Daily Diary.

My favourite time of the year is now officially upon us, With only three days of November left I believe it is now totally acceptable to crack out the Christmas jumpers and unapologetically play Christmas songs at every possible opportunity. This weekend I took a trip to the Manchester Christmas markets for a spot of Christmas fun and thought I would share a few pictures with you. Mooching around the stalls with a hot chocolate and a crepe is one of my favourite things to do this year and is bound to make me feel utterly festive. The markets are jam packed with everything you could think of from confectionery, hot food and trinkets to all the alcohol you could ever imagine, I highly recommend the hot chocolate with Amaretto. Unfortunately, the only downside for me would be the amount of people there all trying to navigate their way from stall to stall, this often can prevent you from being able to stop and have a proper look at whats to offer. However, this cannot be helped and is to be expected in a busy city like Manchester. What I thought was a real let down was the lack of music played around the stalls I think this could have really boosted the atmosphere.   

If you are looking to get in the Christmas spirit or just stuff your face with some fantastic food and drink from around the world I would definitely recommend the Manchester markets they are on now running up until the 20th December. 

September Favourites.

Hello everyone!

I don't usually ever have enough new products each month for these posts to be a regular thing here on my blog but since I haven't shared any favourites for a long ol' while I thought I would give you a peak at what I have been into this month...

MAC mineralize skinfinish in Lightscapade £24 (Link) - I'll be honest I have been loving this product for a long long time now and not just in September but I thought I should show it some love on my blog as this has now taken the place of my beloved Soft & Gentle MSF and that is high praise indeed. Both are beautiful but I think Lightscapade is way more flattering on my skintone, it is a very pale gold powder with veins of blue, pink and yellow running through it. It gives my skin that dreamy dewy, wet look and while it is a little on the glittery side, I love it!

Real Techniques miricle complexion sponge £5.99 (Link) - This sponge has really become my makeup saviour in the past few weeks, they're popping up everywhere at the moment and I can see why. Before the birth of the beauty blender makeup sponges were those gross little triangle things that we all used to use when we were young, now I cannot apply concealer without this thing. blending is now a dream, If you haven't tried one you must!

Maybelline The nudes palette £9.99 (Link) I've recently been getting into wearing eyeshadow a lot more than usual so decided to get this palette to experiment with and have been using it everyday since there are a lot of really wearable shades in this palette and it has a nice mix of shimmers and mattes which can be used to create a number of different looks from neutral to smokey. I will say the formula is a little powdery and not incredibly pigmented by for the price and the amount of shadows  I think its definitely worth it.

Indeed Labs Hydraluron £24.99 (Link) - This serum has been my skin saviour this month I have been suffering from very dry spotty skin recently (delightful) and this stuff has really put some life into my skin, its a serum that is supposed to be able to hold 1000 times its own weight in water which I think means it basically drinks up any moisture you put on your face. I've been enjoying using and while I don't know if its worth the money I do think it has helped my skin.

Elegant touch nails £6-£7.00 (Link) - This month for me has been all about nails, I've always struggled to grow my own nails and keep them looking polished and never really been into getting them done at a salon so I decided to give stick on nails a go. The elegant touch nails are definitely my favourites as there are so may styles and shapes you can pick any you like stick them on and your good to go - perfect for any other low maintenance girls like myself. 

Beyonce Heat perfume 100ml £12.95 (Link) - Perfume is definitely my favourite of all beauty items and something I love to splurge on every now and again - this particular one has been in my collection for quite a long time but I have only just realised how much I actually love it. Celebrity perfumes are always a bit hit and miss for me there usually overly sickly sweet aimed at 12 year olds but this Beyonce one is sexy, sophisticated and perfect for day and night wear. its very rich and has a lovely mix of floral scents and sweetness. I'm actually now almost finished with this bottle and will definitely be buying again especially as the price is so low even for the largest bottle. 

Have you tried any of the products I've mentioned here?

