February Favourites 2016

I can't believe today is the 1st March, I'm sure I keep blinking and then another months gone. February was a good month for me, I went on a trip (more about that below) and started a new business venture! I'm looking forward to what the month of March has to offer. Anyway, lets get on with what you're here for, my favourites for February.

1. Burt's Bees Lip Balm

I've used this lip balm for so long, it's definitely a 'holy grail' product for me. It's a lot better than other brands (*Ahem* Vaseline), and I can 100% say it moisturises the lips like no other. Some may find it a bit pricey, at £3.69 a pop, but it's worth every penny.

2. Vera (watch here)

I'm not talking about someone called Vera, well I am but not someone I know, I'm talking about the TV programme. Vera is a detective series that came back for it's 6th season at the end of Jan/beginning of Feb. There are only 4 episodes per season, which in my mind isn't enough. I'd recommend checking it out, you can still watch it online on ITV Hub.

3. TU Clothing at Sainsbury's Scarf 

(Not Available Online)

I went into Sainsbury's at the beginning of Feb to get some bits and bobs. I alway look round the clothing section in there as you can find some great things. Anyway, I came across this scarf, it was half price and I basically haven't taken it off since!

4. Ireland 

(Image is of Ballinesker Beach)

Last month me and my boyfriend, Andy, went on a trip to Ireland for Valentines Day. I'm 1/4 Irish so I've always wanted to go. We stayed in a converted barn on a farm in a little town called Gorey. We had a lovely weekend and I definitely want to go back at some point.

5. Nails

As a little treat to myself I've been getting my nails done around once or twice a month. Before, I used to just leave my nails to chip and break, but one day I just got fed up of having awful nails. I now have acrylic laid over my natural nail (to strengthen them) and then shellac on top. As I work in retail, my nails used to always be bad, and there was nothing I could do about it myself. Having a treatment done to them makes them never break or look ugly.

6. Braids

I've been loving plaiting my hair lately. Either just one in the front, or one at either side, or my whole head, they're so effortless (once you've practiced) but can look like you've spent ages! The picture is actually of how I had my hair yesterday and it's the first time I've tried it like that. All I did was two dutch braids at either side then tucked them in at the back and pinned it, ta-da!


That's it for my February favourites, what were you loving last month?

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I hope you all have a great March!

Becky
XO

Best. Year. Ever. With Birchbox And Pinterest

So, this is a little bit late but I thought I'd upload it anyway! I received this Birchbox about the second week in January but I've only just got round to blogging about it. It was planned for last week but EE have annoyingly cut my internet off and I ran out of mobile data so I was a little stranded for a while. My data on my phone refreshed today so here I am.

This month's Birchbox is pretty cute. You get 5 postcard's, with quirky illustrations by Viktorija Semjonova on the front, and the box has lovely pictures on it taken from Pinterest. On the back of the cards it gives you ideas of what to search for on Pinterest.

Inside The Box

This month's box includes 5 products and 1 bonus, I'll get onto that in a minute.

Whish Almond Body Butter

Now, I have to be honest, I'm really not a fan of the smell of this. If you like the smell of almonds then this would be great for you but, unfortunately I don't, and this is almond over load. I might have to pass this on to someone else.

Absolution L'Eau Soir et Marin

This is a 'purifying water for eye and face', it's ingredients include hazelnut oil (a nut again?!) and aloe vera. I get the feeling this will be great for the face simply because of the aloe vera. I can't wait to try it out. I also love that it can be used for both face and eyes, this must mean it's gentle on the skin.

Beauty Protector Protect and Detangle

I always get excited by 'Beauty Protector' products because they always smell amazing. This one is a leave in conditioner that also protects against thermal heat and UV rays, sounds like a winner to me.

Benefit They're Real Tinted Primer

I'm not a massive fan of 'Benefit They're Real', I don't feel like it does what it says it should. It doesn't really give my lashes lift or do anything special. However, when I saw they had released this primer I definitely wanted to try it. I'm hoping it will make a great base for creating really full lashes.

