I.G Tut #1 | Glitter Wing Details

Hello hello, I hope you're all having a great Sunday. I know I only just introduced a brand new series yesterday, but brace yourselves for a new one, because I had another brain wave and I'm really excited to share it with you all (again). I'm not 100% sure what I will be calling this, so atm I've left it as 'I.G Tut', but watch this space haha. Now I have always enjoyed making little makeup clips for the gram, even when the video length was just 15 seconds! I would diligently sit and cut down, speed up, find music and create mini clips, which I personally loved doing and I got a great response from my followers. The chances of me ever starting my own YouTube channel are slim to none, but that doesn't mean I can't utilise one of my favourite platforms and take advantage of their newer 1 minute allowance for videos. At the same time I don't think the videos alone are very useful, so I wanted to combine my main platform (my blog),  with my second largest base I.G and write posts to go along with it. I hope my IG followers find this useful ^_^ I'll be linking products, reviews, talking about techniques and giving you mini reviews of each of the products too.

Video one - base

1. Moisturiser: Embryollise creme concentrate, is the absolute BEST. I very rarely apply anything else before I put on makeup, because it sinks into the skin so well and any foundation applied on top applies beautifully. Especially if its a heavier kind of base. I once tried to use mehron HD over a nivea moisturiser and it just took longer to blend and didn't sit as well. Embryollise does have mineral oil in it, so if your skin doesn't react well with that, perhaps avoid! Otherwise though it's well worth trying out, the best moisturiser for it's price without a doubt.

2. Corrector for under the eyes and around the mouth: I have created my own custom corrector and it was a bit of a spur of the moment thing, but it works SO well! I reviewed the L.A Girl correctors here, and in that post I said how the orange shade just does not work for me because its too strong of an orange. So I decided to try mixing the orange and yellow on the back of my hand and it worked so well! I've not cleaned out a little benefit eyecream pot, and mixed them together which'll save me a lot of time in the morning.

3. Foundation: NARS Sheer Glow in Stromboli (reviewed here) is one of the best bases EVER. I love this and because I've reviewed it already in detail, I won't into too much detail, but basically its the best medium coverage base ever, I adore it! I blended it in with a damp beauty blender, my favourite method of application, the sponge is worth the price I promise.

4. Concealer: I used the Kevyn Aucoin Sensual Skin Enhancer in SX07 for under the eyes and to highlight of course! I've reviewed this base in full here, and this post also explains the best way to use it and to set it too. I then used the same concealer in the shade SX08 to conceal that horrid spot on my forehead - it can conceal EVERYTHING. I blended it with the same damp beauty blender of course.

5. Set and lightly bake: The Kat Von D Shade and Light palette, which I reviewed here, is my all time favourite and you can see that by how much I have hit pan! 4 shades down, just two to go haha. The shades lyric and levitation mixed together work really well under the eyes. The brush I used is the Real Techniques Setting brush, its fantastic and I need one more in my collection for sure. I then used the orange shade to set over that pesky spot, and it really helped to hide the spot. You wouldn't want to apply the yellow powder over the spot, because it would highlight it and bring it to the surface. The to 'semi-bake' I used the Kat Von D Lock It Setting Powder, which is very lightweight and doesn't appear ashy on the skin. I've not had a chance to talk about this on the blog yet, but I have to say I really like it. For the price you get a lot of product and it does look better than the Coty powder. I use the primark mini sponge for the semi-baking, it is BRILLIANT! Just make sure it's well and truly damp first.

Video two: The Rest Of The Base

1. Brows: I've been using the Colourpop brow pencil in bangin brunette, which is very very similar to the ABH Brow Wiz! I usually wear my pomade, but when I'm in a rush this pencil does an excellent job at drawing out a shape. Plus the spoolie on the other end is perfect for blending the product through - you can't go wrong for the $5 price tag. The next step is to use the essence make me brow in 3 - a total benefit dupe for less than £3! I love this for toning the brows down a little bit, but also for setting them in place and the fibres create a more realistic look too. A real must have. Also for those asking, I always order my essence products online because theres a lot more variety vs. my local store (which also isn't that local by the way).

2. Bronzer: Topshop mohawk, is my all time favourite affordable bronzer', it is the perfect colour for my skintone! I've reviewed it more here. I love using the Real Techniques multi task brush, it is a great size, and ever so slightly tapered so you can apply it at an angle if you want some definition. I use the multi task brush almost every single day, its a must have in my collection, but as far as I remember its only available as part of their sets - they need to sell some of their brushes individually I'd be picking up a lot more!

3. Contour: ABH Refil Shade in Ash Brown, which I bought on sale from beautybay for an unbelievable price of less than a fiver! Although its not one of their more popular shades, I LOVE it so much. It's not quite as grey as a typical contour shade, but it is deep enough to really add definition. For the cheeks I used the Real Techniques Contour Brush and for the nose I used the Real Techniques Flat Foundation Brush, which was actually a first but it works really well! Both of these brushes are available in this kit, which is also on sale atm.

4. Blush: NARS Torrid is one of my favourites, I have reviewed it here. The brush I used is actually an ebay Jessup one. I love it because the bristles aren't very dense and it blends products out in a more natural way - which is useful for highly pigmented products! I can't seem to find the exact brush kit I purchased, but a quick ebay search shows they've improved their kits a lot and I think its the same blush brush in this kit.

