Mini Beauty Haul

Trying to blog on a fairly regular basis whilst doing university work is not easy in the slightest bit. I don't know how on earth some people manage it. So here's my feeble attempt at a new blog post which is a small beauty haul. Yesterday afternoon I headed into town to meet up with two of my old friends from school and have some lunch. Typical for me lunch somehow turned into picking up a few beauty products.

Simple Kind To Skin Replenishing Rich Moisturiser

I always use Simple moisturiser as it's a brand I really do trust when it comes to skincare. I normally go for the light hydrating version however as the weather is getting colder I know my skin will benefit more from the rich replenishing version as it's a lot thicker and has 3 skin loving ingredients rather than the 2 that the light version does. This bottle normally retails of £3.99 however it was on sale so I managed to pick it up for £1.95.

Primark False Lashes - Natural and Intense

Next up I picked up these two sets of false lashes from Primark. I'm not the best at putting on false lashes. In fact, I am terrible at it. However I find that the Primark lashes are very light and easy to apply. They don't feel heavy on the lid and they feel quite comfortable to wear. I've tried both the Natural and the Sultry lashes but I'd never seen the Intense ones before so I decided to pick them up too. All packs of lashes come with a tube of adhesive so you don't even need to worry about purchasing any glue. £1 for a pack of lashes is amazing! I think I'll do a review on these sometime soon.

Maybelline Colour Show - So So Fresh

Now that I have nails I'm quickly becoming addicted to buying nail polish and experimenting with colour. I've tried Rimmel and Barry M but I've not branched out to any other brands yet so I decided to pick up shade So So Fresh from Maybelline's Colour Show range. These retail for around £2.99 and there are a whole range of colours.

Primark Beauty - Eyeliner x 2 and Sharpener

The final item I picked up was this pack of 2 black eyeliners which comes with a little pencil sharpener. Other than the lashes and the nails I've not used any other Primark beauty items so this will be my first. I believe these were also just £1 so I hope they're good. 

The Perfect Lip Combo

Around February time MAC's lipstick in Faux entered my life and since then it has become one of my most reached for lipsticks. Faux is a MAC lipstick that I've never heard anyone say too much about, I just so happened to swatch it in store one day and fell in love with how it looked. It's a lovely pinkish brown shade with a Satin finish meaning it's comfortable to wear and not drying on the lips. As Faux is a Satin finish the colour transfers across very well with a slight shine to it and has that usual vanilla like scent to it that all MAC lipsticks seem to have. Very recently I began pairing it with a lip liner from Barry M in the shade Russet. Like Faux, Russet is also a dark nude shade however this liner is slightly more brown toned whereas the lipstick is a little more pinky.

Russet - although a beautiful colour is quite dry and the application can be quite difficult as it's not creamy or velvety in the slightest. However the liner does cost only £2.99 so some faults are to be expected. Despite this, the colour does go on well and it is an incredibly pigmented lip liner so don't let that factor put you off giving it a go. The pairing of the two together creates the perfect dark nude lip which at best could be described as another answer to the "Kylie Jenner" lip colour phenomenon which swept the blogging community. To achieve the look I tend to line my lips first with the liner, then proceed to lightly fill in the rest of my lips using the liner to create an initial canvas for the lipstick to go on. I then apply the lipstick all over to achieve the more intense colour.

If I'm wearing this combination during the day I like to blot it slightly in order to make it look more matte, however at night I much prefer the glossy finish as it feels that slight bit more glamorous. If you're looking for that perfect 90's lip colour that I'd highly recommend giving this combination a go. It's one that I'd believe would suit a lot of different skintones.

A photo of both Russet and Faux on together (after blotting)

Holiday Beauty Essentials

Somehow we're already in July and every social network I go on, people are counting down the days till they go on holiday. I personally am not going away this year *sobs* but I thought I'd do a post showing you all my holiday beauty essentials anyway. I've not included the obvious products such as a good SPF and moisturiser, instead I've chosen to show beauty items that you'd reach for probably more in the evening time when going out for dinner or drinks. Of course there's nothing stopping you wearing these in the day if you wanted to! 


