Everyday makeup routine // current favourites


It's been a while since I've had a proper chat about my current makeup routine and my favourites, so I decided to combine the two and discuss what I've been loving so much, that I've been using them all on the regular. It is officially the summer holidays!! So I've spent the last couple of days either shopping for my first ever classroom, or just lounging about and relaxing at long last. So this makeup routine is more what I was doing in the final weeks of term, whist I was supply teaching (more on that in an update post!).



Starting with the base, I have been LOVING using the Charlotte Tilbury Wonder Glow (£38.50) after applying my favourite moisturiser. As I have been so exhausted since way Easter time - really there has been SO much going on, I feel like my skin really has suffered the consequences 😪. Late nights, stress, dehydration, you all know the drill and my skin will need a good amount of pampering this summer to get back on track. As a little cheat, I've been using the wonder glow to add some glow and not only does my foundation look better over the top, but it just adds a gorgeous sheen to the skin. On no makeup days I like mixing a little in with my moisturiser too. I think there are better liquid lighters out there in terms of intensity, but this is a beautiful before foundation step. The base of choice, has been the Wet'n'wild photo foundation in golden beige ($5.99) . I've linked the site where I purchased mine from, and if you don't spend over £15 you won't be charged customs. Anyways this foundation is gorgeous, I love it and I can't believe it's so incredibly affordable! I definitely will be repurchasing it - the shade match is amaaaazing, the coverage is medium and the finish is pretty natural. Let me know if you'd like a full review.

Also it's not often that I talk about foundation brushes, because I am a HUGE beauty blender fan...but I have just gone about 3 months without using one. I really couldn't justify picking another one up whilst I was training and not earning a penny, so I decided to use face brushes and fingers. Don't get me wrong, beauty blenders are still the one and only tool for me if I HAD to pick, but actually the Morphe E6 brush (£15.00) is brilliant. I felt like I was using less product with this brush and with a stippling motion, the size of the brush meant my face was blended in next to no time - perfect for anyone with a busy morning routine. I used to adore the RT buffing brush, but I've literally chucked those out since I've had this in my collection, cause they just do not compare!



Moving on to concealer, old habits die hard here! Well, actually in the last couple of months I did try this phase of going for a lighter coverage undereye, but nothing would work as well as my beloved Kevyn Aucoin Sensual skin enhancer in SX07 (£38.00) reviewed here.  And what I love most about this pot of goodness is that you can actually adjust the coverage if need be. It's my tried and tested and has definitely earned the title of H.G. And to set it, as you can tell from the photo I have been loving yet another U.S drugtore product - the wet'n'wild contouring powder in caramel toffee ($5.99). Majorly hit pan and I will be ordering another one soon, because I love it, the yellow powder is so brightening and its really comparable to more high end powders. I also still do my 'light bake' with whatever loose powder I am using, I don't have a particular favourite at the moment, but just search loose powder in the side bar if you want to know my thoughts on the ones I've used.



Brows...really not much has changed here either! I am still smitten with the ABH dip brow in chocolate (£15.00) and in total shock that it has lasted this long. I have often added a couple of drops of the kiko mixing solution (not on the website for some strange reason!) which works really well at reviving it. The brush I've been obsessed with for the last few months is actually the primark brow brush (£2.50), it honestly rivals brushes that are 4-5X the price, I highly recommend you picking it up.

The eyeshadow palette of choice has been the Zoeva Cocoa blend (£18.00), which is genuinely one of the best palette out there right now. The mattes are creamy enough and have good pigment and the shimmer shades are beautiful on the lid. Colourwise, it is just perfection - with all the shades I need for a basic look. Don't get me wrong, my single shadows palette is still my all time favourite because of the amazing variety and formula - but I wholeheartedly recommend this to anyone looking for a daily palette with the basics you need if you're a warm toned lover! The mascara of choice has been the Essence rock n doll (£2.80) because it adds a lovely amount of volume - not the most length, but its a goodie!

