plastic non slip drawer liners which was perfect for this drawer as you literally cut it to shape and place in the drawer and it prevents your items from slipping around!

Next is face products. One tray holds all my bronzers, blushers, highlights and contour kits and the second has all my foundations, concealers, powders and primers. 

At the back I have another 'random' tray filled with miscellaneous face masks and creams etc which I use often but not on a regular daily basis. 


And finally...my 'hair drawer' this has all my brushes and combs, all my hair care products such as conditioners, spare shampoos, oils, heat protectants, etc etc...  I have actually downsized this drawer in a massive clear out whilst organising this so this is a lot smaller than it was :) 

Well that is it for my 'little' storage post. Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed. If there are any products that you have seen that you would like to know more about please comment below or tweet me @beckysMABBlogs as i'd love to hear from you. Also if you have any ideas and tips for storage then please let me know!

Boots 17 Wild Metallic Eyes

Hey everyone, 

I hope that you are all well. Today I wanted to give my thoughts on the Boots Boots 17 Wild Metallic Eyes. Although these are fairly new they have been circling the blogging and beauty community for some time and whilst I have had these for a while I have not got around to doing a review yet as I have, well just been enjoying the products :-)! Personally I blame the other bloggers for encouraging me to purchase this given the fact they have had some amazing reviews :-) 

These are a cream based eyeshadow, which is just the type I am loving at the moment bar the Naked palette, but that is a whole other post! For £3.99 you get a really generous sized pot of product and given that '17' is typically a budget brand these are of exceptionally high quality. 

I originally purchased the Silver to use over New Year to follow a tutorial I had seen on YouTube. This provides an excellent base to be used with a black black matte eyeshadow for a really dramatic smoky eye but with a splash of sparkle without looking like a disco ball. I could not just stop at the Silver though and purchased the gorgeus bronze too! 

When using cream shadows I tend to use an eyeshadow base more so. Particularly because I can get greasy eyelids which can cause the eyeshadow to crease, which can be more obvious with cream bases. What I noticed about these was that although they do crease slightly, it is minimal and they last a long time before creasing is evident and even so can be blended again with your fingers during the day to cover the creases (they have amazing staying power). 

As you can see the colours are highly pigmented and only the tiniest smudging goes a long long way. I would either wear these alone during the day or as a base colour/primer under more dramatic colours for the evening, as mentioned above the silver looks perfect with black eyeshadow when blended well. 

Now, I know that you should not go for packaging and it is the product that matters etc, but I think we would all be lying to say we weren't a stickler for nice packaging. Whilst they aren't the prettiest of packaging I actually really like the little screw top pots as it means that I can get the most of a product down to the last scrap of product! Although simple, its effective and they look slightly more expensive than most of the Boots 17 brand items which I feel can be aimed at the younger audience. 

There are 6 colours to collect in total including a stunning mid-blue, and purple, so I will definitely be adding to my collection next time I am in Boots, it could be time to break into the advantage card points...

Have you tried these?

eBay - Selling and Buying

 Over the years I have used eBay religiously, whether it be for buying at bargain prices or selling my old tat. So in this blog I am going to put together a few selling tips for you, and what I have learnt over the years having accumilated over 200 feedbacks. 

As I am planning on moving in with the other half this year I have had to seriously re-think the amount of clothes and clutter that I have. This has resulted in me using eBay to get rid of a lot of it. Whilst it will never make me rich its a good way to de-clutter and know that the clothes I no longer need will be going to a good home!

My Pointers on Selling!

1. Research - research whatever you are selling to get an idea of how much you can expect to sell it for. You can use the advance search and opt for completed listings, that way it wont just be whats currently being sold you can see what has been sold in the last month or so.

2. 99p auctions! Most listings starting at 99p are FREE but be aware that although it may attract a lot of 'watchers' it does not actually mean that you will attract a lot of 'bidders'. Be prepared to sell at 99p if that is all you get. Remember eBay IS legally binding therefore what you sell for you are obliged to complete the transaction. This applies to buyers too. 99p auctions work best for items that you know are highly demanded and will definitely sell for more. If you are selling clothing items which may be less popular you are better listing for the minimum you are willing to sell for and paying the additional fees. 

3. Photo's! The more the better! With all clothing items the photo's are FREE up to 12 of them so get clicking. If there is damage to an item show this in a photo, if there is detail that would be a good selling point then show this too. It avoids the hassle of receiving multiple questions asking for further details which is not only time consuming but can be annoying after hearing the same question several times. 

4. Be aware of FEES! You are charged a listing price on certain categories however as mentioned above most 99p auctions are free. However be aware that you do have to pay a final selling fee which is a percentage of what you sell for. If your item only gets 99p then sometimes you can end up making a loss so be wary when listing. Also take into account PayPal has its own fees which again are charged as a percentage of the final selling fee, you can avoid this by accepting payment via postal order or cheque although always ensure that payment clears before sending the item, these methods of payment can be time consuming hence why most people opt for PayPal which is a lot safer and quicker. 

5.  Be Honest! If an item is damaged, say so. Describe the item as well as possible and mention any flaws which a buyer could pick up on upon receipt of the item - this will avoid problems further down the line! When selling clothing items I always state that it is a used item and therefore wear and tear is inevitable. I also list the materials and size and if the brands website has a size chart I copy and paste this into the listing, that way the buyer can check easily whether or not the size is correct etc.

6. Terms and Condtions. Small sellers dont often do this but this is something I ALWAYS do. I always state the time it takes for me to post the item, whether I accept returns etc and how long I expect to receive payment by. If a buyer fails to read these and then complains at least you have something to fall back on, such as please refer to paragraph 2 of my terms and conditions etc. 