GOSH CC Cream Illuminating Foundation 

This is probably one of my favourite face products to date and I've not even not even had it a month yet. It's the perfect kind of foundation for everyday use - especially in a hot climate. It gives a light yet even coverage which looks very natural. As it is a colour correcting foundation it evens out and reduces any redness in the skin whilst creating a dewy finish. It feels very lightweight on the skin, not oily or cakey in the slightest plus it leaves your skin feeling extremely soft. It does contain SPF 10, however you may want to apply a little bit of SPF before putting this on just so you are protecting your face from any harsh sunlight. This product is ideal for travelling with due to it's squeezable tube design and nozzle applicator meaning no mess and no fuss! I'll have a full review about this CC cream coming up on my blog very soon.


MAC Coral Bliss Lipstick

Coral Bliss is a light shade of coral with a slightly pinky hue to it. It's a cremesheen finish meaning the colour transfers slightly more sheer than what it looks in the bullet and leaves a glossy finish on the lips. Due to the glossy finish this is a very light and comfortable lipstick to wear however the finish does also mean that it's not particularly long lasting and does require touch ups every 2-3 hours, especially if eating or drinking. Coral Bliss is a very nice, neutral coral shade which looks perfect on every skin tone. It really compliments a tan and helps to brighten up your complexion - creating a truly radiant look. The perfect Summer lipstick without a doubt!


Benefit The Porefessional Primer

A primer is a must when you find yourself in a hot environment, it keeps your make-up in place and also helps it to last longer. I really like the Porefessional primer as it feels silky and smooth, it blends really easily and it does even out my skin tone ever so slightly. After moisturising my face I apply a small pea sized amount of this product on my finger and then dab a little bit on my chin, forehead, cheeks and nose, then using my fingers I blend it in. You really don't need much of this at all as a little goes a long way and you will notice a difference in the staying power of your make-up!


Sleek Contour Kit 

Nothing accentuates a tan more than a little bit of bronzer and highlight and the Sleek Contour kit is the perfect handy little compact which allows you to do both. Both the highlight and the bronzer are really pigmented so you don't need to use a lot of product to get your desired look, plus they're really blendable and long lasting.The bronzer is a lovely matte brown shade, not muddy or too orange like some bronzers tend to be. The highlight is a gorgeous peachy champagne colour which suits all skin tones and really illuminates the face. The compact itself is very sturdy and looks to be of very high quality. The packaging is a really nice matte black, with a fairly large sized mirror inside - perfect for on the go touch ups. Due to it's small size this is ideal for travel which is another big reason I had to feature it in my Holiday Beauty Essentials. I highly recommend this product to anyone looking for a good quality contour kit which doesn't break the bank. 


Sleek Blush By 3 Palette - Lace

The Sleek Blush by 3 Palette is ideal for those who'd like to create a variety of different make-up looks but don't want the hassle of having to pack a million different products. This palette contains 3 beautiful coloured blushes, all of which are really intensely pigmented and so easy to blend. 

The three shades within the palette are;

Crochet

Guipure

Chantilly

Crochet is a matte peachy orange, Guipure is a peach toned pink with flecks of gold shimmer running throughout and Chantilly is a bright red toned pink which at first glance looks rather terrifying but really it's not. This particular selection of colours are perfect for the Summer months as they're so bright and fun - they're amazing on tanned skin however they do work for pale skin also, you just need to be a little light handed on the application. I personally love to mix a little of Crochet and Guipure together and apply that on to my cheeks and I find it just creates the most amazing flush of colour - it really makes my skin look so much more radiant and healthy. The palette itself contains a large mirror and is an ideal size for travelling. If you'd like to see a more detailed review of this product that you can by clicking here.

Urban Decay Naked Basics Palette

The Naked Basics Palette is the most ideal neutral eyeshadow palette to travel with. It contains 6 shades, 5 of which are matte whilst the other one has a slight shimmer to it. The shades inside the palette are as follows;

Venus, Foxy, Walk of Shame, Naked 2, Faint and Crave.

Venus is the shimmery white shade. Foxy is a creamy, yellow shade. Walk of Shame is a beige / pink colour. Naked 2 is a light beige brown colour. Faint is a chocolate shade and crave is a very dark black colour.

This fantastic range of shades can very easily carry you from a day to a night look simply by adding one of the darker colours in order to create a smokey eye. I believe this palette can very easily double as a brow kit due to the great selection of colours and if you really want, Venus makes a great highlight also! It's a handy multi purpose palette which also happens to be a very travel friendly size - which is a nice change from the difficultly large size of the original Naked Palettes. Again if you're interested in reading more about this product you can see my review here. 

