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. 

Easy Chocolate Biscuit Recipe

I've had this post stored away in my drafts for a while now as it's one I started working on in July before the whole hospital fiasco, so I figured it was about time I finally got round to publishing it. So admittedly this recipe was more a case of experimenting in the kitchen and seeing what the end result was. What was supposed to be Toffee Crisp Cookies sort of ended up being chocolate biscuits instead which made me feel ever so slightly reluctant to share the recipe, however they did taste really good so I decided to post it anyway. They're so easy to make and if you're anything like me and never have a cupboard stocked with baking ingredients then it's a pretty ideal recipe as it only involves a few ingredients (most of which you should probably have lying about anyway) 

You will need:

1 Cup of Flour (150g)
1 Egg
1/2 Cup of Sugar (I would recommend caster but granulated sugar is all we had)
2 - 3 Tablespoons of Nutella

and any additional ingredients you'd like to add, I decided to add in some chopped up pieces of Toffee Crisp for some extra flavour and crunch.  

First you want to pre-heat your oven to 180C. Then grab a mixing bowl and pour in your flour.

After that you then want to add in your sugar and your scoops of nutella. I added around 2 - 3 tablespoons.

After that crack one egg into the bowl and mix it all together until you have smooth consistency. Then feel free to add in whatever extra ingredients you want. I chopped up a toffee crisp bar and added in little chunks of that and then mixed it all together.

Grab a baking tray and line it with a sheet of baking paper. After mixing the dough to evenly distribute chunks of toffee crisp, you then want to roll tablespoon sized balls out and squash them down with a glass to create that flat biscuit shape. 

Then just simply place in the oven for 12 minutes and leave them to cool.

There you have it! A simple easy to follow recipe with minimal products involved. My only advice for this would be to make your biscuits larger and wider rather than small and thick, as the larger ones are more like a cookie whereas the small ones end up quite hard and crunchy. 

OOTD #27

I recently jumped on the sleeveless blazer bandwagon after initially being really against them. I picked up this little white one from Cameo Rose - a label stocked in New Look. Most of the white sleeveless jackets I've seen retail for about £30 - £40. This however, only cost £19.99, plus I was able to get student discount on it too so I ended up getting a really good deal on it! I wasn't 100% sure how I'd find styling the blazer as I have nothing in my wardrobe remotely like this, however I've been wearing it a lot recently and find styling it very easy. It smartens up the simplest of outfits, just like this one which consists of a really basic black dress and some sandals! 

Cameo Rose Sleeveless Blazer - New Look
Black Ribbed Bodycon Dress - New Look
Black Chunky Sandals - New Look
Round Sunglasses - Primark
Black Bucket Bag - Primark

Beauty Haul

Today on my blog I'm going to be showing you a few products I've recently picked up during my last few trips to Superdrug. I've been going there a lot recently, picking up little basic things for myself and a variety of make-up bits and bobs for the photoshoots I've been doing as part of my last uni project. So with that being said, I finally felt like I had gathered enough items up to create a blog post. 

I'll begin with the only skincare products I picked up. The first thing was a repurchase of a favourite product of mine which is the Simple Kind To Skin Hydrating Light Moisturiser. I believe I've mentioned this a few times on my blog before so I won't say too much about it other than it's a firm favourite of mine that I would highly recommend to anyone looking for a nice, light moisturiser especially for the Summer months. I then also picked up two packs of Superdrugs own Cleansing Facial Wipes for sensitive skin. They're really cheap and do a pretty good job at taking my make-up off when I'm feeling too lazy to do it properly so it's always handy having some of these laying around!

Next up is this Mitchum Roll on Deodorant. I've mentioned before on my blog that I'm really fussy with deodorants, I have no preference and find I get bored or go off the scent of them really quickly. I'm yet to find my perfect deodorant but I think (fingers crossed) that this one stands a pretty good chance. I've never heard of this brand before or noticed it in stores, however after noticing my mum had started using it and how good it smelt I decided to try it for myself. It was pretty cheap but so far I've been enjoying using it! I then also picked up the Miss Sporty Hollywood Lipgloss in the clear shade called Hollywood Boulevard. I'm not one for lip glosses however I picked this up to use for one of my photoshoots. I doubt I'd use this product for myself, however I will keep it in my kit for future shoot uses. 

