Haul + Mini Review: REN, Maybelline and Sleek

Halfway through the month I realised I hadn't brought anything for myself since I last got paid and suddenly got the urge to go shopping. I didn't go too wild but was very happy with my purchases.

REN Clarimatte Clarifying Toner - I was on the hunt for a new exfoliating toner, due to my current one nearing its end, and found myself repurchasing this again. It's quite hard to find affordable exoliating toners but at only £13 this one seemed like a good choice. It has lactic, glycolic and salycilic acid. I enjoy using this and have noticed my skin looking a little brighter.

Sleek Face Contour Kit in Light - This item had been on my wish list for quite a long time and I am so glad I own it. I had heard it recommended many times and I can now see why. The contour powder is very pigmented but also blends very easily and is the perfect colour to create a shadow. However, I am a complete beginner with highlighter so I don't think I can comment on that aspect of this product yet.

Maybelline Color Tatoo Leather Effect in Creamy Beige - I had heard this mentioned a few times but it hadn't really stuck in my mind. I was just browsing and using the testers, as you do, when I discovered this. I loved the colour and the finish immediately so just had to get it. I really get why it is called leather effect. It has a sheen to it, an almost wet look when it catches the light. It lasts all day and can be used as a base for eyeshadow. I having been using this everyday since I brought it and would highly recommend it.

Maybelline Gel Eyeliner - Pretty sure it was buy one get one half price on the Maybelline stand which is partly why I got this. Also, I just really wanted to have a go using it again (I brought had used it a few years ago), especially since I now own a wing liner brush. I have used this a few times and the product is great, but really it comes down the brush and hand applying it as to whether it gives a good result. Most of the time I'm alright but I still need bit more practice to get the perfect wing liner.

Let me know if you would like a more in depth review of any of these products.

New Year's Eve Makeup

We may not be going out for New Year's Eve this year but the occasion is a pretty good excuse to get dressed up. When it comes to New Year's Eve, I think it's the night to go all out when applying makeup. There's no holding back with the glitter, the smokiness or the liquid liner. Although I still steer clear of the disco ball look!

The Eyes
Before starting my eye makeup I stuck a short piece of sellotape at an angle on the outer corner of each of my eyes to create a sharp finish. I applied the shade Foxy from my Naked Basics palette all over my lids and blended the shade Faint through the crease. Then I blended Darkhorse from the original Naked palette into the outer corner of my eyes, adding and blending more until I was happy with it. Next came the Barry M Dazzle Dust in Bronze which I packed on all over my eye lids, followed by a little of their Fine Glitter Dust in Silver on top. I used my Maybelline Master Precise Liquid to create a thin line above my lashes, extending in the outer corners. My Rimmel Scandel Eyes Kohl Kajal in Black was used to line my upper and lower water lines. I added a little of the shade Faint to the outer corners underneath my eye and Half Baked from the Naked palette on the inner corner. Finally, I used the Max Factor Clump Defy mascara.

The Base
I stuck to my favourites at the moment, starting with the Bourjour Healthy Mix Serum Gel foundation in 51 vanilla. Under my eyes and on any blemishes I used Maybelline's Fit Me concealer in 15 and dusted over a light layer of bareMinerals Original Foundation in Fair to finish off. I attempted a little contouring using Bourjour's Chocolate Bronzer in 52.

The Lips
I went for a nude lip using Rimmel's Moisture Renew lipstick in the shade Notting Hill Nude with bareMinerals Marvelous Moxie gloss in Dazzler on top (a limited edition shade which I recieved in a gift box).

Hopefully you will still find this of interest even though New Year's Eve has come and gone, but I wanted it to show the makeup that I actually wore for New Year's Eve.
Happy New Year! I hope 2015 is the best year yet for everyone.

New Year's Eve Nails

 I decided to paint my nails before the weekend as we went to visit Michael's family, and soon as though it has lasted 5 days with no chipping so far it is going to be on my nails for New Year's Eve. I used one of the new nail polishes I received for Christmas, Essie's Chinchilly, as the base. On top I put Essie's Summit of Style, a recent purchase and the star of the show. It is beautiful top coat containing different sized bronze glitter. I am not a fan of yellow gold, so the bronze tone of this glitter polish is what I was drawn to and is what makes it quite unusual. 

What are you favourite glitter nail polishes?

Skincare Haul: Origins, REN

Last week I made an online order with both Origins and REN. I decided to order straight from the brands website for both due to the perks of having free delivery and samples from each. That said, I had quite different experiences ordering from each of them.

Origins
Nearing the bottom of my jar of the GinZing Energy-Boosting Moisturizer, I took to the brands website to repurchase another when I found their Extra-Zing Energizing Set. This set included the moisturiser I was looking for as well as 4 single use sachets of their Clear Improvement Mask, all for the same price as the moisturiser alone, £23...so I thought, why not? I was also able to choose 2 free sample at the checkout, most of which didn't appeal to me but I chose what I thought were the best options for myself.
The brands online store has free delivery on orders. This is standard delivery of 2-5 working days, and they inform you that the package has to be signed for. This worried me at first as I can't guarantee I will be home to sign for it. This said, it turned out to be fine. The company used the Royal Mail Delivery service, so when I wasn't there to sign for it I simply collected it from the delivery office in the town I live in.

