Hello everyone,

Merry Christmas to all of you! I hope you are enjoying your holidays. I thought it was quite essential that I share with you this Christmas time makeup look. As you know I'm not a professional makeup artist and I might not know all the 'right' techniques for applying makeup. I also happened to use the same brush to apply 3 or 4 different products... yikes!
Anyway I thought I'll share this with you.

Step 01: Always make sure that your face is moisturized before you apply your makeup. I use a moisturizing lotion by Olay. This is a product I've been using pretty much every day since I was about 15. You can use a primer to ensure that your makeup lasts longer but I currently don't use any, so I kind of skipped that step. 

Step 02: I feel as though the base is always the most important in any makeup look. You can always play around with the eyeshadow or lip colors or how much bronzer or highlighter you are going to apply, but the base stays relatively the same. I use my Street Wear Color Rich Perfection Foundation in Beige (it only comes in two colors). It has a light to medium coverage. I have to say that this isn't my favorite foundation as it oxidizes easily, so applying moisturizer beforehand does help in my case. For liquid foundation I like using a beauty blender or a sponge to apply because it looks a lot more natural than when using a brush. Next to set everything I use the Viana compact powder in No. 14- Harvest Beige and also a little bit of the CCUK compact powder in No. 9- Biscuit glow. Yes, I mix in two because I feel as though the Viana one can sometimes make me look a bit ghastly. 

Step 03: Moving on to the eyes, I first shaped my brows and combed through them. Before applying eyeshadow it is best to put on some primer, again to make sure that the eyeshadow lasts longer. I wanted to do a copper eye look because a) I love the color b) copper eyes really suit a bold lip c) I'm in love with my new Sleek palette. For this I used The Gold Standard palette by Sleek. I love me some Coco- the shade is utterly beautiful so I patted that on my lid. Next I used a little bit of Vivienne to highlight my brow bone and applied one of the cream shadows- Margiela on the inner corner of my eyes. Next I curled my lashes with my eyelash curler from Basic Care and applied the I love extreme volume mascara by Essence. That's it for the eyes!

Step 04: On to the cheeks I used a blush by Jordana in No. 39- Cinnamon Spice. I have been using this blush religiously since I bought it. Next I used the Mirrored Pink blush from my Dancing til Dusk palette as a highlight on my cheek bones.

Step 05: To me, it's not a Festive makeup look unless there's some red lipstick involved. So I first lined and filled in my lips with the Jordana Quickliner in No. 08- Ruby Stone. Next I used the Matte Flat Finish Pigment Gloss in the shade Secret to complete my look. This is a darker shade of red than a 'typical' Christmas look in my opinion, but I was too emotionally invested in the combination of the two to even think about changing the color.

Et Voilà, my finished makeup look.

I wanted to say a quick thank you to all of you who made this year a very memorable one. Thank you for your patience these last couple of weeks since I have not posted on my blog regularly as I had done before. Hope you enjoyed this post. Stay tuned for more.

Much love to you as always,

Hope you are all well and excited for Christmas. I bet a lot of you are excited for this festive season and all the gifts that you are planning to give get, hehe. Anyway  I promised you a review of The Gold Standard to give you an idea if I think this will make a great Christmas gift. So the answer is YES!

Here's why:

Packaging:









The packaging is......Sleek (Sorry I couldn't resist the pun). It comes in a black packaging with a gold outline with the name of the brand in Gold. The palette is slim and compact and fits perfectly in my handbag. It not only looks luxurious but feels luxurious. Another feature is that the package does not close magnetically and instead has a snap shut lid. I was loving this feature until I recently got a manicure done (my friends surprised me on my birthday). I've got to be honest-it was a struggle. As soon as you open the lid you get to see the shades with a protecting sheet with the shade names on it. I wish they had the names engraved next to the shades but I'm not complaining. The names are obviously inspired by fashion designers which is a lovely touch to the feel of the palette. The palette comes with a dual ended brush-one side with fine bristles and the other with a sponge tip applicator. I've used the brush to line my eyes using the cream eyeshadows and I think it's great to use to line under the eyes as well. I haven't found much use for the sponge tip applicator although it would come in handy to do a smoky eye look. 

