Little MAC Lipstick - Velvet Teddy

Hey beaut's!

I hadn't made a MAC purchase in a really long time but when I saw their new 'Little MAC' range I knew it would be too adorable for me to resist, theres something about makeup that comes in miniatures isn't there, it just lures me in every time!

The Little Mac Collection contains a selection of MAC's products in their most popular shades all in 'on the go' handbag friendly sizes, theres lipsticks, lip glosses, pigments, mascara and even skin care to choose from all of which are priced from £10.00 to £12.00. What I love about this whole 'Little MAC' range in particular is that it gives you a chance to test out something you might of had your eye on in MAC for a while but didn't want to commit to the full size, plus it's a bit cheaper which is always a bonus and things like the pigments are still going to last for ages whether their mini's or not.

For my first Little MAC purchase I decided to go for their lipstick in Velvet Teddy, this is a super popular shade that most makeup and beauty lovers have in their makeup bags already, but I've never committed to buying it before now because I ALWAYS used to wear pink toned nudes and would never reach for a deep beige nude like Velvet Teddy, until this year where I've been embracing all different shades and loving it! Velvet Teddy is matte but it goes on super creamy and opaque with one swipe and doesn't dry my lips out which is a major bonus, the shade is super wearable for daytime at work or even on a night out and because the lipstick bullet is smaller it's so precise and easy to put on!

You may be wondering the size difference between the regular MAC lippies and the Little MAC lippies, well....The Little MAC lipsticks have 1.8 grams of lipsticks within the bullet and the regular MAC lipsticks have 3 grams so your getting just over half of a full size MAC lipstick in the Little MAC bullet, wow I hope that makes sense as that's a mouthful lol!

Overall I'm all for this concept, anything in miniature will always get a thumbs up from me and being completely honest I would never have bought Velvet Teddy at full size until I could really test the shade out on myself so if there was no Little MAC available I still wouldn't of even tried the shade. The whole concept is great for travel too or for your handbags and clutch bags on nights out, and the skincare options you get 30ml worth of product which I think is pretty decent considering most full size foundations come in 30ml bottles!

You can find the Little MAC Collection HERE.

My Favourite Makeup Sprays!

 Hey beaut's!

Makeup setting sprays and priming sprays are huge right now and I for one am a total addict of them, priming sprays always make such a different in how my foundation looks on my skin and setting sprays... well they just keep everything set and looking fresh throughout the entire day. Honestly beaut's if you haven't tried any makeup sprays yet now is the time to take yourself too Boots or Superdrug and treat yourself to a couple to try, you wont regret it trust me!

MAC's Fix + and the Smashbox Photo Finish Priming Water are both my favourites for refreshing and priming my skin. Before I apply my foundation or concealer I literally drench my face in either of these beauties and then I go straight in with my foundation and concealer whilst my face is still wet with the priming sprays, this does something magical as I'm blending everything in and the overall finish of my base makeup is lovely, so lightweight, smooth and dewy, I love it. I also use the priming sprays on my beauty blender, again it just really helps with the overall finish of my makeup and dampening a makeup brush with either sprays can really transform your eye shadows and highlighter into well pigmented, gleaming gorgeousness too! And lastly I love to use them both to refresh my makeup throughout the day, it also takes that over powdered look away from my skin and makes things like my highlighter really pop!

As for setting sprays theres two clear winners for me and that's my Urban Decay All Nighter Setting Spray and my Barry M Mist & Fix Dewy Finish Setting Spray. These two are extremely similar to each other and practically work the same although, I would say Urban Decay's offering does keep my makeup in place a tad longer than Barry M's Mist & Fix but I'd say Barry M have a great dupe here and for a fraction of the price. Both sprays keep my makeup in place a full working day without any fading, caking or melting and neither dry my skin out at all and they both keep me looking fresh, dewy and radiant.

What's your favourite makeup spray beaut's? I'd love to know what I should try next!

April Beauty Haul

Hey beaut's!

