A Makeup Shakeup

I'm someone who gets so comfortable with routines and having a semi organised lifestyle, and this is no different for my makeup routine. However, just recently I've been finding myself trying out n

ew (and old things) and leaving some of my former holy grail products behind and so I thought I'd let you all in on what new stuff has been making changes to my face!

Something that I always seem to struggle with is finding a foundation that works for me for a long period of time, and so I feel like I'm constantly on the hunt for something new or just mixing a bunch of foundations together to see what works! At the moment what seems to be working for me is my very loved No 7 Beautifully Matte Light foundation which isn't anything new however, I've been mixing it with the Urban Decay All Nighter  and this combination together just seems to look flawless on my skin and last for such a long time! And I have to say that I don't think I'd go back to using the Urban Decay one on it's own as I found that it could be very drying on the skin and this is coming from someone who suffers with oily skin!
The next product that's new to my routine is something that I wish I had started using when it first launched! And this is the Benefit Hoola Lite and I can't thank Benefit enough for bringing all us pale skinned girls a bronzer that we can actually use without the worry of  looking orange! And I was someone who was determined to use the original Hoola even though I knew it was waaay too dark for me so I couldn't be happier that I now have the pale version in my life, because it's such a beautiful bronzer that just glides on effortlessly and can easily be built up or left as a light wash of colour depending on personal preference! High recommend for all the pale skinned girls out there!

As all makeup lovers will know, if you have a ridiculous amount of eyeshadow palettes, there's always gonna be some that you forget to use and somehow I stopped using the Anastasia Beverly Hills Modern Renaissance  and I really don't know how! But I've just recently picked it up again and fallen back in love with because I haven't stopped using it since! I don't even feel like I need to ramble about this product too much though, because it's been raved about by near enough everyone and if you haven't tried it out yet, I dunno what you're waiting for!
After finishing my last primer, I decided to try something new and I had seen a lot of people trying out The Body Shop Instamatte and I have been loving it so much, I'm now on my second tube! Being a silicone based primer, I use this mainly on my t-zone and I've found that it's really helped with the application of other products on top and it also helps with the longevity of makeup considering my skin is very oily! This product can also be used for a variety of things such as an eyeshadow base, a topcoat for lipstick to mattify a can be used on top of foundation for an oils that need controlling through the day! 
Something I've been using from the drugstore for a while now is the Rimmel Insta Contour Stick in the shade light and I feel like I've fallen in love with this! As someone who does like to cream contour, this is such a simple product to use! But I do have to admit, I only use the contour side of this, because I don't really feel like the highlighting side does anything. However the contour side is so creamy and easy to blend which makes it so good for every day use, and it also isn't too dark for my skin which is always a bonus!

I have also finally found a highlight that works so well with pale skin and it's the Ofra x Nikkie highlight in the shade Glazed Donut. It's an almost white highlight and I just find that it gives a lovely sheen on the skin for everyday use but its something that can also be built up to give a really intense glow on the skin! And I just find myself using this almost everyday because its so easy to use and goes with all the makeup looks I do!
These are just a few of things in my routine at the moment that I am loving, have any of you tried these products and love them as well? What are you favourite things to use in your collection?

2015 Favourites

It's unreal to think that its been a year since my last yearly favourites, and I can't lie, I feel as though many of these products will be the same as last year because I can't help but be a creature of habit! And I also wanted to say that I really want to stick to a post schedule this year, as last year started well for me and then went pretty downhill towards the end!

