April Beauty Favourites!

Hey beaut's!

April has been a pretty good month to be fair, we kicked things off with Easter where I gorged on so much chocolate until I felt rather queasy, then recently we had some pretty epic weather, I'm talking a week of bright blue skies and temperatures in the mid-high 20's, yessss...although it's kind of ironic because as I'm typing this it's absolutely peeing it down but lets forget about that for now!
This month's favourites consists of a couple of oldies but goodies and one or two new products that I've fallen in love with! Firstly I've been reaching for my Makeup Geek eye shadows constantly this past month, the top three shades have been on my eyeballs everyday and create a stunning warm toned look. The first shade In The Spotlight goes in my inner corner, the second shade Cosmopolitan goes on my lid and the third shade Cocoa Bear has been warming up my crease, arhh I love these three shades together, I've actually reviewed and swatched all three hereNext up is my Too Faced Milk Chocolate Soleil Bronzer in Light/Medium (wow that was a mouthful), not only does this bronzer smell good enough to eat because it smells just like milk chocolate, but it's completely matte and blends like an absolute dream! I'm not a huge fan of a shimmery bronzer so as soon as I got this beauty back in March and whacked it on my face I was obsessed, I'd highly recommend it if your after a good quality matte bronzer! 
Sticking with Too Faced, I bought the Hangover Replenishing Face Primer after loving a sample of the stuff, this primer is perfect for me because it really hydrates, smooths, and brightens my skin creating the perfect base for my foundation, and it doesn't have that horrible silicone feeling like some primer's I've used has! I also picked the Tanya Burr Selfie Lash Mascara up around 3 weeks ago because Superdug had reduced it to just £3.99 so in true HaySparkle tradition it went straight in my basket! I'm so glad I finally bought it because it's actually a very good mascara, it's so buildable and once it's set it doesn't budge, flake, run or transfer all day. I always find Tanya's makeup very hit and miss but this is an absolute hit from me!
Revolution's Fast Base Stick Foundation is next on my list of favourites, this is so quick and easy to use because you simply draw it all over your face then blend in with a sponge or makeup brush, and because it's so creamy it blends like a dream and super quickly! The coverage is great too and although it's super duper dewy once it's set with a powder your good to go! Finally this month I've been obsessed with bright coral nails and my Barry M Coconut Infusion Nail Paint in Flamingo is perfect for that! It really makes my nails pop and the Coconut Infusion formula is one of my all time favourites, it's nice to know your nails are getting some benefits from wearing nail polish he he.

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

nopin

Get Glowing Skin On A Budget!

Hey beaut's!

I bloody LOVE glowy, dewy, luminous skin especially in the Spring/Summer months, so recently I had a good ole rummage through my makeup collection and got some of my favourite glowing makeup products out ready to get my skin looking like a golden goddess he he!
I think the easiest and quickest way to get some luminosity into your skin is by using a type of liquid illuminator or liquid highlighter, you can easily mix these into your favourite foundation or facial moisturiser for a more dewy and luminous look, they can also be mixed into your body lotion and creams for a gorgeous all over glow, or you can use them alone just how you would normally highlight with a brush or sponge on your cheekbones, nose and cupids bow. My three favourites for doing this are the Technic Shade Adjustment Highlighting Drops which are £2.99 for a 30ml bottle, Revolutions Liquid Highlighter in Starlight which is £6.00 and finally the NYX Born To Glow Liquid Illuminator in Gleam which is £8.00. These are all different tones of liquid highlight which is perfect for me and means I can mix which ever one I like depending on the look I'm going for, for reference the Technic drops are more champagne toned, Revolutions drops are a shimmering baby pink and the NYX Illuminator is and really warm bronze. 
To achieve the golden goddess/glazed donut stage I then go in with a powder highlight, oh you've just got to love the glazed donut stage gals! My two favourites for this are the Sleek Highlighting Palette in Cleopatra's Kiss and the Technic Colour Wave in Bronzed Bae. My favourite highlighters ever from the high street are the Sleek highlighting palettes, they are seriously incredible and even top some of my high end highlighters, I use the Solstice Palette a lot but during the Summer I love a sun kissed glow and Cleopatra's Kiss does just that, you get four stunning shades - two powder, two cream- and all for just £9.99, you really cant go wrong! The Technic Colour Wave in Bronzed Bae is so, so good, it contains five little wave segments of soft, baked colour which double up as eye shadows if you use each little segment separately, or you can do what I love to do and swirl a brush through all of the colours and use them as pretty epic highlighters. The fact that this little wave is £6.99 blows my mind because it's so versatile and the formula is lush!
What sun kissed highlighters do you like using during the Spring/Summer months beaut's? I'd love to know!

