High End Make Up Haul

Hi Everyone. Back with a haul for you today. These are the more expensive make up bits I have purchased over the past few months.

Benefit Cheeky Sweet Spot 

I absolutley adore this product! It was part of Benefits Christmas Collection and I was lucky enough to get the very last one on the House Of Fraser website after hunting everywhere for it. It contains 6 very generous sized blushers, Dandelion, Bella Bamba, Sugarbomb, Hoola (Bronzer), Coralista and Rockateur. A 1.5g sample of Watts Up Highligher and a teeny tiny brush. All for the amazing prize of just £29.50. The Rockateur blush in here is actaully full size and would cost £23.50 alone so you can see just how great value for money this product really is. I know you can't get hold of it anymore but I couldn't not share it with you all.

MAC Studio Fix Fluid

Next up is a old favourite of mine, MAC's Studio Fix Fluid in NC15. I used to swear by this foundation but haven't actually purchased one for a number of years now. The coverage is excellent and the staying power is one of the best I have come across. Many people find this foundation too heavy and cakey but for my combination skin it is just right. The pump is actually one I bought a few years back hence why it looks so grubby but it works, so why buy a new one right? I bought this in the Selfridges sale for around £19 the price it was when I first started buying it!

Urban Decay Naked 2

   

I seem to be working my way backwards when it comes to the Urban Decay Naked Palettes. I started with Naked 3, I then decided this one was a must buy and I'm sure I will eventually purchase the original to complete the collection. Naked 2 is the more cool toned of the 3 palettes and suits my pale complexion perfectly. Since buying this, the 3rd palette which I absolutely adored has well and truely taken a back seat, and rarely sees the light of day. This one is much more wearable and is by far my favourite out of the 2. No.3 is definitely a speacial occasion kinda palette nowadays.

MAC 217

 

It's about time I got my hands on this blogger favourite. Gorgeously soft and perfect for blending eye shadow, I definitely understand the hype now. This brush is an absolute gem. Although I am rather disappointed of how wispy some of the bristles seem to have gone after a few washes, a few of them now point in different directions instead of being nice and straight. Very disappointing for the price of this little thing but I love it all the same, I'm just praying it doesn't get any worse.

The Balm Mary-Lou Manizer

Another firm blogger favourite, The Balm Mary-Lou Manizer is officially one of my favourite highlighters. Its the most perfect champagne highlight that looks great on my pale skin. It's super pigmented, you really only need a tiny touch of this to add a lovely glow to the face. This is going to last me a very long time. I'm still yet to even make a dent in it.

MAC Show Orchid & Rebel. YSL Rouge Pur Couture Le Mats 207

Last but certaintly not least, 3 beautiful lipsticks that I'm sure you have all heard of. MAC's Show Orchid is a very vivid fuschia pink with a somewhat blueish shimmer running through it. It is amazingly pigmented and I am so happy to finally own it after MAC made Pro Products more readily available to us here in the UK, once again I am in love! MAC Rebel is another much hyped product and once again for great reason. As with all MAC lipsticks I own the pigmentation is great and you only need one quick swipe for great colour pay off, and built up it is even more stunning. Rebel is a gorgeous berry colour that leans more towards pink on my lips. It is nothing like this picture that makes it look almost black, my apologies for that. And finally YSL Rouge Pur Couture Le Mats in 207 is a very on trend lipstick shade at the minute. Which I 100% purchased because I saw the beautiful Amelia Liana raving about it. It's a lovely dusky rose colour and is perfect for mimicing Kylie Jenner's famous 90's style pout. Although this is a matte shade it is not drying at all, it glides on and sits on the lips perfectly and feels like any other lipstick. Staying power is excellent and I very rarely need to top this up.

As you can tell I have been treating myself quite a lot since getting my new job and these are the more expensive picks from the bunch.

I hope you are all having a lovely day and enjoyed this post. Please do let me know of any posts you would like to see here on my blog as I am just getting back into the swing of things and would appreciate any ideas you may have.

Much Love Gemma 

MUA Undress Me Too Eyeshadow Palette

Hi Girls, once again my apologies for not posting anything for such a long time! I still haven't got a new laptop charger so can only get on my laptop when I can get hold of my brothers charger!

Today I'm going to show you the ever so popular MUA Undress Me Too Palette. That I picked up sometime last month.

This palette is famous for being an amazing dupe for the Naked 2 palette from Urban Decay, having never owned a UD palette I was really excited to try out this much cheaper alternative. After looking in Superdrug countless amounts of times and not coming across it I gave up hope of ever finding this beauty in town. Then one day I found the whole Undress Me collection tucked away on the side of one of the aisles! WHY have you done this Superdrug?! Instead of putting the collection with the rest of the MUA  make up its hidden away! I just do not understand it. Anyway enough whinging and on to the actual product! I was over the moon to eventually get my hands on this product and couldn't wait to try it out (not before I had took pictures of course! brownie points for being a good beauty blogger for once :P I resisted using this for days so I could get you guys some nice clean pictures!) I haven't got any swatches but here are some pictures to give you an idea of the shades.

