Trick or Treat?

 That time of year is nearly upon us. The time of dressing up and being whatever or whoever you want for the night. And if you're lucky like me and have kids, you get to go trick or treating and maybe sneak a few of the sweets when they are asleep!

I love Halloween, mainly because I love horror type things and any excuse to wear a fancy dress costume is good with me!

Thought I'd do a little Halloween make up treat for you and post some of the make up and nail pictures I've seen and also find out where you can buy some stuff to recreate the looks. 

There's so much you could do with your make up kits, but these are some of the more subtle looks I've found. I love the red and black smokey eye and seeing as my costume is red and black I'll definitely be trying to recreate this look over the next couple weeks. My favourite is the eyeshadow on the bottom left. There's no way I'd ever be able to do this but doesn't it look amazing? It's so clever how they've incorporated her eyebrows as part of the tree as well. If you're not so good with make up, there are plenty of smokey eye trio's out there with guides on the box of how to do it. 

Here's some of the nail idea products I've come across while trawling the net. First is the Umberto Giannini gothic wood wraps from Boots at only £7. They're actually little tree prints, I think they'd look pretty amazing! For more of a laugh there's the House of Holland Face Ache nails, (£8.99 @ Boots) which would be great any time of the year, not just halloween :) Lastly is the Essie Meet me at Sunset polish. If you're more into plain nails then this alternating with a black would be great for you, as it looks pretty 'pumpkiny' in colour!

Of course I found mainly purple pigmented colours, but I've always associated purple with the witches of Halloween so there you go. First is the Becca jewel dust from Lookfantastic.com. It's a little pricey at  £17 a pot, but we all need a little high end make up splurge sometimes! The second is actually supposed to be more of a red powder, found at Etsy for £5.50. I've seen quite a lot of make up stuff on Etsy recently, including those wonderful hair chalks that were all the rage this summer. Lastly is the Bourjois Paris Colour edition eyeshadow cream in violet celeste. It's £6.99 at Boots and there's also a black called noir cosmique that would go perfectly with this colour. I'm gonna have to have a look around for some cream eyeshadows and dust as I literally have none in my collection since I emptied out my really old stuff!

Now for the lips! Plum and dark red lips are going to be big for the whole of winter so this Rihanna for MAC lipstick for £16.50 is going to be one you use over and over. But would also look great as a little added extra to your overall halloween look. This particular shade is called Talk That Talk. It is out of stock on the official MAC website, but I'm sure there are many places that sell it. 

This is actually my own lipstick that I bought the other day from Asda. It's the new Rimmel moisture renew lipstick and this one as you can see is in 'Diva Red'. It's not too expensive, only £6.49 in Boots so half what the MAC one is. It doesn't come out ridiculously dark as you can see in the swatch, but it's a pretty good lipstick and it suits me perfectly! Despite the fact it's usually £6.49 I actually found it in the clearance bin (even though there was nothing at all wrong with it) for only £3.14 and when I took it to the till ended up only being £1.50! Best bargain I've gotten in a while although I think it was a lucky one-off.

There's my brief halloween ideas, I'll be sure to post my own halloween make up when it get's round to the day. What are you all going as? Have you tried any halloween inspired make up yourselves? Let me know below!

xo. 

A/W13 edit: The shoes

Ah finally gotten round to doing the winter shoes edit! I've literally spent the last couple hours searching for shoes, I feel like one those cartoon characters with the pictures spinning round their heads! This is mainly for daytime shoes, I'm not even going to venture into the masses of different types of heels there are out there but if I find some particularly nice ones I will post them, maybe a collage..

The Ankle Boot.

 (left to right) F&F @ Tesco £18

Dorothy Perkins £29

AX Paris £47

I haven't really done a splurge and save option this month as quite a few I just fell in love with and couldn't find a cheaper alternative. First up is the ankle boot. These are everywhere at the moment, and they will literally go with anything! I think my favourite are the chocolate strap ones from Dorothy Perkins, mainly because they look quite slouchy which means they wouldn't be too tight round your leg. There's nothing worse than having your jeans bunch up at the ankle because your boots are too skin tight. I like the detail as well, studs are a big thing this year as well as you can see on the most expensive pair from AX Paris. I like the buckle detailing across the front and they just stood out to me but I'm not entirely sure if they'd be a little too in your face with the studs as well as the chunky buckles. The cheapest pair is from  Tesco (I swear I do not get paid for bigging up Tesco every other post!). These are really simple but the little buckle fastening over the side gives it a little something extra and for only £18 I think they're going to have to go onto my ever growing wish list.

