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

FOTD & Mac Candy yum yum mini review

Benefit the porefessional primer 

NARS pure radiant tinted moisturizer 

MAC studio finish concealer NW15 (under eyes)

Collection lasting perfection concealer 

Maybelline colour tattoo in pink gold for base

Combination of Toasted, Naked and Hustle from Naked palette 

Rimmel khol kajal pencil in pure white for inner corners + brow bone

Sleek storm palette black & brown from brows

NARS Laguna bronzer

NARS Desire Blush 

MAC Soft & Gentle for highlighter

L'Oreal volume million lashes 

MAC Candy yum yum 

A pretty simple look from me today, I have really been loving a good old bold lip of late so I thought I would showcase a fairly new addition to my ever expanding lip product collection - Candy Yum Yum.

Candy Yum Yum, as the name suggests, is a matte, blue toned, bold candy pink, just the right amount of bold without verging into unwearable territory. 

 I think this colour is perfect for the summer months, it's the sort of shade you can slap on with everyday boring makeup and instantly makes you look like you've put in loads of effort - anything that saves me time getting ready is a winner in my book!

I would highly recommend this lipstick to any lip product junkie like myself, but if £15.50(?!?)  for a lipstick is out of the question then I really think you should take a look at the Bourjois rouge edition velvet lipstick in 'pink pong', not quite an exact colour match but the finish is almost identical (Bourjois applies as a liquid, drys matte) and for £8.99 they are practically a steal (sort of).

Pros:

Highly pigmented

Long wearing

Vivid colour

Cons:

Slightly drying on lips 

Can settle into cracks and sticks to dry patches 

Have you tried this lipstick? 

MAC Lipstick Review // Lovelorn

MAC Lovelorn Lipstick - £15.00

If you haven't already guessed, by my recent influx of posts, I have been on a wee bit of a spending spree recently. There are a few legit reasons for this, I promise. wWith my America trip being put on hold until next year and doing my finals at uni I have been trying to cheer myself up a bit and unfortunately that means doing some major damage to my bank balance, oops. 

I've really been getting back into MAC recently after feeling a bit *meh* with it all for a long time, I now find myself scouring there website a couple of times a week and I have made a few sneaky purchases over the past few weeks too! 

One of my latest additions to my MAC lipstick collection is Lovelorn an emotive blue pink. Lovelorn is a lustre finish and applies quite a sheer wash of glossy colour to the lips that can be built up to a really nice muted pink. I have quite pigmented lips and I find that this covers the colour and looks really lovely for everyday use, the overall finish is creamy without being overly glossy and sticky looking. 

This has been my go to everyday lipstick since I bought it, it finishes my makeup perfectly without being too much for work or school.

Spring make up ft. Orange lips

                      

Topshop Infrared £8

Spring is literally round the corner and I for one am thrilled with the current pastel/muted neon trend that is happening at the moment so I thought I would jump on the band wagon and dig out one of my favourite bright lipsticks - Infrared by Topshop.
I bought this lipstick way back in summer 2012 when orange lips were really 'in' and absolutely loved it at the time but time passed, I moved on to other things and unfortunately I forgot all about it. That was until recently when I've been spotting more and more people talking about how orange lips are a 'thing' again, yay!

Infrared is a very true orange lipstick although I would say that it has quite pink undertones, its not a red orange as the name would suggest. I like to wear this lipstick sheered out when I feel like a more natural look or full on for a night out and it looks stunning both ways. I think this sort of colour is less harsh and much more flattering than a bold red lip which, I feel, can be a little bit too much for day time wear.
 I think this colour really compliments my skin tone and colouring but I feel it could work just as well with darker or paler skin tones also.
 I can foresee Infrared being my top spring/summer lipstick this year and I am definitely on the hunt for more orange lip products to try!

(P.s- The mark on my face on the 1st pic is the shadow of my camera, I don't just have a brown smudge on my face!)