Makeup Revolution Conceal & Define Concealer Review

Hey beaut's!

When Makeup Revolution drop a new release it's fair to say us makeup loving gals cant wait to get in on the action and the launch of their Conceal & Define Concealer was no different, in fact this new Makeup Rev concealer was like bloody gold dust to get hold of, it took me weeks to get the shades I wanted to try but after going into four different Superdrug stores and constant online stalking I finally managed to nab a couple to try, I even done a happy dance when the concealers where in my paws hehe!

The one thing that really stood out for me about this concealer before I had even tried it was the fact it comes in a whopping 18 shades ranging from fair to deep, in cool, neutral and warm undertones. I think that's chuffing amazing for a budget concealer and I really praise Makeup Revolution for doing this. I think more brands need to follow suit to be honest. I have the shades C1 and C3, C1 is the lightest concealer within the shade range and is for fair skin tones with neutral undertones and C3 is the third shade within the collection and for fair skin tones with pink undertones. Both concealers match me pretty well, C3 is the perfect match to be honest because I have a pink undertone, C1 is quite light but works amazingly at brightening and highlighting.
On to the concealer itself....was there any truth in the hype....YES!! I absolutely love this stuff, it has such a creamy, blendable formula that just melts into my skin with ease and despite having really good coverage and a matte finish it never looks or feels heavy or cakey underneath my eyes. I've found a little really blends a long way too, when I first used this concealer I painted loads on and it was far too much, literally a couple of dots underneath my eyes is all I need to cover my horrendous dark circles. I'm not really sure how this concealer would work on acne or spots as I haven't had any spots to test them on but if the coverage underneath my eyes is anything to go by then I'm sure it will work pretty well.
The concealer does have a HUGE doe foot applicator which is 'dare I say it' a little OTT but does get the job done and doesn't drag on my skin whilst I'm using it! And I love the packaging, I'm like a magpie when it comes to rose gold or copper tones so this packaging is right up my street!
Overall I think for £4.00 you really cant go wrong with this concealer, theres honestly nothing I don't like about it and it seems to work for me perfectly, and the fact theres so many shades to choose from makes me super happy!

You can find the Makeup Revolution Conceal & Define Concealer Review for £4.00 HERE.

nopin

February Beauty Favourites!

Hey beaut's!

Thankfully February went a lot quicker than January, my goodness that was a long month wasnt it. I've been wishing February away to be honest, I've been waiting to take my final weeks holiday from work before the new working year starts, that week has now arrived and I have a lovely week off with my boyfriend as of now and I'm so excited about it.

Anyway I'm going to kick this months favourites off with the Makeup Revolution Conceal & Define Concealer. This stuff is like bloody gold dust, I was going into every Superdrug for weeks trying to track this beauty down in my shade but finally I got my paws on shades C1 and C3 to try. So far I'm really impressed with the concealer and can see why it's been so ruddy popular, the coverage is great, it's so creamy and just melts into the skin, I'll be doing a full review soon so watch this space. Sticking with base makeup Rimmel's Lasting Finish Breathable Foundation has been my go to for the last few weeks, it's so lightweight that it honestly feels like I'm wearing nothing, the coverage isn't to heavy making it the perfect day to day foundation for me. 
Scent wise, Zoella's Blissful Mistful has been keeping me smelling lovely even if I do say so myself, I actually only got this scent in January but have been obsessed ever since and I think it's my favourite scent Zoe does, it super fresh and floral and I can see myself wearing it loads through Spring! Ok... I'm actually head over heels in love with Benefit's KA-BROW Brow Pomade, I've always been a brow powder/pencil kinda gal but this Benefit pomade has been a game changer and really upped my brow game, it somehow just transforms my brows making them look absolutely perfect, I don't know how it does it but I LOVE it! For my nails I've been loving  a couple of nail paints by good ole Bazza M, the shades Strawberry Laces and Pink tail have been perfect for me whilst I'm transitioning from my Winter shades to more Spring appropriate shades because I'm longing for Spring now! 
My final favourite this months is my Too Faced Sweet Peach Eyeshadow Palette! I love this palette so much and it never leaves my makeup bag, not only is the shade range amazing for any occasion day or night but the quality of these shadows is incredible, and it still smells super yummy and peachy even though I've had my palette 2 years now!

What have you been loving this month beaut's? I'd love to know!

 nopin

Nutella Cupcake Recipe

Hey beaut's!

