Make Up I'm Taking On Holiday!

I am going to Lanzarote tomorrow for a couple of weeks! I have never been there before but have been researching it a lot and am really excited... The beaches look amazing and I'm happy to be getting some sun as the weather here has been pretty miserable!

So right now I am in the middle of packing, and decided to do a post on the make up I am taking with me.

I've tried to take as little as possible....

But here goes!

Face:

• MAC Prep+Prime Finishing Powder

• Lily Lolo Mineral bronzer in South Beach

• Mineral Foundation in Porcelain & sample of Blondie foundation

• Mineral blusher in Clementine

• Mineral highlighter in Star Dust

• Mineral concealer in Blondie, Blush Away (green concealer for redness) & sample of Nude

I love Lily Lolo minerals & the link to their website is here

Eyes:

• My MAC Neutrals Pro Palette

• MAC Painterly Paint pot 

• Natural Collection Waterguard Mascara in Brown/Black

• Barbara Daly Eyebrow Pencil in Fair

• Tweezerman Eyelash Curlers

• Estee Lauder Projectionist Mascara in Brown

• Clinique Airbrush Concealer in Light

• Tweezers from Superdrug!

Lips:

• Carmex Cherry Lip Balm SPF 15

• Rimmel Shake Up Pink lipstick

• Maybelline Cream Gloss in Exquisite Pink

Nails:

• Barry M Nail Paint in Coral

• Collection 2000 Clear Top Coat

So that's the make up I'm taking with me... I probably won't use half of it but you never know! 

Have any of you lovelies ever been to Lanzarote? Or are you going anywhere exotic anytime soon? 

I'll be back blogging in 2 weeks time... take care girlies! 

xxx

My Eyebrow Tinting Disaster!

On Monday I decided to tint my eyebrows for going on holiday. I have tinted my eyebrows before and had no allergic reaction at all. You are supposed to do a patch test before you use this, but I have never had a reaction so didn't see the point. (Also me being inpatient and lazy!) So I went ahead and tinted my eyebrows, doing everything by the book, putting Vaseline around the eyebrow area etc.

Everything was fine until a few hours later when the skin around my eyebrows started to go very red, hot and itchy. I didn't realise how bad the situation was until I looked in the mirror! I'm not even going to post any pictures of my horrible brows!

So with red itchy inflamed eyebrows I went to bed, waking up the next morning to find my eyelids and the area around my eyebrow completely swollen! They were so swollen that I could hardly open my eyes, and I tried everything from putting cold tea bags on my eyes to a frozen pack of Birds Eye peas! None of these things helped, and it was only that evening the swelling went down, but not completely.

The next day with my eyes still mildly swollen, my eyebrows were still red, sore and itchy, and I noticed little clear blisters starting to form. The type you get with a cold sore.

I decided to smother them in Blistex, which is a cream for cold sores and chapped lips. Today the blisters have gone, my eyebrows aren't as itchy and the redness has reduced considerably. The skin around the eyebrow area is flaking off now... but it seems that everything is clearing up and I'm slowly getting back to a normal looking face!!

Have you ever had a reaction like this?

A few bits: Lily Lolo Minerals, Rimmel Shake Up Pink Lipstick

I love mineral make up, and buy mine from English mineral make up company Lily Lolo. So far I only have mineral foundation & concealer from them and wanted to try out a bronzer and blusher.

• I ordered South Beach which is a light matte bronzer and Clementine blusher which is a peachy-pink.

South Beach Bronzer £12

Clementine Blusher £7

Swatch:

• A sample of Star Dust shimmer powder, which is a mineral highlighter. Samples are £1.25 each

• Another sample of Nude Cover Up, which is a concealer one shade darker than the one I am using at the moment, as when I go on holiday I will be needing a slightly darker shade

• I also got a sample of Lily Lolo's Blondie foundation, which is also the next shade up from the foudation I normally use

Star Dust Shimmer Powder  (left) Blondie Foundation  (right) Nude Cover Up  (bottom)

I also thought I would show you the Rimmel Shake Up Pink Lipstick I mentioned in my last post!

With full-on colour...

