My MAC eyeshadow palette :-)

Hi everyone,

I am really excited to share this post with you today because it is my MAC eyeshadow pallet :). I love MAC eye shadows and as soon as I finish this post I will probably have to update it as I am constantly buying them. They all have an amazing finish and great pigmentation.

This is my eyeshadow pallet I keep them in the MAC pro pallet which you can get at any MAC store or online. Forgive me they are well used and don't look so great.

MAC have a few different finishes for their eye shadows and by finishes I mean the texture and appearance of an eyeshadow. This will affect the colour payoff and the result for the final look. Another thing that will affect how they look on you is weather you have cool or warm toned skin if you don't know check out my blog on how to find out.

Matte

Matte is classified as high colour payoff and no shine matte finish. These eye shadows have no shine, no glitter and no frost they do not reflect light. You will get the most intense colour with a matte shade.

The shades I have in the matte finish are:

Atlantic blue is a cobalt blue in the pan however this has very little colour payoff I had to scrape the colour out of the pan to get the intensity in the photo. I don't think I will be repurchase this as I was very disappointed with it.

Rule is orange there is no other description for this colour except bright orange, but don't think its not wearable smoked out with swiss chocolate it looks amazing.

Wedge is another warm toned shadow it is a nice light brown and can be worn all over the lid or in the crease for a little bit of colour during the day.

Swiss chocolate is a gorgeous medium brown its very warm toned with a definite orange base.

Embark this eyeshadow is a very intense brown with warm undertones and a matte finish.

Carbon is described as an intense black which may be true if you pack it on but it is a little sheer in my opinion.

Frost 

Frost finish is an iridescent shine that will add highlight to any colour. Frost finish has reflecting particles throughout and creates a pearly shiny effect.

The shades I have in frost finish are:

Naked lunch is a nice warm toned champagne colour I would normally wear this all over the lid as a base colour or over another colour to add sparkle.

Paradisco is a beautiful coral/pink colour with a gold undertone and is one of my more used colours I love this colour because it has a pretty soft shimmer to it.

Amber lights is a very rich coppery brown with gold shimmer in it. It has a warm orange undertone with a metallic finish. 

Steamy this is quite a cool toned green/teal shade with shimmer in it. Its such a pretty colour, one you need to see in person as the camera doesn't do it justice. 

Tilt this is a very light blue with a shimmery finish also one I don't reach for that often as it is so shimmery. However it has an amazing duo chrome effect and one you need to check out in person.

Satin

Satin finish gives colour in a smooth finish it provides a soft subtle non-frost sheen. 

In the satin finish I have:

Brule can be described as a soft creamy beige and is a good base/highlight colour.

Orb is a soft pink/peach it is more for highlighting or as a base colour.

Sushi flower I'm not entirely sure what made me get this as it is pink it has slight golden undertones. I haven't as of yet figured out what way to wear this but it is very pretty and I hopefully will find a way to wear it soon.

Haux this is a nice muted mauve colour and with nice warm undertones. I wear this quite regular in the crease with wedge all over the lid for a quick smokey eye during the day.

Veluxe

Veluxe is a soft creamy version of a matte it has a nice silky finish. 

I only have one of these: Down brown is a subtlety warm toned dark chocolate brown. Its a very intense brown and works really well with a brown smokey eye.

Velvet

Velvet finish is soft with high colour intensity and can range from a matte finish to a full on glitter bomb with this one its name is in regards to the texture rather than the actual finish. 

The only one in this finish I have is: Sketch it is described as a burgundy red shimmer with a muted, dusty brown/burgundy and a matte finish.

Veluxe Pearl

Veluxe Pearl shadows are almost metallic looking. They are ultra-shimmery and very easy to apply and blend over the lid. The shadows themselves are very soft and apply smoothly. 

In Veluxe pearl I have: 

Moons reflexion is a green tinged blue with a silvery sheen so it has a more cool tone to it and an amazing duo chrome effect. It works beautifully all over the lid with carbon blended well in the outer corner.

Freshwater this is a very hard colour to decide wether it is warm or cool toned, its looks like a silvery blue but from some angles it looks like it could have gold tones in it. One I need try to use more I really like it but need to find a nice way to wear.

Expensive pink is a golden pink with a lot of shimmer in it. I wear this one a lot in my crease I usually blend it out with swiss chocolate to tone down the shimmer and put wedge all over the lid.

Star Violet is a beautiful golden purple with warm golden brown undertones and a shimmery finish. It wears really nice all over the lid with Embark or Down brown blended into the crease.

Antiqued is a very warm toned medium/brown with a softer frosted finish. This goes really well with Down brown and Embark.

Sumptuous olive is an amazing golden green shade the duo chrome this colour is amazing one you need to try out as my photo doesn't do it justice. I love using this all over the lid with Embark blended in the corners.

Don't forget to subscribe and share if you liked this blog thanks for reading. 

