It's quite hard to believe that half of the year has gone by already! Yay for the nearness to Christmas yes nay for me getting older (contradiction much?). Today, as usual, I have the menu of June's favourites to share with you all. The month of June was (and still has been) exciting for me since I have a mixture of rediscoveries, new discoveries and a lot of non-beauty thingies as well. So, be prepared, since I have quite a long article this time.

Yay to my first haul post! I did quite a damage on the course of May: there are simply so many pretty things out there that I wished to own. It's a little guilty satisfaction to create a wishlist and be able to mark the items as "Bought!" (yay! again). So, there are a few things that I bought and have been enjoy lately. I have written reviews on a few of them so please click on the links if you fancy knowing more about what I got and how they perform.

Yes you heard that right! If you live in the US (or have a friend to order for you), you can get the set of Too Faced Chocolate Bar Palette & Full Size Shadow Insurance for only $29.00 (retail price $49 for the palette and $20 for the primer) on HSN.

Currently it is sold at $49, but they have the offer of $20 off your very first order of $40 or more with code 148145, so you basically can get $40 off the normal retail price which is simply too great to believe.

Be quick as you know, this deal is too great it will be sold out in a second!

Brace yourself since Illamasqua's Summer 2014 collection is out!

It consists of completely new formulation and color offerings from Illamasqua: 

This is by no means my first Favorites post, but back then I just threw in a list of the products and the promo pictures of them instead of how they actually look in reality. I spent quite a lot of time finding this beautiful white fabric piece with hand-painted pink flowers on it thinking the picture would turn out to be great, but oh well! Anyway, let's get into this month's worth of favorites. I will also link to all places where you can purchase these products and the reviews I have written about each specific piece so that you can take a further look, or some reading if you please.

Umm, anybody has the idea that this tag is quite a year old? I can't honestly believe it. Anyway, I am answering the tag anyhow since most of the products in my kits are budget buys, so here it comes to ye!

1. What is your favorite drugstore makeup brand overall?

I am divided between Maybelline and Sleek. I adore the Maybelline The Falsies mascara, Eyestudio quads and Colorsensational Gloss + Lipsticks. For Sleek they have some very fabulous i-Divine palettes, blushers and lipsticks that I use all the time.

2. What are your favorite face, cheek and lip products?

• Face: Revlon Colorstay foundation (unfortunately the undertone is not yellow enough for me so I have to mix it) and Rimmel Stay Matte powder. I have also just discovered that using the Coty Airspun powder in Luminous Translucent gives a beautiful subtle highlight.  
• Cheek: Sleek blushers, they have some seriously pigment colors.
• Lip: well, the Maybelline Colorsensational lipsticks and glosses

3. Least favorite product?

Covergirl Eye Enhancers quad in Tropical Fusion. The colors are exciting but I can't see myself reaching for it at all. 

4. What is the best makeup bargain?

• Makeup Academy MUA eyeshadow palettes in Heaven And Earth and Undressed. They are wonderfully pigmented and smooth for only £4 a pop and they always have some kind of offer going on.
• Wet n Wild Color Icon 8-pan palettes. They surprised me with the major lovely performance.

5. What is your favorite underdog product? (Something you love that often gets overlooked?)

 Covergirl Professional Loose Powder in Honey as a bronzer. I use it on and off, maybe I should rearrange my kit to put it in the spotlight :)

6. A drugstore product that is overpriced?

Mascara! The price is now close to $10 which is utterly ridiculous. 

7. Show your best drugstore dupe(s)

ELF Gotta Glow blush vs NARS Albatross. Everyone talks about it I know.

8. Drugstore product that isn't worth the hype?

Bourjois Délice de Poudre bronzing powder: utterly utterly orange! I will have a review on this particular product coming later this week. Urgh!

So that's ultimately the I ♥ Drugstore Makeup TAG. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did as writing the post. Take care!