Thanks for stopping by! x

MAC - The Matte Lip Collection - Stone

Firstly, please excuse the ultra filtered photo of my face, secondly welcome back to my blog! I think I'm slowly coming to terms with the fact that no matter how much I promise I will post more regularly I'm just not organised enough to actually follow through with it but hey, I'm trying!
However, I am back today with a post and its a very exciting one indeed, well for me, you probably don't care but just look at the pretty lipstick oooh.
Yes, I have been to MAC (again) and this time I treated myself to the new matte lipstick in stone. Stone has been released in the new MAC matte lip collection and is described as a 'muted greyish taupe brown' on the website, muted is definitely the key word here while the idea of a true brown grey lipstick sounds totally unwearable, the matte formula and muted colours make this actually a really pretty and flattering lip colour I've been wearing this a lot lately and feel it makes the perfect alternative to the ever popular 'berry lip' that does the rounds this time of year.
I will definitely be investing in more of these new matte releases as it is truly the only formula I like in lipsticks!
Although stone lipstick is out of stock on the website atm stone lipliner is a good alternative and is currently in stock (and cheaper) Win!

Jess x

My Sunglasses Collection

Hi everyone,
I thought I would share with you some snaps of my sunglasses collection, it's a slightly modest collection but I feel really happy with all of them and feel like I have a good variety - cat eye, round frame, aviators and wayfarer.
All of my glasses are budget/high street buys. I've yet to drop some cash on an expensive pair, I think it would take a really classic, to-die-for pair to change that.
There are so many cool, interesting styles in the high street stores these days I don't actually think you necessarily need to splash the cash on designer glasses, for the price of some of these glasses you could buy a different pair for every outfit you own!

L-R; Cat eye glasses from H&M a couple of years ago, New look round frame glasses similar here.

L- R; black aviators from primark, Mirrored aviators from H&M similar ones here.

Wayfarers from New Look couple of years ago.

Quick review // GOSH Velvet touch lip pencil in flirty Orange

GOSH velvet touch pencil in flirty orange on offer £2.99 @ Superdrug here

Hello everyone!

Today I'm back with a post about one of the most exciting pharmacy releases in ages - The Gosh velvet touch lipliners are seriously good.

Flirty orange is a bright, punchy true orange colour as soon as I saw it I knew it was a totally 'me' shade, I find orange a really flattering shade for my skin tone and I am a massive fan of any kind of bold/ statement lip and I must say this one definitely delivers in that department.

Along with the impressive shade selection which includes some nudes a rosy pink and a obligatory red, the formula of these pencils is really, really awesome - the pencil it self is surprisingly soft and creamy to apply, totally matte, super pigmented and whilst they are slightly drying on the lips they aren't uncomfortable in my opinion and in terms of lasting power these really don't budge on a normal day of 

I have tried a few different lip pencils from other brands including MAC and I would choose these pencils over some of their offerings every time, especially as they are like a 3rd of the price of MAC pencils!

Do excuse my beyond bushy brows here!

My favourite way to wear this shade is with a minimal makeup look a bit of bronzer a strong brow and let the lips be the main focus. If you haven't tried these I would definitely recommend you give them a go! 

The Most Likely To...

Our latest video has gone live! The Who is Most Likely To... Tag - go check it out!

I've been making videos!

Hi everyone!

Things have been pretty quiet here on the ol' blog for the majority of 2015, I'll probably write up a little update post soon to fill you in (if you're interested of course!)

I thought today I would share a little something I've been doing in my absence and that is making videos! I've wanted to make Youtube videos for ages but never had the confidence to do it on my own so when one of my best friends, Amy asked if I wanted to make a video with her I thought why not! 

We've not been at it for long so the videos aren't perfect and we haven't really found our niche yet,  but we are having fun making them and hoping people are enjoying watching them! 

I would totally appreciate if anyone that reads my blog could have a watch and maybe give some feedback if you enjoyed it or if you didn't some feedback on how we could improve! 

Here's our latest video!

If you would like to see more you can watch our other videos and maybe even subscribe HERE

We try to upload videos every Wednesday, so stay tuned! ;) 

My top 10 from 2014

 Happy new year! I thought for my 1st post of the new year I would do a little round up of 10 things I have loved over the last year. 

