Five in Five #1

I've finally come to the realisation that I have far too much make-up, and due to this I've decided I should really stop buying anymore. Which is great for my bank balance, but not so great when trying to think of new and creative ideas for a blog that's main focus is beauty. There are only so many times I can tell you about my favourite products, however I thought I'd start a series where I show you five products, and challenge myself to describe them in five words.

Ready, set, go!

Nars Multiple in South Beach - Glowy, sunkissed, Millie Mack cheekbones.

Real Techniques Contour Brush - Brush with hundreds of uses.

Dior Skin Nude BB Creme - Best thing since sliced bread.

Benefits Hervana Blush - Smells good enough to eat.

No7 BB Lips - Everyday esstential item must have.

Laura

Worth the Hype? #2

Been as though my last one of these posts went down so well with all of you lovely people, I've decided to do another. So here are five more items, that have got that blogger buzz around them.

MAC Mineralize Skinfinsish in Soft and Gentle

I think this is the bloggers world go to highlighter. I love a good highlight, and when shopping in MAC, I swatched it, liked it, but thought, no I'll be good, then found myself asking for it when at the till, and I'm so glad I did. It is a very pale golden frosty highlight, that catches the light perfectly. I can see it being universally flattering and really brings to life your cheekbones, and I love using it as a highlight in my tear duct too. So yes, I think this is worth the hype. Yes £21 is a lot, but you get a hell of a lot of product with it. And it's just so pretty.

Moroccan Oil

Now if you've read my blog for a while, you will know I absolutely adore this product. However, as I said in this post, I was unsure on whether I could fork out the price when it wasn't actually doing any benefit. Later consideration has made me realise, that the way this makes my hair feel is so good, regardless that it's just coating, not benefiting. So dependent on what you want, something to make your hair feel gorgeous, yes this product is great. Something to nourish your hair, probably not no.

Benefit Hoola Bronzer

I got this in my Tan About Town set, and I love it. I think it is the perfect contour shade and really flatters my skin tone. So yes, this gets my 100% worth the hype! I also love the way that it is a smaller size, as I think most things should come in this size so you can pay less to see if you really love it, then you can purchase the full size. So much better!

Benefit the Porefessional

Another Benefit product, but this time, it isn't a positive I'm afraid. So many people rave about this, and when the woman in the shop used it on me, I was impressed too, but she used a lot of product and I can't afford to do that. I just think it's way to expensive for what it is. The woman in the shop mixed it with moisturiser too, and it did look good, but when using it at home, I've gotta say no. BUT I have found a cheaper alternative, which I should be posting about  very soon, so keep an eye out! 

Real Techniques Brushes

OK so these are not all of my RT brushes, I have the core collection (minus Buffing Brush, as it sadly passed away, RIP) the eye starter kit, the stippling brush, the blush brush and the Expert face brush (to replace the buffing.) In case, the quantity of my brushes doesn't give it away, I freakin' love these brushes. I think they are amazing, super soft, easy to work with and makes your make-up look so good. They aren't overly expensive at all, and I love them. Now my Buffing Brush, I think water got at the base, and the hairs started to fall out in massive clumps, but I've replaced it with the Expert Face brush, which I think is only available online, but is just as good as the buffing brush.

And a little extra one:

Zara Messenger Bag

I think every blogger has this bag, in either the balk of pale grey colour! I opted for the black as I didn't own a black bag! I had to add an extra hole on the straps to make it the right length for me, but I do love how it gives a nice slouchy look and fits into the nook of your hip and feels lovely. For £19.99 I think it's worth the hype.

So that's another Worth the Hype Post. I hope you enjoyed it again, and there may be another one soon.

Do you agree with me?

Laura xoxo

Could this be the one?

As you all know I'm on the hunt for the perfect foundation, aren't we all? So after watching a Tanya Burr video were she used a Laura Mercier mineral foundation, I knew I wanted one. The same day Collection (formerly Collection 2000) tweeted they were bringing back their mineral foundation and I took it as a sign. When just mooching round my local Asda, I couldn't find the Collection powder, but did find Loreal's version, so in my basket and onto the till it went. Beep, £15!!! Let me tell you, my mouth dropped, there was a sign near it saying £8 special offer, turns out, not for this product, so let me tell you, I was expecting miracles.

Loreal claim that this powder/foundation combo 'evens skin tone like a foundation/ light as a powder/ long lasting.' It contains 'no perfume, no preservatives, oil free, non-comedogenic, (what the heck is that?)SPF 15.'

As you can see, this comes with its own brush, which I'm not a massive fan off, not soft enough/too tickley for me, I prefer to use my No.7 Kabuki Brush, or a Real Techniques Blush Brush works well too. 

