May Favourites

Guys I am back! I know it’s been a while, but I needed a break from the blogging world, but I’m back.
I’ve decided to start off with my May favourites and show you what I have been loving recently.

 Liz Earle Hot Cloth Polish-

I’ve been wanting to try this for ages until my local boots started stocking Liz Earle skin range – Halluejah. So I jumped straight on in and bought myself the starter kit which included 100ml hot cloth polish and two muslin cloths, in this beautiful tiffany blue carry bag! I’ve been using this every evening for the past 2 weeks now- It’s incredible, it gets rid of every little bit of dirt and make-up on face after a long ole working day.

 

 

 YSL Black Opium- This has been my favourite scent recently. The first smell that hit me instantly was the rich coffee, then the subtle smell sweet sensuality of vanilla. This fragrance is feminine with a kick of attitude. It comes in this sexy glittery bottle which anyone would be proud of to have this little number displayed on their vanity table, right?

 

 

 Nars Sheer glow foundation- Me and foundation have a love/hate relationship (as I have expressed in many a blog post). I love how a foundation can make your skin look but I hate how it feels on my skin. I took my woes to the Nars Assistant and she presented me with the sheer glow, my shade is Mont Blanc- really pale I know….. I just love how it feels and looks on my skin, it makes my skin look flawless.

 

Coconut and lime body moisturiser- Original Source.

I LOVE Original Source and when I discovered the now do body moisturisers I was straight in there. This is the Lime and Coconut flavour and Oh My GOODNESS it smells incredible! I also love this product as it's vegan friendly- no animal testing.

 

 

That is all from me guys, I'm going to be blogging every Thursday so stay tuned.

 

Katie

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MUA Mega Volume Mascara//Beauty

MUA is a brand you either love or loathe, for me I personally really like the brand, but had never gone any further than really buying the neutral eye shadow palettes and giving the highlighter a try. So on a trip to Superdrug, I was in desperate need of a cheap mascara just to last me a few days. So I picked up the MUA Mega Volume Mascara which was all of £3. 

MUA Claim- 'This is the perfect mascara to add length with the first application and glamorous volume with the second. And by using the waterproof shade for those cold windy and rainy mornings will guarantee you long lasting full lashes without smearing! This style of brush is made of rubber, with tiny little teeth evenly spaced along the head - perfect for separation and definition' 

After two applications and curling my eyelashes it did not give me glamour volume like it claims or like my other mascaras I use (The Falsies and Benefits They're Real). It made them look rather lifeless 

Before application (excuse my rather untidy brows)

After two applications- not very glamour huh? 

The Mascara brush, has rubber bristles which I love it doesn't leave my lashes clumpy or the brush. But it still didn't give me that glamours look I was after. 

For £3 what did I expect? I will continue using it but it doesn't give my lashes a full and glamorous look like it claims. 

Have you guys tried the MUA mascara and what do you think of it? 

Katie
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Lush-New Skin Products// Beauty

Yesterday I had a cheeky stop off in Lush in Bath. Lush is one of those shops you go in and HAVE to buy something, it's pretty much illegal to come out with nothing!!!

My skin is being a pain in the arse at the moment so I was in need of a good old scrub  and some new moisturiser. So I treated myself to the Rub Rub Rub Shower Scrub and the Dream Cream Moisturiser

So Rub Rub Rub is a beautiful blue shower scrub, which has Mimosoa and Orange flower which gives it a gorgeous fragrance. Apparently it's also good to use in your hair, gives it more volume and softens the skin on your scalp- Something I'm going to try!!

The Dream Cream is apparently a life partner for sensitive skin. This is simply a simple formula that is great for your skin, appaz! This cream has a very light scent and has plenty of oats within- which is great if you suffer from eczema and to cool down hot damaged skin!

What are you favourite Lush products? And do you use any of these products?

Full review on each product in a few weeks!

Katie

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Those products we don't talk about// Beauty

Us beauty bloggers are always blogger about these non essential products, the hyped products and usually high end products. But what about those products we use on a daily basis? Well this blog post is dedicated to those products I really couldn't live without.

