The Wishlist | Summer 2014

One | Two | Three | Four | Five | Six | Seven | Eight | Nine

i am finally back (not that anyone will have noticed i ever disappeared!) and easing myself back into blogging with a wishlist post of bits and pieces i've found myself lusting over lately. i'm hoping i'll be able to get back to blogging more frequently, but who knows! 

One | Ring | ASOS | £32 | There is nothing i love more than a classic, simple ring, and this beauty from ASOS will go with any outfit you throw on.

Two | Clutch | Dorothy Perkins | £20 | The only reason i haven't already snapped this up is that i can't bare to spend £20 on a clutch (and the fact that i never go 'out out', but we'll ignore that). I like to think Micky Flanagan had a little input into this...

Three | Shirt | Vila @ ASOS | £20 | I think this is going to be the next ASOS purchase i make, there's just something about the print that's made me fall in love! 

Four | Cut-Out Tee | Ebay | £4.45 | I came across this beauty whilst on one of my many ebay trawls, and i love the cut-out and cross back detailing - an edgy take on a classic white tee.

Five | Birkenstocks | ASOS | £54.50 | I've fallen for the Birkenstock trend, and missed out on the Primark dupes, so i've ended up lusting over these gorgeous pale blue ones, but just can't bring myself to spend £50 on them. I'm hoping they'll have some at the airport when i head to Miami in October!

Six | Heels | Office | £65 | Believe me, these are even more beautiful in real life. I am dying to get my hands on these as the perfect daytime heel!

Seven | Suitcase | Ted Baker | £295 | I mean, just look at it... UGH!

Eight | Kimono | Ebay | £3.58 | Another ebay bargain, and perfect for crossing into AW!

Nine | Dress | Missguided | £24.99 | I am so obsessed with this colour lately, and the tonal embellishments just make this dress dreamy blue perfection!

The Vlog | Paris

Sorry I've been so quiet on the blogging front lately, it's just not something I have time for right now due to my job, but I will be trying to make some more time for it as and when i can. Having said that, I did head off to Paris with two of my best friends Ellie & Pia this weekend to see McBusted & One Direction, so I decided to vlog the weekend, so here you go! I'll warn you now, if you're not a 1D fan, you may not enjoy it!

The Beauty Post | Max Factor Facefinity All Day Primer

since primers became a 'thing' in the beauty world, i've tried out a fair few, but i've never really found that any of them have made a difference in making my makeup last any longer on my face than normal so i sort of gave up with them. but recently i heard a fair few things about this new release from Max Factor - their Facefinity All Day Primer. This is supposedly the secret ingredient in their best-selling All Day Flawless foundation that makes it last all day, and they've taken it out and made it into a free-standing primer, and let me tell you that this is the only primer that has ever worked for me.

now i've started work, early mornings are routine and i'm applying my makeup at around 6.30am and i was finding that my foundation was almost gone by the time lunchtime came around and my makeup just looked terrible. there was barely any trace of it left by the time it came to taking it off at night and in all honesty it was getting me down quite a bit. and this little beauty has definitely been a game changer for me. my makeup is lasting for the whole working day and there's actually makeup left on my face at the end of the day to remove. it creates a flawless base for my foundation and honestly helps my makeup stick around all day, and it only needs the odd touch-up if i'm then going out in the evening. it's a white creamy formula which is super blendable and sinks into the skin leaving it feeling fairly soft and silky, and one pump gives enough product to cover your whole face, so this bottle will definitely be lasting me a long while, too! it's also left me wanting to try the All Day Flawless Foundation too, as they sound like a pretty long-lasting duo.

you can pick up the Max Factor Facefinity All Day Primer in Boots or Superdrug for £10.99

The Beauty Post | My MAC Eyeshadow Quads (Naked Lunch, All That Glitters, Patina, Woodwinked, Satin Taupe, Cranberry, Sable & Mulch)

L-R | Naked Lunch | All That Glitters | Patina | Woodwinked | Satin Taupe | Cranberry | Sable | Mulch

i'm going to put it out there, it makes me a little queasy that this post contains over £100 worth of eyeshadow... but isn't it just so pretty!? back in october i shared my first MAC quad with you, and somehow i've ended up with enough shadows to fill a second one! half the blame for this is going to my best friend Mollie, after i fell in love with two of the shades in her palette a couple of weeks back, and the other half is going straight to Debenhams for 10% off beauty... a girl just can't resist.

i've actually shuffled the shades around a little since my original post, so i thought i'd update you all here! i also found it so tough to get pictures that accurately show off the colours, but i can promise you that the image of the swatches is true to life! i've kept the first quad for the lighter colours, and that kicks off with one of my new additions - Naked Lunch (top left). a cult blogger favourite, but one i'd failed to add to my collection until i'd tried it, and i just knew i had to get my hands on it. it's a gorgeous champagne colour from the frost line and i've been using it as a base shadow all over my lid and occasionally as a highlight for the inner corner. top right is All That Glitters, which is a veluxe pearl finish. this is similar to Naked Lunch, but this is slightly more pigmented and is more gold-toned than the pink flecks in Naked Lunch and this is another fab base colour. Patina is in the bottom left and this is another new shadow, again from the frost finish. this is the perfect brown for an everyday nude smokey eye - it's not too heavy and just adds the right amount of definition. finally in my lighter quad is another veluxe pearl in the form of Woodwinked which is a gorgeous bronze/gold shade which i tend to use on the outer half of my lid to add a bit more dimension to an eye look.

