January 2013 Favourites

So last year I wasn't the best at getting my favourite's posts done, I think I did 3 if that, this year I'm going to be more organised and get a post up each month. I haven't done a favourites post in a long time so there are a few things that I'm really loving at the minute, quite a few things are new but that is because I have been trying out presents that I was given at Christmas, I think for future posts I will include makeup that isn't new to me but that I have rediscovered in my collection.

Real Techniques Brushes: Buffing Brush, Blush Brush & Contour Brush
These brushes are amazing, they are really easy to use and find they really help your makeup look it's best. I have found that the blush brush is great when using bright blushers as it picks up the right amount of blusher so you can build the colour or just get a hint of colour.

Sleek Blusher in Pixie Pink
I bought this after seeing Tanya Burr using it in one of her youtube videos (here), I don't really have many blushers and wanted to expand my collection. It is a really bright pigmented pink, but if you only use a small amount, you can build up the colour that bests suits you. I have really enjoyed using this blusher and have worn it nearly everyday.

MUA Cream Blusher in Dolly
I bought this when MUA first released their cream blushers, I never really wore it though as it seemed a bit of a faff, but recently I have been experimenting with the blusher and I absolutely love it. It does require a bit more effort than powder blush but it's worth it, I especially love blending the colour into my skin with my Real Techniques Stippling Brush. It gives my skin a really nice natural glow.

Rimmel Scandaleyes Liner in Brown
I already have the nude eyeliner from this range and really liked the texture of the liners, so I bought one in brown, the liner has a slightly metalic finish to it which I really like, it's great as a normal liner or smudged out for a smokey finish, I have worn this practically everyday this month.


Topshop Crescent Moon Highlighter and Sleek Bronzer in their Face Form Palette
I have really been enjoying learning to contour and find these products have been great to create a really lovely subtle contoured look. You can see my review of Sleek's face form palette here.

(L-R) Topshop Crescent Moon, MUA Dolly, Sleek Pixie Pink & Rimmel Scandaleyes

Barry M White Foundation Creme
I recently did a post on this (you can see it here) but this is a must for my pale skin, don't know how I managed without it... oh yeah I looked orange all the time!



Liz Earle Cleanse and Polish
I know I'm late to the party with this one, but I love this cleanser, I use it everyday and it's perfect for my winter skin, it's also brilliant at taking off my eye makeup.

Liz Earle Brightening Skin Tonic
I've never really been that fussed about toners before I know I need to use them to make sure my skin is cleansed thoroughly and they help to close your pores but I never really see a difference in my skin after using them, that was until I started using this toner, my skin looks brighter and more healthy after I use this toner. It's not a miracle worker and my skin is still in bad condition but I can see a difference when I use this. I love it!

Clarins Hydra Quench Moisturiser for Oily/Combination skin
I'm still loving this moisturiser, you can see my full review here, it feels lovely and rich without being too heavy or greasy, it has been an essential part of my skin care this winter.

Bioderma
The bloggers best friend. When I was in Paris in September I was sure to stock up on this as it is much cheaper over there as there isn't a stockist for it in the UK. Bioderma is essentially a cleansing water, but it is really gentle and doesn't leave my skin feeling tight or sore. I don't use this everyday but I have got in the habit of keeping it by my bed for days where I have been too lazy to wash my face with my Liz Earle or Emma Hardie cleansers, and that is why it's in my favourites I love being able to use it when I'm sitting in bed, it might not be the thorough double cleanse i probably should do but it's better than going to sleep with makeup on (which I have been guilty of too many times).
Rumour has it that Boots will be stocking Bioderma later in the year!

Full product reviews will be coming soon!

What are your January favourites?

Elaine

A Slightly Late May Favourites

Benefit Moon Beam

I’ve had this and two bottles of High Beam lingering in my make up drawer for awhile. It used to be a staple of mine a few years ago when I wouldn’t go a day without mixing a tiny bit into my foundation but for some unknown reason I stopped using it. Now because of the nice weather I’ve fallen back in love with its subtle warm glow. I also just noticed that Benefit have released Sun Beam a new bronze highlighter which looks great. I must say tho if you are looking to buy this product I would never pay the full and quite extortionate price of £18.50, you can get it far cheaper on a number of websites including ebay and there are a number of dupes for both High Beam and Moon Beam.

BM Beauty Brushes

I was kindly sent the BM Beauty Eyeshadow brush to review and I was so impressed I went out and bought the foundation brush. Both these brushes are extremely soft and densely packed with cruelty free synthetic bristles. The eyeshadow brush is perfect for blending and picks up eyeshadow extremely well.  I’ve also washed both and so far not a single hair has fallen out. These are now some of my favorites and without doubt up there with my Real Technique brushes. I will definitely be buying more of these. (Ethicalsuperstore.com have these at 25% off at the minute)

Topshop Infared lipstick

This now famous lipstick has been my go to shade for the past few months. It’s a stunning bright orange which is perfect for nights out and on summer days (the few we have had anyway). You can see a full review here.

