Yet Another Haul!

Hey guys!

So basically over the past couple of weeks I have updated my makeup collection somewhat dramatically. I have bought a lot of new brushes (which I will get on to in a moment), I have some new eyeshadows, new lip glosses and lipsticks, and I also got an eyelash curler. I've pretty much changed my entire makeup routine!!

For starters then, my new brushes. I spent a hell of a lot of time combing the internet trying to figure out which brushes do what, which brushes are the best etc. And I eventually got my mind set on investing in a set of MAC brushes. I came so close to buying a load of MACs brushes from the Debenhams website, but in the end it all came down to price. To be quite honest, there is no way on earth that I could justify spending over £100 on just three or four brushes, no matter how much I wanted them! So I started shopping around for a cheaper alternative, and I eventually stumbled across Ecotools. Ecotools are a rather nature-friendly company, and I read some very god reviews for their makeup tools. I decided to purchase a few of their products from Boots. I got the 'Bamboo 6 Piece Eye Brush Set', the 'Bamboo Foundation Brush', and also the 'Bamboo Angled Eyeliner Brush'. When I got the brushes home, the first thing I noticed about them was that they all come in very nice little plastic wallets, which are supposed to be used as little storage pouches. Very good idea, I thought! I took the foundation brush out of its little packet, and almost immediately I was overcome by how soft the bristles were! I mean, they were like silk! No other brush I have ever owned has been anywhere near that soft. I was rather in a hurry to test the eye brushes for their softness, and they were much the same. The eye brush set comes with its own little travel pouch, which is velcro sealed and has a small vanity mirror inside. Perfect for protecting the brushes, really. They are lovely! I would definitely recommend these brushes to anyone. At the time of purchase, the foundation brush cost £7.99, the eye brush set cost £14.99, and the eyeliner brush was £5.49, all from Boots.

Today, I also swung by Superdrug and picked up 3 makeup items, as they have a 3 for 2 offer on at the moment. The main reason I went to Superdrug in the first place was to pick up a Sleek eyeshadow pallette, which I have read a lot about lately. I have been eye-ing up the Urban Decay 'Naked' pallettes for some time now, but was a bit reluctant to purchase them due to their price tag. And without really meaning to, I stumbled across a blog (I forget which, sorry) that compared the Naked pallette with Sleeks I-Divine 'Storm' pallette, which really is a fraction of the price! On first inspection of the Sleek pallette, it looks quite pleasant. It comes in a black plastic case with a vanity mirror inside, with 12 little eye shadows. I'm yet to use the eye shadows, but when I do I will review them. Also it the 3 for 2 at Superdrug, I purchased a Collection 2000 'Lock N Hold' lipgloss in the colour 'Urban Punk'. It's a kind of champagney, light beige-ish colour, with a bit of sparkle in it. The best thing about this lipgloss though is the smell; It's gorgeous! Very fruity and pleasant. And the third thing I bought was a white eyeliner from MUA. Usually only a pound, but it was the free thing in the 3 for 2 offer. The thing I like about the MUA eyeliners is that they have a sharpener built in to the lid, which is mega handy.

I have picked up a few bits and bobs, too, like an Urban Decay 'Brow Box' (which I am LOVING and would reccomend to everyone), a Simple Eye Roll-On thing which I haven't tried yet, and some new cleanser and toner by Garnier. Hopefully I will get round to talking about some of these things in more detail in up-coming blogs.

Bye for now x : )

Daily Make-Up /// My Make-Up Bag.

Hello : )

I thought I'd write a post about the make-up that I paint my face with every day.

I usually start by using a toner all over my face to get rid of any oil that came out in the night, and to get rid of any remaining eye make-up that makes me look like I've been punched. At the moment, I'm using The Body Shops 'Tea Tree Skin Clearing Toner'. I'm not completely sold on this one. It smells absolutely lovely, but I think it's just a bit too harsh for my skin, and it makes my eyes really sting. Once it is finished I'll have a hunt around for a new toner to try.

After the toner has dried, I SOMETIMES moisturise (which nine times out of ten makes me mega greasy and yuck), or SOMETIMES use Loreals 'Studio Secrets Smoothing Resurfacing Primer' (really big pores across my nose and cheeks!). More often than not though, I'll just go straight on to the foundation. 