REN
For quite a while now I've been wanting to buy a second cleanser to use in the mornings. The ClearCalm 3 Clarifying Clay Cleanser was top of my list, but whilst browsing their online store I came across the Hydra-Calm Cleansing Milk. Both looked like suitable products to fill the space missing in my skincare routine, but I stuck with my original choice and was luckily able to chose the other as one of my free samples at the checkout. The other free sample I chose was the Glycolatic Renewal Mask. I already own this...but who doesn't need more, right? The final product I added to my basket was the No.1 Purity Cleansing Balm, which I'm almost out of so while I had the chance of 10% off my first order, I added a back-up to my stocks.
Delivery was also free from this brand but didn't go so smoothly. They use a delivery company who insist on a signed delivery. They also say 2-5 days, but send you a text the morning of the delivery with a one hour delivery slot. I wasn't able to be home on their first 2 attempts of delivery so had to phone up and rearrange it for a much later date than I'd hoped when I knew I'd be at home all day. I never knew it could be so hard to get an online order delivered!

What has your experience been like ordering from beauty brands online? Any recommendations from these brands?

January Beauty Favourites

I only have a few products that have really stood out to me this month. About 2 months ago I switched up the shampoo and conditioner I was using to to the Herbal Essences Bee Strong Strengthening Shampoo and the TRESemmé Split Remedy Conditioner, when I ran out of the ones I was previously using. I don't know which one of these is contributing, hence why they are both a favourite, but I've noticed that my hair is more shiny that it was before.
I've also been loving my REN No.1 Purity Cleansing Balm. This deserves a whole review of its own. It feels very luxurious to massage into your face and removes all my make up without making my skin feel stripped. It has a slight rose scent, which I happen to quite like. There's really nothing to complain about with this one.

Any tips for fixing/preventing split ends? What are your favourites this month?

First Beauty Haul of the Year

I hadn't been shopping since before Christmas. I had desperately wanted to go shopping in the sales after seeing some good offers online, but with so much work to do it simply wasn't feasible. Last Friday I took the first chance I had and spent the afternoon wandering around some of my favourite shops in Brighton.

Hydraluron by Indeed Labs £24.99
I have heard so much about this, mostly from Caroline Hirons, that I felt like I just had to have it in my skincare routine. About half a year ago I started investing more into my skincare products, but it still takes a lot of deliberation before I take the plunge on a more expensive purchase. After seeing it on offer on Boots website for only £16.66, it was a price I couldn't refuse.

The Body Shop - Pink Grapefruit Body Mist £7.50
Just over a month ago when I was in London, we went into The Body Shop and I sprayed the tester of this on my wrist. I remember repeatedly being pleasantly surprised when I got a whiff of the scent throughout the rest of the day. Since then it's been on my list of things I want.

Superdrug - Aloe Vera Mud Mask £2.49
After hearing lilypepples talking about this face mask, it sounded like a great inexpensive one to try. I very rarely use face masks but thought it would be a nice treat to add to my skincare regime. This isn't yet on the Superdrug website, although the sachet version is.

Gillette Venus Proskin Sensitive £9.69
This is a re-purchase of the best razor blades I have tried. I only recently invested in the razor with changeable heads rather than the disposables that I sed to use. 

Superdrug Deep Cleansing Fruit Mask £0.99
A buy one get one half price offer, so I couldn't resist trying a different mask for just 50p. If the bigger size tube of this one was included in the offer I may have gone for that instead.

The Body Shop - Pink Grapefruit Body Butter
As above, there was another buy one get one half price offer on, so I went for the body butter in the matching scent to the body mist I had chosen. The only size I could find of this in store was the 50ml version, yet on the website I can only find the 200ml version.

Rimmel Glam Eyes HD in Brixton Brown £6.99
I had spotted this in Boots a month or so ago, but was very hesitant to try something else when I love my Naked palette so much. This is another one that I saw recommend by lilypepples (here) and compared to the Charlotte Tillbury Dolce Vita palette. I could see myself getting a lot of use out of this, and as I hadn't had any new eyeshadows in over 2 year I thought, why not?

Have you tried any of these products? What did you think to them?

No Heat Waves

I don't actually own any curling wands, or hair straighteners...I don't even own a hairdryer! This is what I do when I want to add some waves to my hair. It's so easy and creates really lovely waves, I really should do it more often.

Day 1
After I've showered and washed my hair, I put it up in a towel to dry while I get the rest of myself dressed and ready. When I've finished my makeup, I will take the towel of my hair and comb through it with a wide tooth comb. My hair takes quite a while to dry and at this stage it is still very damp. I split my hair into two halves and do a french braid on each side of my head. On my left I leave out my side fringe, and I like to make sure the braid is quite neat and tight all the way down.

