New Products In My Boutique

I've updated my boutique to include some new items I've made including jewellery rolls and makeup brush rolls.

Here are some of the new items featured in my shop:

Peppermint Creams Jewellery Roll. Made from luxury mint green silk dupion.

I did not foresee just how popular the original Sakura on Snow would be. As they sold out within just a few days, I decided to make Sakura on Snow 二. This version has a cherry red sweetheart lining, and comes complete with detachable macaron and bow charm.

Woodland Frolic with delectable mint cookie charm.

Re-release of the Sweetheart Prism Bag. The original of which sold out within a day.

Rose de Mai makeup brush roll, complete with blush pink velvet ties.

Posie makeup brush roll, compete with celestial blue ties.

All of which can be found at my boutique 'Handmade By Penelope'. Please come and give it a visit!

My Lazy 2 product FOTD

Hi everyone, hope you're having a great week. As Christmas draws nearer, things have been pretty hectic but I'm trying my best to keep my promise to you all and post regularly.

Here's a super lazy FOTD in which I've only used 2 products. It's a quick look that will only take a minute to reproduce and I've chosen shades that instantly brighten up the face.

Products Used:

Peripera Smile Fit Blusher in 03 Pink rose

YSL Glossy Stain in 12 Corail Fauve

The Peripera blush is a new purchase, which I'll feature in future posts. It's such a pretty, easy to wear shade of light pink.

I've mentioned the YSL Rouge Couture Glossy Stain in a previous post (click here for post). They're so pretty that they can be used on it's own on a 'naked' face and would brighten up the complexion nicely.

Hope you all have a wonderful week ahead of you, and to those living in cold countries - wrap up warm!

FOTD using Mii Cosmetics

As promised, here's are some pics of my new Mii products in action.

Products Used:

Luview Real Skin Primer Cream

Integrate Gracy Brow Pencil

Bobbi Brown Gel Liner in Caviar Ink

Mii cosmetics Uplifting Cheek Colour in Kissed

Mii cosmetics Moisturising Lip Lover in Smile

I kept the eyes relatively simple with a dark grey/brown eyeliner. I'm a huge fan of Bobbi Brown gel liners as they ere so easy to use and produce a more dramatic effect than pencil liners.

After growing out my fringe I started realising that an eyebrow pencil was a necessity for my sparse brows,. This just adds to the list of products used, so I left out mascara as I didn't want to overload my face with too many products.

My favourite of the Mii products is the blush in Kissed. It feels soft and silky on the skin and the colour brightens up the complexion nicely. It's a pretty pink shade that is great for days when I feel my skin is looking a bit sallow.

New: YSL Rouge Pur Couture Glossy Stain

I absolutely love the idea of lip stains, but in reality I find them extremely drying on my lips. Application is usually a chore as I just can't seem to get them to apply evenly. All my lip stain problems were solved when I came across YSL's new Rouge Pur Couture Glossy Stain.

Currently exclusive to Selfridges, they retail at £22.50.They come in around 20 shades, so choosing one was extremely difficult.

I also had the embarrassing case of knocking over the display. It started with me knocking over just one lip gloss, but in trying to save it dropping to the ground, I knocked over another, which in turn knocked over a whole row with a domino effect. Anyway, luckily I managed to salvage the situation somewhat with only one dropping onto the floor.

I ended up selecting 2 shades:

9 Rouge Laque

12 Corail Fauve

I really like the packaging of these lip stains. They are fairly chunky and cuboid with a small window to see the colour of the satin.

These lip stains are extremely pigmented. The texture is lovely, creamy and rich. Unlike conventional lip stains they do not feel dry on the lips at all, in fact they feel fairly moisturising.

Swatches of (L-R): 12 Corail Fauve, 09 Rouge Laque

I'll start with the one on the right, 09 Rouge Laque.

Rouge Laque on the lips:

Rouge Laque is a vibrant red with orange undertone. It can also be stained very lightly with fingers for more subtle cherry red lips which can be more easily worn during the day.

Corail Fauve is less pigmented, and is an easier to wear shade.

It's a beautiful coral-peach shade.

Corail Fauve on the lips:

The applicator for these lip stains is a heart shaped for precision application. This is necessary as I personally find this lip stain difficult to apply. Rouge Laque is especially difficult, due to its intense shade. Careful application is needed or else I'd end up looking like a clown with red lipstick outside the edges of my lips.

The finish of the lip stains are super glossy. They have good lasting power, slowly fading after an hour to a more subtle stain.

Luview: Haul and Review

Hi everyone. I've read such good things about the Korean Brand Luview, that I decided I must try them out for myself. I bought some products from their online shop which ships internationally.

I bought the following products:

Crystal Mineral Pact

Real Skin Primer BB Cream

Whitening Capsule BB Cream

Glossy Kiss

I normally wouldn't buy so many products from a brand I've never tried before, but the prices were so reasonable I couldn't resist.

I'll review each product in separate posts, and today I'll review the Whitening Capsule BB Cream.

I do love the packaging of Luview products. They were far more superior than what I would have expected for the price. The Whitening BB Cream is housed in a sleek bottle with push top nozzle.

This cream is said to have whitening and moisturising effects. It has a medium to thick consistency which is easily applied and blended. Initially white, the cream blends to a pale beige (which matches my skintone exactly) with micro shimmer.