Jelly Pong Pong Highlighter

This is a pencil highlighter that's main use is for along the water line but would also be great for in the corner of the eye or on cheek bones. It seems like it would do a really great job of brightening the eyes. A little bonus is that it's cruelty free!

Birchbox Compact Mirror

This is the extra (or bonus) I was talking about at the beginning of this post. A little mirror perfect for carrying in your handbag with '#NOfilter' and Birchbox's logo printed on the back.

That's it for the first box of 2016! What's your favourite item in this months box? I think mine has to be the 'Beauty Protector' Protect and Detangle spray, simply because of the smell.

You can keep up to date with my posts by following me on Bloglovin', just click the 'B'' icon to the right or click here.

Becky
XO

Top 5 Beauty Tips And Tricks For 2016

(Image Made By Me)

I thought about doing one of those 'New Year New Me' posts where I'd reminisce about 2015 and tell you what I want to do this year. However, that just seems so predictable and samey. So instead, I've decided to do a post all about beauty tips and tricks as I thought this would be a little more useful for all of you.

1. If you find your favourite mascara drying out, never fear! Just add a few drops of eye drops into the tube, twist the wand around inside to mix it up and there you go, good as new. Don't worry about this messing with the formula, I've not had any problems so far and I've been doing this 6 months or more. 

2. Spray your perfume onto your hair to make the scent last longer. I'm not sure why this works but I do it all the time. It works especially well on freshly washed hair, I think it locks in the scent better. I spray the perfume into the air and walk into it, letting it fall onto my hair.

3. Apply lip balm before you brush your teeth. Leave the balm on for a few minutes to let it soak in and moisturise the lips and any dry skin. Then, brush your teeth and your lips. The lip balm will have softened the dry skin making it come off a lot easier and leaving you with smooth lips.

4. This might be an obvious one for some people but it's a favourite of mine. If you feel you have dark and/or hollow eyes, you can add a slight bit of shimmery eyeshadow or highlighter into the inner corner. This will open the eye up, making it appear brighter. 

5. If you shave (I mean instead of waxing, epilating, etc.), try using hair conditioner instead of using your usual body wash/shaving foam/whatever else you may use. Conditioner helps the razor to glide across the skin leaving you with a smooth finish, it also moisturises the skin and helps against razor burn.

There we have it, my top 5 beauty tips and tricks for 2016!
I hope you all have a wonderful year and achieve everything you set out to.


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Thanks for reading :)

Becky
XO

'Tis The Season To... Wear Darker Lips

Now it's December it's officially okay to wear darker lips. Some people have been wearing darker lips for a while now, but I find myself only reaching for my darker lipsticks when it starts to get just that little bit colder. There are three lipsticks that are always my go-to's and there's one to suit every budget!

Clockwise From The Top:
Mac Matte in Shade Russian Red //
 No7 'Stay Perfect' in Shade 35 Grace //

Rimmel 'The Only 1' in Shade 800 Under My Spell

Mac // No7 // Rimmel

As I said before, there's one to suit every budget. Rimmel 'The Only 1' is £6.99, No7 'Stay Perfect' is £9.95 and the Mac Lipstick is £15.50. I know Russian Red can be worn all year round, and I do wear it all year round, but I think it's fitting for this time of year. It's a bit deeper than a lot of other reds and gives a somewhat festive vibe. 'Grace' by No7 has been a firm favourite of mine for many years now, where as 'Under My Spell' by Rimmel is a very recent purchase. I've only worn this lipstick once but I love the colour and it has good staying power. You can also layer it up to make it more of a darker purple.

Which are your favourite lipsticks for this season?

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Thanks for reading :)

Becky
XO

Collection's New #MakeupPalettes

The makeup brand 'Collection' have released four brand new makeup palettes. I first found out about this release when I read Victoria's (Inthefrow) blog post. You can find her post here if you want to check it out!

