Maybelline Color Tattoo 24hr Gel-Cream Eyeshadow

Good Day Everyone,

When it comes to makeup eyeshadows are definitely my thing. I will always opt for drawing attention to my eyes over any other facial feature, after all they do say that ‘the eyes are the windows to the soul’.

I picked up this Maybelline Color Tattoo in a Boots 3 for 2 when I was last home and I am so impressed with my first venture into gel-cream eyeshadows. I typically wear powder eyeshadows and more recently I've been adding the crayon type eyeshadows to my collection, which I guess could be classified as ‘cream’ eyeshadows but this is my first gel-cream eyeshadow in a pot.

This Color Tattoo has amazing staying power. Now I've not tested the ’24 hour’ claim, but I have gotten to the 14 hour mark and this looked as good at 14 hours as it did when I first applied it. Aside from the amazing staying power the other great thing about this eyeshadow is that it just does not crease. I don’t have particularly oily eyelids but I do have to use an eyeshadow primer if I’m going to be wearing my powder eyeshadows for more than a couple of hours as otherwise the shadow creases but this baby does not budge, it does not slide and it certainly does not crease, and I don’t need to use a primer beforehand.

The slight (and for me it is only slight) downside to this product is that once on, the eyeshadow does set very quickly so if I want to blend this shadow out at all, I literally have a matter of seconds. As a result I finish the look on one eye first before starting the second eye.

When it comes to application, I like to apply this with my finger rather than a brush as the warmth from my skin melts the product slightly making it easier to work with when it comes to blending. It also reduces the likelihood of packing on too much product (which is easy to do as a little goes such a long way), and with my fingers I can better sense when the product is setting and know to be quick with my blending. The eyeshadow is very soft, smooth, and creamy and it glides on beautifully.

I picked up the colour Pink Gold which is a beautiful pale pink. It’s definitely a wearable shade of pink that I think would look great on most skin tones. The colour has a lot of what looks to be incredibly fine shimmer in it which gives it beautiful metallic-y sheen. It’s definitely not glittery or sparkly. I opted for this colour rather than a more neutral shade because I thought it would work well as a sheer wash of colour on its own but also as a base with some of the powder eyeshadows from my Naked and Naked 2 palettes and boy was I right! This is a gorgeous and very versatile colour and product. I can imagine some of the darker and the more brightly coloured shades being great as eyeliners given the staying power of this product.

I will often wear a sheer wash of this shadow during the day to give my lids a soft sheen of colour, with some black eyeliner on the top lash line and mascara. If I want to create a little more depth to my eyes then I will run a matte brown-y shade through my crease. The colours Naked and Buck from the original Naked palette work great for this as does the colour Tease from the Naked 2 palette which has a purple-y grey tone to it and works nicely with the Pink Gold.

If I’m doing an evening or night out look with this Color Tattoo then I apply it all over my lid with a bit more intensity than a sheer wash. From my Naked palette I will then use Sin or Virgin as an inner corner highlighter and Toasted and Hustle in the crease and outer ‘v’. If I want to intensify the look even further then a small amount of Darkhorse works great in the outer ‘v’ layered on top of Hustle. I use the colour Naked as a transition colour above my crease as it’s not too far off my own skin tone.

If I only have my Naked 2 palette to hand then I will use Bootycall as my inner corner highlighter, YDK on the outer half of my lid and Busted to create the dark outer 'v' and Tease in my crease. I will use Foxy as a matte brow bone highlighter and above my crease as it just blends in to my skin tone quite naturally.

It was only when I got the Pink Gold Color Tattoo that I noticed just how many pinky toned eyeshadows there were in my Naked palettes, which reminds me that I do need to do a review on both of these palettes as I think they are absolutely amazing products!

Back to the Color Tattoo, the eyeshadow comes in a clear round glass (I’m pretty sure it’s glass) jar with a black screw on lid. Now the packaging is a little bit deceiving in that it makes it look like you’re getting more product than what you actually are. This is because the base and sides of the jar are really thick and the product doesn't go all the way down to the bottom or to the sides of the jar. If you look at the bottom of the pot you will see that the diameter of the jar is a lot bigger than the circle of eyeshadow. Also if you look at the jar from the side you will see that the product doesn't go all the way down into the pot, in fact it looks like it’s sitting on a thick glass platform.

Aside from this little deception I actually quite like the packaging. The clear glass jar and the lid with the corresponding eyeshadow colour sticker make it really easy to know which colour is inside, if you have several of these eyeshadows. The lid feels very secure and airtight which is really important to prolong the life of the product and stop it from drying out. In addition the product sits very close to the top of the jar so I don’t have to dig my finger deep into the pot to get the product out which avoids getting the product caught under my nail. Some people may feel that the packaging isn't particularly hygienic, having to stick your finger in each time you use the product thus risking the transfer of bacteria, but I just make sure I go in with clean fingers, or you could use a brush.

