Last month i had the amazing opportunity to be a makeup model for the exceptional Pixiwoo sisters on DailyMixTV. It sounds really silly but meeting Pixiwoo is seriously one of my 'bucket list' items which has now well and truely been ticked off.
I am so so grateful to all the team at DailyMix and to Sam and Nic for a fantastic afternoon in the studio. If you want to apply to be in a future video, email contact@dailymix.tv! I got to meet the Chapman sisters, who were both ridiculously beautiful and insanely lovely, have a sneaky look at their on-set makeup essentials and have my eyes made up for the Ultimate Smokey Eye in the YouTube video above. Seriously, most perfect day ever. 
Nic used MAC Constructivist Paint Pot (which I am seriously considering buying!) as a super simple smokey eye base, paired under a little MAC Mulch in addition to a hell of a lot of MAC Teddy Liner, but the result was lovely, soft and smokey, and something I will definitely be reworking for a night out soon to come!
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24.7

Uzi - Zero - Demolition - Smog - Empire - Mainline

Urban Decay pencils have suddenly catapulted themselves onto my makeup horizons, and oh my are they delicious! Previously my absolute favourite eye pencil spot was devoted to my fabulous Avon Supershock liners, yet these have shoved Avon's offering off the top spot and stolen the crown. Our love affair started when I received the shade Bourbon for Christmas and continued into the new year as I treated myself to the Urban Decay Smoked 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencil Set, on LookFantastic for half price! £16 for 6 liners is a ridiculous bargain, but alas it seems to have gone out of stock (possibly limited edition?) but the eyeliners are very much available individually here.

The formulation of these is really something to write home about; soft, creamy, and packs a punch in the pigmentation department as well as being pretty damn long lasting on the eye. I think classing yourself as 24/7 is setting yourself up for a fall UD, but these last around 6 hours on my rather oily lids, before they start to look a little lacklustre, and are also very nice on the waterline.

My favourite shade of the bunch is Smog, a stunning golden brown, reminiscent of my absolute favourite discontinued Avon liner in Bronze which has now been reduced to just a stub, but Smog is the perfect replacement for a warm everyday subtle eye. Demolition (dark, matte brown) and Zero (matte black) are perfect for smoking up the eye line, and for summer Mainline and Empire are gorgeous smudged along the lower eye. My least favourite of the bunch, Uzi , imparts a little too much glitter for my liking but is lovely if you're looking for a little glitz in your life!

Overall, a big thumbs up from me and I am seriously looking forward to expanding my collection... any colour recommendations?!

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the story of April

April was a funny one. For the most part, revision and end of school panic has officially set in and it has finally dawned on me that I have 14 days of year 13 left and I then have to leave the school I have been at for 7 years and never come back. Which is terrifying. And exciting and impossible and completely and utterly out of my comfort zone. I finally decided on my uni choices this month, and I am officially going to be a Chemistry student this October, grades permitting!
Towards the end of April, the weather got really, really lovely, and suddenly the world was a million times more beautiful, and my walks home from school have been a hell of a lot more enjoyable in the sunshine! Please god let this little bout of spring last a bit longer.
Between juggling working and spending every spare moment revising for the ever impending doom of exam season, there was not a lot of time this month for play, but I did manage to squeeze in seeing The Vaccines at the O2 last week, who were AMAZING. It was the first concert I've been to where I have been seated, which was at first a little awkward but I'm sure my feet were thankful I didn't force them to stand for hours on end... oh god, I sound like an old woman!
I have also been looking into cameras this month- I really, really want to leave my like digital camera behind and actually get into photography, so any recommendations would be very much appreciated!
SONG: Norgaard - The Vaccines BLOG: The Londoner YOUTUBE: ExamSolutions ... yes, really. TV: Revenge BOOK: Paper Towns - John Green
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ZOEVA

