Holiday In Nerja 2013

I thought I would share a few photos I took while I was on holiday. We went to Nerja which is in Spain, the flight was only two hours so it was a lot more bearable than my 10 hour flight to LA, I could just listen to an album or two and have a little nap and we were there! The weather was lovely, I went to Cyprus last year and the humidity was almost unbearable! I am constantly hot, no matter what country I am in. Yet I could handle this heat for some reason, despite the fact it was late 30's! We had a really lovely villa with a beautiful (but freezing) pool and really pretty terraces. When we booked the villa a "hill" was mentioned, as we were by the sea we thought it would be relatively flat, oh no, we were very wrong. By "hill" they meant "mountain the size of Everest." Genuinely never have my leg muscles worked that hard and I walk and run a lot! But "hey ho" as my Mum says, I got some exercise in. I was quite excited as this was Phoebe's first holiday! She was so well behaved on the plane (while other children screamed their heads off she just played peekaboo with every person on the plane) and loved playing in the pool! As always we went out for dinner every night and consumed some lovely food (I never turn down pudding) which was allowed as I walked up the massive hill everyday, right? It was so lovely to have a break, just relax for two weeks and (attempt to) get a tan. I was "nominated translator" on the trip, despite the fact I haven't actually spoken Spanish in about three years and can only just remember how to say hello! I really love travelling and exploring new places, there are so many different countries and cities I would love to go to!

Are you going anywhere on holiday this summer?

July Favourites

This month I have both discovered new products and re-discovered old ones! I went on holiday and got back a couple of days ago, my staple holiday foundation is Mac Face and Body foundation. You can either wear this as a really light coverage or you can build it to exactly how you want it, I love wearing this as I personally wear it quite light so it hardly feels like I'm wearing anything in the hot weather. I also bought the Diorskin BB Cream and wore it everyday before I went on holiday, I find it so odd how I've been loving products that are lighter coverage as I usually apply as much coverage as I can get! I also bought the Estee Lauder Raisins Eyeshadow Duo after hunting it down! It's such a pretty duo, I did a full review here so check that out if you want to read more! 

I was struggling to find a good product for my brows, I bought a brow pencil from L'oreal which I really don't like but then I found my Sleek Brow Kit in my dressing table and have been using it ever since! I find the wax really makes a difference to my brows so I use that before the powder, I just get such a lovely shape with this product! I really have nothing negative at all to say about the Max Factor 2000 Calorie mascara, I think it's my all time favourite! This means it beats the Benefit They're Real Mascara, which is great as it is so much more affordable! Honestly it is a fabulous mascara and my eyelashes are not the best, they are quite long but very straight, with this on they look so much better! Finally I've been loving this pencil from L'oreal in the shade Pure Espresso, before I was using a pencil from L'oreal which I think they either discontinued or repackaged/renamed. This pencil is a matte brown, the one I was previously using was slightly iridescent so I find the new one a lot more wearable, I've been using this on my upper lash line and also on my waterline!

What products have you been loving this month? 

Vintage Garden Party

Last month was my Aunts birthday, she had decided she wanted some kind of picnic/garden party to celebrate so I thought I would share some photos I took as it was such a cute day, apologies for some of the pictures being quite dark, it was mainly held in their garage as it was rainy to start with! Her cake was amazing, as you can probably tell, she liked gardening! She also has three dogs, a Labrador and two Dachshunds so this cake was so perfect for her. In terms of the food and decoration this is probably the most English thing ever, we had cupcakes, millionaires shortbread, biscuits, rocky road. I try to eat relatively healthy but I had one day off..In the evening they lit the fire and we went outside and played some table tennis, this allowed my competitiveness to come out quite a lot. (my sister and I beat my cousins though, victory!) It was just generally a really lovely day spent with family and friends from our village, my family is all very close and we live near each other so we do things like this for birthdays quite a lot. The evening finished with me running up the road to my house, picking up a jumper to put on for the freezing weather and getting my college notes to revise for the exam I had two days later, I'm a party animal! 

