Inside: My Makeup Collection Part TWO

Here is the second installment of my makeup collection! Hope you guys enjoyed the first, here is another few of my Muji drawers, and what I store inside them...

This is my third drawer, in which I store my cheek products:

Bourjois Cream Blush in 03 and 04 

17 Blusher in Damson Wine (This is a few years old, I think the colour with the same name is now a different shade)

17 Blusher in China Pink

Revlon Photoready Cream Blush in Flushed and Pinched 

Benefit Benetint

Benefit Travel Size Sun Beam

Nars Blush in Deep Throat 

Nars Highlighter in Albatross (Under Deep Throat) - I can't help but giggle.

Nars Multiple in Copacabana

Benefit Hoola Bronzer 

Benefit Dandelion Blush

First off, my Benefit boxes sit at the front because they are the most attractive of the bunch. My Hoola bronzer has hit pan, and I'll be needing a new one very soon, and I will be repurchasing, when I find a perfect matte bronzer I never seem to let go! My other favourites in here are all the Nars products, especially the multiple, which is amazing for a highlight and an eye colour. I want another one actually, in South Beach, they're so worth the price tag. I'm also getting really into cream blushes (if you couldn't tell?) and I couldn't recommend the little drugstore wonders which are the new Bourjois cream blushes, and the Revlon Photoready, too.

Avon Ideal Luminous Blush in Russet. I love this little thing. I actually got this whilst it was super cheap, around £4 with a free brush, but I think at full size they are around £10 (they are worth even that). For anyone who didn't know my Aunty is an Avon Representative in her spare time, so I get early access to products, and often a lot of freebies and samples. I went on a whim for this one, and boy am I glad I did... Its a gorgeous rich dusky-pink, and its so soft it applies very smoothly. It is so highly pigmented that you need a light hand, meaning this will last you a long, long time! I don't know where Avon can be bought other than through a rep, if anyone does want anything, however, we will place orders for you and send them, provided you pay for the postage. 

The fourth drawer stores mainly mascara, and other eye products:

Maxfactor Masterpiece Max mascara

Clinique Naturally Glossy mascara in Brown

L'oreal Volume Million Lashes Excess mascara 

Maxfactor 2000 Calorie mascara 

Soap and Glory Thick and Fast mascara 

Nars Eye Primer 

Maxfactor Eye Brightening mascara for Blue eyes

Revlon Grow Luscious Plumping mascara 

Dior Iconic Overcurl Mascara 

Benefit's Ooh La Lift

Clinique Chubby Stick for Eyes in Ample Amber 

Bobbi Brown Gel Liner

(All of my mascaras are black unless stated otherwise) Maxfactor is one of the best brands for mascara, I think, every one I have tried by them has been incredible, and the Masterpiece max has been repurchased three times now. The eye-brightening one was actually something I got free when there was an offer in Boots, and I love it, it has little light-reflecting particles which brighten the eye area, and the mascara itself seperates, lifts and lengthens lashes. Soap and Glory Thick and Fast has THE biggest brush I have ever seen, so it takes a bit of time to apply, or you look like Edward Scissorhands tried to apply your mascara. Although I like most of the mascaras I own, I actually do not like Revlon's Grow Luscious, and I'm probably going to give this away. I love Cliniques Chubby Stick for Eyes, its the most amazing idea to have a cream based eye colour in pen form, and the colour payoff is pretty impressive.

I don't have as many eyeliners as most people, as up until a few months ago, I never wore liner. I couldn't find a liquid liner which I liked the brush/applicator of, and I strayed away from kohl liners as my everyday makeup was usually flawless skin, bold brows and a slick of mascara. I have the Rimmel Scandaleyes in Nude to line my bottom waterline to take away any redness and brighten up my eye area, I would never use a white liner as it is too stark and false-looking for my personal taste. I LOVE Dior's Art Pen, it's just incredible (and raved about in my last favourites post) and I use the L'oreal Super Liner as a cheaper alternative on days where I'm not going anywhere fancy, or the rest of my makeup is also low-end. The other two are kohl liners by Avon, these are really good liners, I just don't use them very often.

Maybelline Color Tattoos in Bad to the Bronze and Eternal Gold are amazing cheap alternatives to MAC's Paintpots. Despite the fact that they don't come in many colours, if you're creating a smokey eye, these make a perfect base colour, aswell as giving a gorgeous buildable colour on their own too. These are very versatile, and I love them, I definitely want some of the other colours, anyone got any I should try? 

As I had this post prepared and waiting to go live, I had another little storage system arrive through the post for my lipsticks, so I have changed my lip products over into that and I will post about that within the next week.

