I've been keeping a secret..

Today is a pretty special day for me. I've finally plucked up the courage to publish my first YouTube video. I've attempted to make several of these in the past. I've even gone as far as exporting the edited version from IMovie but I've never had the confidence to click the upload button.

Encouraged by a good friend who kindly "proof" watched to make sure I wasn't completely embarrassing myself (thanks Kim!), I've decided to keep it online.

It would honestly mean the world to me for you to check it out and let me know what you all think. 

Requests, comments and constructive criticism are all welcomed! I've caught the bug & am already planning video #2 which is coming soon!

Thanks so much for all your continued support xx

MAC Brooke Shields: Gravitas 15 pan Palette

I can honestly say I haven't been this excited for a MAC collection in a long time. When I first heard that MAC had collaborated with Brooke Shields and they were planning to release a 15 pan neutral palette I couldn't get it out of my head..

Boy, did Ms Shields deliver the goods. 15 earthy-toned eyeshadows with a deep plum, a light pink and an unusual golden-green colour thrown in for slight pops of colour (& ones that I will be saving for when I'm feeling particularly wild). The palette contains 6 permanent shades and 9 new, limited editions. I already own 3 of the permanent shades (Carbon, Satin Taupe & Antiqued), but seeing as these are staples in my collection I didn't mind having two of them. The best shade in my opinion? Easy, Soft Brown. A colour that has been discontinued in the UK. And finding it? Well that's proved to be about as difficult as finding the Lorac pro palettes.

Possibly the biggest rave about the palette is that it's price tag is £70 (worth £180 if purchased individually) especially when the quality of each shadow is on par with their permanent shades. I didn't have any pigmentation issues with any of the shades except Carbon which seems to be included in every palette. I understand the concept of having a matte black colour but the pigmentation could have been far better.

Yes it's expensive. You could argue that the Naked palette from Urban Decay is almost half price, but considering each shadow is full sized and has a product value of £10 and an individual palette including inserts is £16.50 - It's pretty good value for money.

The biggest draw back surrounding this palette is the availability (or rather lack of it) - having sold out online twice in one day, the chances are they won't be restocking. Your best bet is to try your luck in your local store.

This palette is a complete winner for me and despite owning a ton of neutral shades, I know I'm going to get my use out of this eyeshadow palette. What can I say? I'm a neutral-eyed girl through and through.

Zoella Beauty

Last Thursday saw the launch of "Zoella Beauty" the brainchild of Zoe Sugg's internet persona Zoella.
I have been a follower/subscriber of Zoe since 2010. Even before she started her YouTube career. Her blog was somewhat of an inspiration. I loved her style of writing and looked at her reviews as somewhat honest and reliable.
I made sure that my alarm was set nice and early last Friday (just in case Amelie decided to have a lay in) as I knew that the collection would be available the following morning after her launch party. With 6 million subscribers to her main YouTube channel alone I was sure the collection would be a complete sell out.

Zoe said that she had complete control and involvement over her collection and this is defiant in her packaing. The font, lace design and overall colour palette all play homage to her blog. 
I like the catchy wording and the name choice given to each product. It's refreshing to see a company that a collection that doesn't claim to have a body mist that will last all day and a candle with the burn time to last all of eternity.

I picked 4 items from her collection. The "Soak Opera" shower gel (I bought two of these), "Fizz Bar" fragranced bath fizzer, "Blissful Mistful" Body mist and "Glow all out" fragranced candle.
My favourite pick is the body mist which has Wild Strawberry and Grapefruit amongst its top notes. It's fruity and fun and lasts for around 1.5-2 hours. An honourable mention goes to the bath fizzer. The design is very inivative allowing the user to break off as much (or as little) product as they want before saving the rest for next time. Well done Zoe you did a great job!

Priced between £5 - £8 this collection would make great stocking fillers. It is only 12 weeks till Chrismas....

A Lipgloss junkie's offer you won't want to miss out on.

Don't you just love when USA websites ship to the UK? After purchasing the browbar-to-go   which is used on a daily basis I wanted to test the water with their lip glosses too.

Whitening Lightning "Colour your dial" lip glosses are currently in the process of rebranding to "Gerard Cosmetics" (that would explain the variation in packaging between the different colours that I ordered!). In my opinion it's a change for the better; the gold lid looks so much more luxurious and the "GC" logo is far more elegant and sophisticated. For those of you wondering about the handy mirror on the side and the revolutionary LED lighting  on the inside of the lid, fear not! It's still there. 