Wishlist

I'm currently out of the country and without my bank card which is when I seem to find things I want to buy! The other day I found a website called Grafea which does this gorgeous Pink Lemonade Rucksack, it's real leather and looks really sturdy and practical. It's a little bit pricey so I may have to save up for a while, they also have a really pretty camera bag in the same fabric and colour which I also have my eye on! I have been on the hunt for the Estee Lauder Gelee Blush in Tease for ages, I think it was limited edition and I found out about it after it stopped being available, typical! I recently bought one of the YSL Rouge Volupte Shine's, I was trying to decide between two shades but went with Fuschia in Rage, I really want to go back and buy the other shade which was Corail Intuitive. It is a really subtle but pretty shade that is really wearable and I know I would get a lot of use out of it. After watching Wimbledon and seeing Kim Sears (who I would like to be, is that too much to ask?) with the Mulberry Willow bag I had to have it, unfortunately at £1500 it's a little out of my price range but one day, one day. Finally I have been wanting to try the Nars Radiant Creamy Concealer, I have read so many reviews on this and they all have been positive. I read someone say that if you like the Collection Lasting Perfection Concealer then you will love this. After seeing that, I was sold and decided I must have it, so when I'm back in England I will be purchasing!

What have you been lusting after lately?

Diorskin BB Cream

I've never really be that bothered by the BB cream hype, I'm a "as much coverage as I can get" kind of girl, I have honestly never really considered buying a BB cream as they just never appealed to me and weren't my kind of thing. However when people on Youtube and bloggers started talking about how good the Diorskin BB Creme was I decided I needed it! It's quite pricey at £30 so I really deliberated whether it was worth the price as BB creams weren't really for me, however after watching Estee's youtube videos I decided I needed to own it, so I purchased it! This is my first Dior purchase and I have to say I am very impressed! For someone who likes as much coverage as I can get, I find the coverage great! It really evens out my skintone and with concealer it looks just as good as my heavier foundations yet doesn't feel heavy at all on the skin. As for how long it lasts, I am amazed! I always thought that my skin just didn't hold product that well and although it's better when I use primers and different powders nothing looked stayed on my skin that well. However after a full day at work on a warm day I came home to find that it had not budged and my skin still looked exactly as it did in the morning, this has never happened to me before! I went into the store to test shades, I swatched 001 and 002, even though 001 looked quite light I decided to go with that shade as a few bloggers who are similar to my skin tone had gone with 001 too. I am NC20 at Mac if you were wanting to compare. The colour match it great and it blends into my skin like a dream, I find that one pump is ample for the whole of my face and I have been using the Real Techniques Expert Face Brush to blend it into the skin which is my favourite way to apply it. The packaging is great, it's a squeezy tube with a pump on the end which means that there is less product wastage. I've been trying to persuade other people to buy it as I really am in love, I think my Mum is getting tired of me talking about how much I love it!

Have you tried the Dior BB cream? 

Estee Lauder Raisins Eyeshadow Duo

Estee Lauder Raisins Duo £23

If you follow me on twitter you will know how hard I tried to get my hands on this duo and how excited I was to get it! I originally saw it on Zoe's Youtube Video and decided that I needed it as it looks absolutely amazing on her, however much to my dismay it was out of stock everywhere, Selfridges, John Lewis, Debenhams AND House of Frazer! Then a few people including Ambi (check out her blog!) tweeted me to tell me that it was back in stock at Boots. Ambi and I had previous been going crazy trying to get our hands on it! So finally it was back in stock at Boots and I quickly placed an order, I chose the deliver to store option as it was free and I live quite close to a Boots store. Within two days I got a text and an email telling me it had arrived so I popped down to the store and picked it up. I've been using this almost everyday since I bought it, I was worried that it wouldn't suit me as the darker shade is slightly purpley but it looks absolutely beautiful, the shadows work really well together. I have been using the lighter shade all over the lid with the darker shade on the outer corner blended out, I then just apply some brown kohl liner across my upper lash line. I am so impressed with the quality, the shadows are both super pigmented and they blend together amazingly! Throughout the day they didn't crease or wear off of my eyelids either! I love the packaging of this and every Estee Lauder product I've tried, the packaging just looks expensive with the gold and the swirly "EL." I was told at my local Estee Lauder counter (by the most patronizing sales assistant who always asks me if I am looking at their products for a "school project." I'm 18 not 8) that this product is being discontinued! Although I don't trust her 100% I would say to pick this up sooner rather than later, just in case it actually is being discontinued. It would be such a shame if it is as it is something I would recommend and have been absolutely loving, I am looking at which duo to get next!