The fifth drawer is lip products only:
MAC Lipsticks in (Viva Glam Nicki, Jubilee, Shy Girl, Chatterbox, Ruby Woo, Rebel, Russian Red, Lady Danger)
Bourjois Rouge Edition in 10 and 13
Avon Lipstick (Its a shimmery coral shade, not sure of the name but these were limited edition last summer)
Maybelline Color Sensational lipstick in Pink Pearl and Coral Tonic
Rimmel Apocolips in Big Bang, Stellar and Apocoliptic
Avon Anew Lipstick in Plumberry
Superdrug Little Pink Tin lip balm
(In the back I have a few Crown Brush lip brushes, a Blistex lip splash, a MUA red lip pencil, and a MAC Pro Longwear Pencil)

Along with the rest of the world, I LOVE Mac Lipsticks. I think they're a reasonable price for how incredible they are, and the colour selection is so vast, you're practically spoiled for choice. And that amazing vanilla scent... doesn't it make you want to lick your lips? (Okay, just me...) I couldn't choose a favourite as I really do love them all the same, and wear them all depending on what makeup look I am going for on that given day. I don't get as much use out of the Rimmel Apocolips as I probably should, but I never know what to do with my eye makeup when wearing them, as they are very, very bold colours. Bourjois Rouge Edition lipsticks are also incredible, they are about half the price of MAC, and for a drugstore brand, have quite a few shades available to buy. They are a similar finish to MAC Satin lipsticks, I personally think, and they have a similar lasting power too. I have a classic Hollywood red shade, (13) and a red so bright it borders on orange(10).

Within the past few weeks, I've found myself reaching for much more sophisticated pink/brown/nude (I'm not the best at descriptions, lets face it!) shades like Mac's Faux and Cosmo. I LOVE these shades, and seem to always get compliments on these when I am wearing them, and they seem to go with pretty much everything. Pretty and versatile? Check, and check.

Once again, anything you guys want to see swatched, or a look using these, or a review etc. I would be very happy to do them for you, leave a comment below and I'll get straight on it. 

Part three will be up tomorrow, with the messiest of all my drawers and a nosey at all my palettes! 

Another Holy Grail? Origins Ginzing Moisturiser Review

Hey guys! Hope you're all well.

Seems like I've been throwing around the phrase "holy grail" quite a lot recently, doesn't it. Well, despite how it may seem, I do not use this phrase lightly, I've just had a bloody good streak (I'm not sure why I got a British accent in my head then "CHEERIO!") when it comes to finding beauty products which work for me. This time, I've got you a moisturiser from one of my favourite brands when it comes to skincare, Origins. 

For any of you who aren't familiar with the brand, have you been living under a rock? Origins is a brand which strives itself on its earth-friendly practices and all natural and organic ingredients, also they never test on animals. The company pretty much provides everything which you would want a beauty brand to provide, I personally cannot help but love them, and I recommend everyone switches their skincare up to go all natural with Origins! Anyway... the moisturiser...

Origins GinZing Energy Boosting Moisturiser comes in the typical green and white Origins card packaging. I personally really like Origins packaging, I think its so simple, yet effective, and the fact that it is completely recyclable is a bonus. The packaging of the moisturiser itself, is a tub in the most gorgeous shade of orange I think I've ever seen

I wasn't aware of this being launched until I saw images on Nina Dobrev's twitter account of her holding this product at the launch. Then I became so interested I started researching the moisturiser, and I decided I had to have one. I actually have the Ginzing eye cream, and as an eye cream, I didn't particularly like it, (I used it, and still am using it) but I felt that the cream itself and its brightening properties were much more suited to a moisturiser, so imagine my excitement when Origins made it into a moisturiser? Oh, and the ever so gorgeous Nina Dobrev launched it. Yes, I HAD to have it.

The product itself feels almost like a gel on the skin, and thanks to this you need the tiniest amount to moisturise your whole face. Because of this, you can guarantee this pot will last you a good while. Once applied it doesn't feel tacky or heavy on the skin. Previously I have applied my moisturiser and waited about twenty minutes before applying makeup, with this, it soaks in very quickly, so I find I can apply my makeup only five minutes after treating my face to this beauty. Oh, and did I mention the smell? It is the most incredible scent I've ever come across in skincare, its very fruity and orange-like, a little like REN's Radiance regime, but even nicer.



I feel like I should apologise in advance to everyone who feels like they have to go and buy this now, but here's the link, you'll probably need it. £23.00 for 50ml on Origins UK

Inside: My Makeup Collection

Promised you lovely lot I would bring a post on my makeup collection, and once I started taking the pictures I thought, one post won't cut it, as it'll end up about 500 pictures long (slight exaggeration) so I'm going to bring this in a few installments so you don't get too bored.

