Glow Getters

Now that the weather's getting colder my skin has been needing a bit of brightening up. With my skin being so pale and drab this time of year it needs a little oomph and that's where highlighters come into my life!

I have four go to highlighters at the moment, that I just can't get enough of. I'll start with my favourite which is Mac's 'Soft and Gentle' highlighter. Sometimes I'll totally forget I have this in my drawer but I always end up going back to it. It's a slightly bronze toned highlighter with shimmer. The formula feels very creamy even though its a powder. This product is very pigmented so a little goes a long way.

Benefit's Watts Up highlighter is a cream highlighter and its a sort of rosy gold colour. This is such a natural highlighter that blends really nicely. It's definitely build-able depending on how much glow you like. I have this in a mini size and when I run out I am definitely purchasing the full size product!





























The next one I've been loving is The Balm Mary-Lou Manizer. This is a pretty gold highlighter that I feel would suit every skin tone. I have been loving using this as an inner eye highlight and on my brow bone, it adds such a nice touch! It's one of the more natural looking highlighters I own, it adds a really nice glow without being overly shimmery or glittery. This is the first product I own from The Balm and after this hit I definitely want more!

The last of my go to highlighters is a new one to my collection. I won't discuss the Sleek Solstice palette too much as I wrote about it in my 3 new tries post. Summarising it though the four highlighters are beautiful. Getting all of them in the palette for £10 is an absolute bargain as well! My favourite from the quad is the pink-purple shade called 'Hemisphere' which I love applying to my cheek bones. The little brush in the palette is also really handy for highlighting your brow bone and the bridge of your nose which I was chuffed about!

L-R, Benefit 'Watts Up', Mac 'Soft and Gentle', The Balm 'Mary-Lou Manizer', Sleek Solstice in 'Hemisphere'.

3 New Tries

I love it when I buy new things to try and end up absolutely loving them! I thought I would share 3 of the products I have recently bought and am enjoying.

First is The Body Shop camomile cleansing oil. I have never tried a cleaning oil and due to my skin being on the oily side I've tried to steer clear of oily facial products! However, I really wanted to start double cleansing in my night time routine and lots of people have said an oil and a cream cleanser are the best combination. This cleanser has had some really good reviews so I thought I would try it out! The cleanser removes make up so well and upon removal didn't leave any oily residue, and left my face feeling super soft! It also has a really nice, subtle scent. The only thing I wouldn't recommend is rubbing it into your eyes to remove eye make up, trust me, I did and my eyes ended up stinging alll evening. However, it has definitely changed my opinion on oil based cleansers and I would definitely repurchase!

The next product is the Sleek highlighting palette in 'Solstice'. These highlighting palettes are a new release from Sleek and seeing as good highlighters are something I lack I thought I would try it out. The packaging of this product is stunning and is going to look so pretty in my makeup drawer! It also has a magnetic close which I love! There are 3 powder highlighters in the palette and 1 cream highlighter, they all are really pigmented and give a lovely glow. My favourite has to be 'Equinox' (the bottom right) it's so lovely for highlighting cheekbones and the cupids bow! I love how on the back of the box the palette comes it that it tells you where each one can be put for the best results, so helpful!  

My last product is the Rituals yogi flow, foaming shower gel. This is my first Rituals product and now I am desperate for more! I've never had a foaming shower gel before so using this was a new and exciting experience! With this product a little goes a long way, and one squirt gives you way too much product in my opinion, so be careful with that! The scent is really relaxing, slightly floral and lasts a long time when you get out of the shower. This is definitely one of the nicest shower gels I have used.

My Beauty Advent Calendars for 2015

This year I decided to buy some beauty advent calendars for myself. Last year I saw Zoe Sugg had some really lovely ones and by the time I got round to buying a few they had all sold out! This year I decided to get them early. 
I have been waiting patiently for the M&S beauty advent calendar to be released for ages after it started to be advertised. I finally picked it up last Monday on its release. 
The advent calendar is originally £200. However, M&S are currently doing a deal where if you spend £25 on beauty then you can get the calendar for £25. This gave me an excuse to treat myself and try out new brands! I decided to purchase some Christmas presents for my friends and got the calendar. 
The back of the calendar tells you all the products that are contained in the calendar. The products from Rituals, L'occitane, and Ren are the one's I'm most excited about!

