Barry M - Raspberry / Rimmel - Black Out / Avon - Starry Sky
It's christmas eve! Whoever said you get less excited over christmas with age was clearly a liar, I'm feeling as excited as ever! Today my whole family has had a massive christmas clean out, because nothing says festive like a good dusting session. The final touch to get me ready for tomorrow has been painting my nails. I previously had a silver and green stripe combo going on, which to be honest looked more like Slytherin nails than anything festive themed, so I felt I was in need of a change. I was inspired by the lovely Lily Pebbles to do these nails. Her design was lovely, and didn't require too much effort (it's been a long day). Check out the tutorial here. To make my little silver dots I used a bobby pin. I often think I should invest in some real nail tools but cocktail sticks and hair pins work so well! To everyone, have an absolutely lovely christmas and I'll speak to you all soon! Merry Christmas! Love Abbie <3
Hello! The time has once again come for me to present you with badly edited photos of my current outfit. Today I'm only off to one of my friends houses for what's guaranteed to be a night of slobbing about in front of the TV, but I was desperate to wear my new skirt. I battled wind and rain to buy this yesterday. These sort of skater skirts are very popular at the moment (look at me, all on trend!) and I love them. I think they're very flattering and easy to wear, plus this one is a perfect length. I like my skirts to be short enough not to be 'granny', but long enough so I don't have to worry about my arse being on show to the world. Another naughty purchase was this cute little 'a' necklace. I love any sort of large stylised letter or symbol (another necklace favourite of mine is my ampersand one, god bless you accessorize).
My song this OOTD wasn't hard to choose in the slightest. I've been in love with Ho Hey by The Lumineers, I've been listened to it on repeat for the last month. It's fair to say I'm now lyric perfect ;)
It is now officially December, and I am officially excited. Counting down the days till Christmas, counting down the days till I can get a new phone (due to dropping my previous one and breaking it, I'm currently using a £12.99 one from Tescos, not much fun), counting down the days where I don't have to make the long walk to college for two weeks. I'm definitely excited. Revlon ColourStay Foundation: My skin has been terrible this month. Normally I get spots around the more.. er.. hormonal time of the month, but my skin has seemed to have decided to remain spotty for weeks. My darling ColourStay has been using it's medium to full coverage ways to conceal my uncooperative skin. It has the most lovely matte finish, and if you have oily skin I cannot recommend it enough. Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stains: Last month my favourite was the gorgeous deep berry hues of Crush. Through November it's remained a favourite, but also Honey has come into the mix as well. Honey isn't quite as amazing as I'd expected, on my lips it is quite a brown-pink, but it still makes a lovely neutral colour. I can't get enough of these Balm Stains, they're so incredibly comfortable to wear I just love. Glitter Nail Varnish: My obsession for glitter nail varnish has increased by ten fold this month. Normally I find it too much hassle with glitter polishes, being infamous for their difficultly to remove, but this month I've just been addicted. My favourite has been Diamond Fizz (love the name) from Exposed. This polish... my gosh I'm in love. It makes any varnish look suitably gorgeous with one top coat of this. I included a close up as it's just so pretty I had to show you all. I've been feeling pretty ill for a lot of November so this is where these three products come into play. They've all been a favourite because they're oh-so-easy to apply when you're not feeling your best. MAC Paint Pot in Rubenesque: I really haven't been that into doing much with my eye makeup this month. When I'm feeling rough with a cold, and it's 6.30 AM, even picking up an eyeshadow brush is too much effort. When I've been feeling the need for a bit of colour of my eyes, this is where I've turned. Easy to wear rosy peach colour, which can be applied in seconds with a swipe and a blend of a finger. See the full review here. L'Oreal Super Liner Perfect Slim: If you read my first review of this (give it a look here) you'll know I wasn't best impressed with this. However what I find it is good for, is doing one very thin line across right next to the last line. It makes the lashes look a little thicker and fuller without requiring much effort. Again, perfect for days when you just cannot be bothered. Rimmel Scandal Eyes Eye Liner in Taupe: I don't want to repeat myself with this product, so I'll leave you with the review here. All I'll say, is that this is the most lazy eyeliner you can use. Due to it's light colour, you can messily scribble it on, and then blend with a finger and not have to worry in the slightest about how it looks. It defines without looking heavy, and I love it. What products have you been loving this month?
It wasn't until the other day when I looked in my makeup bag that I realised how many products I actually own from MUA. I remember when the first MUA products were released into Superdrug. I must admit I turned my nose up at the stand, blaring with the tagline "All products £1!". If it wasn't for reviews then I probably would have dismissed the whole brand. As I tried more and more products, the fonder I became of the brand. Since their first release, MUA have expanded with more and more products, and although their makeup doesn't remain all at £1, it is all very cheap and (mostly) good quality. On to the actual review!
