Dupes - Makeup Revolution vs Urban Decay

Hey guys!

I just need to share this with you because I couldn't believe my eyes when I spotted  them the other day. Makeup Revolution (which is an affordable makeup brand that you can buy from Superdrug) have come out with three palettes that are DUPES for  the Urban Decay Naked palettes. 

L-R Iconic 1 (dupe for Naked 1), Iconic 2 (dupe for Naked 2), Iconic 3 (dupe for Naked 3). 

How similar are they?!

They swatch really beautifully and have reasonably good colour pay off considering the price... Which is £4 by the way!!!! For that price I really don't think you can go wrong. 

So if you're looking for a cheaper alternative to the famous Naked palettes by Urban Decay, then I would strongly recommend getting your hands on these beauties. Or even if you're just looking to add some more palettes to your collection, these palettes are an inexpensive way to do so. 

Thanks for reading guys, I hope this was interesting. 

Speak to you soon

Love H ♥

L'Oreal Pure Red's collection

Hi everyone! 

So L'Oreal has just launched their new Color Riche Pure Red's Collection. There are only four shades in the collection that have come out, Eva's red, Liya's red, Julianne's red and Blake's red. However the entire collection will be available in drugstores in the Spring of 2015.

 I am absolutely in love with all four shades - I'm a little biased as I'm a bit of a sucker for a classic red lipstick, but they are gorgeous. Each shade is supposed to complement different skin tones, however obviously you don't HAVE to stick to the one that suits your skin tone. You can wear whichever one you want!

The first lipstick is Eva's red, inspired by the gorgeous Eva Longoria. This colour is a rich burgundy red, perfect for anyone with an olive complexion.

Next is Liya's red, inspired by Liya Kebede, which is a dark-ish red wine colour with slightly more pink undertones than Eva's red, but still perfect for those warmer undertone skin types.

Next up is Julianne's red inspired by Julianne Moore. This red has a very orange undertone and is much brighter than the others. This shade would be perfect for those ladies with fair skin and red-ish toned hair.

The final lipstick is Blake's red, inspired by the stunning Blake Lively (who I'm a tad obsessed with since watching the complete box set of Gossip Girl). This shade is perfect for fair skin types with a cooler skin tone as it's a more bluey-toned red.

These classic red lipsticks have a gorgeous creamy texture and moisturising formula, with a satin finish which is fab! I would suggest wearing a lip liner underneath to ensure that long wear - but that's optional as they are long lasting lipsticks anyway. However lip liner will help with a more accurate and crisp application.

One thing I would say about these lipsticks, and L'Oreal Color Riche lipsticks in general, is that they don't have the best smell - they smell quite perfumed. I'm not the biggest fan of that, however I'm willing to overlook it because the colours are so beautiful. 

Each lipstick retails for £6.99 from Boots or Superdrug, which I think is a really good deal. Quite regularly you can get a 3 for 2 on L'Oreal products at Boots and Superdrug, and they have one on at the moment so get yourself down there! 

Overall, I would definitely recommend this product, I'm sure I'm going to be wearing Blake's and Eva's red's to death through the Autumn.

Thanks for reading everyone, hope you enjoyed.

Love H ♥

A knack for nutrition

Hi pals

I just really quickly wanted to write a little post about my friend Ellie, who runs an amazing nutrition, lifestyle and travel blog.

Instagram: ellie_cheale

Facebook: All People Smile in the Same Language

Her blog has such a feel good factor and I absolutely love it. We are both relatively new to the whole blogging thing and so we thought it would be a great idea to give each other a helping hand and share one another with our readers. 

If you love to try out new healthy recipes, activities and more... Then Ellie's blog is the place to go for inspiration. She's an amazing girl, so go give her some love! 

http://www.ellessecheale.uk/

You won't be disappointed.

Thanks for reading guys. 

Love H ♥

Mumma's cakes

Sarah Davis Cakes

So my beaut Mum literally makes the most amazing cakes ever and I just wanted to write a quick post about them because, well they're the best. As is she.

My Mum started baking cakes for people absolutely ages ago as a hobby more than anything, but now she is always super busy creating beautiful wedding cakes, crazy birthday cakes, cute cupcakes and awesome personalised cakes for many loyal and new clients. What makes her cakes so special is that she's not only amazing at baking them and I mean it when I say that they are DELICIOUS, but she spends so much time on the decoration and the attention to detail is superb. She really studies the client to ensure that the cake is the perfect one for them, which makes every cake unique and personal to the client. 

Every cake is made with so much dedication and love and I MAY be a little biased, but they are the best cakes I've ever tried. 

I would absolutely love it if you would take some time to check out her Facebook page and you can see for yourself! Don't forget to Like, Comment and Share with your friends on Facebook - that would mean the absolute world to her.

