Bloglovin | March Edition

Come and meet the lovely ladies who have been occupying my sidebar this March (I assure you they both write highly addictive reads for beauty lovers!) and make sure to get in touch if you fancy making your own little home here in April...

Hi I'm Aimee from Aimee Loves. I started my blog in January this year after realising that i needed to justify my ever growing stash of beauty bits. My main focus is beauty, but i do like to sneak in the occasional baking or lifestyle post. I love having my own space on the web where I can chat about what I love, there is something quite therapeutic about it really. I have loved my blogging journey so far and how its turned out, I hope that you will too!

Hi.. I'm Gemma and I blog over at Miss Makeup Magpie, and have done since December 2012. I post product reviews daily, with the occasional haul, wishlist, giveaway and more. I'd love for you to come and take a look, and say hi... I love discovering new blogs. Gem xxx

What blogs have you been loving this month?

Happy Mother's Day

Just a little note to say Happy Mother's Day to my Mum and all the Mummy's out there! I hope you're all very spoilt and treated today as a thankyou for all your hard work :) I woke my Mum up with the custom breakfast in bed and presents pile, which was followed by a little church trip and then my grandparents are coming over for tea this afternoon. I'm really loving being home this weekend as I've got to spend lots of time with my home girls, family and kitty cats and the weather's been so perfect and summery too. If you want more meaty Mother's Day posts then please head on over to the Benefit blog which I've taken over with my brave Mum's story here and a BeneMum's post here. 

How are you spending Mother's Day?

The Spring Edit | Beauty

The current chilly weather might not be reflecting this, but we are now officially in my favourite season of Spring! As soon as the first day struck last week my make up bag received a serious shake up and now consists of all things brightening, dewy and candy coloured. It would obviously be rude not to share this shake up with all you lovely lot so me and my best girl Aaman from Girl On Beauty put together a little Spring Edit featuring make up, nails, beauty, fashion, lifestyle and food. In part one it's all about the first three beauty crazed categories (as you can see from the rather colourful spoilers above), so if glow getting and packing on pastels is your thing then make sure to give it a watch and subscribe to both me and Aaman if you enjoy it and want to see part two next week...

What's in your Spring Edit?

    

New In | The Statement Staples

Nothing gets my bloggy heart racing more than a new release, so you can imagine my excitement when I had three drop through my (metaphorical) letterbox last week courtesy of those lovelies at The Hut Group. Now I've had a bit of time to tamper with and test out these colourful beauties I thought I'd give you a little low down on the new spring statement staples to hit our drugstore shelves...

One easy way of adding a statement to your look without adorning your face with crazy colours, is to adorn your nails with them instead and the all new Color Show Nail Polishes from Maybelline really fit the bill. Opaque in two thin coats with a glossy gel finish and serious staying power, these little gems come in at only £2.99, allowing you to change up your nail polish as much as the rest of your make up! The shade 'candy apple' is very Uma Therman in Pulp Fiction too which is always a plus... Next up Rimmel is getting in on the spring statement action with their new Scandal Eyes Rockin' Curves Mascara and Lasting Finish Colour Rush Balms. I didn't actually expect too much from the mascara because I really didn't get on with the original Scandal Eyes offering, but after using this for a couple of days it has definitely exceeded my expectations. While it still doesn't create the extreme false lash effect I crave and can feel a little wet, the curved brush creates an excellent curl and gives a good amount of both length and volume too, making it one to watch at a reasonable £6.99. The Colour Rush Balm has to be my hero product of the bunch though. You'd think the chubby stick dupe market would be saturated by now, but perhaps having Rita Ora on board and a £5.99 price tag has given these balms the edge they need to compete with dozens of crayon competitors. The shade 'all you need is pink' comes out a little less extreme on the lips than in the pan, but still has really good bright colour pay off, a super comfortable and glossy finish and leaves a stain that lasts pretty much all day with minimal top ups. The perfect statement lip for Spring and without the menthol smell (looking at you Revlon...). 

What are your statement staples?

Bright Lip & Bronzed Eye

Good morning lovelies! I'm going to try my best to upload a video every Sunday now and today's offering is a bright lip and bronzed eye makeup tutorial, which is a look I've loved for the past few months that's perfect for both day time and date nights. I haven't actually done a makeup tutorial since the Summer so there's been a big product shake up with lots of fabulous newbies working their way into my everyday routine such as the Bourjois Java Rice Powder, Benefit "Watt's Up!" and a seriously heavy duty mascara combo. I also début and demonstrate the fabulous Benefit Gimme Brow in this tutorial so you can see what all the fuss is about. The bright lip and bronzed eye are courtesy of two all time favourite products, No.7 'Gay Geranium' and the Maybelline Colour Tattoo in 'on and on bronze' which are both super easy one step statement products that instantly add something special to your look. If you're liking the sound of all this then why not give the video a watch and subscribe if you fancy a weekly dose of moving Meg. It would really cheer me up actually because I've been curled up on my sofa with a bug for the past two days and my phone charger decided to pack it in at the same time...thank god my girl Aaman is coming over later to perk me up with promises of dinner and the Spice Girls movie! 

