Brand Loving: Natural Collection

Natural Collection was a brand I was drawn to back in the early days of buying makeup mainly because it was cheap and cheerful, did the trick and had the added bonus of being fragrance free, natural and dermatologically tested. Its only available in Boots stores in the UK and although I own several products from the range I have only recently rediscovered their collection again and thought I'd share my thoughts with you lovely readers. 

Years ago I remember owning a plain black mascara from Natural Collection which looking back did exactly what I wanted it to do and more but I haven't a clue why I didn't repurchase it at the time. It must have been when I became adventurous and attempted to try out every other brand in the drugstore lol, we all had that teenage phase!

As you can tell I own a small collection of things from the brand totalling: 2 lipsticks, bronzing pearls, a blush and a white eyeliner which may not seem like a lot to some but to me its enough for the minute. The blush in the shade 'Pink Cloud' is definitely my favourite product of the lot as it is extremely pigmented and produces the nicest pop of colour to my cheeks with the lightest brush - warning, if you're heavy handed be careful, I learnt this the hard way. It's a gorgeous pink perfect for the spring and summer months to create a natural glow and for £1.99 it's an absolute steal - I definitely think I'll be picking up a couple more of these blushes in the near future. In fact all of the makeup collection is fairly priced between £1.50 and £1.99 which is incredible these days.

The two lipsticks in the shades 'Cranberry' and 'Pink Orchid' are from the Moisture Shine Collection and although people have often classed them as drying I've never had a problem with them. As with all lipsticks I apply vaseline or a lip balm beforehand and they work like a dream. They are surprisingly pigmented considering their price however they don't last all day, this happens with most of my lipsticks and I need to reapply during the day so I'm unsure whether it's just these or not. The only fault being the colour range, it could be improved a little to include darker colours for the bolder lip lovers among us. 

The last couple of things I've picked up recently on a whim is the Sun Tint Bronzing Pearls in 'Sahara Sun' and a white eyeliner for my waterline. Upon first glance the bronzing pearls looking quite a scary colour especially since I'm so pale but the different coloured pearls combine to make a lovely overall colour - nothing too orangey at all. The only downside being the container they're held in, unless your careful or keep the sponge inside they're prone to smashing.  

Overall Natural Collection is definitely a winner and I recommend the majority of the products, the only thing that could be improved is the shades available. If anyones tried anything from the brand be sure to let me know? :)

Thanks for reading, Jenny xo 

#NoMakeupSelfie

 You may have all seen this hashtag popping up all over the place, my facebook has been non stop since the end of last week and I usually don't agree with the whole hashtagging on Facebook, only Twitter but I had to ignore it, just this once. 

As you might have guessed from the title this is my no makeup selfie for Cancer Awareness! A couple of sceptics have said that posting a picture will not help the cause but in fact it's the donations made whilst posting the pictures that have made all the difference. In a space of 24 hours almost a million pounds was raised due to amazing social media and this trend has continued reaching nearly £2 million in 48 hours and so on. 

A couple of my friends had nominated me to post my selfie and although I resemble a young child with no makeup on I braved it and pressed the dreaded 'post' button and alas heres my make up free bake. Its surprising really how many girls are getting involved in this considering makeup is our holy grail for going out in public and plays such a significant role in most girls self esteem. 

The trend started on Wednesday when Cancer Research UK posted the donation numbers and since then it has spiralled out of control and made a large amount of money which will no doubt be put to good use by the charity. My friend in Hong Kong has even asked what its all about showing just how well this trend has spread across the world. If anyone is interested in donating to the charity you can text BEAT to 70099 and donate £3 to a really worthy cause or get involved on the Cancer Research website.

Since most beauty bloggers usually have a full face of makeup its a nice change to do a tag such as this so as to show everyone that makeup although well loved can be given up for one post AND a good cause. I'm going to tag everyone reading this and anybody else who wants to get involved to complete this and don't forget to post in the comments if you do take part! 

