Weekly Summary #2

So this week seemed to last a very long time even though school wasn't too busy. On Tuesday we had sports day and because I am in sixth form I didn't do an awful lot. On Thursday we only had half a day so I got to go home early and catch up on blogging. I had another driving lesson this week, I am so bad at driving but hopefully I'll get better soon.

On Saturday I went to London. I went to the Delamar Academy End of Year Exhibition. Last week I mentioned that I want to do a makeup course instead of going to UNI, so this was a great opportunity to see the school and ask question about the school. After seeing the school I know that this is what I really want to do and I loved the school. As I want to become a makeup artist I need to start creating a portfolio of different looks and I've been thinking about creating a new blog so I can showcase my different looks. I will keep this blog for reviews, NOTDs and outfit posts etc and have another blog  that only has my makeup blogs. I need to start thinking of names for my new blog so if you have any suggestions for names then I'd love to hear them. 

Also at the top of my blog you may have noticed my tabs and that recently I have added a new one called Review Dictionary here you can see all the reviews I have written. The brands are listed alphabetically and you can see which products I have reviewed from that brand. I thought it would be helpful for people who want to see a particular review. 

Lastly do you have any post requests if you do I'd love to hear them so I know what you want to see on my blog.

What have you been up to this week?

Prettylittlefashionista xxx

Magazine Freebies (July)

Today I thought I would share with you some of this months magazine freebies. I have said this before and I will say it again magazine freebies are a great way to try new products and get a flavour for lots of different brands that you probably wouldn't normally buy.

In Marie Claire they are giving away a mini Ciaté Caviar Manicure Set. The set comes with the polish Cookies and Cream and the caviar Shooting Stars. I can't wait to try this out I have never tried caviar nail art before so it will be interesting to see what it looks like. Also with this magazineyou get a mini sample of the Oral B toothpaste, I love getting mini toothpaste as they are great for travelling. 

In Glamour they are giving away Model Co. products. You can chose from a lip liner, eyeliner, mascara and 2 lipglosses (Strip Tease- a nude and Pink Berry- a pinky red colour). I am very excited to try out these products as I have never heard of this brand before.

Instyle have the Neal's Yard Remedies Power Berry Daily Moisture. I really like this brand as I have tried one of their hand creams and it is really moisturising. I also like this brand because they use organic ingredients and don't have any parabens. 

Have you picked up any freebies this month?

Prettylittlefashionista xxx

June Empties

It's that time again in which I talk about the products I have used up in the past month. I am pretty impressed with the amount I use up each month, I'm always worried I won't have enough to talk about but that has never seemed to be a problem.

So first 2 things I used up are kinda similar they are cotton pads. I get the round ones which I use to take eye makeup and nail polish and I use the oval ones for my face. I like to use the oval ones for my face as they are a lot bigger so the cover more of my face and remove makeup quicker than if I use a round pad. I used up some of the Nivea Refreshing Facial Cleansing Wipes from the Daily Essentials range, these were ok but they weren't anything special so I probably wouldn't get them again.

Next I used up the Neutrogena Visibly Clear Pink Grapefruit Facial Wash I really liked this as it cleaned my face well and it smelt really good. This lasted me a really long time so if you are on a budget this would be perfect for you as you won't have to keep buying face wash. I was sad to finish the next item as I really liked it. It was the Botanics Skin Calming Night Cream I liked this as I found it really moisturising and it left my skin feeling smooth. I won't be repurchasing for the moment as I am trying out the Naturally Radiant Renewing Night Cream from Superdrug. 

Next is the Along Came Betty One Pot Of Polish I loved this scrub not only did it smell amazing but it was a really nice scrub. It wasn't too harsh and it left my skin feeling really soft. I wasn't a massive fan of this Radox bubble bath, the scent wasn't particularly for me. The only reason I used this up was because my sister had a really bad rash and this mad it worse. 

Lastly is the MUA Clear Mascara which I use to set my brows, this is so cheap and it does the job. I've already got a new one. 

What have you  been using up lately?

Prettylittlefashionista xxx

Maybelline Fit Me Powder Review

Yesterday, I reviewed the Fit Me Foundation and today I thought I would review the powder as well. I bought this powder at the same time as I got the foundation and I got the shade 110 Porcelain. 

