Blindfolded Makeup Challenge with Pesky Peeves

When blindfolds were invented i'm not entirely sure this is what they had in mind. A clown inspired make up tutorial filmed with Gemma, it's clear to see that we both have envious make up skills, check it out, i promise it will make you laugh.

Beautybox Challenge

A couple of weeks ago i had a great idea for a fun video to try out, it's something a little more creative than just another unboxing video. So here i give you the glossybox challenge, i challenge you to create a beauty box of your own containing 5 items or more for £12.95.

February Favourites

I really can't believe this year is going by so quickly already goodbye February. February is my favourite month because i get to celebrate Santes Dwynwen Dydd (Saint Dwynwen's Day~ Basically the welsh valentine's day), Valentines Day and my birthday. Because of my lovely friends and family i have had lots of things to try out, cutting my list down to 5 items was challenging to say the least but here are my final five x

1. Treacle Moon~That Vanilla Moment: This month i have been rediscovering my love for long relaxing baths, anything sweet or spicy ticks my bath box checklist. That vanilla moment smells so yummy and sweet it even has a label warning me not to eat it (still tempting) plus it is cruelty free so you can really relax. I love to use this along with some cracked cinnamon sticks and slices of orange for an extra special bath.This is available at most Tesco stores for about £2.99 but i have seen it on offer at the bargain price of £1.99

2. Yankee Candle~Vanilla Chai: Another vanilla favourite, i love love love my chai tea especially vanilla chai so when i was gifted this by my handsome man i was over the moon. It smells exactly how it should, nice and spicy (think cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg) with the added sweetness of vanilla. I have always thought vanilla chai smelt
like Christmas in a cup so this is definitely a winter warming kind of scent. Like most yankee candles this scent comes in a variety of sizes from votives to large jars.

3. Primark Beauty~Natural Look Lashes: I am a big lover of lashes although i don't wear them as often as i would like to. These lashes are seriously good for the price, i can do 60+ on my motorbike and they stay put. Although i tend to use an eyelure glue as I'm not as the primark glue felt very thin to me. These certainly look natural (i was questioned about weather they were real a few times) and they feel natural too. At a £1 you can't go wrong, i have had 3 uses out of these already and they still look good. I'll be trying more styles on my next trip to the city.

4. Chanel LeVernis~#483 Vendetta: This was my birthday treat to myself, i love designer makeup but it's not something i indulge in very often. Honestly i picked this more for the colour than for the brand because it is perfection in a bottle. Once applied it looks like a high gloss black shade but the second the light hits it you can see the beautiful purple and little flecks of the shimmer particles. Compared to other varnishes it is more chip resistant and also dried very quickly. This is £18 a bottle though so it's definitely a treat rather than an everyday polish.


5. Nyx Eyeshadow~ Cryptonite: You have all heard me rave about this so i won't go on too much. It's dark and sparkly, just beautiful. This is my first Nyx product and i literally can't get enough, it's that perfect shadow for adding some extra glamour to a smokey eye. The shadows come in a range of interesting colours (some unusual ones too) and are priced at a reasonable £5 each.

Hwyl Fawr February and Shwmae to you March and the start of springtime. Hopefully there will be less rain this month and some of those beautiful days we had last year.(don't think there's much left up in those rain clouds). Speak again soon Luna x

Love Me Beauty~ January Box

Seeing as this months Glossybox was depressingly sparse i decided to treat myself to a Love Me Beauty box instead. Any of my followers may remember the Beauteco box, this is the very same box, renamed and made over. As i may have stated in a past post each month you have the choice of 3 boxes each containing a selection of 5 products. The perks of this box are that you can see what is in each box before you get it in the post plus you can cancel at any time if you don't fancy any of the three. I adored the Beauteco box, however there was one month where i didn't feel that i needed any of the products so i unsubscribed and somehow forgot the company existed. Here is this months box number 2 which contains some of the most gorgeous makeup products i have ever received in a box. I have been given my monthly dose of beauty box greatness!!

NYX Cosmetics ~Cryptonite (This is the full size product which retails at £5.00)

Looks like someone made my dream eyeshadow, it has my two favourite things; black and glitter! So naturally when i saw this in the box i was already over the moon. This is my first ever NYX product (yes i know i must have been living under a rock) and I'm super happy with it. It looks gorgeous on and has the perfect amount of glitter, i usually get a little glitter fallout which isn't the easiest to remove but it's hardly noticeable. I would give this product a 5/5 because it was clearly made with me in mind!

