The Pinks To Make You Spring Ready

Despite it still being freezing cold outside and the rain doesn't seem to want to budge, Spring has apparently sprung. This means the dark vampy purples are being put in to hiding for another 8 months and the fresh girly pinks are making a come back - although I love pink all year round, I just love it that bit more in Spring.


You can't really talk about pink makeup without giving a shoutout to the Urban Decay Naked 3, the twelve shade palette containing mauvey and rose gold pink shades, some mattes, some shimmers and two very glittery shades. I only really use this in the Spring and Summer months because I prefer a more deeper eye in Winter, but it's already started to make a return this month and I can see it creeping back even more in the coming months. It's the perfect palette for any pink lover and complete makeup addict this season. An alternative palette if you're on a bit of a budget, or you're just not massively in to pinks to make the commitment to a £38 palette then the L'Oreal Color Riche Quad in Smokey Eau de Rose is for you. They're all shimmery shades which are perfect for adding a shine to the eyes and they blend and last on the eyes wonderfully. They're slightly less pigmented than the Naked 3 and a bit more peachy pink than golden pink, but if you're after a condensed Naked 3 this is the way to go.

In terms of lipstick Rimmel's Kate Moss Matte lipstick in 101 is a staple all year round for me, it's a pretty muted blue toned pink which matches well with any makeup, but looks especially gorgeous paired with glowy cheeks and pink eyes in the Spring. If you're going to buy one new pink lipstick this season I'd make it this! However, if you're feeling spendy and you're going to invest in a second lipstick I'd make it MAC's Pink Nouveau, a bright barbie pink lipstick which is sure to turn heads. It doesn't seem to appear as bright in the summer, presumably because I tone the rest of my makeup down, so it's the perfect bright pink and a lipstick I found myself wearing on a daily basis last summer. If I'm ever wanting to feel a bit brave or need some confidence for the day I wear this, it sounds silly but if I can have enough confidence to wear a colour this bright, I can have the confidence to know I can pass an exam.

Finally we've got blushes and one of the easiest ways to make the transition from Winter to Spring is to add a bit of cream to your makeup, one of my favourite blushes for this time of year is the Max Factor Miracle Creamy Touch Blusher in Soft Pink. It is a real cream blush - none of this cream to powder - that blends like a dream on the skin and leaves a gorgeous healthy glow to the skin. It can be easy to go a bit overboard but it's easy to just blend it out with your foundation brush. The blogging world had a bit of a moment with this blush a few summers ago and I'm still having that moment, it's one of my favourite blushes of all time! Despite saying that creams are the easiest way to transfer to Spring I still love the Sleek Blusher in Pixie Pink which is a completely matte blue toned pink. A little really does go a long way with this one, it's super pigmented so you just need to dab your brush lightly, it can be a bit of a struggle to blend but I like to use a slightly fluffier brush rather than your standard dense blush brush and this sorts the problem. It really brightens up the face and is the cheapest product mentioned here so it's the perfect colour for Spring!

What are your favourite makeup items for Spring?

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Don't forget I have a MAC giveaway up here

100 Follower MAC Giveaway

Some time last week I finally hit 100 followers via Bloglovin, which is completely insane! My followers and page views have increased so much over the past 6 weeks and I'm so thankful to everyone who follows, reads or leaves any comments on my blog.

So I thought I'd do a giveaway to celebrate reaching 100 followers and give you a bit of a choice on what you win. You can win any permanent MAC lipstick, eyeshadow - in pan or compact - or paint pot from MAC's standard range of your choice. Just simply enter via the form below, UK only sorry. The competition will run for just under a month giving you plenty of time to enter, plus I'm on a bit of a spending ban until my exam is done, so it finishes on the day of my exam meaning I can do some shopping for myself when I go to buy the prize.

Thank you to everyone that follows my blog!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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The One Sweep Wonders

When it comes to eyeshadow a lot of the time I find it impossible to just leave it at one shade on the lid, I always feel like it needs the extra crease definition or just deepening up on the outer corners, it's probably down to having that many eyeshadows that I just want to play with them all in the morning. But in the past couple of months I've been putting the blending brush down and realising that some eyeshadows can work wonders just swept over the lid on their own, meaning they're the perfect shades for when you hit the snooze button one too many times leaving you 10 minutes to get ready.

The Urban Decay Naked Palette is 100% my favourite palette, it's my go to palette for every occasion because I just know it's never going to fail me, whether I want a girly daytime look or a deeper smokier look. If I'm in a serious rush my favourite from the palette to reach for is Toasted, a gorgeous warm bronze toned pink with an almost metallic finish. It's the most amazing shade on the eyes, it blends out beautifully and is an amazing colour for the winter months. It's my most used shade with a serious dent in it, I can feel the pan getting worryingly closer every time I use it.

