After picking up the beautiful Maybelline Gel Liner the other day, it has integrated into my daily makeup routine, displacing the old ELF Cream Liner that used to be my liner of choice. The Maybelline version is a lot creamier, easier to work with and also includes a lovely little brush which is perfect for creating a multitude of different lines.

I was recently inspired by the wonderful Lisa Eldridge and her liner in this tutorial of hers, and had a wee go at recreating the look myself:

By no means is my version anywhere near as perfect as Lisa's original but I absolutely adore this look! It almost reminds me of something Gaby from the TV show Made in Chelsea would wear, and I love how dramatic and bold it is!

In the picture above I paired it with Hue lipstick from Mac, so as not to draw too much attention away from the eyes, however I also had a little play with my Sleek OMG Lipstick...

 

Paired with red lipstick it looks a little 'vamp-ish' and my mother even referred to it as 'Mautitia Adams' type makeup!

Although this isn't exactly wearable for everyday I'm still in love with the idea of dramatic cat liner, and I really hope Maybelline come out with different colours in their new liner!

sneaky purchases.

On a little trip out to town to root around for a suitable prom bag (which, of course, I didn't even end up getting!) I accidentally on purpose spent money that I just don't have to spend! June has been an absolutely crazy month, with about a trillion birthday presents and parties to pay for, not to mention Prom, and my bank account has been seriously suffering! I managed to justify a few purchases in town, although my conscience is suffering a little now...

White Floppy Hat - Primark - £4

I loveeee the floppy hat trend for summer and this one was just so cute with the tiny holes, although there was a straw tie around the hat which I swiftly snipped off for fear of looking a little too scarecrow-esque!

Beaded Headbands - Primark - £2

These are so bright and colourful for summer, and perfect to wear with soft, floaty, wavy hair!

Turquoise Ring - Primark - £2.50

I could not believe how beautiful this ring was, especially for Primark standards!

Maybelline Gel Liner - Superdrug - £5.99

This could quite possibly be my new favourite liner, it beats my ELF Cream Liner by miles!

Cream Sheer Blouse - Primark - £8

I adore this type of top however upon closer inspection I accidentally picked it up in a size 18, whoops!

Orange Vest Top - Primark - £4

I love love love this for summer and tucking into shorts or bright skirts!

Floral Playsuit - H&M - £7.99

It seems that the only playsuits that ever fit me are found in H&M so I couldn't resist this little bargain!

 

red indian.

Sheer Shirt- Primark; High Waisted Shorts- Topshop; Cardigan- Primark; All Jewellery- Primark; Hair Feathers- Primark; Lipstick- Sleek Peaches&Cream

I wore this little ensemble out to dinner for my friend's birthday last week, and it was dubbed my 'Red Indian' outfit by one friend because of the hair feathers... or to be a little more politically correct- Native American style! I actually adore this hair band with attached feathers on the ends; I think its so pretty and summery, and they seriously make me want to try out feather hair extensions!

Someone else commented that I had 'a zoo on my fingers' in the form of my lizard and snake rings: both from Primark, of course! There's something about animal jewellery that just draws me in, especially owl rings and necklaces- I have a whole collection of owl related items!

This week is basically 'Prom Coundown' week for me, with Prom being a week Thursday, and I am so excited! I'm hoping to pop into Mac at some point this week to pick up Face & Body foundation- I think it will look so nice for prom pictures- and I am still desperately in need of a bag!

Hope you all have a fantastic week! ♥

summertime wishlist.

Exams are finished and I am finally freeeeeeeeeeeee! With 11 weeks of plans free summer lying ahead of me, anything and everything is possible, and except for exam results day (25th August- helpp!) I just cannot wait. Of course, in those long stretching summer days a lot little shopping is to be done, and with a wishlist as long as my arm I cannot wait to hit the shops!

click images for links

MAC Face & Body Foundation

I am desperately in need of a good summer foundation; Revlon Colourstay is just not cutting it as the weather heats up. I am not a fan of heavy coverage anyway, so F&B sounds bloody brilliant, and the perfect foundation for prom!

OCC Lip Tars

in Hush & Safety Orange & many others...

These look amazingly pigmented and with such a beautiful range of colours I seriously need these in my life!

Sigma Contour Brush

After having my first taste of Sigma with the Miss Taylor Kabuki I cannot deny myself buying just a few more, to add to my already overflowing brush collection. This contour brush looks perfect for blush and contour and there are so many in the range that are also calling out for me to buy them!

Denim Scalloped Shorts

I've completely fallen in love with these shorts from Topshop, however they are sold out in the UK! *sob sob!*

Forever 21 Jewellery

I have just discovered how beautiful the range of jewellery in F21 is, especially this ring! I most definitely need to make an order from there sharpish!

And the last thing on my wishlist...

a job!

heat free hair: volumising products!

Its no secret that I absolutely love massive, voluminous messy hair, but with fine hair this is always a challenge to achieve without backcombing the hell out of my roots. However the products below are absolutely lifesavers for me and can achieve the desired amount of va-va-voom in my hair in just mere seconds!

Lee Stafford Sea Salt Spray

This is the perfect texturisor for achieving lovely beachy waves. I generally use this on my hair after leaving it in a bun (post here) so that it has some natural wave to begin with and then spray a little of this onto my hands and scrunch at the crown and roots. It is a phenomenal product for soft waves and it smells so good I normally spray it onto my clothes as well!

Batiste Dry Shampoo (Tropical)

Batiste kindly sent me this to me to review their massive new 500ml sizes (no-more running out of dry shampoo for me!) and I have found that just a quick squirt at the roots gives my hair no end of volume, while clearing up any oily patches at the same time! It also smells beautiful and fresh for summer, win-win situation!

