Gwen Stefani for Urban decay palette

  
I’ve not been around in like, forever so apologies for that. Some pretty life changing things have been happening but all will be revealed in the coming weeks I promise 😉 

I was on a spending ban so wasn’t going to purchase the Gwen Stefani palate but those 2 little words ‘limited edition’ swayed me and I caved and ordered one! And I’m not disappointed.

First impressions

I love the box! It looks so smart all in gold, white & black and has the perfect sized mirror for make up application. And the colours! Apart from the pink they are all everyday wearable shades that can take you from day to evening in the flick of a brush. 

I also received some lovely Urban decay samples with my palette. I’m loving the 24/7 liner in ‘Vice’ it’s going to be perfect for Christmas. (Shown in the above image) 

  Shown here with flash 

  Shown here without flash 
I shall get swatches up before the weekend so you can have a nosey. I’m sure you’ll love them as much as I do 🙂 

Take care lovelies! 

Sam 🙂 x

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Gwen Stefani for Urban Decay!

  
Urban Decay were teasing us this afternoon by posting a sneak peek of their new palette that comes from their collaboration with Gwen Stefani.  

 

First Impressions:OMG take my money already!! 15 shades of gorgeousness- get on my eyelids now please! 

They say it’s coming at the end of the year. In time for Christmas maybe? If so could someone kindly show this to my husband? Thank you in advance 😘

Are you as excited as I am? 

Let me know what you think 

However in the mean time the next one which will finally be available in the UK is the spectrum palette 

  
A little less ‘everyday wear’ than the Gwen palette but it’s beautiful none the less. And obviously I just HAVE to own it. 

  

Any new releases you guys are excited about?

Drop me some links 🙂 

Enjoy the rest of your week lovelies

Sam 🙂 x

Olympia beauty haul part 2: Swatches!

Happy friday people! I hope this week has treated you well?

As promised here are the swatches from my little Olympia beauty show haul. See part 1 here

My show purchases

NYX butter glosses

I always have at least one butter gloss in by bag at all times. They give a lovely wash of colour that isnt too over the top for every day wear. Definitely a make up bag must have for me.

Tiramisu & Madeline

Natural light without flash 

With flash

NYX Butter lipstick

Lovely feeling on the lips although very sheer. If you don’t like anything too heavy coverage wise then this is for you. I’d be interested in hearing what some of the darker colours are like though. So if you’ve tried them link me to reviews please 🙂

Snow cap

Without flash in natural light

With flash

NYX High voltage lipstick

This is my favourite lipstick ever! I love it more than (dare I say it) VELVET TEDDY!! It stays on for hours and is so pigmented you literally just need one sweep and it gives perfect coverage. I am 1005 buying more for my pro make up kit.

‘Stone’

Without flash in natural light

With flash

NYX Eyeshadows

These are really highly pigmented and for like £4.50 I think they were a bargain!

Without flash in natural light

With flash

Inglot amc gel liner in black 

I’m still new to wearing eye liner myself but this is a pretty intense black liner which can be hard to find. Its easy to apply and glides on like a dream. However once its on it will not budge so if (like me) you find it hard to get your liner right first time remember a little goes a long way, also have some make up remover and q tips handy for any mistakes so you can clean up quickly before it dries. Don’t say you haven’t been warned!

Gel liner in Black

Without flash in natural light

With flash

Milani Bronzer & Blush

These had been on my wishlist for some time. I mean just look at them, what girl wouldn’t love them?? And they didn’t fail to impress. I love a coral blush on myself and I also find it suits many other skin tones but some are afraid to try it & are put off by the colour thinking it wont suit them.

Go on, try it and let me know what you think!

Milani Bronzer in ‘Amber nectar’ & Blush in ‘Coral rose’

Simply beautiful!

Taken in natural light

This weeks manicure!

I’m still sporting shorties but went for a raspberry shade this week.

Gelish in ‘Rendezvous’

Have a fab weekend!

Sam 🙂 x

New brand launch: Clarria cosmetics #teamclarria

  
I’m So excited to tell you that Clarria cosmetics launched today! 

I am honoured to have been asked to be a part of this fantastic new luxurious, natural & organic make up brand originating from New York.

As you all know I haven’t been blogging for very long so to have been noticed by Clarria and being given the fantastic opportunity to blog for them is amazing. 

I have plenty more posts coming your way so stay tuned.

In the meantime take a peek here: Instagram: Clarria

Website: Clarria cosmetics

Sam 🙂 x

Olympia Beauty Haul & a quick catch up part 1

I’m baaaaaack!  

Had a pretty much non stop weekend with make up classes & the Olympia beauty show.but I’ll give you a quick run down of what I’ve been up to & what I’ve been buying this week 😊 

Saturday make up class at the Essex hair & make up academy. 

  

I had the pleasure of meeting Rachel at Essex hair and beauty academy in Brentwood (just off the high street) I’d recently attended a ‘mastering eyes’ course which helped me a great deal so I booked another as eye make up is something I personally struggle to get right. It was a very informative day. I’d definately recommend them for make up training to update your skills or to try something new. I’ve improved so much since attending and the prices are really reasonable. 

