FOTD #2

Hi everyone, I have another FOTD post for you today. I wanted a soft smokey eye for the day time with a pinky nude lip. Here are the products I used...

Complexion:

The PoreFessional- Benefit

Rimmel Match Perfection Foundation mixed with Loreal True Match

Rimmel Wake Me Up Concealer (undereyes, forehead, nose, cupids bow and chin)

Collection Loose Powder (Translucent)

Bourjois Chocolate Bronzer (to contour)

Rimmel Good To Glow (cheek bones, forehead, nose, cupids bow and chin)

Bourjois Chocolate Highlighter (cheek bones, forehead, nose, cupids bow and chin)

Pink Cult Blush-MAC

Anastasia Beverley Hills Dip Brow Pomade-Taupe

Rimmel Brow This Way-Blonde

Eyes:

Primer Potion- Urban Decay in Sin

Buck- Urban Decay (crease)

Suspect-UD (lid)

Busted- UD (crease, outer corner and smoked under the eye)

Blackout- UD (to line the base of the lashes)

Vanilla- MAC (brow highlight)

Rimmel Extra 3D Lash Mascara

Lips:

Angel- MAC

And there you have everything that is on my face!

What are you favourite products for a day time smokey eye?

Hair Growth with Lee Stafford.

If you've been reading my blog for a while you'll know that last summer I cut off about 15 inches of my hair and emerged from the salon with a relatively short A line bob, which I absolutely loved. It's was short, it was light and it was quick to dry. This was a major relief after having hair past my waist that was long and thick and would just take ages to do anything with.

A year on, the moment of "I miss my long hair" has finally hit and the time to re-grow my locks is upon me. I'm the kind of person that goes from loving something to loathing it really quickly...Which means that I'm also quite impatient, so I'm doing everything I can to grow my hair out as quickly as possible. I should mention that my hair has actually already grown a fair bit. It's somewhere between my shoulders and my boobs, so it's already long, just no where near long enough.

That where the Lee Stafford Treatment For Hair That Never Grows Past A Certain Length comes in.

Here is a picture of my hair before I started using the treatment:

I will do an update post when I've finished the treatment, so you can see the full extent of the growth, but for now I can report that it seems to be working!

The treatment itself retails for between £8 and £9 but I managed to pick up two for £10 at Boots, so keep an eye on their offers. I've already used up one tub, and got about 7-8 applications out of it. I used a palm full of the product, worked it all around my hairline, massaged it into my scalp and then worked what was left down the mid-shaft and ends of my hair. I then leave the product on for 5 minutes and rinse out. I should add, you do this step after shampooing and before conditioning.

Like I said earlier I have already noticed a difference, but I'm going to continue with the treatment and see how much progress has occurred once I finish up the second tub.

Do you know of any great hair growth products?

A peek inside the September Glossy Box

 

The September Glossy Box landed on my doorstep this morning so I thought I'd go ahead and show you what's inside. Obviously I havent had a chance to actually use the products yet, so keep your eyes peeled in the next few weeks for an in depth review.

This months box is the style edition, perfectly timed with London Fashion Week, so it promised to be a good box...Here's what's inside....

Bellapierre Shimmer Powder (£12.99)- This is a loose eyeshadow in the shade Whesek (I think). It's a great gunmental grey colour which will work really nicely as a wash of colour all of the lid or really built up for a smokey look. I'm looking froward to trying this out.

To go along with the eyeshadow we have the Eyeshadow Brush Pro from Marsk (£16.70)- This is a synthetic flat shading brush. I'm probably more likely to use this for concealer, as I prefer rounder blending brushes for my eyeshadow, but the quality of the brush feels lovely.

Maria Nila Luminous Colour Masque (£18.95)- This is a super thick hair masque, especially designed for coloured hair. It's sulphate and paraben free AND it's 100% vegan which is super difficult to find in hair products. I've heard good things about this brand so I can't wait to slather this on my hair.

Invisibobble Traceless Hair Ring (£4.00)- Glossybox have included three of these. They are essentially hair bobbles but in a spiral design to optimise hold but also protect the hair. Not the pretties but promises to be gentle on the hair. They're more expensive than your regular hair ties, but I'll give them a go.

The final product is a Nails Inc nail polish in the shade Battersea Park (£11). This is a straight up khaki nail colour. Khaki is a colour that I'm completely in love with at the moment, however, it wouldn't be my first choice for a nail shade. But, actually seeing this is the flesh has kind of changed my mind. I'll be trying this on my nails today so I'll feature it in a Mani Monday soon and let you know my thoughts on it.

And there we have the September Glossy Box. What do you think?

University Essentials/ What to Take to University.

As the time to pack up home and head off to university approaches for a lot of young people up and down the country, I thought I'd share my advice and compile a list of all of the essentials, plus a few extra bits that you'll need for university. No matter how organised you might think you are, there are bound to be things that you will forget. So here's my guide to what to take with you.... P.S I can't quite believe it's been a whole year since I moved to uni for the first time...scary how quickly time passes by!

• Bedding- Duvet, Pillows & Sheets
• Laundry Basket/ Bag + Things for washing
• Shower Caddy/ Something to carry to the bathrooms ( if you have to share)
• Slippers
• Door stop
• Snacks
• Laptop/Desktop and Stationary
• Earplugs 
• Alarm clock
• Kitchen bits (if you're in self-catered accommodation) 
• Towels
• Paperwork that you may need for registration
• ID
• Headphones
• Printer (not necessarily an essential, but handy to have)
• Medication and Plasters 
• Extension leads (there are NEVER enough plugs)

Of course you'll also need clothes as well! Uni rooms are usually pretty small so I would suggest taking clothes that are appropriate for the season. You'll most likely go home at Christmas and Easter, ans maybe in between if your uni is close to home, so you can swap clothes around then.

