Monthly Favourites

Hi everyone,

Can’t believe its nearly October, I seriously think that this year has absolutely flown by, it doesn’t seem 2 minutes since I turned 18 last December and this year just seems to have been one big blur of partying haha. Anyway, today my post is going to simply be some monthly favourites, I quite like reading these on other blogs, probably because I’m really nosey but I like seeing products that people enjoy using. Actually before I get on to the post I just wanted to say sorry for being missing from my blog for the last week, if I’m honest I kind of had a bit of blogger writing block and couldn’t really think of anything worth posting about, I sometimes think that some bloggers blog for the sake of blogging and I want my blog posts to be quality over quantity, and secondly I’ve had a bit of a mad week, it seems to have gone so quick that I haven’t really had a second to sit down and write, but as I’m watching X - factor now and I’m not up to much I thought this would be the perfect time to buckle on down and do some writing (sorry for the massive ramble there!)

Anyway my monthly favourites this month are a fix of some new products that I’ve been trying out over the last few weeks and a few old staples that could probably feature in my monthly favourites for ever and ever.

1) Simple Rich Moisturiser 2) Rimmel Fix and Perfect Pro Primer 3) MUA pressed powder – shade 1 4) Simple soothing facial toner 5) Simple clarifying cleansing lotion 6) Bourjois Bronzer 7) Soap and Glory love at first blush blusher 8) Real Techniques Powder Brush  9) Natural Collection Mascara 10) Revlon Colourstay Foundation

Simple Skincare

The first 3 products I’m going to be talking about are these Simple products, this has changed my skincare routine completely and really cheaply as well, I recently picked up the Simple Rich Moisturiser, the Simple soothing facial toner and the Simple clarifying cleansing lotion as there was a deal in my local Tesco’s store that you could purchase any 3 simple products for £5.00! what a bargain, I decided to stick to what I know and buy products that allowed me to stick to my faithful cleanse, tone, moisturise steps. And wow, do these deliver. The problem I have with some skincare is that I actually feel it is too harsh for my skin, I feel that I’m buying a toner that is literally burning off the top layer of my skin and I don’t like it. Which is probably why I love simple products so much, they have the best ethics of any skincare brand I know, they want to be kind to the skin and they create products that are fragrance and cruelty free so that you’re skin just feels nicer and doesn’t get damaged by using these products, these are also fantastic products for anyone with sensitive skin. Firstly the cleansing lotion is great for making sure your skin is really clean and feels super nice, but I would say that if you’re looking for a product that is going to get rid of all your makeup then this is not really it, I love this product but I have to take my makeup off with a face wipe first and then just use this to deep down clean my face as I feel like it’s not the best at getting rid of tough eye makeup and I’d be using a lot of excess product. The next of the products is the soothing toner and I think this could possibly be my favourite, this product doesn’t dry out your skin or sting like any other toners I’ve ever tried it just cleans and refreshes the skin and I would definitely say it has soothing effects although I don’t know how or why I think this. The last of the Simple products is the rich moisturiser, it goes on to your face completely clear and dries really quickly but lasts such a long time, it claims on the box that it will keep your skin moisturised for up  to 12 hours and I don’t know if I’d agree with that but it definitely keeps my skin moisturised for much longer than other moisturisers I’ve tried and for the price I would say that all of these 3 products are a steal – even when they’re not on offer.

Rimmel Fix and Protect Pro Primer

I’ve spoke about this primer in my last blog post which you can see below so I’m not going to go into huge amounts of detail, but this is a fantastic high street primer, it mattes the skin and makes it smooth and really does work and keep your makeup on for a lot longer. Probably the best primer I’ve ever tried and a primer I will continue to repurchase for a very long time.

Bourjois Delice De Poudre Peaux Bronzer

The next product I’m going to be talking about is the Bourjois Bronzer, I can’t actually say enough good things about this, this could be in my monthly favorites forever, I absolutely adore it. I’ve had this exact same product for years, I think I brought it when I was in year 10?! To aid my foundation and make me look even more orange than I was haha, but I always loved how amazing this product was and I still use it today, it smells gorgeous, almost has a chocolately smell and it gives you such a nice bronzed glow but you never look over the top, it’s just a gentle sun kissed glow, it’s just such a beautiful product, it’s light but gives you just enough product to make a slight difference, it has an almost sheen to it which means that it makes your skin look absolutely divine. Ahhh I’m in love with it, this product is so affordable and is the best bronzer I’ve ever tried, in actual fact I haven’t really tried that many more because I don’t feel the need too. It’s ace and it’s lasted me literally for years with every day use, it’s actually lasted me a good 3 years?! What the hell! So affordable and so ace, I haven’t hit pan after all this time and I do love the sunkissed glow, perfect for all seasons and for all skin tones, it’s just great! Seriously all time favorite product right here.

