2014 favourites ~ Ellie Loves #2

Hello my lovelies!

2014 has literally whizzed by, that's so cliche to say I know. I've been so busy this year, but have really been trying to get into blogging regularly. Since January I have, lost my high end makeup virginity (bit weird?), got lots of new makeup, written and posted 29 blog posts, Made a twitter account for my blog, celebrated 1 year of blogging, hit 100 followers on bloglovin and much more!

Sleek contour kit- I purchased this around May and have used it more or less everyday since, You can use a light amount in the day time or really build it up for parties and night time. This is one of my holy grail products and I couldn't recommend it more.

Bourjois Waterproof Mascara- I love this mascara so so much, It adds so much length and volume to my lashes and I have never had a problem with clumping etc. no matter how many layers I apply. I like to use a generous coat for school and for the evening I apply one coat, wait for it to dry completely, curl my eyelashes lightly and then apply another thin coat. This gives my lashes amazing volume and it honestly looks like false lashes- without the hassle.

Bourjois Lip velvet - This is the longest wearing lip product I have ever tried. I have the shade framborjois and I love it so much. My lips dry out ridiculously easily and quickly, but this product glides onto my lips and stays. It does not dry out my lips or sink into the fine lines, It does not dry into a powdery finish which I really like, yet does not smudge, transfer or flake away. I will definitely be picking up more of these.

Collection felt tip liner- I love this eyeliner to pieces, Despite the minuscule price tag, it is the best eyeliner I have tried. I find pen-type eyeliners much easier to manoeuvre than liquid eyeliners. Especially for my regular winged eyeliner. It stays on my eyelid all day more or less jet black. It does tend to run a little if I cry-laugh, which I do quite a lot. But this is easily fixed, and overlooked with such a tiny price tag.

Mua Undressed palette - I reach for this palette more or less every day, the pigmentation is great, the shadows blend well and the shades are gorgeous. This palette has the tiny price tag of around £4. In the future I may invest in the naked palette, but if you love the shades and not the whopping £37 price of the Naked palette then you will love this palette!

Barry m bikini polish - Around the summer and early autumn this nail polish was permanently on my nails, I believe it was limited edition and I have yet to find a similar shade. I am in love with this colour!

Naked basics Faint- This was a favourite for my eyebrows believe it or not. I apply this with an angled eyeliner brush, I think the shade may be a bit warm toned for my face so I don't really use it now a days, but It definitely was a favourite for 2014.

Benefit Gimme Brow - I used this in conjunction with the faint eyeshadow for a perfect brow, I do recommend this product, but only for setting brows. I am extremely lacking in the eyebrow department and it did not 'gimme brow' I would not purchase again. If you are more naturally gifted in the brow department you may like this, for filling in bald patches etc but for me it was not worth the money.

Short hair- In the second half of this year I have been cutting off inches of my hair like nobodies business. In the summer my hair was around my waist, In September I cut my hair to just above my bust, In October I cut my hair to about 4 inches below my collar bones. In December I cut my hair to my collar bones and I love it! It is in such good condition and It feels so lovely, i think this is the shortest I will go for a while but who knows! I am probably one of the least spontaneous people you will meet, apart from with hair cutting and travel.

2014 has flown by in the bat of an eyelid, Thank you to all my new and old followers for sticking with me and following my little blog in the first place! I am so grateful for all of you! Bring on 2015, I can't wait to see what exciting things the new year brings!

Ex

WOMN #3

This is it. I've found it, Everyone's going for red and sparkly nails this christmas, I'm going nude. Barry M's  Gelly Polish In the shade 'Almond' Is my perfect nude colour, It doesn't blend into my fingertips but thats not what I wanted, It looks so lovely. It's perfect for when you want nice, manicured nails but would rather not rep bright pink or baby blue. Elegant. Sophisticated. And I'll let you know if you can get away with wearing it at a uniformed school! ;) x

Change

Sometimes change makes me sad, friends are lost, people lose contact, health deteriorates. But change makes me happy as well, friends are gained, people start talking again and people regain their health. Change is healthy, if nothing ever changed our lives would be so monotonous, get up everyday, eat cereal, go to school, go home, have a sandwich, do homework, bed. Repeat. Maybe that's why I'm writing this blogpost, I'm bored, school is so predictable. But recently I went to an open day for college and it freaked me out. My life is going to change soon and I'm bloody terrified. I'm excited as well, but mostly terrified. I think it's the choices that I have to make, I don't want to close off any doors for future me, but I don't want to take subjects that make me unhappy.  I've never had to make a choice that could really impact my life before and its rather overwhelming. I know it's inevitable, I'm growing up, but I'm not ready.