These were released on the 14th October, I made sure to order mine as soon as I found out about them as I was worried they might sell out. I got mine online from Boots and had them delivered to store so they were ready for me to pick up the next day. I actually only ordered three of the palettes because the other one wasn't appealing to me, more on that below. At the moment, you can get 3 for 2 across all makeup at Boots, so I managed to get one of the palettes for free, which isn't bad at all considering they're already pretty cheap.

The three palettes I got are:

#BlushAndGlow - £4.99

 

This was actually the palette I ended up getting for free in the 3 for 2 deal. It comprises of four products, a bronzer/contour, highlighter, a blush with shimmer and a blush without. I really like this palette, the bronzer is great for contouring and is the perfect shade for my pale skin. The highlighter is subtle and not too over the top. I've only tired the matte blush so far but the shade is lovely and gives you a rosy glow. The shimmery blush is nice when watched so I think I'll be trying that when I next go on a night out.

#FaceTheDay - £6.99

This palette consists of 4 shimmer eye shadows, a shimmer blush, a bronzer and highlighter. I nearly didn't get this palette because it didn't shout out at me. I only got it in the end because of the 3 for 2 deal. Don't get me wrong, it's a good all round palette. I just wish the eyeshadows were matte instead of shimmery and, I haven't used the bronzer yet, but it looks a bit orangey. You never know though, I could love it once I use it. Overall, I like the palette and all the products included have good pigment to them, but I feel like Collection went a bit shimmer crazy with all the eye shadows, blush and highlighter. I just prefer it when the shimmer's optional and you can add it to your look with highlight. Does anyone else feel this way...?

#ConcealAndLightLikeAPro - £5.99

 

This is the palette I was most excited about. I have dark circles around my eyes, so thought the colour correcting would be perfect for me. Also, I often find it hard to find a concealer that matches my whole face (if that makes sense). I don't wear foundation in the day so sometimes concealer can make my skin look blotchy if it doesn't match properly. This palette has four shades of concealer that can be blended together to create your perfect shade. It also includes three colour correctors; Yellow for brightening and correcting dark circles, purple for correcting yellow tones and green for correcting redness. There is also a cream highlighter in this palette.

The fourth palette in the line is called #YourStyleYourMood. It's an eyeshadow palette made up of 2 matte shades and 8 shimmer shades. I decided not to get this one because there are already some eyeshadows included in the #FaceTheDay palette and I don't use shimmery shades all that often anyway!

To create this look, I first colour corrected any problem areas using the #ConcealAndLightLikeAPro Palette. I used the green corrector to correct redness around my nose and also put it on top of any red blemishes to tone them down a bit. Next I went in with the yellow around my eyes to cover my dark circles and finally used the purple for the slight yellowness I have around my mouth. After this I used the lightest colour concealer around my eyes. I will warn you, when using this around your eyes it will most likely sink into any fine lines as that's what it did on me. Also, I found it didn't do a great deal for covering dark circles so had to use my Revlon Colour Stay Concealer over the top. I then went on to make my correct concealer colour to conceal any blemishes, the concealer in this palette is very buildable so is good for covering blemishes. After this, I blended it all in with my beauty blender and set it with the Soap & Glory One Heck Of A Blot powder. 

Next up I used the bronzer, highlighter and matte blush from the #BlushAndGlow palette. I used the bronzer to contour my cheeks, forehead and around my nose. Then went in with the blush on the apples of my cheeks and finally the highlighter on my cheeks and down the centre of my nose. 

I decided to give two of the eyeshadows from the #FaceTheDay palette a go. Unfortunately, due to my hooded eyes *rolls eyes*, you can't really see them and I didn't want to do it too OTT as I was going to work straight after shooting this image. However, I can tell you that I'm quite impressed with their pigment and will be using them again. 

I finished the look off by using my usual eyebrow products, YSL Babydoll Mascara and a touch of colour on the lips using the 100% Pure Fruit Pigmented Lip Glaze in Elderberry that I got in this months Birchbox (You can check out that post here).

Will you be trying out any of the new Collection palettes? If so, which one takes your fancy?

Becky
XO

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