Back To School Essentials with Deciem!*

*These items were sent to me, but all opinions are my own and 100% honest, I only talk about products I truly love and recommend! 

Unfortunately with labour day just gone that means that everybody's gone back to school! For most people that means hell has officially started... but for me its quite exciting to start fresh with a new beauty routine, and discover some new essentials! And I have done just that! Here are my two back to school essentials, but I'd love to hear about yours in the comments below!

1. Hand Chemistry Hyaluronic Body Mist:
This is a face mist that you can spray across your face or body to 'inject' some hydration into your skin. For me, this is a complete lifesaver seeing as my skin gets so dry and drinks up all my makeup before the end of the day. However, I now carry this around with me in my school bag and spray my face throughout the day, after my skincare routine and when I wake up in the morning. I've noticed a huge difference in my skin since using this, and my makeup is also looking lasting and looking 'fresh' throughout the day. This also smells absolutely amazing.. (as you guys know I cannot describe scents for the life of me.. but I shall give it my absolute best shot!) It smells of fresh vanilla and lemons with a hint of jasmine. This is such a huge recommendation since I've noticed some major skin developments, my skin is a lot softer, supple, hydrated and radiant. Its increased the longevity of my makeup and decreased my breakouts massively!

2. Grow Gorgeous Overnight to Gorgeous Hair Masque!
I have incredibly dry, damaged, thick and unruly hair and that makes most mornings an absolute nightmare in terms of styling my hair as it takes so long and I never manage to get it to what I want! I use this hair mask at night and apply a generous layer across all of my hair (avoid the roots of your hair if you have greasy hair) and wear a shower cap through the night and wash it off in the morning. By the morning the mask and all of its great ingredients have by then penetrated my cuticles and left is so much softer, hydrated, smoother and stronger. Its much easier to style since it is so much softer and smoother. Over the last few uses I've noticed a big difference in the appearance of my hair, the ends look a lot less damaged and I've noticed a small regrowth in my baby hairs around my hairline and it looks so much glossier than usual. I've also had so many comments on how nice my hair smells.. the masque smells very fruit like (particularly strawberries and yet again vanilla!) with 'woodlike' undertones. The smell is very strong and very much lingers throughout the day! Somebody always seems to comment the next day about how nice my hair smells! I've noticed a huge improvement in the strength and appearance of my hair, and thus it is another huge recommendation! (For anybody wondering I use this as a deep conditioning mask once a week!)

So those are my two back to school essentials, I'd love to hear about yours in the comments! Next week will be a beauty essentials post so watch out for that! And also I just want to send a lovely thank you to deciem and most particularly Eric who sent out these items! I loved them and it was such a pleasure to work with you and the company!

Ten Ways To Use Coconut Oil in Your Beauty Routine... - Guest Post by Olivia

Hi Everyone! As you may or not know I offer guest posts on my blog and the lovely Olivia wrote this post! If you too want to write a guest post for my blog just email me at: daisysianbutterworth@gmail.com ! I absolutely love this post, and Olivia's blog is a huge recommendation of mine, you should definitely check it out! Without further ado.. an amazing post by Olivia on: 

10 Reasons Why Coconut Oil Is Your Best Friend:

Hello everyone! My name is Olivia, and I am a beauty blogger over in the US. After a year or two of buying beauty products every time my mother and I  went out to go shopping, I had makeup coming out of practically everywhere in the house. I then created a blog. Although I didn’t get many views, and began posting less, I still had a passion to become a beauty blogger. I was very grateful to meet Daisy and be allowed to guest post on her absolutely perfect blog. So lots of love to daisy for letting me post with my “amazing” American grammar. ;) Now without further ado, I bring you 10 uses for coconut oil.

1.      Eye makeup remover- I know that when I use waterproof makeup it can be very hard to get off. When I often have this problem, I use a cotton ball dipped in coconut oil, and it gets eye makeup off effortlessly.

2.      Hydrating deep conditioner- summer does a lot of damage to your hair. The heat, the laziness of not properly washing it. You can easily get your hair looking great for the fall season by mixing one cup of hot water and two tablespoons of coconut oil (use more if your hair is longer). Once the coconut oil settles, massage it onto your scalp and hair, comb it through with a wide-toothed comb, wrap it into a bun, and put a shower cap over it. Let it sit for an hour, then rinse thoroughly with warm water for shiny, beautiful hair!

3.      Cuticle cream- I use false acrylic nails and those do look pretty but most of the time they ruin my cuticles. Applying coconut oil directly onto your cuticles helps soften them and strengthens your nails. 

4.      Exfoliator- Mix 3 tablespoons of coconut oil and 2 tablespoons of sugar in a jar for a DIY exfoliator that'll leave your skin glowing.

5.      Natural lip balm- Put coconut oil directly on your lips. It helps heal dry, chapped lips in no time!

6.      Makeup brush cleaner- After countless hours of practicing different makeup looks over the summer, my brushes really needed to be cleaned. Microwave a few tablespoons of coconut oil for about 30 seconds, then dip your brushes in it. Rub them on a paper towel to remove the makeup, and rinse under warm water. Coconut oil has anti-fungal benefits, so it will help keep your brushes bacteria-free.

7.      Highlighter- After you put your makeup on, swipe a tiny amount on your cheeks and the bridge of your nose to get beautiful glowing skin.

