And just like that, March and half of April have past before my eyes taking Easter and mothers day along with them and I honestly don't know what I have done with my time. There are so many things I've been enjoying using but I've kept the list extremely short and only choosing the things I've truly loved these past couple of months and that I've looked forward to using every time.

SKINCARE

In a previous post, I mentioned how important it is to keep your lips moisturized and healthy, especially if you use a matte product on them as they dry out the lips a lot, especially in the colder weather. Recently, whether I wear a matte lippy or not I find myself constantly applying my Anatomicals Never Loose Your Cherry Lip Gloss which I purchased early last year. It seems as if I have re-found my love with it and it couldn't make me happier.


If you have been following my blog for a long time, you will know my struggle with my skin never really has an end to it, every time it picks up it just falls all the way back down again and it feels like a loosing battle. Again this is a product I've loved and missed seen as it was my lifesaver last year and has yet again, returned for a second round.
The E45 facewash is quite pricey (it cost me around 25), hints to why I use it as if it was fairy dust but I totally think it is worth it in the long run. As I said, my skin does fall back time after time but that seems to be most frequent when I lack in this step of my face wash routine at night.

MAKEUP



Bronzers have never been my forte, especially since my mum is my biggest critic (or the most honest person) and every time I apply a bronzer she tells me not to wear as much and comes up with a funny "sarcastic" remark. Well, may I say that all my wishes were granted when I came across this "retro" inspired bronzer by the brand IDC, which I have actually loved products from many times before.
This bronzer just works with my skin amazingly, it gives the perfect subtle bronze that I want, I can build it up as I desire and it wears really well throughout the day.


Recently I re-purchased the Rimmel Match Perfection foundation that I loved and that I wore religiously throughout the beginning of last year and I was so happy to have finally come across it at the Rimmel stand in Primor. BUT . (I know, as soon as there is a but there is something wrong). And you are right, it was wrong. As soon as I applied the foundation I knew there was something fishy, it just didn't look right and after playing around with different concealers, powders, etc I just gave it up as a bad job. I believe Rimmel may have changed the formula of the Match Perfection as I just look like a escapee Umpa Lumpa whenever I apply it seen as the oils just mix with the PH in my skin and yes... It just doesn't do the job.
ANYWAY, after going on an unsuccessful hunt for a water based foundation where I just got weird looks from all the shop assistants, I just decided to risk it and buy my trusty old Rimmel 25 Hour and for some miracle reason, IT FRICKIN WORKS!!! I don't know how, why or whatever, but it just does.
The Rimmel 25 hour foundation is a buildable full coverage foundation that works a dream, wears amazingly and is easily up there in my all time favorites. Definitely one of the best drugstore foundations, and that is a fact, even Zoella said so herself.


PERFUME


The perfume I have been wearing and loving on a daily this month has been the David Bustamante Muy Mia perfume that I got last Christmas as a present and never really used. I love the fresh scent it has and the fact that the smell lingers throughout the day and you can always smell it.

Ever since starting my blog a couple of years ago, beauty has played a huge roll and was indeed the be all and end all of my blog. Recently things have taken a twist and I feel like I haven't actually written a makeup or beauty related post in so long and although I love the direction my blog is going in with more chatty, advice and lifestyle related posts, I still want to keep a fair share of beauty in the mix so today I am starting it off with my holy grail makeup products so far this year.


Starting off with brows, this Techinc brow powder is my absolute fave, it suits my brow shade so well and I can work with it extremely effortlessly to create my ideal brow shape. Naturally, my brows are quite full as I tend to touch them as little as possible but that does mean they get quite messy, so a brow gel is a must have in my makeup bag, especially if I am out for the day. Queen Of Brows by W7 is a brow gel I have spoken about quite a lot and highly recommend due to its low cost and high quality.


Moving on to my face, I have gone back to loving my Vivo BB Cream. I recently re-purchased the Rimmel Match Perfection Foundation in the shade 200 which is my shade, but for some reason it now oxidizes on my skin (which it never used to do) which is really frustrating. Seen as my skin has also been playing up at the moment, I just decided to stick with what I knew, and what I new worked and hadn't changed, so I just went back to Vivo, it is a light to medium coverage which I think is ideal for a day to day look.



As I am quite pasty I need to add colour back into my skin an give myself a bit of an alive look, so for this I use the IDC bronzer. Again (like with most of these products) you know I love this, as you've heard me speak about it before. It gives a subtle colour to the face without being too much and I just love to it.



Recently I have been loving the shiny, healthy, glowing skin look, so I found adding a couple of my favourite highlights works a dream. First I like to apply my MUA cream highlight and then add the Techinc one over the top and just trust me on this one, it looks amazing.



The mascaras I have been loving are the Essence All Eyes On Me one, which I always seem to lean towards as I just think it works so well, looks really natural and doesn't crumble all over my face during the evening. Although, my other go-to is the MUA False Lashes Effect one, although it makes my lashes look really fake and thick looking, I still really like it.


Lastly for my lips I recently recieved the Mac Velvet Teddy lipstick of Han and I mean... I love it. In all honestly, since I got it I don't believe there is a day I have done my makeup and not applied it... oops!

When starting off with my makeup "obsession" back in 2012 highlighters were never something I would buy, I just found them quite unnecessary and when I eventually did, mum always told me I looked to have a silver stripe on my face so I took to my own sweat as the perfect alternative.


One day I saw the MUA Highlighter on the 5.99 stall in Primor and something in me made me buy it to just try it out and see what I thought of it. I became obsessed. It is a very silky, soft and creamy on the skin, and it just gives a nice - not in your face, highlight and I really recommend it.





