Ecotools Makeup Brush Set

A couple of weeks ago I did a haul post (here) for you lovely lot which included my bargain brand spanking new Ecotools makeup brushes which I bought off eBay.

I know it's taken me a while, but as promised I have finally got round to doing the review, so here goes!

The Ecotools set consists of five different brushes and a brush roll which is really handy if you do any travelling or if, like me you commute to work and do your makeup once you get there (just because I'm too lazy to get up any earlier).

It's eco-friendly features include:

• Bamboo handles
• Synthetic, cruelty free Taklon bristles
• Recycled aluminium ferrule
• Brush roll make from natural cotton and hemp
• Reusable storage pouch

But are they any good?

L-R: Blush brush, concealer brush, eye shading brush, eyeliner brush and lash and brow groomer

Blush brush - this brush is so soft and great for either blusher or powder. I have personally been using it for blusher and it blends the colour in really well (no looking like you've been using stencils), without any shedding whatsoever. A truly great brush that I'm not quite so sure how I've lived without up to now - my favourite of the set, hands down.

Eye shading brush - Another great brush that does exactly what it says on the tin. It makes even application effortless and again, no shedding and so so soft.

Eyeliner brush - Now I don't use gel eyeliner but I have instead been using this on my eyebrows to fill in my bare bits. Again, fab. Allows a good amount of precision: not too sloppy and not too severe.

Lash and brow groomer - Unfortunately I can't say I will be getting much use out of this brush, although it did come in handy when I opened a new mascara earlier this week which gave me clumpy lashes. The clumps were really easy to remove using this brush and it seperated my lashes well.

Concealer brush - Great quality (are you getting the general gist here?). Soft, no shedding, no complaints.

 These are really great brushes that I would truly recommend to anyone, whether you are just starting out with makeup or are an absolute enthusiast.

Have you used any Ecotools products before?
What did you think?

I purchased my Ecotools set from this eBay seller for an amazing £3.98

They are unfortunately no longer stocking them, but you can purchase the exact same set here for £4.18 plus free delivery.

 Thanks for reading,
Jo xx

DIY Beaded Bracelet

A few weeks back, a few of my friends and I had a bit of a shopping trip to Manchester. For a while we had been talking about buying some beads so that we could make our own little bracelets...not rocket science I know, but being a bracelet-oholic I was so excited about this!

We popped into The Bead Shop in Afflecks Palace, which is like a dream for anyone with a crafty side to them! It has every different type and colour of beads and charms you could ever imagine, all in one cosy jam-packed room. We literally spent so long in there swooning over all of the pretty beads! I really wish I had some pictures of it so I could show you, I got so excited when I walked in...it's a bit sad really!

Anyway, all of the different beads and charms are individually priced excluding the plain coloured beads, which are priced at something like 10 for 25p.

My beads came to about £4.30 altogether, which may sound a little pricey for a bunch of beads but I think it is still pretty reasonable for a bracelet that I will wear to death!

L-R: Gift* | DIY bracelet | Matalan | H&M | market in Rome

What do you think of my design?

 Do you have a similar crafty type of shop near you? 

Thanks for reading,

Jo xx

Come Dine With Me | Iced Lemon Mousse

 So here we have it, the third and final installment of my Come Dine With Me menu!

Following on from my prawn bruschettas (here) and lamb tagine (here), I made iced lemon mousses for the dessert.

Now this has to be the easiest thing you could possibly make for dessert...it was literally so simple, and went down an absolute treat! Really can't go wrong!

Ingredients:

• 300g jar lemon curd
• Zest 1 lemon
• 300ml pot double cream
• 25g lemon shortbreads or biscuits

(Serves 6)

1. Put 2/3s of the lemon curd into a large bowl with the zest and cream and beat until it holds its shape

2. Dribble over the rest of the lemon curd and divide between 6 small pots/glasses, marbling the curd as you go

3. Freeze for 30-40 minutes

4. Top with crumbs and serve

This was taken before I realised I forgot the biscuit crumbs...oops

How easy is that!?

The full recipe can be found on the Good Food website here



What are some of your favourite desserts to make?

Do you have any good recipes?

Do you enjoy reading recipe posts?



Dennis looking all handsome for the evening!

 Thanks for reading,

Jo xo





Liebster Award!

The other day whilst reading through my blog comments, I was absolutely delighted to find that both Chloe over on Chloe Leonard MakeUp, and Hannah from A Pretty Mess had nominated me for a Liebster Award!