nopin

My Spring/Summer Nail Polish Picks By Barry M

Hey beaut's!

I cant believe I'm finally saying this but the Spring weather has finally arrived here in the UK...wait, what....shocking right lol! It's been absolutely glorious and hit 28 degrees where I live last week which was just immense and long overdue! Seeing as it's been so lovely I decided to get my favourite Barry M Spring/Summer nail polish shades back out and share them with you, I'm pretty much obsessed with Barry M's nail polishes, their so affordable, great in quality, they last well on my nails and the choice of shades and finishes they have is incredible.
(From left to right Prickly Pear, Dragon Fruit, Flamingo, Mint Green, In A Heatbeat, Pinktail, Jellyfish)
Firstly I love Barry M's Gelly Hi Shine Collection because the glossy finish is just everything and it's a really hard wearing formula, my two favourite shades are Prickly Pear which is a pastel lavender/lilac shade and Dragon Fruit which is a candy pink shade with hidden micro shimmers within it, arh they both so pretty! My next favourite is Barry M's Coconut Infusion in Flamingo, this is a bright coral which is a great one if you want your nails to really pop and it looks fabulous against a tan. Then we have Barry M's Nail Paint in Mint Green, this is a gorgeous pastel mint green shade that makes my nails look fun and vibrant and it's the only shade of green I really wear on my nails to be honest. Next is Barry M's Speedy Quick Dry in In A Heart Beat, this is such a pretty colour, sometimes it looks pink then salmon then peach and because it's in the Speedy Quick Dry range it's a great one for gals who are on the go or just hate waiting for polish to dry like me because this one drys in a flash. The final two shades are from Barry M's Under The Sea Collection which is a pretty epic collection for Spring/Summer, I have the shades Jellyfish - a gorgeous lilac with a baby blue/turquoise duo-chrome shift and Pinktail - a salmon-pinky -coral which has a stunning gold duo-chrome shift to it. These two do need some building up to be completely opaque but it's so worth it as the effect is gorgeous!
What are your favourite nail polish shades from Barry M to wear during the Spring and Summer months beaut's?? I'd love to know!

nopin

10 Cheap and Cheerful Blog Props I Swear By!

Hey beaut's!

Over the last couple of years photography has been something I've really gotten into, I love capturing all sorts of shots from food, lifestyle, a teeny bit of fashion but I'm actually quite scared of fashion shoots - I really need to work on that body confidence hun's - but my main love is obviously beauty and makeup photography, I just love it! After going through a really crappy time last Christmas I decided to treat myself to the Nikon D3400 in the New Year and it's honestly upped my love for photography so much. I really switched things up with my blog photography adding in lots of props which is something I had never really done before, all of my props are either super duper cheap or where just what I had in my home already, so the morel of the story here is blog props don't have to cost a fortune so I thought I'd share my favourite things to use at the moment! 
Trinkets - Arh the good ole trinket, this is a blogger favourite and looks so pretty in flatlays, I actually got my 'isn't she lovely' trinket from Poundland and I love it! I also recently picked up an oval mirror from Poundland and instead of using it as a mirror I use it as a perfume tray, this also looks fabulous in blog photo's! 

