Daisy Dukes and Dope Accessories

Hey anyone left reading :-) sorry for the rather extended hiatus, I'm doing a bit of blogging on the side more for work purposes and when I get home all I wanna do is snuggle up with my bubba's! The benefits of having a job that involves perusing the internet all day means I get to look at loads of shamaze fashion but the downsides are that I now have lists upon lists of things I wish, want and need in my life...damn you Polyvore! Gotta admit I've become a bit of a polyvore junkie, I love it and I'm so envious of some of the amazing fashion sets people put together on there. Well, if you can't beat them, join them I say and the creation of this little outfit came together, hope you like.

Meanwhile, I have now created a Tumblr blog in the midst of my absence from Blogger....no idea why I didn't do it sooner as it is such a great source of inspiration, dreamy pictures, arty celeb pictures and wise words. I have a little button to the right of the page where you can click through to my Tumblr blog or click the link above. In other news, it's my daughter's 2nd birthday next week *cry* I know it's a big cliche to say, but it goes way too fast...and I'm a little overwhelmed, she's a really funny, little human being and I love her cheery self so much!

I'd love it if you dropped me a comment, should I do more style posts?

Let me know what you think, 

Avon Anew Vitale Skincare Review

I bought a few bits from Avon quite a while ago now so it's only right that I finally do a little review on the skincare I purchased from the Anew Vitale range. The Vitale collection contains similar products to Avon's other age specific skincare but it's targeted at women aged 25+. As you may already know, I'm quite a fan of the much raved about duo eye cream they sell (you can see my review here) so I had pretty high hopes.

I purchased three products from the range, there's also a BB cream and a cleanser. I don't think the BB cream had even been launched when I picked my little haul up otherwise I would of loved to try that out.

Anew Vitale Day Cream SPF 25

First off, the smell of both creams is amazing although if your not into heavily scented products you may not particularly like that. Scent aside, I'd say it comes fairly close to living up to it's claims of helping fight the first signs of stress and fatigue. My skin definitely feels plumper and appears dewier when I've applied this however  it's a little too rich for days when I'm wearing make-up underneath. The fact it contains a good amount of SPF is obviously great as it's so important to protect your skin from the sun but again, I feel like this kind of adds to the greasy feel I often get from using products containing SPF. Despite this not being entirely suitable for my skin type, it definitely serves a purpose as nice, nourishing skin treat for days when I'm not wearing make-up.

 

Anew Vitale Night Cream

This smells just as lovely as the day cream but it's not as rich and creamy, something I wasn't expecting to be honest as I usually find that night creams are generally heavier on the skin. I've took a little picture of some swatches below so you can see the difference in texture. Having said that, I love this cream and feel like I'm giving my skin a really nice treat at bedtime. The texture is very different from the day cream as it's more of a gel texture which I think helps it to sink in a lot easier. In terms of the benefits it provides for your skin, it is pretty consistent with the day cream as it makes my skin feel dewy and nourished. The night cream is apparently supposed to help fight the first visible signs of ageing and fine wrinkles, and whilst I can't comment on it's wrinkle fighting abilities as I don't have any yet, I don't feel as though it tightens my skin like other anti-ageing products I've tried.

Anew Vitale Eye Gel Cream

All I can really say is that this is just a nice eye cream, there's definitely better ones out there in terms of making the skin around your eyes brighter and more radiant, I'd personally recommend Clinique All About the Eyes for brighter peepers. It also takes far too long for my liking to sink in, maybe I'm being impatient but in comparison to the Anew Clinical Eye Lift, it takes an age to sink in and it's just generally not that great in my personal opinion.

In a nutshell, I would definitely consider repurchasing the night cream once I run out because it smells be-a-u-diful and it makes my skin feel lovely. As for the day cream, it's just not great for my skin type and the eye cream is nothing special, so I don't think I'd be grabbing these again unless they were on a seriously bargainous offer. If you have normal to dry skin, definitely try the range out otherwise I'd stick to trying to get hold of some samples before you splurge on the full size shabang.

