The January ‘14 Update. | #JANBLOG 31

Hello lovely people! (The flower fairies used to be my favourite so this calendar was essential!)

I really am hoping this won’t be too rambly, but it’s more of a lifestyle post so if you’d rather not read this, click around The Blushing Giraffe there’s plenty of other beauty stuff around ^_^ January has been an absolute blur! *re-reads those goals haha* and I really do have a strange feeling that the rest of this year will follow suit which is slightly alarming because 2014 STILL doesn’t seem real??

Blogging

#JANBLOG! WOOOHOOOO! Honestly blogging every single day was SO tough! Alongside working part time and Uni fitting in a post 7 days a week was a real challenge, but aside missing a day in the middle and the last two days, I think I did a pretty alright job. Without all of you guys being so very supportive and helpful I really couldn’t have accomplished it so thank you thank you thank you!! It has shown me that I CAN achieve the goal to blog 3 days a week at least, just so long as I plan posts a little more and turn down the spontaneous-ness. Also I have been slacking with reading and commenting my favourite blogs, and so this weekend I am going to do a mass catch-up (with lots of cups of tea).

Camera

I bought a new camera this month – the Canon 600D! I’m so happy with it, but because I have been pretty busy all month I’ve not really had the chance to properly play around with it, next month’s update should hopefully contain a lot more photos ^_^

Spending Ban

My spending ban came into effect mid month, and there are 87 days to go! I’ve been doing fairly well, but I have found it hard not so buy so much food at Uni. So…from next month I’ll be trying to cut down on buying chocolate ._. (I don’t even LIKE chocolate most of the time…is this an effect of not spending money on pretty things??)

Working Out

This month I also started working out! Ok enough of the explanation marks, I did say started and that pretty much lasted for a week. Although I've been slightly demotivated and not able to plan my time effectively to get my fitness up, Feb will be the month a proper routine comes into place…I hope…how are your fitness resolutions coming along? I did want to share this app with you again (Nike Training)

As you can see you have four options to choose from and I think I’ll change my routine and opt for get Toned rather than get lean because lean is more for loosing weight, something I don’t want to do ( I just need to be feeling fit and toned up!) and even lean on beginner was TOUGH! I clicked on get toned, then beginner and was given a series of workouts to choose from, with the time length, approx. calories burnt and also the option to customise it. What I love about this app is the personalised workout plan, they set you the workouts and the days to do them in, as well as the ability to listen to your own music! I'’ve made a playlist and can’t wait to start it again! The only con of this app is that it does NOT work through warming up and down effectively enough! I was in SEVERE pain for like 3 days after my first full workout, so if you’ve forgotten all the stuff from school then go ahead and YouTube them first!

Halal Sweets

This month I discovered another amazing Instagram/shop which sells amaaaaazing halal sweets! For those of you who may not know Muslims can only eat sweets which are gelatine free…no haribos for us! Although we can have skittles, starburst, hardboiled, sometimes you just really want the gummy kind you know? There are a few companies around that sell sweets like this, and I thought I’d try out ‘Simply Sweet Cart’ who also cater for weddings! Check them out on Instagram and Facebook, you’ll see the most amazing personalised carts filled with sweets, chocolate foundations and more ^_^

The customer service was brilliant, with regular emails throughout and I was really happy with my sweets! I have a terrible sweet-tooth and these were a wonderful treat to help me through the assignments of last week! I have a feeling Ima be a regular customer (after the spending ban though dw, enough spending on food haha)

MISSING SLEEK PACKAGE

Ok so this is something that is SUPER upsetting. I made sure I started my spending ban after the release of Sleek’s new products, literally ordered them on the 16th and they claim they have a 3 day delivery service with..tracking..well that tracking is useless and there is still no package that has arrived. Furthermore they haven’t replied to a single e-mail. I’m pretty disappointed considering they’ve been one of my favourite brands for a looooong time, the least I expect is decent customer service to help sort out//find the package! Hopefully I can update you guys on this soon :(

Moving Into The New Bedroom

Lets finish this off on a positive note! My parents old bedroom is my new one, yaaaay! I now have a tonne more storage space and will be getting a new double bed tomorrow I hope! Then this weekend I shall start painting the room and yeah exciting stuff..except moving all your stuff from one room to another is surprisingly stressful because I have little idea what stuff is in what box and when I need something…jbjgbrgjvbj. Fingers crossed I may have some photos of the room and not a random box next month ^_^

How was YOUR January? I hope this wasn’t too boring, it’s actually kinda more of a record for myself y’know? But if any of you read the whole thing then…well done :’) haha

See you tomorrow for my January Favourites!

The January ‘14 Update. | #JANBLOG 31

Hello lovely people! (The flower fairies used to be my favourite so this calendar was essential!)

I really am hoping this won’t be too rambly, but it’s more of a lifestyle post so if you’d rather not read this, click around The Blushing Giraffe there’s plenty of other beauty stuff around ^_^ January has been an absolute blur! *re-reads those goals haha* and I really do have a strange feeling that the rest of this year will follow suit which is slightly alarming because 2014 STILL doesn’t seem real??

Review | Bourjois 16hr Linear Pinceau Liquid Liner in Black |#JANBLOG 29

Hi guys! Today I’m going to be talking about this liquid liner I’ve been using recently  As I’ve mentioned before liner on the top lid is just me, smudged on with kohl or drawn with slick liner, either way it works!