8.      Zipper Fixer- Sometimes I can be a bit impatient with my zippers and zip them up a little too fast, getting them stuck. Dip a cotton swab into coconut oil and rub it on a jammed zipper to loosen it up.

9.      Body moisturizer- Coconut oil will soften your skin and treat cracked heels and dry elbows.

10.  Natural deodorant Apply coconut oil to the areas you sweat the most, or make your own homemade deodorant stick with coconut oil, shea butter, baking soda, and arrowroot! 

Thank you to everyone who took the time to read my post! If you want you can follow me ;)

My Blog: http://theoliviachristina.blogspot.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/livymagill

Instagram: https://instagram.com/theblondeolivia/

An extra special thank you to Daisy! You are truly amazing! Xx (A/N An extra special thank you to Olivia for writing this wonderful post!)

If You Buy One Powder This Summer

I can't believe this is the final post of the series "If you buy one _ this summer!" Please let me know if you liked this series because you could be seeing this again soon if you did !

If you've read my blog for a while you'll know all about my devotion to the Tarte Amazonian Clay Powder Foundation (and of course airbuki - another firm recommendation from me!). Its soft and finely milled texture means its perfect for setting makeup with a small dusting across the t-zone, but can also be built up for a fuller coverage. It melts seamlessly into the skin, without accentuating fine lines, pores dry patches, or blemishes. It leaves a silky and semi matte texture upon the skin, but still removes shine but leaves the skin looking brighter and refined. It is completely weightless upon the skin, and perfect for both dry and oily skin! There wide range of colours offers a suitable product for all skin tones. It is available along with brush here for £34!

Whats your favourite powder for summer?

The Blogging Process

The Blogging process isn't an easy one, and I've been speaking to Becca who is one of my really close friends here on the interent (who also has a blog - one of my favourites actually which you can read here) and we were talking about how the blogging process is completely underestimated and how hard it actually is to start a blog! So I thought it would only be fitting to explain my blogging process, and hopefully give some advice to new bloggers! 

So I will begin (this can happen whenever I have spare time, but I try to do it as early in the month as I can, or before the start of the month) by planning out my posts for as long as I can until I run out of ideas. I do this from my organiser that my friend kindly bought from me where you can design your own planner (available here for anybody interested). I will also need to take time to purchase any items that I need for the post! The next opportunity (free time) I have I will take as many photos for the post as I can, which typically takes about 4-5 hours each time. (Usually done, three to four times a month) The next opportunity I have I take to edit and select photos and upload them to posts, which can take generally a whole day, and I will also sometimes need to make collages for posts too. All of this is done using a website called fotor. My absolute favourite website for editing. I have written a post a few weeks back about my in depth photo process which you can read here if you wish! 

After this, I will then have lots of draft posts to write! Sometimes I have an opportunity to write many posts (each post - including layout and links will take around a 30-60 minutes!) and sometimes I have no time and will write a post minutes before I upload it! However, when I go on holiday or have an exam period I will need to write all of my posts for the next few weeks in one go. For example, I'm in America now so before I left I had to write five weeks worth of posts and take photos for them all too! From there I will either schedule these posts or upload them myself on the day (depending on whether I will have internet access) After they are all written, I try and proof read them all but sometimes there isn't time to proof read them so I have to trust that nobody will pick up on all the gramatical errors!! 

So there we go! Thats my blogging process! I'd love to hear about yours down below in the comments! 

If You Buy One Skincare Product This Summer

I was very lucky to be sent this as a sponsored 'gift' shall we say for a previous post, however I'v loved this so much that it is now my favourite skincare product, hence why I'm writing this!

I use the Neutrogena Visibly Clear Spot Clearing Facial Wash, every night after I remove my makeup, and my skin has improved incredibly significantly. This is the fastest working skincare product I've tried, I can notice an immediate improvement after use! It fastens the improvement of my skin, whilst also working to prevent break outs in the future. As well as looking clearer my skin looks far brighter. This product contains salicylic acid which works to deep clean pores in order to remove bacteria and clean and clear spots/pimples. Salicylic acid is also great for acne (can sometimes be drying so make sure to compensate with lots of moisturiser and other hydrating products!) It leaves skin feeling silky soft, and improves the general wellbeing and look to my skin! Its also inexpensive, readily available across superdrugs for £4.49 and available online here.

Whats your must have skincare product for summer?

If You Buy One Eyebrow Product This Summer

In the summer I don't like to spend very long on my makeup, especially if I'm buy the pool so thats why I turn to the Anastasia Clear Brow Gel. It allows you to set and define your brows completely fuss free and super quickly. Because it's completely clear and 'crisp free' it's a product that I carry round in my beach  bags for touch ups (unfortunately its not waterproof - if anybody does know of any waterproof brow gels please let me know in the comments below!). The size of the brush is perfect as it grabs each and every brow hair for a super fast application. It remains undetectable on the skin and brows and  thus is another huge recommendation from me! 

Whats your favourite brow product?

