♥ MAC Haul #2

Last week I posted my Rome Wishlist. It had a few bits and bobs that I wanted to buy before my little holiday in Italy and it included the Burgundy Times Nine palette from MAC's new eye shadow palette collection. I'd had a few other bits in my basket on their website and after a tough last week at university full of essay writings and presentations my moods were getting increasingly worse and I knew the one thing that would instantly put a bit of a smile back on my face was to have a little splurge on MAC. It's quite excessive, I think, for someone in my position to just go and spend £80 on their products without a second thought, but it was a little reward to myself after a really awful few weeks, so we can overlook the state of my bank balance! Plus, I've now finished the second year of my degree and I needed a little pat on the back! Here's what I picked up:

Burgundy Times Nine
These new 'times nine' palettes are incredible value for money. I was torn between the burgundy one and purple one but I think I'll reach for the shades in this one much more than I would the purple toned palette. The thing that stood out to me the most is that it hold the shade Quarry and that's one I'd wanted in my collection for ages. These nine shadows are adorably tiny and it's a good way to try and find if shades work for you or not. I can't wait to play around with it and create some fun looks.

Paint Pot in Painterly
I've seen this everywhere. Tanya Burr uses it as a base for her eye shadow in her videos all the time and I thought I'd give it a try and see if it evens out the colour of my lids. I use quite a few budget brand shadows too, so maybe this will help them stay in place all day. It'll also be a quick fix for those days when I just fancy a simple mascara and liner look.

217 Blending Brush
Another one of their products everyone raves about. I knew for quite a while this would be the first MAC makeup brush I would buy. At £19 for one brush it is quite steep, but it'll be really versatile and hopefully it'll be good to use for a few years. It has the softest hairs and though it's denser than I was expecting, I bet it's incredible at blending out eyeshadow and concealer.

Lip Pencil in Spice
This is one of those Kylie Jenner 90's inspired colours. I use a lot of nude tones and I'm really getting into lip liners and wearing stuff on my lips. I own the lipstick in Twig and this is meant to be a good liner to use with it, so it'll be interesting to see what other products I can use with this - or how it works on its own!

I am so so happy with everything I purchased and it all arrived so quickly. It's the second time I've ordered with them online and I'm yet to have an issue. Is there anything from MAC you're desperate to try? Let me know! Also, if you want me to review or let you know how the products I bought work, tell me in a comment below!

Em x

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♥ Max Factor 2000 Calorie Mascara: Review

The one thing I get through like nothing else is mascara. I always seem to have about five tubes of the stuff on the go at any one point and it means I rarely use them up before they start drying out and going a bit nasty. However, I'm trying to get through the open ones I do have and my second favourite, (first being Rimmel's Lash Accelerator) is one that I don't think I've even mentioned on my blog before. Last summer I bought my first few items from Max Factor and wrote this post on them. I remember reading about this in a blog post - not a clue where, sorry! - and wanting to try it. I'm not one for curling my lashes as they do hold a bit of a natural curl but one of my first experiences with makeup was stealing one of my mums mascaras. It was just like this one. My mum has poker straight lashes so she really needed something that would give her lashes a bit of a lift and the classic curved brush makes me think of her. The scent of this mascara also reminds me of the one I remember stealing off her because I wanted my own make up. It's probably due to the chemicals inside the mascara that help keep a curl in, no other mascara I have smells as strong as this but that doesn't put me off it at all. The wand isn't plastic, so the bristles are super soft on the lashes and help to really fan them out. On the packaging, Max Factor claim that it is smudge proof and I don't particularly agree with that. I don't use waterproof mascaras, so like the majority of other mascaras I use, if I wear this for a full day at university, it will transfer somewhere, somehow and that doesn't bother me too much as it is something relatively easy to fix.

All in all, I love the way this mascara helps to curl and define my eyelashes. I'll definitely be purchasing it again, and Max Factor are a brand I'm really going to have to keep trying out - I seem to grow to love everything of theirs I have in my collection! When it came to using this today I did notice the top of the wand (where you screw it back onto the tube) is cracked and I imagine that will mean it'll dry up quite soon, so I really will need to go and get my hands on another. Maybe this time I'll buy the waterproof alternative to stop any transfers!

What mascara are you obsessed with at the moment? Let me know in your comments.

Em x

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♥ Rome Wishlist

A few weeks ago, while at home and working pretty much everyday, one of my friends and I decided to head on over to the travel agents and enquire about holidays to Rome. An hour later, we were all booked up to go and super excited about our summer holiday in Italy. I feel like there are loads of twenty-somethings that are interested in beach and drinking holidays (you know, the Ibiza style getaway?), but not this girl. I'm interested in the food, the drink and culture of the world and Rome is the perfect place to learn a lot about history and culture and what once was.

