The gym bag...

Monki Sonia Gym Sack, £18 ASOS

Whilst browsing Asos the other day (supposedly Christmas shopping, oops) I spotted this awesome bag by the Swedish brand Monki.  The design is absolutely gorgeous - if I could get it made into a poster for my wall I would - and the fact that it was labelled as a gym bag (which I'm currently lacking) gave me a reason to pop it in my basket!  It wasn't cheap, but it was about the same price as your usual Nike bag and the fact that the print is so unique justified it for me.

It's actually got a larger capacity than my Longchamp tote, which surprised me somewhat and it holds everything I need - towel, deodorant, spare shirt etc with room to spare.  I'm so in love with it though that I'm planning to use it as a regular bag on those days when I want to be hands-free!  All in all, if you're on the market for a new gym bag go check this one out :)

xxx

(Also, a little sidenote at time of publishing - all Monki is 20% off currently so it's only £14!)

Collective haulin' :Beauty

I've been very well behaved the last few weeks, and only picked up a few beauty items!  There was a 3 for 2 offer on in Boots at the time, which I didn't make the most of (rather daftly) as I bought everything on separate occasions - but I'm overall really pleased with everything I purchased...

First of all, there was the Maybelline Colour Drama Intense Velvet Lip Pencil in the shade '310 Berry Much'.  I'm in love with the Nars Lip Pencils, but a) don't have anywhere nearby where I can go swatch them, and b) at £18 a pop they're a bit painful for my budget running up to christmas!  These have been hailed as an awesome drugstore alternative, and although at the time I was looking for the 'Red Essential' this shade caught my eye as it's the perfect plummy, vampy lip.

Continuing on with the bold lip theme, whilst I was picking up decorations in Wilko I spotted that the Essence counter had a bunch of their lip liners in stock.  At only £1 each and having seen fab reviews of them, I grabbed a couple and chucked them in my basket without a second thought!  The shades I picked were '14 Femme Fatale' (a true red) and '15 Honey Berry' (a lovely dark berry) which I thought would be great for layering up under bold lips these holidays.

The final lip product I picked up was the Maybelline Colour Elixir in 'Caramel Infused', which I ran out to get after hearing Anna from ViviannaDoesMakeup say it was like the gloss equivalent of Mac Patisserie (my favourite MLBB lipstick!)  I've been wearing it every day for the last week, and am in love.  Although the scent is a little more floral than I'd like, the formula is amazing and the colour really sticks around - there'll be a full review to come soon I'm sure!

And last (and priciest) of all is a tube of Nars Pro Prime Eyeshadow Base.  I ummed-and-ahhed over this and the Urban Decay Primer Potion a while back, but settled on the UD as it was a smidgeon cheaper.  Recently though, it just hadn't been working for me - and with party season around the corner (jks, homebody granny here :P)  I thought I'd take the plunge and replace it with something new.  I'd been really impressed with the longevity of Nars' Creamy Concealer on my oily skin, so had high hopes for this :)  I've used it for the last few days though, and so far am super impressed!

xxx

Collective haulin' :Clothing and accessories

Despite the fact that I know I shouldn't be shopping for clothes etc just before Christmas, I just can't help it when I see an amazing deal on something!  I wanted to share with you a few bits and pieces I picked up over the past few weeks, some of which are from my trip to Manchester last weekend, others from Ebay and also a few items from the Black Friday sales :)

I'd been eyeing up the Whistles sweatshirts for months now, but even with student discount they're ridiculously overpriced for just printed cotton.  I spotted this one on Ebay though, for less than half price, and even better the cute French lettering is not only red and festive - it's also stitched on so should survive the crazy uni laundrette tumble driers much better!  (Just don't tell my mother how much it cost *whoops*)

Another brand on Asos that I recently discovered whilst Xmas shopping was Becksondergaard - a Danish company that makes gorgeous printed scarves.  Full price, they're super duper expensive but I spotted a couple of absoulte bargains that I just couldn't turn down - the starry scarf shown is a wool-silk mix one that I got for myself but I also got a gorgeous snowfall print one for my mum and a super cute peace sign print one for my best friend.  That one in particular was a complete steal - £4 reduced from £30 - so much nicer than the Primark ones and it'll make an awesome stocking filler!

The adorable Christmas pudding leggings shown are from Primark, and are honesttogod the most comfortable things I have ever worn on my legs.  Soft, cosy but not fluff-depositing.  These are gonna be here to stay well after the holidays are over *sod the weird looks I'll get at breakfast* :P

Finally, I spotted these boots in the Topshop sale.  With student discount they were only £18, and arrived the following day with free delivery!  They are the 'Billy Buckle Boot' style, and although I had to loosen the bottom buckle they fit perfectly straight out of the box.  They're also real suede, so a real bargain that I know I'll get masses of use out of!

xxx

Time has flown by...!

Since it's been almost a month since I last blogged, I thought I'd do a quick little post to let you all that I'm still alive (just super busy with uni work!) and haven't abandoned blogging :D
I'd compiled a list for October favourites (and for November too) but just hadn't gotten around to typing them up properly.  The plan is to smoosh them all together into a sort-of autumn/winter faves post, maybe with the fashion and beauty stuff separate - so it doesn't become one huge monster post!
There's also a pale concealer swatches post in the works, but since the lighting is all kinds of awful now I'm taking the photos for that when I get home next week and I don't have to rely on my tiny little daylight lamp for brightening!
Anyhow, Sunday All Summer will be resuming normal posting schedule as of this week *am beyond excited for Christmas!!!*

xxx

Makeup chores #5

This one is going to be a little different to other posts I've done on 'makeup chores'.  Recently, I've been having a lot of trouble with clearing up one patch of blemishes on my cheek.  I've been using gentle antiseptics on the area overnight and a charcoal mask every couple of days - and it's looking a lot better now.  Sadly though, the scarring is quite visible (to the point where one of my flatmates asked why I had a "bruise" on my face the other day!) so I want to use a little concealer to cover it up.

