I've had a good make up month.. or months.. here's some stuff I purchased.

I'll write a bit about it if I've used it. Message me if you want an in depth review of any of these!



Read Fenty Review here and here.


Read Huda Review here.


I've wanted the CT Instant Magic Facial Dry Sheet Mask since she released it. It's so different. I tried it yesterday - firstly, when you put it on you look crazy.. and secondly, there's no smell and it really doesn't feel like it's doing anything!
I've never written anything bad about any Charlotte products, because anyone who knows me knows I love her.. but I really felt this didn't do anything. When you spend money on a skin care product, I feel like most people want to know something is going on.. but with this.. nothing happens lols.

I'm going to try this again, but I really don't think I'd repurchase.. I want a mask to tingle, and feel like it's doing something, but maybe I'm just a weirdo..


I've not used this yet, this is Charlotte Tilbury Airbrush Flawless Finish Skin Perfecting Micropowder. I have been looking for a good powder forever (literally).. I recently purchased the By Terry translucent powder & hated it, and have used Make Up Forever Translucent powder and hated it.

I was torn between this or the Laura Mercier powder, but decided on this because the packaging is so pretty and I love CT. Let's pray it works. It's shade 2 (medium) and quite light.


Laura Mercier Candleglow Concealer & Highlighter in shade 3. I've used a few times.. it's nice, but not the best concealer I own. For a high end concealer, the Burberry Cashmere concealer is better than this. For drug store, the maybelline eraser eye concealer will always be favourite..

I also use CT retoucher in Shade 3 - I think the shade is dark & I'll next purchase a shade lighter.


Hourglass veil mineral primer in the travel size bottle just in case I didn't like it.. this is soooo good. I'll definitely repurchase.


Illamasqua beyond powder in Deity. Aya got me this, thanks boo.

I have the shade OMG which is a nice golden shade - however I didn't like the formula - it took a lot of swatches to get a good highlight but this deity is definitely a different formula. There's a huge amount in these palettes - but it is also quite expensive.

The reason I wanted Deity is because it has green/blue glitter, and if you've read previous posts, you know how much I like different coloured glitter in my highlighters lols (this still doesn't beat the Topshop one in case you were wondering).


Becca Ultimate Coverage Concealing Creme in Tahini. So I really wanted to experiment with concealers lately, this is just really stiff. It's not a proper soft cream. I've only used it once, so I need to find a better way at using it. Good coverage though.


Didn't realise I actually bought this many concealers, this is the NYX Sculpt & Highlight in Caramel/Vanilla.

The contour colour is really nice, and so is the concealer, and its quite affordable.


This is the Barry M Matte Me Up Lip Kit in Bespoke. I have another shade, and I really really like the formula of this lipstick, as well as the lip liner.

They recently have added a lot more shades which is also great.


Lol, because I'm a sucker for deals, I purchased this nail polish to get the marshmallow lip scrub for free from Barry M. I probably shouldn't have..



Lime Crime lipsticks are also one of my favourites. I bought the shade Pumpkin, which is literally perfect for Autumn.. it's a really nice burnt orange.

I bought the Velve-tin mini trio in blue rose - it has the colours Beet It, Cindy & Vibe - they are so pretty!


Lastly, something I never thought I'd buy - Zoella bath stuff lol. I'm really into baths at the moment, and when I walked past her new range in SuperDrug, I couldn't help but notice how pretty her new range is.. it also smells lovely. 


This is the bath fizzer - it has blue glitter in it! I'm really excited to try this. I think it would go really well with a lush bath bomb - not alone.


This is the pink bath wafer - I used it with a lush bath bomb - it's very fragranced!

I also purchased Zoella Scooper Dooper Bubble Bath, which is somewhere.. that's also nice.


Byeeee :)

18 October 2017

I'm Not Buying Makeup Until Next Year.

So I got myself both foundations. Did I need both of them? No. But which one would I choose if I could only have one (the more sensible choice)?

I'm going to go through my thoughts on both foundations, and swatches on both foundations, including other shades I have! I also have both primers so will tell you what I think of them briefly. I'm going to try catergorising this blog post in sections, so you can read what you want. If you have questions I haven't answered, ask me below, anonymously on the 'questions' section, or DM me on Instagram.

