Collective beauty and accessory haul!

Good day y'all! I've been at it again, that darn retail therapy that calls me out ever so often. And of course it wouldn't be fair to buy all these wonderful things I buy and not share them with the world now, would it? Yes this is a collective haul and I think there are about 3 different days worth of purchases here over the space of 2/3 weeks, including that of when I won £100 on a scratch card after not being paid right from work. Silly work. Sexy scratch card. So here's what I've been buying!

Trip One - Tesco.

First from Tesco I bought this jumbo felt tip liner pen by the Along came Betty brand. I've said it before and I'll say it again, Along came Betty are quite clearly a rip off of S&G products, however they're really good quality products at a fraction of the price. Most S&G products retail at an average of about £10, where as the ACB products are almost always on offer at around £3-£5 in Tesco so I have noticed. This however was reduced to £1 which is a clear win. I've used this a good few times now and at first it was a little hard to contend with as the tip is just so large. I found it quite difficult to create an even, steady line and to be honest even now I don't think I would attempt a winged look with this. If you have shaky hands then I wouldn't recommend this even considering it is a felt tip liner. However if you think applying this wouldn't be a massive challenge for you then I definitely would recommend it, as the product is outstanding. This eye liner has struck itself out to me as I noticed just how long it lasted without having to think about it. I put this on before work one day and last thing at night it still looked freshly applied. It wasn't worn in the inner corners of my eyes as most liners do and that was a very pleasant shock to see. Also (at the risk of sounding saucy) the tip is SO moist! I've had felt tip liners that have dried up in a matter of days, thanks a lot Rimmel thick and thin, but after having this a few weeks now it is still as good as the day I bought it which I am very impressed with.


That day I also got this F&F blush in 'Flame' for the same price of £1. This is a really lovely coral/pink colour and is super pigmented. Unfortunately this wears off quite quickly and makes me crave a fixing spray so that it can look beautiful all day, however as I am yet to find one of those I want it is a reapply reapply job. I love wearing this sweeping high up towards the temples, set a bit back from the apples of the cheek as I find it adds a look of structure to my face. I feel this is going to be a staple in my spring make up bag!








Trip two - Superdrug.

A friend of mine, Bec Wilkins, recommended MUA products to me. As the Boots in our town don't stock MUA and I rarely go into Superdrug I hadn't got round to buying anything from MUA until she instagrammed a picture of a neutrals eye shadow pallet from them which looked gorgeous. A few weeks later I popped in and this happened.

The very first thing I noticed on the display stand was this memorizing eye shadow pallet. It is named the 'Pretty Edgy' pallet and is just so gorgeous that at £8 it was in my hands before I knew it. The pallet consists of 6 shimmer shades (L-R: Antique, Bow, Toile, Ruffle, Flounce, Lace) and 4 matte shades (L-R: Sinful, Gothic, Wrath, Envy). These shadows are really something to get excited about, not just because of the lovely colours but because they give everything I expect of an eye shadow. They give a great colour pay off, they last all day with a good base, they blend smoothly and easily, there's very little fall out when applying and above all they're super versatile when it comes to creating different looks. My most used shade is definitely Flounce, often teamed with Lace as a smoky look. This product got me so excited and I honestly love everything about it (Minus the stupid sponge applicator brush) even down to the packaging. What girl doesn't need a massive mirror and gold studs on her pallets?

Next from MUA is the 'English Rose' mosaic blush, which I had heard Becca Rose on Youtube speak about in the past. This is also a gorgeous product but I feel as though it's more of a highlight than a blush. I expect blushes to give your cheeks a flush of colour however this seems to give more of a light effect. Don't get me wrong it does have some colour in there but it is also very shimmery and sheer. Nevertheless I do really like this, I find that with all the different colours blended in to one you get this perfect shade which actually makes me feel as though it is giving the illusion of a better complexion. It is easily applicable and does have a much better lasting power than the F&F one I mentioned before. I believe this was £3/£4 so really it's a complete bargain again.

Also, Superdrug had an offer on where if you spent £6 on MUA products you got a free Colour Blast eyeshadow tint, so I did! I got the shade 'A girl like me' which is a really nice light brown taupe colour. I thought these might be like the Collection eyeshadow sticks but they're really very different. They're very sheer so the phrase 'tint' is not wrong. To be honest I was a little disappointed by how little colour I saw when using this however I may have just picked up the worst colour in that sense. However do you remember me mentioning those pretty edgy eyeshadows lasting all day with a good base? Well people, here is that good base. In actual fact this is the perfect base. It's much thicker than an eyeshadow primer so it gives shadow something to cling on to, setting it for the day ahead. Since getting this I have barely touched my Avon eye primer which as you should know is a big deal for me! So as the intended purpose of this product I find it pretty crap, but hey, there's always other uses for these things!

