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 

Back with an announcement!

Hello everyone, and a very belated, Happy New Year!

I hope you are all well and having a fabulous year so far. If you follow me on Twitter or Instagram you may know this year has been very exciting for me so far, because, thats right I'm pregnant!! :)

 I am currently 19 weeks and 2 days pregnant, so very nearly half way through already. I had my first scan when I was 14 and 5, hence why it looks so clear and 'baby like' in the photo.
Everything was a bit late and rushed as I took a test a few weeks before Christmas so I struggled to get appointments etc. I stupidly waited weeks upon weeks after first thinking I may have been expecting to pluck up the courage to take a test. After miscarrying last year I was petrified it would all go wrong again. But I have a very healthy active baby growing inside me. Which I can not wait to see again in 8 days time, when I have my 20 week scan and find out the gender of my little baba.
I will of course be keeping you all up to date and posting about my pregnancy in the next 21 weeks or so. But if thats not your cup of tea, fear not I have plenty of beauty posts in the pipeline.

 (a couple of the adorable clothing items I bought last week)

As always thank you for reading and sticking with me while I've been MIA.
Much Love Gemma xo.

August Favourites

Hi everyone, favourites time once again. This year has seriously been the quickest year ever!! I can't quite believe there is only a few months left til Christmas. But enough of that here's what I was loving in the month of August!

 

Yankee Candles - Strawberry Buttercream and Black Cherry

 

 

My non beauty favourites this month have been these two gorgeous Yankee Candles. I absolutely love the scent these give off when burnt together. Strawberry Buttercream smells very sweet, almost like the smell of baking cakes and Black Cherry is just a strong cherry scent. The two together fill my room with a sweet and fruity scent that is absolutely delicious. Neither one overpowers the other and I don't find the scent to be too sickly sweet. Strawberry Buttercream can get a bit much when burnt alone but Black Cherry cancels that out and burning together they are an absolute dream.

 

Essie Eternal Optimist and Barry M Princess

 

 

Another duo I have been loving are these two polishes I mentioned a few weeks ago. Essie's 'Eternal Optimist' is a gorgeous dusky rose colour that is fully opaque with two coats. Its a really lovely subtle colour that would be perfect for an occasion like a wedding or christening. Or even just for work when you don't want something that stands out too much, but still want a nice wash of colour. I have been pairing it with Barry M's baby pink glitter 'Princess' from their Royal Collection using this on just my ring fingers for a glitter accent. The glitters in this are not at all chunky and glide on the nails perfectly. I absolutely love these kind of glitters and would love some more, If you know of any I might like please comment below. All I seem to find are horrible chunky ones that go on the nails in patches. I've been switching up my nail colours a lot recently but throughout August I kept coming back to these two because I think they look so chic and classy together.

 

MUA Undress Me Too Palette

 



Again another product you have seen recently. My apologies but as you know I am at the minute out of a job and looking for work, so I have had to make deal with my current beauty stash because I can't afford any new products. I also think this featured in a favourites way back but that just goes to show how much I do really love it. I reach for this palette every single time I put make up on weather that's for, the eyebrow colour Lavish, a mixture a of a few shades for a complete eye look or just a highlight colour. I always go back to this palette because its just a perfect everyday palette that can be used for so many different looks. There isn't one colour I don't use in here. I have a lot of other palettes and this is not my favourite of the bunch buts its definitely the most used.

 

DHC Deep Cleansing Oil

 

 

Last but not least, and the only product that has not yet been featured on my blog is my first ever cleansing oil. I got this in the Summer edition of the Latest In Beauty Glamour Beauty Edit box a few months back. And I have been loving it ever since, although dispensing the oil has been a pain (there's a only a tiny hole for the product to come through when you un screw the white lid) this really is an excellent product. When massaged into a dry face, then wiped away with a muslin cloth soaked in warm water, it really does remove every scrap of makeup without irritating my skin or leaving it oily. The only problem I have with this product, except the dispenser, is the fact it can not be used on the eyes. Let me tell you if you put this on yours eyes it will temporarily blind you! In the products defence it does state to not use it on eyes but I tried it anyway, and although it removes eye makeup like a dream the momentary blindness and fuzzy film it leaves over the eyes is just not worth it!! So all in all a great product that I absolutely love I just wish it was friendly on the eyes. I am wanting to purchase an oil that can be used all over the face so let me know any suggestions you may have.

 

That's it for another month. What were you loving in August?

Much Love

Gemma xo.





