New Look Bargain - £2 Foundation

Hello my Beautyholics,

I hope you are all doing well and are enjoying the beautiful weather we have been having!

Today, I want to blog about a recent purchase which I thought was totally worth sharing with you all.

Last week I was browsing through New Look and stumbled across their makeup section as they had a HUGE sale on. I mean, there was items, cheaper than chips which I thought was really, really good! I don't know about you, but I am one of those people who really struggles to find a good bargain when browsing through sales - probably because I get annoyed half way through and just give up!

Anyway, I had some time to spare so I actually stopped to look through things properly and I noticed they had put some foundations on sale for as cheap as £2. I checked their original price and they were usually going for £4.99 (still pretty cheap). However, since I rarely find foundations as inexpensive as that, I thought I would give them a shot. I have actually not been wearing much foundation lately, mostly because I have got a bit of a tan and have particularly been enjoying using the HDBrows Sun Stick, which I blogged about last week (just popping the link for it here "High Definition Beauty must haves - Sun, Sculp & Glow Sticks".

At the moment, all of my foundations are a bit light for me as I am trying to hold onto my sun-tan for as long as possible and I have not really wanted to go out and splash dollars on a darker foundation which I probably wont get through.

So anyway, I decided to give this foundation a go and I picked up a slightly darker shade in "Natural Tan". It comes in this really basic black tube - reminds me a little of the MAC foundations and for the price, I feel like its quite a generous size.

The foundation comes out in really small amounts, which is great because you don't waste any of it. I was super impressed with how the colour matches my skin and it is a very light formula. It is also very buildable, however in the photo below I had only applied a very small amount.

I applied it in the morning with the rest of my makeup and it stayed on all day. It's perfect to even out your skin tone and to just add a touch of glow to your skin whilst still looking makeup free! Out of 10, I would definitely rate this foundation a solid 8/10.

I'd love to hear how you guys have found New Look makeup and whether anyone else has tried their foundations?

Let me know in the comments!

 ❤️

 Love, ML x

HIGH DEFINITION BEAUTY MUST HAVES - SUN, SCULPT & GLOW STICKS

Hey Beautyholics,

It's been a while!

I have been dying to share this review with you but for those of you who follow me on Instagram, you will know that I have been away on holiday (FYI, Holiday blog post is totally pending!), so I was unable to blog about these earlier.

I was recently contacted by High Definition Beauty and was asked if I wanted to test out their new Sculpt, Glow and Sun sticks and review my opinion on them. Of course, if you know me you know that I am OBSESSED with being tanned - I swear, the saying is real, Life is so much better when you're tanned! So of course, I instantly accepted to give these sticks a whirl.

If you have never heard of High Definition Beauty, they are an award-winning luxury British beauty brand. They started off as eyebrow specialists in 2008 and also go by the name HDBrows, however, since 2014 they have branched out into make-up and now offer beauty essentials for eyes, lips, face and brows.

When the sticks first arrived, I was really impressed by the sleek packaging and sizes that these products came in. I love anything Black, so I found their all-black packaging perfect! 

I received two Sculpt sticks - in cool and warm tones, a Sun-Stick and two Glow sticks. I was absolutely in awe when I opened them because of how beautiful the highlighter shades were.

The Glow sticks I received came in a Champagne and a Rose Gold, respectively swatched in the image below. The Champagne is a gorgeous gold shimmery highlighter, whilst the Rose Gold is more of a subtle shimmer. What I particularly loved about these sticks, is that they are highly pigmented and suitable for all skin tones. They are also very buildable, so you can create both subtle and full glam diva looks.

The Sculpt sticks came in two different shades. A cool shade (first swatch) and a warm (second swatch). Without a suntan, I found that the cool shade suited me more as looked less orange once applied over my foundation. Whilst the warm shade is recommended for those with darker and more yellow undertones.

Finally, the 'Pièce de résistance' from this review is the Sun-Stick. GURRRLLL! You do not need to lay on the beach soaking up the rays for a tanned look. If like me, you love to look tanned, you just need to add this Sun Stick to your beauty bag (bottom swatch).

I have been using it every day since coming back from my holiday and I have not needed to wear any foundation.
Despite me spending the whole day at work and then coming home and sitting out in the sun sweating, it stays matte on the skin and I find that it stays put on my face for the whole day. I apply it just like you would apply any cream contour stick and then use a soft brush or beauty blender to blend it in.

During the past week, I have also started to apply a thin layer all over my face just to add that extra bit of colour to my complexion and since I have started to do this, I have received lots of compliments and people asking me if I had been out sunbathing - My response: "Yes, of course I have" ;)

I can absolutely see myself using these stick for the next couple of months as they've really become indispensable items in my every day beauty bag and I will probably purchase them once they run out.