   Some of what I learned on the day 
 Myself & my fab model Bahar 🙂 make up by me 

Sunday Olympia beauty show: 

I had the pleasure of working the show with Nail Harmony (Gelish) 

  Show selfie 😎 
It was a busy day but I had fun as always & managed a quick shop around at the end of the day. 

The Nyx stand was packed all day long! I literally couldn’t get near it till the end of the day. I purchased a couple of lip sticks, butter glosses & eyeshadows from there. 

Then went onto Inglot for the black gel liner everyone’s been raving at me about. 

Lastly to Beauty B cosmetics for a Z palette, brush egg, a couple of La girl concealers & Milani blushes (my first ever Milani purchases!! I was so excited to see them there) didn’t spend a great deal but it was enough to keep me happy for a few weeks. 

Here’s my mini Olympia haul! 

   

    

Did you go to Olympia? What did you pick up? I’d love to hear from you 🙂 

So I’m currently de potting everything I can get my hands on and sticking it in my z palette! Don’t ask me why I’ve only just bought one, I don’t know where I’ve been either 🙈  

 
I’ll get some swatches of my purchases up from for you guys asap. 

Enjoy the rest of your week Oh and don’t forget to follow me on Instagram Here 

Sam 🙂 x 

30 day blogger challenge: 10 links I love

Happy Friday people!   

  So, I’m going to be super helpful (or unhelpful if you’re on a spending ban like me!) and share with you my favourite beauty/ make up related links/sites that I use regularly. 

1. Pixiwoo (of course!) I’ve learned so much from these ladies. It’s one of my favourite sites. 
2. Tilt make up they sell Ben Nye banana powder. Need I say more? 
3. Beautylish This is where I buy my rcma cosmetics from. And they leave cute hand written notes in your parcels. I love the little personal touch 🙂
4. Wayne Goss I love his no nonsense approach to make up. He says what he thinks and isn’t a follower. If you haven’t checked him out you totally should.
5.  Very Here’s where I purchase all my NYX make up. Love that stuff! Also they have regular sales so you can always pick up a bargain.
6. Jacyln Hill I love her tutorials & She always looks so flawless. 
7.  Instagram I don’t know how we ever survived without it?! Make up porn, tutorials, interacting with like minded people all in one place. What’s not to love? 
8.  Salon Geek I spend many evenings with my eyes glued to salon geek. It’s great for anyone starting out or already in the beauty business: for tips, business and treatment advice,  trouble shooting or just to speak to other beauty professionals in general.
9. Temptalia perfect if you buy your foundation online. You just put in what you already use and it will match your shade. Genius! 
10. Sephora Its just heaven! Most of the time I can’t even afford to purchase anything in there But sometimes just browsing is enough.

 What are your favourite beauty/make up related sites? Let me know In the comments. I’d love to have a peek. 

Hope you enjoyed! 
Sam x 
 

30 day blogger challenge: Contents of my handbag

Not exactly the most exciting of posts but it will hopefully give me a kick up the backside to finally get rid of all the crap in there! 

  
So here’s my lovey handbag and its contents 

  

I’ll list the contents just In case you can’t see it very well. 

• River island purse
• Illamasqua make up bag
• Mac velvet teddy lipstick (of course!) 
• Elemis pro radiance illuminating flash balm
• Illamasqua blush in lover – minus a brush might I add!  Makes no sense to me either 
• Mac soft & gentle highlighter-again see above ? Must have been half asleep this morning
• Random pens I’ve stolen from people
• Hair clip
• Hand food hand cream – another essential. Smells amazing! 
• Random allergy medicine- stupid dust! 😬
• Lash curlers not that I ever use them
• Various lids that my bag steals from my perfumes everytime they enter my bag
• Random keys- I haven’t got a clue what they are for or how they got there?! 
• An Allen key- incase I need to urgently assemble some furniture 
• Givenchy hot couture perfume 
• Collection 2000 concealer (my holy grail product!) 
• Car keys
• Neutrogina lip balm 
• Tweezers 
• Doritos- gotta have a little emergency snack

And while I’m being completely honest, here’s the rest of the unimportant crap that was in there  

 
This weeks manicure! 

I’ve decided to go short and dark to get into the Autumn spirit. I used Gelish in ‘Bellas Vampire’ a lovely rich, deep purple. 

  
Tomorrows post is on my favourite concealers.

Enjoy your evening.

Sam 🙂 x 

30 day blogger challenge: Why I started blogging.

First of all sorry I haven’t been around all weekend! 

I have been furthering my education so to speak. Hopefully what I have learned will also benefit you guys in the near future. But I don’t want to spoil the fun 😏 

So, why I started blogging. I briefly explained this in my first ever post, see it Here but ill go a little more into detail. 

