Biba And Beyond In Brighton

At the beginning of the year as part of a university trip I visited the Brighton museum and art gallery to see their Biba and Beyond exhibit. The exhibit had a nostalgic feel with donations from Brighton citizens including a photo of them wearing the piece and why where and when they wore it. Giving the exhibition is a sweet edge on the pricey London exhibition I have seen. Here are a few photos that I took whilst I was there...

Audrey Hepburn: A Timeless Collection

When I feel like I needed a deserved break from essay writing and staring at a computer screen I feel like its best to go old school, and loose myself in a black and white movie or a book.

I have been loving the Audrey Timeless Collection which includes Audrey Hepburn's most loved movies; Roman Holiday, Funny Face, Sabrina and of course Breakfast At Tiffany's. This inspired me to have another look through the book 'Audrey 100' which is 'a rare and intimate photo collection selected by Audrey Hepburn's family'. Her hair and make-up is flawless I am obsessed with her eye make-up in the second photo. Definitely a look I would love to recreate...

Valentines Gift Inspirations

Valentines day is slowly approaching (if you cant already tell by how every pink and red product shops own are suddenly pushed right to the front of the store). I wont lie to you I am not a massive fan of over priced chocolates but I do have a soft spot for a cute heart motif or some flirty lace. If you want avoid red maybe try soft pinks and rose gold. If you really are not into the stereotypical valentines colours and want to have an edge try purples. So here are my top seven (sorry for the very random number) of romantic (ish) treats for Valentines. And if in doubt buy Chanel...

                                                    Topshop Bra £14.00
                     
                                                    River Island Heart Sweets £4.00

                                                    Asos Gloves £18.00

                                                    Chanel Luminous Eye Shadow

                                                    Topshop Love Tube Skirt £22.00

                                                    Topshop Ring Part Of Set Of 4 £7.50

                                                    Lolita Selected Book Stores

Mac Lipstick Snob

I am in two minds about this colour of lipstick but thought I would do a little post on it anyway. I bought Mac Snob on a bit of a whim. I wanted a nice pale lipstick as I don't like wearing dark lipstick if I'm wearing quite a lot of eye make-up.

Snob I would say is a pale pink with a bit of lilic tones in it. As usual Snob keeps up the amazing standard of Mac lipstick it is long lasting and doesn't dry out my lips at all. However I would pick it up as nice pale neutral colour. It is still quite a bold colour but is a very pretty one.

Mac- Odd Couple Eyeshadow

I absolutely love Mac eyeshadows, and the shade Odd Couple is no exception. I bought it from Bicester Village at the Make-up Company outlet for under ten pounds! I really like the two shades, they look lovely on their own and together.

My favourite is the metallic shade which is a mixture taupe, bronze, gold and lilic. The purple is also nice and striking, and has a very slight shimmer to it.

My favourite thing about Macs Odd Couple is the texture and how it lasts for a long time. The colours aren't as intense as I thought it would be but still applies well.

Collection- Blush And Highlighter Cream Duo

I was lucky enough to get sent the Collection cream duo after attending their PR event whilst interning for Reveal magazine. This product really caught my eye out of the whole range the colours are so pretty and the little pocket size is brilliant to carry round even in a small clutch bag.

I have the colour 'peaches and cream' the colour is very pretty and creates a natural sort of doll like look. The highlighter has a gorgeous pearly tone to it. The only problem I have with it is that it more of balmy texture rather then a cream. Which means you really have to rub it in rather then sink in to the skin. But I am loving this product at the moment and have been wearing it most days!

Dior Lip Serum De Rouge

I have had my Dior Lip Serum in 650 for quite a while. I chose a serum over a lipstick as its more nourishing. It really moisturises my lips and has a soft balmy texture. The packaging is slim and sleek and the lip balm texture makes it easy to apply without a mirror.

The colour 650 is meant to be a peachy colour but personally I think it is more of a coral medium pink. It is quite a warm colour that I think will be great for Autumn.

The main downside to the Dior Lip Serum is that it doesn't stay on very long at all. But I still love it!

Caudalie Beauty Elixer

I know, I know not another review of what I swear is the most hyped product of the year. But this month I caved and bought in to the buzz of the beauty elixir.

I personally really like the Caudalie beauty elixir. I use it as quick face mist before I put my make-up on and when I just want to quickly refresh my make-up. I find it quick and easy to use, the tea trea smelling scent is strong but I don't mind that. I think its great to use when travelling on coaches and especially in hot weather its nice to have a lovely fresh feeling to your skin.

However the price I find ridiculous. I got this mini bottle for £11, which is far more then I would normally spend on something so small. However I do love the concept of the elixir. But The Body Shop do a Vitamin E mist which will probably be a lot cheaper.

Mary Quant Make-Up

I have always loved the 60s its my favourite decade by far especially the make-up an the hair. So when I popped into the Mary Quant store on Kings Road I fell in love with all the beautiful make-up products they had. Plus it all came in the cute monochrome flower packaging.

I was so tempted to buy lots of their eyeshadow pallets and blushers and even there skin products, but I didn't know much about them and didn't want to impulse buy too much. Especially when the items were around £12 or £16.

But I did pick up this cute eye pencil sharpener and an eye brow brush. They are around the £2.50 mark I think. I then bought this action lashings lengthening mascara. The brush is in a style I've never tried before but is perfect for doing my lower lashes. I love how slim the brush is, it really separates my lashes as well an lengthening them so it makes it look very natural. It widens my eyes and doesn't clump at all I am very pleased with the effect it has.

