April Favourites

Hi lovely ladies, hope you're all okay! Just thought I'd start by saying sorry for the delay in posts but I've been a very busy lady! Anyway, today I thought i'd finally share with you all my April Favourites. It's the 5th of May today, so I've been pretty rubbish and should have probably got this out much sooner but better late than never right? I've had a few things I've been loving this month especially as I can now officially see the start of summer on the way and therefore can crack out the more appropriate makeup.

Lacoste Eau De Lacoste Pour Femme - 50ml - £45.00 here

I recently mentioned this product in a recent haul post and I love it. This stuff smells incredible, I actually won it in a competition but I can't get enough of this stuff. This is just the perfect Spring fragrence and I honestly haven't stopped spraying it throughout the whole month of April. I have had so many different compliments whilst wearing this perfume and loads of people keep asking me what i'm wearing, it's one of those scents that is strong enough so you can smell it but isn't too overpowering and it's just a really nice fresh and clean scent. It's sweet but also has hints of floral scents which I love. This bottle is pure heaven and if you see this bad boy around give it a sniff.

Benefit Fake Up Concealer - No.1 - £18.50 here

I won't blabber on about this one because I just recently mentioned this in a full review on my blog - here - but I love this and it's been my favourite beauty discovery over the last month. I'm so glad that I purchased this because it's just so refreshing and cooling under my eyes in the morning and also help keep those bags at bay! So overall a massive winner.

Laura Mercier Silk Creme Foundation - Soft Ivory - £33.00 here

At the start of the month I had a bit of a love/hate relationship with this bad boy but I've found out the perfect way to apply it and this really is amazing. The rave reviews it gets are for a reason and I'm soooo glad that I picked this up, the coverage is crazy good and I love the finish of this. I'm not going to go into too much detail about this one because I'm planning a review in the near future but it's pretty impressive.

Rimmel Instant Tan Sun Shimmer - Light/Matte - £3.49 - here

This is one of the cheapest fake tans on the market coming in at an impressive £3.49 me and my friend picked it up whilst we were in boots and were feeling like we wanted to be a bit sun kissed. To be honest I wasn't expecting a lot from this tanning product but it's actually really impressed me. I personally love fake tans that are instant just because I hate having to wait for them to develop because if i'm honest I hate not knowing how it's going to turn out. But anyway, this has beat the St.Tropez instant tan & the fake bake instant tan I've tried hands down and become a new favourite product for me. I'm thinking of doing a comparison between this instant tan and the 17 one so look out for that but yeah this just leaves me feeling and (hopefully) looking sun-kissed and healthy and I love it. Another win for Rimmel this one.

Soap and Glory - The Daily Smooth Body Butter - £8.50 - here

Another month and another Soap and Glory product is featured in my monthly favorites  my addiction knows no bounds and I've found another product that I love from the brand. This is the Smooth Body Butter and I just really like this, it is really moisturizing and creamy and sinks into my skin really quickly. It smells just like the Soap and Glory Mist you madly mist (here) you can get so I like to apply this after I've had a shower and then mist my self with the matching scent and I feel really clean and relaxed and moisturised so I've been really enjoying that.

Nars Laguna Bronzer -  £26.00 - here

Again I've just done a review of this so I won't ramble for too long but I feel like I want to shout my love for this product from the roof tops or something. It is the perfect summer accessory  you need this in your life for Spring and Summer because it's just going to warm up that complexion and make your skin glow. It is just amazing and deserves every single bit of love it gets from the blogging community in my opinion.

Maxfactor Lipstick in Lilac Wine (665) - £7.99 here

This lipstick has become my absolute go-too for the month of April, it's a really pretty pink but it has a really nice golden sheen to it so it looks lovely with a golden/bronze eye and bronzed up skin. It's just a really nice formula and isn't drying and I just find that it's the perfect colour for my skin tone and helps to warm my complexion up and give my makeup that va-va-voom it needs.

Nivea Lip Butter in Raspberry Rose - £2.25 - here

Mmmmm, this product is gorgeous, I've heard about these in the beauty community a little bit and thought I'd give this one a sniff and the second I did I bought it, this smells like those really nice raspberry yogurts I used to have when I was a kid, but really it just smells like raspberry and it's really sweet and is just super yummy. It's really nice and moisturizing on the lips too, it doesn't transfer a huge amount of colour but it's great for chucking in your handbag.

Anyway I hope you all enjoyed this post, thank you all for reading. I hope you have a lovely May & I'll speak to you all really soon.

Lots of Love,

Gem xxx

Collective Beauty Haul

Hi Ladies, hope you're all doing okay! Today I thought I would share with you a beauty haul of some bits and bobs I've been buying lately. I've gone a bit crazy to be fair but I think a mix of Easter and all the amazing offers that are around in both Superdrug and Boots lately have kind of made me want too pick up some new beauty products. Plus every girl needs a splurge once in a while right? Anyway I haven't shared a great amount of haul posts with you guys just because I'm rubbish, as soon as I get home from buying something new I have to try it and then the photo's always look rubbish and it just isn't the same, I was pretty good this time though so thought it was definitely time to share. I'll be doing reviews on some of the products featured over the next few weeks too, so let me know if there's anything you want too see in a little bit more 

detail.

Revlon Lip Butters - here
Creme Brulee, Sugar Frosting, Cotton Candy & Sorbet

Firstly is some Revlon Lip Butters, I realise it was probably a little bit excessive to pick up four of these but I already love them. I was in Boots and I saw the Revlon stand and started swatching them, I remember last year when I first started blogging there was a massive hype around these lip products and every single blogger was talking about them but I never actually took the plunge and picked them up because to be honest it wasn't until the end of last year I really started wearing lipstick. Anyway I picked up the shades Creme Brulee and Cotton Candy, went home and tried them and fell soooo in love with them that I went back the next day and picked up Pink Frosting and Sorbet. These have a really nice formula, you can wear them pretty sheer on the lips or you can build them up, but they're so comfortable and moisturizing and they're perfect for wearing every day. I really like these and will definitely be picking up more of these, so look out for a post about these baby's sometime soon! 

