MY FIRST MAC HAUL!

So I recently decided to take the plunge and actually purchase some MAC products from their counter. I've always been quite hesitant to purchase their products and that's only because I know I will end up getting addicted and wanting to purchase their whole store and as expected, I went their twice. The first time I went, I had a click and collect order of 3 lipsticks and 1 lipliner and I went again to get two refill eyeshadows and a paint pot. But before I get into that, let me talk about the MAC products I currently own. 

MAC STUDIO FIX FLUID 

I'm pretty sure, this was the first item I ever purchased from MAC, I remember browsing through eBay and discovered that people sold their MAC products on there. So without any knowledge of what shade I am, I brought it and I think it cost me around £13. Turns out shade NC43.5 is the right shade for me and matches my skin pretty well. I still use it today but only on special occasions. 

MAC PRO LONGWEAR CONCEALER

This is the next item I ever brought of MAC's. I ended up finding this amazing deal on eBay where this lady was selling three different shades of concealer together at once for only £22. I immediately brought them and I love them. I don't wear them often but they are really great, plus the darker shades can be used for contouring. 

MAC SATIN CAPTIVE 

This next item was given to me by a friend who didn't like the shade and honestly, I absolutely love this shade. It suits my complexion really well and I always find myself gravitating towards it. 

MAC RIRI MOCHA

I brought this on a whim on eBay and I can safely say that I do not like the colour, but I am keeping it just because the packaging is so pretty. 

Now we can finally move on to the actual haul that I did. So I ordered three lipsticks, Velvet Teddy, Whirl and Dangerous alongside a lip liner in the shade He Said She Said but when I went into store to pick them up, I realized that I didn't really like the colour of Dangerous and He Said She said so I exchanged them for Ruby Woo and Morning Coffee lip pencil. This happened on 18th February. I had already decided that I wanted to do a haul video for my YouTube channel so I thought it would be a good idea to pick up a few more things. 

So on Sunday, I went and got two refill eyeshadow pans of Nylon and Antiqued and also got the Laying Low paint pot. This is a lot of money for me to spend at once and so what I've decided to do is, every month, I will put aside £35 for me to spend in MAC but I will only spend it when I feel like I have enough to have a huge MAC haul so expect an update on that in May, around my birthday so I'll have even more money to spend. I can't wait. 

MATTE WHIRL 

This is such a cult product that all, if not, most girls have, thanks to the trend that Kylie Jenner started and as I am a sucker for nudes, I also decided to grab this shade. It's so beautiful and extremely pigmented. 

MATTE VELVET TEDDY

This is another cult product that Jenner started and it is similar in shade but has more of a pink undertone to it. Perfect nude and perfect for everyday wear. 

RETRO MATTE RUBY WOO

This is your classic true red lipstick that most youtubers love and I think it's such a perfect shade for a night out or a bold look. I am a huge fan of nudes and reds so this was definitely a must have in my collection. 

MORNING COFFEE LIPLINER 

I was tempted to get the Whirl lipliner but I found this shade which is slightly similar but much darker in the shade of nude and again, I think this is a nice everyday shade that I can wear on its own or underneath a lipstick or lipgloss.

NYLON EYESHADOW

A favourite amongst many youtubers that I knew it was definitely a shade worth buying. I've heard it's a great inner corner and brow bone highlighter and I can't wait to try it. 

ANTIQUED EYESHADOW

I like bronzed eyeshadows on a day to day basis so I thought this shimmery one would be perfect and I think I will get a lot of use out of it. 

LAYIN' LOW PAINT POT

Known for being a great eyeshadow base, I knew I was in need of one and it came down to whether or not to get this or the Urban decay primer, but I thought that this is longer lasting as it's in a pot and you only need the littlest amount. 

Let me know what I should try out from MAC. 

Top 5: Foods

I am actually going to be talking about food and yes, whilst I'm writing this, I'm munching on some chocolate chip muffins because well, I can! I love food and no-one and nothing can part me from it. Healthy eating just isn't in my routine. 

1. Pizza: is life! I cannot imagine me not having pizza. I just love it so much especially with jalapeños and pepperoni topping on it- it's just to die for! Anyone who isn't a pizza fan is most certainly weird! 

2. Chocolate: It really doesn't matter if the chocolate has another filling to it such as caramel or whole nuts, I just love it so long as it is milk chocolate; I'm not really a huge fan of white or dark chocolate but milk chocolate? Yes, please! 

3. Chocolate ice cream: I buy myself a tub of just chocolate ice cream and I could honestly eat that in one sitting but I'd better not. 

4. Fried wings and chips: If you live in the UK or more specially in London, you'll know all about the 4 wings and chips deal that you get for only £2. It's so filling and taste great. But I don't really have it often seeing as I have none near my university which is probably a really good thing. 