As I mentioned we never seem to blog about our essential products to get us through the day. These products I defiently couldn't live with out. A razor, every girls best friend right? big night out and you're in-between waxes and you've got your pins out, RUN to the razor. I use the razors, now and again I try and wax as often as I can, but sometimes I cannot deal with the pain wimp. I use the Soleil razors you can get them from most drug stores, to me a razor is a razor, they do the job.
Another product is deodorant an essential for everyone, for me I use random deodorants never typically stick to one at the moment I'm using Sanex and I carry round a mini Dove original one in my handbag just in case I need a spray throughout the day. Again both you can get at any drugstore!
Hand cream is an essential in my life and I need it, my hands get dry very quickly and what better than to have a hand cream which is also anti-bacteria cream too!!! Winning. Vaseline is just a well known brand which I have used for ages, cannot really go wrong with Vaseline at all. Well that leads me nicely onto Vaseline for my lips, I use the plain one, not a fan of tastes and colours all I want it for is to keep my lips hydrated, as I'm typically stuck in a air-con office for 5 days out of the week. It's needed!!!!
Last but by no means least is shower gel, everyone uses this at least once a day, right? So I like using Soap & Glory shower gels my new one I'm going to crack open tonight is the Foam Call, this has frozen yuzu, orange oil, green fig and jungle pomelo essence. It smells amazing and so fresh, this is from Boots. Love Soap & Glory!!!

Would love to know what your daily essentials are? 

Katie

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Insta Blur//Beauty

Once again I have caved into a hype which is going around us beauty bloggers, "What product is it?" I hear you cry. Well I gave in to the Body Shop Insta Blur hype haven't I? My fave primer Benefit Porefessional is slowly becoming empty *Boooo* and what a better excuse to go out and try this hyped up product. Loads of people have been raving about it especially Gabriella Lindely over at Velvetgh0st.

I'm afraid to say I have never tried any of the Body Shops make up products before, so this is a first for me and I'm excited. I'll probably do a review with the next few weeks, so keep an eye out on that.

Has any of you guys tried the Insta Blur?? If so how do you find it? 

Katie 

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Micellar Water// Beauty

Many moons again everyone use to remove their make up with wipes (Oh My God). But now pretty much every one seems to have changed it up and moved on to the latest 'it' product........ Micellar Water. Its fair to say Bioderma lead the way in this competitive market, as now every beauty brand seems to have their own water.

The Micellar Water trend has been a massive hit on the French shores, but this beauty product has made a massive impact on us in the UK. So I'm going to talk about my 3 top Micellar Water and I urge you to go out and try them too.

Get ready to become addicted! 

Bioderma £4.99 (for the tiny bottle) - The queen of the Micellar Water and what a marvelous product it is too. I picked up my tiny little bottle, whilst in Nice the South of France, this set me back 5 euros. I was in desperate need of some and when in France you buy Bioderma right?? When I first heard about this product I wasn't the slightly bit bothered, I'm not one to jump on the hype bandwagon but now I'm in love with it. This is by far my favourite Micellar Water. It dissolves away every last little trace of make up with ease and even makes getting that horrid waterproof mascara, easy!

L'Oreal Paris Skin Perfection Micellar Water £4.99- Again this beauty is a high street product and is purse friendly at £4.99 and was my first ever Micellar Water purchase. This water acts like a make-up magnet and removes all the dirt and grime which has been collecting on your face Vile! Like all of these waters it leaves your skin feeling clean and fresh and gives your skin a lovely healthy glow!!

Garnier Micellar Water £4.99- This is my latest Micellar buy and a definite dupe for Bioderma too. The size of the bottle is extremely generous for the price. Again it does the same job as Bioderma  removes make up with ease, cleanses and refreshes your skin.
The only reason I chose to buy this product was because I was running low on Bioderma and for £4.99 it was a bargain. I'm really glad I picked it up. Great product!!


Most of this products (except from bioderma) are available in may high street stores and are reasonably priced, so if you're looking for  a new Micellar Water I urge you to try these. 