Thank you for reading, Jenny xo

200+ Followers, Thank You :)

This post is just a little something to say a massive THANK YOU to all of my followers, whenever I started my blog at the beginning of January I didn't even think it was possible for that many people to be interested in what I have to say, let alone follow my little blog and it means so much to me :)

I originally started this blog - my little piece of the internet so that I could personalise it and write about things that I enjoy, with added bonuses along the way such as improving my photographic skills and making new friends. Its amazing how welcoming and big the blogging community really is (this is mentioned a lot but its so true) and within such a short period of time I've been made to feel right at home. Thank you all so much! Considering I haven't even been blogging for 3 months which has been off and on (life university work is such a distraction, I'm sorry) its crazy to see that my Bloglovin' follower count is at 248, least the next big milestone of 250 isn't that far away eh :)

In all seriousness though to reach more than 200 followers is such a massive personal achievement and this post although I've probably ended up rambling as per usual is just to say thank you for taking the time to read my little blog and more importantly leave lovely comments as they truly brighten up my day. 

Thank you for reading, Jenny xo 

NOTD featuring Illamasqua

Well now that Spring has officially sprung I decided it was time to change up my nail polish collection, storing those grey, purple, blacks and maroons that haven't been off my nails through autumn and winter in the back of the drawer for something more suitable like pastels and brights.

A few weeks ago in my Illamasqua Mini Haul (link here) I picked up this beautiful lime green colour in the shade "Radium" and I love it so much already, its definitely the perfect shade for this time of year. To my surprise and as you can see in the first couple of photos the colour blends in with the green wall in my bedroom.. what a bonus ehhh!

The packaging is the traditional Illamasqua style which I always love as both the black and gold colours give it a classy and sophisticated look. Now before talking about the nail polish itself I should probably excuse my strange hand selfies that I keep taking but they're all for your benefit in the long run :) In the photo however I am wearing two coats of the polish, it only really needs one but I always wear two of every polish just in case. I was able to wear this for days without chipping which is great since I usually do within a few days. It also makes it ten times better that I picked this little treat up in the sale for around £5 instead of its original price of £14.50 and 15ml should keep me going for ages as its well over the ordinary amount of nail polish so no complaints!

I know this is a short one but has anyone else tried any Illamasqua nail polish? Or could recommend any spring/summer shades? 

Thanks for reading, Jenny xo 

Weekly Ramble #2

So this week has definitely been a bit of a whirlwind and look who's finally getting all high tech with photos and making collages for you guys! (this is a big thing for me, I'm such an eejit but it makes the layout so much nicer). Anyways this is a bit of an insight into my past week, the main thing being my University Formal and the build up to it. 

The week had been a hectic one and involved a lot of running around like a headless chicken, I suppose it goes to show formal prep can be done in a week (I dont recommend it but it's achievable). I actually uploaded a post earlier on in the week about my formal haul (link here: Uni Formal Haul post) and I suppose these photos are the finished outcome as all of the products purchased were used either before or on the night. 

Everyone looked like absolute princesses and it was so nice to have an excuse to dress up for once, at university, well on my course anyways, it's more of an everyone chucks on whatever they can find in the mornings rather than carefully planning and styling outfits. The first photo is of my friend Sheila and I, far too many selfies were taken around the dinner table which was probably my fault and this was one of the nicer ones, the top middle photo was taken after dinner and showed off the full length of the dresses (I swear mine was a beautiful dark purple colour although no photo taken on the night did it justice). The rest of the photos show everyones full length outfits as well and basically a lot of carpet and background flowers, hey least they're nice. Lastly the bottom middle photo is of my corsage which I was kindly bought - again it's a terrible photo but it was lovely and smelt absolutely amazing, it also had tiny diamonds in the centre of the flower and had a pearl bracelet instead of those that you tie which are usually a lot of hassle, so I was really pleased about that.

Also I didn't realise until I was posting this that I hadn't included a picture of my new shoes that I'd bought for formal and in all honesty they were the accessory I was most excited about wearing and I'm not a huge glittery person. They are the most perfect things and actually did the trick of making me look tall for once without my feet killing the next day. 

As you can tell the formal took up most of my week and the preparation that went towards it but I wouldn't have had it any other way, it was a wonderful night and I'm just glad that there's a possibility of another one in the next year or two. Hope everyone enjoyed reading my ramblings this week, it really did reflect the post title for once but any excuse to dress up and look pretty I guess. 

