favourite blushers for spring/summer

Left to right: Sleek Flamingo, 17 First Kiss, Topshop High Five, MUA English Rose, eBay Blush Palette Orangey Coral

Clockwise from top left: MUA English Rose, Topshop High Five, Sleek Flamingo, 17 First Kiss, eBay Blush Palette Orangey Coral

I love love love a good blush! They're definitely one of the bits of make up that I get most excited about. I think this might be as I'm so pale I feel that I need to add a bit of colour to my cheeks to make me look a little more alive. Anyway, enough rambling, I thought I'd show you the blushers that I love most for the spring and summer.

Sleek Blush in Flamingo
I know that this looks a terrifying colour in the pan and also on my arm as I've swatched it very heavily but on the cheeks (and used with a very light hand) it just gives such a pretty and feminine flush to the cheeks. I also know that Tanya Burr loves this blusher and I swear by her recommendations!
Sleek Blush in Flamingo is available from Superdrug for £4.30.


17 Blusher in First Kiss
I am OBSESSED with this blush at the moment - I've stopped even trying to restrain myself from using this blush every day - it's just so beautiful! It's a bright pinky coral which finishes with a subtle gold shimmer. It just gives your cheeks such a glowing and healthy look. Now I don't have it to compare, but I have read that this blush is very similar to the infamous Nars Orgasm (but obviously at a fraction of the price). From looking at swatches online it does look very similar hurrah! If you haven't got this blush then I URGE you to pick this up for the summer because I'm obsessed at the moment. I also think it would look brilliant on all skin tones!
17 Blusher in First Kiss is available from Boots for £3.49.


Topshop Cream Blush in High Five
This is a really bright almost neon pink which gives such a natural rosy glow to the cheeks. I love the Topshop cream blushers as they're so easy to blend and dry to a powder finish so your skin doesn't feel tacky all day long. My favourite way to apply these is with a stippling brush as this makes it even easier to evenly distribute the colour. Unfortunately I can't see High Five on the Topshop website any more but I have seen it in some shops still so have a look.
Topshop blushs are £6.00 from Topshop (and now the new John Lewis Beauty Hall on Oxford Street too!)

MUA Mosaic Blush in English Rose
I won't ramble on too much about this blusher as I've mentioned it before here where you can also see it on my cheeks! I think English Rose is such an appropriate name as this just gives you such a naturally pretty healthy glow. I love the shimmer in this blush as well as I feel it highlights my cheekbones so well to. For £2.50 I really can't fault it.
MUA Blush in English Rose is available from Superdrug for £2.50

eBay 10 Colour Blush Palette - shimmery orange coral (fourth on top row)
I picked up this ten piece blusher palette after seeing it on VIPXO (see Victoria's review here) and didn't have particularly high expectations as it was so cheap (it works out 44p a blusher!) However all of the colours are reasonably well pigmented and there's a great range of colours. My favourite at the moment is this bright shimmery coral. Corals and oranges are always so great for the summer and I love that these blushes are a little shimmery as I think that can make you look nice and glowy - and let you skip the highlighter!
This blush palette is available here from eBay for £4.46 - bargain!

What blushers are you loving at the moment?

xx

work = treats

Hello hello,

I don't know about you, but whenever I have lots of essays to do and I feel a bit sorry for myself, I find it very easy to justify all sorts of purchases. Now, none of these items are particularly expensive but judging by my bank balance, I still should have probably waited until my March pay check in a few days...

Anyway, here are some cheapy bits I've treated myself to recently as I've been a very good girl and worked very hard :) well done Florence haha!

I actually really wanted a Revlon Lip Butter or one of the Maybelline Colour Tattoos but they were all sold out in the Boots and Superdrug in Angel (sob).

Sleek True Colour Lipstick in 'OMG'

Max Factor Lip Liner in 'Fire'

Collection 2000 Cream Puff Moisturising Lip Cream in 'Cotton Candy'

MUA Out There Plumping Lip Gloss in 'Pin Up Pink'

MUA Extreme Felt Liner in 'Black'

MUA Bronzer in 'Shade 3'

Maybelline Express Finish Nail Colour in 'Turquoise Lagoon'

Nothing too exciting, just a few high street picks - I can't wait to go shopping on Saturday after I've been paid hurrah!

xx

sunday outfit, sunday face

Hello!

Just a super quick post as I'm working on an essay today (if anyone wants to tell me about the integration of Nazis in the Federal Republic then please do go ahead...)

Here's my comfy outfit for my hot date with the library:

A very uncomfortable looking me haha!

