Summer Make-up Bag

So it's not news I haven't written a post in a while. Okay, I haven't since February.

Since then there's been so many things I've found and have loved that I could write about. Rather than writing lots of reviews I thought I'd give you a peak into my make-up bag from the last couple of months.

Lots of things I've found and loved bundled into one!

The Base

So I've never spoken about the Dr.Jart BB cream before but it's incredible. It feels like it does wonders for your skin, it has a beautiful glow to it with a dewy finish and it's SPF 25. It just makes you look instantly healthy. Annoyingly it only comes in one shade so it's more of a summer product for me as I'm usually super duper pale. But don't get me wrong, it's not dark and will work for most people, I'm just the whitest person ever. It's often on offer so I'd suggest waiting to get the best price.

I've been wearing this just with the Collection concealer and sometimes a dusting of MAC Mineralize SkinFinish (which I couldn't find to photograph).

As for the All Nighter Setting Spray, you need this in summer. My skin used to eat make-up.

Cheeks

Mary-Lou Manizer is a bit of a full on highlighter. You need the smallest amount but it's stunning.

NARS Laguna is just, well, a classic bronzer. Love it.

Eyes

I was looking for a highstreet eye primer and came across the Soap and Glory one which definitely makes a difference. I put my most used MAC shades in quad and recently the look I go for is Naked Lunch all over, Charcoal Brown and Soba in the crease and Mulch for a smokey look in the evenings.

Lips

The YSL in Peach Passion is my go to summer shade. I think it's definitely worth the money. Recently I've found Macaroon by Topshop which is a pink shade with a bit of peach to it which I think is lovely too!

Dr.Jart+ Water Fuse Beauty Balm

Collection Lasting Perfection Concealer

Soap & Glory It's About Prime

NARS Laguna Bronzer

The Balm Mary-Lou Manizer

Urban Decay All Nighter Setting Spray

L'oreal Volume Million Lashes Waterproof

Topshop Macaroon Lipstick

YSL Rouge Volupte Peach Passion

MAC Quad inc. Charcoal Brown, Naked Lunch, Soba & Mulch

Real Techniques Blusher Brush

Real Techniques Contour Brush

Zoeva 104 Buffer

Zoeva 227 Soft Definer (x2)

Zoeva 231 Petit Crease

MAC 266

xox

Getting NARSissist

For those that don't know the NARSissist Palette was released in stores yesterday (to John Lewis and NARS counters excluding Space NK). The largest eyeshadow palette they've released containing 15 of their best-selling shades. It was a big deal, to say the least.

 However, I left London on the Friday and left the task of getting one to my sister. Ahhh my sister, 

what a hero.

 I spent my morning sat in a dark corner, biting my nails, shaking, awaiting a phone call to say it was mine.

 At 1.58 disaster struck...

"They told the lady at the front of the queue that they're sold out, but John Lewis has 50 left! I'M RUNNING NOW"

Imagine the emotions that ran through me. When my phone rang again I was unsure whether to answer. I let it ring thinking "What if she was unsuccessful, would I be able to handle the news?".  I had to be strong.

I answered.

"I just got the last one they had in the cupboard".

Haha, so maybe that was a bit of an extreme introduction but it's true. To me this is the biggest make-up release in a really long time and I'm not surprised everybody went crazy for it. 

If you travel as much as I do you'll also love this for its size and packaging. For 15 shades it's incredibly sleek and they waste no space. In most palettes they include a brush and I'm so glad this doesn't. I think 9/10 brushes that come with a palette are awful and even then I'll always have one I prefer. All it means is I have a bulky palette but only need 70% of it.
For £50 it's a splurge item for me but I'm really happy with it. Each pan has just less than 1g of eyeshadow so it has a worth of about £91. So not bad at all.

I've seen mixed reviews on the quality of the shadows in this palette but I have no problems with mine. The colours transfer beautifully. I'm already crazy in love with Fez and I've only owned it for a day. Other shades I've been using are Bellissima, Nepal and Coconut Grove. There's also not a single shade I don't like. I think the range of colours is absolutely perfect, you can really achieve any look. I used it last night when I went to a Strictly Come Dancing themed party and today for a casual look. 

If this is out of your price range then I wouldn't worry - I still love my Urban Decay palettes just as much and they do achieve similar looks! I just simply couldn't help myself!

If you've tried any other eyeshadow palettes you love, please share and let me know!

Travel Beauty Bag!

So this is a really random thing to write about, so I'm sorry I'll keep it short, but this was just too cute!

Hanging Wash Bag, Primark £4.

See, cute right?
I saw this and couldn't stop myself from picking it up for my holiday to Greece (that's now only 3 weeks away!!). It's a folding wash bag that hangs on the back of doors, sounds boring but it would seem if you put a cute pattern on the front it turns into the best thing ever.

The hearts are like lattice cut outs with the pink material underneath showing through!

So I'll tell you about how very practical it is and what a sensible buy it was. It's great to keep things organised with four zip pockets including one that's removable. It hangs on the back of doors.. which is handy? Okay! Okay, so I bought it because it was pretty. 

 To make this post vaguely more interesting (for all of you who came to my blog hungry for a make-up post) I thought I'd include some travel size beauty products that I plan to take with me on my holiday.

So from top to bottom:

- MAC lipstick in Girl About Town
- NARS, Laguna Bronzer
- Aveda Botanical Kinetics Purifying Creme Cleanser, 40ml
- Soap & Glory, Flake Away 50ml

- Aveda Botanical Kinetics Exfoliant, 50ml

- Piz Buin Transparent Sun Spray SPF 30
- Phil Smith Colour Illuminating Conditioner, 50ml
- TRESemme Heat Defence, 60ml
TRESemme Extra Hold Hairspray 100ml

Let me know if you liked this post and what you take away with you for holidays!

