Recent Make Up Purchases!

Hello lovelys! I feel like I haven't posted in absoluely AGES, even though it's only been just over a week. Between working about 40 hours a week, sleeping and trying to catch up with my friends I've had literally NO time to blog. Luckily I have a couple of days off so I'm hoping to get some blog posts done and then I'll queue them. My mind is literally boggled at the moment with new information and all sorts of things from my new job so I decided to break myself in gently by a quick makeup haul. I know my last few posts have also been hauls, but everyone loves a haul right?!

Superdrug;

The Beauty Parlour Mentha Lip Balm; I love this new range in Superdrug and it's super cute retro packaging! I decided to pick up a little something to try out and then if this does the trick I'll try out a few others! This smells so minty and gorgeous and it's gonna look so beautiful in my make up bag! All products from the range are 1/3 off at the moment so definitely worth checking out!

Sleek True Colour Lipstick in Amped; I haven't really heard anything about this shade, but it looked gorgeous in the shop so I had to get it, I'm so addicted to Sleek lipsticks! This is a matte shade and is a gorgeous fuschia. It's definitely not as "out there" as some of my other bright lipsticks, even though the bullet looks a very scary shade it really comes out a lot more wearable.

Sleek Pout Polish in Raspberry Souffle; I don't really know why I've never tried a Pout Polish, it's something I've meant to buy for a while now and just never got round to it. I fell in love with this limited edition shade (I have no idea which collection it's from) and I'm really hoping this lives up to the hype!

MUA Clear Mascara; for my eyebrows. Need I say more? Bargain at 1 quid!

Tea Tree Nose Strips; Slightly odd one! The pores on my nose are just generally disgusting and these were on two for £3.99 (they cost £3.99 each so basically buy one get one free) so I decided to give them a go!

Bodycare;

Technic Nail Polish in Be Dazzled; I couldn't resist this, I've been really into glitter nail polishes recently and I think this will look really cute over the top of a burnt orange nail polish ready for Autumn!

Technic "Prime It"; I've heard a little bit about this off other beauty bloggers and I've been meaning to try this for a while now. At £3.99 it's down with MUA as one of the cheapest primers on the market, and I think we can all see what a big fat dupe it is for Benefits "That Gal", which would rob £21 off you per bottle. I really am enjoying this primer, more than any of the other primers I've tried. For someone with dry skin like me a primer that's illuminating is pretty much essential for a dewy look!

Technic High Lights; Again, love a Benefit Dupe. This is Technics take on the hugely popular High Beam. I use illuminators mixed in with my foundation, and it would break the bank to buy the Benefit version the way I go through it! This costs £1.99, which in my opinion you can't really go wrong with.

Boots;

Models Own Nail Polish in Champagne; Again, I'm really into my shimmery nail polishes at the moment and I just couldn't say no to this beaut! When my pathetically short nails have grown back I'll feature this in a NOTD.

Collection 2000 Cream Puff Moisturising Lip Cream in Cotton Candy, Fairy Cake and Angel Delight; I've heard a lot about these, and when Collection 2000 was on 3 for 2 (when is it NOT in Boots?!) I decided to bag 3 of the four colours. These are pretty much the only Lip Gloss/Creams I can actually stand, and congratulations to Collection 2000 for bringing something new to the high street, they're really doing well for themselves recently.

Maybelline Colour Sensation Lipstain in Plum Flushed; I heard a lot about this Lip Stain, and I'll be honest I wasn't really impressed. It smells good, but that's about it. The GOSH Lipstains have FAR better pigmentation than these do, though if you want a more wearable lip stain these are definitely your babies.

TK Maxx;

Eyeko set of 3 (for £7.99!); I've been meaning to try Eyeko products for a long while (the only thing I own is a couple of nail polishes), and so when I saw this little set in Tk Maxx I had to grab it quickly! I've been wanting to try their Graffiti Eyeliner Pen for far too long, so that pretty much sealed the deal for me straight away. The Lip Pen colour is a gorgeous Fuschia, and I've been into Fuschia lips so much these past few weeks so this couldn't be more relevant for me! And to add to the perfection, I have been buying some more colourful shades of eyeliner recently so the blue eyeliner duo was the icing on the top of the cake. I can't wait to try these products, I definitely got a fabulous deal and I'm hoping they all live up to my expectations!

Hope you beauts have had gorgeous days!

xoxoxoxoxox

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

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

My New Favourite Lipstick, Haul and NOTD!