5. Highlighter: Anastasia Beverly Hills Glow Kit in Sundipped, a full review for this is coming up in the next week or two - I love it! The shades are beautifully pigmented and a little stronger than the previous glow kits (although not as intense as the newest one, as far as I can tell!). The brush I used is the Morphe M501, which is AMAZING! Its a shame they've increased the price, but I have to say it's still worth it and double, because it applies highlighter better than any other I own.

6. Facial Spritz: Mario Badescu Facial Spray With Aloe Herbs And Rosewater, reviewed here. BEST EVER. Can't speak highly enough!

Video Three: Eyes and Lips

1. Crease: MUG Dessert Sands is a gorgeous mustard shade which I LOVE for the crease! As my favourite colours to wear on the eyes are deep reds and browns, this shade of yellow blends so beautifully with them and it is one of my all time favourites. I used the Morphe M504 brush, which is fantastic for blending in any crease shade quickly and efficiently, a real go-to.

2. Lid: ABH Blazing was then blended all UNDER the crease area, mainly on the outer part of the eyelid. I adore the shade and I'm not sure why it's not more popular to be honest! The brush I used was the Morphe M507, again another MUST have brush in my collection! It is perfect for smaller detail work and its a very unique brush in my collection, I love it for the crease and inner corner too. I then blended out the crease again with the same M504, to make it all look seamless - blending is KEY for any eyeshadow look!

3. Main Lid: ABH Henna, all over the lid with a double ended ecotools brush (reviewed here!). Tbh I wish I had applied this with my finger instead as the pigmentation would have been stronger.

4. Lower Lash Line: Using the Zoeva 238 Luxe Precise Shader reviewed here, I ran Blazing under the lower lash line.

5. Inner Corner: Taking that same brush, I popped some of MUG's Vanilla bean reviewed here, in the inner corner and slightly further into the lid. This reduced the pigmentation and opened the eyes up a little too.

6. Back to the crease: Using the other end of the ecotools brush (the shader side), I roughly applied some of MUG's Wild West, which is a beautiful deep dusty purple which I LOVE for adding some depth to any look. I then blended it out with the same M504. 

7. Lower Lash Line again: Going back in with MUG's Dessert Sands, I blended it all over the lower lashline, because it looks gorgeous with the red hue of blazing, they're a match made in heaven😍. I then went over the lower lashline again with Wild West, because I felt like it needed some definition and depth!

8. Winged Liner: The Balm's Schwing Liner is a gorgeous, very pigmented, long lasting eyeliner which I have really enjoyed. I don't like the fact that the tip is fraying now, but hopefully with a pair of scissors it'll be as good as new! 

9. Glitter! Horaaaaay, the glitz part. Using the paintglow glitter me up fix gel, I applied a little on the edge of the Zoeva Winged Liner Brush, then I carefully used the brush to apply a line of it just above the wing I had created. I could have been a little more precise with this part, but once the lashes were applied it didn't look too intense! The using a double ended primark brush, I dipped my brush into the certifeye rose gold glitter and carefully patted the glitter over where I had just placed the gel. 

10. Lashes: I've not included these in my video, because I plan to write a post about it and create another mini video for IG. But the lashes I'm using are from Anaqa lashes (IG here) in the style Nour. They're VERY dramatic but really made the look appear glamorous. Also the lovely owner Doua, kindly gave my readers a discount code, so use 'Iqra10' for 10% off your order!

11. Lips: And the final step 😅, I used the Rimmel liner in tiramisu, which is a firm favourite. It's excellent for natural lip shades, as well as anything orange toned because it does lean on that side of the colour spectrum. I also really like the formula of these pencils. I then used the Huda Beauty liquid lipstick in trendsetter - another favourite of mine! Whilst it appears more orange, once it's dried down it looks deeper and very sophisticated. 

And that is finally the end haha! I hope you guys found this beneficial, I really enjoyed creating it for you, even though it took ages haha. Thanks for all the good feedback I've already had 😄

Thank-you for reading ♥

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I.G Tut #1 | Glitter Wing Details

Hello hello, I hope you're all having a great Sunday. I know I only just introduced a brand new series yesterday, but brace yourselves for a new one, because I had another brain wave and I'm really excited to share it with you all (again). I'm not 100% sure what I will be calling this, so atm I've left it as 'I.G Tut', but watch this space haha. Now I have always enjoyed making little makeup clips for the gram, even when the video length was just 15 seconds! I would diligently sit and cut down, speed up, find music and create mini clips, which I personally loved doing and I got a great response from my followers. The chances of me ever starting my own YouTube channel are slim to none, but that doesn't mean I can't utilise one of my favourite platforms and take advantage of their newer 1 minute allowance for videos. At the same time I don't think the videos alone are very useful, so I wanted to combine my main platform (my blog),  with my second largest base I.G and write posts to go along with it. I hope my IG followers find this useful ^_^ I'll be linking products, reviews, talking about techniques and giving you mini reviews of each of the products too.

Collective Haul | Typo, Colourpop and Illamasqua

Hello hello, welcome back to the blog! Today I'm sharing the stuff I've purchased over the last few weeks. I've been a bit too spendy because theres yet another haul coming up after this tsk._.  Also I just wanna say I HATE the way these photos came out, hate hate hate them cause the lighting was so awful and although they looked alright on screen, on the laptop....a different story!


