Everyday Make-Up

Hi everyone!

I wasn't going to do this post until later in the week, but I've hit a wall with my essay, and have reached procrastination station, so I may as well post it tonight. It's just a quick post to show you the stuff I use on my face everyday. To me it looks like a lot of stuff, but it doesn't take me long to put it all on in the morning.

Top Row L-R: MAC eyeshadows in Satin Taupe and Naked Lunch, Benefit Powderazzi, Vivo Eyebrow Kit.

Middle Row L-R: MAC Mineralise Skin Finish Natural in Light/Medium, Topshop Cream Blush in Head Over Heels, MAC Pearl CCB, Maybelline Gel Eyeliner in Black.

Bottom Row L-R: Real Techniques Buffing and Contour Brushes, Ecotools Angled Brush, Cosmopolitan Foundation Brush, Revlon Angled Brush, Eyeshadow Brushes, Bourjois Healthy Mix Serum, Collection 2000 concealer.

I realise I haven't photographed a mascara, I like the Loreal Voluminous.

Bourjois Healthy Mix - shade 51 Light Vanilla

Collection 2000 Lasting Perfection concealer - shade Fair

I'm really pale, so struggle to find a foundation that matches my skin which doesn't cost an arm and a leg. I've been matched at Clinique but can't bring myself to spend over £20 on a foundation. I've seen this Bourjois Healthy Mix Serum foundation all over blogs so decided to give it a go. I have the lightest shade and have been using it for a couple of months. I really like it! It doesn't make my face look like a mask and lets my freckles come through. The only complaint I have with it is that it's slightly yellow, but it isn't noticeable once it's all blended in; it's really cheap too, about £11. I apply it using the Real Techniques Buffing Brush which I love! It's so soft.
I use the Collection 2000 Lasting Perfection concealer in the lightest shade under my eyes and it's really nice. It doesn't crease or wear off and is easy to blend in. No complaints! I either apply it with my ring finger or blend it in with a brush. It's a complete bargain at under a fiver!

My fail-safe eyeshadow pairing is Naked Lunch and Satin Taupe. I wear Naked Lunch all over my eyelids and then apply Sating Taupe along the crease of the eye. It just looks pretty. I like slightly shimmery (not glittery though) eyeshadows. Satin Taupe photographed slightly browner than how it comes out on my skin, it definitely has a purple tone in it. It's just really pretty. MAC eyeshadows aren't something I buy on a regular basis, coming in at £10 a pop for the pan version. I bought a palette, which has a few shadows in so I buy the pans. They are great quality, but I just think MAC's pricing, on the whole, is ridiculous.

 MAC Mineralise Skin Finish Natural in Light/Medium

MAC Cream Colour Base in Pearl

I bought the MSF Natural in my first year of uni, so I've had it well over a year. I can't remember how much I paid for it, I think around £21, which is ridiculous. I'm not even sure why I bought it. It's a powder for goodness sake, but it is a good powder. I've only started using this daily over the past few months. I think this shade is slightly dark for me, as I wasn't matched properly. The girl at MAC was rude when I asked her to match me, she took one look at me and shoved this in my hands. I think I was interrupting her conversation. Anyway, it's a good powder, but I'm sure there are better ones that are cheaper, I won't buy it again. I dust this all over my face to set my foundation and concealer.

I then apply Topshop Cream Blush in Head Over Heels next (not sure why I haven't photographed it) to my cheeks using the Real Techniques Contour Brush. It's just a nice light pinky coral colour. I also apply Hoola from the Powderazzi palette under my cheekbones with the Cosmopolitan foundation brush to contour.

The Cream Colour Base is a recent buy, well I got it with a gift voucher my best friend got my for my birthday. It's not something I would buy with my own money, but it is lovely. It isn't a necessity and I don't use it everyday but when I do, I pop it on the tops of my cheekbones using my finger tips. It's a lovely light goldy highlighter. 