It’s not very often that I buy individual eyeshadows simply because I feel palettes are much better value for money and easier to store than lots of individual eyeshadows but I am seriously tempted to buy more of these Color Tattoos. In fact, what would be even better is if Maybelline came out with miniature Color Tattoos that stack up on top of each other, a bit like what you get with some lip balms, and that way I could get a Color Tattoo palette – how great would that be?!

Have you tried these Color Tattoos? What did you think? Are you a fan of cream or gel eyeshadows? Which brand would you recommend?

Love Sheen xxx

My verdict: 5/5

For the US you can find this product at most drugstores 

For the UK you can find this product at Boots and Superdrug

For Singapore you can find this product at Watsons and Guardian

(Note: I purchased this product with my own money)

Living With Migraines

Good Day Everyone,

Today I’m going to share my experience of living with migraines. 

A quick disclaimer to say that I am not a medical professional and that you should not make any changes to your migraine treatment without discussing it with your doctor first. Whilst I will be talking about the treatments that I have tried, I am not recommending that you try them too. This is simply my personal experience of living with migraines.

I was first diagnosed with migraines when I was 13 and hence have been a sufferer for most of my life. A migraine is a very severe and excruciating headache that is often associated with or follows on from other symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, increased sensitivity to light, sound, movement and impaired vision to name a few. Migraines can last from a few hours to 2-3 days. The exact cause of migraines is not known but genetic, hormonal and external factors are thought to play a role. Migraines can run in families, my mum also suffers from them, and women are more likely to suffer from migraines than men.

I typically suffer from two kinds of migraines and these are just my own categories, not medical classifications. The first type is a migraine at the base of my skull and the other type is behind my eye (typically left eye for some reason). I can almost always tell when I’m about to get a migraine either because I’ll have been exposed to a known trigger or even without a trigger, I will develop certain symptoms that warn me its coming such as;

• Developing neck stiffness
• My head will start to feel too heavy for my neck to hold up 
• I get a lot of tension built up in my neck and shoulders
• I start to yawn a lot 
•  I get very nauseous (but I’ve never actually vomited)  
• I get very sensitive to light especially bright white light that you get in offices or on computer screens

If I'm developing a migraine behind my eye then I often get a flickering light in my vision... it's hard to describe but basically it puts a strain on my eye. Once I’m suffering from a full blown migraine attack I get the most excruciating, pulsating pain in my head where it becomes very difficult for me to move because any form of movement makes it feel like my brain is sloshing around in my skull, being battered, and that causes the pulsating sensation to worsen. Often it feels like a pressure is building up inside my skull making it feel like my head is going to explode. I feel like I want someone to drill a hole into my skull just to release this pressure (apparently that’s exactly what they used to do in the olden days... no joke!).

When I’m in the midst of a severe migraine I have minimal awareness of what’s going on around me as the pain is so debilitating and completely takes over my world. Where possible, I will seek out a quite dark room (preferably my bedroom) where I can lay still until it passes or I eventually fall asleep. I have found through experience that heat can have a soothing effect on my migraine and so I will use a hot water bottle to heat up my pillow which I put on my neck or the side of my face with the eye migraine. Sometimes I will actually place the hot water bottle wrapped in a towel on my neck / face. I also find that certain smells like fresh coffee, tiger balm and anything menthol or minty-ish helps to ease the nausea. When I have a migraine behind my eye, it makes my eye very sore and the affected eye doesn't open as fully as normal. Just by looking at my eyes, some work colleagues could tell that I was suffering from a migraine. 

Things I use to help with my migraines

The migraine can last from a few hours to a couple of days and afterwards, once the pain has passed, and I’m back in the land of the living I usually feel incredibly exhausted, like I've just ran a marathon. I’m also usually starving following an attack for some reason and recovering from a migraine is one of the rare times where I actually crave sugar.

When I was 13 my GP (family doctor) asked me to keep a food diary so that we could identify any dietary triggers as well as a diary of when I developed a migraine, what I was doing at that time, where I was etc to see if we could identify any external triggers. This was one of the best things I ever did as after a few months of this somewhat tedious task, we were able to identify my triggers and these have remained true my entire adult life.

There are several types of food and drink, which if I consume, can quite quickly cause a migraine. These include;

• Cordial juices such as Ribena and Robinsons 
• Fizzy citrus drinks such as Sprite, Fanta or 7-UP
• Cheese  - too much will trigger a migraine so whilst I do occasionally eat cheese I know there is a limit and I've gotten quite good at sensing when I’m getting close to that limit

There are also certain smells that, for me, can trigger a migraine such as;

• The smell of alcohol especially red wine (my worst nightmare is being stuck on a long haul flight next to someone drinking red wine!)
• Petrol and diesel
• Paint 
• Strong smelling perfumes especially the sweet vanilla variety

In addition, if I don’t get enough sleep, go too long without eating or get very tired then I know I’m at risk of getting a migraine, especially, if I’m in an artificially (brightly) lit environment such as offices and shopping malls or working at a computer screen. So when you add all of the above combined with a crazy career where I worked long hours and travelled overseas, it’s easy to see why my career was plagued by my migraines.