I also picked up and advent calendar from the Tanya Burr Christmas range. I am a big fan of Tanya's collection, and this calendar was a bargain for £15! It's originally £25 but Superdrug have an offer on it at the moment for £15. It contains limited edition lipglosses, nail polishes, lashes and shimmer pots! Tanya's calendar has 12 door so I've decided to open a door every other day in the lead up to Christmas. 

I think that beauty advent calendars are such a good way of trying out new products and discovering new brands. They're also much more exciting than a chocolate advent calendar and make the build up to Christmas that bit more exciting!
Do you have any beauty advent calendars? :-)

Forest of Dean Weekend Getaway

Last weekend I went for a long weekend away with my boyfriend to the Forest of Dean. We stayed with Forest Holidays in a Silver Birch log cabin and it was such a lovely trip.
Our log cabin had a kitchen, lounge, master bedroom with ensuite, a twin room, bathroom and a hot tub on the decking. It was so open with huge windows in every room and so nice to wake up to the view of the meadow outside each day. The floor was heated which made it so warm and cosy! 

While we were there the weather was dreary so we spent a lot of time in the hot tub and in the cabin watching sky movies with our entertainment package. We did go on some lovely walks, one of them being to a place called Symonds Yat which had stunning views. We had the most amazing meal on Sunday in The White Horse Inn in Coleford, it was probably the best meal I've ever had!  

It was such a nice relaxing getaway for the weekend and the staff were so helpful and friendly! I couldn't fault our stay! I'm so sad that it's over i'm back to uni and Adam's gone back to London :(

Drugstore haul

I love a good drugstore haul. I only went into Boots for a new cleanser I swear!

I've been waiting for the new Collection palettes to be released in my local Boots for a few weeks and when I finally saw them I had to pick them up! I picked up the blush palette and the eye shadow palette. The blush palette contains two blushes, a bronzer and a highlighter. They are all very pigmented and blendable. The blushes don't appear chalky and have great staying power. I'm not a fan of the cardboard packaging but then what do you expect for £4.99!
The eyeshadow palette is amazing. I have two of the other collection eye shadow palettes that were absolutely raved about a while back and I can safely say that this one is of the same good quality. The shades are so pigmented and nice to blend. I love how the palette is laid out into the choice of two looks of natural or romantic. Again, an absolute bargain for £5.99!

Boots are currently doing a 3 for 2 on all their make up so I also picked up the Collection Lasting perfection foundation. I am so so impressed with this foundation. Usually cheaper foundations make my skin look really dry and dull but this one does neither, it has great staying power and is quite dewy! I love the glass bottle packaging with the pump and the fact that it's only £5.99 is cray!

Next are my new favourite lip combo. I picked up the Max Factor lipstick in 'Rosewood' after hearing Gabby (Gabriella Lindley) say how much she loved the colour. Gabby was right, it is amazing! it's such anice colour and is really creamy and moisturising. I then tried to find a lip liner to pair it with as I find this type of colour look so much nicer with properly lined lips. The colour I found that most matched with it was the Rimmel Exaggerate lipliner in 'Eastend Snob'.

I also picked up a new Supercat eyeliner from Soap and Glory and the Archery 2 in 1 brow.

I've been testing the archery 2 in 1 for a few days and i'm not totally convinced I like it! The sculpting crayon is very hard to work with and requires force to actually draw. The setting gel however I do quite like as it dries really quick and keeps my eyebrows in shape all day. I probably wouldn't purchase it again though.

Lastly, I picked up a new Liz Earle hot cloth cleanser and a new Batiste brown dry shampoo. Both are staples in my day to day life! 

