Look of the month

Hey guys. So I cannont believe October is over and done with already?! Feels like I've just blinked and it's gone. I'm really sorry I haven't been around for much of it. The office is moving and it's SO busy I literally come home at night and sleep! However, in amongst all the busyness I have been playing around with makeup and different looks and voila! This post was born. This is the look I have been wearing most through October. 

I do apologise for my skin by the way, massive break out over this month, trying to get it under control!
I have been loving brown and golden tones to compliment the colour of nature this month. If you guys have been reading my latest posts, I'm sure you will know by now how in love I am with Autumn! So wearing golden, brown, reds have been my thing this month. Not only do they compliment the tone of the season, I actually feel like these colours match pretty much any outfit really well! I have been keeping the browns/golds to my eye makeup and then using darker berry shades/reds for my lips. Berry shades are my absolute favourite lip colours (another reason I love Autumn so much) and the one featured in this particular post is one of the very first ones I got for my collection from Avon.

It's not just autumnal makeup featured in this look of the month - I have been obsessed with this jumper from H&M a new purchase for the season and it was an absolute steal at only £6.99! I feel that this October has been so hard to manage what to wear with the weather being so indecisive. Mornings I wake up freezing and then by lunchtime I'm stripping off from over heating! This is where this jumper has been fabulous as it's not too thick for knitwear but still cosy enough to get me warm in the morning and keep me at a normal temperature throughout the day. 

Makeup used in this post is petty much my standard makeup routine base - recently upgraded as you can find out if you take a look at my mini drug store haul post - and then a change for this look of the month on my eyes and lips! Rimmel 25 hour lasting finish foundation, shade 100 ivory. I have been using this foundation for around 6/7 years now? Something like that and it has done me proud everyday for all of those years. I have decided that my next buy will be something new though so if you have any recommendations, please let me know in the comments! I pair this with my ALL time holy grail product, Rimmel stay matte pressed powder shade: Soft Beige. I tend to use an ever so slightly darker powder product just to give myself extra colour, I feel too washed out otherwise. I'm not even going to preach to you about how much I love this powder, it's amazing and I love it forever, that's all I need to say. Next is Collection lasting perfection concealer in Medium fair. I first thought that this shade was slightly too orange toned for my skin, however I think it blends quite well with the foundation so for now it will do fine. If you read beauty blogs, I'm sure you are well aware of how incredible this product is for the price you pay. If not, go out and buy it. Now. I have just started using a bronzer in my make up routine, which I am loving however I feel it might take me a while to find one that I like in a shade I am comfortable with - again if you have anything to recommend, please leave a comment! As long as it isn't orange based, I am willing to give it a go. Onto my eyes, for this particular look of the month, I have still be obsessing over my Makeup Revolution Iconic Pro 2 pallet. Sorry to bang on about this all the time but the colours in this pallet are just perfect for this time of year! (YOu can read my review of this pallet here) Shade 'Paper' used for my base eye shaddow, this creates a nice light nude matte finished base for the other eye colours to go onto and I just feel that this helps the shadow last longer on my lids. I then use 'Awaken' shade in the centre and to the outer corners of my eyes, I love the golden tone to this shade and a perfect shimmer for this time of year. On the outer crease of my eyes I use the darkest brown shade 'New day' to create shadow and definition to the eye. Finishing with the lightest pale brown 'Silk' on the inner corners of my eyes to lift and brighten slightly! A great warm brown/golden autumnal look all from the same pallet, and I really do love how warm this feels. It goes perfectly with the darkness of my eyes also, which is great! Finishing the eye with a bold black cat flick eyeline look, created with Fast Stroke Eyeliner by Collection. Topping off my look with that Avon lip shade I mentioned earlier on, and that completes this autumnal look of  October for me! I feel like I've just rambled on at you all about how much I love autumn and all the looks I can create... ANYWAY! I hope you have enjoyed reading as much as I have enjoyed prancing about in this look all month! What looks have you been loving over this month? Leave some links below, I would love to take a look! Until next time my lovelies,  

Mini Drug Store Haul

Hello lovelies. I am sharing with you my latest mini drug store haul. Since I have just been paid, the first thing I had to do was march straight over to Superdrug in my lunch hour and pick up all the bits and bobs that I have been reading lots about this month.   Anyone who actaully knows me will know that I have literally not changed my makeup routine in YEARS! I mean I mess around with looks, so different lipsticks and eyeshadows etc. But the base of my makeup NEVER changes. This is because I struggle with bad acne and it makes me super conscious of trying out different foundations, concealers, powders etc etc. HOWEVER this is all changing - well I say all, my foundation is most certainly not, but a few other things are! I have branched out into different brands and different products and this is what I found...    