the second quad has the darker of the shades, and the first is Satin Taupe which is a frost finish. this is the only shadow i have which has more of a silver tone to it than a nudey gold tone, and works great for a warm smoky look. Cranberry in the top left is the odd one out in my collection and the least used, especially in the spring and summer. it's another frost finish shadow and i use this in the winter just as an accent colour in my crease and sometimes on my lashline just to go for a more wintery eye look. Sable, on the bottom left, is quite possibly my favourite, which has plummy undertones to it's bronze colour and blends in so nicely with Satin Taupe for the ultimate warm smoky eye; it's just to die for and is another frost finish. finally i have Mulch, a frost finish would you believe, which is my favourite colour for the outer corner and crease definition. it's not too pigmented or dark do that it looks like you've piled on the shadow, it's great for an everyday eye, but can really be built up for a more dramatic evening look.

so there we have it, my MAC shadow collection! is it obvious that i never venture from a nude eye look?! i hope this post helps some of you, and this is me officially telling you all to not let me ever be tempted to get a full palette!

The Beauty Post | Topshop Glowstick in Spotlight

Topshop Glowstick in Spotlight

finally, a new beauty review! i'm so sorry i've been so absent lately, but i've just finished my final year of uni and started a new job, so i've had other priorities at the moment! but alas, i am back with todays review, and i also posted my April haul last week which you can watch by clicking here.

but back to the good stuff! half the reason i've not blogged recently is because i've not actually bought any new beauty bits, but i've had a bit of a splurge these last few days and have lots of new bits to share with you! this is actually one of those naughty blogger inspired purchases, and i'm pinning the blame for this one on one of my favourites Becca Rose. She actually featured the new Topshop Glowstick in the golden shade - Play Up - which is the shade i went on the hunt for, but alas, my luck was out but i ended up falling in love with this one, too. Spotlight is a gorgeous shimmery pink shade, very similar to NARS Orgasm and Sleek's Rose Gold blushes, but in a cream, wind-up stick form.

the consistency is super silky, and glides on really easily, plus it's easy to blend, too. i know these are intended as highlights, but i will definitely be using this as a blush as i think it just adds a really natural, rosy flush to the cheeks, but i will definitely be picking up Play Up too to use as a highlight as i just love the formula of these. it doesn't feel heavy or cakey on the skin, and just blends to a really light coverage, or you can build it up for more of a statement look. plus, a little bit goes a long way, so i can see this lasting me a long while too, and it really stays put throughout the day so there's no worrying about reapplying.

Spotlight is £10, and available in Topshop stores and at topshop.com.

The Video Post | Makeup & Beauty Collection and Storage

If you're going to settle down and watch this one, i'm going to suggest you get yourself a cup of tea (or three!) as this ended up being a lot longer than i anticipated. if you make it to the end, kudos to you!

The Beauty Post | Models Own Polish For Tans Collection

last week i was lucky enough to win the new Models Own Polish For Tans Collection, and i'm so in love that i couldn't resist sharing them with you!

the collection is designed to enhance to golden colour of a natural (or fake, if you're as pasty as i am!) tan and consists of five complimenting summer shades. Models Own describe them as 'neon-pastels', but they are definitely much more on the neon side in my opinion, and i think they've definitely caught the attention of a few people when i've been testing them all out this week, especially as i normally stick to pastels in the warmer seasons. these definitely look a lot better with a tan than my usual pale complexion and i think that's because the neon hints of colour just make it stand out so much more against lighter skin, so i will be reserving these for the times i can be bothered to tan. i just really love the concept of this collection and the shades are the perfect subtle neon in comparison to other neon shades which are far too in your face. if you want to add a pop of colour to your look without it being too OTT, then these will be fab, especially when they're complimenting that summer tan!

shade-wise, i think Bikini (a stunning fluorescent yellow) and Flip Flop (a really eye-catching limi green) have to be my current favourites, especially as there's also so much of these colours on the high street and making its way into my wardrobe at the moment and i love being able to match my nails to an outfit. Beach Bag is your typical orangey coral shade, and Shades is a much more pink-based coral. Sun Hat is the ultimate girly shade and can only be described as Barbie pink! who else loves the equally summery shade names?

all of the colours are opaque in two coats, and are a lovely thick and even consistency. they last about two to three days before big chips start to show up, but they still work great for topping up those little chips. it's safe to say that these are now my staple summer polishes, and if you want to pick them up then they're currently in the Models Own 6 for £20 offer (basically 6 for the price of 4!!).