Everyday Makeup

These posts are one of my favourite to write, I love sharing what makeup I have been using on a daily basis! I have been using my favourite foundation, the YSL Touche Eclat Foundation, I rely on this one mainly, as it's my absolute favourite, it is perfect when my skin is dry and dehydrated, it gives your skin a lovely "glow" and I really love the coverage. I keep meaning to purchase the new one, The Youth Liberator Foundation as I've heard such good things about it and have loved every YSL product I've tried! For concealer I have been using both the Collection Lasting Perfection Concealer and the 17 Stay Time 18 Hour Concealer, The 17 concealer is a new purchase and I've mainly been using the it under my eyes and the Collection one on blemishes! To set it all I have been using the new Bourjois Java Rice Powder which I bought recently, the packaging is absolutely adorable, it is a illuminating loose powder so there is some shimmer in it, I think it's meant to be similar to the Hourglass ambient lighting powder's but in loose form. I have been back into using highlighter, the Mac Soft and Gentle MSF is my favourite and I have been using this on top of my cheekbones and also on the inner corner of my eyes, this really makes a difference to my eye makeup and it looks beautiful! On my eyes I have been using Naked Lunch and Woodwinked by Mac and using the Soap and Glory Supercat Liner for winged liner, this is my absolute favourite liquid liner, it is the best liner to get the perfect flick! For mascara I use the Max Factor 2000 Calorie Mascara and then finally I use the Burt's Bees chapstick in pomegranate as I have really been loving this lately! I love the Carmex lip balm but I'm not a huge fan of putting my finger in the pot so I found this one and have been using it every since! 

Beauty Haul!

 For the past few weeks I have been reading blog posts about new products and adding them to my wishlist, I haven't been makeup shopping in a while and was desperate to get my hands on a few things! I went into Boots (and made one cheeky John Lewis purchase) and picked up a few new bits and pieces! From John Lewis I bought the Nars Radiant Creamy Concealer, as you can see in the photo it looks quite dark, I'm pretty sure I've bought the wrong shade even though everyone said it matched NC20 skins! I may have to go back and purchase a lighter shade as everyone seems to love it, it seems to be out of stock everywhere is the lighter shades! I also picked up two concealers from Boots, can you tell my skin has been bad lately? I've got concealer crazy! I bought the 17 Stay Time 18 Hour Concealer, I don't think I have ever tried anything from 17 before, I bought the shade Extra Fair. I then picked up the 17 On The Spot Concealer, it claims to give you better skin in 4 weeks so I will have to update you on that! I bought the shade Medium because it was the only shade they had, I think that's the downside of drugstore products! After reading so many great reviews I decided to buy the Bourjois Java Rice Powder, it is an illuminating loose powder which is apparently a "cult classic from 1879." I have been needing a new liquid liner for ages now, I tweeted and asked which ones people liked and L'oreal and Maybelline ones were recommended to me. However I just had to repurchase the Soap and Glory Supercat Liner, it is my favourite and is perfect for winged liner! For a while I have been trying to decide whether I needed the Real Techniques Complexion Sponge, I already own the Cosmopolitan dupe of the Beauty Blender and thought "do I really need another sponge?" But I just went for it, it's only £5.99 so I thought "what have I got to lose?" Finally I repurchased my favourite eyelashes, the Ardell Demi Wispies! These are beautiful, they make your lashes look amazing but without being too over the top!

Being Sober

This post is going to be slightly different than usual and it's one I've considered writing for ages, I wrote a similar post a year ago but I am going to go into more detail. I've mentioned many times before that I don't drink, it was something I decided when I was around 15 years old, it was a decision I made on my own after hearing my sister come in after a night out, vomit a few times and wake up feeling awful. It's just never been something I've wanted to do at all, I don't like being out of control and not be aware of what I'm doing, I don't like the thought that someone could do something to me and I wouldn't be coherent enough to know or remember. A lot of alcohol has a ton of sugar in it, it's also
 very bad if you are trying to lose weight/keep fit which I try to do, I also just generally don't like the taste and if you give me a glass of wine, I WILL fall asleep, I'm still not aware why this happens I just manage to find a sofa and fall asleep within two minutes.  It's a decision I made by myself and have never thought of it as a big deal, it started to get a bigger problem when I turned 18, friends would want me to come out on nights out which really aren't my thing. I would much prefer to go out for a nice dinner or sit in front of the television and watch my favourite tv show, not get so drunk I vomit on the street or on some nice man's shoes. I also get quite uncomfortable in small, crowded places so going clubbing is not something that appeals to me as I would probably freak out, a couple of weeks ago I went out with some girls I work with, a couple of times I thought I would have to go outside to calm myself down as it makes me very nervous and anxious. 

