April Makeup Heroes (Favourites :))

Sure, I cannot just name the post' April favourites' - that's what everyone else does, no... I need to wear two pair of pants at once :).

I thought I'll join in with this type of monthly posts, where I can share with you my monthly discoveries / redescoveries in terms of makeup. And here goes:

From L to R:

1. Essence Metallics Quatro Eyeshadow & Gel Eyeliner 'Copper Rulez'- swatches & mini review here

2. Essence Metallic Effect in 'Party all night' - see details here

3. Lacura Concealer Pen - full review here

4. Rimmel Lash Accelerator

5. Rimmel 25 Hour Foundation - mini-review here 

6. Penneys 'Tinted Love' Highlighter & Cheek Gel

7. Estee Lauder Signature Lipstick in 'Venetian Rose'

8. NYC Smooth Skin Loose Powder

9. Avon Luxe Lace Supershock Eyeliner Gel - review & makeup look here

 Penneys 'Tinted Love' Highlighter & Cheek Gel

- This is a gorgeous highlighter, quite discreet, long lasting and it does the job fantastically for the price, way above its price really (c. 1.50Euros)

- The cheek / lip stain is fabulous, after comparing this one to a few more expensive ones I own (Benefit, The Body Shop, Stila) I must say this one is very impressive staying power wise, but it's also a very nice, flattering colour

Comments

 - The Rimmel foundation is fantastic, well done Rimmel, just create some more shades, and we're good! Totally recommend this one for oily skin, it stays put for several hours, and the finish of it is not matte, but slightly dewy and natural, I've been wearing this EVERY DAY since I tried it for the first time, will deffo buy this again!

- The lipstick of the month E.L.'s Venetian Rose is shock horror...a nude *wowee*, this is a gorgeous, extremely flattering nude for me, I've worn this one a lot this month, I am already investigating the price for repurchasing, absolutely in love with it!

- Rimmel Lash Accelerator - a very nice mascara, did NOT make my eyelashes grow any faster, but instead conditioned and elongate them. It's a nice formula, but the product dries out in the tube a bit too fast for my liking, I would however repurchase it at some stage.

- Essence Eyeshadows - wow, I absolutely love them, especially 'Party all night' - very flattering, a safe day/office option,  I've worn this a lot during weekdays.

Estee Lauder 'Venetian Rose' lipstick

Yours, ArtDonatella


xoxo

Nails Inc Polishes - Swatches

I promised I will do a post about the Nails Inc polishes, as seen in my '50 Followers Giveaway' post.

Here's how the three of them look like:

Now, if you're wondering if I'm wearing different colours on each hand, well the answer is 'yes, yes I am!'.



Here's a proof photo to show that I have two sets of these, you might think I'm using the ones from the giveaway..Well, stop thinking that! :D

If you like what you're seeing, and you're one of my fabulous followers, then just go and enter the giveaway, you never know...you might be the lucky winner! :) Also, competition ends  Monday 2nd May (midnight), so chop-chop and good luck!!!

Yours, ArtDonatella

xoxo

The Body Shop 'Honey Bronze' Launch Event

I was thrilled to receive an email from Suzanne & The Body Shop two weeks ago, inviting me to the launch of their fabulous new collection, 'Honey Bronze'.

The sweet as honey collection & prices

(photo borrowed from their Facebook page)

The event was hosted by the international make-up artist, Karim Sattar, who was as lovely and sweet as the Honey Bronze collection itself, with a beautiful, friendly, bright (and I mean 'bright') smile!

He also shared a few tips & tricks with us and one of the most striking ones was the fact that you can use a face primer (silicone based) to matify shimmery eyeshadows, well I'll be! Who knew? Apparently he did, and now we all do!  

He created two looks for us: a sunkissed day look and one for mature ladies / pregnant ladies (who could also benefit from extra moisture & care during pregnancy).

The first model was a beautiful The Body Shop makeup girl, with stunning clear complexion and luscious' Angelina' lips.

Now the second model was this sweet petite lady, with a beautiful clear skin and shy appearance, whom he prodly introduced as his mom :). All I can say to that is 'Awwwwww'!

