Top Summer Products | #1 | Lip Tints

Hello There!

I've decided to start a small series of posts listing my top summer products. These vary from cosmetics to skincare to haircare. Things that are really handy to use in the summer months to make life easier, or to finish a summer look. Because, we just can't be as bothered in the heat. 

So, first on the list is lip tints. I'm not really a lipstick girl. Or lip gloss girl. I have to have my balms. Nothing else works for me. Lipstick is too drying and I look all strange and flaky. Lip glosses are too thick and sticky and my hair just wipes them away. Lovely. So balms and tints are for me. And even then I'm pretty afraid of bright colours. Anyway, rant over. 

So I this is a very affordable option when it comes to lip tints/balms. They are the MUA Power Pout Colour Intense Tint & Balm. 

I think it's cute that these are all named after Beyonce songs. I have Broken Hearted and Irreplaceable. But I'll probably buy the rest at some point.. 

Anyway.. The gist of it is that I really really like these. They're moisturising, pigmented and sheer - everything you want in a lip product. Or, what I want anyway. But for £3, I'd recommend you trying them because if you like them you'll love them, and if not, you've not really lost anything. 

The only other thing I have to add about these Power Pouts is that they do have a minty taste/flavour. I'm not that fond of it, but it does fade away leaving you with beautiful lips :)

Hope this makes summer make-up less hassle this summer - these certainly have for me!

Have you got any amazing summer products? Let me know in a comment :)
Ciao for now, G x

NOTW - Stripes & Spots | MUA & Sally Hansen |

Hello There!

This think I think I've gone a bit creative with my nails - I literally can't believe how adventurous I felt and I just went for it and had a go at striping tape. So here's my tutorial for this nail look :)

1. So the first thing I did was cut the striping tape into inch-ish pieces and stuck them on an open drawer. 

2. I painted 2 coats of MUA's 'All Natural' on my nails. Wait until dry (7 mins ish)

3. Next I laid 5 strips onto my nails. You can put two next to each other to make thicker lines if you want. Do this for all nails except accent nails.

4. Paint your next colour on top. I used two coats of Sally Hansen's 'Black Platinum'. Apply layer 1 wait 30 seconds and then apply second coat. Then remove strips. It's best to do on nail at a time for this bit.

5. Freehand dots onto accent nail with Dotter tool or cocktail stick. 

6. Finish the look with a top coat. I used Seche Vite Fast Dry Top Coat. This gives a glossy manicure look, evens out the nail surface, and dries really quickly (30seconds). 

Have you been creative recently? Let me know in a comment!

Ciao for now, G x

June Favourites | 2013 |

Hello There!

Wow! How have we got to the June favourites already???

I know I've been a bit MIA recently, but I've been travelling a bit and it was my birthday, and life in general just kind of got in the way. But I'm back now with a whole host of new posts to share with you. Anyway, back to the favourites!!!

So, as you can see I've been enjoying a range of different products this month, and nobody is more surprised than me that there's a lip product included! So, I guess I'll start with that. 

MUA Power Pout Colour Intense Tint & Balm:  So, if you've read a couple of my posts you'll notice that I'm really not a lip product girl. And so when I bought this a few months ago I tried it, saw that it was actually quite bright and have been frightened of it ever since. But then one day this month, just randomly I decided to put it on. And even though it is bright, I realised that the formula is perfect for me. I'll be reviewing in further detail soon!

Calvin Klein Brushes 1 & 2: So I was looking for some more eye brushes, in particular blending/shading brushes because I  only have tapered flat brushes which aren't ideal for crease colour. So I found these. And boy am I glad. I bought one of '2' to start off with, and found it amazing. It isn't the traditional blending brush shape so I was a bit disappointed when I got it. But the shape and size make nothing of its ability to shade and blend. So I bought another '2' and a '1' which is just a flat brush for packing on the colour. Very happy with these :)

Sleek Storm Palette: This is something that I bought in March and kind of started to regret buying. I was going through a phase of neutral colours on my eyes, and wished that I'd bought the neutral palette. And then last week it was my birthday, and I just felt like I wanted to do something different to mark the occasion. So I used the two purple/pink colours at the bottom of the palette. There was born my new favourite look. Purple makes green eyes stand out and my eyes have never looked brighter than when I've got these colours on!