  

Me in ‘velvet teddy’  🙂 

I’ve always loved make up, what girl  doesn’t? But in the past year (don’t ask where I’ve been) I properly discovered M.A.C cosmetics. I blame whoever thought it a good idea to put one 10 minutes from my house! But anyway, there I was minding my own business shopping on a Saturday then BOOM! There it was right in front of me, the black sign with those three white letters. I was like a moth to a flame, I tried to fight it but next thing you know I’m in the queue with my vanilla pigment & velvet teddy lipstick in hand talking to the counter girls about the next new product launches. 

As you can guess it spiralled from there and into other brands, and my obsession for palettes began. Then foundations, then primers, then eyeliners. You catch my drift? 

So a few months and a few thousand pounds later my sister in law asks me why don’t I start a blog? I have the make up collection, the make up & brand knowledge so what was stopping me? 

It made sense. I’m honest, very opinionated (you’ll often find me on the loose women Facebook page upsetting people with it) I don’t fall for the hype, I seek out and buy the latest make up & beauty items, and I love talking about them. So here I am! You lucky lot! 

Although I’m on a spending ban this month, I thought the 30 day challenge would  help me write about a few different things and my readers will get to know me a bit more and have a better idea of what’s yet to come.  

What has kept me blogging and not giving up after the first 2 posts? You guys! Each and every like or follower makes me happy. If I’m a saddo then so be it. I think it’s amazing people out there actually care what I’m writing about and genuinely want to see things written by little old me. Hopefully My babbling can keep you all entertained for a few months yet (at least) 😉

Enjoy the rest of your Sunday! 

Sam 🙂 x

30 day blogger challenge: my make up wishlist

  
Here’s my make up wishlist, you might want to grab a cuppa. Could be a long night.

Enjoy! 

 Too faced Melted- liquid lipstick 

 Vegas Nay for too faced ‘stardust’ palette  
 Mac Giambattista Valli lipsticks 
. I unfortunately missed out on these beauties when they launched 😔 thinking I’ll grab them on payday. I’ll never make that mistake again! 

 Too faced – sweethearts perfect flush blush.  Look how beautiful they are. I don’t want to use them. I just want them to look pretty on my dressing table. 

Anastasia Beverley Hills cream contour & powder contour palettes.   
I want both purely so I can decide wether I want it to be a cream contour day or a powder contour day. 

La girl- concealers and velvet blush/contour sticks 

   

 
Becca highlighters.

  Any one! I don’t care which!  I just need one like yesterday 

Too faced- Born this way foundation 

  

I want naturally radiant skin that looks like I was born that way! Well that’s what it promises. I’ll let you know if it’s true if I ever get my hands on these lovelies 😬 

I also want to try crown & morphe brushes. 

Actually I don’t want that much really. Do I? 

So if someone could show this to my husband before Christmas it would be greatly appreciated 😉 

What’s on your beauty wishlist? 

I’d love to hear, let me know in the comments. 

Sam 🙂 x

 

30 day blogger challenge: My everyday make up.

  
Just a little post on the make up I use on a daily basis. 

Yes it’s a lot for just daytime and no I’m clearly not a natural beauty. But oh well we can’t have everything in life can we? 

I wear a mixture of high street & high end, and what I use at the moment I’m pretty happy with. It has taken me a very long time to find out what works for me and what doesn’t. But one thing I have learnt over the years is just because something has a designer name on it doesn’t mean it’s a great product. 

So here’s what I use on pretty much a daily basis for everyday/work and what I use each product for

Base:

 

• Illamasqua skin base shade SB03- applied all over to create an even base 
• Mac Pro longwear concealer NW15- used to cover any redness 
• Collection 2000 lasting perfection concealer shade 1 light – applied under eyes to brighten & cover dark circles
• Ben Nye Banana setting powder- to set foundation

Blush/contour/highlight

  

• Illamasqua blush in Lover – used on cheekbones to give a flush of colour
• Mac bronzing powder in matte bronze- used to define cheekbones & shade sides & tip of my nose.
• Mac mineralize skin finish highlighter in soft & gentle -used sparingly down the bridge of the nose & on cheekbones 

Eyes/brows 

  

• Make up academy (MUA) eyeshadow in champagne- used on brow bone, Los & along lash line to brighten my eyes.
• Mac factor false lash effect mascara in black- on top & bottom lashes to open up the eye. 
• It cosmetics brow power in universal Taupe- used in soft strokes to fill in any sparse areas & lengthen my brows slightly.

Setting spray 

  

• Mac prep & prime fix+ make up prep/fixing mist -used before applying my base and after Ive applied everything to keep my make up in place & keep it looking fresh & dewy.

Another amazing product I couldn’t live without, for tips on how I use it click Here

Sorry for the horrible car selfie!  I hate posed pictures and this certainly isn’t one of my finest 🙈 

What are your go-to products for your day look? 

Let me know in the comments 🙂 

Tomorrow’s post is : My beauty wish list. It will be a long one, no question about it 😉 

See you then 

Sam 🙂 x