NOTD: Models Own Lemon Meringue

You will have to excuse the horrid photos and the bad nails but I wanted to share this with you because it's gorgeous! This probably isn't the most season appropriate colour but it's the perfect pastel yellow colour that isn't streaky and it only needs 2 coats to look good! 

Models Own Lemon Meringue,£5 link 

I adore this polish! I will admit that it looks better on people with tan skin but with my ghostly pale skin I'm still going to rock this colour because it's gorgeous! I won't say much more because I wanted this to be a quick post, but I would highly recommend this colour/polish.

twitter | bloglovin | hello cotton | tumblr | pinterest | youtube

Share The Love | My Top Youtubers

Whilst writing this post, I fear it may be a little redundant. I’m a small blog, and I know this, so me sharing so of my favourite youtubers may be a little silly because they are all huge and I’m sure you all know them. So, the only reason this post is going live is because I’m going to view it as a favourites, rather than recommendation like it started out as! It was meant to be eight, but I couldn’t narrow it down! So, here is my top 10 youtubers!

They aren’t all beauty/fashion people, but without a further or do let’s commence!

Fleur De Force

Fleur was one of the first youtubers I ever watched, and is probably one of the most popular British beauty youtuber. She makes great videos, and vlogs amazingly too. She’s just started a new channel since becoming engaged! I’ve left all her links below and if you don’t watch her I highly suggest you do!

http://www.youtube.com/user/FleurDeForce

http://www.youtube.com/user/BrideDeForce

http://www.youtube.com/user/FleurDeVlog

Joey Graceffa

I love Joey! If I ever have a bad day, and just want to watch some great videos about everyday things I always find myself on his channel. He vlogs every single day, and always manages to keep it fresh and interesting. I would highly recommend this guy to anyone who wants some great videos to watch.

www.youtube.com/user/joeygraceffa
 

Super Beauty Nerd

Super Beauty Nerd has a great following, and she makes brilliant videos. The videos are a little sporadic but they are great quality, and they aren’t insanely long like some can be. Defiantly a channel worth checking out!

http://www.youtube.com/user/SuperBeautyNerd
 

Hey Brittney

I must admit that this channel was a late find of mine, but I’m now a loyal follower. For some reason, Brittney reminds me of my friend Amy and that makes me love the channel that much more. She makes great videos, and now runs WinterSpringPro alone (Sad face).

http://www.youtube.com/user/HeyBritttany
 

Indie Queen Maz

This is a great channel. It had great videos that are uploaded in good time. They are real and honest and just all round I love watching this girls videos. It is a beauty/fashion based channel, so for honest opinions of all that good stuff check her out.

http://www.youtube.com/user/IndieQueenMaz
 

Luke Conard

I found this channel through MissGlamorazzi. I’m sure if you watch her, you know who this guy is. Luke is a musician that makes great music based around things like Harry Potter and the Hunger Games, but also does amazing original music and good covers. He vlogs A LOT to so you should check out his vlog and main channels if you haven’t already. 

http://www.youtube.com/user/Luke

http://www.youtube.com/user/lukeconard
 

Dolly Bow Bow

I’m sure Dolly Bow Bow needs no introduction. I love everything about this channel. It has a great combination of videos (beauty and fashion) and I couldn’t recommend her enough. She also has a blog and a great online store that I would recommend as well.

http://www.youtube.com/user/Dollybowbow
 

Essie Button

This is a new discovery and I have no idea how I didn’t find this any sooner. I don’t even know what to day, but her channel and blog are AMAZING!

http://www.youtube.com/user/essiebutton
 

Zoella

This is a great beauty channel. It has a great combination of videos from favourites to tutorials. Also, if you have watched this channel you’ll know that Zoe is great friends with Sprinkle of Glitter (aka Louise). The videos that these two do together have me in the biggest fits of laughter!

http://www.youtube.com/user/zoella280390
 

Sprinkle of Glitter

This channel is great for those looking for a bit of everything. Whilst it is mainly focused on beauty, there are great videos like “Being happy” thrown in there to make you really want to smile. As I said before, the videos that she makes with Zoe are videos I’ll go to when I just need a good old laugh. They are brilliant together, and clearly brilliant friends.

http://www.youtube.com/user/sprinkleofglitter

The Cutest of... Handcreams?

