I've started a mac eye shadow palette

Swatches 

naked lunch, all that glitters, sable, satin taupe and embark

After a long time of waiting, I finally started a mac eye shadow palette! I've recently become eye shadow obsessed, funny considering about a half year ago that I never, ever worn them! I'm already in love with this palette, it gets used every day! The eye shadows are all really pigmented, compliment each other nicely and apply super easily! My favourite combo is naked lunch all over the lid and then satin taupe blended in the crease! As you can see my palette is looking very lonely with ten whole empty spaces! So I would love some recommendations to splurge on when I've done my spending ban (which has not been going to well as of recently, try harder kelly!)

What shades should I pop in next?

♥

Out with the old and in with the new

So as you probably know I am a huge fan of liz earle skin care products. I religiously used her products for a good year, but recently they have not been agreeing with my skin. I found that my skin was quite red, sore and itchy and was becoming a little more 'problem skin' like. So I decided to shake up my skin care routine to see if that helps.

I've decided to try a few origins products which are good for helping with problem skin, in particular the zero oil cleanser, super spot remover and out of trouble mask. I then bought some products targeted at sensitive skin, the boots botanics sensitive skin relief serum and then aveeno moisturiser, which is also apparently good for eczema, which I have on my face also. 

Fingers crossed these products help my skin! I will review them once I have used them for a good while! 

Please tell me your thoughts on these products!

♥

Little skin care blog sale

My spending ban has made me realise I own too much stuff I don't use. So I'm selling some bits on here if anyone is interested.

Uk only please

Postage will be £2.50 plus 50p per additional item

Please leave your pay pal email so I can invoice you :)

Soap and glory the daily smooth body butter £4

Used about four times, pretty much full.

Avene cold cream hand cream £3

Used around five times, lots left!

Superdrug vitamin e eye cream £1.50

Only used once!

 Nivea express hydration primer normal/combination skin £2.50

Usage shown, probably used around four times

Liz earle skin repair moisturiser normal/combination skin £8

Usage shown, about 75% left

Body shop cocoa body butter £4

Usage shown, about 85% left

♥

Why I'm looking forward to 2013

Image source

Happy new year guys! If you haven't guessed by the title, I'm super excited for 2013! I'm hoping to graduate, get my first teaching job, get myself a car, move somewhere new, smile more and see more places! One of my resolutions is definitely to buy less and save more and I've decided to do a 50 day spending ban to help me on my way! If that goes well, ill take it to 100 days! I've decided that this year I want to start documenting every single day of my life for the next five years in a one line a day journal. It will be such a lovely thing to look back on and show my achievements, especially as this year should have many!

I would love to know what you are excited about!

♥

2012 favourites!

2012 has been my 'main chunk of my blogging life', so I have discovered so many lovely products!

It was hard to narrow this down, but the products here are just my absolute favourites from this year!

 2012 make up favourites

Mua heaven and earth palette

This has been my most used eye shadow palette of 2012.

I just love the quality, the lasting time, the shades and the price.

This is a real staple in my make up collection

YSL touche eclat foundation

This has been a recent discovery, but I've found my all time favourite foundation!

My skin is dull, often dry and red from eczema and has a couple blemishes (lovely).

But this foundation covers it all and makes my face look so glowly!

Benefit sugarbomb blush

I have loved this blush for a long time.
It's just an easy to wear gorgeous shimmery peach.

Elf tickled pink blush
Another blush favourite, this time from elf (the purse is happy)
I really like the colour of this, just a subtle, everyday, light matte pink.
The quality for the price is unbelievable!

Mac studio fix concealer

As I mentioned earlier my skin isn't in the best condition.

This concealer covers everything, it's amazing

It's perfect for my handbag, covers dark circles without caking and leaves such a natural finish.

2012 hair care favourites

Only a few hair care favourites from the year, but honestly these are amazing products! 

I've tried a lot of hair products and they have been good, but these are really really good!

Redken colour extend radiant 10

I don't even have coloured hair so can't comment on this extending the life of my hair colour.

But, this has given my hair so much shine! 

It's a really quick fix for out of control, dull and frizzy hair!

It's leaves my hair super sleek and full of life!

Aussie take the heat deep treatment

This is the hair mask my hair has been waiting for!
It's just so thick and creamy and really moisturises my hair deeply.
It leaves it really soft and manageable too!

L'oreal elvive extraordinary oil
Quite a recent discovery, but it's my favourite oil!
Even over moroccanoil (something I thought I'd never say)
It just ticks all the right boxes, moisture, shine, smells good, controls frizz, the lot!