New Skincare Discoveries

Superdrug have recently released a new naturally radiant skincare range. I've been looking for a dupe for my Liz Earle hot cloth cleanser as I go through them so quickly! 

In the naturally radiant range there is a hot cloth cleanser, and included in a muslin cloth. I've been using this for about a week and I can safely say it is such a good dupe for £5.99! I find that it has a nicer smell than my Liz Earle one. It didn't sting when I used it to remove my eye make up and made my skin feel really soft.

When I bought the cleanser there was an offer on the natural radiant range for buy one get one free, so I also picked up the 2 in 1 serum and moisturiser. I don't actually own a serum so I don't have anything to compare this to. However, it has a nice texture and the same nice smell as the cleanser. I've been applying this after my nightly cleanse and tone. I found this made my forehead slightly oily after a few uses, so I haven't been putting it there since, just on the other areas of my face!

I also picked up the Nip and Fab dragon's blood cleansing pads. These contain hyaluronic acid to hydrate and plump skin, salicylic acid to deeply cleanse pores and dragons blood to hydrate the skin even more. I'm all about products that deeply cleanse pores! I'm suffering with my pores becoming more blocked at the moment so I'm trying to buy more products with salicylic acid in them.The scent of the pads is lovely and fresh and these have definitely helped with hydrating my skin. 

Lastly, I picked up the Nuxe Reve de Miel lip balm. I've seen so many good reviews about this balm that I had to try it for myself! It's one of the more pricey balms I own at £9.50 but I've heard that Nuxe is such a good brand so I wanted to try something from them! The balm is pretty thick and a little goes a long way. It has definitely lived up to my expectations, this stuff stays on my lips for hours and is deeply moisturisng. Perfect for the colder weather :-)

Make up Storage

Make up storage is something I really love seeing posts about, and because it gives you an insight into what make up others are using too! 

I thought it would be nice for me to do a post on how I store my make up. I'm always looking for ways to change it up. 

All of my storage is in/on my chest of drawers. On top I have my Muji storage, a pot of face brushes and a pot of eye brushes, my make up bag which has all my every day make up in, and a tray of my every day beauty products. I also have my jewellery box and a vanity mirror.

The majority of my make up is stored in the top drawers of my chest of drawers. 

In the large top drawer I have my face products, lip products and some mascaras.

In the drawer across from this one is my eye make up drawer. In here all my single pot eye shadows are stored, my false eyelashes, my three Naked palettes and other eye bits and bobs at the back. I'm trying to find a new way to store my single eye shadows as they look so messy at the moment!

On top of the drawers I have some muji storage which stores all of my other eye shadow palettes and an odd MAC lip liner. I also store my most used lipsticks on top, along with a jar of cotton pads and some cute Disney products. 

My Current Skincare Routine

I love seeing other people's current skincare routine's and seeing what products work well for others, so I thought I would share my routine and favourites! 

Firstly,my skin is oily-combination, so depending on what your skin type is they may work well for you or not. I also find that oil based moisturisers break me out, so I tend to only use gel based/oil free moisturisers. 

In the morning I do a quick cleanse, tone and moisturise. I'm currently using the Mario Badescu Enzyme cleansing gel, Pixi Glow Tonic and The Body Shop Vitamin C moisturiser, I've been testing out the enzyme cleansing gel for a few weeks and I am definitely seeing an improvement in my skin. It claims to use hydroxy acid to break down the build up of dead skin cells that cause blackheads and pimples. I have noticed that since using this (and probably due to the change in weather) that I rarely am getting any spots at the moment (touch wood) so i'm pretty impressed with this cleanser! 

Next I go in with my trusty Pixi toner, this is an exfoliating toner and it works so well with my morning cleanser, it seems to brighten my skin up a bit. 

Lastly, I moisturise with The Body Shop Vitamin C moisturiser. This is a lovely light, day time moisturiser and I find that this sinks in really quickly and makes a lovely make up base. 

