Weekly favourites....

Sorry that this a day late!
Weekly faves time again, I'm quite enjoying doing this weekly post the way I've been doing it. It makes me use products that I haven't used in ages. Here's my 'Likes':

* Bourjois blush in '43 cendre de rose brune': I like this either on it's own or with e.l.f contour powder, but not so much with Benefit hoola bronzer

* Benefit highbeam: Again I like this with e.l.f bronzer or just with blush

* Urban decay primer potion: I do like this and will continue to use it, but to be honest I prefer the MUA eyeshadow primer


Now for 'not so likes:

* Natural collection lipstick in 'Sorbet': I liked this when I first applied it but as the day wore on and it faded I looked like I had been eating spaghetti sauce and had it left around the edges around my lips (not a good look) That and I was left with speckles of glitter on the centre of my lips

* E.l.f liquid liner in Black: I like the formula (once dry it does stay put) but I can't get away with the brush. It's very thin and flimsy so I find it hard to create a wing along my upper lashline


And last but not least Faves:

* MUA lipstick in shade 7: I love this colour, I changed to this after my disastrous look with the natural collection lippy

* Clinique high impact mascara: This is one of my all time favourite mascara's ever. It gives length, volume and is just amazing

* Benefit hoola bronzer: I bout this in a mini set a few months back and never used it more than once and twice. I love it and think this will probably now become par of my everyday routine

* Avon super shock liner: I used this once and fell in love (I'll be doing a full review of it) It is literally a gel liner in pencil form

* MAC blanc type eyeshadow: I decided to whip out my MAC palettes because I barely use them any more and want to start getting more use out of them. This is my favourite hightlight and all over lid colour

* MAC satin taupe eyeshadow: One of the first, if not my first, MAC eyeshadow. I forgot how pretty this is

* MAC memorabilia eyeshadow: Such a gorgeous and kind of unusual cool tone purple. I wore this on the days I didn't wear satin taupe, and got quite a few compliments on it

* Kleenex facial cloths: I had tow small sample packs of these and loved them so much I went out and bought a full size box. They're so soft and perfect for removing make up

* Marks and spencer perfume in 'dreamy days': I'm actually addicted to this and can't stop smelling it. It reminds me of a perfume my auntie used to wear called 'Tribe'

That's it for this weeks faves

Thanks for reading :)

Sxx

17 powders: which one wins?....

Lets talk face powders, in particular 17 powders. I first heard Ms budget beauty talk about 17 powder in one of her videos and she totally raved about it, saying it set her make up great and kept her foundation matte. So off I trotted to Boots in search of this powder. However I picked up the wrong one - I wanted to try out (and kind of still do) the 'shine control pressed powder' but accidently picked up the 'pressed powder' and didn't notice until I got home. I used it anyway and thought that when I've used it all up I'd buy the 'shine control pressed powder' two compacts of the 'pressed powder' later, I'm loving it!

Jeez do I know how to ramble! Anyway, I ran out of yet another 'pressed powder' and notice that 17 now make 'miracle matte pressed powder' so I thought 'meh why not?!' So I picked one up, I've hit pan and wanted to do a comparison:

Now, I say comparison but to be honest I find these powders (for me) are exactly the same and that's not a bad thing. It just means that if I can't get my hands on one, I know I can get the other one ;)

They both set my foundation great and give me a flawless finish, they both give me a matte finish and I don't need to re-powder throughout the day (may be down to my primer) The one thing I would say about the 'miracle matte' is that it's very powdery when I swirl my brush in and can get rather messy, I don't find this with the 'pressed powder'

I'd say deffo give either of these a go if you have oily skin. I used to used Rimmel stay matte powder until I found these and I won't be going back to Rimmel any time soon. I also prefer the packaging of these. Not only is it sleek, it closes properly and comes with a mirror which is always handy!

What do I give these powders?

* Pressed powder 5/5
* Miracle matte 4.5/5 (just because it gets slightly messy)

Have you tried these? Think I may have to try the 'miracle matte' foundation too!

Where to buy: Boots website

Thanks for reading :)

S xx

Collection: Barry M dazzle dusts....

I completely forgot I had a stash of Barry M dazzle dusts until I was going through my make up collection the other day. I used to wear them religiously when I first bought them, then as my make up collection (and addiction grew) sadly I forgot about them....until now that is :)

* 8 - white
* 10 - silver
* 14 - khaki
* 51 - taupe
* 53 - brown (warm tone)
* 88 - burgundy
* 90 - lilac
* 96 - gold

And I have some 'limited edition' I think they're limited edition - they came in sets at Christmas:

* Violet star (this is a fine glitter dust)

* Candy floss

* Apple green 

* Storm cloud

I think these might have to make it to my make up bag next week and get some use out of them. I forgot how pretty they are!

Does anyone know if I can use surgical spirit to press some of these?

Thanks for reading :)

S xx

Mini haul....

I did a little shopping over the weekend (and I mean little, mainly because I spent both Saturday and Sunday at the beach enjoying the sun) and I thought I'd share what I got:

Let's start with make up:

* No7 perfect lips pencil in '20 nude' was £7.50 but with the sale I paid £3.75

* MUA lipstick in 'shade 16 nectar' £1.00 (I heart MUA lipsticks!)

Beauty things:

* Marks and spencer perfume in 'Dreamy days' £3.50 'A pretty and delicate blend of lemon and bergamot with floral heart notes of lily of the valley, honey and magnolia drying down to warm aromas of cedarwood, amber and musk' Couldn't have said it better myself. It smells like heaven! Perfect for summer. This actually reminds me of Tribe perfume, anyone remember that or am I showing my age?! haha

* Kleenex facial clothes Were £1.99 but I had a 50p off voucher so got them for £1.49. I love these for removing my make up and applying cleanser!