NARS Pure Radiant Tinted Moisturiser

I bought this a couple of weeks ago when ASOS had a 20% beauty event, I’d been umming and arring about buying this for quite some time as I wasn’t sure I wanted to spend that much on a tinted moisturiser. However I am so glad I did, I think it’s amazing and I’ve been using this every day since buying it without fail. I’ll do a full in depth review soon.

Clinique High Impact Mascara

I got my first sample of this awhile ago in a magazine and really liked it, so I was thrilled when the mascara swap came back to Debenhams and I snapped this up. I think it’s a lovely mascara for the daytime and doesn’t leave your lashes hard, flaky or clumpy in the slightest, just beautifully long and soft. (I’m not quite sure I would call this High Impact though! If your after a bit more vavavoom I would recommend YSL Shocking mascara)

Sorry its a wee bit late but I hope you enjoyed it!

Rachel

Drinks in London Outfit

I went down to London last weekend to see my lovely friend Joyce, I really enjoyed my weekend catching up, luckily it was sunny while we were there so we went to Spitalfield and Brick Lane markets which were amazing, I really wish Newcastle had markets like that!

I thought I would share with you the outfit I wore when we went out for drinks. 

I saw one woman with the same dress and another with the trousers in the same pattern! I'm not surprised though I can't believe how much of a bargain this H&M dress was, it's not a clingy dress so it's really comfortable to wear.

H&M Dress - £14.99

Miss Selfridge Biker Jacket - £52

Miss Selfridge Ditsy Hand Necklace - £6.50

Topshop Sandals - £25 in the sale, £50 originally - Bargain (Rachel bought them too!)

I recently bought the biker jacket online, I got it in the smaller size as I wanted it to be my motivation to lose weight... I know it's a bit risky if you don't actually do it! 

I really like the jacket but if you ever want to zip it up I would recommend getting it about 3 sizes bigger but it might end up being far too big on your shoulders!! Luckily I don't really ever zip/button up my coats don't really know why!

Do you buy motivation clothes too? Is it too risky??

Elaine

March Favourites!

Here are a few things that I have been loving this month!  


Benefit 'They're Real' Mascara

I had been dying to try this since it's launch last year but could never bring myself to spend £18.50 on a mascara. 

But my lovely friend Sophie got me the travel size version of the mascara from Sephora when she was in New York, and it's soo cute, I really wish companies in the UK sold smaller versions of their products I would be more likely to try out a variety of their products.

I really like this mascara and have been using it all the time, it really adds length to your lashes and the plastic brush adds definition to each individual lash with the spikey end of the brush allowing you to reach your smaller lashes. I love mascara that adds volume and this manages to do this whilst adding definition. I will definitely be buying this when this one runs out!

Topshop Lipstick in Innocent

 I have mentioned this lipstick before so I won't go on about it, but I absolutley love it! It's the first Topshop lipstick I've had and I will definitely be getting more, the lipstick feels really nice on and the colour is really pigmented. For some reason my camera isn't picking up the lipstick colour very well, it's actually a really nice subtle barbie-ish pink!

Rimmel Kate Lasting Finish Lipstick in shade 12 

This is a really nice orange/red lipstick, I love it! The lipstick was only £5.49 so a bargain too! This was my first bright lipstick so I was a bit unsure about the colour, but it's really easy to wear. 

Rimmel Colour Show Off Lipstick in Kiss Me

This looks very much like the Kate Rimmel lipstick but it's not! I had just bought the the Kate lipstick then saw this on a blog sale and had to have it, this is one of Rachel's favourites too as she has had it for over a year. This is more of a neon red than orange/red. I got this for £1 but you can get it in Boots for £6.29.

17 Mirror Shine Lipstick in Bee Hive

I've mentioned this before and I still love it, it's only £4.59 from Boots. This lipstick is a perfect nude lipstick with a lovely pink tint (which the camera hasn't picked up again...!), it's more of a sheer lipstick which is perfect to wear during the day.

As you can see I've gone a bit lipstick mad this month, but I'm trying to be a bit more adventurous with my makeup, especially with my day makeup and I think lipstick is the easiest way to do it.

Haul... Part 2!

Me and Rachel had a bit of a shopping day today, there wasn't really anything from Marni at H&M that was me so got a few other things!

Cargo, Fearne and Front Cover make up are all 75% off, so I got this liquid blusher for only £4.60 originally £18.50!! Bargain!