Moving on to the face powders, it has been a bit of a Narssist party! The laguna-orgasm duo (which you can get an adorable mini version of for just £15!!), is something I kept with my throughout my time in Pakistan, partly for the mirror but also because laguna is a must have for me. As for that iconic blush shade, I certainly don't mind it, but its not something I would purchase the full size of. That mini size is literally perfection, I mean I've not had the chance to see it in person yet, but what an affordable and great way to try some NARS iconics! The second NARS product is the One shocking moment palette (limited edition). I have loved using the various shades in this and I'm so pleased I picked it up, because again it was a very affordable way to try several of their products in one go! To be honest it was tucked away, for far too long, so I've ensured I'm using it on a regular basis and I've got a really good feel for those, so keep an eye out. And finally a non-nars product! The Anastasia Beverly Hills Glow Kit in that glow (£40) reviewed here is just my favourite for everyday, its beautiful and if you don't own a glow kit yet....YA NEED ONE OKAY.




And finally on to the lips, I have been obsessed with my oldschool jordana lip liner in tawny ($),which I saw years ago on Carli Bybel's channel. It is perfect, the ideal MLBB shade and great for slightly over lining. The formula is fantastic too, so much so that I had to pick up a back up last month. The Huda Beauty Liquid Lipstick in bombshell (£18.00) and The Balm Meet Matte Hughes in committed (£15.00) reviewed here are the two liquid lippies that have been used the most recently. They're both beautiful pink shades, with fairly similar formulas actually - neither are too thick or heavy and to be honest they don't have the best longevity, but they're lovely! That colourpop lippie is actually their ultra glossy lip in weho (I think!), because I've been loving to switch it up with a different finish. YES, colourpop is a pain in the butt to ship over, but I am soooo impressed with weho, because it's such a comfortable creamy, non-sticky gloss - big big fan.


And that is just about it everybody! Those are my current favourites and go-to products, a mix of high end and low, U.S and UK.



What have you been loving recently? 






Thank-you for reading




Everyday makeup routine // current favourites


Colourpop spring haul | Trying pressed shadows and glossy lips

colourpop spring haul 2017

Well hello lovely people! It feels wonderful to be writing an actual beauty post again and this one has been a long time coming. Whilst I was drowning in the intense pressure of teacher training, I had a cheeky splurge on colourpop thinking I was going to avoid customs...but sadly it was quite the spectacular fail, I can tell you that much! 🤦🏽‍♀️ I don't really want to go too much into the ins and outs but it was a huge error on colourpop's behalf as they didn't bother to change the prices on the customs label, meaning it looked like I had spent a lot more than I actually did - which, yep you guessed it, customs GALOR 🙄. Its a jolly good thing that I actually like most of what I ordered, since I ended up paying a lot extra for it...and hey, the day colourpop comes to beautybay will be a wonderful one haha!

colourpop heavy hitter palette

















Starting off with what I was most excited for, their new(ish!) single pressed shadows. I did always wonder if colourpop would release their own because their super shock versions are pretty much what they started with. Personally I'm not a huge fan of the super shock, I do own around 12 shades, but I don't think they're the best value for money since they do dry out within a year - especially the mattes. So when I saw the pressed powder versions I was really looking forwards to giving them a go. I purchased a palette and then six single shadows cause there was some sort of deal on with them.

colourpop heavy hitter palette


It's been a good few weeks since I've had these in my stash and although I am currently trying to review all my single shadows from ABH and MUG together, I've decided to keep the colourpop one separate. A full review for each of this shades'll be up very soon because I've tested them quite a bit. I'm going to run through the shades I picked up now, but if you're impatient for the review I'll give you the bottomline now: these shadows are not as good as ABH or MUG but they're decent shadows to own and the shade range already is beautiful. Now that I've had a good chance to try out the different formulas, I don't think I'll be rushing to pick up their newer shades. Don't get me wrong, they're great if you're in America and can order them with no customs or excessive shipping fees - even better if you can get them on sale for like $3 each! However if you're like me, from the U.K and you HAVE to go through customs etc. I personally don't think they're worth the extra amount of money. If there is a shade or two that I really love (and knowing colourpop's amazing shade range, there will be), and I'm placing an order anyway then I'll probably pick it up and let you guys know about it too haha. For the most part though, I feel pretty 'ehhh' about them - they're good, but they're not on the same level as MUG or ABH, which you can get for a cheaper price point in the U.K if you combine the customs that are added to the colourpop price tag. (To read about my MUG shadows click here and to read about ABH click here).

