Week 7 - Essence 'Nudes' Eyeshadow Palette

This eyeshadow Palette was bought for me as a stocking filler for Christmas and I've come to love it already! One of the things I look forward to most about my days off, is spending my mornings doing my makeup and testing out new tutorials I've watched on YouTube. My morning routine when I'm not at work starts with checking my social media whilst I wake myself up, then before jumping in the shower I wash my face with Garnier Daily Energising Gel Scrub and brush my teeth with Pearl Drops 4D whitening toothpaste. I then use the Body Shop Vitamin E Eye cream around my eyes and Vaseline Moisturiser over my face and neck, and whilst I wait for my creams to set in I'll decide on what look I want to go for. Lately, this eyeshadow palette has become the base for every look - which is usually just a basic smokey eye as that's about all I can manage. Ha. 

The palette comes with 8 different shades, ranging from a pale cream to a deep brown. There are various shades that have a shimmer or metallic look to them, which creates more of a glamorous evening look. For the look in the photo below, I started with the palest colour over the entire eye lid, then applied the pale shimmer shade in the corners of the eye to brighten the eye even further. Next I applied the mid brown shade to the outer corners of the eye and the dark matt brown into the crease of the eye, and then of course - blended! Now, I am NO expert when it comes to eyeshadow, but I have found that the more times I've done this look, the smoother it looks.

This Eyeshadow palette was bought from Wilkinson's and it cost just £4. I can honestly say that for the price, these eyeshadow are the best quality I have ever found.. taking into account the 8 different shades. The colour is super pigmented and extremely long lasting, so it's perfect for a whole day of shopping or a night out with the girls. You can create a number of different looks including pale and natural, dark and smokey or super shimmery if your off to a glamorous party. Please, give this palette a go and let me know your thoughts on which eyeshadow palettes are your favourites! 

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Week 6 - Enhance and Glow Luminous Body Scrub

Week 6 - Enhance and Glow Luminous Body Scrub

Week 6 calls for skin rejuvenation! We're getting towards the end of winter.. we've had months of going from freezing cold, blustery weather outside to boiling hot centrally heated houses inside, and I don't know about you.. but it's safe to say that my skins starting to feel the effects! I think it's really important during the winter to take the time to look after our skin, because after all, we need to feel good about ourselves all year round! I personally try to allow myself 30 minutes every evening to scrub, buff, moisturise and attempt to tan my luminous, pearly white skin. 

Avon's 'Skin so Soft' Enhance and Glow Luminous Body Scrub has become my winter essential this year! It's a creamy, pearlescent scrub that has fine grains which feel soft on the skin. Before finding this product I had tried a few different body scrubs and I found them all to have quite  large beads that felt really rough on my skin.. but this one has got the texture just right. I use this scrub 3-4 nights a week and I absolutely love how velvety soft my skin feels as soon as I step out the shower. I also combine use of the scrub, with other 'Skin so Soft' Avon products such as the Enhance and Glow Shimmer Oil Spray or the Enhance and Glow Perfector Body Cream to keep the skin moisturised. The only negative I have for this scrub is that it doesn't particularly leave my skin 'glowing', however it's not too much of an issue as I often use a tanning moisturiser after exfoliating anyways. 

This product can be bought from Avon online, or if you have a local Avon representative that delivers the catalogue's to your door, it can be ordered and delivered to you by your representative. This scrub costs anywhere between £2-£4... I only say this because the 2 times I've purchased the product, it's been on different offers. (I have tried looking on the Avon website for the price but the website has been down all night, boo!) So let me know what you think of the scrub and tell me what skin products are your winter favourites! 😊

X

Week 5 - Nail Polish

Firstly, I'm going to start by asking how is it February already? I say this every year, but January always just seems to fly by and before I know it Christmas becomes a distant memory and suddenly my birthday's just around the corner (which I'm definitely not complaining about ☺️). So with it being Valentine's Day next week (eek, excited anyone?), I thought I'd make this week's post all about creating beautiful nails and I'm going do something slightly different. I'm currently training to become a nail technician, so for me, doing my nails is something I love to do and I can spend hours practising different designs.. which is why I thought I'd show you a few of my favourite nail designs and talk you through how to recreate them at home. 

My first look is very simple, just a standard rounded tip with the Maxfactor Glossfinity nail polish in the shade 'Flushed Rose'. I also use the Barry M 'base coat, top coat and nail hardener' before and after applying ALL nail polish as it really helps the look last for longer and gives an extra shiny finish. In this picture I have acrylic nails on, but if that's not something you want to have done, you can simply buy plain false nails - such as 'Elegant Touch' - and then paint them yourself. They come in a choice of a square or oval tip, and in the shade 'totally bare' which is a perfect base for applying whatever colour you like. I personally love the oval shape at the moment as I think it creates a more sophisticated look and it makes my hands look so beautiful. 