At the moment I am about half way through a bottle of No7 'Beautifully Matte' foundation in the shade 'Cool Vanilla'. Now, for donkeys years I have been hopping from one liquid foundation to the other, trying to find one with great coverage to hide my break-outs, and one that won't melt off of my face due to the bucket-fulls of oil that my face seems set on producing. And I hadn't had much luck at all until I tried this foundation! When I'm at work (I work in a rediculously over heated environment), it usually lasts on my face for about 5-7 hours before beginning to slide around; and when at home it will last a couple of yours longer. But to me, that is BRILLIANT. No other foundation that I've used before could stand up to this one. And I can safely say that when this bottle is finished, I will be going straight to Boots to buy another!!

After foundation comes concealer. I'm on a tube of Maybellines 'Fit Me' concealer in shade #15. Mixed reviews for this one. I find it to be too thin to really cover any blemishes or red spots, but it's fine to use under my eyes. My all-time favourite concealer is most definitely Collection 2000s 'Lasting Perfection' concealer. Fantastically high coverage from that one!

Next, I use pressed powder to give a completely matte look. I'm currently using No7 'Perfect Light' pressed powder in the shade 'Translucent'. To be honest, I personally won't be buying this again. It is absolutely fine at what it does. It performs pretty well, and comes in a very nice little compact with a mirror inside. But I think I would rather buy something like Rimmels 'Stay Matte' pressed powder. It works exactly the same, but for a lower price. It all comes down to the pennies! 

Sometimes I'll sweep a bit of bronzer over my face just now, depending on how the mood takes me...

On to the cheeks. At the moment I'm chopping and changing between 3 blushers, namely 'Expert Wear Blush' in the shades 'Peach' or 'Rosewood', which is from Maybelline, or for a more full-on look I have 17s 'Blush & Glow' in the shade 'In Bloom'. My favourite is the peach.

Eyes next. I start with a miracle product, Urban Decays 'Eyeshadow Primer Potion' in the original shade. I bought this for the first time about a year ago, and I'm still on the same tube despite using it every day! This stuff really is brilliant. For me, it lasts literally all day (or at least for the 16 out of 24 hours that I'm usually wearing it!). My problem before using this was that eyeshadow would all gather in a big fat greasy line in the crease of my eye, which looked really gross. But this product really worked wonders and fixed that problem completely. It is getting towards the expensive side for a cheap-skate like me, but I think it is well worth it, considering how long it lasts and how well it works. I will certainly be buying another one of these when I'm finished with this tube.

^Most of the items in my daily make-up routine^

After that I put on eye shadow. This can be any colour really. I typically go for darker colours like deep purples or greys and blacks, but recently I have been using more natural colours like browns and light greens. I don't really have a favourite eye shadow, but I like anything with a bit of sparkle to it.

For eye liner I LOVE Bobbi Browns 'Long-Wear Gel Eyeliner' in 'Black Ink'. I'm a big fan of a heavily lined eye, and this does the job extremely well. I apply it with a thin brush along my top lash line, and usually have a little flick or wing at the outside corner of my eye. The first time I came across this product was when I was about 15. My mum bought it duty-free on the plane back from holiday, but decided black was much too dark for her, so she let me have it. Back then, I used to put it on with a thin paint brush!! Haha, silly me. Worked though. I think I lost that pot, because I don't remember it running out and I don't remember throuwing it away. But anyway, I recently splurged on a new pot of it, and it really is a great product. It seems to be lasting for ever, and it isn't drying up at all like I worried it would. It goes on easily and lasts a long time. Yes, it is a very small pot for the price, but it really is worth it. I also occasionally use Loreals 'Infallible' eyeliner in 'Night-Day Black'. When I use this, I use it along the waterline at the bottom of my eye. I used to use it on my top lid as well, and it did a pretty good job, but not as good as Bobbi Brown, so it got replaced. What I like about this eyeliner is that you don't have to sharpen it. I always have rubbish luck with sharpening eyeliners, I end up ruining them. But this eyeliner is a twist-up twist-down kind of dealy. Sharpening problem solved! 