So that is why I’m always interested in looking out for the near perfect liquid liner, something I’ve been testing for a few weeks now. (I have to admit though, since really using my gel eyeliner every day I MISS IT SO MUCH!) Ok so onto this little guy, available from Superdrug for £6.99 in a sleek bullet like packaging. Since I ordered it online from ASOS, I had no idea what to expect from it and was surprised to see it has the THINNEST applicator I have ever seen!

The Pros of this product are it’s great for beginners in liquid liner as the nib is so thin you can line close to the lashes without drawing a super thick line on. So this is also helpful for when practising the cat eye flick! The brush/applicator is also really flexible and not harsh on the delicate eye area in the slightest.

I’m afraid for me that is where the good stuff ends because although the line when first drawn looks really black, it does fade and not so gradually. I expect at least an 8 hour wear of this considering it’s labelled 16HRS! And whenever any product claims a certain amount of wear time and cannot deliver I feel pretty disappointed (why make the claim if you can’t live up to it eh?) Most times when I’ve been wearing this,I’ve applied it at 9am and I check it out at 1pm during the lunch break and it looks like I’ve used a marker that’s run out half way…

For me any liquid/gel liner MUST be long lasting, and for it’s price I really expected better quality!  There are for sure better liners from the highstreet for a cheaper price in my humble opinion ._. The packaging and applicator is fabulous but the wear time of this means I won’t be buying it again… Have you ever used this liner before? What are your thoughts?

Review | Bourjois 16hr Linear Pinceau Liquid Liner in Black |#JANBLOG 29

Hi guys! Today I’m going to be talking about this liquid liner I’ve been using recently  As I’ve mentioned before liner on the top lid is just me, smudged on with kohl or drawn with slick liner, either way it works!

Barry M Berry Cosmo | #JANBLOG 28

Barry M Berry Cosmo | LINK | £2.99

Hey ladies! Just a quick one today as I am snowed under by reading and an essay due in two days, so here is a #NOTD! I had a tough decision picking which colour this time around, and initially went for ‘blackberry’ which is more of a deep teal shade and also from their Gel finish/shine range. Something about it didn’t look quite right, so I swapped it for ‘Berry Cosmo’ which is one of their normal finishes. I picked this up last year and have to say I love the colour, I think it looks really nice against my skintone! (most don’t in my opinion) It’s also a pretty darn classy nail choice, which for a girl who loves to dollop glitter everywhere, is a rareity indeed.

Barry M is by far outnumbering the other brands in my nail polish collection, and I can’t really say a bad word against them! I’m super interested to try the Rimmel range though, after reading numerous good words about it over on Daphne’s blog (Subgenre Of A Dream – she is a lovely blogger, who’s also recently started a YouTube channel, check her out ^_^)

So back to the polish, I applied two coats, and didn’t have time for a top coat before I had to leave the house – and  it has not chipped at all, I'm pleased! It was a messy and rushed application though, my nail painting skills leave much to be desired! (Also flash is normally a no-no but it was the only way the colour was showing up properly in this terrible lighting.)

Although through the bottle it looks like a pinkish purple, when on the nails as you can see it’s more of a purple shade – which I LOVE because all my favourite’s are a purpleish something, that colour just sits well with me ^.^

For a couple of quid (and usually on offer) you can’t go wrong with Barry M nail paints, and next on my list after Spending Ban ofc is the black matte polish because which girl DOESN’T need one of those in her collection?!

I shall now love you and leave you, a hot cup of tea and Plato’s theory of Education awaits! but If anyone has any recommendations for a vibrant Royal Blue shade of nailpolish, (any brand but the cheaper the better) please let me know!

Barry M Berry Cosmo | #JANBLOG 28

Barry M Berry Cosmo | LINK | £2.99

Glitter Cups | #JANBLOG 26

Hello! I hope you are all well and ready for the week to start (oh Mondays how I love thee)

This is maybe a bit of a cheat post, but I really want to share this lovely YouTube video with you all because it has inspired me to get a little creative (something I don’t tend to normally do!)

I bought the cups from Ikea in their ‘discounts’ room I think for 30p each! and the glitter and modpodge were from ebay, not too happy with how chunky the glitter is, and if I do it again I’ll try to find some finer stuff..but overall I am really happy with how they turned out, and I love that they’ll add a bit of sparkle without going over the top.

Four cups/pots - one with cotton bud, one with lipliners, another with eyeliners and finally the fourth with concealers and primers (well a few of them haha). I thought these would look really pretty in my new bedroom, and it’s a lot easier to find these types of things when they’re not all in a pile or in a makeup bag!

*10 minutes after writing this* erm..looks like the video isn’t there anymore, how irritating. It was done by hellokatyxo if anyone was wondering..luckily I found a blog post telling you the exact same thing – link

Have you been inspired and made your own pretty decor? I’d love to see the post if you have ^_^

Thanks for reading!