Soap and Glory – Love at First Blush

This is a product that I’ve had for quite a while now, I’ve kind of had a love/hate relationship with it but now I’ve got used to it and found the best way to use it, it gets a massive thumbs up for me. This blusher has quite a lot of sheen to it, but the color is gorgeous, you have to swirl your brush in all of the colors and this then leaves you with a  pretty pink color that is just to die for, but when the color hits the light it has quite a lot of sheen to it and a tad too much shine for me, I have quite oily skin and large pores on my cheeks and too much of this product just seemed to exaggerate this but now I use this on good skin days or I use it to highlight the top of my cheekbones or use it over my bronzer and it works amazingly as that. I love how individual the colour is and how pretty this looks in the packaging.

Real Techniques Powder Brush

I also recently did a review on this powder brush about 2 posts ago so you can go and check that out below so I’m not going to go into massive amount of details but one of the best brushes I’ve ever used in my life. It’s big, it’s fluffy and it’s soooo soft, it’s ace, It really does work for me and I can’t imagine ever needing another powder brush after using this one. My only nig would be that it is slightly big for powder, but then again that’s probably what makes my powder look more natural and helps me get such a light dusting.

Natural Collection Lash Curl Mascara

This is another bargain find which is great for those people on a budget, I picked this mascara up on a whim a few months ago and I actually really enjoy it, I think the reason for this is simply due to the fact that it’s a really nice color, I picked it up in brown/black by accident and I love it! I have brown eyes and therefore this shade actually really suits them and brings them out, I like the fact that this holds a great curl within my lashes, lengthens them and is also quite a wet formula so therefore doesn’t ever get clumpy no matter how much I put on. Such a great product and for so cheap too.

MUA pressed powder

The next thing that I have been loving for quite a while now actually is the MUA pressed powder in shade one, I think this is such a great product, I’ve tried quite a few powders in my time some high end and some drug store and to be honest this is one of the best I’ve tried and it’s only £1.00?! crazy, the shade selection is quite rubbish though I think there’s only 3 or 4 shades but for the price what can you expect, I love this, it keeps my makeup in place but doesn’t go cakey and always looks super natural, the packaging is fairly good too and perfect for on the go touch up’s. Seriously ace product and so cheap it’s almost unbelievable!

Revlon Colorstay Foundation

This is another product I’ve had my up’s and down’s with, when I had quite clear skin when I first brought this foundation I really didn’t like it, it looked cakey and over the top and it didn’t make my skin look flawless at all, but now that my skins got drier as it’s colder outside and I’ve needed more coverage I actually really like this foundation, this is a foundation that really needs to be buffed into the skin so I find the Real Techniques Stippling Brush does a great job of blending this in and making it look less cakey. I love how this foundation covers blemishes when built up and also lasts a really long time. Great foundation for the winter months.

Hope you enjoyed this post, thanks for reading

What are your monthly favourites?

Lots of Love - Gem xxx

A perfect combination - Rimmel Wake Me Up + Rimmel Fix and Perfect

Hi ladies!

It ain’t half chilly today, i braved the cold earlier and it was so rainy and horrible and now I’m sat cosied up by the fire blogging, what a lush way to spend a Monday night aiy!

Anyway today’s review is going to be about two Rimmel Products that I have been using for the past few weeks, when I recently picked up the Real Techniques Powder Brush I also picked up the Rimmel “Wake me up foundation” which I’ve used previously and also the “Rimmel Fix and Perfect Pro Primer”. The reason for these purchases is because there was up to £3.00 off at boots on some of their Rimmel Products and after falling in love with the Rimmel Wake Me up Foundation previously I thought it was time to pick it up again, especially as it was on offer. I also wanted a new base as a lot of the primers I’ve tried lately haven’t really been working for me and I like to change things up as the colder seasons approach because my combination skin often changes a lot around this time.

