Collective Haul-Clothing, Lush & More ♡

I've got another haul today, it's a bit of a random one really, I went on a trip to Holland and also to London recently so I have a few bits from those trips and a few other bits and pieces and I thought I'd put them into a post.

I've been wanting to try the Real Techniques Brush Cleansing Palette (£12.99) for so long now, I kept going into superdrug to try and find it but couldn't find it in any that I went into, so I decided to order it online instead, you get two sachets of their brush cleansing gel as well and I'm really excited to try this properly!
While I was in Amsterdam we went into a shop called Etos which I think is like their version of boots or superdrug, while in there I found their contour powder and it was exactly the shade I've been looking for! I've wanted a cool grey toned contour powder for ages and I love this one! It was only about €5 and I really hope you can get it in the UK somehow!

In the airport on the way back I decided to finally cave and buy the YSL Black Opium (£84) perfume, it's so expensive and it wasn't really much cheaper duty free but I went for it anyway, I got the 50ml EDP so it should hopefully last a while.
In London I went into boots because I wanted to try the new Maybelline Push Up Drama mascara (£7.99) and they had a 3 for 2 offer on so I also got my favourite Lash Sensational mascara (£7.99) and a Colour Tattoo in Pink Gold (£4.99) because I haven't actually tried these yet!

We were in London because my mum had arranged a makeover fashion shoot for my Christmas present, but I was so unorganised I didn't have any clothes to take with me so we went shopping before and I picked a few new bits up.

I've been really underwhelmed with a lot of clothes shops since about November time, but New Look is the one shop that I have quite liked, I've never really worn khaki/green before but loved these two tops from them! The top on the left is the Wrap Front Bell Sleeve Top (£17.99) and I thought it would look really pretty with some black leggings and ankle boots, it's a little dressier than I'd usually wear but it would be nice on a more casual night out. The Dip Hem T Shirt (£14.99) is a lot more casual but would look nice with some jeans and a jacket, and they are both light enough to wear in Summer, but also layer in colder weather.
I've been wanting a wooly striped jumper for ages and when I found this one for about £10 in the sale in H&M I fell for it straight away, it's so comfy and cosy, it's oversized but not too baggy and the sleeves are long enough that I can hide my hands in them (a bad habit but a comfy one) I don't think it's available anymore but if you see one you should try it on because it's so comfy!

Of course I couldn't go to London without a trip to Lush Oxford Street, they had a few exclusive products that I really wanted to try from the more recent collections, the product I was most excited to try was the Sunflower Bubble Bar, it was £4.95 but I think you can get a lot of baths out of this as it's so big! It smells very lemony thanks to the lemon oil and is unlike the other Lush scents I currently have.
One of my all time favourite Lush products is the Ultraviolet Bubble Bar (£4.95) it's the same sort of size as the Comforter so lasts ages, and contains violet, jasmine and rosewood, it smells like parma violet sweets, a little goes a long way so getting two was probably overkill but I always miss it when it's gone!
Another Bubble Bar from the Oxford Street exclusive range is Down the Rabbit Hole, it's another citrus scented product, though more orange than lemon it's a comforting scent and the colours in it are so pretty! This one is £3.95 and while it won't last as long as the others it should be good for a fair few baths.
While I was queuing I was distracted by the lip balms, while I love the lip scrubs I've never tried one of their lip balms so I thought I'd try the Honey Trap one (£6.75) it's minty honey scented lip balm, it contains honey and oatmeal among other moisturising ingredients, it's really thick and perfect for bed time.

