Friday 29 June 2012

Video- My Top 5 Drugstore Foundations

Hey Girlies!

Thought I should let you know that I've just uploaded a new video which is my top 5 drugstore/highstreet foundations! I was so excited to make this one as I've turned into a right little foundation junkie and am constantly on the quest for my holy grail foundation...I actually think I've found it for the moment but if you want more details on that you'll just have to watch the video hehe...


I hope you find some nice budget foundations in my recommendations and I would love to know what your favourite foundation is right now?

As always please do subscribe to my channel if you like my videos and have a wonderful Friday night!
Love Meg
x

p.s I would go into my day in a bit more detail, but really it only consisted of packing up my uni room to move this weekend and now me and my friend Rosie are just sitting on the sofa getting excited for Made in Chelsea's Spencer to appear on the Bachelor tonight hahaa
Thursday 28 June 2012

June in Pictures

Hi Guys!

As if we're already at the end of June! I've no idea where the months go and it always seems as though I have some sort of end of the month post to do and today I thought that should be my month in pictures...

The Rolling Tones (minus the lovely Alex) performing on the Crucible main stage at the International Student Drama Festival

Catching the train home at ridiculous o'clock for the Jubilee


                                                             The most patriotic nails ever
   My incredibly geeky high end beauty wish list

End of year Performing arts society social

I've just had another day of drama festival-ness (I'm just so good at expressing myself) topped off by a yummy pie at our favourite pub. Me and the girls are still buzzing from performing at the Crucible last night, but I really need to bring myself back to reality and get all my packing done now as I'm moving to my new uni house this weekend...

I hope you've all had a brilliant month!
Love Meg
x
Wednesday 27 June 2012

Dupe alert! Save £10 on Pearl Collars...

Morning Lovelies!

Now I would usually save this sort of thing for my monthly lust have and must have post, but as I'm aware things found in Primark can get snapped up quickly I thought I should do this one today...so I have been loving the detachable collar trend lately, going so far as to buy dresses with high necklines just so I can put a collar with it and I think pearl collars in particular look so cute and classy, as the lovely Audrey Hepburn demonstrated in 'Breakfast at Tiffanys'... 


I have been spending quite a lot of time in Topshop this week (classic sale week behaviour) and was very tempted to copy Miss Hepburn by having a little splurge on this collar-

Topshop Pearl Collar- £14

Pearl Collar Necklace

Until I popped to Primark that is, where I spotted this almost exact dupe for £10 less! It was one of those moments where I would have felt more guilty if I hadn't bought it haha

Primark Pearl Collar- £4


I wore it this week with a white high necked dress that I got in the Topshop sale (another bargain at £15 down from £30!) and really loved how it looked, so there will be an outfit post of that coming up soon I'm sure...

I've been having such a busy week at my drama festival, events run from 10am till 12pm so that's why my posts have become a little sparse or weirdly early. Monday was particularly good as we performed at the Sheffield Olympic Torch relay ceremony and then watched it go by which was amazing! and tonight me and the girl group I'm in, 'The Rolling Tones' are performing in a massive theatre (The Crucible if anyone knows it) at a Cabaret night for the festival so they'll be lots of rehearsing and dressing up going on today!

I hope you're having a lovely week!
Love Meg
x
Sunday 24 June 2012

My 7 Deadly Sins of Beauty

Hey Girls!

Just a quick post to let you know I've uploaded another video to my youtube channel, which is my '7 Deadly Sins of Beauty' video. I'm sure you'll all be aware of what this tag involves, but if not then it's lots of fun and includes lots of my favourite products and drugstore bargain buys!


If you haven't already done this tag in video or written form then why not have a go and post a link below so I can have a nosey look! And if you like my videos then pretty please do  go and subscribe as it makes me a very happy bunny :)

I'm just chilling on the sofa at the moment with my friend Rosie who I'm staying with throughout the drama festival I'm at this week, we're supposed to be watching the football, but instead we're looking at blogs and eating caramel shortcakes. Standard behaviour for us really!

