Summer: The 5 Product Face

Recently I have been loving going for a slightly more minimalistic and natural makeup look, which is strange for me as usually I am all for thick winged liner and a bold lip. The look I have been going for is achieved in only 5 products, contain your excitement! 

1. Bourjous Healthy Mix Foundation
2. 2True Pressed Powder
3. MAC Bronze Eyeshadow
4. Sleek Eyebrow Kit in Extra Dark
5. Maybelline The Rocket Mascara
And that is all! Its such a super quick and easy look and for summer I think its really great to minimise the number of products you are putting on your face so that your skin can breathe in the hot weather. This look would also be super cute for the night time when you are on holiday!  

Brand Favourites: Soap and Glory Skincare

I have had a brainwave everyone! I am going to do a series of posts called "Brand Favourites" where I show you guys my favourite products from the specified brand (a pretty self explanatory title I feel). 
One of my all time favourite brands for bath and body products, as well as makeup, is Soap and Glory. Here are some of the items from their skincare collection that I always repurchase and just love!

 1. Scrub Your Nose In It

A pore refining scrub that takes all the grime out of your nose and just leaves it feeling really clean and cleansed. Its super purifying and great for people with an oily t-zone like myself. I don't know how to describe it really but it just leaves my nose feeling so un-oily and literally squeaky clean!
2. Calm One Calm All  One of my favourite all time bubble baths! I love a goodly helping of bubbles in my bath and with a good swirl of the water the Calm One Calm All creates heaps! There's definately a fruity scent to it, with hints of vanilla - although I am rubbish at describing scents. I really do recommend it if you love lots of bubbles and are a fan of sweet scents. 
3. Pulp Friction Scrub Pulp Friction is a foaming body scrub with a very fruity scent to it. It just leaves my skin feeling super soft, and I love the way that it lathers up a little as well. I don't like those scrubs that feel dry on the skin and where the dampness/oiliness disappears after a while. 
4. No Clogs Allowed! It's self-heating what other reasons do I need to give?! Honestly though its just one of those masks that you can feel working and digging away to remove the dirt and built up makeup from your skin. You need the tiniest amount to cover your problem areas, so the tube lasts forever. Its super inexpensive for a decent mask at only £11.50.
5. FabPore Cleansing Wipes These wipes take off every ounce of makeup that is on my face (no exaggeration), and unlike most wipes they don't leave my face feeling sticky at all. I tend to use these when I have a lot of makeup on or when I am feeling too lazy to do the whole cleansing routine (oops). 

Five Festival Beauty Essentials

Festival season has begun! I put together this small list of 5 things I would definitely be taking to a festival if I was going. 
1. Dry Shampoo A good refresher for that two day old hair. You still want to look fairly decent on the second and third day of the festival so I'd recommend taking some dry shampoo to add volume and remove some of that grease. Personally I find it really uncomfortable when my hair is greasy and there is obviously not going to be anywhere decent to wash your hair so this is the only solution!
2. Moisturiser Moisturiser is key as you can't really put makeup on top of super dry skin as it will not do you any favours. Chances are your skin will be extremely dehydrated especially if the weather is hot and you have been drinking a lot (which I am presuming most of you will be). I'd recommend taking a cream that doubles up as a body and face cream to save you space in your tent - my favourite at the moment is the Simple: Kind to Skin Replenishing Rich Moisturiser. 

3. Nude Kohl Liner With all the late nights and lack of sleep due to loud people your eyes will probably take most of the hit and will make you look just as tired as you feel. To brighten your eyes up and distract from the redness and dark circles wear a nude eyeliner on your waterline. Not only will it distract from the redness but it will also brighten and open up your eyes making you look more awake. A popular one in the beauty blogger world is the Rimmel Scandaleyes Waterproof Kohl Kajal Liner in Nude (super cheap!). 

4. Bright Eyeshadow  I always feel like you have to go super bright and whacky with eye makeup at festivals, probably because of all the new releases that come out around festival time. Wearing bright eyeshadow is perhaps something that isn't commonly done on an everyday basis so why not take advantage of the opportunity to go crazy?! A perfect palette would be the Sleek i-divine Palette in Acid.

