Soap and Glory Supercat Liner First Impressions

Over the past year or two I've come to appreciate a good liner look over the OTT smokey eye. This means that I've tested out a fair few eyeliner pens, just the pens because my skills are not that advanced. Up until recently I've been a big lover of the L'Oreal Super Liner range which includes the Perfect Slim and the Superstar. As much as I really like the Perfect Slim I find that the lid falls off way too easily and because in the Nottingham Boots the L'Oreal counter is the messiest place in the world, finding one that hasn't dried out is rather difficult. So I decided to try something that came in a box with a tight lid and the Soap and Glory Supercat Liner ticked those boxes. I'd heard good things so I thought I would give it ago.

I've used this product twice so here are my first impressions and initial thoughts. When I first tried it on my hand I thought that the tip was a good size and the pen gave me good grip and control but I felt that the colour was a bit off. It came off very grey and not black at all so I didn't have high hopes for colour payoff. I let it dry and gave it a good old rub on the back of my hand and it didn't smudge one bit. When I used it on my eye there was literally no issue with colour. It looked jet black and nothing like the grey it came off on my hand. It drew a nice slick line and the tip created a good wing. The liner lasted all evening, didn't smudge even with a watery eye situation and looked pretty damn good. So all in all my first impressions of this product are very good and I would definitely recommend it if you like a good liner. £6, you can't go wrong!

Bringing in the sparkle

I love a bit of glitter. Pretty much any chance there is I like to crack out the sparkle. With this hot weather that seems to be sticking around (and when I say hot I mean not raining) it makes me want to wear glitter even more. When I wore this look I was having such a good day, my hair perfectly went into french plaits, my foundation sat nicely and I had no eyeliner problems. This was great, but you know the saying 'all dressed up and nowhere to go'? This was the case. Me and my friends went to watch Trent university compete in the Rugby League varsity but other than that I was just sat in my room trying to take a profile picture worthy selfie (it didn't happen, I know sad times). If you fancy doing a bit of a daytime glitter look then these are the products I used.

I primed my eyes like always with the Mac Painterly Paint Pot and used the shade Truth (a cream shade) from the Urban Decay Vice 3 Palette to set that and even out my eyelid. I then took the shade Undone (a light, cool toned matte brown) from the same palette in my crease. I kept applying and blending until I got a nicely defined crease. I also took that shade under my eye and blended it to smoke it out. Now it's time to crack out the liner! I did quite a large wing (at least it was big for me) and did a relatively thick line on the lid as well, making sure I reached right by the lashes so no skin peaked through. I used the L'Oreal Super Liner Perfect Slim in Black to get this crisp line. Now for the fun part! I would recommend the Collection Glam Crystal Glitter Eyeliners to anyone who is going to use glitter at any point in their life because they are amazing. There's no need for a glitter primer and it goes on so easily. You can have just a little bit of glitter or keep on building it up for something really opaque and intense. I used Funk for this look, which is a gold and looks stunning and really great for Summer. I simply coloured in the wing with the glitter, I did two coats, and I love the little bit of shimmer it gave without being over the top. To the look I used my Soap and Glory Smoulder Kohl Eyeliner in Black in my waterline and then put on lashings of the Too Faced Better Than Sex Mascara. I went for something simple on the lips and used the Tanya Burr Lipgloss in Lunch Date which gave a nice shine to my lips.

I'm definitely going to be trying out more glitter looks in the future and I need to pick up more colours of these Collection glitters!

Pierre Le Bistrot!

I'm going to make a bold statement now, this might be the best meal I've had in my three years living in Nottingham. I know, bold claims but it was amazing. If you are anywhere near Nottingham then you have to take a trip to this place. I think it's a french restaurant and it is a lovely place. Dimmed lighting inside and wood furniture gives it a cosy vibe and the relaxing music makes you feel like you are on holiday. I had such a nice time that this meal with probably stick in my mind forever.

