Review: The Body Shop Shade Adjusting Drops (Lightening)

Hi everyone, as I have said in my "favourite contour palette for pale skin" post, I have very pale skin. So pale in fact that the lightest shade in any brand is still too dark for me. Therefore I had to go many of my years in secondary (high) school with foundation that is slightly too dark for me. This is until about a year ago when I saw that the Body Shop brought out Shade Adjusting Drops. I love all the Body Shop products and this seemed the perfect product that I've been looking for.

What I like about the product:

• Easy to mix with your foundation
• Blends well
• Not cakey
• Lots of product - only one or two drops does the job
• Affordable

I have tried this product with foundations from Maybelline, Body Shop, Rimmel and L'Oreal.

Overall this product is amazing for needing to adjust any foundation and I've found it a lot better then mixing in white foundation and provides a much more flawless finish.

Hannah ♥

Review: Maybelline Color Sensational Lipstick

Hi everyone, I went to superdrug a couple weeks ago and decided that I wanted to get some new lipsticks for autumn and I realised that for some reason I have never tried Maybelline lipsticks before so I decided to give some a go and I was very pleasantly surprised.

I decided to try the Color Sensational lipsticks in the colours 207 - Pink Fling and 240 - Galactic Mauve.

Left to right: 207, 240

Left to right: 207, 240

207 is a beautiful shade of pink that is very natural looking with a glossy finish, making it the perfect during-the-day colour.

240 is a stunning mauve colour that has gold shimmer running through it. This is a colour I think you can wear during the day and at a night out. If you're looking for a mauve for this autumn then I strongly recommend you try this one.

Pros:

• Great pigmentation
• Stunning colours
• Affordable
• Good packaging - lid won't come off in your bag
• Lots of product - Maybelline have been quite generous in the amount of product they gave

Cons:

• Need to reapply during the day - these lipsticks are the kind of ones that come off when you eat or drink so you do need to reapply throughout the day

Overall I really like these lipsticks and I think they are definitely worth the money. If you are looking for a new lipstick to try, I recommend that you try these ones.

Hannah ♥

Favourite contour palette for pale skin (Sleek)

 Hi everyone, I have tried many contour palettes, bronzers and blushers and I can never find one that works with my skin shade. I am extremely pale and I find it very difficult to find makeup that works and it requires a lot of trial and error. However, I now am pleased to have found a contour and blusher palette that works perfectly for my skin.

It is the Sleek Face Form Contouring & Blush Palette in the colour Light 373.

The bronzer is a lovely cool brown which makes it look like it is a really natural shadow on your face. I have found that cool tones work a lot better with pale skin then warm browns as it is less likely to go orange when you put it on.

The blusher is a gorgeous bright pink that has gold shimmer running through it and looks lovely on.

The highlighter is really light but with a stunning shimmer that looks like the perfect natural glow.

Top to bottom (blended): Bronzer, highlighter, blusher

Top to bottom (not blended): Bronzer, highlighter, blusher

As you can see it blends in really nicely and looks incredibly natural. This product is really buildable and you can have it really sheer or more obvious making it the perfect palette.

If you have pale skin or just want a contour palette that looks really natural then I strongly recommend this palette from Sleek.

Hannah ♥

Review: AVON Gel Shine Lasting Finish Top Coat

Hi everyone,



Since I started growing my nails a few years ago I have loved painting them. In those few years I have realised the importance of a bottom and top coat between the colour to keep your nails healthy and the colour lastings for much longer. I've recently discovered the AVON Gel Shine top coat and I love it so I thought I'd review it for you guys this week,


This top coat has a really nice applicator that covers the whole nail in one coat and since starting to use it my nail polish has lasted over a week longer than it used to!

If you want the colour to last a lot longer then I would really recommend this top coat!




Hannah ♥

Review: Tanya Burr Cosmetics Perfect Brows

Hi everyone, I have been watching youtubers for over 3 years now and one of my absolute favourites is Tanya Burr. Over the past year or so Tanya has brought out lots of cosmetics ranging from lipglosses to eyeshadow palettes. However, the one that I use every single day without fail is the Perfect Brows palette so I've decided to review it for you today.