For all bookings and enquiries email sarahkitney@hotmail.com.

Thank you for reading guys! 

I'll speak to you in my next post.

Love H ♥

My festive pumpkin soup recipe

Hey everyone! 

I really want to share with you my recipe for pumpkin soup because it's getting to that time of the year where I love to make warming, homely food. Soup is something I associate with Autumn and Winter and so I made pumpkin soup recently and thought I would share.

I absolutely love pumpkin, it's one of my favourite ever vegetables. I get so excited for this time of year because they come back to supermarkets and I can go crazy and experiment. The other day I was shopping and wasn't expecting to see edible pumpkins on the shelves, but there they were!!! You can imagine the delight. So obviously I bought one, and a load of other ingredients to make my festive pumpkin soup. Perfect for Autumn.

What you will need:

● 1 small edible pumpkin

● 1/2 of a large butternut squash OR 1 small one

● 2 large carrots

● 4 large potatoes (you could use sweet potato if you wanted)

● 150g of mixed baby sweet peppers (apprx. 6 baby peppers)

● 1/2 of a white onion 

●1/2 of a red onion 

● 1 clove of garlic 

● 1 vegetable stock cube OR chicken stock cube if you prefer

● Dried chilli flakes

● A pinch of nutmeg

● A pinch of cayenne pepper 

● A pinch of smoked paprika

● Sea salt and coarse cracked black pepper to season

● A large pan to boil the veg

● A medium sized frying pan
● A blender (handheld or normal)

This recipe will serve approximately 6 people. You can freeze the left overs and defrost whenever you want, or keep in the fridge for up to a week, no longer.

Method:

1. Cut the pumpkin, squash, carrots and potatoes into 1 inch pieces. 

2. Add the veg to a large pan filled with seasoned cold water and leave to boil.

3. Cut the peppers and onions into 1 inch pieces and chop the garlic into thick slices. Leave veg to one side.

4. When the boiling vegetables are close to being done (test a piece of pumpkin to make sure - a knife should slice through easily), turn the heat off and leave in the hot water while you lightly fry the onion, peppers and garlic in a splash of olive oil. 

5. While the veg is frying, add dried chilli flakes (quantity depending on how hot you want it), a pinch of nutmeg, a pinch of cayenne pepper and a pinch of smoked paprika. You can now boil the kettle ready for the stock.

6. Once the onions are transparent and the peppers have softened, you can remove the veg from the heat.

7. Drain the boiled vegetables and add back into the pan. 

8. Add the fried vegetables to the veg in the pan and add a litre of stock. If need be, you can add more hot water from the kettle until the water is almost covering the top of the vegetables.

9. Put the pan back on the heat, and leave to simmer until the vegetables are completely soft and all of the flavours have combined.

10. Once the vegetables are completely done, you can take the pan off the heat and blend. If you are using a handheld blender (like I did), you can do this while it's still hot, but be careful as it might splash up. And it burns. Trust me, I know. If you are using a normal blender I would recommend leaving the veg to cool a little. You will also need another pan to put the blended soup into, as you will probably need to blend in batches.

11. Once everything is blended and the soup is smooth, you can season again if needed. Then, you can serve and enjoy!!!

Serving recommendation:

Add croutons to the top of the soup for some added texture, OR serve with a warm, buttered, crusty roll for dipping! Mmmmm.

Thanks so much for reading, I hope I've inspired you to make some yummy pumpkin soup.
Speak to you in my next post.

Love H ♥

What's in my makeup bag?

A question I get asked a lot as a makeup artist; what products do I use on myself/what's in my makeup bag? All of the products I use I would recommend a million times over, and so I'm going to share them all with you in this post. I do change up my makeup a lot as you can imagine, but these are the products that I'm reaching for at the moment. I'm not going to include the brushes that I use on a daily basis in this post, if you'd like to see a seperate post about those then just let me know in the comments. WARNING: This might be a rather long post.

1. Smashbox Photo Matte Anti Shine Primer 

We all know I've got oily skin, and so this primer is literally a God-send. I love this primer so much. It does such a fantastic job a smoothing out my pores and making them look flawless (much like the benefit porefessional in texture). But it also keeps me matte all day long. I do tend to use matte finish foundation which I think helps a lot when keeping me matte, however when I don't use this primer I can see by the end of the day that the oils in my skin are more visable and I tend to have to blot throughout the day. I have a horrible feeling that this primer is discontinued :'( but if I can find a link to it then I will link it above.

