Regretful Buys

I’m not a huge fan of writing these posts, I love to read them but I’d rather write about products that have made me a happy bunny. However, I’ve accumulated some products I don’t really get any use out of for various reasons whilst having a little clear out.

Umberto Giannini
I have two products from his range that I’m not fussy on, the root boost volume and the Backcomb in a bottle. I was particularly excited about Backcomb in a bottle because a few friends raved about it and who doesn’t love volume in their hair? Like most of these volume sprays, they made my hair dry and crispy, as if I’d sprayed too much hairspray. Ok yes that did mean my hair stayed in place but I like silky and soft hair. They both did the same thing for me and although they’re not terrible, they give you that messy beach look, I don’t reach for them ever and they’ve been sitting collecting dust on my desk.
James Brown Heat Protect Spray
There is nothing wrong with this, it’s meant to just protect your hair from heat but I’ve found so many better products for cheaper. It smells amazing though.
Cetaphil Gentle Skin Cleanser
I used to love this when I bought it because it removes make-up really well, however I don’t think it actually does anything for my skin besides remove make-up.
YSL Pure Rouge Shine Lipstick Number 18
What was I thinking? This lipstick is brown and glittery. It’s actually hideous on me but back when I was 16 I clearly thought I looked amazing. I don’t know why I still have it, I guess I find it hard to throw any YSL products away.
BarryM Nail Paint in 342 Nude
I love BarryM nail polishes but this one really doesn’t show up on my nails much and it’s not a flattering colour on me. I can imagine it looking gorgeous on tanned hands.
BarryM Lip Lacquer Crayon No.3
Sorry BarryM, I do love you I promise but this lip crayon was atrocious on me, it’s red and very glittery but makes me look like a 5 year old trying on their mums makeup.
MAC Lip Pencil in Naked Liner
I love MAC Lip pencils, they’re worth the money but this one doesn’t show up on my lips at all, it doesn’t even show up when I swatch it on my hand. It’s way too pale for me

Clutch Bag Beauty

I can see why men get their wires crossed about women and their evening bag choices but there are things they need to understand. The ‘clutch bag’ seems to be the most popular, they’re stylish, small and just complete an evening outfit. The biggest question to some men is why we bother having the bag when you just carry it in your hands anyway, why not carry the stuff in it? I’m constantly telling my boyfriend that this little bag, will magically fit numerous important items in it that will get me through the night. Even if I had nothing to take other than my purse and phone, I’d still carry a cute bag around with me because it’s fashion. Duh.
The other thing about small clutch bags is deciding which special items make it in there. There isn’t much room, some of us have a lot of beauty stuff because some of us aren’t lucky enough to have a face which looks perfect, doesn’t melt off under the heat of the bright lights and doesn’t get make-up smudged in questionable places. (I’ve had mascara on my chin before, how does that happen?) There is nothing cute about carrying a nice clutch which is lumpy and bumpy because there’s too much stuff in there. So what precious beauty items make it into your evening bags if you use a small clutch? Here’s mine;

I’ll take the lipstick of the night along with me, that’s a given, no matter how much I spend on a lipstick it will always fade eventually and need topping up. Vaseline is there incase of emergencies as always. I’ve always carried a mini tub of it everywhere with me incase of these ’emergencies’ but I’ve not actually worked out what the emergency could possibly be – extreme case of dry lip?
A small bottle of my favourite night time perfume, Thierry Mulger Alien, Moroccanoil to smooth any frizziness and Bobbi Brown powder for shine are my essentials. I take deodorant for obvious reasons and the hand sanitizer is just because if you go clubbing, you’d know how gross it can be.

All in all, I’d say I’m more of an ’emergency girl’ even though I probably seem the type to pack my whole make-up bag in there somehow. As long as my face isn’t shiny, my hair isn’t frizzy and I don’t smell then I’m content and generally trusting of the rest of my make-up.
I’d love to know what beauty items would make it into your evening bags!

