My Daily Makeup Summer '14

Hey Guys! So, I thought I would share with you my current daily makeup look for the warm summer season. I am loving this look as it's very simple, easy, effortless, but is still fairly made up. The foundation gives a warmer tone to my face and the lipstick is such a pretty, natural colour. 

I cleanse with Simple Face Wash and moisturise with Simple Moisturiser. As I get really dry skin, I apply Boots Cold Cream on top, and Superdrug Naturally Radiant 2-in-1 Moisturiser and Serum. I use my Real Techniques Expert Face Brush to buff Bobbi Brown Moisture Rich Foundation (in the shade Warm Sand) onto my skin. I use the same brush to apply Borjois Delice de Soleil bronzer from my temples to my cheekbones, Bobbi Brown Shimmer Brick (in the shade Wild Rose) over my cheeks, and finish with bareMinerals Mineral Veil to set my face makeup. 

I then use my Barry M Angled Eye Brush to apply the shade Sandstone from my Stila In The Light Eye Palette. I use Maybelline Lasting Drama Gel Eyeliner to line my lashline, and curl my lashes before applying two coats of Benefit Bad Gal Lash Mascara.

I use my Collection Mardi Gras Lip Balm (the orange scented one) to moisturise my lips before applying Rimmel Colour Rush Lip Colour in the shade Not an Illusion. I finish off with a coat of Collection Pure Gloss. 

I love this makeup look as it's just really summery, slightly tan, a pretty natural lip colour with subtle pink, glowing cheeks. I think it's just a really natural summer look and doesn't look too heavy, and it's definitely becoming one of my favourite makeup looks. I also seem to be putting my hair up into a Brunette Bun Ring everyday as well now, as it's just so easy to do, can be done in a minute, and it doesn't matter if I haven't dried my hair properly the night before (which is often the case!). It also keeps my hair off my face so I don't get all hot and bothered by it during this warm season.

Hope you're all having a lovely week,

Sammii-Jane x

Boots and Primark Haul July 2014

Hey guys! So, today, I might have done a little shopping. Correction: I have done a lot of shopping. As you may know, I'm going to my friend's wedding tomorrow, and I was in serious need of a new outfit to wear for it. I had already bought a dress for the occasion, but that dress was sleeveless and my eczema on my upper arms is showing up really bad at the moment so I felt pretty self-conscious about wearing it. So, I decided to buy another dress with sleeves today, and a few other bits to wear with it. I also picked up a few skin care products in Boots, as mine is running out but equally hasn't been particularly kind to my dry skin. Here are the bits I bought! 

Primark

White Sandals - £10

Gold Chain Statement Necklace - £4

Floral False Nails - £1

Floral Dress - £10

I just love this dress! It's so summery, pretty, and flattering, yet covers my flaws, but still shows my tan. I like that it has a high neck as well as a bold print so that it's still occasion-appropriate. The white sandals and thin gold chain necklace went really well to accessorise the dress with, and the floral print nails went really well with the dress also. 

Boots

Travel Size Simple Moisturiser - £1.32

Travel Size Simple Toner - £1.32

Travel Size Simple Face Wash - £1.32

Travel Size Simple Face Wipes - £1.32 

Yes to Grapefruit Dark Spot Correcting Serum - £14.99

Garnier Moisture Match Ultra-Hydrating Rich Cream - £2.99

Mini Dove Go Fresh Pink Grapefruit Deodorant - £1.29

I really needed new skin care pieces, as my Olay Beauty Fluid isn't as moisturising as I initially thought it was. I've been wanting to try products from the Simple range for a while, but as I'm unsure whether or not it will work for my dry skin, I decided to only go for travel size products so I won't have lots of half-empty bottles lying around the bathroom if I don't like them! I also picked up Garnier Moisture Match for dry skin, as I was looking for a really rich moisturiser and this felt the nicest from the swatches. I also picked up the Yes to Grapefruit Serum, as it felt really nice, hydrating and smoothing, but also it's tinted - in my mind, I see it as a bit of a cross between a serum and a BB cream, so on my good skin days where I don't want to wear much makeup, but still have a light coverage and hydration, this will be perfect! Even on full coverage days, this will still be a really lovely serum to wear underneath my makeup - I'm so excited to use this! I will definitely be doing a review on it soon for you guys to see!