I have a burning request for someone to please recommend some creams that contain SPF that are non greasy. As much as I'd love to protect my skin, I just can't face wearing cream with SPF as most I've tried make my skin stupidly greasy! Any recommendations, would be much appreciated.

Have a lovely rest of the week!

Products available from: Avon Anew Vitale Day Cream SPF 25 £19.50, currently on offer for £13.00, Anew Vitale Night Cream £19.50, currently on offer for £13.00 and Anew Vitale Eye Cream £16.00, currently on offer for £11.00.

NOTD: Pastel Paws

Hey everyone, hope you've all had a lovely weekend and are enjoying the niceish weather? It's not exactly heatwave temperatures in Manchester where I live but even this teeniest amount of sun has put me in such a better mood! Meanwhile, I've been having a bit of a moment with the old Konad stamping kit which has led to the other half getting quite hacked off at me doing my nails every three days or so, can't see the problem myself...if I could, I would probably do my nails every day!

Honestly, I'm not a big fan of leopard print on the nails but I actually love pastel colours mixed with the leopard print. I think it looks really nice and girly, and not at all Bet Lynch-esque!

What nail art are you loving at the moment? I'm in need of some inspiration, I have hundreds of stamping designs to try but I'm already getting a bit bored at how long winded it can be to stamp my nails.

If you have anything you'd like to share nail art wise, go for it and post me a comment in the box below!

NOTD: Tribalesque Nails

 

My beloved little Stargazer polish really doesn't get enough use considering how amazing it is for stamping but then again, I have fallen a bit out of love with stamping as it can be sooooo time consuming for me, depending on what base colour I'm using. Anyways, down to the nitty gritty....I used one of my fauxnad stamping plates and one of my all time favourite nail polishes, Models Own Beth's Blue as a base and Stargazer Chrome Nail polish in no.232. The stamp I used is the bottom one on the plate and not something I would usually opt for; I prefer girlier stamps such as lace and floral designs but I'm going through a trying new things phase.

I haven't been feeling particularly inspired nail art wise recently but as always, the Pinterest community have been throwing out some gorgeous nail art designs. One can only wish I could create some of the beautiful nails on there so in the meantime I'll just carry on pinning a ridiculous amount of nail photos :-)

Shellac Manicures....Worth the Hype?

So, I've had two shellac manicures to date but for some odd reason I have never blogged about either. Shellac manicures specifically are widely raved about, especially with regards to the longevity of the polish. I personally found varying results between my two manicures and I had both done by the same lovely lady. The abuse my nails receive is pretty average I'd say? I don't exactly do any extreme things that would cause damage to my nails or hands, occasionally I'll be really rebellious and wash up without gloves.

 

So the picture above is around 3 days after I'd been shellaced. As you can see my nails look really nice and glossy and this is probably my favourite aspect of shellac. Standard nail polish is pretty dull in comparison, especially towards the time it starts to chip etc unless you have Seche Vite applied as a top coat, in which case you will have fabulously glossy nails that will probably peel off in a couple of days; just my experience with Seche Vite or does this annoy anyone else as well? Anywho, back to my lovely shellaced nails...around a week after this photo so almost 2 weeks after I'd had them done, a little chip surfaced which you can see below.

Aside from the chip, these frenchies ended up lasting 3-4 weeks so essentially that lives up to the claim that shellac lasts 3 weeks. When I had just one colour shellac, these also lasted around 3 weeks but they also chipped and some started to peel after just a week. 

Overall, if your careful with your nails I'm pretty sure you will get 3 weeks out of them but judging from my experience, you will also possibly experience some slight chipping before the 3 weeks is up. The glossy finish doesn't fade which I think is one great thing about shellac and my nails still looked freshly manicured (chips & regrowth aside) after 3 weeks. Also shellac is supposedly better for your nails than the likes of acrylic? I personally found that my nails were very weak after I'd had the shellac removed and every single one of my nails eventually broke because they'd become so weak.

