NOTD - Nude Rose

After wearing dark shades for a bit too long a feel as if my nails needed a break. I decided to go for a light pink colour from Maybelline's Forever strong range. This colour is called Nude Rose and I think it looks really good, it has also lasted quite well without chips, winner.

Again I used it with my Nails INC Save the Nail base coat and my Sally Hansen Instra Dri top coat.

What are your favourite nude colours?

Laura xoxo

January Favourites

I'm going to jump on the band waggon and say I can't believe it's the end of January. It really has flown by. I've decided that like many others, I will share with you my favourites of each month. To stop me from going overboard I am only going to write about five each month as I think that it will help me narrow down the products that I truly love.

No.7 Gentle Foaming Cleaner: I use this product every time I wash my face and it leaves my skin feeling really, well, cleansed. It foams up a treat and I like to let it sink in a bit before I was it off with a hot flannel. It leaves my skin looking fresh and almost dewy looking which I've never gotten from any other cleanser I've used. This retails at £8 but I used my No.7 voucher with it and got it for £3.

Origins Super Spot Remover: This product is a life saver. I found someone talking about it on there blog and they really seemed to rate it so I thought why not, especially as I have been breaking out more lately on my cheek, which has never happened before, and it had really started to irritate me. I put this gel on at night and then in the morning my spots had shrunk to the smallest thing. Now whenever I feel a spot coming I just pop this on and it never seems to surface. This is quite an expensive product in my eyes £12 for 10ml but it worth every single penny.

Essential Extracts Coconut Milk: I've already done a review on this product but had to include it in my favourites. I love the smell, I love the way it leaves my hands and it only cost £1. Need I say more? (If yes, click here for the post.)

Moroccan Oil: I'm sure this is not the first or the last post you have read on Moroccan Oil but it really is worth all the hype. My hair feels softer, easier to manage and so much healthier after I've used it. You can put it in either dry or wet hair and it works wonders. I got my little bottle for £12 but I think it may be worth splashing a bit more cash and getting the bigger bottle with the pump.

Garnier Body Hydrating Lotion: I have been using this product for about 5 months now and can really notice the difference if I stop using it. My skin feels really hydrated and soft with this lasting a good couple of days. I would recommend this to anyone who wants to get softer skin. Not sure how much this is but you can probably get it for around £2-£4.

So that is the end of my first favourites post, please leave a comment below telling me what your favourites are.

Laura xoxo

Celebrity Inspired

For this weeks celebrity inspired look I've chosen the lovely Mila Kunis. As you all know Miss Kunis had an amazing year last year and always looked stunning at red carpet events. I hope you like it.

Here is the picture I used:

Source

And here is what I looked like:

And here are the products I used:

For the base:

I used the Gosh green concealer on any red blemishes then placed Bourjois healthy mix foundation (shade 52) over the top.
 Under my eyes I used Maybelline Dream Lumination concealer and for any other blemishes I used my Rimmel blemish stick in Sand.
I blended the concealer in with a topshop concealer brush.
On my cheek and brow bones I used Rimmel Match perfection highlighting concealer.
I then set all this with my Loreal match perfect powder.

I used the light grey colour from my Beauty UK palette as a base for my eye, with the light colour from the Bourjois Trio on top for some shimmer.
I placed the light brown colour from the Beauty UK palette in the crease using my No.17 blending brush.
With my Models Own Angled brush I used  the dark blue colour from my Avon trio with some of the black from the Beauty UK palette on my upper and lower lash line.
I used Maybeline eyeliner in black on my waterlines and finished with Blink and Go Mascara in black.
I then used my Loreal liquid eyeliner on my lash line to give some definition and highlighted with the white colour from the Beauty UK palette.

I used my angled Models Own brush with the sleek powder palette (light) to contour my face.
I then placed a little bit of colour in my cheeks with the Maybelline Dream Touch Blush.

Finally I used Rimmel's Pink Excess with No.7 Smile lipgloss on my lips.

Here are a couple of eye shots:

And that is my completed Mila Kunis *inspired* look.  I hope you liked it.

Laura xoxo

Fashion Friday

At last it's Friday again and I'm super excited for this weekend and next as I'm off visiting my besties at their Uni's!

For today's post I am going to show you my five favourite jumpers that I've worn pretty much day in day out over the winter period. Sometimes with a long top and leggings, or simply just put with jeans, I love feeling lovely and snug in these.

Topshop

H&M

Topshop

Asda George

River Island

I would love to know what your favourite items of clothing have been this winter, so please leave a comment in the box below.

Have an awesome weekend.

Laura xoxo

Babyliss Waving Wand

I've seen this product numerous times floating around the interest, specifically in Tanya Burrs video. I really love the natural wavy look and find that I can't wear my hair straight at the moment, it just looks too flat and dull. After finding my straighteners either made my hair too curly or not enough of a wave, and with natural hair not being 100% reliable I thought I'd give these a go.

 As you can see this wand is an oval shape, not the usual round. This is what stops your hair from looking too ringlety which can happen with a round barrel.

