A Month In Photos, January

one. I made a post all about the gorgeous En Taupe palette from Zoeva

two. my most recent post which is all about my January favourites features these products

three. some of the items that were featured in my yearly favourites

four. a few more of the products from my 2015 favourites post

five. I was feeling a seriously bronzed look and shared some of the products I used for this six. a few pieces from a face of the day, using another beautiful palette from Zoeva seven. I found my old camera and decided to post a photo of myself which is very unlike me! eight. my absolute favourite palette at the moment, I need to buy some more shadows for this soon

The MAC Eyeshadow Quad for Beginners

As a self confessed eyeshadow junkie, it's probably only right that I let you know what I consider to be my top eyeshadows from MAC, for the neutral lovers and beginners at least!

All these shadows have been picked so that they can be put into a quad and all used for make up looks, whether it's very natural for everyday or smoked out for a night time look. There is a shadow that can be used all over the lid, one on the crease, one to smoke it out (lightly or heavily) and one for a brow bone highlight!

To begin with I picked Naked Lunch, which is beautiful shimmery pink shade, but don't be put off by it being a pink shade because its more of a minimal pink that when blended with other shades, really doesn't look pink at all! But its a shade that can be used in a complex look or can just be used on its own, which is something that I do quite regularly just because the shimmer makes the shade seem a lot more on the lid, than just the one shade! 

A colour that is coveted by many and is pretty much a staple for your MAC collection is the shade Charcoal Brown which is for some reason the perfect brown, its cool toned, almost muted and just seems to work perfectly in the crease for pretty much any neutral eyeshadow look! And as a crease sahde should be, this is a matte shade and as a matte lover, I can't get enough of this shade!

We then have the shade Vanilla which I use as a highlight shade in the inner corner and on the brow bone, and this is simply because the shade is a very light peachy come ivory shade which holds a lot of reflect which when used a highlight looks very flattering as it tends to catch the light and reflect - as it should! But I also find that when I use a highlighting shade I want something that isn't overly shimmery or glittery especially for everyday use and this shade certainly isn't!

And finally the shade that I use for lightly or heavily smoking out the look is Bronze which is a golden brown, that holds a gold bronze shimmer and again isn't an overly shimmery shade so you can pack it onto the outer part of the lid and add it into the crease without it looking like too much! It's also a nice shade that can be added in with shades like Amber Lights if you feel like branching out from the neutral shades!

Since writing this post, I have fallen in love with the shade Sable, which was mentioned in the previous post, and this shade has been sat in palette for quite a while, and is one that I have been wearing all over the lid because it comes across as more than one colour on the lid! A shade that I'd highly recommend!

Do you have any favourite shades from MAC, or any shades that you've tried and didn't really like? If you own a quad, what shades do you have housed in there?

February Favourites

I'm back with the favourites from the shortest month and this month I've found it quite difficult to find things I've been using religiously! But alas, here are the few things that I have loved throughout the month of February!

Most of the products for this month have been things that I stopped using and instead of buying new things, I thought I would have a little root through my make up and see what I could find! From previous posts, some of you will know that I am not a fan of blusher, at least not anything too pink or red, however, just recently I have rekindled my love for the Soap and Glory Love at First Blush which for me works as a blush and highlight all in one! The blush is built up of blocks of different colour and so I tend to stick with the lighter shades and I find that my cheeks never look too flushed which is a bonus! 

Staying on the lines of the face, after buying the Sigma F80 a while ago now and using that pretty much every day, I kind of forgot that I had other face brushes and one that I've began using again is Real Techniques Expert Face Brush and I forgot how much I loved this brush, its so dense and I find that it's great for really buffing foundation in because I am someone who prefers a full coverage foundation and sometimes they can look cakey if they aren't buffed in enough!

