MONTHLY FAVOURITES | SEPTEMBER 2015

Oh. My. God. It has been sooooo long since I last blogged, I have been wanting to get a post up for ages but I have been finding it difficult to find spare time at the moment to get it done. But I have finally got round to it and my blog has had a wee make-over too - I hope you all like it, it's taken me a while to get it looking the way I wanted it to but I think I am finally getting somewhere.

I thought I would dive back in with a September Favourites post since I've been away from blogging for a while there are so many things I want to tell you all about so I might as well bung them all in one big post! 

Urban Decay Naked Illuminated in Aura - £22.50 

I seen this highlighter in the shop and I swatched a bit on my hand and fell in love instantly! It’s a shame it doesn’t really show up in photographs (I did try..) but in person it is beautiful. It gives the skin more of a sparkle than a dewy look as the glitter particles are quite big - but there is nothing better than a bit of sparkle! This also looks great dusted over your legs arms and chest when getting ready for a night out.  

Urban Decay Perversion Mascara - £17.50
Urban Decay Describe this mascara as BIGGER. BADDER. BLACKER. and they hit the nail of the head! This is such a good mascara, it really lengthens and thickens your lashes which is a miracle for me because I have the worst lashes ever. I could easily get away with not wearing falsies on a night out with this. It has a really big wand which has proper bristles rather than plastic, which I love. I have used this every day since I got it and I think I could be close to running out *cry* but I will definitely but this again. 10/10 Urban Decay, Well Done!

Anastasia Beverley Hills Dipbrow in Medium - £15.00

I mentioned this in a previous haul post before I had had the chance to properly get a good feel for the product. BEST THING I HAVE EVER BOUGHT! I feel like I am forever raving about this, I tell everyone that they need it in their lives. This is a game changer for your brows. I had always used a brown/grey eyeshadow for my brows before this. Use a small angled brush and you will be able to easily get the perfect brow in just a few minutes. Just remember with this a little goes along way and you can end up looking like coco the clown if you don't use this sparingly.

River Island Paris by Night Perfume - £12.00

This perfume is a hidden gem! When I wear it I always get people asking what perfume I have on and people are always shocked when I tell them that it was only £12.00 and from River Island. It really reminds me of the new YSL Black Opium, which I also love, except this is a fraction of the price. If you are a fan of light, floral or fruity scents then this one is definitely not for you. It is quite a deep, musky scent – If you like Alien or Black Opium then definitely give this a shot.

Left: Too Faced Melted Lipstick in Violet -  Right: Silk Creme Foundation in Beige Ivory

Laura Mercier Silk Crème Photo Edition Foundation - £35.00 

The Laura Mercier Silk Creme foundaton has been my favourite for a long time! It has now been re-formulated and rebranded as the 'Photo Edition' and is now being offered in moisturising formula or oil free formula. I repurchased at the start of the month and I have to say I still love it just as much. I was colour matched to the shade beige ivory the very first time I used it and again when I bought this time so the colours have stayed the same for anyone who was contemplating re-purchasing the new stuff. This is a medium coverage foundation and creates a gorgeous, flawless base for the rest of your make-up. Great everyday foundation! I do wonder how they have justified bumping the price up by £2.00 though....

Too Faced Melted Lipstick in Violet - £19.00

This is one of my favourite colours of lipsticks that I have ever bought. I have never been able to find a violet/purple shade that looks so bright once it has been applied. it is bright, long lasting, feels comfortable on the lips and I can't really say much more about it - the colour speaks for itself really. Can't wait to try more of these - I have the Coral one on my wishlist!

I put together an everyday make up look using the products I have just spoken about - Sorry about the lighting, I have lost the charger for my camera so I had to use my phone for pics and the quality isnt the best. 

This weekend there are lots of 10% off in the big department stores online and in-stores so , this would be the perfect time to pick up anything you have had your eye on or anything I have mentioned above. 

What have your favourites been this month?

Love,

ANASTASIA BEVERLY HILLS CONTOUR KIT

My first impression of this palette was “MEH! What’s all the fuss about!” But, then I seen photographs of myself on a night out wearing it and my face appeared much slimmer and a lot more chiselled than it usually does – SCORE, IT WORKS!

This palette is definitely for people who are looking for a more subtle, natural contour. I think to achieve a more dramatic look you would have to go for the cream kit as I think it would be a little more pigmented.

I have been using the shade ‘Fawn’ first off and using to sculpt my under my cheek bones, temples and under my jaw line. This colour is very subtle and usually day to day I have just been using this and it is enough for me – then on a night out or if I’m going for a fuller face of make-up I have been going over these areas with ‘Havana, which is the darkest colour in the palette, to add a little more definition. After I have sculpted my face I then go in with the lighter shades to highlight. First I use ‘Vanilla’ on all the high points of my face – cheekbones, bridge of the nose up to forehead, cupids bow, chin and jaw bones. I then use ‘Banana’ round my eyes – the yellow tone works well to hide any darkness that you may have under your eyes. Then I finally go in with ‘Sand’ which has a slight shimmer to it and I use this on the top of my cheek bones and on my brow bone.

I’m so glad I bought this and I could not recommend it any more to people reading this! It might be slightly on the pricey side at £38.00 but its sooooo worth the money. I feel that with other products I have used for contouring they all seem to have an orangey tone to the bronzers making your face look like your caked in make-up. The sculpting shades in this palette are very cool toned and are so natural looking on the skin. I don’t rate the shade ‘Sand’ very much though – I wouldn’t care if I never seen it again. I have loads more highlighters that I would rather use, I prefer a highlighter to make your face look glowy and bright and this one just doesn’t do that. They also sell the pans separately which is a great bonus so if you use one shade up quicker than the others you can buy a new one for around £10 rather than having to buy a whole new kit.

