Tartan

Stripy

Discovery: an old favourite

I brought woodwinked from MAC many a moon ago when I was in America and used it religiously but then just completely forgot about it until recently. 

I was sorting out my makeup drawer and found it in a palette so decided to give it a go and try a different look. 

I also recently went blonde....again so my hair is a little yellow as I need to tone it. 

I think this is a lovely colour to use on your lids and now I've re-discovered it I'm going to make sure it goes into my permanent makeup collection. 

I would however love to get some new MAC eye shadows so can any recommend anything? 

July Favourites

I've been super busy in July without going in to too much detail we had a family grievance so my mind has been a bit preoccupied, however life must go on and it doesn't do well to dwell so without further adieu my July favourites which consists of 2 items both food based...surprise surprise.

First item up is this green tea and mint tassimo pod, I know not everyone has a tassimo machine but if you do get these they are so refreshing and I love drinking them from a little cup and saucer whilst catching up on emails and getting ready for the day.

Last favourite is coconut oil. I know everyone has been raving about coconut oil and forgive me for jumping on the bandwagon but this stuff really is amazing. I haven't used it to it's full potential but have been putting it on my face and my skin is loving it. 

I will be doing a more in-depth review of this so watch out for that.

Has anyone else tried these products? 

If so what do you think? 

60's inspired flick

I am a little bit addicted to watching beauty guru's on youtube and saw a video by PIXIWOO on their youtube page of a Laura Mvula inspired look and well I loved it so thought I would give it a go but make it more wearable for a day time look, despite the gorgeous cat eye flick I feel like I couldn't go about my day to day business with such a dramatic eye and so feel their look is fabulous for a night out whereas I have played it down a notch.

To create this look I used the MUA palette in matte nudes, HD brows palette, Hoola Bronzer by Benefit and the Topshop Brighten Up pen.
I love neutrals on my eyes anyway as I feel it really suits me but would love to be a bit braver and go for something brighter so that is a personal challenge to myself.
As for the flick I am awful at eye-liner flicks but have seen the benefit push up eye-liner which is on my must buy list as so many people have claimed it makes eye-liner so much easier so hopefully a review of that will be up soon.

Watch the pixiwoo video <a href="http://youtu.be/2IIOp0MH7go?list=PLp3X8qeGtLO8IIpcLXMIYHnoLhAMpXNup">here</a> 

Bare eyes and lips: Dior bb creme

I love love love getting wee little samples in high end magazines and yet I always seem to leave them in a pile and then throw them out so when this sample was in Elle I believe it to be I thought no! I'm going to try this out right now and see what I think.

Now obviously with these samples it's not going to be the right colour for your skin-tone, this one for me was a little dark to the point where when my boyfriend got home he exclaimed,

 "you put bloody tan on your face", but that is another story. 

The texture of the cream was quite liquidy (I know that's not a word but it feels right) I'm used to BB Creams being a little firmer in consistency this is the same sort of texture as YSL touche eclat foundation, which immediately had me thinking wow this is going to go on fantastically. 

However I digress, the application was a little messy I warmed it up between my fingers and patted it on then buffed in using the real techniques buffing brush, but like I said it seemed messy and didn't seem to go on well at all. 

It left a shiny dew to my face which I normally like but this seemed too shiny as you can see in the top right hand photo. 

The coverage however I felt was quite good in terms of going over and covering certain flaws and leaving a flawless base, I would describe it as a medium coverage. 

The finished look is the cream with a powder over the top as I didn't want to leave the house looking shiny especially in the weather we have been having. 

Overall I would say this cream is great for those with dry skin looking for a dewy glow but for girls like me with already quite oily skin I would steer clear.

Has anyone else tried this product?

If so what are your thoughts? 

Did you have a better time with it than me?

Feeling Blue

Recently I've been noticing a lot of blue makeup looks in magazines and online so thougt I'd give it a go to see how wearable the look actually is.

I chose to go with a light almost sky blue with a slight metallic finish which is out of the Topshop smoky eye palette in constellation.

On the photo it looks almost silver but trust me it is a light blue colour.

The wear on this eyeshadow wasn't too bad with a little bit of fallout but nothing too major that couldn't be sorted with a quick once over.

Overall this look was maybe for me a trusted brown eyeshadow sorted of girl was a little too much for the day but with a little black eyeliner and a more defined crease I think this look would be fantastic for a night out. 

Has anyone else seen any blue inspired looks they want to try? 

I think I'm going to try the blue eyeliner look next! 

Challenge Spend Less: Beauty and Fashion

I am currently on a mission to spend less money and be debt free by December 2014 so I can go into the new year with a clear mind and healthy spending habits.
So to aid my mission I've set myself a challenge to not buy any beauty products if I already have a few bottles or products of it already.
I'm also going to delve into my wardrobe and try and wear some items I haven't worn in a while and if I can't wear them sell them on eBay or give to charity. All the details for this challenge will be in a separate blog post but essentially I can't buy any clothes for myself unless the item is £10 or less.

Anyway onto the beauty side of the challenge:
I have loads of lipsticks, foundations,  highlighters and eye-shadow palettes my challenge is to use up what I have before buying any more.

Just a small selection of what I have. Need to use one before I buy another one.

Challenge 1: Lipsticks
I'm not saying I have loads of lipsticks by any means well not compared to some people but I have more than my fair share. The challenge I've set myself is the standard use one before you buy another one this could take weeks in fact no months but does mean I'm more likely to use my lipsticks as I have been neglecting them lately.

