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?! 
Given the recent GFC dilemma you can follow Beautylishious on Bloglovin' or Hellocotton if you wish! bloglovin' . twitter . tumblr . instagram . pintrerest

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.

bloglovin' . twitter . tumblr . instagram . pintrerest

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!
bloglovin' . twitter . tumblr . instagram . pintrerest

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?

bloglovin' . twitter . tumblr . instagram . pintrerest

the story of January.

New Years Celebrations - The Big Freeze - The Pinboard of my Life

January 2013 has been a month of exams, snow and cleansing; of both the mind, environment and body! I have finally started trying to become a little healthier in my lifestyle, cutting down on sugar (damn you cinnamon buns!!) and committing to exercise 3-4 times a week. I am currently obsessing over Blogilates videos, especially her Victoria Secret workouts... Angel body please be mine! I wanted to start doing a little round up at the end of each month as a little diary of my life- not only to encourage myself to fulfil my resolution of taking more pictures but also to force my worse than average memory into remembering all the good times of 2013! These are my picks of the month...

SONG

Northern Wind - City And Colour

This must be one of the most beautiful songs ever produced. City and Colour is not only one of my favourite artists but also has one of the coolest names ever - Dallas Green anyone?! Also check out The Girl and Little Hell, more gorgeous City and Colour songs.

BLOG

Hello October

One of the absolute jems of the blogging world, she has beautiful pictures, fantastic content, and a YouTube channel, what more do you need!? Oh... having her hair would be nice please!!

YOUTUBE

Lisa Eldridge

Anything and everything Lisa Eldridge completely floats my boat, and every single video of hers is a must watch in my book. If, by any chance you have been living in a cave lacking WiFi and do not watch Lisa Eldridge, for me her absolute stand out videos are her 'makeup history' lessons and her 'makeup removal' video! I think I speak for everyone who is in any way involved with blogging and/or beauty videos when saying that Lisa is an absolute beauty goddess and an inspiration to me and so many others! 

TV

Modern Family, Modern Family, MODERN FAMILY!! I discovered this show late last year and have been racing through episodes online, currently I am just getting into season 3! Phil Dunphy really brings Modern Family into its own (Ty Burrel is a GENIUS) and each episode has frequent, major, 'lol' moments. I'm obsessed. My favourite line from the last episode I watched was from Dylan's horse song... 'I rode a horse for the first time today/wasn’t surprised when it went NEIGHHHHH' Yeah... I laughed for days.

BOOK

A Song Of Fire And Ice - George R. R. Martin

After last year's obsession with Game of Thrones the TV show, I finally delved into the humongous book - 800 pages of extremely small text if you were wondering! While at times it was a struggle through some of the less likeable character's chapters, I really enjoyed this book and it was brilliant seeing the character's back stories in finer detail that the show was able to portray. I will definitely be continuing with this series of books in the future. They are worlds away (literally and metaphorically) from my usual 1st person, happy ending, fluffy romance books, but after some perseverance Game of Thrones is bloody amazing!

HATES

January is not only the season of resolution, it is also exam season. What with snow being so very disruptive (which I am also not the biggest fan of!) studying has been a little more difficult and procrastination has been my life for the past two weeks. My two exams, Chemistry and Maths, seemed to go relatively well but with university offers rolling in, the pressure is massively on!

NEXT MONTH

-I turn 18!!!

... and finally get back into regular blogging... hopefully.

Have a lovely February!

Laura Mercier Artist's Palette For Eyes

I received this beautiful Laura Mercier palette for Christmas to add to my severely lacking palette collection- the Naked palette is of course my go to... how did you guess?! This is a half and half mixture of both matte and shimmer colours, although the matte colours are the real gems. I have been looking for a diverse matte palette for a while and this stood out as being a good alternative to the overload of shimmer palettes on the market at the moment. 

All of the eye shadows are very soft and bendable, and as you can see from the swatches, the matte colours are seriously something to write home about. They are heavily pigmented, can be easily used wet or dry as liners and are beautiful for a soft everyday eye, or amped up for a smokier evening look. All of the colours on the top row are shimmer colours, but beware of Chocolate and African Violet especially as they contain a hefty amount of glitter, which can be a nightmare as softer eye shadows are always more susceptible to fall-down. I am a little disappointed with the shimmer colours; they are not as pigmented as I expected and can be a little streaky. The swatches above needed a good 3-4 swipes to impart enough colour for photography, whereas the matte colours were picture perfect in one swipe. That's not to say the shimmer colours are not lovely, as the colours are beautiful, although I would have preferred less of the lighter shimmers (as you can see above they blend completely into my ghostly white skin!) but I think this is a very wearable palette for everyday use. My present was brought from House of Fraser for around £36, and I think this palette is completely worth the money if just for the outstanding matte range. 

This is my first Laura Mercier try and I hope to give her blushes and foundations a try next... any recommendations?

Class of 2012: Makeup

You'll most probably notice that no lip products were included in my favourite makeup post this year, mainly because I physically cannot choose a favourite! Think MAC Creme Cup, Clarins Instant Light Lip Perfector and Korres Lip Butter in Jasmine to name but a few products which graced my lips most often this year, but these products are the best of the bunch for me...

Dr Jart Water Fuse Beauty Balm - Not being a massive lover of the heavy foundation look, this is really the perfect base for me at the moment. It literally blends flawlessly in seconds (with a Real Techniques Buffing Brush) and creates a glowing, healthy base which actually looks like skin! If you have dry or dehydrated skin you need to try this!