An amazing alternative to Toasted, just slightly less warm toned and a bit more silver, is the L'Oreal Color Riche in 201 Cafe Saint Germain. The product looks a bit bruised and battered because the eyeshadow is essentially a pressed pigment, so after getting it home when I bought it the shadow had completely smashed in the bag. Partly my fault, but on closer inspection I think it was partly the manufacturers fault. However, this wasn't going to stop me trying it, so I pressed it back in to the compact and have been reaching for it a lot recently. It has an amazing wet look about it, and even has a wet but creamy feel to it on the fingers. It isn't the easiest shadow to blend out because of it's texture, but the colour is simply gorgeous.

I imagine by the end of February people will be bored out of their brains hearing me talk about this one, but it really is that good! The Bourjois Colorband in 04 Rose Fauviste is a golden beigey pink, after doing some online searches it's very MAC All That Glitter's esque. I mentioned this in my Everyday Makeup post, so I won't go on too much. But it's just an amazing cream eyeshadow stick,all it requires is a few swipes across the eye, a quick bit of blending with your finger and it sets like paint, this seriously isn't budging for anyone!

The next two I'm going to speak of in a more broad term, because they were both limited edition shades that I got in Christmas sets last year. The pink glittery shade is from Soap and Glory, and I have an inkling that you can get it in their Off The Wallflowers palette, but this style of shade is one which I feel everyone needs, it's a frosty pink with glitter running all through it, similar to MAC's Naked Lunch. The next is a simple champagne shade, this one is from No7 but I have no idea what shade it is, but not only are these shades great for your base, but they work perfect for just swiping over the lids to cancel out any redness or veins on the lids. Both of these style of shades are perfect for if you're just starting out with makeup, because they're so simple and easy to pull of.

What are your favourite 'one sweep wonders'?

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Why Primer Is An Everyday Essential

Primer is a stage I feel a lot of people seem to skip in their makeup, some people feel they don't see any benefits to primer or some people just simply can't be bothered. I personally couldn't wear my makeup without primer, I find it acts as the glue for my makeup and provides a much needed barrier between my moisturiser and foundation, without it my foundation would just slip and slide around. Finding the right primer to suit your skin or the foundation you're wearing can however be a lot harder than it seems.

In my opinion, the most obvious choice when buying a primer would be Benefit the POREfessional, it's the UK's number one selling primer and the beauty community regularly give it the thumbs up. This was the first high end product I ever bought, and although I don't use it everyday anymore I do still love it. It smoothes out your complexion, blurs any imperfections and slightly mattifies the skin ready for foundation. This is one I grab for when I'm going on a night out and I want a flawless complexion, I find if I use it everyday it can start to clog up my pores - slightly ironic considering it's supposed to blur them - so I reserve this for when my skin is in dire need or if I'm after a flawless look.

In terms of high street primers, they never seem to offer anything too much for your skin except helping to make your makeup last a bit longer on the skin. Some budget options would be the W7 Prime Magic Camera Ready Face Primer* which helps to smooth out the skin and blur any fine lines. It has a slightly strange smell, not offensive just not what I expected, and makes the fingers feel slightly dry after you've applied the primer, but it leaves the skin feeling silky smooth and ready for your base. I have normal skin but I can imagine this would be nice for people with oily skin as it helps to mattify the skin and soak up any oil in the skin. Another would be the Maybelline Baby Skin, a little really does go a long way with this primer, if you add too much your foundation will slide right off the skin, but if you can find the perfect middle ground it will help your foundation will last all day. I'm not quite sure it lives up to it's claims of being pore minimising, but if you're after a basic inexpensive primer this is a nice option.

If you're someone who doesn't struggle keeping foundation on the skin but just wants to have the added glow to the skin then you'll love MAC Prep + Prime Skin Base Visage. I bought it recently after trying a sample of it, and it's defiantly my personal favourite of the bunch. It starts as a pearly white with a creamy texture with slight reflective glitter throughout but blends in to the skin to add a hydrated and moisturised look, but without the shine of a moisturiser. The glitter adds a highlight and glow to the face without looking like a disco ball and I've found my makeup does last that little bit extra when I do wear this. It's cheaper than the POREfessional but is still on the slightly pricey side of things, but for me it's an all round winner.

Do you wear primer, and what is your favourite?

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My Current Everyday Makeup Routine

I've been keeping my makeup relatively simple at the moment, but seriously loving the look. Rather than having lots of eyeshadow and a simple lip I've been doing the complete opposite, and I can't get enough. I've worn this look for over a week now, which is probably the longest I've worn the exact same look in a long time.

High End Beauty Wish List

I don't know about you, but I find after Christmas I seem to be wanting more than I did beforehand. I have a wish list of stuff I want before Christmas but when people start asking what I want it's always "I don't really know", then as soon as Christmas is over you're reminded of everything you've ever wanted and more.

