FOTD: Summers not quite over yet...

I've been on a real neutral kick lately, so after a bit of prompting from my lovely friend Jane i whacked out some of my gorgeous Inglot shades. To put it bluntly, we've had a real shit summer here in the UK, so mostly I've not been feeling very colourful in my makeup so having the chance to have a mess about with some brights was a nice change! I didn't have to leave the house today, as i probably wouldn't have been as comfortable with such a bright look but i really do love how this turned out! I just LOVE Inglot.

Eyes:
MUA - Eye Primer.

Mac - Phloof!, Omega.
Elf - Liquid Eyeliner.
Urban Decay - 24/7 Liner in Zero.
L'oreal - Volume Million Mascara.
Inglot - Matte 362, Pearl 441, Shine 39, AMC Shine 17.

Lips:
Nyx - Slim Lip Pencil in Edge Pink.

Mac - Lustreglass in Wonderstruck.

Face:
Missha - Perfect BB Cream.
Maybelline - Stay Matte Powder
Nars - Laguna Bronzer.
Accessorize - Wowzer Blush.
Mac - Lightscapade.

Looks a tad messier than i had hoped for in the second picture, and my hair was not being obedient that day, but overall I'm really happy with it! I even had a compliment from my Dad about it whose normal reaction to eye makeup is "it's too dark"... Happy times!

Have you been wearing brights lately?
What are your favourite shades?!

xox

My Top 5 Blushes

 

I love blush.
After foundation, its at the top of my lust list at any given time. As a serial over sleeper a lot of the time i only have a few minutes to slap my face on for the day, i generally don't bother with eyeshadow in a rush so using blush to put some colour back into my face is really important to me. I have a fair few blushes so it was really hard to pick just five, but i gave it a good go! But please excuse the grubby pictures, my blushes get thrown in handbags quite a lot, so they've been well used and some look a bit battered. So, on to my top five!

Sleek Pomegranate is probably my "go to" winter shade, this is my second one of these since i managed to smash up the first one on a night out, oops! It looks pretty scary in the pan, its a deep burgundy pink that gives me that wintery Snow White cheek when used with a light hand. Like all Sleek blushes its extremely pigmented and you run the risk of looking like a clown if you're too heavy handed. Yep, I've done it... more than once. I'm actually looking forward to cracking this one back out for the winter months, its a beaut!

Everyone has their favourite Benefit boxed blush and Bella Bamba is definitely mine. Back in my teen years i was a Thrrrob kinda gal, but after getting through two of those i fancied a change. Bella Bamba is a gorgeous watermelon pink with fine silver shimmer. Since i purchased this last summer I've gone through phases of wearing it constantly for weeks, then forgetting about it again, only the rediscover it a few weeks later. Its so flattering on my skin tone and gives the cheek a real healthy flush. Perfect all year round! But it wouldn't be me if i didn't have my eye on another one... Coralista will be mine!

If you watch any of the American beauty Youtuber's theres a good chance you would of spotted a Milani product or two. These blushes kept popping up and i just had to have one. So i searched eBay for a while until i found this shade for around £8 including shipping which isn't half bad! This is my only real orangey coral blush and i have to fight my Mother to use it since she's pinched it for her dressing table. Its a really lovely orangey coral with silver glitter. Yep, glitter. That is my only gripe with this blush is that i wish the glitter wasn't so obvious, but if we ignore that, it really is a beautiful blush. Its not available in the UK so if you have the chance to get one, do it! I plan to get my hands on a couple more shades in the near future.

Frat Boy... the best thing to ever come out of a beauty box. I ended my subscriptions with beauty boxes quite a few months ago because they just weren't working out for me. But in Carmine's (if i remember rightly) first box appeared this little beauty. Its my one and only theBalm product, but i absolutely love it. Its peachy-pink, nearly matte perfection! I've not seen these in stores but theBalm can be found online on websites such as Feelunique.com.

 

Its cliche, but i really do love it. Orgasm is the most worn blush for nights out for me, if i don't know what to put on i generally reach for this. Its been in my handbag almost constantly for the last year. Now i won't waffle on about it because I'm sure you've heard faaar too much online about it already. Its peachy-pinkness really works with my skin tone and i actually really love the gold shimmer in it as its finely milled and doubles as a highlight! Lovely! At around the £20 mark the price isn't so great, but if you're near a Nars counter go have a little swatch!