Ornaments From Your Home - So many of my props are actually ornaments that are already in my home, I'm a magpie for anything rose gold or copper for my home so these come in to useful when I need to fill a blank area in a shot.

Makeup Brushes - This is such an easy way to fill in small area's of a flatlay and let's face it all of us girl's will have a makeup brush or two to hand that we can use in our photo's! 

Flowers - I bloody love using flowers in photo's, I do buy a lot of fresh flowers from the supermarket for my home so sometimes I just pick a couple out of my bunch when I need one for a photo, I also have a fake pink hydrangea that I got from...you guessed it...Poundland!

Jewellery - Again another super easy prop to use is jewellery or watches you may have in your jewellery box or that you could be wearing, I think jewellery looks so pretty delicately placed in pictures.

Magazines - Magazines are so useful for blog props, your can stack them up at an angle, use pages within the magazine for a pop of colour, scatter products on top of them, the things you can do with your magazine's are endless.

Tea Lights/Candles - Tea lights and candles are great to pop in small blank areas that need filling and they also give a real cosy, inviting vibe to your pictures, I do use tea lights a lot I must admit! 

Wallpaper Samples - This is less of a prop but more of a great hack for your backgrounds, just pop to your local DIY store and stock up on wallpaper samples (which are totally free by the way), I like to use bright grey wood or brick effect samples but theres literally hundreds to choose from.

Your Phone - If you love your phone case that you have on your phone then just whack your phone in shot, why not hey! 

Fairy Lights - I love the look of fairy light's in pictures, especially during Autumn/Winter! I always get the little battery operated lights which you can often find super cheap for a pound or two from Poundland, Amazon or Primark! You can literally weave them through your flatlay or have them blurred in the background of your shots, they look so pretty!

As you can see most of these idea's will already be in your home or will only cost you a couple of pounds in Poundland which I think is amazing! There are so many props you can use such as notebooks, food, ribbons, faux fur rugs, the list really could go on but the ones above are my favourites at the moment!

nopin

Easy Lemon Drizzle Cake Recipe

Hey beaut's!

I've been baking again, this time around I wanted to make something super quick and easy with a slight summery twist seeing as the weather has been absolutely gorgeous this week, so I went for a yummy lemon drizzle cake! I don't know why but lemon drizzle is always something I like to have in the Spring/Summer months and I don't think I had baked one since last Summer so it was well overdue! This is probably my simplest, easiest recipe because it literally only has a couple of steps and not many ingredients at all, but it tastes so, so nice!
Cake Recipe -
175g self-raising flour
175g caster sugar
1 tsp baking powder
100g Stork with butter
2 eggs
finely grated zest of 1 lemon
juice of half a lemon
2-3 tbsp milk

Drizzle/Glaze Recipe -
100g icing sugar
a couple of teaspoons of lemon juice or a couple of teaspoons of water. 

How To -
1. Pre-heat your oven to gas mark 4 /180 then line and grease a loaf tin.
2. Pop all of your cake ingredients into a large mixing bowl and mix together with an electric whizzer until everything is smooth and well combined.
3. Then pop the cake batter into the loaf tin and bake for around 30-35 minutes.
4. Once your cake is cooked and cool you can make the yummy drizzle which is so simple, just mix your icing sugar with either lemon juice or water a teaspoon at a time until your icing is the consistency of thick cream and then drizzle it all over the cake anyway you like, if your drizzle/glaze does become too thin just add some more icing sugar. You could always do a crunchy sugar topping instead if you like by mixing some granulated sugar and juice of a lemon together, it's completely up to what you prefer.
And there you have it, a yummy lemon drizzle cake that hardly takes any time or effort at all. It was so tasty even if I do say so myself he he.

nopin

Unicorn Beauty - Because Everyone Want's To Sparkle Like A Unicorn!

Hey beaut's!

