Lakeside Shopping Haul Part 2

As you may know, a few weeks ago I went shopping with my friends in Lakeside. It is fair to say that I may have gone a little overboard on this day investing in a lot of makeup especially. Therefore I have dedicated this part of the haul to primarily makeup and beauty items but have thrown in my biggest and best purchase of the trip at the end just to top it all off! Let's go!
  You know that you are in trouble when you walk into Boots and they are doing a 3 for 2 promotion across their whole beauty and cosmetics range. This means you can get makeup, brushes and accessories included in this deal and I needed no invitation to make full use of this offer. I may have accidentally ended up buying 6 products but I am so pleased with them.
 One of the first things I wanted to do in Boots was to check out the Sleek makeup. I have been a huge fan of their blushes over the past year and for the past two months have fallen in love with their eyeshadow palettes. Where I live the Boots and Superdrug stores aren't big enough to sell Sleek so it was time to stock up in Lakeside.
  After looking at the palettes in the flesh I opted for the 'Ultra mattes v2 darks' palette because I have been all about matte recently. This palette contains entirely matt shades and the pigmentation of them is incredible. Like the Au Naturel palette the shades blend really nicely and I love the range of colours here. The huge mirror also is really handy if you are on the go and I love that each shade has it's own name like 'Villian' and 'Orbit.' The palettes are also so affordable, costing just £7.99 for 12 shades.

Since discovering the Real Technique makeup brushes, it has transformed the way that I apply my makeup. The contour and buffing brush have been two of my favourites so far and so I decided it was time to invest in a new blush brush. The Real Techniques blush brush cost £9.99 I still can't get over how soft it is and how easy it is to apply makeup with this. It makes product blend so flawlessly and it is the perfect shape and size.

As I've mentioned a thousand times before, I love sleek blushes. Everything to the packaging to the colour range to how easy they are to apply and the beautiful finish they give, it is hard to fault them. Whilst I had to make the most of stocking up on Sleek products I decided it was time to invest in some more blushes. Three to be exact. The first was a shade called 'Coral' which in the pan looks to be a really unique orange/pink colour. It reminds me of the shade 'Flushed' because it looks matte on first inspection but it does contain the slightest bit of shimmer.

 

The next shade that I bought was 'Pixie Pink' which is a gorgeous light pink which is very matt. However from first impressions it doesn't seem at all chalky and I'm expecting this to be great for the summer. It isn't half as bright as 'Flamingo' but it looks a much cooler tone and is so beautiful to look at in the pan. 
 The final Sleek blush I bought on this shopping trip is another matte shade called 'Life's a Peach.' In the pan this shade appears to be a very bright and slightly scary orange. However, I didn't let this put me off when I first bought Flamingo and I turned out to love it and so I thought that I would give this shade a spin. Although this may not be a shade suitable for all year round (well it could be, we will find out when I test it out!) I think it will be great for summer, especially when you have a little bit of a tan. One of the biggest advantages of these blushes is that they are so affordable at only £4.49 each and this is part of the reason why my collection of them has grown so big so quickly.
  My final purchase to finish off my Boots splurge I decided that I would buy a product that I had never previously tried. A lot of my drugstore purchases recently have been lip products, so much so that my storage is getting a bit overrun with lipsticks, crayons and balms. Nevertheless, I still decided that it would be a good idea to buy another lipstick(!) After trying and really liking the Revlon Matte balms recently and having never tried a Revlon lipstick I opted to go for a shade from their 'Super Lustrous Matte Lipstick' collection. To be honest there wasn't many shades in this collection but I picked up the shade 'Stormy Pink' because it thought it looked the best on the back of my hand. Haha. This cost me £7.49 but it turned out to be one of the free items in the deal.  
 By the time we managed to get round to going into Superdrug, it was near the end of the day. Out of a matter of interest I innocently went to look at the Sleek counter in Superdrug just to see if they were selling anything different to Boots. As a matter of fact they were. To celebrate 50 years of Superdrug Sleek have released a limited edition eyeshadow palette called the Showstoppers palette. This palette consists of 7 shimmery and 5 matte shades. Honestly I probably didn't need this palette but because it was limited edition and I loved a couple of the shades especially I decided to buy it. Superdrug were also doing a 3 for 2 on all cosmetics too and so I thought that I might as well take advantage of the offer. This palette cost £7.99  

