Single Shadow Series #1 - Brow Bone & Nude Shades

I AM SO EXCITED TO FINALLY BE PUBLISHING THE FIRST POST OF MY NEW SERIES! This is one I have called the 'single shadows series', which is pretty self explanatory haha. I have a great many single shadows in my collection and I've wanted to review them all as efficiently as possible. So I devised a thorough system of firstly sorting my shades into colour families, and then selecting four shades for my quad, using them consistently for a couple of days and writing up a short review in my notes section. It's obviously going to take some months to get through them all! But its the only way I can really test out each shade properly and write a detailed review for my readers, so I truly hope they're helpful.

My collection mainly consists of Makeup geek which you can purchase from beautybay. Unfortunately they have increased their prices, which is a shame, but nonetheless the quality is amongst the best on the market. A regular MUG shadow costs £6 and a foiled shadow costs £9.25. I also have a couple of Anastasia Beverly Hills shadows, which are £10 each, BUT they have a great permanent promotion where when you purchase 8 shades, you only pay £50 AND you get a free sturdy plastic palette too! So if you buy 8 in total the price goes down to £6.25, which is pretty much the same price as MUG considering you get that free palette too ^_^

Here are the five shades from the brow bone and nude shades in my collection. I think these kinds of shades are essential, although you definitely don't need all of them. For me a good matte shade and a good satin one are the two I need for sure. With the swatches, I did one swipe with no primer and one swatch on top of a nude coloured eyeshadow primer. The reason being is I NEVER wear shadow without any sort of base. 9/10 I will put concealer on and then set it with a translucent powder firs, so its not really fait to show shadows without a base too.  Okay onto the swatches and of course the reviews!

MUG Rapunzel | £6 

 The most intense brow bone shade of the lot, Rapunzel is a satin silver/golden shade which I only really use when I want my brow bone to stand out. So think weddings, evenings out, parties etc. I also use this as an inner corner highlight because its great for brightening up that area. The formula of this shadow is beautiful, no fall out whatsoever and the pigmentation is decent too. However I don’t think its a super unique shade and I’m not sure I’d be desperate to repurchase it. It does the job and I think if you’re looking for a strong satin brow bone shade, Rapunzel is for you! But I just really really like mirage and I don't use this as much as I perhaps could.

Repurchase: Probably not no.    Rating: 4/5

MUG Mirage | £6

THE MOST PERFECT BROW BONE HIGHLIGHT EVER. This is the one shade that I will continue to repurchase over and over again, because I adore it! It is a beautiful sheen finish and the colour is an off white with a tinge of gold, which makes it wonderful for olive skin tones, because its not too stark and doesn't look ashy at all. I only need one sweep for the whole brow bone area and I love how its effective enough to lift the eye and whole face, but equally its not over the top at all. Mirage is not too strong but equally the pigmentation is really good. Again it works as a stunning inner corner highlight, I sometimes build it up a little if I am using it for the evening, but otherwise it just works a treat with minimal effort.  Seriously mirage is a game changer when it comes to brow bone highlighters and I really do recommend this shade above all others.

Repurchase: 1000000%.   Rating: 5/5

MUG Vanilla Bean | £6

A slightly off white shade with faint shimmers in it, vanilla bean is a decent ‘clean up’ sort of brow bone shade, when I have used quite strong colours and its all looking a little bit much, I pop a little bit of this along the brow bone. I find vanilla bean to be pigmented, however I don’t think its the most versatile shade. I wouldn’t apply it all over the lid, as I much prefer a slightly warmer shade for my olive skin tone. Whilst the formula isn’t bad, with little to no fall out, to be honest with you its a bit of a meh shade and I COULD live without it. Although I can use Vanilla Bean, (and of course and I am using it now and again) it’s definitely replaceable and I do reach for mirage more often.

Repurchase: No.      Rating: 3.5/5

ABH Cream | £6.25 (when you buy 8!)

The name for this shade is spot on, because this colour is exactly that, a cream shade which has the most beautifully buttery matte texture. I tap of the brush and you have enough for both brow bones, so a little stretches far.  This shade is one that I will often use as an all over the lid shade, when I don’t have the time for anything more, or for when I want a simple/bright and low-key look. It also lasts well all day long, which makes me so happy because I feel like I am definitely getting my moneys worth!  Cream is a shade that really cleans up any eyeshadow look and its not TOO bright if you have an olive skintone, so it won’t look too stark against your skin. Definitely one of the most versatile shades in my collection, and although my first impressions of it were kinda meh due to it being a lil pink in tone, I have used it so much! And I know it's gonna be a shade I'll keep in my collection for a long time.

