Tarte Amazonian 12hr Full coverage foundation

Last day in Las Vegas, spur of the moment dash to Sephora and this little tube caught my eye. I'm not sure what it was, maybe it was all the reviews on the powder version I'd seen or the cute little wooden packaging, but whatever it was - im glad. I struggle with three things in a foundation, 1)longevity 2) finding a shade to match my paleness 3) not making my skin dry. This foundation ticks all those boxes, and more. It is the perfect harmony between dewy and matte, like skin but still blurring out all those imperfections, it doesn't cling to dry patches and actually makes your skin look healthy if you do suffer with dry skin like mine. The longevity of it is also incredible, all other foundations including higher end and lower that ive tried will usually start to look a little worse for wear at around 1pm (when working and applying at 7am) whereas this one will get me from 7am to half five finish time with no problems and even time for a few cheeky drinks and fajitas after without need for touch up. As for colour, I got the shade 'fair beige' after being instructed by a helpful lady in Sephora, even though at the time I thought I always go for the lightest shade so I know this will be wrong - it actually wasn't. They all come in a red and yellow undertone based shades so although it looked darker, when blended its actually the perfect shade to cover my red undertones, making it the best shade I've ever had! (I have fake tan on in picture above so that's why its abit 'off' but un-faketanned its absolutely perfect) So there I was, in love with a foundation for the first time in my life and spouting 'holy-grail' and 'i'll never use anything again' when it suddenly hit me, the UK doesn't do Tarte products. moody, savouring it for special occasion Ella occurred and my hopes of my holy grail foundation flittered away, until - Tarte released on QVC in UK pops up on my blog screen! hooray, happy dance ella reappears and knows its clearly meant to be between me and this beauty (when its re-stocked and in my shade, boo!)

Mac Naturally Collection

I was meant to post this ages ago but due to being busy/lazy/problems ect its only just going up! This is the first Mac collection i've ever really got excited about, I saw Ingrid of missglamorazzi raving about alot of products she'd brought from this collection, and alot of them looked right up my street! Ofcourse, she lives in america so the collection came out a month prior to what it dos in the Uk, so i had some time to wait.

What excited me about this Mac collection and no other, was the plain and simple reason that it had the word 'Natural' in it, the girls on the campaigns looked flawless and barefaced instead of the usual Mac wackjob thing you see with most collections that hardly anyone would wear walking down the street (or atleast not where im from). I for one am all about a fresh, natural looking makeup, Ofcourse that dosnt mean from time to time i love applying a red or bright pink lipstick, some dark eyeshadow ect - but for day to day i like to keep it au natural.

I only picked up two items from the line purely because the bank balance would only let me justify these two, trust me there was alot more i wanted! First up is 'Summer haze' A gorgeous minerizled eyeshadow, something i've never had from mac before but enjoy using alot from other brands. This was one of the items i saw Ingrid talk about. In the pan, it looks like a very deep brown mixed with light browns, however as the swatch shows it comes out as a beautiful sheen bronze glow. However, i find the more you blend this out it gives off a slight pinkish effect, which i love - but i know its not for everyone.

The next one being a mineralized blush in 'blonde' being blonde, this worked out quite well for me but its such a stunning shade, you definitly dont need blonde hair to pull it off. Its got a sort of ombre effect in pan (going from a light shade to darker) i just kind of swirl my brush in all of it and await the outcome, which is on most cases a gorgeous sheen to my cheeks with just a slight hint of pink, ofcourse if you wanted it abit more pink on the cheeks you could proberly either build the product or use the darker shades only. I personally love the effect this gives as its sort of a blush and highlight in one.

These items have become staples in my everyday makeup at the moment (especially the blush, the eyeshadow i variate between the naked palette) and if you can find them anywhere still i'd definitly advise buying them, as for me fake natural is definitly going to win over au natural!

January Favourites

Picture number two makes me sad as when products don't look nice and squeaky clean in pictures it makes me cringe a little, but hey ho - this is what happens when a product is clearly loved.

Been using a few different bits and bobs since the new year and some of my old time favourites still in here aswell, theres some things ill always go back to.

Sephora Blush & Jemma Kidd All Over Radiance - I've had this blush since January 2011 after visiting New york. At that time i loved makeup but wasn't really 'into it' like i am now, so picked this up on a wim as it was pretty cheap and a nice colour. However, it has managed to be the blush i always go back to, pigmented enough to leave a colour but sheer enough not to be to overdone its perfect for my pale complexion. The radiance creme from jemma kidd was an after christmas purchase. After seeing Vivianna post about wearing it, i ummed & ahhed over it for a few days then eventually just purchased, I'm so glad i did though as this has become a staple in my everyday makeup, i just brush a little over my cheekbones and brow bone for a subtle glow.

Herbal Essences Hello Hydration conditioner - Again i saw Gemsmaquillage post about this on her blog and happened to have run out of my usual conditioner at the time. I then saw this in tesco on offer and decided to give it a try. It leaves a nice shine on my hair and leaves it very soft and smooth, basically doing the same (if not better) job as my other conditioner which cost twice as much as what this did.

