October

The days have got shorter, the supermarket shops have started to stock quality street. Autum seems to have just begun yet winter is rearing it’s head. This month has been a long one as I have spent most of it in my work cardigan and shoes and getting used to my first year out of education. The end of last month was a sad one, saying goodbye to friends and leaving all that felt familiar, but here I am a month later, feeling a little more prosperous about what will come of the rest of this year. I am also very excited to see old friends during the up coming week! Novemeber is looking like a nicer month full of nice plans and not as much of the unknown as I faced this month. October has always been a weird month for me, today, the 31st of October marks 7 years since my parents seperated. The end of this month also marks 6 years since I had spinal fusion surgey to correct my scoliosis. It has always been a month of unknowns and new things, scary things – quite fitting that it happens to be halloween! I hope your October has been nice and that Novemeber will be bigger and better! I will be posting a lot more on here as I have a lot more ideas.

Thank you for reading 🙂

The first day of term

Today marks the day that most teenagers and kids go back to school after summer. Both sad that the summer appears to be over but at the same time excited about the new start I mean the excitement was never as great as the post summer blues however new stationary always seemed to held that. Today is also my best friend’s birthday and a year ago today her and I along with our other friend were at bestival setting up our tent ready to go and see Sam Smith. Then we would part and all go off for our last year of college. This year instead of uni I am taking a gap year, resitting physics and am currently working at a clothes shop saving up to hopefully go to Australia for the last part of the gap year. I am so used to the year starting now, going off to school and only having to think about homework and seeing friends. Now there is little structure which is both freeing and terrifying. For the first time my new year starts on the 1st of January. Going off to bestival was like a goodbye to the summer, I knew I was in store for a crazy stressful school year but it was very different to how I would expect. Some aspects were great, funny and amazing – I was in a play with great people, I had a drama free christmas, passed all my exams I mean I completed the fucking IB!!!! I even went on my first date – however not a second… A story for another time! Sadly not everything happened smoothly and there has been some loss along the way which intensified everything. It made us mature somewhat and re-evaluate what is important. Again something I may write about another time. All this happened in the school year that went too quickly everything was rush so maybe this year off will help me get my head round all that happened from September the 4th onwards! Good luck anyone who is back at school or soon to start uni just think of the all the new stationary! xx

Ballet pink

When looking at my recent make up purchases I see I have brought a lot of things that fall under the neutral, soft, ballet pink colour. From blushes to lipsticks, as I am pale I was looking for more things to wear everyday. As I don’t suite a beige nude lip I have found neutral pink tones suit me much better. The appropriate term to describe the look I have been going for is the English rose look. Anyway a rather long introduction before I write about some of my favourite new products under the ballet pink roof (I can’t think of the right word, also I need to get better at starting blog posts!!!).

These are too older buys – as you can see by the dent in the the blushes. The first one I have talked about before is from Topshop, it is a pretty and gentle blush with silver shimmers throughout. It works really well on light and fair skin. The second blush is from the Body Shop it is in the shade bubblegum, this I brought when I was trying to find an alternative to a Clinique limited edition blush from a neutral palette. This blush came out to be far more superior, it work well on light skin and is pigmented. It is a matte shade and gives a nice pop of colour to the cheeks. It also lasts a long time on the skin.

This blush is a more recent purchase as it is new to the drugstore. The blush is from max factor. In appearance they look similar to the Hourglass blushes however they are a fraction of the price. The colour is the lightest colour, lovely pink. The blush will only suit people with fair skin as it is light. The blush applies well and looks natural and glowy on the skin. I really like the formula of the blush and with the other shades I have swatched and seen in the shop they are all creamy and well pigmented. Also there is usually always a deal involving max factor products making them even more affordable.

Onto more Max Factor products I have been using a gloss a lot that I have written about before on my blog post called Pucker Up. After buying £15 worth of max factor products I got a free gift – a mascara, nail varnish and lipstick. 

The colour is a girly your lips but better shade. It is really wearable and has a nice creamy finish on the lips and it wears well.

Overall I think subtle pops of pink on the face can add a more flushed and healthy look to the face whilst still being natural.

Thank you for reading

Sleek Face Form review

My favourite face product is currently the Face Form from Sleek. I own the shade light, there are 4 shades from fair to dark.

The palette is £9.99, it has solid packaging and big mirror. The blush is pigmented and has gold shimmers running throughout it looks natural and gives the skin a sun kissed appearance. The highlighter again has gold shimmers throughout. I have owned two of these palettes (one I dropped and the blusher smashed) the first palette the highlighter was a lot more pigmented and applied quite strong. With this palette the highlighter is less pigmented but still applies as well on the skin giving a more subtle glow. Finally the main draw to the palette the bronzer, the bronzer is matte, smooth and pigmented. It applies evenly and can be used in the contours of the face as it isn’t orange, but it can also be used to give the face some warmth. Overall I think this palette is a really good buy, individually each powder is nice in colour and texture and the three work as a nice combination on the face. The price is good and is all you need for the face.