So, I was recently in my local Peacocks, checking out the bags with my mum. We picked up a couple (oopps, I’m meant to be on a spending ban) and went to pay. Sitting, waiting at the counter, for one person to buy her was this little beauty!

I usually don’t use hand cream all that often but this just cried out to be brought. This little owl cam in blue or pink, and I just couldn’t let the pink one go by! I grabbed it before even looking at the price because even if it was terrible hand cream it would look darn cute on my dresser!

The hand cream isn’t all that good, but it does its job. It’s super thick, which I love, but it is sticky for a while after you use it which is not so great. The scent is also really sweet (like sickeningly so) but I don’t care. If I never use this hand cream again, I still have this cute little owl to sit cutely on my vanity! Yay!
 

twitter | bloglovin | hello cotton | tumblr | pinterest | youtube

Boots Botanics | Intensive Moisture Mask

Botanics Intensive Moisture Mask, £4.59.

I am on a mission to find a combination of products that will work for my skin type. I often get break outs around my chin area but the rest of my face is extremely dry. I get extremely dry patches that flake on my forehead, cheeks and just below my lips.

Most masks that I’m drawn to are usually anti-blemish and such like products but they are all very drying on my face so I don’t continue use! So, I have a different plan of action now. I’m going to try anti blemish moisturisers and things like that and use moisturising masks.

I brought because the Botanics range was on 3 for 2 and I had two products. It seemed interesting and I liked that it could be used over night as well as for 20 minutes or so.

It was £4.59 for 75ml.  It contains all those natural goodies that the Botanics bits usually do and its main ingredient. Honey is meant to add rich moisture to the skin. It has many traditional uses in drinks and other beauty products, but in this mask it’s used to bind moisture to the skin.

I usually just slap on  mask in the bath while I leave a conditioner on my hair so I never really prep my skin or anything but this specifies that it be used over cleansed skin. It suggests you leave in on for 5 to 10 minutes and then you can take it off with a cotton pad. It also says you can pop on a thin layer and leave it on overnight which is how I used it most often.

This doesn't 'set' like a clay mask, in fact if you do apply a thin layer it just sinks in like a regular moisturizer does. I like that it doesn't set because I really hate that feeling on my face even though that normally means they are doing something good.

It has a clean smell to it, which is great because I’m not a fan of scented masks. They tend to make my eyes water, and any irritated skin patches on my face tend to get really itchy if there is a scent in there. This doesn't irritate any sensitive areas of my face or make my eyes water at all.

This, used along side some great moisturizers, has helped me sort out the flaky dry patches on my skin and I think I have my breakouts under control for now. I like this product, but can't find it online which makes me thing that it might have been discontinued. I hope not because I want to repurchase this when I'm finished.   

twitter | bloglovin | hello cotton | tumblr | pinterest | youtube

Top 10 Foundations For Dry Skin: YSL, Rimmel, The Body Shop & More

Maybelline Fit Me Foundation link, MeMeMe Flawless Cream Foundation link, The Body Shop Mositure Foundation link, Revlon ColorStay Foundation link, MAC Select SPF15 Foundation discontinued, YSL Touche Eclat Foundation link, Clinique Even Better Makeup link, Maybelline Dream Matte Mousse link and Rimmel Match Perfect Gel-Cream Foundation link.

I love foundation as much as the next person, and for the longest time I always went for something that gave a really full coverage. I have breakouts quite often for a  number of reasons and I always liked to have a fuller coverage. Since using the YSL Touche Eclat I've realized that you can still have great looking skin without the heavy coverage. I just wanted to share some of my favorites out of the ones I've tried. I'll link reviews if I have them, or write a little paragraph to sum them all up.