2. There are two foundations that I tend to switch between on a daily basis. The first being Revlon Colourstay for combination/oily skin. Mine is in this shade... I use this foundation when I want a more full covereage finish. I looooove this foundation it's my favourite drugstore foundation and I will continue to repurchase this for a long, long time. They have a range for normal/dry skin too which leaves a more dewy finish to the skin so there's somethig for everyone. The second foundation I swear by is MAC Face and Body . I use this foundation when I want next to no coverage, just a little colour. I freaking adore this product so much that I have shades in my kit too. It's so ideal for use all over the body (covering discoloration on the legs, evening out skin tone etc.) but also it's a great foundation for more mature skin. It's so thin in consistency that it doesn't settle into fine lines or look cakey which is perfect for someone with mature skin. The foundation can leave quite a dewy finish to the skin but what I love about it is that if you work it between your fingers and then apply, it sort of changes to a thicker consistency and has a more powdery finish. I know that sounds weird but it's ideal for more oily skin types. It's like a 2 in 1. Amazing. Love. 

3. Origins Plantscription Anti Ageing Concealer

Concealer is my thing. Everytime I'm in a makeup store or at a makeup counter, concealer is the thing I gravitate towards. I don't know why! My favourite at the moment is the Origins Plantscription one, however concealer is really something that I change up A LOT. If you'd like to see a post on my favourite concealers then comment below and let me know! That might be easier than trying to list all of my faves in this post! Anyway, the Origins concealer is amazing. It's got such good coverage but isn't too thick and cakey for underneath the eyes. They have a variety of good shades, I personally use the colour Light underneath my eyes to brighten and cancel out any dark circles. It also has anti ageing qualities which is never a bad thing. I love using this concealer on clients too. It's a must have in my opinion!  

4. MAC Studio Finish Concealer
I have this concealer in my makeup bag too for covering blemishes. I use the colour NC30 as this matches my face the best. The consistency of this concealer is perfect for covering blemishes and hiding any imperfections, but it is far too thick to be used underneath the eyes. You can get away by using the tiniest amount to colour correct over your under eye concealer, however on it's own it's too much. I've used it in that area before and I ended up with creasing and flaking and IT WASN'T PREDDY. But yeah, it's amazing for spot concealing!!!

5. Chanel Les Beiges

This product is sooo beaut. It's a powder that gives super light but buildable coverage that you can use to set your base. I love using this to set my foundation becuase it's so light that it doesn't turn cakey. You know sometimes when you set your foundation and then look up close at your face and you've suddenly turned into Mrs Cake? Not with this beauty. I personally love this powder, I carry it everywhere. It's so perfect for touch ups throughout the day due to it's super light coverage and handy compact. Would recommend this to everyone!

6. L'Oreal Glambronze in Golden Bronze

I have grown a real love for this bronzer, I didn't think I would love it as much as I do. It's the only one I reach for at the moment, and let me tell you I have a LOT of bronzers. It's such a good colour for me, not too orange and not too ashy. It could potentially be used as a contour shade, but it does have the tiniest little bit of shimmer in it, so I prefer to use another product to contour. I would seriously recommend this bronzer I think it's so good for the price! For me it beats my Bourjois chocolate bronzer and my MAC MSF's. 

7. Sleek Contour Kit in Light

This contour kit is such a handy thing to have in your makeup bag! The quality of Sleek makeup is amazing anyway, but their ideas and the way they package their products is so ideal. So in this kit you get a highlight colour, a contour colour and a blush colour. All of the products are really good quality and I just find this handy little palette the most perfect thing to keep in my makeup bag for every day use. The blush shade in the palette reminds me a lot of NARS Orgasm, which is awesome. I just think for the price, you get a lot of great quality product and I recommend to everyone! 

8. MAC eye shadows in Omega and Charcoal Brown

I am obsessed with using these two colours for filling in my brows at the moment. I bought these shadows forever ago under the recommendation of Tanya Burr. Not directly (I wish) - through watching her videos on YouTube. They really are the perfect colours for creating a natural defined brow. I feel like they suit everyone and so that's why they are most definitely a part of my pro kit too! The colours are not too red, not too ashy, just the perfect inbetween and they look stunning through the brows. I personally use Omega through the head of the brow to define while keeping it natural, and then I use Charcoal Brown through the tail of my brow. These shadows are what I reach for every day without fail. Sleek's Brow Kit in Light actually has a very similar colour to Charcoal Brown, so I would recommend checking that out for a more affordable option!

9. NYX Jumbo Eye Pencil in Gold

I keep this in my makeup bag because it's such an easy product to throw on for an every day look. It blends out beautifully and the colour is stunning. The majority of the time I would wear this just on it's own for a really simple look, but I also like to use Charcoal Brown in the crease to give the eye some more definition and add a little something to the look. I also love to carry this incase I want to use my Naked 3 palette (which I also keep in my makeup bag) as it acts as the perfect base for most of the shades in that palette. I would recommend any of the NYX Jumbo Eye Pencils. 