Pomegranate - Bella Bamba - Corallina - Frat Boy - Orgasm


What is your favourite blush? Comment below!

xox

Darling Girl Cosmetics Haul

Heya lovelies! After a long, long time of lusting i eventually placed a Darling Girl Cosmetics order! I'd been itching to place an order for a Skin Quencher or two for a while now, so when their Satin Stains were released i just couldn't resist any longer. Its quite a modest haul, mainly because i REALLY didn't want to get hit by customs and after reading elsewhere about others being caught there i thought it was better to be safe than sorry. I'm quite happy to pay custom fee's i just really hate the ridiculous £8 Post Office charges on top of that... *rant over* On to the haul!

So i knew i wanted a Skin Quencher and some Satin Stains, i just had to work out which ones, as there are SO many enticing smells to choose from. I opted for Black Raspberry and Vanilla, it smells absolutely divine! Skin Quenchers are a dry oil spray and as my skin has been on the dry side lately i thought this would be the perfect pick me up. It sinks in to the skin relatively quickly and smells good enough to eat! I'd like to pick up a few more scents including the Lime and Ginger one, yum!

I absolutely love Fyrinnae's Visual Kei Lip Luster, the only problem is that there aren't that many wearable (for me at least) colours. So when i saw the announcement on the Darling Girl Facebook page about these i stalked the website until they were released. I wasn't quick enough to grab the one i wanted most, but oh well, I'll just have to place another order... I'm planning to do a full review on these beauties. That's if my Mum doesn't steal Babygirl before i get around to it, shes had her hawk eye on it all week!

The only negative so far is the size, which in all fairness is clearly stated on the website. They are 3.5ml each which is on the small side, but as i don't tend to finish lip products its not a huge downside, and at $5 a pop is definitely worth the money.

Lastly i ordered their About Face Velvet Gel Primer. I now flat out refuse to pay for Smashbox primer so needed something with a bit of slip for my foundation. It feels great on the skin and so far I'm enjoying using this! At $5.50 it is considerably cheaper than a lot of the primers I've come across, but again it is a smaller product at being around 15ml. I also received a couple of sample baggies and a sample jar with my order, which was a lovely touch.

The website clearly states how long orders will take to ship and my order was just within this time which was around two weeks, then a further week to arrive through the mail (with quite a lot of postman stalking, its okay, he's used to it now). Three weeks in total is quite a long time for someone with no patience, but so worth it in the end! Good things come to those who wait and all that jazz. So far I'm really impressed with Darling Girl Cosmetics and cannot wait to place another order, i just find it difficult to narrow down what i want!

Have you tried any of Darling Girl's products? Feel free to share your suggestions!

xox

Current Favourites & My Everyday Face

 Heya lovelies! My favourites posts are few and far between, but as I've been loving a whole load of new and rediscovered products i thought I'd share the best of the bunch with you lot! I'm never going to be a monthly favourites kinda gal, i just don't change up my routine enough so those posts would be pretty samey, but from time to time i love to show off the bits and bobs in my collection that have been getting a lot of love recently...

Royal and Langnickel - Flat Top Kabuki Brush
I picked this little beauty up at IMATS. Now if you've watched a lot of IMATS videos you'll have seen these pop up quite a lot over the years, normally to be never seen in a video or post again but lately i have been LOVING it. This had been sat on my shelf for a good few months without use, so after cleaning all my brushes i hooked it out and was determined to give it a fair ol' use. I've been using it to apply my Dream Matte powder, its perfect for setting foundation by just pushing the powder in to the skin. Its ridiculously soft and only cost me around £6 with the IMATS discount, but can be found on the Royal and Langnickel website for about £12.

