BEAUTY | BENEFIT MINI TRAVEL SET

Everyone loves miniature beauty things don’t they? They're so cute and small and MINI. Not only are they perfect for travelling with that bloody 100ml rule for liquids on a plane (sorry Miss Liz Arden toner, you’ll have to travel down in da cargo) but they’re also ideal to fit in an already jam packed makeup bag! I’m sure some of you out there can relate.

I've recently just come back from a trip and whilst in duty free I picked up a Benefit travel set for £26, unfortunately I haven’t been able to find the actual set anywhere online, I’m starting to think it might just be an airport stand special?! But you can definitely buy all the full size versions from any Benefit counter. This little set has everything you need to get yourself feeling refreshed after you’ve been on a long flight or train journey or even if you just need to freshen up during the day. You can literally almost have a full makeup look from this set, all you’d need is a slick of your favourite mascara!

Onto the goodies! Also all of the below are the small 7.5 - 10ml sizes, but believe me you do get a good few uses from them.

The Porefessional Primer

This has been a firm staple in my makeup bag until recently I ran out and it’s not the cheapest primer out there, so when I reaquired this little one i was more than happy. The silicone balm gives you the smoothest complexion by hiding your pores and can be applied before makeup or as a quick fix halfway through your day. 

“That Gal” Brightening Face Primer

Before purchasing this kit, I’ll be honest this primer never stood out to me. It has a creamier texture than the Porefessional and is pink in colour, i presume to be the reason behind the ‘Brightening’ part of the name. I’ve used it a few times and it’s okay, but doesn’t give me the matte look I like. 

Watts Up Highlighter

Brilliant. Stick. Of. Gold. Seriously, it’s like a stick of magic shimmer you apply to your cheeks. A small swipe of this is all you need on your cheekbones and give it a little blend, you’ll look ethereal. It comes in a fun little container too that you can twist up’n’down. 

Benetint Lip and Cheek Stain

Unfortunately I’m not a lover of these at all. I feel like i’m rubbing food colouring on my face or lips and then it just bleeds into the outer line of your lip? No, I don’t understand. Then when applying it to my cheeks i end up rubbing off my foundation in the process. It might work for some, but that’s just not me. Cute bottle though!

Total Moisture Facial Cream

This lovely little jar holds quite a heavy but very very very moisturising facial cream. You don’t need a lot to cover your whole face either and it smells divine! If only there were moreeee. Thats the one issue about mini’s, they leave you wanting more and then when payday arrives your £100 down from buying the full size versions! Whoops, that’s a neccessity right? Right!

So are there any other beauty sets out there I can try and which mini’s do you love right now?

Thanks for reading!

BEAUTY | Nude Nails: OPI & Barry M

Without my nails painted I feel undone, incomplete. I’m serious. Even when a nail is chipped or the polish isn’t perfect on each nail I have a mini freakout in my head and discreetly look for the nearest nail bar. Okay, maybe I don’t do the latter but you get the picture.

Lately, I’ve been loving pastel colours and even more so nude! Normally I wouldn’t opt for browns or nudes as I think they blend with my skin tone too much and I end up with never ending fingertips, however that all changed when I came across the Barry M Nail Paint in Lychee and it seems to have won me over! The polish is in their Gelly Hi Shine range which I’ve been an avid fan of since they launched (collected over 15 colours, ooo make that 16 with the new addition) and took £3.99 from my pocket, not bad not bad. This beautiful creation is non-gloopy and gives such a brilliant shine once it’s dry, bringing me to my next high-five to Barry M..it literally dries within a minute or so meaning your next coat can be applied and dried within 5 minutes total! Winning! Especially since I always always try to do something just after painting my nails and it becomes smudge central for my fingernails then out comes the nail varnish remover for a redo, sigh!