What I Purchased


 For the Huda Beauty (HB), I purchased the foundation in the shade Baklava 340G, the Blend & Buff Complexion brush & the Complexion Base primer. I received this sample pack, which I will swatch below.


For the Fenty Beauty (FB), I purchased the Pro Filter soft matte longwear foundation. I also purchased three other items (they aren't foundation related so are not posted) so I also got this sample pack.

Sample Packs


So I received a primer sample & 4 foundations for both of them. They both contained a generous amount.


These are the foundations in the sample packs for HB. I don't know why Macaroon has completely gone into my skin?


These are the 4 shades I received in the sample pack for the FB.

Both of them are pretty similar sample shades. Although, with the HB I feel like I can try Amaretti & Toffee to see if I'm a better match. With the FB samples, there's none I could wear.

Comparing my Foundations

The first difference, which is an important one to remember, is I actually went into store to purchase the FB (read that here), whilst I guessed my shade using HB's comparison guide.


The first thing I noticed when they're next to each other is that the HB is more brown, whilst the FB is more pink. Then I rubbed them..


& then I noticed that the HB is more my skin colour than the FB.. but that's probably not what you were here for & what 30 shades vs 40 shades can't fix.

Review on Wearing the Foundations All Day




I wore both foundations all day. This is the FB foundation. It's goooood! It lasted all day, although towards the end of the day it definitely didn't look as great as when I first applied it.


(This is a horrible picture) So this is the foundation with flash after about 10 hours of wear. As you can see you can see a few spots on the forehead, whereas at the beginning of the day, they were completely hidden.

Overall, the FB foundation is really good all day, but definitely isn't amazing. If you want to wear for 10+ hours, you'd definitely have to reapply.

FB doesn't oxidise a looot. It definitely changes colour when you first apply, but doesn't go a horrible orange colour.

Now the HB all day..



This is definitely more orange, however I think that's my fault for not going in before buying. The HB I wore for about 10 hours also, and honestly, the HB looked pretty much the same as when I put it on!

In terms of wearing them all day, the HB definitely lasted longer.

Both don't have flashback - especially if you choose the right colour!

Side by Side 


These are the colours together with no other make up at all! As you can  see I have a huge lump on the FB side, and it did a reasonable job at covering it.


This is the FB side, this foundation leaves your skin matte. There no shine to your skin at all. For half of my face, I had to use 1 and a half pumps to get this coverage.

FB claims it sets itself.. which it does.


This is the HB side, as you can see, it's more dewy compared to the FB. HB says herself that for oily skin i.e. I'd need to set this. For half of my face, I only had to use half a pump to get this amount of coverage, which is awesome.

My preference, even though I'm oily, is not a complete matte finish.. so in terms of finish, I definitely prefer the HB. But FB still does a really really good job at flawlessness.

Also, the FB definitely dried faster than HB.

Oxidisation
HB oxidises more than FB but they both do oxidise. If you purchase the right shade that's not too dark, this isn't a problem. 

The Consistency

FB is ridiculously runny. This isn't a big deal, however, it means when you do pump it on your hand, it can run off your had, whilst Huda stays put and is thicker.

Coverage 
HB coverage is amazing. One pump for your whole face. However, this foundation will not give you light to medium coverage - it's definitely a FULL coverage foundation. If you like that, then this is for you.

FB is definitely a lot more buildable, you can use this as a light coverage, and build it up to full, which is a lot more versatile.

Amount in the Bottle



HB has 35ml whilst FB has 32ml. Considering I had to use half a pump for HB and 1.5 pumps for FB.. the HB is definitely going to last you longer.

Price

FB is £26

HB is £32

Obviously in terms of price, FB is better.. but my previous point i.e. the HB will last longer, so I think the HB is better value for money.

Packaging

FB is in a glass bottle, whilst HB is in a plastic bottle. This doesn't bother me at all. If I had to choose, I'd always choose plastic though. Glass can just break so easy, and it's much heavier.

