Category Archives: beauty

Cruelty Free Beauty Haul

I’ve been looking forward to writing this post for a while now because I’m really trying make more of an effort to choose cruelty free products because frankly, I love animals, and animal testing is not cool.

Cruelty Free Beauty

First up, being in desperate need of new makeup brushes, and having featured Spectrum brushes in my Beach Wishlist post, there was no question which ones I was going to get! I went for the 10 piece essential set – the dreamy pink handled blue and purple design – and Siren Smoke eye brushes.

Spectrum Brushes

Spectrum Brushes Siren Smoke

Safe to say I’m in love with them; they’re super soft, so easy to clean and work like a dream, not to mention looking prettier than my makeup itself!

NYX makeup

Next up, I finally found the NYX counter in Bournemouth, yay!! I already had a vague idea of what products I wanted to try, so it was a pretty easy shopping trip. If you read my July favourites post, you’ll have seen I featured the matte Euro Trash lipstick which has become my new everyday favourite shade, and it lasts all day without budging, especially when paired with the lip primer, which I got in deep nude. Being a big lipstick person, I figured it would be a good idea to get a primer as I hate having to worry about whether its wearing off during the day.

Finally, I bought the Sculpt and Highlight Brow Contour, in blonde/ivory, and Mineral Matte Finishing Powder. While I prefer doing my eyebrows with a pallette, this little double-ended pencil and highlighter is perfect for on-the-go fixes, and also great for travelling with. I’m still getting used to using loose powder, but it feels really light and does a great job evening out my skin tone and taking away shine.

Winky Lux lipstick

Top to Bottom: Poppy, Corallo, Plush

Top to Bottom: Poppy, Corallo, Plush

Winky Lux lipsticks

Finally, a brand I stumbled across while browsing Asos: Winky Lux, which is an up and coming US brand. I instantly became obsessed with several of their products, namely their lipsticks, and while I probably could have bought every shade available, I settled on three to start off with; Poppy, a bright pinky/red, Corallo, a light nude shade and Plush, a bright yet deep pink. First up, isn’t the packaging so beautiful? The tubes are actually pretty little, but I like that as they’d fit into a pocket quite easily and I love the gold and silver design. As for the lipsticks themselves, they’re super soft and pigmented – those swatches were one stroke! They have a matte finish (my fave) while still feeling rich and moisturising, and have a vanilla-y flavour much like MAC lipsticks do. I’m a happy bunny!

What do you think of my haul? If you have any cruelty free brands to share, drop me a comment!

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July Favourites

It feels a bit strange writing a monthly favourites post, when I’ve actually spent the majority of the month out of the country, but actually there have been some things that have really stood out as superstars this month, both on my travels and at home!

July Favourites

Sweaty Betty New Balance Vazees

When I saw that two of my favourite fitness brands, Sweaty Betty and New Balance were collaborating on a trainer, I instantly fell in love with their creation. I talked myself out of buying them for a while, but when raiding the SB sale I decided that I would bite the bullet and buy them, and THEY ARE SO COMFORTABLE! I’d never run in them because I’m quite picky about my running shoes, but they’re great for the gym and I wore them for the majority of my trip to China because they are so lightweight and beautiful. Definitely worth the purchase!

Mitchum deodorant

So I fell pray to TV advertising.. I wanted to know if it was as good as the advert made it sound, and while I don’t want to be crude, we all sweat guys and there’s nothing wrong with that, but you don’t need to smell. It claims 48 hour protection, and I was so impressed finding that even after 24 hours solid travelling (I’m talking stuffy planes, trains etc) I didn’t feel at all sticky or smell of anything. Also the fragrances are great and not overwhelming like some deodorants can be!

Feel Unique Pick’n’mix

Um, did you know you can try 5 products a month FOR FREE from Feel Unique?! Well, you pay £3.95 for postage, but that comes back to you in the form of a voucher to redeem against a future purchase if you fall in love with the products. I got my hands on a sample of Benefit’s Ka Brow! and a few other cool bits that looked worth a try – I can’t wait to do it again!

Primark scented candles

I went into Primark to pick up some last minute holiday bits, and saw these pink grapefruit tealights on the checkout for something crazy like £1! They smell great and last a good long while; you can’t really go too wrong with tealights but these were better than I thought they would be.

Nyx Euro Trash lipstick

I’m obsessed with this shade! Its perfect for everyday wear and there’s just nothing like a matte lipstick in my opinion, plus its cruelty free!

What have you been loving this month?

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What’s in my Makeup Bag?

