30 Day Challenge- Day 23, Best bargain makeup item

Hello little dragons :-) I hope you all had a lovely Christmas yesterday. We certainly did, I ate so much I felt sick! Unfortunately my two girls caught a sick bug on Christmas Eve and were throwing up every 5 minutes, luckily though they were better by the afternoon on Christmas Day and got to enjoy their dinner and lots of chocolate :-) I had some lovely gifts which I will post about soon.

My best bargain beauty item is probably my VIVO baked bronzer. 

I had always loved my bronzer by GOSH before I decided to try out this one by VIVO. For £5 it is certainly a bargain! It gives such a lovely golden colour and makes my skin "glow". I've had lots of comments from friends and family on how nice my skin looks whilst wearing this. I will definitely be re-purchasing when I run out.

The VIVO cosmetics range is available to buy from Tesco.

Bronze Ambition Glow "N" Go Instant Tan Shimmer + FOTD

Here is another item i won in the Bronze Ambition giveaway.

So far I have been pleased with the self tan mousse but un-impressed with the instant spray tan.

From the photos above you can see that after applying the instant tan there is visible difference to the colour of my skin.

I applied it using a tanning mitt and it blended in well.

The shimmer is VERY subtle, you have to look super close to see it.

The photo above is after one layer and it gives a very light golden colour to the skin. I wouldn't recommend this is you're after something to make you look really dark. It 's just right for during the day when you need to add a bit of colour.

I have used it on the top half of my body, excluding my face. I've found it works well when using it to blend my neck and face (my foundation is too dark for my body at the moment because my fake tan has faded, i am once again pale, booo!)

It says it "rubs on and washes off" and it did just that. I wasn't left with orange hands or patchy areas.

I probably wouldn't buy this product in the future but that's not because i dislike it (i don't) its because i prefer to use Rimmels instant tan as it gives a darker result.

Bronze Ambition Glow "N" Go Instant Tan Shimmer is available here for £1.99

FOTD-

Today I decided to go for a smoky brown look.

Eyes- I used Rimmel 8hr Mousse Eyeshadow in Mocha, along with their black liquid eyeliner.

I lined my waterline with Rimmels kohl eyeliner in black then used Bourjois little round pot eyeshadow in no.1 to highlight. Mascara, my usual Dior in black.

Face- Bourjois healthy mix foundation, GOSH bronzer, VIVO blusher in sugar candy shade 2.

Lips- nothing today except abit of vasleline

Eyebrows- HD brow palette.

New purchases

I actually bought the leggings and dress a few weeks ago now but only just decided to show you. The make-up was purchased from Morrison's yesterday, i always have a peek at the make-up section when we go food shopping.

Sparkly leggings on the left, £8 from Matalan. Shiny leggings on the right, £15 from Next.

Close up of my sparkly leggings :-) I love these!

Burgundy Asymmetric Chiffon Dress, £25 from Desireclothing.co.uk

I bought a Collection 2000 cream puff lip cream before in a different colour and liked it so much i decided to get another, this time in "Powder Puff", £2.99.

Collection 2000 Extreme 24 hour felt tip eye liner in purple, £2.99 (i think!)

The tip is sturdy and has a nice point to it. I found it very easy to apply and get a good flick. I will definitely purchase this in the other colours available.

Left- Cream puff. Right- Felt tip liner.

"Powder Puff" on my lips. This particular shade showed up the dryness of my lips quite badly even with a lip balm underneath. I had to exfoliate and moisturise like a crazy woman, then apply.

Lets throw in a FOTD...

Here i am wearing the lip cream and eyeliner as above, along with...

Nivea Visage tinted moisturiser.

Vivo blusher and highlighter.

HD brows.

Dior mascara in black.

More photos from Newcastle

Im usually in bed by now but Ozzy has woken up and isnt showing any signs of going back to bed any time soon so i thought i'd blog.

My friend just posted these on facebook so i thought i would share them with you, they are much better than my photos :-)

Amy (my sister) left, me right.

Me hiding behind a birthday card, i have no idea why...

Lou, me, Jade

Me and Louie

Me looking rather blue

I'm such a happy person!

In case anyone is wondering what makeup I wore here's the list...

Face- Bourjois Healthy Mix foundation, Vivo Bronzer, MAC Dainty blush.

Eyes- Rimmel liquid eye liner in black, NYC metro quartet eye shadows in Manhattan. Dior mascara, Eyelure eyelashes (can't remember which ones, sorry)

Eyebrows- HD brows

Body- Laurens Way tan, Molten Brown shimmer dust (which they don't sell any more unfortunately)

I really hope the little man goes to sleep soon, i am so tired! 

Vivo, slimming and Charlie

So me and the rabble popped to Tesco lastnight, the girls were amazed with all the Halloween stuff. Mr.A decided to chase Lily round the aisles wearing a scary mask, she was screaming so high pitched it almost became inaudible! Then he decided to stick a severed arm up my sleeve and pull it out while shouting "argghhh! Mommys arms come off!" My eldest, Willow though it was hilarious and nearly wet herself laughing so much, Lily on the other hand looked petrified. The little monsters chose their Halloween outfits, Willows a pirate witch, Lilys a devil and Ozzy is a skeleton. They are going to look so cute :-)
I popped along to the slimming foods section and came across food by the Atkins diet. Ive never tried this diet before but decided to pick up two of their meal replacement bars, chocolate decadence and chocolate hazlenut crunch. I tried the chocolate decadence one last night, it was soooo nice! Im definately buying one again. I also bought a tub of slim fast in chocolate flavour, a choc peanut meal replacement bar by slim fast and a tescos own ultra slim shake in vanilla. Will let you know how they taste! Im still taking the maxitone shakes everyday, im used to the bitter after taste now. Weigh day soon!

