Stila ~ Love at First Blush

Stila Blusher ~ Love at First Blush

Having never tried a Stila product before when I saw this little pretty on Sailor Jennie's blog sale I snapped it up.

I fell for the cuteness of the heart motifs and the gorgeous pink colour.

As you have probably seen I have a bit of a thing for coral toned blushers and seem t0 keep purchasing more and more of the same colour family.

This blusher however is more of cooler toned pink and something a little different.

The middle colour looked a bit like MAC's Well Dressed blusher to me which I own but find quite hard to get colour pay off on my fair skin. 

The two colours either side of this matte shade are both glitter packed. I personally am a huge fan of glitter, my pores don't seem to be highlighted by the glitter in Nars Orgasm as I've seen mentioned before. 

It's a lovely natural looking pink blusher which gives me the perfect amount of colour for day to day wear. I don't wear this for work as the glitter may be a little much for a tile shop so save it for my days off.

Any other Stila products I should give a go?

Take Care

Belle

xoxo

Current Favourite Foundation Combination

I've recently been combining two foundations to achieve my perfect base

My Mum received the Clarins tinted moisturiser, HydraQuench tinted Moisturiser SPF6, in shade 5 Gold which was much too dark for her skin tone (and mine I'll add) so she gave it to me. I normally use my MAC Studio Sculpt Foundation but since I've had a tan this has been a bit too light so rather than looking like a ghost I had a mini brain wave and thought I'd mix the two products together. I never get quite the same ratio of products but it always seems to work. The sheerness of the tinted moisturiser means that the heavy coverage of the foundation is toned down enough for summer wear when I don't want a heavy coverage. This is my third tube of the MAC foundation and I most definitely class it as my favourite but I want to try something new but can't quite bring myself to purchase the Estee Lauder Double Wear foundation I'm lusting after when I still have a full tube of this in my stash. 

I have been loving using this combination and wear it everyday for work. 

I don't like to look over done at work as it's a hugely male orientated trade business so being fully made up can make me come across as un-approachable in a way and possibly even like I don't know what I'm talking about...I don't know where I'm going with this...but I don't need anything else to make the men think I'm a blonde bimbo lol! Think I need a more feminine job...

Anyway, together these two products cost around £40 which is ridiculously expensive for a foundation but in theory I'm getting double the amount of product than I would with one foundation so it's not that bad.

Here's the combo in action

Anyone else mix together products to get their perfect item?

Take Care

Belle

xoxo

Benefit 'They're Real Mascara'

Benefit 'They're Real' Mascara

Other than blushers mascaras are another product I don't seem to be able to get enough of.

I purchased the DiorShow Blackout mascara a few years ago and loved the effect it had on my lashes, since then I've been trying to find something that gives me the same look but much cheaper. I've tried various low end mascaras and so far the Maybelline Falsies has been the best, giving me the blackest, thickest and longest lashes and has therefore become my everyday go to mascara. 

But sometimes you just need to treat yourself...

and that's where an £18.50 purchase comes in

There is massive hype surrounding the Benefit mascara on the internet so I knew I had to give it a try

I have to say it is better than the Maybelline mascara but I would expect that from the price point. I find the Benefit mascara lengthens, curls just generally makes my eyelashes look awesome...I love it! 

Creepy eye shots showing the before and after 

Have you tried this mascara yet?

Love

Belle

xoxo

Cherrys and Lace

Casual outfit for a day of eating and socialising with friends and family

Lace Top ~ Warehouse

Cherry Skirt ~ River Island

Black Cardigan ~ Topshop

Conker Alexa Satchel ~ Mulberry

Watch ~ Michael Kors

Ring and Bracelet ~ Tiffany and Co. 

Love

Belle xoxo

Topshop 'Flush' Blusher

Topshop Cream Blush in 'Flush'

I've seen plenty about the Topshop make up range around the blogosphere but hadn't dabbled myself until recently. I took the plunge on a trip to Brighton and picked up this cream blusher, the lipstick in Brighton Rock (felt it was fitting) and a nail varnish in Moonshine. 

I'd never used a cream blusher before but having heard such good things about Topshops attempt I thought I'd give it a go and at only £6 I figured I had nothing to lose.

The colour I chose was Flush, I was debating between this and Neon Rose which may well be my next purchase now...

The consistency is almost like a thick paste to me which dries to a powder consistency, I use my fingers to apply to the apples of my cheeks and blend with my Crown duo fibre blusher brush. I do find it quite easy to over do this blusher though, probably doesn't help how poor the lighting is where I put my make up on leading to put on more than I need. Luckily it is easily blended out to an appropriate tone. 

Topshop describe this colour as a Rose colour, I'd agree to an extent.

It has a corally undertone which first attracted me but there is a deeper, almost mature, overall colour which is where I see the rose colour. 

Neon Rose is now firmly on my wish list as are a few other Topshop products.

I personally quite like the packaging, it's cute and different to anything else in my collection. I know a lot of people don't like the packaging and gripe at how dirty it gets, mine hasn't actually gotten that dirty in the time it's been bashed about in my make up bag.

Any other cream blusher recommendations?

Love

Belle 

xoxo

Maybelline Colour Tattoo 24HR

Maybelline Colour Tattoo Eye Shadow

I know these have been out for ages but I wanted to know if they were worth the hype and figured I'd add my two cents into the pot.

