THE KILLER EYE COMBO

I recently bought a new single eyeshadow from Maybelline. I don't usually buy singles as palette are more convenient but I was really drawn to their ColorShow Eyeshadow in 23 Copper Fizz. I'd been using it on it's own most of the time but I decided to pair it on top of a cream eyeshadow and I am obsessed with the look...

A SPENDY, LAZY WEEKEND

Since before Christmas, I've been a bot poorly. I kept getting a bit better and then falling back down. But I'm feeling back to normal now and felt like I needed to treat myself. Along with being poorly, I was changing department at work and at the same time as doing my job I've been training my replacement so work have been pretty crazy. So the weekend was approaching and I was feeling spendy and my eyebrows needed sorting badly so I got up on Saturday and took myself in to town. I hate going shopping on a Saturday. I just can't cope with people being slow. So I try to go as early as I can force myself to get out of bed to avoid midday madness. 

I was only out for two hours but my card was on fire by the time I got home...

THE BACKUPS

What are you talking about, Louise?

Well, the backups are products that I'm so scared of running out of unexpectedly that I need to have another on standby for that moment so I never have to be without.
There's nothing worse that squeezing out the last bit of cleanser and realising you haven't bought a new one yet AND you can't get to the shop for another few days. Stress. That is stressful.

Here are what I always have on standby...

EMPTIES #2

Sorry it's been a while... again. I was just going to take a week off but then I got really poorly and I've been knocked back most of the month. I'm feeling loads better now though so back in the game!
Also, thank you to everyone who entered my giveaway. The winner has been contacted now so sorry if you didn't win. Hopefully there can be more in the future.

On to today's post though and I've accumulated a number of used up products since the first time I did this in December so without further ado...

NEW YEARS EVE MAKE-UP LOOK

It's only a few days until we see out 2014 and welcome in 2015. I'm staying in this year with a couple of friends and we're going to cook some food and have drinks and play games because at nearly 23 I am SO hardcore it practically hurts...

Whether you stay in or go out, I think it's always nice to dress up a little so here is the make-up I wore on a night out recently that I'll most likely be using again for NYE.

 

IF I WON THE LOTTERY...

I hope you've all had a lovely last couple of day with whatever it is you've been up to. I have still blogged so if you weren't online then please go and have a catch up.
There's now only 4 more days left of blogging everyday this month and I can't quite believe how fast it's gone. There's going to be a full post about that in a couple of days though.
But for today I thought I'd do a "Luxury Beauty Wishlist".

I was a bit wary and cautious of posting this prior to Christmas Day. I just can't get comfortable with the idea of presents and I didn't want to seem as though it was coming across as throwing hints and boasting or something. Which I'm more than sure it doesn't but yeah!
Besides, it's sale time now so what better time to get luxury products for a cheaper price?!

BOXING DAY BEAUTY

I hope you all had great days yesterday doing whatever you got up up to. Yesterday's post was a little more serious and if you didn't see it then you can click here.

But on to today... Let me guess - yesterday you ate a lot of food, perhaps had a few glasses of wine and completely demolished a tin of Celebrations? As well as getting about 5 hours sleep? Feeling good today? Possibly not.
Well, let me talk you through a mini Boxing Day pamper routine...

EYEBROWS: SLEEK VS BENEFIT

Eyebrows. The last year or two the beauty world has gone eyebrow crazy. With the influence of the likes of Cara Delevingne, eyebrows are back to being big and full which is wonderful for me as mine have always been quite bushy!

With the help of the lovely Benefit girls, they tamed my eyebrows into a lovely shape that I love. Luckily I never did the whole "plucking until there was just the thinnest possible line of hair" so they just needed a little tidying. Benefit, being the self confessed Brow Queens, do amazing brow products for defining, shaping and setting the brows and a few of which I have tried and have been using for a long time. And then I discovered a new release from Sleek a few months back.
Let's see how they compare...

MINI SUPERDRUG HAUL

After The Body Shop event the other day I needed to go to Superdrug quickly for a few last minute presents and so obviously I thought I needed treating too...
I needed to restock on a couple of things but really I just can't help myself. I haven't included the presents I bought but here's what new to my collection...

EYESHADOW STICKS - WHAT'S THE DEAL?

One product that seems to have had a good year is the eyeshadow stick. Sounds peculiar but is actually genius.

Eyeshadow sticks just make the whole "lazy person that wants to wear makeup" thing so much easier. Draw on the eyelid and leave it bold, or you can draw on a couple lines on the lower half of the lid and use your finger or a brush to blend out for a softer look and then you're done! If you have more time then they're great bases as once they've set, they tend to just not budge all day.

Basically, Somebody decided to take eyeshadow, put it in the easiest to use form (cream, obv), then put that in a stick so you can literally just colour in with it.
Let's all just take a moment to thank that person.

Okay, done? Let's have a look at that ones I have and enjoy...

WHAT ARE THE DRUGSTORE BRANDS BEST AT?

It obvious from my little blog that I am a drugstore girl through and through. Sure, we all love the occasional bit of luxury but when the likes of the brands found in Boots and Superdrug are pushing out beauty products that rival, and in a lot of cases beat, high end brands then splashing out can be a little silly. (Disclaimer: I'm not telling you what you can or can't spend your money on. You earned it so spend £50 on foundation and feel amazing if you want. I would if I could afford to.) BUT the high street does bring IT.

Having said that, from trying out a lot of products I've have realised that some brands can be amazing at making one type of product but really suck at another. So today I bring you what I feel brands do the best at...

