April Favourites

It’s come to that time of the month again to share with you what I've been loving this month! I've included a lot more 'random' favourites this month because there have not been a lot of beauty/make up products that have really stood out for me (apart from the ones I'm showing, of course!) 

I’ll start with the make up that I've been obsessed with. I recently posted a mini MAC haul with the things my two friends got me from New York, two of the things in particular that I've been using a lot are the paint pot in Painterly and the lipstick in Rebel. I use the paint pot as a primer for my eye shadow and it really does make the shadow stay on all day and creates a really nice and neutral base which could also be worn on its own with no eye shadow on top.

 I was a bit unsure about the lipstick in Rebel since it looks very dramatic on the stick. Although when you apply It, It leaves a beautiful deep, vampy purple / dark pink colour which I love!  To tone the colour down I like to blot it with a tissue which leaves a nice stain. This lipstick stays on for a very long time; I still had a stain on my lips the next day even after removing my make up.

I rediscovered my strawberry body butter from the Body Shop this month and I've really loved it! I used to be obsessed with these body butters and I don’t really know why I stopped using them. The strawberry one smells like sweet strawberry sweets; amazing! They are very rich moisturisers so they’re perfect for me since I have dry skin. I also love the papaya one and raspberry J

Another moisturiser that I like is Johnston’s baby oil gel. I've used baby oil before but I found It really hard to apply and It always got very messy, although Johnston’s have bought out a gel formula of the oil which I really like! It’s still quite messy but that’s excepted considering its oil. I like to apply this before I go to bed so that it soaks in overnight and doesn't get my clothes oily! Again, this is a very rich moisturiser so it’s good for dry skin.

I've been wearing my denim jacket a lot this month (the one I talked about in my last post!) so I thought I’d quickly mention It in my favourites. It’s very easy to wear and I think it’s perfect for Spring and Summer!

You may have noticed that the quality of my pictures has improved this month and that’s because I got a new camera. I used to have the Fujifilm Finepix S29500 which wasn't the best camera; I bought it a few years ago thinking it looked good but the quality didn't turn out great and I found it too big and chunky to carry around with me. I sold that camera on ebay and I got a new camera from Argos. I got the Canon Powershot A2500 for just £59! The offer is still on so if you want to have a look, here’s a link http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/1085323.htm . I absolutely  love my new camera, the quality is amazing and it’s very compact and lightweight so I can take it anywhere and quickly grab it out of my bag and snap a photo!

Jelly shoes have suddenly re appeared and become very popular! I saw a pair in a cheap shoe shop for just £5 so I thought I'd get them. I've worn them so much, I find they go with so much and they're perfect for the spring! I really like the pair I've got however they have started to fall apart and they slightly hurt my feet; so I'm considering buying a pair of the Ju Ju Jelly shoes which are apparently a lot better quality than the cheap pairs. Do you think the Ju Ju ones are worth the money? (£20) 

Here In England, the weather has been a little more promising and although it's not been very hot, it's been sunny some days which I love! I've been wearing my sunglasses a lot which I got from Primark for just £1! I love them and I know I'll be wearing them a lot over the summer. 

My favourite album this month has been Pharrell Williams ‘Girl’. I really love Pharrell, his songs make me feel really happy! , my favourite songs on the album are Marilyn Monroe, Hunter and Happy.

A food favourite this month has been dark chocolate, I especially love Lindt 70% cocoa! Also along the dark chocolate line, I've discovered choc shot by sweet freedom, it’s basically a healthy natural dark chocolate sweetener which I love to put on my porridge in the morning.

Thank you for reading this post! I hope you enjoyed reading it 

Charity Shop Bargin

A few weeks ago I went to Stratford with my family and I found lots of cute little charity shops. I love going in charity shops; most of the time I don’t find anything but on the odd occasion I get some really good stuff!

I found a vintage section in the shop and I got this denim jacket for just £10! I've been wearing it a lot recently and I love it!!! I love wearing It with a stripy top, black jeans and jelly shoes... my go to spring outfit right now! 

I hope you enjoyed this quick post and that you feel inspired to go into more charity shops; you never know what you might find!

Day Out In Manchester. 24.04.2014

My brother is living in Paris for the year but he’s home for Easter at the moment so today we went to Manchester to do some shopping and to get some lunch! I took a few photos so I thought I’d share them with you J

When I visited my brother In Paris he took me for sushi so I thought I’d return the favour and take him to Yo Sushi! I love this restaurant; the sushi is so good and I love the atmosphere. My favourite dishes are the salmon and avocado hand roll and the pumpkin korroke although I love everything that I've tried so far! 