Repurchase: Yes, its become a total staple!  Rating: 5/5

MUG Beaches and Cream | £6

A muted peach colour, which would definitely work as a transition shade for fairer skin tones. Beaches and Cream is beautiful and it’s often a great all over the lid shade for me, when I have less time to get ready. It sits nicely on the lid and doesn’t crease or fade throughout the day when I’ve used a concealer/base beforehand (which is everytime!).  The reason why I included it in this colour family, is because I had used this as a brow bone matte highlight before and it also works well. So if you have a medium skin tone this’ll be a good all over the lid base shade, or a lowkey brow bone shade. I really like the formula of this shade, one swipe is all you need for decent pigmentation and it blends really well.

Repurchase: Probably yes.    Rating: 5/5

Do you own any of these shades? Which are your favourite?

Thank-you for reading ♥

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Single Shadow Series #1 - Brow Bone & Nude Shades

I AM SO EXCITED TO FINALLY BE PUBLISHING THE FIRST POST OF MY NEW SERIES! This is one I have called the 'single shadows series', which is pretty self explanatory haha. I have a great many single shadows in my collection and I've wanted to review them all as efficiently as possible. So I devised a thorough system of firstly sorting my shades into colour families, and then selecting four shades for my quad, using them consistently for a couple of days and writing up a short review in my notes section. It's obviously going to take some months to get through them all! But its the only way I can really test out each shade properly and write a detailed review for my readers, so I truly hope they're helpful.

Beauty Bay Haul | Zoeva, Morphe & Makeup Geek!

Hello everyone! I have a very exciting post to share with you all today…it is my haul! After over 140 days of not buying makeup, this is the haul that I purchased with my gift card from work (which I talked about in my January update!). So just to clarify, I am still on my no-makeup-buying challenge till my 21st, which is exactly 90 days away now so just three months to go. Anyway I was very grateful to get a £50 voucher of my choice, it was like a little reward 5 months later for sticking at the challenge ^_^ and of course I had to pick beauty bay as they have so many wonderful things that are on my wishlist. 

I must say here that I am extremely impressed with beauty bay’s delivery, I placed this order at 7pm on a Thursday and it arrived at 12pm the following day! Normally I don’t have much luck with hermes delivery, but for some (great) reason my order arrived extremely quickly and everything was in tact, yay!

Beauty Bay Haul | Zoeva, Morphe & Makeup Geek!

Hello everyone! I have a very exciting post to share with you all today…it is my haul! After over 140 days of not buying makeup, this is the haul that I purchased with my gift card from work (which I talked about in my January update!). So just to clarify, I am still on my no-makeup-buying challenge till my 21st, which is exactly 90 days away now so just three months to go. Anyway I was very grateful to get a £50 voucher of my choice, it was like a little reward 5 months later for sticking at the challenge ^_^ and of course I had to pick beauty bay as they have so many wonderful things that are on my wishlist. 

I must say here that I am extremely impressed with beauty bay’s delivery, I placed this order at 7pm on a Thursday and it arrived at 12pm the following day! Normally I don’t have much luck with hermes delivery, but for some (great) reason my order arrived extremely quickly and everything was in tact, yay!

So starting with the much lusted after Zoeva Cocoa Blend Palette (£15.50) the moment I saw this popping up on blogs everywhere, I knew it had to be mine. Although it is (yet another) neutrals palette, most of the colours are useable on a regular basis and I know there are a couple of shades in particular that I’ll be gravitating towards the most! The first shades to catch my eye were ‘substitute for love’ and ‘freshly toasted’ which are both gorgeous crease and transition shades. ‘Bitter start’ is the perfect brow bone highlight and of course ‘pure canache’ is my ideal base shade - gotta have some gold! The quality of these eyeshadows are second to none, they’re so pigmented, soft and bendable and I love how the palette has it’s own sleeve too! The size of the pans are pretty decent too so overall this is a great value palette.

One of the best things about owning a palette which is ‘hyped up’ or much loved, is that there are a lot of youtube tutorials focusing on this palette alone. I really appreciate that because I do tend to stick to my comfort zone when it comes to eyeshadows looks, doing the same thing over and over. So having a range of videos to draw inspiration from is super useful. 

