MOTD: Autumnal Berry Lips

Hello again guys; it’s been months since I did a proper Make Up of the Day post on my blog, so I decided that it was time to do another! Somehow over the past few weeks, England has gotten extremely cold so I’m definitely feeling more autumn and winter beauty looks at the moment. Recently I’ve been a bit more minimal with my everyday make up routine, but I today I decided to go all out and do a full face. Starting primer, I used the Maybelline Baby Skin Instant Pore Eraser (£7.99)  all over my face before beginning to apply concealer. I applied the Rimmel Wake Me Up (£6.49) in the shade ivory using a Real Techniques beauty blender around the eyes, nose and any blemishes. Overall, it covers all blemishes and dark circles well, but it is definitely too dark and yellow toned for me, as I’m more pink toned and pale so I wish they would make a porcelain shade too. 

I prefer to do my brows next, using the L’Oréal Paris Brow Artist Xpert (£7.99) in the shade Cool Blond. It is one of the products in my make up bag that I literally use every time I apply make up; it gives a very natural effect to filling the sparse parts of my brows (oops to the occasional overpluck by mistake) and matches my natural eyebrow shade perfectly. I then use the spooly end to brush out the excess product and frame the brows with concealer. My holy grail brow product is the Benefit Ready, Set, Brow! Which for £20 is definitely one of the more expensive items in my make up bag, but I love that the clear gel glides over my brow and sets them in place all day without the need for reapplication. I like my brows to be natural but tame and this really helps me to achieve that look.

I didn’t want to use foundation as I wanted something lighter on my skin; the Bourjois Paris 123 Perfect CC Cream (£9.99) is a great alternative to foundation as it does cover all skin sins whilst allowing your skin to breathe. Sadly, it is a little too dark for me at the moment (the autumn and winter months literally drain all of the colour from my face haha) but I use the shade ivory and as it is pink toned, it does work into my natural skin tone well once it’s blended out a bit using a beauty blender. For Contour, I used the bronze shade from the trusty Rimmel Kate Moss Sculpting Palette #002 (£6.99) and a Real Techniques brush across my cheekbones and across the temples of my forehead. It’s more of a bronzer, but as my skin is so pale, that does work better for me anyway, before applying the blush from the same palette with a different Real Techniques brush across the apples of my cheeks to add a natural flush. 

For my eyes, I wanted to create a glowy, sparkly bronze look that swept across the whole of my eyelid. I’m definitely getting in the mood for festive make up and recently I’ve been loving the Sleek Make Up iDivine Eyeshadow Palette - All Night Long. For £8.99 you definitely get your money’s worth as it contains twelve different shadows and the packaging includes a large mirror which is great for travelling. There’s a mix of vibrant shimmers and neutral matte shades which are excellent to use as a base. I started off by using a Real Techniques brush and a neutral light brown all across my eyelid as a good base for the shimmer shadows that I planned to use. I then applied a coppery bronze shade across the outer corners of my eyes before adding a gold shimmer across my inner corners. Once that was done I then blended out any harsh edges using a clean brush and added some of the MUA Undress Your Skin Highlighter across my browbones, cheekbones and cupid’s bow in the shade Pink Shimmer. The highlight is so pretty and stands out nicely against the rest of the skin but I could’ve built the highlight up a little more to make it blinding; that’s something I’ll definitely do come Christmas time. It’s also super affordable at £3, it’s such good value for money and lasts for a long time too.

I decided against applying eyeliner as I’m not the best at it; I hate it when I have a perfect base then mess it all up when mismatched eyeliner so it wasn’t an eyeliner day. In fact, the eyeshadow was fairly bold and shimmery so eyeliner wasn’t really necessary anyway. However, one thing that I love is volumised, bold, spidery lashes and to create that without using false eyelashes I use two mascaras. I start off by using the Maybelline Volum’ Rocket Express from the roots of my lashes to the tips and it really volumises and lengthens the lashes well. It’s my favourite drugstore mascara and really worth the £7.99 that it costs. To complete my eyes, I used the L’Oréal Paris Miss Baby Roll mascara to make my lashes more thick and curly; it’s actually the same price point, £7.99 and is equally amazing, although I find it works best on top of another mascara, rather than on its own (excessive, I know ahaha) overall, I love the effect that these mascaras give my lashes without the need to apply false lashes, which is amazing. It’s much easier to use your natural lashes and mascara.