I bought three colours of the new Maybelline Colour Tattoos, On and On Bronze, Eternal Gold and Permanent Taupe.

I love the consistency of the eyeshadows and find them to last extremely well on my eyelids.

On and On Bronze is my favourite of the three and I often just dab a bit of this on my lids before trotting off to work in the morning. 

Permanent Taupe hasn't really impressed me, I expected it to be a shimmer finish but it's matt as you can see in the swatch. I'm not a massive fan of matt eyeshadows and these are often over looked in any pallet I purchase. This may be one I pass on to my Mum I think.

Eternal Gold is a bit meh for me, it has staying power, is a nice shimmery finish and the colour is alright but it doesn't grab me as much as On and On Bronze in all honesty. 

I find these to be similar to the Mac paint pots but not exactly the same. I have Rubenesque from Mac and adore it, the colour and consistency are amazing. The Maybelline eyeshadows feel slightly gritty, not uncomfortably so but not as smooth as Mac. I don't find this to be a problem of such just a difference. There are also a lot more colour options available from Mac as well as all the different limited additions which are released. The Colour Tattoos are currently only available in seven colours, but being priced at only £4.99 they are much cheaper than the Mac alternative.

I'm tempted by the Immortal Charcoal and Eternal Silver colours too... 

Have any of you guys tried these?

Love

Belle xoxo 

Korres Lip Butter ~ Jasmine

Korres Lip Butter in Jasmine

On the same little shopping jaunt into Waitrose where I purchased the Burts Bees kit I picked up this little lovely.

I've heard so many good things about Korres on various blogs and I always wanted to try a few products, but I'm a bit weird about spending money on postage and packaging if I can avoid it...

I think I paid around £7 for the lip balm which in hindsight seems a bit ridiculous but we all love a little bit of luxury in our lives!

A Kiehls lip balm costs around the £9 mark so I didn't feel too bad shelling out £7... buyers justification!

The colour I picked up was Jasmine, a nude toned pink. 

Once applied there is a sheer tint of colour which, seeing as it is a nude colour, isn't hugely noticeable but adds a nice sheen to the lips.

I found the balm to be really moisturising and lasted a good deal of time on my lips.

Generally lip balms don't last too long on me as I either lick them off or they transfer onto other things. This little beauty stayed firmly on my lips, even through Batman at the cinema involving much sipping on drinks!

I'm definitely tempted to pick up one or two of the other colours but only if I see them in Waitrose or another store. 

I like the look of the Mango, a coral colour, and Pomegranate which is more pinky than coral. 

Have you tried any Korres products?

Take Care

Belle 

xoxo

Benefit Sun Beam

Benefit Sun Beam Highlighter

This little beauty was purchased at the same time as the Sugarbomb Blusher.

I've only ever used powder highlights before so this was something completely new to me.

I asked the make up artist to show me how to apply and loved the look. It made me look all dewy and fresh faced, gorgeous.

For £18.50 it's quite a pricey experiment to see how I like it but I got all wrapped up in the moment and threw fire to the wind.

So far I'm not regretting that choice.

I've not being using this everyday only because I work full time and feel it to be a waste worn to work, I tend to keep my make up routine quite basic for work days. 

To use I just dot on my cheek bones and my cupids bow and just blend out.

It gives such a nice warm glow and you have more control over where the product goes as you use your fingers to blend rather than a brush with powdered highlights.

Another brilliant product from Benefit...their making up for the not so fantastic 'Some Kind a Gorgeous' foundation! 

What other highlighters do you guys recommend?

Love

Belle

xoxo

Old Day....

The other day (3rd August) was my 22nd Birthday

Feels like now I have to grow up which is something I'm not 100% comfortable with!

I spent the day with friends and my Mum, shopping and eating perfect combo...

In the evening my boyfriend took me for a meal and some of my family were there as well which was lovely

Flowers from my man

Birthday shopping and few presents 

Loving my new shoes

Gorgeous necklace my man bought me

Hope everyone's doing good :)

Love

Belle

xoxo

Benefit SugarBomb blusher

The Benefit Sweet 'n' Wow Kit

On a recent jaunt into my local shopping centre I took a detour over to the Benefit counter in Boots, as seems to be the norm for myself these days.

I initially wanted to check out the new lipglosses which match the blusher boxes but not being much of a lipgloss wearer I figured I wouldn't get much wear out of them. 

So I had a little swatch of the SugarBomb blusher, which the make up artist has often used on me, I love the coral colour and knew it had to be mine. Having had it used on me before I knew it suited my complexion so had no hesitation in parting with my hard earned cash... 

Just before I went to purchase I saw out the corner of my eye this little set. For the same price as the blusher alone you get a full sized SugarBomb blusher (12g) and a trial size Posie Tint (4ml) another product I've been interested in trying out. Of course I swapped for this little set...and may have also picked up the new Sun Beam to give a try...I just couldn't help myself!

Since I bought this blusher I have been using it every day, it's the perfect shade of coral for my skin tone and works so well as an everyday blusher, not overly shimmery and not too in your face a colour..perfect.

Any one else tried this gorgeous blusher?

Love

Belle

xoxo