MY LAST DAY IN THE UK

Hey hey my lovelies, today I just feel like rambling away on my blog as it is my last night in the UK. I'm leaving home for my country tomorrow at midnight (well, my flight's at midnight, so yea) I'm excited to finally be able to go home and be closer to my family, friends and loved ones but I am kinda nervous and sad at the same time as well. Maybe this is because I suddenly realized that my study life has come to an end (unless of course I decide to continue with my MASTERS, but obviously not now because I dont have the moolah to do so) but yea, it's nerve-wrecking knowing that my next chapter in life is about to begin, which is of course the work life. Kinda intimidating, I don't even know how difficult it is to find an actual job but all i could hope for is one that I would enjoy doing every single day probably for the rest of my entire life.

On the other hand, I can't wait to be able to hang out with my loved ones and friends again once I'm home. It has been ages since I've met them. Miss them so much, but to all my new found friends that I've met and got to know during the period of my stay here in the UK, I'll miss you guys too! And will definitely meet up some time.

For my cousin sister and her family who has been so generous by allowing me to stay with them throughout my course of studies, I deeply appreciate their hospitality and their generosity. Had a pleasant stay with them and learnt how to cook as well =p well, a little tiny bit of learning how to cook. Will miss the two adorable little boys, Tobey and Euan who's always smiling. Will miss seeing them grow up, but of course, updates will be there on my cousin sister's blog. =)

To Selfridges, my favourite place to visit here in London and of course the shopping area in Cambridge, I'll be back to visit you during my graduation trip back here to the UK at the end of year with a shopping spree in mind.

Love, 

Alvina

ELF HAUL AND REVIEW

Hey everyone, so I've been M.I.A. for quite some time now and I apologize for that but I've been busy with my study and recently I did a haul from ELF Cosmetics. For those of you who don't know ELF Cosmetics, it stands for Eyes Lips and Face and let me tell you guys, I've been more than impress with this brand plus their products retails at such amazing prices. They have 3 different range of products which includes the Professional range which only cost £1.50 for each item, their Studio range (whose brushes are AWESOME) which only cost £3.50 per item and their mineral range which is about £3 each, if I'm not mistaken, there are some products which cost around 6 pounds or even slightly more for special sets. But all in all, their products are amazing, though there are some hits and misses but for the price, you can't really complain now can you? ELF Cosmetics UK has such great customer service and delivery is amazingly quick and prompt! I'm really happy and impressed! Now, let's get on with the haul:

(L-R: Lip Defining Brush, Studio Small Angled Brush, Studio Powder Brush, Blending Eye Brush)

Lip Defining Brush: This is an ok item for £1.50, it does its job and its quite small as you can see in the picture so it fits nicely in my make up bag. The bristles are soft, not scratchy but not the most soft bristles of all. Definitely worth the £1.50. (I got all these items during an offer period of 25% discount therefoe products that are £1.50 are £1.13, £3.00 products  are £2.23 and £3.50 items are £2.63  after discount)

Studio Small Angled Brush: Amazing! Its dense, super thin (which is good for lining the eyes or doing the brows) and it looks exp for £3.50.

Studio Powder Brush: AMAZING TOO! This brush is dense and its just basically a flat top kabuki on a stick which is great for buffing in powder and it gives a flawless full coverage when used for applying foundation! I love this sooo much that this is a back-up for the one I already have. Get this if you could only purchase one thing, you will not be disappointed! This was £3.50.

Professional Blending Eye Brush: This is actually an ok item, not scratchy, quite full and blends well, but I think the one i got was a faulty one because it just kept shedding like hell! I used it on my eye for blending in shadows and the next thing I know, my eyes were left with tons of bristles! It was crazy! Its a good brush, maybe mine is just faulty. Will definitely give this another try. This was £1.50.

(L-R: Natural Radiance Blush in Coy and Natural Radiance Blush in Innocence)

(L-R: Natural Radiance Blush in Coy and Natural Radiance Blush in Innocence)

Natural Radiance Blush in Coy: This is a purplish, plummy pink blush with gold shimmer, not glitters. It pretty yet subtle as you can see in the picture. The blushes are quite chalky but it feels silky at the same time. The packaging it comes in is quite small and it slides up unlike usual blushes compact making it very difficult to open it. This was £1.50.

