Naked 2 Basics

If there's one type of make up product I'm more than happy to splurge on, it's a good quality eyeshadow palette. So it'll come as no surprise that I adore the original Urban Decay Naked trilogy. A couple of weeks ago I saw the Naked 2 Basics palette on Cohorted for just over £15 & I couldn't resist! 

I recently started work after finishing university, and I wanted something that'd be suitable and subtle enough for everyday, and this bad boy ticks all the boxes. Neutrals, mattes, and great pigmentation is what you'll find, and the range of shades allows for versatility from this little compact palette. 

The packaging is also gets a big gold star from me. It's sleek and small, with no wasted space for a brush, and the mirror takes up the whole inside lid which is ideal. 

The palette usually retails for £22 and I think it's a worthwhile investment for those who want a reliable neutrals palette. This palette leans towards the cooler shades, but if you prefer warmer neutrals then the original Naked Basics is a great option to consider.

I would love to hear your thoughts on these palettes! 

Thank you so much for reading, much love 

Kitty xx

Instagram | Twitter | Bloglovin | Youtube

richard ward haircare

A few weeks ago I was sent a selection products from The Chelsea Collection by Richard Ward*. I've been trying them out in the mean time, and decided it's finally time to share my opinion on this range. Richard Ward is a celebrity hair stylist, and his range recently launched in Waitrose. The four products that I have been trying are Keratin based products, that each have a specific role to play in your hair routine. Let's get started.

keratin luminiser

This product is labelled as an 'ultra-clarifying colour brightening treatment' - however I'd rather call it a deep cleansing shampoo, and that's how I'd recommend using it. The instructions say to apply as a shampoo on wet hair, and leave in for 3-5 minutes. This is how I used the product the first time I tried it out, and boy did it strip my hair clean. I have quite damaged hair from years of heat and bleach abuse, so for my poor brittle hair this product is too strong when used as instructed. Instead, I like to use it as a regular shampoo (rinsing immediately rather than 3-5 minutes later) to wash out coconut oil. Due to the deep cleansing nature of this product it is perfect for cleansing your hair of nourishing oil treatments.

keratin volume shampoo & restore conditioner

The shampoo and conditioner are lovely, they have the same fruity scent as the rest of the products in this range and do a good job at what they claim to do. That being said, I didn't find them to be particularly miraculous products, and didn't notice much difference on days I didn't reach for these ones in the shower. They're a solid shampoo and conditioner set, but nothing to write home about. 

keratin styling spray

For me, this product is the winner of the bunch. It provides both heat & UV protection for your hair, and works as a great smoothing-styling spray. I use this on wet hair before blow drying, and on dry hair before using any heat tools again. I find it makes my hair shinier, and helps hold the curls or straight styles longer than other heat protection sprays. Out of all the products this is the one I look forward to using, and remember to take with me when I head to the boyfriends house at the weekends. A definite future re-purchase.

This collection is available at Waitrose and all products are £5.99 each

Have you tried anything from the collection? I'd love to know what you thought of them. 

Thank you so much for stopping by, much love 

Kitty xx

Instagram | Twitter | Bloglovin | Youtube



*These products were sent to me for reviewing purposes, but all my opinions are honest and reliable

All Black Everything

| Dress: Boohoo | Shoes: Zara (old) | Necklace: Swarovski (old) | Bag: Mulberry (old) |

Just in case you couldn't tell by my blog design, I'm a big lover of monochrome and probably 99.6% of my wardrobe is black. With that in mind, I though I'd share with you one of my favourite go-to outfits for an evening out. I went to Claridges for some impromptu drinks this weekend & had the outing been a little less spontaneous this is what I would have worn. 

