Eye Eye ;)

Hey Hey ♥

This post has been a long time in the making.. mainly coz I forget to take pictures of my eye make up or because i get up fairly early to go to work so the lighting isnt great

Now these pictures aren't fantastic but I thought I would show you some of the eye looks I've worn over the past few months... they are basically different variations of a bronzey eye shadow and black winged liner lol..

So here goes...

Here I wore fairly thick liner along with a few coats of mascara. I used the NARS eyeshadow 'Fez' on my eye lid and I used Illamasqua's 'Cane' pencil in my waterline to brighten the eye up a bit

Excuse the freakishly close up shot! This was taken after an 8 hour day hence the reason its looking a bit shabby, but this is an example of a thicker winged liner that I sometimes wear

This may look the same but this winged liner is thicker on the outer part of the lash line and tapers into a thinner line towards the inner part of the eye

Every now and then I will attempt to shake things up and not wear winged liner. In this case I used 'Creep' from the Naked palette to define the outer lash line and then applied  a generous amount of the Covergirl Lash Blast Volume Mascara

Again I substituted winged liner for a bit of dark eyeshadow on the upper lash line instead. Its a lot softer and a bit more natural :)

I know most of these look the same but they are just slight variations on my every day kind of look :) 

Love

Laura-Jayn

x

Botanics Skin Care

Hey Hey ♥

So I’ve always loved skin care and love taking my make up off just as much as I love putting it on but I'm not usually one for spending loads on products especially if they are in small quantities… However I'm totally obssesed with the brand Origins at the moment but before I goa nd speand a load of money on some stuff I want from them, I thought I would try out a cheaper alternative and also a brand that I’ve liked for a while now. I'm runnign out of a few of my favourite skincare things and thought I would try out something new

The Botanics range from Boots has various products for different skin types which I think is great and it may sound silly but my dad absolutely swears by some of their mens products. So whilst looking at the various products they do and reading reviews, I saw that Boots were offering 1/3 off the whole range. The toal amount of all these products was about £20 (and 30p if I'm being really precise!) which is about the same cost as 1 product from Origins so I feel like I've got some absolute bargains!! All the prices shown are what I paid for them wit the 30% off

So here’s what I got and why….

Shine Away Mattifying Day Cream SPF15 – 50ml - £3.33

So I got this as one of my other favourite mattifying moisturisers was the La Roche Posay one, however that was about £14 and I couldn’t justify spending that all the time. I've got high hopes for this product and although I don’t have really oily skin. Ive used this once and its nice and thick but sinks in quickly :)

Shine Away Mattifying Gel Cream – 50ml - £3.32

I got this mainly because it was still mattifying but it doesn’t contain any SPF like the day cream which would make it ideal for if I was going out and there was a chance id have my picture taken.  I was interested to see how this compares to the Clinique Moisture Surge which is also a gel and this sinks in just as quickly. I already prefer this to the cream version as  I feel its a bit lighter on the skin. But it makes a really nice base for make up :)

All Bright Hydrating Night Cream – 50ml - £3.33

I currently use the Olay Beauty Fluid at night but I also use it in the day aswell so I thought it would be good to try an actual night cream and see if I notice a difference.

All Bright Purifying Face Scrub – 75ml - £2.66

After falling in love with Origins ‘Modern Friction’ but not loving the £30 price tag that coems with it, I decided to try out this face scrub and see how it compares

All Bright Soothing Eye Make Up Remover – 150ml - £2.66

So my usual clenser Cetaphil does a fantastic job at taking off my eye makeup so I've never really needed a separate remover. I have now tried this and i found it was really oily and quite uncomfortable for me to use as i do wear contact lenses. I'm going to try and persevere but i definitely wont be buying this again.

 

Ultra Calm Gentle Clensing Cream – 250ml - £2.99

Although I love taking off my clenser with a muslin cloth, sometimes I don’t always have the time or access the the bathroom (due to the bf watching films on his phone in the bath!) so I love using cleansers that can be massaged in and removed with cotton wool pads. My holy grail is Cetaphil but I'm currently trying out one by Origins and will also be trying this so I will deinfitely be doing a comparison post in the future and letting you know if anything can knock Cetaphil off the best clenser throne!

