Saturday 28 June 2014

Ebay Finds #2

Second month, second ebay finds post. This month as with my payday wishlist is a varied bunch. I found myself travelling a fair bit this month, not just on planes for holidays but also trains up and down to London. Things like, the comfy hoody and portable phone charger where a must for comfy and "battery powered" journeys like that! 

What did you pick up this month from ebay? Make sure you leave me a comment with your must haves, and check back next month for more of my finds.


( Nike Free Runs, White blazer, Eyelashes, 
Stud bottom bag, Make up brushes, Portable Charger 
Black Hoody, Pink Purse,  10 Concealer palette)

Wednesday 25 June 2014

Payday Wishlist #2

Wow this month has wizzed by! So thankfully for us all it's nearly payday again, and that means another of my wishlists. This months sees a strange combination of home and beauty as I'm' slowly constructing my ideal beauty room- in my head of course. However, I figure if  I get small bits here and there when I do eventually have the room and means to make this dream room it wont be as much as an expense all at once!


Don't forget to leave me links to anything your planning on picking up this payday. I can use it as an excuse to browse the shops... like I need an excuse!
( Sephora Summer crushes, Nars Sheer Glow foundation, M&S Wall Clock,
Dunelm Mill dresser, Kate Spade note book, Anastasia Bow Wiz, 
Net-flix-ing pillow, TK Maxx Frame,  Paperchase letter tray )



As you can see this price is in dollars but after years of prayers Sephora do now deliver to the UK! Woooo!!! They do charge you £10 for the privilege, however, even with that added in the set costs around £36 and for 11 must have minis I still think that's a steal. Sadly by the time you read this i will have been and gone on my holiday and so the novelty of using minis to travel wont have been utilized however, I love trying new things and get bored easily so for me this is the perfect set!



This cult favorite has always been one I've had on my list but just never purchased- I feel this month may be when that changes. I have only ever heard rave reviews, and as I, like every beauty obsessive is always on the hunt for the elusive  perfect foundation I feel it my duty to try it.  



My boyfriend moved into his new flat this month and knowing his love of pocket watches I picked this beauty up as his moving in present. In hindsight massive error, I'm now really jealous every time I visit and, as it's out of stock on the website I will have to either smuggle it in my bag next time I'm there or love it from his house. Either way, thought I'd share it with you all and if you see it in store snap it up!



This is very much my dream purchase of the month and where my perfect beauty room stemmed from. I have seen this on a few visits to Dunelm lately and every time I have to force myself not to take it home. Sadly, my room at the moment is much too small so for now it remains a dream, but it's still on the wishlist.



Hello my names Grace and I have an addiction ... to notebooks! I don't know what it is but I cannot help myself, every time I see a cute one I feel a need to purchase it! Now, I'm fully aware £27 is a tad on the ridiculous side but I can't help but fall in love with it. In case you can't see it says "Eat Cake for Breakfast". Enough Said!




Again another cult product I have just never got my hands on. I have been loving my HD brows palette at the moment, but again jumping on the beauty blogger bandwagon, I really want to know if this is worth the hype.  



Does this even need explaining! If you have Netflix this is self explanatory and if you don't how do you survive! 



What with having moving on the brain this month, TK Maxx has been my second home. I currently own more frames than I know what to do with, and have a weird collection filled with pictures of people I don't know, but hay hoe what's one more! 



If you read my Mua vs Naked palette review, you will know I have an unhealthy obsession with eye-shadow palettes. Sadly though, bar MAC, they are not the prettiest of things to keep on your dresser and this beautiful pastel letter tray seemed to solve all my problems. It would fit most of my palettes perfectly as well as being an attractive addition to my beauty table. Plus, they also have matching pen pots perfect for brushes, so you can match the whole thing!



Saturday 21 June 2014

Holiday Packing Essentials - Turkey edition

So as you read this, I will be sunning myself in beautiful Turkey, soaking up the rays. However, as relaxed as I will be now, this was not the case two weeks ago as I write this. I love a holiday, but I HATE packing! Nothing causes me to fall into a cold sweat and the colour to drain from my face, like the horrible moment you have to weigh your bag and see how many thousands of kilos you are over their ridiculous limit. It is due to these restrictions I find packing extremely difficult. I never know what I'm going to wear 10 minutes before I go out let alone 10 days. This year I tried to be organised early and made a list of must haves and then added from there. My philosophy if I only had these all week I could still survive!
 I have split the "must haves" into; beauty, clothing and extras so you can tick off with me as you go along and pack your case.