* Superdrug cucumber facial cleansing wipes £1.00 I love using these for removing my make up before I cleanse my face properly, and they smell amazing!!

Random purchase:

* QUACK I bought this whilst the Olympics was still on, gotta show support for TeamGB right?! (Well don guys!) I got this for £3.99 from Aldi

Short but sweet today.

Thanks for reading :)

S xx

Weekly review: Beautiful disaster....

If you've read Monday's post you'll know that I've started a new weekly post, book reviews. This weeks book is 'Beautiful disaster' by Jamie McGuire.

This book is based on the relationship of two people in college: Abby - a seemingly goody two shoes with a secret past, and Travis - a tattoo covered, motorcycle riding, fighter bad boy.
Abby and Travis first meet at one of Travis' fights and Travis is instantly attracted to Abby, however Abby doesn't seem too keen on him, knowing he's the kind of guy she needs to stay away from. The two quickly become friends when Abby makes it quite clear to Travis that she's not interested, and when the boiler in Abby's dorms breaks down she ends up staying with Travis. During another of Travis's fights, the two end up making a bet: if Abby loses she has to live with Travis for a further month, and if Travis loses he has to go without sex for a full month - he has a reputation of being a total player. Abby loses the bet and has to stay in Travis's flat for another month, and the two become even closer. As the reader it's quite clear that they both have feelings for one another but neither will admit it.
Travis is very jealous whenever Abby talks to another guy, and very easily loses his temper which means they two continuously fight and fall out. Eventually things come to a head and Abby figures out that Travis has feelings for her and gets scared, so she decides that the only way to get him to lose these feelings is to sleep with him (him being the player he is, he usually sleeps with a girl then loses interest the next day) It doesn't work this time though and his feelings for her only heighten.
Abby eventually admits to her feelings for Travis and the two start to date, much to the amazement and amusement of their fellow students because Travis has never had a girlfriend, only one night stands. Their blissful relationship doesn't last though when Abby's past comes back to bite her in the backside, and the two end up breaking up for good. Neither of them is happy about the breakup but both think that it's what the other wants,so remain just friends, until Abby gets drunk at a party one night and Travis takes her home to sober up. And once again they end up back together, this time for good.

I won't spoil the ending, because it's really good and deffo worth all of the drama that the two have been through. It really does does deserve the title 'Beautiful disaster'
This isn't your typical love story of boy meets girl, they fall in love and live happily ever after. This is a gritty, drama filled love story of two people who want and need to be together and have to deal with and overcome their pasts to be happy together.
The only link that I see with this and 'fifty shades of grey' is the characters pasts and the need for them to overcome their problems to be together. It's definitely a book I'd read again, and one I would whole heartedly recommend to all of you who are a sucker for a love story.

I give this: 5/5

Amazon link

Do you have any good books that you'd recommend?

Thanks for reading :)

S xx

Weekly favourites....

OK it's Sunday, time for my weekly faves and again this week, I'm doing it slightly different again (see I always tell you I'm fickle!) Last week was a complete fluke that I loved everything that I was using, his week? Not much. I have some 'likes' 'not so likes' and some 'faves' from what I've been using. Let's start with 'Likes' -

* No7 black gel liner
* Benefit lipgloss in 'life on the A list'
* MUA blush in shade 2
* MAC paint pot in 'bare study'
* MUA every lash mascara

I still like all of the above products and will continue to use them, but they didn't make it to my faves

Now for 'not so likes'

* Vivo baked bronzer in 'healthy glow'

I liked this a little when I first bought it, but when I've been using it this week (as a highlight) I just didn't notuce a glow or highlight at all

Now for faves:

* e.l.f lip conditioner in 'peaceful pink'

* Maybelline quad in 'emerald isle'

* Avon lipstick in 'carnation'

The lipstick and lip conditioner go so nice together, the lip conditioner smells so nice and is really pigmented, and the lipstick again is very pigmented and stays on for around 5 hours! The quad I love because it makes my eye colour pop and with it having 4 different shades, it means you can do different looks each time. My fave 2 colours are the lighter shades!

Random fave:

* Nivea diamond touch cream oil
I think this could now be an all time favourite for me. It smells great, lathers really nice and best of all leaves my skin feeling SO soft!

That's it for this week

Thanks for reading :)

S xx

Kit haul part two....

Over the past couple of weeks I've been picking up yet more bits and bobs for my freelance kit and thought I'd do a quick post and show you what I got. One thing (or a couple) I got really excited about are my crown brushes. It took me ages to decide which ones to get, and I finally picked some

* Avon angled blush brush - £3.50
* Crown C135 oval shadow - £2.76
* Crown C139 stiff tapered crease - £ 2.95
* Crown C218 blending fluff - £2.50
* Crown C200 deluxe crease - £3.07
* Crown C323 lip brush - £1.98
* Crown C209 Chisel pointed fluff - £2.88
* Crown C321 bullet crease - £2.30

Now for face:

* No7 shine free primer - £5.00

* Revlon colorstay in 'natural tan' - £12.49

* Revlon colorstay in 'sand beige' - £12.49

* Rimmel fix and perfect primer - £6.99

* 17 miracle matte pressed powder - £3.99

* Collection shimmer and shade - £1.00

Last but not least, eyes:

* MUA gel liner in 'underground' - £3.00

* MUA 'undressed' palette - £4.00

* NYX lipgloss in 'clear' £2.50

* Sop and glory quad in 'what's nude' £10.00

There's still a few more bits that I need to get, so no doubt there'll be another haul sometime soon 

Thanks for reading :)

S xx