7 Deadly Sins of Beauty Tag

Amy from Amzy in Wonderland (view her blog here) recently challenged anyone that reads her blog to do this tag. I thought it was a fun tag and decided to do it.

Q. GREED: What is your most expensive beauty item?
A. The Givenchy Prisme Libre Loose Powder. It costs about R850 but it lasts quite a while.

Q. WRATH: Which beauty item do you have a love/hate relationship with?
A. False lashes! I love the effect that  they have but I absolutely hate the way they feel. They just make my eyes feel heavy.

Q. GLUTTONY: What brand makes up the biggest chunk of your make up collection?
A. Definitely Mac. I love the quality of their makeup so I tend to stick to them when I need something.

Q. SLOTH: What product do you neglect to use due to laziness?
A. Definitely heat protectant when doing my hair. I rarely use a oil or treatment when I blow and straighten my hair.

Q. PRIDE: Which beauty product gives you the most confidence?
A. Lipstick! Theres nothing better than putting on a bright color lipstick :)

Q. LUST: Which item is at the top of your beauty wish list?
A. One of the YSL Rouge Volupt Lipsticks. The packaging is incredible. I have never seen a prettier lipstick.

Q. ENVY: What make up product/look looks great on others but not on yourself?
A. Nude lipstick! I just can't pull it off at all.
So that's the end of my 'Seven Deadly Sin' tag. I now tag everyone who reads this! 

Weddings

I rarely do personal posts on my blog. I decided to share some pictures of a wedding I attended this weekend with you.

I had my makeup done at Mac in the Waterfront. If you ever want your makeup done, ask for Tharwat! She is amazing. My earrings are from Sass Diva, in case you were wondering.

I had my hair done at Carlton in Canal Walk. Avvi was my stylist and she done exactly what I had asked for. I wanted side swept curls that looked slightly vintage. 

Obviously I instagramed some pictures as the day went by. Above are some of my favorite pictures with my cousins. In the last picture, you can finally see my awkward braces smile!

I realized afterwards that I only had one picture of my bag. It is one of my favorites and I only managed to a get a picture of it towards the end of the evening when I was shivering and very tired. I am pretty sure the bag is from Accessorize. I have had it for quite a while. 

I hope everyone has a good weekend. 

Clinique Chubby Stick Shadow Tint For Eyes Event

A few weeks ago I was invited by Beauty Bulletin (view their website here) to the Clinique Chubby Stick Shadow Tint for Eyes event at the V&A Waterfront. I immediately RSVP'd and attended the event last week Friday.

The event showcased the 9 shades Clinique had launched. They are the same shape as the Chubby Sticks for lips but they contain a cream eyeshadow that you can easily blend on your eyelid. Clinique will be sending me one to review soon so while I wait for that, I thought I would show you some pictures of the event.

 The Beauty Bulletin girls at the event. Spot me in the khaki snood. I swear my braces gives me a permanent scowl! Picture credit to Naeema Ajam (view her blog here).

 Swatches of the different shades available

We were also shown how to apply the shadow stick and given a chart to take home so that we could recreate the look.

They also showed us their new CC cream, which I had been wanting to try for a while now

. 

Besides the sample of the CC cream and concealer (which they showed after I told them about my concealer addiction), I also received a sample of the moisture surge hydrator and a full sized eyeshadow in the shade Strawberry Fudge.

Visit Cliniques website (here) to have a look at their different products. You can now also order online from them!

Brands I wish were sold in South Africa- EOS

The first time I saw the EOS (evolution of smooth) lip balms on Youtube, I loved it. The shape was so interesting and the the colors were so attractive. I did some research on the brand and found out that they do cute little hands creams, shaving cream and hand and body lotions. Their hand creams and lip balms are most popular due to their packaging. 

You can view the different flavors and fragrances they have to offer on their website (here). 

Topshop Lipstick- All About Me review

In my last blogpost (here) I mentioned that I picked up some items from Topshop. I had been on the lookout for a bright pink matte lipstick that suits my skin tone for a while now and I have finally found it.

I did mention before that I absolutely Topshop's packaging. It is cute and practical at the same time. I am a bit worried that it could get dirty easily as the packaging is white. 

Unlike most matte lipsticks, this lipstick is incredibly moisturizing. Most matte lipsticks that I have used are very dry to achieve the matte look. This lipstick goes on easily and still looks matte. It doesn't stay on your lips all the time. If you were to take a sip of something, the lipstick would transfer on to the glass. 

I wore this lipstick on a night out and it lasted about 3-4 hours before I had to reapply. I absolutely love this lipstick and I will definitely buy more in the future.

Topshop Makeup

I finally decided to buy a few items from Topshop after debating it for a while. I am reluctant to try new brands but I ended up getting these items because they were so beautiful and I am a sucker for cute packaging.

I ended up getting a gel eyeliner brush, a Sunbeam highlighter and the All About Me Matte lipstick. 

I will do reviews and swatches of the highlighter and the lipstick as soon as I can. In the meanwhile, here are pictures taken from the Topshop website.

This is my first hot pink lipstick!

Brands I wish were sold in South Africa- Illamasqua

I have seen Illimasqua on several UK beauty blogs and the first thing that caught my eye was the packaging. Its very different and unconventional. After doing some research about the brand, I learned that they are all about being different and loving your imperfections. When I was on their website I came across a banner that advertises their lipsticks and the model had braces!

If you didn't know, I decided to get braces at the age of 20. I have no idea why I didn't do it when I was younger. I absolutely hate smiling in pictures since I got them and I am still adjusting (after have them for 10 months) to them.

