Beauty Crowd wish list

Milani illuminating powder £8 // Little Ondine nail polish in shades Waltz, Pop Rocks and Morning Glory £9 for glitter, £7.80 for cream // Milani eye tech liquid liner £7 // LA Girl pro concealer £5 // Milani easy liner for lips in Most Natural £4 // LA Girl USA Brick Eye shadow in Ultra £6 // Milani baked blusher in Berry Amore £6 // Milani Fierce Foil eyeliner in Black Gold £7

After hearing a rumour that Beauty Crowd stock Milani, I swiftly headed there and filled up a shopping basket.  Then I saw a cute little ad for some nail polish, clicked onto that and swiftly found myself filling my basket with Little Ondine nail polish.  Then I remembered seeing Beauty Crowd share some images of their LA Girl makeup lines, specifically some lovely eye shadow palettes that I immediately started lusting after, and subsequently adding to my virtual basket.  At that point I realised I'd put far too much into my basket and had trouble narrowing it down - so I thought I'd create a bit of a wishlist in the hope that it'd help me decide what to pick :)

If I did buy everything I'd picked, that'd be a whopping £68.80 - I was hoping to keep it to £15 as part of my £15 High Street Challenge - for the challenge I aim for 3 pieces too - which would you pick?

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Yves Rocher | Smoky Eye Challenge

I was recently challenged by the lovely people over at Yves Rocher to create a smoky eye look using their products.  Not one to shy away from a challenge I thought I'd step up and see what I could come up with.  The only thing I didn't know until I opened the parcel was what colour eye shadows I'd be getting.  To my delight they were green (one of my favourite colours to wear).  I thought instead of just creating a look and going 'tah dah!' I'd do a bit of a step-by-step tutorial on how I created it too, that way you could try to recreate it if you wanted to :)  

This is pretty much the way I create most looks - as in light colour on inner third, medium shade on outer two thirds, and dark colour on outer v and blended into the outer third - then blend it all together :)

Before I get into the tutorial I thought I'd talk a bit about the products I used.  I prepped my skin with my usual base, my Bourjois Radiance Reveal foundation, setting it with Witch Anti-Blemish pressed powder.  I used my Anastasia brow wiz on my brows and that's it.

I've used Yves Rocher makeup products quite a bit over the last year and have always liked them, they're a decent brand with some lovely quality makeup.  I was pleasantly surprised just how good the eye shadow primer was (£12.50*), given how oily and hooded my eye lids are, it takes quite a lot of work to get eye shadow to stay put on me and this did the job well - at least 6 hours with no movement at all.  The eye shadow quad in the shade brilliant green (£25*) was like the others I've used, really nice quality, well pigmented and very blendable - I like how these colours weren't boring, there was a nice combination of brightness, darkness, matte and shimmer, a beautifully balanced palette.

The kajal liner (£15.90*) was great too, slightly on the waxy side, as opposed to being crazy soft, which I actually prefer as it tends to stay put better when it's more waxy (I find).  That being said, it blended really well with a fluffy brush when used under the eye too.

The mascara (£22*) was lovely, I actually reviewed this quite a long time ago (you can read my review here).  Their signature reservoir on the volume vertige works really well to grip the lashes, coating them well with mascara, giving them great definition and volume.  All in all a really nice mascara.

Here's how I created the look:

The finished look :)  I hope you the look I created - I tend to wear darker eye makeup and always have, so to me, I'd be happy to wear this out in the day, but I know that's not for everyone :)

I really like Yves Rocher makeup, I think they're lovely quality and I've been pleasantly surprised by some of their pieces more than others.  I think some of their products could have slightly nicer packaging for the price, but the quality of the actual products is on point.

