Beauty Haul ♡

Hi there!

It's been a while since I last blogged and that's most certainly down to the exam season fast approaching!  I finished photography today, so I thought a blog post was in order, and I have some new things to show you!

The weather is a tiny bit warmer in England now, so I've been changing up my everyday make up routine, and I wanted to introduce some new products.  There were a few products I'd wanted to try for a while, so I made the most of the 3 for 2 offer at Boots and made a few purchases.  These were actually purchased over two or three trips over the past few weeks, so I waited till I had a fair few products to post a haul on here.  But I'd say I have a fair few things now, so here's what I've added to my collection in the past few weeks!

I'm going to start by talking about the brushes I picked up.  The first being the Real Techniques Stippling Brush (buy here).  For the warmer months, I don't usually go for a full coverage foundation and I wanted a brush that would give me a lighter coverage.  Real Techniques is usually my go-to brush brand, as it's so affordable compared to other companies, and the quality of the brushes is excellent.  I really love this brush, as it really works product into the skin for a natural finish.  I've been loving using this for BB/CC creams and tinted moisterisers.  

The second brush I purchased is the Soap and Glory Kabuki Brush (buy here).  I was in need of a decent powder brush, and I've always been a fan of Soap and Glory cosmetics, so I picked this up.  I love it!  picks up plenty of product and leaves a nice finish on the skin.

Now let's talk about primers.  I was never big on primers - I can't say I really saw the point in them.  I didn't want to spend money on something I wasn't even sure would make a difference. Lately though, I've been having trouble keeping make up on my face, even with powder.  I've been finding whatever base I use, after a few hours my skin is showing all kinds of redness.  I reached for the L'Oreal Paris Lumi Magique Primer (buy here).  I've only used it for a couple of days, but I can see a difference.  I also really like the pearly kind of finish it gives my skin.  Anything that will give my skin a nice glow for spring!

I am constantly on the hunt for the perfect drugstore concealer, and I'm super impressed with the two I picked up in this haul!  The first one is the Bourjois Healthy Mix Concealer (buy here), and since I'm such a fan of the Bourjois Healthy Mix Serum Foundation (buy here) I had high expectation for this!  It covers any blemishes really nicely and also smells amazing!  I can't fault this concealer.

Dark circles are my nemesis, so any product that promises to banish them gets my attention instantly!  The Maybelline Eraser Eye Concealer (buy here) really brightens up my super dark under eyes, and it blends really nicely and I haven't had it crease yet, which is always promising!  There's been a lot of buzz around this product for quite some time, and I've been wanting to try it for a long time!

I love Bourjois, like a lot.  I can't seem to stop buying their complexion products - they always seem to get it so right!  I'm a big fan of powders, so I picked up the Healthy Balance Compact Powder (buy here).  It smells lovely, and keeps the shine at bay for most of my day!  The second powder I picked up from Bourjois is the Poudre De Riz De Java (buy here), which is more of a highlight powder.  It smells like cola bottle sweets to me?  Am I the only one smelling that?  The packaging is adorable as well!  It's very shimmering, but I've been using this as a cheek highlight, and it works a treat!  

I also got the Bourjois Cream Blush (buy here) in the shade nude velvet, which is perfect for me.  I don't like to go too wild with blush, but this is a lovely natural shade that puts a bit of life into my face!

I'm not usually a high end make-up kind of girl, but when I saw this product on Cohorted I couldn't help myself!  It's the Benefit They're Real Mascara! It only cost me about twelve pounds on Cohorted! What a steal!  This product has been raved about online since it came out, so I won't go on too much - but I do love this, even if it is a pain to remove at night!

I also got the Sleek Contour Kit (buy here), which I haven't tried out yet, but looking forward to doing so!  If you don't know what it is, it comes with a bronzer and a highlight for all your contouring needs in one place!  I'm only just getting into contouring, and hopefully this product is as good as I've heard.

Lastly I picked up a few nail polishes from Barry M.  I love Barry M nail polishes, as they're so affordable and lovely quality.  I got a clear coat and the colour Blue Moon and Berry.  I've currently got Berry on my nails and I'm in love with it!

Hope you enjoyed this haul! What have you picked up for spring/summer? 

See you next time!