10. Urban Decay Naked 3 Palette

I know a whole eyeshadow palette seems a little excessive to have in my makeup bag, but I don't take my makeup bag with me everywhere. I just carry with me the essentials I'll need to top up my look throughout the day. However, I feel that having a palette in my everyday makeup bag just makes it easier to quickly achieve a nice eye makeup look in the morning, especially if I'm in a rush! 

11. L'Oreal Volume Million Lashes Mascara in Extra Black
This mascara is suuuuper lengthening which is why I love it so much. The combination of the plastic bristled brush and the wet formula of the product makes for a really nice, non-clumpy mascara. You can build it up to create more volume, but I love using one coat as it doesn't clump and gives the perfect amount of length for me.

12. L'Oreal gel eyeliner in 01 Pure Black 

I don't always use eye liner on a daily basis, but I do keep it in my makeup bag just incase. Sometimes when I'm not feeling doing anything dramatic with my eye makeup I will do a winged liner to add a little something to the look instead. I love the L'oreal one as it doesn't tend to transfer as much as others that I have tried, but it can still transfer a little.

13. Tanya Burr lipgloss in Chic

Lip products are another thing that I adore, you could call it an obsession. My lip product literally changes every day; I wear a colour depending on how I'm feeling. 9 times out of 10 I will probably select a nude, however with autumn coming up I'm starting to get back into my darker lip colours. So for my nude I will usually gravitate towards Chic by Tanya Burr Cosmetics. I loveeeeeeee this lipgloss, it's the most perfect shade of nude for me. I love the smell, the consistency, the price. Everything. Would 100% recommend any lipgloss from the line. 

14. Maybelline Baby Lips in Cherry Me

For a really wearable pop of colour I've been loving using this Baby lips lip balm. It's so moisturising but also adds a really nice subtly pop of colour, and so is literally perfect for the transition into the colder months. I would recommend all of the baby lips balms from the line, I love them all.

15. Gold Shu Uemura Eyelash Curlers

As I'm sure you know, I feel that eyelash curlers are super important for completing a makeup look. I feel like curling the lashes adds another element to the makeup and I personally feel that if I don't curl my lashes then my look isn't complete. I know some people find curling their lashes scary, but if you can get the hang of it, you'll be so amazed what a difference it can make. I use the shu uemura ones as I feel that they are the best quality ones I've tried to far. I would absolutely recommend them to anyone and everyone! 

Thank you so much for reading guys, I hope you made it to the end without being bored! I apologise it was a long post.

Hope you enjoyed this post, and I'll see you in my next one :-)

Love H ♥

Green, blue and purple gradient liner

Hey everyone! So I thought I'd share with you a quick post on this gradient liner that I created today. I wasn't really sure what I was going to do when I started my makeup this morning, but this is how it turned out... 

To create the multi-coloured liner, I first mapped out the liner with a white base. To do this I used the NYX white eyeshadow base, which is basically NYX Jumbo Eye Pencil in Milk in a melted form which has been put in a convenient little pot. Amazing stuff! 

To do the majority of the liner I used the Louise Young LY24A brush and to create the wing I used the LY37 brush. 

I then packed on the green eyeshadow colour on the inner third of the eye, then the blue in the middle and the purple on the outer corner and the wing, making sure to blend each colour into the last as I did so. This creates the gradient/ombre effect. Of course you could create this look using any three eyeshadows you wish, you could even use more than three shadows, or less! It's really versitile. Once all the colour was on, I went back underneath the wing with the white base and my LY24A brush to create a straight line to make the look more intense. I think the white finishes it off perfectly. You could do this part with a black liner if you wanted for a more wearable look, but I chose to use white.  

I then curled my lashes with my Shu Uemura eyelash curlers and added a coat of mascara.

As you can see from the picture above, I first paired it with a nude lip, which is great for a wearable option as there is so much going on with the eye. However, I then wanted to try it with a bright orangey-red lip, which I love for a more dramatic look. 

PS: Excuse the blemish scarring on my cheeks, I don't have foundation on in the picture, just fake tan and some concealer as I'm trying to give my skin a rest!!!! :(

Thanks for reading guys, I hope you liked this post! 

Be sure to leave me a comment below and let me know what you thought :-) 

Speak to you in my next post.

Love H ♥

Anastasia Beverly Hills Contour Kit - Review

The Anastasia Beverly Hills Contour Kit is a palette of sculpting powders, perfect for setting highlight and contouring the face. There are a range of different colours and tones meaning this product is going to be great for a wide range of people.         

On the side of the packaging it tells you all of the colours that are inside: Sand, Vanilla, Banana, Java, Fawn and Havana. However each individual pan can be taken out of the palette and on the back of each pan is the name (which is handy if ever you need to take a colour out of the palette). 

I believe you can actually buy the pans individually which means you can refill your colours without buying the whole palette again, which is awesome! 