Top 15 Discoveries of 2014

My initial intention for this was to do my top 14 of 2014, but when I was taking the pictures and writing down my choices I couldn't kick one out, because they're all amazing products, and whilst I feel I'm a bit late to the 2014 favourites I still want to do one. Exam revision is slightly taking over my life but I've been thinking and planning this post for a few weeks now. Instead of doing top products I've decided to do my top discoveries, because I don't think I could whittle down my top products in to a select number and I wouldn't have a favourite for every category. Some of these products are new to the market this year and some are just new to me, but hopefully you'll find something you'll want to try this year!

The Matte Lip

With Autumn and Winter just around the corner I've slowly found myself starting to ditch the glossy and sheer lip products in favour of a more bold and matte lip colour. Matte lips will always be my favourite kind of formula, they last the longest, their pigment is usually better and overall I find I just suit how they look on me. I've picked five lipsticks all from different brands to compare them and see how they differ against each other.

Rimmel Kate Moss 101 // Revlon ColorBurst Matte Balm in Elusive // Collection Cream Puff in Cotton Candy // Soap and Glory in Pom Pom // MAC Russian Red

Rimmel Kate Moss - This is the first matte lipstick that I tried and the one that got me hooked on others. This particular colour is a baby blue toned pink and a lipstick which goes with any look. It's my go to lipstick for days when I'm not sure what to wear, making it one of my most used and favourite lipsticks of all time. Overall it's a really moisturising and easy formula to wear, 107 from this range is also great!

Revlon Matte Balm - There was so much hype around these when they were first released, but this is still the only one I've tried from the brand. It's a slightly deeper mauvey pink, making it slightly hard to wear on very pale skin. I find it can sometimes look a bit one dimensional on the lips, but it is still a great one for day to day use and the formula is super moisturising.

Collection Cream Puff - This is the cheapest of the bunch, so a great one if you want to try matte lips but don't want to spend a lot of money. The formula is really moisturising and easy to wear, the only problem from the two that I've tried is they can be slightly streaky when first applied.

Soap and Glory - This is the latest matte lip in my collection, but I'm already loving it! The packaging and emboss on the lipstick makes it feel like a more high end lipstick, and the lipstick glides on the lips. This is a great one for those wanting to try deep reds or purples but not wanting to go in head first, it's a slightly deep berry and a great pick for this season.

MAC - The most expensive of the bunch and easily the most drying, but along with that it's the most long lasting. This lipstick literally doesn't budge so is a great one for a night out or when you're going out to eat. It looks amazing with just some eyeliner and a contour and makes your teeth look so white because of how deep and blue toned it is. The formula really is drying though so it's best to apply lip balm underneath, but the dry formula is worth sacrificing for the longevity of this one.

Overall my favourite has to be Rimmel Kate Moss in 101, at £5.49 it's really affordable and is my favourite formulation and colour out of them all. The lasting power of 101 may only be a few hours but their darker shade 107 is even longer. If you're after a matte lipstick to try they're defiantly the one's to go for!

What's your favourite matte lipstick? I'm always on the look out for some more.

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Luxury Beauty Wishlist

Too Faced Natural Eyes Palette // Estee Lauder ANR // NARS Sheer Glow // Elizabeth Arden 8 Hour Cream // Zoeva Rose Gold Brush Set // MAC's Angel // Charlotte Tilbury Lip Cheat

Being someone who regularly reads beauty blogs and watches beauty YouTubers it's easy to amass a huge wishlist of beauty products that I want and unfortunately for me, most of them are highend, so I've compiled some of my favourites in to this post.

The Too Faced Natural Eyes palette seems to be popping up everywhere, except my local Boots. I've had enough points to buy this for a while now but my local Too Faced counter is pretty rubbish and doesn't stock a lot of the palettes in the new packaging and with me just having purchased the Naked 2 I feel this is going to stay a wish for a while. Another product I've thought about spending my Boots points on is the Estee Lauder ANR, it's been around for decades and is a cult classic! I don't know if I can ever bring myself to spend that much on a serum - although a lot of people do say to invest in the serum rather than a moisturiser.

Another cult classic is the Elizabeth Arden Eight Hour Cream, this is meant to be able to solve any dry skin problems and has a multitude of uses. It's usually £26 but I've found this set on Lookfantastic for just under £15, so I might finally buy it this payday. I don't think there's any foundation raved about quite as much as NARS Sheer Glow, everyone loves it, but I'm still yet to try it. I've always just gone for drugstore foundations, but have been wanting to try this for so long!

I don't really need any brushes, but the Zoeva Rose Gold Set is so pretty I might just make an exception. The brushes look so soft and look like they'd make my makeup look so flawless.

Then for two lip products, I swatched MAC's Angel alongside Creme Cup in store but didn't buy either, then found Creme Cup half price in a blog sale so just bought that. But I still think I prefer how Angel looked, it was slightly pinkier and less nude, which I loved! Finally, there's Charlotte Tilbury's Lip Cheat in Pillowtalk, Amelia Liana has spoken about this so much, and Charlotte Tilbury's work is just gorgeous. I'm not sure yet however if I can justify £16 for a lip liner.

What products are you lusting after at the moment, and which of these do you think I should finally take the plunge on?

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