 

Not knowing exactly what this was (yes, you have permission to call me stupid), I did a bit of research and found that it is an award especially for newer bloggers with less than 200 followers.

 

The Liebster Award badge can be displayed on your blog once a number of different tasks have been performed... (cue serious face).

 

• each person tagged must post 11 things about themselves
• they must answer the 11 questions the tagger has set for them
• they must create 11 more questions to ask bloggers they tag
• they must choose 11 bloggers to tag (with less than 200 followers)
• they must tell the 11 bloggers
• no tag backs

Now what I want to know is...why 11? Seems a very random number to me.

Anyways I thought I would answer both of the lovely ladies 11 questions in one post, so here we go!

 

11 things about me:

1. I wasn't into make up and beauty at a young age at all - my mum wouldn't let me wear a full face of make up until I was about 15! It was only when I started reading beauty blogs about a year ago that my interest grew
2. I am a third year uni student studying radiography
3. Not being able to paint my nails whilst doing practical work in the hospital really stresses me out. Sad I know, but my naked nails suck.
4. I play badminton for two teams in two local leagues
5. I can't go a day without having at least one brew

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6. I have a cat called Dennis...we didn't name him but he definitely lives up to his name. He's insane
7. I also have a very sensible dog called Louis, just to balance that one out
8. My best friend has just moved to Italy for a year. Give me sympathy 'cause it sucks!
9. I am slowly trying to conquer my fear of bright coloured lipstick...or any lipstick for that matter. Dont get me wrong, I love how it looks on other people, I'm just not convinced it looks right on me!
10. I have the worst memory ever
11. I am a typical girly girl who is instantly won over by anthing pink/sparkly

11 questions from Chloe:

1. What do you love most about the summer? Longer days and being able to spend more time in the fresh air. Summer just has a habit of making life seem that bit sweeter!
2. What is your favourite tv programme/movie? Don't just me but it has to be TOWIE...I know I know, but it's addictive!
3. Who's your favourite YouTube guru/blogger and why? Victoria over on Victoria's Vintage. I absolutely love nosying at her bargain buys, competition wins and her seriously cute little kitten. Her blog is just adorable, it was one of the first blogs I ever read and I still read every single post
4. Who is your celebrity crush? Taylor Lautner. I don't think there's really any need to expand on that one.
5. What is your favourite meal? Sunday roast. Although we're a bit of a weird family in that we never actually have them on Sunday, we always have it when my mum's just been to ASDA so that the chicken's fresh!
6. What do you do to stay fit and healthy? Lots of badminton, and lots of fruit and veg.
7. What's your favourite item of clothing? Leggings: comfy without looking too slobby
8. What's your favourite perfume? Calvin Klein Euphoria
9. What's your favourite makeup brand and why? MUA, just because the prices are unbeatable for such decent quality products
10. What's your go-to makeup look if you're in a hurry and can't be bothered? Foundation, blusher, eyebrow pencil, mascara, sorted.
11. Have you any regrets since starting your blog? Just that I started it in my third year at uni...probably a bad move!

11 questions from Hannah:

1. What is your dream job? Ever since I was tiny I'd always wanted to be a vet, I just couldn't quite reach the grades
2. Who's makeup do you see and become the green-eyed monster? Millie from Made in Chelsea...her skin is always flawless!
3. If you could only read one blog and that's it, who's would it be? Victoria's Vintage
4. You're on a deserted Island and a hot guy/girl is coming to save you. What 3 makeup items did you save? Rimmel Wake Me Up foundation, Max Factor False Lash Effect mascara and Clinique blusher.
5. What product do you live by? Good Things Fresh Start cleanser
6. Your motto? Live every day as if it were your last
7. Favourite film? P.S. I Love You
8. What's your favourite cocktail and place to drink it? Anything remotely fruity I love! In an ideal world it would be somewhere extremely hot...Tenerife? I wish
9. What's the most played song on your iTunes? Ed Sheeran - Small Bump
10. What's your most viewed post? Cath Kidston freebie post
11. Who makes you the happiest? My family

My 11 questions:

1. High street or designer?
2. What is your favourite lipstick colour/shade?
3. What is your favourite brand of nail varnish?
4. What food do you dislike?
5. What's your favourite fake tan? 
6. What hobbies do you have other than blogging?
7. What's your favourite high street store?
8. How many piercings do you have and where?
9. Do you have any tattoos? What/where?
10. What is your all time favourite foundation?
11. What is your favourite snack?