Wear:




First of all it was so difficult to swatch the shades on my arm because I did not want to waste the product- did I mention the palette is limited edition? Each time I swatched the shades I just went WOW. I don't think I have been this excited to swatch a bunch of eye shadows. The shade Laurent is probably my favorite eyeshadow, ever. That's a big statement to make but the shade is just WOW. It is a beautiful dark and rich burgundy shade. It has a little bit of red to it as well which just makes the color really pop. I think this is the kind of shade that is universally flattering. The next shade Coco is a beautiful coppery bronze color. The shade is very subtle but adds a glow to my eyes. I love using this shade on my crease of my eye. The third shade is Margiela which is one of the two cream eye shadows in the palette. It is a metallic gold-bronze shade which is my favorite out of the two cream shadows. I love using it to highlight the inner corner of my eyes and I think it would be perfect as a liner as well. The next shade is Vera which is a gold shade which is very straight forward. I think Vera on the lid with a little bit of mascara and a classic red lip is a fantastic lazy girl eye makeup look. It's really easy and not that time consuming but still looks very elegant and festive.The next shade is of a cream formula and it is Louis. It is a silver shade with a pearl finish which again is perfect as a highlight. It has pink undertones which is really flattering on the lid as well.The final shade is Vivienne which is a beautiful champagne color. I love using this to highlight my brow bone.


I love the variety of the shades in the palette. Each of the shadows are different from the other so you wouldn't find similar colors in the same palette. I mean, not a single shadow is disappointing which is very rare for me to find in a palette. The eyeshadows have good pigmentation and are very easily to apply and blend. I do find them having better color payoff when applied from the tips of my fingers than a brush.They last about 5 hours on my lids (which is how long I tested them out for) without a primer. The problem with glittery and shimmer colors is fallout. I have experienced glittery under-eyes with every other shimmer eyeshadows I have used before. With this however I have not noticed glittery under-eyes. If there is fall out it is very minimum. YAY for the formulation by Sleek! I love it!

I'm not wearing any primer on my eyes. Lid-Laurent, Crease-Vera, Inner corner -Margiela, Lining underneath- Laurent and Margiela and the tiniest bit of Vivienne to highlight my brow bone.

Should you get it?:
YES, make sure you get two- one for yourself and one for the person you want to gift this to. For $11.49 this is an absolutely amazing product. Finally we can get our shimmer on this season with this one!

If you've already tried this out let me know what you think in a comment below or on my Facebook page. Happy shopping!


Facebook page:https://www.facebook.com/MandySHeartBlog/
Sleek website: http://www.sleekmakeup.com/i-lust-the-gold-standard

Much love

Hello everyone,

It feels like ages since I've written a blog post. I just wanted to take some time off to finish my final examinations for this semester and just to spend some time with my family. I feel like this year has gone by really fast and a definite highlight for me this year was connecting with you through my blog. So I didn't want to stay away from blogging for too long. There's a lot going on at the moment especially since Christmas is just around the corner. In the midst of preparing hampers and driving lessons, I finally found some time to catch up with you.

Part of the reason why Christmas is so exciting is obviously because of all the presents. I remember getting my first Christmas hamper which had tons of chocolates, Christmas crackers ( I used to call them- bon-bons), my first set of Maped color pencils/peps (remember how they were the best back then?) and the book Treasure Island (love adventure fiction). Since this time around there's tons of sales and offers, most of you may have already started shopping for gifts. So I thought it would be quite nice to go through some limited edition collections in terms of makeup so that I can talk to you about it. When  I received a mail about the new Sleek 24k Gold collection I was thrilled. They have a 24k Gold gift set that is available for just $34.99 which is a fantastic price. The set includes:

*i-Lust Eyeshadow Palette in The Gold Standard

*Glitter Me Lip Gloss in Private Jet

*Midas Touch Highlighting Palette

*Makeup Bag

I've never purchased anything from Sleek before so I just ordered 2 items to test them out and to see if I liked them. I originally wanted to get the vintage romance eye shadow palette, but the moment I saw The Gold Standard palette I just thought it would be a better investment. I love a bit of shimmer on the eyes especially this festive season. I'm not a huge fan of glittery lip glosses so I opted to not purchase the entire gift set. For the price of $11.49 considering it is a limited edition palette I could not complain. I will upload a complete review of this soon, so you'll have to stay in touch to find out whether I think it would be a great stocking filler. So far, I've been really enjoying the colors. It has four silky shimmer powder shadows and two of the cream formula ones. It basically covers all shimmers from gold to copper to champagne and has a lovely dark burgundy shade (cue the sound of angels singing for this one). This is pretty much the answer to all your shimmery needs. 