A POWDER BETTER THAN MAC?!

Quite a bold statement to make, especially to some? I've been using MACs Mineralised Skin Finish Natural for a couple of years and it is beautiful. It does what it says on the tin - gives a natural finish to the make up as well as setting it and keeping it in place all day.

My latest compact recently came to the end of its life and it was going to be a while before I could get to a MAC counter so I decided to find a cheaper alternative. Enter Bourjois Healthy Balance Powder.

FAVOURITE WINTER NAILS

Yesterday I posted my top 5 lip colours so today is the time to give a run down of my favourite winter nail shades. I'm a huge lover of dark nails all year round. My inner Wednesday Addams wants black nails at all times but I've had people in the past judge me for that in Summer... pssh! So it seems to be deemed more acceptable when it's cold to have dark nails. I tried to make this a top 5 but I cheated and did 6. I just couldn't decide.

FAVOURITE WINTER LIPSTICKS

It's no secret how much I love lipstick and bright, bold colours at that. (Though, I admitted my nude lip love affair last week...) I do wear dark and berry reds pretty much all year but in the colder months it just feels right. Here are my top 5 lipsticks I reach for in the Winter...

REVIEW: URBAN DECAY NAKED ON THE RUN PALETTE

I've got an excited review today for you in the shape of the new Urban Decay Naked On The Run Palette.

Urban Decay are notorious for doing incredible eyeshadow palette and the Naked range has a cult following - and with good reason. My first dip into the Naked world was with the Naked Basics a year or so back. It's got 6 shades that all work beautifully together and it's very travel sized friendly. I then saw the Naked 3, fell in love and hit "buy now" without thinking about anything. So very glad I did. I've never owned the Naked 1 or 2 but I love this palette. The packaging is beautiful and the shades even more so. A year after it's release and I'm still as in love with it.

The latest Naked launch is the On The Run palette and as with Naked 3, I saw a photo, went to the website and added it to the shopping cart so fast that I wasn't even sure what I did...

EMPTY PRODUCTS #1

Today it's time for my first ever empty products rundown. I've collected these over the last couple of months and then when I was planning these December posts I thought I may as well throw this in now!

I like empty posts and knowing if they would be repurchased as that's definitely more likely to convince me to go out and pick it up too. So here is what I've used up recently...

LOVING NUDE LIPS?!

Nude isn't something that I usually associate myself with in terms of lip colours. I go bold or go home on a very much everyday basis. All about that bright pink lip all year round! So I have shocked myself by finding a nude lip combo that I'm totally obsessed with. Even my mum was shocked to see me without bright lips the other morning to go to work.

So what is this magic combo...

I have been using Rimmel's Exaggerate Lip Liner in 'Eastend Snob' to line and fill in my lips. I absolute love this formula of lip liner. I have Red Diva too and I'm actually on my second one of that. I prefer it to traditional pencils as it's more of a crayon so a lot softer on the lips and easier to fill in.
Everyone is also going crazy for the overdrawn lips look recently (I get the impression that this is due to a Kardashian girl but I know very little about them...) but this liner is so easy to use to go slightly over the natural lip line.
I then go over the top with the new Maybelline Color Drama Intense Velvet Lip Pencil in Nude Delight. I am obsessed with these pencils! I have 3 colours and they are amazing. They are so soft and creamy, they last ages and so incredibly pigmented. They don't drag on the lips and they're not drying and I think they're only about £3 or £4! Bargain.
The Maybelline pencil looks awful on me on its own but under the Rimmel liner, I love it!

I also really love the Rimmel liner just on its own (photo below) but it's not as long lasting on it's own, especially after food and drink. Still, very pretty and I think I have become a nude lip convert! Who am I?!

Are you more a nude or bold lip person? And have you tried either of these products?

UNSUNG HEROES: L'ORÉAL TRUE MATCH FOUNDATION

I'm kicking off my blogging every day in December (I need an acronym or something for this? BEDD? Don't think that works..!) with a new Unsung Heroes post. You can heck out the rest here but my Unsung Heroes are products that I use all the time and completely love nd would recommend to anyone, but I haven't actually really raved them on here before.

Today is the turn of my favourite discovery of 2014... L'Oréal True Match Foundation.

DRUGSTORE BEAUTY HAUL

Why hello there lovelies! Sorry I have become a stranger once again. A mix of bloggers block and then getting really poorly. Not sure what happened to me but I got home from work one day and just had a turn and just couldn't get out of bed for a few days.
I'm feeling better now and I thought I'd treat myself with a little trip to Boots. I've not actually had a spendy moment for a while and being ill is the perfect excuse to change that!

REVIEW: AVON "NOT SO NEUTRAL" PALETTE

Ever since I was a lot younger I have been flicking through the Avon catalogue. Mum would always have one and I'd be obsessed with going through all the perfume pages and rubbing my wrists on the pages. And mum used to let me buy a face mask every so often from it and I probably thought I was the bees knees.

I still love having a look through the Avon when mum brings it home (her friend at work is a rep!). They have really great products and really affordable too. Their eyeshadow primer is my absolute favourite. I think it's £7 when it's full price but it always seems to have some kind of discount - I think mine was £4!

The other month I was dawn to the 8-in-1 Eyeshadow Palette in "Not So Neutral". It was £8 for 8 eyeshadows - bargain! - and the most perfect colours for me.

Avon can be a little off putting as you can only go off online or in a catalogue. You can't swatch so you have to hope for the best really. But I am in love with this palette..! Read on for the lowdown!