I took a break (again)

Oh how I've missed blogging. When I first started this blog, I had dreams of always being able to produce really good content, of having the most beautiful Instagram layout ever and always having good photos. The reality of it is, my camera skills are dodgy at best, this takes a lot of work and the Instagram algorithiam means my content hardly gets viewed.

For a while I let this really get me down. I would compare myself to others and think that to become more popular, I would need to post just like them. Then when that didn't work, I just had a break from it all. For a while I didn't wear any makeup, I didn't purchase any makeup and I quite frankly couldn't be arsed. I felt like I had no makeup skills and there was no point continuing my blog.

However, one random trip into town meant I ended up picking up the I Heart Revolution Multisticks. This was a complete impulse buy, at that point I couldn't remember the last time I'd worn makeup. There was just something really cite about the multi-function pens that screamed to me. I bought the silver one and the nude one and started to play with makeup again. 

I quickly fell back in love with creating makeup looks again, and decided to slowly start posting more IG looks. While it's painfully slow to be recognised in there, I'm slowly getting more followers so that gave me more motivation.

I decided that I would make my blog my own, I would stop trying to be like others and focus more on what I would want from blog. So, here we go all over again! And if you're reading this and remembering my previous posts, thank you so much for sticking around xxxxx

(Quick little self reminder that a year makes all the difference)

Maybelline Superstay 24H Foundation Review

I think I've mentioned before on my blog that I'm always on the hunt for the perfect foundation to suit my skin type. For reference, I have mainly oily skin that can sometimes be prone to dry patches. Because of this, I find that foundation can simply just slide off my face throughout the day and it separates in really weird, unattractive patches.

As you can imagine, I was then very excited to hear about Maybelline's Superstay Full Coverage 24H Foundation (Boots, £9.99). Boots website claims that this foundation "completely corrects visible flaws and imperfections making it the perfect base for a hi-impact make-up look", and that it is suitable for all skin types, and dries down to a 'soft matte' finish.

It seemed like this was the foundation to answer all my prayers. I love matte foundations, and with the claims for it to last 24 hours I thought it would be a perfect all round foundation that I could also wear to work. I checked a few shade whilst I was in Boots and with Ollie's help I chose the shade 10-Ivory. My usual method of application is to use a flat foundation brush to spread it around my face, and then a sponge to blur out any brush strokes/ patchiness that may be left behind. On really lazy days, I will just use a damp beauty sponge to apply this all over.

My first impression of this foundation was that it was full coverage. I get quite red, patchy blotches on my cheek and this foundation covered them perfectly, without looking too heavy or cakey on my face. It lasted really well the whole time I was at work without breaking up or separating and with minimal shine at the end of the day. Initially, I thought this foundation was absolutely perfect for me.  

However, as with most products, there's always a but. The main problem I've discovered with the foundation is that it oxidises really badly. The shade match at the beginning of the day is spot on for me. However, shortly after application I've found that its actually a completely different colour to what first went on my face. The worst example of this is actually when even Ollie noticed that my face was pretty much orange. I've found that when I use fake tan it's fine and matches my neck, but without tan I just end up with that beautiful tide line that nobody wants.

Not the best photos, but you ca see the first photo shows when it's first applied, and the second photo shows how once its blended out the edges are already changing shades. This was within a few minutes. 

My skin has also been a lot more oily than usual recently (I so need to up my water intake) and because of this I've noticed the foundation does tend to break up more on my skin and it starts to look claggy and separated after a few hours or wear, compared to when I first started wearing it. This isn't purely the foundations fault though, as my ski has definitely altered over the course of my using this foundation.

My overall thoughts on this product is that I still really enjoy using it. It's such a full coverage foundation for a really reasonable price that does last for a really long time (bar oily skin probs). However, I would definitely recommend buying a shade lighter than what you need unless you regularly use fake tan to offset the oxidisation. I do still continue to use this product on a near daily basis. 

I'd be really interested to see if anyone else has experienced the same issues I have with oxidisation! Feel free to leave a comment below whether you have or not xx

London Haul

So as you may have seen, I recently went on a trip to London for my 22nd Birthday. While I was there I just had to check out Oxford street as I've heard so many good things about the shops there, especially Oxford Circus Topshop.