Right starting with the only non-beauty items, that marble mug that you see camouflaging was something I couldn't say no to when stepping into the store Typo, for the very first time. When you work in a school, usually you aren't allowed to carry cups of tea around for obvious reasons. However my DIY caramel lattes are usually what gets me through the morning, so not being able to have them was a problem and a half! Luckily this mug is now in my life and I L  OVE IT. Its a really huge size, you could fit two mugs of tea in there no problem, but also it has a secure lid which stops any liquid from getting out and is easy to remove and clean too. Plus you don't get the tiniest amount to sip from, its a large enough size - love it! I also couldn't help but pick up this set of tiny pegs and try and make my own lil polaroid wall. BTW TYPO have a random flash sale for TODAY only, srsly check it out if you want the quirkiest and cutest stationary/items/gifts.

It had been a while since I had shopped from the essence range, because its not the most easy brand available. However you can find essence at your local Wilko store if you're from the U.K (I tend to order them online though!). I picked up a couple of mascaras, which I have now given as part of gifts because they're the BEST mascaras from the highstreet! Nothing compares. I especially love this one, but I wanted to try some others from their range, so I purchased a topcoat mascara this time called forbidden volume (£2.80). It has lash fibres in it and I'm so excited to try it out and see if its as good as my favourite! I also repurchased one of their matte lip things, no idea why they call them lip glosses because they clearly aren't...but this is the shade 3 and its stunning! One of my favourite everyday shades, very comfortable more of a cream that dries down a little matte and it's just super effortless.

This haul post photography wise is such a fail, but I also picked up the make me brow (£2.50) in shade 3, which is an exact dupe for the Benefit one...honestly idk why anyone would actually pay a silly amount for a brow mascara - BUY THIS ONE. It's great, my brows stay in place all day and the colour helps to tone them down, which really is always a good thing haha.

Moving on to slightly more high end makeup, Illamasqua were one of the only stores this year to have a decent sale on (thankyou Illamasqua for understanding the word sale!). I didn't want to splurge on too much but honestly I could have easily spent £80+ because I know that what I'm getting is really fantastic quality makeup. I have a post coming up on my fave blushers from the brand, because they don't get as much love as they deserve! The first thing I picked up in the sale, was the Illamasqua precision liner in Wisdom (£20.50), which I got for less than half price! I purchased it because its a KHAKI eyeliner, and y'all may know that khaki is my all time favourite colour. Recently I've been wearing it instead of black and I LOVE how it looks! Still a sharp wing, but a lot less intense which is perfection for a normal school day. I also couldn't resist picking up their vintage cream shadow in bibelot, which is out of stock from their site but I've linked it from the selfridges site. This isn't quite as dark as it appears when first applied, but you can build it up and I love the soft golden shimmers too. Its been a while since I've purchased new Illamasqua products, so I'm really glad to have these two beauties to play with!

I did a lil shopping on beautyjoint.com, which is my go to site for U.S beauty items! I purchased two shades of the Wet n Wild come correct celebrity concealer ($4.99), because I heard its a dupe for the IT cosmetics one. I've not used it much so far, but of course I'll be sharing it with you all when I come to a verdict. I also picked up the L.A Girl Pro Primer ($2.00) which is skin coloured and is basically a matte pencil. So far so good with this, especially for that bargain of a price! A product that looks a lot nicer than it is, that glitter thing from wet'n'wild...awful. Don't bother purchasing this because its pretty much useless, I feel like they got vaseline and dunked a bunch of glitter in it and then pressed it down...nah certifeye glitter is a LOT better!

The eyeliner I've really been enjoying lately is one from boots, the collection extreme 24 hour liner (£3), which is super black and lasts really well throughout the day. I don't remember liking it this much last time I picked it up, which makes me wonder if they changed the formula? Either way, I'm a big fan. Ohhh and how could I not mention these primark NON-LATEX mini blender sponges?! They are fantastic, you get FOUR for only £2.50 and nothing blends in concealer better, ditch those brushes for the under eye cause this is what you need for flawless application. I love how easily they double in size and how super soft they feel on the skin - definitely giving the original beauty blender a run for their money haha.

And I also placed a cheeky colourpop order in the holidays - they always get me with their free shipping over $50! When they released their peachy collection, I was instantly drawn in (although I do think it was an odd time of the year to be doing so!). I was unsure about which ones to purchase, but then I saw this had put together a trio called Just Peachy ($15.00) which includes two mattes and a satin. You don't save a tonne, but its a lovely little kit and I have been obsessed with the shades, fingers crossed the review and swatches will be up tomorrow! I picked up a few bits for friends, and so I just had enough for one more eyeshadow...game face! It's a gorgeous metallic copper shade which is so easy to apply and beautifully pigmented. Game face all over the lid, blended out with warm mattes is going to look stunning. Finally they gave me a free liquid lip, in the shade wild nothing, which is a deeper mauvy rose colour and I LOVE the frosted packaging of this one! Not had too long to try the shade out, but I will be reporting back soon.

And here are some of the swatches! I'm so glad I've finally been able to publish this blog post, its literally been a draft for about 6 weeks ._. I hope you can take advantage of the Typo sale - if not today don't worry, if you sign up to their newsletter you get 20% off! And no this post isn't sponsored by them loool, I wish!! I just really enjoy the store and the quirky range of products they have, so I wanna share it with you all.

