Wednesday 16 October 2013

A little Haul

Hello Lovelies!

Here are some of the things I have been buying lately!




Pumpkin 'Bubble Bar'
Lush Pud
Twilight
Honey Bee
Last week when I went and had my hair cut and coloured I quizzed the colourist about shampoos and conditioners as I haven't yet found some I really like. Like my skincare, I like to buy what I can afford to keep my hair healthy especially as I am not getting it cut regularly so that I can keep it long. There were two brands in particular that the colourist mentioned; one being Aveda. For me this is great as I can buy this in my local Debenhams and earn beauty points! So I picked up a colour shampoo as I had my ends lightened and I worry about shampoo stripping the colour out as I know some can; like the Bumble & Bumble Sunday Shampoo. I also picked up a volumising conditioner as I find that my hair tends to lay quite flat near the roots because I have such a lot on my head it is just weighed down.

I made a quick trip in to Lush at the weekend as I had seen my local store had their Snow Fairy stock out already; all the bloggers raved about this last Christmas and I wasn't able to get any so I picked up a big bottle to try this year. It smells nice and sweet. I also picked up a few bath bombs as I love them, I always try to have a regular pampering session on a Sunday evening so I run a bath, pop in a bath bomb and relax with a face mask on.

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Friday 11 October 2013

Benefit Rockateur

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I was lucky enough to attend a meet up in Manchester last month and while I was there I got to eye up the new blush that Benefit were launching called Rockateur. It is a pretty dusky pink colour with a little hint of shimmer to it and when applied has a little hint of peach. All I heard was that it was being launched in September of this year in the UK. I liked it a lot so looked for it when I was in the States and even asked in Sephora if they knew when it was launching, but none of the staff knew. I stopped looking for it and just thought I would pick it up when I returned to England at the start of September. 

That was until I happened to find an Ulta when we travelled to Hollywood, much to my boyfriends delight! I browsed the isles of Ulta and clutching my basket made my way to the till. As I got to the till I glanced around and there it was; the new Benefit Rockateur Blush! I actually made a little excited noise and handed one to the cashier. Both the cashier and my boyfriend looked at me like I was crazy, which I could see why; I was just getting a little too excited over a blusher! But I think it was because I had thought I wasn't able to purchase it because it wasn't available that made it that more of an exciting find!

It is such a pretty colour and so different to all the other blushes I own. It is a great 'go to' blush for when you have a heavy and dramatic look on the eyes as it gives just a little colour to the complexion without looking too much.

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Wednesday 9 October 2013

Kiehl's Midnight Recovery Concentrate

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If my skin is looking great then I feel great, when my skin isn't looking so good I don't feel good; even with make up on as I don't like the way it sits on my skin. My skin was playing up and I thought it had something to do with the lack of skincare in my evening routine. So I thought about what kind of product would be good and I remembered Caroline Hirons' theory of 'sufficating spots with a good oil'. So I set about researching oils on the Internet and this one seemed to come up trumps. I spent a while pondering over it due to the price tag (£36.99 for 30ml) but in the end just bit my tongue and parted with the cash. I am pleased to say that I am glad I did.

Kiehl claims that this product will moisturise your skin overnight leave you looking younger by the morning. I can't say that I have noticed my twenty year old skin looking younger in the morning but I have noticed that it helped to calm any red blemishes I had as well as leaving my skin softer, clearer and with a little glow to it. There are a lot of reviews about this product and I know that there are negative reviews of all products as nothing is perfect but I felt that there were more positive than negative reviews which to me showed that it was a good product. You only have to apply a few drops of this stuff as a little goes a long way, but I do find it difficult to apply because it is so runny!

Do you use an oil in your evening skincare routine, I would love to know so that I could give some others a try!

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Tuesday 8 October 2013

My Weekend In Pictures #3

Hello lovelies

I had some visitors this weekend so I thought I would share what we did as a normal weekend isn't usually this exciting!

On Saturday we went to Ludlow and had a very yummy lunch and a nice walk with the doggies, they enjoyed it too!



Ludlow Castle


  My little Fifi



     On Sunday my Fiancee, my Mummybear and I went to a wedding fair which helped me to get some ideas for my wedding.











I hope you have all had lovely weekends!

