WHY I LOVE L'OREAL FOUNDATIONS

A few weeks ago I cleared out and tidied up my entire make up collection and was slightly ashamed by the number of foundations that I own. It was then that I realised the majority are L'oreal foundations, in different formulas and shades - yes I have a winter and a summer shade in all three of these formulas. My all time favourite foundation is still and probably always will be the Bare Minerals Ready Foundation but that's definitely not the cheapest, so I prefer to have some cheaper alternatives. I have tried lots of different brands, high and lower end but the L'oreal foundations are definitely my favourite after the Bare Minerals and work the best for me. I rarely feel like I need to try other foundations, even exciting new high end foundation launches don't really appeal to me anymore now that I have found these and would happily keep repurchasing them.

L'oreal True Match

The famous True Match foundation continually receives so much hype and the first time that I tried this foundation I completely agreed with all of the great reviews; I distinctly remember all of the, 'Oh this is beautiful's'. It has great coverage and stays on the skin all day. It also comes in so many shades so you should be able to find your true match... see what I did there? I would think that this foundation would work well on all skin types as it's quite a natural finish. 

L'oreal Infallible 24 Matte

This foundation has received the most hype lately and has made an appearance on pretty much every blog in the last few months or so. I used this foundation so much earlier in the year that I have very nearly used up my 'winter' shade in it, as I used it everyday which is very rare for me. This foundation is supposed to be full coverage without being heavy and I would agree with this, it gives great coverage all day. I have normal skin that goes quite shiny throughout the day, which is still the case with this foundation so I'm not sure I fully agree with the matte claim but this isn't exactly an issue. When I first apply this foundation it does go on more matte than others and I do think I look slightly less shiny throughout the day when I use this but it's still not a matte finish for 24 hours. I find that I don't need to use much of this foundation and I can still get great coverage, which is really great. 

L'oreal Infallible 24 Stay Fresh 

This is probably my favourite of the three foundations. When I knew I was going to write this post I started paying more attention to how my foundation actually looked close up throughout the day. I applied this foundation at 7am and looked in the mirror when I got home at 5.30 and it looked exactly as I applied it, only needing a little powder to help control shine if I wanted to. I was amazed at how good it still looked. The other two foundations have a great wear time too but this just seemed to be the winner. I think I've had the most compliments wearing this foundation too, with people saying that my complexion looks very fresh and healthy. Like the others it gives a great coverage but looks really smooth and natural on the skin. 

I now feel as though I have accomplished one of life's many make up dramas, by finding my perfect foundations. I've got a huge list of other make up that I want to try but I'm satisfied that I have found the one, or the ones... for foundation. Have you tried any of these or any other L'oreal foundations?

APRIL FAVOURITES

April was a pretty good month; I experienced my first ever bank holiday, where I had four whole days off work, which was absolutely amazing when you've been used to working all of them and getting a whole two days off together was rare, and so a treat in itself. On the subject of weekends, I've had a really lovely month just spending my weekends seeing family, it's surprising how the simplest things can be so special. Now onto the favourites; I haven't got too many this month as I haven't used a great deal of products or explored too many new ones, but the ones I will be talking about have really stood out to me. 

I feel the need to first talk about the L'oreal Infallible 24H Matte foundation,as it was only last month that a different L'oreal foundation made it into my March Favourites post. I think I may be a foundation junkie, but I do feel that it is one of those items that really make or break your whole make up look and especially the longevity, which is important to me. I love this foundation for my normal - shiny t zone complexion. It looks quite matte but not flat when you first apply it but throughout the day I do notice that my t zone does still look a little shiny, so I wouldn't say it stays completely matte all day but unless you have seriously oily skin, I don't necessarily see that as a problem. It's more of a natural glow that it lets through with my skin type, which I'm happy with as it keeps the skin looking fresh and radiant. If you have oily skin I think this would still work for you, but you may just have to powder through out the day. I find that this foundation has really good staying power and my make up still looks good and in place at the end of the day 

I had been wanting to get a black liquid liner for a while as I only had a gel Make up Geek one, which I do love but I wanted something that was quicker and not so hard to repurchase, for everyday wear. I wanted to get a L'oreal one but Boots were rubbish and didn't seem to have any in stock or any testers for the one they did, so I picked up the Soap & Glory SuperCat black liquid liner pen. I love how quick and easy this is to use, it's also very black and lasts really well all day. The only thing I don't like is that as it is a pen form, so slightly thicker, I haven't quite mastered a neat flick/wing just yet, as I normally use a fine brush. 

