February Round Up

I can't believe it's March next week - I still feel like Christmas was mere moments ago. 

Being the month of love, February held many for me. Braids are my new addiction. They're so easy, I've even slept in them and carried on the next day (shamefully covers face).

Birchbox pleasantly surprised me. Along with a lovely little Spectrum brush, I received a LOC eyeshadow stick which is literally life.

Valentine's swung by, for which we indulged in afternoon tea! Best of all it was gluten free so I could gorge on all the scones I wanted, YAY!! 

Primark Matte Lip Crayon in Nude

Matte Lip Crayon - Nude

I have to admit Primark isn't the first brand you think of when you think of make up but it might fall on to the radar after using this little lip crayon. 

The crayon itself has something quite MAC-esque about it, with the coloured end on black pencil. If I was going to be picky, I think it's a pain to have to sharpen lip colour in this day and age; I prefer retractable but for £2, I'll have to swallow my laziness.

The colour is called Nude - it's a your-lips-but-better shade. Very daytime, very wearable. The product is very creamy and surprisingly pigmented. The colour stays well but the pigment you get on first application fades a bit so you would need to reapply throughout the day.

All in all a very lovely product, I'll definitely keep an eye out for other colours!

**Hint: Look by the tills, this was hiding there** 

Kiko Milano Cream Radiance Highlighter

Kiko Milano has become ever increasingly prevelant throughout the beauty community recently - especially so in February for the heart shaped bullet of their lipsticks. 

I picked up this highlight a couple of months back and have pretty much worn it to death since. 

I really love that rather than a pink tone it's more golden which suits my skin better. The shimmer is really subtle too, meaning you get the glow without looking like you've just emerged from a toddler's glitter princess party.

The product is a cream but it feels almost like a really luxurious eyeshadow - really buttery and blendable. It's super pigmented as you can see from the swatch, so to tone it down apply between your foundation and powder. However, if like me, you want to look like a sunbeam you are then highlight after setting your concealer/contour.

This was my first product from Kiko but I think I'll be making future purchases from there soon! 

Barry M Natural Glow 2 Palette

Every brand and it's cat has duped the Naked palettes and Barry M is no exception. This palette holds six shadows (3 matte, 3 shimmer) as well as an eye primer.

Now, I mainly bought this for the first shade, it's almost my skin tone and I haven't found a single pan in quite this colour. I thought this would be great for cleaning up a cut crease or blending out for smokier colours. The other two matte shades are OK - they're pretty colours but the payoff is less than I'd have hoped for, but definitely buildable if you've got the time. 

On to the shimmers, I found myself wanting, again, for these to be slightly more pigmented but these would be great for a pop of shimmer to a halo eye look. I have found that the chamoagne shimmer is such a pretty highlighter though so I've pretty much been utilising that for an everyday glow.

I like the primer. I had read reviews saying it was greasy but I totally disagree. I thought it had a silky feel to it, and applied well. It definitely improved the longevity of the shadows too!

All in all, it's a nice enough palette with buildable colours but for £6, it will do the job!

Garnier Pure Active Micellar Cleansing Water

I'm a massive fan of Garnier's Micellar range so when I spied an oily formulation I literally almost died with excitement! 

Firstly, it's an absolute bargain! I think it retails at about  £4.99 but I always pick it up when the Boots skincare events are on so I paid £3.32 for this mahussive bottle. #winning.

So... this promises to remove makeup, dirt and excess sebum without rubbing, leaving the skin clean and purified. A pretty big promise to live up to but it delivers! I use two cotton pads to clean all the make up from my face and that's pretty impressive considering I wear alot of makeup. 

After removal, my face feels refreshed and soft as well as really clean; I've tried other micellar waters and I always feel some sort of residue after use but there is nothing like that with the Garnier range. 

I like to swipe this over my face in the morning's just to revive my skin after sleep. 

This is an absolute staple of my skincare and head over heels for this new formulation. 

Look of the Day #1

The sun shining through my window on this glorious morning made me feel like throwing caution to the wind and shortening my sleeves and donning the Bans - I know, I know.... I'm so reckless... Also I'm loving half up space buns at the moment, I feel like I'm on a throwback journey to my 90's childhood.

A very minimal outfit and makeup today featuring my Public Desire babies.

Face

Foundation :: Revlon Colourstay 

Concealer :: Revlon Colorstay concealer 

Contour :: LA Pro Girl (Beautiful Bronze)

Set :: Soap and Glory Instant Retouch 

Brows :: ABH Dipbrow

Shadow :: The Balm Nude'tude (Sultry)

Lashes :: Ardell Demi Wispies 

Lips :: Rimmel Liner in Capuccinno /

 Revlon Matte Balm

Outfit 

Slogan Tee :: eBay

Jeggings :: F&F

Creepers :: Public Desire 

Pantry @ 108 - Afternoon Tea

Being gluten free does presents a problem when it comes to cakes, scones and sandwiches, however my ever so lovely better half sourced this little gem as my Valentines date. 