...and sheered down for a natural pink lip

I really like this lipstick and will be wearing it a lot!

Little Haul: Rimmel, Barry M

I went into Boots yesterday & got a few bits. I'm going on holiday next week and so I had a little list of things to get for going away.

I got this really bright polish from Barry M in the colour Coral. It will be perfect for my toenails while on holiday, and I know Barry M polishes stay on and don't chip.

I also needed a waterproof mascara. So far all the waterproof mascaras I have tried have always been really dry and spidery, not good when going for a natural beach look! I also don't like having to scrub away at my eyes trying to get the stuff off!

So for this reason I didn't want to spend a lot of money on a waterproof masacara. This is where good old Natural Collection comes in!

I bought their Waterguard Mascara, which says it is smudge proof and water proof. It was £1.99, and I tested it last night. It looks really natural, isn't dry, doesn't clump AT ALL, and most important of all...it's actually waterproof! When it came to remove it, it was pretty easy to remove, I didn't have to scrub away. What a bargain!


I also wanted a pink lipstick, which I could wear as an alternative to a nude, as I'm getting a bit bored of nudes!

I bought this Colour Show Off Lipstick from Rimmel in Shake Up Pink. I have a coral colour lipstick from this range, so I know that they are really pigmented and stay on. The colour is what I'd describe as a Barbie Pink. It's really bright when you layer it up but you can sheer it down to a nice natural shade. In the picture it looks more peachy, but it's definately a pink...I love it!


For going on holiday I also wanted to tint my eyebrows. My eyebrows are naturally very blonde, and I don't want to have to fill them in every day. I'll be swimming a lot too so I don't want to have to worry about anything rubbing off etc.

I bought 30 Day Mascara in Dark Brown. So I will let you know how that goes!

I bought another tube of Freederm Gel. If I feel I have a spot developing I pop this on and it calms it down!

I got a buffer for when in the shower. I was using a pouf thingy, but didn't feel like it did anything!

Finally, I got some good old face wipes! They had 2 for £4 on Simple wipes in Boots, so I grabbed a couple...

The Simple Wipes are my favourites for removing my make up & they feel really refreshing.

Products I'm Loving Right Now

This is my first ever favourites post!

But let's get right down to it...

Products I'm loving right now are....

MAC Eyeshadows- Vanilla, Era, Arena & Brown Down

• Vanilla really brightens my eyes up when used all over the lid & in the inner corners
• Era is a nice taupe lid colour with a nice sheen to it without being shimmery
• Arena brings out the blue of my eyes
• Brown Down is a great warm, matte brown good for socket work & adding definition. I use this along the lashline most days.

St Ives Body Scrub

As you can see I have practically finished it!

• Smells divine and leaves my skin so smooth...

Hush Cream Colour Base from MAC

•  I love this product, I use it on the top of my cheekbones as a highlight but also all over my eye lid, gives a nice peachy shiny eyelid. Doesn't stay on the lid for long though & creases. May try setting it with a powder to see if that works!

Estee Lauder Projectionist Mascara

• I have been using this for about 2 weeks and really like it. It gives natural looking lashes but lengthens and defines them beautifully. Doesn't smudge or flake off- love it.

Barry M Blusher in No.5

•  This coral blush really warms up my skin, you can vary the depth of colour building it up to a bright coral. It doesn't cake at all, blends in so easily that it could be mistaken for a cream blush! It lasts all day on my skin & think it's fantastic value as I bought it for around £3 or £4.

Natural Collection Lipstick in Sand Castle

•  I bought this over a year ago, so it could be out of date, who knows! It's a really nice sheer, natural pink which is pretty much the same colour as my lips. It peps up my complexion and is a nice creamy formulation. Not bad for £1.99... You can buy Natural Collection at Boots in the UK, and all of their products are under £1.99 (I think). They are also fragrance free & not tested on animals, hence the name Natural Collection!

Tweezerman Eyelash Curlers

•  They curl like no other! That's all I can say... and the curl lasts all day!

MAC Prep+Prime Finishing Powder

•  This is a white powder which when applied to the skin becomes translucent, no trace of white at all. It's so finely milled you don't look like you have anything on your face, yet it smooths out my face making my pores dissappear and controlling my shine! Love it. 

