Delayed Lipstick Swatches... Oops!

Okay, sorry it's been so long! I've been really busy doing homework that I should have done weeks ago, and being with friends etc. so I apologize for the lack of blogging for the past weeks!
Some of you reminded me that I'd forgotten to post swatches of the lipsticks I was talking about in my make up bag, so this is basically just a catch up post to show you what they all look like. The swatches are on my arm rather than my lips because I was out last night and I'd rather not be photographed right now!

L to R: MAC - Fanfare, Rimmel - Glam, Chanel - Audace, Natural Collection - Coral Shimmer, 

Avon - Perfect Peach, Natural Collection - Pink Mallow

Prices: MAC - £13.50, Rimmel - unsure, around £5?, Chanel - £22, Natural Collection - £1.99!!!, 

Avon - unsure, around £5/6?

Again, I'm sorry for neglecting my blog so much, but I'm going to try and do a post a week from now on. I'm going back to school on Monday so I think that's probably the best way to do it, because I really really reaaalllly need to put effort in this year, my exams weren't too great (BCCD) so I need to focus on school this year... I'll do a review on the Natural Collection lipsticks soon - love them!

Have you used any of these lipsticks? What did you think of them?

Evie x

Inside My Make Up Bag

Second post of today, I couldn't think of an interesting post to do, so I just went for a boring snoop in my make up bag instead. I use the Tony & Guy bag I got at Christmas that, funnily enough was filled with Tony & Guy goodies, not make up. It's quite big though so easily fits everything I use on a daily basis, and more!

First up, face products. I don't really like to use foundation as I don't like the way it makes my skin feel, so I much prefer a tinted moisturiser. This one by No7 works really well although it can look a bit dodgy in the evening if I put it on in the morning (9am), but to be fair I don't touch up/blot etc during the day, so if I did then I think it would still look great. I rarely use primer, but when I do it's Photo Flawless by 17. I find that if my skin is particularly dry one day then simply but putting this on it makes it so much easier to apply the tinted moisturiser without it sticking on dry areas. Benefit Georgia powder is really useful for when you want a subtle shimmer to your look. It's not harsh at all, in fact it can't be seen in some lights, but in my opinion it's a great product for adding depth without making it obvious (it also smells gorgeous!) Finally, concealers. I use Erase Paste by Benefit for dark under-eye circles, and Collection 2000's Lasting Perfection concealer for blemishes and imperfections I find. 

Collection 2000 Lasting Perfection concealer - around £4, 17 Photo Flawless Primer - around £5, No7 Tinted Moisturiser - £12.50, Erase Paste by Benefit - £19.50, Benefit Georgia Powder - around £20

Next, eyes. My favourite part of any make up look! These are my everyday basic products, when I go out I tend to use my larger No7 palette. Eyeliner is an important feature in my personal make up look, I wear winged liquid liner every day, putting it on had just become part of my morning routine! I'm currently using Exaggerate by Rimmel in 100% Black. It's really easy to apply and lasts the whole day without smudging, even in the 'summer'. I also use a No7 brown kohl just under my bottom lashes and sometimes finish it off with a black pencil also my Rimmel (the exact names/colours of these have rubbed off). My favourite mascara is Intense Volume by No7. It's a great buildable, long lasting mascara that doesn't flake even if I'm wearing 2/3 coats. It does exactly what it says on the tin. For a sort of 'base' I use Cream Eye Colour in shade Cashmere by The Body Shop. It's a really nice goldy/nude shade that also goes really well on it's own for a more subtle look. It's a cream and is applied with the provided brush (which looks similar to a lipgloss brush). The No7 trio contains three very wearable shades of brown, bronze and a nudey/white colour. I think I'll be using this box before I go for tea tomorrow! I believe eyelash curlers are so important when doing your eye makeup, they make such a difference to your appearance. You look more awake and refreshed, even if you've only curled your lashes and applied mascara.

Rimmel Liquid Liner - around £6, No7 brown & Rimmel blacl kohl - £?, No7 Intense Volume Mascara - Around £12,  The Body Shop Cream Eye Colour - £?,  No7 Bronze Palette - around £10, Eyelash curlers - around £4

Now lips. First, Clinique lip shaping pencil in Mahogany. This is a very subtle but powerful shade. Once lipstick is applied over the top it transforms from a weak line to a bold barrier around your lips, whilst still avoiding that clown-like look than we're sometimes faced with when wearing a lip liner. Fanfare by MAC, I've just written a small review of this product, so I won't bore you with the same again! Next, Rouge Allure by Chanel in Audace. This is a very strong red, that is not to be worn when you're feeling like you want to blend in with the crowd. I wear this with a slick of black liquid liner on my top lid, and lashings of mascara. Then, Glam by Rimmel. I really love this shade for when I want a more natural look. It's a gorgeous shade of pearly pink and it's so glossy it looks as if you've finished it off with a clear gloss. Gorgeous. Then Perfect Peach by Avon. I don't really buy from Avon any more, as for some reason they're stopped delivering in my area. I do really like this lip colour though. Exactly as is is described - the perfect shade of peach. Then No7 Liplicious Ultra Shiny Lip Gloss in Bon Bon. The name doesn't lie, this gloss is ultra shiny, but not gloopy or sticky as some can be. It looks rather nice over Fanfare actually! Then a lip plumping gloss by Rimmel. I love this! I'll need to repurchase soon because I'm so close to finishing! You can really feel this working, although it isn't stingy or too irritating, and the colour looks great too. (I've looked but can't find the colour, although it says 9041 on the bottom?) Finally, Lip Gloss Dot by The Body Shop in number 04. This looks as though it would be matte, but it has a lovely glossy finish to it, which is what makes me love it!

