Weekly Wishlist: Beauty Edition

I haven't done a Weekly Wishlist for quite a while now so I thought that today I could let you see what products are at the top of my wishlist (also known as, next time I go shopping some of these might be coming home with me).

Firstly the St. Tropez Gradual Tan In Shower Lotion sounds like a great summer product. From what I have heard it is a relatively quick and easy way to get a bit of a summer glow which is essential for me to save me from looking like a ghost. The Max Factor Creme Puff Blush looks like a good alternative to the highly raved about Hourglass blushes. I haven't tried the Hourglass blushes but I think I would want to try these first before I splash out on the Hourglass version. After watching many of Hello October's tutorials I think I need to pick up the Collection Fast Stroke Liner as I have loved doing a cat eye recently and she makes it look very easy with this product. And it is only £2.99, bargain. With summer weather being promised this week SPF will be an essential and incorporating it into your skincare routine is a very easy way to ensure your skin is protected from the sun's harmful rays. The Kiehl's Ultra Light Daily Defence has SPF 50 which is pretty high for a moisturiser and I have heard that it isn't too heavy on the skin like some SPF products. The Bumble and bumble Sunday Shampoo has been on my wishlist for so long. It is a shampoo that is meant to detox your hair and remove any left over products or pollutants that you don't want in your hair. Sounds like a good way to make your hair look and feel healthier. My skin is usually pretty clear but from time to time it is troublesome and it looks dehydrated and there are a few spots on my forehead. Sometimes I need to use a clay mask in order to help clear my pores and help my skin feel really clean but for the most part clay masks are very stripping and drying. The Charlotte Tilbury Goddess Skin Clay Mask promises to help clear the skin whilst at the same time hydrating it to help it look more dewy and radiant. Sounds like it might be worth the splurge. Finally the Chanel Rouge Coco Lipstick is something I would really like to try. I feel like anyone who loves makeup should have at least one Chanel lipstick in their life and since I currently do not own a Chanel lipstick, I think I need to make a purchase of one soon! Any shade recommendation would be very useful!

What things are currently on your wishlist?

Chloe

xoxo

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Review || Clinique Blushing Blush Powder Blush

The Clinique Blushing Blush Powder Blush in Iced Lotus has been a favourite of mine ever since I got it and I have mentioned it many times over here in favourites and makeup look posts. It only occurred to me the other day that I hadn't actually dedicated an entire post to reviewing this blush before, so that is what I am going to do today.

Firstly the packaging is gorgeous (although mine is a little different as I think it was a sample in one of Clinique's goody bags that you get when you spend over a certain amount). But both mine and the actual packaging is mirrored and looks very sleek. It also has a decent sized mirror on the inside, which is great for checking your makeup and for when you apply it originally. The full sized version also comes with a brush and from experience these brushes are really soft and pretty good considering they are a brush that comes with a product.

The product itself is so buttery that it is really pigmented and easy to apply and blend into the skin to add a flushed appearance to the skin. The colour I have, Iced Lotus is a gorgeous blue pink with a hint of shimmer, but nothing to glittery that you look too disco glitter ball! The pigmentation is so amazing that you really don't need a lot of product to have a blushed look to the cheeks, meaning that this product should last for ages.

My only criticism of this product is that because the powder is so buttery it is very fragile. I have two of these (the other one is in the shade Smouldering Plum and is a small sample size) and both of them have broken in some shape of form. So even though this is one of my favourite blush products I don't take it with me on holiday if I am travelling by plane because I don't want to risk breaking them any more!

Overall I think this is an amazing product and there is a wide variety of colours from pinks to corals to plums shades, so there should be a shade for everyone.

Have you ever tried this blush before? What did you think of it?

Chloe

xoxo

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How to Avoid Overpacking

Image source. Edited by me

Firstly, before we begin I am a major overpacker and any family or friends reading this will probably be laughing and thinking I should take a leaf out of my own book blog but I have done my research and I am hoping to put these things into practise over the summer months. 