What are your favourite Micellar Water? Let me know, would love to try some new ones! 
Katie  X 

Mac Pro Longwear Paint Pot// Beauty

For me a good eye primer is essential when trying to create that perfect eye look!!! I've tried every kind of primer from the high end such as Urban Decay to the drug store brand such as Rimmel. But for me the middle man comes out on top which is MAC!!

 The Pro Longwear Paint Pots has been a hyped product within the beauty blogger world and I was somewhat dubious about buying into this hype. But I have kept on re-purchasing this little pot of greatness!!

So what does MAC claim? 'A highly pigmented eye colour that goes creamy and dries to an intense vibrant finish, long wearing-, colourfast. Creates seamless coverage without weight or caking. Blends Smoothly over the lids. Cream-based can be mixed with MAC shadows and liners'.

I used the Painterly shade, perfect for my skin tone and a great base for my eye-shadow or to be worn on it's own. It hides those little veins on my eye lids and cancels out any redness on my eyes.
There is no need to use a lot of this product and a small bit goes a long way. The price of this product is £15.50 which seems a lot for the tiny little pot (5g). But I am a big fan of this little product.

Have you guys joined the hype??

Katie 

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July Favourites// Beauty

Hi Guys, I have never ever done one of these (I don't think) anywhoooo. I'm going to share with you what I have been lovin' throughout the month of July.

 How quick is this year going mind?

Bioderma-
First of all this month I have been loving Bioderma, I gave into the hype and purchased my first ever bottle- yep I know, get with the times Kate. But seriously I think I've found my forever product unless anyone can recommend something a million times better? I bought my first Bottle in the South of France whilst travelling and I have loved it every since! Yay to Bioderma.

Dove Shampoo & Conditioner-
This is a old favourite of mine, I change up my shampoo and conditioner so often, but when one is in desperate need of shampoo one goes to the cheapest the can find in their hour of need, and it happened to be Dove and I have rekindled my love with this old favourite, makes my hair smell Uhhh-mazing and makes it look good too. Winning!

Benefit Browzings-
This has been my go to product for strong brows. I love a good Cara brow and Browzings is perfect for keeping those brows looking chic!!

Soap and Glory Butter Yourself Body Cream- I LOVE Soap & Glory and this body cream, has been a favourite of mine for a few months now, It smells so fresh and keeps you super mositurised!!

- This month I've been loving my Shellac nails, I had them down at the beginning of June before I went travelling and they lasted 3.5 weeks with no chips at all, which I was highly impressed with considering I was doing all sorts of activities- mainly drunken ones! But since then I have been having Shellac done religiously.

Literally had these done today (2/8/14)

Beyonce perfume 'Heat'- I don't typically buy Celebrity Perfumes regardless if their an A-list or Z-list. I've never found any which I love. But after smelling Heat on a work colleague I instantly fell in love and rushed out to by myself a bottle, I mean its not going to make me be Beyonce but it's one step closer right? This has now become my everyday perfume, so instead of using all my Chanel up, I have a cheaper alternative and I love it!!! All hail Queen B.

Have you tried any of these? 

Katie 

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Beauty//MY Bad Beauty Habits

So as a beauty blogger, you may think I stick to the rule book when it comes to the do's and don'ts within the beauty world- Oh how wrong you all are!! A lot of my habits come from me just being lazy and other factors such as stress so we all have them and I'm going to own up to mine eeekkk!!!!! 

Don't judge me.......

Mascara Picking
Guilty! I always do this especially if I'm anxious (I suffer from terrible anxiety and panic attacks) or stress. For some off reason I find it really theraputic, obviously it's not the best thing for my eyelashes or even my make-up come 5 o'clock my eyes are looking like a pandas- not a good look!!


Forgetting my bod!
When it comes to looking after my face with expensive beauty products and moistursing it day and night, I'm on top of it. But my body on the other hand, gets neglected horribly. I somehow seem to forget to exfoliate and moisturise my body. Which is not great!