Make up Academy (MUA) Brow Kit - here

The next thing I did was pop along to Superdrug to pick up a few MUA goodies, I love MUA as a brand, they're cheap and cheerful and have some really good quality products. Anyway I picked up there 'Pro Brow Ultimate Eyebrow Kit'. I love filling in my brows and up until now I've been using the Elf eyebrow kit but mines recently ran out and I wanted to try something new. This is a really cool product you get 3 different shades that you can mix together to create the perfect eyebrow colour and you also get a white, clear wax which you can use to set your brows in place. You also get a teeny, tiny pair of tweezers and little brush housed in this really sturdy plastic case so this was a winner for me. Only £3.50 too!

Make Up Academy - Undressed Palette - here

I know,  I know, I'm late to the party, I think every single blogger has owned this palette and gave their two cents on it but I actually hadn't tried this until recently. I actually bought this palette for my mum for Christmas as a little stocking filler and she was really enjoying using it and I kept stealing it because I think it's ah-maaaazing! This is apparently a dupe for the Urban Decay Naked Palette which I've wanted since I picked up Naked 2 and I just think all the shades in this are gorgeous & really compliment your eyes. Plus these shadows are lovely quality and really pigmented too so I thought it was time I picked up my own. This is a bargain at £4.00 too.

Maxfactor Lipstick in Lilac Wine (655)  - here

I love Maxfactor as a brand I think they're face products, powders and mascara's are definitely the best quality from the drugstore and I really enjoy trying out some of their products, I also love the classy gold packaging. Anyway I thought I'd try out a lipstick from the brand and the shade Lilac Wine is pretty perfect,  it's one of those lipsticks that looks like your lips but better, it's quite a rosy pink colour and has a bit of shimmer in it, but I think this will be really pretty on the lips. I love the big Max Factor X imprinted on the lipstick too. 

Barry M Gelly Hi Shine Nail Paint in Lychee 303 - here

I won't ramble on about this purchase too much, this is the Barry M Gelly Nail Paint in Lychee, I pretty much had to pick up one of these Gelly Nail Paints by Barry M, they are soooo talked about in the beauty world right now and after seeing them featured on loads of blogs I had to pick one up. I thought i'd pick up Lychee because it's a lovely shade, this is perfect for everyday and just really neutral and nice and I don't actually own a shade like this. I really look forward to trying this one out and doing a nail of the day for you all.

Rimmel Match Perfection Foundation - Ivory here

I bought this foundation a few weeks ago but thought I'd include it in this haul because it's a recent beauty buy all the less. I love this, this foundation is incredible and if you're on the market for a new drugstore foundation then I can already tell you that this one is one to watch. If you've read my blog for a while you will know I'm the biggest fan of Rimmel Wake Me Up but this one is a massive hit with me too, It's got the coverage of Wake Me Up but doesn't have all the glitter and is literally light as air on the skin, the colour match is a bit better for all you paler girls too. This is fab!

Max factor Facefinity Compact Foundation - 01 Porcelain here

I love this compact, if you read my last Boots haul you would have seen me rave about this product and tell you all that I love it. I have really oily skin so I like to use a powder to set my foundation. My favourite ones are from Mac but for a cheaper option I like to use the Max factor one, it's probably the best powder I have found on the high street (and I've tried a lot) and this gives a bit of coverage too which is always good. I was in two minds whether to pick this one up or repurchase the Rimmel Stay Matte but I find this one much better for touch up's and it's a better colour for me so I went for Max factor once again.

Max factor MasterPiece Colour Precision Eyeshadow - here

Coffee 3 & Pearl Beige 5

I haven't really tried a lot of liquid eye shadows but these ones from Max Factor are lovely because they're really creamy and not too watery. My lovely mum actually picked these two up but she said I could feature them in this haul because she knows I'm bound to steal them anyway haha! The lightest shade is Pearl Beige and it's a gorgeous champagne colour which will look lovely on the inner corner of the eye and the second shade is coffee, which is more of a deep chocolate brown. I think these will be really nice for a really simple eye look and they are sooo creamy and easy to apply. I just hope they last on the eyelids.

Paco Rabanne - Lady Million Eau De Parfum - 30ml - here

This perfume is probably my favourite thing in the world right now, I picked this up over the Easter Weekend after loving the smell for such a long time, my friend has this and we went out a few weeks ago and literally everyone was stopping and asking her what she was wearing (including me). I find it really hard to describe scents but this is a really strong perfume and it's a really classic and quite grown up scent. It's quite a floral scent and I think I like it so much because it's sweet enough for my tastes but is really mature and sensual too, I just love it. If you're in Boots or Debenhams give this a spray and you'll love it, I promise. The gold blingy bottle is pretty cool too.

Lacoste Eau De Lacoste - 50ml - here

This perfume wasn't actually one that I bought, I won this in a competition that I entered on Glamour Magazines website months and months and months ago and I actually forgot about it until I got an email from them saying I had won a competition, if I've completely honest I couldn't even remember what I entered for but I got this about 2 weeks ago now and I love it. I think this is their new fragrence for Spring and oh boy! It smells amazing, the bottle of this perfume really reminds me of a golf ball though, so that's a bit strange haha! Anyway this again is a very floral scent but it's a lot sweeter which I love, this reminds me of Spring and it's really fresh and clean smelling, I've worn it a few times and people keep telling me I smell fresh and really Spring like which I think is a pretty good thing, it lasts really long too.

Primark - Backcombing Brush - £1.00

I've been doing a bit of clothes shopping in Primark over the last week too so I will get a clothing haul up soon but I thought I would include this Primark Backcombing brush in this beauty haul, I saw Zoella feature a backcombing brush in one of her video's not too long ago and I thought it looked pretty cool. I have pretty flat hair and I think this brush just makes it really simple to give your hair some volume, I'm actually really enjoying using this brush and think it works pretty well, feels well made too & I love that it's pink! Plus it's an absolute bargain at just £1.00!! 

