The Importance of Pencil Eyeliner | MAC Coffee Eye Pencil Review

Now I don't know about you, but pencil eyeliner on my waterline in some way or another is absolutely essential in pretty much any of my makeup routines; everyday, nights out, natural or dramatic. It's just about finding the right one to fit the right purpose (I'm after a good white one at the mo, so suggestions are welcome!)

I recently purchased MAC's Coffee Eye Pencil, after seeing it on numerous tutorials, I had to have it in my kit.

How it applies after just one swipe

Application- Creamy
Longevity- Medium
Price Range- ££
Product Life Span- Long
My Rating- ♥♥♥♥

This eyeliner applies so nice and smoothly that you literally need one swipe for amazing pigmentation of it. As a result of its creamy-ness however, I find it does smudge off, but I guess you get that with most pencil eyeliners! Just be prepared to reapply a couple of times throughout the day.

At £14 a piece, I think this is priced really reasonable for a more high-end eye pencil, considering the way it applies. Furthermore, I find that I barely have to sharpen it because of this creamy application and I feel it is going to last a long long time, adding to this great price!

I gave it four hearts for my rating because I've pretty much been using it daily. I think the colour is great because it's dramatic enough if you wanna use it for the evening, but because it isn't totally black, it makes a great daytime eyeliner as well. If it lasted all day I'd give it five, but I just don't think I'll have that with any pencil eyeliners!

Here are some before and after pictures so you can get an idea of the difference it makes. I think it's so so essential for me!

Before

After

Before

After

With Mascara

I hope this was helpful, and if you have anymore questions about the prodcut just holla at yo girl!

Dani Alexandra
Xoxo

Daytime Simple and Awakening Makeup Look

The past few weeks I've been doing some super early 7am shifts at work (which means waking up at half 5 WAA), so I've really been enjoying wearing this look. It's really really easy to do and doesn't take long at all. I just feel like it makes me look a bit more awake and glowing when in actual fact under it all, I am pretty much asleep..



If you like this look, then keep reading :)


I start by, as always, priming my T-Zone with Benefit's Porefessional. I just use my fingers to blend it into my skin. I then use the Garnier Caffeine Anti-Dark Circles 2-in-1 Roll-On, I think in the shade either Medium or Dark, I cant quite remember (and it's not on the bottle)! I use this under my foundation because I feel that the caffeine and anti-dark circle stuff probably works better directly on the skin, but that's just me! I also just dab that in with my finger. I then buff my Rimmel Wake Me Up Foundation in Soft Beige all over my face using my Sigma F80 Flat Kabuki Brush. I used about a pump and a half today.


I conceal/highlight my eyes, sides of nose, chin and forehead with the Yves Saint Laurent Touche Eclat Radiant Touch in 1 (I probably need a slightly darker one to be honest, but I also feel the lighter colour wakes my face up a bit more!) and then set that and the rest of my face with the Rimmel Stay Matte Transparent Powder. Yes, there is no lid and yes, I lost it on a night out. I do not know how...



I put some colour back in my face by contouring my cheekbones and forehead with NARS Laguna Bronzer and then join that contouring together via my temples. It just gives my face so much more definition and nice sun kissed glow, especially after sweeping some NARS Gina Blusher up that contour line. I then fill my eyebrows in like I always do with the Rimmel Eyebrow Pencil in Black Brown, then clean up any mistakes or eyebrow fallout with the Touche Eclat.



I then take my Sigma E25 Blending Brush with my Laguna and just blend that into my crease. It just gives the eyes more definition and wakes them up that little bit more. I'm loving eyeliner flicks at the mo and I think gel liner is great at making them look professional and sleek, as well as it being a lot easier to control. So saying that, I did a flick and a medium-ish line of Topshop Gel Liner Ink using a Sigma E56 Small Angle Brush. I then lined my waterline with the MAC Coffee Eye Pencil, which I think is great for the daytime because it adds nice definition to the eyes, while not looking too harsh because of the colour. I finally finished the eyes off with a couple coats of Yves Saint Laurent Baby Doll Mascara on my top and bottom lashes.



