new in: miss dior perfume review

This perfume is a feminine indulgence, on my part - I am not a 'feminine' scent wearer, if you will. Anything overtly saccharine or floral, I left in my younger years, when I used to wear some sickeningly sweet perfumes, I actually shudder to think! Generally, when I go for a perfume these days, it's bordering on the cologne side of things, and it nearly always has to smell fresh and citrusy. However, this is a complete variation on that rule. I used to wear my mums bottle of this perfume, it reminds me of her, even though I think I took it and wore it most of the time. I kept smelling a similar perfume on someone at work, and it reminded me of how much I enjoyed this fragrance, so after revisiting and re-smelling it in John Lewis every time I went, I was lucky enough to find it in my stocking on Christmas morning.

I don't enjoy the bottle, but I suppose that doesn't effect the smell, I just think it looks very cheap, particularly with the plastic bow. The smell, though, it really is my perfect girly perfume. It's soft enough to wear in the day time, or layer up for evening, and because it's a 'chypre' perfume, it has that sort of leaning towards old-ladyish scent, which I kind of like. It reminds me of something my great-aunts and grandmothers might have worn. Then it has a citrusy top-note and a rose or jasmine middle note (I'm terrible at identifying florals!), which fade to the musky base notes. In a way, it seems just perfect for this time of year, mixing both the musk and the floral notes for a spring-time scent.

So it's kind of a throw-back for me in several ways, and I enjoy that, and I can see me wearing it a lot over the next year. What are you wearing at the moment, any new purchases?

all about that glitter: lips, nails and eye make up for new years eve!

Like Meghan Trainor and her penchant for bass and booty, at Christmas and New Year I am all about that glitter. I've recently been trying to mix up my makeup and try and get away from the eyeliner-flicks that have become my uniform, and what better time than December and January, when the festivities make it acceptable to wear glitter all day, every day. Plus, introducing flashes of glitter into your everyday makeup can help January not seem so long, dark and cold.
Read on for my favourite picks of nails, eyes, lips and some face staples to suit you for any situation at New Year..

E Y E S

My favourite thing is a glittery eye - whether thats mixed into a smokey eyeshadow, smudged along the waterline, or a wash of glitter along the lid with a sweep of liner. I particularly love creamy bases, my go-to's are the Illamasqua liquid metals - I have them in Superior (the blue), Surge (the gunmetal silver), and Solstice (the gold). They're great swept all over the lid or used as a base. I'm also a giant fan of the Chanel Illusion D'Ombre in Mirifique (black) and Epatant (silver). These look like an eyeliner or a cream base in the pot, but dry to a powdery consistency on the eye, which I'm a big fan off, as they are quick and easy to smudge into a smoky eye. I particularly love to use the silver Epatant with Urban Decay Zodiac - an amazing glittery green eyeshadow - all over the lid, with MAC Carbon (what should be a staple in everyones makeup bag, a true matte black) smudged along the lash line.

I also recently picked up this wonderful, matte grey Bobbi Brown Shadow Stick in Shadow which I've been using with my own little quad. It consists of MAC Copperplate (a cool-toned matte grey), Beauty Marked (an amazing glittery purple-black), Smoke and Diamonds (a beautifully soft, rich and pigmented shimmery grey) and a Grand Entrance (soft, shimmery champagne silver-pink): altogether they create a really beautiful smokey eye, particularly when paired with my new favourite eyeliner, the Bourjois Liner Clubbing and lashings of my favourite waterproof mascara, 17's Va Va Voom in Black.

N A I L S

Nails are one of those things you can definitely go all out with, I always think. If you're not that comfortable chucking glitter all over your eyelids, or worry over a red-lip, stick to eyeliner and paint giant chunky gold holographic glitter all over your fingertips. That particular culprit in question is OPI When Monkey's Fly, it's got amazing bits of gold foil and holographic glitter in, and looks great when layered over any dark polish. I'm really into dark greens at the moment, like Barry M Racing Green, and Essie's Styleonomics will forever be a favourite, with it's dark and gothy green-black. I received the green and white glitter Urban Outfitters polish in Snow Globe from a friend for Christmas and it looks particularly awesome over the Barry M green. You can never go wrong with a silver or gold at this time of year, but I find silvers suit my skin-tone better, so I'm more likely to reach for Leighton Denny Diamond Diva, with either an amazing H&M holographic glitter polish called Jo Is In The House layered over, or Essie's Hors D'ouevers (a sort of shimmery silver gold champagne colour) on top. And even though Christmas is done and dusted by December 31st, a dark or glittery red is a classic in my book, and my two favourites are China Glaze Ruby Pumps and the vampy dark red that is Essie's Wicked.