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DEGUSTABOX | March 2015

Remember how I said last month's Degustabox was my favourite? Scrap that, this is now my favourite one!  It's an easter themed box (so lots of sweets/chocolate) and includes a couple of things I'd been craving - how's that for timing! Literally, on the day this was delivered, in the morning I'd been thinking about how I needed to buy some BBQ sauce as I hadn't had any in ages, then this box comes, with a nice big bottle of BBQ sauce... that literally made my day - combined with all the sweets and chocolate, and cereal, and booze... ok I'll shut up, you get the point.

Here's a closer look at what was in the box.

Jordan's Granola - £3.69

Another well timed product - I'd run out of bread, and cereal, but I had 4 pints of milk in the fridge, so I'd started skipping breakfast - and this is the kind of breakfast I love.  I've had 2 bowls of it so far and love it. It's filled with pieces of strawberry and blueberry (which makes the milk a funky colour) and tastes lovely, not overly sweet.

Juiceburst drinks - 2 for £1.25

I had 2 different flavours of these, a full fat cranberry one, and a skinny mango and lime.  So far I've only had the mango and lime drink, but that was really lovely. I can't wait to try the other one, I'm waiting until I get a proper thirst on first. JuiceBurst have 14 different flavours in the range, and 3 skinny flavours :)

BBQUE - £3.99

As mentioned above, this possibly couldn't have been better timed.  We've used it twice since it arrived and it's gorgeous.  This one is 'The Original' which is flavoured with cranberries, beer, honey and apples - but they also do other takes on it like grill & beechwood or honey & mustard and more.

Lindt - 2 for £2.00

Who wouldn't be excited to see this in their box!? They're bags of mini eggs in their signature formula's and flavours - they're like mini egg shaped versions of their chocolates - yes you might have guessed, these were demolished within seconds!

Jelly Babies Berry Mix - £1.48

If you're one of those people who pick out the black and red jelly babies (leaving the yellow and green ones) then you'll love this bag! Personally, I like all the flavours, in fact, as the years go on, the yellow and green ones I like more and more :) (and yes, I'm one of those strange people that like the coffee flavoured Revels).

Sour Patch - £1.00

Another pack that was demolished in seconds, I love sour sweets, especially if they're really sour. Each bag has 6 different flavours too - not that I could tell, I had several different flavours squished into my mouth at the same time, lol :)

Crabbie's Fruits - 2 for £1.50

Oh, my, gosh, these were nice!  When I think of Crabbies, I think of ginger beer - a drink I'm not overly fond of.  However, these didn't taste gingery! Huzzah! One bottle was black cherry flavoured, and the other was raspberry and rhubarb - both were lovely, but the black cherry was the clear winner for us.

Kents Kitchen - £1.75

While I haven't had these yet, I'm all about noodles at the moment, so this was another very well-timed product in the box - and it's my namesake! These are made with all natural ingredients, are low fat and low calorie - so it's ticking all the boxes :)

Natvia - £2.00

It's nice to see more natural sweeteners hitting the shelves, free from nasty aspartame and instead they're using the natural sweetness from the stevia plant. I'm a big fan of Truvia, so I'm really keen to see how this compares.

Brioche Pasquier - 2 for 50p 

These are like flavoured (bacon) croutons, and funnily enough, despite being bacon flavoured, they're suitable for vegetarians :)  Each bag is under 90 calories and made from French bread.  It's also free from artificial colours, flavours and preservatives.

This was my favourite box yet - so many things I'd been thinking about, craving and even things I didn't realise I wanted, lol :)  If you want to try out Degustabox, I have a code for you to get £3 off your first box, making it just £9.99 instead of the usual £12.99 - the code is B2581 and you can sign up here.

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*Post contains a PR Sample

HAUL | Nail polish, skincare & stationary

Yesterday I headed into town to spend some vouchers I had on some much needed baby clothes in the next size up for Squidge (he's practically grown out of his 3-6 months stuff and is now in 6-9 months).  Seeing as I don't get to town much any more (SO much hassle with a baby, managing when to feed him etc), I took advantage and did a bit of a small-ish naughty haul!