To sum up in case you couldn't be bothered with me blabbering on ;)

Pros

Glossy Nails

Nail Polish Lasts Up to 3 Weeks

Your nails will grow considerably whilst you have the shellac polish as it kind of reinforces your nail

Cons

Weak nails after removal

May experience chipping or peeling before 3 weeks.

I really hope this has helped anyone considering having shellac done, I would recommend it to most people. If you already have weak or peeling nails, I'd suggest waiting until your nails are a bit stronger. In hindsight, I think I should maybe have looked after my nails more afterwards i.e. used some sort of nail oil? If you've any suggestions on how to care for your nails after shellac please feel free to post me a little tip below.

Letting the Creative Juices Loose....

I self taught myself to crochet when I was pregnant as I simply could not get to grips with knitting and found crochet much easier to learn. Honestly, it is something that comes and goes in my life; I'll have a fortnight of crochet madness, making everything from pretty headbands to funky cushion covers which then leads to a hiatus resulting in hoards of half finished projects . I'm not the quickest crocheter ever and my technique is far from amazing but I thought I'd share some of my recent crochet goings on, hopefully if it will encourage me to finish this blanket I've been making for bubba.

The pattern for these Popcorn Flower Granny Squares can be found here at Millie Makes' blog, I'm also reeeally tempted to try out her daisy granny square pattern which would look beautiful draped on the nursing chair in Elyse's room. Although, I promise to contain myself until the current blanket is done and dusted.

If your new to crochet and want to learn, Youtube is a fantastic learning tool as there are lots of good tutorial videos and free patterns. Likewise, Pinterest is a great source of inspiration for a huge variety of crochet projects, not to mention Etsy; home to masses of creatively minded people selling the most pretty patterns, catering for a range of skill levels. I also  recently picked up the Erika Knight Crochet Workshop book which you can purchase from Amazon for around £10, I won mine bidding on eBay for around £6 so if your a bargain hunter like moi try there. This is a brilliant book to learn from plus the photography is effortlessly gorgeous.

One thing I noticed when I was teaching myself was that crochet terms differ between the UK and USA. I don't want to start trying to explain the difference as I'm probably the least competent person to do so but if you are unsure, click here for a great explanation on the differences.

I really hope this post has been helpful to anyone interested in crochet and if you would like to see some more pretty crochet pictures, please look in my right sidebar where you will find a little Pinterest widget featuring my most recent pins. I'm still a newbie to the whole thing so if you have any interesting crochet related links/blogs/websites etc please do post me a comment in the box below!

NOTD: Nudey's with Gold Accents

My nail routine has been pretty low maintenence as of late so it was nice to change it up and get back that happy little feeling everytime I peer at my freshly polished fingers. My nails have seen better days thanks to my over enthusiasm at peeling numerous shellac manicures off, something I wouldn't recommend you try! 

 

For my "nudey" nails I used Basil Street by Nails Inc, which is seemingly taking over Models Own Nude Beige as my favourite nude polish. Although my inner lazy self despises the three coat application it requires. On my accent nails I used Look Nail Pop in Mink as a base coat and Models Own Champagne for the dotted accents. There isn't really any genius to the dots, I just concentrated on creating detail on the corners of my nail tips and alternated the size of the dots by using both ends of my dotting tool which is pictured below.

Dotting tools are really inexpensive if you purchase them from somewhere like eBay or alternatively you can use the end of a hairpin. I'm pretty much a novice with the old dotting tool but it's so inspiring to see such amazing nail art created by these little bargain beauty tools. If you want to share your dotty nail art feel free to post your link below, I'd love to have a nosey.

The High Street Edition No.2: SheLikes.com

I'm back with the 2nd installment of my High Street Edition series and today I've been perusing the pages of Shelikes.com. There were so many pieces that I would happily of added to my basket but I did manage to whittle it down to this select little group of wonders. I am quite the midi dress fiend so it was inevitable that I was going to be yearning for more than one as they have an abundance of gorgeous designs. Tie-dye is so on-trend at the moment but if I'm honest, I thought the high street would reproduce somewhat tackier styles. Our good old high street hasn't let us down though and there are so many gorgeous, affordable tie-dye pieces out there at the moment that it would be stupid not to have some tie-dye in your life.

