Autumn Makeup FOTD - Dark Berry Lip

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What I'm Wearing:

Collection Lasting Perfection Concealer

Rimmel Professional Brow Pencil

Barry M Natural Glow Palette

Barry M Glmaour Puss Palette

Maybelline Gel Eyeliner

Benefit Bad Gal Eyeliner

Soap and Glory Thick and Fast Mascara

Nina Ricci Lipstick Satin 14 (I'm not sure what it's called?)

Grey high neck top - Topshop

Red Plaid Shirt - Hollister

 

One of my favourite things about autumn is that the dark berry lip comes back into trend. I love wearing dark vampy colours as it just makes me so excited and it feels so autumnal. Today I decided to wear a Nina Ricci lipstick that is actually my mums but she doesn't use it anymore! I think it was limited edition so you probably won't be able to buy it anymore, sorry!

For my eyes I mixed the matte brown shade in the Barry M Natural Glow Palette wight the purple shade in the Barry M Glamour Puss Palette. I then added the cream shade from the Natural Glow palette all over my lid. Using the Maybelline Gel Eyeliner I lined my lash line and then I took the Benefit Bad Gal eyeliner in my tight line.

So that is my face of the day (FOTD) and I hope you enjoyed this autumnal makeup look! Thanks for reading!

Autumn Wishlist #FallintoAutumn

Today I have another post in the FallintoAutumn series I am doing with Fran, you can visit her blog here! This post is an autumn wishlist! There are so many things I want this autumn, from deep red lispticks to oversized boyfriend coats. What's on your autumn wishlist?

Black Floppy Hat - River Island

Tartan Skirt and Crop Top - American Apparel

Grey Michael Kors Bag

Black Chunky Chealsea Boots - Topshop

M.A.C. Velvet Teddy

Dogtooth Skirt - Topshop

Black Oversized Coat - H&M

Black Chunky Boots - Doc Martins

Black Backpack - Mulberry

Faux Leather Zip Skirt - Topshop

Grey High Neck Crop Top - Topshop

Rimmel Kate Moss Lipstick 107

Tartan Skirt and Crop Top - Amercian Apparel

Blog Photography Tips

One of the main things that I think are important in a blog post are the photos. Let's be honest here, if I stumble upon a blog post and the photos are blurry, over edited, too dark, tiny - you get the point; the chances are I won't follow or read on. This could just be me but I think the photography is what makes a blog. Don't get me wrong, I'm no expert in photography, but I do have some tips to help you if you're struggling with your photos. So here are my top tips!

Equipment

Personally, I don't think it's necessary to buy an expensive camera just for blogging. I see people buying DSLRs specifically for their blog, but they don't know how to use it so the photos aren't any different to maybe an iPhone. I think just use what you've got, whether or not you are using your iPhone or a DSLR camera. But maybe if you don't have anything to take decent photos then by all means buy a camera if you want to. All I'm saying is don't feel pressured to buy one because lots of other more 'popular' bloggers are using one. I just use my iPhone 5 and I think the quality is fine. it's all about how you take the photos, not about what's taking it. Just make sure your photos are in focus and follow the rest of these tips and you're photos should be fine! 

 

 

 

Lighting

I cannot stress enough how important lighting is. You want to be able to see the product you are taking a picture of, there's no point having he photo taken where it's not bright or the photo will come out dark! Take photos away from the light, by this I mean have the window shining onto the product. Instead of taking the photo towards the light. Otherwise it will be dark like in the photos above. I take my photos by a window so they are nice and bright. 

Some people like to use flash in their photos, personally I don't as I feel the lighting is unnatural and over exposed. But if you are happy with the flash you use then go ahead and use it! 

 

Background

Cluttered backgrounds can often look messy, so try to find a nice background that you are happy with. I quite like to put flowers in my photos, they are from ikea if you were wondering hehe. I also put a mini dressing table type thing from Tickety Boo as it looks cute :D It might take a while to find you're style of photography, but experiment with different backgrounds to find which ones you love the most. Personally, I think the cluttered background in the image below looks quite nice as there is only one product.

 

Composition

Like I said about the background, experiment with different compositions to find which ones you are happy with. I always take about 10 photos of the same thing but from different angles. Then I pick which one is my favourite.

Editing

Editing isn't necessary, but if you want to edit photos, I would recommend the app Snapseed on the AppStore as it is free and very good! I turn the brightness up and edit the saturation and contrast a little bit. I think it makes a huge difference but I guess that's just me!

