Mini Poundland Haul - round2

Hi Sweethearts,

I took another rummage through my local Poundland store after a little tip off about new items from a friend that works in store (I have the best friends ^_^ )

This is what I came out with!
*Remember, I paid £1 per item*

Amazon brings these up for around £2 each +-

Astor Mono Eyeshadow

I've been interested in trying out products from Astor after having seen them about recently in the beauty blog groups. I picked up this charcoal eyeshadow since I really liked the appearance of it - the packaging is quite classic which I like.

 It applies ok, though not with those horrid applicators that keep being put my way XD I'm going to look forward to creating a look with this.

£4.59 in Tesco from my searching.

Barry M Dazzle Dust

I was actually hunting for a red eyeshadow when I spotted this to my luck in store. Same great quality as always from BarryM dusts, and the colour is fab! I used it for the look below!

Currently £6.49 in boots

Rimmel Apocalips Lip Velvet - Burning Lava! 

Ok so, I was really really looking forward to wearing this as it is a lovely lovely colour and the packaging is also pretty cool and on theme for this time of year.

 This applies effortlessly and you need only the tiniest bit of product to cover.

The downside of this however, is that it does leave a lot of residue on things like cups etc even after blotting. After eating it is half gone, which is a problem but it doesn't bleed out so that's a plus. (again used below for todays' look)
 I think with this I'm going to get crafty and see if I can use it for some sfx style things to keep with the Halloween Spirit heehee.

Not sure where else to get it in the UK, but can pick up on amazon/ebay for just under £3

Astor 24h Perfect Stay Waterproof eyeshadow pencil/crayon

Finally another product from Astor - this time an eyeshadow pencil.
 I tried this out shortly after photographing, and I absolutely love it! This stuff goes on super easy and soft, has real staying power, doesn't slide off unlike other creamy type shadows, and can blend super easy if you do it straight after application.

This is super quick to apply to your eyes which is perfect for those days I literally am running out of the door! I'm definitely going to try and pick up some other shades of this since I'm so pleased with it.

Todays' Look
(click the picture to see the colours better)

So here's a quick little look I threw together to play with my new red shadow and lip lacquer!
My selfie skills were most definitely not en point today though! >.<

Products:
Rimmel Match Perfection liquid foundation
Max Factor Pan Stick (for initial contour)
Makeup Revolution Concealer stick
Rimmel Stay Matte powder
Sleek Contour Palette
W7 the cheek of it blush
Makeup Revolution Highlighter - golden lights

Rimmel Glam Eyes HD Golden eye  - (black shadow & silver)
BarryM Dazzle Dust - (Red)
2True White Eyeliner Pencil
Barry M Eyeshadow Trio Shade: Tes2 Pretty Pastels -  (Blue)
w7 super brows pencil - (brown)
Miss Manga Mascara
Makeup Revolution Liquid Liner - (black)

Rimmel Apolalips lip velvet - (burning lava)

That's all for this time, but stick around for next time, where I'm going to go through some other things I managed to pick up! ^_^

Love,
          Kasumi x

Poundland brand bargains [makeup haul]

 Hi Sweethearts,

This week I wanna let you in on some super nice bargains that I got whilst visiting my local Poundland.

I took a break from work as my back was starting to give me some problems, and ventured off to Poundland in search of some heat packs to stick to my back.
  As usual the shop was pretty busy, so had to try and wade through the vast crowds of people - but eventually had to just stand and wait (people have a lovely habit of taking up the ENTIRE isle... sheesh.) so I figured I'd just look at the makeup/beauty products around me whilst I wait to get through.

On looking, I quickly noticed some pretty good bargains and couldn't resist picking them up to blog about!

The Haul:

Sooooo....you can see the brands that I've managed to get, all for £1 each!!! How good is that?!?!!

Lets' look a bit closer!

Rimmel Colour Rush colour lip balm shade: 610 Sun-Kissed

RRP: £5.99

If you didn't already guess, I love lip colours at the minute!