However, when makeup gets introduced so do bacteria so I've developed a technique to keep my brushes and products used directly on the skin as sterile as possible.  I've found though that even though airing the skin does help, it means that it's exposed all the outdoorsy dirt.  From personal experience, if I can apply a sterile layer of makeup over the top of any antiseptic treatment I've got goin' on then it seals it all in and the whole area heals up a lot quicker!   It's probably not something that's usually recommended, but when you're strapped for time and need to sterilise your brushes it's been invaluable for me.

What you need:

Hand sanitiser (I use Cuticura, as its pretty much unscented and is affordable)

Cotton pads, or strong paper towels

Your brushes!

What I tend to do, is dip the brush in a little sanitiser and then work it into the bristles by swirling it around on the pad.  This leaves the brush a little damp, but it dries off on it's own quickly.  I don't use this method on eye brushes though, as the alcohol content of the sanitiser will irritate them.  I'll then just apply my makeup as usual.

So that's it, hope it helps any of you that are going through the same problem (or just want a quick way to sterilise your brushes in the mornings!)

xxx

Nails Inc 'Tate' - free with Glamour this month!

It's always a bonus when you pick up a magazine and it comes with a fab free gift.  Glamour is one of the most reasonably priced ones out there (only £2!) and December's edition not only comes with a Nails Inc polish but a Body Shop gift voucher and a discount code for H&M.  The shade I picked out was 'Tate' - a beautiful deep red.  From the picture on the packaging I was expecting it to have some shimmer running through it, but it's a smooth creme polish.  

I don't have another polish quite like this (only berry or bright reds), so I'm super happy with my choice!  Nails Inc usually retail for over £10, so if you've always wanted to try one or just add to your collection this is a budget friendly way to get your hands on a great quality polish.  I believe there's also a dark purple and a grey-nude shade available :)

xxx

Leather jacket lovin'

I've never really seen myself as a leather jacket kinda gal.  My style has always tended to swing backwards and forwards from the preppy, country side of things towards the more monochrome, chic look.  I just didn't think I could pull off the whole rock 'n 'roll vibe a studded black piece gives off - but a couple of weeks ago whilst I was browsing Ebay I spotted this white jacket.  It was an absolute bargain, and I thought it'd be a great way to see whether I'd get the use out of one...

Topshop don't currently stock an identical style, but this one looks to be fairly similar.
  I believe this was around £160 new in the spring, but I managed to get it for £30 on Ebay
(and I had a £10 Nectar coupon so it was technically only £20)!

Turns out, I'm absolutely in love.  If my student loan allowed me, I'd be placing a Topshop order for a black one tonight - it's the most comfortable, lightweight yet windproof piece of outerwear I own!  I did use up almost an entire can of leather protect spray on it (because it drizzles constantly where I live now!)  The leather is seriously soft, and the colour itself is more of a bone/off white shade.  My uni wardrobe mainly consists of dark, monochrome shades with the odd cute blouse thrown in and I've found that it goes with practically anything.  My Mum even tried it on when she came up to visit this weekend, and tried to make off with it!  The one downside is that although it hasn't picked up any real dirt stains, colour transfer from darker coloured jeans and tops has happened - but this is easily fixed with a leather conditioning wipe (I've filched a pack from home which we'd normally use on the sofa/car seats).  All in all, I'm chuffed to bits!

xxx

Skincare haul!

Earlier this week, I realised that I'd reached the dregs of my Effaclar Duo+.  It was a sad, sad moment - I've used this stuff for months now and feel that it's really helped with healing up blemishes and preventing flare ups.  So when it looked like it was almost gone I had a quick google to see whether I could get it cheaper online than in Boots.

Escentual had up to a third off French pharmacy, and since you get free delivery when you spend over £30 (not the £10 threshold of Feel Unique, but they didn't have much in stock *sad face*) so I took the opportunity to stock up on a couple of things that were running low and my lo and behold the entire order came to just over the £30 limit...

Apologies for the dodgy lighting here - the weather is just awful so I was
 waving a daylight lamp around whilst taking blog photos (hence the glare!)

On top of my beloved La Roche-Posay Effaclar Duo+, I picked up a full size can of their Thermal Spring Water Spray.  It seems daft to buy water in a can, I know - but it's a complete lifesaver now that I'm at uni and want something to freshen up my dull, tired skin in the mornings.  It's so soothing and cooling - and considering a travel size can lasted the entire summer this full size is going to last for ages!
Something else that I'm only about half way through, but totally swear by now so didn't want to run out of is the Caudelie Beauty Elixir.  I use 2-3 spritzes of this as a toner in the morning, and over the last couple of months I've seen a massive effect on the visibility of my pores and oil production throughout the day.  Pricey, but just about manageable with a couple of pounds off in the sale.  Finally, I spotted the La Roche-Posay Effaclar AI which is for targeting specific sites prone to breakouts.  My skin is looking pretty alright at the moment, apart from one particular area on my cheek which just won't clear up!  I thought that I'd give this a go, as it's not a really astringent product that'll dry out/blister the skin when applying to a larger area.  Fingers crossed it does the trick!

xxx

September favourites!

All through the month, I usually compile a list of the things I've been loving so far in preparation for the end of month favourite post.   But for some reason, as the end of September approached I completely forgot to write up that list  *oops*!  Anyway, here it is now and hopefully I won't be typing up next months halfway through October...


Makeup...

