Updated NOTD - China Glaze Liquid Leather

Well, the GOSH Black Passion was on for less than 24 hours and I just couldn't live with it. It's just too much of a grey shade for me albeit a much more sophisticated grey for nails. It just wasn't me so decided to re-do the nails this morning.
I decided to opt for a full on black this time in the form of China Glaze Liquid Leather. This is my favourite black polish - not that they vary too greatly in terms of shade or colouration but i like the glossy finish of this.
I do love black nails, gothic yet tasteful.

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NOTD - GOSH Black Passsion

I was perusing in Superdrug today and was having a look at what GOSH had to offer. In fairness I haven't felt the need to buy much recently and I'm a bit bored of what's out there just now but today something caught my eye.

It was Gosh Black Passion nail lacquer. Now, I don't do green nails and I definitely don't do grey nails but I do love black nails! However, Black Passion rather than being a simple black as the name may suggest - it is more of a Pewter shade. There is a subtle silver shimmer through this polish that gives the pewter effect and stops it being as harsh as black but not as wishy washy as grey.
I tried the polish over black polish to see how it affected the intensity of the shade but to be honest the pigmentation is so good to start with that it doesn't make a major difference. You could definitely get away with one coat of this but I stuck to 2 for good measure.

The only thing that bothers me about any GOSH nail lacquer is the handle/top. It's so bulky and cylindrical it can be hard to get a good grip or decent control over the brush.

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Changing Rooms!

I realise I have been AWOL this week but things have been pretty messy at Chez Saskia!

We are selling our apartment so we have been trying to fancy the place up a bit for viewers. We have a spare bedroom that was never used, so for the purpose of the sale we had to quickly turn the room around to do what it says on the tin.

Stupid me forgot to take 'before' photographs and we did have a dilemna when the wrong bed was delivered to us but in all this was a 24 hour turnaround and I think the room looks pretty cute now.
It's certainly not amazing but apart from the bed and mirror, we utilised what we already owned and I think we made the space look cosy and inviting while keeping the spend to a minimum. Before this, the room was used for storage and had lots of units and a sofa bed in it... not very appealling for potential buyers you will agree! I've now housed my make up collection in here so I get to use it as a dressing room so really it's all worked out in my benefit heh heh!
Photos are bad I know, they were taken from my iphone. We picked up the bed cheaply from Ikea. The worst part was the mayhem left over in the rest of the flat but we are back to normality now thank goodness!

So thats what I have been up to this week, hopefully normal business will resume shortly!

What has everyone else been up to?

x

Another EOTD

It's been a very busy week so I've not had much time for anything so I thought I would show you another effort from when I was having a play with the Sleek Graphite palette.

This look was completely inspired by Pixiwoos video.
I followed the Pixiwoo's tutorial as much as I could. Using the dark grey/silver from the Sleek palette all over my lid and blending out with the lighter silver. I then used the purple shade from the palette on the outer v and crease of my eye and on the inner quarter I blended through some Urban Decay Mossgreen. I brought the grey from the graphite palette underneath my eye and then used a blue shade I had lying around on top (can't remember what this was)
I finished off with some MAC fluidline in blacktrack and YSL Singulier Mascara. Again with some tweeking and more care I could definitely wear this for the party season.

What do you think? Tips always welcome :)

x

EOTD - Purple Rain

A night or 2 ago, I was feeling a bit rubbish with having a cold (yet again) and in my pitiful state of boredom I decided to have a play about with my new Sleek Graphite Palette. For as much make up as I own, I rarely have time to just play or mess about with it so it was nice to do so.
For this look, I used my new Sleek Graphite palette (LE) and the Urban Decay Book of Shadows Volume 2.
I started off using Mac Paint in Untitled as a base the applied the purple shade from the Sleek Palette (it's the bottom right corner purple). I applied this all over my lid. I had to really build up the colour with this so it was a case of applying then blending then repeat until I was happy with the colour pay off. In the end I took the colour higher on the lid than normal to add some drama and I also applied the colour under the lower lashline to create a smokey effect.
I then applied the darkest shade from the UD Book of Shadows - Perversion. I only applied a quarter to half way into the eye and really concentrated the colour on the outer v. I then applied the pink shade - Sphynx from this palette to the inner half of the lid and worked out toward the outer v. I then used UD 24/7 liner in zero on my waterline and lightly lined the lid with Mac Fluidline in Blacktrack. Also to highlight the brow bone I added some Mac shadow in Vanilla. I finished the look with YSL Singulier mascara.