What are your thoughts? Do you think schools should have 16 year olds make decisions that will affect the rest of their life? I don't have a beauty post for you this week, but I just wanted to share some thoughts.

The five product face

So, recently I've really been loving laziness, a complete lack of motivation has struck me at an untimely moment. So when I wake up in the morning, the last thing I want to be doing is rubbing a kajillion products on my face, If I can get an extra five minutes in bed I'm going to take it. These five products let me snuggle up in bed for a little longer, and I love them for that!

Concealer - To cover up my under eye bags, I also blend it over my eyelids to bring light to the area. I don't tend to cover up spots for school because everybody has them and you gotta let 'em breathe!

Eyebrow pencil - Without fail, I either use this or The shade faint from my Naked basics palette on an angled brush.

Contour kit - To add a little definition to my face, I tend to go a little crazy with the highlight, but very light with the contour.

Mascara - Lots of mascara, I use waterproof for long days at school.

Eyeliner - For a signature 'Cat flick'

I hope you enjoyed that little post, What does your 'five product face' consist of?

E x

Ellie Loves #1

I think I'm going to start doing monthly favourites, yanno monthly. Let's see how this works out, I don't exactly have the most consistent record but I'm going to try my very best pinki swear

My last favourites post was in June, and I've got a lot of new products to show you so lets get cracking!

Face.
I've been absolutely loving the Bourjois waterproof mascara, This is the only mascara that doesn't leave me looking like a panda at the end of the day. It still transfers below my eyes but much less than any other I have ever tried. I love the volume it gives my lashes, and strangely I prefer the lift I get without curling my eyelashes beforehand.

My next favourite is the Sleek contour kit in light. I use both the contour and the highlighter every day and I love them both, they are very pigmented and quite long lasting. As I don't wear foundation on a day to day basis, I can't expect them to last as long as they would if I did. (Did that make sense?!)

In the past week I've been loving the 4th shade in the MUA Undressed Palette, I've just been wearing it all over my lids and have got heaps of compliments! I don't use a primer and it doesn't crease but has faded significantly by the evening. (11-12 hours of wear)

Fashion.
Coincidence or not, all of what I've been loving is from H&M. I love my thin, stipey grey jumper for layering with my lacy floral tank top and my black high waisted jeans - all h&m!

Other.
I've strangely really been loving X factor Team Lauren and strictly Team Jake I never usually like these programmes but this year I'm really into them!
I've really loved twitter this month - shameless self plug follow me Here

That's all for this post! I hope you enjoyed, I'm getting really close to 100 followers on Bloglovin' If you could help me out I would really appreciate it!

E x

Bold lips three ways

The weathers getting colder and I could not be more excited! I love all the clothes in the shops at the moment. (Faint sounds of my purse crying) Autumn fashion and makeup is so pretty! So in this blog post I'm going to show you three ways to channel the bold lips trend of Autumn.

Number one - Bare face, Bold lips
I've seen this makeup look around everywhere recently. I use the term "Bare face" very lightly. I started with a fresh base blending my concealer under my eyes and on blemishes and troubled areas. I used the fifth shade from my MUA eyeshadow palette on an angled brush on my eyebrows, using short gentle strokes to ensure a light, natural brow. Then, My face was a little washed out, so I decided to add some warmth with my lightest bronzer under my cheekbones and on my temples. Then I added a tiny bit of Mascara to open my eyes up. I prepped my lips with a scrub and then applied my Lipstick in Berry me, wiped around the edges with a tissue and blotted my lips. And that't it! I love this look for when you want a casual bold lip.

Number two - The "Taylor swift" look.
Black winged eyeliner and red lipstick - The classic Taylor Swift makeup look! #amiright. Starting off with a flawless base Concealing where necessary, a swirl of blusher on my cheeks and a sweep of Highlighter on the high points of my face. I used "faint" from my Naked basics palette on a slanted brush on my brows. for my eyes I used "Venus" all over the lid and "faint" in my crease and outer corner. Whilst doing my makeup for this blogpost  I discovered my new favourite way of applying eyeliner! I drew the wing first and matched the two eyes, Groundbreaking, I know. I then drew a thin line all over the lid and connected. My eyeliner game has never been so strong! I applied my favourite red lipstick (in hot 305) which a little birdie told me that this is Taylor Swifts favourite red, as I have a similar complexion to Miss swift It's mine too! #twins