All you have to do is unscrew the top part with the brush attached and swirl it into the powder section. I do find it slightly messy getting the powder to come through the holes, but I can live with it. 

So how did it do?

Just moisturiser and primer on my nose//Just the foundation

As you can see, it really evens out my skin tone, and does a pretty good job of covering blemishes. My bags are still on show, but they're massive anyway, cement wouldn't cover those bad boys.

I really love how light weight this feels on the skin too, it's like you are wearing nothing at all.

As Tanya said in her video, you can apply cream based products easily over the top of this, so concealer and cream blush is fine.

With concealer and other make-up//The end of the day (hence the lower quality!)

It has faded by the end of the day, but what I love about this foundation is touching it up is so easy. Just pop it in your handbag and pop it on throughout the day.

I really like this foundation and think it will be perfect for summer, I wore it on a bike ride and, sorry for the grossness, it didn't melt from any sweat, so perfect for the hot (yeah right England,) summer weather, plus the SPF 15 is no downside.

I also feel like I should mention that the colour match is really great too, whether that is due to the true match quality or what, but that makes me happy.

So not the perfect foundation, but it is really good and I would definitely recommend it for light/natural make-up days. Or hot summer months!

Have you tried mineral foundations? What do you think?

Laura xoxo

P.S I'm still hopping ;) - here!

Sigma F20 Brush

I love my Real Techniques Brushes, but I've also heard so many good things about Sigma brushes, yet always thought they would've been hard to get in the UK, but then I found this site Love Beauty, was in need of a new powder brush, and the rest, as they say  was history.

The delivery was really quick, I ordered it on a Sunday and it had arrived on the Tuesday. It was packaged well and cost me £13.99 plus delivery. The brush is a paddle shape, which at first I didn't really like, but now I love. It still puffs out to help the powder blend it, and also if you turn it on the side it's really good for blending any harsh lines left from contouring.  

I'm seriously impressed with this brush and can see why Sigma carries such a good name. I definitely want to try more. I do have to say though that there have been instances of shedding, but nothing outrageous.

Do you use Sigma brushes? What do you think?

Laura xoxo

Celebrity Inspired - Olivia Palermo

I see a theme appearing in my Celebrity Inspired posts, a lot of TV! Now I never really watched The City, I loved The Hills, and loved Whitney, but just never followed her to the East Coast. However this celebrity inspired look is from Olivia Palermo, most commonly known from The City, Olivia has made a name for herself all on her own, mainly for her exceptional taste in Fashion.

Source

Olivia always wears a dark eye with light cheeks and lips. She very rarely moves away from this look, and I can see why, as it suits her so well.

Base

Bourjois Healthy Mix Foundation - With Buffing Brush

Soap and Glory Trick and Treatment - Under Eye

Rimmel Hide The Blemish - On Blemishes 

Loreal True Match Powder - With Sigma F20 Brush (Review to come)

Eyes

Beauty UK No.4 Palette - Gold/Brown colour all over lid, White as a highlight

Front Cover Baked Bronze - In Crease

Darkest Bourjois Trio colour - Upper lash line with angled brush

Loreal Super Liner in Black

Clinique High Impact Mascara

MUA eyebrow pencil

Face:

Sleek Contour Kit - Bronzer - Contour Brush

No.7 Highlighting Powder - On Cheeks on Cheek Bone - Boots Blush Brush

Collection 2000 Shimmer Shades - Real Techniques Blush Brush

Lips

Rimmel Kate in N05

No.7 Lipgloss in Smile

What do you think of Olivia's style?

Laura xoxo

Also, a really good Olivia Palermo Video is Tanya Burrs' here!

New FOTD

I've had a lot of different ideas of what to title this post, lazy day face, new face or everyday face. But it's not exactly something I do when feeling lazy, I don't have an 'everyday' face, so new face it was. My spending ban has been well and truly broken, and I wanted to show you some new products I have. Quite a lot of them have already been reviewed by lots of people so I thought I would just show you them in a FOTD.

So a mixture of old and new products, and I thought I would give a quick review of new products I'm trying:

MUA BB in Light - I bought this because I had read quite a lot of positive things about it, and it was only £3 (such good value!!) It doesn't give me enough coverage to wear it daily by itself, but I love using it as a primer, it really evens out my skin tone, and helps my foundations blend in and look more natural. For a more in-depth review check out Zoe's!

No7 Vital Enlightening Highlighter Powder - I love this product! I am so glad I bought it. It was the last one left and I got it for around £8 I think as I used my No.7 voucher, but would happily pay the £13 for it. It is such a lovely creamy powder, and a gorgeous golden tone to it, rather than a pinky tone that quite a lot of powder highlighters have. Hollie's review is really good!

Maybelline 24 Hour Tattoo - 35 - On and on Bronze - I don't need to say much more than, these bad boys are worth the hype! Check out Lily's review and Sophie's too!