I have an interesting relationship with makeup; although I have always liked wearing it, I can go months and months not without it, and I definitely wouldn’t say I need it in my life. Recently, my love for makeup has been rekindled, and you may have noticed I’ve been writing about it a lot more – although I will never consider myself a beauty blogger! – so I thought I’d do a classic ‘what’s in my bag’ post today!

What's in my Makeup Bag

First up, I love my makeup bag so much. Its practical and cute and glittery and Disney related, and that makes me super happy. But you want to know what’s in it, right? I generally keep it pretty minimal when it comes to what I take out of the house with me; I mean, I keep my makeup fairly minimal most of the time anyway, but I’m not gonna lug things like concealer or blusher around with me cos if that wears off during the day, its really not the end of the world in my eyes.

Face: I always pack my Rimmel Clear Complexion powder; its translucent so I don’t have to worry about applying it in a rush or in a poorly lit bathroom because it basically just works to take away any excess shine. I’m also obsessed with highlighter, and Makeup Revolution’s Radiant Light in Exhale is my absolute favourite at the moment! For both of these I use my Lottie London kabuki brush because its compact and is perfect for applying powder products.

Eyes and brows: Eyeko Black Magic is my favourite mascara right now; I have a half-sized one which makes it ideal for putting in my makeup bag, and then I just pack whichever eyeliner colour is the pick of the day – spoiler alert, its either brown or blue Barry M kohl pencil! Blue eyeliner is a quirk a picked up when I was about 13, and its stuck with me ever since! When it comes to brows, I pack my little I ❤ Makeup brow kit from Makeup Revolution because its got everything I need from powder to a teeny pair of tweezers.

Lips: Massive lip balm obsessive I am, I generally always have at least one Eos ball with me at any given time – I keep one in my car, one at work, one loose in my handbag etc – but its the tangerine one I save for my makeup bag because as well as moisturising qualities, its also medicated to protect against cold sores! I’m also a slight hoarder or lipstick, so its not uncommon for me to have at least 4-5 in my bag, but generally for everyday wear, I wear Only You from the MAC Ellie Goulding collection!

A nail file and a compact are generally floating around in there too, along with a bunch of hairbands, just cos..

What’s in your makeup bag?

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June Monthly Favourites!

You know those insanely busy months were you get to the 20-something-th and are suddenly massively shocked by the date? Yep. June. BUTTT its time for some of my favourite things this month!

June Monthly Favourites

Beautiful Brows

June has really been the best month for my eyebrows. Remember I did a big Makeup Revolution shop at the end of May? Well the Ultra Brow palette has become my best friend! I still don’t know if what I’m doing would be considered as correct, but I look good and feel good and that’s basically pretty cool by me.

Frying Pan 5K Medal

If you haven’t heard me harping on about The Happiest Fitness Co’s first virtual race enough, the medals arrived a few weeks ago and I genuinely squealed when I opened the box to discover just how perfect they are! If you’re interested, its raising money for The Rainbow Trust children’s charity, and you can enter here!

New Mickey Ears

I’ve been very restrained this year in my buying of ears this year, having come back from WDW in January with 4 new pairs, but I did get two new pairs this month: the prettiest floral crown pair and the cutest It’s a Small World pair!

#GGMovieNight

I missed the first Girl Gang Movie Night due to being on a coach home from London, so I was so excited to not only be able to take part in this month’s, but also for it to be one of my favourite chick flicks: Clueless!

Ditching the old and embracing new

This month I decided to say goodbye to my weekly Friday Favourite Fives series and bring in a few different posts, like bringing back my pre-Disney trip outfit posts and having a bit of fun with more confessions!

Amazing friends

My friends have been so great this month. I kicked off the month with a day trip to London to hang out with some of my favourite girls, and say goodbye to Milly before she leaves for her amazing adventure in Florida; window shopping and food with them was just what I needed.

I’ve also loved listening back to episodes of the DLP Hot Seat podcast, presented by Mitch, who I met for the first time back in April and is one of the funniest guys I know!

So that’s June over and done with, and with July looking to be a very exciting month, I can’t wait!

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Products I Won’t Be Buying Again

I really try and avoid negativity on this blog, but today I thought I’d step away from glowing reviews and share a few products that I’ve been a little disappointed with.

