Room Details

I thought I'd mix things up a bit on my blog and show some pictures of my room instead of the usual makeup shabang, is this too wild for a Sunday night? Should I calm the heck down?

My room's quite plain with cream walls, brown laminate flooring and yellowy furniture that I found in a charity shop and so I like to put pretty ornaments around to make it a bit more interesting and homey. A lottttttt of the things I've posted are from charity shops and won't be available to buy online but if you look around charity shops you'll find so many pretty ornaments and little boxes. The ornaments I've bought from charity shops I would say range from about 25p to £3 and so are completely affordable.

Donkey ornament: charity shop. Floral candle: ikea. Light up rabbit: a little shop in London but available here

All from a charity shop except the hen which was from a charity stall and came with a Cadbury's egg heheh

Charity shop

This is one of the nicest things I've bought from a charity shop and I nearly died when I saw it. You wind it up at the back and the ballerina spins round and a little tune plays *dead*.

Charity shop

These little jars were filled with loads of random junk but I emptied them before taking the picture. Devious. On a serious note I struggle with keeping my room tidy and it's a miracle when I can keep my room tidy for more than a week. JEREMY KYLE, I NEED YOU.

Both charity shop and the flowers I dried out at home

Floral plastic place mat: Dunelm Mill. Acrylic lipstick storage: eBay

Floral clock: charity shop. Bear clock: had since childhood

Charity shop 

Turtle: from a holiday abroad. Jewellery/ornaments: charity shop 

Flowers and bird: charity shop. Streusel cake candle: Tk Maxx

I have more ornaments and vases of dried flowers around my room but the pictures turned out terrible and I really wanted to get this post up tonight rather than in a few days time. I kind of wish my room was all simplistic and basic but I can't let go of these little fellas so this way it shall stay.

Oriflame Makeup Haul

Oriflame are a Swedish based company that sell various beauty products both online and via a catalogue much like Avon but, up until a few years ago, I'd never actually heard of them. Recently though they held a massive sale at one of their warehouses near where I live and everything inside was reduced. You basically walked through the warehouse and were greeted by so many boxes and shelves full of makeup, body products and hair products as well as Christmas bits and bobs. There were several sections and each section had different priced items so in the first bit everything was 50p, the second everything was £1, the next bit £3 and in the last section items were £5 (me and my mum can't actually remember whether the £3 section existed but let's just go with that). I was literally in my element as they hold these events about 3 times a year but had only been once before as I was working all of the other times. A worker told me that this was the last time they were going to hold this event however as the warehouse was closing as Oriflame are moving their manufacturing to Poland.

I was surprisingly normal about the whole experience and came out with 7 items: 3 lipliners, a cream blush, a cream radiance kit, a conceal kit and a fan powder brush that I forgot to include (damn it). Each of the items were 50p (?!?!) and in total I paid £3 and I only just realised that they undercharged me! Aw I feel baaaaaad.

From left to right: unblended and blended

Firstly is this Studio Artist Cream Blush in the colour Pink Glow. This blush I would describe as a liquid, cream blush in that you squeeze the product out of the little tube and apply on to your cheeks. I'm really not keen on the colour of this blush as it gives that naturally flushed, 'help I've just gone for a brisk walk outside' look which a lot of people like but it really doesn't suit me because my skin is quite yellow (so attractive). This is perfect for a really natural makeup day however as it gives a very subtle bit of colour when applied lightly and has tiny bits of shimmer running through it which makes it flattering. It blends really well on the face and I just use my fingers to apply a little bit. On the website this blush was originally priced at £7.95 but is now reduced to £4.95 and I would be willing to pay that if there were more shades that appealed to me. I don't think I'll reach for this item often but it's nice to have anyway.