I can tell you now I was not disappointed. Never before have I been into a Topshop that has a beauty bar, a cafe or a milkshake bar. Topman even had a barbers inside.It truly is a crazy place to be inside, and I'm so glad we got Topshop out of the way before it started getting too busy in there. From Topshop I brought a gorgeous brush roll from Skinnydip (£15), and a pair of Freedom earrings (£6.50). 

After this we worked our way over to Carnaby Street, to find a Dr Martens store for Ollie. It goes without saying that I couldn't go to Carnaby Street without having a look at the makeup shops such as Too Faced, Urban Decay and Mac and most definitely Irregular choice. I have made it my life goal to have a pair of Irregular Choice shoes now as I've fallen in love. Although I was surrounded by lots of amazing makeup, I restrained myself and only brought a travel sized version of the Urban Decay All-Nighter (£10), as I've been dying to try this for ages.

It was then on to the craziest Primark I have ever been to. We chose to go to the Primark near Marble Arch (I think there's more than one on Oxford Street) as it looked huge, and my god we were not dissapointed. If I ever go again I'm definitely going to this Primark first, as everything was a battle to get close to. I did however manage to pick up four nice vest tops (£4.00 each- in anticipation for the sun we never get) a slogan tee(£8.00) from the mens section and a gorgeous new rucksack (£12.00).  

We finished our shopping day by heading over to Five Guys for the first ever time. I was so excited to try Five Guys and a Burger is one of my favourite things in life, however (unpopular opinion) I really don't think that Five Guys is all it's hyped up to be. I felt it was over priced for what you get, and the only plus I found was that the drinks are refillable. 

London was definitley one of the craziest, but best experiences of my life and I'm already making plans for my next visit!

Revolution Re-Loaded Iconic Division Palette Review

For a while now I've sat back and stared dreamily at swatches and photos taken using the Anastasia Beverly Hills Subculture palette. It seemed like in a world full of warm, red and orange tones this would be the slightly cooler, grungier answer to our prayers (I will admit the colours also scared me a little bit). However, at £43.00 (Beauty Bay) this palette was waaaay out of my price range.

However, along came Make-up Revolution with another dupe to save the day! Revolution Re-Loaded Iconic Division (£4.00, Superdrug) is a 15- pan eyeshadow ranging from more neutral transition shades, to deeper greens and purples. It also contains two shimmer shades- one being golden and the other one with a  more greeny-gold reflect.

As mentioned, I don't own the Subculture palette so cannot personally speak of the likeness of the two, especially on how they swatch. However, from looking at pictures I personally feel that the two palettes are very similar, and I've seen reviews that say the two are very similar. I'll leave images of the two side by side below for comparison.

My own image on the left of the Revolution Palette- An image of the Subculture taken from Google Images on the right.

Out of all the shades, the top two left shades were definitely the hardest to swatch. The peachy shade looks lovely on the eye, but just seemed to merge with my skin tone on my arm too much to see decent colour pay-off, and in general I find the white toned shade looks very chalky, although the pink reflect is beautiful. Arm swatches are taken in the evening, using a Nikon Coolpix with flash on.

Overall, I find that this palette has been a welcome addition to my collection, bringing me shades I didn't previously own and I've really enjoyed experimenting with different looks. While the pigmentation may not be as good as the high-end equivalent (and I'm only speculating here as I don't own the Subculture palette) it comes at a fraction of the price, and without the enormous bad press that came with the release of the ABH palette. 

A recent look created using the Iconic Division Palette below.

Nyx Ultimate Brights Palette Review

I'm a bit of a bore when it comes to eyeshadow, and for years have only ever worn browns and neutrals shades. It's only been within the last year or so I branched out into including more reds and oranges in my looks as they become more popular across the make-up world. However, around Christmas time 2017 I decided I needed to step my game up a bit and venture out into using brighter eye shadows- stand forward Nyx Ultimate Brights!

Nyx can be found in some Boots stores throughout the UK, and online. I've always liked the look of their products, but I'd never really got round to buying anything more than a liquid lip or glitter pigments. However, when I was given a gift card for Christmas, I decided to spend it on some Nyx products that has been winking at me every time I walked past. By using some clever coupon-ing skills when buying these products, I racked up enough points for me to purchase the Nyx Ultimate Brights Palette (Boots, £16.00) using only points (Yay for freebies).

