90's Grunge is a thing again

So i'm not gonna lie, but I really actually like this. I own a wrong amount of flannel shirts, 3 Nirvana albums, and have been smudging my eyeliner. So I decided, since I have been slacking on the blog lately, I would actually do a post about my new favorite look. Now I haven't done anything this extreme before and will not wear something like this out of the hose, But the thought of it is really cool to be honest.

So I started it all off with my Rimmel Stay Matte foundation with my real techniques miracle complexion sponge, which makes me look pale and dead and my stay matte powder and made myself look like a white matte ghost (which if you're really going for the grunge look and not the fake grunge look, is what you should look like).Then I did some light contour to make look sickly, but not enough to make e look like I went out in the dun. I filled in my eyebrows like normal, then primed my eyes to ready for the large amount of medium matte brown shadow I put everywhere, I put a deeper matte brown in the crease and blended it. I also put a bit of both colors under the eye too. I next lined the eyes completely black with an elf eye pencil and did my water and tight line as well. Curl the lashes and put on a ton of mascara! Look like you just rolled out of bed, nothing is perfect.

Then I used my elf moisturizing lipstick in party in the buff on the lips and put more powder over that so that no shimmer is left anywhere on your face. If you're dead, you can't have moisture on the lips. None of that!

 Add cool lighting and some Instagram filters, and you'll be set!

<3 Allison

Rimmel Lasting Finish by Kate Moss [Swatches and Reviews]

Like I said in my previous post, I've spent my past year amassing a huge collection of cheap-o makeup since I came to the UK. While I've been on a very, very tight postgraduate school budget, I've managed to find makeup salvation in the slightly smelly, mildly depressing place that is the Pound World in Reading, UK. It has become my Mecca for cheap makeup and while at times it's a nightmare (and the lines can be longer than you can even imagine), leaving with a big full of lipstick for only £5 is always welcome in my book.

Anyway, over the past few months I've managed to get my hands on a pretty decent selection of Rimmel Kate Moss Lasting Finish lipsticks. The holy grail of drugstore lippies. While I had bought #09 while I was living in RVA and had fallen in love with the formula, I found that the price was still a bit out of my budget (even with sales and coupons!) 

In comes Pound World. Life changing. 

Oh yes. This happened. 

Here are some swatches.

From left to right: 01, 02, 04, 05, 09, and 103. The swatches above are without a flash and below are with a flash. There's not much difference because my camera is a potato.

I absolutely love 01. It is my go to red lipstick now (sorry Revlon Coverstay...) 

Here's a shot of me and the man-friend at the Publishing MA Christmas party (hence the sweater) rocking the 01 Red Lip. It managed to survive a very long and silly night of "cheeky libations" out in Oxford with minimal smudging. Hat's off to you, Rimmel Lipstick.

I also managed to grab 04, which is a totally amazing and vampy shade of dark purple. However, I cannot seem to make it "wearable." Maybe I'm becoming less daring in my old age. Here's a selfie of the color in action. Excuse my face. 

Seriously, this lipstick is baller but I don't know if I'll ever manage to wear it out of the house. 

I picked up 05 a few days ago and found the color was quite similar to 103 (my only Kate Moss in a red tube) but has a slightly pinkier tone while 103 is a bit "dustier" but in a good way. 

All in all, if you're looking for an amazing drugstore lipstick, this one holds up to its reputation. No questions asked. 

-Amy

The Bare Essentials

So hi, again. I'm Allison and this is my very first blog post on this blog and I just wanted to say this before I started just in case I do something silly or make a typo, although I will try my hardest to catch them. Also, I am no makeup artist, and my products might look dirty or sub par, but it's life and sometimes I do lazy things, and I'm sure yours aren't perfect either. So without further explanation,here goes nothing:

So as I was instructed to make a post before I left for a camping trip, I was out of inspiration. Then I got to thinking that we were actually going out in public places where it will be unacceptable to look like you've been camping and that made me worry, so makeup to the rescue!
So this is what I compiled to bring with me. I am bringing only what I absolutely need to survive out in the public world.
So moving from left to right, the first item I picked up was my NYC smooth Skin mattifying BB cream. This (As it says) is a five in one product that is super blendable and easy to apply without a brush. And it has sunscreen in it which is always a plus when you'e going to be outside camping.
Next is my NYC Smooth Skin translucent powder, which is pretty self explanatory and any powder will do.Along with that I have my elf kabuki brush to apply that with.
Next is optional, but it's my elf waterproof liquid eyeliner pen. I would suggest using a waterproof eyeliner if you plan on using liner since you will mist likely be sweating if you're camping.
After that is my elf eyebrow filler stick and my sort of clear eyebrow gel. I cannot go without filling in my eyebrows adn this is just one step no one should be skipping. (Eyebrows are the most important step. DON'T SKIP IT!)
The last product is my Rimmel Scandeleyes Retro Glam mascara. I would also suggest using waterproof mascara, but upon discovery today, mine was dried up, so I will be crossing my fingers and using this stuff sparingly.
I also have a small makeup bag and a travel irror with a normal and a magnified side on it that is perfect for ths trip.
Some other options would be concealer and an eyelash curler, but I didn't really feel like it was necessary since I am camping after all.
<3 Allison

Rimmel Moisture Renew Lipstick [Review]

Hello there! Been a while, right? I figured I'd come back with a product review so here we go.

I received my very first Rimmel lipstick from my Influenster VoxBox recently and I was STOKED to get it. I've been on such a lipstick kick lately (seriously, my lippy collection has pretty much doubled in three months) so I was happy to receive a complimentary lipstick to review so here we go.

I received the newly formulated Rimmel Moisture Renew Lipstick in "As You Wish Victoria" in my VoxBox and, man, is it a fun color. It's bright and perfect for Winter, when you need that pop of color, and Spring, when it's all about a pretty pink lip. It is highly pigmented and I find that one coat is seriously PLENTY. No need to layer it at all. I feel like another layer would just make it messy. I do recommend a clear lip liner with this lipstick though to prevent feathering, just as I recommend for most bright lipsticks.


What I like about this lipstick is that it's not drying. I can wear it forever and not feel like my lips are going to fall off, which is wonderful. However, because it doesn't dry out your lips, I find that the lipstick itself doesn't dry. It's like wearing a lip gloss that is HIGHLY pigmented so I find myself checking my lipstick in the mirror more often. I'll call it more of a high maintenance lip stick, which is fine if you're able to check it periodically.

The biggest negative about this product is the smell. It smells like powder fresh deodorant (aka baby powder) and the scent doesn't really dissipate. I find it a little annoying because I don't like to smell like a baby's ass.

Other than the smell, it's a dream to wear and the color is amaze. (I've actually bought another Rimmel Lipstick since I received this one, but it was a Kate Moss lipstick and I'm going to review it separately.)

March Wants

Is it weird that I had a really hard time coming up with a list of wants for this month? I bought a CRAP TON of stuff in February (post coming soon, I promise!) so my wishlist has downsized a lot. The only things I really need right now are a new angle brush (mine fell apart during routine washing) and some translucent setting powder (NYC is my favorite and it's like $3!).

March Wants by tinypockets featuring a toiletry kit

I added the Kate Moss lipstick because a ALMOST bought this exact shade last month but my Ulta coupon wasn't good yet so I just put it back. Sadness. 

I'm also really dying to try ELF BB cream for some reason. I don't know where the urge came from but the urge is there, people. It's there. 

I could also use a good everyday brush cleaner so I'm accepting recommendations (and donations...)

Happy March, everyone!

Dollar Store Score

I quit smoking about a week ago and on Thursday (day 3, aka the day the nicotine is entirely out of your system) I treated myself to a little makeup because quitting is really hard and I deserved it.

The makeup find was kind of a spur of the moment buy though because I stumbled upon this beautiful gem at the Dollar Tree where I had gone to pick up some tape and a pack of gum.

First of all, I always check the Dollar Tree's makeup section. Most of the time it's a bunch of cheap off-brand crap that I'm a little afraid to put near my face but sometimes... sometimes you just strike gold. This was one of those times.

Behold: Rimmel Glam Eyes 102 "Backstage"

I fell in love with this color immediately. I'm always looking for colors that have a little something special about them and I thought this brown was really unique.

I love this color. It's very metallic and has a bit of silver in it, which is just gorgeous. I described it to Pete (my boyfriend) as the color of a dull penny that's been covered in glitter. No one else probably understands that except me but I don't mind.

 Here's a swatch of the color. The left side is without primer and the right side is with Urban Decay's Primer Potion in Original (the most expensive item in my makeup kit but well worth it).

This color works really well in the crease of your eyelid and I love combining it with one of my favorite shadows ever: NYX's Pixie Dust. They both incredibly metallic and blend really well together.