Sephora Haul

Like the rest of the beauty-obsessed world, I got SUPER excited when Sephora started to ship to the UK, and after a small amount of scouring I was left underwhelmed. Most of the brands weren't available for UK shipping, and not to mention the £75 spend to qualify for the £10 flat rate shipping. Then there's the tax... But finding out the delivery rate had been lowered; I caved. Yes, I do have very little willpower.

Being someone that reads a lot of American blogs and beauty sites I feel like I'd heard an absolute ton about this Japanese wonder-brand and the huge cult following in numerous countries. The Koh Gen Do Aqua Foundation is something that boasts a lightweight, "aqua" formula, with light-medium coverage and still allows the skin to breathe. Think Chanel's Vitalumiere Aqua but in a fancier bottle and much harder to get hold of. This foundation really is a thing of wonder and offers very lightweight coverage whilst staying put all day and not looking like you're caked in makeup. Not that I'd suggest buying foundation online and from America, I spent a good hour looking at colour swatches and definitely got lucky.

Being faithful to my Nars Pro Prime eyeshadow base, I felt like I was cheating a little buying Tarte's eye primer. I haven't actually used this yet, as for once I'm waiting till I've finished one before starting another. There's a first time for everything, right?

The LipSurgence lip pencils by Tarte dragged me in straight away given they have a matte finish, and how much I love applying lipstick in a pencil applicator. I bought the shade flush which is a highly-pigmented, deep berry pink that can be worn heavily or blotted down to a natural flush (no pun intended.) And stays put for a good 5-6 hours before needing reapplication. If you eat a ton of burgers however I'd give it a much shorter lifespan.

How sweet is the packaging on these pencils? Definitely want more! 

Seriously, believe the hype on this one. Anastasia Beverly Hills throws it out the ballpark once again with this stay-put formula. I bought one of the newest shades, Medium Brown, as all the others were too dark, and this is an ideal match for my brows, being not too dark or red. This dinky little pot packs a punch when it comes to pigmentation, and I find it best used with an angled brush once the excess has been wiped off. The best part? It completely stays put, like doesn't budge at all. They should have contemplated calling it Bulletproof pomade. Because it sets so quickly, you do have to work a lot quicker than you usually would with brow products. Something you can overlook for perfectly defined brows.

Hope you guys enjoyed a little nosey at what I bought. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that my camera will be back within the next week and I can get busy on new posts. iPhone photography is definitely NOT my thing.

Guest Post | The Pyjama'd Traveller

I came across Ellie on Twitter via this article she did for Your Zen Life; I found her to be completely inspiring, and most definitely wise beyond her years. When I asked for guest posters on Twitter and Ellie replied I just knew she'd come up with something amazing. Instead of asking her to do a beauty post, I asked that she shine some of that amazing positivity over here, and she definitely delivered...

The ones who are crazy enough to think that they can change the world are the ones that do that. UTA Hagen once said, “Overcome the notion that you must be regular. It robs you of the chance to be extraordinary.” 

You don’t have to follow suit or conform to anything that you don’t want to be, to conform kills your creativity, that spark of who you are. Who is anyone else to judge you for what you want in life. Don’t put your self-esteem in the hands of strangers. Likelihood is that they’re just jealous that you have the courage to be real and go for your ambitions with a determination like no other.

Think about it like this, where would you rather be in ten years’ time; sat at home thinking of the ‘what ifs’ or be out doing something incredible? It’s okay to make mistakes along the way to figuring ourselves out but we live in a culture where our every move is under a microscope, every event goes onto Facebook and pictures are uploaded within seconds of anything happening. It makes life seem suffocating and like we have no room to mess up. But we learn so much from our mistakes, they teach us about ourselves and they tell us what we really want out of life so do the courageous thing and go for it anyway. You just have to be brave enough to know that other people’s opinions don’t matter and they shouldn’t affect us. Our journey through life and the mishaps along the way are our business and our business alone. Everyone always wants to be there during your successes but look around and take a note of those who are there when you fall flat down, they’re the ones you want to surround yourself with.

It’s not immodest to know who you are and know what you can do, once you believe in yourself you become unstoppable. Never limit yourself as to what you can achieve because you feel pressured by the world around you to be a certain way. Go for something and if it doesn’t work out, present your mistake to the world in all its glory because we’re humans and that’s just what we do, we make mistakes! Society has made us think we need to be 100% perfect beings who never screw up but that’s just not possible because that’s not how we’re made! Don’t be afraid to be a dreamer, a do-er or a try-er.

Be out there, be spectacular, be courageous, be inspiring, be different. 

You can follow Ellie on Twitter, here. And find her blog, here. 

Hope you all loved this post! 

Giving Moroccanoil Competition - Redken Shatterproof Shine

How did every body's long weekend go? Mine was hectic to say the least. To put it this way, I'm glad to be sat down at my laptop watching Despicable Me with some cake and lemonade. Rock and Roll...

Without a doubt, when I think of hair oils, Moroccanoil is the first thing I think of. With it being my first foray into oils on my hair (well, all oils for that matter) and being one of the greatest things to ever happen to my hair, I truly thought it would never have any competition. But after voicing my opinions on being in a beauty rut, and coming across a silicone free formula by Redken, I ventured out into the land of hair oil, and was pleasantly surprised.