Once i’d painted my nails the lurrrrvely nude I decided to give one special member of my finger family a bit of glitz 'n' glam! Thanks to OPI's Make Light Of The Situation from their new 2015 Soft Shades collection, coming in at £9.95, my ring (no...only using the name..no ring in sight) finger got a little shimmery! This polish is down right stunning, when I first saw the bottle, the first word that sprung to mind was ‘princess’...oh how I wish one slick of polish would give me a castle and a tiara, oooo and a moat, everyone who's anyone should have a moat! It looks almost iridescent in the bottle, but applied over any colour definitely adds an element of ‘WOW’ to your nails. As far as i’m concerned OPI and Barry M are the go to brands for nail polish, yes the price tag’s are a little bit of a stretch from each other, but well worth it in my opinion.

What nail colours make you feel like a princess? Or even a little villanous if you prefer the darker shades?

Thanks for reading!

BEAUTY | Charlotte Tilbury Full Fat Lashes & Nars Radiant Creamy Concealer Review

Fabulous, fluttery, flirtatious. That’s what we want from our eyelashes right? I have the smallest, like almost microscopic eyelashes! Back in the day, i remember piling on layer after layer of Rimmel’s Voluminous mascara, and then using a needle to separate my eyelashes. I’d strut out thinking my eyelashes were being admired, little did i know it just looked like i had spiders on my eyes and people were probably looking in horror! To compliment our eyelashes, sometimes we have days when we want to cover up our dark circles too, after that long night working or playing. Which is where concealer comes in oh so handy in faking that wide awake, i certainly wasn't out last night look. I picked up the Charlotte Tilbury Full Fat Lashes mascara and Nars Radiant Creamy Concealer in Harvey Nichols, and now that i'm coming to time when i need to re-stock, i thought what a perfect time to do a review!

Nowadays, there are so so many different wands, combs, and formula’s for mascara it’s difficult to know which one will work for you without actually testing it. And unfortunately, that’s one make-up piece you can’t test out, conjunctivitis…. no thanks!

With describing words such as…

CURL 

VOLUME

3D-EFFECT

FLUTTERING

There's even a mascara out there called…..*whispers* Better Than Sex

It’s hard to not be enticed by the expansive choice we have. I do tend to try out a new mascara every time i’m running low. I'd heard so much about Full Fat Lashes and even watched a video of Charlotte herself applying it to a model, and hell I was sold! I purchased it for approximately £32 from the desk at Harvey Nichols, but it's available on Amazon too for a little more including delivery, which I've linked above if you want to take a look. The mascara itself when applied gives your eyelashes separation but not so much length. I found that after applying maybe three coats I got the length and volume I kind of wanted, not what I expected unfortunately. If you already have long lashes, it's probably perfect for you as I think it would have more effect. There's no fallout from this mascara which I love, who wants flecks of black all over their face halfway through the day! Removal is fairly easy too, although go easy on your eyes if you've triple layered like I do!

Concealer time! My usual concealer brand is MAC, but I wanted to explore other brands as a bit of a change up, a friend recommended the Nars Radiant to me and it's a product i'll definitely be picking up again. Priced at £27, again approximate as I've seen it a few different places at different prices. As I tend to use my concealer as the highlight of my contour routine, it's not too heavy to do so, but still gives a good coverage for those dark circles. The applicator is like a lipgloss sponge, acquiring just the right amount of product, one dunk for each eye and easy to draw a straight line down the nose for those no-surgery nose job contours!

Have you tried either of these products? What are your next purchases in the eye department?

Thanks for reading!

BEAUTY | Victoria's Secret Power of Three

Apologies for my brief hiatus, but i'm still here *waves* I’ve had and still have so much university work to do, 3rd year is no walk in the park. They really make you work for this degree don't they?! If I’m not planning an essay, I’m researching something about something or thinking of how to create my performance. Then if I’m not doing that I’m working and sleeping. But I missed not updating my blog for two weeks, so if i post less frequently, please forgive me! Soon as i've finished this semester, i'm going to be working hard to make this a beautiful space for myself amidst you lovely other bloggers.