These sticks, can be purchased directly on the High Definition Beauty website - click here. If you check them out during this month, they currently have 30% off all of their Sun, Sculpt and Glow Sticks, so you'll be sure to get yourselves a really good saving.

Below is a cheeky selfie (hope you don't mind), that I took of me wearing my favourite Duo - Sun Stick and Champagne Highlighter.

Oh, I really do wish I could be tanned forever!

I'd be also interested in knowing whether anyone else has tried these sticks before and how many of you would be willing to give them a shot?

❤️

   Love, ML x

Disclaimer: Products in this post were sent to me complimentary. However all photos and opinions are my own and I do not earn any commissions from sales.

What I got in the Influenster UK Rimmel London Voxbox

Hello Beautyholicgirls,

I hope that you are all doing great.

I am back with an exciting post today. I was kindly sent the InfluensterUK voxbox last month and it contained some really cool products which I was so excited about sharing with you all.

As many of us here in the UK know, the new episodes of Love Island were aired on ITV at the begginning of this month. To commemorate this amazing time for us all, Rimmel London UK have teamed up with InfluensterUK and sent some very lucky bloggers the following products:
3x Wonder-Swipe Eyeliners, Scandal Eyes WOW Mascara and some festival worthy, ultra-glamorous instant tattoos!

Now let's just say that when I opened the box and saw those tattoos I was MEGA excited. I literally had not used instant tattoos in years and they really blasted me back to the 90's.

If you are a regular reader of my blog, you will probably know that I am one of the plainest people on this planet when it comes to makeup. This is mostly because I really enjoy nude colours and as much as I wear foundation, eyeshadow, contour and the whole shebang every single day, I do still like to keep it very neutral. For this reason, when I saw the colours I had received in this box, my instant thoughts were: "Wow, they're erm, a bit extravagant".

Nonetheless, I was open to trying these out and to seeing whether a plain Jane like myself could rock some bold coloured eyeliners.

Before doing these looks, I did have a look on Instagram and I had seem some really awesome makeup looks that other bloggers had created with these liners. However, I am in no way an expert when it comes to makeup; so I decided to keep things simple and just try them out the way I would usually wear eyeliner.

As you can see out of the three colours I was sent, the grey one on the left was quite dark and very close to the black eyeliner that I would normally wear. So I chose to take the plunge and try out a look with the purple and gold eyeliners.

In the past, I had read that purple really complements brown eyes; as someone who likes her neutral colours, I was always afraid to believe that. However, I must say that when I applied this purple eyeliner, I really could see how much more the colour of my eyes stood out. In addition, I absolutely loved using the eyeliner because I found it very easy to work with and also very buildable. I also used the gold liner just to add a tiny pop of highlight in the inner corners of my eyes.

I found that the consistency of the gold liner was slightly runnier compared to the other two shades and as a result the glitter smudged a lot more easily. Despite this, when you compare it to other glitter products I would still rate it a solid 8/10 for product consistency and pigment.

The next product that I was initially really excited to try out was the Scandal eyes WOW Mascara. If you know me, or have been reading my blog for a while, you will know that mascara is my holy grail beauty item. I could give up all makeup but could never give up mascara! So of course, when I saw a spanking new mascara, in the prettiest shade of lilac packaging, I was in awe!

I absolutely love, fibre bristles on mascara wands. I swear by them and it is for that reason that I have always been able to have long and defined lashes. Many women, swear by plastic bristles, however, I find that they clump your lashes and just generally make more mess than anything. So when I opened this mascara to reveal the wand, I was disappointed to find that despite all the pretty packaging, the wand came with plastic bristles :(

I still decided to give it a shot and not to let my past experiences dictate how I would feel about it. However, after trying it out every day for a week, I still cannot say that I am in love with it. Whilst it is A LOT better than previous plastic wand mascara brushes that I have tried in the past, it is still not a product that I would repurchase. I found the bristles too thick and they ended up really clumping my lashes together. If you have tried this, do let me know how you have got on with it!

Last but not least, the final and most exciting item in this box was the instant tattoos. As already mentioned, I was mega excited to try these as they are the sort of thing that I used to be crazy about when I was a little girl. There was so many to choose from and I can't really say that there are any that I did not like. I pretty much love all of the tattoo designs that were included.

I have always toyed with the idea of getting a real tattoo and I always said that if ever I would get a tattoo I would get it on my wrist. So I decided to try out the design in the image below.

I absolutely loved how glam these tattoos turned out to be. The design transferred so easily and whilst I was so scared to peel off the bottom layer in case it had not properly transferred, it all properly adhered to my skin really well.

I would also like to add, that despite me sweating in the gym and showering twice a day, this tattoo did not budge for a whole 5 days! A definite MUST have for this summer festival and beach holidays! ;).

