Face of the Day #07

This has probably got to be my favourite go-to look ever. I'm always one for experimenting with lots of different make-up looks, but this is the one I always feel drawn to when I just want to look like myself. A thin, winged flick at the top of the lash line looks made up, put together, but still natural. And when I feel like going out then all I have to do is slick on a nice lip stick and I'm ready to go.

FACE/BASE

I've been trying my hardest to like the Maybelline Fit Me Foundation in 115 Ivory, but after taking these pictures I have finally given up and went out to buy myself a new foundation. It's not the worst foundation in the world - the finish is quite nice, but it just has a tendency to slide around on the face. I used the Seventeen Stay Time Concealer under my eyes and dabbed it under the eye area with my finger tips. I set the whole lot with the Seventeen Stay Time Pressed Powder (Seventeen make some really rather fantastic base products). On the cheeks I used one of my all time favourite blushers - the MUA Blusher in 01. It's an absolute bargain at £1 and as you can see it's been through quite a bit, but I just keep coming back to it for a natural, luminous glow on the cheeks.

EYES

Obviously the MAC Paint Pot in Painterly had to come out again - I don't think I've used a different primer in about two years and as soon as I hit pan on this one I'm going to run to get another one straight away. I blended a bit of Tease from my Urban Decay Naked 2 Pallette into the outer corner and the crease with a big fluffy brush. I then used the Stila Stay All Day Waterproof Liquid Eye Liner to line very closely at the upper lash line, flicking it out at the outer corner and making sure to take it quite far into the inner corner of the eye as well. I really like the elongated cat eye effect you get from taking the liner quite far either way. To top it off, I used the L'Oreal Extra Volume Collagene Mascara on top lashes, and as the brush is quite bulky I switched to the Maybelline Great Lash Mascara for bottom lashes.

LIPS

I left my lips completely bare for this look with only a little hint of lip balm. As the rest of the look is so neutral, pretty much any shade of lipstick goes well, but I just didn't feel like any colour on my lips that particular day.

January Wish List

Grey floral money print t-shirt, River Island, £18 // Rose gold tone cut out knuckle ring, River Island, £5 // Quilt across body bag with rabbit ears, Asos, £18 // Dasi slim holographic jeans belt, Pieces, £7 //  Simone intarsia cardi, Ecote, £45 // Naked 3 Palette, Urban Decay, £37 // Clara dress in ripple print, Whistles, £155 // Bluntly does it t-shirt, Drop Dead, £30 // Black shark print satin front t-shirt, River Island, £20



Some might say it's a tad over-indulgent to start off the new year with a big wish list just as the crazy December spending frenzy comes to an end, but I've actually been holding back on the spending if anything and a little window shopping doesn't hurt anyone. That's my excuse at least.

I've been really impressed with River Island lately. I feel like over the past year or so they've really reinvented themselves and found a new edgy, urban style that lacks all of the tackiness some of their items have displayed in the past. As I scrolled through their latest additions on their website, I fell in love with almost everything, so apologies if this list is a little River Island heavy.

Drop Dead is another brand that never fails to produce clothes I love and I adored this t-shirt when I popped into their Soho store last month.

I put the Whistles dress on my wish list two days ago, but by now it's already sold out on Asos. It's no secret that I'm a huge fan of prints and even though I don't normally wear a lot of dresses I'd quite happily make an exception for this stunner.

And last but not least, the hype around the Naked 3 palette has left me cold for months, MONTHS I tell you, but ever since all those gorgeous pictures and swatches started appearing all over my Blogger and Bloglovin dashboards I can't help but feel a deep seated craving creeping up on me. I already own the Naked 2 palette as well as a huge selection of nude eye shadows, but there's something about the pretty girly rose gold shades in this palette that means I just have to own one. As soon as possible.

Urban Decay Naked 2 Palette Review

I've owned this palette for quite some time now, but somehow haven't got round to reviewing it yet. There are literally tons upon tons of reviews and swatch posts on the web, but surely it can't hurt to add my own two cents, eh?