Bach Rescue Remedy

•  I sometimes can get stressed and anxious... as I'm sure we all do... this chills me out nicely!

Barabra Daly Eyebrow Pencil

•  You can get Barbara Daly at Tesco, this is the first of her products I've tried and so far like the brow pencil. It's a good colour for my very fair brows. 

MAC Harmony Blush

•  I use Harmony to contour everyday, it's a matte powder blush and a nice warm brown colour which suits my skintone nicely. I bought this after Tanya Burr  reccomended it for contouring. I also use this as a bronzer sometimes and bring it onto my cheeks and forehead to warm my skin up!

Blistex Relief Cream (sorry it's blurry!)

•  I pop this on at night time to moisturise my lips as they get quite dry sometimes. It helps with cold sores & chapped lips...does what it says!

 

 

What products are you liking at the moment?

Babyliss Pro Triple Barrel Waver Review

After a using my Babyliss triple barrel waver for a couple of weeks I thought I would give it a review. 

The description of the waver on the Babyliss website says: 

''This innovative iron allows you to create a variety of styles from soft tousled waves to classic 40's finger waves.''

It has:

• Porcelain barrel for smooth, shiny results.
• Ultra fast heat up.
• 25 temperature setting for total styling control.
• Integrated safety stand.
• On/Off switch.
• Salon length swivel cord.

 I have thick, shoulder length hair which is naturally poker straight, but I like to have wavy, messy hair.

I thought a triple barrel waver would be the best thing for the style I wanted, as I have tried waving my hair with straighteners but they always seem to fall flat, and take too long to do! Curling tongs have worked, but I've never got the wave that I wanted from them.

The triple barrel waver answers my wavy hair problems!

• It gives the right wave I'm looking for. 
• Heats up in around a minute
• It works with my shoulder length hair, but I think used on longer hair it would look even better.
• I randomly take sections and wave the ends for a 'lived in' look.

However, I find if you wave your whole head you can look like you've got a bad 80's crimped mess! The trick to avoid this is:

• Not to wave right from the root, start about 3/4 or half the way down the section. 
• Try to take random sections, so it looks more natural. 
• You don't want to 'over wave' your hair so I leave it in the waver for 5 to 10 seconds. This depends on which heat setting you use though, I go for 21... 25 was too high and made my wave go flat!

All in all I really like my triple barrel waver. It gives me the style I was looking for, and doesn't take ages!

Here's a little video I made on how to use a triple barrel waver....

Rock Chick Boots

For a long time now I have bought ill-fitting, cheap shoes...but now I am saying 'no!' to cheap shoes...

I have invested in some good quality rock chick type boots from Clarks. They arrived in the post today and cost me £70 but they're definately worth the price. They're suede leather, are extremely comfortable, and most importantly fit me properly! I love the studding & buckles...

Here's a few snaps...(sorry for poor quality phone pictures!)

Review: Boots Expert Sensitive Restoring Night Treatment

£4.99 at Boots

I have been using this Boots Expert night cream for around 6 weeks now, and thought I'd share my results!

Firstly, I wanted a night cream which would moisturise my skin overnight, so I would wake up and not have any dry pactches. Even though I have oily skin, I use an acne gel which dries the skin making it flake off (I know that sounds pretty horrible!!) so I get dry areas and need to have a night cream which moisturises those areas even when I have the acne gel on my skin, which this product does!

Also, with every product I put on my face, I am always concerned about them breaking me out, and thankfully this product doesn't! It's fragrance free, but it smells a bit like E45 cream, which I don't mind. This could be because it has similar ingredients as it does sort of the same job... It sinks into the skin really quickly and doesn't feel greasy at all.

When I get up in the morning my skin is soft, moisturised  and ready for action which is exactly what I was hoping for with this product.

There is so much product in the pot that I can see this is going to last me ages! It's excellent value for money at £4.99. When I bought it they had a 2 for £4 offer on, so I got two tubs for £4, I love a bargain..!

I definately reccommend this for anyone with any skin type.