Thank you for reading

Glowing crazy

I am obsessed with highlighters, anything that glows or is sparkly I like it. So thankfully more drug store brands have been coming out with highlighters. The first on I have is quite new to Rimmel – Good to Glow in the colour 001 Notting Hill Glow

The product is pink toned and has a pearly finish. It does have some specks of glitter but it is very easy to blend so it is less in your face on the skin. It can be worn on top of foundation can be blended into foundation to sheer out the product and give healthy and summery look to the skin. It is quite similar to Nars highlighter Copacabana although I have tested that in shops and it seems to be a chunkier highlighter also it £23 whereas the Good to Glow highlighter is £4.99. Also they give you a lot of product and a very little goes a long way! The product is available in 2 other colours getting darker in colour.

The other highlighter I have is from Sleek it is the highlighting palette in Precious Metals, there are 4 colours, two of which are quite wearable the other two are very intense and glittery highlights which I like but might be too much if you like a subtle glow.

The colours are called platinum, royal gold, renaissance gold and antique bronze. Antique bronze is a powder glittery bronzer which works well on the cheeks and forehead, the colour renaissance gold is the most wearable shade as it doesn’t have big glitter particles, it works nicely on the bridge of the nose and on the top of the cheek bones. Royal Gold is the most over the top shade and has a lot of glitter, I like it for the top of my cheeks if I am going out at night otherwise it isn’t the most subtle. The white shade is only works for the inner corner highlight as it is white and pearly and is very pigmented. The 3 cream shades blend and set well and the power shade blends well. It is £9.99 and comes with a brush which was the worst part about the product as whole, all the products work well blended with your fingers. I like the packaging as it fits with the precious metals look and is sturdy it also has a good sized mirror.

Hope this was helpful! Thank you for reading

Make Up Revolution Awesome Metal Eye Foil

Another budget friendly fun eye shadow is the Make up revolution awesome metal eye foil – bit of a mouthful! These are sold in superdrug and online at for £4!!
These products can be seen as dupes for the popular Stila foil shadows which cost an eye watering £33.50 for one. I have not tried the stila ones but I after trying the Make Up revolution ones I am not even tempted.

The colour I have is Rose Gold. In the box it comes with a liquid primer, the ‘powder’ which I would say is more like a cream and a mixing tray. Without the liquid primer the colour is a lot more subtle this is the result – it is a bit more patchy with the colour and wears away quickly leaving a glossy sheen and some glitter. The real magic happens when you mix the liquid primer and the powder on the mixing tray and pat with your finger the product onto your lids. it gives an almost gold leaf effect to the eyes and is very quick and fun for a party, it makes you look like you put a lot more effort into your make up! It wears very well and is a fun thing for a Friday night. The only downside is that it can get quite messy – getting the product out of the pot and onto the mixing tray just make sure you wash your hands or have a make up wipe on hand otherwise it will go everywhere! If you want to read more about Make Up Revolution Ettie did a blog post a while ago on some of the products

Thanks for reading!

Gracie

Playing the victim

Something I have realised in the past few months is that life is a lot easier when you don’t play the victim. Shit happens, everyone has some great hard ship of varying extremes going on and a lot of time the people who aren’t complaining have it worse off then the people complaining about their lives. As someone who has often played the victim it just makes you bitter and jealous which is a massive waste of energy. We are all the centre of our own universe, yes and everyone deals with situations in different ways regardless of whether they are right or wrong. This year I want to leave all the shit from previous years behind because my gosh it is boring! I don’t want to think of all the time I wasted being unhappy and playing this tragic figure watching my friends awkwardly try pity. The time for the DMC is no more! Maybe I have donned a very Brighton attitude of wanting a ‘flow of positive energy’ but it’s a lot easier. It’s taken me such a long time to realise that maybe the situation won’t change – families are always dysfunctional, people are toxic! Everyone experiences this you’re not the only victim so stop waiting for someone or something to change, change your attitude and maybe you’ll realise that you will have more fun and less regrets. Life may fuck you over but don’t let it fuck you up.

A bit of a different post! Thanks for reading

Waterproof make up

For this look I used the Make Up Forever Aqua Matic ‘waterproof glide-on eye shadow’ in ME-54

http://www.makeupforever.com/int/en-int/make-up/eyes/eye-shadow/aqua-matic?sku=6693

the formula of the eye shadow is very creamy but you have to work fast with it because once it dries you it won’t budge no matter how much you rub your eyes or even go swimming it’ll still be there!

For eyeliner and mascara I used the Benefit They’re Real eyeliner and mascara http://www.benefitcosmetics.co.uk/product/view/theyre-real

http://www.benefitcosmetics.co.uk/product/view/theyre-real-push-up-liner#BVRRContainer

I am a bit late to the party regarding the mascara as it has been out for around 2 years but it is a really great mascara, the wand is flexible and gets all the lashes, it gives length and volume to the lashes coating each one from the base and it is VERY black. The eye line – a more recent product! At first I wasn’t a big fan, I liked the colour and the way it styed on however it is very difficult a first to get your head round how much you use when winding up the end and how you hold it, it is also difficult to remove. I haven’t tried the make up remover that Benefit recommend but I use an oil based eye make up remover from Clarins which works well.

