Beauty | Illamasqua Matte Lip Liquid.

When the words ‘Illamasqua’ and ‘matte’ come together in one sentence or product name, chances are that I’m going to get my hands on it. And that is exactly what happened when I ventured to London and visited the amazing Beak Street store. I picked up a couple of pieces from the Summer collection; one of which being ‘Matte Veil’ and the other the ‘Matte Lip Liquid’ which I’ll be showing you lovelies now.

I just had to check out the Matte Lip Liquid; it seemed to good to be true. A product that glides on like a liquid and dries matte? I was beyond intrigued. I opted for the shade ‘Forbidden’ which is a gorgeous candy pink, and I am pleased to report that I am 100% in love. The colour is so wearable and the product applies like a dream. I’ve worn it for 8 – 10 hour shifts and the transfer-resistant colour hasn’t bled at all! I find myself reapplying mid-day and that’s all that’s needed. After being such a lover of Illamasqua’s lipsticks I wondered would I love this as much - but I definitely do. And you all know I don’t say those words lightly. My only comment is that is can feel slightly tacky if you apply too much, a light layer is sufficient for full coverage and stay-in-place colour.

If you can’t already tell I am crazy about this product and wear it at any given opportunity. Now I’m just patiently waiting for them to release it in a whole rainbow of colours so I can own them all! Would you consider trying the Illamasqua Matte Lip Liquid? xo

Beauty | Heatless Curls: Fact or Fad?

Hi sweeties! Hope you're all well. Todays post is something a bit different for me but it's something I am totally obsessed with at the minute. Heatless curls have always been something of a mirage to me. I've tried countless methods to achieve them but nothing has worked. Seriously. Sock buns, paper curls you name it I've tried it! But, last week when I was scrolling through Pinterest looking for blog inspiration I've finally found a method that works!

I'm not sure if this technique has a proper name but I call it the headband method (original I know). When I saw it on Pinterest I quickly YouTubed it to get a better idea of how to do it and now I'm hooked.

It's quite hard to explain so I'll leave the link to the video I used here. But basically you take a soft headband and place it around your head. Then pull all your hair around to the front, near your neck.You then take a section at the front of your hair and flip it in and around the headband, like a loop. You then take the next section of hair, that includes a piece of hair from the previous section, and continue looping until you reach the back. You then do the same process on the other side. And then just sleep with it in! I am aware this explanation was really terrible so I'd recommend watching the video so you get a better idea.

So this is my hair at night-time all tucked into the headband.

And here it is in the morning when I took the headband out and gave it a bit of a tousle!

Do excuse my all black get-up. This was just before I went to work!

I am seriously amazed by this method as it leaves my hair lovely and bouncy without any heat damage! You all know I'm trying to improve the condition of my hair at the minute so this method has been a godsend. I've gotten so many complements on it in work and it looks like it takes a-lot of time and effort. Win! I will say that I personally find the curls hold better if you spritz your hair with a little bit of water before going to sleep. Especially if you have thick hair like me!

I hope you enjoyed this little hair post, and if any of you do give this method a go please tag me or let me see as I'd love to see how it works on other types of hair! Til the next one. xo

Beauty | Mac Brush Cleanser Review.

So I guess today’s post could be a little dull but it is definitely a necessity for all us brush lovers out there! I picked up the MAC Brush Cleaner to try aid my brush cleaning horrors. Although I shampoo wash my brushes once a week sometimes I need a quick fix if I’m changing eyeshadow/blush.

Prior to this I’d never used a brush cleaner before as I’d always worried they wouldn’t do a thorough job. I thought I’d give this a go after seeing the Pixiwoo girls using it and it was only £10! I was a bit anxious about using this as I just couldn’t see how it would effectively clean my brushes – but I was pleasantly surprised. After popping some product onto kitchen roll I swirled my brush in a circular motion a few times and voila! The product came off with minimal effort on my part. It was effective on every brush I used apart from my lip brush; but we all know lipstick can be a toughie even using shampoo!

I was really impressed with how well this cleaned my brushes and they were dry almost instantly so I could use them again. I don’t care for the alcohol like smell (shocking I know) but it’s a minor negative when I have clean, dry brushes in an instant! How do you clean your brushes? Have you invested in brush cleaner before? xo

Lifestyle | London Living.. For 2 Days.

Hello my loves! I have been such a terrible blogger recently but I’ve had a-lot going on and unfortunately time has gotten the better of me. But I am back with a little life-post to fill you all in on my London Adventures! And a bit of a mini-haul of course..

I was going to London for a concert so my uni friends and I made the most of us all being on the same landmass and had a little reunion! After the long journey we all arrived at Kings Cross and were gasping for some cocktails! My friend Max (being a Londoner) recommended an amazing bar and restaurant called The Driver. We all had some rooftop cocktails in the sunshine before heading downstairs to have some yummy lunch. 

The menu was really reasonably priced and the service was first class; the staff were really accommodating and put our luggage away so we wouldn’t have to lug it up and down the stairs! It’s only a 5-10 minute walk from Kings Cross so if you were ever about I’d really recommend it to you!

After our lovely afternoon in the sunshine we popped to our hostel to get ready for One Direction! I wore a dress from my absolute favourite website Ark, and with socks from Topshop and shoes from River Island. Charlotte’s dress was from New Look and she paired it with some casual Converse.

Always with the pints of wine.

 

Claiming Liam was looking at me..

