the start of a new beginning..

 I've recently picked up a few MAC eyeshadows and wanted to share the gorgeous, daily wearable shades with you today and also ask for a bit of advice on which ones I should purchase to extend my collection. I never really knew where to start and spent hours researching different shades, especially those suitable for blue eyes and blonde hair which I have. This brought me to the shade "all that glitters" the more golden shade I have pictured, and the shade "satin taupe" which is the darker, brown-grey shade which I wear almost every day. I love pairing these together, or on their own and find them very wearable and buildable.

Satin Taupe is described as a taupe shade *durr* with a high shimmer which reflects silver in some lights, its gorgeous to wear especially for a night out and a quick alternative to using a variety of different eyeshadows to create a smokey eye. I absolutely love this shade, its super soft and applies like a dream even without a primer, without any fallout. This was the first mac eyeshadow I purchased and would definitely buy again and again!

The second one I purchased was on a whim in the mac store when I was returning from a weekend in London with my boyfriend, but i'm oh so glad I did. I love this colour, although very daring and out of my comfort zone, all that glitters is great for those days I want to go all out with my makeup! It brightens my eyes, makes me look more awake and is a peachy rose gold shade when applied to the lid. I find I have to wear this one with eyeliner or I can look a bit odd, but I don't mind that. This colour also works great paired with a darker shade in the crease and outer V.

What MAC eyeshadows would you recommend me picking up?

Kate Moss Rimmel 03

Have to say I'm a sucker for a good lipstick but I do tend to go for the darker shades even in summer. I love my MAC Amorous and Rebel usually but after seeing a friend wear this shade I knew that I had to pick this one up, i've had the shade 107 from the Kate Moss Matte collection featuring this gorgeous red packaging and now i've added 101 to my collection - I feel as though 110 will be my next shade. 

"Kate Moss brings colour to a new unique dimension. The gorgeous colour richness and COMFORT of Kate’s lipstick, now in a Velvety MATTE finish. Ruby Powder enriched formula to intensify the colour while keeping a matte finish all day long! Matte is re-invented for the most velvety comfortable colour EVER!" - product description.

 At £5.49 I think the price of these lipsticks is amazing for the quality you receive. This lipstick features an amazing fruity scent, not too overpowering and provides medium coverage on the lips. The only downside to the lighter colour that I've found is that it does cling to dry patches slightly and this is more noticeable than the darker 107 shade I also own, but applying a lip balm or some Vaseline before hand can make application that little bit easier. Staying power is good, which you would expect from a matte lipstick and I can easily wear this shade for 5-6 hours before topping up which I find to be good value for money. 

101 is a lovely blue toned pink and although I'm very pale I find this to look good on my lips when wearing a slightly heavier eye look, this for me is a wearable everyday shade especially for work. I'm keen to try out this shade with a lip primer underneath and see how long I can make it last! 

You can shop the shades from boots here - whats your favourite lip product right now? x

Bourjois Intense Extrait - 03

I've swatched this gorgeous shade everytime i've been in boots the last few weeks so recently on a whim I thought why the hell not!? It's a gorgeous champagne colour with lots of shimmer, with a few pink tones in there! See the glitter in the last photo, which was incredibly hard to capture on camera, but my god it's beautiful!

"two times more coverage than a typical eyeshadow in one application"

I love the fact this eyeshadow comes with a built in mirror, the pot is a matching colour to the eyeshadow pigment and its compact enough to fit easily in your makeup bag! Claiming to last for 16 hours I found this shade to last me all through work and a trip for dinner so roughly around 11 hours, so feel this is considered truth which is amazing. This colour looks gorgeous over a darker eyeshadow shade as the glitter really makes the look pop.. and looks beautiful as a highlight for the brow bone too, i'm all for a multi-use product me. Retailing at £6.99 it is more than i'd typically pay for an eyeshadow but literally everytime I passed it I swatched it and loved the look so I had to make it mine.

Interestingly, this also works fab as a liner with a slightly wet brush, as you can imagine this gives the most amazing results and i've been super pleased with this product, the only downfall is there isn't an applicator that comes with it which would have made application that little bit easier! You can pick up this product from boots here - what eyeshadows have you been loving recently? xx

A festival/holiday must have!*

I was recently contacted to review these plasters by Dermocare, which I know isn't the typical thing you will find on a beauty blog but I was intrigued by the designs and thought they would be fab for a holiday get away or visiting a festival this year. If your anything like me then your pretty clumsy and constantly in need of a plaster, in each of these £2.99 packs you get 18 plasters of 3 sizes, all unique designs featuring Safari and Ocean life animals which are guaranteed to make your outfit stand out that little bit more..