This is a lovely warm pinky/orangey/corally type colour in handy pencil form for easy application, and it smells like vanilla! I've tried this already, and it lasts pretty well, and keeps my lips feeling moist and plump.
These come in 14 different shades, however in poundland you'll only have a choice of a couple of shades of each thing. Slightly disappointing, but if the colours they have match you then you're laughing.

Barry M Supersoft Eye Crayon,  Shade: 9 Matt Pink
RRP: £3.99

This is a jumbo eye pencil in a matt pink shade. Like the label says, it is a supersoft formula, and like  Barry M products, it's highly pigmented, for thick bold colour.

The consistency is lovely and thick, and the colour is adorable, however, I find this rubs off pretty easily (on my hand anyway - one smudge with my finger and it was gone), so I'll use this as a base to press another shadow on top.
 I think I could have some fun and get creative with this.

Barry M Dazzle Dust, shade: 1 Ice Pink

Barry M Dazzle Dust, shade: 96 Gold
RRP: £4.59

Ok! Here we have a couple of the Dazzle Dust colours.
 There's a few different ones in Poundland, but these 2 are the ones that stood out the most for me.

I've always liked these as they're super pigmented, lovely shades that give a nice effect. I generally don't buy these unless I get a bargain such as this, as I find that Barry M can be out of my budget beauty price range (aka, as cheap as I can find, but still good) 

Barry M Eyeshadow Trio Shade: Tes2 Pretty Pastels
RRP: £5.99

I couldn't resist picking up this cute pastel coloured eyeshadow trio!

I think I've had a bit of a pink makeup theme in this haul, though everything can work in together to create some cute and cool looks!

There are other versions with different colours available, I think I spotted a more marine type palette which looked pretty sweet. This comes with a double ended shadow applicator. On one side, a (dreaded) sponge tip applicator, then a brush on the other side.
 I generally don't use the brushes that come with the palettes as I prefer to use my own, but this one is o-k. Definitely better than the w7 palette brush, but still not terribly great, but heyho.

Cost & Savings:

Time for a little bit of maths (I hate maths, so bear with me) 

Adding the RRP of each item together, comes to £25.15

Take away the £5 that I paid in total for all of these, (£1 each) and that gives me a total saving of £20.15!!! 
How good is that?!??

Final thoughts:

I definitely suggest that you all take yourselves on a little trip to your local poundland to see what they have in store for you!

If you have been recently, what did you buy? Did you get some great bargains too?

Let me know in the comments below!

Love,
           Kasumi x

Etude House Makeup Review pt. 3

Hi Sweethearts!

Finally finished doing my reviews of the Etude  House Makeup from my haul. I'll go some posts about the skin care products when I get round to using them too, but after this post I'd like to break it up just a little bit!

I've been having a little think about what to do with the purple etude house shadow, but in the end I went with my first thoughts on using it as part of a smokey eye look.

First thing's first - I wanted to see just how pigmented a colour this was compared to the mint. 

The tester at the top is the colour on bare, non primed skin - as you can see it's more pigmented than the mint as it's a darker colour, but it's still a bit sheer for my liking. The bottom test patch is the shadow applied on top of a base (in this case, white eyeliner pencil) which makes it a lot richer and brings the lovely purple shade right out.

It also has such a lovely shimmer to it & applied pretty easily took, catching the light really well for a light metallic finish.

The Look - Eyes:

I went for a dark smokey type look here, using the Etude purple shadow by itself in the middle of my lids, and blended with Rimmel Glameyes Black shadow at the corners, and blended upwards towards my browbone.

I highlighted my browbone using the Etude House Crystal Tear Powder that I got a while back from a friend. This stuff is super metallic/sparkly and comes as a loose powder that you really need just a tiny amount of! I like to use this on occassions that I want a super sparkly/shiny look, though it doesn't tend to show it at it's best on camera - you have to see it in person to appreciate it!

