Haul: NYX

I picked up a few NYX bargains, not much but enough to make me fall in love with the products and want to explore the brand a bit more. I'd really love to try out NYX lipsticks. Anyone up for a swap?!



I bought:

For Your Eyes Only Palette in Beautiful Green Eyes

For Your Eyes Only Palette in Smokey Eyes

Super Powder Brush

and Nail Polish in South Sea

The palettes are much smaller than I imagined. I don't mind, it's just something I noticed when I first opened the package. Pigmentation is great upon swatching but I'll see how they wear and post a review at a later date. Colours are beautiful and well chosen for each palette. I've got a bit of an obsession with eyeshadow palettes and think these are fantastic additions to my collection.

The brush is large and fluffy, not especially soft but not painfully scratchy. Will have to see how it holds up in terms of shedding when in use and washing.

The nail polish is an impulse buy as I don't have a colour similar to it in my collection. I'm quite disappointed to be honest. I know it's only a cheapie but I've paid far less for a polish and this one is so sheer it requires a good 4-5 coats to get a nice finish. I resorted to wearing it over a navy blue cream polish and thought it looked lovely.

Any review requests, send them my way!

Monday Night Rant: Vol 1

Tonight's rant will be about public transport. More specifically, public transport in London. While I enjoy the huge spectrum of wonderful people I see on my travels to and from work and find myself giggling at the lost tourists or just-got-a-big-job-in-London-town girls and boys ending up in Edgware when they meant to get to Waterloo; I do not enjoy the proportionally large number of morons I find myself dealing with. These include perverts, the inconsiderate and those who refuse to follow the rules.

Why oh why do people not obey the golden rule of the underground? Let people off before you push yourself and your 30 tonne suitcase through the doors. While you're at it, don't get your coat/scarf/arm trapped in the door. I'm late, you're making me later.

Why, when the train is completely empty, do you choose to sit next to me and read my paper? There's 500 discarded papers in this carriage. There's also 30 other free seats and a thing called breath mints.

Why do you choose to leave it until you reach the barriers before you retrieve your Oyster card/ticket from your wallet/bag/pocket? It almost always requires you to "Seek Assistance" anyway. Whilst I'm on this subject, how about NOT using my Oyster/ticket to let yourself through the barriers? It means I can't get through, you know...even though I've PAID for it.

How about realising when the train is full and waiting for the next one? We all have to do it at some point in our lives. I'd rather not have my face pushed into the sweaty armpit of a 73 year old whos never heard of deodorant just because you're impatient.

Spilling your coffee on my white coat DOES require you to apologise. You're lucky I don't send you a dry cleaning bill.

Just because the bus is full and someone is standing in the wheelchair/buggy area, doesn't mean you can demand to take up half the standing space with your buggy by giving us sinister looks and tutting. Notices say at busy times, they must be folded. Fold them or wait for the next bus please. Or put your baby in a wheelchair.

I really don't appreciate having to listen to your crappy taste in music when I've got a headache and the parent with the buggy is shoving it into the backs of my new boots.

Many thanks,

Chrissy xx

Review: e.l.f. Bamboo Brushes & Studio Stipple Brush

Quite a while ago, I ordered a few brushes from e.l.f. I'd been using a number of their regular range and Studio Line brushes for just over a year and thought that they were good quality for their price point. Seeing the new Bamboo Brushes and knowing how soft and lovely my Studio Complexion Brush was, I ordered the Powder Brush. Having a thing for angled brushes, I chose the Angled Blush Brush as well. I noticed the Studio Stipple Brush was still in stock so quickly popped one of those into my basket and paid up.



These brushes are all an absolute pleasure and a dream to use. All soft, all pick up and deposit the perfect amount of product and all easy to clean, economic and best of all - each brush is produced using man made fibres (Taklon). The Bamboo Brushes are made of recycled materials too.



The Powder Brush is large, fluffy and perfect for applying loose powder quickly and evenly. I use it for pressed powder as well. The brush is also fantastic for blending out and diffusing colour when I get too blush-happy.



The Angled Blush Brush is beautiful and I love me a multi-purpose product or brush. It's perfectly sized to use as a blush brush, tilt it slightly to use with a highlighter or lay on its side to contour with bronzer.



The Studio Stipple Brush is not as dense as many duo-fibre brushes I've used but it's a nice size unless you plan to use it for foundation. I like my foundation brushes to be big (I use a MAC 189, e.l.f. Studio Powder Brush or my fingers) so this one wouldn't quite cut it. Though I did try it once and found it gave a nice finish. I love this brush for cream or gel blushes.

Each brush sits well in the hand and is comfortable to use whilst looking stylish and above their price range. I would highly recommend the Bamboo range!

Have you used any e.l.f. brushes? What are your thoughts? Any winners I'm missing out on?

I hope you're all well, I hope to be back and posting more often from now on!