Last, but not least, I apply gel eyeliner using the Revlon angled brush. I like to do eyeliner with a flick and find the angled brush the easiest and quickest way. I think this eyeliner is about £8 and is so black, doesn't smudge and is generally just perfect.
I use the colour in the far right of the Vivo palette to fill my eyebrows in. I don't spend ages on my eyebrows, literally just go over my natural shade and then set them with the gel included in the kit. This was a bargain at a £5 and is available in Tesco.
I haven't photographed a mascara (I forgot), but I like to use the Loreal Voluminous, which is about £10 and just makes my eyelashes look really thick. My eyelashes are quite long naturally (I get asked if I'm wearing falsies quite a lot), so I just like a mascara to make them look thicker.

That's everything! A bit of a ramble, but there you go I decided to keep my face out of the post haha).

What are your go-to make-up products? Do you use any that I use, what do you think?
Also, would you like to see more beauty(ish) related posts? Let me know!

Thanks for reading x

Shopping as a Pick-Me-Up

With my student loan arriving in my back account yesterday, and me feeling a bit glum I've done a bit of shopping. Well, a few things I bought during the week with a few spare pennies I had in my purse. There really isn't any excuse other than I felt a bit crap and wanted new things. I am definitely an emotional shopper.

Mary Angelou - I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings

Jon Ronson - The Psychopath Test

Nostradamus - Mario Reading

I bought the Mary Angelou book in Tesco (seriously one of the best places to pick up books on the cheap, RRP on this is £8.99 and I got it for just under £4). I haven't heard much about her, apart from the fact that she's mentioned in 'La Vie Boheme', a song from the musical, Rent. After I bought this I did a quick Wiki search and she seems like a pretty interesting character to say the least!

This is the first part in her autobiography (I believe there's six in total) and if I enjoy it I'll be buying the next installment.

This Jon Ronson novel was an impulse buy. I wandered into WH Smiths on my lunch break on Tuesday and ended up buying it. I hate WH Smiths, it's so overpriced and doesn't always have a wide selection of novels, so I don't know why I ended up in there. I usually buy books online for the cheapest price I can find so paying £9 for this nearly gave me a minor heart attack. Especially when I saw it in Tesco a few days later for £4. Nevertheless, the synopsis made it sound really interesting so I'm excited to read it.

The last book I bought was Nostradamus. This was a true bargain. I found it in a little book shop in Whitby and paid £4.99 for it (RRP £16.99). The book is hardback and comes with its own sleeve. It's a book of the 'Top 100 Prophecies', now when I first looked read that I was dubious, because to me, quite frankly, that sounds a bit daft, but when I opened it and saw the illustrations and the list of contents I was sold. Looking at the contents, I wouldn't call the tales inside 'prophecies', myths seems more appropriate. It is a truly beautiful book, and I'm a sucker for a beautiful book.

I may review these once I've read them. Let me know what you think.

Real Techniques Core Collection £21.99

I've watched Pixiwoo videos for quite a while now, and you'd have to be blind to not notice her brushes popping up all over different blogs, so I wanted to get my hands on some. I wandered into Boots this morning with the intention of buying the Stippling Brush from Samantha Chapman's collection of brushes. However, the stippling brush retails at £11.99, and the Core Collection retails at £21.99, so to me, it was a no-brainer to buy the core collection, where you get 3 extra brushes for a tenner extra. Bargain. I haven't used these yet, but I may pop up a review post, or do an 'Everyday Make-Up' post featuring these. 


I've also placed and order for this jacket after seeing it on Jade's blog (and may debut it in my first OOTD?!). I'm justifying it to myself with the fact it seems nice and light for the warmer months, and I only own my leather jacket and hoodies, so this is also a bit smarter. Other than these purchases I'm seriously restricting my spending - not putting myself on a spending ban, because that wouldn't work. But most of my loan (other than rent and bills) is going into my new savings account. I'm trying to be responsible. I even downloaded a money management app to help me keep track of my spending. Go me.


Have you tried the RT brushes or read any of the books? What did you think? 


I hope you're having a lovely weekend, I have an essay to start, but instead I'm going to read the last 75 pages of Wicked and have some dinner before going to work.


Thanks for reading x