On to eye products now. I picked up the Romantic Efflorescence palette from MUA which I've been looking at for a while and finally decided to try. It was only £4 so it was really affordable. I needed a purple eyeshadow for a 70's glam rock inspired shoot I was doing and this palette had the perfect shade in it so I finally had a reason to justify picking it up! I'm yet to really use this palette myself, so until I do I won't say much else about it. I also picked up 3 different eyeliners, I picked up my usual Collection Extreme 24 Hour Felt Tip Liner, however I picked up the brown shade rather than my usual black as I wanted to create a fake freckle look in one of my beauty shoots. Continuing on with my quest to find the ideal freckle faker I also picked up a brown pencil eyeliner from MUA which comes with a spooly on the other end. So handy and I'm pretty sure it was only a £1! I then decided to stray away from my typical eyeliner and went with the Miss Sporty Studio Lash The Miaoww Look Eyeliner. I've been using this for a few weeks now and I absolutely love it. In fact, I think it may even replace my collection one as my favourite eyeliner. The nib is so thin which allows me to create really precise lines and sharp flicks. 

I went a bit crazy for lipsticks as I was doing a beauty shoot which involved neon lip colours being the main focal point of the look. As I knew I was picking up multiple bright shades (which chances are I wouldn't ever use myself) I decided to stick to cheap and cheerful brands. I picked up two from MUA and two from Make-up Revolution - all of which I believe were about £1. The Orange Lipstick is from Make-up Revolutions Scandalous collection and is in the shade "Vice". The purple Make-up Revolution lipstick is in the shade "Depraved". The MUA lipstick in the white bullet is in the shade "Peachy Keen" and the MUA lipstick in the black bullet is in the shade Persian Rose. Despite all lipsticks only costing a £1, the colour pay off is really quite amazing. I was really impressed with how well they worked for my photoshoot and some of the colours could be quite wearable if a bright lip is something you're in to. 


That's all for this beauty haul, although I have been shopping again recently (whoops) so expect another haul very soon! 

Pamper Evening

Every now and again it's always nice to have a little pamper evening and treat yourself. As I briefly mentioned in my last post I've had a bit of bad luck with my health recently and after numerous blood tests, doctors appointments and the surprising admission into hospital I have actually been diagnosed with Crohns disease. A long term condition with no current cure. So with that being said after a bit of moping around and feeling sorry for myself I decided I was definitely in need of a little pamper evening! So here's a round up of some of the products I reach for when I'm in need of a little pick me up..

Let it be said now that I have a rubbish skin care routine, I make no effort with my skin so when I do have a pamper evening I really like to give it a deep cleanse. Although not everybody's cup of tea I personally really like to use pore strips as I do get quite a lot of blackheads. There's something just so strangely satisfying about ripping one of these off and seeing how many blackheads you've been able to get rid of. (Gross but accurate right?) I don't tend to have a favourite brand, I just tend to pick up whatever happens to be on offer at the time. On this particular occasion I just so happened to have the T-Zone nose strips although I do also use Superdrugs own brand ones from time to time.

Afterwards I like to use a face mask, my favourite one at the moment is the Seaweed Ionic Clay Mask from The Bodyshop. This face mask is catered towards those with more Combination / Oily skin as it does contain alcohol and therefore really does draw out any excess oils and dry the skin out. The Bodyshop recommend using this up to two times per week however I personally think for my skin that's a little excessive which is why I chose to use it very occasionally. If I'm having a bad time with spots or if I'm having a pamper evening I'll simply apply a thin layer of this, leave it for 10 minutes and then wash it off in the sink or in the shower. It really helps dry out any spots you may have and leaves the skin feeling really tight and clean.

After I've cleansed my skin I like to use a little of my Simple Kind To Skin Hydrating Light Moisturiser to help return some of moisture back into face and to overall help feel really refreshed and clean. As I've said before on my blog this is such a lovely moisturiser, it feels so lightweight and not greasy in the slightest so it's perfect to pop on just before jumping into bed or in the Summer when it's too hot for heavy products.

 If I've had a shower I also like to sit down and take the time to moisturise my body, focusing particularly on my legs and feet as I find they get quite dry from time to time. For this I use The BodyShop Satsuma Body Butter which retails for about £5. This body butter is really thick, creamy and luxurious so you don't need to use a lot of product. I will warn you however that the scent is a dividing point. It is incredibly strong and does hang about so if you don't like strong smelling products or the smell of Satsuma then this isn't the product for you! This product leaves my skin feeling really hydrated, really soft and I truly feel pampered after using it. 

After all that pampering it's time to light a candle, settle down in some comfy pyjamas and pull out a good book. The candle I have at the moment is a Pink Dragon Fruit one by Yankee Candle which smells lovely although my personal favourite has to be the Strawberry Buttercream one which is to die for! The book I'm currently reading is 50 Ways To Find A Lover by Lucy - Anne Holmes, I'm not very far into it so there's not much I can say for now other than the fact that it's the ideal sort of book for me. Light hearted, amusing and easy to get into. An ideal book to wind down with after a stressful day! The chocolate is optional of course but come on, what's a pamper night without a bit of chocolate?

