in my makeup bag #1

Instead of committing to doing monthly or weekly favourites I've decided to start posting 'in my makeup bag' with the idea being I post whenever there are significant changes to my daily makeup or a few new products. Hope you like this idea!

Face makeup

Recently I have rediscovered the Benefit Porefessional (£24.50) to nicely prep my skin for the Seventeen BB Cream in Light (£6.99) which provides a fair amount of coverage and seems to stay on well throughout the day. To even out any flaws which the BB cream does not cover, I have been using Seventeen Stay Time Concealer in Fair (£4.49) on any spots and redness (if you read my recent review on this you will know how amazing I find it!), and Benefit Erase Paste in 1 (£20.50) to cover my horrific dark circles! As for powder, to set my Erase Paste I have been using the Natural Collection Loose Powder (£1.99) in Neutral Translucent and for the rest of my face I have been loving Soap & Glory Kick Ass Powder (£12) which is brilliant for helping to perfect any areas my concealer and BB cream may have missed, but is not the best for oil control unfortunately. Finally, a recent purchase which I showed in my last post 'Beauty Haul', Sleek Face Form (£9.99) in Fair. I have been tending to avoid the blusher as it is a little too glowy for my oily skin, but the highlighter and contour powder seem to finish off my face very nicely.

Eye makeup

Currently my eye daily eye makeup consists of a couple of old favourites and a new purchase. Firstly mascara: I have tried many a mascara since discovering Seventeen Doll'd Up (£6.29), but can safely say not one has lived up to this beauty of a mascara. It lengthens, defines and curls, with a little volume which is just how I like my lashes. A real holy grail for me. On my bottom lashes I must use waterproof mascara otherwise my under eye area is smudge and flake city and I find Natural Collection WaterGuard (£1.99) does the job fine. As for eyeshadow, I have been love love loving the bottom two shades of the Miss Sporty Studio Quattro Eyeshadow in Smoky Rose. The taupey colour is a definite dupe for Urban Decay's Sidecar and I think I may even prefer it as it doesn't have the stupid glitter in it! I just wack some of that all over the lid then blend the darkest shade into my outer corner and I'm good to go. I would highly recommend this quad especially with the £2.99 price tag! Stila Stay All Day Waterproof Liquid Eyeliner (£13) in Brown has been great for me. It makes applying a nice thin line really easy and definitely is waterproof but I don't struggle to get it off at all. The colour means it is nice and subtle but still has an impact without being OTT.

Lip makeup

Last but by no means least, Collection Cream Puff (£2.99) in Fairy Cake. This is a beautiful natural-looking coral pink which seems to go with any makeup look and is perfect for every day. The doe-foot applicator makes for easy application and although it has a matte finish, it hasn't dried my lips out at all. I've used it so much it's nearly run out though :'(

TOTAL MAKEUP BAG COST: £107.72 

That's it for my current makeup bag contents. I hope you enjoyed reading this post and as always don't hesitate to comment below with any comments/questions you have!

Thanks for reading!

Lily :)x

Beauty Haul

After forcing myself into a spending ban once I'd bought all my Christmas presents, and after managing to keep it for nearly two months, I decided it was time to break it. I headed to my local Boots and M&S and bought some goodies.

Below I have listed all of the products I bought along with a little description and first impressions :)

Sleek Face Form in Fair - £9.99

I'd had my eye on this for quite some time so decided I really ought to get it. I've heard some really great things about it on the blogosphere and can safely say so far it is living up to my expectations. As you can see it comes with a matte contour powder, a highlighter and a blusher. I love all three of these, particularly the contour and highlighter. The blusher is Rose Gold which is also sold separately which I love as it gives a beautiful glow to the cheeks, but I find with my oily skin, it can look a bit too much when paired with the highlighter. It is easy to get a nice subtle contour with it (coming from someone who is rubbish at contouring!!). I love love love the packaging, it's very compact yet sturdy and will be perfect for travelling I am sure. Overall very pleased with this so far.

Sleek Lethal Length Mascara - £6.99

I had been on the hunt for a new favourite mascara for a while after purchasing my third tube of the Seventeen Doll'd Up Mascara when I fell upon this which I thought I would give a go. Initially, after looking at the brush shape and the claims on the packaging I was quite impressed but when it came to actually applying it, it proved to be a bit hit and miss. The first time I tried it, I hated it. It was very clumpy and flakey and not good at all. I tried it again a few times and sometimes it worked well, giving me nice, long defined lashes and sometimes it was rubbish. I love the packaging and when it actually performs, it's great, but I'm afraid, yet again Seventeen Doll'd Up comes out on top as it has with every other mascara I've tried.