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Herbal Essences dry shampoo

When we were having the bathroom redone, I thought it would be smart to stock up on dry shampoo to help survive the weeks of only having access to the showers at my gym. I’m normally a Batiste girl, but as I was buying some Herbal Essences conditioner and there was a 2 for something offer on, I decided to grab a can of the Escape to Paradise Tropical Refresh dry shampoo. Honestly I didn’t even know HB did dry shampoo, so I was quite excited, especially as I rarely have any problems with their other products. This, however, was a massive disappointment. It left my hair feeling thick and sticky, sometimes greasier than it was before.. Yuck. I did notice the other day though that they do a couple of different ones, so it could be that I just chose one that doesn’t suit my hair, but it has put me off a little.

Rimmel London 9 in 1 BB cream

I feel like this one’s on me a little bit; I wanted a BB cream and made a rushed decision in Boots based on the price, when I probably should have done a little bit more research. It just felt like a cheap foundation. It didn’t really sink into my skin at all, just felt kinda thick and despite being described as ‘light’ was a tad orangey. Not again, thank you..

(If this hasn’t put you off and you’re interested in trying this, I’m selling it on my Depop shop: lottiem94!)

Palmer’s Coconut Oil Hand Cream

I love Palmer’s Cocoa Butter, and I expected a similar feeling when I bought this hand cream, but I’m really not a fan! While the cocoa butter always soaks nicely into my skin leaving it feeling soft and smooth, the coconut oil cream leaves my hands feeling super greasy. It smells nice, but that’s about all I really like.

All of these views come from my own experience with the products, and that doesn’t mean to say that others feel the same way, just sometimes these things don’t work for everyone!

Have you ever had a bad experience with a product that everyone else has loved?

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Brows and Nudes; Another Makeup Revolution Haul

So back in March I posted my first Makeup Revolution haul, and declared my new love for the brand, so I was really looking forward to doing another big shop, and once again I’m so happy with everything that I felt the need to share!

Makeup Revolution Haul

All of this? Under £35.

Makeup Revolution Brow Kit

Ok, I’m gonna make a confession now: I am way behind on the brow game. If I’m being 100% honest, I’ve never done my brows properly before, only ever had them done by a MUA friend of mine. Please don’t hate me. WELL I decided to catch up by buying three brow kits, and I’m so happy with all of them. The Ultra Brow palette was £7.99 and basically has everything you could possibly need, including a pencil, highlighter and arch cream. This is definitely the kit I would use when doing my makeup at home before going out, then the two mini kits are perfect handbag size! The Focus and Fix Kit was £2.50 and the I ❤ Makeup kit was £2.99, and they both contain pretty much the same shades – these are all fair-medium – and I love that they all have a tiny brush and pair of tweezers!

Makeup Revolution highlighter

One of the products I hear the best reviews of from other bloggers is Makeup Revolution highlighters, and most of them are almost always sold out, but I managed to snag these two from the Radiant Light collection – Exhale and Glow. Exhale has a very light pinky tone to it, and Glow is more golden, and they both suit my needs to a tee, plus they look so pretty!

Makeup Revolution The One Blush

I thought I’d take a chance on this blush stick; I’m normally quite particular about blush but as peachy/coral tones work well for me and it was only £2.50, it seemed like a good buy. I’m so happy with it! I had no idea it could work for lips as well, which is an absolute bonus, and I just love how well it works. For day-to-day use, I use my foundation brush, swiping it across the top of the stick then apply to my cheeks. The shade is perfect and its really pigmented and buildable.

Makeup Revolution palette

Makeup Revolution lipstick

Makeup Revolution Lip Power

I also got two more eyeshadow palettes, cos at £4 each who can complain really? These are Essential Mattes 2 (left) and Iconic 3 (right), and the shades are actually almost identical for both, just matte versus shimmer. Both are totally fab for natural looks, and such a great range of nude colours. After being slightly disappointed with the lipsticks I got last time, I was a tad dubious when choosing two more in this shop, but the shades looked good and for the price it was worth a shot, so I chose the Iconic Pro lipstick in Looking Ahead, and Lip Power in It’s My Life, and I’m so glad I did! Looking Ahead is exactly what I hoped it would be; not too thick and exactly the shade I expected, and Its My Life is also perfect! I hadn’t realised it had a gloss as well as lipstick, but the lipstick is very nude and matte, with the gloss adding shine if desired. Safe to say, they’re both going to become firm favourites of mine, and both of them came to under £4!

Once again, the guys at Makeup Revolution have made me a very happy girl!

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Friday Favourite Five – Spring/Summer Nail Colours

I love nail varnish; I have a fairly huge collection and I use pretty much all of them regularly.

I will admit that I’m a bit particular on brands, and by that I mean its basically all Barry M. I love the colours, I love the quality, and I like having matching bottles that all fit together nicely in my makeup storage!