I tag:

 

Dina at Dina's Thoughts

Georgia at Georgiabeee

Hannah at Beauty Ramblings

Helen at Helen Hearts

Jasmine at Vintage Rose: Fashion Blog

Jennifer at Cotton Buddle

Lola at Lola and Behold

Louise at Confetti Letters

Mollie at Mollie Muses

Rachael at Dreamer

Rebecca at Make-up...Not Made-up!

 

 

Thanks again to Chloe and Hannah for nominating me.

Get busy girlies!

 

I look forward to reading your tags

 

Love,

Jo xo

 

 

 



 



All Things Beautiful | Natural Eye Makeup Challenge

A few weeks ago, the lovely Beth over on All Things Beautiful posted up her idea of an eye makeup challenge.

The idea is that every other day there is an eye makeup theme and you can submit your interpretation of that theme to be featured on her blog.

The full set of rules can be found here, and the themes are as follows:

Now, I was pretty keen to get stuck into my new MUA Undressed pallette, but being a bit rubbish at eye makeup I thought I would just have bit of a go at one of the simpler themes.

So here is my version of Day 1 - Something Natural.

Stupidly I decided to do this just as it was starting to get dark, so by the time I'd finished I was struggling for daylight to take the pictures.
Idiot.

I used shades 2, 6 and 7 from the MUA undressed pallette to achieve this look.

What do you think?
Will you be giving Beth's challenge a go?

Thanks for reading,
Jo xo

Come Dine With Me | Lamb Tagine

So following on from the lemony prawn bruschettas in my last Come Dine With Me post here, the main course of the evening was lamb tagine.

I have to admit this took me a lot longer than I expected it to, mainly because I found cutting up the lamb an absolute nightmare!

I have some kind of fear of raw meat...I think it feels absolutely vile. That squidgy, slimey, cold gooeyness, EW.

Anyway enough of that, the recipe went as follows:

Ingredients:

• 1 tbsp ground ginger
• 1-2 tsp black pepper
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tbsp turmeric
• 1.5 tbsp paprika
• 0.5 tsp chilli powder
• 2.5lb/1.1kg cubed boneless lamb
• 450g/1lb grated onions
• 3 crushed garlic cloves with 0.5tsp salt
• 5 tbsp olive oil
• 175g/6oz dried apricots
• 50g/2oz raisins/sultanas
• 85g/3oz toasted flaked almonds
• 1 tbsp honey
• 300ml/0.5 pint tomato juice
• 400g can chopped tomatoes
• 300ml/0.5 pint hot lamb stock (I actually used vegetable stock instead)
• fresh chopped coriander to garnish
• couscous to serve

(Serves 6)



 1. Put the spices in a small bowl and mix them well. Put the lamb in a large bowl and coat them evenly in the spices using your hands

2. Put the casserole dish on high heat on the hob and heat the oil. Add the lamb and cook until browned. You may need to do this in batches.

3. When all of the meat is browned, remove it from the pan, turn the heat down low and add the onions and garlic. Stir and cook until soft but not browned, stirring often. This will take about 10 minutes.

4. Return the lamb to the pan and stir in the remaining ingredients. Bring to the boil, cover and turn the heat down. The casserole should be left to simmer for approximately 2 hours, stirring halfway through.

5. About 15 minutes before the end, prepare the couscous and serve.

Ok so admittedly my presentation was pants but trust me, my friends eat with their mouths, not their eyes.

This really did taste good, even if I do say so myself!

It went down a treat.

This recipe is off a page ripped from a magazine which I think was a Good Food magazine!

Will you be giving this a go?

Have you got any good, simple recipes for dinner parties?

The lovely Louis :)

Thanks for reading,

Jo xo





Collective Haul | Boots, Superdrug and Bodycare

So I planned on going into Boots just to stock up on the essentials.

Did I stick to my plan? Did I heck.

I then continued on into Bodycare and Superdrug to buy a couple more not-so-essentials.

As is life, eh?

Not the most exciting of hauls, but I'm a student, what can I say.

First up, the goodies from Boots and Superdrug:

Good Things Face the Day moisturiser, £7.99, and Fresh Start creamy cleanser, £4.99

I'm a bit confused seeing as when I bought these they were both discounted (can't remember how much I paid exactly) rather than on 3 for 2 offer as listed on the website?

Anyway, these have worked absolute wonders on my skin since I started using them so these are my back ups - I don't want another mascara incident!