In the kit you get:
3 brow shadows
1 highlight shade
1 pair of tweezers
1 brow applicator












First off the applicator is really nice in this kit. I was going to buy an applicator brush but I was pleasantly surprised by how good this is.

I've used the tweezers a couple of times and it is quite small but it fits nicely in your hand and makes it very easy to pull out any stray hairs.

The highlighter shade is called "fairy cake" (top left) and it is so gorgeous! It is very light and leaves a lovely shimmer to the underneath of your brows.

Shadow wise I only use the bottom right one called "hot cocoa" which is the darker colour and it works perfectly for my eyebrows as it is quite a cool brown. The slightly lighter brown shade called "chestnut" (bottom left) is a bit of a warmer brown and the lighest colour called "pebble" (top right) works perfectly for lighter brows.

One of the best things about this palette as it is a kit that everyone can use as you can mix the colours up until you get a colour that works for you, for example Tanya herself has said many times in videos that she personally mixes "pebble" and "hot cocoa" for her brows.

Packaging wise it is so cute! The mirror is great and the colours of the packaging just looks adorable and works really well with the rest of her range.

Overall this kit is so good and I would definitely recommend it!

Hannah ♥

Review: SEVENTEEN Easy on the Eye Eye Palette Birthday Suit

Hi everyone, so for the past few months I have been testing out the SEVENTEEN eyeshadow palette, trying out lots of new looks with it. I honestly love this palette so I thought I would review it for you guys.

As you can see the packaging is really slick and its very thin so it fits really nicely in a makeup bag or handbag making it perfect for travel.

 

The palette consists of 8 matte, shimmer and pearl powders, 3 metallic creams and 1 eye primer making it the perfect palette for someone getting into makeup or wants all the shades they could need to make a lovely pink look.

There is a giant mirror which is perfect for using on the go. SEVENTEEN also provide a leaflet showing you how you can achieve different looks with this palette if you are new to makeup.

The palette is split up into three quads but I tend to take colours from all 3 to achieve my eye looks.

This is the first quad: The first colour is called Gentle Pink which is a lovely shimmery light pink.

The second colour is Warm Ivory which is a matte light cream colour, perfect as a base.

The third colour is called Sun Kissed Peach which is a darker pink with gold shimmer running through it. This is one of my favourite colours from the palette.

The fourth colour in this quad is called Radiant Gold which is a shimmery gold.

The second quad has slightly darker shades in. The first colour is called Cool Rose which is a matte pink, perfect for using in the crease.

The second colour is Warm Mink which is a shimmery silver colour. I also like using this in my crease sometimes.

The third colour is Toasted Almond which is a dark pink with gold shimmer in.

The fourth colour is Baked Chestnut which is a shimmery dark brown. I haven't used this colour yet but if you want to make a darker eye colour with this palette then this is a perfect one to use.

This final quad is the cream eyeshadows and the primer. The first colour is called Bronzed Buff which is a light cream brown. This colour if perfect to use on its own and also with other colours, On lazy days when I don't want to do anything too complicated I will use this colour on it's own.

The second colour is Burnt Copper which is a darker brown.

The third colour is called Pink Flush is a really light pink cream colour.

The fourth colour is the eye primer which is actually a really good primer.

Pros:

• Little to no fall out under the eyes
• Great pigmentation
• Lasts all day, no touch ups needed
• Lots of great eye looks with this one palette

Cons:

• Not many neutrals, so if you are not a fan of pinks then this is not the palette for you.

Overall, I really like this palette and use it often. A good buy and I would definitely recommend it!

Hannah ♥

Review: Edge Hill University

Hi everyone, last weekend I went to the applicant day at Edge Hill University (open days and applicant days are a little different, but i'll get into that in a different post) and I was very pleased with what I saw and I will explain why in this blog post.