After putting the shower over her head and face and leaving it for a while the eyeliner and eyeshadow stayed in place, they didn’t move anywhere and the colour pigment remained the same however the mascara did run a little under the eyes. I would agree with the eye liner and shadow being water proof and water resistant but with the mascara if you are looking for a waterproof product then it isn’t for you however if you are looking for something that will stay on all day even if you sweat and the temperature is high it will stay on an not flake.

Thank you for reading xxxx

Bestival madness

Posted by Grace

I know it has been a while since the last post… But I was in France without internet for a month and then getting back from France I almost straight away went off to Bestival – a festival on the Isle of White. I went with two of my best friends and because we were lucky we were in the artists camping area.

The journey was long and not particularly glamorous. We took an over ground train; an underground train; a coach; a ferry and 2 shuttle buses! We should have taken a bus to the ferry but because we were very disorganised and we walked a great distance with all of our bags and a helium balloon!

Finally when we got to the camp site (we arrived on the Friday and left on the Sunday) we put up the tent – which took longer then expected given that it was a very small tent – we got our glitter on and raced down to see Sam Smith on the main stage.

Our tent did look like a very sad animal, but it fit 3 of us and our stuff almost comfortably in.

Anyway, Sam Smith was AMAZING! I am a big fan so may be a little biased but I mean you can’t not like him! Then we saw Disclosure who were also amazing, made even more amazing because they brought Sam Smith on to sing Latch – yep as I said a big fan :L

The Friday night was great, we went to the Port to watch a DJ and went to the Bollywood tent we also ate some rather over price chicken nuggets. The only mishap of the night was when we tried to find our tent but thankfully and in the traditional festival way we made some friends who helped us find the sad tent!

(not my can) on the second day I wore a rather colourful outfit, I didn’t bring dress up but tried to compensate with colour! I wore Adidas leggings which I got from Urban Outfitters the top was from Urban Outfitters also – but the vintage renewal section – no longer available. The bag I used from the weekend and the cardigan I wore SOOO soft!! On the first day I wore wellies but on the second day I wore gold Superga shoes –

We saw London Grammar and Foals who were both very good and we went into many different tents and saw a lot of up and coming artists also a very exciting moment in my life happened when walking past the Vlogger Caspar Lee who I sort of stared at and he told me he loved my pants to which I timidly said thank you and walked off very happy!

I had a great time at Bestival it was a friendly and fun festival with so many things to see and do I really want to go back next year it is a perfect end of summer party the only painful part was the way home!

Thank you for reading xxxx

Make up of the day 2k14

HI GUYS!!! I’m back and ready for some more make up action!! So these are my friends who bake me up on a regular basis, but it’s cool cause 🐖. Thanks and see ya next week 😏😏😏😏😏😏 zxxxxxxxxxxx

Beauty Boxes: youBEAUTY’s July box, plus a look back…

There are loads of amazing beauty boxes available at a range of price points…if you live in America.

However that doesn’t mean us UK fans have to miss out too. I’ve been recieving for youBEAUTY’s monthly Beauty Box since May and I’m really impressed with it.

The breakdown:

You pay £6.95 a month and it is withdrawn from your bank account automatically. This is good as you can canel anytime (for many other Beauty Boxes they have a £90 year subscription fee, which is too much bank-busting commitment for me).

You choose 2 products from a list- some might argue that this ruins the ‘surprise’ nature of the Beauty Box, but I am not one of those people. I like the fact that you get an element of choice, but you still get to play with new brands and products!

You get an assortment of samples and some discount codes too. The samples vary in sizes from sachets to pretty decent sized!

Here is my May Beauty Box:

Oriflame Tender Care Protecting Balm (gorgeous packaging!)

GlamGlow Supermud Clearing Treatment (cult beauty product!)

Caudalie Divine Legs Tinted Body Lotion (sample)

Charles Worthington Salon Hair Leave-In Conditioner (sample)

It also came with a packet of fancy granola which I made short work of…

And here is my June Beauty Box:

300 Trecento Revitalising Hair Treatment (this is absolutely massive)

Urban Veda Daily Purifying Facial Wash (saving this for holiday)

Montagne Jeunesse Dead Sea Mud Spa mask (this is actually full-size)

And an expanding face cloth thingy, sadly no snacks…

Finally, here is my July Beauty Box which just arrived:

The package…with my address censored out because net safety!

