Discovery // Cosmetics Fairy!

I first found about the Cosmetics Fairy website probably a few months, whilst watching one of Miss Budget Beauty's lovely haul videos. Already a massive fan of Fragrance Direct I'm always on the look for new discount websites with a good product offering. Although the choice was limited in my opinion, I managed to find some brilliant bargains. At the moment there is free delivery on orders over £10 (not sure if this a promotion or a permanent fixture) so I just couldn't help myself and picked up a few bits. Believe it or not... all but one of the items were 99p or less! What a bargain? I was one very happy girl! Here is what I purchased:

Bourjois Effet 3D Les Nudes Lipgloss in 37 Rose or Chic,  L'Oreal Project Runway Ltd Edition Blusher in 625 Audacious Amazons Blush, L'Oreal Project Runway Nail Polish in 291 The Queens Ambition, L’Oreal Infallible Lipstick in 112 Unending Kiss , L'Oreal Infallible Lip Balm Refill, Sally Hansen Magnetic Nail Polish in 901 Golden Conduct, Bourjois Brush Foundation in 32 Rose Clair (tester size), Lash Perfect La La Lashes False Eyelashes in Desire. Maybelline Color show Fashion Nail Stickers in 05 Fierce Snake. And lastly, I don't think it is possible to browse a discount cosmetics website and not pick up an Essie nail polish (stocks permitting) so I got two Essie Mini Nail Lacquer Nail Polishes in Smooth Sailing and Braziliant.

 

I also picked up the Bourjois Ombre A Paupieres Eyeshadow Intense in T08 (not pictured) which is a shimmery dark chocolate brown shade. This came in tester packaging and was only 50p!

Overall I was very pleased with my shopping experience, as the website was easy to use and the products arrived well before the estimated delivery date which was a lovely surprise. With such unbeatable prices I will definitely be shopping on Cosmeticsfairy.com again!

　

　 

Festival FOTD

 

With Autumn officially upon us and the festival season almost drawn to a close apart from the lucky ones still partying away at Bestival and Outlook over the next few days it seems the ideal time to reminisce about my festical experience this year. Camping at festivals isn't usually my thing, largely due to the ever-so reliable British weather, but this year I finally gave in and joined my friends at Creamfields... and oh boy was it amazing!!. I'm so terrible at taking selfies but managed to actually get few and thought I would share my festival face of the day with you guys.

 

 

My festival face basics included: MAC Studio Sculpt Foundation, Benefit Boi-ing Concealer, Garnier Eye Roll-on, the original Naked Palette, Seventeen Instant Glow Shimmer Brick in Gold Bronze, Maybelline Colossal Volume Mascara, Bourjois Liquid liner and when it came to lips I alternated between a Calvin Klein Lipstick in Ethereal and a Rimmel Lip Lacquer in Luna. Other items I used to jazz things up included a Wet 'n' Wild white glitter pot, Body Shop shimmer diffuser, Startgazer neon paints in pink and orange (not pictured), a Hair FX Hair Chalk in Pink and Ardell lashes in 105 (applied after the photo was taken).

 

 

And here is the finished product:

 

 

We enjoyed the festival so much that we've already got tickets for Creamfields 2015, keen much?!? Although a whole year away I am already very excited :)

Which festivals did you go to this year? Would love to know what you thought!

 

 

Bourjois Liner Pinceau Liquid Eyeliner

 

With Spring looming on the doorstep it was time to stray away from my usual liquid liner and try something new. This Bourjois Pinceau liquid eyeliner was reduced on Asos so I thought why not! Already in a loving relationship with Bourjois product I had only the highest expectations, which were definitely met!

 

 

 

The brush is reasonably slender, perfect for drawing thin lines, with flicks turning out really well. As the brush doesn't have a defined tip as such, it is difficult to start drawing a smooth line (without it looking a bit too sharp and pointy) when outlining only half of the lid. Absolutely ideal and perfect to work with if you want to outline the whole eyelid.