What I Wore Today

Birds & Heart Print  Collar Dress - Apricot | Tan Leather Belt - H&M | Fur Coat - New Look | Filigree Ring - Primark | Paisley Bangle - Gift | Hammered Gold Necklace - New Look

So, I though I would share a wee outfit post as I've never posted anything of the kind before and I absolutely love having a nosey at other people's wardrobe. There are so many trends and styles that I adore at the moment and it's safe to say that my wardrobe is in urgent need of a spring revamp. For the moment though, I'm making the most of my past season items. Seeing as though there is still a distinct chill in the air, my trusty fur will no doubt be staying out of the vacuum pack bags for a few more weeks to come.

The High Street Edition No.1: Primark

Lazer Cut Peplum Top £10 |Limited Edition Macrame Waistcoat £14 | Crochet Vest Top £12 | Chunky Link Chain Necklace £4 | Aztec High Neck Midi Dress £10 | Tailored Boucle Short £12| Studded Fringe Duffle Bag £8 | Wide Stripe Prom Dress £20 | Belted Emerald Maxi £10 | Pleated Drop Hem Skirt £10 | Floral Digi Print Scuba Trouser £10 | Metal Trim Sandal £8

As I am quite the professional window shopper, I thought I'd try and make it a regular thing to share with you some of my fave things from the high street. Some of the items pictured were launched into stores during February and there are also items that should just be hitting stores now and a few that are due at the end of March. In other words, if you particularly like anything you've seen be sure to take a trip to Primark and have a ponder.

Happy shopping ;-)

February Favourites

Hey people, apologies for my lack of presence recently...I had no internet for a week and by the time I had access again, I'd kinda got used to going without and finally spent some time finishing up decorating around the house. Elyse's room is all done decorating wise and I couldn't be more pleased so I must remember to pop some photos up. Also, in case anyone may have noticed, I have merged my mummy and baby blog into this one as it started to make much better sense if I just throw in the odd related post here rather than having a whole other blog with a sparse amount of posts. If I have any parents reading, hopefully some of my baby/toddler posts will be useful reading to you in future :-)

I've been enjoying using up a variety of samples recently and getting to grips with skincare products that have become neglected in the "so, so" stash. All in all, I've had a bit of a topsy turvy month in terms of sticking to any products whether it be foundation, moisturiser, lipstick and perfume but it has been good to mix it up every other day and I've managed to collate a pretty good bundle of products that I've loved using the past month or so.

Clinique Dramatically Different Moisturizing Gel
I like to use this on a day to day basis under my make-up, it isn't the best product I've tried in terms of controlling oiliness but I love how quickly it sinks in. It also feels really hydrating, even on my dry patches of skin.
Monu Recovery Balm
This was almost ready to be dumped in my unloved skincare box until a recent mishap led to me slathering this all over my face. After cleansing my face, parts of my skin became really inflamed to the point where my face felt like it was on fire. This really helped to calm the inflammation down and ever since then I've been whipping this out anytime my skin has flared up. I've also been using it at night as a preventative measure for instance if I've had a particularly make-up heavy day, I feel like this generally prevents my skin from going crazy and breaking out all over the show.
Estee Lauder DayWear Advanced Multi-Protection Anti-Oxidant Oil Free Creme
I've received this little Estee Lauder sample with a Debenhams order and was looking forward to trying this out considering I have loved their skincare in the past. I was not disappointed in the slightest when trying out this moisturiser, it smells amazing (unless you don't particularly like the smell of cucumber?!), it sinks into the skin beautifully and my face feels super soft. It's an oil-free cream and whilst my skin is in this combination phase, it seems to perform well in terms of keeping the oil at bay and feels very lightweight applied. 
Anew Clinical Eye Lift Pro Dual Eye System
My last post was a rather longwinded review about this because I absolutely adore it and would repurchase it time and time again. There's not much more I can add to it as I pretty much raved the behind out of it last month so check out my full review here if you'd like to get the full lowdown on what I think about this little budget beauty superhero in a pot!
Toni & Guy Heat Protection Mist 
I love the way the product is dispersed out of this, it is literally like a mist of heat protecting goodness. This has definitely helped prevent adding to my halo of singed hairs which popped up from the endlessly, blowdrying my curly hair straight and not protecting it with products...sorry boff. 
Michael Kors Very Hollywood Perfume
Definitely one of my more neglected perfumes so it's been nice to finally get some use out of it this. I honestly have never been madly keen on this but I've found myself having a bit of a moment with it last month and for that reason, I had to include it as perfume is something I wear pretty much everyday.