colourpop heavy hitter palette


This palette is called heavy hitter, and it has a nice range of warm toned shades. I have been loving the matte ivory shade as well as that deep red. The shades in order left-right: Full-Zip, Ringer, Side Tracked, Top Notch. My palette doesn't look like this anymore though, because I have done what many other have done, I've ripped the inside of it out! Which means I can now hold all of my 10 shadows comfortably inside, which is awesome ^_^ I highly recommend you do the same if you own any of these palettes because it's so good for travelling. The actual palette itself is made out of cardboard, but its sturdy and will last a decent amount of time. The only complain I have is that white colour, combined with the matte - it's already so grubby which was inevitable.

colourpop single pressed shodows Labyrinth, High-strung, Boxer, Paper tiger, I owe you and cut-outs swatches


I also purchased the following 6 shades: Labyrinth, High-strungBoxer, Paper tiger, I owe you and cut-outs. I have definitely spent long enough chatting about these shadows for one post, but if you're interested on a full review of the shades, watch this space! And for now, enjoy some swatches below. I will say though that paper tiger wasn't the colour I had hoped it would be, I've just had a look on their site and a newbie which is already sold out -  'tiki' is definitely the colour I was hoping for!

colourpop single pressed shodows Labyrinth, High-strung, Boxer, Paper tiger, I owe you and cut-outs swatches


Some VERY pretty colours there, like that yellow is nice and I have to say I was kinda lacking on just matte light shades for the brow bone (check out my single shadow series here for the brow shades I already own). I think you can see some of them are kinda lacking though, so I wouldn't recommend them all.

colourpop ultra glossy lip in weho colourpop ultra satin lip in strip

Okay moving on to some lip products, I was VERY excited to get my hands on both of these! The first thing I wanted to try out was one of their ultra glossy lips, and I went for weho, which is a very opaque nude shade. I LOVE it. So so much, and I think its particularly because I have been so obsessed with liquid lipsticks for the longest time, so to go completely the other way is probably what I've needed for a while. Especially for spring, throwing on some gloss is just the perfect thing with a glowy base and light eyes! I then had to pick up another ultra satin lip in strip. I own a couple of these and have reviewed half of them here, so I thought picking strip up would mean I'd have that perfect wearable nude....and it's not bad! I wouldn't wear it without a deeper lipliner, cause it can appear a little too chalky, but it's definitely more wearable than some of the shades I own and I do reach for it to add some lightness.

colourpop bangin brunette brow pencil


And a product I HAD to repurchase is the colourpop brow pencil, absolutely love this thing. Now I am definitely a brow pomade fan, especially cause I don't remove the hair from my brows and like to go for that super au natural look, but this brow pencil is fantastic. It reminds me a lot of the ABH brow wiz, which I also liked but wouldn't pay that price tag for again. This time I picked up bangin brunette AND dope taupe, which I've not had the chance to try yet, but I shall keep you posted. They also threw in a cute little ultra satin lip, which is perfect for the handbag and luckily in a shade I don't own - dopey (which was hugely popular after it released some time last year). I like it, a little darker than I imagined but still, it's a shade I'd reach for often so I cannot complain #FREEBEZ.


And that is my final colourpop haul for a long time, because let me be real frank, my cheeks are still stinging after being slapped with those custom charges 😭. Have you picked up any of that new new from colourpop lately? What do you recommend?


