August Favourites

August is almost over and its back to school for most of us, including me. This summer there has been many things I've loved and here are most of them which are quite new purchases but are definite loves.

Firstly, I love the Revlon Moisture Stains!! I have 4 of them in Rio Rush, Shanghai Sizzle, Miami Fever and Parisian Passion which are all lovely colours. Out of them all my favourite is definitley Shanghai Sizzle as its a lovely orange toned red. They have 12 shades available online but only 8 at Boots to purchase. They normally cost £7.99 but I got them on offer for 2 for £10 which is great.

As I've tanned I've had to pull out my darker foundations and my favourite out of the few I have is my MAC Prolongwear in NW30 which is a perfect match for my skin for now. I love the Prolongwear makeup available at MAC and this foundation is my favourite for when my skin gets paler too.

Rimmel released a mascara with argan oil in recently and I thought I'd try it out. The brush is nothing special and its plastic so I assumed I wouldnt like it but I gave it a go and I adore this! The formula is lovely and is very wet which helps my eyelashes and keeps the curl in my eyelashes and suprisingly it doesn't smudge on my bottom lashes either! 

I've wrote a post about the Maybelline FIT me concealer (here) and its been a saviour this month as its a perfect colour match and gives a lovely coverage. I can't say too much about it anymore without boring everyone! 

I think the Bourjois Bronzer and Highlighter Duo is a new release from them which is a mix of the two products they released a few years ago. It has a very creamy touch but is a powder product which is lovely! The highlight looks very natural as it isn't too shimmery which can make my skin look oily at times. Also, the bronzer is one of my favourites and nice for contour as the shimmer in this isn't too much!

Onto random favourites, the George Ezra Wanted on Voyage album came out recently and I love the album so after the exam results this week I wanted to treat myself so went out and bought the vinyl to the CD and oh wow! Love his music so much and it sounds so much better on record.

Lastly, I began reading The Maze Runner series on holiday and finished the first two books on holiday and have came back and kept on reading it. The series is so good and if you like The Hunger Games, this is 10x better. Its a very easy read and every page gets better.

Have you got any of these or wanted to try any of the products mentioned?

Whats your favourite book series?

// Charl xxx

Product of the Week #4

I got Touche Eclat!! Nobody knows how happy I am about this and I just love it so much. The price of it in shops is £25 pound but I got it in duty free for £21 and then an extra 30% off reducing it to £14.70! The concealer has reduced the appearance of red and dark circles on my face when I'm wearing it and many people have commented on how much healthier my skin is looking. Well to say I'm chuffed would be an understatement!

The packaging of this is the shit! Its so sleek and smooth to hold and feels so luxurious! I just love it. The only problem is that when I go to click the lid back on I push the part that makes the product come out so it wastes it a little but whatever I'll deal with it.

As its a peach toned concealer it brightens up any dark areas, such as under eyes and trust me I need all the help I can get with those beasts! I would definitely repurchase this product its so worth the hype and the price!!

Have you tried Touche Eclat from YSL?

// Charl xxx

Favourite 5 Friday: Nail Varnish

For me, the worst thing about 'beauty' is painting my nails as I don't have the patience nor the time to sit and paint my nails and let them dry - so when I find a formula and colour that I like I tend to stick to them. So, I thought I'd share my favourite 5 long lasting, quick drying nail varnishes!

From left to right:

Barry M Gelly Shine in Green Berry

Easy Paris in Blue (it doesn't have a name)

Yes I Love in Neon Glitter

Easy Paris in Hot Pink (again no name)

Topshop in Geography Teacher

The Barry M Gelly Shine - in fact all Barry M nail varnishes - are fantastic colours, price and formula which tend to need two coats to look up to scratch and last around 1 and a half weeks on me which is very good! The range of colours are fantastic and for £3.99 they're fantastic!

Both of the Easy Paris varnishes are from Gran Canaria which I bought recently which were 1 for 3.50 euros or 2 for 5 euros. They are one coat wonders and dry within a minute of applying them which makes them easily my favourite - I just wish I bought more!!

The Yes I Love nail varnish is also from Gran Canaria and I bought this for a bit of fun and because it looked different.. The colour is very sheer but can be built up but I think it looks great over a white base to spice it up a bit.

Topshop do all round amazing nail varnishes that last up to two weeks without chipping on me and this shade is especially flattering for my skin as it makes it look darker than it already is. Geography Teacher is what I'd call a mucky camel colour - weird sorry. Haha!

Have you got any of these nail varnishes? Whats your favourite nail varnish?

 // Charl xxx

Whats in my Travel Makeup bag?