I hope you've all had wonderful weekends,
Love Meg
x
Friday 22 June 2012

Mini Summery 17 Haul

Good Morning!

I've got an early post for you today because I'm back in Sheffield now for the International Student Drama Festival and am going to be pretty busy for the rest of the day with that...anyway once I arrived back in Sheffield yesterday I had some time to kill between my train getting in and meeting my friends so naturally I mooched around Boots for ages swatching and trying to stop myself from spending £15 on Max Factor stuff just because you got a free Union Jack tin (Really though, it's a great tin). I did let myself buy a couple of 17 bits that I've been  hankering after for a while now though as I've heard such great things about them and you got a free 'Fest of all' kit for spending over £6 (Really Max Factor need to lower the £15 spend then I could justify getting that tin...) 


I feel like 17 is a drug store brand that I haven't rated very highly in the past, but are now coming out with some really great up to date products that are perfect for summer. I haven't tried any of the things I got yet but I thought I'd show you them anyway and then follow up with some reviews soon once I've given them all a good go...


To start with then I got the 17 Blemish Balm. As you may know the maybelline-dream-fresh-bb-cream has ignited my love for fresher, more summery BB cream type coverage and convenience and after llymlrs said how much she liked this 17 version I really wanted to give it a go. I already love that it comes in a box and at only £6.99 this could turn out to be a great bargain buy!


Next up, I got the 17 Glow shimmer brick in 'Gold Bronze', on a recommendation from  CharlotteEmilyVlogs. I've wanted a golden bronze highlighter ever since we hit the summer months (I'm going to ignore the fact it's actually raining right now) and have been searching for an alternative to spending £18.50 on Benefit Sunbeam. This may well be it as I love the pretty golden highlight it created when I swatched all the colours together and all for only £4.99.


So this was my cute little free gift, again running along the summer theme. I'm actually on a nail polish buying ban at the moment so receiving such a nice, summery shade as 'tropical island' for free was fab and I'm also very excited to try the instant glow wash off tan and see how it compares to Rimmel's one. To be honest I'm not too fussed about the liner, but I'll give it a go and also see how it matches up to my usual trusty Rimmel one.

Have you tired any of these products or been impressed with 17 lately? Or have you got any other summer essentials to recommend?

Right I should go and get ready for my busy day of drama type things now, we've got to register and go to the opening ceremony today and I might go and watch 'Sweeney Todd' tonight...fun times indeed!
Have a great day!
Love Meg
Tuesday 19 June 2012

The secret to all day eyeshadow: Maybelline 24HR Colour Tattoos

Hey Girls!

If you're an avid beauty blog reader then you'll probably be aware of the hype that has been surrounding the Maybelline 24HR Colour Tattoos recently. It took me a little longer than usual to cave in to the blog pressure on these because I tend to just use my Naked 2 palette everyday and most of the colours released were ones I already had in there. However, I've been having a bit of an issue with my eye shadow not lasting all day and any eyelid primers I used only making the shadow crease more so I thought I'd give these a go. I started by buying the shade 'eternal gold' and only had to use it once before I swiftly went and bought three more because oh my god these are incredible!

Left to right- Eternal gold, On and on Bronze, Eternal Silver, Immortal Charcoal
 The Claims