L'Oreal Telescopic Mascara:  I'm not very loyal when it comes to mascaras, but they are something that I become very passionate about very quickly. Kind of like one-month-stands :) So this is the mascara that I've been loving this month. It was actually the first product that I bought based on youtube recommendations. Ahhh memories... 

Boss Orange Woman (Fragrance) : I was gifted this perfume for my birthday and I have really been enjoying it of late. It's a subtle scent, not too overpowering, but it does last all day. I'd recommend going for a sniff in Boots!

Maybelline 24 Hour Colour Tattoo - Permanent Taupe: I've really been enjoying these cream eyeshadows this month, especially this shade in particular. They're really creamy (obviously) and pigmented and are just the perfect bases for eyeshadows. I've even abandoned my eyeshadow primer because these are so much better. They don't last for 24 hours ( I use the Urban Decay Cream Shadows when I want that) but they do last a full day, so nothing to be sniffed at. I have quite a few of the colours but I've actually been enjoying this one the most even though it's quite dark, it's great for packing lighter colours onto and smoking out. Perfect for neutral eyes. 

What have you been loving for the past month? Let me know in a comment!

Ciao for now, G x

Hauling It About | Drugstore Hauls | Elf, MUA, W7

Hello There!

I've been hauling it about recently so I thought I'd show you some of my spoils from my sprees. 

I've noticed that we don't really cherish the really budget brands over here in the UK. I know that MUA has made its name in the budget make-up zone recently, but before that range came out, the other budget brands - technic and w7 were usually overlooked.  

Whereas in the USA - ELF has long been regarded as a 'good quality' but insanely affordable make-up range. So I went on their site to grab the Mineral Eyeshadow Primer and then I saw on their site that it was buy-one-get-one-free and I couldn't not buy more stuff off it. Oh well...  So, apparently their blushes are great, so I was sure to pick one up - this one is 'Candid Coral' and I'm really excited to try it out!

The other pick I've been enjoying is the w7 Honolulu bronzer, which is amazing. It's evidently a dupe for the Benefit Hoola bronzer, but I think this is just as good. At a measly £2, I'd have tried it anyway because I always get excited when I find a really cheap product with the same quality as a higher end product - those gems have to be found somehow!

And an update on me would be that I've had some highlights put in my hair, which I'm going to be building up because I want a lighter look for summer, but I may give up on them and just dye it blonde. I've done the sad thing of using Photoshop to make my hair blonde, and I'm not sure whether that with my skin tone I'm going to look really washed out, so I thought I'd start with the highlights. I used to dye my hair blonde from when I was 10-12yrs old (I actually can't believe my parents let me!), anyway, my skintone has just got paler and paler since then, so it might not be the same now. But it has taken me this long to dye my hair again - I had to grow my blonde out last time, and it took 2 years - I looked incredibly strange until it  grew out of my fringe.... So I've decided to do it all over again :)

Have you been hauling it about recently? Are you changing your hair for summer?

Let me know in a comment  - I'd love to know!

Ciao for now, G x

NOTW | Polka Dots | MUA Nail Polish - Strawberry Crush

Hello There!

So, I'm doing a NOTW post today. I'm a novice when it comes to nail design - I have neither the patience nor a steady enough hand to achieve a nice design. I've been looking round other blogs and admiring their creative designs, and even if they've got a really easy-to-follow tutorial, I've been too impatient at the moment to try them. So I've stuck with a basic design that I've tried and tested many times before. 

Polka Dots. From my blog background, you'll have guessed that I'm a fan of said polka dots and they're the simplest design to do. All you have to do is apply the pink nail polish as normal (2 coats) and then dot the white on top - simples!

I recently bought an MUA nail polish and so I tried the colour 'Strawberry Crush'. The bottle is reminiscent of Essie nail polishes but they don't have the designer price tag at a crazy £1! 