Today’s FFF is sharing five colours that see a lot of love in the sunny seasons!

Barry M nail varnish

The yellow is a limited edition that I found in Boots last year, and it doesn’t actually have a name but its so bright and opaque, whereas I’ve found other yellow shades often take an undercoat before the colour stands out enough.

Next up is three of the Gelly Hi Shine range; I personally don’t find them much shinier than the classic nail paint, but I do love the colours so I don’t mind paying the extra £1! The shades are Satsuma, Grapefruit and Kiwi!

Last up is actually my all-time favourite nail varnish, which is Pure Turquoise from the classic nail paint range. I’m not actually sure if its available anymore but I have a few bottles of it so I’m all set!

What colours do you wear in Spring/Summer?

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Summer Vibes Wishlist

I can’t be the only person who, when completely broke and on a total spending ban, spends all my time putting together wishlists, right?

In fact, I’m fairly certain that its this habit of strict budgeting when living for the next payday that leads me to blow my money on everything I’ve been looking at in the past month, and the cycle goes on.. SO ITS SUMMER WISHLIST TIME!

Summer Vibes

So for starters, I’m a bit of a nail varnish snob. For me, its got to be Barry M because a) I think they’re great, and b) it means all my nail varnishes match nicely. The Gelly range is so nice and high shine, perfect for summer, and wouldn’t this shade go so perfectly with this ADORABLE Skinnydip tote bag?! I love Skinnydip, its all just way too cute and this bag is no exception.

This next one’s a little bit of a cheat.. Triangl bikinis are beautiful and as much as I’d love one, they run pretty pricey.. I did, however, read a great post by Georgia from Rent or Chanel about a dupe she bought off eBay, and it looks so good that its giving me the confidence to risk buying one; plus the copies are less than £10 so I kinda feel like I wouldn’t be wasting much!

Next up is this cutie-pie unicorn phone case from Missguided – I’m a real sucker for a silicone phone case, and also for pom poms, hence the addition of this straw fedora, also Missguided. Last up, pastel, ombre and Converses are three of my favourite words. I wear hi tops all through summer, no matter what the weather is doing, so these would be perfect for the beach!

Are you feeling those summer vibes approaching?

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Spring Favourites

In my almost 3 years of blogging (WHAT?!), I don’t think I’ve actually done a ‘favourites’ post!

So although the weather still hasn’t completely decided its spring yet, the brighter mornings and occasional blue skies and sunshine has got me feeling like we might just be going in the right direction towards summer, and there are a few things I’m loving right now, so I’m gonna share them!

Spring Favourites

Hollister lace skirt – I’m rarely one for brands like Hollister, but I stumbled across this little beauty on Asos and I’m so glad I did! The lace is so pretty, and it looks cute with or without tights making it perfect for the changing Spring temperatures.

Tone It Up mini resistance bands – you may have seen these in the set I featured in my fitness wishlist last month, and seeing as I caved and bought it, I’ve been loving everything about these, from the colour to the ease of adding them to my workouts!

MAC x Ellie Goulding lipstick in Without Your Love – remember how excited I was with my MAC Ellie Gouling haul back in January? Well I’m still just as in love with it now I was I was back then, and I’m really feeling this shade right now!

The Fitness Marshall – if you haven’t already seen one of these amazing dance workout videos on Youtube, check them out now. Ah-MAY-zing!

Nikki McWilliams custard cream purse – I bought this back in January, buts its now, when I want to use my cute little handbags that are too small for my big purse, that its really coming into its own.

The Comforter shower gel – I always feel a little late to the Lush party, and right now with our bathroom under refurb I’m pretty limited in my product usage, but I bought a bottle of this back in February and I’m only just getting round to using it! Its purply-pink, glittery and smells AMAZING, and foams up into pink bubbly goodness, yay!

What are you loving right now?

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My First Makeup Revolution Haul

I’ve seen so many rave reviews about Makeup Revolution from beauty bloggers, I had to know what this hype was all about.

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I will be totally honest, I was a little dubious when I saw the prices. I’m not a makeup snob, but I’m a firm believer in getting what you pay for, and this stuff is cheap, hence my nerves, but when I turned to the twittersphere for advice and beauty bloggers from all over the country were telling me how much they loved the brand, I had to put my previous thoughts behind me and take the plunge.

And for all this, I paid £20 including postage. Umm..

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Ok, so the first thing I was told was an absolute must was a palette, and Mermaids vs Unicorns stood out because I love the name, and I love the colours. Green does not suit me, but there’s not too much of it, and blue is my jam so I was sold.