After hearing a certain YouTube makeup guru -cough- Gossmakeupartist -cough- rave about the German brand Zoeva with extremely, extremely cheap brushes... how could I resist? My everyday brush collection is made up mainly of Real Techniques brushes much like many a beauty blogger, however after itching to get a few more eye detailer brushes in my life, I decided to pick up some of Zoeva's offerings.
The only face brush I ordered, the 127 Luxe Sheer Cheek, is very similar to the Sigma Angled Face Brush, and retails for £9.75. Unfortunately, this is the brush which I was most disappointed with in terms of quality; although the brush is cut nicely the bristles are not up to my softness standards, and after washing I did experience the slightly musky smell which I only associate with lower quality brushes. 
Where Zoeva really excell are in their eye defining range. My favourite of the bunch I picked up is the 228 Crease brush (£5.30), a long tapered, extremely soft and slightly pointed socket brush which is perfect for cut crease work or even soft blending of shadows. It is also fantastic for defining the outer V or inner corner. Similar to this was the slightly more pointed, stubbier 231 Petit Crease brush (£5.30) which is also good for the purposes previously listed, in addition to being fantastic at blending out colour underneath the eye, thanks to its tapered end. Last but not least, Zoeva's 227 Soft Definer brush (£5.30) draws obvious parallels with the now infamous MAC 217, a soft and easy to use blending brush, perfect for a wash of colour or a little hardcore blending through the crease.
Although my best advice is to give the face brushes a miss, the eye brushes are seriously something special and you cannot go wrong at a fiver a brush! You can pick up Zoeva brushes from Love Makeup, or if you're international try Zoeva's site.
Also, I have a new twitter account for my blog... @BeautylishiousH!
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the story of March

The top photo is a shot of Durham Cathedral, from a quick visit last month to the university. The town is beautiful, all cobbles and little quaint shops... and just a stones throw from the hustle of Newcastle... why ayeee. I fell a little bit in love with the cathedral, the interior is honestly one of the most stunning buildings I have ever been in; beautiful beautiful architecture!
I'm also on Easter away from school, which means revision, revision, revision... exams are in 7 weeks. someone. help. me. But that doesn't mean there isn't a little time for play between long and arduous bouts of revision. Student night and jagerbombs were just calling my name!
Also the rather bizarre shot of my mushroom, sausage, bacon, pesto, pasta combo is in reference to my brand new cooking skills I am currently cultivating in the hopes that at university I will not die of scurvy. Currently I have pasta, risotto, potatoes and soup under my belt and I am hoping to expand my vast repertoire of student friendly meals so please give me recommendations. My inner Nigella is itching to be let loose on the world!
SONG: Sweater Weather by The Neighbourhood BLOG: a fashion love affair YOUTUBE: Gossmakeupartist ... this man is god. TV: New Girl... need I say more? BOOK: Easy by Tamara Webber - a very, very easy read as the title may suggest.  Although currently I am immersed within 'Tis Pity She's A Whore and The Wife of Bath, oh A-level English how I despise you. bloglovin' . twitter . tumblr . instagram . pintrerest

doll eyed

Sometimes there comes a point when all I want to do is play with makeup, and forget about the world. When I feel the need, big, excessive and downright scary is the only route to go down in the makeup stakes, and this time I reached for the lashes, and never looked back! The lashes I have on in these pictures were bought on eBay a few years ago (similar pair here), when I was just starting to wear falsies and did not expect the sheer hugeness of them. They are 'can barely keep your eyes open' heavy and have been sitting collecting dust with my other unloved, forgotten products, just waiting to adorn a ridiculous fancy dress costume. Feeling a little creative, I took the scissors and got a little snip-happy, ending up with three mini lashes on each bottom lash line. This creates a rather wide eyed and really quite terrifying look, which to me is reminiscent of dolly eyes! Hence I was inclined to put my hair up in two high ponytails a la 90's style, and proceed to scare the bejesus out of my sister. Why, why, why did this hairstyle ever go out of fashion! My hair has never felt swishier! Somehow I don't think these lashes will be my first pick on a night out but they are extremely interesting if you're feeling imaginative! bloglovin' . twitter . tumblr . instagram . pintrerest