As a teenager, my GP prescribed me pink Migraleve tablets which I would take when I could sense a migraine coming on or as soon as one had started. After a few years my migraines eased dramatically for some unknown reason and I rarely suffered in my late teens, but then in my early twenties, they came back with a vengeance!!!

In my twenties there would be times when I would have 4-8 migraine attacks per month. I went through phases of my life where I literally felt constantly drugged up (I can assure you I wasn't but that’s how I felt). As a result of my migraines I've missed nights out, had to cancel dinner plans and even spent entire weekends bed bound. They really did rule my life at times! As the migraines were so severe and frequent my GP put me on a preventative medication called amitriptyline. I would take this on a daily basis to prevent a migraine from happening in the first place. However, as I avoid taking medication as much as possible I didn't feel comfortable taking amitriptyline every single day for a condition that did not affect me every single day. Amitriptyline is also an anti-depressant and has quite a few side effects so I was concerned about the effects of taking this long term. I soon found that I wasn't taking it daily and thus it wasn't able to work as a preventative treatment.

The treatment that did work for me was a drug called Zomig (zolmitriptan) which I take when I sense a migraine coming on so it’s not a preventative medication like the amitriptyline but a reactive treatment. I have taken Zomig for several years now and most of the time, if I take it when I first sense a migraine coming it usually does work to stop it from turning into a full blown attack. When I initially started taking Zomig, I would often try to manage without the medication or take a ‘let’s wait and see what happens’ approach. What often happened was that it developed into a full blown migraine, I would take my medication, which wouldn't work as I’d left it too late and missed that window of opportunity of preventing the migraine and would then spend the next day or two in agony cursing myself and taking very strong prescription painkillers! I was prescribed Co-Codamol which is a combination of paracetamol and codeine that I would take when the Zomig didn't work. I soon learnt that it was better to take the Zomig at the early signs of an attack rather than trying to ride it out without drugs and then ending up on prescription painkillers that made it very difficult for me to function due to how woozy they made me feel.

Given how frequently I suffered from migraines, I actually didn't take many sick days from work at all. I learnt to take my Zomig with me everywhere I went and even when I did have a migraine, taking time off work wasn't an option due to deadlines so I would grab a coffee (to smell) and just muddle through until I could get home. I also started carrying Vicks VapoRub, a menthol balm, around with me to smell as it eased the nausea. There were times when I would have a long drive home from work meetings and if I was having a migraine attack, that was the one time where I did stop, especially if I was driving at night where the glare from oncoming traffic headlights would make my migraine worse and affect my vision. In such circumstances, I would pull up into a service station, grab a coffee, text my hubby to let him know where I am and curl up with a blanket on the back seats of my car, waiting for the medication to kick in. Sometimes I would actually fall asleep and wake up a couple of hours later feeling a bit groggy but better able to function. As a result, the drive home would be much longer but as my mum always says, its better to arrive late than never and I would never risk putting myself or others in danger by driving when I know I’m not well enough to.

Nowadays I am more or less migraine free – yippee :o) Since giving up work at the end of 2011 (due to the progression of my arthritis), I have only had two migraines and they were both triggered by a combination of fatigue, hunger and stress. Whilst I was incredibly gutted to have to give up on a career that I’d worked so hard to develop, I also realise that I’m in a very fortunate position where I can now take it easy and concentrate on keeping myself as healthy and feeling as well as possible. Looking back, I genuinely believe that my lifestyle and career played a big role in causing my migraines. My eyes have always disliked bright artificial white light and every office I've worked in has had such lighting plus I've always struggled with the glare from office computer screens, combine that with working long hours, travelling long distances, eating irregular meals, being stressed and not getting enough rest and sleep probably took a toll. Now that’s a lot of factors there and at the time I kind of knew my lifestyle and work life balance was probably the cause of most of my migraines but giving up work wasn't an option. 

Unless you or someone that you’re very close to suffers from migraines, it’s difficult for most people to understand and appreciate just how debilitating they can be. If you suffer or think you suffer from migraines then it’s very important to get the correct diagnosis and medication for you. A doctor may also conduct tests to rule out other causes of head pain. I've had brain scans twice in my 20s to rule out anything more sinister. During one particular attack I became incredibly sensitive to movement, light, sound and even touch. I actually thought that I was suffering from something else as the pain on this particular occasion was off the scale. I seriously felt like I was going to die from the pain! I ended up being admitted into hospital and put on a morphine drip whilst I had various tests and scans. The doctors concluded that it was indeed a migraine but of a different nature than what I’d had in the past. Luckily a migraine of that severity and magnitude has only ever happened twice and its not something I would wish on my worst enemy.

