April Favourites 2017

It's monthly favourites time,  I love looking back on the month and thinking about what products and things I have been loving. So lets just get straight into it...

Ted Baker Makeup Bag
This was the month where I really needed a new makeup bag, mine was very battered around, the zip had fallen off and it was just full of foundation marks. So I took a trip into Boots and found this gorgeous Ted Baker bag. The reason I love it so much, is that it honestly fits everything in! I am the type of person that will take a nude, pink and red lipstick and I will take a few different eye palettes depending on the lipstick... I am a nightmare. Also, how pretty is it? 

No7 Serum - SKINCARE
No7 launched their newest serum to their collection 'Restore and Renew Face and Neck Serum' which is for mature skin, to fade away any creepiness. I don't actually need that serum YET, but I did purchase their serum for the first signs of ageing. So far I have been using it for about 3 weeks, and I can already see improvements. Especially with my under skin spots *cry* they have really faded! 

L'Oreal Moistriser - SKINCARE
This is such a weird product and it isn't actually what I thought it was, I thought it was a serum type of product and I just threw it in my basket because it was on offer and I said to myself 'I will give it a go'. But it's actually a moisturiser, a lot like the Lancome Energy de vie. I have found it's really nice and cooling on the skin. Sinks in beautifully, a very watery texture, but I really like that. The only thing I will say, is that it is quite highly fragranced, like a lot of L'Oreals skincare. 

Maybelline Lash Sensational Mascara - MAKEUP
I have actually used this mascara before and I am sorry if I have mentioned it somewhere before. But I can't remember mentioning it, so I thought I would speak about it now. The reason I love this mascara is because it just seems to make my lashes look like theres lots and lots of lashes that I didn't even know I had. It's an amazing all round mascara, it gives length, volume and so much definition! 

NYX Dewy Finish Long Lasting Setting Spray - MAKEUP
Again a product I have used before and that I have repurchased this month. The reason I don't think I've mentioned this before is because back then I hadn't really tried many setting sprays, but now I have tried a few more. The NYX one is amazing for the price and the best one I've found in the drugstore. I love the actual spray on it, it doesn't just hit you in the face, its much more of a mist which is the real reason it's the best I've found. Also, it definitely makes a difference to the staying power of my makeup! 

DIOR Pure Poison EDP - FRAGRANCE 
This isn't a new launch for Dior, their newest fragrance in the poison range is 'Dior Poison Girl EDT' which is very sweet. However, I have come across pure poison  it's a very distinctive scent, strong but not too strong, floral but just incredible. I have been wearing this pretty much every day this month and I really love it! Not your typical spring fragrance, but one you NEED to go and smell! 

Alessia Cara - MUSIC
I have honestly been obsessed with this girl recently, I think her voice is amazing, I love every song she's made. I haven't really listened to anything but her! My favourite songs are 'wild things (acoustic version) and scars to your beautiful' LOVE HER

♥

Top 10 Beauty Products of 2016

HAPPY MONDAY 

2016 has honestly flown past, I know everyone says that, but really it has. I did this post last year, and it honestly feels like yesterday I wrote it, but its in fact been a year... a whole year. Anyway, I loved writing it last year, and I really like looking back on the year, looking at products that I've discovered and then putting them into one whole post of products I love. I will leave a link here for my post last year. I re-read last years post, and there has been quite a few new things which I have been loving this year and that I have discovered.

#1 Lancome Sourcils Brow Gel - Taupe 03
I just had to include this, because it really is all I have used on my brows for all of 2016. I just love this. I use a little angle brush from Zoeva and I just dip it into the pomade. Start at the tail of my brow and then just fill in the front with whatever is left on the brush.

#2 Benefit Hoola Bronzer
2016 was actually the year I purchased this bronzer. It's always been a product that I have heard of and wanted to try. However, 2016 was the year I took the plunge. Its just a great matte bronzer. I don't contour on a day to day basis. But I use this as my bronzer pretty much all over my face.. ooops.

#3 Zoeva Cocoa Blends Eyeshadow Palette
Are you bored of hearing about this yet? I got this for Christmas in 2015. I literally love it, the eyeshadows are so creamy, blendable and just fabulous colours! I have used every shade in this palette. Recently I have been reaching for more of the bronzy tones and that beautiful gold shade.

#4 Clarins Instant Light Natural Lip Perfector
I'm more of a lipstick girl, if I'm completely honest. However, when I'm wearing more of a natural makeup, or I've got quite heavy eye makeup and more recently... if my lips are much dryer, then I will go for more of a gloss. The Clarins Lip Profector, is just incredible, smells like candy and gives a gorgeous nautral colour.

