August Favourites

It's favourites time again! This month I haven't really tried many new products as I've been quite busy but there have been a few products that have been my saviours this month! I had a terrible reaction to the Liz Earle Cleanse and Polish, my skin looked worse than it ever has. Luckily I had the YSL Touche Eclat Foundation to save the day, I just love this foundation, I think it is the best I have tried for dry skin and makes my skin look so flawless at the same time. The finish is beautiful, I have never loved a foundation more than I love this one and I really don't have anything negative to say about it! Last month I bought a new mascara that I wasn't that impressed with (Maybelline The Falsies), so I quickly repurchased the Max Factor 2000 Calorie Mascara and have decided that it is my all time favourite mascara, beating all high end mascara's like the Benefit They're Real and the YSL Faux Cils! It is fabulous and so affordable. As mascara's have to be replaced so often, I prefer using drugstore ones, plus I believe the highstreet ones are often just as good as the high end ones! Finally I have been rediscovering my Mac Eyeshadows as when I reordered my dressing table and makeup collection they got put in the drawer and weren't something I reached for as often, however I have dug them out and been enjoying using them. I have been using Omega for my brows, if you have fair hair like me, Omega is great as it looks natural, it's not a brown so doesn't look fake at all, which I often find happens when searching for brow products! On my eyes, I have been using either Jest or Ricepaper on the lid as they are really pretty champagne colours and blending Mulch into the outer corner! I am looking into buying a few more eyeshadows so leave your recommendations in the comments!

What products have you been loving this month?

I recently started a new Instagram for pretty pictures and blog things so if you fancy following then the link is @livelaughlipstick. Or you can follow my personal one at @georginalucyy

Collective Haul

I thought I would show you a few things I've bought lately as I rarely do hauls, they are so difficult to photograph, especially the clothes! After breaking out from using Liz Earle's Cleanse and Polish, I decided not to try any more cleansers and go back to one I knew worked for me. My favourite cleanser ever is the Origins Mega Mushroom cleanser, it makes my skin feel amazing and I didn't have any bad reactions to it which is rare! I repurchased Estee Lauder Double Wear Foundation after asking Lily (http://iamlilybee.blogspot.co.uk) what foundation she wears as her skin in her blog posts always looks amazing! I've used this before, about two years ago so I am excited to try it out again. I have seen a few other bloggers mention the Rimmel Scandal Eyes Shadow Paints, I swatched a few and decided on the shade "Rich Russet" which is a lovely dark brown shade, the other shades did not appeal to me as much but I think I will get a lot of use out of this one! A while ago I had read about some of the YSL lipsticks, I was between two shades and ended up getting Fuchsia in Rage. I haven't tried it out yet but it is a beautiful shade! I start University in about a month and really need some practical shoes rather than pretty little ballet pumps! I really hate shoe shopping but had decided to buy some white converse as they would go with lots of different outfits. 

On Monday it was a bank holiday so I joined my cousins and aunt and headed into Central London for a little spot of shopping! First we went into Forever 21, I first shopped in Forever 21 when I was in California and I am so glad that we now have it in the uk! I bought two stripy tops, one in pink and one in navy. These are really slouchy, casual tops that would be perfect for university! I also bought a simple white/cream top, I have one very similar to this which I've had for years, I wear it with leggings, with jeans, tucked into skirts, it's so versatile. However my old one was starting to look old and had a few tiny holes, my mum kept telling me to throw it out, I couldn't find a replacement anywhere but this one is perfect! Next we went to Victoria's Secret, I've been to the store in Santa Barbara which is nice but oh my gosh if you haven't been to the London store you are missing out. I've never been so overwhelmed by a store, it was so breathtakingly beautiful! I just bought a body mist, I love coconut and vanilla scents so this one is perfect, I love it! We then went to Gilly Hicks which is similar to Abercrombie and Hollister. I don't usually shop in those kinds of stores but I found this beautiful bra which was £34 however when I got to the till it was £19, they had so many lovely bra's, I could have bought them all! I also bought this cute hoodie, I never wear hoodies as I feel underdressed and scruffy in them however this one is quite thin and is slouchy without being baggy and unflattering!

Products I Regret Buying!