A few months down the line, I received a few of Technics highlighters and oh my they are so pigmented, I must say that Technic just know how to make a bomb ass highlighter. Not only are they amazing quality and pigmentation but they also are really inexpensive, so its a win win situation.
Technic was 10/10 the brand that made me change my mind and made me reconsider the performance of the rest of my highlighters including the MUA highlighter stick which I had already loved for a good amount of time.

Are there any drugstore highlighters that you class as a must have in your makeup collection? Let me know if you have any questions, I am happy to answer them!

Technic is a makeup company from a little village near my home town in England called Silsden. Something about this company and knowing that they are from an area near me makes them closer to my heart in some strange way.
Today I thought I would talk through a few products I have got from them and just give you my first honest opinions and impressions among the products.



First of all I got a couple of brushes; the blending brush and then foundation brush.
My honest first impression on these was that they looked so quirky and colourful. These brushes are really soft, dense and good quality. They don't shed bristles, which again is a plus factor, instead of walking around all day with stray hairs attached to your face.


The next product I got was this insanely pigmented highlight, it is super creamy and pigmented. It may be a low cost product, but they haven't skimped on quality.


I also got a brow (powder and wax) duo in the shade Medium which I am really excited to try out as I haven't really emerged into the brow products yet and I haven't really grown much of a collection or experienced and played around with many brands or products.


I got a concealer palette, which again, I am extremely excited to play around with, try out and maybe film a video with as I know lots of people find them quite tricky and confusing. This one in particular comes with purple and peachy shades as well as shimmery and tan shades, in order for it to work with all different skin tones,



The one lippy I got is in the shade 'The lady is a Vamp.' and it is yet another red shade to add to my collection. It is really creamy on the lips, applies evenly and stays on for a bloody long time! They also have a really good colour range of these lipsticks, so who knows, I may have to save up and go cray-cray!


As loose powders are all over the place at the moment I obviously had to get one, this one applies lovely and works wonders. I don't only use it for under my eyes to set my concealer, but also to tidy up my contour or bronzer if I feel it looks very messy.



I got two quad shimmer palettes, one in blush shades and another in bronze shades and believe me now, you are going to see a lot of these, I love them! The pigmentation in them is unreal and I can't get enough!




Last of all, I got an eyeshadow palette fulfilled with both amazing shimmery and matte shades for this winter season. I was really surprised with the pigmentation in this also and I would totally recommend this palette as it is so inexpensive for its quality, especially if you are working on a budget.
As I said, all these products are worth trying out and playing around with whether you are on a budget or not, if you are only just starting out with makeup or if you are a fully experienced MUA. I think they are amazing value for money, the people over at the office are amazing, and I doubt you will be disappointed with your purchase!
Are there any other brands who's value for money is amazing and you think I should try out? If so, let me know.

Uoga Uoga is a all natural, cruelty free makeup company whose products don't contain any synthetic colours or fragrances, so after trying out their products for a couple of months, I thought I would get back to you and tell you my thoughts on said products.


First of all I have the "Lip and cheek tint" in the shade Juicy (link to buy here) to which my mum has taken a special fancy. Personally, I think that on your lips it doesn't seem to have enough coverage as it is similar to a tinted lipgloss, but on the other hand, on you cheeks it gives a lovely dash of colour, still looking effortless and natural.


Next we have the loose blush powder in the shade Peachy (again, link to buy here). I had never owned, tried or used a loose blush before so I did feel quite wasteful at the first two to three attempts but once I got the hang of it I loved the finishing look. I believe the shade Peachy is one of lightest shades from the range and I think it suits my skin tone perfectly adding a subtle colour without it looking as if I am wearing any blush at all and it is animal cruelty free, could it get any better?



Last of all we have the Nude Lip gloss (check it out here). This is by far my favorite product of the three. It looks so flattering on the lips, it smells amazing and it doesn't only work as a standard lip gloss, it also is rich in ingredients such as shining castor and moringa oils, moisturising almond and raspberry seed oils, nourishing macadamia nut and jojoba oils that all blend in with natural waxes to protect your lips. In other words, they don't contain anything that isn't beneficial to your lips in someway.
Rounding this whole ramble up, these are certainly products to look out for.

So today I am here with my first ever First Impressions post upon these few products I ever so kindly recieved in my PO Box thanks to Cristina over at the LOLA office (LOLA makeup products in the UK are available exclusively in Marks & Spencers).


My first thought in my head when I saw this lippy was "wow, packaging". The packaging is matte black and just looks very sturdy, still keeping its femininity by the glossy black edges and areas and they keep this theme up throughout all their products. Onto the inside product, again wow; It is a very pigmented, bright, summery pink with a orange undertone. It is quite hard to explain but I will upload some photos to my other social medias of me wearing it.


The nail varnish they sent me is in the colour 008 and it is the exact same shade as the lipstick which I think is great if you want to wear them both together to a wedding, or some other special occasion and I guess other colours from their range come in similar pairs.


The eyeshadow they sent me is in the shade Satin and trust me, none of their products failed to impress me, the pigmentation in this is insane, and again it is a very summery colour which I think anybody could rock.


They sent me their standard blush in the shade Blush and the pigmentation is again, amazing. I think you could easily go overboard when applying it so I am going to have to bare that in mind when using this product.


The last thing I recieved was this USB and I know I shouldn't get so excited about this but I did, and I am, how cool is it?
Have you ever tried any LOLA makeup products? They have for sure got a thumbs up from me!