Feeling Festive!

I can't believe it's coming up to Christmas... how fast has this year gone!? Still, I'm sooo excited for Christmas time as I've got probably the most exciting December I've ever had to look forward to! The holiday me and Matthew have dreamed of for sooo long is less than a week away (Disneyland Paris!!) and when we come home there'll be less than 20 days till Christmas! Anyway... aside from that little update I wanted to post some of my favourite candles to burn at this time of year to make things feel homely, cosy and festive! I realise some people will be thinking huh? candles? what's so special about them? so hopefully these ones will change your mind! They all smell so lovely, and they can make a room feel really calm and snug : )

In the little Wintery collection I've got...

 

Yankee Candle - Lake Sunset

Yankee Candle - Fireside Treats

Yankee Candle - Season of Peace

Yankee Candle - Soft Blanket

Glade - Honey and Chocolate

Neom - Bliss

Neom - Real Luxury

 

I really wish I was better at describing scents, but I'm hopeless so I'll just give a brief overview! I used to like really floral, girly scents but I've begun to go off them slightly, and probably due to my mum (she always picks the nicest candles) I've been loving really soft, clean scents. I really don't like traditional Christmas candle ranges as they always seem to have themes of either cinnamon or pine needles... both of which I'm not a fan of! So, I'd say these scents will be perfect for just about anyone as they're not too fussy! However, the neom ones are definitely the strongest among them and they're not to everybody's taste (or smell haha) so I'd probably say head over to John Lewis to give each one in their range a try first!

I've inserted this picture to show that when you burn one of the neom candles (both the small ones and the big ones) they create a layer of oils which not only make the entire room smell gorgeous, but it makes the candle burn much better too (they don't look all messy after lighting them like some others do!) 

 

 

 DEER: EBAY    BEDDING: PRIMARK   CANDLE: ONLINE, OR JOHN LEWIS

 

 

 

So, I hope that's given some ideas for gifts or decorations this Christmas... and I'll apologise to any readers who find candles the most mundane, boring items ever... but they're soooo not! haha hope everyone's excited for the next few weeks! :)

 

Make Up Tutorial-Ish?

 

My camera is fixed! Yipeee... so this means... a blog post with better quality photos :) Anyway, I woke up 15 minutes before my alarm today... so to celebrate, I spent a little bit of extra time on my make up! I was pretty pleased with the outcome so I thought I'd share how I did it and the products I used :)  

• Real Techniques face brushes (powder, buffing and stippling)
• Guerlain Terracotta Light bronzer in the shade 05 (from John Lewis in Nottingham)
• Rimmel Kate Moss Lipstick in 101
• Maxfactor Creamy Blush
• Mac's eye shadow brushes in 239 and 217 (the only two you'll ever need!)
• Maxfactor Whipped Crème foundation in the shade Beige
• Paint pot in the shade Painterly (mac)
• Rimmel liquid eye liner
• L'Oreal super liner brow pencil in 03
• Carmex lip balm (vanilla... smells amazing!)
• Collection lasting perfection concealer in 01
• Maxfactor False Lash Effect mascara (used this for years... think it'll always be my number 1)
• Eye shadow in Bronze (mac)
• Eye shadow in Brule (mac)

Everything on there that I haven't said where it's from, is from Boots :) Also, I'll add that not everything on there is essential, I'm sure you could use many things that'll look really similar :)

EXCUSE THE UBER GLAMEROUS HAIR STYLE HAHA! 

My favourite item... which I accidently left out of the first photo, is Mac's Tan Pigment. I got this when I was really young, actually... I think it may have been one of my first items of make up that I ever bought! I'm glad I picked it up a long time ago too as, since then, Mac have made their pigments a lot smaller, so I think this one might last me until I'm 40 haha... its huge!

For the eyes, I started with covering my eye lid in 'painterly' paint pot with my finger, as a primer to make sure the rest stays put. Then, I used the 239 brush to apply mac's Bronze eye shadow all over my eye lid, and then blended out the edges with the 217 brush. On top, I used the same 239 brush to apply the 'tan' pigment (best bit!) and you only need a small amount :) After blending the edges again, I used mac's 'brule' eye shadow across my brow bone just to brighten it up a bit. Then, I made a small line of eye liner along my lash line and a small flick at the end, before applying mascara... done :)

 

The rest of the make up is fairly standard with no special tips so I won't bore anyone with the details! I think this make up would look beautiful both day and night (I know some people don't like to wear shimmer in the day time... but without the camera flash it does look a little more suble) and it's really pretty for Autumn/Winter. Before I go, I'll quickly add that I'm not the best at applying make up, so apologies to any professionals who are reading and perhaps cringing at any mistakes haha... otherwise... I hope this gave a little inspiration for anyone who's looking to try something new :)

Chanel Blush Review

Unfortunately, my canon camera is still away being repaired... so today's blog post pictures aren't the best of quality compared to usual (iPhone 5) but they're not too bad! I would have waited to take some better photos, but this product is just too good to wait! I went Christmas shopping with my mum yesterday, and treated myself to an early gift (oops! haha) at the Chanel make up counter in John Lewis, Nottingham. They were having a 10% off day, and I'd seen this blush on Pixiwoo's YouTube channel so I was really excited when I saw it! This Autumn/Winter, I've been really loving pink blushers, probably because I'm naturally blonde, so my skin is quite fair and pink-toned. I was using Maxfactor's Miracle Touch Creamy Blush in the shade 14 Soft Pink or Sleek's Blush in the shade Pixie Pink 936... which are both really lovely... but this one is extra special!

