Monday 31 March 2014

March Favourites

My first favourite of the month is my new skincare routine which consists of these three new products (and bioderma beforehand). The first time I used these three in conjunction with each other I woke up the next morning like a new woman. My sister thought I had foundation on when she first saw me in the morning and that tells me that it's working for me. However I will say that the La Roche Posay moisturiser is too heavy for me in the mornings. 
I use this everyday without fail. It can give either a subtle or more extreme contour. I usually go somewhere in the middle as I don't have much cheekbone to speak of but I also don't want to go too over the top. It doesn't separate on the skin like some cream products so it gets brownie points from me.
When you spend your hard earned Boots points, there's always that worry that you'll get buyers remorse and regret wasting your points on such an undeserving product. But there has been no such problem with this. I particularly love the matte shades on the left and the shimmery shades for a more nighttime look. 
I've found a trick for wearing this lipstick. I read somewhere that using a cotton bud to smudge out the edges of your lipstick makes it much more subtle and wearable and this works perfectly with this lip colour. It makes a more unique pink work with every makeup look.
If you buy one thing that I talk about on this blog, let it be the Gum Treatment Oil. It's something like £2 from Home Bargains and it's a miracle worker and you need it. It can be used on wet or dry hair and let me tell you the first time I used this I walked 45 minutes to work and my hair was still as soft and straight as when I left the house. If you have damaged or dry or any kind of hair problem just try this and I don't think you'll be disappointed. And to give my hair a bit more volume this month, I've been using this texturising spray from Charles Worthington which has a lot of buzz around it at the moment. It really is very good at giving that matte look to your hair if that's the kind of thing you're after.

Thanks for stopping by!
 Lots of love

Friday 28 March 2014

A Major Disaster and his friend Colonel Cock Up

So this morning I was sitting in my room with my laptop on my knee and the cat jumps up on my bed and he's climbing all over me being a real pain. He starts putting his paws on my laptop and, worried he'll press keys or stand on the off button, I pick him up and move him. Then everything went into slow motion as my laptop starts to slide off my lap. I grab for it but my reflexes are poor. Its hit the floor, the battery shoots out and an unknown part has flown across the room. The screen has gone black but with my heart in my mouth I press the on button. This is what I was faced with.....
 My heart went from my mouth, back down my throat, into my stomach, all the way through my intestines and then proceeded to fall right out my bum. I have no idea if any of my stuff was backed up or if I can get it back. I now have to dip into my savings (which I was saving for a trip to New York) to buy a new laptop. If anyone knows any cheap but good laptops please let me know because I'm pretty desperate. Anyway the point of this story which could have been summed up in 'My laptop broke' is that my blog may suffer a little bit for the next couple of weeks or until I get a new computer. I'm currently blogging from the household computer which is also about to pop it's clogs so I can still blog but it might not be as frequent. My cat is lucky he's cute because I completely blame him.

On a happier note, I passed 150 followers on Bloglovin' last night so thank you thank you thank you to everyone who has followed me since I started my blog just over a month ago. I'm sorry I don't have any kind of giveaway or anything special planned (I have no job or laptop what do you want from me) but just know I appreciate it. Here is the link to my Bloglovin' account if you don't follow me but would like to cheer me up after this mornings disaster. I'm also on Twitter and Instagram if you want to give me some extra lovin'.

Thank you for reading the most dramatic and heart breaking story of the 21st Century. I should have called this post #middleclassproblems 
Lots of love, Annie xxxx

Wednesday 26 March 2014

Taking a Gamble: Fragrance Direct






L-R: Delightful, Flutter, Ethereal, Mesmerize
I can't remember the day I first discovered Fragrance Direct but I imagine that it was wonderfully sunny and that there was a cartoon bird sitting on my shoulder chirping Disney songs at me. I'm sure most of you have heard of it but if you haven't, it's a website where you can buy discounted makeup. Granted, lots of it is discontinued but therein lies its beauty. The Calvin Klein makeup line was discontinued several years ago but is still sold on a few discount makeup websites similar to Fragrance Direct. I decided to purchase these Calvin Klein lipsticks because they were originally £13.50 but Fragrance Direct sell them for £1.99. I wish I could do numbers in capitals because seriously..... £1.99!!!!! I originally bought Ethereal (third from the left) in early 2013 hence why it is smushed at the top. I was so pleased with it that I bought another three! I now have a nice little collection for your perusal. 