I have a bad habit of breaking apple phone charger cables, but I've had one of the Skinny Dip Cord Cables (£16) for a while now and it's lasted really well so ordered a second one, they have a few different colours and if you have problems with your phone cable I really recommend these ones! While I was placing that order I also decided to get the Holographic Snakeskin case, I can't find the 5s one at the moment but I linked the same style in a different size, it reminds me of a mermaids tail and is so pretty!
I saw Lily Pebbles mention that she was on the cover of a magazine called Blogosphere and thought it sounded really interesting, it arrived really quickly too! I haven't actually read it yet but I will soon, it has lots of familiar faces in there so it's worth a look if it's something you're interested in.
I also bought Burnt Paper Sky by Gilly Macmillan after seeing someone mention it in a book review, I'm trying to avoid buying M.J Arlidge's new book on iBooks before getting the paperback so I'm distracting myself with other books, I'm excited to give this one a go.
Lastly I thought I'd mention these Holland & Barrett Vegan multivitamins, Gemma from HelloGemma said that these are the only supplements she takes and I thought I'd try them, I've been taking the Complete B Complex but wanted to try something different to see if they make any difference, I'm not vegan but I am vegetarian so I figured these would contain everything I need to supplement my diet, they were also buy one get one half price, Holland & Barrett's do usually have good deals on so it's always worth having a look.

That's it for my haul, it was a bit bigger than I was expecting so sorry if it was rambly! I'm probably not going to be buying so much over the next few months as I'm supposed to be saving to move out in the Summer, I am working on a home decorating wishlist though so hopefully that will be ready to be posted soon, if you have any recommendations on where to look that would be amazing! Preferably affordable, it's been quite daunting to see how expensive homewear can be!
Thankyou for reading♡

Zoeva Cocoa Blend Review ♡

Zoeva is a brand that's been talked about a lot lately, I've used a few of their brushes in the past, but after hearing a lot about the palettes I decided to order one.

Back when I bought my makeup brushes from them I think they were only available from the Zoeva website, and as they have to ship them from overseas I ended up paying more for the postage than the actual brushes I bought, they are now available from Beauty Bay, where shipping is free if you spend over £15, but standard shipping is only £1.95 so even if what you choose is less than that it isn't a huge extra cost.

The palettes are about £15.50 depending on which one you get, and I chose the Cocoa Blend palette, the description of the palette says that it was inspired by warm truffle colours, and is free from parabens, mineral oils and fragrance.

The packaging does really remind me of a fancy box of chocolates, it's really lightweight and thin so is easy to travel with, has a magnetic closure but doesn't have a mirror which can be annoying, it's not an issue if you have other products that have mirrors in but usually I use my eyeshadow palette mirrors as they tend to be bigger. The shades also have really cute names, which unfortunately my photos haven't picked up very well.

Inside the palette you get ten shades, and they are all really soft and easy to apply, I do find that some of them have much better pigmentation than others, and one of the biggest issues I have with the palette is that it's the darkest shades that are least pigmented and I struggle to use them to deepen the outer corner of my eye makeup which is why I bought the Urban Decay Oil Slick shadow. 

bitter sweet, sweeter end, warm notes, pure ganache, substitute for love, freshly toasted

Bitter Start- A pale nude shade that isn't very pigmented in swatches but does work nicely on the eyes

Sweeter End- A shimmery duo chrome taupey nude shade

Warm Notes- A gorgeous cranberry shade, quite pigmented and one of my favourite shades

Pure Ganache- A really pretty gold, perfect for brightening up the eyelids

Substitute For Love- A soft brown with a subtle shimmer, not that pigmented but is nice for blending 

Freshly Toasted- A rich mahogany brown, another favourite shade, I don't own anything like this yet

warm notes (again) subtle blend, beans are white freshly toasted (again) infusion, delicate acidity

Subtle Blend- A deep bronze, works really well with the gold and cranberry shade

Beans are White- A deep matte brown, not very pigmented which is quite annoying

Infusion- A dark matte brown with soft gold glitter, quite a soft colour

Delicate Acidity- A sort of purple taupe colour, apparently it's berry toned but I think it's more taupe

Bitter Start, Sweeter End, Warm Notes, Subtle Blend, Beans Are White, Pure Ganache, Substitute for Love, Freshly Toasted, Infusion & Delicate Acidity.

This palette is really good if you like warm eyeshadows, especially if you like to create cranberry/golden eyeshadow looks, I think this would be really nice in the summer, but I would have to use my Urban Decay Oils Slick eyeshadow to darken the look up sometimes.