I also purchased my first morphe eyeshadow brush, the M330 blending crease brush (£4.75). The main reason why I went for this one over the others was because I was determined to keep my spending total to just under £50 so I didn’t break my ban (#dedication). I also really needed another blending brush that wasn’t too big. My eyes are slightly deep-set which means I don’t have the most lid space and I find that large brushes kind of mess up the whole look! This brush is so useful and it really has met my expectations. The elongated shape and tapered tip means I can use this to apply my transition shade and crease shade and then blend it all out in a few quick strokes. It also works well for adding concentrated colour to the outer corner and in general is a fantastic addition to my collection! 

And finally, probably the most exciting part of my haul I present to you my MakeUp Geek Eyeshadows! (£4.95). Every single beauty lover will have heard of these beauties and most likely seen them in action, used by some of the biggest beauty gurus. Just in case you haven’t though, let me give you a quick introduction! MUG shadows are extremely high quality, often described as better than MAC but they’re a much more affordable (and ethical) option. I opted for 6 of the regular shadows, however there are more options on beautybay, which are a little more pricy. Each eyeshadow pan contains 1.8g which is fantastic value for money and of course the best thing about these shadows being sold on beauty bay is the fact that now those of us who don’t live in the U.S can get our hands on the whole range without being hit by dreaded customs! 

So I had the budget for 6 shadows and of course I had already watched a lot of videos and noted down the MUST have shades. I also used the lovely Jasmine’s post (here) to help me decide what my first 6 shades should be. Admittedly they don’t look exciting, however I know MUG are known for their gorgeous transition and crease shades so I had to pick up some of the ones I have been lusting after for years! From Top left I bought Creme Brûlée which is a shade I’ll be using every single time I wear eyeshadow, because it is PERFECTION at making your eyeshadow game go from a 2-8 I kid you not. You just need to use a fluffy brush to sweep this all over the crease area and it pulls together whatever you’re going to be putting on next. Frappe which is several shades deep and more brown, works in a similar way but adds depth and definition. I purchased the shades Cocoa Bear and Bitten because they are two of the most loved shades out there and they’re wonderful for the crease and for the lower lash line too. I am SO excited to play around with these because the pigmentation and quality are just wonderful! Finally the shades Homecoming and Pretentious are my ideal all over the lid kind of shades. I do love me a good gold shade too but these two stood out more to me first over the golden ones. 

Honestly I cannot describe the excitement I felt when getting this parcel, not only because it contains items I have wanted for months and months (if not YEARS!) but also because it was such a treat after 5 months of not buying any new makeup items! I know for a fact that I was a lot more grateful for every single item because of my challenge and I truly appreciated that excitement which definitely goes once you become a bit of a hoarder!!

P.S I've just seen that beautybay have the new MUG contour shades and they're less than a tenner each - such a bargain! You must check out the video on youtube because there are shades for EVERY single skintones, for real it's amazing! I cannot wait to pick up a shade or two after my birthday ^_^

Have you tried anything in this haul? Any MUG recommendations? Please let me know in the comments!

Thank-you for reading ♥

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July Makeup Haul

Although this is titled ‘July haul’, it’s really more of a May-July one but being too busy to blog, I decided to bulk it all into here. And to be honest there isn’t a LOT of makeup…I do have an ABH order to share soon with that controversial palette, but all in all I’ve kept makeup buying to the minimum. Mainly because I only started earning in July and that was just for three short weeks! I’ve been living on a proper student budget with absolutely no income at all from September 2016 and it wasn't fun, however it was valuable to have to live on a stricter budget and think carefully about where money was going. Anyway, I digress!  I justified myself the ABH haul and the things in this haul are kinda spontaneous and were mainly on sale so on with the haul!!

So starting off with Kiko, a store I now have in my local centre, I decided to pick up some things on whim. Lets start with the Everlasting colour precision lip liner in 402 (£5.90) - whilst the design is super cute, the packaging is pretty high end and it even comes with a sharpner and applicator (a rubber thing on the end, which is good for neating up application), I don't love to use this as an actual lip liner. 402 is faaaar too light to actually line my lips, however it can work all over the lips as a nude (though it is a smidge chalky looking). The formula itself is okay - I won't be rushing to purchase more shades in the future though.