 

I chose one of the lighter pink shades in the colour Inspiration 64. These photos show the colour as a little 'harsher' than it is in real life, it's a little softer but even in the pictures I think it looks so beautiful! The Maxfactor creamy blush that I was using before was a lot more creamy in texture, but I actually prefer the texture of the Chanel one as it's not sticky or tacky AT ALL. It's got a real "velvety" texture which makes it feel lovely and light which I've personally found to be really rare in any cream blushes I've used before.

 

For my foundation, I often use mouse-texture ones from brands like no.7 or Rimmel, but at the moment I've been trying Maxfactor's new Whipped Crème. This made me a little concerned as I wasn't sure if a cream blush would just get lost as my foundation is quite high coverage, but I was proven wrong by this product as it glided on really softly and it has lasted all day today! To apply it, I've just used my fingers but as an alternative I'll use the Real Techniques Stippling Brush (which is fantastic)!

 

As you can see here it comes in gorgeous packaging, even little a little velvet bag to keep the case from getting scratched. And... let's face it... I'll definitely be keeping the little Chanel carrier bag too haha! It is priced at £27 which is a real treat for a blusher for me as I wouldn't normally go for something that pricey as an everyday product... but with the 10% reduction I picked it up for £24.30 and it seems like it is going to last foreveeeeer as you don't need to apply too much! It'd make a lovely gift at Christmas time, or just a nice treat. I'm really looking forward to using mine when I go to Disneyland Paris in December as I think it has a really Wintery, natural "blush" which looks really girly and pretty (i'd even say it looks romantic... if that makes sense? haha I can just imagine it in candle-light)

 

I hope this review was useful, if there were any bad things to say about this product I'd of been sure to include them... but I haven't come across any at all as of yet! They have a few colours to choose from so if you're near a Chanel counter anytime soon... go and check them out! :)

Halloween

 

Just the usual... carving pumpkins and baking cupcakes! I know some people don't really like to get involved with Halloween, but personally I think it's really nice to celebrate occasions like Halloween, bonfire night, pancake day etc... not particularly essential but it's nice to make something good out of them : )

A few nights before, I was at uni and went out with my friends dressed up all scary! I had a couple of practice runs as it must be said that usually I use foundations to improve my skin, not to paint it green! haha... I'll list the products that I used to do this (apologies that it's too late, but maybe some inspiration for next year!)

 

• Tesco's Halloween Make Up Set for £1!
• Bit of my usual foundation to help the face paint go on smoother
• Mac eyeshadow in Plumage
• Rimmel top eye liner
• Eylure false lashes
• Topshop lipstick - the damned (right)
• Black eye shadow
• Rimmel Kate Moss lipstick - 22 to make the little areas of blood (fake blood would have been better but I didn't have any!)
• Rimmel eyeliner in nude for the cut and a black one for my eyes
• Maxfactor creamy blush
• Mac eyeshadow in Sketch

 

 

This is the final zombie-ish look! I used batiste dry shampoo to make my hair all white and spooky!

 

 SHOES: NEW LOOK

WATCH: MICHAEL KORS (GLAMOROUS ZOMBIE INDEED)

 

DRESS: PRIMARK SALE (YUP!) £5

BAG: RIVER ISLAND

 

Hope everyone had a good Halloween! : )

 

20 Questions!

Sad news... my camera is broken and is away at camera-hospital being repaired! So I've decided to do a blog post which doesn't require new photos today :) I visited my friend on instragram's blog http://paigewallbankxo.blogspot.co.uk/ which is so lovely, and I seen her 20 questions tag which I thought might be quite nice to do :) by the way... I'll apologise now that my introductions to each post don't begin with a "hi guys" greeting... I'm just not quite sure who I'm talking to on here yet as I'm pretty new to blogging so having regular readers seems a little wishful at this stage! haha ... anyway, here's a little dip into my lifestyle/thoughts!

 

1. THINGS YOU CANNOT LEAVE THE HOUSE WITHOUT...

The usual... phone, keys, purse... and I guess my watch would fall into this category

 

2. FAVOURITE BRAND OF MAKEUP...

Wow, what a difficult question for a compulsive beauty shopper! urmm, I think mac would probably be my favourite. They have a great selection of everything! From eye shadows to lipsticks, all their colours are so beautiful. If I could pick my next favourite too it would be closely followed by Maxfactor! Then maybe Rimmel... ok I'll stop there haha!