The changes between the black and purple shadows are really subtle since it's such a dark purple shadow, but for a nice smokey effect I think it works really well. For me, this is more of a night out type of makeup than for during the day - unless you're the kinda chick that rocks a smokey eye and edgy style on a day to day basis, like I used to!



Lips: 

For my lips, I wanted to give them a natural gloss, so road tested what has become a favourite gloss - the Dear my Crystal gloss from Etude House.

This is the cutest gloss! It's got little sparkles in it, so it shimmers in the light. The soft nudey pink colour blends to my lip colour well, and is super glossy and long lasting - I really adore this & want to get more of them!

Here it is on my lips:

So this concludes the Makeup review Section of my Etude House Haul....finally!

I really hope you all like the looks I've created with these wonderful products, and hopefully you'll stick around to listen to my other ramblings!

As always, any comments or questions are greatly appreciated, so feel free to leave me a message below!

Love,

Kasumi x

Etude House Review pt2 - Mint Choc Chip & Coral

Hey Sweethearts,

Finally getting round to part 2 of the Etude House Makeup & Skincare product reviews...trying to use them for different looks instead of just a swatch and a chat.

This time round, I created a mint-choc-chip cut eye makeup, and then teamed it with a coral lip. 

So, for this look I used these Etude items from my Haul:

Mint Green (left) 

Firstly, for this look I wanted to test out the Look at my Eyes eyeshadow in that lovely minty green.
When I first tried to apply this to my eyes without any primer or a base, I found that whilst it was easy to come onto the brush, it looked barely there on my eyes which is a little disappointing.
 The most that you could see was the shimmer, as the colour was pretty much non-existent.

However, I then decided to apply a good base to my lids to give the shadow something to stick to, and pressed it on. When I applied it to my eyes in this method, that lovely light, minty green shade came through really well and it lasted the entire day which is really pleasing. 

Brown (shade 50)

Next up, I wanted to see how well I could create a cut crease using the play101 pencils as a base.

For this, I wanted to complement the green with a brown tone, so used the brown play101 pencil to draw in my crease. This went on extremely well, and created a nice thick line for me to blend out to create the base of the cut crease. Where possible, I like to use an eyeliner or eyepencil of some description to create a nice sharp crease.

Thereafter I set the play 101 pencil with a couple of shades of brown eyeshadow (from the w7 palette in my previous postings) to add a little depth and shimmer. 

 

For my lips, I was so excited to Try out the Dear my Wish Lips-talk in the Coral coloured shade.

I've never really thought that I would suit a coral lipstick, but I was quite surprised by how much I like it! It's a really lovely shade, and much like the shade23 play101 pencil, this just glides on your lips in such a strong, lovely, smooth consistency! It really is a total joy to apply.

I found that this lasts really well throughout the day, and only needed 1 top up during the day,after eating! Definitely looking into getting some more of these in various shades...I think there will be tears when this runs out!


Final Look: 

Here is the look I came up with, what do you all think? Have you used any of these products?
Let me know in the comments below! 

Love,
          Kasumi x

Etude House review pt.1

Hi Sweethearts,

I've been asked to do a review of the products from my last blog post (Etude House haul) which I love doing...I've definitely got the reviewing bug!

I'm going to this is 3 different parts as I want to create a couple of different looks with the items, and then a separate review post for the skincare items. (That way it's a lot easier to read than a massive, long, probably tedious post) 


So here's my look from today:

I chose a smokey look for today, as I was attending the Edinburgh Tattoo Convention with a couple of friends, and kept it quite casual.

My grey shadow blends into a cream coloured shadow at my brow bone, but my fringe is covering it in the pic....since I was running late I didn't remember to take a picture with my fringe pulled back, Sorry!