If You Buy One Concealer This Summer

It was only recently that I bought the Chanel Concealer, and immediately I fell in love. It is very expensive (retailing at £27) however I'm a total beauty snob so I instantly knew I had to have this after reading some rave reviews! This concealer offers a medium coverage (that is semi buildable) however it feels totally weightless on the skin and is such a thin consicentency it blends almost instantly upon on the skin. It does not cling to dry patches, smudge, irritate or accentuate pores or fine lines. It is a completely matte finish so its perfect for anything that you are  looking to conceal whether it be blemishes, underage circles, redness, etc. The only downside to this concealer is the very poor colour range, so if your looking to purchase this (available here) I would recommend that you first get color matched, to check that there is a suitable color match for you. If not a second recommendation would be the Laura Mercier High Coverage Concealer! (Thick, and full coverage)

Whats your favourite concealer? I'd love to hear your recommendation in the comments below!

Beauty Storage Ideas

I was very lucky to have recently moved rooms in my house, and this meant I was fortunate enough to redecorate and get new beauty storage. Prior to this I was using muji drawers but they get dirty very very easily and I wanted something new. And I myself have been looking for beauty storage inspiration for my room, so I thought I would share my storage today after its been completed!

If your looking for new storage, Ikea is the deffinate place to go. It's inexpensive and durable and theres always something new that will fit your room! I purchased the Rajtan Spice Jars and they cost £1.50 for four, and I love them! I use them to hold my beauty blender, hair clips, hair bands, etc. They are transparent jars and made of glass so deffinately be careful when using these! They make great centre pieces and look fantastic on a night stand, desks, and vanity and a huge reccomendation of mine. If your looking at purchasing they are available here.

To Store my brushes I use two of the Rektangel Vase's, one for face brushes and the other for eye brushes. I use the Kulort crushed glass filler inside the vases in order to hold my brushes in place. I really like this method of holding the brushes as its easy to select each brush and see each of the brushes. The crushed glass is reflective and eye catching and super pretty! Both of these are once agains super inexpensive! If you are looking to purchase these the Vases available here and the decor glass available here.

To store my beauty products in the drawers I use the Muji PP Baskets, and these are also stackable so if you have deep draws and limited space these will be perfect! There are a range of sizes which means you'll easily be able to find suitable sizes for your needs! They are long lasting, sustainable and very inexpensive. They are available here if you wish to purchase, I use the PP Basket 3, 2, and 4. 

So thats my beauty storage ideas, I'd love to hear about any of yours in the comments below!

If You Buy One Eyeshadow Palette This Summer

It was this time last year that I bought this palette, and a year later we are still going strong in a saucy love affair. The Too Faced Chocolate Bar Palette offers a fairly versatile range of colours (for a nude palette) that creates hundreds of different looks. The shadows themselves are creamy and buttery, and blend like an absolute dream. The pigmentation is by far the best I have seen (highly comparable to mac - if not better!) and lasts all day, with very limited fall out. The shadows range in finishes - matte and shimmer both available offering versatile looks for both day and night. Whilst the diverse colors are comparable for each and every season, and perfect for both beginners and those who are comfortable with makeup. A huge recommendation from me for all girls of different skills and skin tones!

Whats your favourite eyeshadow palette? I'd love to hear about them in the comments below! 

How to Contour, Bronze, and Highlight Using Cream Products!

A few months ago, if somebody had mentioned ANY cream makeup products whether it be eyeshadow, contour or blushes, I would have ran a mile. The conception of cream products is enough to completely scare people enough for them to never venture into cream products, but I decided that I really want to venture into cream products and now I love cream products and suddenly want everything cream form. (I'm coming for you byterry ombre blackstar and Nars Multiples) So I thought that writing a post on how to contour, bronze and highlight using cream products would be beneficial for you all and hopefully you find it useful!

So I recommend beginning with the darkest shade - the contour. You'll want to use this along the contours of your nose (on the edges of your centre bone) and along the tops of your cheekbones and along your hairline in order to define the shape of your face. Whilst you should place the bronzer beneath the contour in the shape shown in the photo above - almost like a zig zag. You should also apply the bronzer on top of the contour around your hairline. I also like to apply my bronzer in areas where the sun will naturally bronze me up - on the tips of my nose and along my jawline. As for the highlight I recommend applying this in a triangle beneath the eyes in order to brighten and highlight the under eye area. I also recommend completing a third triangle above and in-between your eyebrows, along the centre of your nose, and your chin. I recommend blending by using a wet beauty blender (note - wet, not damp!) to blend and soften all of the harsh lines. Of course a brush is also fine, however I always notice it looks the most natural when using a beauty blender. Even after you believe all of it is blended I recommend to continue with the blending for another few minutes to ensure it looks completely natural - if you are going to use a brush I recommend blending upwards! With enough practise cream products become ever so quick and easy!

I hope you found this helpful! I'd love to hear about whether you use cream products and if not whether you'll be giving it a go - practise makes perfect!

If You Buy One Mascara This Summer...

When the Benefit Roller Lash first came out, I was very skeptical about this mascara, its claims were high and all the reviews were amazing (I am yet to see a bad review of this mascara) so I did put off buying this for quite the while. But it quickly became my absolute all time favourite mascara! I recommend using this by starting from the root of your lashes, and wiggle it back and forth upwards, this way it will give you the most curl. The groves on the wand will separate you lashes, and gives an instant lift and curl that will last all day. I would say this is also (semi) waterproof, and doesn't smudge or flake at all! The packaging is so cute, and super easy to use! I have also been pleasantly surprised at the fact that has lasted at least 3-4 months now (using it everyday) and is yet to dry out. (Touch Wood) The design and size of the brush allows you to reach even the shortest lashes, and all the lashes on the inside of your eye very very quickly! I will continue to repurchase this throughout my life, as this has clearly reached holy grail status for me and a 100% recommendation! 

