Beauty Wishlist

Hello :)

As always there's a lot of beauty things I'd like, but just lately I feel that the list of 'definitely getting at some point' is mounting up! So, I thought I'd get them down on a blog post to ensure I remember what they are and also share my beauty desires with all of you!

I've heard good things about Bioderma, as I'm sure you all have!? Bloggers have gone mad for this bottle of solution and I can't help wanting to get my hands on one. I've found a few of these around eBay for £16-£20, but apparently it is launching in the UK soon, (it's mostly available in France atm). So, I think I'll keep an eye out and ear open for this!

Next up, Clinique's Bottom Lash Mascara. This seems to me like such a cool and handy product to have. I mean, I'm always smudging my mascara when applying it to my bottom lashes and it seriously annoys me! However it's definitely not a beauty 'essential' I guess, so it's whether I can warrant spending £11 on something I don't actually need. But ohhh...I do want it :)

Ohhh what a beauty! As soon as I heard about the Naked Flushed Palette I got excited! Like a lot of you I imagine, I'm a huge fan of the Naked eye shadow palettes and couldn't imagine eye makeup without them...so anything paletted and titled Naked would most likely appeal to me. That being said it is £20, so for now I will have to lust over it!

The YSL Glossy Lip Stain. To be honest I love everything about these. The packaging is fab with the shiny gold lids and I love how they've included a little window in the base so you can see a pop of the shade colour! From drooling over these in store, the applicators seem good and the formula seems very smooth and easy to apply. However although I said I loved everything about these, I guess this isn't true because their price tag is a little off-putting at £22.50-£23.50. ...One day...

 

For a while now I've been thinking how unsightly my cuticles are! However I literally cannot stand the feeling of pushing them back...it goes through me! *Shiver* So, I'm thinking this might be a good solution? Anyone used it, or something similar?

Nars, Nars, Nars! I'm actually yet to own or try anything from this brand! I know, it's criminal...especially as I've heard so many great things, time and time again, about their blushes! The shade I'm after is Super Orgasm, which has received a lot of good press...haha press...pressed powder...sorry, bad joke alert! :P Anyway, at a little more than £20, I'll admire from afar...for now.

And last but certainly not least, the DiorShow 360 Mascara. My friend Gina pulled this amazing tube out of her makeup bag the other day, and as soon as I saw it's rotating brush head I knew I needed this in my life! Does anyone remember Maybelline's 'vibrating' mascara a few years ago?! Well I absolutely loved that! It made my lashes twice as long and I never found any clumps! I'm imagining that Dior's moving mascara will recreate these results!?

And there we go...I'm 100% sure there's more I could add to the list but for now, these are my wishes :)

If anyone owns any of these, please let me know what you think of them?! Or if any of you have them on your wishlist!?

Travel home make-up

Hello lovelies :)

So, last week was half term in Nottingham which meant I got to go home...see my mum & dad and all that :P

Above is what I call travelling light. In fact, I did take more makeup home but I decided to only include what I actually used whilst there!

I love my Paper Planes by Disaster Designs Wash Bag...it's not only cute in the form of a parcel but it's rather large so it can hold a lot. I bought mine here. 

I'll start with essential brushes. 

From the left is my Mac 129se which I love for applying blusher; 

my Sigma f82 rounded top kabuki great for foundation; 

another Mac 129se to apply my face powder; 

a cheap angled-eye brush for my brow kit; 

and finally the brilliant Mac 217 blending brush for eye shadow.

Face stuff.

From the left... No More Shine Setting Spray by Skindinavia. This is one of my holy grail products. A must have to keep my makeup in place and take away that powdery finish. I ordered mine from the Skindinavia site but it's cheaper here.

Pressed powder by 17. It does the job and it's pretty compact :)

Enzymion moisturizer from Lush. I love the citrus-y scent, it's brill for oily skin and helps prep my face for makeup. 

A Bobbi Brown blush in Slopes. Pretty colour.

bareMinerals Matte foundation. I used this the most whilst home...on those days when I wanted a lighter finish.

Benefit's Porefessional. This is a brill foundation primer...however I only used it once as I find it doesn't work too well with mineral foundation.

Chanel Perfection Lumiere...I love this foundation A LOT. However I only needed this heavier duty foundation on the one occasion whilst home.

Lastly, Mac's Studio Finish concealer. Very important for me, especially with my recent acne outbreak!

Eyes.

The Naked palette by Urban Decay. Enough said. 

Max factor's Clump Defy mascara. I'm enjoying using this purple tube atm!

Urban Decay's 24/7 glide on eye pencil. I'm all about the black eyeliner and this one is a beauty. It has serious staying power. Next to it, I also took home my liquid eyeliner by Rimmel which I used on the same occasion as my Chanel foundation (I went pubbing it :P)

Benefit's Brow Zings has been a part of my essential makeup for over a year now and I can't imagine ever not using it!

Liiiips!

As you can see I was quite strict with myself in terms of lip products. 