I decided to check out Tescos makeup range Vivo. Id heard good comments about them from other bloggers so decided to check it out for myself. I picked up-

Left to right top row- lipstick in coral flair, lipstick in pink pout £1.99 each, volumising mascara in black £2.59, black liquid eyeliner £2.00.
Left to right bottom row- baked bronzer in bronzed shade 2 £5.00, blush with highlighter duo in sugar candy shade 2 £2.39.


Swatches-

Left to right top row- sugar candy blush, sugar candy highlighter.
Left to right bottom row- coral flair lipstick, pink pout lipstick, eyeliner, bronzer.


Lipsticks-

The first thing i noticed about these was the smell. It reminds me of being on holiday applying sun lotion, it has that sweet vanilla/ coconut scent, soooo nice! I found them both easy to apply, they were moisturising and made my lips feel soft after application. Im glad i picked the colours i did, they are both so soft and pretty. The pink pout has a slight gold shimmer to it which i love. The packaging is nice to, sleek and shiny with a different shape to the normal round tube.

Pink pout

Coral flair



Mascara-

I chose the volumising mascara as i dont feel my lashes particulary need length. The mascara i usually wear is Dior. I dont usually go for other brands of mascara unless im running out and low on funds. The brush is similar to my Dior, it was quite big and thick. Im a little bit odd in that i like to use my mascara when it is slightly dry. Whens its fresh it just seems to slide on and off again. I dont like clumps or spider eyes, i just find the mascara sticks better when its not brand new. Having said that, this mascara was pretty good. It took 3 coats to get it how i like, ive found with other brands it takes alot more. Im quite impressed and would buy it again in the future :-)

Nice fat brush

Without mascara

With... Me likey!



Eyeliner-

I didnt see the point in taking a picture of this, it looks just like any other black liquid eyeliner. I usually use Rimmel, it stays on all day, its easy to apply and does great flicks as the brush is stiff. The Vivo eyeliner however, does not. The brush is really thin and bendy, great if you want thin delicate lines but i like mine thicker. The bendy brush makes it hard to flick at the outer corners, i had to switch back to my trusted Rimmel one for that. I shall use Vivos eyeliner until it runs out but i wouldnt repurchase.



Bronzer-

I love this bronzer! It gives a nice bronzed glow to the skin and looks equally good used on the cheeks as a blusher. It goes on smooth and doesnt make you look orange. The biggest bonus for me is that its cheaper than my usual by GOSH. I shall repurchase this IF it has good staying power. I have only just applied it so dont know if it will still be on later today, i shall let you know.

Blush and highlighter-

I was abit worried this blush would be abit too Barbie pink for me, i usually go for more orangey blush. It looks much brighter in real life than in the picture almost neon! Thank goodness its not when applied. It was a much softer shade of pink and gave me a healthy glow. The highlighter is fab, its subtle and sparkly, just how i like it. It went on fab and was easy to blend.

My phone wouldnt take a good enough photo with the bronzer and blush applied. Ive just found my camera though, woo hoo! Once ive got it up and running i will be able to take better pictures.


I took a fab picture of one of my doggies yesterday, hes wearing his little 'Security' t-shirt and rolled over for me when i got my phone out to snap him. Meet Charlie... Hes a 9 mnth old Bichon Frise-

MUA and Beauty UK

Random post today, thought I'd share with you my favourite lipsticks at the mo and my opinion on MUA's mascara.
I'm not usually a big lipstick wearer, im more of a lipgloss kind of girl. I did go through a phase a few years ago wear all id wear was baby pink lipstick, got bored of that quite quick though. I'd heard alot of good feedback from Superdrugs makeup range MUA so thought Id take a look. I ended up buying 2 lipsticks and mascara. Had a quick browse of the Beauty UK range and bought a lipstick and baked blusher, oh and a volume sensation lipstick from Collection 2000 (from Boots) in cherry pop.

Left to right- Beauty UK in Sunset £3.49, Mua shade 7 £1.00, Collection 2000 volume sensation in cherry pop £2.99, MUA shade 3 £1.00.

Swatches (taken with the flash on but i think the colours are pretty accurate)-

Beauty uk sunset, MUA shade 7, Collection 2000 volume sensation cherry pop, MUA shade 3.

My favourite is definately Beauty UKs sunset, its such a lovely colour. The only thing is, i find it quite drying, even after putting lipbalm on beforehand. The MUA shades are lovely too and much creamier than Beauty uks. They didnt make my lips feel flaky or dry after. The Collection 2000 volume sensation was moisturing too, colour was bright and it did make my lips feel tingly, cant say i noticed much difference in the size of them though :-( bit dissapointing.


Onto Beauty UK baked blusher and MUA mascara-

Beauty uk baked blusher in candy shop £3.99.

I love how it comes with a little tiny brush that stores underneath. Only trouble is, its pretty rubbish, it just bends and doesnt pick up any colour. So i ended up just using my normal blusher brush.

First pic without flash, second pic with flash.

I like the colour of candy shop, it gives a soft pink glow to my cheeks and looks natural. I couldnt get a good enough picture with me actually wearing it but you can see how shimmery and pink it is from these pics.

MUA mascara £1

One word... Rubbish. Might be a bit harsh but this just did hardly anything for me. It gave me the slightest bit of length and thats it. My eyelashes look the same without any on! I couldnt get a good photo to show you but there wouldnt have been much point anyway because there just wasnt a difference. Maybe i find it so rubbish because im comparing it to my much loved Dior mascara (cant live without it!) i duno... All i can say is that i wont be using MUA mascara again.