Tuesday 25 March 2014

Prime Time. High Street Edition.

Primers seem to be a love hate product. Some people skip them completely and find them a waste of precious time in the mornings, others wouldn't go without them. I think the key is to find a product that fulfils your needs. You need to decide what you want your primer to do and find out what skin type you have, then you'll have more of an idea of which will work for you. Here I've got four of my favourite affordable high street primer and there's one for each skin type!

Rimmel Fix & Perfect Pro Primer - £6.99
This has a long list of claims which include mattifying and brightening the complexion, smoothing the surface, protecting and resurfacing your skin. This is a great product if your skin is a quite dry, it feels incredibly hydrating and leaves your face silky smooth, allowing make up to apply with ease. It keeps my make up looking fresh and works great on dehydrated skin, although it wont do much in terms of filling in pores.

Rimmel Stay Matte Primer - £5.99
This is a new release from Rimmel, ideal for combination skinned girls. This primer feels really lightweight and calming on the skin and it leaves you with a matte finish, matte but not dry I should add. It helps combat shine and increase the longevity of your makeup although again, it doesn't do much for filling in pores.
 
Seventeen Flawless Poreless Primer - £5.99
This is aimed at girls with a normal skin type - not overly dry or shiny. This comes as a solid balm in a compact so you have to pick a little product up with your fingertips and massage it in to the skin. This helps to fill in pores and fine lines, it leaves your skin feeling incredibly smooth and allows your make up to glide on without clinging to any drier patches.

Bourjois Happy Light Matte Primer - £10.99
This primer is the most expensive of the bunch but it's an absolute winner if you have oily skin. This product feels incredibly light on the skin and dries within seconds to leave you with a mattified complexion. It also helps foundation adhere to the skin, this definitely prolongs the wear of my make up and helps to keep me shine free for the majority of the day.

If you're looking for a more illuminated, glowy finish to your skin there's four liquid highlighters I've been loving recently which are the Revlon Skinlights Illuminator, Seventeen Skin Wow, Loreal Lumi Magique and Bourjois Happy Light Luminous Serum. I'll do a post on these in the future to tell you more about them all and show you what they look like on the skin. 

What's your favourite affordable primer?

Monday 17 March 2014

Barry M Gelly Nail Paints - Spring Edition. Rose Hip & Sugar Apple.

I love the Barry M Nail Paints, they're affordable, easy to find, usually on offer and come in a range of colours. I loved their matte range but I especially love their Gelly Nail Paints. My previous favourites were Pomegranate, a gorgeous red and Blue Grape, a vivid blue and also a dupe for Nails Inc Baker Street. I did however feel like they were lacking some pastels and low and behold my beauty wishes have been answered because they'd added three new shades to the line, perfect for Spring.
The three shades are Rose Hip, Sugar Apple - both shown above and Huckleberry. Rose Hip is a milky pale pink, Sugar Apple is a mint green mixed with aqua and Huckleberry is a pale blue. All gorgeous, all pastels, all perfect for the upcoming months. I can imagine these would look great on pretty much all skin tones, I especially love the look of these when I have a *ahem, fake* tan on. 
Not only are the colours lovely but the formula is pretty great too. Two thin coats leaves you with an opaque, high shine finish. I've recently discovered a miracle product that extends the wear of these to almost a week - don't worry, it'll be blogged about soon, but without it I get a good few days before I need a touch up. These are £3.99 each but they're usually on offer in Superdrug, 2 for £6 which isn't too shabby. I'm already regretting my decision not to pick up Huckleberry and I'm going out of my way to pick it up tomorrow - and possibly the new Barry M Gelly Lips..

Sunday 16 March 2014

Sharing The LOVE - Bloggers. Youtube.


These are the ladies I'm loving at the moment, there's a mix of Blogs and Youtube channels and these are my most visited over the last few months!

Liana Beauty - Amelias blog is one of all time favourites, she features the latest lust worthy beauty releases, has flawless taste and I can always rely on her recommendations. If the girl says it's good, it's good. She's got hair to die for and her Youtube channel is another of my most recent obsessions, most adorable laugh ever or what!?