I'm going to start off this post by saying, I have took this pictures from my collection as it stands day-to-day. I have seen numerous videos and blog posts on other bloggers collections and they have been absolutely immaculate, to the point of things being that straight and organised that I think "Are you an alien? No one is THAT tidy." And yes, it isn't the most glamourous, but it works for me, and I like how easy it is to access all my things.

Slight disclaimer, I do throw things away if they get crumbled or out-of-date, so everything here I do use, and I am in no way bragging. Also, if any of the pictures have a weird warm/pink tinge, its my pink curtains, they seem to make my whole bedroom pink! Hope you enjoy...

The whole thing...

The storage system used for my makeup is from Muji (duh) and it is 3 of these stacked on top of each other. The slight ombre little box everything else is in was one of the gift boxes which perfume gift sets come in. I always keep these boxes as they come in so handy for storage. The other half of this box is actually used for my most-used nail polish storage (yes, I'll do my nail polish collection too!)

Here is the things I keep at the top of my makeup storage. All my brushes, and some of my lip balms are kept in this Muji acrylic pen stand. I have Revlon Lip Butters in Strawberry Shortcake, Sweet Tart and Juicy Papaya. I also keep two of my Rouge Pur Couture YSL lipsticks at the top, aswell as my Dior Forever Foundation (which I LOVE) and the infamous Chanel bronzer, which takes up too much room in the drawers. I love the Chanel packaging, so I always enjoy using (and staring) at this. There's also a little kabuki brush up there, which I don't use very often, (I cannot remember where it is from!) but if I need it, its kept handy.

In my first drawer, and my "base" drawer I have:
MAC Prep and Prime Fortified Skin Enhancer in Adjust (mouthful...)
Revlon Nearly Naked
Diorskin Nude BB Creme
Estee Lauder Double Wear
L'oreal Lumi Magique
Rimmel Match Perfection
Laura Mercier Silk Creme Foundation (In two shades- I'm actually inbetween two, so I tend to mix it.)
Benefit POREfessional

For higher coverage days, I tend to use Laura Mercier or Estee Lauder. Rimmel's Match Perfection is something I go for for quick makeup, as it matches to my skin tone so well, I hardly need to do any blending or buffing to get a perfect, light finish. My lighter coverage foundations are the Revlon Nearly Naked (reviewed here) and I also love the Dior BB creme. Out of all of these, I'd say the L'oreal is my least favourite...

My second drawer is a combination of my most-used and a couple miscellaneous products. In here is:

Rimmel Stay Matte in Translucent (sits on top of Clarins palette)
Benefit Brow Zings in Medium (sits on top MAC Correct and Conceal)
Clarins Odyssey face palette (review here)
MAC Correct and Conceal Palette in Light
Estee Lauder Eyeshadow Duo in Raisins
Nars Laguna Bronzer
Benefit Erase Paste in 01 Fair
MAC Brow Set in Beguile
Origins Plantscription Concealer in Light
Tweezerman Brow Mousse
YSL Touche Eclat in 02
Avon Glimmerstick Brow Definer in Blonde
By Terry Touche Veloutee

I tend to use a non-illuminating concealer under my eyes and on blemishes (MAC palette, Erase Paste, Origins plantscription) before using an illuminating one to highlight afterward (YSL, By Terry) so even though it looks like I have tons of concealer, I do use and love every one of them. And brow products, I have some for quick and easy application (Avon definer, Tweezerman brow mousse) and some which I tend to use for a better effect when I have enough time to apply them (Brow Zings, MAC brow set.)

Tanya Burr raved about this in one of her videos earlier this year, when I was at my local Estee Lauder counter I thought I'd have a little nosey, and I immediately fell in love with the gorgeous pink/champagne shade, and the rich red bordering on burgundy. Despite what you may think, these are VERY wearable shades, and if you have light eyes like me, they'll suit you. For reference, my eyes tend to look a different colour in all lights, they can be Blue/Green/Grey... So its a pretty versatile shadow duo!

So, that's a little look into my makeup collection. The rest is coming soon! Keep an eye out for the rest... 

ALSO.. If you want to see any of these products on my face, swatched, in more detail or reviewed drop me a comment below and I'll be very happy to do them for you. But as you can imagine, doing everything would be a little silly if no one is interested! Lots of love.

Holy Grail Mascara

Happy Monday guys. Seeing as Monday's aren't the best day for most of you, I thought I'd bring a mini review on my holy grail mascara! Imagine a bright white light, and angels singing.. it shows my love for this beauty

After the negative post I did the other day on Benefit's They're Real mascara, I mentioned the Dior Iconic Overcurl mascara, and decided I would bring you a post on this, seeing as I think I have finally found a mascara which does exactly what I want and makes my lashes look INCREDIBLE.