That's all for my round up of my holiday beauty essentials! Let me know what you think of some of these products, or if there are any products you'd personally recommend me to try!

I hope you're all well. 

The Beauty Scenario Tag

Hello Readers!

Last night whilst tucked up in bed I was watching Gabriella's latest video in which she does the "Beauty Scenario Tag" and I decided that today I'd give it a go myself. I quite liked the look of the questions and as I don't tend to do many tags on my blog I thought why not? 

1 : You have to get rid of all of your foundations and you can only keep one high end and one drugstore, which would you keep?

I don't own any high end foundations actually, I've managed to find drugstore ones that I like so why would I bother paying more to experiment with a product I might not like? As for which drugstore one I'd keep, I'd have to say it would be the Gosh CC Cream in the shade Porcelain as it's the perfect match for my skin tone and it feels lovely and light on my face. 

2 : You go for an interview and the lady interviewing you has lipstick on her teeth, do you approach the subject or ignore it completely?

Honestly I'm not sure what I'd do until I was put in that situation but knowing how shy I can be I have a feeling I'd probably ignore it. (Sorry interview lady!) 

3 : You're not feeling yourself and need a pick me up, which lipstick do you put on to make yourself feel beautiful?

Probably MAC's Coral Bliss as it's so pretty, summery and it has a really lovely glossy finish to it. A little bit of peach colouring to your face really brightens up your appearance so it's definitely one I reach for when I want to feel beautiful. 


4 : You go back in time for a day to your teenage years; how would you do your hair and make-up differently?

Ah this is a tough one as I have had a fair few make-up and hair disasters during my teenage years. I'd probably tell myself not to cut my hair so short and not to dye it so many weird colours as looking back It really didn't look good. I'd also tell myself that wearing eyeliner on just one eye because the other one was hidden under my massive fringe was weird and not to do it regardless of how smart I thought I was being. I'd also stop myself from wearing a few foundations which really were not my colour at all. 


5 : You ask your hairdresser for a shoulder length Pixie Lott hair cut but they hear you wrong and give you a pixie cut, do you -
A) Smile, say thank you, leave and call your mum hysterical
B) Cry in the chair and things get awkward
C) Complain to the manager and demand a refund?

A! I am the worst for saying I love my hair in the hairdressers, even going to the extent of tipping them and then coming out into the street and crying about it. I have done this on many occasions so I feel like that's probably what I'd do in this scenario. 

6 : Your friend surprises you with a 4 day city break and you have one hour to pack, which do-it-all palette would you pack in your makeup bag?

Urban Decays Naked Basics as this little palette contains 6 eyeshadow shades, all of which can easily be used to create a day or night look. Plus it's tiny and compact - perfect for shoving in to your make-up bag! 

7 : Your house has been robbed, don't worry everyone is safe but your beauty stash has been raided.. What's the product you really hope is safe?

Probably my Urban Decay Naked Palette as it's the most expensive item I own and I'd be devastated if anything happened to it. I have very few high end products so I really do value the ones that I do own.

8 : Your friend borrows your makeup and returns it in awful condition, do you -
A) Pretend you haven't noticed
B) Ask them to repurchase it
C) Secretly do the same to something of theirs?

I've already had this happen to me before and I did A, I simply pretended I hadn't noticed. I do like to treat my make-up with care and I am gutted if it comes back looking a little worse for wear after I've lent it to someone but I don't think it's something worth kicking up a fuss over. Lesson learnt, next time just don't lend any make-up out! I'd probably care more over clothes if I'm honest. 



That's all for this tag, I hope you've enjoyed.
I tag anyone who's interested in giving it a go and for anyone who does, leave a comment linking me to your post. I'd love to read it!

I hope you're all well. 

Mini Beauty Haul

Hello Readers,

I was running low on some of my beauty essentials recently so I decided to pop in to Superdrug and restock on some of my products. I didn't pick up many products so there's not a lot to show but I thought I'd do a little post on it anyway! 

