2018 Favourites // Beauty

Hello again guys; I’m aware that I’m super behind with this post as it’s now mid January (already!) but in my defence, I do have a full time job and sometimes it’s good to just chill out and not constantly force yourself to write, write, write. I’ve already posted about my favourite books of 2017 and honestly, my other love in life is beauty products and I used a lot of those in 2017 so it made sense to start a post purely about what I loved so much I’ll definitely be repurchasing and reusing for 2018. Honestly, I cannot believe how quickly the month of January is flying by, without me even realising, oops. So far, 2018 has been treating me rather well and that’s always a good thing. I’m actually loving to simply live my life and not stress anymore about making this blog ‘successful’; I’ve remembered why I started blogging. I wanted a hobby and so for 2018 I’m going to blog because I enjoy it; not because I want to pressure myself. It feels great to be at a place in my life where I feel content enough to share my life and not worry about views and numbers; instead I’m focusing on the creative side of blogging and so I’m planning to improve my content over the next year. Please let me know in the comments if you like this kind of post as it’s always good to know! :)

BRUSHES

In all honesty, I’m not very experimental when it comes to choice of brushes. For the past couple of years I’ve only used the Real Techniques brand for brushes and I genuinely do love them. One of the reasons why I like them so much is that I love that you can buy multiple different brush types in sets for good prices. I currently own the Core Collection, Your Picks Berlin and Enhanced Eye sets and each set was under £25 for 4 or 5 brushes in the set. I decided to invest in the sets because it’s cheaper than buying the brushes individually, plus you get a variety of different brushes that can do different things. I’ve had some of these brushes over over a year and they still work perfectly with no shedding, so I don’t regret the investment and I’ll definitely get more brushes from the range over time.

LIP PRODUCTS

In 2017 I discovered the power of liquid lipsticks; I love that they dry matte and stay put for so long, plus it also means that my poor boyfriend doesn’t have lipstick smudged all over his cheeks like he has had in the past, haha. At the beginning of 2017 I would’ve sworn by any liquid lipstick from NYX, but towards the end of the year I became obsessed with the Rimmel versions. My favourite shades are London from the Soft Matte Lip Cream range by NYX and Moca, Fire Starter from the Rimmel Stay Matte Liquid Lip range. London is by far my favourite ever nude lip shade, but I prefer the formula of the Rimmel versions as they feel thicker and less drying on the lips. Both priced at £6, these lipsticks are amazingly purse friendly and I’m sure I’ll be purchasing many more shades to experiment with over the coming year.

FACE PRODUCTS

A fairly recent discovery for me is the L’Oréal Paris 24hr Infallible Foundation in the shade Porcelain. Honestly, I don’t know how many years I’ve been searching for a foundation that feels light on the skin, has good coverage and most importantly, matches my ghostly skin tone. Priced at £10.99, it’s not the cheapest foundation on the market but it does a fantastic job for a reasonable price. It’s likely to sit in my make up bag for a seriously long time. Likewise, I’ve recently discovered an excellent concealer, again by L’Oréal Paris, it’s the True Match Concealer in the shade Rose Ivory. The reason why I like it so much is that the range allows you to choose not only by your flat skin tone, it also allows you to choose whether you have cool or warm toned skin. For £7.99, it is rather pricey but it lasts a long time and it has a really easy to use applicator that works seamlessly to cover even the nastiest of nasty dark under eye circles.

In terms of eyebrow products, my holy grail products are the L’Oréal Paris Artist Xpert in the shade Cool Blond and the Benefit Ready, Set Brow! Which I use every single day. The eyebrow pencil is super easy to use and reasonably priced at £6.99. I love it because it thickens and defines my brows whilst keeping them looking natural; I don’t like to look super groomed. The cool tone of the product works well for me as my natural eyebrow colour is a dark blonde and once the brows are brushed through I’m always ready for the day ahead. I do like to set my brows in place because I like them to stay in position throughout the day. The Benefit product does cost £20 which does seem extortionate for a clear brow gel but honestly it’s the best one that I’ve tried, it stays put for at least 12 hours and so my brows look naturally perfect, rather than overdone. My other face love is the MakeUp Revolution Vivid Baked Highlight in the shade Ever Glow Lights which is absolute steal for £3; it gives a lovely glow with just a small sweep of product and I’ve genuinely hit pan... Time for a new one, I think!

