Old And New

This weekend I've been 'shopping my stash' as the blogger phrase goes! Since being back and organising my make up I've been loving playing around with some forgotten gems and the make up I ended up wearing yesterday was all about combining some old loves with some new favourites

Lioeli Waterdrop BB Cream
I'd actualy forgotten I still had this! After checking it was still in date, I instantly threw it on as I remember adoring this one summer and I think I wore it every single day for almost two months. Wearing it again I don't love it as much as I once did, but I still adore the dewy finish it delivers

Mac Creme Colour Base in Shell
After buying this I spent weeks trying to figure out a way I could wear it, as my original intention of using it as an eyeshadow base went down the drain since it creases after 5 minutes. I wore it as a cheek highlight today as I wanted a cream product to keep the dewy finish of the BB Cream and Cream blush. and it just looked beautiful and wore surprisingly well!

No7 Nude Lip Liner with ELF Runway Pink
I'm not really a lipstick person, and I can probably count on my fingers the number of times I've actually bothered with a lip liner. But these two trusty old products found their way onto my lips today and I was pleasantly surprised at the result! Both are creamy and the matte lipliner paired with a semi-matte lipstick created a great finish that I think was pretty modern despite being such a classic shade

Bare Minerals Hiking Trail
Everytime I've cleaned out my products this one has been in the 'maybe' pile, and yet has somehow ended up staying. The reason being it's a stunning colour. But I detest loose shadows, or any loose powders actually - they're just a faff. Today I used a tiny amount to lighten up my khaki shadow and it was such a pretty look I'm thinking about whipping Hiking Trail out more often.

Revlon Color Stay Eyeshadow Link in Kahki
A Beautiful colour that I loved playing with. But a corner smashed as soon as I took it out of the bag, and after it sitting in my make up drawer for 2 days it's somehow completely shattered!

LOreal Super Liner Perfect Slim
Loving it - it's just so easy to work with. I'm just waiting to see exactly how long it'll last since pen liners are notorious for drying out and the lid isn't as tight as I'd like.

I finished it all off with Mac Lady Blush, a dab of collection lasting perfection concealer and lots of Benefit They're Real Mascara!

Brighter is Better!

I've been steadily creeping closer to this point with my hair for the last 8 months. And yesterday I finally took the plunge and attempted to go 'blonde'. My colour before could have, possibly, been called blonde, but it could just have easily fallen into the 'light brown' category and I decided that at least once in my life I wanted to be blonde!

And I'm loving it so far, because I've gradually lightened by hair (deciding to go a little lighter every few months) it's not a huge change, but it still feels quite weird to look in the mirror and see such light hair! Especially considering my natural colour is a very, very dark brown!

I've kept my 'roots' as dark as I felt I could so regrowth shouldn't be a complete pain. But my biggest hurdle is definitely my eyebrows as they're naturally so dark - luckily bold brows are very in so I think I can just about get away with them!

The day after dying it I popped on some make up to go out and I wound up putting on Revlon Just Bitten Lipstick and I just loved how the bright colour worked with my lighter hair. The lighter I've gone the more I've had to change up my lipstick with bold lips becoming increasily popular! 

The rest of my make up was pretty simple, Nars Kalahari duo (the lightest swept all over), a mix of Lioeli BB Cream and Mac Strobe Cream (trying to use up the strobe cream) and my beloved Lancome Oche Doree. I applied Oche Doree slightly differently today, focusing on the edges of my face and not bringing it so far onto the apples and I think I quite like it!

It seems weird to be going for such bright colours when we're in autumn but the weather here has been so beautiful that it still feels like summer - and I'm all for clinging to summer for as long as possible!

Mermaid FOTD

This is my second look for my Halloween Series and I had a mermaid in mind when I did it but a few people have said it could be used for a simple avatar make up look if you alter the colours a little it’d also be great for a water nymph!

