High End Beauty Haul! 2014

First of all I apologise for not posting since the start of the year - back to college has been a little stressful to say the least and I also have my mock exams coming up next week. Instead of a review I thought I would share some of my recent high end beauty purchases, especially as I haven't hauled in a while. I bought everything from a House of Fraser store in one trip last week, yes, I know, it is a lot for one trip but I haven't splurged on any high end makeup since last year. Here's what I picked up.

When I reviewed the Laura Mercier Silk Creme foundation I mentioned how I wasn't completely happy with it and how I was debating whether to purchase the other foundation I had on my wish list. Evidently, I decided to pick up the cult favourite NARS Sheer Glow in the shade "Punjab" and I am super excited to try it out.

Another base product I picked up was the Laura Mercier oil-free tinted moisturiser. This is a repurchase of mine as I absolutely adore this stuff. If I am having a bad skin day I love to apply this under my foundation for extra coverage and it doesn't look at all cakey. It is super lightweight, the shade matches perfectly (I have mine in "Nude") and just works wonders all year round. In the summer, it is my favourite base to use as it has a good coverage, looks natural and also has a decent SPF rate. Check my review for more details.

I picked up two Benefit products. The first, yet another repurchase, in the form of They're Real mascara - an absolute holy grail of mine and one I am sure I will never be without. It lengths the lashes, creates huge volume, doesn't clump and one tube seems to last a really long time. For a mascara it is expensive, but I think it is 100% worth it. The other Benefit product is Hervana blush pox powder. As soon as I swatched it I knew I had to have it and I can't wait to try it out!

Lastly I wandered over to the MAC counter, a place where you either have an amazing experience or a complete confidence-shattering one. Thankfully, mine was the first and I ended up walking away with what I wanted...and more. I originally went to get the Pure Zen lipstick because I saw a tutorial by Lauren Curtis who used it on a night out and, being a sucker for a nude lipstick, I immediately added it to my wish list. I also picked up a blush called Desert Rose which is a gorgeous deep rose/pink shade. MAC blushes are one of my favourites (Bobbi Brown's may be slightly better imo) and seem to last forever. I also ended up getting a Studio Fix Powder + Foundation in the shade C3. Looking back I honestly don't know why I bought this - MAC face products break me out like crazy and I have heard the Studio Fix line can look cakey on the skin. And it wasn't the cheapest of products! I will probably do a separate review on this when I try it out - I have to admit I am a little sceptical about trying it!

So they are the products I picked up and overall I am happy with my purchases. I hope you all have a wonderful weekend and I will try my best to get up some more reviews. Lots of love!

Benefit Ultra Plush Lip Gloss in A-Lister Review

HAPPY NEW YEAR! May 2014 be the best year yet!

Benefit are definitely becoming one of my favourite brands. The packaging of each item is always fun and I adore their products just as much. I have tried their foundations, mascaras, blushers and Hoola bronzer is my absolute must have and love and use them all religiously. Surprisingly I have never tried any Benefit lip products, so I thought I would start my journey with a lipgloss - 'cause a girl can never enough...

The colour I opted for is called "A Lister" and is a part of the Ultra Plush Lipgloss collection. The range features six shades: Lollipop (a bright) hot pink, Kiss You (a deep fuchsia), Icebreaker (clear), Fauxmance (soft berry red), A Lister (bubblegum pink) and Poutrageous! (a bright pink/coral). First of all, I love the names! And secondly, I love the product. The one I have, A Lister, is described as a bubblegum pink and is most definitely that. The shade is an opaque light pink and, for a lipgloss, is surprisingly pigmented. What I love the most is that it isn't at all sticky. On it's own I find it lasts around 2-3 hours before I feel the need to reapply. I also enjoy layering it on top of a boring nude lipstick as it seems to bring it to life and give it a pink glossy finish. Overall, I am super impressed with these and I think I will be picking up some other shades. They cost £14.50 each, which, I have to be honest, is a little expensive for a lipgloss, but as you can see from the photo above, you do get a lot of product and you only need a little bit for a great colour payoff. I do recommend :)

Laura Mercier Silk Creme Foundation in Bamboo Beige Review

I was in the market for a new high end foundation; one for those special occasions and one that I can always count on to make my skin look amazing. As I do before buying any new product (high end or drugstore for that matter) I took to Google and began searching for the best high end foundations that fit my ideal criteria of having high coverage that is not matte. I narrowed it down to two popular choices - NARS Sheer Glow and Laura Mercier Silk Creme. I went with the latter for the reason that the Laura Mercier offering has a much higher coverage. Sold!

After getting colour matched I happily walked out of Space NK desperate to go home and try it. I picked up the shade "Bamboo Beige" which is described as a warm golden beige for light to medium skin tones and it matches perfectly. For reference, I typically wear Mac NC25 or Esteé Lauder Double Wear in Desert Beige. I looked online and saw that it is the fourth darkest shade. For a high end foundation they only offer ten shades which isn't that impressive.