I would definitely wear this look with flawless skin and light pink glossy lips for a night out. The overall look was a lot more matte than what I expected from both UD and Sleek shadows but I'd rather there was less shimmer with a look that is dramatic like this.

What dramatic eyes are you favouring? Any tips how I can make this better?

x

Haul time!

I haven't posted a haul in a while and to be honest this is an ickle one from my usual Friday afternoon jaunt to the shops. I thought hauls were becoming a bit tiresome but every now and then I do like a nosey into what is floating other bloggers boats ...

So first up, I went to MAC and I was bowled over that for the first time ever, yes ever, a MUA actually approached me to ask if I needed help!! *faints* I usually have to fight to speak to a MUA in MAC and even then they are usually downright rude but today was a positively pleasant experience. I let the girl know what I wanted and I was literally in and out in 10 minutes!
I went for a Springsheen blush, a colour I have been wanting for a while but just kept forgetting about whenever I had the chance to purchase. It's a lovely peach/coral/pink shade. It reminds me a little of Nars Orgasm but not quite as shimmery although it is a shimmer blush. Then from left to right, I picked up eyeshadows in Charcoal Brown, Vanilla and Cork - all matt shadows. Charcoal brown I have wanted for ages, Vanilla is a lovely colour that will be great as a highlight and in the inner corners of the eye. I have seen Cork on quite a few blogs and YT tutorials recently so I wanted to see how it would work for me. Basically I am looking for the perfect everyday make up routine as I feel my everyday look has become a bit tired and is lacking some oomph. So this is why I went for nice, neutral, natural shades.

I also picked up my first MSF Natural in medium! Everyone raves about this product so I thought it was about time I tried it. Hopefully I will love it as much as everyone else, will keep you posted!

Finally, I went to YSL to pick up the new mascara YSL Singulier. I was encouraged to buy this after seeing Holly's review. Holly has some great photos of her lashes in her review so you should have a look, they look devine. Unfortunately, you are stuck with my terrible photos of the spiral wand! The SA at YSL actually tried to talk me out of buying this - she told me if I like Faux Cils then I should stick to that. Hmmm, I wasn't sure what to make of that but obviously I bought Singulier in the end. It is supposed to curl, lengthen and seperate your lashes but the SA did advise not to apply too many coats of it. I do like to build my mascara up but based on Holly's review I may not need to. Again, I will keep you posted on whether this works for me or not!

So thats my rather small and uninteresting haul. For my next haul I really want to find some lovely lip colours, neutrals and brights. Any recommendations?

x

Sharing some sugar!

There seems to be so much negativity online just now and it's something I don't really get too bothered with - I am able to make the clear distinction from cyber life and real life and rarely let them crossover but sometimes you just get sick of hearing people moan day in day out!

So, I thought I would do a really quick post to share with you some blogs that I just love at the moment:

Love Meagan

Maegan is fabulous and utterly gorgeous! She has her own website, blog, YT and tumblr rolled into one. She does fantastic 'Gratuitous Outfit of the Day' posts and better still she has an amazing skill for diy and customising clothes. I came across her blog when i was looking for ways to make a feather skirt - Maegan had beat me to it and has blogged her very own tutorial on it yay!
She exudes style and confidence and her fashion posts are so much more realistic for a professional, fashion conscious 28 year old like myself. I can no longer lust after the fashions of a waif like 17 year old. You can see Maegan has a clear respect and passion for art and design which makes her blog all the more interesting and captivating! Go check her out!