High-End VS High-Street Fashion

I’ve collected a few snaps of fashion items from some of my favourite designers. I say ‘favourite designers’ as if I regularly shop with them, I very much do not but a girl can dream and dribble over her screen at them all can’t she? As much as I adore every aspect of the designer world, I’m also a firm believer that high-street stores will have very similar items for a teeny tiny percentage of the price. The quality might not be as elegant and the design not so special but I can’t believe how many amazing pieces some of the high-street shops have produced and for the most of us, it’s not a choice we have when it comes to spending our dollar.
Under my collection of favourite designer picks, I have tried hard to find similar items which are available for way, way less monies. I’m not gonna lie, I do prefer the stuff in the top photos but I think that’s because technically, I did choose some most-loved designer fashion and if I did it the other way, I’d struggle to find designer dupes I like as much. It’s just proof that if you’re lusting over a pair of £2,000 shoes, you don’t need to live your life in utter misery.
I will list the items below and put the high-end first and the High-street dupe after.
1. Louboutin heels – Kurt Geiger heels
2. Marc Jacobs bracelets – Etsy bracelets
3. Chanel dress – Karen Millen dress
4. Stella McCartney Sunglasses – Mango sunglasses
5. Valentino heels – Zara heels
6. Mulberry bag – Dorothy Perkins bag
7. Stella McCartney jumper – H&M jumper
8. Kate Spade watch – Debenhams watch
9. Marc Jacobs skirt – River Island skirt

I tag you all to do this little challenge, find some designer gear you’d love to own and look for the cheap equivalents.
Night night everyone xxxx

June Beauty Favourites

I managed to fall in love with plenty of products last month, some were past loves rekindled and others were new discoveries which I’m sure will continue to be favourites for the many months to come.

Crown Brushes Make-up Brush Cleanser
A brilliant and cheap (4.99) brush cleanser which works just as well as my MAC one – if not better! I love the crown brush website in general, they have any brush you can imagine with fabulous quality and a low price tag; when I saw they did a brush cleanser I had to try it out.

Garnier Moisture Match Protect & Glow
This is a bit of an odd story, I have oily skin so I purchased the matte moisturiser designed to keep oils under control which is the green ‘Shine be gone’ one – I didn’t like it very much, I hated the rubbery texture and didn’t find it to help out with my oiliness. On a whim, I decided to purchase this one because it’s summer and I like glowy skin. I actually loved it, it’s probably not meant for oily skin but if I apply it and then leave it to sink in for 5-10 minutes it doesn’t bring out my oils any more than an average moisturiser would. I love the smell, texture and brightness it gives me. Who would have thought I’d choose this one over the oil control matte one – can ‘oil’ be used anymore in this paragraph? Let’s move on.

Thierry Mulger Alien Perfume
This perfume isn’t your typical summery scent but it’s always been a favourite of mine and I’ve found myself reaching for it a lot this month, it’s a very strong and powerful scent – not one for those who love their sweet florals but then again, one sniff could pull you over to it’s dark side – that should totally have been their little motto line 😉

Model’s Own Coral Reef
Just a pretty Summer coral shade I’ve been loving.

Philosophy Purity Cleanser
I won’t say much about this here because I’ve very recently done a whole post on it – I bought it recently and been amazed by it, it removes my make-up, cleanses my skin and works as a toner all at once. Holy grail? I think so.

Chanel Horizon Blush
I purchased this blusher quite a while ago when I saw it on a department store website advert and immediately wanted it, the different stripes of pink are so pretty and when swirled together it makes such a gorgeous flushed pink.

YSL Rouge Volupte Lipsticks
I’ve found myself reaching for these two lipsticks a lot this month, I love them both equally and they are the shades ‘Peach Passion’ and ‘Corail Incandecent’ which are summer perfect shades. I really want more of these lipsticks because the formula is beautiful.

MAC Satin Taupe
I adore MAC eyeshadows, they don’t quite match up to Urban Decay for me but I do like all the different shades you can get – this is a greyish, silvery, browny taupe shade with subtle shimmer and goes really well with MAC All That Glitters or Urban Decay Sin.