Over packing is really easy and so many people do it. I am one of those people who is a 'what if I need insert name of clothing, makeup item, furniture etc etc. I am also one of those people who will buy new clothes for their holiday, buy way to many for the 5 day trip I am taking and then feel I have to take everything with me otherwise I might regret it later, only me? So after thinking about this and researching I have found a few tips to help us avoid overpacking.

Plan, plan, plan

Write lists, and refer to things like the weather forecast so that you don't take unnecessary clothing with you. If the whole time you are away it is going to be sunny and 30 degrees I don't think you need to pack your winter jumpers and fluffy socks. Equally if it is going to be snowing and -10 degrees don't pack your summer clothes, just in case there is suddenly a heatwave. If you do you will only result in having to pay extra for your overweight bag.

Take multi-purpose products

This is especially useful if you are taking carry-on only as you can only take a certain amount of toiletries with you in your carry-on bag. Products I think are great for this are cream blushes. They can be used on your cheeks and your lips and come in one tiny little pot. Also think about what you will be doing when you are on holiday. If you are going on a beach or pool holiday and plan to spend your days relaxing in the sun you are probably not going to need much makeup, especially not your heaviest coverage foundation, so instead take something like a tinted moisturiser which you could apply an extra layer of over any blemishes. Only take products your either will need or already use on an everyday basis (so put down that 5th black eyeliner, you don't need it!)

Pack clothing you love to wear and that is versatile

This way you know you will wear it and that you like to wear it and if it is versatile you can mix and match it throughout your stay. Stick to a colour scheme (mine is usually monochrome) as then you know most things will look good with the rest of the the things you pack. For example the kimono that looks great as a cover up at the beach but also looks amazing with that dress you want to wear to dinner, pack it as you can get multiple uses out of it and it won't take up too much room.

Pack in Advance

Last minute packing usually results in you throwing everything into your bag and getting to your destination and realising that nothing goes together and you have packed for the wrong climate. You will take too much stuff that if you had planned in advance wouldn't be with you on your trip. Leave yourself plenty of time to be able to plan and be able to narrow your choices down, otherwise you will have to sit on your bag to shut it,

I hope this post is useful. How do you avoid over packing?

Chloe

xoxo

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Things I Want To Do This Summer

Since summer should be here right now, although as I type this I am wrapped up in a winter jumper looking out at a very grey and cloudy day, I thought it would be nice to write about some of the things I would like to do this summer. It is about 3 or 4 weeks until I am officially on my summer break and I am very excited for a summer of relaxing, blogging, seeing my friends and a little bit of travel thrown in for good measure. There are a few things I would love to do over the summer months and today I thought I would share some of them with you.

Image source. Edited by me.

Go to Brighton

After seeing Brighton in vlogs and on blogs like Hello October I would really love to spend a day in Brighton. I live about an hour and a half away from the beach town so it won't be too much of a trek to get down there and on a sunny day I can imagine it would be lovely to stroll down the Lanes and visit the pier. I might also need to try some of the doughnuts from the pier as they look amazing!

Image source: left and right

Travel

This summer I have two trips planned and I am very excited for both of them. Firstly Amsterdam and then Spain. Both are with my family and I am equally excited for both of them. I have never been to Amsterdam before and am keen to visit some iconic places like Anne Frank's house and maybe go on a canal trip (I have a few blog posts planned for after my trip, something a little like my Californian one from last year). I am also looking forward to going to Spain as I have been most years for the past 7 or 8 years and since I am currently studying Spanish it might be useful to practice speaking the language while I'm out there!

Image source. Edited by me.

Read

I love reading and so far this year I have managed a book a month, but over the summer I would like to read more. I don't have a set goal but I do I have quite a lot of books at home waiting to be read. I really want to read the rest of the Shopaholic series by Sophie Kinsella as I absolutely adore those books (or anything by her for that matter) and I would also love to read the Lindsey Kelk I Heart series, as I have heard some pretty good things about them. Can you spot a common theme with the types of books I like to read?!

Image source. Edited by me.

Visit new places

Now that both me and my best friend are able to drive I would love to visit more places nearer to wear we live that I have never really been to before. I am not sure where exactly yet, but I don't think travelling to other countries is the only way to discover new things and visit new places. And it should be slightly cheaper than going on a holiday abroad which requires going on a plane and booking hotels! 