Hourglass Ambient Lighting Powder in 'Ethereal Light' £38, Space.nk

This powder was the result of one of those £10 off Space.nk coupons, and although I winced at the dent it made in my student loan it has been amazing.  'Ethereal Light' is an almost pure-white powder, with microfine shimmer - and it's just perfect at the moment along with a little concealer.  It's also an excellent setting powder, and controls the oil on my skin enough that I rarely need to use blotting powder.

Benefit Gimme Brow in 'Light/Medium' £17.50, LookFantastic (but there's almost always a 15% off coupon available)

My brows are practically blonde, so the concept of a tinted brow gel with a little more oomph intrigued me.  Even though you still have to be careful applying the product (it's not just "brush-and-go") I haven't picked up a shadow to fill in my brows once this month, this is just so much more convenient.






Max Factor Colour Corrector Stick 'Green' £8.99, Boots

For the last couple of years, I have been a faithful user of the Natural Collection Corrector Stick as the green is brilliant at cancelling out any redness from blemishes (or just the naturally overly rosy areas of my face!)  Time after time though the packaging and product crumbled, and when I spotted Max Factor's equivalent I popped it in my Boots basket.   It is several pounds more expensive, but the product is a lot more long wearing (doesn't make the concealer over the top wander around) and then packaging is much sturdier.  A great product, that's an everyday staple in my makeup bag.





Clothing...


Marks and Spencer Jaquard Striped Top £9.99 (reduced from £19.50)


This is the most comfortable, lazy-day-but-smart top ever.  Even though it's got a zip up the back, it's not one that you have to contort yourself to get in and out of (to be honest, the material is stretchy enough that I never use it!) and it is so soft and breathable.  I spotted it whilst jean-hunting with my mother and hunted it down online in the right size - I actually got it a size up because I prefer a slightly baggier look on more cropped tops, and it also washes beautifully.  It's currently on sale, but hopefully they bring out this style again in more colours!




Topshop Viscose Slubby Tee £16

When I started sifting through my wardrobe for winter basics, I realised that there was not one single black shirt to be found.  After a toddle around my local Topshop, I found this shirt and fell in love.  It is very lightweight, but not at all see through and the batwings combined with cropped fitted sleeves are super flattering.  I love pairing it with ripped light wash jeans and ballet pumps, and now that it's getting colder - a huge fluffy Zara scarf!




Food...

I've loved Victoria Plums for years, and my memories of summer are filled with stuffing our faces with the ones from my Grandad's trees.  Unfortunately, they only appear once in a blue moon nowadays so we have to go elsewhere for our fix!  In place of home picked ones, I've found that the best ones come from Asda at a couple of pounds a tray (but make sure you let them ripen at home for a little while or they're a little crunchy!)






xxx

Nail polishes: The Uni Edit

Overpacking is one of my greatest vices.  And the upcoming semi-permanent move to uni has been no exception.  "But I might need just that particular shade of peachy-pink blush..." has happened far too many times when I've attempted packing up my makeup, and since the Michaelmas term is only eleven weeks I can't really justify packing half a tonne of nail polishes.  (But c'mon, a girls gotta have options right?!)  As a compromise I've dug out a cute little gift box that's just big enough to fit about ten/fifteen polishes, in the hope that my need to be neat and tidy and all in one place will stop me going overboard and cramming them all in (and possible having an overflow).  In my head it seems like a good idea to pack a good spectrum of colours, but in the end I've gone for the colours I am statistically more likely to use...

Row One : The Neutrals

From L-R...

• Barry M Gelly Nail Paint in 'Elderberry' : This is one that I still have yet to try out properly.  I love the formula though, and although they're a little messy to apply (polish runs all over the place!) this shade is the perfect wintry grey-blue.

• Natural Collection Nail Colour in 'Champagne' : Natural Collection is one of those lines where the price tag scares most people off.  There are a lot of misses in the line - and the lipstick packaging is beyond crummy - but this particular shade of polish is an almost dead ringer for Essie's 'Buy Me a Cameo'.  The formula is great, and the longevity decent.  Can't wait for the weather to cool down a little more so I can start wearing this again!  (The shade 'Maple' is great aswell - it's got an almost copper tone to it which is absolutely lovely.)

• Essence Colour and Go Polish in 'Love Me, Cupcake!' : I've already spoken far too much about this polish - visit here if you want a thorough review.  All I can say is that if you see it in your local Wilko, get it!

• Dior 'Nail Glow' : If you want a polish that adds a little somethin' somethin' to your nails, but doesn't show the chips this is your guy.  Even though it does actually chip fast on me, I absolutely have fallen head over heels for this along with the rest of the 'Glow' line - and this does make your nails do just that - glow!

• Dior Base Coat 'Abricot' : My last base coat - the Revlon quick dry one - was approaching the end of its life, so I decided to try out something new.  My nails were also getting pretty flaky and generally in bad condition (probably due to the acetone polish I use to get thick polishes off), so I thought a decent quality one would protect my nails and condition them a little.  So far, it's going great and one thin coat dries just as fast as its predecessor.

• Nails Inc 'Motcomb Street' :  Although when I was younger I seemed to sport black nail polish every other week, nowadays I can't quite take the plunge and this is as close as I get.  This shade, although a little tricky to find is the perfect almost-black navy that looks amazing layered with glitter polish!

• Ciaté 'My Fair Lady' : I believe this polish came free with a copy of Marie Claire a year or so ago.  It can apply quite streaky if you're not careful, but with a good base coat you get a lovely sheer wash of pink.  This particular shade doesn't seem to exist anymore, but the closest one I've found is 'Beach Melba' - although if you want a more opaque effect the shade 'Couture' seems to get better reviews.

Row Two : The Brights

From L-R...

