Week 3: Brights VS Neutrals

Welcome to the 3rd week of the #BloggersDoItBetter Challenge! This week's topic is Bloggers do Bright and Neutral better, and I'll have to be honest I panicked a lot at this because I had no idea to write about. I don't really think of things as bright or neutral but now I've thought about it I have things that are similar but in different colours. So this week is going to be Bright VS Neutral with some of my things.

The first one is lipsticks. This was difficult for me because I really LOVE a bright lip, I think it makes the whole look come together. I also usually wear monochrome clothes so a bright lip adds a great pop of colour to an outfit. So it was hard to choose between my favourite bright lip but at the minute it's the Maybelline Color Sensational in the colour Shocking Coral. 

It's such an amazing colour and I'm never usually into pinks but this is more of a coral colour so I thought I'd give it a go. It's also really pigmented, the swatch is only one stripe of the lipstick and it stays on for ages (it's actually really hard to get off!)

So the VS Neutral product is also a Maybelline Colorsensational Popstick in the colour Tropical Pink. The colours look really similar but this one is actually see through when you look at it. I go on about this lipstick so much but it's because it's more of a tint than anything else which is why I think it's more neutral than the one above.

As you can see from this swatch it's barely even there but it leaves a really nice hint of pink on your lips. I wear this a lot more casually rather than on a night out but it does last ages.

The next item is heels. I've only really recently become slightly obsessed with heels but it wasn't too difficult to find a bright and a neutral.

These bright red shoes are probably my favourite heels ever. They weren't expensive at all and the colour is so stunning. They're also the comfiest heels I've ever had because the platform is so big that your foot isn't actually bent that much. These also match most of the monochrome clothes that I wear on a night out.

And then I found these heels tucked away in my wardrobe. I think I got given these as a hand me down but they're originally from Miss Selfridge. Even though it doesn't look it, these are pretty tall but they're still really comfy. They're a lovely nude colour with cute little bows on the front.

The last thing I found were these swing tops. For the bright one I used a top that I've bought recently from Select. It was only £6 and the material is a really thin top in mint green. I'm completely obsessed with this colour for spring and this is probably one of the brightest pieces of clothing that I own. I'm so pleased with this purchase.

And compared to this I found a similar style top but this one is black velvet instead. I've worn this top so many times because it's so easy to pair with everything and it's easy to wear casually or on a night out. It was so inexpensive and worth the price for all the times I've worn it and it's become a staple piece in my wardrobe.

So those are my Bright VS Neutral products. I've realised that you will always need the neutrals in your wardrobe to match all the bright things you buy and vice versa. I can't wait to have more bright pieces of clothes though for spring and summer because I feel I don't have enough. I'll have to venture out to orange, pink and maybe even yellow!

Do you prefer brights or neutrals?

Thanks for reading,

Stay Happy

Sarah

OOTD- Daring to do Orange

So I went out for an 18th the other night and although this was the only picture I got of my full outfit I thought I'd share with you what I wore anyways! You also get a glimpse of my new hair!

So as for my clothes I wore this new skirt from Forever Twentyone which is just a thin grey long skirt, with a slit up the side. I'd wanted one of these forever and I eventually found this one, in the sale! And I knew I had to buy it. So this skirt was only £5.99!

The top I got off holiday and it's just a simple lace cropped top, and the back is see through lace as well. I can't remember the name of the shop because it was Spanish but I've seen these kinds of cropped tops in a lot of places anyways! I remember that it wasn't expensive though.

And my shoes are one of the biggest bargains too! I went in the Winter sale to Tescos for a mooch and found these gorgeous platform heels with a thin ankle strap and fell in love immediately. They were originally supposed to be £22 but in the sale they were only £7! It was insane so I grabbed them immediately (also last size 6). It was fate. 

I went very minimal with accessories, only wearing a gold bracelet and ring, and a black suede clutch bag with gold detail.

