February Favorites

Hi ladies! Today I've got a post on the products I've been loving in February. I can't believe it's March! We all know what that means....soon we'll be getting lovely and warm weather! Hopefully anyways. Spring/Summer are always so gorgeous in London. I love going to the parks and just enjoying the weather and I can't wait to do that again this year.

Eyes:

Nothing too fancy this month, which I feel was my motto for the majority of this month with all my makeup. I did very neutral eyes and often didn't bother with a crease color.

L'oreal Telescopic Mascara: I like mascaras with thinner/smaller brushes (like this one) because of my small eyes because it makes application easier. While the brush is a bit flimsy, which I feel leads to some minor clumping, it's fine when you wiggle it about.

NYX Jumbo Eye Pencil in Cottage Cheese: I've been using this in my inner corner to make my eyes pop. I've used it once or twice as a base, but I do prefer using my MAC Bare Study paint pot instead when going for a neutral look.

Urban Decay 24/7 Glide on Eye Pencil in Eldorado: When I felt like adding some fun to my eye look, I'd line part of my lower lash line with this pencil, in place of a white pencil like the one above.

MAC Satin Taupe: Such a lovely color for all over the lid, and then I work it up into the crease for a really simple look.

MAC Bare Study Paint Pot: I've been using this just about every time I've worn eye makeup. I always put it on over a primer though, just to be safe. I find it adds a bit more of a pop of color to any shadow I put over it, whether it be Satin Taupe or Sin from the Naked Palette.

Lips:

Once again, I've kept it very simple this month with the lips.

MAC Viva Glam Gaga Lipglass: I really haven't been wearing much on my lips this month, because anytime I've gone out I've been going out with the idea of stopping to grab a coffee and I haaaate when I get lipstick all over my coffee cup, haha. So instead, when I have worn color, I've just worn this lipglass because it's such a gorgeous color and it's easy enough to wipe off before I sip.

Nivea Milk & Honey Lipbalm: Been using this pretty much daily. The scent has grown on me. I'd still love for it to smell like Lush's Honey I Washed The Kids though...:D

Face:

Neutrogena Healthy Skin Liquid Makeup in Buff and Revlon Photo Ready in Vanilla: For the majority of the month, I've been mixing these two foundations and feel it gives me such good coverage. The only con being it can feel a bit heavy, so on days when I don't feel like slapping on so much makeup, I'll only wear the Photo Ready.

Body:

It's Raining Men Shower Gel: MMMMMM is all I need to say, really. Smells amazing and leaves the skin feeling soft. The scent lingers on your skin once you leave the shower as well, which I love in a shower gel.

The Body Shop Love Etc Perfume: I've been favoring this over my DKNY perfume. I can't help it, it just smells sooooo nice. I really do need to get the full size at some point...

What were some of your favorites this month?

*I have a nail polish in the first photo, but then I realized it was one I actually used in January, not February, so I didn't end up including it in the rest of the post. Thanks to my lovely sister for pointing that out!

NOTD: Revlon Top Speed Sugar Plum

Hi ladies! Tonight I've got a NOTD post featuring Revlon Top Speed Sugar Plum polish! I showed this polish in a haul post a little while ago and couldn't wait to use it. When I saw it in CVS I quickly grabbed it up because it looked like such a gorgeous color.

And what a lovely color it is! I really like the formula as well, some of the higher end polishes I own take 3 coats and this polish only required 2 and only cost around $6.

What do you think? I'd love to try some more from this range because I remember spotting a few other colors that looked nice, but I'm not sure if this range is actually available in the UK yet. I had a quick look on the Boots site and didn't see them there, but I could be wrong. Anyways! This is a lovely color and I recommend you picking it up if you have the chance.

Revlon Photo Ready Foundation Review

So when I was in Target the other day I finally gave in and decided to try out a liquid foundation. For awhile now I've been sticking to just my Bare Minerals, because I wasn't sure how I'd feel about a liquid foundation, but I've realized that mineral foundation/concealer just doesn't give me the coverage I need with my crappy skin, haha.

So anyways, I decided to try out a foundation I recalled hearing good things about: Revlon Photo Ready Foundation in 002: Vanilla.