• Essie 'Big Spender' : One of my most recent posts was about my predisposition towards Berry lip colours.  This is the nail polish equivalent to that - not too red or pink and works in any season.  Love it.

• Essie 'Hors D'oeuvres' : Glitter city, but I love it!  This is the most beautiful glitter polish I have ever owned (I think I have a weakness for gold shimmer) - one to put off removing though - think I went through about ten cotton pads and half a bottle of acetone remover to get off!  See it swatched here over the top of 'Big Spender', although it looks fabulous on its own.

• Essence Colour and Go Polish in '111 English Rose' : This is the one polish that I haven't yet tried, although it looks to be the perfect autumnal red (not too bright, with a dash of rosy pink!)

• Essie 'Dive Bar'  : A gorgeous iridescent dark green/almost black with blue and purple shimmer running throughout.  Full post with swatches here. 

• Essie 'Splash of Grenadine' : Packing this shade was my way of hanging on to summertime.  I referred to it as the sort of pink Barbie would wear when I swatched it here - it's on my toes at the moment and cheers me up every time I look at them!

• Sally Hansen 'Insta-Dry' : My favourite top coat by a long stretch.  Nails not completely dry and its time for bed?  No problem - pop a thin coat of this on before doing your nightime routine and tada, no sheet marks the next morning!

And there we go, the proof that it all fits! I'd also just about got room for a couple of toe separators and a cuticle cream (the No 7 one), now it's just a matter of resisting purchasing any more polish over the next couple of months!

xxx

A dupe for Mac's Painterly...?

When you're prepping and priming your eyes, you want a base that really is going to stick around.  Mac Paint Pots are great for getting your powder shadow to last much longer and appear more vibrant - but as my lids are especially oily I've got to use a primer underneath to reduce creasing.  I find that a thin layer of Mac's Painterly is fantastic for disguising redness - and that almost tacky texture really gives your shadow something to stick to.

Painterly is the one and only Mac paint pot that I own though - and in truth I much prefer the texture of the Mayeblline Colour Tattoos to use as a shadow alone (am currently in love with the taupe coloured one.)  But when the other day I was too lazy to dig around for it in my drawer I grabbed my Rimmel Scandaleyes Nude Liner and scribbled it all over the lid instead.  When blended out, it gave pretty much the same effect as Painterly and hung around all day!  I even think that the shade of nude is slightly better for my pale skin than Painterly, as it's a bit more yellow toned so cancels out any purpley hues and for £3.99 where can you go wrong?!

L-R: Mac Pro Longwear Paint Pot in 'Painterly', Rimmel Scandaleyes Waterproof Liner in 'Nude'
You can see the difference much more clearly here, where they're heavily swatched.

I did take a couple of pictures to show them on the lids, but they were practically indistinguishable - if I had to point out one difference though it would be that Painterly is a little more opaque than the Rimmel liner.  Having cream shadow in a pencil form also is much more hygienic and means it doesn't dry out quickly - there is going to be product wastage when you sharpen it but considering it's so cheap in comparison that doesn't really matter.  Plus, you can use the Rimmel Liner to brighten up your waterline on those days where you wake up and see a puffy, red eyed reflection in the mirror!

Mac Paint Pots are £15.50 at Debenhams.
Rimmel Scandaleyes Liners are £3.99 at Boots.

xxx

Bargain of the Month Feat. Nars

When you're looking on Ebay for makeup, you've got to be pretty savvy with your shopping.  There are thousands of listings for counterfeits, most of which are for the cult products (Naked Palettes, Touché Eclat etc) but if you're careful you can find some real bargains!

This week, I managed to get my paws on a Nars Velvet Gloss Lip Pencil for under a fiver!  It was this listing, and not only was the product authentic it arrived less than two days after ordering.  The shade is 'Baroque' - a beautiful cool toned plum with silver shimmer running through it.  The consistency is very similar to that on the Soap and Glory Sexy Motherpucker Gloss Sticks but a little lighter with more shimmer.  You can feel the glitter slightly when you rub your lips together but it isn't super irritating, and the product itself is very hydrating on the lips.  The silver shimmer also doesn't show up on camera, it just makes the lips look even glossier by adding a bit of extra sheen.

Another thing to note is that as with all the Nars Lip Pencils, you have to sharpen it once it wears down.  I can imagine there will be quite a bit of messiness involved when doing so with this one, as it's such a soft product - and hopefully there won't be too much wastage (here's to Nars introducing retractable pencils!)  There is also no discernible scent to the product, unlike the Velvet Matte Pencils, so if you're not a fan of the cherry scent then that's not something to worry about with this range.

The swatch on my arm is quite a lot more true to colour
(my mirror at Uni is underneath a slightly dodgy yellow tinged light!)

xxx

Late to the party with: Benefit 'They're Real'

I'm possibly the last person ever to try this mascara!
(It was £9.99 for 4g, so pricier than the full size per gram but not by much.)

A few weeks ago, I mentioned having picked this product up as part of my pre-Uni shopping spree.  My beloved Clinique mascara (name totally forgotten and left at home - shall find out!) was on it's last legs and most likely wouldn't last the next twelve weeks, so I was on the hunt for a new one to test out and this had been on my list for yonks.  As I said in my previous post, I can't really justify purchasing the full size of a pricier mascara as they all tend to dry out after a few months regardless of whether they're super fancy or super duper cheap - so when I saw this mini size of 'They're Real' on the shelves of my local Boots I went and chucked it in my basket!

To be thoroughly honest, I can't really say that I have tested this out for long enough to give a concrete opinion as most mascaras tend to improve over time (until a certain point where they've gotten too gooey) but I managed to snap a decent picture of my lashes with just this mascara so thought I'd give my impression of it from using it over the last few days.