I really really love how this turned out as I wasn’t sure it’d work but I’m seriously chuffed. All you need is a foundation, a powder (ideally translucent if you’re going for a pale look but a coloured powder will be fine), some netting (I got mine from a bunch of oranges!), a turquoise eye shadow, a royal blue eye shadow, black eyeliner , a mascara and a lip balm.

1. Apply a pale foundation as a base – I used my normal studio sculpt mixed with some of barry M’s white foundation crème, then lightly powder your skin so it’s easier to blend the blue eye shadow out in the next step

2. Carefully place the netting on one side of your face, then gently start tapping the blue eye shadow over it.

3. Continue this all over your face, just try to make sure the netting is fairly taut and isn’t moving around too much otherwise you won’t get the scaly effect

4. Then take the turquoise shadow and apply this all over your lid and into the ‘scales’ around your face.

5. Use the royal blue shadow to contour your eyes and add some dimension; again blend well

6. Apply your eyeliner, I chose to do an extended wing and take it down the inner corner but thats completely optional.

7. For the lips line with a black eyeliner, then mix some lip balm and a blue shadow together to great a blue tinted lip balm and apply to your lips.

8. To finish just apply lashings of mascara and false lashes if you fancy!

(and just so you can see what it looks like if you decide to keep your hair down)

It sounds a little complicated but I promise it’s not, just take your time and have fun with it!

I’ve got another 4 Halloween posts coming up before the 31^st but if you’ve and requests just let me know as I’m sure I can sort out another look :)

Hope you’ve enjoyed!! x

Head Over Heels

I normally ensure I use new products for at least 2-3 weeks before writing a review (I always test out skin care products longer) just so I know I’ve thoroughly tested the product out. But I’ve only have this for a little over a week but I honestly love it!
(the packaging is definitely a bonus – so cute and yet so simple)
Topshop make up has been out for quite a while now and despite praise from other bloggers I was just never sure. I did however take the plunge last week and ordered Head over Heels Cream Blush online, along with a few other bits I got in the sale…

And I regret not trying it sooner! It’s the perfect blend of peach, pink and coral which makes it instantly flattering on my pale skin and looked just as pretty after I fake tanned!
The formula is creamy, easy to blend and dries to a powder finish. I’ll admit I would prefer it to have the dewiness associated with cream blushes but the powder formula does allow for a slightly more natural finish and for you to add your own highlight

Topshop make up is available in most large Topshops as well as online at £6 for 4g which is a pretty standard. The formula makes this definitely one of the best drugstore cream blushes out there at the moment!

I’ll definitely be checking out their other colours however for me Head over Heels is the blush that really stands out as shades like this are always a bit of a rare find at the drugstore!

Hope this has been helpful!! x

A Rushed FOTD

Before this summer I was pretty much never late, occasionally a few minutes delayed but usually bang on time or quite often early. But since I’ve finished college this year I seem to be constantly rushing around because I’m late!
Face
Skin79 BB cream
Mac studio sculpt concealer
A little bit of Benefit Georgia & Mac soft and Gentle MSF
(but mainly my natural cheek colour as it was so hot)
Eyes
Nouveau lashes which I got in my Glossybox(I didnt think I'd like them but I love them!)
Mac All that glitters all over the lid
Avon white eyeliner as a subtle highlight
Lips
Just a BodyShop lip balm – I can’t cope with anything heavy on my lips in summer!
(These are some sneaky shots I took inside Topshop’s changing rooms because I didn’t have time prior to going out to take some shots of how the waves looked!)
Hair
Once again my beloved Babyliss waving wand which I love & a bit of hair spray

Try to forgive how rushed these were, I tried to quickly take one or two decent shots while running out the door (I actually took them in the car) as I really liked how this looked :)

Hope you've enjoyed!! x

P.S this was taken on a sweltering hot day last week- I want that weather back!

