Tuesday 30 July 2013

Mac Eye Shadow

So I have finished my two month spending ban...so how did I treat/ congratulate myself? With a Mac shopping spree of course, well I was in covent garden passing by the new Mac shop so it would have been rude not to go in and have a browse...and well browsing lead to spending, which leads to blogging. 

I got a couple of bits and bobs but tonight post is all about two new eyeshadows for my almost complete Mac palette. After much thought and swatching in store I decided to go for two shades, Brule and Wedge. My palette is mostly neutrals so these two shadows are the perfect addition. 

Wedge is a medium brown/ tan shade, the shadow is very pigmented and blends very easily on the lid. This tone is a perfect crease colour to define and extend the eyes. I find wedge is a ideal shade for an more natural smokey eye look.

Brule is a neutral beige shade. It's a great shadow for all over the lid as it is a matte finish without shimmer, it can also be used as a brow highlight or eyeshadow primer as it will even out the colour of the lids. I love this shade and thinks a great addition to my palette as its the ideal base colour for my skin tone. Now even at work I don't like to leave my eyes naked and I am finding these two shades combined are my current favourite double act for an everyday look, it gives my eyes depth and a subtle dramatic finish which isn't too over the top for a day time look. 

I only need three shadows and my palette will be complete, if you have any recommendations for my neutral palette please leave a comment below. 

Thanks for reading lovelies 
Emma Louise 





Saturday 20 July 2013

I <3 Summer Tag

I heart summer tag

Hi everyone, I hope you have been enjoying and soaking up the sunshine, all this lovely weather had inspired me to do the 'I heart Summer' Tag...

1. Favourite bronzer for Summer?
I think I will go for my trusty Nars Laguna it's the perfect matte bronzer for my skin, it has minimal shimmer and isn't orange toned....love this bronzer.

2. Your relaxing in a hammock, on a tropical island, what are you sipping on? (Favourite Summer Drink)
Hmm I think I will go for a refreshing glass of Pimms this fruity mix is my favourite Summer time drink.

3. Favourite summer lip product?
Definitely my Nivea lip balm in honey and vanilla, the scent is amazing and keeps my lips soft and conditioned. 

4. Pool or beach 
I going to have to go with beach, yes sand in your toes is a pain in the bum. I grew up by the seaside, yes it was in the freezing cold Scottish weather but I love the sea and walking down the beach and even better when the sun is shining. 

5. Summer crazy hair, what's your must have styling product.
I have been having my hair wavy in the warmer weather, it's minimal effort and no heat styling needed, so dry shampoo has been a favourite product for giving my naturally limp hair a bit of an oomph. 

6. Sun bathing or fake tan
Don't get me wrong when the sun is shining I enjoy laying out in the sun, but my pale skin needs a very high factor to stop it burning and very rarely goes brown, so fake tan is much better and safer for giving me that desired glow. 

7. Favourite Summer nail varnish. 
I don't really have one particular favourite but have been loving the Barry M gelly varnishes especially the bright colours, which are perfect for Summer. 

8. Any summer traditions
My summer traditions is really just spending time with family my dad and sister live inDubai and over the summer months temperatures can hit 50 degrees over there, so they normally have a trip back to UK so my summer is filled with family time. 

9. Favourite Summer scent
I am loving my Juicy Couture viva la fleur perfume this summer, it's the perfect summer floral, fruity scent. 

10. Favourite BBQ food
Mmm I love BBQ food, well the smell more then anything, but my favourite is definitely a good old classic cheese burger. 

11 what's your favourite summer proof product. 
I have found my wake me up foundation has been the perfect summer proof foundation. It lasts all day on the skin and still leaves me looking glowing but with good coverage. 

12. Any summer vacation plans. 
I have already been to Dubai in May, got a trip to London with my sister coming up and might try fit in a few weekends away. Possibly look at another abroad holiday around October, after the motorbike racing season my fiancé is a semi professional motorbike racer, so I spend a lot of my summer at race tracks.

Thanks for reading lovelies, if you have don't this tag leave you link below and I will take a look, if you haven't I TAG you now so get blogging beauts.....  