Generally I just used Lush's lip scrub in Popcorn flavour. This is simply delicious and it helps keep my lips nicely exfoliated. 

Afterwards I'd put on a bit of my Pomegranate lippy lip balm, from The Body Shop, to moisturise my lips and keep them nice and soft.

Finally, on more special occasions, I applied my Revlon Just Bitten Kissable balm stain on top to add a pop of colour. I love the build-able red colour that the shade Romantic gives!

...And that's a wrap!

Papaya

Hello.

In my chocolate alternative post I talked about my family trying a new fruit each week. Well, this week was the turn of the Papaya fruit.

Pictured above, I had high hopes for it because it looked like it would be sweet and certainly juicy. Well...It was juicy...but as for the flavouring...what flavour? My dad couldn't taste a thing lol.

For me, it tasted pretty bland and reminded me of some fish food I used to feed to my pet goldfish! No I never ate the fish food but the papaya tasted what the flakes smelt like, if that even makes sense?!

I guess we should have done our homework a bit first. My mum tried one of the seeds and got a very bitter shock and  no wonder...According to Wikipedia, the seeds can make a good substitute for black pepper! Haha!

Although the fruit is generally eaten raw, it can be cooked and supposedly used in curries, salads and stews. So, hardly the type of fruit to expect sweet things from! Perhaps similar to a tomato in this respect...although I reckon most tomatoes are sweeter tbh!

All in all...for me this is not a winner. I do like this 'try a new fruit each week' thing though...I might just try and continue it when I'm back at Uni :)

It seems papaya leaves a bit of an aftertaste...again reminiscent of fish food!...Going to grab a drink :/ ...Bleurgh!

NOTD: Barry M & Andrea Fulerton

Hello!

So, I found a couple of nail polishes stashed away in a vanity case that I'd completely forgotten about! Not sure how...but I feel like I've got new stuff! :)

Barry M: 167 Lavender Blue. I immediately liked this colour and it has a nice shimmer to it. The purpley-grey shade is a winner in my opinion, so I chose to paint the majority of my nails with this. I applied two coats to give the colour payoff in the picture. 

Barry M: 166 Orchid. As I had also stumbled across this polish, I was keen to use them both so I decided to use this lovely shimmery pink shade for my accented nails. Again I applied two coat.

I must say the Barry M polishes applied like a dream...some of the best ones I've used! I love how the formula is quite thin, yet not runny, and this makes application really easy. The varnish literally glides onto the nail and it seemed to be fairly quick drying too! Big thumbs up to Barry M!...Might have to invest in some more of these nail polishes!

Lastly I added a clear topcoat for extra shine and protection, using Andrea Fulerton's Gloss Up Overcoat. Again I'd forgotten about this but I'm a big fan of this brand too...

Petrol in water

Especially the Andrea Fulerton Trios...The one above is my absolute favourite! Look how it turns out when you layer the polishes...

The picture doesn't in fact do the colour the justice it deserves...SO PRETTY! :)

Disappointing Products!

Hello beauties :)

This week is half term in Nottingham, so I left my uni abode and came back to home comforts for a bit! 

And, upon opening up my make-up storage (currently a weird shelved wardrobe thingy magig) I was surprised at how many products I'd left behind, like the 'Renford rejects'...Give me a comment if you remember this classic 90's kid programme! :P

But on closer inspection I realised why they'd been forgotten and thought about how disappointing each of them had been. So, maybe in an attempt to prevent others from suffering the same disappointment I thought I'd share what they were and tell you why I don't like them, or why they aren't worth the money. Of course, it's only my opinions so you can take my advice as you will. With a pinch of salt if you wish? :P

If you'd rather watch me talk about these products click above! But if you fancy a read...scroll on down :)

First up, MAC's Cleanse Off Oil. Yeah, yeah, I know a lot of you might love it, but for me I just can't get on with it! Agreed it does literally 'melt off' your make-up without any effort, but for me it also finds a way into my eyes and temporarily blinds me! No matter how carefully I try to remove my eye make-up, it seeps in somehow. Give me Liz Earle's Cleanse & Polish any day thanks!

Goodbye cellulite?! Hmmm. I'm afraid it's true...I fell for the gimmick. I mean as if there's a product to essentially disguise fat cells?! Sure it gives a nice cooling sensation, application is pleasant, and I suppose it helps to moisturise your skin but hard work and exercise is the only thing I've found works in regards to cellulite. Don't fall for the nice idea like me!

Rimmel's Scandal Eyes Mascara. To be fair I think Rimmel are actually doing a fab job at the moment and are definitely in the running for the best high street/drug store brand imo. But, I guess there's always the odd anomaly or 'blip'. The brush is far too big for my liking and this makes application really difficult and darn right fiddly. I'm not a big fan of the formula either which seems to take ages to dry, but perhaps that's to do with the many a clumps this attracts?! It's cheap and cheerful at £6.99 but nope, it's not for me!