Soap & Glory It's About Prime Eyeshadow Underbase - £8

I haven't tried many eyeshadow primers but have been very impressed with the Soap & Glory makeup I have tried so far so I decided to pick this up. I have only used it once, but was very pleased with the results. In terms of colour, it is a frosty white which I was initially a bit concerned about as I didn't know how well it would work with matte eyeshadows. However I was proved wrong as it worked great, prolonging the wear and giving the matte-ness a little more life. It helps to give a smooth base so colours go on more evenly and helped stop the fall out I sometimes get with matte shadows. Overall I was very happy with this, yet another makeup triumph I've discovered from Soap & Glory!

Natural Collection eyeshadows in Crushed Walnut, Willow and Barley (L-R) - £1.99

I decided to pick these three eyeshadows up after trying several other ones from Natural Collection and getting on really well with them. Just like the other ones I've tried, pigmentation was great, they were smooth and blendable and lasted well on the lids (especially with my S & G primer). Some great neutral eye shadows to add to my collection and a steal at three for £5!

Ecotools Skin Perfecting Brush - £7.99

I have to admit I wasn't actually on the hunt for any new brushes but the gorgeous design of this one from Ecotools really caught my eye! I love to use this with my Witch BB Cream as it gives a lovely finish to the skin. It is a similar sort of concept to the Real Techniques Expert Face Brush in that it is a dense, tightly-packed foundation brush, which aims to give a high-coverage, flawless base. I do love the finish it gives, but I must say I do prefer my Expert Face Brush simply because the bristles are slightly softer. But it is cheaper and the design is just beautiful so I'm a big fan!

Ecotools Airbrush Concealer Brush - £4.99

I've been after this brush for a while to use as a replacement for my Real Techniques Deluxe Crease Brush which I feel I should now start using for its intended purpose - not for concealer! I really love using this with my Seventeen Stay Time Concealer as it gives a lovely finish and blends really well. In comparison to Deluxe Crease I would say I like them both equally, but I like the fact you can buy this one separately, whereas Deluxe Crease comes as part of the Starter Set. So far I'm loving it and it will be a staple in my daily makeup routine for a while yet!

Boots Botanics Shine Away Mattifying Day Cream SPF 15 - £4.99

(Apologies for the rubbish photo!) I have been using this as a primer for the past few days. I disagree with the claim of 'all day shine control' but I do think it helps my makeup stay on longer and go on more smoothly. Until I tried this I had been using Max Factor Face Finity Primer which I think I prefer because it keeps shine away for longer (although it still shows through eventually) and makes my makeup last slightly longer than the Botanics Day Cream. I will continue to use this for the next few weeks and see if my opinion changes because I have read some glowing reviews!

Stila Stay All Day Waterproof Liquid Eyeliner in Dark Brown - £13

This is the only product I bought from M&S on my shopping trip and I think I'm in love! This is the first felt tip liner I've tried and I've really enjoyed using it so far. I decided to go for brown instead of black because when I wear liquid eyeliner I tend to wear it as a 'thickening of the lash line' rather than as actual eyeliner so I prefer it to be more subtle. The formula is very pigmented and dries instantly. I find it's really easy to apply a nice thin line, and although it's definitely 'stay all day' it's still easy to remove at the end of the day. I love Stila as a brand and am particularly fond of their In The Light eyeshadow palette so after having two positive experiences with their products I'm really eager to try more!

If you would like more in-depth reviews of any of the products mentioned or have any questions don't hesitate to comment below!

Sorry this turned out to be so long!:)

Lily :)x

Seventeen Stay Time Concealer review

Seventeen Stay Time Concealer in Fair - £4.49

I recently discovered this wonder of a concealer when I was having a bad skin week but my usually trusty Collection Lasting Perfection was not cooperating with my skin. I bought this a fairly long time ago so it was a bit of a re-discovery for me. It retails for £4.49 from Boots and is available in 3 shades - Extra Fair, Fair (which I have) and Medium. I think it's a real shame it's not available in more shades because it's such an amazing product! I really love the packaging design and the doe-foot applicator makes applying it a dream!!

If you enjoy Collection Lasting Perfection but find it a little too cakey and drying this is perfect for you. Although it does not offer the same high level of coverage that CLP (I will just call it that now!!) does, it can easily be layered up without looking cakey at all. Seventeen claim it lasts 18 hours, which I can't agree or disagree with simply because I never wear makeup that long!! All I can say is that it looks as it did when I first applied it when I get home from school and that is pretty amazing considering how horribly oily my skin gets.

This is the first concealer I have tried which works perfectly both under the eyes and on spots/blemishes. I do find I have to layer it up a fair bit on my dark circles but that's because they're so bad!! If you only have slight darkness like a lot of people, then I'm sure one layer would suffice. I opted for the shade Fair and I would say it is in between the shades 1 and 2 of CLP which is perfect for me as CLP never really completely matched my skin tone. I have read other reviews and for those of you with very pale complexions it seems that the shade Extra Fair is great.

Overall I am in love with this concealer. It really is a holy grail for me and beats CLP on many levels. I would highly recommend you try it especially with the extremely reasonable price tag. My new favourite concealer!!

Lily :) x