I absolutely love the formula of these powders, they are silky smooth and set the face beautifully. They don't cake up and look chalky which I also love. All of the powders are matte except from Sand, which is slightly shimmery and so this colour is a perfect cheekbone, browbone and inner corner highlight! I would have to say my favourite colour BY FAR is Banana. I just love that they have included this yellow shade, I haven't known any other brand to have such a good shade for highlighting under the eyes. It reminds me a lot of a pressed version of Ben Nye Banana powder, which I also adore! 

L-R: Vanilla, Banana, Sand, Java, Fawn and Havana.

The palette retails at £45 and you can order it online on the Cult Beauty website. I know £45 sounds like a lot, but these powders will last you a really long time and they are super good quality! So I think it's really worth it, I wouldn't recommend it to you if I didn't think it was worth the money. 

As a makeup artist, this palette is so ideal as it has a variety of different colours that you can do so many different things with, all in a handy palette. So if you are a makeup artist I would strongly recommend getting this palette! And if you're not, then I would still strongly recommend it haha. EVERYONE NEEDS TO GET IT. I'm kidding, but it is so, so good.

I hope that this short review has helped you out if you were debating whether to purchase this palette or not!

Speak to you soon! 

Love H ♥

10 tips on how to make your eyes look bigger

My friend recently asked me "Holly, how can I make my eyes appear bigger?!" and thinking about it, there are so many little things you can do to make your eyes look bigger and "wider awake". My friend and I both have hooded eyes, where not much of our eyelid shows when we have our eyes open, so I'm going to talk about how to apply eyeshadow to hooded eyes and I'm going to share with you a few tips on how you can easily make your eyes appear bigger. You'll be amazed at how much of a difference these simple steps can make. 

The picture below shows my eye completely bare. 

As you can see I do have quite hooded eyes, which can be a nuisance when doing eye makeup. First and foremost for my fellow hooded eye pals, the most important thing when applying eyeshadow is to ensure that you are blending UP and OUT. When hooded eyes are open, very little of the eyelid shows, so in order for your eyeshadow to show when you have your eyes open, it needs to be blended up to the crease and out towards to tail of the brow. Don't be afraid to blend too high, chances are you're not. It needs to be blended further than the norm otherwise you won't be able to see it when you open your eyes. Obviously make sure you are BLENDINGGGG, it's so important. If you were to go up that high and not blend the eye shadow it would look awful. Blending is key!!! 

2. Using a light shimmery colour all over the lid will make your eyelids appear bigger. However for more mature skin I would recommend a light matte colour, as shimmery colours tend to show up fine lines and don't flatter more mature skin as much as they do younger skin. 

3. Use a darker colour on the outer half of the eye. This is where the UP and OUT steps are key! These steps basically mimic what a winged liner would do. However for hooded eyes, winged liner can sometimes be to harsh. Having a thick black line across the lash line can close up the eye lid and make the lid appear smaller, so by just using a darker shadow on the outer half of the eye, we can still wing out but it won't be as harsh.

4. Use a darker colour underneath the lower lashline on the OUTER half. If you blend this colour all the way in to the inner corner you're eyes will be closed off completely making them look smaller. If you keep the darker colour on the outer half and put a light shimmery highlight colour in the inner corner, you are opening up the eye.

5. Shape and sculpt the brows so that you have an arch. This will make the eyes appear bigger and will create the illusion that you have more space on the eyelid. It really helps!

6. Add a brow bone highlight. A shimmery colour will refelct light and make the brow appear even more arched but a matte light colour would work too.

7. If you're not wearing too much eyeshadow, just add a soft warm toned brown in the crease. 

This doesn't have to be a harsh cut crease, just a soft wash of colour will make the eyes appear more deep set and will create the illusion of a larger eyelid area. You could use a darker colour to create a cut crease higher than your natural one to make the lid appear bigger, but this can sometimes look unnatural.

8. CURL THOSE LASHES GURL. 

Curling the lashes is so important! Just look at how much of a difference it makes! It really opens up the eyes and instantly makes you look more awake. I would say it's really important to invest in a good pair of eyelash curlers. My favourite are the Shu Uemura eyelash curlers, I haven't found a pair that I like more as of yet. At £20 they really are quite pricey, but sooo worth it. 

9. Mascara!

Mascara makes a real difference. A lengthening mascara will make your eyes appear a lot bigger. You don't want to add too much mascara as if the lashes get too clumpy it can easily start to close the eye area up and that's not what we're looking to do here. An ideal mascara for this would be Benefit They're Real as it's a really nice wet mascara. For a cheaper alternative, L'Oreal Volume Million Lashes will do the same thing! Feel free not to add mascara on the bottom lashes if you don't like doing that, but it will again make your eyes appear bigger.