 
MUA Heaven & Earth Eyeshadow Pallette
I've never fully reviewed this but it was included in another favourites post, if you'd like to see swatches and all that shebang, go here July Favourites. I have been using this almost every made up day from January to the present and I don't think I would have the nerve to wear eyeshadow as much if it wasn't for this pallette. It's fool proof to blend, creamy to apply, super pigmented, gorgeous shades and it only costs four quid. Nothing more to say.
E.L.F. Studio Powder Brush
Such a fantastic multi purpose brush and I would highly recommend this to any budding, make-up ehthusiasts considering it is so inexpensive. I've used it to apply liquid foundation and also powder products, it works just as well with both. Definitely one of the better brushes from the E.L.F. range.

ELF Studio Blush
I would say this is very similar to the Rimmel Santa Rose blush in terms of the colour although it is slightly less pigmented when actually applied to my cheeks. I have enjoyed using this on days where I want a subtle glowy, peachy cheek.
"MAC" Pigment
This is actually a complete and utter fake MAC pigment, and whilst I do not condone using fake products, I have to admit that this has become a bit of a guilty pleasure. It's a really good quality pigment to be honest and I love the colour so I can't help but dabble with it now and again. Having had a quick search around, I'd say the colour is very similar to the MAC pigment Mauvement. The whole not knowing what could be in it though definitely puts me off using it too regularly so I am going to look around for something similar.
Rimmel Apocalips Lip Lacquer
Luna
I reviewed this not long ago and my love for it is still going strong. A perfect colour for an daytime, neutral face use or layer it on to make your lips pop. If you want to see my review of it, take a look here.
MAC Cremesheen Lipstick
Shy Girl  
Another lip product I reviewed not long back and without a doubt, on my list of failproof, nude lip shades. Like many others, I absolutely love MAC lipsticks but I cannot bear to part with my pennies on a regular basis to buy more so I much prefer to stick to the safer nude-esque shades.  
  Sorry if I've blabbed on, but I do feel like I had to make up for my lack of January Favourites as there has been so many products I've been using and loving recently!

What were your favourite beauty products last month?

Avon Anew Clinical Eye Lift Pro

I thought that now is probably a really good time to give my current eye cream a full review seeing as I have been using it for well over a month now. I'll be completely honest here in stating that I am no eye cream guru and I have only tried around 2-3 eye creams in my entire life. My poor peepers were neglected for many years until I really got into caring about skincare and the consequences of getting old! Nowadays, I feel almost guilty if I haven't used eye cream.

Based on my genes, it is more than likely that my eyes will age more so than the rest of my face. I already have quite dark shadows under my eyes purely from lack of sleep and going off family history, I will probably end up getting quite a bit of puffiness around the eye area. When I spotted this award winning eye cream in an Avon brochure, naturally I wanted it and luckily my mum overheard and got me this for Christmas. Come Christmas time I was absolutely scraping the barrel of my Clinique All About the Eyes sample so this was a much needed and wanted gift (thanks mum!). 