I hit the shops recently and decided to treat myself to some makeup bits and pieces that I've been wanting to try for such a long time, you know those bits that you always add to your online basket and then delete or I pick them up in the shop and then put them back again, well this time I thought 'sod it' and treated myself.

Something I've wanted for a while is Mac's Nylon Eyeshadow, the reason it's taken me until now to buy it is because I actually only wanted it for one specific thing... inner corner highlight! Seems pretty odd getting an eyeshadow for one purpose but honestly it's the prettiest 'frosty' inner corner highlight that lasts all day, I love it and I'm so pleased I bought it. Sticking with highlighter, I finally decided to cave and buy the Sleek Solstice Highlighting Palette and wow...I actually feel stupid for waiting so long to buy this, if your into super intense highlighter then you NEED to get this palette asap, I love it more than my Mary Lou-Manizer and that's really saying something. I'd also been lusting after the Topshop Magic Liner for a while but it was never in stock in my Topshop until the other day so I snapped that up pretty sharpish and so far so good. I then popped into Primark because I wanted to get another one of their amazing oval brushes, this time around I opted for the smaller one best suited for concealer and contouring.

  I then popped into Superdrug and noticed their 3 for 2 offer across makeup was back on so it would of been rude not to get a couple of bits wouldn't it. I actually opted for three things from Barry M because I needed to repurchase my trusty Mist and Fix Dewy Makeup Setting Spray (review HERE), then I saw they finally had the Colour Correcting Wand for Dark Circles back in stock so I quickly grabbed that, and then if that wasn't good enough they also had the brand new Molten Metal Nail Paint shades in and Pink Ice just HAD to be mine.

Look out for some full reviews coming soon on each of these products beaut's but so far I'm loving everything I picked up.

What new makeup have you picked up recently? I'd love to know!

January Beauty Favourites

Hey beaut's!

It's the first monthly favourites of the year! How has the start of 2017 been for you all? I cant quite believe how quick January is whizzing past, it honestly scares me that the months go by so quickly! This month my beauty favourites mainly contains things that I was lucky enough to get for Christmas, I could of made this post an extremely long one as theres so many things I've been loving this month but I some how narrowed it down to a handful!

Firstly I've been obsessed with using my Too Faced Merry Macaroons Palette, my goodness it's such a stunning, good quality eyeshadow palette and it's crammed with shades that are perfect for everyday looks. My most reached for shades are definitely the top row and the 3 shades on the left had side row too, just beautiful! Sticking with the eyes I have fallen in love with Benefit's Roller Lash Mascara, it makes my lashes so long, defined, lifted and curled and doesn't smudge or flake on me at all, it's incredible and wont be leaving my makeup bag anytime soon.

For base makeup I've switched things up quite a bit recently and have fallen in love with my new routine. Firstly I drench my face in the Smashbox Priming Water, this stuff is amazing and not only does it prime the skin but you can use it as a setting spray too, I use it both ways and I've noticed a HUGE improvement with how my base makeup looks and lasts, I will definitely be buying the full size bottle of this very soon. For foundation I've gone back to my trusty MAC Face and Body, I just love how dewy and lightweight this foundation is and you can keep building it up to get the coverage you like. Benefit's Hoola Bronzer has become another makeup bag staple for me since Christmas, it's quite a bold statement for me to say I love a bronzer because I'm super fussy with bronzers but Hoola is gorgeous, it's matte, easy to blend and works with my skin tone really well.

 To blend in my foundation and other base makeup I've been loving my Real Techniques Berlin Brush Set (review HERE) that I picked up in the boxing day sales, I've been getting so much use out of these brushes because the set contains 5 core brushes that can be used in many different ways, my favourite is the buffing brush. Lastly this month I have been obsessed with the Lush Snow Fairy Body Conditioner, I slather this on every night at the moment and in the morning my skin is so soft and smells insanely good, it's like I'm wearing Snow Fairy perfume, mmm!

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

Makeup Brand of 2016 | MAC

Hey beaut's!

During 2016 I bought and road tested a shed load of makeup, honestly I have enough makeup to last me a lifetime with some to spare he he but the one brand that stands out to me the most throughout last year was Mac!

