A day in London

Royal Academy

Regent Street

Carnaby Street

Liberty London

Oxford Street

At the weekend, my friend, mum and I went to London for the day.  It was meant to be a cultural trip to the Royal Academy art gallery, however inevitably we spent a lot of time going round the shops! I know this post is very picture heavy however I got carried away taking photos.

Currently, at the Royal Academy they have their annual summer exhibition. I'm not necessarily an art enthusiast but they did have some interesting pieces. We also had a look at the Hockney exhibition - a collection of portraits. But the main attraction for me was walking around Carnaby street. I think Carnaby has to be my all time favourite street in London - mainly because it has the only MAC store that stock loose pigments aha. Anyway the MAC there is definitely worth a visit and I included a picture of the Monki store as it looked amazing!

We didn't end up going into Liberty but I of course had to take a picture of the flowers! Even if your like me and can't afford anything in there, Liberty's is great to look around. By the end of the day we ended up on Oxford street and looked in a few of the shops; by that time my feet were hurting quite a bit. I couldn't forget to mention that whilst walking to Selfridges there was a girl playing the drums - she was amazing and her twitter is @bananadrummer. But there is always so much going on and lots of things to see in London especially as regent Street is traffic free every Sunday in July.

Hope you like this different type of post, although I still managed to mention makeup! Let me know if you've been to London or if there's anything you particularly like to do there.

-Beth

My MAC Quad

More recently, I've become really interested in eyeshadow. I know previously in the past I bought it purely because it looked pretty and I rarely wore it. However, thankfully that is not the case now and I consequently decided to treat my self and start a MAC quad, which I've filled with my own choices of shades gradually over the past few months. As well as being a great way to collect gorgeous eyeshadows, the MAC customisable palettes are great fun to fill even if £10 for a single eyeshadow is borderline very overpriced aha. I'd also suggest, if your not an expert, which I am not, chatting online to makeup artists or in store is really helpful when getting an idea of which shades will compliment each other.

Folie (Upper Left) - This shadow is a satin finish and is essentially matte. It is a really stunning pigmented brown shade with a red/rust undertone. It's one of those shades that I feel is an essential and the perfect brown to go with cranberry. Not only does it look gorgeous through the crease or to darken the outer corner of the lid, I also love to wear it all over the lid. I might do a post on one of these looks, let me know if you'd be interested!

Cranberry (Upper Right) - I decided to base the whole quad around this shade. When I bought it it was a bit out of my comfort zone however I've worn it so many times since, even around the house as it is so pretty! It is a true cranberry colour and is a frost finish with a nice shimmer to it. I will say though the pigmentation is not as good as the other shades however with a bit of MAC fix plus I've heard this is not such a problem, I am yet to own it myself though.

Texture (Lower Left) - This is the perfect orangey brown transition shade, recommended to me by a friend! It is one of MAC's Velvet formula eyeshadows; velvety being exactly how it feels to use. The shadow is also amazingly pigmented and has a slight shimmer in the pan, although on the lid this is barely noticeable. Another must-have shade.

Haux (Lower Right) - My most recent purchase to complete the palette and a very muted, brown toned pink. It is a satin finish and again really nicely pigmented and lovely to work with (although I have not properly worn it yet aha). I envision this working well as a transition shade for a more rosy toned look.

All in all I love this palette and its versatility; I also don't feel as though there is one shade I would change at the moment. The pigmentation of the shadows with the exception of cranberry (which is by no means bad) is excellent and they all blend beautifully. I personally always wear them over a primer/base (MAC Painterly), however they are swatched without. I'd love to know if any of you have collected any MAC eyeshadows you love, I am so tempted to start collecting more, it is very addictive aha. 

-Beth