Not gonna lie, I was using this all wrong the first couple of days but I was still amazed by the results it had gave me. The product comes in the form of an upper eye gel and an undereye cream but I had been applying the cream to my undereye and eylid area, whilst only applying the gel to my browbone. However, I think you are actually supposed to just apply the cream under the eye. Regardless of my error, I noticed that the skin had significantly lifted and it appeared as though I had more eyelid than before (very technical explanation there, I know). This is something I have been longing for since I started experimenting with eyeshadow because no matter how brilliant I make my eyeshadow look, it always seems to be hidden due to the skin above my lid potruding over my eyelid and my small eyelids furthermore do not help! I also prefer to dab on eye creams unless I'm in a rush and I find that everything sinks in fairly quickly, something I definitely wasn't expecting from the gel half of the product. Just to note, the gel feels quite sticky when first applied but the tackiness completely disappears once it has sunk in.

Clearly, this isn't like your standard one step eye cream product and as much as my can't be arsed self thought I would really hate this concept, I actually don't in the slightest. In fact, it's safe to say I positively look forward to this step in my skincare routine. This retails at £19.50 in the UK which I'd say is very reasonably priced considering how good this product is and I will most definitely be repurchasing.

To sum it up, this little tub of wonder does exactly what it says on the front i.e. lifts your eye, and I would highly recommend it to anyone seeking out a new eye cream.

Available from: Avon for £19.50, currently on offer for £9.99!

My Favourite Perfume

Viktor & Rolf Flowerbomb Eau De Parfum
Available from: The Perfume Shop for £47.50 

I was dying to add to my perfume collection because if I'm honest, I've had owned some of my perfumes for that long that they were starting to smell off, lovely. Anyways, my lovely Pops bought me this little beaut that I'd been desperate to get my hands on forever and I wasn't disappointed. Personally, I think it may be a little overpowering for some people and I can see why it might divide opinion. I happen to absolutely love it though and it is without a doubt, my favourite fragrance, period.

It is extremely flowery so if your not keen on that, this probably won't float your boat. It also has a really sweet smell to it but not in the sickly, sweet sense which I adore. I can't really think of anymore raving quotes to describe how good it smells I'd just suggest you take a whiff if your passing a perfume counter.

My only hang up with it is the price...obviously. I have the smallest bottle which is 30ml and the cheapest I've found it thus far was around the £45 (GBP) mark. Call me old fashioned but I remember the days when you could get a nice bottle of perfume for between £20-25! I'm perfectly aware that this is supposed to be a luxurious product and all the rest but I'm just sad my purse can't stretch to a full size bottle, therefore I tend to just wear this for special occasions or days where I just wanna perk myself up a bit.

So it's safe to say I clearly love this although it hasn't stopped me drawing up a rather lengthy perfume wishlist #extremelywishfulthinking. If you have any fragrance recommendations please do pop your suggestions below ;-) 

A Few New Additions...

After taking in all the hype surrounding Rimmels Apocalips Lip Lacquer's, I of course headed to Boots when I discovered they had a 3 for 2 on all Rimmel products. I looked through swatches, upon swatches and decided I was going to go for three shades from the Apocalips line; Celestial, Luna and Nude Eclipse. Unfortunately, they had sold out of Nude Eclipse online and in every Boots I cared to drag myself to which was a bit disappointing as this looked like a gorgeous colour when I swatched it on my hand. Instead I ended up purchasing Luna and Celestial, and not being one to miss out on a bargain I purchased the Moisture Renew Lipstick in Notting Hill Nude, as I've heard lots of good things about these lipsticks.

  

Apocalips Lip Lacquers
I'm honestly so impressed with these!! I haven't really dabbled with budget, lip products for a while and in the past I haven't really been impressed so these were a bit of a jump on the bandwagon purchase, so glad I did though. I love the doe foot applicator and I've found that the bottle design somewhat helps you to apply the perfect amount. If you happen to purchase one of these, you should notice when you first pull the applicator out, the neck of the bottle squidges the excess out and leaves you with the perfect amount to apply. They are super pigmented and when I compared my lips to the actual content in the bottle, it is pretty much match for match; you definitely cannot be disappointed with the colour payoff. As I'm a bit of a a wimp with semi-bright colours, I blot and dab to my hearts content which helps the lacquer not to settle in any dry bits of my lips and obviously takes away that initial "in your face" colour. For the swatches below, I've layered on the lacquer twice as it didn't seem to be showing up as bright as it is in person, so hopefully I've given you a good representation of how these particular shades look.