Lush's Eau Roma Toning Water, has definitely made my skin feel so much more hydrated and soft. It's the most refreshing spray to use after cleansing my skin, as it's quite a 'wet' spray, in the sense that a lot more product sprays out than for example how a setting spray dispenses. This is great for a skincare product, as you're not worried about your skin getting too drenched. It does adsorb into the skin quickly, leaving such a hydrated feel to the skin. 

I have had the Bare Minerals Flawless Radiance Brush since least year, when as soon as I saw it and felt it, I loved it! Shortly after using it, I had a weird skin reaction, where my skin went very sensitive in certain areas and quite red and dry. I knew sometimes natural hair brushes can have this affect, so I stopped using it. Recently I found it again and thought I would give it another go and so far so good! It must have been something else. I love this brush for blending out the final stages of my make up or applying a light covering of powder. It's long bristles make it perfect for applying a light amount of product or just simply buffing over the face to make sure every thing is seamless. 

A negative of no longer working in a beauty department is that I can't lather luxurious creams all over my hands, arms, neck... all day everyday. I now carry with me the Clarins Hand and Nail Treatment Cream and it really helps instantly soften and smooth my hands. It's one of my favourite hand creams and I've been very grateful to have it around when my hands have felt or looked less than perfect this month. 

Finally, I've really liked wearing Roberto Cavalli's fragrance, Roberto Cavalli. It is described as a 'vibrant and sensual,' 'exuberant and sunny' frangrance belonging to the 'ambery floral family.' It contains orange blossom, which I always find myself being drawn to.  I think the description is quite accurate and find that I get a lot of compliments when wearing this fragrance, from both men and women.

EMPTIES: MAKE UP ITEMS I'VE USED UP

 As you can see, I nearly had a concealer crisis as I managed to use up every concealer that I owned, not too far from each other. I now feel that buying in excess is completely justified as that was a scary time, when I didn't know if I'd be able to cover those dreaded dark circles and blemishes. Luckily, we can all sleep easy again as I am now back to being well stocked and ready for anything - phew!

While on the topic of concealer, I ran out of an old favourite - MAC Pro Longwear. A really great concealer for under the eyes and other imperfections that lasted for ages! I did repurchase this concealer and it's one that I like to have in my collection, although the Urban Decay Concealer (review here), has now taken the favourite spot. Another good concealer was the Maybelline Eraser concealer in shade light; it's a really good product for brightening under the eyes as it's quite yellow toned. My issues with this concealer are that it didn't seem to last long at all and I am now left with what appears to be a lot of product in the tube that I cannot get out. One that I wasn't so keen on was the Maybelline Fit Me Concealer; I bought the lightest shade but it still wasn't very light at all and quite orange toned. It was disappointing as others seem to love this concealer. The MAC Prep & Prime brightener in Radiant Rose and Bare Minerals Stroke of light 1 products are both very similar. They are light pink in colour and are great for counteracting darkness and brightening the under eye area. I have repurchased the MAC one over the Bare Minerals, as it lasted so long with me using it every day. The Bare Minerals product seemed to run out a lot quicker. It must be something to do with the packaging as the MAC one only has 3ml of product, while Bare Minerals is 5.5ml. I trust the ingredients of Bare Minerals more but for how much longer the MAC one seemed to last, I have to favour it.

On to foundations both by Bourjois. I managed to use both of these foundations up as it was when I first started abandoning fake tan and gradually getting lighter and these two were the lightest ones I owned at that time. I think they are fairly similar in terms of coverage and longevity. I would say they are a light-medium coverage that evens out the skin tone completely, yet you would still need more coverage for bigger imperfections if you wanted it. They both feel and look very light on the skin. The only different that I can really think of is that the Happy Light foundation is obviously a lot more dewy and radiant looking than the Healthy Mix Serum. 

The L'oreal Volume Million mascara was a repurchase as I used to love it but this time round it didn't impress me as much. The formula wasn't 'wet' enough for me to build the lashes well and get a lot of volume from it. I want to try other L'oreal mascara's as I have liked some of them but this one I wont be repurchasing. I now only use powder products for my eye brows as I don't actually own any pencils now that I have used up the Bare Minerals Frame & Define brow pencil. It's a very thin, twist up product so you only need to twist the tiniest amount up, otherwise the product snaps off pretty easily. It is a good product; great colour and really good at adding definition but it just seemed to run out too quickly for my liking. As I'm pretty happy with just powder products I don't feel that I need to repurchase this product but I'm definitely not ruling out brow pencils in the future! 