Thank you so much for stopping by, much love 

Kitty xx

Instagram | Twitter | Bloglovin | Youtube

A Neutral Face

If you hadn't already guessed it, I'm a neutral make up fan. I love smokey browns on the eyes, subtle brows and nude lips. This post covers my current favourites for creating the perfect neutral face.

skin

My old faithfuls for my skin have been the Revlon Photoready Primer, the Rimmel Stay Matte Foundation, Maybelline Fit Me Concealer and the wonderful Rimmel Match Perfection Loose Powder. This combination leaves me with the perfect matte-velvet complexion that lasts all day. I've recently been reaching for the ELF Studio Blush in Twinkle Pink, as this blush has a few flecks of gold running through it and it's great for really brightening your skin for a youthful appearance. For my contouring, I use one of my all time Holy Grail items, the Sleek Contour Kit. 

eyes

Bold, beautiful eyes are a must-have for any make up look I do, and my love of bold eyes probably goes a long way to explaining my love of subtle, neutral lips. Recently, I have been favouring the beautiful Urban Decay Naked Palette. I have been through phases of loving all three but currently my make up is all about the original. Next on my eyes is the Chantecaille Faux Cils mascara, which gives beautiful fluttery eyelashes with zero clumps. I love the soft bristles of the wand on this mascara. I've also been wearing my trusty L'Oreal Super Liner, which somehow got left out of the photos above! 

brows

I've been reaching for the oh-so-easy to use Smashbox Brow Tech To Go pencil for my eyebrows recently, as this is such a fool proof quick fix, with the waxy pencil on one end and the clear setting gel in the other, it's the perfect all in one brow product. You can find my full review of the product here. 

lips

Recently I've been favouring the Freida lipstick from the original L'Oreal Collection Privee. This is a beautiful purple-toned nude lipstick with a bit of shimmer. I wear it lightly swiped across the lips straight from the bullet, and well blended in. You can find a more in-depth review of this, and two other shades from the collection here. 

scent

The Elie Saab perfume is one that I've loved for a long time, and I managed to get a cheeky purchase of it in duty free last month. It's a beautiful feminine scent, with notes of Orange Blossom and Jasmine. Heavenly. 

Thank you so much for reading, much love 

Kitty xx

Instagram | Twitter | Bloglovin | Youtube

Glitter nails

I know, I know... it was only a few days ago that I was posting about my new found love for MaxFactor Glossfinity in Ruby Fruit, but here I am with another nail post. This time, the focus is on something a little more glitzy. A review of my three favourite glitter nail polishes. I used a base colour of Sally Hansens Mauve Along under each glitter. 

MODELS OWN; blizzard

This is a chunky, silver glitter and is perfect for an instant 'pop' of glam.

BARRY M; rose quartz

This is a beautiful mix of rosey-pink, rose-gold and silver glitter in both big and small sizes. A real mix for a beautiful effect.

MAYBELLINE; sugar crystals

This polish is has a lot of very fine specks of silver glitter suspended in a sheer pink polish, it gives more of a shimmer effect than a glitter one and gives a subtle, beautiful finish. 

Let me know your favourite glitter polishes in the comments. Thank you so much for reading, much love 

Kitty xx

Instagram | Twitter | Bloglovin | Youtube

Face of The Day

I don't know about you, but I love a good Face of The Day post. There's something quite satisfying about having a nosey at what others wear on their face on a daily basis. Here's some of yesterdays picks, and these are all favourites of mine!

NARS; Douceur Blush

I've had this for a few months now, and I can't stop reaching for it. We all know how loved the NARS blushes and bronzers are, and whilst this is a shade I hear a little less about than the others (*Ahem* Orgasm) the quality of the product remains the same. This shade is a muted, matte pink-brown and is just heavenly. 

£28 available at Space NK

NARS; Isola Bella Satin Lip Pencil

I'm a sucker for nude, or your-lips-but-better lip products, and this one is a great version, leaning towards the peach-nude tones. This is my only NARS lip pencil and I love the satin range, they're smooth and non-drying on the lips, very easily blended and when layered have great staying power.

£18 available at Space NK

YSL; Luxurious Mascara

As with pretty much all YSL products, I adore the packaging on this bad boy. Gold and shiny and beautiful - who can argue with that? Oh and it gives a pretty wonderful effect on the lashes too - wide eyed and full of volume. 

£23 Available at Boots

L'Oreal; Super Liner

This is an oldy, but a goody. I love this stuff and must have repurchased-and-repurchased-and-repurchased dozens of times, and honestly, I can't imagine ever switching to another eyeliner unless they discontinue it or I encounter some kind of eyeliner related disaster. It has a flexible, fine nib that is so easy to work with and can give both thick or thin lines. Love it! This is the dip-nib-in-pot kind of eyeliner rather than a felt tip pen kind, as I tend to find those dry out more quickly.