I applied it with a Studio Tools foundation brush and I LOVED the results! It didn't feel heavy and I felt like it photographed amazingly. In real life, it still doesn't look flawless, because it's not FULL coverage, but in photos / on webcam, I felt like my skin looked pretty damn near perfect.

I did notice the sparkles but to be honest, they really didn't bother me. I feel like they're subtle enough. I only used this foundation for one afternoon so I can't really say THIS IS THE BEST FOUNDATION ever, especially since I haven't used any liquid foundation other than this, but I can definitely say I loved how my skin looked with this foundation. I guess this is less of an overall review and more of a First Thoughts post, but I was so excited about it that I wanted to post about it right away! If I have any more thoughts on it, I'll deffo update you guys. =)

What are your thoughts? I'm wearing MAC's Snob on my lips, I love it!

Christmas Party Look

Hi girlies! I decided to do a Christmas look the other night for you guys. I think it's a great look for a Christmas party. To me, a Christmas party look should be frosty and shimmery! It's not amazing because I did it at the end of the day so my concealer/foundation was wearing off, and I wiped off my eye makeup from that day then never reapplied eye primer, BUT ANYWAYS, this is just an idea of some products that I think are good for a Christmas Party look:

Eyes:

On the lid, I used Urban Decay's Sin. Then for a pop of color I used Sleek's Good Girl Palette by using Lollipop in the inner lid. I then used Lychee as a highlight/brow bone color. Obviously, if I had used primer the look would of been a bit more intense. I also just used your basic black eyeliner on the waterline and a mascara to make the eyes really pop. You can obviously use whatever you like, but I deffo think shimmery is the way to go!

Face:

Again, SHIMMER! Lol. I used Prestige's bronzer all over my face, because it's very light and just adds a nice shimmer to the whole face. I then used E.l.f's Gotta Glow as a highlight, just over the apples of my cheeks. In terms of blush, I think of rosy cheek when it comes to winter time! So I used my Body Shop Autumn Leaves blusher.

Lips:

What kind of inspired this look was the 17 lipgloss in Star Girl that I picked up earlier in the week. It's so frosty and shimmery and perfect for a Christmas party look. I layered it over Revlon's Matte Lipstick in Pink Pout.

That's it! Hope you guys like it. I have some other Christmas posts coming up (can you tell I'm in the holiday spirit!?) where I show my favorite Christmas eyeshadows. Now I'm off to do another chapter of my dissertation. Waaaah. Lol.

17 Ultimate Volume Lip Gloss in Star Girl

One of the other things I picked up from 17 from the 3 for 2 deal was this Ultimate Volume Lip Gloss in Star Girl. It's a gorgeous, shimmery and sparkly light pink. There's also almost a hint of lilac in it, which is what drew me towards it.

As you can see from the swatch above, and from it on my lips below, it's not THAT hugely pigmented. For the most part, it just makes my lips look really sparkly and nudes them a little bit, which I do like. But I would of preferred for more of the color to transfer to my lips, but that's okay I suppose. You get what you pay for sometimes, eh?

I decided to try some lip duo's using the lipgloss. Here it is paired with Maybelline's Color Sensational Lipstick in So Pearly:

Not a huge difference. Just more shimmer.

Here it is paired with Revlon's Matte Lipstick in Pink Pout:

Now there's the color I was hoping for! I think these are perfect for each other.

Overall, the lipstick isn't sticky, isn't hugely pigmented, but does add a small hint of color and LOADS of shimmer. I think I want to do a Christmas/Winter look/tutorial with this. It just reminds me so much of a frosty snowy night! In terms of adding volume, eh? I think that's overselling it perhaps, but either way, I do like this!

Has anyone tried this one or any of the others? Thoughts?

Pink Lipsticks

When I was swatching my new lipstick the other day (Rimmel Pink Blush), I decided to swatch it against some of my other pink lipsticks to see if any of them were similar!

With flash:

Pink Pout and Pink Blush seem to be the most similar. Not in the first photo, but definitely in the flash photo. Obviously Pink Pout is matte and Pink Blush is not. Classy also seems very similar to Pink Blush, but as I mentioned in my reviews of the e.l.f lipsticks, Classy is particularly dry; not a great formula at all. But lip balm sorts that out I suppose.