Denim jacket - Charity shop
T shirt - River Island
Belt - Vintage
Jeans - Primark
Pumps - Primark
Stone ring - Jewellery stall in Norwich
Thin silver ring - Found it in my kitchen of my old flat... if anyone wants to reclaim it please do!
Necklace - Vintage
Earrings - Gift

I also took a little picture of my make up for you. As with my outfit it's really simple and natural apart from the lipstick. I'm wearing my glasses today too as my eyes get sore when I stare at the computer for too long! (If anyone wants to know they're from Specsavers - cheap and cheerful!)

No7 BB Cream - Normal/Dry - Fair
Collection 2000 Lasting Perfection Concealer - Fair 1
NYC Smooth Skin Loose Face Powder - Translucent
Rimmel London Eyebrow Pencil - Hazel 002
ELF Wet Gloss Lash and Brow Clear Mascara
Lancome Hypnose Drama Mascara - Excessive Black
Sleek Blush - Flamingo
ELF Highlighter - Gotta Glow
Boots Essentials Lipsalve - Spearmint
Clinique Long Last Lipstick - Watermelon (Soft Shine)

Sorry for the quick and probably not very interesting post! I promise to have a more thrilling one for you very soon! I hope you're all having a lovely Mothers Day - I'd love to see my Mummy today :(

xxx

spring make up picks

Clockwise from top left: Sleek Blush in 'Pixie Pink', Jack Wills Eye Liner in 'Aqua', Barry M Nail Varnish in 'Cyan Blue', Models Own Lip Gloss in 'Violet Cream', Topshop Cream Blush in 'Head Over Heels', MUA Pearl Eyeshadow in 'Shade 5', Urban Outfitters 'Blue Lipperty Balm', Barry M Dazzle Dusts in 'Lilac' and 'Grass', Accessorize Nail Varnish in 'Coral Flair'

Here are some lovely Spring make up bits from across the high street to get you in the mood for leaping lambs and blooming daffodils!

xx

my favourite things: foundation and blusher

Hello again!

I have so many squillionz of things that I would (and will!) love to chit-chat about on this blog but I thought that perhaps the best thing to do to start things off would be to tell you about some of my favourite things! This is mostly just beauty items but I've added a few other categories :)

I'd originally planned this to be one long post but then I realised it would be colossal... so - instalment one = my favourite foundation and blusher!

Foundation:


My favourite foundation (although it's not technically a foundation...) is one that hasn't been around for that long. Personally I love my skin to look not too matte and have a nice natural looking glow - or so that is the aim. Most of the time I tend to have pretty good skin too and I therefore like my coverage to be quite sheer and light, although I have found that this foundation can be buildable to some extent.

*Drum roll*  I know by this point you are all dying to know the product that I am talking about, which is No7's Beautiful Skin BB Cream. I use the one for Normal/Dry skin in the colour Fair.

It's just so lovely and soft and moisturising and it has SPF 15 for protection and mmmmmmm... Last time I saw my sister she asked me what I'd changed about my skincare because she said my skin looked so healthy - just this!

You can get it from Boots in stores or online for £12.95 which is quite a decent price in itself, but the price is even more scrumptious when you have your £5 off No7 voucher :)

Blusher:

Now this was a hard one because I have lots of blushers that I think are wonderful. However, after many tears, I finally settled on Sleek's Blush in Flamingo.

Left: applied with a blush brush (although heavily), Right: swatched

If you are thinking that this looks terrifying at first then I will forgive you; I felt the same. However, you only need the lightest touch and this gives you such a pretty and summery looking cheek. Just make sure when you're in a rush you don't put too much on your brush... I love the packaging with the mirror inside as well. The price is fab too - £4.30, hurrah!

This is available from Superdrug and from the Sleek website.

(When I was getting the link for the Sleek website I spotted on their homepage that for a limited time only in Superdrug stores they are selling palettes with three blushers in (cue a little squeal from me!) These are in

'Pink Sprint' which appears to have one fluorescent pink shade and two plummy looking colours,

'Sugar' which has a more muted darker pink shade, a shimmery looking brown toned blusher and a sort of muted coral-like colour,

'Lace' which contains a coral, a light shimmery looking beige and a light peachy shade,

'Pumpkin' which includes a very bright orange, a soft light pink and a rose goldish colour and finally

'Flame' which has a dark shimmery looking red, a very bright red and a more muted but shimmery brown/pink shade.

Head over to the Sleek website and have a look... see you in Superdrug!)

Hopefully you've enjoyed this post and I look forward to chatting to you again soon :)

x

P.s. went to Superdrug at Westfield Stratford yesterday and they didn't have the blush sets... very disappointed. The hunt continues!