Losing my MAC Virginity....

I don't really know why I've not tried MAC before. I think it's because I frequent Superdrug and Boots more than anywhere else, and I only ever seem to go past the Mac counter when I'm in the Trafford Centre, where I've usually already spent all my money! I've had my eye on a few things for a while now so I decided to bite the bullet and order a few things!

I wanted Fix+ to keep in my bag for when my face needs a bit of refreshing mid-day, for dry skin like mine a product like this is a holy grail, I'd give so much to have dewy skin 24/7! I usually use a Body Shop version, so I'll be looking to see whether this is any better! I bought the little version because it's so much handier to chuck in my make-up bag for on the go!

I decided to get a Mineralize Blush in Gentle, I'd describe this as a plum/pink kind of colour, it has a gorgeous gold sheen and looks really beautiful on! It's really highly pigmented so I use the tiniest amount ever or else and I end up looking like a complete clown, and with using so little this will probably last me until I'm 50! 

I've been looking for a perfect powder for as long as I can remember. I decided to go for the Mineralize Skinfinish Natural in Light after everything I've heard about it and so many people swearing by it. I haven't been disappointed, it's probably the only powder I've tried that hasn't made me look cakey. Incredibly pleased with this!

Lastly I decided to go for a lipstick in Girl About Town. I'm a massive fan of bright lipsticks and this, is VERY bright! It's gorgeous and creamy and smells amazing! I've been wearing this with nothing else but mascara, it bring so much attention to your lips you don't have to bother about eyeshadow etc! It's really long lasting and it's made me ache to try more of Mac's lipsticks, there's so many gorgeous shades out there!

I've already got my eye on a few other things! ;)

188 Brush // Paint Pot in Bare Study // Mineralize Skinfinish in Soft and Gentle // Lipstick in Impassioned

Unfortunately my bank account is now incredibly low in dosh, there won't be anymore hauling to be done until I get my first paycheck (eeeeeek so excited!) at the end of September! 

Have a gorgeous weekend girls!

xoxoxoxox

NARS Haaaaaul!

I'm not somebody who regularly splurges on high-end make up, I'm a firm believer of getting the best out of the high street and a lot of the time you pay for brand names when it comes to high end makeup. However I've had my eye on a few things from NARS recently so I decided to split with a bit of my cash and have a treat! After all that's the wisest thing to do when you don't get paid til the end of September and you're pretty much broke?! Definitely.

First off, Laguna Bronzer. From day one of watching youtube videos and reading blogs I've heard about this bronzer. I think the Bourjois bronzer is the only bronzer I've ever tried that's really worked for me, but I find the colour payoff not to be incredible. I've been considering this bronzer for so long, I've read about 34032025 blog posts and I'm really hoping it lives up to my expectations, because £22.00 for one product seems WAY over the top for me!

I also purchased a NARS lipstick in "Scarlet Empress". I've been in love with this colour ever since I saw it swatched on a blog post. The bullet looks REALLY dark, but it comes out a dark magenta shade and I really love it! I'm pretty sure I have a much cheaper dupe, which I will make a blog post on, so I'm slightly disappointed obviously, but I'll still get so much use out of this, gorgeous shade!

With my order I got a free tester NARS blush in "Super Orgasm", this is just the cutest thing ever, it's tiiiiny! I'm not a big blush lover, this particular blush has a lot of glitter in it, something I'm definitely not a fan of, but it will be interesting to try out anyway, and like I say it's the cutest little blush ever! I'll probably use this for nights out because glitters slightly more acceptable in bad light!

Lastly, again a little tester, this time of some eye make up remover. Now don't get me wrong, I'm sure this is fabulous, but would I part my cash for a NARS eye make up remover? Probably not. I do think however this will be useful for keeping in my handbag, that way if any swatching needs to be done (Lip stains seem to always get me into swatch trouble) or I draw some wonky eyeliner on the train I can fix it.

Overall I can't really comment on any because I haven't given them a real trial, but from first impression I'm happy with everything! The NARS packaging is of course gorgeous, but with the rest of my make up collection it's definitely going to get grubby :(

xoxoxoxox

Make-Up Storage!

