January favourites

one // two // three // four // five 

The Body Shop Vitamin E Face Mist, RRP: £8. This is an absolute gem which has quite quickly become a holy grail product. It keeps my make up on all day/night and it smells incredible! (full review here)

Rimmel London Lasting Finish Blush in 'Pink Rose', RRP: £3.99. I've been on the search for a new blusher ever since my Benefit Coralista smashed (boo), and seeing as I couldn't bring myself to shell out almost £25 for a new one, I picked up this Rimmel London one, which to my delight is a pretty similar colour. I love pink blush, especially in winter, and you can't go wrong for £3.99!

Charles Worthington Frizz Free Ultimate Serum, RRP: £3.46. My hair is in disastrous condition due to much dying/heat abuse and because I was born with quite curly hair, continuous torture has caused it to become quite frizzy. In winter, it becomes 10x more dry and disgusting but this is a lifesaver (for my hair at least). A tiny bit of this through wet hair allows it to dry frizz free (YAY).

Real Techniques Buffing Brush (Part of the Core Collection, RRP: £21.99). Real Techniques brushes are my absolute favourites, but this one in particular is fabulous. I use it to buff my foundation into my skin and it leaves an absolutely flawless result.

Revlon Photo Ready Foundation, RRP: £12.99. I've never ever found a foundation which matches my skin tone exactly and I normally have to mix two together but I found a shade in this which was perfect so I couldn't resist buying it. I'd say it provides medium coverage but it's so easy to apply and it lasts all day without the need for reapplication!

Which products are you loving this month?

*pictures in this post are not my own and were sourced from Google*

Christmas Wishlist

Genuinely cannot believe how fast this year has gone and seeing as Christmas is just around the corner, I thought I'd share with you what I hope Santa will be bringing down my chimney. Christmas is my favourite holiday and I can't wait to go home and spend it with my favourite people in the world. I'm so excited to name the Turkey (is it just my family that does that?!), sit in front of the fire for hoursss and play a ridiculous amount of games with my siblings whilst mama makes a feast of yummy yummy food. It's impossible to be unhappy at Christmas, right?!

1 - Pandora Music Note Charm: I got a pandora bracelet for my birthday this year and ever since I've been dying to fill it. I loved this charm ever since I set my eyes on it because everyone who knows me knows that music is probably my favourite thing in the world.

2 - NARS Laguna Bronzing Powder: I'm sure I don't need to tell any of you this but the world and its wife seem to have this bronzer and I want in! Every single review I've read of it has said how amazing it is and how every girl should have it, so it went straight on my Christmas wishlist!

3 - Paco Rabanne Lady Million Perfume: This is probably the nicest smelling thing in the entire world (not even exaggerating), I've dropped about a million hints to my dad about this including practically crying down the phone because I ran out of perfume the other day.

4 - MAC Lipsticks in 'Blankety' and 'Pink Pearl Pop': Simply because a girl can never have enough lipsticks, I've become a little bit addicted and could probably buy every colour in the entire MAC range but these are two that I am fully lusting for at  the minute.  

5 - Pandora Open Your Heart Charm: This is soooo adorable, I have the openwork butterfly charm and thought this was so cute that I had to slide it in here somewhere

6 - Jemma Kidd Dewy Glow All Over Radiance Creme: I saw a review for this the other day and wanted it instantly, I've looked for a highlighter that would work with my skin tone for absolutely ages and this one seems perfect

7 - The Body Shop Rose Vitamin E Face Mist: Hannah has raved about this so many times and she swears by it, I've wanted a face spritz for so long because I realise that spraying my face with hairspray to keep my make up on probably isn't the best option for my skin...

8 - MAC Studio Careblend Pressed Powder: Again, slightly addicted to MAC, I'm yet to find a pressed powder that actually does what it's supposed to but my housemate has this and adores it so I'm bursting to give it a try!

9 - Daniel Sandler Liquid Blush, 'Flush': I am actually intrigued by this, I'd love it if a liquid blusher worked just because it seems so much easier and a lot less effort than powder.

10 - Pandora Flower Spacer: How adorable is this? I think if I bang on any more about charms my head might explode but I think this is so pretty. I realise that I probably should have just asked for my make up bag and my Pandora bracelet to be filled...  

What are you asking Santa for? Are you as excited as I am? I'm literally like a little kid at Christmas!

**The images used in this post are not my own, and were sourced from Google**

Review: Nivea Express Hydration Primer

Nivea Daily Essentials Express Hydration Primer (RRP: £4.99)

"moisturises and provides a smooth base for effective make up application with effective hydrators"

It's come to that time in the semester where my student loan has disappeared before my very eyes and I've had to abandon the hope that I'd be able to afford to replace my MAC primer, but my skin couldn't afford for me to stop using primer altogether (honestly, if you don't prime your face before you apply your make up, START!). I'd seen this advertised everywhere and thought it was worth giving a try.

It smells like a typical Nivea product: fresh and light, with what I can only describe as smelling like something with a hint of cucumber. The normal and combination skin one (pictured above) contains lotus extract, but I don't know what that smells like so couldn't tell you whether or not that affects the fragrance! The consistency of the product is extremely light, I was going to show you a swatch on my hand but it comes on pretty clear. 

