MAC | Naked Lunch & Sable eyeshadows

It's no secret that I've got a bit of an addiction to MAC make up. I'd spend my life in their stores if I could. Luckily for my bank balance, there's not a store in Derby, but instead I make full use of the Nottingham store whenever I'm that way!

I went on a mini shopping spree recently, and only planned to pick up Fix+ to try out, but I managed to come away with a bit more... oops!

Sable & Naked Lunch

I picked up these two gorgeous shades in a new quad, although it took me forever to choose them!

MAC describe these shadows as being 'highly-pigmented powder. Applies evenly, blends well'. I totally agree with this! I use a primer, and they last all day without creasing. Their pigment is amazing, and they're so easy to blend to create just the look you want.

The pro palette refills cost £10 each, but individually they would be £12.50. The quad palette is £6.50.

 Sable

I chose this shade because the other shimmery shades I have (Woodwinked and Era) are both gold-based, meaning they have more of a gold shimmer, and Sable is more silver-based. I've never looked at buying it before but I fell in love with it when I saw it swatched. I think it'll look well blended with Brule or Naked Lunch, depending on how glittery I'm feeling, to make a natural brown eye look.

Naked Lunch

I picked up this lighter shade too, which is also silver based, because I've been looking for a lighter, slightly shimmery shade for a while to mainly use in the inner corner of my eye; even if I'm not wearing any other eyeshadow I normally have something in the inner corner. It can brighten up your eyes and make you look more awake, which is a must have for me most days! This is a really light shade (I had problems photographing the swatch), but I'm in love with this too! I've worn it a few times and had compliments on it every time I've had it on.

I've been wanting to buy some more eyeshadows for a while, and I have been contemplating the Naked 2 palette, but who's to say I can't have that and more MAC?! If you're interested in the other colours I have, the quad I already have I reviewed here, and my first ever colours are here. 

I'll possibly be putting up a look soon based around all the colours I have, if that's something you guys would like to see?! Let me know in the comments!

Do you have either of these shades?

n xx

Rimmel Scandaleyes eyeliner

I'm a bit of an eyeliner lover, but experimenting has never been my thing; I like to stay in my make up comfort zone. But now I'm working on building up my make up bag to try and get myself out of the rut I've found myself slowly but surely falling into.

With that in mind, I've been splashing out and treating myself to a few things that I've been procrastinating about buying for a while. This particular purchase has been worth it entirely! I've picked up a couple of new eyeliners, but so far this is the only one I've fully road tested.

The Rimmel London Scandaleyes Thick & Thin eyeliner, which I picked up from Boots for £3.99 (currently it's on offer; it's normally £5.49), has a pen-style application, which is personally my favourite style of applicator at the moment, and has a slanted point on it that allows you to do both thick and thin lines, as the name suggests. Although I've yet to master the exact art of how the angles work, I've been really loving the effect when you get it right. It makes it super easy to create a thinner line in the inside of your eye, while still being able to handle the thicker outer eye (that I sometimes get a little carried away with) without having to go over it a million times.

Another thing that I'm loving about this product is how easy it is to deal with when you make a mistake. We've all been there, trying to make that final perfect even line... then you blink. It's the worst feeling, but with this I quickly learnt that it's not even a problem. It comes off so easily, even just with a damp finger to rub it slightly. Obviously you get neater results with a cotton wool bud, but I've been so impressed with how easily it comes away without smudging badly.

The packaging isn't anything special, but it's slim and easy to take with you if you carry make up with you in the day. I love the eyeliners that come styled similar to a pen, as I find this the easiest kind to put on; ones that come with the shorter handles I find harder to keep good control over. Colour wise, it's just a bog standard black but it isn't streaky or opaque, just applying one layer is fully black.

Overall, I'm really loving this product and I'll happily repurchase it! I definitely made a good choice picking this up. 

Have you tried this before, and if not what's your favourite eyeliner at the moment?

n xx

New found Bastiste love | review

If you've been around a while reading my posts then you might already know that I've not been a great lover of Batiste... that is, until now. 

When I first tried it out, I experimented with a few of the smells (namely original, tropical and blush) but to be honest they all just smelt awful to me! I was always really disappointed with that, because I do actually really love the actual product otherwise. It makes my hair feel amazing, even when it's not overly greasy; I tend to use it every day that I don't wash my hair. I love how it keeps my hair feeling fresh all day, and I've never had problems with white streaks particularly, because my hair is fairly light anyway. 

Because of the problems I had with not liking the smell, for a while my staple dry shampoo was this Tresemme one, which I am still totally in love with, but as it now costs over £5 for 200ml from Boots, I really don't want to be forking out that much on a regular basis if I can find something that does the job just as well.