5. Crazy Hair Colour

Not everyone wants to bleach their hair and permanently damage it just for the case of a festival, so I found these - the Label.M Coloured Powder Spray. The little gift set pictured below comes with a red, purple, pink and blue coloured spray, so you can mix things up a bit. It works in a similar way to hair chalk, and washes out within the first wash, but gives amazing colour. Of course it wont work on people with dark brown or black hair, but for anyone with lighter hair this is a great alternative to dying your hair.

I hope that this post has given you some tips on what to pack for your festival trip! Don't forget the other essentials that I haven't mentioned like tissues (which will definitely come in handy!). Which festival are you attending this year?!

EBay Wishlist #2

I am in love. Who knew you could find such gorgeous things on EBay?! I've been really into the pastels and whites this season and came across these items whilst shopping, and I thought I would share as many are dupes for high street items that are far more pricey!

1. Blue Lace Playsuit - £6.99

This really looks like something you would find on MotelRocks or ASOS for about £30, but its such a bargain at under £10! I just love the cut out detailing on the sleeves and torso and the colour is just beautiful.

2. Chunky White Cut Out Heels - £23.99

For me, heels are not really a 'go to' shoe option as I am about 5ft 8 so wearing heels makes me around 6ft. However, if they are gorgeous and not too high I am willing to make an exception, and these are definitely an exception. How pretty would these look with pastel lace trim socks underneath?!

3. Pink Messenger Bag - £8.88

I have a pastel blue/lilac mini satchel from ASOS which I paid about £18 for - I don't regret it as I get a lot of use out of it - but with the colour it doesn't exactly go with all my outfits and I really need another similar bag in a different colour. This pink one is absolutely gorgeous and would go with all my black and white outfits.

4. Blue T-Bar Geek Style Shoes - £13.95 (depending on colour and size)

The Topshop Geek shoes were definitely a hit this year in the fashion world and I was super gutted I couldn't get my hands on a colour that I really wanted. As you can tell there is definitely a pastel theme going on here and I just think these would be perfect for summer when you don't want your toes out in sandals.

5. Lumpy Space Princess Dress - £7.99

Lumpy Space Princess is my favourite Adventure Time character and this dress made me so happy. I actually initially saw it on Deepop where a girl was selling it for £20 (ridiculous!) and I could tell it was from eBay so I searched for it and voila. Its one of the less over the top patterns that the dress comes in but I feel it would just be really quirky to wear and would definately get me away from black!

6&7. Platform Heels - £39.99 

I couldn't decide on just one pair to put in this wishlist so I stuck them both in. I think the white platform makes them look really summery and would be perfect for a night out! Although I did say the height of a heel is very crucial for me, I am ignoring that due to the pure beauty of these. The cleated heel is so on trend and I just love it!

Have you spotted any good bargains on eBay?

SHOP: The Sheer Panel

One of the biggest trends for summer is Sheer Panels. For a lot of people this trend can be slightly scary and seen as "revealing", but I found a few bits and bobs that I absolutely loved, and think most people would feel confident in. 

1. Dorothy Perkins White Burnout Stripe Tee -  £14.00 I think this is a good choice for those people who don't feel comfortable revealing too much. The sheer panels are super tiny but still create a nice effect to an otherwise plain t-shirt. Super cute for those slightly chillier summer days!
2. ASOS Mini Skirt in Ponte With Sheer Panel - £25.00 Teamed with a plain white t-shirt or a white crop I think this would look super gorgeous for a holiday or even just a casual outfit. The sheer panels aren't too high up which is good, as I find a lot of clothes companies make skirts with sheer panels that are basically bum height (not cool). The colour is also gorgeous, gotta love a bit of mint.
3. ASOS Cat Sheer Panel Socks - £5.00 I LOVE these. I'm a sucker for cute socks and definitely think these will be added to my next ASOS order. There is a tiny sheer panel just above the cats head which adds lovely detail. I think these would be lovely paired with a pair of T-Bar shoes. 
4. ASOS Top in Texture and Sheer Panels - £28.00 I feel that this is slightly over priced for a fairly plain t-shirt but I love the fact that it is textured. The sheer panels are in a lovely place not revealing any troublesome areas. The blush colouring is also perfect for Spring/Summer. 
5. New Look Black Mesh Stripe Trim Bikini - £24.98 Gorgeous. I need this bikini in my life. There isn't too much sheer panelling which makes it decent and not too revealing. It just works super well in the black colour and is bound to sell out soon.  *note the link is to the bottoms only but the top should come up at the side*
6. Dorothy Perkins Black Sheer Panel Shirt - £22.00 What a sophisticated take on Sheer Panelling eh? Perfect for those working women and I think it could even be dressed up with a chunky necklace for a night out. Gimme!
Which item is your favourite?

