June Favourites

So here we are on the last day of June which means I can only post about one thing tonight and that's what I've been loving this month! It's been a pretty life changing month actually what with finishing uni, going on holiday and starting my internship and I think I've discovered some rather life changing (okay maybe that's a tad dramatic  Let's say very good...) beauty products to go with it.

Soap and Glory Sugar Crush Body Scrub- This smells so much like a mojito cocktail I have to stop myself from consuming it while I'm in the shower. Oh and it's pretty darn good as a body scrub as well. 

Touch of Silver Brightening Shampoo- Being a bottle blonde means brassiness in my hair colour is the bain of my life, however continual use of this purple shampoo has left me with lovely ashy coloured locks.

Maybelline Gel Nail Colour in 'mint for life'- A new purchase and already firm favourite. The very light mint colour looks gorgeous, particularly with a tan and the formula also lasts for the promised seven days! 

Bourjous Delice de Poudre Bronzing Powder- An old favourite. I bought this over a year ago and it's still going strong and has been essential this month for matching my very tanned body to my paler face.

Lush Popcorn Lip Scrub- I stupidly managed to sun burn my lips really badly in Spain last week and this has been a life saver at helping to buff the peelyness away and get my lips feeling soft and kissable again.

Garnier Ombre Solaire After Sun- As well as soothing sunburn this after sun also prolongs natural tan and deepens it with the tiny bit of self tanner it contains, which for once does not smell like biscuits, hoorah! 

Bourjous Healthy Mix Serum- Now the weather is summery just the thought of wearing foundation makes me feel hot and bothered so I've switched to this lovely light, gel like base that still offers good coverage.

Maybelline Dream Touch Blush in 'apricot'- A product that doesn't get a look in until I have a tan, this pale peachy blush has a gorgeous cream texture and looks so pretty on the cheeks and as a goldy highlight.

Simple Pore Minimising Toning Cleanser- I realised today that I never give this enough love as it's my go-to cleanser and toner in one and also helps to minimise those pesky pores whilst being very affordable.

Body Shop Vitamin E Face Mist- In the summer months I can't get enough of glowy skin and a few spritzes of this after I've applied my make up removes excess powder and creates a gorgeous dewy finish. 

What are your June favourites?

I've had a very nice, rather drunken weekend as I've spent it meeting up with lots of people and indulging in hog roast and sambuca shots at one of my best friend's 21st parties. It's back to reality tomorrow though as I'll be doing the first proper five day week at my fashion PR internship. Wish me luck with all those 5.30 get ups...I hope you've all had a lovely month!

Love Meg

x

Holiday Hair & Makeup: Game of Thrones Inspired

If you're a bit of a beauty obsessive like me then you'll know that one of the most exciting parts of going on holiday is the hair and makeup that comes with it. Don't get me wrong, when I was in Spain last week I spent most of my days lounging by the pool with my hair in a top knot wearing nothing but a tiny bit of concealer, but when it comes to the evening and you're going out for dinner and drinks it's rather nice to try and channel your inner bronzed goddess or in this case your inner Dany Targaryen (girl crush much)...

 

Base- Bourjois Healthy Mix Serum in '52', Collection Lasting Perfection Concealer in 'light 2', Maybelline Lumi Touch in 'ivory', Bourjous Chocolate Bronzer in '51', Maybelline Dream Touch Blush in 'apricot', Benefit High Beam, BareMinerals Brow Powder in 'dark blonde/medium brown'

Eyes- Maybelline 24HR Colour Tattoo in 'on and on bronze', Urban Decay 'Snakebite' shadow from the Naked 2 palette,  Maybelline Gel Liner, Maybelline Falsies Mascara

Lips- Revlon Lip Butter in 'tutti frutti'

Earrings- Peacocks

Dress- River Island

 