I'd say I was quite late to the Mac party and only started buying and collecting their makeup over the last couple of years but once I started I couldn't stop. During 2016 I added more pretties to my collection and got totally addicted to MAC lipsticks in particular, I'd say the lipsticks where actually my all round Mac 2016 favourite, Twig, Faux and Brave have literally been worn by me more or less everyday and I'd never be without those shades in my handbag now.

Eye shadows are something else from Mac that I loved in 2016, I purchased their Burgundy Times Nine Palette to wear throughout Autumn and loved it so much, I also have a bit of an obsession with Satin Taupe and All That Glitters Eye shadows too and wore them to death throughout 2016. 

I also branched out to some of Mac's base products last year starting with their Fix+ Spray which is amazing by the way, and then went on to get the travel size Strobe Cream which if your a lover of a dewy, healthy look to the skin you need in your life.

Overall I've absolutely loved Mac makeup during 2016 and I hope to add a lot more of their pretties to my makeup collection this year, I've already got my eye on some more lipsticks and I'd love some of Mariah Carey's collection if it comes back in stock. 

What are your favourite Mac makeup finds? I'd love to know beaut's!

December Beauty Favourites

Hey beaut's!

It's December beauty favourites time.....I still cant quite believe that December and Christmas is nearly over, it went far to quickly for my liking and I'm super sad about it, I think I'm going to cling on to the gold smokey eyes, red lips and glittery nails for a bit longer though he he. Anywhoo onto what I've been loving this month beauty wise!

For nails I've pretty much worn and re-painted my nails with the same two polishes all month long starting with Barry M's Glitter Gelly in Sparkling Ruby, its a gorgeous red glitter shade that has a subtle golden shimmer effect to it, and for my accent nails I've been obsessed with my Barry M Molten Metal Nail Paint in Copper Mine, these two have just gone so well together and have been so festive.

For lips this month I've been loving Rimmels The Only 1 Matte Lipstick in 610 High Flyer for everyday wear and for more of a dramatic festive red lip I've been wearing MAC's Viva Glam I. Speaking of MAC, their Extended Play Giga Black Lash Mascara crept back into my makeup bag this month and I've been obsessed again, it's amazing for precise application and grabs every lash even the tiny hard to reach lashes, I love it!

I know I've featured this in a lot of favourites but Zoella's Hungry Hands is still my favourite hand cream that I've been using daily, I've even got my boyfriend into it too he he, it's just so nourishing and the gingerbread scent is divine.

Skincare wise theres been one stand out product that I've been using a lot that I've actually been buying in bulk because I love it that much and that's Garniers Moisture Bomb Tissue Mask. These masks are super scary but super amazing, their just so good for my dry skin at this time of the year because they are drenched in serum which puts the moisture back in that this cold weather takes out, I love my skin after using one of these bad boys.

Finally for beauty, I've been obsessed with my YSL's Black Opium perfume during December, it's a dark, musky, sexy, warm scent that wears beautifully in the colder months, I love it so much!

I do have one fashion favourite that has snuck into my beauty favourites this month and that's my cute rose gold snowflake necklace from Jewellerybox.co.UK. I have been wearing it so much over the festive season, I just love how delicate it is any anything rose gold gets a huge thumbs up from me he he.  

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

Blogmas Day 16 - Festive Lip of the Day

Hey beaut's!

It's blogmas day sixteen, wowza these days are flying aren't they... Today I thought I'd do a cheeky little lip of the day post as I haven't done one of these for a while and this one has a Christmassy twist, yup this lip of the day is actually going to be my lip combo of choice for Christmas day!

For lipstick I've gone for MAC's Viva Glam I. Viva Glam I is a deep but bright vampy red shade and has a lovely matte finish. This is the red lip that I always crack out for the party season because it just looks so dramatic on me and is such a statement lip. It's such a beautiful shade though and definitely one to have stored away in your MAC lipstick collection for sure!