Number three - Halloween queen
With Halloween just around the corner, I thought I would sneak a spooky look into this post. I actually created this look on top of the previous one, but of course you can create it onto a blank canvas. I removed any face makeup because looking "dead" is actually a good thing for this look. I extended the wings on my liner and thickened the line. I then blended "Crave" from my Basics palette all over the lid. I blended a purple brown eyeshadow (smoky ember) under my eyes, I don't really know what I was trying to achieve here but I think I achieved it. I still had the red lipstick on, so I added a purple/black lipstick (04) ontop, avoiding the middle, blending with my finger as I applied. This gave a ombre-ish look. I then took my Benetint and applied some down the corner of my mouth, this was much more pink than I would of liked but benetint is a stain so there wasn't a lot I could do about it!

I love bold lips in the autumn time, do you? Let me know your favourite lipstick in the comments below and which look from this post is your favourite!

Also, I'm nearing 100 followers on bloglovin' and I am so freaking excited!

So I went shopping....

Hi guys!
My name is Ellie and I am a shopaholic. So yeah, I spent a teency weency bit more money that intended last week, and a problem shared is a problem halved right? So I thought I would share what I bought with you lovely lot, on with the post!

The first Item I have is from Hollister, and I must admit I haven't been in a Hollister shop in years, I didn't plan on buying anything but when I saw this Slogan top I actually loled. It was £22 and it is really soft and hangs off so nicely. It's also not plastered with the Hollister logo which I like.

"Dibs on the Drummer"

The next shop we visited was boots, I have recently had my hair cut a lot shorter. I made a vow to myself that this time I would take proper care of my hair. So I bought a hair mask and a hair serum mist. These promised to make my hair stronger, softer and shinier- and that's what I want for my dull tangled hair! Hair mist   Hair mask

I don't have pictures of these Items *sorryyyy*

The last shop we visited was H&M and I bought two tops; A sheer, thin stripy grey jumper, and a lace trimmed floral tank top. I've worn these together and I loved how the lace of the top peaked out from the jumper.

That's all I bought on this shopping trip, I hope you enjoyed this post!

Feel free to follow me on bloglovin if you liked this post!
Bloglovin

10 products under £10 - SincerelyBrionyBea

Hello everyone!

 I’m Briony from SincerelyBrionyBea. Thanks Ellie for allowing me to guest post for you!

I’d like to share with you 10 products that I love that are under £10.

1.The Body Shop Tea Tree Face Wash £5.00- This is my ultimate face wash! I have been using it for years and I just can’t get enough. It lasts for such a long time and is perfect if you have blemished, acne prone skin that you want to keep under control

2.The Body Shop Tea Tree Night Lotion £9.00- To go hand in hand with the face wash is the night lotion which moisturises the skin and helps blemishes. I like to apply this on my face then put dots of it on annoying spots over night to help keep them at bay.

3.Natural Collection Corrector Stick £1.99- I never wear makeup without putting this on first. This is a green corrector stick that you put over redness on your face to counter out the redness. It doesn’t show through your foundation and helps enormously for a more balanced complexion.

4.Collection 2000 Lasting Perfection Concealer £4.19- The concealer that every blogger raves about and the concealer that has been my holy grail for many years. It is a high coverage concealer that covers up redness, spots and dark circles like a dream. A product I definitely recommend!

5.Real Techniques Expert Face Brush £9.99- Although this is only technically 1p under £10, it is certainly worth a mention! A super soft brush which does an excellent job at applying foundation for a flawless look.

6.Maybelline Baby Lips Lip Balm £2.99- These lip balms are amazing! They moisturise, smell incredible and the ones that aren’t clear add a great tint of colour to your lips! My favourite one is Cherry Me as it gives makes my lips a subtle red when I want a more natural look or don’t have time to apply lipstick.

7.Maybelline Color Tattoo Eye shadow £4.99- I always found eyeshadows never stayed on my eyelids until I found these. A cream eyeshadow that lasts on your eyes 24 hours without a single smudge. They offer some beautiful bright colours- my favourite is ‘Everlasting Navy’.

8.Sleek i-Divine ‘Storm’ Eyeshadow Palette £7.99- 12 mineral eyeshadows with shimmer and matte shades to bring you from day to night. Great to travel with!

9.Lush Rub Rub Rub Shower Scrub £8.50- My favourite body scrub. It smells like the sea and feels fresh on the skin. Great for a vigorous scrub on dry skin or a more gentle scrub on wet skin.