2012 everything else favourites

Soap and glory sugar crush body scrub
Probably my nicest 'scent' discovery of 2012!
It just reminds me of lime coke and it's a fab exfoliator!
(I actually only just tired soap and glory for the first time this year, I'm hooked!)

Body shop body butters
In general, I've been loving the body shop body butters!
I use them everyday to moisture and make my skin smell delightful.
Almond and cocoa have been my faves!

Liz earle super skin concentrate
I love liz earle skin care products, they are just so natural.
This oil has sorted out some pretty bad dry phases and even oily ones!
It has a relaxing scent and makes my skin look fresh and plump!

Nuxe reve de miel lip balm
For so long I suffered with dry, chapped and sore lips.
Until I took the plunge this summer and bought this!
It's been on my lips everyday since I got it!

Juicy couture viva la juicy perfume 
I'm a huge fan of very sweet smelling scents.
This is just one of them!
I adore this perfume, it's become one of my favourites!


So there we go, my 2012 favourites!
I'm excited to see what I discover throughout 2013!
♥

My little peanut and pickles

I thought I would share with you two little guys that are a big part of my life.

Peanut and pickles, my two gerbils!

I've only had them since september, but they are just the best pets!

They are very, very, very curious, everything I do, everything I put in their cage they have to explore!

They thump their feet when they get excited and stand up like meerkats to have a little nosey!

They are burrowing animals, so live in a gerbilarium which has a big tank at the bottom for tunnelling.

They chew a lot! Ill spend lots of money on toys, but they would much rather have a cardboard box!

They are very social! Hence why I have two, they get very depressed without a cage mate :(

They also love humans, especially pickles, who loves to climb up my dressing gown sleeve. 

They are like two peas in a pod, they always play, sleep together and groom each other.

They are so cute and I'm so glad I got them! 

♥

Empties 003

(for some odd reason the majority of these products are either from liz earle or dove)

Dove go fresh deodorant 

To me a deodorant is a deodorant, it does the job! It did smell lovely though, it's pomegranate and lemon scented. 

Repurchase? - I do regularly

Liz earle eye bright soothing eye lotion 

I loved using this! It helped my often irritated and puffy eyes feel  and look normal again!

Repurchase? - It's not an essential so probably not

Liz earle cleanse and polish

My favourite cleanser! (as you probably know). However, I feel that I want to try something new as I've been using this for a year now! This may be one of them 'if it isn't broke don't fix it' situations!

Repurchase? - yes in the future

Dove colour radiance deep treatment

I don't have coloured hair so can't comment on the results of that. But this did leave my hair amazingly feeling soft like the nourishing oil one does

Repurchase? - not this particular one as it's for coloured hair

My face cosmetics my mix foundation

This was actually a lovely dewy natural foundation, I posted about it here.

Repurchase? - probably not, lasting time wasn't great

Liz earle instant boost skin tonic

This leaves my skin looking fresh, bright and removes any extra make up cleansing missed.

Repurchase - already have

Liz earle deep cleansing mask

My skin has decided to change it's skin type and now become 'problem skin'. Thanks skin :( This helps to control any excess oil and calm my breakouts.

Repurchase - already have

White glo toothpaste

You know when you go to the dentist and they clean your teeth with that 'gritty stuff'? Well this tasted like that, not good. It didn't whiten my teeth either.

Repurchase - no!

Dove nourishing oil care shampoo and conditioner

I love the nourishing oil deep conditioner so had high expectations of these. They are not bad products at all, just nothing special. They left my hair feeling clean and conditioned.

Repurchase - probably not

Collection 2000 lasting perfection concealer 

A loved concealer by many! I've bought this a couple times not. It's my go to concealer for blemishes.

But I'm after something lighter for under my eyes, which can be quite dry at times!

Repurchase - yes as it's amazing at covering spots!

Do you have any under eye concealer and cleanser recommendations?

♥

Christmas beauty wishlist

Balance me wonder eye cream - I still haven't got round to buying this beauty of a product! It just ticked all the boxes for me, brightens, tightens, intensely moisturises and de-puffs!

Models own winter wonderland collection - I tend to wear a glitter nail polish over everything! This is just the perfect set, especially in winter!

NYX blushers in taupe and dusty rose - I've heard a lot about taupe being the perfect contour shade for pale girls! For that reason I really want to try this product! Dusty rose also looks like a lovely shade, I don't own many blushes that shade!

Origins ginzing mascara - From reading blog posts this mascara does wonders for your eye lashes! I'm always trying new mascara's and this one seems like a good one to try! It also claims to brighten your eyes too!

Antipodes divine face oil - Since falling in love with the liz earle super skin concentrate I've wanted to try a couple more face oils! Especially as it's winter and my skin is quite dry at the moment!

