THE QUICK WEEKEND MAKEUP

I used to happily spend hours getting ready when I had the time to on days off; applying every product I could and trying out eye looks better suited for a night out than a chilled weekend. Lately, I've been embracing the much quicker routine and even skipping make up all together quite often on Sundays, if I'm just staying at home. I don't think I'll ever be the type of girl to go out happily without make up, not because I can't stand myself completely naked faced, but I just like to make an effort. These products are my go to items for achieving a very quick, fresh, pretty make up look, that still looks like you've made an effort but doesn't waste any valuable weekend time! 

First I apply the MAC Prep + Prime Highlighter in Radiant Rose under my eyes. I don't bother with an actual concealer as this product counteracts the darkness and brightens up the under eye well enough. I then go in with the Bare Minerals Original Foundation as you can just buff it onto the skin really quickly, without any careful blending, like liquid foundations. It evens out the complexion and adds a really radiant, fresh glow to the skin. If I feel like I need more coverage I can also buff a little more on. I love using the Bare Minerals Warmth to obviously warm up the complexion; it's the most gorgeous shade and makes such a difference to your base. You could just use the Warmth as a blush too but I'm a sucker for a pink blush, so I love using the Benefit Hervana Blush. It's a really pretty shade, that would probably suit a lot of skin tones. For my eyes, I blend a little of the two brown shades from the Naked Basics palette by Urban Decay through the crease, the outer corner and the lower lash line. I then take the black shade form the palette and just blend it along my upper lash line, so it looks like a blended out liner. I also take a little under the eye to add some definition . I then use the highlight shade from the palette to highlight under the brow, the inner corner of my eye and as a cheek highlight. I also use this palette for my brows all of the time. (I LOVE this palette)! I then apply mascara to my lashes, Lash Domination by Bare minerals is a favourite of mine. I finish by putting on a little lipstick, as I think lipstick is so easy to chuck on, yet makes your look so much more complete and like you've spent a lot more time on it, when really you were spending time still in bed or making time for a proper weekend breakfast! I love the Revlon Lip Butters as they're pigmented enough to give a good colour pay off but not as dramatic as a bright lipstick if you want something a little more subtle. This shade is Sweet Tart. 

I hope you all have an amazing weekend! 

FEBRUARY FAVOURITES

It's about time that I wrote a favourites post; I often feel like there isn't any products that I haven't already spoke about or any that I have particularly liked that month also I haven't bought many new products (until now), so there isn't anything new and exciting to share.

As February was passing by I was noticing that I was particularly liking some of the products  that I was using and I had enough to mention. 

First, my mum bought me The Body Shop Glazed Apple body scrub and body butter for Christmas and I just started using them around the beginning of February. Unfortunately they were a Christmas fragrance, so no longer available but all of The Body Shop scents are amazing anyway! I love the smell of these, I think it's a bit more on the melon smelling side than apple but still just as good. The body butter feels so hydrating and the scrub is just the right consistency to use regularly. The smell of both definitely lingers on the skin and in the room which you apply the products. 

Two products that I rediscovered in February were the MUA Undress  palette and the Revlon Photo ready foundation. I've had the MUA palette for a while now and used to use it all of the time but then it kind of got kicked to the side when I started using MAC and Make up Geek shadows more. I forgot how much I loved the colours in the palette as it's so everyday appropriate and for the price it is pretty darn good! 

My sister gave me the Revlon Photo ready foundation as she hated it. I started using it as I knew it was one of the lighter coloured foundations that I own and as I've been ditching fake tan recently, I needed my light shades! I find that it applies really well, lasts a good amount of time on the skin and doesn't feel heavy or cakey. It's a light medium coverage and pretty lightweight, it gives a natural, to slightly dewy/radiant finish. 

I spoke about the Hoola bronzer by Benefit in my 2014 favourites, as I really like it for contouring. It stayed as my go to contouring product throughout February and I really enjoyed using it. I've just found another product that may have replaced it though, so keep your eyes peeled to find out what that is soon! 

