Current favourite nail varnish

This is the nail varnish i have been wearing a lot recently. 

Barry M Vintage Violet 436

Its a brownish purple. This colour is more suited for the autumn months, but I discovered it at the end of winter so I will be wearing it for some of spring as well.

One layer of this nail varnish matches the colour it seems in the bottle. Two coats of it is much darker. 

In the image below I have 2 coats of the nail polish on so you can see what its like in the bottle and with two coats.

I haven't been wearing an accent nail like I usually would with this nail varnish, but I don't think this colour needs breaking up by an accent nail as a nude shade would.

Charlotte Tilbury Matte Revolution Lipstick

So I finally bought myself 3 of the Chartlotte Tilbury matte lipsticks after wanting them for so long. Ive heard amazing things about these lipstick's so I knew I needed to try them. 

Firstly, the packaging is SO gorgeous - its rose gold which is popular at the minute. The packaging feels so luxurious and worth the money.

The actual lipstick is amazing to apply. Its so smooth and doesn't pull on the lips as some matte lipsticks do. The bullet of the lipstick is squared as you can see in the pictures below. I was a little apprehensive about this as I have never seen a lipstick with a squared off bullet, but never the less it actually makes it easy to apply and fits the shape of my lips well.

Ive tried all of the colours on which I got but I haven't worn them all day yet, so I can't say how the staying power is. Im sure I will say if I get on well with them as they would be in a favourites post soon. 

In this light all of the colours look similar, but they are actually fairly different.

From left to right: Walk Of Shame, Bond Girl and Red Carpet Red

Smoothies

Ive always liked smoothies, but recently I have been drinking them so much. I buy the smoothies that just contain fruit so that nothing artificial is added - innocent smoothies are my favourite.

They are so delicious and healthy as they contribute to two of your five a day if you have just one glass. Its a really easy way of helping you eat or drink your five a day as I know some people find it hard to eat fruit and vegetable each day.

As well as eating balanced meals with vegetables, and fruit as snacks throughout the day, I'm able to eat five or more fruit and vegetable portions a day.

I have looked into making my own smoothies in the past, and have nearly bought myself a blender/juicer but I don't think I would get enough use out of it as I don't have many days when I'm at home all day so I think it would be a waste of money. 

My favourite flavour of innocent smoothies is mango and passion fruit.

Do you have a favourite flavour smoothie?

Haircare: past and present

Just like every girl, when their hair starts to become greasy in their early teens, we think 'the more we wash it, the more it will go away'.... not!

After about a year of washing my hair every single day i finally broke the chain and knew i couldn't keep doing it. I knew what was good for my hair and what wasn't, but i couldn't think of anything worse than walking around with greasy hair. Especially at school when i felt everyone who looked at me was judging me.

Once realising that i shouldn't care about what anyone else thought, i started to wash my hair every other day. I soon got into the habit of this. I know your hair takes a while to get used to a change in your routine, but i persevered. Around 3 years of washing it every other day and my hair slightly getting used to it although I've always had oily hair i decided to go one step further and wash it every 3 days. 

I have been washing it every 3 days for probably 3 or 4 months now. I find i need dry shampoo on the second day and then a little bit more on the third day. My hair differs so much each time i wash it that i never know what it will be like next - some days my hair will look so greasy on the third day, and other times it will look like its been washed on the third day.

Ive changed tried many shampoos over the years including; Tresemme, Pantene, Elvive and many others. I am currently using and liking the Timotei shampoo and conditioner for normal to greasy hair. Its a lightweight product that thoroughly cleans the hair and leaves it feeling so soft.

All about the nude lipstick

Recently I've been loving wearing nude lips. The types of nudes I wear are more brown and pink shades rather than the pale skin colour nudes.

This is quite odd for me as i don't usually go for nudes, and i normally wear matte lipsticks. However, these are all moisturising lipsticks. I have mainly been reaching for these because they are easy to apply and no precision is needed as it is for a red or pink lip. I have also been using moisturising lipsticks because as you would have seen if you read by blog post a couple of weeks ago, I've been getting really dry lips.

Here are the nude lipsticks i have been wearing a lot recently;

From L to R; Rimmel lasting finish in 077 Asia, Rimmel moisture renew in 720 Notting Hill nude, Rimmel moisture renew in 180 Vintage pink.

Nail varnish: Barry M in lychee.

The classic clay facial mask

In the past i've tried detox masks, thermal masks, clay masks and peel off masks....

Although there are many face masks that i love, nothing will ever be better than the classic clay mask. These masks are probably the least glamorous masks out there, but for me they do the best job.  

Its not always the most expensive products that do the best job, and many cheap and simple products are amazing too.

My skin was feeling dull and oily a couple of days ago so i applied the Boots own brand clay mask. After applying and letting the product dry, i rinsed my face with warm water and then used a foaming facial wash by Simple to ensure all of the mask was off.

I was shocked at the result and realised how much i missed my clay mask after not using it for a few months. My skin felt SO soft, smooth and clean. It looked radiant and bright again.

These masks take all of the oily-ness out of the skin, so its important to use a moisturiser afterwards to balance the moisture levels.

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Mascara - Maybelline VS Rimmel

Maybelline 'lash sensational' mascara and Rimmel 'wonderfull' mascara are fairly new additions to my makeup collection. I always buy drugstore mascaras and use them one at a time because i find they dry out and are used up too quickly. However, i have used both of these mascaras recently.

The Maybelline mascara is amazing for a dramatic lash look. It makes my lashes very thick and long.  The consistency of this mascara is quite wet and i usually find myself liking mascaras much more when they have slightly dried up and are not so wet. A lot of the product comes out on the wand and because of the plastic applicator and the slightly curved wand its hard to wipe the product off back into the mascara tube. 

I like this mascara a lot, but i would use it more for an evening look. I would recommend this to anyone who is looking for a mascara that makes their lashes look very defined, thick and dramatic. This mascara also has AMAZING staying power and will look the same on your lashes at the end of the day as it did when you first applied it.

After finding the Maybelline mascara a bit too dramatic for my everyday look, i pulled this mascara out of my makeup collection and gave it a whirl. Just the right amount of product came out of the tube onto the wand which is rare from a brand new mascara. The wand is also plastic. This mascara contains argon oil which i presume is good for your lashes. I particularly like that it contains argon oil  because it makes taking my mascara off so quick and easy.

A negative factor about this mascara would be that even when curling my lashes before applying, my lashes lose their curl and volume half way through the day unlike the Maybelline mascara which holds them in place for hours.

All in all i do love both mascaras equally, but for different looks.

The plan...

Im posting blogs more consistently now. Ive scheduled one every 3/4 days for a couple of weeks and i'll carry on pre-writing them as i think of new post ideas.

They will be about; makeup and hair, but probably some food posts or days out as well :-) 

THE BEST snack

I have been eating humous recently and getting back into it. Its a healthy snack and so tasty!

I've tried making my own humous in the past, but nothing tastes as good as the shop bought humous and im not too sure why! It tastes slightly different in every supermarket, but my personal favourite is the Marks & Spencer's humous.

A typical homemade humous recipe would include:
-chickpeas
-lemon juice
-garlic
-tahini paste
-olive oil

There are loads of recipes online if you are wanting to make your own. All of them differ slightly.

I enjoy eating humous with loads of different things such as carrot sticks, cucumber sticks, crisps, cocktail sausages, pitta bread and many more.

Bit of a weird post but ive been eating and loving it so much recently :)

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