The box itself, very sleek

The products in situ and the booklet with the discount codes

And here are the products:

Dr Bronner’s Hemp Lavender Castile Soap (1st choice)

Archeia Rose Rejuvenating Cream (2nd choice)

Egyptian Magic All-Purpose Skin Cream (free sample)

Agent Provocateur FATALE perfume (free sample)

Dove Men Pro-Moisture Shave Cream (free sample)

Plus discount codes, like every month

Initial thoughts:

The soap is really gorgeous, the packaging and size are cute and it smells nice. I’m kind of disappointed in the Archeia cream since it’s really small and this was what I was particularly excited to try. Conversely the Dove shaving cream is HUGE, considering it wasn’t one of my choices! I will give it as a gift, or if I feel particularly selfish I might just use it to shave my legs with. TMI? I’m really glad I got samples of the Egyptian Cream and the perfume, since I was keen to try these.

It’s not too late to order the July box, although if you plan on subscribing I recommend choosing at the beginning of the month since they tend to run out fast!

The youBEAUTY Box is available here: http://www.youbeautydiscovery.co.uk/members-box

Face of the day + product reviews

Posted by Grace 💃

Before a base I put on my moisturiser and the clarins sun scream for the face, SPF this time of year is especially important, as a base I used the body shop bb cream in the palest colour, it gives a bronzey and very natural dewy glow to the skin.

Picture 1 is before, picture 2 is after. The product balances out your skin tone

The product comes out almost grey, as you blend it into the skin, the pigments burst and adapt to your skin tone.

I used the body shop tee tree concealer in the shade 001, this concealer is great for spots as it is quite dry and not creamy so it won’t slip around but it does blend well. I used Benefit’s Hoola bronzer to contour and warm up the face, this is a great bronzer as no matter how much you apply it won’t go orange!

I then used Topshop’s good girl powder blush which is a really pretty baby pink with a sparkle to it, it compliments the bronzer and is great for paler skin.

Stratford Upon Avon

Posted by Grace
A very different post today, about my weekend trip to Stratford upon Avon. Two teachers and 16 of us students went on an English trip. We explored the town and our English teacher told us many stories about Shakespeare and were he lived and stories about theatre companies having druken punch ups! For anyone unsure Stratford upon Avon was were Shakespeare lived and was born and the whole town is like a theme park dedicated to him and his plays.

We visited the church were he is buried and saw the model of him which as our English teacher rightly said it didn’t capture the romantic Shakespeare look but looked more like captain Mannering!

The first play we went to see was Henry IV part 1

The play was performed well by all the actors, it was funny and everything about it was well done – the staging, the costume, the direct address to the audience. The play is about a king who is in denial about the dethroning of the previous king (Richard II, also a side note I saw Richard II at the Barbican theatre earlier this year with David Tenant playing him) Richard promises the throne to his cousin Harry, him and his father are angry and want revenge against Henry, Henry has a son – Hal, or Harry he doesn’t take responsibilities as a prince and spends his days in brothels and pubs pick pocketing with his friends and with the protagonist and funniest character Faulstaff, a large, drunk old man who makes up great long stories to make him look like a brave and honourable man – a Shakespearean Rooster Byron! I didn’t enjoy Richard II because I didn’t engage with the characters and thought the plot was too heavy for my liking but Henry IV was a mix of heavy and serious moments with many funny and comical moments, the actors were able to adapt the Shakespearean comedy and make it funny to a modern day audience. As we all agreed on when coming out of the theatre, being able to spot and laugh at the jokes in the play made us feel very intelligent! Faulstaff’s direct address with the audience meant that throughout the play, although he wasn’t always loyal to Hal who was a likeable and good character throughout, meant we had a connection and had his trust as we knew the dramatic irony from his on stage actions. The actor playing Harry played him with moments of madness however he did have too many moments where he became too much of a likeable character I thought and the moments of madness should have been more continuous. Over all I really enjoyed the play and thought although the play is a long one it engaged everyone throughout and it left me wanting to see part 2!

The second play we went to see was called the Arden Of Faversham by anonymous

The Arden of Faversham is about a woman called Alice who is married to a man named Arden, Alice falls in love with another man, this other man tells Arden that whilst he is alive he will never be with Alice so Alice decides she must kill him so she hires someone who hires someone else to kill him, every time there is an opener unity to kill him the two hit men mess up and end up injuring themselves. The play is a dark comedy with lots and lots of blood! The adaptation I saw was set in the modern day, the set was full of lucky cats and everything was colourful but a complete vision of madness. I found the play very funny manly it’s shocking moments, there was one moment when Arden is finally killed and is suspended in a cardboard box hanging from the ceiling (I know madness) when his blood starts to drip onto the stage and one of the actors accidentally kicked it into the laps of two audience members! another moment was still when the blood was dripping onto the stage and Alice’s love tries to distract everyone by going to cheers and hold up his glass of champagne and a drop of blood falls in! The play was very dark and the twisted colourful and happy setting juxtaposed with the gruesome and tragic story made the production very effective, dark and very very funny!

Biiiiiig brand review: The Body Shop. Sale, skincare and haircare!

