Cream Eyeshadows

Cream eyeshadows are a product that initially confused me way back when I first became interested in makeup; to me cream eyeshadow just connoted creasing, hard to blend and jelly mixed with glitter eyeshadows - you know the ones? But after trying a Maybelline Colour Tattoo in Pink Gold I was a total convert, I wore that eyeshadow everyday until there was nothing but a few dried out crumbles left. I'd now say I wear cream eyeshadows 90% of the time I'm wearing makeup, they're so quick and easy to apply, have the ability to blend out and look awesome on their own or act as a base to any eye look, and pleasingly they have become so readily available on the high street - in my opinion again because of Maybelline's fantastic range.

High End Beauty Wishlist

I seem to go through phases where I'm not interested in buying any beauty products at all, and then phases where I want to buy everything within sight, there's no real in between. I'm currently in the phase of wanting to buy everything I can get my hands on, but after my MacBook Pro broke last week, I've ended up £800 down replacing it, meaning there's no beauty spending for me. But my birthday is next month, so hopefully I might be treated to some of these!

I've really got in to buying skincare recently, after my skin had a major breakout last month I pretty much ditched everything I was using and started again, meaning a lot of Space NK trips happened. But I'm still to get in to chemical exfoliants, I thought the First Aid Beauty Facial Radiance Pads would be a good start, they're gentle, exfoliating and don't contain a bucket load of alcohol like a lot of cheaper alternatives do. Another skincare item, that also featured in my first ever wishlist, is the Estee Lauder Advanced Night Repair, I nearly took the plunge last week but I'm still needing that extra push, but the fact I've wanted it for over a year says something right?

I've also become massively into watching Sali Hughes recently, she knows what she's talking about and her videos are so addictive. She constantly mentions the Charlotte Tilbury Air Brush Flawless Finish Powder, and from what I've gathered I have similar skin to her, so I think this will work amazing for me, I'm constantly needing a new powder. Another Charlotte Tilbury product is the Eyes to Mesmerise in Marie Antoinette, I'm loving cream eyeshadows at the moment and when I watched this in Selfridges recently it felt so creamy and blendable, and was the most gorgeous colour.

I've also really been in to watching Lisa Eldridge a lot recently, and this has got me really craving Laura Mercier's Undercover Pot Concealer. She made the great point of rather than layering loads of medium coverage concealer on to the skin, just put a small amount of a high coverage concealer, aka pinpoint conceal, and you get a more flawless finish. Another makeup wish is the Lancome Hypnose Mascara, I got a sample of one around Christmas and I'm not sure which it was because there are so many to pick from. But I absolutely loved it, I'm so picky with mascaras because I have long straight eyelashes, that don't curl for anything or anyone, but this added so much volume and curl. At the moment I just can't bring myself to spend £22.50 on a mascara.

Two little extras are a Z palette, for years I heard American YouTubers speak about these, but I've noticed I have a lot of random single eyeshadows, and bulky palettes that would be a lot better deported in to one of these. Finally is the Urban Decay Primer Potion, I wear eyeshadow pretty much everyday and I constantly have random samples, but I think it's about time I actually got a proper full sized primer. 

What is on your wish list? 

TWITTER | BLOGLOVIN | INSTAGRAM

Double Your Lips In Seconds | Charlotte Tilbury Lip Cheat in Pillow Talk

Charlotte Tilbury Lip Cheat in Pillow Talk - £16

You know those products that on first use just make you think "YES, YES, YES!"? This was one of those products. After seeing Amelia Liana talk about it so much I felt like I needed to try it, especially when she said Rimmel's Eastend Snob is a dupe for it because I love that lipliner, knowing I would never pay £16 myself for a lipliner I knew this had to be on my Christmas list.

One of the first things I noticed was that the formulation is slightly drying and the pencil does have a tendency to drag along the lips, the liner basically feels like it's stuck to the lips which does seem to help give it some longevity. I find putting a lip balm on when I first start applying my makeup helps it out and does make it apply and feel more comfortable. Using the lip balm also means the liner doesn't highlight any lines, creases or dryness on the lips, because the formulation is quite drying it can have a tendency to do this.

The colour is a slightly brown, nude with a pinkish undertone to it. It's a typical "my lips but better" shade which means it blends seamlessly in to the lips and helps to enhance and double the size of the lips but still look natural - I apply it all over the lips and ever so slightly overdraw them helping the lips to look really plump and juicy. Full and plump lips are the biggest trend at the moment, but a lot of them I find can be too brown or too mauvey, I still love those shades, but if you're after something to look natural and still enhance, this is your best bet. It has become my go-to lip colour for when I'm in a rush because I know it will look great with any look or outfit, but will also last me the whole day. I find it lasts around 7 hours on the lips even after eating, I do like to top up the lip balm because the dry formula starts to become more obvious and uncomfortable as the day goes on.

I feel like this has caused me to get a bit of a Charlotte Tilbury/high end makeup bug. I barely buy high end makeup for two reasons: I find the stands a little too intimidating or busy and the price just puts me off, I always think for £15 I could get three lipsticks in Boots instead of one from MAC. But every time I try something high end I'm always impressed by it a lot more than I am with budget brands, whether I will ever have the courage to spend £40 on a palette from Charlotte Tilbury is another question. But if you're not as shy with your money as I am I really recommend this lipliner, it's a product I think will suit every skin tone and every look and I'm sure will impress everyone who uses it just as much as it did me.

Have you tried anything from Charlotte Tilbury?

TWITTER | BLOGLOVIN | INSTAGRAM

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.

Beauty Gift Guide: £25 and under

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?

TWITTER | BLOGLOVIN | INSTAGRAM