In the St Davids centre here in Cardiff, Models Own have one of those big giant nail polish stands, so obviously I *HAD* to stop and take a look.  Seeing as most of my nail polishes are getting really old and gloopy, I thought it was time to refresh my collection a little.  These are normally £5 each, but they had an offer to get 5 for £20 which is what I did - and doing that I got a free nail buffer/filer too. These are the shades I picked - yep, there's a bit of a theme there :P  

I've also pretty much run out of my Liz Earle C&P tube, it's done really well, I bought it before Squidge was born and he's nearly 6 months old, so it's lasted better than I thought. This was £26 (I think), which is a lot, but it lasts well, and it was bought out of the John Lewis vouchers I had :)

I've been looking for a blog planner for a while now, I didn't want to spend an extortionate amount of money, and I wanted one that wasn't already date marked as I wanted to do that myself with washi tape. Well, while in St Davids 2 (Cardiff)  I popped in to Paperchase to have a nose.  It's a miracle I didn't buy everything in the shop! SO many pretties in there!  Instead, I walked out with these 3 (after paying for them of course!) - a set of washi tape (30% off), a journey with the slogan 'Do what you love' (thought this was perfect for blogging) and some colour changing pens (yes, I am a child).

I'll be hauling the baby clothes over on the mummy blog - everything bought was from John Lewis and Marks & Spencer, so all lovely things :)

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5 Lipsticks for Spring

Ok I admit it, you might see a few easter/spring themed posts in the near future so I have an excuse to use the little chicks, I just can't help myself, they make my blog pics SO happy!

That aside, I do tend to write seasonal posts and this time, it's all about lipsticks, specifically pink lippies that are perfect for Spring.

Here's a closer look at what I picked:

Revlon Lip Butter in Strawberry Shortcake

- I love how buttery these are and longer lasting than you expect.  I'm not saying they're 'long wearing' per-say, but for a buttery balm in a lip stick I think they do pretty well, adding a pretty flush of colour. 

Urban Decay Naked lip gloss in Liar*

- Ok technically this isn't a lip stick, however, I adore this colour, and as it's part of the Naked collection, they go beautifully with the Naked eye shadow palettes, which are also perfect for spring, especially the 2nd and 3rd palette as they're cooler toned.

L'Oreal Caresse lip gloss stain in Lolita

- People seemed to really love or hate these, I think I sat somewhere in between - when it's fresh on I love it, but like any glossy type of product, I hate how my hair gets caught in it.  The product itself is lovely, and such a beautiful colour, a dusky pink with a subtle glittery shimmer.

Laqa & Co lip pencil (I think the shade is called Fairyblood)

I really like big fat lip crayons and these ones are great, they last really well on the lips adding a nice even application of colour and this colour is so perfect for spring.

Clarins Instant Light Lip Perfector in 02*

Possibly one of my favourite lip products - the Clarins instant light lip perfection range, both these and the lipstick versions more recently released are absolutely lovely on the tips, plus they smell like white chocolate, so what's not to like?

Maybe I should have created a Spring look using one of these?  I can just imagine them with a pretty soft pink blusher, very light eye shadow, black liquid eyeliner and bold mascara :)

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*Post contains PR samples previously reviewed

INTERVIEW | London Beauty Queen

Welcome to the first in a series where I interview successful bloggers that we all know and love, to find out a little more about them, and pick their brains for helpful blogging and youtubing tips! Today I'm kicking things off by interviewing the lovely Hayley from London Beauty Queen.

1.  Can you remember what first inspired you to start blogging?

I’d worked within the industry for years, having done everything from developing new products and writing the backs of shampoo bottles, to running press and tv campaigns while looking after in-store marketing. I became aware of blogs in late 2009 and after deciding to take a new direction in my career started one of my own to keep my toe in the water of the industry. I quickly realised I loved beauty too much to not work within it somehow, so the blog became somewhat of an obsession!