If you have any more Zoeva makeup recommendations please let me know as I would like to try more of the brand, I hope you enjoyed this review, thankyou for reading♡

My Travel Makeup ♡

Flying in a plane has always been on my bucket list and tomorrow I am finally ticking it off, I'm going to Holland for the weekend with my mum and I'm actually really nervous about the flight. To take my mind off of being so scared of flying I thought I'd write a post about the makeup that I've chosen to take with me.

For base makeup I'm taking my Body Shop Instablur primer, I've nearly finished this so I knew it would be lighter to travel with, and it's a really nice skin smoothing primer. I actually changed my mind about foundation, I've swapped the Maybelline Dream Flawless Nude for the Max Factor Skin Luminizer, I was going to take the Maybelline because it's so lightweight on the skin, I do really like this foundation but I wasn't sure about travelling with the glass bottle so seeing as the Max Factor one is the only one I own in a plastic bottle I swapped them, it is a lot thicker but it should work just fine for a few days.

For concealer I'm taking the L'Oreal True Match concealer, I've been really loving this concealer, it's really nice under the eyes and easy to blend. I've also been liking the Bourgois Java Rice Loose Powder lately and figured I could use it to set my concealer as well as my foundation, meaning I don't have to take my banana powder as well. I'm also taking my Nars Virtual Domination cheek palette, I don't usually use the bronzer and highlighter in this but I figured that if I could have my contour, blush and highlight all in one palette it would save a lot of room in my bag.

I chose the Charlotte Tilbury Vintage Vamp palette because it's the smallest of my eye palettes, and I feel as though with the Urban Decay Oil Slick eyeshadow they will be all I need for eyeshadows, I'm also taking the Urban Decay Primer Potion as that's my favourite at the moment, along with the Soap & Glory Supercat liner, Maybelline Lash Sensational mascara and Anastasia Dip Brow Pomade.

Lastly for lips I thought I'd keep it simple, with just a nude and a red option, I'm taking Mac's Soar lipliner and Urban Decay Ex Girlfriend lipstick from the Gwen Stefani collection, and Mac's Cherry lipliner and Ruby Woo lipstick. I'm usually awful for taking too many lipsticks with me but I think these two will be all I need for the weekend.

So that's it for all the makeup I'm taking with me, I don't really know what we're going to be doing while we're there so this should all be good to create any makeup look that I'll need while I'm there.

Thankyou for reading ♡

February Favourites 2016 ♡

I know it's such a cliché, but how has February been and gone already? I feel as though I've blinked and missed it, but it was a pretty good month.

I have been trying to use what I have already instead of buying new things, in an effort to control my spending, so I don't really have lots of new favourites this month but I do have a few things that I've really enjoyed using.

I actually only have two bits of makeup to talk about this month, both of them being Urban Decay eyeshadows, I spent a week in Southampton visiting my boyfriend at the start of the month, but the eyeshadow palette that I took with me didn't have a very pigmented dark outer corner shade, so I went into Debenhams to look at Urban Decay (can't wait to move to the city so I can actually be near the counter) I was planning on getting Blackout as it's my favourite matte black eyeshadow, but I have it in two palettes already so went for Oil Slick (£14) instead, it's a charcoal black shade with silver micro glitter, it isn't the smoothest of shadows but it is so pretty! I have used it with so many different palettes, almost every time that I've done my makeup.

I've also been using the Urban Decay Naked 2 palette (£38.50) a lot this month, particularly the grey shades with Oil Slick to create a really smokey grey eyeshadow look, it's a little different to what I usually go for but I love it! 

In my January favourites I mentioned that I'd been struggling with my skin, especially on my forehead, and that while the products that I spoke about in that post helped with my skin at the time, it did dry my skin out a lot, the Origins Make a Difference Plus Ultra Rich Cream (£35) it is quite pricey, and I definitely fell in the trap of House of Fraser not having the prices on display, but I was so desperate for something that would help my skin that I don't even care, I literally noticed a huge difference over night-and I'm not even over-over-exagerating, I woke up after using this the night before and even my boyfriend could tell a huge difference in my skin, I was so grateful!