Straight away I fell in love with this palette. It has 16 very bright shades, which includes both matte and shimmer shades.Visually, this pallette is very pleasing to look at  as the colours are all laid out nicely in similar colour groups, which makes me far happier than it should. 

When swatched, it is definitely the orange shade that comes across as being most pigmented and the red toned shades seem to fade on the skin. However, I've found that when used on the eyes all the colours I've used are really pigmented and show up well. These shadows have really good lasting power to them as well- I did a pink eye look at around 10am, and was receiving compliments about it at around 8pm which really did make my day. Arm swatches are taken during the evening with a Nikon Coolpix with flash on.

It's safe to say I'm truly in love with this palette. I'm trying really hard to step out of my comfort zone more and more, and this palette is definitely helping me achieve that. Whilst I am in no way, shape or form a make-up artist, I really do enjoy playing around with new products and this palette is really helping me step up my makeup game!

Below are two of the looks I've created using this palette. As I've said, I'm not a makeup artist so my skills are lacking compared to other peoples but I do try my best! Also, the bottom photo is taken using an iPhone 6s+, whereas the top is using a Nikon Coolpix which accounts for the differences in quality. 

Unicorn Brushes

 It seems like for quite a while now, unicorns have been a massive thing in the makeup community, with brands bringing out a million products all associated (sometimes very loosely) with 'Unicorns'. I am definiley one of those girls who absolutely adores the whole unicorn aesthetic, and I think that everyone around me knows that now as well. Based on this fact, you can imagine the look of joy on my face when I opened my Christmas present of my Brother to find a whole new set of Rose Gold Unicorn Brushes.

I already own a set of white unicorn brushes, which were bought as a present from a lady I work with, so I already knew I would love these ones. In addition to loving the unicorn style, I also love anything rose gold and have a whole collection of items in my makeup area, so these brushes were a double winner for me.

The brushes come in a set of ten, ranging from large face brushes to small eye brushes and everything in between. I can honestly say I think I've found a use for every single brush in this collection one way or another, which I don't always do with whole collections of brushes. The quality of these brushes really impressed me, as the bristles are really dense and have not yet shed at all, and the handles/ ferrules feel really sturdy when being used and cleaned.

The face brushes work amazingly well with power products, but I'm yet to try them with cream/ liquids. They get used to the most for applying loose and pressed powder to my face, and the angled brush is the perfect size for contouring for me. The eye brushes all work really well too, and my two favourites are the flat shader brush which works really well for applying my eye base and carving out the brows, and the small blender brush. I also love how overall, the bristles on the brushes are so brightly coloured!

Please feel free to comment on any unicorn inspired makeup products you love as I'm always on the lookout for new things!xx

Ka-Brow! Review

Hi Guys!

So today I'm going to be looking at the Benefit ka-BROW! eyebrow cream-gel colour. This is another new high-end product which I received in my Pick and Mix Box, and I was so excited to use it as I have never used a Benefit product before. It retails on the Benefit website for £20.

I opted for the samples in shades five and six, as I felt these would be the closest to my natural brows. In all my brow products I'm usually the deepest shades, so this worked out to be the best match. In my normal brow routine at the moment I go between using a Brow Gel or a Micro-Pencil, so it did feel different going back to using a pomade style product. 

However, the Benefit one is so simple and easy to use. The sample came with a tiny brush which is actually really good, although it hurt my hand after a short while to use. I imagine this brush is supposed to be a smaller version of the brush you receive with the full sized product. When I started using my normal Spectrum angled brush, this product went on so smoothly and quickly and I definitely feel that when I wear ka-BROW! I have a good brow day. 

I did start off by using shade 6, but decided that shade 5 would suit me better. I've managed to use my sample a few times now and every time I do I still really enjoy using it. I've worn it on nights out, out shopping and even to work and it hasn't budged once throughout the day which is what I look for in a brow product.

My brow using ka-Brow! with no concealer around it, and without brow gel over the top.

However, my only concern is that my sample shade 6 dried up after two days and literally fell out the packet, which I'm hoping isn't a sign of what happens to the full sized product. I'm going to remain hopefully though and just assume that because the packet had been opened and I couldn't re-cover shade 6 properly, that is what caused it to dry up.

I'm definitely going to splash out and purchase this when I need a new brow product,and will consider trying out some more of Benefits products now I've seen how good this one is. Feel free to let me know what you recommend!xxxx

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