Sleek haul: Caribbean palette! & more- swatches

It's me again! Sorry to be bombarding you with posts today, but it appears I have quite alot of new products I am excited about! Just popped down to superdrug and when I asked the lady to look in the sleek drawer to see if there was a blusher I noticed one solitary carribean palette laying in the drawer! I don't think this palettes even available to buy yet (it will be very soon) but the lady was confused and sold it to me anyway, mwoohaha!
I also picked up a couple of lipsticks which I lurvveeee! so heres some pics...

I got 2 lipsticks:Heartbreaker(matte) and Peaches & cream (sheen). AND the Sleek Caribbean collection Curcacao e/s palette. The bright packaging is pretty reflective of the product inside!

look how bright they are! there are 6 mattes and 6 shimmers.
Tequila sunrise (shimmer), Martini (shimmer), Blue Hawaiian (matte), Bloody mary (matte), screwdriver (matte), Green iguana (shimmer)

Apres Midori (shimmer), Blue lagoon (matte), Purple haze (matte), Green martini (shimmer), Singapore sling (shimmer), Expresso martini (matte)

So if you havn't already guessed, the colours are all named after cocktails which is really fun. All of the colours are so bright and pigmented and I will definatly be taking this palette to the festival in spain I am going to :)

And now the 2 lipsticks I bought:

Peaches & cream (sheen), Heartbreaker (matte).

Peaches & cream, Heartbreaker.

I absolutely love these 2 lipsticks, they are perfect bold summer colours. I particularly love the heartbreaker lipstick (possible dupe for mac impassioned). I am really impressed with the formula of both lipsticks, the sheen finish is glossy and moisturising and the matte is super matte and not atall drying.

Here is heartbreaker on my lips:

super matte, yay :)

I am so happy with the Sleek bits I picked up and I'm so glad that my local superdrug has sorted out their Sleek section, which means I will probably be buying alot more in the future!

Rachy xx

Illamasqua Galactic!

So if you watched my haul video on youtube the other day you will see that perhaps the craziest item of the haul was the Illamasqua intense lipgloss in Galactic! I did intend to go there and get frenzy (a gorgeous hot pink) but got distracted completely by galactic haha. I realise that it's not the most wearable everyday colour but there is definatly something about it that I love and I'm going to try to wear it as many ways possible (even if it means throwing a space girl party!).
So here's what the badboy looks like:

Isn't she a beauty?
The two pictures above show 'Galactic' thinly spread over my lips to make it more wearable and also because I didn't want to waste product by applying it thickly :)
I'm wearing my Nars eyeshadow duo in Misfit in the second photo.

I found it really hard to get decent swatched but here are my pictures of the gloss thickly swatched, and how it is probably intended to be warn. Look how crazy pigmented it is!



If you are thinking that this gloss is completely unwearable, the Illamasqua lady said that you can mix this in with other glosses or lipsticks to add glitter to them. you can also layer it lightly or thickly on top of other bold coloured lipsticks, (Iwant to try it on top of one of my purples!)
The gloss had a nice fruity scent which I was pleasantly surprised by, you wouldnt expect a silver lipgloss to smell fruity!
Another thing I will say for this gloss is that the consistancy is thick which means that it sticks around FOREVER, I literally had to scrub it off my lips! I don't know if it's the same for the other shades as this one is so dense with glitter, but I am guessing from the reviews on Temptalia that it is.
All in all, however crazy and perhaps unwearable this gloss is, I love it and it has definatly made me want to pick up more of the intense lipglosses, Frenzy is the top of my list.
Rachy xxx

4 blog awards :)

So the lovely Krystal from http://www.beautybykrystal.com/ has just awarded me 4 blogger awards and I am here to say thankyouuu and pass those awards on :)
And here are the awards:
The Kreativ blogger award
The Stylish blogger award
The versatile blogger award
One Lovely blog award And what I gathered from the rules is that you tell 7 facts about yourself and then pass the awards on to 7 blogs you are a fan of. So here goes...

1.I'm studying English & American literature at uni, and although it's a bumpy ride sometimes I LOVE it.