 

 

 

 

The product itself is of a great consistency and a rich black colour, ensuring that only one swoop creates a lovely, full line. Not a bad thing to say about this lovely liner, absolutely love it!

 

 

 

 

 

A Few Bits from Fragrance Direct...

 

Fragrance Direct is an addiction... and I just can't stop giving in ...

 

Once again, battling with a basket full of abut 40 items I had to be realistic and narrow down my choices to what I actually "needed"... or so I tried to tell myself anyway. This little haul consisted of:

 

Korres Silk Milk Conditioner for Chemically Treated Hair

 

Mark Hill Overnight Miracle Repair Treatment

 

 

 

I seem to have developed a desire to purchase a silly amount of nail products which I never get round to use, but here are some more:

 

Essie Grow Richer Nourishing Growth Base Coat

 

Bourjois 10 Day Anti Choc No Chips Nail Polish in 25

 

Orly Nail polish in Seashell (gorgeous colour, review to come soon!)

 

Rochas One Coat Nail Lacquer in Antique Pink 12

 

L'Oreal Colour Riche Nail Polish in 824 (I already have a similar one in 822, but I couldn't resist and hoping this one will be just as gorgeous!)

 

 

 

Followed by a few eye products:

 

Pupa Extrapearl Eyeshadow in shade 12

 

Bourjois Clubbing Liner in Bronze Dance

 

La La Lashes in Diamond

 

 

And a few random bits to finish off:

 

Lee Stafford Fake My Tan in the shade light to medium

 

L'Oreal Colour Riche Lipstick in Pink Fever 285

 

 

 

Have you tried any of these products? Let me know what I've got to look forward to!

 

 

 

The Liebster Award!!

I’ve been nominated for the Liebster award!!! Yay! It was an absolute honour to be awarded the Liebster award by not just one, but two lovely ladies, Charley from Style and Allure and Laura from The Beauty Tearoom, which I'm really grateful for! Thank you very much ladies! 

For those of you who may not know much about the Liebster award, it is an award given to bloggers with under 200 followers and is great way for bloggers to connect with each other and grow their reader base. Once nominated, you have to answer the 11 questions you were given and then nominate 11 others bloggers to do same but answer 11 questions set by you.

Here we go J
 

Firstly Charley’s questions:

1. When did you start blogging? Around August 2013
2. What is your favourite book? The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, absolutely amazing book, would highly recommend it!
3. What is your holy grail beauty product?  It would be impossible to pick just one but I think I'm going to go with the Bourjois Volumizer Mascara ... just wow!
4. How often do you communicate with other bloggers? Not as often as I should.
5. When was the last time you cried at a movie? The Lion King probably, those Disney classics get me every time.
6. If you were stranded on a desert island with one celebrity, who would you want it to be? This is a really difficult one, but I think I would pick a comedian! Not sure which one, but with being actually stranded on a desert island, you may need some cheering up!
7. Who is your idol? I wouldn’t say that I have an in idol as such, but I really look up to successful people who were able to carry on and persevere past the difficulties they have encountered along the way.
8. What blogger would you like to be best friends with? Another difficult one! I would probably have say Zoe as hers was one of the first blogs I ever read and Tanya Burr, as she’s so lovely and cheerful.
9. What made you start blogging? I had thought about starting a blog for a while now, but there never seemed to be the perfect opportunity as I either had exams to revise for or generally a lack of free time. I was initially inspired by the wonderful Zoe from Zoella and thought why not give it a go. So shortly after graduating, whilst embarking upon the dreaded job hunt, I had a fair bit of time my hand last summer so thought it would be the perfect opportunity.
10. What's your favourite animal? Puppy!!!!
11. What is your biggest guilty pleasure? Sitting around in my rabbit onesie eating chilli heat-wave Dorritos (I'm painting a beautiful picture here, aren't I...).