On the other hand, a product that lasted for so long was the MAC Prep & Prime Skin Base Visage. It's a cream formula face priming product, with little shimmer particles to make your skin look more radiant. I found it really great for when my skin felt a little drier as it is so hydrating, yet very light weight so works great as a base for foundation. I've got a full review of the product 'here.' At the moment I don't actually use any face primers any more so I don't need to repurchase this product but I would still recommend it. 

The final product is MAC's Give Me Sun, which I repurchased even before I had run out of this one. It's an amazing bronzer, with so much pigmentation. It's a lovely warm tone so really works for making your skin  look more healthy and warm very quickly. It works on my now very fair skin really well and also when I have a dark tan so I think it's a good all rounder - as long as a lighter hand is used in times of the fairer skin! The bronzer lasted so long, even though I used it every day that I actually started to wonder why it wasn't hitting pan and wishing it would, in a strange kind of way. 

MARCH FAVOURITES

March has been a pretty exciting month for me as I started my new job and it also marked my 6 year anniversary with my boyfriend. Even so,I'm quite glad March is over now as I couldn't be more ready for the weather to start getting warmer, although ironically as I type this, I've just got in from nearly being blown away by the crazy wind. 

The Body Shop Camomile Cleansing Butter

I've had this cleansing butter for a while now and use it now and again, mostly when my skin is feeling like it needs a bit more nourishment when removing my make up. The next morning my skin felt so much better and this was the only product that I'd changed in my routine. I still don't use it everyday but I have been using it a lot this month. 

L'oreal True Match Foundation 

There is nothing that I don't like about this foundation. It applies well, it's the right amount of medium coverage to still look natural but flawless, it lasts really well throughout the day and you don't need much of it at all.  The shade is still slightly dark for me and it's N2 and I don't exactly have pale skin, so I'm not sure how it works for those with really fair skin but I know there are a lot of shades. 

Urban Decay Naked Skin Concealer

I had high expectations for this concealer as I had heard a lot of good things about it yet when I first tried it, it didn't wow me. I liked it but it didn't seem anything special. I carried on using it here and there and on one of those days when I looked in the mirror, I thought how well concealed and brightened my under eyes looked. I'm thinking of doing a separate post about this concealer so I wont say too much now! 

Clarins Hydra Quench Intensive Serum

I got this a while ago as a free gift with some other Clarins purchases and was excited to use it, I just hadn't got round to trying it for one reason or another. Since starting my new job I've found a use for it in my routine. I now work in an office, which for the first couple of weeks had the heating cranked up, which  left my skin feeling very dehydrated. I've gone from being freezing cold in my old job, to overly hot, but thankfully I think that's sorted now. I loved the Clarins serum as it's really lightweight but feels so hydrating on the skin. It's perfect for people with normal and oily skin types, like myself who need the hydration but don't want the heavy feel. Although I loved it, Clarin's serums are expensive, so I'm not sure I want to purchase the full size just yet. 

Urban Decay Perversion Mascara

I've been using this mascara everyday for the last month maybe and have really enjoyed using it. I particularly love the brush as it's big enough to catch all the lashes easily, yet not too big that you can't control it and it ends up going everywhere. It builds up length and volume pretty quickly too. It does definitely work better with the Subversion primer, but it's still more than good enough for everyday wear alone. It's supposed to contain ultra black pigments, which really do show. When I use the mascara my lashes look so dark, which I really like as I feel like it makes my eyes look more awake and defined. It lasts all day and I've never had a problem with smudging and it also removes easily when I use a cleanser. I would probably repurchase this mascara! 

Urban Decay Perversion 24/7 Glide on Eye Pencil 

If you've read my 'Everyday Make up' post you'll have seen this eye liner mentioned. I don't normally wear pencil liner and prefer to line my upper lash line with gel liner, yet since toning down my make up, as I mentioned in my 'Everyday Make up' post, I've been really liking using this eye liner and smudging it out across my upper lash line as it's really quick and easy. I can't use this eye liner on my water line as it makes my eyes water, but it's great anywhere else. 

Barry M Olive Nail Paint 

I think I bought this last year and never got around to using it as the green tone slightly scares me on the nails. I finally applied it last week and I really love it. It's a lovely shade, perfect for this time of year, as it's not quite a spring pastel shade, but a kind of just before the spring nails shade... if that makes any sense at all?! I like it because it's a really unique shade and moreover, it lasted on my nails amazingly well, in comparison to my normal nail varnishes. 

L'oreal Eva's Nude

Recently I've been reaching for this lipstick a lot as it's a really pretty and easy to wear nude shade. I like it as I often forget to put anything on my lips, so just having this in my bag is handy as it instantly completes the look and perks up your make up look, yet still looks really pretty and natural. 

