Halloween!!!

 

I've never really made much of a big deal of Halloween back home, but here everyone goes mental for it, particularly for nights out! We celebrated Halloween on Tuesday and Thursday this week going all out, so I thought I'd show you what I went as.

 

The first night out was not really planned so a quick trip to town was required to pick up some face paints and make up and I wore all black.

 

 

We all went for a similar theme! And just as a side note, Lola Lo's is my favourite place to go, so if you're ever in Reading for a night out definitely check it out!

 

Make up wise, I used white face paint all over (although you can't really tell because I'm that pale anyway!), then black face paint to contour and on my eyes to make my skin look sunken and zombie-like and then used red eyeshadow underneath my eyes. I did my eyebrows as normal using MAC's omega- this is so exciting by the way, I now have a MAC palette and am in the process of filling it up!! and then I did standard red lips using Rimmel's Kate Moss 107.

 

 

I was also a cat/leopard on one of the nights. I don't have an ootd shot

unfortunately but I wore a leopard print skirt from Primark and a plain black vest top tucked in. I also wore grey knee high socks pulled down and my grey heeled chelsea boots which are soooo comfy!! And obviously my £1 cat ears!

 

Make up this time was pretty standard, I think I used Rimmel's Stay Matte Liquid Mousse Foundation, Benefit's Sugarbomb Blush, MAC's woodwinked on my eyes along with lots of NYC's High Definition Felt Tip Eyeliner which I also used for my nose and whiskers, Maybelline The Falsies mascara and I think it was the Revlon Lip Butter in Pink Truffle.

 

What did you go as for Halloween and did you have a good night? Must start planning for next year so I want to know what you went as this year!!

 

Em x

Autumn Wishlist: Beauty

 

Maybelline Color Tattoo 24HR in On and On Bronze | MAC Custom Palette Eye Shadow x 15 | Revlon Colorstay Makeup for Combination/Oily Skin in Ivory | Real Techniques Starter Set | Alpha H Liquid Gold

 

With every new season, I find myself lusting after many new products. As I'm hoping to be off to uni this month (still waiting to see if I can have accommodation in halls- stress), a whole lot of new stuff needs to be bought, including make up and clothes- fashion wishlist coming soon, so these are some of things I want for Autumn/Uni.

 

I loooove my Maybelline Color Tattoo in Tough as Taupe and it is a perfect neutral/Autumn colour but everyone has On and On Bronze and it's such a wearable colour so I really want to try this in the Autumn.

 

Secondly, and probably the thing I want the most out of everything, is my own MAC palette. I'm sure you all know that you can build your own palettes to include colours that you like and will wear but it is a very long and expensive process. I'm sure everyone has had the dream to own one of these babies. The colours I'd choose are listed below the palette which I was able to select on the MAC website so if you want to pretend to live the dream, definitely check that out!

 

The Revlon Colorstay Foundation is something I've wanted for a while but recently, I've noticed more and more people talking about it and it seems as though it is a sign for me to get it. I like a foundation with good coverage as you know I have troubled skin that has had to deal with horrible spots for many years and I've heard such good things about it. If you have tried this, do let me know what you think, it's slightly more expensive than a normal foundation that I would go for so I want to make sure I'll definitely like it before I buy it.

 

My relationship with Real Techniques brushes, I feel, will be an everlasting one and as I'm getting more and more into eye make up, the starter set is definitely on my wishlist. I like how each brush has a specific purpose but you can still use them for whatever you like too as they're so versatile. Such good brushes and I highly recommend trying them if you want to kick start your brush collection.

 

Finally, I still want to try Alpha H Liquid Gold. I'm not sure if many people use this anymore but about a year ago this was one of the most hyped up products on the internet and the idea that something could make a difference to my skin so quickly is something I'm very interested in. I still haven't found anything that will sort my skin out, despite my love for the Boots Tea Tree and Witch Hazel range, but I think my skin must have just got used to it a bit as it's not working as well anymore. So, I'm after some Alpha H and anything else you can recommend to me?!

