Latest flea market purchases!

So I went shopping this weekend picked up a few cute pieces I wanted to share with you.

First I hit Primark and bought this jewellery:

Then me and the boy headed to an antique fair in our local village where I came across these bad boys:

Gold cuff (£1)

Chunky gold and black ring (£1)

Heart shaped vase (two for 50p - I'm using them to store brushes at the moment)

A trinket pot (50p)

This gorgeous leather jewellery box (£3 - massive bargain!)

I love antique fairs and thrift stores. Luckily where I love there's always a few going on and I normally find a few treasures every time I go. I'm absolutely in love with the jewellery box I bought - such a bargain. I love buying vintage pieces as I know I'm not going to go out and find everyone else is wearing the exact same thing as me!

Do you guys ever stop by antique fairs/flea markets? What have you bought lately?

Big Ebay sale - clothes, bags, shoes - all 99p!

Hello hello lovely ladies!

How are you all? Hope your Monday isn't too bleak - the weather down here's decidedly grey. Not good. Although I did get to wear my boots for the first time since summer so there's a silver lining I suppose!

To mark the arrival of Autumn, I had a big clear out over the weekend of all the clothes I've never worn/worn once so I've added 80 or so items to Ebay for sale.

There are clothes from Topshop, Forever 21, American Eagle, Urban Outfitters etc, ranging from sizes 10-16 and shoes from size 5-7. There's a couple of bags on there as well.

Please see below for an example of a few of the things I've got for sale but there's lots more so do go and check out my auctions at: http://bit.ly/ciTJEV.

They all start at 99p and end Saturday/Sunday this week - if you are interested and want me to add 'buy it now' onto the listing do let me know.

Thanks girls!

xxx

Natural Collection Moisture Renew Lipsticks

So today I'm reviewing three of the Natural Collection (*Not Collection 2000 as per my earlier typo!) Moisture Renew Lipsticks: Raspberry, Crimson and Sorbet. I bought all three shades at my local Boots store and I must say I'm a big fan. They were a snip at £1.79 and I've been wearing them to work and out at night - I did buy them during a sale though so I'm unsure of the full price, though I don't think it's too much more.

 (Without flash. L-R: Raspberry, Crimson, Sorbet)

The colours are all very vibrant and go on easily and smoothly with barely any smudging or feathering. The compact packaging means it's easy to slip one into your bag to reapply - which is the only downside to these. I did find I had to reapply every hour or so and drinking out of a glass is a nightmare - straw please!

(With flash)

Raspberry:

 My favourite shade out of these three is probably Raspberry; I've almost finished my second tube of it and I'll be buying my third soon!

Crimson:

I love red lippie and shove it with everything so Crimson's the ideal shade for me.

Sorbet:

Sorbet is a nice shade but I hardly ever wear nudes so I only bought it to experiment. It's not too nude though so it's a nice one to get me started :).

The swatches on the end of the tubes are pretty accurate as well - I was really impressed and they're a really good guide to go off of. These colours do them more justice than the photos of the sticks themselves I think. Another thing to add is that these really do moisturise your lips - I've spent all day reapplying a certain shade and my lips are really soft and not at all dry at the end of the day. Fab.

Rating:

Pricing: 4/5

Packaging: 3/5

Application: 3/5

Colour: 5/5

Wearability: 4/5

Total: 19/25 (B+)

OotD - 1

So this is today's outfit for work. The skirt's new but everything else I'd have for a little while. I love this blazer and it's the first time it's been cold enough for me to wear so I'm chuffed about that.

I like this look - it's really wearable, low maintenance and comfy so I can sit down at work all day without walking home covered in creases. Yay.

So today I'm wearing:

Blazer - Primark

Top - Austin Reed

Necklace - Forever 21

Skirt - ASOS

Shoes - Topshop

So, what do you think? What are you wearing today?

FotD - 1

Good morning lovelies! Happy Monday :). This is my look for today, hope you like it. I used quite a mix of products on my eyes - there's a close up on my lids in one of the photos below. My eyes are looking a little bit baggy but it's super early at the beginning of the week so I think I can overlook that!

So, what do you think?

 

For this look I used:

Face:

Natural Collection ShineAway Foundation - Shade 5
Elf Tone Correcting Concealer - Honey
Elf Eyelid Primer - Sheer

Eyes:

Avon ColorTrend Crystal Clear Mascara
Maybelline The Falsies Mascara - Black
The Color Workshop Eye Palette - Cream
Elf Shimmer Eyeliner Pencil -
Avon Arabian Glow Eyeliner Pencil - Turquoise
Elf Waterproof Eyeliner Pen - Black

Lips:

Liiv Botanicals Lip Conditioner
Elf Hypershine Gloss - Vixen

What products have you used today?

