Wednesday 27 February 2019

Too Faced Hangover Primer


I have never been one to invest in primers or have much interest in them. I bought the Too Faced hangover primer a few months ago and I have really loved using it. Since my skin is still fragile and sensitive from my roaccutane treatment, I have been very cautious with the skincare I have put on my skin. This has been an excellent addition into my routine. I apply my trustworthy Kiehl's oil free moisturiser and then I apply this primer on top. It has a thin cream consistency which has a pleasant coconut and fruity scent to it which I find very refreshing and not too overbearing. It applies easily on to the skin and blends in beautifully giving my skin a light luminous glow.

It adds a level of hydration and helps to replenish moisture which exactly what my skin craves. It is naturally very dry, and it needs all the additional hydration that is possible. They claim this is down to probiotic based ingredients combined with coconut water. I think primers are properly put to their test with how they perform with base products. I have used primers in the past which have not settled well with my foundations, but this one was perfect. It has the tiniest amount of stickiness to its texture which is why this does so well as it creates a great base. Overall, I am definitely going to be repurchasing this as I have been really happy with how it looks and feels, and how it combines with my foundation. I use my fingers to apply the primer, and then blend my foundation in with my beautyblender.

As always I think it important to discuss the price. I would definitely consider this a high end product, as it is £27 for 38g. This has surprisingly lasted me a long time as I only use two small droplets for my entire face; therefore a little goes a long way. If a product works well for me it is something I am willing to invest in.

Lucy
xoxo








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Wednesday 20 February 2019

Primark Liquid Glitter Eyeshadows




In 2018, so many glitter liquid eyeshadows were released and at first I was a little dubious as to whether I was going to love or hate them. Lots of brands both low and high end started to bring them out, but I was still unsure whether to invest or not. Then as always good old Primark jumped on the band wagon and I thought it was time to try them. I featured Primark's beauty range quite a few times last year. Primark is known for duping every must have fashion piece, and they have branched out into beauty. One of their most impressive products was their dupe of Huda's nine quad palettes, which I wrote a post about which you can read here.

Primark's beauty Instagram page is where they post all of their new releases and when I saw their glitter liquid eyeshadows I knew it was time to invest. They are only £3 each which I thought was such an excellent price. I thought even if they were rubbish at least I hadn't spent a lot of money. As always with these must have products and with Primark's weekly turn around they were hard to find.

I bought two different glittery shades silver and pink. I think there are three in the line but at my local store there was only these two available. I did purchase these in December which meant it was perfect for me to put them to the test during the festive period. I tried them straight away as soon as I had bought them. I was intrigued what the consistency and glitter was going to look when applied to my eyes. I like the small flat doe foot applicator as it makes the product easy to apply.

I first applied this without any eyeshadow or base as I was wondering if I could apply it straight on to my eyelids. I found that it was hard to get an equal layer, and the consistency was quite thin and very fluid like. I was going on a night out a few weeks later so I thought I could properly put them to the test then. On the night I was going out I wanted to be able to put them fully through their paces, so I put the P.Louise eyeshadow base followed by a nude eyeshadow from the Urban Decay 3 palette to create a solid base. I first applied silver, which is very confusing as I can 100% confirm this is a light gold champagne shade. Like I have said the formula is quite wet, much more than what I thought it would be. I had a bit of a love/hate relationship with the eyeshadow at this stage. I found that the wet consistency allows you to try and get an equal coverage. However, I have to stand with my eyes fully closed whilst it is still drying as if your eyes are even slightly open it transfers everywhere, which I found out firsthand can become very messy. Once the eyeshadow has completely dried which doesn't take too long, I was impressed with how it looked.

I also tested out the shade pink, which I once again can confirm is definitely a rose gold and has very little 'pink' in it. This has a slightly thicker formula and pigmentation than the other shade. They worked exactly the same in terms of application and consistency. Pink certainly has more colour running through it, as it is a much darker shade. Once dried I found the colour pay off good, but with both shades it felt a little bit gritty on my eyes. The glitter aspect is surprisingly good and is a stand out part of the product. Although, once on the eye I felt as though it emphasised the creases on my eyelids despite my base. To finish the look I applied some eyeliner and lashes. Overall, I felt as though the glitter eyeshadow stayed put throughout the night and didn't budge.