 

What's on your Autumn wishlist??

Florida Haul

Haha, this photo looks so distorted from the angle, but I'm back from Florida and before I fill you in on what we did for the rest of our time there following on from this post, I thought I'd do a haul.

I didn't end up buying any clothes or souvenirs from Florida as I couldn't find any that I liked and souvenir-wise, I was happy with just photos- however, I did want to build my make up collection partly because the exchange rates mean that make up is so much cheaper in America. So I got some make up.............

 

First, I bought these from Walmart. I'd wanted the Real Techniques Core Collection for ages, but thought I'd wait til America to get it slightly cheaper. However, they only had the 2.0 version which comes without the detailers brush and the case/stand. I must say I was a bit disappointed, but the remaining three brushes are the ones I would have used most anyway and I guess I can let the stand go. I also decided I needed some waterproof mascaras for any water parks/water rides at the theme parks in Florida. I picked up Revlon's Lash Potion in black and Maybelline The Falsies Waterproof mascara in brown/black. I then wanted both a Revlon Lip Butter in Pink Truffle and a Maybelline 24hr Colour Tattoo in Tough as Taupe. I actually picked this shade up by accident as I wanted the bronze one, but I still like this one. I don't think I paid more than $5 for each item except the brush set!

 

At a later date, I picked up this NYC Cheek Glow in Riverside Rose as I'm still just getting into make up and wanted to try out an inexpensive blush- this was $2.
The eyeliner I got free with a magazine from Heathrow!

 

I also tracked down a couple of MAC stores as you may have gathered. From the one in the Florida Mall, I bought a cremesheen lipstick in Crème Cup as I know a lot of people have it and it's very easy to wear.

And then from the Orlando Premium Outlets I got an eyeshadow in Woodwinked and another lipstick called Kinda Sexy in a matte finish.

 

I did plan on more MAC purchases at the airport in New York but $16 for an eyeshadow was too much but I bought my other one for $10.50!

 

Finally, as a complete surprise, Alex bought me some real Ray Bans from the Florida Mall! I had no idea he was going to, and I didn't approve of him spending that much on me, but they're so nice!

 

A successful trip's shopping I think!

What do you buy when you're on holiday? Also, if you have any other MAC purchase suggestions, let me know! Always keen to expand my collection!

 

June Favourites

Simple Soothing Facial Toner | L'oreal Nutrisummer Gradual Tan | The Body Shop Lip Butter

MAC Lipstick | Tea Tree Oil | Rimmel Apocalips | Collection Lasting Perfection Concealer | Converse

I wanted to do a proper beauty post this week since I did a recipe one the other day so, I'm going to do my first favourites post and I'm really excited!  My first favourite this month is the Simple Soothing Facial Toner and at £2.99 this is a really inexpensive but good toner. I've really got into using a toner recently, I use it after cleansing my face at night and although I haven't seen much difference in my problematic skin, it makes my skin feel super clean and nice. 

I've also really enjoyed using L'oreal's Nutrisummer Moisturising Lotion since the sun has been making a couple of appearances recently. Although I have struggled to find it online, I have seen it in a few Boots recently and when you're super pasty like me, it's great to whack this on to give a bit of colour. Using this after shaving gives super silky skin for the whole day and although it isn't instant colour, it does develop throughout the day and it isn't streaky- so big yes from me!

The main thing I can say about The Body Shop's Sweet Lemon Lip Butter is that it tastes and smells amazing! It is very moisturising and lasts for a long time, I like to use this last thing at night and again in the morning to smooth my lips before I put on a lipstick.

For  lipstick, I have been loving my new MAC lipstick. The colour is an amazing pinky orange but not too bright so perfect for everyday and the formula goes onto the lips so easily it feels like a balm. It doesn't have great colour pay off but it is buildable to it can become more intense, I thin it's perfect for summer!