The product also has moisturising qualities, so leaves skin feeling really soft. As for its use as a primer, I was not at all disappointed. It is absorbed by skin almost instantly so there is no waiting around for it to dry before being able to apply make up and it creates a base in order to make sure make up is applied on to as even a surface as possible and it practically makes your make up cling to your face so it doesn't move or wear off all day. 

This provides everything you ask for in a primer, and a small amount of it definitely goes a long way. As far as primers go, I'd rave about this until the cows come home. I don't think I'll ever pay £19.50 for a MAC primer again!

Overall rating: 4.5/5

Maybelline 'Fit Me' review

"It's make up that fits you"

Maybelline 'Fit Me' Concealer (left) and Foundation (right)

"FLAWLESS, LETS THE REAL YOU COME THROUGH 
BEYOND MATCHING: FRESH, BREATHING, NATURAL SKIN 
SPF 18"

Since my tan faded and I'm now too light for my post-holiday foundation (boo), I went on the search for a new foundation that wasn't too pricey (I've lusted after Estee Lauder's Double Wear for aaaages but can't bring myself to spend £30 on a bottle of face paint), I discovered Maybelline's 'fit me' range which is new to the UK... I was impressed at first by the colour chart that was in the store, I bought these in superdrug, and it had a detailed chart of skin tones and which foundation shade was best, and which concealer provided the best match for each foundation. 

The formula is described as having "no oils, no waxes and no nonsense", with the ability to give a natural coverage which allows skin to breath with a translucent base and lightweight pigments.

I decided on shade 135 for the foundation and shade 20 for the concealer (this isn't the concealer that was a recommended match to this foundation but I prefer my concealer to be lighter than my foundation). The foundation has a standard pump and the concealer has a wand with a sponge on, a little bit like a lip-gloss.

Left: foundation, right: concealler

As can be seen in the image above, the foundation is quite runny and unless applied quickly to the face it can get a bit messy, however, the coverage is flawless like the advert says. The colour match to skin is almost perfect and it blends very well to skin. Because it is so runny, it has to be rubbed in quite a bit and wears off if worn for longer than about 8 hours, causing the skin to look patchy without re-application.

Overall rating for foundation: 3/5

The concealer is a lot less runny in comparison to the foundation which can also be seen in the above image, application of this is so simple and it is very easy to move around the face and the coverage is brilliant, I honestly can't rave about this enough, it doesn't crack and it doesn't seem to move during the day. It's literally on my face from the moment I apply it, until the moment I take it off.

Overall rating for concealer: 4.5/5

How much is my face worth?

I'd seen a few people do this post, and knew I'd want to shoot myself if I did it. But curiosity killed the cat and I've just sat here for the past five minutes cringing whilst I added up how much money is hidden inside of my make up bag... The rules were you add up everything you put on your face daily and then put a total. Here goes nothing!

1 - Maybelline Fit Me foundation in shade 135/'Creamy Natural' (£7.99) | 2 - Mac Lipglass in 'Pink Poodle' (£13.50) | 3 - Maybelline Eye Studio Gel Eyeliner (£7.99) | 4 - Benefit Lemon Aid Eyelid Primer (£16.50) | 5 - Avon Colourtrend Kiss n Go lipstick in 'Doll Pink' (£3.75) | 6 - Urban Decay Naked 2 Palette (£36) | 7 - Maybelline Fit Me concealer in shade 20 (£7.95) | 8 - Mac Prep & Prime face primer (£19.50) | 9 - Benefit blusher in bella bamba (£23.50) | 10 - MUA Pressed Powder in shade 4 (£1) | 11 - Avon Supershock waterproof mascara (£10) | 12 - Rimmel Eyebrow Pencil in black (£2.99)

TOTAL: £150.67
oops 

**The images used in the first half of this post are not my own, and were sourced from Google**

Gel eye-liner: Bobbi Brown vs Maybelline

Ever since I discovered what it was, I've been a liquid eye-liner enthusiast and I've worn it everyday since I was about thirteen... I'm a fan of the good old eye-liner flick, too (but when it's nearly touching your eyebrow I think it's about time for some serious life re-evaluation).

Anyway, when I first heard of 'gel' eye-liner it was something I instantly wanted to try because it promised the quick drying, no smudging perfectness that seemed like the holy grail when it came to eye-liner! Now, Bobbi Brown's 'long wear gel eye-liner' was the first one I heard of so I was really excited when I received it as an early birthday present (I even did a little victory dance around my bedroom).

I was slightly disappointed with the product overall, and at first though that might have just been because I had such high expectations of it. I got a Bobbi Brown eye-liner brush with it but I really didn't like this; I felt the bristles were too hard, which made the eye-liner itself very hard to use as it felt like I was applying my make up with a tooth pick!

This aside, I thought I'd give it another go and tried the liner with another brush. Yes, it dries almost instantly but this made it hard to move the eye-liner across the lid. And after wearing it all day, it begins to smudge.

I disappointedly went back to using liquid eye-liner until last week when I was in superdrug and Maybelline  make up was on 3-for-2. So I picked up their version of gel eyeliner to try another brand, thinking that if I was disappointed by it, it hadn't cost me anything.

I was SO pleasantly surprised. Firstly, the brush it came with is amazing, it feels just like a liquid eye-liner applicator, it's easy to move across the eyelid and it dries in seconds, and I've worn it all day/night and it didn't smudge a tiny bit. Priced at £7.99 it's also a bargain compared to the £17 price tag that the Bobbi Brown one carries! 

**The images used in this post are not my own, and were sourced from Google**