Lastly, I applied the Rimmel Stay Matte Liquid Lipstick in the shade Plum This Show all over my lips; it does take two or three coats to become full opaque, but that’s not a massive surprise for such a dark lip. Priced at £5.99 it’s great value as it is affordable and the formula of the lipstick is actually really nice, it’s not drying on the lips which is a nice touch. I wanted a berry lip as I feel like the darker toned lip suits the change in the weather; I always associate darker lip colours with winter and the festive season. I’m really happy with how this look turned out and I’ll definitely be recreating it for nights out with friends over the coming months. Let me know in the comments if there’s any make up looks that you’re loving for autumn and winter as I’d love to hear; until next time :)

My Foundation Collection

Hello again; over the past few months I've spoken about my mascara collection, perfume collection and now I felt like it was a good time to show you all my foundation collection. My skin tone is very pale, with a lot of pinky undertones and so I'm often struggling to find a foundation that suits my skin as I've found that the majority of pale foundations are yellow toned, which I'm aware does suit some people and this is why I have so many different foundations. As I spend more or less every month on a budget, all of my foundations are drugstore foundations and for me that's absolutely fine; the higher the price doesn't necessarily mean that the quality of the product is higher after all. Generally, year round I'm always the absolute palest shade of foundation that you can possibly buy but it can be hard to find a foundation for everyday; a lot of the foundations that I have are full coverage as I tend to go foundation free unless it's for an important event.

 

To make it a little easier to see what foundations I own, I've put them into catagories through their brands. The two foundations shown in the first photograph are the L'Oréal Paris Infallible 24hr Foundation and the L'Oréal Paris Infallible Total Cover Foundation. The 24hr hour version is priced at £10.99 and is my favourite foundation by far out of my collection. It's in the shade Porcelain and it has a lovely pinky tone to it so it's an excellent match for my skin tone. It's easy to apply with its pumped lid squeezed onto a blending sponge and it does provide excellent coverage without looking cakey. It's fairly pricey for a drugstore foundation but I've found it to be worth every penny. In contrast, the Total Cover version is one of my least favourite foundations in my collection. Priced at £9.99, it's cheaper than the 24hr version but still fairly expensive when compared to some of the other foundations available in the drugstore. I've found this foundation to be incredibly oily, it's also in the shade Porcelain and is the same pinky tone so in theory I should love it. The main issue is that my skin is very dry so the oily texture of this foundation seems to simply slide off of my skin, even when used over a primer. However, the other issue is that the squeezy tube style packaging makes it difficult to apply lightly as it's very easy to use far too much. What I do like about this foundation is that it's probably the most full coverage foundation I've ever used and it eliminates literally every flaw but it doesn't last as well as I'd like, sliding off and becoming cakey extremely quickly.

 

The next brand focus is Maybelline and I own countless base products by them; my absolute favourite product is the Matte Maker pressed powder and I use it complete my base every single time. Since I found this powder I've never needed to discover another and for the pocket friendly price of £3.99 it's one that I feel like I'll be using forever; it's the perfect pale (ghostly) ivory shade for me too! I feel like everyone remembers the Dream Matte Mousse foundation as that was literally my first ever step into the make up world in my teenage years. It's such a low coverage, cakey and slimy foundation that for £7.99 it's actually a bit of a joke, plus the ivory shade is literally orange on me, but as I found it I thought I'd include it in this post. Actually, I've found that all of the foundations that I own by Maybelline are very orange on my skin considering they're all in the palest shade which is ivory. The Dream Satin Liquid is a reasonably priced product at £7.99 and is a foundation that I really wish I could love; the pump style lid is super easily to apply and it's medium coverage, however the word liquid is the best way to describe it as it's very runny and comes through quite streaky on the skin, which is a massive shame as it's so affordable.