This little gem works wonders. Eyeshadow just disappears from my lids within hours without any sort of product to keep it all in place. It seems pointless to spend time layering and blending eyeshadows for them to slide from my lids! This makes my eye makeup stay in place all day. Apart from MAC Paint Pots, I haven't tried any primers, (they're not too common in the drugstore and I simply don't have to money for high end primers!) so I don't have much to compare this with. However I don't see how anything can work better. Shadows stay vibrant all day, what's not to love! The actual product feels a little greasy when you first start to blend it in, but is then quickly absorbed and leaves a nice base for makeup.
I can't recommend this enough, it works, it's readily available in Superdrug (if you're not from the UK, here's the link) and at £2.50 it's an absolute bargain.
Before this, the only concealer I had used in about a year was the Collection Lasting Perfection concealer. It had come to the end of it's life so I decided to try something different. Although Collection's concealer is pretty full coverage, it's also pretty drying so it just wasn't doing it for under my eyes. When Boots had one of their fabulous 3 for 2 offers I picked up Bourjois Healthy Mix.
I loved the Healthy Mix foudation, so I picked up the concealer in the same shade (52 for those curious) straight away. This is all I've used on my face in terms of concealer for a long time. The shade matches my skin perfectly. It isn't drying in the slightest which is why I find it perfect for the delicate skin under my eyes. I thought I would end up still using my Collection concealer for any blemishes, but Healthy Mix actually does a brilliant job of covering up any spots. It is very blendable and not too thick, so is ideal for larger areas, such as covering any redness.
For a long time foundation was a must-wear for me. If I was wearing any makeup at all, it was certain that I was slapping on the foundation as well. Now if I'm having a rare 'good skin' day then I brave it with only concealer and powder as my base.
Healthy Mix costs £7.99, which coming from an unemployed (don't judge me I'm trying!) 16 year old is quite a lot for a concealer. I do find myself going through this tiny tube at quite a fast rate, but as it does the job I'm happy to pay a little bit extra for it.
What are you favourite concealers? Are you a fan of a creamy consistency or something a bit thicker?
I'm always looking for new blogs to follow, I love the excitement of spending an afternoon reading through the entirety of a new favourite blog. Today I thought I'd share with you a few of my favourite reads. I've tried to leave out most of the biggest beauty and fashion bloggers as I'm sure the majority of you will already read their wonderful blogs, and I wanted to introduce you to some new content :) Vivianna Does Makeup: Okay I know I just wrote about not including massive bloggers but this has to be an exception. Vivianna was probably by biggest influence in starting blogging. I particularly love her Weekend Posts, where she describes one of her weekend rituals or tasks each week. The occasion fashion posts always appeal to me, I crave her wardrobe! Anna has a brilliant writing style, her posts are always an easy read, and really enjoyable, not just informative. Sleep and Water: This is one of my more recent favourite finds. If you want regular reviews purely on makeup, this is where to go. Her reviews are so very detailed, you can't help but trust her opinion. We share a similar taste in products so this is a particular favourite of mine :) Everything on Sleep and Water has such a clean feel, the blog layout, the large clear photos. Any makeup addict needs to follow this blog, the constant stream of reviews definitely won't disappoint you. P0lar milk: I discovered Rebecca's blog around the time I first started blogging. She was actually one of my very first followers! In the beginning I thought my little blog would remain unloved forever but then Rebecca came and followed me. I found her amazing blog that way and have adored it ever since. I love her consistently brilliant reviews, and her blog is beautifully designed. Rebecca does a lot of different posts other than just reviews, including 'How To's' which I am particularly fond of. Write Like No One's Watching: I've read Charlotte's blog for well over a year. She's one of my absolute favourite bloggers, and recently (recently meaning yesterday) made my life by following me. Okay, this may be a slight exaggeration, but it meant a lot to me! Charlotte writes about her life, in particular her gorgeous son William. The main reason I love her blog so much, is that in short, she's bloody hilarious. Hilarious to the point where I actually have tears in my eyes. I don't know many people who can make a post about teething funny, but Charlotte manages it! I thoroughly recommend you check out all of these writers, they are all exceptionally brilliant. Please leave your own recommendations below, there's always room for another favourite blog! Hope you're having a good weekend, and if you're not, remember there's only 37 days till Christmas ;) Abbie
This powder is a holy grail item for me. Having oily skin, in a nutshell, sucks. Before using this I was finding myself powdering my face constantly. However on the average day (provided it's not too hot) this baby keeps my skin matte pretty much all day. Towards the end my nose is getting quite shiny, but the rest of my face is still pretty matte. One thing I really love about this product is that it doesn't collect under my glasses. I wear glasses on and off, so when I take a break from wearing them the last thing I want is to have powder marks around my nose! I like the loose powder form, it is so finely milled that it never looks cakey, and doesn't exaggerate any dry patches too badly. It's definitely not the best powder for travelling, I think a nice idea would be a little swivel cover so it's easier to grab on the go, but considering it's only £2.99 I'm not complaining! I have the transparent shade so I don't have to worry about using different colours through the seasons. And it definitely does last long enough for this to be a problem! The two pots I've already been through lasted 6 months each, pretty impressive I think. What products do you use to keep the shine away?
