Benefit Beauties...

A little while ago, for my birthday in fact, I was given a rather nice gift from my boyfriends Mum...

...This really fun and girlie makeup bag from Benefit! 

I was even more surprised and excited when I opened it up and found these little beauties lurking inside...

It included; 

- 'That Gal' Primer

- Powder Time Lover

- Confessions of a Concealaholic

& finally...

- Bathina Shimmering Body Balm 

It may sound crazy, but I'm yet to try any of the products.. I've been so stuck in my routine with being so busy with uni etc that I just haven't had the time to play about with anything!.. Terrible I know!! 

I was just wondering, out of all of these products do you have any favourites? Anything you repurchase time and time again.. I'm just curious as to which product to use first hehe 

Hope you're well my lovelies Xx

The Working Girls Makeup of the Week..

This summer I've gone from being in University full time.. (Well I say full time, what I really mean is a measly 3 days..) to now working full time. To be honest it's really starting to take it's toll on me and with another 41 hour week to look forward to ahead of me, I hope you can forgive me for the serious lack of 'entertaining' posts. 

With me being up early and in work for 8.30am I needed a look which was easy to achieve, but still fairly polished. I work in a Designer Menswear Boutique in my home town called Northern Threads, click here if you fancy taking a peek at some things for your other half!

I thought I'd post a few pics showing how my makeup has been for the past week or so; simple, easy and most importantly quick to do! 

I decided to keep my eye makeup fairly neutral, you know me, not particularly adventurous when it comes to colour! By keeping it neutral it means I can wear anything I like and not have to worry about whether it'll look OK, or whether it will clash. 

I recently purchased the MAC Prep+Prime Skin Base (Primer) and have been using it every day. I've found it's given my skin a really nice glow underneath my foundation and really keeps my makeup in place all day without the need for touch ups. For instance, I've been at work 11-4 today, makeup was applied at 9am and these photos were taken at roughly 5.30pm with no touch ups in between - Not bad going really! 

Products used to get this look:

MAC Prep+Prime Base

MAC Studio Fix Fluid in NC15 & NC20

MAC Espresso to fill in brows

Benefit IT Stick to conceal

MAC Soft Ochre paint pot

Stila Lemon & Pointille shadows

MAC Espresso in crease

MAC Fluidline in Blacktrack

Covergirl Lash Blast Mascara

MAC Mineralize Blush in Dainty

Lancaster Sunlight Palette in Natural for an all over glow

Lipsticks used this week have included MAC's Snob, Hue & Pretty Please

So there we have it.. 

Do you ladies end up doing the same?.. Choosing & wearing the same makeup for a week at a time for ease? 

Hope you're all well! 

Oh and a massive thank you to you all for reading and following, I hit the 300+ mark last night and it just made my week, it really means a lot ♥

Lots of love Xxx

FOTN - Little Sister's Art & Design Final Show

So last night, we as a family were celebrating my little sisters completion of her Foundation Diploma in Art & Design. She had, not only completed 3 final pieces of work to be exhibited, but actually organised and rounded up the troops to actually get the show on the road! Consequently we were extremely proud and went along to support not only her but some of her lovely friends :) 

I thought I'd do a quick FOTN to show you how I wore my makeup, I pretty much stuck to my Sleek Storm Palette for my eyes, making them super shimmery which I thought was a nice, pretty take on my normal 'smokey' eye!

Here's what I used: 

MAC Studio Fix Fluid in NC20

MAC Studio Fix Concealer NC15 

Benefit 'Big Beautiful Eyes Kit' - Brown Shadow for Eyebrows

MAC Soft Ochre Paintpot over lids

Sleek Storm Palette: 

- Darker Gold All Over Lid

- Shimmery Bronze/Brown In Crease

- Shimmer Champagne to Blend 

- Lighter Gold Under Eye (From Inner to Centre Of Eye)

- Bronze/Brown Under Eye (From Centre to Outer Corner)

Rimmel 3 Looks Mascara

Rimmel Glam Eyes Liquid Liner

MAC Blush Baby on Cheeks

Carmex on Lippies to Moisturise!

MAC Hue Lipstick

Hope you like the look, I know it's not very far out of my 'comfort zone', I think I need to have a bit of a play about with some colour and create a different look for you lovelies, you must be sick of similar looking makeup from me! Sheeesh talk about being boring hehe

I also thought I'd post up a photo of my sister Helen from last night... 

You may be curious as to what she is wearing, it's actually a dress one of her friends created and she was sort of a 'live' exhibit within the show! 

Hope you've enjoyed reading :) 

Have a *Fabulous Friday* my little peaches!

Xx

Summer Inspired FOTD - Using My New Stila Shadows

Evening lovelies :)

The sun once again had it's hat on and most defiantely came out to play today, which in my case meant; A summery dress, ice cream and less makeup! 

I recently purchased some Stila eyeshadows after reading a post by Hannah over at Baby Blonde

The site Cheap Smells are currently selling the shadow pans from as little as £3.45. 

Having previously not tried any of the products at all, I thought it would be rude to pass up the chance, at this price too it was a fab offer! - I ended up ordering; Espresso (Matte Brown), Twig (Shimmery Coppery Brown), Lemon (Shimmering Yellow) & also Pointille (Shimmery Pale Pink)

I also ordered the Quad Palette to hold the pans, as they're bigger than MAC's and would not fit in a Pro Palette

So to get down to business, I thought I'd create a more summer friendly look using, in the end, 3 of the shadows :) 

*Hello Frecklesss....*

So here's what I used to achieve this look...