Before I saw their new collection, I had already added their Eye and Cheek Palette in Dancing Til Dusk to my wishlist. When the price of this was slashed to $7.50 I promptly added it to my cart. It includes 4 eye shadows from their Au-Naturel i-Divine palette. It has two mattes- a beige and a brown and two shimmers- champagne and brown. The combination I think is great for minimal makeup looks and for everyday wear and you can add a bit of the shimmery colors to switch up the look for night time occasions. It also has two blushes in Mirrored Pink and Sahara. If there's one thing I knew about Sleek prior to my purchase, that is that their blushes are phenomenal. I can definitely see why that is true.The mirrored pink is so beautiful but I don't know how well it will work on my skin tone. It might look more like a highlight but regardless I'm just in awe of the color.  The other blush is called Sahara and it is just a beautiful matte orange color. I think this one will be perfect for summer. The palette includes a blush brush and a sponge applicator. Sadly this palette is no longer available to purchase from their website. 

 

I placed my order on the 29th of October and since it usually takes a couple more weeks than the expected delivery date I assumed I will be receiving this mid December. To my surprise I got it early, last Monday (16th of November). I have put off purchasing eyeshadow palettes online for so long, because I feared  (thanks to all the photos available on Instagram) that the eye shadows may crack and fall apart during the delivery. I'm so glad it hasn't happened with these two palettes, so many thanks to Sleek for taking great care in their packaging and delivery of their products.  

What's great about shopping with Sleek is that 

1. The prices are fantastic (who doesn't love great quality products for less).

2. They have items at reduced prices and not just during the festive season (a. k. a. Secret sales).

3. They ship fast compared to the other places I've made my purchases from and their shipping prices are easy on the wallet (USD 3.00 to ship to Sri Lanka).

4. The website is safe  and the products are shipped safely (gotta love that bubble wrap).

5. I saved the best for last-you get a 10% off the first purchase.

Let me know if you have tried any products by Sleek by leaving a comment down below. Hope you enjoyed reading this post and hope you have a great weekend!

Links:
Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/MandySHeartBlog
Sleek 24k Gold Collection Gift Set: http://www.sleekmakeup.com/24k-gold-collection-all/24k-gold-christmas-collection
Sleek The Gold Standard palette: http://www.sleekmakeup.com/i-lust-the-gold-standard
Blush in Sahara:  http://www.sleekmakeup.com/blush-sahara

Much love,

Hello everyone,

Happy Monday to all of you! It's finally November and I'm turning 21 in exactly 27 days. The countdown is ON, haha. Today I'll be doing a review on the Jordana Fabu Liner in No. 01- Black. Some time back I was searching for a good felt-tip liner as I find they are the easiest to work with. Since I love winged eyeliner looks, a felt-tip liner pen is a must-have for me. I went through some reviews about drugstore liners and I found that many people raved about this liner. So if this is your go-to drugstore liner, I hope you won't get offended by this review. This is purely my experience with it. Anyway I picked this one up at Srina Palace. The cost of this eyeliner was Rs. 690. The best thing about this liner is probably its availability here in Sri Lanka.

Claims :

 Felt-Tip Precision/ No Skipping or Dragging/ Convenient & Easy to Use/  Dramatic Eye Definition

Packaging :

It comes in a black packaging with the name of the brand, name of the product and color in gold. The tip is fine and can create fine as well as bold lines. The only problem with the tip on this one is that it is a bit stiff and it tugs on my skin which can be somewhat painful. I think it has gradually improved with time and frequent use. The ingredient list is mentioned on their website which I will link down below. 

