FOTD - Autumn is Coming - 01/09/13

Hello everyone! I don't know why I say everyone because you are reading this and you are not everyone.. Hello *insert name here!*.. Anywaaaay..

Today's post is a FOTD, as I was going out for lunch with a friend to a semi-fancy restaurant and after being at the gym and quickly having a shower and shoving my hair in a side braid, I needed a little pick me up to make me look half decent!

Picture taken on my iPhone 5.

For this look I went really natural on the eyes, only using my base cream eyeshadows that I wear most days no matter what and winged black eyeliner. I knew I wanted to wear a bright red lip as I haven't for a while so I had to wear the classic winged black eyeliner eye with it, how could I not, it's practically tradition! Also, I always wear my trusty powder to control those oils!

Picture taken on my iPhone 5. Is it just me or does my left eye look so much smokier than my right? I swear they looked the same in the mirror - stupid lighting!

List of make-up:

Rimmel Stay Matte Pressed Powder in 001 Transparent

Mac Paint Pot in Painterly

Maybelline Color Tattoo 24 Hr in 35 On and On Bronze

L'Oreal Paris Super Liner Black Lacquer

Rimmel Scandaleyes Waterproof Kohl Kajal in 012 Bronze and 005 Nude

Maybelline The Falsies Flared Mascara

Rimmel Exaggerate Full Colour Lip Liner in 024 Red Diva

Avon Lipstick in Smitten Red

Top is from H&M.

So that's about it for this post, it was a little shorter than usual but I wasn't wearing that much make-up, however I hope you have enjoyed reading! Let me know if you want me to review any of the products I've mentioned in more detail, and if you have any requests please let me know. What do you think is a traditional look in the make-up world?

Hope you have a lovely day and don't stop smiling :)

Hannah, xx

Night Out Look #1 - Burgundy Glam - 25/08/13

Hi everyone! Long time no see, to be honest I forgot to blog due to being so busy! The last time I blogged was in April when I was just starting to study for my final University exams (which I passed with merit!!) and then I was on holiday twice this summer (to New York and Azerbaijan - will do separate blog posts of pictures soon) so now I'm back :) I don't know what my schedule will be but I know I want to blog as I honestly miss it, I still read new blogs every day and have done even though I haven't been posting, so I decided I want to post at least a couple of posts a week, I should manage that when I'm at University too, as I go back on the 23rd of September and have a couple of days off a week to catch up on my work.

Anyway, I'll do a proper catch up blog post soon, but for now I'm going to show you my make-up and outfit from a night out last week! Also, these photos were taken from my iPhone 5 so sorry they are not the best quality, will take photos from my proper camera from now on (or when I can).

As you can see I went quite dark for this night out as on a regular basis I don't wear a lot of make-up and I usually go for very subtle looks, so I thought why not? Sometimes dressing up and wearing a lot of make-up is a good thing, and this look really boosted my confidence for the night! 

List of make-up:

Rimmel Stay Matte Pressed Powder in 001 Transparent

Mac Paint Pot in Painterly

Maybelline Colour Tattoo 24 Hr in 35 On and on Bronze

Soap & Glory Lid Stuff in What's Nude (used all 4 shades - absolutely love this palette!)

MUA Eyeshadow Palette in Heaven and Earth (only used the dark shimmery browns)

Urban Decay Palette de Fard a Paupiéres (only used Twice Baked - a dark shimmery brown)

L'Oréal Paris Super Liner Black Lacquer

Rimmel Scandaleyes Waterproof Kohl Kajal in 012 Bronze and 005 Nude

Maybelline The Falsies Flared Mascara

Rimmel Exaggerate Full Colour Lip Liner in 024 Red Diva

Rimmel Lasting Finish by Kate Lipstick in 107

This burgundy dress (I'm a size 12 in this dress and I'm 5 ft 11 just in case you want to buy it and don't know what size you are) is from boohoo.com and I think it was £12, which is a bargain! I love this website so much and I don't have a bad thing to say about it, the clothes are lovely and they have so much choice. I paired my dress with black heels from Dorothy Perkins, and I kept the accessories to a minimal, only wearing a simple gold necklace (Forever 21) that you can see in the first two photos, as my make-up was so bold that I wanted everything else to be very subtle and simple. I also curled my hair as my dress is very tight and simple, so I thought curled hair would look better than straight hair.