Another couple of skin care items I've been very grateful for this month have been Lush Dream Cream (£6.25) and Bepanthen. I got a new tattoo at the very start of the month, and I feel as though through the trial and error of my previous tattoos I have found my dream combination in these two, I found that healing my new tattoo (photo here-another favourite!) was really easy, Bepanthen is best to use for the first couple of weeks, and then when the tattoo is less dry I start to use Dream Cream during the day on it, and end up just using Dream Cream.

I mentioned Lush Twilight Shower Gel in my Lush Spring Haul and it was unfortunately limited edition but I had to mention it as I have been addicted to using it, I have quite a lot of Lush shower gels but I've been kinda ignoring them because of this one, it's so comforting, and for a lavender scent I find it really easy to get on with which I usually don't.

I've been struggling to stick to one perfume this month, but one that I've been really enjoying wearing is the DKNY Golden Delicious perfume. This was actually the first "grown up" perfume I ever bought when I got my first part time job years ago, it's a really nice fruity floral scent and I've actually finished it this month and am considering re-purchasing it at some point as it's really nicely nostalgic for me. 

I've had my Frends Layla headphones (£129.95) for a while, but I've always been a little scared to use them too often because they were so expensive, but in February I started to use them a lot more and I'm kicking myself for being so silly before, for some reason I can't use normal earphones in my right ear (I must have a weird ear shape..is this just me?) and music sounds so much better when you have both ear phone sides in so these are perfect, I love the size of them as they sit comfortably on your ears and they are so pretty! You can also get them on amazon now so they are easier to get hold of, I struggled a couple of years ago when I was buying these.

I finished two books in February (I've been loving reading so much lately!) I got The Girl On The Train by Paula Hawkins from Greg for my birthday and finally got round to reading it, it's been quite hyped up and I can definitely see why, it feels very modern and I love that it's set in England as not many of the books that I read have been, it's really interesting and I'd really recommend it.
I also really liked reading Dark Places by Gillian Flynn, this book is by the author of Gone Girl, and if you liked that book you would probably like this, it's told from different perspectives, and different times, it's really interesting following the story and trying to work out what's going to happen, the film goes nicely with the book, it's got a very similar feel to Gone Girl which is one of my favourite films.

For TV this month I've been loving watching Gotham, I finished the first season and think I'm going to wait for the second to go on Netflix (unless it takes too long) it's based on the Batman comics, but it set while Bruce Wayne (Batman) is a young teenager, it's really cool seeing all of the different characters and how they are portrayed, I love Cat and Ed Nygma, and I have an on off liking for The Penguin as well.
I've also really been loving Gavin & Stacey, I watched it a little bit when it was originally on TV but I flew through all three series in the last week and a bit, the first two series, and the Christmas special are on netflix, and I watched the last series online. The episodes are only half an hour long so it's really easy to watch, it's a comedy so is really light hearted and I found that it really cheered me up while I was feeling quite down in the dumps, I love Smithy and Nessa but I also love that I love all of the characters, I kind of really wish they would make more episodes.

For music I've really been liking Deaf Havana's Fools and Worthless Liars album, I wouldn't usually listen to them but my tattoo artist had this album on and I had to buy it after, I especially love the songs Anemophobia, Hunstanton Pier and Little White Lies. I've also been listening to Amy Winehouse's Back to Black album which is an old but forever favourite, and a more up beat, pick me up song favourite song has been Better When I'm Dancing by Megan Trainor..and a few more bonus favourites have been Sia's and Adele's carpool karaoke with James Corden.

Thankyou if you managed to read to the end of this, I really wasn't planning on this being so long and rambly but I'm just glad I managed to actually write something!
xx

Lush Spring Collection Haul ♡

Lush is definitely my favourite brand ever and this time of year is probably the best for Lush addicts such as myself, we've not long had Christmas (the Christmas collection was one of my favourites, I went so overboard!) and now we've got Valentines, Mothers Day and Easter!
I have recently picked up a few bits from the Valentines and Mothers Day collections so thought I would mention them on here as they are so sweet, unfortunately Valentines Day is now gone but some stores might have a few bits left over maybe?
I will just say that I really wish that Lush had released more into the regular stores, the things I really wanted the most were Lush Oxford Street exclusive and I'm so sad that I can't get hold of them, but then I maybe don't need any more Lush things at the moment anyway, it could be a blessing in disguise, I do really want the Sunflower bubble bar though!