Have you tried this mascara, what are your thoughts? If not, what mascara are you using?

How to improve your CV this Summer..

This isn't a normal post from me, but its something that I feel that you'll hopefully find useful and beneficial! I know that summer is a time for opportunity as well as relaxation. These tips are what I think will help you stand out and seem like a well rounded individual who will work hard which will hopefully result in employment/placement in sixth forms, colleges or universitys!

Extended Project Qualifications or otherwise known as an EPQ is something that I am not able to do due to my school only letting certain callibres of students take part which is a deep shame. An EPQ means that you will study a topic of your choice in a greater depth and you will work closely with a teacher known as a mentor. It does not have to be a topic related to school subjects and can be lots of fun. It does take a lot of work and management so you must be willing to put in time and effort. As this has to be done with teachers, it is something I would recommend that you talk to your school about it and a teacher that will be willing to help you.

Online courses are widely available across the web some are costly and some are free, ones that I reccomend and are taking part in are available via futurelearn. These courses are very much vocational meaning they apply to certain jobs rather than specific subjects, for example, there are many courses available to Journalism, nursing, and a large host of others. Each course runs for a certain extent of time and all differ. They are free, however they offer printed statements of participation and exams on courses and there is a charge for these. I do recommend getitng one or two printed statements in case you are asked however one for each course you take seems excessive to me... Some schools offer funding and so may offer to pay for the statements so talking to a teacher about that before the start of summer is my reccomendation so that you can begin to take part if you wish. They can be a lot of fun and an opprunity to learn something new! I am going to be doing courses centred around nursing/journalism/history/geography/politics/english language.

Something that I have enjoyed recently is working with my local girl guides. I help out at rainbows once a week which is where girls aged 4-6 go for an hour and we do a range of activies/outings. It's so much fun, and I always look forward to going every week. I do this for free as with the elder leaders so this is known as volunterring. Volunterring does not only account for girl guiding, you can help out a local charity shop, (something I'm looking at doing in the summer) help out at animal shelters, etc. It is very rewarding and lots of employers and schools look for volunteering on CV's and strengthens the likelyhood of your acceptance.

So those are my recommendations for improvements to your cv's, I'd love to hear about yours in the comments below!

If You Buy One Contour This Summer...

I bought the Kevyn Aucoin Sculpting Powder in Medium about three weeks ago now and words can't begin to explain my love and devotion to this already! As soon as I tried this, I was left speechless. It gave instant cheekbones, to somebody who has absolutely no shape or distinction to their face! I actually described this to one of my friends as "cheekbones in a box", and it couldn't be more true. I use a real techniques contour brush, or a fan brush and very lightly pick up a small amount of product and dust it into the hollows of my cheeks. The contour powder, has the perfect undertones for it to look natural and create the desired effect. It is completely matte, with grey/ashy tones to create the shadowing effect. The powder is very soft, and 'butter like'. I blend it in using a large fluffy brush and blend it upwards, however even after blending this in it still leaves a beautiful shadow leaving a natural contoured look. If I was to select one product from the whole collection to buy, this would be the one I recommend. This would complement very light and darker complexions, and I can't find a single falt with the product and from now on comes every where I go! Once again, this is a huge recommendation to any girls looking for the perfect contour powder! I don't think I will bother trying any more from now on! 

Have you tried this before? What's your favourite contour?

July Favourites

I know we are well into August now, but I thought that it was better late than never!

The summer has been really drying out my skin but the Glamglow Thirsty Mud has been really helping to reduce the dryness and flakiness to my skin! I've also noticed lots of TKMAXX'S sell glamglow products for a very small fraction of the price - a huge recommendation from me! Blackheads are also a major skincare concern to me, and the Superdrug Deep Action Pore Cleansing Nose Strips have removed the vast majority of my blackheads and I've noticed frequent improvement after each use! Whilst for my redness I have been using the Smashbox Color Correcting Primer for about five months now, and I still love it! It minimises redness, and leaves your skin feeling silky soft and helps increase the longevity of your makeup! The foundation I have been loving the Giorgio Armani Luminous Silk Foundation in 4, it offers a buildable medium coverage that leaves a completely natural satin finish to the skin! 

After a recent trip to Spacenk upon viviannadoesmakeup's recommendation I picked up the Kevyn Aucoin Sculpting Powder in Medium, and I think this is my all time favourite beauty buy. A quick sweep of this creates non existent cheekbones in a natural, quick and easy way! Whilst the Benefit Roller Lash has turned my stumpy (and grumpy!) straight eyelashes into long and curled eyelashes. It doesn't smudge nor clump and is estonishingly easy to remove compared to They're Real! In order to remove all of my makeup at the end of the day I have been loving the Garnier Micellar Cleansing Water, it means makeup removing is quick, simple, gentle and easy (and pain free!) as well as toning and soothing the skin. As for cleaning my brushes and beauty blenders I have been loving the Beauty Blender Solid Cleanser, for its simplicity for spot cleansing and deep cleansing! Another huge recommendation!

I'd love to hear about your beauty recommendations in the comments below! 

If You Buy One Blusher This Summer...

