The Best of 2014

Dare I say it the year of 2014 absolutely flew in (although some parts did drag a little), something I realise is becoming more common as I'm getting older unfortunately and there were plenty of ups and downs so I'm happy to have a restart in 2015. If you read my blogiversary post (link here) you'll know 2015 is a big year in terms of things happening and I couldn't be more excited for them to play out. 2014 was a massive year beauty and skincare wise as I branched out a heck of a lot more than usual so I thought I'd share a few of my favourite things. 

Skincare is something I hold my hands up about, until last year I didn't have a proper routine and I didn't know how bad my skin was so at the start of 2014 I told myself that would be fixed, and it was!

The Body Shop has some amazing products and between their Camomile Sumptuous Cleansing Butter and their Tea Tree Facial Wash my skin has improved and then some! Both are incredible and well loved for a reason, the tea tree fights blemishes and spots (which everybody gets) and the cleanser makes my skin silky smooth - what a duo! I also invested in more face masks and I now have a whole drawer full to get through so I'm well set for this year and this Quick Fix mask was one of the first I'd tried, one of the cheapest and one of the best so I thought it needed a mention. Soap & Glory is another brand that I've been loving this year and not just for its unique smell, the products actually work and smell gorgeous as well, plus the pink packaging definitely makes everything more fun.

2014 was also the year that Babylips and the Revlon Colourburst Balms arrived and I'm ever so glad that they did, I always have my trusted Cherry Me in my handbag for on the move and my Revlon matte balm in Sultry which is probably my most used lip colour ever and you're probably all sick of hearing me raving about it but its gorgeous! I also discovered The Body Shop's Honey Bronzer which I wrote a post about a long time ago now (link here) but basically it caters for paler gals as well which is so hard to find in the drugstore these days.

Also I had to give a shout out to my Collection concealer which will probably be with me until I'm old and grey - its incredible and I still haven't find a concealer up to par with this and trust me I've tried a fair few. I also tried a few bases cause you know its all about that base and the Bourjois Healthy Mix Serum (the gel version, not the foundation) really stood out in the drugstore. I'm usually a Rimmel foundation gal so this was definitely a bit of a change up but a good one at that, I always wear it to work and know it won't fade.

I also took the plunge this year and bought things higher end a few times as a little treat, one of them being a YSL lipstick. I'd wanted one for ages but couldn't justify the price but in the end I gave myself one final pep talk and pressed 'add to basket' and I'm so glad I did - the formula is amazing and it looks stunning. My absolute gem of a beauty favourite of this year has to be the Estee Lauder Double Wear Foundation though, I know its a bit of a love / hate depending on your preference on coverage but for me I absolutely love the fact that it won't budge for 12+ hours plus and its pale enough for my pale skin! A tad pricey (as are most foundations) but I will definitely keep repurchasing it! That's them all, hope you enjoyed it!

Thanks for reading, Jenny xo
P.s what are your absolute favourites of 2014?

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Estee Lauder Double Wear Foundation Review

Being a student and all that I try to keep the splurging to a minimum but when I saw the Estee Lauder Double Wear foundation on a blog sale a while back (and in my incredibly pale shade) I knew I'd be silly not to purchase it and boy am I glad I did. There was so much hype surrounding this as thee full coverage foundation and for the days I'm having troublesome skin or I know I'll not be able to touch up through the day as such, this is my go to, its full coverage & fool proof!  

the quicker my cameras fixed the better, these grainy images are stressing me 

If you've read my blog you'll know I'm as pale as can be, its not really the best thing and therefore when buying foundation I'm always faced with the dilemma of 'Is the palest shade pale enough?'. Luckily Estee Lauder are on the ball and this is the perfect shade for me, if anything its slightly paler than my summer skin tone but I think for the quickly approaching winter months it'll be just what I need. I have the shade '1C0 Shell' which is for those with pinky undertones but theres an excellent range of shades for those with pink, yellow and neutral undertones, catering for everyone.

This is probably the fullest coverage foundation I've ever used and I was worried about it being too thick or cakey but this isn't the case at all, when applied to the skin it feels so lightweight, the only thing is it dries so quickly so your best bet is applying it in sections and blending it in as quickly as you can, I use my Real Techniques buffing brush or my Real Techniques expert face brush, both work wonderfully and the finish is amazing - it looks natural, radiant and covers all blemishes that I'm trying to hide, everything that I need and want in a foundation.

 Its classed as 'stay in place makeup and can last up to 15 hours', now normally with claims like this I'm a bit sceptical but on a trip during the summer I applied it at 5am and it lasted until 10pm that night and all I'd done was lightly powder once through the afternoon and it still looked flawless, I was seriously impressed, no other foundations have managed to last that long on me! Before using this however I actually make sure I exfoliate or moisturise as I had read reviews saying it could be drying but I haven't experienced this at all and I couldn't praise the foundation enough. It also looks gorgeous, the gold packaging and glass bottle makes it look sleek & sophisticated and with an SPF of 10 it could come in handy throughout the summer months, if you like the full face look all year round. 

The only downside is it doesn't have a pump, so you sort of have to pour it out which can be quite wasteful but the MAC foundation pump apparantly fits the bottle so I might just have to purchase one to make life easier but when this runs out I will definitely repurchase, its well worth its price tag. I love it! 

Thanks for reading, Jenny xo 

P.s what're your thoughts on the Double Wear foundation, have you tried it? 

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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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