First of all, how gorgeous is that diamond inspired bottle? It isn't completely opaque though, if you hold it to the light you can see how much product is left - genius! Much unlike Moroccanoil, Redken's Shatterproof Shine has a dropper in the lid to get it out the bottle, and I have to admit, this is the one thing I don't like about this. Given its very runny texture, it has a tendency to get a little messy at this point. Pumps are much friendlier for hair oils. Companies, take note. 

The oil itself has a gorgeous scent, (which my non-technical nose would suggest to be apricot) and luckily, it disappears as soon as the oil has soaked into the hair, meaning you're still left with the clean, fresh scent of your shampoo. Whether it's used on damp or dry hair, this soaks in instantly and leaves behind tame, frizz-free locks with a beautiful, natural shine. I tend to use one dropper pre-blow dry, and two droppers post-blow dry and have found that my hair requires little/no styling afterwards, which is where Redken wins in the hair oil stakes. Whenever I've applied a lot of Moroccanoil, I have to wait overnight for it to soak in, Redken's is much less high-maintenance, and will leave hair looking healthy and conditioned immediately.

If we overlook the poor applicator it's very very possible I just went and found a new favourite hair oil. I would truly recommend this to anyone in the market for a new hair oil, and given it's only £23.95 at the moment on FeelUnique, it would be wrong to say no, right?

Have a great week guys! Hopefully I'll be back to regular posting soon as that camera of mine starts working again.

Getting Rid of Dark Circles? - Strivection Dark Circle Corrector

Eye-bags and dark circles don't make eye shopping easy, do they? Buying a cream to moisturise the area usually does just that, moisturise. Then what happens to the dark circles and anti-ageing? I'm 110% sure that I hate shopping for new eye creams, it's too difficult to decide what I want, and to find the perfect one without spending a near fortune. So I usually source an article online about eye-creams and see which one gets the best reviews, it's not scientific, but it sure does work for a lazy soul like me. This time, I found Strivectin coming out on top... 

This is a brand I know very little of, I've never tried anything by them before, and I honestly had no clue where even stocks their products. A little scouring on the net had me finding the Get Even Dark Circle Corrector on a site called "Salon Skincare" and with them having it discounted, I stuck this little pot in my basket quicker than I knew humanly possible.

It is the NIA-114 chemical which apparently does the brightening. And I definitely will not be getting all scientific on you, as I simply have no idea what I'm talking about. But I've had this since about March now, and have been using it twice daily to some results. I feel like my overall eye area has definitely been brightened, but not as much as I'd like it to be, and much unlike other eye creams I've used as a treatment, this one does have moisturising properties, so still keeps the delicate skin around the eye area looking soft and supple.

The texture of the cream is very silky and lightweight, meaning its the ideal cream for me. In the past I've used thicker creams, and they tend to feel tacky on my skin, at what point they usually get thrown away, as I hate my skin feeling sticky. This is perfect for day use, given it's so light, this doesn't make concealer sit funny around the eye area, is meshes with the skin as if you haven't just doused your eye area in dark-circle cream. A little goes a long way, and I'm only just about to run this down after using continuously for nearly 5 months.

I'm still unsure as to whether this will be a repurchase for me immediately, the results from using this weren't spectacular, but the texture was. I'm sure I'll decide to try something new then regret it and return to a brand new tub of this. I guess we'll see...

What are your favourite eye creams? New recommendations for these are ALWAYS welcome.

Glowing Skin - Eucerin Even Brighter Range

It's very much starting to feel like I talk a lot about glowing skin and how to achieve a beautiful complexion recently. So who am I to mess with my current streak? Here's my current moisturiser duo that's helping me on my way to perfect skin, minus the make-up... 

Honestly, I'd never tried Eucerin before these products. I knew very little of them as a brand and stuck to brands like Kiehl's and Bioderma cause I was too damn lazy to branch out. So I decided to suck it up and try something new a few months ago, and since then, I haven't looked back. The Even Brighter range is designed to even skintone and reduce any hyperpigmentation in the skin. 

The moisturisers themselves, are as you can see, very thick. Despite this they apply like a dream and don't sit heavily on the skin, and they're usually quickly absorbed, leaving behind a natural looking sheen to the skin. The day cream especially, has immediate effect, hydrating and plumping the skin to look perfectly dewy, and almost good enough to get away with zero foundation. When used together these are a force to be reckoned with. These will keep skin moisturised and the skin-tone even, whilst the day cream works extra hard, having an SPF of 30, this is the ideal moisturiser for sun protection and preparing skin for make-up.

Much unlike the moisturisers, the little pigmentation stick is nothing short of a huge disappointment and a pain in the a*s. It's doe foot applicator means you can apply precisely to darker areas, but it also means it makes your skincare routine take much longer, and smells completely gross. It ran out after about a month of day and night use, and had done nothing to my skin despite reportedly being a stronger concentration than the moisturisers. Huh? Not for me, Eucerin.