Mailing List

Hi Tory,

all you have to do to get started is click on the tab menu above

Did you know that you can sign up for a monthly, themed Makeup Tips for My Sister newsletter? Courtesy of the lovely folks over at MailChimp I can send you out tasty tidbits, videos, posts and more with additional info directly to your Inbox. How's that sound?

All you have to do to get started is click on tab in the menu above, enter your details and away you go. (You can also sign up from the Facebook Page.)It's quick, it's free and it's fun!

Hugs and kisses,
xxx

5 Products I'm Not All That Impressed With

Hi Tory,

I do have a tendency to rave about the products I love on the blog (and I will be doing an updated Love Review soon), but I thought it would be good to balance things out with a list of the five products that I'm currently not so crazy about. If you've had a better experience with them, or have ones that you'd like to add, do comment below!

My Meh List Five

1. Dry Shampoo: This is one of those products du jour that a fair number of beauty bloggers seem to rave about... and to be honest, those of us who are older and have long memories remember the sticky, flaky nightmare that was dry shampoos from the late 70s and early 80s and may well have approached the new generation of products with more trepidation. They don't work. Full stop. And yes, I've followed the directions, and yes, I've done all the blow drying, teasing and so on, but they just don't work. And the aftermath, when you do finally wash your hair, is really quite horrible. The first stage was dirty hair with dark blobs of cornstarch in it, and the second stage was wet hair with residual blobs of dark cornstarch in it. And frankly, if you're going to go to all the trouble of blow drying, teasing etc, you might just as well wash your hair in the first place.
I thought it would be good to balance things out with a list of the five products that I'm currently not so crazy about
2. MUA Lipstick: I really wanted to like these. For £1 you get a lipstick at one end and a coordinating lipgloss at the other, and the colour range is pretty good. The trouble is... the lipgloss part is almost impossible to open, and the lipstick itself is really grainy and unpleasant. To be fair to MUA, this is a rare dropping of the ball for a product line that's proving itself to be more than a match for the big boys.
3. Revlon Colorstay Foundation: I've tried a LOT of drugstore foundations (I eventually settled on the Bourjois Healthy Mix Gel Foundation) and did a lot of research beforehand, going on reviews and other blog posts to compile a trial list. There's a lot of love for Revlon Colorstay out there. I have no idea why. I found the smell really off-putting, the range of shades limited, and the oxidization really rather alarming - I was a good two shades darker about 15 minutes after application. It smells like emulsion paint, it feels like emulsion paint, and it covers like emulsion paint. Not happy.
4. Neutrogena Wave Duo: God knows I tried with this in my search to find an affordable alternative to the Clarisonic. What I discovered is that there is no affordable alternative to the Clarisonic. The Duo irritated my skin beyond belief and it took a good two months for it to return to anything like normal. Anyone with sensitive or oily skins - avoid.
5. False Eyelash Applicators: This is one of those products that demonstrates that money doesn't reflect anything - cheap or expensive, this product just does not work. At all. I ruined a pair of false eyelashes trying to demonstrate it, and to be honest you'd be better off investing in two good sets of tweezers and practising. Fiddly but worth it in the end.

Which products have failed to get your love vote recently?

Hugs and kisses,
xxx

June Makeup Haul!

Hi Tory,

I've been doing some digging in the mark down bins in Superdrug as well as regular shopping and came up with some tasty bargains for this month's haul!

So first off, I'm dyeing my hair - REALLY dyeing my hair! Bleaching underneath and then colouring it purple (hence this purchase), and then dark chocolate brown on the layer above so I get this funky, punky two tone thing going on. I'll be photographing the process as well, don't worry!

Collection 2000 have brought out four gel eyeliners at a really affordable price of £4.99 each. Along with the standard black and brown, they also do a pale gold, and this GORGEOUS teal which I just had to buy, a) because it's beautiful, and b) so that I can show you how to do a great smoky eye using a gel liner. ;) I'm really impressed with the texture of these gels, and the staying power is tremendous.

Again from Collection 2000, I got these twist up eye definers, which go on like a gel and last for a really long time - they are excellent for tight lining and highly pigmented - plus they're a bargain at only £1.99 each!

I needed all my how to tips on repairing eyeshadows for these bad boys... but it was worth it! TWO Sleek palettes - Bad Girl, and Oh So Special - and ONE MUA Professional palette in Starry Night, and all of them half price. :: (I spent £8.98 on the three as opposed to £16.98.) I am currently OBSESSED with the Sleek Bad Girl palette - all these fab black black blacks shot through with intense colour. Tutorials ahoy!

And last, but by no mean least, I finally got the E.L.F. bug, and it was definitely worth it. :) Two wonderfully creamy concealer palettes (I got the medium and the dark, just waiting on the light to come back into stock), and two really nice brushes - the sponge smudger and their blending brush. All really affordable and pretty good quality, plus the delivery was quick! (I also bought an art brush, which I'm using for makeup and I'm doing a special tutorial on that later)

Hugs and kisses,
xxx