I love these types of blog posts and videos as I love seeing what people actually use IRL - don't get me wrong, I love a good haul but it's also nice to see what actually makes the cut isn't it?

So here they are 10 of my favourites from the 2014...

First up is make up, in 2014 it would seem that I became slightly obsessed with MAC as my 3 favourite products are all from there. 

 The first is a lovely mineralize blush in the colour Dainty. This has been my bush of choice almost every day since I bought it back in early spring and being a self confessed blush horder that is high praise indeed. Dainty is a beautiful yellow toned pink with soft gold shimmer running through giving you that perfect suble glow to the cheeks, I have been using this with my ELF blush brush and loving the results.

When It comes to eye shadow I haven't looked much further than my MAC quad in recent months I have been loving the rusty orange/pink tones on my eyes and so its no wonder my first two MAC shadow purchases were a rusty bronze brown and a plum-pink! Antiqued and Cranberry have been my go to eye looks recently, they're both really bold colours and are both really good 'slap-on-and-go' colors, all they need is a little bit of blending round the edges and you look like you have put loads of effort into your look. Cranberry is a gorgeous red toned pink that looks amazing against blue and green eyes- wearing this on its own gives you that really cool heroin chic/ lived in make up look and Antiqued is a beautiful bronzey brown again great on my blue eyes, I find it can add dimension to your standard brown smokey eye.

As a side note I am also really enjoying my third MAC eye shadow 'Brun' a muted black brown - I use this in my brows and its just the perfect colour for my dark ashy coloured brows. Would definitely recommend for all darker haired girls!  

My final make up favourite has to be my best discovery of the year by far (along with every other beauty addicts favourite discovery I'm sure) and that discovery is MAC's Velvet Teddy lipstick. There has been SO much hype around this product for months now and whether or not this was the lipstick worn by that Kardashian/Jenner sister who I will not be naming on my blog (anyone else totally sick of that description for nude lipsticks?!) All that aside this lipstick deserves all the hype, its a really flattering beige nude that is completely matte on the lips. Despite being a massive bold lip kinda girl in the past I just find this so easy to wear and have probably worn this every single day since I bought it back in the autumn. 

Next up is a perfume, my favourite perfume in fact - Alien by Thierry Mugler. I always find myself buying a bottle of this around autumn/winter time it's a gorgeous warming, oriental floral scent that just makes me feel so happy and comforted whenever I smell it. I won't ramble on too much about this one as I am going to dedicate a post to it in the near future!

Nails are not something I am that into, I'll be honest it's something that seems more of a chore than a pampering experience in my opinion but since buying the Seche Vite topcoat it has made the process a lot more enjoyable. Not the most exciting purchase in the world but I've always heard really good things about this topcoat and so I decided to get it. It dries really fast and keeps my nails looking shiny and chip free. Simple!

I had two standout skincare faves last year the first is the No7 hot cloth cleanser - this is so nice to use it takes all my makeup off and leaves my skin feeling super clean and it doesn't give me any spots, which is a bonus. I have used a couple of different hot cloth cleansers in the past including the Liz Earle one and I find this one just as good if not better and it is a lot cheaper. 

The second skincare standout is the la roche posay effaclar duo, I still have no idea what you would call this stuff, it's a sort of hybrid between a moisturiser/ serum and a spot treatment but I do know that I love the effect it has on my skin, whenever it feels inflamed or spotty I apply this and it just seems to calm everything down. The only thing I would say is that I always need to scrub this off in the morning before applying makeup because it can leave a weird film sometimes on my skin.

My next favourite is a fashion one, I love fashion and have way too many favourite items of clothing to mention in one blog post so I decided to pick one item that I have worn the most since I bought it and I finally chose this Pull and Bear leather jacket, I love everything about this, the texture the style and of course the shearling collar, the jacket is made of quite thick material which is perfect for this weather but I don't think its something I can transition into the warmer months. It's just the perfect jacket and goes with everything from dresses to jeans. I will mention that I had to size up with this item if you're interested in this jacket be aware the sizing runs quite small I have this in a large when I would usually choose a medium.