Application wise, the colours are an absolute dream; super soft and smooth and highly pigmented, and the colours stay true and hold really well over time. I don’t really like using the foam applicators normally, but it does help blend the colours well so I can’t complain!

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Self-confessed lipstick addict, I had to try at least one, and yes, that is a yellow lipstick, but it was on sale at 75p, I have no restraint when it comes to yellow. I wasn’t blown away by either of these, but I’m pretty fussy and considering they’re only £1, its not put me off buying again, although I’ll probably stick to darker shades.

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Foundation is the bane of my life; I am forever struggling to find a shade that suits me, so the idea of spending a lot of money on one that doesn’t work for me is not on the cards. I decided to try two different types, Ultra Face Base (£3) in FB 02 and Matte Effect (£2) in Ivory, and d’you know what? They both work for me! UFB is very lightweight but does a great job of evening out my skintone and giving a little shine to my skin, and Matte Effect is a bit heavier, but covers really well – I can’t believe I’m so happy with both of them!

Lastly, I bought The One Concealer and Awesome Double Flick thick and thin eyeliner pen. I do have dark circles under my eyes (curse of the lifetime glasses wearer), and normally I find the foundation just highlights them, so I finally decided to try a concealer to mask them a little better. The One has a soft feel to it with a creamy centre to give colour; its a little shiny, but once covered with foundation does the job! I’ve always wanted an eyeliner pen – they just look so much easier to use – so I opted for the Double Flick which has two ends of different thicknesses. I was worried the colour wouldn’t be as strong, but its super black and the fine tip allows so much detail, I’m so glad I bought it!

Overall, I’ve had to complete throw my idea of cheap makeup out the window, and I’m declaring my love of Makeup Revolution! I’ve already got a list of future purchases..

Join the revolution!

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A Lush Wishlist

Unfortunately, the concept of ‘lazy Sundays’ isn’t one that I’m accustomed to. Lie ins, brunch and pyjamas are all alien, replaced instead with a 6am alarm, work uniform and a quick cereal bar before I leave the house; retail work problems, right?

The one silver lining though is that by starting work at 7am, I’m normally finishing around 1/2pm, giving me what’s left of my Sunday to chill out just a little, and something I’m actually really looking forward to in the next month is our new bathroom.

lus

Ok, so I know the link between Sundays and my new bathroom is a little weak, but here’s the deal: currently, I do not like baths. To me, they are the furthest thing from relaxing, and I blame this view entirely on our current bath which is super shallow, so no matter what I do, some part of my body is sticking out of the water and freezing; not cool. Our new bath, however, is pretty beautiful, and I’m really hoping that it’ll show me what everyone tells me I’m missing out on with a hot bath, and celebrate it with a mini Lush haul!

Top Row: Ultraviolet Bubble Bar / Bouncing Bunny Shower Jelly / Supernova Bath Bomb / Blueberry Roulade Smoothie
Bottom Row: Foot Soak and Fancy Free / Intergalactic Bath Bomb / Silky Underwear Dusting Powder

I think that’ll start me off nicely, don’t you? Let me know you’re must-have products!

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A Month with Magnitone

I have never been good at washing my face. Ask my mum, she’ll tell you.

Now I’ve been pretty lucky that, despite this fact, I’ve grown up with fairly good skin. I don’t wear a lot of makeup, but my face can get pretty dry at times, so back in December I vowed to improve my skincare habits in 2016, and it all started when I added a Magnitone Barefaced to my Christmas list. Now I know its been almost two months since Christmas, but I didn’t properly get into using my brush until I came back from my January Disney trip, so its been a full month of everyday use today!

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The brushes come in 3 beautiful pastel shades, and I chose orange! The brush also comes with a sweet little travel case, and I also got a shower hammock (sold separately, but Mum got it free with an offer when she bought the brush), so I’ve got the full works! Because the brush is 100% waterproof, instead of a regular charging cable, there’s a cute little magnetic charging device that plugs into a USB socket. Its recommended that you charge your brush for a full 12 hours before first use, and I’m yet to need to recharge so far!

So I’ve been using my brush every day now, usually right after I have a shower because it means my face is already wet and free of makeup, but if not then I use Garnier Micellar Water to ensure my face is totally clean. Using the brush is totally straight forward, just apply your favourite facial cleanser to the brush, then turn it on! Press the button once for a regular buzz, or twice for a pulsing cycle. The brush will run for 1 minute per cycle, beeping every 20 seconds so you can move on to the next area! Once you’re done, rinse and dry, then you can carry on with your regular routine, which for me is Nivea Soft Cream!