Everyone is going slightly gaga over Unicorns right now, you literally cant go into a shop without seeing something Unicorn themed whether it be clothes, makeup, skincare, body care and I for one am loving it! The bright colours, the shimmer, the glitter, arhhh it's all so pretty! This whole unicorn craze is actually quite nostalgic for me, it really reminds me of the 'My Little Pony' days when I was little, I think that's why I'm drawn to it all so much. Anyway here's just a few unicorn themed things in the beauty world right now that I think are pretty awesome!
Too Faced Festival Rainbow Strobe Highlighter £25.00, Too Faced Magic Rainbow Strobing Brush £30.00Colab dry shampoo spray unicorn £3.49Imperial Leather Foamburst Unicorn Marshmallow Shower Gel £3.15Nails Inc Face Inc Sparkle Like A Unicorn Illuminating Sheet Mask £5.00Carmex Skinny Dip Limited Edition- Unicorn Sugar Plum £3.95Elegant Touch Fantasy Nails - Unicorn Storm £9.95Missguided Unicorn Dreams Body Mist £10.00Nails Inc 'Sparkle Like A Unicorn' Nail Polish Duo 
Set £15.00Too Faced - 'Life's A Festival' Eye Shadow Palette £35.00.

What do you think of the Unicorn love right now hun's? I'd love to know!
nopin

Essence 'The Gel' Base and Top Coat Review

Hey beaut's!

I love my nails to look like I've just walked out of the salon all glossy and perfect, well lets face it who doesn't, but sadly I don't have the time or the dollar to keep going and getting my nails done, however recently I discovered a gorgeous little duo by the budget friendly brand Essence that gives any of my manicures a salon look but in the comfort of my own home and what's even better is that it doesn't break the bank either!
The Essence Gel Base and Top Coats have really changed my nail polish game, which is really saying something because usually I'm not at all bothered with base and top coats if I'm honest but these two work so well together! The Essence Gel Base Coat* applies evenly smoothing everything out on my natural nails creating the perfect base for my chosen nail polish shade to go over, and despite being gel based these beauties don't need an LED or UV lamp making them so quick and easy to use. The Essence Gel Top Coat* is really what had me blown away, again it applies evenly without any bubbling or streaking and it dries in no time at all, I'm talking less than 60 seconds. What I love so much is that the top coat leaves a gorgeous glossy shine to my nails exactly like what I'd get if I had Shellac done on my nails in a salon and the durability and lasting power is incredible, I'm really heavy handed at work, in general and at home doing housework and washing up and my nails stayed chip free for 7 days, in fact I just had wear and tear right at the very tips of my nails and that's it, the main bulk of my nail was fine, I'm honestly shook! 
I also noticed that my nails feel a lot more hard wearing and stronger and the fact these are just £2.50 each is insane to me, their just so good. I would suggest using the two together though and not skipping a step, I have a feeling if I used the top coat without the base coat the lasting ability and durability wouldn't be as good but together they are dreamy!

You can find the Essence 'The Gel' Base and Top Coat for £2.50 each instore or on line at Wilko HERE.

nopin

Feral Cosmetics Ultra Satin Lipstick Review

Hey beaut's!

Back in January I got my first taster of Feral Cosmetics, I tried three of their liquid lipsticks and was totally blown away by the gorgeous formula (review here). If you haven't heard of Feral Cosmetics before their a US based, cruelty free and vegan beauty brand which is sold here in the UK on the Beauty Chamber website. Feral Cosmetics currently have two lip product ranges available on Beauty Chamber - the Liquid Matte Lipsticks and the Ultra Satin Lipsticks which I've finally been able to try recently!
The Feral Cosmetics Ultra Satin Lipsticks* come packaged in sturdy silver aluminium casings and have handy magnetic lids which I love, theres nothing worse than when your lipstick lid becomes loose in your handbag is there, but you don't have to worry about that with these beauties! The Feral Cosmetics Lipsticks are available in five gorgeous shades that's can take you from day to night with ease and the formula is absolutely stunning, my all time favourite lipsticks are satin finishes so I kinda knew I would like these lippies to a certain degree but after trying them theres honestly nothing I would change about them! The pigmentation is so rich and opaque after one swipe and their so creamy and easy to apply without dragging or tugging on the lips. The satin finish is lovely and feels so comfortable to wear and doesn't dry my lips out at all and lasts a good 4-5 hours before I could use a refresh. I honestly love the satin formula of these as much as I love the formula of my MAC satin lippies and these are cheaper at just £12.95 a pop but still feel like high end quality!

