Collective Haul | Topshop, New Look, River Island, TK Maxx, Superdrug, Boots.

Hellooo!

So I’ve been buying a few bits and bobs recently and thought I’d share them with you! Due to not being able to go shopping much during my university placement, I ended up spending far too much money the first weekend after finishing. However it was all very much needed (well most, some things I just couldn’t resist) and consists of make up, hair, clothe and accessories. So let’s get started…

I’ll begin with make up! So I bought 2 items – Sleek eyebrow stylist and NYC Kohl Eyeliner Pencil in White.  This is my third time purchase of the Sleek eyebrow stylist. I’d say it is the best product I have had for my eyebrows ever. It has two sides – a waxy side (product) and a spooly. My first time purchase was spur of the moment as I was trying to grow my eyebrow as they were becoming too thin and thought this would be perfect. I couldn’t have been more right! It is fantastically natural looking and allows you to create shape and definition very quickly and very easily. I use this in the shade Light – 716, as I prefer to build up colour and felt the medium would be too dark too quickly. I would definitely recommend this product!

I have wanted a white eyeliner for ages to help brighten up my eyes when they are looking a bit dull. As I have never bought one before I decided to go for a cheap option to be on the safe side (I also have many allergies so don’t like to spend a lot on certain products.) This product opened up my eye and just made it appear to be brighter which is perfect. I have only tried this once so will need to see how it goes when I continue to use it.

Next, I have purchased 4 nail products – three nail polishes and one set of false nails. I picked up two Barry M Gelly Hi Shine nails paints: Sugar Apple 418 and Coconut 415. Gelly nails paints have always been a fave of mine since they were released a few years ago. My favourite shade is Papaya 304.

Sugar Apple is a lovely minty colour (more blue than Essie mint candy apple) perfect for the spring time pastels trend. I applied two coats and the pigment was great. If the other shades are to go by, then they usually last a week on my nails even when I am working 4 or so times during the week.

Coconut is a more creamy shade as opposed to white which was what I was looking for. However, it is still lovely and with three coats looks fantastic and will go well with any outfit during the spring and summer months!

The third is a Nails Inc. shade in Tavistock Street 221. It is a lovely grey shade which will look nice in the more autumny months, but I saw it and needed to buy it! I purchased it from my work (TK Max) so was only £4.99 as opposed to the £11 elsewhere. It is rather streaky in application but with three coats looks lovely. The Nails Inc nail polishes usually last on my 3-4 days without a top coat so to last longer I’d suggest using a topcoat.

Finally, I impulse bought a set of Elegant Touch Aztec nails. I fell in love with them when I saw them!!! I am disappointed with the quality considering I paid £7.10 for them. The nails look lovely on but they are quite soft and flimsy so I would say that they will last around a week as opposed to the 3-4 weeks I get from my Finishing Touches 216 nail pack. These look amazing though and as definitely a good purchase for summery nails or for a night out to add a pop of colour.

The hair product I purchased was the Schwarzkopf got2b 2 Sexy BIG VOLUME push up volumizing SPRAY MOUSSE. I have been meaning to pick up a mousse for months as my hair was just becoming flat and lifeless since I began dying it a year and a half ago. This mousse works best on damp hair and has created a lot of volume last 2 days! I would definitely recommend this and the smell is amazing too so that is always a bonus.

Yesterday whilst out shopping with Zoë I was in River Island and fell in love with a purse. I have a Michael Kors orange purse so always feel like I cannot go out and buy a new one as I need to get my money’s worth out of the other one. However I just loved this one too much and it was only £17 so I thought why not. It is a gorgeous white black and yellow colour with a lovely pattern. It has so many sections inside that I don’t even know what to fill it with! Not money that’s for sure since I am now on a spending ban!! IT is so nice a summery and I just love it so much.

Also in River Island I picked up 2 jewellery pieces which math. They are these lovely cute and dainty daisy set. £5 overall cost was perfect! This will look lovely with many outfit and I can’t wait to wear them.

Finally, the other day I had a spending spree in Topshop and New Look and purchased these four things. I’ll insert picture of me with them on…

The shoes are my absolute favourite and will be a staple piece in my wardrobe this Spring and Summer.

With all that I am now banning myself from spending as I need to save for summer since I am now off until September!

Thanks for reading guys, Love Devon x x x  

Real Techniques Night Owl Palette | Review, Swatches and 2 Looks!