Maybelline Dream Satin Liquid foundation in Nude, £7.99, Dream Smooth primer, £8.99 and Dream Touch Lumi concealer, £6.99 free!

I actually only needed the foundation, but seeing as they were on 3 for 2 I thought I'd also give the primer and concealer a go. I must say, so far I'm impressed!

MUA lipstick in shade 8, £1, and Undressed pallette, £3

Neither of these were necessary. But I am a bit of a lipstick phobic and can never figure out which colours and shades would suit my skin tone, and which would look ridiculous. The price tag of these lippys means I can have a play around with different colours for next to nothing!

And with not being able to justify the price tag of the beautiful Urban Decay Naked pallette, it is kind of necessary that I own MUA undressed instead.

My teeny tiny Bodycare haul:

Facial wipes, £1 per packet, Osiris exfoliating facial scrub, £1, and Rimmel Wake Me Up foundation in soft beige, £5.99

Pretty boring stuff, but I have been after adding a facial scrub to my weekly routine to see if it makes much difference to my skin, so I thought I'd try this one out for starters and see how it goes.

After seeing the Wake Me Up hype sweep across the blogosphere, I literally could not resist picking it up at such a bargain price.

Am I converted?

I have used it twice and I can already safely say that my brand spanking new bottle of Dream Satin Liquid is going straight down the drain. Well, straight on eBay.

I love this stuff!

So there we have it. I've got to say, writing this post up has made me feel a lot less guilty about my unnecessary little haul. It doesn't look as much on paper. Phew!

Thanks for reading,

Jo xo



Follow Me on Bloglovin' and Help??

You can now follow Painted Glitter on bloglovin' here:

<a href="http://www.bloglovin.com/blog/4106036/?claim=fje9mg58rk4">Follow my blog with Bloglovin</a>

I have a couple of what are probably seriously stupid questions regarding both Bloglovin and HelloCotton...

Firstly with Bloglovin', how do you know what your username is?

On HelloCotton, why aren't my blog posts showing up on my profile (i.e. why isn't my RSS feed working)?

Told you they were stupid questions...facepalm.

Any help would be seriously appreciated!

Thanks!

Jo xo

Revlon 3D Extreme Mascara

Now my all time favourite mascara is Max Factor's False Lash Effect Mascara. It is the one mascara I go back to time and time again (if you would like a review on this mascara (with a half decent picture) let me know!).

However, a few weeks ago I ran out without having bought a back up. Could have cried.
Whilst sifting through my make up stash for a replacement, I found Revlon 3D Extreme mascara in 01 Blackest Black.

I remember receiving this in a make up set my mum bought me for Christmas, so I thought I may as well give it a go.

First off, the packaging is A-MAZING. Just how expensive does this mascara look?! I'm a sucker for anything shiny (easily pleased, I know), so this definitely ticks all the bonus boxes for appearance.

The brush is an average size with, quite frankly, a bit of a strange bulbous tip. It does however separate the lashes well and although I did find a bit of difficulty with coating the smaller lashes, I didn't experience any clumping. The mascara definitely did boost the length of my lashes, but being a fan of big eyelashes I was left a little disappointed with the amount of volume it provided.

I apologise for the seriously poor photo, it was the best of a bad bunch! But I'm sure you get the idea

Don't get me wrong my eyelashes definitely appeared thicker, just not quite thick enough for my liking. I felt a little naked to be quite honest. I did also find this mascara to begin to dry out relatively more quickly than usual, but this may just be because I am used to my mascara being a lot more wet to begin with.

Negatives aside, in terms of wear it lasted me the day with no smudging or flaking issues, so a massive thumbs up for that!

All in all, although I will still be returning to my trusty False Lash Effect, I really would recommend this for anyone looking for a slightly more natural looking mascara. I was really impressed by the lengthening and staying powers.

Now, the best bit about this mascara is the price.

I can't find Revlon 3D Extreme Mascara on either the Boots or the Superdrug websites, but...

...you can buy it here from Ebay for just £3.75 with free delivery!

I also have a feeling that in the past this has been stocked in some Poundland stores...can anyone confirm this for definite?

What is your go-to mascara?

Do you prefer more emphasis on lash volume or length?

Thanks for reading,

Jo x




(Don't forget to enter the lovecats inc's fab 1000 follower giveaway to win 30 beauty products!)

Come Dine With Me | Lemony Prawn Bruschettas

A few weeks back, three of my friends and I decided to do our own little Come Dine With Me before we all scooted off back to uni (or to Italy in Ivy's case).