Rimmel Wake Me Up

I know that the Rimmel Wake me up foundation has been really hyped up in the blogging world, this is actually where I first heard about it when it was first released and I think I purchased it within a month of it first being released. Unfortunately though I purchased the wrong shade and therefore as much as I loved the consistency I just looked like a massive ompa lumpa wearing it and that’s definitely not a look I go for. Then one day I managed to drop the glass bottle on to the tiled floor in my bathroom and watched horrified as it smashed into 1000 pieces so that was the death of my first bottle of Wake me up. Ever since I knew it was a foundation I wanted to try again so when I saw it was on offer and they had my shade in boots I knew that I was on to a complete winner. Rimmel Wake me up foundation is favoured by so many because it’s such a beautiful foundation, it’s thick and creamy but it glides on to the skin and doesn’t feel heavy at all, it gives you a good medium but buildable coverage but doesn’t at all feel cakey or like you’re even wearing makeup, it has the distinctive smell of every single Rimmel product but it’s not overpowering either. Another plus is the fact that the packaging is lovely, the pump applicator is something that I never expect with a drugstore foundation so to get one is an added extra and the fact that it is a glass bottle makes it seem like a much more luxurious product as well as having the orange pop of colour which makes the product stand out and look simply gorgeous on my dressing table. Another thing I adore about this product is the fact that it does actually “wake me up” on those gloomy mornings where I’m tired and my skin is looking really dull. It has luminous particles built in to the foundation, that when applied on the skin give a really nice sheen, too apply this foundation I always pump it onto my hand first and once I’ve done this I can see that there are lots of glitter particles left but on your face the sparkle goes away and just leaves you skin gorgeous and glowing. I think this is actually my favourite drug store foundation and I’ve tried a huge amount, I’m a massive foundation fiend and I never go back to a foundation that I’ve already tried before but this was definitely the exception. It’s just beautiful, it gives your skin the coverage you need, whilst looking light and making you look more awake and it’s cheap and you get a gorgeous package design, what more could you want?! I love it!

Rimmel Fix and Perfect Pro Primer

This is another product that hasn’t been talked about quite a bit within the blogging world and on trying it and experimenting with it for about 2 weeks now I can completely understand the hype. This is hands down the best primer I’ve ever tried, I’ve tried benefit primers, a smash box primer and several drug store primers and this beats them all hands down. I don’t know what it is about this primer that makes me love it more than the others I’ve tried, it’s just perfect for my skin, it’s a completely clear product that just smoothes the skin, it makes it soft, it holds your makeup, the list goes on and on. On the packaging Rimmel claims that this primer does 5 things, smoothes the skin, resurfaces the skin, brightens the skin, mattes the skin and protects the skin. I would pretty much agree with everything that Rimmel has said, it definitely smoothes and resurfaces the skin, even if I’m having a “no makeup” day then I would use this primer just to make my skin feel better and look nicer as well, I’m not sure if I would say that this primer brightens your skin, I think it does a bit but if you’re looking for a brightening primer then I would suggest there’s much better primers that you could choose which have that luminosity about them (perhaps Rimmel’s Wake me up shimmer touch?). It does matte the skin an incredible amount though and I feel like this makes my makeup last a hell of a lot longer then it would without it, and even if it didn’t it would still be the product that I’d go to because it’s just so lovely, it literally feels amazing on the skin and its one of those products that just makes you think your doing good for your skin, which is really good especially as some primers make you feel like your pores are getting more clogged when using the product.

Honestly this product combined with the Rimmel Wake me up foundation pretty much changed my foundation routine forever and I think it’s literally the best thing I did picking them both up, such an amazing combination and everything you want from your primer and foundation. Plus for £8.99 for the foundation (or £5.99 in boots at the moment) and £6.99 RRP or £4.99 at the moment the primer is a massive bargain too. Simply an amazing and cheap combination.

Oooh and I thought I’d put a picture of me wearing the foundation so you can see just how ace my skin looks, told you it was good. I'm super impressed with the results, my skin looks completely flawless compared to when i've used more high end foundations.

 

Thanks for reading
Lots of Love

Gem xxxxx

Real techniques powder brush

Hi my lovelies!

Today my post is going to be about something that is highly discussed within the blogging world, the Real Techniques brushes. Everyone and their neighbour knows about these brushes and unless you’ve been living on Mars for the last year I’m sure you’ve heard of them. Samantha Chapman, one half of Pixiwoo has created brushes. The thing with the fact that Samantha created this brushes is the fact that because she’s a makeup artist and because she’s created tutorials on you tube she knows what makes a good makeup brush and therefore she has all of the tools and knowledge to create some awesome brushes, and that’s what she did. I’m not going to go in to too much detail about the brush collection, simply due to the fact that everyone’s already heard all about them and the last thing I want to do is bore everyone.

The brush I’m going to be talking about today is the ‘Powder Brush’, the reason I wanted to do a rave about this brush is simply due to the fact that I’ve heard literally nothing about it within the blogging community, which I find really strange, I think people underestimate the power of a good power brush and people would rather talk about the Stippling Brush or Buffing Brush that can help you to achieve a flawless finish with your foundation. People forget that powder is an important part of your foundation routine, it’s what sets your makeup and keeps it lasting all day and therefore a good brush can really help you to achieve a really natural flawless face too. The reason I know that the Real Techniques powder brush hasn’t had a lot of loving in the blogging world is because I was watching some pixiwoo videos and was amazed by how big and fluffy this brush looked, I then looked for some reviews and to be honest there wasn’t ¼ as as many for this brush compared to the other brushes in the collection and I have no idea why, it’s definitely been neglected.

