Meal Out + OOTN #1

Hey guys! So last week it was my brother's birthday and my family all went out for dinner at Beefeater. I thought this would be the perfect excuse to do my first ever OOTD/OOTN post and take a couple of photos of what I ate. I'm kind of forcing myself to do this as I have been dreading doing a proper OOTD post, but I would really like to do more in the future! Please excuse the OOTN photo, it was taken on my iPhone and I look slightly cringy. Also I stupidly didn't get a photo of the shoes I was wearing, but I wore black ballet flats.

Oh, hey there hairdrier and my sister's stuff in the background

Lace Top - New Look | Vest Top - H&M | Skater Skirt - H&M | Mini Satchel Bag - Accessorize | Ballet Flats - Primark

I think the top and skirt go quite well together and I could wear them whenever. Even in Winter with an oatmeal chunky cardi and a pair of black tights to dress it down a bit. Anyway, onto what I ate!

For my starter I had a piece of Cheesy Garlic Bread, which is exactly as it sounds, garlic bread with cheese on it. I always have this whenever I go to Beefeater and it is so nice! For my main I had the Paprika Chicken Breast with Spicy Ultimate Chips and salad, this is quite a large portion so I had a bit of trouble eating it all, but it was really nice.

I don't usually get a pudding from Beefeater because in all honestly I don't like theirs, they always seem to be really sickly sweet. However when I saw they had started doing Black Forest Gateau I had to try it, since it's one of my favourite deserts. I shouldn't have got it, I could only manage to eat a tiny bit because it really was so, so sweet! Plus what didn't help it was the fact that it was covered in a very sweet syrup. If you go to Beefeater I wouldn't really recommend this unless you have a very sweet tooth! 

So that's what I wore and ate that night. I would love to know if you would like me to do more (better) OOTD/OOTN or "what I ate" posts in the future!

Remember to enter my giveaway to win 7 products featuring Soap & Glory, China Glaze, Bourjois and more!

Nars Creamy Concealer - Vanilla // REVIEW

Hey guys! Todays post is one I have been really looking forward to reviewing as I have been wearing it for the past couple of months. This is the Nars Creamy Concealer*, which has become somewhat of a cult concealer, obviously after the Collection 2000 concealer.

The packaging is really sleek and compact, making it easy for you to pop in your bag and off you go! It has a doefoot applicator (a new word I recently learnt), which is a lot like a lipgloss wand, where it holds a fair bit of concealer, so you don't have to continuously get more out of the tube.

Its texture is, as the name suggests, very creamy liquid and applies really easily. It gives medium coverage, but it is still really light and doesn't feel at all heavy. One of the things I was impressed with this product for is the fact that there are 10 different shades, so it is very likely you will be able to find one to suit you, even if you have very pale skin.

If I put it under my eyes it makes me look so awake and does a pretty good job at covering any dark bits, plus it doesn't make you look shiny. The lasting powder is really good, although it does claims not to crease but after 6 hours or so it does crease a bit, which is easy to sort out just by giving it a little blend. My only real negative would have to be that if you have any dry/flaky skin patches, it tends to cling to them rather easily, so it may not be the best for people with dry skin.

I would have to say that I do prefer this much more than the Collection 2000 concealer because I find that it works better under my eyes, and isn't as cakey feeling.

Overall I was really impressed with this concealer, and would recommend it to most people! Although it may be on the slightly expensive side at £21, I think I will definitely have to repurchase it once I run out of this tube because it is the best concealer I have tried.

Have you tried the Nars Creamy Concealer? 

Remember to enter my giveaway to win 7 products featuring Soap & Glory, China Glaze, Bourjois and more!

New Blog Design! Thank You Kathryn!

Hey guys! Just a little quick post to say that I now have a new gorgeous blog design, made by Kathryn from Effie. She should be opening a little design shop very soon, although she is taking a few blog design "orders" now. Make sure to have a look at her blog, it is definitely one of my favourites!

I highly recommend her, and her designs are always perfect! I had been trying to design my own blog for quite some time but could never get it just how I wanted it, so when Kathryn kindly offered to do it for me I couldn't have been more pleased. I would definitely recommend that you ask Kathryn to design your blog as she will do a great job!

Also, with the thought of design and changing the blog, I am thinking of possibly changing the URL to a domain within the next few months. If any of you have any blog design posts about how to change over to a domain please let me know, as I would be really interested in looking at them.

I hope you all like my new design as much as I do, because I really think Kathryn did a lovely job!

