Blog Sale is now LIVE

Just a quick update to let you know that my Blog Sale is now live. You can find it by clicking on the tab above or on this link here. All further details can be found on the page.

Happy Shopping :)

Soap and Glory Sugar Crush

I'm a sucker for fresh, fruity fragrances, especially citrus ones so this combo is perfect for people like myself. It was back before christmas when I was wandering the aisles of boots and I saw the Sugar Crush shower gel amongst the Soap and Glory goodies so I just instinctively picked it up. Then a few weeks later when Boots had reduced the Soap and Glory Best of All kit to less than half price,  was quick to pick one up! In this kit was all of their best selling items, one of which was the Sugar Crush Scrub.

The shower gel is more akin to a body lotion due to its consistency, but just a few pumps of this creates plenty of suds and lather that leave you feeling ultra squeaky clean. The scent is that of fresh limes which leaves both me and my bathroom smelling amazing for hours after use. 

The scrub is amazing for those days when your skin needs a little help. The sugar and macadamia and sea salt included in this scrub, along with lime and almond oils create the perfect ingredients list for a body scrub. It is quite thick and heavy in texture but I actually prefer it this way as it feels like it provides my skin with the moisture that it needs. The bonus is that my skin has never felt so silky smooth. This has the same scent as the shower gel.

The shower gel is available at boots for £6.50 for 500ml and the body scrub is available for £8 for 300ml. There is also a body butter available from this line.

Have you tried any of the sugar crush range? 

Casual FOTD

Sometimes, when I do my makeup I really like how it turns out, and other days I hate the way it looks but don't have time to re-do it. Today, I was getting ready to go meet a friend in town and I was quite pleased with the way my makeup turned out so I thought that I would do a quick FOTD. 

Products Used:

Nivea Primer

Witch Anti-Blemish BB Cream (I'm still on my foundation ban)

MAC MSF in Medium

MAC Bronzing Powder in Matte Bronze

Sleek Rose Gold Blush

Urban Decay Naked2 Palette (Foxy, Tease and YDK)

Rimmel Glam Eyes Liquid Liner

Soap and Glory Thick and Fast mascara

MAC Kohl Pencil in Teddy

Collection Illuminating Touch Concealer (to highlight)

Rimmel Kate Matte Lipsticks in 101

I didn't realise that I used quite so many products on a daily basis, but this is my everyday makeup. I quite like this look but will more than likely change it in a few days or weeks.

What is your everyday makeup look?

Urban Decay Naked Basics Palette

Since the release of this beautiful little palette, I knew that I had to have it! I love nothing more than a neutral eye, especially with easy simple colours all in one palette. 

The Urban Decay Naked Basics palette is the third offering from UD from their Naked Palette range. Their has also been other extensions to the highly sought after Naked range, such as the foundation, beauty balm and flushed palette, all of which I have convinced myself I need. 

The packaging of this particular palette is a world away from the Original and second palette. The packaging is slightly akin to that of Nars, with a slightly rubbery feeling but with less tendency to gather finger prints. UD have also shunned their traditional twelve pan palette for a smaller six pan. I actually prefer it this way as it makes it more handbag friendly. The palette also houses a full size mirror that is perfect for application, being just the right size.

There are 6 shadows overall, 2 of them being completely new shades. The shades included are: 

Venus: A creamy champagne shade that is perfect for highlighting.

Foxy: A yellow toned neutral shade that has been previously featured in the Naked2.

W.O.S (Walk of Shame): A peachy toned beige shade, featured in the Build Your Own palette line.

Naked2: A simple tan colour, ideal for creating contours and shadows.

Faint: A mid-tone brown that quite cool in tone.

Crave: A simple matte black 

The texture of the shadows are soft and buttery which make them perfect for blending. I've been wearing W.O.S all over the lid with Naked2 and Faint blended into the crease and outer corner. I'm no makeup expert by any means but the ease of blending for these shadows makes the application look flawless.

It may seem silly to buy this if you have the other two Naked palettes but I think that this makes for a nice little addition to any collection. Personally, I do have the other two palettes but I think that I will get much more use out of this due to it being majority matte.  

I would definitely recommend this to anyone who loves a neutral eye, or wants something easy to wear. This palette is available from UD Counters and online for £20

My Ombre Hair Experience

For a long time I've been lusting over ombre/dip dyed hair. I really wanted to do it to my own hair but couldn't decide whether I wanted to go Blonde on the ends or have a different, more unusual colour. Fast forward a few months and I had everything I needed to create the ombre look that I had been craving for so long. 