Whenever I talk to other people who don't drink they ALWAYS say the same thing, that other people treat them like they are some freak of nature, people don't understand at all. I've had a close friend tell me that they would spike my drink on a night out, this made me incredibly upset and I still think about it a lot and get down about it, even if it was meant to be a joke I don't understand how anyone would find it funny. Why would someone I consider one of my closest friends say something like that? If you had a friend who was vegetarian would you sneak chicken into their meal just because you don't understand why they are vegetarian? It just made me not want to go out so much more than before as I would be terrified they would put something in my drink. I have people say to me "oh don't worry, when you come out with me I'LL get you drunk" um, no. It's not who I'm with/where I am/what I'm wearing/what I've had for dinner, I just do not want to drink, maybe this will change in the future when I know my limits but right now it's not something I do. I've only got a small handful of good responses when I mention that I don't drink, so it makes me not want to tell people, when I tell people I don't drink I get this look, almost as if I've told them I kill puppies for a living. Luckily when I was younger I never dealt with peer pressure too much, or at least I never listened to anyone and just did my own thing. However it worries me that there are probably teenagers who were like me and didn't want to drink, but are being pressured into doing it. The thing is, the people you hang out with at school aren't necessarily going to be your friends forever, I talk to about two people from school. If people are pressuring you into doing something you don't want to do, they aren't real friends, those people who drink/smoke/do drugs may be "cool" and "popular" at school but when they fail their exams and end up doing absolutely nothing with their life, like a lot of the people at my school did, it just shows. 

I was very unsure about blogging about this as I never know what response it's going to get, I don't want it to come across as me hating on people who do drink, I really don't have a problem with drinking, it's just the looks, the opinions and the ignorant responses I get from many people when I mention it. When I blogged about it last year I got comments and tweets from so many others saying that they too didn't drink which made me feel so much better, I sometimes feel quite isolated and alone by the decisions I've made. I recently started university and joined a facebook page for all the freshers, one person asked if anyone one else didn't drink and I was shocked by the amount of people who didn't drink either and it was nice to see that even though you may feel alone there is always someone else who feels the same as you and you are never the only person, whether this is about drinking or it's about something else, anxiety, ocd, mental health, you aren't the only person who feels that way! When I went out with girls from work I left early, feeling very alone and down, I'm an extremely shy person so being in crowded situations anyway is quite stressful, add drunk people to the mix and I'm terrified! I think the majority of people think that if you don't drink then you don't know how to enjoy yourself and you're deemed "boring." Although I am genuinely a very boring person, I know how to enjoy myself, sometimes people are just too bloody amazing they don't need drink ;) 

Positives To Being Sober

You don't have to deal with hangovers - You can wake up and get on with your day without feeling like you've had your insides ripped out and stuffed back down your throat and you don't have to update all your facebook friends on how awful you feel and the fact that you are "never drinking again."

I never worry about drink driving or taxis as I can drive - You don't have to worry about waiting in the cold for the taxi to arrive or whether he's a serial killer.

I always know what I've done the night before - There's no waking up and having no clue what happened the night before and what you did to embarrass yourself this time.

I save money (more to spend on makeup..?) - I don't throw away a ton of money on shots, wine, more shots, vodka, more shots.

I don't vomit on the nice man's shoes- You won't vomit in the street and completely disgrace yourself, there will be no photos on facebook of you with your skirt up or even worse, having a wee in the middle of the cathedral grounds.

