How to achieve the PERFECT winged eyeliner look! Tutorial, review and eyeliner swatches!

Winged eyeliner: The enemy of the beauty world. 

Lets all be straight here, winged eyeliner when done right looks amazing. It adds shape, length and accentuates any eye colour. Winged liner acts as a barrier to hide false lashes, opens and brightens the eye and when done neatly makes you look effortlessly glamorous.

BUT. It's not easy! Getting that perfect sharp line, curving slightly at the outer corner, is difficult. Almost everyday someone creates a new tool or beauty fad to help with this process, but using these gadgets and tools often just ends in tears (which then result to smudged panda eyes instead!)

I feel like i have tried almost every type of liner going. They range from soft pencil khols, hard pencil khols, gels, liquids, felt tips, you name it, it probably exists!

Illustrations by Kathy Wyatt for Max Factor

Reviews and Swatches

My personal preference, to get that sharp clean wing, is to use a liquid liner. These are the least likely of the liners to smudge, and often contain the most colour pigment too. Having said that, the liquid liner is probably one of the most tricky eyeliners to use. The tips are usually so precise that it's difficult to get a straight line without any lumps and bumps along the way.

Over the past year, i have been rotating the same few eyeliners, trying to decide my favourite, but recently have discovered a gem in the beauty market!

I love the blackness and matte(ness) style of the Maybelline Master Ink Satin Liquid Liner, (£4.99) but it smudges very easily in the corners, and as it's hayfever season, this is not suitable! I will continue to wear this, but probably in winter when all the pollen subsides. The tip is quite chunky, so it's not perfect to create thin lines, but is great as an overall day to day liner.

I also love the Rimmel Glam Eyes Liquid Liner. (£5.29) It is fairly long lasting, and not as smudgy. Also the tip is so skinny, yet really flexible, so you can get that perfect wing without worrying the tip is going to ping back any second, and ruin what you have spent ages trying to achieve! I feel like i run out of this eyeliner very quickly. I have to scoop alot of the product onto my brush, and 2 months in, it starts running out! 

Poundland, have created a makeup range called Make Up Gallery and i had heard good things about their liner. The Pro Liquid Eyeliner (£1) is amazing. I am currently working with poundland, as a makeup ambassador however this has no influence on my decision at all. I have worn winged liner for almost 7 years straight now and i still struggle sometimes! and have honestly been unable to find a favourite until now.

It has the matte qualities of the Maybelline Liner, and the tip preciseness of the Rimmel Glam Eyes.

It lasts for around 7 hours, on unprimed eyelids, and 9-10 on primed lids. This is perfect, as you can put it on before work in the morning, and know that you will not be coming home with black rings around your eyes.

The only downside to this liner, is the bottle. I feel like i'm going to run out of this product very very quickly. However it's £1, so i could buy 5 for the price of the Rimmel one! They also sell it in bundles of 12, for £12. Which is currently temping me already!

Winged Liner Tutorial & Tips

This image has only been edited to brighten the eyeball, the makeup itself is completely untouched and real!

Step 1: Prime your eyelid. You can use whatever you prefer! I used the Maybelline Fit Me concealer all over the lid and undereye, then set it with a plain cream shadow.

Step 2: Slowly and carefully draw long lines across the eye creating a base for the liner. You do not need to do anything wing related yet! This can be thickened later and doing it in small steps like this helps, especially if you have shaky hands.

Step 3: Fill in the gaps between the lines to create a nice thin line across the eye.

Step 4: Depending on how you want the wing to be, draw a small straight line, emerging from the outer corner of your eye. I usually point my line in the direction of the top of my ear. If you have small round eyes, and want to extend them, draw this line a little longer. If you already have big eyes, you can keep the line smaller. 

Step 5: Work out how thick you want the wing to be, and draw a straight line heading back towards your eye. I personally try to keep this line as horizontal with my eye as possible, as it helps join it to the liner much more easily.

Step 6: Join your lines together slowly and carefully. If you have hooded eyes like me, try shutting your eye and lifting your eyebrows as high as possible, this flattens the skin! Also doing one swift movement from line to line instead of tiny little ones, helps it look smoother.

Step 7: Fill in any gaps!

Step 8 (optional): I like a full liner look sometimes, so i go across my waterline too. I find that using a liquid liner in a waterline is quite a tricky process. If you get it in your eye, a watery mess begins to happen! I try and keep it on my lower section of the waterline, and don't take it down any further than the bottom eyelashes.

Step 9: Add false lashes (or mascara) to complete the look!