So, starting from the eyes, I chose shadows from my w7 In The Nude Palette (you can see my review of that here: http://kasumihime.blogspot.co.uk/2015/01/w7-in-nude-palette-review.html) & added a light dusting of MUA Black shadow to give the shadow a greyer tone.

I decided to use the Black (shade 1) Play101 pencil from my Etude House haul for my eyeliner today, as a change from my usual liquid. 

Here's a screenshot from the Etude Website, showing you what the pencil looks like, and the price!

You can pop the back of the pencil off to reveal a mini sharpener for the eyeliner, for creating super fine & sharp lines although I decided not to use it this time. 

I don't really use pencil liners as my main liner much these days, so it was nice to change it up for a softer effect. 

Initially, I applied this liner with a slight flick at the end of my eye as I do with most of my daily looks, and then applied it in a solid thick line halfway under my eyes from outer corner to middle corner.
 The website lists this specific pencil as "creamy" and the consistency really is as described as it just glided on perfectly first time!
  I decided to test out how well it smudged by using it quite thickly under my eyes, and then smoked it out with a brush. As you can see from the picture, once again it smoked out really easily with minimal effort to create a nice blended look!
 Again, I used this to line both my upper and lower water line to add to the smokey, sexy look (although I don't look sexy in the slightest today - one can't master a selfie whilst rushing out the door!) 

I'm really impressed with it - it lasted all day without smudging or running down my face, even after I spent a good 10minutes crying with laughter at a silly story!

Next up - cheeks! 

Continuing on to my blush/cheeks, I chose the Sweet Recipe all over colour in Peach for this look as I wanted to keep my blush light and natural so as not to clash with the eyes or lips. 

This is what the all over colour looks like in the tin - a lovely pinky peachy colour...and it's even peach scented! I could have just eaten it, it smells that good!

I applied a very small amount of this to the apples of my cheeks with my fingers to give my face a lovely fresh, healthy glow.
 The all over colour has the consistency of a creamy lip balm, and blends to a lovely, natural dewy look. You can apply this either under or over your powder with out it looking cakey or removing powder - it feels really light on your skin too.
 This can also be used as a lip balm or an eye colour - whichever you prefer or all of the above! In my case, I bought this specifically as a blusher.

You can layer this up for a stronger look without any issues too - with some cream products, it can remove or move around the previous layers eg. foundation and cause patchiness, but this definitely doesn't. (I added an extra layer later on in the day to test this) 

I really love the natural look of this, and think it's going to be perfect for my spring/summer looks where my makeup will be lighter to complement seasonal outfits and warmer weather. (Though I live in Scotland, where summer happens for 2 weeks at the most...so who am I trying to kid with 'warmer weather' >.<)

Lips

Back to my other Play101 pencils!

I picked shades 23 (dark red, Glossy) & 50 (Brown, Creamy) as I spied it on the Korean Etude house website as a complete lip look and fell in love with the combination.

I love ombre/gradient lips, and have done ever since I was a teenager in my Goth phase, so this was harking back to a more rockier style choice and I couldn't resist!

Now, I have to say, once again both of these pencils just GLIDE on! They apply so effortlessly, and make blending really easy. What I also love about these in regards to lips, is that they're pencils as opposed to big chunky lipsticks, so it's far easier to create a sharp, defined lip.

In regards to staying power, these do hold pretty well &, although I don't find the red at all kiss-proof - you will get some residue from it, though that doesn't affect the colour on your lips. This is due to it being a glossy texture I think, the brown was pretty kiss-proof and no residue came off on my drinking straws at all.
 It did come off a good bit whilst I was eating my dinner this evening, though this was after 8 hours of wear...and the fact that I was eating a massive hotdog, in a manner much akin to a starving Barbarian that hadn't seen food for days! 
Had I been more ladylike in my approach to eating, then it would have stayed a lot better...but how can you eat this in a ladylike manner? 