I hope you guys are looking forward to the weekend! 

Sammii-Jane x

Bobbi Brown Moisture Rich Foundation Review

Hey guys! So, you might have heard of Bobbi Brown's Moisture Rich Foundation. I absolutely love Bobbi Brown, and will always purchase a product from the brand, over any other. However, when it comes to foundations, I find that it's such an important part of your makeup that you really need to use what works best for you. So when I ran out of foundation yesterday, and after browsing online at various products, I knew what I wanted to purchase. 

I'd also looked at Mac Pro Longwear, and Nars Sheer Glow, but as I do get particularly dry skin on my forehead and my chin, I knew that Bobbi Brown Moisture Rich sounded far more applicable to my particular skin type. I wasn't overly willing to part with over £30 on a new foundation, but I always find such good results from Bobbi Brown as the shades are just so pretty, such good quality, and highly pigmented, I know I'll never be disappointed with anything I purchase. As it was rather pricey, however, I really wanted to get matched at the counter first, and the Counter Sales Assistant recommended the shade Warm Sand. I've always been a Porcelain, but as I've started tanning recently I needed a darker shade, and I was so happy when she chose Warm Sand for me. I've never been a 'Warm' anything!

 This is how it looks on, and I have to be honest, I absolutely love it! It is without a doubt the best foundation I've ever used, I suppose because it is particular to my skin type. A rich moisturiser, and serum were applied beforehand, so my skin was well hydrated for the makeup application. I've done this again today, and have found that this foundation stays on so much better than any other foundation I've tried, though I do still use my Mac Fixing Spray to keep my makeup in place throughout the day. I always use fixing spray as I'm really conscious about my makeup coming off, so I like to be sure that it won't budge.

The Moisture Rich Foundation is full coverage, but also appears very dewy, so your skin appears naturally hydrated and full of moisture. I really love it, as personally I prefer a dewy finish to a matte finish, and it makes my skin look so much healthier than it ever did before. It also applies to your skin really nicely, it's very smooth and silky, and doesn't feel like a heavy foundation at all. The only sort-of-downside (aside from the expense of £31 for such a product), is that it doesn't come with a pump - but then, neither do Mac foundations or Nars foundations. But the foundation does come out of the bottle really easily as it's such a liquidy formula, so a pump isn't really necessary anyway.

So, that's what I've thought of Bobbi Brown Moisture Rich Foundation! If you have particularly dry skin, I would really recommend this to you as it really is just amazing! Definitely do use a rich moisturiser, and serum as well though, for glowing skin. I hope you're all looking forward to the weekend - have a good one!

Sammii-Jane x

Review: L'Occitane Jasmin and Bergamote Fragrance

Hey everyone! So, in Bazaar's July edition, they were giving away free L'Occitane eau de toilette samples with the purchase of the magazine. The fragrance I was most drawn to was the Jasmin and Bergamote fragrance, purely because it was in an orange shade of packaging, and to me anything in orange colour packaging always smell great because I really like citrus scents.

Here's a close-up of the fragrance sample I selected! The sample products are 7.5ml in size.

Just an FYI, the fragrance isn't citrus scented at all. In my opinion, it smells really fresh and summery, and is a perfect daytime scent for the warm season! Although it isn't what I expected, I still do really like it, and it seems to smell better and better as time passes throughout the day. 

I really like this fragrance, but it's really difficult to describe the scent as it's so unlike anything I've ever smelt before. It's a feminine scent, but it's not floral, musky, or sweet. I find it quite a clean, crisp fragrance and because it's so unusual I am beginning to prefer it to my other fragrances! For the price of the magazine (£4.20), I think it was well worth the money as I know I'll be getting a lot of wear out of it. If you're thinking of getting this, definitely do, as it's so cheap for a decent sample size that will last you all season! There are also three other scents to look out for if you don't think the one that I chose is to your taste! 

I hope you're all having a lovely week, 

Sammii-Jane x

Summer Clothes Haul!

Hey guys! So, today I realised that for summer, I literally have nothing to wear. I have a couple of summer print maxi skirts, and a plain vest, and that's it. I was browsing in Tesco (I know, I know, a lot of people don't really like supermarket clothing, but I personally think that Tesco generally sells quite nice things. They were doing a 50% off sale today, so I couldn't resist buying a few bits! I have been living in leggings and baggy t shirts since I found out I was pregnant (around October last year), and now that I have slimmed back down I really want to be able to wear nice pretty things! I genuinely haven't bought clothes since at least Christmas, so I thought it was about time I bought some more! 