I think that's everything for this blog post, I hope you enjoyed reading this and if you have any suggestions on what you want to see or if you want any reviews of the products I used to create this look then let me know. Thank you for reading and I hope you have a lovely day. 

Hannah :) xxx

Maybelline Master Precise Liquid Eyeliner in Black - Review + Swatches!

Hello! Long time no see! I've been very busy recently, however blog posts are starting up again, have you missed me? ;) Let's get right into this post!

This is the first liquid eyeliner I've ever bought and it's the Maybelline Master Precise Liquid Eyeliner in Black. I have been afraid to try out liquid eyeliners for absolutely ages because I have super shakey hands and I was afraid that it would just go everywhere and I wouldn't be able to apply it properly, so when I saw that this had a felt tip applicator I thought why not? Surely that makes life easier for me, right?

But before we get onto that, the packaging is quite cute I think. It's designed like a pen, with a lid that pops off to show the felt tip applicator and it's just a plastic container, it's thin and lightweight and easy to throw into your bag for on the go, and the lid doesn't come off very easily which is again a bonus, no one wants eyeliner all over everything inside your bag!

As you can see the felt tip applicator does have a super sharp point, however material is soft so if you accidentally stab yourself in the eye it shouldn't be that sore. What I like about this is that the entire applicator has the product on it, not just the tip so you could run not just the tip along your lid, but the thicker part also to create a thicker line on your eyelid which is what I have been doing. Because of the felt tip applicator, I feel like it's a billion times easier to apply this onto the lid, even if you have a shakey hand it is fine, I haven't made a mistake yet. It also dries instantly, meaning it won't crease on your eyelid or smudge about if you move your lid too much, which I love, as everything on my eyelid seems to crease like crazy, I need an eye primer so bad!

This is just a picture of the type of eye look I've been going for with this liquid eyeliner, I've been doing more of a thick winged line as I feel this is more in trend for Autumn however if I play up my eyeshadow a bit more I will only draw a thin line to give definition but to make my eyeshadow stand out more.

I can't say enough good things about this product, for £6 at Superdrug, that is an absolute bargain! I've completely fallen in love with this product and I will definately be trying out some of the other liquid eyeliners from Maybelline, and maybe some of the pencils also.

Do you recommend any liquid eyeliners/pencils that are good value for money?

I hope you enjoyed reading this, have a wonderful week and I will talk to you very soon. :)

Hannah, xx

Topshop's Kohl Eyeliner Pencil in Saddle - Review + Swatches!

I feel like all I ever do is review things, I swear I'll have a better variety of posts up soon, I have just been so busy and I have doing about 10 posts a day and then spreading them all out, I'm starting Uni soon and everything is a wee bit mental! I'm currently at my Freshers week in Glasgow so I'm never really at home, therefore all these posts are pretty much queued up, so bare with me whilst I start a new chapter in my life!

But onto why you are here, reading this post; Topshop's Kohl Eyeliner in Saddle! I bought this about 3 weeks ago and have used it a fair few times and have came to my final verdict on whether I like it or not.

First of all, the packaging is quite cute isn't it? I love the Topshop signature spots, I think they are adorable and are very aesthetically pleasing, for me anyway. It's just a plain pencil with a little white lid, which I am unsure on whether it is really that secure, I would watch if you are carrying it about with you, I feel like the lid could come off if something pushed against it.

The pencil is pretty self explanatory, it's just a plain brown pencil, this is it swatched onto my hand along with Maybelline's Color Tattoo in Eternal Gold and Maybelline's Master Precise Liquid Eyeliner in Black, as you can see I take my blog pictures all at once! On the hand it looks fine, the pigmentation is.. Alright, I suppose, I prefer it way more on the top of my lashline, as on the waterline it comes off quite easily. It is a little bit tricky to put on your top lashline though, it doesn't apply very smoothly and you have to keep your hand still or else it will smudge everywhere, which I don't really like again, I prefer my eyeliner to be a straight line.