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Glitter Cups | #JANBLOG 26

Hello! I hope you are all well and ready for the week to start (oh Mondays how I love thee)

Review | Oilatum Natural Repair Face Cream | #JANBLOG 25

Hey guys! I’m absolutely gutted that I missed my first post of Janblog yesterday :( But honestly I had the WORST day, from start to finish it was one of those days where nothing was going right and by then end of it I had to have a huge cry, one of those cries that pour out a lot of the stress, and exhaustion (and one that I secretly relish sometimes because I really think those great big cries can help). Anyways…onwards and upwards! So on to the review-

I have used this face cream since July time and recently repurchased it, so it’s really has become a staple! Many of you may recognise this from the Pixiewoo channel on YouTube, as it’s a firm favourite of theirs. It is a cream designed to deeply moisturise and nourish dry, irritated skin. I think many people see this as a cream only for people with VERY dry skin, however it is suitable for normal/dry, sensitive and even combination skins (as long as you have more dry than oil on your face of course!).

My skin becomes more dry during the colder months (obviously), but I do tend to have dry patches near my eyelids and on my cheeks all year. Although I would rather have drier skin than oily skin, it is an absolute pain to have when you’re wearing any type of makeup that is non-dewy!

When I apply this, my skin seems to sing a little ‘hal-le-lu-jah’ because this stuff REALLY does moisturise, it doesn’t simply sit on the surface like a lot of moisturisers seem to do, nor does it leave a greasy residue at all. It’s perfect for wearing just before you apply makeup and its a wonderful base, whilst STILL quenching my dehydrated skin well! I had read a lot of reviews before picking this up with some saying that it actually removed eczema on the skin! Personally I have found that although at first any dry patches were dealt with nicely using this, as the months have gone on (and gotten colder) there's a stubborn patch of dryness near my eyelid which will not budge. I really need to look into something more intensive for that and to treat the dryness on my cheeks, as it’s really frustrating when applying makeup! I have heard that you shouldn’t use the same moisturiser consistently because it well ’gets used to your skin’  and I never truly understood what that meant until now *sad sigh*

On the whole though an amazing moisturiser, available from boots for a VERY reasonable £7.65 (50ml) and it totally fragrance free as well as preservative and emulsifier free, probably why my skin feels so HAPPY when using this! I haven’t tried many higher end skincare items, but I have tried the benefit b-right moisturiser (review) and I have to say this is so much better! Although it doesn’t completely treat my little dry patches of skin, it’s still the best moisturiser I have tried to date. If you have dry, sensitive or dehydrated skin give this a go and feel your skin soak up the goodness!

 

What is your favourite moisturiser? Also if anyone has any suggestions for them pesky dry patches please do let me know!

Review | Oilatum Natural Repair Face Cream | #JANBLOG 25

Hey guys! I’m absolutely gutted that I missed my first post of Janblog yesterday :( But honestly I had the WORST day, from start to finish it was one of those days where nothing was going right and by then end of it I had to have a huge cry, one of those cries that pour out a lot of the stress, and exhaustion (and one that I secretly relish sometimes because I really think those great big cries can help). Anyways…onwards and upwards! So on to the review-

The Ps & Cs of Beauty Blogging (A six month review) | #JANBLOG 22

Hello! The Blushing Giraffe is six months old today! I’m finding it pretty hard to believe that this tiny little space on the internet has been up and running for over 180 days, has nearly 200 bloglovin’ followers, a beautiful group of ladies to support it on Instagram, and nearly 375 awesome people who have liked it on Facebook! What’s more is I cannot get over the fact that I have blogged every single day so far this month, a massive pat on my back because that’s something I deemed unachievable!

Aside from saying thank you for being such a wonderful bunch and leaving me the nicest comments, either here or on IG (I promise I will get round to replying, OH and catching up on my bloglovin feed which is over 650 posts right now ._.), I just wanted to give a little bit of wisdom/advice back. One of the most inspiring things for me is being told that my blog has sparked a flair in someone else for starting a blog, and although I’ve only been blogging for a couple of months, I can truly say I’ve worked pretty hard with it and feel like I have at least a tiny bit of knowledge that may be of help if you’re thinking about blogging! :)

This is for anyone out there thinking of starting a blog, but on the fence about it I wanted to share a few pros and the slight cons to being a beauty blogger in particular, but essentially we all have the same sort of hobby whether its food, fitness, beauty, or fashion!

PROS

- You become part of a lovely little online community who are all as passionate about beauty etc. as you are. This can be really nice because the majority of the time real life friends don’t quite share the same level of love when it comes to makeup, and you can’t always discuss new releases and other beauty stuff like that. So in this way the whole blogging world can quite easily become your own little escape away from the pressures of school/uni/work and the mundane realities of life.

- You make blogger friends who are sometimes from all the way around the world, and it’s an amazing way of connecting with people!

- You get to share YOUR voice and YOUR opinion. It can help you come out of your shell a little, and eventually you’ll have your own voice that is distinct from others, but appreciated none the less.  It also kind of becomes your own little brand! You’ll end up making a twitter page for it, then maybe a Facebook page and just getting a lot of inspiration from all sorts of sources. On top of this, I don’t think there are many better feelings that being asked to give advice or recommendation in an area you personally love, it makes me sooo incredibly happy when people turn to me for that :’)

- Your own knowledge will undoubtedly grow (for example a beauty blogger probably learns so much on a weekly basis about different skincare, bargains, which shops to watch, new releases etc.)

