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My Anniversary Trip to Paris!
On the 13th of January, I took an amazing trip to Paris with my boyfriend for our 3 year anniversary. It was an amazing trip and I would love to share some photos and details with you! It was a great trip, and this year I’m so lucky to be travelling more. I usually don’t get to have even one holiday a year, but this year I’m having two. This one, and then Cuba in the summer. I’ve definitely developed a taste for travelling after my cruise last year! If you have time please check out my YouTube channel!
We stayed at a Best Western hotel that was super close to metro stops and the shops! Even though the Sephora nearby seemed to have next to nothing I wanted in it! Our room had a balcony with a view down the street, and despite the rainy weather that weekend, it was nice to open the doors for some fresh air.I loved our room, it was so peaceful considering the busy streets we had to navigate. It was definitely great to relax there!
We didn’t have time to much on the Friday, but we explored our area a bit! On the Saturday we visited the Louvre, The Notre Dame and The Eiffel Tower. I love art, and I really enjoyed seeing the Mona Lisa IN PERSON! Truly AMAZING! The decorated ceilings were so beautiful, and I also saw The Last Supper. Which is like, taller than my house in person!
We travelled further in via the metro, and stopped in a cute little cafe on a street corner. Had the French version of a cheese toastie and chips! Then, we went to the Notre Dame which was stunning. The garden area was beautiful, and the architecture? Just wow. This was when the weather was a bit better! I loved this, just wish we had more time.
By the time we got to the Eiffel Tower it was rather cold and drizzling. This sucked, but the view was incredible.I wish I’d been able to take some better photos, but it was so overcast.It was freezing when we got up there, so we didn’t stay ages! I still enjoyed it, and it was amazing to be up there.
Overall, this was an amazing trip. Once in a lifetime because of all the experiences I had, and the great company! Thank you so much to my boyfriend Chris ❤
I hope you enjoyed this post!
Birchbox Decemeber 2016
Soon I will of been a Birchbox subscriber for over a year! That’s pretty amazing, and it’s been part of my blog since the beginning. I remember receiving the first one, and all the great item I’ve discovered since. The skincare I’ve found has been once of the best discoveries, and I always love their face cream samples. They always have great box designs, and it honestly cheers me up whenever it gets delivered!
Onto the box! A gorgeous red and burgundy design that opens in the middle, and contains a drawstring bag with all the items!
One item I’m very excited by is the Benefit Matte Rescue, I’ve been interested in trying this since it cam out. I also love how we have 2 eye makeup products, and I’ll definitely be experimenting with them. Always an awesome range from Birchbox.
PRODUCTS:
Laura Mercier Eye Colour Stick in Amethyst £22.00
Ciate London Eyeliner £15.00
Amie Exfoliating Scrub £5.95
Percy & Reed Perfecting Wonder Balm £18.00
Benefit Matte Rescue Gel £21.50
Hope you enjoyed reading!
Favourite Autumn Lipstick Shades 2016
Today, I have a very seasonal post for you! I did a similar post to this on summery eyeshadow shades a while back, you can check this out also Favourite Summer Eyeshadows 2016
In these posts, I will give you a list of awesome options for the season. I may do an eyeshadows version of this post, if anyone is interested! I’ve noticed a lack of comments on my posts recently, if you’re an active blogger let’s have a chat! These shades range in price, and this will include lipsticks and liquid lipsticks. There will be links to some of these so you can check them out, and have a search around for different skintone swatches if that’s what you’re after. I love all of these, some I haven’t worn in a while to be fair. But this is also a post to inspire me, and encourage everyone to try something new.
So let’s have a chat about these shades! LA Splash have some of the prettiest colours ever, and they are super affordable. I made a whole post on their liquid lips LA Splash Haul (Thanks BeautyBay!) if you want to check it out! This shade is the perfect barely there colour for pale skin, so soft and a slightly peachy colour. You can get it HERE
Next up is a satin lipstick from Ciate called Praline. This colour lasts for ages, and I used to wear it EVERY DAY last autumn. This is the Ciate x Olivia Palermo collab, so it may not be availible, but if you see it at a TkMaxx, grab it! Ciaté Olivia Palmero lipstick
Then we have one of my holy grail products. this needs no introduction, the Jeffree Star liquid lipstick in Celebrity Skin. I ALWAYS get compliments when I wear this and it goes with any eye look. It’s a perfect beige/peach/brown shade check out my full review! Jeffree Star ‘Celebrity Skin’ You can get it HERE
Next up is one that’s pretty new to my collection, Kat Von D’s Double Dare. This blushed rose colour is amazing, I love it with brown/gold eye looks!