As the title suggests I actually thought of my favourite Game of Thrones character Dany Targaryen as I was creating this look as I went for braided beachy hair, tribal accessories and a subtle golden smokey eye. I kept the base as light as I could by using mainly concealer to hide imperfections and then just evening out the rest of my skin tone (and sunglasses tan line) with my go to dewy summer base, the Bourjois Healthy Mix serum. This was followed by lots of bronzer pretty much all over my face and the Maybelline Dream Touch blush in 'apricot' on the apples of my cheeks which is the most perfect peachy-gold blush and highlight that I wore nearly every day whilst I was away. I wanted a little more on the eyes but still nothing too dramatic so slicked on some 'on and on bronze' cream shadow, added 'snake bite' in the crease as a contour and smudged out gel liner on the upper and lower lash line to create an understated bronzed smokey effect. I finished this make up look with another summer time beauty staple, the Body Shop Vitamin E face mist, which is a budget alternative to the Caudalie Beauty Elixir that adds a super glowy finish and also fixes your make up so no powder is needed. The hair was something that kind of just happened out of a lack of time to attack it with ghd's causing me to set it into beachy curls using TRESemme curl defining mouse, french plait the two front sections and then pin it all back to sit at the side. I was actually rather happy with the result as you can't go wrong with tousled waves and plaits in hot weather. I'd also like to point out the rather bargainous Peacocks earrings which cost me a measly £2.50!

 

What hair and make up do you wear out on holiday?

 

This is a rather late post because now I've started my fashion internship I don't get home till gone eight. I'm really loving it though as it's a really close knit team in a very cool studio only 20 minutes from London Embankment and I've already been allowed to get creative and take responsibility of things! Everything has gone really well so far apart from this morning when I got a bit lost and ended up in the West End rather far away from the studio. oops... 

 

I hope you're having a lovely week!

Love Meg

x

Holiday Vlog: Spain with my uni friends!

So yesterday I promised you a vlog of my holiday and here it is (along with a delightful holiday snap). I thought it would be a really nice way to introduce you to some of my favourite people, show you more about what I got up to in Spain and hopefully give you a giggle along the way so I hope you enjoy it...

As ever if you liked this video and want to see more then please subscribe to my Youtube channel where I will be posting lots more things for you to watch. 

I was very happy that I could bring out the shorts and crop top again today as England had some sun (shock horror), I was actually only sorting things out for starting my internship tomorrow but now I'm going to spend a nice evening at my boyfriends because he's off on a business trip to Germany tomorrow. Alright for some...

Have a lovely night!

Love Meg

x

My Holiday in Pictures

Oh hello! I'm back home after a gorgeous week in Spain with my uni friends, I have done a vlog of the whole holiday which will be going up tomorrow but for now I thought I'd show you a few photo highlights...

check out those pouts / girly pool time / gorgeous villa / plane loner / all the gang / happy hour / best book / not staged at all / me no like bones

Right now I'm sat at home with a rather nice tan trying to unpack and prepare myself for Wednesday when I'm starting a fashion PR internship in London! I never expected to get something so soon after uni so I'm incredibly excited for it and also found out I got a 2:1 in my degree so I'm feeling pretty happy about life right now. Not so happy about the prospect of 6am starts though...  

I hope you've all had a lovely week!

Love Meg

x

Adios!

Just a little note to say I'm off on holiday to Spain with nine of my best uni friends today so I probably won't be posting this week, but I will however be vlogging all my holiday antics and making lots of holiday themed blog posts ready for my return! I'd love to know any requests you have for holiday posts like make up, outfits or product reviews so please let me know in a comment below to make sure I take the right photos while I'm away. I also had some really exciting news yesterday but they'll be more on that later...Have a wonderful week!

Love Meg

x

Primark Haul!

If there's one thing I love in life, it's finding a bargain and there's no where better to do that than Primark! Sometimes I can go in and not find anything and other times I want to buy the whole shop, this haul came from one of the 'buy the whole shop' times, but it was all so barginous and necessary to my wardrobe I didn't feel too bad...

You've probably seen a couple of these items before in outfit posts and my Topshop dupes feature, but I thought I'd show you the rest of the things I've bought from Primark recently and if you want to find out more about them then you can watch the video and give me a cheeky subscribe if you like it :) You can also find out more about Primark in this article. On a side note my hair has grown sooo long now which I only realised when I watched this video back!

What bargains have you found in Primark lately?

I've packed quite a few of these clothes in my Spain suitcase now as I fly out tomorrow, eeeeek! I've got to get through a shift at work first though so I best go and get ready for that instead of sitting at my laptop in my pj's, boooo...

Have a lovely day!