Topshop Cream Blush in Neon Rose - The Toppers cream blushes are hands down my favourite blushes at the minute. I also own Flush and Head Over Heels, however Neon Rose has been receiving the most love in 2012. It is scarily bright in the pan but is beautiful when applied to the cheeks, and for me looks best on slightly tan skin.

Jemma Kidd All Over Radiance Creme - My highlighter of the minute, this has pipped MAC's Hush Cream Colour Base right off the top spot this year with its subtle shine. Not content with being beautiful on the cheekbones, this is my all time favourite inner eye highlight which I seem to use without fail everyday for its eye brightening magical powers.

Anastacia Brow Wiz in Medium Ash - The perfect soft, charcoal brown to fill in my already overly dark eyebrows, giving an extremely natural finish in just a few seconds.

L'oreal Super Liner Carbon Gloss - 2012 has been the year of liquid liner and this is an absolute diamond. It is the easiest sponge applicator I have ever used, and stays on a good 8 hours, while being ridiculously easy to remove at night!

L'oreal Telescopic Mascara - Before my lashes were limp, straight and smudging constantly; however after discovering this baby they are long, curled and bulletproof - you need to be a magician to get this stuff off at all!

There are my round ups of 2012 beauty products done and dusted (check out skincare favourites and haircare favourites); here's to more faaaabulous discoveries in the new year!

Class of 2012: Haircare

After many hair ups and downs this year I have finally sworn of the high street shampoos entirely after one too many disasters resulting in greasy and sad hair, and I have branched out into the higher end products. While I have discovered a seriously holy grail worthy shampoo for once a week, a second shampoo for mid-week use is still under investigation, with Philip Kingsley and Ojon under the microscope at the moment! But for the time being, here are the products which have stayed with me throughout the last year...

Bumble & Bumble Sunday Shampoo - This, being the aforementioned 'holy grail' shampoo, is my weekly saviour and rinses every last speck of grease or dirt from my extremely dry, easy to weigh down hair. It makes my hair fluffy and light without feeling dry or brittle and I can't see this ever disappearing from my haircare routine.

Kevin Murphy Hydrate Me Rinse - This is a lovely conditioner that smells divine and does leave my hair looking good, but it hasn't wowed me and I doubt this will be on my repurchase list. I am on the lookout for something amazing and would really welcome conditioner recommendations for extremely fine hair please!

V05 Give Me Moisture Hot Oil - As my go to hair treatment, this is cheap as chips and leaves hair smooth and soft!

VO5 Refresh Me Quick Dry Shampoo - After dabbling heavily in Batiste and Tresemme with hideous, grey haired results, I have finally found a high street dry shampoo which I love! This one is a lot less prone to the 'granny' look than the previous ones and smells a whole lot nicer, without making my hair feel like a birds nest!

Tangle Teezer - After many months of deliberation I finally bit the bullet and purchased this, and it was one of the best hair decisions I have ever made! This is the only way to de-tangle my hair after washing, which is usually matted and messy; a symptom of having too long hair! What used to take about 15 minutes to brush out now takes me about 2, meaning less time brushing hair and more time for makeup!

Class of 2012: Skincare

For me, 2012 has been the year that finally, finally, my skin has co-operated. After a few overwhelming  skincare discoveries this year, I have finally ditched face wipes altogether and my skincare-addict tendencies are developing with my endless pursuit for perfect skin! A few products have really stuck out for me this year such as...

Bioderma Crealine H2O Micelle Solution - This little beauty is the easiest and most effective way I have found of removing makeup fast and for once it doesn't dry out my skin. However, on eye makeup I find this a little lacking and prefer...

Clinique Take The Day Off Makeup Remover - This stuff is literally my saviour after switching to waterproof mascara a few months ago. My beloved L'oreal Telescopic (post here) is beautiful but an absolute bugger to remove and I find that two cotton pads soaked in this heavy duty remover and a few minutes of soaking make removing waterproof mascara a fuss free procedure.

Liz Earle Cleanse & Polish Hot Cloth Cleanser - I honestly cannot even consider using a different cleanser, this is such a staple in my routine. I find that this massaged all over the face and lashes and scrubbed off with a muslin cloth removes every last bit of makeup and never, ever irritates my skin.

Indeed Labs Hydraluron - After discovering this only a few months ago I have since realised what an absolute must a good serum is. And this is as good as any; very moisturising and it feels as through it is actually doing something productive with my moisturiser.

Oilatum Natural Repair Face Cream - The most perfect moisturiser for dry skin and is constantly saving my skin from the harsh English weather.

Origins Ginzing Eyecream - I only have a small sample of this however this has lasted me a good 4 months bizarrely, and I have since discovered the joys of a good eye cream! It is soft, cooling and makes eye makeup application a dream after use.

Origins Drink Up Intensive Overnight Mask - For my extremely dull, extremely parched skin this is perfect; smells delectably apricot-ey and my skin does literally drink this up.

Origins Super Spot Remover - The only spot cream that I will use, because it seems to be the only one that actually works. This takes down redness and aids healing within a few days and is one product I swear by!

Clarins Liquid Bronze Self Tanning Lotion - One last addition to my skincare routine is a self tanner applied every few days and this one is lovely for a very natural glow. Although I find this a little orange on my extremely pale skin if overused, it smells lovely and feels beautiful on the skin.

That's my complete 2012 skincare round-up! What are you holy grail skincare products from the year past?