Anyway lovelies, this post has taken me what feels like a year to write so if you're still here & you made it this far then thanks for reading & let me know if you want me to do a post on any of these bits down below! Hopefully I can stay away from buying anything else for a little while, although I am really eyeing up the Laura Mercier Silk Creme Foundation at the mo! Eeeep, someone help me! Anyway I hope you all have a lovely Sunday & i'll speak to you all really soon! :)
Lots of Love,

Gem

xxxx

Rimmel Wake Me Up Foundation Review.

Rimmel Wake Me Up Foundation - Ivory - £8.99 Boots Website - here

Hi Ladies, Hope you're all okay! The other day on my blog I featured one of my top 5 ever products, which was my holy grail bronzer, the Bourjois Delice De Poudre Bronzing Powder, that gave me an idea. I was photgraphing a new Rimmel Wake Me Up Foundation (8th bottle i've repurchased I swear) for a haul and I thought it was about time I gave it credit & did a full review on it. It's weird that I talk about all the new products I've bought but I don't talk about or do review of the products that I actually love and use every single day. Anyway, sit back & get ready because I am ready to rave and rant about how amazing this foundation is.

I've actually used Rimmel Wake Me Up Foundation since pretty much the week it was released, which was well over a year ago. I picked up a bottle and at the time I was pretty damn sad when I applied it, instantly I knew I loved the consistency and I loved the coverage and just how it made my face look but it was way too dark, I'd picked up the completely wrong shade but in all honesty I didn't care, I was tempted to wear it anyway, I couldn't believe how amazing it actually made my face look and how glowing I looked. I actually loved the finish of this foundation so much that I went back that very same day and bought another bottle in my shade. That was where the real love affair began and ever since I've been obsessed, when I say that I've repurchased this for the 8th time I'm not joking, I actually have just thrown 3 empty bottles of this stuff away.

For me, this foundation was a turning point for Rimmel, ever since they released this foundation Rimmel as a brand just seemed to get stronger and stronger and release amazing products and Wake Me Up was the starting point for Rimmel becoming my favourite high street makeup brand. This foundation is fantastic, firstly lets talk about the packaging, I honestly think this is one of the nicest foundation bottles you can get from a high street makeup brand, most of the other brands have the blandest foundation bottles with just a black lid but I love the bright orange lid of Rimmel Wake Me Up, I love how it stands out and has a pump. It's also housed in a really nice glass bottle, although after a disaster with bottle number 3 when it smashed into a million pieces on my bathroom tiles one morning i'm not sure how practical a glass bottle actually is, especially with a clumsy girl like myself. Overall though the packaging of this product is pretty nice and fun and I love the individual shape of the bottle too.

The first thing I want to mention about this product is the smell, it smells absolutely gorgeous, it kind of smells fruity I think, I can't quite put my finger on what it actually smells like but it's really a refreshing scent & I really really like it, you can smell it when you pump it out of the bottle but I don't think I can smell it on my own face when i'm wearing it. It's just a really nice fresh smell that isn't too overpowering. The next thing to mention about this foundation is the amazing coverage it gives, it pretty much covers all my imperfections by itself and I don't have to use half as much concealer, it's definitely a medium coverage foundation but is so easily buildable that you can build it to pretty full coverage. The amazing thing though is although this gives a pretty amazing coverage it still manages to look slightly dewy and has a really natural finish, it's a foundation where people actually don't know if you're wearing anything at all, which is crazy considering how high coverage it provides.

This foundation differs from lots of other foundations due to the fact that is has a non fatigue effect in it which help to give you a really nice awake finish & help to make you look much more awake. In order to do this the foundation does contain little tiny flecks of shimmer, it is completely invisible when you put it on your face though & isn't unflattering in the slightest, it leaves you with a really fresh finish & it's slightly dewy (although not shiny) which I've been really loving even despite my oily skin. Another thing I love about this foundation is how thick and creamy it is, it glides on to the skin and is one of the easiest foundations to blend in, it hides everything because of the consistency but looks completely light on the skin, I've actually forgot I'm wearing any foundation before because it doesn't feel heavy, cakey or mask like which I find most foundations with good coverage do. I also find that this foundation lasts pretty much all day especially when set with a good setting powder, it has SPF 15 in too which is obviously good if you're wearing it every single day and it's pretty cheap at only £8.99 a bottle which is also a massive thumbs up from me.

This foundation also looks even more incredible combined with the Rimmel Fix and Perfect Pro Primer (also photographed) in shade 002, I was going to include a full review of this in this post too but I don't want to go on for ages so i'll do that sometime over the next few weeks but together they are pretty much a dream team and for two really inexpensive products you can get a flawless foundation routine that really lasts on the skin and looks pretty much amazing.

Overall, I really adore this foundation, it is the best drugstore foundation I have ever found & I have a good 10 or more that i'm trialing at the moment (oooops! I know!), it gives a beautiful finish is good for both oily & dry skin and is pretty much every single thing I want in a foundation all rolled into one. I would definitely recommend it to pretty much everyone the only thing I would say is that it the colour match isn't that amazing because I think they only have about 7 shades so for some deeper skin tones or really pale skin tones you could be left without a match. Apart from that though this has holy grail status for me and I can't even begin to explain how much I love it. If you haven't tried it you need too!!! So let me know if you do.

Let me know if you've tried this opinion or what your holy grail foundation is and I'll speak to you all soon!

Lots of love

Gem xxx

-

Products That I've Used Up..

