Naked Smoky

And so the stuff of beauty lover's dreams has happened again. Urban Decay have released another Naked palette into the army of nude eyeshadow enthusiasts. Except, this time the nudes have got a whole lot more smoky...

Naked Smoky is following its previous 3 palette counter parts with the promise to create the ultimate and ever coveted beauty trend, the smoky eye. I was lucky enough to be sent it by Urban Decay a few weeks ago, giving me lots of time to test and give you lovely lot the lowdown.

First off, they've nailed the packaging. As kitch as the paper of the orginal was and as covetable as the tins of 2 & 3 were, finally we have an outer that is as practical as it is instagramable. For a girl whose makeup often ends up at the bottom of a handbag/suitcase/random drawer, this is ideal. As is the brush the palette comes with actually- a dual ended chunky creation, the quality and shape of brush hair is spot on and allow me to create full blown smoky eye looks without even having to think about a MAC 217. But now the important part, the shades. I must say, having left my heavy black eye looks behind at uni in favour of a subtler hues, I wasn't the most excited at first sight. However, there are enough taupey, golden shades to create gorgeous bronzed day to night looks ('radar' is my first predicted pan hit) and an abundance of darker blue/purple/black shades to get your cat eye on if you fancy it. Smoky's mixture of shimmer and mattes is also sure to please all variety of the fussiest shadow lovers. The final stand out point I must make is how good the formulas are; creamy, buttery, pigmented and so long lasting that this morning's 'Victoria's Secret' inspired 'doe eyed' look I created using 'high', 'dirtysweet' and 'whiskey', survived from morning tube ride to evening spin class. Clearly smoky comes packed with super powers.

Will you be getting your smoky eye on this Summer?

New Beauty Launches

If you're looking for Summer's hottest new launches and a beauty lover's first thoughts on them, you've come to the right place. Enjoy this new video with a milky coffee & some form of avocado on toast. Happy Sunday all x

Food Files | What I ate last week...

Happy August folks! July seems to have just passed by in a flurry of hectic work life, fun social times and baby sitting my niece. Blogging didn't really get much of a look in (apologies for that) but the new month has brought back my blogging vigour. It's also encouraged me to join a gym and start eating that bit cleaner, so I wanted to bring this into my blog starting with the all new 'Food Files'. This will be anything from recipes to reviews, but I wanted to start with a simple 'what I ate last week' to offer a little insight into what usually adorns my plate and perhaps give you some food inspiration in the process...

Pumpkin Spice Overnight Oats // I discovered a new breakfast last week which has already become a go to favourite. I always struggle to fit breakfast in to my morning routine so these spiced banana oats, which you prepare the night before and eat out of a jar, are the perfect powerhouse of energy for gals on the go. I use the Alisha Marie recipe, then add chia seeds and baobab for an extra bit of goodness. 

Smashed Tomato on Sourdough // I've been spending lots of seaside weekends with my sister, her partner and my niece down in Portsmouth lately and they've just turned Vegan. Cue Meg exploring lots of tasty ways to live the vegan life- Nat's dark chocolate lolly creations are dreamy. This was a simple but delicious brunch, which involved placing smashed tomatoes with black pepper, parsley and garlic over freshly baked sourdough. 

Spier's Salads // I tend to get lunch from food markets in the Covent Garden area about once a week as there are so many fresh, tempting dishes to choose from. When I can resist the big chunky duck wraps (that takes a whole lot of will power...), I'll go for something protein heavy like a Spier's salad which has salmon, grilled chicken and lots of veggies.

Cookie Dough Bites // There's just got to be a sweet treat featured in here somewhere and these peanut butter chocolate cookie dough bites are all kinds of dreamy and pretty healthy too! The recipe comes again from the brilliant Alisha Marie, whose videos have taught me lots of ways to be healthy and indulge my sweet tooth. If you have any other healthy food bloggers that you love, please do let me know.

Are you a fan of the 'Food Files'? What did you eat last week?