10.Lush Bubblegum Lip Scrub £5.50- Another scrub for you: I buy this every year and like to use it after I have had a shower. The great thing about this lip scrub is that it is sugar based and exfoliates all the dead skin off of your lips. Then afterwards you can just lick off the excess which tastes just like bubblegum! Excellent for using before you apply lipstick for a smooth finish and longer lasting stay power.

 So those are my top 10 under £10! I use all of these products regularly and would repurchase them if I haven’t already. It was so difficult to choose only 10!

Thanks again to Ellie for letting me post here! If you’d like to see more of me, my blog is www.sincerelybrionybea.blogspot.co.uk and you can find me on Bloglovin too!

Have you used any of these products or want to buy any of them? Let me know!

Back to school Makeup

(This was a guest post but incase you missed it here it is)

Hi guys!
I hate to be the one to break this to you, But its time to go back to school. Please don't shoot the messenger. This makeup look makes me feel pretty, and thats one thing I need at school, Because even if you fail the test or your teacher doesn't believe that your dog actually did eat your homework. You can still look #fabulous. On with the post!

First things first I'm the realest I start off by prepping + priming my face. To moisturise I used my L'oreal Triple Active Nourish Moisturiser, Then I used any random lip balm I have to hand. To prime I use my Benefit Stay Flawless Primer. I'm not too sure how much difference this actually makes but I use it just in case.

 The first makeup Item I always use is concealer, I applied the Collection Illuminating touch concealer. I apply this under my eyes, Down the bridge of my nose, on my cupids bow, chin and on my brow bone. For me this concealer doubles up as a very subtle Highlighter.

I Then do my eyebrows, I use the 2True Expert Eyebrow Pencil followed by Benefit's Gimme Brow (Not pictured). I have extremely fair sparse eyebrows and these two products work like a dream for me.

I then apply Blusher, Today I applied Benefits Rockateur on the apples of my cheeks and sweep the brush up to my temples.

Then, If I'm wearing eyeshadow I will apply it now- Today I used a very exciting new purchase. Urban decays Naked Basics Palette I applied W.O.S or Walk of Shame all over my eyelid, Naked 2 through the crease and Faint in my outer corner. I Then apply my Winged eyeliner using Collections 24hr felt tip liner I am rubbish at eyeliner so I wont tell you how to use it.

I Then applied Maybellines Babylips in Cherry Me and blended with my finger

And here is the finished look - I uploaded to photos ready for this post and Google made me a little collage, I have no Idea why But here you go I guess!

Hope you enjoyed my back to school makeup look! Thanks for reading.

   Ellie xx

Naked basics first impressions and swatches!

Hello my lovely readers!


So a few days ago I made a trip to Brighton with some friends, after a long day of walking it was around 5pm and raining. I had not bought anything all day so I thought 'Lets go to Debenhams, why not? What could possibly go wrong?' Nothing went wrong for me and my makeup needs (lol) but lets just say that my purse did not appreciate it that much.
I spent an hour at the Urban Decay counter but the girl at the counter was so lovely and informative. She gave me a urban decay wishlist and a pen, needless to say I found myself wanting a lot more products than I bargained for. I bought The Naked Basics palette, but I did want a lot more! The lovely lady also matched my skin to a foundation and gave a cute little sample! God I love talking about makeup.

For the Naked Noobs(Naughty):
Urban Decay has a very popular range called "Naked" which comprises of very neutral and natural looking products. The most famous products from this range are the Naked palettes,These are Eyeshadow palettes with 12 neutral shades varying from light to dark. There are around 2 matte shades in each palette. The Naked Basics palette is a compact with 6 eyeshadows - all matte with only one shimmer.

 First impressions:

Straight away I can tell these eyeshadows are super high quality - They feel like silk to the touch and swatch so smoothly (very pleasing might I add) They blend like a dream on the eyelid and I see a lot of potential looks I can create on my face. The second darkest colour (Faint) also looks lovely on my eyebrows, It looks much softer and more natural than a pencil and is a perfect colour match for the colour my eyebrows should be.

Thats all for this post - Expect more on this palette, I apologise in advance for when I can't shut up about it.

Shop the post

LIP CRAYON OBSESSION

Hi guys!

I just wanted to say a massive thank you for 50 followers on bloglovin! This has been my goal for a while now and having reached this makes me feel very proud, I hope you are all enjoying my posts as much as I am enjoying writing them! 

Now that soppiness is over and done with, let's get on with the actual post shall we?