Image source

Blog

So far this year I have been a lot more organised with my blog and more motivated to write than I have in previous years. This summer I would love to spend more time writing posts, learning how to use my camera and improve my photography. I also plan to have a new post up every weekday (5 posts a week, am I mad?!). It will be hard work but I really want to try and post more regularly throughout July and August.

So there are some of the things I want to do this summer. What are some of the things you would like to do?

Chloe

xoxo

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Review || Maybelline Brow Drama

When it comes to my brows, I have a very love-hate relationship with them. I need to fill them in becasue without doing so I look like I have no eyebrows but if I do fill them in they never look quite right. I'm talking either too bushy or too thin or too obviously filled in or not filled in enough etc. etc. One of the products that I have been using for the past year or so on my brows is the Maybelline Brow Drama in Dark Blonde, a tinted brow mascara to help set your brow into place whilst adding some colour to them as well. If you had fuller brows than mine you could use this as your one and only brow step, but for someone like me this is the perfect product to finish your brow routine with.

In the past I have used brow mascara that have left my brows feeling very crispy, very unnatural and obvious that there was product there, which I really didn't want. This Maybelline offering is quite the opposite. It adds a little bit of colour to my natural brow hairs without the overly crispy look and feel of some other products.

Another amazing thing about this product is the shape of the wand. It has a little ball shape on the end to help sculpt your brow hairs into the shape that you want them and to help tame any hairs that insist on going the opposite direction to the rest of the brow hairs.

The wand also doesn't apply too much or too little product meaning your will always get a little bit of colour without being left with wet brows and you can really control the amount of product that you have by adding another layer if needed.

If you are after and quick, easy and affordable way to add tint to your brows, or are after a good product to set your brows into place, this is your one. I love it so much that I am currently on my second or third tube of this which is rare for most brow products.

Have you ever tried this product?

Chloe
xoxo

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Things Only People With Red Hair Will Understand

Since my 'Things Only People With Curly Hair Will Understand' post went down quite well I thought that I should do a 'Things Only People With Red Hair Will Understand' post, since there are quite a few things us red haired gals will understand, that our brunette and blonde friends might not.

Source

1. 'Is that your natural hair colour?!'
If I had £1 for every time someone that I have just met has said this to me I would be very rich. People can't seem to believe that my natural hair colour can be this shade. This question is then sometimes followed up with 'It can't naturally be that colour though!'. Um, it is and somehow I think I am aware of the colour that naturally grows from my head. It's been this colour since I was born, so yes, it is natural.

Source

2. 'You look exactly like <insert some read headed celebrity>'
Also sometimes if someone ever sees a red haired child, it is obviously a mini-me. Yes I know that there are less red headed people around but it doesn't mean we all look the same. I don't say to my brunette or blonde friends 'Oh it's a mini-you' every time I see a kid with the same coloured hair, because we all look different from one another.

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3. The sun is absolutely not our friends
Most of us our very pale and if we go out in the sun without a decent amount of sun cream, we will turn into a lobster. And tanning is not an option. I do change colour in the summer but it isn't noticeable enough for anyone to notice so sunbathing is a pointless task. We just gain a lot of freckles as soon as the sun comes out apart from the few natural red heads who do tan, we hate them...

Source

4. Some colours simply do not suit us
Some shades of pink, red, orange, yellow etc. etc. will simply never look good as long as we have our red hair. I know that there are no rules saying that we can't wear these colours but to be honest I would rather feel comfortable with what I'm wearing. Some of us suit different shades of the above colours so they are not completely written off, but sometimes sticking with my monochrome wardrobe makes things a whole lot easier.

Chloe
xoxo
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Review || Real Techniques Sculpting Brush Set

Real Techniques brushes are some of the most popular brushes in the beauty community and are quite possibly one of the biggest product successes from the blogging and YouTube world. I, like many others, got very excited when I saw this beautiful set, the Sculpting Set,was being released that I knew I had to get my hands on it.