There are lots of different types of medications available to treat and/or prevent migraines so if something doesn't work for you then there are other options. As well as medication, there are other things you can do to reduce your chances of getting a migraine and steps to manage the migraine itself. Based on my experience I have found the following most helpful;

• Keeping a diary to identify potential triggers - food, drinks, smells which I can then avoid
•  Eating regularly and keeping hydrated
• Not delaying taking medication when sensing a migraine is imminent
• Ensuring I get enough rest and sleep
• Make time to relax my mind, as well as my body
• Heat compresses like a hot water bottle help ease the pain for me, but for some people, a cold compress works better
• Laying down during an attack in a quiet and dark room (avoiding movement, sound and light)
• The smell of coffee or menthol eases my nausea

About eight years ago I also started going for regular head and neck massages which I've found to be really helpful in relieving the tension in my neck and shoulders which in turn has helped to reduce the frequency of my migraines.

There are also various support groups and websites that can offer support to migraine sufferers. It’s always interesting talking to other sufferers to find out what things help them cope with their attacks and comparing notes. But it’s also important to remember that we are all different and so what works for one person may not work for another. Ultimately, it’s about trial and error to find out what works for you.

I hope you have found this post interesting and that it’s given you a bit of an insight as to what it’s like to live with migraines (if you’re not a sufferer yourself). If you are a sufferer then I hope that there may be some tips here that you might find helpful. If you have any tips or strategies of how you cope with migraines then do let me know. I’m always interested in other people’s experiences.

Below are some websites where you can get further information and/or support on migraines;

Migraine Trust
Facebook Migraine Support Group
Daily Strength

The National Migraine Association

Love Sheen xxx

Recipe: Granola Goodness

Good Day Everyone,

Whilst I love my fresh fruit and homemade smoothies for breakfast there are times when I just fancy something a bit more filling and that’s where my homemade granola plugs the gap nicely. Not only does it taste great but it’s full of lots of nutritional benefits due to the nuts and seeds I use.

Whilst you can buy granola (and some brands/types are better than others) ultimately the company that makes the granola is rarely going to prioritise your nutritional health over their profit margins and so I prefer to make my own. This granola is incredibly versatile and can be eaten in so many different ways. My hubby has it for breakfast with natural yogurt and fresh berries, I tend to eat it as it is with my daily cup of coffee or as an afternoon snack, my dad likes it crumbled over piping hot custard as a dessert, whereas my younger brother likes it crumbled over his favourite ice cream and my mum likes it in all of the above ways :o)

I will often make the granola in bun cases as it’s easier to hand out to friends/family or for my hubby to take to work, rather than baking it in a tray and cutting it into bars/squares -  as it always seems to crumble!!! My mum has recently started making it and she does bake hers in a tray and quite likes it crumbled as she can store in an airtight container and sprinkle it over yogurt/custard/ice cream etc whenever she likes.

I also make this granola in the teeny tiny bun cases as it looks sooo cute when served on the side of a cup of tea/coffee when we’re entertaining friends.

Ingredients:

• 200gr rolled oats
• 100gr unsalted nuts (I tend to use baked cashew nuts and almonds)
• 100gr seeds (small seeds like chia/flaxseed/sesame or big seeds like sunflower/pumpkin)
• 100gr dried fruit (apricots/cranberries/raisins or even fresh dates)
• 100gr unsalted butter
• 100gr brown sugar
• 2 regular/dessert spoons of honey
• 2-3tsp cinnamon powder
• ½ - 1tsp ginger powder

Instructions:

1. If using dates/apricots chop them into small pieces
2. Chop the nuts into small pieces (I chop almonds/cashew nuts into 3-4 pieces per nut)
3. In a dry (no oil/butter) heated frying pan, dry roast the oats, 1/3 at a time until the colour changes ever so slightly
4. Dry roast the chopped nuts in the frying pan
5. Heat up a large pan/cooking pot and add the butter, brown sugar, honey, cinnamon and ginger. Melt and mix until the ingredients become syrup like and then turn off the heat
6. Into the syrup mixture, add the nuts, seeds and fruit and mix thoroughly
7. Then add the oats to the syrup mixture and mix thoroughly. Taste the mixture for sweetness, cinnamon and ginger levels and add more, if required to suit your taste
8. Spoon the mixture into bun cases (I usually get 18 regular sized bun cases from this quantity)
9. Bake in the oven for 12 minutes at 160-180 degrees Celsius
10. Allow to cool and store in the fridge in an airtight container. The granola buns will keep for at least a couple of weeks... that’s if they last that long!