- Dior Skin Pure Light Foundation in 100

- MAC Studio Fix Concealer NC15

- MAC Paint Pot in Soft Ochre

- Benefit Eye Bright on Brow Bone and Inner Corners

- Stila Lemon all over Lid

- Stila Pointille on Brow Bone/Inner Corners 

- Stila Espresso to fill in Brows and also a tiny bit in outer corner, blended into the crease

- Rimmel 3 Looks Mascara (Used on number 2 for not such a dramatic look)

- Topshop Creme Blush in Flush

- Rimmel Natural Bronzer in 022 Sun Bronze

- Carmex to moisturise Lips

- MAC Myself Lipstick

I really hope you all like this look and I really recommend the Stila shadows, they're really incredibly pigmented, colour pay off is great and they're so easy to work with and blend! 

How have you all been wearing your makeup now the warmer weather is upon us?

Hope you're all fabulousss

Love Moi! Xxx

P.S: If you haven't already, check out my 100+ Followers Giveaway to win some lovely useful Summery Goodies!

The Broken 'Benefit' Record...

Hola once again princesses!

I'm not going to say too much on this, but earlier I hopped on down to my local newsagents in order to pick up this months Glamour Mag, or, should I say, 3 copies of this months Glamour! 

I was lucky enough to pick up all three of the fabulous freebies, all shown below :) 

 

If you haven't already, then get your copy, or three now before they're all sold out!

Lovess Xx

 

FOTD - Everyday Neutral Smokey Eye ♥

Morning lovelies :) 

Thought I'd post a quick FOTD and show you how I wear my makeup pretty much everyday; a neutral, very wearable smokey eye.. Hope you like it! 

The products I have used to create this look are:

L'Oreal Studio Secrets Anti-Redness Primer

MAC SFF NC15 + NC20

MAC SF Concealer NC15

Elf Mineral Foundation to set

MAC Paintpot in Soft Ochre

MAC Espresso for my brows

MAC Shroom all over lid

Patina from centre of lid to outer corner

Smut in the outer corner, through crease and undereye

Maybelline Falsies Mascara

Rimmel Glam Eyes Liquid Liner

MAC Pink Swoon on Cheekiess

and finally the Jemma Kidd Gloss [Free with this months Red Magazine] in Candy

I hope you all liked this simple everyday look, I apologise for the very messy bedroom! 

I'm on my way out now to pick up 3 copies of Glamour to take advantage of this months fabulous Benefit Freebies! 

Much love and hugs 

Laura Xxx

Makeup Haul...

It's been my last few weeks at University these past few weeks, well for my second year anyways.. So this week, after spending so much time devoted to getting work completed, I thought it was only right to treat myself to some (cosmetic) retail therapy!

Most things are new purchases, apart from the Studio Fix Fluid (obviously...) but I did end up purchasing it in a different colour, that story will unfold in another blog, however lets get on and see what I've been buying!



As you can see, to the left are two of the L'Oréal Studio Secrets primers; I bought the anti-redness (green one) and the anti-dull (pinky toned one) - After using both, my favourite most definitely has to be the anti-redness, it is amazing at covering up any redness you may have due to blemishes or uneven skin tone. The anti-dull primer is also quite good, I've been using this under my eyes to reduce the appearance of dark circles (below my concealer). Thirdly, you can also see the small glass pot which is the L'Oréal Smoothing Resurfacing primer - This product I have to say I am in LOVE with! It is a souffle consistency, but you only need a small amount, it is super smooth and leaves your skin amazingly soft. It can be worn on it's own to give your skin a glowing healthy appearance, or of course, as I have been using it, underneath my MAC SFF. It keeps my foundation on so well and gives it a professional almost airbrushed look. I got all three primers from Superdrug; the Resurfacing primer is £12.99 and the other two are £9.99 each - They currently have them on a fantastic offer though, buy 2 and get the 3rd free :)

I also picked up the GOSH eyeshadow quad, this one is number 22 Driftwood - They're perfect neutral browns for an everyday wear look and was only £8.50 so I can't complain :) I'd also heard quite a bit about the Benefit creaseless cream shadow/liners and so decided to get this one (Birthday Suit) for £14 - I'm yet to try it out so shall get back to you on that one! - If anyone wants any swatches of colours then just let me know!

The Bourjois Highlighting powder I was lucky enough to pick up for just £1.99! - This was from a makeup stall in our local shopping centre, I just thought it would be perfect for summer evenings to brush across my cheek bones, down the bridge of my nose and lightly dusted over my decolletage - Again, I haven't yet tried this so will let you know what I think when it'd been tried and tested. Finally, and yes I realise it's been out for a while and I've been majorly slow on the uptake, I purchased the Maybelline Falsies mascara from ASDA for just £6, so a total bargain! .. I've used this the past few days and found it just amazing for my lashes; separating, lengthening and overall just gives a gorgeous full look - I'll definitely be repurchasing this!

Oooo just realised how long I've let this post get, so sorry for rambling but wanted to share with you what I've been buying :) - Hope you're all well and having a fabulous weekend!

Let me know if you've tried any of the above and what you think of them?

Much loveeee Xxx