Natural Collection - Apple and Lime Body Spray

I was introduced to this one a month or so ago by the bestie and I've got to say other than being a teenager and drowning myself in the vanilla version I'd been a bit of a snob about these. After a girly night i could smell DKNY Green Apple, so being nearly out of mine (and about four other favourite perfumes, sob) i asked her if i could have a squirt of hers, turns out it wasn't DKNY at all, but this little beauty. Now on further inspection it isn't an exact dupe as it has a lime element to it that the DKNY doesn't have and it isn't quite a sharp, but its pretty damn close. At £2, its a real bargain if you're not in the position to splash out on the real deal, and if you have an unsophisticated nose like me, you may not even be able to tell the difference! It obviously doesn't last as long on the skin, but for the price difference, who cares?!

Revlon - Kissable Balm Stains

I want more of these and i want them now! Near enough the only thing on my lips for the past month, i just wish they had more shades! For someone who isn't a fan of creamy lipsticks, this is perfect for me. It adds gorgeous colour without me feeling conscious of smearing it across my face, win! The stain lasts a good few hours for me and the chubby stick like packaging makes it ridiculously easy to apply. I'm planning to get my paws on a whole bunch of these while I'm in the USA next month.

Origins - Drink Up Overnight Mask
I'll keep this short and sweet. Gorgeous mask, leaves my skin feeling soft and moisturised without feeling greasy. 100ml for £20, so not bad at all price wise! I've recently reviewed this beauty here.

 China Glaze - I'm Not Lion

I'm Not Lion is an absolutely STUNNING shade. Its a beige, champagney glitter that would work beautifully for both warm and cool toned skin. I've been wearing it for every night out over the last few weeks! Its opaque in two coats and in any form of light sparkles like an absolute dream. Me and my amateur camera skills haven't been able to capture its full beauty yet... But google swatches... Do it NOW! If you don't have this, you need it!

Maybelline - Dream Matte Powder

 Another product that had been sat in my drawer for quite some time, i think i have faaar too many of those! Up until recently I'd preferred quite heavy coverage and had been loyal to setting my foundation with either Elfs HD Powder or Mac Studio Fix, but as HD isn't really travel friendly and Studio Fix is on the heavy side i hooked this out of my collection. Its matte without looking heavy and powdery, its not the longest lasting powder but its easy enough to shove in your handbag and reapply on the go.

Milani - Corallina Baked Blush

 My only coral blush, although I'm still eyeing a few! After seeing these all over American blogs and Youtube channels i caved and eBayed one of the Milani Baked blushes. Its a gorgeous orange coral with quite large silver shimmer. Now at first the silver shimmer REALLY put me off, but it buffs away to be mostly unnoticeable, so i can live with it. I think these cost around $6 but i payed a little over £8 with delivery which isn't too bad. The only downside is that my Mother has taken a shine to this blush, so i am constantly having to steal it back from her!

Mac - Cream Colour Base Pearl

Possibly my favourite highlighter ever! Stunning goldy, pearl, cream highlighter. Gives the face a real radiant glow! I absolutely love it! And taking into account how little product you need to use, I've actually hit pan on this which says it all really!

Wow this post is getting lengthy! I've worn this look for about 75% of the last 4 - 5 weeks, i should really change it up soon but I'm really loving to easy it is to apply in the morning. And as it involves quite a few of my current favourites i thought I'd share it with you!

Eyes:
Makeup Forever - Smoky Lash Mascara
Mac - Omega Eyeshadow (brows)

Lips:
Revlon - Kissable Balm Stain in Rendezvous

Face:
Missha M - Perfect Cover BB Cream
Maybelline - Dream Matte Powder
Mac - Cream Colour Base in Pearl
Milani - Baked Blush in Corallina
Nars - Laguna Bronzer

What are you're current favourites?

xox

Me? Veruca Salt? Never...

I had a little bit of a brat moment this weekend. I'd been lusting over a new camera for quite some time now, and although i didn't *need* one, i bloody well wanted a nice new shiny one. Now, DSLRs were firmly out of my reach and frankly for what i need it for i could never justify that amount of money. I'd not spotted a bridge camera I'd fallen for yet, until this one...

I'm am pretty shocking when it comes to camera / technology knowledge and am no expert, but for its price point the Samsung WB100 seemed pretty damn good to me. From previous searches i couldn't find anything near to its 16mp + 26x zoom, which i'm told is pretty good. Priced at £130 it doesn't break the bank either. So after some dancing round the house asking for a lift to town to buy one, (wasn't an "I want it, and i want it NOW Daddy" moment, honest) my parents had shockingly offered to buy it for my birthday so i can get some good Florida snaps and more importantly, some better blog photos!