 

3. FAVOURITE FLOWERS...

 

VALENTINES DAY 2013

 

Aww I think this is a lovely question as flowers really do make me feel special! My very favourites are roses, any colour but there's something really beautiful about white/pink ones! They look really sweet and fresh so I love having some in a vase in my room. Also, in the late Summer/Autumn time, sunflowers really catch my eye

 

4. FAVOURITE CLOTHING SHOPS...

Ok now for a typical long-winded "Laura" answer ... Until recently, I used to be really plain with clothes, just leggings and a top would do but now I've been much more experimental with clothes which I'm enjoying a lot more!

 

 

• Urban Outfitters has surprisingly been my favourite of this year! I've always loved their clothes, but being a size 12-14 meant that I couldn't just buy anything from there as I often found their sizing to be on the small side (which made me feel down in the dumps leaving the shop! haha) However, when I went in for a pre-uni wardrobe shake up, I went into the changing rooms and tried lots of things on (something I usually avoid at all costs) and was very pleasantly surprised! Found some of my favourite outfits I own :)
• Primark (always good in winter for scarfs, gloves etc)
• Topshop
• H&M
• Next
• Zara (handbags in particular... do they count as clothing?)

 DRESS: URBAN OUTFITTERS

 DRESS: TOPSHOP

SHOES: NEW LOOK

 

DRESS: URBAN OUTFITTERS (SALE) 

 

 

5. FAVOURITE PERFUME...

Miss Dior (thanks Matthew hehe xx)

 

6. HEELS OR FLATS?

I'm quite tall, so heels aren't absolutely essential but a nice pair of heeled boots or some platforms always make me feel a lot more dressed up for a night out! But for the most part... flats. I must just add, that shoes are my very least favourite things to shop for!

 

7. GOOD GRADES?

I'm pretty proud of my grades so far I'd say. Got pretty consistent GCSEs... 6 As, 5 Bs... however I was slightly disappointed there were no A*s or Es because at least that would highlight anything I was good/bad at haha! At A level I tried out Maths for a year and was hopeless (E grade) but I continued with my other 3 subjects, Psychology, Sociology and Art. I came out with 2 As (which I worked extremelyyyyy hard for) and a very unfortunate D in Art which I also worked very hard for :( But, onwards and upwards and hopefully I'll get a good degree :)

 

8. FAVOURITE COLOURS...

I like a good baby pink :) ... rose-gold jewellery, taupe/smokey brown kind of colour for eye shadows, I like to wear black... Overall, quite a few!

 

9. DO YOU DRINK ENERGY DRINKS?

Yes, ever since secondary school I've loved lucozade sports (raspberry)

 

10. DO YOU DRINK JUICE?

Yes! I've never particularly liked fizzy drinks so I often drink blackcurrant squash, fresh orange juice, ice tea etc (or my favourite... milk! but I don't think that's a juice haha)

 

11. DO YOU LIKE SWIMMING?

I do :) well... lazy swimming haha! This involves a big rubber ring to float around in... which is my favourite thing to do every holiday :) Swimming in general is ok, I'm not particularly sporty unfortunately but of all sports, I guess I do enjoy swimming :)

 

 

 

12. DO YOU EAT FRIES WITH A FORK?

Definitely not McDonalds/KFC... I love them too much to bother haha otherwise, most of the time

 

13. WHAT'S YOUR FAVOURITE MOISTURISER?

Morning - Origins GinZing or la roche posay effaclar duo

Night - *tip for people with oily skin* the lady at a Liz Earle counter said that if I use my cleanse and polish cleanser, going without moisturiser at night can stop the little oily patches! But, in the winter if I do use moisturiser at night, it would be the Origins drink up intensive overnight mask or the liz earle skin repair

 

14. DO YOU WANT TO GET MARRIED LATER IN LIFE?

I guess I do, but there's a lot more things on my 'life plan' which are a lot more important to me :)

 

15. DO YOU GET MAD EASILY?

I overthink and analyse things too much, so I get upset about small things too quickly...

 

16. ARE YOU INTO GHOST HUNTING?

Certainly not! haha... I'm such a wus at horror films, I once had to take some paracetamols before bed to stop me getting a headache by stressing out too much after watching a scary film!... Jaws is my kinda horror! ;)

 

17. ANY PHOBIAS?

^^^ maybe the above haha

 

18. DO YOU BITE YOUR NAILS?

Sad confession, yes. I have acrylic nails on just about 95% of the time so I don't have chance to bite them anymore. But, I realise this is a no-win situation for my natural nails as they're either bitten away or damaged with false ones! oops...

 

19. HAVE YOU EVER HAD A NEAR DEATH EXPERIENCE?

Nooo, I'm pretty cautious (boring haha)

 

20. DO YOU DRINK COFFEE?

No, not a fan of coffee I'd much prefer a cup of tea or hot chocolate. I realise this makes me a whole lot less mature-sounding haha!

 

 

Well, I hope you enjoyed those very random questions and it gave anyone who doesn't know me a little gist of "Laura" :) Thanks for reading!