Next we have the Kylie Cosmetics Dolce K. This colour is amazing, and despite the formula being a bit dry, this wears petty well. It is a gorgeous grey brown on me, be aware it is quite drying. But that colour tho!!!
Then we have the PERFECT autumn colour. Androgyny, the cult favourite of the Jeffree Star line. This is a plum with a touch of brown and purple, and wears beautifully. You can get this gorgeous colour HERE
Next up is MAC’s Captive, which is a satin finish lipstick. I used to wear this ALL THE TIME! It’s a beautiful shade, a soft berry rose that’s not too dark to be everyday.
On to Viva Glam 3, a dark purple brown shade. This is not too red, and therefore a fairly neutral colour. It is perfectly matte,and gorgeous on the lips!
Last but not least is Stila’s Aria, always reminds me of Pretty Little Liars! This berry purple is best applied in small amounts, just one layer and some gold eyeshadow? Amaaaaazing!
I hope you enjoyed this, down below, tell me your current favourite shade! If you have any fav bloggers let me know, I want to follow some new people! Check out my last post! All Made Up: On my List! (BeautyBay)
xo
Sleek Contour Palette Review
Today is a post on the Sleek Makeup conntour palette. I actually got this half price in Superdrug, but it usually retails for £9.99, which is pretty reasonable for 6 shades. The colours all vary, none are exactly the same. There are 3 highlighters and 3 contours, and I actually love the darkest contour shade. I got this in the shade light, and I think it suits my skin tone. The palette features a light yellow shade, which is great for under eye highlighting. I usually find it hard to create a strong under eye highlight due to having very dark circles, and never being able to find a shade that is light/bright enough.
The other 2 highlights I don’t use as much, as the one on the right is a little dark. These 2 mid tone shades can be used to blend though! The texture of these allows for very easy and quick blending. Of the 3 contour shades, I actually prefer the darkest one, as it is more cool toned. I wouldn’t mind having a slightly darker shade for the very center of my contour. Also I would’ve like a shimmery highlighter? But overall this palette is definitely worth the money! Try it out!
This may be considered a dupe for the Anastasia Beverly Hills contour kit, as the colours look pretty similar! The ABH Fair kit has an almost white shade that I would love to try out!
ABH Modern Renaissance Palette Review
My current favourite item is the Anastasia Beverly Hills Modern Renaissance palette. This is my first ABH product, and I would definitely like to try more. The packaging is beautiful, a dusty pink shade made from velvet. It’s fairly sturdy and contains a mirror and brush. I actually LOVE the brush is comes with, and it works really well with the shadows.
The colours in this palette just scream my name, such perfect neutrals with orange, red and brown tones. The taupe shades are beautiful, each colour blends well. If you layer multiple shades you can still see each colour, and create amazing dimensional looks. It’s been a long time since I’ve loved an item this much! I would highly recommend this if you like the shade selection, as the quality is impeccable. They are pigmented, buttery with little fall out.
These swatches are just with a few swirls in the pan, they can be layered and built up to an even more vibrant shade. Tempera is a light vanilla with a bit of shimmer, great for a brownbone highlight or base shade. Golden Ochre is a soft brown/yellow matte. Vermeer is a neutral shimmery shade. Buon Fresco is a slate purple colour, I love this one. Antique Bronze is a warm toned shimmery brown. Love Letter is a berry with slight shimmer. Cyprus umber is a blackened brown that is great in the outer crease.
Raw Sienna is a light brown with hints of yellow. Burnt orange is a brown toned orange shade that is a great transition colour. Primavera is a soft neutral gold. Red Ochre is a burgundy with brown tones to it. Venetian Red is a matte burgundy. Warm Taupe is a neutral stone colour. And finally, Realgar is a pumpkin shade with hints of brown to it.
I’ve been using this almost every day recently, I love mixing the taupe shades and oranges in my crease. The shimmer shades Vermeer and Primavera are beautiful on the lid. I would highly recommend this palette!
