5 FAVOURITE BRONZE MAKE UP BITS

Fair skinned girls like myself will understand the struggle between wanting to embrace the (ghostly) pale lifestyle, and wanting to add a bit of colour when the weather warms up.  Growing up and going through my band-t-shirt-and-black-shag-band phase (who remembers shag bands?! Claire's Accessories was the place to stock up on those bad boys) I was actually quite flattered when anyone commented on my complexion, the more I could look like Amy Lee the better!  But now at the ripe old age of 25, my music taste may not have  completely changed, but my style thankfully has, and I like to look a little more tanned come the summer months.  

My next post will be focusing on false tanning for fair skin, but today it's all about the make up I use to get a healthy, sun kissed look.

I have to admit that I switch foundation quite a lot, depending on what kind of finish I want at the time; lately though I've been using Clinique Even Better Foundation as it has a beautiful dewy finish, medium buildable coverage, and it has that my-skin-but-better look which is just perfect for summer.  It is also spf 15, which is obviously a good thing to look for all year round but an extra bonus when the sun is shining that bit more. 

After concealer, a good bronzer is needed and I have been absolutely loving the Clarins Aquatic Treasures Bronzing Compact, which I reviewed in full here.  The easiest way to apply it is to sweep it on where the sun would naturally hit your face, like down your cheekbones and nose.  

When it comes to eyeshadow, there is so much choice in terms of bronze and golden shades! For a coppery daytime look I use some shades from the Maybelline The Nudes palette, which I have been using non stop lately as there is just such a great variety of colours to choose from.  For a bolder, evening kind of look, then of course I turn to the Maybelline Color Tattoo in On and On Bronze!  I have also written a full review of that here, but basically it is the most gorgeous shade of gold, it really makes my blue eyes stand out and it really does last for hours - so there's no chance of it needing reapplying on a hot day!

Last up is lips, and although I love the whole nude lip look lately, I've found that a lipgloss goes really well with this look, and my favourite has to be the Tanya Burr shade in Champagne Toast which is a sheer, super glossy colour with tiny little shimmer bits in it.  

I could have course have picked many more bronze bits, but I narrowed it down to these five before I got carried away!

What are your favourite make up bits to create a sun kissed look? xx

OFFER | TRIO OF ORIGINS FACE MASKS

I had to write a post dedicated to this fab offer - Boots are offering this trio of 75ml Origins face masks at better than half price, which is £23!  Obviously when I saw this bargain I snapped it up straight away, at £23 each for a 100ml tube usually, getting three 75ml tubes for the same price is pretty damn awesome.  This offer is on until this Thursday (13th November) so go go go! 

I have used the Clear Improvement charcoal mask before and loved it, so I have been desperate to try the others for a long time to see if they were as good.  My skin has been suffering lately so I'm looking forward to seeing if any of these masks help!  

You can pick up this offer here xx 

FOTD Friday

Hydraluron Moisture Booster, No.7 Beautiful Skin Day Cream, Laura Mercier Silk Creme Foundation, Benefit Rockateur Blusher, Collection Lasting Perfecting Concealer, Laura Mercier Loose Setting Powder, Rimmel Stay Matte Powder, L’Oreal Miss Manga Mascara, Maybelline Lasting Drama eyeliner, Revlon Lip Butter in Tutti Frutti, HD Brows eyebrow palette.

Hey!  I thought I would start posting FOTDs on fridays, mainly because it adds a bit of structure to my blog as a weekly post and also because I can show me wearing the products that I review.  Also, Friday is generally my day off so it’s an all round good day for blogging! 

So, this is my current face and the look I have been going for day to day, minus the lip butter!  My last blog post was a review of the HD Brows palette, so this is a good time to show what it looks like on.  As you can see I do like a bold brow, which is just my personal taste, and the shades in HD Brows makes it so easy to shape and fill them in exactly how you want them.  This is the closest I have ever come to having a perfect match colour wise too, so I am really happy that I have HD Brows in my life finally!  My trusty Laura Mercier Silk Creme is still going strong, everyone loves this foundation it seems and I am no different, except it is starting to run low now and I am becoming tempted to try something new…..NARS Sheer Glow I am looking in your direction.  Benefit Rockateur is a great day to day blusher, it is a soft rose gold shade that gives a lovely glowy but subtle colour.  My new favourite product is the little wonder that is L’Oreal Miss Manga mascara; I picked it up in Boots simply because it was on offer at £5.99 I think, but I have been so impressed with it!  I will do a separate review of it but I can tell you now that I am seriously impressed! 

What products have you been loving lately?  If you have any thoughts on NARS Sheer Glow please let me know! xx

Sarah x

Review | ORIGINS CLEAR IMPROVEMENT MASK

Hey :)  I have been wanting to review this very popular mask for a long time now, and just haven’t got round to it.  I guess that is actually a good thing, because it has given me more time to actually use it and form more of an opinion on it. 

Lately my skin has gone a bit mad and reverted back to how it was when I was a hormonal teenager – not acne but annoying under-the-skin spots and little clusters of pimples around my chin.  I’m not really sure what has caused it, I have a sneaky suspicion that it started around the same time that I began using Origins A Perfect World Moisturiser, which I really loved but in hindsight it was a little rich and oily for my combination skin.  I have stopped using it now and have reverted back to my trusty No.7 Beautiful Skin Day Cream which I love, but something still isn’t right so the investigation continues..