I've had the Make up Geek Immortal black gel liner for quite some time now but I don't religiously use black liner. It's an amazing gel liner when I do use it, but It's not always in my routine. In February however, I noticed how much I enjoy using it and how I prefer my eyes when I do use it. I've been loving using it to create a nice winged out look, by also blended black eye shadow into the liner to make it more of a smoky line, instead of a stark black line. I've included the Sigma E05 as it's my favourite brush to apply the gel liner with, as it makes eye liner really easy to apply. 

February was a pretty good month, that seemed to just fly by. I'm excited and also a little apprensive about March, as I have something new happening which I will probably mention in one of my next posts. I hope you all had a great February and have a happy March!

What products have you been loving?

AUTUMN INSPIRED EYE MAKE-UP LOOK

Hello everyone! 

I actually did this make up look around the mid-end of August, when the weather started to turn a little less summer like and a lot more like autumn. However, a couple of days after the summer weather came back again, so I didn't really feel like I could post an autumn make-up look, while sitting wearing my summer dress and flip flops! 

I had been craving those berry/red shades so I picked up Maybelline's  Metallic Pomegranate  24 Hour Colour Tattoo, that Hannah reviewed 'here.' Hannah loves the Colour Tattoo's, however, the first time I used mine, I really wasn't impressed. It seemed to clump up and then peel off really easy. I also couldn't blend eyeshadow on top easily at all. The second time that I tried it, I actually really liked it. I'm not sure what I did differently, but they worked really well. 

1. I used the Metallic Pomegranate all over the lid. I really like the colour, however, I wish it wasn't so shimmery! I then put the light beige/orange Sleek shade (labelled with a 1), through my crease as a transission shade to make sure all of the future blending would look smooth and seamless. 

2. I next blended another Sleek shade (labelled with a 2), through the lower crease, blending it into the Pomegranate colour on my lid. I also lightly patted it over the lid. 

3. I also took the Pomegranate shade under my eye in the lower lash line.

4. I then used the black shade in the Sleek palette (Labelled with a 3), lightly in the inner corner and heavier in the outer v/outer corner of the eye. 

5. I then blended the black shadow in the corners under my eye 

6. I added Rimmel's gel eye liner to my lash line and flicked it out.

7. I used MUA's Shade 1, single eyeshadow as an under the brow highlight and also to highlight the inner eye. 

8. I finished off the eyes with a few coats of Benefit's 'They're Real' Mascara. (That I'm not too impressed with any more, as mine feels like it's running out after just a few weeks of use)!

As the eyes are pretty heavy, I wanted them to be the main focus, so I've kept the rest of the face very natural looking. I used Bourjois Healthy Mix Serum, Rimmel Match Perfection Powder, Bourjois bronzer, Benefit Hervana blush and Revlon's lip butter in sweet Tart. 

I'm absolutely loving Autumn make-up looks so far and I really feel like I need more Autumn colours! Are there any products that I need to try? 

KATE MIDDLETON INSPIRED NAILS

I love my nails being painted; I can't stand having them naked, so, the only time I'm not wearing any nail varnish is when I'm taking the old colour off, to put on the new colour. However, I do hate choosing what colour to paint them or what nail art to try, as I'm sure like us, you've all got so many that you're literally choosing from every colour possible.

While I was sitting pondering over which colour to choose, Kate and Will came on the television, showing off their new royal baby. The polka dot blue and white print of Kate's dress was so cute, especially since she had a boy, so I wanted to follow the theme and copy take inspiration with my nails. I'm definitely a fan of the whole, 'wear the gender colour of your baby', so pink for girls and blue for boys, as long as it remains classy like Kate's and not over the top. 

The blue base colour is from Nails inc. If you've read our previous posts on Nails inc polishes, you'll know that we haven't ever paid full price for any of the quite a few that we now own and instead have either bought them with a magazine or when they've been on offer. They're nice, but they're not £11 nice. This colour came with Instyle magazine and ours either never had a name or it's just come off. 