I'm not a fan of blushers due to my already red cheeks, and normally I wouldn't wear blushers but this particular tarte blusher has managed to weasel its way into my regularly used makeup! The Tarte Amazonian Clay 12 Hour Blusher in Exposed is a dusty mauve rose shade that provides a naturual glow/sheen to the skin. Its long lasting pigmentation certainly lives up to its name. They are ever so smooth and melt into the skin ensuring it lasts from the morning to the very end of the day and allows a quick and easy application. It is completely matte but still offers a gentle glow and sheen to the skin, whilst failing to accentuate any fine line, pores, or redness. A perfect blusher for summer!

Whats your favourite blusher? I'd love to hear about it in the comments below! 

How I Photograph And Edit My Blog Photos

(The Difference After Each Photo has been edited is crazy!) 

I always get lots of emails, and comments asking about my photos so I thought that I would write a post entailing my photos and hopefully help some of you or give you some inspiration!

So after planning out my posts for the week (sometimes the month) ahead, on the weekend I will begin to set up my lights and backgrounds. I have three studio lights (which I purchased here) which were an expensive purchase however ever since I bought these I feel like my photos have improved tremendously! They were such a good purchase, and in the future I will be looking at buying more! i love them! I will then lay out my white cloth background on the floor, with a white acrylic card to make sure the background is completely white and increase the reflections. From there I begin to take out all the items that I'm going to photograph and lay them out into piles. I take out my photo book which is pictured above, and in that book I have magazine pages that I have ripped out, and that way when I'm going to take a photo I can select a background really easily. Whenever my mum has read elle magazine, I will go through and rip out all the pretty pages and put it in my book! (Which is slightly overflowing now!) From then I just place the chosen page on the acrylic, and place the items across the page. I take about 50 photos for each item that I'm looking to take. After I have taken all of the photos for the posts, I will upload them to my computer. Normally this process takes about 4-5 hours, so I do the rest of the work in the following days.

When I have some spare time on my hands, I will begin to go through all of the photos and immediately delete photos that I don't like, until I end up with a few for each post. I will then use the website fotor which is such a good website for editing. It's really easy to understand and operate, typically I will crop a photo and increase the exposure and saturation of photos. I highly highly recommend this website, for somebody with absolutely no editing experience it took me minutes to understand it! I edit all photos for each post and put them onto my post, and choose the best one or two! 

So thats my process, for my blog photos! I hope you were able to understand this, and found it useful!

If You Buy One Bronzer This Summer

So this is part of another series I'm starting called 'if you buy one thing this summer" and each category will have a specific product such as a contour, bronzer, foundation, etc. I hope you enjoy it!

I've had this bronzer for three years now, and previously I didn't like this at all. However, recently I've been wearing this a lot and I completely love it! Its quickly become my favourite bronzer, as with the likes of women across the nation. Its been voted the number one bronzer for a number of years now!
The brush it comes with allows you to apply a quick dusting of the bronzer across the face ever so easily and allows it to look ever so natural. I apply it across my hairline, cheekbones and a light dusting on the nose bronzes your complexion in such an effortless manner. However, I would recommend that your very light handed with this otherwise it can come across quite "muddy." It has a slight grey undertone so with a further righthand you are also able to contour with this (as it is a completely matte product) as long as you blend it very carefully to rectify any harsh lines. I do believe this is a versatile shade that can be used by any two extremes - light or dark complexions. The packaging is very compact, sturdy and despite it being thrown around in my bag its hasn't broken (yet!) and with a quick wipe down it looks brand new!

Have you tried this bronzer? Whats your go to summer bronzer?

Beauty Products Not Worth The Hype #2

I don't tend to write posts like this, because I find that my opinion on products changes fairly frequently because as my skills improve I find ways that make products better/easier to use and therefore my opinions change. I also find that as I grow older the 'look' I go for, the products that I lean for change too. But having accumulated my fair share of regretful products, I thought that I would write about them today!

The first product is the Nars Light Reflecting Setting Powder, which I bought in America two years ago. This powder is designed to mimic the appearance of somebody being in dim light in order to create a reflective touch to the skin - very similar to Hourglass. However, this powder is nothing more of a translucent setting powder with large specks of glitter. I used the powder a few times and was in shock to see that I hit pan despite never using it more than a dozen times! It did not increase the longevity of my makeup, and instead made me look slightly like a disco ball! The Laura Mercier Powder Foundation had been on my list for a very long time, and I was really lucky to have my sister buy it for me a few weeks back. The first thing I noticed was its lack of coverage despite building layers, it made my pores far more noticeable than usual and it also had large chunks of glitter that made my face look very very shiny (despite having dry skin!) The Charlotte Tilbury Filmstar Bronze and Glow Palette was one of the most 'splurgiest' items I own, and perhaps my biggest regret. The bronzer shade is far to muddy and glittery for use, and the highlighter shade is too gold for my pale skin. To me, it lacks longevity and pigment too so all in all it has become a product that remains unused in my draw and shall remain in my draws until I find somebody to pass it on to. (And when I can part with that gorgeous packaging!). The Too Faced Better Than Sex Mascara  was a most definite blogger induced purchase. This mascara made my lashes very voluminous, long, but stick together and become very clumpy and flaky, and the latter immediately put me off. The final is the Nars Tinted Moisturiser - another blogger induced purchase. I found it to be very cakey and heavy on the skin. It didn't work with the oils on my nose, and the dry patches around my cheeks. Despite it being a tinted moisturiser it didn't look at all natural on my skin, and each day I tried it I couldn't wait to take it off. 