Byootee - Harriet is a 20 year old make up artist that writes about all of her current favourite products  and shares her latest make up looks with a product list so you can recreate it too!
 SweetHeartSweetMind - Laura's a 21 year old student who loves everything beauty and fashion related. She's a glamorous girl with luscious locks and fierce nails. 

I Covet Thee - Alix has an amazing blog and YouTube channel. She's really well informed on skin care, beauty and how to apply products. Her blog photos are near perfection, to scroll through all her posts is a treat.

Bird's Word - Beth is another big haired beauty. I love her reviews and favourite posts, her photos are really lovely and her swatches are super helpful to see how the products apply on the skin.

Couture Girl - As if you didn't know Kayleigh already. This blonde haired beauty has taken the blogging world by storm. I adore her outit posts and her reviews, she's got variety, quality and she's dedicated to making sure her readers feel involved.

Belles Boutique - Yummy Mummy in the making Laura has an amazing beauty blog called Belles Boutique which I've followed for ages now. My favourite post? Her contour and higlighting explained with ease. She's a brunette, nude lip loving, bronzed beauty and her blog is well worth a read.

Em Talks - Em is a beauty lover with a passion for fashion, food and everything fabulous. She has great gift guides, restaurant reviews and beauty posts - a fab mix and a great read for everyone.

 Abigail Weightman - Abi is a waitress where I work and has recently started her own beauty blog. She's an 18 year old aspiring make up artist who's recently got her hands on a Canon EOS M and can't wait to get blogging her beauty faves. She'd love your support along the way!

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Dirty Looks Hair Extensions Review.


A few months back I was contacted by the girls over at Dirty Looks to see if I'd be interested in trying some of their extensions. I already have naturally long hair but it's quite fine in texture and I couldn't say no to potential added volume, so I accepted. I've been trialling them out for a while now, everywhere from a wander around the local town to a night out with friends and I'm now ready to let you know my thoughts on them.

The extensions arrive in a lilac box with the logo printed on it, this makes for a great storage option to keep your extensions safe when you're not using them. Inside you'll find a booklet with details on how to care for them, keep them in good condition and even details on how/where to place your extensions. The actual extensions themselves come in a plastic zip lock bag with two sections, one is full to the brim with the hair you've ordered, the other is a sample piece. This can be taken out, tested to see if it's the right colour and if it doesn't match you can send them back to trade for another colour. This is a great option if you've struggled with choosing a shade, if you are having this issue though you can always email in for help. Send them a photo of your hair in natural light and they'll match you to the closest shade they offer. This shouldn't be too hard of a task as they offer 21 shades, including multi-tonal options for lighter haired girls.
I opted for the shade - Melted Chocolate Brown. This is a warm brown shade with flecks of a slightly lighter golden colour running through it. Personally I love this as it gave my hair more dimension and I had people ask if I'd had low lights put in. I chose the longest length available 24 - 26" in the full set, this contains 10 wefts - 180g's of hair. One of those wefts is a quad piece, along with a mix of 3, 2 and 1 pieces. I love the variety, it means you can choose where you want the volume and whether you want full on glam or a subtle effect. I was completely blown away by the quality of the hair. It's thick, incredibly soft and 100% human hair which means you can style and wash it as you please. I've curled these, straightened them - even used my rollers and they're still as soft as the day I got them. Although the extensions are incredibly thick, they don't weigh down the hair. If you're new to extensions you do have to wear them a few times to get used to the feeling of having them in, but they're by no means uncomfortable. I was a little wary that the clips might peak through so I had my friends on hair watch but they stay completely nestled out of sight. I tend to keep the full set for nights out when I really want oomph and volume and then use a few smaller pieces in the back and sides for everyday wear.
The full set, 24-26" that I received are £124.99 at the moment instead of the original price £142.99. Considering the quality and the amount of hair you receive, I think they're well worth the price if you're a regular wearer of hair extensions. Keep in mind that the shorter your hair, the less a full set would cost. If you just wanted a little extra volume, you could always opt for a quad weft piece instead.

You can find the full range of extensions, styling products and hair tools over on their website - dirtylooks.com and they ship internationally.