5. Green apples: I hate red apples because they aren't sour enough but green apples give me life. I love the sour taste it has and it's so juicy yet funnily enough I hate apple juice. Oh! What am I like!? 

Thank for reading and until next time. 

Style Queens: Zendaya

Welcome back to my blog and today I want to start a new series I'm calling Style Queens. I am currently studying Fashion so this seemed pretty fitting for a fashion student to do. I love makeup, I really do but I also love Fashion so I want to start incorporating that into my blog. 

So the honour of my debut for the Style Queens goes to Zendaya! She is a queen and right now, the world is her oyster. She's recently launched her own footwear line with footwear company Titan Industries naming her collection, Daya By Zendaya. I like it! As you may know, she is also a singer-songwriter and an actress in Disney shows such as KC Undercover and Shake It Up. 

I absolutely love her style and alongside that, her hair styles and her makeup too. She's a real beauty and if I were to ever meet her, I would fan girl so much I might even faint (but i'll try to play it cool, as you do).

Here are my top 5 looks that Zendaya did during last year and the beginning of this year. I love her style but by far, theses are my top favourite looks that she does and if I were to ever look half as good as her then I will die a happy woman. 

1. Met Gala 2015

Okay, first of all, DAMN, girlfriend! You are looking smokin-, I mean you look gorgeous! So to start off, the inspiration behind the met gala was a Chinese theme and Zendaya slayed that scene with a modernized  deep v necked velvet strapped top attached to a silk red skirt with a long trail. What made this outfit Chinese inspired were the little details such as her head piece which if I'm not mistaken is traditional what they would wear on special occasion and the print design on her skirt. It is known that China is very symbolic and every symbol has its own meaning. I tried to find the specific meaning to her one but the best that I found talks about how the sun symbol is immortality.  She also has some rustic antique looking jewelry pieces with a bangle and an arm cuff. Not to mention that the side of the trail has a zig-zag pattern in black and white.


2. Golden Globes 2016

This is such a gorgeous look, she made that dress look beautiful. The lace dress have a deep v neck and is strapless, It also has three layers of ruffles that have been pleated slightly to give it more volume. I love the dark maroon shade she went for and her hair and make up complimented the outfit. I just love her! She's amazing. (Dreamy sigh).

3. Beauty Con 2015

This is such a stunning look, so casual yet so fierce. So, she's wearing a strapless tight fitted crop top which has this sort of marbled design printed on it and the light lavender blue helps give that illusion. The print is also on thee jacket that around her shoulders and she's also wearing a knee length skirt that has a slit at the side and a pair of blue strappy heels. I think this can look casual and formal but somehow she does both. She's amazing! I also just wanted to mention that she's also now part of Cover Girl! Whoop Whoop! 

4. Harper Bazaar 2015 

She slayed this magazine editorial. This is probably the look I loved the most! The outfit itself, makes me think of very traditional African prints. I love the colour combinations of having similar colours of dark green, navy and teal with a nice pop of yellow to give it contrast. The skirt is high low with a lot of pleats. The top also has the same print as the skirt but it perceives to be a wrap that gives her an off shoulder look as well. Her curly voluminous hair adds to the look along side the cute handbag. 

5. Material Girl 2015 

This is a super body flattering look that I absolutely love. I know that Zendaya is very opinionated when it comes to her images in magazines where she has declared that no photo-shopping should take place on her body and I thank her tremendously for the courage she has to stand up to the people who make women feel like their body is inadequate. I feel as though, blue is a colour that really compliments Zendaya. This is a printed body con dress with straps and a slit in the middle of skirt. The print has been complimented with a black border around it which accentuates her features. 

I love everything that Zendaya is doing and I couldn't be more proud of her for all that she has achieved. Keep Slaying, Princess and show 'em whose boss!

Gerard Cosmetics Mini Haul!

Hello, so today, I am super excited to share my first time experience with Gerard Cosmetics. I've always wanted to try their products out and thanks to a friend, she let me know that they were having a 3 for $20 sale on their lipsticks so being overly obsessed I ordered 6 lipsticks from their website. It has now been bumped up to $25 for 3 lipsticks.

I was a little concerned about shipping costs and customs duties but rest assure, there were no issues. First of all, Gerard Cosmetics have a free shipping policy when you spend $35 or more however, if you don't spend that much then international shipping will cost you $9.50 which is around £7. I think that is really cheap shipping payment compared to other US company who want well over £20 to get something small shipped. The next would-be issue was duty taxes, a while back I ordered off the Anastasia website and they wanted around £9 for the import taxes, which isn't a lot but for what I'm paying for the two products, I would be better off just getting it from a UK website. But, with Gerard Cosmetics, there was no import taxes which is great, mind you, if you purchase more, you might need to pay for import taxes based on the weight of your package. I ordered mine on 22nd January and it arrived on the 9th of February, so it took 18 days which isn't so bad. 

