NOTD: Cheap As Chips Taupe

I have an unhealthy obsession with taupe - especially when it comes to eyeshadows, dresses, and especially nail polishes. The variety of taupes I have in my collection is slightly appalling! Yet I've added a new one to my collection a couple of weeks ago, for a grand total of £0.99 from H&M - and I think it's actually one of my favourite taupes!

And it's excellent quality! It has a nice gloss to it, the brush is round but has enough give to become flat when painting, it dries relatively fast, it stays on for a lot longer than the likes of Rimmel Lasting Finish or Lycra Pro, and you really only need 2 layers to get that opacity. As you can see, it's not a huge bottle - but that means you're more likely to use it up before it get gloopy :) Did I mention the colour is the prettiest milky taupe?

I also found that having a gold glitter polish is a great thing - it helps to bling up and kind of liven up a gorgeous cream shade :)

Have you tried any of the H&M polishes? :)
Who's as much of a taupe feind as I am?!

<3yu

"Back to Japan": Cheeks

The second part of my "Back to Japan" series will be blushers and bronzers. I think in terms of make-up, they are one of my favourite things to play with, alongside foundation and powders :)

I borrowed my mom's camera which I got her for her 60th birthday present - is the quality noticeably different? It's 14.1 Megapixels, where my usual one is like 6.5 Megapixels! I haven't tested out the video quality but if it's good, I might pick one up for myself! What do you think?

Again for blusher/bronzer, I went for a wide range of colours as well as different finishes for bronzers. As you can see from the picture above, loads of different brands so I don't get bored while I'm away from the rest of my goodies! (Although it's obviously not enough to keep me from lusting after so many..)

Bronzers

L: CANMAKE Shading Powder in 02

(A matte bronzer for sharp contouring - haven't used yet :P)

C: Rimmel Sunshimmer Bronzer in Medium Matte

(A really soft pearly bronzer, great for everyday soft contouring - use EVERY day! Hoping to replace with NARS Casino - yay, nay?)

R: CANMAKE Bronzing Foundation in 02

(Great for when I get ridiculously pale foundation samples, just to dust it over. Otherwise it brings out the yellow undertones in my skin way too much if I use it as a contour - therefore my choice of NARS Casino over Laguna!)

L to R: CANMAKE Foundation 02, CANMAKE Shading Powder 02, Rimmel Medium Matte.

Blushers

L: NIVEA Stay Real Blush in Shades of Rose

(Was a candidate for a natural blush for my graduation - haven't worn yet!)

C: Melliesh Blush in Burnt Orange

(Good to have to warm up blushers or to use alone)

R: Illamasqua Cream Blush in Rude

(No need for a brush/good summer colour = no way I was leaving it behind :))

L: NARS Luster

(My blush lover since I got it - been wearing it almost everyday! Lovely natural sun tan peach :))

C: NARS Orgasm

(My favourite pink blusher, had to come with!)

R: NARS Torrid

(Was my go to blush until Luster - atm wondering if it's a bit too clowny for my tan.)

L to R: Melliesh, Illamasqua, Nivea (darker shade), Nivea (lighter shade), NARS Luster, NARS Torrid, NARS Orgasm

So there you go! :) That's what I brought back with me, and I probably could've done without the Nivea or the Melliesh blush, and maybe even the CANMAKE stuff - but that may change as my skin is getting lighter again!

What have your go-to blusher/bronzer been recently? :)

<3yu

I'm Obsessed - Essie Curtain Call & CANMAKE Jewel Glitter Nail

I just wanted to show you guys the nails I've been sporting for the past couple of days, and have NOT stopped looking at, I still can't get over how in love I am with them. This is the nail polish that, despite being extortionate in Japan and cheaper in the UK, I HAD to have on the spot, and another one which I think is a close dupe of Deborah Lippmann's Boom Boom Pow:

Essie Curtain Call & CANMAKE Jewel Glitter Nail in 02

I think this pic is more accurate but the first one looked prettier ;P

Look at that BLING BLING! AHHH!