The last two products in the image above are creams, which is why I'm going to compare them together. The first is the Maybelline Dream Fresh 8-in-1 BB Cream which at £7.99 is both extremely affordable but also great for everyday makeup; in the shade Light it's a little dark for my skin tone, but again I feel like that's the slight orange/yellow tone of the product. The texture is ok, it's not oily but it's quite runny so it's easy to use too much product because of the squeezy tube design of the packaging. The second is the Bourjois 123 Perfect CC Cream which is fairly expensively priced at £9.99 for a drugstore product, but it's my absolute go to for everyday make up looks; it has excellent coverage but doesn't look or feel heavy on the skin and the shade ivory is a great colour match for pale skin with pink tones in it. The squeezy tube packaging still isn't my favourite, but it's thinned out nip style end does limit the amount of product that squeezes out so I rarely use too much with this. I'd definitely recommend this to anyone with pale skin that's looking for an alternative to foundation.

 

The final part of my foundation collection is from the brand Rimmel. I own so many foundations by that brand because it was the first brand that I found had great shades for pale skin. I purchased the Rimmel Wake Me Up foundation because I love the concealer from the same range, but unfortunately the shade True Ivory is definitely too dark for me, which is so annoying as it's great coverage and doesn't feel sticky or cakey on the skin at all. It's definitely more of a yellow or orange toned foundation but I do like the pump lid design of the packaging. If I'd bought the correct shade I'd like it much more I think as it's good value for money at £8.99. My favourite out of the foundations by Rimmel is the Lasting Finish 25hr Wear foundation; I actually own three of them, two of them are the full coverage version (with a red lid) in the shades Light Porcelain and Ivory and the other one is the medium coverage version (with a white lid) in the shade Nude. Priced at £7.99, it's such an affordable choice for anyone who shops on a budget. The only one that truly fits my skin tone is the Light Porcelain but all of them are nicely pink toned, but two of the shades are too dark, the Nude in particular is far too dark for me, there's the most obvious line against my neck, regardless of how much I blend. All of them have a pump lid, which as you'll have guessed by now is my favourite style of packaging and both of the coverages have a great consistency but overall I do prefer the full coverage but that also may be because of the matching shade to my actual skin tone. 

Lastly, I own two BB Creams and both of them are the 9-in-1 Skin Perfecting Matte BB Cream in the shades Very Light and Light. They're essentially the same product in two different shades; both of them work well but ultimately the Very Light version suits my natural skin tone better, but the Light shade is still a reasonably pale shade. Priced at £6.99, it's a super affordable choice in terms of creams and foundations, but what I would say is once again, the squeezy tube design of the packaging does make it difficult to limit how much product that come out. It feels like I'm forever using far too much without meaning to, which is annoying at times. Overall, all of these brands and foundations are great, but it's dependant one what you want to use them for; for me personally I like to have a very pale foundation that will cover my skin all day without needing to reapply it, which is why I prefer the L'Oréal Paris Infallible 24hr and the Bourjois 123 Perfect CC Cream as they both manage to do both of those things well and no one wants to look like an Oompa Loompa after all! Until next time :)

What's in my (everyday) make-up bag?

Hello again; I've read so many blog posts and watched so many YouTube videos about what's in a persons make up bag that I finally decided to talk about mine... Except I thought that I'd detail what I carry around in a make up bag to work or just generally everyday. I have quite a lot of different make up products but for work and general use I do prefer to have a more minimal make up style for everyday wear. The make up bag that I use for carrying the basics in my bag is from Victoria's Secret and I actually got it in a sale (for a great price) as part of a set of three different sized bags and actually I use all three of them for different reasons and regularly. The striped one below I use the most as it's the largest so it holds the most, but at the same time it isn't so big that it won't fit into a lot of different bags. 

 

I have very pale, almost paler than ivory skin so all of these products are the kind that suit that; the reason that these items have been picked out for my everyday make up bag is because they're not only pale enough, but also feel light enough on my skin that I don't feel like I'm wearing too much make up. I'm become more confident in not wearing so much make up recently, which I think is a good thing as my skin is getting clearer. The Bourjois CC cream shown below is honestly my favourite everyday face product ever as it's not too heavy on the skin, it's more of a colour corrector which is what I need; I don't have problem skin but it's very discoloured in places and it doesn't stick to my dry patches. I've detailed the prices next to all of the items shown in the images below and put them into sections, for example base, eyes and lips as I feel that makes a lot more sense visually.