Summer Holiday Nail Picks

Go bright or go home! 
A lot of my favourite summer polishes are bright coral colours as they just compliment my skin tone amazingly, but there are a few others that aren't in the coral zone so I thought I would show you my 'go to'/'must have' nail colours for a summer holiday.  

From Left to Right we have - Models Own Coral Reef, Barry M Gelly Satsuma, LA Colours Hottie, Models Own Banana Split, Barry M Gelly Greenberry and Barry M Bubblegum.

1. Models Own - Coral Reef I actually only got this a few weeks ago but I know its the colour I want to have on my Toes when I go away. Its a bright coral but not too bright and is definitely more of a red tone than an orange. 
2. Barry M Gelly - Satsuma How could I not include this?! It is one of my favourite all time polishes let alone just for a holiday. Its super bright but more on the red side of orange than the yellow side. If you're a red polish wearer in Winter then this is perfect for you for summer when you want less of a Christmassy feel to your nails.
3. LA Colours - Hottie Definitely not a polish for everyone! I think it would probably drown out paler skin tones but for a more dark or olive/tanned colour it would love lovely and would definitely compliment a tan. 
4. Models Own - Banana Split This is probably the only 'not so bright' colour, as it is a pastel yellow colour. I love that these polishes really do smell like the fruits they say they do - this one smells like foam bananas yum!
5. Barry M Gelly - Greenberry Another Gelly- surprise surprise. A gorgeous minty green shade that I can imagine looking gorgeous with a white bikini *dreams of holiday* - okay I can't wait to go away!
6. Barry M - Bubblegum This is more of an accent nail polish but it can be worn over the top of other colours which is super cool. It is one of those that is a pain to get off, but if you only put it on one nail it doesn't cause too much hassle. I always use this on my ring finger over a pale blue polish. 

MAC: Playland Collection Purchase

The Playland Collection was released in UK MAC stores yesterday, and I could not resist going in and taking a peek before work. Obviously taking a peek resulted in me buying something, but I limited myself to one thing!  

I was drawn to two lipsticks Toying Around and Happy Go Lucky, but chose Toying Around as I just felt I would get the most wear out of it over Summer (didn't want to be buying a higher end lipstick that I wasn't going to wear!). 

Its a beautiful bright coral colour with tones of orange, red and pink. It shall definitely be coming on holiday with me next month. One of the super pigmented lipsticks as it is an Amplified finish, but I do think it is super wearable if you pair it with the right face and eye makeup. The finish is really creamy and leaves my lips feeling moisturised which can sometimes be hard to find in brighter lipsticks. 

 

But MAC, why are you releasing all your nice limited edition collections within 2 months of each other?! The Sharon and Kelly range is out on the 10th in store but I don't think I will be able to get my hands on any of it as I need to save my money now.
 What has been your favourite MAC collection this year?
Also, I am thinking about doing a Youtube Video Tutorial of a makeup look with this lipstick - let me know if you'd like to see. 

GOSH Forever Eyeshadow Sticks

When I saw the word "Waterproof" under these babies I picked them up. As a hay fever sufferer it is near on impossible to wear eyeshadow without it smudging somewhere due to my eyes watering. I wasn't sure how true it was that these were waterproof but at £5.99 it was well worth the gamble.

The consistency of the eyeshadow is super creamy and pigmented and it glides on the eyes at ease. I was actually really shocked at how pigmented and true the colour was, as normally with cream eye shadows they can be a bit sheer and well....rubbish. Most cream eye shadows that I have tried just haven't worked and have creased or gone in places that I just didn't want it, and these bad boys didn't.   

 

I picked up the colours 03 Light Copper, 04 Brown, and 05 Grey. My favourite is definitely Light Copper it really reminds me of Bronze by MAC but slightly more summery. All the colours are perfect to sweep all over the lid and blended out, but I have found that 05 Grey works wonderfully as a liner as well! Super good for anyone who is new to working with eyeshadow. There are 8 colours in total I believe and I cannot wait to get my hands on the rest of them.
With all the Youtube hype surrounding the By Terry Ombre Blackstar shadow pencils it will be interesting to see how these compare.