Wednesday, August 31, 2016

Beauty ¦ NYX Gotcha covered concealer


I've been on the lookout for a thicker higher coverage concealer for a while now and when I saw this one I was very excited to try it especially with the shade being so pale. This is a super pigmented high coverage concealer which covers pretty much anything you want it to cover. Shade range wise it's pretty varied, I picked up the lightest shade which in most drugstore concealers is to dark however it matches me really well at my palest and makes a nice under eye highlight when I have some colour in my skin.
 
This lasts really well however on my dry skin the formula is very cakey and dry. I've used this on friends with oily skin and it works beautifully on them however if you have dry skin it picks up on even the tiniest patches. It is a little heavy under the eye however if I want a super strong coverage that is something that I can deal with.
 
Overall I could see this being the perfect drugstore high coverage concealer for people with oily skin however for me the search continues.
 
 


Friday, August 26, 2016

Beauty ¦ The summer face


Finally we have had some nicer weather in the UK so today I thought I would show you what I have been reaching for when I want a nice light summery makeup look.

So I've been starting off with the Gosh CC cream I got this last summer and I absolutely love it. It's so hydrating a leaves the skin with a really lovely medium to light coverage however it can be built nicely without it caking up. I like to apply this with my fingers however it does also apply really well with both a beauty blender and a buffing brush. I've been applying a little bit of Urban Decay Naked skin concealer under my eyes for a little bit of concealing and highlight.


For the rest of my face I've been using Benefit Hoola pretty much all over my face to add some warmth to my skin, then using Clinique Berry pop on the apples of my cheeks for some colour. Berry pop is a stunning bright pink which ties in really well with the lip colour. It may look a little scary in the pan however it blends so beautifully. Finally for my face I finish everything off with the Balm's Mary-lou manizer which I basically once again put all over my face as I'm a little highlight obsessed at the moment.

For my eyes I've been keeping it super simple, a little bit of Urban Decay Primer potion to stop my eye makeup from creasing. Then shadow wise I've just been doing a super light wash of In the Spotlight which is one of the Makeup geek Foiled shadows. Finally for my eyes I've been finishing them off with lots of the MUA Volume mascara which is seriously incredible for it's teeny £2 price tag.

Brow wise I've been trying out Benefit Kabrow which I actually mentioned in my last post. I am just about getting to grips with using it and I really like it. It's brilliant for the warmer weather as it is pretty much smudge proof. I've been topping it off with my trusty Gimme brow just to make sure they don't move anywhere. Finally to finish off the look I've been using Bourjois Rouge edition in Pink pong which just really pulls the look together and adds that beautiful pop of colour.




Wednesday, August 24, 2016

Beauty ¦ Benefit brows


Getting enough internet to get this post up has been basically impossible so I also apologise for the lack of post on Sunday as I didn't schedule any (Never trust the holiday wifi) Today I thought I would share my thoughts on some of benefits new brow products. I actually ordered these when there was an offer on the website which offered 3 of the new brow products and a free gift which was the luv it up eyeshadow tin for under £60.
 
I am really happy with the shade of all three products I went for 5 which is the darkest cool toned shade and I works really well with my hair. Kabrow is just the tiniest bit warmer however this can easily be fixed by using a little Gimme brow over the top. I know a lot of people really love the new packaging however I have to say I'm not sure. In my opinion I think it's a little garish however I suppose that's what Benefit go for. That being said that is literally my only issue with these products and I can definitely get past it!
 
Precisely my brow pencil -
 
This one is the thinner of the two brow pencils in the new range, I've heard it compared to the Anastasia brow wiz on many occasions and I also find it to be very similar to the Smashbox Brow tech matte pencil. It has a very thin nib which makes it the perfect pencil to draw in individual brow hairs. What I like about it is that it isn't a very dry product but it also isn't super slippy. Once on the brows I find I can get a good 9 hours out of it before it begins to fade in the places where there are less hairs and it lasts a good 10 or 11 on the areas that have quite a lot of hair.
 
Brow pencil, Gimme brow, Kabrow
 
 
Gimme Brow -
 
This is actually my second tube of this and I'm not sure I've ever actually reviewed it. It is a tinted brow gel which contains fibres, I love this one as it is a great multi use product. I can use it as a setting gel when I use pencil through my brows but I can also use it alone when I'm doing quite minimal makeup. The shade of this is also really cool toned meaning that I can use it to cool down my brows when I use products that are a little too warm for my hair colour. This isn't the cheapest however I do really like it and would definitely recommend.
 
Kabrow! -
 
This one is taking a little getting used to, I thought it would be similar to the Anastasia dip brow however it is much more of a gel texture where as the Anastasia is a more cream formula. This is so highly pigmented and I have to use such a light hand with it. This is definitely one of those products that is best for someone who is a little more experienced as it can leave you with sharpie brows if you aren't careful. This does last really well and I find I can get a good 10 hours out of it before it begins to look a little rough around the edges.
 