Now an amazing cook I definitely am not. But seeing as my meal went down pretty well (and the recipes were pretty straight forward), I thought I would do a few recipe posts on what I made!

So this first post is the recipe for the starter, lemony prawn bruschettas.

Ingredients:

• 4 baguette slices
• 1 tsp olive oil
• 2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
• 1 chilli, deseeded and thinly sliced
• 200g raw prawns
• Juice of 1 lemon
• Small bunch of chopped coriander leaves
• 2 handfuls of rocket

(serves 2)

1. Toast the bread and keep warm

2. Heat the oil in a wok and cook the garlic and chilli until sizzling

3. Add the prawns and cook until pink

4. Remove from the heat, and add the lemon juice and coriander

5. Season and serve

Pretty simple, right?

The only thing I did differently was using cooked prawns and just heating them up in the pan...however I would recommend sticking to using raw prawns, as I ended up not heating mine enough and they were a bit cold!

But other than that it was a nice, simple starter

The full recipe can be found on the Good Food website here.

Will you be giving this a go?
Have you got any nice, simple starters recipes?


Thanks for reading,
Jo xo

Collective Haul | Including Matalan, eBay and The Range

So last weekend I popped into Matalan to have a little mooch around, and believe it or not they actually have some lovely stuff in there at the minute!

I thought I would show you lovely lot what I bought.

 (I have shoved a few other recent purchases on the end too, seeing as there wasn't really enough of them to do a separate post for!)

So here's the Matalan lot to start off with:

 

Navy blue and brown quilted jacket £30
Apologies for the awful picture but I've wanted one of these for ages, and this one is perfect!

Chunky knit contrast sleeve cardigan, £20
Now this looks a lot better in real life than it does in the picture, and it is so cosy it's unreal.
 Also comes in grey and black

Pack of 3 stud earrings, was £4 now £2
I only really bought these for the turquoise crosses which I love

Pack of 4 bracelets, was £6 now £3
Pastel colours...enough said

Double layer peace pendant necklace, was £5 now £2.50
I've been looking for a really long necklace for ages now, and this fits the bill perfectly

Floral paper bin, £4
Boringness made cute, yay

Matalan have some fab jewellery at the minute. Definitely worth a peek.

Aaaannnddd the rest...

Red superdry hoodie , £25 from a private eBay seller
Okay don't judge me on this one!!
I play a lot of badminton (and have a lot of lazy-arse sundays) and have been after a red Superdry hoodie for so long because of their amazing fit and I love this gorgeous red colour. I just couldn't justify the £45 price tag, so when I saw this one for £25 I snapped it up... and boy am I glad I did, it's the comfiest hoodie ever!
Please say I'm forgiven?

Ecotools set of 6 makeup brushes, £3.98 from this eBay seller
Fab seller, review coming soon

Urban Thirst pineapple and raspberry vodka flavouring, was £5.99 now £4, TK Maxx
Dislike the taste of vodka, enjoy its effect... this could be the solution.
And what a fab bottle!

Cardigan, £5.50, charity shop (initially M&S)
Very granny-esque

2012 diary, £1.99, the Range
Preparation at its best. Only 2 months 'til Christmas guys!!

2 sheets of pretty paper, 49p each, the Range
I have plans for these, expect a DIY post in the near future :)


And that's the lot!


Have you made any purchases recently? I'd love to see your posts if you would like to link them below!


Thanks for reading,
Jo xo

Help with Picture Uploader??

I am having trouble with the Blogger picture uploader!!

When I write posts and try to add pictures by pressing 'insert image', the image uploader won't load at all, so I can't add any pictures to my posts!

Has this happened to anyone before?

Does anyone know how to resolve it?

I have already tried to allow pop ups on my browser and that isn't working, so any help would be great

Thanks!
Jo xo

Back to Uni Essentials

Now I know I'm probably a little late on the whole back-to-uni malarky, seeing as it is now October.

And almost half term.

But if you're anything like me, if there is one thing that's going to motivate you to sit down and do any work, it's going to be pretty stationary. Sad I know, but need must!

So here is a small selection of the pretty little gems on offer

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9

Can you tell I'm a bit of a filing addict?

Paperchase have some gorgeous stuff in at the minute (as always!) but Wilko's has some lovely cheaper options that are definitely worth checking out if you're working with a tighter budget like me...I just like to lust :) 

Thanks for reading,

Jo x