Haus Dog with gherkins, mustard and a big coating of Sauerkraut! Also some seriously amazing proper chips with cheese on top & a vanilla raspberry shake! Nomnomnom! Thank you Burger Edinburgh, my dinner was extremely delicious!  


So this concludes part 1 of my Etude House haul reviews, hopefully this was helpful to you all!

If you have any more questions, or have any feedback for me then please drop me a comment in the box provided below!

Love,

Kasumi x

Etude House - Korean Cosmetics Haul!

Hi Sweethearts,

Sorry for the delay in getting this blog post to you - I've been hard at work lately and feeling really tired so haven't been able to focus properly to sit and write, sorry! >.<

I got a wonderful parcel from my super lovely and pretty friend Sah, who had been back in Korea and picked me up a surprise mix of Korean Cosmetics from Etude House! 

Those that know me personally, know all too well that I wax lyrical about Etude House, and get ridiculously excited every time I get some new products from them.

The reason?

The products are FABULOUS! Seriously, the quality of their products is amazing, especially given the extremely budget friendly price tags - and the packaging is ADORABLE!
    Etude wants to give ladies the Princess experience, and make applying makeup fun again, and not so much like a daily chore, and they've definitely got that down to a tee!

( C'mon girly girls - all the packaging is pink, cute and super feminine...what's not to love?)


I've recorded an un-boxing video to complement this post, which will be going live on my YouTube Channel later on in the week, once I've finished editing/clipping & removing all the terrible bloopers!
This is more of a general, show&tell, haul post, but I'll be going into details about the products with example looks that I've created using them over the next few posts - so please stick around for that!

So, let's get to it! 

Here is the package that arrived for me (I tore out the addresses, so no dodgy mail sending opportunities folks!) and I was SO EXCITED when the Postman arrived with it - I ended up running to the door with a yoghurt in one hand and the spoon in my mouth frantically trying to sign the electronic pad.

 I received this on a Thursday, but didn't have any time to record a video until Sunday, so I faced the super hard challenge of not opening it for a few days...I'm not quite sure how I managed it! >.<'

Packaging:

This is where the magic starts to happen! Sah also included the Bag that Etude pack your items in when you buy in store - and it's so cute!!!! It's an Etude House, House Bag...and it's pink & white!

One day I'll definitely travel to go into a real, physical Etude Store as they look just like their packaging!  Have a look at some of their stores on their story page:

http://www.etudehouse.com/index.php/brand/etudestory.html

I mean, seriously? How can you not find this utterly irresistible? 

Inside the Box:

The first thing I saw inside the box, was a cute Blue Rose, that I ended up clipping onto my jumper (sadly I didn't take a photo, but you can see it in the video) - it now lives on my living room table ^_^


Next up are these awesome looking Pomegranate Face Masks!
I haven't gotten round to trying these yet, but I'm looking forward to trying them out when I get some "me" time. Pomegranate is really great for you, and these masks are the cotton sheet variety which means they won't be a nightmare to get off (unlike other masks I've tried) which is even better!

This is the 2nd type of Face Mask that I got - Dr. Ampoule Dual Mask Sheet.

This is a 2 part face mask, where you first apply a serum to your face before applying the mask.
There are a few variants of this, but this one is the "Lifting Care" mask which I am really interested in trying out. I'm in my mid 20's, so I should really be paying more attention to my skin and doing my best to prevent the age related sagging/wrinkles that are already making an appearance. Unfortunately I'm really lazy with keeping up a proper routine, so I'm hoping these new products will give me the motivation I need to keep myself in check!

The last Skincare product from the box is the Baking Powder BB Deep Cleansing Foam.
 This one was actually a free gift that came with everything, so plus points for a freebie!

I've been looking for a cleanser to try and deal with my skin and properly remove makeup, so this looks promising. It's meant to be designed to remove BB cream from what I know, which is pretty hard to remove at times, so hopefully this will take off my inch thick makeup and shrink my pores a little.

Onto the Makeup Section!