2. Studying American literature has made me become slightly obsessed with America, New York in particular, and I am lucky enough to be going there on a study trip in February 2012 which will be extended when my mum comes out to meet me for a few days for my 21st bday! EEK!
3. I Love music, but then don't we all. I have been to at least one music festival a year since I was 15. This year its Benicassim and maybe Bestival.
4.I don't know what I want to do when I'm older/after uni, and people always ask me. I have toyed with the thought of teaching, or the police, but I dont think they are careers you just 'consider'. Since doing work experience when I was 15 in the HR department at The Hard Rock Cafe London I have wanted to be involved in the company in some way.
5. I have a random obsession with American Gangsta's at the mo (probably something to do with all the books i've been reading for my course) and am now constantly asking my boyfriend to suggest 'rachy-friendly gangsta movies' for me to watch. (I do realise this is odd.)
6. I LOVE MUSICALS!...I don't know why this isn't the top fact. My favourite is Les Miserables which I have seen 3 times (so far), 1 of those being the 25th anniversary concert <3 I am dieing to see Miss Saigon but it's no longer in production :(

7.I suppose I should make one of these cosmetic related...I think my area of cosmetic obsession is probably lipsticks. I am majourly into building my eyeshadow collection at the mo but nothing gets me excited like a shiney new lipstick!

And the 7 blogs (in no particular order) I am going to pass these awards onto are:
-Mercedes from http://mspurplemakeup.blogspot.com/
Mercedes was probably one of the first blogs I followed and I was amazed by all the great product reviews, swatches and looks on her blog. almost a year on and I still follow her blog religiously. She has also recently started making youtube videos which is exciting :)

-Jennifer from http://make-upjournal.blogspot.com/
A friend reccomended Jennifers blog to me when I asked for blogs that I would like, and now Jennifers blogs is one of my faves. The hauls she does are always right up my street and they always include great photos, swatches and reviews.

-http://delytefulspeaks.blogspot.com/
This is a more recent blog I have been following, which I came across from all her lovely comments on my page. I am now a regular follower and love reading the great product reviews.

-Ellie from http://missyellieuk.blogspot.com/
Ellie has an Illamasqua blush collection that I am very jelous of and does some gorgous FOTD's. OOTD's aren't usually my thing but I really like Ellie's ones as she often ties them in with her FOTD.

As I'm new to the world of Youtube These next 2 people are bloggers that I discovered On Youtube.

-Estee from http://essiebutton.blogspot.com/
If you havn't watched her videos GO WATCH THEM NOW! She is a super trendy and witty Canadian living in London, I love all her makeup looks and her video Tags which I usually end up doing. Her blog has some good reviews which if you havn't already gathered, I am a fan of.

-Kelly from http://jellyminxthinks.blogspot.com/
I love Kelly's Nars product overviews on youtube (and everything else) and am finding them really usefull when considering building up a NARS collection. She is so calm in all her videos and often makes me giggle. So check her blog and youtube!

Last one is a lovely lady who I stumbled across on twitter when she was having an amazing MAC eyeshadow blogsale:
-Joy from http://joybunny24.blogspot.com/
Her writing style is very friendly and bubbly to match her personality. If you're looking for a bit of fun mixed into the blog-reading experience then you need look no further.

This post was a little more rambly than intended but hopefully you made it all the way to the end! Thanks to Krystal for the awards and go check out all the bloggers that I passed the awards on to!
Rachy xxx

Blog giveaway winners!

I just want to say a big thankyou to everyone who has entered this giveaway over the last 2 weeks, the response has been brilliant and thanks everyone for spreading the word :)

The winner who will recieve the Sleek Monaco palette and Monte Carlo pout polish is:

-Jennifer from http://make-upjournal.blogspot.com/

And the runner up who will be recieving the 17 vintage love palette and Aussie 3 minuite miracle is sachet is

-Hannah from http://hazzaapee.blogspot.com/

I have Emailed both of you girls so get back to me so I can send those prizes out to you :)

And a quick video message:

Rachy xx

'No makeup' makeup look

Here is my version of a 'no makeup' makeup look which I have seen done recently on Pixiwoo and Lisa Eldridge's youtube. A minimum effort look perfect for the summer or days when you fancy a more subtle look:

Products used:
-Maybelline pure cover mineral concealer- 02 natural
-Laura mercier tinted moisturiser-porcelain
-Inglot eyeshadow: D.S 463
-MAC: sable
- Borjois effect smokey eyeliner-smoked brown
-Pixi light brown eyeshadow (brows)
-Maybelline dream touch blush-apricot
-Jemma Kidd dewy glow- rose gold
-Sleek pout polish- electro peach

Rachy x

2 summery FOTD's

Helllo there. You may have noticed if you are living in England that the weather hasn't been summery, but I am slightly in denial and am soldiering on with the summery makeup looks. Here's a couple of my recent looks, the first was worn in the daytime and the second was what I wore on a casual evening out, but still could be worn in the day.

Face: Laura Mercier tinter moisturiser- porcelain, Maybelline pure cover mineral concealer, MAC surf baby cheek powder- My paradise, MAC mineralize skin finish-soft and gentle, A spritz of Fix+
Eyes: Illamasqua brow cake-thunder, Mac prep +prime eye-light, Urban decay pigment-x (lid), Sleek paraguaya palette- sandstone (brow bone), redstone(crease), Tangelo (outer v), Bourjois effect smokey eyeliner-71 smoked brown, Maybelline one by one volum' express mascara
Lips: Mac lipstick- vegas volt

Face: Mac studio sculpt foundation-NC15, Maybelline pure cover mineral concealer, MAC creamblend blush-something special, Jemma kidd dewy glow- rose gold

Eyes: Illamasqua brow cake-thunder, Loreal colourappeal e/s- golden beige(browbone and corners), MAC e/s: All that glitters (lid), sable (crease), sketch (deepen outer v/crease & lower lash line), Bourjois liner feutre-noir, Maybelline one by one volum' express mascara
Lips: Topshop lipstick-oh la la

The two new face products used in these looks (Laura mercier tinted moisturiser & Mac studio sculpt foundation) were actually samples I picked up from the counters. I have to say I really like both of them, especially the tinter moisturiser which is right up my street, but as a student I am not prepared to pay £30+ for it :(

If you would like video tutorials of either of these looks please ask. I did try filming one of the first look but youtube decided to start uploading it before I was finished :( Resulting in a FOTD instead.
Rachy xxx

My Thomas Sabo Collection

This is a jewelerry post so it is a little different from the posts I usually do but my boyfriend treated me to a new Thomas Sabo bracelet today which inspired this post :) If I stop making sense I appologise, I am at a bit of a loss when trying to describe jewelery!
I'm not the world biggest jewelery fan, you'll rarely see me wearing a necklace or anything too fancy looking but I am much more of a bracelet person and the bracelets I love the most are Thomas Sabo.

Charm club booklet and the pretty boxes the bracelets come in

I think Thomas Sabo is fairly popular so you may or may not have heard of the brand but the reason I like it is because the bracelets are really fun, not too fancy looking and come in all kinds of colours and sizes. There is also an amazing selection of charms, which make brilliant gifts for anyone who has a charm bracelet (it's a bit of a thing for the females in my family to recieve charms for christmas and birthdays) so all of the charms I have are gifts from different occasions which makes them more special and fun to collect.

These are my bracelets :) The ones I have are designed to fit 3 charms on each but I tend to stick to 2 because I dont want the charms to scratch eachother too much (that sounded like they are alive!) They are really cool for mix matching the charms depending on what you're wearing or what mood you are in.

The Bracelets and the charms:

The black bracelet, My first Thomas sabo bracelet. My mum bought me this for my birthday a couple of years ago and I love it for wearing occasionally in the daytime but mostly in the evening if I am going anywhere special (because its the biggest and most evening-y of the bunch) The charms on this one at the moment are the blue peace sign, my first charm and probably still my favourite, and the mushroom given to me by my brother for christmas.