Simple Spots Nails

Hey guys! Today I thought I would do my first NOTD. This spotty design is so simple and only takes about 15 minutes, so great if you want to do some nail art but only have a few minutes to spare! To start with I applied 3 coats of the MUA Nail Polish in Bold Blue on all of my fingers, except my ring finger. On my ring finger I used 3-4 coats of the Estee Lauder Nail Lacquer in Ballerina Pink, and applied the Seche Vite Fast Dry Top Coat to all my fingers. Once that had dried to the touch, I got a poured some of the Natural Collection Nail Polish in Nail Tip into an old yoghurt pot, grabbed a toothpick (even though I have dotting tools, which I only just remembered I have) and dotted on lots of little spots on my nails. I let the spots dry a little bit, then applied the top coat again and that was it!

What sort of nail art do you like to do? Simple designs like this one, or more complex designs?

Remember to enter my giveaway to win 7 products featuring Soap & Glory, China Glaze, Bourjois and more!

Recent Purchases: Boots, Superdrug, Lush, Primark + More Haul

Hey guys! Recently I have bought quite a few things from Boots, Superdrug, Lush, Primark, Home Bargains and Asda, so I thought I would do a haul. I got quite a lot of this stuff a few days ago when I went shopping with a couple of friends, and some were from before that.

From Primark I got three things, a pair of Primark light denim skinny jeans that were £10, plus they are actually denim, not just thick cotton like Primark jeans normally are. In the sale I got a really cute floral purse for only £2, reduced from £4, it could even be used as a clutch because it's quite big. The third thing I got is an acid wash denim-look skater skirt for £8, I have wanted one of these for ages, and was going to buy one from Topshop, but it was about £30, so when I saw it for £8 in Primark I had to buy it!

For beauty stuff I got quite a few things. From Lush I only got one proper thing, the Space Girl bath balistic for £2.10 which I tried a while ago and really liked, I also got a little sample pot of the No Drought dry shampoo to try. From Superdrug I FINALLY bought the Sleek Face Form in light for £9.99, I have been considering buying this for ages and so far I really like it! I got two Bourjois Little Round Pot Blusher in Rose Pompon and Rose Mandarin from Boots for £7.99 each, and a Sinful Colors nail polish in Mint Apple, which I love the colour of, for only £1.99.

With Elle Magazine I got a bottle of the Bumble and Bumble Thickening Hairspray which I am yet to test out, but I have heard great things about. I got a couple of bits from Home Bargains when I went to see family a few weeks ago, one of them was the Hawaiian Tropic After Sun Body Butter for £3.99, I'm not too keen on the smell though. The other thing I got was the Neutrogena Wave for £1.99, I remember wanting to get one of these when they just came out, but they were about £20, so when I saw this I needed to try it. The last thing I got was the Nspa Mango Fragrance Body Spray for £3 from Asda and it smells so, so nice!

I am really happy with some of the stuff I've bought recently and I will be doing a review on a few of the products within the next few months!

What have you bought recently? 

Remember to enter my giveaway to win 7 products from Soap & Glory, China Glaze, Bourjois and more!

I Reached 100 GFC Followers + GIVEAWAY!!

Hey guys! This morning I reached 100 GFC followers after only 6 months blogging, thank you so much. I can't believe how quickly 6 months have gone by, it seems like only yesterday when I was writing up my first ever blog post! I thought it would be a year or so before I reached this goal, so reaching it in 6 months is pretty mind blowing for me.

As a way to say thank you I have decided to do a little giveaway for you all. One person will win all of the products in the photo you can see above! There is a 125ml tube of Soap & Glory Hand Food, 50ml bottle of Bumble & Bumble Thickening Hairspray (for some reason I was sent two of these with my Elle Magazine subscription, so I thought I would include one), China Glaze Nail Polish in the shade With Love, Bourjois Little Round Pot Blush in the shade Rose Mandarin, 200ml bottle of Loreal Micellar Solution/Water, Montagne Jeunesse Passion Fruit Peel Off Face Mask sachet and a 2 pack of No7 Cleansing Sponges.

If you would like to be the lucky person to win all of these lovely things then just fill in the Rafflecopter form below. The giveaway is open for 1 month until the 18th of September at 11:59pm (British Summer Time) so you have plenty of time to enter!

Now the boring bit, Terms & Conditions:

• You must follow my blog on either GFC or Bloglovin'.

• Sadly this is only for UK residents, otherwise it would cost a LOT for me to post internationally!

• You must be 16 or over to enter, otherwise you must get permission from your parent or guardian because I will require your address.

• Entries from competition accounts and multiple entries will not be accepted.

• The giveaway closes on the 18th of September at 11:59pm BST (British Summer Time) and I will contact the winner by Twitter or email.

• The winner must reply within 4 days of me Tweeting/emailing them, otherwise I will pick a new winner.

a Rafflecopter giveaway 

Again, thank you for helping me get to 100 GFC followers! Good luck to everyone who is entering and congratulations to the future winner.