To line my lips I'm going for MUA's Lip Liner in Red Drama! Can you believe this lip liner is just a teeny tiny £1.00, I know what a beauty bargain! Red Drama is actually quite a bright red lip liner, definitely brighter than 'MAC's Viva Glam I' but somehow they work amazingly well together, I line and fill in my lips with Red Drama first then pop over MAC's Viva Glam I and blend the two with a lip brush, this creates such a long lasting, beautifully bold red lip, I love it! 

Whats your favourite lippie to rock over the festive season beaut's? I'd love to know!

Blogmas Day 5 - My Top 5 Christmas Red Lipsticks

Hey beaut's!

And welcome to Blogmas day five...Now I absolutely adore a red lip however I don't wear them I huge amount throughout the year unless I'm going out somewhere fancy however....Because it's basically Christmas I have pulled out all of my favourite red lipsticks and have been wearing them with pride, I mean you've just got to embrace a red lip throughout December don't you. So today I thought I would share with you all my top five red lippies going from the more affordable all the way up to one higher end priced lippie.

1. First up is Makeup Revolutions Lipstick in Ruby which is an absolute bargain at just £1.00 wowza! Ruby is simply stunning, its a classic bright red shade with hints on pink running through it, it doesn't contain any shimmers at all and has a creamy finish, this one looks amazing teamed with dramatic black winged liner.

2. Secondly and another one by Makeup Revolution is their Rose Gold lipstick in Red Carpet. Red Carpet is a gorgeous pillow box red shade that would be the perfect night out lipstick over the party season because it's so glamorous and would go hand in hand with an LBD, plus the packaging is so stunning that you wouldn't mind having it in your clutch bag for any top ups. The formula of these rose gold lipstick by Makeup Revolution are gorgeous too, really creamy and highly pigmented with a satin finish.

3. Next up is Rimmels Kate Moss lipstick in 01, this is actually my second bullet of this because I used it so much last year I had to recently repurchase another to wear this year. Kate's 01 tends to be my everyday wear red lipstick throughout December because I find it's not too vampy or dramatic but is still a beautiful true red shade.

4. My next pick is L'Oreals Color Riche Lipstick in Place Vendome, this is such a beautiful, rich, red wine red. If you haven't tried any of the L'Oreal Colour Riche lipstick before then your missing out, the formula is stunning, their so creamy, long lasting and super pigmented, I love this one. 

5. Lastly but in no means least is the only luxury red lipstick I own MAC's Viva Glam I. Viva Glam I is a deep, vampy red shade with brown undertones and has a lovely matte finish. This is the red lip that I will be rocking to any Christmas parties because it just looks so dramatic on me and is such a statement lip, it is so beautiful though and definitely one to have stored away in your MAC lipstick collection!

Whats your favourite red lipstick to wear over the festive season beaut's? I'd love to know?

The £2.99 MAC Soar Lip Liner Dupe!

Hey beaut's!

I'm a huge lover of the trusty ole lip liner these days and when my friend Kate kindly bought me MAC's Sour Lip Liner for my birthday back in August I noticed I had a few lip liners in my current collection that matched it pretty well, but there was one liner in particular that is more or less bang on point with Soar and I just had to share it will you all today!

 That lip liner in question is Barry M's #15 Rose, Barry M's offering is a mere £2.99 and as far as lip liners go I think Barry M do a really good job, Rose is a muted mauve shade with a brownish undertone and is so velvety soft to apply whilst still being firm enough to create precise lines and the texture is stunning! MAC's Sour is again a mid-tone pinkish brown shade and as you can see by the swatches their really isn't a huge difference between Soar and Rose, I think Soar is just a smidge more on the browner undertone side of things, I would even say formula wise these two are pretty much the same although I do find Mac's offering lasts that little but longer on my lips and the Mac pencil itself is longer so you do get a bit more product with the Mac pencil but if we are comparing the shade, texture and formula they are pretty much twins.

Overall I think if your lusting after MAC's Soar but don't really want to pay the £13.00 price point then save yourself some pennies and grab Barry M's Rose for just £2.99. 

Have your tried either of these lip liners beaut's? What do you think? I'd love to know!

Lip of the Day feat MAC and Barry M!