- You get to HELP other people not waste their hard earned £££! I truly think that’s one of the worst feelings, using a product and finding it to be SO useless! Whilst you can’t exactly ask for your money back (not in the UK anyways) you can forewarn others! This also makes it a worthwhile and productive hobby!

- You have a chance to express your creative side. Some people do this through their words, a lot do this through their photography. I sort of do this through both! I love that my little site is my source of creativity and my ‘outlet’ and the fact that people tell me it’s been helpful to them, or they’ve enjoyed using a product I reviewed REALLY MAKES MY DAY!

CONS (kinda)

- It’s not at easy as it looks. Blogging takes time, motivation and effort. Sometimes life just doesn’t want to hand you those three things on a plate at once! So I guess I just wanted to say, start a blog one moment in the middle of the night you think to yourself, what am I waiting for?? and once you’ve got that blog up and running and have hit publish on the first post, don’t let anything stop you from carrying on. Why? because let me tell you, when you PUSH yourself and keep on at it it’s one of the best feelings ever.

- Photography is a learning curve. Taking pretty photos is a skill, and again takes a lot of time and patience to get right! But again this is more of a pro for me because I adore photography, and though time is the one thing I am majorly short of these days (which university student isn’t right??) any spare moments I have I am snapping away.

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And just briefly my top 5 tips for brand new bloggers (IM still new myself haha)/ people thinking of starting a blog;

1. When reviewing a product, try to give as much information as you possibly can! It’s always disappointing when you click on a review that you’re really interested to find out about and there's a 5 line paragraph saying something along the lines of ‘I like it, it really does its job as is good cos its cheap.’ Come on ladies…what would YOU want to know if you were considering buying the products?

2. Don’t give up! Blogging can all get a little too much, take a few days off and then come back afresh but don’t let that hard work and effort you put in go to waste!

3. Search around on YouTube and Google for tutorials on how to customise your blog. Lets face it, first impressions mean a lot and so spend a bit of time making your blog look how YOU want it too! Build a blog you can be proud of showing off (this IS a work in progress trust me! but there are some fantastically wonderful people out there who spend their time making html tutorials for noobs like us. Take it. My personal fave? Ellie – LINK HERE

4. Try not to feel too pressured about your content, although you do want to give adequate information, it doesn’t have to be phenomenal every single post (e.g ELLE Magazine style) because you’re a normal human being with a life outside the blogosphere! Again stick to being yourself and allow blogging to be a hobby/outlet not another worry to life!

5. I personally ADORE blogs with large aesthetically pleasing photos, because I’m quite a visual person. So enlarge those photos as much as you can without the quality getting all fuzzy, you took time to take the pictures, now show them off girl ^_^

I’m not sure if this was as helpful as I had hoped it would be, but it’s just my two pennies on my blogging experience so far. Once again I would like to give you all a great big squashy hug and thank you all for taking the time out of your day to read my blog! This was a little bit spontaneous, but Uni work needs to come first right now, so it will have to do *growls at SPSS and Graphs*

I hope you’re all doing well, and I really can’t wait to get back to my bloglovin’ feed, have a nice cuppa and a good old read!

The Ps & Cs of Beauty Blogging (A six month review) | #JANBLOG 22

Hello! The Blushing Giraffe is six months old today! I’m finding it pretty hard to believe that this tiny little space on the internet has been up and running for over 180 days, has nearly 200 bloglovin’ followers, a beautiful group of ladies to support it on Instagram, and nearly 375 awesome people who have liked it on Facebook! What’s more is I cannot get over the fact that I have blogged every single day so far this month, a massive pat on my back because that’s something I deemed unachievable!

Illamasqua Haul! | #JANBLOG 21

Can I just ask how we’re at the 21st of January already?! Time is FLYIN’!

So I mentioned that before my SB would start, I did a cheeky splurge on both Illamasqua and Sleek. All for good reasons of course! I did go a LITTLE bit over the top with this haul, mainly because it’s two orders worth (hey they offer free delivery, what's not to love??). But also because as one of my lovely Instagram followers said, Illamasqua really do know how to to put on a SALE!

I’m pretty new to Illamasqua personally, but one of my FAVOURITE MUA’s lookamillion (check her out on IG, Facebook & Youtube she’s self-taught - ahhhmaaazing!) loves their products and features them often on her Instagram. On top of that their blusher’s are usually around £18 and were reduced to £10, and then further reduced to £7.50! BARGAIN OR WHAT?!

As the sale is still on, I want to actually start with the only product that I’ve been pretty disappointed with so far :-(

and that is their cream foundation, which is currently on sale for £5. Not only does it smells odd, but it’s VERY hard to get any product on using a brush, and if you use the sponge, the foundation gets on that thing, and none of it transfers to your face. I did mention this on my Instagram and someone else found she had the same issue, so ladies save your pennies and skip the cream foundation! But anyways lets get onto the GOOD STUFF!

 

CREAM BLUSH

So starting with their cream blusher’s I picked one up for £10, and then later they reduced them all to £7.50 and that was irritating but what can you do o_0. I have heard a TONNE of brilliant things about their cream blush in particular, and as my only experience has been of a bourjois one which doesn’t seem to transfer onto my skin (urgh) I was very excited to be picking these up!