There we have another bunch of favourites, all of which I think I'll be enjoying for a long time. 

What products have you been loving this month?

MY EVERYDAY MAKE UP

Since leaving my make up counter job, where it was actually written in my contract that I must wear a full face of make up, I've made some big changes to my make up routine. This probably still seems a lot for the everyday woman, but for us beauty obsessed this is pretty tame. I've been really enjoying not feeling like I need to layer every product I can onto my face and think up new and exciting eye looks everyday, in a minimal time. It's strange but I'm actually feeling a lot more confident with my face...? since cutting down on the products. I still wear more make up than pretty much everyone in the office, but it's a start. 

 First up for my base, I use the L'oreal True Match foundation in N2, which is still a little dark for my light, un-fake tanned skin. I use Urban Decay's new Naked Skin concealer under the eyes and set it with my trusty MAC Emphasize powder, which I will be repurchasing very soon by the looks of it. I did include Rimmel's Stay Matte powder in my 'Hyped products that I'm not in  love with' post, but I don't actually have many powders in my collection, so I'm just using it to set my foundation and use it up. I use MAC's Give me sun bronzer, as it's so pigmented that it takes no time at all to apply and gives a gorgeous warmth to the skin. I like to use Bare Minerals 'The One' blush, as it's a soft pink shade that gives a healthy flush to the cheeks, topped with MAC's Soft & Gentle on the cheekbones. For my eyes I still like to define my eyes, yet not so dark and the winged liner has definitely been got rid of. I use MAC's Wedge in the crease, Sable on the lid as it's a light slightly shimmery brown and Swiss Chocolate to slightly darken  up the outer corner and on the lower lash line. I use a little bit of Urban Decay's Perversion eye liner along my top lash line and smudge it out to give the definition and extra thickness to my lashes, but so it's quite soft. I then finish off with Urban Decay's Perversion mascara and a little bit of Soft & Gentle on the brow bone and inner corner. I fill in my brows slightly with the Urban Decay Naked Basics palette. To finish off my look, I use L'oreal's Eva's Nude lipstick, as it's a gorgeous natural shade that you can just put on to complete the look. 

I'm really enjoying my new everyday make up routine as it's so much quicker and when I look in the mirror I feel more myself, instead of just looking at make up. Don't get me wrong, I haven't ditched the intense smokey eye for good, but it'll probably now just be a special occasion thing, like normal people do! What are your favourite products to use everyday?

CURRENT FAVOURITE: VOLUMIZING HAIR PRODUCTS

I'm pretty useless with styling my hair; it's very thin, fine and it just doesn't do much. At the end of last year I took quite a dramatic step and had most of my hair chopped off to a short jaw line kind of bob. It's been great as the shorter my hair gets, the more volumised it looks, but it has meant that every day I have to style my hair in some way or another; you can't get away with just letting it dry and hoping for the best. Here are some of my current favourite's to make my hair look like it isn't as flat as a pancake, (speaking of which, that day is fast approaching). 

First up and perhaps the most obvious - hair rollers! These are the Lauren's Way Sleep in Rollers but aside from the 'sleep in' factor, don't all hair rollers do the same? They are quick and easy to use and do really make a difference to my hair, by giving it better shape and volume. I wouldn't say they are great to sleep in, but they are definitely manageable if you only put them in the top layers of your hair. 

The Lush BIG Sea Salt Shampoo is my absolute favourite hair product of all time; it smells amazing, makes my hair feel amazing and is just amazing! It's a slightly weird texture, as it literally is full of sea salt, but once you rub it into your head it lathers up really easily. My boyfriend once asked me what perfume I was wearing, when it turned out it was actually this shampoo. I find that my hair looks much more volumized and fresh, making me feel like I'm constantly in a 'because you're worth it' kind of mood.

The V05 Extra Body Mousse, seems to hold the volume into my hair much better and doesn't leave it sticky or hard feeling like other mousses have done. I love the Bed Head Superstar Thickening Spray as it really does seem to make my hair look thicker and fuller; it's prefect for really fine hair. It makes a lot of difference when blow drying my hair and still doesn't leave any sticky feel to my hair or weigh it down at all.

I grabbed the L'oreal Thickening shampoo and conditioner when they were first released after hearing great things about them, but they haven't lived up to my expectations. The first time I used them my hair did feel like it had so much more thickness and volume but since then, I haven't noticed any difference. When I bought the shampoo and conditioner there was some kind of offer on if you bought 3 items from the range so I also picked up the Fibrology Thickness Creation Double Serum. You can apply it to damp hair or dry hair and It mainly seems to help add texture to the hair. I also like to use the L'oreal Studio Line #TXT Volume Supersizing Spray as a final styling product. It adds so much texture to the hair and a great shape while keeping it from going flat. 