As you can see from the above photo the powder is really finely milled, this is good because it is less likely to go cakey when you apply it on top of foundation. This sets foundation really well and makes the foundation look flawless. I have used this on top of the Fit Me foundation but I have used it on other foundations as well and it works really well. The powder is reasonably priced and I definitely recommend that you check this out.

The packaging is really good as it comes with a handy mirror and sponge (although I've never used the sponge). I do think though that the packaging is slightly too bulky for travelling but that is just a minor thing. 

Have you tried this powder?

Prettylittlefashionista xxx

Maybelline Fit Me Foundation Review

I got this foundation from Fragrance Direct as I had been wanting to try it for ages. I got the shade 110 Porcelain, which I have found to be an almost perfect colour match.

Unfortunately this foundation does not have a pump, however if you buy it in Boots or Superdrug it does have a pump. I like foundations that have pumps as I find that it is easier and less messier to get the product out. 

This is what the Boots website says 'Flawless. Lets the real you come through. Beyond Matching: Fresh, Breathing, Natural Skin. SPF 18' 

I like foundation that is offers light coverage and I try to make sure that I get a foundation which has SPF in it. This has SPF 18 which is unusal as most foundations I own seem to only have SPF 15. 

Now onto my thoughts of the product, as you can see from the swatches this foundation is very watery and without a pump it means I end up wasting a lot of product as I often pour too much out. When I first tried it I used my Real Techniques Buffing Brush which is what I use for all my foundation but I found that when I used it for this foundation it seemed to take ages to blend and it looked streaky once it had blended. After a couple more tries of using it with the brush I wrote it off as a bad foundation and put it back into my collection. It wasn't until I bought a makeup sponge from H&M that I thought I would try it again. The sponge is a dupe for the Beauty Blender but it is a fraction of the price at £1.99. When I used the sponge I instantly noticed a difference in the foundation, it blended easier and it didn't look streaky on my face. In fact my foundation looked flawless and I loved the way it looked on my skin. My experience shows that the tools used to apply foundation can make all the difference, a brush that is good for one foundation may not be the best for another. 

Have you tried?

Prettylittlefashionista xxx

Nude Nails With a Glittery Twist

The Nude Nail Trend is something I've always been a little nervous about. I love brights and pastels on my nails so nude is very new to me. Also with me being quite pale I'm always unsure whether nude colours compliment my skin tone. When I got Ciaté's Pocket Money I knew I'd be trying out the nude trend. Instead of having just a plain nude on my nails I chose to add OPI's I Juggle Men on top of it. I Juggle Men is a pretty blue shimmery top coat that just added a little something to my nails. 

I really like this look and I really like Pocket Money and I think it suits me really well.

What have you got on your nails?

Prettylittlefashionista xxx

ELF Haul #2

A few weeks ago ELF had free shipping so I made a little order as I had a few things on my wish list.

I got the Powder Brush as I had heard that it is really good at buffing in foundation and so far I am in love with it. It is really soft and blends foundation beautifully. 

I then picked up the baked eyeshadow in Bark as I saw it on someone's blog and it looked beautiful. I have been teaming this with my Maybelline Colour Tattoo in On and On Bronze, they work beautifully together. This eyeshadow looks beautiful by itself as it is extremely pigmented. 

I got the lip exfoliator as I heard good thinks about it. I love tring different lip scrubs as my lips get so dry. 

I noticed that they had there own version of the Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stains so I just had to try them as I am a massive fan of this type of application. I chose the shade Flirty and Girly as it looked a lovely shade of pink. I am yet to try it but when I do I will let you know my opinion. 

What's your favourite ELF product? 

Prettylittlefashionista xxx

Weekly Summary #1

I want to start making this blog a bit more personal, so I am going to be doing a view more lifestyle posts. I have decided to do a new series called 'Weekly Summary' in which I summarise my week. Obviously some weeks not a lot happens but hopefully these posts will still be interesting.

So this week at school we are starting the UCAS process (for those who don't know this is the process of applying to university). At the moment I don't want to go to university and I am thinking of doing a makeup course instead as this is something I am passionate about. I am not particularly enjoying A Levels and I don't think I'm passionate about any of my subjects to carry them on at university. I'm still applying to Uni just in case I do change my mind although I don't think I'm going to.