May Favourites!

June is here and it brought the sunshine!

Which means it's about time I do another post on all the things I've had a little love affair with this month. You'll notice there was no April favourites, and that's because April was the worst.

Dove Summer Glow - £4.99

The packaging claims it's the UK's No.1 gradual self tanner and personally for me it is. The majority of May had awful weather and I was starting to think there would be no summer at all. I love this gradual tan as it's so easy and builds up to such a nice colour. It's also incredibly cheap, yay!

Perfect now the weathers picked up and I can show off my legs.

Use with...

Fake Bake Skin Smoothie, special dry-oil spray - £11.25

If you haven't tried this and always get horrible patches around your knees, elbows and ankles when you tan, go get this now! This isn't really essential for gradual tanning as they're moisturising and tend to avoid this problem, but I still use it every time. Because it's the best. Spritz over dry areas before tanning, then when applying tan just lightly drag it over these areas. 

I love these both just because of how beautiful they smell!

Fudge Urban Iced Raspberry & Vanilla Hair Spray - £4.99

That already sounds delicious right? Very good hairspray in "strong hold" but I feel I love it for the fragrance. I love fragranced hair sprays as that's so much better for you than actually spritzing a perfume through your hair which some people do. 

Just noticed Fudge do a styling mouse with the same scent, uhoh! This will quickly turn into an addiction.

The Body Shop, Vanilla Body Mist - £7.50

Massive "meh" to May Favourites, this would be in my yearly favourites. For the past two years and forever more. I love the smell of Vanilla, I just love it. I spray this all over my body and I smell of Vanilla all day. Even my boyfriends noticed and said he likes it, which in itself is mind blowing.

I also spray it on my clothes and pillow.. but that might just be me.

Boots Sun, Swim & Gym Shampoo and Conditioner for Coloured Hair - £3.05 each.

For over a month now I started swimming again and go twice a week. Since doing this I developed a slightly-irrational (but mostly rational) fear of chlorine. The chemicals in pools can be really bad for your hair but I also find them very drying to my skin. I got to the point where I'd text my friend right before a swim saying "What if it kills my hair!?" or "Will my tan come off!?". So I started the search for hair care products aimed for swimmers. I've started at the cheap end so I could work myself up if needed, but so far I like these. 

Boots Sun, Swim & Gym Protective Masque, £3.55

Another from the range that I like the idea of is a protective masque. I put it through dry hair, which I then tie back, before I swim to protect it from absorbing the chlorine.  It's also good to wet your hair before swimming as it will absorb that water rather than the pool water.

Bioderma, usually £9.99 for 250ml

Currently 1/3 off at escentual.com for the whole of June!

I'm sure you've heard enough about this product and how fantastic micellaire water is, so I won't go on! But this is my first bottle for myself and it truly is worth the hype. I use it just to remove heavy make-up and will continue to cleanse afterwards. I feel it's still important not to rush your skincare and use this as a cleanser, however fantastic it is. I do love it though and will stock up now it's on offer!

And just because I haven't included in any make-up yet, as nothing new has shook up my make-up routine. Here's some products I used this month and feel I'll use more together for a bronzed look!

Bourjois Healthy Mix Serum, £10.99

NARS "Laguna" Bronzer, £26

MAC in "Bronze", £12

Maybelline Color Tattoo in "On and on Bronze", £4.99

What have you loved this month?

Natural Glow Make-Up

So as a part of college last week I did the hair, make-up and photography to produce a photo shoot on the theme of "No make-up, make-up". This is all about creating a natural look with flawless skin but so it appears the model isn't wearing make-up at all. It's commonly used in skincare adverts (sneaky). I thought I'd share with you the look I went for with a glow to the skin.

My beautiful friend Fen Barr was sweet enough to come model for me and how fantastic does she look?

skin 

I started with Benefit High Beam on her cheek bones, brow bone and her cupids bow. I also re-applied this over the foundation too to give a beautiful highlight to her skin. Fen naturally has such clear skin, so I blended two shades of Kryolan Ultra Fluid Foundation to give an even but not heavy coverage. I used Kryolan Derma Colour to cover any dark patches or blemishes and MAC Select MoistureCover concealer around the eyes.

I used the highlight from the Sleek Contour Kit to highlight areas of her face, although this has small glitter specks in so be careful when photographing this. I then used Nars Laguna bronzer to contour and add warmth back to her face.

Eyes

Keeping to the natural look I used natural matte eye shadows to add some colour and shape to her eyes and Urban Decay shadow in Virgin to highlight the inner corner and under the brow bone. I LOVE this shade.

I also took a natural matte shadow through her brows with a small angled brush and brushed a clear mascara through to hold them in place. I put some black eyeliner onto a very thin brush and painted inbetween her lashes to give a light natural defintion. To finish off the eyes I put a small amount of white eye pencil on the water line.

Lips

I used a lipstick in a natural shade that had a slight peach tone to go with her beautifully tanned skin and added a lttle MAC lipglass to the centre of her lips and blended out. This enlarges the look of the lips and a slight shine for a healthy look.

Products Used:

- Benefit High Beam

- Sleek Contour kit

- NARS Laguna bronzer

 - Urban Decay Naked pallet

- MAC Lip glass

- MAC Select MoistureCover Concealer

 - MUA White eyeliner pencil

So there you have it, who else loves this natural make-up look? I can't wait to try it on myself now.