I used two of the NAIL ART pens, one bright pink for the petals and a white to do the dots. I'll forgive you if you didn't guess that the design on the ring finger is supposed to be roses! At least I tried! I used Revlon's Nude pink for the inside of the roses and also added the Barry M confetti in Marshmallow to try to add texture to the roses, however, you can't really see this in the photo. The green leaves are Models Own Green Tea. 

I loved having my nails like this as it made a change from just one plain colour and I got so many compliments! Even people that I wouldn't expect to even notice my nails were commenting on how good they looked, which was nice. 

I'd love to know what your favourite, easy nail art designs are? 

SAVE, SPEND, SPLURGE | MAC LUSTERING LIPSTICK DUPES

A couple of months ago, Debenhams had a 10% offer on all of their beauty products, which included MAC Cosmetics and as a new MAC addict I couldn't resist ordering a few things... I pondered over which shades of lipstick to get, as I was relying on online swatches, that all seemed to look different, therefore it's not the easiest way to pick lipstick. I chose Vegas Volt (reviewed and swatched here) and Lustering. I really wanted a nice bright but wearable pink and Lustering seemed a good choice. 

When I first tried Lustering, I really liked the colour, so I was pleased with my choice. However, after wearing it a couple more times and also wearing Revlon's Lip Butter in Sorbet, in between, I realised that they are nearly identical! Now, this is a good realisation for those who don't want to fork out on a MAC lipstick as they are pretty pricey! However, this is pretty annoying for me, as out of the 100's of exciting colours that I could have chosen, I chose one which I pretty much already own! 

Left-Right, MUA Shade 3, Revlon Lip Butter Sorbet, MAC Lustering

Dupe #1 MUA Shade 3 Lipstick - £1!

Even more annoying is the fact that I also own ANOTHER lipstick that is very similar and so much cheaper! MUA shade 3 looks a very similar colour in the stick, however, it is quite a bit darker on the lips and has more of a matte finish than the Revlon Lip Butter and MAC Lustering. However, for £1, you are getting a good lipstick of a very similar colour shade! I would probably use this lipstick to top up Lustering and carry it around with me on a night out, as I would much rather risk losing a £1 lipstick, that wont break the bank to replace, than a £15 one! 

Dupe #2 Revlon Lip Butter Sorbet - £7.99

As the Revlon Lip Butter is the closet Dupe to MAC Lustering, I'll be focusing on only those two for the rest of this post. 

The colours are very true to how they are shown in the photographs. I would describe both as quite bright but darker toned pinks, that are very wearable and would look great on the majority, if not all skin tones. Not only are the colours very similar in the stick and on the lips, the texture is also nearly identical. When I first applied MAC's Lustering, I was quite surprised how different the texture seemed than the other lipsticks that I own. I now realise that it's due to it's lustre finish which means it is more sheer and gives a wet-look glossy finish. Similarly, the Revlon Lip Butters give a very similar finish. Although both lip products can be applied sheer, you definitely don't need to apply much more for a much fuller and darker colour, which I really like. Both apply really smoothly and so easily onto the lips. They also last really well and I don't find either of them drying at all. You do need to reapply after a few hours, to bring back the intensity in the colour, however, they do slightly stain the lip so the hint of colour remains on the lips for a very long time, even if you do not reapply. 

 As you can see both the Revlon and MAC lipsticks look identical on the lips. I do think MAC's Lustering does have slighlty more pigmentation and I do think you get more product from MAC lipsticks than the Lip Butters, however for the price difference(Revlon = £7.99 & MAC = £15), I would definitely go for the Revlon Lip Butter for a nearly identical dupe, if you don't want to splurge on MAC. The MUA lipstick is a close match however not as exact, but definitely worth trying out for only £1! 

REVIEW: REVLON PHOTOREADY COLLECTION

 The sleek and bold appearance of Revlon's Photoready collection caught my eye immediately and I finally purchased them while Superdrug had a 3 for 2 offer on, you may see a pattern emerging in my spending habits! I love the appearance and the 'photoready' concept, which I was drawn to, especially due to the fact I've not always loved having my picture taken therefore make up has always helped me feel confident, so this felt like an ideal product. 