It comes with various heat settings so that you can suit it to your hair type. I like to use the top two settings personally (with heat protectant obviously.)

It also comes with a heat protectant glove which I love and has saved me many burnt fingers, I would recommend using it.

So how does it look I hear you ask? Well here is a picture of me with my morning fluff ball:

And here are a couple of shots with the waving wand:

So what do you think?? I got my waving wand from Boots for a special price of £20 (I think they normally retail around the £30 mark.)

Do you have a waving wand, what do you think?
What's your favourite hair style?

Laura xoxo

Maybelline 24 Hour Stay Lip Stain

Ever since lip stains were introduced I've wanted to try one. A lipstick that stays put is every girls dream isn't it? I mean if it means I don't have to re apply my lipstick on a night out (usually resulting in it going half way up my face) then it should be a winner right? Wrong.

I purchased this Lip Stain from Maybelline in the colour Cherry Pie for £8. I love Maybelline products and haven't been disappointed with anything from them yet, therefore I thought this was a gorgeous colour and would go with my celebrity Lauren Conrad look here. However the lipstain just about lasted 24 seconds before it started to separate on my lips and just looked awful.

Before starting I used a Lush lip scrub (the bubblegum one which tastes amazing.) Then used the colour wand as instructed.

Then after letting it dry slightly, which I think may be what caused it to crack, applied the lip balm that came with it.

Now I didn't want to dismiss this product after just one usage so I tried it again today. I even used a Bourjis Lip Contour too to see if that helped it stayed put, but it didn't. Overall I would give this product a 1/10. In my opinion it is really not the worth the money and creates a lot of mess getting it off. (If you do buy a Lip Stain make sure you have a make up remover with oil in to get it off.)

I know these aren't the best photographs but I hope you can see what I mean.

I would love to know what your experiences with Lip Stains have been like? Am I doing something stupidly wrong?

Laura xoxo

Everyday Make Up

One of the things I actually enjoy about the morning is putting on my make up. I love it (kinda sad, but who cares?) I don't wear the same thing day in and day out but I do stick to the same kind of effect, a subtle look that lasts the day.

So today I thought I would share with you what my make up is today and maybe do some other blogs like it later on down the line.

Here are the products I used:

Face:
GOSH green concealer
No.17 BB Cream in the Shade Light
Maybeline Dream Lumi Touch
Rimmel Conealer in Sand
Loreal True Match Powder in Vanilla Rose

Eyes:
No.7 Stary Lights eyeshadow - all over lid
MUA shade 19 - in the crease
George eye liner in Brown - on the upper lashline
MUA White eye liner on the bottom water line
No.7 Lash adapt Mascara in Brown/Black on top and bottom Lashes

Cheeks:
Sleek Contouring Kit in Light
Topshop cream blusher in Head Over Heels

Lips:
Rimmel Pink collectiom - Pink excess
No.7 Lipgloss in Smile

What are your favourite everyday make up essentials ?

Laura xoxo

NOTD - Rouge Diva

I am really loving deep mahogany colours on my nail at the moment. I have two nail varnishes that colour.
The one I've chosen to show for today's post is Bourjois Paris Rouge Diva 22. It is said to be an ultra shine polish and I can say that I agree. My nails look nice and glossy and feel super smooth.

The one complaint I have is that it says that it lasts for seven days, well I painted mine last night and they are already chipped, but as I've said before I do have very brittle nails, plus now I'm back at uni I have to do MANUAL washing up (it's a hard life isn't it?)

Overall I would give this an 8/10 as it is an easy smooth application and two coats does the job nicely, though you can get away with one.

I used my Nails Inc Save the Nail as a base and my Sally Hansen Insta-Dri for a top coat.

What's your favourite nail colour?

Laura xoxo

Cupcake, for you face?

I don't think there has ever been a time since I turned 13 where I haven't had a spot on my face. As I'm nearing 20 now I think it's time that they disappear. I've tried many, many different spot treatments in my time, and it seems as soon as one goes, another comes along to keep it company.

When watching a favourites video on Youtube by Miss Glamorazzi I saw her talk about the Lush Chocolate Cupcake Face Mask.

It is meant for teenage, oily and spot prone skin so I thought I would give it a go.

It has a sort of chocolate mixed with mint smell which I quite like but I've heard that others aren't fans. Its quite a thick consistency with little lumps in. I do find it very messy though so make sure you check were you put it on and take it off. I like to put it on before I get in the shower as not to make too much of a mess.

I'm really annoyed that I forgot to take a before picture but here is what my face looked like after. The redness had reduced and my skin was left clear and fresh which was nice. However this didn't last very long and by the next morning the spots were back to the way they were before and my skin looked quite dull again.

I do like the way this product leaves your skin, however it doesn't have the lasting power I wanted. It would be good for using before a night out or a special occasion to give you a fresh glow and reduce redness.

I think I got mine for around £5 for a fair sized amount (I get about 4-5 uses out of it) however it does have a life expectancy and has to be kept in the fridge.