Trip Three - Boots.

First from Boots I bought the Rimmel London Scandal Eyes waterproof Kohl liner in 'nude'. I hear of people all over Youtube using this along the waterline instead of a white liner. I had previously been using Collections 'Vanilla Sky' eyeshadow pencil for this and while it was really nice looking it was a bit chunky and stuck to my lower lashes a bit, so I thought I would give this a shot. I've only used this once since getting it and I did really like it. It seems a much more natural looking way of making your eyes appear bigger and brighter and I feel as though I am going to really like this. Possible February Favourites contender?

Now for the first of two Seventeen products. This is their flawless poreless primer, smoothing skin perfector. I initially went into Boots with the intention of buying Maybelline's babyskin primer. However I then tested it and was disgusted. I have never felt a more greasy feeling makeup product in my life and definitely wasn't going to be putting that on my face. I did however need a new primer and after toying with repurchasing the Collection one I ended up going for this. It is in a compact cream form and feels really nice and silky on the skin. I've not had chance to use this yet but I shall let you know my thoughts in my next post - promise!



And also from Seventeen is this. This is the Cheek stamp in 'Blushin''. These are so awesome and I totally just bought it for the novelty! Essentially this is a two part pot and behind the mirror is the actual blush product which when you screw the two parts together, applies to the springy sponge, which you then stamp? on your face. HAHA! Excellent for small minded folk like myself. I've used this once and the colour is really very nice and it is such an easy method of applying blush. I feel as though I will be using this on days where I'm in a rush or when I just want to add a bit of fun in to my day! There was a great colour selection in this range, I believe there were 3 more shades. I am adamantly picking up all the other shades as they're just such a great product. The formulation seems pretty okay for a blush too with it giving a good few hours before fading away and having a good pigment to it! Just go buy this, now, just go, do it.



Accessories Trip - Primark.

In primark I picked up a few things non-beauty related. The first being this very pretty gold necklace.
I saw this ages and ages ago and fell in love with it, however I didn't buy it and I have no idea why. This was only £2 and I know I will get loads of wear out of it, as I wear a lot of black. This is almost a choker style necklace with a gold chain and a loose gold tube that shapes the necklaces when being worn. I really like this and it's not as heavy as I thought it would be!



Also in the necklace section I picked up this statement piece which has 5 connected disks with orange/red stones in the middle. I know this is going to be perfect in the spring and I can't wait to start wearing it. Again at £4 it was an absolute steal and is just so beautiful. This will look really great with a red lip in my opinion and will really make an outfit!



I did also get a set of frilly socks, a grey vest and a grey shirt with icecreams on it but that's pretty darn boring so I won't show you those, haha!

So that is my collective haul! I hope you enjoyed it and were inspired to get yourselves something pretty! Keep your eyes peeled for my next edition of Love Lips, which will be based on winter berry shades as my way of saying F OFF (I mean, farewell!) to Winter! That post should be up within the week so stay tuned!

Much Love, G x

News.

Well hello there. If you read my January Favourites post yesterday through to the end then firstly thankyou for putting up with my ramblings and secondly you'll have seen this post was forthcoming. Yes this post is just a little update on what has been going on in my life lately and what will be going on in my life very shortly, hopefully.
First off I want to get the bad news out of the way.

This is Oscar. Me and my boyfriend got Oscar just a few weeks before Christmas. It took a hell of a lot of effort to get him in to our lives, including a lot of facebook messages, a train ride up to Retford than resulted in me missing the train home and being stuck in Retford train station for an hour at 11 o clock at night and very cold temperatures that resulted in a very sniffly me.
When we got Oscar he was the size of a 3/4 month old kitten and was very skinny due to his first owners abandoning him in their flat. I'd just like to say that these horrible people are not those who we bought him off. Trisha and her boyfriend were very lovely people and obviously cared for him a great deal. They were very sad for Oscar (or monster munch as they had temporarily named him) and hated to see him leave, however I would like to think that they knew me and my boyfriend would (and did) love him immensely.
Oscar was your average kitten and would play with his toys and come for cuddles all the time, however we did start to notice that he then began sleeping a lot. Over Christmas and through January this began to be the norm for Oscar.

