All dressed up...

Hope you're having a lovely week! Tonight I wanted to share what I wore on my birthday night out, and I promise this is my last birthday related blog!! Hopefully you read all about Mags' outfit and make-up on Friday night, in Spring has sprung into my wardrobe and make-up

Here's what I wore:

Dress: Marks and Spencer, Bag: Ben Di Lisi
from Debenhams, Flower: H&M,
 Belt: The belt from my wedding dress

Regular readers will know how much I love a bargain, and this was found in the sale for £9 reduced from £65!!! I had wanted a classic black satin dress for a long time, and kept looking in Coast as I like the style there, but found nothing until this came along in Marks and Spencer! I felt it needed pinching in at the waist slightly, and so used the satin belt from my wedding dress, tying a bow in the back, perfect!

And my make-up:

Sparkly eyes for party time and subtle lips

I made my eyes up similar to how I did in this past post using Bourjois products. My foundation was Estee Lauder double wear, and I opted for a subtle lip colour as it was a family occasion and this was also Estee Lauder.

One product I used I wanted to focus on in more detail, was my base product Bare Minerals Bare Vitamins Rev-er Upper.

Bare Minerals Rev-er Upper
retails for about £15 for 68ml

This product is described as a 'multivitamin facial prep'. I use this product when I would normally use a primer, underneath my foundation. It goes on very easily and soaks in quickly, leaving a silky finish to the face, perfect for applying foundation.

The end result is that pores appear non-existent, and fine lines also reduced, allowing you to create a perfect flawless face! It really makes a difference having a decent base under the make-up, and this product always helps to deliver my final, glowing make-up look.

Finally, I just wanted to share with you a couple of photos of Me and Mags on Friday night!

Sharing a cosmopolitan after eating lobster in the Chinese!

A glass of champagne to finish of the evening!

Stay Beautiful!

Stace x

Spring has sprung into my wardrobe and make-up

I hope you all had a nice and relaxing weekend! Looking outside it definitely feels like spring is in the air and I hope the winter will not make an unexpected come back any time soon!

This past Friday night, Stace, her family, my other half and myself, went out to celebrate Stace’s birthday and had lots of fun! As I felt in a mood for spring I decided to put that into action and dress in more springy garment and use more vibrant colours with my make-up.

Here’s what I wore:

Boden dress, H&M jacket, olive tights and Jones Bootmaker grey shoes

Here’s the more spring-like make up (check out the eyes):

My spring/pastel make-up

 

My pastel eyes

The main eye colour I used in my spring make-up was purple, as the pastels are in this season! I’ve worked with two different eye colours – Heart and Sugar Plum – both from bareMinerals:  

bareMinerals eye colours, from left: Sugar Plum and Heart

bareMinerals eye colour swatches, from left: Sugar Plum and Heart

Both of the eye shadows complement each other so it was really easy to work with them. I’m usually not very good with eye colours but this time I think it all worked out great at the end. 

For the base I used the Prime Time Brightening eyelid primer from bareMinerals:

Prime Time Brightening eyelid primer from bareMinerals

 

After that, I used the Heart colour all over the eye lids and blended it well with the golden tones of the primer. Then in the corners of the eye lids I used the Sugar Plum, deeper tone of purple, to bring my beautiful eyes out! To  finish it all off, I used the Bobbi Brown Long-Wear Gel Eyeliner in black ink – check out my previous blog to read more about it!

Bobbi Brown Long-Wear Gel Eyeliner in Black Ink

To finish up my whole outfit I decided to go for a little lilac colour for my nails! Here it is – my fav Leighton Denny’s Little Thief:

Leighton Denny in Little Thief

The whole outfit put me right into a springy and party mood, and the weather was just a nice little addition to the celebration! 

Hope your wardrobes are getting a bit more colourful with the weather improving outside! 

Be colourful! Stay beautiful!