My make-up collection has really grown this year, and after seeing a few people talk about the Kardashians make up storage I NEEDED something similar in my life. I went through a period of seriously obsessing and on sunday, I was in Rymans of all places, buying a note pad when I saw a beautiful alternative!

Meet my new love! These babies retail at £27.99, which might seem a bit pricey but I could spend that on a few products in boots, so getting it in perspective these are gonna last me so long!

In the first one I've got palettes, single eyeshadows, and lip products I don't use on a regular basis! It feels so much more compact than when I had this all shoved in random draws!

In the other I have face masks, scrubs, moisurisers and other face products. I will probably move other makeup to this one aswell eventually but for the moment this is where my most used cosmetics are living!

My everyday make-up storage definitely needs a bit of work too, beheaded 7up bottle for my eyeliners and old body butter container for mascaras?! I'll definitely collage them up or paint them or something. I'll show you guys again when everything's perfect, but while everything is surprisingly tidy and organised I thought I'd give you lot a look!

How do you store your make-up and cosmetics?!

xoxoxoxox

Can You BELIEVE It's The End Of August Already?! Favourites!

I genuinely can't believe it's the end of August, is it too early to write my Christmas list?! For me September is officially start of Autumn and I cannot wait to get 500 layers on and start shopping for jumpers! I haven't really had many new additions this month, I'm awaiting a little order from Nars and Mac (I say small yet it still managed to make a massive dent in my bank balance) and also VERY excited for the new Fashionista range in Superdrug that launches on the 1st September, I definitely fancy making a few palettes from their beautiful eyeshadows! ANYWAY, onto the favourites this month!

Hair;

VO5 Instant Oomph Powder - I was a bit cautious about this because I'd heard it makes your hair really sticky and minging, and I hate products that make your hair look good, but feel disgusting. I use hardly any of this at all, rub it into my roots and VOILA! Gorgeous volume! I only use this on second day hair, because I know I'll be washing my hair later that day, but I haven't really suffered stickyness!

Sachajuan Hair Repair - This came in this months Boudoir Prive, and it was like something sent down from heaven when it arrived on my doorstep, my hair was in crap condition and this was something I REALLY needed. After using this my hair feels gorgeous and soft and smooth and everyone compliments it and aw I love this and I'll probably have to rebuy it when it runs out, despite the fact it's pricey, purely because I have long hair and I can't neglect it again :) If any of you have cheapo solutions let me know!

Lips;

Topshop Lipstick in On The Town - This is a gorgeous lilac lip colour, and I've really been using this month. I usually go for really bright reds and fuchsias but this is so easy to wear! I've never really liked baby pinks on me so this is my perfect lighter lip shade and the formula is gorgeous and moisturising but still highly pigmented, I really need to try more of the Topshop Make up.

Sleek Pout Paint in Pin Up - I've been using this so much with a touch of Cloud 9 to lighten it slightly, it lasts SO LONG! I can put this on, go out and 4/5 hours later it's still there! The main problem with bright colours is how much of a mess they look when they start fading, and you have to keep reapplying, and the main problem with lip stains is they're not moisturising. This solves both problems and for £5, this is amazing value.

Stila Lipstain in Acai Crush - I think it Stila was a bit before my make-up time, and when I heard other bloggers raving about them coming back to the UK I figured they must have been good. But when I wandered into Boots I realised a lot of the products also have a hefty price tag. I decided to treat myself to this and this is easily the best lip stain I've tried. The staying power of this is INCREDIBLE! Seriously, I can put this on at 8am and it'll still be there at 7pm the next night. It just doesn't budge. The pen packaging is crap, it takes forever to get product out but I can live with that for how amazing the product inside is. Absolutely love this, and I wouldn't think twice about purchasing one in another shade, so worth the money!