The red bracelet. This was also a Christmas present I think. This bracelet is cute and I wear it mostly in the daytime because of its bright colour. Had a bit of drama with this one, got a hair stuck round it and when untangling the bracelet broke and the beads flew everywhere, resulting in my screaming 'NOOOOOOO!' I took it back to the store and they exchanged it though :)
The charms: Kermit :) He's looking abit battered because he was also one of my first charms. And a duck that I got for christmas, don't ask why but I fell in love with the duck and then he found his way into my christmas pile :)
And last but not least, the purple bracelet. My boyfriend literally JUST bought me this, so I am still staring at it in admiration every 5 minuites. I think this is one of the new style bracelets with round beads anda string tightening thingy at the back (I warned you this wouldn't make sense!) I like that this one is on string/rope/whatever it is because I don't get scared of breaking it every time I put it on unlike the other which are on elastic. The Charms: A clover for luck and because I am part Irish, and an anchor, the only charm I bought myself.

The braclets aree £23ish each so they won't break the bank but the charms on the other hand range from £15.99-£50+ which is why they are more gift items than something you just go out and buy.

Hope this post hasn't been too waffley, just wanted to share my most cherished jewelery because it was getting jelous of my makeup!
Rachyxx

100 follower giveaway!!!**CLOSED**

Hello lovely followers! To celebrate me (almost) reaching 100 blog followers (I am growing impatiant) I have decided to do a little giveaway for you all. There is a winners prize and a runners up prize.

Here are the prizes: (conditions below pics)

The winner will recieve this limited edition Sleek mediterranian collection 'Monaco' eyeshadow palette and 'Monte carlo' pout polish.

The runners up prize is this limited edition 17 vintage love perfect pastals eyeshadow palette and Aussie 3 minuite miracle conditioner sachet.

**The giveaway is open Internationally**

Here are the conditions:
-To enter you must be a subscriber of my blog and leave a comment in the comment box asking me to enter you.
For extra entries:
+1-retweet my giveaway on twitter: I'm entering @Allthingsrachy 's blog giveaway to win Sleek mediterranian goodies http://bit.ly/jqA78V
+1- Link my giveaway on your blogroll
+1- 'Like' my facebook page www.facebook.com/pages/All-things-Rachy/142597215810740
+1- Be a subscriber of my youtube channel http://www.youtube.com/user/Allthingsrachy?feature=mhee

-Include proof of all of the above forms of entry in the comment box (links to the tweet and blogroll etc)

If you leave your email adress in the comment box it would also be a great help for contacting the winners.

After two weeks (CLOSING DATE IS 26th JUNE) I will pick a winner from all the entries using http://www.random.org/ randomiser.
When the winner and runner up have been picked I will reveal in a blog post and contact the winners straight away.
For all of this information in video form, plus a closer look at the prizes, check out the youtube giveaway video:

Good Luck! Rachy xx

Cath Kidston CUTE dress find

I was having a browse in Cath Kidston yesterday, I love all of the clothes in there they combine shapes and prints that I love..and I stumbled across one dress in my size that I lurvvved, and was happy to see it was on 50% sale :) Previously £85 (I would never pay that with my student budget!) it was reduced to £42.50...which I still shouldn't have spent as a student, but I couldn't help myself!

I realise it may not everyones cup of tea but I lovee the floral print on it and feel like a cute little granny wearing it hah.

I think this dress is pretty much the perfect summer dress for me. The print is lovely and bright, the fit is comfortable (not clingy or tight atall) and the material is 100% Viscose- not sure what that means but I like it.

I love the cute neckline <3

Not to mention the sleeves! Really like the band at the end of the sleeve. Sometimes I don't feel like getting my arms out, so this dress will be great for those days.
A little preview of the dress as modeled by me- face and hair are rough because I had just come back from shopping in the rain :(

I can't wait for this gloomy weather to brighten up so I can skip down to the park in the dress clutching my Oli&Nic apple bag :)

Rachy xxx

FOTD- first attempt at contouring!

Bronzer is something I have altogether avoided in the past, mostly because of my pale complextion and I can never seem to get it to work for me. Since beauty blogging I have become more aware of 'contouring' with bronzer and have decided it's high time I gave it a try. Nothing too dramatic mind you, I am a beginner (and I still havn't worked out if I like bronzer)
But here's my FOTD with an attempt of a bit of light contouring on the cheekbones (not that I have any):

Products used:
Face: Maybelline pure cover mineral concealer, Barbara Daly bronze glow, Maybelline dream touch blush-apricot, Jemma kidd Dewy glow- rose gold.