Sleek Highlighting Palette Review
An item that I featured in my June Favourites 2016 is the Sleek Solstice Highlighting palette! This beautiful item is super affordable and around £9.99 most places. I actually got it on offer in Superdrug, 2 Sleek products for £10! So I got this and the contour kit. This palette is worth WAAAAY more than its low price tag. The pigmentation is beautiful, and there is a shade and texture for everyone. You get 2 baked shades (Hemisphere and Equinox) one shimmer (Subsolar) and one cream (Ecliptic)
Here you can see the beauty of this palette, no filters or editing. I did the swatches in a weird order, so apologies! I will be going from left to right in the swatch pic. First is the shade Equinox, a baked peachy shade, probably my favourite. Then we have Hemisphere, a soft lilac that is actually very wearable! I mix these 2 often, and even use them on my eyes! Thirdly is Ecliptic which is the cream shade, a champagne colour with a touch of bronze/pink. Complicated shade haha! Last is Subsolar, great for light skin tones and brow bone highlighting. This has less shimmer, more of a satin effect. This product is amazing, and I’ve been using it pretty much every day. It’s so worth the money, I would definitely reccommend checking it out! Let me know if you love it 😘
Preen.me
Preen.me is a great site for beauty lovers/bloggers! They recently emailed me and I’m proud to say I’ve already posted my first look. Definitely check out their site if you are someone who wants quick/easy tips on the go! It’s pretty new so their site is fresh and exciting.
Estee Lauder Warehouse Sale #2
On the 26th of March I went to another of the Estee Lauder warehouse sales, after receiving tickets last minute earlier that week. This particular area has them more often and had a slightly bigger space which was great. These tickets can be found via gyms, friends and family and staff. The products are heavily reduced and can be found in bundles, 5 items for £10 or 10 items for £20! These are the best value in my opinion, as long as you can find one that has all good items. For example, a £10 bag may contain a mismatching foundation, but are the other 4 items good? It’s just weighing up options and finding what works for you! I wanted to buy the MAC Pro Longwear foundation that I love, and found it in my shade! I also wanted to test out new foundations, and I ended up with a few new ones. I have less items this time, but that is because the MAC foundation was individual and fairly expensive on it’s own, as was the Toledo Blush, which I’ve wanted FOREVER.
Left to Right Top Row: Smashbox Liquid Halo in Light, Origins Mineral Powder in Medium (used as bronzer) Mac Toledo Blush in Kindergarten Red, Mac Eyeshadow in Kid.
2nd row: Origins Pinch Your Cheeks Tint, Mac Miley Cyrus 2 lipstick, Estee Lauder Eyeshadow in Amethyst, Mac Pro Longwear in NW20, Mac Eyeshadow, Clinique quickliner in Red, Clinique butter shine lipstick in Grape, Mac Fluidline.
This was around £60 again, a lot less items but about half of that was from the 2 large Mac products. I’m in love with the Mac Toledo blush, and I’m so happy that I got it! This was a great haul and I will review anything requested, please let me know what you want to see. Check out my recent posts please!
The Perfect Palette
Charity Shop Haul #1
Best Blush Shades for Fair Skin
Product Empties No.2
The Perfect Palette
As of lately, I’ve been thinking about which palettes I’ve used the most, and what makes a great one. As someone who is a little bit (a lot) addicted to eye shadows, I own quite a few! This post is about my favourites, one I’ve had a while, one I’ve had a while but only started using a matter of days ago, and one that is a recent purchase but I’ve used a lot.
These are the Urban Decay Vice 3, Lorac PRO Palette and the Morphe 35C Multi Colour Matte Palette. The Vice 3 was limited edition but this could be any Urban Decay palette, this just happens to be my favourite of all! I love the range of browns in here, and it’s great for someone who wants to start experimenting with colour. The Vice palettes are also great for MUA’s due to the range of shades. Many of Urban Decay palettes are pro friendly, and can be a great addition to anyone’s collection. If you don’t mind spending a little more, you will receive a set of beautiful shades, a range of mattes and shimmers with amazing quality.
If you can access Lorac then try one of their palettes if you get the chance! The PRO has a great range of shades for anything from natural to smokey. If you ever visit an Ulta or Sephora when abroad then it is definitely worth the money. The quality of Lorac shadows is great, very soft and pigmented without too much fall out. I bought this a year ago and only recently started using it as I thought I would ‘save it’ for a while! But I’m glad I finally started using it as t is actually great for summer with the beautiful mauve and gold shades.
The last palette is all matte shades, so I like to use this in combination with one of my favourite single shimmery eyeshadows such as Stila’s Kitten or the BarryM Dazzle Dusts. These have a very good colour payoff, and the price is amazing for 35 shades. If you wanted a more travel friendly Morphe palette, try one with shimmers in so you have everything you need. I love the burgundy colours in this, such amazing colours that I’ve been dreaming of finding for years. I love a red/purple on myself and there are shades in here to flatter many eye and skin colours. The white is also great for highlighting!
madithemermaid 