Finding the smiles.

I find that it is the small things in life which brings the biggest smile to your face.

This was definitely true of yesterday. As I was walking through Stratford on my way home from work I noticed a flower stand. I walk past this stand every day, twice a day, admiring their beautiful flowers from afar, yet I have never stopped. Every day I walk past it during my busy commute, during which all I can think about is getting on to the train or the tube and then my next destination, to home or work.

Yet yesterday I found myself stopping. You see I have recently started a new job in London, but I don’t live there. I have moved back into my parents’ house while I settle into my new working environment (yes, I am now one of those people, I think they call us the boomerang kids).

Although due to them living in the countryside I have to drive to the station every day. As my train ticket is so expensive my mum offered to drive me to the station in the morning and pick me up in the evening. Everyday.  To do this she leaves home earlier, gets to work earlier and gets home in evening later.

I am nearly 23 years old, my parents definitely did not expect me to move back home. Even if it is just for a small period of time. Yet like so many people my age it was the logical option, I need to save some money and think about my options. They accepted me back with open arms, knowing that it was the best thing for me at this time. The ultimate aim is to move to London in a few months, but I could not do that right away. So, they have to suffer (joke, they love me home) with my presence once again.

Back to Stratford, at the flower stand, I saw my mum’s favourite flowers. Freesias. All my life she has said how these were her favourite flowers, they were her mother’s before her and it is a lovely reminder of my Grandma every time they are in our house.

In the spur of the moment I bought a bunch for her. I smelt them all the way home on the train making sure not to knock them on the journey, because what good would it do if they did not survive the travel!

When I walked up to my mum’s car and gave her the flowers she had the biggest smile on her face, something which didn’t take any time out of my day made hers a whole lot brighter.

Sometimes we forget that it is the small things, the things that you don’t even think about, the spur of the moment decisions, the unexpected however great or small are the things which bring the biggest smile to someone’s face!

I just wanted to make sure she knew how appreciative I was for her going out of her way to help me. My Mum and Dad are always there for me and sometimes I forget to make sure that they know how much I appreciate it.

Hello everyone, how are we all dealing with the weather? I love this time of year, the change in weather which tells me that summer is on its way. 

The product that I am reviewing today is the first of two products that I received in the goody bag from an event which I was lucky enough to attend a while ago.

The two nail polishes are from the brand Angelica Nail Colour. What made me try this product first was that this brand had spent time personalising the packet that they came in and also the wrapping was pink, so I just couldn’t resist!

The colour that I am reviewing today is called Elfin*. Originally I thought that this polish was going to come out as more of a mushroom shade, so I was slightly disappointed  at first as I felt that it was more of a lilac brown shade, but the colour did grown on me. Now I think that this is a really good transition colour from summer into autumn.

What I really like about this polish is the formulation, once it dried it had a high shine finish which I thought looked very sleek and I think this would finish off an outfit nicely. Though what impressed me most about this nail polish was that it was really easy to paint onto the nails, it was not gloopy and dried fairly quickly. If I wanted to be lazy, I am sure that one coat would be enough though two coats created a deeper colour.

Another factor that really impressed me about this product is that it was had great staying power, after I applied it I did not need to touch it up for just under a week which I thought was a miracle! Usually I am awful with nail varnishes and once they start to chip I peel the whole lot off, but this just didn’t seem to chip!

Over all I was really impressed with this product and I would definitely buy from this range in the future. I am also very excited to try the other colour that they sent me.

Have you tried any products from this company before? If so what did you think? 

2017 is truly here and what a whirlwind of a year it has been. I finished university, graduated - which lets face it was a challenge - and started my first full time ‘proper’ job. It has been a huge transition moving from student mode to full time adulating but I feel like I am finally getting to grips with it, maybe.  

Alas, the start of a new year means no more looking back but lots of looking to the future. Usually I don’t make any resolutions, but this year is different, it is the year of me and I have a few steps to help me along the way.

Do you have any tips or tricks to help me on my way? Because I might need them! So leave them in the comments below. Also I would love to know all about your plans for 2017! 

Hey all, Today's post is about something that I am incredibly excited about because I got this purchase for a real bargain! 

As you all will know if you read my recent post about three real techniques brushes I brought, I love them they are by far the best value for money out of all the brushes that I've tried. Recently I have wanted to expand my collection so when my friend Kelly sent me a link to a site which had them on offer I literally went crazy.