Love Meg

x

The New Bourjois 'Radiance Reveal' Healthy Mix Foundation

Another day, another foundation. Or at least that's what my hunt for the perfect base feels like sometimes. But no matter how many new foundations and BB or CC creams (I'm sure it's not long till DD happens) get released I was always so sure the Bourjois Healthy Mix foundation would be sat in pride of place as my holy grail glowy, night out, good coverage, yellow toned foundation. That is until they announced they had reformulated and repackaged it! Needless to say I was worried (how can you improve on drugstore perfection?), but of course as soon as my old bottle ran out I was off to Boots to see how this updated 'radiance reveal' offering compared...

Bourjous Radiance Reveal Healthy Mix Foundation is £9.99 from Boots

First off, Bourjous have listened to all my foundation related prayers and given us a glass bottle! Alleluia! This makes the packaging so much classier than the previous plastic container and is now a bottle I like having in my make up bag. They've topped this lovely bottle with a red lid and pump which is very similar to the Healthy Mix serum which I also love and makes dispensing and application soooo quick and easy with no risk of product wastage. Please take note of that Mr Revlon! I think that the consistency of the product inside the bottle has also been given a positive alteration as it feels like much more of a dewy gel, meaning I wear this on it's own alot more than the old version which I used to mix with the serum to make lighter and more blendable. So although I do still like to wear a good hydrating primer underneath and still blend this with a lighter formula foundation for a more natural look, this new consistency is a great improvement. The finish is even more radiant too as it contains even more fruit extracts than before with apricot for beautiful radiance, melon for extra hydration and apple for youth protection. Not only does all this fruit make the foundation smell gorgeous but also look unbelievably fresh and glowy on the skin, whilst still providing a really good level of medium coverage. This level of coverage combined with the fact it doesn't contain SPF makes this my perfect night out foundation. High praise indeed. The shade selection doesn't seem to have changed at all which is actually a good thing as '52' is my perfect summer time shade as it's very yellow toned, but is also good for the colder months with a little bit of lighter foundation mixed in. The biggest claim this new foundation makes is that it keeps you looking flawless with an evened out skin tone for 16 hours and whilst that is a long time and I might find myself topping up the concealer towards the end of the day, it is the longest lasting base I own and at the reasonable price of £ 9.99 for a bottle that once lasted me almost a year the Bourjois Healthy Mix has solidly re-earned it's place as my trusty holy grail base. Keep the new releases coming Bourjous.

Have you tried the new 'Radiance Reveal' Healthy Mix?

After the initial shock of being back home after living the student life for three years, this week has actually been really nice and I've done lots of life sorting which I didn't have the chance to do during exam time. Today I just went to back to work at the library but tomorrow I'm going to lunch with one of my best home friends before seeing my boyfriend who has just returned from Ibiza. I've also been busy getting ready for my own holiday on Saturday by swimming and shredding and getting stocked up with adorable miniature items from Superdrug as well as anything that promises to help me tan. With the weather we're getting in England at the moment who can blame me!

I hope you're all having a good week!

Love Meg

x  

Miracle Macadamia

Hello Lovelies!

Today I'm going to talk about a haircare brand that has been causing quite a stir in beauty blogger land recently, Macadamia. I first tried the Macadamia hair oil as an alternative to Moroccan oil last year and really loved it, so I was a very happy bunny when they decided to send me some other bits from their range. The website describes their products as having 'an exclusive blend of macadamia & argan oil that give you a result so wonderful it could only come from nature' and if a product can give my dyed, heat abused frizz bomb hair a wonderful result then it's quite a miracle so here are my thoughts on the range along with links to all the products in case you want to try them out yourself...

Hot Curling Boar Brush*

As you may know I have naturally curly hair that I straighten then re-curl every time I wash it (I promise this makes sense to me) so I was very excited about the promise that this brush could straighten my hair as I blow dry it and also loved that it came in different sizes depending on hair length. I think the fault with this product lays more with my technique than the brush itself as I imagine a hair dresser could easily use this transform my frizzy mane to sleek salon hair, but I definitely need to get more practise! My housemate Rosie loves using this to sort out her fringe though so I think it'd be great on less unruly hair. 

Healing Oil Treatment*

This has to be by far my favourite product of the range as the oil is so thick it feels as though it's really nourishing your hair, but it still doesn't weigh it down. I apply this to the lengths and ends of my hair before blow drying and sometimes after and it makes it feel much softer and smoother and look shiner and healthier. It does market at a similar price to Moroccan oil but a little goes a long way and I do think a good hair oil is a must have if you've got damaged, dry hair that is exposed to hair dye or abused by heat tools.