 

So here we have it! All my tips for photography, obviously I am not an expert! These are just my views on how to help your photos look better! Thank you for reading I hope you enjoyed this, have a nice day, bye!

Kylie Jenner Inspired Makeup Look

 

 

 

Products used:

Rimmel Professional Brow Pencil in Balck Brown

Collection 24 Hour Extreme Felt Tip Liner

17 Va Va Voom Mascara

Rimmel Kate Moss Lipstick in 08

I'm a huge fan of Kylie Jenner, especially her makeup. I am so jealous of her lips, MAC velvet teddy is definitely on my wishlist (apparently that's the lipstick she uses.) Today I did a makeup look inspired by Kylie Jenner, mainly the picture she posted on instagram about 30 weeks ago, I didn't base it on her recent selfies mainly because I didn't want to wear eyeshadow and I wanted to do a winged eyeliner.

For the lips I used Rimmel Kate Moss lipstick in 08 which is the closest colour I have to Kylie's lips. She likes to wear a mauvey brown nude and the Rimmel lipstick is a great alternative. I did apply it a bit further than my lip line to make my lips fuller. Unfortunately the lipstick I used isn't matte, so what I did was dust some translucent powder on top to give it a matte finish!

On my eyes I used the Collection 24 Hour Extreme Felt Tip Liner to create a winged look. I then filled in my brows with the Rimmel Professions Brow Pencil in Black Brown.

So that is all I did to create a similar look to Kylie Jenner. Obviously I don't look like her! That's not what I'm trying to say haha, I mean I just recreated the same makeup look she did but I know I don't look like her haha. This is just my take on her makeup! I hope you enjoyed it, thanks for reading!

Pink Plaid for Autumn - OOTD

It's that time of year where summer has disappeared and it is not acceptable to wear shorts or skirts without tights anymore as it's just too cold! But it's too hot to wear knit sweaters, scarves and coats. This is where transitional clothing pieces come in handy as they are appropriate for the not-yet-winter-but-not-quite-summer times.

I think the skater skirt adds quite a girly touch to the look and paired with the grey high neck top is an outfit I will be reaching for more often. High necks are going to be in this A/W so before they all sell out I would pick up one of these 'rib funnel' tops as they are called on the topshop website. I would've worn this outfit with my leather jacket, but it was far too much black and although black is nice sometimes, I didn't feel like wearing too much of it. So I chose this shirt from A&F and I think it goes quite nicely and adds a splash of colour as well as keeping me warm. Everything I am wearing in this outfit is listed below:

Pink Checked Shirt - Abercrombie & Fitch
Grey High Neck Top - Topshop 
Black Skater Skirt - New Look
Necklace - Primark
Black Chunky Boots - New Look

Fall into Autumn - Collab Series

original photo source - weheartit but edited by myself

The days are getting shorter and the nights are getting colder. When it's time to wear knit sweaters and dark berry lips it can only mean one thing, autumn is here! To make this autumn extra special, myself and Fran from Fran's World will be doing a collaboration series on all things autumn. We've decided to name it Fall into Autumn and there shall be many exciting posts to get you ready for this season. We shall be posting autumn related fashion and beauty posts all the way through September and October so keep your eyes peeled for that! We will also be using the #FallintoAutumn on twitter so you can be up to date with our series. I hope you enjoy the idea of this series and make sure you check out her blog http://franciscarockey.blogspot.co.uk ! Thanks for reading, bye!

Benefit Porefessional - Worth the Hype?

 

I'm sure you have all heard of the Porefessional, a primer that aims to 'quickly minimize the appearance of pores' by Benefit. There are many mixed reviews that I have heard, some people think it does nothing and its not worth the hype but then others swear by it and use it everyday. I have quite a mixed opinion on this primer, it does work to help minimize pores. But I just don't think the results are that amazing and noticeable to be so raved about.

I do like the packaging for this product though, there is a nice turquoise theme going on. I think the colours make it really appealing and is probably why a lot of people want to buy it as it entices them in haha. When you squeeze the primer out of the tube, it has a skin colour which surprised me when I first used it as I thought it was going to be clear. Once applied to the skin, I apply it mainly around my nose where my pores are more obvious, it blends really easily and feels very smooth.