So for my pop of colour I went extremely out of my comfort zone and tried the orange trend. I've never tried orange before because I didn't think it would suit me but as I've just dip dyed my hair orange, I thought I would carry on the theme! For my hair colour I dyed it with the L'Oreal Paris Ombre kit (I'll do a video about it soon) and because I already had dyed red hair, instead of going blonde, my hair just went orange, but I still really love it! For this outfit I just curled my hair and hair sprayed it slightly just so it was still soft and I could run my fingers through it for a messy look.

As for my nails I used a false set, trimmed the edges so they were quite long and rounded and then painted them the night before the party. This is so they can dry overnight and then I can put them on when I'm ready as they were longer than my normal nails and would've gotten in the way. 

Then I painted most of my nails with the Barry M Block Orange and my index finger with the Flormar Matte Black. I loved the vibrant orange contrasted against the matte black and will definitely wear these nails again.

As for make-up I was really disappointed that I didn't get a picture of my full face of make-up because I really went out of my comfort zone with it. I normally just do a plain silver and black smokey eye with red/dark lips for a night out but this time I did something completely different.

First important item is my foundation. I used the Revlon Colorstay foundation in the colour Buff and used my new Real Techniques expert face brush to apply. This foundation is a little too pale for my skin so I use quite a lot of bronzer too. But I've fallen in love with this brush completely, well worth the price!

And this is where the change came in. I don't think I've ever worn a colour like this on my eyes before. I'm not sure why because this eye shadow is pretty old now so I've had it for a while but I've just never got round to it. This picture is with the flash on and you can see it's kind of a gold/copper colour and it's the L'Oreal Paris Color Appeal Platinum in the colour Raw Copper. I used a slightly wet brush to apply this eyeshadow, for one to stop it going down on my cheek but it also gave me a much brighter colour. I then used the darkest black shadow I have and created a shadow in the crease of my eye and blended it out to make my eyes more sultry and darker. I love this colour on my eyes and will definitely be using it more!

Next I used the Maybelline gel eyeliner to line my upper lash line and used the L'Oreal Paris Superliner Brow Artist to fill my brows in slightly. With my lashes, because I was using fake ones, I curled my normal lashes then put the fake ones on, and brushed both of them together. I then used my Maybelline Falsies to coat them both once and I used it on my lower lashes.

These are the lashes I used. They're from eBay and they were only about £2-3 for ten pairs from Taiwan and I needed some simple natural looking lashes and these certainly do the job! They're so easy to apply, and it feels like you hardly have anything on your lids. And they do look really natural, so for the price they're a real bargain!

And lastly the most daring change I've ever gone through is this lipstick/butter. I really wanted an orange lipstick but wasn't sure whether it would suit me so I just decided to go for quite a subtle one to begin with. This is the Revlon Colorburst Lip Butter in the colour 015 Tutti Frutti. Not only have I always loved the packaging of these lip butters but the colour is amazing. It's quite a subtle orange I think but it can be layered to make it brighter. It feels nice on your lips, doesn't taste horrible like some butters do, and it doesn't make your lips feel greasy which is the case sometimes. I had to keep re-applying it throughout the night but that was expected I guess. Overall I'm really happy with this product!

And this was my outfit for the night. I had a great time, I just wish I'd taken more pictures, so in future I will hopefully be able to take pictures of close-ups to make these posts better.

Have you tried the orange trend before? If so what did you wear?

Thanks for reading!

Stay Happy

Sarah

Mini Haul

So this is just a mini haul of the things I've bought over the past few weeks.

Some of them I've used and I might do a proper review soon.

So I needed a foundation that I could wear on a night out that was thicker than my Rimmel Wake Me Up foundation. This one got recommended to me and it's the Revlon Colorstay 24hrs foundation. So far I've loved this foundation because I got it on offer and it does amazing things for my skin! I'll probably do a full review of it soon.

My previous post is about this primer. It's the Baby Skin Instant Pore Eraser/primer and it's my first primer I've owned so I can't really compare but I love the effect that this has on my skin. It really does erase my pores and helps my foundation glide on my skin and makes it stay all day.

I bought this new MUA blush because I wanted to try out different blush shades and this one is so inexpensive. This is in the colour Bon Bon and it's a pale pink colour. I love MUA blushes because the colour is so pigmented and they're a great value for money.