The Biker boot.

(from left to right) Select £20

River Island £45

New look £64.99

I've tried to find a cheaper option for each and these tan studded pair from select at only £20 aren't too bad! Pair them with some jeans, a white tee and leather jacket and you'd be all set for those cold rainy days. Something about this pair from river island caught my eye. I love the fact that they're really unique with the zip detailing going all the way round the opening. Simple way to stop them being just another boring pair of black buckle biker boots. This pair from New look remind a bit of a pair of cowboy boots, (which I'm determined to get a real authentic pair of!) I love the distressed look to the leather and again they're buckled. Don't think you're going to find many pairs of boots this season without them!

Over the knee

(from left to right) Faux Suede boots, Ebay £19.99 (+6.99 P&P)

AX Paris £39.99

New Look £39.99

Okay so both the pair from AX Paris and New Look are quite expensive, but they are nice! I'm not sure I'd wear the brown ones myself mind you. They look pretty good quality though so bound to keep you dry and warm throughout the winter. I love the Kelly Brook pair from New look. I would have nowhere to where them and they'd kill my feet but they have that certain Julia Roberts Pretty woman feel to them and we all need our pair of 'hooker heels' don't we? The cheapest pair (on the left) are from a Chinese seller on Ebay. I know quite a lot of people can be skeptical of buying off of Ebay, but the trick is to find the ones advertising in UK sizes, like this one and also to check their star rating over the past 12 months. Quite a few of the clothing items are all one size and there's no way I'd fit into the same thing the gorgeous model in the picture is as the women are pretty tiny in China. But I think this pair would be pretty worth it. they come in a range of different colours and even if they aren't for you, they accept returns so you won't lose out on any money! 

The ballet flats.

Left - Forever 21 £18.90

Right - New Look £17.99

Pretty similar prices here, but totally different shoes. Again the forever 21 pair are studded, but I think this adds to the shoe in a really good way, they'd be good for a night out or a day shopping! The pair from New Look are my favourite out of the two, I love the lace detailing covering the shoes and the bow just adds a little something extra to give it a real fancy feel. I know ballet flats (or dolly shoes as we call them here) aren't necessarily always practical for this time of year, but they'd be great for a party or a meal out as well as for those rare dry days we get in Winter worn with a skirt or dress and some tights :)

The wedge.

Left - New Look £24.99

Right - Select £20

Two very different types of wedge here. The new look pair are more for a night on the town or a nice meal, aaand there's more buckles! I know there are plenty of wedges that are pretty much the same as these without the buckles, but I think they always look so plain! They're quite high, so I don't think I'd buy them myself, they'd end up on half the night and then being cursed for giving me blisters the other half! They are nice though and quite reasonably priced. The pair of wedge trainers are so in right now, I've seen them everywhere! Great for those of you who want a little extra height during the day or who love heels and just want something casual. They look really comfy as well and I love the fact they're not just plain black. Might have to purchase them if I go in Select anytime soon.

The casual 'everyday' shoe

Left - Converse @ Bank £45

Right - Superdry @ Bank £65

Everyone needs a good old pair of Converse taking lead of their shoe collection. I'm ashamed to say I don't actually own a pair, but I really need to get some soon! Maybe for Christmas.. Converse are literally the comfiest shoes I've ever worn and they go with absolutely anything. The Superdry pair are similar to converse high tops, and they look so darn comfy and will see you right through winter and probably be worn for years to come, just like the low top converse. Out of the two, I definitely lean towards the converse, mainly because of price and I find it easier to wear jeans with low top trainers.

Well there you have it! There's my official A/W picks for casual (mostly) shoes; some of them at a right steal price! Have you seen any other styles you've fallen in love with on the shelves lately? Let me know below :)

Hope you all had a great weekend xo.

Wardrobe Revival, from day to night!

Been trying to create new outfits by reusing certain items I've had for god knows how long and it's harder than you'd think! I had a tutorial today in Leicester and went out for a coffee (I say went for a coffee, I had tea, hate coffee!) with a friend afterwards so thought I'd wear something a bit different than my usual jeggings and a vest top. 