Gosh Eyeliner in 015 Pure Natural - I really like having bright, and awake looking eyes, and find that white liner is slightly too obvious and over powering, and have been looking for a flesh toned liner for a while, I then found this. I really like it, I think it really opens up my eyes and as it's waterproof it stays put all day. That my friends, is what the call 'good times.'

Collection 200 Shimmer Shades - 2. Blushalicious - I had seen Lily blog about the bronzer shimmer shades, and then saw this in Boots, and wanted a shimmery blush for summer, it also looks great underneath my Benefit Hervana blusher to make it pop. It has a simple shimmer to it, and think it will give a lovely flush in the summer. 

So here it is on my face:

MUA BB

Bourjois Healthy Mix Foundation

Soap & Glory Trick and Treatment - Under Eyes

Rimmel Hide the Blemish - on Blemishes

Loreal True Match Powder

MUA Eyebrow Pencil

Maybelline Colour Tattoo

MUA Shade 20 eyeshadow - upper lash line

Gosh Eyeliner - Lower Water Line

No.7 Lash Adapt Mascara

Sleek Contour Palette Light - Bronzer as Contour

No.7 Highligther

Collection 2000 Shimer Shades

Belle Lipstick

What do you think of these products? Have you tried any of them?

If you would like more in-depth reviews just let me know!

Laura xoxo

Celebrity Inspired

Continuing with my love of TV actresses, my next inspired look comes from One Tree Hills gorgeous Sophia Bush. No matter if she's in character, walking the red carpet or just out and about, she always looks stunning.

Source

In this photo, Sophia has a gorgeous smokey, with a nude lip. She has very little else except for a bit of contouring, and I think this look really suits her, and is such a lovely look.

Make-up:

Base:

Maybelline Dream Nude Airfoam - Real Techniques Stippling Brush

Maybelline Lumi Touch Concealer - Under eyes

Estee Lauder Double Wear Concealer - Blemishes

Maybelline Dream Matte Powder

Eyes:

Front Cover Baked Bronze - all over lids

MUA Shade 19 - Outer Corner and lower lash line

Rimmel Glam Eyes Trio - Brown in eyebrows and pale colour as highlight  

Max Factor High Definition Mascara

Contour:

Sleek Contour Palette - Real Techniques Contour Brush

Lips:

Rimmel Lipstick - Asia

What do you think of Sophia's look?

Laura xoxo

Bonzer: Contouring

When I first started blogging, I did a post on Bronzers. It wasn't the best, I was new to blogging, and bronzers for that matter, however I've decided to re-do that post with my new Bronzer collection, and show you how I use them for contouring.
With all these looks I have used my Real Techniques Contour Brush from The Core Collection.

Bronzer 1: The Bourjois Delice de Poudre (The one that looks like chocolate)

Excuse the annoying hair!

The first with flash, the second without.

I really like this bronzer. It' quite dark in the plan, but I think it gives quite a complimentary tone. It contains a slight, slight glimmer, which only shows in the pan. I really like using this bronzer. It does contain a slight scent, which I'm unsure is breaking me out, however I'm not 100% sure. Really like this bronzer. 

Bronzer 2: Collection 2000 Shimmering Mosaic Glow

You can't really see this bronzer in the picture without flash, which is good as it means that it gives a subtle contour to my cheek, but not too much. This bronzer gives a lovely colour when all mixed together and looks really lovely. It quite an inexpensive product too so definitely worth looking into.

Bronzer 3: Sleek Contour Palette in Light

Again this bronzer is very subtle, and I didn't really like it at first use, however it has really grown on me recently. I really like the slight bronze/shadow effect it can give, without being overpowering. The highlighter it comes with is also really good.

So these are the bronzers I'm using at the moment. When I lift my spending ban I'm definitely going to look into the infamous Laguna and Hoola bronzer. 

Do you use any of these? Any other recommendations?

Laura xoxo

Side note - This video is really helpful for contouring: http://www.youtube.com/user/MakeupByTiffanyD?feature=g-u-u#p/u/10/fmI98U8OiB8

Celebrity Inspired

As I'm sure you are all aware, it was the Oscars last week and I was blown away by how stunning Miley Cyrus looked. I'm a big Miley fan (Hannah Montana is such a guilty pleasure) and as soon as I saw this look I knew I wanted to try to recreate it. It's slightly similar to the first celebrity post I did of Lauren Conrad, but it does have  it's differences. Hope you like it.