L I P S

This is where the glitter theme sort of falls apart, because please don't wear glittery lipstick, I beg of you. As you can tell, I'm not being that adventurous with my lipstick this year, and thats because I'm shunning all the dark vampy lipsticks in favour of nudes and pinks, and it's weird for me but I'm going with it. I'm adding my favourite reds in here though, just because.
On the red spectrum, my all time, absolute holy-grail of dark red lipstick is NARS Fire Down Below (bottom of picture). I actually hunted for years for this, and it's the best true dark red I've found, not a berry or pink hue in sight, but has enough brown and blue in to make your teeth whiter, and not make you look like you're from the 80's. Honourable mentions go to Illamasuqa's Encounter, a good all-rounder red, but if you want a more sheer lipstick, you could try something like the YSL Volupte Sheer Candy in #7, which can be layered to that darker red, but goes on sheer.

However, I'm big into the pinky-nudes (I blame a Kardashian sister, though I'm not sure which one) and these are all my current go-to lipsticks from MAC. From the top down (to the left of the gold YSL colour) is MAC Blankety, a new favourite and is a bit paler than my lips, which  I love. In the middle is an oldie but a goodie in Plink!, and at the bottom, my true my lips but better lipstick, MAC Hug Me. I've been using them with the GOSH lip-liner Nougat Crisp to make it last as long as possible. I've just realised that maybe this is was being an adult is like, and not doing an neon pink lip on a daily basis...

F A C E

When you've got a lot going on on your nails, lips, eyes, etc, I think it's always best to tone down the contouring for a day. That doesn't mean not making the most of what you've got though. I love Yves Saint Laurent's Le Teint Touche Eclat foundation - I wear it in BR10 because it's got a great, buildable coverage and still remains dewy and fresh faced, so you can use it accordingly where needed. When paired with it's sister translucent powder, YSL's Souffle D'Eclat, and then a little bit of NARS Albatross highlighter swept over cheekbones, it gives the dewy illusion with good staying power. I've also been really enjoying eyeshadow of late - a change from my usual eyeliner - so a good shadow primer is needed, and I've been enjoying the Rimmel Exaggerate. It's not god's gift to beauty, and there are much better shadow primers out there, but for it's price-point (£4.99) and if you're in a pinch and need it, it's pretty good. Also make sure to prep your lips before even going NEAR that red lipstick - I was given this amazing blueberry EOS lip-balm by a friend and I've been carrying it with me ever since. The egg shape still feels a little weird to rub on your mouth, but I'm getting used to it!

What will you be opting for on New Year's Eve? I mean, despite liver-damaging amounts of alcohol..!

summer face favourites

After posting about my current face - I  realised how much I used to enjoy writing about makeup, which I don't do too much anymore, since I got out of the whole #bbloggers scene. So I thought I would talk about my favourite summer makeup. It's really not that much different to my regular makeup.. Just, more pared back than it is in winter. Less vampy purple lipstick.

MAC Brow Pencil in Spiked: I recently purchased this and it's just a great. I spoke about it in this post, but it's really fine, creamy and just all round great. I was using the Soap & Glory Archery one, but this is much nicer, I think.

Kiehl's Creamy Avocado Eye Treatment: I've been using this for quite a while now, and have noticed a definite improvement in the skin around my eyes. I still use a regular face moisturiser, but I find the recent humidity has all by completely sucked the moisture from my skin so it's great to inject a little extra moisture if I can.

MAC Carbon Eyeshadow: I love eyeliner, it's a problem. Pretty much all I wear these days is black cat-eyes, crap tons of mascara, and red lips. So adventurous, I know. But in the summer, unless it's a special occasional I really can't be bothered to deal with putting that stuff on my sweaty (sorry) eyelids. This is where a matte black shadow and a tiny angled brush (I used the MAC 266) comes in handy. Quickly sweep it along the lashline, and it looks like eyeliner. Super quick, no fuss.