Pre-makeup application...

And the end product, with only mascara on the eyes.

The formula and brush took a little getting used to - there was quite a bit of Bioderma involved the first morning I slapped this on and managed to get it all over my eyelids!  The wand itself is made up of lots of very fine plastic bristles and is quite large, which is new for me (the last few mascaras I have used had either fibre bristles or plastic ones with a small thin applicator).  The problem you get with a lot of brand new mascaras is that as the formula is so wet your lashes will stick together at the slightest brush unless you let them dry for a while.  Here, I ended up having to brush through my lashes post mascara application and then apply another coat once the first had dried.  This worked pretty well I think - the end effect is quite fluttery with mostly length and not much volume added.  The kind-of spiky end of the wand also means you can get at the corners easily, I just wish the whole thing was a smidgeon smaller!  It also works really nicely on the bottom lashes, giving you doll-eyes without too much of a panda eye effect.

The really great thing about this though (which I wasn't expecting!) is that it is seriously waterproof.  This first week at Uni has been filled with blood, sweat and tears (I jest, I jest - no blood honest) and it has stayed put without flaking for twelve hours straight - sometimes longer.  At night to remove it I have to use a cotton pad soaked with Bioderma after my Body Shop Cleansing Oil to make sure I get it all off.  You do feel it on your lashes and getting it off properly is a step you do not want to miss!

So far, if 'They're Real' went missing I wouldn't dash out to repurchase - but I'll see how it goes over the next few weeks and keep you posted!

xxx

'Dive Bar': The Essie obsession continues

This week when I was looking for something to paint my nails with, I began to dig through the more wintry-coloured polishes that had been sitting in a box out of the way for several months.  I'd originally been looking for a dark red, but in the end settled on this colour as I knew it would dry super fast and only need a couple of thin coats (i.e. it was Essie!)  The week before, 'Splash of Grenadine' had been on my nails, so this was really great to change up to for something a little darker and iridescent.  This polish was actually a Christmas gift from a couple of years back, so it's got the old bottle and brush style - but I although it was a little fiddlier to apply than the newer polishes I still didn't make much of a mess and it didn't go streaky.  'Dive Bar' is a very dark green, which looks shimmer-free in some lights, and in others there's some purple/blue iridescence running through it.  It's quite simply stunning, and I'm so glad I rediscovered it!

And here it is - two coats with a dash of a quick-dry topcoat over them.

You can find it here at Superdrug, priced at £7.99.

xxx

The Sheer Berry Lip...

All year round, I always seem to gravitate towards sheer berry-red lip shades.  I don't know whether it's the 'I woke up like this' look that they give, or just that on me that they're a great MLBB shade - but either way I have quite a few of them!  The three I've picked out here are the ones I feel are the best dupes for each other, at various price points.  I'm not saying that they are identical in formula, but colour-wise they are pretty indistinguishable on the lips.

L-R: Revlon 'Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stain' in 'Honey',
MAC Lustre Lipstick in 'Plumful',
YSL Volupté Sheer Candy in 'Mouthwatering Berry 5'

Revlon 'Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stain' in Honey

This one is the most wallet friendly - rolling in at a fairly reasonable £7.99.  The colour in the tube is very different to when you get it on the lips, on mine it oxidises from a pinky nude colour to a bright berry pink.  It's not quite as red toned as MAC's offering, but a very similar colour for less than half the price if you catch it on offer in Boots.  What I love about it is the staining quality - it can be a little drying without a balm.  I tend to work it into the lips with a little Carmex if there's some chapping going on, otherwise you can just swipe it on and it sticks around for most of the day.  Also, some people can't stand the minty scent, and have mentioned that it goes slightly rank after a while - but I can say that after about six months of use mine is still fresh and lovely (although the packaging may look rather battered!)


MAC Lustre Lipstick in 'Plumful'

I love the formula of these lipsticks - they're just so creamy and moisturising but the colour really sticks around.  I wore it last night down to the college bar, and it just perked up my twelve hour old makeup enough for me to look passable (when you're that tired the last thing you want to be doing is tidying up your eyeshadow!)  It is the boldest colour of the bunch here, but still isn't too 'in your face' either.


YSL Volupté Sheer Candy in '5 Mouthwatering Berry'

The whole range of YSL Volupté lipsticks are just to die for.  The ritzy packaging, the gorgeous mango scent and the weightless formulae.  And did I talk about the packaging?!  Just look at that tube - I could not bear to throw that away once it runs out!  This one is from their super sheer range, which I purchased a couple of lipsticks from at the start of the year.  The other I have is the orangey toned 'Dewy Papaya' which doesn't really have much colour, and I wish I had saved my money for a more pigmented lipstick from their range (but it does make a super luxurious lip balm!)  This one has a lot more colour payoff, probably the most of the whole range - and although it isn't super long lasting - it's almost a bullet form gloss - it's great when you don't want a sticky, thick product on your lips.

T-B:  Revlon 'Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stain' in 'Honey',

MAC Lustre Lipstick in 'Plumful',

YSL Volupté Sheer Candy in 'Mouthwatering Berry 5' 

Revlon 'Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stain' in 'Honey'
 on the lips - you can really see the colour difference!

xxx

Bits and pieces: Stocking up for uni

The little heap that's forming in the spare room...

Over the last couple of weeks, I've been stocking up on 'beauty bits' ready to leave for uni.  Almost all of these were repurchases, so I thought I'd share them with you (as they must be pretty good to be worth having a backup of!)


Neutrogena 2-in-1 Visibly Clear Wash Mask £2.33, Tesco

This is (and has been all through the summer months) my go-to face wash.  A little too stripping perhaps to use as a mask, but works a treat at getting the skin squeaky clean.  (Full review in my morning skincare post here.)