Over January Oscar had two vets visits due to our concern for his lethargic ways and also we suspected he had ear mites. On the first visit the vet inspected him focusing mostly on his ears. Yes, he did have ear mites and was prescribed ear drops which rapidly cleared that up for him. He was also given anti-biotics in case his lethargic attitude was due to an infection. After a week or so he was no better in that sense and had also started getting diarrhoea so we took him back to the vets, extremely concerned.

This time we had a different vet who was much more straight forward with us, and gave us a second bout of anti-biotics and a probiotic paste to help solidify the contents of his stomach. She did mention a few possible diagnoses of what could have been wrong with him but said half of the problems cats get are untestable for. The vet also did a little examination of him and told us that he had gained weight which was a sign of good things and also told us that Oscar was not a kitten and actually had a full set of adult teeth, meaning he was probably about 1 year old.
Over the next few weeks Oscar seemed to improve, he still slept a lot but his diarrhoea had cleared up and he was eating really well so we weren't too concerned.
Then a few days in to February Oscars diarrhoea came back and wasn't improving with the probiotic paste at all. Then came February 8th 2014. This is the day that Oscar died and is a date I will never forget.
I rang my boyfriend in the morning and he said Oscar was a bit poorly and had pooped on the floor and couldn't get up. He said we should get to the vets as soon as possible. My boyfriend was under exaggerating as he didn't want to worry me. When I got to the flat he took me aside and said that when I saw Oscar I knew it'd be for the last time. And he was right. Looking at my poor gorgeous cat laid on his side, limbs out stretched in his carry case I was struggling to keep it together. When we got to the vets we were told that we had a decision to make and there was only one right answer.

Oscar had FIP. Essentially this is the strain of AIDS that cats have. Every cat has it but some are unaffected by it, unfortunately Oscar wasn't one of these cats. He had no immune system so any infection he got would leave him extremely poorly. The vet informed us that Oscar had no quality of life anymore. He took one look at him and said word for word "This is as close to death as it gets". That's when I broke down. I couldn't bring myself to be with Oscar as he was put to sleep as I didn't want my crying to scare him. I knew the vet would talk to him and keep him calm as he drifted off and that put me at rest a little. I will never forget Oscar, he was such a little character. He always wanted cuddles off of one of us, usually Daddy but I sometimes got a look in. He couldn't meow and when he tried it was hilarious. He loved the smell of human food a little too much so eating around him was a burden. Oh and he was forever falling off the damn sofa!

Saying goodbye to Oscar was easily one of the hardest things I've had to do. All I could muster was "Goodbye Bean, I love you" through my tears. My hands were shaking as I stroked his face for the last time. Even though we only had Oscar three short months I hope to God that he knew just how much we loved him and how much we're missing him now. Our lovely little Bean was taken away from us far too quickly, but even after all the fuss getting him took and all those vets visits, it was all worth it for the time we got with him.

I would sincerely like to thank ALL my friends and family who have said kind words to me, knowing just how devastated I am over losing him. Without you lot and my boyfriend (who has been incredibly strong throughout) this would have been a whole lot harder. So thankyou so much! Looking at the picture opposite now, the first night we got him, I miss him so much and would give anything to have him back. But I know I can't so I will just have to remember him forever instead.





Moving on to the good news, I shall hopefully be doing some collaboration work with an old friend of mine Becky in the near future.

 Becky and I went to school together and were very good friends. After leaving school we lost touch a bit but have recently been talking again. She is currently at university and modelling (no surprise there, considering she's always been drop dead gorgeous) and is also running her own jewellery business type thing where she sells handmade jewellery for charity!
You see, Becky's just so talented at so many things. She is a true inspiration and to be perfectly honest she always has been. She makes every thing look so effortless. She has a huge heart and has always been very passionate about the things she loves. She thrives in doing what she loves and looking back what, 5/6 years and seeing how far she has come, well I am SO proud of her!

I am extremely excited about working with Becky and hopefully you will be seeing some make up tutorials and all that jazz between us!
I will leave all her links so you can check her out, like all her pages, follow her success in modelling and buy all the gorgeous jewellery she makes! Leave her comments telling her how pretty she is wont you?
Bex's Beads - facebook charity jewellery page.

Bex - facebook modelling page.