I've been absolutely obsessed with Nutella recently and have been trying to bake with it in every way possible, I did some Nutella Brownies a couple of weeks ago which where immense even if I do say so myself, the recipe is HERE if you'd like to have a read. Anyway today I thought I'd share with you a yummy Nutella Cupcake recipe which I would go as far as saying is my favourite cupcake flavour I've ever baked, it has a yummy chocolate sponge with chopped hazelnuts within it and it's finished off with a Nutella buttercream, trust me these beauties will knock your Nutella loving socks off!
What You Will Need For The Cupcakes
50g roasted, chopped hazelnuts
100g self raising flour
25g cocoa powder
125g caster sugar
1/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda
140g Stork with butter
2 large free-range eggs 0r 3 medium
1/4 tsp vanilla extract

What You Will Need For The Icing
100g Stork with butter
150g Nutella
225g icing sugar
3-4 tbsp whole milk

How To - Cupcakes
1. Firstly pre-heat your oven to gas mark 4 /180 and line a muffin tin with your cupcake cases.
2. In a large mixing bowl, whack in all of your cupcake ingredients and mix until smooth with a hand whizzer. If you can only find whole hazelnuts in the supermarket your going to need to finely chop them or blitz them in a processor first before throwing them into your cupcake batter, luckily I found some ready chopped which makes it so much easier.
3. Pop a heaped tablespoon of the cupcake batter into each cupcake case and bake in the oven for around 18-20 minutes or until the top of the cupcakes are springy to the touch, then transfer onto a wire rack to cool.

How To - Icing
1. In a large bowl, beat the butter and the Nutella together until it becomes smooth and silky, then start adding the icing sugar slowly to avoid the dreaded icing sugar cloud and again mix until combined. You will notice that the buttercream becomes really thick and almost dry looking at this stage and needs loosening up to become more spreadable so just add in a tablespoon of milk at a time until you get the perfect consistency.
2. Pipe or spoon the icing on top of the cupcakes, I actually used a disposable piping bag with the end snipped off to ice mine, I wanted them to look plain without fancy patterns but you go for what you like, my boyfriend says mine look like emoji poo's (LOL) how delightful! 
And there you have it, super yummy Nutella cupcakes that are so easy to make! If you really wanted to go for it with the decoration you could add some more chopped hazelnuts on top of the buttercream or you could melt some Nutella and drizzle it over the top, gosh that sounds good. If your a Nutella lover then you have to try these beauties, trust me you wont regret it! 

nopin

Pretty Jewellery From The Happiness Boutique

Hey beaut's!

Today I have the cutest pieces of jewellery to share with you all from the brand Happiness Boutique. If you haven't heard of Happiness Boutique before their an international online store where you can buy timeless classic jewellery with a charming vintage touch that wont break the bank. The Happiness Boutique website literally has everything from bracelets, earrings, rings, chokers and necklaces in either rose gold, gold or silver so theres certainly something to suit everyone, I kind of wish I had my ears pierced because they had some gorgeous pom pom style earrings which screamed 'Clueless'  to me and I would of snapped them up right away he he. 

The first item I decided to go for was their Moon and Star Necklace in Rose Gold* (£17.67), isn't this absolutely stunning, it was literally love at first sight! I just love how simplistic and delicate this necklace is, it goes with everything whether I'm dressing up for an evening out or just having a casual jeans and tee day and its in no way loud or in your face.

The second piece I had to go for was the Feather Ball Open Ring* (£15.01) and you guessed it... it's in Rose Gold, my favourite! I'm obsessed with this ring, it's a wrap-around style ring which is so stylish and trendy and features a small ball at one end and a feather detail the other, it's also subtle enough to wear stacked up with other rings. 

The Happiness Boutique have kindly given me a discount code that will get you 10% off a £19.00 or more spend from now until March 22nd, all you have to do is enter haysparkle at the checkout!

You can shop the full Happiness Boutique collection HERE.

nopin

Maybelline Total Temptation Mascara and Brow Definer Review

Hey beaut's!

When I saw that Maybelline had recently launched a new collection called Total Temptation which contained a new mascara I was itching to try it! My all time favourite mascara is by Maybelline - the lash sensational - and I've never found a mascara that even comes close to my love for the lash sensational, so this newbie had me intrigued!