My Pretty Face Place is a company based in America but they are selling products including real techniques brushes for such great prices, I have just brought the Real Techniques core collection and the starter kit for a combined price of £15.68 as when I brought them My Pretty Face Place had 20% off everything on their site add this to the voucher code which I got off cosmetics crave which gave me a further 15% off on top of the discount that was already running.

At first I was sceptical about how they had the brushes for such a low price but once I saw that the company was on the Real Techniques website having been listed as an international stockist my worries melted away. (Just a side note you should always be careful about buying online, make sure the site is reputable and also try to pay by credit card if possible as they have better defences against fraud than a debit card does!)

This price is brilliant considering that just the core collection retails at boots for £21.99 and at Superdrug for £20.99, it’s like getting two for the price of one while still getting money off. The International shipping is £6.39 so my whole order came to £22.07 which is amazing! I was so excited to receive my purchases which according to My Pretty Face Place should take from 1-3 weeks to arrive. The products arrived after two weeks which I thought considering they came from Minneapolis was pretty good. 

I am incredibly happy with my purchases and think that they are a brilliant addition to my collection. One thing I really loved about my whole ordering experience with My Pretty Face Place is the little hand written thank you I got at the end of my invoice which came with my purchases this really make my day that they took the time to add the personal touch J

Now onto the products, I love the Real Techniques brushes that I already have and let me tell you my new purchases have not been a disappointment. Out of the Core Collection there is only one brush that I have not used so far and that is the detailer brush although I think that it would be great to use it to apply lip products, to give precision when converting up blemishes and also to get a more natural brow look.

I have used all of the other three brushes and I really love them they have become a part of my every day routine, I use the buffing brush to blend in my foundation after I have applied it with my Real Techniques Stippling Brush. With the pointed foundation brush I feel that it is too small to use it to actually apply foundation with so I use it to blend in concealer around my eyes and nose areas. Finally I use the contour brush as it was intended, let me tell you it is fantastic for the job it is intended for it helps to define my cheek bones perfectly.

Now with the starter set it is something that I brought on a whim because I was getting the other set of such a fantastic price I thought why not buy the other too I am bound to use the brushes at some point, therefore the fact that I am using them more than I expected is a bonus.

As with all Real Techniques brushes they are all incredibly soft, I have only used two so far the base shadow brush and the deluxe crease brush but I adore them. These brushes are great for applying my eye shadow, what I love best about them is that they take just the right amount of powder onto the brush no too much and just enough J  

What I want to know is if you have any Real Techniques brushes? If so which ones are you favourite and which do you recommend to be the next one to be added to my collection?   

Hope you all have a fantabulous day  

Hello all of you lovely people, Todays post is all about my top three favourite lipsticks. Now as everyone knows ranking ones favourite lipsticks can be an impossible task although for me there are three certain ones that jump out at me.

Surprisingly enough my favourite three come from all areas of the financial scale, the first being a MAC lipstick called Angel which cost £15 (even though it did not cost that when I brought it!). 

Now I do know that this lipstick either looks lovely on or makes you look sickly, this lipstick is definitely a winter shade for me as I have recently discovered this summer that while I have a tan it is not a flattering colour.

This lipstick is meant to be a frost finish which according to MAC means that it has ‘an excellent colour payoff with medium to high frosted shimmer-and-shine finish’. Although this is the category which MAC has placed Angel, it does not have a dramatic frost finish I would say that it has a slight pearly finish instead of being frosty.

What I love about it is that it is a lovely baby pink shade which can be worn everyday adding to a natural look, I find that it just finishes off my makeup nicely.

The next lipstick on my list is the Rimmel lasting finish by Kate Moss in shade 01, now when I brought this lipstick is was more of a spur of the moment decision as this deep red shade was definitely out of my comfort zone!

I find reds quite hard to wear as I have to make sure that they contain blue undertones, as red/orange undertones just look weird on me. When I saw this I decided to try it out as let’s face it £5.49 will not break the bank if I decide that I don’t like it.

I would say that this lipstick is more of a cherry red colour with a sheen finish to it, the formula is quite pigmented and leaves a slight stain on the lips. It also has a sweet scent to it initially which then disperses once you apply it.

I really love this lipstick as it is a gorgeous shade which is good for people that might have a hard time finding reds to suite them, I would recommend this as a good starter red.

My final favourite is a real bargain and if you haven’t tried one of these then I strongly suggest that you do as it only cost £1, and you can’t go wrong with a pound. 

It is the MUA (Makeup Academy) lipstick in shade 3 which has a lovely creamy texture to it and glides across the lips effortlessly.