Soap and Glory 'Peaches and Clean' £8, Boots

I love to use this to take off my face makeup in the evenings, as its gentle and creamy and doesn't make my eyes sting if I accidentally splodge some in them.  The scent is amazing - like minty peaches - and I feel that the fruit extracts help with gently controlling oil and tightening up my pores.  Soap and Glory skincare is also buy one get one half price in Boots at the moment, hence the two products featuring here!


Soap and Glory 'Scrubatomic' £9, Boots

One of my first blog posts was a review of this product, and I still love it just as much!  Doesn't irritate my sensitive skin, and my skin just seems to glow when I wake up the morning after having used this.
(Original review here.)


Boots Essentials Nail Polish Remover £1

Cheap and cheerful.  Not acetone free, but does the job.  The main reason this was a repurchase was that the scent doesn't give me a thumping headache - but I do need to take care to use plenty of almond oil on my nails to stop them drying out after using this.


Oral-B 3D Luxe White 'Healthy Shine' £1.99, Boots

Seriously impressed by this stuff - it has the same effect over time as using the Crest Whitening Strips (which are a pain in the butt to source in the UK) - and it doesn't leave your teeth super sensitive.  I do tend to interchange this with an enamel protect toothpaste though, as I feel that I don't want to be bleaching them constantly.


Cuticura Hand Sanitiser £1.50, Tesco

I always carry a little bottle of this around in my handbag, and since I am moving into a probably-not-very-clean uni room I thought this would come in extremely useful.  It has a pleasant fresh scent (described as cucumber), and is completely clear and residue free.


No7 Beautiful Skin Day Cream for Normal/Oily Skin £12.50, Boots

I've already chatted about this aswell in the aforementioned morning skincare post.  It's creamy, but not at all heavy on my combination skin and is also great value for money when you use a No 7 voucher.  I'd previously been using the Nick Lowe equivalent, and feel this is much better.


Dr Nick Lowe Anti-Blemish Spot Gel £11, Feel Unique

The tube I have of this is nearly finished and quite old.  I always tend to have one or two blemishes (or healing scars) so have to rotate my treatment routine so the bacteria don't become resistant.  Therefore, when I saw Feel Unique had a sale a few weeks back I popped this in my basket as it did the trick nicely when I used it a while back.  A great cheap alternative to this is the Bonjela that contains Salicylic Acid, as something to cover up sore spots overnight.  During the day though, this is much better as it stays put and doesn't peel off but still prevents reinfection.


Invisibobble Hair Ties £3.75, Boots

These hair bobbles are like magic!  I always use them when I want to put my hair up in a bun as they're near invisible (as the name suggests) and they help you create the perfect bun without pins.  There's an entire post dedicated to them here.


Benefit They're Real Mascara Mini £9.99, Boots

Since my Clinique mascara is on it's last legs, it was high time I found a replacement.  To be honest, unless it's reasonably priced, I'm loathed to buy any full sized mascaras as they always seem to dry out/get clumpy around the two-to-three month mark.  Therefore, when I spotted this mini 'They're Real' I couldn't resist as I've wanted to try it for ages!  I also loved their 'Bad Gal Lash' formula back when I was in secondary school, so I'm really looking forward to testing this out.  I could't find a link anywhere for this online, other than for multipacks with other mini products.  However, they have it in abundance on the shelves of my local Boots, for just under a tenner.


And there we go, that's the lot!  I'm pretty sure I'll remember a few more things come next week, so stay tuned for another post along the same lines :)

xxx

London haulin' (ft. Muji, F21 and Makeup Revolution)

This week has been a flurry of activity.  Everything from buying kitchenware to selecting modules for my course has been going on, so apologies for the lack of posts!  At the weekend though, we made a little trip to London and some haulin' happened on Oxford Street!

I was out for the afternoon with one of my best friends from college, so we spent ages browsing around the shops and having a good catchup.  We also stopped off for an iced drink at a lovely coffee shop called Apostrophe, just off Oxford Circus.  I had a peach iced tea, and my friend had a homemade lemonade - both were delicious and very reasonably priced (about £2).  Once we'd recovered a bit, we went for a mooch around Topshop.  I didn't pick anything up (mainly because I'd already gotten some bits earlier on in the week back home) but it was still amazing to look around at the sheer volume of stuff they'd got in there!

Whilst in Forever 21 though, I spotted a gorgeous skirt.  I've not owned anything quite like it since I was back in secondary school, but the whole almost 'mermaid-esque' thing going on with it meant I would've regretted not picking it up.  I own very few mid length skirts, so it should be nice for when I want something a little smarter/different for an evening out!

I couldn't find the skirt anywhere online, but it's on display right by the door in the Oxford St store!
They also had it in an almost hematite grey colour, but I'd fallen head over heels for the pink so that's the one that came home with me.

A visit to Muji was also on my list, as I needed some acrylic storage for my uni room.  I had no idea there would be so much choice in store, so was a little overwhelmed once I got inside - but in the end I picked out this 3 drawer unit (£17.95) and this partitioned container (£2.95).  The drawers aren't quite deep enough for loose powders and foundation bottles so those along with brushes should fit in the extra container nicely.  I also couldn't resist their travel section, so picked up this stack of pots that screw together (£2.50) and this tiny little spray bottle (£1.95) which I think will be great for facial mists such as the Caudelie one when on the go.