On the right is Dixie, which looks like it’s completely up my street, a gorgeous pink with a tinge of coral running though it, I’ve swatched this and so far so great! On the left is my newest one seduce which is a much stronger magenta colour,  with the tiniest hint of purple (but much more dark pink toned!). I can imagine this colour looking AMAZING on warmer skin tones and I’m very excited to be trying it out!

Before I move on, I just want to say Illamasqua has some of the best packaging I have ever seen, so beautiful! The unusual shape of the blush, the clear window so you can easily see the colour, and the whole sleek look, GAH just gorgeous! You can really tell these are high end!

 

POWDER BLUSH

Here's where I went a LITTLE bit over the top..what can I say I adore blush ok? D:

On the left is lover which is a beautiful soft peach colour, and I can imagine this to be the perfect shade for when you have dramatic smoky eye and a subtle lip colour. On the right is Tremble which is probably the colour I’m most unsure off, as it’s such a baby doll pink which is not normally a colour I turn too…but Sleek blushers have taught me that you shouldn’t judge a shade by it’s pan colour! (I mean take a look at flamingo which I received a while back…AMAZING). Some won’t agree, but I personally think you can get away with wearing any blush shade depending on the occasion and the rest of your make, as well as how heavily you apply it of course. (Maybe just medium skin tones? I don’t know).

The next two that I picked up, where probably more up my street and the shades I would have swatched in store if we had one near by..

On the left is Allure which appears a lot browner  in the pan than I expected (and compared to the video swatch on their site). I haven’t tried any of these ON my skin yet because I am doing OMFTW and trying to stick to the products for that week, but this colour is like a dusty darker pink, with golden shimmers. Swatching on my hand I can notice the little gold specs, so obviously this is something you’d skip the highlighter with, but I will be reviewing this hopefully for a proper verdict ^_^

On the right is Hussy which as I was saying is something I would pick up, it’s a lovely matte peachy pink, which leans more on the pink side by a smudge. The matteness of this mean’s I can pop some highlighter on top, and I'm good to go!

And finally a random little purchase, my first high end pigment in the shade ore…I realise these pictures aren’t helpful, but Google ore pigment and join me as we swoon over its beauty! I think this is perfect for adding something special to an eye look for a party or wedding, and though I’d never buy this full price, for half it looked like a good buy!

 

And that’s my second-to-last haul for a good couple of months! I certainly did stock up on blusher’s, and will be sharing them with you soon ^_^

Did you buy anything from the sale? Are you planning on picking anything up? The sale is still on, so go go go!

Illamasqua Haul! | #JANBLOG 21

Can I just ask how we’re at the 21st of January already?! Time is FLYIN’!

So I mentioned that before my SB would start, I did a cheeky splurge on both Illamasqua and Sleek. All for good reasons of course! I did go a LITTLE bit over the top with this haul, mainly because it’s two orders worth (hey they offer free delivery, what's not to love??). But also because as one of my lovely Instagram followers said, Illamasqua really do know how to to put on a SALE!

On My Face This Week (OMFTW) #1 | #JANBLOG 20

Hello! I’ve realised that since blogging about a certain topic and committing to it on here, my little website, I am much more motivated to keep at it! So I’ve decided to start a mini series type thing, in an effort to switch up my makeup a lot more often (as I am on a spending ban..97 days to go! heh). One of the main reasons I put myself on a ban was to really make the most of the makeup I do own, so I’m hoping that each Monday I’ll post a fairly brief roundup of ‘what's on my face for the following week’ and then hopefully next week I can give you guys a mini report on what I choose to use last week! If this is confusing, hopefully it’ll make more sense as time goes on!

Also some of this stuff I’ve used once ._. and you all know how I love to do my reviews, but using a product ONCE…not good enough Iqra! I’m hoping that by using it continuously for a week or two I’ll be able to give a real feel for the stuff y’know?!

For week 1 I have:

• E.L.F HD Blush in Superstar
• E.L.F Warm Bronzer
• MUA Shimmer Kisses Bronzer
• Anastasia Dip-Brow Pomade in Chocolate
• Natural Collection Blush in Sweet Cheeks
• Bourjois 16hr Linear Pinceau Liquid Liner in Black

The rest is pretty much standard so shouldn’t have really been in there, but as you can see I've moved this weeks stash to the top of my muji system so it’s easily accessible. Now I would normally just do one blush but I know the HD stuff can be super messy and on days where I have limited time to do my face that’s not helpful! I was going to throw in a palette too but I have another separate idea for that (aren’t I full of them these days?! o_0) soo yeah, stay tuned for next Monday to hopefully read a mini verdict!

 

And I’d love to know how you’ve got on with any of these if you’ve used them ^_^

On My Face This Week (OMFTW) #1 | #JANBLOG 20

How I Save £££ On Make-Up | #JANBLOG 19

Hello lovely readers, I hope you are all well! I am currently hating myself for procrastinating and essay by doing just about everything possible to avoid it ._. It is going to be a looong night..but for today’s post I thought I would share with you my top 10 make-up money saving tips, following on from my 101 day spending ban post – I hope this is helpful!