As I've been travelling around for the past month my makeup bag has been getting a lot of use so I thought I'd show you all the stuff in my makeup bag for when I'm not at home!

My makeup bag is a Ted Baker cosmetic bag which I bought back in February while on my holiday then and it was £20. It has one main zipper and one big compartment with a light pink lining inside which feels like silk but probably isn't haha. The outer material is waterproof I believe which is handy incase anything manages to spill on it so it won't ruin.

Okay so most of the things in this bag are things I purchased from Duty Free or on the plane and I kept my brushes in a different bag as this wouldn't have fit them all in. The first thing I keep in my bag is the Stay Matte powder and who doesn't? I don't need to explain it anymore than I have! Its a fantastic powder and everyone needs one.

Next I have Archery from Soap and Glory and its a double ended eyebrow tool with a felt tip and a pencil. I think its the best eyebrow product you can buy in the drugstore, absolute favourite of mine!

The Maybelline Colour Tattoo in On and On Bronze is a life saver and its the only thing I wore for the full two weeks on my eyes as it goes with any outfit or look and I just love it. Definately worth the money!

Scandaleyes waterproof eyeliner is a must for when I'm on holiday as I like to line my upper lashes to create more volume there and as its waterproof I never need to redo it! 

MACs' Rebel lipstick has not budged from this makeup bag for the past 3 weeks and its a definate winner in my eyes, love love love this lipstick for summer/autumn and it really makes my teeth whiter when I wear it on a nighttime.

The only base I take with me on holiday is the MAC Prolongwear Concealer in NW25 as its the best concealer for when my skin goes darker (besides the Maybelline FIT Me concealer, blog post here) and the concealer really is a long lasting one and covers my spots until I take it off!

Kate Moss' lipsticks in 01 and 08 have been absolute winners while on holiday as they're so moisturising and only need applied once and they last 8 hours! 01 is a cherry red and 08 is a muted cherry pink which are lovely colours when you have a tan.

Gimme Brow by Benefit has also been a new purchase and its great for during the day as I didn't wear makeup but wanted to set my brows and this did the job - it even lasted in the water too!

The Hoola bronzer by Benefit is a new purchase of mine whilst in duty free and its the first time I have ever bought it and I am so so pleased with it! Its great for contour or just an all over bronze and I find the brush that comes with it is great for defining my cheekbones.

Sticking with Benefit, the POREfessional is always in my bag and is a great primer for my skin, my spots can get darker on holiday too and this seems to cancel that out a bit so it really helps me out.

Lastly, my two mascaras. The Falsies by Maybelline is a holy grail mascara and I don't know where I haven't taken it over the past year! I love this mascara so much it works wonders for my eyelashes. And the Million Lashes from L'Oreal is a new buy so I thought I'd try it out and its good but not as good as the Falsies but I had to bring something to replace the Falsies if it ran out!

Have you got any of these products in your makeup bag?

Charl xxx

Product of the Week #3

Hey everyone! Sadly I'm back from my holiday now and extremely tired but since I forgot to write post for while I was away I have to battle through it and get one out. As I've been on holiday, my skin tone has naturally gone darker and this means finding the right colour match gets harder for me. However, this means I get to try out the darker concealers and foundations I have picked up by mistake. The Maybelline FIT Me concealer is one I have been eyeing up for a while now but never got round to buying it until I realised I needed a darker concealer for my holiday so I thought I'd give it a go!

The concealer is light-medium coverage which I think you can build up to whatever you want it to be which makes it very wearable for more than one occasion. I got shade 35 as there was no 25 or 30 in stock when I picked it up but I'm glad as its a perfect match for my face now! The formula is very moisturising which is a must whilst on holiday I think as the sun dries out your skin.

On holiday, my face friends (aka spots) tend to appear in bunches under my cheekbones and this has really helped to keep them hidden on a night as many people notice them. For £5.99 have you gave this concealer a go?

Charl xxx

Favourite 5 Friday: Drugstore Lipsticks

I'm quite a drugstore girl at heart and as the drugstore has so much to offer when it comes to lipsticks and lip products, I thought I'd share with you my 5 favourite lipsticks from the drugstore!

From left to right:

The Kate Moss for Rimmel 111

Julianne's Nude L'Oreal Collection Privee

Sexy Mother Pucker S&G in Nudist

Eva's Nude L'Oreal Collection Privee

Kate Moss for Rimmel 107

Both of the Kate Moss lipsticks are red and matte. 111 is a very bright orange toned red and similar to MAC's Lady Danger when applied onto lips. However 107 is a very deep berry red and is similar to MAC's Russian Red so if you were wanting a MAC lipstick but cannot afford the £15.50, I'd recommend trying out these two first!