What are your 'Sunday Statement' products?

Breakfast at Bill's

Happy weekend everyone! If you're anything like me then you'll have had one too many glasses of vino with the girls last night, very much enjoyed not setting an alarm for 6.30am this morning and now be applying some red lippy ready to search for sustenance. This is exactly what last weekend's agenda consisted of, so after a night out in Shoreditch I enjoyed a cuddle with the boy, slicked on a bit of 'lady danger' and ended up at Bill's in Angel for a spot of breakfast with Faye and Lydia. I've got to say it was one of the best breakfasts I've had and despite feeling (and most likely looking) a little worse for wear, the sunny day and adorable outside eating area aptly named 'Bill's Backyard' made me feel right as rain in no time! The menu was spot on- lots of fresh juices, smoothies and milkshakes to drink alongside every kind of breakfast you could want; savoury, sweet, meaty, veggie, healthy and a little bit naughty (my favourite). I've got the biggest sweet tooth so it took me no time at all to opt for the blueberry and buttermilk pancakes while the girls went for poached egg and sausage options. I need to give a special shoutout to Faye's ridiculous chocolate milkshake too, which gave me serious shake envy whilst I sipped on my mango juice...It was all so delicious though, in fact I'd say my pancakes were the best I've had to date because they were so light and fluffy with lots of fruit both in and outside. It was all at a really good price too with my ample pancake stack coming in at under £6, so if you fancy a brunch that won't break the bank and looks ever so pretty on Instagram, head to Bill's and start your day in a very yummy way! 

Have you breakfasted at Bill's?

The Skincare Shakeup | French Edition

Every time Spring approaches I get a sudden urge to give my skincare routine a little shakeup. It's probably down to the 'Spring clean' effect and fact my face is now seen in daylight outside the hours 9-4. So I was happy to say the least when Escentual let me choose some items from their fabulous French skincare brands. Ever since Bioderma became the beauty blogger's go to for make up remover, French pharmacy brands have been very much on my radar (and become one of the main lures of Paris), so choosing was a difficult task but I'm actually loving all my new bits already! The first thing I went for was the La Roche-Posay Effaclar Duo [+] because I'm such a firm fan of the original for the wonders it's worked on my skin in terms of blemishes and pores and I'm pleased to report the [+]- with it's additional property of battling red marks- is working just as well, if not better than it's predecessor. Another obvious choice was the infamous Nuxe Rêve de Miel which seems to be the beauty blogger lip balm and having used a grubby pot of scented Vaseline  for far too long I'm loving the nourishing effect this thick and creamy balm is having on my lips. I decided to pick up a couple of other bits from Nuxe too- the Masque Crème Fraîche de Beauté and Sérum Minceur Cellulite Incrustée (aka hydrating mask and body contouring serum for those of us rather rusty at French). The mask is really unique because instead of washing it off you just let it sink in for ten minutes before massaging in the excess, which makes it a great lazy gal mask for days when muslin cloths and sinks are far too much effort...we all have them. It also feels super soothing and hydrating, making it the perfect alternating partner to more drying deep clean charcoal based offerings. The contour cream was a bit more of a random option as I luckily don't suffer with cellulite too much, but with shorts weather coming up we could all use a bit of help to make sure the thighs look honed and toned with minimal emergency gym sessions. Last but not least we have the Vichy Idéalia Life Serum. I've never had a serum in my skincare routine before as I do find them a bit on the pricey side, but the promise this would perfect my element exposed overworked skin to the point I'd wear less make up reeled me in hook line and sinker and I'm very excited to give it a good go and report back. In the mean time you can get your mitts on all this skincare yourself for 30% off at Escentual throughout the whole month of March! If that's not a reason to shake things up French style, I don't know what is...

    What's in your Spring Skincare Shakeup?