Brush washing routine- pretty much non-existent
Yes I know it sounds vile, but I'm useless at washing my brushes, I mean I forget all the time. When I end up doing them it's a really quick in and out job. This is something I need to up my game on!!

Changing it up
As a beauty blogger you may think I alternate my make up collection regualry and change it up, in fact I don't I'm really lazy with my make up, if I like a priduct and it works for me, I don't bother changing it I will continously keep using it! I'm getting slightly better though- I think!!

What are your bad beauty habits? Please tell me I'm not the only one who does these!!!

Katie

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Disclaimer- Photo is NOT mine, was lazy and got it off Google. 

Beach Bag Essentials

It's that time of year where we are all jetting off on our holidays (I've just come back from mine, but off to Gran Canaria in 13 weeks- Winning). I know this is something I stress about- What to pack in my beach bag- Dilemma!! So I've put together a list of what I take to the beach. 

Enjoy!

1. Cover Up. When I head to the beach I love to put on a little summer dress to cover up. I tend to raid Primark for my cover up, as they're so cheap, so if they get ruined it doesn't matter! 

2, Sandals. Duh. You obviously need them for walking too and from the beach but also to protect your toots from lava-hot sand. Ouch!!!

3. Purse.  Even at the beach you need some money for ice creams! 

4. water bottle. This is an essential!! You need to keep hydrated in the sun. Don't forget it!!

5. Reading material. My list ... Glamour, Cosmo, Twilight 

6. Bathing suit. I was take a bikini with me, this season I'm loving high waisted bikini bottoms, so flattering and feminine.

7. Wet face wipes. Clean off your face, after getting out of the sea- No one wants to be salty. 

8. Hair accessories. Stretchy headbands keep fly-aways at bay and a claw clip is gentler on your locks than a hair tie.Toss in a small comb for after your swim.

11. Electronics. iPod and Mobile phone are an essential I tell thee. 

12. Moisturiser. My go-to is cocoa butter. Great for healing burns and making you smell yummy.

13. Sunscreen. Nivea Sun Factor 20 usually, I'm a typical English rose, but my skin does tan with a little protection.  

14. Hand sanitizer. I always carry this no matter where I'm going. 

15. Makeup. SPF 15 lip balm and that's it for me 

16. Sunnies. My Ray Bans again are a must on the beach. 

17.. Beach towel. I like over-sized ones and they have to be bright too!!

What do you guys take your beach bag? 

Katie

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Bioderma

I've never been one to join the Hype, whenever I hear amazing things about a certain products I try to wait until the hype has died down a little, and I really don't know why I waited sooooooo long for this.

BIODERMA!!!

Yes I know it's Cray that I've only just got my hands onto this product, but I'm kinda glad I waited. I purchased this sweet little bottle in Nice the South of France, and have been using it ever since!! It literally takes my makeup off in one big ole swipe. I believe this is probably going to be a firm product within my skin care routine, I'm a bit of a skin care product hoe and change products all the time. But I think I've finally found my forever product!!!!

Katie

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First World Beauty Problems

We've all got these 'First World Problems' like not being able to see your Phone screen properly because its got a crack on it Or your battery going from 100% to 10% in what feels like 1.2 of a second. But instead of writing about all my problems, I've decided to write about my beauty first world problems and I'm pretty sure most of you will be able to relate to them:

Painting a fresh coat of nail polish and the BANG you've smudge it- It felt dry though!!!

Not knowing how much Touche Eclat is left. Damn you stupid packaging.

Applying mascara then.......... Wait a moment....... Sneeze!!! Mascara is all smudged, I'm pretty sure I wasn't going for the panda eyed looked....Hmmmmm = FAIL!

Being a bit over generous with the hair oil, then end up looking like you've stuck your head in a chip frying pan. Not a good look!

Shaving your legs before a night out- then end up slashing your legs like you've been running through a field of thorns- We all know it's going to end in a disaster!!!!

What are your first world beauty problems? Let me know. 

Katie

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Pretty hurts.............. It sure does.