Hello my lovelysssss!

So I've been trying to quit wearing red lipstick ALL the time, so I dug this out. When the whole Sleek Lipsticks took off a few months ago, in a rush at Superdrug I picked this up, and from then I've pretty much shoved it in my lipstick collection and never reached for it again. But the other day I gave it a go and I actually LOVE it! Looking at the lipstick it looks a frankly terrifying purple, but on it goes on more of a bright fuschia and I really love it! I have pale skin and I've got so many compliments on it, and in my opinion this would look  flaming fabulous with a tan!

Also I'm just going to put it out there now how excited I am for Sleek Pout Paint! I've been meaning to try OCC Lip Tars for so long and never got round to it, so these are really something I'll be running to the shops to buy! I'm going to try and restrain myself and buy a only a few colours, and then the blue (Peek a bloo) and white (Cloud 9) to change the shade of them. I could easily buy them all but I'm going to do the best to try and be sensible! From blog posts and swatches I've seen I definitely fancy picking up Pin Up (top, far right) and Mauve Over (bottom, 2nd left).

So today I hit TJ Hughes after news a couple of weeks ago it was closing down. It's somewhere I've always gone now and again, maybe once a year or so and picked up a few cheapo nail polishes. I couldn't resist going before it closed so I went and picked up a few colours, I can't wait to give all these a go! Altogether they came to £7.23, so literally about a pound each, which considering a Revlon nail polish alone would cost you about 6 quid I'm a very happy girl :) I'm also definitely becoming an old woman as I was so fuming when two 12 year old girls were messing with all the makeup, product was spilling out everywhere. I don't mind if people mess around with testers, but when you're playing about with makeup people are actually going to buy it gets a little beyond a joke, especially when after opening every product on the shelf, they walked off not buying anything! 

I've transferred my nail polish collection into the office/spare room because it was taking up far too much space in my room! I've been trying to improve my nail art collection, and I've been thinking about buying some more nail art pens from Ebay, so if you guys have, let me know if they're good quality or not! I'll definitely do a nail polish post soon showing you everything in more detail!

And while we're on the topic of nails, say hello to my leopard print ones! If you've read my blog for a while you'll have seen these before, but whilst I'm job hunting I'm making sure I've always got them painted to perfection incase I get a last minute interview and I can impress with them!

Hope you beauts had lovely weekends!

xoxoxoxox

Haul; Primark, Topshop, H&M, Bourjois etc.

So I did a bit of shopping this weekend and I thought I'd show you all a few of the things I bought :)

Primark;

I love these bags, and for £6 I had to pick up both colours. For once they're not that cheap shiny plastic, and they look a bit chanel-esque what with the quilting and the chain, so obviously I had to have them!

This little beaut was in the sale for £3 so I popped it in my basket straight away! I love the patterns and how cute and small it is!

The standard stock up of tights! Such a bargain at £2.50 for 3 pairs!

Various skinny belts, I love the bright colours on these, will look so cute of contrasting dresses or tops!

A cheapo umbrella, because mine always break!

These lace sock things because they are the only thing I'll wear on my feet really, I hate socks.

Sorry I'm wearing this today! I've seen a lot of bloggers with this and saying it fits "weirdly" but on me it's actually quite flattering, so I'm not complaining! Looks very Zara to me, so for £6, it's worth trying on in store :) Even though how ridiculous are the queues for primark changing rooms?! Eurgh!

Haha I LOVE wearing these for days I just can't be bothered, so I had to stock up on some pretty colours. The purple, mulberry kinda colour was only in a size 14 so I bought it anyway, and I'll probably tuck it into high waisted shorts or something :)

I'm not really sure what drew me to this, but I liked the kinda mustard colour far too much so I found myself buying it! I'll probably wear it with leggings and a long top underneath :)

H&M;

I bought this purely because of the colour, since the whole "marigold" colour came into fashion I've been looking for something everyday that colour, and this fits the bill completely, and for 7 quid! Lovely!

Topshop;

I found these two in Topshop "last chance to buy" section and I just HAD to have them! They're such pretty colours and completely fit in with the colour blocking trend, so I snapped them both up, luckily the blue was in a size 8 and the pink in size 10, which is slightly baggy but, I don't mind eating a few more cakes to fit into it!

Tesco;

In Tesco they were selling off a lot of make-up so I snapped up this bourjois lipstick and it's SO pretty and moisturising. It's called "Red Kiss" and it was down to just under £5!