Eyes: Illamasqua brow cake- thunder, Bobbi brown concealer-porcelain, Mac prep + prime eye-light, INGLOT eyeshadows: AMC shine 30(brow bone), DS 465(lid), Peal 402 (crease& lower lash line), Pixi gel liner-onyx, Rimmel white eyeliner, Maybelline one by one volum' express mascara.

Lips: Mac- Vegas volt

Rachy xxx

What to buy your boyfriend from Lush

Today is my boyfriends 21st birthday (happy bday Seany!) and amongst a few other things I bought him a few bits from Lush cosmetics. I try to encourage any one I can to buy lush so that I can be surrounded by yummy smelling people haha. Getting boys into lush is a difficult one though (i'm lucky, Sean is a lover of lush not a hater) so I carefeully selected all of these bits to make them 'boy friendly'. Here's what I picked:

Sean is a fan of Lush's mintly and lemony scents, he already has the 'Dirty' showergel, so I tried to stick to those smells in choosing the gifts :)

1. Ice and a slice- two soaps, Ice blue (mint scent) and Bohemian (lemon). Obviously these soaps are great for girls too but I think they are especially suited to boys....you can hardly imagine a boy rocking a floral scented soap can you?!

2. Dirty solid perfume- Also suitable for girls but me and the Lush lady agreed that this purfume smells much better on a man. If you've smelt the Dirty shower gel it is similar to that. I don't really know how else to describe it other than a yummy minty boyish smell.

3.Too Drunk- Another minty smelling one. I am a huge fan of this product myself. You just drop it in bottom of the shower while you are washing and let it work its magic. It releases smells that are a perfect hangover cure (very helpfull for uni students like my and Sean!)..and also a very good cure for those birthday hangovers.

4. Ickle baby bot ballistic- I chose this one for pretty obvious reasons...its blue and shaped like a robot! Also has a very nice relaxing lavender scent.

Any of you ladies have other halves into lush?
Rachy xxx

Simple summer daytime look FOTD & Video

This is my simple peachy/coral/pink summer daytime look I have been wearing for the last few days, thought I'd share with you.

When I said 'illamasqua pearly eyeshadow' I meant INGLOT*.
Products used:
-Maybelline pure cover mineral concealer
-Illamasqua brow cake-thunder
-INGLOT pearl coloured eyeshadow
-Mac e/s: Gleam & Paradisco
-Pixi gel liner-onyx
-Maybelline one by one volum' express mascara
-Maybelline dream touch blush-apricot
-Jemma Kidd deqy glow- rose gold
-Topshop lipstick- ohh la la
and a spritz of Mac fix+

Rachy xxx

What's in my (large travel) makeup bag video

Here's what I took home with me in my makeup bag for a long weekend. May have overpacked a little and didn't end up using most of it :P I've learnt my lesson...
Again I have to appologise for the video being out of sync, this happened in the youtube uploading process and if anyone knows how to correct that it would be a great help
Enjoy...

Makeup bag at debenhams. Brand: Floozie by Frost and French- £12.60

Rachy xxx

Maybelline Dream Touch blush- Apricot (Mac Creamblend blush dupe!)

First of all I must appologise for the pictures in this post, I'm back home with no real way of blogging accept using my rubbishy iphone camera to upload pics..and I'm desparate to do a post! Hopefully you'll get a fair idea of the product I am describing though :)
The first two pictures are ones I found on google as the pictures I took were too rubbish :

Just tried to upload the swatch but the iphone pic was again too rubbish so I borrowed the swatch from this blog http://goldenglowww.blogspot.com/2011/06/maybelline-dream-touch-blush.html

Here's what the blush looks like on:

First impressions are that I am really impressed with this blush. Its super smooth and creamy and applies/blends so easily (I used my fingers) There are three colours; apricot, peach and a pink one (I think berry?)
I noticed that these blushes are a cheaper dupe for Mac creamblend blush and at around £6.50 they won't break the bank. I absolutely love the colour I picked, it is a really subtle light peach and I think it actually works as both a blush and highlight in one. I know I will get alot of use out of this and will probably keep it in my handbag as a touch up product :)
So there you go, that was my (somewhat failing) little post on Maybelline dream touch blush

Anyone else tried this blush? If so which colour?
Rachy xxx