Tips:

• If you apply foundation, primer or moisturiser before winged eyeliner, if you make any mistakes it's easier to smudge away with your finger than on dry skin.
• You can use concealer on any thin brush or cotton bud of your choice to really make that line clean and sharp
• Make sure you give your liner brush a little scrape before using it. Too much = messy disaster, Too little = bumpy uneven line
• If you want to make your eyes look extra 'cat eye' like, when drawing around the inner corner, drag both lines further than you would and join together.
• If you like experimenting with fun colours, applying a wet eyeshadow (of any colour) ontop of the black is so easy, and you don't have to bother creating the wing again!

Thankyou for reading this post! Let me know what you think of this liner in the comments below!

Chloe 

Morphe products - Are they really worth the hype?! Honest Review + Swatches

Morphe seems to be one of the latest brands currently storming the beauty world. With over 2.8 million followers on Instagram and stockists all over the world, it was hard to resist posting a full length review on whether or not this hype was really necessary!

If you haven't heard of Morphe by now, they sell variations of makeup palettes and brushes, and have now expanded there range to lip creams, concealers and more!

REVIEW AND SWATCHES

My first ever Morphe purchase was over a year ago! The classic 35W palette, filled with 35 warm toned neutral eyeshadow shades, varying from creams and browns to blacks, purples and oranges.

I have always loved this palette. It cost me £15.95 which i though was a reasonable price for 35 large pans of colour. I found the shadows to blend nicely and the colour pay off was nice too. I occasionally use Fix Plus, to brighten up some of the metallic colours as certain ones had less pigmentation than others, but to be honest i use fix plus with any metallic shadow i ever use!

After wearing this palette to death, and playing around with eye looks over on Instagram, i was kindly sent a package by the Morphe Team, containing all different palettes and brushes. I am not being paid to write good things nor to promote there products! I am writing this review as a honest customer (also a very lucky one!).

My Top 3 from the Palette.

The 35B palette is completely the opposite to any neutral palette you will ever see. I personally think this palette contains every single colour that you would have missing from your collection. The colours range from blacks and whites to all different shades of greens, purples,
reds and more!

I also love this palette. It is mostly matte however the couple of shimmer colours that are in the palette need that spray of Fix Plus to really pop. I can't really fault this palette, for the prize and size it's really efficient!

Moving onto possibly the companies most popular seller, the brushes. 

I have been testing the brushes for over 3 months now (almost everyday). A few of the brushes are hit and miss. When i first begun using them, i noticed a few were shedding bristles, which i had never encountered before. This was mildly annoying but luckily over time, the shedding stopped, and i haven't had any hairs fall out in over 2 months.

Some brushes i have found less use for, however others have become my holy grails, and have joined my trusty Nanshy brushes in my all time favourite brushes!

I particularly love the (MB23 and the M462). The MB23 is the biggest, fluffiest, EASIEST, blending brush i have ever used (knocks about 5 minutes of arm ache off a smokey eye!)

MB23

M462

MAKEUP LOOKS USING MORPHE

Using the Morphe 35W Palette!

Morphe 35B Palette

Morphe 35W Palette

I rate this brand, i really do! The qualitys of the shadows are not quite at the top with Too Faced, but definitely come next in my opinion, and second place is oh so fine by me!

I think for the price you pay, and the fact that they stock regularly on UK sites, is worth it! The pans are large, and there are so many different palettes there are colours available for everyone. I have also tried the blush and bronze palettes which are unreal. The quality of these is even better than the shadows, and these range usually at between £15 and £20. Also certain brushes (hint hint MB23) have made my life complete!

Have a little nosy around Beauty Bay, they stock alot of the Morphe collection:
http://www.beautybay.com/morphebrushes/   

Thankyou so much for reading. How have you found Morphe as a company? Let me know below!

Chloe 

MAC Warm Neutrals Palette, Review, Swatches and is it really worth £65?!

Hello! Long time no speak, i know. I managed to get myself caught up in the real world, of working, illness and anything else that could have been a massive weight added onto my shoulders.

 But that's over! I'm back and i'm ready to sit at my computer for hours and chat on about beauty.

I was very kindly brought the MAC Warm Neutrals Palette for Christmas from my boyfriend. I can't believe he went into Debenhams all by himself and asked the woman for "the palette by MAC that's full of gold-ish colours" just for me! awwww.

This palette contains 15 full sized MAC shadows, and as you have probably guessed by the palette name, all the colours are warm toned and neutral! Warm neutrals contains a mixture of: (F) Frost (L) Lustre (M) Matte (S) Satin (V) Velvet and (VXP) Veluxe Pearl.

MAC Individual shadow refills usually cost £10.00 each, but if you buy this palette for £65 (yes £65! that is definitely expensive!) each shadow works out to be close to £4.30. Which is a pretty good deal if you can see past the fact that the whole palette is worth alot.