'Dare to wear NEW Color Tattoo 24HR Cream Gel eyeshadow. With up to 24HR staying power. Popping colour that glides on. Get inked!
Our technology creates super -saturated shadow. Cream Gel smooth’s on for vibrant colour that does not fade.'
The Reality
It's not often that you feel the reality of a product not only lives up to all the claims, but also surpasses them, but with these shadows I really do feel that way! But before I get a bit too carried away I'll go back to basics... So I really like the classy glass pot packaging as it reminds me of MAC paint pots and I think the price tag of £4.99 may seem slightly pricey to people used to buying a trio of shadows for the same amount, but trust me, they're worth it and will last pretty much forever. I still haven't really found the best way to apply these yet, but at the moment they seem to glide on and blend pretty well just using my fingers which is the beauty of a cream/gel product. I really love the shades that I've bought (not sure if I'll be purchasing the bright turquoise and purple) as I can use them to create my two favourite looks which are dark smoky eye and gold smoky eye, although I'm so jealous of America also getting a pearly white shade as that would be amazing for a more everyday neutral eyeshadow base (my parents are going to America this summer though so I'm sending them with a list of American beauty products I'm coveting and that will be near the top!) And as you can see from the swatches the colours are also incredibly pigmented and have just the right amount of shimmer. Now onto the main reason that I can't get enough of this product and that is because they literally last all day and night and do not even budge a tiny bit. So I'm like wow, how have they even done that?! Usually even good shadows will crease and fade at the end of the day, but these are my new trusty shadows that go the distance. That's not to say I'm going to be neglecting my beloved Naked 2 palette, but now I'll use it with one of these underneath to act as a primer, as it makes any powder shadows you put over it last all day and night too and also intensifies their colour. 

If you want to see what they look like on the eyelids then I'm wearing the gold and bronze shades, along with 'snakebite' from my Naked 2 in my crease in this video-youtube.watch and I'm wearing the silver and grey shades, along with 'blackout' from my Naked 2 in my crease in these photos- not-another-dipped-hem

Have you tried and loved these? Or do you have an actual eyelid primer to recommend? 

I've just done a bit of working out and had a nice day with my boyfriend today as I won't see him now for 2 weeks because I'm going to a drama festival in Sheffield on Thursday. Actually going to sit down and watch the football tonight as I'm getting surprisingly into it, though that's not to say I still won't be perusing blogs and making wish lists whilst watching it haha

Enjoy the football if you're also watching it or whatever else you have planned! 
Love Meg 

Monday 18 June 2012

Video-My Everyday Makeup Routine & Products

Hey Lovelies!

So I finally got the time and courage to film my everyday make up routine, which just shows you what products I like to use and how I apply them to create my everyday, natural look that I've been wearing this spring and summer.

I thought you might want a sneak peek of the products that I use before you watch the video-



I hope you enjoy it and please do subscribe to my channel if you want to see more videos :) ohh and I'd love to know what you're everyday essential make up products are!
Have a lovely night, 
Love Meg
x
Saturday 16 June 2012

OOTD- dipped hem obsessive

Oh hey there,

I thought it was about time I showed you my new dress that I wore to my uni end of year celebration last week (which was so much fun!) that was a combination of the current lace, sheer and you guessed it, dipped hem trends.  It's from Ark because I'm literally obsessed with that place at the moment and I'm really rather in love with it...




Dress- Ark
Heels- New Look
Bracelets- Links of London and Pandora
Earrings- New Look


As you all probably know I'm loving this summer's dipped hem craze so once I saw the bottom of this dress I knew I had to try it on. I wasn't too sure about the lacy top part when I first put it on, but once I'd styled it with simple jewellery and nude nails and lips I thought it made a statement in a nice, classy way. I also adore the fit of this dress as anything that is tight on top, clinches in at the waist and flows out over the hips is a winner for me. I teamed it with a dark smokey eye and my trusty heeled shoe boots to add a bit of edge and was really happy with the end result :)

Have you had any end of year uni balls or school proms to buy pretty dresses for?

I just bit the bullet and filmed my first make up tutorial video where I bare my naked face on camera for the first time hahaa so stay tuned for that tomorrow when I upload it... And now I'm going to go and have a major sort out of my room as it still looks exactly as it did 2 years ago when I left for uni and I think it needs a bit of new life breathed into it!

I hope you're all having a wonderful weekend :)
Love Meg
x

p.s I just wanted to thank my lovely friend Nick for taking these photos and also say you should go and check out his really different and interesting blog if you've got a minute :)
Friday 15 June 2012

VIDEO- May Favourites.

Hey Girlies!

