Fashion | The Olivia Burton Watch

Accessories aren't something I usually pay much attention to when it's comes to fashion. I like to keep things simple and pretty minimal. However, I have been wanting to expand my more modest collection of jewellery and add some more quality pieces to it that'll actually last. On the more practical side of things, I thought getting a nice watch would be pretty good place to start!

For Valentines day, my boyfriend got me this beautiful Olivia Burton watch. I'd been browsing a selection of watches from this brand ever since I spotted them in Selfridges last year. I'm kind of picky with watches as I'm not a fan of anything that's too bulky. This particular watch however is perfect within its dimensions and I feel like it suits me really well. The style of the watch is the Midi Dial - the colour combination being rose and rose gold. This watch is so feminine yet at the same very sophisticated and understated which is something I really like about it. It's beautifully made and I can tell that it's great quality.

I definitely want to get another watch from this brand, after browsing there's definitely something for everyone both in style and design. This is totally going to be a staple in my accessory collection from now on!

WHERE TO BUY:

Olivia Burton Midi Dial Rose and Rose Gold | £70.00

Beauty | Holo Love!

Hello everyone! Long time no blog, huh? I know it's been a while but I've been super busy with University work - I'm slowly getting back on the blog train though so bare with me! Today I have a quick little post for you on two nail polishes I recently got that I'm really enjoying.

The brand of nail polish is Colour Club - they produce awesome, cruelty free nail polishes in an array of unique colours and shades. The two polishes that I bought from the brand are from their Halo Hues collection - they are beautiful, holographic shades that have awesome, multi-dimensional shine.

The first shade that I bought is called Harp On It. It's a beautiful pink based holo that as you can see has a lovely rainbow sheen running through it.

Next is the shade Crystal Baller - a beautiful, glistening blue shade.

Both nail polishes wear beautiful and are opaque in just two coats. Along with a good top coat, these polishes last with no chipping and have a beautiful finish! As a brand that I've only recently discovered, I'm really impressed by these two polishes and I'll definitely be buying from them again!

WHERE TO BUY:

Crystal Baller | £8.95

Harp On It | £8.95

Beauty | The Dream Team

Hello everyone! I hope you have had a good week and an even better weekend. Today I am going to discuss two facial makeup products that I have been really enjoying as part of my recent makeup routine.

Mac Fix + & Urban Decay De-Slick

The first product is MAC's Fix Plus - this is a facial spritz made of a refreshing blend of vitamins and minerals that can be used both before and after makeup application. It's also great for using on your beauty blender or your makeup brushes when you want to use a product wet! If you'd like to read a more in depth review of this product you can check one out here.

Secondly, we have Urban Decay's De-Slick - this is a fixing spray which helps to keep makeup in place preventing it from budging or slipping all day long. This particular product is also great for oil-control helping to keep it under control for the whole day.

This is where the confusion kicks in - many people think that both of these products are fixing or setting sprays but in reality, they do completely different things. Mac Fix + despite it's somewhat confusing name does not fix the makeup in place - rather, it is a "binding spray" that helps to bind and form the various layers of makeup together. This is particularly useful for people who use a lot of powder-based products as it helps to eradicate that powdery, cakey look you can sometimes get. It also helps you to achieve a somewhat dewy look to the skin which is great for dryer skin types! A setting spray on the other hand such as the Urban Decay does just what it says - it sets the makeup helping it last longer by fixing it in place all day.

I love the combination of both of these products together - I feel they give my makeup a better looking finish whilst also allows my makeup to last all day without any smudging or wearing!

Do you use binding or setting sprays? What are your favourites?

Beauty Haul | TooFaced, Hourglass & L'Oreal

Hello everyone! I hope you're well and that you're week is going great so far! 

Today I wanted to share with you a small beauty haul featuring a couple of items that I picked up for myself recently. Enjoy!

Firstly, I picked up Too Faced's Born This Way Foundation in the shade Vanilla. Foundation is a particular piece of makeup that I'm happy to invest that little bit more into and after hearing great things about this one, I decided to pick it up. I've tried it a few times and so far, I really like it - watch this space for a full review coming soon!

Secondly, I got L'Oreals Volume Million Lashes Mascara. I have long yet poker-straight eyelashes which are a pain to say the least. It is rare for me to find a mascara that maintains any kind of curl in my annoying lashes so I'm holding out some hope for this one.