Deep Repair Masque*

This is also one of the thickest hair masques I've tried which is a consistency I really like as it feels as though it's doing a lot more than your average conditioner. This thick product certainly makes your hair feel like silk in the shower and also lives up to it's claims of restoring damaged hair with elasticity and shine. However, I did find that I could still feel the product in my hair after I'd washed it out which left it feeling a bit weighed down and difficult to style so I'd recommend this more for voluminous light hair that needs extra control.  

Control Fast Drying Working Spray*

I've always been a drugstore girl when it comes to hairspray as I use it on a daily basis and can't really afford to spend the £17 this costs every few weeks. That said, if you do have the extra cash to spend and want a hairspray that doesn't leave residue in the hair, giving it lasting control that you can brush out and rework the next day then this is great. I also really love the green floral print packaging and it doesn't have that Elnett granny scent either. Always a plus. 

Have you tried anything from the Macadamia range?

Since finishing my degree on Wednesday I've spent the last few days clearing up the house, going on goodbye nights out and feeling very emotional! I officially moved out yesterday and I must say I'm pretty heartbroken to be away from all my uni friends and the fun student lifestyle. I'm off on holiday next week though so I won't get too depressed about being unemployed and stuck home alone just yet...

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend!

Love Meg

x

Girly Grunge: Outfit Post

Oh hey ladies!

Today I did a little thing called finishing my degreeeee! eeeeeeeek! I am just too happy right now (no more referencing for the rest of my days, alleluia!) but before I go and consume unhealthy amounts of alcohol I thought I'd show you what I wore to our end of year performing arts committee meal last night at Bungalows and Bears. Their burgers are just outrageous...

Dress- Primark

Jacket- Primark

Boots- Next*

Bag- Next*

Bangles-Primark

Headband- New Look

Lips- Kate Moss Lasting Finish Shade '12'

Nails- 17 'Treasure Island'

Seeing as the weather was nice but not too nice I thought I'd combine a summer dress with some grungier bits to create a more edgy evening look. The dress was a five pound bargain from Primark and I love it! It has really pretty crochet detailing on the top half and is a super flattering shape so I know I'll be wearing it loads this summer. The 'leather' jacket was another absolute Primarni bargain as it's a perfect light evening jacket and only came in at about the £15 mark. The boots I'm wearing are probably my very favourite pair of shoes, I was a bit dubious about teaming them with such a girly dress but I do actually really like the effect and it makes me happy that I'll still be getting wear out of them over the next few months. Another favourite has to be my hair, I haven't worn it in a plait since before I had my pixie cut so I'm rather glad I've finally grown it long enough to wear it in one again as it's such an easy style to do and looks really pretty paired with an alice band. You can't really tell in the photos but I'm also wearing the perfect summery red lip- Kate Moss lasting finish in number '12', I'd definitely recommend it if you love corals and want a wearable red lip for the holiday season.

Right I'm off to go and watch the Great Gatsby with my uni friends now before hitting a house party, I may have already starting drinking this afternoon though. shhhhhhh....

Have a lovely night!

Love Meg

x

The June Wishlist: Holiday Edition

Hey Girls!

So after spending pretty much all day lazing in the park and thinking about my holiday to Spain in under two weeks I thought I'd theme this months wishlist accordingly to show you all the summer accessories I'll be lusting after (and undoubtedly buying) this month... 

Asos Straw Hat / Agent Provocateur Cut Out Swimsuit / Nails Inc. Portobello / Ray Ban Wayfarers / Ebay Sandals 

It's just a short post from me today as I still have to finish my final piece of uni work which is due on Wednesday. I did actually do work whilst I sun bathed in the park, but I still need to crack on and get more done tonight so I can enjoy the meal and night out I have planned for tomorrow! Oh and you also only have one night left to nominate Meg's Budget Boutique as 'best established beauty blog' in the Cosmo 2013 blog awards and it really would mean the world to me if you took a couple of minutes to do it! So if you enjoy reading my ramblings you can nominate me here :)

What's on your holiday wishlist?

I hope you're all enjoying the sunshine and have lovely holidays to look forward to!

Love Meg

x