 Top left: Delightful, Top right: Flutter, Bottom Left: Ethereal, Bottom Right: Mesmerize

I would say my least favourite is Flutter because it has an orangey tinge to it which I don't think suits me and it doesn't do much to brighten the face. But even if I only wear it a couple of times I've hardly broken the bank. I did find it hard to decide which colours to buy because swatches are hard to come by and the pictures on the website aren't true to life but 3 out of 4 ain't bad. I think because a line is discontinued, it is assumed that the products weren't very good and I don't know about the rest of the Calvin Klein line but these might actually be some of my most worn lipsticks. They're really moisturising without having an overly glossy finish. I find them to be long lasting as well. I used to wear Ethereal to college once upon a time because I didn't have to touch up in the middle of the day. One thing that lets these products down is the packaging which is plastic and square and cheap feeling but at £1.99 I am not complaining. I guess this is one of the reasons people weren't buying them at £13.50.  
I'm definitely interested in purchasing more of these and would recommend Fragrance Direct wholeheartedly because of the speedy delivery and the range of products.
Thanks for reading! Lots of love,

Friday 21 March 2014

My Skincare Routine

I can't believe this is my first post about skincare. I thought my current skincare routine would be a good place to start.
 I start with Bioderma to get the bulk of my makeup off. I went for the Sebium H20 version because it's meant to reduce oiliness but I don't know if I've noticed much difference in my skin however it does get my makeup off really well.  
 I'm currently using this Body Shop Cream Cleanser in a cute little sample size. I don't think I'm going to buy the full size one though because it claims to be a softening cleanser but I end up with dry patches after I use it. Why is it doing the opposite of what it's meant to?
 Toners are the most uninspiring of all the skincare in my opinion. Hence why I spent about £1.50 on this Simple one because it does the job I need it to.
 Another product aimed at reducing oil. This time it's a moisturiser and I think I like it. It's pretty thick and heavy but that's good for night time. I would usually use Hydraluron before but it has disappeared off the face of the earth!
Last in my evening routine is the Body Shop Vitamin E Serum-in-oil. It's weird because it never really sinks into my skin, it kind of sits there for ages. But when I wake up my skin does feel really soft. 
A couple of little extras are from the seaweed collection at The Body Shop. I have the exfoliator and the clay mask and I use them about twice a week (not on the same day) and they make my skin feel ever so soft but I don't think anything will ever make my pores smaller. 

Thanks for reading, lots of love,

Wednesday 19 March 2014

Face of the Day #3




A hearty good afternoon to you! I have a face of the day today because I bought this new Rimmel Colour Rush Balm in Rumor Has It and I LOVE it. When I first saw these in Boots I thought they looked cheap (which they are but that's beside the point) and it seemed like Rimmel had just banged out a lip crayon because all the other brands were doing it but it's so good! The colour is a bright fuchsia pink but it's not so bright that it's scary to wear. It also lasts a really long time but when it does fade it leaves a really nice colour. I couldn't wait to talk about it here on my blog because I think it needs saying. I did a sort of matte brown smokey eye today (apart from Stila Kitten but that goes without saying) using The Body Shop Honey Bronzer and this Natural Collection Eyeshadow in Crushed Walnut which I quite liked because it wasn't too over the top for day wear. This Max Factor foundation has been my go to foundation since I bought it a few weeks ago. It's something I can put on in the morning and not worry about all day. I kind of didn't realise how much I loved it until I started writing this post. I don't even feel the need to powder up in the middle of the day. Score! I went easy on the cheeks because I knew I was going a bit brighter on the lips.
Thanks for stopping by! Lots of love,



Monday 17 March 2014

Friday Wishlist

Friday wishlist





Hello everyone! I've thrown together a little wishlist today as it was too dark to take any decent photos. First of all I stumbled across these shoes on the ASOS website and it may be too early to say but I think they might be 'the one'. I don't think £35 is that much for how beautiful they are. I'm obsessed with cobalt blue lately and I really like this a-line skirt. I don't have a skirt in this cut so it could look awful but there's no harm in trying. 
I bought my sister the Urban Decay Naked 2 Palette for Christmas and every time I express an interest in a palette she says 'Just get Naked 2' or 'It won't be as good as Naked 2' so at least I know it was money well spent. Now I just wish I'd bought one for myself as well. Also on my wishlist is a dress. I am a smock dress lover. There's nothing like dressing like a sack of potatoes and still feeling good. This Missguided smock dress looks just like the checked one that I've seen on a few blogs lately and it's probably about half the price at £20. Damn my spending ban!
I have no idea what 'Dioh' means but I think this watch looks really classy and would be perfect for evenings when I don't feel like wearing my huge 'day' watches. Lastly, my friend Lucy (hi if you're reading) whipped a Clinique Chubby Stick out of her bag in the colour Roomiest Rose (sadly not the one featured in the above picture) and I snatched it from her like a woman possessed. It's a pinky plummy delight. She said that it's really natural when sheered out but can be made much more dramatic if you build it up and from that moment on I knew I had to have it. 
Hope you all had a good day and thanks for reading!
Lots of love,

Friday 14 March 2014

End of Lent Wishlist

Untitled #9




The end of lent is still painfully far away yet I'm already thinking of the things I want to buy when it's over. Even worse, I've just found out there's a Space NK right near my new job. I feel the need to apologise to my bank account in advance. 