 
Overall I'm really happy with these products and I will definitely be investing in more of the range. I've currently got my eye on the brow zings!


Friday, August 19, 2016

Beauty ¦ NYX liquid suede - Soft spoken


I've seen a lot of mixed reviews about these however I have to say I really like them. I did expect these to be a little more matte than they are however when I actually read the packaging they are described as a cream formula. On the lips they do feel quite liquid when first applied and they then dry down almost completely dry. The finish on the lips is a satin and once they have dried down they don't feel any stickier than a normal satin lipstick.
 
The shade I went for is Soft spoken which is quite a dark pink toned brown nude. I really love this shade as it has that real nineties feel to it. The colour is definitely a little more brown than it looks on the tube and I would definitely say these are products that do dry down darker than they go on so make sure to let the swatches dry before you pick a shade. One thing I love about these is that they are very low maintenance with them not drying matte they don't dry out the lip meaning you don't have to worry about them flaking off like some liquid lipsticks do however you still get that lasting power that you get with a matte lip.
 
I get around 6-7 hours out of this one with eating and drinking but I do find I get a little fading around the inner parts of my lips. Due to them layering really well however that is a problem that can be easily rectified. Overall I really like these and I think if you are a liquid lip lover but want something just a little less high maintenance this is definitely a good one to go for!
 



Wednesday, August 17, 2016

Life ¦ Getting back into planning

 
So it's been a while since I've really touched my planner and I have decided to get back into it in order to get my life back together. As back to college is fast approaching I thought I would try and get back into it before we go back. I've bee watching a lot of Bullet journaling videos so I've decided to mix it into my Filofax Clipbook. What I like about the clip book is it is very light. It's perfect for throwing in my school bag and also in my handbag if I need it.
 
I've been using it to help me plan out my content for blogging and youtubing but I've also been using it to plan my everyday life. So I've been really enjoying the whole bullet journaling side of things. Don't get me wrong I've in no way been doing it to the extent that some people do it however I have found it really helpful to keep me more organised and it also fulfils my passion for list writing (I realise how much of a loser this makes me sound hhaha)
 
The clipbook is fab as you can use it anytime as it is all dated by you. It also has a yearly calendar fold out and a monthly one which help me to see my month all planned out and organised. I also really like this one for tracking my shifts at work as it's so easy to track things in as you get so many sections to write in. I've been using the sections on the weekly planner pages one for work, one for personal and one which will be used for college work once I go back.
 
Overall I'm really enjoying getting back into planning! I'd love to know if you plan and if you do why?




Sunday, August 14, 2016

Life ¦ New makeup storage

I finally gave in and bought the Ikea Alex drawers, I've been storing my makeup in my Malm dressing table for about a year now and it had just got to the point where it wasn't big enough. things from one section had ended up in completely the wrong place as there just wasn't enough room. I read quite a lot of posts about these drawers before purchasing them and I decided the best way to store things in them would be in the MUJI PP trays. These come in three sizes and fit really nicely into the Alex drawers. I've also managed to fit all my skincare, nail polishes and even some body care products in them so I'm pretty impressed with how much they hold. The only makeup items that aren't in the drawers are my lip products which are in my MUJI tower which is three of the two draw wide stacked up.
 


 
Most of the little bits and bobs on my dressing table and on top of the Alex are also from Ikea. I have my three little cactuses, two of the small Skurar pots which my lip liners and eye brushes, one of the large Skurar pots which holds my face brushes and then a little Skurar plate which I just keep my everyday jewellery, memory cards and anything else that doesn't really have it's own place. My mirror is also from Ikea but I can't for the life of me remember how much it was. Finally on my actual dressing table I have a Yankee candle wax tart burner, a little glass pot for cotton pads, my Paperchase weekly desk planner and my laptop as this gets used as both a desk and a dressing table. I also have my cute little bamboo and a list pad on the side next to my dressing table.
 



Moving on to in the actual drawers, as I said everything is stored in the PP baskets from MUJI. I have used mostly the size 2 which are the medium ones however I do have a few sizes 1's and 3's. In the top drawer I keep my bases concealers and primers. In the back box I also have CC creams and very light bases with my primers.
 
 
 Draw number two is my random drawer so it has brow stuff, powders, eye primers and under makeup skincare/ setting sprays.


In this one is all my blushes and bronzers as well as any contour products.



In this drawer we have liquid and powder highlights as well as mascaras and eye liner. I also keep my lashes and some tools like sharpeners and tweezers in one of the little MUJI pots in the back of this drawer.

In this one I keep all my single and duo shadows in the front basket and then the back one contains all of my smaller eyeshadow palettes.


