December 18, 2014

My Current Winter Beauty Essentials



In the winter months I find myself picking up products and using them everyday, so I thought I'd let you in on my go-to winter essentials and why I love them! Here goes...

1. Urban Decay Naked 2 Palette £37.00 - This palette is a lot of people's staple nude palette within their makeup collection, it is mine. This is because it is such a versatile palette with so many options to create numerous looks. I find myself picking this palette up most days, mainly because all the shades are in one place and the colours really lift my eyes. The palette contains a number of shimmer, satin and matte shades. The Urban Decay Palettes are definitely worth their price tag!

2. Bourjois Bronzing Powder/51 £7.99 - I have tried numerous bronzers over the years, some have to been to muddy, too dark, too shimmery or too orange toned. However, Bourjois have got it spot on with this bronzer. It's dark enough to create a instant summer glow on the face but light enough not to create a muddy look. I use this bronzer every day, with a sweep under the cheekbones, along the temples and under my jawline in order to create some warmth on my face after applying my foundation. The packaging is creative making the bronzer look like a bar of chocolate and I think it even has a hint of chocolate scent!

3. Dove Instant Hydration Nourishing Lotion for Normal Skin (250ml) £3.99  - I'm often wary of using lotions because I often find them greasy. However, I started using this Dove lotion a few months ago after I had spray tan in a bid to prolong my tan and ever since I  have re-purchased it about four times since. I often like to use a moisturiser when I get out of the shower especially in the winter months when my skin feels drier. This Dove lotion smells fantastic, its moisturising and non-greasy, ideal for applying in the morning and you're able to get dressed straight after application.

4. L'oreal Paris Contour Parfait Lip Pencil in 656 Honey £4.39 - I picked up this lip pencil by L'oreal because I wanted to try a nude lip liner and have found myself reaching for it most days. I love the nude matte look it creates and reminds me very much of Kylie Jenner's famous nude lip. It's a lovely wearable everyday lip.

5. Yves Saint Laurent Touche Eclat Radiant Touch £25.00 - With the winter weather making my skin look dull, I'm often in search of a product which can brighten up my face and add a bit of radiance. That's exactly what Touche Eclat by Yves Saint Laurent does. I use it under my eyes and across my cheekbones to brighten up my under eye area and add a subtle highlight to my face. I have it in colour 1.5 which is perfect for my skintone.

Hope you enjoyed this post, let me know what your beauty essentials are at the moment!


10 Things to do at Christmas time

Untitled

Christmas time is such a lovely time of the year. Everyone has their own traditions but here are 10 things I think everybody should do at Christmas time:

1. Drink a Christmas Costa - As most know, Costa bring out numerous Christmas themed drinks around mid- November ready for the Christmas season, including Gingerbread latte and Brownie Hot Chocolate to name a few. I always find having one of these Christmas drinks gets me right in the 'Christmassy' mood.

2. Eat Mince Pies - I will admit I have not been one for mince pies until I tried my first one a few days ago and now I can't get enough of them! Warmed up with a drop of cream - perfect!

3. Ice skating - I think if you're going to do anything this Christmas season, ice skating is MUST!! Even if you can't skate, go because you have so much fun! Visit your nearest Winter Wonderland to enjoy the amazing food stalls as well!

4. Decorating the house whilst Christmas music is playing - I love putting up my Christmas decorations, I think that is when I really start feeling 'Christmassy'. Get the family together, put up your tree whilst dancing around the house to Jingle Bell Rock!

5. Visit relatives - Christmas is all about family, it's very important to me and I love that Christmas gets everybody together. It makes me happy that I am lucky enough to spend time with my nans, auntie, uncles and cousins!

6.Burn Christmas Candles - There is nothing nicer than walking into a room with the smell of mulled wine or cinnamon wafting around the room. My favourite are Yankee Candles because they're strong, have a huge variety and last for ages.

7. Watch Christmas films - Watching a Christmas film with my family around the festive season is one of my favourite pastimes. Give 'Christmas with the Kranks' a go or 'Santa Claus The movie' if you haven't seen them!