You can act completely insane - "My craziest nights out have often been the times I've been completely sober. You can behave like a wild animal and people will just look at you with their drunk glazed eyes and be very very confused. My favourite thing to do when I'm sober and dealing with mass amounts of drunk people is to make up fake identities. I've told people before that my name used to be Ryan but is now Rihanna because I'm "transitioning." The expressions on their faces was literally worth the taste of five delicious cocktails and they shockingly (and perhaps insultingly) believed me {Note: You can convince drunk people of anything}." I found this while researching and giggled, a lot. Source here.

Top Mac Products

I'm constantly on the Mac website, adding numerous items to my shopping basket which then equals£200+, sometimes their products can be hit and miss so I thought I would share with you some of my favourites! The Studio Sculpt Foundation is a great one if you like more coverage, the consistency is quite thick so takes some working into the skin. Read my full review here! I've picked three lipsticks that really stand out to me, I have a few more that I also love but I would really recommend these shades. Up the Amp is a beautiful purple shade, it does take some bravery to wear it but it looks absolutely beautiful! My favourite coral lipstick is Vegas Volt, it looks more red in the photo but it is more orangey in really life and is one I reach for a lot! Finally, my favourite red! Lady Danger is the perfect red lip shade, it's quite a matte shade compared to the other two which are creamier but whenever I do a red lip I use this! I think Mac eyeshadows are a must! I own 13 but my favourites are Jest, All That Glitters, Woodwinked and Cranberry, the pigmentation of them is great and they are ones I always come back to, Woodwinked is a recent purchase but it is fast becoming my favourite! I bought the Melon Pigment on a whim a while ago and absolutely adore it, it's a shimmery copper shade that looks so pretty, if you have blue eyes, you have to try it, it looks amazing! My number one highlighter is Soft and Gentle, it's the most beautiful product and lasts absolutely ages, I have had this one for a year and it looks like I've hardly used any, it's so lovely on and it doesn't contain massive chunks of glitter like many highlighters! One of my all time favourite blushers is Warm Soul, a mineralize blush. This suits me a lot more than bright pinks or corals as it is deeper, as well as the highlighter, this has lasted ages! Two of my favourite brushes are the 217 and 209, the 217 is a really great blending brush that I use everyday, it's super soft and blends eyeshadow out perfectly! The 209 is the brush I use whenever I apply gel liner, it is thin and precise so it's great for doing winged liner and as it is so thin I always get a perfect line!

What are your favourite Mac products?

What's In My Uni Bag?

I recently started university and haven't done a "What's In My Bag?" post in ages so I thought I could combine the two and do a "What's In My Uni Bag?" It's not going to be the most thrilling mixture of items as I'm only in uni for a couple of hours three days a week so I don't need to take much! My bag is from Topshop, I had wanted a rucksack for ages, I have had one before but it wasn't very sturdy like this one is. It has two pockets on either side, a pocket on the flap and a pocket inside so there is plenty of space. I carry a notepad to take any notes in my lecture, if you don't know, I study Media Production, so at the moment I have notes on camera's, pixels, camera angles and composition, I make it sound so exciting..Sometimes I carry my laptop with me, this is only if I have a break or if I have time to kill but generally I don't need it as I don't have any long breaks! I also have my Cath Kidston purse which houses no money as I am rubbish and rarely carry any! Tut tut! I just keep my bank card, uni card, boots card and some coins! I have this Cath Kidston Makeup Bag where I keep things like hand sanitizer, "girly items" and makeup, I hate having things loose in my bag so this is perfect! I have my River Island sunglasses, even though the summer is long gone! This is just incase the sun is a little bright while I'm driving! I carry headphones just in case I have a break, I also have to get to uni quite early to get a car park space so sometimes I listen to music in my car! I carry Tic Tacs as I eat a whole lot and always have mints after food! I carry this adorable planner, I am so in love with it, it was such a good find, I had wanted a "days of the week planner" for ages but didn't want one that had set days eg. 5th November 2013, it just has Monday-Sunday and I can write in it whenever! I them have my house and car keys on my Cath Kidston key ring and some pens and a pencil for writing notes!