Worth the hype.

Hello, from a dull grey Milton Keynes. Apologies for my absence the weather has actually been pretty damn good (ish) so I have been spending my days at the pub with fam/friends/boyf. I have also been avoiding the shops not only to save money but because, and please don't judge me for this, I HATE SALES. They're messy and stressful and grown women resort to behaving like animals over a 8 pound dress and I.cannot.take.it. Anyway back to the point, because I haven't been shopping as much it got me thinking about products I already have and that I am forever repurchasing. For regular readers of my blog you will know that my real weakness in life is clothes. However I do absolutely obsess over skincare/make up etc but I always think cosmetics are so expensive that I can't just buy them on a whim. I very much sit and do my research on blogs and youtube before taking the plunge. As a result I often try products that get extremely hyped up on blogs/Youtube so I thought I'd let you know which I think are really worth it and will be a staple in my make-up/ skincare/ tanning routine for years to come. 

1. First off I have the Liz Earle Cleanse and Polish - Hot cloth cleanser. "Original" I hear you say, well yes I am another Liz Earle sheep and judge away but it the best cleanser known to man. Ever. End of. You know the drill you put a pump on your hand and massage onto dry skin (you can use it on eyes, I tend not too as my eye make up destroys the muslin clothes). Then you rinse the muslin clothes in hot water and polish off the cleanser. Thus cleansing and gently exfoliating simultaneously. Simples. I have combination skin and it works like a dream for me.

2. Next up I have Bioderma Crealine H20. Quite simpley Bioderma shits on all other make up removers/cleaners. The king of the make up remover if you will. Slight issue is it's french so you have to buy it off ebay or travel to France to get it and even I draw the line at leaving the country for a make up remover that costs 10 Euros. However luckily my best friend studies French at Uni so is always popping over for trips so brings me back a tub or two. It removes every last scrap of make up and calms my skin down like nothing else. I introduced it to her and she has also seen the Bioderma light, she's much more acne prone than me and has said this stuff has literally changed her skin for the better.

3. Next is St Tropez Bronzing Mouse. Smells awful but looks amazing. I apply 2 coats and it goes a lovely golden colour that honestly just looks really natural with no streaks or patching. However the smell in my opinion is rank, when first applied it smells like really stong fake tan that they've tried to mask with the smell of a leather car interior (trust me sounds wierd but so true). I apply it at night and then shower it off the next morning and I kid you not the smell lingers for the next day and my boyfriend hates it. But if its a choice between him and the tan...he'll go. I JOKE. Or am I? I don't even know anymore haha. But anyway the look is unbeatable, I have tried every fake tan on the market and this for me cannot be beaten and the smell goes away after a day anyway.

4. The body scrub/exfoliator to end all body scrub/exfoliators: Soap and Glory Flake Away. A must for fake tan obsessives. If any of you are like me and are just essentially massively lazy the horror of scaly skin will not be new territory for you. Because sometimes lets be honest I cannot be arsed to exfoliate I just want to be brown. Hense I turn into a scaley mess. This is far from ideal. Enter Soap and Glory Flake Away and suddenly I'm scale free and smooth as a babies bum! *Tip* For severe cases of fake-tan-educed-scales this product combined with Exfoliating gloves will sort you right out.

5. This leads on nicely to Soap and Glory body moisturiser; The Righteous Butter. It smells beaut (not unlike Miss Dior Cherie perfume), lasts forever and is just generally brilliant. It helps prevent/rectify the afore mentioned scaly skin situation and masks the smell of St Tropez. Fake tan smelling, scaly skin ... I know what your thinking, my boyf is one lucky man. I really don't think he new what he was letting himself in for... poor Dan.

6. Make up wise I didn't want to go into too much detail because all my hyped cosmetics are featured in my Everyday Maquillage post. However I feel purely for the sheer number of times I have repurchased these items they needed to feature. They are MAC eyeshadows in Satin Taupe and Tempting. They are my ultimate eyeshadows that I will always always own. What I love so much is they look amazing on their own or with a black in the crease, et voila you have created the perfect smokey eye whther you want a taupe or a dark gold. My love for Tempting stems from Laura from Buy Now, Blog Later way back when she was Lollipop26 and she showed a Youtube video where she simply put Tempting all over the lid with MAC Carbon in the crease and blended it out. Since then this has been my go-to smokey eye. Satin Taupe is just so beautiful on its own in the day or again with a black in the crease. My mum also loves it as it has the perfect amount of shimmer as she often finds too much glitter is ageing but totally matte eyeshadows a tad boring.

