New Year's Eve Sparkles

I'm here with a bit of New Year's Eve makeup inspiration, although I'm actually staying in (#mumlife). Smokey eye with a glitter liner and my fave nude lip. Amp it up with some false lashes, and you're very glam indeed. 

Base Too Faced Born This Way Foundation (Ivory) Mac Pro Correct and Conceal Palette (Light) L'Oreal Infallible Powder (Warm Vanilla)
Brows Anastasia Beverly Hills Brow Wiz (Taupe) Anastasia Beverly Hills Clear Brow Gel 
Eyes Mac Paint Pot (Soft Ochre) Too Faced White Chocolate shadow (all over lid up to brow bone) Mac Burgundy Times Nine Palette (Haux in the crease, Antiqued all over the lid, Sketch in the outer V and lower lash line) Mac Nylon (in the inner corner and under the brow) Collection Glam Crystals Funk glitter liner Mac Coffee Eye Pencil Too Faced Better Than Sex Mascara
Cheeks Anastasia Beverly Hills Contour Kit Nars Goulue Blush Becca Champagne Pop and Pearl highlighters
Lips Mac Blankety lipstick
Wishing everyone a happy, safe and healthy 2016! 

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Best In Beauty 2015

I hope you all had a lovely Christmas! As a new year approaches, it's time to look back on my beauty favourites from the past year.  My two favourite foundations have been L'Oreal Infallible 24-H Matte and Too Faced Born This Way. One drugstore and one high end, both fantastic.  

My favourite brow product has been Anastasia Beverly Hills Clear Brow Gel. It holds them in place all day without being crispy, and the bottle lasts for months. 

My favourite eye shadow palettes have been Anastasia Beverly Hills Shadow Couture, Morphe 35O and Mac Burgundy Times Nine. I used all three on a weekly basis, they're all really versatile. Incredible pigmentation and texture, can't go wrong. 

I also really enjoyed using Urban Decay Solstice and Nars Outer Limits. They're both glitter shadows that work best pressed onto a tacky base with your finger. Once they're on, they have a duochrome quality that is so special. 

An honorable mention goes to Mac Nylon. This is the best inner corner highlight shade in the world. It makes everyone's eyes look brighter and more awake. If you don't have it, you need it. 

Mac Nylon top left corner

  My favourite lashes have been Huda Beauty Giselle and Eylure Fleur Loves. Both really comfortable to wear, which is vital for me. They're so pretty. 

Photo credit: Hudabeauty.com

Photo credit: asos.com

My favourite highlighters have been Benefit Watt's Up! and Becca Champagne Glow Palette. These days I never do my makeup without highlighting my cheekbones, and these two are so beautiful. I used the Benefit one throughout Spring and Summer, and Becca for the last couple of months. 

For lips, my absolute favourite has without a doubt been Mac Blankety. For me, it's the best nude lipstick ever. 

So there we have it! My standout products for 2015. What are yours?
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Review: Too Faced Born This Way Foundation

I'd been eyeing this foundation for a while after hearing some rave reviews coming from the US, but I just couldn't find the right shade on the Debenhams website. The majority of the shades were endlessly out of stock. I finally saw that they had a wider variety a few weeks ago, and chose Ivory after some research. The foundation claims to give you the skin you wish you were born with, absolute perfection. You know I had to try it. 

My first impression of this shade is that it's extremely yellow, which suits me. I have definite yellow undertones, and Ivory is actually a perfect match for me. It's the second lightest shade in the range, for reference.  The coverage is medium to full, but it feels very light. Invisible, almost. One pump completely evens out my skin whilst almost disappearing! It's quite something. The finish is natural, not matte, not dewy. It sets quite quickly and doesn't transfer.  The longevity is also remarkable, controlling my oil and not breaking up anywhere. I can wear this for 12 hours and it will look more or less the same as when I applied it. 
Born This Way was released around the same time as Charlotte Tilbury's Magic Foundation, and I was torn which one to try first. Having tried both, I much prefer Born This Way. It has far better coverage, and a much lighter formula. It also lasts far longer on the skin. 