I'm a bit of a tea addict so I was super pleased that there was such a wide variety of choices including green, herbal and lemon but embracing the traditional element I had English Breakfast.

I scoffed my way through the cucumber sandwiches, brownies and my favourite - scones smothered in jam and clotted cream. Pure bliss!! Everything was presented on 3 tier stands on beautiful grey striped china - it was so gorgeous. 

The restaurant is a 2 minute walk from Oxford Street so perfect for a spot of shopping after! 

http://108brasserie.com/menus/108-pantry/

Flawless Foundation with Revlon Colourstay

Colorstay has always and will always be my favourite foundation. It's full coverage and blends well, as well as being perfectly formulated for oily skin.

This foundation is the bigger, better looking sister of Photoready, which I also love.

Teeny tiny criticism; it has no pump. This peeves me so much! To dispense the product you have to tap the bottle onto the back of your hand, which can take a while considering it's thick compared to other foundations. Other than the lack of pump, I like the heavy, glass bottle which makes it feel more expensive than it's £12.99 price tag. 

I always find the colour range on Revlon particularly good for more yellow based skin tones such as mine - Natural Beige is my shade of choice. The foundation is, as I said, very thick but a little goes a long way. I roughly apply it with a foundation brush and then blend with a damp beauty blender.

There are two variations of this product; Normal/Combination & Combination/Oily - I use the oily version and I can hand on heart say, it lasts all day even without primer or powder. Add those in and you could near on get 24 hours out of it. 

Taupe Lip Dreams

In the spirit of Valentines day, I'm sharing my new love, this Maybelline 24hr Superstay Lip Colour in Soft Taupe (615).

I wanted a darker neutral - something to give me that 90's-esque lip. I picked this up in the expectation that it would give me my desired effect along with the promise of being super long-lasting... I was not disappointed.

So, the way this works is you apply the colour first, just like a lipgloss. Leave it to dry for a couple of minutes then swipe the balm over the top to moisturise.

I really like the colour. It's like a dark beige that's almost slightly grey in some lights. I think it's perfect for a very monotone look with a taupe eye.

Let's talk about staying power. For want of a better analogy, this sticks like shit and truly does last for 24 hours. I would however top up every few hours, just to keep it looking fresh.

There's lots of pretty colours in the range, and I'm definitely going back for more! 

Happy Valentines! 

LOC Champagne Problems

Opening my Birchbox with a slightly pessimistic attitude this month, I wasn't exactly expecting much if I'm totally honest. I feel like me and the B-box have had a poor run the past couple months but lo and behold, I was wrong...

This little ray of sunshine is LOC One & Done shadow stick in Champagne Problems. I am loving this product! It's a beautiful, creamy shadow stick, so blendable and pigmented. It's so pretty I even forgot about the Spectrum brush for a hot minute, but that's a story for another post...

Pick these up for £8 in the Birchbox store!

Contouring for a square face...

We can't all be blessed with delicate, elfin features of the supermodel kind but thanks to the rise of contouring we can make our face shape more flattering.

I have a square face - wide forehead in line with my jaw which I feel can make me look slightly masculine. Typical contouring patterns can leave me looking a little unbalanced but through copious amount of trial and error I think I've got it nailed!

Highlighting 
This look is very contour based so highlight is really to a minimum here.
  -  A thin line from half way down the forehead to just after the bridge of the nose.
  - Two lines just above the the eyebrows.
  - A triangle on the chin.
  - An upside down triangle under each eye.
  - A dot on the cupids bow.

Contour 
To bring the edges of the face in you ned to shade the wider parts of your face.
  - Around the corners of the forehead.
  - Across the base of the nose.
  - A line down each cheekbone.
  - A small curved line on each side of the jaw.

When blended and set move on to the glow....

Glow
Pop a shimmer on the following areas to further highlight...
  - On the very tip of the nose.
  - On the tops of the cheekbones.
  - Above the arch of the eyebrow.

These tips should slenderise the face and accentuate the nose, as well as heightening the cheekbones and brow bone!

A Dark Berry Lip

This pretty little lippy is Va Va Violet from Revlon. Perfect for when your make up needs that hit of vamp.

This product has a beautiful formula, giving you a semi-matte, berry-plum pout. Pair with a smoked out golden eye for the perfect combo!

DIY glitter frames

If you want to add colour to a room without commitment try these DIY frames. These Pinterest-worthy babies are incredibly easy to do and very cheap! 

All you will need are plain frames (with or without a mount is your preference), wallpaper samples and scissors.

Cut the wallpaper sample so that it fits behind the mount. Place the wallpaper in the frame and clip together. When you feel like a change just unclip and put new wallpaper in! 

Try marble or printed quotes for an Instagram ready feel!