Next up on my list of products to try is the Charles Worthington Texturising Spray and also the Batiste XXL Plumping Powder. Let me know if you have any favourites that you would recommend. 

HOW TO GET BRONZED AND GLOWING SKIN

At this time of year, some of us have naturally bronzed and glowing skin from holidays and others are religiously packing on the bronzer in order to convince the world that they did in fact go on holiday this year. I thought I would share some of my favourite products to use when I'm trying to look naturally tanned and glowing. 

First off for glowing skin I like to use some kind of brightening primer, like MAC's Skin Base Visage, which I've reviewed 'here' and the Bare Minerals Brightening primer. Both are pretty similar and include tiny little shimmer particles, that look very natural under make up and just give a nice glow to the skin. I also like to use Benefit's Sun Beam highlighter mixed with my foundation if I want a really glowy finish. 

For foundation, I like to use L'oreal Lumi Magique as the name suggests, it gives a gorgeous dewy finish. I also like to use Bare Minerals Original foundation as it gives a naturally fresh, healthy and radiant finish to the skin. 

MAC's Give Me Sun bronzer is my absolute favourite bronzer in the whole world, it's just perfect. A little goes a very long way so it's very quick and easy to apply. It's a gorgeous warm colour that instantly makes you look so healthy and radiant. The colour is dark enough for fake tan wearers but also suits very fair skin tones, as I've also convinced my sister to buy it and she uses it regularly on her fair skin too. I also like Benefit's Hoola bronzer, but I just don't reach for it as much as Give Me Sun as it's just not as warm and 'look at my gorgeous bronzed, healthy glowing skin' as Give Me Sun.

For highlighter I like to use MAC's Soft and Gentle. I only apply it to my cheekbones and under the brow as I naturally get a tiny bit shiny on my t zone throughout the day so I don't need any extra on my forehead or nose like some people with dry skin like to do. 

What are your favourite bronzers and highlighters?

JULY FAVOURITES

My best friend text me earlier, saying, "3 months today until you are a bridesmaid for me." That was pretty exciting until I realised that she is getting married in November - how the hell is November only 3 months away!? I can't contemplate that at the moment so lets stick with it being just about the start of August and therefore time for July favourites, which doesn't even seem possible, but a tiny bit better than the thought of November! 

I've always focused more on make up than hair, but this month my friend who is an amazing hairdresser, cut my hair and completely changed the way I look at it. I've never been loyal to a hairdresser and therefore, not really been a regular, so I was very glad when she offered! I never know what will actually work for my hair and the hairdressers never really seem to do that great of a job. As it was my friend cutting my hair, I trusted her opinions and she actually offered so much in put as to what would work best. She was telling me that I should use a mousse as it helps fine hair have more body and also controls any fly aways. The Vo5 mousse does just that, yet doesn't hold down my hair or make it feel sticky or hard at all. Once I've blow dried my hair and styled it, I use the L'oreal volume supersizing spray to add some extra body and texture. It smells so good and really seems to help lift my hair.

I've owned the Urban Decay Naked Basics palette since last December, however, I haven't paid it much attention at all until now. The black is amazing, the browns are great for the crease area and the lighter shades make great highlights or lid colours. I've also been using Faint and a tiny amount of Crave for my brows, which seem to be working great! 

Another Urban Decay product, is their new Perversion mascara. I currently only have a sample size but will definitely be buying the full sized version. It's probably the best mascara that I've tried; it applies so easily, so quick, it's so black, gives great length and volume and doesn't clump or flake off at all. 

On to Bare Minerals. My skin was doing very well, until it had a random break out recently, I applied the Blemish Remedy and by the next morning the spots had considerably gone down, after a couple more uses they were completely gone. If you've read my 'skincare saviours' post, you'll already know that this is one of my go to products as it is just amazing! 

Finally, I've been really enjoying wearing bright coral lipsticks this month and one of my favourites and easiest to wear is the Bare Minerals lipstick in Go the Distance, with the lip liner in Energized. The lip liner can be worn alone or under the lipstick to prolong the wear, which is already amazing! The colour of the lipstick isn't too bright so it's great for when you want a great summer colour but you're not feeling brave enough for such a bright shade. It's also more day time appropriate if you ever feel conscious about wearing a bright lip. 

So, that's all of my favourite products from the month of July. I hope you've all had a great July and that August is also kind to you, especially if you're an A - level student awaiting results! 