On the whole, I was super happy with the products I received in this month's InfluesterUK voxbox. Apologies if this blog post has been a rather long one...but yano, it had been a while after all!

Let me know your thoughts and also whether you have also tried any of these products.I'd love to hear your opinions.

❤️

   Love, ML x

Disclaimer: Products in this post were sent to me complimentary. However all photos and opinions are my own. 

Marc Jacobs Matte Highliner Gel Review

Hello Beautyholics,

Who would have thought that colour pop eyeliners would come back in fashion?

If you're like me, you probably stay away from colours when it comes to eye make-up. I like to keep things very basic and a black winged liner usually does the job.

However, last month I was very fortunate to have received a parcel from InfluensterUK, containing not one, but two complimentary samples of Marc Jacobs Highliners. I was really not expecting to receive the parcel so you could imagine my face when I opened the parcel *Screams of Excitement*.

I received a dark brown shade called 'Earthquake' and a pastel blue shade called 'Déja Blue'.

My initial reaction was, "WOW, I love the brown but what am I going to do with the blue"? SO, I started swatching and playing around with them. As I began swatching it, I realised just how creamy the eyeliners were, it felt like colouring in with a Crayon.

I then went on to try using it on my eyes. I must say, for someone who is used to doing their winged liner with a felt-tip pen, it was a struggle to get a neat wing with this pencil! Nonetheless, I still managed to get a 'neat-ish' line. When it came to the 'Deja Blue' shade, I was unsure about where to apply it. I had considered putting it on my water line, but I didn't think it would look appealing with my dark brown eyes. Instead, I chose to pop a little in the inner corner of my eye and just take it up a little.

I must say that, I was quite happy with how it turned out - Not bad for someone who only ever uses black liner!

I loved the durability of these, I did the make-up in the morning and by the evening the eyeliner had not smudged nor had it lost any pigmentation - 10/10 for that!

How about you, have you given these a go? I'd love to hear your reviews and how you used them! Share your comments below :)

❤️

   Love, ML x

How to maintain your summer glow ft. Charlotte Tilbury Healthy Glow Moisturiser review

Hey m'darls,

Hope you are all well.

I've only been back from my holiday for just over ten days but I am already experiencing major holiday blues! :(

As usual, one of the main things I love about being on holiday in the summer is catching a golden tan, I mean, who doesn't? I don't know about you, but life is so much better when you're tanned. I also love how just under five minutes, I can have all my make-up done and be ready to roll-out as I don't need to spend ages concealing, applying foundation and contouring my face to stop me looking like a mini Casper.I must say that I'm quite fortunate to be one of those people who tans quite easily, however it is such a struggle to maintain that golden glow once you are back in the rainy U.K.

This year, I was determined to find a product that would help me to prolong that natural tanned look, without needing to apply any heavy dark foundation on my face.
Whilst shopping in John Lewis, I came across the Charlotte Tilbury Unisex Healthy Glow moisturiser. If you know me, I love CT products so I was sold right away. This product claimed to be "summer in a bottle" with pigments that morph into your skin developing into a natural looking tan.

Verdict... It does just that!

As usual, I like to show you the difference so that you can see the results for yourselves.



As you can tell, this moisturiser really helped to even out my skin tone, whilst maintaining that natural looking glow. I absolutely love it!

If I want to look even more tanned, I simply apply some light bronzer on my cheek bones and I feel as if I have just spent the day soaking up the sun. I used this every day whilst on holiday in the evenings and I have been using it every day since being back from my holiday to try to maintain my tan as long as possible. Out of ten, I'd rate it a solid 9!

For those with oily prone skin, one thing to look out for is that this moisturiser dries up very dewy and becomes even dewier throughout the day. However, I am one of those with oil prone skin in my T-zone but I still find this product a must have go-to if I am popping out of the house for a few hours.

How about you, have you tried this product before? I'd love to hear your thoughts!

❤️

   Love, ML x

Favourite Lipstick and Lip liner combo

TADA, I'm back!

This time I'm going to cut it short with the soppy excuses as to why I've been absent (yet again!) from the blogging scene. Let's just say, I have been super busy with every day life and finally I'm slowly regaining some time to myself to focus on doing what I love.

So, to ease myself back into this whole shebang, I thought I would do a quick post on my favourite lip combo of ALL time!

As you know, when it comes to lipsticks I like to keep things simple. Nudes are and will, always remain my go-to lipstick shades. I don't know what it is about them but I just feel comfortable whenever I'm wearing a nude lipstick. I find that it easily goes with any outfit and regardless of the occasion, a nude lippy will never cease to be in fashion.