The five shades are....
Euphoric - A pastel lilac shade fit for any unicorn lover he he.
Envy - This is the most beautiful classic red shade, it's one of my absolute favourites out of the five shades.
Rose By Goar - This is the most natural and some would say the most wearable out of the five shades, it's a pretty blush-pinky nude, I love it!
Rapture - I'm getting extreme 'Autumn' and 'night out' vibes from this beauty, it's a vampy dark red which I think would look gorgeous with a bronze smokey eye!
Fetish - A lovely pinky-coral shade that will be perfect for the Summer months.
(From left to right - Euphoric, Envy, Rose By Goar, Rapture, Fetish)
Overall I've really been loving these lippies and can see myself getting so much wear out of them because theres a shade for most seasons and occasions. Rose By Goar is my most worn shade at the moment because it's so versatile and perfect for work but I love them all so much, the formula is so nice too and if your after a bit of a MAC satin finish dupe these are super similar. At £12.95 a pop I really cant recommend them enough, theres super pigmented, long wearing, comfortable on the lips and apply like a dream, whats not to love!

You can find the Feral Cosmetics Ultra Satin Lipstick's for £12.95 each HERE.

nopin

Getting Your Feet Spring & Summer Ready!

Hey beaut's! 

It's finally Spring which hopefully means warm and sunny days are on the way, well I'm keeping my fingers and toes firmly crossed anyway as it's currently raining cats and dogs out there as I type this, anywho moving on......Now seems the right time to get pampering those tootsies and get them looking their best ready for the pretty sandals to come back out, oh how I'm longing for the days I can whack on some flip flips without even thinking and walk out the door, c'mon sun! 
The first essential for me to get my feet looking half decent is getting rid of any dry, hard skin and my Scholl Express Pedi does this in a matter of seconds, I actually got mine for Christmas last year and I cant believe I didn't buy myself one before hand, it buffs and smooths out the skin on my feet so quickly and the results really last. It's pain free too which surprised me as I thought it would hurt and I find it somewhat relaxing if I'm honest he he.
After the gross dead skin is gone I love to nourish my feet with my favourite foot moisturiser - Soap and Glory's Heel Genius! I've been using this stuff for years because it actually works and lots of other foot creams I've tried before talk the talk but definitely do not walk the walk like Soap and Glory's Heel Genius! It keeps my feet extremely soft, smooth and moisturised and you can even use it as an overnight treatment if you apply a thick layer to your feet before bed and sleep in some cotton socks, it works a treat I tell ya!

 Finally after giving yourself a cheeky pedicure your going to need some pretty sandals to wear and the latest addition to my sandal collection are these gorgeous Casey Bronze Metallic Studded Slip On Sandal Sliders* by XY London. These pretties are so comfy and easy to just slip on and they go with literally anything whether it be mini dresses, shorts, skinny jeans, maxi dresses, you name it they work. I also love the colour of these, the bronze effect sometimes looks gold, rose gold or even copper depending on the lighting, I always tend to go for bronze/gold sandals in the Spring/Summer as I find them so versatile so much nicer than wearing Black!
You can find the Casey Bronze Metallic Studded Slip On Sandal Sliders for £19.99 HERE, they are also available in Black, White and Silver!

nopin

Leighton Denny's New Havana Heat Collection

Hey beaut's!