Apologies for my weird toes, but I thought I'd show you my co-ordination :)

I'll do a full review of MUA nail polishes later on, but for now I thought I'd leave you knowing what I'm sporting on my nails for this week!

Have you been experimenting with nail designs? 
Follow me if you like my posts - you'll make my day!

Ciao for now, G x

Just Checking In

Hello there!

So just a short post to let you know what'll be coming up in the next few weeks..

1. I'm going to be talking about the new comedy additions to UK television....

2. There's going to be more Technology Thurdays

3. A new motivational Mantra

4 . A selection of products that I'll be telling you about :)

5. And my revelation of the best-quality-at-insane-prices-website, YAY!!

So it's going to be a jam-packed month and kick-off is tomorrow!

Have you got any products that you're looking forward to trying?
Hope its a great month for you :)

Ciao for now, G x

'Basic' Beauty Buys (MAC, MUA & Collection 2000 Reviews)

Hello there!

I decided that my first post would show my progress so far in to the beauty world. 

I've just been getting serious about make-up and have been learning new techniques, so I have gradually built up my 'basics'. So, without further ado here are my 'basic' investments. 

Brushes £10, Asda (Walmart)

I decided that my first purchase should be into a relatively good set of brushes. I was looking for the softest brushes that I could find (think like a cuddle for my face), but found that testing them was hard because they tend to be in impenetrable plastic cases so you can't feel them. I rejected these brushes when I first saw them, but received them for Christmas and I love them! They're supersoft, don't fall apart on my face, are easy to clean, and provide a good application. So that showed me didn't it (book, cover and all that). I was particularly impressed that they were from a supermarket. I think that in the future I would like a wider range of shapes, particularly larger brushes because there's only one brush for bronzer, blush, highlight and contouring... 

My second 'purchase' is actually a series of purchases. I succumbed to the hype about Mac products and wanted to try them.  I bought these on ebay, so that I could get a taste of them without the designer price tag. However, there is a mountain of fake MAC products on ebay, and it is near impossible to tell what is real and what is fake. I am confident that the eyeliners I bought are genuine, but I do believe that the mascara is a fake. Or I hope so. Otherwise I am very underwhelmed about the quality of MAC mascaras. That is the zoom lash mascara in the colour plushblack - first check for fake MAC products, check the colours are available in that product. ie. Zoom lash is only available in the colour Zoomblack, thus a fake. But a simple visit to the Mac website will highlight that mistake for me next time. Apparently it's much harder to spot fake pigments and eyeshadows, so maybe buying genuine products at the Mac counter is worth the extra money. 

MUA, Heaven and Earth, £4, Superdrug

My third purchase was an eyeshadow palette. I have never been a big eyeshadow person, but I decided that I wanted to have a go, and try something new and so I researched into palettes and found that the Naked palette by urban decay was popular in blogs and vlogs. However, at £25 I thought that it was slightly pricey for an experiment. I heard about this MUA palette called 'Heaven and Earth' which can be used as an alternative to the Naked palette, so I decided to buy it. I have only tried some basic looks on this, but I really like the mix of colours on the palette. Although to a rookie like me there seems to be quite a variety of colours in the palette, I do think that there should be a darker colour, maybe even a black so that you can do more of a smoky eye. However, MUA have just released a similar palette called 'Undress me too' which seems to have a few darker greys in, so I think I will be popping to Superdrug soon. 

Shimmer Shades Palette, 'Way To Glow', Collection, £4.19

My final 'basic' investment was into this palette which I heard about from SprinkleOfGlitter's  video about her daily makeup routine. Once again, contouring and highlighting was a new thing for me and so I didn't want to spend tonnes of money if I wasn't going to like it. And I have been pleasantly surprised by it, and I love this palette! I use A's mixed together to contour and B to highlight, as seen from the video above. They are not quite my colour, so I will probably be experimenting with different products in the future, but I would recommend this to anyone. 

Phew, that was a long post, but I feel that I have to explain everything that I've done now, otherwise future blog posts will not work without a background.

So, if you have read to the end of this post, then yay I've not bored you, and I'll be back soon!

Ciao for now x