OOTD #019; Winter Has Arrived....

Cape; TK Maxx, Scarf; Topshop Skirt; Topshop Shoes; Topshop Lipstick; NARS Scarlet Empress

It's been so cold in England these past few days, so my winter wardrobe is definitely out! The contrast of freezing cold outside and heating on full at work has meant this cape and scarf have been essentials walking to and from work. I've really been loving a berry lip, and Nars Scarlet Empress is my personal favourite, I've been using it in combination with a lip balm for a slight tint or going for a dramatic look with minimal eye makeup. I'm still yet to start my Christmas shopping (oooops!) but I can't wait to hit the Christmas markets in town and pick up some gorgeous gifts!

What are your winter essentials?

xoxoxoxoxox

October Favourites!

I've been trying out a lot of new make up this month, so it seemed to make sense to make a more make-up orientated favourites this month! I've found my skin has been a lot better recently so I will be writing a post on skincare and maybe haircare if you beauts want one?! Anyway onto the favourites, I'm currently on the hunt for a better coverage foundation for winter, my healthy mix just isn't enough coming into winter so I'm back testing out a few, I'll get back to you on that! But onto my favourites this month!

Look Beauty Triple Hit in Shade 1 'La Luxe'; When I saw LOOK magazines new make up range in my local Superdrug I couldn't resist giving some of their products a try. I went for this eyeshadow trio, because I love my brown shades! These are ridiculously pigmented and really handy for a quick smoky eye! I have been picking this up a fair few times this month, and anything I pick over my Urban Decay naked palette gets a massive seal of approval from me!

Sigma F80 Flat Top Kabuki; I must admit, I've hardly reached for this since owning it until this month, but as I've been trying out a few foundations this month I've really been reaching for this a lot and I really do like it. I hate foundation that looks really obvious on the skin and this really helps to buff it in and give a more natural look, love it!

Studio Makeup Line Styler Pen; I got this in my Boudoir Privé and I've been using it everyday since. The felt tip style applicator is so thin it really allows you to draw a really precise line, this is pretty much what I've been looking for since I've got into makeup. I don't really have any faults with it, and I'll definitely be repurchasing, in complete love!

Collection 2000 Big Fake False Lash Effect Mascara; I've reignited my love for this this month, I always forget how much I love this mascara until I use it again and then I fall right back into it's beautiful arms. I really love big dramatic volumized lashes and this always delivers, and for the price it really is a massive bargain! If you haven't tried this yet, you definitely need to get involved. The massive brush is still a bit overwhelming even now though, tiny bit scary!

The Body Shop 100% Natural Lip Roll-On in Berry; My lips are always dry, but it becomes a much worse problem in winter, so I'm forever in the look out for a new solution. When I saw these had launched in The Body Shop I couldn't resist giving one a try, and these really are gorgeous! They smell lush and they really add lots of moisture to the lips. I've been keeping this in my bag at all times, it's really handy to have on you and a massive bargain at £4!

NARS Lipstick in Scarlet Empress; Between Autumn and Halloween, I've really been getting into berry shades, and this is my personal favourite. I've been using this as a light tint on my lips rather than a really dramatic berry lip and it's absolutely beautiful!

GOSH Long Lasting Lip Marker in Berry; carrying on the berry lip love, GOSH's range are my favourite lip tints on the high street, and this one gives such a gorgeous colour I've been reaching it for it a good few days. It's a bit dramatic for everyday but I've been loving it going out at night, especially as with a tint you don't get the really classy lipstick marks all over glasses, perfect!

Rose Petal Salve; Another beaut I got in this months Boudoir Privé, I really can't say enough about this product. It's a multi-use product, useful for dry skin, lips, using as a highlight, to tame unruly brows, literally everything! I don't know how I coped without this in my handbag, this is a complete lifesaver!

Benefit High Beam; I love highlights, and I've been using this on my brow bone and cupids bow all month to add a bit of glow! Absolutely beautiful, but I can't say I would repurchase the full size, far too expensive to justify it and dupes work just as well!

Sleek Brow Kit in Light; I've been looking for a good brow kit for ages, but I found a lot of versions had far too many colours in, and for someone who never dyes their hair, I only really need a light brown. I bagged this as part of the 3 for 2 deal in Superdrug and I'm so glad I did, it's perfect and definitely a needed addition to my makeup bag!

What have you been loving this month?!

xoxoxoxox

Extremely Late September Favourites!

I feel like I've majorly been neglecting my blog recently, I really haven't had a spare ten minutes, let alone a couple of hours to blog. I should start having more time on my hands soon so blogging should be back to more regularly, but please stick with me! Haha, anyway I know this is incredibly late, but I can't see these things changing anytime soon, I've tried stepping up my make up game recently and trying not to go for the whole "primer-foundation-concealer-eyeliner-mascara-red lipstick" combo that I work everyday, and swapping and changing a bit more, and these are definitely things I've been appreciating this month.

NARS Bronzer in Laguna; This is the love of my life. I've never really been that much of a bronzer girl until Bourjois and their block of chocolately bronzey loveliness came into my life, but I haven't even reached for it since this arrived. I know it's incredibly pricey for what it is, and I'm usually the last person to throw my pennies away but this really is something else, the hype is definitely justified.

Topshop Blush in Flush; This is something that had ended up shoved in my make up draw never to be seen again, but I spotted it the other day and the flame has been reignited, I can't believe I forgot what a beauty this is. I'm not really into massive pink cheeks but this gives such a natural flush to the cheeks (as the name would suggest) that I can't help but reach for it, especially when the winter months come and I look an extra off Twilight.

Eyeko Graffiti Eyeliner Pen; This is the first felt tip liner I've ever tried and it's just so much quicker to use in a morning than my gel liner. This is my new best friend when it comes to a good winged liner, incredibly easy to use and I would recommend it to anyone who wants an easy alternative to liquid liner, which just seems to equal disaster when I try and use it. 

The Beauty Parlour Lip Balm; I saw this stand in Superdrug, and it reminded me a lot of Soap and Glory with the retro looking packaging. I'm a complete pushover when it comes to buying lip balm, I just can't seem to go into Superdrug/Boots without coming out with one. This one smells and tastes like mint, it's just the nicest thing ever! I'm not sure how effective it is as a lip balm, my lips are in good condition anyway at the moment, but purely for the smell and taste it's worth the buy, so refreshing and gorgeous!

Avon Supershock MAX Mascara; This is probably the only favourite that genuinely upsets me, because I love it so much. Sadly every time I use it my eyes water like a bitch, and after one too many days of business men staring while I cry off all my sodding mascara on the train I've had to give it up. It genuinely upsets me because this is a fantastic mascara, and I've never had any problems with other mascaras before so for a while I was convinced it couldn't be to blame. Clearly though it is.

Avon Colourdisiac Lipstick in Red Hot Lips; I've been steering towards the fuchsia side of life late August/early September, but in time for Autumn I've converted back to good old red lipstick, this is my personal favourite, it smells fruity and lasts forever, I can shove this on at the start of a shift and 4 hours later it will still be just as bright and beautiful as it was when I first applied.

I've really been swapping up my face and hair routine too much to write about any products because I haven't used them long enough to form an accurate opinion. 

Hope you're all having a lovely (if not really rainy) week!

xoxoxoxoxox

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