It results in a semi- matte finish and is highly pigmented leaving a slight stain to the lips. One down side to this lipstick is that it does cling to dry patches so I advise that you should exfoliate them top avoid this and moisturize before applying this lipstick as the formula is slightly drying.

This lipstick has great staying power and I find that it once applied , it lasts through lots of eating and drinking which is great is you plan on going out with it on your lips J

I hope that you liked seeing my top three lipsticks. What I want to know is what are yours? Are any of yours similar to mine? 

Hello my lovely’s how are we all today? I am so sorry for the delay between my last post and this one unfortunately I have been ill and therefore have had little motivation.

All of a sudden September finished and October started, how has that happened! Time goes by so quickly yet this morning shockingly we had hail, I was surprised to say the least and made a mad dash inside. So much for the good weather then L.

This post is about a new product that I have recently brought. It is by MUA (Make-up Academy), now I have not brought many of their products before yet they are such a good price and everyone is raving about them so I thought why not, what have I got to loose.

Therefore when I noticed the other day that Superdrug had their 3 for 2 deal on for all of their make-up products, I took the plunge.

The product that I brought was the Bronzed Perfection and I brought it at the price of £3 for 15g which I thought was an extremely good price for the amount that you get.

Now it does only come in one shade which is a shame for people with darker or lighter skin, thankfully it is the right shade for me.  With this bronzer I was more interested in using it for contouring than using it as a normal bronzer as I think that it is a really good shade for it.

This product has now sneaked its way into my everyday make up routine. I pair it with the Max Factor Flawless Perfection Blush in 221 Classic Pink and another new purchase of mine from MUA the Undress Your Skin Shimmer Highlighter (I will post a review on this soon). The combination of the three together look great on the skin.

Have you tried any of MUA’s products? If so which ones and what do you think? 

Hello everyone how have you all been?

This weekend while I was shopping for my sisters birthday present I noticed that Clinique has a gift promotion on when you brought two or more products. Now if you read my post about how I cured my acne HERE you will know that I religiously use my Clinique products day and night. So when I saw I was coming to the end of my clarifying lotion I knew I had to buy more very shortly. Now I always find it very hard not to buy two products when these promotions are on, what can I say if I am given the opportunity to buy more I do let’s just say I need no encouragement.  

So while I knew that I was going to get another Anti-Blemish Solutions Clarifying Lotion but I was really unsure about what to get as my second product. I am going on holiday very shortly and therefore I do not want to be wearing foundation while I am there and have been looking into various BB creams, when I saw that Clinique offered one I decided that it would be my second product. I have not yet tried it as but if you are interested in a review of the product then leave a comment below.

According to the packet the BB Cream can be worn alone or as a primer. I am very interested in seeing what it is like as a primer as this is not a use I was intending to use it for, so if it is a good primer it will be an added bonus. Clinique say that it has a ‘long-wearing, oil-control formula’ which is ‘appropriate for all skin types’.

Now onto the free gift, I always get excited when a free gift is offered even though I know that the gift is always the same kind of thing with maybe a few changes.

Take the day off makeup remover for lids, lashes and lips – This is a product that you get in most of the Clinique free gifts, therefore it is something that I have used before and I do genuinely like apart from the fact that it is slightly greasy once applied. It really does take off even the toughest mascara, but I can honestly say that I have not tried using it to take makeup off my lips.

Repairwear Laser Focus Wrinkle & UV Damage Corrector – This is a serum which is meant to be ‘A second chance for every skin with wrinkles’ this product is meant to reduce the appearance of wrinkles.

Moisture Surge Face Spray – I am very excited to try this product on holiday, it is an oil-free facial spray and is meant to restore the moisture balance within the skin.

All about eyes – Clinique markets this product to reduce the appearance of ‘puffs, circles, fine lines and shadows’ I have very dark circles under my eyes and I have to say even though this has come within many of the free gifts it is a product that I have never used. I am therefore very excited to try it.

Sparkle Skin Body Exfoliating Cream – For an exfoliant this cream does not have very big granules within so I imagine that it will not give a very harsh exfoliation but Clinique claims that it ‘rubs away persistent dullness, flakiness’

Deep Comfort Body Butter – I am excited to try this body butter as I get particually dry elbows, which is a problem that this product is meant to target. I am slightly disappointed with the smell though as it does not have any significant smell.

If you want reviews of any of these products just leave a comment bellow and I hope that you all have had a wonderful day J