Empties Post #1
Hi everyone, hope you've all had a lovely weekend and your Sunday has been nice and relaxing! I've been looking at a new car today so that's been fun! Anyway, I've never done an 'empties' post on my blog before so after collecting some finished products for a few months now I thought I would give it ago. I love reading other peoples empties posts, I think you can really get an honest opinion of how somebody liked a product if they've used it all up. I find it really hard to use products up too and to be honest I only full use something up if I enjoy reading it otherwise it just seems to lay unloved in my drawer. Anyway i'll get on to the actual post.

Skin, Body & Hair Care Empties
Soap and Glory Calm On Me - Bubble Bath - This is probably one of my most favorite products ever from S&G and I have tried a huge amount of them. I love it because it has a built in body lotion which means your baths double up as a creamy lather and your skin is left smooth and moisturized as well as you having a lovely sweet smelling body bath. I will definitely be repurchasing this especially as this bottle lasted me a good year with weekly use. Such a good product.

Aussie 3 Minute Miracle Shine Mask - I love Aussie hair care, I discovered this product in December and I've been using it on my hair pretty much every wash since, the bad thing about this was the fact that I thought this was a normal conditioner not an actual hair mask, but regardless my hair has never felt softer, shinier or in better condition and the smell of this product is out of this world. I have never ever repurchased a hair product but I couldn't imagine my hair without using this, i'm in love & I would recommend this to everyone.

Clearasil Ultra Rapid Action Scrub - This isn't the most glamorous product but I suffer with blemishes and problem skin and this is one of the only products I've found that sorts it out and sorts it out fast. This is basically a gel with beads which exfoliate the skin and also help to get rid of any spots, blemishes or black heads and help to reduce pore size. If you're looking for a quick fix for your skin then this is a really good one & it's pretty inexpensive too.

Hugo Deep Red Perfume - I love this perfume & i'm really sad to have got to the end of the bottle, I think it's always a sad moment when you finish a fragrance and this was definitely sad for me. I love the smell of this perfume, it smells really sweet and refreshing but it almost has quite a musky scent and smells quite grown up so is lovely to wear in the evenings. I would recommend you giving this a spray if you can find it it's smell amazing!


Face Wipes
Boots No.7 Beautiful Skin Wipes - These wipes were a huge disappointment to me, I've heard a lot of people rave about them & because they retail at £7.00 a pack I thought they must be really good. I had a voucher which only made them £2.00 but I don't think I'd even buy them at that price again, I found them hard to use, they didn't remove my makeup very well and I had to use 2 or 3 to make sure my face felt really clean. I didn't mind these that much but I wouldn't say that they were worth the price or were anything to rave about.

Johnson Face Care Wipes - These are my fav face wipes ever, I've already got another 2 packs at the ready, I don't know what it is about these but they just remove makeup like a dream, they smell really good, they're wet enough and can cope with getting rid of waterproof mascara and they help improve the condition of my skin and leave my skin feeling really moisturized too! If you're looking for any face wipes look no further than these! 


Foundations, Powders & Concealers 
Mac Mineralize Skin finish Natural - I love this powder, I actually did a review about it here! It's the best powder I've ever tried, it looks so natural but gives amazing coverage and really makes your makeup look much more expensive and professional. I want to repurchase this but I think i'll keep it for night time wear from now on just because I go through powders ridiculously quick that's why there's so many mentioned in this post haha!

Max-factor Powder - I really love this powder too, it comes in the nicest compact with a sponge and  a mirror, you can read more about this in a haul here, it's perfect for every day, it has amazing coverage, is great for touch up's and lasts all day. I'd really recommend this beauty.

Rimmel Matte Perfection Powder - This is also a great powder and cheap as chips, this is just a translucent mattifying powder and to be honest at first I really didn't understand the hype but this powder is actually amazing for oil control, especially if you have an oily t-zone you can just sweep this on with a big fluffy brush and it will take care of it instantly. It's also fab for setting your makeup in place. 

Rimmel Wake Me Up Foundation - If you've read my blog for a while it's probably no surprise to you that I have used up yet enough bottle of my trusty Rimmel Wake me up foundation, I love this stuff and will continue to repurchase it forever I think. I won't ramble too much about it because this bad boy has had a huge amount of coverage on my blog already but if you want to know a bit more about it feel free to read my full review here beware though it's a really old post & the picture quality is pretty awful.

Benefit Bo-ing Concealer - I find that I go through concealers pretty quickly and this one was no exception this is the Bo-ing Concealer by benefit, I didn't mind this the concealer and it did the job whilst I used it but I much prefer my Mac Studio Finish Concealer and therefore won't be picking this up again, I just felt like I needed a little bit more coverage personally, but if you don't have too troublesome skin or your dark circles aren't too bad then check this out because a lot of people love it.

Collection 2000 Lasting Perfection Concealer - Another concealer I've really liked is the Collection Lasting Perfection Concealer,  it's amazing and just great because it's only around a fiver, as you can see I like this concealer so much I've gone through 2 and I will buy more once I've used up the rest of my concealer, I just sometimes think this one can look a little cakey under my eye area & the mac one I use now looks a lot more natural because it's a lot creamier.

Mascara's
Maxfactor's False Lash Effect Mascara - I really like Maxfactor Mascara's and I used this one for quite a long time & really enjoyed using it, it really made my lashes look long and volumised and I think the brush on this mascara was pretty impressive. I'm not one to repurchase mascara's because i'm still on the hunt for the perfect one but this was is pretty good.

Maybelline Falsies Mascara - Again a really lovely mascara, I love the brush because it's so unique and is almost curled so this one of the only mascara's i've found that really holds a curl and makes my lashes look curly, thick and long, I love maybelline mascara's too and if i'm going to pick one up from Boots it's normally Maxfactor, L'oreal or Maybelline.