Although there is a slight difference, I still can see my pores and there isn't a large difference. However that is probably due to the fact I only use a small pea size amount; if I used more I'm sure my pores would be gone. But I don't exactly want to waste the product.

Enough about the bad things, now onto the good. The Porefessional really helps to make my makeup last longer and when I use it I can notice that it doesn't slip and slide as easily. Not only that but it helps keep my face matte for longer, which is always a good thing if you have oily skin. Because of these reasons, I like to use it everyday and it has become a must have item for me. I also mentioned this in my August Favourites because I was enjoying it so much!

Overall I really like the Porefessional and would definitely repurchase it once mine has run out. I really recommend it if you have oily skin. Even though the whole pore minimizing thing didn't work for me, I still really think this product is worth the hype for other reasons. Thank you for reading this blog post, I hope you enjoyed it, bye!

MUA Undressed Palette - Naked Palette Dupe

 

 

 

 

 

 

So I'm pretty sure we've all heard about the Naked palettes by Urban Decay. Every beauty lover has them or is dying to get their hands on them, well I know I certainly do. But why spend £40 when you can get something really similar for £4? Yes, it probably won't be the same, but the colours are very similar if you ask me. If you haven't guessed by the title, this post is going to be on the MUA Undressed eye shadow palette as it is supposedly a dupe for the Naked 1 palette. Sadly, I do not own any of the Naked Palettes, so this may not be entirely true, I am just basing it on what I can see in photos and what I have heard other people say.

For £4 you get 12,  highly pigmented eyeshadows with a mix of mattes and shimmers. I think the main reason this palette gets compared to the Naked palette is because of the colours, they are pretty much identical and also go in the same order as the Naked 1 palette. The eyeshadows are extremely pigmented, the shimmers more than the mattes. My favourite shades are Shade 2, 5 and 9. I think 2 and 9 really work well together as they both have pink undertones. I am a bit disappointed in Shade 3 as it lacks pigmentation a lot.

The packaging is pretty much what you pay for, but I guess it's the eyeshadows that are what you are actually using so it shouldn't matter too much. In the palette you also receive a little sponge type applicator which I don't use at all. I really recommend looking at the MUA palettes if you are just starting out in makeup or you don't want to spend about £40 on the Naked palette but you just want the colours in it. I think MUA also do an Undressed Me Too palette which is apparently a dupe for the Naked 2.

The only negative things I have to say about the MUA palette is the packaging which I've already mentioned. But also that the eyeshadows do leave a lot of fall out under your eyes when you apply it, but it can easily be swiped away.

I really think these MUA palettes are worth a buy as you get 12 amazingly pigmented eyeshadows for only £4, its hard to go wrong. If you've tried these out tell me what you think of them! I hope you enjoyed this blog post, thanks for reading and have a nice day, bye!

Top 5 Thursday - Perfumes

 

 

 

 

 

Perfumes are one of those necessities in life, without them everything would be so plain and scentless. A perfume can brighten up your day when you spray it on, it can also brighten up someone walking past you's day. However, picking a perfume can be very tricky as there are so many out there that all smell amazing, so I have put together my top 5 for you. I'm going to make 'Top 5 Thursday' a monthly thing so keep your eyes peeled for that! Most of the perfumes I have chosen are sweet, florally fruity scents as those are my favourite, but there are also some more sophisticated scents as well. Also these aren't in any order :)

Daisy Eau So Fresh by Marc Jacobs
Marc Jacob perfumes are my favourite, mainly because of their packaging but they also smell incredible. I actually love the Daisy Summer Edition one but it was limited edition so I didn't think it would be nice to put it in here as you can't purchase it any more. Anyway, the Daisy Eau So Fresh perfume has a very light and delicate floral smell. It also has a slight fruitiness in the scent which is probably why I love it. It smells amazing and it is totally worth spending your money on. It lasts for quite a long time but its lasting power doesn't shock me. I like this because it isn't too strong but it's not too light that you can't smell it, it's just in-between :D

Princess by Vera Wang

For some reason my perfume isn't purple like others that I have seen, but it still smells just as lovely. Its quite hard to describe, but it has some hints of vanilla in it. It is also quite florally and has a slight musky scent to it as well. Definitely go and give this a sniff in your local boots, the packaging is also beautiful and the lid is like a little crown!