It is quite rare that I regret products I've bought, mainly because I research and read reviews of products before buying them. Most of the products I regret buying have been bought on impulse, while browsing Boots I find things to try out and pop them in my basket just because I feel like buying them! Ooops! The first product I really really regret buying is the Liz Earle Cleanse and Polish, this is a cult favourite among so many bloggers which is why I really wanted to try it. I used it back in September and it broke my skin out so so badly and it has never been the same since, I stopped using it just in case but wasn't 100% sure at the time whether I was breaking out because of the cleanser. A few weeks ago I decided to try and use up the bottle and give it another go, again my skin broke out, so many spots!! My skin was also ridiculously red and irritated, I tweeted about it and found a few other people that had also experienced this. Apparently due to the Cocoa Butter in it, it can irritate some skins! Obviously this was on my sensitive skin, so if you don't have sensitive skin it could work perfectly for you! Secondly is a foundation, I bought this because it is used to cover tattoo's and scars so thought it would be perfect to cover any imperfections I had! However I found that throughout the day my skin looks so oily and greasy, my skin does get a tiny bit shiny around my nose area but it is usually quite dry everywhere else so I was shocked when I looked in the mirror and saw that I looked like a giant greaseball, not a good look! 

I personally love the Maybelline Colour Tattoo's, they are great! I bought the shade "Eternal Gold" for some reason..I think I thought it just looked pretty and it ended up in my shopping basket! As the name suggests, it's gold. It just does not look great on, it's pure gold and I have no clue what I was thinking and how I thought it would ever work! But I do own three other Colour Tattoo's and love them so much! Finally is the L'oreal Brow Pencil, I think these are a new product and I am constantly looking for products to make my brows look better and fuller than they are naturally! I think this could work on some reason but I've discovered that I really don't like pencils for filling in my brows, I just end up with a really dark and "drawn on" look, rather than the more natural finish I get with powders! The colour is also a tiny bit too red toned, making it look a little more unnatural on my hair! 

Do you have any products you wouldn't recommend?

Update

Even though the last time I blogged was only a week ago, it feels like I haven't for ages, so apologies! I had a crazy week last week, on Thursday I got my A Level results which stressed me out so much, I'm normally very laid back but I was freaking out! Luckily I got ABC which meant I got into university so I could stop stressing! I will be studying Media Production which I am so happy about! I applied for Media Production at three universities and Makeup for Media and Performance at two universities, I got rejected from both universities for Makeup for Media and Performance and I was gutted but after having a few months to think about it, I'm happy it worked out that way. Now, I feel like I have more of a choice of what I could do in the future, I like the idea of TV Producing but I have a while to think about it! Last week I also cut off all my hair (eek) which I am still trying to get used to, I would describe it as a "long bob" as its just on the top of my shoulders! On Saturday it was my niece, Phoebe's first birthday which was crazy! I cannot believe she is one already! We all made her this cake which seemed to go down well and everyone was impressed! It was lovely to celebrate with everyone and it's safe to say that Phoebe got spoiled! I've been working pretty much everyday this week so I'm writing this while drinking green tea, eating chocolate and watching Breaking Bad (started this a few days ago after all the hype!) and I will be back to blogging properly next week! I also bought a Macbook! I'm so excited and I love it so far! If there are any posts you would like to see, leave a comment as I've had a case of "bloggers block" and not knowing what to post about! 

YSL Touche Eclat Foundation

I've had this foundation in my collection for quite a while, when I bought it I used it for a while and then quickly moved on to others. It wasn't that I didn't like it, I don't really remember why I stopped using it! I recently dug it out of my dressing table and have been using it everyday since. I have the shade BD20 and am NC20 at Mac if you want to compare and the rest of the shade range really varies so I do think that whatever your skintone, you should be able to find a shade to suit you. I would say the coverage is medium, it doesn't feel heavy on the skin at all. I really like the coverage because lately I've been preferring products on the lighter side and it's nice sometimes to not have a full coverage foundation on everyday. I have quite dehydrated skin, although throughout the day it can get oily in places such as around my nose. I don't think this foundation would be great on really oily skins as I found that I did need to powder later in the day, it's not very oily, slightly "dewy" but if you prefer a matte foundation then this probably isn't the best one for you! The packaging is very sleek and feels expensive, it probably should do as it costs £29! I bought it for £28 but I think they have raised the price since, my Nars Sheerglow is £30.50 and I actually prefer the YSL one as it is easier to work with on my skin when it's dryer. If you are clumsy like me it may not be the safest packaging as things usually end up being dropped, but it is one of the nicest products in terms of the packaging that I've tried! I think YSL are great with how they package products as they really feel like good quality. The foundation contains SPF19 so this is not a foundation to use if you're going out and know you are being photographed with flash and especially do not use this on your wedding day! Overall I really love this foundation, as I said I've used it everyday since I started using it. There is something "flawless" about it without it being full coverage, which I love. I feel like my skin looks so much better than it actually is, it definitely evens out my skintone and is one I would recommend so much!