This batch included white sesame seeds

Notes:

• You can use which ever nuts, seeds and fruits you like, even things not on my list like coconut and banana chips. I tend to use whatever I have in the kitchen
• If I’m baking the granola in a tray then I usually bake it for 15-20 minutes in the oven and cut it into bars/squares when it’s cooled down but still a little warm. I then pop the pieces into the fridge immediately so they will harden and set, thus less likely to fall apart
• If you don’t like ginger or cinnamon then feel free to leave it out. I like the  taste of the cinnamon and ginger to come through slightly plus I love to use spices in cooking for their health benefits and tend to be quite generous with them
• If you ever find that at step 7 the mixture is very dry and not sticking together then it’s most likely that you have too much of the dry ingredients and not enough of the syrup mixture (stickiness) to bind it all together. In this instance just drizzle a little honey over the mixture and re-mix and it should be fine
• Warning – whilst the granola is very yummy, you know that old saying, ‘too much of a good thing’ well let’s just say that due to the fibre content the granola can have a bit of a laxative effect if you over indulge!

I hope you try this recipe and let me know how it turns out. So many of my friends and family have and loved it so I hope you do too :o)

Love Sheen xxx

NYX Cosmetics Mini Haul

Good Day Everyone,

Want to see what I bought from Sephora on my recent trip to Kuala Lumpur? Well you're in luck because I'm going to share it all here with you :o) I decided to venture into unknown territory and try a makeup brand that I’d never tried before, NYX. NYX is available in the UK, and from Sephora stores in Singapore. NYX is quite an inexpensive brand, relatively speaking, and so if you’re on a tight budget or just staring out in makeup and don’t want to spend a small fortune whilst you find your way then it’s definitely worth checking out. I've not had the chance to play around with all of the products for long enough to form a solid opinion so I'll just give you my initial thoughts as I go along. 

Starting with the lip products, I picked up two Glam Gloss Aqua Luxe lip glosses. I got the colour GLG04 Glitter Dreams which is a raspberry pink shade and GLG10 The Last Party, a salmony peachy shade. Both lip glosses are not sticky (thus reducing the likelihood of getting my hair stuck onto my lips with a slight gust of wind .. phew!) but they do have a lot and when I say a lot I really do mean a lot of shimmer in them so I don’t tend to wear these during the day. The shimmer, and it is shimmer rather than chunky glitter, is very fine and I certainly don’t feel it on my lips. I wear these lip glosses over lipsticks, especially the peachy one rather than alone. This is because due to the natural colour of my own lips the peachy lip gloss just looks like shimmer on my bare lips as the colour doesn't show up against my lips natural pigmentation. I do wear the pink shade alone as the colour is pigmented enough to show up on my bare lips. On top of lipsticks these glosses make my lips look a bit fuller and give a sort of 3D effect :o) 

I also picked up a Color Lip Balm in the colour CLB07 Spasibo, a soft nudey peach, the colour of which doesn't show up on my lips. This lip balm just melts onto my lips when I apply it and leaves them with a soft sheen. It feels very hydrating on the lips and has a slight, not offensive, sweet smell which fades quickly.

L to R: Spasibo color lip balm,
The Last Party gloss, Glitter Dreams gloss

Moving on to the eye products. Given that eyes are my ‘thing’ I picked up five eye products. I got a Jumbo Eye Pencil in the colour 630 Cashmere, a soft gold colour, which I absolutely love and this is the product I've used the most from this little haul. It is an incredibly versatile and multipurpose product. I use to highlight my inner v / inner corner of my eyes to brighten and open them up, I use it as an eye shadow all over my lids and it gives my eyelids a beautiful golden sheen that’s not too much for the daytime, I add a matte brown colour in the crease and lashings of mascara and voila my eyes are done. I also use this pencil on the top of my cupids bow for a bit of subtle highlighting as well as on the centre of my lips with most of my lipsticks for a slightly fuller effect. I love this pencil!

I got a roll on shimmer in the colour RES14 Salmon which I would say is more of a rose gold colour than salmon (I don’t think there is enough pink in it to be referred to as 'salmon'). The roll on shimmer can be used on the eyes, face and body. I tend to use this on nights out on the centre of my lid for a pop of colour and sparkle with darker colours in the crease. As you can see from the swatch photograph the roller ball applies the colour really evenly so I don’t need to use a brush to apply this or my fingers, although you could if you wanted to.

The eye product that I've been least impressed with has got to be the Eye Shadow Base in the colour White Pearl. This has too much sparkle in it for my liking to be used as a universal eye shadow base. The sparkle shines through which is great if that’s the look you are going for but not great for a matte eye look. As a result I only use this when I am going to be using shimmery, sparkly eye shadows on top of this and this base does enhance the shimmery-ness but I’m not sure that it actually makes my eye shadows last any longer than usual or prevent it from creasing – the juries definitely still out on this one!

