The Perfect MAC Quad: A Nude Lovers Heaven

For a while I've been obsessed with reading, studying, swatching the extensive range of MAC eyeshadow shades (trust me theres alot) and reading/watching blog posts and youtube videos to try and narrow them down. I knew I wanted to make my own quad way back but I could never decide which shades to fill it with, which was a lot of hard work in itself but I finally narrowed it down, finished my quad and now I thought I'd share it because honestly its my new baby and probably will be for a long time!

Front: Woodwinked. Back: Cork

I know a lot of people opt for a 15 pan palette but honestly I could never see myself filling it or I'd end up just buying for the sake of it and that would be extremely pricey in the end so I thought a quad or a 4 pan would suit better and I can always buy/fill another in the future if I want. I'm a neutral junkie so obviously this palette was going to fit that trend but I feel as if I've created a versatile bunch which I can pop in my handbag and travel off anywhere with - I told you the quad comes in handy. I also quite like the fact the packaging is clear at the front so you can see exactly what you're grabbing in a rush.

The first shade I knew I had to have was a highlight colour for the inner corner or my eye or as a highlight on my brow bone for those days when I have the time (read:energy) to do that. It really does make all the difference to a look. I was contemplating Vanilla but that would have been even paler. Nylon is a pale gold with a little shimmer in it so it works, adding a little bit of warmth with it.

The second shadow is an all time blogger favourite: All That Glitters. I'd heard so many wonderful things about this shade and I was desperate to have it once I'd swatched. It's a stunning rose gold shade that I'm sure looks ten times better sweeped over the eyes instead of just in the pan, I'll keep you updated on that though.The third choice was Cork, a muted golden brown (bottom left). I needed a matte brown in my palette for the crease and such when I'm having a natural makeup day aka always and Cork just seemed like the perfect choice - not too light, not too dark so I'm excited to have it as a staple in my quad.

 Lastly but not least I picked up my final shade Woodwinked, again another classic MAC shade which is described as a 'warm antique gold', to me it looks like a shimmery brown but thats why I'm not a mua. It looks stunning as well, similarly to All That Glitters and I could imagine it looking amazing just with a quick sweep over the lid. Its slightly darker than Cork so I feel like I have all ends of the spectrum covered with my little palette but then again, you can never have too many eyeshadows so I might just start again and build a new quad oops. Hope you enjoyed it, I love reading these sort of mac palette posts and getting inspiration so please send me some links if you've a similar post.

Thanks for reading, Jenny xo
P.s what's your favourite MAC eyeshadow shade of all time? 

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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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What I Got For Christmas 2014

I know I'm a few days late with this one but I told myself I wasn't going to post my very own What I Got For Christmas post but then reading through everyone elses I changed my mind. It's a post that I love reading, there's no other reason but I'm nosey so I hope you all having a snoop at mine as I love all of my presents, a lot! I also want to post a disclaimer that I'm not bragging at all with these, I've a small family and group of friends and half of these I wasn't expecting to be given so I'm extremely grateful and still in shock if I'm honest. 

It wouldn't be Christmas without a massive tub of chocolate, its just tradition and this year I was kindly given Celebrations, pity it isn't as full as this anymore. I hold my hands up, chocolate is a weakness. Also one of my friends bought me this Festive Friends Gift Box* from Lush for Secret Santa which smells incredible and I'm so grateful. It's filled to the brim with Christmas bath bombs and honestly I don't even want to open it - it just looks that pretty....

I've been moaning for the past two months that I haven't a clue what time it is work and sneakily checking my phone when I can wasn't cutting it so I was given a watch which is an absolute life saver. Its so dinky and the face is really simplistic so I love it. I just need a brown one and I'm set. It feels amazing not having to rely on technology again!

I rarely ask for jewellery because frankly I'm quite scared of losing the usually expensive pieces but this year I thought I'd chance my arm and ask for a Pandora ring* as my big present I guess and Santa not only bought me one but two so I was absolutely flabbergasted on Christmas morning - if only you could have seen my face! Both of them are incredibly beautiful and I love them to pieces. 