Often, the description of mascara boasts unrealistic outcomes, like 130% extra length to your lashes, looks just like false lashes (no, false lashes look just like false lashes...) But this one promises "extreme curl and-spectacularly shaped lashes." and believe me, it does the job like a dream! 

The curved wand fits perfectly into the lash-line, and means mascara application becomes quick, easy and faultless, not to mention, the beautiful fanned-out and seperated lash look you gain from just a couple coats of this mascara. I will admit, that for those wanting more length from their mascaras won't get an excessive amount from this, but if you want your lashes to have zero-clumps, a gorgeous curl, incredible volume and a sure-fire way to get closer to Zooey Deschanel esque doe-eyes, you've got a winner. And if you're a sucker for pretty packaging, don't you think Dior has the most gorgeous luxurious feel to their packaging? 

 Now I don't mean to be a pusher... Who am I kidding?! I love making people buy things (its a curse!) Go, go, go pick one of these up at your local Dior counter or online here at Debenhams, who currently have 10% off!! I PROMISE you won't be disappointed.

Favourite things #1

One thing I absolutely love about blogging is the whole "Monthly Favourites" I think its so exciting to see what people have been using and abusing over the past month. However, does no one else become a little bored when you get the ninety-ninth monthly favourites popping up in your blog feed? I personally do, (I read them anyway, life's just so hard?!) so I thought that every month, in the middle of the month, I'm going to bring a "Things I've Been Loving" post to show my favourite things. Just something a little different...

Anyway, here goes...

Beauty Favourites

Too Faced Boudoir Eyes Palette

Nars Eye Primer

Dior Iconic Overcurl Mascara

Dior Art Pen

MAC Lady Danger Lipstick

Essie Meet Me at Sunset and Chinchilly 

Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat

I'm a sucker for the Dior counter, and when these came out a few months back I had to have them, and haven't looked back since. The mascara is just perfect for what I want to achieve from my mascara (review coming this week) and the eye-liner is faultless, will not budge, but when trying to remove with my La Roche Posay micellar water, comes off like a dream. The NARS primer is one of my favourites, it makes eyeshadows last longer and crease less. I personally don't have oily eyelids, but for those who do, you really should get your hands on this. 

My nail products of choice this month have been all new additions. Meet me at sunset is a gorgeous orange-toned red shade, perfect for a classic-red alternative, thanks to its semi-sheer finish. It is also perfect for doing matching "lips and tips" with Lady Danger. Chinchilly is a slightly purple-toned grey, which looks incredible on the nails despite how it looks in the bottle. Like all Essie polishes, they have that amazing brush which just works like a charm and makes the painting process super quick and easy (but you all know this already!) Also, I'd been in the market for an amazing top-coat, but Seche Vite has that covered, its high-shine, quick-drying, and prevents chips like no other I've tried. These polishes really are THAT good. 

I'm planning on doing a post on the beauty that is the Too Faced Boudoir Eyes palette, but for now I'm going to just say how fantastic it is for day and night looks, and not to mention the adorable packaging and tutorials in the lid. MAC's Lady Danger is a perfect accompanying product when using the palest colours from this palette, to make bright, natural eyes and a gorgeous bold lip. I actually thought this had been discontinued so I was so excited to get one from MAC's website. 

The Michael Mercier detangling brush for thick hair has been my go-to brush over the past few weeks. It hasn't replaced my much loved GHD paddle brush but I've found myself reaching for this one as its still quite a new addition to my hairbrush family. I've also become quite addicted to using a dry body brush every night. I know that dry body-brushing has tons of benefits, and I've found my skin has just looked and felt much smoother and softer since doing this on a regular basis.

Bumble and Bumble's surf spray is a new favourite of mine. I've had it for a couple months, but I hadn't found the perfect technique for using this. Now after much experimentation, I've found the perfect technique for my hair to create amazingly bohemian beachy waves. Now I need to get my hands on the Surf shampoo and conditioner!

Non- B-E-A-Uty Favourites

My TV addiction over the past few weeks has been Supernatural. From my TV habits its strange that I've only just come across this wonder. But I'm madly obsessed with this. For hot men, creepy monsters and humour, watch this.

Me and my Aunty decided that considering how much water we drink, it seemed only fitting to buy a reusable water bottle, as using plastic ones all the time can be damaging to the environment. I'd heard about the Bobble water-filtering bottle before, and had a nosey on Amazon, when I saw they were about £9 for a 550ml bottle I ordered two, in different colours straight away. This works by filtering all the nastiness out of your water whilst you drink, which not only is better for your health, but improves the taste of your water. I cannot recommend these enough, we love them! 

And on an unrelated note; I'm currently in the market for a new eye cream. I didn't really love Origins Ginzing, anything anyone can recommend?