If you've ever seen any pictures of me before then you'll know I have quite thick and dark eyebrows but recently I've been doing them a bit thinner. I also used eyeshadow to see what it would look like to have them filled in and it makes such a difference! So I invested in this L'oreal Super Liner which has an eye brow brush, brown pencil, and then a wax fixer on the other end. I haven't used this yet but I can't wait to try it out.

I also finally got this Collection Lasting Perfection concealer that everyone goes on about. I needed a new concealer so I decided to give this one a try and see if I like it as much as everyone else.

I'm also new to this product which is gel eyeliner. I've only just mastered the liquid eyeliner to a good standard so I was also scared that I'd be really bad at this (I don't have a very steady hand) but I'm excited to try this out too.

I also bought this new brush. It's the Real Techniques sponge that you can use for foundation, concealer, powder and even blush. I'm trying to add to my collection of applicators so this makes a nice change to normal foundation brushes.

I also bought a new pair of jeans from Forever 21. I don't usually shop in there but when I went in I literally wanted everything in the shop. These are a skinny, distressed look jean, and they weren't expensive at all. I haven't stopped wearing them since!

I found this dress in a charity shop in town because I need a long dress for a shoot that I'm doing tomorrow. This dress feels so soft and it's such a lovely prom dress and it was only £10! A real bargain because I can use it in more than one shoot.

This is the lovely detailing on the top.

I also spent up in Lush too. I don't usually have baths that often but when I do I love to have nice smelling things. I bought this purple one which is the Phoenix Rising Bath Ballistic. It has little gold bits in too that I'm excited to see what it turns out like. 

I also bought this pale pink one which I have no idea what it's called but it smells a lot like the Bubblegum Lip Scrub and I'm in love with that so I decided to get this! I can't wait to use it.

So that was just a small haul of what I've bought recently. 

Do you have any of these products? If so what do you think of them?

Stay Happy

Sarah

Maybelline Baby Skin Review

So a few months ago I never even knew what primer was. I never knew how to use it or even what it did. But recently I've seen a lot of blog posts about different kinds of primers and I am a huge fan of Baby Lips by Maybelline anyways so when I saw this Baby Skin Pore Eraser \I decided to buy it and try it out.

I bought this product from Boots for £7.99 and I think this is one of the kind of cheapest primers, most good ones are more expensive (from my research).

I'd also kind of had a problem with my pores and the skin on and around my nose, it's quite bumpy and uneven so that's the place I concentrated the most on with the primer. So I read reviews on this product and I found mixed opinions. Some people didn't like it because compared to their more expensive products, it's not very good, but this is my opinion from a point of view that's never used a primer before. 

I applied it with a very skeptical view that it would make my skin any better but I couldn't be more wrong. True to its name it made my skin feel like a babies bottom, I even bragged to my friends at how soft my cheeks were! I have dry skin around my nose anyways and some of the people's reviews I've read said that it was too oily but for me it was perfect. It actually kind of helped my dry skin, keeping it moist all night long. I also have troubles keeping my foundation on my cheeks all day but this helped with that and my foundation stayed on all night. It made my powder, bronzer and blusher go on perfectly too and made my skin look flawless.

I've only used this product a couple of times and I'm sure I might find some flaws with it in the future but for now I'm going to look forward wearing it on a night out (I wouldn't wear it everyday and give my pores and break) and if you're looking for your first primer, I highly suggest this!

Stay Happy

Sarah

ps. has anyone else tried this primer? If so, what did you think? And if you haven't, what is your favourite primer?

Maybelline Colorsensational Popsticks

Over summer I have been using this amazing lipbalm. I bought it only a couple of weeks ago and as you can see, I've used loads of it already. It's my go to lip colour because of how subtle it is. It's like a lip balm but also colours your lips a slight pinky colour and keeps them hydrated throughout the day. It's a great lip balm for college because it's easy to apply and just gives you that nice colour that lasts all day.

This colour is 020 Tropical Pink but I also have 030 Pink Lollipop which has bits of glitter in and is a slightly lighter pink.

Overall a great product that when it runs out, I will definitely be buying it again!

Stay Happy!