What are the first three things you think about when you hear the words Victoria's Secret? For you males, it might be significantly different to us females who I’m sure it screams 'unbelievably beautiful goddess like women, who I wish I looked like, but I’m currently sat eating a tub of chocolate ice-cream, planning my fitness regime for the next 6months' Am I wrong?

I picked up these three body mists from VS the other week, and now I’m walking round smelling good enough to eat! I’m all for body spray over perfume, don’t get me wrong, I still use perfume for special occasions and nights out, but during the day I find it’s so much easier and certainly cheaper to spritz myself with one of these beauties. Being able to go spray happy with these water-based products is better than wasting a cloud of Michael Kors’ in my opinion. All three scents at a bundle price of 3 for £24. Not too bad is it? I could have spent an extra £6 and gathered up 5 for £30 but I’ve got to set myself some limits now.

Victoria's Secret Fantasies Coconut Passion Body Mist

Vanilla and Coconut scented; refreshing formula is infused with conditioning Aloe Vera and calming Chamomile.

This scent takes me back to my childhood so much, I think having afro-carribean hair, my mum was always using products that had coconut oils, I believe for its detangling properties. Yes, I was one of those children who screamed whenever a comb came near my head…combing curls hurts okay?! So although this takes me back to painful hair brushing days, the vanilla gives off a sweetness I can’t resist.



Passion Struck by Victoria's Secret Body Mist


Fuji apple and Vanilla Orchid fragrance mist. This refreshing formula is infused with conditioning Aloe Vera and calming Chamomile.

I can’t be sure exactly what ‘fuji’ apple is, but I know what apple is, and this fragrance is definitely sprinkled with a few appley notes. The more prominent smell is the vanilla for sure, but the apple makes it smell so much sweeter and fruity. I’ve got to say this is probably my go to scent when I’m looking for something I know will make me smell good instantly.


Love Addict by Victoria's Secret Body Mist


Wild orchid and Blood Orange fragrance mist. This refreshing formula is infused with conditioning Aloe Vera and calming Chamomile.
Quick observation. All of these are infused with conditioning Aloe Vera and calming Chamomile. I’ve just noticed, couldn’t have written that sentence more often if I tried could I. Awkward. Anywaaaay, the last body mist I picked up is a new spring addition to the range and it’s got that floral, girly girl smell. You know, that smell that’s fresh and fun. The wild orchid is responsible for this I believe and it does a damn good job too!

Certainly a lot of passion and love in VS isn’t there? It’s coming up to warmer weather soon…I hope and I’m looking forward to all the shops re-arranging and making way for new spring products.
What’s your favourite VS Body Mist?

Thanks for reading!

BEAUTY | A (Lush) Valentines Day

The title...I know I know I'm already cringing inside. However, you can't deny it magically draws everything together. It's Valentine's Day and this post is about Lush products. Lush. Valentine's Day. A Lush Valentines Day? See...go me!

Anyway, down to the true nature of this post ey. Whilst wandering around Leeds City Centre today being a wingwoman for my friend Valentines Day shopping i decided to love myself and got some treats. Once over the perfumed/organic scent blast you receive upon stepping through the doors of many Lush stores, i sought out the bubblebar counter. Lush's bathbombs make having a bath the best damn thing you've done this week. And with that thought in mind i ended up at the till with this trilogy of nose pleasing beauties.



Lonely Heart Bubble Bar 

At £3.50 this little glittery heart is well worth the pain of having glitter constantly stuck to your hand after holding it for 1.2 seconds. Once you crumble some of this under the running hot water, comes the foaming bubbles set to put you in deep relaxation mode. THEN you get to be a Edward Cullen the 2nd with your glittering skin once you get out. Slightly annoying if your off to work, not at all if it's bed time! You only need half of this bar to produce a bath full of bubbles. That's two, at a push three beautifully smelling pink/red glittery baths.



