Best of the Month: August

August has been a month centred around a Summer course i took part in, and spending time abroad, so any makeup/accerssories that I've used has had to be easy to use on-the-go and effortlessly good (and preferably multitasking!)

First favourite of the month is Miss Sporty Liquid concealer which i received free with a Miss Sporty nail varnish a while ago. Cheap as chips and super good for dark under eye circles and cancelling out bad redness in the cheeks! (Around £1.99 from Superdrug!)

Nars Luster has been a go to! Purely because i don't typically tan and therefore, warming up my face with a sweep of blush is so much easier than fake tanning or actually trying to tan (or using bronzer).

This is £21 from any Nars concession (larger house of Frasers, Selfridges etc)

This necklace has been a favourite of mine for a good few months, because it's easy to style and interesting. I also like how it looks now that the rose gold colour has tarnished a little. I also, as you can probably tell from my blog header, I quite like trianges. I don't know why, i just do! This was £3 in a Dorothy Perkin's sale back in June

The EOS balms are an all star in my makeup bag! I couldn't be without the Honeydew Melon variation, it just smells so good and tastes nice, and is super moisturising! I even have a backup in it's packaging waiting for the day when i run out of my first one...Hopefully it won't be anytime soon! I know these are availiable easily in the states, but the British "attempt" (and a good one at that!) is the Balmi products- which around around the £5 mark!

Initial Ring love affair

So this morning I popped down to Oxford Street, to pick up a few things. One thing i knew i had to buy was this 'L' initial ring from Topshop. Its a thin gold coloured band with a silver "L" hanging from it, and I heart it. 

The charm flips around when I'm typing etc, which takes some getting used to, but i really love this. Like crazy! 

I don't know how many letters are available, but i could only really see the L one in store- so ordering online will be your best bet! Order from here, for £4.00, although for some reason, the one I bought in store was £5.00...oh well! 

This isn't my only purchase of the day that I've fallen madly in love with. I'm infatuated. It's concerning- but more on that later! 

What do you think of this? Teenage/gimmicky or cute? Any guesses as to what other purchase has really dumbfounded me? c;

High End vs Low End: kohl pencils

In the red (spendy!) corner, we have Jemma Kidd's i-Glamour Define Liner in 01 Black and in the blue corner, we have 2True's Eye Defining Twist 'n' Line.
I'm more of a gel liner kinda gal, liquid liner at a push, but there'll always be a place in my heart and makeup bag, for a nice soft, velvety smudge-easy kohl liner.

On the right is the 2True eyeliner, and on the left, the Jemma Kidd.

So let start with pigmentation, possibly the all or nothing feature of any kohl pencil. 

The eyeliner above is the 2True, the below, Jemma Kidd. (hehe, you can see a flash of my brother's laptop, which i'm currently borrowing as i left my macbook charger at home, lol hashtag smartmove!)

Personally, i find the 2True liner creamier in formulation and therefore a truer black than the Jemma Kidd which seems a bit greyish. 

I found the 2True kohl to glide on much more quickly, but more thickly, so if overdone, you'll resemble the love child of a raccoon and a panda. 

Winner of this is definitely the 2True!

Smudgability (ooh word creation of the day!:D).

The Jemma Kidd, despite being the only one of the two with a smudger at the bottom was royally bummy. It flaked off a bit unless warmed up, whaaaaaat?! 

The 2True Liner however won my heart, but unsurprisingly compromised the darkness of the black once blended out a little. 

Concerning packaging, both have a pink and black theme going on, but I must say, the packaging of the Jemma Kidd nabs it by a unit of packaging measurement degree!

Finally, the defining (sorry!c: ) factor: there is a £12 price difference.

Unless you can't already tell, the 2True liner is winning for me- and the price is the victory call! It's £1.99, avaliable from most Superdrug stores, whereas the Jemma Kidd liner is £14. 

*the Jemma Kidd eyeliner was avaliable with an Elle magazine..wish i'd got that then!*

So finally, the 2True wins. The underdog comes out on top!

What do you think? Have you tried either? Will you now?

I'm not saying i dislike Jemma Kidd - i heart it! But I just find the 2True eyeliner way better c: 

Fantasy Shopper Outfits #1

Fantasy Shopper is an addictive website for those of us who love shopping, but just don't have either the time or money. Or both!
The basic concept of the site is that you get give online credits (obviously not real! boo:( ) that you can go shopping with on all the nice virtual equivalents of the shopping streets in London. Ironically, right now I'm in London, but its way more fun when I have loads of work to get done, to do this on my breaks!
You can chose between brands such as Topshop, Miss Selfridge, John Lewis, BHS- there is such a huge variety, and it's all current collection, so there's the option to go ahead and actually buy it from the real life website. Smart move, but dangerous for those of us easily besotted with denim, studs or khaki.

 So these are some of the outfits I've built. All are casual as I'm not into the world of work yet, and when I'm not in Sixth Form uniform, I'm in either pyjamas, or casual clothes! As you can probably tell, I've grown quite fond of the rosy gold spike New Look necklace, which can be bought here for £5.99 (!!!) and all New Look accessories are currently on Buy one get one free- so go go go!
I love all of the tops used- especially the Soldier long sleeved top from Illustrated People in Topshop (here for £40) and the dip dyed studded sweatshirt (here for £36, by Topshop again- christmas list anyone?!).
I'm definitely considering buying the bone tunnel earrings (£8 from Topshop) and the two rings shown (buddhist peace symbol and the L charm ring, £6.50 and £4). Someone keep me away from Topshop- i'll never return...