First thing I picked up was a box of L'OREAL Casting Creme Gloss Hair Dye in the shade Iced Truffle. Now I don't think I've mentioned this on my blog before but unfortunately I'm on the side of the family that goes grey early meaning I have to dye my hair pretty regularly to stay on top of the problem. I've dyed my hair countless times throughout my teen years and don't usually stay loyal to one brand, however the last few times I have repurchased this exact dye and in this exact shade. It's a lovely product and I feel like the colour is the perfect shade of chocolate brown! 

Next up is the Gosh CC Illuminating foundation which retails for £8.99. I've never used this product before, in fact I was going to purchase my usual Gosh BB cream however when I saw this I just felt really overwhelmed to try it. GOSH is a make-up brand that so many people overlook, probably due to price - however their BB cream is probably one of the best face products I've ever used. So when I saw they had released a CC cream and in 2 lighter shades I just had to have it. I've used this twice already but hopefully once I've formed an opinion on it I shall be able to review it soon! 

I then picked up a pack of Superdrugs own brand cleansing facial wipes. A bit of a boring purchase but a completely necessary one! Again, I don't stay loyal to one brand of face wipes and these just happened to be the ones I picked up on this particular trip to Superdrug. These wipes seem to be quite heavily fragranced which may or may not irritate my skin so I'll use them for now and see how I get on. 

The final product I picked up was the VO5 Heat Protect Styling Spray. I was never usually one for hair products as I never knew what products I needed to use and felt like they didn't do anything for me. However recently I have sort of settled into a hair care routine and this is one of the products that features in it, I do use it for its intended purpose which is to protect my hair from heat but it also kind of doubles as a de-tangling spray for me as I have really knotty hair. It's cheap and it does the job! I'm pretty sure I will be doing a post on my hair care routine quite soon so look out for that if you're interested in seeing what other hair products I use! 

That's all for this post, I hope you're all well!

7 Deadly Sins Of Beauty Tag

Hello Readers,

 As you can probably tell from the title of this post, today I shall be doing a tag! I don't tend to do many on my blog for some reason but I quite enjoy doing them. So with that being said I had a look online and decided to do the 7 Deadly Sins of Beauty tag as it looked quite interesting. I believe it's quite an old one now so I'm sure many of you will have seen this go round before but as I hadn't done it yet I thought I might as well give it a go! 

Greed
What is your most inexpensive beauty item? What is your most expensive one?

My most inexpensive beauty item is a pretty dull one but it is this MUA intense colour eyeliner in the shade Jet Black. It's honestly such a good eyeliner, it goes on so creamy and is really pigmented. Also, the lid doubles as a sharpener which is so incredibly handy! This was only £1 so it's such a bargain.

My most expensive beauty item to date is my Urban Decay Naked 1 palette. I bought this quite a while ago now whilst on the plane back from Alcudia. I believe the palette is £37 however as I was using my leftover Euros I roughly paid about 45 euros for it. (I think) So despite it being quite a splurge it was definitely worth it - since picking this up I've used it countless times and find it to be a really diverse palette. You can create so many looks out of the shades provided and they're really good quality shadows - super pigmented and really easy to blend! 

Wrath

What beauty products do you have a love/hate relationship with? What product has been the hardest to get?

The beauty product I have a love / hate relationship with, has to be the Max Factor Lipfinity Lasting Lip Tint. I've got shade 04 and I absolutely love the colour of it - it's such a beautiful red wine shade. However, the lasting power of this is really pathetic which is why I dislike it. After a little while it goes quite patchy and sort of flakes a little bit and then before you know it, it's completely worn off. I love the colour but this is a high maintenance lip product with constant touch ups necessary! 

The product I found hardest to get was actually the Sleek Blush By 3 palette in Lace. Everytime I went into Superdrug to pick it up, they never had it in stock. They don't stock Sleek in the Superdrug in my town so I had to keep looking for it whenever I was in Nottingham or if I was in Leicester and it was always sold out! Luckily enough for me my boyfriend's sister, was able to grab this for me and gave it to me as a Christmas present. I was very happy to finally get this trio as it was on my beauty wishlist for so long. The colours are so beautiful and are crazily pigmented - such good value for money!

Gluttony

What are your most delicious beauty products?

One of my most delicious beauty products is this Rimmel London Sweet Jelly Sheer Lipgloss in the shade 060 Delicious (ironic I know) As far as lipgloss goes, it's alright - they all seem the same to me so I wouldn't really know the difference from a good one and a bad one. However this smells and tastes SO nice - every time I wear it I pretty much just eat it off straight away. 