Avon's Colour Trend...eye shadow/liner stick? Had this one a while and only used it once...says a lot really! The quality of the cream shadow and crayon liner just isn't great. It blends...with effort, but there's nothing that nice about it. Just a big thumbs down to be honest!

Nicola Robert's Dainty Doll WHITE Foundation by Jelly Pong Pong. Yep, I guess the shade is enough to put you off, unless of sure you're Snow White. But I thought maybe the idea behind this would be to mix it with those foundations that are perhaps a little too dark for you? Waste not want not and all that. Wrong. In fact this questionable foundation contains serious sparkle! I mean I like a bit of shimmer and all that but not over my entire face! It's just odd. Enough said. 

Laura Mercier's eye lash curlers. I'd say be aware of these. Sure the design is really cool and you think 'ahh they're so compact and nifty', but they over-curl like a bi-atch. They don't fit my eyes particularly well either and I remember them to be fairly pricey. I'll stick to my bog-standard cheap curlers for now I think!

Lip stains/ lip pen markers. I guess this isn't all that personal to Maybelline's Color Sensational and Max factor's Lipfinity versions, but they dry out so quick! I mean under the month mark. And then you get that scratchy feeling when trying to apply them. I don't think I can warrant the money for just a few week's worth of use. However, I must say the Maybelline one smells absolutely delicious...like summer fruit berries! Yum.  

Max factor's Lipfinity two step duo. I really like the concept of this, with the glossy texture drying quickly. Application is fairly easy and it leaves a nice finish. It seems to withstand perhaps more than many lip products but it's staying power starts to crumble after an hour or two...literally crumble. You're left with a flaky peeling effect that looks to me like you either haven't applied your lipstick well or indeed you have the driest lips ever known...I mean seriously grab yourself a Carmex quick! These aren't personally looks I like to go for, so I'll pass on this. 

And that's a wrap...some of my most disppointing purchases!

Owww stitch!

Hi. So I'm currently in the gym and doing what I usually slate people for doing...playing on my phone!

All was going well until 10 minutes in on the treadmill I started with stitch. No biggie, usually run through it.

Not this time! Chronic stitch, that hurts like a bitch lol. Ever the poet :p Owwww!
So, I did some sit ups and returned to the treadmill. Made it 6 mins in before having to stop my run again! Never had it this bad before :/

So now I've resigned myself to the exercise bike! Which to be honest, I don't overly enjoy. I just want to run but my stupid body won't let me haha. Booo. And now I've become one of those gym folk that 'play at' exercise :(

Any get rid of stitch quick tricks? I usually go with the pushing in the area of stitch with my fist...but that was to no avail today!

Oh well...best get on with my playing...

25 facts about me...

1. I have two sisters, of which I'm the eldest at 23.

2. I'm not a big fan of animals, give me children any day.

3. I make YouTube videos, Ellie1989, and the majority of my family and friends think it's weird. I don't care.

4. I can identify with Peter Pan...Not sure I'll ever grow up!? :)

5. I used to be called a Magpie because from a young age I was attracted to shiny things.

6. When I was 4, I stole my great grandma's ring because it was pretty. I got found out and sent to bed. Oops.

7. Despite drinking it when I go out, I don't particularly like alcohol and could easily be teetotal.

8. I've never had a boyfriend...I'm waiting for the right guy to come along.

9. I've become really good at painting a smile on and acting as if everything's OK, even if it isn't.

10. I lost over 20lbs in 2012.

11. I have a raw meat phobia. I can't handle it, touch it and it sickens me to be near it. However, I am not a vegetarian.

12. Exercise is really important to me. My fave mottos are 'No pain, no gain' and 'Work hard or go home'.

13. I have never taken any drugs, excluding painkillers etc, nor have I ever tried a cigarette. I never intend to.

14. I honestly believe I was addicted to junk food and still have to be careful around it.

15. I have more make-up than I actually need but cannot stop buying it.

16. From the age of about 13 I used to buy a new mobile phone every 6-12 months. Up until I got an iPhone. Apple changed me for the better! :)

17. I went to a stage school for 3 years (15-18yrs) and my dream was to be an actress/singer. That dream still remains but the hope doesn't.

18. I passed my driving test the first time I took it. My dad didn't believe me at first haha.

19. I haven't driven in almost 4 years. This summer I plan to get my first car. I want an automatic because I never enjoyed using the clutch.

20. My favourite holiday was in Florida. That place really is magical.

21. I really dislike chick-flick films, excluding Dirty Dancing as it's a classic. Give me gore and tension with horrors any day!

22. I dyed my hair blonde for 6 years before going back to being a brunette.

23. I'm training to become a primary school teacher.

24. I really like my 4th year student house and housemates...I will be sad to leave. It's the first uni place I've been happy at.

25. I feel like I have the best parents in the world and owe them so much. I'm a very lucky girl and can't wait to be able to treat them when I have a job!


There you go...that's some of me!

Ellie x

Tweet me: @ellie1989