Natural Radiance Blush in Innocence: This is a baby peachy pink shade, very milky tone. Its quite matte on and it has the tendency to look ashy so for darker skin tone ladies, this is not for you. Like Coy, it is quite chalky but silky nonetheless but I realize that this shade gives the face a very radiant look just like its name. I don't know why, but it looks nice on. I'm an NW25 for reference for MAC. This was also £1.50.

(Mineral Eye Shadow Primer)

Mineral Eye Shadow Primer: This is the mineral eye shadow primer in the shade Sheer. It only comes in one shade as far as I know and let me tell you this stuff is amazing! It is definitely on par with Urban Decay primer potion, and I'm not even joking, I tried this yesterday, this stuff's amazing, no creasing in the eye after 8 hours, my shadow still looks as good as new. I tried on eye with the U.D. Primer Potion and the other eye with this mineral primer and it is the same! How amazing is that for £3?

(L-R: Studio Conditioning Lip Balm SPF 15 in Nice and Natural and Mellow Melon)

(L-R: Studio Conditioning Lip Balm SPF 15 in Nice and Natural and Mellow Melon)

Studio Conditioning Lip Balm SPF 15 in Nice and Natural: This lip balm is gorgeous! Is a pinky-beige nude shade, no shimmer to it whatsoever, super creamy and pigmented even though its a lip balm, coverage is semi-opaque. On the lips, it doesn't give a 'dead or ill' look, just a very natural nude shade. It has a vanilla-ish scent to it. This is definitely a good buy for £3.50.

Studio Conditioning Lip Balm SPF 15 in Mellow Melon: This is a coral pink shade, on my lips it looks more coral than pink. There are 6 colours in total to choose from, but I chose these two to try out and it is amazing. Im not too sure about how conditioning they are, but they seem to be getting along well with my chapped lips, I have really terrible dry lips but these seem to be conditioning enough for it. With the SPF 15, it's a plus especially now that Summer's coming up! This was £3.50.

Just for reference of some of the lip products that I have which looks somewhat similar but not quite.

(L-R: Studio Conditioning Lip Balm SPF 15 in Nice and Natural, MAC Viva Glam Gaga 2 Lipglass, ELF Mineral Lipgloss in Bare)

(Mineral Eye Shadow in Socialite)

Mineral Eye Shadow in Socialite: This is a very unique shade, in the pot, it looks like its nothing special and bland, not even attractive, but when swatched, as you can see, it's very high shine and it very unique. It looks like a taupe but it has grey tones and purple tones to it with a silver sheen. It is definitely very pretty and on the eyes, it gives a very sultry smokey look. I have another one in Royal which I purchase last time and its a deep purple, they look somewhat similar, but this is less purple and more taupe with the same gorgeous sheen to it. The swatch is a dry swatch with no primer on, so it's definitely pigmented and smooth! This was £3.

Any comments or if you would like a more in-depth review, please do not hesitate to comment below. Thank you for reading =) 

XOXO,

Alvina

ILLAMASQUA HAUL AND REVIEW!

I ordered some Illamasqua goodies after Christmas as they there was a code that we could use for a 15% discount and they were also having an online sale for selected items so I took the advantage of the 15% discount code and I also got one thing from the online sale that they were having as the other 3 items I wanted wasn't in their online sale's list, so I just used the 15% discount code for the 3 items.

So I got 3 Blushers, and a face primer; 2 of the Blushers are powder and 1 is a cream blusher and as for the face primer, I got the Satin Primer instead of the Matte Primer.

So let's start with the "Satin Primer":

Before applying make-up, it is best to prepare your face with a primer; as this evens out the skin and allows a better application of either your foundation or powder and it also gives one's face a better look (e.g. I got the Satin Primer and this gives my face a more 'dewy' look, if you get the Matte Primer it will give your look a more 'matte' look) I did not get the Matte primer mainly because my skin is a little dry, not too dry but dry at certain areas and I think if I were to get the Matte primer, it would enhance those dry spots that I have and overall with this Satin primer, I really like it as it does even out my skin and allows a more smooth application of foundation and I love the effect it gives on my skin. It has a vanilla scent to it but it's ok for me and it comes out as a white liquid-lotion texture but it blends out into the skin without leaving your face looking white. The primer was £19.00 but after the 15% discount, it was £16.15.


