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evening skincare routine!

this post is all about my current evening skincare regime. i have become a skincare obsessive over the past few months and feel myself wearing less and less makeup! this is very unlike me as i have spent most of my life caking on makeup to cover blemishes or scarring, however after using the following products, my skin has had a new lease of life! dont get me wrong i still get the occasional breakout, but in general my skin is in a much better condition these days!

to remove makeup and cleanse, i simply use my bioderma crealine h2o on 3 or 4 cotton pads and wipe them all over my face. i also use a face wash 2/3 times a week (murad blemish control clarifying cleanser) however i don't tend to use it every evening as it dries out my skin. to tone i use my caudalie beauty elixir which i ADORE. its a spray bottle, i tend to just spray a few pumps into my hands and gently pat it into my skin. the smell is gorgeous and it can also be used as a makeup refresher throughout the day. i then use my estee lauder advanced night repair serum. i spoke about this in my last post and cannot recommend it enough - its also great if youre suffering from breakouts and/or problem skin - it just tends to clear everything up and generally improve the quality of your skin! over the more dry areas of my face (around the edges and occasionally my nose) i use the h2o+ hydrating treatment which is an odd but beautiful product. it is essentially a deep moisturiser and hydration booster which works incredibly well over dry skins. i avoid my t-zone with this gel as i find it makes me more oily throughout the day. i then apply my olay beauty fluid, which is actually a day fluid, all over my face and neck. this is my go-to moisturiser and one i always reach for when i just want to take my skin back to basics. i have the normal/dry/combination version but they also sell a sensitive version. eye cream-wise i use skyn iceland's icelandic relief eye cream which i pay gently around my optical bone. i find that this really reduces puffiness around my eyes and gives a cooling sensation - great for after a sleepless night. and finally we move onto lip care - i use the leighton denny cuti-lips balm which is an amazing 2-in-1 gel for cuticle removal and lip nourishing. i find it has quite a greasy texture which i love for my evening routine but i don't tend to use it so much during the day!


so, where can you get your hands on these goodies? well, olay and estee lauder ANR are available in boots for around £6 and £54. i purchase my bioderma on ebay from an amazing seller who i will link here, for around £13. i purchase my caudalie beauty elixir from feel unique for £9.90. this product is pretty dear and i will admit, doesn't last as long as i'd like, but its definitely worth the money! finally we have the h20+, skyn iceland eye cream and leighton denny's cuti-lips which you can either pick up online or in the brand new marks and spencer beauty department ! they retail at £27.50, £38 and £7 (in the order i previously mentioned). the m&s beauty department is very hard to get hold of at the moment, with only high street kensington having launched. stratford city is next on the 14th of june though so be sure to check it out whether you live in london, go shopping in the area OR you're coming to the olympics this summer! stratford westfields is right next door to the olympic park so pop into m&s to check out the beautiful products they've brought in.


have a lovely jubilee weekend everyone,
emma xo

skincare products i cant put down!

to start with, i'd just like to apologise for my lack of blogging for the past few weeks! in this time i've turned 21, finished university and secured myself a beauty consultant job. pretty sweet, right? so, after these mad and stressful past few weeks, my skin has well and truly suffered! i've found myself reaching for two relatively new products in my skincare regime and i'm going to review the pair of them for you now.


after purchasing the bioderma crealine h2o solution for cleansing a couple of months ago, i have seen a dramatic difference in the quality of my skin. in general, i am getting less spots than before and my skin is much less red. not only do i use this at night to take off my makeup, (amazing for removing eye makeup, no stinging at all!) but i also use a small amount in the morning, before toning and moisturising, to clean any impurities off my skin, before applying a fresh face of makeup! i have been very set in my ways for the past few years - despite being a makeup artist, i have always used simple face wipes to remove my makeup and then whacked a bit of moisturiser on afterwards. i always found makeup removers and cleansers very oily and that they left a residue on top of my skin. after finding this, i can officially say i am hooked and will never go back to my face wipe ways (unless i've had a few too many vodka and lemonades... )! this product cannot be found in UK stores as it is a french brand. i however, purchased mine from eBay for £12.90 HERE! it is a 500ml bottle and lasts ages! i've used about 5 cotton pads worth a day, every day, for the past two months and am only half way through the bottle. 