Hope you all enjoyed this post, let me know what products you've been using up & if you've tried any of the products I've mentioned & i'll speak to you all really soon! :) xxx

Valentines Day - Beauty Picks

My Valentines Day Make Up Picks -

Hi lovelies, hope you're all okay, today's post is back to being beauty related and today I thought i'd take some inspiration from Valentines day which is coming up on Thursday and show you my top beauty picks for the love inspired day. I don't really know why these particular products stood out for me as products that were perfect for your Valentines make up look but I just thought they were. Anyway, i'm not going to ramble on too much, I hope you all have a brilliant Valentines day whether you're paired up or not & I hope this is useful if you're doing anything special. Also I know the hearts background is a little distracting but I wanted to inject a bit of 'love' into the post so you'll have to put up with it!

The first pick which I think is essential for V-day would be a really flawless base, whether you're going out for a meal or just chilling with your partner you'll want to have lovely skin, I think this is a scenario where you want to look completely natural and kind of go for the 'no makeup' look but still have good coverage to help blur any imperfections. Therefore I think a really good pick for date night would be the L'oreal Lumi Magique Foundation, (here) this is going to make you look really nice and natural but give you a really subtle glow so you'll look really healthy and glowing, which is definitely a look you should be going for. There is quite a good selection in these shades and its really easy to blend so you aren't going to have any problems with application.

The next thing I think you need to make sure you get right on date night would be your blush, I'm not a massive fan of blusher i'm more of a bronzer girl but there is something about the pinks shades that just make me think of valentines day, you want to have a really rosy glow to your cheeks on a date so I would say that the 'Love at first blush' (here) by Soap and Glory is your perfect product, plus the name just reminds me of Valentines day! Love at first blush has loads of different segments inside it and contains different shades of pink and white so that you get a gorgeous pink blush with a bit of a sheen so it also works as a highlighter again portraying a glowing skin look. Alternatively I think cream blushers work really well, they're amazing for staying powder and they look really natural because you don't want too look too plastered in makeup, the cream blush I've chosen on this occasional is by the Body Shop and it's part of the Lily Cole collection and it's in the shade 'Crazy For Coral' this would really compliment more darker skin tones and look really nice with a tan, this is a very sheer product but you can build it up which means it will be really hard to not end up with a natural finish.

The next thing you want to think about on date night would be your eyes, I think you have to decide whether you want your lips or your eyes to be the feature of your Valentines make up look and make sure you only stick to one. For Valentines day I don't think you want something heavy or bright on the eyes, it's more than likely that it will scare your date away if you turn up with bright green and blue eye shadow, for that reason I decided to start of the eye make up look with a Maybelline Color Tattoo (here) in on and on bronze, they do a selection of shades so pick which one will suit the eye look you want to create. These make an amazing base for eye shadows and are going to keep your eye makeup on all night, this can also look lovely on its own as long as you blend it out into the crease. For shadows I've suggested using the Naked 2 Palette by Urban Decay but in all honesty you could use the normal naked palette or any neutral eye shadow palettes, Make up Academy do some great ones. I just think they have a lovely selection of shades which means you can smoke it up if you want to have a more sultry eye look or you can just sweep a neutral color over the lid and add a bit of definition in the crease. Neutral eye shadow in general is just a massive pick of mine for Valentines day. Next you'll want to create some curly, flirty lashes and the best mascara for giving you both amazing volume and length in terms of your lashes would be Benefit's 'They're real' mascara, (here) which gives you the look of wearing false eyelashes without all of the hassle.

The next thing I think is a top must have for Valentines day is a strong lip, depending on the look you're going for you can add some 'va-va-voom' and go all out with a statement bright red lip if you want too, this Kate Moss for Rimmel one in shade 001 (here) is perfect for that and will really draw attention to your lips. Or you can choose to go more subtle with your lips, my two picks are from Soap and Glory and they are the 'Sexy Mother Pucker Lip Glosses' (here), these are really cool because they plump your lips, this is really good for date nights because you can magic your lips too look fuller and bigger really quickly. The two shades I have gone for are a really light nude color & also a hot bright pink, I think it's all down to preference and the lip color you'll feel the most comfortable with.

The last thing you want to make sure look perfect for your date night would be your nails, now obviously your nails need to match you're outfit but the two nail varnishes in my collection that really reminded me of Valentines day was the Barry M Nail Polish in shade 302 (here) and the Models Own Mirror Ball nail varnish in 'hot stuff' (here) which has a little more glitter to it.

Lastly you want to smell really nice so I would slap on your favorite fragrance so that you're smelling sweeet, my fragrance of choice would be the original Juicy Couture Perfume which I love.

Anyway, I hope you have a lovely Valentines day, let me know what your Valentines Beauty must haves would be in the comments & i'll speak to you all soon.

February Wishlist

Feb Wishlist - Chanel Bronze Universal, Benefit 'Fine One One', Rimmel Apocalips, Real Techniques Eye Kit, Proactiv Solution, Mac Creme Cup & Rimmel BB Cream

 

Hi everyone, hope you're okay! Today I thought I'd do a February wish list, I have done a wish list post in ages and I personally really like reading them and it adds a bit of depth to my blog rather than having constant review posts. Anyway I'm not going to ramble for ages I'm just going to jump right in and get on with it.

1. Chanel Bronze Universal - I've wanted to try this product for such a long time, I've heard so many great things about it from lots of different bloggers and I have never actually tired any Chanel products so I think this would be a great way to dip my toes into the Chanel pond so to speak. I think the packaging of this product is really luxurious and it just looks lovely. I'm out of bronzer so I can probably justify picking this up but the price tag at £30.00 has always put me off, I think that's sooo expensive! It looks lovely though and apparently the 30ml contents lasts for absolutely ages seeming as it's a cream product and from my experience with cream blushes I would expect it to last a long time too. I have ready so many reviews on this product and I think it's the product that I want to pick up the most in the month of Feb.