Go hit this girl up! I hope you're just as pumped about what's to come with her and this blog as I am! Keep your eyes open for updates on the matter as I will be sure to let you all know when things are approaching!
Much love, G x

January Favourites!

Hey guys! So before I start I must apologise for this January Favourites post being so darn late. Yes, almost by two weeks. However a lot has occurred in these past few weeks and I've just been snowed under! So yes, I am extremely sorry but hopefully it was worth the wait. Let me show you what I've been loving throughout January!
I'm going to kick things off with my most worn foundation of the month, that being, Rimmel London's match perfection foundation in '103 true ivory'. As you may know I bought this a few months ago and to be honest for a while I didn't use it much, as I was stuck on the Collection lasting perfection foundation. However after using this more and more I started to love it more and more. I find it to be the best match to my natural skin out of all the foundations I have tried which is extremely handy for me as most mornings I am rushing off somewhere and blending out jaw line foundation creases isn't at the top of my priority list.. Coffee is!
However when it comes down to the technical side of this foundation such as formulation and lasting power etc. it is just amazing. This product really is a treat to use in my opinion due to it being so easily manageable. It blends out flawlessly (if you have time!) and doesn't wear off half way through the day! I personally have combination type skin on my face meaning some areas get quite dry (forehead), some areas can get quite oily (nose and chin) and the rest is pretty much normal on a day to day basis, and this foundation works with all of my face. It doesn't slide off on the oily parts of my face and seems to keep my skin quite hydrated without leaving it feeling all sticky and gross! I feel as though this is a product I am going to repurchase again and again until it is discontinued as it seems to have made itself a statement piece in my make up collection.



Next up in the favourites list is more of a method of applying make up rather than a cosmetic alone. I love a bright under eye so nothing is worse for me than big black bags! However what with January being such a demanding month for me, sleep hasn't been much of an option some nights meaning those bags have been inevitable. However I may have found the perfect way to conceal them and it is so easy. In the picture you can see the Collection concealer everyone raves about and a little pot (empty dream matte mousse pot) full of loose powder (a few various powders I had hit pan on). I have found that all I have to do in a morning to look bright eyed is apply my concealer as normal, before taking any eye shadow or concealer brush and patting on the loose powder over the top. This also prevents the concealer from sliding off during the day, and stops mascara and eyeliner from smudging onto my lower eye. This is a really simple technique that makes so much of a difference to a tired face. It makes me appear much more awake and I have found it helps to create the illusion of a bigger eye. I would highly suggest you try this as it also means you're not wasting any powder left in your near empty pans!




Sticking along the lines of face beauty products I have been absolutely adoring this Vivo baked bronzer in shade 1 'sun kiss'. I love looking bronzed up although not so much during the winter as appose to the summer, but this bronzer is perfect for any season. As you can see it has a very skin toned feel to it having a lot of beige/peach colours in there and I've found by avoiding the darker streaks with my brush I can create a lovely brightened look without looking brown or tanned. This lifts the face amazing particularly the cheek bones and so some days I have been wearing this instead of wearing blush which is perfect with a heavy eye look.
This bronzer feels outstanding on the face as it has a lovely silk like feel to it once applied. Also application is super easy with this as well. Unlike some bronzers it is very buildable so you're not left with that brown look immediately, you really can create a perfect glowing face with this. I like to apply this with a large powder brush or alternatively a blush brush, depending on where I am applying it. Also, the darker streaks create an amazing contour effect. All in all this is a wonderfully versatile product.


Moving on to what I have been using on my eyes a lot this month, we have something I spoke about in my last post (grown up way to wear glitter). The Collection eye shadow pencil in 'vanilla sky 1' has been an absolute Godsend this month. I have been wearing this on my lower water line to make my eyes look bigger. This is a nice product to use in this way as unlike a white liner it is much more skin toned and thus looks so much more natural. I've heard good things about the Rimmel kohl liner in 'nude' working in this sense so I am extremely eager to pick that up and give it a whirl, but for now this will do me just nicely.
I have also been using this as an eye shadow. I like to swipe this all over my lid for days when I am at work as it isn't a heavy colour and although it is quite shimmery it is still very natural looking with just a swipe. If you want to create a more shimmery look you can really build this up to create that look. This also makes a lovely highlight to the inner eye lid and brow bone with a smoky eye and very much compliments brown/neutral colours.