Hey beaut's!

It's been quite a while since I last done a lip of the day post so I thought I'd do one today with the lip combo I'm absolutely loving at the moment! I've actually worn this lip combo more or less everyday over last couple of weeks and have fallen in love with it all over again!

Firstly I lined my lips with the gorgeous Barry M lip liner in #15 Rose (£2.99). I picked up this shade because it's meant to be an exact dupe of MAC's Soar Lip Liner which I've been after for ages but it's always out of stock so Rose will have to do for the time being. As far as lip liners go I think Barry M done a bloody good job here, Rose is so velvety soft to apply whilst still being firm enough to create precise lines and the texture is stunning! I actually picked up another three Barry M lip liners after trying this one out because I was so impressed by the formulation!

The lipstick I went for to match up with the Barry M lip liner is another one of my favourites, Mac's Faux. Faux is a gorgeous muted mauve-pink with a satin finish which I find is the perfect shade for everyday wear and goes well with any makeup look, I love it! It matches perfectly with the Barry M lip liner and the two together are so long wearing, not to mention super pretty!

Whats your favourite lippie to rock at the moment beaut's? I'd love to know!

Luxury Face of the Day!

Hey beaut's!

The other day when I was doing my makeup I thought it would be kind of cool to whip out some of my luxury makeup and do my entire face with it all to see if there was much of a difference with wear and lasting power, this was actually super interesting for me as I never ever wear a full face of luxury makeup but I must admit my makeup did stay in place and looked pretty good all day without any patchiness! Anywho onto what I used....

Base

For my base makeup I kicked things off with MAC's Strobe Cream as a primer and MAC's Studio Sculpt Foundation, these two together give such a flawless glowy/dewy look to my skin which I'm all about. The MAC foundation is actually a shade too dark for me (I'm NW15, this foundation is NW20) so I can only really use it in the summer months when I have some colour to my skin, it's a shame I cant use this foundation all year round really because I adore the formula of this foundation. For concealer I used my Estee Lauder Double Wear in Light, this is super heavy duty concealer and covers so well yet it feels so lightweight on the skin, I'd totally recommend this if your looking for a heavy coverage concealer. To warm up my skin I used the Benefit Hoola Bronzer and Benefit Rockateur Blush which are both in my Benefit Real Cheeky Party Tin that I got last crimbo and to highlight of course I used my trusty Mary-Lou Manizer which admittedly I use every single day without fail. 

Eyes

For my eyes I used my very battered and bruised Urban Decay Naked Palette, I've had this palette for years, it was the very first luxury makeup item I ever got and I still love it and use it to this day. I'm really into the shade Sidecar at the moment, I've been wearing it all over the lid with some of Buck and Naked blended through the crease. For liner I went for my MAC Precision Liquid Liner to create my flicks and Benefit's Bad Gal Eyeliner on my waterline, and then I finished things off with a couple of coats of the Lancome Grandiose Mascara, which is an amazing mascara by the way! 

Brows
For my brows I've been keeping things super simple and just filling in any gaps or real sparse area's with my Benefit Goof Proof brow pencil and then setting everything into place with the Benefit Gimme Brow, brow gel. These two work so well together and the Gimme Brow in particular is such a favourite of mine, its literally the best tinted brow gel I've ever tried and because it contains tiny micro fibres that adhere to skin and brow hairs it  creates natural-looking fullness and definition, so you never get that fake, blocky looking brow. 

Lips
Lastly on my lips I went for my MAC Faux Lipstick which I've been obsessed with again recently, it's the perfect muted mauve/pink shade that goes with any makeup look day or night and the satin finish is my favourite.

What are your favourite luxury makeup items to use on a daily basis beaut's? Do you ever do a full face of luxury makeup? I'd love to know! 

Birthday Wishlist

Hey beaut's!

Today I'm back with ANOTHER wish list, but this time around it's a birthday wish list! My birthday is coming up in 2 weeks time and even though I'm not too happy about how old I'll be I still get stupidly excited about my birthday! I mean lots of yummy cake and a week off work with the boyfriend, cant get much better than that can it hey! I'm not expecting all of these things by any means but these are just a few things that are currently on my wish list! 