Next thing I purchased and LOVING IT! is the Powder Blush in "Rumour":

 

This I love so, so much! It is described as a Pale pinky-beige with a matte finish but I would agree with the description of it but on my skin it looks just like a beige which makes it really great for contouring and that was the main reason why I got it. So I'm really happy with it as it does serve it's purpose and the powder is highly pigmented as well as finely milled which is great as it blends in effortlessly. Another shade which is great for contouring from Illamasqua would be "Disobey" but it will be great if you could go to their counter and choose the shade that best suits your skin tone as I've heard that there are a few contouring shades depending on your skin tone but "Rumour" suits me just fine and I'm happy with it. The Powder Blushers are £16.50 each but as it was on sale on their website, I can't remember how much it was but if I wasn't mistaken it was either £9.00 or £10.50.


Another Blusher that I got was the Powder Blush in "Lover":

This powder blush is not something that I would go for naturally but I've been on a kick recently for peach/beige Blushers so I got this one. It is described as a Soft Apricot with a matte finish as well and it is gorgeous, on my cheek, it just brightens up my whole face. In person it looks scary in the pan as it looks like a really bright peachy orange shade but once applied on the cheek it is beautiful and you'll only need a little as all Illamasqua's products are highly pigmented. So make sure you use a light-hand if you dont want to go out looking like a clown. This is originally £16.50 but after the 15% discount, it was £14.03.


The next Blusher is not a powder blush, it is a Cream Blush in "Rude":

This is another blush that is famous when it comes to Illamasqua and it is a coral pink shade in the pan and also when swatched. It also looks really scary in the pan but when applied it gives a nice flush to the cheeks. I was very surprised with the texture of this cream blush as I've never felt a cream blush so smooth before and it doesn't come off as super pigmented when swatched but it is definitely buildable and feels so light. And the best part is, this can also be used on the lips! which is great and a plus point. The thing about Illamasqua is that their products are highly versatile. So, this was £16.50 also but after the 15% discount, it was £14.03.

Here are some swatches:

From Top to Bottom: Rumour, Lover and Rude (all swatched heavily for swatching purposes) 

 LOVE,

ALVINA

MAC Cham Pale Haul

Hi everyone, firstly, I'm really sorry for taking so long to post this up. So I got 3 things from this collection. I did not get the palette, I did not get the Lip Gelees and I did not get the Eye Kohl in either Feline or the shimmery champagne one (correction, I did get the shimmery champagne one just that I returned it as I wasn't too impressed by it, so I return it and exchange it for one of the paint pots and I already have one of Feline, I didnt need another one, so I skipped that too).

So I only got the Fix+Lavender, Chromagraphic pencil in NC15/NW20, and a Paint Pot in Dangerous Cuvee. 

First up, let's talk abt the palette, I didnt get it because I recently got a 4 pan-palette as well and I also got one of the shades that were in the Cham Pale palette which was "Brule" so I did not see a purpose for me to buy the palette as I rather fill it up with the shades that I love more:

  

Next, let's take a look at the Fix+Lavender:

The Fix+Lavender has a very mild scent of Lavender; not too strong and since its my first Fix+, I am liking it as a refreshing mist spray for the face. The Fix+Lavender was £12.50.

Next up, the MAC Chromagraphic Pencil in NC15/NW20:

The MAC Chromagraphic Pencil is just a skin tone pencil shade which can be used for concealing spots, lining the waterline for brightening of the eyes with instead of a white pencil, and also highlighting the brow-bone. This is a very versatile pencil and I love the texture of it which is super creamy and is easy to apply. The pencil was £12.50.

 *Just a word of caution, this can't be used on the lips as it is stated on the box itself as a warning.*

The only Paint Pot I bought is the darkest shade among all the Paint Pots; "Dangerous Cuvee".