Last up, was a trip to Superdrug Marble Arch.  Ever since seeing the reviews of Makeup Revolution products start to pop up all over the web, I've wanted to get my mitts on some of their range.  Unfortunately, my local store doesn't stock it and I didn't really want to blind order online.  However, when the lovely Mary-Ann from Angel Flicks mentioned in a post a few weeks back that she'd found some at Marble Arch, I made sure to add a visit there to my list.  They didn't have the 'One Foundation' which I'd been dying to try out (as they supposedly go ghostly white!) but they did have an excellent selection of eyeshadow palettes.  I was very restrained, and only picked up the one - the Iconic 3 that everyone seems to be talking about!  I've been loving it so far - the shadows themselves are soft and don't have too much fallout - and the matte shades have much better colour payoff than MUA's equivalent.  And for £4, you can hardly go wrong!

The palette itself is pretty sturdy feeling, and not too cheap looking either.
And the shades are beyond pretty - even my Dad (when I showed it to him at dinner) said they looked too pretty to use! 

xxx

The one coat nail polish.

Recently, I picked up a bottle of Essence's 'Colour and Go' polish in the shade '168 Love Me Cupcake'.  It's a gorgeous grey-purple colour, very similar to Barry M's 'Almond' but with a little more lilac.  It is also a gazillion times easier to apply!

Out of routine, I previously have applied two thin coats and it's been absolutely perfect.  But last night, I didn't have time to wait so just slapped on the one (slightly thicker) coat over a quick dry base, and ran out the door.  It wasn't till later on that I noticed it was completely opaque with no streaks - that second coat wasn't needed!  It still needs a topcoat to avoid chipping obviously, but if you're looking for something that you can just do the one coat of and be done with - this is the one for you.  It also dries super fast, and although the coat was thicker than usual there were no odd smudge marks the following morning.

And here you go, one coat with no topcoat!

You can find it here or in store at Wilko, priced at £1.60.

xxx

Bargain brushes...

A few months ago, I was having a little mooch around the brush department on Ebay.  I was looking for someone selling the Real Techniques contour brush, as it's only available in the Core Collection and didn't need the entire set.  However, most sellers were charging above and beyond and I would've given up had I not stumbled across this seller.  They had a huge variety of brushes on offer, and for only a few pounds!

The brushes look very similar to the Real Techniques ones, but aren't complete knock offs (or I wouldn't have been comfortable purchasing them) - but they do have very similar synthetic fibres and the coloured aluminium handles.  I found one that looked as if it would be good for contouring, as it was tapered - No.1 from this listing.  I also ordered No.2 from this listing, as it looked similar to the 'Expert Face Brush' and I thought it might come in handy for blending in foundation.

They both arrived in a couple of weeks, and before getting them near my face I gave them a really good wash.  They smelt rather plasticky, but after a few weeks use that wore off completely.  Both brushes are actually great though!  I've been using No.1 for it's intended purpose - contouring - but I've found that No.2 is amazing for applying cream/liquid blush.  I've been using it with Daniel Sandler's watercolour blush, and it works a treat!  If you want a brush to use exclusively with his blushes, but don't want to buy another £10 brush, it's definitely worth checking out.  They also wash very well, with no shedding, and are super soft.

The contouring brush (No.1) is on the right, hopefully you can see how it tapers.
No.2 is almost a hybrid of the 'Expert Face Brush' and the 'Buffing Brush' by Real Techniques.

Overall, I'm super impressed with these and for about £3.50 for the two how can you go wrong?!  (Also, having just revisited the page I've gone and popped the duo fibre brush in my basket - oops!) 

xxx

My morning skincare routine...

Ever since I can remember, my skin has been fairly up and down.  Over the past few months though, I think I've managed to develop a decent skincare routine that isn't too harsh but still balances my skin out.  My skin is fairly oily around the T-zone, but normal on my cheeks with intermittent dry patches (weird right?!)  I'm also fairly blemish prone, but with the products I'm now using I feel that most ones that crop up now are hormonal - as opposed to bacterial.  I used to use quite astringent products to deal with blemishes, that would often cause more damage than help (looking at you TCP!) but have found that a gentler skincare routine has really helped with healing time and prevention.  Today, I'm just going to talk about the products I use in my morning skincare (if I covered them all in one go this would be one monster post!)

My current cleanser is the Neutrogena Visibly Clear 2-in-1 Wash Mask.  I'll use a pea sized amount for my entire face, and wash it off with a face cloth.  You can also use it as a clay mask, but unless your skin is super oily it leaves your skin completely dried out!  It's been great during these warmer months as it leaves my face squeaky clean, especially is it's been a sticky humid night.

You get 150ml in the tube, it's excellent value for money.
Plus the packaging is light and sturdy, great for travelling.

I'll then tone my face with a spritz of the Caudelie Beauty Elixir - which is one of those products that I've had my eye on but was too eye-wateringly expensive to justify purchasing.  However, I spotted it in the Feel Unique sale for about thirty percent off and couldn't resist.  It does what it says on the tin, leaving my skin super soft and fresh feeling all day.  Also, can I just talk about the scent?!  Minty, fruity - the perfect perk-me-up.

Dreading the day this runs out - goodbye student loan!

Next, I'll moisturise with the No 7 Beautiful Skin Day Cream for Normal/Oily Skin.  I previously used the Nick Lowe equivalent, but as it was getting near impossible to source I thought I'd give this offering from No 7 a go.  The cream is smooth and nourishing - without feeling greasy - and at £7.50 when using a voucher it's a bargain!  The SPF 15 has also been great for brighter days, as I tend to forget facial sunscreen on a day-to-day basis.

Considering you get 50ml in the tub, it's a bit over-packaged -
but the pot isn't too heavy and is airtight.  The product also smells
 like sunscreen, but really nice sunscreen if you get what I mean!