 

Bourjois 123 Perfect CC Cream in the shade ivory £9.99

Maybelline Baby Lips Lip Balm £2.99

Maybelline Concealer Cover Stick in the shade ivory 01 £3.99

Maybelline Master Shape Brow Pencil in the shade Dark Blond £2.99

 

NYX Merci Beaucoup Love In Paris Eyeshadow Palette £7.99

Maybelline Matte Maker Mattifying Powder 10 Classic Ivory £3.99

Bourjois Little Round Pot Blusher Rose D'Or 34 £7.99

Sleek Makeup Brow Kit Light £8.49

 

NYX Soft Matte Lip Cream in the shades London and São Paulo £7.99 each

Bourjois Rouge Edition 12 Hour Lipstick in the shade 35 Entry VIP £7.99

 

MUA Eyeliner Pencil in Black £1

Maybelline The Colossal Volum' Express mascara 100% black £6.99

Bourjois Volume 1 Seconde mascara £9.99

L'Oreal Paris Super Liner Perfect Slim Intense Black £6.99

 

My Lipstick Collection

A few days ago I decided that it would be a good idea to have a sift through my lipstick collection to see what products I actually have, as well as to see which brands and colours actually suit my skin tone. To be honest, up to this point I had no idea about how many different shades of the same few colours I actually owned. I've touched on some beauty products before on my blog but on the whole it's always been more of a lifestyle based blog. However I do love beauty and make up so it makes sense to go more into beauty as I do own a lot of make up and it is something that I am interested in. I'm forever watching beauty gurus on YouTube so I have a definite case of 'social media made me buy it', oops. I don't have the largest collection in the world, but I definitely have more lipsticks than I'd realised!

 

I honestly never realised how many variations of pink and red lipsticks I own... I have 3 lipsticks by Bourjois, which is one of my favourite ever brands for make up. I've never bought a product from them that I've disliked. The first is a liquid lipstick, Rouge Edition Velvet in the shade Frambourjoise. Priced at £8.99, it's definitely a product to invest in only when you're certain but I personally love it. It applies really smoothly and doesn't feel drying on the lips, it's a strong red with a hint of blue tones. I'm a fan of the matte finish as I feel like that's why it lasts longer, it dries quickly and holds well on the lips. The other 2 are regular Rouge Edition lipsticks in the shades 13 Jet Set and 35 Entry VIP. Number 13 is much more of a dark red, it has a hint of a berry shade and looks lovely for more autumn based looks, whereas number 35 is literally my make up bag staple shade. It's more of a pinky raspberry red and I've had so many complements on this colour that I always feel really confident when I wear it. The lipsticks cost £7.99 which is reasonable as they're supposed to last 12 hours and I do think they last really well; I wear 35 for all occasions and have rarely reapplied it.

 

I also own 2 Kate Moss for Rimmel lipsticks in the shades 111 Kiss of Life and Lasting Finish 01. I had extremely high hopes for the Kate with Rimmel range and thus far I haven't been disappointed; both of these shades are incredibly pigmented for the bargainous price of £5.49 each. I feel like 01 suits my pale skin really well, it's a classic cherry red and has a slight shimmer which I'm not usually a fan of, but in this lipstick I'm definitely converted as it's super flattering. I don't know if it's supposed to have a slight blue tinge but on my skin it definitely does. 111 is much more of a warmer toned red and is equally as flattering on my skin. It's a matte shade which I do prefer and it does provide quite an intense colour especially for the price. I would say it's more of an orangey red, so it would suit more of a range of skin tones. Neither of these lipsticks last particuarly well, you do have to reapply quite consistently but that being said for the price you can afford to do so without complaint.

