30 Day Challenge- Day 25, Beauty regime

I'm not sure if this should be about my pre-make up regime or how I actually apply my make up so I shall do both :-)

-I start by removing any leftover make up with a good old baby wipe, then cleanse my face with Simple's moisturising face wash.

- I moisturise using my Monu revitilising moisturiser that I got in my Glossybox. Then I moisturise a second time using my Nivea tinted moisturiser then apply my MUA primer.

- If my skin isn't looking too great with the tinted moisturiser alone I use a foundation brush to apply Bourjois Healthy Mix foundation then a dusting of Collection 2000's face powder to take off the shine.

- My VIVO bronzer in "Bronzed" goes on next and I blend into my neck if my fake tan is wearing off (I hate the orange head, white neck look!)

- Next to go on is my blusher, its either MAC Dainty or VIVO Sugar Candy. 

- Onto the eyebrows... I have naturally dark hair so fill in my brows with the darkest shade from my HD Brows palette. I then apply highlighter to my cheekbones and my brow bone.

- My usual choice of eye make up is normally black liquid eye liner with a small flick at the end. I find this the quickest and easiest look to create. I then add some mascara to the top and bottom lashes and finish with applying a high lighter to the inner corner of my eyes.

Voila!

30 Day Challenge- Day 20, Favourite mascara

My most loved mascara has got to be Dior Backstage, My uncle bought me some from America a few years ago and I loved it instantly. It lasts me ages and he has bought me some every year since. I'm due some more now as its starting to dry up but it has lasted me nearly a year! I know we are advised to use new mascaras every so often due to bacteria etc.... but I've never had any problems using mine for so long. It's pricey at £22 but it lasts me that long it makes it worth its money. If I were to use cheaper mascara I'd have probably spent that much (or more) throughout the year anyway.

It never fails to make my lashes longer and thicker with just two coats. I've never tried a mascara as good as Dior Backstage before and really recommend it.

Source

Apologies for the picture from the internet, My camera on my phone is really rubbish and this awful winter darkness makes it nearly impossible to take good enough photos.

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.

Free mascara & Ebay purchases

Everyone has been going crazy for Glamour magazine as they are giving away Nails Inc nailvarnishes. I picked up mine yesterday and got the colour "Tate" its a gorgeous deep red. I love it.

Company magazine are currently giving away a mascara. It is double ended, one side being an undercoat for length and the other is the top coat for volume.

 

There is no brand name, it simply says Build it, Lash it.

The undercoat, a strange silver colour

Topcoat

Its not the greatest mascara ive used but for free i cant really complain. It didnt really add much length to my lashes and the photo above was after a good 3 or 4 coats.

I ordered an oversized David Bowie top from an Ebay seller, it came today and i love it!

Top from this Ebay seller, £8.82.

They have lots of other prints too.

Necklace from New Look 2 years ago, i only recently found this out, i thought i had lost it!

I recently bought these earrings from Ebay aswell...

I love them, they are so tiny (the photo makes them look alot bigger) about 1 cm long.

They came in a lovely sparkly drawstring pouch and would make lovely Christmas presents. The seller has lots of other jewellery, all really cheap.

Cross earrings £1.35 (Bargain!) from this Ebay seller.

This weekend I am at my mums, we are introducing Alfie to the family, so far everyone loves him although he is chewing everything he comes across!

What are you upto this weekend?

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.