1. Make Use of Advantage/Loyalty Cards!

I have one for boots, Superdrug, Debenhams and the Nectar card (because where I work is located within Sainsbury's). I also have a Costa card and a Nandos card. If they are offering you points, which could later be translated into money take it! Although it may not seem like a significant amount, every little adds up! Last year boots held a few ‘points events’ and I went along and bagged myself £10 worth of points which I later spent in their boxing day sale! Who doesn’t love a double bargain?? I must admit the Superdrug card is a little naff, they only give you one point per pound spent…but then you can use your point’s to pay for PART of any payment, something you cannot do with boots. Having said that boots give you 4 POINTS PER POUND! So why not snap them both up! Along with this some stores give offers exclusive to card holders, for example Debenhams offer free delivery to any one with a beauty card! And I’ve yet to come across a store who charges for the card, so what are you waiting for?!

2. Become an e-mail subscriber

You know those little boxes at the end of most shop’s online webpages? Enter your e-mail address, or perhaps create a second e-mail that is not for personal/work related and enter that… then keep an eye out for offers. I always find it handy to know  when a store is having 20% off, free delivery or gift with purchase. Sometimes shops will have online only sales, so you can pick up your makeup and skincare for cheaper than leaving your home – winning! Again it’s totally free and takes a matter of seconds.

3. Always wait for a 3for2!

Do you REALLY need that eyeliner right now? Or can you wait a little till boots do this fantastic offer? I think we both know the answer, and believe me it feels a LOT better getting an eyeliner for free than it does having to cough up for one! I would say I’ve probably shopped at boots twice when they HAVEN’T had a 3for2 type of offer on, get more for your money ladies!

4. Keep Wish lists

So following on from the previous point, write stuff down. I’m sure the majority of us like making lists anyway, so jot down something you’ve seen a YouTuber or Blogger rave about (I always have a wish list going in the notes section on my iPhone) and then when offers strike you can pick up what you wanted! it also allows you to think carefully about whether you really want the particular item, although of course random splurges are sometimes inevitable!

5. Have a browse of your local super market!

You may remember my Sainsbury's post a few weeks ago, where I picked up some things that were ridiculously cheaper than a ‘drugstore’! So if you do the weekly shop, or are simply passing a supermarket and have time, go check out their beauty and skincare isles and see what is on offer that week. I am always pleasantly surprised to pick up a moisturiser or blush for a very reasonable price from a grocery store.

6. ASOS IS A STUDENTS BEST FRIEND

Firstly they offer 10% student discount all year round, IF you have a NUS card or have signed up to UNIDAYS (LINK). And don’t worry you can be a secondary school student and sign up too! So if you’re after a particular rimmel mascara, or bourjois bronzer do check out ASOS’s beauty section and enter your code for a cheaper beauty fix! Another thing I adore about ASOS is sometimes they RANDOMLY have flash beauty sales on a particular brand, for example 30% off Rimmel. So by keeping the beauty section bookmarked and checking it now and again you could have some serious savings! FINALLY the days when they have a whooping 20/30% off EVERYTHING, beauty lovers REJOICE because that means you get to pick up a NARS BLUSH for 20% off! Oh YES! I purchased my first and second NARS blusher’s during these 20% off’s, so worth it! Oh ASOS, I love thee.

7. FragranceDirect.com

I’ve ordered from here at least 4 times and have never had an issue with any of my cosmetics or perfumes. I LOVE this site! You do have to thoroughly go through the categories to separate the good from  the bad but sometimes you can find AMAZING deals! For example the Manhattan Mat Lip Creams (reviewed) are available for 99p!! It’s well worth checking FD out now and again.

8. Invest in A Good Base

Now not everyone will agree with me on this one, but I think although the drugstore have some phenomenal products, it is always worth investing a little more into a base that will be  failproof. Mine is probably NARS Sheer Glow, it is a good medium/full coverage base which photographs beautifully and seems to look better and better the longer I wear it. Plus the yellow tone in the foundation is amazing! Especially if you are a WOC going high-end will make your makeup routine easier, and probably cheaper….with the more expensive stuff generally a little goes a long way, it’s more long wearing and of course tailored to more unique skin tones something the drugstore fails on often. A lot of the times (but not always!) higher end bases can tick more boxes than drugstore, so by investing in one you're saving more time and money and adding less stuff to your face to get the perfect base.

9. Invest in  Acrylic Storage & Get Organised

Yes Muji seems to be on every beauty guru’s channel and most blogger’s own them but there is a great reason for that – they are incredibly functional (as well as looking gorgeous!). With acrylic storage you can see EVERYTHING you own and hopefully you’ll end up using it a great deal more too! If you’re a generally unorganised person like myself they will go a long way in helping organise all your makeup and really getting your money’s worth out of a product! On top of that you can immediately see if you NEED another concealer or if the one you have is still going strong….resulting in unnecessary spending and less waste ok maybe I just love Muji too much to not include it in this. But seriously ladies, although they are an investment, and can be pricy if all bought in one go, I cannot recommend them enough. It has changed my makeup collection for the better, and will help me make the most of my stash, especially when I move rooms!