P.S I'm really sorry I didn't get this up in time for you to also take advantage of the sale, but please do follow me on social media for the best deals - especially twitter (@blushinggiraffe), because I can share things MUCH quicker on there!

Have you tried anything in my haul? What have you been buying recently? 

Thank-you for reading ♥

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Collective Haul | Typo, Colourpop and Illamasqua

Hello hello, welcome back to the blog! Today I'm sharing the stuff I've purchased over the last few weeks. I've been a bit too spendy because theres yet another haul coming up after this tsk._.  Also I just wanna say I HATE the way these photos came out, hate hate hate them cause the lighting was so awful and although they looked alright on screen, on the laptop....a different story!

Makeup Starter Kit | Affordable Edition

Hello everyone, I thought I'd type up a makeup starter kit filled with ethical recommendations from yours truly. As 2016 draws to a close, you and I will be bombarded with fantastic deals and sales, so I hope this post is helpful for all, but especially for those of you who may not be too much into makeup, but just want to add a couple of bits to your collection. These items are all affordable and most of them you can purchase from the highstreet, however some I would recommend picking up online, because there are always great deals on them. These are also the items that I would repurchase if all my makeup disappeared, so I hope if you purchase any of them, you enjoy them as much as I do.  Apologies for the lack of photos, teacher training AND short days = no time!

To prime or not to prime?

Personally I only use a primer on a special occasion, because I tend to stick to my Soap and Glory (£14.99) SPF 50 as being a base, which is so important ladies! I have written a post on it before, but the basic jist is that it manages to get makeup to stick onto the face AND protect the skin. However the Topshop airbrush primer (£12.00) is fantastic for providing a smooth canvas if you have uneven skin. If your makeup melts away quickly, spritz your face with a makeup setting spray after moisturising, but before applying any makeup - the MUFE Mist and Fix 30ml (£8.00) is travel size and very affordable to try out.

Foundation

If we are talking strictly bases you can buy in the drugstore, I would recommend the Bourjois Health Mix Foundation (£10.00) which has a beautiful medium coverage and really leaves a healthy glow to the skin. However the shade range isn't fantastic...so I highly recommend the EX1 Invisiwear Liquid Foundation (£12.50), which I didn't love at first but I've grown to like it a lot. I find its quite versatile, though the finish is more on the matte side, if you mix it with some illuminator or even a tin drop of oil you can achieve a glowy finish. The coverage is great too, a solid medium but buildable. I tend to apply it with my E.L.F Stippling brush (£4.50) when I'm wearing it for 'everyday' as it sheers it out a little. They have actually recently released a bunch of new shades, so its no longer limited to just olive skintones. My new shade is 6.0 and I found their website quite helpful when trying to determine the perfect match here.

Correctors and Concealers

My all time favourite corrector is the Soap and Glory Kick Ass Concealer in Medium (£10.00), which IS pricy for the amount of corrector you actually get! This is a three piece kit and the good thing is, I can use each of the items just fine, however it is the corrector which I love the most. It is the perfect shade for neutralising my horrendous dark circles and works even better than a similar Benefit product! Pricy, but worth it...especially when theres a 3for2 deal on! In terms of actual concealers, the L.A Girl Pro Concealers creamy beige (£5.00) and Collection Lasting Perfection in 3 (£4.19) are my two tried and tested. The L.A girl one is more hydrating, yet has great pigmentation and manages to conceal and brighten at the same time. The collection one is thicker, creamier and if you have dry under-eyes won't be your cup of tea, but as long as I have colour corrected it works a charm.

Powders

Over the years I have liked powders more and more, because quite frankly I cannot wear makeup without a light bit of baking under the eyes these days! When I don't I notice the most awful creasing and melting of my undereye concealer. My favourite brightening yellow powder for under the eye is the Wet 'n' Wild Megaglo contouring palette in Caramel Toffee ($4.99), which I have a post on here. I like to bake with the Coty Airspun loose powder ($8.99) which works really well. I keep it on for about 50 seconds and then brush it off - works like a charm. I don't have a favourite face powder for all over the face, instead I just use the excess of the coty powder over my T-Zone which can get a little oily sometimes.

Contour, Bronzer, Blush and Highlight

For bronzing the face, Topshop's Mohawk (£9.00) is my all time favourite shade and formula from the highstreet. It is beautiful for those of you who have an olive medium skintone and provides the perfect warmth of the skin. Contouring wise, if you're looking for a really strong one which sharpens your features the Natural collection shadow in crushed walnut (£2.00) works a treat! I would advise you go with a light hand though. I have a few favourite blushers from the highstreet, the Sleek blush by 3 in spice (£10.00) is gorgeous for a medium skintone and I often will mix and match the shades. The value for money there is fantastic and so is the pigmentation! I also enjoy the Rimmel soft colour blush in pink rose (£4.00), which has been a long time favourite of mine and mentioned on my blog many times. It is a gorgeous natural flush and you are at no risk of looking like a clown. I have to say for highlight, I am a firm stickler for my highend ones - especially ABH! But when I think my collection and the one I would want to repurchase, I go back to the Topshop Glow Pot (£9.00) or their baked highlighter - either one is BEAUTIFUL. A little goes a long way and both of them can look very natural on the skin, or be built up for a more intense glow.