As I had not bought a new nail polish in a while I decided to have a little look at what Rimmel had on offer. I was aware that Rita Ora recently bought out a range of nail polishes and Colour Rush Balms, but one of the repackaged lasting finish polishes actually caught my eye. This shade is called 'Fancy a Dip' and is a lovely blue shade. I think it is really unique because it isn't a pale blue or a royal blue but it looks slightly lilac and is completely different to the other shades I own. This retails at £2.99 which is so affordable and I'm really excited to try this shade out really soon.
 After buying a lot of the Barry M Hi-Shine Gelly collection nail polishes last summer it was good to see that they have released some more shades for this summer. I've noticed a lot of the new colours focus on pastel shades and these really appeal to me. I've been really attracted to blue tones and shades recently and so whilst browsing the new shades on offer 'Huckleberry' stood out to me. It is a really pale almost white blue shade and I think this will look absolutely amazing alongside tanned skin. It is really similar to the shade Blue Moon from the original Barry M nail polishes but I'm sure the added shine will make a big difference to the appearance of this shade. It costs £3.99 like with the other Hi-Shine polishes in the collection.
  Now on the way to the checkout in Superdrug I noticed that they were selling the Tanya  Burr Cosmetics. I've really wanted to try out some things from her collection ever since they were launched but this was the first time I had seen them in the flesh.
 I decided to try out just one product to start with because I didn't want to go crazy buying a product that I had never tested before and so opted for the nail polish in the shade Little Duck because I had seen some photos of this shade and loved it. I plan on writing a full review on this product, especially because it has been receiving some incredible hype over the blogging and Youtube world recently. This nail polish set me back £5.99 which I thought was quite a bit for a polish but until I try it out I won't know if it is worth the money.
 Tanya Burr's nail polish concludes the beauty and cosmetic part of my haul and I have a load of products now that I will be vigorously testing over the coming weeks and months. There is just one more product that I bought in Lakeside as a treat to myself.
About 5 years ago now my mum and step-dad got me a iPod Nano as a Christmas present from New York. I have had so much use out of my iPod over the years and I have loved using it but now it is starting to show signs of age because the buttons have started to become temperamental. I have been thinking about buying a new one now for about 6 months and decided in Lakeside that I would make the investment. I went into the Apple store and it was so easy to pay and get hold of one and I love it. Once again I went for the limited edition Red and Apple puts some of the money you pay for the iPod towards helping people in Africa who are suffering with AIDS. I haven't had a chance to properly set it up yet because I want to organise all my music first but I am so excited to start using it. It will be going everywhere with me when it is ready to go and I was actually impressed that the 16GB version only cost £129. I seem to remember my 8GB one cost me around £100 when I got that so I definitely got a lot for my money.  

May 2014 Favourites!

It honestly felt like just yesterday that I was putting together my April favourites post. Now a month later it is time to share the things that have been worth my money this month! Enjoy.

Beauty/ Makeup:
Barry M Hi-Shine Jelly Nail Polish in Guava
It is no secret that I adore the nail polishes by Barry M. A few months back I actually bought a few more shades after noticing  that Barry M had added some new colours to their Gelly Hi-Shine collection. One of these was the shade 'Guava' and it has been by far my favourite nail polish this month. The colour is an incredible teal/blue colour and it lasts ages! Costing only £3.99 this product is worth every penny.
 I've found that like with the other polishes in this  collection that two coats of this stuff is plenty and the dry time is also really good.

 

 

 

 

Real Techniques Brushes

For Christmas I was lucky enough to receive a collection of the Real Techniques brushes from my sister. Although I was really excited about trying them I thought it would be a good idea to wait until I had built my collection a little more and to be honest I didn't want them to get dirty! However this month I realised that this was a ridiculous thought and started to use them religiously to apply my makeup. I particularly love the contour brush, as it blends product really well and gives me a really defined look. Next I would like to buy the set of eye brushes which would help me to apply my eye shadow better especially because I have been a bit more experimental this month.  

Sleek Blush in Flushed
My final beauty favourite this month has been a blush from Sleek. After discovering Sleek blushes in the middle of last year and having loved the shade Flamingo so much I decided it was time to try out the other shades in the collection.
  This month I have really enjoyed using the shade 'Flushed.' Unlike Flamingo this is a much darker shade but is still a beautiful pinky shade. It gives my complexion a really healthy glow and looks so natural on my face. Although I find myself having to apply more of this than with Flamingo, I think it is because Flamingo is so much brighter than this. I like that the colour isn't as bright though because it means that you can gradually build it up depending on your skin tone and the look you are achieving. This shade is also a lot more matt than Flamingo but it still contains the slightest bit of shimmer in it as well. The price of these blushes are also a huge plus point costing only £4.49 each.