PRIMER: L'Oreal Skin Perfection Magic Instant Blur I've gone through two of these this year, and I did try to use other primers after I used up the first one but I decided to come back to it, as I feel like it works well blurring any pores or imperfections, and it does make my makeup last a little longer than it would without a primer FULL COVERAGE FOUNDATION: Mac Studio Fix Fluid SPF 15 I'm pretty sure that this would have been my favourite foundation for last year as well, but I still continue to love it and use it a lot. This year I did finish up a bottle and for about a month I didn't repurchase it but finally caved and had to buy a new one as I found myself not knowing what foundation to use and wishing that I still had this one to use! I also find that this does a good job at covering almost everything up, and so I use less concealer! MEDIUM COVERAGE FOUNDATION: Makeup Forever HD I know that some people will say that this is also a full coverage or at least build able, but I tend to find that on my skin, it is more a of a medium coverage because I'm used to the coverage of the MAC foundation but I would recommend this highly as it's such a nice finish and feels so lightweight on the skin! It's also perfect for photographs as there's no flashback. CONCEALER: Collection Lasting Perfection Probably one of the cheapest concealers and still everyone raves about how good it is, I love that this concealer is so light that it works for me and it has amazing coverage, I use it for both under the eye and covering any imperfections and once it's been set with a powder, it looks so nice and so I will continue to use this, but I do tend to find that I need to stock up whenever my shade is available because they sell out fast! POWDER: Mac Studio Fix I am someone who prefers a full finish foundation and ever since I've had this powder, I've been using it to set my liquid foundation and I just find that it helps keep my oiliness at bay and I now can't imagine using a lighter powder to set everything! CONTOUR: Benefit Hoola Bronzer So, at first I found this powder to be pretty scary because it's so pigmented and I'm someone who is so fair and bronzer shows up immediately, so I've learnt that less is more with this and I also like to use the brush that comes with it to blend out my contour and I just find that it works so well and doesn't look orange on my skin! BRONZER: The Body Shop Honey Bronzer I love this bronzer, I use the lightest shade and I've had this bronzer for well over a year and only just hit pan, but I just find that it looks so nice for my skin colour, it makes me look bronzed which is a miracle and doesn't make me look like I've just bathed myself in a bronzer that is way too dark. BLUSH: Natural Collection Peach Melba I had someone suggest this to me on a previous blog post and I can't thank them enough because this is my go to for every makeup look, it's so natural and I'm not too keen on pink blushes so I love this and will continue to use it every day, and for the price point its really a steal! HIGHLIGHT: Sand (Anastasia Beverly Hills Contour Palette) This is one of the only highlights I can use that doesn't make me look oily by the end of the day and just looks like I have a glow as such, but I'm a fan of the whole palette so its a win win situation!

BROWS: Anastasia Beverly Hills Dip Brow Pomade and L'Oreal Brow Artist Plumper These two products have been the best combination for my eyebrows this year, and I'm someone who is all in for the strong brow and so I use my dip brow to fill everything in and create the desired shape and then I use the brow plumper to add more volume and set them in place. Honestly this combination will insure that your brows are in place for hours and I love that the plumper is warm toned and so it works well with my hair colour and the eye looks I usually wear. EYE PRIMER: Nars Smudge Proof Eyeshadow base I can't rave about this eye primer enough, it's the only one I'll use now and it just keeps my oily lids at bay and I can trust that whatever eyeshadow is going on top of this will be there for the whole day with no creasing, so what more can I ask for? SINGLE SHADOW: Makeup Geek Frappe Ever since I've had this shadow, I tend to find that it's my go to warm toned brown for almost any eye look, and for the price of Makeup Geek shadows, I really don't think it gets much better! And this is a brown that looks good in a mixture of eye looks or just on its own and I use it both ways. CREAM SHADOW: Maybelline Colour Tattoo On and On Bronze I have loved this for a long time and I think that everyone and their cats own at least one of the colour tattoos, the formula of these is so incredible for a drugstore brand, and I use this on this own, as a base, or part of a complete eye look, and built up to full opacity this is a beautiful shade and I feel like it compliments blue eyes extremely well! SHADOW PALETTE: Too Faced Chocolate Bar Palette Who doesn't like this palette? No one. I think everyone needs this palette in their collection because it's got so many different potential eye looks in there, and I can use this for both natural day to day and dramatic night looks. I tend to find myself taking this with me when I'm away from home because it has everything you need and it smells like chocolate, so it doesn't get much better! EYE LINER: Bobbi Brown Gel Liner I'm not someone who wears eyeliner too often, personally I find that it takes me far too long but I have to admit that whenever I want to wear some sort of eyeliner, I tend to go for this, as I find gels easier than pens and also this gel lasts so long on the eyes and doesn't transfer into the crease of my eye. MASCARA: Maybelline Lash Sensational I think this will be the only mascara I use from the drugstore for a long time now, I do tend to use the waterproof version purely because I prefer waterproof formulas, but this mascara makes my lashes look longer and thicker which is exactly what you want and it holds a curl which is pretty important for some people also!