All in all, it was a great event, we were treated like royals (in a totally 'royal' week :D) with champagne, Ferrero's, canapees, and of course honey! Oooh, and facials, eyebrow threading and makeovers....and a goodie bag *grins*! 

This is what I received in mine:

- The Shimmering Dry Oil

- The Bronzing Powder - Shade '02 Fair Matte'

- Bronzing Face Gel - Shade 'Honey Glow'

- The Big and Curvy Waterproof Mascara

- The Lip Nectar - 'Honey Beige'

If you are a fair girl like yours truly, I must say the bronzing powder (the only product used so far) is absolutely gorgeous,  it comes in several shades for different skin tones. The shade I got (02) is perfect for me, I literally lash it all over the face, neck, decolletage, etc (and by that I mean I don't have to be careful not to get an orange result). The shade is perfection for me, hands down the best one to use when I'm not tanned (all year round that is :D). Very impressed, will do a full review soon, and this applies to all of the goodies received.

Thanks again to the lovely ladies from The Body Shop, Suzanne & Karim, for a fabulous royal/ girlie night out!!!

Yours, ArtDonatella

xoxo

Yves Saint Laurent - '31 Tuxedo Pink'

Exactly what my makeup stash needed: another bright lippie :).

I've been literally obsessed with YSL's Rouge Pure Shine Sheer Lipstick in '31 Tuxedo Pink', and like a good girl that I am, I had it on my birthday wish list, which is quite modest by the way, and I had it there for exactly three days, then off it came from the list and landed straight into my makeup bag :)...

You must understand ... it was not my fault, it was my brother's fault actually, who AGREED to buy it for me in Duty Free for 23Euro, on his way back home from his holiday...so now I'm stuck with it (for better or worse). *Dear Hubby, please note the term used above is*stuck*!*Puppy Eyes*

The consistency is quite light, but pigmented and of course you can layer it to get the desired result. The staying power is quite impressive, leaving a stain like effect on your lips when worn off.

I love YSL lippies, all of them, sure I only own two at the mo. (we'll have to fix that soon :)), but this is my treat, my very own expensive treat, so thanks Yves for treating me so! 

Go on, share...what do you treat yourselves with? Share it below :)!

P.S. I MUST BECOME QUITE BORING WITH THE F.O.T.D POSTS AND LIPPIE HAULS, ETC...HAVE REVIEWS COMING UP SOON, SO THANKS FOR BEING THE PATIENT LOVELIES THAT I KNOW YOU GUYS ARE :)!xx

Yours, ArtDonatella

xoxo



  

Katy Perry E.T. Inspired Look

Ok, so not quite a look of the day, more like 'the alien experiment of the day'...Here's the result everyone, hope you like it.

The eyebrows were so darn hard to conceal, I just gave up and worked my way around it :). Also, at the end of my 50 shots, I noticed I'm missing a few spots on the forehead, so off I went to add them in :D.

Back to work tomorrow, but hey- next week is Bank Holiday again! Yay!!! Therefore, no sadness in my diary :D...Hope you had a great Easter and a  beautiful weekend everyone!!!

Yours, ArtDonatella

xoxo 

Look of the Day - Fringes

Hello everybody! How are you's?

Second post for today, it's quite late but since it's Saturday, I have a lot of energy to spare & share. I got my hair fringed today, yep...did it myself, and I must say I'm very happy with the result. I *so* needed a change hair wise, but since I have to wait a while until dying it blonde (because I have Henna in my hair at the moment), I thought some fringes wouldn't hurt one bit.

Makeup wise I used:

- Rimmel 25 Hr Foundation

- Stila Mineral Matte Eyeshadow in 'Sajama' (outer corner)

- Stila Eyeshadow in 'Champara' (all over the lid)

- Clarins Renaissance Eyeshadow Trio (the lightest colour - brow bone and inner corner) 

- NYC Show Time Mascara

- Stila '08 Sonia' Lipstick 

I love this lipstick,  I bought it from TK Maxx yesterday and it's just the perfect burgundy, absolutely loving it!

