Winter haul

Being back in London has made me realise how much I've missed shopping. The combination of student budget plus a lack of shops means I've restrained myself, but today I hit the shops and brought a few things for winter.


First stop was Primark. Primark is a must go to in winter for jumpers, Christmas attire and leggings.

The first thing I picked up were these grey leggings and velvet lined leggings. I'm not sure how good the quality will be but they both look super warm and with all the cold weather we have predicted for us, I'm going to need these! 

Secondly- MY CHRISTMAS JUMPER!! This is a super pretty pink with white polka dots and a grey fuzzy squirrel with different textures and a real pom pom bobble. I can't wait to wear this in the lead up to Christmas and on Christmas day. 

This top

was an impulse buy, I figured I could wear it with the grey leggings. It's crotched with flowers and it is see through so vest tops will be worn underneath. However I thought it would be nice for either casual everyday wear or with leggings or a skirt for a night out.

(Sorry for the photo quality being crap)

Finally from Primark I got these adorable guinea pig gloves, which are fingerless which I find essential. They are really warm and really cute- and were only £2! Next is the purse with a fox pattern. I have asked my Mum for a new purse for Christmas that has enough space for all my cards and my money (or lack of it) but I spotted this and thought I would grab it. Finally I picked up some face masks. My skin is currently suffering, a combination of a foam party, cold weather and end of term stress has led to it being pretty gross so I feel like it needs a little TLC with a face mask. These are 90p in Primark which I think is a total bargain!

I popped into New Look and picked up this scarf for just under £10. A classic tartan print goes with anything and will never go out of style. It also looks great with a parka which is the coat I will be wearing for many winters. 

Finally I ran in Superdrug to pick up a new pressed powder as my Rimmel Stay Matte powder came to a sticky end under one of my guy friend's heavy feet on a night out. I picked up MUA pressed powder in shade one as it was only a £1. I've never tried any MUA products so I'll be interested to see if their low prices mean low quality. 

Next I headed to the Barry M stand to restock on my favourite foundation, the Flawless Matte Finish in shade one "Ivory". I've just about finished my bottle of this and I need to write a full post on why this is such a great foundation, so whenever I remember to do that, look out for that! Barry M had a deal on that if you spent over £6 you got a free nail polish and annoyingly the foundation only came to £5.99 so I picked up the Loud Mouth lipgloss in "Tease" which is a deep red. I love these, they have amazing payoff and last such a long time. You do need a lip brush to apply it with but you get a neater finish that way anyway. 

I got the Barry M glitter nail polish for free in "Jingle Bells" which is so pretty and glittery, perfect for those holiday parties!

That was everything I brought for winter, I definitely don't need to go shopping for a while again! 

Anything nice you've brought recently?  Let me know in the comments!

xx 

Everyday Make Up

I have a lot of make up. Way, way too much. I buy a lot of make up impulsively, add on products that my Mum or Aunt gives to me, alongside freebies and samples and I have an overflowing collection. I only use certain products again and again, and so a lot of products go to waste.

The other day I sat down and cleared out a lot of make up, throwing away items I've had forever and have never used or items that are the wrong shade for me and yet I've hung onto claiming "oh if I get a tan this will be the right shade!" Face reality Alex. You never tan. Or items that I will just never use- a bright blue eyeliner? Really?

I also gave some stuff to my Mum, blushers, bronzers, lipglosses, as she is always giving me stuff and it also means that if I ever change my mind I know where to go to get them back. Hehe. She can either keep them and use them or chuck them away.

This left me with a smaller make up collection, which I then went on to organise. I am always getting ready and forever forgetting which make up bag I put something in- leading to lots of frustration and products all over the floor. I decided to organise my make up into small collections, an everyday bag, products I use when getting ready to go out and products I rarely use or products that I already have (aka I am currently using a sample of Benefit Mascara but I have the full sized version on hand for when that runs out)

Anyway, I thought I would do a post about my everyday make up as I am quite proud of it. It makes so much sense to have products I use everyday in one place, meaning that when going away I don't have the "what to take dilemma" it's already packed!

So without further ado this is my everyday make up.

My Benefit make up bag. A handy little size and fits more than you would think in there!