What actually inspired this order was my search for the perfect mustard yellow eyeshadow, which I discovered was available from the kiko store thanks to Daria (a brilliant young woman who I’ve followed for a couple of years, love what she tweets about!). These are the Kiko high pigment wet and dry shadows and this is my first time trying them. They're currently £4.80 each (on sale), which is a similar price point to MUG, so it was a bit of a risk picking up five shades without swatching a single one. I’ve loved the water eyeshadows, with that golden one being a firm favourite (I have at least one back up), however this was an entirely new range to me. I’ve swatched their cheaper one in store and wasn’t impressed at all, definitely avoid those ones. These however are pretty darn great. They contain 2g of product per pan, which is 0.2g more than MUG. Also the shadows are removeable from the black packaging, which means you can take them out and put them into an empty metal palette - winning! 

The shades I purchased are:

57   - a rich cobalt blue, muted, yet still bright enough to be a pop of a colour. I had to purchase this because I literally have no blues in my collection - aside from a very deep one. I think blue shadows aren’t really the norm and I also know an eye shadow look with this along the lower lashline, or all over the lid and blended out with a warmer shade in the crease will look d-e-l-i-g-h-t-f-u-l.

19 - The very reason why I placed the haul in the first place, this is the perfect yellow shade and I've already posted an quick eyeshadow look using it on my instagram (@theblushinggiraffe). However you can get a sneak peak of the shade in the cover photo of this blog post here. The pigmentation of all the shades are really good, but this one impresses me each time I dip my brush in and pack it onto the lid! It definitely rivals MUG and ABH mattes, which is impressive for a drugstore shadow.

91 - Perhaps the only shade that I kinda regret purchasing? Only because its a pretty standard shade, and I own a bunch of golden colours already. Don't get me wrong its a good enough shadow, actually not as rich as the other four mattes - however I will try and get use out of it, or I'll pass it not.Definitely not a colour I'll be repurchasing. 

38 - A medium toned pink shade which again screams summer to me. I do actually own a couple of pinks from MUG as it is, but nothing this vibrant. Whether I use this in the crease, or packed all over the lid, I know it'll look beautiful and provide a twist to the usual neutrals I can get stuck in a rut with.

71 - Well this definitely has to be the most out there shade of the bunch, because can you imagine me wearing such a aqua-turquiose?? I'm not sure I can either, but I definitely will be trying it out...I'm thinking this paired with a gold should look pretty sweet...or maybe even as a funky pop of colour in the inner corner - oh the possibilities!

Moving on to Anastasia Beverly Hills, I managed to purchase two of her refillable shades from the beautybay sale, where they were only £4 each, and there are still a section available! Now neither of these would be my go-to shades, however they both work really quite well. Especially the darker contour shade: Ash brown, which is one of the most perfect contour shades I've come across! It is pretty deep but leans towards grey, so a little goes a long way to recreate the shadow and add definition. The lighter shade is called golden peach and whilst I don't prefer it to a yellow shade, it works well for everyday.

I had to repurchase one of my favourite lip liners of all time, the Jordana easyliner in tawny (£4.00), unlike the kiko one above, the shade of this is spot on just a tad deeper than my normal lip shade so I can ever so slightly overline, without it looking obvious. Such an under-rated lipliner which more people should know about for sure! 

And moving onto those stunning browns, I picked up three more MUG shadows because they're some of my favourites! I got a cute gift card from my lovely colleagues and just had to indulge in some of the newer shades from their line, ESPECIALLY BECAUSE THEY HAVE LOWERED THE PRICE AGAIN! Yaaay, no more ridiculous £6+ price tag, these are back to £4.95 and I couldn't be more pleased. Now in these swatches, the focus on my camera was a little off so excuse that, but left-right we have: Tan lines, pocket change and bake sale. The latter swatched the worst, but on the lid with a brush it is beautiful and has become a go-to on a day to day basis. 

The three brushes, and final part of this haul, are all from Morphe. I WILL be posting a Morphe brushes collection, it is a work in progress because they have a pretty overwhelming selection! Some I adore and use every other day, others I hardly ever pick up, so I'm looking forwards to sharing that with you. However, for now the newer brushes I purchased are:

M575 (£6.00) : Honestly this is an eyeshadow brush I don't love too much. What drew me in was the tapered point, but the bristles are quite long and hard to control, however it is okay at blended out colour once it has been applied. Not sure how much use I'll get from it, but yes I'm going to be using it a few more times before I post a full review in my Morphe brush collection, so stay tuned.