NUDE LIPSTICK: Mac Velvet Teddy Is it really a surprise? I've yet to meet someone who doesn't like this lipstick and I feel like it's one that suits pretty much every skin tone and I just find that it's a go to nude and its a matte formula which is what I tend to lean towards so I will go back to this time and time again. BOLD LIPSTICK: Nars Audacious Lipstick in Liv As someone who wears a lot of berry and purple shades, I struggled to decide on one that is a favourite but I always find that people compliment this lipstick and its one that I find very comfortable on the lips and I die for the packaging of these lipsticks, as well as the inside product! LIP BALM: Nuxe Reve De Miel This has been my favourite lip balm for as long as I can remember now and admittedly sometimes I forget to use it and I know it because my lips will hate me, but I must admit if you use this as part of the skincare routine, you shouldn't ever experience dry lips as this is so highly moisturising and nourishing and I also love this its a matte finish because I hate the look of glossy balms on the lips!
I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and New Year and that you also enjoyed my favourites from the past year. Let me know what you'd been loving, or if any of my favourites are the same as yours!

Not For Me

I must say that I have bought my fair share of raved about products and non raved about products that I have used and not enjoyed but kept using them anyway! Sound familiar? Probably. Well I thought it was about time to share the products that I continue to use for the sake of having them but wouldn't rush back out to buy!

Probably the most expensive of the bunch and something that I hardly ever use is the Benefit They're Real Push Up Liner, and in a way I feel like this is a love it or loathe it product due to the many mixed reviews! And I have myself done a full review on this (read here) and my opinions haven't really changed too much, I just don't think this works well on my oliy lids as it tends to either spread and smudge or disappear completely! And I really can't get down with the technique of getting the 'perfect feline flick' with this either!

A truly raved about product from L'Oreal is there True Match foundation, and I honestly feel like the only person who doesn't like this and there were multiple reasons for this. The colours - despite their being a lot in the range - were all too dark for me and so whenever I wore it, the bronzer would come out to make my neck match my face! And not only does the colour not work for me but this foundation formula just doesn't work with my skin - it highlights dry patches that I didn't even know I had and just doesn't blend into the skin well so I was rather disappointed and have since given this product away to a friend who will get a lot more use than I ever I would from it!

A product that I have had since the launch of is the Maybelline Colour Tattoos and I remember going to pick almost every colour that they had at the time and one that I have barely ever used is the shape Eternal Gold. Now I'm not a massive fan of glitter and shimmer, so matte looks work for me but saying this some shades in the range such as On and On Bronze which is possibly my favourite, do contain some glitter but there is just something a bit too glitzy about Eternal Gold and I feel like I will only ever use it as some kind of fancy dress make up!

Miss Manga Mascara by L'Oreal? Possibly one of the most hyped up mascaras this year as far as the drugstore goes, and honestly it took me a while to purchase this but I did end up doing it! Now I have to say here is always something kind of disappointing about hyped products, as I seem to find flaws but in terms of this mascara, it just really does not work for me. The brush, in my opinion is far too big for my eyes and so I ended up smudging it around my eye but I also found that the more I tried to layer or separate my lashes with the wand, the clumpier it became and that's not enjoyable for anyone! However there is no fault with the formula, I just wish the wand was different but some you win, some you lose! 

In a previous post about blusher, I did mention that myself and cream blusher are not a good duo however I went against my better judgment and purchased the Topshop Cream Blush in Afternoon Tea a while back! Now the colour and pigmentation of the blush is something to be admired for a blusher that is so reasonably priced but cream formulas seem to just hate my skin! I honestly found no way of putting this on and making it look at least reasonable and so it has been thrown to the back of the drawer in hopes that one day, I will be brave and try it again, but for now, it's a no from me!  

Keeping in the line with the blisters, another one that I (stupidly) purchased online was from Sleek and I got the shade Pomegranate which in the pan is a beautiful deep autumnal shade that would perfect for the time of year (in the UK at least!) The only major problem I have with this blusher is that it is way to dark for my skin tone considering I may as well be a vampire and with the pigmentation being incredible there is no way of putting this on 'lightly' so with a heavy heart, I have to admit I probably won't be using this anytime soon! 

One thing that I really suffer from is redness - mainly on my nose - and for anyone who has this problem, you will know how annoying it is and on a whim I decided to pick up the L'Oreal Nude Magique CC Cream! Now the concept of this product is great, when applied the product is green therefore helping to neutralise the redness but when rubbed into the skin, it turns into the colour of foundation or at least someone's foundation colour! I wish this product came in a variety of shades because this is way too dark and honestly makes me look orange and so the only way I can wear this is by only applying it on the nose and then putting my normal foundation on top! 

Revlon Colorburst Matte Balm in Complex formally known as the lipstick you all need, didn't work for me as well as it did for everyone else! I love the Colorburst Balms because they are seriously pigmented and they stay on for as long as you need them too but there was something about the shade Complex that just didn't work with my skin tone and I think this is because I am far too pale for this 'nude' but for anyone who is slightly tanned or just more tanned than myself, this would work and not look foundation on lips!