Well you obviously don’t want to hear my skin life story so I’ll cut to the actual product now..!  In a desperate attempt to clear my skin a little, I invested in the highly praised Origins Clear Improvement Mask which retails at £22.  It is an ‘active charcoal mask’ that is designed to clear the skin of any crap basically.  The consistency is nice and thick, and it dries within 15 minutes when you was hit off again.  I have to say that after my first use I already noticed a difference, not as in my spots had vanished (I wish), but my skin generally looked like it had had a deep clean right into the pores.  I noticed it particularly around my nose, which is the worst place for blocked pores for me, and right now the area looks better than it has done in a very long time!  I am so impressed with it, I have been using the mask weekly when my skin is almost back to normal, and twice weekly when the more stubborn spots are hanging around.  It is obviously not a miracle worker, it does not clear up my spots but what it does does is help hurry up the healing process by clearing out the skin and leaving it clean and free of excess oil that aggravates spots etc. 

I would really recommend this mask, it is on the pricey side but I have used it about 9 times already and as you can see from the photo I still have loads left, so I’m definitely getting my money’s worth I think.  Plus there is the fact that I think it actually works!

Have you tried this mask before?  What do you think of it? xx

FOTD | feat. Bourjois Healthy Mix & Maybelline 24hr Colour Tattoo

Hydraluron Moisture Booster, No.7 Beautiful Skin Day Cream, Seventeen Stay Don’t Stray Primer, Bourjois Healthy Mix Foundation, Rimmel Wake Me Up Concealer, Benefit Rockateur Blusher, GOSH Brow Pen, Maybelline 24hr Colour Tattoo in Pomegranate, Maybelline Master Smokey Eyeliner, Maybelline Felt Tip Liner, MaxFactor Masterpiece Max Mascara, Maybelline Fit Me Powder, Revlon Lip Butter in Sugar Plum.

 

This is one of those photos that was achieved after around 234343545422189867.654 attempts, and even now I’m not feeling it at all so I have resigned myself to thinking that it was a bad day for taking blog photos.  Anyhow, this is my current everyday face!  It is made up pretty much entirely of drug store products, which isn’t unusual for me since I can only buy high end make up as a treat.  I have been using Laura Mercier Silk Creme foundation for a while, which I love but then I stumbled across this Bourjois Healthy Mix foundation and became curious.  I love everything about this base, I can see why Healthy Mix is very hyped amongst bloggers!  The coverage is good, which is the first thing I always look for, and I love the dewy but not shiny finish it leaves.  The only thing is that I am paler now than when I bought this back in the summer so I probably be better off with a shade lighter than this one. 

Maybelline is getting a lot of love from me lately, as you can see from my list of products.  I think they have some really good eye make up lately and the 24hr Colour Tattoos are my latest favourites.  I am wearing the shade Pomegranate and in my opinion it brings out the colour of my eyes, which was a bit of a surprise at first but not an unwelcome one! 

My trusty Revlon Lip Butter is on my lips, and the best thing about wearing these is that they keep your lips moisturised all day.  I suffer from ridiculously dry lips all through the year so when I discovered these I was so so happy, and I pretty much chucked my boring vaseline tin out of the window with glee.  I actually still have the Vaseline, but it sits unloved in a distant drawer for now. 

What have you been loving in your daily make up lately?  Do you love any of the same products as me? xx

Review | Mabelline Fit Me Powder

Maybelline Fit Me Powder

 

Hey!  Today I thought I’d share my thoughts on Maybelline Fit Me Powder which I bought recently.

 

In an ideal world I would totally avoid wearing powder, I love the dewy look and am always on the lookout for foundations and bases that help to achieve this.  I watch every episode of Made in Chelsea and drive myself mad with envy – HOW do those girls have such glowing skin?  Every single one of them!!  There must be something in the air in Chelsea, or maybe they exfoliate with £50 notes or something?  We shall never know. 

 

Anyway, this is not an ideal world.  In the real world I have an oily t-zone that needs controlling throughout the day, and this is where powder comes in. 

 

I have previously used MaxFactor Creme Puff to set my make up (which I liked the smell of for some reason) but I wanted something a bit lighter as this often felt to clogging for my t-zone.  I picked up this powder along with a couple of other things in the 3 for 2 offer at Boots, and I’m pretty glad I did.

 

I’ve been trying this out for about 2 weeks now, and the one main thing that I’ve noticed is that this is very light and doesn’t sink into my pores, which was a big problem before.  This is so light that I hardly notice that it is there, I only remember that it is because it takes the shine away from around my nose, yay! 

 

The powder is really light and very soft, applying it is a dream because a little goes a long way, and it also lasts a good few hours before I have to touch it up.

 

I think this is a great budget buy, especially as there are all these ‘miracle’ powder turning up in places like Space.nk that cost 3 times as much.  I would definitely consider repurchasing this powder. 

 

Have you tried this Mabelline Fit Me Powder? xx