Day 7 of Blogmas: 2017... what happened

As we slowly creep towards the end of the year, I have been thinking about what the past year has taught me, and surprisingly enough it has taught me a hell of a lot.

Day 6 of Blogmas: I spent over $350 on American makeup...

So, as many as you may have seen over on my instagram and twitter, I was luckily enough to go to New York wth my friend Holly. It was honestly the best place I have ever been to and I would definitely go again, 5 days is definitely not long enough to appreciate what New York has to offer.

Of course, while we were there we went to Sephora, Ulta, CVS, and Walgreens, yes I may have spent way too much money, but it was worth it. So, lets get to the good part...what I bought.

Day 1 of Blogmas: My Beauty Advent Calendar

I can't believe we are already at the last month of 2017, so much has happened this year yet I feel like it has flown by!

I thought I would tackle blogmas this year, as I have never done it but I have always wanted to, I have seen so many people do it previously, please be gentle with ay comments you leave I'm trying my best! Lets get to todays post..

In a wonderland of makeup...

 A few weeks ago, Wonderland Makeup, a UK based and cruelty free makeup brand kindly offered me some products for me to review for you guys, an eyeshadow, blush and primer.

Top 20 under £20

If you're anything like me, you'll always be looking for a bargain or something 'cheap' yet cheerful, so I thought why not add all my favourite 20 items under £20, this may be a mix of home, beauty and skincare, we'll just have to see where this post takes us...

MAKEUP: 

Collection Lasting Perfection Concealer £4.19:

This has been my holy grail concealer for years now, I cannot stress enough how long this lasts on my skin without creasing and how well it hides those big under eyes I have on the daily. If you're looking for a concealer that lasts and doesn't break the bank at all then this bad boy is for you! However, the shade range is a little bit poor I must admit as there are only 4 shades, that is the only downside to this product.

Whats in it for me: Body scrub review

Having been a fan of 'Whats in it for me' for some time now, when they were looking for brand ambassadors to help promote and review their products, of course I jumped at the chance!

The Versatile Blogger Award

The Versatile Blogger Award

8 things I've learnt through my first year of blogging

Through, what seems like a very quick year of blogging, I have come to learn and realise a few little things along the way. So I thought i'd share them with you, whether you being a new blogger or someone who has been doing it for a while, I'm sure you can relate to a few of these.

• The blogging community is amazing. After joining twitter for blogging purposes and over the months of following and interacting with fellow bloggers, everyone is so so supportive and they all genuinely want you to grow and be the best version of yourself. Whatever mood you're in there is always someone else feeling the same as you. And the retweet accounts are amazing, to a name a few: The Bloggers Hub, A bunch of blogs, GRL POWR are all accounts who do always try to retweet your tweets and get you as much engagement as possible.

Updated Skincare Routine

I don't know about you, but I am always on the hunt for a new skincare product and a new skincare routine because I have never really found the one routine that has really done wonders for my skin...until now (I hope!)

After months and months of switching between products and really sort of putting my skin through the mill a tad, I've finally found the majority of skincare products that work for me and that I am bound to stick to. So are you ready? Let's get to it. 

Simple Cleansing Wipes:

I know cleansing wipes are a bit of a taboo in the beauty community however I love them. And these wipes have been my holy grail wipes for roughly a year now and I always find that they leave my skin feeling fresh, I sometimes even use these when I have no makeup to take off but simply want a quick cleanse throughout the day. They're super affordable and suitable for sensitive skin too, so that's even better right?

June Favourites

I can't believe we are already over half way through the year! 2017 has definitely flown by and during the month of June, I decided to go on the hunt for some new favourites and I've decided to share them with you!

Nivea Oil-Free Moisturiser £3.99:

I have been on the hunt for an oil-free moisturiser for ages, as I suffer from oily skin and when I saw this moisturiser by Nivea in Superdrug on offer for £1.95, yes £1.95 ladies and gents. I knew I had to give this a go, and I instantly fell in love, it is quite a thick moisturiser so a little goes a long way but itreally hydrates my skin without adding more oils and doesn't dry out my skin either whichsometimes I find this does occur with moisturisers targeted for oily skin. However, it does havea strong scent which I think is due to the Ocean Algae included in the ingredients, so if you'renot  fan of quite strong scented products I would say maybe this isn't for you. 

 

My top 10 makeup go to's...

Happy Thursday! 

I thought it would be nice to share my top 10 makeup go to's for this blog post. 

For many girls and boys even, choosing makeup can be a very hard task for example the endless wonder of 'what shade am i? 'will this go well with this?' etc... so when I choose my makeup I am extremely critical and always ask the makeup artist available for their opinion, as I want to be 100% sure that whatever I am buying will suit me. 

