New Addition to the Shoe Collection

Recently all I have wanted to spend my money on is shoes. I was never really a shoe person but now I can understand everyone's obsession with buying shoes. I really wanted a pair of heels to match a playsuit I got from H&M to wear to special occasions.

I brought these heels from Newlook today and I just had to show you. I love them! The heel is just what I wanted. They are not too tall but still give me the height and they are easy to walk in. I have seen this style around in the high street shops for example this, this and this. You can buy these heels here for £27.99 and you can get them for £25.19 if you have student discount. The shoes I have my eyes on next are these can you tell I am loving Newlook at the moment?

What do you think about these? What are your favourite pair of shoes at the moment?

Louise x

Mini Haul

When I say mini haul I really do mean a mini haul, I have 3 things to show you. I went into superdrug yesterday to repurchase my coco brown 1 hour tan and I had to look at the makeup stands.. afterall I did need to also repurchase my favourite foundation. The L'oreal stand had a 3 for 2 offer so I couldn't say no? These products I purchased are not new and have already been blogged about however I really wanted to try the other 2 products which are new to my collection.

L'Oreal Lumi Magique Foundation-£10.99
This foundation is good if you want a light coverage which can be built to a medium coverage. I like this because it looks very natural. The main reason I like this is because it is the first foundation I have found that has best matched my skin colour from the drugstore. I am still on the hunt for the perfect shade to match my porcelain skin as the non matching face and neck stresses me out when I am not tanned because there are more darker and medium shades that can be mixed together to get the right colour to match my tan colour. I also love how it is a dewy foundation as I am not a fan of the matte skin anymore. The shade I brought is rose pearl. From the image below you can tell the consistency of the foundation is runny therefore it will not be thick and heavy on the skin.

L'Oreal Lumi Magique Primer Pure Light-£9.99
I brought this primer as I always see Shaaanxo from YouTube using it and it helped to make her foundations dewy. I will be comparing this to the No7 illuminator I mentioned here as I love that under my foundation. The product comes out white and I cannot wait to try this to see how it makes my base look.

L'Oreal Miss Manga Mascara-£8.99
I needed a new mascara as the one I am using is drying up. When I saw this I had to grab it as I forgot all about this mascara. It has been hyped up with mixed reviews so I had to try it. I am excitied to see how this makes my lashes look and if it is really clumpy I will not enjoy this! I am also excitited to see how the wand works to make the lashes look good as it is bendy to help get right into the lashes.

If you have tried any of these products please let me know what you think! Now back to boring coursework *sigh*

Louise x

Beauty things I cannot live without

We all have those things we use that we can't live without and have to rush out to get when we have almost run out. I have also done the thing where I use something up and forget to repurchase and end up having to cope a day or two without it.

1. John Frieda Frizz Ease 3 day straight spray 

This is my main thing I need every time I wash my hair therefore I go through these so quickly. When I dry my hair after washing it my hair will turn into a massive ball of frizz and when I straighten my hair it will go frizzy the next second and I'm the type of person who wants their hair to stay straight all day. Now thanks to this product which I found out about from my friend Olivia I now have good hair days and my hair does actually stay straight for 3 days. This also helps to smooth out my hair and make it look better. 

2. Batiste dry shampoo 

For the days when I need a quick spritz to freshen up my hair this is the thing to turn to. When I have been busy and haven't had time to wash my hair when I should have this saves the day and also gives a little volume. 

3. Collection lasting perfection concealer

This makeup item should be a staple in anyone's makeup bag. Whenever I have a big breakout or more than a few I put a bit of this on and it's covered it up. It's amazing. It can also be used to conceal and highlight under the eye in a shade lighter.

4. L'oreal brow artist pencil

This eyebrow pencil is the best I have used so far. The ash blonde colour is the perfect match for my eyebrows. The colour hasn't got any red or orange tones into it is just ash! The application is easy and it lasts all day. 

5. Touch of Silver brightening shampoo

This stuff saves my blonde hair from the brassy tones that I do not want. It smells nice and I use it twice a week.

6. MUA power pout lip balm pen

These crayon balms from MUA are always thrown into my bag. They last for ages and wear off the lips without leaving any residue. You can touch them up without the finish becoming patchy from dry areas of the lips. They are so easy for on the go. 

7. Real techniques buffing brush

This brush just saves the look of my base, I think everyone should own this brush. It gives it an amazing finish and just the right coverage. It makes applying foundation quick and easy. 

8. Rihanna reb'l de fleur perfume

This is my go to scent for the winter. It's the smell that represents me as everyone has a scent they always wear. I also always get compliments when I wear it. I wouldn't say it's a summery scent but I guess you could get away with it in the summer evenings but I love it. 

9. Sudocrem

This may sound like a random weird product to be included in this kind of post but when I have a spot this helps it to calm it down and go away quicker. Its like magic in a tub.