We had such a ball at the concert! Wembley Stadium was overwhelming and the boys seemed to really love it and appreciate every one of their fans, which was lovely. I had major 1D comedown the next day! After the concert we went for a little midnight walk around London. It was so peaceful and there were some amazing views of Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament. 

To combat my 1D depression I visited my favourite place, Illamasqua! The Beak Street store was actually amazing. The staff couldn’t have been more informative and I picked up the long-awaited Matte Veil and the Matte Lip Liquid in ‘Forbidden’. Both are from the new summer collection and both matte so they are right up my street.

Books | An Abundance of Katherines.

So, after ‘umming’  and ‘aahing’  for ages over whether to post this review or not I’ve decided to bite the bullet and do it. I put the feelers out to try suss out how book reviews would go down and the feedback was quite positive so here it goes! I’m a big reader and for all I know you might be too so why not give you some inspiration of what books to pick up (or avoid).

Where to start with ‘An Abundance of Katherines’(or ‘Katherines’ as I’ll be abbreviating it to for this post). Well, I picked up this book whilst in Liverpool way back when and only just got around to reading it on my recent journey to London. Tubes make for great reading opportunities! I chose this book as I absolutely adored The Fault in Our Stars ('Stars') and the same author, the amazingly talented John Green, writes this.

‘Katherines’ is based around 17 year-old, anagram lover Colin Singleton. This former child prodigy has a thing for girls named Katherine – 19 of them to be exact. And has just been dumped; again. He is patiently waiting to have his very own ‘Eureka’ moment that will make him either a genius, or famous. The story follows him and his best friend Hassan on a road trip to help Colin get over the girl and discover his very own ‘Eureka’. But of course this doesn’t go exactly as planned as they meet a girl named Lindsey and Colin searches for his ’Eureka’ in a Theorem using maths and relationships.

Beauty | NARS Multiple Review.

Well it is finally time for my first ever NARS review, and I can already say it won’t be my last! I picked up a NARS Multiple in my little Liverpool Haul last month and I've been obsessed since first use. I actually went to the NARS counter to buy a Matte Multiple but unfortunately they weren’t available at the time (they are now I believe) so I picked up one of the originals, which have a more shimmery finish, in the shade ‘Copacabana.’ 

Prior to visiting NARS I had scoped out the products for a while and decided that the Multiple would be a good investment. This multi-purpose stick can be used on eyes, cheeks, lips and body. Although my shade (being a highlighter) will not be going on my lips!

Copacabana is described as a ‘glistening pearl with sheer silver pearls’ shade and it is to die for. This has quickly become my go-to highlighter. This creamy formula blends beautifully on the skin as well as with any product I’ve tried it on.  The shimmery highlight is absolutely beautiful.

Recommend to a Friend | Let's Talk Blog Challenge.

Well lovies it is here. The final week of the LTBC! I’ve enjoyed this so much and thanks to all the gorgeous bloggers who helped make it so much fun. This week's topic is ‘Recommend to a Friend’ so it’s time to share with you all some of my favourite things!

First things first I’m not actually going to talk about any beauty on this post as I’m constantly recommending things on my blog anyway! Plus you all know I would just tell you to buy Illamasqua anyway. (Pssst. If you want to win some free Illamasqua don’t forget to enter my giveaway here.)

So now that’s sorted I’m going to kick off the recommendations with my current favourite clothing website. Ark is fast becoming my go-to website when I need an outfit for an occasion or if I have a particular look in mind. The dresses are to die for and they have key trends in categories to make them easier to locate on the website. A current favourite trend of mine is co-ords and Ark has them coming out of their ears!

This arrived today... Oops.

Summer music is always a big thing for everyone and this year George Ezra is at the top of my pile. I know he came out a while ago but I’ve recently used the wonder that is Spotify to discover some more of his music and I cannot get enough. His sound is bang on summer tunes for me and I can’t wait for the weather to brighten so I can get him blaring in the garden with a cider in hand.

On the topic of alcohol I’m now going to recommend you all my favourite wine. I’m not an alcoholic I swear. My number 1 rose is Gallo White Grenache. This wine is so yummy! It’s really light and has the loveliest strawberry tones in it. It’s really refreshing and is best served ice cold. Perfect summer drinking – especially if you’re not a wine person.

This next one is for any of you who, like me, are trying to cut down and get fit! I’ve started the gym and am eating much healthier but we all need a treat now and again. My go-to treat is my number 1 lolly, a Loop-de-Loop. These tasty buggers only have 85 calories! So you won’t feel too bad about enjoying one now and again.

OOTD | Trainspotting.

Hi loveys! Bit of a different post from me today, an outfit! I rarely post regarding fashion but this is one of my favourite skirts and now that it’s nearly summer I’m bringing it out of storage and I thought I’d show you all!

I bought this skirt last year from Cath Kidston. Although the floral and animal prints are usually my go-to when it comes to CK I couldn’t take my eyes off this vintage train pattern. I love the colours as I hardly ever wear blues & greens and I think it’s really different.

This skirt makes a statement and because of this I tend to pair it with a plain top, my fave boots and a cutesy hat. And because I cannot do a post without some beauty.. I pair it with Ruby Woo by MAC to make the red in the skirt pop. xo

Pretending I'm in Narnia.

Of course I bought the matching cup. 

Skirt: Cath Kidston (last season)

Top: Penneys

Hat: H&M

Socks: Topshop

Boots: Penneys

PS. Thanks to my bro Jonny for taking the pictures and listening to me say 'No that's ugly.' about 50 times.