Wear :
It has a smell of that of a whiteboard marker, not too overpowering but it's definitely noticeable once you open the cap. When I first got this I was so surprised by the color, it wasn't as pigmented as I liked it to be. When I started using it I felt a bit of a sting as well, which made me believe that I might actually be allergic to it. Recently, I have started using this more and I can see that it has improved in terms of pigmentation and ease of application, compared to how it was before. But it is still not as dramatic and bold as I would prefer it to be.  It is not waterproof nor does it claim to be. It doesn't leave a tint behind unlike the Essence one ( http://mandy-s-heart.blogspot.com/2015/07/review-essence-superfine-eyeliner-pen.html ) which is great. Over all it lasts about 2-3 hours (at most) on my lids alone without primer/ eye shadow, depending on how much product I apply. In the picture down below I'm not wearing any primer or eye shadow just to show you the nature of the eyeliner. Also because there are days when I go for the eyeliner alone without wanting to put on any eye shadow and on those days I certainly won't be reaching out for this one.

I have used the Fabu Liner only to do the top winged line and the bottom waterline was lined with a kohl pencil.

Should you get it? :

 I love Jordana products but to be honest this product gets a thumbs-down from me. I did not get the results I wanted with the pigmentation nor the lasting power. So unless you want to try it out for yourself, I do not recommend investing on this one.

Have you tried the Jordana Fabu Liner? Let me know your thoughts about it in a comment below.

Facebook page for the blog: https://www.facebook.com/MandySHeartBlog

Jordana Website: http://www.jordanacosmetics.com/p-78-incolor-fabuliner-liquid-eyeliner.aspx

Much love,

For today's blog post, I thought I'll cover my October Favorites as well as what would have been my Autumn Essentials. Now I know we don't get to experience the full bliss of fall season with Halloween and autumn leaves but the skies have been getting darker and the weather somewhat colder. I also have been sick for about two weeks which I have attributed to the weather changes. Therefore some of the items in this post is about comfort and staying warm. So grab yourselves a cup of tea and enjoy!

Moving on to the actual favorites....
To keep myself warm I have been incorporating scarves into my everyday outfits. These two have been my absolute favorites. I like the fact that these could be styled with any outfit since they are not patterned. Also they are soft as a kitten.

Speaking of keeping myself warm, I have been loving the Wild Argan Oil shower gel that I purchased from The Body Shop. I have loved using this, especially in the past couple of weeks when I was sick. I went into the shower feeling horrible and came out feeling, and may I add, smelling so much better. It made my skin so much more moisturized and alive. It also kept me warm. I think that's one of the weirdest ways to describe a shower gel, 'warm' but yes, that was my experience with this. I think this is perfect for really cold days and would be a perfect gift for Christmas this winter. Not that we experience winter here either, but we do celebrate Christmas, with gifts. ;)

The next favorite is the Red Door perfume by Elizabeth Arden. This has been in a previous favorites post as well, I reckon it was last year around the same time. This perfume has got a lot of not-so-nice reviews especially with regard to the fact that it has a more 'mature person' smell. For some reason, I find this scent strangely comforting. It has red rose, Moroccan orange blossom and ylang-ylang as the top notes and honey, oak moss and sandalwood as base notes. I think this is why I like it when the weather gets colder. It feels like a warm evening on a rainy day, if that makes any sense. It's certainly not a day-time wear perfume, at least not for me, but is perfect for night time gatherings.

 

On my talons I like to wear shades that reflect  my obsession with red hues. I have been loving this shade of deep red on my nails this Autumn. This one is from a brand called BK Gorgeous and I picked it up from House of Fashions. The packaging makes it look quite luxurious but it was surprisingly inexpensive.

Moving on to makeup, I have been loving this blush color from Jordana, as you may already know from my review (http://mandy-s-heart.blogspot.com/2015/10/review-jordana-blush-in-cinnamon-spice.html ). From it's velvety smooth formula to the pigmentation I love everything about it. In my opinion brighter colors like oranges and corals are perfect for summer and pinks are perfect for winter. So for fall I like this mauve brown, sort of understated pink color more than cooler toned pinks. It goes perfectly with berry toned lips!
 