 

Let me just start by saying that this brush is FANTASTIC, I have never in my life felt a smoother or softer brush, I am sat here now rubbing it on my face because it is literally so soft, it feels like an absolute dream, it’s just a beautiful brush. It’s big and fluffy, bigger and fluffier than any other powder brush, it is at least twice the size of every single other powder brush I have in my collection and it’s just great. This brush does everything I want it to do and more, I felt with my powder brushes previously that they either picked up way too much product making me look extremely cakey or too little product so that I had too keep swirling my brush in the powder for ages just for it to be absorbed by the brush. This brush is also made of synthetic hairs and therefore it is completely animal and cruelty free which is a massive plus for me and above all of that it is cheap (£12.99 for a brush of this quality is an absolute steal) and it’s just fantastic in every single way. I love it, I could literally rave about it all day, it washes easily, dries quickly and then also doesn’t shed and it’s like heaven for your face. Also the brush is fairly dense for a powder brush so I don’t have to work too hard with it, and it’s also perfect for bronzing your whole face (although too big for contour) and dusting highlighter and bronzer on to the cheek bones because of how big it was. I have no idea why the blogging world hasn’t given this brush the hype it deserves, after trying both this and the stippling brush from Real Techniques I would say that this one kicks the stippling brush up the ass and just made me want to buy the whole core collection of brushes.

Seriously massive love for this brush, go and get this! Also Boots at the moment are having a buy one get one half price sale on all Real Techniques brushes so it’s an even better deal. I very much recommend this brush to you guys, it’s seriously the most soft and gorgeous brush ever. Major loving it.

Lots of Love

Gem

xxxx

Autumn fav's

Hi Dolls,

Today this post is a bit different, the past week I’ve been feeling really down because I’ve had a really bad cold and been feeling rather under the weather. Having a cold in September is very unusual and that combined with the fact that the nights have began drawing in and it’s got really rather chilly. This has all left me in the mood to cuddle up in my bed in my onesie and a bar of chocolate and catch up on all the good old soaps. This has therefore given me the idea for a post. I want to show you some new purchases that I’ve purchased for autumn and some of the old products that I want to use more now because they are more suitable for autumn and therefore will work better at this time of the year. I know some of you will read this and be hating on me for bringing up the subject of doom and gloom, but as we haven’t had much of a summer anyway it’s probably time that we move on from the little bit of summer we had to a nice autumn. I personally love autumn and winter, I love being able to cosy on up in my house and I prefer winter clothes as well as autumn and winter beauty trends. So anyway, on to my autumn fav’s:

My autumn favourites are a combination of bath and body products as well as some makeup products. I feel that in the autumn months I need more moisture on my skin as it starts to dry out more and therefore I need products that will work better for that and I feel that my makeup needs to become less bright and luminous and more burgundy and browns need to be used within my look.

The first products that I have picked up which are perfect for Autumn are this bath and shower gel which are made by Imperial Leather, the reason that I picked these up was due to the fact that I was intrigued by the names of the products, they were called ‘Japanese Spa’ and this just took me to a place of calm and relaxation. I have tried both the bubble bath and shower gel and love them both, they have such a nice scent to them and they really do relax them as well as making sure that your skin feels super smooth, soft and clean. You can pick these up from Boots or a supermarket as we did. Definitely perfect for those warm evening bubble baths during the Autumn months.

The next lot of products that I think are

perfect for Autumn are some beauty products. I’ve been neglecting some of the products in my collection simply due to the fact that I felt that they wouldn’t really work for summer and spring. I think in the summer and spring light pinks, bright pinks and corals are normally the colours you use, and you highlight your looks with a bright lip or a bright blush and therefore the darker colours that I’ve been saving are more perfect for Autumn. As you can see I have a blush, 2 lipsticks and a lip-gloss that I’ve been saving for Autumn, and these products will probably be the products I use in order to change up my summer look into a look perfect for the different season. The first thing I’ve gone for is an old favourite, an elf blush from the studio line that’s called ‘Berry Merry’ I like the fact that this will warm up my collection in the more gloomy months and I love the specks of gold within this blush, plus it’s an absolute bargain at only £3.75! Next I have 2 lipsticks, the first of the lipsticks is from Primark, it’s a dark brick red colour that is great for a statement lip and also £1.00, the last lipstick I have is the Kate Moss Lipstick, in shade 19, this is a nudey colour with brown undertones and therefore it’s great as the nights get darker. The last thing I have is a natural collection lip-gloss and you can see this is quite a dark reddish-brown colour which will again be great to compliment the lips during the season. You can pick the Rimmel lipstick and Natural Collection lip-gloss up at Boots and the other lipstick up at Primark.