£6.49 available at Superdrug

CHANEL; Perfection Lumiere Foundation

This is a foundation that I've been using for years, and it's a really lovely light-medium coverage with a velvet matte finish. One of the main things I love about Chanel Foundations is that they come pale enough for me whilst still being a good match for my skin tone. This one is lovely and I love the glass bottle it comes in, with the oh-so-handy pump. Really want to try the Perfection Lumiere Velvet too. I wear shade 10 Beige.

£36 available at Boots

SLEEK; Contour Kit 

If you've seen my Contouring Made Easy video then you'll know I'm a big fan of the Face Form palette too, and I recently managed to get my hands on the Contour Kit, a more compact version of the bronzer and highlighter than I love, without the far too glittery blush. The sleek bronzer is the best I've found for contouring, it's pigmented, buildable and so easy to blend it makes contouring a dream.  

£6.49 available at Boots

MAC; Eyeshadow Quad

Shroom, All That Glitters, Wedge and Espresso

This quad was my first ever MAC purchase, about a year and a half a go. I adore the colours, they're the exact shades that I wear every single day, whether I'm using this palette or a different one. Gold-neutrals and matte browns are what my eye looks are all about. This is a great palette for travelling as it's compact, although I'm a strong believer that MAC eyeshadows are quite pricey for what they are, so I can't imagine purchasing any more of their shadows in the near future.

Eyeshadows £10 each when purchased for palette available at MAC

Eyeshadows £13 each when purchase for individual use available at MAC

Pro Palette x 4 £5 available at MAC

Thank you so much for reading, much love - Kitty.

Instagram | Twitter | Bloglovin | Youtube

AW Nails

Autumn is my favourite season for fashion, I love the layers and colour palettes and general snuggliness of the season, and all the excitement leading to Christmas! I also really love Autumn nail colours, as in the summer and spring months I tend to go for 'nude' and 'taupe' shades on the nails. I like a neutral palette for pretty much everything, so Autumn brings a refreshing change of being able to wear dark sumptuous colours on my nails!

The other day I was hunting for the perfect dark plummy-red tone, as I was wearing an old Jack Wills polish in the shade Burgundy which was chipping mercilessly. So, I dashed off at the first opportunity to hunt for something with a little bit more longevity and stumbled across this beauty. This is the first Max Factor nail polish I've ever tried, and the promise of 7-Day-Glossiness was all too much for me to resist, and the dark colour was just the type I was on the hunt for. And so, Ruby Fruit became my new nail essential!

I always pair nail varnishes with my HG top-coat Seche Vite (even with the wondrous top coat, the Jack Wills polish was just hopeless!) and so far, I've had 4 days wear of Max Factors Glossfinity and it looks every bit as perfect as the day I painted them.

Do you have a favourite go-to autumn shade? Let me know as I can't resist a good nail varnish splurge! X

NARS duo: All About Eve

Over the last few weeks I have been absolutely adoring this little heavenly duo from Nars. Im all about the Neutral Eye look - especially with smokey browns and shimmery champagnes - so this little duo has been the perfect addition to my makeup bag. 

The texture is lovely, not quite as creamy and pigmented as my sacred Urban Decay eyeshadows, but I find them easier to work with than Mac shadows. As you can see, the colours are very similar - which is perfect for me because it's the kind of colour I wear almost every day. The left shade is a little more brown toned and the right shade leans towards peachier shades but they're both beautiful and make the perfect highlight or lid shades. In the make up look above I'm wearing the left shade. 

I also absolutely adore the chic and iconic NARS packaging that just looks so pretty on any dressing table. The size and style is pretty much identical to the NARS blushes - as you can spy in the background of the photo above. 

At £25 a pop for 2 colours they aren't exactly the most economic purchase, but personally if I'm going to splurge on a product 9 times out of 10 it's going to be an eyeshadow

Overall a thumbs up from me... this isn't my only NARS eyeshadow duo and I'm sure I'll be adding more to my collection soon - I've got my eyes on Habarnera. You can find NARS duos here - they retail for £25.  

AW; mini beauty haul

I feel I should start off for apologising for my more-than-month-long absence from kittyhearts. Life got in the way; I had a dissertation to finish, a conference to present at & most importantly a holiday to dive into. I'm back now, and so eager to resume blogging, so I thought I'd kick start with a little haul that I bought yesterday.