E8 (£6.00): I'm a big big fan of this one! And the price point is fantastic, I'll be picking up a back up at some point too. The E8 is very versatile, you can use it to blend in cream contour or powder contour, concealer or powder under the eyes due to the size. I was watching Jaclyn's morphe faves the other day and, whatever you think of her, we must all admit that the girl has SKILLZZZZ, especially when it comes to eyeshadow! She said a makeup artist was using the E8 to blend in her foundation flawlessly, so that is something I will be trying out and reporting to back to you all, but all-in-all, I'm highly recommend you pick on up.

M164 (£5.50): Definitely on of the most unusual brushes in my collection, this small angled brush is basically going to be your best friend if you dabble in nose contour! It makes contouring the nose sooo easy and as the brushes are synthetic, it works great with cream contour as well as powder shades. Whilst I don't think this is a MUST have, if you are a fan of contouring and no other brushes are cutting it, this little guy for just over a fiver is an absolute bargain.

And that is the end of this haul! Expect another one coming up soon exclusively focused on Anastasia Beverly Hills, but I hope that you enjoyed reading this and perhaps got some inspo for your next makeup splurge 🙊

Thank-you for reading ♥

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July Makeup Haul

Although this is titled ‘July haul’, it’s really more of a May-July one but being too busy to blog, I decided to bulk it all into here. And to be honest there isn’t a LOT of makeup…I do have an ABH order to share soon with that controversial palette, but all in all I’ve kept makeup buying to the minimum. Mainly because I only started earning in July and that was just for three short weeks! I’ve been living on a proper student budget with absolutely no income at all from September 2016 and it wasn't fun, however it was valuable to have to live on a stricter budget and think carefully about where money was going. Anyway, I digress!  I justified myself the ABH haul and the things in this haul are kinda spontaneous and were mainly on sale so on with the haul!!

Colourpop spring haul | Trying pressed shadows and glossy lips

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!

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.

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).

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.

I also purchased the following 6 shades: Labyrinth, High-strung, Boxer, 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!

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.

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.

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

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!

Another Beauty Haul | ABH, Huda Beauty, and The Ordinary

Hello everyone, I'm back with yet another haul post today, ranging from single eyeshadows to interesting new skincare. I have quite a lot to share with you all, so I'll keep this part short and sweet!

 v

FINALLY Anastasia Beverly Hills have a U.K website! Which makes me so happy because before I could only order their single shadows from Sephora and have to deal with customs which was such a headache. Their liquid lipsticks are also not easily available in the U.K, but now we have access to her WHOLE line from their U.K site here. Now although its a .co.uk website, the warehouse is based in Europe, so it takes a little longer for it to arrive I believe around 4-5 days. I had picked up a couple of shadows in a few past hauls and I KNEW ABH single shadows are some of the best on the whole market, totally smitten with them! However individually they cost £10 a pop, which is kinda intense 😦 and also a price I personally am not willing to pay. So when I saw Furnaz sharing her haul on snapchat, I was amazed to hear that when she picked up 8 shadows, not only did the price decrease to £6.25 per shadow but she also got a free sturdy palette too! So I totally found it justifiable to treat myself to a palette too and I am really impressed, especially since the new price for MUG shadows is £6, so basically they're on par - as long as you spend £50 in one go on shadows.

The palette is lovely, it is very sturdy and has a clear plastic window so you can see the exact shades you have in it. I also find it really easy to remove the shadows and its magnetic, so I often pop some of my MUG shades in here and switch it up. I'm currently working on a single shadow series and the first post should be up next week, I want to review every single shade I own for you all, but of course that's gonna take some time because I need a decent testing time for each shadow. So anyways I shall be explaining more about the series when the time comes. The shade selection above doesn't necessarily go well together, but they're all shades I felt were missing from my MUG/ABH collection already.

The shades in this palette from top left: cream, orange soda, birkin, dusty rose, moss, henna, comfort and fudge! The photo above does ZERO justice to the shades and I promise my single shadows series will include photos that are crisp and clear.

Moving on to some exciting new skincare now! Unless you have been living under a cosy rock, you will definitely have heard of the ordinary brand, which is relatively new. It is renowned for providing high quality skincare for a fraction of the price, many of the ingredients that they sell are found in much more luxurious brands such as Sunday Riley. I had seen a number of good reviews popping up around the net, and since that week I had broken out (which I honestly never do, so it was quite a shock), I decided to pick up four products and I've been using them consistently for about a week now. Before I share exactly what I purchased, I will say it is VERY confusing trying to understand which products you should pick up from the line, due to their long scientific names and also because it's not the easiest thing to work out which product works well with which! They do actually have a chart on their site here, which tells you what products clash. This brand is available on a number of sites, I chose ASOS because I got them for slightly cheaper through the use of my student discount ;D.