Prom FOTN

I haven’t done any FOTN or FOTD in months, but I really liked my make up for prom and I thought I’d share because it’s ridiculously simple.
(ignore the weird facial expression going on here)
Face:
Eyeko’s tinted cream
Lancôme Silky matte foundation
Benefit Boi-ing concealer in 02
Benefit Hoola Bronzer
(no blush)
(this is a terrible photo but my camera just doesn’t like artifical lighting – I’ll redo + update!)
Eyes:
Revlon Colorstay eyeliner
Mac Indianwood paintpot
Bobbi brown black gel liner
Rimmel Sexy curves mascara & Collection 2000 false lash effect
And some half false lashes
Lips:
Benefit Benetint
(I’m pretty sure I single-handedly created another hole in the ozone with the amount of hairspray I used for this :/)
Hair:
I just curled it all to one side with a bit of a bouffant going on!
(this is the best picture of what colour my dress was)
Nails:
I got them to match my dress by mixing a few different polishes and then I just put Barry M pink iridescence over my ring fingers.

(and some random pictures of the prom itself before we went out afterwards)

Hope you’ve enjoyed!! x

Runway Pink

I don’t usually do reviews on just one lipstick but I think this one deserves a special mention as at only £3.50 it’s already one of my favourites and I’ve not even had it a full week yet!
Runway Pink is from the mineral line at E.LF meaning it’s a bit more expensive than their normal £1.50 price tag but you get a sleek matte black case and a gorgeous product!

This isn’t a colour I would usually go for (I tend to stick to mauves and colours resembling my natural lip colour – in other words I play it very safe) but Sara from SWalkerMakeUp recently mentioned it on her 11 most used tag and I’m always swayed to try products whenthey have been highly recomended!

I was making an elf order anyway (they had free shipping) and I popped this little beauty into my basket (still not expecting anything amazing) but when it arrived I understand why it’s so popular!
It’s a creamy, almost matte finish which instantly makes it more wearable as it’s not an in-your-face pink with lots of gloss. I wasn’t sure it’d work with my pale skin (although I have been fake tanning a bit this past month) but it looks gorgeous and I’ve already found myself reaching for it most mornings!

This is definitely going to be one of those products I repeatedly repurchase and I’d recommend trying this out or if a creamy neutral pink isn’t for you (I think this would suit everyone though) check out their other mineral lipsticks as I’ve heard good things about all of them!

Hope you’ve enjoyed!! x

P.S I've finally finished my exams!!

Sunset NOTD

These have got to be one of my favourite nail art designs and it’s surprisingly simple
(possibly not the best design to start with if you’re a complete beginner)
I can’t take credit for this lovely design as I’ve seen similar ones all over the place, just type sunset nails into google and you’ll end up with hundreds of slight variations on this look, some very simple and some crazily detailed!

1. Apply a stripe of gold for the sand at the bottom on your nail
(I used yellow and then gold over the top from barry m)
2. Once that's dry apply a blue stripe for the sea
3. Once that's dry apply a coral stripe
4. Once that's dry apply an orange stripe
5. Then apply a yellow stripe at the top just before the orange dries
(these two colours should hopefully blend a little)
7. Once it's dry, use a nail art dotter to slowly dot on the palm tree in black.
(alternatively you can use a cocktail stick or the end of a hair grip)
This is the hardest bit so take your time.
8. Once everything is dry apply a clear top coat and your done!

Hope you’ve enjoyed!! x

(you could do this on every finger or something similar, I chose to just apply a plain coat of coral to my other nails though so my thumbs remained the focal point)

40 Heatless Days

It’s been proven hundreds of times that using heated tools is the biggest cause of hair damage and since I’m endeavouring to grow my hair I’ve been trying to use so..
(I've put everything heat related away in box under my bed to avoid temptation!)
I’ve decided to go 40 days without anything hot touching my hair, including hair dryers, straighteners, curlers, crimpers, wavers etc… and I’m going to do a little post at the end to let you know if I’ve actually noticed a difference to the health of hair!