The six lipsticks cost me around £29 which means that they individually cost me around £4.80 each which is a great deal. So the first shades that I brought was 1995 (everyone has been raving about this), French Toast and Tequila Sunrise. I then thought, wait, why am I not taking advantage of the sale so I ordered three more. The next three shades are Vintage Rose, Fire Engine and Berry Smoothie. 
  

PACKAGING:

First of all, the boxes' packaging is gorgeous. It is black with white and gold text on it and a little border at the bottom in gold that goes around the package. Then we have the lipstick package and I have to say I do like how they look. It is a very rich shiny Gold lipstick case that seems to reflect the surface of other objects. I do like it but I would have preferred if it was slightly toned down but none the less, I do like it and it will look amazing on my dressing table. 

PRODUCT:

The lipsticks are rich and creamy and the smell really nice, not chemically but fruity in a sense. Four of the shades that I chose, are very nude and berry toned and they are 1995, French Toast,0 Berry Smoothie and Vintage Rose. I also got a very pink toned shade which honestly isn't something that suits my complexion called Tequila Sunrise and the last is a bright red in Fire Engine. I don't know why, but my Fire Engine shade came mushed at the top and I noticed that there was too much product on the holder and therefore it wouldn't go down and got stuck with being a mushy mess but I will let that slide.

In terms of colour payoff, I think the Fire Engine is the only one that doesn't come off the same way it looks. It's more of a mutated red rather than a hot red but it is what it is and I don't mind the colour at all.  

VERDICT:

I think, for the price I got them for, they are amazing! Gerard Cosmetics has surely lived up to their name (in my eyes) and I can see why people are obsessed. I don't think I will be wearing Tequila Sunrise but the rest are definitely colours that I will always wear. Maybe next time, I'll try out their glosses. 

Let me know what you think about the shades and tell me which one is your favourite. 

January Favourites 2016

Welcome back to my blog, so today, I wanted to share my January Favourites. I wasn't planning to do this but I was trying a lot of new products this month and so I wanted to share them with you.

L.A GIRL PRO CONCEAL- ORANGE CORRECTOR: 

This is an amazing corrector that really works for my skin tone. So what I usually do is apply this on after my moisturizer using my Real Techniques complexion sponge and then go in with my foundation. It helps reduce the sight of under eye bags and recently I've had a lot of those (blame it on Netflix). I brought mine from eBay.

STILA SET AND CORRECT BAKED POWDER: 

I absolutely love this stuff! This is such a good all-round-face powder. I just use my Real Techniques buffer brush to swipe this across my face after putting on my foundation, and concealer. The product has three different coloured powder which helps to make sure that you skin tone is even and works to benefit any problems you may have. It is a little expensive but I brought mine from T.K.Max.

SMASHBOX MINI DOUBLE EXPOSURE PALETTE:

Firstly, this cost me around £12 to buy, now when I impulsively brought this I thought it wasn't worth the money but after using it basically everyday, I've noticed that this palette is really good and blends easy. My favourite eyeshadows are the third one in the first row which is a champagne shimmer and the fourth one in the last row which is a matte dark brown. This is small which makes it good for travelling. 

L'OREAL FALSE LASH SCULPT: 

I did a review on this so click here, but just to quickly mention, that it is a very fluttery mascara that coats your waterline. It's good and the applicator helps you save a lot of product from being wasted. 

E.L.F COSMETICS INSTANT LIFT BROW PENCIL- NEUTRAL BROWN:

This brow pencil is the bomb! I love that it has a spoole that helps me comb out my brow hairs before putting the product on and the spoole also helps to make the product look less harsh on the brows. The colour of this brow works perfectly well for my brow colour. I have black hair but I find that a black or deep brown brow colour just doesn't work but this one suits me a lot better. 

MAYBELLINE BROW DRAMA- DARK BROWN:

Locking those brows into place, is this brow mascara. I love the applicator however when I first started using it I felt it was far too round to work with my brows but I made it work and it looks fabulous. I sometimes, just wear this on it's own and I am not ashamed of it. 

RIMMEL LONDON THE ONLY ONE LIPSTICK- 700  NAUGHTY NUDE:

My last and final product of this month is this nude lipstick by Rimmel. I have recently been obsessing over nude lipsticks and this one fits perfectly well in my collection. I love the formulation of these lipsticks and I find that it does last me around 3-4 hours.