Swatches

Top to Bottom: (Hey, Warm Breeze, Gingersnap)

 Hey is a very peachy shimmery neutral colour. When wearing this on my eyelids i have trouble getting the colour to pay off however it is lovely to use as a light transition shade.

Warm Breeze is a true peach. This is also a little difficult to get the pigmentation to appear because of my very light skin tone.

Gingersnap is stunning. One of my favourites from the palette. It adds a nice pinky/reddy shimmery look to the eyes without making you look like you have got hayfever as some reds/pinks do!

(Brew, Dance in the Dark)

Brew is a really pretty red toned brown shade with a bit of pink shimmer in. It looks gorgeous on especially paired with Gingersnap.

Dance in the dark is a true dark matte brown, keeping those red/pink undertones still.

(Brule, Vanilla Extract, Honey Lust)

Brule is more of a whitey peach colour. It is very pale and again this doesn't show up so well on my skin tone however this is also good for a transition shade.

Vanilla extract is a very pretty light champagne orange. It is very subtle yet gives off a gorgeous healthy glow to the eyes.

Honey lust is stunning. It is staying with the orange tones of the second row but isn't pure orange. This is similar to vanilla extract only slightly darker.

(Amber lights, Saddle)

Amber lights is my ultimate favourite in this palette! The pigmentation is unreal and it is so shimmery and buttery. 

Saddle is a matte orange with brown undertones. This colour is gorgeous with a really warm toned eye look.

Right to left now as Blogger is being annoying and not letting me switch the photo! (Lemon tart, Creative Copper, Butterfudge)

Lemon tart is gorgeous. It is a proper lemon coloured shade with gorgeous shimmer running through it.

Creative copper is also just as gorgeous! This is more of a true gold than a yellow.

Butterfudge is a mixture of golds and browns. This is a stunning sandy colour.

(Divine Decadence, Unwind)

Divine decadence is a really beautiful frosted brown with gold flecks.

Unwind is more of a dirty gold shade however the word 'dirty' in this sense is amazing. The colour is gorgeous and muted yet still really effective and unusual. 

Pros of the Palette:

• Each shade works out to be around £6 cheaper than if you were to buy them individually
• So many different looks can be created as there is good colour variation
• Good quality, buttery, long wearing shades
• Mixtures of all the different eyeshadow textures
• Great for travelling

Cons of the Palette:

• The total price is very expensive
• The first two colours on the first and second rows have little pigmentation (perhaps just on my skintone?)
• The packaging is tricky and hurts if you trap your finger in it! (don't do it. I have three times)

Overall i personally love this palette and will continue to use it until i hit pan on every shade (ambitious!). I feel slightly disappointed at the colour pay off of a couple of shadows but this does not stop me loving all of the others!

Freedom Makeup Haul, Review and Swatches! ♡

 After hearing that one of my favourite drugstore brands, (Makeup Revolution) created a sister company called 'Freedom Makeup' i was ridiculously excited! Makeup Revolution cosmetics make me happy. They are so affordable, and have some amazing dupes for popular high end products. I had a little nosey round the Freedom Makeup site on Black Friday and made a couple of purchases.

Freedom Makeup - PRO STUDIO Priming Water (usually £6 was £3 on Black Friday)

After having no success with spray on primers ever, and about 100 breakouts from them i was curious to try this one! This one can be used as a primer to create a base for your makeup or on the top of your makeup as a type of setting spray.

This lightweight water spray comes out the bottle effectively and i usually use around 3-4 sprays across my face. It dries really quickly allowing me to get on with the rest of my makeup! I have found it is nice and hydrating for my dry skin and honestly does leave a nice base for the rest of my makeup. My foundation definitely goes on smoother after using this spray. The only downside of this however is the smell. I think it smells quite similar to what i imagine toilet water to smell like yuckkkkk, however the product is really good and i will continue to use and repurchase!

Freedom Makeup - PRO Melts Lipgloss (Jammy Dodger) £3

When i ordered this it was purely for fun! I'm a nude lips girl and always will be, but as i'm trying to be a little more adventurous makeup wise and this was only £3 i thought why not!

The lipgloss goes on ever so smoothly. It is nowhere near as glossy and sticky as a gloss but gives a nice creamy sheen on the lips. The gloss is very opaque and creates a full lip coverage. I was so happy with the texture and smoothness of this lipgloss, it's gorgeous! It also lasts nicely and once dry doesn't leave you with horrible smudge marks. I was 10000% be ordering more of these in other colours (nude) soon.

Freedom Makeup - House of Glam Dolls 'Fairy Doll' Palette £8

Freedom makeup have currently teamed up with House of Glam Dolls to create 4 versatile palettes containing eyebrow powders, eyeshadows, highlight shades, a blush a contour colour and lipglosses. For £8 this is so worth the money!