Those are my disappointing products but I'd love to hear about them in the comments! I'd also be very thankful if you could leave any requests for blog posts in the comments below! Also I'd really appreciate it if you guys could leave some high end beauty suggestions as to what I should buy in sephora, as Im travelling to America in two weeks and compiling my list right now! 

Drugstore Alternative #4 - Clinique Chubby Sticks

Its been quite the while since I've done a drugstore alternative post, and these comparative posts are some of my favourite to write, but super hard to find! 

I was going through my makeup collection a few days ago and realised how similar both these products are, the colours aren't complete matches but the formulas are very similar! The Clinique Chubby Stick is a lipstick in a crayon format, allowing the drawing and filling of the lips to be very precise and makes application far easier due to the shape of the tip. However, due to this it can be very time consuming and an even application is difficult which means feathering/bleeding is a common occurrence and can be very drying at times. Where as the baby lips are far more moisturising and leave a smooth and even application across the lips. They are also far easier to apply, but preciseness around the cupids bow can be difficult. There not as long lasting, so reapplication throughout the day is a need be! The pigmentation is much stronger and intense in the Clinique Chubby Sticks, and far more long lasting. The Maybelline Baby Lips are £2.99 and available here, although the pigmentation isn't quite as good, they are much cheaper and as long as you reapply throughout the day you'll be set!

Verdict: SAVE 

The Two Lightweight Foundations for Summer!

Summer is a season of sunkissed, dewy skin and lightweight formulas and these two fit the match perfectly. So since, the UK is reaching unbeliably summer temperature highs I thought that I would speak of the two foundations that are making an appearance in my make up routine.

The Giorgio Armani Luminous Silk Foundation (4) is the newest addition to my ever growing collection. It's the most natural and versatile foundations I've tried. Its offers medium coverage that is easily buildable and easily sheered out. It applies so beautifully and is completely undetectable on the skin. It takes slightly longer to blend out due to the formula but nothing that a beauty blender or flat top kabuki cant take care off. It leaves a radiant satin texture on the skin, that feels silky soft. You can build up in areas where you want fuller coverage and completely sheer it out where you want little to no foundation. You cannot feel this at all despite its high coverage. Where as the Chanel Vitalumiere Aqua (10 Beige) has a far more liquid consistency and needs to be shaken well before use. It is far quicker to apply and offers light to medium coverage. It is easily blendable and feels completely weightless, and once again completely undectable - but is slightly more invisible than the Giorgio Foundation. It is strongly scented but not so that it causes irritation to the skin. Neither of which have caused breakouts or irritation to my skin, and both last throughout a 10 hour day, sweatproof and oil proof. These are my absolute favourite foundations, for days where I want to go more natrual and dewy I go for the CHANEL option and on days where I want a higher coverage with a satin finish I'll go for the Giorgio Armani option. Sadly, both of them are prett expensive but both only require a very small amount and have lasted me ages and provide such beautiful finishes and flawless skin that I feel like they are both worth the hefty price tag! 

I'd love to hear about your reccomdations for summer foundations/bases in the comments below! And I'd love to hear your suggestions and post requests! By the way my two friends are getting really close to hitting 1000 subscribers and I'd love if you guys could head over and subscribe to their wonderful beauty channel here.

My MAC Palette

 (Left to Right: Club, Tempting, Da Bling, Sweet Lust, Nylon, Amber Lights, Bronze, Antiqued, Sable, All That Glitters, Brown Down, Brown Script, Texture, Malt, Blanc Type) 

Ever since I became really interested in makeup, MAC was the brand that I was drawn to for quite the while and a completed MAC palette made an entrance to every wish list that I wrote, and every make up dream I had. Last Christmas I was lucky enough to receive the palette and a few shadows to go with it and a year later it was completed! Ive had the completed palette for six months now and it might just be the most 'prized possession' I own. (But frankly, that's most likely due to the sheer cost of this thing...)

I had five spaces left and I noticed I would either buy colours that were incredibly similar or go to buy shades I previously owned. I took my palette with me to MAC and spoke to one of the lovely ladies and explained that I had five spaces that I wanted to fill and I only wear neutral shades but wanted some shades slightly out of my comfort zone and unlike any others that I already owned. She helped me to pick shades that would suit my eye colour and that I wouldn't have chosen otherwise (such as Club, and Brown Script ) and they became some of the shades I wear most, so I would most definitely recommend taking your palette and asking for some advice.

My most used shades are Bronze which is a gorgeous deep brown with shimmer and undertones of bronze and gold, and club which is a green shimmer shade that has purple metallic undertones and looks different on all skin tones (and also looks AMAZING when used wet ) it's a shade that I would have normally steered far away from but is now my absolute favourite of the bunch and a firm recommendation! My other most used shades include, Sable, Texture, Brown Script and Brown Down. It is a super expensive palette to buy, however its something that proves to be really useful and used super often and if you're not sure about a twelve pan palette then a quad or a duo would be a great start! The quality and pigmentation is amazing and the lasting power is the best of the ones I've tried!

I hope I give you some inspiration as towards some shades and I would love to hear your recommendations in the comments below, as I am thinking of getting a quad next as theres a huge range of colours I'd love to try but I'm not quite sure about the commitment to a twelve pan palette and it's (lovely) price!