Beauty 




La Roche-Posay Anthelios XL SPF 50






Fashion 







Extras 







This is not by any means everything you need but like I said these are the bare bones and for me essentials. 
Make sure you let me know if there is anything I've missed and between us we can eliminate the packing panic!

Wednesday 18 June 2014

Beautiful Summer Wedding

AHHHH!!! I feel like a proper grown up as last weekend was the first one of my best friends’ weddings. As it was the first and my group of best friends are all very much girly girls we all saw this as an excuse to throw ourselves into the pampering full hog! Make up, hair, nails ...the works!

As you may know I am originally from the South but currently live in Liverpool so not only was this a great post, it was also a great opportunity for me to showcase some of my beautiful southern besties - that I don't see nearly enough.

This was originally going to be a "Get Ready With me" post but due to a very limited time frame and my hair looking awful. Note to self, do not pay to get your hair done at Headmasters. Waste of money and time- not that I'm bitter, or anything! I didn't really take any photos before, so I decided to make this a photo post with lots of photos of the beautiful bride.






















Tuesday 17 June 2014

Office Heels Dupe

So this is a totally unscheduled post I wasn't planning on writing, but I had to share it with you guys. On Saturday, I was shopping in Office with my sister and she showed me, what I can only describe as "The ultimate Barbie shoe". I say this because in my eyes they are the exact replica of those annoying plastic shoes you used to shove on your Barbie as a little girl. Needless to say, it was love at first sight. However, not being the biggest heel fan, especially ones without a platform I knew I wouldn't wear them for long enough to warrant forking out £65.  
When I got home I couldn't get them out of my head and I convinced myself I could find a dupe… and that brings us nicely to here. I scoured eBay and found what I think are an exact dupe for under £20!
I think the colour maybe slightly different, but I'm still a fan and I will definitely be nabbing these bad boys as soon as I'm back from my holidays! 

Office On Tops Pastel Pink Heels- £65




Saturday 14 June 2014

Whats in my make up bag

As much as I love make up and enjoy sitting for hours blending out the perfect shades to create a beautiful eye look, I also love my sleep. Day to day I work in an office and I want a well put together but not over the top look that will make me look, "semi" decent in the day and I can slap on a bit of gloss if I'm heading out after work.

Don't get me wrong, if by some mysterious reason I am up earlier than normal I will spice things up a bit, hence a small variety of options in my make up bag. However, mainly, day to day the contents of this bag is what's on my face.






Foundation- Rimmel Wake me up Foundation 


I do own high end foundations and logically should use them every day to get my moneys worth but I am one of those annoying people who saves them for a "special day". God knows when that is! I also love to know that when I leave the house my face will stay looking the way I believe it looked when I left and I won't be a distinct shade of "ompa lumpa" when I get through the office door. For this consistency, and many other things I love the Rimmel Wake me up Foundation in shade 100 Ivory.

It applies and blends seamlessly and I really do think I look more awake than I did previously. A sneaky tip is that Wilkinson's sell Rimmel products for under £5 so if you fancy nabbing this, I'd head over there.




Concealer- Rimmel Wake me up 


No surprise here I guess, matchy matchy. I love this concealer for under my eyes as it's not too heavy but still covers my awful morning dark circles. However, if your suffering from pesky breakouts I would give this a wide birth as the slight shimmer it has will only draw attention to those points you want to hide. I'm afraid I'm a sheep here and if  I do need any blemish concealing I reach for the Collection Lasting Perfection. It's thick but not too cakey and stays all day without oxidizing.  Both drugstore options and both work a treat!





Moisturiser- Body Shop Seaweed Mattifying Day

One thing you may notice in my make up bag this Summer (or not as the case maybe,) is a distinct lack of powder. This is not,sadly, because, I was blessed with perfectly sweat and oil free skin. It is all due to the wonders of the Body Shop Seaweed Mattifying Day cream. I have banged on about this in two previous posts (here & here) so I'll save you reading it again. In short, it's amazing and leaves me oil free all day.  