Finally for makeup we have the palette drawer, this one contains a mix of both face and eye palettes.


The final three drawers contain my nail polishes, skincare and my everyday bits and bobs like deodorant, dry shampoo and body butter as well as my lush bath bombs.



 


Friday, August 12, 2016

Beauty ¦ Laura Geller Gilded honey


Oh my gosh damn lord this is a stunner. I had heard so much stuff about this and so many people say they loved it and I must admit I was sceptical. For a start it is a very golden shade and I was worried that it would show up far to dark and bronze on my Casper the ghost skin however it just gives me a subtle bronzey glow. This has a mix of various sizes of shimmer so it is quite intense however if  I want something a little more subtle I like to apply it with my usual brush and then blend it out with my beauty blender. In the pan and in the swatches it does look like a very deep gold shade however once on the skin it is just a really pretty bronze champagne shade.
 
 
Comparing it to the Balm's Mary Lou manizer it is a lot warmer in tone making it perfect for the summer. It pairs really nicely with a tan and lots of bronzer for your typical "bronzed goddess" kind of look. The one thing I really don't like about this product is the packaging. At £22 I expect a compact that's a lot studier and not so cheap looking. I get that keeping the packaging so minimal means it keeps the price down but in all honesty i'd rather pay a little more for something that doesn't feel like it's going to fall apart if I drop it.
 
Despite the packaging downfall I do really love this product and I would highly recommend it if you are into your highlighters.
 



Wednesday, August 10, 2016

Life ¦ Cole gets fit or dies trying #2

 
So this whole regular update thing went well. I'm pretty sure I haven't spoken about fitness over here since I did my first post when I joined the gym. Since my last update I've gone from working out at least three times a week to cutting down to once or twice due to an injury which really sucks as I was beginning to see some progress. I've actually had to stop spinning which breaks my heart as it was killing my already very dead hip. However I have started swimming more which I'm actually really enjoying. I'm currently waiting on a hospital appointment to have a steroid injection in my hip so in the Gym I've been focusing more on my arms purely to take the pressure off my hip.
 
Since my last post I've also gone fully vegetarian so I've been eating even more fruit and veg than I was before and I'm slowly attempting to cut down on how many crisps and biscuits I eat a week. Even though I've been eating much healthier I am not denying myself little treats and I feel like that's really helped me stay on track. I've also found since cutting out a lot of crap out of my diet my skin has been so much better, pairing that with how much water I'm now drinking my acne has completely gone and I get the odd spot now and again but no where near on the scale it was before.
 
I'm hoping it is going to be less than six months before I update this again.
Let me know if you are on a journey to get fit and what's working for you! 

Monday, August 08, 2016

Blog ¦ Cutting down

In the past couple of months I have felt like I've been churning out four posts a week of content that didn't include any passion. I felt as though how many times I blogged a week made me either a good blogger or a bad blogger. I've been posting four times a week for a little while now and at first I loved it however since then I've also started up my YouTube channel and got a job. These things along with the massive amount of college work I'm going to get next year I've decided to cut down a little. I'm going to see how three posts a week works for me as I don't want to keep churning out mediocre content which I don't really like. I want to write more detailed posts and reviews that are going to really help people. Once I go back to college in September I may have to re-evaluate again as at the end of the day it's make or break time and if I mess up this year I'm not going to university. I really hope you guys understand and continue to enjoy the (hopefully) improved content that I'm going to be putting out.

Saturday, August 06, 2016

Beauty ¦ Another collective haul


Ooops is all I have to say for myself right now. However I am now on a spending ban and I haven't spent money on makeup in over 3 weeks so I mean I'm quite pleased with myself. There are a couple of repurchases in here and also a fab deal from Benefit!
 
 
Starting off we have the Urban Decay Naked skin concealer in Fair neutral I already have this in Light neutral however I've found that it's just a little too dark for under my eyes so I thought I would pick up the shade below. This is such a lovely concealer for the under the eyes as it is so creamy and lightweight. Next up I picked up The Balm Mary-Lou manizer I can so see why everyone loves this one, it is a really beautiful champagne gold shade which gives the skin the most stunning glow I actually reviewed this /Here/ if you want to know a little more about it. Another super hyped up highlight is Laura Geller Gilded honey this one is a little bit darker than Mary-Lou however it's another gorgeous champagne gold shade. I was little worried when this arrived that it was going to be a little too dark however I've found that it works well even on my super pale skin. I feel like this is definitely the perfect holiday highlight.
 