And here are my answers to Laura’s questions:

1. What is your favourite nail colour? Probably pink! I have thousands of pink nail polishes in all sorts of shades (OK thousands may be a bit of an exaggeration.. but definitely more pink polishes than one girl requires).

2. If you could have any hair colour which would it be? Dark purple

3. If you could visit anywhere in the world, where would you go? I love travelling and there are sooo many places I would love to visit. The places I’m most excited for are Thailand and Brazil, as I have a feeling they would absolute epic!

4. Who is the most important person in your life? My mum <3

5. Where do you go most often with friends? Can’t say there’s a particular place  we always go but whenever the Uni girls have a reunion we seem to end up in Vodka Revs, food and music, two birds with one stone.

6. What is your most proud achievement? Probably successfully completing my year abroad as part of my degree. Being so far away from home and adapting to a new environment was a crazy and challenging experience but I love every minute of it

7. If you could have any pet, what would it be and what would you call it? I absolutely love Labradors, but I feel that would be a bit tame…so if I could have anything, I would go with the cat family and get a per baby tiger as they’re mega cute!

8. What is your favourite beauty product of all time? This a very very veryyyy difficult question, probably impossible to pick just one. I will have to go for the L’Oreal Glam Shine Lipglosses as I love everything about them! So shiny, non-sticky (although some may disagree), smell lovely and there is such a great variety of colours.

9. Who is most like you that you know of? Difficult to say really, as my friends are all a pretty different bunch! I guess the answer may be my dad. Although we live in different countries so I don’t see him much I seem to have inherited many of his behaviours.

10. What is your best quality? I guess I’m always quite chatty so there’s never an awkward silence if I’m about :P

11. If you were a sweet, what would you be? Strawberry Campinos, because they’re amazing and always make me feel better about life.

 

My nominations are:

Alice – http://strawberriesandsparkle.blogspot.co.uk/

Lucy – http://make-up-your-mindx.blogspot.com

Abigail -Alice - http://abigailalicex.blogspot.co.uk/

Kelsie - http://kelsielaurenxo.blogspot.co.uk/

Pippa - http://www.thesimplelifeoffashion.blogspot.co.uk/

Amy - http://www.amyalaska.co.uk

Amber - http://www.ambersbeautytalk.com

Leanna - http://pearlblush.blogspot.co.uk/

Aya - http://ayooti.blogspot.co.uk/



And my questions for you lovelies are:

 

1.       Why did you start blogging?

2.       What is your favourite lipgloss/lipstick of all time?

3.       Your ‘go to’ beauty brand?

4.       Favourite category of make up (eg lipstick, mascara etc)

5.       Your favourite Blogger/YouTuber?

6.       Have you met anyone from the blogging community?

7.       Your favourite season and why?

8.       Your favourite holiday destination?

9.       Do you have any pets?

10.   What would be your dream job?

11.   Your top blogging tip?

Well done and good luck!

 

 

 

 

 

#BritishBloggerSelection // Favourite brand - make up

This week's #BritishBloggerSelection theme was to write about your favourite make up brand. This, for me, has been a huge struggle as I love many products from various brands. I am a big fan of French cosmetic brands and although I am not yet in a position to be splurging out on the likes of Chanel, I have already discovered some pretty good gems.

After a lot of deliberating I still couldn't decide, so this week I am going to cheat and pick 2, both of which I absolutely adore equally!

Bourjois - I have so sooo many Bourjois favourites I don't know where to start! Their eye shadows are gorgeous and long lasting and the Volumizer mascara is amazing, by far one of the best high street mascaras available. Not to mention the wonderful range of blushers, they smell so nice too (as far as blushers go haha). The Bourjois Healty Mix foundation is another one of my favourites from this brand.