I couldn't choose just one product for this so I also wanted to include this Flava Craze Chapstick in Watermelon Splash. Again as far as chapsticks go this is an alright product, nothing amazing but there's really nothing I could complain about either. It leaves a slight red / pink tint to the lips so it's perfect if you're just wanting to add a nice subtle hue and moisturise your lips at the same time. Plus, it smells absolutely incredible! Perfect summer lip balm. 

Sloth

What beauty product do you neglect due to laziness? 

I will admit hand on heart that I neglect all of my cream / liquid blushers due to sheer laziness. They're just so much effort to put on! I always feel like I put too much on and therefore spend even longer trying to blend it in. I'd much rather just stick with powder blushes, easy to blend and less scary looking! 

Pride

What beauty product gives you the most self confidence?

I know most girls will say foundation or concealer but for me I think it honestly has to me mascara. My eyes are quite small and I really need mascara to help open them up more and make them look that little bit bigger. I really don't know what it is but mascara just ties a look together and without it I think I look rather strange!

 Lust

What attributes do you find the most attractive in the opposite sex?

Hair, smile and dress sense are probably the things I'd say in terms of physical attributes. Overall though they need to be caring, supportive, honest and they must be able to hold a conversation with me. There's nothing more off putting than a guy who just doesn't seem to be able to make conversation with me.

Envy

What items would you most like to receive as a gift?

Oh this is a really tricky one as there's always something on my wishlist! I think I have to say pretty much any make up product from theBalm as they have the most incredible packaging and such quirky little product names. 


That's all for this post. I know it's quite an old tag now so I imagine quite a few of my followers will have done it but if you haven't and decide to do it then I'd love to see some of your responses! So I tag anyone who fancies giving it a go! 

I hope you're all well.

My Everyday Make-up

Hello Readers,

I'm currently at home for a few days so I've decided to take advantage of the fact I have a beautiful vanity table here and do some product shots. I wasn't 100% what to do at first but I ended up settling on the idea to do a little post about my current everyday make-up routine. I've had the same routine for quite some time now with the odd blush change every now and again but this is it overall. I don't really have the most exciting make-up routine, as you can see from the products pictured above. It's quite basic yet occasionally I will add in some eye shadow or bronzer to spice things up but majority of the time this is all that I'd wear. 

Simple Kind To Skin Hydrating Light Moisturiser

Gosh BB Cream in Shade Sand - Review Here

Collection Lasting Perfection Concealer in Fair

Collection Pressed Powder in Fair

NARS Blush in Shade Deep Throat - Review Here

Collection Extreme 24 Hour Felt Tip Liner in Black

L'oreal Miss Manga Mascara in Black 

I've reviewed two of the products previously on my blog so I've included the links if you're interested in reading more about what I think to them. I highly recommend any pale girls out there give the Gosh BB cream ago. I go on about it all the time but it is so underrated and I don't know why! 

Also I recently had the privilege of being a guest blogger on Blue Eyed With Style - a fantastic blog run by the lovely Saranne Huxton. Check her blog out if you're looking for a good read, she has a great vintage style and shares lots of posts ranging from fashion, beauty, baking etc! I did a post talking all about my photography so have a look here if you're interested. 

That's all for this post, I hope you're all well.

Twitter | Photography Page | Instagram

New In: MAC Rebel

Hello Readers,

Today I will be talking about a lipstick which came into my life a little while back and I think it's about time I shared it with you all. Back in January I entered a MAC lipstick giveaway which was being hosted by the lovely Alice from The Fairest Of Them. I was fortunate to have won and Alice was in contact straight away asking me which shade I would like. Originally I was torn between two shades but in the end settled for the blogger favourite that is Rebel. 

When my lipstick arrived (accompanied by an adorable little note from Alice, thanks again!) I was over the moon. Rebel is a shade that definitely does not disappoint! It's described on the MAC website as a midtonal plum which I'd say is pretty much spot on. It's a really lovely fuchsia toned berry / wine colour, I'll admit that in the bullet it does look a lot darker - more like a vampy, purple shade but it really doesn't transfer like that at all. It's a colour which is both day and night appropriate, although I particularly like to wear it when I'm going for a night out as it's the perfect shade - not too dark and not too girly!  