Brows, Liner and Mascara

Brows is a tough one because I am again so used to my ABH products, which are well worth the investment ladies! However if they're out of your budget, I would recommend checking out the Freedom eyebrow kit (£3.50) which I used to use all the time. It has a range of shades and even a gel in the kit, as well as a mirror, applicator and mini tweezers - the biggest bargain of all time! If you like a bolder brow and don't mind practicing, pick up their version of the ABH drip brow (here for a fiver). I don't think its quite as good as the ABH, but it does the job so long as you have a good spoolie. I am a real fusspot when it comes to eyeliner, but if I HAD to pick one I'd recommend The Balm's Schwing liner (£13.50). Not the cheapest, but by far the best you can pick up in superdrug or online! It is extremly black and lasts all day long. The applicator is thin and relatively easy to create cat eyes with, once you get the hang of it. When it comes to mascara, the only drugstore brand I ever spend money on is Essence! The 'I love crazy volume mascara' (£2.80) is a firm favourite and worth at least 4x the price.

Lips

Finally I'd recommend you pick up a good lip liner and the Rimmel 1000 kisses lip liner in spice (£3.00), is one I have back ups on, just in case they stop making it! My favourite affordable lipsticks are most definitely the Wet n wild mega last lipsticks ($2.00). They're very pigmented, beautifully creamy and ridiculously cheap - you can find a bunch of reviews for them on my blog by searching wetnwild! Liquid lipstick wise, The Balm's Meet Matte Hughes Liquid Lipsticks (£13.50) are fantastic. They feel comfortable, have a good pigmentation and aren't too drying. At the moment there is a cute little gift set available to purchase for the holidays, which contains 6 of the shades and is sold out everywhere, but keep an eye out, its a good one!

Final Touches...

How could I type up a makeup starter kit without my all time favourite Mario Badescu Facial spray (£7.50). It is definitely my go-to spray for before and after makeup, it hydrates the skin, diminishes any powderyness left on the face and just leaves me with a subtle glow. Although I am loving a more expensive version a little more, I'll always have a bottle of this in my collection!


I really hope this was helpful for you all! It was so nice to sit down and blog without worrying about my huge to-do list, I kind of despair when I see the lack of posts I've managed to get up this year :( But thankyou SO much for continuing to read and support my blog, I hugely appreciate it!

Thank-you for reading ♥

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Makeup Starter Kit | Affordable Edition

Hello everyone, I thought I'd type up a makeup starter kit filled with ethical recommendations from yours truly. As 2016 draws to a close, you and I will be bombarded with fantastic deals and sales, so I hope this post is helpful for all, but especially for those of you who may not be too much into makeup, but just want to add a couple of bits to your collection. These items are all affordable and most of them you can purchase from the highstreet, however some I would recommend picking up online, because there are always great deals on them. These are also the items that I would repurchase if all my makeup disappeared, so I hope if you purchase any of them, you enjoy them as much as I do.  Apologies for the lack of photos, teacher training AND short days = no time!

May 2016 Favourites

Hello everyone, it feels so great to be writing a monthly favourites again ^_^ This month the majority of my favourites have been new purchases and there is nothing like new makeup to make me feel excited!

I'm going to start off with the least swoon-worthy items, but these are the products that have been helping my makeup game stay relatively strong, so they're just as important! The Freedom Priming Water (£6.00) is supposedly an exact dupe for the smashbox version, which is an unethical brand so I never had any intention of picking it up. Anyway, the freedom brand in general are known for creating cheeky dupes, I know there are mixed opinions on this but personally I think it’s great to have a brand that creates budget alternatives. I DIGRESS. This water contains a high amount of glycerin, which is also a concentrated ingredient in the much talked about Nivea post shave balm. It is the glycerin which helps the makeup stick to the skin and I find this priming water works well. I spray some on just after moisturising, let it set into the skin for 30 seconds and continue with my makeup. When I’ve finished my makeup, I spritz this over the top and my makeup lasts well.  I also love this for further dampening my beauty blender before I start blending out my concealer - it actually makes a difference to the amount of creasing under the eyes!

As I’ve mentioned now that I’m back to buying makeup, liquid lipsticks are my new best friends. However they do dry out the lips no matter how light the formula, so using the Blistex Relief Cream (£2.65) at night as a lip mask has been making all the difference. I wake up with soft plump lips and without this gem of a product, I wouldn't be able to enjoy the Liquid Lipsticks I own! It’s also one of the first products I spoke about on my blog back in 2013, which shows it has stood the test of time.

Talking about Liquid Lipsticks, the two that have been floating my boat in May are offerings from Gerard Cosmetics and The Balm. I reviewed the Gerard Cosmetics Hydra Matte Lipstick in Everything Nice (£9.50) here, which is a beautiful muted orange toned nude colour. When I say orange, I mean it in the most flattering way and there is just a tiny hint. It’s also one of the only shades I like to wear alone, as most ‘nude’ shades just look a little off on me.  I won't waffle on too much as I have a whole review up already, but great shade and an awesome formula!

The most recent addition to my LL stash is The Balm’s Meet Matt(e) Hughes Long-Lasting liquid lipstick in Committed (£13.50) which I first saw on Katy's snap months ago. This is another everyday kind of shade, although its more pink than I usually go for. It's probably the only sort of colour that I think is appropriate for work from my collection of LLs so far...and the formula is AMAZING. It has an odd cooling effect on the lips and a vanilla scent, dries down fairly quickly and lasts well throughout the day. It does fade in the inner part of the lips after eating oily food, but the fact that this formula doesn't dry my lips out much at all means it's landed a spot in my favourites.

