Botanical!

At the beginning of this summer, I visited the Botanic Gardens in my hometown Edinburgh (of course). The purpose wasn't to look at pretty plants, but I was helping a friend with his photography course, obviously I was asked to be his model for the day. Because he was working with black and white film, I was requested to wear something with pattern and texture so that it comes off better. 

Luckily, the weather god was being good to us and it was sunny with warm temperatures (I sound like a forecaster haha). 

I haven't visited the Botanic Gardens probably since I was still in junior school! It was refreshing to go again, and it made me feel really relaxed again, especially this was at the time I had just finished and handed in all my assignments. 

So what did I wear on the day? 

Blazer from River Island

Romper from River Island

Shoes from H&M

Hat from H&M

Sunglasses from H&M

I always feel that, no matter what, I need to feel comfortable in my clothing wherever I am, so I went for a floral romper- easy, one piece, no fuss. Then a blazer in case it got chilly (living in Scotland, you never know, next thing you know it could be torrential rain - luckily that didn't happen).

I'm also so in love with the strap heels. These are very "on-trend" this summer after seeing them appear on a lot of fashion blogs. 

I do cringe at how I had a wee bump in this photo-haha! >< But whatever, I wasn't naturally model-made, just merely helping a friend. 

Ps. It's funny, because I will be at the Botanic Gardens for a wedding just as this post is schedule to go live. Looking forward to being the bride's MUA of the day. 

DISCLAIMER: All images were taken by Matthew Chan (but edited by myself). Permission was permitted to use these images on this blog =]

Review: Apocalips!

I'm probably like the last one to blog about these lippies that Rimmel came out with around 2-3months ago in the UK -I've had a busy 2-3months.

I bought them when they were first came out though and at the time, it was a big rave around some beauty bloggers, so I was curious to try them. 

Colour

I chose 3 colours from its range, and (again) took advantage of Boots 3for2 offer:

• Luna (left) is a peachy colour, it's a colour that's very suitable for everyday wear and perfect for spring.
• Big Bang (middle) a blood red colour, perfect for evening wear or if you are like me, who is into reds, then this one to pick out from this range.
• Stellar (right) a bright pink/fuchsia but it leans more towards the reds when you wear it. It's a really nice colour, but I wish the pink was more....pink?

All the colours are very opaque and I was very impressed with it and I think it's obvious that Luna and Big Bang are my favourite.

Colour Swatch

Formula and Texture

It has a creamy texture which I find easy to glide on and spreads evenly (although that does mostly depends on how well you've been taking care of your lips -chapped lips never work with any coloured lip products). I find its formula really good for a drugstore product and it feels almost like a 2in1 combining lipstick and lip creme together. It also lasts very well, for a creamy-textured lip colour and feels rather moisturising (not drying) on the lips too.

Duffle applicator with a hollow to allow it to grab more of the product from its tube and producing the opaque colour even from first application.

Price

At the moment, this retails at £4.99 each in UK drugstores, which I feel is a fairly decent price for a high quality lip product.

Overall

I love this product for everything it is but I wish they had a much wider range in colours for me to choose from. It also smudges quite easily if you're not careful when applying. What I do is use a Q-tip to erase any slight smudges and for perfecting the lip shape. 

Beauty Trend: MAC Spring '13

Happy Chinese New Year to all my fellow yellows! I usually love this time of year because everyone is in good spirits and families come together, eating lots of good food. I had a quiet one, not really celebrating as such this year, but I'm happy to see all my friends are having a great time (and great food - yes I'm jealous). 

So in chinese:

 祝各位 新年快樂 萬事如意 但最重要是，身體健康!

It's middle of the night and I am busy doing trend research work for my knitting (course work) whilst multi-tasking on Instagram and obviously on this. 

I thought I would just keep an update detailing beauty trends/campaigns/collections (whichever you call it) either in general or by brand for you to look forward to or to check out now.

Well it just so happens that M.A.C has recently launched their Year of the Snake collection for this spring. 

I'm very intrigued by this collection already and yet I haven't even begun to try the products itself. What caught my eye really were the beauty powders that are embossed with a snake pattern. It's a simple design but I simply like it. 

Moreover though, it is the this collection's colour palette that succeeds to captivate me to (perhaps) purchase a few items. To be specific; I am highly into plummy colours and this collection's colour palette has it all. 

You have vibrant tones of magenta, purple and a slightly pink under-toned red. Then team them up with colours like copper,beige or a shimmery yellow to tone them down slightly or tone it up with some intense black.  

.In total, this collections includes: four single shades of eyeshadows, two pigments, three lipsticks, a beauty powder and their Zoom Lash mascara in Rich Black.

I also like the design on their box packaging which is always a bonus whenever I buy a beauty product.

Will I be spending my red pocket money on this collection? Maybe. But I shall most definitely check out the beauty powder (purely for the embossed snake - sad I know but I love it!)

What will/have you be/been spending your red pocket money on (if you got any)?