7. My next product worth the hype is Clarins Beauty Flash Balm. Now this Clarins claims Beauty Flash Balms 'Brightens and Tightens' and I have always been highly sceptical. This is the ultimate 'are the effects just in my head or does this product actually work' product. I won't lie my Mum has been banging on about it for years and years so when she got a free sample she gave it to me to try. I kid you not this stuff is bloody good. I have rather dull skin this gives my skin a radiance it simply doesn't have naturally. It smells lovely, makes my foundation application smoother and appear dewey and youthful and is just an all wound winner.

8. My penultimate product is YSL Touche Eclat. As with the Clarins Beauty Flash Balm I wasn't autimatically convinced as I thought the hype surrounding it was just hot air. However I bought it for my mum for her birthday as she's always wanted to try it. So I thought I'd test it out just to try... que me stealing it forever. It is often misused as a concealer, this is not the case, it is in fact a highlighter/ eye brightener. It's creaming and moisturising and when applied correctly around the eye area your skin does truly appear brighter and you just look more awake!

9. And finally everybody's favourite the Yankee candle. I had to feature these as between my mum and I we must have practically the whole collection. What I love so much about Yankee candles is that the smells are not sickeningly sweet that leave you with a headache or feeling nauseous. They are still strong smelling and last for ages and are just the best candles ever! 

None of the products featured are groundbreaking and I most certainly won't be winning any awards for originality. But all these items have been purchased a million times before and will continue to be repurchased as I simply cannot live without them!


Kathryn x

Everyday maquillage.

WARNING!!! Your going to need to prepare yourselves this may be quite an extensive write up. I didn't want to just tell you what I use but why as well... I see why make up reviews work so well on youtube as its hard to make them concise. But there is no way this mug will be on youtube any time soon soo this will have to do!

My everyday make up is an odd one as it is primarily dictated by my budget. Pre-uni, when I had a job I wouldn't think twice about buying some ridiculously priced foundation/mascara/lipgloss as I didn't go out half as much and didn't have to pay for stuff like food. However, from September when I entered  the world of the skint student my make-up budget has been cut dramatically. So what you see here is sort of what I wear now however I will throw in what I do prefer to buy when I have the money.

For me I tend to find something I love and just use it everyday, I don’t like going too far out my comfort zone make up wise purely because make up is so expensive and if I were to buy a 30 pound foundation and not used it I would be hating my life.

First off is what I wear as base make up...

Strobe cream is my not so secret weapon to make my dull skin look slightly more radient. It gives a dewy, youthful finish on the skin when mixed with foundation. What I love about it is it doesn't make your face look like a disco ball but adds a pearly, iridescence. 

I have normal erring on dry skin and I find it really hard to find a foundation which gives me a sort of dewy glow as often foundation just clings to my dry areas and I look like a cakey mess. MAC's Studio Sculpt Foundation gives a dewy finish that doesn't cling in any way to my dry areas, that combined with the fact it’s extremely full coverage means it’s perfect for me. At £23 pounds its not cheap, however its so thick I do find you only need a small amount whereas with drugstore foundations such as Max Factor I literally go through 1 a month so it actually works out cheaper for me. I still can't bring myself to spend £30 on say NARS or Chanel purely because I do not have that sort of money however would love to try them so maybe for a birthday pressie! I also always have two foundations one in my natural pale shade NW15 and one in my tanned colour NW35 which I mix together to achieve the varying colours I go when I'm fake tanning.  

Concealer wise, I have got to go with Collection 2000 (not pictured here) for under-eye dark circles, its a total bargin and I feel because it’s very light and very much a fluid it doesn't cling unflatteringly under my eyes. This brings me on to my other concealer I use more for spots and random breakouts, Studio Fix Concealer by MAC which is AMAZING for covering spots however under-eye I swear it makes me look like I have random creases and at 18 that is not the one.

