Life update: A new little sausage.

So just less than two months ago, a beautiful little doggy passed away and left a hole in our hearts. The house was so quiet, and after just a week we realised something had to be done. After ringing so many different breeders, we drove to Barnsley in search of a new friend. When we saw him we just couldn't say no to his little face.

Say hello to Frank the Miniature Dachshund. Also known as Frankie sausage or sege for short. I have wanted a little sausage dog for many a year now. I can guarantee every birthday or Christmas, the majority of my gifts are sausage dog related as everyone knows how much I love them. Now I have one of my own, or should I say Hutch and I have one of our own!

He is around 16 weeks old and he is stubborn, crazy and naughty. So it's a good job we love him so much. He loves kisses and food, but hates going out in the wind, rain or dark - so he of course loves it outside at the moment.. not! I still can't get over how big his diggers/paws are and his symmetrical little face. Our life has been basically been flipped upside down since he came around, but I wouldn't have it any other way. Actually I'd have preferred more sleep in the first couple of weeks but hey ho!

Welcome to the family Frank!

Libi xx

New Things: October

So there's many advantages and disadvantages to working full time. But one advantage is spending more money on makeup. I mean, I don't need any more lipsticks, but do I buy them, of course I do. Most of my purchases are usually influenced by bloggers or youtubers and they go onto my little wish list for a while until eventually I give in and they come home with me!

First up is a lipstick (of course!) this is Mac All Fired Up from the Retro Matte range. This is a colour that I've wanted for about 2 years and always pick up and swatch in store. I've held off by thinking I didn't really need it, however when I got chance at a Back to Mac freebie it went straight in my basket. It's a beautiful combination of a bright pink and red, a good bold lip.

Also from Mac, a new brush for my collection. This is the Mac 266 Small Angle Brush. As you may have seen from my New York haul in March. All I've been using for my brows is the Anastasia Dipbrow Pomade and I've been using the same old thick cheap brush since I first started filling in my brows, so this was a sneeky little treat for myself. It has definitely improved the precision in which I apply product so hopefully no scouse brows in sight!

I've never seen so much hype about a concealer like I have for Urban Decay's Naked Skin. I've never really been fussy with my concealers as long as they cover. However, recently I've needed something to help brighten my under eyes. Due to my (desceivingly) pale skin tone, I've never really found anything to do this and help highlight my face. But this has completely done the trick, so much so I'm considering buying it in a slightly darker colour for the rest of my face.

Finally some cheeky Space Nk purchases. I'm not afraid to say going into store intimidates me slightly. The staff to customer ratio is a bit off and I always feel a little judged. So I tend to have an idea of what I want before I go in.

One of which was Emma Hardie's Amazing Face cleanser. I was stuck over this or the Oskia Renaissance Cleansing Gel, but in the end this reigned triumphant for the fact it seemed to have a much creamier consistency for dry skin. This has been in my possession for just over a week and it is most definitely love. This has completely changed my skin for the better, it is no longer as dry and using it as a second cleanse has meant that my skin is much clearer!

The other purchase: one of the Hourglass Ambient Lighting Blushes in Dim Infusion. This is a beauty, cue the love heart eyes emoji! The colour is a beautiful coral with a lovely glow to it and no sparkle in sight. Due to it being a combination of a blush with one of the Ambient Lighting powders, it's ridiculously blendable and I love it that much that I may have made a cheeky order for the new Ambient Lighting Edit palette so I can try two more colours and one of the bronzers. What can I say Hourglass have just sucked me in.

Well then, I'm now a bit skint. At least I have lots of pretty things! Until next time..

Libi xx

My First Jo Malone Experience

Let's just start by saying I absolutely love perfume. I love that a memory can spark from a quick whiff of a certain scent and I'm not gonna lie and tell you that I didn't try use this to my advantage at University. Dousing myself in the stuff for revision then hoping I'd sit down in my exam and all the knowledge would flood in.

It's also something quite personal, which is why it surprises me that it's probably one of the most bought gifts ever. Not for myself however, I have a perfume collection comprising of two perfumes. Juicy Couture's original fragrance and this little beauty I picked up the other week.

Myself and Hutch decided to go for a little day out in Liverpool, we wandered around for a while and then I dragged Hutch into the Harvey Nichols Beauty Bazaar store to have a browse. After I stopped by at MAC, he fancied looking at Jo Malone.

Up until this point I had no idea he liked Jo Malone scents. I could just be very sexist, but I have always just associated the brand with women. It was not until I'd sprayed approximately 30 fragrances on myself, did I realise a lot of them were very unisex and quite musky, especially the Cologne Intense ones.

After taking so long to settle on my favourite, we went to the till armed with two 30ml bottles. Hutch chose Pomegranate Noir - one of Jo Malone's most popular fragrances and I chose Nectarine Blossom and Honey, one I had never heard many people talk about but loved how sweet it was.

The lovely lady serving us told us all about mixing different scents together to find a unique fragrance. For Hutch she suggested Pomegranate Noir combined with Wood Sage and Sea Salt, I can't begin to describe the end result but all I remember is it smelt divine. For myself, Nectarine Blossom and Honey combined with Blackberry and Bay. This was one of the scents I enjoyed anyway and toyed with purchasing. The combination of the two smelt like a Blackberry cocktail of some sort, I was tempted to buy the other on the spot but I resisted. It's now on my payday wish list.

After looking for some cologne samples but to no avail, we settled upon some lovely body wash samples so we could test our combined scents and layer them together for greater lasting power.

Overall, we had such great service in Jo Malone and as always their gift presentation and wrapping was so lovely. I'll definitely be back!

Have you tried Jo Malone before? What is your favourite scent? What would you like to try?

Libi xx

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