Three Inexpensive Skincare* Favourites for Summer

(These products have been sent to me, however all opinions expressed are genuine and products I would completely recommend and purchase myself!)

For me, skin care is my primary concern and I'm quite happy to spend more on skincare if I get the results, but this means that I never get to try skincare products from brands that are readily available at lower prices. But recently I have found three inexpensive products that are most definitely ones to call home about!

Recently, my skin has been breaking out super badly and I have tried so many products in order to try and banish my break outs but nothing has worked! Until now! Neutrogena Clear Spot Clearing Facial Wash* is the only product that I have tried that I notice an improvement within minutes! It reduces the appearance of blemishes, and manages to clear break outs within a day or two - far quicker than any other treatments I have tried. For me this has become an irreplaceable product that I shall continue to repurchase!

Normally, my skin is very dry but during summer my t-zone has a mind of its own and is super oily! I  prefer a dewy base during the summer months, but recently that has been out of the question. The Clean and Clear Advantage Oil Control Cream Wash* instantly mattifies skin, so I include this in my morning and evening skincare routine. This prolongs the wear of my makeup, and extends the amount of time in which I have to blot/powder. Definitely a recommendation during this season!

The final product that has made its way into my skincare routine, is the Neutrogena Visibly Clear Spot Stress Control Wash*. It prevents and reduces breakouts and begins to work immediately. The clarity of my skin has improved drastically since using this product, and since then I haven't broken out at all! Its a gentle product that I would recommend to all skin types.

All of these products are inexpensive and readily available, and something I would recommend to all skin types, and are most definitely products that are worth a phone call home. I am super sorry about the delay of this post, I have had so many exams recently and my camera cable was broken but I am trying to get back to my normal update schedule; I'm super sorry!

Smashbox Step By Step Contour Stick Trio Review

Smashbox is a brand that for me is yet to do wrong by, their products reach holy grail status within a few days, and end up being repurchases. So after being in America a few weeks back, I was kicking myself for not buying these since they weren't available here in the UK! Until I saw them in boots last week and almost cried. But then again, my mascara cost £26 and I'm not about to waste THAT, let me tell you...

Initially I was really scared that these would be hard to work with, after reading that these are currently the most returned beauty product in Sephora... However, they are super soft on the skin, and have a really creamy texture and glide on super easily. I use all three on a day to day basis as they are so easy to use, and I blend them in using a beauty blender. The colours are all so flattering, and do not appear heavy or fake on the skin. All three of them are so heavily pigmented, yet blends to a beautiful finish without altering other products or enlarging pores! It has also meant that my contour/bronze/highlight routine is a much faster process and appears to be much more natural. You need a very little amount of product, and I can't see myself running out of these anytime soon. I would really recommend these if you feel a bit more confident with makeup but still want something very natural, or if you are looking to try out some cream products!

There will be another post (hopefully next week) featuring these products, and how to use cream products to contour so I would recommend keeping your eyes peeled for that! I would love to hear your thoughts on cream products to contour/highlight/bronze down below! They retail at £35 for all three and a pencil sharpener, and you can purchase them here if you so wish.

Anastasia Brow Wiz and Anastasia Clear Brow Gel Review

Brows play such a large part in many makeup tutorials and makeup trends and Anastasia is a brand known for their brow products, and being the bad beauty blogger that I am it has meant that up until two weeks ago I had not once purchased a brow product from this particular brand. It is also a brand that is famous for their brow wiz, and recently it seemed like I could not step foot onto a blog or a youtube channel without seeing this mentioned and adored by everybody, and there comes a time when you have to jump onto the bandwagon sooner or later! (As mentioned in my favourites)

The brow wiz is a product that has revolutionised my brow life. It is a small pencil that has the product on one end and a spoile the other in order to brush your brows prior to filling them in. The pencil itself is very small and allows you to fill in your brows far easier and far more precisely. It is quick, the pencil is soft and easy to use and the product itself stays on all day. The colour range is also fantastic, and everybody will be able to find a perfect match for their brows! Available here for purchase.

The brow gel is like hairspray for your brows. There is nothing to compare with this, it almost clamps your hairs down and does not let a single hair stray from its place. It does unfortunately leave a crunchy texture on the brows, but I can't say that I sit there touching my brows too often for it to be a noticable problem. Despite that it does not leave your brows looking fake, or crunchy and therefore this is quickly becoming a holy grail. It also does not alter other brow products like so brow gels and lasts all day. Available here for purchase.

So that was my opinion on some of the Anastasia products, have you tried any Anastasia products? If not do you want to?

Fragrance of the Month #2 - Michael Kors Very Hollywood

The fragrance that I am using for the month is 'Michael Kors Very Hollywood.' It is a floral fragrance with hints hints of mandarin, raspberry and jasmine. It is a very fruity yet sophisticated scent. Despite this there is also hints of 'earth like tones' including moss, and iris. The packaging is also very sophisticated, with the intricate design on the bottle, and the gold lettering on the lid. Overall, I really like this fragrance -espicially the packaging. It lasts a fairly long time for a fragrance (around five hours by my estimate) and the scent is fairly unusual but is still very fresh and sweet. I do believe this is a discontinued product, although I have found that it is available here if you wish to purchase.

April Favourites 2015!