I have been trialing this foundation over the past two weeks and I really am mixed about what I think of it. The coverage is great - near enough full coverage that literally creates a flawless canvas - and you only need a little to cover the entire face. As it is a cream formula, hence the name, it does make the texture extremely thick and, in a way, uncomfortable. I would say that is it slightly heavier that Double Wear by Esteé Lauder (...and that is saying something!) Fuller coverage foundations have more pigments than lower coverage foundations so I can understand the reason why it feels heavier on the skin. So let's dismiss the thickness of the foundation and move onto finish.

One of the USP's that encouraged me to choose this foundation over the Sheer Glow offering was for the luminous finish it apparently gives. And it is really pretty and for a high coverage foundation it is impressive how much light it gives to the complexion. Unfortunately, it clings to dry skin like crazy. Like I said before, I research into new products and read the foundation suits people with combination to oily skin. I have combination skin and, despite moisturising and using Hydraluron before application, I still found this foundation so drying on areas where I suffer from blemishes. Around the blemishes it was extremely drying - almost flakey! - and just did not look pretty. I was a little confused as full coverage foundations are *primarily* targeted towards those who want to cover up imperfections and, in my experience, the extreme thick texture of this foundation, highlighted any dry areas on the face, thus making any blemishes more obvious.

Thankfully, the product did not break me out which tends to happen when I switch up my foundations. I do think this is one of those products I will completely adore in a few months and one that needs a little more persevering and trial and error. Perhaps due to the weather I am not a fan and in the summer it may be a joy to use. I'll probably do a follow up post in a few months! Currently I am browsing the Space NK website, hovering over the "add to basket" on the NARS Sheer Glow...

PS. I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and successfully braved the Boxing Day sales if you did go. Have a great new year!

Winter Lip Care

I love the winter season. Wearing thick wooly jumpers with a hundred layers, the white hot chocolates at Starbucks in the classic red cups, opening the advent calendar every morning and all the prep leading up to the big day. One thing I don't like, however, is the weather. The cold seriously takes it's toll on my skin during the December month whereby no amount of moisturiser or specially formulated moisture-increasing treatment will keep my skin hydrated. And with someone who generally deals with combination skin, it is a little disconcerting! For skin, I use Hydraluron followed by Clinique Dramatically Different moisturising lotion and Garnier moisture renew. For lips, I have several favourite products that work absolute wonders during the winter.

Lip scrubs are a must in the winter to get rid of all the nasty dead skin cells collected. Afterwards your lips feel so much softer and make any further lipstick application appear more even and, well, nicer. My favourite for the job is by Lush and tastes like strawberry candy. I have a few favourite lip treatments. During the day I love to apply the Nivea Lip Butter in caramel cream as it just tastes so nice. I also carry around the original Carmex and for a little bit of colour I adore the vast selection of Baby Lips by Maybelline. For a lip balm they are fairly pigmented and give a wash of colour. Pictured is my favourite out of the punch, pink punch. During the evenings and before I go to bed, I always apply a thick layer of Blistex Intense Moisturiser. I have to be honest here; it tastes really bad - almost clinical, if you know what I mean - and feels slightly weird on. However, it is possibly the most hydrating and moisturising lip treatment I have tried and works wonders over night. It does leave a white cast to the lips as it is so thick, so I wouldn't suggest wearing this during the day! 

So there we have it. This will probably be my last post before Christmas so I hope you all have a wonderful day. I can't wait to stay inside, watch Christmassy films and eat loads of yummy foods. Enjoy your day, stay safe and merry Christmas! :)

Beauty Reward Cards

With under a fortnight to go, I'm sure the majority of us have already started our Christmas shopping. Shopping this time of year is always exciting - buying for others is so much fun but it can also be terribly expensive especially if there are many people you need to buy for. For the females in my life I tend to buy either clothes (if I know them well enough to know their sizes and their style of course) or beauty/skincare related gifts! My favourite places to shop for this criteria are Boots and Space NK as they have such a vast selection on offer. Saving money can be so easy with rewards cards. When you buy a product you get points which add up to real money which you can spend on anything you want. Here are my favourite programmes to join...

N.dulge: This is the rewards scheme for Space NK for which every £1 you spent in store or online gives you one point. When you reach 100 points (aka spending £100) you receive a £5 incentive that you can spend on anything you want. The more points you earn, the better the programme becomes and you have the opportunity to join the luxe programme if you spend enough within the first twelve months. It's 100% free, and so worth it - especially with the amazing gift sets they offer this time of month, you'll be racking up the points in no time.

Boots advantage card: I believe this is my most used rewards card. For every £1 you spend, you collect 4 points. Then the points turn into real money that you can use in store and online. So for example, if you have 1000 points, that means you have £10 to spend on whatever you wish. You'll be surprised how quickly the points add up. Boots normally have special discounts around this time of year to collect even more points, so definitely sign up!

NUS Extra: Not for everyone, but if you're a student in the UK, you should definately concider siging up to this programme. It costs £10 so sign up and you need proof of being a student (obvs), but then you get so many insane discounts on so many brands it's unreal. You can get discounts for up to 30% in stores such as Urban Outfitters, Topshop, River Island, Superdrug, Office, Zara as well as restaurants and many other places. It lasts for one year before you renew, and you end up saving hundreds of pounds. It is seriously worth it if you are a student, especially in university.

So, they are my favourites and I highly recommend you sign up. They're (mostly) free anyway!