Mags xx

My own homemade, special, facial oil

When last year on holiday, I went to a spice plantation where I’ve learned a bit about different plants and their healing properties. As I like to experiment with beauty products and my skin is super sensitive, I thought: ‘why not try it?!’ so I picked a couple of oils that from reading the description ticked all of my boxes! 

After a quick conversation with a lady behind the counter of the gift shop there, I found out that I can actually create my own, bespoke, facial oil! What a result! Not only I got the oils for a fraction of the UK price for any facial oil (!) but also I’d be able to create a product that is suitable for my own skin! Fantastic!

The two oils I bought are:

From the left: Lemongrass oil and Almond oil with a pipette to help measure the products

 

With the oils I’ve received a little ‘cheat sheet’ that explained the main use of the product, the healing properties and how to mix the two to get the best result. So, as I believe in the natural properties of different oils and plants, I decided to try it at home! (Click on the photo below to enlarge it!)

The cheat sheet stating the properties of the oil and way to prepare the facial mixture

I’ve mixed my oils together in an old oil container from a different brand, just like prescribed above and started using it! Every time I use it, I only need three little drops in the palm of my hand, then I rub the hands together and distribute the product evenly on the face with smooth circular, outward moves, avoiding the eye area! The product goes evenly on the skin and sinks in almost instantly! 

The finished product, ready to use!

I found the smell of the lemongrass a bit overpowering at the beginning but decided to add a bit more of the almond oil and stick to it for a few days and see what happens. After about a week, I’ve got used to the smell and my face absolutely loves the product! I use it day and night and my skin feels great! I feel more relaxed and whenever I experience breakouts, they heal quicker and disappear in no time! 

As I’ve never knew how to create my own beauty product, I always spend lots of money on the potions! Now I’m so happy that I’m using something that helps my skin and I blend it together myself! 

Do you use a facial oil? What oil is your favourite? Share with us either by commenting below or on Twitter @beautyu.

Stay beautiful!

Mags xx

Daily eye repair from Liz Earle

Happy Monday!

Hope the first day of the week has gone well for you all.

You may remember last month I started my quest to find the perfect eye cream by reviewing Clinique all about eyes This was a good eye cream, scoring 7/10, but I was sure I could find better!

So this month taking to the stage it is Liz Earle, Daily Eye Repair.

Daily eye repair eye cream from Liz Earle

Liz Earle is one of our favourite brands, so my expectations were already high when I tried this. This product is very multi functioning which I love. Claiming to be 'triple action' it contains SPF10, getting to the root cause of those under eye  wrinkles, helps reduce the appearance of fine lines, and light reflective particles are supposed to conceal those pesky under eye bags.

The product retails from the Liz Earle website for £7.25 for a 5ml tube as pictured. It's not the cheapest product for the amount you get, however only a really small amount is needed.

Rather than a night eye cream, this eye cream is applied in the morning, around the eye area, before applying any under eye concealer. The consistency is quite thick, and a white colour, which soaks into the skin quickly.

So what did I think of this product? Well I was really impressed. I love applying this in the morning as the effect is immediate. I can actually see my fine lines disappearing which is a miracle! Deeper more ingrained lines won't disappear, but then you can't have everything! I was dubious about the light reflective particles, but the appearance around the eye is lighter, and it was also really easy to apply my normal concealer under the eyes on top of this cream.

This is a brilliant quick fix eye repair. I still like the idea of a cream working over night, but for a quick fix in the morning, this little pot helps me to appear revived and well rested, even if this is not the case!

In terms of scores? I give this cream 8/10. It really does tick all my boxes for a day eye cream, but I would like to find something I can put on at night time as well. I will definitely be purchasing this again!

Well done Liz, delivering results yet again!

Please let me know if there are any eye creams you would recommend so I can try them on my quest to find the perfect one!

Stay beautiful!

Stace x

My big beautiful Berlin birthday!

Hi guys! I am back from my little trip away to Berlin to celebrate my big 3-0 and I thought as a break from the norm on our blog, I would share a few details about my trip!