Got2B Powderful'

This is the best of the best in the volumising competition. I absolutely adore how easily this white dust can transform my hair from being a flat mess to gorgeous and volumised in one shake! It leaves hair a little sticky at first but makes the hair cling together so that it gives the roots a boost.

Here's me wearing the Got2B product with just a little shake at the roots...

 So thats my little round up of my favourite volumising products, a must have is most definitely the GOT2B powder as it is so cheap but so effective! Remember that when using any kind of products similar to these may leave your hair feeling weighed down and sticky the day after, so I always find it best to us these on 2-day hair!

and the winner is!

So it is Sunday 12th June and my Sigma giveaway has officially ended!

Thank you to all of those who entered, however there can only be one winner and that winner is...

Shabna!

Well done Shabna, and I will email you soon!

Thank you every one!

come on skinny love, what happened here?

Shorts: H&M, Cardigan: Primark, Shirt: Primark, Jewellery & Belt: Primark

♥ I wore this little outfit on a trip out to dinner with my family as an excuse to crack out these H&M shorts. I seriously love the pattern of these and how they are a bit more daring than I normally go for. Of course, the best part is that they look a little cow print-esque and cow things always seem to attract me... I may even have cow socks, cow pyjamas, and a cow bag, which I wore on a D of E hike and attracted rather a lot of unwanted attention from the resisdent cows in the area, opps.

♥ I only have 3 exams left- YESSSSSS! Finally, its almost over and all those months of blood sweat and tears (with a little revision thrown in) are almost over. I cannot wait to go out and celebrate and to be freeeeeeeeee!

♥ Is it just me, or is everyone's birthday in June!? I am completely skint from all the birthday pressies I have been buying recently, and am still on the hunt for a job, although I think I may actually be unemplyable haha!

♥ I'm currently obsessing over Skinny Love by Birdy, it is the most perfect song ever. The best thing about it in my opinion is that Skinny Love is a Vampire Diaries song, my absolute favourite programe in the world, ever... and I just discoved that Ed Sheeran covered it here, its ahh-mazing!
 

♥ If you haven't already, remember to enter my giveaway, it ends Sunday! :)

heat free hair: soft, easy waves

Having fine, flat hair and not using heat is normally a complete disaster and my hair is very difficult to work with when I do absolutely nothing to it. Consequently, I have developed a range of different methods of styling my hair using the technique of leaving damp hair to dry into a style. There are a million different ways I use to create waves and volume in my hair, which I have posted about here and here (queue completely cringey-old post!) but this method is the one that I am liking at the moment:

After washing and towel drying my hair until its about 80% dry I scrunch in some volumising mousse (I use the Avon one) and plonk all my hair onto the top of my hair into a messy bun and leave it to dry overnight.

In the morning when taking out said 'messy bun' I am left with completely uncontrollable, scary-mary hair. One of the perils of having majorly fine hair is that it can get a little over excited and go even more crazy than regular hair! But never fear, my solution to this problem...

... is to twist my hair all over the head. Sounds strange and like it wouldn't effect the texture of the hair at all, but I find that just twisting each side of my hair a few times and then releasing tames the wild side of it down and leaves soft pretty waves...

 

So there you go, my method for heat free waves!

 

  Stay tuned for Part 3 of my Heat Free Hair series in which I'll be reviewing my favourite products for volumised hair! ♥

my skincare routine.

When it comes to what I slap onto my skin, I like to keep things reasonably simple and gentle. My skin is by no means perfect or blemish free- however I do think that it has improved noticeably by using a regular skincare routine.

In the past I've had some major skin disasters: massive spot outbreaks, random oiliness and allergic reactions to too strong cleansers; do not use Nuetrogena Visibly Clear Spot Stress Control Daily Cleansing Lotion if you have at all sensitive skin, that stuff is lethal...

However, over time I have finally figured out my own personal skin type (dry and a little sensitive) and worked my skincare around it. Bare in mind that if you have a different skin type these products may not work for you, but this is my skincare routine...

Morning

I am forever in a rush from the point I wake up to getting out the door, so easy, 'simple' products are a must for me in those early mornings before school. I love the Simple range because it is just that -simple. The Moisturising Facial Wash is lovely and leaves my skin feeling soft soft soft, and the moisturiser is moisturising enough for everyday without leaving my skin too greasy or shiny for the day.

Evening

Without doubt, the most loved part of my skincare routine is definitely my Liz Earle Cleanse & Polish, and although I was hesitant to buy it at first, it has impressed me no-end! The beautiful creamy formula leaves my skin to die for soft and clean, and when I'm being really lazy this can be the only step in my evening routine. However if I'm wearing a little more makeup which needs to be carefully removed, I generally use Boots Botanics Soothing Eye Makeup Remover to remove all traces of eye makeup and go over my skin first with cheap old Boots Cleansing Wipes before finishing up the last traces of makeup with my Cleanse & Polish. My last step is to apply copious amounts of Oilatum Natural Repair Face Cream, which has been an absolute saviour for my constant dry skin, leaving it lovely and moisturised at all times!

After applying all of the above, the final steps before I can go off into zzzz-land is a quick spray of facial tanner (Garnier Dry Face Mist) which is an absolute life saver for me. Being so pale naturally means that in the mornings I really have to work the bronzer to get even a hint of a glow, but this tanner saves me caking on the makeup in the morning and means that most days I can go foundation-free on my face. Before bed I apply a generous amount of Vaseline to my eyelashes, add a good lip balm and dab a little Freederm onto any little blemishes I have and voila- ready for bed!

So thats my little 'skincare routine' all wrapped up!

What are your miracle skincare products!?

all of the above were purchased myself.