Sadly, the foundation didn't live up to my expectations; I've found that when applying it the texture is very runny which did lead to a few marks on my shorts! Obviously this could be avoided but if like me you're very clumsy I would steer clear for the sake of your clothes! On top of this, I found it became cakey on the skin, therefore, close up I felt my skin looked tired and worn, although from a distance it didn't look as bad. The foundation also seemed to have really poor longevity as it  wore away around my nose a few hours after applying it. I tried applying a primer before this foundation and it did sit slightly better on the skin, however, I never normally use primers and I've never felt like I've had to before this foundation. As it really didn't live up to my expectations and just made my face look horrible, I gave the foundation to Georgia who has actually rated it higher than I have and actually really likes it. 

 I feel bad giving another disappointing bit of feedback but here goes. Once again it looks great and has a high end look with the lack of  colour and just sticking with black and silver. However, considering it claims to give 3D volume, I didn't see the results even after applying a few coats. I look for mascaras that offer a lot of volume, as my lashes are naturally long, so I only really need the added volume from mascara, so this mascara really disappointed me. Another issue with this mascara is the wand. The wand is very rigid and a little too spikey to be used so close to the eye. I also didn't feel like a lot of mascara came off the wand and instead just stuck to the tip of the wand, which didn't help at all when trying to build volume.  It did last well on the lashes, however, since it's main and only claim is '3D volume,'  which it didn't give, I don't think the other factors are too important. 

Overall I was excited to try these out, but was extremely disappointed due to the advertisement of them as well as the price!

Have you tried either of these and actually had any luck?

NAVY BLUE SMOKEY EYE MAKE UP

 

I've mentioned the Sleek ultra mattes palette, many, many times before on this blog as it's such a great and handy palette. In my review of the palette, (which you can read here), I only used the neutral brown, safe colours, in my make up look and I'm always using them on a day to day basis, however the blues in the palette were in pristine condition and were just sitting there feeling sorry for themselves, so I decided to be more adventurous and give them a go! 

  

 I really like a navy smokey eye; normally I'd add a lot more black to it, so the navy is more of just a hint of colour in the look, however this look is a lot more blue. I think this is a really nice look for a night out or special evening, either if you want to change your usual black smokey eye up a bit or if you find black too harsh. 

 I kept the eyeshadow just above the crease, as any higher and I think this would have looked too heavy on the eye. This is also why i've done my eyeliner fairly thin on the top lash line. I added the black eyeliner in the water line to give the eye more definition, so that it wasn't overpowered with too much blue.

I've kept the rest of the make up natural as otherwise I think it would just look too much and it doesn't distract away from the eyes being the main feature of this look.

 

The colours that I used are numbered below, I also used;

-MUA jet black eyeliner

-Benefit They're Real Mascara

-Bourjois Healthy Mix foundation

- Rimmel Stay Matte powder  

-Collection 24hr felt eyeliner in black

- Revlon lip butters in Papaya and Sweet Tart (review and swatches here)

- MUA Brow Kit

- Maybelline The Eraser concealer (review here)

-Bourjois bronzer (review here)

- MUA blush

REVIEW: REVLON PHOTOREADY BLUSH + HIGHLIGHTERS

I never used to pay Revlon much attention when went into either Superdrug or Boots, however lately I'm at that stand quicker than the speed of light - or just pretty quickly. 

The blusher comes in three colours, Coral Reef, pinched, which is nude and apparently tends not to show up too greatly and finally flushed, a gorgeous bright pink/magenta shade, which will be mine!

The blusher is very pigmented and can look a little scary in the pot and a little neon, however it can apply very sheer or  be built up and is a gorgeous coral colour on the cheeks. It has a great colour pay off and lasts forever on the skin.It is creamy in the pot however, its finish is much more of a smooth powder texture, therefore I think this would be great for oily skins especially. It gives a really natural flush to the cheeks and I would imagine that the colour would be perfect for pale skin tones all the way through to the darker skin tones. Depending on how much you apply it would also be great for either a natural day look or a deeper night look.