 

 

 

This is my first Paint Pot and I'm loving the texture on how creamy it is and I love the shade as well! I didn't planned on purchasing this one at first as I bought the Eye Kohl initially in "I Get No Kick" but I did not like it at all it's just a champagne sheen but I love the Chromagraphic Pencil so I returned the eye kohl and exchanged it for the paint pot instead. I've heard that the Paint Pots in this collection was sheer and glittery but the reason why I picked this up was because it reminds me so much of the "Hypnotizing" e/s from the Love Lace Collection. When paired with the "Hypnotizing" shadow, it is gorgeous! The only downside about the paint pot is that it is very glittery and I did experienced fall outs under my eyes after awhile but it can be solved with powder so I am not too bothered as I love the colour.

LOVE,

ALVINA

Face of the Day!

Today I decided to do a Smokey eye look as I'm loving Smokey eyes with contoured cheeks these days so I did this look. Below is a list of things I used for my look today:

Eyes
All over lid and inner corners: MAC Brule Eye shadow
Outer corner of the eyes: MAC Paint Pot in Dangerous Cuvee and MAC Hypnotizing e/s on top.
Outer V-corner and crease: Rimmel's e/s in 070 After Dark (any Black shadow will do) 
Brow bone highlight:  MAC Brule Eye shadow
Liner: Dolly Wink liquid liner in Black (top lash line), MAC Kohl Power Pencil  in Feline (waterline)

Face
Foundation and concealer: Maybelline Dream Creamy Foundation in 30 Sand/Sable
Contour: NARS Multiple in St.Barts and Illamasqua's Powder Blush in Rumour
Cheeks: MAC Beauty Powder Blush in Personal Style

Lips
Vaseline Lip Therapy with  Rose and Almond Oil

LOVE,

ALVINA 

REVIEW: NARS The Multiple in St.Barts

This is the NARS Multiple in St. Barts. I've been wanting to try this for awhile now and finally caved in and just got it. For those of you who don't know what a Multiple is, it is basically a product which can be used on the Face, Body, Lips and Eyes. And what so great about it is that it is a cream to powder finish and the texture of it is just velvety smooth! Not sticky at all!

I was debating on whether I should get this or Copacabana which is another one which I've heard alot about but decided to get this one instead as I've been looking for a product that I could contour with and I love this! It is a true brown taupe shade with slight shimmer but it still looks great for contouring.

 Copacabana didnt interest me at all as I thought it was gonna be just a sheen glow on my face but it turned out more like a whole lot of shimmer on my face which was disgusting so I decided to go for St.Barts instead which is AWESOME for contouring the cheekbones, jawline and the bridge of the nose, I really saw the difference after it was applied on my face by the Make Up Artist at NARS and boy was I impressed! It even looks great on the lips! It doesn't look as orangey bronze as it looks in the swatch as in person it is really a true taupe colour so I would definitely suggest to those who are interested on getting it to go to the counter and swatch it in person as it is definitely worth a look at.

I love it and would definitely repurchase another once I'm done with this or even if I'm not done by the time I go back to my country, I'm gonna repurchase another one. The price: £29.00.

THANK YOU FOR READING AND I HOPE THIS HELPS. =)

 LOVE,

ALVINA 

REVIEW: MAC 168 Large Angled Contour Brush

Above is MAC 168 Large Angled Contour Brush. I wanted this brush ever since I got into a kick for contoured looks. So I decided to get it as a Christmas present for myself. If I'm not mistaken, the bristles are made of goat hair and it is really, really soft! OMG...it is SUPER soft, trust me. Now, the fact that the bristles are white actually kinda puts me off because once it is used, it looks really dirty so yea, very disgusting but it does what it's supposed to do.

I used it mainly for contouring as I have a another brush which I use for applying blushers only. So yea I use it to contour my cheekbones, jawline and hairline and sometimes the sides of the bridge of my nose. It can be used as a blush brush as well but I mainly bought it for contouring purposes so yea, depending on personal preference as well. Definitely check it out if you need a good quality brush for contouring or even as a blush brush.

The price is pretty expensive : I bought it at £22.50 but after the VAT increased the new price for it in the UK at the moment on their website states that it is £24.00. Luckily I bought it earlier. =) But personally I think MAC brushes are indeed an investment, it can definitely last you a long time if it is well taken care of but sometimes, there are cheaper alternatives out there as well but I haven't seen too many Angled Brush out there so I just decided to get this one instead.

Well, I hope that helps and please do rate the post if you find it helpful or not =)

LOVE,

ALVINA