December 2017 Favourites

First off, welcome to my first post of 2018! We are nearly half way through January 2018 and that is just mad to me!

Whilst I have lots of fun new and exciting posts coming up and things I want to try, I can't neglect the wonderful little happenings that were my December favourites.
 I will probably do a little post on some of the bits I got for Christmas too, so if you thought the festivities were over in January hop over here to relive the Christmas time.

Probably my most favourite item of December was my Ciate Advent Calender, £50, ciatelondon.com which my generous mum got for me! My youngest sister, Tanya Burr superfan Sophia got Tanya's 12 Sweet Days Beauty Calendar, £20, Boots and my vegan sister Charlotte was treated to the Lush 12 Days of Christmas, £67.50, Lush calendar. Although these differ in price, can I just say that these calendars suited each of us down to a tee so the fact she spent more on one of us than the other doesn't mean anything as we were all so chuffed, although as the clear middle favourite I'm just happy not to be last. I'M JOKING.

My 24 day calendar included 21 STUNNING nail colours, a nail treatment, gel top coat and a sparkly nail file. I will do a full post on this advent calendar complete with swatches of each colour because I can only do it it's full justice in one dedicated post which I will link back in this post so keep an eye out for that!

My next favourite item was the Beauty Pie Pro-Glow Superstrobing Drops, £4.18 (members price), beautypie.com. These drops give the perfect dewy highlight that made me feel like a Christmas angel.

These drops are 100% my favourite highlighting product I have ever used. They completely transform my complexion and make my skin look flawless. If I could hazard a guess, I'd say they were created in the same factory as the famous Custom Cover Drops by Cover FX which come in at £34.00. If you don't know about Beauty Pie or why I have written that previous sentence or why I have written "membership price", then go to this post where I explain how Beauty Pie works and why it is so amazing!

Another Beauty Pie product I have been loving in December is the Great Skin Foundation, £6.02 (membership price), beautypie.com which I didn't get on too well with at first. I don't know whether my skin was just not its best when I first tried this but recently I have been using this as my everyday foundation and I have really loved the final look! The coverage isn't full, but it covers just about every blemish I need too with feeling heavy and evens my skin tone.

In my previous post I talked about how much I love a lip kit that comes with the matching liner and this MAC Duo, £29.50, maccosmetics.co.uk was the perfect kit for the December time.

With the matte colour 'Diva' and liner 'Burgandy', this was a winning berry lip colour for me throughout December. I was recommended this colour when I had my makeup done at MAC Fenwick Tunbridge Wells ahead of the Royal Variety show, and I am so glad I purchased this as it has been so perfect for the Christmas time of year.

At the end of the day when removing all my makeup, my favourite cleanser has been the Sumptuous Camomile Cleansing Butter, £10, The Body Shop. This balm cleanser is so gentle on skin, and really soothed my eyelids when they flared up in December. They were really dry and itchy but the calming chamomile in this cleanser put them back to normal within a few day.s, and it removes every scrap of makeup.

For a pamper session, I loved this Snowfairy Jelly Bomb, £4.95, Lush which I believe they are not stocking anymore as it is a Christmas exclusive, but I was given this at a bloggers event and waited for the perfect evening to indulge, and it was a much better experience than the one I had with the dark arts jelly bomb which you can read about here. The jello bombs leave a thick jelly like layer on the top of the bath moisturising the skin, and generally giving you a fun old bath time. Snow Fairy is a very sweet, very girly collection and it left my bath bright pink.

I also really loved the Naked Lip Scrub, £5.95, Lush as my lips get very dry in the winter and lipstick doesn't go on very well to dry chapped lips, especially matte formulas such as the Diva lipstick mentioned above. I much prefer the new Lush lip scrub formula of it being in a solid balm as I found the sugar in the pots went everywhere and tended to waste a lot of product. These balms allow you to apply directly onto the lip so moisturises as it goes without being too abbrasive and it also saves on packaging which is good for the environment. Yey!

Thanks for reading my December favourites, and as always if there are any products you loved this past month that you think I should try please do suggest them! Be sure to come back and read my new exciting posts coming soon!

Get Ready With Me: Royal Variety Show Using Smashbox 'Light It Up Set'

This time last week, I was lucky enough to attend the Royal Variety Performance 2016.

My super boyfriend is a Graphic Designer and worked on the tickets, brochure and other huge center pieces that go into the evening. Due to his hard work, he was able to nab tickets to the show and the after party, AND with a plus one. Yey for me!

It was such an amazing evening. The show was at the Hammersmith Eventim Apollo, and on entering the champagne reception I knew it would be a special evening. I got to see various comedians as well as David Walliams who was the host. Performing were amazing artists such as Robbie Williams, Emeli Sande, Gary Barlow, Sting, and my absolute favourite of the evening, Lady Gaga. There were also scenes from some amazing musicals on the West End, dance performances and magicians. It really was spectacular, and I am so grateful that I was able to go.