EYE PRODUCTS

My stand out eyeshadow palette of the year has got to be the Sleek MakeUp iDivine Palette in the shade All Night Long. For the £8.99 you get a decently sized palette with a large mirror and twelve different shades with a good mixture of matte and shimmer shades. The shades are so, so pigmented and last really well on the eyelids. Since discovering this palette I’ve had so many compliments on the eye looks I’ve been creating and I love how versatile this palette is. There are some stunning copper and bronze shimmers that make up the perfect smoky but subtle blend of shadows. In terms of mascaras, I have three that I constantly reach for. Firstly, the Maybelline The Rocket Volum’ Express in Very Black has been a favourite of mine for the majority of 2017. I find that plastic bristles work really well to enlongate, volumise and fan out the individual lashes to create a false lash effect whilst using my natural lashes. For £7.99, this mascara is both affordable and can be used for a day time or night time eye look as I used it everyday for quite a few months for a variety of situations and I was always satisfied with it. I actually purchased it at least three times during 2017, which is the sign of a winner.

There are two other mascaras that I’ve truly loved during 2017. The Maybelline Colossal Big Shot mascara is absolutely amazing and a case in point that sometimes what you wouldn’t usually like can be a great discovery. The brush does have wavy fibre bristles, which is something that I wouldn’t usually go for. That said, I love how this mascara does everything; it curls, it volumises and it lengthens all for the price of £7.99 although admittedly I do tend to apply three coats to reach the desired false lash effect. The final mascara that I loved last year was the L’Oréal Paris Miss Baby Roll which has the most bizarrely shaped plastic bristled brush I’ve ever seen and yet it is honestly my favourite mascara of all time, for now. I’ve never found another mascara with a similar brush style, yet it creates the most incredible volume and curl with only one coat. If I want to make super dramatic, individually fanned lashes then a second coat takes the look from day to night and I’m obsessed, I cannot rave about this mascara enough, particularly as it’s so affordable.

PERFUME

I have a massive collection of perfumes, but over the last year my favourites were actually gifts. The Britney Spears Maui Fantasy was given to me by my Nana and I’ve been wearing it regularly since April; it comes in a beautiful blue bottle with floral decoration and smells so tropical, it’s very unusual. It feels light on the skin and reminds me a lot of long summer days and holidays with the lovely notes of orange blossom, coconut and hibiscus amongst many others. The second perfume that I’ve loved was a gift from my boyfriend, the Vera Wang Princess of Hearts is a beautiful scent with a gorgeous pink heart shaped bottle with little pink hearts all over it. It’s a lovely feminine scent, with notes of watermelon, lily of the valley and jasmine. I love this so much, I wore it more or less every day during spring and summer and because it was a gift it makes it even more enjoyable to wear. 

Beauty Favourites #2

Throughout March, there has been so many beauty related products that I've loved; to the point where I felt like I has so many things that I'll need replace sometime soon, oops. My absolute favourite right now has been the Batiste Dry Shampoo in Blush, which I snapped up a huge fan in Superdrug for about £3, less than half the RRP. I've fallen in love with the fresh floral scent it gives to my hair. I have a habit of showering in the evenings so overnight my hair looses its freshness a little, but bit a quick spritz of Blush my hair definitely feels fresh and clean again but I head off to work for the day. A massive hate of mine is having greasy hair but I love sleep so using dry shampoo is a great way to have the best of both worlds for me. I've also been loving the Garnier Skinactive Micellar Cleansing Water for sensitive skin. I bought mine for the bargain price of £1 in Poundland and honestly my skin feels so much better since I started using it. It is a bit of a faff to use all the time but my skin definitely has had less blemishes since I started using it, which is fantastic.

 

There was always going to be a perfume on this list because if you know me or read my blog then you'll know how much I'm in love with perfumes. Lately I've been loving Marc Jacobs Daisy Dream Blush because not only does it smell amazing it's also so lovely to look at, although it's fairly expensive priced at £54. The pink shades of the bottle and fragrance is lovely and feels so feminine and soft. I've also been loving the Fortune Favours The Brave eyeshadow palette by Makeup Revolution, which also looks lovely in person and for blog shots. For £9, it's much cheaper than Daisy Dream Blush but it also feels like good quality or that price. What I love about the shadows is that they're not strictly one colour, they have shades running through the overall shade so it makes blending on the eyes so much easier. There's also such a range of different shades within the palette that it I feel like there is so much potential for different looks with this palette. Plus, it looks lovely in photographs which is always a must for any blogger!