In my evening routine I add in an eye cream and my Effaclar duo cream. Firstly, I go in with the Liz Earle Cleanse and Polish to remove all my make up. This is my holy grail skin care product. It removes all my make up and when I rub it into my eyes to remove my mascara it doesn't make my eyes sore or sting at all, and when I remove it my skin feels so soft. 

Secondly, I go in with my Lush Tea Tree toner, which is supposed to be an antibacterial due to the Tea Tree and prevent breakouts.

I then apply my Effaclar duo cream, this is another holy grail product for me. It's supposed to unclog pores and correct imperfections and it definitely does. There are a lot of mixed reviews about this product, but it has honestly worked so well for me. I only apply this to my T-zone as that's where I am most likely to get blemishes, and I then moisturise my cheeks with the Clinique moisturising gel.

I then apply my Body Shop Vitamin E eye cream.

Once a week I will use a face mask depending on what my skin is doing that week, At the moment I've been using the Lush Mask of Magnaminty mask and i'm really liking it. I also use a scrub a few times a week after my evening cleanse. My favourite to use is the Super Facialist Anti Blemish Face Scrub, I really feel this is helping my blackhead situation!

As the weather is gradually getting colder i'm going to need to pick up a thicker moisturiser, eye cream and some hydrating masks soon!

Autumn Clothing Haul

Now that it's finally got much colder I needed to update my wardrobe and put some warmer clothing in! I love autumn clothing, with cosy jumpers, blanket scarves and cute boots. So I had a little splurge.

The first place I went into was H&M, they have got some lovely winter clothing in at the moment! I was in need of a new coat and I really like the parka style ones with fluffy insides so this one was perfect! I love the burgundy colour, but you can also buy this one in blue, black, white or green here.

I also picked up a the cutest shirt in the world from H&M. A bunny shirt. After seeing someone put this on instagram I knew I had to go on the hunt for it. It's quite a sheer shirt so you do have to wear a cami underneath it but I usually have to do that with my other shirts anyway. 

The next lot of stuff is from Primark. I have really been wanting a thick blanket type scarf, and Primark have loads of them for really reasonable prices! This one was my favourite as I love tartan, it has two sides to it and it was only £7! 

I picked up one of their plain black long sleeved tops to wear under a cape I have been planning on buying, it was £3.

I also picked up this lovely jumper/shirt top. It has a white collar and a bit of the shirt pokes out the bottom of the jumper. It's really warm and the jumper isn't a horrible itchy material! This one was £13.

Lastly from Primark, I picked up a gold leafy ring, it's something I would never usually choose but It looked so pretty I thought I would try and make it work!

Ah Superdry. I work for Superdry alongside doing my degree, and I was in need of some new uniform bits. I picked up two shirts. I have been looking for a red and blue check type shirt for ages and I finally think I've found it! This one can be found here. The other one I picked up is a flannel shirt. I'm not really sure this one is very me, but it looked so thick and warm, and I liked the design so I thought I would give it a go. You can find it here. I also picked up some plain pocket tee's from Superdry to go underneath the shirts. here.

I have been looking for a nice cape after seeing loads of people wearing them on instagram, and I found this lovely double sided one in Superdry here, which I can't wait to wear!

I raved about Superdry underwar a few posts back so I won't in this post, but they are the comfiest pants ever!

Lastly, I picked up some floral leggings. I actually have a pair of these already with a different pattern on, they are the comfiest leggings I own! I could wear these to bed they're so comfy. I love the waistband as well, I think it's a nice detail. 

I ordered some black skinny high waisted jeans from Asos here. I don't own any black skinny jeans and I thought they would go well with shirts and capes, and be much warmer than leggings for the colder months!

I also picked up some beauuuutiful boots from Miss Selfridge here. I love the gold detailing on them and the snake skin detail. However, these are pretty hard to walk in, with them being pointed at the front and there being no platform, and quite a large heel. I'm hoping I'll learn to walk in them! Ha.

I'm hoping to do an Autumn look book post soon with a few other things!