A (late) September Favourites!

Hey! Many apologies for a bit of a lull on the blogging front, I've just started back up at Uni for 2nd year and there's been so much going on with (re)freshers and my course loads and society duties but I should be back on track from now. Today I'm going to share with you some things I've been loving in September.

Quite a small amount of products this month, I've found a really good lot of products which I've been using everyday for the past few months and I've also been living on a tight budget so I haven't been buying as many new things as I usually do - hopefully should be getting something sorted and having a look around soon for some new buys though!

Origins Zero Oil Moisture Lotion: My skin has been a bit of a big oily mess recently so I decided it was time to do something about it! I picked this up after hearing a few good recommendations about Origins skincare and decided to give this ago. It's really, really great and I'm going to be doing a full review on this next week so keep an eye out for that.

Bourjois Healthy Mix foundation: I love, love, LOVE this foundation. It is seriously so good, I'd recommend it to anyone who wants a light, natural coverage. Read my full review of this here.

Naked Rescue Intensive Care Conditioner: It's always been so hard to find a cruelty-free conditioner for a budget price tag, but this is a new range that has appeared in Boots in the past few months. I've also tried one of their shampoos, which just smelt divine but this conditioner is the one I'm really impressed by and have been using alternately with my LUSH 'Retread'. 

Benefit Hoola Bronzer: It's getting into the autumn months and the nights are getting darker already! I've definitely been needing to crack out the bronzer to give my face some degree of colour. I love Hoola but it is getting a bit too dark for me. Any good recommendations for me guys?

No7 Amazing Eyes Pencil in '10 Brown: I've really been using this a lot recently. Black kohl can be quite harsh and dramatic sometimes, especially when you want quite a natural look as I often do. This one is really great as it's quite soft and easy to apply. 

MAC Eyeshadow in 'Jest': I've been reaching for this beauty so much recently, I did a post on this eyeshadow paired with MAC's wedge which I will link here. This is such a pretty and easy look to do in the morning, and one of my favourite combinations to use.

Rimmel Kate Collection in shade 01: This is a classic true red colour, and I've had this in my bag nearly all of this month. It's so great to whip out and make any make-up look appear more dramatic immediately. The formulation is great for a drugstore lipstick and I really, really like this.

Revlon Nail Enamel in 'Lilac Pastelle': The bottle on this is horrendously worn down because I bought it in a market for £1 (unopened). It's a beautiful light purple colour and really cute to wear.

China Glaze Nail Lacquer in 'For Audrey': I was saving this little gem for me to purchase when I finished placement and was finally allowed to wear nail polish again! It had been in my amazon basket for weeks and I finally ordered it this month. It's one of China Glaze's most famous colours and I can see why. I'm wearing it on my nails right now and I've been alternating between this shade and the Revlon 'Lilac Pastelle' all of this month. Love it!

That's it for this month folks! Next post should be up this week :)

MAC 'Jest' & 'Wedge'

I thought I'd share with you one of my favourite eyeshadow combinations for a really natural, neutral smokey eye. I have blue-grey eyes so I tend to go for brown/gold/pink colours as these tend to look the nicest on my eyes, and really makes them 'pop'.

I've had 'Wedge' for quite a while and use this often with my beloved NARS* 'Alhambra' Eyeshadow Duo but I recently purchased 'Jest' and these two colours just look so beautiful together. 'Wedge' is a really natural, light brown matte colour that is great for adding shape and definition through the crease. 'Jest' is a stunning golden-pinky-peach colour in a frost finish that is so, so lovely and has enough shimmer in it to catch the light.

I use a neutral cream eyeshadow such as MAC* Paintpot in 'Painterly' as a primer then sweep 'Jest' all over the lid. I then apply 'Wedge' through the crease and blend this towards the outer corners. It's a really natural but gives a great smokey texture and finish to my eye. It's so simple, yet so effective!

Review: Mac 'Mythology' Eyeshadow

Today I'm going to be telling you guys about one of my absolute FAVOURITE MAC* eyeshadows. 'Mythology' is a beautiful burnt-pinky-copper colour with it's fair share of glitter. If you have blue eyes like me, you'll know that pink/orange shades are one of the most flattering colours to wear and I find when I wear this shade, it really makes my eyes 'pop'. I don't think I would wear this in the day as it is quite bright but I love wearing it in the nights, with a matt brown colour in the crease. You will need a primer with this shade, I often use a MAC* Paintpot in 'Painterly' or occasionally 'Indianwood' to create a really intense look. 

Taken at a funny angle sorry!

I bought this in the pot as I don't have a MAC Pallette but I think I might have to get one, as I'm creating quite a collection now!

 I find it doesn't come out as shockingly bright as it appears in the pot, but it is easily to build up to a lovely deep colour. It's a Lustre finish and has a slight gold sheen in it which you can see when it catches the light. 

Aldi...make-up?! | Intro & Review

Yeah, you read it right! Today I'm going to be talking about a few make-up items I picked up from Aldi. No, I've not gone insane. In general, own make products - like M&S, Boots, Superdrug, Tesco, Co-op and Aldi - are cruelty free. Lacura is also a well established brand, who sell premium products at crazy low prices. So I thought as the products were fairly cheap, I would check them out. I have five items to talk about so lets crack on!

1) Lacura Shimmering Day Cream:

I'll just start by saying that I LOVE this cream. I picked this up a few months ago for £3.49 and I've used it religiously every day since then. Like the name suggests, it has shimmer in it so the minute you put it on, your skin looks radiant and glowing. It comes with a pump, which I love (I hate digging into pots to get cream!) and half a pump is enough to cover your whole face. I would definitely recommend this to anyone.

2) Lacura Q10 Moisturing Night Cream:

This is actually one my Mum uses, which I have used a few times so I thought I would include it on this review. The reason I don't use it, is I find it a little bit heavy for my younger skin - but I know my Mum loves it. I just asked her and she described it as "rich and moisturising". The name is obviously a play on Nivea Q10. This retails for £1.99 I believe.

3) Lacura Waterproof Mascara: 

The first thing to notice about this is that it has a very chemical smell to it. The tube is small and doesn't appear to come in a larger size but the wand is a decent size and quality. The formula itself is ok, it provides a fair amount of lift and volume. It's not very curling, and I always need mascara to curl my lashes. For the price of £2.39, it is very good. It doesn't flake or smudge on me and is suitable for sensitive eyes.

4) Lacura Compact Powder:

This powder comes in a very sleek case, with a mirror and applicator puff. It's of average quality - if you didn't suffer from oily skin or problem area's, this would be great. If you did, I would recommend a better quality one. This seems comparable in quality to the Collection 2000 Lasting Finish Powder, which I've used for a while and is a similar price. You can pick this up for £1.99

5) Lacura Duo Eyeshadow in 'Olive':

Now, these aren't shades I would normally pick up for my eye colour (a blue/grey) but I thought for £1.99 I might jump on the olive eyeshadow trend. These actually give really great colour pay-off considering the price and blend reasonably well. This compact includes two matt shades - an olive green and a lighter cream. I was a little disappointed when I got this home to discover that the green is very light, I wouldn't call it Olive personally but it is still a very pretty colour. The lighter cream shade is much more wearable and is light enough to use as a brow highlighter, if needed.