10. As seen in the above picture... Nude eyeliner in the waterline! This will do amazing things for your eyes. Be sure to sharpen the eyeliner everytime you use it, there's nothing worse than a blunt nude eyeliner getting all over the roots of your bottom lashes!!! Some people like to apply a white eyeliner in the waterline, but personally I think that looks too harsh and unnatural. It's perfect to use for character makeup when exaggerating eye sizes, but for a natural everyday look I would recommend using a nude rather than a white.

Obviously you don't have to have hooded eyes to use these tips, some of them will make any eye shape appear bigger. But hooded eyes will really benefit from all of these tips!

I really hope that this helped you!!! (FERN) ;)

If you have any other questions be sure to leave them in the comments section. I'd be more than happy to answer them for you. 

Speak to you soon! 

Love H ♥

A subtle pink and grey smokey eye

     

Face: 

Bourjois Healthy Mix foundation in No56 Light Bronze mixed with L'Oreal True Match foundation in Golden Beige. 

Dermacolor Camouflage mini concealer palette NR.3 in colours D10 and D5 to correct.

Origins Plantscription Concealer in Light.

L'Oreal Lumi Magique in Light.

Anastasia Beverley Hills contour powders in Banana, Fawn, Java and Sand. Banana to highlight under the eyes, Fawn to contour, Java to bronze and Sand to highlight the cheekbones.

MAC blush in Pink Swoon.

Eyes: 

Sleek brow kit in Light.

Avon eyelid primer in Light Beige.

Urban Decay Naked 3 Palette. Strange all over the lid and to highlight the brow bone, Dust used wet as a pigment all over the lid, Darkside in the crease and outer corners, and L'Oreal Glam Bronze Bronzer in Golden Bronze as transition shade.

Shu Uemura gold eyelash curlers. 

L'Oreal Volume Million Lash in Extra Black. 

Rimmel London Scandal Eyes eyeliner in Nude in the waterline. 

Lips:

L'Oreal Colour Riche lipstick in 235 Nude. 

Tanya Burr Cosmetics lipgloss in Chic. 

Thanks for reading!

Love H ♥

A few of my skincare essentials

Okay so I wanted to share with you some skin care products that I am really, really happy with. I've probably mentioned before that I have oily blemish-prone skin, which is an absolute nightmare (for me), when trying to find skin care products that actually work. I don't have particularly sensitive skin, however I don't like to use anything too harsh just incase it starts to break me out. After years and years of trial and error, at this particular moment in time, I am super happy with my skin care routine. So in this post I will be sharing with you a few of my favs! (These are not ALL of the products I use in my routine, just a selection). I would truly recommend any of these products to you if you have a similar skin type to me; and some of them would be ideal for those of you with dry or combination skin too, but I'll mention all of that when I get to the individual products. So let's get started!!! 

1. Elizabeth Arden 8 Hour Cream (Fragrance Free)

I have had this product for a long time now, and still haven't found anything I like more for moisturising my lips! It really can make the most chapped of lips look smooth and moisturised if used everyday. Honestly, if you suffer from dry or chapped lips it will quite literally change your life. This product has found a permanent place in my professional makeup kit; my clients absolutely love it! You can find this product in Boots if they have an Elizabeth Arden counter, or you can buy online from several different stores. I've linked Feel Unique up above.

2. E45 Moisturising Lotion

This product is another tried and tested one of mine. I absolutely love using this on my clients because it's so good for every skin type. It moisturises dry skin really nicely, leaving it feeling smooth and looking hydrated, however it is non-greasy and so isn't too much for oily skin (I would know!) Another reason I love this product is because it's fragrance free and hypoallergenic meaning it's really great for sensitive skin too. It really is an all rounder. And sooooo cheap too! It's around £5.50 for 500 ML. AMAZING. LOVE. OK. MOVING ON. 

3. Bioderma Sensibo H2O Micelle Solution

Now I think everyone and their mother has raved about Bioderma for YEARS now, but with really good reason. It is an amazing product for getting off makeup or just pre-cleansing the face before applying any makeup. It's sooo gentle on the skin and is fragrance free so good for sensitive skin types. I can't recommend this product enough, if you can get your hands on it, do it! It is quite hard to get hold of, I believe there are only a few small chemists and pharmacies that hold it in the U.K. I found mine in a chemist called Zest in Soho, London. But you can find it easier online. This is another product that I cannot live without in my makeup kit.

4. Avène Thermal Spring Water

This product isn't really everyday "skincare" as such, it's kind of just a glorified water spray, but it is a really nice product. I love using this to refresh my face throughout the day or even on a hot day it's great to spray all over to cool you down. I tend to use this on clients before I start the makeup to refresh the skin and prepare it for the makeup. It is around the £10.00 mark so quite expensive for what it is, but if you're willing to pay that much then I would totally recommend it. 