JUNE FAVOURITES

You knew it was coming... but we are now over half way through the year!

I'm quite glad to be on this half of the year now; the weather's nicer and I've got a few things that I'm now looking forward to, like holidays, my friends wedding and the thought of not having to do uni work come September is pretty amazing!

I originally was deliberating over whether to actually do a favourites this month, as lately I've been being pretty good and not buying much make up at all. I say that like it's a big achievement, but I've just remembered that May included a haul post and considering it's only one month since then, maybe I haven't been doing so well... hmm. 

Anyway, I had a look around and there actually has been quite a few products, mostly old, that I have been regularly using and loving this month. First up, Lauren's Way Solution 60, which you can read a full review of 'here.' I like to keep up a tan all year round, however as it's now pretty warm outside - if you're in the UK, hopefully I've picked one of the warm days/hours to post this and not a torrential rainfall day. I've been reaching for this product due to it's quick developing time and it gives a gorgeous colour too.

 Next, to go along with the bronzed look, is the Bare Minerals Ready Color Boost, in The Beach is Waiting and the fan brush. They  came as a set, called The First Resort,  with a lipgloss included, which I like but I don't love as much as these two products. Originally, I looked at the set and thought, I don't really want the lipgloss, I don't ever use shimmer bronzers so really I don't need this. However, I really wanted the fan brush and I'd seen Casey Holmes and Amanda Ensing mention this in one of their youtube videos and well, I just needed it. As I work in a department store, on one of the make up counters, I also get a pretty okay discount, along with my points card, meant I only paid £17 for a lipgloss, brush and bronzer, now who wouldn't turn that down? The packaging is a gorgeous reflective bronze colour, the brush is so soft and works amazing when applying the shimmer/highlighter shades to the cheekbones, to give a really healthy glowy look. 

Speaking about the glowy look, that leads me on to the next product, MAC's Skin Base Visage. You can read the full review 'here.' I bought this last year some time and used it religiously for months, but for some reason stopped this year and have only just found it again. It has shimmer particles in it, which give a gorgeous fresh glow to the skin which under make up are very pretty and subtle. If you've read my 'Skincare Saviours' post, you'll know that my skin has just been doing whatever the hell it wants to lately and for the first time in 21 years it feels slightly dry. The Skin Base Visage is so hydrating that I've been constantly reaching for it. On the topic of dry skin, I've been constantly using The Body Shop's Moringa Body Butter, as it's so nourishing on the skin. My boyfriend bought me a Moringa Body Butter last year and as he chose it, it's now one of those special scents to me as I know he likes it. It's also such a summery scent that I love using it this time of year. Obviously this isn't the same pot, but every time it runs out I just have to repurchase. 

The MAC Prep + Prime highlighter in Radiant Rose, has been a staple of mine every month since buying it last year. I'm surprised it still seems to be going strong, as I use it all the time. It's amazing for brightening the under eye, I keep trying to not use it, to be quicker and use less products but I always look at my under eye and think, no I have to use it, it's just so good!

I've always loved false eye lashes and have been trying to wear them successfully and failing quite often for so many years. I think it's only this year that I've been able to successfully apply all of my eye make up and then add the lashes and actually have them stay on and not mess up my make up. I think the Duo eyelash adhesive has had a lot to do with that. It works really well and keeps the lashes in place all day. I think I may just get the white version next time as it dries clear anyway, as sometimes the black can get a little messy. My favourite lashes lately have been the Ardell Demi Wispies as they're fairly natural looking but so full and long, they're really lightweight and comfortable to wear. When I haven't been wearing false lashes, I've been reaching for the L'oreal False Lash Flutter mascara. It's a great mascara for both length and volume and works great on the lower lashes too. It's not my holy grail but it's my favourite out of the ones I've currently got on the go.

I hope you all had a great June! What were your favourite products?

OOTD & MAKE UP | DATE NIGHT

Since being at university, I've had barely any free time to just relax and not need to be doing any work. My final year at uni was especially horrendous and It lead to me constantly moaning about never going out and my poor boyfriend had to suffer the, "we never go out, but you always go out with your friends." I moaned even though I knew it was because I was doing work all the time and I work weekends, so when he was free I definitely wasn't... Typical girl.