The Body Shop is a pretty iconic high street brand appreciated by people of all ages. Although they’re now owned by L’Oreal (boo!) the products themselves are non-animal tested and the company is hugely focused on sustainable sourcing and they do all kinds of philanthropic projects globally which is always good to know. Their rewards cards scheme is totally worthwhile and has saved me loads of money. Aaaand they currently have a sale! I’m celebrating this by reviewing my Body Shop purchases.

First I’ll start with what has come to be a cult product- Body Butters!

These are hardcore body moisturisers that come in man-size jars. They come in like 500 different flavours and The Body Shop is constantly bringing out new ones so I promise there’ll be a smell you like, even if you don’t like smelly things!

I have the Olive, Passionfruit and Satsuma ones. The Olive is nice because it’s less of an overpowering fruity smell, it just smells really fresh and clean so this is good if you’re less keen on sweet smelly things! The Passion fruit smells heavenly and almost edible, but the smell is pretty strong. Sadly it’s being discontinued 😦 This does mean that you can often find it reduced instore though! The Satsuma one is a less overpowering smell but it’s still fruity and delicious!

These are best for putting on right before bed as they are HEAVY moisturisers so you can let them sink in without having to go about feeling all greasy and sticky.

For a lighter body moisturiser I use the Body Lotions.

They come in a pump bottle and are also lighter on the wallet too! (£8 compared to the Body Butters which retail at £13)

These sink in way better than the Body Butters. The pump packaging is also way more convenient and hygienic than the Body Butters, and they’re available in all the same flavours! I have the Sweet Lemon and the new Vineyard Peach and both smell fab, I would particularly recommend the Peach one.

Other body products that I love are the Banana conditioner and the White Musk deodorant.

Both of these were pretty much chosen for smell only. The conditioner is lightweight so I slap it on after I’ve conditioned once already and then I have delicious banana-flavoured hair. Seriously it smells so good. If you have short hair or oily hair the Banana conditioner will do the job on its own.

The deodorant isn’t the best anti-antiperspirant, but again, it smells really nice so I use it with another deodorant. Is it a bit pointless to get products that don’t work as well just because they smell good? Probably. I will definitely repurchase the conditioner but not the deodorant.

Now, on to SKINCARE.

Here are my two toners: the Tea Tree and the Aloe.

I’ve only used the Tea Tree a couple of times because my skin tends to be dry rather than oily/blemish-prone. When I do have face-freak outs, this has done a pretty nice job of de-oiling and un-spotting. However, I am in two minds about this because it contains a large proportion of alcohol. Surprisingly my skin hasn’t reacted to it, which is good because I’m generally pretty intolerant to irritants. Buuuuut I would definitely advise caution on this one, as alcohol can be very irritating and drying.

The Aloe toner contains much less alcohol. I use this frequently and while it does feel nice and soothing going onto my skin, I don’t feel it’s really making a huge difference. I’m unlikely to repurchase this.

However, I am a huge fan of some of the other Aloe products!

The Mask is definitely one of my Holy Grail products. It’s neither drying nor thickly moisturising, so it’s suitable for all skin types, and it does a magic job of calming and softening tired, reactive skin. When I run out of this (which may be never seeing as it still looks full despite me using it very regularly) I will definitely repurchase. It’s gentle enough to be used everyday and it makes my skin feel incredibly soft and smooth, as well as eliminating surface redness.

The Serum is another almost-daily product. I use it before moisturising or sometimes in the morning just as an extra-care step. It has all the soothing effects but is also surprisingly moisturising for a lightweight product!

I received the Gel in a package deal. It’s very nice and it’s been useful for sunburns or times when my skin has reacted badly to another product. However, you can buy aloe vera gel for much, much cheaper. Boots offers it for here £2.21 per 100ml which makes The Body Shop’s £26.67 per 100ml seem extortionate!

In terms of the Body Shop’s skincare ranges generally, I have found the Aloe range consistently brilliant. It’s also recommended by Paula Begoun, a skincare expert who’s very hard to impress. The Vitamin E range has also been raved about (and my mum has the entire range and swears by it) but sadly it made me break out so I won’t be reviewing any of these products personally!

Finally, I have a few products that are as yet untested:

I will post reviews of these too if they impress me particularly!

Next on my list of things to try are the multi-purpose Beautifying Oils. These come in all the same flavours as the Body Butters.

Brand review: Topshop make up

As I said in my last blog post, I am a big topshop make up fan, I think all the products are good quality, I am glad that the collection is expanding and everything is at a very reasonable price. The packaging is simple yet effective making every product seem unique yet practical.

The topshop glow is a really beautiful product, it gives the perfect glow to the top of the cheeks and on the Cupid’s bow, it looks good in any make up look and is to me a summer staple!

I have two of there eyeshadow’s, this pretty, very 60s blue and silver is a very nice no offensive blue, the eye shadows are buttery, pigmented and blend really nicely into the the eye lids. The eye shadow is in the shade Done and dusted and is £6.00, the other eye shadow, a navy and almost charcoal mixed with silver in the shade backstage whisper

I also like to use this as a liner.