What I love most about these plasters is that they are supporting WWF - world wildlife fund, and their projects whilst being fun and eyecatching, which makes them worlds apart from any standard plaster. I think these are a fun alternative for children, who are likely to be more fascinated by the design on their plaster over their choice than where they've hurt themselves. 

Having tried and tested these plasters on my blisters (stupid new shoes) I can definitely say they are washproof and breathable, hypoallergenic and latex free, gentle on the skin and easy to remove. Dermocare states they are designed for all ages from birth, which is also fab (although i'm not too sure they'd stay on a baby for very long!) 

The safari plasters available here feature my favourite designs of them all! In this pack you receive a zebra, leopard, giraffe, giant panda, orangutan, lion, tiger and rattlesnake. My favourites have to be the giraffe and zebra ones - how adorable. The ocean life plasters available here and these feature some very different designs such as great white shark, penguin, clownfish, dolphin, saltwater crocodile, seal, lionfish and sea turtle. 

I have really enjoyed using these plasters and definitely deem them a handbag essential, and great for holidays or festivals to match up with different outfits and be different to your usual, very boring plasters! You can find Dermocare on facebook, twitter, and pinterest :)

These products were kindly sent to me to review, but as always opinions are not influenced and are 100% my own based on my use of the product.

Will you benefit from using Rollerlash?

Recently i've been loving Benefit's Roller Lash Mascara - and it's swiftly become my favourite mascara of all time. I honestly speak about this mascara to everyone who asks for a recommendation, I can definitely see myself repurchasing this numerous times, and whats better.. it's a much improved formula compared to they're real in my opinion!

First off is the packaging, whilst I love the silver tube of they're real I also love the packaging of this mascara, and feel as though they've been inspired by hair rollers when creating this mascara packaging! I love the pink lid and the font used too, and being pink its great for a girly makeup bag. The mascara wand in my opinion is much better than they're real - this one is smaller in size meaning I can get right into those little nippers in the corners and also providing curl, volume and length! This mascara really does work wonders for my lashes and god knows what i'd do without this mascara, as keeping up false lashes would cost a fortune.

The formula of the mascara is definitely lightweight in comparison to they're real and for that matter any other mascara's ive tried and means that even the thinnest of eyelashes can handle a few coats without feeling heavy which I love. Such a buildable mascara and you can definitely use that to your advantage when preparing for a night out on the town. Finally, I find this mascara sooooo much easier to remove than they're real - with Benefit having to bring out a remover for their previous mascara. This one comes off easily with makeup wipes, any micellar water or cleanser.. brilliant!

Benefit Roller Lash retails for £19.50 but definitely is worth the money and is available to buy here. Whats your favourite mascara?

Well deserved Lunch!

Yesterday I went out for some well deserved lunch with my family and some family friends and it was lovely. I love going out for a bite to eat, especially with great company. We went to a chain of Hungry Horse - which was delicious, I went for sizzling chicken skewers with sweet chilli sauce, with a side salad, chips and onion rings! It was amazing, and definitely very filling - I didn't have any dinner afterwards haha!

They have great deals on throughout the week at Hungry Horse, kids eat for a £1 on a Monday, curry and a pint on a Wednesday etc.. and these are definitely worth taking advantage of especially during the summer holidays with children!

It's great to have a wind-down and chill whilst enjoying some lovely food and conversation, so yesterday was exactly what I needed! Let me know where your favourite place is for a meal, i'd love to know!

This post is not sponsored by Hungry Horse or any of their resteraunts, it is simply my own views.

Ocean Salt Face And Body Scrub

I have only really began using any lush products in the past 6 or 7 months, before that they were always raved about but I genuinely thought they just sold bath bombs - and i'm definitely more of a shower person. I headed down to London in March to celebrate my 18th birthday, and whilst there found myself browsing the stands of the lush store. My skin was going through a phase of being spot prone, and I needed something to calm it down. This is where I turned to the ocean salt face and body scrub, and well lets say.. I've never looked back.

The first thing that interested me was the scent, it definitely smells like ocean salt - with ingredients including lime, grapefruit and coconut. This product is an exfoliator - and when first opened there were little blue beads which sat at the top of the product, ready to be mixed in. I prefer to use this product in the shower, so water has got into my tub and changed the colour and consistency of the product slightly which doesn't bother me at all. I find actually, like this its much easier to apply! I also love the fact this is a self-preserving srcub, so doesn't need to sit all forgotten about in the fridge - I can easily keep it in my bathroom and use it daily.

