Those who know me can confirm the fact that if I have make up on, I have eyeliner. The flick has been with me for ages now and I (almost) cannot leave the house without it.
When a new eyeliner comes along, I’m filled with excitement, especially when it is a pen, my favourite medium. So of course the Lord & Berry Shodō eyeliner ticked all the boxes.
Perfecting the eyeliner application is really down to exhaustive practice, and even after many years of daily doings, there are some days my eyeliner hates me. A lot.
Shodō is a form of artistic writing of the Japanese language and this eyeliner doesn’t let us down. The tapered brush is made of soft bristles that retain their form, thus being firm enough for precise thick and thin lines.
The formula is super black, rather glossy, extra pigmented and smooth. Upon drying, which happens quickly, it sits film-like on the skin.
It is water and sweat proof and does not budge, but can be removed with warm water and flakes off with little effort.
My only recommendation is that an eyelid primer or powder shadow is used prior to application, as the film didn’t particularly love my oily bare eyelids!
Shodō has been upgraded to my everyday eye make drawer to stay.
The Shodō Stylograpic Eyeliner costs a reasonable £16 and you can get it from the Lord & Berry website and other online retailers, such as Look Fantastic.
If you’ve been following the blog for a while, you’ll know that I used B. Makeup products quite often.
I talked about B lipsticks before so no surprise I am quite fond of the Luminous Silk Lipstick in Suis Moi (£6.99).
A bit of a different product, the lip and cheek tint (£6.99) has a creamy texture and is one of those great multitasking products I love. Sadly this not quite my thing, and I cannot wear cream colours on my face – it doesn’t quite work for me.
Now the Matte Liquid Lip lipstick (£6.99) in Ravenous, on the other hand, is very much my thing. It’s smooth and super pigmented; it doesn’t however dry totally, so there’s a little bit of transfer. Durability is decent though.
Ok, maybe my headline is not entirely true (clickbait alert!) but it does feel like it: e.l.f. is back and in a way it is new, for the first time at Superdrug stores.
I have to start with the Intense Ink Eyeliner in Blackest Black (£4.50). I love a pen liner (bet you never heard me saying that, right?!).
Now, a gem: the Lip Scrub Exfoliator (£4.50). Looking like a lipstick and behaving like one (almost), just circle over the lips, massage gently and rinse to get rid of dry skin and get kissable lips.
The Nude Rose Gold eyeshadow palette (£12.50) is a little joy: super wearable shades, very compact and perfect to carry around for a day to night transformation. Pigmentation is decent and they are super soft and blendable.
The Natural Glow Face Palette (£9) is also a great makeup bag addition. Personally, the highlighter does not shine enough for me, but I’m not the rule.
The handy Baked Highlighter and Blush in Rose Gold (£5) delivers a bit more shimmer on the golden highlight front, it’s not too glittery but also on the discreet side; the blusher is the fave rosey peach shade and again, another addiction to on the go makeup bag.
The Radiant Gel Lip Tint in Dewy Berry (£5) is from their Aqua Beauty collection, and is a stain that intensifies on the lips. It does remind me a bit of lip oils, but not stick and with colour that sticks!
Every season there are a couple of brands that will launch a product that stays with me for a long time. GOSH is certainly of them.
They are always focused on genuine Nordic ingredient, and are always introducing new ones into the lines. This season, meet the dandelion.
My favourite is the 001 Highlight Vanilla, which is a fabulous discreet highlighter, perfect to use alone or underneath a powder one for amped-up glow.
For the eyes comes the Volume Serum Mascara, which has the finest comb brush I’ve ever seen.
In the eyeliner department, there’s a fabulous super pigmented Giant Pro Kajal (vegan friendly, £7.49), the Giant Pro Double Ended Liner (£10.99). Durability is great and application easy, although I struggle a bit getting definition with kajals.
Now, the Eye Xpression eyeshadow quads (£8.99) are super useful: perfect size to have on the go, fabulous, versatile shades with the exceptional quality of GOSH shadows. Warm neutral BackToNature has become a fixture in my makeup bag.