I would overall give the product a 3/5 as it did make my skin look nice and fresh afterwards, I just wish that effect lasted a little longer. I really want to try the Catastrophe Cosmetic face mask and see what that's like.

Have you tried either of these products? What do you think?

Laura xoxo

Disclaimer: The last two images were taken from lush.co.uk

Celeb Inspired

I don't know about you, but most of my make up inspiration comes from what I see celebs sporting. Therefore I thought it would be fun to try and do celebrity *inspired* make up using new and different products. That means I also get to go out and get new make up to get the looks right - I'm only being a perfectionist, promise. I will also do blog posts reviewing new make up I buy.

For my first look I decided to try to channel the lovely Lauren Conrad. I am a massive fan of hers, she always looks effortlessly cool, usually sporting a half halo braid and simple make up. Today I decided to try to do a look similar to one of her more glamours red carpet looks. I hope you like.

I got the picture from here: if you own it and would like me to take it down please contact me via the comments box.



And here is what I looked like:

 As you can see I tried to re-create the big winged out liner and red lip with a subtle complexion. Here is what I used to do it and how I did it.

Starting off with the face I used a Gosh green concealer on my blemishes and redness and placed Rimmel's Match Perfection foundation in 103 True Ivory. I then used Maybelline's Dream Luminator highlighting concealer (don't know what shade) underneath my eyes, on my nose and on my brow bone. I then went over blemishes again in my Rimmel's Hide the Blemish concealer in 002 sand. I then dusted my face in Loreal's True Match powder.

I used an Eco Tools retractable foundation brush, a Topshop concealer brush and a Boots own range powder brush.

For the eyes I used the light beige colour from my Beauty UK No.4 palette. I then placed the bronze powder from my Rimmel trio in the crease for a subtle definition. I used the white from the Beauty UK palette as a highlight on my brow bone and inner corner. I tight line my upper and half of my lower waterline using Rimmel's Kohl liner in black. Underneath by bottom lash line I added a bit of the gold colour from the UK palette as Lauren has a slight golden touch underneath her eyes. Also as Lauren has defined eyebrows I used the dark colour in the Rimmel Trio on my eyebrows.  For the eyeliner I used the  Loreal Super Liner and my mascara is Max Factors High Definition Mascara in Black.

I used a No.7 eye colour brush for the first colour, a No.17 blender brush for the crease, a Revlon angled brush for the eyebrows and a normal eyeshadow brush for the highlight.

For my face I used a Collection 2000 Mosaic bronzer with an angled cheek brush from Models Own. I then used Rimmel's Autumn Catwalk blusher with a No.7 blusher brush. For a highlight on the cheekbone and a bit on the cheek I used Rimmel's Match Perfection highlighting concealer in 010 Ivory.

Finally for the lips I used Maybelline's Super Stay 24 Color in Cherry Pie.

Here are a couple of close ups on the eyes:

I hope you liked this *inspired* look and please leave your comments below, I would love to know what you think??

Laura xoxo

Steal!!

After Christmas this year me and the family headed on down to Devon for a bit of a mini holiday (which was lovely.) One day we went out for lunch and the restaraunt had the most amazing hand cream ever. I kept going back just to use it. I knew I had to find it, no matter what.

The next day it just so happened we were browsing the sales in M&S and found it. The best part, for a £1 !!!!!

It smells absoultely gorgeous, so coconutty and lovely. It is quite a light consistency and takes a little while to rub in but the after effect is amazing. My hands are so soft and lovely now and the smell lasts for a while too. I LOVE this product and for £1 I bought a few!!!!

In other news I've been awared a Liebster award by the lovely Claudia from http://claudia-beautyfashion.blogspot.com/. Her blog is really good so you should check it out and Thank You :)

Here are the rules:

You must thank the person that has awarded you, including a shout out and a link back to their blog. 

Share 7 random facts about yourself

Send the blog for 15 other bloggers who's blogs you love and let them know about it.

 

 

Seven Facts About Me:

1. I love any American TV. Vampire Diaries, Pretty Little Liars and Gossip Girl to name but a few. I am also obssessed with Friends.

2. I have over 30 pairs of shoes.

3. I only got properly into make up in 2011. Before that I didn't even know how to use powder.

4. I have over 100 books, and am such and avid reader.

5. I love listening to Radio 1

6. I don't own any make up that is High End (MAC, Nars etc.) (I wish I did though.)

7. I've been trying to grow my hair for the last year and a half.

Blogs I Love Reading

http://www.amarixe.com/

http://www.buynowbloglater.com/

http://claudia-beautyfashion.blogspot.com/

http://fashboulevard.blogspot.com/

http://thatgirlisgina.blogspot.com/

http://lucymloves.blogspot.com/

http://lydiafayejones.blogspot.com/

http://makeupbyalli.blogspot.com/

http://rach-cakes.blogspot.com/

http://www.viviannadoesmakeup.com/

I know there aren't 15 there but these are my definate favourites, you should check who else I follow out though :)

Thanks again Claudia.

Laura xoxo