(naked, devotion, tranquil, exposed)

 (shy, fiery, reveal, wink)

(lavish, dreamy, obsessed, corrupt)

In all honesty I haven't used every single shadow in the palette, but the ones I have used I am really impressed with. The pigmentation is exceptional for a £4 palette, if you do the maths that comes to just over 33p per shadow, amazing huh?! The staying power is also really good, weather I use these for during the day or a night out I never have to re apply and that's without using a primer! So I imagine with one they will be even better. The palette has a mix of both matte and shimmer shades, which is perfect for me because I love to use both finishes depending on my mood and the make up look I am wanting to achieve. I believe this is the first MUA palette that has named shadows, which I really like, there's nothing worse than trying to explain a product to someone when said product doesn't have a name! The shades I reach for most within in this palette are - Naked and Lavish for a soft matte smokey eye for a neutral day time look, and Fiery, Obsessed and Corrupt for a more dark smokey eye for a night out, I have also used Devotion in the inner corners of my eyes for a lovely pop of golden highlight. If I ever get the confidence and camera skills to show you any of my make up looks I will definitely use this to paint you a better picture of this amazing product. But for the time being a hope this post has given you a nice insight into this much loved product. If you haven't got it already and have £4 going spare, I strongly suggest you go and pick it up. It really is brilliant value for money! Weather it's as good as Urban Decay Naked 2, I obviously can't comment but it's a fabulous palette all the same!

Much Love Gemma xo.

Lancome Ombre Absolue - G40

Hi Everyone, I'm back :) but honestly don't know how long for, my laptop charger is buggared and I am undecided on weather to replace it AGAIN (i got a new one about a month ago and its now broke!!) or just start fresh with a brand new laptop. So until I save money and decide what to do , I'll be using my brothers charger whenever I can, meaning blog posts could well be few and far between! I'm sorry!!

Now I've cleared that up I want to show you my one of my latest eyeshadow purchases.

I first set eyes on this Lancome Ombre Absolue in shade G40 a few weeks ago when I realised it was on sale for £8.50 down from £17 in Debenhams. I swatched it and fell in love. First of all its tiny and I can't imagine I would ever have spent £17 on it! But the colour is to die for!! It's really hard to explain and looks so different on every skin tone and in different light but to me its a mix of silver grey and a slight khaki colour! And when I swatched it, it was the most gorgeous sparkly color I have ever set my eyes on! Now I'm not always a fan of shimmer but I just had to have this! Don't ask me why I was just drawn in as soon as I saw it, and bought it as soon as I had money! I haven't actually used it yet so I can't tell you much more. But I had to share it with you. If you have it please do let me know your thoughts, and I will keep you updated with use!

Much Love Gemma xo.

After Christmas Beauty Buys

Hey Everyone, In today's post I'm going to show you the recent beauty bits I've bought. Unfortunetly only 2 of them were sale items! So lets get started..

sorry about everything going on in the background i need to learn some basic photo editing

The items I managed to pick up in the sales were the 2 Body Shop products, I was after a new shower gel and was determined to pick up the Ginger Sparkle one however they were all sold out. So I opted for the Cranberry Joy Shower Gel instead, the smell is so fruity and delicious, and I really wish they did this range all year round because I love fruity scents. A little goes a long way with this and it really foams up as you massage it into your skin. I'll be distraught when I use it all up. This was in the sale and only cost me £2 for 250ml. Like I said I was orginally after the Ginger Sparkle Shower Gel because I adore the scent. When I noticed it was all sold out I just had to grab one of these mini hand creams because I refused to leave without something with the ginger scent (sad and pointless I know, but its my favourite scent at the minute and I needed it) The smell is really gingery and sweet and kind of smells like cheap coke (am i the only one that thinks that?) and I absolutly love it! The cream itself is very thick in texture and makes your hands feel wonderfully soft, its not greasy but does take a bit of work to sink into my hands. I find that with any hand cream I use though, so it doesn't put me off at all. This also cost me £2 and is a 30ml tube. If I'm not too late I think I will definitely pick up the Body Butter next time I'm in The Body Shop.

The other 4 products I picked up were from my shopping trip in Liverpool. I talk about the Topshop nail polish in this blog post. Next I bought my first ever thing from LUSH. The Comforter Bubble Bar, which cost me £4.25. This smells amazing its really fruity and I cant wait to use it. Expect a blog post once I've tried it out because I just know already I'm going to love it!

And finally I had to take a trip into MAC. I was after a new brow colour because mine is quickly running out. I picked up 'Mystery' eyeshadow with out realising it was a satin finish (this means it has ever so slight shimmer in it) Thankfully I have tried it on my brows and it is a perfect match and you cant see any hint of shimmer! I am going to be buying a new matte colour for my brows in the near future and using this as a shadow colour but for now its good enough for use on my eyebrows.

The second thing I bought from MAC was a lipstick. I picked up 'Girl About Town' which is a very bright fuscia pink with blue undertones. In a word the colour is amazing. The lighting in that photo does not do it justice at all! I've always been a fan of bright pinks and this one really is beautiful. The formula is very creamy and glides on really smooth adding lots of moisture to the lips. Regarding staying power I am not sure yet because I tested it then wiped it off again, but I think for these kind of finishes you get around 3 or 4 hours of wear. This lipstick cost me £14 and the shadow was £12.

As always thank you for reading and I hope you have enjoyed this post.

Much Love Gemma xo.