L'Oreal Paris - some of my first ever items of make up were from L'Oreal and it instantly became one of my favourite brands! My favourite are the Glam Shine lipglosses, they look gorgeous and glossy and last amazingly well (especially the 6-hour-stay ones), with the heart shaped wand being an extra little treat. I also absolutely adore the holographic eye shadows, my first, a silver one I've had for years and it is as perfect as it was when I first purchased it.

Do you like Bourjois and L'Oreal Paris? Would love to hear what your favourite products are!

November Wishlist

Just a quick snapshot of the things I've been lusting after this month:

1. A faux fur coat from New Look, which can be found here. Absolute love fur coats! As much as I'd love a real one faux fur will have to do for now. Every year New Look tend to have a pretty collection on coats, especially these sorts. Having had a part time job at New Look whilst at University it's pretty hard accepting the fact that I don't get a discount anymore... however this does not seem to deter me, but takes a hit on my bank balance instead.

2. Viktor and Rolf Flowerbomb perfume, which can be found here. Oh my god, this smells absolutely amazing! For lover of Viva la Juicy and other sweet scents I think this will just for you. Although the scent is lovely I  feel it is a bit heavy so may be more suitable for evening/night time wear.

3. Bourjois Volume Clubbing mascara, which can be found here. Being a massive fan of the Bourjois Volumiser 2 step mascara it seems like a good idea to try out another mascara from this brand. Got very high expectations for this one!

4. Barry M eye shadow palette in Natural Glow, which can be found here. A recent release I believe, and  at a very reasonable price... just luring me in to try them out. A girl can't have too many neutral eye shadows... right?

5. Nails inc base coat, which can be found  here. Now that winter is coming - the season for dark and sparkly polishes, it's probably a good idea to invest in a decent base coat to protect my nails. A bit pricey for a base coat but I absolutely love the quality of the Nails inc polishes so hoping this little one works just as well.

6. Topshop lip cream in Daze, which can be found here. There's a really cute selection of colours and after having a play around with the testers, they smell soooo nice! A really sweet vanilla scent, which would be an absolute joy on the lips! Yum yum!

Have you tried any of these products (or have the coat)? Would love to hear what you thought!

NOTD: Bourjois Paris Manicure Nail Toppings & Models Own Nail Polish

I thought I would try something new and had a play with nail caviar. Various brands have introduced these but I decided to settle with the Bourjois Paris Manicure Nail Toppings in Coral Bikini. The little Coral Bikini beads consist of beautiful reds, oranges, golds and silvers. The base colour I used is a Models Own nail polish from the pastel collection in the colour Fuzzy Peach which I thought would be a good match. I think it would also look good with white or gold polishes, which would be nice to try in the future.

 

 

 

 

 

 

As pretty as these are, I found the nail toppings a little difficult to work with. The neck of the bottle is quite wide, so when applying these make sure you have a sheet of paper with the corners folded up, or a box underneath your hand to collect the excess (which there will be a lot of). I experimented with one and two coats of the base colour and found that two base coats work better, as the nail toppings seemed to stick much better. In terms of durability, I have mixed feelings. The beads on one of my hands lasted considerably better than on the other, so I would recommend you leave any cleaning or any fiddly duties till after you take the toppings off.

 

 

 

 

 

The nail toppings do look lovely, but as they don't last particularly well I am hesitant as to whether or not I would purchase any more colours.

How was your experience with nail toppings/caviar? Would love to hear your tips on getting them to stay on for longer :)

 

 

 

Oh my WOW ... Fragrance Direct Haul

 

Over the past few weeks I have discovered the wonderful fragrance direct website! But seriously, where have I been all my life? If you haven't yet discovered this gem, Fragrance direct (.co.uk) stocks well known brands of make up, skin care products and perfume/aftershave at a discounted price.

I got a little over excited and the next thing you know I ended up with ... 45 items in my basket! Dangerous! After some careful deliberation and a reality check, as hard as it was, I tried my best to whittle this down to a reasonable number. When my parcel arrived (much sooner than I anticipated -brownie points) I felt like Christmas had come early. Most of the items I purchased were priced at £1.99, with the most expensive item priced at £3.99 which was the OPI nail lacquer, but hey what a bargain! And the cheapest (I think) was the little brush and the Rimmel liquid liner at only 99p.