Saturday 13 July 2013

I <3 Drugstore Makeup Tag




Hello beauts, I hope your all soaking up the sunshine and enjoying this lovely weather. Now I am still on my spending ban so I have been researching different tags to post and I was immediately attracted to the infamous 'I love drugstore make up TAG'. My own make up collection is a real mixture of high end luxuary products and drugstore, high street brands. I get so excited when I find a good drugstore product because obviously it will save my pennies. There are some real gems in the drugstore now, no matter what your budget, so I thought this tag is the perfect way to share my favourite and least favourite products with you.. 

1. What is your favorite drugstore makeup brand overall?

First question and I already feel torn, my favourites are Rimmel, Revelon and Maybeline.......I think I will go for Rimmel, I love the wake me up range, the wake me up foundation is definitely my all time favourite drugstore foundation, I also love the stay matte powder, lipsticks, eye liners and apocalypse lip glosses. 

2. What are your favorite face, cheek and lip products?
Cheek
For cheek it has to be sleek, they have a great collection of blushes, there is a lovely array of colour selection, ranging  from shocking pink blushes to bright coral shades. The blushes are really pigmented and last all day on my cheeks. I also love the contour palette is the perfect hand bag essential for a day and night. The handy trio palette has a blush, bronzer and a lovely highlighter, which has the perfect amount of  glow and shimmer to it. 

Face
Seeing as I have already mentioned it, I am sure it will come as no surprise that my favourite face product is the Wake me up foundation from Rimmel. I love this foundation it is without a doubt my favourite drugstore foundation. This foundation gives is the perfect medium coverage formulation but still leaves my skin looking freash and glowy. I know there has been much debate about the retro bright orange packaging but I personally love the stand out packaging. If you haven't tried this foundation I urge you to give it a go. 

Lip 
This is an easy one without a doubt, Revlon lip butters I adore them and use them on a daily basis. The colour payout is amazing and they are the perfect combination of a balm with a glossy finish, I could rave about these little beauts all day, I also love the Revlon kissable balm stains for an easy everyday look. For gloss though I am also going to have to add the NYX mega shine gloss in Beige, it's not really a beige colour at all it's a pink toned mauve colour and I adore this shade. It's just the perfect everyday pink and its smells soo yummy, like sweeties. Ok so I cheated and mentioned three products, oops. 

3. Least favorite product?
Now this isn't aimed at any particular brand just the product in general but I just can't get on board with BB creams give me my light coverage Chanel vitalumiere aqua or Mac face and body foundation over a BB cream any day. I just don't get them, they don't last on my skin and slide off in a matter of hours...I'll just stick with foundation. 

4. What is the best makeup bargain? 
Ok i am cheating i have two, firstly Rimmel Stay Matte Powder, it is such a baragin at £3.99, it keeps my make up in place all day and is an amazing product. Secondly  my Nivea lip balm in milk and honey flavour is my favourite lip balm, and has the tiny price tag of £1.50. it smells amazing and i put this on everyday under my lipstick and gloss and keeps my lips nice and conditioned.  I know I cheated but love them both. 

5. What is your favorite underdog product? (Something you love that often gets overlooked?)
I am going to go with Maybeline dream lumi concealer. I love this product it's amazing for highlighting my face, it's a bargain at £6.99 and its a real dupe for the touché éclat by YSL. I actually prefer the dream lumi formula as I find it luminaries my face more the the YSL one, its one my favourite products so I am always surprised it doesn't get more credit. Don't worry little Lumi I love you. 

6. A drugstore product that is overpriced?
Now is it just me or does any one else feel drug store mascara is getting pretty pricey. I really like thevL'Oreal telescopic mascara, but it's £10.99 which I do think is pretty steep for such a small amount of product, when I can get my foundation for £8.99. 

7. Show your best drugstore dupe(s)!!
I think the Maybeline colour tattoos are a great dupe/ cheaper alternative to the Mac paint pots which I love, but the colour tattoos are less then half the price of the paint pots, there is great colour range, they blend really well, they are really pigmented and they last all day on the lid. 

