Pearls & Poodles Giveaway + DIY Projects

I found out earlier this week that I had won Milly's 1 year blog birthday giveaway of a MAC lipstick and an eyeshadow. I was over the moon and could not believe how lucky I was! Thank you so much again, Milly :D If you don't already follow Milly's blog, why not?! It's amazing, with a mix of beauty, fashion and lots of gorgeous cupcakes, you should all go and take a look!

I was able to choose which lipstick and eyeshadow I wanted, so I opted for Viva Glam Cyndi lipstick which I've wanted for a while now and Brun eyeshadow to fill in my eyebrows.

I've been at home for reading week this past week and when I got back to uni last night, I saw a little parcel from MAC outside my room and actually squeed before running into my room and ripping the box open.



As soon as I got into my room, I whipped Viva Glam Cyndi out of the box and applied it. It is a perfect coral-red, which is suitable for day and night. I love it! Brun is a lovely matte dark brown. It blends in perfectly with my brows and I can also see myself using this in my crease with some of the colours from my Naked Palette.

Since I've been back, I've also been inspired to do a little bit of DIY.

I made myself an eyeshadow primer, following Ingrid/MissGlamorazzi's tutorial here. I was surprised at how easy it was to make! All you need is foundation, concealer and moisturiser!

I forgot to take a picture before I mixed everything together!

L-R: On its own, over Urban Decay Primer Potion, over DIY Primer

In her video, Ingrid showed swatches of the DIY primer in comparison to other high end primers. I decided to do this as well to show how good the DIY primer is! The black eyeshadow is by BeautyUK and on its own, it looks like a washed out black/grey. With UDPP and the DIY primer, you can see how pigmented/intense it becomes. Surprisingly, the DIY primer makes the shadow pretty much as intense as the UDPP does! I don't think it'll help to delay creasing, but it's definitely a good alternative to forking out for the high end primers or if you run out of your favourite primer.

I also decided to make my own palette using Fee/MakeupSavvy's tutorial here on using a sanitary towel protective tin that came free with packs of Bodyform. I've had this box since I was in year 7, where everyone tried to be discreet and slide their towel up their school jumper sleeve without anyone noticing (Or was it just the girls in my school that did that?). It's been sat in my drawer for years now, so I decided to make use of it and turn it into a palette.


The MUA eyeshadows were super easy to depot. All I did was slide my knife between the pan and the plastic and lever it out. I was expecting to need to use my straightners to melt the glue a little, but no heat was required. Trying to depot the Beauty UK shadow was another story! I managed to flick a massive chunk of it out, dent the pan and in the end, didn't even end up depotting it. Bad times.


I still have some space in the tin, so I might depot some of my other random eyeshadows at a later date.

I just thought I'd throw in some swatches of the MUA eyeshadows. They're so pigmented and soft. I love them and for only £1 (90p if you have an NUS card or fill out a survey online - See the back of the receipt!), they're great value for money! I really like the MUA brand - It's affordable and great quality.

L-R: Shade 12, Shade 1, Shade 11

Sorry for the lengthy post. If you read it all, I congratulate you :)

Thank you for reading. xoxo, Joy