Absolutely Oblivious

Mega is probably on the other extreme of fashion blogging, she is just a young 'un but I love her style of self expression. Her outfit of the day posts (if you can call them that) are so much more - I love her photography style and most of her images look like they have come straight from the pages of I-D rather than taken in her bedroom. What I love most is the key designer pieces that pop up in her posts on a regular basis. She has a good eye for what works and what doesn't and can work a classic Chanel like no other. She is as cute as a button but oh so edgy. She Rocks!

Kingdom of Style

Bloggers Queen Marie and Queen Michelle are the Glaswegian Royalty behind this great blog. It is essentially a fashion blog but you do get a mixed bag of everyday life, interiors and wit from them. It makes for such an interesting read and lots of pretty pictures of Queen Michelle and her amazing sense of style. I rarely read a blog and am captured by every word but Kingdom of Style grabs my attention and keeps it!

Cupcakes take the Cake

This one is a bit random in comparison - basically a blog about cupcakes. Boring you might think but I tell you, there are some gorgeous little cupcake creations on this site. I live for the day when I move into my new home and have a big swanky kitchen where I can lure the inner domestic goddess out of me. Cupcakes may just become my speciality thanks to this blog!

A(nother) renovation blog

Ok, so another random one. You have probably all realised my love for interior design already but at the moment I am looking to take on a bit of a project with our new house. I have frantically been looking for some inspiration on renovation ideas and came across this great blog. Kay is renovating her London home so for someone like me who is looking to do similar it really is great to see the progress step by step. What's more amazing is that she is doing this with 2 young daughters around and working full time at *Wallpaper magazine - She must be Wonder Woman! All Hail Kay!

So there we have it - I hope that these are something a bit different for you to peruse instead of the usual make up blogs. Sometimes things can get boring and we have to mix it up a bit and keep an eye on our other interests so this is some insight into mine.

Who are you blog loving just now?

x

All I want for Christmas ....

Are these 2 little buddies - they are Siberian kittens and I just wanna hug 'em and squeeze 'em and love 'em and hug 'em and squeeze 'em .......

They can be added to the ever growing list:

Driving Lessons *blushes* (still can't drive!!)
New make up brushes
Creme de la Mer goodies
Barcelona Chair for my new home
Nars & Mac goodies
Lipo
Christian Louboutins
A big CHOCOLATE Reindeer
Alexander Wang Coco Bag
Tom Dixon Globe Pendant Light (x3)
Alexander McQueen skull ring
Stella McCartney, Gucci and Marc Jacobs perfume
Dermalogica cleansing products (i'm all out)
Lush gift box (No Christmas is complete without this)
Invisalign braces

You see, I don't ask for much do I?

What is on your Christmas list?

x

Halloween Solstice Star

So, I hadn't planned to go out for Halloween, If I had, I would have made sure I had a kick ass outfit. However, we decided last minute to get together at a mates flat and obviously dress for the occasion. Our dressing up box (yes, we do have one) is at my mother in law's at the moment since we are packing up to move so I had to use the resources I had at hand. Mainly make up!

Initially I was going to go as a doll but then decided I wanted a more casual approach (read: I hadn't tanned or de-fuzzed the legs so a dress was a no-no!). So in the end, I decided to wear a black assymetric top with black bootleg trousers which had a bit of a 70s vibe to it.... make up wise I took inspiration from one of Kate Moss' birthday looks a few years back.
I love this look and have always wanted to try it. I had hardly any time to recreate it so what I managed to churn out is a bit shoddy but I now know what I would do differently.
To create the look I used a Bobbi Brown Foundation stick - this is definitely one thing I would change, the coverage just wasn't enough for this look. I then concealed and contoured with nars laguna.
I used Illamasqua Liquid Metal in Solstice for the star - which looked great to start with but as the night wore on it creased really badly over the lid. I drew a light outline fo the star to begin with then literally coloured it in with the Solstice.
I then lined my eyes with MAC Fluidline in blacktrack then added Ardell False Lashes.
On the lips I used Rimmel Foxy with Gosh Darling on top.

The Hair? Don't even go there - it was a flippin' disaster!!

So that was my last minute Halloween look - what did you guys dress up as?

x