#5 Sleek Highlighting Palette
I have been reaching for this highlighter the most this year, defiantly for the last 6 months. Otherwise it would be the classic Mac Soft & Gentle. However, Sleek is such an affordable brand. You get 4 shades in this palette, 3 are powders and 1 is cream. I'm more of a powder girl, but I have used the cream colour too. But my most worn shades are the bottom two, 'Subsolar and Equinox'.

#6 L'Oreal Volume Million Feline Lashes Mascara
Mascara for me is something I'm not particularly bothered about, every mascara seems to do the same for me. I do have a preference but I will just get through any mascara. BUT, I have found a mascara in the last few months of the year which I love. It makes my lashes long, curly and very black. Its from L'Oreal, which is great because its an affordable mascara. (All  L'Oreal mascaras, I love and would recommend). But the volume million feline lashes has been a favourite of mine!

#7 Chanel Vitalumia Aqua Foundation B10
I have discovered this beauty this year. It was more of a foundation that I use in the summer months, because it's a lot lighter in coverage, however you do not need much product! I love the shade, its very yellow toned, which is what I love. What I love the most about this is (well defiantly not the price) the finish, its such a skin-like natural finish.

#8 Urban Decay Weightless Complete Coverage Concealer - light/neutral
I feel like everyone went crazy for this in 2016. I use this underneath my eyes, I use the shade light/neutral however, I do think it's slightly too dark for me when I don't use fake tan. It's a light consistency, but has amazing coverage and really brightens underneath my eyes.

#9 MAC Minzeralise Skinfinish Powder
Oh my... How did I ever do my makeup without this product? I would say this is the best powder that I have ever used. I do tend to prefer loose powders for setting my eyes. But I love this pressed powder for the rest of my face. I love that it has some coverage in it too  because I feel like it makes my skin look flawless and is a great last step.

#10 NYX Soft Matte Lip Cream
It was very hard for me to pick one type of lip product (apart from the Clarins) and it was the toughest choice. So I raved about these in the earlier part of the year, they are matte but in no way drying. The colour range is amazing, the application is fab, the wearing of them is amazing, I just love these. There is only one down fall for me, and that is that there doesn't seem to be much product in the tube, it doesn't last that long until I need to get a new one. But they are very affordable!

Have an amazing New Year! I'm wishing you a lovely healthy, successful and just all around incredible year, roll on 2017! 

♥

Drugstore Products Worth The Hype?!

I have been looking at my makeup collection recently, and I have discovered that half of the products I slap on my face daily are drugstore/highstreet products, eg; from boots, superdrug, feelunique.com... blah blah, basically they are affordable. So I am gunna talk you through products that are affordable that are great and are just as good as high end products! These products have actually been hyped up by my friends, people of the internet and magazines. So you probably will recognise most of them and I believe they are all completely worth all the hype and praise they get!

Maybelline Colour 24hr Tattoo Cream Eyeshadows
These are essentially cream eyeshadows in a pot, which are very creamy and blendable when you apply them on your eyelid, then after you have blended them, they set. Then they just don't budge for the whole day. The way I use them is by applying them to the lid with my finger then blending them out with a blending brush, such as; Mac 217. The colours I have are: probably the most raved about shade - 35 On and on Bronze and 65 Pink Gold. They are both shimmery, but gorgeous colours. The reason I love them the most is because they are so quick and you can use them on their own or under a shadow as a base.

Collection Eyes Uncovered Eyeshadow Palettes 
These palettes really compare to high end palettes for me, they are around £4 and they are worth every penny. They are creamy, blendable, easy to apply and the shades are lovely and wearable. I find in the drugstore you get palettes and then the colours are like blue, pink, yellow, green and theres about one neutral shade in there, that I would actually wear. I think theres about 4 variations of these palettes, I own two which are: the nude palette and the nude rose palette. I would say I use the nude palette more, and the first two shades I have actually hit pan on! The nude rose palette I love the orange shade in this, it's such a unique shade and I have never seen a shade like this in the drugstore!

Soap & Glory Solarpowder Bronzer
If you have been here a while, you will know I love this product. It's my favourite bronzer EVER, I love Benefits Hoola as well, but I would say this tops it. I have gone through 2 of these bronzers, and I actually broke this one the other day *cries* but I still dip my brush in and try to use it without getting powder everywhere! Its just the perfect shade, theres two shades in this bronzer, one has got shimmer in and is lighter (I think its supposed to be the highligher shade - but it's a gorgeous tone) and then theres a matte more bronzer shade. I normally just swirl my brush in both and apply it to the cheek bones.

Collection Lasting Perfection concealer
Again, if you have been reading for a while you will be skipping this one, probably. I rave about this all the time, and so does everyone else! I won't ramble for long, but this is a very high coverage concealer, I use it for blemishes, not under the eyes because it's too thick. But any blemishes or redness, use this and say goodbye.