Random favourites - 

Favorite TV show of 2014:

Even though I only got into it towards the end of the year my ultimate favourite TV show of the year (possibly of all time) has to be Once Upon A Time. I found this on US Netflix and it is amazing, the premise is slightly cheesy and the 1st couple of episodes are questionable but if you can get over that the show is a winner for me, the story line is great and there are so many twists and turns to keep you hooked. I was obsessed with this show and watched all 3 seasons (and all of 4 so far) in less than a month and it has nothing to do with Colin O'donoghue. Nope. Not at all. Honest.

Favourite Album of 2014: 

A rediscovery for me this year I have been loving City and Colours album 'Sometimes' from way way back in the day, I used to listen to this album back when I was about 16 in college and it brings back so many lovely, nostalgic memories of that time in my life. A couple favourites of mine are 'Hello, I'm in Delaware' and 'Save Your Scissors'.

And that's it, Folks! Hope you all had a lovely Christmas and new year and here is to a healthy and happy 2015 <3

Review - MAC Nightmoth lip pencil

MAC Nightmoth pencil £12.50

Hey everyone!
Today I have a little review of one of my recent MAC  buys - Night moth lip pencil. If you have read my blog before you may know I am a huge dark lipstick fan and with the winter months drawing in I thought this was the right time to share with you the ultimate dark lip colour.
Nightmoth is described on the website as a blackened plum and I would say that is pretty accurate - this color is definitely not for the faint hearted and I have had a few strange looks from people at work when I wear this, it really does look black on the lips - perfect for halloween/ fancy dress or nights out, this color just adds a really cool dramatic vibe to any makeup look. I like to wear this sheered out slightly with my all time favourite lipstick darkside over the top.
If you are really into dramatic bold lips I would definitely recommend this pencil although the formula can be quite dry I find that if mixed with a similar coloured lipstick it becomes a bit more comfortable and wearable on the lips. The only thing I do not like about this is (as you can see from the picture above) it does tend to cling to dry spots and not appear even coloured in parts.
Either way I have really been loving wearing this recently!

The new addition.

Hey guys,

I thought I should introduce this blog to my new little bundle of fluff, this is Thomas my new little black and white kitten - Thomas is a stray cat I found one day walking to work. After weeks of trying to find his owner with no success and him not being chipped, myself and my family decided to take him in.

We have guessed he is about 4 - 5 months old and believe that he was previously in a home as I found him wearing a collar but had been abandoned by a train station near my home. Despite having older cats Tom has settled in really well, he is quite a lot to handle as with any kitten but he is the most adorable little thing ever!

Just for reference I do not condone people finding 'stray' cats on the street and taking them home as there is a chance they may belong to someone, but as this cat was only a baby and very skinny I decided that the best thing to do was to take him home, feed him and attempt to find his owner that way. It just so happens that this particular owner did not want to be found and was happy to get rid of him. 

If you are worried about a stray cat or dog in your area then my best advice would be to try and get the animal to the nearest vets and get them checked for a chip it is the best way to find their home

As a side note, I will never understand why people continue to abandon poor defenseless cats and dogs  - there are so many shelters and options for people who cannot handle their pets - the main one being don't get an animal if you are worried in anyway about not being able to look after it. Animals are a huge commitment and are not something that can be gotten rid of if they become an inconvenience - I fully support the idea that not everybody should have the right to adopt an animal and believe there needs to be more regulations to prevent so many abandoned animals.   

If you haven't already guessed this is something I feel very passionate about this topic haha!

On to something a bit more cheery - I used my brand spanking new camera for these pictures and really like the way they came out I hope you can notice the improvement in quality! I am now using the Canon Eos M and would thoroughly recommend for someone, like me, who is not interested in having a huge DSLR but wants the picture quality, its the perfect little bridge camera between your classic point and shoot and SLR. 

Mini MAC Haul

Hey guys 

A couple of weeks ago I had my first pay  from work so obviously had to make an obligatory order from the MAC website, I actually went on to pick up a few bits from the new A Novel Romance collection but as with all MAC collections, I was too late and all the good bits had sold out. Instead I decided to get a few products I have been desperate to get my hands on for ages. 