Speaking of smoky eye looks, this Maybelline new York Master smoky shadow pencil eye liner is outstanding and has been a top grab of my collection this month. I don't necessarily use this so much for the eye liner although it is a great formulation, I generally pick this up for the smudging tool shown in the picture. As you can see it is absolutely huge and is perfect for blending shadow and liner alike. I particularly like to use this with my 24 hour tattoo cream eye shadows, also by Maybelline, as once blended out with this tool I don't get that annoying crease along my eye lid that sometimes occurs.
The soul principle of this product is to apply the liner and smudge that out in to a smoky eye look but as the liner is the blackest black I find it to be a bit much, considering January has consisted of many nights in. However on a night out this product is absolutely perfect. This is such a good inspiring idea and is very handy for beginners or for people who aren't tops at blending out eye shadow. I found this a huge help, and hopefully so will you!


 Finally on the eye front is Avon's tri-shadow pallet in 'Onyx lustre'. I love this pallet immensely, everything about it is ideal from the product to the packaging. Seriously, this even has a little drawer for the applicator brush. How cute is that?!
The product itself is superb. I haven't used a lot of the white colour as I find it a little too white, however that is just proof of the amazing pigment quality. The black shadow is as black as you can get, and the burgundy colour is absolutely gorgeous. I have found creating a smoky eye with 'on and on bronze' in the tattoo shadow by Maybelline, and this pallet looks absolutely divine. I love this on a night out and the plum/berry tones in the purple colour of the pallet are such a nice alternative to a black smoky eye or a brown smoky eye. Also, who hasn't been adoring burgundy this season!? This is such a great product as it is affordable, easy to apply and extremely wearable for I would say anyone!


 My most worn lipstick this month is easily 'Jade' from Collection's Little Mix line. This is the most perfect nude-ish pink for me, and is a very true 'your lips but better' colour. I have been grabbing this on a day to day basis as I feel it perfect for any look. It is such a creamy lipstick that lasts for hours and feels extremely hydrating on the lips.
The colour pay off of this lipstick is really great as well, however I like to secure my lip look with a coat of lipcote just as so to be sure it will stay looking freshly applied. One thing I hate is having to worry about my lipstick smudging or getting on my teeth during the day so lipcote is just perfect for ensuring these worries are irrelevant.
I have a feeling I will be wearing this lipstick through out the majority of February as well, so maybe expect to see this in Feb favourites? haha!


My final beauty favourite of January is this body mist by the Body Shop. This is their midnight bakula body mist described as being 'Enchanting, Spritz on fragrance, with the mysterious bakula flower scent'. I have never heard of a bakula flower although from the packaging of this product I would gather it is of an Indian origin.
Let me tell you, this smells beautiful! It is so sophisticated and spicy yet sweet. I love spritzing this on during the day just for a little boost. As it is a body mist it doesn't have a great lasting effect and I believe this is a discontinued scent now. Unfortunately. If they did this in a perfume I would be ALL OVER IT! For now I just have to make the most of what I have left of this and believe you me, I full well intend to!



None beauty favourites:
I have been totally addicted to Youtube this month, as ever. However two beauty youtubers really stood out for me this month.
The first being of course Tanya Burr. She has released her own line of lip gloss and nail polish recently and from watching her youtube videos for months now, it is as if I have gone through the journey with her, so yes I do feel a small sense of pride for her for accomplishing this.
You really should check her out! Here are her links!

Tanya Burr Lips and Nails - feel unique
Tanya Burr Blog
Tanya Burr YouTube.
Tanya Burr on Twitter
Tanya Burr on Instagram
Tanya Burr on Facebook

The other Youtuber I have been adoring throughout January is TalkBeckyTalk. I discovered her through Fleur DeForce's channel as they are best friends and really took to Becky's channel. This past month for her especially has been wonderful as she did a series called 'Glamuary'. What girl isn't going to be pulled in by a name like that? Essentially she posted a video every day in January on a different (but beauty related) topic. She did videos such as collections, get ready with me videos and collaborations with some of Youtube's familiar faces! Each video was as entertaining as the next and I really enjoyed watching each day's video last thing at night to unwind. You should also go check her out! Her links below!

TalkBeckyTalk Youtube
TalkBeckyTalk on Twitter
TalkBeckyTalk on Instagram
TalkBeckyTalk Blog
TalkBeckyTalk on Facebook


So that's it for my extremely belated January favourites post, I do hope it was worth the wait and that you've found a few things to try out. Tomorrow I will be posting another post featuring some very sad news for me and also some very very exciting news for me and maybe even you! So keep your eyes out until then my lovelies!
Much Love, G x