Face;

Bourjois Healthy Mix Foundation and MeMeMe Beat The Blues Sunbeam Illuminator - These two combined make my perfect foundation. I suffer from really dry skin, so I steer as far away as possible from matte foundations. I love Healthy Mix alone, but mixed with some of this illuminator my skin looks flawless and dewy and amazing. It doesn't offer brilliant coverage, I'd say medium, but with a little bit of concealer on under my eyes and on any blemishes this is brilliant in the day time. Even in natural light it's doesn't look cakey, just like you've got completely perfect dewy skin. In the winter I'll probably go back to my trusty colourstay, but at the moment I'm loving these two together.

Mascara;

Avon Mascaras (Various) - I've always adored Avon Mascaras. Apart from Supershock which is my holy grail mascara, the others aren't much to write home about alone. But as a second layer over Supershock mascara, they lengthen your lashes incredibly, without lacking in volume. I've always been a massive fan of dramatic lashes, so using these always gets me the results I want, I honestly haven't tried a mascara that comes close without clumpy lashes.

Eyes;

Urban Decay Naked Palette - This was a massive purchase and I put it off for a long time, but it really was worth the money. EVERYDAY since I've had this I've had "Sin" all over the lid, "Sidecar" on the outercorner blended and then "Smog" in the crease. I use "Buck" for my eyebrows, "Hustle" under the corner of the lower lash line and "half baked" I also use under the lower lash line. Seriously every single one of these colours is completely wearable, whether it's the gorgeous matte colours or "creep" and "gunmetal" for a night out. I LOVE this palette to death and none of my others even come close. I'm gutted it took me about a year to actually buy it because I was seriously missing out!

And that's it! I swear these monthly favourites come around far too fast!

What have you beauts been loving this month?!

xoxoxoxox

HOW TO; Leopard Nails!

Hello lovelys! My nails have been seriously chipping and I had a bit of time on my hands so I decided to go for a classy leopard print look ;) I couldn't decide on the colour scheme so I went for quite a few!

You will need atleast two nail colours, the lightest to act as a base and the darkest for the spots. Make sure neither of these colours are black because black is used to create the outline afterwards! For this you can either use a nail art pen (available pretty much everywhere online) or a cocktail stick can be used!

L-R Barry M Berry I/C, 17 Forever, Barry M Turquoise, Barry M Strawberry I/C, Barry M Mint Green. 

Ignore my abnormally long ring finger nail! Paint your base coat on, usually for lighter shades like I used it takes 2-3 coats. Wait for this to dry FULLY!

L-R Barry M Turquoise, Barry M Mushroom, Barry M Peach Melba, Barry M Raspberry, Barry M Cobalt Blue.

Get your second colour and add random splodges onto the nail, they don't need to be perfect or even because leopard print is so imperfect, it usually looks better if you don't take too much time or think about it too much! Again wait for this to dry fully or you'll end up with a smudged mess!

Next get your nail art pen/alternative and messily outline the spots. If you look at leopard print the outline is rarely joined up so don't worry too much if you mess up, it really makes no difference the majority of the time. Again, wait to dry and apply a clear topcoat and VOILA! Gorgeous leopard print nails!

This is ridiculously simple, I nearly feel stupid doing step-by-step on it, it's probably the easiest nail art I've ever tried, definitely worth a go!

xoxoxoxox

OOTD #016; This Ain't No Home, It's Hardly A House....

sheer shirt; LOVE at topshop shorts; matalan top; new look bag; H&M ring; matalan

Quick OOTD for you all! I'm trying to get the last use out of my summer clothes and adding some tights to take the end of Autumn chill off! I've had a beautiful weekend of shopping and catching up with my high school friends (shamefully impulse buying a "sheriff" badge.... good for a fancy dress party?!) and generally chilling out and planning out my Autumn/Winter wardrobe with the help of Elle Magazine! I had my interview for a job at H&M on friday afternoon at at 5pm friday night they called me back and I GOT THE JOB! Which means I'm now officially employed and my life is back on track :) Apparently H&M have really intense training and I'm doing mine at the H&M in Market Street, if you guys have shopped in Manchester you'll know how busy it can get, so that should be fun?! 

Anyway, tonight I'm looking forward to Dragons Den and ofcourse the #bbloggers chat on twitter at 8. Both clash with each other, so as usual I'll be turning my head madly between the TV and my laptop!