Also on Friday I finally went to see The Great Gatsby, which was amazing. I really enjoyed the film and the story is really good. I'm also reading the book and I am about half the way through and the film follows the book really well. The film is directed by Baz Luhrmann and I love his films Moulin Rouge is one of my favourite films of all time. 

Now that school isn't so hectic and I have less homework I am able to take advantage of the Sky Movie channels which before I was unable to do as I didn't have time to sit down and watch a 2 hour long film. I watched Dark Shadows which I really enjoyed, I did want to see it at the cinema but I didn't make it as our nearest cinema is about a 30 minute drive which makes it difficult to get there as I have to get my parents to drive me.

On the subject of driving, I have started having driving lessons. I was really nervous about starting them but so far it hasn't been too bad.

What have you been up to this week?

Prettylittlefashionista xxx

Maybelline Great Lash Mascara Review

When I was in Boots awhile ago when they had their 3 for 2 offer on I bought this mascara. I had a coupon for extra points if I bought a mascara so I picked up Great Lash from Maybelline. Maybelline is said to one of the best drugstore brands for mascara so I thought I'd try one of their mascaras as I haven't tried any Maybelline mascaras before.

As you can see from the above photo, the wand is very small in comparison to other wands. I really like this wand, as because it is small it is easy to catch all the lashes with it and also due to it being small it doesn't clump either. I have included some eye swatches for you so you can see how well it works.

The above photo shows my eye without any mascara.

As you can see the difference is quite big, this mascara definitely lengthens more than volumises. I like this mascara but I would prefer it if it volumised my lashes a bit more as my lashes are quite long naturally. 

Have you tried this? What's your favourite Maybelline mascara?

Prettylittlefashionista xxx

Barry M Gelly Hi Shine in Greenberry Review

I originally wasn't going to buy these as when I first saw them in Boots, I wasn't wowed by the colour range and wasn't sure whether they would be any good. Then I saw posts cropping up on people's blogs and I saw this shade which I hadn't seen in  Boots. I am a sucker for mint green I love it, I have many things in this colour and I think I may be slightly obsessed.  I'm very glad I did pick this up as I am really impressed with the formula.  

I bought the shade Greenberry which is a beautiful mint green colour. They cost £3.99 and you can get them in Boots and Superdrug. I think these are very affordable I love Barry M nail polishes already and this formula is just amazing. 

This is what the Boots website says 'Barry M Hi Shine gel effect Nail Paint provides an extra glossy finish in just one coat.

- Highly-pigmented, chip resistant formula- Gives a glossy, gel-like finish with a single coat- In a range of colour-pop hues' 

I have to say that I agree with everything it says. 

I love the colour of these and I only needed one coat of it. I found that this formula dries much quicker than the normal nail paints. I love the finish, I am not a massive fan of textured nails and I don't particularly like chunky glitter polishes either I much prefer a glossy smooth finish which is what you get with these. I was surprised by how long this lasted on my nails, it lasted a week which is really impressive. I never have much time to paint my nails so I love polishes that last a long time so I don't have to constantly paint my nails.

I can honestly say that I have fallen in love with this nail polishes and I am going to pick up more shades as I've seen a couple of shades that I really want.

Are you a fan of these?

Prettylittlefashionista xxx

MUA Haul

When I found out that MUA were going to be selling Fashionista products I knew I'd be making an order. I have been wanting a Fashionista palette for ages and this was a great opportunity for me to try them. You can fill a palette for £7 which is fantastic value. 

I decided to get 2 palettes one for blush and one for eyeshadow. In my blush palette I got the shades Rose Shine, Flush, Glowing and Milan. My eyeshadow palette contains Frozen, Nude Glimmer, Radiant and Gold Rush. I love the fact that you can customize your own palette.I also got a bronzer in the shade Barcelona.  I picked up another brush as I love the MUA brushes, I got the E2- Eyeshadow Contouring brush. I also picked 2 of MUA''s new blushes in Marshmallow and Candyfloss. That's all I bought and you can expect to see reviews of the products shortly.

What have you bought recently?

Prettylittlefashionista xxx

NOTD: Thanks a Windmillion

Recently I picked up 4 OPI nail polishes from Fragrance Direct for £3.99 ( I think I did quite well at restraining myself to 4). OPI usually retails at about £11 so you are getting a very good deal.