Lord & Berry~ Paillettes Eye Pencil in Sparkle Black (Another full sized product worth £8.99)

More black and more glitter! I love this so much, i have been looking for a good quality pencil liner for a while, i have previously been using the Artdeco waterproof liner which i love but i have been craving bright coloured and glitter liners lately. I wasted no time in applying this, i thought i might find the glitter a little irritating as i have sensitive eyes but alas this was no problem. The glitter is so beautiful i can't see myself going back to a black pencil liner ever again. Obviously this one gets a 5/5 too.

Pureology~ Colour Stylist Silk Bodyfier (65ml, full size 250ml costs £15.00)

Another product that seems to have been made with me in mind, i have brightly coloured hair that is always flat, i sometimes curl and backcomb my hair and it still lacks volume. I have used this product a couple of times following the instructions (apply to damp hair, massage from root to tip and style) but it's not as easy to create styles as a would have hoped. On the plus side it gives my hair great volume and a nice shape, it smells nice too. Pureology gets a 4/5

A La Carte Cosmetics~ Divine Lash Mascara (most expensive full sized product in the box costs £23)

This is the most expensive product in the box so i had very high hopes for this mascara. I think that the mascara is a good product but nothing i use ever seems to match the effects of my favourite Bourjois yes to volume no to clumps mascara which was discontinued several years ago. This gave me a good amount of length and didn't cause any clumps which at £23 you would definitely expect. The only negative i have is the smell, it is a little unusual and i can't quite put my finger on it. I am giving this mascara a 4/5, it is a good product but in my opinion it's not quite worth £23

Weleda~ Sea Buckthorn Hand Cream (sample sized 10ml, full size 50ml costs £8.99)

Since using Glossybox's disgusting yu-be moisturiser i have been a little less gun ho about smelling lotions and potions (pretty sure that stuff almost killed my sense of smell). This was a lovely little treat for my nose, i have no idea what the hell sea buckthorn is and i live on the coast but it smells wonderful. If i had to describe the scent it would be gingery with a hint of clementine and spice, so a little christmassy. My skin felt nice after using this but can't compare to the yves rocher cocoa orange hand cream. I think £8.99 is a little more than i would be willing to pay for a hand cream but I'm glad i get to give it a try. Weleda gets a 4/5 from me.

This amazing box cost me £12.95 with p&p (same as Glossybox) and had a total worth of £42.69 which when compared with Glossybox's £17.12 is a clearly the better choice. This box trumps GB on both quality and value, check them out lovely people.

Luna x

Great Goth Gift Giving Guide~ Cosmetics

Do you have a friend or relative who with an appreciation for the darker things? If your not clued up finding that perfect Christmas gift can be a total nightmare. So here i give some ideas and tips on finding the perfect gift for your alternative familiar. Goth's are usually very creative, this doesn't mean that we are all artistically talented but is reflected in little things like the way that we dress or do our makeup. Today i will be focusing on Cosmetics. Before you go spending mad it's important to take notice of what your recipient is going to like. Do they wear dark or bright colours, are they really going to wear that blue lipstick and are they more interested in quality or quantity. Makeup is a great gift for your gothic girl, or guy, here are 5 of my favourite alternative cosmetic brands.

1. Sugarpill~ Sugarpill are a californian cruelty free cosmetics company founded by punk fashion designer Shrinkle. Shrinkle has created a line of highly pigmented brightly coloured pressed and powdered eye shadows that really are to die for. The packaging is embellished with graffiti symbols and bright colours, reflecting the alternative nature of the product. These aren't always easy to get hold of in the uk and can be a little pricey but if you can get it your on to a winner, especially if staying power is important to them. If your girl likes a shimmery goth eye i would recommend the cold chemistry palette which features four stunning shimmering shades. The pallet costs around £25.00 and can be found on cocktailcosmetics

2.Illamasqua~ These guys seriously know there stuff when it comes to making cosmetics so any illamasqua product would be perfect for a real makeup obsessive like myself. They have the most incredible nail varnish formula, highly pigmented chip resistant in shimmers and sparkles. At £14.50 a polish these are seriously pricey but are sure to impress a girl who is more interested in high quality makeup. They sell just about every makeup item you could possibly need, one of my favourite products is the Intense lip gloss. Intense lip gloss is a highly pigmented lip product that comes in unusual shades of black, purple and even silver. For a more luxurious present why not give the gift of makeup brushes, good quality brushes really do make all the difference and beauty obsessives will really appreciate this. Illamasqua also support the Sophie Lancaster foundation and sell wristbands raising awareness of prejudice and discrimination of alternative subcultures. All Illamasqua products are cruelty free including their cosmetics brushes which are cruelty free.

3. Barry M~ Needing some small last minute gifts? Budget cosmetics brand Barry M are really easy to get hold of, being available in the high street chain
Superdrug. They make over 100 different nail varnishes from plain blacks to textured and magnetic ones. These are available from as little as £2.99 but there are often various offers in store. These products are all very good quality and long lasting considering the price. I would also recommend gifting some of Barry M's dazzle dust, these are small pots of glitter and matte powdered eye shadows that come in just about every colour you could imagine. These also make really great stocking fillers. Barry M are another British cruelty free makeup company.