The foundation I have chosen for the season is going to be the Avon ‘Ideal Flawless’ foundation, I like this foundation due to the fact that it is a perfect match for my skin colour when I’m a little paler, which I will be now, I don’t tend to fake tan or tan naturally at all as the year goes on and therefore I want a foundation that is going to compliment my natural skin colour. I haven’t really tried this foundation as yet but it’s meant to be quite full coverage which I need during this season as opposed to BB creams or tinted moisturisers which I would prefer to use due to their lighter coverage in the warmer months. You can order this foundation offline or from your local Avon representative.

The next 2 products I’ve been saving for Autumn and I brought them quite a few months ago now. I brought two products from the Montage Jennesse range, firstly I got a face mask bottle, basically this bottle contains enough products for 5 face masks, and because I love every single one of the Montage Jennesse masks so I thought this was quite a good product for me to have. This smells quite fruity and has an orange smell to it, it’s not one of the favourite scents of the face masks that I’ve tried but I’m sure that it’ll still be just as good as all of the other ones I’ve tried. I thought this would be really good due to the fact that I’ll want to treat my face more as the weather conditions will probably be quite harsh on it over the next couple of months. The second thing I got was a Montage Jennesse Chocolate Balm, and seriously this is AMAZING, I absolutely love it, every single girl needs one of these, not only is it incredibly moisturising but it also smells and tastes like chocolate, it is seriously the greatest thing I’ve ever put on my lips. I adore it, definitely recommend this.

The next few products I’ve been buying over the last few weeks. These are all products for my face and body. For example I have sudocrem which I’ve brought because I’ve heard good things about it locking moisturiser into my face and also getting rid of spots and blemishes, I felt that I needed a hardcore moisturiser for the more harsh months. I’ve heard that sudocrem masks also work really well to energise the face and make it smooth and fresh. The next product I have is a Avon Hand cream, it’s from the Skin so soft range and I feel that I need a hand cream in the colder months due to my hands chapping and losing their moisture, which this cream is really good at retaining moisture. The last thing I brought was a mini mitt from Soap and Glory, this is literally a mini mitt which you can use to exfoliate your face and keep it feeling soft by scrubbing off all the dead skin cells. I think all of these 3 products will be really useful during the Autumn.

The last thing I decided to include in this haul is some nail varnish that I want to try and use more in the Autumn months due to the fact that I think that these colours are perfect for the season. All 3 of these nail varnishes will look good with the autumn outfits that I have planned, they’re bold colours and bright enough to make a statement but still dark enough to work in the colder months.

Overall I think i've got a good collection ready to pamper myself and get me through the Autumn months, I hope you like my Autumn picks so far!

Thank you for reading

Lots of Love

Gem

xxx

Tag - How much is your face worth?

Hi everyone,

Today I thought I’d do another tag post, this is one of my favourite ever tag posts to read due to the fact that I am a massive nosey parker and I love seeing what products people actually wear on there face in comparison to just endless reviews of beauty products. Therefore I did my normal face of makeup and thought I’d see how much my face would cost. I've been reading these posts lots on other peoples blog and couldn't believe how much people's face's actually added up to, but seeing my own actually made me realise it adds up really quickly and before you know it you've spent a whole ton of money on makeup really quickly! Anyway on to the post...

Face

Soap and Glory the righteous body butter – 500ml - £10.99

Autograph Enhancing Radiance Primer – 30ml - £12.99

Benefit Hello Flawless Foundation – 30ml - £24.00

Collection 2000 – Lasting Perfection Concealer - £3.99

Max factor Infinity Compact - £11.99

Bourjois Bronsing Powder - £6.99

Soap and Glory - Love at First Blush Blusher - £11.99

Elf Eyebrow Kit – Medium - £3.75

Face worth: £84.69

Eyes

Urban Decay Primer Potion - £14.50

Urban Decay Smokey Pallet - £35.00

Urban Decay 24/7 Glide on Eyeliner - £13.00

Benefit they’re real mascara  - £18.00

MUA Gel eyeliner - £3.00

Eyes Worth: £83.50

Lips

Kate Moss Shade 2 Lipstick - £5.99

 

Lips Worth: £5.99

Altogether face worth: £174.00!!!