Have any of you done something similar?
And more importantly are any of you going to join me in scrapping the hot tools for a while?! xx

(you’re hair always grows at the same pace however the more damage you do to your hair the easier it breaks of so sometimes it looks like your hair isn’t growing when in fact it’s just breaking off!)

P.S I’m making an exception for my birthday and for prom both of which fall into the next 40 days, but I'm just going to add on an extra two days to make up for it :)

Lip Art?

I love experimenting with editorial looks and I’ve done a ton of nail art posts and eye make up looks which are pretty un-wearable if really pretty. However I’ve never branched into lip art, but I have admired several looks for ages so I decided to finally give it a go!
This is what I came up with – what do you think?

This was my first attempt and working on my lips was defiantly different but I really enjoyed it, do you fancy seeing any more things like this?

Hope you’ve enjoyed!! x

Mac Studio Sculpt Foundation

This has been my foundation of choice for the past six months (since I first bought it) so it’s about time I finally got around to writing a review on it!

Mac describes this as ''a medium coverage foundation with a natural matte finish'' and I think that’s pretty accurate. beacuse it's so pigmented it's really easy to build this up for a full coverage look and you need less than a pea sized amount for medium coverage!
On the downside if you want a sheer coverage you'd have to add some moisturiser.
You can get this for £23 online from the Mac website or from pretty much any department store.

The reason I first picked this up was because I struggled to find a foundation that matched my skin tone, and if you have difficulty finding the perfect colour I'd definately recomend mac as in this foundation they offerMac offer 24 different shades ranging from NW and NC 15 right up to NW55 so you’re found to find one shade which works with your skin.

My skin is pretty normal, verging on dry in winter and oily in summer and I’ve used this throughout winter and it hasn’t dried my skin out, or emphased dry patches while in the recent warm weather it’s kept everything matte and prevented shine :)

Overall this really is a great all purpose foundation which I can imagine suiting a whole range of skin types so I suggest you definitely take a look next time you pass a Mac counter as I know I’m going to be repurchasing this!

Hope this has been helpful!! X

P.S despite the high pigmentation it’s really easy to buff this into your skin to create a ‘no-make-up’ look!

Save your Rings

I read about this little tip months and months ago and after testing out the results I wanted to share this little idea with you!

Costume jewellery is the accessory of choice at the moment with loads of big brands doing really affordable and pretty jewellery but the materials used, particularly the metals aren’t designed to be worn repeatedly
If you own some costume rings you’ll probably know that during the hot weather or after continued wear they can end up like this..
This is the only ring, luckily, that’s tarnished but there is a super easy way of preventing this – just apply a thin coat of clear nail polish all over the ring (or just where the metal will be touching your skin) and you’ve created a barrier between your skin and the ring so you can avoid tarnishing!
This is so easy, and takes less than 5 minutes but since I’ve done this to all my rings I’ve not had any problems with tarnishing!

Let me know if you try this out and how it’s worked for you!

Hope this has been helpful!! x

Sally Hansen Lip Inflation

This is one of those products I’ve been meaning to write a review of for months and months but for some reason I never got around to it but here you go :)Sally Hansen is mostly known for her top quality nail products but this brand does have some cosmetics and beauty items such as this lip plumper.

First thing I should say is this isn’t one of those incredibly painful lip-plumpers where it feels like your lips are on fire, instead there is a very mild kind of tingling but it’s very slight and I know some people don’t even feel it working!
(Top Left, Before lipgloss, Top Right, Straight after application, Bottom Left, after about 10-20 minutes, Bottom Right, After 30 minutes)

Hopefully you can see above that the gloss is pretty much clear and starts working almost straight away and the ‘plump-ness’ lasts pretty well as I still think my lips are slightly bigger even after an hour. As far as actually lasting power I found it started disappearing after about an hour so a little bit longer than you average lipgloss.
.
Have any of you tried this lipgloss?
Or do you have any lip plumping suggestions??