So far, I LOVE IT. Its so easy to use, even for a camera novice like me. So hopefully we shall have some clearer, prettier images up on here soon! You never know, i may even try a video...


*dances*

xox

Mini Skincare Haul

Ello lovelies! Long time no post! Just a quick mini haul for you today! I'm still waiting on a little indie order so I'll have a more colourful haul for you in a little while, yay! My skin has been playing up a treat over the last few months, as soon as i get it looking better it flares back up so i decided it was time to try out a few new skincare bits and invest in a new Clarisonic head, as the Clarisonic Plus hasn't been getting the love it deserves over the last few months!

Clarisonic - Normal Skin Brush Head - Asos
Like i said, my Clarisonic hasn't been getting a whole load of use lately as I've been experimenting with non abrasive exfoliators, but as that wasn't working for me i decided to pick up a new brush head. These aren't cheap at around £20 a pop but i grabbed one with student discount on ASOS, making it a little more affordable.

Etat Pur - Salicylic Acid - Ultra-Rich Nourishing Balm
As Bioderma has been so big in the blogging world Etat Pur has been on my radar for quite a while now. As affordable as it is i managed to whittle it down to two products, but i could of easily splurged on a lot more! I've been getting irritated with the amount of blackheads on my nose so after seeing rave reviews on Salicylic Acid i decided to give this one a bash. I'm quite loyal to my Thirst Aid and Oilatum moisturisers, but theres no harm in trying another one, is there?! Haha! They even threw in a few very mini samples to try out, which is a nice bonus.

So that's my little haul! Have you tried any new skincare lately?

xox

Origins - Drink Up Intensive Over Night Mask - Review

 Higher end skincare isn't really something i like to splurge a lot of money on. I generally only take the plunge on things like Elemis value kits on QVC or if I've been really lusting over something. I had always assumed Origins was out of my price range, I'd be lusting over some of the Mega Mushroom range and at around £40 per product it wasn't something i was willing to spend the money on. So when i started seeing reviews for their Overnight Mask i halfheartedly read a few, thinking it was out of my price range, until i actually took notice of the price... £20 for 100ml, which is a LOT more reasonable than i had presumed. Most night creams or moisturisers range between 30 - 50 ml so getting double or more product for your money was a huge selling point for me. My last night cream was  an Elemis one, which was okay, but nothing special and at £30 odd for 50ml wasn't cheap. But the Origins Drink Up is technically a mask, not a night cream and is thicker in consistency.

"This overnight replenishing mask with natures most nourishing nightcaps, Plant Glycerin, Hyaluronic Acid and Apricot Kernel Oil, instantly quenches compromised skin with deeply satisfying moisture. Avocado Oil and Mango Butters build up a reservoir for tomorrow. And Japanese Seaweed helps prevent future moisture loss. Skin awakens refreshed, replenished, ready to face the day."

Its quite thick in consistency and does leave the skin feeling slightly tacky for around ten minutes or so. It sinks in leaving my skin feeling super hydrated and even feels lovely in the morning. Some people complained about it leaving residue, but having quite dry skin i find my skin absorbs it really quickly leaving no residue what so ever. Now at the moment i am using this about every other day, but i wouldn't hesitate using it every night as a night cream as my skin is so dry. But for people with combo - oily skin once to twice a week would probably be enough. My only little gripe is the smell of it, and now i am terrible with describing scents but there is something in it that my nose just does not like. Luckily its not an overbearing smell and fades pretty fast so your not left trying to sleep with it. I don't think it'd be unpleasant for everyone, just if your like me you may find it a little much initially.

Overall i am really loving this! It leaves my skin feeling refreshed and hydrated without leaving a greasy film or transferring to my pillows. And at £20 for 100ml i think for a higher end brand is pretty damn good value for money! I've got my eye on a few more bits from Origins but that may have to wait a while! But if you live near an Origins counter I'd highly suggest checking this out!

What are your favourite Origins products?

xox