First up on the makeup front is this adorable Dear My Wish Liptalk lipstick in a Coral colour (See top of box - OR201) 

This looks super adorable in its' pink container with a little bow in the middle where it opens! This is totally princessy and right up my street. Before I discovered Etude House, I didn't think such cute makeup was available - I definitely fell in love at first sight!
 I have a look in mind that will fit perfectly with this, so please stay tuned for it.

Also from the "Dear My" range is the Crystal Gloss in shade CPK001 which is a lovely sparkly pink colour.

I'm a huge lipgloss fan, so this is a perfect addition to my collection. From previous experience, I've found Etude's glosses to be great quality and lovely coloured, so I believe this will be no exception.
 Layering lipsticks and glosses is something that I like doing quite a lot, so it will be interesting to try this out and see how it goes.

Following on from the Lip specific products, this is the Sweet Recipe All Over Colour Cupcake in OR202 - Peach Sugar Cake.

This is ridiculously cute! Packaged in a mini cake box, the all over colour is in a cupcake decorated tin that's easy enough to pop into your purse and take with you.

 I absolutely love multi-purpose products, and I've had my eye on this for a long time now. As it says on the packaging, it's an all-over colour - so you can use it as a blusher (which is mainly why I picked it) a lip balm, or eyeshadow. It's pretty much the whole package.
 I've given this a little try, and it's defintely fast becoming something I'm going to use most days. It's a light creamy product, much like a good lip balm, but blends really well and feels completely weightless. I had wondered if it would be sticky, but it's absolutely perfect and gives me a wonderfully natural glow.  

These are the Play 101 Pencils, which I first heard about from a friend in Korea last year.
Play 101 Pencils are much like the All-over colour Cupcake, in that these can be used across your entire face/makeup look.
They can be your eyeliner, eyebrow pencil, blusher, lipliner, lipstick, eyeshadow - the choice is yours!
I will go on about these in a specific post, because after trying these I am completely in love. Seriously, these things are absolutely AMAZING!
 With 50 different colours/textures to choose from, you'll never be bored or out of inspiration!
I got these 3 in the photo below, 2 of which I intend on fusing together on my lips, after seeing a look on the main Korean Etude site, and a black as I had ran out of my last black liner pencil
Some of these products, whilst versatile, are slightly more geared towards certain elements of your makeup look, but they can still be used anywhere.

Having sampled these briefly because I couldn't help myself, I can honestly say that I need to collect all 50!

Lastly, I got a couple of eyeshadows from the Look At My Eyes range.

On the left is the from the Jewel Range, in shade GR705 which is a cool, minty green pearly shade.
The right hand side is also from the Jewel range, the shadow sparkly and a deep purple - shade: PP505.
 What's really sweet about these single shadows, is that the pressed shadow itself has little heart details on it! I tested out the mint one, and wow it's sparkly! It does require you to prime your eyes with either a primer, concealer, white eyepencil etc to give it something to adhere too and allow the colour to really pop, but they're such pretty colours and only a couple of pounds each so it's well worth experimenting with different colours.(there are loads to choose from!)

Final Thoughts: 

Phew! -_-' That was quite a lot to go through, right?

I am actually so grateful to my lovely friend for bringing me these back - I'm so excited to take some time to pamper myself and try out some really sweet new looks with my goodies!

Please stay tuned & subscribe to my YouTube Channel for the Unboxing video of me going through this for the first time - expect squealing, bouncing around and general excitement. (I get a bit over excited and sound like a small child...I promise I can be mature sometimes >.<)

I hope this little haul run-down has been good reading for you all, and maybe you've seen something you'd like for yourself? Please also stick around for the looks I create with my new supplies, including more in depth details about the products!

What products do you like best? Have you tried Etude? Let me know in the comments!

Love,

           Kasumi x

Don't break the bank! Purse friendly products - mini haul!

Hi Sweethearts!