Sarah

My Makeup Routine

So today I did a new video! It's my daily make-up routine. 

Here it is>>>> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_hUnBzH4lA

So I though I would do a blog post about the make-up I used.

Firstly for my concealer I used two. I used a w7 cover stick with tea tree oil in medium/deep to cover up the blemishes on my face and then I used a Bourjois Paris brush concealer to cover the dark circles under my eyes. 

Then I used my Wake Me Up foundation in the colour 400 natural beige. I used a Primark brush that had a concealer brush and a foundation brush on either end to blend. I then used a w7 brush to powder my Stay Matt powder onto my face in the colour 003 peach glow. And I also powdered on an avon bronzer in the colour Sunny to my cheekbones. I also used a MUA blusher in the colour Lolly. 

For my eyes I used a Sunkissed palette and a Technic palette. Then I used a 2true waterproof eyeliner. 

And for my lips I used a Maybelline Coloursensational Popstick in the colour 020 tropical pink.

So yeah

Stay Happy!

Sarah

Make-up Haul

Because it's been my birthday recently I thought I'd go shopping with some of the money I got. 

I bought this blusher from a shop in a market in town. It's a really cheap make-up stall with loads of high street brands for lower prices. I got this Bourjour Paris blush in the colour 35 Lune D'or. I think this was £3.50 which is cheaper than it's high street price. It's a really pretty iridescent pale pink colour with flecks of gold in it.

From the same stall I also got this w7 powder brush. It's really soft and good at applying powder. I can't remember how much it was but it was definitely under £3.00 which I think is well worth it.

I also got this Lipstick/lipbalm, which I already have one of. I already have Maybelline Colour Sensational in 910 Shocking Coral. This lipstick is more dense and colour pigmented. This one I've just bought was under £4.00 and it's more of a balm. Its the Maybelline Colour Sensational in 020 Tropical Pink and it's a very suble lip tint that stays on for ages.

The last things I bought were concealers. I bought a Bourjouis Paris illuminater for under my eyes for £3.00 and a w7 concealer stick for blemishes which was under £4.00.

After this I went to superdrug and saw this pink Barry M. I fell in love with it immediately. It's a very pretty baby pink in the Gelly Hi-Shine collection. It's called Dragon and it was £3.99 which is fab. I'll definitely be trying this out in summer!

Because I've just been on holiday my face is more tanned than normal and the foundation I have is too pale for my skin so I bought this foundation. It's the Rimmel Wake Me Up foundation that so many people have told me to buy next. It was £8.99 and mine is in the colour Natural Beige. I love this already and it doesn't feel too heavy on the skin.

Stay Happy!

Sarah

30 Day Snap #3

Today was another average day. My days won't be very interesting until after Wednesday because that's my last exam so I'm free to do whatever I want after then. But today I did go shopping, for some necessities, my mum's birthday present but I also got dragged into the Superdrug 3 for 2 deal that's on at the moment. So bad of me! But it was things that I'd had my eye on for a while.

So this picture is a pretty average make-up photo. This is my new Maybelline Colour Sensation in 910 Shocking Coral. This was £7.19 from my local Boots store. These are apparently really similar to the Revlon  ColourBurst Lip Butter which I also really want to try out. The colour is just as it says, coral, a pinky orange colour. I really wanted a colour like this because they are nice and bright for spring/summer, and I really love the colour.

I also wanted one of these because I'm not too keen on full glossy lipsticks, and I don't really like lip glosses either but this a lip balm, so it's softer than a lipstick but still has good colour pigmentation. This is really pretty and I can't wait to wear it.

I also bought the Maybelline Falsies mascara, Flared, because I was running out of my current Maybelline mascara. This had been recommended to me so I thought I'd try it out. That was £7.99.

So that means that I got free a Collection Illuminating Touch Concealer in Natural 2. I really needed a concealer and I saw that Zoe Sugg has suggested Collection concealers. Although I couldn't find her exact one I thought I'd try a collection one anyway. It would normally be £4.99.

So other than that I spent the day in the sun revising with my friend and sunbathing, I've burnt again...oh dear.

Thanks for reading

Stay Happy,

Sarah