Happy Wednesday lovelies xxx

Bright Smokey Eye Using Naked 1 Palette

I did a similar post to this recently and it turned out to be one of my most viewed and liked posts so far which I was so shocked by – I adore all things beauty related but when it comes to applying products and doing different make-up looks, I’m pretty average. I was a little nervous about posting it because I know some of you guys are so so good at doing make-up but as usual, you were all extremely lovely and supportive.
Anyway, I’ve decided to do another one on different look that I love doing which is a bright smokey eye, I know that sounds a little silly, surely a smokey eye is supposed to be dark not bright? When I do my ‘smokey eye’ look, I like to focus all the smokiness on my outer corner and keep the inside and the lid brighter so my eyes look bigger. I’ve used the Urban Decay original Naked Palette for this look.

These are the specific colours I used in order as marked by the X; Venus, Sin, Naked, Buck and Creep.

Firstly, I applied Urban Decay Primer Potion to my lids and then used Sin all over the lid which is a really pretty and shimmery base colour. I then took Naked which is a matte pale beige colour and applied that to my crease using a fluffy blending brush, Buck goes amazingly well with Naked because it’s a darker brown matte shade so I applied that to my outer corners and then under my eye to connect it with the outer corner to make a cat eye sort of shape, I took a clean brush and blended all this together. Finally, I used a tiny bit of Creep which is a shimmery black shade and applied this on the outer V of my eye using a crease brush before highlighting my brow bone and inner corners with Venus.

For the rest of the look, I lined my waterline with M.A.C Coffee eyeliner and used Collection 2000 liquid liner for my lids before curling my lashes and coating them with YSL Shocking mascara.

Mascara Obsession

I love experimenting with mascara, whether it’s high-end or low-end you can always find that mascara that wows you and brings out your lashes as soon as you apply it. If I’m honest though, all mascaras tend to satisfy me providing they don’t give me a serious case of thick, clumpy spider lashes. However, there are a few that go above and beyond just making your lashes look good and genuinely make them look longer and fuller; when I find that kind of mascara, it will forever be in my list of trusty mascaras.
I’ve pretty much tried all of the majorly raved about mascaras and many others but these are the ones currently in my collection. I don’t dislike any of them but I do have pros and cons for each one and thought I’d do a mini review post.

I won’t go into much detail about this one because I recently reviewed it in an empties post. It’s completely dried out and unusable now so it’s ready for the bin but still remains in my drawer. It’s the Rimmel Max Bold Curves Mascara and I didn’t have very high expectations of it before I tried it – I was actually quite impressed, it has a curved spoon wand which I love. The mascara formulation is nice, it adds thickness and length but it dries out quickly and there are better mascaras out there. It retails at around £7.00
I’d rate this mascara a 6/10

The YSL Shocking Mascara is the newest addition to my collection, I love the sleek gold packaging which is similar to the famous Touché Éclat highlighter by YSL. I was extremely impressed when I applied this mascara, my lashes were very bold and ‘shocking’ but I hate the brush, it’s small, plain and gets a lot of mascara clumped up in the bristles. It retails at around £23.00.
I’d rate this a 7/10

This mascara by Chanel is the Sublime De Chanel Mascara which retails at around £24.00. When I first bought this mascara I couldn’t get enough of it, it had the whole package and made my lashes fuller and longer. My favourite thing about this mascara is the wand, it’s like a little comb with sharp, small bristles which really separate your lashes and brushes through them. The price of this mascara makes this not quite a 10.
I’d rate this mascara a 9/10

I have done a review on this Maybelline The Rocket Mascara along side it’s sister mascara ‘The Falsies’. I did love it on it’s own but I’ve since gone off it, it’s amazing paired with The Falsies but on it’s own, I don’t get what I want from a mascara, I get lovely bold voluminous lashes but I find it sticks them together a little and doesn’t give me much length at all. It retails at around £6.99.
I’d rate this mascara a 6/10

I LOVE this mascara, it’s Maybelline The Falsies and it’s hands down my favourite. The wand is similar to Rimmel’s Max Bold Curves but it’s longer and thinner. The spoon-like wand really lifts the lashes and curls them nicely whilst adding length, separating the lashes and giving a little volume; it doesn’t give amazing volume but enough to be satisfied with. It retails at around £6.99
I rate this mascara a big fat 10/10.