Anyway, as a kind of finishing uni treat my boyfriend took me to one of our favourite restaurants. Actually that's kind of a lie as I drove as his car was having an MOT, but he did plan it... and second, I say 'one of our favourite,' like we have several but really the only other place we seem to go is Nandos so this one was a huge step up. Anyway, back to reality, It's a beautiful country barn style restaurant, in the middle of no where, it's quite fancy inside, with candles and smart waiters, plus canapés and sorbet between courses. I always feel like dressing up a bit more when we go so I decided to wear this red flower dress from Red Herring. It's so pretty and easy to wear as it's a good length and  covers all the right places. I decided to wear my Zara heels to kind of spruce up the outfit and add a little edge to it, with the lace up style... I know what I mean! The heels are around 4 inches so they're not too high and fairly easy and comfortable to walk in, as heels go! 

For my make up I used MAC Studio Fix Fluid, Pro longwear concealer with Bare Minerals Stroke of light under my eyes. For my eyes I used MAC's Sable all over the lid, Twinks in the outer corner with embark to deepen the crease and outer corner. I used Texture and Rule through the crease and Make up Geek's Shimma Shimma eyeshadow under the brow and in the inner corner. On My cheeks I used MAC's Peaches blush and Give me sun to bronze. My lipstick is the L'oreal Eva's nude. Finally... Lashes are Lauren's Way. 

I really need to take more photos, as I now wish I had some of the food to show as it's always very impressive looking. I had crab and prawn tian with mango for starter, which was very nice, I had no idea what it was but I knew I liked prawns so just went with it. For main I had the best chicken ever... sorry Nandos, it just doesn't compare. I'm trying to eat better and cut down some pounds which I think joined me through exam period... thanks for that guys... so I passed on dessert. Plus I'm not all that into desserts anyway and tend to only go for ice cream, which I hate paying restaurant prices for. 

Do you have any good date places that you like to go or any new ideas on what to do? I hope you're all having a good week and I'll be back soon! :) 

BOOTS HAUL + MINI REVIEWS

Lately I've really been making an effort to save my money which resulted in my makeup bag looking depressingly low and in need of some new purchases. The only solution to this - a little make-up only shopping trip!

The foundation, mascara and powder were all repeat buys and so I could be safe in the knowledge that they would perform as well as before, however the rest of my purchases were new to me and I have some mixed feedback.  

Having just used up a mini Benefit Chacha Tint I was looking for a more affordable replacement and found this new Rimmel liquid cheek tint. The texture is thicker than what I would class as liquid compared to the Benefit tint however this is not a set back. The tint is very light weight which means that the colour can be built up and would therefore be a great fit for lots of skin tones. The tint comes in two shades; Pop of pink and Sun kissed  Cherry which although limited choice, the two colours are great colours considering this as the Pop of pink is a great pink blush and the Sun kissed Cherry is more of a coral tone, which are generally the most popular blush colours. 

The tint gives a good colour to the cheeks however, I also use a powder blusher over the top to intensify the pigment. I like to use Coralista by Benefit over the tint to also add a little shimmer. 

For the last few months beauty blenders have taken my interest and so when Real Techniques brought out their miracle complexion sponge I had to try it. There was a buy one get one half price offer on, so obviously Georgia and I had to both get one to take advantage of the offer.  A review will soon be up after we've both tried it out a bit more.

Finally, these are my first Seventeen make-up purchases, and it was the packaging of these products that enticed me to buy. I have never really used a primer before, so I didn't really know what to expect, however, I have been consistently using this primer for the last week and it does what it says. Your skin feels super soft while it being very light weight and is also moisturising which means that foundation applies even more smoothly. Very little of the product is needed with each application and so I can predict this lasting a good amount of time. 

However, the On the Spot concealer was very disappointing. It is described as having a creamy texture, however, the concealer is extremely watery even when shaken which means that the coverage leads much to be desired. 

Although I cannot comment on the statement of 'clearer skin in 4 weeks' as I have not been using it for that long, I will not be buying this again and doubt I will even be using it for 4 weeks. The colour is a very unusual shade that almost looks slightly dirty and is very difficult to blend into the skin even with using Real Techniques stippling brush and so I have taken to applying the concealer before my foundation just to hide the difficult to blend colour. 

So, that was my little stock up of make-up and I can definitely say that my make-up bag now looks a lot more healthy! 

Have you been stocking up on make-up lately, were there any products that you loved or didn't think too much of? 

L'OREAL COLOUR RICHE COLLECTION PRIVEE | EVA & JULIANNE'S NUDE

So many of us love the nude lip look; it's a classic beauty look, a great way to compliment a smokey eye and most importantly so easy to wear. However, picking the perfect nude lipstick to suit your skin tone is actually a pretty hard task! you've got the common problem of the nude being way too similar to the concealer lips look and even worse there's the nudes that are so nude that they make you look like you're extremely ill. L'oreal have come up with an amazing collection of nude lipsticks to suit every skin tone.        