My Everyday Makeup Look

Today I have decided to share with you, what I put onto my face on a daily basis. I don't wear makeup every single day, but when I am going shopping, for a casual day with my friends or running other errands this is the look I will go for. It literally takes me about 10-15 minutes and is super simple to create.

 

  (Sorry I forgot to clean the products before photographing!!)

 

For my face I have recently been using Max Factor Facefinity All Day Flawless, which is a 3 in 1 primer foundation and concealer. The coverage is medium to full and lasts all day on me. My skin doesn't look at all cakey with this, and it blends in easily. I always spend the longest time blending in my foundation (anything up to 5 minutes) to make sure I have a smooth even finish with no harsh lines. I then dot the amazing Collection Lasting Perfection concealer on any blemishes or marks my foundation doesn't cover. After this I use my Sleek Face Form palette, to lightly contour and highlight my cheekbones and add a little bit of colour. This doesn't show up in these pictures because I do it so lightly, I only go for a heavy contour on nights out or other occasion where I like to look more 'done up'.

 

 For my eyes and brows I use the MUA Undress Me Too eyeshadow palette. On my brows I use the shade Lavish which is a perfect match for me. I have severely hit pan on this because I use this constantly instead of my HD Brow Palette that I save for special occasions. On my lids I sweep Wink all over this is a gorgeous shimmery rose gold/bronze colour. In the outer corner and crease I blend in Obsessed a deep brown with shimmer (that doesn't actually show in my swatch). I used to always use black eyeliner on my waterline but I've recently decided to stop doing that, as it can look a bit too heavy and I now just smudge a bit of Obsessed along my bottom lash line. I then use Devotion in the inner corners to make my eyes stand out.

 

 

For my lashes recently I have been swapping and changing the mascara I use on my top lashes to try and decrease the amount of drugstore mascaras I have in my collection. Today I have used the Maybelline Mega Plush Volume Express, which gives me some length and volume but it's not the best I've ever tried. And of course on my bottom lashes I have the Maybelline Big Eyes bottom lash mascara. On my lips I sometimes use a lip balm or gloss, but today I haven't bothered with anything.

 

 

Brush wise I use, Real Techniques Buffing Brush for my foundation, and the Deluxe Crease Brush for concealer. On my cheeks I use the Real Techniques Contour Brush for my contour and blush. And for highlighter I use a Fan Brush from my brush set from my college Beauty Therapy kit. For eyeshadow I use the Crown Brush C417 Chubby Shadow Brush to pack on the colour all over my lid. Real Techniques Base Shadow Brush for the crease and outer corner colour, then Crown Brush C441 Pro Blending Crease to blend the two colours together. For the gold inner corners I use the Real Techniques Fine Liner Brush bringing it down onto my bottom lash line and the Accent Brush for the darker colour on the rest of my lash line. And finally the Brow Brush again from Real Techniques to fill in my brows. Wow that's a lotta brushes for such a minimal makeup look!!

 

 

I hope you like my first ever post showing me actually wearing make up. Any feed back will be greatly appreciated. And next time I will let my hair down for the pictures instead of keeping it up away from my face! I can not believe I forgot my hair was up like that!!

Much Love

Gemma xo.



Manicure Monday

I've been wanting a running weekly feature here on my blog for a while now. And I think this is the perfect one! I've always been a girly girl and loved having my nails painted, but working in Cafés for the last 4 years has meant I had plain boring nails for the majority of the time. Painting them on a Friday or Saturday night then removing it again on Sunday seemed pointless and a waste of time and product, so I only ever did it on the odd few special occasions. Since leaving the Café back in May however I have constantly had my nails painted and thought I'd show you what nail colour I am sporting each week.

 

 

I've been loving have a glitter accent nail recently and this week I went for Barry M 'Princess' from the Royal collection on my ring finger. This is a beautiful baby pink glitter with flecks of silver and gold running through it. And Essie's 'Eternal Optimist' on the other nails. The camera doesn't quite pick up the colour but its a lovely dusky rose pink, that I really do not get enough use from!

 

 

My nails seems to be a lot stronger now I'm not in and out of hot water constantly and using cleaning products all the time. And they have actually been growing really well. I love the look of square nails and once mine grew to a decent enough length I squared them off. I absolutely love how they look and I think these colours really complement my new shape.

 

 

I only have two decent glitter polishes, this one and a Topshop one I featured on my blog a long time ago. All the other ones I seem to come across are chunky and horrible so if you know of any brands that do good glitters like this one, please please let me know! I'd love to try this look with the many other colours I own I just don't have the matching glitters!