Sugar crush body buttercream - I'm a huge sugar crush body scrub fan, just because it simply smells amazing! I therefore want to constantly smell like this so I need this body cream! They also have it in a body wash too!

Antipodes vanilla pod day cream - As much as I love my liz earle skin care routine which I've sworn by for a year now, I feel like a change. There has been a lot of hype around antipodes skin care and we all know I'm a sucker for a hype! It sounds like it would smell delicious too!

What are you wishing for?

♥

Liz earle super skin concentrate

Liz Earle super skin concentrate

I've never really been that interested in skin oils, mainly because I've never tried any. But I received Liz Earles super skin concentrate free with their monthly skin care packages and had to go give it a go!  The oil claims to soften dry or mature skin and balance oily skin, so it's pretty much suitable for anyone! It does have a strong smell and at first I wasn't that keen on it. But it's bearable and has become quite a relaxing scent now.

I apply this after cleaning and toning, but before moisturising. I find that moisturiser helps to sink this product in. However, it does sit on the skin a little, so I always wear my hair up to avoid getting oily hair. By morning my skin is soft and plump and I find my make up applies so smoothly! This really does balance my oily skin, more so than any oil controlling masks I use!

What's your favourite skin oil?

♥

November favourites

Urban Decay naked palette 2 

I was certainly late to the party with this! But oh my I'm in love! The shades are just perfect for me, the quality of the eye shadows are lovely too, really buttery, gliding on really smoothly. You can just create so many looks with this palette. Although I like to save this for best, Mua eye shadow palettes are a much cheaper option for day time wear! 

Revlon lip butter in berry smoothie*

This is just my perfect winter lipstick shade! As with all Revlon lip butters, the quality is amazing, they are very moisturising and have great pigmentation! I find due to it's dark shade that this lipstick stains the lips a little, in a good way, which makes the lipstick last much longer!

Nuxe reve de miel lip balm

Winter always results in very dry and often chapped lips! But luckily this year I have this beauty to help fight this and make my lips lovely and smooth! This has been one of my favourite buys this year!

Liz Earle super skin concentrate 

This beauty is my skins saviour! Whenever my skin is feeling dry I just roll some of this oil onto my face and by morning my skin feels softer, looks plumper and is full of moisture! I have oily skin and I actually find that this helps to control it in some strange way! It's also very relaxing, can see this lasting a long time!

What have been your favourites?

♥

Highlighters

Swatches from left to right

Topshop prism, Nars albatross, sleek contour kit highlight and technic highlights

I do love a good highlighter, they just add that extra sparkle to your make up and on nights out and in pictures it really catches the light and makes your make up look really fresh and glowy!

Even though they are all highlighters, they are all quite different. Topshop's prism (which I'm not sure is sold anymore), is a more bronzey toned highlighter and is a cream product. I find, due to it's bronze shimmer, that it blends really well with a bronzer, especially benefits holla. 

Nars albatross is probably the prettiest highlighter, but it's the most difficult to work with! I find that it's very easy to go a little over the top with this product. It's a very golden shimmery product, which it certainly doesn't look like in the pan! Applied gently and with a shimmery blush such as Nars orgasm it's beautiful! Perfect for summer!

My most used highlighter is definitely the one in sleeks light contour kit! Like topshop's prism it's a  bronzey shade, but this time a powder product and more pearly! It's just a really easy everyday, not so in your face highlighter! It goes perfectly with the bronzer sat next to it too, which is great for travelling!

Last but not least is technic's highlights, probably the cheapest out of the bunch! It's been compared by other bloggers to benefits high beam, but I haven't tried this myself to be able to comment! It's a liquid highlighter, so I like to apply this using a real techniques stippling brush. Out of all of them this one is the most shimmery and is more sliver toned, but still lovely!

What's your favourite highlighter?

♥

Berry shades for autumn with Revlon & competition

Revlon's lip butter in raspberry pie* & berry smoothie*

I've always been a huge fan of Revlon lip butters, in fact, they are my favourite lipsticks! I own three other shades, which I posted about here! What makes them my favourite lipsticks is the quality of them, the lovely creamy formula and the colour pay off (as well as having a great shade range!).

As we all know dark red and berry lips are all the rage this autumn and winter, brightening up any miserable day! I think raspberry pie is the perfect shade for people who may not want to go full out with the whole 'vampy' red shades this autumn, but still want a flush of deep colour! It's perfect for me, I'm yet to feel fully confident wearing a very dark lip, so this lipstick is the perfect inbetween for me! This particular shade lasts really well on the lips, as it sightly stains the lips also, so top up's aren't needed as often compared to if you were wearing a lighter shade.

Berry smoothie has the perfect shade name as it really describes the colour of the product, just like a berry smoothie. This isn't as bold as raspberry pie, but it's still a lovely shade to wear this autumn winter! It's a great everyday colour and it's really moisturising too!

Now for the competition! Revlon's sweet boutique will be back on their facebook page starting from today and until the 4th of December, which will give you a chance to win a lip butter everyday! 

One hundred will be given away in total each day! 

So make sure you enter!

Good luck!

♥

Recently

Over the past couple of weeks I have really been enjoying life. No idea why, but you know when you just start to feel really content. I think it's blogging, it's given me so much confidence and something to spend some time on other than my uni work, and I talk to so many lovely people too. Not forgetting the lovely people who actually take time to read my posts! Plus my hair has been nice and grown!

I also am extremely happy that I now own a naked 2 palette, enrapture totem styler and ysl touche eclat foundation! It wouldn't be an understatement if I was to say that my life is now complete (until I discover something else I want!) That reminds me, my ipad mini still hasn't been sent to me (I'll be even happier when that arrives!)

Also, my little gerbils peanut and pickles have bought me lots of happiness! Most people may think they are a pet for children and that's fair enough. But they are so funny and really hyperactive. One of them, whenever I open the cage, crawls up my arm and sits on my shoulder and they both sit at the top of their tank begging to be played with and fed seeds like two little dogs!

A little bit of a random post, but in summary, I'm one happy lady :)

♥

Moroccanoil

Moroccanoil £30.45

I can't even remember how many months I thought about getting this and changed my mind again. But I took the plunge! (an expensive plunge indeed). But my hair, as you can see is curly and normally quite dry and frizzy, so I'm willing to spend quite a bit on my hair because of this.

You have probably read quite a few reviews of this product so I won't rabble on for too long. But I do really, really like this product. I bought it back in april, so have given it a proper run for it's money and it's only just starting to run out and I use it a couple times a day. It does add a lot of moisture to my hair, without it feeling greasy and helps to control frizz, even through humidity.

However, it does contain silicones (booo!) I'm not anti silicones or anything, but long term they can cause more damage then good to your hair. You can buy 100% pure argan oil for a fraction of the price, which I'm sure would be much better for your hair, that's what ill be doing when this runs out. I make sure I clarify my hair about once a week in order to remove any build up of silicones.

Overall, it's a good product for a quick fix on a bad hair day or for a special occasion. I do love it, it's amazing, but I need to put my sensible hat on and realise that long term it may not be the best option for my hair.

What do you think about this product?

♥

If it wasn't for beauty boxes...

I've been subscribed to beauty boxes for just under a year now.

But recently I unsubscribed due to no longer feeling like I was getting my monies worth.

However, I have found some lovely products which I would happily repurchase and wouldn't have discovered if it wasn't for beauty boxes!

Skin care products

These were probably my favourite items to receive in a beauty box!

Caudalie sos thirst quenching serum

This is just the perfect product for dehydrated skin!

Admittedly my skin doesn't get that dehydrated but when it does this sort it out!

It's so light too, perfect for my oily skin!

Balance me rose otto lip salve

This has become my perfect on the go lip product!

It's really hydrating, sorts out chapped lips and smells heavenly.

Murad time release acne cleanser

I don't know how this does it but it just clears breakouts so fast!

I normally use this after my liz earle cleanse and polish on certain areas of my face.

Ginvera green tea marvel gel

Hands down the best exfoliator ever.

It has no beads, no grains, nothing. Yet it clears every pore!

Figs and rouge lip balms

Pretty packaging, hydrating and smells lovely!

I really like the formula too, it's very light on the lips.

Make up

To be honest I haven't found that many make up items in beauty boxes that I've been excited about

However, I do really like these two products!

Collection 2000 primed and ready

This leaves my face feeling super soft and makes my make up go on really smoothly.

It also helps a little with the appearance of my pores!

Yves rocher sexy plump mascara 

This was a great find!

It gives me such defined, voluminous, long lashes without any clumps!

Hair products

I have quite difficult hair to manage, so I'm always hunting for hair products to make my life easier!

Redken colour extend radiant 10

Quite possibly my favourite beauty box item ever!

This little beauty controls frizz, adds shine, moisture and makes my hair look so healthy!

Paul mitchell awapuhi styling treatment oil

Possibly the nicest smelling hair product ever!

I really like how soft and manageable this makes my hair feel!

It's a shame it's difficult to get hold of!

Uniq one all in one hair treatment

This has so many benefits for your hair and it really shows!

It protects from heat damage, de-tangles, adds shine and controls frizz (and more!)

What's been your favourite beauty box finds?

♥