This is my new foundation love. If you're looking for a light foundation with good coverage, you'd love this. It's available on the Debenhams website but not in store yet, so do some online research before choosing your shade. I'm around NC20 at Mac, for reference. 
I doubt you'll see me wearing any other foundation for the foreseeable.  
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Review: Anastasia Beverly Hills Brow Wiz

I must be the last beauty lover on the planet to have tried the Brow Wiz. I've spent the last year growing out my brows and they're so much better than they were, but there as still some sparse areas that need to be filled in. I had high hopes for this little brow pencil. 

I chose the colour taupe as my hair has quite a lot blonde in it, and I initially thought it was going to be too light. However, it's actually perfect. The pencil has a tiny tip and is quite a hard dry formula, so it really is quite difficult to go overboard. The tiny tip also makes it easy to use hair-like strokes, a natural way to define the brows. 

I'm so happy with the way this makes my brows look! I'm hooked.  Bloglovin' / Instagram

Christmas Day Makeup

I recently wore this makeup to a Christmas Sunday roast with friends, and I think this may be the look I wear on Christmas Day. Now, it depends if you're someone who likes to glam up on the big day, or stay cosy in your pajamas with a bare face. Both sound good to me, but I do like to get a little bit glam myself. 

Base
Charlotte Tilbury Magic Foundation (Shade 2) Mac Pro Correct and Conceal Palette  L'Oreal Infallible Powder (Warm Vanilla)
Brows
Anastasia Beverly Hills Dipbrow Pomade (Blonde) Anastasia Beverly Hills Clear Brow Gel
Eyes
Mac Soft Ochre Paint Pot Anastasia Beverly Hills Morocco (crease and lower lash line), Fudge (lid), Noir (lash line) Mac Coffee Eye Pencil Maybelline Lash Sensational Mascara Collection Glam Crystals Eye Liner (inner corner) Huda Beauty Giselle lashes
Cheeks
Mac Harmony Contour Nars Deep Throat blush Becca Champagne Pop Highlight
Lips
MUA Red lip liner Mac Russian Red 
 I like that it's an all-matte eye look with just a pop of festive glitter on the inner corner.  What do you think?
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Christmas Party Glam

Happy December! It's about time I got started on some festive makeup looks! Here's the first one.

Base
Charlotte Tilbury Magic Foundation (Shade 2) Mac Pro Correct & Conceal Palette  L'Oreal Infallible Powder (Warm Vanilla)
Brows
Beauty UK Brow Kit  Anastasia Beverly Hills Clear Brow Gel
Eyes
Mac Soft Ochre Paint Pot Morphe Burgundy shadow (crease) Mac Blue Brown Pigment foiled (lid) Huda Beauty Giselle Lashes
Cheeks
Mac Harmony contour powder Nars Goulue blush Becca Champagne Pop highlighter
Lips
MUA Red lip liner Mac Russian Red lipstick
I hope it gives you some Christmas party inspiration!

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Review: Huda Beauty Lashes #1 Giselle

Beauty lovers the world over follow Huda Kattan on Instagram and YouTube, and if you don't already, you should. Her Huda Beauty lash range has been hugely popular in the Middle East, and it finally made it's way to the UK this month via Cult Beauty. These lashes are also reportedly Kim Kardashian's favourites. I picked up #1 Giselle. 

Photo credit: www.shophudabeauty,com

The style Giselle is long and wispy, looking quite glam and dramatic but feeling really light. The cotton band is initially quite straight, so I manipulated it a little bit and bent it around my finger. I found them easy to apply, and to wear. They sit in the lash line perfectly, and the band isn't so thick that it's blatant. According to Huda, they can be worn for up to 12 times, if properly taken care of.  I really, really like them, and can't wait to try some other styles. 
Huda Beauty Lashes are available on Cult Beauty from £12.50.
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Review: Mac Patisserie

I completely used up a Mac lippie for the first time ever recently, my beloved Creme Cup. I will inevitably repurchase it sometime soon, but when I was taking some empties Back 2 Mac I spotted another one I'd heard about but never actually tried; Patisserie. 