5. Kiehl's Ultra Facial Oil-free Cleanser

Now this is a product that is really particular to your skin type, I would NOT recommend this at all if you have normal to dry skin. This really is a product for oily skin types. This product is sooo good at cleansing oily skin, it really gets rid of excess oils and impurities. However, even if you have super oily skin, I wouldn't recommend using this as your daily cleanser, just because it is so strong. I personally love the feeling it gives the skin once you've used it, it's just like the feeling you get when you wash your body with a bar of soap, like squeaky! But one of my close friends also has oily skin and she really doesn't like the feeling of this cleanser. So it really is a personal thing. I would suggest going to your nearest Kiehl's store if you can, and seeing what they have to say. They're really helpful in there!

6. Bobbi Brown Extra Repair Moisturising Balm

This is a new found love of mine. This moisturising balm is so rich and creamy, it makes the skin feel so smooth. It has ingredients in it that help to boost natural collagen production and help to keep the skins moisture locked in. I use this before bed, as it is quite rich for me during the day as I have oily skin. But for those of you with dry skin this would be amazing for you during the day and at night. This is a really expensive product at around £60.00, and I haven't purchased it just yet, (the pot in the picture is just a tester). However, I am absolutely going to purchase it when I run out, no doubt about it, and I will  be buying a tub for my kit too!!! 

7. GlamGlow Supermud ClearingTreatment

Okay. So this product is one of my absolute all time favourites. If out of this whole list of products you fancy buying one but don't know which, make it this one! This will not disappoint you. So this product is an intense clearing treatment in the form of a charcoal mud mask. It quite literally PULLS out the impurities in your skin, you can see it happening. There are similar things on the market, I believe Origins make a really good clay mud mask. But this one has been soo talked about and hyped up that I really think it's worth the investment. Yes, investment. It's not cheap. It retails at about £40.00 for a 34g tub. But oh my it's so worth it! If you click on the link above it will take you to the webpage, where you can read the list of things that this does for your skin. Amazing stuff.

8. No7 Protect and Perfect Eye Cream & No7 Beautiful Skin Overnight Eye Balm

Last but not least, these babies! I love No7 skin care products I think they are such good quality for the price. I use the eye cream in the morning and the overnight eye balm in the evening (obviously). I really love they P&P eye cream for making my under eyes appear more radiant and smoothing out those little fine lines, and the overnight balm for improving my dark circles and reducing puffiness.

And so that's it!

I really hope that you enjoyed reading this post and maybe learnt about some new products! 

If you want to see a more in depth review or demo about any of the products I've mentioned, then just be sure to leave a comment below and I will do that for you :-)
Also leave a comment telling me what your favourites are, I would love to know, I'm all about trying new products!

Thanks for reading guys, I'll speak to you in my next post.

Love H ♥

Bobbi Brown foundation sticks - Review

Highlighting and contouring has become so, so popular over the past few years, now everyone wants that gorgeous Kim K sculpted look. And why not?! I personally love the contoured look. There are so many different products out there that you can use to achieve this kind of look, but today I'm going to talk about my favourite. The Bobbi Brown Foundation Stick.  

Bobbi Brown Foundation Sticks - £29.00 each 

So, by the name of the product you can probably guess that this is a foundation in stick form. The foundation sticks have what I would describe as a cream to powder finish, which makes them feel super lightweight on the skin, but still give a really good coverage. This product is really great for all skin types; it will stay on all day as it has AMAZING lasting power, but won't dry out your skin at all. It's just the perfect in between. Now, this product can be used on it's own as a foundation, however I like to use this product over the top of foundation as a contour and highlight base (meaning I will apply powder contour and highlighting products over the top of them once the foundations have been set). It is completely up to you how you use this product, it is so versatile there really is no "proper" way to use it. So I'm going to be showing you how you can achieve a subtle contoured and highlighted effect using the BB Foundation Sticks.

The highlight colour that I use is called 1 Warm Ivory. This colour is a really good highlighting colour for me, but they have a wide range of colours on the website that you can choose from, this shade won't necessarily work for everyone!

The contour colour that I use is called 6.5 Warm Almond, which I think is a really good contour shade for a variety of skin tones. It's is quite a warm toned brown, which usually I would stay away from when contouring, but when used as a contour base product, it works really well and adds a little more of a bronzed look to the finished makeup, (which I love!)

So the first thing that I like to do is apply a base coat of foundation to even out my skin tone, for this look I used the Revlon Colourstay foundation in 330 Natural Tan. I also concealed a little underneath my eyes with the Origins Plantscription Anti-Aging concealer in 01 Light. (Amazing concealer, might have to do a review!)