My second nail design is another simple one, especially perfect for a romantic meal out with a special somebody. For this look, I've filed my natural nails into a 'squoval' shape - square with slightly rounded edges - and painted them with Maxfactor Glossfinity nail polish again, but in the colour 'marshmallow'. I've then gone for a deeper pink from the Barry M nail paint range in the shade 'shocking pink' for the ring finger. To finish it off, I love to go over this with a coat of nail glitter from the Seventeen range as I think it really just completes the look. I'm absolutely in love with the idea of doing a different design on the ring finger to really make a bold statement.. you can go completely over the top yet it can still look elegant as it's just the one nail.

 

This last nail design is slightly more fiddly and frustrating to get right.. but once completed looks like you could've had it done in a salon. For this I've used the 'dusky rose' Maxfactor Glossfinity nail paint as the base colour and then left to 100% dry - this is always the tricky bit for me, as I'm just far too impatient!! Once completely dry, I used the shaped nail tip guides to create the gold triangle (I do buy mine from Amazon for 54p, but I believe you can find these nail tip guides in all of the drugstores, they're just slightly more expensive.) Once these are in place and they all look the same on each nail, I simply apply the Barry M gold 'foil effects' nail paint to the section at the end of the nail. On this occasion, I then added the gems which I again bought from Amazon for roughly 90p, using tweezers to place them on just afterI've applied a top coat.

Products mentioned in this blog:

-Barry M Nail Paint - £3.99 (currently 3 for £9 at boots right now)

-Maxfactor Glossfinity - £5.99 (Superdrug and Boots)

-Elegant Touch false nails - £2.99 (Savers) 
-Nail Tip Guides - 54p (Amazon)

-Nail art gems - 94p (Amazon)

Obviously these nails can be recreated with any colour and brand nail polish of your choosing, these are just my personal favourites. Barry M has always been one of my top nail products as they were the first to start all the different nail effect polishes and I've just loved them ever since. As for the Maxfactor Glossfinity.. they were actually a Christmas present which have turned out to be brilliantly long lasting so I've become a huge fan of them. What're your favourite nail polishes? I'd love to know, so leave me a message in the comment box below ☺️

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Week 4 - Seventeen Stay Time Foundation

'This full coverage foundation gives a flawless smooth skin finish'

Over the years I've been through countless different foundations.. some that I've loved and have been discontinued, some that were so hideously cheap that they did far more damage to my skin than any foundation EVER should! For someone who can't go a day without wearing makeup, and wouldn't dream of leaving my house without my full face on... it's important for me to have a foundation that actually looks after my skins whilst making me feel confident. Stay Time doesn't dry my skin out, it isn't oily or greasy, and it doesn't cause breakouts if I accidentally leave it on over night (come on - we've all been there, right?) 

Firstly, it comes in a decent sized bottle (30ml) with a pump that you can twist to lock and unlock. This is really convenient for putting in your makeup bag, as you don't run the risk of loosing the lid or getting foundation over the rest of the makeup in your bag.. which for me, can be an absolute nightmare! Secondly, it comes in an option of 6 different shades - porcelain, soft ivory, fair, natural, biscuit and honey - which I personally think covers quite a varied range of skin tones. I use the shade 'fair' during the winter, then 'natural' during the summer when I actually have a slight hint of a tan (roughly the 3 weeks of our British 'summer'). 

Now onto the actual foundation. To apply it, I use my foundation brush to buff it into my skin which I find blends really smoothly and genuinely does leave me with a flawless looking complexion (as it states on the bottle). It has a  matte finish, which isn't for everyone.. but somehow it also doesn't feel too heavy on the skin. I pair it with the Stay Time Primer (also from the 'Seventeen' range) and it definitely does stay put for the vast majority of my 8 hour day at work. Working in the kitchen of a greasy café, I often feel like my skin itself gets quite greasy by the end of a shift, leaving my foundation to disappear slightly. Although I think that this environment would do the same with ANY foundation, so I wouldn't take that as negative.. just a massive downside to my job.

So.. if your anything like me, and you want a full coverage look, or if you just need your foundation to stay put during a busy day - then this one will be perfect for you. However, if you prefer a more subtle foundation on a day to day basis, I'd still suggest giving it a try.. just maybe for a night out or a special occasion when you want to look slightly more glamed up, rather than just during the day. 

This foundation is £6.49 and can be found in all both boots and Superdrug. The Primer that I mentioned from the same range is £5.49, and definitely worth using them together if you want that lasting finish. Let me know what you think in the comment box below guys.

X 

       

Week 3 - Lush Bubblegum Lip Scrub

"This sugary perfectly pink polisher keeps lips in tip top condition and tasting of candy floss"

This week's product was a completely random purchase last week. My lips have been so dry and chapped since about November and they just haven't been getting any better. So, when my mum and I went to Chichester I thought I'd pop into Lush and see if they had any lip products I could try. As soon as I smelt this lip scrub I decided instantly that I had to get it! It's a soft scrub that isn't too harsh on the lips, yet makes them feel really nourished and soft after using it. I've never used a lip scrub before so I was very curious as to how it would actually work, but I've been using it 2/3 times a day and I've been loving it SO much!! 

