6 Mini Book Reviews

I've been reading a lot of books over the past few months and I've really enjoyed them so I wanted to share them with you all. I am going to be giving a short ,honest review on each book and give them an overall mark out of 10 with my opinion- I hope you find this helpful!

Sali Hughes, Pretty Honest , 10/10

I read this book in January and I am already tempted to read it all over again. This book is an essential real for any beauty addict and I have picked up so many great tips and tricks from it. There are many books out there filled with pretty pictures which are nice to look at ,however this book is page to page packed with amazing knowledge and facts that even some of the big experts in this business would learn from. Whether you're a beauty newbie or a long time addict, I'm sure you will love this book and find it interesting.
Overall I would highly recommend this book and I doubt anyone would ever regret picking it up- it is now my portable beauty library! :')

Zoe Sugg, Girl Online, 6/10

Zoe Sugg, widely known as internet superstar Zoella released her first novel, Girl Online late 2014 and I was intrigued to see what it would be like.
Zoe aimed this book at teenagers and I definitely noticed that whilst reading ,although I still enjoyed the easy read as an 18 year old. I liked the story line and loved how the online world was caught up to date and addressed real life issues such as anxiety and online bullying which I'm sure has helped to raise awareness to these subjects and made people feel less alone. 

Tanya Burr, Love Tanya, 8/10

I've been following Tanya Burr on her blog and Yotube for a long time and I was so excited to read her beauty and biography book as I love hearing what she has to say on different topics.

Again, like Sali Hughes' book, Tanya shares some of her top tips concerning beauty and lifestyle however she adds her own personal touch to things whilst also offering advice on confidence and happiness which I personally loved. 
I found Tanya's book to be very helpful whilst also teaching me new tips and tricks for this industry that I am extremely passionate about.
I think that many people would enjoy reading this book as Tanya includes lifestyle and baking chapters along with the usual beauty sections which I found pleasantly different to other beauty book's that I have read in the past.

Rae Morris, Makeup The Ultimate Guide, 8/10

As the title implies, this book really is a fantastic ultimate guide to makeup.
Rae Morris, a worldwide known make up artist, gives her top tips on all the essential tools you need to make the most of your work along with how to master some tricky techniques.
This book is filled with beautiful pictures and great tips and tricks-  I found the pictures to be very inspiring and I've been keen to try many of the looks out myself.
I'm sure I will go back to this for inspiration and ideas in the future multiple times. I love it!

Fleur De Force, The Glam Guide, 6/10

Fleur is a successful beauty blogger and youtube vlogger who I have followed for many years and I always love hearing her tips and advice through her posts and videos.

This 'glam guide' is filled with useful facts and I also love the illustrations throughout the book.
Maybe it's because I've read so many beauty books that I found this one to be quite repetitive and un-helpful for someone like me who already knows a lot about the subject. On the other hand I would highly recommend this book to any beauty newbies or to be given as a gift to a mother or friend.

Ella Woodward, Deliciously Ella, 8/10

I'm not a vegan or vegetarian however I do like to live a healthy lifestyle and this cook book wrote by the popular Ella Woodward who owns the blog Deliciously Ella really caught my eye and I was intrigued to see how her plant based recipes turn out.
Whether you want some healthy breakfast ideas or a sweet treat alternative then you're in the right place. I loved flicking through this book and found myself wanting to cook everything in one afternoon!- everything sounds so delicious.
So far I've made the following recipes: hummus, chocolate chia seed cookies and sweet potato brownies. I was extremely impressed with how each turned out and I especially found the brownies to be SO TASTY!


Have you read any of these books too? What did you think?
Let me know if you have any recommendations of what I should read next :)

What's On My Face? Special Occasion Makeup

I've recently been experimenting a lot with makeup and have been very happy with the final results that I've created. In this post I will talk you through the different products that I used and a few of my tips and tricks for re creating this look.

Base

I was after a very high coverage, matte base which is usually a good choice for an evening / special occasion makeup.
L'oreal have recently launched a new foundation, Infallible Matte, which claims to give a high coverage, matte finish that lasts for up to 24 hours (quite a big claim that I'm sure many people will find hard to test out!) The consistency of this foundation is very liquid"y" which I wouldn't expect however it does live up to the claim and gave me a matte high coverage.
To apply this product, I used a classic flat foundation brush which will always give a higher coverage over a buffing brush although may take a little longer to blend in. 

I've used this foundation only a few times so far so I don't have a full impression just yet however I found it worked well on this occasion. 

To conceal a few imperfections I used my trusty Rimmel Wake me Up concealer and I also sweeped a bit under my eyes to brighten that area.

I decided to go heavy on the face sculpting and strongly contoured my face- to start I used a dark brown concealer shade and subtly worked the colour into the hollows of my cheekbones using a small buffing brush until it blended completely into the skin with no harsh lines. 

Once I've used all my liquid/cream face products, I used Rimmel's Stay Matte pressed powder to set all the makeup in place and to also give something for following powder products to cling onto. 

To further contour my face, I used MAC Charcoal Brown eye shadow which is a matte brown shade and  I used a small buffing brush to repeat the sculpting process on top of the already applied cream contour. To make this look as natural as possible I always get my foundation buffing brush and gently blend the colours together again to get rid of any possible harsh lines. 

I love using highlighers to give my face a special glow and for this occasion I used MUA's eye shadow in Champagne along with MAC's Soft & Gentle highlighter to dust on the tops of my cheekbones using a soft medium sized brush.