Glo Minerals

Glo Minerals*

I was sent an email asking if I wanted to try out some products from a brand called Glo Minerals, the products are already a hit in the US and they are now launching in the UK! They sent me a 'Glo Box' of products to try out, firstly I am going to talk about one of my favourite products which is the Smokey Eyes Palette. This is a quad with all the colours you need to create the perfect smokey eye! I have to say that I am very very impressed with the pigmentation, it is amazing!! The quad contains a neutral shade, greys and an iridescent black, if you don't want to do a dramatic smokey eye you can simply use the light shade all over the lid and blend the darker colours into the crease or outer corner. I have also really been loving the bronzer in Sunkiss, I recently went on holiday and got a slight tan so I've been using this to accentuate that and add a little bit more colour, there are two different shades and I swirl my brush between the two to create a really pretty glowy colour. Another great product is the blusher in Nectar, I've mentioned before that I tend to prefer deeper shades of blush as they tend to look better on my skintone. Both the bronzer and the blusher are very pigmented so I would recommend using a light hand when applying them! I was also given the Face Primer, this is a clear gel and feels similar to the Gosh Primer (if you've ever tried that!) it's thicker than some other primers that I've used but I actually really liked this one. I only tend to apply primer around my nose as that is where I tend to get oily, this makes the skin feel super soft once it's been applied. The tube is quite small, however a little really does go a long way! Finally is the lipgloss in the shade "Blushed" which is a really pretty dark pink which I think will suit a lot of skintones, it also smells really lovely! The colour isn't something I would usually pick up as I go for lighter and more subtle pinks but it is really lovely and it looks especially nice if you apply a tiny bit and blend it out! You can have a look at all their products on the website here!

BlanX White Shock Treatment Review and Giveaway!

I was offered to host a giveaway and offer five of you the chance to win a White Shock Intensive Whitening Treatment from BlanX! I was sent the White Shock Toothpaste (I can't use the treatment as I have braces *sadface*) to try out, I was a bit skeptical as I have never used any kind of whitening treatment before. I have always wanted to, especially when I get my braces taken off as who doesn't want white teeth as well as straight teeth? The difference with the toothpaste and the Treatment compared to other brands is that they contain a LED accelerator for a more intense treatment, fancy! I can honestly say I did notice a difference in my teeth since using the toothpaste, obviously it's harder to tell with braces on but I they do look brighter. Since having braces (for over TWO YEARS. Still don't know when they are being taken off, I think I'm going to be a grandmother by the time they finally do..!) I have noticed that my teeth are a lot more dull so I am excited to carry on using this toothpaste! So onto the giveaway, as well as the chance to win one of five of the treatments on my blog you can head over to the BlanX Facebook Page and enter the competition to win a £500 holiday voucher by simply uploading a photo of something or someone who makes you smile! There are more details on the Facebook Page which you can go to here!

Below, via the Rafflecopter app you can enter the giveaway, just a few rules:

It is open to UK readers only (sorry!)

Entries will be checked, so don't try and be sneaky ;)

It will run for one month, until 8th September! 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Good Luck!

MoneySupermarket's Budget Bucket List!

You may already know that Money Supermarket are running a competition to win £1000 to put towards crossing an item off your bucket list, all you need to do is write one budget and another more extravagant bucket list item! You can read more details on it here! So, on to mine!

Extravagant - Paris 

Photo by me

I have been to Paris before, however I was younger and didn't fully appreciate the beautiful city. Since then I have admired the French culture and adore the language. One of my best friends and I wanted to go on a trip to Paris this summer, however as we are both students we couldn't afford to go. I would love to organise this trip and go in December, I love Winter and think Paris would be even more breathtakingly beautiful in the cool air and maybe even a bit of snow. There are so many places I would love to visit, I have always wanted to go to Lovers Bridge, well you are in the most romantic city in the world, aren't you? I love this idea and have always dreamed of going. I would love to eat croissants and freshly baked bread for breakfast, drink a coffee and have some macaroons for lunch and just admire one of the most beautiful cities in the world. My friend and I have known each other for years and I would love us to go on our first proper adventure together, she's half french too so I'd have some help with translating...parce que mon français n'est pas trop bon!

Budget - Road Trip

My budget bucket list item is to go on a road trip, in September I start university and my friends are working  for a year before they go away to uni, so I know I won't see them as much as I usually do, which is why taking a couple of days away would be so lovely for us to spend some time together. I've wanted to go on a road trip for ages, I have hardly driven anywhere since passing my driving test almost a year ago so it would be nice to go on a little trip! That's my car in the photo, good old Vera, named after Vera Wang of course! I think taking little trips with friends is such a nice idea and I love exploring England as it really is a beautiful country, I would love to travel to Bath or Oxford as it really is so lovely there, especially Bath! Plus what is better than a long car journey with friends, lots of candy and singing along to music!

I tag three people to also do this, if they fancy it!

Ambi 

Charlotte

Katie