The first thing I added to my shopping bag was Up The Amp lipstick - an amplified lavender violet, I've been after this for ages and as I do love my purple coloured lip products. Being an amplified formula the colour is very vibrant and pigmented. I haven't worn this properly yet but from the look for the swatches it is a lot more subtle than I expected!

Following the lip product trend, I picked up night moth lip pencil - a blacked plum. This is probably my favourite of all the things I got, I am a huge fan of dark lipstick but this is the ultimate one, On the lips Nightmoth is almost black with a slight plummy undertone, I haven't been brave enough to wear this out yet as it is quit striking but I love it.

The Next two things come as a pair- firstly I picked up a new pro pallet I decided to get the duo compact as I was looking to buy my first ever MAC eyeshadow, I have been looking for a new eyebrow product for ages - I naturally have really thick dark eyebrows so I find powder shadow the best thing to use as it doesn't look to harsh. After reading a lot of reviews I settled on the colour brun - a cool toned dark brown, because it is so ashy it looks so natural through my brows and suits my colouring perfectly. I would definitely recommend this shadow to anyone with dark brows looking for something a bit more natural looking than a pencil.
   

August Blues.

Hey Everyone!

I have been thinking about dying my hair blue for a long time now, I really love the look of having colourful hair again but it still being quite muted and grown up looking. I love the navy blue colour these girls are sporting on the pictures above and I think that would be a bit more flattering on my skin tone.
 Despite being quite a frequent hair dyer in my past I've had the same brown hair for about 2 years now and I am starting to get a little bored if I'm honest and fancy a change. I have heard a few horror stories about blue hair so If any of you guys have any tips about going blue I would really appreciate hearing about them!

While I'm here I feel I should apologize for going AWOL recently, I find if I don't post for a week or so its so much harder to get back into it and the time just flies by! I have been really busy recently with work and life in general but I won't bore you all with that, I have some posts in the pipeline so hopefully won't be disappearing again any time soon.
 

Also a big hello to all my new followers!!

Review // Sleek blush by 3 - Pink Lemonade

Sleek blush by 3 in Pink Lemonade £9.99 (Link)

I'm a sucker for a pretty pink blush, so a cute set containing three pretty pink blushes was bound to catch my eye. Sleek blush by 3 in Pink lemonade has been in my possession for a good few months now but it has never really made it's way into my everyday routine but however I've been pulling it out lately and really loving the results!
  I've been a  fan of sleek for a couple of years now every product I've tried from them I have been really impressed with. My two stand out products have to be their shadows and blushes - the colours and pigmentation are some of the best on the high street and their prices are unbeatable for the quality of products in my opinion.
Pink Lemonade is a trio of pink hued blushes - two powder and one cream offering the first being Pink mint, my personal favourite in the palette, a soft baby pink with a golden shimmer that gives a beautiful highlighting glow to the cheeks - perfect for when your skin is looking a little more lackluster than usual.
Macaroon is a mid toned cream blush, I have to say I don't really use cream blushes, I find them quite difficult to work with and much more of a 'faf' to apply when compared to powder blush, nevertheless Macaroon is a pretty colour - a lot rosier in comparison with the other two in the palette and the consistency is really creamy and sets like a powder if you like cream blush this one is a really nice one!
Icing sugar is the more coral of the 3 colours, like pink mint there is a golden shimmer running through this blush giving that beautiful glow to the skin - I think this colour would look gorgeous with a tan, like the rest of the blushes Icing sugar is very pigmented, for everyday I like to layer this on top of pink mint for a hint of colour without going overboard.
I am really enjoying using this palette at the moment, I would recommend this to any blush lover like myself and I will be definitely checking more of these Sleek palettes out in the future!

Birthday wishlist!

Hey guys! 

So my birthday is rapidly approaching and I will be turning the grand old age of 23 in 3 weeks, so I thought I would share a few items I have on my birthday wishlist at the moment!

Jess x