 

I've been obsessed with two Sleek highlighters for a couple of months now, but I feel like it's only during this month that I've managed to master the art of putting highlighter on my face successfully... I'm such a blogging fail, haha. Sleek Solstice needs literally needs no introduction as it seems like every blogger on the planet is in love with it, but I do prefer the Sleek Midas Touch palette, which (much to my disappointment) is actually a limited edition so will be super difficult to track down soon, sadly. For the insane price of £10 each, you do get three powder shades and one cream shade in each palette, so there is a shade to suit everyone. I'm not massively keen on the blue or purple shades, but considering I use the other shades regularly I've definitely gained more than my money's worth and they're great glows shades without looking too shiny, which I love. I definitely prefer more of a natural highlight for everyday make up looks. Earlier in the month I popped into Superdrug, (surprise, surprise) and bought three highlighters; Ever Glow Lights by Makeup Revolution, Iridescent Gold and Pink Shimmer by MUA. All three of these highlighters are an absolute steal at £3 and are so pigmented it's amazing! I feel like I simply dust the products against my skin and I'm shining bright!

 

Lastly, these four products are my all time favourites and I'm forever using them to the point that I really, really need to get some spares for when I run them to the ground (which is likely to be very soon!). In terms of mascara, I've been loving the Bourjois Volume One Seconde for the past year or so and I do get some lovely compliments on my lashes whenever I wear it, which is such a fantastic confidence boost. It's fairly pricey at £9.99, but I would say it's worth every penny as it lengthens and separates lashes so well I've been asked if I'm wearing falsies! It's also super black, which I adore in any mascara. Similarly, this month I've rediscovered a love for Maybelline The Colossal Volum Express which I had worn for literally years until I was converted to Bourjois; it's cheaper, at £7.99 but just as good. I think it's more of an everyday mascara as it doesn't feel so heavy on my eyes but at the same time I love it just as much. It's so black (I use the 100% black version) and the fiber brush works so, so well for me as it doesn't scratch at the lashes at all. Both of these mascaras are stunning and I don't need to use eyelash curlers beforehand with either of them, which is great as low maintenance is always great, especially if you're like me and forever running late!

I have always and will always be obsessed with red lipstick. I feel like having pale skin and blonde hair works so well with red lips, I feel so much more glamourous with just a swipe of red lipstick. At the moment I'm torn between two gorgeous lipsticks; the iconic Ruby Woo by MAC, which at £16.50 is not a purchase that I made lightly, but honestly it's just stunning. I love a matte finish lipstick as you always jazz it up with lip gloss if necessary, although I prefer to stay matte. There's something timeless about the ruby shade of red and it just feels so classic and out there; something about Ruby Woo makes me feel so confident in myself. Likewise, a cheaper alternative is the L'Oreal Paris Color Riche Pure Red Collection in the shade Blake Lively. Priced at £6.99, it looks and feels like a much more high end product. Having a similar skin tone to Blake, I was daring and ordered this online and I was not disappointed in the slightest. It's a lovely ruby shade and completely matte, yet it doesn't feel drying on the lips, which is unusual for a red lipstick as they're usually quite dry on the lips. Both of these lipsticks are really long lasting and don't need touch ups often, even after food which is why I love them so much. Is there any beauty products you've been loving this month? Let me know in the comments! :)

 

Book Review: After You

 

After You is the long awaited sequel to the madly popular Me Before You and I was in love with the novel and the film adaption so I was naturally desperate to read this book. I've since read it and didn't feel disappointed at all, although many others disagree with me on that, judging by some of the reviews on amazon, good reads and many others. What you need to remember as a reader whilst reading this is that the death of Will affected not only those closest to him, but also those closest to them. Lou's grief became her families grief and they couldn't cope with what she had done so she was alone. Loneliness affects even the most outgoing of people, Lou and her family are no exception to that. Throughout this book I tried to not to judge the characters, as it felt as though they had changed in leaps and bounds since the prequel. However, I suppose that's the result of such a tragic event happening previously.