The Total Temptation Mascara* has a creamy whipped formula which is enriched with coconut which claims to condition and nourish the lashes whilst also creating ultimate length and volume! As we know coconut is great for the skin and hair so I LOVE the fact that Maybelline have included this within the formula, it's kinda of cool knowing I'm lacing my lashes with coconut as well as mascara everyday he he. So does this give my lashes the wow factor I look for in a mascara...well.... it does do a really good, my lashes do look longer, spikier and super black once I've added a couple of coats and I've not experienced any transferring or smudging at all which is a major bonus considering theres moisturising coconut within the formula! The only thing missing for me is that it doesn't give my lashes a real curl or lift, I mean it's nothing I cant do without a pair of lash curlers but it's still something I love to find in a mascara! I do love the brush because it's a natural bristle brush, it's certainly not going to poke your eye out like most plastic ones do and the packaging is just stunning, I love the pinky/nude against the black, it's so pretty! Overall I think if your after a good day to day mascara Maybelline's Total Temptation is definitely worth a try!
The Total Temptation collection also contains a Brow Definer Pencil* which I've really been enjoying using! The Brow Definer has a teardrop shaped tip making the application process super easy because it's always on a slanted angle, so I kind of use the pencil on it's side with  broad strokes to fill in my brows and use the pointed tip of the teardrop to add in individual brow hairs or for precise shaping if needed and then I blend everything with the handy little spoolie that comes at the end of the pencil for a somewhat natural look. The formula and texture of the Total Temptation Brow Definer is lovely, it's well pigmented, waxy but not dry or too creamy and blends easily with the spoolie before it sets and the shade match was bang on point for me too, I got Medium Brown which is a pretty cool toned mid brown making perfect for my ashy brown brows!

You can find the Total Temptation Mascara RRP £8.99 HERE and the Total Temptation Brow Definer for £7.99 HERE.

nopin

Barry M Candy Culture Nail Paint in Strawberry Laces Reviewed

Hey beaut's!

When I heard Barry M had launched a collection of nail paints that claimed to be scented I was all over the idea like a rash, naturally I skipped into Superdrug and grabbed the pretty pink shade which caught my eye straight away, because not only am I a fan of a pink nail during Spring but the Strawberry Laces scent was too tempting to leave, they where literally my favourite kiddie sweetie! 

Strawberry Laces is one of four shades within the Candy Culture Collection which is Barry M's first ever scented nail polish collection out for Spring/Summer 18, it's the prettiest baby pink pastel shade which is opaque after 2 coats and dries down to a soft matte finish, it's quite a a different finish to what I'm used to because it's not fully matte or full on glossy but it's somewhere in between, never the less I like it.  
The formula of Strawberry Laces is lovely, it applies evenly and smooth without any bubbling or streaking and didn't take too long to dry which is such a bonus as I hate waiting for nail polish to dry however.... I think the main question on everyone's lips is "does it smell like strawberry laces" and the answer is yes! Once it's completely dried it does have a light strawberry laces scent, it's definitely not strong or overpowering but if you give your fingernails a whiff (probably the weirdest thing I've written on my blog LOL) you can certainly smell the delicate smell of sweet strawberry laces. The smell did only last around 2 days before I couldn't smell it anymore but I did get around 3-4 days wear out of the polish itself before it started to really chip away!
Overall I'm totally sold on this collection and want the other three shades desperately now, yes it is a bit gimmicky but that sort of thing lures me in and pleases me every time. If your looking for a pretty pastel pink nail polish for the Spring time I cant recommend Strawberry Laces enough, its such a cute shade that applies and wears really well and even though the scent is quite light I think it's such a fun idea, this one is definitely going to be my go to shade over the next few months that's for sure!

You can find Barry M's Candy Culture Nail Paint in Strawberry Laces for £3.99 HERE.

nopin

Aequill Orange & Ylang Ylang Candle Review

Hey beaut's!

If you've read my blog for a while you'll probably know I'm a huge candle lover, I've even been given the name 'crazy candle lady' by my family, I'm just obsessed and literally have a candle burning everyday in my house because not only does my house then smell amazing  but I find candles are just so inviting and homely. I've been trying to move away from the autumnal, warming scents recently and have more Spring/Summer vibes going on because lets face it, I'm fed up of this cold miserable weather so anything that's going to give me a pick me up I'm all about right now and Aequill's Orange & Ylang Ylang Candle* has been doing just that!
The Orange & Ylang Ylang Candle is so lovely and smells quite classy and spa like, it contains Bergamot, Sweet Orange, Ylang Ylang and a Lavender essential oil blend which create such a calming, soft yet sweet scent which is right up my street. The orange within the candle is quite sweet and uplifting yet the ylang ylang and the lavender really have a calming effect, it's a great all rounder candle really! The scent throw is really good and fills the house within minutes of being lit but it's not overpowering in the slightest. The burn time is impressive too, I have the 100g travel size candle which claims to burn for up to 16 hours which is pretty good going for something travel sized hey!
What draws me in to Aequill's candles so much is their 'green' vibe, all of the Aequill candles are hand poured into 100% recycled - mouth blown glass jars with a non-toxic, lead free cotton wick, you can even send back your jars once you have burnt the candle and have them refilled at a discounted rate which I think is pretty epic and something I've never heard of before. I also love how the outer cardboard box is hand-stamped with a wax seal, it's such a lovely touch and looks so well presented if your buying the candle for a gift.
You can find the Aequill Orange & Ylang Ylang Travel Size Candle for £16.00 HERE or the larger 200g size for £26.00 HERE.

nopin

Rimmel Lasting Finish Breathable Foundation First Impressions

Hey beaut's!