Of course, there are a few key pieces I am desperate to get my hands on for this holiday and so I thought I could document them here and therefore keep tabs on what I've bought and what I intend on purchasing before I head off to Italy in August!

Black Converse
I think a new pair of trainers are super important. I know it will be a week full of a lot of walking around and so these will be super comfortable and a really versatile option. I've needed a new pair of everyday trainers for a few months now and I've refused to part with my cash, but now is the right time to think about getting some new shoes!

Backpack
I've wanted a rucksack for so long but never found a reason to buy one. I have a denim Topshop one, but that's a little small and because I always sling it over one shoulder the straps don't match up and it feels a bit weird when I wear it properly. I think I'll look at Vans' range and buy one for my carry on bag, as we only take one suitcase between us.

Pyjamas
I love buying new pyjamas for when I go on holiday. I'll be heading to Primark and Forever 21 in search of a nice pair of pyjama shorts.

Estee Lauder Double Wear Light
A lighter foundation is my holy grail holiday product. It's got a bit of SPF in it, though I'll probably add more protection to it. From the reviews I've seen, it looks really natural on the skin and that's what I want for the days we will spend walking about the city.

MAC Burgundy Times Nine Palette
I am absolutely obsessed with the new eyeshadow palettes mac have released. I really want the purple one, but I can't imagine that being too ideal to travel with. This one, however, has enough lighter shades to be used on a day to day basis and it seems really versatile. I need this so desperately.

There are a few other little bits and pieces I want and need. I might be tempted to buy a foundation either in the airport or whilst I'm over there as there's a Sephora in the train station in the centre of Rome, and a few minutes away from our hotel. I want a book or two, but I can't decide on whether I'll buy Kindle editions or not to save on luggage space! I'm also really excited to buy mini toiletries. How sad!

Em x

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♥ Disappointing Products #3

I love the blogging sphere, but there aren't many ways to find out about the products that just didn't work for people and while I hate ending up with a product I can't get on with, I love getting the chance to tell people what it was about it that just didn't work for me. If you like these 'disappointing products' posts, let me know! I'd also love to know what isn't working for you, either, so maybe write a post yourself and send me over the link!

There aren't too many products, but these are a few that just haven't lived up to my expectations recently:


L'Oreal Fibrology Thickening Conditioner
I've tried this just with a normal shampoo and a thickening shampoo and it just didn't make my thin, flat hair feel or look thicker at all. I've read some really good reviews of this that led me to purchase it after being doubtful but I was so annoyed it just didn't seem to do anything to my hair. The product itself is super thick compared to other conditioners, but that doesn't reflect the end result. I wish there was a product that can add a bit of thickness and volume to my hair, so I'll keep on searching.

Tresemme Liquid Texture Mist
I bought this for £1 in Superdrug's clearance section a couple of months ago and I'll use it on day two hair if I want to rough it up a bit. I usually go for the messy look and this helps, but it feels so so horrible on the hands when you try to run it through your hair. The spray mechanism doesn't work properly at all, so I'm going to have to transfer it to another bottle, which isn't ideal. Hopefully changing the bottle will help to make the product more useful, I'd like to just be able to spray it into my roots and for it to add volume there, but I don't think I was onto a winner with this at all.

Seventeen Phwoarr Paint Concealer
This is another one that's been in my possession for quite a while and been packed away somewhere, totally untouched. I went back to it, recently, to try just one last time and still had the same problems I did the first time round. It's a 'heavy duty' concealer and I thought this would be brilliant under my eyes but it just doesn't go on very nice at all. It cakes up and breaks away into little bits and just draws attention to the parts of my skin I'm trying to hide with it. It's really put me off Seventeen face products, which is a shame because they're super affordable.

These are just products that haven't worked for me, you might get along with them really well so let me know if you've had different experiences with any of the above!

Em x

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♥ My Purple Smokey Eye featuring Makeup Revolution

I am so proud of how I'm doing at the whole eye shadow thing at the minute. I feel like at the ripe ol' age of twenty years old I've finally found the technique and tools that make my life so much easier. While I am prone to a splurge on high end beauty buys, some of my favourite (and most used) makeup bits are super cheap and affordable and easy to find on the high street. Here's how I create this mostly matte smokey purple eye when I fancy a bit of eye action.

My brand new Makeup Revolution Essential Mattes palette is what I start with. I usually only wear this makeup for a few hours of an evening so I don't bother priming or starting with a base, I just go straight in with a matte lilac shade (far right in the palette), all over the lids using the Real Techniques base eyeshadow brush. I then take the darker purple shade to its left, and use the Bold Metals crease brush (201), into the outer v of the lid and lightly drag it through the crease. To blend this all in together I use the fluffier side of the eye brush that comes with the Urban Decay Naked 2 palette. When I'm done blending this out, I add the first highlighting shade in the Make Up Revolution Iconic 3 palette to the inside corner of my eye and along the brow bone, with the Urban Decay brush, blending it all in together to create smooth transitions between the highlighter and two shadows. Lastly, I use the shade Busted from the Naked 2 palette just to add depth to the crease and outer corner of my eye, also dragging a tiny bit through the lower lash line. As always, I finish it all off with liquid liner and a few coats of Rimmel's Lash Accelerator mascara.