Fashion:
Kimonos
Up until this month, I had never owned a Kimono. I'm not sure why, but they just didn't appeal to me and I never thought that I could pull one off and was worried that they wouldn't flatter my shape or that I would feel too self conscious in one. However, whilst I was shopping this month a came across one in New Look. The print instantly attracted me because it was full of greens and purples and was a gorgeous Hawaiian floral style. The material was also really soft to touch and as my friend was going to be trying on some stuff I decided to try this out. When I tried it on I really liked it and so bought it for £12.99.
  Since then I have been back into New Look and bought another kimono because I loved my first one so much. My second kimono is more of a sheer material, but is once again a floral print combining cream, a pinky/nude tone and also a beautiful royal blue too. This one was a little more expensive at £24.99 but it's been perfect for Spring. 
Forever 21 Vest
Up until now I have been obsessed with wearing a printed vest from Pull & Bear because it has been so comfortable and easy to wear. Whilst shopping with friends this month I found a new vest which I have fallen in love with from Forever 21. I think it cost around £10 and I really like the print and think it will be perfect for summer. It is cut quite low at the sides so I have been experimenting with bandeau tops underneath to add something different too.
Statement Jewellery
My final fashion related favourite product this month has been statement necklaces. I have never been a jewellery person really in terms of necklaces but after discovering this wing necklace from River Island this month I have been converted. Although it isn't the biggest statement necklace in the world I think it still makes an impact on a simple outfit and I love the detailing on it too. It cost me only £7 and I can't wait to start buying more necklaces.



Music:
The 1975
How has it taken me this long to discover the genius that is the 1975's self titled album? This album has been out in the UK now for ages, yet this month I started to listen to it for the first time. It only took a few songs to realise that I would love this album and I have been listening to it on repeat throughout the month alongside my other music favourites. Some of my favourite songs from the album are 'Robbers' and 'Girls' although I have liked almost every song!
Mr Probz: Waves
I am a huge fan of songs that you love the moment that you first hear them. Although I do eventually like songs even if I haven't when they were first played it was not the case with the release of Waves. I really liked this song as soon as I first heard it and although now I have started to over play it a bit I have been listening to it a lot throughout May.
Sam Smith: Stay With Me
I will be the first to admit that I wasn't overly keen on 'Money On My Mind' by Sam Smith. I didn't think the verses were too bad but along with the chorus which I didn't like and the radio station over playing the song up to 7 times a day everyday for 3 weeks I dreaded to hear it. However, this month I discovered the song 'Stay With Me' and I have been listening to it on repeat ever since. It is so much different to MOMM and I think it is really beautiful to listen to.
The Vamps: Meet The Vamps
Although The Vamps featured in my April favourites I couldn't resist putting them into my May Favourites as well. Last month I was raving about their performance in Radio 1's Live Lounge but since then their debut album has been released in the UK. I bought this album alongside The 1975's and although they are both completely different I have been enjoying these a lot. The Vamps album is really fun with a mix of upbeat and slightly more serious songs. For a band so young I think their album is incredible and there hasn't been a 'bad' song that I've listened to. Big favourites of mine have been 'Somebody to You', 'Shout About It', 'Dangerous' and 'Lovestruck.'


Films/TV:
Bad Neighbours
I don't go to the cinema very often and so when I do it is because I am going to see a film that I really wanted to see. At the start of the month Bad Neighbours starring Zac Efron and Seth Rogen came out and so my friends and I went to watch it. I won't give too much away apart from the fact that it is hilarious and you should go watch it!
Modern Family
My final TV/Film favourite is a program which is regularly shown on Sky 1 and Sky 2. Modern family is a show which follows three families which are all related in one way or another it follows their lives and choices. It is hilarious and unique in that one as the storyline is played out the characters narrate and comment on their thoughts and actions. My sister has been watching this program for years and I can't believe it has taken me this long to give it a chance. I think it is brilliant. 

First Purchases of 2014 (Makeup Haul)

 

So with Christmas over for another year and having received my bank statement for December (ouch!) it's that time of year where you decide that you really need to save some money after spending so much during the festive season.

Apparently I didn't get that memo and I've been out shopping over the past few weeks and have brought some amazing cosmetics which I'm going to share today.

 

The first thing that I've purchased were these makeup wipes from Superdrug. Recently I've been using some Sainsbury's own branded wipes just because they are cheap and easy to pick up, but I decided I should probably invest in some wipes that are actually designed to be used to take off makeup. These were also a complete bargain at only about £1.50 and although I have never used them before I thought that they would be worth the risk.