As you can see the one time I actually take a picture of me wearing Saddle I have an extremely thin line making it barely noticeable, if you saw yesterdays blog post you will have seen that I like both my liquid eyeliner and my pencil eyeliner quite thick, however I was going for a rather natural look here. So yes, I do quite like it on the top of my lashline, I think it compliments my eyes well and is a lot more subtle and natural than a black line.

As I said earlier with the smudginess, that could be seen as a good thing if you smudge the outer corners of your eye to create an almost smokey eye effect with a pencil eyeliner which is quite good and saves you the hassle for doing a smokey eye using eyeshadow, it could be a quick alternative for a smokey eye.

Overall, for £4 I think it's alright. Not the best I hoped it would be, but not the worst. I don't think I will repurchase it after I have used it all, I will try Maybelline's brown eyeliner as I absolutely adore their liquid eyeliner so hopefully their pencil eyeliners are just the same.

Do you have any recommendations for brown pencil eyeliners, and if so, what are they, and what are your favourite eyeliners?

Thank you for reading, I hope you have a wonderful week and I will talk to you very soon. :)

Hannah, xx

Collective Haul - Reviews and Swatches!

Guess who got sucked into various offers, for example 3 for 2 on Maybelline?! Oh wait, that was me.. I am such a sucker for good offers! Anyway, the past week I have been shopping a lot, both with my family and on my own, and I have been picking up a lot of make-up for me recently, I feel I have turned a new leaf and am now starting to experiment and step into the make-up world, finally!

The first thing(s) I should mention.. Aren't exactly make-up, but they are nail polishes;

Left; Chica Boom Boom (H&M) (£3)
Centre; Dazzle (Crackle Nails - Tophop) (£5)
Right; Parma Violet (Topshop) (£5)

Chica Boom Boom is actually a bright neon orange, my camera is not giving the colour justice. I've wanted a bright orange nail polish for what seems like a very long time, I don't actually have an orange nail polish at all, and since it's summer I thought why not? I also got a bit of a tan this year (this is surprising yes, I hardly ever get a tan, I am horribly pale) so I feel like the bright neon orange won't look as drastic against my skin.

Dazzle is not actually for me, it is for my friend Leanne, as it is her 18th next week (I know she won't see this so it's fine) and since her favourite colours seem to be purple and gold, when I saw this in Topshop it was like a blessing! It's the most beautiful dark purple, but not super dark, just.. Oh you can see it in the picture! Anyway, it has gold glitter through the purple, which I'm sure she will love!

Parma Violet is again a nail polish for me, and again, I have wanted a violet nail varnish for SO LONG! All the purple nail polishes I have are either super dark or kind of.. Medium tone? Does that even make sense? Probably not.. But when I saw this colour I knew I had to buy it, it just looks the most gorgeous pastel light violet colour I've seen (that was A LOT of words to describe a colour) and it had to be mine. Onto make-up now..

Smokey Eye Palette from Topshop - Tawny. (£12)

I love the fact it comes with a little "how to" booklet; for people who are inexperienced with make-up, it really does help them out. Good job Topshop!

From right to left: The first colour is a pink, champagne colour, it is very shimmery and I would use this as an everyday colour, just to sweep it all over the lid and give my eyes a base/some shimmer. The second colour is a shimmery bronze, which is my personal favourite out of the 4. It looks SO NICE on the lid, you can use this to line your upper lash line and also take it down to the lower lashline and I think it would compliment everyone. The third colour is again a lovely eyeshadow, I love how it is brown but it has gold shimmer throughout it, it looks lovely through the crease and gives your eyes definition. The final dark shimmery brown really makes the eyes smokey, as using this in the outer corner and blending will really make you look sex-aaaay!

So, as you can probably tell.. I got some eyeshadow from Topshop! I got the Smokey Eye Palette in Tawny, and there was another one but it was darker and more grey/purple toned, I'm sure that was called Smouldering. The shadows are quite shimmery which I like, and they all compliment each other beautifully; the reason I got Tawny was because the bronzy colours look nicer to me, and I think they actually will look nicer on me, I feel because I'm pale it will work better? Correct me if I am wrong though! But yes, I love the colours, especially the bronze colour, (the one on my middle finger in the photo.)