The blusher applies easily with your fingers or a brush; the Stippling brush by Real Techniques works wonders.

The blush leaves a matte finish which is lovely, especially if you want a more subtle and natural finish, however, if you wanted to add some shimmer in the form of a highlighter we've found two which work really well with the blusher. 

Firstly,  a purse friendly highlighter from MUA, Shimmer Kisses Bronzer.

 I have used this highlighter near enough every day since I bought it, which was January/February time, so that is saying something. As with all MUA products it's very cheap at only £3 and even after over 4 months use it doesn't look anywhere near to running out! This product is actually described as a bronzer, which I would disagree with, however it is an amazing highlighter, so we'll let that one slip!  

You can either use one of the colours separately or swirl your brush around all four. The colour is slightly peachy and gives a gorgeous glow to the skin, so really compliments the coral blush. It is a nice subtle shimmer sheen so you won't look like you've just stepped out of the glitter factory... It also works great to highlight under the brow bone. 

The second highlighter is a higher end product, by Benefit called One hot minute. This costs £23.50. The powder is a pretty rose gold colour which works great with the coral of the Revlon blush and would suit all skin tones. It's definitely a perfect summer blush and highlight combination. It also gives a warm glow to the skin.

 

Are there any other great Revlon products that we're missing out on???

FOTD & OOTD : Brown/gold smokey eye + pink lip

 

This is all very new to me. Firstly, I think I only worked out what 'FOTD and OOTD' (I think)! is a few weeks ago. I'm not very good with slang or any type of abbreviations the youngsters use today - yes I am 20 but really I feel nearer 50. Secondly, before I started this blog I despised 'selfies.' I stayed away from them as I could never get the angles right myself and ended up looking very odd! I was always impressed by anyone who could actually take them and still look good! So after searching through the masses which were either blurry or just too cringey, this is the best I've got. No one tells you how hard taking close up photos of yourself is, I have a new found respect for beauty bloggers! 

 I think this is a good fresh but made up look for spring/summer. The skin has a fresh, light healthy glow as I have only used a low/medium coverage foundation, which is especially good for the warmer weather that spring is SUPPOSED to bring!

 The eyes are nicely defined with the brown eye shadow, but not too heavy. (I hope)!

 I have shaped the eyeshadow with an angled brush and just used the darker shade in the outer corner of the eye and lightly through the crease and under the eye.

 Outfit: 
-Top: New look
- Trousers: Forever 21
-Shoes: Zara 
- Bracelets New look

Products used:   

Face:  

  - Primer: Rimmel  Fix & Protect pro (Wouldn't recommend it as a primer but it is moisturising and my skin was feeling pretty dry + I'm trying to use it up)
-  Foundation: Bourjois  Healthy mix serum  (shade 55 dark beige)
- Concealer: Collection (Shade 2 light) and Maybelline Dream Lumi Touch (shade 01).
- Powder: Rimmel Stay Matte (Shade peach glow 003) - (Unfortunately missed out of the photo)!
- Bronzer: Bourjois bronzing powder
- Blush: Benefit Hervana (also manages to escape the photo, I'll get better)!!

Brushes: 

- All Real Techniques : 
- Buffing brush for foundation
-Multi  task brush for powder and bronzer
- Contour brush for slight contouring around cheekbones 
- Blush brush for blush
- Deluxe crease brush for concealer

Eyes:

- MUA Undressed eyeshadow pallette
- MUA matte eye shadows in shade 20 and 19  
- Mascara: Avon super extend extreme 
- Brows: MUA pro-brow kit 
- Eyelashes: Eyelure false lashes 101
- Eye liner: MUA jet black and snow white
You can order MUA worldwide online

Lips:

- LUSH Sugar scrub (previous review on blog here)
- Revlon lip butter (shade Sweet tart) (previous review on blog here)