As you can see, their packing is very different. The liquid metal eyeshadow looks beautiful and it is definitely something I would love to own. The pout perfection set is a really clever idea. They provide you with a lipstick, matching lip liner and a lip brush so that you can create a perfect pout!

Have you tried anything from Illamasqua?

Revlon Custom Creations Review

A while back, I saw this foundation in the sale section of Dischem. I was drawn to it because my skin tends to change color in summer. This foundation has two different colors and it mixes those two colors to give you five different colors.

When I first started using this foundation, I really did not like it. It had very little coverage and it was a bit runny. I used this to my advantage and started using this everyday. It acts perfect as a light coverage foundation.

To me, the colors seem very similar. There is only a slight difference between number 1 and number 5. I am currently using number 4 on my skin.

In the end, I think its a good everyday foundation but it does not have enough coverage for me to wear on a night out.

Urban Decay comes to South Africa!

A few weeks ago, I did a post on Urban Decay and how I wished it was sold in South Africa (read my post here). I recently received an email from Ruby Box telling me that if you are a VIP Insider on their site, you can now order selected  Urban Decay products through them!

What is Ruby Box?

Ruby Box is a monthly subscription box that allows you to test various beauty and skincare products for R119 a month. They send you samples, tools and sometimes full size products. They also have an online store where you can purchase products and review them.

To become a VIP insider though, there are certain requirements.

Currently they only have two Urban Decay products for sale, but I am hoping that they add more to their store soon! I am very interested in the Primer Potions though.

I hope everyone has had a good weekend. Mine consisted of studying and eating. The joys of student life :)

Visit the Ruby Box site (here) to view their previous subscription boxes and to view their online store.

May Favorites

Another month has gone buy and we are now half way through this year! Time really has gone by quite quickly. Today, as the title says, I will be showing you my May Favorites.

Sorry about the quality of this picture. I have been trying to figure out how to take pictures when there is absolutely no sun out. Got to love winter hey.

Here are this months favorites:
Lily Cole Puff on Radiance from The Body Shop
The Body Shop released the Lily Cole range a while back but I managed to pick up this adorable highlighter on sale. I love that the shimmer in it is quite subtle. I will definitely have a full review up soon.

Stila Hydrating Finishing Powder
This is the only finishing powder that I have come across that does not make my skin look incredibly dry. I do not think I could use another finishing powder after trying this one.

Nivea Naturally Even Moisturizer
Theres not much I can say about this moisturizer. Its perfect for combination skin and does not leave my skin looking oily, which is a look I always try and go for.

Mac Paint Pot in Groundwork
If you follow me on instagram, you will know that I picked up a few Mac goodies, including the Paint Pot. I love that I can wear this as a eyeshadow base or as an eyeshadow on its own. It is a perfect natural everyday color.

Estee Lauder Pure Colour Eyeshadow palette 
My sister received this palette as a gift a while back and decided to give it to me. I love that there are so many neutral colors in it and that it comes with a really good  quality brush.

If you would like me to review any of these products, please let me know.

Brands I wish were sold in South Africa- Collection (2000)

Collection (previously known as Collection 2000) is a UK brand that is sold in their drugstores. I follow many beauty blogs on Youtube and many of them make a huge fuss over the Collection concealer. I have mentioned quite a few times that I am a huge fan of concealer so obviously I had to have a look at what this brand had to offer.

The Lasting Perfection Concealer is the concealer I have heard very good things about. The shades look quite light on their website so I would probably want the darkest shade and the shade just before that so that I can mix it together. I really thought their teal Gel Eyeliner looked very pretty and I love black gel liner too so I had to have that on my list. The third product that attracted me was the Ultimate Fix 3 in 1 Foundation, Concealer and Powder. This product claims to do three things. Its worth a try I guess!
I am planning on doing a beauty swap with Amy (she's from the UK) from Amzy in Wonderland (view her blog here) and I will probably ask her to get me the concealer and something else from Collection!

To my South African readers, what do you think I should send Amy from South Africa?

FMS Photo a Day

If any of you follow me on instagram, you would have seen me posting pictures nearly everyday. I started a photo a day challenge that was created by the user Fat Mum Slim.

I missed a few of the days for a number of reasons. Sometimes when I get really busy at college, I tell myself I cannot use my phone for a certain amount of time. Other times, I just happen to lose my phone in my bed and freak out like a complete idiot. Anyways, here are the pictures I managed to take for the month of May.

If you have an instagram account you can follow me on there (@amiiparker). I hope everyones week has started off well.

Finding your perfect match

Have you ever wanted to A) buy a foundation online or B) go into a store and leave with a foundation without swatching 10 different shades? I have always been too scared to order foundation online because I was never sure if the shade would be right. I recently came across a website that helped me out so much with my two little problems.

Findation.com (have a look at their site here) is an online service that allows you to enter your current foundations and they will come up with the perfect shade in a different brand for you. You need to enter at least 3 different foundations to allow their site to help you.

You have to give them a few details of each foundation. They require the brand, the product and the shade that you are.

Above you will see the three different foundations that I use regularly and below you will see the foundation recommendations they gave me.

I found this incredibly helpful. I feel a lot more confident about ordering foundations online. I had a Revlon foundation nearby and I checked their recommendation for that foundation. They had recommended the exact shade that I owned. I was really impressed that they had gotten it right and I will visit this site before ordering a foundation online or before a shopping trip!

Have you ever used Findation? Would you?