Need to use all these bad boys

Challenge 2: Highlighters
I have 4 different highlighters and I intend to use all 4 before buying another one. Not only will this help with spending less but will also help me make an informed decision on which one I like the best or whether I'd want to try a completely new one by the time they are all used up.

Need to use 2 of these fully before committing to another foundation

Challenge 3: Foundations
I have 9 foundations/tinted moisturisers I only have one face. Now I know I need different foundations for different occasions and one for day one for evening and so on, but I'm buying some and forgetting and neglecting others already in my collection.
My mission is to use 2 of my foundations fully before buying just one, so if I want to buy 2 new foundations I have to use up 4 of my foundations.
I think this will help me because A: I'm not spending money and B: I'll be more likely to make an investment purchase as I will want a really decent product to use.

These are the ones I'm aiming to use up: From top Left going clockwise:
Topshop Constellation Palette
MUA Undressed Palette
MAC Quad Palette
MUA Ever After Matte Palette

Challenge 4: Eyeshadow
I have a ridiculous amount of palettes and just general loose eye shadows. For this challenge I'm going to use up 2 of my palettes before buying any more. I also have an Urban Decay set I've had for years but have desperately wanted one of the Naked Palettes so before committing to purchasing one I have to use up all of my current one.


Those are my challenges this could take a long time but I'm ready for it and will post updates as and when they come along.
Anyone else done anything else like this either to save money or try and make more space for more cosmetics?

Graze Breakfast

With an attempt to try and eat healthier I recently signed up to receive the Graze Breakfast Variety Box. I was getting fed up of just having toast for breakfast or even getting hungry at work because I naughtily skipped breakfast. So when I saw these advertised I thought why not get a bit of variety in my life. 

The box came with 4 different cereals which all come in a pre-portioned packet with the calorie content printed in a handy leaflet inside the box. 

Toasted Quinoa Granola, Summer Fayre, Pomegranate and Blackcurrant Muesli and Honey Hunter came in my first box. 

I've only tried one so far the Honey Hunter which consisted of oats and seeds with a subtly honey flavour which I thought was great as sometimes honey products can be a bit too overpowering. 

This particular bag was the most calorie heavy being 404 calories a bag whereas Summer Fayre has 215 calories, but they are great for those who are on a calorie controlled diet. I used  Koko dairy free which is an alternative to milk as I'm trying to reduce my dairy intake and make swaps for a healthier lifestyle but that's another post all together. Filled with fibre they keep you full for ages as well. 

The only downside is maybe mixing the cereal bags with some breakfast bars for those on the go so if like me you have work at 6am in the morning when it comes to 9am in the morning you have some fuel for your body in a handy bar form.

With that being my only gripe I must say I am quite impressed. £3.99 a box if you want it weekly with your first order only £1.99. 

Has anyone else had a breakfast box? 

If so what did you get and what did you think? 

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Avon beauty balm

Avon beauty balm - I wasn't expecting miracles with this product but was pleasantly surprised. 

I ordered this before going on holiday and have subsequently come back with slightly darker skin and was worried this product wouldn't work but after blending it in by warming it up with my fingertips and patting it on my skin then using real techniques buffer brush to work the product in, I noticed it worked quite well.

In the pictures I'm only wearing the beauty balm and a slick of mascara

The first picture is the initial application whereas the 2nd picture was taken after a day of wear, in the hot sun no less.

I feel it stayed well on the skin and had a nice glow to it. It does feel slightly greasy after a couple hours but nothing a bit of powder can't fix. This isn't a high coverage by any means but perfect for everyday when you just need to put a bit of war paint on to battle throughout the day. 

I have subsequently used this product as a base for my regular foundation for a slightly more flawless look and thought it looked quite seamless especially for a night out. 

Has anyone else used this product?

If so what did you think? 

Avon Haul

I never normally shop at Avon albeit the odd few times and am constantly hearing good things said about it so when my friend told me she was doing Avon I thought I'd give it a go and I must admit I'm rather impressed with my goodies.

Excuse the crumbled bag.

My swag consists of the skin so soft dry oil which claims to hydrate without leaving a greasy residue. 

Avons beauty balm which is essentially a bb cream I just wanted something easy to apply that I could wear everyday and leave my expensive foundations for special occasions. 

I also got the pore penetrating facial scrub which came with a free little face scrublet to really work the product in. 

I'm yet to really use all these products yet but I'll post some reviews up shortly.

Makeover

I'm currently in the process of re-doing my blog and giving it a slick of paint and fresh air and really making this more relevant to my life with outfit pictures, make up reviews and more about my day to day life.
My focus will be on budget finds and how to make do and mend and with a little bit of focus on my drawings and musings as well as general health and well being.
I will be focusing less on designers-( albeit still a little will remain, ) and try to make this blog relevant to the average 20 something girl trying to figure out life.
I'm going to end this blog with a picture of my pug, something for all you animal lovers to coo over.

Mini Haul

I recently went to the old faithful superdrug just for a look around but I can never resist picking up a couple of things. 

I saw the B. Range on offer at half price for each product and had seen it recommended in some magazines so picked up the B.Nourished a night serum and B.Pure a micellar water. 

I've never used a micellar water before but am intrigued on how effectively it takes off my makeup, especially that stubborn waterproof mascara grr. 

The serum is for use at night and recently I feel like my skin has been a bit dry and thirsty so hopefully this will bring it back to life. 

Revlon have recently released matte colourstay lipsticks and I loved the packaging so wanted to buy one, I know I'm a sucker for pretty packaging. I have loads of pinks but this one really stood out to me so off I walked to the counter happy to part with my hard earned cash.

The cotton pads are just common sense now aren't they.