Have any if you tired any of these products? Are there any products that you regret buying or just don't use anymore?

The Brow Game

When it comes to eyebrows I never went down the route of filling them in, until about a year ago and to start with, I just used the good old MAC Omega eye shadow which I have to admit on lazy days, I still go for. It does the job! That was before trying out Benefit's Brow Zings which is again a do it all product - quick and easy - but I found that the colour was too dark even in the lightest shade, so I tend to use the powder side of this and leave the wax side!

More recently, I've been on the hunt for different products and have a few that I have been enjoying using, and for people like me who have to find brow colours for blonde hair, I've been searching for brow colours that match my hair! The first one I tried out, courtesy of Zoe and Gabby who both raved about it, is the Soap & Glory Archery Brow Tint and Pencil which I have in the shade Love is Blonde. At one end is a felt tip type nib which produces a tint and the other end is a waxy crayon which is the end I use because I find that the colour is a great match for lighter hair.

The next two products come from Anastasia Beverly Hills - who we all know, know brows pretty well and so I felt as though I didn't need any convincing when it came to buying these two things. The first one I bought was the BrowWiz in the shade Ash Blonde and this is handy because not only is the pencil amazing in terms of the colour and texture, the other end of this a spoolie and so it saves taking a spoolie and a brow pencil around. But the actual product itself is amazing and I love that the pencil is thin and so it makes it a lot easier to fill in the thinner areas without overfilling the brows. 

The second and final product that I have been using religiously since I got it is the DipBrow Pomade in the shade Blonde which I have to admit is darker than the pencil but nothing too different from my hair colour. But I feel I can't rave enough about this product, it's one of those products that you can put on at 8am and not worry about for the rest of the day because by the time its 8pm everything is still there; I honestly think this stuff is one of the best brow products I have ever used. I especially love that this is not anything like the texture of a pencil and so I find that this almost glides on exactly how you want it to and still looks natural!

There are a few more products such as the Gimme Brow that I want to try out, are there any products you think I should try? Have you tried any of the ones I've mentioned?

A Different Type of Eye Liner

I jumped on the bandwagon and purchased Benefit's They're Real Push Up Liner admittedly I'm a little late on it, but I am there none the less. And in all honesty, I had set my expectations pretty high for this product and I am someone who will always choose gel liner over liquid liner even if it does take a little longer to apply. With this is in mind, I was super excited to try this out and I was kind of disappointed.

The concept of this eye liner is great, a gel liner in pen form, fool proof right? Not for me. I couldn't get the hang of using this at all, and I don't know if it's because I avert from using liquid liner pens and so I'm used to the old brush and pot of gel liner which I find a lot easier! But it's not just the application of this of this liner, I found that the formula wasn't what I expected it to be. For someone that has oily lids, I went through all the processes of primer, shadow and the liner, but it still dried out and smudged/rubbed off in areas! 

I still went on to use this liner to see if different techniques or application would help the overall hold of this on the eyelid, but alas it didn't. I tried a thin line which admittedly seems to be the best way to go with this because there isn't as much there to rub away, but as soon as you want to use this for a more dramatic look with a thicker liner and winged out end, it just doesn't work; well at least not for me.

I will continue to use however, just for thin lines because the applicator does mean that the liner is as close to the lash liner as possible which is amazing for definition, but one think I do truly love about this liner is the colour, it is a true black. I have plenty of black eye liners and I must say that the Bobbi Brown Long Wear Gel Liner in carbon black is another that is truly black but for a pen applicator liner, I think Benefit have done well with this colour! 

Overall, I would probably recommend this to people who don't have such oily lids because the potential of this eye liner is great, but I just feel like I won't reach for it as often as I will my other eye liners. If you are looking for something that is truly black and are into the pen application style then I would say this definitely is for you!

Have any of you tried this eye liner? What do you think of it?

What's In My (Makeup) Bag?

Lately I’ve been feeling a little uninspired as far as blog posts go, but I have been brainstorming and hopefully blog posts should be happening at a quicker pace. After reading through various blogs and waiting a fair few YouTube videos from other bloggers (beauty bloggers for the most part) and something that cropped up every so often was “what’s in my bag?” And so I’ve decided to do a similar post but instead of using a handbag which seems to be the way to take this, I'm going to use my makeup bag, just because it’s something I use more regularly.