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

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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Easy Halloween Make-up; Blood and Bruises

Hello Readers,

As the countdown to Halloween continues I'll be doing yet another Halloween Make-up post for you all. However this time I'll be showing you a much easier look which you'll be able to create in about 5 minutes time. Yes, it really is that simple! This is a look that you should be able to create with things you have lying about in your makeup kit, so this is the ideal look for any last minute parties or events you have to go to. So enough chatting and on with the post!

What You'll Need To Create This Look:
- False Eyelash Glue
- Black, Brown, Purple Eyeshadow

- Red Lipgloss
- Red Lipstick


This look consists of an open wound, a bruised / black eye and a bloody nose however you can easily manipulate this look and make it your own, simplify it, make it more dramatic. Whatever you like!

Step 1:
Choose where abouts on your face you want to make your wound. As you can see from my images, I chose to create the wound on the highpoint of my left cheek. To create this wound you want to apply some eyelash glue to your face in whatever shape you like. I went for a medium sized circle shape. Leave the glue to dry for a few minutes until it starts to become tacky. As soon as the glue has become tacky, take either a wooden manicure stick or the back of a small eye make-up brush and begin to carefully pick away at some of the glue, to create a sort of peeled skin kind of look. After you've finished shaping your wound, we're ready to move onto the next step.

Step 2:

Taking your red lipstick, you want to dab a little on the area where the glue is. Then you want to begin to blend the lipstick in so the red isn't too intense. Keep dabbing until you're happy with how the red looks, this will help make the wound look fresh, sore and more realistic.

Step 3:

Taking your purple and brown eyeshadow, you then want to begin shading around and inside the area of the fake wound. This helps to make it look more realistic and creates a sort of bruised look. Also at this point, you'll want to begin using these same eye shadow colours as well as the black one to create your bruised eye.

Step 4:

Taking your red lipgloss, dap some onto your fake wound. The lipgloss will act as fake blood, and will also help to create a more realistic wet texture and shine to the wound. This will make it look more realistic and overall more believable. Taking the same red lipgloss, use it to create your fake nose bleed. Using a lip brush will make the application of this much easier.

Step 5:

After creating the blood for your nose bleed, go in again with your purple and black eyeshadows. Use these eyeshadows around your nostril and in random places through out the trail of fake blood. This helps to give the blood a more realistic look and adds more dimension to it.

So there you go, an easy look created in 5 steps. The key to this look is to blend, blend, blend. Other than that there's not really many ways you can go wrong! Once again, I hope I haven't made this explanation too long winded but I assure you it's super simple and extremely effective. The first time I created this look I genuinely freaked my mum out as she thought it was real!

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

Empties #1

 

Hello Readers,

It's been a while since my last post so apologies for that. I've been suffering from a bit of writers block recently and had no idea what to do a post on. However I was looking around my flat this evening when I realised that I have a fair few empty products laying around. I've never done an empties post before so I hope this is some what interesting for you all to read.

First up is the L'Oreal Elvive Colour Protect Shampoo and Conditioner. I recently dyed my hair a few weeks back and have been using these since. I only used a semi - permanent hair dye and I'd say this combination definitely helped my hair colour last longer. I normally find that all hair dyes seem to fade on me within 2 weeks max, but by using these I've managed to keep my hair colour quite dark for just over a month. I really like these for maintaining hair colour, however I'm not sure if I would repurchase as I really need to buy shampoos that will help control my extremely frizzy and wavy hair. So if anyone could recommend some shampoos for me that would be great!

 

Next is this Boots Botanics Rosewater Toning Spritz. I've had this product for months and have only just finished it. I use this product twice a day, once after I've exfoliated In the morning, and at night after I've took off my make-up and cleansed my skin. I really enjoy using this product and I feel like it really does freshen my skin and cleanse any remaining impurities. I would definitely repurchase this again. I featured this product in my skincare routine post which you can see here.

 

Next up is this Simple Spotless Skin Rapid Action Spot Zapper - phew! What a mouthful. I talk about this product quite frequently on my blog. I've gone through many tubes of this. It helps to gradually get rid of my blemishes without trying out my skin or irritating it. Simple is a great brand and I highly recommend them.

 

Next up is something that's quite dull however I thought I'd feature it anyway. I finished this pack of 100% Pure Cotton Wool pads. Again, I go through loads of packets of cotton wool and will continue to purchase packets of it as they're handy to use when taking off your makeup.

 



Finally the last item I have to feature in my empties is this pack of Osiris Deep Cleansing facial wipes. I picked up 3 packs of these wipes for a £1 in Asda, a month or so back when I was picking up bits and bobs for my holiday to Zante. I've never heard of this brand before and if I'm honest, I don't know anything about them still. I don't think I'll be buying these wipes again however as I feel like they have irritated my skin. Although I'm not 100% sure, I do think these wipes may have been the culprit.


That's all for my first Empties post. I hope this has been somewhat interesting for you!

I hope you're all well.

Paige.