Being a beauty blogger and slightly obsessed with perfection, I came across this video and it made me think................
 Girls and women (even men) struggle constantly to fight a battle deep within themselves, because of ideas ingrained into them. The truth is that beauty come from imperfections and flaws. Those are the features that make you unique. Beauty hurts because we try to mold ourselves to what we are taught is beautiful, instead of embracing all of who we are and knowing what is beautiful.

I've decided to do a makeup detox and give my skin a break from all the products I slather on my face daily. 

Not matter what any glossy magazine tells us, we are beautiful inside and outside.

NOTD

I'm a bit of a nail varnish junkie and I cannot resist the Barry M stands, and when my eyes caught these two colours glistening I couldn't resist!!!

The beautiful colour 'teal' looked incredible in the bottle and certainly did not disappoint on my nails.

It's defiently a bold colour and one to wear with confidence. 

But I could not resist!!!

The Barry M new silk range, is the perfect spring range. I fell in love with 'Heather' this lilac colour is perfect for Spring, and will have everyone commenting on the gorgeous colour.

Suitable colour for the office and to brighten your day. 

Have you tried Barry Ms Silk range??

What's your favourite colour from the range??

Katie

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Right now I'm lusting over pastel hair colours and wished I had the guts to go all out and dye my blonde hair pink......

So what better way to test it out than to buy a wash in wash out dye right??

So I've done my research and purchased Bleach London non-permanent in the colour Rose!!!  

Mega excited to use it, will review when I have had the guts to do it!!!!

Katie

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Believe me they are real!!!!

Being a benefit virgin

 Yes I know, what was I thinking leaving it this long, right?

So it was the perfect  opportunity to indulge into the beauty counter on the Bristol bloggers meet up (post to come within the next few days).

And Yes, I have conformed to the hype and bought into the UK's number 1 selling mascara the Benefit They're Real mascara!

I've been promised great things from this mascara, to be honest I'm already in love with it from the packaging!!! 

I'm so excited to start using it and I'm keeping my fingers crossed for big beautiful lashes.

I will do a full review on the product once I've used it for a while.

Let me know if you have you used this mascara and what do you think of it? 

Is it worth the hype? Let me know.

Katie

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New discovery!!!

Happy New Year lovelies!!!

I've entered 2014 with a new discovery, after months of ummm'ing and ahh'ing over whether to buy the Urban Decay fixing spray! at £19.50 it's a major splurge on a 'mist'.

I have tried it once and wasn't floored by it, so for something i'm not 100% sure on, I wasn't sure if it was worth it.

But.............

On a naughty shop to Superdrug, I discovered at the MUA counter, the Makeup Academy Pro-Base Fixing Mist.

So before spending my hard earn pennies on the Urban Decay Fixing Spray, I have decided to give this little beauty a go!!

At £4.99 it is a absolute steal, something I can completely justify if it isn't great!!

It claims to moisturise and hydrate skins and also has up to 8 hours of fixing power!!

I shall give a review on this in a few weeks. I'm excited to use it!!

Have any of guys used it and if so what do you think of it??

Katie

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Last Post Of 2013!!

2013 has well and truly been a whirlwind, going from being a journalism student to the dizzy heights of full time employment which has been an adjustment i'm still not use too,

get me back to 99p jager bombs!!

2013 has consisted of all nighters in the uni libraries, waving goodbye to old friends and saying hello to new, laughing, crying and just general awesomeness!!!

Life has now suddenly been based in Bristol rather than good ole Bath!!

Things in 2013 that I'm 100% going to miss (Uni times) but 2014 is looking so promising already, such as:

One Direction Where We Are Tour at Wembley Stadium.

Travelling Europe with my girl Lisa

Manic weekends away (mainly London)

I hope you all have an amazing New Year and all your dreams come true (fingers crossed for Harry Styles HA!) 

Whatever your plans are for tomorrow evening have fun and enjoy

Lots Of Love

Katie 

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Beautiful Bath Abbey

My Surprise 22nd Birthday Party

Visiting Stonehenge