Topshop blushes are well reviewed this blush is Flushed is a pretty cream blush which looks good with any thing and is very easy to apply it is £7.00.

I am a big fan of Topshop lipsticks and as you can see by the state of the packaging, mine are well loved. This is the shade Nevada, the constituency is nice and the staying power is good the only thing is the shade doesn’t always suit my complexion but lightly dabbed on or mixed with a pinker shade it is very wearable.

this is the shade Beguiled it is a beautiful vampy red with a bit of glitter running through, making it look very glamorous, if you are reading this Beth thank you very much!! The lipsticks are £8.00. Over all I really enjoy topshop make up, I may do a part 2 in the future, there products are consistent and very affordable the the packaging makes it feel more expensive! I would strongly recommend all the topshop make up products I own. Thanks for reading 🙂

Topshop festival make up

Posted by Grace
I am a bit of a topshop fan especially the make up (I will do a brand review later in the week). I went into the shop the other day and saw an exciting new summer collection for the festivals. All the eye products are glittery and fun colours and you know how I love my glitter! The lip products are pretty and sheer all of which have been added to my wish list!

images all from the topshop website, look how pretty everything is!!!

Brand review: Benefit cosmetics

Posted by Grace
Benefit was set up in San Francisco in 1976 and since then the business has grown and grown with products that never fail to amaze people and have award winning products in every category, I own quite a few benefit cosmetics and some things which I don’t own currently I have tried and loved (what’s up highlighter and the PoreFessional)

the foundations and concealers are great for this look I mixed a bit of Girl Meets Pearl in with the Hello Flawless Oxygen Wow foundation for a more dewy finish and the Erase paste and Boi-ing concealer (they are seriously amazing) Girl Meets Pearl is great for shearing out the foundation and adding a healthy glow with out being too over the top or glittery. The only problem with base products from benefit is there shade range especially with concealers it would be nice to have more choice.

For the eyes I used the smoky eye palette which came with 3 eyeshadow shades an eye brow cream product, an eye liner, eye bright and tweezers it is such a great on the go/ going out palette and the shades also come in handy for other looks. I used the They’re Real Mascara which I love, the formula makes your eye lashes stand out and the product will stay on all day that’s a guarantee! Benefits eye brow products are worth the hype

The eye bright is crucial for mapping out the brows and the powder and cream work well to define yet give a natural effect to the brows.
Another thing from Benefit which are really worth the the hype are there box blushers, I have tries Dandelion and Coralista, both add a healthy and beautiful flush to the cheeks and they are very easy to apply.

The only thing I feel disappointed about with benefit is their lip glosses, I have a sample sized one that I got free in a magazine, it smells nice, has little colour pay off and the price of a full sized one is £14 which is just too pricey when I have found a better gloss for £2.50 from Look beauty

Over all even though I haven’t talked about half of the great products benefit do, if you are wondering about buying something from the brand and are worried about the price, you get what you pay for, the packaging is great and the products are to! Everything smells nice and colour pay off is great I strongly recommend the brand especially for teenagers especially around Christmas time when they have great box deals! Xx

Escentual French Pharmacie skincare PSA and HAUL- reviews to follow

Good news- you can buy French Pharmacie products from the likes of Caudalie, La Roche Posay, Klorane, Avene, Vichy, Nuxe and Bioderma at Escentual for 1/3 off through June! Boots also stock many of these brands, but often Escentual’s prices are cheaper, and with a third off the choice is pretty clear. The skincare and haircare products are well loved and receive high commendations from many beauty bloggers, including the lovely Lisa Eldridge, who discusses them here. And I will never dispute Ms Eldridge.

You can stock up on the following cult products:

Bioderma’s Sensibio micellar water (formerly Crealine). The whole Sensibio range is actually excellent.

Avène’s Eau Thermale. I always keep this in my handbag.

Nuxe’s Reve de Miel lip balm. I haven’t tried this yet, but the basic principle is that it’s a matte lipbalm that moisturizes but won’t affect the finish of your lipstick.

Plus obviously many others.

Here is a quick pic of my haul-

From left to right that’s Bioderma’s Sensibio Micellar Water and Sensibio AR Creme, Avène’s Cold Cream bar, Thermal Water and Milk Cleanser. I will be reviewing these shortly!

On my wish list I also have La Roche Posay’s Effaclar Duo and Anthelios Ultra-Legere Fluide.

What are your French pharmacie favourites? Have you purchased anything from Escentual and loved/hated it? Feel free to comment and submit!

Buy yours here!

Suprisingly wearable Festival Forest Flower Fairy FOTD

This is what you call low-budget sfx. As in, so low-budget it was created in a moment of inspiration while waiting for noodles to cook. Nevertheless, I’ve been wanting to try something like this for a while and I’m pretty happy with my first attempt.