1. Does blusher get any cuter than these new Clinique cheek pops? It's a flower for the love of god. Nothing says spring like this new launch and let's just say I wouldn't kick them out of bed. 

2+3. I'm a total bandwagon jumper and if I see something on more than one blog then I have to have it. I'm sure I'm not the only one who acts this way. I'm also getting really into bases at the moment because I think if your skin looks nice then the rest of your makeup will look better too so I'm looking to try new things.

4. The thing I love most about the look of the retractable bronzer brush is how blunt the top of it is. I want to touch it, don't you want to touch it? I want to touch it. It would fit really well  into any makeup bag or storage and I bet the retracting motion is really satisfying. 

5. 'Ello 'ello 'ello whats this? Another base product? Well yes, yes it is but it's a mineral powder which is uncharted territory in my makeup history. However it's something that has been creeping on to my radar and I think its time I dipped my toes into the mineral powder water. 

6. What pretty lil' things these pastel shades are. I know there's more but I chose these two to represent the range. They're beautiful however I've never tried a L'oreal nail varnish before so that's another reason I want to try them. Although I have a feeling I will never find a nail varnish formula that will stick to my nails.

7. This would be an extremely naughty purchase on my behalf considering I am seeing no benefits of my makeup ban but I'm going to feel so proud of myself if I manage to go all of lent without buying any makeup I'm going to convince myself I deserve a treat. 

8. And last but not least I would like to try a felt tip type eyeliner, particularly one with a thin nib so I can be really precise with the ol' eyeliner wing. Hence this Topshop one but I'm also interested by Rimmel and Bourjois options. Decisions, decisions!

Thanks so much for reading! Lots of love, Annie xx


Wednesday 12 March 2014

Re-use or Re-home?

I do the same thing almost everyday when I'm putting my makeup on and that is feeling a pang of guilt when I see those products that I almost never use for one reason or another. So for this post I dug out my least used products and I am going to decide whether I should try and use them more or accept defeat and send them on to a more loving home.
When it comes to Spring and Summer, a switch is flicked inside me and I become obsessed with all things coral. They look so nice on other people and in the stick but as soon as I put them on my lips I'm so underwhelmed. Something about the orange colour spectrum doesn't look right on me. My least favourite that I own is the Revlon Lip Butter in Tutti Frutti. I don't like the formula of these to begin with, then coupled with the true orangeness of the lipstick makes for a tragic, try hard, primary school disco looking face of makeup. I can just about get away with the lighter corals such as Whimsical by Topshop but on the lips it has a slight hint of pink so I think that might be why.
Obviously I won't be giving all of these away but my sister has already laid claim to a few of them so I would say this is a firm RE-HOME.

This is the first highlighter I ever owned and it wasn't the best introduction. It's a cream highlighter and at the time of purchase I didn't have a decent brush to apply it with so it was always very clumsily applied therefore didn't reach it's full potential. It got put away and I bought a powder highlighter instead. It was retrieved again a few months later and I tried using it on my cheekbones but I found it just moved my foundation around so was once again regulated to the depths of my makeup storage. Definitely a re-home for this one, any takers?  

The last items on my list are these L'Oreal Color Infallible Eyeshadows. I have three colours; Time Resist White, Goldmine and Sahara Treasure. I did use these a lot when I first bought them on a 3 for 2 offer but I soon found that the white colour was way too harsh for me. It was completely unnatural and I stopped using it. I also stopped using the gold colour as it is too fancy for an everyday look. The nicest of the three is Sahara Treasure which is a neutral brown colour. I want to start using this one again as I remember really enjoying it when I did use it. So I will be looking to re-home Time Resist White and Goldmine and re-use Sahara Treasure. 

It looks as though I want to get rid of lots of my makeup, who knew?
Thanks for reading, lots of love,

Monday 10 March 2014

Outfit of the Day #6




TK Maxx Swing Dress- £14.99 (Pink version online)
Dorothy Perkins Boyfriend Coat - £40 (Sold Out Online - Similar here)

I have ventured into the world of swing dresses. I picked this up initially because it looked quite short and being on the wrong side of 5ft 2" means dresses are often the wrong length on me. But this one is a really good length plus it has pockets. It's a win win situation.

That coat though. I know I'm jumping on the trend with a pastel coat but I couldn't resist. Why was it in the sale? Why? I'm almost scared to wear it for fear of ruining its baby blue softness.

Thank you for stopping by! 
Lots of love,