The Base-Off ♡

Hey you!
It's a rainy Easter Sunday, and I should do some college work, but instead I'm eating chocolate and reviewing foundations.
I'm hoping the title makes sense... it's meant to be a play on 'face-off'.  It's probably been done before, I'm just trying to keep my titles a bit interesting.  Anyway, I've recently been trying a lot of new bases.  I kind of had a base crisis.  I didn't have a huge amount of bases to choose from in my collection, and I used to always opt for Rimmel Match Perfection - a cheap and cheerful foundation choice (buy here).  I was content with this for quite a while, but in the past few months, my skin got truly terrible - not acne or spots, but patches of redness everywhere, and my skin tone was horrendously uneven.  My trusty Rimmel go-to product just wasn't up to the job anymore!  It also couldn't handle a long day of college, then a shift at work.  I have no time to touch up my make up during the day, so I need a base that's going to keep my skin looking good all day, and will fight the oil to some extent.  I've been testing six bases over the past few weeks, and now I'm going to share my thoughts on them for you!  I'd be interested to her what you thought of these products if you've tried them!

The first one I want to talk about is the Rimmel Stay Matte foundation (buy here).  I have this in the shade 010 Light Porcelain.  This costs about six pounds, which is fairly cheap for a foundation.  I didn't expect this to be the best foundation ever, but the it was the advertising that drew me to it.  It is advertised as a non-cakey foundation, that will stay matte (as the title suggests) all day.  I am a fan of a matte finish for the colder months, and I do get quite shiny in the day, so this seemed like a good one to try.  I was super disappointed though!  I don't understand how this can be advertised as not cakey, when it is probably the cakiest foundation I've ever tried!  It's so thick - kind of like a mousse, but it just didn't blend well on my skin at all.  It really highlights and clings to any dry patches you might have, and overall is just such a let down.  I like my foundations to blend into my skin, so it looks like I'm not wearing make up, but with this, it was obvious there was a layer of make up on the top.  I think the idea of this foundation is really great - a light weight matte foundation, that keeps the shine at bay - but in reality, it just did not do any of what I wanted it to, and I really wouldn't recommend this foundation at all!  I suppose for six pounds I shouldn't complain too much though!

Another foundation I've been trialing is the No 7 Beautifully Matte Foundation (buy here).  I went a bit mad for matte foundations at one stage, as you may be able to tell.  This is a slightly pricier option at £13.50, but I felt like it was worth a try.  The bottle says "for an all day shine free look with a soft, even finish", which I would agree with, and I do like this foundation.  It is definitely a better option for a matte finish than the Rimmel product.  This goes on like a liquid foundation, and sets quickly to a matte finish - but not too matte.  I think with some matte-ifying products, like foundations and powders, they can go to an extreme, and make your skin look a bit too made-up.  This product covered my flaws up nicely and evened out my skin tone.  It didn't keep the oily patches at bay all day, but kept me looking presentable through most of my day.  The shade I got is a little dark for me at the moment, but once the summer rolls in and I get a little bit more tanned, it'll be just right!

Next up is the Rimmel Lasting Finish foundation (buy here).  This product claims to last for twenty-five hours.  Now I have long days, but never quite twenty-five hours.  I think this foundation is a pretty good all-rounder.  Fairly similar to my ex-favourite, the Rimmel Match Perfetcion, but with better staying power.  It isn't the greatest for coverage, and I do need a fair amount more concealer than I would with most of the other foundation I reach for.  A benefit to this foundation though, is that it's very moiusterising, and I suffer from dry skin, but this doesn't dry me out at all.  This doesn't highlight my dry patches, and blends really well - it feels very light on the skin.  My main criticism though, is that it isn't brilliant at fending off oily, shiny patches during the day.  When I wear this, I feel like I'm going to need to carry a powder with me, which I don't normally do.

Now it is the turn of a CC cream - the Bourjois 123 Perfect CC Cream (buy here) in fact.  I've mentioned this on my blog before, and it's definitely made a splash in the beauty blogging world!  Wonderful coverage, whilst being incredibly light at the same time.  The different colour correcting pigments work a treat for me, and this gives me a very natural yet even looking complexion.  I think this is going to be the perfect summer base for me, as it's quick to apply and blend, and keep my skin looks fresh and awake all day.  It's not the best product for combating shine, but with a small amount of powder on problem areas, this base is a definite treat for the skin with wonder lasting power.