I was actually quite shocked, I didn't realise that all of my beauty products would add up to such a large amount of money. Of course, althought it sounds really bad it isn't as bad as what it seems because a lot of these products have lasted me a really long time, for example my primer and moisturiser have lasted me since christmas time, so has my eyebrow kit, my bronzer and blush will last a long time, and my eyeshadow pallet won't run out anytime soon so if you worked out how much these products would cost me to use on a daily basis it wouldn't be half as much but still! it shows you just how expensive makeup is and the huge cost surrounding it. Definately given me something to think about. Although on some people's blogs i've seen this post go in the excess of £300.00 which is truly ridiculous, at least i'm not this bad. Definately made me think though because the majority of my products are from the drug store so imagine how much someones face would cost if they had lots of mac and bobby brown products!

Anyway hope you enjoyed this post,

And thank you for your continued support

Lots of Love

Gem xxx

Kim Kardashian - A contoured face

Hi Ladies,

This post is all about the gorgeous Kim Kardashian, I don't know how many of you follow her on twitter or instagram but the other day Kim posted some pictures of herself with her concealer and contour being worked on, I was so excited! She basically posted some pictures of where her makeup artist ‘Scott Barnes’ contours her face so that is has much more definition. What Scott does is use a much lighter concealer in order to catch the light in some places and then use bronzer in other parts of the face in order to contour and bring shade and definition to the face. Apparently it is one of makeup artist’s best kept secret in getting that really polished and sculpted face look.

 Out of all of the celebrities and people in the world I envy Kim Kardash the most, she is flawless, her makeup is absolutely stunning and I just wish I looked like her. She is definitely my style and makeup icon and if I could look as amazing as she does for just one day I would be completely over the moon. The thing I like about Kim, is how perfect her skin looks, I know she has a makeup artist, top end makeup and a hundred layers of makeup but she looks seriously lovely, and not one person on this planet could deny it. She uses her makeup to sculpt her face in a way that is almost breathtaking, she makes her skin look dewy and fresh and she never looks tired or dull or run down, she just always looks her best. AHH how envious I am. I think that all of the Kardashians makeup is gorgeous and so modern and I often watch their show and want to create the amazing looks they have. Kim Kardashian’s look is definitely my favourite though and the fact that she was brave enough to post a picture on instagram to allow us lot to nose at and try and create her look just shows what a good sport she is. I decided to try this tip out as soon as possible, for one Kim said to “try it at home” and for a second I’ve wanted to look like this girl for so long that I just had to hop right in and try it.

 

 

 

The diagram above is taken from Glamour Magazines website and shows you how to get the Kim Kardashian Contour is a more easy way, basically you bring light to certain area's such as the chin, the nose, the cupid's bow, under the eyes and the centre of the forehead and then contour others. Area's you should be contouring include the jaw bone, the cheek bones, the outside of the nose and the temples.

After all of the extra information i've received about contouring over the last few days from Kim Kardash herself i'm going to be giving this ago, so in the next few days look out for a post about the way I contour, using tips from Kim.

Hope this was useful for now,

Lots of Love

Gem xxx

my love for MUA

Hi Everyone!

Another post today about some beauty products that I am loving. A lot of you would now have heard of MUA a beauty range that is super cheap, with products that range from £1.00 - £8.00, so a collection of really affordable products. Over the last few months I have literally fallen in love with MUA, before I tried them I kind of had already formed an opinion, I thought that MUA would just be a brand full of cheap products that would conform to the teen market and to makeup beginners, but boy was I wrong! I have definitely learned not to judge any brand by their appearance or price. MUA have some of the best quality cosmetics within their range that I have hand on hand ever tried, they are fighting their way fiercely throughout the British cosmetic market and they are doing a very good job of it. They now have collections collaborated with Alexander Burke and also the brand “Love Hearts” signalling their further success. They are based in Superdrug and also online and they have a huge fan base. Throughout the blogging world MUA are either known, loved and used or have never been heard of and in my opinion if people keep singing their praises then their sales will end up rocketing and they will probably take a huge proportion of the British Cosmetic Market, with some of this products actually rivalling the quality of some of the products that are on offer on the high street at sometimes double or triple the price. Therefore today’s post is really a RAVE of how much I actually love MUA, I normally go into Superdrug simply to get their products and I have actually got quite a collection going on.