USA haulin'

When you're in another country, money isn't really... money? To me, dollars are literally monopoly money, hence why New York turned me into a crazy spending machine, full of hopes and dreams of lining my pockets (or suitcase) with as much chocolate, make-up and American items as humanly possible! One of the main attractions of American shopping for me were the much anticipated drug store visits, although, if I'm honest, I was a little disappointed  In my imagination, drug stores are the American supermarket equivalent of fairytale make-up stores with rows upon rows of exciting products never seen in the UK, and to my disappointment they pretty much consisted of their equivalent to Boots' make-up aisles... surrounded  by fruit and veg. The brand I was most excited about, NYX, was nowhere to be found, and my only purchase aside from copious amounts of orange juice consisted of DUO Lash Adhesive, a lash glue much raved about by the Pixiwoos! Definitely a must have item, and gives lashes that extra bit of security for extra fluttering.
One shop which surpassed expectation, however, was Sephora. Oh Sephora, Sephora, Sephora, the shop were dreams are made! Why, why, WHY did England get rid of Sephora?! I think I found myself in Sephora at least 10 different times in every part of New York, and each and every time the aisles were packed with everything I could ever want and more... and more. I ended up making a few snap purchases; a Becca Mini Beach Tint duo consisting of two beautiful cream blushes in Watermelon and Fig, which are super blendable and lovely for summer. I also grabbed a new Anastasia Brow Wiz to replace my old one, which has since died a sad death, and as these are my absolute favourite brow pencils I could not be without! I was also extremely interested in Fresh Sugar Passion Tinted Lip Treatment, a gorgeous, extremely pigmented berry red balm which has a buttery soft consistency and is gorgeous to throw on for everyday use. I also picked up the much-raved about Tarte Amazonian Clay Blush in Blissful, which is a soft and very pretty peachy pink, but is not in my opinion particularly worth the hype! A final purchase at Sephora was Clinique High Impact Waterproof Mascara, which I think I would adore, did I not possess elephant, stick straight lashes which need uber-heavy duty waterproof mascara to keep that damn curl in place! This, sadly, did not quite fill the shoes of my beloved L'oreal Telescopic, but layering over other mascaras does give this a use in my collection!
Multiple chocolate purchases were also made, not least a hefty bag of Lindt chocolate truffles in hundreds of different flavours (my all-time favourite are still the milk chocolate ones!), a few bars of Dylan's Candy Shop goodness and a ridiculous amount of Hersheys... which upon returning to the UK I promptly decided tasted like a mix of chocolate, cheese and vomit and gifted this to my sister to get the smell out of my room.
Last, but most certainly not least, was the most extravagant purchase of the trip, and well, ever... my brand new beautiful Marc Jacobs Rose Gold watch from Bloomingdales. I have never owned a nice watch before, so apart from actually knowing the time now, I also have a beautiful new piece of jewellery that will always remind me of my trip, to commemorate my 18th birthday!
Phew. That was long, and probably boring, but it had to be done! Can you believe I actually had dollars left at the end of this?! 
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new york, new york

-U.S.A., U.S.A., U.S.A.!-

 -Rockefeller Center-

-Top o' the Rock!-

-Observation Deck-

-Ground Zero-

-The plaques surrounding the 9/11 memorial-

-Downtownnn-

-The Hudson River-

-Looking across the pond at Jersey City-

-Lady Liberty-

-Breakfast at Normas... beats Tiffanys everytime!-

-Central Park with snow on the ground!-

-The Met Steps (ie. sit at the top unless you're a loser!)-

-My very first Ladurée Macarons-

-Times Square vs Empire State-

-The top of the Empire State at night... perfect-

New York in winter is really something. Freezing temperatures and snow flurries aside, the city is like a perfect, frozen picture of hustle, bustle and buzz everywhere; I'm not sure if I could ever get bored of New York! This was my very first visit, hopefully of many, and of course our 4 day trip was crammed chock-a-block with the typical tourist destinations- Rockefeller, Empire State, Lady Liberty, Broadway, Central Park... and of course Fifth Avenue (but more on my purchases next time!) I stayed in the Affinia Manhattan hotel, literally across the road from Madison Square Gardens and a stones throw away from Times Square. 