Another lip product (so many lip products) I've been loving (along with everyone else in the world) is the Rimmel Apocalips. These are amazing. Such a great selection of colours, I have Nova which is an intense pink which is quite bright but has a slight blue undertone. The formulation is quite thick so the colour comes out amazingly and you don't need much as a little goes a long way. I like how it has a doe foot applicator so application is more precise than a lipstick and it lasts much longer than a standard lipstick- go Rimmel!

Tea Tree Oil has been the one thing in my skincare I keep going back to. It's natural so I'm not putting anything bad on my skin, I actually like the smell and it really helps to dry up any spots I get really quickly, however I haven't found anything which prevents them from coming back, so suggestions please!

The last beauty thing I've been loving is the Collection (2000) Lasting Perfection concealer to cover those pesky spots. This is so high coverage its perfect for hiding my "imperfections" however since I use the Tea Tree Oil to dry up my spots, I have to use quite a rich moisturiser to prevent this concealer from being cakey or accenuating the spot by sticking to the dry patches- do you know what I mean?

Lastly, I have been obsessed with my white converse. I got these quite recently for my upcoming trip to Florida to wear around the theme parks but obviously I have needed to wear them out to break them in... They go with everything and I have wanted them for so long, so comfy and such a shoe staple!

So there are my favourites for June, so glad that month is over, no more A levels! What were your favourite products in June? Feel free to leave your blog addresses below and I'll check them all out.

Let's get trying out stuff for my July favourites!

(Mainly) Sales Haul!

I am a self confessed sales hoarder, bargain hunter and discount buyer. Very rarely do I ever pay full price for something, unless it is completely spontaneous. So when I finally finished my A levels this week and on the same day found out The Body Shop were doing massive discounts I wanted to go asap! (Be warned, this is a long one!)

The first things I bought were the infamous body butters.

Body Butters- £5-13 The Body Shop

 

These were super cheap at £3 for 200ml (normally £13), the passion fruit one is for me and it smells so good! I also like the pink grapefruit and mango flavour ones and I love how rich these are.

 

 

The Sweet Lemon one is for my mum as she's never tried these before and always loves the smell of any that I've had before. 

 

Also from The Body Shop, I picked up some hair butter which I've never seen anything like before.

 

Rainforest Moisture Hair Butter- £3 The Body Shop

 

As I said before, I have really dry hair so I'm hoping this will help to hydrate it a bit more but for £3 you can't really go wrong!

 

The last thing from the body shop that I wanted to try was a lip butter.

 

Sweet Lemon Lip Butter - £4 The Body Shop

 

I love citrus-y scents and my lips are always so dry so I just fancied this, went a bit overboard with the butters!

 

I also bought this Travel Bottle Set for when I go on holiday so I don't have to take great big bottles of shower gels or shampoos with me.

 

Travel Bottle Set - £1 Poundland

 

Next I nipped to Superdrug to get something that has been on my To Buy list for a while.

 

Solait Face Sun Fluid - £2.48 Superdrug

 

I hatehatehate wearing sun cream on my face but I know how important it is so I recently found this online in SPF 50 and thought it would be perfect, especially as it's mattifying so it won't be greasy.

 

Then I went very naughtily into the Topshop sale where I had to heavily restrain myself but I did see this purple/maroon vest top which I thought looked light and casual enough to wear with shorts on holiday.

 

 

My last purchase today was from the glorious MAC counter in Debenhams and as it is 10% all beauty I thought this could be justified.

 

 MAC Frost Lipstick in Costa Chic - £14 Debenhams

 

This is my first ever MAC purchase so I am suuuper excited about it. I was looking for either a nude or a coral/orange/pink colour as I have lots of deep reds and a whole range of  pinks so I wanted something a bit different.

 

 

 

And when I saw the name, my boyfriend said I have to get it as Costa is my favourite place ever! So I'm really excited to wear this, but I feel like I have to be so careful with it and not ruin it because it's so pretty!

 

That's everything I bought today, I like to think I found some pretty good deals and I'm so happy with everything I bought.

 

Have you tried anything new recently?