A. Whenever you use any kind of eyeshadow – loose or not – you need to have some kind of base for the colour to cling to, but particularly when you’re using loose pigments, as otherwise you’ll end up with fall-out all over your face! I’ve only ever used Urban Decay’s Eyeshadow Primer Potion, because it’s always done the trick & I’ve never had to try anything different. After you’ve applied your primer, leave it for a minute or so to make sure it’s set & dry. When applying your pigment, use a brush where the bristles are fairly short, compact & stiff, & tap off any excess powder before patting & dabbing the colour onto your eyelid. (If you just brush straight across your whole ‘lid, you’re giving the powder a chance to move & fall off of the brush.) For vibrant colour, just ensure you build up lots of little layers, rather than caking it on. You can always use a bigger, softer bristled brush after to blend the colour, if the difference between the eyeshadow & your skin tone is too harsh.

A. Eyeshadow primer is your friend! They make colours more vibrant, so it’s well worth making a small investment. Black is a notoriously difficult colour to apply without smudging, so just be patient & apply it little by little. If you can, it’s best to use a loose pigment for richer colour & a slightly damp shadow brush– just dip it into a little water & squeeze out any excess, before dipping into your loose powder. It’s best to only try this if you’re using loose colour, as if you make a compact powder wet, you’ll usually get a shiny film on the top & your brush won’t be able to pick up any colour, once it’s dried.

A. It was originally her baby, but I’m helping Vixel to organise it! It’s been pretty much decided that the meet will take place in London on 24th July, so if you’re a UK lady who loves to blog, please join in the fun on our social network & come along to the event!

A. Unfortunately, I couldn’t get a decent representation of the colour with my camera, but here‘s a photobooth snap of it!

A. The control panel on my domain comes with a great feature called Awstats, where I can see who’s visiting me when, from what country, the website they came from, the search term they used to find me & a ton of other stuff! But previously when I was hosted on other sites, besides my own domain, I used Sitemeter. They have a free basic package, which is actually quite intensive, & is all you’ll probably need. You can watch a tour here! It’s always a good idea to have a visitor counter, not just so you know how popular your site is, but you can tell the kind of things your readers are interested in & what they’re not, & even the best time to post articles, if you read the information that the counter provides you, correctly.