How am I getting on?

Well, I’m really enjoying it! For the first week or so of use, I found that using the brush was bring out a lot the rubbish I didn’t know I was in there, and I was breaking out a little. Magnitone say this is totally normal, and this cleared up nicely after a while. It’s like an electric toothbrush for your face! I think for me its great to have a product that gives me a clean feeling every time I use it, but I also don’t feel like I’m spending forever on a fancy routine; its 1-2 minutes, and it feels like fun rather than a chore. I’ve been using Neutrogena cleansers because I really love the smell of them and they’ve worked well for me in the past, and I love seeing the brush foam it up properly on my face.

I haven’t needed to change my brush head yet, but its really easy to take it off and replace, and you can get all sorts of different heads too! Oh, and it came with a 12 month warranty too!

Are you confident going barefaced?

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MAC x Ellie Goulding

Have you ever seen a collaboration announced that just seemed so perfect it was made for you? Well that was me when I heard that music GODDESS Ellie Goulding was releasing a collection with makeup megastars MAC.

I waited and waited for the release, and as soon as I saw it online I rushed down to my nearest counter to check it out, only to be told that it wasn’t going to be stocked at most counters, only the major stores. Semi-heartbroken, I had to take the plunge and order online, having not seen the shades in person, but took a reassurance from the online return policy, praying I wouldn’t have to rely on it!

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After waiting patiently (stupid me placed the order on Christmas Eve, so had to wait through several bank holidays), my goodies arrived and I fell in love. The packaging was classic MAC black, glossy, with EGs logo in rose gold; simple and clean. Out of the whole collection, which also included some palettes, brushes and other products, I chose both lipsticks, both Patentpolish lip pencils, lustre drops and powder blush compact.

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Top – Only You / Bottom – Without Your Love

Self-confessed lipstick addict that I am, I fell in love with them instantly. While the two shades are relatively similar, they are perfect light pinks for a natural look, and in a Cremesheen finish to give a little bit of gloss. I also love the fact that the logo is imprinted into the side of the stick itself, as well as on the tube.

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Top – Revved Up / Bottom – Innocent

I was unsure choosing the PatentPolish lip pencils as they were described as high-gloss, and I’m not a big gloss person, but I do love a pencil applicator so I couldn’t resist. In reality, I definitely wouldn’t described them as high gloss, but for me that was a plus! Innocent is very nude, offering just a touch of shine, whereas Revved Up is a more peachy colour – again, both very natural and pretty, and the twist up pencil is a big favourite of mine.

Top - I'll Hold My Breath bronzer / Middle - I'll Hold My Breath blush / Bottom - Pink Rebel Lustre Drops

Top – I’ll Hold My Breath bronzer / Middle – I’ll Hold My Breath blush / Bottom – Pink Rebel Lustre Drops

I rarely stray from lipstick and eye products when buying makeup as I don’t normally do the whole foundation, powder etc routine, but I was so taken with this collection that I felt it was worth branching out! I really love EGs style and her makeup is always on point, and because she is fair-skinned I felt I could trust the bronzer and blush without finding it to be too dark. I love the peachy shade of the blush and the bronzer is nice and light to apply so I don’t feel like I’m going from zero to orange in a single brush stroke, yay!

I also found a new love in the Lustre Drops in Pink Rebel; relative makeup novice that I am, I find myself lost with highlighters, but this blend so nicely and gives just a slight shimmer and brightness to my skin. The pinky shade is also great for brightening dark areas.

I think its pretty clear that I love this collection, even if you ignore how much I love Ellie.. It is by far my favourite MAC collection yet, I can’t believe it wasn’t made into a bigger deal and stocked on all counters, but that’s just me!

Do you have a favourite collection?

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Friday Favourite Five – Everyday Products

Well happy Friday everyone, we’ve made it through another week!

This week’s fave five focuses on those beauty products that you love so much that they’ve snuck into your everyday skincare routine without you even noticing – you know the ones, right?

Well here are mine:

1. Eos Smooth Sphere lip balms

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I actually own 7 of these, not even ashamed! I love the design, the flavours and that they’re 99% natural; I have one in my car, one at work, in my handbag etc, and my favourite is Blueberry Acai!

2. Palmer’s Cocoa Butter

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This stuff smells incredible, and it leaves my skin feeling super soft and smooth!