The book is old from Lou's perspective (other than a couple of chapters told from the perspective of other characters) and she's obviously the main focus of the story. The one thing to keep in mind when reading After You is to avoid comparing it to the original as although many of the characters are the same, the plot and outline are not and actually even the characters have changed due to such a turn of events in the prequel. The novel still includes Will, but ultimately it's about grief and how people learn to cope without loved ones. Lou and the other characters still had plenty of life left even after Will died so it was interesting to understand their stories from another point of view. No one has forgotten Will and in fact, Lou definitely falls into a pretty rough patch of depression. There are some surprises tucked away in sections of the novel and in all honesty I wouldn't say that I was shocked by one of them, but it was good read nonetheless. The sequel is readable on its own as it's so multifaceted; it was really interesting take on the journey to recovery and added many new, but equally as interesting characters into the fold of the original characters.

The Louisa Clark we, as readers discover at the start of this novel is completely different to the Lou we knew and loved in Me Before You which actually drew my heart into the novel much more then I expected it would; you could see how much she truly loved Will and how she couldn't forgive herself for not being enough to change his mind. However, with the introduction of a horrible new job, recovery friends and a surprise new housemate and friend, the old Lou does eventually restablish herself. That being said, even at her lowest ebb she never lost her caring nature and I think that's why so many people love her character; she has so many moments that move you and for me personally I enjoyed this sequel just as much as the prequel because I didn't try and compare the two. After You provided the answers to left questions in a realistic way, as life was never going be smooth sailing after Will passed for any of the characters involved, but with the introduction of some new characters it did result in more questions but it also had an incredibly tender undertone; healing was key to the heart of this novel and I was more than pleasantly surprised by it.

 

A Mini Haul #5

Hey again; at the moment I've been loving highlighter and eyeshadow palettes. That said, I'm also on a massive budget at the minute too so it makes sense that my most recent purchase was a set of two eyeshadow palettes and a contour palette all for the bargain price of £17 from W7. Before buying this contour set, I owned another contour palette from the Kate Moss by Rimmel in the lightest shade and it's definitely my preference to the W7 version as it's far more pigmented, but also better suits my skintone. That said, there wasn't actually a specific skin tone choice with the W7 palette, it just was an extra in a set of three palettes. In terms of pigmentation I definitely prefer my Sleek highlighting palettes over any others, although the Rimmel contour palette is my favourite for a natural, everyday look. The W7 The Cheeky Trio is sadly not the best for me, but perfect for someone with a more medium skin tone and especially if you want a palette that's good value for the money you spend.

 

The two eyeshadow palettes that came as the other parts of the W7 set are In The Night and Colour Me Nude. I love the smokiness of the In The Night eyeshadow palette as it has such an amazing range of Matte and Shimmer shades. The layout of the palette is very similar to the Urban Decay Naked series, although I personally think the W7 versions are sturdier as they're tins, not board. A nice bonus is that there is a brush included in the palette which works reasonably well, but a second brush makes is far easier to blend the shades together than the brush included does. The shades included in the palette really suit what it says on the tin; I'll definitely be using these shades for a gorgeous smoky eye for evenings out with friends. Although there are some lighter matte shades which made an excellent eyeshadow base, like the nude colours to the left of the palette which could also be used for a shimmery daytime look too. Actually that's why this palette is so good, not only because of the good pigmentation, it's the range of shades available which you can use to create any kind of make up look, whether that's for day or night.

 

 

For an everyday look, I'm actually in love with the Colour Me Nude eyeshadow palette as it's the perfect set of Shimmer shades to add a hint of glam to a natural make up look. This is the palette that I'll use the most from the three palettes as it's got an amazing range of base eyeshadow shades and more glamourous day or night time shades. Like the other palette in the set, this palette is a good dupe for the Urban Decay Naked series as the shades and layout of the palette are fairly similar but at a better price point for many people, myself for sure! On myself I usually have a nude eyeshadow because as I'm getting older I feel as though less is more, it's more about assentuating what you have rather than painting a mask so this palette is perfect for that paired down but pretty make up style. I would definitely recommend the two eyeshadow palettes to any skin tone and especially to someone who would want a lot of choice for their budget, but I have to be honest that I'm really not keen on the contour palette. Overall, this set was a massive win for me. What palettes are you guys enjoying at the moment? Let me know in the comments :)