Sleek MakeUP is to launch a new i-Divine eyeshadow palette this May 2014 dubbed "Del Mar". Anyone automatically associate this name with the Brokeback Mountain's boy Ennis Del Mar? Excited! I will give the exact launch date as soon as I get further info.

I've just realized my last post was from December 23rd! It's hard to imagine the difference from when I freshly started my blog - I couldn't even wait to write a new post everyday. However, due to various personal and external reasons, I had to stop blogging to concentrate on solving those problems.

So here I am again with my newest post - "The TMI Tag" in the menu ready to be served if you want to know a little more about me.

I have also switched from my old layout with the black-and-purple background and purple lettering to this clean and vintage-oriented one with new typing font. I do find this much prettier, easier to read and navigate. 

I do hope you all will like this and continue to read my upcoming posts. I have quite a lot of good stuff waiting to be reviewed and they will come to Metal And Makeup in the upcoming days!

Take care and until next time!

Today's a superb day (so far) and I'm in such a high mood :D

On my way to office this morning I passed by a supermarket and thought "How nice it would be if I could shop there this morning" and bam! only half an hour into my work day - the power went off, so you may very well guess my reaction (which, btw was "OMG OMG OMG!"). Careful what you wish, you may just get it - a phrase from Metallica's "King Nothing". So I hopped into the aisles and had a wonderful time :)

Now back to the videos that I love, there are plenty that I keep watching over and over again. The list is very long but below are a few favorite that I consider being All-time Favorites.

I'm a massive Christmas fanatic and live the spirit almost all year round, even my desktop wallpaper now is a photo of Christmas lights and I'm preparing my gifts already. Christmas is such a special time of year with so much coziness and joy. I just wish we had snow here too so that the scene would be completed.

Ruth Crilli is an incredibly beautiful and smart model-woman. Unlike a lot of average models that you may see (mostly on ftv - that's why I gave that channel up) who talk quite senselessly, Ruth's so intelligent, sweet, graceful with a gorgeous gap on her teeth that I wish I had and her voice is so calming. I love this video so much as it includes the three lovely factors: Ruth, fragrances and Christmas :)

In fact I am hoping that I will soon be able to afford the Guerlain - La Petite Robe Noire (The Little Black Dress - sometimes my French understanding helps) and the Jo Malone - Velvet Rose & Oud.

A Model Recommends Youtube Channel

Lisa Eldridge is a world-renown makeup artist who works with so many A-list celebrities and fashion houses. She is so graceful, always delivers the best techniques, tips, history behind the makeup artistry and I especially love her voice. There's something about her videos that never fails to calm me down yet entertains simultaneously.

This particular look is an antique, alternative look that is so fresh, queer yet its snippets can be adapted to everyday makeup look, or simple is just so beautiful to look at.

Lisa Eldridge Youtube Channel

Same as Lisa, Charlotte Tilbury looks can be found in numerous media mediums. I first saw her work on TV while she was working backstage during London Fashion Week and was initially impressed by her professionalism. No need to mention how excited I was to see her being a guest makeup artist on Lisa's channel. Her techniques are incredible that I believe she can transform anybody into a gorgeous statuesque figure.

Charlotte Tilbury Youtube Channel 

I hope that you're having a fantastic Thursday and bear in mind that weekend's coming soon! :)

Sooooo today's my 22nd birthday! Time flies so fast doesn't it?

I can still remember my birthday 4 years ago when I was still in high school. I was sitting in my classroom trying to solve some Physics exercises (I think) while the Olympic Beijing opening parade was taking place. It was such a weird sensation thinking about it again: how time has gone by and how much things have change!

However, I celebrate my day with lots of work as usual, but I did place a huge order on jewelry - accessory so it's a good day (haul coming soon). Below is my wishlist, but it's more like a goal: I will try to get these things by this time next year :) I'm not really fond of the actual birthday, but the idea is nice to think about.

It seems that from this month on, by the end of each month I will make a list of things I love for the whole month. I could have added more categories but this month has been a quiet and uneventful month for me, so below are my favourites: