Monday, 12 May 2014

April Favourites



This is a much delayed post as I had problems with uploading to my laptop but it's here now. I haven't done a proper beauty post before but these days my make up and skincare collection seems to be growing rapidly and I have become more interested in beauty. I read as many beauty blogs as I do fashion ones and love monthly favourites posts/videos so I thought I would try my own. Let know what you think and If you want to see more beauty related posts. 

Benefit Do The Bright Thing - £26.50

For my birthday this year I was truly spoiled and two of my friends both got me a Benefit kit! This month I have been loving the Dandelion blusher, High Beam and BadGal Waterproof Eye Liner in this kit. I have looked at Dandelion many times before but never bought it. It really brights up the skin with the natural sheer pink colour. The plus for me is that it is pretty hard to over do it, something I am prone to with stronger blushers. I have used High Beam before but was unwilling to pay for the full size as it is not something I would use often enough to justify. I dot it along my cheekbones and on my cupid's bow. I have never been that fussed about eyeliner pencils, if it applies easily then it gets a thumbs up from me. I was going to save using the BadGal eyeliner until I used up my current mini Lancome one up, this was first to hand when I was in a rush to get ready and although it faded a little by the time I removed my make up a good 6 hours later it was still on my waterline! I wish I had discovered this back in my heavy eyeliner phase at 15/16 and after a sweaty gig would have eyeliner all down my face. I am glad I am lighter handed with the liner these days!

Stila In The Light Eyeshadow Palette - £25 

I am not quite sure why but this palette appealed to me much more than any of the Urban Decay Naked palettes. I had saved up a lot of Boots points and couldn't decided if I should save up more and get a high end foundation with them. Every time I went into boots this was always sold out, when it was finally in stock I grabbed it. I'm glad I did! The shadows are so buttery soft with good pigmentation on the lids.I have seen complains about fallout but if you pat the brush into instead of swirling around along with a little tap on the side minimises fallout. My most used shades are Bare, Kitten and Bubbly and are the perfect daytime colours. I do get use out of all the shades but I tend to go for the ones that require the least blending out. I tend to be a bit heavy handed with the darker shades which I end up looking too much for daytime on me. 

Nails Inc Caviar Base Coat and Caviar Top Coat - £12 
Revlon Colorburst Matte Balm in Sultry - £7.99
Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stain in Lovesick - £7.99

I was buying a base coat and top coat separately for years and keep looking at the Nails Inc offering thinking it was too much. It suddenly clicked one day that I had been spending the same amount on base and top coats as the price of the Nails Inc Duo and that weren't making my polish last any longer. I can now keep a colour on my nails for over a week before the chips start to look really awful, which is a very long time for me or when I fancy a change. I have seen improvement in the condition on my nails, they don't break or split much anymore.

The Revlon Balm stains are firm favourites of mine. I have the Honey shade as well and could easily buy every colour. As you can tell Lovesick is well loved as I've had it since they first came out. It's a bold pink that brings some much needed brightness to my face. I can easily wear it all day without topping up as it fades evenly. I will be repurchasing this when it eventually runs out. I was excited about the launch of the Matte Balms for a long time and I wasn't disappointed. It applies very smoothly and doesn't dry my lips out. Sultry is a mauve pink and along the lines of my lips but better kinda colour.

Clairns Ever Matte Skin Balancing Foundation SPF 15 in 105 Nude - £27
Clairns Gentle Exfoliator Brightening Toner - £25 
Super Facialist Vitamin C+ Skin Renew Cleansing Oil - £10.99 

When it comes to foundations I don't change them much at all but I found myself needing a new one and wanted to try something new and after a long search of trails and errors found this Clairns one. There is good range of 11 shades with different undertones which is where I struggle to find matches as most have too much yellow or pink. The shade Nude matches my skin and adds just a little warmth to my complexion while still being a natural finish. It feels light on my skin and doesn't have me desperate to take it off at the end of a long day. I had £5 off with my Debenhams beauty card when I bought it but I would repurchase at full price. 

I came across the Gentle Exfoliator Brightening toner by chance as I was offered some free samples. I gave it a try when my skin had broken out due to too many lazy days using face wipes (learned my lesson, never again!). The night before my skin was very uneven, red and angry but in the morning it was evened out and slightly less angry, it hadn't made my blemishes vanish but it did make a vast improvement on my skin. That was me sold and had to get the full size version. It is pricey for a toner but it does last a very long time and actually makes a difference to my skin.

I kept reading about cleansing oils and I was skeptical about using oil but this Super Facialist Cleansing Oil is the perfect thing for us lazy girls making removing make-up an under 5 minute job. There is no need to use a separate eye make up remover as the dissolves mascara very quickly. It doesn't require a double cleanse, I follow with a face wash and then toner which is enough. The bonus is that this is often on offer so if you are unsure about trying cleansing oils then keep an eye out.
 
Have you tried any of these products?


Monday, 28 April 2014

See if anyone really knows.



Dress - Red Herring
Cardigan - Tu
Brogues - Urban Outfitters
Necklace - Head Full Of Feathers
 
I had a rare two days off together this week which meant I actually got a weekend for a change, so me and my good friend Claire took the chance to go on a wee adventure to take some photos for each other. She has amazing style and makes me jealous of everything she wears, make sure you check her blog out and have a look at the photos I took for her. I love cherry blossoms and brightly coloured flowers which is why this post is more photo heavy than normal. This park is normally mobbed on a day when the sun keeps peeking out but it was a friday afternoon meaning that most people were at work/school. It was good for us we could snap away without feeling awkward about being watched. 
 

Polka dots are another pattern I'm instantly drawn to along with hearts and stripes, and when the polka dot skater dresses started popping up everywhere it was only a matter of time before one ended up in my wardrobe. It does differ from my other skater dresses with its high neckline and little puff sleeves. I must try to remember to take my cardigan off in the future but it's easy to forgot when Scotland has yet to have any sort of heatwave.

I can't quite remember how I stumbled across Head Full Of Feathers but I'd say most likely through someone's blog. The site is filled with glittery accessories so it was only right that I sent a link of my favourite find to my boyfriend before Christmas. I have worn it many times already but this is the first I have got photos of it. I love wearing it to jazz up a something plain.
                                     

It was so lovely to see this garden bright and colourful again after many years of neglect. It was even completely closed off for a long time. There used to be a pond with Koi fish in it but it was still empty although it was clean so maybe it will be filled up again as there is a whole regeneration going on in this park. 




 Nine Black Alps - Supermarket Clothes







Wednesday, 23 April 2014

Life still sounds like balloons


 Cardigan - Forever 21 
Top - Dorothy Perkins 
Skirt - New Look

These photos should perhaps be called 'I like looking down to my right'. When I first saw this top it had to come home with me, I knew if I left without it my size would sell out. I'm pretty sure the next time I went in all of the tops were gone. I'd say I made the right move there. I really love the print and collar but it creases so much, even the sleeves. Annoyingly that's always something you discover after you've worn it. It was a bad choice to wear to the cinema, which these photos were taken after as you can probably tell by the creases. The skirt was a bargain find in Belfast at a fiver. I just can say no to a five pound skirt! 


 
 Collar Clips - Ladybird Likes 
Brogues - Office 

I love Ladybird Likes and can't be on the Etsy page without adding something else to my wishlist. My very lovely friend Claire got me these adorable glitter heart collar clips for my birthday and she didn't even know how much I had wanted them! I was very surprised and I love them! You should really check out Zoe's (creator of Ladybird Likes) blog too. 



Biffy Clyro - Sounds Like Balloons 
 



Friday, 18 April 2014

I fight with the moon on occasion, yeah.


 

 Leather Jacket - Red Herring (very old) 
Shirt - River Island 
Top - diy
Jeans/Jeggings - M&S 
Converse 
Necklace - Topshop (old) 
Bracelets - Accesorize/Electric Daisy

I thought I'd do a quick outfit post of what I wore to a gig at the Oran Mor the other night to see A Plastic Rose. I really liked this outfit but taking photos post gig and a train ride later isn't the best idea. The quality isn't too great as it was just my little Canon compact camera. 

I went off jeans for awhile but when found these jeggings I started to like them again and have bought a few pairs of jeans since mostly from M&S too! Good quality, comfy and around the £20 so ticks all my boxes. 
 I've always loved a checkered shirt and ones like this made from thicker material are perfect for layering at gigs for me. Easy for tying around my bag when it gets too hot but isn't all creased when you put it back on. 
You may or may not be aware of my love for The Eighties Matchbox B-Line Disaster, but when my t-shirt I bought wasn't fitting anymore I couldn't face not wearing it so I cut the design out of the t-shirt and ironed it on to a cheap sleeves top. I really want to this with other band tees I have that I don't wear due to the fit. They always come is such odd shapes!  


A Plastic Rose - Someone's Daughter