Maybelline Colour Tattoo 24hr - 05 Enternal Gold. (£4.99)

Also, congrats to Maybelline on the packaging - I love it! It's so sturdy and looks so fancy and elegant, I love the little glass pot loads!

I saw this yesterday in Superdrug (when I got sucked in with the 3 for 2 offer), and there was only one or two left, and I knew I had to get it; it is the most shimmery, creamy eyeshadow I have ever put on my eyelid (now, I haven't put a lot on so I think this is good, however, other people may think differently). I really do love this colour, I think with a liquid black liner (coming up soon!) and red lips, it will look perfect, it's an easy everyday eyeshadow that you can just whack on, but at the same time you can dress it up too.

Maybelline Master Precise Liquid Eyeliner - Black. (£5.99)

I can see why Maybelline called it "Master Precise", with this bad boy of a felt tip, even the shakiest of hands could manage a straight line

What really drew me to this product was, not only did I really need to buy a liquid liner, but the fact that it was a felt tip liner, making it a billion times easier to put on. I even tried it out last night to see if it really did make a difference, and holy moly, my liner was close to perfect first time! I was so impressed with this product, application is easy, and the blackness of the liner is pretty good also, hopefully it doesn't dry up quick or anything, but so far, fingers crossed!

Topshop Kohl Eyeliner - Saddle. (£4)

Ever since watching the beauty girls and guys on YouTube I have desperately wanted a brown eyeliner for so long! Whenever they use one I always think "Holy moly, black eyeliner is so harsh compared to the subtleness of a brown eyeliner, why do I not have one?!" and whilst I was in Topshop a couple of days ago, I saw a brown eyeliner and thought why not? I may as well give it a go! And I LOVE it! It is very build-able, it starts off very subtle, so it would be nice on the waterline but on the top lashes you can build it up so it is an obvious brown line, but still subtle compared to a black eyeliner I think!

Maybelline Colour Sensational Lipstick - 422 Coral Tonic. (£7.19)

Again, I loooove the packaging! It is such a classy lipstick, with the shiny see-through red lid and the simple but elegant silver packaging, it makes it look like it's worth more than you paid for - a good quality to have!

The last (but certainly not least) make-up shopping splurge was to this gorgeous coral lipstick by Maybelline. I had been looking for a coral lipstick for a while, as I only have a red lipstick and I was kind of getting bored of wearing the same lipstick over and over again, and although there probably isn't as much difference between the lipsticks as I had originally wanted there to be, it is less bold than the red one and it makes a change, which I like. It is again, build-able, you can put it on lightly but you can certainly build it up to make it as bold as any red lipstick would be.

I also then bought a pair of jeans and a t-shirt from Topshop;

Topshop's Moustache Tee by Tee and Cake - £20

So cute! Aaaaah!

Love the "wrapped up" detail at the sleeves, it just makes the t-shirt for me.

I have been obsessed with moustaches and anything moustachical recently, from necklaces to now a t-shirt! I was actually leaving Topshop after buying the jeans below and continued shopping, but I had to go back and buy it, I couldn't resist! It is such a cute top and you can pair it with anything, from jeans and a blazer (to spruce things up) or wear it casual with a skirt.

Topshop MOTO Super Soft Skinny Leigh Jeans in Indigo - £38

One of the reasons I fell in love with these jeans is this ankle detail, I love this look right now and have been doing this to jeans which don't already have this detail, I think it just instantly changes the style of your outfit and makes it a bit more classy.

Finally.. The jeans! I absolutely adore these jeans and I am so glad I bought them, as you can tell by the title they are seriously SO super soft, which I love. I have been obsessed with jeggings for the past year and have been wearing the same 3 pairs constantly, and they have done their time; one has two holes near the crotch and I cannot let them go! I really wanted a new pair of jeans, but jeans for me are usually not as comfy and they don't stretch as easily as jeggings, but these jeans proved me wrong! They are easy to put on, extremely comfortable, go with anything and everything and are so soft, it's like I am wearing jeggings - good buy!

So after that super long blogpost, I am done! This is everything I bought over the past week, I love it all and I hope you enjoyed reading this (sorry if it was a bit longwinded) but yeah. Have a lovely day and I will talk to you very soon. :)

Hannah, xx