Source

And here is what I used:

Base:

Maybelline Dream Nude Airfoam

Rimmel Blemish Stick - on Blemishes

Rimmel Match Perfection Highlighting concealer - Under eyes

All blended with the Real Techniques Buffing Brush

Eyes:

MUA eyebrow pencil

Front Cover Sunray on the lid

Golden MUA colour lightly over the top

Brown MUA colour on an angle brush to create small V in the corner of the eyes

Loreal Super Liner 

Soap and Glory Thick and Fast Mascara as a base

Max Factor High Definition Mascara over the top

MUA White liner on lower lash line

Face:

Sleek Contour Palette

Rimmel Autumn Catwalk Blush

Lips:

Rimmel Tantrum used with a Real Techniques Detail Brush

What did you think of Miley's Oscars look?

Laura xoxo

February Favourites

Another month over, another lot of favourites to share with you all.

Real Techniques Brushes: I am so in love with these brushes. As soon as I spotted them in Boots I went ahead and picked up the Stippling Brush and the Blush Brush (pink handles.) One cost £9.99 and the other £10.99 (I can't remember which, I think the stippling was the more expensive.) I love how these apply my make-up, they are so soft and I couldn't imagine not using them now. I then went back and picked up the Core Collection for £21.99, pretty steep, but for the number of brushes worth it. I got this pack mainly for the Buffing brush because as much as I love the Stippling, it has to be cleaned properly after every use, and at uni I don't have the ability to do that, whereas the Buffing brush is much better at going a couple of days without needing to be washed. I know a lot of people don't really comment on the other brushes in that set, however I've only had them a couple of days and used all four. The contour brush is extremely good and I used the little one for applying lipstick and the foundation brush to blend in concealer.

Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Anti Chip Top Coat: This little beauty appears in all of my NOTD's and I thought it deserved a place in my favourites. I don't know how I coped without it. For an avid nail painter this cuts drying time down ridiculously, I know longer have to wait, hands out like an idiot, waiting for it to dry. I have managed to convert some of my friends to it. I recommend it to anyone who paints their nails regularly or who doesn't have much time.

Max Factor High Definition Mascara: I know a lot of people rave about the Max Factor False Lash Effect, however I am obsessed with this one. I found it in November and have used it pretty much everyday since. It really elongates and seperates my lashes and gives such a natural, but better finish to my lashes. Couldn't recommend it enough.

Garnier Youthful Radiance Night Moisturiser: I am loving using this so much at the moment. It feels clean and fresh and really moisturises my skin over night. I did a post about this yesterday, here, if you want more details.

Clean and Clear Morning Burst: I'm loving using this in the morning. It smells gorgeous and leaves your skin looking fresh, bright and awake after a good nights sleep. It's a really nice way to start my day.

I also want to share with you my five favourite Blog's I've been reading this month:

http://www.ducklingtoswan.com/
http://www.blushworks.com/
http://www.icovetthee.com/
http://jemimaandted.blogspot.com/
http://www.thesundaygirl.com/

Hope you've all had a great month.

Laura xoxo

FOTD

I used my Real Techniques brushes today and thought I'd do a quick Face of the Day along with a mini review.

These brushes are amazing. I used my Bourjois Healthy Mix foundation (although I'm not a massive fan, I don't want to let it go to waste,) along with the Stippling Brush and it blended in so lovely and made it look so smooth. I really like using this brush and can really see why so many people really rave about it.

I also used the Blush Brush to apply my bronzer today and this brush is so so so soft and fluffy and contoured my face so well. I have fallen even more in love with these brushes after using them today. Worth every single penny. There was no fall out and the my make-up applied so well.

Make-up Used:
Murad Primer in Dewy (from January GlossyBox)
Bourjois Healthy Mix Foundation
Maybelline Lumi Touch concealer
Rimmel Blemish Stick
Max Factor Cream Puff Powder
Front Cover Frosted Almond all over eye
Front Cover Baked Bronze in crease
Loreal Eyeliner for Hazel Eyes
Max Factor High Definition Mascara
Bourjois Bronzer
Rimmel Winter Glow Blusher
MeMeMe Highlighter in Moon Beam
Rimmel Pink Excess Lipstick

What are your favourite everyday make-up items?

Laura xoxo

Real Techniques

I was just casually browsing round Boots, as you do, and noticed they are now selling the Real Techniques brushes. I got so excited, I have wanted one for ages but never got round to ordering them on line, and now, I can go and get them when I want. I've started off by getting the Stippling brush, after hearing such rave reviews about it and the Blush Brush, it just looked too good not to get.

I really like the packaging, it looks very smart and up market. The brushes themselves just look lovely. I love the pink handles.

I am actually excited to do my make-up tomorrow so that I can use these. They look so lovely and I've heard such good reviews. I just thought I'd tell you that they have now made it to Boots, so if, like me, you've always wanted them, you can now go and get them.
I think the Stippling brush was £11.99 and the Blush Brush was £9.99

Will you be getting these brushes?

Laura xoxo