L'Oreal released their nude collection for different skin tones, yet I didn't pay attention to that and picked up ones that were most appealing to me. Julianne's nude is a light pink toned peach which is supposedly better on paler skin yet looks lovely on my skin too which is more tanned. Eva's nude is more of a golden peach colour and as Eva has darker skin, similar to mine this compliments my skin very well. Both lipsticks are very moisturising and have a buildable colour so they're perfect for starting out with lipsticks.

Last we have my absolute favourite nude! Soap and Glory's Nudist gloss stick - and although this isn't essentially a lipstick it is very similar to one! Nudist is a perfect nude for anyone really and the smell of these gloss sticks is to die for! They make my lips very soft and make them look bigger, which is what I need as it looks like I have none! The other 4 sticks that Soap and Glory have to offer are amazing and they have a colour for everyone.

What are your favourite drugstore lipsticks?
Charl xxx

Stila in the Light Palette

Although this palette has been out a few years, I never managed to buy one and jump on the hype. The palette comes with 10 shadows with a mixture of matte and shimmer going from light to dark. At £25 and with an eyeliner each shadow costs under £2.50 which compared to some palettes is relatively cheap.

It looks like you can create so many looks with this palette, I feel like it ticks all the boxes for me. There is various gorgeous shades to apply to the lid, and a matte brown and black for smoking it out lightly, or more dramatic on a night. Although I haven't had a chance to play around with the colours in the palette it is going to definitely be a favourite palette in the up and coming months!

I don't think I'll use the 'Night Sky' colour which is the dark shimmery blue but I'll see if there are any looks online with this colour as I think it would look good in a blue smoky eye. But whatever its still a beautiful palette from what I have seen so far.

Have you got this palette or any other from Stila?

Charl xxx

Product of The Week #2

I thought I would treat myself before I go on holiday to a MAC lipstick, I don't have many but the ones I do have I love. I picked up Rebel which is a satin finish lipstick which makes my lips glossy but not too glossy and DAMN I love it! I tend to get dry lips whatever the season and this lipstick has helped keep them moisturised.

(although this looks a bit like Cyber, I promise its Rebel - its the lighting!)

I'm not great at describing colours but I'd say this is a very plummy shade but with some blue undertones - I have no clue but what the even heck its a lovely shade and I think since I have darker skin it looks better. And I have to say that the colour in the stick looks darker than on your lips. MAC lipsticks are great and I love all of them but I have to say that the Satin finishes are probably my favourite!

Whats your favourite product this week and whats your favourite MAC lipstick?

Charl xxx

Favourite 5 Friday: Mascaras

It has occurred to me that I seem to be a mascara whore as I can never stick to one mascara and nor do I have a holy grail mascara so it seemed fitting to me to share my top 5 mascaras. 

I thought I could turn this into a series where I share my top 5 *insert product* every Friday - until I run out!

Here I have a mix of both high end and drugstore mascaras which I LOVE! And in a random order I'll tell you my opinion of each of them.

At the top we have the L'Oreal False Lash Flutter mascara which is a plastic wand. This mascara manages to make my eyes look wider and my lashes look longer which I love! From the drugstore it costs £10.99 and is 100% worth it as it is beautiful. The packaging is lovely however the brush handle is a very weird shape which makes it hard for me to hold.

Next there is a Maybelline the Falsies mascara which is a cult favourite and rightly so! This mascara makes your eyelashes look fake and with the help of eyelash curlers can make them look beautiful. The wand is fibre (I think) which is my personal favourite and is curved so it manages to get every eyelash, and for £7.99 who can go wrong!

The one mascara I have repurchased a few times is the MAC Zoom Lash mascara and oh boy do I love this mascara, and at £14.50 it doesn't break the bank to say its from MAC. The formula is very wet so manages to lengthen and add volume to my lashes and I only need one coat of this to make my eyelashes how I like them. I don't know what type of brush it is but it looks like a weird hybrid between a plastic and fibre one - whatever it still does its job. The only downside is that the packaging gets dirty easily which isn't major but I like my mascaras to look neat.

They're Real by Benefit has been talked about for what seems like forever and rightly so! The mascara makes your eyelashes fab and really does make them look fake. However I would avoid applying it to the bottom lashes as it tends to smudge on me. Another downfall is the £19.50 price tag that comes with it so I'd say this is a treat as it is rather pricey.

Last but definitely not least is the Rocket Volume by Maybelline. The wand is plastic but does a great job at making my eyelashes look fuller and longer - one or two strokes and I'm done! This is a great everyday mascara and would be perfect for anyone starting to try out makeup and is on the cheaper side at £7.99.

 What are your favourite mascaras? x