Just a quick post tonight to let you know that I've just filmed and uploaded my May Favourites video. I know it's very late but I've been meaning to film it for the past two weeks and figured it was better late than never! Plus I've included some real good drugstore/dupe fnds that you should all check out...


Please do subscribe if you like it and I'll try to actually film my June favourites before the middle of July hahaa

I've not done anything of note today really, just chilled with my boyfriend and sorted my life out a bit (I say I need to sort my life out at least twice a day) and now I'm watching the football with the fam. I'm really not a football kind of girl, but when it's England playing I at least try to half pay attention whilst browsing blogs and feel unique!

Have a great night whether you're watching the football or doing something far more exciting!
Love Meg
x
Thursday 14 June 2012

Bargain Bourjois Haul

Hey Lovelies!

Is it just me or does every make up brand in Boots in Superdrug seem to have some sort of offer on at the moment?! It's rather inconsiderate of them really because I always get sucked in by 3 for 2's and buy one get one half price so I end up nipping into the shop for cleansing wipes and coming out with 6 bits of make up just because I got two of them free hahaa 

Anyway, Superdrug have Bourjois products on 3 for 2 at the moment, plus if you buy 3 things you get a free pair of sunglasses and cute case and seeing how much I love Bourjois it felt rude not to take advantage of this offer as I mooched around Victoria waiting for my train on Tuesday and in this post I thought I'd show you what I got and my initial thoughts...

Healthy Mix Serum

I've finally made that big life decision that the Bourjois Healthy Mix foundation is my holy grail foundation  and because of that I have been eyeing up the serum version for quite some time now to see if I would like it as much and this offer seemed like the perfect opportunity to try it. At £10.99, it's a pound more expensive than the foundation and to be honest that might just be because of the lovely glass bottle, which I prefer so much to the plastic packaging of the foundation. However, right now I still much prefer the actual product in the foundation, just because the serum just seems like a lighter coverage version of it and I have to use quite a bit of concealer with it. Coverage aside though I do like how light it feels on my skin, how easily bendable it is and the natural, dewy and glowing finish it leaves me with and I'll probably be reaching for this on hot, casual or good skin days.

Volumizer Mascara

I bought this mascara because Tanya Burr from Pixi2woo said it was her all time favourite mascara and what's good enough for Tanya is certainly good enough for me! However, particuarly for it's £10.50 higher end drug store price tag I am slightly disappointed with it as although it does give insane volume, it almost gives too much volume as the second step just sticks my lashes together into a few really chunky lashes and I like to have them nicely separated and defined. I thought I'd love the two step aspect of it as I currently use two mascaras at once anyway, which are the Max Factor False Lash Effect Fusion followed by Maybelline Falsies, but to be honest the combination of these two mascaras makes my lashes look so much better.

Chocolate Bronzer in '51'


I've already raved about how much I love this chocolate bronzer (yes I know that's not the proper name, but I never was any good at French) in the darker shade '52', as it's been compared to other cult matte bronzers such as Benefit Hoola and Nars Laguna and works so well as both a contour and overall bronzing product. However, I found that for paler days the dark shade can come up a bit too dark on my skin, particularly for all over bronzing so I thought I'd invest in this lighter '51' shade too as it was essentially free (but only a very reasonable £6.99 anyway). I'm so happy I did as this is a much better all over bronzing shade for me as it gives a lovely 'sun kissed but not orange' glow and you don't need to worry about being too heavy handed with it. 
Glasses and Case

Oh I do love a free gift and this one is no exception. The glasses are actually pretty good and I've wanted a pair of WAG style oversized sunnies for ages, but the case is the thing I'm really chuffed with as it's so cute I would have bought it if it was on sale anyway and I'm going to use it to carry my top up make up around during the day.

Have you taken advantage of any of these offers lately? Or have you tried any of these products? Please do check out my bourjois-base-face post or top-10-spring-picks video for more Bourjois reviews!