I therefore set of on a dry shampoo mission!

I then came across this smell in Boots! I had a cheeky spray before I bought it just to make sure, but I've totally fallen in love with the smell. It's light and not to floral, but you can notice it just enough during the occasional hair flick or comment from friends while hugging about your hair smelling nice today. At a much happier price (for my purse) of £3 for 200ml, I'm definitely a lot happier picking this up.

It was only about a month ago that I found it, and I'm totally hooked! My faith in Batiste has been restored. I'm tempted to try some of the coloured versions, but there's not one for natural reds so I'm not sure where to even start with those; maybe a look into the XXL volume or glimmer ones might be a better adventure?!

Let me know below if you've tried Batiste or what your favourite smell is!

n xx

Sneaky haul!

clockwise round

Good Things Deep Clean Blackhead exfoliator

 Collection Colour Lash mascara

 17 Falsifeye mascara

 Bobbi Brown bronzing powder

 Real Techniques shading brush

 Rimmel Scandaleyes thick & thin eyeliner

 L'Oreal Super Liner blackbuster eyeliner

 Clinique Anti-Blemish foundation sample

 Bobbi Brown Long-Wear Even Finish foundation sample

 Who can say no to a cheeky little haul every now and then?! Especially as I've been trying to splash out a little more with my make up and play around with new products, these just threw themselves at me to be bought.

 New eyeliners have been calling out to me for a while since I've been getting bored of my Collection gel liner, so I'm hoping to have a play around and having a few reviews of them up soon! As for the Real Techniques brush, I'm in love with the whole collection, so I thought I'd just add to my collection.

This was a massive treat for me! I've not bought anything from Bobbi Brown before, and I was picking up a foundation sample so I thought I'd treat myself to this too. Review coming soon!

n xx

Foundation tips & favourites

Until a year and a half ago, I had used foundation maybe once or twice, so when I started writing my blog it was still quite a daunting product for me. I've come quite a way from my first foundation post, mostly due to how much I've experimented and researched; I now have firm favourites, and picking out new foundations isn't as hard as it used to be. 

If you're in the same kind of situation as me, even just wanting to try new things out, here's a little list of suggestions I've made, whether you're looking for cheaper or more expensive foundations! It's also my trick to finding the right shade in high street brands without too much hassle.

1. Have a look into what foundations would be good for your skin type, or just what you want to try out; I mostly read through blogs of people who have similar skin colours and types
2. Go to some make up counters, and get matched to one or two that you like the sound of. My favourites are MAC, Clinique and Bobbi Brown
3. Test out the samples! The sample pots normally have enough for anything from 2-7 days use, depending how much you put on each use
4. Use the samples that you have to compare to drugstore brands or other high end ones; leave a little in the pot if you're going to compare to high street brands, and see how the colours match up when you're in the shop*
5. Don't be scared of asking for help! I used to be terrified of approaching beauty counters, but they don't bite
6. Also don't be scared of patch tests; but my advice is don't go before you have a big day in front of you in case you don't like it**
7. Find the right way to apply your foundation! Everyone prefers a different way and they all produce different effects; also consider the packaging, if you're likely to spill it everywhere, maybe a bottle isn't the one for you

*it doesn't matter if it's on the back of your hand! You're looking for how well they match the sample, not to the colour of the skin on your hand.

**my first ever foundation was Benefit Hello Flawless, and a full makeover at a Benefit counter; while I love it, I didn't feel like I was matched to the right colour and had to go into college with a full face of tangerine. Not exactly confidence boosting!

I hope this has been useful to someone! In case you're wondering, these are my favourite foundations at the moment (below) and I've put some links to all the foundation reviews that I've put up on my blog before. But watch this space, I've got about three more to come!

My current long-term favourites;

Rimmel Wake Me Up, Clinique Superbalanced and MAC Studio Sculpt

Reviews!

Rimmel Wake Me Up and Collection 2000 Perfect Finish

Natural Collection Tinted Moisturiser and Benefit Hello Flawless

Clinique Superbalanced

MAC Studio Sculpt

Clinique Moisture Surge Tinted Moisturiser

(all images in this post are from Google)

I hope you enjoyed this post!

n xx

Sunday life | catch up

Hello my lovelies!

I'm sorry for having neglected my blog on and off so much for the last few months... things have just gotten really hectic! I'm hoping to put my new blogging plan into action from now and get back into the swing of things, so hopefully I'll be back around before you know it. Sorry again for being such a temperamental blogger!
Also, my blog is going to be under construction for a little while, as my lovely sister has said she'll help me out with designing it. Please bear with us while we're sorting it!

In the meantime, I hope you're all well and having a better time with things than me recently; here's a little instagram collage of what I've been busy with since I stopped posting regularly.