Guest Post: Top 5 Summer Nail Polishes

Hello everyone! My name is Hayley and I usually blog over at Water Painted Dreams but today I'm sharing this post on Live Laugh Lipstick whilst Georgina is on holiday. In accordance with the time of year I thought I'd share my favourite summer nail varnishes with you, even if the Scottish weather isn't exactly complying. 

Essie's Mojito Madness is a very recent addition to my nail polish collection but I love it none the less. It's a gorgeous green, sometimes green nails can look a bit weird but this looks really nice. The quality of Essie nail polishes is great as well. I can get a week out of an Essie nail polish with minimal tip wear. In the summer I like to have bright nails but I'd rather not spend the whole summer applying and reapplying nail polish.

Essie's Cascade Cool isn't a colour I would usually pick for myself as I'm not the biggest fan of pink nail polishes but when I seen it on Fragrance Direct for only £1.99 I thought "why not?" and decided to go for it. It's a lovely pink that's bright but isn't too in your face. As with Mojito Madness I can wear this for about a week before I feel it chips too much. If you want to see the haul where I bought both of the Essie polishes you can read it here.

Barry M's Prickly Pear is a gorgeous lilac shade that's part of their new range of gelly shine polishes. I really like this, despite pastels being associated with spring, I still think that this would be great for summer as it would look lovely with a tan if you're lucky enough to be jetting off somewhere nice. I think these are a lot better in quality than Barry M's normal nail polishes, they dry a lot quicker and they are so shiny and glossy. I've done a full blog post about this, click here if you would like to read more about it.

Avon's Sunshine is my 'happy' nail polish. If I'm feeling a bit down then I put this on and it instantly cheers me up. It's just so bright and cheery, it's impossible not to have a smile on your face when you wear this. I've also been known to make smiley face nails with this and a black nail art pen, I just can't help myself! I also think Avon nail polishes are really over looked in the online beauty community. They're great quality. Definitely in my top 3 brands.

Model's Own's Indian Ocean is more of a top coat than a base polish but it really perks up a plain nail. It's a sheer blue with lots of iridescent blue and pink shimmer through it and it looks amazing on top of pale nail polishes or blues. This is the only nail polish I've tried from Model's Own and I definitely want to try more. My favourite way to wear this is over a pale blue but when I was writing this I realised it will probably look great over Prickly Pear so I'm going to try that ASAP.

Well that's all from me today. I hope you've enjoyed my post and a massive thank you to Georgina for letting me guest post. If you would like to see more from me then please head over to my little blog, Water Painted Dreams, for beauty and lifestyle posts.

Guest Post: Summer Favourites!

Hello!

My name's Lauren and I blog over at Becoming Beauty and today i'm taking over Georgina's blog while she's sunning herself on holiday (lucky for some, hey?!)

So to get us in the mood for some sunshine (if that ever happens...) I've decided to share with you some of my favourite products for summer. I'm the sort of person who changes my products with the weather so my routine gets a lot simpler in the warmer months.

I definitely start taking more care of my body in the summer months, making sure I moisturise and exfoliate regularly. My moisturisers of choice are definitely the Body Shop Body Butters. Who doesn't love these? I have the mango scented one which smells in-credible and the shea butter one which leaves your skin feeling gorgeous. The mini sizes are also fab for taking on holiday. I also introduce Balance Me's Super Toning Body Oil as unfortunately I have quite bad skin around the tops of my thighs and hips so massaging this in really helps make the skin look more even. It is also really moisturising so I often rub this down my legs and into my knees too. For my hair, I'm really enjoying using Bumble and Bumble's Quenching mask. The sun and pool/sea water really dry out my coloured locks so this is perfect for injecting some much needed life into it. The smell is lovely and it leaves my hair feeling super sleek.

For my face, I try to keep it to a bare minimum. By the pool, I won't wear anything on my face but if i'm wandering around I like to use a light base, and my current favourite is Jouer's Matte Moisture Tint. Let's just  say i'm in love with this product. Good coverage but light-feeling on the skin, easy to blend and with a few skincare benefits? How can you say no? On my lips, it has to be the Revlon Lip Butters. The newest shade, Wild Watermelon is my favourite as it is vibrant and shiny and pretty much foolproof but I also like Lollipop and Tutti Frutti. Throughout the day, I spritz myself with Balance Me's Hydrating Face Mist which evens out my skintone and provides a hit of hydration.