For starter I had the calamari, which is one of my favourite starters ever. I have to say this is one of the best I've ever had. The squid was nicely cooked so it had substance but wasn't at all chewy. The bread crumbing was nice and crispy and held together well, because sometimes with calamari the crispy outside can fall off. The mayonnaise had a really great garlic flavour and there was plenty of it which was good as I hate running out of a sauce. I'd definitely recommend this starter, great flavour, perfect portion size and cooked very well. Yum!

This main was insane! I'm a big fan of chicken dishes with a creamy sauce and this was no exception. Starting with the chicken, it was extremely moist and tender but the top piece had a great piece of crispy skin which I was all about. Also there was plenty of chicken so you got a lot of meat for your dollar. I'm not really the biggest fan of peas or mushrooms but when it was altogether with this creamy sauce it was delicious. The sauce was the perfect consistency, not like soup but not overly thick and the peas and mushrooms gave it a more interesting texture. All of the mains came with roasted new potatoes and some more vegetables. I had a big of cabbage which was lovely and sweet and the potatoes were to my liking too. Crispy but fluffy on the inside. This is the dish that put this restaurant to the top of my list. It ticked all of the boxes and it has left a lasting impression.

For dessert, which I have to say I was very full and had to power through, I had a chocolate torte with blackberry ice cream and a chocolate pot. This was sensational, even if I didn't make it to the end. I was expecting the torte to come with a biscuit base, no idea why, but it was just pure chocolate heaven, like one big chocolate truffle. I also really liked the ice cream to say I'm a person who isn't a big ice cream fan. It was really creamy and had a sweet flavour that wasn't too overpowering. Now the chocolate pot, THE CHOCOLATE POT! It was literally a pot of melted chocolate-y goodness. Super sickly but amazing at the same time. I'd love to eat this dessert when I wasn't as full so I could get the full chocolate effect so I may have to return just for this reason.

If you have any suggestions of restaurants I should visit then please let me know because eating out is one of my favourite things to do,

Top Spring to Summer Products

It's getting to that time of year again. Is it Summer, are we still having a bit of April showers, who knows?! Recently I've been trying to get into the Spring/Summer spirit by going a bit more natural in the face department which is new for me because normally I go all out when I do my makeup, especially on my eyes. Here are my favourite products to transition from the coolness of Spring to the slightly less cool British Summertime.

I was searching for a base that was light and easy to apply but that gave me enough coverage to cover all of my lumps and bumps. I remembered that the Bourjois CC cream was supposed to be quite good so I had a cheeky purchase and I have to say I am very impressed. The coverage is light to medium and it is really good at evening out the skin and covering up redness. I apply this with my Real Techniques Expert Face Brush and use concealer on any areas that need a little bit of extra coverage, like under my eyes and on some blemishes. I have been dying to get my hands on some of the Tanya Burr palettes for a while now and when I found they had finally arrived in my local Superdrug I was more than happy. I felt that the Hollywood palette could add some gold shades to my collection that I didn't already have. A more in-depth review on this palette is coming soon but here are my initial thoughts. I wasn't the biggest fan when I first used it. I felt that the colours were a bit wishy-washy and Enchantment in particular was a bit of a let down. I now really like this palette. It's perfect for every day and I love the gold colours in this warm weather we've been having recently. This palette also works really nicely with another new favourite of mine, the Urban Decay 24/7 Eyeliner in Whiskey. I originally wanted to buy Smog but they had run out so I chose this one instead as I just wanted a brown to create softer eye looks. It goes on really smoothly, stays put all day and gives the eyes a little extra something something. Another Urban Decay product that will be my Summer staple is the Urban Decay Afterglow Highlighter in Aura. I posted a review last Thursday which you can read here and I express my absolute love for this product. It's a really intense highlight that is pink toned and looks amazing on the cheeks! Last but not least is what will be my go to daytime Summery lipstick, the Clinique Pop Lipstick in Melon Pop. The texture of this is so creamy and comfortable on the lips it is perfect for Summer. The colour is a lovely coral pink and although it doesn't have a great lasting power it is so easy to re-apply that it doesn't matter.

I'm so ready for the Summer and to go on holiday and just chill!