The products that I have personally collected so far are as follows:
MUA Mosaic Blush (£2.50),
MUA Starry Eyes pallet (£4.00),
MUA Glitter Eyes Pallet (£4.00),
MUA Blush Shade 1 (£1.00),
MUA extreme felt tip liner (£1.00),
MUA Love Hearts Kiss Me balm (£2.00),
MUA Sugar Lips Balm (£2.00)

The first product I’m going to be talking about is the MUA Mosaic Blush, this is the pink version of the blush and I absolutely love it, I think this was one of the first products I ever tried from MUA and kind of where my love affair began in the first place the reason that I like this product is because it’s highly pigmented, I love the fact that it can work as a blush but also has enough shine and shimmer in it to also work as a highlighter. I really personally love pink blushes and I always go back to using pink blushes and this one just gives the cheeks such a healthy and lovely glow, and the fact that it has a sheen makes it extra special if you want to use it for nights out. Also I recently purchased the “Love at First Blush” by Soap and Glory and this product really is an exact dupe of the Soap and Glory blush, which was £11.00 compared to the £2.50 blush. The product is soft and easily blendable and just really works; this blush is actually a repurchase because I dropped my first one and was soooo upset to have lost it. Really one of the main stars of the MUA collection!

The next products that I have collected through my love of MUA is the two different eye shadow pallets, I have the starry nights pallet which is full of lots of silvers and shimmer so therefore it is great for a night out and then I have the glittery eyes pallet which can be used for nights out but can also be worn down for a nice natural day look.

Firstly the Starry Nights Pallet, this pallet has 8 shades as all of the MUA pallets do and all of the pallets actually cost £4.00, this pallet has a light lilac shade, a pink shade, a dark midnight blue shade, a silver copper shade, a navy blue, a dark black, a darker purple, a white highlighting shade, a light silver shimmery shade, a pale blue, another purple and another lilac shade. Some of the shades within this pallet are quite similar but they all have different dimensions that make them all unique. All of the shades within this pallet have got different amounts of shimmer in them which is why I would suggest that they are better for the night time. I do like this pallet quite a lot but I wish it maybe had some more matte shades so that I could find it easier to use within the day. The quality of this eyeshadow pallet is really really good though, all of the shades are pigmented and highly blendable which is the same for all of the different eyeshadows in all of the MUA pallets I have tried to far. So overall I really like this eyeshadow pallet, a great investment and for only £4.00 it’s a really good pallet to invest in, I think you just have to consider how much you would actually use it and whether you already have similar colours within your collection.

The next pallet is the Glitter Balls Pallet, I LOVE this pallet, definitely my favourite of the two pallets, this pallet has what the other pallet lacks, a huge amount of diversity, it has lots of different colours, a mix of brights and neutrals so you can build up a great eye for the evening or play your eyes down for the day time, which I personally love to do. The shades in this pallet run much differently, we have a black, a peachy pink, a dark ivy green, a bright blue, a mint green, a white highlighter, a shimmery pink, a gorgeous gold, a coppery brown, a darker warmer brown, a silver and a purple. So you can see that this pallet can be worn in lots of different ways, the colours are so pigmented and just gorgeous and I have used this pallet a lot since I got it, seriously LOVE IT, if you want to try a MUA pallet I would definitely recommend this one just because it has shades and colours for everyone and therefore it is really adaptable to the looks you want to create, absolute perfection.

The next thing I have from MUA is a blush, the blush I got is in shade 1 and it is simply a big blush, it has a slight shimmer in it but nothing that you can really see when it has been applied to the face, the blush seems quite powdery when you swatch it or put it in on your brush but once it is blended in it looks fantastic and it really gives my face a natural flush of colour which I’m really into at the moment. I actually want to get more of these blushes since I’ve tried this one because for £1.00 they really do perform and I haven’t actually heard anything bad about them. The only thing I would say is that the packaging is a bit flimsy but then again what can you expect?!

The next product I have is something really simple, I brought the MUA pen liner for £1.00, this is a good felt tip liner, not the best I’ve tried but for the price you can’t really go wrong, it works well, hasn’t dried out and has fairly good pigmentation. I don’t have a lot of things too say about this product overall but it’s a good product.

The next two things that I got from MUA were 2 lip balms from the MUA love hearts collection, the two lip balms I have are under the names “Kiss me” and “Sugar Lips”. “Kiss Me” is a bright red lip balm, which looks really nice on the lips because it doesn’t come out that bright and “Sugar Lips” is just a really light pink colour that looks like my lip colour but better, I really like both of these lip balms they are very moisturising and nice on the lips, they feel good, smell good and they look really nice on the lips, they are slightly more expensive then the normal lipsticks from MUA but I personally prefer these balms and they’ll last for ages.

Overall. I love MUA and all of the products i've tried!

You can purchase all of these products at SuperDrug or the MUA website where you can get a new immaculate pallet free until the end of September!

Thanks for reading
Lots of Love

Gem xxxx

Sunday Shopping Haul

Hi Lovely Ladies!