Primers





So here's both primers. The HB is translucent, whilst the FB leaves a baby pink tint on the face. I didn't feel like that had any interference on the colour though. The HB is thicker than the FB. 
I absolutely love the HB complexion perfection pre make up base. It's like a moisturiser. I found that when I used my Charlotte Tilbury Magic cream with the HB primer, it's too much! So I may replace the Charlotte Tilbury Magic cream for this primer, as it's a lot cheaper.
HB primer definitely helps the foundation go on a lot better & last longer, compared to when not wearing it. It also smells really nice. Definitely consider purchasing!

I'm indifferent to the FB, I didn't purchase it and from the sample, I don't think I need to.

The Brush
The HB brush is really really nice. However, as I have other foundation brushes similar, it's nothing different that I don't think I can live without.
I didn't purchase the FB brush as I don't use brushes like the one she has to apply foundation lol.

HB or FB? 
What one would I choose? Huda. Definitely.

Final Thoughts

I'd like to point out that FB is more of an everyday foundation, whereas HB is definitely more evening wear.

Also, please, as both have a huge number of shades, go try the foundations before purchasing. I can make both foundation colours work, but in the HB I definitely think I could have got a better match! The FB, now I've worn it a few times, if I repurchase I'll buy a different shade!


17 October 2017

Huda Beauty vs Fenty Beauty?


Hi, if you came here for a full review on the FB products, go elsewhere. I mean, I will write a bit about my thoughts on the foundation in order to answer the title, but this post is mainly about the actual process of getting to the Fenty Beauty (FB) counter in the first place. 

I've seen many reviews about the foundation, so I want to discuss; the queue, the actual FB counter, the store & then the products. As of course, I've only been to the Harvey Nichols store in London - I can't speak about every store in the World - but it'll be my experience that may help you decide if you want to go get the foundation. 

I actually have no pictures of anything as I'm pretty sure you've seen the bottle like 300 times on social media.  There's not many pictures you can really take lols. 

So, we'll start at the fact that I've been twice on a weekend, the first - I went at 4pm on a Sunday. Harvey Nichols shuts at 6pm.. and the line was already closed. In order for you to even get into the queue, you've got to go somewhat earlier than closing - let's say about 3 hours before closing by the look of it. 

I then proceeded to go on Sunday again.. around 1pm, this time successfully getting in the queue which is what I thought was my first win. My other friends have gone in the weekday, which was probably more sensible and I've heard of them only waiting around 15-30 minutes. So first of all, don't be a loser like me and go on the weekend and wait OVER AN HOUR. Go during the week, in the morning, you know, off peak hours.. like an ideal time to get on the tube. The queue didn't even look that big when I joined, I'll honestly say about 40 people in front of me. I didn't think that was that bad.. it was definitely better than hundreds? 

So, I would have definitely purchased online, but the only thing I really wanted from the range was the foundation! I did my thorough research and decided, I really didn't need anything else. As the whole range is available online, I really think that there's no point queuing if you don't want to be colour matched. I however, was really not interested in wasting £26 online to get a foundation that was most definitely too dark, too light or just not right. So I decided, queuing was worth saving £26! 

So, I'm now in the store.. over an hour later. I'm in. Bear in mind I've never queued for anything that long before, so queuing itself was an actual accomplishment. FIRST, let me address something. While you're queuing, there's loads of people that think it's really funny to take pictures because 'they're all queuing for makeup'. People were even laughing and saying stuff which made the process totally EMBARRASSING, and I really don't get their problem because it's not like they've never queued up before.. like shush you queue up for McDonald's we queue for make up, GET OVER IT.

Now the reason it takes so long to actually get in is because every person is assigned to a make up artist. Yay..
Everyone who knows me knows it's my BIGGEST fear to have make up artist help. I mean, I love talking to you lovely lady, I love your make up, I love you.. but you don't know me. You don't know my skin, you don't know my roots, you don't know me on a good day, and you don't know me on a bad day. I think if you really want help with your make up then this is AMAZING. But for me, I really honestly just wanted to look at the foundations myself and decide myself. I didn't get that chance :(. She didn't leave me. Lovely lady didn't leave me. In fact I was sat in a chair while she went over to pick the foundations.. I tried to run and she didn't let me :( :( She caught me and made me sit! 

The section in Harvey Nichols is of reasonable size, they let in about 8 girls at a time, the same amount of employees that are there, are the amount of people that are allowed in at a time. 