secondly, on the slightly more expensive side of skincare, is estee lauder advanced night repair. i know what you're all thinking - another blogger favourite that is so obviously overrated. i did too. but, what with my excessive spending in boots, i'd gained nearly £70 worth of advantage points, and decided this was the time to test it out. quite frankly, i wasn't willing (or rich enough) to justify spending £54 on some serum, so getting it for free was extremely satisfying! the first evening i used it, i was sceptical. i don't think much of the smell, and as much as i loved the feel of it on my face, the feeling left on my fingers after rubbing it in, was less than desirable. i wont lie, i did feel a little special using this delightfully packaged product, and it did give a lovely finish to the skin from the second i applied it. when i woke up the following morning i was pleasantly surprised. don't get me wrong, its no miracle - you don't wake up looking like an angel! my skin was more plump, much more moisturised and my blemishes had been reduced considerably. i began using this product about one month ago and every time i use it my skin just gets better. i think it'll take a few more bottles before i do wake up looking like an angel, however my skin is the best it's looked in a while. this product retails at £41 for the 30ml and £54 for the 50ml.

so, now i am officially a beauty consultant, i will be posting all sorts on here about different products and the effects they've had on my skin. i can't say where i am working yet as i think they're trying to keep it pretty hush hush, but i can say that the skincare offers are incredible and i'm so exited to start working!


have you guys used these products before? what are your skincare must-haves?
emma xo

perfect polish

good afternoon dolls. it's a rainy day here in london and i'm feeling less than 100% so i thought i'd take the time to organise some of my nail polishes. like many girls, i hoard nail polishes like they've been discontinued. honestly, the majority of mine are dried up and entirely unusable - god knows why i feel the need to stash them away and pretend that one day i'll use them again. but today i've been reunited with some old favourites and it has inspired me to mention a few of my favourites. i've whittled it down to five and made sure they're all different. so, here goes...!

here we have the ultimate barbie pink: rimmel's '270 hot shot', a lovely nude: models own in 'nude beige', a perfect plum: rimmel's '410 trend spotting', an insane metallic: 'mirror, mirror' by sephora, and finally chanel's 'pirate' - everyone's must-have red.

unfortunately sephora products cannot be bought in the UK but if you're ever in paris or the USA, there are plenty of sephora stores that are worth a look around. i purchased 'mirror, mirror' in paris last summer for around €5. all of the other polishes mentioned can be found in boots and superdrug stores around the UK. rimmel polishes tend to cost around £5, models own are also £5 and chanel's are a steep £17.50. the shade 'pirate' is (i'm almost certain) discontinued, however chanel's 'dragon' is a VERY close match, and equally lovely colour.

i have also chosen two of my favourite top coats. jessica's 'brilliance' and sally hansen's 'hard as nails'.

sally hansen's 'hard as nails' can be purchased in boots and superdrug stores for around £4.75. jessica products are slightly harder to get hold of in stores however can be found in many beauticians and salons, as well as online. you can find their website here, where they supply multiple colours, shades and nail treatments.

my favourite nail products and colours change regularly but these are definitely my most used! what are your favourites?

emma xo

whats in your makeup bag?

so i've seen a few of these 'whats in your makeup bag?' and 'whats in your hand bag?' type blogs/vlogs over the past few months so decided to do a quick one myself! as a makeup artist, people probably assume i take great care in my skin care and makeup regime. the truth is... i try. i'm a student, i'm 20 years old and quite frankly, i'm a lazy sod. i don't wear a great deal of makeup in my every day life but i do have lots of products in my makeup bag that i use when i'm going for lunch, going to university or on a night out.

 above is my makeup bag for everyday use. it is from all saints, think it was around £50 which is extortionate but it was a gift, i promise!

a sneak peak into my messy makeup bag! 

 above we have pretty much everything i would ever need to use for a day or night basic makeup look. there are a few foundations in there, my favourite is chanel vitalumiere aqua which i wear in the shade '20 beige'. i always have vaseline to hand and for a day to day lip colour i usually stick with mac lipstick in 'creme de nude'. included here we have models own eyelash curlers, bobbi brown black ink gel liner, illamasqua satin primer, bourjois volumiser mascara, bourjois bronzer and highlighter, witch concealer, mac eyeshadow in 'tempting', revlon lipstick in '140 kiss me' and the list goes on! in day to day life i tend to stick with a tinted moisturiser, a bronzed cheek, lashings of mascara and a nude lip, however if i have more time to get ready i occasionally add a smoky eye or bold lip.

 now, dont get me wrong, fingers are one of the best tools when it comes to makeup application, but i do have 6 brushes i swear by. from left to right; real techniques samantha chapman buffing brush, screen face fine liner brush, mac 239 shadow brush, illamasqua powder brush, bobbi brown brow and lash brush, and finally the mac 266 angled brush.