Maybelline Fit Me Foundation, Clinique Even Better Makeup, MeMeMe Flawless Cream Foundation & Sleek BB Cream

Maybelline Fit Me Foundation: 

Coverage: Medium

Skin Type: Dry

Price:  £7.99

I was in love with foundation, and the only thing I don't like is the colour range. From looking at the website it seems that they sell light colours but in any shop I've been in they don't do a shade similar to Ivory. I wouldn't recommend this to people with oily skin unless you are prepared to go powder mad because it's very dewy on the skin. It's great for my dry skin, and I even felt the need to powder a bit to tone down the dewy effect.  

Clinique Even Better Makeup

Coverage: Light, but buildable.

Skin Type: Combination to Dry Skin

Price:  £23

This is my newest foundation, and I love it. I went to Clinique asking for something lightweight with a good coverage that would work for my dry skin. She recommended this one, so I picked it up. The price didn't seem to bad for a higher end foundation, and the feel from the tester and where she matched me felt nice. It gives a really dewy finish, so I powder it because I like a semi-matte finish. It is recommended for  combination skin as well as dry but I wouldn't say it would work on oily skin.

MeMeMe Flawless Cream Foundation

Coverage: Medium to Full

Skin Type: Normal to Dry Skin

Price:  £12.50

If I didn't have this in the wrong shade, it would be my everyday foundation but sadly it's a shade to dark and a little two ashy for me. The formula is amazing though. It gives an amazing coverage, and it blends so easily. It takes out redness in my skin, and covers everything I want it to. It doesn't feels heavy or cakey, and it works well on my oily patches as well as my extremely dry patches. It does have a very dewy finish that I calm down with a light dusting of powder but if you like the dew, this can give you it. 

Sleek BB Cream

Coverage: Light, but buildable.

Skin Type: Combination to Dry Skin

Price:  £8.99

I use this as a primer myself just on my t-zone and on my chin, but as a BB cream it's great for combination skin. I wouldn't say it's great for the extremes of oiliness or dryness but it does give a nice light coverage without feeling to heavy and the shade range is great too. I think it's great, as I said, as a primer down my t-zone and on my chin to give a little extra coverage and to make my makeup stay in place a little longer. 

Maybelline Dream Matte Mousse, The Body Shop Moisture Foundation, Revlon ColorStay Foundation for Normal/Dry Skin & MAC Select SPF15 Foundation

Maybelline Dream Matte Mousse

Coverage: Full

Skin Type: Combination to Oily Skin

Price:  £7.69

I know this hit or miss for people. I like it because it's the only foundation I've tried that gives a truly matte finish. It does transfer and it sticks to dry skin so bare that in mind, but it does give amazing coverage. It's very unique and it does last a long time if you don't rub the foundation on your skin to much. 

The Body Shop Moisture Foundation

Coverage: Medium

Skin Type: Dry to Very Dry Skin

Price:  £13

This is an amazing foundation for dry skin. I have super dry skin and this just works for it. It it very dewy, so I powder it because it's like shine galore but with a light dusting of powder it looks gorgeous. It lasts all day, and it has a fairly decent coverage.

Revlon ColorStay Foundation

Coverage: Full.

Skin Type: They offer a formula for Dry/Combination and Oily Skin, so take your pick.

Price:  £12.49

I'm sure I don't need to say anything about this foundation. It's a great semi-matte foundation (at least the dry skin formula is). It's full coverage that lasts all day and while it can be a little heavy if you apply it with your fingers it gives a finish on the skin. 

MAC Select SPF 15 Foundation

Coverage: Medium to Full

Skin Type: Combination to Dry Skin

Price:  Discon

I had no idea this was discontinued, but it's not on the website anymore so I can only assume you can't get it anymore. But it is a favorite of mine so I thought I would include it. It's a great medium coverage foundation that you can build up to be very full. It lasts a really long time and you don't need to powder it to get it to last.

YSL Touche Eclat Foundation & Rimmel Match Perfect Gel Cream Foundation

YSL Touche Eclat Foundation

Coverage: Light

Skin Type: Dry

Price:  £28

This is my perfect foundation. I have about one use left in my bottle and I'm saving it for a special occasion because I just can't bare to say goodbye to this. I don't have the cash to replace this at the moment but I will when I do. It gives the skin an amazing quality to it. It doesn't have a full coverage or anything like that but it just does something to my skin that makes me like it, and I never like my skin.