First I knew I needed some new powder, the Rimmel London Stay Matte is my absolute holy grail powder. This will never change until I decide to maybe venture to something new! So this was my first pick. My usual make up routine consists of foundation, powder, concealer and a bit of blusher. However since I have been beauty blogging, I have realised I probably need to update this a little, hence the introduction of the bronzer. I went for this one as a lot of the ones I picked up and tried had quite orange undertones which I didn't want at all. This one didn't really have this. When applied it has a light shimmer and more of a brown/tan undertone to it. I like the shimmer as it makes it look a bit lighter on the skin and also keeps it a bit warmer for the colder months I feel. Sticking with the facial products, I have been after a new blusher for a while. I tend to mix up my blusher quite a lot, I get hooked quickly to a colour and then quickly get bored of it! I have heard some really great reviews about collection cosmetics recently, therefore I thought I would give this one a try. For the amount you pay - this is a fantastic blusher! It's really pigmented so you don't need a lot on the brush to get a good colour, making it long lasting which I always love! It's also not got too much of a shimmer to it. I hate shimmer blush products - as I struggle with oily skin, they just make me look 10x more oily than I would like! I also thought with my light shimmer bronzer, I didn't want too much shimmer going on - didn't want everyone to wear sunglasses every time they saw me! 

More face products now. Frankly, the concealer I have been using for 50million years just hasn't been cutting it recently so the time came for a change. After reading so many wonder stories about this particular Collection product, there was no question in my mind about giving this a go. Well, talk about does exactly what it says on the tin - this is the most long lasting concealer I have ever used. So many others tend to go a bit oily after a while or just blend in/rub off my face. This one has not. I wore it for a night out about a week ago (sings about a week ago, week ago) and it lasted really, really well! I have been applying with a small headed concealer brush and blending it in to blemish areas on my skin and this has worked really well. The colour I chose was Medium Fair. I have to admit it is ever so slightly orange-y when first applied so when I come to re-buy I will probably go for a lighter shade. But when it is blended with the powder, you can't tell. Guys if you are looking for a cheaper alternative concealer - go for this one! It truly is lasting perfection! 

To conclude my little drug store haul is this Maybellene Lash Sensational mascara. First of all, the packaging to this product is gorgeous. Anything remotely rose gold coloured always gets my vote! Again, I have heard so many favourite posts where this has featured and lots of good reviews, I had to give it a go. I have been using it for about a week now and it has definitely lived up to the reviews! The applicator is a curved brush with thin bristles. This works really well on the lashes as it elongates them as well as separating them making them look fuller all at the same time! I like to wear my mascara quite thick so I tend to put a couple of coats on and this works well for my desired look. It's lasting power is also really great, I haven't had much smudging at all - this is one of the reasons I would tend to spend more on mascara as I hate smudging - for a drug store price of £7.99 it is a really great spend. If you haven't already tried this but are not sure if you want to get on the hype or not - DO! You won't regret it, seriously!  Also in my little haul, I purchased a new foundation brush and an eyebrow pencil. Both fab products and re-buys. No doubt that some of these products will definitely be featuring in my September favourites. I'm so excited for that post as I have so many things I have been loving through September so be sure to keep your eyes peeled for that one. I hope you have enjoyed reading about my little shopping trip! If you have your favourite drug store buys, new or re-buys that you always love - I would love to know in the comments. I am always looking for new things to try!  Thanks for stopping by! Until next time,

Makeup Revolution Iconic Pro 2 | Review

Hello you lot! Today I thought I would review my most recent Makeup Revolution purchase, the Iconic Pro 2 eye shadow pallet.  My first impressions were great - I love the choice of colours and it even comes with a synthetic blending brush which is actually really fab! The packaging is a little on the cheap side, but I still think it looks like a nice pallet and it does it's job perfectly. Since using it, I have found that the pigment in some of the colours isn't as strong as I initially would have liked, especially in the lighter colours. I am also tending to use more of the matte shades rather than the shimmer ones as they do seem a little bit messy (the shimmer ones I do use are more of the neutral colours). Having said that, for a very reasonable £6.99, this pallet is probably one of my favourites I have brought this year. I have been disappointed with a few of them for the choice of colour or some of them wearing away and not lasting all day. That actually hasn't been an issue at all with this pallet - not that I have experienced so far anyway.  I have mostly been using this pallet to create really lovely nude looks which do just go with everything I ever wear! I haven't had much chance to try out many of the other colours but I can't wait to create some more smoky type looks and since its coming to Autumn I'm feeling that the more orangey/brown shades are going to get a lots of use.  If you are thinking of getting this pallet but you're not sure about going with a cheaper brand, I would definitely say that for what you pay, the quality is great! It has lasted really well during the day for me and even though some of the colours I would never touch, and some of the pigments aren't as I would have liked - it is all in all a great pallet for a great price. I will be using this a LOT more over the next months, and as it is coming to Autumn, I'm sure it will feature in a look of the month! Sorry it's a bit of a shorter post today but I just wanted to let you know what I thought of this pallet. Let me know if you have purchased this before and if so what do you think of it? How are the colours for you? I would love to hear you comments!  Until next time,

