Becca Shimmering Skin Perfector - Champagne Pop

I'm back! Sorry for the large gap in posts. I really didn't realise how long it would take me to settle in to full time employment and how much it would exhaust me. For anyone that doesn't know, I graduated university in July and moved back home to start a new job and join the big bad world. Every minute I've had spare I've wanted to go out for the day and make the most of my free time. However today I've been laying around in various positions recovering from my first half marathon yesterday (more details to come!) and decided I just needed to put up this post just incase this limited edition product is stopped being sold soon.

I first began watching Jaclyn Hill about a year ago and quickly became slightly obsessed. Her makeup is always flawless, she has such great sense of humour and is so easy to watch. She even coined the phrase "Highlight on fleek.". So when she announced she was bringing out a highlighter with Becca cosmetics, I knew I needed it there and then. I present to you Champagne Pop..

A really beautiful highlighter with a peachy gold undertone. I was initially quite scared at first that it was going to be quite warmed toned and therefore would look quite weird on my pale skin, but as she designed the product with her sister (also pale skinned) in mind it shows up beautifully.

I would say if you like a natural highlight, this is definitely not for you! Due to its ridiculously amazing pigmentation this would be what most people would use on a weekend or a night out. I would personally wear it during the day with a lighter hand as its just so lovely.

It has almost a cream to powder formula which means it doesn't feel drying and gives almost a blurring quality to the cheeks, whereas some other powder highlighters would just make your pores look larger and you would end up with big chunks of glitter all over your face!

At a price point of around £27 it's quite an expensive one, however it is definitely worth it. I find highlighters are not something I buy a lot of either, so they end up lasting for a long time.

The biggest downside to this beaut powder? It is limited edition and only being sold in the US through Sephora. Luckily I had a lovely friend who just happened to be making a cheeky order. If you are thinking of ordering some American goodies anyway, partner up with a friend, split the shipping and pop one of these into your basket!

Till next time..

Libi xx

New Things: Urban Decay Naked Smoky Palette

All hail Urban Decay. They always know how to suck a girl in. They created the first Naked palette in 2010 and everyone rushed to buy it. It sold out everywhere. Since then they have to continued to churn out releases in the Naked range every year with beauty lovers highly anticipating their release.

I only have one Naked palette, Naked 2 which is probably a bit of shock to a lot of makeup lovers out there. However it had satisfied my eyeshadow needs and I hadn't felt the need to buy any of the others until Naked Smoky was released recently.

Like the other Naked palettes the colours are quite neutral but Naked Smoky has (you guessed it!), a few darker smoky colours. Now I've never been drawn to the classic silvers and blacks of a smokey eye but just recently I have really got into purple eyeshadows so Smolder in this palette is definitely my favourite along with the dark navy blue.

These eyeshadows are, like all Urban Decay eyeshadows, incredibly pigmented and buttery. The palette consists of 4 metallic, 4 satin and 4 matte shadows. I've provided swatches so you can see how the colours look when applied.

From left to right: High, Dirtysweet, Rador, Armour

 From left to right: Slanted, Dagger, Black Market, Smolder

From left to right: Password, Whiskey, Combust, Thirteen

The palette also comes with a double ended brush and a card to guide you through 4 different types of smoky eye. It retails for £38 (almost £3 per eyeshadow!) and is available now from Urban Decay Stockists - House of Fraser, UrbanDecay.com, FeelUnique etc.

This palette did not disappoint me and I have already got so much use out of it. A definite win again for Urban Decay. I'm sure this wont be the last Naked release!

Have you tried any of the Naked palettes? Will you be picking this one up?

Libi
xx

Top Five: Skincare Items

I love skincare. I’ve always been one to look after my skin, even from a young age. My mum always told me to cleanse, tone and moisturize, even before I’d started wearing makeup. So off I’d trot to my school sleepovers with my little Simple skincare pack. I don’t know whether it’s due to that, but I had impeccable skin all the way through school (even through my extremely heavy makeup phase!).