All Bright Cleansing Face Wipes (x25) - £2.33

Now I mainly got these as if you spent £20 you got free delivery to a Boots store. However occasionally I I am staying over somewhere, I sometimes find it a bit of a faff to take my massive bottle of Cetaphil or a clenser and a muslin cloth, so I figured these could come in handy for over night stays as theya re a bit more portable and travel friendly

Even without the 30% off I feel the Botanics range is really afforable andhas lots of lovely products and also cheaper alternatives to hyped up (and often expensive) beauty products

The only thing i was a bit disappointed in was the packaging as it looked pretty basic after you took it out of the box. But this doesnt affect the actual product so im not too fussed.

I’m so excited to try out these product together and see how my skin likes them.. I will update you soon once I've used them for a while but if there are any products you would like a review on then please let me know and I will make a special effort to create an in depth review ith my thoughts on it :)

Love
Laura-Jayn
x

EOTD!!! - NARS Pleasure of Paris Palette

Hey Hey ♥

So I've never done and eye of the day or face of the day post before, so I thought I would start now!!!

Its surprisingly hard to get the true colour of the eyeshadows to show up but I've done my best :)

I used the Pleasures of Paris Palette...

Top (L-R) Nepal, Violetta, Demon Lover

Bottom (L-R) Fez, Abyssinia, Cordura

Here's what I did:

• I primed my eyes and put the shade 'Abyssinia' on the inner 3rd of my eye
• I then place the colour 'Nepal' onto the center 3rd of my eye and blended the 2 shades together so they fade into each other
• I then placed 'Fez' onto the outer 3rd of my eye and again blended with the previous shadow to fade them into one another. Its not showing up in the pictures but it created a nice gradutated effect
• I then used the shade 'Cordura' on a little brush and placed out along the lash line, concentrating on the outer edge and using a lighter, thinner amount to the centre of the eye
• I the put on a tiny bit of mascara just to darken the lashes slightly

I also teamed this with a Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stain in '015 - Cherish' just to add a bit of colour :)

I'd love to know what you think of this post and if you would like to see anymore :)

Love
Laura-Jayn
x

Most Worn Makeup Tag

Hey Hey ♥

I saw this tag on the lovely Rachel’s blog ‘Lifestyle of a Sweetaholic’ and as I haven’t done a tag in a while I thought I would do it as I love reading these kinds of things. These aren’t necessarily my current favourites or even products I use that much at the moment but they are the ones I've worn the most…

Lipstick – This one is easy because compared to my other lipsticks this one is nearly all gone!! It’s the 17 Mirrorshine lipstick in ‘Beehive’. It’s so easy to wear and feels like a lip balm when you put it on. It’s a gorgeous colour and good for every day. Not a fan of the packaging but it feels really nice on the lips

Lipgloss – I don’t really wear lipgloss now, but before I got into lipsticks I always used to wear this Clarins Lipgloss all the time. I haven’t worn it in ages but it’s the one I've technically worn the most so I thought I would include it. It’s clear with little pink sparkles in it and looks nice with any kind of look

Eyeliner – My most worn eyeliner is the MAC Gel Liner in ‘Blacktrack’. I wear this pretty much every day and it’s the 2^nd pot I've bought. I use a tiny little nail art brush to apply it and create my winged liner. I do fancy trying some other ones though when this one runs out

Nail Polish – I always have gel on my nails so I very rarely wear nail polish. However my most used nail polish is probably OPI’s ‘Elephantastic Pink’ which is pretty bright but I used to wear it all year round. Looks great on fingers and toes too.

Eyeshadow – This is a tricky one as I usually wear a bronze coloured eyeshadow and there are about 4 I mix and match from. However my most used is probably one by the brand 17 in ‘Chalice’. It’s a great colour and blends really easily.

Concealer – Easy: Collection ‘Lasting Perfection Concealer’. I've got through about 4 or 5 of these and will continue to repurchase it until I find something better for a similar price… which I can’t see happening any time soon!