I found this site here, which has a super helpful person named Shabir, who tells people which products they should incorporate into their own skincare regime. I skimmed through the suggestions and hand picked which ones would work for me hopefully and I am going to try and explain what I have and WHY - though be warned its not going to be very scientific!

Hyaluronic Acid 2% + B5 | £6 | 30ml

This acid is well known for providing hydration to the skin and I have had good results with using products that include this ingredient in small amounts. My skin used to be dry/dehydrated and it was partly due to using hyaluronic acid in my skincare routine, which helped my skin get out of that phase. I picked it up in a stronger form because my cheeks can sometimes be a little dehydrated so I'll literally just use it in the area. So far so good, although the smell is SUPER STRONG. You apply this in the AM and the PM before moisturising the skin.

Alpha Arbutin 2% + HA | £7 | 30ml

This product also has some hyaluronic acid in it, however the main ingredient - alpha arbutin targets hyper-pigmentation and dark spots. I have been using this on my scaring from the breakout and also some older scaring left inbetween my brows and I have noticed a very small difference after a few uses! I will definitely keep you all posted on if it really helps, but previously I was using rosehip seed oil which is my favourite multi-purpose face oil. I've also been using this around my mouth and the side of my face, where I have hyper-pigmentation and honestly I'm impressed with the results so far. My skin feels brighter and more evened toned and I've spent the majority of my half term makeup free, which is SO NOT ME. I love wearing makeup, especially when I have the time, but seeing my skin look more even and brighter just helped me to ditch the makeup and give me skin some real breathing time.

Niacinamide 10% + Zinc 1% | £5.00 | 30ml

The next product I purchased probably has the most trickiest to pronounce name ever! They have described this on the box as a 'high-strength vitamin and mineral blemish formula'. It also says it regulated sebum, so I'm currently using this day and night on my T-zone area which tends to get oily. Plus it says it minimises pores - so where I do have visible pores right near my nose, I've also been putting a little bit on that area, haven't noticed a difference yet but like I said it's only been a week so far. I have also heard that zinc is fantastic at healing the skin and reducing breakouts. If you are acne prone, I highly recommend picking this up and giving it a go. 

Advanced Retinoid 2% | £8.00 | 30ml

Now this is the most expensive product I purchased, which is crazy cause its only £8! Retinoid is essential for any anti-ageing regime so to get it for less than a tenner is amazing. This is also the only product I am yet to try, I think I'm a little nervous incase my skin starts peeling. I wanted to inroduce the above products into my skincare routine first and then bring in this stuff. Also whilst I'll be using the other three on a regular basis, I think I'll only be using Retinoid maybe three times a week maximum. It's also known for improving skin texture, reducing the appearance of pores and preventing breakouts so quite a useful product!

And that is the end of my skincare haul from this brand which probably could have a been a whole post on its own. Obviously its early days yet, but I will say that if you're sensitive to smells you might want to research on which ones have a strong scent. They all have fragrance free written on the box, however that is just not the case, I have a poor sense of smell but if I am hit with it then it MUST be strong! Also the bottles are very clinical looking and quite easy to mix up! I have since used my sharpies to write the names on the side and what they are for, which helps when I'm bleary eyed in the morning trying to get ready haha.

My arms and legs have been extra sensitive in the last few months and they have been getting VERY dry, to the point where if I simply itch my skin they start to bleed D: It's been really stressful and painful too, so I finally decided to get the strongest body moisturiser I could buy without having to visit the doctors. The E45 intense recovery body lotion (£6.50) really does a good job at providing a LOT of hydration and although my skin on my arms and legs still look like they've been attacked by a crazy cat, I not long am needing to scratch at my skin which is a HUGE relief!

I restocked on my beloved Embryolisse (£20.00), which is the best moisturiser and base for makeup I have ever used. I've picked up multiple bottles of this stuff and haven't looked back!

The only hair related product I've purchased lately is the Superdrug hair therapy oil with argan (£3.99), which was on special offer. My hair like my body skin has been suffering lately and I'm sure its correlated with the stress of teacher training and lack of sleep throughout the week. Anyway this oil looked promising and I love how it has a little pump, making it very easy to apply to the hair. Usually I apply this to damp hair after showering and it does a good job at reducing frizz. Nothing ground breaking but it works well.