Once I had applied those two products and blended everything out, I then applied my BB stick in Warm Ivory to the highest parts of my face. This includes: the cheekbones, the bridge of the nose, centre of the forehead, above the tail of the brow, cupids bow, lower cheeks and chin. The reason you apply the highlight colour to these areas is because these are the areas we want to appear more prominent. Applying the colour under the eye aswell as on the cheekbones will make your eyes appear brighter and is more flattering.

The next thing to do is apply the contour colour to the following parts of the face: the temples, in the hollows of the cheeks (under cheekbones), along the jaw line, down the sides of the nose, along the hair line and underneath the lower lip. Applying this colour to these areas will intensify the natural shadows of the face, resulting in it appearing more structured and chiseled. 

You can apply less or more of each product depending on how intense you want the look to be; I kept mine pretty subtle. 

Once you have all of the contour and highlight colour placed in the areas you want, you can start to blend them out. I like to use a small stippling brush to do this as I think it works really well in ensuring that the product is blended seamlessly. The brush that I use is the Zoeva Petite Stippling 122 brush, but really you can use any brush that you feel comfortable with. A blending sponge would work just as well, or you could even use your fingers if you prefer!

I like to blend all of my highlight colour first and then move on the the contour colour, because then you are making sure that you get no dark colour in the areas that you want to keep nice and bright. 

Once everything is blended, you can go on to complete the rest of your makeup. For this look I just went for a simple winged liner and nude lip. 

So, the point of this post was really to talk about the BB foundation sticks and how I like to use them, so I kept the look pretty subtle. However, contouring and highlighting can completely transform your face and can be done a lot heavier than how I've shown it here (E.G Kim K). If you want to see a full on contour and highlight routine then just let me know in the comments!! 

I hope you found this post helpful and maybe learnt something new! If you have any questions be sure to leave them in the comments, I am more than happy to answer them for you!

Speak to you soon :-)

Love H ♥

My favourite nude lip products of the moment

As much as I love to experiment with colour, nudes will always be my favourite lip colours. I don't usually go for pinky toned nudes for myself, I'm much more of a peachy brown toned nude girl. So here's a look into my favourite 6 nude lip products of the moment. I hope you enjoy!!!!

My first favourite is actually the most rescent addition to my collection. It's the L'oreal natural blondes lipstick in 235 Nude. 

It's a much darker nude than I would usually go for, but I'm really liking the sophisticated look of this product at the moment. This product has a super intense fragrance so if you don't like fragranced lipsticks then this isn't for you, but it's not a horrible smell. 

In terms of colour payoff and pigmentation I would give this product an 8/10. It's really pigmented and creamy but it's not like WOAH THAT'S PIGMENTED. You know? Haha. I really love the formula of this product and am excited to try out more from the line. 

My second favourite is probably my favourite of them all and is the one I reach for the most! I think everybody and their dog has raved about this product, and ima rave some more. This is the Rimmel London Apocalips Lip Lacquer in Nude Eclipse. 

I love this product with all my heart. The colour is my absolute perfect nude shade for starters! 

And secondly I love the matte formula of this product. It looks so good on the lips and stays put for soooo long. It doesn't have the best smell in the world but I can get over that. It's just the best product to throw on effortlessly and still look great. I highly recommend this product and all the other colours from the Apocalips line. 

My next favourite is the Revlon Colourburst lipgloss in Bellini. 

I really like this peachy toned gloss, it gives a really nice natural sheen to the lips and had pretty good colour payoff. I find myself reaching for this gloss a lot on hot days when I just want to look effortless and glowy. 

My next nude is MAC's Creme D'Nude lipstick. 

I really, really love the colour of this product, and the smell and the formula and the pigmentation and well, everything. Hoooowever, it has a really thick and creamy consistency so you have to be really careful that you don't apply too much, or it can look really awful! I tend to just pat the product onto my lips with my finger to ensure I don't over do it. Other than that, I love this lipstick!!! 

My next favourite is YSL's Sheer Candy lipstick in Coco Givrée. 

I have already done a review on this product so if you want hear what I think about this lipstick (I LOVE IT), then go check out that blog post. 

My final favourite nude lip product is the NYX Mega Shine Lipgloss in Sugar pie. 

I cannot say enough good things about this product. I love everything about it and the smell is AMAZING. It smells so good guys I can't even tell you. 

This product is another one that's just so effortless. It doesn't have the most amazing staying power but I don't mind applying it again as I love the taste haha. Weirdo. Anyway, I really recommend this product, it's my favourite colour from the mega shine line, I haven't loved any other one as much as I love this one and I've bought a few!! 10/10 in my opinion! 

I hope you guys have enjoyed reading this post and I have maybe given you an excuse to go out and grab a new nude lip product ;) 

Thanks so much for reading, 

Love H ♥