I have Abbie from abeautifuldelight and Sarah from andbeautyorsomething to blame for my most recent haul. I spotted Abbies haul on her instagram the other day which featured a couple of the Maybelline Color Drama lip pencils, as well as spying Sarahs blogpost featuring the same product... and I just had to get to Boots myself to check them out purchase them. 

As usual, Boots had loads of offers on (Maybelline, L'Oreal and all haircare were all on 3 for 2, along with tonnes of others), so it would have been rude not to...

Bleach London; Reincarnation Mask

I've had a mini-version of this mask before, that came with the Bleach White Toner I used a few months a go, and oh-wow do I love this mask. It really does revive dry-damaged hair like no other, and my hairs been a little neglected the last few weeks so I can't wait to smother it in this stuff and have hair to rival Kate Beckinsale again (I wish). 

Batiste; Nourish & Enrich Dry Shampoo

I'm a big batiste fan, and I love to have a healthy stock of dry shampoo for emergencies, so when I spied the Nourish & Enrich I knew it was a product for me. I've only used it once, but so far so good. It's one that tends to leave a lot of white behind, so use sparingly (or the night-before) on dark hair. 

Charles Worthington; Shine Booster Gloss Spray

Who doesn't love shiny hair? I'm hoping this will make my hair look shiny and lustrous over the colder months as I always suffer with a dullness during AW. I've tried a few things from the Charles Worthington Salon at Home range and have been really impressed so far.

L'Oreal; Glam Bronze

I'm a big lover of the bronzer in the Sleek Contour Kit, but when I saw April from beautiface mention this product in her video I knew I had to get my hands on it. An almost-matte bronzer with quite a lot of product and a promising looking brush. I know a lot of #bbloggers can't stand the brushes that come with most cheek products, I swear by the brushes in the Benefit box blushes and this is a similar-ish shape so will hopefully be perfect for contouring. 

L'Oreal; Lumi Magique Pearl Powder

I fell in love with this powder in the shop. The photograph doesn't, couldn't do justice to the iridescence of this powder, it looks like such a beautiful highlighter and I had massively high hopes for it. Until I got home and read the reviews on the Boots website. Ohhhh, how I wish I'd read the reviews pre-purchase. Apparently the beautiful highlight is just the top layer, and beneath is a disappointing matte powder. Gutted. I'm sure I shall be posting a proper review once I've tried this and gotten to the matte powder underneath. 

L'Oreal; Perfect Match Concealer

Always on the hunt for a great drug store concealer, I decided to try a L'Oreal one. I was initially going to get the Lumi Magique that I've heard a lot about, but after swatching I decided it was too sheer for my liking, and went for the more opaque La Touche Magique instead. I got the shade Natural Beige which on reflection in natural light is a little dark for me. Other than user-error in regards to colour selection, it seems like a good under-eye concealer. 

Maybelline; Color Show Nail Varnish in Sugar Crystals

I have a growing collection of nail varnishes that belong to the 'nude' family. I love them, and somehow I can't stop purchasing ones that are stupidly similar. I do get a lot of wear out of them though, so it's not quite time for a nail-varnish-intervention. I picked up this sheer glitter colour to go over the top of my nudes to make them a little more interesting/glamorous/festive. I want to say it's more of a glimmer than a glitter. Lovely.

Maybelline; Color Drama in Nude Perfection

The whole reason I went into Boots. Sarah had favourably compared them to the Nars lip pencils (which I love!) and they are obviously, considerably cheaper. After wearing this for most of yesterday with a gloss over the top and for most of today alone I can safely say that it's very similar to the Nars pencil but perhaps less drying and easier to blend-in. Really worth a try if you like matte lips. This shade is perfect the naked-lip shade. Love. 

Maybelline: Colour Sensational Shine Gloss in Coffee Kiss

Inspired by how perfect Cheryl Fernandez-Versini has been looking lately, I really wanted to pick up a brown-pink-nude lip shade for the Autumn. I love a brown/gold smokey eye and I find the best lip shades to go with that are the more subtle nudes, and particularly the brown-pink nudes. This gloss is to-die for. Perfect perfect perfect shade for me. I love it! 