Hairstyle How To | Big Messy Curls

Today I'm finally bringing you my most requested blog post/video- my everyday big messy curls hair styling routine! Ever since I went for the chop you guys have been asking how I create the bedhead look that I opt for most days and whilst it sadly doesn't just involve getting out of bed, it is a surprisingly easy and effective hairstyle to create which is wonderfully low maintenance throughout the day. My tools of choice are ghd's to sort out kinks, frizz and fringe followed by the Enrapture Encode Totem Styler, which is the best curling wand I've used as you can change the temperatures of the barrels to achieve different curls/waves. Essential products to this look are a good curl defining mousse- I opt for TRESemme or Pantene PRO-V, a firm hold hairspray and a nourishing oil for the ends. If you want to know full details then definitely give the video a watch and don't forget to subscribe if you enjoy it as I have more tutorials coming soon :) Moving on from hair talk for a moment I've just had the best weekend! It started with a girly mother daughter pamper day in Carnaby on Friday, then moved onto a night out in Shoreditch with my home besties followed by a day roaming Oxford Street with the boyfriend and a couple of nights with my sister who came down to visit. Needless to say I've got a date with a LUSH bath, copy of Cosmo/candle and my bed right now...

How do you create curls to covet?

    

Instagram in a pan | Topshop Crescent Moon

We all love the brightening, perfecting and generally fabulous effect of an Instagram filter right? Well I think I've found just the product to give you that faux glow in real life- Topshop 'Crescent Moon'. I've actually had this highlighter for a year or so but really struggled to find  a good way of applying it as I'm so used to cream and liquid formulas. However, this all changed back in January when the Real Techniques contour brush from the Core Collection came into my life and began operation 'complexion perfection'. Not only is this brush great for creating a killer bronzer contour, but also amazing at lightly dusting this pearlescent Topshop powder across the tops of the cheeks, brow bone and down the nose for a super pretty soft focus brightening effect that slims and enhances your facial features. It's even precise enough to do the whole Cupid's bow thing, resulting in contours and highlights even Kim K would be proud of! The actual Crescent Moon product is just as wonderful- it has a very flattering cool peachy tone and just the right amount of shimmer to give a glow without emulating the 'Edward Cullen in the sun' look. I love the name, the simple packaging, the below £10 price point and fact that a little goes a long way so it will last for ages. It really is the next best thing to having real life 'Valencia' and might even cause you to #nofilter...

What's your favourite faux glow?

The Weekender #1

ultimate sunday brunch / I blame Lily Pebbles / best street in London / #fangirlmoment / brow arch marching / Temples times / oh my. / spring has sprung / dem brows

Sometimes weekends are too good not to share, so I thought I'd start 'The Weekender' where I put the past few days into photos and parcel sized sections. Enjoy!

Go | I got to spend most of this sunny weekend in London and went to places such as The Savoy, Carnaby Street, Shepherd's Bush, Spitalfields Market, Buckingham Palace and my boyfriend's house. 

Do | This weekend was an extended one with fun work times on Thursday and a day off Friday so I managed to do rather a lot! The highlights were attending The Hut Group Prestige Beauty Awards, having dinner with my uni besties, indulging in a little Topshop trip, seeing Temples at Shepherds Bush and Brow Arch Marching with my main ladies on Sunday!

Meet | I feel like I managed to see just about everyone in one weekend as I stayed with my boyfriend, met up with both my uni besties and home girls and even met gorgeous Chelsea girl, Caggie Dunlop #fangirlmoment Special mention to a lovely subscriber I met called Isabelle and the lovely Pav for buying me tequila shots and Jagerbombs on Saturday...

Eat | I ate some really spectacular food (hence this week's health kick) and now can't recommend Bryon's and Breakfast Club enough. Bryon's does the best burgers and their Oreo milkshakes are to die for, whilst Breakfast Club is probably the coolest place on the planet- I got to my table by walking through a fridge and then coated all of my food- including eggs and bacon- in maple syrup. Need I say more?

Wear | As you can see from the photos above I'm keeping things simple and bold at the moment with my Zara pleather skort making an appearance at the Beauty Awards and Temples gig and Spring pastels and neons getting thrown into the mix on top. Essie 'Fiji' has also reappeared on my nails and is showing no sign of leaving again...

Buy | Not too much spending to report, but I may have given in to a certain neon yellow sweater from Topshop. I blame Lily Pebbles.

Love | Sunny weather, pink brow glasses, daffodils on my coffee table, my girls, strolling down Carnaby Street, lay ins with the boy, neon yellow, pancakes/milkshakes, Essie 'Fiji', raising money, my job, hearing my favourite songs live.

How was your Weekender?