Berlin is definitely somewhere you should go if you love to shop! From high street well known shops such as H&M, Superdry etc, to the high end Prada, Gucci, Louis Vuitton, there is something for everyone. There was an amazing beauty store called 'Douglas' which stocked Mac, Bobbi Brown, Estee Lauder, Lancome...the list goes on. I didn't actually purchase any beauty products as with Germany being in the Euro, I just know I could get all the products cheaper at home, although this didn't stop me having a little look around!!

We also touched down in Berlin at the same time as the annual film festival. Although we did not sight any stars, we did see lots of red carpets and paparazzi waiting for stars. Film stars such as Angelina Jolie, Robert Pattinson and Jake Gyllenhaal were rumoured to be in attendance.

So a few pics of my hols for you to enjoy:

Outside Louis Vuitton and the
 giant cupcake on my birthday

L'oreal sponsored the film festival and 
make-up artists were at work in this 
make shift studio in the middle of town

Mags organised for a surprise bottle of champagne
to be delivered into my room on my
birthday - this was the highlight of my day!

Enjoying an A la carte meal in popular 
restaurant
'Dressler' in  Unter  den Linden

Yummy chocolate mousse and creme brulee for desert!

Finishing off the birthday celebration
with a Cosmopolitan in the Uber trendy Newtons Bar

Would recommend a visit to Berlin! Hope you enjoyed seeing my holiday snaps, and I will be back next week with some beauty product reviews! Enjoy the weekend and stay beautiful!

Stace x

This week’s bargain buy – bareMinerals Blemish Solutions

I’ve used a number of blemish solution products before; however, none of them delivered such great results as the bareMinerals Blemish Remedy! It took me way too long to discover that product, it was mostly down to its price (RRP £15 for a little pot), but this Sunday I’ve managed to buy the Blemish Solutions pack for £17.33 (RRP £26)!

The bareMinarels Blemish Solutions pack consists of:

Clockwise from left top are: SPF 20 Concealer in Summer Bisque (size: 0.75g), Blemish Remedy (size: 1g), Blemish Remedy Brush, Mini Maximum Coverage Concealer Brush, Little white vanity case

All products and application tools packed in the little white vanity case that comes with a mirror

Little white vanity case

The Blemish Remedy treatment’s light powdery texture is easy to use and works as both a treatment and a concealer, even though it's a bit lighter shade from the concealer I normally use. 

From left are: SPF 20 Concealer in Summer Bisque and Blemish Remedy

Close up of the products: On the left is the Concealer in Summer Bisque, and on the right is the Blemish Remedy

This powder helps to conceal and heal blemishes quickly and effectively, preventing future breakouts. I was amazed how quickly I could see results when using that product! In a matter of minutes the blemishes were visibly less irritated! I've also left the product on the skin as an overnight treatment, to work its magic – it definitely helped my blemishes to diminish during the night! The only downside is a slight medical smell to the product, which doesn’t last long though so it’s not a big problem.

The Blemish Remedy comes with a little cute brush that helps with the product application. It’s handy when carrying it around for those unexpected spots! 

Blemish Remedy comes with that little brush

This pack also comes with the SPF 20 Concealer in Summer Bisque. It helps flawlessly conceal any skin imperfections and works its mineral magic on my skin! Those two products help me win the war against any spots and naturally clear my complexion without any irritation.

Those two products bought separately cost: SPF 20 Concealer - RRP £19 for 2g, and Blemish Remedy - RRP £15; plus this pack comes with the two handy mini brushes! I’ve purchased that kit at Debenhams and the lady on the Bare Escentuals counter said that the sale is not going to last much longer. So if you were thinking of getting the Blemish Remedy, don’t delay and get that pack when it’s still that great price (£17.33)!

Have you used those products before? If so, let us know what you think by leaving a comment or on twitter @beautyu.

Stay beautiful!

Mags xx