Comes free with the Nice Package create your own kit deal

Collection Illuminating Touch Concealer in Shade 2

Benefit Boi-ing Concealer Shade 01

Benefit POREfessional (sample size) 

Rimmel Match Perfection Foundation in Light Porcelain

Barry M Flawless Matte Finish Foundation in Ivory

Topshop Bronzer in Sandcastle 

Rimmel Stay Matte Pressed Powder in Pink Blossom 002

Benefit Rockateur Blush

Sleek Face Form Palette in Light

Maybelline Colour Tattoo Cream Eyeshadow in Pink Gold

Maybelline the Falsies Volume Express Mascara Flared in Black

Clinique High Impact Mascara in Black (sample size)

Body Shop Eye Definer in Shade Rich Brown 02

Sleek i-Divine Eye Shadow Palette in Au Naturel 

Sleek Brow Kit in Light

Topshop Brow Pencil in Brown

Body Shop Born Lippy Stick Lip balm in Pomegranate 

Benefit Cha Cha balm 

Estee Lauder Lip Conditioner- I brought this in America and it's no longer available :( Sorry!

Body Shop Colour Crush Lipstick in Peachy Pink 200

 So those are all the products I use on a day to day basis! If you'd like to a more detailed review of any of the products listed here just let me know :) And if there's anything you use everyday that you think I'd like let me know so I can check it out!

xxx

Vanilla, Dragon Fruit and Candyfloss Cutie

 One of my favourite things to do on my revision breaks is to paint my nails, and this week I got pretty technical!

(Yes that's right I used three colours. Three. And a basecoat and topcoat. That's a lot of layers.)

From left to right- Natural Collection Crystal Clear, Barry M Matte Nail Paint in "Vanilla", Rimmel Sweetie Crush in "Candyfloss Cutie" and Barry M Gelly Hi-Shine Nail Paint in Dragon Fruit

So these are my nails! First I did a coat of the Barry M Matte nail paint, to give a nice nude base with a hint of pink. Then I did an accent nail on my pointer finger with my Rimmel Sweetie Crush, to give a splash of colour and texture. Next, with my Topshop Nail Art Dotting Tool I used the fatter end to dot on some of my Barry M Hi Shine Dragon Fruit. I was actually really pleased with the outcome! 

Love a good nail painting session- what nail polish are you using at the moment? 

Nice nails!

One thing I love more than anything is buying nail polishes and painting my nails. I keep all my nail polishes by my computer desk, so I end up painting them every couple of days!

Two of my favourite nail polishes at the moment are the Barry M "Gelly Hi Shine" nail paint and the Rimmel "Sweetie Crush". The Barry M Gelly Hi Shine's are so shiny and glossy and once on they stay on for a really long time with no chips or anything! The Rimmel Sweetie Crush nail polishes I've blogged about before, but they're just so adorable and yummy! I love the texture and the bottle and the colour...and yeah. I just love nail polish

I have just painted my nails with the Barry M Gelly Hi Shine in "Greenberry" (odd name no?) with an accent nail on my pointer finger with the Rimmel Sweetie Crush in "Blueberry Whizz" (is that not the cutest nail polish name ever?!) and I really love them! 

What nail polish are you loving at the moment? xx

Latest beauty buys

So I recently did some online shopping and I was so pleased with everything that I got that I had to write a post! Also it seems fitting that my first post are products that I'm loving so much.

So firstly I was on the Barry M website, looking for another palette. I have the "glamour puss" palette which contains six beautiful, dark, glamorous eyeshadows that blend together so well and a blush which I use almost everyday. The "summer love" palette contains six light, neutral eyeshadow colours that are great for everyday make up. It also contains a highlighter which I haven't used because I rarely use highlighter anyway.

I also saw on the Barry M website their foundation, which I have never used before and because I was curious I brought one. It was only about £6 and I was surprised by how much I like it! It's very light and perfect for just a tad of coverage on days where you don't want to wear a full face of foundation. It goes on easily and the colour is a good match. The only criticism is that it's a bit oily, so I wouldn't recommend it for oily skin.

Next I was on the Boots website because I wanted a new Rimmel Matte foundation. The one I currently have is too orange for me! I love this foundation and have been wearing it most days. Its really easy to apply as well as giving a good coverage and a great base for make up.

Next I got Stay Matte powder by Rimmel. This I have seen recommended by a few people online so I thought I'd try it. This is great for setting foundation and concealer as well as taking away shine. I think I'd like to try the next colour up next.

Finally, I got Rimmel sweetie crush nail polishes. These are so cute! I love the bottles and the texture is exactly like crushed candy. The blue one is definitely my favourite, and if you buy any, buy this one. I also think they are great to use as an accent nail against a normal textured nail paint.