The after party was so much fun. Hosted at The Grosvenor House Hotel in Mayfair, we were rubbing shoulders with celebrities (namely the Chuckle Brothers!) and were serveda huge four course dinner with bottomless wine. This is a lifestyle I could get used to. The Evening was also sponsored by BMW so there were loads of cool cars outside including an old bat mobil. One of my boyfriends jobs was to make a huge timeline for the Royal Variety and also BMW, as well as designing the large stickers that went on the sides of the cars.

Proud!

Best Moment of my life!

The Royal Variety show is a very special evening, so a nice dress and immaculate hair and makeup was a must. After all, I was in the presence of Royalty (unfortunately Harry was unavailable, so it was Charles and Camilla), so here is how I did makeup for the evening.

I bought this 'Smashbox Light It Up' set in Boots a few weeks ago which is worth about £70. It contains all the Smashbox best selling products and I thought for the price of £35, it would be a great way to explore the brand as I have never tried any makeup from them before.

The set contains the primer, mascara, a lipstick, highlighter and kohl pencil.

Because I was doing quite a bold eye look, I did them first so I could clear up any drop down later on.

I patted on some concealer over my eyes so the makeup had something to sit on, and then went in with this palette.

A friend gave this to me a while ago and I have been dying to use it. The Nude'tude Palette by 'The Balm' has a mix of warm and glittery eyeshadows, perfect for the look I wanted to create.

I started with 'Sultry' as the base, and used 'Sophisticated' to smoke in the the outer corners and crease. As that started to build, I also went in with 'Silly' to really darken the outer corners and give that extra smokey effect.

Finally I used the light pink shimmer shade 'Standoffish' in the inner corners to brighten up that area.

It is worth mentioning that I have never properly invested in good eye shadow brushes but my friend (the same one who gave me the palette- shes so good to me) told me about these really cheap brushes online. This set of gorgeous rose gold brushes cost about £2.00 on Amazon and they are really good quality! Worth a look if like me, you'd rather spend your money on the makeup not the tools.

Next, I used the Smashbox Always Sharp Waterproof Kohl Pencil in 'Raven', to go around my water line and smoked that out to finish of the look, and then I used my Lancome Grandiose Liquid Eyeliner for a classic flick, and a lick of the Smashbox Full Exposure Mascara which I LOVE.

The wand is really chunky so allows you t really coat every lash and open up the eyes.

So here was the finished look.

Next was my skin, and I needed something that was going to last me till the early hours of the morning.

To start of, I used the Smashbox Photo Finish Primer which makes your skin feel flawlessly smooth. I know a lot of people don't like that siliconey finish you get with primers, but I find they do work the best, and this primer does have that texture to it.

After my skin was prepped and primed, I went in to use my foundation.

I used my Kat Von D Lock it foundation which is soooooo gooooood.

I will probably do a whole post on this foundation as its so great, but it is really full coverage, long lasting, and I also got it in a warmer tone as the shades can go really, REALLY pale. This shade is Light  47 Nuetral which is probably a fraction too dark for me in winter, but as I fake tanned for the occasion I thought this would blend in more seamlessly.

I buffed this on and then used another layer of 'Rimmel Wake Me Up Concealer' to cover my dark circles. I then used my Hourglass Blusher, and the Ambient lighting powder to add some shimmer.

Next was highlighter to add some more glam glow, and the Smashbox L.A Lights highlighter stick is so damn pretty. This gold shimmer shade is called 'Hollywood and Highlight'  and I think it is my favourite highlighter at the moment as it looks so natural but is really obvious too if you know what I mean?

I popped this on my cheek bones and then finished everything off with the final product from the set. A real red carpet worthy Hollywood red 'Be Legendary 'Lipstick' in the best selling shade 'Get Fired'

So here is the finished look! This would also work perfectly for any upcoming Christmas dos as you can never go wrong with a classic look like this.

I hope you enjoyed this post and also my pictures from the evening!

Oh and my dress was from ASOS!

12 Days Of Christmas Nail Art

It is nearly Christmas!!!

On the 1st of December I decided to embark on a nail art challenge. The 12 days of Christmas nail art challenge. Although traditionally the 12 days of Christmas is meant to start on Christmas day, I thought I needed something festive to make that big day come quicker!

I won't lie, I had every intention of getting on top of it and prepping some super nail art before, but as per usual, life got in the way and I didn't post everyday on time. Admittedly, some of them I probably could have done better, but between living between two places, not having all the right equipment and having the busiest week at work along with a really crappy cold, it has been a bit hard.

However I persevered as I really wanted to deliver on my promise,

So without further ado, here are my 12 days of Christmas nails!

A Partridge in a Pear Tree.

Two Turtles Doves

Three French Hens

Four Calling Birds

Five Gold Rings

Six Geese a Laying

Seven Swans a Swimming

Eight Maids a Milking

Nine Ladies Dancing

Ten Lords a Leaping

Eleven Pipers Piping

Twelve Drummers Drumming