For mascara I'm addicted to Maybellines 'Falsies Volum Express' in 'Waterproof Black. It's an old favourite, nuff said. I always come back to this one after trying other products, but for me, none others match up to it. It suits me well. 

For lips, I used to use just vaseline or similar, but I'm beginning to branch out into the deep realms of lip glosses and sticks. I'm currently test-driving Maybellines 'Superstay 24hr Lip Colour And Balm' in 'Creme Caramel'. I said a short piece on this in my previous blog post. Smells nice, goes on well, balm is nice and soft. I've marked it down slightly though, because it left residue on my coffee mug earlier on. Still quite a good colour, though. 

And that is my regular, run-of-the-mill, every day make-up routine!!

^The bag in question^

Alsooo, I just thought I'd show you my make-up bag. Because I can... : ) 

This bag was a present last christmas from the Boyfriends mum. It is a really cut bag, in my opinion. I really love it. It's made by retreat. It only has one compartment, but it is rather roomy inside, all my every day make-up plus an eyeshadow pallette. a kabuki brush, a blusher brush, eyelash curlers, and a few odds and ends can fit inside. There is a zip fastening along the top. The motif on the front is three little hearts that have been sewn on, with some very cute little buttons. The main colour is a kind of sandy beigey colour, and the panels at either end are green with white polka dots, which matches two of the heart on the front. The seams are covered with red piping, which is quite eye-catching. 

My lovely little make-up bag does the job. : )

Todays make-up/beauty haul.

So today there was a market on in my town, and there's always a burger van or two at this market, so the boyfriend and I moseyed on up to one of the said burger vans... Deffo worth it. Burger van burgers are sooo lush, with onions and ketchup especially. After the burger, I treated myself to a Starbucks. I don't often go to starbucks these days, but the red cup drinks are back! Hallelujah!! I loveloveLOVE the red cup time of year. The first gingerbread latte of the year marks the beginning of the festive season for me. Christmas is officially on its way!!

Anyways, the point of that tangent was this; the epic burger and the epic coffee put me in a good mood, which turned into a bit of a 'spending' mood. I spent a LONG time walking round and round the make-up aisles in boots and superdrug, smearing eyeshadows and lipglosses all over one of my hands. I ended up buying a few things. Some of which I needed, some of which were just spur of the moment purchases. 

Here's my haul:

Item 1: Boots Essentials Eye Make-Up Remover Gel. (£1.42, Boots.)

Truth be told, I have never used an eye make-up remover before. I have always used just regular make up remover or cleanser to take off my eye make up. But I thought I should start being a bit nicer to my eyes while I'm still young and wrinkle-free. The bottle contains 150ml of the gel. It is part of a range of 'essentials' products that Boots does, a few of which I have tried over the years, and I don't really have anything bad to say about them. I always go for the cucumber stuff because I like the smell, but they also do the same things but fragrance free, which are in a blue packaging. This product has fairly average reviews on the boots.com website, so I think it should be okay. Like I said, I've tried other things from this brand which have been fine, so I'll see how this goes for me.

Item 2: Botanics Mattifying Gel Cream. (£3.32, Boots.)

My face is rediculously oily, and for years I refused to go anywhere near any kind of moisturiser for fear of it making me even more greasy. Over the past year or so though, I have begun to try out a few moisturisers that claim to be oil-free. So far I haven't had much luck with them, so hopefully this product will break the trend and be okay. The outer packaging is quite pleasant, and rather typical of a Botanics product. The pot inside is plain and simple. It holds 50ml of the gel. It has a really lovely smell, which reminds me a fair bit of the Nivea Happy Time body lotion. It is more of a gel than a cream, and gels are supposed to be better for oily skin than creams are. I haven't had much experience with the Botanics range, but my mum almost swears by them, so they can't be bad! Once again, I will see how I get on with it.

Item 3: 17 Solo Eye Shadow, Funfair. (£3.89, Boots.)

I was hunting around the make-up shelves for an eternity looking for a nice peachy eyeshadow, and this is the closest I could find. It's more pinky than I wanted, but not too pink, and should be fine once it's on. It has a nice bit of sparkle to it, which is lovely. I really don't like matte eye shadows. I think £3.89 is a bit much for what it is, considering it's a small solo shadow, and it's supposed to be a fairly budget brand. However, I've found 17 eye shadows to be of fair quality in the past, therefore we can kind of accept the price.