That's all folks! Hope you're having a wonderful weekend :)!

Yours, ArtDonatella

xoxo

It's all about emm...Easter Eggs???

We dedicated a few good hours to a fun filled experience, painting eggs for Easter (even the sound of this makes me happy :D). Partners in crime: me + hubby + sister in law, who is a primary school teacher and has loads of patience/passion for arts & crafts...she is very creative and talented. 

I will show you guys and girls three methods we used in the process, so here goes:


METHOD 1 - FOOD COLOURING LIQUID

Bring to boil 700 ml water and a good amount of food colouring plus a few table spoons of vinegar, and then place the boiled eggs (that were washed with washing up liquid for degreasing purposes before boiled ), and keep them for 5 minutes to boil in the coloured water.

METHOD 2 - WAX CRAYONS

Place some hot water in a bowl that you won't use anymore (it's very difficult to wash waxed bowls or spoons etc.), then take a cheese grater and grate some coloured wax crayons into the hot water. These will quickly melt and then you can take the boiled/coloured egg and dip it in...the result is fantastic!

Note: Do not throw the waxed residues into the sink, maybe throw it into the loo :) and don't forget to flush :D!

METHOD 3 - ACRYLIC PAINTING - (on foam eggs) - herewith part of my 'neat' painting stash, I also love to paint, our house is full of my 'masterpieces' :D.

Eggs painted by yours truly :)

Just take some white foam eggs, after piercing them with a needle at one end for support, and start painting them...fun, ha? We also painted some real eggs as well, just for the fun :)!

DO NOT FORGET TO WASH THE EGGS AFTER PEELING & BEFORE CONSUMING, IN CASE YOU USE THE WAX CRAYONS METHOD OR ACRYLIC PAINTS! ENJOY!



FINAL RESULTS / DECORATE:

Real eggs 

 Foam eggs - decorative purposes :D

Previous years:

2011:

Have fun everyone, and 'Happy Easter' to you and all your loved ones!!! All the best!!!!

Yours, ArtDonatella

xoxo



50 Followers Giveaway :) NOW CLOSED

So I hit the fabulous *50* on Monday, no, not the age (which is fab as well), but the number of lovelies that follow my blog, and for that I thank YOU, YOU AND YOU! All of you!!!

So, I gathered a few bits and bobs for a 'small but proud' reward for you guys :D.


GIVEAWAY 1 - 'WHITE'

 Aren't they pretty???

Sanctuary - Fruit Seed Scrub - smells very nice and feels refreshing

Lacura Multi-Intensive Serum - my ultimate skincare product (hope you enjoy this one)

Clarins Instant Sun Light SPF 6 Lip Balm '02-Sunset Coral'

- gorgeous, juicy shade with the perfect summery name

Clarins Mascara Wonder Waterproof - '03 Wonder Violet'

- for the perfect 'beach babe'  

Avon SuperShock Gel Eyeliner 'Plumful'

- I have this in two different shades, it's very creamy & pigmented, a must -have in your beauty kit!

Nails Inc Colour Collection Trio (see names of shades above)

- all I can say about this one is 'yum', love the shades so much I even bought myself a 'pack' too

- expect swatches very soon :)!

2. GIVEAWAY 2 - 'GRAY'

I bought this Amazing Cosmetics kit for myself because I heard sooo many good things about it, but as it turns out, it's too dark for me. The shade is 'tan' and would suit someone with a darker skin tone perfectly (or someone who is tanned all year long *wink*). I only noticed the shade when I got home, but only after opening the kit, but believe me, I haven't touched the products, they're intact with foils on them still.

If you want this (worth 57$- as per their website), just enter the competition, check the rules below & it's yours to keep. 