From ASOS I purchased a gel adhesive to use with my cute little certieye glitter pots - the paintglow glitter me up fix gel (£3.00) is very affordable and pretty easy to use. In the past I've used lash glue or a gel liner as a base, however when I want to put glitter all over the lid this is what I have been using and it does the job nicely!

And finally last but not least, I had to treat myself to the Huda Beauty Liquid Matte minis in nude (£33.00) when it finally came to cult beauty! I've been following Huda's blog for years, but was yet to purchase anything from her growing makeup line. Whilst I saw the rave reviews about this liquid lipstick line, none of the colours screamed at me or stood out massively, plus the individual price is rather expensive AND the liquid lippies are only just now becoming easier to get a hold of. ANYWAY I love the idea of mini liquid lipsticks and I'm so happy to be able to try out her formula. So far I really like two of the shades, though they're not quite as opaque as I prefer. However in terms of feeling weightless on the lips, Huda has nailed that to the T! Look out for an indepth review and swatch post on the blog soon ☺️.

My wrists are aching after all that typing! I hope you found this post useful, especially if you're looking to pick up some gorgeous ABH shadows cause now you can with a handy discount. Also I know a lot of you were wanting to know what I purchased from The Ordinary, do check out that link where Shabir is recommending various products for different skin concerns - he is super helpful!

Thank-you for reading ♥

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Another Beauty Haul | ABH, Huda Beauty, and The Ordinary

Hello everyone, I'm back with yet another haul post today, ranging from single eyeshadows to interesting new skincare. I have quite a lot to share with you all, so I'll keep this part short and sweet!

My 21st Birthday Sephora Haul!

Hello everybody! Today is my 21st Birthday 🎉 And it's becoming a bit of a tradition to treat myself to one Sephora order a year, in my birthday month. Ordering from Sephora is expensive without a doubt, customs, taxes and shipping in total probably cost me around £36! So now you know why it's more of an annual treat haha. Having said that, like I said last year the way I see it is £36 is a lot cheaper than a ticket to America and hotel costs SOOOO I think all in all, although its a splurge it's rather justifiable ;D. Before we get into this haul, I'd just like to apologise for the lack of consistency with these photos, I was getting brave and shooting in RAW mode...this was my first try and some of them didn't quite come out as I had hoped. ANYWAYS, on to the good stuff!

My 21st Birthday Sephora Haul!

Hello everybody! Today is my 21st Birthday 🎉 And it's becoming a bit of a tradition to treat myself to one Sephora order a year, in my birthday month. Ordering from Sephora is expensive without a doubt, customs, taxes and shipping in total probably cost me around £36! So now you know why it's more of an annual treat haha. Having said that, like I said last year the way I see it is £36 is a lot cheaper than a ticket to America and hotel costs SOOOO I think all in all, although its a splurge it's rather justifiable ;D. Before we get into this haul, I'd just like to apologise for the lack of consistency with these photos, I was getting brave and shooting in RAW mode...this was my first try and some of them didn't quite come out as I had hoped. ANYWAYS, on to the good stuff!

So starting off with two liquid lipsticks that I've had my eye on for AGES, and these are probably the most talked about and most loved liquid lipsticks of all time: Kat Von D's Everlasting Liquid Lipsticks in Lolita and Double Dare ($20.00 - £13.70). I was extremely excited for Lolita of course, which is described as a chestnut rose. It looks like the most gorgeous mauvey rose shade for medium skintones and I am super excited to try it today. I also purchased Double Dare, which came highly recommend by the lovely Jasmine and is described as 'cocoa blush'. It's pretty much a stunning medium muted pink shade and I think I'll get a lot of wear out of it. I was also planning on purchasing the shade Bow N Arrow which is a nude colour, but then I decided to try out a couple of different formulas and if I love these two, I'll place another order and pick it up next year.

 Talking about other formulas, I simply HAD to purchase at least one of the Anastasia Beverly Hills Liquid lipsticks ($20.00 - £13.70) and as the new shades were new to Sephora, a lot of them were out of stock. I did want to purchase at least one of the pink nude shades and if I like this formula, I'll be purchasing those in the future. However another shade which stood out to me, after watching at least 10 swatch videos, was Ashton. On the Sephora site, it is described as a mid-toned yellow brown, however based on swatches I would call it more of a deeper nude shade, with orange undertones. Actually it does kind of remind me of everything nice (reviewed here) which is a shade I adore, so I'm looking forwards to trying Ashton out! The packaging of the ABH liquid lipsticks are so lovely and luxe too.