The item I'm reusing here is the bodycon skirt which can pretty much be bought anywhere, I got this particular one ages and ages ago so really don't remember where from I'm afraid! The red swing top  from Boohoo goes great with the skirt, I can never find tops that go well with this skirt so it's hardly been worn. The biker jacket is pretty new, was a spur of the moment purchase while online shopping the other day from Select for only £25! The wedges are also a little old from New Look, I found these alternatives also from New Look for only £19.99. I didn't actually wear the wedges out today, but I think this would be a great night out outfit especially as it's getting colder! I don't understand those girls who still go out in the dead of winter with no jacket on, tis just crazy!

Here's the daytime version of the outfit. I don't know why I automatically put my hand on my hip in full length pictures... It's pretty much the same but with a slouchy cardigan I only bought because I was cold walking around Asda earlier! It's amazing how much difference a jacket can make to an outfit! I wore this with a pair of black flat boots but I think a comfy pair of Uggs would go perfectly. 

That's two outfits I've managed to recycle now, feeling quite proud of myself. I'll have to have a rifle through and see what I have for next week :)

xo.

Glossybox October review

So it's that time again, I must say I quite like getting my five little make up samples in the post each month. I like trying something new that I've never tried before, helps to broaden my make up horizons :)

The theme this month was Dark Romance and I, like so many other subscribers was pretty excited. We were all imagining the different lipsticks and eye shadows and what not we'd be getting through our doors come mid October.

Here's this month's box. It's just the standard pink Glossybox box, not like the fancy Union Jack one we got last month which is now home to my many eyeshadows (hmm may do a make up storage post, keep an eye out!). I was so excited for this box as I've recently just dyed my hair back to black (was supposed to be dark brown, don't get me started on these silly hair dyes and their reactions to my hair..) and I couldn't wait to use all the dark themed products. As you can see we didn't get many.

First up lets talk about the (in my opinion) worst idea of the bunch. Vita Liberata skin illuminator in Latte. It's £29.95 per 30ml bottle, so quite pricey, but Glossybox do promise us the more high end stuff as well! The reason this is the worst idea to me is not that it's just tan (and you all know my fear of fake tan as mentioned in Facing the Fear) but if you actually follow the link to the site it looks so so dark. I mean I'm not exactly Snow White (well I am a little more so with this hair) but I'm still pretty darn white. There's no way that this tan would not go wrong on my skin so I've not even opened it. It might be good you never know! If any of you not so pale people wanna give it a go be my guest and let me know how it is!

Next up is the Harmony moisturising smoothie serum priced at £22.50 per 50ml, again, a little pricey for such a small bottle. I'm not entirely sure if this is a primer or if it's a moisturiser as the card says it's to 'prep and prime your skin' but then it's a moisturising serum so god knows. I've only used it once and I used it as a serum before putting on my usual moisturiser. Harmony are a brand that caters to women between 25-60 who want affordable skin care that will help any skin type from sensitive skin to adult acne sufferers. This particular serum is supposed to help soothe redness which I'm  not really a sufferer of so I didn't really reap the benefits so to speak. It does smell pretty good though, made with Lemongrass oil and it's not a thick formula so it doesn't feel like you've caked on too much product even with your normal moisturiser and primer on top. 

Would I buy? I don't think so, mainly because it just isn't anything I really need and it's quite expensive.

The second primer type product of the bunch. Why we needed two I do not know. This is the Monu skin illuminating primer for all skin types with SPF 15, it comes in at £24.95 per 100ml, so not too bad. I'm pretty new to primers I'll admit, having only used my little Fashionista bottle I got in my MUA haul a couple months back, but I can find that one a little greasy when everything else has been applied. This  one I'll admit is pretty great. It reminds me of those little hotel shampoo and conditioner bottles they put out in the more fancy of establishments. It smells pretty good, the word that comes to mind is 'neutral', as in it doesn't really have a strong fragrance it's just fresh if you know what I mean? If not don't worry about it I'm just rambling nonsense again! I've been using this everyday since I got my box last Tuesday and although the formula is quite thick it's not greasy and it does make my make up stay all day. You only need a little splodge to lightly cover your face before applying foundation and you're all set to go!

Would I buy? Hmm, it is on my 'maybe' list for now, it's a pretty good product but I really want to try the clinique ones before I commit.