The Coty airspun powder loose powder in translucent ($8.99) has been a firm favourite this month, as has the technique known as 'baking'. Only I don't like to leave the powder on for too long, or else it just looks a little too matte and feels a lot drier than it needs to be. I own the NARS loose powder too, however I much prefer the Coty one for baking, its affordable and does the job well. Plus it really is translucent, at first it looks a little too light but it ends up almost undetectable. There is a LOT less creasing under the eyes and the oily areas are kept under control too! Couldn't ask for a whole lot more really ^_^

The L.A Girl Pro HD Concealer in Pure Beige (£5.00) is my perfect match and I have been using it a tonne this month thanks to those pesky blemishes on my face. The formula of this concealer, as well as the extensive shade range, is what has me coming back to it time and time again!

And finally on the powder front, back to an oldie but an absolute goodie the Kat Von D Shade + Light Contour Palette ($46.00) has been popping up all over my social media accounts because I can't stop adoring it, the love for this runs DEEP. I use every single shade, although the yellow shade is clearly the most frequently tapped into. If I only have 5 minutes to do my makeup, this palette is one of the only things I reach for because I can set, bronze, contour and eyeshadow my face in a matter of minutes.

YES THAT IS CHAMPAGNE POP *squeals* one of the best birthday presents I have ever received in my whole entire life (thank-you Ayesha🙊). I finally have the most coveted highlighter on this planet and it is absolutely stunning, no other highlight has been on my face since I received this beauty. The only thing I want to note is, if you have texture on your face, this does highlight them, so either go in with a light hand or wait for the 'poured'/ cream version to be released in the UK. I'm definitely planning on getting my hands on the liquid version and I'm thrilled that its permanent.

The bronzer that I have not been able to put down this month is Topshop's Mohawk (£9.00). I've had it for a while, but always opted for highend bronzers and totally overlooked this gem in my stash! It's a couple of shades deeper then my skintone, so not too red nor grey toned. Just the perfect bronzer shade which warms my complexion up beautifully! I typically do the '3' bronzer motion on the sides of my face and dust some on my nose, which gives me a lovely warmth to my face. It also blends really nicely, resulting in an actually natural look - I am smitten!

As you may know, I've picked up quite a few Morphe eyeshadow brushes lately, however the two that have been most used are the M330 and the M139. The first M330 Blending Crease brush (£4.95) is a brilliant blending brush, for that transition shade, for merging colours together and for everything in between. Its basic but very much an essential and priced at less than a fiver, I need a couple more! The M139 Tapered Crease Blender Brush (£2.50)  is just as amazing, especially if you have a smaller lid space. This brush is like the little sister to the M330 and I love how its half the price too ^_^ another brush that I need to restock on, it's wonderful for the crease too!

A product I've had in my stash for a couple of years now, which I always whip out for every special occasion is the Illamasqua pigment in 'Ore' (£17.00). It is very hard to describe but I'll have a go...a bronzy/gold with flecks of silver and a tiny hint of khaki. Google the shade and you'll hopefully see what I mean from the swatches available online. Anyway I adore this pigment, it's very versatile depending on what colour base you apply underneath and how you apply it too. For my 21st birthday I did a smokey eye, with this packed all over the lid and I was obsessed with how it turned out. It's a pricy little investment, but so worth it for how it adds a gorgeous touch to my eye makeup.

Those are all my favourites of May! Have you tried any of these products?

Thank-you for reading ♥

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May 2016 Favourites

Hello everyone, it feels so great to be writing a monthly favourites again ^_^ This month the majority of my favourites have been new purchases and there is nothing like new makeup to make me feel excited!

The First Haul After My 7 Month Makeup Challenge!

I had a really hard time naming this post...but yes my makeup buying ban/challenge is over and I am so happy, proud and excited! I actually cut my ban short by a month, it was initially supposed to be 8 months altogether and end on my birthday (25th of May). However I decided to cut it short, mainly due to the sheer amount of stress I was under with University (sometimes the only thing that helps is spending money, we've all been there!). I'm so happy I set myself the challenge and I'm even more happy that I carried it through for so long. Whilst looking back at my posts, there does seem to be this theme of 'spending bans' and 'opps I spent some money' and I realised I'm slightly hard on myself...so Iqra, when you're reading this in the future, remember that  - you work hard, so don't feel so bad about spending your money pls, tysm.

Anyways I'll have a post about this whole not buying makeup thing, up on my blog soon, because as a self-confessed beauty addict and beauty blogger too, of course buying makeup is something I LOVE doing on the regular! However I learnt a lot from this experience and I'm pretty excited to share it with you all too. Yes treat yoself sometimes, but also sometimes just using up the lovely makeup you already own is the better option...Anyways I feel like this is the most rambliest intro ever.. let's get stuck into the first haul of the month!! (and there are a good couple more to come later on hehehe).