Eyebrows 

I went for a strong, defined eyebrow which I think always pulls my face together and suits me very well. I am planning to write a post all about how I groom and fill in my eyebrows as I'm always getting asked questions about them, although for now I'm just letting you know that for this particular look I simply used MAC Brun eye shadow and the Ben Nye AB4 small angled brush to gently shape and define. 

Eyes 

I've recently been obsessed with this eye shadow pallet from MUA called Romantic Efflorescence and used it to create this eye look. I think that these pallets from MUA are fantastic value for money as you can pick one up for just £4 in Superdrug and I've found the quality to be fantastic and to be just as good as many of my more expensive shadows. The shades I used to create this look were Firey , Lavish and Reveal. 

Using my favourite mascara, Maybeline The Falsies, I generously coated my lashes to give myself super long, separated and voluminous 'false looking' lashes. 

Winged eye liner is something that I've never been confident doing however recently with a lot of practice I finally feel like I'm finally getting there.
With the aid of sticky notes (search 'eye shadow sticky tape trick' on youtube if you don't know what i'm on about- although I'm sure you do -hahah!) I created a super neat line and flick with a small angled brush and MAC Fluidline gel liner.

(pictured above: MUA pallet, MAC custom pallet (shade burn for eyebrows), concealer pallet)

Lips

I wanted my eyes to be the statement in this look therefore decided to go nude on the lips and I simply used MAC lip liner in Spice all over my lips and finally to give a glossy finish I sweeped over this Natural Collection clear lip gloss.

I hope you enjoyed this post from me- what do you think of this look?

What would you like to see my write about next? Let me know in the comments below! 

YSL Touché Éclat Foundation Review : My Favourite High End Foundation?

A few weeks ago I posted a review of my favourite drug store foundation and today I am telling you all about my favourite high end foundation.
I have lusted over this Yves Saint Laurent Touché Éclat foundation for years after hearing so many amazing reviews and reading the big selling points like 'luminous,' 'lightweight' and 'glowing' which are factors that I always look for in a foundation.

YSL describe this foundation as the first ever illuminating magic light foundation. Infused with a lightweight fluid, Touché Éclat foundation targets shadowy areas and highlights the contours of the face. With buildable coverage, the foundation perfects the texture of any complexion and helps conceal imperfections, enhancing the skin's natural beauty.

"Quoted from Yves Saint Laurent 
http://www.yslbeauty.co.uk/makeup/le-teint-touche-eclat/1025YSL.html?dwvar_1025YSL_color=Beige%20Rose%2030&cgid=makeup#start=30&sz=12&cgid=makeup "

£31.50 from Boots 

To start with, the packaging of this foundation is absolutely beautiful. I love all YSL product packaging and this foundation is stored in a tall glass bottle with gold top. Obviously this isn't ideal for travelling although it is guaranteed to stand out and look beautiful on your dressing table. Another plus is the fact that you get a pump dispenser which is something surprisingly uncommon among many high end foundations and also reduces waste.

I was very impressed with the wide shade range that was on offer with this foundation along with the fantastic service I received at the YSL counter at the Trafford Centre Boots where I was matched perfectly to my foundation in the shade BR20.
The shades are either listed as BR (Beige Rose) which is for people with cool pink undertones, BD (Beige Dore) which are for people with warm golden undertones and finally B (Beige) for people with beige undertones to their skin.

Coverage 
As stated above, YSL describe this foundation to have a buildable coverage which I agree with to a certain point. Truthfully I would say that you can only realistically achieve a light to medium coverage with this foundation. You will be able to cover small imperfections whilst still giving a very natural and healthy finish which is what I personally love. To sum up I would say this is  'good skin' in a bottle as it always makes me look more awake and healthy whilst still giving nice coverage.

Texture 
The texture of this foundation is one of the big selling points for me- it's very thin, creamy and lightweight therefore blends into the skin effortlessly. I find that I can use any brush to easily blend this foundation into the skin and it gives that 'no makeup' flawless skin look which can be very difficult to achieve with most foundations that end up looking extremely cakey and patchy on the skin. A big thumbs up from me to YSL!

Finish
Touché Éclat gives a very luminous and dewy finish which is where a few people may be put off however I've found that this can be easily minimized with a mattifying primer and powder which will still give you a healthy finish but with a little less 'glow'. On the other hand, I do love the luminous glow that you can achieve with this foundation and I personally don't find it 'shiny' on my skin at all- my tip would be to really work it into your skin which is when I find you achieve the most beautiful glow.

Lasting Power
The lasting power isn't great, although it can obviously be extended when paired with a good primer and setting powder. I have personally found this foundation to last between 4-8 hours on my skin which may be an issue with some people although it is something that I am willing to put up with considering I love all the other factors it achieves.

Skin Type
I have normal, dehydrated skin with occasional dry patches and I find this foundation works perfectly on me, especially since the formula is very moisturising.
I would highly recommend this foundation to anybody with normal, combination or dry skin although if you have oily skin I would recommend to stay away as this more than likely won't work for you.

Here's a photo of me before and after applying the foundation. I used no primer or powder and the photo's aren't edited. (Excuse my bushy brows and how tired my eyes look!-haha!)

Overall I am extremely impressed with this foundation and am very glad that I decided to spend amount of money to see what all the fuss was about.
I still think that £31.50 is a lot of money to spend on a foundation although I would definitely say that it would be great addition to any Christmas or birthday wish list or for something to spend those sneaky Boots club card points on (Keep saving and reward yourself!)

If you are tempted, why not go and ask for a sample at your nearest YSL counter and give it a go for yourself, I'm sure you won't be disappointed!