Of course, as you can probably imagine, I have tried a tonne of different brands and shades on the hunt to find the PERFECT nude...and believe me, I have tried way too many at the expense of my bank account.

Anyhoo, this time last year I thought I had found THE ONE... It came in the simple black sleek packaging, with the brand name written across the lid in silver writing. You guessed it, it was a MAC. If you've already read my post about my favourite MAC lippys you'd know how much of a sucker I am for MAC lipsticks, in particular any of their matte shades.

I find MAC lipsticks very long wearing, to the point where if I forget to reapply my lipstick after lunch at work, it doesn't matter too much because I know that there will always be a hint of colour on my lips.

With this lip combo, I had originally found the MAC lipstick in shade "Honeylove" to be my favourite nude. I then soon came across the Charlotte Tilbury lipliners and fell in love with "Iconic Nude". These two together were just what I thought to be, the perfect nude lip combo. The Charlotte Tilbury lip pencils are by far, the BEST lip pencils I have ever come across. Yes, that's it, they're even better than MAC's. No word of a lie, they stay on all day and are super easy to apply as opposed to some MAC lip pencils that require you to go over your lips a few times until you can see some colour.

However, just as I thought I had found the perfect lip combo, I came across an even better match! This time, it also came in a black sleek packaging and went by the name "Yash". As opposed to Honeylove, Yash is a lot more of what I would call a true nude lippy with brown undertones. Coupled with the Charlotte Tilbury Iconic nude lip pencil it was the Purrrfect match!

So, what can I say, for those of you girlies who really like pink and are after a nude colour lippy, I recommend trying out the Honeylove. If like me, you're really into the browns and true nudes, you've definitely got to try out Yash.

I thought I'd post a picture below of them both to find out which one you girls like best! (They look very similar on camera ;))

I'd also love to hear what your favourite nude lipsticks are, so let me know below! :)

❤️

   Love, ML x

SEVENTEEN makeup review*

Hey lovelies,

Just before Christmas I was kindly sent out two products by SEVENTEEN and I have been meaning to blog about them ever since but have not really had the chance to get around to writing it all up...finally though it's here!

The two products were the "All out pout"* featuring 4 different shades of beautiful reds and the "Let's face it"* concealer palette. Prior to receiving these, I had not tried any SEVENTEEN makeup range so I was really excited to give them a go.

 

For anyone that knows me, you'd know that I am not very daring when it comes to lipsticks...I literally love sticking to my nudes and MAC's "Yash" is literally my every day go-to lip colour. So when I received the "All out pout"* palette in the red shades I was super excited but also kind of scared to see how I would look wearing a bold red lippy. 

 

The palette comes with 4 different shades of red, a baby pink and a sparkly gold shade -which I used to highlight and create an ombré effect on the lips.

Bearing in mind that I had never tried to create an ombré effect using lipsticks, below is the result that I got using this palette. 

 

As you can tell, the lipsticks are quite glossy (some more than others) but what I loved about them was that they were not sticky! (Literally earned extra points for this because I am really not a fan of sticky lippy's).

I started off by applying the light pink shade (on the top left) and then gradually built it up by applying the light colours to the dark ones. Once I got to the darkest shade I just applied it on the outside of my lips and then went back to add the lighter shades in the middle and slowly blending them out. Finally I added a touch of the glittery shade (bottom right) in the middle and on my cupids bow to create a highlight effect.

I don't know about you, but I loved the how it turned out and I think that it's a great palette for anyone who, like myself, isn't very daring when it comes to reds as the palette retails at £4.99 so hardly breaking the bank ;). Also, it is great because you can use the shades lipsticks on their own if you want to as well making it a great,cheap option for anyone wishing to snap out of wearing nudes all the time!

The other palette was the concealer and blush "Let's face it"* kit-now this I have tried lots of in the past, so I was really able to compare this to other concealers and blushers. What I particularly loved about this palette was that it contained two different shades of concealers, making it suitable for anyone who has either pink or yellow undertones! :)

 

My skin, has quite yellow undertones so particularly preferred the middle shade, but I also used the shade on the left around my face to cover up any imperfections. I found that the concealers are easily comparable to the Clinique Airbrush concealer in terms of texture and durability. I did find them to be quite oily- so maybe not particularly suitable for anyone with really oily skin, however, it does also come with a powder to put over the concealer which I thought really helped to make it stay on for longer.

As for the blush, I don't usually wear cream blushes because I normally find them quite hard to blend and they can feel sticky and oily on the skin, however I found that if you used a small amount of this one it really gave a nice natural "rosy" look to your cheeks and it was not too oily either! All in all I'd rate both of these palettes a 7/10 especially for the price!

What SEVENTEEN products have you tried before?

❤️

   Love, ML x

*Products received as PR samples, reviews and opinions are solely my own.