Love,

MAKE-UP HAUL: BOOTS & CULT BEAUTY

Hi Everyone, for this post I thought I would do a sort of haul post of the make up bits and bobs I have picked up over the last couple of weeks. There are a couple of more expensive items in there that I have had my eye on for a while now and the rest of it is mostly stuff that I have picked up on a couple of recent trips to Boots. I feel like this has ticked a good few products of my wishlist for things that I'm dying to try, but I've still had to reign myself in and regain some self control
in the spending department....so unfortunately the rest of the list will have to wait until another day.

Anastasia Beverley Hills - Pro Series Contour Kit

Light/Medium - £39

So, I've not actually used this palette yet and I will do a full review once I have had a good play about with it and see how I get on. I've heard great things and following Anastasia Beverley Hills on Instagram when they are constantly posting selfies of girls looking flawless wearing their products it was only a matter of time before I was sucked in and jumping on the ABH bandwagon. It seems like this is just one kit that every girl should own. When this arrived the other day I was like a little kid at on Christmas day! The packaging is lovely and I can't wait to try it! I am usually a fan of a cream contour product so decided to be a little different with this purchase and I went for the powder one. I've heard the pigmentation and staying power is great so I'll keep you posted on how I get on. 

Anastasia Beverley Hills -  Dipbrow

Medium Brown - £15

This is another product from ABH that I had been after for a while. I always hear Jamie Genevieve talking about this and see her using this in her YouTube make-up tutorials and her brows are unreal! I'm not sure if it is down to the product or down to her amazing skill as a make-up artist but her videos definitely sold this to me. Again I haven't had the chance to try this out yet as it only arrived the other day but again I will probably do a post on this and how I end up using it. Hopefully it will end up being more of a 'how to' post rather than a 'how not to' but we will see...

Eldora False Eyelashes

M105 - £7.50
These lashes have been popping up all over my Instgram with loads of different make up artists using them and especially Jamie Genevieve as mentioned above. They caught my eye as they are a little more out there than ones you can get on the high street. Other lash brands that have caught my eye on Instagram have all been based in the US which put me off ordering due to delivery costs so when I realised that this company was based in the UK I jumped straight for my bank card and ordered some! I believe you can only buy these lashes online at the moment but the delivery was very fast so its not that big a deal and also they are priced round about the same as lashes on the high street too. 

Revlon Photo Ready Airbrush Effect Foundation

002 Vanilla - £12.99

I was after a foundation for everyday wear that wasn't going to break the bank and would still keep my skin looking great throughout the day. I don't know if I'm the only one, but when I'm just going to work or just popping to the shop I don't like to go with no make up on (I would scare everyone away) but I also don't like to use my expensive make up when no one is really going to see me? This foundation seemed like a perfect fit for this and also, didn't break the bank - always a plus! I've used the PhotoReady foundation before and it is a great drug store foundation, probably one of the best that I've used. I would say this foundation is light to medium coverage if you build on it and it also had little micro flecs of glitter through it that makes your skin look glowy and luminous.

 Revlon Ultra HD Lipstick

Rose - £7.99

Revlon was on 3 for 2 in boots so as I was picking up the foundation I picked up another couple of things too - I'm never one to pass up a 3 for 2 deal! I've always been a big fan of  Revlon lipsticks - both the Colourburst lipsticks and their lip butters are both great so I was intrigued by these new Ultra HD's. I picked up the colour Rose. A pretty browny/pink Kylie Jenner type colour. The formula is very creamy - possibly a little too soft, but it smells and tastes amazing so that more than makes up for that small flaw.

 Revlon Photoready Kajal Eye Pencil

Charcoal - £6.99
Ever since I seen Victoria from In the Frow using this eyeliner in a recent tutorial I have been dying to get my hands on it! I think the colour is so unusual for an eye liner and it looked great with the pink shimmery eye make up that she used. I'm definitely going to be trying to re-create that look with this. The colour is called charcoal but it is more of a mid grey colour - I think it will be a great alternative to black liner with the summer months coming in.

Loreal Infallible Mattifying Primer

£7.99

I've never really used a primer before, sometimes I will use one if im getting ready for a night out to minimise my pores but It's never been something that I've done on a daily basis. I needed something to make up a 3 for 2 offer so thought I would give this a go. I wouldn't say that it's fantastic - it doesn't hide my pores, but that's not what it says its for I suppose, but it definitely makes my skin look mattified and I would say it increases the staying power of my make up too. 

Loreal Infallible Mega Gloss

509 You Know You Love Me - £6.99
I spotted these new Loreal lipglosses recently in-store and the first thing that stood out to me was the packaging. I think they have done a really good job on this product at making it look more expensive than it actually is. I'm not really a lipgloss girl but it looked pretty so I thought I would give it a go - and I wasn't disappointed. The Mega Gloss slides on to the lips and doesn't feel horrible and sticky like most glosses. I like to wear this with my Rimmel Kate Moss Lipstick in 28, looks great together! The shape of the wand makes it really easy to apply too since its kind of shaped to your lips.

What have you been buying this month? Any recommendations for products I should be adding to my wishlist?

Love,