All the products included in the giveaway have been bought by me, with my own money.

Is Foundation Really Bad For You?

source

Hey guys! This post is more of a chatty/discussion post about foundation and the effects of it on your skin. I would just like to point out that these are just my opinions, and I am fine if yours differ! I was always told from a young age to stay clear of foundations, because they can and will completely ruin your skin, which I am sure a lot of people got told. 

I had been using basic makeup for quite a while, and I thought that I was somewhat experienced enough to go ahead, so ignoring this "warning" that I was always given, I went ahead with using foundation and BB creams. I did this, not to disregard other people's opinions, but because I really wanted to put them to the test on my own skin and not just follow other people's words of warning. 

I have been using foundations for a couple of years now and never had any big problems whilst using it, yes I may get the odd little spot if I wear foundation for days, but never anything big. Having thought about it a lot, I have come to the conclusion, that whilst people do have different skin types which obviously means skin reacts differently, is it really the foundation causing the problem, or actually just the user not using the correct one for their skin, or not even cleansing it off properly at the end of the day?

It is common knowledge to most people that if you don't take your makeup off correctly, you will end up getting spots quite easily. Spots are caused when something clogs up a pore in your skin, this can be something like makeup, dust, moisturiser or even the oils that are made naturally by your skin, so if foundation is one of the prime culprits of bad skin surely you should stay clear of any makeup product? When people older than me were teenagers, they may not have had things like micellar waters readily available to them, leading them to think that the foundations they wore were the problem, and not actually the fact that it is them not cleaning their skin properly giving them bad skin. Twenty years plus ago, foundation used to be much heavier, making it far worse for your skin, whereas now most brands have made their formulas lighter, i.e healthier for your skin.

Foundation is (normally) used to cover any imperfections or help reduce the look of visible pores, and it can't just be cleared using some warm water and a flannel, to clear it completely (or near enough). You have to use a decent cleanser that will open up your pores, and remove any muck that has built up, which I really think some people don't realise!

I hope that this post was somewhat interesting! I would love to know your thoughts on this post, if your skin has gone horribly wrong whilst using foundation and what sort of things you were told about foundation/makeup in general, when you were younger.

Loreal Micellar Solution/Water // REVIEW

Hey guys! Today I am here to talk about my new love, the Loreal Micellar Solution. This is supposed to be a great dupe for the holy grail product, Bioderma, which is only readily available in France and a couple of places sell it in the UK. Bioderma costs £9.99 for 250ml from Escentual, which is quite a lot if you use it on an everyday basis, whereas the Loreal Micellar Solution only costs £3(!!) for 200ml from Asda.

I've been using this for a couple of months now, I apply a small amount onto a cotton pad, hold on my makeup for a few seconds and then swipe it off. I use it once in the morning on a cotton pad to remove any bits of oil or dust that has got onto my skin. In the evening I use one pad to remove my eye makeup, another for my foundation and one to get rid of any small amounts leftover on my skin. This may seem like quite a lot, I admit it is, but I think that it is really worth it to help keep my skin clean. Waterproof mascara can be a bit more tricky to remove however it does seem be more gentle than a face wipe or other cleanser, so I still prefer it.

Overall I was really impressed to this, and I even noticed it clearing up any spots on my cheeks, meaning I could really see it working! My couple of negatives on this product is that is can get quite sticky if kept on the skin for too long, although that doesn't really bother me much, and a bottle only lasts about a month and a half if you use it everyday. 

This is a great dupe if you can't afford or can't buy Bioderma very easily and I would definetely reccomend that everybody tries it if you havent already! I was actually sent a little bottle of Bioderma to review, and when I write up the post on that I will give a little verdict on which I think was better, so keep your eyes open for that if you're interested!

Have you ever tried the Loreal Micellar Sollution and how do you think it compares to Bioderma?

Aerin // REVIEW

Hey guys! Today I have a post about three Aerin products that I kindly got sent a little while ago. I hadn't actually heard of Aerin before, but after doing a little research I found out the founder of Aerin, Aerin Lauder, is actually Estee Lauder's grandaughter! The three things I got sent were the Kabuki Brush, Fresh Skin Compact Makeup and the Pretty Bronze Illuminating Powder. Each little product comes in really pretty gold packaging, in a pink felt bag.

Pretty Bronze Illuminating Powder* - Level 1 - £34

I have loved this bronzer recently. It has an ever so slight shimmer, but you don't notice it once it's on your skin. It isn't a particularly "bronze" bronzer, it's more of a dark peach shade, which is great if you don't want an obvious bronzer that will only give a subtle shadow. The lasting power is really good, my only negative would be that the colour does oxidise slightly after a few hours. Overall I think it is a great if you want a matte bronzer, that won't make you look orange!