Pink lipsticks are definitely my favorite. Out of all of them, at the moment, Pink Pout is still my favorite.

What's your favorite color of lipsticks?

Small Haul!

So I lied, and spent more money, haha, but I just picked up some work hours for this year, so I figured I'd celebrate by spending the money I wasn't making yet, LOL. Good logic, eh?

At WH Smith I picked up this letter holder to use to store my eyeshadow palettes. Sadly, I could of done with two, since I can't fit them all in (poor Kat Von D and Sleek Palette) but it's a start!

It fits my two e.l.f palettes and my Naked palette.

Then I picked up these goodies from Superdrug. LOOK AT THE STICKY CRAP ALL OVER THEM. I finally managed to get most of it off after trying nail polish remover + hot water + elbow grease, but they're still a lil sticky. Wtf Superdrug? What's with that uber secure packaging? Lol. Not cool.

Revlon Lipgloss in Nude Lustre

Since my nude lipgloss from e.l.f disappointed me, I thought I'd try a different one. It's clearly not THAT nude of a color, but I didn't want a concealer lipgloss either, lol.

On me lips:

MeMeMe Beat The Blues in Moonbeam

Ever since I fell in love with the MeMeMe coral blush, I've been wanting to try out more of their items, including the highlighter.

Bourjois Blush in Rose D'or

I've heard good reviews on these blushes, and it looked too pretty to pass up.

Both the highlighter and blush on me:

Then I popped into Boots....hehe.

Natural Collection Moisture Shine Lipstick in Rose Petal

For a 2 pound lipstick, I'm impressed! It feels like a lip balm but with a tint. It's like a verrry nude pink, so I'm not sure I can pull it off without anything over it.

Soo I paired the lipstick with the Revlon lipgloss I got, and I think it's a good match!:

Simple Kind to Eyes Revitalising Eye-Roll On

My eyes always look a bit puffy when I'm forced up early, and since I've started back up uni and work (AKA early mornings) I figured I'd pick this up. I'll do a proper review on it in a couple weeks, once I've been using it and know properly if it works or not.

And that's all! Hehe. Naughty naughty.

Boots Haul + SHOES!

My boyfriend and I went back to Ed's Diner today....the milkshakes are too good, hehe. He asks me to give special mention to the Malt Peanut Butter Banana one! But I think you should try the Oreo shake! I stopped in Boots and got some things I've been wanting. Seeing as I have an e.l.f package coming and my Naked palette this week, I AM ON A MAKEUP BAN. Lol. No..really...I am...except I'm supposed to go shopping with my fellow blogger friend soon, so haha, maybe after that. ;) ANYWAYS, onto the goodies:

Prestige Sun Baked Mineral Bronzing Powder in Pure Shimmer: 8.99 pounds

(no flash)

I decided I wanted this after I saw that it could possibly be a dupe for the new CID i-glow in Sirocco. It's called a bronzing powder, but I intend to use it as a highlighter.

Here I've applied it right above my cheeks: (click for larger photos!!)

Same thing, but with no flash:

And now a frontal (?) view:

Revlon Matte Lipstick in Pink Pout: 7.29 pounds

I've wanted this since I heard some positive reviews on it and really wanted to try out a matte lipstick. Not sure how I feel about it. Might be too baby pink for me??

Maybelline Lash Stiletto in Black: 7.99 pounds

I wanted a new mascara just for the hell of it, really, and heard good things about this one.

I applied this right after wiping off my old mascara from the day, haha, so it might not of applied that well, but I like it so far!

Then lastly, I picked up some Head & Shoulders because I love this stuff, smells delicious, and my scalp has been feeling a lil itchy lately (TMI?) so I decided to get some. And since it was 2 for 6 pounds, I had to stock up. That's a savings of 3 pounds! Haha.

I also want to show you guys the shoes I got today. They may not be the prettiest, most lady like of shoes, but they're so very comfy and I really needed a proper pair of walking shoes, since my feet keep blistering in my sandals+Converse. =( And since my bf and I love walking around London so much, I had to get some! Only 35 pounds too!

What's some of your most recent buys?