A few non-essential items I'd suggest are photos of friends and family, posters, fairy lights (if allowed) and maybe your favourite DVDs or books to keep you entertained when you want a quiet night in.

Is there anything else you can think of?

Home Made Chocolate Brownies

You know how this goes by now... I had a craving for something, took to the internet to find a recipe and then I made it. The result was super yummy, dense, chocolatey brownies that are just amazing. I thought I share the recipe with you all!

You will need:

3/4 cup of flour

1 1/2 cup of sugar

3/4  cup of cocoa powder

3/4 cup of butter (melted)

1/2 cup of chocolate

3 eggs

Icing sugar

Method:

Combine the flour, sugar and cocoa powder together in a bowl. Mix it all together.

Once mixed, add the melted butter and stir.

When you have a gloopy texture add the three eggs and work them into the mixture.

Chop half a cup of chocolate of your choice (or use choc chips.) Throw these in the batter and mix together.

Pour the mixture into a baking tray lined with baking parchment.

Bake for 20-30 at 165 degrees (325 F).

Pop a knife or cocktail stick in the centre to check it is cooked (this should come out clean.)

Tip out of the baking tray and leave to cool.

Once cooled, cut the brownies into squares. Dust with a little icing sugar and serve!

These brownies are super easy to make, don't require many ingredients are are so so tasty! 

What's your favourite sweet treat?

August Glossy Box

I'm brand new to the world of subscription boxes, so you may already be fed up of hearing what everyone is getting every month, but I wanted to share my box with you as I think there are some interesting products in there. This wont be a review at all as I've barely tried anything yet, I'm literally just sharing with you what I've received.

Manna Kadar Conditioning Lash Primer- A classic white lash primer. I've used this a few times so far and I really like it!

Mememe Lip Glide- This is one of those chubby lip pencil type products. This month's colour is a matte coral. Whilst the shade isn't really my thing, I really like the texture of the product.

Emite Colour Blush- This is a pro Swedish brand- the quality seems great and this is a full size product. Very impressed.

Noabay Cleansing Face Toner- Totally organic, super fresh and kind to skin. You can't go wrong with a great toner.

Sass Purifying Cleanser- This is branded as an "intimate cleanser". May not be your thing but give it a go, you might enjoy it!

August Favourites

Hello and welcome back to my monthly favourites! I missed out on doing this post last month due to illness and moving house, so as well as August favourites I'm also throwing in a few of my favourites from July too!

First up is the cult classic, Nuxe Reve de Miel. It's a super thick lip balm, packed with good stuff and it smells like oranges. I held off buying this for a while as it retails for around £9 in the UK depending on where you get it from...I thought that it was silly to spend that much on a lip balm, but honestly it's totally worth it. The glass jar also gives it an added luxe feel and it thoroughly hydrates the lips leaving them plump and chap free.

Next up is the Good to Glow liquid illuminator from Rimmel. I've really been in to highlighting over the past few months so I thought I'd give a liquid formula a go. You can either apply this under makeup, on top of it, or mix it in to your foundation for a really glowy finish. I like to take a small amount and tap it over my cheek bones once I've finished my based. It's subtle and leaves a really healthy glow on the skin.

Another complexion favourite this month is the MAC blush in Pink Cult. It's a cool toned matte pink blush that just goes with everything and it lasts for ages on the skin. As always with MAC check products it has a great texture to it and blends seamlessly.

Moving on to eyes...I'm a big lover of liquid liner, but I tend to stick to black- it's a bit of a staple in my makeup bag. However I thought I branch out into the world of colour and picked up the Collection Extreme 24 Hour Felt Tip Liner in Purple. I've used the Collection liner before in black so I knew the quality and staying power was good. The purple isn't immediately noticeable as it's a dark purple, but it just adds a little something to your everyday look. 

Another favourite for the eyes in an old favourite of mine..the Clinique High Impact Mascara. I havent had it in ages so it's really nice to use it again. It gives the perfect amount of lift and fullness to the lash, is really black and stays on all day.

L'Oreal have recently launched a new range of lip glosses to replace the old Glam Shine range (which I really loved), so I picked out a nude to check out the formula. I went for the cream formula in shade 103 Protest Queen. It's basically the perfect creamy nude gloss...great worn on it's own or layered over other products. It's not too sticky and actually lasts pretty well on the lips.

I have two nails favourites and they're both from Essie. Fiji is a summer staple as it's just so classic and instantly makes me feel tanned. A newer addition is Salt Water Happy, which has been released as part of the limited edition summer collection. It's the perfect pale cornflour blue and I absolutely love it. I've been looking for a cornflour blue for ages and Essie have got it just right.

My final favourite is a new fragrance...You'll have all seen that the Body Shop have been killing it recently with their new launches; the Spa of the World Collection and the new fragrance line. Well, everyones been going mad about the Fig fragrance so I popped into a store to give it a sniff. But it was actually the Indian Night Jasmine scent that got me. It's kind of difficult to describe, but it's a woody oriental fragrance with some serious depth to it. Honestly it just smells amazing & I've had many compliments when I've been wearing it, so i'd highly suggest that you go and check it out!!

And there we have my favourite from July/ August! What products have you been loving over the summer months?