10. Use iHerb.com to buy your Real Techniques and Eco Tool brushes!

Every single Real Techniques brush I own, aside from Sam’s picks collection was bought from iherb! You get your brushes for almost half price, and the shipping is very reasonable too. I bought the core collection which costs around £21 for only £11 and so could afford to spend more money because the US prices are so reasonable! One thing to make note of however is that if you order more than £15 worth in one go you will probably be charged customs tax…so keep it under 15! When I ordered mine I made multiple separate orders and had no issues, you can also pick up Dr. Bronner’s soap from there which I mentioned in my ‘how I thoroughly clean my makeup brushes’ post as well as a heap of other natural products for cheaper prices! Don’t forget to use the code LCD104 to get at least $5 off your first order – every little helps ;D

And those are my golden money saving tips ladies! Like I said I RARELY pay full price for anything, and through being a little savy I’ve  built up a collection I am quite proud of. When you can save your pennies, why not? ^_^ If you found this post useful please give it a thumbs up on my facebook page, and thankyou very much for reading! Please feel free to share any other ways YOU save money on makeup below :)

p.s Again thankyou all SOO much for your wonderful comments on my past few posts, I will reply to them as soon as I’ve ticked these assignments off, but honestly you’re such an amazing bunch! <3

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How I Save £££ On Make-Up | #JANBLOG 19

Hello lovely readers, I hope you are all well! I am currently hating myself for procrastinating and essay by doing just about everything possible to avoid it ._. It is going to be a looong night..but for today’s post I thought I would share with you my top 10 make-up money saving tips, following on from my 101 day spending ban post – I hope this is helpful!

THE 101 DAY SPENDING BAN! | #JANBLOG 18

Hello fellow beauty lovers!
Following on from The Money Book post, yesterday I ordered what I had been waiting for (SLEEKS NEW COLLECTION OH MY GOODNESS ITS GORGEOUS) and then set about thinking how long I wanted this ban to be for. Now 1 months of wages was weak, two months a good start…but THREE MONTHS OF WAGES UNTOUCHED AND STRAIGHT INTO SAVING? Now that is what I deem to be an achievement! And coincidently yesterday started off 101 days of no spending (till April payday!)
So I shall keep this fairly brief, but my reasonings?

1. I want to get more control over my finances. I want to be able to save a portion of it per month and spend what my income allows and I think the only real way of doing this, is completely cutting off from spending and just watching my savings accounts grow! By having this huge spending ban (a quater of the year!) I really do think it will make it easier for my to save more money in the future, even if it’s only half my wages per month – CHANGE STARTS FROM HERE!
2. It does quite irritate me when people tell me I spend too much money on something (i.e makeup). what my perception of too much is and your perception may be totally different. Also I don’t spend my money drinking, and dancing or on eating out every other day each to their own. On top of that I am rather savy when it comes to buying makeup (watch this space a very useful post coming up for you ladies!) and so although I do happen to own a fair amount, the VAST majority was not bought full price…but..having said that I’ve come to the stage where I really want to use and APPRECIATE all the beauty goodness I own!  A big reason for why I’ve not been using all my makeup is because like I have mentioned I am in the process of moving bedrooms, and honestly I am just itching to hurry up and organise it all nicely in the new room so I can truly appreciate what I have! Everything I own was bought out of hard earnt money, and I want to be able to get the most out of it. I do think starting a beauty blog is positively correlated with having a larger makeup collection than most!! So now is the time to get using it! ^_^
3. Finally just to prove to myself that I can indeed do this! I know its a long time, but 2014 for me so far has started off with the need to push myself. A great example is #Janblog if you asked me a few weeks ago if I could blog every single day I would have laughed in your face! I do hope the content and photography hasn’t suffered too much though..anyway yes i’m doing this for ME!

I’ve already deleted the amazon, asos and ebay app from my phone. let me tell you window shopping via the phone when boredom strike can be fatal! I’ve also started deleting enticing brand e-mails when they arrive (I’m an avid e-mail check, and those can be my weaknesses ._.)

The exceptions/rules;
- I’m allowed £5 a week for buying food whilst at uni, it won’t get me far but I really need to STOP BUYING FOOD FOR INFLATED PRICES! There’s plenty of food at home, it just takes 5 minutes to pack them!
- The essentials like my phone top-up and driving lessons.
- I need to buy a couple of presents in the upcoming months, so they’re obviously not included!


That’s all guys! I’m feeling pretty positive about this all and really hope it is successful! A big thankyou too all your positive comments in the money book post, you beauties are the best! <3  I’ll miss packages arriving, but I sure won’t miss that guilty ‘I already had one of those, was another that necessary Iqra??’ moments ._.

If you missed yesterdays post, check out my review of some of the ebay brushes/RT dupes ^_^

THE 101 DAY SPENDING BAN! | #JANBLOG 18

Hello fellow beauty lovers!
Following on from The Money Book post, yesterday I ordered what I had been waiting for (SLEEKS NEW COLLECTION OH MY GOODNESS ITS GORGEOUS) and then set about thinking how long I wanted this ban to be for. Now 1 months of wages was weak, two months a good start…but THREE MONTHS OF WAGES UNTOUCHED AND STRAIGHT INTO SAVING? Now that is what I deem to be an achievement! And coincidently yesterday started off 101 days of no spending (till April payday!)