Nowadays I seem to have got all my teenage spots all in one go! My skin is rarely without a breakout and the years of heavy makeup have taken their toll. As a result I’ve been left with extremely dry skin. I’ve tried so many skincare products since I got into beauty. Some raved about by bloggers and some that I’ve tested alone. I’ve realized not only is my skin dry, but it is very sensitive and things that may work for someone else definitely didn’t work for me. So bare that in mind!

Any who, here is a rundown of my favourite skincare bits and bobs that seem to keep my skin relative spot and dry patch free..

REN Clarimatte Clarifying Toner

Even though I used a toner for so many years I did wonder what the point of them was. I basically used it after my makeup remover to see how much gunk was still on my face! After hearing on blogs that the “new” way to exfoliate was with acid toners I searched for a budget friendly option and came across this one. It basically helps to exfoliate and unclog pores to remove dead skin allowing the skin to renew. It definitely helps my skin look more glowing and helps to calm down redness and those pesky under the skin spots. One that I will always repurchase.

Clinique Naturally Gentle Eye MakeupRemover

This is my absolute favourite skincare/makeup removal I’ve ever found – no lie. To my knowledge there isn’t anything out there similar and in my opinion - that even compares to this. It’s pricey for an eye makeup remover at £17, but its creamy milky formula removes eye makeup so well, without having that oily residue that most other eye makeup removers have. It also lasts me a good 6 months, maybe more. I’ve tried a cheap olay version, (trying to save myself some money!) but it just wasn’t as good. Leading me to have repurchased this at least 5 times. Spot on.

Garnier Micellar Cleansing Water

Cleansing waters changed my life, they helped me stop using makeup wipes and I now know my makeup is 100% off before I move on to doing other things. It started with Bioderma the French pharmacy brand. Although hard to track down I ordered one from Ebay in my first year of university and was amazed. Before I knew it they were popping up left, right and centre in Boots and I thought I’d try a cheaper alternative, this being it. It’s just fantastic at removing makeup and doesn’t dry my skin out.

Kiehls Ultra Facial Cream

Moisturizers are one of those areas where I’ve had the least luck. As I’ve mentioned my skin is so very dry, which is always surprising as I don’t have anything like Eczema. Up until finding this the other year I’ve probably tried over 20 moisturisers, oil and serums and all have either felt too light and I’ve still been left with very dry skin or have broken my out. This is a godsend in winter especially and again, another product I’ve repurchased a handful of times.

E45

Here comes the big one. The cheapest product of the bunch is E45. Being specially designed for those with dry skin this is a big favourite for me. I tend to use this at night when my skin gets flakey (I know, pretty gross) and by morning it looks nice and moisturized again. It can be used all over the body so also makes a great hand cream during the winter months!

That was a lot to take in. I’m still eyeing up potential cleansers to make it into my favourites, none have quite fit the bill. Let me know if you have any favourites you think I should try.

Thanks for reading,

Libi xx

New Things: Mac Lipsticks

From Left to Right: Ruby Woo, Craving and Diva.

I'm the first to admit it, I have a lipstick addiction. When I see an offer on something I was willing to pay full price for, it goes straight into my basket. 

After a long period of time not having any interest in stopping by a MAC counter, towards the end of university every time I went into town I was swatching away at their lipsticks. Each time I'd walk away wanting Diva - a matte dark vampy red shade. Fast forward a couple of weeks and I was still thinking about it, so I headed back into town and it came home with me.

Next thing I knew Student Money Saver were advertising a deal through wowcher - a £10 Fragrance Direct voucher for £5, it didn't sound like much but I spotted they stocked quite a few MAC products including two lipsticks I had on my list: Craving, a creamy berry pink and Ruby Woo, a popular matte bright red colour. They were already discounted in price at £13.75 instead of £15.50. I ended up purchasing two vouchers and got these two lovely lipsticks for £8.75 each which is a real bargain!

So after those lovely treats I definitely don't need any more lipsticks for a while! Although I probably will buy more.

Is there anything that you've treated yourself to lately? I'd love to hear in the comments!

Thanks for reading,

Libi xx

The Wishlist: June + July

Any one that knows me will know that I'm currently in the early stages of an obsession with anything copper.