With the aesthetics being awarded a big thumbs up it's time to get down to the nitty gritty. The formula is pretty fantastic, it's opaque without feeling thick and heavy on your lips. It doesn't feel too sticky like many lip glosses, rather tacky which is a good reassurance that it's going to last for a few hours. The real winner for me is the pigmentation, it's such a rarity to find a line of lip glosses that consistently produce such great colour pay off - what you see in the tube is exactly what you get once applied to the lips. My favourite of the bunch has to be Coral Craze.

The only (slight) downfall is the price, at $24 a pop their pricey. However, there are so many promotional codes circulating at the moment, I would highly recommend you to put a quick search into google before hitting the checkout button.

The High End Foundation Breakdown.

High end foundations are definitely a love-hate relationship. (I love them, my bank balance does all the hate). I've tried my hand and uhh face at many makeovers and samples over the years, heck I've even partied with a pretty penny in exchange for a 30ml bottle on numerous occasions(that might explain the overflowing drawers). Here's a run down of my favourites, just don't ask me to to pick my number one..

1. Chanel Vitalumier Aqua
Oh Chanel. My first real high end Foundation. I love everything about the product: The packaging, check. The formula, check. The Texture, check. The longevity, check. It's comparable to Nars sheer Glow in terms of texture but I find it to be so much longer wearing. It's a great all-rounder and I love the fact that it's not oil based. The shades are limiting: I vary from a B20 - B50 (or 4 out of the 5 shades) depending on my tanning situation from the night before.

2. Mac Studio Fix Powder Foundation
A slight cheat here as I typically carry this around in my bag ready for on the go touch ups, but it does work lovely as a full coverage powder foundation as well. The product itself is  pretty conveniently packaged with a handy mirror and a sponge. Admittedly, not the most hygienic in terms of application but its actually quite nifty - the ultimate "swipe" and go product. 

3. Estee Lauder's Double Wear
Caution! This product comes with extreme high coverage. If you're having a particularly bad day skin day or just want that extra level of full coverage this is youre guy. I'm in the shade 2c3, Fresco. Its about as matte as they come, and although its not one I use all that regularly (I now favour more dewy/natural finishes), it makes for flawless looking skin and probably the only foundation on the planet where I've woken up to a full face of makeup after a night of forgetting to wash my face. Naughty Naughty.

4. Make up forever HD Foundation
Controversially, this is actually my most expensive foundation. (Blame Sephora and their extortionate international prices) It was bought during a holiday to Portugal. It's pretty incredible stuff although I try and limit this as much as possible due to the importation issues. The coverage although it claims to be medium, I would say that initially, it's more of a lighter formula (although can be built to more of a medium level of coverage). It does a good job of covering blemishes but can be a little drying on the skin and I'm in the shade 118 which is great for relatively light skin gals with beige undertones. 

5. Georgio Armani Luminous Silk Foundation
The latest addition to the collection. LSK is my go to for filming or for anywhere that I know I need my makeup to last, I'm in the shade 4.5. Last Saturday left me Über impressed after it was applied first thing  (8am to be precise) and took me right through to the early hours of the following morning. The finish is a bit of an oddity: Its dewy but not in the sense that requires a constant touch up with a setting powder. It's just really natural looking. Did I mention that it photographs really beautifully thanks to the no SPF. No white ghost face here.

6. Nars: Sheer Glow Foundation
Last but not least I couldn't make this post without mentioning Nars Sheer Glow. I use the shade Mont Blanc for winter and although it's now far too light for me I'm seriously considering buying it in a darker shade. The texture is b-e-a-utiful, and although labelled as 'sheer', to me this has more coverage then that of the MUFE HD. My biggest bugbear is that even with a primer I really struggle for this to last on my skin but this could be down to my choice of shade.

So there we have it the top hard hitters all with the KDR seal of approval. 3+ years of experimenting rounded neatly into one relatively condensed post. All in the name of research, eh? Looks as though I'll be on beans and toast for the rest of this month..

What's your favourite high end foundation?

What's inside my makeup bag : The Summer Edition

Oh hello there, bet you weren't expecting to see me.

Seeing as we're half way through summer and after a purchase of a super organised makeup bag curtesy of none other than Tkmaxx (which also bares resemblance in design to a pencil case I once had in my first year of secondary school). What's a better way to blow the cobwebs off my blog?

A quick overview..The bag itself has two main sections which I use to store my face & eye products. The middle section which comes equipped with a zip is perfect for storing smaller slimmer products, and is used for lipstick. For sneaky storage and for those suuuuper organised, you can even use the sections that connect the side sections. All that and still change from a tenner.