Insolence by Guerlain
If you are looking for a sweet smelling perfume that isn't to sickly, I recommend this perfume by Guerlain. When I spray it, I think of lush and sweet shops as it is so sweet and girly. But it isn't an artificial sickly sweet scent, its more enchanting and magical haha.

Nina by Nina Ricci
I absolutely love this perfume because of its fruity and sweet scent. I am a sucker for fruity scents and this one has hints of apple and grapefruit. The packaging is alsolovely as the perfume bottle is shaped like an apple and it looks very eye catching.

Lovestruck by Vera Wang

Can we just take a moment to appreciate how amazing the packaging is, I love it! This perfume is a lot less girly and delicate than the others. I'd say its more sophisticated and musky, but still smells lovely nonetheless. Its probably more of an evening scent but its not too strong and overpowering. I really recommend this if you are looking for something that isn't too floral and sweet.

So there we have it! My top 5 perfumes. I hope my descriptions were good enough for you, if you've ever tried describing a perfume then you know how difficult it is, well for me anyway. I hope you liked this blog post and thank you for reading. Have a nice day, bye!

Favourite Highstreet Fashion Picks #teenblogseries

It's Monday! Which means another post for the #teenblogseries! Today's topic is our favourite fashion shop and picks! I decided to pick New Look because I think there are so many great fashion steals which you can get from there that aren't going to break the banks! I shall just show you some of my favourite items from there! Even though a lot lf these clothes are suitable for summer I think you could also wear them in autumn too.

 

 

 

 

Monochrome Aztec Print Tank Top

Gingham Wrap Skirt ( I did a post on this here)

Black Skort

Light Blue Mom Shorts

Black Shift Dress

Lilac Lace Dress

Black Chunky Boots with Gold Buckles

Matte Lips

While rummaging through my lipsticks the other day, I noticed I had a little matte lipstick collection going. Normally I'm not actually a fan of matte lips, but I quite like some of these lipsticks. There are a few hit and misses though as you will soon find out.

Sleek Matte Me Lip Cream in 'Petal'

The packaging for this lip cream is really nice, I've always been a fan of sleek packaging as it looks so classy with the matte black. My friend actually bought me this as a present which I really appreciate, and I quite like the lip cream. However I'm not sure if it's the shade or the formula, but it just doesn't suit me. Nonetheless I will still wear it, it applies quite liquidly and creamy but dries to a matte finish. It does tend to dry out my lips a bit and feels really thick on the lips. Like I said, if this was in another shade I might feel different about it, but for me this just doesn't tick all the boxes. 

Rimmel Kate Moss Lipstick in 101

At first I used to dislike this lipstick as the colour was more cool-toned than expected. However, after finding ways to work with it, I've grown much more fond of it. It is a blue-toned pink nude lipstick with a slightly watermelon-ish smell. Some people really like the scent but I think it smells quite artificial. I love the formula of these lipsticks and I will definitely be picking up more, I have actually done a full review here. They apply nice and smooth and don't dry your lips out all, even though they have a matte finish. I really recommend these Kate Moss lipsticks, definitely a hit and not a miss.

Revlon Colourburst Matte Balm in 205 'Elusive'

As you know I love lip crayons, especially the Revlon Colourburst range. I have actually done a whole post on them which you can view here. I didn't actually realise all my matte lipsticks were really similar in colour until I took the photos for this post. But it is a medium pink colour that is quite natural. The formula is not at all drying and actually quite moisturising. There is also a slight peppermint scent which feels refreshing on the lips. I absolutely love this lip crayon and I really recommend you try them out!

Barry M Lip Paint in 52

I know, wow, that is a bright lipstick. But I did buy it when I was about 11 and had no idea about makeup or anything. I thought I was really cool buying (even though I hardly wore it) a neon pink lipstick. I'm not sure if it was just the lipstick I bought, but not only is the colour very daring, but the formula is really bad if I say so myself. It is very drying and does not apply smoothly, it is quite rough to apply. Barry M might've changed the formula or it might just be this shade, because I have other Barry M lipsticks that I love and they aren't drying. The colour is definitely something for the more braver lipstick wearers, I wouldn't exactly wear a bright blue-toned lipstick on a day to day basis. This lipstick is definitely a miss and I don't recommend it, however definitely check out some other shade by Barry M.

As you can see, there are a mix of hit and misses in my matte lipsticks. I hope you enjoyed this blog post, thank you for reading and have a nice day, bye!