However, first I would like to highlight the importance of planning ahead; by this I mean think of questions beforehand, along with other preparations (I have plans for a blog post on this as well), but I also mean looking up traffic before you leave as I did not and got stuck in over an hours traffic on the motorway meaning I missed over half hour of the applicant day. However, since I also went on a university residential there last year I am going to put my views from both together to form this review.
Right, enough waffling, here's the review:
Positives:

• Accommodation: The accommodation here is really nice and there is one for everyone, from the back halls (the cheapest of the accommodation) to the new and more pricey halls. If you wish to know more about each accommodation along with a rather useful little video of each click here. I personally like the look of Forest Court as it was the middle accommodation but still very nice and has a mixture of shared bathroom and en-suite (en-suite being more expensive of course). Also, I found that not just at this university, but at all the others I have gone around, that the bedrooms with shared bathrooms are much larger with more storage so it depends what you're looking for. Unfortunately, I was unable to take pictures as applicant days are during term time so I was looking in people's actual bedrooms so it seemed  bit rude and inappropriate to  take photos. However the videos are very good :)
• Campus: I absolutely love the campus at Edge Hill, 160 acres with all the buildings really close together and then just loads of tracks/pitches and fields perfect for revising on or exercising in. I have put an extremely bad quality picture of the campus map below (sorry if you can't read my writing!). 

• Scholarships: There are loads of scholarships available at Edge Hill, and cater for a variety of people's backgrounds. If you wish to know more about their scholarships click here.

• Societies: There are loads of fantastic societies and sports to join and there is a huge variety. There are so many I like the sound of that I fear I'm not going to have enough time for anything else! If you wish to see what societies they have on offer click here.
• Location: For me personally the campus is in the perfect location; in the countryside with a little town called Ormskirk nearby and Liverpool 20 minutes away. This means that you are away from everything but night clubs and great shopping areas are close by.

Negatives:

• Cohort: This is just a negative for me and others on my course really (although it may apply to others) but for Educational Psychology the cohort is no more than 30 and the head of this course told us that there is a possibility that they may have to turn people away after they have firmed it which of course is a big negative. I only hope they will tell us before the beginning of May if this is the case so we can ask UCAS if we can firm another.

Despite this negative I really really like Edge Hill and i'm 90% sure that I am now going to put this as my firm choice. I can definitely see myself going here and it really is a lovely university. Hope this has helped some of you and has given you some useful information however I would still suggest going on an open day to get a feel for it yourself as this is just my opinion.

TOO MUCH INFORMATION

Review: AVON Perfectly Matte Lipstick

Hi everyone, in Brochure 13 of the AVON catalogue they were advertising their new lipstick (Perfectly Matte Lipstick) and offering samples of all the available shades (the actual lipsticks are coming out in Brochure 15).

I decided to buy some as I LOVE a matte lip and I chose the more neutral shades of the collection, however some of the others looked great and I really wish I bought those as well!

None the less, the 4 I bought I absolutely love so will be reviewing them for you today.

These are the 4 I bought:

These are all beautiful lipsticks and I love the shades and how they look.

I've taken some pictures for you of them on my lips:

Au Naturale: This is probably my favourite of the four that I got because it looks beautifully natural and would be perfect for all seasons. Will definitely be buying this one at the full price in Brochure 15!

Posh Petal: This one is a beautiful light pink shade that is stunning and looks amazing. However, I don't personally think this one suits my skin tone or shade (yellow-y toned and very pale) so therefore I will personally not be buying this one full size.

Pure Pink: I love this one and is the perfect nude pink suitable for any season and any time of day. I really like this so will also be buying this one.

Peach Flatters: This shade is a beautiful bright pink, it's not bubblegum pink but, what I think, is a bright pink perfect for the summer months.

Pros:

• Wonderfully pigmented
• Exactly what it says - matte
• Don't need much product when applying

Cons:

• Starts to crack and lose colour after couple hours of wear - have to reapply often
• Some of the shades are more  matte than others

I decided to see how long the lipstick would last before needing to be reapplied (wearing Peach Flatters for this test):

This second picture, on the right, was taken nearly 3 hours after first applying, I drank a glass of water in this time but nothing else.

Overall, this is a lovely lipstick with gorgeous shades, however you will need to reply often so make sure to always have it with you!

Hope some of you found this useful, I will definitely be buying some!

♥