 

My obsession with nail polish continues. Barry M have recently released a new collection of matte polishes in a variety of colours. Their new polishes always intrigue me and after buying loads of their standard as well as jelly polishes I just needed to try this one. I picked up the shade 'Vanilla' costing me £3.99 from Superdrug.   

 

As Superdrug were having a 3 for 2 offer on all their Barry M products, it would be rude for me not to buy two more polishes. For my second polish I decided on this gorgeous burgundy shade called 'crush' from the new matte collection, which also retails at £3.99.

 

To complete the three for two offer, I needed to decide on one final polish. On the Barry M stand they had a picture of a model showing off one particular shade. I fell in love with it and decided that this would be the final shade that I would buy. This polish is part of the Hi-Shine jelly collection and is called 'Guava', also priced at £3.99 in Superdrug.

 

I actually brought another nail polish from Barry M a few weeks ago whilst I was shopping in Cambridge and totally forgot about it. At the time Superdrug were doing a 2 for £6 deal on all their nail polishes and so my friend and I got one each. I picked up this shade called 'blackberry' from the jelly range, saving myself 0.99p!

 

Living in a small town means that my local Superdrug doesn't sell any sleek products. After buying a blush and the contour kit online, I was desperate to get my hands on some of their other products, but wanted to be able to see what I was buying first. Luckily Cambridge had a whole stand of Sleek products, and it's fair to say that I went a little crazy.

 

The first thing that I picked up from Sleek was this gorgeous lipstick in the shade 'barely there.' Although I haven't used this product yet it claims to be a highly pigmented non drying and conditioning lipstick, which sounds pretty good to me! Costing only £4.99 it is also a bit cheaper than some of the other drugstore lipsticks out there so thought it would be worth a try.

 

After buying and falling in love with the Sleek blush in the shade 'flamingo' I decided that I would definitely need to expand my collection. With 11 shades in the collection it wasn't easy to pick just one so I brought two on this occasion, but could have easily brought them all! Oops.

 

I decided to go for two more pink shades, but these are no way near as bright as 'flamingo.' The blush pictured above is a lovely dark pink almost red shade with the slightest bit of shimmer in called 'flushed.' I can't wait to start using it and with it being priced at only £4.49 it is a serious bargain in my eyes.

 

The other blush I picked up for £4.49 was the shade in 'rose gold.' I've seen so many other beauty bloggers and vloggers rave about this shade of product and thought it was about time I got my hands on it too. It contains more shimmer than the other two blushes I have, yet will be a welcome addition to my collection.

 

This is where I think I got a little bit over the top and went a bit crazy with the sleek products. But whilst I was there I decided to pick up one of Sleek's eyeshadow palettes.

 

Typically of Sleek, the have kept their gorgeous black packaging for the palette and I'm so excited to try it out. They have a variety of palettes available but I got the 'Au Naturel 601' palette as I thought it would be one that I'd use the most.

 

Although I haven't used this product yet, I am seriously impressed with it at first glance. The colours inside look absolutely gorgeous and I love the mixture of both matte and shimmery shades in there. I also love the fact that each shade has it's own name and that there isn't one colour in the palette that I don't like. Perhaps the biggest bonus is that this cost only £7.99!

 

 

My final purchase over the past few weeks have been some new make-up brushes. I've had my eye on real-techniques brushes for ages and after receiving some for Christmas I decided to expand my collection. This resulted in a trip to Boots!

 

I decided to purchase the core collection, costing me £21.99. Working out at only about £5 a brush, they are seriously good value for money and even the woman in Boots told me that they are amazing!

Featuring a foundation brush, a brush for concealer, powder and contouring, I'm super excited about using these brushes alongside my new and old purchases, although I don't want to get them dirty! Haha.

Wow, it seems as though I've gone a bit overboard recently on products. One day I will learn to resist. (I hope)

Get Ready With Me: A Typical Everyday Look

If you are like me and wear makeup almost everyday, you soon get into a routine and find that you have a 'typical' or 'trademark' makeup look which you go to regularly. Today I thought that I'd go through my typical everyday look and show how it is achieved. From start to finish, it usually takes me around 40 minutes to get ready, although I do speed it up and can get the process down to about 20 minutes if I'm in a hurry. I can also drag this process out, and usually do if I am going on a night out because I don't like to feel rushed when getting ready.