Topshop lipstick in Innocent for £8, this is a really nice bright pink which was surprising as I thought it would be more of a nude colour, but I love it.

Top from Topshop for £36, I can't wait to wear this with a long black vest top and dark jeans!

H&M nail varnish in peach me softly for £2.99.

These great wedges from Primark for £16.

 Oversized zebra scarf from Primark for £4.

Elaine

Marni at H&M Haul and more!

So me and Elaine had the day off so went to Marni at H&M launch, luckily we only had to wait half an hour before we got our time slot wrist bands! So this is what I managed to get... (there were a lot of people going mental and grabbing everything, If only I was rich!)

If you have seen the post I did earlier for Marni I got my wish list, and a little bit more! 

Unfortunitly the green version of this necklace sold out in the wristband group before me, but I managed to nab a redish version of it - however after trying it at home I can't justify the money on a necklace I'm not 100% happy with (if only I'd got up earlier and got the green one)

Also the blue top which Is stunning and I adore the print, just doesn't quite fit me as its a tiny bit large - I am so gutted about this as I love this top so much, but again I can't justify paying so much money on a top that doesn't quite fit. So after my H&M Marni haul I'm quite sad I'm only sticking with the green dress in this picture (i LOVE LOVE LOVE this dress, think it will look great with a thin belt) and I think I'm keeping the top version of the dress, although may have to be sold if I'm skint at the end of the month :-(

So if you're interested in the necklace or blue top (size 14) email me or check out my ebay listings by clicking on the links below - 

Blue Top

Necklace

I must say H&M are pro's at the designer collaborations now and the Newcastle store really wasn't that hectic, very well organized, so well done to all the staff! 

Also I love the packaging!

I love these shoes from Topshop for £68, although they are really high they are really comfortable and easy to walk in.

 Rose gold bracelet from H&M for £3.99.

I got this Cargo primer for only £5 as all the Cargo make up is 75% off! So far I really like it, but I will give it a try for a couple of weeks and do a review.

Topshop - £29

Primark - £10

I was this grey dress in Primark for only £10! I was really pleased as I had been debating whether to get a similar one from Topshop for ages!

Rachel

SS12 Trends - Gold Leaf

I've been watching the AW12/13 shows eagerly and after watching the Topshop Unique show I had a look through the SS12 shows to remind myself of some of the trends for Summer and felt I had to blog about how much I loved the use of gold leaf in the shows. The above images are from the Topshop Unique and Fendi (by make-up artist Peter Phillips) shows. Although I adore the look I think it might be a tiny bit OTT for my usual look so I think I will stick to a safer version of this trend using gold eyeshadows and nail varnish. Topshop's make up range have some great eye crayons (£7.50) I would love to try to give a deep gold colour. I also love Topshop's nail varnish range, they have a wide range of unusual colours which are always spot on trend, to get a gold leaf effect I think it would look great to layer the crackle topcoat in Gold Digger (£6.00) over a silver colour or the crackle topcoat in Frosty (£6.00) would look equally amazing. Will let you know how it goes when I get around to trying this!

Rainbow Nails!

This is a post to show you all the different nail varnishes we used to make our new header!

(L - R)

Miss Sporty - Black

No7 - Night Silver 62

Topshop Nails - Starlight

No7 - Betty Blues 280

Barry M - 312 Indigo

No7 - Totally Teal 330 (one of our all time favorites)

Barry M - 291

(L - R)

Barry M - 299 Racing Green

Misguided - Misstique

Topshop Nails - Green Room

Barry M - 304 Mint Green

H&M Nails - Wanna Pepperoni (WTF?)

Barry M - Acid Yellow 300

Collection 2000 Hot Looks - 30 Sherbet Lemons (Awful! see Need for Neon post)

17 Fast Finish - Go Go 

(L - R)

Xtras - Phox 11

Nails Inc - Tate 

Barry M - Raspberry 273

No7 - Hot Pink 40

Topshop Nails - Painted on 002

Revlon - 990 One Perfect Coral

17 Fast Finish - Pink Grapefruit

Ruby & Millie - Orange 300C

Misguided - Misstaken

(L - R)

MAC - Dark Angel

Miss Sporty Clubbing Colours - 344

17 Lasting Fix - Parma Violet

17 Lasting Fix - Woo Me

Nails Inc- Jermyn Street

Topshop Nails - Mannequin 002

Topshop Nails - Hyperreal

Missguided - Missellaneaous

Rimmel Lycra Pro - 365 Beige Style

Nails Inc - Elizabeth Street

NOTD: Topshop Hyperreal

Topshop Hyperreal Nail Varnish - £6

I love the Topshop make up range, but I really like their metalic nail varnishes, I have my eye on a few other colours might have to get them as a treat on pay day!