10. Coco brown 1 hour tan

This tan is amazing and I use it all the time as I always have to be tanned even in winter I am just tan obsessed. I love how this tan can be used in many ways. I can go for a light look or I can leave it on night and I am a darker tan colour. Sometimes I will apply the tan twice and leave it over night for an extra dark tan which will last me a week. This tan is easy to apply and I have never had any problems with it. It is tinted so I can see areas I may have missed. I apply it with my sunkissed mit but any mit can be used with this.

What products can you not live without?

Louise x

No7 goodies!

No7 is a brand that doesn't really stand out to me whilst shopping in the drugstore and whilst there stand looks professional and high end like it still doesn't interest me and I never find myself looking at the products. My Nan on the other hand uses No7 products and enjoys them so I guess I see it as a more mature women's makeup brand. When my Nan gets free gifts with purchase she will give them to me and I am not really interested but I take them anyway like the makeup addict I am. 

In the cute packaged gift box I got a mascara, eyeshadow and a chubby stick(which was awful so I cannot include it in this picture lol) and a skin illuminator. I think I took the gift mainly because of the illuminator as I haven't got one of these in my collection and I have recently heard a lot about them.

The eyeshadow has very cute packaging and will look nice in your collection however the eyeshadow is meh, a greyish silverish colour with not so much pigment but still a nice colour but it wouldn't stand out to me if I was shopping for one of their eyeshadows. I haven't really used this so I don't have much to say about it but when I swatched it there wasn't much colour to show.

The mascara Exceptional Definition on the other hand is my new love. I have been having fights between my eyelashes and my eyelash curlers for a while. My eyelashes grow straight out and getting them in the eyelash curler is a struggle I definitely need a new one. When I was using my Maybelline the falsies it was making my eyelashes look awful they were not helping the eyelashes to curl however this mascara makes my eyelashes look amazing. The wand allows me to get right into the root and separates my lashes and never clump! The mascara is based on lengthening and defining the lashes and there are two sides to the wand. One which defines and lengthens the lashes and the other to add a bit of volume to the lashes. I like the way my lashes look with just the side for lengthening but I do use the other side of the wand to give some volume on natural days where I don't want a lot going on but still some volume. If I wanted more volume I would add another coat of a volumising mascara and then go back with this mascara to unclump my lashes. For everyday makeup this is perfect for me!

The skin illuminator which I think is new (correct me if I am wrong) is again my new love. On it's own it gives my skin a touch of dewyness and improves the look of my dry skin. I think it helps even out my skin tone on my skin and I would wear this on my skin alone if I was in a rush with my makeup with just some mascara. I also love using this before my foundation to make my foundation dewy. I have gone past the matte days and I am all about the dewy skin. This works perfectly at giving me the dewy skin with no glitter,shimmer etc. I have also mixed this in with my foundation and used on its own over foundation as a highlighter and it has still impressed me. I love it!

I am totally obsessed with the mascara and skin illuminator and I will be repurchasing them in the full sizes. Maybe my love for No7 products is coming alive! Have you got any No7 loves? Let me know.

Louise x

Dying my hair blonde!

Dying any hair colour blonde can be a massive struggle due to the upkeep and expense however if blonde is a colour you want to be then I would say all the effort is worth it but before you go blonde make sure you really want to be blonde before you waste your money on salon trips and hair care products.

I now have blonde hair and it has been a long process of getting to where I am now and I still want to be blonder. I have been dying my hair for about over a year now but before that I would get highlights but not regularly. Now that I have had the experience of dying my hair blonde it is a pain but it is 100% worth it to me. Naturally I have ginger hair no offence to any other people with ginger hair but I didn't like it on me, on other people I think ginger hair looks nice but I like the look of blonde hair and thats the hair colour I wanted to have!

When I had my first appointment at the salon to begin the process I had an all over colour of ash blonde mixed with another blonde colour. The reason for the ash colour to be mixed with the blonde colour is that I needed the ash to counteract the redness in my hair. After the colour had been left on for an hour it was time to wash the colour off. The hairdresser dryed my hair and I wasn't completely impressed on the colour it came out with as I was expecting a bigger difference so highlights were put through the top to make it more blonde which then I was then happy with till my next appointment.

I was told I should be having my roots done every 4 weeks but that is hard for me as I only work on saturdays. I pay for the appointments myself as my mum didn't want me to dye my hair therefore the only way I was allowed to do it was if I paid for it myself. I leave my roots till I feel like they need to be done. As I still have bits of my natural hair colour running through my roots don't look bad but as the process goes on and my natural tones are not visible anymore I will have to start going on more regular trips to the salon otherwise I will look ridiculous!