L'oral Super Skinny Liner - Picked this up in boots when it was on a 2 for £11 offer (best friend brought the other one so ended up as 5.50 each instead of like £7) we both needed new liquid eyeliners and this seemed the best of what was on offer. I've used it a lot since i brought it, but definitely not the best one i've ever used, just the only one i have.

Urban Decay Naked Palette 2 Brush - Just a good fluffy brush for applying all eyeshadows on the go!

Mac Lipstick in "Hue" - This is properly my all time favourite Mac lipstick, i always end up losing it by taking it on nights out ect, so don't get to use it for ages then repurchase and fall in love all over again, its my perfect nude lip colour with just abit of something else.

Costa Chic

I was sorting out my nail polishes the other day in my makeup drawer and thought "whys there a mac lipstick in here" you see my other two (Mac and angel) i carry around on a daily basis as i love them so much and there my go to shades for lipstick. However, i have another mac lipstick i generally forgot about intill it gets to summertime, and that is Costa Chic!

I always think of Costa chic as a coral toned lipstick, which to me should only be worn in summer with a nice tan, denim shorts & barely anything else. Its a perfect summer shade, which is why it gets so lonely and forgotten about in my drawer. However, when i did a little swatch of it - it occurred to me its actually quite a pink toned coral - one which would be perfect for a night out (when fake tan is applied of course)

Check my out trying to be a proper photographer with my little petal flowers! Props for that please ;) I really do think this is a shade people forget about in the Mac and lipstick world in till summer arrives then everyone goes crazy for it once again! But i think myself and many more of us should get it out of the drawer every once and a while, show it some love for a day & then place it back in there in till it can reach its full potential in the sunshine! Because after all, Its to much of a gorgeous shade to keep locked up!

The Cheryl Cole Lipstick

I think everyone and their cat went threw a phase of loving Cheryl cole. She became the nations sweetheart in what seemed overnight, and even if you didn't agree with what she said, like her music or whatever else, you still had to admit she was beautiful. Everyone wanted a piece of her hair, makeup ect. So when L'oreal announced they we're bringing a limited edition lipstick out in a colour best represented by the lady herself, i can imagine like myself a lot of girls were in aw!

I however vowed, if i did not like the colour, i wouldn't buy it just because it was limited edition and something cheryl cole had "designed". Fortunately though, i loved the colour! A gorgeous bright red thats right up my street which can only be described by the name itself of "Red passion".

Please excuse the other swatch of another lipstick! As you can see its a gorgeous bright red shade, with a slight blueish undertone and also has little bits of silver shimmer in it (more noticeable in the bullet then on the lips) although it do's then give it a very glossy effect.

I'll be honest here and say i love this lipstick, however it did cost £8.19 (or 2 for £14) which is what i did, which i think is quite a high price for a drugstore lipstick, even though i pay £13.50 for mac ones, I've said before and ill say again, I'm a makeup snob. I do think every time i buy a Mac lipstick, its a ripoff for a lipstick, but you pay it because its mac, however with this one i don't think i would of picked it up if it hadn't of been a cheryl cole one, but this shade is amazing for the price - however, the other one i picked up on the deal is abit rubbish! all in all, id definitely recommend you picking this up if you can find one and love red lipstick, cause if anyone can do red lippy - its definitely ChezzaK!

new beauty buys

I've been a little naughty this month and spent abit of money on makeup & clothes! I went to london with my mummy and had my heart set on some topshop makeup, it always looks amazing online but i'm one of those 'dont buy intill i see it in real life' sort of girls & unfortunately as my topshop, oxford topshop and as far as im aware the birmingham topshop - All dont stock it, i had to have a little splurge why i had the chance.

I picked up 'Brighton rock' a gorgeous bright pink that i'd been eyeing up on the website for ages. I hadnt heard alot about it on the blogger scene as its more 'infered & Ohh la la" but i much prefer this! Its a really nice color that you can lightly dab for day wear or build up for a night out.

This is my first venture into a cream blush, and i must say i love it! these are so easily blendable, and they give such a healthier effect to the skin compared to a powder blush - this is one of my favourite blushes ever & at a price point of £6 compared to Macs £17 you cant really go wrong!

Cant really say a lot about this as i haven't tried it yet, but it looks so black in the pan! I used to have sleeks gel eyeliner and loved it, but it went a bit dry after a while so thought i'd see how this one compares - the only one thing that gripes me about topshop products is although i love the packaging it gets dirty so easily, i've literally had these for a week and they've only been in my makeup bag with sealed products and i had to clean them before taking these photos because they looked grungy.

I also made a sneaky purchuse at avon as i've wanted to try the supershock gel eyeliner for the longest time!

i needed a new mascara and if im honest i just picked anyone in the catalogue as all the avon mascaras i've ever tried of my mums have been amazing, this one claimed to do it all 'lengthen, volumize, darken, curl' so i just added it thinking it would be as good as them all, but boy was i wrong. If im honest i'm a little disappointed, i mean its an okay mascara for natural eyelash look and do's lengthen really well - but its just not what i love from a mascara! However, i love the eyeliner as much as i always knew i would, its SO black and just lasts longer than any other eyeliner ever has, i definitely reccomed getting this girls!