Urban Decay Afterglow Highlighter

My makeup collection is always expanding but there is one area that isn't very big and that is highlighters. I bought my first highlighter in February as part of the Maybelline Master Sculpt Contour and Highlight Kit. I liked it at first but it wasn't given me the glow that I wanted. So, as a treat for going to a job interview (fingers crossed, very exciting stuff!) I popped into the Debenhams in Leeds and bought this wonderful piece of shining goodness, The Urban Decay Afterglow Highlight. After looking at swatches online I thought that my pale skin would be suited to Aura the best as Sin was a little too golden. Aura is a very light, cool toned pink that is the perfect sheen. It gives a really intense highlight, which I love as it makes the cheeks really stand out. It lasts for a very long time on the face, holding up to it's 8 hour claim. The only down side I have found with this product is the packaging. Although I love the way it looks, for photo taking purposes, as I found out taking this photo, it gathers fingerprints so easily! But I suppose that is something I can live with. For £19 you get a lot of highlighter for your money. All in all I love it!

If anyone knows if the Afterglow blushes are worth a try then please let me know because they look great!

Bills!

Damn Abz, back at it again with the delicious food posts! Oh how I have missed looking at pictures of delicious food and sharing my thoughts on them. I thought I would start with something I have never spoken about before on my blog, and that is brunch. I've never been for a proper brunch before so this was a very exciting moment and it was a birthday brunch for one of my amazing friends which made it even more special.

If you've been reading my blog since last year then you'll know that I've been to Bills before on a few occasions and I'm a big fan but I've never tried any of their breakfast stuff. I rarely get the chance to have pancakes so I went for those with the bacon. You get three big, american style pancakes with blueberries, bananas, strawberries, bacon and a drizzle of maple syrup. This was the perfect brunch size as I was starving by the time we got there so I wolfed it down at the beginning but there was enough to fill me up until tea time. The pancakes were soft and fluffy and I liked the addition of the blueberries in the pancakes as when you cut through one it exploded like a blueberry firework! There was the right amount of fruit to pancake and I had just enough crispy, delicious bacon to enjoy. Overall I would definitely have this again in a heartbeat.

If you know of any other brunch places that you think I should try out then please let me know!

Summer Lip Favourites

I'm back! That break felt like forever, what was it, a month and a bit? But whatever that doesn't matter now because I'm back with a bang! Since my last post I've been on multiple makeup sprees so there will be plenty of reviews to come. I seem to have an urge to buy so many lip products recently, but what I need to remember is that I only have one set of lips! They're all pretty summer-y colours and because the weather has been so nice (*she says with rain pouring down the window*) I thought it would be good if my first post back was full of bright colours and sunshine! So without further ado let's go!

I'll start off with the Mac lipstick, the third now in my collection, which is Vegas Volt. I went through a phase of watching so many Mac lipstick collections on YouTube it was ridiculous, but this one in particular kept standing out to me. It got to the point where if I could see this lipstick wasn't in someone's collection, I would instantly move on to another video. So, as a treat for taking my shorthand exam (which I passed, woo!) I took a trip to Mac and picked this up. I love how different it is to anything I currently have. It's a bright lipstick which seems to change colour on the daily. It can be more pinky and sometimes it can be more peachy but it's just a great summer colour that I think will be great for my holidays. It's an amplified finish which is amazing as it's moisturising but not drying and sticks around for so long! The next two lip products are both from the Soap and Glory Matte-Lip range. First up is the shade Whoah-Pink. This one is a bright bubblegum pink but with a bit more of a darkness to it which I love. It looks great on a really sunny day with plenty of highlight on the cheekbones. Pretty Muted is a slightly more toned down version. Not quite nude but not a pink. I love how it looks as it's the summer pop but without the fear it looks a bit too much. The formula of these is second to none, especially as they are only £3.50. They stay on really well, even after eating, and don't feel uncomfortable even though they are matte. I want to pick up more of these as they are just amazing, and really handy to carry around in your bag.

If you could think of any more summer lip products that I might need then please let me know, come on enable me!

L-R: Whoah-Pink, Pretty Muted, Vegas Volt