Review: ELF Brushes

I’m not going to go into too much detail with these reviews as I’m fairly sure I’m the last person in the world to discover the joy of ELF brushes but there’s a few I’ve absolutely fallen in love with so I want to share my thoughts about the selection I received over the weekend.

These were all purchased by me from the ELF website.

Defining Eye Brush:

ELF say: The velvety bristles contour in the crease of the eyelid or right underneath the brow bone for added colour

My thoughts: I found this brush really easy to use all over the eye. It gave even coverage and there wasn’t much loose powder under my eyes once I’d finished. Overall, I’m impressed with this one.

Total Face Brush:

ELF say: Soft caressing facial bristles allow for soothing application of facial and bronzing powder and for quick full-face touch ups

My thoughts: I love this brush. The bristles are so soft, like ELF say in the description and the brush gave really smooth and even coverage. The product went on really easily with the brush with very little mess. Sometimes with bronzer I find cheaper brushes can make it appear quite patchy but none of that at all with this brush. Full marks.

Eyeshadow Brush:

ELF say: Expertly blends multiple eye shades while softening dramatic edges and fine lines. Brush can also multi-task, use it to set powder or liquid concealer

My thoughts: Well, my thoughts about this one are a bit lacklustre unfortunately. It’s fine, there’s nothing wrong with it at all but I didn’t come away feeling excited about the application or the final result. It’s a good staple that I’ll always use but I much prefer the Smudge Eye Sponge.

Foundation Brush:

ELF say: Achieve an ultra smooth, pore-less finish when applying foundation or tinted moisturiser

My thoughts: I’ve only just stopped using a sponge to apply my foundation and started using brushes so it’s still something I’m getting used to. The ELF Foundation brush made the application easy, mess free and I was left with a smooth finish. Not quite as ultra-smooth and pore-less as ELF say but hopefully with time I’ll be able to achieve that finish with this brush.

Concealer Brush:

ELF say: Creates flawless and smooth application with the synthetic bristled brush for wet or dry products

My thoughts: This one is great – it’s probably my favourite out of all the brushes I bought from ELF. I’ve been using brushes to apply concealer for a while now and I massively prefer it to using a sponge. I use far less product and the makeup stays put for much longer. This brush is fantastic – the product went on so smoothly and it stayed in place for hours, even though I hadn’t applied any primer at all. Very, very impressed. I’d consider buying a couple more of these for use with eyeshadow.

Smudge Eye Sponge:

ELF say: Create a dramatic, smokey eye look with this soft tapered applicator that blends liner and shadow perfectly

My thoughts: Oh, yay! I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with eye sponges. Sometimes they work wonders and I love how great they are at blending my make-up. Other times I can’t be bothered and would rather do it all by hand. However, the Smudge Eye Sponge was hassle-free, blended my colours together really well without making my eyes look messy or taking any of the product off of my eyes. A new favourite, I think.

Bronzing Brush:

ELF say: This unique three-in-one brush allows for precision application of blush, bronzer and all other multi-purpose dusts and loose powders

My thoughts: I probably don’t need to use both this brush and the Total Face brush and out of the two I think I’d go with the Total Face brush over this one. This one is a nice brush but the bristles were a little scratchy on my skin and I found the finished result with a little smoother with the Total Face brush. It wasn’t bad though and I probably will still use it from time to time – maybe for my loose powder where I don’t need to be quite so precise.

I haven’t washed any of these yet (naughty naughty) but I’m sure they’ll wash fine – I’ve heard lots of people saying so so I’m sure they’re right. I’m really happy with these purchases. I love having new brushes to use and I’m going to make sure I look after them properly. I will wash them regularly, I promise!

My favourites are definitely the Total Face Brush and the Smudge Eye Sponge so I do recommend them to anybody who hasn’t purchased them yet – they’re fab.

Avon Haul

So it’s been a while since I’ve bought anything from Avon and the first time I’ve bought anything online – it’s always been through reps before. I found the website a little confusing, as the main site I was taken too was for reps and I had to do a bit of searching before I found the online ordering site.

Once I’ve found it, however, the site was easy to use, the product descriptions and colours were clear and there were a great sale on so I snapped up a few great bargains. The delivery time was a little slow and took five working days but everything arrived in perfect condition and I’m really pleased.