I finish off the look with Yves Saint Laurent Rouge Volupte Lipstick in 13 Peach Passion. This lipstick is so so creamy, which unfortunately means every little crack and piece of dry skin on your lips is so visible (so excuse the picture), but I do actually really like it for the daytime because it's a little softer and subtle, and again adds to the whole sort of 'awakening' attempt. I also think this colour is absolutely GORGEOUS.

And that's it! I hope you enjoyed this look, have a great week :)












Dani Alexandra
Xoxo

MOTD- TGIF

And no, that isn't match of the day ;)





Foundation- Rimmel Wake Me Up
Blusher- NARS Gina
Eyeshadow- MAC Coppering and Amber Lights
Lipstick- YSL Rouge Volupte in Peach Passion

Have a good weekend ♥

Dani Alexandra
Xoxo

Makeup Haul!

So, after all the Christmas debt I couldn't really buy myself much in January. But now it is February. The end of February to be precise, and I got paid today! So naturally, I headed straight towards Brent Cross (shopping center in North London), whipped out the notes on my iPhone to see what was on my very long list of "to-buy" cosmetics and considered how much I could spend. I can live off of £50 a week this month can't I? Anyway, enough jibber jabber. this is what I got....!







MAC Pro Palette, 15 Eyeshadow Insert, Amber Lights and Coppering


I'm so happy that I've finally started my own MAC Pro Palette collection! I thought these two colours were so beautiful and perfect for the spring. I saw a Jaclyn Hill makeup tutorial using them and thought they'd just be the perfect shades to start my collection with.

MAC Eye Pencil in Coffee

I always wear black eyeliner and thought this coffee colour would make a nice change, especially for the spring! When I swotched it on my hand it seemed to glide quite nicely, so stay tuned!

NARS Blusher in Gina

I've wanted this blusher for agessss. I think it's the perfect subtle coral and I'm so excited to try it! I think it will give the perfect rosey glow for, once again, spring! (Can you see a theme occurring in this haul?)

NARS Lipstick in Schiap

I saw a photo on someone else's blog (I'm sorry I can't remember who) of a girl with bright neon pink lipstick and black eye makeup and I just fell in love with the look, hence why this lipstick was purchased. Now to find an occasion where I can be brave enough to rock it...

Yves Saint Laurent Rouge Volupte Lipstick in 13 Peach Passion

Obviously like most, YSL has drawn me to buy one of their lipsticks because there is just no other packaging like it. I wanted a lipstick I could wear daily and this colour is just gorgeous. It's a really soft orangey pick (peach I guess you'd obviously say) and is just perfect for day time, although could definitely be worn in the evening as well. It's really really creamy and I think it's gonna actually be really moisturising to the lips!

Yves Saint Laurent Touche Eclat Radiant Touch in 1 with Baby Doll Mascara and Eye Creme Samples


I actually was just going to get the full size of the Baby Doll Mascara after a friend recommended it to me, but for the same price in John Lewis you could get a full size Touche Eclat (which I know I like) with free samples of both the mascara and an eye cream from their new Forever Youth Liberator range. I am thrilled! Now I can see if I like the mascara and get the full size if I want it, as well as getting 2 other products!

Topshop Gel Liner Ink

I haven't used a gel liner before and seeing as I got a brush to use with one in my Sigma Essentials Brush Kit, I though why the hell not! I went for this Topshop one because it had decent reviews and is quite cheap for me to experiment with.

Rimmel Hide the Blemish in Soft Honey, Wake Me Up Foundation in Soft Beige and Stay Matte Powder in Transparent

Boots were doing 3-for-2 on Rimmel products and seeing as I use my YSL foundation DAILY, I wanted a drugstore foundation so my expensive one could be saved for special occasions. I went for the Wake Me Up because I have heard nothing but great things about it. I have also heard the Hide The Blemish Concealer is pretty decent so thought why not! And finally, I'm in the market for a new pressed setting powder and seeing as this would be free, I thought I'd give it a go. I'll let you know my thoughts...

Dani Alexandra
Xoxo