The end result I am going for is white blonde and even though it will take me a while I am pleased with the hair colour I have now. When people first meet me they have no idea what my natural colour is and I look naturally blonde. I think that any of you's reading who may have ginger hair and are thinking of dying their hair for the first time I would recommend going to a professional hair dresser rather than buying dye from boots or superdrug as if it goes wrong there is nothing you can do to get your natural hair colour back quick and fast. Sometimes dyes from the shops can turn your hair green and that is not a good look so I would pay the money rather than ruining your hair. I'd have the biggest mood on if my hair went wrong and I had to go out with it! When I see people who have dyed their hair blonde by themselves I never see it looking nice it is often orange or yellow. A girl I work with brought the L'oreal hair dye that was on adverts that said would give you platinum blonde hair however it just turned the hair yellow.

When I go to my hair appointments I will have highlights and the amount I have will change. I will have them at the top or at the bottom to take out the natural tones or I will sometimes have them at the top and bottom depending on how much I need. I will then have ash colour all over. The hairdresser will then wash my hair with normal shampoo then re-shampoo the hair with a purple/blue shampoo which takes out the brassy tones. On two occasions the shampoo had been over used or left on for too long and some bits of my hair had turned slightly greyish blue but it can be washed out with a bleach cleanse.

If you do have naturally ginger hair like me and you want to dye your hair I would recommend dying your hair blonde rather than brown. I'm not telling you that you have to dye your hair blonde but it would be a lot easier as when you have dark hair and naturally lighter hair the roots are more visible therefore if you have ginger roots and brown hair it will look silly but with blonde hair it looks better and I'd say ginger is more on the blonde side than brown.

My hair is fairly long and I do not wear extensions even though I get asked if I wear them a lot which annoys me so much! I do not do anything special with my hair to keep it nice however I think it is looks looked after even though I do straighten and dry my hair often without a heat protectant. The only products I use on my hair to style it is the John Frieda 3 day straight from the frizz ease line. I absolutely love it for keeping my hair straight. The hair products I use when washing my hair are the Touch of Silver brightening shampoo and the L'oreal Elvive shampoo for dry and coloured hair. Even though I use heat products and dye my hair my hair is still nice and I don't think I need a huge amount of hair care products to make it look nice but if you have any recommendations please leave them below.

I have some things for you to think about to help you decide if you want to dye your hair or not

• Do you have the money every 4-8 weeks to get your roots done?
• Go to a hairdresser you trust and who is good as you don't want it to go wrong!
• Do you have time to spend hours at the salon to get your hair done?
• If you like your hair colour but want a change make sure you do because it is expensive
• Buy blue/silver shampoo to care for your colour between appointments
• Colour will irritate your scalp, it itches so prepare yourself for 10 minutes of itching

Dying your hair to blonde will take a long time depending on your natural hair colour. If this is what you want to do then I say good luck! I sometimes get asked if i regret starting the process because of the upkeep and the cost but I say no as I love my blonde hair. I am also high maintenanced so I don't mind my trip to the hairdressers.

Did you find this helpful? I hope so. Please comment below if so!

Louise x 

The start of my MAC eyeshadow collection...

Uh-Oh yes, I have also been sucked into collecting MAC eyeshadows and I can tell I am going to have to fill a full palette in the future. I went to MAC on Tuesday and I already knew what eyeshadows I wanted yet I still stood there for ages swatching a lot of colours.

I bought my first two eyeshadows in the original packaging instead of the pan slots, and will be buying palettes to fill soon. I will re-purchase these colours in the future once I have used them all up anyway so it doesn't matter!

All that glitters is such a gorgeous colour and I am going to get a lot of use out of it as it's a colour you can wear all year round! Who doesn't love pink and glitter?

Espresso is a brown matte eyeshadow which is great for working into the crease. It compliments all that glitters well and I can tell this is going to be a eyeshadow i reach for a lot!

I am very pleased with my purchases and can't wait till my collection increases! What was your first MAC eyeshadow?

Louise x

My go to spring/summer makeup look!

The way I do my makeup changes all the time. Every day I will do the same thing even if I have extra time to spend doing my makeup but every now and then I like to mix it up a little and go all out. I am not an expert at makeup and definitely not when it comes to eye makeup but I am learning!

This makeup look is perfect for the days where you want to change up your makeup to something fun but don't want to look like you have over done it!  This look is also super girly!

Base

L'oreal Lumi Magique foundation & Rimmel Lasting Finish foundation

Collection Lasting Perfection concealer

L'oreal Lumi Magique concealer

Rimmel Stay Matte powder

Benefit Hoola bronzer

Benefit High Beam highlighter

Eyes

L'oreal Brow Artiste eyebrow pencil in blonde
ELF eyelid primer
MUA Undress Me Too palette
Collection Fast Stroke eyeliner
MUA eyeliner pencil
Maybelline Volum' Express The Falsies mascara

Lips

Revlon Matte Balm in showy

Just a little side note, you may be wondering what blusher I am wearing however, believe it or not, I am actually not wearing a blusher. I have also put concealer over my cheeks to try and hide the redness but it doesn't cover how pink my cheeks actually are. It is a good and a bad thing. Good- I don't need blusher Bad- it looks like i cant put on blusher properly sometimes..

Hope you like this makeup look! What are your favourite products to use this spring/summer?

Louise x