2.  How did you feel when you published your first blog post?

I can’t really remember, but I don’t think it was a big deal as I never expected anybody to read it! I can remember one of my mates reading it and leaving comments on every post, just to make me feel loved… It took a long time for anyone to start visiting the site or leaving feedback. 

3.  Have you ever thought about venturing into YouTube?

I have dabbled in YouTube and about once a year I get the urge to film videos (last summer I even bought myself a fancy new camera specifically for filming,) but I find it hard to maintain. Filming and editing videos is so time consuming, plus I find it much harder to think of ideas that haven’t already been done a thousand times before. YouTube is a whole different beast to blogging; you need a specific skill set and the patience of a saint. I do keep meaning to get more into it, but there’s always something else more of a priority! 

4.  What do you love most about blogging?

The interaction I get with readers, undoubtedly. If it wasn’t for the comments, Twitter feedback and genuine love for what I do, I wouldn’t still be doing it five years later. I also love the freedom it’s given me to carve my own career path and be my own boss, working with brands in creative ways and trying new things every day of the week. 

5.  What would you say is the best moment your blog has brought you so far?

There’s not one specific moment, but I’ve been able to do some incredible things. From interviewing Rita Ora and Cate Blanchett, to attending the MTV Awards and flying to exotic locations. My proudest moment will be on April 12th this year - the day LBQ turns five! 

6.  What do you find your most popular type of content to be?

It’s always the conversational or debate posts that encourage feedback from readers, or discuss something controversial. I recently wrote an open letter to MAC about their lacklustre collections which was incredibly popular, but my commentary on the blogging world also does well too. Reviews still feature on the site, but they’re not what brings in the new readers or excites current ones.

7.  If you hadn't found blogging, what job would you see yourself doing?

Before I took the site full time in 2013 I was working in brand and social media management for one of the world’s largest marketing agencies; I would probably be doing the same thing, maybe with different clients, but definitely in social media. I do still dabble in consultancy and that side of things, working with brands and PR agencies to develop a social strategy and help them manage their social channels. 

8.  Is there one tool or platform that's really helped you grow your blog?

Twitter has been a huge tool for me, as it allows me to reach new people every day. The possibilities are endless, so you just ahem to run with it and see what happens. 

9.  Just for fun - tell us something most of your readers might not know about you.

There’s probably not a lot people don’t know as I’m a bit of an over-sharer, but you’d probably be surprised as to how ‘un-girly’ I am. I hate pink, anything with sparkles or love hearts; I’m much more masculine in my tastes and my office is filled with Sci-Fi memorabilia! 

10.  Lastly, what are your top 3 tips to new bloggers looking to make their marque?

Be patient: Rome wasn’t built in a day. Too many expect to be the next big thing overnight and it just doesn’t happen that way, especially now. Carve a niche: try and do something a little differently and don’t just copy what you *think* is a magic formula. Network: it’s all about who you know and not what you know. 

I'm sure you'll join me in saying a big thank you to Hayley for taking the time out of her busy schedule to take part :)

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6 Nail polishes for Easter

After buying some little fluffy chicks to be in my blog photo's yesterday, I found myself feeling very festive today and thought I'd put together a post on Easter nail polishes, with a little nail art - now, I'm by no way a professional, but I like to tinker with nail art - so be gentle!

The nail polishes I picked are:
Essie - Cascade Cool
GOSH - Apple Bloom
Essie - Mint Candy Apple
GOSH - Sunkissed
Crabtree & Evelyn - Raspberry/Fuchsia
M&S Limited - Pale Peach

To create the nail art I used the Avon tool in the picture - it's only £3 and while I realise I chopped the ends off so you can't see them - it's a double ended tool - one end is a brush, the other a dotting tool. You can get as creative as your imagination will take you, even creating what look like decorative easter eggs - that's actually the intention when I started these, but I went a little polka dot crazy :P

Now that my nails are starting to grow back I'm starting to wear polish again, so I'm getting all excited planning my next creations, if only I had the skill to meet my ideas!