2. Benefit Fine One One - This looks like a really cool product, it's a new release from Benefit and I have been seeing it on loads and loads of blog posts recently and it's really made me want to try it out. Sticking to the cream products this is basically a cream stick that contains a stripe of blusher, a stripe of bronzer and a highlight shade, this means you can just hold the product at the center of your cheek and in one quick swipe have your blusher, bronzer and highlighter done. I think it's such a cool idea and I think the reason I want to try it so much is the fact that it's so different to a lot of products on the market and I've not seen anything like it. I also think Benefit is such a cool brand and the packaging and idea behind this is really cool. This is a fairly expensive product at £23.00 but I think it would be good quality the only thing I would be worried about would be how messy it would get and I would be a little skeptical in case the shades mixed in together and I ended up without the definition of the 3 individual shades. 

3. Apocalips - I recently did a post on the new offering from Rimmel and I said that they weren't that ground breaking or different to be getting the huge and over top amount of hype that they have been served by the blogging community. That being said I do quite like them I just wish they didn't smell funny. I really want to try the shades Big Bang and Nude Eclipse to see how they are and I'm wanting to try those out this month.

4. Real Techniques Eye Collection - You may have seen on my blog this week that I have recently picked up a new Urban Decay eye shadow palette - the Glinda. But recently I've just been experimenting a lot with eye shadows, I want to pick up some eye shadow brushes that I can use with all my new palettes, I do have a few old ones from Elf but I know real techniques are good quality and a bargain for the price!

5. Pro Active Solution - 4 Piece Set - My skin has been playing up loads lately and I've heard that Pro Activ solution is one of the best ways to get your skin under control quickly and also improve it's quality. Also seeming as it is the new year I really wanted to start taking care of my skin more and I though a 4 Piece Skin care set would probably help me to do this. As much as I do want to try this though I'm a little bit sceptical, I've heard very contrasting reviews on this product, some people love it and swear by it and some people hate it and swear that you should stay away from it! So I don't really know.

 

6. Mac Crème Cup - I love Mac lipsticks, if you haven't heard me rave about it enough I got Mac Angel as a Christmas present and love it to absolute bits, I've used it every single day since and I don't seriously think I could live without it. Mac lipsticks are hands down the best I've ever tried and I really enjoy using them. I've heard crème cup is the same sort of colour as Angel but more of a creamy formula and without the frost finish so I would love to try it out.

 

7. Rimmel BB Cream - This is a new release from Rimmel and in all fairness it's a product that I haven't heard a whole lot about, I think this is why I am so fascinated by it, I really haven't bought into the whole 'BB' trend and think that the whole idea is a way for companies to just rebrand tinted moisturisers, I've never really found one I liked either but I'm quite keen to try this just because i'm a huge Rimmel Fan and they're a brand that never seem to get it wrong for me. This isn't a product that I've been lusting after but a product that I am curious about.

 

As a side note since I made this wish list I have added 2 more things to it haha, i'm so rubbish! I really want to try out the Urban Decay Naked Basics Palette and also the Urban Decay Naked Flushed Palette, both really interest me & intrigue me and I have been loving Urban Decay over the last few months so I would love to try their new releases!

 

Hope you enjoyed this post, let me know what's on your February wish list! Thanks for reading! :) xxx

 

January Favorites

Monthly Favorites - Angelica Nail Polish, Lancome Mascara, Juicy Couture Perfume, Elf blush and bronzing duo, Rimmel Wake me up foundation, Simple Cleanser, Topshop Innocence, Mac Angel, Naked 2 and Mac MSF natural.

Hi! Today I thought i'd share with you all my January Favorites, this is just a round up off all the products i've been loving in January. I can't believe January is over already! It doesn't seem like 5 minutes since Christmas - crazy times. Anyway before I get on with it I just wanted to say thank you for all the support this month, I hope my blog can continue with this success next month too.
First for my favorites this month is the gorgeous blue Angelica glitter nail polish, they are a nail varnish brand that sell their polishes at Primark for £2.50 or on their website, I won't ramble too much about it because you can read a whole post dedicated to it here but it's just a really gorgeous nail polish which gives pretty opaque coverage and is great quality for the small price tag.
Secondly we have the Lancome Hypnose Star Mascara, I reviewed this in the last post on my blog after falling in love with it when I received it for Christmas. It creates a huge amount of length and holds the curl of my lashes and really does make them look like 'hollywood lashes' which was the idea behind the ad campaign, you can read more information here.
The third thing I've been loving this month is the Juicy Couture Viva La Juicy Perfume, (more information here) I recieved this as a gift at the very start of December for my birthday and i've been loving wearing it, it is a very strong scent and therefore a little bit goes a long way. I love that it's a sweet and strong perfume because that's my preference and the bottle is sooo cute too! It's just a really good perfume and it's become my signature scent!
The next thing I have been loving this month was a rediscovery, I have owned the Elf Blush and Bronzing Kit for well over 6 months and I found it in my blush drawer the other week when I was looking for something a bit different and I've really been enjoying it. It comes with a bronzer and a light pink blush with subtle shimmer running through it. I just really love it, both the bronzer and blush are really pigmented and blend well, and it's perfect for travelling because it's a duo in a good compact with a massive mirror so you can just chuck it in your bag if you like to top your makeup up through the day. Also this was a massive bargain, at the time I picked it up I think it was like £3.50? Which is pretty crazy for the quality, I've heard some people even compare this to the Nars Laguna & Orgasm blush and bronzing duo!
The next thing I've been loving this month and will probably love for many months in the future is the Rimmel Wake Me Up Foundation, I've been buying and using this foundation for over a year now and every time it runs out i don't even think about it but i just go and pick up a new one. I use it every single day and I actually don't think there is a better alternative on the high street in terms of a cheaper foundation, I even prefer this to higher end alternatives which is crazy considering you can pick this up for under £10.00, this product has had a huge amount of coverage on my blog and I can bet you're sick of hearing about it but if you want too you can find a full review here.
Simple Skincare has been the next thing I've been loving this month, my skin has become really sensitive recently which is strange because before I could pretty much slap anything on my face and it would work out fine for me. But anyway the savoir for my face over the last few months has been simple skin care, in particular the cleanser that helps remove my makeup every day as well as the toner. They are just brilliant products that do the job well and don't irritate, or sting or dry the skin out in anyway. I know that I've mentioned these on my blog before so I won't go into too much detail but there is more information here.
Next are two lipsticks, you may have seen me raving about Mac Angel here, when I say it is the best lipstick I've ever tried i'm really not lying, I really do love it so much, it's gorgeous and the perfect color for every single day, I received this for Christmas and you can see I've really used it, I don't actually think there's been a day this month where this hasn't been on my lips. Next is the Topshop Lipstick in Innocence, I've had this for a while and at first I just couldn't get on with it, but recently I've tried it again and it's so creamy and nice that I've been enjoying it, it's a similar sort of color to Angel just without the glaze formula and I like applying this on days where I need a bit of extra moisture on my lips, in all fairness I pretty much wear Innocence and Angel together as an everyday combination and I find it works really well.
The next product was probably hands down the most favorite products of my favorites this month, I loveeee it! It's the Naked 2 Palette by Urban Decay, I love Urban Decay and this and the Vice Palette have been my go to eyeshadow Palettes for the month. I love this one so much because it's so easy to wear, I can't believe after owning this for about 6 months I've only given it the time of day this month, it's amazing! I love it, it provides a really nice selection of neutral eye colors and I've been loving creating looks with it! It's seriously so good and i'll be popping up reviews of this and the Vice Palette over the next month for you.
Lastly is my beloved Mac MSF natural, I did a review on this not along ago and I would definitely say that it wins my award for my holy grail powder, it's perfect in every single way, gives you great coverage without making you look powdery, it doesn't make you look matte but holds your oil really well and is just such a natural powder that makes your skin glow! I love it, you can read more about it here here.
Anyway, I hope you liked this post, let me know the products you've been loving this month! xx