Next is another Bourjois base, this time it's the Bourjois Healthy Mix Serum foundation (buy here).  I'd seen  Estée of essiebutton talk about how good this foundation was on her YouTube channel, and I had been desperate to try it ever since!  This definitely does not disappoint, and it smells so fruity!  It glides on, and it so easy to blend.  My go-to brush for applying foundation is my Real Techniques buffing brush, and it really works a treat with this!  This product contains radiance-boosting ingredients and keeps me looking lively all day.  Even when I'm super tired after a day of college and work, my skin is showing no sign of this.  It stays on really well, and keeps any wild shiny patches at bay.  Out of all the products I've tried recently, this one has to be my favourite, as it's such a wearable everyday foundation.  It looks very natural and I've had a lot of compliments about my skin when I've been wearing it.  The first time I tested it out, I asked my boyfriend how my skin looked and he described it as a "radiant beacon of skin", which is the most ridiculous way to describe skin ever, but normally he claims my skin always looks the same to him (I don't understand males), so this one must be doing something right!

Last but not least is the most expensive product I tried.  A product I was completely unfamiliar with, a bit of a curve ball in my make up collection, but something I'm glad I've invested in.  It's the L'oréal The Minerals True Match foundation (buy here).  At about fifteen pounds, it's fairly pricey for a drugstore foundation, but I wanted to take the risk and try it.  I'd never tried mineral make before either, but I love how light it feels on the skin.  It starts out as a powder, but quickly blends nicely into the skin as a liquid would.  It does come with a brush, but I prefer to apply it with a powder brush, as otherwise I feel like I get took much build up of product, resulting in weird orange patches on my face.  When I use this I don't need a powder, as this keeps shine at bay, and also stays on my face all day.  The coverage is brilliant, and evens out my skin tone an absolute treat!  My main criticism of this product has to be the fact that it is fairly messy to apply!  Like any loose powder, you have to be careful not to cover your clothes in make up - this doesn't brush off that easily.  This is very quick to apply, and I always reach for it when I'm running late for college or work in the mornings!

I hope you enjoyed this post, and found it helpful.  Finding a new base is always tricky, but I suppose now I have a fair few to swap around for my day to day life!  I love testing out new make up products, so this post was a pleasure to write.

What's your go-to base at the moment?

See you soon!

       

February Favourites ♡

Hello you!
First I want to say hi to my new followers - to most people the amount I have seems like a small amount, but I'm in shock anyone is taking any interest at all in my blog!  But I do put a fair bit of effort into it, so I really appreciate every single reader.
Today I have a favourites post for you!  I've been trying quite a few products that are new to me this month, and here are a selection of things I'm loving this month - both new and old to my make up collection.

1. Sleek i-Divine Eye Shadow Palette in Au Naturel (buy here)

I am so excited about this palette!  It is an absolute bargain at about eight pounds, and has such a beautiful range of colours.  I've been looking for a decent natural eye palette for a while now, and I mentioned in a previous post I was considering buying the Nude 'Tude palette from theBalm, which costs about thirty pounds.  When I saw this, I couldn't say no.  I really love Sleek cosmetics, and I think the quality is great for the price.  All  the colours are really pigmented and are really nice to apply.  There is a nice mix of lighter and darker shades, and also matte and shimmery colours, so you can create a natural day-time look, or a dramatic night-time look with this palette.  I think for the price, this is such a lovely palette and I honestly can't praise it enough!  I am considering doing an entire post dedicated to this palette with swatches and different ideas for looks you can create - so let me know if you'd like to see that!

2. Bourjois 123 Perfect Colour Correcting Cream (buy here)

I've seen a lot said about this product in the beauty blogging world, and I couldn't resist trying it.  It seems Bourjois can do no wrong when it comes to foundations, as I've seen so many good things said about them.  I was drawn to this product as it claims to have different pigments in to correct various skin issues.  I suffer from redness and dark patches on my face, so I was really pleased to see this cream worked as well as I'd hope to remedy these issues.  I don't like to have anything to heavy on my face, and I used to use a lot of different BB creams, but found they didn't really cover my skin as well as I needed.  This has the right balance between wonderful coverage and feeling lovely on the skin!  And for under ten pounds it's such a good buy!  

3. Real Techniques Core Collection 1403 Brush Set (buy here)

I had been using a set of EcoTools brushes to apply my make up for quite a while, and as much as they did work well, I felt like it was time for a change.  Real Techniques is a really popular brush brand, and I felt like it was time I found out what all the fuss was about.  I love these brushes!  They are so soft on the skin, and pick up plenty of product.  The buffing brush I like especially, as I find it blends my foundation and concealer in really well, with no lines around my face.  I also really love the case they come in.  I travel a lot, and find if I just shove my brushes into my make up bag, they get dirty and the bristle part.  I was a little bit unsure about trying these, as the price was a little out of my budget, but now I have them, I think they're really worth it! 

