February Favourites

I've not done a favourites post for months, and they're one of the posts I enjoy writing the most, so let's jump in with beauty!

NYX Highlight & Contouor Pro Palette // £18 // Boots
For a drugstore contour palette, for some, this may been seen as a bit pricy nearing the £20, however, the value for money is insane. You get four different contour shades for different skin tones, along with different shades of concealar and highlight. I use the lovely shimmery highlight on the top left to highlight my cheekbones and nose, and the banana yellow powder next to it under my eyes. I also use the white shade as a transparent powder to set the conceler under my eyes and the darkest contour shade to fill my brows in.

I don't usually find contour shades do much for me at all (usually I either go a strange shade of orange or look as tanned as an ompa lumpa), but this is the perfect in between; the shades show up and chisel my chubby pale face, but without being too OTT. Love itttt.

NYX Liquid Suede Lip in 'Soft Spoken' // £6.50 // Boots
As you can tell, I got a little excited around the NYX counter in the Brighton Boots in my February half term! I do have far too many nude lipsticks already, but I was looking for another liquid lipstick in particular - the only other one I own is the 'Revlon Ultra Matte Lip' (which if you know this blog, you'll know I'm obsessed with), but I wanted something a little darker and brown toned. I did have a bit of a shock, as this does actually plump your lips out quite a bit, which I wasn't expecting. It emphasises my cupids bow really nicely, and is a nice shade. I do find it slightly drying, but the wearability in incredible - I just put lipbalm on all the time the day before and after wearing it.

Too Faced Chocolate Bar Eyeshadow Palette // £39 // Debenhams 
My lovely Mum bought me this palette for my birthday at the end of January, so during February I have experimented with it quite a bit and adore it. My favourite look to do with it is using a combination of the burgandy shades on the eye, then using a shimmery highlight in the middle of the eye and blending it out.

Literally everyone has this palette, so I won't bang on about it too much, but the pigmentation, shades, wearability and everythinggg is incredible.Worth an investment 100%!

All The Bright Places - Jennifer Niven  // £5.99 // Waterstones
There's not a large amoun that I can say about this book without giving anything away. but all I can say is the emotional rollarcoaster that I went through whilst reading this was so mad.... let's just say it broke me! Niven writes in an intelligent way, and it is such a fascinating read, especially if you're interested in plots with mental health at the core. Despite all of that, I would read it again - it is incredible.

Pink Suedette Trainers // New Look // £19.99
I've recently developed an obsession with trainers - they are all I seem to wear! Stylish, yet comfortable seems to be my motto now, so I am accumilating quite a collection of trainers. I own a pair of Adidas Gazelles in mint (I spoke about them in my August Favourites Post Here), but I wanted another pastel pair. These are a great and cheap alternative - I've dug them out to co-ord with slightly more spring-like outfits, and I am in love. I've received so many compliments on them, they go with pretty much everything, are super comfy and look so cute.

So, that's what I've been loving this month!

Let me know your favourites in the comments below  :)

Katy x

Unboxing: Christmas Lush Haul!

It has been far too long since I had bought some Lush items - I believe the last time was when I was in Brighton in June, which is shocking! Seeing as it's coming up to Christmas, I thought I'd place a cheeky order to trial some Christmas bits and also a couple of products that I hadn't tried before. Not everything is Christmas related, but I wanted a good mixture. 

Magic Wand Bubble Bar // £5.95 // Lush

First up, we have a Lush Christmas Classic; the Snow Fairy scent. Last year, I purchased the shower gel version of this and loved it, but I just wanted to try something different. I absolutely love these bubble bars - they are so fun and cute to leave, plus smell amazing. This beautiful product is covered in glitter and is every young girl's idea of perfection! (Along with mine). I think this could be my ideal Christmas Day bath - I can't wait to use it.

Snowman Bath Melt // £2.90 // (Currently Out Of Stock) // Lush

I've never tried any Bath Melts from Lush before - I guess I always want to go for the spectacle in the bath and the pretty colours rather than actually soothing my skin. But this was so cute, I couldn't resist it - of course, he is Christmas themed and I think I will feel so bad when I pop him in the bath! 

Shooting For The Stars Bath Bomb // £4.25 // Lush

This includes a very strong orange scent, which reminds me of eating Terry's chocolate oranges at Christmas time each year. (If you're not from the UK, you might not know what I'm talking about - basically a ball of chocolate that looks like an orange and tastes like one.) The little gold stars on the outside look beautiful and I find this to be a really calming scent. I feel like this is going to be the perfect 'late night bath before bed' bath bomb.

Northern Lights Bath Bomb // £3.95 // Lush

A lot of people have been loving this, so I thought it was time I tried it for myself. 'Northen Lights' has to be my one of my favourite scents - it's quite a floral scent, with strong notes of Jasmine. Anything floral with musk and I'm there! Plus, this is such a pretty bath bomb and the demo on the website looks incredible. I think this is the one I'm the most excited to try! 

So, there it is! Let me know in the comments which looks like your personal favourite and if you feel tempted to order some products after reading this post. 

Katy x

Recent Empties

Today, I'm going to be talking about the last few items that I have been using up over the couple of previous months, and say whether I would honestly repurchase them or not. I've wanted to do this post for such a long time, but it takes me ages to use things, so I had to build up some!

Lets start with beauty...

Seventeen 'Brows that Brow' Eyebrow Kit // £5.99 // Boots
As I've mentioned before on this blog, I'm quite lazy when it comes to my brows, so I wanted something quick and simple. This was a really appealing option to me - something cheap that would last me a while and give me a bit more definition, without taking too long. I actually loved using this, and am quite gutted it's hit the pan. I was complimented on my eyebrows whenever I had this on and it made them dark enough to give some definition (like I wanted), but not to be over the top. The only criticism I had was that it did fall out a little bit onto the face (annoying when you've done all your base), and also, the powders do transfer over. For example, a lot of the wax ended up going into the highlighter section, which was quite annoying.

