My (uber belated) May favourites

I know, I know it's June 18th and I'm posting my May favourites. Poor effort from me but number one -working full time and blogging doesn't always go hand in hand, number two - my laptop went in for repair this month and number three - my OCD just wouldn't allow me to miss a monthly favourites post! Oh and Alix from I Covet Thee only posted her May favourites the other day, so it must be acceptable! *wink Emoji*

So now I've done my explaining, I shall proceed with what beauty products in particular I enjoyed using throughout May. This is a slightly smaller favourites post than usual but as we get into the summer months, I try to use as little amount of products as possible... Nobody likes a hot mess!

Right, enough rambling, here are the products:

Clarins The Essentials Eye Make-Up Palette - £35

Ah, The Essentials Palette, or as I lovingly dub it: "the Naked Palette's older, more sophisticated sister". This came out last winter and I've tried my hardest to play down my love for this palette because I know it's going to end in tears...You see it's sadly limited edition and I don't think you can purchase this anymore *Sob*. On the surface this palette looks like your standard neutral eye palette but trust me it's so much more than that. This 10 shade palette is just divine, I adore the Naked Palettes I do, but this palette is just so much more chic, due to its sophisticated array of (mostly) metallic shades. All shades are extremely wearable day or night. I'm a shimmery eye shadow girl but I've got to say I even love the two matte shades here which is unlike me.

Benefit Creaseless Cream Shadow - £15.50

Another neutral, metallic eye product Naomi, really? Yes really. Throughout May I reached for this little beauty, whether I was wearing this alone all over the lid or as a base for other eye shadows. It's a lovely product and the colour is gorgeous too. It's a champagney, gold colour with a frosted finish. This lasts all day on me. Lovely, lovely.

Superdrug Coconut Oil - £2.29

I picked this up from my local Superdrug in May after noticing Coconut Oil was doing the rounds in the blogging community and I decided I wanted in on the action! Despite Coconut Oil being renowned for being an excellent multi-use product I've only used it on the ends of my hair so far, post wash. It's keeping my ends looking, feeling and smelling great, and I'm hoping it delays my next trip to the hairdressers by at least another fortnight! Another added perk, it's cheap as chips!

Barry M's Hi Shine Gel Effect Nail Paint in Lychee - £3.99

I don't need to say too much about this product surely? If you're a regular reader of my blog you'll have seen this Nail Polish formula and this particular shade appear in a number of my posts. I painted my nails in Lychee a number of times in May. Overall, I love the formula, it leaves my nails looking glossy and it remains chip-free for a good number of days, and I love the colour, it's a highly wearable nude-grey.


That was short and sweet but it's good to be back. I've got plenty of ideas lined up for upcoming posts, including some venturing into new Better Ni than Never territory... It won't all be beauty, look out for some fashion posts and maybe even a non-beauty favourites post soon! Thanks for reading!

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Having a moment with... Barry M's Hi Shine Gel Effect Nail Paints

My nails in Sugar Apple .

My nails in Lychee *swoon*.

Looking down at my brightly painted nails today something occurred to me... I'm having a real moment with Barry M's Hi Shine Gel Effect Nail Paints.

Last week I wore one of last year's shades, Lychee for a number of days. Anyone that knows me/reads my blog, knows my love of this beautiful nude-grey shade. It's incredibly versatile, it goes with just about anything. It's a practical daytime shade but it also adds that little something to a 'night out' outfit.

Moving on from the colour, I must now praise the formula because I've got to say it's up there with the best of them. In two coats, you get glossy nails that remain chip-free for at least four days.

After enjoying wearing Lychee again and resisting the new spring shades for SO long (well March BUT two months is a long time and hell of a lot of willpower for a beauty blogger *wink emote*), I decided to treat myself to one so I went for Sugar Apple, a bright yet muted (does that make sense?), pastel turquoise mint.

I've been wearing it since Saturday and it's still chip-free and looking lovely. I've now got my sights set on another spring shade, Huckleberry, which is a pale baby blue. I believe the summer shades are now out too, however I am yet to see those in the "flesh".

Barry M's Hi Shine Gel Effect Nail Paints can be purchased via all the usual outlets, such as Boots and Superdrug, and at £3.99 a pop, you can't really go wrong can you?

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April favourites

Despite April probably being the busiest month of the year so far, it was definitely my favourite month of 2014 yet. Lots of hard work was done but there were a couple of lovely birthdays celebrated, my best friend, Craig has gone to work in Mallorca for six months, despite feeling sad that he's gone, I'm thrilled that he's having a wonderful time over there, oh and there's been plenty of blog progress, including a lovely little revamp - thanks to the boyfriend for that. Oh and I'm sorry to be a total fangirl BUT... *cough* the wonderful Essie Button shared my blog with her 76k+ Twitter followers *cough* - she enjoyed my Essie Button made me... post! Win!