Contains:

- Amazing Concealer' - 6ml

- Velvet Mineral Powder Foundation - 4g

- Amazing Powderset- 3g

- Concealer Brush

GIVEAWAY RULES:

(inspired by Cornflakegirl's giveaway rules, I'm a newbie here so bare with me - by the way, check her giveaway too, it's fab)

1. Follow my blog and simply leave a comment below mentioning your Google Friend Connect username and the giveaway you want to enter into i.e. WHITE  'artdonatella'
2. NOT COMPULSORY (I guess that not all my followers have accounts on Twitter) - If you wish, you can follow me on Twitter (I'm @artdonatella) and tweet about the giveaway - maybe help me get more followers too, who knows? *wink* - you will receive two entries if you do tweet :) - no need to mention this in the comments below, I will sort this out on Twitter :)
3. Please only enter once, but if you wish to enter both giveaways, please leave one separate comment for each :)

• The 'WHITE' giveaway is only open to Ireland and UK followers - sorry girls, big package, small budget :(
• The 'GRAY' giveaway is opened internationally
• If you're under 18 please get your parents/guardians permission before entering as a postal address will be necessary if you're the winner.
• The closing date for entry is Midnight on Monday, May 2nd 2011 - RANDOM.ORG will be used to decide winning number (comment number)

One small mention: - I've entered competitions on other blogs many times, but to be perfectly honest with you, on some blogs I've had the tendency to say 'oh that's not random, it's fixed...they're friends!'...but that's just me. Now, if you sometimes think like me, than I want to ASSURE you that I will be 100% frank about this, so followers who don't have a blog or don't leave any comments here, darlings, please enter if you wish, there's no monkey-business on my blog! NEVER!

Good luck to you hunnies!!!

Yours, ArtDonatella

xoxo

N.O.T.D. - Revlon Plum Seduction

Quick post hunnies.. about another fabulous nail polish from Revlon. Their nail polishes are amazing quality, and the shades are fantastic, and they also come in huge bottles, so you get a lot of product for just 9Euros!!!

No words needed, love, love I.T.!!!



On a different note, a quick 'thank you' to my very first follower (yep, I remember)- Anne-Marie, for inviting me to the AWear/NYC event tomorrow! Darling, my official 'thanks' to you and looking forward to meeting you!!! xo

Yours, ArtDonatella

xoxo

The No7 Shine Free Make-up Base Experiment

Back in the days when I had no idea what a face primer even looked like (not so very long ago *wink*), I purchased the No7 Primer, specially designed for oily skin. *I have that!* The oily skin I mean, think oily as a fried egg (apologies for the 'yuck' factor)!

So, I bought this and hurried home to try it on: ladies, it was absolutely awful...

First Impressions ...and current opinion...it sucks, big time! Pasty consistency (think Sudocream),  seconds away after squeezing the little devil out of the tube, it becomes 'paint' (wall paint that is)!!!

You cannot for the life of you, work it into the skin, it is so drying...oddly enough, this yoke gets a 3.2 out of 5 on MakeupAlley, so who knows? you might like it. I couldn't discover any smart ways of using this, it practically becomes a pasty nightmare and there is no way you can use a moisturiser underneath either, for it starts forming little (hard time finding the right words now) flaky residues. That is the only way I can describe it. And forget foundation over it too, this primer it's either the worst beauty product or the smartest, as in too smart for my mortal limits of understanding.

Anywho, bitchiness aside, I started using this on my eyes, before I got to purchase any eye primers *there's a surprise*, and I must say I thought it did the job very well then, sure I didn't hire it for that, but that's the best it could do. It kept the eyeshadow in place, didn't crease all that much and all that jazz.

I was inspired by Karen last week by her eye primers experiment, so this week I give you

No7 -vs- Urban Decay Primer Potion

See results of the competition below, after a 12hrs wear:

As you can observe on the left (my right eye), the intensity of the No7 primed eyeshadow one is not as impressive as the one with U.D.P.P, and it also creased on me more...so as it turns out, it can't even do this job well! No7...you are FIRED!!!

I checked in my local Boots last week, to see if this is still on the stands for sale, and to my horror- it still is...in the same formula...for 17.50Euros...speechless!

This is by far the worst make-up product I have ever bought! L

Luckily, I purchased it with a 7.50off voucher, so the sting wasn't all that bad!

Do you own this, and if you do, any final words before I throw this into the bin???

Yours, ArtDonatella

xoxo