A new product that I've gladly welcomed into my routine is the Nars Pro Prime Smudge Proof Eyeshadow Base and for someone that has extremely oily eyelids, a good base is an unspoken rule, and I have to admit I'm always sceptical about primers but this one does last, and keeps my eye shadow in place even when I am doing a ten hour shift at work so this will definitely be one that I will repurchase! And on top of this primer, I have been wearing a MAC shadow that I bought and never really used to begin with but after seeing Anna use it, I knew I would love it! And this eye shadow is Sable which I have been wearing all over the lid, blended out at the edges, it's a beautiful bronze come plum shade and a lot of people have complimented how blue my eyes look when I have been wearing it!

I'm someone who doesn't wear eyeliner too often but when I do, I usually turn towards a gel liner because I find them easier to use than most liquid liners, but when I was sorting through all my eyeliners, I came across the L'Oreal Super Liner So Couture which was actually a free gift with a purchase but nevertheless the pen on this is so small that you can get the most precise line which is great! If anyone knows where to get this in the UK, please let me know! Most of this months favourites seemed to be based on the eyes but I have also been loving the Chi Chi Cosmetics 3D Magic Lash which is a mascara which makes my lashes look so good, I find the results similar to They're Real but it's no where near as difficult to remove! 

The last favourite for this month has to be Taylor Swift, I think me and my friend have been listening to her non stop, I've honestly had her albums on repeat in my car and I have no idea where this little obsession has come from, but I don't think its stopping any time soon!

Winter Lips

I love the cold months, it means that the darker lipsticks make a reappearance with all varieties of red and berry tones to indulge in, however with the weather as it is at the moment, the chap sticks are coming out ready for preparations.

Rimmel London Kate Moss in 107: now, I love a good berry lip as much as the next person and I remember a couple of years back, I would never have gone near dark lipsticks as they were waaaay out of my comfort zone! But alas, I fell in love with this lipstick and its ones that pretty much every female owns! But this is a lipstick that isn't too dark for daytime wear, I love the fact that it's matte and a good matte considering its a drugstore brand!

Rimmel London Kate Moss in 01 & 30: these are both glossy finish lipsticks one being a deep red and the other being a wine colour - both the colours you would associate with the upcoming season! My personal favourite the 30 which the wine colour but either of these can be worn as a stain or a full on colour which I think is great for those who want to start wearing more daring colours because it doesn't have to be worn as a solid colour! I found that for shade 30 the Maybelline Colour Sensational Lip Liner in Midnight Plum works extremely well to line the lips!

L'Oreal Collection Privee Pure Reds in Blake's Red: one of the newest reds to come out in the drugstore and has been dubbed as one very similar to MAC’s Ruby Woo and I can see the resemblance and for someone who wouldn't want to pay out for MAC, this is a very good alternative and again for a drugstore brand, a very good matte lipstick that I find isn't too drying on the lips!

Collection Little Mix Lipstick in Perrie: a very cheap lipstick for those who are on a tight budget but still one that is in my favourites because I find the colour to be so unique considering the brand! The purple is one that is a lot lighter than the rest and can easily be wrong for a day or night time look and I find that this has pretty good staying power and is quite nourishing on the lips! I'd pick it up if you're on the hunt for lighter purple shade!

Urban Decay Revolution Lipstick in Shame: this one is on the pricier end and one that won't be to everyone's likings, but last year I took the plunge and got the darkest lipstick I've ever bought! Now in the stick this looks incredibly scary and on the lips, it's still dark but it's one that I love to wear at night! You can bet that once this is on, it's going to be hard to get off but on the downside is that it's messy to apply and so a light and goes a long way!

MAC Lipstick in Ruby Woo: my favourite lipstick of the bunch, there is no doubt that if I could wear this everyday, I would! Daytime or night time this lipstick comes out to play and if you like a red lip, you should probably go and pick this up! I also pair this with the MAC Lip Liner in Cherry which a perfect combination! 

Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Colour Balm Stain in Crush: the perfect berry shade for the people who don't like a full on colour because this is a very balmy and glossy and does stain the lips so the colour can be built up to be opaque or just left very sheer on the lips! I also like this because the product comes in a chunky pen form and this makes it so easy to apply!

Do you have any lip favourites for the upcoming months? 