So she came with shade 300. She assessed my skin for about 20 seconds before picking that shade. She tried it, and said 'yep that's your colour'. Lol, I didn't queue for over an hour for a 40 shade range, to be told the first colour you picked for me is correct lol lol lol. I asked her to try another, she said maybe we can try shade 290.. but it's not in stock. Now that I think about it, a lot of colours weren't in stock (when I ran over to see most of the bottles weren't there). I actually sometimes think having 40 shades made it really difficult to choose- but I guess there's no way there won't be a colour for someone!

She tried shade 280, and this was a lot better for my face! I honestly wanted to try more but I'm too polite to ask and be annoying. She did also only apply it to a little bit of my face -but that's my fault as I didn't want to take off all my make up. 

So after that was done, I wanted to look at the whole range to ensure I'm making the right choice by not purchasing anything else. Lovely lady stayed by my side, I had a look at everything! I decided to purchase the beauty sponge, as it's cheaper than the Beauty Blender, so might as well give it a go. And the invisimatte blotting paper, as I'm an oily mess so might as well try anything new whenever I can lols. 

I tried the contour sticks, it wasn't wow and I have so many so I passed, I swatched the highlights, again not for me so I passed, and the gloss, and again, not for me so I passed. Because I queued for so long though, you honestly do want to buy more to make up for it!

Then you pay, and my whole journey was over in about 8 minutes. Yep, that all happened in 8 minutes. 

Now on to the foundation.. I watched so many videos on this foundation and I was like omg ok, not all these people can be so excited about it.. and even watching the application, it looked pretty good. 

So today, I wore the foundation, and today, I was happy enough to write my review about it. 

I used with my normal foundation brush FYI - not the beauty sponge, which is the Sigma F80. Oh, and for comparison, my go to foundation for full coverage is Charlotte Tilbury Magic Foundation, and my light coverage foundation is the NYX Total Control Drop Foundation - both amazing. 

The way I decide if a foundation is good or not, is to wear it to work. Believe me, after a day at work.. my foundation can look horrrrible (as I'm such a hard worker lols) or a really good foundation can stay put and look flawless even at the end of the day. 

When I first put this on, I didn't really understand what was going on. I was applying and applying and my marks weren't covering??? I was like ummmmm.... 

So I applied more to the areas that needed more, and I was like hmm ok. I did the rest of my make up, and I looked at my skin and I was shocked. It was so so so so good!!! I honestly don't remember the last time I looked at my skin like that. It looked so soft. It looked wow. 

Yes - in the places where you have scarring etc, you will need to build up the foundation more, but this does not look cakey at all. Also pretty good match, thanks lovely lady - I will make a conscience effort to try and trust you guys more (with a bit of my help). 

For the price, this is amazing. It's really up there with some foundations that can cost £40+. Actually, I don't really know any £40+ foundation as good as this! 

This foundation lasted all day also, hardly moved whilst at work, and was overall an 8.5/10! 

In conclusion, is the process of getting Fenty Beauty, worth getting the Fenty? 

.. Yes. For the foundation, yes. (If you're going to purchase anything else.. GO ONLINE!) 


9 October 2017

Is the process of getting Fenty Beauty, worth getting the Fenty?


If you’re in Richmond and feel like like having an adventure, I’d encourage you to take a chance and wander the path that leads away from the idyllic river bank.  

The walk will take you off road, through open fields, rusty gates and tree covered pathways. Along the way you’ll come across lovely violinists, hidden places to eat and farm animals. 

At the end your brisk autumnal walk you’ll reach Petersham Nursery, a secret jungle bursting with nature, fragrant flowers and sunlit greenhouses. A magical place to dine, sip tea and shop interior design.

Here are some pictures of Petersham.
















They have two places to eat; a restaurant where you are seated and a cafe where you can order coffee, cakes, soups and nibbles.

We had a chocolate cake, mozarella, a  cappucino & a turmeric latte (which wasn't drunk),
The cafe is perfect for snacks and is reasonably priced.

They've also opened a branch of Petersham Nurseries in the heart of London - Covent Garden!

It's super pretty. 







8 October 2017

Petersham Nurseries

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