Boots Haul

 

 

Hi Dolls, Today I thought I would show you some bits and bobs I've been buying from Boots lately, a lot of know that I love Boots and could probably spend my whole day shopping in their and I picked up a fair few things last week that I thought I'd share for you all. I'm not going to do full reviews of any of the products just yet because I haven't trialled them for long enough but what I will do is give you my first impressions of some of the products I picked up!

The first thing I picked up was this gorgeous makeup bag, I think it's a really good buy, I have my Ikea Alex Drawers that I keep most of my makeup in but when I'm in a rush I just like to have all of my everyday essentials in one place just because it makes it easy and I don't have to root around all of the drawers. I thought this bag was really cute, it's part of the Boots Essential Range and is just called the makeup bag, it was only £2.00 which I think is a pretty good bargain and I love the pattern on it, it kind of reminds me of a Cath Kidson type with loads of flowers and stuff but without the hefty price tag. It's also great to store makeup in because it has a really cool plastic outer coating which means that I can wipe it clean when it gets dirty! I couldn't find this exact  one on the Boots website so I don't know if you can only pick this up in store but there is a similar type bag here just with a different pattern.

The next two things I picked up was some more foundation, I know I have bottles and bottles of the stuff, Boots were actually running an offer on some of their L'Oreal products where you could pick two products up for £15.00, the L'Oreal true match foundation and also the L'Oreal Lumi Magique Foundation were both in this offer so I thought I would pick them up and give them ago. It was actually a pretty good deal because together they both retail at about £11.00 each so i'm glad I picked those up. I've only tried the L'Oreal Lumi Magique foundation so far but from first impressions it works pretty well, wears quite nicely and gives me a good coverage, I'm not sure it leaves my face very 'aluminised' though. You can pick these up on the Boots website here and here.

The next thing I picked up was from Maybelline, I am a huge fan of Maybelline Mascara's, I think they offer the best Mascara's from the drugstore for the cheapest price and i'm a big fan of the Maybelline falsie's mascara as well as the Maybelline Colossal Mascara. So when I saw that Maybelline's new offering to the mascara world the 'Rocket Volume' was down too £5.99 as an introductory offer I thought I may as well pick it up. I think the packaging of this mascara is really cute and I love the blue because it makes it really stand out, the brush is also pretty great too, it's got a massive brush with plastic bristles and so far it's done really great things for my lashes and left them both lengthened and volumised. You can pick this up here.

The next thing I picked up was this Max factor compact which I really like, you may have seen me raving on here about the Mac Mineralise Skinfinish Natural and I really do love that powder but it seems to have run out so fast after I posted that review so i'm now saving it for day's when I want too look a bit nicer and so I decided to pick a powder up from Boots for everyday.
The one I decided to get was this Maxfactor was. The first thing I love about it is how compact it is, it's one of the perfect powders that you can just throw in your bag and use it to fix your makeup during the day. I've known about this powder for years and years, it's my mum's favourite powder and she uses this as her base every single day and I've always stole it off her because it gives amazing coverage and lasts really long! But I thought I would get my own so I could leave hers alone haha. This is just an amazing compact and actually has 5 star reviews on the Boots website which shows just how good it is. You can pick this up for £10.99 here and it's also buy one, get one half price on Max Factor right now.

The last thing I picked up were the new Apocalips that have just been released by Rimmel London, these were released last Wednesday and the Blogging world has gone pretty much crazy over these ever since. I picked up two shades the day they got released, I picked up 101 Celestial and the other shade is Apocoliptic. I love the formula of these products, it's like a lipstick in the form of a lipgloss but without the stickiness of a gloss, so I've been enjoying these so far. You can pick these up here for £5.99 each.
Hope you enjoyed this, let me know what you've been buying lately! xx

My Favourite Lipsticks

 

Primark Red, MUA Shade 13, MUA Shade 7, Kate Moss Lipstick Shade 101, L'Oreal 325  , Kate Moss Lipstick Shade 20, Topshop 'Innocence', MUA Shade 3, Mac Outrageously Fun, Kate Moss Shade 19, MUA Shade 4, Mac Angel, Kate Moss shade 1, Primark Pink.