Although it has almost been a week since the start of May, I decided that I would go ahead and write my April favourites - even if it is a week late! It's not often I have products that I love enough to mention however last month there were so many products that really stuck out to me and of course I wanted to let you guys know about them!

Smashbox Colour Correcting Primer - Green
As you know (since I moan quite a bit) I have a lot of redness and dry patches on my cheeks due to a skin condition and I have tried a number of products said to improve the redness and general clarity of my skin for it to do nothing! However, being a lover of smashbox primers - and smashbox in general I decided this was worth a try and I could not be more impressed. It reduces almost all of my redness and evens my complexion. The green colour disappears almost immediately as you begin blending and is also fairly moisturising to the skin and leaves a really soft velvet like feel to the skin. It is also one of the first primers I have tried that prolongs the wear of my makeup, so that is a huge bonus. This is most definitely a holy grail primer in my eyes and I shall continue to repurchase for a very long time.

Origins Drink Up Intensive Mask
Also due to the skin condition mentioned above, my skin is very very dry and due to that I often have a problem with my makeup sinking into dry patches and even some moisturisers just sink into the dry patches! No matter how many moisturisers I tried nothing would work and eventually I gave up - until now! Origins is one of the only skincare brands I completely trust will work and they did not disappoint! It is fairly thick and is something I would only use at night time in order for it absorb. It smells like peaches and although leaves a greasy residue at first it disappears after ten minutes. My dry skin has significantly decreased with each day I use this and for now I use it every night and my skin feels much softer, hydrated and my general complexion improved.

Anastasia Brow Wiz - Taupe
So many people talk about this product that I decided I might as well try it out and gain my thoughts on this product, and I wish that I would have bitten the bullet sooner because this has changed my life - or my brow life at least. For somebody who rarely did more to there brows than a brush and was yet to use an eyebrow pencil (EVER - shameful for somebody who has a beauty blog) this was surprisingly super easy to use. You can create anything from natural brows to bold brows, and achieve it in a very natural way whilst being super easy to use.

Anastasia Clear Brow Gel
Recently I found that using my benefit gimme brow my brows were an uneven mess at the end of the day and I needed something better to hold my brows in place. I was going to go for a drugstore brow gel however on youtube I noticed that many people compared it to hairspray for your brows and that it also means you don't have to pluck as often because this basically allows you to manipulate your brows. This holds brows like no other, it leaves a crunchy texture but still looks super natural. It is quick (seconds) and easy to use and also does not effect any other eyebrow products used.

Lancome Definicils Mascara 
Lancome is a brand I associate with the elder generation, but also associate with mascaras despite not once trying one of their products. My absolute favourite youtuber (Camilla - Link here) mentioned this in her mascara routine and her eyelashes go above and beyond goals, and when she said that this was the mascara she used I was instantly surprised but I trust her opinion completely so the next chance I got I bought this. This mascara is by far the best I have tried. It lengthens and separates lashes with a single coat, and a second coat goes above and beyond what you would expect from any mascara. I honestly don't think I will be using any other mascara for a long time. Leaves lashes looking beautiful, long and voluminous.

Shu Uemura Eyelash Curlers
Eyelash curlers were something I was completely against after hearing quite a few horror stories, and never noticing a difference when I used them. I decided I wanted to try these (also thanks to Camilla's recommendations) and not wanting to pay £20 for some eyelash curlers I found them on amazon for just under half price, and are genuine. I clamp my lashes and lift them up pointing towards the back of my eye (don't worry its not painful) and squeeze shut twice and hold. After that simple fifteen-second process my straight lashes have a beautiful curl that hold all day! A definite must have!

Tarte Amazonian Clay Airbrush Foundation and Airbuki
I do not believe there are words to express how in love I am with this foundation. It creates an even, brightened, and radiant complexion. Whilst still offering concealing properties, and leaving your skin looking beyond flawless. This foundation offers the most coverage I have found in a foundation, and yet it takes seconds to apply and any touch ups are quick and easy. It does not leave a cake-y texture or look to it, and looks natural. Ive also had quite a few compliments recently on the appearance of my skin when I have been wearing this so therefore cannot recommend it enough.

So those were my favourites of the month, what are yours? Let me know in the comments below!

Drugstore Alternative #3 - MAC Paint Pots

I know this is a dupe talked about by many, and quite the obvious one; however I really wanted to give my opinion on which is a better investment.

So, although I have two completely uncomparable colours, I'm going to compare the formulation of the products. The MAC Paint Pots are far wetter than the Maybelline Colour Tattoos however due to this apply and blend much easier and of course are also much easier to build up. Althought the pigmentation in the MAC Paint pots really lets me down as you have to apply way more than one layer to receive a decent amount of pigmentation. However, with the Maybelline Colour Tattoos I apply a quick layer and the pigmentation is insane and the colours are so vivid! The colour tattoos also last throughout the whole day without touch ups and are a perfect primer/base for eyeshadow. The shade range of the MAC Paint Pots is much larger and of course better than the colour tattoos. In terms of packaging, I do much prefer the paint pots since they look really elegant where as the maybelline packaging looks slightly cheap. Despite that, you really can't complain since they only retail at £4.99 (used to be £3.99) and the MAC Paint pots retail at £15.50! Therefore I completely recommend the Maybelline Colour Tattoos!

Verdict: SAVE