Personally, I adore the palettes on offer from Makeup Revolution, they do some great dupes of the Naked and Lorac Pro palettes that are so so cheap and the staying quality isn't too bad, either. For a few hours wear, these are perfect and for someone who's only just starting to play around and be a bit more adventurous with make up they're ideal.

I absolutely adore this look and I kind of blame In The Frow for making me try it out. Victoria's purple smokey eyes always look incredible and I found I had some shades to recreate the look and now it's my go to evening out eye make up.

Em x

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♥ April Favourites

April bought us Easter, some really good weather and meant I was at home and earning money again over the Easter break. It was a pretty good month - I booked a holiday to Rome, how damn exciting?! - but now May has greeted us and it means I have to work my arse off over the next two weeks to ensure I get the best possible grades for my last few second year assignments. I can not believe the academic year has almost ended already (for us university students that can almost taste the freedom of summer) and it's nearly time to start third year. Please, time, just slow down!

First favourites of the month are these: Superdrug's own brand Tea Tree Oil and Moisturiser. I had quite a bad breakout towards the end of April and just couldn't stand it. It annoyed me more than ever because my skin had cleared up for a month previously and I was doing everything right to try and keep it that way. I don't know what it was that caused me to have such a bad breakout, but these two items seem to be keeping any new breakouts at bay. I've been using the moisturiser almost every night and day and I've been using the oil on the remaining blemishes and any area's prone to breakouts. I'm changing up my skincare routine to try and keep breakouts away permanently so I'll have to share that with you all soon.

My previous blog post was about these Essence lip liners that cost just one pound and they're my go to at the minute. I don't put my lipstick on without these to keep them on just that bit longer, and at one pound I don't mind using them so excessively.

After purchasing a Max Factor Creme Puff Blush - that I reviewed here - I've used it almost every day and I couldn't be without the Real Techniques Cheek Brush. It gets cheek products exactly where you want them and could be used for contouring and highlighting, too. It's a brilliant little brush and I absolutely love it - I won't put blush on with anything else.

It's the end of second year and deadline period is looming so the stress of that is really effecting my sleep and the early mornings are taking their toll on my under eye area. To look a bit more alert I've been reaching for my Wake Me Up foundation by Rimmel (which I'm going to have to repurchase pretty soon). This isn't one I'll reach for on an everyday basis anymore because the shimmer it has in it is a little strange to say the least - but it does make your face glow in a good way!

Other favourites of the month include the book Jane Eyre - I'm writing an essay on it for university and I actually quite like the novel. I also started rewatching the second generation of Skins. I love Effy and Cook as characters and I wanted to rewatch the last series again where they go back to Effy and Cook as adults and kind of end their stories... Skins Rise (Cook's ending) are my favourite two episodes of a show ever and Jack O'Connell is an incredible actor and my crush on him is unreal.

What have you been loving throughout the month of April? Pop me the links of your monthly favourites in the comments and I'll be sure to have a read.

Em x

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♥ The £1 Cruelty Free Lip Liner

We all love grabbing an absolute bargain, and this is one I just have to share with you. Essence is a fairly new cosmetics brand in the UK hailing from Germany and stocked in most Wilkinsons. All their products are super super cheap and with such a large range of products and shades to suit everyone, they are doing no wrong.

I'd been and browsed the stand a ton of times before actually purchasing anything. It was a few months ago that I spotted the lip liner in the shade Satin Mauve and I just knew it was a perfect partner for Mac's Twig lipstick. I hesitated for a long while and finally picked it up a few weeks ago. I also bought the shade Wish Me A Rose which is a dusty rose pink shade that I pair with Mac's Pink Plaid. They go with the Mac lipsticks so well and why bother spending £12.50 on one liner when this does the exact same job for one measly British pound?

The liners were a brilliant guide for when it came to actually applying lipstick over the top and they aren't too drying, either. I colour all of my lips in with them and then pop my lipstick on over the top. I can imagine them looking good on their own too - with a hint of gloss over the top. They helped my lipstick stay put all night and I didn't feel the need to reapply at all, though I did end up taking both the lipstick and liner out with me, just in case.

They really are worth a look into if you're after something really cheap or want to test out colours and combinations without parting with a lot of cash first! Essence do not condone animal testing, either, which is really refreshing to hear and I love how cruelty free the beauty world is becoming. Definitely a step in the right direction!

Em x

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