Rebel is a Satin finish, it dries Semi-Matte but with a slight sheen to it, meaning it's very comfortable to wear and does not feel drying in the slightest. It's surprisingly long lasting considering that it's not a fully matte lipstick, I find that I can eat and drink and it will stay put with minimal touch ups required! The only negative thing I'd say about this lipstick would be that whenever I do wear it, I do notice that it stains my lips for quite a while after. I mean if anything that's proof as to how pigmented it is, however I don't appreciate waking up the next day with really dark pink pigmented lips as it looks rather bizarre. In all fairness though I only use baby wipes to remove my make-up, so perhaps I'm not scrubbing hard enough! 

Rebel - Featuring my awful application skills.

If anyone is interested in giving this lipstick a go then I highly recommend you do so. It's such a wearable shade and would suit every skintone! I've already wore it countless times since receiving it and have noticed that it's fast becoming one of my most reached for lipsticks. 

That's all for this blogpost, I hope you're all well.

Oh and apologies for the messy nature of my blog layout right now, I'm in the middle of trying to update it and do something different with it but as I'm so useless at this sort of thing, it's looking a bit rough. Hopefully I can get this sorted shortly..

Shop The Stash

Hello Readers,

 

I was recently looking through my make-up collection when I realised just how many products I have that I just don't ever seem to use. I'm not by any means the worst for hoarding make-up, however I do go through phases where I'll buy a few products all at once and some just seem to never get used as I get overwhelmed having so many new things to try out. I've decided to "Shop My Stash" in other words, instead of going out and buying more unnecessary products I'm going to use some of the ones that I've neglected. I've chose a good range of products some which I have used, others which I have not. I aim to review these products in the near future and hopefully I'll have some new favourite products to share with you all!

 

The products that I've challenged myself to start using are;

Dainty Doll Concealer Shade 1
As you can see I've used this product a few times but not enough to have fully formed an opinion on it. I'm starting to run out of my beloved Collection Lasting Perfection Concealer so it's perfect timing for me to give this one a go.

Rimmel "Stay Blushed" Cheek Tint in 004 Sunkissed Cherry
Okay, I know I got this a while ago but I'm pretty sure I've only used it once. How terrible of me! I was meant to try this out so I could review it for my blog however I just never seemed to reach for it. It's very intensely pigmented and I think that might be what scares me!

  MaxFactor Xperience Foundation in the shade Light Ivory.
This actually used to be my go to foundation before I came across my Gosh BB Cream. I've used this since I was about 15 years old, (not this exact tube of course) and really like it. It really does live up to it's claims and can't wait to start using it again!

Collection's Work the Colour Eyeshadow Pencil in the shade Vanilla Sky.

 I've used this quite a few times and it's a great product, particularly for highlighting the inner corners. However as I don't actually bother doing anything exciting for my everyday makeup. I find that I don't reach for this at all which is a shame.

Urban Decay Cream Shadow in the shade Suburbia.
Again, I've used this a few times however because I literally don't bother much with eye make-up, I've found that it just doesn't get the use it deserves. It's a beautiful little product which I'm going to start using more often.

 ELF HD Blush in the shade Superstar.
I featured this in my ELF haul post back in November. In which I said I was yet to actually try the product, but from swatching it, it looked promising. Well I'm a bad blogger and haven't used it at all since! I really need to give it a go and hopefully will be able to review it for you all very soon.

That's all for this post. I hope you're all well!
I shall report back to you on my findings some time soon.

 



Best Products of 2013

Hello Readers!

Today I will be doing a round up of my favourite products that I've used throughout 2013. 2013 has been a year that has just simply flown by and during this year I've found some products that I really do swear by. I'll just say now as a little disclaimer that actually a lot of these products are ones that I seemed to have picked up towards the end of 2012, however they have been consistently used throughout 2013 which is why I included them in this post. The title may be slightly misleading but basically this post is just me showing you my favourite products that I used throughout last year.

 

 My first favourite product of 2013 is the Real Techniques buffing brush. I'm pretty sure I got this in the core collection towards the end of 2012, however it wasn't really until 2013 that I really realised just how good this brush is and I've not used another brush to apply my foundation since. I use this pretty much everyday and no other brush compares. It applies my foundation really evenly, quickly and just overall helps to create a flawless finish. I've never experienced any problems with it shedding, even after being washed multiple times. It's a fantastic brush and has truly revolutionized my make-up routine forever.