From left to right: the peach tone, the light champagne, the brown shade

Next is the Reveal Kit which is described as a highlighter palette and contains 3 different shades; the website describes the colours as matte pink, shimmering pink and beige but I would say the colours are more like peach, champagne and brown. I love the packaging of this as it's so cute and compact and it makes such a satisfying click when you close it. It was really difficult to take a picture of the swatches as they are really subtle so I tried to apply the product more heavily onto my arm but it made it look a bit cakey (good one Dani). All of the shades are so creamy and easy to blend and only a little bit is needed meaning it'll last a pretty long time. The peach shade would work really well as a brow highlight to finish them off after filling them in while the champagne colour works best as a highlight shade and I really like using it on my cupid's bow. The browny shade comes out more golden so would be better for darker skin tones or for when I get a tan (if ever). This is usually £4.95 which is a fair price as you are essentially getting 3 products in one and would be handy to carry around in your bag.

This is the Conceal Kit and I actually loveeeeee it! Aside from the fact that IT LOOKS SO COOL it's really handy to colour correct imperfections on your face using the kit. The peach tone works to neutralise under eye circles while the more yellow shade acts to brighten the skin tone and, finally, the green cancels out redness so is great for spots. Such a small amount of each colour is needed and it blends out so well but it's also really easy to use too much which is frustrating when your once red spot turns green. Like the reveal kit the colours have such a creamy formula making it really easy to work into the skin and look natural and I've found I've been using this everyday. This kit was originally £8.45 but is now down to £6.95 and I would really recommend it for everyday use.

From left to right: Hot Coral, Dark Plum, Perfect Pink

Next are these 3 Wonder Colour Lip Liners which I bought in the shades Hot Coral, Dark Plum and Perfect Pink. As soon as I saw these colours I could match them up to lipsticks I already own in my head (must. get. a. life.)  and knew I needed them all. Hot Coral matches so many of my orange and coral shades while Dark Plum is a pretty good match for Kate Moss' 107 (although it is a bit too purple but is unnoticeable once the lipstick is applied) and a few other dark shades I own while Perfect Pink is amazing for Kate Moss' 16. The lip liners are retractable which could be a problem seeing as I drop everything and the liner could break but, so far so good. I'd been looking for different coloured lip liners for a while but didn't want to pay a lot so I feel pretty blessed (urgh so dramatic) that I found 3 shades I really wanted. At £5.45 online I feel a bit torn as to whether I'd repurchase them as, even though all of the colours are perfect, the bargain hunter inside of me would want to find cheaper alternatives. These lip liners are going to be so handy and I'm just so happy that I got 3 for £1.50 which is less than one full priced.

Finally is the Professional Fan Powder Brush that I forgot to include; I've been using this brush every day since buying it and found it's perfect for applying highlighter as it's really precise and I can just touch it onto my cheekbones. I've experienced some shedding with this and I wouldn't have bought it at it's full price for £7.95 but for 50p it's amazing and better than I could have hoped for. It's made of goat hair which kind of creeps me out and I swear I could smell farm on it when I first opened the packaging but a quick wash sorted it out.

I wish I bought more things from the sale as I could have picked up some real bargains but I've been trying to not spend as much money so tried to get things I'd get the most use out of. Out of everything I purchased I would highly recommend the lip liners and the concealer kit while everything else is good but I could live without them. Oriflame have so many items available to buy on their website and it's worth checking them out however I've noticed that a lot of the swatch shades online don't match up to the colours in real life which could result in disappointment.

Supermarket Beauty: Lidl Mascara and George Blusher

When I was younger supermarkets were the ultimate place of misery. I remember when my mum would pick me up from school and then, out of nowhere, she'd turn into the Morrison's car park and my whole world would come crashing down. A slightly dramatised recount of my childhood but you get the gist. I still find supermarkets so boring when I'm accompanying my mum on a massive food shop but now I can strut (aka walk) down the makeup and beauty aisles and have a browse and all is well until I can't find my mum and panic sets in (yes, even at 18).

The first item comes from Lidl and is the Volume Mascara by Cien which is Lidl's own beauty range. The mascara is £1.99 and caught my eye as the packaging reminds me a lot of a L'Oreal mascara I own which sent me into oooh mode. My ooohing was heightened by the size and shape of the large brush, however, the formula lets this product down for me as it is very wet and seems to separate my eyelashes without adding any extra volume. It is one of those mascaras that takes a lot of work in positioning your eyelashes how you want them with the brush and I even had to get another mascara wand to make them look how I wanted. Regardless, I used this for about a week straight to get a better idea of it and it doesn't flake or smudge underneath my eyes which is a really big bonus and it is a true black shade. Each person has different preferences when it comes to makeup and so if you already have quite thick eyelashes this mascara might be ideal but if, like me, you want fuller lashes this probably isn't for you.