8. Watch your nearest city's light switch on - I love the atmosphere that comes with Christmas light switch ons - everyone is happy, stood around listening to Christmas songs and eating mince pies.. perfect way to start the Christmas season.

9. Bake Christmas cookies - cookies, cakes, muffins, you name it - Bake it! I love cranberry and white chocolate muffins!

10. Donate to Charity - Christmas time may be a time to receive gifts but it's also a time to GIVE. If you can, donate to charity or take clothes to a homeless shelter or donate food to your local food bank for others who aren't as privileged as yourself.

And that is it! 10 things to do at Christmas time. If you can think of anything you should do at Christmas time, leave a comment :)

Emma x

December 15, 2014

Soap and Glory - The Next Big Thing Gift Set

P1020367P1020366If you're a Soap and Glory lover like myself, you'll probably know that every year in the run up to Christmas, Boots do a weekly star gift whereby they reduce one of their large gift sets, usually by half price. They're often very popular, containing around 10 of their most popular products of the year. This year 'The Next Big Thing' gift set was on offer, normally priced at £60 but was reduced to an amazing £29. I was lucky enough to grab one of these very sought after gift sets online before they rapidly sold out.

This years gift set contained 10 full sized popular Soap and Glory products - a mixture of makeup, skincare and body care totalling well over £70. All were packaged in a cute, pink drawstring bag inside a lovely, colourful hat box designed by British Illustrator Hattie Stewart. Each product smells so delicious, you'll want to eat them!

Products inside the gift set include:

Heel Genius Foot Cream, Hand Dream Super Cream, Orangeasm Body Wash, Whipped Clean Shower Butter, Butter Yourself Moisture Lotion, The Righteous Butter Body Butter, Off Your Face 3 in 1 Purifying Face Wipes, Sexy Mother Pucker Lip Shine, Sugar Crush Body Scrub and Thick and Fast Super Volume Mascara.

For £29, you get so much for your money, with lovely products which will last you ages, so get yourself down to your local Boots Store and see if there are any left as these gift sets sell fast!

Emma x

December 14, 2014

Makeup Revolution Ultra Blush Palette and #LipHug Lipsticks

P1020327 P1020330 P1020331 P1020332 P1020333 P1020334 P1020335 P1020329 P1020340 P1020344Yesterday the Makeup Revolution Ultra Blush Palette in 'All About Pink' arrived at my door after I'd ordered it from MakeupRevolutionstore.com a few days ago. Along with it came two #liphug lipsticks in 'We have come too far' and 'To Get Lucky'. I'm overwhelmed by the quality of Makeup Revolution Products considering their extremely low price tags.

The packaging of the Ultra Blush Palette is sleek and black and comes with a large full sized mirror inside which is really handy. However, the only downside to this lovely packaging is that it loves fingerprints. I love the wide selection of blushes on offer - both cool and warm toned  matte pinks and even two light shimmer shades on the far right which are ideal for highlighting the tops of your cheekbones. Each shade is extremely pigmented so apply with a light hand. The palette retails at £6 and you get so much for your money with fantastic quality product.

In addition to the Blush Palette, I had ordered two #liphug lipsticks from the website. I was really excited to try these after reading a great review of them from 'Magpie Jasmine' (you can read that review here). I decided on the shades 'We have come too far' which is a lovely red berry shade (top swatch) and 'To get lucky' which is more of a purple toned berry shade (bottom shade). Both shades are perfect for winter time and they are extremely moisturising but without too much of a glossy finish which I dislike. These #liphugs are priced at £2.50 each. What a bargain!

Makeup Revolution are bringing it at the moment with their fantastically high quality products and low prices. They are soon becoming my favourite drug store make up brand! What is your favourite Makeup Revolution product? And have you tried any of their blush palettes? Let me know!

You can find #LIPHUG Lipsticks here and Ultra Blush Palette in 'All About Pink' here.