We then went to do some shopping. As I mentioned in my last post, I was in need of a new foundation and that I fancied trying a MAC one, so I went into MAC and asked for some advice. I had mentioned that I wanted the studio fix although the guy in the store recommended I got the studio sculpt instead considering I have dry skin. I got that foundation and also picked up a brush cleaner whilst I was there. I’ll hopefully be doing a review of the foundation soon because I really like the look of it! 

Manchester has a lot of good vintage and charity shops. Afflecks palace is one of my favourite places; it’s a big building with lots of individual shops inside. There’s fancy dress, prom dresses, vintage clothes, jewellery and lots more!

Around the corner from Afflecks we found a quirky little cafe called Fig and Sparrow so we stopped for a drink. I loved the jars our drinks came in! 

I hope you enjoyed this slightly different post from me 

Easter Baking: Coconut & White Chocolate Cupcakes

Happy Easter! I thought I’d do something different on my blog today and do some baking! I found this recipe on BBC Good Food and thought I’d give it a go. I hope you enjoy this slightly different post and feel inspired to get in the kitchen J

I’m just going to show you pictures of me making these cakes although If you would like to have a go at making them yourself, here’s the recipe; http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/easter-nest-coconut-white-chocolate-cupcakes

How I Wash My Make Up Brushes

It comes to that time of the month where my make up brushes need a deep clean. Today I thought I’d show you how I do this to make sure my brushes are squeaky clean!

It is essential to wash your make up brushes regularly; I've known people with brushes which have not been washed in years!!!! Bacteria sticks to your brushes each time you use them on your face which can lead to a very spotty face.  It is especially important to wash your brushes if you suffer from bad skin or acne.

I tend to spot clean my brushes about once a week with a brush cleanser (I like the MAC one) which is a quick clean. Although once a month I deep clean my brushes with olive oil and shampoo to make sure they are thoroughly cleaned; which is what I am going to explain to you now J

  

To start off; I get some olive oil in a small bowl and soak my brush in the oil. I’m using olive oil because many make up products are oil based and using an oil to wash the product off makes it easier.  I’ll then take the brush out of the oil and lay it on a piece of kitchen paper for about a minute. Now I squeeze the oil off the brush over a sink and rinse it with water.

I then get a gentle shampoo; baby shampoo or any shampoo without harsh perfumes in would be great. I put a small amount of the shampoo onto the palm of my hand and gently swirl the bristles of the brush around my hand to lather up the product.

I squeeze out the excess shampoo from the brush and rinse it in the water until there’s no more shampoo on the bristles.

Once you've washed all your brushes it’s important that you let them dry either laying flat or upside down (with the bristles facing down). DO NOT leave the brushes to dry with the bristles facing upwards because you don’t want the water or excess shampoo to drip into the brush handle as this could lead the bristles falling out.

I hope that this post has helped you! Thank you for reading 

Mini Mac Haul

Recently two of my friends visited New York, I was extremely jealous although they were very kind and let me give them a shopping list which I was so grateful for! J

MAC make up is a lot cheaper in America compared to here in England, so I asked them to get me a few things from there! Here’s what they got me;

I’ve heard a lot of good things about MAC’s paint pots so I decided to get one in the shade Painterly; this one is very good for people with pale skin (like me!) as it is a very neutral pink toned shade. I’ve only used it once so far and I really like it! It’s very creamy and makes a great base for eye shadow; also it stayed on for a long time.  

I usually use Natural Collection eye shadow in Crushed Walnut to fill in my eyebrows although I wanted to try something new so I decided to try MAC’s eye shadow in Charcoal Brown which looks very similar.

I absolutely love MAC lipsticks so I had to ask my friends to get me a few!!! The first one I got was Girl About Town which is a lovely bright fuchsia pink lipstick without being too scary!!!! This lipstick is an amplified crème which means the formal is very creamy which I love.

The second lipstick I asked for is Rebel. This one looks rather scary on the stick although when you apply it you get a great vampy purple colour which seems to stay on all day; I swatched it on my hand last night and it’s still slightly stained!

That’s everything my friends kindly got me from New York! I love everything they got me and I’ve got a feeling a few of these may become favourites J

My Hair Care Routine

Sorry I've not posted for a while! I've been busy visiting family and going out with friends J

In this post I want to explain my hair care routine; from what shampoo I use to how I keep my curls last!