However, these are my top 10 makeup 'go to's' that I will continue to buy as I have purchased and loved them for a long long time or purchased recently and instantly fallen in love. 

1) MAC Studio Fix Fluid in the shade NW13, £22. After trying various foundations from different brands and from MAC, I found this foundation was perfect for me. As I have quite oily skin, the matte finish that goes with this foundation is perfect. I have been buying this foundation for well over 2 years now and I will continue to buy this unless I find an even better one. 

2) MAC Prep + Prime Highlighter in the shade light, £19.50. I purchased this after watching a youtube video makeup tutorial by 'lovelaughandmakeup' and decided to try it out for myself. The easy applicator of twisting the bottom and simply brushing it under your eyes was really easy and allowed for a lot of coverage, or even a little bit of coverage if you choose. My only critique of this is it does dry quite slickly so sometime blending it out can be quite hard, other than that it does help to brighten the under eye area and stays on for a long time. 

 3) NYX Matte Bronzer in the shade light, £7.00. As I have very fair skin, using bronzers can be a daring move as I don't want to end up looking orange or having any harsh lines. However, when I first tried this it was perfect, even tfhough the shade light still looks very dark, it is perfect for my skin tone and blends really well. In all honesty though, once I have finished this bronzer, I will be looking for other brands that have possibly better bronzers - any ideas?













4) MAC Prep + Prime Fix + £17.50, I use this fix + spray on my makeup brushes when I am highlighting as I find it really helps make it look more pigmented. You can also use it to spray over your finished makeup look to add hydration to the skin while also giving a sheen look to the skin. It's also useful to spray on your face before putting any makeup on as it helps to prime the skin. For £17.50 this is definitely a must have. The pump also helps to control how much you use so you don't end up wasting any.

5) MAC Mineralize Skinfinish 'Lightscapade' £24.00 I purchased this highlighter about 2 months and I use it regularly. I'm not entirely sure how I feel about this highlighter, while it is good - my only problem with it is it takes quite a lot of product to show p on my skin tone, therefore I think I need to move onto the highlighter 'Soft and Gentle' also by MAC. Although, once applied at the right amount it stays on for a long time and does add a lot of shimmer.

6) NYX Matte Finish Setting Spray £7.00. I purchased this about 3 months ago and I would definitely buy it again and again. My makeup stays in tact all night long after I have applied a few sprays of this to my finished makeup look. At £7.00 it is affordable and does a perfect job. There is also a 'Dewy Finish' by NYX to give a glow if you wish, however because my skin is oily the matte finish works better for me.

7) Sleek Makeup Precious Metals Highlighting Palette £9.99 I bought this a few months ago but didn't start to really use it until about 2 months ago after I bought a brush that was better suited for it. The pigmentation on all 4 shades is brilliant and really stands out in the light, however like lightscapade, it does take a few applications but thats the only thing 'wrong' with it. The brush that comes with it I used once but didn't really like how it applied the product.










8) Tarte Smooth Operator Amazonian Clay Finishing Powder £23.00 I bought this in Sephora in America while I was on holiday and I love it, its lightweight and helps to keep my makeup in place for a long time all thanks to the Amazonian Clay. The texture is extremely soft and silky which is also a bonus.

9) Kylie Jenner Lip Kits $29.00 / £23.49. I have been buying Kylie's lip kits ever she launched them last year, although due to the heavy customs and delivery charges I only buy them when I have enough money to spend on them - which isn't very often. The two shades pictured are 'Exposed' and 'Maliboo' Both neutral tones, however Maliboo has more of a pinky undertone to it. I love Kylie's lip kits as they stay on extremely well and for a very long time - one time I forgot to take it off when I was showering and it stayed on for the entire time! If you want an ultra matte liquid lipstick with accompanying lip liners that will not smudge or come off easily, Kylie's lip kits are the one.

 10) Last but not least, possibly one of my favourite purchases I have made with regards to makeup.

UD xx Vice Ltd Reloaded £43. As you can see from the lid of the palette, I use this a lot. It has the perfect shades for most occasions and every single eyeshadow is as pigmented as the next one. And with it including a double-ended brush makes the palette even better. The eyeshadows also stay on for a long time and blend really well with each other. In all honesty, I would buy this all over again. It is definitely worth £43.

It also helped me experiment with some quite daring colours, such as the green and purples which at first I was quite apprehensive to try as I didn't think I would suit them, but after I put it on and finished the rest of my makeup, it looked quite good.

What are your favourite makeup brands?
Comment below!

DISCLAIMER: I have no affiliation with any makeup brand mentioned in this blog. All photos are my own.