The items I bought were:

Liive Botanicals Revitalising Facial Scrub
Advance Techniques Radiant Brunette Smoothing Balm
Advance Techniques Colour Protection Enhanced Shine Serum
Solutions Plus Total Radiance Skin Refining Clay Mask
Liiv Botanicals Naturally Glossy Lip Conditioner
ColorTrend Crystal Clear Mascara
ColorTrend Shimmering Lip and Cheek Balm – Powder Pink
Arabian Glow Clearly Shadows Eye Pencil – Burnished Bronze
Arabian Glow Sleek Lines – Melted Bronze
Sparkle Lash and Line – Gold/Black Pearl
Glimmersticks Luxe – Pearly
Glimmersticks Luxe – Copper
ColorTrend Golden Kiss Lipstick – Kiss Me
ColorTrend Lip Stix Deluxe

I’m already completely obsessed with the lip conditioner, which makes my lips feel absolutely gorgeous so I’ll be reviewing that one soon. I know I’m going to go through it quickly so I’m tempted to order another one straight away. The clear mascara seems to be pretty good as well – I used it on my brows today and they’ve stayed near and tidy all day so that was a good buy.

The whole order came to less than £30 including delivery so all in all I’m very pleased. I’ve just put the shine serum in my hair now so I’ll let you know how that one is once my hair’s dried! As I said before, I hadn’t ordered anything from Avon for a while but after seeing all the gorgeous products I got for such a great price, I’m sure I’ll be hitting the website again soon.

So what did you guys receive over the weekend? Anything nice?

ELF Haul

So yesterday afternoon I got back from a trip to Ikea (car full of supplies for my new make-up station – but more on that soon) to find two packages had been left by the postie in my garden. A box of ELF products and a package from Avon. Awesome.

First I’m going to talk about the ELF products I received and I’ll cover the Avon things in a separate post.

So! I’m going to confess right now that these are the first things I’ve ever bought from ELF. I’ve always heard so much about their products and they always seem to get such great reviews that I decided to bite the bullet and have a bit of a spree.

I was really impressed with the website and the delivery – I put in my order on Thursday afternoon and everything arrived on Saturday. Not bad for free delivery.

So, I received:

Brightening Eye Liner – Coffee
Brightening Eye Liner – Gilded
Shimmering Facial Whip – Persimmon
Shimmering Facial Whip – Spotlight
Nail Polish – Plum
Eyeshadow Applicators
Foundation Brush
Total Face Brush
Blushing, Bronzing and Blending Brush
Smudge Eye Sponge
Defining Eye Brush
Eye Shadow Brush
Concealer Brush
Brightening Eye Color – Luxe
Luscious Liquid Lipstick – Raspberry
All Over Color Stick – Pink Lemonade
Tone Correcting Concealer – Honey
Duo Eye Shadow Cream – Berry Mix
Waterproof Eyeliner Pen – Black
Liquid Eyeshadow – Sultry Satin
Liquid Eyeshadow – Sexy Silver
Eyelid Primer – Sheer
Shimmer Eyeliner – Gunmetal

Whew 25 items for £40, including two day delivery. Where has ELF been all my life?!

I’m already in love with all of the brushes and the waterproof eyeliner pen – it’s unbelievable for £1.50 so I’m really excited about reviewing that one. The only thing at the moment that I’m a bit disappointed with is the duo eye shadow cream as it seemed a bit watery and faded away very quickly when I tested it yesterday but I’m hoping I’ll grow to like it a bit more when I spend a bit more time testing it out – I’ll let you know.

So, I’m so chuffed with this haul and I really, really can’t wait to try everything out properly and get reviewing. What are your favourite ELF products? Any recommendations? Let me know because I’ll definitely be putting in another order soon!

Awkward First Post

Well hello there everybody!

First posts are always so awkward, aren’t they? I was tempted to skip it and cut right to it but I thought I should stop and introduce myself.

So, I’m Carly, I’m a 22 year old Creative Writing graduate from Bath Spa university and I live in a teeny tiny little village in Wiltshire, a couple of miles outside Bath. I’ve been running a book review blog for nine or so months now and I love it. I’ve always been a writer and I freelance for a few magazines so it was only a matter of time before I started my own blog.

My book review blog focuses on young adult fiction and observations of the book market, details of upcoming releases, author interviews – all that jazz. I’m still going to post daily over there but I’ve decided to shake things up a bit and start a beauty blog! Hurrah.

I’ve been reading beauty blogs for a few years and watching endless haul videos on Youtube and I’ve always meant to start my own beauty blog but never really gotten around to it. That stops today, however! I’m all set up and ready to go and I’m really excited about getting started. All your blogs are absolutely gorgeous so thank you for inspiring me to get my ass in gear and get cracking with this.

Perfectly timed, I received some pretty hefty Elf and Avon orders this weekend so more details on that will be coming up soon but, for now, thank you so much for reading and it’s nice to meet you all. Do stop by and have a chat – my contact address is beautybuzz@hotmail.co.uk.