There is also a waterproof mascara available from Cien as well as lipsticks, foundation and a BB cream all of which are priced at £1.99 as well as a range of moisturisers and other beauty bits. It doesn't look like Lidl stock their makeup online but next time you're willingly, or unwillingly, going there it's worth having a look at their range because for such cheap prices you could find a really decent product that works for you.

Next is a blusher I picked up in Asda from their own makeup range, George. I did a blog post last month about George's under eye concealer, which I lurveee, and I also own a few nail varnishes that are pretty good so when I saw an offer where many items were £2 each or 3 for £5 I picked this up. I built up that 3 for £5 offer just to let everyone down and say I got one thing, I must have had my sensible head on for the day. Anyway, there are 4 compact powder blushes available of which I bought number 4, Sorbet, and are usually priced at £3. The blushes are available here online at Asda and also in store.

Sorbet is an extremely subtle peach shade that I'm personally not a fan of as it takes a lot of application to build it up and make it visible which I find can be quite frustrating. The swatch above was after 4 swipes of the blusher and the pigment shows up less when used with a brush however, a lot of people enjoy a subtle blush so this isn't a fault of the blush but is worth noting especially if you have a darker skin tone as I'm not sure how well this would show up on you. When testing it on my finger it does seem to be quite a shimmery shade however, once on my cheeks the shimmer doesn't translate which I like and the lasting power is really good and compares to other blushes I own from more well known makeup brands.

I think it's so fun buying makeup from different places and not just the usual places like Boots or Superdrug as you can find a real bargain however, this time, I find the Lidl mascara and George blush to be just ok. The mascara I feel could be marketed more as a lengthening mascara while the blush is good but is a personal preference of me wanting a bit more colour and pigment and not down to the fact the makeup comes from a supermarket rather than a company specifically based around makeup. If you've tried any makeup from a supermarket let me know as I will be willing to try it out.

Apologies

Sorry for the non-existent blog posts at the minute, I've been ill for the past week meaning I've basically been a corpse rotating between the sofa and my bed. I also started my makeup artistry course at college on Monday so have been busy with that as well! I have loads of blog posts planned but all of the photos I've taken are too dark and so I need to retake them all which is beyond annoying. I'LL RETURN WITH A BLOGGING VENGEANCE SHORTLY.

Collection Lasting Colour Lipsticks

Seeing as my post on my Rimmel Kate Moss lipstick collection was so popular I thought I'd do another one of my lipstick collections this time by the brand Collection (collection...Collection..hawhaw). The 4 lipsticks I have are from the Lasting Colour range but I did previously own 2 more shades from the same range, Bubblegum and Passionfruit. Bubblegum is a cool-toned, powder pink that looked truly awful on me as it completely washed me out so I ended up throwing it while Passionfruit has shimmer/glitter that I couldn't get on with so gave to my mum.

These retail for £2.99 here with a total of 11 shades ranging from nudes to deeper tones and also contain an SPF 15. The packaging is pretty simple and is in a basic black case but I much prefer the recently launched Deluxe lipsticks which I did a review of here.

From left to right: 2 Pink Shock, 8 Sweet Tart, 11 Orange Punch, 14 Mango Tango

2 Pink Shock- This is a really bright, verging on fluorescent pink that I absolutely love but has quite a powdery texture that shows dry patches so isn't a shade that you can throw on in a rush. It might not be suited to people who suffer from dry lips because of this and I find it can make my lip line disappear if I'm not careful. Regardless of these things I still wear it regularly and find it wears well but can do with a reapplication throughout the day to maintain the brightness.

8 Sweet Tart- This is the shade that most people would deem as an everyday shade and is a really nice, quite subtle pink that feels really moisturising and light compared to Pink Shock. I would recommend this to people who want a hint of colour without anything too dramatic.