Rimmel Match Perfection Gel Cream Foundation

Coverage: Medium, but buildable.

Skin Type: Normal to Dry

Price:  £6.99

I love this foundation to bits, and it's my favorite from all the Rimmel foundations. I do like the normal match perfection one, but I love this formula even more.The gel-cream formula makes it great for my dry skin. It glides on, and really does match up to skin colour and texture. It does go on darker than it looks when it settles in so don't freak out like I did. It lasts well on the skin, and the pot lasts a long time too.

Soap and Glory | No Clogs Allowed Self Heating Detox Mask

No Clogs Allowed Deep Pore Detox Mask, £11 link

 This mask is amazing! There is no other way to start this post off other than saying that. So, now that is out of the way, I’ll get down to the specifics!

The full name of the product it’s called On This Face, There are… No Clogs Allowed Super Self Heating Deep Pore Detox Mask.  Now that mouthful is out of the way, I’ll tell you what this claims to do!

The mask supposedly contains 1 Minute Hot Poreclear Technology! I don’t really know what that is, but it works I can tell you that. I’m not sure it does anything in a minute but after leaving this mask on for about 5 minutes, my pores a clear and look a little reduced! I have terrible trouble with clogged pores and this is the only this that can clear them out properly.

You’ll know you have this on right, when you are “blue in the face”. The mixture is initially white, but the exfoliating beads within the product are blue and once you’ve give your face a good scrubbing; the mixture turns a blue colour. The so called exfoliating beads are not exfoliating at all. The do create a little texture within the mask but nothing particularly rough. They do disintegrate when you rub it, which turns everything blue. It looks quite strange when it's on but it works amazingly well. 

At that point you can wash it off and feel refreshed (and you really do feel refreshed) or you can leave it for 3 – 5 minutes (the suggested time) and have a reasonably deep clean!

The sponge is a little crappy, but it works for a while. I just tend to wash it off my face like anything else (with my hands). So, the sponge is no selling point but THIS IS AMAZING! I would recommend this to anyone (as long as your skin is not too sensitive because it can be a little abrasive). It's not that it's rough in texture or anything like that but it does heat up quite a bit and deeply cleans your face.

Original Source Mint and Walnut Super Scrub

Two facts need to be stated before we get into this post:
1) I love a good body scrub. I’m always on the search for new now, no matter how good the previous one was I always think I’m going to find something better!
2)The Mint and Tea Tree Original Source Shower Gel is my all-time favourite shower gel! It makes me feel super clean, cool and refreshed and it doesn’t dry out my skin at all!

Those facts might help you understand my love for this product! 

Original Source Min and Walnut Super Scrub, £2.50 link

This beauty was just sitting in the depths of Tesco warehouse or wherever they get your online shopping from when I put in a food order a couple of weeks ago! It was just awaiting my tender loving care, so I snapped it up for the great intro price of £1 and some random stranger shopped and sent it off to me with my potatoes and veg!

**Quick side note: Who doesn’t want that job? I would love to be the shopper that picks the stuff for other people! I love the shopping high, and you would get it without the pay-out. My cousin does it, and I’m close to begging her to swap jobs with me because mine is so shockingly shit (excuse the language) **

This Mint and Walnut scrub is totally vegan and it packed with 6898 crushed walnut shell bits! It’s got the fabulous mint scent from the shower gel just slightly less intense and the walnut don’t dissolve on contact with the bath water. That is the only reason I detest sugar or salt scrubs, I want the exfoliants to last not dissolve! It’s  totally abrasive enough for my liking, so it might just be love! I’ll let you know when I have used it some more!

This leaves your skin feeling clean and refershed and slightly cold after you have used it. It's great for use in the mornings when you need something to really wake you up. It's like the nice version of a bucket of cold water being chucked over you, in a totally good way.  

Miss Sporty Studio Lash Mascara

Miss Sport Studio Lash Mascara, link

I think there a few versions of this mascara, and whilst it doesn’t specify the differences on the packaging, from what I’ve seen online I have the Instant Volume version. It’s meant to lift lashes by 70% and make the up to 60% longer. I’m not one for these stats though because I can’t fathom how you can measure that but I can say that this mascara does lift lashes and makes them look longer. Whether that’s by 60/70% I don’t know.