Thank you for reading, Jenny xo 

Uni Formal Haul;

Formal season has now been and gone I'm pretty sure, I mean for the past month my facebook feed has been full of everyone looking amazing in stunning dresses with flawless hair and makeup and to be honest I felt a bit left out - nothing beats dressing up after all. Therefore when our uni formal was announced with literally a week and a half to go my friends and I jumped at the chance, queue a lot of late minute shopping and disorganisation. 

The Saturday before I popped into town and collected a few necessities for the formal and decided to do a slightly different type of haul post featuring Boots and Superdrug (surprise surprise) and Primark's new beauty line.

  

As I would be busy the few days before the formal a spray tan wasn't an option so of course I settled on the second best thing - fake tan. Usually I wouldn't wear this to save my life, I'd much rather be a pale gal, this might be due to laziness or the fact I can never find the perfect tan. Somebody help me please and maybe my ways will be changed but for now I picked up the St Moriz instant self tanning mist in Medium with the hopes of washing off a layer beforehand so it wouldn't be too dark. I then made a repurchase of my trusty Tea Tree & Witch Hazel moisturiser as my current one is reaching its end and I had coupons to use and then a travel sized Soap and Glory Flake Away Body Scrub which I've surprisingly never tried before, damn you Boots I can't say no. The next thing I bought on a whim, I've seen it popping up around numerous blogs with positive reviews and decided to give it a go. It's the Pearl Drops overnight serum and lets hope it does the trick as I'm a massive tea drinker oops.   

Passing the natural collection stand - something I haven't done in a while I also decided to try a few products of theirs. I remember having a mascara from the range a while back and loved it so I had high hopes for the rest picking up a white eyeliner because everyone needs to look more awake in the mornings, a light pink blush in the shade "sweet cheeks" and the natural collection bronzing pearls in the shade "tropical tan".  

Finally I popped into Primark and midst browsing this cute little compact mirror caught my attention, the pink and white floral print will make it perfect for travelling about in the spring and summer months and for only a £1 - similarly to most of the Primark beauty items - its a bargain. I also popped in my basket a set of fake eyelashes, which I've probably wore less than five times in my life lol so there going to be a real joy to wear and a set of fake nails with a french manicure style which are gorgeous.

I can't wait to try out all of these and who knows I might post a few reviews in the future on them eh! If anyone has tried any of these products or in my case has any suggestions for fake tan? Please let me know :)

Thanks for reading, Jenny xo 

Mad About Matte

This reviews definitely been a long time coming, I'm sorry! When I first got these little wonders I wanted to wait a while until I'd tried them all out numerous times and either fell in love with them or not. I kind of went a tad crazy with the photos as well but what can I say, the packaging is gorgeous.

When these first came out in the UK I wasn't that excited about the lacquer balms and to this day almost a month and a half later I'm ashamed to say there still isn't one in my collection. As a result when I saw the 3 for 2 in Boots I might have just went ahead and picked up 3 of the matte colour burst balms from Revlon in the nicest colours I could find (and there's a lot, lets just say I took my time in Boots swatching away). I didn't want shades that were that similar so out of the three, I picked a bright  blue based pink in the shade "Showy", a coral in the shade "Unapologetic" and a browny plum shade in "Sultry" - all of which are beautiful on the lips. The packaging of these little balms are great, complete with a twist up bottom aka no stressing over not carrying a sharpener with you at all times which is always a plus if you have an ever expanding makeup case weighing your handbag down. 

Normally I find matte lipsticks quite drying or needing a good bit of work before applying but these don't need anything of the sort - the formula is actually creamy and a safe go to in the mornings when your rushing around. The pigmentation is fabulous as with all other Revlon lip products and often only one application is needed and it keeps in place for hours and hours. Another real bonus is that is has a light peppermint smell, not too noticeable for those who aren't keen on the smell but noticeable enough if you do. I definitely think that everyone should have at least one of these as I've fallen in love with this product and will most likely be purchasing a fair few more from the range, plus with the colour choices there's something for everyone :)

Has anyone else tried any of the matte balms? Or the laquer? Should I finally take the plunge and pick one up? 

Thanks for reading, Jenny xo