I also bought two pairs of knee high socks in the sale for £3.50, I just thought they were really sweet. I especially love the grey heart print and eye lashes detail and the other more monochrome flower style.

Also I have now finished my internship at Reveal, I may do a little post on how it all went? Plus they gave a large gift of beauty and hair goodies to say thanks and I can not to wait to try it all out and review them on here :)

Dirty Works- Bye Bye Dark Cirlces

This was very much an impulse buy but I am so pleased that I picked it up! It is from a brand called 'Dirty Works' which I don't really know much about it, the style of the brand reminded me very much of Soap and Glory which I love. Dirty Works is sold exclusively in supermarket Sainsburys. The brand also sells body scrubs and lotions again similar to Soap and Glory.....  

I chose to get Dirty Works dark circles concealer for £4.99. It comes in a sweet square compact perfect to carry around in your bag. Inside each side of the cube contains a creamy concealer in two different shades one a pale beige and the other a has a slight pinky tone. This mean it will work for most skin tones and you can blend the two colours together to create the perfect match for your skin. I dab the concealer under my eyes for an instant cover up.

It also contains aloe vera and vitamin E so is soothing and moisturising on the skin. Even though its meant to be just for under eyes I also use it on blemishes and works nicely. But it does have a shiny finish to it.

Overall I am very impressed with Dirty Works Bye Bye Dark Circles, its easy to apply and works well. Not bad at all for a product that you only get from a supermarket!

(Also apologies that the product is a bit grubby in the photos, but that just shows how much i've used it!)

Benefit High Beam

This dewy pearly pink highlighter is a really lovely product, it feels nice and light on my skin and gives it a healthy reflective glow. I received this in a beauty hamper that I won but it retails at £18.50 , which is pretty expensive but it comes a good sized bottle and you only need a few drops of the product so will last you a long time.

I like to use this benefit highlighter on my cheek bones, brow bone and sometimes under my eyes. I apply it in the mornings to perk up my tired complexion to brighten it up and make it look more hydrated. I love how subtle the product so it creates a natural look. 

I am desperate to try the Sun Beam version of this. Even though i'm a very pale person I would of quite liked it to have more of a tint to it to add some colour to my face, which the Sun Beam appears to have. 

Benefit Swoonderful Lipstick

Another product from my Benefit beauty hamper. This silky finish lipstick, in the colour Swoonderful, retails for £14. The actual colour is hard to describe but I will try my best, its peachy but with a hint of a pearly tone so its doesn't look pink. It also has slight silver shimmer to it but isn't over powering. Who knew a lipstick could be so hard to describe eh!

As Benefit promises, it really is 'silky'. It feels almost like a nice creamy lip balm and leaves my lips very soft. The colour isn't very intense but that means it is perfect to wear during the day time.

Urban Decay All Nighter Make-up Setting Spray

When I went shopping round Debenhams Bournemouth beauty department last week I couldn't really justify buying another eyeshadow or foundation, but I came across this make-up setting spray. I have never tried anything like this product before and thought it would be good to try out.

It is by one of my favourite brands Urban Decay and retails at £23 but I got it offer so got a 10% discount. I just got the spray for normal skin however they do have ones for oily skin and dry skin. I spray before I put my make-up on as well as afterwards. It makes my skin more dewy and fresh and I then apply the spray after I've finished my make-up to set it.

I am not completely convinced that it makes my make-up stay put for '16 hours' but I do like the product. My favourite thing about the spray is how light it is on my skin yet still sets my make-up.

What I bought, Clinique, Urban Decay, Dior and Benefit

I went to the Debenhams beauty evening with 3 things in mind already that I wanted to buy. The first one was Benefits POREfessional which was £23 but I got a £5 off voucher which I used so it was a bit cheaper. I wanted to get some eye brow grooming products as I haven't got anything like that and the high street selection is very limited. My friend Emma recommend Urban Decays Brow Box. It's a really cool purple and black compact containing a mirror, 2 brow colours, tweezers, brush and a wax to keep the brows neat. To go with it I bought Urbanbrow which is styling brush and setting brush.

Of course there was very little chance of me coming away with only the things I intended. I picked up the new 'must have' lip product, Clinique's Chubby Stick. Which has been heavily featured in magazines and beauty blog. I also got the Clinque cleansing milk 'take the day off' and Dior pink lip serum. I will most likely be posting more detailed reviews in the next few weeks... 

I think its fair to say I bought more then I can afford but I'm happy with my purchases!

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Pixi Make-Up

I have never tried this brand of make-up before, but the cute fairy logo and pastel colours caught my eye. So I ended up buying their powder compact called "Flawless Vitamin Veil". The light green compact includes a mirror and a handy little pop out tray containing a sponge to apply the powder with. The powder smooths onto my skin giving great coverage. It sinks in to my skin instead of laying on top so doesn't make it obvious that I am wearing make-up. The powder is enhanced with vitamins to help give your skin a healthy glow. It includes aloe vera to sooth stressed skin, Vitamin C which as an anti ageing ingredient  and Vitamin E to revitalise tired skin. So not only does this powder product come in a pretty compact box, but it also helps your skin!

 

A Little Bit of YSL

I always read how so many celebrities swear by Touché Éclat, so of course I jumped on the band wagon and started buying it too. The YSL radiant touch highlighting pen is expensive at £22 but after trying out all the cheaper versions by more high-street make-up brands they do not have as good coverage and run out really quickly compared to YSL. I was also tempted into buying it today as it was a limited edition velvet version. Which meant it came in a black box and had velvet stripes up the sides of the tube. It adds a lovely golden designer edge to my make-up routine in the mornings before Uni.