As I said yesterday I've tried to have a good productive day today and haven't done too badly as I went for a run with my boyfriend, did some work experience and internship research and knocked a few things off the good old to do list, (oh and watched quite a lot of 'New Girl' but that's not so productive) think I'm going to try and sort out my make up collection tonight and have a blog sale in the next couple of weeks...I love these 'spring clean your life' moods, if only they would last longer!

I hope you're all having a lovely week!
Love Meg
x  
Wednesday 13 June 2012

Maybelline Dream Fresh BB Cream

Hey Lovelies!

I'm sure you're all aware of the 'BB cream' craze that has been occurring in the beauty world ever since Garnier released their version last year. Well if not then they stand for 'beauty balm' and are supposed to be more easy to apply and lightweight than a foundation, but actually do more to your skin. Of course I was sucked the hype last year and bought the Garnier one full of expectations that unfortunately weren't met as the cream didn't come in a light enough shade for me and was so thick and hard to blend that it was heavy and uneven on my skin (If you want more detail on that then check out my review). So needless to say that put me off BB creams for quite a while, until last week when I was browsing in Boots and saw the new Maybelline Dream Fresh BB cream on a stand and as I had been looking for a light and quick summer base and Maybelline was also on a 3 for 2 offer I thought I'd give it go...


My initial thoughts were that the packaging was nothing special and the nozzle and the lid can get a bit messy too (although I suppose that's all to be expected considering the nice and reasonable £7.99 price tag), but what about the actual stuff inside the bottle...

The Claims-
Maybelline Dream Fresh 8 in 1 BB Cream. Instant fresh-faced Glow without looking all made up.

Our gel based formula enhances skin with 8 benefits in 1-
Creates a natural glow
Compliments skin tone
SPF30 UV Protection
Hydrates all day
Blurs imperfections
Oil-free, non-greasy
Looks visibly smooth.
Feels fresh

The Reality- 

So as you can see, just like the other BB creams, this product claims it does a ridiculous amount of things, but unlike some of the others, I think it actually does do most of them! Firstly, although there are only 4 shades I think they have very good ability to adapt to and compliment your skin tone so the lightest shade is a good match for me when I have a tan and when I don't. I would say this shade would suit the majority of skin tones as 'medium' and 'dark' come out incredibly dark and 'universal glow' came out incredibly orange, although I have been told it does blend out to a more natural colour.  


shade 'light' swatched and blended.

The main thing I adore about this product though is how easy and quick it is to apply as it has such a thin and light consistency that you can literally just rub it into your skin  like you would with a moisturiser and it applies evenly and perfectly. This is the one thing I really wanted from this product, as I wanted to use it on lazy days or when I'm in a hurry and don't want to faff around with a proper foundation and a make up brush.  

The price you pay for such easy application is a low coverage, as the reason it's so easy to apply is because it's so thin and sheers out like a tinted moisturiser. But to be honest if I want a fuller coverage I'll use foundation or apply it with a brush and it does only promise to blur imperfections and not to conceal them and it does indeed do this, as well evening out my skin tone nicely. But I would suggest that if you're like me and want a bit more coverage on blemishes and scarring, then you should use this with a good concealer like Collection's lasting perfection or as I said, apply it with a brush. 

Coverage aside, the actual finish this gives is gorgeous as my skin looked so glowy, healthy and fresh and did hydrate my skin without looking too oily, so perfect for hot summer days, although I do have a normal to dry skin type and if you have a more oily one you may need to powder over this. 


I took this photo before I went to work to give an idea of the coverage and finish of this product and it pretty much still looked like this when I left work 8 hours later so it lasts pretty well on the skin too, even though you don't notice it being there.

So overall, even though I'd like the coverage to be a little fuller, I'm really impressed with this product and happy I gave BB creams another go. I will definitely be reaching for this if I'm just in the house, popping to the shops, in a hurry or on hot summer days...

Have you tried this BB cream or any of the others?

I've just been chilling out with my boyfriend today as it's my first proper day back home, but I plan to get on with more productive 'life plan' things tomorrow as I'm getting a bit scared that I only have one more year at uni and need to figure out what I'm doing!