I'm a huge lover of Rimmel foundations, in fact I'd actually go as far as saying they are my favourite brand in the drugstore for foundations, so when I saw they had a new foundation out I knew I'd have to give it a whirl! Lucky for me I actually had just over £9.00 worth of Boot's point on my advantage card so I decided to use them and finally grab the Rimmel Lasting Finish Breathable Foundation to try, don't you just love it when that happens! I've been using the Lasting Finish Breathable Foundation everyday now for just over a week and I thought I'd share my first impressions with you all today! 
The Rimmel Lasting Finish Breathable Foundation claims to be lightweight, buidlable, long wearing with a medium coverage - all things that I like and look for in a foundation. I have to admit as soon as I started blending in the foundation on my very first application I was loving it, it blends/melts into the skin with complete ease and honestly feels like I'm wearing nothing, it's so lightweight and kind of thin feeling if that makes sense. The coverage is pretty impressive too and totally not what I was expecting from and lightweight - breathable foundation, it covers so well I'd go as far as saying it's more medium+ depending on what you use to apply it. It sets beautifully to a natural, semi dewy - satin finish which is my absolute favourite kind of finish, and again theres no heavy , tacky feeling once the foundation has set. As for lasting power, the breathable foundation claims to last up to 25 hours but lets just be real, I don't think any foundation can be on the skin that long and still be slaying but it does hold up well on a working day, I don't find that it goes patchy or breaks down on my t-zone where I get slightly oily at the moment.
The only thing I don't like about this foundation isn't the formula but the applicator...it has a large doe foot style applicator which holds the product much like how a concealer does and then you spread/dot it around your face that way, personally I don't find very hygienic and I would of much preferred a pump to be honest, however it is quite a controlled way to use the foundation and I cant see how I'd waste much of the foundation like how I can sometimes if I pump too much out so theres always that.

Overall I've been bloody loving this foundation and I'm so glad I picked it up to try, I imagine it will work perfectly in the Spring/Summer months too as it's just so lightweight. Theres also a concealer within the Breathable range too which I want to try now, I have quite high hopes for that now after trying the foundation!

You can find the Rimmel Lasting Finish Breathable Foundation for £8.99 HERE.

nopin

Valentines Red Velvet Cupcake Recipe!

Hey beaut's!

Valentines Day is literally just around the corner, in fact it's tomorrow eeeakkk -  so obviously that gave me the perfect excuse to get back into the kitchen and do what I love....and that's to get my bake on! Today I have a yummy red velvet cupcake recipe for you which is so quick and easy to make and tastes amazing, they are the perfect Valentines treat for you and your partner to share or you can just make them for yourself and your girls if you like!
What You Will Need For The Cupcakes
100g of Stork with Butter, softened
150g of caster sugar
125g of self-raising flour
25g of cocoa powder
2 large eggs or 3 medium
2 tablespoons of milk
Red food-colouring

What You Will Need For The Icing
100g Stork with Butter, softened
225 icing sugar
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
1-2 tablespoons of milk
Pink or red food colouring
Sprinkles to decorate (optional)

How To - Cupcakes
1. Firstly pre-heat your oven to gas mark 4 /180 and line a muffin tin with your cupcake cases.
2. In a large mixing bowl, whack in all of your cupcake ingredients minus the food colouring and mix until smooth with a hand whizzer. Once the mixture is smooth fold in your food colouring until you get the colour intensity you desire.
3. Pop a heaped tablespoon of the cupcake batter into each cupcake case and bake in the oven for around 18-20 minutes or until the top of the cupcakes are springy to the touch, then transfer onto a wire rack to cool.

