Recent favourites: MAC/Loreal/Gucci/Breaking Bad/Martial Arts

Greetings dear readers, today's blog post will be on my recent things in life basically, lips/eyes/hair/perfume/tv

These are my favourite products to use over the last month or so.

1. Loreal Paris Elnett Satin heat styling spray - To be honest I'm not entirely sure if this product protects my hair from heat (despite claiming that it does) but I enjoy using it for other reasons. I use it mostly for the soft finish and it leaves my hair smelling supahhhhh nice :)


2. Gucci Guilty (au de parfum 50 ml) - I LOVEEE this perfume sooo much. It is quite strong but I use it every day and it smells quite musky and the base scent is amber. According to the Gucci website scent description it smells of 'pink pepper and red fruits' (wtf is pink pepper?!). I purchased Gucci Guilty at the airport to receive the duty free perks however it's sold wherever perfume is sold so it's not hard to find.

3. Loreal Paris True Match 'Touche Magique' Illuminating Concealer -  I've been recently loving a bright concealer for under my eyes. It makes such a big difference to my entire make up look, makes me appear healthier and adds dynamic to my face instead of having a monotone foundation bare face. 

4. MAC prep+prime Translucent Powder - To set this illuminating concealer I use a translucent powder from MAC which lasts all day and does not look cakey AND doesn't crease my concealer which is one of my biggest annoyances when it comes to make up!

5. Flormar Lip Pencils - I have been lining my lips almost everyday with any make up look because I find it helps my lipstick last all day and does make my lips look slightly bigger than they really are. These lip liners are particularly good because they are incredibly cheap but so so amazing. They don't dry or flake your lips (if you exfoliate and moisturise pre-lip lining of course) and the colour range is crazyyy they have so many different colours. 

6. Breaking Bad - Dammnnnn! I am SO late with this so please forgive me but shit this show is so good. I'm really into my romantic comedies (Woody Allen films dominate my life) so this was a dramatic change in my recent preferences. It's full of drama with small bursts of comedy and quite explicit and twisted. I'm just absolutely addicted to it and try to get my younger siblings to watch it with me because I find it sometimes a bit too scary to watch alone (idgaf if that sounds lame). 

7. Muay Thai - Martial Arts? Me? HA! Funny joke. No but really, I'm signed up to my University's (Queen Mary) Muay Thai Society and the team trains 2-3 times a week in an East London Gym. Luckily I have a friend who wants to do the same activity so we'll go through this together. This will be a great way to have fun, exercise and even meet more University students. I am treating this as a leisure activity not a competitive sport, just want to learn new things in 2014 and not let my youth slip away from me while I watch shit on Netflix.

Soooo now that my ramble is over, what are your favourite things to do? Or what other interesting sports/tv shows/make up products can you recommend me to try?

Last note: Happy belated new year from me and I hope you fulfil your aspirations and remember if you want to start anything new, there's no better day to start than today! 

Love, Lo.

Beauty Haul No. 3: Make up/Hair!

I don't really plan what I'm going to buy, I always have my eye on products because I watch a lot of Youtube videos and read lots of blogs so some of my purchases are pre-thought and some very spontaneous. I have purchased all of these products throughout the course of three weeks, I didn't just go wild in one day, so here's what I got...

Maybelline Colour Tattoo's are extremely hyped about and even that seems like an understatement for their popularity. I have one eye shadow palette which is my every day saviour (by MUA) however I wanted to try paint pots because the concept is quite appealing and personally wanted to test them out myself. They're creamy however personally not as easy to blend than eye shadows which I prefer over these. I'm not a massive fan of the colour range so I only purchased one, this one is called 'Permanent Taupe' and it's a lovely neutral brown which looks great in my crease when blended out (I wear this look almost every day). The price is very good at just £4.99 which is extremely cheap compared to other paint pots I've used which were from Benefit, they were more than double the price and are exactly the same thing.