I’ll just start off by saying that I do need to purchase myself a new makeup bag because although mine does the job it’s supposed to, it is rather small for the amount I try to carry in there but it’s also getting a bit grubby (as makeup bags tend to do.) But until then, I am using a makeup bag which was purchased from Next, quite some time ago although I wouldn’t hesitate in buying a makeup bag from them again. The products I'm going to talk about, I will try and do in some sort of order but I can’t guarantee that it will be the order that everyone else would want to use them in.

The first product is Dermalogica Ultra Calming Barrier Repair and this is something I use every day without fail, after I’ve cleansed and moisturised my face, this goes on my nose and cheeks which is where I tend to get a lot of redness and this just seems to calm it down considerably. I find that this is a product I reach for even on the days that I don’t wear makeup because having red cheeks and a red nose isn’t something I enjoy, but on the days I do wear makeup, this also works well as a primer for those areas. As for primer else where I am currently carrying the Revlon PhotoReady Perfecting Primer around with me, but I wouldn’t recommend this people who suffer from oily skin because this seems to do barely anything for my foundation. I could say that it makes my foundation look worse and this does depend on what foundation I have chosen to use but it does tend to make me look a little cakey.

There are a few different powder products that I keep in my makeup bag and the first one is the holy grail of every girls make up routine, the Rimmel Stay Matte Powder in 001 Transparent. Now I don’t feel like I need to rave about this product too much, because a lot of other beauty bloggers have done that for, but let me just say that for the price of this product, everyone should own it. Everyone. No ones like a shiny face, and this just takes it away, effortless. There are currently two Sleek products that I own, and they both hold a place in my makeup bag, the first of these products is the Face Contour Kit in Light and this is something that I don’t tend to pull out too often because I've been going through a lazy stage where I just use bronzer to contour and I completely skip the highlighting stage. But I will say that this is a must have (if you are not lazy like me) because the pigmentation is amazing and I find that both the highlight and contour to this kit are brilliant, and I wouldn’t hesitate to buy the product again because the price can’t be knocked. The other Sleek product in my makeup bag is one of the blushers in Pomegranate and I haven’t used this too many times because it’s one of those blushers that could look overpowering depending on the other makeup you are planning to put on, but the pigmentation is incredible for a high street blush, and the colour is beautiful in the pan (which is what originally drew me to this) and I hope to get a lot more use out of this. Staying with blushers, there is also one more that I keep in my makeup bag and this is the MAC blush in Fleur Power and I'm not exaggerating when I say that I use this blush pretty much every day because the colour is just that nice. What can I say about a MAC blush that hasn’t been said before? Pigmentation is one of the best (as you would expect) and the colour is just so easy to wear, because it looks very natural and I think it would be one of the go to colours of any season – well done MAC. The last powder product that I have in my makeup bag is the Bourjois Bronzing Powder in 51, and I'm being completely honest when I ask who hasn’t tried this bronzer because it is ah-ma-zing and this is no overstatement. For a high street product, there is nothing I can say that is bad about this product and I will continue to use it and I will most probably repurchase it (even though I have been eyeing up the Nars bronzers…)

As far as eye and eyebrow make up goes, I only carry two products with me all the time and that is my mascara which is the Maybelline Colossal Volume Express in Smokey Black and I have been using this mascara for as long as I remember and I do go through phases of buying new ones and I always seem to go back to this. It just seems to do something to my lashes that other mascaras can’t achieve and I also find that this is just the right shade of black, as weird as that may sound! The eyebrow product I carry round is the Benefit Brow Zings in Light, and I think I must use this at least 5 days of the week so I get my use out of this product and it doesn’t make my eyebrows look too dark (I have blonde hair) but it also gives them enough boldness so they define my face which is always a plus. However, I do have to admit on my lazy days, I do just bring out the MAC palette and pop some of Omega onto my brows. Finally the last thing I carry around in my makeup bag is a mirror – a must have!

2013 Favourites

We have landed in the year 2014, and I thought I'd take this opportunity to blog after feeling a little uninspired towards the end of last year. First thing I wanted to say was that I hope everyone had an amazing Christmas and New Year, no matter where you were, or what you were doing!

Second thing is that I decided before the new year started that I wasn’t going to have a resolution because I knew that I wouldn’t stick it, but it wasn’t till I was having a conversation with a friend a couple of days ago that I realised what I needed my resolution for this year to be. And so, I have decided that my resolution is to be happier in myself by the end of the year, because right now I feel as though I could do a lot more to improve my self-confidence and to just feel happy as I am. But I suppose another one of my resolutions should be to update my blog more regularly because I have found that I am awful at updating, apologies for being such a procrastinator.

