Essence 'Clear and Matt' Review

Firstly today I want to talk about a foundation. I usually use Bourjois 10 Hour Sleep Effect which I ran out of a few weeks ago. Being a little low on funds I decided to try an Essence foundation. I first swatched the 'Stay All Day' foundation because it came in the same bottle as my Bourjois one and I thought they might be similar. Unfortunately the lightest shade was way to dark for me. I actually meant to buy the 'Soft & Natural' one but somehow ended up with 'Clear & Matt'. 

My first impression of Clear & Matt was that it smelled disgusting, kind of plasticy. The packaging is rubbish, the lid comes loose quite easily so it could be a disaster if you like to keep your foundation in your bag. When I swatched the foundation it looked far too dark on my hand but once I put it on my face and blended it out it looked fine. It did take a lot of blending though to get rid of the tidemarks, my usual Bourjois foundation on the other hand, needs only light blending in and never gives me tidemarks. 

Even though the foundation looks fine when I apply it, as the day wears on I find it turns more orange somehow. It feels horrible on my skin, really drying and it's made my chin breakout. I never, ever get spots so a foundation that causes them is bad! 

I usually like Essence but this product gets a definite thumbs down from me.

this is a cold war, do you know what you're fighting for

So I didn't get the course I wanted but weirdly enough I'm kind of glad. I've been job hunting which is why there hasn't been any posts for a while and why they'll be a bit scarce for the next while. Looking for a job means I'm stuck with boring makeup for a while. 

I'm excited for this year now, it's the first time I've ever not had a plan. I have made a bit of a plan over the last week though. I'm going to look for another job because at the moment I only work one or two nights a week. It would be super handy if I could keep the job I have now and find something else for weekdays. Then if I've saved up enough money by the new year I might go travelling for a couple of months.

It's been a year since I've had my hair cut and I've spent the last few weeks pondering what to do with it. Last year I cut it up quite short and now it's finally gotten quite long again.

This is my hair when it was short and behaving 

And this is my hair long

So which is better? I've spent months growing out my fringe so I won't be getting a fringe again (might get a side fringe though). My hair long is impossible to brush and tends to go into a frizzball if it gets wet/blown about in the wind/touched in any way. My short hair needs blowdrying and straightening but is super easy to wash and brush and I can go days between washes without it turning to frizz. 

Most people tell me my short hair was nicer and I remember it being nice but my camera was on the blink back then so I have very few photos I can check this with. 

Grr sometimes I'm tempted to just shave it all off!!

Interview

I had my interview today for the makeup course I want to do this year.

It didn't go well. 

I had been told there were 40 places and I arrived feeling a little nervous. Waiting outside all the other girls were just in basic (mainly orange) makeup and none of them had portfolios or anything with them, so I was starting to feel quite confident. I had a load of answers ready, I could seriously talk for hours about my favourite products, brands, beauty bloggers etc. 

I went in and the first thing I was told was that there were 18 places, not 40 and there were 180 applicants. Then they said that because I've already done a level 5 course I may not be able to do another, apparently the goverment are trying to only fund people for one each. I wasn't really asked anything about makeup and I came out feeling like there were a load of things I forgot to say. 

I have no idea what I'll do with the year if I don't get it. Sure, I can wait it out and re-apply next year (it's a new course so I assume there'll be less demand next year) but what will I do to kill time? 

None of that... or any of the others.

Just a couple of songs I've had on rotation for the last week or two.

I'm hopefully going to see Janelle Monáe, Messiah J and The Mighty Stef at Electric Picnic. So excited!! 

Ouch!

I hate breaking in Dr Martens boots!

(Pic taken from http://www.drmartens.com/)

I bought these patent pink ones (mine are more neon than the ones in the picture) in TK Maxx two weeks ago. They were a total bargain, only €35 but I'm having serious trouble and foot pain trying to break them in. I always have problems with breaking in boots but these are particularly bad as they're a half size too small. I usually wear a 7 in Dr Martens, and although TK Maxx had a 'Size 7' sticker stuck on these, they're actually only a 6.5. Grr. 

I'll get there eventually, lots of thick socks and wearing them around the house will do the trick. I was planning on wearing them to Electric Picnic, the music festival I'm going to on Friday but I guess I'll have to stick to my old pair. 

 Anyone else have trouble breaking in boots?

UD Black Palette!

So I just saw pictures and swatches of the forthcoming Urban Decay Black Palette over on Lipglossiping. Holy cow it looks amazing! Check out those swatches over Pixie Epoxy... drool.

I love dark eyeshadows, especially shimmery dark eyeshadows and I'm definitely going to need to get my hands on this. The dark green looks so gorgeous! 

This post also reminds me that I really need to buy some Pixie Epoxy, I've been meaning to get it for months now.

FOTD 27 Aug 10

So today I decided to use my new Lacura lashes. I don't usually wear false lashes, before this I'd only ever worn the weird ones with feathers and glitter and stuff for fancy dress. Considering I'm not used to applying them I don't think I did too bad, although they're not quite close enough to my lashline.

Wow these pictures make me realise how badly I need a haircut. I can't decide though if I want to keep it long(ish) or get it cut short again.

I used: 

Face

Bourjois 10 Hour Sleep Effect foundation

17 Translucent Loose Powder

MAC Hipness blush

MAC MSFN

Bourjois highlighter

 

Eyes

UDPP

Ruby and Millie Gold Cream e/s

MAC Time & Space, Nanogold, Orb, Spiced Chocolate & Shore Leave e/s

UD X e/s

UD Bourbon 24/7 liner

MAC Blacktrack Fluidline

Lacura lashes

 Maybelline The Collossal mascara

Lips

17 Balmy Beige lipstick

And a black and white photo, I'm trying to get some nice black and white pictures to put in my portfolio for my interview, since I'm sure I'll have to do makeyp for black and white photography in my course. If I get it, fingers crossed! 

I went shopping today, got a few bargains. 

The dress was €2 from Penneys, the falsies were 50c from there too. 

I got this 17 Bronze palette a few days ago, my sister was buying some nail varnish from 17 and this came free. It's got 2 eyeshadows, a brown and a cream. A golden bronzer and a gold-brown lipgloss. 

The other two items are a 17 nail polish, on clearance for €1.50, which I was going to buy for €5 a few weeks ago, and a Revlon lipstick, Black Cherry, which was €3 reduced from €10.50. The polish is black with silver sparkle and is gorgeous! The lipstick is a dark cherry-plum and very nice and creamy. I'll post swatches tomorrow, the light's too bad now.