 

 

Here is what I got:

 

 

 

Eye Candy false lashes in 003 and 007

 

 

Calvin Klein delicious luxury lipsticks in Cream Rose and Ethereal

 

 

I think I was a little over excited with the CK range as I also got the delicious truth lipstck in the shade Retro and the delicious pout lipgloss in the shade Sparkle

Rimmel Moisture Renew lipstick in 220 Pink chic

 

 

 

Maybelline Colour Sensational popstick in 030 Pink lollipop

Maybelline Colour Sensational lipstick in 832 Kiss pearl

 

 

L'Oreal Studio Secrets eyeshadow in blue eyes 284

Calvin Klein Tempting Glimmer creme eyeshadow in Bare silk

 

 

Bourjois Intense shimmer loose eyeshadow in 27 Sparkling blue

Maybelline Eye Studio mono in 412 Lagon blue

 

 

Rimmel Glam eyes liquid liner in 008 Aqua glow

Bourjois Khol and Contour eyeliner pencil in 13 Argent creatif

Dainty Doll eyeliner pencil in 004 Shake your tail feather

 

 

 

Essie nail lacquers in Pear and Desire which is a bright orange shade and We're in it together which is a sparkly pale pink.

 

 

L'oreal Colour Riche nail polish in Saphyr Lurex

O.P.I nail lacquer in I'm all ears

Calvin Klein splendid colour nail polish in Silverstreak

 

 

and finally, two very cute Bourjois mineral matt brushes

I have only sampled a few of the products so far and I'm very happy with my purchases. I would highly recommend Fragrance direct as you can find some absolute steals and even though I only paid for the standard delivery (5-7 days), my order arrived a few days sooner that expected so that was a nice surprise. My only issue however, was that the colour swatched provided on the website, in my opinion, are not fair representations of what the actual shade of the product looks like, so I would just be careful and double check the items at other retailers (if those products are available elsewhere).

 

Have you bought anything from Fragrance Direct? Would love to hear what your favourites were :)

 

 

 

　

Mini Haul

During a quick shopping sesh, I picked up a few items which I'm really excited to try. I will post separate reviews for these products once I've had an opportunity to try them out a number of times and give a balanced opinion.

 

 

Let's start with the make up items. I seem to have been loving Rimmel a lot recently, which is a bit of a rarity as I don't normally buy many of their products apart from my go to liquid eyeliner, so here we go.

Rimmel Lasting Finish 1000 Kisses Lip Tint and Balm in 120 Timeless Tango. A few of my friends really adore this lip product but I don't generally like lip tints as I tend to have dry lips and feel like tints tent to stick to dry bits and don't look very. But I thought it's time for a change and I'll branch out and try something different. (P.S. does anyone know any amazing lip balms?)

Rimmel Moisture Renew Lipstick in 370 Rose Shimmer.

MUA lipstick in the shade - number 12 ,which is a sparkly light to medium pink colour. I've actually had this for a while and recently found this at the bottom of a make up bag I haven't seen for a while so I thought I would just add it on to this mini haul.

 

Bourjois 16 hr Liner Pinceau liquid eyeliner in - 32 noir. Got this little one in the sale on Asos. I would normally consider this a bit pricey compared to my usual Rimmel fave so when I spotted it at a bargain price of £4 I thought I would give it a go.

Rimmel Waterproof Gel Eyeliner in  - 001 Black. This will be my very first experience with a gel liner so I'm really excited to try it out. In the past I've been quite sceptical about the precision of gel liners, as normal liquid liners tend to come with a thinner brush and I find that method of application so much easier to work with.

Rimmel Match Perfection cream compact foundation in - 200 Soft beige. This is also a new item to add to my collection as I haven't really used cream foundations before.