Thirdly, I have decided that this year, I want to do a jar full of memories, much like a lot of people did in 2013. I have seen the idea on Tumblr a few times and thought I’d jump on the bandwagon this year. And here’s to good year because I already have a few good things to put into it!

I wanted to make a mini favourites from 2013 including a few beauty products that I fell in love with during the past year and I will also include some random favourites, because you can never get enough of those. To start with beauty products, 2013 was a year that saw me trying a lot of new products whether it be skin care or make up, and this was a scary thing for me because I was always one of these people that didn’t like step outside the comfort zone of certain products and brands. But alas, I divulged in new products and found some that have become holy grails and I’m wondering how I coped without them before.

As far as my skincare regime goes, I tried a couple of new things last year and I have used nothing but them throughout the year and these were the TAAJ Himalaya Micellar water which is incredible for removing make up and it just makes my skin feel so refreshed before cleansing or moisturising. The only other product that I have used religiously is the Liz Earle Cleanse and Polish hot cloth cleanser which I use after the micellar water and this product just makes the skin feels so fresh and clean (as silly as that sounds) but it is a staple product in my regime and without using it, I don’t feel fully ready.

I wanted to narrow down my makeup favourites because this is literally my weakness and I could just buy a lot of make up and say they're all my favourites. However, I have managed to do it and decided that as far as foundation goes my favourites were Rimmel Wake Me Upfoundation but I will say that this foundation is one that should be mainly used in the summer because while it does do what it says and makes you look more "awake" it can make you look too shimmery and shiny for the colder months. This meant that I had to find another foundation to use in the winter and one that I consistently went back to was Clinique Anti Blemish Solutions which is an incredible foundation, especially when my skin is prone to break out and has a lot of uneven skin tone and redness which this foundation just manages to cover amazingly. So well done Clinique, I don't know how you manage to do it, but please continue. Something that I find myself using a lot of is concealer - damn those blemishes - and so I do like to try out a few different ones to find out which covers my blemishes for me in the most effective way. I wouldn't say that I have a favourite one because I find that the ones I've tried, don't always cover what I'm trying to hide particularly well but the one I have found most effective is Maybelline Dream Mousse Concealer - but I do believe the version I have has now been discontinued. This concealer just has a great consistency, with it being thick it does manage to cover a lot but I do find that I have to top it up because it does seem to disappear during the day but that might just be my skin!

There's only been one powder I have used this year and it has been Rimmel Stay Matte Pressed Powder in the shade transparent and oh my, it's my holy grail! If you don't want to look shiny, go get it. If you want to set your foundation, go get it. Just go get it! I didn’t really have a staple blusher that I used all year round but I did use the Bourjois Delice De Poudre, not only is the pigmentation in this great for all the seasons but it also smells like chocolate, so that made it a must have!

The mascara that was my favourite for 2013 has been my favourite for a few years now and that is the Maybelline Colossal Volume which I do believe makes me lashes fuller and longer than they truly are, so I will continue to use this mascara in the hopes it doesn’t get discontinued. However, I was introduced to the Benefit They’re Real! mascara last year and this is also an amazing mascara but the only thing I find is that it is difficult to take off and so I tend not to use it as often as my other mascara. It was really hard for me to pick a favourite eyeshadow and so I decided on a few that I used all the time and these were MAC Satin Taupe, MAC Naked Lunch and also MAC Sable. There is just something about MAC’s eyeshadows that I love and I think part of it is the incredible pigmentation in them and they do last all day which is something to look for in an eyeshadow! I have also found the MAC Pigment in Vanilla which I use for the inner corner of my eye and it just brightens the eye and gives it that finishing touch which I like.

As far as random favourites go, this year a new band have entered my life and become an obsession of mine, I first saw 5 Seconds of Summer as One Direction’s support act and I thought they were incredible! Since then I have seen them perform five times and I will continue to tweet them until they know of my existence. Another random favourite of mine is One Direction’s Midnight Memories CD which I know only came out towards the end of the year, but I still fell in love with it before the year was up and so it deserved a mention in my favourites. I think the songs on the new album are a lot mature than the previous albums and I love love love the rocky sound they are going for at the minute, but to be fair, that band could do anything and I think I would still adore them..! The last favourite of the previous year is The Fault in Our Stars and I know that 2013 was the year for this book but I can see why, it’s so heart wrenching you can’t not fall in love with it, I read it too many times and I can’t wait for the movie to come out this year so I can fall in love with the story all over again.