This is the Katy Perry Killer Queen perfume which can be found at boots for £22.99 per 30ml. Why are perfumes so darn expensive?! I'm pretty rubbish at describing fragrances to be honest, but this one has a real fruity smell to it, with a mix of some sort of flowery note. It does tell you in the card it comes in what it smells like but if you're like me, what the top and bottom notes are won't really help with your perfume purchase. Compared to the amazing smell that was the Elizabeth Arden Untold of last month, this doesn't come near. I am still in love with it and will be bribing someone to buy me it for Christmas! This Katy Perry one is a very small sample, I've only sprayed it three times and it's already a quarter finished! Like the majority of other perfumes made by singers is nothing really all too special. It's nice, yes, but it's not something that would have me rushing out to stores to pick up.

Would I buy? Compared to other perfumes out there it doesn't really make my top five.

Now for the Pièce de résistance of the box; the Cherub's blush lip and cheek tint from Mememe cosmetics. This is the only full sized sample in the box (which was disappointing, but the other products are a little more high end so I suppose we've still got our money's worth) coming in at only £5.50 per 12ml bottle. This is by far the best product in the box and I've been using it religiously this past week. I haven't actually used it on my cheeks as going by the colour in the second image, it is way too dark to be put straight onto my skin. I have quite dark lips anyway so this just brings out the colour a little and makes them pop. It's probably the only thing in the box that keeps in touch with the Dark Romance theme it supposedly has, unless you can count the dark tan! It's actually the first lip stain I've tried and I'm pretty happy with it. And it's also made me confident I can rock dark lips without looking too over done so expect some new lipstick posts in the near future!

Would I buy? Definitely would!

Overall verdict: 6/10

Mainly because I didn't think it was actually a 'Dark Romance' box. I didn't initially like the box at all but after trying out the products I was quite pleased. Hopefully you can do a little better on your contents next month though Glossybox!

Have a great weekend everyone xo.

Out with the old, in with the new!

From the title, you might have guessed I've been buying more things I probably shouldn't be. But in my defence I did spend way less that I'd intended to. You might have remembered a while back I was complaining about my skin and how I was on the lookout for a new cleanser, toner and moisturiser for the winter to fight the miserable freezing rain and the bitter winds. In fact here's that post here - Daily Skin.

I did quite a lot of research and I was all set on buying from Lookfantastic.com but it ended up on being near on £60 for the products I was looking at and considering I have a child and it's nearly Christmas, I had to refrain. But, I found these little gems when I was out shopping the other week.

First up the cleanser. This can be found at Boots for £4.99 Now I've been getting on pretty well with my Bright eyes eye cream from Good Things (review can be found here: Good morning bright eyes) and thought that I'd give them a chance on cleansers as well. The words 'fresh start' caught my eye as that's exactly what we all want in the morning, a fresh face for a fresh day, am I right? I love the fact that all Good Things products are free from any bad toxins and crappy stuff that might be sneaking their way into other products (not saying they are but can never be too sure when you have sensitive skin!). It's got 'super fruit extracts' which apparently boost your skin and get rid of all that nasty dirt and make up residue you might have not had time to take off the night before. It's a pretty creamy texture and you just rub onto a dry face in light circles for a minute then gently wash it all away. Although it's quite a thick formula, it's not actually one of those cleansers that stick to your face and are a nightmare of scrubbing to get off. Another plus is that it smells pretty amazing, as I've found is a constant with Good Things products. After washing off it does what it promises - your skin feels boosted, clean and ready for the day! Definitely would recommend.

Now the toner. This was also from Boots and only £3.99 for a 200ml bottle! This has actually got to be one of my favourite toners that I've used. It's the usual drill, pour some onto a cotton pad and rub all over your face and let it dry. It gives your skin a real tingly feeling after you've finished and it gets rid of any excess dirt your cleanser just hasn't reached, which means it can be good for a quick fix if you don't have much time to be thoroughly washing your face in the morning. It says it's triple active meaning it gets rid of any impurities, is for sensitive skin (yay!) and leaves it 'velvety smooth'. I must agree with all of these points. It just makes my skin feel oh so clean (even after the cleanser!) and it doesn't make your face feel dry or tight after use like I've found with quite a lot of toners. Again it smells pretty great, can't really explain what it smells of, but it's good. Another one I'd recommend and at only £3.99 it's a steal.