I am insanely excited about everything in this haul, because after not buying makeup for such a long time, of course new makeup is SUPER CALA-FRAGALISTICALLY-EXCITING. However my new (and almost finish collection) of Makeup Geek shadows definitely tops the list. Since purchasing the first six shadows back in March, from my work gift card (post here) I have fully understood the hype behind the brand. Of course once you purchase more than a couple of shadows it does add up, and I never thought I'd start my own collection of single shadows because of this, but the quality is SO good. I will say now that they aren't all a solid 5/5, but they're all between a 4-5/5 from what I have tried so far and that is incredible!! There is something very satisfying about selecting colours you want for your own palette, especially as the majority of palettes I've purchased have a couple of shades I just don't bother using, or there are are one or two dud shades which aren't on par with the others. I am in LOVE with my MUG palette, srsly one of my newest hobbies is propping the palette open and just gazing at it haha. Once I've got the last of the shades filled up, I'll be doing a massive post with swatches and reviews. I purchased the rest of the shadows in multiple orders, but for one of the larger orders I actually got In the spotlight for free. This was such a lovely perk, especially since it's a foiled shadow and costs £7.95, plus the formula and shine is SO BEAUTIFUL! The standard eyeshadows costs £4.95 per pan and contain 1.8g of eyeshadow.

Here are a couple of swatches, Frappe is this beautiful soft medium brown which blends soo beautifully with all the warmer shades! I love the slight pink tinge to the colour. Tuscan sun, Tiki Hut and Venom are all from the newest spring/summer range and I am obsessed with the three of them. Tuscan sun is so gorgeous, I've been adding a tiny bit of this in my crease, with tiki hut as the crease shade itself - look at how beautiful they look together!

And lets just take a moment for VENOM, the only non-matte shade from these four and that swatch up there, is only one swipe how utterly gorgeous. A khaki shade (which is my favourite colour of LIFE) mixed with the flecks of gold...from the moment I saw Marlena swatch this in her video, I knew it had to be mine and for real you guys..it's everything I wanted it to be and more. The formula of ALL of these are amazing, MUG do mattes so well, not just shimmer/sheen/non-mattes. Since purchasing these eyeshadows, I've been comparing them to other palette's I have, especially the high end ones and the matte shades from makeup geek, blow palette mattes out of the water. I am so thrilled, which you might be able to tell already from the amount I own!

I also purchased the Large MUFE Empty Metal Palette (£8.00) after I had ordered a couple more shades. I've had my Z palette for almost two years and it's looking pretty battered. Although I liked the clear window on that palette, firstly it didn't fit enough shades and secondly I just didn't think it was secure enough to hold my precious shadows. Yes, I said precious haha, I just couldn't risk dropping the palette and having them all shattered to smithereens, so after doing a bit of research I found the MUFE one, which is not only larger but cheaper too. This palette fits 32 shadows in...for a moment I was tempted to purchase the extra large one, but realistically I only want 32 single shadows and I certainly don't need more than that, so this size was precautionary haha. You can get smaller sizes of this palette too, in case you don't want quite as many as I do. Another thing I love about this palette aside from the value for money, is the fact that it comes with a thick layer of a foam sheet which goes just over the shadows and literally cushions them from any falls. The magnet is extremely strong, which is mostly a good thing, but you do need to be careful when lifting up the pans as my finger slipped trying to lift up that gorgeous pink shade (Tuscan Sun) and made a dent in it *overly dramatic sad moment here please* Despite this sad situation it could be worse but still, I'd much rather have a strong makeup palette which I can trust to hold a hefty amount of shadows, than a weak flimsy one. Anyway if you're starting your own MUG collection of shadows, I highly recommend you pick on of these up! MUFE Palette > Z Palette for sure.

As I have gotten into eyeshadows SOOO much, I thought it was only fitting to purchase a couple more brushes. I did want to purchase a Zoeva brush set, but personally I don't have the money to blow on one since their large price increase (£65 in one go, for some eyeshadow brushes is just not cool, maybe when I get my first real adult job salary then I'll be able to justify it). I opted for morphe brushes instead and the Morphe M330 is what I purchased first - I 10000% recommend this to you all! I actully haven't photographed it here, it was hiding in my room somewhere, but seriously It is one of the best blending brushes out there and I'll be picking up a couple more. The others I own are: E18, M135, M139, E21 and the MB23. I won't go into these here as I'm planning on doing a full post just focused on these brushes so keep an eye out for that.

I decided to purchase the Morphe E6 (£11.95) brush too, as I had watched a couple of videos and people said it's a great brush for the bases you don't use a beauty blender with. So the more water based or lower coverage foundations. This has been described as similar to the famous Sigma F80, (which is double the price!) but just a little smaller. I've been using it for about a week consistently and I do like it, but I'm such a beauty-blender lover that it's just a little odd to be using a brush again.

Moving on to lips, let me just give you a heads up readers, I am FINALLY able to jump on the liquid lipstick bandwagon and the excitement is very real! I was actually lucky enough to receive one of the Stila mini xmas gift sets back in December and I LOVED the formula so much. I reviewed the shade Baci (here) and I recently picked up the shade Caramello (£16.00) when ASOS had a 20% student discount running - I'm not sure if I'll be getting another year of discounts so I took advantage heh. The formula of the Stila LLs are very creamy and quite thick. I don't LOVE the shade Caramello, which I have swatched below, I was hoping it would be the ideal nude liquid lipstick for me, however it does wash me out. So I've been using it with deeper lipliners or mixing it with other colours.

