Emma Hardie Cleansing Balm

Amazing Face Natural Lift and Sculpt Moringa Cleansing Balm

Emma Hardie

£34

Everyone and their Grandma in the blogging world have reviewed this product and many hold it at holy grail status...

So naturally I had to give it a go

Ever on the quest for a skincare routine perfect for me I figured a decent cleanser is a good place to start...clean skin must be happy skin after all

Granted £34 is quite steep to pay for skincare but I'm wanting to invest a little more in good products that do good stuff to my skin

I really want to shift this adult acne that seems to be plaguing me

The product claims to be a balanced cleanser that both thoroughly cleanses and moisturises skin, it can also be left on the skin for 10minutes or so and used as a treatment mask

The Moringa extract, wild sea fennel and vitamin E in it help to minimise pores (something most women want in life!) whilst also balancing and purifiying the skin. Whilst orange, neroli and mandarin extracts rejuvenate and revitalise the skin, there are also extracts of rose. cedarwood and jasmine so this balm is jam packed with ingredients natural and beneficial to your skin. 

Which also smell amazing!

I use this as my first cleanse in the evening, mixing a small dollop in the palm of my hand with some water to a milk like consistency and the use circular movements to massage into my skin

To remove I use a damp, normal flannel (as recommended by Caroline Hirrons skincare guru extraordinaire) and gently wipe it over my face

The balm leaves my skin clean, no trace of makeup is left behind even strong eye makeup is lifted, all excess oil and grime is also removed

I then follow up with a swipe of bioderma all over in case I've missed any cleanser residue

I've only been using this a couple of weeks but my skin is definitely starting to feel a little better

I'm really hoping over time this helps to balance my oily patches and to fight off future breakouts.

Have you tried this cult beauty favourite?

Love

Belle

xoxo

Smashbox Heatwave Palette

Heatwave Palette

Smashbox

£36 (Boots)

I bought this beautiful palette back in August with some birthday money and it has definitely become my go to palette

I've just checked the Boots website and this is still available but I'm not sure for how long as it isn't available on the Smashbox website

For the past 3 months I've reached for this nearly everyday

All the colours are so easy to work with and last amazingly well

There are ten shades included as well as an impressive double ended brush and I aslo got a deluxe sample of the photoready primer

It only works out at £3.60 for each eyeshadow...what a bargain!

They aren't small pans either, each one is easily the same size as a £2 coin

There are two matte shades with the other eight being lovely shimmers

In my opinion there are no dud shades in this palette

They are all super wearable and compliment each other beautifully

I use this both on days I do a quick look with just the peachy gold blended over MAC's paint pot in Rubenesque and also the days I can take a bit more time and use the champagney highlight in the inner corners and then choose a couple of other colours to build a gorgeous eye look

Again this can be used for both day and night and I've been reaching for this on both occasions

Perfect for a holiday where you'll find yourself with different makeup needs on a regular basis

My one little niggle would have to be the lack of shade names..I like palettes to have some kind of names for each individual colour but I can live with it in this case

Especially when the packaging is so nice, simple but nice, and the insides even nicer! 

After trying this palette out I would definitely like to try a few other bits from Smashbox 

The primer seems good so far so maybe a full size is in my future!

Have you tried anything from Smashbox?

Love

Belle

xoxo

Halloween Day of the Dead Skull Makeup



It's taken me a while to get this post up but I still thought it would be worth posting
Last weekend a friends of mine had a halloween party and I knew straight away what I wanted to go as
Considering there have been so many sugar skull/day of the dead make up tutorials floating around youtube and various blogs I thought I would give it a go
Until I actually sat down with the white face paint and black eyeliner I didn't really think how big a job it would be
The final look ended up taking me around an hour to complete
This is mainly due to the white not completely opaquing my skin to the level I wanted, in the end I just went with it
I used Snazaroo white face paint which seems to work better when wet, something I found out after struggling for a while!
For the black I just used Maybelline black gel eyeliner and set it with a matte black eyeshadow and the red dots were Revlon's Cherries in the Snow lipstick
I had so much fun doing this and got loads of compliments
Considering it's the first time I've ever tried something like this on myself I think it would Ok
I'll definitely consider doing some other kind of fancy dress make up next year
Maybe a witch...who knows

Did you dress up for Halloween?
Link me any posts on your costumes!

Love
Belle
xoxo

Soap and Glory Lid Stuff Eyeshadow Palette

Soap and Glory

Lid Stuff Eyeshadow Palette

What's Nude

£10.00 Boots

Another neutral eyeshadow palette...what a surprise!

I am so terrible when it comes to neutral eyeshadows

No matter how many palettes I already own whenever I see a neutral one I just have to have it

One day I'll stop...or not

Maybe I should start selling them on lol!

Soap and Glory have always been on my beauty radar, mainly due to their cute packaging but also becuase of the hype other beauty bloggers give them

I very fairly dabble in their make up however but after seeing Louise at Sprinkle of Glitter rave about this palette quite a while ago now I knew I had to pick it up

So when Boots had a 3 for 2 on S&G makeup I thought why the heck not!

The colours included are the perfect four neutrals and work really well together for a subtle daytime work eye look

Or even for school when you can't wear strong eye makeup

Three of the shades are matte with one shimmer and all have a fairly decent pigmentation

I like to use the three matte shades together for a work friendly look but then add some of the shimmer to take it through to evening

The second shade from the left on the swatches is the perfect shade on my skintone to completely balance out any redness on my lids 

If you're looking for a fairly cheap little eyeshadow palette with work/school appropriate shades then I definitely recommend picking this little baby up 

Love

Belle

xoxo