Another pink bottle! This one was from Boots at £5.99, so the most expensive of the bunch but still really cheap. This is from Garnier's new moisture match selection and this is the one for dry skin. It rounds out my purchase at a perfect 10 for all three products! It's a really thick formula so you only need about two pea sized amounts for your whole face which is really good as the bottle is only 50ml. I'm always a bit worried about moisturisers as the creamier ones I usually go for usually leave your face feeling really really greasy but this one does the opposite! It absorbs into your skin really quickly, leaving it feeling silky smooth, it's even sorted out the oily bit I have on my chin so I'm pretty darn happy. The only downside to it is it did sting a tiny bit around my eyes but I do have a cold at the moment, so that might have just been because my eyes are already a little irritated. Besides that I think it's a really good buy and they also do four others;

Protect and glow illuminating light lotion

Which is perfect for 'lacklustre' skin and gives it a healthy glow.

Shine be gone mattifying cream

For those of you who have combination skin which can get a bit shiny throughout the day.

Start afresh light softening cream

For normal to dry skin to give it a smooth hydrated feel but not as intense as the one I bought

Wake me up revitalising hydrating gel

Perfect for dull skin that needs a little pick me up, might actually try this one myself.

All together the products only cost me £14.97 which is perfect as they're things I really needed but couldn't really afford to splash out on and also they've turned out to be perfect for me!

Have you found your new winter skincare products? Or are you going to stick to your tried and tested favourites? Let me know below! xo.

Moisturising in the shower, who knew?

Apologies for the lack of posts the last few days I've been ill and every time I sat down to write I just didn't have the enthusiasm for it! Darn weather's giving me a cold and it's one of those horrible head colds so not had the best of weeks.
If you read blogs regularly like I do you'll have seen the Nivea in shower body moisturiser on many blogs, I first saw it on one of my personal favourite bloggers pages (Dizzy Brunette) back in July and I've been meaning to get round to trying it. You'll never guess where I found it......... yep! That's right! Tesco beauty section! Ahh I really need to stay out of that shop.. I've spent more money on make up and skincare since they opened that I've ever spent in Tesco combined!

Here's what it looks like :) It's a pretty huge bottle and was half price at only £2.49 the perfect time to buy it! I'm sure you can buy this pretty much anywhere from Asda to Superdrug so it's really accessible. As for the stuff itself it strangely comes out like sun cream.. But it doesn't exactly rub in like sun cream or smell like it (which I was disappointed in I love that smell). I've been using it just over a week now and I must say my skin does feel great! And those little dry patches I've been getting on my arms have disappeared so I'm going to give Nivea the credit. 

It's definitely worth buying as it does wonders for your skin and it's really easy to use just rub on like normal shower gel then rinse it off :) The only problem I've had is that you need to make sure it's all off or you will end up with little dots of it, scared the hell out of me when I saw these white spots on my feet the first time I used it! All in all I'd definitely recommend buying and hopefully your Tesco has it on half price as well and you can snap up a bargain!

Hope you all had a great weekend off out for food, the Carvery is calling me!

xo.

The perfect FIT

Okay so I may have slipped up and also somehow found a new bottle of foundation that had plonked itself into my basket at Tesco (I don't actually spend as much time there as it seems, I promise!). After my Rimmel stay matte foundation sample review I decided to purchase it as I became quite attached. But, as I've mentioned, my skin's been pretty dry lately and I've found that the mousse formula seems to be making it look worse so I thought I'd try for a new liquid foundation.

On my Tesco wander I was drawn to a big sign that was crossing out the usual price of £7, marking something down to £3.99 so naturally, I had to go and have a look and I found this!

It's the  the Maybelline FIT me foundation. The website doesn't actually have the shade I chose on there, but they've got them all in store and a handy little chart that shows you what concealer you should be using going by your foundation colour. It's in a funky little glass bottle and I think it'll last me a lot longer than the tiny Rimmel Stay Matte tube that's already a quarter empty after the short time I've had it.

It comes with a pump applicator, so it's a lot easier to actually get out, but careful as you don't want too much to come out at once! This is what it looks like (right) out of the bottle and it did scare me as it's quite light. Luckily it's actually very close to my skin tone and just gives it a subtle glow which is always a good thing, nobody likes the oopma loompa look! It does give an even coverage (I used my foundation brush though, wouldn't recommend a sponge as it's quite runny and would just soak it all up) and it doesn't make you too shiny like some liquid foundations can do. Also it's really light and you barely feel like you have any make up on at all! 

The only problem I have with this compared to the stay matte is I do still need concealer with this foundation, which I don't have any of at the moment so I've been using the stay matte as a concealer for under my eyes. 

Time for me to rush around getting Tayla off to nursery, have a good day everyone :) 

xo