Day 2
After I've finished getting ready in the morning I take out the braids, using my fingers to separate them. I don't brush or comb through my hair at all as this ruins how the waves look. I give my hair a light spritz of hairspray to help maintain the waves throughout the day.

Day 3
On the third day, I brush through my hair gently. The waves are still a little visible, but mostly my hair just has a slightly crimped affect and more volume than it normally would.

Hope you give this super easy hairstyle a go, and let me know if you have any other ways of creating no heat hairstyles.

July Favourites

We've had a heatwave over the past month here in England. It's been super hot but I've not been out much. I'd never tried any kind of fake tan product before but thought I'd give this Garnier Summer Body Moisturising Lotion a try to add a bit of colour to my skin. I really like the colour it gives to my skin as it looks completely natural and slightly tanned.
On my face I've been using the Maybelline Dream Fresh BB Cream everyday as a base. It blends in seamlessly to my skin, and although this is the lightest colour it adds a slight warmth to my skin. To give my face a sun-kissed look I've been using the Rimmel Natural Bronzer in the shade '022 Sun Bronze' on the high points of my face where I would naturally tan.
Sticking with the bronzed theme I've often been reaching for my Maybelline Color Tattoo in 'On and On Bronze' to sweep all over the lid and blended out at the edges. Also, almost everyday of the month, I've been using the Rimmel Scandel Eyes Waterproof Kohl Kajal to line the upper and lower waterlines.

Songs of the Month:

YouTube Obsession

I love YouTube. I'm subscribed to so many people on there and my 'watch later' playlist is always full!

 I started off just watching music videos on YouTube. Then I found a love for finding unsigned singers who recorded themselves singing covers or their own originals, and shared the videos on YouTube. It's amazing that this is how some singers have actually been discovered and signed and I remember watching some of these people before they were discovered (singers like Esmeé Denters, Mia Rose, Conor Maynard etc.) . Lately I haven't been doing this so much.

After that it was around the time that I really wanted to pursue a career of becoming a Midwife and was interested in pregnancy etc. So I started watching pregnancy vlogs where pregnant women would do weekly videos updating on and recording their pregnancies. It's great to follow these people as they put up their videos each week, and it really makes me realise how fast time flies when I think about when I started watching a certain person and they were say 4 months pregnant and now they've got a one and a half year old! I think my favourite channel to watch is GabeandJesss. I still do watch these videos but not so much now as I've not been finding new channels to follow and most of the ones I was watching have stopped putting videos up.

Now though, the videos I mostly watch are about make-up, skincare etc. by the 'beauty gurus' on YouTube. I think I started off mainly watching make-up tutorials, but now that I'm subscribed to many of them and follow their channels there's quite a variety of beauty orientated videos. I love watching videos on product reviews, monthly favourites, top 10's, what's in my make-up bag etc. mainly because I'm nosy and like to see what products other people are using! I like to see what people like/dislike, what a lot of people are using and would recommend as it influences what I choose and buy when it comes to make-up, skincare, hair etc. products. Plus I guess I'm quite girly in that way that I just like to watch people talking about beauty and it's something I love and am interested in. Some of the channels I love watching are: FleurDeForce, missglamorazzi, pixi2woo, meganheartsmakeup, AllThatGlitters21, to name (and link) just a few. Because I love watching these type of videos so much I thought maybe I could do a similar thing on my blog and do some product reviews/things I'm loving. Maybe monthly favourites posts on my blog but there wouldn't be many as I mainly stick to the same routine.

There's a few other types of videos I watch on YouTube. As I've been watching the same people for a long time you get to know them a little and so I also watch some of their vlog channels. These can be talking about book reviews, health tips, food, exercise, daily life, fashion etc. And I'm also subscribed to the Sorted cooking/recipe channel. This is the only cooking type channel I am subscribed to and I think all the recipes they do are amazing. Their cookbooks are also on my wishlist to buy!

Random Thoughts

Sometimes I just love to watch and gaze in wonder at the true beauty around me. Stare at the horizon of an endless sea, look over countless fields in the country side, watch animals grazing and birds flying above. See how sunlight falls giving a whole spectrum of colours and leaving shadows where it does not reach. It amazes me how beautiful the world is, leaves me in a state of wonder.
...I guess that's why I love photography, because I want to capture all the beauty I see.

I stopped writing as I turned around and saw this on my bag!

I'm also pretty nosy. I like to sit on the top deck of buses so I can look at other people's houses and gardens. I like to see how other people decorate and what things they have. Weird, right? I love to look and it inspires me as to how I want my house to be (when I have one!) and the things I want to have.
I like to see farms, solar panels on roofs, wind turbines and veg patches. I like the ideas of sustainability and being self-sufficient. I'd love to be able to use 100% renewable energy, grow my own fruit and veg, recycle as much as I can, etc.

The view out the bus window when I was writing this.