Finally, I've been reaching for The Body Shop's White Musk Sun Glow perfume. As I top up so regularly, I prefer to use purse friendly options and this one is perfect as it's so summery without being floral. Plus, how pretty is the packaging?

So that was my pick of summer beauty! I'd love to hear your favourites so please let me know, and i'd love it if you came and said hello on my blog!

Phil Smith Be Gorgeous Range

Phil Smith Bombshell Shampoo*, Phil Smith Bombshell Conditioner*, Phil Smith Bombshell Intense Treatment*, Phil Smith Life's A Beach Sea Salt Spray*

My hair is something I have really been trying to take more care of, sometimes I don't realise it but I do put quite a lot of heat on it and think I need to look after it more so I was excited to try out these hair products by Phil Smith. If you aren't aware of Phil Smith, he is an award winning celebrity hairdresser so he definitely knows his stuff! The shampoo and conditioner claim to "brighten and refresh blonde shades," my hair is definitely prone to looking a bit dull sometimes and I have tried a number of different products to make my hair look more radiant. I have really enjoyed using the shampoo and conditioner, they smell really lovely and I have genuinely felt like my hair is looking a lot brighter! The conditioner is a little different than others I have tried, the consistency is thinner and runnier than ones I've tried before, which took a little bit of getting used to! I used the Intensive Treatment once a week, I got a bit of a shock when I went to use this as it's bright purple! It looks the same colour as the purple hair dye I used to dip dye my hair! This works if you have any brassy tones in your hair as it neutralises them so this would be great would great if you dye your hair blonde and it looks a bit brassy! After using this my hair felt really nourished and soft so I will definitely continue to use this every week to keep my hair in good condition! Finally I've been testing out the Life's a Beach Sea Salt Spray, you will probably know that I love my sea salt sprays! I have quite flat hair that doesn't really do too much, it doesn't have much volume or texture so I rely on Sea Salt Sprays to give it some! I have been spraying this onto towel dried hair to add some texture, I can barely feel it in my hair and it doesn't give it that "crunchy" feel that I've had when using salt sprays before! Overall I'm really impressed with these products especially as they are so affordable, the shampoos retail for £3.99 which is a great price for the quality!

Have you tried anything from the Phil Smith Be Gorgeous range?

Everyday Makeup #4

I like doing these posts, it gives me a chance to talk about the different products I'm loving and using at the moment, although I tend to use the same products for a while I do often switch it up a little bit so I like to update you all on new products I'm trying out! Lately I have been using the Diorskin BB Cream as my base makeup which is unusual as I'm more of a foundation girl, I have a review of this coming soon so keep an eye out! This was my first BB cream and I have to say I have really been enjoying using it! Next as always is my Collection 2000 concealer, I'm looking into buying the Nars concealer as I've heard so many good things about it, so let me know if you have tried it! Over the top I use my YSL Touche Eclat to brighten my eye area, I notice the difference when I use this compared to when I don't, my eye area looks so much brighter and I look so much more awake. To powder I use my Mac Mineralize Skin Finish in Natural, I recently started using my Real Techniques Buffing Brush to apply this powder which has been working really well! Since switching to using my Expert Face Brush I feel like my Buffing Brush was getting a little neglected so I'm glad it has more of a use now! I have been using my Mac Soft and Gentle to highlight, this is probably my favourite highlighter, I absolutely love it! It lasts for ages, mine hardly has a dent in it and I've had it for about a year now! For blusher I've been using Nars Deep Throat which I think is absolutely perfect for summer as it has a slight shimmer in it, nothing glittery but it adds a nice glow to the cheeks! I completely forgot to include my Sleek Brow Kit when photographing this, but I have been using this everyday recently and I love it so much! I was having so many problems finding a good brow product but I found it in my drawer and decided to use it again! I have been using the Estee Lauder Eyeshadow Duo in Raisins religiously! It is perfect and I have a review of this coming up soon too! Rather than use a black gel or liquid liner, which is something I used to do daily, I've been using an eyeliner on my upper lash line, this one from L'oreal in the shade Iced Chestnut is my favourite! Then finally I add some of my 2000 Calorie Mascara from Max Factor and I'm done! I have definitely been opting for a more natural look lately, especially in terms of my foundation which is odd because usually I am a full coverage girl!