Leave in conditioner that leaves your hair super soft and smelling nice and fruity! Ticks all the boxes really, it's great and light. I don't like washing my hair then bombarding it with tons of products so I just leave this in till the next time I wash it! It's by Herbal Essences from their 'Bee Strong' collection with Nicole Sichiesinyejkrt :)

So I've had my eye on all of the Real Techniques brushes since the start of watching youtube videos so my collection is slowly expanding. I'm currently trying out brushes and seeing what I like to use them for, this one will actually be used to apply my loose powder because the brush is so big and soft. Sorry the picture isn't so great, it's called 'Blush Brush' by Real Techniques.

My favourite blushes EVER are from Benefit. They're always so perfect and I'm always spoilt for choice when I try to purchase one. This time however, instead of re-purchasing my all time favourite blusher 'Coralista', I wanted to try something new. This time round, I bought 'Sugarbomb' which smells soooo nice (that's not the only reason I got it) and the four colours combined together create the perfect peachy tone that has light undertones making it look like I'm wearing highlighter also. I took advantage of the Christmas discounts and instead of paying the full price of £23.50, I got it for £19.95 (15% off).

As you can see, I've hit the bottom with this one. Second time I've purchased it and it lasted me almost a year which is very impressive! I usually buy them at the airport where I can get duty free shopping so it costs around £19. 

                                                I don't need a powder but I've heard great things about the Rimmel Stay Matte pressed powder so I thought I'd try it out before all my money runs out on sushi (my new addiction). All of my favourite Youtubers use this so I wanted to jump on that band wagon! I'm constantly pleasantly surprised with Rimmel products and since it's coming to the end of the year I have to crown it my favourite make up brand of the year! My top three products for this year from Rimmel were: Kate Moss lipstick collection (which I have previously blogged about), Apocalipcs Lip Laquer and the 24 Hour Lasting Finish Foundation. Perhaps this powder will be an addition to my favourites... we shall see!

Re-purchase alert! Thanks to Fleur De Force's videos a couple of years ago this concealer blessed me with it's existence! Forget all the high end brands with their ridiculous price tags and invest under a fiver for this high coverage, long lasting concealer. I'm quite lucky to have clear skin most of the time, however I do have freckles which some people like but I do not so I use products like this to give me coverage and hide them (only a few of the more noticeable ones, not my entire face :O). This is in fact my 4th time buying this product and I don't think I'll ever stop. My only problem, important word being 'only', is that sometimes, if I've got too much foundation on, this concealer does crease beneath my eyes which is annoying but most of the time for me it means I haven't blended it in properly or like I said, I am wearing way too much foundation underneath it. With a smaller fluffy blush, I always set this concealer with powder just to properly seal it for a long day at Uni or work. 

More Real Techniques brushes! The more I am learning about make up, the more importance I place on the application and not just the products themselves. I decided since I purchased a new powder, I would purchase a powder brush to go with it. The stippling brush though, was for experimental purposes. I wanted to try it out for myself since the buffing brush I'm using currently is leaving brush streaks that take extra blended time in order to get rid of which is time consuming (aint nobody got time to blend!). Also, because Boots is just amazing, it had a deal so I got the stippling brush for about £6 normally it is priced at £11.99. 

I always complain how my skin doesn't look illuminating enough or youthful, I find sometimes just foundation and powder doesn't satisfy me enough so I needed something extra to add some glow all over my face and after doing some online blog reading and Youtube video watching, I came across this  gem (literally). It's MAC's Strobe lotion and I've already tried it out and I love it. It does exactly what I was looking for, giving my face shine and vibrancy. I wear it under my foundation but because my skin is slightly dry I moisturise before using this so my skin looks nice a soft when my make up is finished. I wasn't too keen on the price of this, but I know I will make full use of it on a daily basis, it was just over £20. For night's out, I would mix this with my foundation so my skin really is glowing and looks nice :) The lotion is white/pearly and makes an instant difference to my skin when I apply it. 

FINALLY! I purchased an Urban Decay 'Naked' palette, I have had my eye on them for a long time and after looking at the pictures of the Naked 3 palette I decided I preferred the Naked 1 palette. The colours are amazing, super wearable, easily blendable (is that a word?) and just perfection. Debenhams had a 15% off sale so I managed to get this from £37 to £31 which I was very pleased about. I was actually disappointed with the brush it came with, I don't think I'm going to ever need it. However, as well as the amazing colours, this palette came with a mini eye primer which was much needed and I have heard some great things about it and they're all true, it really does work. My eye shadow doesn't crease and it actually stays perfectly in place until the end of the day which is what every girl wants. 
                                 