That's it for my haul! Have you been feeling spendy lately? Leave your blog-links below so I can look at all your wonderful posts. Love xx

Hair Makeover with Andrew Barton ❀

A good few weeks ago now I was invited to the Grabble event at Andrew Barton's salon in Covent Garden. Grabble is an online fashion platform which reminds me of Pinterest mixed with ASOS. I really recommend having a look at their site - it's a great place for fashion inspiration and fantastic way to find items too. I had a lot fun at their #GrabAMakeover event and I was the lucky winner of two prizes on their charity raffle. Today's post is about the Hair Makeover that I won with Andrew Barton himself! 

Before 

Jack, myself & Andrew

#selfieselfie

The first picture shows my before hair, which is pretty much my natural colour with some slight ombre peeking through, if you havent already seen this post on my hair adventure a few months ago you might want to take a look. To sum up, over the last few months I've really wanted a subtle balayage-ombre through the ends of my hair, just to warm it up and add some modern dimension to my hair, I tried it myself and it didn't work so I coloured over it. I went Pinterest mad over the last few weeks since booking my appointment with Andrew and took along some photos of how I wanted the colour to look.

The appointment started with a consultation with Jack, my lovely colourist and Andrew who would be cutting my hair. I showed them the photo's (mostly of Lily Aldridge) of the kind of look I was after and they were both very positive about the style and thought it would suit me, so Jack got straight to colouring my hair. After a few trips to replenish his stash of foils and much discussion of all things 'hair' and 'London' we were almost done with the colouring. Foils came out, bleach was rinsed and toner applied. After a little wait with the toner I was treated to a relaxing head massage and hair wash from Josh. Time for my cut with Andrew, he worked speedily and precisely giving my dreadful ends a much needed chop and adding some feminine shape to frame my face. He whipped out the hairdryer and round brush and gave my hair the best blow out I've ever had, and he made it all look so easy! I've been battling with a ceramic round brush for the last few weeks and can't imagine how I would ever create a curly, bouncing, smoothed style like he did for me. 

The cut and colour are just perfect, they're exactly what I wanted and really make my hair feel modern and young. I had a lovely morning at the salon and was made to feel very welcome by all. I'd love to say a big thank you to Andrew and his team for doing such a great job with my hair, and if you're in need of a hair overhaul or a luxurious hair appointment I thoroughly recommend them!  

Thank you so much for reading, much love - Kitty.

Instagram | Twitter | Bloglovin | Youtube

Top Ten Tag ❀

TOP TEN TAG

Copy and Paste everything in Bold

This Tag was made by Jessica Vannan at Pretty Chit Chat 

I was tagged by Jessica at Pretty Chit Chat

I Tag:

Abbie ❀ abeautifuldelight.co.uk

Zoe ❀ classicrouge.com

Rosie ❀ ohhsorosie.blogspot.co.uk

Belle ❀ mascara-and-maltesers.blogspot.co.uk

Sarah ❀ lovedbysarah.co.uk

Sam ❀ beautifie.com

April ❀ beautifaceblog.com

Em ❀ mypaleskin.blogspot.co.uk

Laura ❀ laurataylorfashion.blogspot.co.uk

Monica ❀ mothloves.wordpress.com

Elena ❀ elbellavita.blogspot.co.uk

Anouska ❀ www.anouskamillar.com

------------------------------------❀------------------------------------

1. FOUNDATION

I love the Rimmel Match Perfection Foundation. I've never tried a Rimmel foundation that I haven't loved, but this one is my favourite and the one I constantly go back to. Medium coverage, almost-dewy finish that just leaves your skin looking youthful and bright. Lovely.

2. POWDER

Actually really loving the Rimmel Match Perfection Loose Powder recently too. I was a big fan of the stay matte powder but when I needed to repurchase and they didn't have my colour I settled for this one and haven't gone back to Stay Matte! Eager to try the Soap & Glory one too as that looks gorgeous.

3. CONCEALER

I'm a big lover of the Maybelline Fit Me Concealer as it's super creamy and has good coverage, unfortunately the lightest colour isn't quite light enough to give me the 'highlight triangle' that I love under my eyes/across my cheeks, so for that I use the Collection Lasting Perfection Concealer in the lightest shade.

4. BLUSH

NARS Douceur is a winner! Really beautiful, subtle shade of pink-brown blush. It's not completely matte but there's no shimmer to it, which I prefer for day time as I like to use a separate highlighter with varying intensity depending on that days mood. 