Powder again is MAC, it is their Mineralise Skinfinish Natural in medium, it provides me with coverage, doesn't look cakey and prevents shine on my forehead. What makes it better is how long it last, this bad boy was bought in July 2011 and is only just about to run out. Thats my argument when it comes to spending money on higher end brands as they just last so much longer than their drug store equivalent.

Now onto the cheeks...

As a tan addict where blush fails, bronzer wins. When I had money it was NARS Laguna (It has run out so only the packaging is pictured) every time but I wear that much of the stuff that it goes, I kid you not, within 4-6 weeks which is SHOCKING considering I spent a good 24 quid of the thing. But it’s an addiction, it’s the perfect brown that can be built up when wearing fake tan yet a subtle sweeping looks just as good when I'm embracing the pale side. However realistically I can't afford it anymore so I always always have a Benefit Hoola on standby for when my beloved Laguna runs out. This stuff, unlike laguna, lasts so long: I’m talking over a year which is brilliant for a tanorexic like myself. However I do find it has a slight grey look to it, and when a lot has been applied I think it can tend to look grubby whereas Laguna is a true brown. For an added bit of shimmer when using Hoola I use MAC's Gold Deposit Mineralize Skinfinish.  

Blusher is a rare occurrence for me, but I’d say it's generally a toss up between MAC Peachykeen and NARS Orgasm. 

Highlight has got to be Benefit Highbeam, subtle but makes such a difference to my face. I had a brief fling with NARS Albatross but gave it to a friend as it’s a powder and just looked a bit cakey. MAC Pearl Cream Base is also worth a whirl but it doesn't last, however for an instant effect it is gorgeous and gives a beautiful dewy look.

Finally onto my eyes and lips ...

Mascara is dictated by my budget as well. I have the shortest stubbiest eyelashes in the world, literally practically non existant. So for me finding a decent mascara has been a life long dream. My favourite is Lancome Hypnose however at 20 quid a pop I physically can’t bring myself to buy it on a student budget especially as it dries up extremely quickly however I do think it is amazing. So a more student friendly option is L'oreal Telescopic, which I do actually really like and at about half the price of Hypnose I do think you get not that far off the quality so it’s a winner. 

Eyeliner rarely features heavily in my everyday make up, but I do like MAC Smoulder but it does end up quite far down my face by the end of the day but the intensity of the colour is brilliant. So I recently have tried Lancome Black Khol Liner which is a much harder consistency but it's great during the day as it doesn't budge. I do love Bobbi Brown gel eyeliner as it lasts all day however I find it a bit of a faff as I have to use a brush like the MAC 208. So recently I bought this gorgeous eyeliner pen and it is honestly so long wearing and easy to use. It’s by a brand exclusive to Liberty called Hourglass and the quality of their products is amazing, I have their eyeshadows which I wear in the evening and the pigmentation is stunning.

For the day I like to keep it simple in terms of eyeshadow, if I’m looking for a more taupey look I try either one of the colours from my NARS Kalahari duo or MAC’s satin taupe. If I’m looking for a brown or gold I head straight to my Naked palette. I actually have had 2 naked palettes in my time, I lost one on a very drunken night out (do not ask me WHY I felt the need to take out a whole eye shadow palette but apparently in my drunken state I thought it was a genius idea and anyway I ended up dropping my bag and said goodbye to my naked palette... soul destroying). Anyway it’s a testament to the Urban Decay Naked Palette that I decided to shell out another *gulp* £36 quid on a new one however when we put it in terms of MAC, the 12 shades in the palette would come to well over £120 so value for money is great! 

Eyeshadow base has got to be Urban Decay primer potion, it prevents creases and makes my eyeshadow last all day and the colour pop. I did used to love MAC’s Paintpots however they dry out far to quickly for my liking.

I'm all about the nude lip. Myth by MAC is always my number one nude however when I inevitably loose it on a night out GOSH do a very similar shade which I do love. Teamed with MAC Florabundance however Collection 2000 do a killer lipgloss for £2.99 in their Lock N Hold range. It gives a similar look, just doesn't last as long but when I loose on average one a week it makes the pain of loosing it much less.
So there we have it my favourite everyday make up!

Kathryn x