Disney Paris 2014

For today's post I wanted to do something more lifestyle related to add a bit more variety to my blog. In the Easter holidays me and the fam went on a 5 day trip to Disney Paris. We only planned on going for 3 days but we got a deal where we got another 2 days for free which was amazing. I was beyond excited to go because, having been to Disney Florida 5 years ago, I was desperate to relive the experience.

I had the most amazing holiday, spending five whole days going on rides, meeting characters, eating amazing food (including a meal at the Rainforest Cafe), and watching the parades. I felt so free and like I was young again, with no stress or cares in the world. I don't want to write too much because I think that the photos I took speak a thousand words, so I'm going to share some of my favourites with you.

 

  

I hope you enjoyed reading (or just looking at the photos!). Be sure to let me know in the comments if you've ever been to Disney.

emma x

The Tuesday Review: Topshop Brow Pencil

Heys guys! For this weeks review I will be talking about one of my current everyday staples, the Topshop Brow Pencil. It is very reasonably priced at just £6, and comes with a really good spoolie on the end for combing through your brows.

I have been using this pencil for just under a year now and have never regretted purchasing it. I have the blonde shade, which is called Vicious Circle, as I have very pale eyebrows. I had been finding it hard to find a pale brow colour in the likes of Boots and Superdrug, but for me this is perfect. It is slightly darker than the colour of my brows, but I like that because I have medium brown hair so I like to make them a bit darker than my natural colour.

I find this pencil really easy to apply and get natural looking brows. First I use the spoolie to tame the hairs, then I use small, light strokes to gradually fill in my brows, focusing on the tail and any other sparse areas. Once I have finished filling them in, I go over with the spoolie again to blend the pencil into my eyebrows to make them even more natural looking.

I love the formula of this product as it is soft enough that you don't have to press hard, but not so soft that you end up with harsh, unblended lines. I also find that this lasts really well, even on my oily skin, and my brows will stay on up until I take my makeup off, even after dealing with rainy weather or intense exercise.

Overall I would recommend this product to anyone looking for a cheaper brow pencil, especially people with lighter eyebrows who are struggling to find a suitable colour match.

emma x

The Lipstick Tag

I'm super excited to be doing this tag today because in the last year I've really got into lip products and have bought a lot of new ones. I found that there were two versions of this tag, The Lipstick Tag, and The Lip Product Addict Tag, both with different questions, but as I couldn't decide which to do, I'm going to  use a selection of questions from both.

1. How many lipsticks do you own?
Only including lipsticks, and not tinted balms or glosses, I own 12 lipsticks, which isn't loads but I only recently started buying lip products and I do have a fair few colour options within my collection.

2. What was your first ever lipstick?
My first lipstick was from MUA, and I actually bought 3 as they were on 3 for 2. At the time I bought them because of the cheap price (£1!), but they are actually really good quality. I bought a bright pink, an orange and a nude.

3. What's your favourite brand for lipstick?
I only own 1 lipstick from most brands as I don't like to go overboard, but from what I've tried Rimmel seems to have the best lasting power, pigmentation and range of colours.

4. What is your best balm/treatment?
On a day to day basis I will use any lip balm I can find, but if my lips get really chapped, I apply a thick layer of Nivea SOS overnight and I wake up with completely rejuvenated lips.

5. What is your most worn lipstick?
This is easily the Rimmel Lasting Finish by Kate in the shade 105 which is a bright pink. I love this lipstick as it's suitable for all occasions; a thin coat is subtle enough for day, and a couple of coats builds up to a lovely intense colour for night time.

6. What is your most disappointing lip product?
For me, this would have to be the Maybelline Baby Lips. Because of the hype, I had really high expectations, but they were one of the worst lip balms I've tried, and actually left my lips in worse condition rather than better. I don't mind too much because they are fairly inexpensive but had this of happened to me with a more expensive product, I would not be a happy bunny.

7. How many lip produsts do you currently have in your handbag?
I have three; two lip balms that I leave in there, and one lipstick which changes daily depending on what lip colour I'm wearing.

8. What lip product are you currently lusting over?
As I don't yet own a MAC lipstick, I would really like to get one, probably the shade Creme Cup as it's fairly neutral so I'm sure it will suit me. I would also love to try the Maybelline Colour Elixir Lip Glosses but they are currently only available in the US, so I'll have to wait until they launch over here to fulfill that wish.

I hope you enjoyed reading, and leave a comment below if you've done this tag and I'll be sure to check it out.

emma x

The Tuesday Review: Benefit's The Porefessional

Hey guys, I'm back with another review today and this time it's a high end product. This is my second ever high end product, the first being a MAC Mineralize Skin Finish, however I have since bought a couple more items. I didn't buy this product, it came as a sample in a magazine, however I did buy the magazine just so I could get the product as I had been wanting to try it for a long time, but the price had been putting me off.

The primer comes it a squeezy tube which is good for controlling how much product is dispensed. Overall I really like the packaging as the colours and design make it very attractive.

Having only tried one other primer (which was awful) prior to trying this, I don't have a lot to compare it to, however I am really impressed. This has really helped to keep my skin matte for longer and has increased the wear time of my foundation. It does also fill in and blur pores, meaning foundation applies better as it is being applied to a smoother surface. On a day to day basis, I only apply this to the sides of my nose, my forehead, and a little bit on my chin, but when I'm going for a full makeup look that I need to last all day, I will apply it to my entire face. I have been using this tube every day for the last two months and it is showing no signs of running out, so I am really pleased. 

Having had a really good experience with this primer, with no breakouts or side effects, I would consider purchasing the full size version of this product when mine runs out. However, I would like to try some cheaper alternatives first because, although I would deem this to be worth the money, if there's a drugstore dupe, I may as well buy that instead.