3. Vaseline Intensive Care hand cream

I actually stumbled across this sort of by accident one day when I needed a moisturiser for a burn that was scabbing, but now I’ve tried it I’m obsessed. It leaves my hands feeling really silky and moisturised, and also helps strengthen my nails, plus it doesn’t leave that sticky after-feeling

4. Nivea Daily Essentials Day Cream

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I’m quite lucky really, and don’t really suffer too much from dry skin, but I do tend to get it on my forehead, so just a light layer of this on my face each morning keeps me happy!

5. Dove Go Fresh Nourising Body Wash

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It might just be a shower gel, but the way it lathers up into a thick foam and actually leaves my skin feeling softer with every wash.

What are your daily go-to products?

xoxo

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Friday Favourite Five – Lipsticks

I have two weaknesses when it comes to makeup: nail varnish and lipstick, and today’s post is about the latter.

As a full-time wearer of glasses, there’s not a whole lot I can do with eye makeup (well, I can, but what’s the point when you can’t see behind my frames), so for me, lipstick is how I express myself. My collection spans from Boots Natural Collection to MAC, and I’m a real stickler for my favourite brands and shades, but here are just five of my favourites:

1. Revlon ColorBurst Matte Balm in Standout

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I love matte lipsticks, and this Revlon collection boasts both great shades and a reasonable price; I have 5 out of 8 of them. It’s a deeper red, which is great for autumn looks or nights out, or for when you’re not in the mood for a brighter shade.

2. Barry M Green Goes Pink

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The only lipstick that you shouldn’t judge by its appearance, this clever little stick transforms to a different shade depending on the pH of your lips! For me, that’s normally a deep pink shade which suits me pretty well, and is also really long lasting, so I know if I’m wearing it on a night out I’m not gonna have to keep re-applying it after every drink.

3. Maybelline ColorSensational in Electric Orange

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My colouring actually lends itself to orange shades more than pinks, so I love this for when I want to be a bit more casual. Despite the name and appearance, it doesn’t go on very bright as its fairly sheer so looks fairly effortless, which is totally my style!

4. Beautifully Disney in Rosebud

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I’ve reviewed my Beautifully Disney collection before, but this little lipstick has earnt its place in this list too! As its only a touch darker than my natural lip colour, it gives a little more colour on days where I don’t feel like anything bolder, plus I love how mini it is!

5. MAC Wash And Dry in Steam Heat

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I will admit that the beautiful packaging of this swayed the vote slightly, but I do love MAC lipsticks! This is a classic red in a satin finish, there’s really nothing that can go wrong!

What are your favourite lipstick shades?

xoxo

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Lottie London Purchases

So it was a Saturday night, and I’m scrolling through Asos – this is a regular occurrence – when I see my name..

My name is not a common name; I almost had to look again to believe that what I saw was in fact true: beauty products with my name on them?

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You got it! Ok, so I can be a little behind on beauty brands, but this was news to me, and I was excited! If, like me, you have an unusual name, you probably also spent your childhood searching for a personalised mug or keyring with your name, only to be bitterly disappointed, so this makes up for it!

Another bonus of stumbling upon these beauties was that I’ve been wanting some nice new makeup brushes for a while now, so this was obviously a sign from the universe, right?

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Just to clarify here, I’m a makeup novice; I don’t wear it every day, and when I do, I don’t really know what I’m doing – if it looks good then it stays, if its a mess, it comes straight off again! With that in mind, I chose the basics: a foundation brush, powder brush and an eyeshadow brush, and also a kabuki brush.

First impressions, I love the colours of the brushes and the tips of the brushes match the colour of the handle which is a sweet little touch. The brushes themselves are actually great too; I was worried because the black part of the hairs looks and feels a little too synthetic and plastic-y, but the coloured tips are super soft and fine, like I hoped they would be!

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I also treated myself to a few other goodies – they were on sale!

For my handbag, I bought a little button compact in coral, as well as a pack of 3 mini nail files and 6 hair ties, because you can never have too many!

As a little bit of a brow obsessive, I couldn’t go without the cute yellow tweezers, and the mint eyelash curlers rounded off my purchases for the day, and I love everything I got!

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Now I didn’t just jump straight to the shopping cart, I went to Google first – what is this brand that shares my name?!

So Lottie London is a UK based cruelty free brand, which had me jumping for joy! The range spans not just brushes and accessories, but also nail varnish and other beauty products, and honestly I just felt like the brand shares my style as well as my name; my favourite colours, simple but cute designs and love of nail art, just to name a few! Oh, did I mention they were a great price?!