Loreal True Match Foundation - shade 1N Ivory 
I have recently loved this foundation, purely because of the colour I have found the perfect shade, and I have very pale skin so it's hard to find the perfect shade that is light enough, especially in the drugstore. The consistency is very lightweight, watery and blendable. If you like Lancome foundations, you will probably like the L'Oreal ones, give them a try, they are much more affordable!

Maybelline Eye Eraser Concealer
This is a dream to apply, its got a sponge applicator, which is a bit ming but also, its a lovely way to apply the concealer. I use this one under the eyes, because it's very creamy and gets rid of any darkness straight away. It really lifts my under eyes and makes me feel a lot more awake. Fake sleep with this concealer.

L'Oreal Paris Superliner Perfect Slim Liquid liner 
I was very late to the band wagon with this one, everyone raves about this eyeliner. So I finally jumped on, and purchased it. I am pretty crap with liner, I can never make them even and the lines just get bigger and bigger, until it looks hideous and I get a makeup wipe and remove it all. This liner makes lining my eyes and creating a flick a lot easier, this is because the nib is very small and bendy so you can create a line that is small and close to the lashes. It really has made liner possible for me.

NYX Soft Matte Lip Creams
Since NYX has launched in Boots stores, I have been obsessed. NYX is a very fun brand, its got lots of products which are very 'in' at the moment, like liquid lipsticks, contouring palettes and so on. However, I find some liquid lipsticks very sticky, they don't set right on my lips and they just clump up, does anyone else get this?! But these, OH MY GOODNESS they are amazing, they are so creamy so they don't dry your lips out, but they stay in place for a very long time. The colour range is amazing, they do some gorgeous nudes. I have 4 of them, I'm obsessed. The shades I have are; Cannes (MY FAVE) Stockholm, Istanbul and Ibiza. All gorgeous shades and I reach for these A LOT.

Real Techniques Complexion Sponges
I was very sceptical when these sponges came out, because I have always either used my fingers or a brush for my complexion. I always thought a sponge would just soak up my product and wouldn't apply right on my face. However, I tried one and I was pleasantly surprised, I always spray some fixing spray on the sponge and then apply the foundation and concealer with it. They are basically amazing for blending out any cream products. With your fingers or a brush you sometimes get marks or lines where the foundation hasn't blended probably, well buy one of these and say goodbye to those. It just blends everything in amazingly and I would recommend these more than anything else in this post!! GO GO GO (just laughing about the picture, literally looks like two eggs)!!

Thank you so much for reading, don't forget to add your email on the right hand side on my blog. This will just notify you when I post a new blog post! xxxxx

♥

My New Hair, How I Style It & What Products I Use

If you didn't know but since year 7 at high school I have been growing my hair, and by the time it was year 10/11 it was somewhere down near to my waste. I have wrote about my complete hair story, so click here and it will take you to that post.

So my hairs long, all one length, and for the last few months I have been having a love/hate relationship with it. I love it because it's so long, and it looks amazing when it's curled, straightened and basically had a lot of effort put into it. I also love it because I am proud that I have actually been able to grow it. However there are a lot of reasons why I didn't like it by the end, it took ages to dry, took ages to style, so most of the time it was just shoved up into a bun, and whats the point in having long hair, if its just in a bun on the top of your head? Also it made my head quite heavy and I just had enough by the end.

Therefore I went to the hairdressers and got it cut. I didn't want anything too drastic because I have obviously had long hair for quite a while and I was used to having it long. So I got some pictures of pinterest and showed them to my hairdresser. But basically I wanted some layers through my hair, I wanted a few inches off it, so it's had a good cut and I also had it washed and styled. I was so happy when she finished it, I was just relived I genuinely loved it!

I've now had my hair like this for about 2 weeks. I have found its quicker to dry and style and I actually do more with my hair now than I did when I had more hair and it was a lot longer. I will go through all the products I use on my hair, but I don't really use too many.

Shampoo/Conditioner
I basically use any, I'm not too fussy. But I do wash my hair twice with shampoo and one of the shampoos has to be my favourite one ever! Which is John Freda's blonde shampoo, it doesn't matter which (enhancing, moisturising..) but just one of the blonde ones, to keep the colour enhanced. I do normally use L'Oreal as well, I like their shine one (pink) and the thickening one (blue). I match the conditioner to the shampoo, so normally its' L'Oreal.

Serum
When my hair is towel dried, I like to add a serum. I do this because I feel like I've taken some moisture out of my hair by washing it. So I need to add some serum to tame my hair, but also add some shine and silkiness back into it. I go between a few serums, but the main one I use is Schwarzkopf got2b Oil-Licious Styling Oil. I have used so much of this, but it has lasted me such a long time. This is a stage I never miss out.

