Concealer-aholic?

I'm one of those people that likes to cover all those pesky spots and blemishes over a bold lip and busy eye makeup anyday. I feel like if you don't have a good concealer, well its just not the same, at least I tell myself that to justify spending yet more money on base makeup, more importantly concealers! I know everyone swears by the Collection concealer and to some extent I do too but I wanted to branch out a little incase I'm missing out on something wonderful AND I hadn't owned a high end concealer so I thought I'd go all out and buy two at the one time....  

The two I decided on are actually quite similar as there both creamy and without a wand, the first was the MAC Studio Fix Concealer in NC15 and the second was Benefit's Boi-ing Concealer in 'Light'. Now I'm usually not an NC at all in MAC, I'm a NW but this actually works on my skin, having pinky undertone foundation and concealer would probably be a bit too pink, so this balances everything out nicely. The Benefit one doesn't go by undertones, instead it just uses the usual light, medium, dark and of course I'm light, if there was an extra light I would probably be that.  

At first I wasn't sold on the potted concealer as such, opting for a wand everytime just for handiness but after loving my 17 phwoarrr paint I realised they aren't actually too bad, in fact they were easier and I found myself reaching for that more often than my ordinary wand concealers as the coverage was just as good, if not better and it included a little mirror so I'm hoping I'll adore these two just as much, I don't fancy using my fingers, especially as the warmer weathers approaching, they'll probably melt slightly but by using a smaller brush I'm hoping they'll blend like a dream and give me the coverage that I really need, I'm sure I'll share my feelings on them at some point, I always do :)

The only major thing I noticed about these two is that the Mac concealer has a lot more product (7g) compared to the Benefit concealer which has (3g), now for the record Benefit's is slightly more expensive around the £17/18 mark whereas MAC ranges around £15/16 so its a lot less for your moneys worth and I actually prefer the lid on the MAC concealer as theres no chance of it falling off, hopefully it won't make a difference to the product inside and I can't wait to get using them both. (It's almost as if I'm asking for bad skin to test them out, I promise I'm not)  

Thanks for reading, Jenny xo 

P.s has anyone tried these two? or any other high end concealers that they love? 

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Disappointing Products #1

Products that are not my cup of tea or in a sense, disappointing never really make it on to the blog as much as they should. I feel like most bbloggers, not just myself rave about the beauty gems they find and the rest are just forgotten about, for that reason I've decided that every so often I'll write a disappointing or not worth the hype post to remind everyone, that everyones skin works differently and different products work better for some, worse for others - oh and not everything you ever buy will you fall in love with, how pessimistic of me.

Foundations. I didn't realise how many I had included until it came to editing time. As I loved the Rimmel Stay Matte powder and a matte base at the time of purchasing, I thought it would be a winnner but oh was I wrong, no matter how many times I try to apply this differently it still looks awfully cakey on me, circa secondary school when no one knew how to blend makeup and had three layers of orange foundation. The Rimmel Stay Matte is also the lightest in the shade range but its still far too dark for me so sadly its barely been used.

The second foundation, the Maybelline Fit Me - a bit controversial, I know lots of people that love this foundation, me not so much. It just doesn't work on my skin at all, this isn't my shade either, I accidentally picked up the 130 shade for when I'm wearing tan (a rare old thing) and although I'm not fond of wearing it, I do whenever I'm going out as no one can really tell. The last foundation is the MUA, a lot of their stuff can be really good or not so, this foundation the latter, again its the lightest shade and although it actually suits my skin tone, the coverage is barely there - it doesn't cover anything and for someone who likes a bit more of a coverage its not the same. I might try and use it up in the summer though as a really light base.

Mascaras. Another thing that can totally work for one person and not for the next - it all depends on what you want. I usually like length and some volume but nothing too spidery - something thats very hard to find. The Benefit one is a big no go, apart from changing the colour of my eyelashes to black it didn't give any length or volume and out of the lot, this was probably the most disappointing. I was sort of put of for a while but after trying the They're Real, I can safely say just save yourself the time & money and buy that instead.

Also the Rimmel mascara, they always chuck them in if you spend over a £10 or something and sometimes they're good but this one just irritated my eyes and I don't even have sensitive eyes, the only good thing is I didn't actually buy this so it doesn't feel like money wasted. Lastly the accessorzie lipstick, I think I bought this solely for the packaging, look how cute it is? The lipstick however is way too creamy and slips & slides everywhere, unless I can find a really good lipliner and possibly not eat whilst wearing it I can't see it getting much use - its a shame because its the perfect brown. So you can see that's quite a few products to avoid, let me know if you like this kind of post?

Thanks for reading, Jenny xo
P.s what disappointing products have you tried lately?