L to R: White Pearl eye shadow base,
Salmon roll on shimmer, Cashmere jumbo eye pencil

I picked up two eyeliners, one in the colour SL07 Jet Black and one in SL11 Gun Metal, which has silver flecks in it. Both of these are incredibly soft, creamy and glide on easily without any tugging at the skin. They can be smudged when I first apply them as they are very soft but as a result it is difficult to do a very thin and precise line with them but I guess that’s where liquid liner plays a role ;o) I've used the Jet Black colour which is a matte black on the water line and the staying power was pretty good which is what I would have expected given that these are marketed as waterproof liners. Both of these tend to stay in place one applied and I've not suffered any panda eye issues with them yet ;o)

L to R: Single swipe of Jet Black eyeliner , Jet Black layered,
 Gun Metal layered, Gun Metal single swipe

Last but not least, I picked up just one face product and that was the Mosaic Powder Blush in the shade MPB 01 Highlighter. This contains five pastel shades of soft powder which when applied correctly leaves a lovely sheen to my skin. I tend to swirl my brush across all of the colours, tap of the excess (a very important step) and lightly apply it to the tops of my cheek for a subtle sheen. Now it’s very important to tap of the excess because otherwise, with my yellow toned skin, I can look like I just have two lilacy stripes across my cheeks (not cute). 

There’s no sparkle in this highlighter and I wouldn't even say it has shimmer in it (if it does then it’s incredibly fine and invisible to my naked eye!), the best word to describe the effect of this highlighter is ‘sheen’ because that’s what it leaves on my skin. I also use this as a brow bone highlighter given the lack of sparkle and shimmer, and the colours could be used as eye shadows too I suppose.

The 5 colours individually with a mix
of all the colours on the right

Overall I've been pretty impressed with my first taste of NYX cosmetics. The one area where I've not been too impressed is with the quality of the packaging which is very cheap and plastic like. I've already managed to gain numerous cracks in the clear plastic lid of the Jumbo Eye Pencil and I haven’t even dropped it. Plus the black NYX writing on the clear plastic lid of the highlighter has practically rubbed of just by me cleaning the lid. In addition, the powder highlighter is incredibly fragile and crumbly. I can imagine this falling apart if I ever dropped it and it’s certainly not a product that I would ever travel with. But then given the relatively inexpensive cost of the products I guess I shouldn't have too high an expectation from the packaging.

Have you tried any of the NYX products? What was your experience? What’s your favourite NYX product?

Love Sheen xxx

For the UK: Website

For the US: Website

For Singapore, you can find NYX at Sephora

(Note: I purchased these products with my own money)

Living With...

Good Day Everyone,

After my mini-series of ‘DIY Wedding’, I've decided to write about another mini-series based upon my personal experience. This one is going to be called ‘Living With...’ and in each post I’m going to write about my experience of living with the three chronic health conditions that I suffer from;

1. Migraines
2. Psoriasis (scalp and body)
3. Psoriatic Arthritis (including psoriatic nails)

I appreciate that this may not be of interest or relevant to all of you but I think that could be said for any post (and as this is my blog I guess I can write about whatever I like ;o)). I want to put my experience out there in case there’s anyone else that suffers from any of these conditions who wants to connect with / hear from someone that can understand what they’re going through.

I've never really had anyone to talk to who also suffers from the same health conditions as me, or rather, it may simply be the case that there is someone in my life who does suffer from one (or more) of these conditions but I just don’t know about it. You see, until a few years ago, I never used to feel comfortable talking about my conditions, not even to my friends, because I was so incredibly embarrassed by them, especially my psoriasis. I spent the best part of 10 years trying to hide my scalp psoriasis from the world as I was so ashamed of it, like it was some dirty secret. So I guess if I felt like that then it’s possible that others may feel that way too.

So you may be wondering what changed? Why am I all of a sudden willing to talk about it? Well, first of all, with age comes confidence and with confidence I've grown to be more comfortable in my own skin. I no longer care whether people know what I suffer from or not. Nowadays I don’t care if people I meet stare at my deformed fingers or discoloured nails or the psoriasis patches on my elbows. I no longer go out of my way to hide what I suffer from, partly because some things like my fingers and nails can’t be hidden but primarily because I’m comfortable with who I am and what I have.

Aside from confidence, I learnt to put things in to perspective because what I suffer from, as terrible and painful as it is at times, it isn't likely to kill me. This is quite a recent achievement because I did use to have a lot of thoughts along the lines of ‘Why me?’, ‘What am I being punished for?’ etc etc but then when I saw people I knew go through health issues that could kill them, it kind of put mine into perspective. For a while I swung the other way, thinking ‘Well why not me?’, ‘What’s so special about me that means I shouldn't suffer?’ or ‘If someone has to have this damn disease then why not me?’. Now I don’t have any of those thoughts, not the ‘Why me?’ or the ‘Why not me?’, now I just accept it for what it is and try to deal with it as best as I can – acceptance of things for what they are is something else that I've learnt to do recently and it’s amazing how much inner peace that has brought me. Acceptance doesn't mean that I've given up or that I’m not going to try to improve things, it simply means that I've re-focused that energy and voice in my head that was always asking ‘why’ towards a more constructive direction.