I picked up two setting sprays in the past couple of months as I'm hoping to find a cheaper dupe than the Urban Decay All nighter setting spray I picked up another of the small sizes as I just can't justify paying £22 for what is essentially glorified water. Don't get me wrong I really do think that it helps keep makeup on for longer and takes away any cakeiness however it still hurts to pay that much for it. As the Maybelline Super stay setting spray was on offer on Feel unique I decided this would be the first one I compared I've only tried this one twice so far and I've not quite decided how I feel yet. The spray is no way near as fine as the Urban decay one so it's one I'll definitely have to report back on.
 

Left to Right - Mary-Lou manizer, Gilded honey, Naked concealer.

I've gone a little crazy with new brow products, however Benefit was running one of their makeup deals were you get three products a makeup bag and a free gift for my three products I picked out KAbrow! Which is somewhere between a brow gel and a pomade. I find it really easy to work with and it can either be built up for a very heavy brow or sheered out for a much more subtle look. Next up I decided to try the Precisely my brow pencil as it looked so similar to my Smashbox brow tech matte pencil which I absolutely adore. It's a very thin pencil which from pictures is very similar to the Anastasia Brow wiz. I like a thinner pencil as it gives me more control and means I'm able to add in some extra hairs in the front of my brows. Finally I decided to repurchase Gimme brow I really love this product and this deal seemed the perfect time to repurchase it. It adds a little volume to the brows whilst really setting them in place and stopping them from moving anywhere.
 
I also picked a couple of new brow things from Freedom, I decided to pick up their Brow powder duo in Ash brown as I already have dark brown which is a lot warmer so I picked up this one to mix with those shades to create my perfect brow shade. I also went for their Brow pomade in Ash brown as I wanted to compare the formula to the Anastasia dip brow. It is actually very similar in  texture but it is perhaps a slight bit drier than the Anastasia one. This shade is actually a good one if i'm going for a more dramatic brow look however my Anastasia one is definitely better for everyday.
 

Brow pencil, Gimme brow, KAbrow, Freedom Pomade, Freedom powders
 Finally for today we have the free gift that came with the benefit set, it's the Luv it up tin I am actually so happy as I have wanted to try the benefit shadows and the cream shadows for so long. I have to say I am super impressed by the cream shadow. The texture is really lovely and it feels like it really sets on the lid. I used it in conjunction with the shadows and it really helped them to pop but also made them last so much longer the lids. It also comes with the Dandelion gloss which is something I've used before and really liked as it's a brilliant low key lip.
 
Dandelion, RSVP, Call my buff, Nude swings, Thanks a latte.

Thursday, August 04, 2016

Beauty ¦ Possibly the best idea ever? Friction free shaving.


We've all done it, your wearing a vest and about to go out when you realise you haven't shaved under your arms so you rush to the bathroom to shave and your razor is completely blunt but you use it anyway. Now this has been doing the rounds on instagram in the past couple of months and I just had to give it a go.
 
I decided to go for the Samantha which is the most expensive out of the three choices. However at £7 it isn't exactly breaking the bank when you think about the fact that you get 4 blades and the actual razor body. I was so impressed when I got it out the box. It's fairly weighty and for £7 you cannot complain it's super sturdy and feels like it is going to last really well. You can opt for a monthly or a bi-monthly plan which is fab as for me personally I'm super lazy and only shave my legs if I have somewhere to go with them out so I tend to only ever really shave under my arms. However if you aren't lazy like me then the monthly plan means you get a head a week.
 
I was really quite impressed with how well this blade has lasted, I find some can be a little too sharp when brand new and just make it easy to cut yourself however this was perfect. I've used it about 5 times now and the blade has probably got another couple of uses out of it which I don't think is too bad.
 
Overall I'd really recommend this as it makes life so much easier as you don't have to think about going to buy razors as they are delivered through your letterbox every month. 



Tuesday, August 02, 2016

Beauty ¦ The Balm Mary-Lou Manizer

 
Okay so I most definitely wish I had bought this sooner, I can really see why everyone is so obsessed with it. It is the most stunning mix of gold and bronze which means whilst adding the radiance it also adds just a slight bronze to the tops of the cheek bones this means it works beautifully with lots of bronzer for a really summery glowy look. This isn't too intense (It's not quite sleek solstice levels) however it's not one for if you like a natural highlight. One thing I really love about it is the fact that the shimmer isn't chunky in it which is one of my biggest problems with some highlighters. In this the shimmer is very finely milled so that it can be used very lightly for a subtle look or it can be built up and it will never look chunky and make your face look like a disco ball.
 
 
One thing I'm not to sure about is the packaging I feel like it's sturdy enough to travel with however if it got dropped I'm pretty sure it would end in a billion pieces. I like the fact it has a big mirror in the lid however as it makes it the perfect thing to throw in your bag for not only if you need a touch up but also if you just need a mirror. Overall I can see why people love this highlighter, it's the perfect everyday highlight as it isn't super intense like the sleek ones but it still adds a lot of glow to the skin.


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