So yep, April was pretty good but now I shall hush up and crack on with my most loved and reached for beauty products of the past month, and I've got to say, it's quite a luxurious list. Here goes:

Urban Decay Naked 3 Palette - £37

If I could use any iPhone Emoji to sum up my feelings on this palette, it would be the 'heart-eyes' one, you know the one! I've had this little treasure of a palette for just over a month now and I adore it. Throughout April I reached for this palette on a number of occasions to create some lovely night time looks. One look I enjoyed creating in particular, was a subtle shimmery eye teamed with some winged liquid eyeliner. This look finished off my outfit at one of my best friend's 21st birthday Gatsby party perfectly. The shades I used to create this look were Dust - an extremely shimmery, peachy pink with A LOT of glitter, Buzz - a glittery, satin rose, and Nooner - a matte taupe. I wore Nooner all over the lid and finished the look off with the shimmery, glittery shades and of course, the winged liner. (Apologies for not having any pictures of this eye look!) I know this is a favourites post but I do have one gripe with one shade in this palette and oddly enough, the shade is Dust - that I have just mentioned. There is far too much fall out in Dust! Other than that, it's a stunning palette.

Ciate Paint Pot in Pocket Money - £9

This was another beauty product that finished off the Gatsby party look. It's a beautiful nude shade, that's somewhat pinkier than your typical nude nail polish. It's an extremely elegant shade and the formula is lovely. It lasted me a good four to five days without any highly noticeable chipping. This is a little pinkier than Nooner, in the Naked 3 Palette. Being a sucker for pretty packaging, I must say the bottle is presented beautifully with a lovely black ribbon to finish it off. Trés elegant.

Chanel Rouge Allure Velvet Luminous Matte Lipstick in 33 La Distinguée - £26

This is not just an April favourite, this is a lifetime and a day favourite. I reached for this little beauty a number of times in April and as always, it finished off any look, day or night, gorgeously. La Distinguée is a moderately dusty pink with a very subtle hint of peach. It's beautiful and my all time favourite lipstick shade. This isn't a Gatsby party themed post I swear, but teaming this with the Naked 3 Palette and Ciate's Pocket Money was just a dusty pink dream! Despite its matte formula, I don't find this drying at all. Look out for a post dedicated to this lipstick in future because as you can tell I adore it. 

Stila Stay All Day Waterproof Liquid Eyeliner - £13

This product featured in my Essie Button made me... post. I've worn a winged eye a number of times this month and I've absolutely loved it. The pen makes the detestable liquid eyeliner application process somewhat less detestable for me - big praise indeed! As I've previously said, it's the perfect black liquid eyeliner for me and it does not budge all day/evening.


La Roche-Posay Effaclar Duo + Plus - £15.50 *

Its predecessor featured in my February favourites and since using the revamped version over the past month, I'm smitten. This product reduces any redness that comes after any skin outbreaks and I've found its actually improved the overall redness of my skin, which has given me the confidence to go a number of days foundation-free during April! See here for a full review of this.



Have a fab May and lovely Bank Holiday weekend all - I'm off to watch McBusted tonight in Birmingham, so I'm a tad excited to say the least! Thanks for reading!

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Essie Button made me...

The title of today's post speaks volumes about me. Firstly, I'm a beauty addict but an easily led beauty addict at that. A product can sell itself to me but occasionally I do need the gentle nudge of fellow beauty bloggers to inspire a purchase... or eight.

This post features eight products I bought largely off the back of glowing reports from one of my favourite beauty bloggers, Estée from Essie Button. If you don't know who Estée is, she's a Canadian blogger, vlogger and YouTuber, who lives in London. She blogs under the name of Essie Button. Her blog is a joy to read and her videos are equally brilliant to watch. She's utterly hilarious, has superb taste in all things beauty, skincare and life in general, oh and she's ACE! Right, enough of the Essie Button love fest and onto the products:

Barry M Hi Shine Gel Effect Nail Polish in Lychee - £3.99

With their vast array of colours and reasonable price tag, Barry M's nail polishes are some of the best offerings on the high street. However, their Gel Effect Nail Polish formula really is something special. In two coats, you get wonderfully shiny nails that don't chip easily. Last year, Estée (and the rest of us, including myself) fell in love with the shade, Lychee, which is a lovely nude-grey shade. Ideal for daily wear.

Stila Stay All Day Waterproof Liquid Eyeliner - £13

Like most women out there I have a real love/hate relationship with liquid eyeliner. I hate applying it, however when it does go on well, I love it. Who doesn't love a good winged eye after all? Estée has sang this product's praises no end, she claimed it was the best liquid eyeliner she's ever tried. With that kind of review, how could I leave Boots without this? Unsurprisingly, this has lived up to her rave reviews. It's the perfect black liquid liner, the pen makes for easy application and it doesn't budge throughout the day!

Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Lip Balm Stain in Honey - £7.99

Estée’s readers know her love of Revlon's range of lip products. These Clinique Chubby Stick dupes took the high street by storm around two years ago and I do see why I suppose. I found these products okay but just that unfortunately, I have the shade Honey (Estée's fave), which is a lovely, 'your lips but better' kind of pink. My gripe with this product is it fades so easily, which is fine for some but I don't tend to reapply my make-up too much throughout the day, so it's a little annoying for me. Thankfully this kind of shade isn't too high maintenance, so it doesn't look silly once it has faded but it is just as though nothing was ever there. A plus point however, is the minty scent. I love mint scented lip products!

Revlon ColorBurst Lip Butter in Strawberry Shortcake and Tutti Frutti - £7.99

More Revlon lip products here. The beauty blogging community went mad for these, including Estée, of course and I can totally see why. These are somewhere between a lip balm and a lipstick and they are lovely. They're extremely hydrating and there are a brilliant variety of shades to choose from. I opted for Strawberry Shortcake, which is another one of those 'your lips but better' pinks, and Tutti Frutti, which is an orangey coral. These go on sheer, which means their staying power isn't incredible but having such a balm like formula, I was expecting that really.

Maybelline EyeStudio Color Tattoo 24hr Cream Gel Eyeshadow in On and On Bronze - £4.99

A product that Estée and every other blogger adores, including myself! This cream formula eyeshadow is excellent worn alone or as a base for other eyeshadows - it makes a wonderful companion for Urban Decay's Naked Palette I've got to say! Despite its low price tag, its longevity and quality mirrors that of a high end branded product. Estée's signature shade is On and On Bronze or Bad to the Bronze, as its named in the States and Canada.

Bobbi Brown Corrector in Porcelain Bisque - £18.50

I love this, Estée loves this... (Did you read that to the tune of the Barney the Dinosaur theme tune...? No, sorry, I will carry on). I love this little wonder, as you will know if you read my February favourites post. This works fantastically to combat that sometimes dark under eye area of mine. Its slight pink tint cancels out the darkness and with it having a creamier consistency than most concealers, it works a little better for me in my under eye area. A total gem, thank you Estée for introducing me to this.

Dior Hydra Life BB Eye Creme - £30

Last year, Estée and I had something in common, we ventured into the wonderful - albeit expensive world of Dior cosmetics and we fell for them, hook line and sinker. A BB eye creme sounds ridiculously extravagant and quite frankly unnecessary, and yes it is BUT this is a lovely product. The coverage is by no means heavy duty at all, which may not satisfy some but I'm all about the no make-up make-up look and this works great for me. The price tag is the product's only real snag but it's Dior, need I say anymore? (Poet and I did not know it)

Hope you enjoyed reading this post. Are there any beauty bloggers that inspired some of your beauty purchases? If so, what products were they and what bloggers tempted you into those purchases?

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No7 Spring 2014 Collection

As we're finally bidding farewell to the dark, cold winter months, Boots' No7 line has launched a number of beautifully bright spring products which are sure to give us all a welcome boost.

This new season collection features plenty of on-trend brights, pastels and shimmers.

Recently Boots had 3 for 2 on pretty much EVERYTHING (make up, skincare, haircare, etc) and No7's spring collection happened to grab my attention at that time and I simply could not leave without making some naughty purchases.

I opted for the limited edition Peony Petals Blush Palette, the limited edition Stay Perfect Nail Colour in Spring Meadow and the Pop and Glow Cream Blush in Rose Blossom, which I believe isn't limited edition (YAY).

Peony Petals Blush Palette - £12

There was no chance I was going to leave Boots without picking up this gorgeous Blush/Highlighter duo. This has a pretty blend of pinks and highlighting petals, which will help you achieve a radiant looking complexion. This is a fairly shimmery product but applied lightly, this guarantees to brighten up your look, rather than make you look like a disco ball. It's not overly pigmented but it is buildable. I couldn't wait to use this but at the same time I didn't want to touch it, as it sits far too gorgeously in the pan to be ruined! It saddens me that this is limited edition.

Stay Perfect Nail Colour in Spring Meadow - £6

This is a lovely, glossy nail colour formula and it's what I'm wearing on my nails at the moment. It goes on fairly sheer, so you do need two coats of this. I think this looks a minty green shade in the bottle, whereas on my nails it looks somewhat turquoise-y green (but that could be my eyes?). Nonetheless, a great springtime shade. This is one of the two limited edition Nail Colours No7 have brought out for spring, the other being a pastel pink called Pink Blossom.

Pop and Glow Cream Blush in Rose Blossom - £9.95

This 'chubby stick-esque' packaged wonder is beautiful. This cream formula Blush gives you a real pop of colour and with it being highly pigmented, a little really does go a long way, so apply carefully or risk looking like Aunt Sally! I opted for the shade, Rose Blossom as this bright pink shade compliments my fair skin well. This also comes in two other shades, Mango Sorbet and Classic Rose. An added bonus is that this isn't limited edition (I think but correct me if I'm wrong).

I believe the limited edition products will be in Boots stores and online at www.boots.com until around May time, so I suggest you pick them up fast to avoid missing out on such loveliness!

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