I've also redefined my definition of true beauty. To me, true beauty is no longer about what the eye can see but what the heart feels. This is not an easy concept given the superficiality of the world we live in and how ‘beauty’ is defined in our society. It’s certainly not a concept that I as a teenager or even in my early 20s would have got my head around. I wish I had because I might have been a happier person. In my 20s I spent so much time hiding any physical signs of my psoriasis that I missed out on a lot of 'living'. My psoriasis and arthritis may affect how I look, my outer beauty so to speak, but it doesn't change who I am as a person and it doesn't change the way I can make people feel or the way people can make me feel.

Over the last couple of years I've taken ‘active’ control of my health conditions. I must admit, this was primarily forced upon me with the move to Singapore and dealing with a completely different type of healthcare system. In addition, towards the end of 2011 I hit my lowest point ever regarding my health and realised that I could no longer carry on with the way things were and had to take control. One of my biggest regrets of my 20s was not taking active control of my scalp psoriasis and just letting my GPs (family doctors) fob me off with one treatment after another that made no difference and I eventually just gave up hope, hope of ever getting better. Looking back now, I know I should have been more proactive – hindsight’s a wonderful thing, isn't it?

Finally, I guess the other significant thing that changed was that I met my darling hubby and he gives  me so much support and encouragement and makes me feel beautiful despite my scaly skin, discoloured nails, wonky fingers and that really does work wonders ... for me, my confidence, my self esteem and especially my emotional health. Unconditional love and support can do amazing things!

So there you have it, those are some of the things that did change and I’m sure there are others but I’ll cover those in my posts on each condition over the coming weeks. For those of you not interested in this mini-series, don't despair there will be my regular mish mash of posts alongside this mini-series.

Apologies that this is quite a text heavy post and I imagine the ‘Living With ...’ posts that will follow will also be text heavy but I’ll try to include the odd pretty picture in there ;o)

Love Sheen xxx

Sunset on Langkawi island (Malaysia)

Sunset on Langkawi island (Malaysia)

Bubbles, Bagpipes & Kilts In KL

Good Day Everyone,

I thought I'd just share a few photos from our recent weekend in Kuala Lumpur. Since moving to Singapore, we've been to KL a number of times. It is an easy city break, just an hour's flight, and great when you need a change of scenery from Singapore. As great as Singapore is, it's a small place and it can begin to feel a bit claustrophobic, plus with my hubby working very long hours and often on the weekends, I find going away is the best way for him to switch off from work... completely.

We've done a lot of the touristy sights on previous trips and so this trip was just about relaxing and spending some quality time together. We stayed in a lovely hotel next to the Petronas Twin Towers (which are an amazing sight especially at night), right in the heart of the city and spent the weekend chilling, watching TV in bed (a rare treat for us as we don't have a TV at home), eating and catching up with a good friend. 

We also spent a fair amount of time at the Suria KLCC shopping mall located at the base of the Petronas Twin Towers. This shopping mall houses all the typical designer brands that you would expect as well as brands you'd find back home on the British High Street like Topshop, The Body Shop, H&M etc. There is a rather large Sephora store too and I may have made a few sneaky purchases (keep an eye out for a future post on this). As my hubby was kind enough to indulge me with a Sephora fix, it was only right that I returned the favour and indulged his sweet tooth!

At the back of the Petronas Twin Towers and the mall is the KLCC park featuring a large fountain incorporating a light show every evening as well as lush gardens and a children's play area including a pool. 

There's often lots of events going on at the mall and gardens and the weekend we were there was no exception. It was the Petrosains Science Festival and so there were lots of activities and events going on like bagpipes and bubbles. Something that we weren't expecting to see was Malay men dressed in kilts playing the bagpipes and not that I'm any sort of expert in the sound of bagpipes but these guys sounded really good. 

There was also lots of bubbles! I'm not talking about those bubbles that we probably all made as children with the plastic wand and a tube of fairy liquid mixed with water, no these were on a much larger scale. Members of the public could use these ropes on sticks soaked in a fairy liquid type solution to make huge bubbles! There was even a bubble net that created the most amazing bubble cluster.

Now this may sound a bit strange (and I blame my mum's green fingers for this ;o)) but ever since we moved to Singapore I always tend to notice the different types of trees, flowers and plants that they have in Asia compared to back home and have a tendency to photograph any that I find particularly interesting or that I like. A particular favourite of mine is the red bamboo which I think is stunning. This year, as we moved into monsoon season and England moves into autumn/fall, I remember thinking to myself, 'I wonder if we get autumn/fall in Asia?' As a result, I've been paying particular attention to the trees when out and about and have noticed that some of them have leaves that have indeed changed colour. They have become various shades of gold, yellow, brown and even orange. So I guess we do sort of get the autumnal effect in Asia but I think that it's very much over shadowed by the monsoon rains.