Heart Throb Bubbleroon

The shape of this bathbomb was the first thing that hooked me. It's an unusual sandwich of red hearts with a filling of gold glitter. Yep, more glitter all over everything...i am aware. Not as much as Lonely Hearts though. I love that this bubbleroon, as it's called, has a large helping of shea butter mixed in, leaving your skin moisturised and lovely. The scent is quite vanilla based with the familiar 'lush' mixture of goodness. £3.65 and its yours!


The Godmother Soap Block

Now, this one isn't actually from Valentines Day/Spring range. However...it is pink...and smells declicious. This one has the Snowfairy scent that comes in the bathbomb form but only at Christmas. Booo. Until then i can have my skin feeling smooth and smelling good enough to eat with this hot/dark pink block of soap. You can buy this from the huuuuge big bars on one of the counters and they usually weigh it out per 100g, i got my chunk for £3.66 to be precise and it weighed 116g. This literally does melt in your hands too, so quick quick quick.

Whatever your doing this valentines day, i hope it's filled with friends, fun and laughter. And of course..*cough* LOVE. I'm not sure what my plans are yet, but i'm 99.9% it's now going to involve one of the above and a hot bath!

Thanks for reading!

BEAUTY | High Street Haul!

Do you ever go shopping with the intention to only buy the things you NEED but once you unpack all your bags you have about 6538 items you didn't NEED you just really really wanted?! 

Yes?

Well that's exactly what I did yesterday, somehow my shopping list which consisted of necessities such as toothpaste, hairspray and other essentials that needed replacing remained unchecked. And I am now the owner of a few more high street purchases which I'll begin to reveal...

I don't know what it is but I can't walk past Superdrug or Boots without having a quick peek at the makeup. It draws me in, hands up, I can't help it! The store in the White Rose Shopping Centre in Leeds is a large one meaning they have all the extra makeup counters, including Makeup Revolution. I'm not sure if this is a new brand or one that I just kept walking past until recently, but I've found the prices are extremely affordable and it doesn't look cheap either!

I picked up the 'Awesome Double Flick Liquid Eyeliner' in Black, I've almost ran out of the last one I had of this but it's last me about 4 months I think! Maybe a slight over-exaggeration but close enough! This eyeliner has two ends, one quite thin making it easy to do cat eye flicks, and the other slightly thicker, a bit like a felt tip, which does the job of filling in my eyelid line. I haven't had any problems with this smudging or doing that weird leak into your eyeball and creases thing.

I was giddy with potential new makeup excitement when I saw they had some limited edition eye shadow pallets on display for only £6! Bargain much?! I went for the 'Girls On Film' pallet which has 12 shimmer and 6 matte colours. The other pallets I found had a lot of pink and paler colours and unfortunately I don't tend to go for those with my skin tone as much. I chose this particular one as it's got my favourite browns with a few darker shades too, my fav fav fav is the 'Hold Tight' which is a grey shimmer and 'Frenzy All Down Your Spine' which is a brown/gold shimmer....what a name for an eye shadow might I add?!

Before I made my exit I picked up some MUA Matte Perfect Primer for £4, I've just used the last of my Benefit Porefection and I'm going to use this as an interim primer for now. I have used this in the past and it has that silky, silicone feel on your face as opposed to other high street primers which are gel based. As I've mentioned before, I don't feel fully dressed unless my nails are done and I tend to always buy normal French manicured false nails so I can paint them a colour of my choice. However, seeing these Aztec print Elegant Touch nails at £4.35 I thought why not, let's push the boat out and get a pattern WITH as splash of colour. I'm wild aren't i?

I've always had a bit of a thing for rings. Midi-rings in particular, I love how they look sitting just above the knuckle and a little bit below your nail. In go an assortment of H&M gold bands and a cute little chain bracelet. I find you lose these kinds of rings quite easily as they do sit at the end of your finger, so I love that they only cost me £4.99 for 10, and the bracelet only £1.99. I can safely say I will be taking many more trips into H&M this spring! 

So regardless of the fact that i didn't actually intend to buy any of these items, i'd say it was a successful and necessary trip all round! Don't you agree?

What are your favourite high street stores? 

Thanks for reading!