The packagings of these are very much like the Stila ones as they have the same rectangular shaped plastic bottle. The only difference is that these have a glittery lid, whilst Stila's is a matte gold. You get 4.5ml which I did not think is going to last very long at all, but I will wait and see.

I have worn both of these at least three times now as I just could not make my mind up as to how I felt about them. There are definitely some really good parts to the formula and how they look. But, I also feel as though they have some negatives and there is definitely room for improvement. Trying these ignited my urge for wanting to try out more glitter liquid eyeshadows. I have heard that the Stila ones are the best ones out there to try, but they are pretty costly. I would not wear these on a daily basis to work or to pop to the shops, so it would be a big cost to only wear now and again. When I go out I love the idea of a night time glitter eye and these liquid eyeshadows tick the boxes of wanting that going out-out look without having to spend a fortune.

Lucy
xoxo



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Sunday 17 February 2019

Mac Fairly Precious Blush




MAC holds a special place in my heart since my teen years. I remember having my first MAC makeover age 18 and falling in love with the brand. On that day I purchased a blush named Margin, which I have bought time and time again over the past 6 years as it is my must have. During my last makeup clear out I realised that blushes were really lacking within my collection. I had two or three blushes which I reached for over and over again, and I wanted to branch out and buy something to jazz up my blushing game.

I went to MAC and went on a swatching marathon and fairly precious instantly stood out to me. It comes from their extra dimension range, which is part of their liquid-powder collection. This is very much a new concept to me. Basically, it is a mixture of combining the smooth consistency of a cream blended with the finish of the powder. This is supposed to give a second-skin finish, which I love.

It says I can use it wet or dry. I have to say I have never applied any blusher wet before, but I am always open to trying new concepts. The shade is a light pinky champagne which is perfect for my skin tone as I don't like a blush which is too heavy or dark. I also think this has that perfect amount of shimmer. I do not like it when blushes or any makeup item in fact contain chunky pieces of glitter. When I am doing my makeup no matter what season it is I like that glowy, fresh look to my skin and a little shimmer in your blush never does any harm

MAC has definitely put up its prices over the years, but hasn't all high end beauty brands? This cost £23 which I know is a lot of money for one blusher, however blushes last a long time for me. I always get a good few years out of one, so I see it as a product which gets its money worth. I have always found that with MAC blushes a little goes a long way. You will probably be getting the impression that I really, really like this, and that's because I do. I have been reaching for it on a daily basis for the last few months since adding it to my beauty stash. Like I say I don't own many blushes and this was the perfect addition and filled that blusher hole that was in my life.

Lucy
xoxo
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Wednesday 13 February 2019

No Spend January


So in January up until payday which was 28 days I decided to challenge myself to go on a mega saving campaign. It is only when you actually do something like this you realise what you spend your money on. I have some big travel plans in the works this year, meaning a lot of money needs to be saved. I do have a little disclaimer as I love doing posts like this but as my outgoings will vary compared to others, I always feel like it is open to opposition. Yes I still live home, something which I still love. Yes I am saving for a house. However, what I spend my money on is my choice, and I believe people can spend their money on what they want to!

I had an approximate idea of wanting to save £500 after my out goings. Each month I have a list of bills which I pay every single month, so I took of the total of all the outgoings and went from there. This was not including the £200 that I had already put into my help to buy house ISA which I do each month. More than anything else, this was a challenge and a bit of a reality shock all rolled into one. The main goal of this was to not buy any material goods e.g. any clothing or makeup.

So the first thing which I bought in January was a McDonald's on new year's day as I was horrifically hungover. I was clearly very ill as I spent £8.28! The day after went to Waterstones and spent £6.49 on a book. I then made a last minute decision to buy an additional present for my sister's birthday which was £30. On the 7th January I spent £15 in Boots, I am not sure what on but I don't think it included any makeup. It was more skin and health care buys. On the 10th I went to Aldi and spent £15 on food to get my through my upcoming night shifts, along with £2.60 on cleaning products and another £7.95 in Superdrug. I then naughtily went to McDonald's and spent £4.68.

My mum did not help as I was in need of a new suitcase for my holiday next month, and she saw a cracking bargain in Morrison's so I spent £35 on a new one. I did need a suitcase and it was a bargain, but I definitely broke the rules buying this! On the 17th January I cheekily went to Nando's for a catch up with a friend, and also managed to spend £14 in Asda. I once again went to Aldi and spent £10 before another week of night shifts. I feel like my major failure of this experiment took place within 2 days, I went for a carvery with the work girls and spent £9, had a cup of tea from Costa and then sneakily treated myself to some new gym gear from Decathlon costing £29.45. I also took £30 cash out along the way to pay for my dance lessons and to buy other bits and bobs.