I bought these black embellished pumps for £2, and the pink comfy sweat shirt for £5. I've always been incredibly colour shy as I have always had really pale skin, and never knew how to make the most of it without looking really tired and drained. I never found that bright colours really suited me, so to be on the safe side of my very colour-conscious self, I found this baggy vest top for £7 which is quite summery as it has lots of bright pretty colours and a bold print. The denim shorts were also £7. 

I have a wedding to go to next week, so bought this gorgeous lilac-purple dress for £12.50. It's knee-length lace and very wedding appropriate! I'm at the age of 22 now so I don't really like wearing things that are too young-looking I suppose, and this dress looks very smart and sophisticated and I love it! I also found that these heels for £10 went really well with the dress, so I bought those too! I just felt so pretty and feminine as the dress was so swishy! Since having my son Rhys I rarely get the chance to dress up so it will be really nice to be able to on Saturday!

I decided to be a little bit braver with these brighter coloured clothes, and also bought a lemon-yellow top with slight embellishment on the neckline, a coral coloured top with a lacy back, and a pair of dark blue jeggings. I am so, so excited to wear these colour tops as I've never in my life worn anything with as much colour to them. I've always been so pale that colours like yellow, coral, and aqua have always been a no-go. But I've started tanning recently, so now that my skin is slightly darker I can wear brighter, bolder colours without looking incredibly drained and washed out! 

I also bought some tanning mousse and a new mitt, as I will definitely be needing it to be able to wear the clothes I purchased! 

So these are the few bits that I've bought, I really hope you've had a weekend as lovely as I have! 

Sammii-Jane x

My First Model/Makeup Work

Hey guys! So, today I had my first makeup job, and I have to say I really enjoyed it, and it actually went really well! I applied makeup on the lovely Georgia, who is attending a wedding reception this evening. I also curled her hair using the Babyliss Curling Wand.

Georgia had really good skin and incredibly thick, full hair, so she was really great to work with! She said that she didn't wear a lot of makeup very often and never wears makeup on her eyes, so it was really fun to accentuate them today. 

Georgia's Makeup

I started by removing any excess makeup with Bobbi Brown Makeup Remover before moisturising with Boots Traditional Cold Cream. I also applied Bobbi Brown Extra Repair Eye Cream under her eyes, too. I primed her skin with Revlon Photoready Primer before using the Real Techniques Expert Face Brush to apply Loreal True Match Foundation in Golden Beige, by really buffing it into her skin. I then applied Bobbi Brown Foundation Stick in Honey at the top of her forehead, around her eyebrows and cheekbones, at the bottom of her jawline, and the sides of her nose to contour, and again blended it with the Real Techniques Expert Face Brush. I applied Bobbi Brown Shimmer Brick in Wild Rose to her cheeks, before setting her face makeup with bareMinerals Mineral Veil.

For Georgia's eyes, she already had eyelash extensions in so I didn't need to add any more. I created a white, grey and black smoky eye effect with my  88 Eyeshadow Palette before applying Benefit They're Real Push Up Liner to her lashline, and winged it out a little in the outer corners. I also used my Bobbi Brown Eyeliner Brush to apply black eyeshadow over her eyeliner to make her eyes really pop, before curling her lashes and applying Benefit Bad Gal Lash Mascara. I also used a Barry M Angled Eyeliner Brush to apply a dark brown eyeshadow to her eyebrows.

For her lips, I applied Bobbi Brown Lipstick in Nude Rose, before finishing off with Collection Clear Gloss. 

I then used Mac Fixing Spray to set her makeup.

Georgia's Hair

So, for Georgia's hair, as it was so thick I had to section it into four layers. I used a Mini Tresemme Paddle Brush to brush out her hair, and tied up the other layers with a hair band. I spritzed each layer with Tresemme Heat Defense Spray before curling with my Babyliss Curling Wand. When it was all curled, I set it with Loreal Elnett Hairspray to hold it all in place. 

So, this was the finished look guys! Hope you enjoyed it and are having a lovely weekend!

Sammii-Jane x

Holiday to Scotland 2014!