WOULD I BUY IT AGAIN? YES :)YES

Revlon Colourstay Concealer  // £6.99 // Boots
I do like to change my concealer up a bit sometimes - previously, I had used the Rimmel 'wake me up' and the Collection 'lasting perfection' concealers (both amaze FYI), but wanted to try something new. I have to say, this did not disappoint. It lasted me a good couple of months and was super creamy under the eyes to cover the bags; plus, it blended really well. This concealer defo did the job, and I liked using it.

WOULD I BUY IT AGAIN? YES :)

Next, let's chat about haircare.
L'Oreal Elvive Extraordinary Oils Shampoo // £3.50 // Boots
I'm super fussy with my hair - I have to admit that I am a bit too obsessed with it. I always want it to look long, shiny and generally just nice. Shampoo and conditioner are both things I like to change every now and then, so I thought I'd go for this one. I was very unimpressed with this. When I picked it up, I liked the look of the formula and I know a lot of people have praised this. It was so strange; the first couple of times, it worked wonders on my hair - I'd come out of the shower with long, glossy, nice smelling hair, just like I wanted, yet a week in, it did the complete opposite. Every time I used it, my hair got even more greasy, so it would need to be washed again within 24 hours. Considering it is not a cheap brand, I was not very happy and won't be using it again.

WOULD I BUY THIS AGAIN? NO:(

Aussie Miracle Moist Shampoo // £4.19 // Boots
I went onto using this straight after the bad experience with the L'Oreal Shampoo, desperately hoping for something better for my hair. This has probably been my 4th or 5th bottle of this - I've used it so many times as I love it! Although I'd used it before, after the last time, I was hoping that my hair would still be okay with it and thankfully, all was well. It smells incredible and I genuinely adore it!

WOULD I BUY THIS AGAIN? YES :)

Herbal Essences Hydration Conditioner // £3 // Boots
Conditioners are not really things I usually rave over - in my opinion, the shampoo makes all the difference and the conditioner, not so much. This entirely changed my opinion - I literally love this conditioner. I have to admit that I was not massively keen on the smell (I dislike coconut, sorry coconut lovers), but it made the ends of my hair nice, fluffy and sleek.

WOULD I BUY THIS AGAIN? YES :)

Generally, this haul of empties worked out pretty well - 4/5 I would purchase again! Let me know if you like this style of post, and comment below what you've been loving using recently.

Katy x

Lush Haul!

Hi,

It had been a good few months since I'd have the chance (and money) to go to Lush, and so I decided to have a little splurge on the website! I thought I'd share with you what I got (everyone loves a Lush haul!)

back row, l-r: Intergalatic, Twilight & the Comforter at the bottom
front: Granny takes a dip, the Experimenter and the Sex bath bomb on top

1) Intergalactic  £3.95, Bath Bomb

I think this may actually be my new favourite all time bath bomb - and THAT is saying something! It is quite literally like sitting in the milkey way - the deep blue like the sky and all the chunks of colour hidden in the middle makes it look amazing! It smells of peppermint and is such a spectacle! There was glitter stuck to the bottom of my bath afterwards though - my Mum wasn't too pleased!

2) Twilight - £3.35, Bath Bomb
This is a bath every little girl would love - pastel pinks and purples/blues with dashes of glitter leave you feeling like a little princess! Using this bath bomb before bed time is perfect - violet aroumas calm you down after a long day and get you ready for bed. Also leaves you feeling nice and well pampered before wrapping up in a dressing gown and hot chocolate before bed!

3) The Comforter  - £4.75, Bubble Bar
I originally bought this last year when I was moving house and I knew it'd be lovely after a stressful day. I absolutely loved it and have re-purchased it ever since - it is definitely in my top 3 favourite Lush products. With scents of blackcurrent, you feel like you're bathing under a bubble of Ribina (but not as sticky - that'd be
a bit gross!) Although the website says half at a time, I'd say a quarter is more than enough! The water goes a lovely dark pink/purple and it feels like you're under a blanket of warm, silky lovely smelling water, in another world!

4) Granny Takes A Dip - £3.65, Bubble Bar
I hadn't used this one before, but I know it's an old lush favourite - I think it's been around a good couple of years, but I'm not 100% sure. I'd heard rave reviews and boy, I was not disappointed! The colourful outside of the product is the same on the inside. As a bubble bar, this can be divided into 2 or 4 sections, breaking a bit under the tap as you go. Therefore, it's more bubbly and not as much as a spectacle. The citrus scent is revitalising & you're left feeling very soft and warm.

5) The Experimenter - £3.95, Bath Bomb
If you're looking for a very colourful and impressive display, look no further! The 'Experimenter' bath bomb has multiple different colours on the exterior. When you drop it in the bath, it's like an explosion of colour in your bath! In my opinion, this is well worth the money! Only negative - because there is so much colour, it can swirl together to make a grey colour.


6) Sex Bomb - £3.35, Bath Bomb
The smell and appearance in the bath of this bomb is very similar to that of the Twilight bath bomb - rather pink with violet. However, I feel like the smell of this bath bomb is a bit more mature and herb scented - perhaps aged at 16+, especially with the name of the bath bomb! The little petals that float out are a lovely surprise and again, very relaxing bathtime experience.


I hope you've enjoyed this slightly chatty post! Let me know in the comments what you're favourite products are! If you haven't, what would you like to try?

See you next week!
Love, 
Katy