I hope you enjoy these types of posts where I share little snippets of some of the sights and places we get to see during our time in Asia and I hope you're all having a great week :o)

Love Sheen xxx

Stila Perfect & Correct Foundation

Good Day Everyone,

I picked up this Stila Perfect & Correct Foundation during my recent ‘Stila splurge’ and have been trying it out for a while and I have to say I’m impressed. A year ago I hadn't even heard of Stila but I’m fast becoming a fan of their products.

Now before I get stuck in let me just say that this is not a full coverage foundation so if that’s the kind of look you go for then I’m afraid it’s not for you. I tend to prefer light to medium coverage but more importantly I like foundations that feel light weight on my skin, rather than heavy and mask like. This foundation has a mousse like consistency and feels incredibly light, so much so that I don’t actually feel like I’m wearing foundation. I find that half a pump is all I need to do my entire face (minus my forehead as I don’t need foundation there. I’m a great believer in only applying foundation where I need it rather than covering my entire face with it). 

If I’m in a rush then I tend to apply this with my fingers, but my preferred method is to stipple it onto my face and then swirl and buff it into my skin using my Real Techniques stippling brush (review) as this creates a very flawless finish. I only apply one layer of the foundation as I find that to be sufficient to even out my skin tone and to reduce the appearance of my dark circles which I then further cover up with a concealer. This foundation can be built up to medium coverage, however, I’d recommend leaving a minute or so in between each layer so that your skin and the foundation have time to adjust to each other and you can see the coverage you're getting as you apply each layer.

On me, this foundation lasts a good 6-8 hours and wears of evenly throughout the day without looking patchy or uneven. In terms of finish, this is neither a matte foundation nor does is it look particularly dewy, like my Bobbi Brown Skin Foundation. I find it leaves my skin looking very natural with a subtle glow. I don’t always tend to powder after I've used this foundation as it’s not dewy or oily looking but sometimes I do dust a little powder on and around my nose if it’s looking a bit oily. I quite like to use this foundation mixed in with my Stila One Step Illuminate (review) as I find this gives more of a ‘glowing from within’ look due to the micro shimmer in the illuminator, making my skin look more luminous and healthy.

I have normal to dry skin and I find this foundation to be very hydrating and it doesn't emphasise any dry areas. The foundation is suspended in a clear serum along with a white swirl containing the built in moisturising primer, however, I do still moisturise my skin before using this as my skin is quite dry but I don't use a separate primer. This clear serum contains Stila's youth revival bio-available mineral complex^TM and the product also contains potent antioxidants as well as skin soothing chamomile. In simple terms, this product seems to provide a lot of nourishing benefits for the skin. According to Stila all this helps to;

• Diminish the look of fine lines and wrinkles
• Minimize pores
• Hydrate and balance
• Control oil

I can't yet comment on the first point but I'd certainly agree with the bottom three points. My skin has always been very happy and appreciative whenever I apply this foundation. Even at the end of the day my skin still feels hydrated which, for a dry skin suffer like me, is great news :o)

I absolutely love the packaging. The foundation comes in a plastic bottle with a pump that's easy to keep clean and the lid comes of easily which is great for my arthritic fingers :o) I've dropped this bottle on tiled and wooden floors and it hasn't even cracked and so I tend to take this foundation with me when travelling! Love robust packaging! One of the things I love the most about the packaging is that there appears to be no product wastage as there is a platform devise (I think it’s called an airless pump but don’t quote me on that) that pushes the product up from the bottom and sides of the bottle as I use up the foundation. You can see from the pictures that I’m about half way through this bottle and there is no foundation stuck to the sides and the bottom of the bottle. Also as the bottle is clear I can see exactly how much product I have left before it runs out. One of my frustrations with some foundations (I’m looking at you my Bobbi Brown Skin Foundation) is not being able to tell how much product I have left and the pump not pumping out all of the product at the bottom of the bottle leading to product wastage and wasted pennies!

The only drawback to this product is that there are only eight shades in the range so don’t you all go expecting to find the perfect shade match! I fall in between Tone and Medium but didn't fancy buying two foundations that I would then mix to create my own custom shade and so I bought the slightly darker shade, Medium. I opted for the darker shade because the foundation can be sheered out and it does seem to colour adapt a little (I think). The end result is that I have a healthy sun kissed colour to my face. If ever I fall in between two shade colours then I will always opt for the slightly darker colour rather than lighter as I always worry that the lighter colour could make me look a bit ‘grey’ and ‘ashy’, whereas a slightly darker colour will make me look more sun-kissed and bronzed.

The foundation costs £28.50 in the UK and you get the standard 30ml (1 fl. oz).

Have you tried this foundation? What was your experience? Which is your favourite foundation?

Love Sheen xxx

My verdict: 5/5
For the UK: http://stila.co.uk/
For the US: http://www.stilacosmetics.com/
For Singapore you can find this product at Sephora

(Note: I purchased this product with my own money)