 

Hi everyone, today's post is a bit pic heavy but I thought I would show you my favourite lipsticks, these are my most worn lipsticks and the ones that I find have a good formula, good colour pay off or are overall just a really nice shade. There are 14 lipsticks that i'm showing you, all different formula's and colours and price ranges going from £1.00 right up to £14.00. Until I joined the blogging community I wasn't a massive fan of lipsticks in all honesty, I found them really hard to apply and wear and they were oftent he step that I skipped when doing my makeup in the morning because I just thought it was more of a 'night-out' thing and I could potentially look too dressed up wearing a lipstick during the day. How wrong I was?! Now I think lipsticks are my favourite makeup product to buy and try out, I love them, they're are so many shades and some really compliment your skin tone and make your makeup look glamourous and put together, so for that I thank the blogging world. Anyway, i'm going to try not to ramble too much and just get on with the post, if you want any individual reviews of any of the lipsticks featured let me know, although i'll try to make sure that I add links to posts I've previously done on most of them.

 

The first lipstick I love is this bright red lipstick, I love the packaging, pink polka dots are really nice and this lipstick is really creamy, I actually picked this lipstick up from Primark and it's one of the lipsticks within their makeup range, it was only one pound and one and an impulse purchase at the till  but this began my love affair with red lipsticks, I felt that this let me try them out and they're quite good quality for the price, not as nice as the MUA one's but still pretty good, this is a very individual shade too, it looks very dark in the tube but when swatched it is actually quite bright.

 

The next lipstick that I love is the MUA lipstick in shade 13, this was also a pound & I love it, the MUA formula's are amazing, they can be built up or worn sheer and they are really creamy and moisturising on the lips. They have a strong vanilla type smell which i'm not a fan off but they wear amazingly on the lips, they're so cheap at a £1.00 piece, the packaging is sleek and cute and they're a great quality. This red lipstick has a strong coral undertone which makes it great if you want to go red but not for a bright red that can sometimes look overpowering. It's been featured in an individual review on my blog here.

 

The next lipstick is again a MUA lipstick (told you I love them) & this is in shade 7, this was my first corally lipstick and I actually quite like it, if you want to wear something that isn't pink or red and a lot more nude and simple on the lips then this is the perfect lipstick, it adds a sheer amount of coral without being an overpowering orange. Again has been featured in a blog post here.

 

The next lipstick that I love is the Kate Moss lipsticks from Rimmel London, they are amazing and you'll see several featured within this post because they're great quality and are a good price because you can pick them up at Boots. This is the shade 101, it is a gorgeous milky pink and probably one of my favourites, it's so wearable, creamy and easy to wear whatever makeup look you decide to go with & they last well too. This colour is one that would suit most skin tones and work for everyone. You can find a earlier review of this product on my blog here.

 

The next is this L'Oreal lipstick number 325, this is such a cool colour, it's a strong wash of colour and is almost vampy, it's a berry that comes out with purple undertones when swatched. It has a small amount of micro glitter which means that it is much more suitable for evening wear, I think this is quite a daring lipstick, so better for evenings overall.

The next lipstick is another one from the Kate Moss lipsticks for Rimmel, it's actually number 20 told you I was a massive fan, this is one of my fav's it is a bright hot pink, I just really like this because it's a really strong colour that's really out there and gives your face that perfect pop of colour that you need. You can read more here.

 

The next lipstick featured is from another favourite brand, I actually only own 1 Topshop lipstick (I know! Shock horror) it's not that I don't love it, because I really do, the formula is so impressive for the price and in all fairness they give the likes of Mac and high end brands a run for their money but there isn't a Topshop near by me so I have to order online which is a bit of a pain if all I want is a lipstick. This particular shade is Innocence, I really enjoy it, it's a nice milky pink, it's actually got quite a similar tone to Mac Angel which is my favourite lipstick of all time and it's one of those colours that is like your lips but better, the packaging is also gorgeous with Topshop lipsticks.

 

The next lipstick is again another love from the Makeup Academy or MUA range, this is another bright pink colour, it is shade 3 and I would say it's less brighter and a tad darker than the Kate Moss lipstick I own, but of a similar tone, I like it because MUA have a slightly sheerer and creamy formula that can be more wearable if you just want to add a slight bit of colour without going all out for the day but it can also be built up for a more opaque coverage. Individual review on my blog can be found here.

 

The next favourite lipstick could definitely be put in my top 3 favourite lipsticks of all time, I won't go into too much detail about it because I did a review only about a week ago here. But this is Outrageously Fun by Mac, it's a gorgeous Magenta pink that is literally just stunning, it's a crème sheen too and it's just lovely, really adds a pretty pop of colour! Fairly pricey but amazing!

 

Next is another Kate Moss Lipstick in shade 19, it's a nudey brown colour, this is a lipstick that either works some days or doesn't work other days and I find that if I put it on on the right day it is stunning and looks really simple but effortlessly beautiful. More information here.

 

The next lipstick you can see has had quite a lot of use, it's shade 4 by MUA it's a bright but light pink, it's not too pigmented, it's very sheer and just works as a quick wash of colour for everyday so it's just perfect.

 

Next is a lipstick that needs no description it's Mac Angel, it's my favourite lipstick in the whole entire world, its creamy, smells nice and is the most gorgeous pink in the world. I think i'll be repurchasing this lipstick forever, there's not been a day since I got it that I haven't worn it, I love it! Read more here.

 

The next is a bright, brick red from the Kate for Rimmel Collection (more info here), it's just a stand out colour in my favourite formula, it's great because it's very British and a classic "London" Colour and it just works, I like wearing this when I want a stand out red.

 

Last is another Primark, lipstick, this is just a light pink one, there's nothing really special about it but it does work for those days where you just want some colour and it's so cheap that it's nice to have in your collection.

 

Sorry for the massive post! Let me know what you're favourite colours are! xx