I absolutely adore coloured contour looks, and this gave me an appreciation of how much product it actually takes to appear on camera. I put on what I felt was a respectable amount of greeniness (I wanted it to be striking and freaky but not Grinchish) but it was completely invisible on in the photos. I had to absolutely shovel on the green eyeshadow to get it to look good here.

This look is easy to replicate and I think it’s really flattering and could easily be worn to a festival or party. I want to try this using different flowers for inspiration (mine was loosely based on a rose) to create my colourscheme, but also with different skintones.

This was all created using normal cosmetics brands, no sfx.

Budget Brand MakeupRevolution HAUL

I’ve been interested in buying from new affordable makeup range MakeupRevolution ever since I found out that they offer a white foundation for mixing, since I’m very pale and have loads of foundations that are just too dark. (see more on this here)

I took the plunge and ordered a few bits, including some of their pastel bright lipsticks- at only £1 each it doesn’t matter if I’m to chicken to wear them out!

The Blushes

Vivid Blush Lacquer in Desire and Heat

My first thought when I saw these was ‘oh, they’re quite small’.

That was before I opened them and started mucking about. They are SOOO pigmented. Imagine the smallest possible amount of blush you could squeeze out of a tube. Now divide it by 10. This is how much you need to get a bold blush look. I don’t think I could use up one of these bad boys if I lived to be 100. Pretty solid investment for £3.

Cream Blush in Peach Cream

I’m already a huge fan of cream blushes, but this colour is super flattering and has a nice matte finish. It’s actually somewhat similar to my Etude House Cream Blush but I freaking love the colour so that’s okay.

TOP TIP: I apply liquid or cream blushes by tapping them in with my finger or using a beauty blender!

The Lipsticks

I’m impressed with the quality of the lipsticks themselves, they’re not very patchy and have decent longevity. However the packaging leaves a little to be desired; although it looks chic it feels flimsy and the lids keep falling off.

The crazy colours are actually surprisingly wearable: Felony in particular is actually quite flattering and would look particularly good as part of an ombre look.

(The reason that Immoral looks so scubby already is because I used it to turn my boyfriend into Bluebeard, which I strongly regret not photographing.)

Finally, I also ordered one of the Amazing Care lipsticks in Love a Hug.

This is a bit weirdie, it’s a shot of colour encased in a clear jelly stuff. I love the idea of it but in practice the middle bit’s worn down and applying it is a bit of a pain. It’s moisturizing and gives a nice sheer look, however. I’ve used this a lot!

The Foundation

I got The One Foundation in Shade 1, which is literally white.

Okay now this IS small. I was a little disappointed with the teensy size of this; you’re getting maybe a quarter of the volume of a normal foundation. But then again, it is £4! This is a very watery liquidy foundation; it will drip off of your hand. So I was surprised when I put it on my face and it had quite respectable coverage.

This would actually almost work as a normal foundation for me; that is how pale I am.

It is a true white-white, but because it is thin and sheer it doesn’t make your face white-white since your skin colour shows through underneath, if you see what I mean.

I haven’t used this as a mixer yet (boo) because I’m scared! I don’t know if it will blend in with my foundations because it is so runny.

What I have tried is using a layer underneath foundation, this is really good for eliminating redness and and hyperpigmentation. If you suffer from rosacea or are even just sunburnt this could be a solution for you.

It has a matte finish and lasts quite a long time (I haven’t tried it with a primer yet)

Overall I would say that MakeupRevolution by far exceeded my expectations; for a budget range you’re really getting decent quality products. I would recommend them if you’re in need of branching out your collection!

60s party look inspired by Twiggy

Posted by Grace

A few months ago I was invited to a fancy dress party and I went, in a very shot dress, as Twiggy I went quite full on with the make up making it very appropriate for a party and very 60s.

I kept the skin very basic and used Topshop’s cream blush in the colour head over heals on my cheeks and lips.

For the eyes I used Urban Decay’s primer position in Eden and I mapped out the crease using a matte charcoal shade by Benefit. I went over it and lined my eyes connecting everything I used Rimmel’s water proof gel liner I also used this for the dot eyelashes underneath my waterline. Remember with this step to practice and be patient!! For the glitter I used Topshop’s silver glitter all over. On the actual night I wore fake lashes but as I don’t have any I used a Max factor mascara.

Korean Cosmetics part 1: Etude House. Review and swatches!

Today I’ll be discussing makeup from popular Korean brand Etude House- I strongly recommend buying Korean brands if you’re considering branching out from western makeup.

If you like sheer, bright colours and cute girlie packaging, this is your stuff.

The products are:

Etude House Cupcake All Over Colour in Orange Choux Cake (OR201)

Etude House Etoinette Crystal Lip Shine in Sip of Wine (PRD302)

Etude House Etoinette Crystal Lip Shine in Larney Party (POR201)

Here are my swatches:

Cupcake All Over Colour

I’m a sucker for cute packaging.