I've been meaning to try out Bourjois eye shadows for so long! They were selling some off, and these were such gorgeous I couldn't resist! I love the dark emerald colour on the left and the beautiful blue! I can't wait to try these out!

And last but not least, my gorgeous Sigma F80 came through the post, so thankyou so much to this lovely blog I won it from! Definitely worth checking out lovelys!

And that's it! Hope you all had a lovely day!

xoxoxoxoxox

I'm baaaaaack! Holiday Haul :)

Hello my lovelys! I'm back from sunny Tenerife with burnt bits and orange legs, for some reason that's the only place I EVER seem to tan, ah well! I had a GORGEOUS holiday, not gonna lie my absolute favourite part of the hotel was when we arrived and an actual porter came to take out bags from reception. This might seem like a little thing to some of you, but in all the hotels I've ever been in this has only happened once before, and I don't know why I like this cute little touch but it really makes me smile :). Even though I couldn't quite forget completely about England, with BBC1 on our TV I HAD to stay in for the apprentice final one night - and God I'm glad I did, I LOVE TOM! and I had my first experience in an internet cafe trying to order my boudoir prive box, and what an experience that was; in a whole empty cafe, this "slightly odd" bloke decided to sit next to me then snoop on what I was doing fairly shamelessly, good times?! But I did manage to get some sun, make friends with various waiters for a free cocktail and spend a few euros ;) 

Urban Decay Naked Palette;

I've wanted this for SO BLOODY LONG! And when I saw it on the plane magazine thing I knew I had to have it, justifying it by the fact it was about a fiver cheaper than usual with the no tax thing. It's beautiful and completely lives up to the hype and I've used it everyday since I purchased it, and I love it so so much! I love a neutral eye so this has always been the perfect palette for me and ah I could just go on about it for hours and hours but everyone else already has so I'll spare you all the boredom! I know my spending ban was on among other things, neutral eyeshadows, but this.... well it's a little bit special isn't it? Therefore, it doesn't count!

Tangle Teezer;

Time for another rave, this is AMAZING! This has firmly found it's way to my handbag and I'll be carrying it around for the near future, I used it just after I'd got out of the rain and my hair was all frizzy and knotted and within seconds my hair was back to it's best. This is a completely holy grail product for anyone with long hair, especially if like mine, it has a tendency to get knotted easily. Plus it's fab for a bit of backcombing :)

Andrea Fulerton Stunning Nails;

I had to have this little set, I've been wanting to try one of the trios for ages, and I've seen a blog post on this one "petrol in the water" before and  I'm so excited to try it! Plus included is a top coat and what looks like a perfect nude. Add some glitter and a nail file and this was completely needed in my collection.

Miss Dior Cherie;

A repurchase, this is my "signature scent", I'm rubbish at describing scents so I'm not even going to try but if you haven't, give it a try when you're next near a fragrance shop, it's bloody lovely!

Nail Art Pens;

I went in a little souvenir shop, and saw these little beautys on one of the shelves, so I picked a few special colours up to add to my collection, and they were complete bargains at 2 euro each!

Bracelets;

I'm not a bracelet kinda girl, but I couldn't resist having a look at a cute little jewellery shops closing down sale. These three beauts were reduced to 10 euros each, and they'll look gorgeous layered together, I may be converted on the bracelet front yet!

Rings;

From various market stalls and little shops I found these for 3-4 euros each. They're all gorgeous and lovely additions to my already quite generous ring collection, so I might have to start making some new ring storage! If anyone has any ideas....!

Aloe Vera Face And Body Cream;

I thought this would be gorgeous as a night cream, but after reading it it explains itself as a good base for makeup, and it really is! I use it thickly on dry patches at night, and lightly as a base in the morning, and it smells so gorgeous and works so well! I don't even know what I'm gonna do when this runs out because I've completely fallen in love with it :(

Various Magazines;

And ofcourse, some reading material for the beach ;)

And if you don't want to see a load of holiday pictures, skip to the bottom now. From beautiful views, to Jungle and Loro Park, I took enough pictures to fill my whole bloody camera, but I've cut them down for you lucky lot to just the alright ones ;)

Anyway, a lovely woman contacted me whilst I was on holiday, and I have a "recruitment event" thing for this job at a fashion store I applied for. If you guys have any tips or tricks, let me know! And wish me luck, this is the first interview I've been to, so I'm hoping I don't completely mess up!

Hope all you lovely lot had a gorgeous two weeks!

xoxoxoxox