 

I've recently started using 2 lipsticks from Maybelline from the matte range. I do prefer a matte lip, I think because you can work the colour into the lips without it drying out. The shades I own are 882 Fiery Fuchsia and 965 Siren in Scarlet. Both lipsticks are £6.99 and feel fairly creamy on the lips; they dry completely Matte but feel creamy and apply well. 965 looks lovely against my skin as the creamy texture hides any dry lip patches. The best way to describe it is that's it's a classic Hollywood red; definitely a warmer toned red but unfortunately I've not found it to last well on the lips. It does leave a little stain, but it's not strong enough without reapplication but as the application is so buttery that's not a massive issue for me. 882 was a bit of a surprise buy for me, I swatched it in a Superdrug and instantly fell in love. I'm not usually a fan of pink on my skin tone as it's quite pinky anyway, but this one is definitely a vibrant pink, but somehow on my skin it has more of a red tone which I like. The buttery texture is nice and it feels like it glides on the lips. It doesn't have the longest staying power but it's not difficult to reapply the lipstick so I can live with that. 

 

Lastly, I have the perfect fiery red shade from MAC in Ruby Woo. I feel like everyone has a favourite classic MAC lipstick and this one is definitely mine. I've already mentioned that I love a matte lip and this is probably the most well known and hyped lipstick shade, ever. It's incredibly long lasting but I have to say I've found it quite drying on my lips which is a little disappointing. It's super pigmented, you literally only need to apply it once throughout the whole day and it seems to last forever. It's quite a cool, blue toned red; the kind that makes your teeth look seriously white, which is an added bonus. It's not a cheap option, priced at £16.50, but I would say it's worth it as it makes my face look put together with minimal effort. Another favourite of mine is Pure Red Blake by L'Oreal from the Paris Colour Riche Collection. I persuaded myself to buy this as Blake Lively has a similarly porcelain skin tone to mine and so I thought would be a great red. It's very bright and stands out really nicely against my skin with its matte finish. I'd describe it as a raspberry shade as it's slightly purple toned and it lasts amazingly considering it's bargain price of £6.99. It stains the lips well and it doesn't feel drying on the lips, this is probably my favourite of all of the lipsticks that I own but I do have to carry it around for reapplications whenever I wear it. I wasn't aware of how many red toned lipsticks I owned until I did this post... I love them all, but these last two are definitely my favourites, alongside the Bourjois Entry VIP. I don't know what it is about a red lip, I always feel so put together and classy whenever I want to feel confident. Do you have a favourite red lipstick?

 

November Favourites

I always seem to have a lot of similar Favourites every single month; I really love perfume, my iPhone as well as various different kinds of make up. This month I've gotten a bit more into make up again, although I'm still wearing much less than I used to. I've recently purchased a new Britney Spears perfume and I absolutely loved the packaging. I love the designs of perfume bottles in general, actually. Where it's getting colder no I'm thinking about keeping warm so my uggs have literally been a saviour the past month, however ugly they may look.

 

1. Bobbi Brown Shimmer Brick in Rose

2. Nina Ricci Mademoiselle Ricci L'eau

3. Bourjois 123 Perfect CC Cream in Ivory

4. Britney Spears Island Fantasy

5. NYX Soft Matte Lip Cream in London

6. Vera Wang Preppy Princess

7. Maybelline Age Rewind Eye Concealer in Light

8. Britney Spears Hidden Fantasy

9. iPhone 6s 64gb rose gold

10. Ugg Australia Classic II Short Boot

A Mini Haul

Hello again! Being the nosy person that I am, I genuinely love reading what other people have recently purchased, or what they're loving at the minute. After reading many, many blogs over the last few years I definitely have a preferred type of post to read; lifestyle and beauty tend to be my Favourites as if I see holiday or travel posts I get so much wanderlust it's ridiculous... After having a completely shitty year and barely spending any money on myself I decided it was finally the right time to have a little spend and make myself feel a bit more positive about life.

A couple of months ago I smashed my phone screen and a Cath Kidston iPhone case, which literally broke my heart as it wasn't exactly cheap. Since that time I've been somehow surviving using a bargainous 99p find from eBay, but I wanted something more substantial as I am a bit of a clumsy mess (already smashed the screen twice in a year) and I'd been literally looking through the internet for absolutely ages to find an iPhone case that would last. I did buy a Ted Baker one for a pretty high price but it actually wasn't that strong and cracked fairly quickly. For normal people it would probably be fine, but for someone like me... Not good! I've been debating between getting a Cath Kidston case or a Jack Wills one as the physical case quality is very similar. However, I settled for the Jack Wills one, mostly due to the much lower price of £14.50 (buy here) and I liked the subtle tartan pattern which looks so classic and seems to go well alongside the current winter weather and fashions.