The Ladybird bubble bar £3.95
This cute little bubble bar is a new addition to the Mother's Day range, you could probably get 3 or 4 baths out of it and it contains peppermint oil and geranium oil, I absolutely love the minty smell of this, the scents are well balanced and I'm so excited to try it.

Lover Lamp bath bomb £3.95
This is from the Valentines collection, and is another new product, it's one of the bigger bath bombs that Lush have and contains fair trade, organic cocoa butter, fair trade vanilla absolute and Brazilian orange oil. It has a subtle chocolate orange scent and little bath melt hearts, there are white flower petals in the centre as well, it wasn't one of my favourite bath bombs but it is really nice.

Rose Bombshell bath bomb £3.95
Now this one I love! I never used to like rose scents but this one smells incredible, it contains rose absolute and rose oil, sicilian lemon and geranium oils and they make such a gorgeous, rich calming scent, this one also contains flower petals and the overall experience of using this bath bomb is really lovely, I would be happy if they made this one permanent, I love it so much I had to go back and buy a second.

Unicorn Horn bubble bar £4.25

This adorable bubble bar has made a return from last year, with the promise that it's brighter and stronger than before, the colours are indeed more vibrant, but I can't remember the scent of last years to compare it, it contains lavender oil and neroli that are very calming and uplifting, again you could get about 3 or 4 baths from this, I really don't see why they don't make this permanent as people love it! 

The Kiss lip scrub £5ish

I picked this up because I needed a new lip scrub, and thought I may as well try this one, it smells a bit like love heart sweets and has really cute little hearts in it, lush lip scrubs are always useful to have around, especially as I wear a lot of matte lip products so often find myself noticing that my lips are dry and flaky, this one also smells really nice which is a good bonus.

Twilight shower gel 

I wasn't sure whether to include this or not, as it was a kitchen exclusive so isn't available anymore, but I've been so obsessed with it I couldn't not show it, this contains lavender infusion and oil, as well as tonka absolute and ylang ylang oil, like with rose lavender was a scent I didn't like before, but the balance of all of these scents has made it one that I love, as you would expect it is very calming and soothing, and I've been loving using it, it is supposed to have lustre in the gel but I find with lush shower gels that contain lustre it sinks to the bottom and loses the effect, it is lovely though! 

Let the Good Times Roll cleanser £6.95
Finally I have a product that isn't limited edition, I needed a new cleanser and I have used and liked this one before, it contains maize flower, polenta and cinnamon and smells like buttery popcorn-I love the scent! With Lush cleansers you have to pinch a bit off, mix it with water in your hands and then massage it onto your skin, it can be used on the face and body and this once gently exfoliates as well as cleansing, the cinnamon powder also stimulates you skin leaving you with soft and revived skin. I do find that with this it takes a little longer to rinse off, as the little bits are harder to remove, but that just adds to the exfoliation.

So that's it for my Lush Valentines and Mother's Day haul, next is Easter so I thought I'd include a mini wishlist of the items I am eyeing up from the collection

                                                      

Bunch of Carrots, Ultraviolet & Golden Egg

Ultraviolet was my favourite last year so I'll probably be picking a couple of these up, it's a bubble bar that smells like parma violets, I love it! Bunch of Carrots has been updated this year and apparently the colour change has improved of the colour it gives the bath, I haven't used these before but they look and sound adorable, and finally The Golden Egg just looks too cute to pass up, it reminds me of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, which, thinking about it,  would be an amazing range for Lush to release!
Thankyou so much for reading ♡

January Favourites 2016 ♡

I know it's a little late to be doing a January favourites, but I really want to try and do a favourites post for every month. January was a strange month for me, it flew by but I was really busy, and my skin had a bit of a tantrum half way through, so I was a little scared to keep trying new things. I do have a few things though so I thought I'd mention them.