Next up is a product that really surprised me with just how much I grew to like it and it's this ELF Lipstick in the shade Gypsy. I ordered this lipstick on a whim back in November when ELF reached 20,000 followers on twitter and gave everyone a 50% off code with all orders over £10. I ordered a bunch of stuff and decided whilst I was at it, I would pick up my first ever ELF lipstick. It was only £1.50 so I thought I might as well pick up a colour I wouldn't typically go for and if I didn't like it then ultimately it wouldn't matter as it was so cheap. Gypsy is a slightly pinky / purple raspberry colour - although in the photos it doesn't look like that at all. I typically go for nudes, reds, orange shades or burgundy so this really isn't something I would go for, however it's actually become one of my favourite and most reached for lipsticks! The colour is really flattering on my skin tone and I just feel like it compliments a lot of the clothes I wear also. It just seems to go with everything I put on and is a lipstick that isn't too bright and in your face so it's appropriate for everyday use. It has a slight shine to it however I don't mind as this makes it feel more comfortable to wear on the lips, the only negative thing I could possibly say about this lipstick is that it's not as long lasting as some of my other lipsticks but other than that it's amazing, and for £1.50 you really can't complain!

 Next up is Sleeks face contour kit in Light. This is a fantastic little palette which I love to bits! I picked this up whilst I was in London in December 2012, and since then I've used it a multitude of times however I'm yet to even make a dent in it! This is the perfect bronzer for my skin tone, it's easy to work with, it's not orangey at all, it's really blendable and best of all can be easily layered. I love using this all year round as it helps to add a bit of colour to my otherwise very pale face. I also really love the highlight as it too is really buildable, blendable and suits my skin perfectly. I love using this to highlight my cupids bow in particular as it just looks so pretty! This compact can easily be used on the go due to the large mirror inside and it's small and sleek packaging. I love this duo and highly recommend it to everyone!

 Next up is a product that I rarely ever seem to shut up about but it's just so good so you'll have to forgive me! Surprise, surprise it's the GOSH BB Cream in the shade Sand. This is now my second tube of this product and I absolutely swear by it! I use it everyday and prefer it over any foundation I've ever used. Let me start off by saying that the colour is the perfect match for my skin tone, which I really didn't expect considering the name of the shade. I find it really difficult finding products that match my skin tone as I'm so incredibly pale so it was really did surprise me. This product has a really light, creamy texture which blends into the skin beautifully. It has a light to medium coverage, as you would expect from a BB cream. It sits lovely on my skin, not drying, cakey, or greasy at all. This product is also quite long lasting, I find that I can put it on in the morning, go work a 9 hour shift and come back with it still on, looking more or less the same as it did in the morning. This product just creates a your skin but better look, which I really like. GOSH is a brand that I so regularly overlook as I thought it was so overpriced however I really need to give more of the products a go if this is anything to go by!

Next up is a skincare product, now I'm not exactly the best person when it comes to skincare, I don't really know a lot about it and I don't really have a routine. Whenever I do have one I actually seem to find that my skin gets worse so I just use whatever and hope for the best. (Bad blogger alert) This is a product that I really love using when my skin isn't doing too well. I've been using it for about 2 years now and have gone through many tubes of it now. This is Simples Spotless Skin Spot Zapper. It's basically a roll on Spot Zapper which is really kind and gentle to the skin and helps to gradually get rid of any spots that you may have. It contains Zinc, Chamomile, Witch Hazel and Lavender. Zinc PCA absorbs excess oils and helps to heal wounds, Chamomile acts as an anti inflammatory, Witch Hazel helps to tone and tighten pores and Lavender calms and soothes redness. This doesn't dry your skin out like some other spot treatments do and it also doesn't have any off putting scent to it. Simple is a skincare brand that I really trust, I do really like the idea behind their products and haven't disliked a single product that I've tried from them. At first glance you wouldn't expect this product to last you a long time, however just one of these tubes lasts me for months! I honestly couldn't tell you the last time I picked one of these up as it was so long ago. This product has a roll on applicator which means application is simple (no pun intended) easy and clean.

 

That's it for this post, I hope you have enjoyed.
If you haven't tried any of these products then I highly recommend giving them a go!

I hope you're all well.

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