11 Orange Punch- Arggggh my absolute favourite Collection lipstick and orange lipstick in general is this and it's been discontinued! I actually found this in a Morrisons makeup sale box for 50p which is unbelievable but I am so upset that they've discontinued it! Every lipstick collection needs an orange :( I love this shade of orange as it's bright but darker than some oranges so I find it to be more flattering. It lasts literally all day on me and is just amazingggg. I've had a look on discounted makeup sites but can't find this shade but if you know where I could get it please let me know.

14 Mango Tango- This is one of the first brighter lipsticks I bought when I was getting into makeup and I wore it for weeks on end throughout Year 12 at school. However, since I've tried other lipsticks, I don't find this that great anymore, I love the colour but it seems to apply much more sheer and with more of a gloss finish and so doesn't last long on me. I find this annoying because I don't want to reapply my makeup throughout the day but I love the coral colour so I wear it when I know I'm going out quickly and won't be eating or drinking. I am a camel, I need not stay hydrated for the sake of lipstick. I joke I actually carry a bottle of water everywhere with me when I'm out and about.

From left to right: 2 Pink Shock, 8 Sweet Tart, 11 Orange Punch, 14 Mango Tango

I think these lipsticks can be a bit hit and miss in terms of the formulation but nothing too drastic and it wouldn't stop me repurchasing them if I ever run out, which I highly doubt.

eBay Acrylic Lipstick Storage

As my makeup collection is ever-expanding and over-flowing I decided to buy some acrylic storage to organise it better. I currently store my makeup in a 4 set of drawers I bought from Asda similar to this and I then also have a small cupboard that I keep my everyday makeup in, palettes and brushes in boxes and jam jars. However, as I own so many lipsticks I wanted a better storage method and took to the world of eBay.

I'm aware of how incredibly underwhelming this picture is, you do not understand how many photos I took! It didn't look right against paper, carpet or a windowsill so just settled for my dressing room top which is glass, and therefore reflective, so I don't know what was going through my mind.

The item is listed as 'Clear 24 Squared Makeup Lipstick Acrylic Cosmetic Storage Rack Display Holder' (covering all the key words there 'ey, I see your game) and I purchased mine from the Chinese seller europaper1000 for... wait for it... £2.98! AND FREE DELIVERY?! I paid for it on the 26th of August and it arrived on the 6th of September so took a total of 12 days to arrive which is so good I could cry.

It arrived well packaged and undamaged, however, I have noticed there is a small chip at the base of the item but I guess that can't really be avoided and none of the holders are damaged so I don't mind at all.

It holds all different shapes and sizes of lipsticks with the back row being able to hold the larger, squarer lipsticks such as the Maybelline Color Sensational and L'oreal Color Riche while they seem to get a bit stuck in the other rows. 

I've found 24 spaces to be the perfect amount to store all of my most used lipsticks and the rest of them that I don't reach for very often are stored in one of my little drawers as well as my lip crayons/pens that don't look right in the acrylic holder.

I love how easy it is for me to see all the shades quickly and it makes me want to tidy up after I've done my makeup as it makes it so much easier. I've also arranged them in brands so it looks more organised and aaaah, it makes my heart burst with joy.

I love this type of storage as it looks so modern and tidy but I'm not sure if I will order any more types of acrylic storage as lipsticks are the only products that I have to search around for due to how similar a lot of them look while foundations and other products are clearly recognisable. The seller I bought it from seems to be really trustworthy and efficient so would recommend them also!

For those of you who are really observant will have seen that there is only one Beauty UK lipstick on display and that's because I somehow lost both Pink My Ride and Passion the day after blogging about them here. I searched for them for ages but didn't find them so decided to repurchase Pink My Ride as I felt that was a shade I couldn't live without but didn't repurchase Passion as my mum has it as well so I can steal it off her. Hawhaw.

If there are any lipsticks you see in the photos that you want to know more about leave a comment and I'll tell you the brand and shade name because it personally kills me when I recognise makeup packaging but can't work out what it is.

Two Thank-yous

Greetings, I come with a short message of thanks.