Emma x

December 10, 2014

Tanya Burr Lipgloss Collection




I know I'm pretty late on the bandwagon with this one but better late than never ey? There was so much hype surrounding Tanya Burr's lipgloss and nail polish collection that launched last year and rightly so, these products are lovely!

My boyfriend did well and bought three of Tanya's lip glosses for my birthday, I chose 'Afternoon tea' (bottom) and 'Picnic in the Park' (middle) and he chose 'Lets travel the world' (top). There are 12 lip glosses in total, 5 shimmer shades and 7 cream shades. (Since then Tanya has brought out a few more shades such as 'Chocolate Fondu' and 'Mistletoe Kisses'). I picked three cream shades - Afternoon tea is a very pale soft pink cream shade, similar to Picnic in the Park, however it is a brighter pink. Lets travel the world is a bright orangey-red colour - great with a tan! I love these products because I often find a lot of lip glosses are quite sticky to wear but I feel these have the right consistency which make them last but aren't so sticky that they feel gloopey when you wear them. My favourite is 'Picnic in the Park', I think it's a lovely soft creamy pink shade, ideal for everyday wear, especially in the summertime. Each lipgloss retails for £6.99 and can be found at Superdrug.com and FeelUnique.com.

I would definitely recommend trying out Tanya's lipgloss range, even if your not a fan of lipgloss I'm sure you'll change your mind once you have tried these. If you have, which is your favourite?

Emma x

December 09, 2014

Mini Christmas Haul

P1020267 P1020274 P1020272 P1020273P1020236P1020268 P1020276I'm not a fan of the word 'Haul' as I think it suggests that I have bought loads of things, which in this instance is not the case. However, when I went Christmas shopping on Monday with my sister in Cardiff I did pick up a few things for myself (naughty!). Not everything in the post is beauty related but I thought I'd write about them anyway. I took about 3 trips into Superdrug during the day, I'm not a good decision maker.

Revlon ColourStay Foundation in '180 Sand Beige' - I have wanted to try out Revlon ColourStay foundation for a long time but always forgot about it when I ran out of my Garnier BB cream and therefore never got around to it. ColourStay is separated into two categories, for oily/combination skin (me), and Normal/Dry. I swatched a colour which I thought was close to my Garnier BB cream and lucky enough the second shade I swatched was a close match to my skin. The Colourstay foundation claims to be a matte, 24 hour long lasting foundation and I agree. When applying the formula to my skin, I used the Real Techniques expert face brush and it felt quite thick but blended well into a matte finish. I wore it all day, for around 9/10 hours and it was still matte with a lovely finish and had not oxidised or separated on my face. It has great long lasting power and I think it is a great foundation for £12.49 (30ml). The only downside to this foundation is that although it has glass packaging which I appreciate it does not come with a pump and therefore it is quite difficult to gauge how much to pour onto the back of your hand without producing a lot of wasted product.

Revlon Colourburst Matte Balm in '205 Elusive' (no available link at Superdrug.com) - I was lucky enough to get this product free on an offer they had in Superdrug (spend £10 on Revlon and get a free Colourburst Balm). I had been wanting another matte balm after I bought '245 Audacious' a lovely bright orange back in the summer. I decided to go with Elusive as it is a soft wearable pink which I thought would be a great everyday colour. I love that they provide a matte finish, which aren't drying on lips and they have the added bonus of smelling minty fresh! These matte balms normally retail at £7.99 each.

Rimmel Lasting Finish Colour Rush Balm in '110 Make me Blush' - I picked up another of these balms after originally trying another of Rimmel's lasting finish balms called 'Rumour Has It'. I really like the finish of these colour sticks as they provide a slight glossy look and feel very moisturising. These balms retail at £5.99.

Real Techniques Shading Brush By Sam and Nic Chapman (£6.99) - I had yet to buy an eye brush from real Techniques (I own their powder brush, stippling brush, blush brush and expert face brush) and seen as though they were offering 3 for 2 in Superdrug I thought I would treat my sister with the shading brush and blending sponge at the same time. I'm yet to use the eye shading brush but if it is anything like the other real Techniques brushes I have used it will be fantastic quality which produces fantastic results.