Lately I have found myself magnetised straight to the lip crayons while shopping,  Don't ask me why, because I don't know. I'm quite behind on the trend but in the past month I have accumulated 3 lip crayons from different brands In the drugstore, so I thought I would share my thoughts and swatches with you lovely lot. 

Swatch 1 - MUA - Crazy in Love 

Crazy in love is a very sheer and moisturising dark raspberry colour, it has a minty scent and feels lovely on the lips. This is the most slippy formula of the three and I must admit, I don't like the way it looks on my lips. The formula is very slippy, as you can see on the lip swatch above, it applies very unevenly. I do like the colour though, so I have found a way to wear it. I apply the lip crayon as normal and blot it with a tissue, I then take some blusher (natural collection - peach Melba) on a brush and brush it over my lips. This gives a matte but not drying lip colour and I do really like the way it looks! You can buy Crazy in love for £3 in Superdrug.

Swatch 2 - Collection - Vintage Rose

Is a bubblegum pink with orangey coral tones, I love this shade but despite it not being a matte or dry shade, it really does settle into the fine lines and cling to any dry patches of your lips. No matter how much lip prep you do, it still will sink in to those fine lines. 

You can buy Vintage rose for around £3.99 at Boots and Superdrug

Swatch 3 - Revlon - Sultry

I really love the colour of this and the formula feels lovely too, not at all drying but does require some lip preparation, which is expected from a matte product. Similar to the MUA lip crayon, sultry has a  faint mint scent which is very pleasant while applying on the lips. I haven't had much of a trial period with this one so I will update you when I've tested it out properly.
You can buy Sultry for £7.99 at Boots and Superdrug.
Thanks for reading!

WOMN #2

Hello lovelies,

Today's post Is a fairly brief one. I wanted to share what's on my nails with you lovely lot!

 Let's just ignore my mother trying to be funny shall we? Also don't ask why I'm holding a banana because honestly I don't know. So, what's on my nails? I am currently sporting O.P.Is 'Chic from head to toe' I would describe the colour as a pure bubblegum pink. The formula is an absolute dream, in the above picture I am wearing 2 coats and the colour is opaque. The polish glides on to the nails and considering I haven't worn it with a topcoat I am so impressed, I've had it on my nails for 4 days and it is only just beginning to chip very slightly.

I definitely will be looking into buying more O.P.I nail polishes as it is the best formula that I have ever tried. 

Thanks for reading! 

If you want to find love then you know where the city is.

Hello Lovelies!

Last week I went to paris for a few days with my family, It really is the most beautiful city I have ever been to. Today I thought I would share some of the photos I took of the most photogenic place in the world.

Have I ever put my face on this blog before? I don't think so! Here you go - I bet you were all dying to know what I look like (not )

The next lot I took with my Iphone so please excuse the quality

Thanks for reading!

Birthday Beauties

Last Saturday (12th July) I celebrated my birthday, I had a lovely chilled day and a few friends over in the evening. I was extremely spoilt this year by my friends and family so I thought I would share a few beauty related gifts with you.

*I'd just like to say that I am not bragging in the slightest. I was extremely lucky and my friends and family are extremely generous. I am not showing off, and I am really really grateful*

(Clockwise from top) Barry M Limited edition nail polish in 417 Bikini, Barry M Gelly Nail polish in 422 Guava, Real Techniques expert face brush, Superdrug Vitamin E Moisture mask, Benefit Lust Duster in Jelly Roll, Body shop lip butter in Strawberry, Rimmel Kate Moss lipstick in 05, Barry M Cor Balmy Lip balm in C2 Rosie Lea, O.P.I Nail varnish in Chic from Ears to Tail, MAC Amplified creme lipstick in Chatterbox and Body Shop Body butter in Vineyard Peach. 

(Top to bottom) Benefit Lust duster in Jelly Roll, Kate Moss lipstick in 05, Mac Amplified creme lipstick in Chatterbox

Lush Pop in the bath bubble bar slice, Rose and Co Strawberry cupcake bath & shower cream, Lush Think Pink Bath Ballistic.

My Grandma got me a really cute Rose themed bundle of stuff, It is a collection of Cath Kidson and Marks and Spencer Rose Scented Bath and body products. I think this is such a lovely Idea and I'm Really

Grateful!

In here we have: National Trust Rose Soap, Cath Kidson Rose soap, Cath Kidson Rose Bath salts, Marks and Spencer Floral Collection Rose Shower cream, Marks and Spencer Floral Collection Rose Hand and nail cream. and the prettiest flannel I have ever Seen! 

Thank you for reading! I had the loveliest birthday surrounded by the people I love, One year older one year wiser eh?