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High End Haul

I'm probably not the only one with a wishlist as long as my arm but at the start of the year and end of 2014, there were too many sales and bargains to resist purchasing a few things as a little treat. Wonderful news for me, terrible for my bank account. Anywho most of the things I actually ordered were beauty related, are you surprised and then the odd perfume chucked in for good measure and I already love them to pieces so I thought I'd put together a little haul post since they're one of my favourites to read!  

Ever since I purchased my YSL rouge volupte shine lipstick in the summer I've been dying to try more from their makeup range, it all looks absolutely stunning in its gold packaging and that's the only excuse I have. I'd heard plenty about the touché éclat from other bloggers and beauty lovers but I hadn't convinced myself that I really needed it or could justify the price tag, prettiness aside. However when Feel Unique had a cheeky offer on I managed to snatch it up for less than £20 which I was quite proud of. 

The second YSL purchase was the YSL baby doll mascara set, I really wanted to try this and it's usually around the £25 mark so when I saw the set in Boots for £15 I knew it was meant to be, so I not only got the mascara for a bargainous price but also a sample sized makeup remover too! I thought I'd include this as well as I finished my Mac duo over the last week or two but that's a separate post and I couldn't be happier that it's finished and ready to use! It's just so cute and makeup bag friendly. 

Christmas is also just a time for gift sets which are often great value so when I saw the Benefit all about prime on offer, I needed it, not only has the porefessional been top of my wishlist for a long time but it also included a skincare sample too. I'm questioning why I didn't get round to purchasing it sooner actually and I'm so eager to try it. Lastly I bought the One Direction You & I perfume gift set which smells incredible, I own their our moment fragrance and loved it so thought it would be right to get their other fragrance too and the bottle looks soonnice sitting on top of my dresser. I actually bought this without realising it was the 50ml bottle but I'm not complaining :) this may not seem like too much but they're  some nice additions to my makeup collection, I should probably put myself on a spending bank now but I hope you enjoyed reading :) 

Thanks for reading, Jenny xo 

P.s what things have you all been buying lately? 

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2015 Essentials Wishlist

It feels like its been a while since I've sat and made a new post, what can I say this past week has been an absolute whirlwind and I haven't had any time to sleep let alone blog but I've given myself a good old slap on the wrist and I'm positive that it won't happen again - at least two times a week is the aim for now. I'm actually writing this via free train wifi on the way to Uni, it's usually unreliable but for now its holding up so hope you enjoy this little wishlist of mine :)

As of Monday this week I'm back to commuting daily meaning long train journeys and very early mornings, sounds great right? I commuted to uni in first year which is roughly the same journey but I wasn't prepared at all so now I'm determined to be.

 An essential for any early start is a good concealer and lately all of my own aren't cutting it, now I rarely get the odd bag under my eyes and then I'd have a long rest and it'f gone so since I've been waking up early (5am for five days straight) I can really notice the prominent dark circles and I'm not liking it at all. I really need a good heavy duty concealer and I've been eyeing up the nars creamy concealer for a while so when I asked on Twitter for a few recommendations I ended up with a bunch including benefit and Estée Lauder. 

I definitely have a neutral theme going on at the minute, nude lips & blushes and I'm embracing it. I convinced myself I needed new lipsticks for work and we all know Mac is the place to go for colour range so I might treat myself to a nude lipstick (oh and one of their lip liners). Nars also do some amazing products but sadly I've never tried any of them so that's going to change in 2015, I really want to try one of their lip pencils and of course the infamous blushes are high up on the wishlist. Stila also has a few lovely shades in their colour convertible range and this shade I've just fallen for - it's a bit of an unusual one for me but still stunning. 

The following may be a little boring but these are the travel essentials, headphones because no journey is complete without an iPod, sadly mine have given up in one of the ears so I'll have to pick up another pair as soon as. Also I've a lot more to travel with and charge so a portable charger seems blooming ideal for my iPod, iPad, iphone, you name it so it seems pretty important and I'm surprised I don't own one of these already. Next I really want to update my iPad cover and iPhone case, every few months you just need a little switch up so I'm on the look out for a few so if anyone can recommend any pretty ones, please send links my way. Lastly an umbrella is a must, if you know northern irish weather it's bloody unpredictable and 95% of the time it rains - I've lost count of how many umbrellas I've actually gone through, I've such bad luck with them! 

