NEW Garnier Micellar Water

I always use a proper cleanser in the mornings and evenings, but when it comes to removing makeup I like to use a cleansing water before. Garnier have recently brought out a micellar water, and I love it!

Micellar waters have been absolutely everywhere. So many bloggers rave about Bioderma, but it's pretty hard to get hold of in the UK and it's quite pricey, however a lot of brands have brought out their own versions, including L'Oreal and La Roche Posay but these can still not be the cheapest and do have their faults.
Garnier's offering is the best I have tried. Firstly, the product itself is great as it just feels like water on the skin (it's not greasy in the slightest) but it removes makeup so easily, even eye makeup which I sometimes find difficult to fully remove it gets rid of with ease. The water feels calming and refreshing on the skin and would definitely be suitable for any skin type. It doesn't contain any nasty and drying alcohol either! Secondly, the packaging is by a mile better than other brands. I know so many people complain about the L'Oreal micellar water going everywhere when you try and pour it onto a cotton pad but this doesn't happen at all with Garnier. The bottle is huge….much bigger than I was expecting, you get 400ml which the brand claim will last you 200 uses, I'm not so sure about 200 but it'll definitely last a while. My last point that makes it better than the rest is the price, at £4.99 it's an absolute bargain.

I would highly recommend the Garnier Micellar Cleansing water if you're looking for a Bioderma dupe or just a brilliant makeup remover to use pre-cleanser.

What's On My Face Today

This is quickly becoming my go-to everyday makeup look for Spring. It's natural, quick, easy, fresh and just makes me feel awake and ready for Spring.

I've really been enjoying Bourjois Healthy Mix Foundation (£9.99), I got this recently after seeing practically every blogger rave about it and it's definitely worth the hype. Full review to come!
The golden shade (first top row) in the Sleek Storm palette is so gorgeous, and I've been pairing that with a little bit of Rimmel Sable  Brown eyeliner on the outer top lash line for more definition.
Revlon Lip Butter in Juicy Papaya is one of my all time favourite lip colours for the warmer months, it's such a gorgeous orangy coral that's not 'in your face'.

BASE
Bourjois Healthy Mix Foundation in Light Vanilla /// Maybelline Fit Me concealer in 15 /// Rimmel Stay Matte Powder in Transparent

CHEEKS
NYX Blush in Peach /// MAC Mineralize Skinfinsh in Soft & Gentle

EYES 
Sleek Storm Palette (first, top row) /// Rimmel Eyeliner in Sable Brown /// Maybelline The Flasies Mascara 

LIPS
Revlon Lip Butter in Juicy Papaya 

Spring Blushes - NYX

Officially Spring doesn't begin for another couple of weeks, but the weather is getting a bit sunnier and there's a definite feeling of Spring in the air. I feel like Spring is the season for pink blush, I tend to go for more coral or peach in the summer but pink is the perfect transition for Spring.
NYX do some really brilliant and affordable blushes in a huge shade range, I thought I'd share two of them with you that I'll be using this season.

Cream blush in Natural

Powder blush in Peach

The first is a cream blush in the shade 'Natural' (£5.50). I nearly always opt for powder blushes, I just prefer them a lot more but this blush is really gorgeous. It's a really natural colour like the name suggests, it looks darker in the pan than it is when it's all blended into the skin, and it gives a beautiful glow. I thought this might be difficult to apply but I found it surprisingly easy - the best way is to blend it in with your fingers. As it's a cream formula it isn't super long lasting, I'd say it lasts for around 4 hours on it's on, but if you powder a bit over the top it'll last that bit longer.
The second blush is a powder in the shade 'Peach' (£6)….I have no idea what NYX were thinking when they named this product as it's not a peach shade at all, it's a cool toned medium baby pink. Normally cool toned blushes don't look good on me at all, but I find Peach really suits me and gives me a natural glow without any shimmer. It can be sheered out for a subtle wash of colour, or built up for a more intense look. The formulation of this blush is amazing, very pigmented, easy to blend, feels nice and silky and lasts a good 7 hours on the cheeks.
Both blushes are packaged well, nothing outstanding but for the price I didn't expect anything fancy.

Cream blush in Natural (LEFT)
Powder blush in Peach (RIGHT)

I'd highly recommend checking NYX blushes out! They're brilliant quality for the money and the shade range is so vast there'll be something for everyone.
Unfortunately they're a US brand but you can buy them from their UK website or Amazon.

What's your favourite Spring blush?

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The Right Red Lipstick For You

Choosing a red lipstick can be a tricky task. If you just go into a shop and pick up a pretty red without thinking about how it'll suit you it can lead to it being a waste of money. I've put together some tips on how to work out which type of red lipstick is best for you. Just a little disclaimer before I get started, everyone has different opinions on what works with different skin tones, the tips I'm giving you are just a general rule but it doesn't always mean they'll apply as there are so many factors to consider (skin tone, undertones, hair colour, other makeup you're wearing, etc).

Firstly you should work out what skin tone you have. Take off all your makeup and look in the mirror, decide if you're fair, sun kissed, olive toned, dark, etc, and if you have pink or yellow undertones to your skin. If you're not sure how to do this you can do the vein test, stand in daylight and make a fist, look at the veins in your wrist, if they're mainly blue it's a sign of cool undertones (pink), and green is a sign of warm undertones (yellow).

If you have fair skin with pink undertones opt for soft coral or pinky reds, such as NARS Flamenco. as they're not so overpowering. If you have yellow undertones berry reds will look good on you as they're slightly warmer. If you feel you have more blue-ish undertones to your fair skin go for a more cool toned red.