What are your daily "go to" products?

Crown Brushes

Crown Brushes*

I was recently asked if I would like to try out some brushes from Crown, I bought an angled blush brush from them a few years ago and was really impressed with the quality, especially as all the brushes are really reasonably priced. Out of the ones I've tried my favourites are the Angled Brush, The Bullet Crease, The Angle Blush and The Dual Length Powder brush. I've been using the Angled Brush for my brows with the Sleek Brow Kit, before I had been using a much bigger angled brush which I wasn't loving and was considering buying a much smaller one, I definitely prefer this one as it's much more precise on my brows and I am so much happy with how they look now! Another one I love is the Bullet Crease, this has been perfect for applying shadow into my crease and also for blending, I often struggle with blending brushes as some are quite scratchy and they often irritate my eye, this one is so soft and works perfectly to blend shadow into the crease and outer corner. I've loved using both the Angle Blush and the Dual Length Powder brushes for applying blush, the Dual Length Powder brush works best if you just want to add a bit of colour to your cheeks and want blusher to be more sheer as it's not as dense as the Angle Blush brush. The Angle Blush brush could also be used for contouring as it fits perfectly into the hollows of the cheeks! All the brushes are really lovely quality, they are all so soft and I have really been loving using them to apply my makeup. I also haven't experienced any shedding while using them or after washing them, I would really recommend you try them out and I have my eye on a few more that I want to try out!

Have you tried any brushes from Crown Brush before?

My Dressing Table

As you saw in my Room Tour post, I recently completely redecorated my room and bought all new furniture including a new dressing table. My old one was okay but had four drawers that were quite small and it made it difficult to store my makeup as I could never find boxes that would fit and it just wasn't very practical. I'd had my eye on this dressing table from IKEA for a while after seeing so many people on youtube and on blogs who had it, I loved the idea of having one long drawer for all my makeup as it just made more sense and was more convenient. It was also so much cheaper than my previous one, I really don't think you can go wrong with IKEA, plus I have so much fun trying to find the aisle and location of each item, sad, I know! It is positioned right by my window which means there is plenty of natural light while I get ready! On the top of my dressing table I have my light up mirror from No7 at Boots which I absolutely love! The glass jars that store my makeup brushes are from IKEA and are just decorated with some fabric, the small glass pots which store my hairbands and scissors/pencils/mascara are from a small shop near me but I'm sure you can easily find something similar in IKEA or Amazon. I was given the cake stand looking jewellery holder as a gift but I use it for some of the makeup I reach for daily and on the bottom layer I keep skincare items such as spot treatments, my castor oil and moisturizer. I keep my Stella by Stella McCartney perfume on top of the table and also have my Diorskin BB cream as I am testing it out at the moment. I use a letter holder for some of my palettes which is from WHSmith and then have a Glade candle.

On the far left of my collection I have my skin products, as you can see I have a foundation problem, I have so many it's ridiculous but I do switch between them quite a lot! The plastic box that I store these in is from Tesco and I got a pack of about five that came together! Next I have some blushers/bronzers which are stored in a little thing that I actually made from cereal packets and covered in wrapping paper ages ago! I really need to replace this but it works quite well for blushers and bronzers! I made the same kind of thing for my eyeliners too, I have more foundations stored in part of a box, I think this was the box that my Bare Minerals foundation kit came in! I then have a few more palettes that don't fit in the letter holder on the top of my dressing table, including my much loved Urban Decay Naked Palette and my MAC palette. In the next box I have some eye products, I really don't have many eye products as I mainly use eyeshadow palettes so only have a few cream shadows and single eye shadows. I really struggled with my nail polishes and I didn't really have anywhere to put them so they are scattered around wherever I have free space! In another box I have my lip products, separated into lipglosses, lipsticks and lip balms. Again I have some storage I made with cereal boxes which I really need to change as it was meant to only be temporary and they are starting to look a bit shabby! A trip to Muji is needed I think! I also think I need to buy a few drawers for on top of my dressing table to keep some of the products I use on a daily basis just so they are easier to reach for if I'm in a rush! You can't see too well but I keep my false lashes and brow tint kit at the back of the drawer as I don't use those too often! So that's my makeup collection! I do have another draw in my six drawer unit that keeps body products like fake tan, moisturizer and hair products!