The final liquid lipstick formula I purchased is the Sephora collection cream lip stain in 13 - Marvellous Mauve ($14.00 - £9.59). I have seen this doing the rounds on YouTube for months now and after a bit of research, I saw this shade is an almost exact dupe for Stila's Patina! This is £6 cheaper, plus its a whole different formula, so I was very excited to pick it up and give it a go. By the way, I haven't included swatches in this post because I plan to review each and every product individually - but I will be doing comparison swatches and the likes when I get around to writing those posts.

 So you probably know that I have become pretty smitten with single eyeshadows, and the concept of creating my own palette! Being a regular YouTube watcher (have I mentioned that already??), ABH shadows are used so often and recommended a lot. It was really hard to settle on which shades I wanted, because initially I thought I'd be able to get a quad for free to hold them in, BUT FOR SOME REASON SEPHORA DOESN'T SHIP THE CARDBOARD/PLASTIC QUAD PACKAGING TO THE UK -_- It's really not a huge deal, it's just a bit frustrating because I understand why they can't ship nail polishes...but packaging for a quad?? Eh. Anyway what made choosing these shades a little easier was I already had the majority of my MUG shadows, so I could kind of see which shades were missing in my palette - as this whole single shadow palette will be my go-to for years to come!

The first shade I decided to go for was Sienna - described as an earth brown. I picked this over morocco, though it was a very close call. I think what helped me decide in the end was literally googling eyeshadow looks with each shade name, and thinking about which ones I could actually see myself using. First impressions are that this is in the same colour family as Cocoa Bear from MUG, which is one of my ultimate favourites!  Peach Sorbet - is described as a metallic sultry rose champagne. I chose it mainly because Katy (Lustrelux) loves this shade, plus I needed a bright pop of colour in my palette, for an intense inner-corner highlight or simply all over the lid. The final shade I purchased was Fawn - described as a neutral olive. I wouldn't quite agree with this description, it's more of a brown and again it's used and recommended so much on YT that I couldn't resist adding to my already pretty extensive collection of neutrals! The ABH shadows are a bit of a splurge, they're $12.00 - £8.22, so they're just a little more expensive than the MUG foiled shadows. Based on the price, of course I have high expectations and I'll be posting reviews for these three shadows separately by the way, as they are more pricey.

AND WE HAVE MORE EYESHADOWS. Lemme explain okay, hear me out - I know I said I've gone off palettes since the decision to create my own using single shadows, but since this beauty was released months ago I was completely smitten. The Tartelette In Bloom Palette ($45.00 - £30.00) is actually available in the UK, from QVC however it was out of stock for a couple of weeks prior to my order so I decided to pick it up from Sephora instead. This is the second version of their palette, the first one was all matte and it didn't really appeal to me. Especially as a LOT of reviews were not so great, so although I was instantly drawn to the in bloom palette, I was kind of glad I was on my spending ban so I could wait and read reviews for this one. I've not come across any negative reviews myself, and although it was smaller than I expected, I am OVER THE MOON. The pigmentation of the shades are stunning, the formula is creamy and I just can't stop admiring this beauty! I couldn't have designed a more beautiful palette myself, from the outer packaging, to the large mirror, to the range of lights to darks with that gorgeous redish shade - yes Tarte, you did SO GOOD.

I've also had my eye on the Tarte Colored Clay CC Undereye Corrector ($24.00 - £16.43) for a while now. I am all about the salmon coloured correctors, I've tried a couple but I'm yet to find one that ticks all my boxes. First impressions are that the shade I purchased - Medium-Tan is probably going to be near perfect, I'm not so sure about the coverage or formula, but I shall be reviewing it soon along with the concealer I picked up LAST year!

And finally one of the funnest things about ordering from Sephora in your birthday month, is the beauty insider birthday gift! Last year it was two decent sized NARS pencils, which I loved. This year they give you a skincare option and a makeup option. Of course, when I saw it was Marc Jacobs, I picked this - a mini lipstick and a pencil eyeliner. Do excuse the quality of this photo (RAW gone wrong🙄), but I'll be doing a post on this very soon to give y'all my two pennies. Regardless though, its a great perk and a lovely free gift from a very luxury brand.

And that is the end of my birthday haul from Sephora! I feel very blessed to have so much beautiful new makeup to play with and I cannot wait to share these things in more detail with you all ^_^

Thank-you for reading ♥

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