Bronzer- Collection Bronze Glow in Matt 


Throughout the Winter I am by all accounts rivaling Casper the friendly ghosts in terms of being pasty, so I find it hard to find a bronzer that doesn't look noticeable orange on my skin tone.  I have found through years of trial and error that a less pigmented bronzer works best for me so I can be more heavy handed- as I often as at 8 am, and still not look too horrendous. At the moment I am using the Collection Bronze Glow in Matt and really enjoying it. It is very light but definitely buildable and the fact it has no shimmer at all, means it creates a very natural glow rather than a perma-tanned disaster.





Eyebrows- HD Brow Palette in Bombshell 


Eyebrows are without a doubt my nemesis, especially first thing in the morning. One will look perfect and then for the life of me I cannot make them look even... cue absolute frustration! Having said all that, I do find that this palette has saved my bacon on more than one occasion, and it is the easiest method I have found to try and perfect my very sparse brows.  I use the light blonde colour and find that its a very natural tone with not a hint off red, like most eyebrow products. I believe the packaging has now changed for this palette but the product is still the same. I think, it's definitely worth the money, as it can double up as your day to day eye shadow quad. 





Mascara- L'Oreal Voluminous Carbon Black 


Now, I will admit I am somewhat of a mascara whore. I have no real affinity to any, bar the Benefit They're Real, which is too pricey for me to buy all the time. I tend to pick up whatever is on offer,and at the moment am using up the L'Oreal Voluminous Carbon Black, which I picked up in the States. The reason I'm not really a fan of this one is, the formula is very wet and I find I have to really scrape the brush to remove excess before I apply it, or I am left with one giant eyelash! If you like wet formulas give it a whirl, I'm hoping it will dry out a bit soon and be less of a faf!

If you do have an good drugstore mascara recommendations please do let me know, always keen for a newbie!




Eyeliner- Collection Extreme 24Hr Felt Tip Liner 


One of the big pains of my life is my incessant watery eyes, meaning a liquid eye-liner can sometimes lead to a horrendous panda look! It's due to this, I sometimes bypass this step, but if I'm feeling a flick, I use this felt tip liner from Collection. Its short thick nib is perfect for keeping the line straight to the lash line and I find this causes me the least dramas of all the felt tip liners I've used... which is a fair few!





Side note- 

As you will see there is no eye shadow or  brushes here, this is simply like I said in the beginning because I am lazy and most days just want a simply look but if I do decide to spice it up, neutrals is always my fall back. The Urban Decay Naked palette is a fail safe and I usually use my bronzer to deepen my crease. If you want to see my neutral work eye look do let me know. 


In terms of brushes, I am a huge fan of Real Techniques and own nearly all of them. However, most days the buffing and blush brush are my go too. The buffer brush is perfect for applying a light layer of foundation which is all I want for work. I use the blusher brush for my bronzer as I find the size is perfect and not being a blush fan I don't have a need for its original purpose.





Thursday 12 June 2014

Liebster Award






The Liebster Award is a way of sharing and recognising blogs and helping people discover new bloggers. I was nominated by the lovely Catherine over on Counter Pretty .

The rules are that the nominated blogger must post:
1. 11 random facts about themselves
2. Answer 11 questions from the nominator
3. Ask their nominees 11 questions.



11 random facts:

1.       I have an unhealthy obsession with iced coffee
2.       My favourite place is San Francisco
3.       When I walk up or down stairs I count them up to 8 then start again,
4.       I was born in Swindon
5.       I once got my head stuck between my wall and my bunk beds,
6.       I once got my foot stuck in a revolving door
7.       I nearly drowned on holiday when my family forgot about me and were busy watching a cat stuck up a tree.
8.       As you can see from above I’m very clumsy
9.       I was named after a man- famous cricketer W.G. Grace
10.   I pronounce Vaseline very strangely
11.   My nick name is Bushy – not for any body hair issues!

Questions from Catherine:

1.What made you start blogging?

I have a degree in PR but currently don’t work in that industry so wanted to keep up my writing skills. I also have an unhealthy obsession with beauty and my friend Milly suggested I do it to pass on tips.

2. What beauty product could you not live without?

Hair Oil… does that count as it’s for your hair? Not really fussy on brands have tried loads, from high end to drugstore and love them all. All I know is, I could not get a brush through my hair without it. LOVE!

3. Is there anything you dislike about blogging? 

Have to be honest, I haven’t been blogging for long at all and so far no, I love it all!


4. What was your childhood ambition? 

To work in Tesco! I was obsessed with scanning and having a shop.