I do love the volume and blackness that Diorshow Blackout Mascara gives me but it clumps my lashes together and dries out quickly in my opinion. It retails at around £23.00
I’d rate this mascara a 6/10

Benefit ‘They’re Real’ Mascara is so highly raved about and when I received a small sample size of it in my Elle magazine I was extremely pleased. I can understand the hype because it really does make your lashes look like falsies; it adds length, volume and amazing separation, plus the little spiky ball at the end of the wand helps to get right into the root. I really like it but I’ve never known anything as difficult to remove before be than this, it’s good that this means no smudging or budging but it means longer trying to force it off my lashes and more rubbing my eyes and it also tends to make my lashes ‘crispy’.
I’d rate this mascara an 8/10

Friday lipstick : YSL Corail Incandescent 12

 

I’m not going to even bother saying ‘oh my god it’s Friday AGAIN’ anymore because they’re always going to keep whizzing. However, it IS Friday and the lipstick I’ve chosen to review today is my YSL Lipstick from the Rouge Volupte Shine collection in the shade 12 Corail Incandescent. It’s my second YSL lipstick from this collection and once again, the packaging is stunning – I don’t even want to take it out of the box. I bought this last week and thought it would be more of a orangey toned coral but it’s more pinky toned – I’m a bit disappointed by this because I do prefer more peachy tones. The colour is such a beautiful Spring shade and it’s extremely glossy and moisturising, it looks bright but that’s because I’ve slapped it on to it’s full potential, it can be really sheer and pretty if you’d rather. It reminds me a little of MAC’s Impassioned which is a well loved lipstick of mine and a lot more matte.
Recommended if you like your bright, glossy, pinky corals 🙂

Designer outfit : A splash of red

Hi everyone, me again and I’m just sharing my outfit for today(!). A little bit more believable, this is the outfit I wish I was wearing today but sadly, I am not.
Blouse – Alexander Wang
Zebra jeans – By Malene Birger
Red heels – Miu Miu
Bag- Prada Saffiano in black
Sunglasses – Stella McCartney Cat eyes

Favourite lipstick alert : YSL Peach Passion

As some of you may know, I’m a huge lipstick freak which is why I’m so excited to have a new favourite. A few weeks ago I added a YSL lipstick to my wish list – I’d never owned or tried one before, eventually I bought one from the Rouge Volupte range in ’13 Peach Passion’. I chose this one because I thought it would go amazingly with blonde hair as an every day lipstick, it’s a pinky coral colour and I’ve been wearing it so much. The Rouge Volupte lipsticks are very creamy and can be as sheer as you like or as pigmented, since wearing mine, my lips have been so smooth and hydrated without the help of excessive lip balm application. This is how YSL officially described these lipsticks online:
‘A texture that transforms the lips with ultimate sensuality. Both light and covering, the cream texture becomes fluid on contact with the lips, for a delightful feeling and an exceptional gliding effect’.
The packaging of these are enough to make anyone tempted, I’ve never seen a more beautifully packed lipstick, sorry Tom Ford. I can’t wait to experiment with more colours, definitely a convert. What are your favourite ones if you’ve tried them?

Don’t forget to enter my giveaway here

My Valentines LOTD in Instagram

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY! I’m not majorly bothered about Valentines but use it as an excuse to dress all lovey dovey and girly in the day then sultry with red lips in the evening. I sadly have to work today but that isn’t stopping me from dressing suitably for the day, I’m wearing tight black Topshop Leigh jeans with a pink fluffy jumper and white lace collar top underneath, then my Mulberry Tillie to finish the look.
I have my new YSL lipstick in peach passion which I caved and bought after some of you mentioned how much you love their lipsticks – bad but amazing influences! My nails are Barry M in ‘berry ice cream’ and an OPI glitter over the top of certain nails.
Hope you all have amazing days whether you’re single or loved up! Xx