It's handmade with all natural ingredients; caster sugar, organic Jojoba oil, Alpha-Isomethyl ionone, colouring and flavouring. The Alpha-isomethyl Ionone is a fragrance ingredient which gives it the strong bubblegum sent and is commonly used in beauty products, including aftershave balms, bath products, moisturiser's and perfumes. Jojoba oil is a unique liquid wax obtained by cold-pressing the seeds of the Jojoba shrub, and is used in 78 Lush products as its an excellent natural moisturiser and hydrates the skin. And then the caster sugar... it just makes it taste so nice when you lick your lips afterwards! I've never really been a big fan of Lush (I think it's just because I find the smell too over-powering every time I walk past one of their shops), but I think this product and the research I've done into the ingredients has definitely opened my eyes to whole new world of organic beauty products. I'm not someone who really pays any attention to what goes into a product, and I'm not going to suddenly go out and buy an entire new Organic beauty kit.. but I will definitely be paying more attention to the ingredients when I'm looking at buying new products!

This lip scrub comes in 4 different flavours; Bubblegum, Popcorn, Mint Julips and The Kiss (part of their Valentines range). They all smell beautiful, I just personally preferred the bubblegum as it was the most sweet smelling. They cost £5.50, so a little bit more expensive than the bog standard lip balm, but it's definitely worth spending the extra money if you have really badly chapped lips like me. I highly recommend trying this product out, so let me know what you think in the comment box below ☺️

X

Week 2 - MUA Pro-brow Ultimate Brow Kit

"All in one - Shape, Shade & Highlight'

So, week 2 is all about the brow! Now, I'm absolutely no expert when it comes to eye brows... last year was actually the first time I'd ever had my eyebrows plucked professionally, and it was also only then that I was shown how to fill them in. Before this, I had always thought I looked stupid with big, dark, bold eyebrows.. now, I can't leave my house without them being filled in! The person who did my eyebrows used this kit herself and showed me how to combine the different shades to fit with my complexion and hair colour. I have it in 'fair - mid' and its perfect for my very pale skin tone. It comes in a cute little compact with a mirror, 3 different shades, a setting gel and you also get mini tweezers and an angled eyebrow brush. 

Firstly, the mini tweezers are useless. They have no grip at all so they barely even get the thicker hairs, let alone the fine ones. However, the mini angled brush is pretty good. Reading reviews of it online, people have said that this brush is stiff and doesn't do a good job.. but I find that because it's so small, it makes it really easy to get a precise finish and I even find myself using it more often than my standard sized brush. I would like to invest in a higher quality, more expensive eyebrow brush, but for now this small 'freebie' definitely does the trick! Secondly, I can't actually comment on the quality of the setting gel as I never actually use it. I probably should, but as I've already said, I'm very new to filling in my eyebrows and I haven't really got a clue what I'm doing. Haha. As for the actual shades.. I tend to use a mix of the 2 darker shades as the dark one is too dark for my skin and the middle shade doesn't particularly show up much. The lightest shade is for highlighting, which again I'm not very good at doing, but I do give it a go. 

By now, your probably wondering why an earth I'm doing a review for an eyebrow kit when I'm quite clearly useless at doing my eyebrows? Well, I wanted to to talk about this product as it's been a great starting point for me! I'm still a beginner and I'm still learning a lot about how to fill my own brows in, so if any of you out there are in the same boat then hopefully this will help. This eyebrow kit is only £3, (sold in Superdrug) so you won't be forking out a fortune on something that your unsure of. So, go out and give it go and let me know what you think. I'd also like to know what brow products you use, I'm definitely open to trying something new in this area so please let me know ☺️

X

Week 1 - Vaseline Moisturiser.

 My all time favourite moisturiser!

"Clinically proven to heal very dry skin in 5 days"

So, my first product for review is one that I've been using and relying on for roughly 8 years! My love for this face cream started back when I was at school, suffering with such bad dry skin that my mum ended up taking me to the doctors because none of the high street creams were working. In hindsight, dry skin isn't the worst condition to suffer with while at school.. but at the time I felt hideous. After being prescribed countless different creams and still getting no results, my mum randomly picked this moisturiser up as it was cheap and claimed to tackle very dry skin. Since then I have never used another moisturiser! 

It's a light, non-greasy cream that absorbs quickly into the skin. It doesn't leave you feeling sticky, or greasy and wanting to wash your face again. It tackles the very driest patches of flaky skin and leaves it feeling beautifully soft. I still suffer with dry skin every now and again, particularly over the winter, but as soon as it starts to become a problem I just apply more of this moisturiser and within a couple of days it will have cleared. I tend to fill a little pot up with it and keep it in my bag, so that if I'm starting to feel self-conscious at work I can just apply a small amount to the affected area and instantly feel better. 

The cost of this moisturiser ranges from £1 when on offer, up to £5 if your going for the larger 400ml size. When stocking up I always check in the 'pound shops', as they often have it in stock. A lot of people turn their nose up at buying beauty products from places like 99p Store or Poundland, but I personally think if you can buy the exact same branded product for half the price... then why wouldn't you? 

So make sure you check out the Vaseline range and let me know what you think. Whether you love it or hate it I'd like to know, so leave me a comment in the box below ☺️

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