5. BRONZER

Love Benefit Hoola for warming up the face, but I find it a touch too orange for contouring, so my contour favourite is the bronzer from the Sleek Face Form palette in Light. I've done a YouTube video of how I contour which you can see here. 

6. HIGHLIGHT

Laura Mercier Matte Radiance Baked Powder in Highlight is just gorgeous. Despite the name, it gives a really beautiful soft glow. Heavenly. 

7. MASCARA

This one is a tough one, I have a few that I really like but I haven't found The One. The closest I've ever gotten to The One, and one of my most repurchased mascaras is the Chanel Inimitable Intense which is just lovely. Very separating and lengthening. Plus, who can argue with Chanel packaging on their dresser.

8. EYE SHADOW

This week I completed my Urban Decay Naked palette collection by purchasing the original and I am in love with it! I've been an adoring user of UD shadows for quite a few years now with much very well used Naked 2 palette and Naked 3 has been getting the love since Christmas. The original Naked has been on my 'must purchase' list for many months and it finally came home with me and I haven't been able to put it down! Adore the buttery texture of these shadows, nothing beats them! And the neutral colours are just perfect for me. Love!

9. BROWS

Soap & Glory Archery in Browny Points is doing my brows good lately... However, I'm quite fickle with brow products as they're definitely my biggest make up struggle and I have never found a product, style or shape that I think is perfect. Would love recommendations!

10. LIPS

I think it's going to have to be Eva's Nude from the L'Oreal Collection Privee line, it's a really beautiful orange-toned nude shade which suits pretty much everybody! You can see my blogpost on the collection here.

I hope you enjoy this tag and check out the tagged peoples posts! 

Kitty ❀

Instagram | Twitter | Bloglovin | Youtube

Revlon Moisture Stain in Cannes Crush ❀

Revlon Colourstay Moisture Stain £7.99

I've been seeing this lip product all over the blogosphere for what seems like ages and I've been dying to try them for myself. So when I saw these at the Revlon stand the other day I got just a wee bit excited. I stood and swatched them for ages, wanting to buy them all but restricting myself to starting with one. The one that I chose in the end is Cannes Crush which is a beautiful coral shade! 

When first swatched, some of the colours can look a bit scary, but blend them out and they turn into a more sheer, beautiful gloss. This one for instance, looks quite florescent when you first swatch it or first apply it to your lips, but as with pretty much all lip products I like to blend to a more natural look. The finish is glossy and moisturising without being sticky or uncomfortable to wear, in fact it feels quite nourishing. I find the colour doesn't last quite as long as other stains that I've tried, but it gives a good four to five hours of colour, with the gloss wearing off much quicker. 

Kitty ❀

Instagram | Twitter | Bloglovin | Youtube

Great Skincare Under £10 ❀

Something I hear a lot is that it's "better to splurge on skincare and save on makeup", and whilst I think splurging on skincare can be a good thing, it just isn't feasible for everyone. I've been a full time student for the last four years so most of the time I'm bound to a student budget. However, I think this has been a positive restraint because as I've become more conscious of skincare, I have gone digging for some drug store gems, & boy have I found some!

Garnier Micellar Cleansing Water 
This is one that gets a lot of love from beauty bloggers, and it's no surprise why! A dupe for the much loved BioDerma, it gently and effectively removes makeup in a flash. Garnier say 'designed for sensitive skin and loved by all skin types' and I can safely tell you all that my skin adores this stuff. This is my go-to product for removing makeup quickly on a lazy evening, or the first step in a 'double cleanse' routine. Gone are the forbidden makeup wipes, as this stuff has taken their place! 
Usually £4.99 but currently on offer at Boots for £3.33 and Superdrug for £3.32

Garnier Express 2 in 1 Eye Make Up Remover
This is the most recent addition to my skincare routine as I've been wearing a lot more waterproof mascara and have been finding it impossible to remove, until this bad boy. It's a biphase solution, so shake before you use and apply to a cotton pad just as you would with the micellar water. I like to hold this over my closed eyelids, pressing into my eyelashes to help break down the waterproof mascara. With a little gentle rubbing the waterproof mascara easily wipes away and my eyes are left feeling fresh, not sore. Garnier claim that this stuff even helps to care for your lashes, and whilst I haven't seen any remarkable difference in my lashes, I do notice less lash-fall-out (am I saying it right? Who knows!) Wonderful. Even removes stubborn eyeliner.
Usually £3.49 but currently on offer at Boots for £2.33