Look Of The Month #1

I love look of the month posts from all  you lovely bloggers. I always get so much inspiration of what to try out next or what new clothes I want to buy. Granted, they usually make me spend too much, but never the less, I love them!  So, I thought I would do one myself.  This month I have been absolutely loving the half up do top knot look. It has become my daily hair style at the moment, I don't know if I may be over killing it, but I love it!  It's so easy to do and because I am up early for work it's a really quick go to hair style, I hate having my hair fully up so this is the perfect quick and easy compromise. 

This has been the basis of my look of the month. However I have also been obsessing over a basic nude makeup look. It is really popular at the moment and I love it because I can get made up but still look like I've not made too much of an effort, again for work, this has been a life saver. 

To create my nude eyes I have just done a basic shadow and mascara look. I have used this Clarins pallet. Taking the lightest from the far right and then creating a darker shadow in the creases of my eyes from the far left shade.  I think this works well as a two tonal look but keeps it basic and nude enough to create the perfect quick and easy everyday look. 

My favourite lipstick to compliment my nude makeup look is this Clinique beauty. Like you will know, I am a sucker for Clinique makeup. It always works brilliantly to compliment my skin and I feel that for the price, it always last so long. Definitely worth paying a little bit extra! This Soft Bloom is my favourite shade to wear at the moment, I love how it feels on my lips as well; a bit like a balm as well as giving a lovely colour. 

And that concludes the look I have been obsessing over this month. I do think I am going to carry on this look for a while! It's just so quick and easy to create. I might have a play around with some different shadow colours, maybe go a bit darker for the Autumn... Hmm so many ideas! But this will do me for now. Keep a look out for my next look of the month to see what I attempt next! Which looks have you been loving this month? I'd love to see some of them...maybe for some inspiration for my next look! Thanks for stopping by,

Clinique Summer Gift!

Guys - I've been shopping! As I am going on holiday soon, topping up on beauty supplies is essential and also a great excuse to buy things that I don't necessarily really need. This came in the form of lovely Clinique products this week.  I was in need of some Mascara anyway, and the High Impact mascara from Clinique is my all time fave! It goes on with a few simple sweeps and leaves my lashes looking fuller and longer in a few seconds - what more could a girl want from a mascara? Obviously once I wondered over to the counter and found there was a summer gift in store, I knew there was more money going to be spent that originally anticipated! 

To qualify for the gift, you have to purchase two products, one of them has to be skin care. I settled for this redness solutions moisturizer. I could never get into moisturizer growing up when I should have but this one has always worked wonders for me and really reduces the appearance of redness on my skin - perfect for an acne sufferer! I do have to admit this wasn't a necessity buy - but for the summer gift it was totally worth it!

The gift is gorgeous and includes some great summer treats! I love the lip balm crayon. It is one of my favourite lip products anyway so getting it as a gift is a great bonus. It's quite a subtle colour so feels lovely and light for the spring/summer months but it is also a deep enough shade to use for any occasion. And it apply's great moisture to your lips - perfect for the unpredictable weather of the UK!

Included in the pack among others is a really cute nail varnish. I'm not usually one to go for 'hot pink' colours but this one looks great and really summery so I will definitely be trying this out. 

Also included is the 'Take The Day Off' make up remover which is one of my all time favourite products simply because it is insanely good and removes any kind of make up really easily. It also leaves my skin feeling great and thoroughly cleaned, which is sometimes rare with other make up removers. I usually feel that I have to add cleanser and toner after using other removers but with this one, I can just get away with a light toner.   A 'Rinse off Cleansing Foam', 'Custom Repair Serum', a 'Moisture Surge' are also in this great packed bag all of which I am yet to try from the Clinique range so really looking forward to this little lot. I'm super excited to review these and so in love with my buys and summer gift. I think there is always some thrill in getting to review products that are free!  Get yourself down to a Clinique counter to claim yours. A really fab gift and a perfect summer treat for the skin.  Thanks for stopping by,