Friday 14 March 2014

Pay Day Haul.

If you're a regular reader of my blog you'll of noticed I've had a few splurges recently. I just can't seem to control myself when it comes to beauty products, especially when there's so many new, amazing products being released. I'm contemplating a spending ban, emphasis on the contemplating, we'll see. I treated myself to quite a few beauty bits that I'd noted down during the previous month, some Zoeva goodies which I've already told you about, some clothes which I wont bore you with and two gorgeous bags I'm smitten with. I hope you're not bored of me sharing my recent purchases, please do let me know if you want any of these products reviewed or swatched! No.7 Beautifully Matte Foundation 'Deeply Beige', Match Made Concealer in 'Mocha', No.7 Pop & Glow in Blossom, No.7 Highlighter, Revlon Lip Butter in 'Cotton Candy', Revlon Photoready Skinlights in 'Bare', Soap & Glory Solar Power Bronzer and Maybelline Sensational Lipgloss.
Mac Lipsticks in 'Pink Pearl Pop' and 'Hue', Escada Born In Paradise Perfume - 100ml, Body Shop Camomile Cleansing Butter, Body Shop Seaweed Mattifying Day Cream and NYX HD Concealer in 'Porcelain'. Topshop Cream Blush in 'Head Over Heels', Powder Blush in 'Good Girl', Lip Crayon in 'On The Cards' and Matte nail polish in 'Milk and Honey'. Save The Nail Repair & Rescue Treatment, Rimmel BB Cream - Matte, Rimmel Matte primer, Maybelline Better Skin foundation, Max Factor Lasting Performance, Max Factor Pan Stick, Seventeen Phwoarr Paint in 'Light', Revlon Matte Balms in 'Elusive', 'Showy' and 'Coquette', Seventeen Doll'd Up Mascara, Seventeen Super Lash Mascara, Bourjois Duo Sharpener, Bourjois Dark Khol Mascara, Seventeen and Bourjois Liquid Liners. Garnier Michellar Water, Loreal TXT Volume Supersizing Spray and Dove Dry Shampoo. Barry M Gelly Nail Paints in 'Rose Hip' and 'Sugar Apple', Sleek Eyebrow Stylist in 'Medium', Sleek CC Cream in 'Light', Bourjois CC Cream, Maybelline Dream Satin Liquid foundation, Loreal Lumi Magique foundation and Loreal Infallible 24hr foundation, Collection Lasting Perfection concealer in 'Medium Warm' and Lasting Perfection 16hr powder, Rimmel Lip Crayons, Gosh Intense Lip Colour and Lipstick. Loreal Elvive Fibrology Range - 3 for £10. Chanel Sheer Lipstick in '63', Loose Powder in 'Clair' and Perfection Concealer in '20'. Kerastase Initialiste Scalp and Hair Concentrate, Dior Rosy Glow Blush, Anastasia Beverely Hills Dipbrow Pomade, Tanya Burr Lipgloss in 'First Date', CND Sticky Base Coat, The Balm Sexy Mama, Betty-Lou Manizer and Instain blusher. Illamasqua Cream Foundation and Blusher in 'Tremble' - both only £5 in the Illamaqua sale, Benefit Watts Up Highlighter and Boi-Ing concealer and Mac Sculpting Powder in 'Shadowy' and Sculpting Powder in 'Elusive'. Lush Melting Marshmallow Moment, Creamy Candy Bar, Fluffy Egg and Rose Bubbleroon and Popcorn lip scrub - all insanely sweet. Fiorelli Mia Grab Bag in Pale Sky.
 
Although it may seem I got a little carried away I really did get some great deals. Both Superdrug and Boots were offering 3 for 2 on cosmetics, The Body Shop had a 30% off code, Illamasqua had a huge sale, I had Debenhams Beauty Card points, Boots beauty points and some products were included in a deal, or had free delivery - this is how I'm justifying it all anyway.
 
What've you purchased this pay day?! 

Thursday 13 March 2014

Revlon Matte and Lacquer Balms - Top Picks, The Pinks.