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*Post contains PR samples previously blogged about

Neve Cosmetics | Aqua Brush Set

You might recall I mentioned the other day about how I have a some Neve reviews coming up, well this is one of them (duh!).  Today it's all about makeup brushes - specifically the Aqua Brush Set - a brush collection perfect for travelling with.

The set is made up of 7 high quality brushes, 2 for the face, and 5 for the eyes (3 of the overall brushes being duo-fibre).  The brushes are small, with short handles which is why I think this is a great set for travelling - they don't feel cheap or plasticy, but solid and well made, and you've just got to love that colour!

The brushes themselves are really nice quality too.  the shader brushes are quite firm, which I really like, making applying eye shadow very controlled, I don't feel like I'm going to get loads of fallout, it means I can apply eye shadow very precisely.  The blending brush and crease brush are lovely too - the crease brush is also quite firm, what I love about that is how easy it is to control applying shadow through the crease and outer V.

The face brushes are lovely too - I haven't used them to apply foundation yet - I just can't tear myself away from my F80, however I have used them for powder and for blusher and they applied both beautifully, especially the blusher.

This lovely set is €24.90 which is about £18.23 at the current exchange rate - so about £2.60 a brush, bargain! I love the pouch they come in too - it has a zip at one end so you could use it to put some other products in - it is quite small though so you won't get much in there - maybe some q-tips and cotton pads :)

This is a lovely set from Neve, my first time in trying their brushes and I've been as impressed with them as I have all their makeup I've tried so far.  They're a great brand, and cruelty free, a winner in my books.

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MeMeMe | Goddess Rocks

//Excuse the imperfect skin - I don't believe in photoshopping my images//

I must be honest, I'm not typically one for any kind of shimmery bronzer - however, these are a little different.  The MeMeMe Goddess Rocks come in a pretty, grey cardboard pot, with a wedge of foam to keep them in place and stop them getting smashed up.  They cost £12.95 and fantastically, they haven't been tested on animals, yay :)

They're very sparkly - made up of 3 different shades - a bronze, a rose gold and a highlight beige shade - swirled all together they create a gorgeous soft shimmery bronze colour.  They're designed to be used on cheeks, cupids bow, decolletage and any other areas you want to create that bronzed goddess look.  Personally, I just used them on my cheek bones by dabbing a very fluffy brush in there (Real Techniques blusher brush) and applying it to my cheeks - I actually really like this look if you're going for dark or sultry eyes and a nude lip gloss - I think it creates a very glamourous dewey look.  I can see these sitting well in a makeup artists kit too as I think they add a gorgeous glow to the skin - but be warned, it is easy to overdo it with these. 

While these may not be something I reach for on a daily basis, I do think they have a place in my collection - other than looking beautiful, they do look gorgeous on the cheeks and work beautifully as a highlight and on top of blusher to add an extra dimension.

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*Post contains a PR sample

GOSH | No Limits Mascara

It's no secret that I love reviewing mascara, I thin it's because I see results very quickly, and the pictures aren't really open for interpretation - lashes either look good with the mascara, or they don't -the pictures never lie, despite how much we might love or hate a mascara.

I'm actually thinking about writing a massive mascara review post, pulling together all my previous reviews to find the best mascara I've ever tried - good idea?

Anyway, off on a tangent again.  Today we're here to talk about, and look at pictures of, the GOSH No Limits mascara.  This is probably the biggest mascara I've ever seen - not necessarily the wand, but the whole thing, it's massive!  The wand is fab, it's made up of small rubber spikes spreading out into a wave shape.  This gripped my lashes really well, applying the formula evenly over my lashes, not making them spidery.

What I will say, you don't need more than one coat of this to get the most out of it.  You can see in the picture below, there's pretty much no difference between one and two coats - only really the bottom lashes benefit from a second coat.  I do think they look great with just the one coat, looking instantly defined, curled, black and with more volume.