Anyway, hope all you beauts had gorgeous weekends!

xoxoxoxoxo

Confessions of a Lip-Stain-aholic; HAUL! Sleek, Stila, MUA....

IT'S RESULTS DAY!

I have been so chilled out about getting results all week, watching everybody else panic and wondering what all the fuss was about, then this morning, a whole weeks worth of panicking just hit me, and in times like this it's a bloody good job I don't eat breakfast because I felt sick to my stomach. But as usual all my worrying was totally un-needed, SO HAPPY WITH MY RESULTS! I got an A in Law, which I worked hardest for so I'm incredibly happy with that, and B in Sociology (two pathetic little marks off an A) and Psychology! Guess who feels like a massive div for dropping out of college now?!

Anyway so I popped in boots and superdrug to SPLURGE (I know I know, I am a student guys, I can't afford to go and have a splurge at Vivienne Westwood!) My superdrug has had a change around and oh my god it's brilliant! There's loads more make up counters than there were before and in all honesty I was just in complete heaven!

First on my agenda was Sleek Pout Paints. I've been meaning to pick these up since they came out, but the superdrug closest to me doesn't stock sleek so I've been waiting to go into town to buy them. I stupidly (and I'm cringing even writing this) decided to swatch the red, on my hand, IN THE SHOP. Now a little of these goes a long way, and I ended up with a whole hand that looked like it had been dipped in red paint. Baring in mind these are a stain, you can't just casually rub them off, I had to seek assistance of a make up wipe. What. An. Idiot.

1/ Mauve Over 2/ Mauve Over and Cloud 9

3/ Pin Up 4/Pin up and Cloud 9

5/ Pin Up, Cloud 9 and Peek a Bloo

I love wearing brighter shades personally, I can tell I'll get a LOT of use out of Pin Up, but if you want a more wearable lip colour I'd definitely suggest getting Cloud 9 to mix in. For me "Peek A Bloo" was the hardest to work with, it's highly pigmented, I used the tiniest bit and ended up with blue lips so definitely be careful! Does make a gorgeous purple shade though! I think I might collect a few more, but with these 4 I can make most of the colours I need to. I'm not sure how well these will do on the highstreet, personally I love them, but if I hadn't started reading beauty blogs etc, I wouldn't have touched these with a barge pole, and how many people have the time in the morning to start mixing shades?!

I couldn't help picking up another Sleek Lipstick, I LOVE them! This time I went for Candy Cane which is a Sheen. It reminds me of one of my other sleek lipsticks, Heartbreaker A LOT, apart from it's much more moisturising, which is a winner for me!

Now for the splurge, this baby cost me 16 good old english pounds. Now, I'm not really sure how it happened. I saw the Stila stand, I saw the lipstains, I saw the price, and instead of my usual "bloody hell, that's a bit expensive" I seemed to momentarily forget I have no job and about 20 quid to my name, and instead decided that passing my exams justified paying 16 quid for a lipstain. I think I have a problem, I know admitting it's the first stage! In all fairness, THIS IS GORGEOUS. Though I did have that trouble with the twisty thing at the bottom that brings the product onto the brush. I twisted and it clicked and clicked and clicked doing sod all, and then suddenly, it just ERUPTED everywhere. I managed to get it on my lips (and also on my teeth, which is a highly attractive look!). This is a beautiful colour and I know I'll get good use out of it but, tad pricey!

I've been wanting to pick something up from MUA's pro range so I decided on the Heaven & Earth Palette, look out for a review comparing it to the Urban Decay Naked Palette!

And another hopeful dupe! I picked this up in superdrug for the introductory price of £2.99! The muslin cloth doesn't look particularly good, but I'll give it a fair test, I'm hoping it will compare to the legendary Liz Earle Cleanse and Polish as it's SO CHEAP! 

Ooooh and lastly some of this fancy VO5 stuff to hopefully give my hair some volume, guess who got caught out in the rain this morning! Why do I never have an umbrella when I need one, hopefully this will say goodbye to my currently flat hair!

Hope everyone got the results they wanted, and if you're not involved in any of the stressy-exam stuff, I hope you had a lovely day!

 xxx