I added up every single transaction I made excluding the expected bills and it totalled £240.08. I bought other little things here and there costing £2 and £3 which added up to about £20. Now I thought it would actually have been a lot less than the £240 as I had really, really tried. It simply shows me how buying little things here and there add up quickly. I had in my head that it was about £150. I was doing really well, but I can be impulsive which I have shown when I managed to spend £50 in two days without any thought.

I know my usual shopping habits include a few trips to Zara and a few ASOS orders so I have definitely identified that it is the materialistic goods e.g. clothing and makeup which make up a large amount of my 'treats'. This isn't actually new news to me as I know that this is where I downfall when saving. Out of the £500 target I set on payday I had £482 left so I think I did pretty well.

Having set the challenge I found that I was feeling guilty about buying things and that definitely stopped me buying anything unnecessary (most of the time!). I am quite an impulse buyer, and as soon as payday comes I can easily blow £100 on clothes in one session without thinking about it. During January I also cleared my clothes out and realised the vast amount that I actually have. I am pretty sure that I will be sticking to minimal clothes purchases this year. I think it would be a great challenge to get out cash at the start of the month and only have a certain amount each week. When I have cash it definitely makes me think twice about buying something.

This has definitely shown me that I am capable to save if I want to. On the whole I think I am quite sensible with my money. I know I am lucky enough to be able to buy myself things, but there are definitely cuts that I can make. The main goal of no spend January was to not buy any material goods e.g. any clothing or makeup and I think I did fairly well with that. I am definitely going to try and take what I have learnt into the upcoming months, and hopefully save enough for my dream trip at the end of the year. It is definitely achievable and I have proved that I should stop moaning and start saving!

Lucy
xoxo
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Wednesday 6 February 2019

Sephora High Coverage Concealer


Sephora's high coverage concealer has been a favourite of mine for years now. Every time I go on a trip to Sephora I pick one up. I remember a good 4 years ago it costs approximately 7 Euros and it was the rave amongst many beauty bloggers. Now it cost 14 Euros, which I think is probably down to it being such a bestselling product. You can see what I picked up on my latest Sephora trip here.

I find it hard to pin point just what I love about this. I know I love it though as it features regularly in my favourite products posts. I think it all falls down to it being so creamy, I hate nothing more than a concealer that feels instantly drying when applied to the skin. This is probably down to my own skin which is dry, so I opt for a creamier consistency. I have tried many, many concealers over my blogging years, and like I say I always go back for more with this. In comparison to the Revolution conceal and define concealer which has the highest coverage concealer which I have ever tried, this is medium-high coverage on my first application, but it is definitely building to high coverage which I think is the preference for many consumers. We like to have control of how much we are applying, as we all know exactly how much we like on our own skins. We as consumers like to have the option to build our concealer and although I love the Revolution one for blemishes, it does not allow you to build it up as the consistency is thicker and it is all or nothing with full coverage.

I apply this using a damp beauty blender, as I find it manages to blend with my foundation just the way I like it. I have also used my fingers to blend this is and it has worked just as well. It comes with quite a flat ended doe-foot applicator which makes it easy to apply, and it reduces wasting product as you have easy control as to how much you want to apply. I have tried two shades of this 20 creme and 22 natural. I find that 20 creme has more of a yellow undertone and I actually ended up with this by accident when my mum picked it up for me on her holidays. I used this under my eyes for brightening as it was a little bit lighter and I found it very refreshing as once again the creamy consistency blends flawlessly. 22 natural is the shade I have been using for years, as it matches my skin tone better as it has a pinker undertone to it.

The bottle contains 3.4ml which I think is pretty much the standard amount for all concealers, which does tend to last me a good few months. I also like the sleek design of the bottle as it makes it easy to travel with. I am off to Paris in two weeks and I will definitely be picking two of these up when I go into Sephora. It is still such a shame that Sephora is not sold in the UK even through any of our high end department stores. They have also made their website very hard to use and you have to now order through their French store. That is the exact reason why I pick up a few on my holidays each year so I never run out!

Lucy
xoxo

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