Foundation – This is easy. My all time favourite foundation and more worn is the Bourjois Healthy Mix foundation. I used to repurchase this every time I ran out and id stock up when it was on 3 for 2 coz I loved it so much! I’m currently making a point of using up the other foundation I've bought but not liked as much and once they are gone it will be good old Healthy Mix back in my life.

Finishing Powder – Although it may not look like it, my most worn finishing powder is this one from Illamasqua. Its transparent (although I do find it makes my foundation look slightly lighter) but its gives a beautiful finish and doesn’t leave my skin looking too matte or anything. Although it’s my most worn powder I've still got loads left so this is going to last me for ages!

Blush – This is really tricky as although I never used to like or wear blush, I've somehow manage to buy loads of blushes recently… and I only ever use a tiny amount on my cheek bones! However I guess my most used is probably the Natural Collection Blush in ‘Pink Cloud’ as its one of the first ones I bought and I used to use it loads… although it doesn’t look like it.

Bronzer – It’s not the one I'm using at the moment but my most used bronzer of all time is definitely the Bourjois ‘Chocolate’ bronzer. I think this is my 2^nd or 3^rd one of these and I've used it since I started wearing makeup. Its last forever and I feel that its reasonably priced for the quality and the colour of it. I use this as a contour shade or an all over bronzer in the summer or if I've been on holiday

Mascara – This is hard because I don’t really wear mascara but I guess my most worn mascara is the Covergirl Lashblast Volume which I have been using loads recently. One that I used to use a lot ages ago was the L’Oreal Telescopic but don’t have the tube anymore

I've tried each little section shorter than normal as I end up going into mini reviews of each product and the blog post ends up being like an essay!! However if you do want a review on a particular just leave a comment below and I’ll be more than happy to do it

I forgot how much I like doing tags, so if you know of anymore or if there’s a particular one you’d like me to do then let me know… and feel free to leave the links to your blogs if you’ve done this tag too!

Love

Laura-Jayn

x

Birthday Series #4 - NARS 'Sun Kissed' Gift Set

Hey Hey ♥

So here’s the 4^th and final part of my Birthday Series. I hope you’ve enjoyed the reviews I've done so far :)

So the other gift set I'm going to review is the NARS ‘Sun Kissed Gift Set’. As I mentioned in Part 3, I love the ideas of these gift sets as it gave me the chance to try out some new products and see if I like them without spending a lot on the full size products

Oil Free Pro Prime – This was one of the main products I really wanted to try out in this set as it’s a pore refining primer. I have to say I didn’t find it as good as The Porefessional for minimising the look of my pores, however as an all over primer and a base for my makeup I absolutely loved this. I don’t know what it is about it but it made my foundation look flawless but in a really natural way. I would definitely consider buying this primer but I would want to try out a few cheaper alternatives first.

Laguna Illuminator – This is great for the summer for a bronzed yet glowing look, perfect for creating that bronzed goddess look. Laguna has much more pigmentation than the Orgasm Illuminator and looks fantastic on the skin. I cant see me ever using up a full size version of this but I can see this little one being a firm favourite next summer and on holiday

Blush Duo – Hungry Heart (I) & Desire – Like the Love Rite set, this duo has the shade ‘Desire’ in it, so I won’t talk too much about it. Hungry Heart is great as a highlighter however, be warned that it does contain more chunky glitter than you’d find in a highlighter. Not necessarily appropriate for everyday wear, but great for going out or for an extra sparkle in the sun.

Out of the 2 sets I think I prefer the Love Rite set slightly more however I still love this set

I would definitely purchase more of these gift sets in the future as they are, in my opinion, good value for money and I very rarely finish a whole blush/ lipgloss/ highlighter, so these smaller version allow me to try a wider variety of products for my money. These are great for travelling and I really can’t say enough good things about them.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this series and it’s been helpful. I’ve totally fallen for both Origins and NARS as brands and would definitely purchase more things from them in the future. For now I'm going to enjoy the makeup I have and hopefully you’ll see some more Empties/ Make Up Shake Up posts from me soon

Love

Laura-Jayn

x