                                                              

  Cheryl Cole, Doutzen Kroes, Freida Pinto, Julianne Moore, Eva Longoria and Liya Kebede, who are all spokemodels for L'Oréal, have worked with colour designer Orrea Light to produce the best nude lipstick shade for their complexion. The great thing is, that they all are of very different ethnicities, so have different skin tones and colourings, which is great for all of us, so we knnow which nude to choose!

I chose Eva Longoria's nude shade and Julianne Moore's, as I love Eva anyway so I'd obviously chose hers and Julianne's was a gorgeous pinky nude that I had been longing for. Although the whole point of these nude lipsticks is to pick the celebrity that your skin tone is closest to, as that will be your best match, I absolutely love Julianne's nude, but my colouring is know where near hers. If you don't already know, Julianne Moore has very, very pale skin and red hair. Eva has a much darker olive skin tone than I do, but I have got naturally dark hair and love to self tan, so I guess that match could be considered a closer one. I didn't pick up Cheryl's nude as it wasn't in stock, but thinking about it now, that probably would have been my best match... Oh no! I guess I'm going to have to get that one too now... 

Formulation

The formulation of these lipsticks is extremely moisturising; they're so soft and creamy that they apply really easily onto the lips and definitely do not dry the lips out at all. They're some of the best lipstick textures that I have tried and I think they may even apply better than some of the MAC lipsticks that I've tried and we all love those! The lipsticks have a slight shimmer sheen to them which is very subtle so still very wearable. The sheen makes you not need to add any extra lip gloss, which is always a bonus when topping up throughout the day. 

Eva & Doutzen's nudes. 

Scent

One feature that I'm not too sure about is the smell of the lipsticks; they have a fairly strong scent to them, which reminds me of the parma violet sweets (my mum agreed). I don't hate the smell, but it is a little strong/floral for a lipstick. It does become more subtle when applied and it is easily ignored, so it definitely wouldn't put me off of the lipsticks but it's just a slight negative factor for me.

Freida & Julianne's nude.

Longevity 

The wear time of these lipsticks isn't overly long, however I'd say compared to other lipsticks, they are still about average. Nude lipsticks don't need to be so long lasting for me as you can easily top up a nude lip as you generally don't need a mirror. If I was wearing a bright/dark lip, I would much rather it last longer in case I didn't have time to top up, then it would be left looking a little odd on the lips, whereas you don't have this problem with nudes.

Julianne's Nude:

I adore this lipstick and have been wearing it nearly every day since purchasing both lipsticks last week. I have quite pink toned lips so this shade is definitely a 'your lips but better colour.' It really enhances my natural lip colour and makes my lips look a lot prettier! It's a really wearable nude, as it adds a lovely warm pink shade to the lips. As this is Julianne's nude, who is very fair skinned and I love it and I have a more tanned complexion and dark hair, I imagine that this nude shade would suit most people. The colour is well pigmented, however still gives a natural finish to the lips; I find with some nude pinks, that if I apply a little too much, they start making me look a little on the ill side as they're too cool toned, however this colour is so gorgeous and wearable, that I think you would struggle to make it look bad.

Eva's Nude:

I also love this shade, it's a gorgeous peach nude and looks great on tanned or olive skin. I think more pale skin tones would also be able to wear this shade beautifully. Likewise to Julianne's nude, Eva's nude is very well pigmented and gives a great colour to the lips with very little effort. It's also another great 'your lips but better' colour, however more peachy toned than my natural lips. It's a great colour to warm up your complexion and would compliment most warm brown, red, golds and bronze eye make-up looks. 

Here are some swatches of both lipsticks. They are a fairly true representation of the colour, however I'd say Julianne's nude is a lot more warmer toned in person and both shades look a lot prettier in person.  I love both of the nudes that I have and would definitely recommend them. I now want to pick up Cheryl's as I think the shade would suit my skin tone, however that will probably be the last one I get as the other shades seem to be better suited for darker skin tones.  

            Julianne's nude  

One word of warning would be to be careful when googling these shades! I was innocently typing in 'Cheryl's nude L'oreal lipstick' and my boyfriend thought it would be funny to take away the 'L'oreal Lipstick' part... a totally different result appears! Why are men so gross? 

Eva's Nude

The lipsticks are £8.19 from Boots, I bought mine when they were on a buy 1 get 1 half price offer, which I think is still on! I also used my Boots advantage card points to pay for them which means I technically got these pretties for free!!

Have you tried any of L'Oreal's Colour Riche Collection? Which celebrity's nude is your favourite?