8. Drugstore product that isn't worth the hype?
Sorry Maybeline but its going to have to be your bouncy blush. On my trip to Las Vegas last year I was so excited about stocking up on some make up, and I was most excited about this little blush but I was left so disappointed :(. I found this product just left my cheeks looking greasy and shiny, and just slid off my skin, lasting only a matters of hours if that, so not a great product for me. However, I did enjoying touching the blush and watching it pop back up, so not a total loss in the fun department, but not a great product. 

Thanks for reading lovelies, if you have done this tag leave me your link so I can have a look at your favourite drugstore peices, and if you haven't done this tag I TAG all of you now. 






Monday 1 July 2013

June favourites

Hello everyone, I hope you all had a lovely weekend. So it’s the 1st of July and my news feed is full of my favourite monthly favourite posts, and I realised I have never actually done my own monthly favourite post, so I thought it was about time I typed up one and shared with you my favourite products throughout June. Now if you are a regular visitor to my blog you will know I am currently on a spending ban, and didn’t purchase a single product throughout June, I actually can’t believe I managed it. That does mean this post won’t have any new products I have fallen in love with, but I have rediscovered some old products from my collection which I have fallen in love with all over again and actually really enjoyed rummaging around my makeup collect and finding some forgotten gems.
My first favourite of the month is my Laura Mercierr Silk Crème foundation; this was probably the last beauty product I purchased. This foundation had been on my wish list for ages and I finally gave it to temptation and bought it around 8 weeks ago, and I am in love with this beauty. Now I won’t go on about this foundation too much as I have done a full review on my new favourite foundation,( you can take a look here if you are interested in seeing my thoughts) but, I adore this foundation it leaves my skin looking flawless but with a natural glow. The silk crème foundation has been in my make up since I purchased it and I am predicting it will be there for the foreseeable future. 
Next up is my favourite and most worn lip product of the month, my Revlon lip butter in pink lemonade. If you know me you will know I am big fan of the pink nude lip look and rarely step away from my signature look, so this has been the perfect summery pink shade for me, it has a subtle pink sheen and gives my lips the perfect creamy and glossy finish for the rare sunny days we get here in the UK.
My next favourite products are a combination of MAC eye shadows which I have really loved using. The three shades are naked lunch which I apply all over the lid, then Satin Taupe in the crease and outer corner and then finally Nylon as highlight in the inner corners. I have loved using this combination and find its great for every day and if I want to intensify the look for an evening I use a tiny bit of Smutt in the outer corner. I love MAC eye shadows, yes they are quite pricey and building my palette has cost me a small fortune, but I find the shadows blend and apply amazingly, are really well pigmented and have really good colour pay off.
Next on the favourites list is my Hoola bronzer by Benefit. I really like using this bronzer for contouring; it’s good a lovely matte finish bronzer and the shade is a really good colour for my skin tone as it not orange toned. I have been using my real techniques contour brush; I find this smaller contour brush is the perfect size for defining my cheek bones.
This month I have also loved my juicy couture perfume in Viva la Fleur. First off I have to mention the packaging, the bright pink and gold shades are so me and really brighten up my dresser. My dad bought me this for Christmas but I had a few Victoria Secret perfumes to finish off so it has been waiting patiently to be used. This perfume has a light, fresh and flowery scent with a subtle hint of berries, which is perfect combination for spring and summer. I adore this scent and have been spritzing it every morning this month.

Finally, ok it’s not a beauty product but I have loved my Peach Bellini candle I purchased from Bath and Body works on holiday in Dubai (pre spending ban), I did a full haul post on my bath and body works purchasing earlier this month if you would like to have a look. This candle smells so fruity and yummy and the scent really does leave my whole apartment smelling of sweet peaches. My only issue with this product is that Bath and Body works is not available in the UK which is so annoying, I am hoping they are seeing my constant tweets begging for a UK online store, but for now I just stock up when I go the my dad’s in Dubai.
So I think that’s everything, I am surprised how quickly a month of no spending has gone and I am going to keep it up this month because I have saved a lot of money. I think I’m  going to allow myself to purchase a few pieces of clothes ready for my trip to London with my sister at the end of the month but that’s it.
Thanks for reading beauts, if you have done your monthly favourites please leave me your link below and I will have a look as I really love reading these  posts.

Lots of Love