 

Following on from my last post, I purchased a Vera Wang 50ml perfume, Hippie Princess. (Buy here) I absolutely love the heart shaped design of the bottle and the little princess tiara cap. I'm definitely a bit of a perfume addict and the Vera Wang princess line never fails to please me, visually as well as the scents themselves. I like how they have a specific theme. This scent is both fruity and floral, with a delightful mix of mango, freesia, apricot, lotus flower and vanilla. A new favourite in my collection. I also bought a range of make up items. I've actually started to wear much less make up than I used to around 9 months ago, partly due to having a confidence boost from my boyfriend, who insists that less is better. 

Now that my make up style has 'matured' (?) a little, I don't tend to wear much foundation so I instead opted for a CC cream as I do have quite an uneven tone across my skin as I have very dry patches. I want a light coverage that will hide blemishes but not look as though I have a mask on my face. I got it for the bargain price of £11.99 (buy here) which for a brand like Bourjois isn't much for the quality. I chose the shade ivory and I'm excited to try it out as it says it's a hydrating cream which should be great for my dry, eczema prone skin. To top off the skin products, I also bought the Maybelline Matte Maker powder. (Buy here) I actually swear by this product, you can either use it lightly or build it up for a full coverage. I tend to use it around my t-zone as it gets very patchy and red otherwise. For £4.49 it's definitely worth the money as it lasts for ages and lets your skin breathe. I bought it in ivory which is a perfect match for my incredibly pale skin.

 

I also purchased two eye based products, both of which are products which I've bought and used to death before. The L'Oreal superliner in perfect slim is the best felt tip pen style eyeliner that I've ever used. (Buy here) £7.99 is definitely a bargain as it lasts for a long time and doesn't dry out. It has a very thin tip which is great for everyday liner as well as cat eye flicks for special occasions, plus the intense black shade looks good, glides on well and dries quickly on the lid. I use this eyeliner everyday to awaken my eyes and brighten up my facial features. I always use the Sleek brow palette, but before I do so, I like to brush through and gently line my eyebrows using a lighter shade to get a perfect rounded arch shape. I always find that Maybelline match my pale skin and hair tones well. I love the Master Shape Brow Pencil (buy here) to achieve the perfect Brow shape. For £3.99 you can't go wrong. I actually have light brown eyebrows but I use the shade dark blond as it matches really well. This is one of those products that I buy again and again because I love how it works on my face. 

Lastly, I've been so tempted to try a NYX lip cream for absolutely ages; this is definitely a YouTube and blogger made me buy it purchase. I've watched so many videos and read so many posts that rave about these lip creams so I've finally bitten the bullet and bought one. (Buy here) Which at £7.99 seemed a little pricey but I can't wait to try it; if I like it then I'll definitely be buying more in different shades. I chose the shade London because I wanted a peachy brown nude shade to wear for everyday but I think it'll look good for more dressed up occasions too. I've wanted a nude lip shade for a while, and having seen bloggers with similar skin tones to me swatch this shade I'm sure it'll look really nice. I feel a little more positive now, let me know what new things you've bought recently or if I've persuaded you to buy anything! :)

Beauty Favourites - September

 

1. Bourjois 1 Seconde Mascara - £11.99

2. Rimmel Wake Me Up Radience BB Cream (Very Light) - £7.99

3. L'Oreal Paris True Match Le Crayon Concealer - £6.99

4. Sleek Brow Kit (Light) - £8.99

5. Bobbi Brown Shimmer Brick Compact (Rose) - £30.50

6. Maybelline Colour Sensational Lipstick (965 Siren in Scarlet) - £6.99

A few months ago I used to literally cover my face in make up, to the extent that I would spend so much time and money on it and I felt disgusting if I didn't wear it. Now I wear much less and even leave my house and sometimes work without make up, which is a huge achievement for me (as pathetic as that sounds) but the products above are what I really feel are value for money; they last all day without reapplication, the lipstick survives eating and drinking and concealer and mascara just gives my natural face a little lift. Each of these products improves my confidence slightly, without making my face look caked in make up, which is why I've been loving them this month.