To start the Benefit Porefessional Primer, ohhhhh my. A silicone based primer that once applied makes for baby smooth skin with an increase in longevity when it comes to how long my makeup lasts.  Foundation of choice is a toss up between Chanel Vitalumiere Aqua and Georgio Armani's Luminous Silk depending on where I'm going and how long I need my makeup to last. Both high end choices but if ever there was a justification; summer allows for lighter application and thus rest assured both are used very sparingly. I have a feeling I will be scrapping the last remainders when they run out. For blemishes and under-eye circles it's Collection 2000 Lasting perfection concealer, an oldie but a damn goodie. I use a shade lighter for under my eyes. To set my make up I rely on Mac's Studio Fix powder. Well,a girls gotta get her heavy coverage fix from somewhere.

I bravely opted for "medium deep" with Estée Lauders Bronze Goddess as I am ever the optimist when it comes to gaining a summer tan. I've actually been using the powder brush by Real Techniques which does a great job of warming up the face thus giving the illusion of having a natural sun-kissed glow. No nasty brown lines here. Lastly it's blusher (or blushes), Nars Guy Bourdin blush palette comes with four blushes and an accompanying bronzer and highlighter all housed together in one slim case. Personally, I'm waiting for the day when Nars doesn't include Laguna or Orgasm into every palette but its undeniably nifty for on the go.

For brows, it's all about the brow bar to go from Whitening Lightening. Aren't makeup bags all about having multi-purpose products? Both colours can be used as eyeshadow and the darker colour is great for nose contouring as well. (winner, winner) For a sweep of colour across the lids, there is really only one palette that has been a firm favourite throughout the last few months: Too faced "Natural Eyes Palette". Slightly late to the party on this on. The colours blend like a dream with great colour payoff. The best part? The shadows are conveniently laid out into different eye looks and the palette even comes with a handy look book if you are ever in need of a little inspiration. Talk about convenience. A honourable mention goes to the Maybelline Colour Tattoo in "on and on bronze" a great compliment for blue eyes  and one I reach for if I'm in a hurry. (I.e 5 out if the 7 days.)

Last up (and where I have the most variation), are lip products. Tanya Burr has hit the nail on the head with her range of lipgloss and I am now a proud owner of 8 of them! (Post to come later this week). Chic & Aurora get a big thumbs up from me. I should also note that Chanel's Rouge Coco Shine lipsticks in the shades Satisfaction, Romance and Boy have been pretty much on the rotate.

It's worth noting that even when carrying multiple choices of Mascaras and lipsticks theres still plenty of room for my daily make up brushes. Well, one choice of lipstick is never enough..

Amelie's 12 Month Update | Happy 1st Birthday!

Happy Birthday Amelie!!

Amelie turned 1 on the 9th August but determined to put a few beauty related posts before this update (I was conscious that this was turning into a baby blog rather than a beauty one!)  I had to put a few make up posts up in between and before I new it, it's almost time for her 13th month update!

I cant believe my little treasure is one! To think I'm a mother to a one year old is absolute crazyness and makes me feel so old! We went to our local zoo to celebrate, Amelie is such an animal lover and I thought it would be a good day out involving different members of the family. It turned out to be a brilliant day and the weather held out which made it so much better!

This month has been a very hectic one in the run up to her birthday, fortunately her birthday fell on a friday which meant that we could spend the weekend with different family members and everyone got to be a part of her special day. On her actual birthday we went to The Cotsworld Wildlife park which is close to where we live, it was actually a really good day out which was made so much better by the weather - it was sunny but not too hot and humid which meant that Amelie could enjoy without me worrying if she was getting too hot. We ever walked away with Amelie's own inflatable Giraffe which she absolutely loved and spend the whole journey home cuddling it. We nicknamed him Henry.

On the Saturday we had a big birthday party at our home where we invited our nearest and dearest. Amelie's uncle is a fantastic baker and he made Amelie the most amazing birthday cake which went down a treat with the other guests. 

As for an update this month I've decided to keep this post short and sweet as there really hasn't been much progress. 
She has babbling into tiny sentences rather than just words which is so sweet, it's like she's trying to speak in her own little language. She can also 'high 5' which she learnt just before her birthday and spent the whole of the party high fiving the guests!
We're still not any closer with her walking but she is definitely becoming more steady on her feet and can get from a sitting to standing position in no time.

Amelie is obsessed with these chocolate brioche rolls and although I try and limit this to one roll a day she would quite easily have it for breakfast, lunch and dinner!
She's still a great little eater as far as fruit and vegetables - bananas are her favourite with melon coming in at a close second.

I am so looking forward to the next 12 months and seeing her grow into a proper little person!

 ♥