Never thought I’d openly talk about wearing my subversions and perversions, but hey, here we are.
Subversion is a classic eyelash primer, white in colour to coat all lashes previous to receiving the mascara. The formula is creamy and the brush is a medium size, with bristles the pick all lashes.
Perversion is the ultra black mascara with a large brush. Despite the fact the brush is almost on the too large side for my taste, it does work very well. The formula is creamy and thick, and it gives decent separation and superb volume, lacking a bit in lengthening.
I got those (plus my all time favourite Eyeshadow Potion Primer) at the launch of the new Urban Decay shop at Carnaby Street, London. The European flagship store in split in two floors of all UD colourful fabulousness.
And I hear Urban Decays is opening three more stores in the UK by the end of the year: London King’s Cross (24 Nov), Nottingham (1 Dec) and Liverpool (9 Dec).
Imagine a gorgeous place where your favourite beauty brands come together. That would be enough, right?
Then, top it off with a real shop full of friendly and approachable professionals in the counters.
I was about to place my order at 
Now to the order. The site is clean, well categorised, so it is easy to use and find what you’re looking for. You can also look for specific brands, skin concerns, the Marie Claire edit and specific filtering within categories.
At 
Mentioned many times before, but always worth reiterating: every season, GOSH launches something that stays it me until the next season. Fact.
I’ll start with my favourite product in the collection, the Overnight Primer Oil Essence. It won my heart just for being an oil. However, it is an addition to the massive selection of primers that GOSH offers.
Still on the makeup/skincare territory, comes the Foundation Plus+. With a dewy coverage, this foundation and concealer in one also provide nourishment from liquid sea minerals, hyaluronic acid and bladderwrack seaweed.
Also for the face, there is the super practical Contour’n Strobe Kit. A massive disc with a pretty highlighter, a soft blusher, a pretty bronzer and a great contour shade, for only 12.99.
Moving on from skin, I have to talk about the Giant Pro Liner. This chubby eyeliner might seem impractical, but it’s a blessing for thicker lines – the way I like mine. The tip is just thin enough o produce a decent flick.
More on eyes, the Lash Sculpting Fibre Mascara contains fibres in its formula that attach to the lashes, offering super volume and length.
What about brows? Covered! Also with fibres, the Brow sculpting Fibre Gel is a all-in-one brow product, offering colour, filling, setting and boosting.
Of course, their superb Velvet Touch lipstick range gets some autumnal matt additions: Cinnamon, Cranberry, Grape and Purple.
You know when you are veeeeeery tired and your eyes barely open? I am guilty as charged of now having enough sleep, staying late on school nights and maybe having the odd cocktail when I should really be in bed.
Usually, I just line my lower waterline, but you can do the upper too for extra openness. And it works a treat.
Eyeshadow base, highlighter, waterliner, concealer…. the soft formula, enriched with natural extracts will ave you covered.
In all honesty, I just don’t use them only when I need to hide the night before, but every time I am focussing on eyes, especially if I have a dark smokey on.
I shall not be seen without my flick! True story. Eyeliners are a huge love of mine, up there with lipstick and Lancôme just did it pretty!
The formula is good, although maybe slightly dry so needs picking up several times from the bottle for a flick.
Now, let’s talk about the bendable wand. I think the brush is lovely and extremely precise. The fact it bends can help; it is more ergonomic and intuitive when bent; you can get the brush closer to the roots and corners.
2015. What a fabulous year for the blog. I never expected all the amazing things that happened, brands, products and, above all, people I met.
Charlotte Tilbury
Charlotte Tilbury K.I.S.S.I.N.G Love bite lipstick: usually a finish I don’t go for, a kind of lustre, but oh, boy, this is pretty. An orange red, with a fab sheen, but not too much, and great durability.
And a special mention to my favourite budget highlighter: 
So Many Lovely Things 