MAC Fanfare - £13.50, Chanel Audace - around £22, Rimmel Glam - around £6, Avon Perfect Peach - around £6,
No7 Gloss Bon Bon - around £7, Rimmel Volume Booster - around £6, The Body Shop 04 - £?

I hope you enjoyed this post, it took a long time to write!;) Do you have any of these products in your make up bag? Can you recommend some alternatives?

Evie x

MAC Fanfare

Hello! I'm aware that I've been rubbish at posting this past week, so I've got two posts for you today!:) The first one is dedicated to my new MAC lipstick that came yesterday. I ordered Fanfare because I wanted a pinky/coral colour that was easy to wear and suited my skin tone.

I think this is the perfect lipstick for this, the colour is gorgeous and really wearable, I well definitely be wearing this out to my friend's birthday meal tomorrow night! Fanfare is one of the shades less talked about on YouTube etc, but I honestly don't know why, it's lovely!

It's a cremesheen so feels really moisturising when you're wearing it, and it goes on really smoothly. I have it on today with no liner and it's not feathered at all, so it's staying power is pretty good too. Believe it or not this is the first product I have bought from MAC (yep, I'm a bit late jumping on the bandwagon!) but I can safely say it won't be the last! Their lipsticks retail at £13.50 which I think, although a bit expensive, it's not cheekily so. I think this purchase has to be looked at as more of an 'investment'... It's a great shade, consistency, and the quality is amazing, I definitely recommend buying a cremesheen from MAC!

Have any of you used this colour before? What did you think?

Evie x

Mini haul...

Okay, this consists of four things I bought today. Nothing really exciting but I thought I'd share it anyway.
I went in to town and took my little brother for coffee (or in his case, hot chocolate) and a chocolate brownie, although he had two.. fattso!:) I love taking him out, we've done it a couple of times and I promised him we'd do it more often because we're hardly ever on our own to talk about stuff. He's only nine but he's quite mature and I can talk to him about anything really, and he can do the same with me, love the guy:)
I only bought four things, two of which are obvious because I was in Superdrug so I had to pick these up... Barry M nail paints!

I also bought a brush for drying my hair because I'm getting to the stage where I can't really be bothered to straighten it everyday, so I need to style it when I dry it. It's a square brush, rather than a round one, and it (apparently) adds more volume that round brushes, so I'm looking forward to trying this!

Finally, I got the Benefit Georgia face powder. It's gorgeous aaaah I love it. I'm sure you've all seen it so I wont bore you with the details, but it's a really nice shimmery peach colour, and it's really subtle which I like. I got this online and it came today - I always like ordering online every once in a while because it's so exciting getting something in the post, even though you know what it is!

So that's all I bought today - have you tried any of these products? If so what did you think?
xxxo

In the country...

I went to Scott's View earlier to get some pictures when the light was nice. It's Sir Walter Scott's favourite view and it's beautiful - basically it's the Eildon hills and there's a river winding down the bottom. It's so pretty, especially on a nice night like tonight. Here are a few snaps I took

Delivery from Amazon!

I ordered these books last week and was so excited to get them, they came this morning and I can't wait to start reading them! I bought Style by LC at Christmas time and really enjoyed reading it, so I thought that instead of buying magazines and things that make me fat, that I'd put my money to good use and buy something I'll have forever - books!


The first package that came was the Harper's Bazaar Great Style book. I've had a quick flick through and it seems like a really good book, the reviews online for this book are great too.

The next package contained The One Hundred by Nina Garcia, The Fashion Book by Phaidon Editors and The Little Dictionary of Fashion by Christian Dior.


This book has a really eye catching design - black and pink on silver. It is self described as 'a guide to the pieces every stylish woman must own'. One thing I dislike about this book is that there are no photographs, but I can live with the pretty illustrations, and I love the way Nina writes.

The Fashion Book is basically a dictionary of the the most influential people in fashion from Giorgio Armani to Michael Kors to Levi Strauss. I'm really looking forward to this book!

Finally, the most beautiful of the 4. The cover is a grey material with embossed pink and silver lettering. Describing its self as 'a guide to dress sense for every woman', a statement which I think suits this little book perfectly. Beautiful exterior, wonderful layout and knowledge from the best.

Royal Cosmetic Connections Foundation Brush Review

Hello! I received this brush in the post this morning and thought I'd do a quick review. Being my first foundation brush I didn't really know what to expect, but I was surprised at how easy this brush was to use! The distribution  of product was really even and not claggy at all, which was something I was worried about.

Pros

• Price - it was around £3 from amazon, can't complain.
• Ease of use - Even the most inexperienced hands (me!) can't go wrong with this brush.
• Size - It fits easily into an average sized make up bag without the ends getting ruined

Cons

• Design - Although the brush itself is nice there is no branding anywhere on the brush, the only words being 'foundation brush' which looks a bit cheap. I know it's not a particularly popular brand but I think they should reconsider the design of this brush.

As you can see, in my opinion there are definitely more reasons to buy this brush than not! You can't fault the price, and the application is great. I can overlook the wording on the brush because I think it's a really good brush for people looking for a light/medium distribution of their foundation/tinted moisturiser. I've seen a vast improvement in the coverage and staying power of my tinted moisturiser after using this brush. 

I'd definitely recommend this brush!:)