Hope you've enjoyed!! x

Easter NOTD 2011

I just wanted to show you my nails for Easter – which I think are super cute!
I used OPI’s Fiercely Fiona as the yellow base – This was the streakiest polish I’ve ever used, don’t waste your money on it.
Then I did some white triangles with Barry M’s Matte White
And finished off with a blob of orange for the beak and some black and white dots for the little eyes:)

What do you think? Have any of you done anything cute for Easter??
Hope you’ve enjoyed!! x

Happy Easter
P.S what do you think of the new blog header? I'm still undecided!

Fulham Road

I’ve really been loving experimenting with my nails polishes in particular layering them up to get some really pretty looks and this is one of my favourite combinations!
Fulham road from nails inc was a gift and I could never figure out how to wear as on it’s own it’s pretty much transparent with a few shimmery bits but when I tried this over barry M bright purple (another colour which I never seem to reach for) I fell in love :)
I just really love how these two look, and I got a ton of compliments the week I wore these on my nails !

Have any of you layer your polishes? Let me know if you’ve found any great combos :) Hope you’ve enjoyed!! X

Bella by Calvin Klein

I mentioned this lipgloss back in my February favourites and I’m still loving it just as much!
I had never heard much about calvin klein’s make up range so when I picked this up I wasn’t expecting anything amazing – it was purely the colour which drew me in – a pretty rosy pink with some mauve undertones which makes it wearable for just about everyone. It also has some slight shimmer in it which just adds a little bit of dimension.
(straight after application)
But, after using this for months it’s not the colour which makes this one of my ultimate favourite lip glosses it’s the texture and longevity.
(This after an hour and half after applying)
This is completely none sticky, in fact it feels really creamy and incredibly hydrating!
(after 2 and a half -3 hours)
Hopefully you can see, that although the lipgloss and worn off and faded it hasn’t clung to any dry skin and it’s faded really evenly with my lips still having a glossy finish and a wash of colour :)
The packaging of their lipglosses are also really pretty with the Calvin Klein logo on the top and a brush applicator which I always think makes applying the gloss alot easier!

Calvin Klein cosmetics are a little bit difficult to get hold off however you can order them Amazon as well as their official store

Have any of you tried any Calvin Klein Cosmetics?
Hope you've enjoyed!! x

Baked-Eye-Colour

I picked these two BodyShop Baked-Eye-Colour Eyeshadows up in the summer when the first came out and there was a lot of talk about the BodyShop’s new ‘baked to last range’ and at first I wasn’t overly impressed with them but after using them on and off for the past 6-7 months I actually really like them!
These aren’t ‘cheap’ eyeshadows and when I first swatched them in store I didn’t understand why people were recommending them but I had a BodyShop voucher burning a hole in my pocket so I picked up Sage and Amethyst. They were £9.50 but they’ve gone up to £10 because of VAT (I used my ‘love your body card’ so I got 10% off!)
(R-L Amethyst & Sage)
I wasn’t sure if these would be too bright but they actually just give a pretty subtle colour with the darker shade being almost grungy so together they are very wearable!
(R-L Amethyst & Sage)
As you can see swatched you get a much more accurate picture of what the colours are actually like. They’re surprisingly pigmented and they are actually very long lasting which is unusual – I find a lot of baked products tend to crease really easily.
Sage is probably the most worn of the two purely because I love how greens look on brown eyes so when I’m stuck for what eyeshadows you use this is a really easy option.
I stayed away from Amethyst at first as plum colours often lose their vibrancy as, for some reason, plum tones look very natural however recently I’ve been reaching for this one a lot as it gives just enough colour to be wearable :)

Overall I really do love these and for travelling these are great as they take up no room at all and you know you can create a natural or smokey night time look. They are quite pricey for eyeshadows, particularly for HighStreet/drugstore, but I’ve used these quite a lot and I’ve barely made a dint in the amount of product so I’d say these are actually quite good value as it will take ages to use it all!