Kate Moss, Rimmel: My Collection

Since Kate Moss collaborated with Rimmel, the world of make up and beauty has gone wild over these products. I would definitely rank some of these colours above high end lipsticks. When wearing the darker colours I do tend to use lip liners just to make sure the lipstick stays in place and looks extra neat. They are highly pigmented but at the same time really moisturising, they smell great too. The 'Lasting Finish' lipsticks are matte which is my preferred finish on lipsticks, I'm not too keen on glossy lips.  I love the range of colours, there are quite a few shades of red which is my favourite lipstick colour ever so this makes me happy. I love lipsticks and I know a lot of people rave about top end lipsticks, particularly MAC, but I prefer these over any! They're extremely inexpensive at just £5.49, Boots currently hold a 3 for 2 deal on Rimmel products so I'd definitely splash a humble £10 on 3 super great lipsticks. 

I purchased the shade 107 because of Zoella - a favourite youtube blogger of mine who wears this shade and it looks amazing on her and it's currently my favourite 'fall' lipstick. 

First Haul! Beauty/Make up

Hey guys, so today I took a trip to the shopping centre/mall (w.e you wanna call it) and grabbed a few items... 

1. I finally got colour matched by a professional! I normally just wear cheap Rimmel foundations (don't hate on drugstore) and they've been really great but I thought it was finally time to treat myself to a luxury foundation. The lady at YSL named Clio (hey Clio if you're reading this), was really helpful and we had the same skin types (normal to dry skin) so she was the perfect person to go to for advice! I sampled YSL La Teint Touche Eclat in three types of beige: beige flat, beige gold and beige rose, all in shade no. 30. I went for the beige flat because it complemented my skin tone and features the most.

 Foundation: YSL Touche Eclat (£28.00)

Velvet Goth collection #love

2. I walked past the new Models Own stand in my local mall which opened two day

s ago and had a look around browsing their range and fell in love with their 'Velvet Goth' collection! I purchased the midnight blue colour and couldn't wait to wear it as soon as I got home. I can tell this will be a Winter favourite of mine already. 

Nail polish: Models Own, Velvet Goth Collection in 'Valerian' (£5.00)

3. Third item I purchased and this is largely thanks to my lovely friend/fellow blogger Anila (check out her beauty blog here: http://anilas-armadio.blogspot.co.uk), was the 'Real Techniques' brushes by Samantha Chapman. Since I invested in a good foundation, I justified this purchase as the application of the product is equally as important as the product itself! (Trying to justify your shopping addictions is evidence of guilt). These are great quality brushes, not too fancy, but extremely practical and super cheap as well!

Brushes: Real Techniques (£21.99)

4. I've read great reviews on this product and I'm already a fan of the brand anyway. I needed an affordable moisturiser so I went for this one.

Moisturiser: Simple, Hydrating Light Moisturiser (around the £3 price)

5. My make up collection is slowly expanding while my storage for it all is decreasing. I was in desperate need of a make up bag because I keep losing products. While I was in Boots I saw this Ted Baker one and had to have it! It's spacious, pretty and quite affordable. 

Make up bag: Ted Baker (£10)

6. A few people ask me what mascara I use and there are only two I really love. This is my all time favourite mascara. It's a Rimmel product, super cheap and I've been renewing it for 2-3 years. My second favourite but I didn't buy this time round is, 'They're Real' by Benefit. 

Mascara: Rimmel, Black/Black Volume Flash Mascara (£5.99)

7. I appreciate this one is slightly out of place with Beauty/Make up but I had to put it in! It's a 2014 Calendar with each month containing Banksy's art work. I found it in Paperchase and fell it love. I love calendars because I can visually see dates and have things to look forward to every month. 

Calendar: Paperchase (£10)

Finally my OOTD:

Shirt: H&M
Necklace: Zara
Jumper: Pull and Bear

Navy Skinny Jeans: H&M