Lightening Spray
Also when my hair is towel dried, I sometimes use the John Freda Lightening spray, I don't use this all the time, maybe once I week. This is the same range as my blonde shampoo. If you are a blondie, you need to try this range - it's amazing!!

Heat Protectant
My heat protectant that I love and have loved for years is Tresemme Keratin Smooth heat protectant. The main reason I love this is because it leaves your hair so soft, smooth and shinny and obviously it protects your hair from the heat.

Styling
When styling my hair, I don't really use too many products. One main product which you would of seen in my july favourites   and that is he Toni & Guy Rough Texturiser, you can go to the favourites too see more about this product. But I use it on first day hair when it is very shinny and doesn't mould into what I want. This really helps add texture and makes the hair easier to style.

Hairspray
Me and hairspray have a very love/hate relationship. I rarely use hairspray, but I wanted to include it because it is a product I use when I've curled my hair, or really put a lot of effort in my hair and I want it to stay. Or I am really having a bad hair day and my hair really isn't doing what I want. So I have found the best hairspray is the L'Oreal Studio/Pro Boost It Volumising Hair Spray - Extra strong.

Dry Shampoo
With my hair I tend to wash it every other day, or every three days. In between washes, my roots do get a little bit oily and they do need a little refreshness, so I use a dry shampoo. I am not really too fussy with dry shampoos, so I switch between them really, at the moment I am using one for Aussie, its the Aussie Winter Miracle dry shampoo, I really like this range, it comes out in the winter time. The reason I have one still is because I stocked up last winter, haha! I do also like Batiste Dry shampoos.

Thats all the products I use in my hair, so the way I style it is really quite simple. If my hair is down, its normally platted the night before to give some waves, or curled in the morning. I use the Tresemme Heat Protectant on it when using the curlers. I also use the Toni & Guy Rough Texturising spray to give it a lot more texture to the curls.

♥

July Favourites 2016

Firstly I am so sorry that this post is going up late, I had a very busy end to July and start to August! July was a lovely month for me, I turned 20, booked a trip to Ireland, hung out with friends more and chilled in the British sun (it was actually quite hot in England - SHOCKED!!) Here we go though,a favourites  better late than never...

Rimmel London Rita Ora Nail Polish - 300 Glaston-Berry
I have been on the hunt for the perfect coral shade of nail polish for quite a long time now, and I found it in July! It's a Rimmel Rita Ora shade - 300 Glaston-berry, its a gorgeous coral shade, good name, its the perfect coral, not too pink, not too red but also not too orange. It was about £3 so good value too. The other reason I love this nail polish is because it actually stays on my nails. Most nail polishes I apply stay on for about a day and then actually peel off, in a layer... so weird, does anyone else get this?! But I find this Rimmel polish doesn't do this, it does last me about 4/5 days (which is amazing for me)!!

Giorgio Armani Si
I have been loving this fragrance this month! Normally I stick to my fragrances, either Chanel Mademoiselle, Alien or Mark Jacobs Decandance, but this month I have been loving Si! I do quite like sweet scents, but I also like them quite strong or woody. Si is a fragrance which I find lingers around on me a while, the bottle is beautiful and I just love the smell of this! I was walking to work one day this month, and I applied this fragrance before I left the house, and I got the most amazing whiffed of this scent! It's also perfect for a wedding... Si means Yes in Italian, and it's also got a gold ring on the bottle!! SO CUTE.

L'Oreal True Match Foundation 
I tried this when it was the old bottle and formula, and I didn't get the right shade, which is quite  ironic, haha. But I thought I would try the foundation again, in the right shade, and also because everyone always raves about it and I agree. It's a great everyday foundation, it hasn't broke me out, its the perfect shade for me and I am quite a pale gal, so it's hard to find the right shade. I use the shade Ivory - 1N for you people who are wondering. It gives a medium coverage I would say, is a very watery formula, but blends in lovely.

MAC Extended Play Lash Mascara
I have been loving this mascara for a few months now, but I like to change up my mascara and make sure I do actually like one, by missing it (if that makes sense?! - Probably not). But I love this because of the brush, it's a skinny brush but the bristles aren't plastic. Because the brush is small, the mascara doesn't go all over your face, it's perfect for getting the lashes in the corner and also on the bottom. I believe the mascara is waterproof, but I haven't had any trouble getting it off, or it watering all down my face.

Toni and Guy Texturising Spray 
I have tried many sea salt sprays, texturising sprays, volumising.. you name it, I've tried it. But late July I got my hair cut (post coming soon) and I needed a little bit more texture in it, because I've now got layers. So I thought I would try this, and I love it. It doesn't leave your hair feeling crunchy, and it doesn't look like you've got product in it. It just looks like its got a little bit more texture, the layers are more defined and the hair just looks like theres more volume.

♥