Speaking of, I have been loving the Revlon super lustrous lipstick in no. 301 Blackcherry. This is a really pretty wine shade which I think is perfect for the season. I had some issues with the lipstick (http://mandy-s-heart.blogspot.com/2015/10/review-revlon-super-lustrous-lipstick.html ) because it did settle on the fine lines of my lips and it liked to move around, but I just love the color so much. If you're looking for dupes, I've heard that the Wet and Wild 'Cherry Bomb' is pretty good. Urban Decay Revolution Lipstick in Shame and Mac Lipstick in Media are higher end options of the same color.
 

The next favorite is the L. A. Girl Matte Flat Finish Pigment Gloss in the shade Rebel. I love the color which is a lighter berry shade with a lot more purple in it. I will upload a full review of the product but so far I've been enjoying the color and the amazing lasting power of these liquid lipsticks. Seriously though, they cannot be removed too easily. The name carries the word 'gloss' in it but it in fact has a matte formula. Just so you know, they are a little tacky, nothing unbearable though. But if you are a matte lipstick lover, you should definitely check these ones out.

That's all of my October Favorites/ Autumn Essentials. Hope you all enjoyed reading this post and if you did please hit the like button on my Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/MandySHeartBlog

What are your October Favorites?  Let me know in a comment down below or on my Facebook page.

 Much love,

Hello everyone,

Today I'm reviewing the Kind to Eyes- eye makeup remover by Simple. I purchased this product from ASOS when I did my haul last August. I previously tried their face wash gel which I reviewed earlier (http://mandy-s-heart.blogspot.com/2015/09/review-simple-kind-to-skin-refreshing.html ). I've heard a lot of good things about the brand, but when it came to this remover, I saw that a lot of people had issues with it, especially with irritation. Since I already loved their face wash gel I was willing to take the risk with this one.The price tag of this was just $5.42 which I thought was very cheap for a makeup remover. So here's my experience with the Simple Kind to Eyes eye makeup remover.

Claims :

Has Vitamin E and Pro-Vitamin B5/ Removes waterproof mascara/ No oil/ No artificial perfume/ No color/ No harsh chemicals/ Dermatologically tested and Approved 

Packaging : 

It is basically a clear bottle with a green lid. The lid has the brand name engraved on it. The claims and the ingredients are listed on the back of the bottle. The bottle is recyclable. The amount of product in the bottle is 125 ml.

My experience :

The skin around my eyes is quite oily but I found this product to be easy and gentle on my eyes. I tested it on my hand before I applied it on my eyes. There is no perfume or color. It is not an oil-based formula so it may not be suitable for removing certain long-wear products. I put some of the product on a cotton wool pad and then dabbed and wiped away my makeup (Simple advises to dab around the eye without rubbing).

 I tested the product with some of the eye makeup I use often (with the exception of the Rimmel Kajal- I will upload my review to tell you exactly why but I'll leave the links down below if you want to read some reviews on the other products). Also I do realize that the Jordana product is a blush but I love using it as a crease color, so please don't judge. :)


The swatches on the left were swiped away with water so that we can clearly see a difference. The Essence Super fine liner did not do well with water and neither did the Essence mascara. The Rimmel Kajal too was removed for the most part and so was the Jordana blush. Both left some residue which meant that they needed to be removed with something other than water. The Rimmel Eye shadow stick and the Maybelline Kajal were the winners of the water test and did not budge.


The Simple makeup remover got rid of all of the makeup without any residue very easily. 

Note that this is tested on the back of my hand. On the eyes, I needed a little more product and time to remove away the excess product of both the Maybelline Kajal and Rimmel Eye shadow stick. But I'm not complaining. Overall for that price tag, I think it does a fantastic job in removing my eye makeup.  

Hello everyone,

Happy Friday to all of my lovely readers! I thought it was about time for another 'Get to know me' posts because, why not. So I went through some tags on the internet and thought I will answer some of those questions. 

What is your middle name? My middle name is Amanda which is why I sign my posts as 'Mandy'.

When is your birthday? November 29th, the same date as my mom which is fantastic :) Also I'm turning 21 this year, yay!

What is your star sign? I'm a Sagittarius. I've noticed how many people say we are supposed to be outgoing, but I'm the exact opposite of that I think. 

What was the last thing you bought? The last thing I bought is tissue paper to make paper flowers for a party. Gosh, I love Pinterest but those DIY projects aren't as easy as they look. 