Have you tried The Porefessional? What do you think about it? Let me know in the comments.

emma x

Kiko Haul

For today's post I wanted to share with you what I bought on my first ever trip to Kiko, which, for those of you that don't know, is a cosmetics brand that can't be purchased in other retailers such as Boots. I was very excited to have a browse around the store as I had heard a lot of amazing things about the brand, and I was overwhelmed with the amazing range of products. There was so much more makeup than I thought there would be, a surprisingly large skincare range, and a good selection of brushes. I went to the flagship store on Regent Street (it's basically on Oxford Street though as it's on the corner where they meet), so there may not be as greater selection in other Kiko stores, but I was truly spoiled for choice. It's a miracle that I didn't buy more than I did, but I managed to restrain myself, and tried to pick the cheaper products rather than the 'pro' versions.

The prices in Kiko are really good and are equivalent to the middle range of the drugstore, with most everyday products ranging from £3 to £8. Some products, such as setting sprays and complete brow kits were more expensive, but that's the case with most brands. For the price you get excellent quality packaging, and a lot of the products came inside boxes which makes the products, and store as a whole, seem more luxurious.

The first product I got was an eyeshadow in the shade 143 which is a really nice pale pink shade with a little glitter in it. This is a good colour for a quick wash over the lids when I don't have time to do anything special. From the couple of times I've used it, I've found that it applies really nicely. It creases slightly throughout the day but because it's not a bold shade you don't really notice. For £2.90 I think this is a good eyeshadow and is perfect for travel if you only want to take a shade or two.

The next product is a nail varnish in the shade 363, which is a dark reddish pink. I really like this colour as I think it's good for summer because it's bright, but the deepness of the shade makes it suitable for winter too. The brush is quite wide, which I like as it makes application easier. I haven't used it yet so I can't comment on the formula, but I'm really excited to use it. These nail polishes are £2.50 which I think is a good price for a nail varnish.

The next thing I bought was an eyeliner from the Smart Eye Pencil range. It is a lovely turquoise blue colour in the shade 813. I thought this was perfect for summer to add a pop of colour to my eyes. From swatching it on my hand, I found that it was a little on the solid side, but for £2.50 I can't really complain, and I will only be using it on odd occasions. They do have similar shades in their other eyeliner ranges though, if you are interested in a slightly softer pencil from the brand.

I also bought a lip liner from the Smart Lip Pencil range as whenever I go for a bold lip, it's nearly always a bright pink, so I knew it would be worth it as it will be a shade I use often. The shade in question is 708, which as I said, is a bright pink. Because I will be wearing it under lipsticks and glosses, the exact tone of the shade doesn't matter to me too much but I do really like the colour so I could potentially wear it alone.

Lastly, I picked up the Glow Touch Lip and Cheek Colour in the shade 102 Wave Hibiscus, which is a lovely peachy coral colour. I have been wanting to try a cream blush for a while but wasn't sure if they would be for me, so I figured that this would be a good solution because even if I didn't like it on my cheeks, I could use it on my lips. What really lured me towards this product is the gorgeous packaging which is unique to their summer collection. This was on sale for £4 so I would hurry if you want to try it as they won't be around much longer.

I hope you enjoyed this haul as I haven't posted one in a while. I will be sure to review most (or maybe even all) of these products after I have tested them for a couple of weeks. Be sure to leave a comment telling me whether you've tried anything from Kiko and what you thought of it.

emma x

The Tuesday Review: Garnier Skin Naturals

Hey guys! As you can see from the title of this post, I've decided to add a new weekly feature to my blog called 'The Tuesday Review'. This is for two reasons; 1, I'm hoping that it will keep me motivated to blog more regularly as I will post one review per week, in addition to another post every Friday, and 2, I have bought a lot of new products over the last few months while I haven't been blogging as much, and I want to share my thoughts about them with you. So without further ado, on with the review... (see what I did there?)

Starting with the packaging, both of these products have very similar packaging, only the micellar water has a larger bottle. Both of them have good lids that seal completely shut, which is great for travel, and when opened, it is easy to control how much product is dispensed, meaning minimal wastage. I like the labels on the products too, simple yet still attractive, with the perfect amount of colour.

The Garnier Skin Naturals Eye Make-up Remover costs just £3.49 and is a biphase product. This means it has the addition of oils to make it even easier to remove waterproof mascara and other stubborn eye makeup. Having previously raved about the Johnson's Eye Make-up Remover, this had a lot to live up to, but for me this is even better! It removes my eye makeup super efficiently and the skin around my eyes feels really fresh after using it, with no sign of any residue. I've also noticed that I've lost less eyelashes since using this, a strange observation I know, but important to me nonetheless. I'm so pleased that I picked up this product because it is so much better than the one I was using, and I thought that was amazing!

The Garnier Skin Naturals Micellar Water costs £4.99 which is an amazing price when you look at the size of the bottle. For the same price as many other products of its type, you get 400ml of product, whereas most are only 200ml. This is the first micellar water I've tried so I can't say its better than any of the others, however for me this has been a complete game changer. I use this as a quick initial cleanse to remove the majority of my face makeup before I use a face scrub, and it is perfect for this use. One cotton pad of this and nearly all of my makeup is removed. It's just so effective. Another great use that I've found for this is as a quick freshen up on no makeup days. When I'm having a lazy day and not wearing any makeup, my skin gets oily very quickly, so about halfway through the day I like to give my face a quick swipe of this so I feel fresh and clean again. On garden days when I'm sunbathing I'll use this when I come in to quickly remove the residue of any suncream before I apply my makeup for the evening.

Overall, I'm so impressed with both of these products and would definitely repurchase them. Whether I will or not is a different matter though because I love trying new things haha. But I will know in the future that these are a safe bet if I need to pick something up in a hurry.

emma x