Now that I've moved in with Hutch, I am living within one of the most beautiful florists and gift shops of all time - The Hedgerow. Wendy sells so many beautiful gifts such as copper bowls and frames, with some similar to the one I've linked below and I basically want/need everything! Also moving in to a new home means I want to buy lots of homeware in general, even if I already have heart shaped furnishings coming out of my ears ha. 

Check out a few of the homeware bits I've been lusting after and the more pricier items I want to buy once I start my new job, below:

1. University Graduation Print | Not on the High Street
2. Canon EOS M | Amazon
3. Ray-Ban Round Folding Flash Lenses Sunglasses in Copper Flash | Ray-Ban
4. Hanging Copper Frame | H&M Home
5. Jo Malone English Pear and Freesia Fragrance | Jo Malone
6. Emma Hardie Moringa Cleansing Balm | Feelunique
7. Stila Stay All Day Liquid Lipstick in Aria | Feelunique

Saying goodbye to university

I'm currently sat at home after having left my little uni house 3 days ago. Let's just say it feels weird. Having being used to a full house consisting of 5 other girls and myself for the last three years, I'm now living at my fiancé's house with his family and it feels quite quiet all of a sudden.

University has been the best 3 years of my life. Although being in a long distance relationship through those 3 years has been difficult, being only 2 and half hours a way from home has made it that little bit easier. I've made such fantastic friendships at university that will last forever and my flat mates being the best of that bunch. So when exams came to a close we decided we wanted to spend as much time together as possible before we left our little house. We compiled a list of all the things we had wanted to do in Newcastle, places we wanted to visit, restaurants we wanted to eat at but had never got around to and then we got straight to work.

I have to say, most of the things on the list were completed. Some were not. However I know I'll be back up to the Toon very soon as I have my graduation on the 14th of July and to round off my time in Newcastle, The Great North Run, all 13.1 miles of it.

Two trips where I happened to take my camera along, were to the seaside at Tynemouth Beach and to the Angel of the North. Where the latter consisted of taking a bottle of prosecco and conducting a small photo shoot. Finally the last picture is one together in front of our door for the last time. I just think these were some great photographs and wanted to share them.

Hope you enjoy!

Libi xx

A Repurchase: Nars Sheer Glow Foundation

A repurchase in any persons life is quite a big deal. I mean, you've liked something enough to stick with it for the long haul. For me however, using the same thing day in day out is even more of a big deal. Anyone that knows me knows I can't even commit to eating the same cereal every day, it all gets a little too boring for my liking. So to find a foundation I wanted to purchase again, it was a bit of a shocker.

To start with I'll talk a little about my skin type. I have severe dry skin and I am prone to spots most of the time. I am quite pale and in most drugstore foundations I wear the lightest colour. I like a foundation that has a medium coverage but also sits on the dewy and glowing side of the spectrum.

I purchased Nars Sheer Glow for the first time in summer last year during an ASOS 20% student discount promotion. After reading lots of reviews I decided it was worth my money and bit the bullet, purchasing it in the shade Mont Blanc which is the second lightest shade! Since then I have used this non stop. This foundation gives create coverage (it is by no means sheer!), doesn't cling on to dry patches of skin and leaves the face with a radiant glow. The bottle looks tiny but ended up lasting me almost 10 months. Although this is taking into consideration that I sometimes mix it with Rimmel Match Perfection Foundation to give me a slightly lighter colour. I apply it with a damp Beauty Blender as using a brush tends to leave my skin dry looking. It has no spf, meaning it isn't great as a summer foundation, you would have to use sun screen or an spf moisturiser underneath but it is great for flash photography so is a good one for evening wear.

The only catch? It doesn't come with a pump. Unlike Nars' newest foundation this one requires you to purchase a pump separately. It doesn't cost alot, I think it was around £3 but it is an extra expense when you think you are spending £31 on a foundation. However now I've repurchased the foundation I can just re-use my old pump!

Overall, I think this is a great foundation for those with dry skin and for day to day wear with an impressive shade range. I can see myself continuing to repurchase it. Hope this helps anyone!

Libi xx