It is recommended to wet your face before applying the scrub - the reason I apply this in the shower. You scrub in circular motions which allows for the exfoliating process to occur, leave for a few minutes (again, why I use it in the shower, during this time I shampoo and condition my hair) and then wash off with clean water. My skin feels so much better after using this scrub, and I genuinely have seen a difference in my face looking clearer and smoother, being less prone to spots and my redness is reduced. My skin is already very dry so when I felt this scrub I was a little nervous, but have great pleasure in saying this does not dry up my skin at all - so suitable for dry, normal, combination and oily skin.. whilst i've heard many say it works wonders for acne prone skin too!

This little pot of goodness retails on the lush website here at £7.75 for 120g (the size I have) or £13.95 for 250g. Do you have any favourites from Lush?

Daily dose of nude-ist..

The Rouge Edition Velvet by Bourjois in the shade 07 Nude-ist has swiftly become my go to lip colour, its a gorgeous dark nude shade which I find really compliments my skin tone - unlike many other nudes which seem to wash me out a little. I love the formula of this lipstick, it goes on like a gloss with the applicator, but after seconds it dries into a lovely matte shade which lasts all day! I find this lip colour to last through meals, with a slight top up required after consuming a few drinks.. but hey, it's staying power is better than some of my MAC lippies - so that tells you everything :)

These gorgeous Bourjois lip colours are retailing for £7.99 - but are soooo worth the price tag. I wear this shade to death, and I have came to the conclusion that its time to now own the whole range.. with all the colours being very wearable and buildable! If you see these around in your local Boots, Superdrug or even Tesco (that's where I purchased mine - staff discount and all!!) then please swatch them and see how beautiful they are for yourself, i'm sure you'll be pleasantly surprised.

 - Chloe x

New look - blog layout and perfume!!

Something that caught my eye in store recently was the new perfume range that New Look have released, the packaging is beautiful and each of the fragrances are a different colour. I stood and tested them all, and instantly fell in love with this one called Pure Dusk. We all know the struggle of how expensive perfumes are these days, so finding some cheaper alternatives which smell amazing is necessary.. and this one is so affordable I can spray generously without worrying that it will run out within a few weeks!! This affordable alternative is great for work, for those days where your not doing anything too fancy but still want to smell nice and for your bag, and at £7.99 for 50ml, it is an absolute steal (even cheaper if you have student discount.. how fab!) and for being an eau de parfum, the scent lasts all day!!

You can shop the collection online here, including rollerball versions (£2.99 and PERFECT for nights out) or head in store and give them a test! What summer perfumes have you been loving recently?

Chloe x

Rocket Volum

Have to say I have been a fan of Maybelline mascaras since I first started wearing it back in my younger years. I definitely find myself going back to them if I venture out into other brands, I find Maybelline have got mascaras right to a T and never fail to disappoint me. The Rocket Volum Express Mascara is again another amazing mascara introduced to their range. I've tried 4 or 5 different Maybelline mascaras over the past few years, I have loved each one, but I do find myself getting bored of using the same one over and over again so I do like to opt for alternatives, especially trying out cheaper products in hope for them to have the same results... which doesn't seem to be working! I love the brush of the Rocket mascara, and I find that it coats lashes with the right amount of volume in order to create a look that you could wear in the day, and one that you could transition into night with a few more coats and some fancy eye shadow/liner. The mascara for me lengthens my lashes amazingly, I was pleasantly surprised the first time I used this mascara, I was unsure where my lashes had came from!! The mascara does not clump unless you literally put on 6 or 7 coats, which lets be realistic is not needed!  The mascaras are constantly on offer in boots and superdrug, and they are definitely worth the price as they do the job, last for a very long time and have amazing results. I constantly get asked what mascara I use, whether I'm on the till at work or at a party, and it's this one!

1,2,3 Perfect..

I have to be completely honest and say I am yet to find my holy grail foundation. There is just something missing from each one I've dried or I can find fault with something or other. I'm very fussy, I will admit, but I've tried so many foundations over the last few years that you would think i'd have found one I could stick with by now.. unfortunately not.