MAC Eyeshadow Quad in Deep Truth, Big T, Nylon and Woodwinked: This quad came about because I saw this beautiful looking eyeshadow palette by Laura Mercier which I still really want, but thought I had the exact same shades in my MAC collection. So I dug out some similar shades and changed it up a bit, swapping the light blue for a shimmery white highlight, and I've got my perfect summer quad. The bronze and blues go amazingly well together when swept across the lid lightly, with a little bit of shimmer, it's a good combination. Some of the colours I have (the blues) were limited edition, but MAC re-release so many of them, you're bound to find similar ones.

Malin + Goetz Lip Moisturiser: I got this free with a magazine recently, and I think it's absolutely amazing for those days where you've been out in the sun a little too long without an SPF lip balm on, you know you're guilty of it too. This gets them feeling a little less disgustingly flaky afterwards, always a plus.

Maybelline Instant Age Rewind Concealer: I love this concealer for under my eyes and wherever else I need a little extra coverage, quickly. It's in a really easy to apply with the twist up tube and means I can throw it in my bag without needing a makeup-brush or anything else. When slipped over well moisturised skin, it goes on like a dream. 

MAC Chili lipstick: I can't forgo red lipstick, even in the summer, but I've managed to take step away from my favourite vampy reds and berry hues, and have been reaching for this one so much in July. It's sort of a browny-orange toned red, but don't let that put you off, it works amazingly well with tanned skin and barely there makeup. A little mascara and highlighter and it looks so effortless.

Benefit Sunbeam Highlighter: The perfect shimmery gold highlighter, which doesn't make you look like a glitter bomb exploded on your face. Mine is a little sample size version, but it's lasted me forever, and I love it dabbed lightly along my brow and cheek bones.

Bobbi Brown Bronzer in Natural: I've posted a full review of this here, but it's really just the perfect, terracotta shade, with a great formula. No shimmer, so great for contouring, too. 

perfecting the face

My beauty-themed posts are few and far between these days, but I've recently been perfecting my go-to-makeup look. I've been really into make-up since I was like fifteen, now, so I know what products I will go back too time and time again, as well as a few new things, I thought I would share with you.

FACE
Origins Make a Difference Plus + Treatment
Yves Saint Laurent Le Teint Touche Eclat (Shade BR10)
Maybelline The Eraser Eye Concealer  (Light)
Yves Saint Laurent Souffle D'Eclat (Shade 02)
Benefit Sun Beam Highlighter
Bobbi Brown Bronzer (Natural)

EYES
MAC Eyebrow Pencil (Spiked)
Rimmel Exaggerate Waterproof Eyeliner (261 Noir)
L'Oreal Voluminous x5 Mascara (Extra Black)
Bourjois Liner Clubbing (Ultra Black)
Benefit High Brow

LIPS
Malin + Goetz Lip Moisturiser
Yves Saint Laurent Rouge Volupte Shine (Shade 04)

In the summer, I really love this Origins treatment, I use it like a moisturiser in the morning because it's super light-weight and helps my foundation blend well. The YSL foundation is truly my holy-grail foundation. It's sheer and dewy, but buildable and smells like watermelon. Literally perfect. In the summer I go for a combination of the Bobbi Brown bronzer which is the perfect terracotta shade for my skin, making me look all sunkissed as well as being a great contour. I also dab a very small amount of the Benefit Sun Beam across the top of my cheek and brow bones, just to add a little highlight.
A new eye product I got recently, was the MAC eyebrow pencil, but I'm obsessed with it already - it's got the perfect tiny point, which is great for drawing in brow hairs. Irritatingly,  it looks like a bad match in this photo, like it's too red or something, but it does match my hair here, which doesn't look nearly as red as it currently is... so annoying! Trust me, they match. Another recent discovery is the Bourjois Liner - it also has a really fine point for a drugstore liner, making it super easy and quick to do a neat little cat-eye in the morning.
And as always, my face would not be complete without a pop of bright lipstick - the instant I bought this YSL one I knew it was the absolute perfect lipstick. It's sheer enough that you don't have to spend forever prepping your lips like some lipsticks, and you can layer it, too. It's not the most long-lasting of lipsticks, but I love it just the same.

Have you made any recent discoveries that you know will be with you for a long time? I always love the challenge of finding the perfect product that will be repurchased time after time... Maybe a bit weird, though.