I also purchased two of the new shades from the Gerard Cosmetics hydra matte liquid lipstick line (£9.50), which is a totally new brand to me. Of course I had seen all the hype of the 1995 lipstick a couple of years back, but the brand was a hassle to get a hold of. Thank goodness for beautybay because we have so many more brands, accessible from one easy place yaaaas. Anyway I picked up 'Everything Nice' which is literally the most perfect shade for me EVER. I feel like they bottled my perfect colour and I will 100% be picking up a back up or two when it's back in stock. I do wish it wouldn't dry darker than it does when first applied, but still it's a beautifully flattering colour which I just can't explain so I hope the swatch does the talking. I've been reaching for 'everything nice' almost everyday - obsessed. The second shade I picked up is '1995' which is the liquid version of their famous lipstick. If you didn't know, I was actually born in 1995 so I simply had to have this shade - especially when I saw how beautiful it was for the colder months. So far I really like the formula of these liquid lipsticks, they're lightweight, fairly pigmented and not super drying either. Look out for them in future LOTW posts!

1995 hasn't quite come out as accurately as I had hoped! It doesn't look this red in real life, more of a maroon shade...google is, hopefully there are better shades out there ^_^

I am a big Katy (Lustrelux) fan, since following her on snapchat I have really clicked with her sense of humour and picked up her lingo too #zooooeIjussssssstTYSM. Plus her false lashes game is always on point, so when I realised I could ship Queen B's from Koko lashes to the UK, I ordered without a second thought (sorry bank account!). I purchased two pairs of Queen Bs and one pair of Goddess lashes. This brand is so affordable, yet such high quality, I always see people use it on youtube and they literally make the whole look so I had to get my hands on a few. Each of these lashes cost only $6.99 = £4.87 which is awesome, however the international shipping cost is not so great ($12.99 = £9.05). Luckily I didn't get charged customs, as the total came to £23.65...which isn't too bad for three pairs of high quality beautiful lashes. Especially when you compare this to pricer brands, such as Huda Beauty and Velour lashes which cost around that much for one pair! These lashes will last me a while, but I would totally order again from LadyMoss.com, although it would be lovely if Koko lashes find an official retailer for their brand here in the UK. (Beautybay could jump on this, I'd be down for that *cough*).

Also from the U.S I did a little shopping on my favourite online site, where I always purchase my L.A girl concealers - some of my favourites! The site is BeautyJoint and as long as I spend less than £20 I never get charged customs. I picked up the Coty Airspun powder in Translucent ($8.99) after seeing it on a couple of YouTube videos. I was hoping to purchase the RMCA No Colour Powder, but alas twas out of stock, when I picked up the MUFE palette. So instead I purchased this and it certainly does have a strong scent, however first impressions are fantastic! It really is translucent and keeps my concealer from creasing too (although remember, if you have fine lines, your concealer will always crease a little regardless!). I also picked up the L.A Girl Pro Conceal Concealer in 'Pure Beige' ($2.99) which is my closest match to my skin-tone. I use the shade creamy beige for brightening up the area by the way - reviewed here. I also purchased the Milani Nude Primer ($6.99), and although I've not had the chance to try it on the lids yet, swatching it on my hand and comparing without and with - it is AMAZING! I've heard that this is a dupe for the urban decay and too faced versions, just a lot cheaper and I have a feeling I'll be loving this and mentioning it in several posts. Especially with my new eyeshadow obsession, I know having a primer this good will go a long way.

Last but certainly not least, I purchased the NARS Velvet Matte Skin Tint in Stromboli (£30.00) again in the 20% ASOS sale - such a bargain! Since my dissertation and exam stress, my skin has been an absolute mess, breakouts, dry patches, the whole shebang. However I was desperate to try this base and first impressions are, the staying power is fantastic, but it's better for normal/oily skin as it does highlight and cling to dry patches. I am slowly healing my skin back to normal now, so I will keep you posted!

And that is the end of my first haul, I have to admit I've really missed sharing my new purchases...and purchasing new makeup full stop haha! It's inspired me to write a bunch of new posts and I hope to get back to a consistent amount now I have more spare time. ^_^

Thank-you for reading ♥

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The First Haul After My 7 Month Makeup Challenge!

I had a really hard time naming this post...but yes my makeup buying ban/challenge is over and I am so happy, proud and excited! I actually cut my ban short by a month, it was initially supposed to be 8 months altogether and end on my birthday (25th of May). However I decided to cut it short, mainly due to the sheer amount of stress I was under with University (sometimes the only thing that helps is spending money, we've all been there!). I'm so happy I set myself the challenge and I'm even more happy that I carried it through for so long. Whilst looking back at my posts, there does seem to be this theme of 'spending bans' and 'opps I spent some money' and I realised I'm slightly hard on myself...so Iqra, when you're reading this in the future, remember that  - you work hard, so don't feel so bad about spending your money pls, tysm.

Anyways I'll have a post about this whole not buying makeup thing, up on my blog soon, because as a self-confessed beauty addict and beauty blogger too, of course buying makeup is something I LOVE doing on the regular! However I learnt a lot from this experience and I'm pretty excited to share it with you all too. Yes treat yoself sometimes, but also sometimes just using up the lovely makeup you already own is the better option...Anyways I feel like this is the most rambliest intro ever.. let's get stuck into the first haul of the month!! (and there are a good couple more to come later on hehehe).