All Hail The Sale! Illamasqua Summer Sale

Calling all makeup junkies and bargain whores, Illamasqua are having and end of season sale with some of their products priced at £5. They support the Sophie Lancaster foundation (stamping out hate crimes) by donating a portion of their S.O.P.H.I.E profits to the charity. They also generously give free postage with every item no matter how small. My personal sale favourites are the bat lash duo which i have been lusting over for far too long (finally all mine) and their nail varnish in the gorgeous Viridian. I can't rate Illamasqua highly enough, every product i have tried has been of such great quality and highly pigmented too. Why not treat yourselves ladies, and let me know which products are your favourites.

Glossybox Summer Collaboration

Exciting news my lovelies, the lovely folks at Glossybox have announced that the this months box will be a surprise May collaboration. This months box will contain four full sized products, yup you read correctly FOUR GREAT BIG BEAUTY PRODUCTS! This is the most excited i have been about a box in a long time, however i have my finger's crossed that the size of the products wont compromise the quality. 

In my opinion the Glossy team have been getting their boxes spot on as of late, i am seeing few negative reviews and almost no bad boxes. I can understand how hard it must be to please so many different customers, some complain about receiving too many nail polishes or yet another black eyeliner but honestly those are the sort of things i would love to receive. As each box goes by there is an increasing amount of pressure to make each one better than the last and a lot of unrealistic expectations have been created. Glossybox is a business and clearly they do need to make some money. 

So with all of these expectations of "that perfect box" i decided to come up with my own dream box, full of some items i would love to receive. (WARNING: MAJOR LAPSE IN REALITY IMMANENT)

1. Lime Crime Lipstick £13: I recently purchased my very first Lime Crime Lipstick (in Poisonberry), i know guys, it took me so long. The packaging is to die for; beautiful pastel purple with holographic unicorns and stars. Plus they have the most unusual shades i have ever seen (not exactly ideal for most Glossy subscribers but perfect for me) and are cruelty free hooray!

2. Illamasqua- Precision Gel Eyeliner £18.50: It is no secret that i am an eyeliner fiend; liquid, pencil, cake i love them all. Some of my favourite liners come in gel form, with a good quality brush you can create a super precise opaque wing. Plus you have a product that will last months which is a real investment if you wear eyeliner everyday like myself.

3. Ciat'e Nail Polish £9: I have been hooked on Ciat'e products for a number of years now, i adore the packaging especially that cute little bow. They have an extensive range of shades and some unusual effects too. As far as the cost, i find it more than reasonable considering the quality and longevity of the lovely varnishes. 

4. Urban Decay- Anti Aging Eye Primer Potion £18: This is a wonderful product for those of us who are starting to show our age (mine are laughing wrinkles, honestly), and i cannot stress how important primer is. I never apply shadow without using primer first, it creates the perfect base for applying shadow, especially mineral and loose pigments. The result is an easy to blend, long lasting, highly pigmented look that every beauty obsessive needs, adding anti aging to a primer is pure genius. (i'm sure Einstein would be turning in his grave)

5. MUA Eyeshadows £1: MUA have created a super cheap (a freaking pound each!) range of eyeshadows that are all fantastic quality. The quality and longevity outshine any other drugstore products and are as good as some of the shades in my Guerlain Crazy Paris palette. They have great pigmentation and the pearlescent shades are absolutely stunning.

The total cost of my dream box is £59.50 .... so yeah maybe a little unrealistic. Time to pop my box bubble and become a realist, a girl can dream.

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