For my recent holiday post, I'm just going to upload a bunch of pictures I've taken from it to show you guys what I've been up to! The first is to show you my holiday nails and cappuccino cheekily making an appearance! This is from the train journey from London to Carlisle.

I have painted my nails using a Leighton Denny Polish in the colour Lolly Pop, but where it looks quite coral in the picture it's actually more of a bright fuschia colour. 

I'm just going to include a few pictures of the house we are staying in, just to give you an idea of what it was like, as personally I love to nose around people's houses! It's so well presented, and just so bright and lovely!

(L-R) - the top left corner is the room we stayed in, top right is the wallpaper and fireplace in the living room. Middle is part of the garden, bottom left is the living room, and bottom right is part of the kitchen! 

This is the River Nith, which is the river situated exactly by the town centre we stayed in! It was a bit of a miserable day but was a nice walk into town! 

Breakfast on the first day here! Waffles with golden syrup, and a coffee! So unhealthy but when you're on holiday I think it's completely acceptable! 

I have had a tiny bit of a shopping haul, as we went shopping in Carlisle yesterday, which has all the shops I typically would like; River Island, Next, Lush, The Body Shop, Topshop, to name a few. I found this absolutely gorgeous pale pink jumper in Next for £28, which I really wanted but just couldn't justify the price tag in the Summer season!

From Lush I bought the Think Pink Bath Ballistic, the Rose Jam Bath Ballistic, and the Creamy Candy Bubble Bar. From The Body Shop, they had a deal on two Body Butters for £7, so I bought two of my favourite, Papaya. We had gotten to Carlisle at around 4, and the shops closed at 5, so it was a mad dash into Starbucks and then all the stores we had wanted to go to! So on the way back, we nipped into Tescos, where I bought two books for £7, The Fault In Our Stars, and Looking For Alaska, both by John Green. I also bought Lindt Dark Chocolates as they were on a deal for £3.50. My last purchase from Tesco was a £4 pyjama top, as me being me, forgot to pack one! 

I also bought a couple of bits from the local odds-and-ends kind of shops, a huge beige coloured wool throw with cute little caramel coloured hearts knitted into it, and also some rose oil fragrances for my oil burner back home. 

I've bought a Babyliss hair wand too, as I've been on the lookout for a good one for ages that met all my requirements. I had wanted it to be specifically a hair wand instead of a tong (as I'm terrible at using tongs!), for it to heat up to 210 degrees, and be in the £15 price range, and I found it in B&M. 

I've also spent a lot of time in Starbucks this holiday week (disclaimer: This isn't my original picture, but I just forgot to take any whenever we've been but wanted to throw in a picture anyway just for general interest!). We've been there at least three times this week as we just have so much family and friends in the area, and it's the most local coffee shop to just meet them and have a catch up. It's been so lovely to see them all, I'm genuinely so gutted about having to go back home as I just really love being up here with them! We had a lovely barbecue this afternoon to end the week and so they could all spend some more time with my three-month-old son, Rhys. We made up a huge batch of chicken, mushroom, and mixed pepper skewers, had a generous amount of strawberries and cream each, and shared a bottle of Prosecco between us, and generally just gorged ourselves on good food, and the best company! It was such a lovely day, it really was absolutely perfect, and Rhys got cuddles with all of my extended family and he was just so happy!

We spent our final day here by the coast, in Carsethorn, and Southerness. We arrived at this adorable little local fishermens pub, The Steamboat Inn, and had a gorgeous seafood lunch of mussels for starters, scampi for the main, and a light coffee for afters! We then went for a walk along the coast, and ended up at the local arcades, where we won Rhys a giant Despicable Me minion! 

I painted my nails on the last day with a gorgeous duck egg blue colour that I borrowed from my cousin. We're now in the car on the way back to London, having a final look at all the beautiful sunny Scottish scenery! It really is such a shame to leave as it's just so beautiful! 

So this has been my holiday this year! Well, I say this year, but we're actually planning to come back in September - I'm not sure whether or not I'll be able to as of yet as there hasn't been a date set for my college course to start! But I'm really hoping we'll be able to, as Rhys will be able to engage a little more with my family and they can see him grow and develop! 

I hope you've all got amazing holiday plans this year, and I really hope you enjoy them! Hope you're all having a lovely weekend!

Sammii-Jane x