Do you have any piercings/ tattoos? No. I love tattoos-on other people. For me it's like getting a haircut. Sometimes I wish I had shorter hair and I go through all sorts of pictures of hairstyles for shorter hair but then I remember how much I regretted it when I actually got it cut a couple of years ago. So if I get a permanent tattoo I will only like it for a couple of days.  

Dogs or cats? Both. I have 5 dogs, but I haven't owned a cat since my cat 'Kitty' (so original, I know) passed away. 

What is your favorite sport? Sleeping. Is that even acceptable? I wish I were more into sports, I do watch games of cricket and football every now and then, but yeah.... not into sports. 

How are you currently feeling? Very much ill, but I'm doing better compared to last week. That is, thanks to lots of tea and movies. 

What are you currently eating? Pastries, I wish could say something healthy. I've stopped drinking carbonated drinks and I'm really proud of that.

What are you currently listening to? Perfect by One Direction. Very catchy!

Do you sing in the shower? Who doesn't? I pretend to be Ronnie Spector and I sing Be My Baby. 

Can you speak another language? Other than Sinhala? English. I've studied French so I can speak very little French as well. 

What's most important in your life? Family and friends.

Hope you enjoyed reading this post :)

I'll be back on Monday with some more reviews.

Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/MandySHeartBlog

Twitter: @sakuniamanda

Much love,

 
Hello everyone,
Sorry I was unable to upload this post yesterday. I haven't been feeling well. As you all know I went to Srina Palace earlier this month and I purchased this Revlon Lipstick among other products ( http://mandy-s-heart.blogspot.com/2015/10/fridays-with-mandy.html ). I have been purchasing a lot of makeup online recently but I just wanted to check out what makeup stores here had to offer, so that I can share them with you. I also wanted to create some fall makeup looks using drugstore products. I placed my order for two shades of the L. A. Girl matte pigment gloss ( http://mandy-s-heart.blogspot.com/2015/10/review-ikatehousecom-for-drugstore.html ) which I thought would be great drugstore lip colors for fall as well. I was a little impatient in waiting for them to arrive so I decided to check out some other drugstore products that were of a berry/ wine color. That's when I came across an old video by Jaclyn Hill who wore this lipstick and I thought the color was just too gorgeous. So when I actually found this at Srina Palace, I was over the moon. This is in the color No. 301- Blackcherry and it costs Rs. 1055. 

Packaging:
 

The packaging is in black with the gold band around it that carries the name of the brand. This might not be the most attractive packaging, but for me black and gold is just a classic combination, so I have nothing bad to say about it. The lid is quite sturdy and fits properly. The color is visible only through the top transparent part of the lid. Luckily for me, there was a sample in the counter that I could swatch, just to make sure it was the right choice.

Wear:

The color of the lipstick is actually more of a deep wine color with purple undertones. It actually looks darker in the tube than when I actually apply it. Can I just say that I love the color. The color is build-able so you can go as light or as dark as you want. I like the creamy formula. As you know, I love my matte lipsticks but this lipstick is really creamy and glides on smoothly. It has actually made me think about getting some more lipsticks in a creme finish. It is also free of any scent, so this will be ideal for those of you who do not like scented lipsticks.

Now here's to the not-so-good aspects of the lipstick. I made the mistake of not exfoliating and not using a lip balm prior to applying this, so when I first wore it, it did settle on the fine lines of my lips. It looked somewhat streaky which as you would imagine is not a very pleasant look. The lipstick also does not last a long time, I would say it lasted around 3 hours and started wearing off after breakfast.

Tip: Always pair this with a lip liner and if you do find a lip liner that goes with this shade please let me know in the comments below. Thanks in advance :)

 

Should you get it?:

If you're on a budget and you are looking for a pretty wine shade to add to your fall makeup collection then, yes. For those of you who are looking for something that's long lasting and do not want to deal with touch-ups to cover up the streaks left by the lipstick, it's best to look the other way.
 
Have you tried this lipstick or any of the other Revlon Super Lustrous Lipsticks? If you have, please leave a comment down below or on my Facebook page because I'd love to know what you thought of it.

Also check out my Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/MandySHeartBlog
Revlon website: http://www.revlon.com/products/lips/lip-color/revlon-super-lustrous-lipstick

Much love,