You can buy Lottie products from ASOS or Superdrug, and check out their webby here!

xoxo

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Dreaming of Mickey Ears

You guys, I am so excited for all my upcoming Disney trips. I say all because between now and the end of January, I’ll have visited not one, not even two or three, but FOUR different Disney parks!

If you keep fairly up to date with my plans and adventures, you’re doing the math at the moment and coming up one park short, because I’ve only talked about Japan (which is 60 days away!) and my RunDisney tour of both Disney World Florida and Disneyland California, but here’s the thing.. I’ll be turning 21 in October, and I’ll be doing that crucial bit of ageing in Disneyland Paris!

Nothing has been booked just yet, but I’m super buzzed to announce that I’ll be in Disneyland Paris from Friday 2nd October til Sunday 4th, with my birthday being the Saturday. The visit will actually be part of a whole European road trip I’ll be venturing out on, and I’ll obviously blog through the whole planning of the trip, but today I want to talk Mickey ears.

With all these majorly exciting visits to various Disney lands and worlds, I need to make sure I’m fully stocked up on these essential accessories, so I’ve spent the afternoon scrolling through my favourite shopping site, Etsy, to pick out some handmade beauties that I’d love to add to my collection.

As with all wishlists, just click on the photos, and you’ll be linked straight to the item, which will open in a new tab so you can keep reading!

Disney Dumbo Mickey Ears

These Dumbo sweeties are just one of a whole shop of incredible designs from CraftyOliviaCuties – I’d have them all if I could!

Up Inspired Mouse Ears

LeEars714 caught my attention with these colourful cuties from one of my favourite Pixar films!

Pastel Flower Crown MouseEars

Earresistible Ears makes the most beautiful floral crown ears, and you can even create your own custom ones, which I’d totally love to do, but from the looks of it they don’t ship to the UK 😦 so gorgeous though!

Baymax ears!

Adorable Baymax ears from EarsbyEvalenn are among a great range of designs!

Oh, Bother Floral Ears

Floral and lacy and Pooh = adorable ears from Shoplavenderb!

White Daisy Inspired Minnie Ears

These pretty daisy ears from LovelyLittleEarful are so sweet!

And who doesn’t love a combination of pom-poms and ombre tones?! I adore these from MouseCaEars!

All so perfect right?!

°o°

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Beautifully Disney – Alice in Wonderland Mini Lipsticks

This week’s theme is the gloriously bizarre Lewis Carroll classic: Alice in Wonderland.

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On my last Disney World trip, I decided to treat the lipstick addict in me to one of the Beautifully Disney mini lipstick sets. After flicking through the various sets, I chose the Alice in Wonderland set based on the colours all being ones I know suit me.

The set was $24.95, which is about £16, so £4 per lipstick, and that didn’t seem totally unreasonable to me as I pay £5-10 for a full-size lipstick back home. And the really are quite mini..

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Next to one of my Barry M lipsticks, which are the smallest ones I own, it looks diddy. The packaging is very basic and plastic, but the box the set comes in is really sweet, I can’t bring myself to get rid of it!

So onto the colours! Please bear in mind I am not a beauty blogger, or even a regular makeup wearer, and other the the lipstick I’m not wearing any other makeup in the photos, and they aren’t edited so what you get is me and my honest opinions..

1. Curiouser..

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Curiouser is almost nude in colour, but is packed with glitter to give a little bit of sparkle.

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Its a little pinker than my lips, and the glitter really makes an impact so despite the nude-ish colour, I wouldn’t wear it on a day to day basis.

2. Dum de Dum

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Orange! I love orange lipstick, so this made me so excited.

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I was a little disappointed. You’d need to layer and layer it on in order to see more than a tinge of orange, which I imagine for those who aren’t quite so into orange lipstick would like as its very subtle, but for me I kinda wish it had had a little more to it.

3. Rosebud

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This is my absolute favourite, I wear it all the time. Its not quite so red as it appears in the picture above, but its a little darker than my lips, so gives a really nice hint of colour, while maintaining a very natural look.

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4. Mad As A..

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Stay with me now, its not as drastic as you may think. Yes it looks very dark, but I gave it a try, and I really do like it, although I wouldn’t wear it every day.

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You need a steady hand or a good lip liner, because the deep colour means any slight wobbles in your application is gonna show, but the beauty of that means you can also add to the shape of your lips or add more definition.

They’re not professional makeup by any means, and you do pay a slight premium for the Disney name, but they’re good little lipsticks. The size is perfect for popping in a pocket or small purse, but you might find yourself losing them in a big handbag.

°o°

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