...having said that, here is a small collection of some of my makeup brushes.

does anyone have any recommendations regarding makeup/tools i should be using day to day?! is there something i'm missing out on? :)

emma xo

HAUL!

hey dolls! just a quick one today. i went into town to return something to boots and ended up spending 45 minutes browsing various makeup counters, resulting in a hefty bill of cosmetics when i finally got to the till! in my defence i did need a new foundation after my HORRENDOUS experience with bourjois healthy mix (sob sob). i actually loved the product but ever since the second time i used it, the pump wouldn't let out any product, despite there being plenty in there. i would definitely buy it again for the quality of the product but i couldn't bring myself to buy it again just yet and face another 2 months of aimless pumping!


i ended up buying two foundations today, one which i have used in the past and always seem to go back to - revlon photo ready in the shade '004 nude'. the other was rimmel wake me up in '103 true ivory'. after reading many reviews about the latter product i decided i'd give it a whirl so a review about my experience will be up within a few weeks time! staying with skin perfecting, i also purchased the collection 2000 lasting perfection concealer in the shade '2 light'. i was sceptical after hearing about this product, mainly because, in a naive moment, i didn't think collection 2000 would have much to offer. HOWEVER! i used this on a photo shoot recently and couldn't believe the coverage. it is creamy and light but covers almost any blemish/spot so i couldn't resist buying myself a tube, and at £4.19, you cant go wrong! 


another trusty product i always seem to go back to is the '070' eylure lashes. these lashes are perfect for a natural but glamorous look and can be worn day and night. i have worn these lashes on multiple occasions and can definitely recommend!


last but by no means least, LIPS! i bought two lip products today, one gloss and one 'butter'. the gloss is by barry m in the shade '11' which is a beautiful corally pink. i have used barry m lip glosses before and adored the texture as they're not too sticky, but this is a new shade for me so i'm eager to try this out! the second product i purchased is the almighty revlon lip butter. i got the shade '080 strawberry shortcake' and OMG i wore this on my lips this afternoon and my first impressions are very good! they smell gorgeous, the packaging is beautiful and the 'butter' is actually highly pigmented. i will be reviewing this product properly after a few weeks of use, but as a first impression, its looking positive! 

have you guys tried these products before? anything i should know?!

have a lovely weekend - lets hope the weather stays as nice as its been this week!

emma xo

agenda beauty!

a few months ago i was contacted by agenda beauty, a new makeup brand, to test and review some of their products. after looking through their catalogue, i chose 7 products that caught my eye and then agenda beauty sent me them in the post!

the first thing that stood out to me was the 'lipduet' shown below! half red and half gold, this product is so versatile. the colours can be used together to create a shimmery red, or used separately for more of a bold statement. this lipstick is wonderfully moisturising, doesn't dry out my lips and the colour stays pretty well all day!

above is a swatch chart of all the products i tested. from left to right; shimmer dust in gold dust, glittery glitz in ultra shock, eye colour in pink pint, eye colour in moon walk, cheek colour in trojan warrior, lip colour in seduction, lip duet in tropical (gold side, then red side).

my favourite product is the lip colour in seduction which is a beautiful, shimmery hot pink. hot pink sounds scary for most people but i assure you its very wearable and the colour stays on wonderfully. in addition, being the glitter obsessive that i am, the glittery glitz in ultra shock was also a contender for first place! used in moderation, this product is very wearable for nights out but is also fantastic for dramatic makeup shoots or fancy dress!

the eye colours i got in pink pint and moon walk are lovely pastel pressed powders that can be used for a more natural look. i personally dont like wearing heavy pinks on my eyes so the pink pint colour is perfect for a day look! moon walk would make a lovely base colour for a smokey eye or could be used alone as a shimmery grey shadow.

finally, the shimmer dust in gold dust and cheek colour in trojan warrior are beautiful and would suit almost all skin tones perfectly. the shimmer dust can be used as an eyeshadow but also as a highlighter on darker skin in very small amounts. it is highly pigmented, easy to blend and stays on well. make sure to apply a primer on your eyelids before using this as a shadow to avoid creasing. the trojan warrior cheek colour is a lovely warm brown, perfect for a subtle blush during the day or for heavier application at night. this product leaves a lovely finish to the skin and doesnt make your skin look too 'cakey'!

overall i was extremely impressed with the agenda beauty products and would highly recommend them, not only to makeup artists but to everyone. these products are very reasonably priced, ranging from about £7-£10 and come in multiple shades to accommodate everyone. this company do NOT test on animals and are designed for all skin types and not dependent on race or gender! couldnt ask for more really, could you?!

thanks for reading, i'm going to try to be a bit more active on my blog from now on and should be posting some photos of these products used on my skin within the next week so keep your eyes peeled :)

emma xo