It’s been squidged a bit…

I bought this on a whim, but I actually use it so often, it’s one of my favourite products. You can supposedly use it on your eyes, lips and cheeks, but I mostly use it as a cream blush. It just gives such a beautiful peachy summer glow to your cheeks, and is one of the few cream blushes I’ve tried that gives a matte effect

I do love the colour on my lips but the formula leaves a little to be desired. Despite looking like a lipbalm, do not be decieved! It is somewhat drying and may go patchy if you are prone to dry lips. The finish is gorgeously matte and surprisingly long lasting though. Also I don’t normally like matte colour on me, but something about this is just really nice and seasonal.

You can sorta see the patches here, but also I don’t care.

Etoinette Crystal Shine Lipsticks

The packaging of these is SOOO nice and satisfying. It doesn’t feel cheap and tacky (well, okay, maybe a little tacky). They remind me a lot of the princess toy things that are aimed at little girls. This is not a bad thing. Unless you’re really into minimalism and hate the pre-revolutionary French monarchy (that’s actually what the designers based these on).

The formula for both is sheer and glossy. This means the wear time is fairly short, but they’re also very moisturizing.

Sip Of Wine

This is a good beginner’s red. It’s a universally flattering shade: a neutral, balanced red, neither warm nor cool. It’s glossy and lightweight which makes it less intimidating if you’re timid of a bold lip. It’s got little bits of gold sparkle in, but they’re much less noticeable on lip than in the tube.

Larney Party

This is a pale, pinky-coral colour that’s very summer-appropriate. I slap this on for work or college so often, it wears easily and freshens and brightens your face somehow. Light nude lipsticks can be really hard to wear as a pale person, because it just makes me look drowned, but this has enough warmth in it to bypass this unfortunate look completely. I can’t recommend it enough. It does not contain glitter.

This is the lipstick- somewhat well loved but you can still see the gorgeous ‘E’ embossment.

Finally, I attempted a gradient lip look that’s popular in Korea using the two shades:

Okay it doesn’t really look like a gradient. You’ll have to take my word that the lipsticks blended beautifully and easily for this look. Which they did!

Anyone living in the UK who wishes to try Korean beauty products can do so at this lovely site:

koreankosmetics.com

Breaking Bad FOTD

Alright, here’s something a little different. I created a stage-makeup style look using only cosmetic products. This was inspired by Breaking Bad and the effects methamphetamines have on the body. Google “meth psa” for more real life examples!

Before

This is me with my normal makeup on, after getting in from college.

After

Yikes. Monthlong meth binging = not good for the soul or the face.

Another for good measure.

Runny eyemakeup and scabs, a winning day look?

My Top Tips for Tweaker Pretty:

1. Line your waterline with lipliner to give your eyes a tired, bloodshot look.
2. Contour, contour, contour. Not with bronzer though- use a greyer, cooler shade. I used NYX Taupe and a grey eyeshadow.
3. Create nasty crusty scabs using a mud face pack and a red pigment.
4. Use dark smudgy eyemakeup and smoosh it around- splashing water works well to emulate natural patterns of wear.
5. Use purples, greys, blues and greenish yellow (depending on skin tone) to fake severe dark circles
6. Lighten your lips and cheeksvwith concealer or pale lipstick. No healthy rosiness allowed!
7. Smoke meth for extended periods of time. Just kidding, please don’t do this.

FOTD- bronze and gold

Product List
Kat Von D Esperanza Palette
Covergirl Clump Crusher mascara
Bourjois Liner Feutre
Maybelline Colour Tattoo in Taupe (brows)
Meow Cosmetics powder in Chartreux
BareMinerals Mineral Veil original
Maybelline Colour Whisper in Coral Tease
NYX Vegas Sexy
Sephora Cream Blush in Coral

Date night look

Posted by Grace

For my bests friends 6 month anniversary date with her boy friend I did her make up, mainly focusing on the eyes as she has perfect skin. I used products from a Benefit set called Bronze Champions and some eyeshadows from the urban decay naked 2 palette. I also used a Bourjois eye shadow but the whole eye look would be easy and almost identical if you only had the naked 2 palette.

As a base I used the Chanel vitalumiere aqua only around the nose and chin to get rid of a little redness and on top of that I used benefit’s What’s up highlighter on the cheeks and down the bridge of the nose and benefit’s Hoola bronzer to shape the face.

Excuse the odd pouting! On the eyes I used the base cream shadow from the Benefit bronzing kit and then used a mixture of the colours snakebite and chopper all over the lids. To darken the look a bit I used the brown glittery shade from the Benefit kit, in the out V and to smoke it all out I used a bit of the Hoolar bronzer.

For eye liner to keep it subtle I used a Bourjois intense eyeshadow in the blackest colour. The eyeshadow still creates a defined liner look but it can be blended so it doesn’t look as harsh as gel or liquid. If you don’t have the Bourjois eye shadow just use the black eyeshadow from the Naked 2 palette and for the brown glittery shade use the colour busted for the same effect.

Hope this look is useful for you all and thank you for reading 🙂