Rimmel Glam Eyes trio eye shadow in - 750 tempting ( lovely green shades).

Maybelline Dream Touch blush in - 02 Peach. Lovely and creamy.

Models Own nail polish in - Pink Paradise. It looks absolutely gorgeous in the bottle - a sparkly pink colour with holographic flakes, and as I love pink nail varnishes I am really looking forward to using this.

The last of the make up items is the L'Oreal Glam Bronze precious bronzing fluid in the colour - 04 Brunettes. Now I know that summer is over but its nice to have a little glow all year round.

And now onto the rest. Boots currently have a 3 for 2 offer on so I got a few products from my beloved, incredibly scented Lee Stafford range. They were: a Treatment for hair that doesn't grow past a certain length, a Treatment to get deep into the cortex to repair build and fix hair (lets see if it lives up to its name eh) and My big fat texturised hair super spray - this I'm most excited to start using as it claims to be a hair spray, wax spray, sea salt spray and more and finally the Poker straight intensive care for flat iron addicts.

To finish off on random note, but wanted to try a different toothpaste from the Oral - B range (aiming to try all of them of so I can pick a favourite) and it is the 3D White Luxe healthy shine toothpaste.

 

Hope you enjoyed this post!

 

L x

 

　

 

What's in my make up bag?

So for my first proper post I decided to reveal what's in my (main) make up bag, these are all of the products which I use daily. Pretty much all of these items can be purchased on the high street/at your local drug store. The two Victoria Secret products featured, I purchased in the US and have not seen them on sale at the VS in the UK unfortunately, but apart from that the rest should be easy to find. Enjoy!

Face

Maybelline Satin Liquid foundation in the shade 020 Cameo - one of my all time favourite foundations, provides a brilliant coverage and is really easy to apply.

Smashbox High Definition Healthy FX foundation in F0 Fair - provides a fairly light coverage (although I do prefer something a bit heavier).

L'Oreal Infallible 16 hours concealer in 01 Vanilla - have been using it for years and absolutely love it.

Garnier anti-dark circles roll-on in Fair - I don't really get dark circles but this product is lovely to brighten up the area around your eyes

Victoria Secret Luminous Blush duo in Starlet- A lovely medium pink blusher, not too bright, not too dark, just perfect. 


Eyes
 
MAC Mega Metal eyeshadow in Tweet Me - really sparkly and pretty

Bare escentuals eyecolor in the shades in 44073 High style and 44072 Snazzy - absolutely love these two, they're perfect for day and evening wear and blend really well.

Rimmel Exaggerate eyeliner in 001 Black - probably my favourite liquid liner of all time! Very well priced, easy to apply and very durable throughout the day.

Me Me Me Fat Cat lashes mascara - a big fan of this, genuinely gives your lashes a lot of volume.. just a shame it's running out.

Soap and Glory Thick and Fast super volume mascara in Black - have only been using this for a few weeks

L'Oreal Eye Designer crayon in 401 Black Grey (looks black when worn)

Victoria Secret Shimmer Fierce liner duo in Smoke & Mirrors - looks really pretty on, but I find it needs regular reaplication due to smudging

Miss Sporty eye liner in 002 - which I use for my eyebrows 
 

Lips

 As you can probably guess I like very similar shades of pink...

(in order of the swatches)

Rimmel Colour Show Off lipstick in the shade 020 Shake -up pink

Bobbi Brown rich lip colour lipstick in 13 Mod Pink

Sephora Lip Attitude lipstick in Star - really pretty and sparkly but the texture is quite rough due to sparkles in the actual product, but it is so nice that it's worth it!

L'Oreal Glam Shine Volumizer 6 hour gloss in 110 Addictive peach

Rimmel Vinyl Gloss in 440 Her Majesty



The make up bag itself is Bourjois Paris, which I purchased at the Clothes Show in Birmingham a couple of years ago :)