Summer's Day Make Up

Today is my first day of two weeks of being ALL ALONE *grumpy*. My dad's gone on holiday and left me to look after the pets *grumble grumble* :P Although hopefully I'll be seeing my lovely mummy at the weekend, so maybe I won't be entirely lonely :P

Anyway, in the meantime I thought I'd show you a make up look I'd wear on a lovely sunny day (i.e a day unlike today :P). Last week was really lovely, and this week...not so much :P

I really love my Revlon Lip Butter in Lollipop, it's so bright and vibrant. I know it's not for everyone, but I love wearing bright colours on my lips :)

I toned it down for my eyes, using my Naked palette to create a neutral eye. I used : Virgin, Naked, Smog and Dark Horse. Very simple and not too heavy so it doesn't compete with the lip colour.

My plan for the day is to go on a run (I'll get ready right after writing this I promise!). I've been trying to motivate myself to actually do some exercise, but I'm just so lazy :P I really do have good intentions for a bit of a health kick though, no naughty foods in the house (sad sad sad), lots of salad, fruit and fresh veggies. I can do it!

Sunny xxxxx

Laneige Foam Cleanser Moisture Review

I have two weeks of being alone in the house dog sitting starting tomorrow...yay... Luckily for me, Friday saw the start of two weeks of great sporting entertainment, the Olympics. I loved the opening ceremony, the Queen and James Bond bit (I can't believe she actually did that :P), Mr Bean and Chariots of Fire, the Artic Monkeys and Sir Paul McCartney finishing it off. It was really fantastic.

Now moving away from all the fun of the Olympics and onto something a lot more in keeping with the theme of this blog : my Laneige Foam Cleanser Moisture review. So as a few of you will remember I went to South Korea in March and bought a lot of beauty and skincare items, including this Laneige cleanser. Now I'd heard good things about Laneige and their skincare, and this was one of the higher priced items I bought, so needless to say I had high hopes for this product.

As you can see from the squishiness of the tube, I used a fair amount because I reallllly wanted to like this product :(

This cleanser is designed for normal to dry skin types and promises clear and bright skin, other than that the rest of the packaging is written in Korean Hangeul letters. When I visited Korea it was quite cold and still wintry, so my skin was fairly dry with a few blemishes. I used up my Liz Earle Cleanse and Polish (which I love, review here) in Korea, and when I came back I decided to try out this one.

Firstly this product is huge, 180ml, and I only ever used a small blob with warm water. It foams reasonably well on the skin and feels soft. It has a light clean smell and is light pink in colour. Overall a little underwhelming so far. Once it's washed off my face started to feel a little tight, but once moisturised it wasn't a problem, although for a cleanser claiming to be mild it was a little annoying.

I've used this product for a few months now, and for the most part it was a bit useless, it wasn't awful, but my skin stayed in the same condition, blemishes, perhaps a little too dry in some areas, but it seemed a normal cleanser. I was disappointed. However, during exams and especially the last two months I've noticed that this cleanser cannot handle my breakouts. In hot weather my skin becomes more oily (which I know this cleanser is not suited for), but oh my gosh I've had awful skin recently. I carried on using it though, because I didn't think it could be making the problem worse. But after switching cleansers (less than a week ago) my skin has calmed down so much!

Overall I simply do not like this product, when my skin's behaving it's underwhelming (and a bit too drying), but when my skin's being bad (in the heat, stress, bad food, too much drink ect.) it really shows that it's just a bad cleanser. I'm really disappointed because I was looking forwards to trying this out so much and as I usually like foaming cleansers I was really looking forwards to this > . <

I still haven't found the perfect skincare routine, but I'll keep trying!