Emma

XX

I buy all my products of the MAC website (http://www.maccosmetics.co.uk) or directly from the store.

Alcudia Spain

Hi Everyone,

I thought I would do a blog about a beautiful place in Mallorca called Alcudia.

Alcudia is set in a little bay on the east of Mallorca it has beautiful beaches and cool markets. Its also worth while taking a stroll along the promenade to see all the yachts. There are plenty of tasty restaurants and nice places to eat you defiantly won't go hungry. This was my first foreign holiday and I absolutely loved it.

I have been here twice now the first time was for my sisters 30th birthday. Which we spent all the time on the beach or in the bar. One of the days at the beach we rented a boat/slide thing I don't have any photos though didn't think it was a good idea to take the camera into open water.

It had a great club at the far end of the town and we ended up there most nights it was like 5 clubs all in one which was pretty cool.

And thats probably all anyone needs to see of the nights out. On one of the days out we decided to go down to the market but when we where coming back we couldn't get a taxi or a bus anywhere so we seen these horse pulled carts and decided what the hell lets get one of those back, it was pretty cool if not a bit bumpy.

Alcudia is set in around a mountain range which is beautiful to look at first thing in the morning. Luckily enough in the hotel we stayed in there was a small balcony so you could stand and look at all the gorgeous scenery.

The second time I went my boyfriend and I decided to take a trip out on canoes which was really fun I've never been canoeing before. The company we went with where called Sports&Nature they took us to a beach where we made our way around the coast and stopped at some caves.

The guide then took us up some cliffs and jumped into the sea (well Robi did I was too chicken). The instructors had also brought equipment for snorkelling which was really fun. I've never been snorkelling and I did find it a bit challenging at the start because I kept holding my breath, but after a while I got the hang of it.

We also found a really nice pizzeria along the promenade on one of our last nights if we had found it earlier it would have been pizza every night (all inclusive food gets a little monotonous after a week). These were and still are the best pizzas I have ever tasted. 

The days on the beach where pretty chilled and also quite limited as Robi forgot to put suncream on his legs and got pretty badly burned. However we did find some time to build a sandcastle and then we found this cute crab :)

Then we seen this sandcastle and didn't feel quite as proud of ours.

We also did some exploring through the markets and old town of Alcudia.

We took a hop-on hop-off tram ride around the city and walked about a bit this was great we were able to see loads and find some cool places to eat, shop and explore.

That night we took a walk down the promenade and went to an open roof bar, after a while we took a walk down by the yachts and found this guy doing cartoon portraits so we sat and got one done (its pretty funny).

Thanks for having a look at my travel blog hope you liked it and if you did head on over and have a look at my other blogs. Don't forget to like and subscribe.

Emma 

XX

Grannies Kitchen: Strawberry Jam

Hi everyone,

I know this blog won't be for everyone however I was at my grannies house a couple of weeks back and we were making strawberry jam and I thought it would be cool to blog about it. (PS this jam goes deliciously with the scones I made in a previous blog).

So first things first you need strawberries we used 3kg of strawberries to 3kg of sugar (now you are seeing why jam is bad for you lol) 1kg of normal granulated sugar to 2kg of jam sugar. This is a basic recipe and can be used for most fruits. This usually makes around 15 jars.

Granny sterilises her jars in the oven for 1 hour at 100C (this also heats them up so the don't crack when the hot jam is poured in) they need to be kept in the oven until the jam is ready to pour. You will also need to put a small plate in the fridge, this will be to test the jam later to make sure it is setting right.

Once the jars are in the oven and the plate is in the fridge its time to start on the jam. We blend our strawberries until smooth then add them to your pot. I would recommend using a preserving pot for this quantity of jam. 

Add the blended strawberries to the pot and bring up to a boil when this happens start to add your sugar slowly stirring continuously. 

Once all the sugar has been added leave the mix to come up to a rolling boil and set a timer for 4 and a half minutes. Once the time is up turn of the heat.

Then you will need to 'de scum' the jam. There will be a lot of foam like stuff in top of the jam you need to get a spatula and scrape all of this out of the mix. 

Once you have this done you need to test for wrinkles on your cold plate. Spoon a small amount onto the chilled plate and leave for a minute then push the jam on the plate with your finger if it winkles then its done if not you need to set it back onto boil.

Once you have some wrinkling you need to pour it into the jars as quickly as possible as it will set. I suggest pouring into a smaller pan then from the small pan into the jars.

When you have it poured you will need to place jam covers onto the jam so that it doesn't form a hard layer on top of the jam when cooling.

Once the jam has cooled down you can place the plastic covers on and secure them with elastic bands these should come in the packet with the wax paper jam covers.

Lastly enjoy with some delicious scones. For the recipe for these scones click here.

Hope you enjoyed a sneak peek into my grannies kitchen and have a go yourself at making some jam. If you liked this blog have a look at my other blog posts subscribe and share. 

Emma 

XX