Today I’ve got a little haul for you, on Sunday I had a day of work and so me and my mum decided to hit the shops to do a bit of shopping and browsing. On Monday it was 2 of my best friends birthday’s, so I was going out clubbing and therefore I wanted to get an outfit for that and in the end I picked up a few beauty bits too. Everything I brought was a fair bargain though so I thought I’d show you what I picked up.

Firstly I went to New Look, because I was looking for a new dress to hit the town in, I’m really into the “Skater Dress” trend and therefore I picked up this really cute blue skater dress, I really like it because the colour is so bright and I think this is one of the styles of dress that literally just flatters everyone, plus for a night out it is nice to have a massive pop of colour, it helps you to stand out. The best thing about this dress is the fact that I actually picked it up for a bargain price of £14.99 which is actually really cheap for New Look and I would expect them to be selling out quite quickly, so if you want one go online or run to your store sometime fast, they also have this dress in red and black, and I’m quite tempted to get the other 2 after loving the fit, plus it came with a nice studded belt, which is a nice accessory, this dress is perfect to be worn down during the day and then dressed up with lots of glittery accessories for the night and therefore for me it is such a great buy.

The next thing I needed for my perfect going out outfit was some shoes, I mooched around New Look looking for some but if I’m honest I couldn’t find any that I really fell in love with and I always think that some of the New Look shoes are quite overpriced so therefore I decided against it. I was in Primark looking around for some cute but cheap accessories (later to come girls) and I found the nicest pair of black platform shoes, they were literally to die for. The shoes are so so so high with a little black platform at the front and a massive heel, but the thing that drew me most to them was the fact that they came with some straps, I have a massive hard time managing to keep heels on my feet so for ease of a steady walk I decided that these shoes would be really good. I liked how good quality these shoes actually looked, especially as they were from Primark and on the night several girls came up to me and asked me where I got them (score) so I know that I wasn’t the only one who thought they looked good. The best thing about Primark shoes is Primark prices and I got this lovely pair of shoes for a bargain £15.99 which I was really happy with. The only thing I would say about these shoes is that they absolutely murdered my feet and I swear that even now 3 days later my feet are still suffering haha, I’m worried that they’ll never recover, but in the name of all things fashion I will power on.

Next in Primark I wanted to get some accessories that I could wear with my dress, I wanted to go quite simple with my accessories simply due to the fact that I’m the kind of girl who normally ends up looking like a glitter ball, I love bling and anything sparkly way to much, and it’s not until I look back at photo’s that I realise how much of a Christmas tree I look like and therefore my aim this time was to keep very low clear, with only a little bit of sparkle allowed. This is when I found a lovely set of earrings and a matching bracelet, for a bargain price and therefore had to have them. First I picked up these gold studs, they’re pretty big and quite sparkly but because they’re studs I think they kind of work. These cost me either 2 or 3 pounds, I can’t remember the exact price but they’re bound to be no more than that because Primark don’t charge much for their earrings, I thought these would look great with pinned up hair. Next I found the matching gold bangle/bracelet, I love this bracelet, it clips as you put it around your wrist meaning it was so secure, which I love because when I’ve had one to many I’m always scared of loosing my jewellery but this fitted really well, also it gave me a matching bit of sparkle without looking over the top at all, this bracelet was actually £4.00 which is slightly  more expensive but still quite cheap. The last thing I picked up at Primark were some of their fake lashes, I’ve read a few blog posts where people seem to rave about these lashes and seeming as they were so cheap when I saw them lined up at the till I thought I’d give them a go, because for £1.00 why not? So far they look good quality and I think they will look really nice on the eye. I didn’t actually wear these on Monday because frankly I was way to scared to ruin my eye makeup, especially when it was looking so nice, but I’ll do a face of the day post soon and I’ll definitely feature these if you want to see them!

The last place I went to after my bank balance had received a massive hit was the Revlon Colour Stay foundation from boots, this foundation set me back around £12.49 which is quite a lot of money. I brought this foundation around a year ago and remember really liking it but it ran out super quick because unfortunately Revlon don’t provide a pump with this foundation (such a pet hate of mine) and therefore I kept wasting lots of product. Recently I’ve been wanting to try it again because I remember really loving it and I don’t ever know why I didn’t really go and repurchase it. But actually this time it’s been a foundation that’s really disappointed me, but this may be because I picked up a different formula this time, switching to try the oily to combination skin type, which is my skin type but this time it is just not working for me. I’ll give a full review and swatches over the next few days if anyone wants to read it though?

Anyway thanks for reading my small haul & thanks for your continued support

Lots of Love

Gem xxx