I tried quite a lot of skin care last month to try and calm my skin down, but the one thing that I found really helped was the Origins Super Spot Remover, it's a gel like spot treatment that contains salicylic acid which is perfect for reducing spots, but I had little rash like bumps on my forehead and this cleared it up so quickly, I wish I had used it on it straight away, it did dry my skin out but I used a very nourishing moisturiser (I'll include that in my February favourites as I started using that in February but it was the Make a Difference Plus ultra nourishing cream)

For the most part of this month I've been layering two Mac blushes, Cheek Pollen and Stereo Rose mineralise skin finish, unfortunately they are both limited edition and aren't in stock, but together they give a beautiful natural glowy look to the cheeks, I had purple hair for the first half of the month so kept my cheeks quite neutral and these were perfect, Mac do have a habit of reusing their limited edition items in new collections, and I know Stereo Rose is re-released quite a bit so it might be worth keeping an eye out for them.

Another two products I've been using together have been the Urban Decay Gwen Stefani eyeshadow palette, and the Charlotte Tilbury Vintage Vamp palette, I love these both individually, but I also find that using "punk" from the Gwen Stefani palette with the Vintage Vamp shades, and blending out with Anaheim looks so pretty, they are both so pretty and I've been loving putting together different colour combinations.

L-R UD Baby-Anaheim-Stark-Steady-Punk-Charlotte Tilbury

With having bright hair for most of the month I stuck to more neutral lip colours, Invasion by Gerard Cosmetics is a beautiful grey toned nude, it's a liquid lip stain but is actually quite comfortable to wear, I wish the brand was easier to get hold of because I'd love to try more of them! 

I was so excited to see Ellie Goulding was coming out with a Mac collection, and I love the colour of her Only You Lipstick, but unfortunately despite their claims that it is a cremsheen formula it is definitely more of a lustre, so I found that putting it over Soar lipliner makes a really pretty, easy to wear colour, perfect for a nice everyday lip colour.

The last lip product that I was loving in January was Mac Persistence, it's a peachy cinnamon colour that is pretty without being too bright or dark, I love the formula of Mac matte lipsticks, they are creamy and quite long lasting, I wore this in place of red/bright lipsticks so that it wouldn't clash with my hair and it worked really well.

L-R Invasion-Soar-Only You-Soar & Only You-Persistence-Cheek Pollen-Stereo Rose-Cheek Pollen & Stereo Rose

I've discovered a few new TV shows in January, I started to watch Luther at Christmas, but finished it in January and loved it, it's a detective show set in London, and it really addictive! I don't know if there will be more series, but I really hope they do make more as it's so good, it was quite scary but if you like slightly more gripping, chilling shows you will love this! I also discovered Tattoo Fixers and am hooked on it, the second series is on at the moment, but I've also been watching the first series on 4OD as it's so good, it's basically three really good tattoo artists fixing peoples dodgy tattoos, the artists are amazing and I really want a tattoo by them now, they are really funny and the tattoos are stunning, love it! Finally Pretty Little Liars came back this month, I wasn't sure if the whole five years later thing would work but it really does, the new story line is really interesting, and refreshing after years of the same. 

 I read The Five People you Meet in Heaven last month and absolutely loved it, the story is really thought provoking, I really didn't want it to end, I'm going to review this book soon so I won't go into it now but I'd really recommend it, it was quite a quick read as well. I think there is a film based on the story which I'd love to watch as well.

As for music really liked X Ambassadors, I listened to their VHS album a lot last month and loved it, I really like Gorgeous, Feather and Hang On. I also really like Nina Nesbitt's Chewing Gum and The Weeknd's In The Night.

That's it for my January favourites, it was quite a long, rambly post so thank you so much if you got through it, I'm already really looking forward to writing my February one, the year is going so fast already!

Thankyou for reading ♡

My 2015 Favourites ♡

I know everyone says it, but 2015 went so fast! It wasn't particularly the best of years for me, but I got on with it and while I'm relieved that it's over I really enjoyed looking back on the year, picking out the things that I loved, whether they were beauty items, random things or memories it was really nice to think back and pick my absolute favourites.

I have so many to get through that this might be a very long post, sorry about that in advance, it was much longer but I forced myself to only choose things that I really truly loved, for the whole time that I've been using them.