Over any blemish-prone areas I'll then smooth in a little of the La Roche-Posay Effaclar Duo.  This feels very light and soothing on the skin, and is supposed to prevent spots and promote healing.  I do feel it has helped with both of these, possibly because it creates a bit of a barrier between skin and makeup so there's less likelihood of pore clogging?  Also, does anyone else think the scent is amazing?!  Then on any particularly dry patches I'll apply a little of their Cicaplast Baume B5, which I've found works a treat on helping makeup glide over.  The antiseptic properties mean its also great on healing drier blemishes - I'll leave a little on overnight and it calms any inflammation right down.

This tube has lasted me a good few months, and there's still a decent
amount left.  I also like that its in a tube - when you use very little of a product you don't want to be dipping your fingers into a tub each time!

Apologies about the state of this one! It lives in my handbag ninety percent
 of the time, just in case a bit of dry or sore skin rears its head while I'm out for
 the day so had gotten a rather battered! It's also lanolin free - unlike Eight Hour
Cream.  It's cheaper and smells great too, so I'd urge you to try it out if you're
 looking for an alternative.

Finally, I dab on a bit of the Boots Vitamin E Gentle Eye Cream.  This is non greasy, doesn't irritate the sensitive skin beneath my eyes and leaves a great base for concealer.  Nothing much else to say!

Super duper cheap, has SPF 15 and lasts ages.
(Okay, yes there was more to say haha!)

The links:
Neutrogena's Visibly Clear 2-in-1 Wash Mask is £3.50 at Tesco.
Caudelie's Beauty Elixir is £10.35 at Feel Unique.
No 7's Beautiful Skin Day Cream for Normal/Oily Skin is £12.50 (£7.50 w. voucher) at Boots.
La Roche-Posay's Effaclar Duo is £13.15 at Escentual.
La Roche-Posay's Cicaplast Baume B5 (40ml) is £5.50 at Escentual
Boots' Vitamin E Gentle Eye Cream is £2.54 here.


Also quick side note - I'd already written this post up once today and then whilst adding the pictures managed to lose it all to auto-save :'( I couldn't remember it word for word, but I hope I've managed to get the original gist of it!  Any ideas for the best way of backing up posts would be much appreciated!

xxx

Essie's Splash of Grenadine

This is one of those polishes that makes you feel girly, no other way to describe it.  It's such a vibrant Barbie lilac-pink, and it just draws the eyes in.  As Essie polishes go, it's pretty standard - easy to apply, good longevity and decently opaque in two coats.

The colour is very distinctive - even though (as I said above)
 it is Barbie-esque, there's something slightly chic about it.
Perhaps because it's almost a muted neon?

Here's two coats of the polish, with the usual top coat (Sally Hansen Insta-Dry).
No chips after five days! 

You can find Essie polishes at most Boots stores or online, priced at £7.99

xxx

Unboxing last week's splurging spree...

Last week - specifically on the evening of results day, I went a little nuts with the online shopping.  I've already chatted about what I purchased in this post (where I get slightly emosh towards the end if you're into that stuff!).  But I also promised to update you when they'd all arrived...so here they all are!

First to arrive was the Sleek blush.  It's everything I thought it would be - the perfect peachy coral that blends in seamlessly with my skintone.  My only gripe with it is the fact that its not the softest blush out there, but it leaves a lovely sheen to the skin.  Also, highly bargainous at a mere £3.89 (including 1st Class delivery!)

Sleek Blush in 'Life's a Peach'
There's something about it that reminds me of Clinique's 'Peach Pop' blusher,
I shall have to swatch them side by side and get back to you on that one.
Also, the name.  You know by now that anything peach related gets a thumbs-up
from me!

Second up is the Laura Mercier palette.  (I must say that I was very impressed with Space.nk's customer service before I tell you all about what happened - they got back to me within the hour and were absolutely lovely.)
Anyway, I opened the box up like a kid would at Christmas and encountered a golden brown, glittery mess...

Understandingly, I was somewhat upset!  In hindsight though, it was rather funny...
all that gold shimmer went everywhere like a poof of icing sugar ahaha!

Space.nk sent out a brand new palette free of charge, and told me to keep the old one.  I decided to try to clean it up as best I could and give the eyeshadows and brushes to my mum (as I knew she would love the shade 'African Violet' in particular.)  I did end up with hands like one of those Bond girls from Goldfinger, but I thought it was a shame to not attempt to salvage at least some of such a beautiful palette!  The replacement arrived in perfect condition, and I am absolutely in love.  I've been using them over the top of my favourite No 7 shadow stick in 'Cool Mink', in particular the shade 'Sable' all over the lid and 'African Violet' in the crease - I'm a purple shadow convert!  The cake eyeliner in 'Ground Espresso' is a little bit of a faff to apply, but oh boy is it worth the extra effort - using it wet means it sticks around all day long.  I could go on and on, but I think you can tell I'm happy with my purchase!

The packaging, although rather bulky feels sturdy (and is oh-so-glamorous!)
Also, can I just talk about the brushes?!  Especially the pony-tail brush - so so soft.

Top row L-R: Morning Dew, Coffee Ground, African Violet, Ballerina Pink
Bottom row L-R: Crystal Beige, Sable, Dusk, Deep Night

I have yet to use the bronzer for its intended purpose, as it's a
little too dark for my skin.  The blushes though - oh my.
Underneath, is the cake liner in Ground Espresso (applied wet)
and the pencil liner which literally stayed on for a shower and a day!

Last of all was the scarf from Kate Moss' Topshop collection.  It's a lot more of a dark cream, almost with a little green mixed in than it looks on the website - but looks perfect with a plain grey tee and jeans.  And although it's rather thin and gauzy, it works a treat at keeping the wind off your neck if the weather is a bit chilly!

And here it is, in natural light.  The colours are pretty much true to
 life here - I love the way the light blue pops through!

xxx