How To - Icing
1. In a large bowl, beat the butter with an electric whizzer for around 5 minutes or until the butter has turned super pale and smooth, then start adding the icing sugar slowly to avoid the dreaded icing sugar cloud and again mix for another 5 or so minutes until smooth. Then pop in the vanilla extract and a couple of tablespoons of milk if you feel your butter cream is a bit stiff. Once the icing is at the perfect consistency pop in the food colouring, I just added a tiny amount of the red I used for the cupcakes to get a pretty pink colour.
2. Pipe or spoon the icing on top of the cupcakes and top with some sprinkles if you like, I found these cute little princess sprinkles in Tesco which I thought looked perfect for Valentines Day, and there you have it!
Will you be baking any treats for Valentines Day beaut's? 

nopin

Valentines Red Lips With Essence

Hey beaut's!

Valentines Day is just two days away so if you haven't already then it's definitely time to dig out those red lippies and get your inner Marilyn Monroe on he he! If you've left it late or cant find the right shade of red within your stash I have a couple of super affordable reds from Essence that will have your pout looking so kissable!
I love the Essence Ultra Last Instant Colour Lipsticks* and have a few within my collection already but this red has to be one of my favourites. The shade is called 'Head To Ma Toes' and is a gorgeous poppy red with a satin finish, the formula is so creamy and some what balmy in texture which leaves my lips so soft, smooth and moisturised. The pigmentation is good but can be build up for a super intense payoff, and I can get a good 2-3 hours wear out of this shade before I could use a top up, and considering this lippie is only a teeny tiny £2.30 I think that's pretty good going!
If you want to go for a matte liquid lippie this Valentines Day then the Vibrant Shock Lip Paint in Bloody Mary*  (£3.30) is where the parties at...It's a bold, intense dark raspberry red shade which is absolutely stunning, it does need two layers for it to become fully even but once it's set...wow! It does take 5-10 minutes or so to completely set and during that time it does feel quite sticky but once it's set that feeling goes away and it feels lightweight and stays put for hours!
The Shine Shine Shine Wet Look Lip gloss in Red Carpet Scarlet* has really impressed me, that's quite a bold statement for me when it comes to a gloss as I'm not a huge lip gloss lover mainly because I hate that tacky, sticky feeling most of them have however....This Essence gloss isn't sticky or tacky at all and it doesn't feel thick or gloopy on the lips either, hooray! Also can we just appreciate how opaque and pigmented this gloss is, literally one swipe and it's opaque, I don't think I own any other glosses like it! For just £2.00 I think this gloss is pretty epic, it would be the perfect topper for any red lip or can be worn alone with ease!
As you can see from the swatches their such stunning reds, and the quality for the price is seriously impressive! I definitely want to grab a few neutral colours in that gloss now as that was really good!

You can find these Essence lippies in Wilko stores or on the Wilko website HERE.

nopin

Crabtree & Evelyn Pamper Night Essentials

Hey beaut's!

There's nothing better than when you've had a long day at work (or an awful day at work) than coming home and having a nice chilled out pamper night. I must admit pamper nights are something I like to indulge in regularly, I love lighting every candle I can find, relax in the tub with a face mask on whilst scoffing some choccies, it's pure bliss...Crabtree & Evelyn have some gorgeous products and candles that will suit any pamper night down to the ground, so today I thought I'd share a couple I've been giving a whirl recently.
Pamper nights have to start with a soak in the tub, this is an essential for me as it just helps me relax and unwind and with Crabtree & Evelyn's Goat milk & Oak Soothing Bath Milk* (£28.00) it feels like such a treat too. The Bath Milk itself is super soft and gentle - perfect for dry/sensitive types like myself, it contains Oat Kernel Oil and Vitamin E which deeply condition and nourish the skin leaving it so soft and it smells so spa-like too, I love it!  
I'm a huge candle lover, not only do I love the fact they make my house smell amazing but they make everything seem so cosy don't they...Crabtree & Evelyn's candles are gorgeous, I had one at Christmas and wow I was impressed and their City Zen Candle* (£42.00) is equally as good. City Zen is definitely an uplifting yet warming candle, it contains ginger flower, cardamon, clove and black pepper but also has a zesty vibe to it! One thing I will say about Crabtree & Evelyn's candles is that the scent throw is incredible, their candles are quite strong so if your after something subtle these wont be for you but if you like a candle that will blow your socks off then City Zen will be perfect! 
If your looking for more of an instant pick me up then the La Source Refreshing Body Mist* (£16.00) is definitely worth a try. This sort of product was totally new to me, I've never tried any body mist before which isn't for fragrance purposes, instead Crabtree & Evelyn's offering has been designed to revitalise the body when it's tired, achy and feeling heavy. I personally like to use this body mist in the mornings when I wake up, it has a fresh peppermint scent which really gives me the boost that I need as well as nourishing qualities that soften my skin, it's different but I love it! 

You can find loads more pamper night essesntials on the Crabtree & Evelyn website HERE.

nopin