I have really dark brunette hair which is my natural colour but I have been colouring it for about 6 years and have never come away from my dark hues. So you can probably imagine that putting bleach on it would be a bit of  a nightmare. Luckily, I used to work in a hairdressers so I knew that having extremely thick and dark hair, that it could take a beating with bleach and wouldn't be too badly affected. The bleach that I used was the L'oreal Wild Ombre kit in number 3. 

After applying the bleach to my hair, I was instantly regretting it. I'm not really sure why but I knew that I would miss my long, dark locks. 45 minutes later, I was washing it off and really quite liked it. The result wasn't quite blonde but more of a copper shade that was really different. I knew that this wasn't the overall look that I wanted so I applied some Directions hair dye in Pillar Box Red. I left this on for a further 20 minutes and after washing it off, I blow dried it and instantly loved my new do. 

This is the overall look of my hair. I love how it looks different depending on the style I do. When I do an up-do I like how there are little flashes of red, and when it's up in a pony tail, the transition looks really good. 

I would definitely recommend ombre-ing your hair if you have been thinking of doing it for a while. It's really easy to do yourself, but if your not overly confident with applying bleach to your hair, then it may be best to go to a salon. There are plenty of different looks that can be achieved with doing an ombre so it's definitely worth doing.

If you've ombre'd your hair, I'd love to see it so feel free to send it over my way :)

Maybelline Colour Sensational Lipstick: The Vivid Collection

Prepare yourself for a rave review! I had seen these lispsticks on a few blogs recently and knew that I was going to buy them. Fast forward to a trip to boots and I had two of these babies firmly in my grasp. 

The colours that I picked up were Hot Plum and and Fuschia Flash. I was tempted to pick up one of the red shades but do I really need another red shade? Well after trying these out the answer is yes, yes I do need another red shade, so I will definitely be picking the red up. 

The lipsticks have a new neon coated pigment technology in them which makes them the ultimate bright lip product. Not only are these the most pigmented lipsticks I've come across in a while, but they are so nourishing. This is due to the inclusion of honey, which is a welcome addition as most neon lipsticks tend to be dry and chalky. Stargazer, I'm looking at you!

Fuschia Flash

Hot Plum (apologies for the crack in the picture just on the left hand side of my lips, I think it's a crack on my camera lens. It only shows up on a handful of pictures)

These apply like a dream! I've seriously never had a lipstick that glides on so smoothly, except from maybe the MAC Lustre finishes. One coat of these bad boys and they you have a smooth, opaque finish. 

The addition to these in the Maybelline line makes me want to have a party and let some streamers off! I'm really pleased that a highstreet/drugstore have started to incorporate brighter shades into their lip products because lets face it, it was hard to get a decent one, until now! 

I would definitely recommend these to everyone and their mum! If you haven't already been to your nearest boots I suggest dropping everything and going right now! 

These retail at £7.19 each and are currently on buy one get one half price. Bargain! 

Pucker up for Valentines

It's that time of year again when everyone gets their knickers in a twist about valentines. Personally, it's not really a day I think is necessary, why do you need a particular day to tell someone you love them?! But for those of you who are going out with your loved one, or fancy getting all done up, then here are my pick of the best lip products for valentines...

1. Rimmel Apocalips in Big Bang: For a classic red lip, this is your best friend. I like to team this with a simple black winged liner, and plenty of mascara for a complete pin up look. If you want to read more on them then I have a review here.

2. MAC Rebel Lipstick: This might not be the most traditional shade for a valentines day but its strong pink/purple tone will definitely make a statement, especially if your on a first date.

3. Rimmel Kate Mattes in 107: If you love a red lip, but don't want to go the classic route, then this is the perfect shade. A berry toned red that looks great on all skin tones.

4. Illamasqua Lipstick in Blaze: For the more daring out there, this is the mos amazing shade in the world! A bright red toned orange that looks amazing with a neutral eye! It's matte finish makes it extremely long lasting, even after a few valentines kisses ::)

5. Rimmel Kate Mattes in 101: This shade is the best one for those of you who don't want a bright or statement lip. This blue toned pale pink makes your teeth look shades whiter and is great if you want to have a more statement eye as it wont take the attention away from them. 

So whatever your plans for Valentines, I hope you've got some inspiration from this post about the lip colour to wear. And remember to take your lipstick out with you so you can re-apply after all that snogging! Although me and my boyfriend haven't planned anything, I'll still be applying a slick of lipstick an rocking the onesie! 