After my last mixed encounter with Essie, I was surprised that even at an higher price, I was so desperate to have Curtain Call. Curtain Call is a baby pink pearl with a hint of peach which brings the most elegant touch to your fingertips. As far as I could tell, this was much too graceful for my personality, but the colour was so gorgeous I wore it around for a day :P

Then I discovered CANMAKE's Jewel Glitter range and fell in love with this gold and instantly thought of Deborah Lippmann's Boom Boom Pow, and thought it would look amazing with the previous day's purchase, if only to add a bit of edge to the princess-perfect nails :P

Ugh, *melts* - I LOVE IT I LOVE IT I LOVE IT! (If I say so myself.. which I do.)

I apologize for the gradual chipping at the roots, I haven't had the chance to photograph in natural sunlight and couldn't pass up doing a post on this so I waited a few days :P

However I hope you can look past that, and see some serious chic nudeness going on. I absolutely adore it, it's something about the elegance of Curtain Call, and the modest bling of the Jewel Glitter Nail - Idk how to describe it but if you couldn't tell, I'm in love! Although next time I may put the bling on all fingers.. what do you think?

And the best part is that Curtain Call is a colour that makes you look polished and that you can wear for absolutely anything, and CANMAKE's Jewel Glitter Nail can add a bling to any other nail polish :)

I know it's hard to get a hold of CANMAKE abroad, but I still recommend Essie Curtain Call 100% - the formula is thick and decently pigmented, and while I'm still not a fan of the brush as it's round, the application was pretty okay. All of this is overlooked by the fact that the colour, in my eyes, is the spot-on pearly nude, and will join my other go-to nude nailpolishes! :)

What do you think? :)

What's your perfect all-around polish?

<3yu

What I Took To Malta: Beach/Pool Make-Up!

I'm back! Hello to the new followers, and a big I-missed-you hug to the old! Malta was absolutely gorgeous and the perfect wind-down from 3 years of uni. Ben and I also found out that we have graduated with a 2:1 on our degrees - so it was a great week in general!

Today I'll show you what I brought to Malta - hopefully you can take away what I think is great to have for a beach holiday, in case some of you are off on one soon! We had a 15kg limit so a lot of the stuff were compact :)

Before that, I'll show you some snaps of our week there :) We stayed at the Radisson Blu on Golden Bay, courtesy of Ben's aunt for his 21st - we were there with Gary Neville!

Mokka Bar - We always had after dinner drinks here :)

Our kitchen/dining room/living room - I KNOW! We had a suite! :D

TV in bathtub - very convenient for the Wimbledon season! :)

Golden Bay

The pool

The Malta busses - 54p to the capital! :O

Streets of Valetta

 Ben & I at the Grand Harbour

Honestly, I am struggling a bit with a lack of foundation/powder/concealer to match my skin! I also got my nails done, which was fun - OPI Glitzerland is very pretty! On days where we weren't by the pool or the beach, we went to other places like St. Julian's and Mdina - I think my favourite was Valetta - it is absolutely gorgeous!

On to the make-up!

I bought myself a brand new make-up bag for this holiday, and it's this baby from Glitzy Glam. It is so much fun to come up with your own bag, and it's absolutely massive! You can see more in my June Favourites video :) Anyway, this is great for if you're going anywhere for over a week. It also fitted my brushes, moisturizer, and my mini-shower stuff too.

I brought loads of make-up, but the ones I used were things that gave me the most natural and beachy look - here are the kinds of things I'd recommend to someone who is off on a sunny holiday :)

- NIVEA Stay Real Blush in Shades of Rose

This is a great summer shade because it's like a really tanned pink, so it's very natural and goes with the golden glow of a tan! :) Anything else felt too unnatural and unbeach-like because it was too much of a pop of colour.

- CANMAKE Gokubuto Mascara

Waterproof mascara is a must - this one is also natural, in that it separates and lengthens so it was good for a natural beachy look.

- MAC Paint Pot in Rubenesque

I only wore this in the evening, just to add some colour on my eyes - it's a bright gold with a salmon duochrome, which again compliments a tan, and you don't need a brush!