February Favourites

As we're now getting well into March (how on earth did that happen?!) I figured it was time for me to do my February Favourites both in video and blog post form! February has to be one of my favourite months because it signals the end of the January Blues and means you have lovely things like Valentines and Spring to look forward to. My favourites certainly reflected Spring being in the air with pretty pastels Bourjois 'peach on the beach' and Ciate 'ferris wheel' barely leaving my lips and nails. In fact I treated my whole body to a bit of a seasonal update by layering on the Dove Summer Glow (Very possibly my favourite tan of all time) and La Roche-Posay Effaclar Duo like there's no tomorrow, resulting in the most tanned and clear skin my body's seen for a while! We also have a holy grail in this month's mix with the Bourjois Volume Clubbing Mascara- aka seriously underrated false lash transfer proof perfection- and for all those of you asking how I achieve my beachy bed hair, look no further than the perfect mouse/spray pairing from Pantene...

What were your Favourites of February?

Primark Homeware Haul | Spring Updates

As I write this post the sun is shining, the birds are singing and the daffodils on my coffee table are in full bloom, oh yes Spring is finally Springing- which naturally means I need to make a few new additions to my wardrobe, makeup bag and last but not least home decor! Having been a student for the past three years I'm not used to having such a nice grown up flat to fill so last week I popped along to Primark to get some pretty homeware pieces that would swing my flat into Spring. 

The main thing that needed updating was the reindeer blanket I had over my sofa, so I picked up this super cute floral throw that also happens to be super cosy (we all know snow can still happen in Spring!). I literally love the pattern and colours and it makes a very good blog background too, all for only a tenner! I've been on a bit of a mission to create my perfect girly room this year too which is going well with my rose covered duvet and shabby chic bunting, but I'm always on the lookout for extra touches that don't break the bank. So you can imagine I went a little bit crazy when I saw a basket of white wooden hearts for only £1 each. I could have bought the lot but restrained myself to getting just two and these are now hanging from my bedroom mirror and walls to continue the vintage shabby chic look I've got going on. Another outdated thing I had a lot of were Christmassy mugs so it was certainly time to introduce more seasonally relevant drinking devices. This meant I was very happy to find this pink and flowery thermal mug for just £2.50 as it not only makes drinking hot tea on the go a dream but also looks ever so pretty on my bedside table. Last but not least I picked up a pastel printed cosmetic bag as I'm always looking for nice ways to store spare makeup and this is also a good size for travelling, which at £4 a pop you can't go wrong. 

I've had a really fun start to an exciting few days today which began with breakfast at The Ivy for the Hut Group Prestige Beauty Awards. Benefit won an award, I got interviewed about my blog and also met gorgeous Chelsea Girl Caggie Dunlop! I then spent the sunny day working in the Carnaby Boutique before having dinner with my Uni besties at a London pub. I'm off for a three day weekend with the boy now which includes a Temples gig Saturday night and the Brow Arch March on Sunday- who said weekends were a time to relax...

Are you a fan of Primark homeware?

Get my 'GRAZIA Glow'

I had one of my biggest blogger 'pinch me' moments this week when I opened  a copy of GRAZIA magazine to find my face taking up half a page in the 'Beauty Hunter' section! The photo was from London Fashion Week when my minimal girly make up got snapped at Somerset House, but I never imagined it'd end up in one of my favourite weeklies! So seeing as GRAZIA branded my 'glowing barely-there' beauty look as one of 'Spring's hottest trends' I thought that I'd show you how I achieved it...

I started the fresh Spring look with a base of my beloved Bourjois Radiance Reveal Healthy Mix in '52' which provides a gorgeous dewy finish as well as flawless coverage with a sunkissed yellow toned shade. I then added a pop of peachy colour with the Bourjois Cream Blush in 'Healthy Glow' and a champagne sheen with Benefit Watt's Up! because this is the ultimate glowy healthy cheek combo. As this look is more about the base I kept the eyes very minimal, just adding a bit of definition with a flick of Rimmel Exaggerate Liquid Liner and a few coats of my holy grail Bourjois Volume Clubbing Ultra Black Mascara, making sure to also define my brows nice and naturally with the brand new 'brow wow in a bottle', Benefit Gimme Brow. The finishing touch came in the form of my favourite nude lipstick of all time, MAC 'Shy Girl', which is the prettiest peachy pink that gives you a bit of shine with it's cremesheen finish and also makes your lips smell of vanilla. Always a plus. 

One person very excited by this GRAZIA appearence was mama gunn who went out and purchased multiple copies immediately! I had a really lovely weekend with her actually as she came to stay and we did lots of shopping and gossiping before going for a roast with my dad on Sunday. I had lots of fun last night too hosting a Bene-style pancake party at my flat to create content for this Benefit blog post and tonight I think I'll be doing/eating much of the same so have a very happy pancake eve!

What are your top products for 'barely-there' beauty?