This palette is my first Urban Decay product ever and it took some massive hyping up for me to part with £36 for what is effectively a box full of brown eye shadows.

The Naked 2 palette comes in a sturdy metal tin with a large mirror in the lid and a double sided brush. Also enclosed is a small lipgloss sample, which I find a little random and have barely touched to be completely honest with you.

The shades range from a pale skin tone beige up to a matte black, with a variety of neutral shimmers in between. The one thing this palette offers that sets it above the rest is an awful lot of room to play with simple daytime or dramatic evening looks. It's amazing for holidays or even short weekends away. Chuck it into your luggage and that's your eye make up sorted.

The shadows are all very soft to the touch but haven't crumbled or cracked once ever since I've had the palette. The shimmery shades offer far more pigmentation than the mattes, though there is also quite a significant amount of fallout with those shades.

As for lasting power I'd say these perform about average - about 4 hours without a primer on my oily lids and pretty much all day with a good primer.

To be completely homest with you these are a little bit too much on the golden shimmery side for me and I could have done with a little less shimmer on some of the shadows. However, there are just so many looks you can play with and so many combinations to try out that you'd never get bored of this. Every single colour will go well with any other colour in the palette.

I'm a little unsure on whether or not this is worth the hype surrounding it after all or not. For me, it was a £36 well spent, but I think that was mainly due to the fact that I didn't own a lot of neutrals before that. For someone who already has an extensive collection of neutral eye shadows I believe you could quite happily give it a miss.

Top l-r: Foxy, Half Baked, Bootycall, Chopper / Bottom l-r: Tease, Snakebite, Suspect, Pistol

L-r: Verve, YDK, Busted, Blackout

Do you own any of the Urban Decay Naked Palettes? What do you think about yours?

Monthly Favourites: January 13

I haven't been very good with posting monthly favourites so far - mainly because I just don't get through enough products to think of any month after month! But I will try to be better about it this year, as I've found loads of fantastic products just from reading these posts on other people's blogs and I hope I can do the same for you!

1) Urban Decay Naked 2 Palette

I have to admit I was a bit weary about the hype surrounding both the Naked Palettes. In all honesty, how good can a bunch of brown eye shadows be? However, I found myself talking about it so much, that eventually I got it as a present (wooooo!) and even though it was no revelation of awesomeness at first, I realised that I've put pretty much all of my other eye shadows aside and now I'm only using this! It's just a really great selection of colours which will allow you to create a multitude of looks, the shadows are soft, very pigmented and last all day with a good primer. What's not to love?

2) Aussie 3 Minute Miracle

My hair has now been through a grand total of three bleaching sessions and unfortunately they have all taken their toll on my tresses. Trust Aussie to bring my hair back from almost certain death. It moisturises, repairs and just seems to undo all the damage I have caused through dying and heat styling. I cannot recommend this enough for anybody who has dry, brittle and/or damaged hair. I've already repurchased it twice and once this bottle is empty I'm getting another one. I'll write a full review on it soon.

3) Makebelieve Enhance Sunbeam Bronzer*

I've been reaching for this loads in the past few weeks, as my winter complexion is even ghostlier than usual. This bronzer gives a beautiful flush of colour and as it's not too shimmery it's the perfect contouring powder - I swear it makes my cheekbones as sharp as razorblades. What I love the most, however, is that it just settles to such a marvellously natural finish on my skin - no obvious bronzer or contour marks there at all. You can read a full review on this one here.

4) Simple Kind To Skin Cleansing Wipes

I can't believe I never wrote a blog post on these wipes. I think I may have mentioned them once in a Youtube video (haha, yeah....), but that's about it. Truth be told, I don't even remember how many times I've repurchased these. Let's be honest, sometimes you just haven't got the time or the energy (or you're just really, really drunk) to do a full skincare routine before bed, but the least you can do is take off your make-up. Nobody likes messy pillows and crusty eye lashes. I've tried a few other wipes from time to time, but none come close to these. They stay soft and moist forever, get all the crap off my face without being drying and most of all make sure I don't get breakouts caused by my laziness.

*PR Sample

What are your favourites for the month?