No Limits Mascara comes in at £7.59*, which makes it sit pretty much mid-way on the high street between the likes of budget brands like Makeup Revolution, and the pricier end of the high street like Max Factor and their clump defy (around £12).  Do you get what you pay for?  I think you do - my lashes look lovely, and given that I don't 'need' to add a second coat, it'll last me a bit longer than a conventional mascara too.  Another plus is that without extra coats, it'll be easier to remove too.

What do you think of this mascara?

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*Post contains PR samples

Neve Cosmetics | Manga Brows

If you haven't heard of Neve Cosmetics before, well then you should have! They're a fantastic Italian brand which pride themselves on being cruelty free.

If you've ever seen my brows before makeup, you'll know they need a little help each day to look finished, natural and put together.  They're thin, sparse with little shape, and they're much paler than my hair.  So every day when I put on makeup, my brows HAVE to be done.  I'm not overly fond of very heavy overdone brows, I much prefer them to look more natural, but well groomed and shaped. Recently I've been using my Anastasia Brow Wiz, but given how expensive that is, I'm in the market for a more purse-friendly alternative, and proper pencils aren't something I'd tried yet.

You can pick this up for €8.99 (which is about £6.99 in UK money).  It's a double-ended pencil with 2 slightly different colours at each end, and inside the cap of the one end is a brush to soften the look once you've filled your brows in.  I picked the shade 'warm blonde & soft brown' I think this was the closest to my natural brow colour.

The lighter colour is designed to outline your brows, and the darker shade to define and fill them out - I love how innovative this is!  I also love that their products are free from parabens, silicone and any animal bits (yuck).  

I love how natural they make my brows look, I think I got the colour match just right - it's definied, filled in and given my brows depth.  The actual pencil is quite firm too, which is what you'd expect from a brow product, otherwise it could all get rather messy!

Brows before being Manga'd!

 Brow's after having the Neve Manga pencil run over them

I really do love Neve products, their eye shadows are amazing quality with innovative colours, and generous pan sizes - I've actually got another couple Neve reviews up my sleeves for you coming soon :)  In fact, over the last couple of years I've reviewed a few different pieces from Neve like their powder foundation, Elegantissimi neutral palette, Pastello eye liners and mineral eye shadows - I'm afraid the pictures aren't exactly to my current standard - just click on the links to read my reviews :)

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Makeup Revolution | Give Them Nightmares palette

Dramatic Evening Look

Wearable Day Look

[Each of the above looks were created using the same 3 colours - The Hunger (all over the lid), Wicked (outer half) and Beyond the night (outer V and crease)]

I've had this palette in my mitts for some time and haven't gotten around to photographing a look wearing it until today.  Greens are pretty much my favourite colours to wear, and purples.  So I thought I'd focus on one colour set in the palette to create my look - and I picked green.  I am a little surprised though that it's photographed pretty grey - my mother-in-law said it does look pretty grey on the lids too in real life (I think it looks quite green, but maybe I'm just seeing what I want to see).

This palette was launched in time for Halloween last year, it's packed with deep dark colours, some with glitter, some are shimmery and the bottom row are all mattes.  All the colours are really well pigmented and work well together.

Going back a couple years ago this would have been more of an every day palette for me and not one for more dramatic looks, however I tend to reach for what's easier and more fool-proof now, which is neutral shades - bringing the focus onto the eyeliner and mascara.  I liked the quality of these - I did start with an eye shadow primer, and then a matte skin coloured shadow all over the lid to give a nice even base.

For the every day look I created, I did struggle a little to get a more muted look with decent blending, I found that I had to add more shadow to get a smoother finish, so creating the every day look was a little more challenging than the dramatic look.  What I like is that I created both with the exact same shadows, and in the same places - one was full on and one was toned down - it's amazing how different they are, with the same colours in the same places.

All in all this is a nice palette - but I would suggest saving it for more dramatic full-on looks as subtlety isn't a word I'd use to describe Give Them Nightmares.

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*Post contains a PR sample