Sunny xxxxx

Hello Stranger

Ooopsie daisy, I've been very neglectful of my blog lately > . < I've been far far away from my laptop visiting friends and having lots of fun, and this afternoon I arrived back home. I'm looking forwards to being able to blog again, but I am going to miss my friends > . <

I just thought I'd write a quick post about my week and a bit more than a half of visiting peoples. For the first half I stayed with my bestie Daydreamer, which is always great fun. On my second day we met up with the rest of the girlies and went to the cinema to watch Magic Mike (not my choice btw, and a terrible terrible film :P) and then went to Nandos (aka the yummiest place on earth) for a lot of chicken. Then we had a great impromptu night out, starting off at a cocktail bar and ending in a really packed bar with loads of old friends :)

Tequila slushies, delicious, but lethal

 To recover from our night out Daydreamer and I had a sleep, facemasks and fruit day afterwards, which was very much needed. Apart from shopping days (window shopping for both of us I'm afraid :P) and catching up with a few more friends we both had quite a lazy relaxed time :)

After being at Daydreamers I stayed at my boyfriends house for the rest of the visit, and after the first part of July being so miserable we suddenly got a lot of sun and a lot of heat. I had a great time :) Long dog walks, sunbathing, watching my boyfriend do the gardening :P

Little dog in a big apple orchard

 On the Tuesday a group of us went to the beach to lay around all day, and I got a teeny weeny bit tanned (yay :P). And then yesterday (my last day *sobs*) a few of us went to watch the new Batman film, which was ah-may-zing, definitely recommended, (Anne Hathaway as Catwoman is the best part for me).

So that's what I've been filling my time with instead of blogging :P I'll be posting more beauty related things from now on, and as I haven't got anything planned until my birthday (just over a month away :D) I'll be more consistent with my posts :)

Sunny xxxxx

Bare Minerals Foundation Review

I really haven't been up to much this week, I went for a run a couple of days ago... I didn't realise how unfit I was until then > . < Oh dear, after 10 minutes I had an epic stitch, and I only managed just over a mile...*ashamed face* And this coming from a girl who used to run miles every other day (several years ago now...) . Oh well :P At least I have something to work towards now.

So when I went shopping at the weekend I got a couple of freebies at the BareMinerals counter, a cleanser, moisturiser and a foundation. I was really excited to get the foundation sample as I've heard so many great things about it and really wanted to try it for myself.

Firstly I may as well say that I really like this, so you know from the start that this is going to be a positive review :P

Because this is a mineral foundation it comes in a powder form, at first I thought it would leave me with a horrible powdery cakey face, but the foundation sinks in beautifully. With my sample I got a teeny kabuki brush which made application really easy, and this foundation is really buildable without looking like too much.

My sample was the matte version, which I really like because I have slightly oily skin during the summer. It also has SPF 15 in it, so this would make a great hot summer day foundation.

It's also only £25, a fair amount for a foundation, but I honestly thought it'd be more expensive. I'd definitely purchase this (once I get money :P).

It also has a good variety of shades, unfortunately my sample was in medium, which is too dark for me (the sales assistant didn't have any others). In my sample there's more than enough for a few days use, so it's annoying it's not the right shade > . <

Overall I really liked this, it felt light on my skin, looked flawless and had a mattifying effect, definitely on my wishlist now :)

P.s. Not sure how much I'll be posting for the next week and a half (ish). I'm visiting friends (again :P I get so bored at home). I'll be staying with Daydreamer though :D Can't wait to see her it's been agessssssssssssssss. I just hope it'll be sunny...

Sunny xxxxx

Shopping Weekend With Not Much Shopping

I have three things, four if you count my haircut, to show for my weekend of shopping with my mum. Don't get me wrong, I wanted more, but as a poor student I managed to show a lot of self restraint :P I did get a good opportunity to point out my birthday wish list to my mum :P Not entirely sure if she'll remember any of it though :P

Anyway, onto the teeny weeny haul :

First these sandals from Zara were in the sale, very cute and casual, and only a tenner :D Nice.

Next is the sickly sweet Strawberry Buttercream Yankee Candle. I love this smell. I have such bad taste in scents (I am very aware of this) and I love all the ridiculously sweet headache inducing ones :P I'm not sure how my housemates next year will feel about the smell, but I'm just really excited that I'm allowed candles in my house next year!