Fresh Skin Compact Makeup* - Level 1 - £37

Compact makeup/foundation is never something you see that often and I don't hear much about, so this was a new thing for me. The Aerin compact makeup has the texture of a thick concealer, although it does feel very light when applied. The coverage is somewhere between medium and high. It barely needs blending at all, and although it comes with a little brush, I find it far easier to apply it with my fingers. I do find that it tends to need touching up a little bit during the day.

Kabuki Brush* - £38

I didn't actually own a kabuki brush before this one, as I never felt the need to have one, I'm normally fine with just a big fluffy brush. It is great to be used with powder, or for bronzer on my temples, because it gives a really even layout, it could even be used for mineral foundation. The thing I'm really happy about is how it hasn't shed a single hair, which is obviously something you really don't want happening! The handle can be a bit uncomfortable due to the shape.

I was impressed with the Aerin products and I think they are really worth the money. The formulations are very similar to those of Estee Lauder products, which is probably to be expected. So if you love Estee Lauder products I'm sure you would love Aerin products!

Had you heard of Aerin before and have you tried any of their products?

High End Wishlist

Hey guys! So here is the second post I promised to do, to make up for the one I missed last Wednesday. I decided to do a wishlist as I haven't done one in ages, and I thought what better to do than a high end wishlist, because who doesn't love looking at expensive products in complete awe.

Nars Orgasm Blush - £21.50 

The Nars Orgasm blush is by far one of the most talked about products amongst the beauty blogger community, and everyone is always trying to find an exact dupe for it, which has led to be quite difficult! I have never seen a single negative review about this product, and it is such a gorgeous shade which is what has made me want to buy it so much.

Mac Coral Bliss Lipstick - £15

I have had a slight addiction with coral/peach coloured lipstick recently, and when I saw Coral Bliss on a few blogs I couldn't help but love the shade. I will definitely have to buy this soon!

Benefit They're Real Mascara - £19.50

I currently have the mini They're Real mascara, after getting it in Elle magazine, and at first I wasn't too keen on it because it made my lashes look quite clumpy, but it has got a lot better, becoming one of my favourite mascaras.

Urban Decay All Nighter Setting Spray - £19.50

I don't own any setting sprays because I've always been worried they may mess up my makeup, however lots of people have said how good this one is, so I would love to try it!

Benefit Coralista Blush Box - £23.50

Benefit blush boxes are always talked about so much, especially the Dandelion one! I don't tend to go for darker blushes since they just don't suit my skin, but coral/pale colours do, so I think that Coralista will be perfect for me because it won't clash with my skin or hair.

Bumble & Bumble Surf Spray - £21.50

This is one of the things that I most want out of this entire wishlist. I love how salt sprays make your hair look, giving it volume and texture, making it look really pretty! I did make my own salt spray, using Alessandra from Cups, Cupcakes & Cosmetics's "recipe", but I think that the real thing will be that bit better, although it does cost quite a lot for what it is!

YSL Peach Passion Lipstick - £24.50

And finally, I have wanted to try this lipstick after seeing Zoella wearing it so much in her Youtube videos and thinking how pretty it is! Like I said before, I have had a small thing for peachy coloured lipsticks and this is definitely one of the lipsticks that drew me so much to the pale shades (I hope that made as much sense as it did in my head).

Have you tried any of these products or written a review about them? Please let me know as I would love to have a look!

Real Techniques Core Collection // REVIEW

L-R Detailer Brush, Buffing Brush, Contour Brush, Pointed Foundation Brush

Hey guys! Sorry for not putting a post on on Sunday, but I am going to try and put two up today to make up for it. I have wanted to try Real Techniques brushes for ages! Real Techniques was developed by Samantha Chapman, who makes beauty videos on Youtube with her sister under the username Pixiwoo. When I saw the Core Collection on offer from Amazon I instantly bought them without hesitation. A couple of days later a little package popped through the post, and I was so excited! 

The brushes come in a case that you can stand up to display your brushes if you wish, it can also be used as a normal case to keep the brushes safe. The core collection consists of the buffing brush, which I have been using for foundation or powder, I love this brush because it is quite densely packed and blends foundation so effortlessly! I have been using the contour brush for bronzer to lightly dust along my cheek bones, and sometimes my jaw. The pointed foundation brush is great for concealing under my eyes, plus the pointed tip makes it really easy to get any concealer blended right up to the water line. I haven't really been using the detailer brush at all, however it can be used for any precise concealing you want to do or for applying lipstick neatly. 

All of the brushes are so soft and hold their shape very well when you wash them, which is one thing I tend to have problems with when cleaning my brushes. I definitely want to try more of the Real Techniques brushes because they are without a doubt the best brushes I've tried!

Have you ever tried Real Techniques brushes? Which is your favourite?