4. Stargazer~ These guys are pretty much the company that got me into makeup as a teenager, if you go into any alternative/ goth shop i guarantee you will find some. Stargazer like Barry M make brightly coloured low cost makeup, my favourite things as a teenager were the mascaras and eyeliners (i still have a red mascara in my collection). These would make a really good gift for teenagers or anyone just getting into makeup, they also make cheap stocking fillers. A product i use everyday is the Stargazer cake eyeliner, this is a pressed liner which creates a liquid liner once water is added. I love this product but it does take some practice with a good quality liner brush. I would suggest gifting the black but there are other colours to choose from, the violet is a lovely shade. Stargazer's pressed white face powder is another favourite of goths who prefer paler skin. Most of the products cost under £4.00 and are not tested on animals, however some of the cosmetics may contain products derived from animals.



5. Topshop~ Ok so this isn't really the first company that springs to mind when i think dark and mysterious but you would be surprised, Topshop has a dark side too. I recently splurged on a couple of products, the first being the nebula eyeshadow trio (£12.00). The packaging is black and rubbery and its contents are incredible, black, silver and gold shimmery shadows that are such great quality and perfect for that person in a hurry to get places. Topshop have a new collection of products collectively known as The Damned that would make great alternative gifts. One of the more interesting products they have is velvet lips (available for £10.00) which is a highly pigmented matte cream available in red, purple and black. Topshop also have a good selection of nail varnishes in desirable shades and finishes. My top 5 shades are; Cloak and Dagger, Plume, Blitz, Velvet Underground and Daredevil, all available for £6.00

Topshop Mini Makeup Haul/Review

Hello my lovely viewers, today i'm giving you my thoughts and feelings on a couple of item's from Topshop's makeup range. I am a total Topshop makeup virgin so i figured it was time for me to give in to temptation and pick up a few goodies.

The first thing that caught my eye was this gorgeous eye shadow compact in the shade Nebula. I wear a combination of blacks and silvers as part of my every day look and have been after a small compact to pop in my handbag, the packaging is pretty unusual, the compact itself has a rubbery feel which i really love. Nebula contains a beautiful trio of shimmery black, smokey grey and a cool gold shade. After testing this out i can say i am seriously impressed, even after hearing good reviews i am still surprised at just how good this is. I have tried every black eye shadow under the sun and most of them don't meet my standards, this one is actually black, not some dark grey or deep brown, but a deep dark BLACK! The silver is actually much darker and more pigmented than i expected so it blends perfectly with the black but still has enough shimmer to lighten the inner corners of your eyes. I used black on my eyelids and the gold to highlight my brow bones. Nebula set me back £12 and was worth every penny and more.

Topshop have the most gorgeous array of nail polishes i have seen in a long time, Barry M comes a close second. I seriously had to restrain myself and bought just two of them (i will be back for more of course). The first one i picked was Plume, this gorgeous purple, blue shimmery beauty. I tried it on my nails and found that its more of a tinted glitter polish than a strong solid colour unless you really layer it up. I wore it as a top coat over the my favourite Barry M nail polish (Vivid Purple) and the combination of the two are stunning, and definitely eye catching. Plume is available for £6 online and in store

I also picked up Gypsy Night because it's made up of my two favourite things; the colour black and glamorous sparkles. This polish is perfectly named it really is like looking at the night sky, unlike Plume i found i needed less coats of this to get a beautiful solid colour. I also applied it over a tarnished gold polish and it looked even better. The drying times of these polishes are about average but on the plus side they are far less gloopy and tacky than other high street varnishes. Gypsy Night also costs £6

Finally i picked up a lipgloss in the shade Surf Luxe, I never wear lip gloss especially not this time of year (sticky hair lips is never a good look) but it was free when you spent £15 on cosmetics. There were a good range of shades but i stuck to a fairly neutral tone (how dull of me). The product has no scent or flavour which is a little disappointing but the formulation feels nice on the lip, not sticky at all. I can't say i would recommend this product but that's more to do with personal preference. I would choose a tinted balm or lipstick over gloss any day, although i wouldn't mind trying the purple one. This gloss and other shades are available for £4 

I have to say i am really happy with the makeup that i got, i would 100% recommend purchasing the compacts because the pigmentation really is fab. I love the polishes too but i would suggest pairing the shimmer and glitter shades with some of the block colours in their range. I will be re-visiting Topshop to splurge on some more varnishes and possibly some other bits.

(Nebula Smokey eye)

                                                As always thanks for reading my ramblings,
                                                                           Luna x