Have a lovely night, 
Love Meg
x
Tuesday 12 June 2012

June Lust Haves and Must Haves

Hey Lovelies!

So it occured to me today that I didn't do a must haves and lust haves post last month which is rather sad as they are one of my favourite posts to do and hopefully one of the most helpful for you, so to make up for it I thought I would do an early June one and show you some things you might want to splash out or save on this month...

LUST HAVE- Nars blush in 'Orgasm' £21



MUST HAVE- Sleek blush in 'Rose Gold' £4.30



LUST HAVE- Smashbox BB cream £27

SMASHBOX CAMERA READY BB CREAM SPF 35

MUST HAVE- MUA BB cream £4


MUST HAVE- Soap and Glory Sit Tight Firming Lotion £14.50



LUST HAVE- Nivea Firming Body Lotion £7.14




LUST HAVE- Topshop Dipped Hem Skirt £48



MUST HAVE- Ark Dipped Hem Skirt £24.99



Please let me know if you've tried any of these products or if you think there are any other lust haves and must haves you can recommend!

Sorry I've been a bit absent for the past week, I've had a very busy time travelling to Sheffield and back for end of year celebrations (which were fab!) but I'm back home properly for a while now so I can get back into regular blog posts and videos again :)

Hope you've all had a good week!
Love Meg
x
Wednesday 6 June 2012

OOTD- Diamond Girls

Hey Lovelies!

Tonight I thought I should do the red, white and blue heavy post that I promised and show you what I wore for the celebrations this weekend...I had such a lovely few Jubilee days as I came home for my Mum's tea party on Monday and spent yesterday having Jubilee tea with the whole family and my boyfriend whilst watching all the Royal stuff on the tele. 

So on Monday I went for mainly white and blue with union Jack accessories and 1940's inspired hair...

Dress- h&m
Jacket- Miss Selfridge
Heels- h&m
Nails- Primark


and as my Mum is the biggest Royalist I know I thought I'd include her Jubilee efforts here too...

 


and why not finish this Royal post with some incredibly Royal cupcakes...


Did you have a good weekend? 
I've been at work all day today as I've got a few shifts before I head back to Sheffield again this weekend so tonight I'm going to chill out tonight with some yummy cake like leftovers and a good old chic flick!

Have a great night guys!
Love Meg
x
Sunday 3 June 2012

OOTD- Bralet and dipped hem.

Morning Lovelies!

Since finishing my second year of uni life has pretty much consisted of celebrating that fact and so last night I went to an end of year social for our drama society and then to my favourite uni night out, Pop Tarts! Me and the therunwayrose went for a cheeky bit of shopping yesterday especially for it and I thought I'd try out two of the current biggest trends for summer- bralets and dipped hem skirts...


Bralet- Motel from Ark
Dipped hem skirt- Ark
Collar necklace- Primark
Nude clutch- Primark
Flatform style heels- h&m


I've got to say I really love the combination of the floral high waisted dipped hem skirt and peach bralet as I think the colours really compliment each other and look really summery (despite the fact the weather doesn't anymore, booo!). I also think they are very flattering and show off just the right amount of body to be classy but look like you're going out at the same time. The nude clutch and collar necklace were also recent little gems I found from Primark for a measly £4 each! I just can't not buy things when they're that price and I think they look so much more expensive. I finished the look off with my trusty h&m flatforms so that I'd be able to keep dancing till 3am, which I think I pretty much did and needless to say I'm feeling a bit worse for wear this morning!

What do you think of the bralet and dipped hem trend?

Today I'm mainly going to be packing as I'm off home to tomorrow for the Jubilee (expect a very red, white and blue heavy post tomorrow) as my Mum is a massive royalist and throwing a big tea party which I'm so excited for! I also need to dye my roots, make some videos and go to callbacks for a play I auditioned for last week so I really need to get a wriggle on...

I hope you're having an amazing Jubilee weekend!
Love Meg
x
Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...
 

Blog Design by Bonjour Belle Designs