Berry red looks great on Anne's pale skin

Soft pinky red

If you feel like you want to wear a bright red lip but you are fair then don't despair (I'm a poet), it can be done! If you wear a bright red lip with very minimal makeup on your eyes it won't look right, the lips will be too overpowering. However, if you pair the true red with several coats of mascara and some dark black eyeliner you should be able to pull it off as the eyes will balance the look out.

Emma can pull of the bold lip because she's paired
it with dark lashes and eyeliner

Keira can wear this orangey lip as
 her dark eye makeup balances

Medium skin toned girls (olive or sunkissed) you're lucky as most reds will probably suit you. Berry reds, orange reds and true reds will look great with your colouring. Blue toned reds should suit you too, which is great as they have the added bonus of making your teeth look extra white, like MAC Russian Red.

Orange red

True red looks pretty on Kourtney's
skintone

Medium brown skin tone, warmer/yellow reds will look great on you, such as MAC Lady Danger.
Dark skinned girls stay away from anything too bright! Stick to cool shades that have deeper colouring to them - think dark cherry or a brick shade, such as MAC Diva or Dare You.

Rihanna looks like she's wearing Lady Danger -
it suits her perfectly

This dark cherry red suits Jennifer's dark skin

I hope you found this post helpful. If you're still stuck maybe try buying some really cheap red lipsticks from somewhere like MUA to see which shade suits you before you get a more expensive one.

What's your go-to red lipstick?

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March Wishlist 2014

It's March! One of my favourite months of the year, mainly because it's my birthday month - yay! And what better month to do a wish list post than my birthday month?
I also did a skincare wish list not long ago, so be sure to check that out! I'm hoping I can acquire some of those products this month because my skin is feeling not the best.

MAC Fanfare lipstick  looks absolutely gorgeous. It's a warm pink colour with coral undertones - swoon! Perfect for Spring/Summer.
Under eye dark circles is something I suffer from, I hate them and I feel like they drag my face down and make me look so tired. The Bobbi Brown Corrector in Light Bisque may just be the solution to this problem, everyone raves about it and I think I need to give it a go. It's a pricey product at £18.50 but if it masks my circles I'll be happy.
I love a good liquid eyeliner, I wear it most days normally with a little flick, and although I love my maybelline gel eyeliner it does take a bit of time. The Soap & Glory Supercat Eyeliner would be a lot easier, it's meant to be a great product!
I've wanted a simple gold necklace for ages now, and I've fallen for this cute Zig-Zag Necklace from ASOS.  I love how simple it is, I think it would look so pretty on.
Contouring is something I always do, I feel naked without it! However, I'm pretty pale and although I adore my bronzers sometimes I feel like they're too dark to contour with, so I did some research and this NYX Blush in Taupe has got great reviews from pale skinned girls who needed a contour product.  Need! It's under £7 too, bargain!
One of my all time favourite lip products are the Revlon Lip Butters, and the shade Wild Watermelon looks so gorgeous. It's a pretty pinky red. These lip butters are so perfect for summer, they feel so light on the lips, are moisturising and they have the most gorgeous colours ever.
MAC Blush in Fleur Power is described as described as a soft pinish-coral - that's me sold! I'm yet to try any MAC blushes as well.
MAC Paint Pot in Painterly is one of the most raved about point pots in the collection. It's a pinky nude that's perfect as an eyeshadow base, something I do not own.
Nars Blush in Deep Throat (yeah, heads up, Nars products have rude names, try to overlook it). This blush is supposed to be the less 'in your face' vision of the Orgasm blush (warned you about the names). I have a dupe for the Orgasm blush and I adore it but I do find it a little bit too much, so Deep Throat looks gorgeous. It's not as bright and it has more of a sheen rather than lots of sparkles. Nars blushes aren't cheap, but their products are outstanding.
I'm running really low on my current daytime foundation, Rimmel Match Perfection, and although I do like it I want to try something new. Bourjois Healthy Mix Serum Foundation sounds great for me, it's medium coverage but light and moisturising. Every time I'm in Boots I pick it up but can never bring myself to buy it as it's more expensive than the Rimmel one, but I really feel I need it now! I've already worked out my shade is 51…get me to Boots! I also want to try MAC Studio Sculpt in NW15.
I have two eyeshadow palettes in this wish list, both are neutral palettes because I'm obsessed with them. The first being Soap & Glory Lid Stuff in What's Nude, this is a gorgeous quad with 3 matte shades and one shimmery - I like matte shades at the moment and I have very few of them so this would be very welcome to my collection. Urban Decay Naked 2 palette is something that's been on my wishlisht since I discovered makeup, it just looks like an amazing palette!
My hair has been feeling very dry recently, I'm not sure whether it's due to the weather or the fact it needs a cut - something I'm sorting out next week, bye bye long locks. It could also be that I haven't been using an intense conditioner every week like I used to, I think I need to start up again. I've ran out of my Tresseme Keratin one, and my TiGi S Factor one, I love both of them a lot but I want to try the L'Oreal Ever Riche Mask Pot. It's a deep treatment for dry to very dry hair, it's meant to work miracles which I need right now to get my hair back into top condition.
I only have 1 jacket (not counting my huge winter coat) which is leather, and for Spring and Summer that's not always the best thing to wear, so I've found this gorgeous mint green jacket on ASOS that I think I need in my life. I don't think I need to say much, just look at the picture! It's so nice.
Two little extras are some Spring friendly boots, these ones from ASOS/River Island are so nice, I like the leather and think they'd be great for all year round. And lastly a book, Shopaholic Abroad by Sophie Kinsella, it's the second book in the series, I read the first recently and thought it was really good!

That's it, my HUGE wish list for March! 

What's something you would like this month?

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