Lush Reindeer Rock Soap (£3.10 for 100g) - I adore lush cosmetics and whilst in the Cardiff store I picked up a Karma Bubble Bar (£3.25 each) as I adore that scent and then was drawn towards the soaps as I love smelling them all. I came across this soap which I think smells of sweeties and the vimto drink. I used it in the shower this morning for the first time and I just can't get over how amazing it smells. I definitely recommend trying it if you haven't already!

So, they are a few things I picked up whilst I was shopping in Cardiff. Not all beauty but I think its always nice to see what other people have bought when they go shopping. Hope you enjoyed my post and let me know if you have tried any of these products and what you think. I'd be interested to know what your favourite soap from lush is too?

Emma x

December 04, 2014

Makeup Revolution Redemption Palette - Iconic 3

P1020224 P1020225 P1020234 P1020233 P1020228 P1020230 P1020231 P1020232I first came across Makeup Revolution when I was wandering about in the long aisle of Makeup brands in Superdrug. The brand hasn't been about that long but when I spotted the wide range of eyeshadow palettes they had on offer I had to stop and give them a try. Makeup Revolution has 10 Redemption palettes on offer - all containing 12 eyeshadows each. Iconic  1, 2 and 3 have been described at fantastic dupes for the Naked 1, 2 and 3 palettes. Each Redemption eyeshadow palette costs an amazing £4 (bargain!!) and are available at Superdrug and MakeupRevolutionstore.com.

Packaging for these palettes aren't the prettiest and are quite simple - but what do you expect for £4? The Iconic 3 palette contains a range of matte, satin and shimmer shadows, all shades have a pinky/purple theme. The eyeshadows are laid out vertically and provide a lot of shadow for the price. The shadows are very pigmented and last for ages! Overall, I'm very impressed with the quality of these palettes considering the fantastic price tag. I would recommend these palettes to anyone - especially if the Urban Decay's Naked Palettes are a little out of your price range.

Hope you enjoyed reading about this wonderful product, leave me a comment and let me know what you thought of the palette if you have tried it.

Iconic 3 Palette is available here

x

December 03, 2014

Best of Benefit









There are so many products from Benefit that I'd love to try but I can't bring myself to spend so much on one product if I realise I don't end up liking it, so when I came across this bargain set in Boots named 'Best of Benefit', I thought it would be a great opportunity to try out some products as they are all miniatures and I could see which I liked and disliked.

The set is worth £54.00 but I was lucky enough to pick it up for £24.50. The set contains 7 of Benefit's most famous products. Their boi-ing concelear in two shades (01 and 02), high beam highlighter, bene tint, the POREfessional primer, HOOLA bronzer, they're Real push up liner and they're Real mascara. Last year, I'd bought a mini set from Boots containing the Bad Gal Lash mascara, the high beam highlighter and Stay, Don't stray eye primer and loved each product so I was excited to try these out!

I'm quickly making my way through testing each of the products, but so far I have used the boi-ing concealer which is long lasting and provides great coverage, especially under the eyes. I have previously used high beam and found it to be a great highlighter for the cheekbones - especially with the Christmas season fast approaching it's an ideal product to provide that Christmassy glow to your cheeks. I have never used a primer before applying my foundation so I am excited to give the POREfessional primer a go and see whether it does minimise the appearance of pores and helps provide more of a long lasting finish to my foundation. I am most excited to try they're Real push up liner seen as there was such a massive hype over this product when it was released I can't wait to see how it looks when it's applied!

I originally picked up this set for myself but I love it so much I think I'm going to have to go in search of another for my sister - it would be such a great present for someone who would love to try out some of Benefit's best products or someone who already loves Benefit cosmetics!

Thank-you for reading, hope you enjoyed the post! Please leave a comment and let me know what your favourite benefit product is.



Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...