Following on from my review on the w7 In the Nude palette, I thought I'd share a mini makeup haul that I treated myself to - all super budget friendly, so Ladies (and Gents) that means you won't have to worry about spending all your wages on products!

I'm going to use stock photos here for the most part, as my photo taking skills are questionable at best...so let's start!

Firstly, as I'm in Scotland, I decided to take a little trip to my local Watt Brothers store.
For those of you unfamiliar to Watt Brothers - it's a chain of stores up here that offer great products at amazing discounted prices, from makeup, to homeware, clothing etc.

Their makeup section offers products for a range of brands eg. budget brands such a w7, technic etc all the way up to YSL, CK etc.

For this mini haul, I focused on the already budget friendly brands, though with an extra discounted
price!




First up: w7 Light Diffusing Concealer! 

Watt Brothers price: £2.99
w7 Website price: £4.95 This is essentially the budget version of YSL Touche Eclat concealer, but without the £25 price tag. (though Watt Brothers has it in stock for around £20)

A handy twist pen design, for easy application. (though I put this on the back on my hand then apply with a brush)
 This is a light, smooth concealer that reflects light to illuminate your face, and banishes dark under eye areas.

I tested this out last week for the first time, after previously trying the YSL version a while back - but there's no way I could justify the price tag.
I suffer from pretty dark under eye circles, and found that the w7, budget version to be just as good for making those circles disappear!
 For me, I'd also use this as a light highlighter, as it has a lovely dewy effect and isn't as thick & heavy as the concealer I usually wear.
 It's absolutely perfect for day to day wear as well, as it doesn't weigh you down.
With a pocket friendly price of £2.99, I've definitely been converted.

Next up: w7 Super Brows pencil

Watt Brothers price: £0.99
You can find this online for £1.99- £2.99 roughly. 

I'd been searching for a new brow pencil to match my 2015 brown haired look, and came across this on my mini haul trip.

This comes in a couple of shades, and is a soft eyebrow pencil at one side, with a handy brow brush at the other.

What I found with this, on first application, is that it is a soft pencil, and goes on pretty strong. However, you only need a small amount of this, as the super handy brush will blend the pencil along your brows, whilst keeping them in shape.
 It may take a little bit to get used to, but I'm pretty happy with this, especially given that it cost me just shy of £1.
 It lasts pretty well, and I didn't find any smudging or melting during the course of the day, but then again I don't tend to wear anything apart from my fringe near my brows and don't tend to rub. If you find that you could rub it with hats, or are subject to a lot of heat, then you can easily a thin layer of eyeshadow over the top to give it some extra hold.

 As you only need a little bit at a time, it's great value for money since it's also a pretty long pencil!
My only disappointment, is that it doesn't come in many shades, so it's more suited to brunettes/dark haired beauties. (unless of course you're into rocking light/bright hair and dark brows!)
 

Technic Fruity Lip Gloss

Watt Brothers price: £1.99
Online price: I found it on lovethymakeup.com for £1.49, though you have a £2.50 delivery charge, so will have to leave it until you've got a list on things you'd like to make it worth your while ordering from here.

I'm usually quite apprehensive with lip glosses, and tend to try out a good few, as I've found a couple of cheaper brands that can be pretty sticky.

However, this one definitely isn't sticky at all. This is a lovely sparkly gloss, that comes in a variety of shades and has a brush pen applicator. (Once again, I tend to put this on the back of my hand, then apply with a lip brush) 

This gloss goes on quite nicely, and doesn't smell or taste bad (I'm guilty of licking my lip/hanging my tongue out when I'm concentrating >.<) and gives a nice, girly, plumped up look without being "in your face".  

I like to use glosses over a nude lip, for a subtle, glossy, almost English rose effect, or over the top of a matt coloured lipstick to give it some extra oomph!

Royal False Nails:

Watt brothers price: £2.99
Online price is about the same if you are willing to look around.