Miss Sporty say it has “zero clumps” but I would have to disagree with it. If you don’t wipe you brush a little before using it, it can clump on your lashes. Also, if you coat your lashes to many times it can clump big style. But, with 2 coats, and a little wiping it’s awesome. 

They also claim its “smudge and smear proof” which I would agree with but I’ve never really has a mascara smudge or smear on my before.  It does take a little while to dry which is a little which can be an issue. Especially if you’re like me, and the moment you put mascara on you need to sneeze. It’s pretty common that I end up with mascara all around my eyes because I’ve shut my eyes to much too fast.

They market the wand as a “next generation applicator” which is a little much. It’s a nice wand, and I love that it’s plastic because that’s what floats my boat but I wouldn’t say it’s next generation. I love the tapered tip but I’ve seen it before. 

Overall, it’s a great mascara. It’s especially great considering it’s only £2.99. It’s just as good as some mascara’s I’ve paid £10-£14 for, and better than any MAC one I’ve tried.

Revlon ColorStay Foundation (For Normal/Dry Skin)

Who hasn't heard every opinion under the sun about Revlon ColorStay? I was a little unsure if I should write this review, because I'm sure you've heard it all before. This foundation has to be the most popular drugstore foundation in the blogging world, so all has been said but I decided to throw my own two cents into the mix. 

This foundation is a very full coverage foundation, and it can look cakey but if you find the right way to apply it, it can be amazing. I've tried every which way to apply this and the best ways for me are with a damp beauty blender sponge or with a stippling brush. The beauty blender gives a more natural look, where as the brush gives a heavier look. I like both, and use the natural one for daytime and the heavier one to amp it up for night time. 

No matter which way I wear it, it does last. It's very rare that a foundation claiming to last upto 16 hours actually lasts that amount of time but I can put this on at 8 in the morning and it will last until at least 10 at night.

I love it's versatility. I can use this as a concealer on a BB cream day, or as a full coverage foundation on those bad skin days. I can also mix in a pump of highlighter like L'Oreal Lumi Magique Primer or Soap and Glory Hocus Focus and BAMB you have a nice coverage foundation with a nice glow.

The only thing I hate is the packaging. I love foundations with a pump, and this doesn't have one. You have to pour it out, and I always make a mess with it. The bottle gets grubby, the foundation gets everywhere and I feel like I waste some because I always pour out too much. 

MUA Eyeliner Pencils

MUA Intense Colour Eyeliner Pencils, £1. link
Malt Chocolate, Royal Blue, Snow White, Forest Green, Gold Nugget and Turquoise

MUA, or Makeup Academy, is a fabulous brand that you can get online or in Superdrug stores. Unfortunately, it's only available in the UK. Anyway, it's great quality stuff for amazing prices. My most recent love from this brand is the intense colour eyeliner pencils. They are just as good as some of the more expensive brands I've tried and they are only £1 a pencil.

They offer two types of pencils that are both just as good as each other. The Intense Colour Pencils are shimmery or matte, whereas the Intense Glitter Pencils are full of glitter.  They are both really well pigmented and reasonably soft too. They don't quite glide on like Nyx Slide on pencils or anything like that but they don't cause any hurt on the lids anything like that.

Snow White, Royal Blue, Gold Nugget, Forest Green, Turquoise and Malt Chocolate

The best colours that I have are gold nugget and forest green. They are both beautifully pigmented and I feel like I could wear them every day, where as some of the both colours are a little brighter and are more for special occasions.

I would say that the worst colour is the snow white shade. Its not as pigmented as the rest of the shades. It's still an amazing white eyeliner for the price, but it's not as great as the others.   only really got it for use on the water line and it doesn’t show up on the water line at all.

I think the sharpeners on the lid show that it's a slightly cheaper product because it's not the most ascetically pleasing but it's really handy. It's also really nice to have a sharpener on hand all the time. A sharpener alone would cost more than the pencil itself and I use the for almost all my pencils simply because it's the only one that I don't loose.