The last foundation I have been trying is the 1,2,3 perfect foundation by Bourjois Paris. As a lover of their Healthy Mix in summer, I opted for this alternative with it being a higher coverage. The foundation contains 3 pigments in, one to reduce dark circles, one to remove dull complexion and the third to reduce redness. I can definitely say it helps reduce redness on your face, something I suffer with quite badly and always have done, but for reducing dark circles I don't think this foundation helps in any way, I still have to bring out my trusty concealer in order to hide those!!

The foundation dries matte, i'm not a matte lover as I suffer from extremely dry skin and throughout the day it can often go flaky, which I hate. I find that moisturising and priming before applying this foundation does reduce this slightly, and can wear the foundation for 4-5 hours before I begin to notice it coming off my face, but this is the same with most foundations I have tried. I have to say the lightest shade is still way to dark for me, so if you are extremely pale then please go and test before you buy! I can just about get away with it when I extremely blend it out.  Overall, for the high street foundation it has some impressive qualities. I'd opt for the Healthy Mix over this one if I had the choice, even though the Healthy Mix is less coverage I find it works better with my skin type.

The body shop buys!

If you seen my post on Saturday, you will see that i've only recently started shopping at the body shop! (I know, crazy right!!) But when I made the order, I decided to pick up another treat for myself and also a gift to give to a close friend/family member over the Christmas period. 

I've just recently had my room redecorated, and I wanted something that would make it feel that little more homely. I find the Vanilla Brulee scent to be AMAZING. I love spraying this on my clothes as I walk out the door, or round my room as I enter. I've used this so much already and its showing barely any signs of use, so I know this is going to last me the longest time. The scent doesn't last for ages, which is the only downpoint I have about this product, but as its so cheap you don't mind spritzing it throughout the day. I love the glass bottles the sprays come in, they sit perfectly on my new dressing table and I can't wait to pick up a few more scents. The gift I chose was the red frosted cranberry set, and I thought whilst this was half price I couldn't find a better offer elsewhere. The packaging is even cute, and means that you don't necessarily need to wrap it, just place inside a gift bag and you're good to go. Inside you get a body butter, and also a shower gel which is a great gift idea for someone you know you need to buy for, but don't want to break the bank on a present. The body shop are doing great Christmas deals, so why don't you snap it up whilst you can get a discount? 

I couldn't be happier with my purchases, so I would definitely recommend that you head over to the body shop! I have been converted.. this could be extremely dangerous. x

Instablur...

I'm never normally one to shop at the body shop after thinking everything in there was so expensive. To be honest, I only really seen it as a shop for gifts for those that love pampering and never really looked into anything properly. I've read and watched some amazing reviews about the body shop instablur, which I decided to pick up on a Black Friday deal with 50% off.. but don't worry, theres currently 40% off everything in the body shop if you hurry!! I mainly heard of this product through Gabriella at velvetgh0st, and she raves about it. It is a primer, and it's main purpose is to maintain makeup throughout the day, applied directly underneath for a flawless base. I find this slightly pricey but I have to agree it does do its job. I normally go for primers that are are cream based as I find them easier to apply, but this a velvet touch almost gel consistency. I find this quite hard to spread on my face and therefore feel like I waste a bit more product, but overall I am pleased with the results that this product provides and would definitely repurchase in the future.  If your looking for a new primer I'd definitely read into this one, as I find it keeps my makeup on for at least 8 hours a day!

Santa Does Lush..

I finally went Christmas shopping and I feel a lot more organised!! I've probably spent way too much money, but hey its my first Christmas with a job so I finally do get to treat the special people in my life. I also picked up a couple of treats for myself, and one of them was this absolutely amazing Santa Cola Lip Scrub by LUSH.  I sadly don't live near a Lush so I don't own any of the lipscrubs already, but I had heard great things about this one and once entering the Lush shop I knew it needed to come home with me. The lipscrubs are priced at £5.50 which at first does seem expensive, but honestly they will last ages as you only need the smallest amount. The Santa lipscrub is Cola flavoured, and is a sugary scrub which you apply and massage onto the lips, leaving for a few moments before licking off (yes you can eat it!) and I can honestly say I can already see a difference. I've seen other bloggers recommend using the lipscrubs before applying lipstick as an exfoliater for dead skin (especially in the winter) and I would have to say I agree on that note.  This is sadly a limited edition product, but I have no doubts that this will last me a good while so i'm not too fussed, its also made me want to try the three other options, Mint Julips, Bubblegum and Popcorn! The Santa Lipscrub can be found on the Lush website, or in stores, and it's definitely worth it...