The cream half-blended:

The cream fully blended:

The cream on my skin:

I'm quite impressed with the coverage of this BB cream. It has a medium coverage which looks light and natural on the skin. The coverage is good enough to even out my skintone and covers any redness on my skin. I do not think the cream alone would be enough to cover any potential blemishes.

I love the finish of this BB cream. It doesn't cake and give that 'obvious makeup' look. It just covers small imperfections and gives a flawless, radiant finish.

I found this cream to be long lasting, and best of all - it does not irritate my sensitive skin.

Pros:

Great Packaging

A Little of the product goes a long way

Good Coverage with a flawless finish

Does not irritate my skin

Contains ethereal looking micro shimmer

(and I normally detest shimmer)

Cons:

Not to keen on the strong scent

Would like it to contain SPF

I won another Giveaway!

Hi everyone, Sorry for the lack of posts. I've been extremely busy the past few weeks, but promise to keep up to date with my posts from now on!

I've won another lovely Giveaway! This time it's from the stunning Charisse at Georgeousskin. Do check out her blog, she does great product reviews and her FOTDs are beautiful!

My prize was this gorgeous blush from Korean Brand Hello Holika. I've seen this blush on various blogs, so when I saw it as featured as a Giveaway, I entered the contest immediately.

Hello Holika Cat Blush 01

I am a huge cat lover so the packaging really appeals to me!

The blush itself is absolutely stunning! I love all the individual colours and the cat silhouette is adorable.

Here's another pic of the blush taken on a different day to show you a more accurate representation of the colours. I've used this blush a few times by now.

A closer image of the blush:

Swatches of all the different shades + all the shades mixed together (far right):

Thanks So much Charisse for this blush, it's truly an amazing prize!

Topshop Head Over Heels Cream Blush and FOTD

Hi everyone, sorry for the lack of posts! I've had a busy week so far. Here's a quick FOTD that I did using Topshop's Cream Blush in Head Over Heels.

I bought Head Over Heels in the Summer when I was looking for a light peach blush. I used a small amount added lightly onto my cheeks for a fresh peachy look with slight glow.

Products Used:

Lancome Eclat Miracle (lightly dabbed onto cheeks as highlighter)

Lavshuca Melty Eyes in BE-1

Lancome Hypnose Doll Eyes Mascara

Shiseido Integrate Gracy Brow Pencil

Laura Mercier Cake Liner (not pictured)

Topshop Blush in Head Over Heels

Myface Cosmetics in Lipstick Strawberry Fields (stained on lips with finger)

My Online Boutique Has Launched

Hi everyone. Just a quick post to let you know my online shop is now open! It's been great fun making both the bags and the shop.

I would love it if you support me by giving it a quick visit at:

http://handmadebypenelope.blogspot.com/

Here's a quick look at some of the items available in the shop.

Everything is handmade by me, so stock is limited and everything sold in very low numbers. I'll be adding new items/ designs from time to time, so please revisit the shop.

I ship internationally and payment is secure via paypal.

I'd like to say thanks to everyone who complimented my bags, giving me confidence to open an online boutique.

November Haul: Japanese and Mii cosmetics

I haven't done a beauty haul post in ages. I've been trying to save money by cutting down on my beauty purchases. But not being able to buy any products got quite depressing, so I thought I'd treat myself to a few things!

I ordered these Shiseido Maquillage products from apopofkawaii.com, my go to shop for Japanese products.

I bought their Moisture Rouge Lipstick in RD336 and a refill of the Design Cheek Color in 80.

The packaging of the lipstick is wonderful. I love the shiny pale pink/lilac cap!

I've had this blush shade before, and have been using it for the last 2.5 years, so I only had to buy the refill. This is one of my favourite blushers ever. It gives the cheeks to most lovely radiant flush.

Swatches of the 4 individual shades:

Swatch of : (L) the lipstick in RD336 and (R) the 4 blush shades swirled together:

Sorry for the above swatch. I must agree, it's the crappiest swatch ever. I will do an FOTD post with a review on these products sometime in the future so you can get a better idea of the shades.

I've kept hearing great things about Mii Cosmetics. They have been featured in numerous magazines as well as various blogs. I've been wanting to get my hands on these products for a while, but found it extremely difficult as they were only stocked in specific spas around the country. However, they were recently made available online at http://www.gerrardinternational.com/

I have to say, I really like this website as it gave me free next day delivery AS WELL as a free gift!

I bought the Moisturising Lip Lover in Smile

Uplifting Cheek Colour in Kissed

Luminous Tinted Moisturiser

The tinted moisturiser was bought as a gift for my mum as the mii skin products come in shades too dark for me. My mother plays golf ALOT so is nice and tanned.

The blush is a super pretty shade or bright pink. It looks a lot less bright (and more subtle) on the cheeks.

The lipstick is a gorgeous petal pink shade. Am really happy with my choice of shade (as shopping for makeup on the internet can sometimes lead to nightmares!)

Here are swatches of the (L) blush and (R) Lipstick:

As with the Maquillage products, I will do an FOTD with these products when I next get some free time.

Here's the free gift I got with my purchase! It's a full sized Dramatic Powder Finishing Brush.

The brush is of great quality and feels so soft on the skin.