Disappointing Products #3

Trilogy Cream Cleanser

I had a travel size of this, so decided to take it on holiday with me. I ended up not using it because it didn't make my skin feel clean, and was bizarrely clogging on my face rather than refreshing.

Nair Brazilian Spa Clay*

I used this on my legs prior to going on holiday, but found the product to be utterly useless - my leg hair grew back faster than if I'd just shaved my legs!

Lancome Artliner

I feel a bit mean about this one, since it's not a horrible eyeliner, but the spongy tip makes it seriously difficult to get close to the lash-line or do any kind of wing/cat-eye. It's an okay eyeliner which lasts a few hours but it's not very opaque and initial application can look very grey instead of black. I really don't it's worth the high price tag, there are much better eyeliners out there for your money and I had much higher expectations for this one!

Beauty Blender
There's been a lot of hype that's surrounded the beauty blender. Unfortunately, to me it just seems like a glorified sponge. It applies foundation  okay, but nowhere near as flawlessly as if I use a makeup brush, and I find myself using more product as it gets absorbed.

September Favourites

Seriously. Where did September go? Today I thought I'd share the beauty products I've been loving recently:

Topshop Matte Bronzer in Mohawk

When I recently ran out of my Benefit Hoola bronzer, I didn't really want to splash out £23.50 for a little box of powder. I was super happy to find this matte bronzer which is a total dupe for Hoola, and is only £9 for three times as much actual product, Topshop have an absolute winner of a product here, especially as it can be a struggle to find a decent properly matte bronzer on the high-street.

Viktor Rolf Bon Bon Eau de Parfum

I bought this perfume back in April, but didn't really use it much during summer. Now though, it's my go to fragrance for both day and night. This has been one of those fragrances which people have complimented on, which is always nice!

Ciaté Nail Polishes

I've recently found a new love for Ciaté nail polishes. In particular, the colour Cookies and Cream as the perfect nude/taupe colour, this is actually a repurchase of a mini version of this colour from a magazine freebie.

Rimmel Glam Eyes Professional Liquid Eyeliner

After a disappointing experience with a different liquid eyeliner (more on that later), I needed a new one. So this was a spontaneous purchase with no prior review-reading and pleasantly surprised me by how good this little product is. For just over £5 you can get nice opaque black eyeliner, and a neat wing. It doesn't last as long as Urban Decays's 24/7 Waterproof Liquid Liner, but for a third of the price I can't really complain!

Autumn Playlist

Firstly, how awesome is that middle album artwork? Today I thought I'd share a selection of the songs I've been listening to recently. My taste in music has definitely become more electronic/dance tunes over the last year, so if you're not really into that then this playlist probably won't be your cup of tea...

Overwerk - Control ft. Nick Nikon

Capital Cities - Center Stage

Overwerk -  Buzzin'

Cinnamon Chasers - You

Uppermost - Imagine Reality

Far Too Loud - Boom!

Anoraak - Nightdrive With You (Fear of Tigers Remix)

Cinnamon Chasers - Lights

Grum - Transport

Duochrome Smoky Eye

I decided to have another play with MAC Club eyeshadow, because I felt that my previous look using it (found here) didn't quite capture how literally beautiful this colour is. By layering Club over a blue base (I've used Nars Ubangi Eye Paint) it really brings out the different tones in the eyeshadow, shifting it between blue, green, and brown in different lighting.

It's difficult to capture on camera, but if you have this eyeshadow seriously give it a go because it makes for a really easy smoky eye by just adding MAC Satin Taupe and some matte blue eyeshadow through the crease and in the bottom lashline.

Something else I've learnt recently that makes dark smoky eyes like this look much easier; is by applying your crease colour first and blending that out, and then applying your lid colour.

If you wanted to, you could absolutely smoke this out further but I personally prefer to keep my eyeshadow mostly within my lid space - just work with your own eye shape!

Winged Eyeliner Made Easier

After my latest eyeliner purchase turned out to be a bit of a disappointment (more on that later), I found myself needing a new technique for applying winged eyeliner.

Step in the angled-brush-and-eyeshadow method. I spray some Urban Decay Complexion Prep Spray onto my MAC 208 brush, and then use it to apply matte black eyeshadow to the lashline and create a wing. It's difficult to explain in words how I make the wing shape, but there are loads of video tutorials on the internet and then it's basically practice, practice, practice.

It took me a while to find a brush that was was small enough to create just a subtle winged effect, but this MAC 208 does the job perfectly. This technique also works without the setting spray, but I find the finish to be less opaque and not as long-lasting.

Turkish Lookbook

A post I would have scheduled while I was away if I had the time, is a mini collection of the outfits I'd wear on holiday. Instead, I'm sharing it now:

The Airport

A simple and comfortable outfit for travelling in; no-one wants to be taking off loads of layers and accessories when going through security!

 The Daytime

Not a part of the holiday that requires much in the way of clothing! Being the lazy person I am, I only made it to one breakfast! and the rest of the day it was lounging around the pool in a bikini and throwing on this awesome white kimono for lunch.

The Evening

When it came to packing outfits for the evening, I pretty much just threw things in my case that were summery and I wouldn't be able to wear for much longer. Nothing too fancy, just something to wear while working my way through the menu of all-inclusive cocktails...

Chop Chop

Apologies for being off the radar lately! The past few weeks have involved finishing my summer placement, doing some exams at university, and jetting off for a VERY last minute (but much needed) holiday in Turkey.

As you can imagine, I didn't really have much time to organise any scheduled or guest posts so sorry about that. I will say though, that the recent change from two uploads a week to once (usually on a Sunday) is probably going to be more of a regular thing, as I'm starting my final year of my MEng Electronic Engineering degree and will be prioritising my time to work on that.

Anyway, today I'm sharing a bit of a makeover I had just before I went on holiday: chopping half my hair off. Previously, my hair reached my belly button, and now it's kind of a long bob sitting just below my collar bone. I also had some dark lowlights put back through, as my roots were getting ridiculous and the maintenance of blonde hair was just too much effort for me.

The story doesn't end there though. Oh no. There's a reason I went for such a dramatic haircut (and not just because Turkey was insanely hot). I've been growing my hair for the last three years with the intention of donating to www.littleprincesses.org.uk which is a charity providing wigs for children with cancer, alopecia, and other conditions leading to hair loss. 

The minimum donation is 7 inches, but we cut off 10 inches (plaited, so it should more when un-plaited!) and there are certain 'rules' about what hair is suitable - more details on the website if you wanted to do this yourself!

This is also why I've had a bit of a 'hair bootcamp' this summer, with weekly hair masks and treatments, just so it could be in the best condition possible to be turned into a wig.

I was definitely nervous before doing this, and the idea of someone else having my hair is a little weird; but I know that that person needs it more and I've definitely discovered that there is such a thing as too long hair!