Hi guys!

The other day I ordered myself the Real Techniques Night Owl palette - it came today and I have spent the whole day playing around with it and thought I would write a review about it and show you two of the looks I have created.  The looks are both really smoky because it is a night owl palette and so are looks that you could wear on a night out or to a fancy event!  I wouldn't really say these are day time looks.

I was surprised when the palette came with a free 'pointed liner brush' and thought that this was a really nice touch.  It was really convenient as well seeing as the palette comes with a gel eyeliner and I wouldn't have had a brush to apply it with!

The palette comes with four eyeshadows - a sandpaper colour with a slight shimmer called 'Quicksand', a purple with a slight shimmer called 'Royal Orchid', a dark grey/bluey colour with a slight shimmer called 'Midnight Sapphire' and a shimmery black called 'Galaxy'.  Apparently one of them is matte so maybe some of the shimmer from 'Galaxy' has transferred because they all look shimmered in my palette!  Here they are swatched - 

The palette also includes a black gel eyeliner, a soft glowing pink blusher, a cream highlighter, a nude lipgloss called 'Nude Rose' and a red lip gloss called 'Cabernet'.

I absolutely LOVE the gel eyeliner.  I've never really been one for gel eyeliner, liquid has always been my go-to because it's so easy and fool proof to use and I think I have finally mastered the perfect flick!  The brush that comes with the palette makes applying the product super easy, giving a less harsh line to your eyes than liquid liner does and making your lashes look fuller.

My other favourite from this palette is the highlighter, because like the blusher, it just really helps you get that flawless glowing cheek look.  It's really lightweight and so easy to blend just with your hands.

The eyeshadows are not very heavily pigmented but what is great about them is that they are very easy to build up.  The sheerest of them all is the black shimmery one and it took quite a few layers to build up quite a heavy colour pay off.  They all blend together really well and are not chalky in the slightest.  I love all the colours, they're perfect for a night out!  When I was creating my eye looks there was quite a lot of fall down onto the face but I'm not sure if it was because of my technique or the fact I didn't use a primer to begin with.

Here are the looks I created!  I used my sister Hollie as a model.  Here's a 'before' shot - she's wearing Collection Lasting Perfection concealer on any imperfections in the shade 'fair', Loreal True Match foundation in 'rose ivory' and Soap and Glory One Heck Of A Blot translucent powder.

Look 1:  I used a Real Techniques Deluxe Crease Brush to sweep the sandpaper colour all across Hollie's eyelids.  Next I used a Real Techniques Accent Brush to create a V shape in the outer V of her eyes with the shimmery black eyeshadow - this took a fair amount of layers!  Then I took a Real Techniques Base Shadow Brush and blended from the V with the grey eyeshadow.  It's really important to blend well in this step so that the shimmery black doesn't look too harsh.  Then I took the eyeliner brush that came with the palette and the gel eyeliner to line her upper lash line, adding a flick in the outer corner.  Then, I highlighted her inner corner with the sandpaper colour.  To finish off the eyes I added Maybelline The Falsies mascara.  Next, I applied the blush to the apples of Hollie's cheeks, and used the highlighter to highlight her cheekbones, and used a sparing amount to highlight her brow bone.  I used Bourjois Chocolate Bronzer to slightly contour and warm up her face a little bit more then finished with the red lipgloss in the palette.  Here's the result!

Look 2:  I kept the face make up and mascara from the previous look but removed the red lipgloss and all eyeshadow and eyeliner.  Firstly, I packed on the purple eyeshadow using the eyeshadow brush that comes with the Urban Decay NAKED palette.  I then took the black shimmery eyeshadow on another clean Real Techniques Base Shadow brush and blended all across the outer part of Hollie's eyelid.  I used some of her translucent powder to help blend out any harsh lines.  Again, I used the sandpaper colour to highlight her inner corner and also used this as a brow bone highlight.  I added some purple eyeliner from Rimmel Scandaleyes on her waterline to make the look even smokier.  I also lined her upper lash line the same way as in look 1.  I finished with the nude lipgloss that comes with the palette!  Here's the result!

There doesn't seem to be a difference in lip colours in the pictures but Hollie has naturally quite pigmented lips.

I really hope you love the looks and please let me know if you decide to recreate them, and don't forget to let me know what you think of this brilliant palette! <3

Zoe x