4. L'Oreal Paris Miss Manga Mascara (buy here)

I was kind of unsure about this product, as I'd heard a lot of mixed opinions about it.  I thought I'd give it a go anyway since I was in need of a new mascara.  When I went to use the product, I was a bit put off by the fact the brush was bristly, as oppose to a plastic brush, which I usually prefer.  The wand also bends, and I'm not really sure why? If anyone wants to explain the purpose of this, please let me know!  I was pleasantly surprised though, as this mascara actually volumised and lengthened  my lashes.  I also find I don't get black smudges around my eyes after wearing it for a few hours, which is normally an issue for me with mascaras.  The packaging is also really pretty!  The only downside is that it's not waterproof, and I don't think there's waterproof version.  

5. Cath Kidston Star Assorted Hand Cream Trio (buy here)

I mentioned that I had one of these in my bag post.  I ran out of that, so bought the mini trio, and I like them.  I find they keep any eczema break outs at bay during the day, and smell amazing!  They're really moisturising and just really handy to keep in my hand bag.

Thanks for reading!  See you soon lovlies!

February Beauty Wishlist ♡

Hello you!

I'm new to beauty blogging, but I thought a nice way to start would be to put together a little list of the products I'm planning on treating myself to when I next have some money to spare.  I recently had a bit of a dramatic diet change, which has caused my skin to go a bit crazy, meaning my old favourites aren't working quite as well or having the same effect as they used to.  I'm on a student budget, so my make up bag is strictly drug store, so as much as I'd like to try high end products, I struggle to justify spending more than £15 on a make-up product...

1. Bourjois Flower Perfection Foundation (buy here)

I really struggle to find a good foundation.  The main problem I have with my skin is random blotches of redness, and I can't seem to find a foundation that covers my blemishes as well as I'd like.  I obviously use concealer too, but sometimes I feel like a foundation should be able to cover faint redness.  This foundation also claims to stay on your face for 16 hours - a rather bold statement to make - but I am completely for any long stay foundation, as I often find I don't have time to top up my make up on a normal day.  I have never tried a Bourjois foundation but have heard many good things about them around the internet, so hope to get my hands on this asap!

2. Sleek Face Contour Kit (buy here)

I have been after this product for weeks, but every time I go into my local Boots or Superdrug it's sold out!  I would buy online, but I always like to see make-up in person before I buy, to be sure I'm getting the right colour for my skin tone.  I feel like this would bring a little bit of life to my face, as I have quite dull skin.  

3. Revelon® ColourBurst™ Matte Balm (buy here)

I really like a bold lip, and I find when I'm being a bit lazy with my make-up, a quick swipe of colour across my lips can really bring my face together.  I'm not too keen on a glossy lip, so I'm hoping this will give the matte effect of a lipstick, without the performance of lip liners etc.  I also find any lipstick I use just does not stay on my face, and I usually am too lazy to re-apply so now I rarely bother with lip colour in the first place.  I hoping these will live up to what the internet beauty community says about them!

4. Soap and Glory Supercat Eyeliner Pen Carbon Black Extreme (buy here)  

I love winged liner, but any other felt tip liners I've tried have let me down.  I always seem to get a weird grey-ish colour line when I apply the liner to my eye, and I've tried the Bourjois and Collection felt tip liners - both disappointing.  Although for some reason, I've not completely lost faith in felt tip liners, and I'm hoping this Soap and Glory product will be the one to show me that they can work!

5. theBalm Nude 'Tude Eyeshadow Palette (buy here) 

This is probably the most pricey make-up purchase I've ever considered making, but I think I might go for it.  It seems like a cheaper alternative to the Urban Decay Naked Palette (which I will never be able to justify buying!!).  I really love a nude eye look, but find drug store eyeshadows aren't pigmented enough or just don't stay on.  I think this is something I'm going to have to save up for (almost £30 - eek!!)  but I reckon it will be worth it, and will be nice to have an eyeshadow palette I can rely on to create lots of different looks with.  

Hope you enjoyed my first post!! I hope to be back again soon for another - see you then!