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Monday 7 October 2013

L'Oreal True Match Foundation

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 As a result of spending 3 whole weeks in California I have developed a nice brown complexion, because of this I had to purchase another foundation that would match my new skin tone. So I headed for CVS (a drugstore in America) as I didn't want an expensive foundation as I knew the tan will only last a few weeks and then I wouldn't be able to wear the foundation as it would be far too dark for my normal pale self. Browsing the make up aisle of CVS I found the L'Oreal True Match Foundation that lots of YouTubers rave about and thought it would be a good one to try because of this and the fact that they have a large selection of shades. Some big CVS stores have a huge make up section which I could get lost in for hours! However one big issue I have is that there are no testers for any of the products! So I had to have a guess by holding up the bottle against my neck (I held it against my neck as I used an SPF30 suncream on my face which meant my face didn't tan as much as my body so could not compare it to my face). I think I managed to get a good match colour wise, even though it does look a little orange it blends well. I also picked up a lighter shade for when my tan has faded.

I didn't tend to wear make up while I was in California as heat and make up don't go well with my oily combination skin, it would have just meant my pores would have got clogged, so went natural most of the time. However since coming back to the UK I have been reaching for this foundation, mainly because it is the only one that matches me at the moment but also because it is easy to blend and gives a lovely flawless, natural, even finish. I would say the coverage is medium as I do need to apply concealer on a few areas where I have some blemishes and discolouration. 

To apply this foundation I use a cotton bud to dip in to the bottle as there is no pump, I then dot it all over my face before buffing and blending with either a flat topped kabuki brush from Sigma or a Real Techniques buffing brush. I personally like to set my foundation just so that it lasts all day, I do need to touch it up because I do get oily as the day goes on. I haven't found this foundation to break me out either which is another positive! I think if I remember correctly these foundations where $9.99 each which is a good price for such a good foundation I think.

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Friday 4 October 2013

MAC Pro Longwear Concealer

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I tried to purchase the MAC Pro Longwear Concealer in the airport however, they unfortunately didn't have my colour in stock, so instead I waited until I got out to California to purchase it from a MAC store. After purchasing NC20, which is the wrong shade for me, I changed it for the right one; NW20. Most YouTubers I watch tend to use this for concealing and brightening under their eyes. I wanted to give it a try as all the concealers I have used for under the eyes have tended to crease and this is supposed to never crease! Well I can say that after giving it a good trial I have not had a single day where it creased! I find it great for brightening the area up, although I do find that sometimes it does not give as much coverage as I would like so I tend to build it up a little. I like to set the concealer under the eye and I think I have found the perfect powder to set this with; the Laura Mercier Secret Brightening Powder. They seem to make a great team; the area is brightened and is set all day! Now I just need to find a foundation that does the same on my oily, combination skin!

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Wednesday 2 October 2013

Playing MUA For The Day

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As a big sister who is obsessed with make up it is a great compliment when your younger sister asks you to do her make up for her. It can also be slightly annoying when you are both going out as I usually end up doing her make up first so she looks gorgeous and then quickly slap something on my face before rushing out the door, especially if the boyfriends are waiting impatiently downstairs! (This is when you realise that boys/men can bitch just as much as girls!) Just before I went away my sister was going to a wedding and she had got really excited that I would be able to do her hair and make up for it. So I made the most of it and asked if I could put some before and after pictures on my blog here they are;






My sister doesn't usually wear makeup on a daily basis and so doesn't like anything too heavy on her eyes, so I opted for a bit of definition in the crease and a nice shimmer on the lid as it was a wedding! I also lined her upper lash line with a brown eyeshadow so that her eyes were defined but the colour wasn't too harsh. I always find it hard to apply blush to my sister as I have to use my make up and I am a lot paler than her so all my blushes tend to suit my pale complexion but don't show up on hers. I have the same issue when it comes to bronzer, however I have found the Hoola bronzer by benefit works nicely as a contour colour. I wish I had a proper kit so that I could have made her base look flawless as she would have looked even more gorgeous, but I had to work with what I had. I forced my sister to try the Chanel Perfection Lumiere Foundation and she loved it so much that she eventually bought a bottle, so this was a good start to the base. The issue I had was that I didn't have a concealer in her shade so was unable to correct the imperfections that the foundation didn't cover.  (I have since bought a concealer just for doing her make up to solve this problem!)

I was also tasked with doing her hair, so I blow dried it, curled it and then pinned the curls in place so that I could let them cool whilst doing her make up. I find that this technique helps the curls to stay in for longer and also gives them more volume which is great for someone like my sister who has fine hair. 

I definitely enjoyed playing MUA for the day, I just didn't enjoy packing up the mess afterwards!

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