This set contains two brushes from the permanent line, the Sculpting Brush and the Setting Brush, and one that is exclusive to the kit, the Fan Brush. The brushes have a metallic pink handle and the Sculpting Brush hasn't got such a chunky base as the normal one making it a little easier to store! I would say that if you already own the two brushes from the permanent line this set probably isn't worth spending the money on, but if, like me, you didn't already own these brushes it is a good purchase to make as it is only £20.99 for three brushes (that's about £7 per brush!).

The Sculpting Brush is a dense, wide, angled brush that I have been loving for creating the illusion of cheekbones  on my cheekboneless face. I also think that this brush would be perfect for blending out foundation/tinted moisturiser as it is quite dense and, although I haven't used it for this purpose, I think it would do a pretty good job.

The Fan Brush is probably my favourite from the set, especially as I currently don't own a brush like it. Having very few bristles it applies powder products extremely lightly, so is perfect for those of us who want to set everything in place and get rid of shine without looking matte. Not only have I found this brush amazing for setting powder, but I have also really enjoyed using this brush for bronzer and really pigmented blush as it applies a light dusting of product without looking too harsh or intense. I also think this brush would be perfect for applying highlight as it would be hard to go overboard with product.

The Setting Brush is the perfect multitasking brush as it can not only be used to set product into place (as the name suggests) it could also be used for contouring and highlighting. I have used it for both setting and contouring and can say that it is amazing at both functions. For setting it applies a decent amount of product and I have liked using this under my eyes, especially on days when I am wearing minimal amounts of makeup. For contouring, this brush allows you to be really precise, but you can also blend product out so there are no harsh lines.

Have you got your hands on this set?

Chloe

xoxo

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May Favourites 2015 || Makeup Look

This favourites post is going to be slightly different to any of my previous ones. Last month I didn't have many new or different favourites than previous months so I didn't really want to do a favourites post which was almost identical to last months. Instead I thought that I could do my current everyday makeup look that I have been wearing throughout May. May wasn't really a makeup wearing month as I had my exams and I also got ill halfway through the month so makeup was really too much effort. However I did make a few rediscoveries throughout the month and some old favourites do pop up here and there, so let's do this!

For the face I have been loving the NARS Sheer Glow Foundation in Mont Blanc recently. I haven't used this in about 6 months and after using it for my dance shows this month I remembered why I fell in love with this in the first place. It has amazing coverage but is really lightweight on the skin and it leaves your skin looking radiant and dewy. I have also been loving using the NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer in Chantilly to conceal and blemishes and under eye circles as it has amazing coverage and is really brightening under the eyes. Since I have been using the Bourjois Cream Blush in Rose Tender  I have been applying that before powder (MAC Mineralized Skinfinish Natural in Light Plus) to avoid it going cakey. As always I have been using the NARS Bronzing Powder in Laguna to add some colour and warmth to my face and then my face is finished.

My brows have been the same as they have been for what seems like forever (see my brow routine here. I used the Rimmel powder and the Maybelline Brow Drama Sculpting Mascara) so moving on to the rest of the eye look. I have really been loving mixing three MAC eye shadows together recently: Satin Taupe, Woodwinked and Sabel and it has given a gorgeous all over the lid shade, that isn't too intense. For eyeliner I have been reaching for the L'Oreal Super Liner Perfect Slim in Black as I have been obsessed with doing a cat eye recently and this has a really thin nib so it is a lot easier to create the perfect flick. The Clinique High Impact Mascara has been in and out of my makeup collection for years and after discovering that I had an unopened mini of it I have fallen in love with it all over again. It adds volume and length to the lashes without clumping, aka my perfect mascara!

Finally, lips, as always it is a nude lip combo (surprise, surprise!). I have been loving big lips at the moment, not Kylie Jenner big, but just slightly plumper looking than my natural lips are and to achieve that I have been using the Rimmel Exaggerate Full Colour Lip Liner in Eastend Snob with the Topshop Lipstick in Saint applied in the centre to make my lips look fuller.

I hope you enjoyed reading about my most reached for makeup products for the month of May. Let me know if you prefer the regular favourites posts or this kind of favourites so that I know for the future!

Chloe

xoxo

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