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 :)

Review: Rimmel 'Wake me up' Foundation

I'm sure any beauty junkie will have heard a lot about this product as it's been hailed as one of the best drugstore/high street foundations on the market. 

My mum bought this for me when I left all my make-up in London as I needed something to keep me going and that would look good, but I didn't want to spend a load of money on make-up I would only use for a week or two! I've always stayed away from Rimmel as I've never been able to verify it's animal testing status. Some websites say they do, some say they don't - it's all a bit confusing really! Since my mum had already bought it, and I did use it for a while, I thought I might as well do a review on it for you all.

'Wake me up' foundation claims to reawaken and illuminate the skin with it's anti-fatigue effect. It does have some microscopic glitter in, which I imagine works to give the radiant effect it claims to give, but these are only noticeable in the bottle and just barely at that. The packaging is quite cheap, but then the foundation isn't high end so I wouldn't expect anything great from the casing. I do like the pump it has, I feel this gives just the right amount to cover your whole face in one pump. I tried a few ways of applying it, and found it applied best with a MAC 130 Buffing Brush, then smoothing down with your fingers to sink it into the skin.

As for the foundation itself? I was impressed, but only to a certain extent. It is definitely a great quality foundation for the price (I believe it retails for £8.99) and it does give a good medium coverage, which could be built up if needed. It's definitely a higher coverage that I would use on a day-to-day basis. I wouldn't say it gives a flawless finish and I find it can cake on certain areas of my face. I would not recommend this for oily skin. I get oily patches around my nose and this foundation would just slip right off here after a few hours. 

Blended in with fingers

Overall, this is a decent foundation for a good price - if you were looking for a cheaper alternative to a MAC foundation, then this is it! I don't think I'll be repurchasing but I probably will finish the bottle, it might just take me a while.

How to: Team GB Nails!

When watching the Olympics, I noticed a lot of the athletes had this sort of thing going on and I decided to recreate it! It's really easy and simple, and today I'm gonna tell you guys how to do it :)

Step 1) Locate a red, white and blue nail varnish. This should be fairly simple if you are nail varnish obsessed like me! Make sure your blue is a nice royal blue. The shades I used were: Essie* 'Apertif', Barry M 'Indigo' and Rimmel Nail Tip Whitener.

Step 2) Locate a family member or friend who is willing to hold the open bottles for you so you don't smudge your nails. Tell them it's for the Olympics and they can't refuse! 

Step 3) Paint your index and ring finger with the white colour.

Step 4) Starting from your thumb, alternate the blue and red until every nail is a lovely Union Jack medley!

Step 5) Go over each nail again (this is where your nail buddy comes in) until the colour is opaque.

Step 6) Go over with a topcoat. I used Sally Hanson Diamond Shine Topcoat.

Step 7) Go and show off your lovely British nails by cheering on Team GB!

If you try this, comment below letting me know how you got on or tweet me a pic @sian_llewelyn 

Don't forget to subscribe to be in for a chance to win my giveaway coming up!

MAC 'Snob' Dupes!

Around October time last year, I lost my beloved MAC* 'Snob'. I was visiting a friend in Exeter and I either lost it in a club or it fell out of my bag in the room I was staying in and rolled under something. Either way, I was without 'Snob'.

Being a poor student and being especially poor with Christmas and birthdays coming up, I really couldn't justify buying a replacement. So instead, I put it on my Christmas list and was tragically without it for nearly two months. It was a very traumatic time for me. I'm sure you'll understand.

Anywhoo, I knew I'd need some sort of blue-toned pink to compensate the loss 'Snob' left in my life, so I went on a little search for a dupe. I ended up buying two lipsticks which I felt matched the shade fairly well and these two were: Rimmel Lasting Finish Lipstick in 006 'Pink Blush' (£6.99) and Natural Collection Lipstick in 'Pink Mallow' (£1.99). 

Here's what they look like in the tube:

As you can see, not very similar at all! But when swatched on my arm:

They look a bit more similar. Rimmels 'Pink Blush' is a lighter, sheerer and has warmer undertones. I've always stayed away Rimmel lipsticks, not because of the quality, but because the taste is so horrible! Natural Collection's 'Pink Mallow' is nearer the colour but, again, lacks the blue undertones that 'Snob' contains. It's lasting power is not brilliant but, for £1.99, what would do you expect? 

Now, I know many people love the shade of 'Snob' but find it hard to wear, because of those blue undertones. To those people, try either one of these lipsticks! I personally prefer 'Pink Mallow', because the colour is closer, it's cheaper and it has a nicer, creamier formula. 

FUNNY STORY (sort of):

I actually lost my MAC 'Snob' AGAIN earlier this year, and convinced myself that I was jinxed. I said "If I can't find it, I am not re-buying it again! It's just not meant to be!" 

I eventually found it hiding under my bed, hidden by my duvet cover. I never would have seen it, had I not caught a tiny glimpse of it in my mirror when adjusting my duvet. Sneaky 'Snob'.