7. The item description bar has now been lengthened so use it to your advantage. Instead of putting 'ladies top' put 'gorgeous River Island Navy Cami/Shirt/Blouse Top Very GC, UK 10' for example. This encourages it to come up on multiple listings and allows potential buyers to find it so much easier. 

8. Packaging! If selling clothing items then search eBay for mailing bags. You can usually pick up 20 or so for a few £ and they make packaging so much quicker. Also check your local pound stores for cheap packaging such as padded envelopes. Think about when it is posted, is it beak-able? Take this into account as if it is damaged on arrival you may have to refund if the packaging was not adequate.

9. Use the Royal Mails postage price calculator to check the price before you list. Also take into account the packaging price. Do not over charge on postage but do not undercharge so that you are left out of pocket.

10. Feedback. I tend to leave feedback once the buyer has left it to ensure that I know they are happy and it has got to them safely. I know some people do it the other way around. Be aware though that some buyers will wait for you to leave positive feedback and the hit you with a negative. If you feel that feedback is unjustified and that it has been unfairly left then you can contact eBay customer support and they will look into it and possibly retract it.

11. Finally be courteous with your buyers. If they fail to pay within your stated time, do not get rude, send them a polite email reminder with a date that you expect to hear from them. Then state that if you do not hear from them within this time then you will assume the item is no longer wanted. Then after 5 days you can open a dispute and leave it to eBay to chase the money. If they still refuse to pay eBay will refund all fees and you can relist for free or offer to the next highest bidder. 

Of course there is a dark side to eBay and everyone should be aware of this when buying and selling. I tend to stay clear of buying cosmetics as there are so many copys out there you do not knowwhat ingredients you are getting. Remember if something sounds too good to be true then it probably is. You are never going to get a MAC 120 palette, as they do not exist in the real world except for on eBay etc so just be cautious. The same applies to selling, if you are not confident of the authenticity of an item then your best bet is not to list it.

Now time to sort out all those unwanted clothes and junk...

I hope that this has been of some assistance and I would love to hear your tips and tricks and general eBay experiences good and bad, please comment below!

Clinique Super Fine Liner for Brows - 02 Soft Brown

I wanted to  give a big recommendation today and that goes to Clinique Super Fine Liner for Brows. After years of trying to find the perfect brow pencil I do believe I may have just found it. I first heard about this via PixiWoo on YouTube, in case you do not know who PixiWoo are they are 2 incredibly talented sisters who happen to be extremely talented MakeUp artists. You can view their blog by clicking here and with over 15000 subscribers to their name you can safely say they are pretty well known within the beauty community! 

Anyway back to the product. After trying several products, including 2 shades of the prestigious Urban Decay brow kits, eye shadows, MUA pencils and Rimmels I finally caved into the hype and bought the Clinique pencil. At £12 I actually thought this was pretty reasonable considering that you will pay only slightly less for lower end brands. 

What I liked most is the fact that it does not need to be sharpened, you just twist the end and away you go. So no moments of getting caught out without a sharpener if you take it away anywhere or keep it with you. It comes in four different shades - soft brown, deep brown, blonde, black/brown. The only thing I would like to see is them cater for red heads. I chose soft brown, and not being a red head I cant speak from a personal level yet I do feel that it lacks a little on this side seeing as I have heard that Anastasia which is an American brand which I have heard is coming to the UK does cater for red heads. 

I certainly recommend going to a store and testing the colours as no swatches can give a true representation of the colours of these hence why I have opted not to. If you go to a department store that sells Clinque then generally they will be more than happy to match your colour and therefore you will avoid wasting your money on the wrong one!

 The product itself has an ultra fine tip which allows you to draw individual hairs on whilst maintaining your natural brow shape which gives a much more subtle natural look without looking like you have painted on your eyebrows. You can use this alone or with a brow powder and an angled brush yet I found that this works perfectly well alone and allows me to fill in my brows during the day without it looking too heavy. 

Have you found any great eye-brow products lately and have any of you tried the Anastasia brow kits as I am keen to try these however I know that they are not yet available in the UK? If you know if they are then please let me know as the brow gel looks amazing.

Front Cover Moon Dust Pigments

Hi Everyone, 

I hope that you have all had a lovely Christmas and New Year. 

If you live in the UK then you will know that after Christmas Boots puts all their Christmas gifts at half price. A little disappointing if you have purchased many  gifts beforehand although if you are like me then you will love that this means you get tons of beauty gift sets for a fraction of the price which are generally only available throughout the festive season. 

I had only heard of Front Cover recently and I am not too sure if you can purchase them anywhere other than Boots as this is the only place I have seen them. They basically come in boxes and are makeup 'looks' for either, face, eyes  or lips etc. 

So, I was excited to pick up this box of 8 pigments for only £8.00. Considering you also get an eyeshadow base and applicator it works out less than £1 a pigment, and given what some people pay for MAC pigments then this is quite a bargain. Even at the full price of £16 you would be getting more than your dollars worth :)!

On the right of the box are the products and on the left is step by step tutorial which I actually really liked, I also love the fact it is boxed for easy storage.

I am sure that every as heard of pigments. They are basically loose eyeshadow, usually glittery or iridescent. These can be used either dry or wet with either the applicator brush included or your fingers (which I prefer to use).

Usually when I get a box set of colours there are several that I am not so keen on however considering these are fairly neutral colours bar the lime green, ranging from bronze to gold I like all of them. I am even tempted to test the lime one :).

Although they are no where as large in size as the MAC pigments they are large enough to last a long time considering you only need the smallest amount.

Have you guys got any bargains in the sales? If so I would love to hear about them so please comment and link below :)