Let’s start with the basics. I usually wash my hair about 3 times a week using Essie shampoo and conditioner; I particularly like the Miracle Moist range. I find that Essie shampoo helps keep my hair in good condition and they have different types so you can get the one which fits your hair type.

Once a week I like to use some sort of deep conditioner or hair mask. At the moment I really like a hair mask from Lush called H'suan wen hua which is full of protein rich ingredients to improve the condition of your hair. It contains eggs, bananas and avocados which are rich in oils to moisturise and soften your hair. With this mask, I apply a thick coating all over my dry hair before I wash it then I leave it on for 20 minutes. Once the time is up I get into the shower and shampoo and condition my hair as normal which rinses off the mask and leaves my hair feeling very silky soft!

Another treatment I like to use is the Aussie three minute miracle; this one takes a lot less time, you use it just like a conditioner and leave it on your hair for 3 minutes after shampooing whilst in the shower.

Once I've washed my hair I brush it through with a wide toothed comb so I am not damaging my hair, then I usually leave my hair to dry naturally which leaves it slightly wavy.

I like to have my hair curly and I usually curl it after every time I've washed it then my curls tend to stay in place until I next have to wash my hair. I use the Baybliss curling wand which I've had for years and absolutely love ! Before I curl my hair I use the Tresemme heat protector so I am minimising the damage the curlers will have on my hair. I always section my hair before curling to make sure I don’t miss any pieces, so I use a clip to divide my hair then I start curling chunks of hair. I use different sized pieces of hair; I also curl some pieces away from my face and some towards my face to make the curls look more natural. Once I'm happy with how I've curled my hair I set the curls with hairspray; I don’t have a favourite hairspray, I just use whatever I have! To make my hair look more natural, I like to comb through my hair with a brush.

So that’s my hair care routine!!! I hope you enjoyed reading this post J

My Top Nail Polishes For Spring/Summer

I love painting my nails in the warmer months of the year. These are my top picks for Spring and Summer :)

I’ll list them all, going from left to right on the top photo first. 

1. Rimmel London Lasting Finish- Double Decker Red

This is your classic red which I love to wear if I can't decide which colour to go for. As you can see, I've chosen a lot of Rimmel polishes; that's because I LOVE them!!!! I find they apply well, dry quickly and don't chip. Another reason why I love them is that you can pick them up from Boots for just £2.99- absolute bargain! 

2.Rimmel London 60 Seconds- Round And Round In Circles

I love pastel coloured nails in the spring and summer. This is lovely, pastel yellow that is perfect for the time of year. 

3.Rimmel London Lasting Finish- Strawberry Fizz

This is my all time favourite pink nail polish. It's a beautiful, girly shade which I like wear a lot.

4.Rimmel London 60 Seconds- Mind The Gap, Victoria

Another pastel colour which I love :)

5.Rimmel London Lasting Finish- Marshmallow Heaven

6.Barry M Gelly High Shine- Pomegranate

This is a new favourite which I've recently discovered. The shade is gorgeous, it's a deep, pinky red which is a great alternative to a classic red. Again, this is a very affordable nail polish at just £3.99 from boots! 

7.Essie- Big Spender

One of the more expensive nail polishes (but definitely worth it!) is this from Essie which is £7.99 . I love these polishes because they have such a great formal and leave a very professional finish on the nails, although I would say that it seems quite sheer when you first apply it, although after 2 coats you will get a good coverage.  

8.Tanya Burr- Little Duck

I have been watching Tanya Burr's youtube videos for a long time now so when she announced that she was launching her own lip gloss and nail polish range I was so excited to try some of the products! I chose her nail polish in this shade because it looked perfect for spring and summer. Also I was very happy to see that they were very good value; at £5.99 at feel unique. The nail polish itself is brilliant quality and I love the colour so much, I've had lots of compliments whilst wearing it and I can't wait to buy more things from her collection.

9.OPI Nail Lacquer- The Colour Of Minnie

This polish is very similar to the red Rimmel polish I mentioned above. Although I've found this shade is a lot deeper and looks very sophisticated (and quite a lot more pricey at £11.95 from feel unique, although I definitely think it's worth it if you're looking for a good quality, classic nail polish)

10.Model's Own- Beach Party

Finally, my last nail polish Is this bright one from Models Own. I love adding a pop of colour to a plain outfit with a bright nail polish and this one is perfect. Models Own is slightly cheaper than Essie and OPI at £5.00 from Boots.

I hope you enjoyed this blog post!