I picked the Fairy Doll Palette purely for the gorgeous bright shadows! All of the eyeshadows apply really nicely to the lids and can be made even bolder by using a fixing spray on a brush when applied.

Here are the swatches for this palette (excuse the quality, Britain's weather does not want to play nicely with my camera and swatches)

Eyebrow Powders, Brunette, Bark, Mischief and Ebony. 

Highlight Colours, Starlight, Light and Haze.

This is currently rivaling my Mary Lou! So beautiful

Eyeshadows, Cloud, Magic, Petal and Glade.

Eyeshadows, Sorcery and Bloom.

Eyeshadows, Pure, Fantasy, Ash and Jet.

Contour and Blush, Nature and Flutter.

Lipglosses (difficult to capture!) Spell, Believe, Enchant and Wicked

Thanks for reading! Have you tried any Freedom Makeup Products? Let me know

Chloe ♡

Chinese carbon blackhead removal mask - Does it really work?

After seeing various Youtube videos of people with a black tar like substance smeared across their faces, claiming it 'removes all blackheads' i was interested! My skin is pretty clear but my nose happens to be covered in deep small blackheads.

I ordered a mask called the My Scheming Black Head Removal Mask on Ebay. It came from China and cost around £10 with free postage! Unfortunately this mask took over a month to arrive. I was so excited for this 'miracle' product to be delivered and was checking the post everyday however felt a little disheartened that it took so long to arrive.

The kit contains three stages and some instructions that are luckily in English.
Step 1: 'Deep Pore Demineralised Water' - This first step is a foamy watery substance which you are supposed to apply to clean and dry skin. This water's job is to soften and open up all of your pores

Step 2: The big black bottle is called the 'Blackhead Removal Activated Carbon Mask' This is the scary/exciting part. One you open the bottle and begin applying this on your face i can guarantee your first thought will be OMG. The mask comes out pitch black and tar like, and has to be applied evenly to any areas you wish to remove blackheads from.

When applying this it is important to cover all blackheads yet keep the mask nice and thin. (I made the mistake of applying it thickly the first time, and it took a long time to dry). When the mask is everywhere you want it i'd advise wiping your fingers! The mask is then supposed to take 15 - 20 minutes to completely dry however i found it took a good half an hour plus. The mask can then be removed by gently pulling in a bottom to top motion. This is surprisingly pain free!

this mask is guaranteed to make you look 100% attractive. Haha!

Step 3: 'Skin Clarifying Pore Treatment Essence' When your mask has been completely removed you can apply step three which is another watery substance. This one is aimed to close up and clean all of your pores to stop any infection.

Results:

This is what i was left with after removing the mask. All of the little lumps and bumps on the sheet are blackheads! If you take a photo of your mask with flash too it shows you the disgusting results in alot more detail.

Before, Before and After.

Did i personally see any results? A little. My nose did not look as clear as i had hoped it would have after the treatment however there was a little change especially around the bridge and tip of my nose. I would use this again because i think it helps to prevent any further build up however I didn't achieve the magical perfect clear skin i was after. My nose however definitely feels softer, smoother and cleaner.

Will you be purchasing one of these blackhead removal masks or have you found one that is even better than this one? Let me know!

Chloe :)

Morphe Brushes 35W Palette Review and Swatches!

After spending weeks weighing up the options whether i should buy yet another neutral toned eye shadow palette, i gave in. I have seen Morphe palettes splashed all over Instagram and now that Beauty Bay and Beauty Chamber are selling them, i couldn't resist.

I purchased the 35W (warm) palette for £15.95 on Beautybay.com.

This palette was so much bigger than i expected. I Thought the shadows would be a similar size to the Makeup Revolution 32 shade shadows but these are a similar size to the MAC full pan shadows.

On first feel they were nice and buttery and soft, and definitely not chalky. I could pick up enough shadow on my finger for the swatches without pressing hard, these shadows are so pigmented!

I do occasionally use a setting spray on my brush to brighten some of the colours to create a more dramatic look but they do not need this at all and work perfectly well just with a little bit of eye primer.

Swatches:

Top row, Pan 3, Pan 2 and Pan 1

Top Row, Pan 6, 5 and 4

Pan 7 Top Row

Second Row, Pan 10, 9 then 8

Second Row Pan 13, 12 then 11

Second Row, Pan 14

Third Row, Pan 17, 16, 15

Third Row Pan 20, 19 then 18

Third row Pan 21

Fourth Row Pan 24, 23, 22

Fourth Row Pan 27, 26, 25

Fourth row Pan 28

Row 5 Pan 31, 30 29

Row 5, 34, 33, 32

Row 5 Pan 35

I hope you enjoyed these swatches, i love my Morphe Palette much more than i had imagined and will definitely be buying from them again in the future.

Chloe!