Botanics All Bright Toner
❀Dupe Alert, Dupe Alert!❀ Ok, I want to call this a dupe for a much hyped skincare product, but I actually think that (for some skin types, not all!) this is better than the original. The original that I'm talking about, is the much loved Pixi Glow Tonic which is a really effective and very loved chemical exfoliator. I tried the Pixi Glow Tonic almost 5 months a go, and whilst I found it to leave most of my skin glowing, bright and fresh looking I also unfortunately found that it caused me to break out quite badly, with deep, large spots that never fully came to a head. I was so disappointed as I really wanted to love this product, but my skin just didn't like it! On the hunt for another chemical exfoliant I came across this, Botanics claim that "Natural AHA's from the flower act as mild exfoliators to help leave skin smoother and brighter" and it really is leaving my skin smoother and brigher. I have acne-prone skin and have suffered with break outs for years, which is probably why I had a bad reaction to the Pixi toner, but this toner from Botanics is actually helping to clear up my break outs and leaving my skin so much fresher and younger looking! Who can argue with that?
Usually £3.99 but currently on offer at Boots for £2.49

Botanics Hot Cloth Cleanser
I have been loving using this in my skincare routine lately. This is not only a hot cloth cleanser, but also a balm cleanser. I currently have my 'lazy skin routine' where I just use the Garnier micellar water (usually two goes of it, to really get rid of all the make up and grime!) or I have my proper routine, where I will remove makeup with the Garnier Micellar water, and save this stuff for actually cleansing my skin. It always seems a bit peculiar to me to put a really expensive (or even fairly affordable) skin cleanser on your face while you still have make up on, because then it can't get to your skin! So, after removing my makeup I massage this stuff into my skin and then soak my cloth in hot water to remove it. I like to really get the heat from the hot cloth all over my skin and spend a bit of time, rinsing the cloth and re-wiping over my skin to get really clean. It's also just really soothing and relaxing to have a hot cloth on your skin so I like to go to town! 
Usually £8.99 but currently on offer at Boots for £6.49

All these beauties for less than £10 each! Great skincare doesn't have to break the bank, it's really about finding what works best for you! Do you have any cheaper skincare favourites? Thanks for reading xx

L'Oreal Collection Privee Lipsticks ❀

This is a post I've been wanting to share with you for ages. 

I'm a massive lover of Nude lipsticks for any makeup look, whether it be evening or daytime. However, when I say nude I don't mean flesh-toned lips... I mean the 'Your Lips But Better' type of shade where your lips look flawless, but almost as if you have nothing on. So when I first discovered this gorgeous collection back in November last year I of course, fell head over heels for it. In the last few months I've been using these pretty frequently and every time I do, I love how they finish a makeup look off. 

EVA'S NUDE

This is without a doubt my favourite shade of the three I own. It's described by L'Oreal as 'barely golden' and I can see why. It's a really warm colour, verging on a muted coral. Perfect for brightening your look without being OTT or high maintenance.

CHERYL'S NUDE

For me, Cheryl Cole is an ideal portrait of great make up and hair and I can see why L'Oreal love her as an ambassador, so when I spied her colour in the collection I knew I had to get it. It's probably the colour that suits me the most from the whole collection, a subtly nude pink with enough brown and grey tones in it that it's not too pink. L'Oriel claim this is the perfect shade for brunettes with fair skin.

FRIEDA'S NUDE

Of course, the gorgeous Frieda Pinto and I don't have remotely similar complexions, but this colour in the tube and swatched just looked so beautiful that I had to try it. It's slightly purpled toned which looks amazing on Frieda but makes it a little harder to wear for me, but I love it for evening/night time makeup looks as it adds a subtle sexiness to your look. 

This L'Oreal collection is still available and can be found in local drugstores in the UK. There are a few more shades in the range from Julianne Moore, Doutzen Kroes and Liya Kebede and each of the girls also have a nude nail varnish too.

Have you tried anything from this collection? I'd love to hear your thoughts Xx