This is a bit of a wildcard, in terms of buying the exact same set from Watt Brothers.

I find that they tend to stock a variety of different Royal false nails, and only tend to have a few of each. Every time I pop in, there are always different styles in, so trying to track down the same set twice may require some online hunting!

I use Royal nails quite a lot, and they usually come in some really cute and interesting designs. I had the Mirrorball versions last year, which I really liked too.

They come in a good array of sizes within the pack, which is handy since I have pretty dainty hands and nails. The nail glue that comes with it is also pretty hard wearing, even for someone like me that's quite active.

I picked up these particular ones, as I think they'd be a great base for Hime Gyaru style nails, due to the lovely pink colour and little 3D flower design. When I get round to wearing them, I'll be adding some cute crystals and other nail attachments (can't think of the proper term for this) to create a really standout set of nails.

Here's a couple of photographs of other products that I found in my local Watt Brothers and tend to purchase a lot from them:  To see the images bigger, right click and select "open link in new tab/window) 

The Technic lashes are also pretty good, they're not too thick on the lash band, and have a good curl so they don't sit flat on your eyes.

 I usually swear by Maybelline Colossal Mascara (I've been trying out other brands lately but always go back to Maybelline) usually in other stores they retail at about £8, or there abouts, but Watt Brothers sell them for £4.99, which is a great bargain! I love the length, curl and deep black of Maybellines' Colossal Mascara, and I don't find that it clumps at all which is a major plus.

On the right, you can see the pretty good range of brushes that they stock, though I only took a snapshot of the Royal ones, as these are the ones I buy the most of - look at those prices! Really good bargain for some good quality brushes that do last!


After I left Watt Brothers, I remembered that I was running out of my staple powder and liquid liner. Off to Superdrug I went!

2True Liquid Liner:

Superdrug Price: £1.99 or 3 products for £5

This is my go-to liquid liner! I'm not a massive fan of gel liners, or more brush like liners, as I don't feel I can get as sharp a line as I'd like to with them. (That's personal taste, mind you. Gel liners I find to be more hygienic when you're applying makeup to others instead of just yourself. )
I absolutely adore this liner! It goes on a rich black, dries in no time at all, and lasts the whole day through! The applicator is sturdy and has a good thin tip to allow for fine lines and flicks, which is my daily liner look. Having used a few liquid liners before I discovered 2True, I find that the applicator stays sharp/maintains it's tip for longer than the others I've tried, usually for the length of time it takes me to get through the liner.  (previously I tried Collection 2000 & w7 liners, but was never a big fan of either of them for various reasons.) 

2True Matt Pressed Powder:

Superdrug Price: £1.99 or 3 products for £5

This is another staple in my makeup kit. This powder is great value for money, comes in the paler shades that I tend to like, and is pretty good wearing for me, despite being under studio lights and having  really oily skin in places such as my nose/forehead.
2True White Eyeliner Pencil

Superdrug price: £1.99 or 3 for £5

Once again, 2True at Superdrug tends to more often that not have a 3 product for £5 deal, across a good range of different products so you can get a good combination of products for a budget friendly price.

This is the first time I've used the White liner from 2True, as I've usually bought the slightly cheaper version from MUA at £1.
 In saying that, I've always liked the Black liner pencil that 2True has, and the white didn't disappoint me!
Although slightly more expensive that the MUA version (which is also pretty good for the price), it goes on a lot easier and stronger in colour, which means just a simple quick glide on and you're ready to go! A liner that I do tend to use a lot of for adding extra definition under my brows, and for making my eyes look a little bigger.

Useful Links:
 www.superdrug.com
http://www.w7cosmetics.co.uk

That was my mini budget friendly product haul!
I really hope is helpful to a lot of you, especially to those who ask and are curious to know which products I buy, and where from! ^_^

Please let me know your thoughts, or any questions in the comments below, and please remember to subscribe to keep up to date with my posts!

Love,

Kasumi x