Surprisingly, one of my absolute favourite parts of the trip was walking down the edge of the Hudson River on the sunniest, clearest day we could have wished for. The Hudson River and views of the statue of Liberty were absolutely beautiful, and combined with an emotional visit to Ground Zero (where two massive water features commemorate the 9/11 plane crashes) and a trip to Magnolia Bakery (oh my their red velvet cakes are to die for!), Downtown was a brilliant experience... except the subway ride down which was like a slightly dirtier version of the Tube, if thats even possible!

Another highlight was brunch at a restaurant near Central Park called Normas, where I literally ate heaven in the form of caramel french toast. Combined with trips to Bills, Ellen's Stardust Diner and Shake Shack, the food was goooooood even though I was permanently in the state of either famished and ready to pass out or completely stuffed with food and ready to throw up.

All in all, New York was perfect, and I need to go back. Soon.

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eighteen

It was my eighteenth birthday a couple of weeks ago and I am now officially an adult... I can drink and vote and gamble and even get a commercial pilot's licence apparently.
I went out the day after my birthday for my first legal drink, wearing my Missguided deep green, cut-out baby doll dress. I paired it with a spiked Republic necklace (an essential for personal safety in town on a Friday night!) and my Primark studded clutch bag, which literally holds everything! Bare legs were an essential and paired with my Lush Charlotte Island leg tint I wasn't quite as starkly pale as I appear in these photos, even if I was inordinately cold... brrrr. My lashes of choice were Ardell Demi Wispies; a favourite in the blogosphere and fast becoming my go-to lashes. They are uber natural and fluttery... and most of all easy to put on. No more spider lashes all over the face for me! Those, paired with my Laura Mercier Artist's Palette and MAC's Creme Cup lipstick made up my newly adult face. 
My main present from my family was a trip to New York with my sister, who is 21 this weekend... Happy Birthday Sophieee! I got back on Monday so watch out for an upcoming post dedicated to my travels, and I hope you have a wonderful weekend!
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Chubby Bunny

Clinique Whole Lotta Colour Chubby Stick Gift Set

Super Strawberry - Oversized Orange - Curvy Candy - Richer Raisin - Chunky Cherry

Clinique Chubby Sticks have been on my radar since the blogger hype descended last year, and as usual I am ridiculously late to the band-waggon after two new types of chubby stick have already been released into the blogosphere! However, I bought this Christmas gift set in the January sales after sadly not receiving it for Christmas, as I thought this would be a perfect way to try out some of the beautiful colours. It contains 5 mini-chubbies of 1.2g each, with all of them weighing up at around half of a normal £16 Chubby Stick. This idea appealed to me so much as I very rarely get though a normal lipstick, so five minis is perfect and I feel like these will last me a while.

The actual consistency is absolutely perfect for everyday wear, and for around 3 weeks I haven't even touched any other lip products from my (overflowing) lip draw as these are so moisturising, subtle and beautiful that they outshine all my other lipsticks... I feel like I'm neglecting my babies! My absolute favourite colour of them all is Chunky Cherry, a lovely bright, warm pink which is gorgeous on its own, and thankfully  all the colours wear off to a stain like finish... without drying out my lips. The only colour I'm not 100% sure of is Richer Raisin, a very neutral brown shade, which I have dubbed my 'grown-up' colour and is only whipped out on the most sophisticated of occasions. 

After trying out these I have a developed a bit of a taste for Chubby Sticks and I am seriously considering the Chubby Stick Intense versions; the formula really floats my boat! Sadly I think these sets are now all out of stock but you can still find some flying around on eBay. What do you think of Chubby Sticks?

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