Thank-you for reading
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Colourpop spring haul | Trying pressed shadows and glossy lips

colourpop spring haul 2017

Well hello lovely people! It feels wonderful to be writing an actual beauty post again and this one has been a long time coming. Whilst I was drowning in the intense pressure of teacher training, I had a cheeky splurge on colourpop thinking I was going to avoid customs...but sadly it was quite the spectacular fail, I can tell you that much! 🤦🏽‍♀️ I don't really want to go too much into the ins and outs but it was a huge error on colourpop's behalf as they didn't bother to change the prices on the customs label, meaning it looked like I had spent a lot more than I actually did - which, yep you guessed it, customs GALOR 🙄. Its a jolly good thing that I actually like most of what I ordered, since I ended up paying a lot extra for it...and hey, the day colourpop comes to beautybay will be a wonderful one haha!

Back from my blogging hiatus & a heart to heart


Well hello hello, it has been a VERY long time since I have sat down to properly blog and my what a whirlwind of a couple of weeks it has been! It has almost been over 2 months, which is the longest time I have ever not blogged. And its about time I changed that.


The end of teacher training + supply work
So yes, regular readers of my blog will know that I have come to the end of my course and that is mainly what my time has ben consumed with for the last few weeks. The children in my class had their SATs which is as stressful a time for the staff involved, as it is for the pupils themselves and completely exhausting. Our school then began a surge of big writing and that was tough, especially as my ‘teaching practice’ increased a lot from post Easter. I am planning on doing a whole detailed post to complete my teacher training series with a Q&A section too, but essentially my career and everything that comes with it is why I HAD to take a blogging hiatus. I did once or twice try to blog, but found myself too tired and overwhelmed to produce any quality content and that just stressed me out even more. So yes, the person typing this right now is officially a qualified teacher (or NQT to be precise!) and also a PGCE holder, Alhamdulillah! This means I can God willing teach abroad in the future, which has honestly been a dream of mine for years. It also means that I am currently about to earn some decent mullah as a supply teacher!! Which is awesome. I mean my student job, which was 48-64 hours a month earned me slightly less than 3 days of supply work (equivalent to 22.5 hours). I KNOW. I AM IN SHOCK TOO. Haha. Not to say that being a tutor didn't have its benefits, but to finally be qualified and earning a decent wage from it....well it feels flipping fantastic!


The plan from now and heart to heart
I have to be really honest and say that I am finding it soooo difficult to blog, and for once it's not because I don't have the time. I think partly its cause I am so out of habit, but also I find the blogging world difficult to get back into because the quality of everyone's content it just unattainable! Or at least it feels that way. I kinda feel a bit like a youtuber when i say, I miss the good old days where I could write from the soul and not have to put too much time and effort into the photography for my work to get a decent amount of readers. Again, the blogosphere has become hugely over saturated and perhaps it is only pressure I am putting on myself, but I really hate it. And to be honest, a part of me feels like I've gone through enough pressure and ish with my course and this blog is meant to be my hobby for goodness sakes! So do I need to be adding extra strain onto my plate? No, no I really don't.

I also think, being completely honest, I always used to feel like my content wasn't quite good enough and thats part of being a very imperfect perfectionist! I am going to try my best to just post as and when I can and not worry too much about the aesthetics, with the hope that my loyal readers will continue to support my work. I literally make about £10-£20 from my blog a month, so for me its not ever been about the money LOOL. Ultimately right now I am living my dream life career wise, or at least I'm a couple of weeks away from it and of course my career will always come first cause it means a lot to me. However, I don't for a second underestimate the powerful impact running the blushing giraffe has had for me and the beautiful people I've been able to 'meet', who have made my life better in so many ways. That's the main reason why I still want to keep this minuscule corner of the net alive, I'm not doing it for the numbers, fame and certainly not the money - I just love beauty and I love connecting with genuine and like-minded people. 💖



Now over to YOU, how have you been doing lately?  





Thank-you for reading




Back from my blogging hiatus & a heart to heart


Well hello hello, it has been a VERY long time since I have sat down to properly blog and my what a whirlwind of a couple of weeks it has been! It has almost been over 2 months, which is the longest time I have ever not blogged. And its about time I changed that.