Hope this has been helpful!
The BodyShop has 8 different shades and I’m definitely going to be looking into some of the other shades as they look so pretty!! x

Peach Fizz - 324

This is just a short little post dedicated to my current favourite lipstick, which I have been wearing constantly for the past few weeks – Estee Lauder Peach Fizz
I don’t normally reach for pinks and peaches; even though they are incredibly pretty as I tend to stick to mauves and rosy colours which I know work well on a daily basis. But this little tube just looks so pretty (both on the lips and the packaging) I just can’t resist it!
I’m not a huge Estee Lauder fan as a lot of their products I seem to have bad reactions to, luckily though their Pure Colour Crystal lipsticks don’t cause any reactions (I think that’s mainly due to the fact it’s only lightly fragranced) This pretty star detailing on the actual lipstick itself originally made be me wonder about whether this would be too glittery or gold but the glitter is purely on the outside and isn't actually applied on your lips.
(The star detailing might have been limited edition for Christmas but I’m not completely sure)
Swatched on my hand I don’t think this looks anything special however on the lips it gives just enough pigmentation to be wearable and flattering with a moisturising finish
I feel like I have a lip balm on wearing this – which I love! I hate heavy lip products but this is very light and actually lasts quite well!

Thanks for reading
Have any of you tried anything from this range?

Leopard Print EOTD

I haven’t done any eye make up recently & since I’ve been a little under the weather I didn’t really want to do a FOTD(face of the day) I just did some fun eye make up instead – hope you like!
I did a pretty gold and bronze eye –which I wore out on Sunday- and then using a felt tip eyeliner (the prices of these vary from Elf’s at £1.50 to Lancôme’s at £20) and just drew on some leopard spot and kept the actually eyeliner on my lash liner nice and simple.
I took these photos just before I took my eyelash extensions off – there will hopefully be a little review on what I though of the eyelash extensions sometime in the next week!

Famous?

There have been A LOT of mixed reviews on this make up range - Famous by Sue Moxley, with a lot of their products being relatively poor however there were one or two pieces which really stood out, such as their eyeshadow palettes two of which I purchased.

I picked up Jealousy (the green palette) and Cafe Couture (the brown/neutral palette)

The first picked up Jealousy, and it was the first thing that caught my attention from the whole brand and convinced me to take another look at the collection in more detail as it’s really lovely.

You get four vibrant green eyeshadows which are incredibly pigmented and have a pretty unique formula.
The formula is definitely…different. At first glance they seem very crumbly and the pigmentation is a little patchy but – when you blend them (particularly if you use your finger) you get a creamy consistency which looks gorgeous on the eyes!

And it’s not just the formula of this palette that I love, the actual colour selection themselves are almost three dimensional and even though they are bright, they look gorgeous on there own with a few muted browns (I’d personally never wear all the colours together as I think it’d just be too much for my own taste)
(these two middle ones are my favourite as I love the metallic look to them!)

So after seeing how gorgeous the Jealousy palette was I went back to Superdrug (I think that’s the only place these are available as the official website seems to be down most of the time) and bought a more neutral palette expecting the same pigmentation, formula and beautiful colour range.

Cafe Couture
There isn’t much to say about this palette, the middle two colours are, again, the prettiest and best of the four as these two have the same formulation of the palette above but….
The other two just don’t compete with the Jealously palette, they’re very ashy and chalky.. And think this is why the make up collection hasn’t done as well – there products seem to be inconsistency with some of their products being really lovely for the price e.g. Jealousy and others just... don’t.

Overall I’m still going to be looking into the brand a lot more as I’m sure there are more gorgeous pieces, I’m just going to be careful of assuming the quality will be constant.
For £9.00 I can’t complain really as I do love the middle colours and I’m sure I’ll figure out a use for the other two :)

-If you are wanting to try out her range, you’ll have to be ready to search around as I think Superdrug have pulled back a lot of the products so it’s getting increasingly difficult to get hold of anything!

(I've just got some eyelash extensions done - Can't wait to post some picture and see how they last!! x)