5. Do you have a guilty pleasure? What is it?

Sugar! I have far too much and need to seriously nip it in the bud but no matter the mood I celebrate with food mainly sugar!

6. What do you wish you'd known when you first began blogging?

The time constraints. Not only does it take a long time to write posts and take photos and edit, but the promotion of your blog was something I really overlooked. I love twitter but I find I need to be active all the time and use social media to interact which I love but it takes up a lot of time.

7. Who are your favourite bloggers? Why are they your favourites?

I love Grace from the graciefancessca.com and also Shirley from shirleyswardrobe.com. Mainly because they post a lot of fashion as well as beauty and I find that’s what I need more help with as I’m rubbish at throwing together outfits.

8. How many hours do you procrastinate a day on average?

I would say at least 2 but on a good day 3 ;)

9. You have 3 wishes, what are they?

For my home town to be round the corner from Liverpool with all my friends and family from home in it.

To have my dream job, working doing PR and marketing for beauty or fashion brands.

To not worry as much as I do, all the time.

10. What is your favourite thing to do?

Be with my family and friends and laugh.

11. What one piece of advice would you give a blogger just starting out?

Write about what you know and write in your own voice.

My nominees:
Beauty in Beta - Beth 
Beautiboe -Kate 
Milky Mouse Beauty- Sigita
Natalie Blogs Make up - Natalie 
Blonde Vision- Lauren 
Jessicas Creations - Jessica 
In Katies Corner - Katie 
The Sopho Diaries - Sophie 
Beans Beauty Blog - Georgie 
Liza's List - Liza
Unstiched- Maddy 

Questions for my nominees:

1.       Describing blogging in 3 words?
2.       What is the theme of your blog ie beauty?
3.       Dream job?
4.       If you were running out of a burning building and could save three things- bar people- what would they be?
5.       What are your blogging essentials?
6.       What inspires you?
7.       If money wasn’t an object what would you buy?
8.       What would you pick- ears as hands or hands as ears? Why?
9.       If you were on Mastermind what would your specialist subject be?
10.   Favourite all time make up item?

11   Celebrity crush?

Tuesday 10 June 2014

Impromptu Lunch Time haul


So you know the drill, I headed across town during my lunch break to pick something up,and when
I found myself with ten minutes to spare I just had to have a quick shop.. it would be rude not too !
If your from the north I have no doubt you will be aware of the delights of TJ Hughes but for those outside the region I'll fill you in.
TJ Hughes is like a discount store of dreams, similar to TK Maxx but more hit and miss. I ventured in, not really with high hopes only to come out with a few beauties I thought I would share with you.




So as much as this was an impromptu trip, I did need some bits especially some fake tan. I have never really been a fan of fake tanning in the past, mainly as I hate looking orange and smelling of biscuits but also because I always look streaky. I would normally just bypass it and rock the au natural "Casper legs" look, but next week is one of my best friends weddings and knowing there would be countless photo ops, I thought I had better take one for the team and "tan-up"!
From my limited fake tanning past I do know that if it's going to work for me I'm better with a moisturiser-tan hybrid rather than a straight tan. So this time I opted for the  L'Oreal Innovation NutriBronze Body lotion 24hour progressive tan in fair.
Wow that's a name and a half. I did try and look for a darker shade, so that being lazy I wouldn't have to apply as many coats but sadly, as is the nature with discount stores this is all they had.
I also picked up the Derma V10 self tan applicator mitt, I may as well go the whole hog with this tanning lark and jump in with both feet!

The tan was £2.99 and the mitt was £1 -so if all fails and I end up scrubbing my legs till they bleed to get it off, least it didn't break the bank.


Next up I saw a huge display of make up products from the brand W7. I've heard of this brand before but never seen it anywhere so I had a good route, although I could have bought lots I restrained myself and picked up two things. First, was the Golden Brown eye shadow palette. Now, I have brown eyes and I hear purple is supposed to make them pop so I thought I would give this a whirl and again at £2.99 I thought it worth a go.

The next product is evidence of getting caught up in a "make -up" moment and not checking things properly. I picked up the W7 Brown Twister in... Dark Brown!! Ughhhhh!!! Such a pain as the formula and texture feels great but sadly it's just to dark. I may give this a try and see if I can work with it, but if not I'll definitely be heading back to try and get my shade.