These were a few presents from my friends, I'm always keeping on about how amazing Soap & Glory smells but I hadn't tried anything from the Sugar Crush range yet so my friend took it upon herself to buy me some, verdict - it smells amazing too. Also I like buying Topshop Christmas socks and makeup bits and pieces for my friends each year so they decided to repay the favour and bought me lip products which look so dark but are actually brown and berry - bang on trend and fluffy socks, which you can never have enough of! 

Every year I get a few DVD's* because I rarely get round to buying myself them through the year, Boots always seems to call first so I was given a few, TFIOS was a must and then the second Spiderman which if you've seen the ending is equally as heartbreaking and of course anything with Zac Efron is superb so that too. Also some lovely smelling Ted Baker* bits which came in the cutest box ever. 

Another big surprise was my TV*, I had one when I was younger but it was took off me so to speak to replace one downstairs as I didn't use it all that much but nowadays I need one so they bought me a lovely white one to match all of my furniture and the quality is amazing. I've already tested out several dvd's, you can see what I did over Christmas lol! 

Lastly chocolate, chocolate and yet more chocolate. Please don't judge, I have a serious problem and yes I did get several selection boxes at the age of twenty oops but in my defence they're still amazing as they were when I was six/seven, except now I receive hot chocolate and cute mugs as well. 

I also received a few CD's such as One Direction, Taylor Swift and The Script because they're all incredible and a few other small things such as hand creams and small beauty sets but thats most of it. As I said I'm incredibly happy and grateful to everyone and I'm not bragging in the slightest but I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and Santa brought you everything that you asked for, of if you're too old for it, your parents. I can't wait to start blogging regularly again and if you have any similar posts to this please leave me a link in the comments, I love reading them!

Thanks for reading, Jenny xo 

P.s what did Santa bring? 

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A Year On: Happy First Birthday!

A year tomorrow it'll be my blogging one year anniversary and although that might not seem like a long time or I might not post as regularly as I would like to its still a massive achievement in my books. A year ago I didn't have a clue about blogging and looking back at my very first post it was all about the new year, me starting my blogging journey and some resolutions chucked in for good measure and it was great to look back on a year later and see how well (or badly) I'd done. I thought I'd actually write a few again for 2015.... 

Some people dread a New Year, some people are eager to start a New Year fresh and I'm usually happy to ring in a new year even if it means leaving behind a wonderful year. This year however I'm more than happy for 2015, it's going to be a big year - for a start my brother turns 18, I turn 21, this will definitely be the year I start driving, I have a job and placement and in September I'll be starting my final year at University which is a really scary thought and we might move house in amongst all of that. You can see its all systems go! I might even sneak in some travelling around the UK, sadly I won't be able to go further a field because I'll have no time off but I'm hoping the summer I graduate, so 2016 I'll be able to treat myself and go somewhere spectacular, we'll see, thats a long while off yet.

Last year I made resolutions that I more or less kept up throughout the year, except maybe the exercising but I'd the excuse, I didn't own a pair of trainers yet yesterday I went out and bought myself some so I might work on that this year. I definitely took enough photos to last me a life time and I got a lot of them printed/developed so I now have several photo albums full to look back on in future years - something that I think gets forgotten about for social media. Also I did learn to not stress as much and be happier with life and its an attitude I'm going to try and keep going. 

As for blogging for a year I'd just like to say a massive thank you to anyone who follows me on Twitter, Instagram, Bloglovin or GFC - it really does mean the world and those lovely little comments I wake up and see really do make my day so thanks! I've taken part in countless bbloggers chats and everyone in the blogging community is unbelievably nice and welcoming - I've just passed 650 followers which is a bit hard to comprehend but its amazing. I don't post too regularly so thanks for sticking with me when I do and I always feel like I'm chatting to friends. I'd love to actually attend blogging events but living where I do its a bit hard - even meeting other bloggers near me would be great in 2015! We'll see what happens but I just wanted to say thank you a lot for supporting me, my little piece of the internet and just being all round lovely. I can't wait to see what 2015 has in store!

Thanks for reading, Jenny xo
P.s what new resolutions have you for the New Year?

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