So to start with I firstly shower and wash my hair. Currently I am using the orange and satsuma shower gel from Superdrug's own brand to wash myself which is really refreshing and awakening and I am using the TRESemme platinum strength shampoo and conditioner which I've found to have improved my hair since I started using it. 

After my shower I then brush my teeth with my pink oral-b toothbrush and the colgate cavity protection toothpaste. I'm not really that fussy when it comes to toothpaste and so I just use whatever is in the bathroom at the time. 

Once I've brushed my teeth I then go back into my bedroom and towel dry my hair. Once I have got rid of all the excess water I tie my hair up in a loose bun to keep it out of my face. I then start the base of my makeup, including foundation, concealer and blusher, bronzer, eyeshadow and my eyebrows. As I have a side fringe it's much easier to do these stages before I dry my hair but I can't do my full eye makeup as I find my eyes run whilst I am drying my hair. 

   To start off my makeup I apply the Max Factor Colour Adapt foundation in natural using a foundation brush, making sure that I blend it all in evenly. I then apply the Helen E concealer (yellow side) to underneath my eyes to cover up any dark circles. If I have any particularly noticeable blemishes or spots I use the brown side of the compact to cover these up. 

My face after applying the foundation and concealer 

The next stage in my daily routine is to apply a face powder before contouring and applying blusher. For the powder I am currently using the Max Factor Creme Puff powder in translucent and I use this to simply set my base and not to add too much colour to my face. Then I use the sleek contour kit in light to subtly contour my cheekbones using the powder and highlighter. I don't contour my nose because I don't feel the need to, although Sleek does show you how to do this as well.
  I finish off my face by applying the Sleek blush in Flamingo to the apple of my cheeks. This stuff is really highly pigmented so I don't have to put much on my blush brush. I also don't apply too much because I want to keep my look natural and not too over the top.  

My face after foundation, concealer, powder, contouring and blusher

The next stage in my makeup is to fill in my eyebrows and apply some eyeshadow to my lids. My eyebrows are already quite thick and are shaped on a regular basis so I just use a thin brush to fill in any gaps and make them appear a bit stronger.
  The second brush I use is a shading brush from Models Own and I use this to sweep some eyeshadow onto my lids, as I only usually apply one colour in an everyday look. 

I have no idea what brand or where this quad came from, but I love the neutral colours in it. When this runs out I will have to try and find similar shades because I am loving using this at the moment. I use the bottom right colour which is a dark brown for my brows and then use the top right to shade my lids. 

My face with the finished base along with filled brows and eyeshadow

I then move away from my makeup and focus on drying and sorting out my hair. I leave the rest of my eye makeup until afterwards as my eyes have a tendency to run. I start my hair routine by brushing through it with my tangle teezer brush and apply a heat protective spray. I then use a hairdryer to blow dry my hair, making sure I also get my parten in the correct place. 

Once my hair is dry I usually just brush through it once more using my tangle teezer brush and then leave it. Over the past few months I've cut down on the use of my straighteners and I've noticed that my hair is in a much better condition. 

Once my hair is complete I then move back to finish off my makeup. I firstly line my lower waterline with the Max Factor Kohl pencil in black.

My face after applying the Max Factor Kohl pencil in black

Once I've applied the pencil eyeliner to the bottom of my eyes, I take the Rimmel Glameyes liquid liner and use this to line my eyelids, as close to the lashline as possible. I then use a small amount and go over the pencil liner that I had done previously, which just makes it last that little bit longer. I usually do a small flick at the outer corner of my lashes to create the cat-eye effect and the size of this usually varies day to day. 

My face after pencil and liquid liner

I finish off my eyes using the Maybelline Falsies mascara in black drama and usually apply a couple of coats to my top lashes. I also find the brush is easy to use for the bottom lashes as well so I apply just one coat here. I find mascara really finishes off the look and opens the eyes up. 

Finally, the last stage in my makeup is to apply a lip product. Usually during the day I like to go for a natural looking shade which isn't too bright. I've recently brought some lipsticks from the Kate Moss for Rimmel collection and so I've been wearing these alot. My favourite at the moment is the shade 08, which is a pinky colour and I think perfect for autumn. They are really hydrating as well so I don't feel the need to apply lipgloss over the top. 

Kate Moss for Rimmel lipstick in 08

The finished look

Once I have finished my hair and makeup I then get changed into the outfit that I will be wearing during that day. This way I know I won't accidentally get makeup on me. This is my typical look and although it can take about 40 minutes to complete, I don't think that it is too extensive. I personally really like this makeup look, but over the past few weeks I have been trying to experiment with different looks as well.