This is a neutral pink in a really creamy Lustre formula, and it's almost exactly the colour of my natural lips. It's definitely my 'Your Lips But Better' shade. It's just so easy to wear, comfortable and pretty. It isn't blatant that I'm wearing lipstick, but it just enhances my face a little bit. Plus, I don't like to leave my lips bare at this time of year, and this really does feel like a balm. 

I'll go through the products I'm wearing in this photo for you:
Base Nivea Post Shave Balm as a primer L'oreal Infallible 24H Matte Foundation (11 Vanilla) Mac Pro Correct & Conceal Palette (light) L'oreal Infallible 24H Matte Powder (Warm Vanilla)
Brows Beauty UK Brow Kit Anastasia Beverly Hills Clear Brow Gel
Eyes Mac Paint Pot (Soft Ochre) Morphe Matte Cream shadow (All over lid) Mac Haux (Crease) Mac Sketch (Outer corner and outer lower lash line) Mac Tan Pigment (All over lid and inner lower lash line) Mac Nylon (Inner corner) NYX Matte Black Liner Clinique High Impact Mascara
Cheeks Nars Laguna Bronzer Nars Deep Throat Blush Becca Blushed Copper (over blush) Champagne Pop and Pearl Highlighters (mixed together)
Lips Mac Patisserie
What's your Y.L.B.B lipstick?
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Review: Becca X Jaclyn Hill Champagne Glow Palette

I didn't manage to get my hands on Champagne Pop when it was released, so I jumped at the chance to snag the Becca holiday palette that includes the Jaclyn Hill created highlighter, as well as two other limited edition shades. I adore Jaclyn, she's my absolute fave, and her highlight is ALWAYS gorgeous.

The palette includes Pearl (a bright white-ish shade), Champagne Pop (a light gold with peachy undertones) and Blushed Copper (A deep copper blush topper). All three shades have that magic Becca formula that manages to be extremely highlighting without a trace of glitter. 

My favourite way to highlight with the palette is to mix Pearl with Champagne Pop, it's the perfect highlight. It's even more intense if you spray your brush with a little bit of Mac Fix+, it's so gorgeous for the upcoming season.  Blushed Copper is really pretty used as a blush, or a blush topper. It isn't at all over the top. 
I'm really pleased with the palette, it will definitely be getting a lot of love from me. I got mine from Rose's Beauty Store, where it keeps coming in and out of stock. If you want it, I'd definitely get it sooner rather than later. 
What do you think?
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For My Daughter

My little girl just turned three years old, and is seeming very grown up indeed. It got me thinking about the things I want to teach her while she's still so young. She's very much her own person and a girly girl. She's already showing an interest in makeup and clothes, and I really want to try to set her on the right path regarding that subject. 

Things I want to teach my daughter about beauty
Do it for you.  If you love wearing makeup, wear it. For you, not for anyone else. You are beautiful no matter what you wear.  ALWAYS take your makeup off at night. I feel like I only started to take looking after my skin seriously in my late teens/early twenties. I want Freya to start WAY earlier than that. Even before she starts to properly wear makeup. This is one of the most important things I can tell her.  NEVER pluck your own eyebrows. So many of us have caused ourselves grief by over-plucking our eyebrows in our teens, myself included. There is nothing more flattering than your natural shape, so when Freya reaches that point, I'll take her to have her brows shaped properly.  Get colour matched. There is not much worse than too dark or too light foundation. We've all been there.  Wear SPF. If you want some colour, fake it. Sunless tanner is so much safer.  If Freya Rose carries on the way she's going, I have a feeling she'll follow in my footsteps with her love for makeup. I just hope I can use what I've learned to give her a little head start. Bloglovin' / Instagram