What do you think of Fantasy shopper? Cool or a bit childish? Do you think it'll curb your spending, or just show you more things to buy? Will you join up?

Would You Rather Beauty Tag

Feeling peckish, I went and had a pleasant afternoon bowl of Crunchy Nut (seriously, i could eat this stuff until the cows come hoooome!), sat down and told myself I need to write something interesting for my blog.
So I thought I'd do a tag. Because inspiration is not on my side at present, and I'm sat in my pyjamas, so an outing into London would be quite awkward.


#1. Would you rather go out with messy hair and nice make-up, or nice hair and no make-up?
     Well, having been in this situation before (lol), nice makeup and messy hair works so much better for me, because my hair often looks quite done anyway, without needing anything more than being taken out of it's overnight bun.

#2. Would you rather shave your eyebrows or have your eyelashes fall out?
   To me, the lesser of the two evils would definitely be for my eyelashes to fall out- falsies all the way!

#3. Would you rather be forced to shop at only MAC or Sephora for the rest of your life?
      I'm changing Sephora to House of Fraser, or just a department store with a high-end makeup selection, because I'm British- but my answer, unsurprisingly would be the department store. Not because I don't love MAC, but just because I'd prefer the variety that a Department store beauty hall has.

#4. Would you rather wear the lipgloss/lipliner look or 80's perm?
    80s perm. Definitely.

#5. Would you rather leave the house with an obvious foundation line or overdone blush?
    Overdone blush, because foundation lines are absolutely awful. Not that overdone blush isn't, but it could be workable!

#6. Would you rather wear MC Hammer pants or biker shorts in public?
        MC Hammer pants are a crime- they look like a full nappy. So biker shorts!

#7. Would you rather have a bad orange-y spray tan or really weird tan lines that can't be covered?
    I don't tan very much and never had a bad spray tan, so i've never experienced either, but i'd rather have wierd tan lines with a deep near even colour, than looking radioactive.

#8. Would you rather have a bad haircut or bad hair color?
    Bad hair colour definitely! Because you can still take black and white photographs ;)

#9. Would you rather have youtube or twitter taken away forever?
    I'd rather have twitter taken away for ever, mainly because it's more an American phenomenon than a British, but I couldn't exist fully without youtube- i love listening to covers of songs!

#10. Would you rather give up using makeup brushes or mascara?
     I'd give up makeup brushes. Mascara would be one of my desert island beauty products (although why anyone would want makeup on a desert island is beyond me), and makes such a difference to my face. Plus, my eyelashes are fairer at the tips than the root (which may be normal), but I can't see the ombre'd lash catching on. (scrap that- if ombre lashes get fashionable- you heard it here first;))


I tag you all to do this- and post links in the comments! I'd love to read your answers!c: What do you think of tags- overdone or interesting?


I got the questions from this juicystar07 video (but tonnes of beauty vloggers have done this too!)

On my nails: Essie Ballet Slippers & Nothing Else Metals

As Summer draws to a close, I broke out my transitional Summer to Autumn polishes.
Personally, I think that when seasons are changing, the best on trend nail polish choices are nude, possibly with an accent.
So, without further ado, I'd like to introduce you toooooooooooooo *drumroll*
Essie Ballet Slipper & Nothing Else Metals

Ballet Slippers

 Ballet Slippers is the better known of the two, and is a milky pale (cool toned) pink. I find this needs at least 4 coats to be completely opaque. That might just be my poor nail painting skills but the formula seems good, but a bit too liquid for me to be completely smitten with. However, when I get it to work, I'll be besotted!

Nothing Else Metals

This is easily my favourite of the two! It's opaque in one coat, and its beautiful lilac colour with lilac iridescent shimmer. I adore it! That's pretty much all!

I love the brushes of Essie polishes, and these two were actually my first foray into Essie polishes. 

These are a really good quality, and I love the diffusion line from Boots. Each of these is around £8.

What do you think of my first review? Next on my list is Essie's Mint Candy Apple or Sand Tropez- any recommendations?

How to: Travel Luxe (travel in style)

If you have a limo, that's great, or even better- a helicopter- but basically, the point of this post is addressing something I have grown to have a marmite relationship with- dress codes, or appropriate dressing.

So recently, I've been to Holland. I loved it, but the travelling back struck me as a problem. I wanted to look human while i was on the go, but i was not prepared to sacrifice my dignity by leaping around in tracksuit bottoms and an old jumper. Or even a new jumper.

So, here are my top tips for travelling in style:

• stay away from harsh colours. Pastel, ice cream and neutral shades are on trend, and have been for a while, so stay with neutral colours that won't give you a small headache whist travelling, or waking up from on-the-go sleep.
• elasticated waistband. This sounds obvious, but i see so many people travelling in jeans, or belted skirts etc, that must be so uncomfortable. For your own safety, go for the nice, comfortable option- like a midi/maxi skirt or leggings with a tunic.
• Go for accessories more than anything. If you want to look more glamorous and polished, go for simple shapes, but use a statement necklace or collar- comfortable and stylish! 
• Sunglasses are good to hide tired eyes. Enough said.
• Comfy shoes! I travel everywhere in my beloved converse, purely because they're versatile and the most comfortable travel footwear, without going into fluffy slippers;)

I'll put up a  picture of my travel outfit soon- but for now, heres an picture of my ready-to-go face, and my statement necklace!