Finally is the bare minerals pure transformation night treatment in clear. I've been pining over this for months, and it was my 'big' purchase of the weekend. You can buy these with colour, so that they provide coverage, but I found the concept of wearing something with coverage to bed just too weird. I need to have a naked face when I sleep! :P Once I've used this enough to know I'll do a review. So far I'm liking it, and my skin does seem a little better (only 3 days in) but time will tell. Also as this is £45 it's not something to buy on a whim :P

I'm off to curl up for a while, walks with the Tolly dog are tiring :P

Sunny xxxxx

Nail Polish Collection

I'm supposed to be tidying my house today...or not :P It's grey and miserable outside right now (shocking :P) and I want nothing more than to curl up in bed with a warm cup of tea and a good book. But no, I will be good and do all my chores because this weekend I'm going to go on a shopping trip with my mum for a couple of days :D Yayyy, I'm looking forward to shopping again so much > . <

Anyway, this morning I've been looking through my nail polish collection and throwing out the old skanky ones, and I thought I'd show you the polishes which made the cut. So here is my nail polish collection:

First the base coats/top coats, L - R : Natural Collection - Peach Manicure, Pink Manicure. Etude House - WH701. Max Factor - Crystal Clear. Sally Hansen - Diamond Strength.

Barry M and Collection 2000, L - R: Barry M - Nail Effects Black, Berry Ice Cream, Lemon Ice Cream, Mint Green. Collection 2000 - Ebony, Hot Purple.

My old Eyeko polishes, I got these a couple of years ago at an Eyeko stall back when they had their old 'cute' packaging. Eyeko doesn't sell polishes anymore, and these aren't the greatest, but I love their packaging. L - R: Eyeko - Vamp, Disco, Pastel, Pretty, Punk, Saucy Red.

Ciate and Nails Inc. L - R: Ciate - Jelly Bean, Dangerous Affair. Nails Inc. - Victoria, Basil Street

Urban Decay Summer Of Love Collection (I got these as a present ages ago and I loveeee them) L - R: Shine On, Hashbury, Love Light, Psychedeilc Sister, Magic Bus, Aquarius, Woodstock.

Random ones. L - R: Missguided - Misstaken, Missbehave. Hard Candy - Candy Man. Paris Memories (not sure about the name :P it's all in German). L'Oreal - 293

Korean Polishes, L - R: Etude House - (no idea on the name :P). The Face Shop - BK901. Innisfree - 8, 7. Skin Food - BL004

Polishes I meant to use for nail art, but never got around to :P (I think these were meant to be for apple nails) L - R:  The Face Shop - RD302, WH002, GR502. Claire's (no name, this was for halloween, it's a really skanky green colour, but I'm keeping it for fancy dress :P).

So that's all my polishes in my collection, right now I'm keeping them in a make up bag, which is not very convenient at all. Nearer to September I'm planning a big 'house' shop, so hopefully I'll find a better storage solution for when I move into my house (so excited about having a house next year at uni!!!).

Also I passed my first year, so I'm definitely going back in September *happy dance*, after several dreams that I'd failed completely I'm very glad to have my results :P

Sunny xxxxx

June Favourites

I'm going to have a reallllllly long car journey to visit my family and come back home again today. I do not like car journeys at all, and I'll be eating travel sickness tablets like they're skittles :P However on the way back we'll be detouring past my boyfriend's house and picking him up ^ - ^ So yay :)

Seeing as it's July now I thought I'd post a few of my monthly favourites :)

Firstly and unsurprisingly is my Naked Palette. This is gorgeous and everyone knows it, enough said.

Next is my Palmer's Cocoa Butter Formula moisturiser, I really really really love this. It smells so delicious and makes my skin feel gorgeous. After I've put it on I feel like I could nibble it all off again because it smells so yummy :) And as it's a buttery formula it feels nice and thick when you put it on, and soaks into the skin easily without leaving any residue.

As I said in this post I've been really loving my Witch Stick for helping me clear up blemishes this month. It's great at drying out spots and is easy to carry around, love it.

My Andrew Barton Frizz Tamer has been such a lifesaver for the humid air we've been having recently. When my hair frizzes out it's so easy to put a weeny blob of this all over to smooth it down again. My only issue is that it smells really weirdly of ginger....just me maybe?

Finally and most importantly are my Optrex Allergy Eyedrops. Without these I would have clawed my eyes out ages ago. When I get itchy eyes I have zero self control about not rubbing them. I itch and scratch my eyes until they puff up and hurt so badly I just want to pull them out Kill Bill style. But thankfully these eyedrops have saved me from that, they're just soooooooooooo soothing, I use them twice a day and my eyes feel perfect :)

Sunny xxxxx