When it comes to nails Leighton Denny are where the parties attttt... They have so many pretty colours and finishes to choose from and their new Spring/Summer collection 'Havana Heat' is just gorgeous, who else just let their inner Camila Cabello out.. 'Havana, ooh na-na'! 


The Leighton Denny Havana Heat Collection consists of six shades all of which have been inspired by the colours, sights, and fiestas of Cuba’s capital city, think bright, tropical and eye catching. I've been giving the shades Street Dance* and Mariposa Pearl* a whirl and I have to say their so pretty. Street Dance is literally a party in a nail polish pot, it has a clear base but is jam packed with all different sizes, shapes and colours of glitter, and after a couple of coats it literally takes any manicure to a whole new level, it's stunning! Mariposa Pearl is probably the most subtle shade within the Havana Heat Collection, it's a light peachy-gold shade with a pearlescent sheen to it, you need about three coats of this one before it's completely opaque but it looks super cute on the nails and perfect if you want something a little bit understated.
I always try and finish any mani with a top coat but I HATE the drying time but that's where my Leighton Denny Crystal Finish Top Coat* (£12.00) comes in, I love this one because it's a quick drying top coat so dries in no time at all, yasssssss... It also leaves my nails looking super glossy as well as sealing my mani into place for a lot longer. 
Something else I've been trying by Leighton Denny is their Bio-Build Serum* (£12.00), this stuff intensely restores moisture, rebuilds the nail structure and strengthens each layer of the nail to bond them together and creates a more resilient nail. This is such good stuff and perfect for my nails because they are so weak and break so easily, and my cuticle area is always so dry but I've noticed a huge improvement in the quality of my nails since using this gorgeous stuff. I just massage a tiny drop into each nail every night before I go to sleep and it works wonders, I cant believe I've never tried anything like this before seeing as the quality of my nails has always been so bad. 
You can find the Leighton Denny Havana Heat Collection for £12.00 each HERE.

nopin

Accessorize Happy Daisy Perfume Review

Hey beaut's!

I'm so ready for all things Spring and Summer now, I'm slowly but surely switching things up in my makeup bag, wardrobe and in my perfume caddy and putting those warm, musky scents to the back and pulling forward my more fruity, floral scents. You might remember that last year I got a bit obsessed with the Accessorize Love Lily Fragrance, I featured it in quite a few favourites posts last year and I'm even on my second bottle of it now so when I heard Accessorize had launched a brand new scent for this Spring/Summer called Happy Daisy I just had to give it a whirl!
Happy Daisy* is a floral, fruity fragrance with a tiny hint of musk so it basically has a little bit of everything going on and I love it! It definitely reminds me of the Accessorize Love Lily Fragrance because they both open up with juicy top notes of raspberry and orange and I can definitely tell they smell similar, but Happy Daisy has heart notes of pepper, violet, cyclamen and jasmine and then finishes with base notes of caramel vanilla, delicate musk, orris and sandalwood.
The scent of Happy Daisy itself is so easy and comfortable to wear, it has light hints of sweetness and mixed with the floral notes it's a match made in heaven. For me it's the perfect scent for everyday wear because it isn't too strong or overpowering, it's not one of those scents that's going to get stuck in the back of your throat that's for sure. The fragrance has good lasting power too despite being quite lightweight, I mean it's not going to last all day long but I get a good couple of hours out of this one and I can always smell those caramel vanilla notes within the fragrance on myself throughout the day too, it's so nice and I can defietly see myself getting so much wear out it from now on. 
I love the bottle too, it's shape reminds me of a vintage perfume bottle that my Nan used to have when I was little, it looks so pretty and simplistic and is finished off a coral flower which is encased within the cap! 

 You can find the Happy Daisy  Eau De Parfum for RRP £19.00/75ml from Accessorize and The Perfume Shop

nopin