Next off is this blusher / bronzer 'Soul Mates' duo from the TooFaced. Whilst this isn't something I actively was looking to add to my collection, when I saw it in Tk Maxx for the amazing price of just £9.99, I had to pick it up. I'm actually getting into bronzing my skin more so I'm looking forward to giving this a go - the blush is a great staple pink shade too!

Finally and certainly last but not least, I picked up this beautiful blusher from Hourglass in the shade Luminous Flush. This is a gorgeous pink shade that is finely milled and velvety soft - I have only tried this once but have been blown away but its beautiful pigmentation and its blend-ability. This one will also be getting review treatment very soon!

And there you have it! Have you tried any of the products in this haul? What are your thoughts on them?

Lipstick Lovin'

I love lipstick. If there's one makeup product I'd happily collect ridiculous amount of, it's lipstick (or many eyeshadow palettes - can never have too many neutral palettes am I right?!). In particular however, I am really enjoying liquid lipsticks - they're long lasting, dry matte and come in a whole heap of awesome colours to fit whatever look or mood you're in. In today's post, I thought I'd share with you a recent liquid lipstick purchase I made at my favourite online makeup site: Cocktail Cosmetics, enjoy!

LA Splash is a liquid lipstick brand that I love and due to already owning five of their liquid lipsticks, I was confident enough to buy 3 more! I got one lipstick in their "Velvet Matte" range and that was in the shade Seductress - which is a sort of browny-mauve shade. Next, I got two lipsticks from their "Studio Shine Lip Lustre" range in the shades Athena & Alice. Athena is a beautiful peachy nude shade with a gold sparkle and Alice is a lovely orchid shade which also has just a hint of sparkle in it too. All shades dry beautifully matte!

Finally, I wanted to try a Jeffree Star lipstick ever since he released them not so long ago. Being a lipstick junkie, I found it pretty difficult to pick a shade, but having been on a neutral lipstick hype as of late, I decide to go for the shade Celebrity Skin - which is an awesome browny nude.

And that's everything I got! I'm excited to really play around with these shades in the upcoming weeks - look out for a review coming your way too!

What are your thoughts on liquid lipsticks, yay or nay? What are your personal favourites?

Dupe It | Nars Orgasm

Hello everyone! This is going to be the first of a series of posts in a section I'm entitling 'Dupe It' in which - as the name suggests - I share with you dupes for higher end, cult products! Todays dupe is going to be on the infamous Nars - Orgasm blusher.

As described by Nars themselves, Orgasm is a peachy pink shade with beautiful, gold glitter running through it. These powders are finely-milled and give a beautiful, natural flush of colour to the cheeks that is easy to blend and build up if wanted. This is a cult classic and is a shade adored by many - I can definitely see why.

The dupe that I have for you is from Sleek - who in fact offer multiple dupes for this particular shade. The one that I have comes in their Face Form palette - the palette itself is in the shade Fair. 

In terms of how similar these blusher's are, the Sleek is definitely more on the peachier side (in the pan at least) though when blended into the skin it definitely looks closer to Orgasm.
Both however have that iconic gold running through it which is arguably what Orgasm is so well loved for. The Sleek blush blends and wears beautifully - it is not quite as finely milled as the Nars but for me, that's not a massive issue.

I think this definitely a worthwhile dupe to try - the palette retails at £9.99 providing you with not 1, but 3 products all in one in the form of a highlighter and contour shade as well as of course, the blush.  The Nars blusher on the other hand retails at around £23.00 so you can definitely see the difference in price.

If you're looking to try Orgasm but don't want to splash the cash just yet, I'd definitely opt for this awesome dupe first which might just change your mind!

WHERE TO BUY:

Nars Orgasm | £23.00
Sleek Face Form Palette | £9.99

Nude'tude

Hi everyone! This is going to be a fairly short post sharing with you an awesome purchase that I recently made. It was such a good deal that I wanted to share it - after using it more, I'll then be sure to provide an in-depth review on it!

So, the product in question is theBalm's 'Nude-Tude' eyeshadow palette! I found this beauty at TkMaxx for half price taking it from £30.00 to a bargain £14.99 so I knew I had to get it. It also comes with a cute little sample size of their eyelid primer 'Put a Lid On it'. As the name suggests, this a nude palette containing a nice mixture of light and bold colours rating from shimmer finishes to matte ones. There's a nice variation within the palette based on my first impressions and I absolutely love the vintage inspired packaging!

As I mentioned, you can grab this palette from TkMaxx - I got it a few days ago so if you're fast enough, there should be some left! If this kind of palette is your cup of tea, I'd definitely go grab yourself a bargain!