Hope you like this new feature.

Much Love

Gemma xo.



What's on my bedside table

I saw many of these posts floating around a few months back and now that I'm back blogging I thought today I would share my version. Here's what I keep on the table next to my bed.

 

It's rather over crowded but I like my little set up. First up we have two gorgeous Yankee Candles, both gifted to me by my lovely boyfriend. The medium sized one is Strawberry Buttercream that he bought me for my birthday, this is really sweet so definitely not for those of you out there that don't like sweet scents, it can get rather sickly after a while. In all honesty it smells like all the other cakey scents they do but with a hint of strawberry, I absolutely love it. The small jar, Black Cherry is one he decided to pick up as a little gift when he got paid this month. It literally smells like cherries and it’s gorgeous. The two of them burning at once smells devine, really fruity and sweet, absolutely perfect for a nice relaxing night.

 

Behind these I have my red Guess glasses, I have two pairs of these, red leopard print ones for when I'm in the house and a nice cream neutral leopard print for when I'm out and about, that I keep in my handbag. Then there's a load of beauty products. On the left hand side I have all my perfumes and other smelly's. I have my Dove roll on deodorant, Chanel Coco Mademoiselle perfume, Elle by YSL perfume, Lady Gaga's perfume, along with a few other bottles, and a ton of testers from beauty boxes, gifts with purchases etc. I've also got a mini L'occitane shampoo, conditioner, body wash, body lotion and soap that I took from a hotel I stayed in (probably shouldn't admit that online but never mind) Then there’s just a few body sprays from Soap and Glory and Lynx. And a room spray from Avon.

 

 

On the right hand side I have all of my skincare products, minus my cleansers and exfoliators that live in the bathroom. My everyday skincare items in here are, my Garnier miscellar water, Nivea eye makeup remover, Liz Earle toner, Clarins HydroQuench moisturiser, La Roche Posay Effaclar Duo +, YSL eye cream and a Clearasil spot cream. I also have a load of others I use from time to time including products from L'occitane, Simple, Nivea, Coola, Monu Spa, L'Oreal and loads more. I really do not know why I have so much. Lastly there is my full size Soap and Glory Hand Food and Heel Genius, and my boyfriend’s No7 moisturiser that I practically forced him to buy and he only ever uses once in a blue moon. Oh and that piece of card you can see with a baby’s head on it. Is my gorgeous invite to my goddaughter's christening, which asks me to be godmother, I intend on keeping it forever.

 

 

So that's what my bedside table looks like; organised chaos. Like the majority of things in my life. Thanks for reading, and if you haven't already done this, I tag you all :)

Much Love

Gemma xo.

My Favourite Lipstick

Hi Beauties, Today I am going to be talking about one of my favourite pieces in my makeup collection. My gorgeous Chanel Rouge Allure Velvet Luminous Matte Lip Colour in La Diva. As you may or may not know I am absolutely obsessed with Chanel, I think it's such an iconic and beautiful brand, and I want nothing more than to own buckets loads of the stuff, including of course a Classic Flap Bag. Unfortunately at the moment my Chanel collection only consists of my all time favourite perfume, Coco Mademoiselle and this lipstick. Let's all pray for a lottery win to buy some more!!

 

 

La Diva is a bright candy pink colour with blue undertones, that has be likened to MAC's Candy Yum Yum. (As I've never owned CYY I can't compare them I'm afraid.) It's definitely the brightest lipstick I own and is absolutely beautiful. I always get worried when purchasing a matte lipstick that it's going to be really drying on my lips, but that isn't the case with this lipstick at all. It's really creamy and doesn't make my lips look dry in the slightest. As long as I exfoliate well before using this it sits really nicely on the lips, settling into a lovely semi matte finish. It lasts for around 5/6 hours, leaving behind a bright pink even stain. If I'm eating however it does tend to wear off easily, starting in the middle then working its way out.

 

 

Chanel Rouge Allure lipsticks retail for £26 but I saved up my Boots points and bought it with them. I did buy this offline without seeing it in person first which was a really massive gamble, but I am so pleased I decided on this one because it really is gorgeous. I did a lot of research into this beforehand and knew it would be prefect for me, and it is a very welcome edition to my ever growing lipstick collection. And will be the start of a Chanel makeup addiction I'm sure.

I'm so happy to be back blogging and I am hope you guys are too. Thank you very much for reading, and I'll speak to you soon.

Much Love

Gemma xo.