Jo Malone Peony & Blush Suede Cologne / Charlotte Tilbury Dolce Vita Eye Kit / Too Faced Semi-Sweet Chocolate Bar Eye Shadow Palette / TopShop Moto Black Joni Jeans / MAC Mineralize Skin finish Natural  / Too Faced Born This Way Foundation £29.00 / Mac Soar Lip Pencil / Puma Suede Classics  / Real Techniques Highlight and Glow Brush Set / Real Techniques Bold Metals Diamond Sponge / Yankee Candle Fireside Treats

Is your birthday soon beaut's?? What are you hoping for? I'd love to know!

Love the Sales Beauty Haul/Review #2

Hi beaut's!

I'm sure I'm not the only one who absolutely loves a bargain, whether it’s a treat for myself for my ever growing beauty stash or something nice for my wardrobe, or even a gift for someone special, getting it on sale not only makes my money go further but makes me extremely happy too. However, it can be a real chore going through website after website of all the brands you are interested in to find the best deal until now.... That's right beaut's theres an amazing website called Love the Sales* that holds every sale item from 100’s of retailers and 1000’s of brands altogether in one place, never before has it been so easy to go sales shopping. Whether it's beauty, fashion, electronics, home, garden, sports, gifts or anything else that takes your fancy, Love the Sales have it at the best prices. I've used this website before and found it so easy and convenient, also can you imagine how great it will be at Christmas time! Anywhoo onto the bargains I got...

MAC Penultimate Eye Liner in Black £16.00 was £18.00

It's no secret that I love a winged liner, I mean I rock a wing more or less everyday so when I saw Love the Sales had MAC'S Penultimate Eye Liner in Black I just had to give it a whirl. The Penultimate Eye Liner is a liquid pen-style liner which claims to create ultimate precise, bold lines in a rich, deep carbon black shade, and I have to say it really does. I've found this liquid liner so easy to use and would definitely recommend it if your a bit of a newbie to liquid liner, the small fine nib makes it so easy to draw on your flicks and fill them in, it's super pigmented and the lasting power is incredible.

Maybelline Lash Sensational Mascara in Black £5.99 was £7.99

Next up I went for the Maybelline Lash Sensational Mascara, this is probably the best high street mascara I've found which really is a bold statement for me because I love lots of mascaras, it's just so amazing! It gives me so much length, separation and curve to my lashes but also volumises and defines at the same time without any clumping or smudging at all, I love it and would highly recommend it if your looking for a new high street mascara! 

Maybelline Blushed Nudes Palette £7.99 was £9.99

Can we all just take a moment to appreciate how stunning this Maybelline Blushed Nudes Palette is, wow it's a beauty! Theres twelve shades to play with in this palette with a mixture of pink tones, bronzes, golds and even some smoky shades that come in selection of matte and shimmer finishes. I must admit I'm never a huge fan of high street eye shadows but I was pleasantly surprised at just how good the quality of the Blushed Nudes Palette is, all of the shades have a great amount of pigment, they feel buttery soft, they blend out really well, last amazingly and look stunning! If your looking for a palette similar to Urban Decays Naked 3 then this is such a good dupe for it because of it's similar colour way!  

Real Techniques Blush Brush £7.99 was £9.99

Lastly I went for the Real Techniques Blush Brush. It's no surprise that I'm a huge Real Techniques fan and this Blush Brush is amazing and so multi-purpose, of course it is meant for blush application but I've been loving it with everything from my setting powder to my bronzer and even blending in my foundation, and honestly beaut's it blends foundation in like a dream, you have to try it out!

Overall I absolutely love the Love the Sales concept and will certainly be using it a lot more in the future, I've also got my eye on a few things from their Ted Baker Sale too he he. It's key to remember that Love the Sales work on real time, so offers are changing quick, so if you see something you want at a bargain price nab it quickly!

Have you tried the LovetheSales website beaut's? What did you think? I'd love to know!