Item 4: Maybelline Super Stay 24H Dual Ended Lip Colour, Creme Caramel. (£8.99, Boots.)

I ummed and arred over buying this. I have read some brilliant and some disasterous reviews for it, so was kind of in two minds. But I took the plunge, and I hope it pays off. I bought it in the shade Creme Caramel, which is a fairly natural/neutral colour compared to others in this range. You don't get as much lip gloss as you'd think you would, looking at the size of it. The gloss has a really lovely fruity smell. I put some on just now, and it went on really smoothly. The little applicator is very soft and flexes slightly as you apply it, so it doesn't dig into your lip. On the box it tells you to wait for the gloss to dry completely before applying the balm. It went tacky very quickly, and seems to be almost dry about two mins after putting it on. The balm pulls out of the other end of the stick. It twists up, just like a lipstick, and has a similar fruity smell to the gloss end. The balm is very silky feeling and literally glides on, initially giving a shiny wet look. So far, so good with this product. I am impressed!

Item 5: Maybelline ExpertWear Blush, Peach. (£5.99, Superdrug.)

This is a blusher that I previously owned, and completely used up. Its a very nice peach colour, very natural looking. I also have another of these in rosewood, and used to mix the two colours which worked quite well. The blusher has a really nice subtle shimmer to it, which catches the light really nicely. It comes with one of those silly little brushes, which I personally think is just a waste of space. Maybelline should get rid of the brush and either use that space to put more blusher in, or make the box smaller! Really hate these little brushes! Anyway. In my oppinion it it a very good daytime blusher.

Item 6: Maybelline Volum' Express Falsies Mascara, Waterproof Black. (£7.99, Superdrug.)

This has got to be my all time favourite mascara. I have tried a lot of other mascaras, but I keep crawling back to this one, it's so brilliant. It makes my eyelashes look lovely and thick and dark, and it doesn't clump. I always buy it in waterproof, as I find mascaras that aren't waterproof tend to smudge on me really easily. Personally, I can't see why all mascaras aren't waterproof. The packaging isnt particularly eye-catching, but I guess that doesn't matter too much. It has a bristly brush, which is 'spoon-shaped' (curved). I don't know how the shape of the brush affects the performance of the product, but it seems to work well! 

Item 7: MUA Sheer Finish Lipgloss, Lets Meet. (£1, Superdrug.)

I bought this after reading about it on someone elses blog, can't remember whose. But said person said it was a good lipgloss for such a cheap price. And they were right in my oppinion. Yes, it smells and tastes like a cheap lipgloss, but it is a good quick-fix; a 'handbag lipgloss'. After application it is quite tacky, and I'd imagine your hair would really stick to it on a windy day. I got it in the shade 'Lets Meet', which is a very natural, muted pink colour. Quite a basic design on the tube, nothing flashy. For only one pound, I couldn't really ask for much more from this lipgloss.

I also bought a bottle of Garnier Summer Body moisturiser, which isn't pictured. I'm going on holiday in a few weeks, so want to build up a bit of colour before I get there. Usually, I spend the first few days of a holiday looking like I've been dipped in a pot of white paint. But not this time!!! And it smells really nice. Some tanning products that I've previously used have a horrid smell to them, but this one is really pleasant and fruity, which is a big plus.

So there you are, my mini make-up haul!

: ) xx

Hi There : )

Welcome to my brand-spanking-new blog!!

Let me introduce myself...

Name: Charley. 

Age: 21.

Country of Residence: England. 

Likes: Photography, Music, Television, Sunshine, Sparkly things, make-up...

Dislikes: Rain, Spiders, Mushrooms...

Basically, I have a tiny bit of free time on my hands, so thought I would create a blog!! The main focus of this blog will be mainly make-up (eg. reviews, my favourite products etc), with a few odds and ends thrown in for good measure.

You'll have to bare with me a bit, as I'm rather new to this and don't really know how everything works just yet. Hopefully it will all go well, fingers crossed.

Enjoyyy : ) xx