Firstly, thank you to the 52 people following me through Bloglovin', I have no clue how that happened but yay, it did. 50 is the first 'milestone' people take note of but I was thrilled when I had 1 follower to be honest haha. Also thank you to the the people following me through GFC even though I don't really understand it. I'm a failure.

Secondly, I won a giveaway! Thank you so much to Sophie from Sophie etc as I won the Beetox Manuka Honey and Bee Venom Serum which me and my mum are thrilled about considering it's pretty expensive! Once I receive it I'll do a post about the product from mine and my mum's perspective because it claims to be anti-aging but, as I'm 18 and look about 12, the effects will differ compared to the results my mum gets. Not that I'm saying she's old *starts sweating profusely*.

Have some pictures of Amy to express my gratitude:

Clothing and Accessories Purchases: Primark, TK Maxx and a Charity Shop

These are a few things that have fallen into my possession and walked to the tills with me over the past few weeks. Let us begin.

Jumper- Primark, £14

I bought this jumper a couple of sizes too big so it would be quite baggy but it turns out it's not as baggy as I hoped it would be. I have still worn it several times since buying it but it's worth considering that it's not the typical over sized jumper because it's quite fitted at the bottom. The sleeves have the same checked pattern as on the front and I really love it for wearing with leggings for pottering around the house.

T-shirt- Primark, £5

I love the pattern on this t-shirt and think it's so cool but unfortunately I'm returning it because, even though it's supposed to be baggy and over sized, it just looks utterly huge on me and I basically look like a sack. If Primark do this pattern on a different style of t-shirt I will definitely buy it! On a positive note, I will be £5 richer in a few days.

Crop top- Primark, £8

This is in the style of a cropped t-shirt but is said to be a viscose material (your guess is better than mine at what that means) and feels like a blouse and is loose fitting. I do think this is quite overpriced at £8 but it's easy to wear so I decided to keep it so meh, can't complain.

Crop tartan long sleeve top- Primark, £4.50

I love everything about this top from the style to the pattern. It's quite tight fitting and is cropped with a sort of turtle neck which looks really nice with a necklace.This top just makes me excited beyond all recognition and I feel like I should be in a wooden cabin with a fire burning when I wear it. Okay enough of my fantasies.

Velvet skater skirt- Primark, £8

I really love this skirt and it's a bit more of a burgundy wine colour than the picture shows. It's a skater skirt so is really flattering and I bought this in an attempt to wear skirts on a more everyday basis as I always think people look so nice in skirts but never wear them in the daytime! I always feel like I've made too much of an effort and find leggings comfier but I need to break out of my leggings love affair.

Mary Jane shoes- Primark, £12

I was so excited when I found these Mary Jane style shoes as I'd seen them online in white and have loved them for a while, however, now I own them I'm really unsure on whether to keep them or not as I'm finding them difficult to wear! Obviously they are supposed to look old fashioned and school-girlish but I can't tell if I like myself in them or whether to wait and see if I can get the white pair as they will look less schooly. If you have any ideas on what I could wear these with please tell me because I don't want to return them.

GAP short sleeved denim shirt- Charity shop, £3

I've been looking for a shirt like this for ages and finally found one in a charity shop not too far from where I live. This was originally priced at £3.50 but the old lady reduced it to £3 (my saviour) and, although I haven't worn it yet, I think it'll look good with my khaki winter coat and just looks quite Autumnal in general.

Bag- TK Maxx, £14.99

I went shopping with my friends and, one of them, Gemma, was looking for a bag to use for uni. I was sort of looking for a bag for college but not really and then we came across this beauty. It was origianlly £39 but TK Maxx's price was £14.99 which is a real bargain and is by the brand Lalu (no I've never heard of them either). At first I was worried cause the bag does look like it belongs to an old lady but I then turned my life around and decided I love it and don't mind rocking the OAP look. I love how some of the squares of fabric are dogtooth and some are tartan checks and, again, it looks so darn Wintery.

That's everything worth mentioning that I've bought recently in the clothes/accessories department but please leave me a comment on ways to wear the Mary Jane shoes or if you think I should wait and buy the white ones instead!