This final product was a needle in a haystack find! tucked away under rows of very orangey looking foundations and powders I found a little stash of Korres make up! I was so in shock I dropped to the floor and started rummaging. Sadly for me the foundation shades were all way too dark, but I did manage to get my hands on the Korres Wild Rose Compact Powder in WRP5. Most of these shades were also really dark, this being the lightest but with a holiday around the corner I figured I would need something a little darker and the texture of this felt beautiful. At a ridiculous bargain price of £3.99 I could not leave it behind- to be honest I even contemplated buying the darkest shade to use as a bronzer!


If you're not lucky enough to live in the north make sure you check out the TJ Hughes website and see if you can nab yourself a bargain .

Saturday 7 June 2014

Urban Decay Naked Basics vs MUA Matte Palette


If there is one make up item I know myself I do not need to purchase more of its eye shadow palettes, but when I saw the new MUA mattepalette I couldn't leave it behind. Not only was it a drugstore entirely matte palette, which I find is like finding a needle in a haystack nowadays. It also had several shades that bared a striking resemblance to a certain Urban Decay Naked Basics palette you may have heard of!
I got the UD Naked Basic palette about a year and a half ago now and as you will be able to tell from the photos I have to say it’s one of my most used palettes. I find it perfect for natural day looks and the deeper shades to darken up the crease or add definition for a night time look. Plus, it’s tiny so perfect to wack in your make up bag for on the go touch ups.  Although this is the cheapest of all the Naked collection palettes, it is still a high end product ( at £22)  and if I can get a dupe for less than a quarter of the price I’m game.

(Urban Decay Naked Basics Palette -£22) 

( MUA Matte Palette- £4) 

Texture
Urban Decay –
So as you can see from the pictures the palette has two pale matte neutral tones, which again as you can see are my most used.  Although I love these colours for an all over wash of colour I do find the texture to be slightly chalky and with that comes fall out. Not necessarily a problem for this very light tones but no one wants to ruin their perfect base by smudging, black and brown all down their face.  They are not the worse I have used, but I defiantly would  be aware of this and make sure you use correct brushes and tap off excess before you start.
MUA –
I wish I could say this issue is totally avoided with the drugstore option but sadly I cant. The very light tones do still have a chalky texture which I find does lead to fall out. I would say ,however, that the darker tones I have less of an issue with, but that maybe due to less pigmentation meaning the fall out is less obvious.

( UD  swatches- Venus, Foxy, W.O.S, Naked 2, Faint, Crave )
(MUA swatches- Unwrap, Butter, Bare, Taffeta, Fade, Penny, Chino, Truffle, Fog, Smoke)
Pigmentation
UD-
As I touched upon above this really is where you see you value for money, the pigmentation is amazing! The colours not only apply as they do in the pan they also work together well and are easy to blend making creating a look with this palette almost fool proof.  The photos will not do this justice as of course the skin toned shades blend in with my arm but I think you can see how much the dark tones pop.
MUA-
As I mentioned above these are much less pigmented especially noticeable towards the end of the palette with the dark shadows. However, I find the light neutral tones that I use every day are extremely similar. These are not colours that you are using to stand out and so I feel a lighter but build-able pigment is totally acceptable for me. Also as you can see I have nearly completely used up the W.O.S shade which I use as my base colour for every look. To re buy the whole palette for one shade seemed ridiculous but with the MUA palette even if I only use these light colours I have saved money.



Lasting Power
UD-
 As expected for the price point theses shades lasted pretty much all day with relatively little creasing, which was totally removed with the use of a primer. I particularly noticed that the lightest flesh toned colours were still obvious at the end of the day.
MUA-
I was very surprised at just how well the darker tones lasted throughout the day, and with a primer underneath I would say they were very much comparable to the UD. However, the downside appears with the light tones which are virtually non- existent even with a primer after a couple of hours. This may not be a problem for some people as they are so similar to flesh tones but I was still disappointed. 



(Foxy and Butter, W.O.S and Bare, Naked 2 and Penny, Faint and Truffle, Crave and Smoke)

As you can see from above some of the shades are virtually identical and bar the pigmentation of some of these shades from MUA, I would say this MUA palette is a winner. I do love the UD one and if you have the budget give it a go, but if your new to matte shades and want a large section that will help you achieve a variety of looks form natural day to smokey evening, for £4 you cannot go wrong. 

Have you tried them both ? Let me know what you think in the comments below and make sure to let me know if you have any palette dupes id love to test some more out.