Look Beauty Brow Perfect

The one thing that has changed the most about my routine since I started blogging is that I love to do my eye brows now. I honestly couldn't imagine leaving them out of my everyday makeup now. Since doing my brows I've tried many different kits and pencils, all of them with different results.

I was in Superdrug this week and noticed that this kit was £3 off making its £7.99 so I couldn't resist.

 

The Look Beauty Brow kit is different to most others that are available on the market. For example Benefit Browzings kit has the one shade of powder and the wax along with the tiny tools. As does MUA Pro Brow Kit that has 3 Shades and a wax, again with the tiny tools. In this kit there are 7 powders that can be used to fill in the brows, all ranging from the lightest of blondes, to the darkest of blacks, all of which are perfect for brow shades. My only little niggle about this is that for someone like me who has dark brows, I'm never even going to consider using the lighter shades, so a few bits in this kit is going to be pretty useless. 

The tools that this kit comes with are actually quite effective. Normally, I don't use the little tweezers or the brush that is included but these are perfect for use on the go. My favourite items though is the stencils and fixing gel. The fixing gel is so much better than the wax that normally comes in kits. It blends in effortlessly so you're not left with those irritating bits that just won't go away, and it holds brows in place all day, right up until removal. The stencils are a miracle worker for me. I can never quite get my brows even so these really help, and they allow you to find the best shape for you.

Packaging wise, I really like it. Its really very  sturdy and with a great mirror that makes application a dream. I know that when I go on my travels this year I will definitely be taking this with me as I know that it can withstand the travelling and the mirror means that I can use that for all of my makeup application.

Overall, I really love this brow kit and think that is perfect for everyone. It is slightly more expensive than other highstreet/drugstore brow kits but it definitely is worth the extra few pounds. 

Do you have this kit? What do you use for your brows?

Giving my skin a break

After the busy few months that we have all had with Christmas New Year and getting back to normality it can be havoc on your skin. I for one have noticed a difference in my skin and no matter how much I increase my skin care routine, nothing seems to be working.

I've had breakout after breakout, pimple after pimple and discolouration like no-ones business. I've tried new foundations, concealers, powders, moisturisers, you name it and I've tried it! I had a rather long night out last night, and whilst my base on my face was fine, I couldn't help but feel that it could have looked better. When I took my makeup off, I was a little horrified about the way my skin looked. So I've come up with a plan....

I've decided to not wear foundation for one month. No matter how bad my skin looks and no matter how much I want to cover blemishes up, I will not use foundation.

The only thing that I am planning on using is my regular moisturiser and a little bit of concealer on my blemishes and under eye circles. I've been wearing this combination for a few days now and have come to really like it. I have noticed a difference in my skin so I will report back after 1 month and let you know how I've got on.

Fingers Crossed it will help :)



30 Facts About Me

I've seen this tag has become increasingly popular on the blogger and youtube community, so I thought that I would give it a go and allow you to get to know a little better.  Some people have done different numbers of facts, but I thought that 30 would be a nice amount. So here are the facts about me...

1. My middle name is Ellen

2. I study at Manchester Metropolitan University

3. I have a strange fear of mannequins

4. I have 1 Tattoo...

5...and 5 piercings.

6. I have an unhealthy obsession with lipsticks

7. I love travel

8. I can speak fluent Spanish.

9. I have been with my boyfriend Olly for 4 years

10.  I suffer from anxiety

11. I'm the first person from my family to go to University

12. The first concert I ever went to see was Hearsay. Cheesey.

13. I named my pet dog after Jackson from Hannah Montana

14. My favourite cocktail is a Woo Woo

15. I love London

16. I can't drive

17. I moved out of my parents home when I was 19

18. I don't eat red meat

19. Harry Potter is my favourite set of films

20. I aspire to be an interpretor for Immigration Services

21. I'm terrible at growing my nails

22. I have really wide feet, which is a pain when buying boots

23. I'm extremely proud of my Yorkshire roots

24. I hate socks

25. I'm obsessed with the legendary TV show Friends

26. Squirrels are my favourite animal

27. I have a fascination with heavy rain. I love watching it fall.

28. I've always struggled with my weight

29. I used to take guitar and singing lessons 

30. I have a rare form of asthma 

So that is the random facts about me. I hope you enjoyed it and feel like you know me a little better now. If you have done this tag then I would love to see, so feel free to link it below :)