- UNE SkinGlow Pencil in G04

I didn't really use this too much - it got too light as my tan grew! But it's still a great summer-time product that opens up your eyes and no worries about the black eyeliner melting :)

- Lipice Suncare SPF25

Somehow a lipstick seemed too unnatural, and I felt like with such a dark tan, a natural lip was best. So I used this lipbalm with SPF the most, and the lemon-scent is gorgeous! :)

- MAC Moisture Tint in Medium Dark SPF15

While the Bourjois Healthymix was light and natural enough for a beachy feel, I didn't need a lot of coverage because of the tan and my blemishes were going away with the healthy amount of sun! The SPF was a good reassurance too :)

For the bath essentials, I brought mini-things of my favourite body wash and cleanser - the Bodyshop Grapefruit Shower Gel and the Liz Earle Cleanse & Polish. I also brought the BodyShop Grapefruit Body Butter, which helped a lot with dried out sunkissed skin!

The biggest difference from my usual routine was my shampoo and conditioner - the LUSH Godiva Shampoo/Conditioner Bar. I picked this because 1) it smells amazing and 2) it's a 2-in-1. It is far from the best haircare, and I felt my hair wasn't in the best condition, but it's definitely a good product for holiday :)

So there you go! I had an amazing time, and I'd definitely want to go back to see more of the country some time. The atmosphere, the architecture, the culture - everything was lovely! And I hope you got some good tips for products or what kinda stuff you might wanna bring to your holiday :)

Who else is off on holiday?
What are your beach holiday must-haves? :)

<3yu

A Bronzer Phase

A year ago, I don't think I knew what bronzer was! Recently I've been going through a bronzer phase, lusting after bronzers left right and centre! I kinda got this idea from Tiffany, who did a post on her favourite bronzers - I'm 99.9% sure her post is what triggered my bronze lust!

Before I show you the wishlist, I'll show you my collection.. because of my late start on this wonderful tool, my collection is quite lacking..

Clockwise from Top: Rimmel Sunshimmer Bronzer, CANMAKE Bronzer/Foundation, CANMAKE Shading Powder

Rimmel Sunshimmer Bronzer in Medium Matte

This has been my go-to bronzer for the past month or so - it has a slight pearlescent finish (NOT matte :P) that makes it great for a soft contour. The pigmentation isn't superb, but it's not so bad that you can't get any colour - it's right inbetween, which makes it a no brainer bronzer.

CANMAKE Bronzer/Foundation in Copper Bronze 02

This has almost a yellow tone to it, which makes it more of a tanner for me. If a foundation is a bit light, or if I've fake-tanned a bit much, I can dust this over my face and it brings my face back to the right colour. Handy, but I don't reach for it too often.

CANMAKE Shading Powder in 02

This is my favourite matte bronzer, that I use mostly for a sharp contour. It is so finely milled and pigmented, and works great with a MAC 109.

Hard Candy Baked Blush in Bombshell (left)

This one is more of a copper-toned blusher, in that it has a sheen to it, so it can't really be used as a contour, but it works as a bronzer on the cheeks. It's great for a sunkissed look, but sometimes I find it a bit difficult to pull of because of the reddish tones.

MAC MSF in So Ceylon (right)

This is another blusher-type product, but definitely no good for contour. It has more of a pink to it than Hard Candy Bombshell, which makes it a bit easier to wear. That being said, it has the same purpose of giving me a sunkissed look, or for subtle cheeks when I have a lot going on with my eyes/lips.

L to R: CANMAKE Shading Powder, CANMAKE Bronzer/Foundation, Rimmel Sunshimmer Bronzer, Hard Candy Bombshell, MAC So Ceylon.

I think my two favourite bronzers are the CANMAKE Shading Powder and the Rimmel Sunshimmer Bronzer - those 2 I will more than happily repurchase!

So what am I missing?

The first on my wishlist is the Chanel Soleil tan de Chanel - the infamous cream bronzer. This is mainly for the fact that it's cream, and for its multipurpose functions i.e. as a base, to darken foundation, etc.,

The second is NARS Laguna. I'd like something that's not completely matte but not completely shimmery, and I love the NARS blushers so much that it wouldn't make sense not to try the bronzers!

There's a tie in third place, and that's between Benefit's Hoola and Dior's Original Tan. They are both quite matte, but the thing with Dior's Original Tan is that there are lighter shades that I could use for a subtle contour, where as Hoola is a pretty standard contour, like my CANMAKE Shading Powder - that being said, it's hard to miss out on a raved-about bronzer like Hoola!

What is your favourite bronzer? Any other bronzers that should be on my wishlist? :)

<3yu