As for fashion bits and bobs scarves are my best friend at this time of year and luckily I've built up quite a collection of scarves and cuddly jumpers (usually baggy) but hats not so much. A bobble hat on a bad hair day or even just a cold day is a life saver and I've got so much use out of mine lately but I've only one colour so I really want to pick a few up before they're gone for another year. Lastly solid boots are a must, I don't want wet socks from walking through too many puddles, ew. All of these are pretty sensible choices for me and would you look at that only half of the things mentioned are beauty related, I'm learning! Hope you enjoyed reading this one and I promise I won't leave it weeks before posting again :)

Thanks for reading, Jenny xo 

P.s what travel essentials are a must for you? Also if you do have any concealer or phone/iPad case recommendations please leave them in the comments or tweet me, I'm at @JennysEveryday_

Blogmas Day 8 - Benefit Cheeky Sweet Spot

Christmas time is time for plenty of new beauty releases and this little gem definitely caught my eye right away. I have to hold my hands up already and say that I don't actually own that much from Benefit although I'd always eyed up their beautifully boxed blushes, I think it was just too hard to choose just one so when I saw their limited edition Christmas blush palette containing six of their eight blushes, I knew I had to get it and it hasn't disappointed at all!

It's beautifully packaged, I'm obsessed with the whole gingerbread house theme and the festive print inside as well just ticks all the boxes for me. The box o' blushes comes with five blushes, one majorly hyped up, maybe even cult status bronzer, a highlighter and a blush brush - all very handy to have in one. I think it'll be a toss up between Dandelion and Coralista as my favourite two, I'm all for subtle blushers although the rest are equally as gorgeous.

It's a tin case which houses the blushers but I actually prefer this as it means its easy to clean and it'll be a lot more durable than their ordinary packaging over time. I honestly can't wait to use this and well I don't think I'll have to purchase a Benefit blush for a long time after, it'll keep me going until next year at least! The blushers and bronzer are more or less the same size as the full sized boxed blushers which usually retail around £23 each so you can imagine my excitement at getting six, a highlighter and a brush all for £29.50, definitely bargain of the year! I also managed to get this in my local Boots as well so I got plenty of Advantage Card points too - always a positive!

The only downside is that everyone is trying to get their hands on them for Christmas presents because lets face it who wouldn't want a Benefit Christmas set under the tree and they may be sold out in a few places but I know my local Debenhams/Benefit counter had a fair few left so always check in there if you're looking to get your hands on it as well. I'll probably review these once I've used these for a while but for now I'm over the moon with this little gem.

Thanks for reading, Jenny xo
P.s have you tried or asked for any Benefit Christmas sets for Christmas? They're so adorable!

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Higher End Haul

For the past month or so I've been trying to avoid going shopping in town & reel in my spending a little, saying that theres nothing like online shopping and there have been some wonderful offers that I just couldn't ignore resulting in a largeish haul. Most of these thing were on offer so they weren't bought full price and the odd one or two were presents so I most definitely didn't rob a bank to buy it all but most of the beauty items had been on my wishlist for agesss so I could justify the splurge!

The first item, my Estee Lauder Double Wear Foundation I bought from a blog sale about a month ago and as I'd heard so many good things about it and it was £20 including p&p I just knew I had to have it and so far I absolutely love it. I'm actually writing a post including it and a mini review soon so keep an eye out for that one.

The second thing, was the YSL rouge volupté shine lipstick - for I don't know how long I've wanted to own a YSL lippy, they look gorgeous and ever so luxurious but I could never justify the £25 price tag, in fact I was deciding whether or not to get one with my Boots points but then Feel Unique had an amazing offer, £10 off if you spend over £25 so I snapped one up & technically this only cost me £15 #bargain and has now taken pride of place on my dresser.    

The third order was again using the Feel Unique code and I purchased the Urban Decay Basics Palette and an Urban Decay Revolution lipstick totalling £27, now I'm not the best at maths but £5 for an UD lipstick sounded pretty good to me. I chose the colour 'turn on', a lovely pinky shade and on a side note the lipsticks individual names are amazing, I hate the whole number instead of a name thing.

When I went to Glasgow there was a Benefit stand on the boat and as I hadn't owned anything from there I just had a look around and my dad kindly bought me the Benefit bad gal duo - I know theres a lot of hype about the Benefit they're real mascara but this one not so much so I'll let you know if I get on with it or not. 

Lastly Debenhams had a £5 off all lipsticks for National Lipstick Day and I might not have been quick enough to get the shades that I wanted before they sold out, bear in mind it was two in the afternoon but I did manage to pick up 2 M.A.C lipsticks for my collection, Crosswires and the famous Rebel (which is being set aside for the autumn months) and then a Urban Decay lipstick in Bang because I own no red lipsticks - which is crazy. It was basically a 3 for 2, since two lipsticks came to the price of three and I love a good bargain. 

Since buying all of this I'm now putting myself on a spending ban for a bit, I think I need one lol! Let me know if you've tried any of these things or bought any nice things lately?

Thanks for reading, Jenny xo

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