  

Celestial

I'd describe this as a blue toned pink and I think this would suit a lot of skin tones. It is such a gorgeous colour although I think this will end up being saved for the more heavily made up, special occasions ;)

Luna

I actually wore this today and was so scared initially but even the make-up hating boyfriend gave his approval and he normally hates anything other than nude, natural i.e. boring plain old me. This is such a gorgeous peachy colour and will be perfect for Spring.

Moisture Renew Lipstick
 I'd heard quite a bit of rave about the Rimmel Moisture Renew lippies but too be honest I'm really on the fence about all the hype surrounding them! I love the colour I purchased, it is literally everything I look for in a nude lipstick i.e. my lip colour but better, however the whole moisturing nature of it...I'm not completely bowled over by? I'm not sure why but it feels quite drying on my lips and I don't think it does anything in terms of nourishing my lips like it claims. I definitely think the MAC Cremesheen formula is a lot less drying and more glossy to apply, although this is a great alternative if your on a budget. There are loads of gorgeous colours, some of which I swatched on the back of my hand and they were all amazingly pigmented, which is the main thing I seek out when purchasing lipsticks. Overall, I'd definitely recommend giving these a try if your on a budget.

Notting Hill Nude

 Here are some more swatches of all three products swatched together.

Swatch taken in natural daylight.

Swatch taken with flash.

 I sincerely hope I've helped anyone considering purchasing these products. As always, I'd love to hear any comments on what I've spoke about and likewise, listen to what you've been buying and enjoying using!
 

Rediscovering Some Long Lost Treasures...

So you may of heard of the phrase "shopping my stash" which is where you dig out any, unloved make-up in a bid to save yourself from spending all that hard earned money on more make-up, simples! I had a quick look through one of my, erm... many make-up storage places (really need to sort this out...) and found a few hidden treasures that I've loved in the past but don't regularly use these days.

 ELF Studio Blush
Candid Coral

This is such a wearable, rosey peach toned blusher. I've been enjoying getting back into make-up again and love incorporating this into a simple daytime look.

ELF Studio Blush
Pink Passion

I was pretty worried about how vibrant this would look when applied but it's actually very buildable and can look really subtle if you have a light hand applying it. I dab a swirl of this onto the apples of my cheeks with a small blusher brush and buff out with my ELF Studio Powder Brush.

 MAC Studio Fix Fluid
NC25

I think this is probably my favourite foundation, although, Double Wear is slowly creeping up the ranks. I've literally been using the absolute dregs of this because it is the closest match to my skin colour, it creates a flawless finish and is so, so easy to blend. It's not as long lasting as my Revlon and Estee Lauder foundations and it can break me out if I don't cleanse my face properly....so, it's not without its flaws but what foundation is?

  
Rimmel Colour Show Off Lipstick
020 Shake Up Pink  

With all the snowy weather goings on, I decided to go for a bright lip for a change. I don't think my camera reflects the brightness of this lipstick as it's actually more of a vivid pink shade. This is quite creamy textured when you apply it but leaves a semi-matte finish, it's highly pigmented and doesn't dry out my lips too much, I've noticed it has quite a strong smell to it which is unexpectedly nice...almost like a sweet, fruity smell. I'm always really impressed with Rimmel lip products; the lip glosses I've owned don't leave a sticky feeling, there's an array of beautiful colours to suit all skin tones and they're not expensive to own (collect), winning.

  FOTD
Face: MAC Studio Fix Fluid Foundation in NC25
Mac Studio Finish Concealer in NC20
Collection 2000 Lasting Perfection Concealer in Medium
ELF High Definition Powder
 ELF Studio Blush in Pink Passion 

Eyes: HD Brows Eye & Brow Palette in Foxy
Maybelline the Colossal Volum Express in 100% Black
Maybelline Eye Studio Lasting Drama Gel Liner in Black 

Lips: Rimmel Show Off Colour Lipstick in 020 Shake Up Pink 


Have you been shopping your stash?