The Revlon Matte and Lacquer balms have been featured on pretty much all the blogs I read. They're a highly anticipated addition to the Revlon line and by the sounds of it, everyone's in love with them so of course, I had to get my hands on some. Here's my favourites from the bunch.
 
The first shade is 'Showy' and I must of been feeling brave the day I went shopping. I never usually attempt a bright pink lip as in the past they've looked awful but this one is just gorgeous. It's a vivid fuschia pink that's incredibly pigmented, opaque in one swipe and long lasting. I've posted a few photos on Instagram wearing this, so head over there if you want to know what it looks like on. This is a matte finish that feels like velvet on the lips and you'll never need to hunt down a Jumbo sharpener as they just twist up!
The second shade 'Elusive' is a blue based light pink that's a shade or so darker than my natural lip colour. An ideal everyday subtle colour, these don't sink in to fine lines or dry the lips out. If you're worried about using matte lip products, just exfoliate your lips with a sugar scrub and pop on a moisturising balm in preparation!
The final shade is 'Coquette' a lacquer balm, this is a very girly pink that has a high shine finish. I love pairing this with a dark smokey eye and bronzed cheeks.
 
My only complaint about both products is the peppermint scent, I hate beauty products that smell of mint - I just don't get it?! The scent is definitely noticeable on application but then fades to nothing, fortunately. The Revlon Balms retail for £7.99 but you can usually pick them up in a 3 for 2 offer in Boots or Superdrug if you wanted to try out a couple of shades. There's 10 Lacquer shades and 10 Matte shades, ranging from nudes, to pinks, purples, orange and reds. Next on my list to try is 'Demure', a nude pink and 'Striking' a modern red.
 
Have you tried these? What are your thoughts?

Monday 10 March 2014

Zoeva Brush and Make Up Haul.

From my first Zoeva order, I was smitten. If you haven't heard of them, where have you been?! They're a German based brand that produce cosmetics, brushes and a few make up accessories. They're amazing quality products at reasonable prices and they're slowly expanding their range. The Luxe brush line is their newest addition and I couldn't help but find myself add a few to my online shopping cart, along with a few other products to trial out. I already have a handful of brushes from Zoeva and love them all so I knew I wouldn't be disappointed in the quality, therefore the £7.50 postage charge was a price I was willing to pay. My order turned up within a few days, very well packaged - full of bubble wrap, each brush had a plastic covering and was inside its own zip lock sleeve so there's no chance of your products smashing in transit unlike some other companies - ahem, Boots.
The brushes I decided to get were the Luxe Cheek Finish, Defined Buffer, Face Paint and Soft Crease. They're all pretty amazing but the most exciting for me is the Face Paint which looks similar to the Illamasqua Blush Up brush and the Nars Ita contour brush, except a little fluffier. I also decided I wanted to see what their make up was like so I decided upon an eyeliner in 'Rock 'n' Roll Bride' - seriously gorge, it's a deep bronze with shimmer, Color Blush in 'Gentle Touch', a pretty pink with slight shimmer, Matte Eyeshadow Fix primer and Pure Glam Pigment in 'Bitter and Sweet', a rich chocolate bronze with a little glitter. Then I threw in a Large Brush Clutch and some lashes, for good measure, the Nude Lashes in 29 - at £3.50, I couldn't resist.
 I adore the look of the brushes, they're sleek and the handles aren't overly long so they fit in your make up bag with ease. The names of the brushes don't rub off, they don't lose their shape, shed, or bleed colour when you wash them, not to mention, they're amazingly soft. I can honestly say I wouldn't think of spending £30 on a Mac brush ever again. The lashes, although I've not tried them yet, feel soft, look fluttery, yet natural, the brush clutch is worth the money to keep your newly acquired tools safe and I'll report back on the cosmetics when I've given them a try. 
 
Defined Buffer - £9
Face Paint - £10.50
Soft Crease - £5
Cheek Finish - £10.50 
Large Brush Clutch Bag - £12.50
Eyeshadow Fix, Matte - £5
Graphic Eye Kohl - £4.50
Pure Glam Pigment - £3.50
Nude Lashes - £3.50
Blush - £6.50
 http://www.zoeva-shop.de/