New Routine with Old Products

Entering the colder months can only mean one thing, a bit of mix up in the make up department and lately I have found myself reaching for the same products when it comes to my eye make up! And with only three staples (sometimes four, depending on laziness levels), it's becoming a quick and easy routine!

Remember when the Maybelline 24 hour Colour Tattoos made first made their appearance, well I was one of those who went and bought one in almost every colour and then forgot to use them as they got thrown to the back of drawers! But alas, I have found a use for them, and I'm beginning to wonder why I waited this long to start wearing them. The shade I have been wearing pretty much everyday (what a creature of habit I am) is On and On Bronze which yes, you guessed it, is a bronze!

Before I use the Colour Tattoo, I prime my eyes with the MAC Paint Pot in Soft Ochre, which I know seems crazy, using two cream shadows but I feel like these paints pots really do help keep eye shadow in any format in place, which is great for people like me with oily lids! But back to the contender of this post, I then put the colour tattoo all over the lid with a finger and then use a clean finger to blend out all the edges before adding any more to the lid if I feel like the colour isn't opaque enough.

After the shadow is how I want it to look, I use mascara and I haven't had a particular mascara that I've been using at the moment, instead of being using a variety but I am enjoying the Rimmel Wonderfull Mascara and the Maybelline Falsies Volume Express Mascara but those are the three main products that I have been using on a day to day basis. However, I have decided to add in a little bit of colour with the Urban Decay Naked palette on rare days, I have been taking the shade Half Baked and just placing that on the centre of the lid and blending out and this adds a lovely golden shimmer to the already bronze tones that are there!

This make up look is so quick and easy to achieve, I would suggest it to those of you who don't like to spend too much time of eye make up, or simply don't have enough time to spend on it because this is something that can be worn for pretty much anything!

How many of you have been hoarding the Colour Tattoo's in the back of the make up stash? Time to dig them out and start using them!

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?

Blush For Me

I feel like I've been M.I.A recently, who knew that having no laptop could be such a pain - I do now! So for that, I'm sorry! And I wish I could promise more regular posts but my phone is not the place to typing up a lot of blog posts unfortunately! I will try my hardest though and whenever I can get a post up, I will!

I've decided to talk about a make up product that for me has always been a tricky one and that is blush... I don't know what it is about blusher, but we just don't get on that well! Never have and I feel like we never will and trust me, I've tried different formulas but no luck! Is it something I'm doing wrong? Am I not picking the right formula or colour? I'll never know!

Having a problem with redness is where I always thought I was going wrong because I could never conceal it well and putting more colour on top of that... just no! But alas, I still try with blushers and I think I've found myself some pretty foolproof ones that work work for me (or, work as well as they can for me!)

Soap and Glory Love at First Blush

I first bought this blush and used it a few times but I was never really a fan of shimmer, so I rarely used it and become one of those things that sat in one of my drawers and in all honestly, I kind of forgot about it! But I found it whilst clearing out and decided to put it in my make up so that I'd use it, and I'm so glad that I did! This blush is built up of different colour blocks that all hold a lot of shimmer and so I tend to find that less is more where this is concerned, but the colour is so subtle and just makes the face glow, I feel like this has opened me up to a world of dewy looking skin!

MAC Blush in Fleur Power

I think this was one of the first MAC products I ever bought and to this day, it's still the only blush I own from there (even though I have quite an extensive wishlist going on) and I love this colour! I have previously raved about it but this is a blush that I use all of the time, it doesn't even matter what time of year, I can wear this! Its one of those blushes that you just need to gently swipe on for colour that is noticeable, but I must say this is one of the longer lasting blushes that I own and use!

Seventeen Cheek Stamp Blush in Blushing

This blush was a kind of spontaneous buy and I bought two shades, one of which being blushing and although I'm not completely sold on the idea of stamping it onto your cheek and blending it out, I do like the colour and so I'll continue to use it! It's a very light pink and so it doesn't look harsh at all and I don't feel like you have to put a lot for the blush to take affect. It's one of those blushes that works with pretty much any make up look but it would probably look best of pale complexions because it is so light! 

Have any of you tried these blushes? Do any of you have holy grail blushes? I would love try some new ones out!

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.