Brush Series | Ebay Brushes pt.1 | #JANBLOG 17

You may have seen these brushes floating around the blogosphere, and of course when I saw them I had to pick them up! For just under £2 each, these brushes have been reviewed as wonderful alternatives. I really wanted to try them out a little before I gave my two pennies, and here I am! The reason this is part 1 is because I have ordered another set but it’s yet to arrive ._.
Now I am a makeup brush fanatic, they’re probably in my top 3 of things I like to buy (along side makeup itself and sweets of course). The response I read on my instagram and in the comments to my second post of this series was ’whoa girl you got a LOT of brushes’. Y’know some girls collect bags, others shoes..and I seem to collect brushes!  and when I see potential backups, for a very reasonable price it is certainly going into my basket!

I will be going through each brush in turn and sharing if and why I like them and also what I use them for. I’ve ordered from two sellers recently (I also have this random blue one but don’t really like it so haven’t featured it) and as they come from the East they took around 2 and a half week to get here. Starting with the first seller, (LINK)  I ordered these two brushes:


As you can see these are almost identical in colour to the Real Technique core collection, and around the same size too. On first touch you will notice that the bristles are extremely soft (to the point where you want to rub them against your face), and not very dense. The bottom’s of these brushes aren’t the same rubber feel of the RT’s but they are useful in that they can stand up easily on any flat surface so a thumbs up from me!

I was particularly interested in getting the angled brush (number 5 from this seller) as I wanted to see if it would make a different to application and I tried this with foundation three times…because it isn’t as dense as the buffing brush it was a little more time consuming to blend into the skin and make sure it was an even application. I do however love the angle for light contouring, as it gets right under the cheekbones and softness makes it easy to blend out. It also works well as a great powder brush, again because of the angle it can get into the corners of your face with ease! A back up from the buffing brush? Maybe not,  but a great brush to have around nonetheless!

photo comparison of this brush and the RT contouring brush which is one of my favourites!

The next one is smaller and where the first one lacked density this one makes up for! I believe it is number listed number 1 out of the five this seller stocks. It has a distinctive tapered point and when I saw it I instantly thought it would be great for contouring. This COULD be a backup of the RT contour brush, but of course when it comes to blending out the products its not so great because of how dense the bristles are. I think this would work amazingly well with cream contouring, and now I really want to jump out of bed and try it! (hopefully I’ll post an update in here sharing what I found!). The primary use I've found for it is actually highlighting, it puts just the right amount of product on the exact areas that I want to be brightened up.





The next three were from a different seller (link here) and I was pleasantly surprised to see they actually came in boxes – a nice little touch! These are pink in colour, again similar to the RT ‘finishing touches’ brushes multi-task, blush and setting. The first one that I was the most excited to try out was the stippling brush..



This is because I did actually own a Real Techniques one but (I never share this story because it makes me feel so distraught slight exaggeration but I may aswell let it all out seeing as this is the brush series!) from the first time I used it I knew it was a faulty brush ._. it was rough and unkind to my skin, and when I washed it soooooo many hairs came out! I was horrified because to the best of my knowledge Real Techniques brushes never shedded!! I did have to chuck it out, but thank fully it was JUST the stippling brush that was faulty and not the rest of my collection!



Ok back to the review,  I ADORE THIS BRUSH! Before I used these I washed them, and only one hair came out of this which was most promising. It has a decent sized head, not too large but not tiny and it’s a dream to use with creamy products…and for blending out blusher overload of course! It is super soft and doesn’t shed a tonne like the e.l.f small stippling brush seems too. I’ve used this almost every time I’ve applied makeup since buying it, so a huge thumbs up from me!


Next in line is a long very dense type of brush (the first one in the photo), and I THINK its the one called 'long' from the five this seller has. This is probably the one I have reached for the least as it’s quite an awkward shape/size. I initially thought it would be good for contouring but again I find it too stiff..I suppose you could maybe apply blusher with it using the side?? hmm. Not a fan, though it is still very soft I wish it was more versatile!



The last one (soft fibre) is this small flat topped brush,  and when I say it’s head is small I’m not kidding, it’s just a smidge bigger than a 50p coin. It is actually my second favourite from this little e-bay stash because it is a DREAAAAAM to blend concealer out with. Again the bristles aren’t particularly dense, but they are more so than the stippling brush, and if you’re going for the Kim K highlight look this is perfect for under the eyes and in the triangle shape. I did try it with blusher, but I would recommend NOT going for that because it packs on product like no tomorrow and I was alarmed to see my maroon sleek blush shade gashed onto my cheek in such a harsh manner D: But for blending in cream and liquid products, it is amazing and I know I’ll be reaching for this fellow a lot!

SO all in all for £2 a pop (including P&P!) I think these are well worth checking out! I didn’t order a full set, but near enough! Again the ones I’m super impressed with are the second and third brushes in the photo from the second seller and I’m pleased to have the angled flat top from the first. The other two aren’t BAD brushes, but I could live without them in my brush collection. These brushes are all over eBay at the moment, and I’m sure they’re all manufactured from the same place so take your pick of colours because there is also a blue variety available which is a nice change from the gold, pink and purple!

I hope this post was somewhat useful to anyone thinking of buying these ‘dupes’. I obviously still recommend investing in Real Techniques because you can’t really get better in terms of shape, size and how dense the bristles are, however if a full RT kit is too pricy for your liking, or you simply need a great stippling brush for price you can’t even buy a bag of chips for these days then these are a fantastic option ^_^