I chose the colour Thanks a Windmillion which is from the Holland Collection. On the OPI website it is described as a 'breezy sea green'. 

I love this colour, is is unique and I don't own anything like it. This applied really smoothly and needed 2 coats. I found that it lasted a really long time before it started to chip. 

What have you got on your nails? 

Prettylittlefashionista xxx

Summer Outfit #1

I wanted to start a new series on my blog, in which each week I will share an outfit with you that I think would be perfect for summer. Hopefully this may help or inspire you with ideas for summer outfits. I will make sure that the items a purse friendly and everything that I show will be under £50. 

So this is my first outfit, a perfect item for summer is a pair of coloured shorts. I only have a few pairs of coloured shorts as I'm quite picky about the style of them, but I really like these ones from H&M and they are really cheap too. I chose to pair it with a simple vest top and a few pretty accessories. 

Shorts: H&M £7.99 

Vest: New Look £4.99 

Shoes: Dorothy Perkins £13

Bag: Accessorize £37

Necklace: ASOS £8

Bracelets: Evans £12.50

Outfit Total: £83.48

That may seem a lot but you will can use each of these pieces to make new outfits as most of the items are quite basic. I love the bag and I think it will go with a lot of outfits and £37 is quite cheap for a bag which is quite spacious and looks amazing.

I hope you liked this outfit and I hope you like this new idea for a series. 

Prettylittlefashionista xxx

Rimmel Match Perfection Concealer Review

After trying the Match Perfection foundation  I was very interested in trying the concealer. The concealer is a 2 in 1 as it is supposed to conceal and highlight which makes it ideal for under eye circles but not so good for blemishes.

The application has a brush at the top, you squeeze the tube and the product comes out through the brush (as demonstrated in the above picture) I'm not a fan of this application as it can get quite messy and I find I waste a lot of this product.

The consistency of this is quite thick, which means that it is quite easy for this to appear cakey. I don't think this product really highlights and it it isn't the best at concealing dark circles. As of yet I haven't found a concealer that I love for my under eyes if you have any recommendations of drugstore concealers please let me know. The shade range is pretty limited, I believe there are only 3 shades so it may be difficult to find a good match. That being said this does in a way match your skin tone just like the foundation. This has properties in it which makes it adapt to your skin tone and texture so this will be suitable for a lot of people. 

I'm not a massive fan of this but it is by no means the worst concealer I have ever tried. 

Prettylittlefashionista xxx

Updated Skincare Routine #3

I thought it was about time I did an updated skincare routine post as some of the products have changed. Some of them haven't changed so I didn't bother photographing them, if you want to see them you can look at my old post here. 

This new face wash from Clean & Clear is really refreshing to use in the morning. It really wakes up my skin and the little beads in it gently exfoliate my skin. 

I love this moisturiser from Nivea it is really light but it gives my skin a lot of moisture. I really recommend this cream they also have one for dry and sensitive skin and oily skin so there is something for everyone. 

I ran out of my Vitamin E hot cloth cleanser but I had this in my cupboard. I really like this it smells really nice and it removes my makeup really well. 

I really like this face wash which I use at night. It contains tea tree which helps combat spots and it also has lavender in as well so it smells really good. It actually has real bits of lavender in it which helps exfoliate the skin. This product uses natural ingredients which is another good thing about it. 

Lastly is my night cream, I love this one from Botanics. It smells really good and is super moisturising. It leaves my skin feeling really soft. If you want more information you can read my review here. 

What products are in your skincare routine?

Prettylittlefashionista xxx

My Trip To Stratford

I really want to start doing more lifestyle posts. So I thought I'd tell you about my trip to Stratford to see Hamlet. 

We went to the Royal Shakespeare Company Theatre to see Hamlet. We went in the evening to the performance and spent the day looking around the town. It was a really beautiful day so we walked around the park. 

Inside the theatre they had a display of some of the costumes which was amazing. They were so pretty and it was very cool to see the different costumes from over the years. 

Prettylittlefashionista xxx

Revlon Lip Butter Wild Watermelon Review

That's right I got another Revlon Lip Butter, these are so hyped amongst bloggers. I have 2 already Candy Apple and Strawberry Shortcake and I love them. This is one of the new shades that they bought out this year. I love this shade because it is a gorgeous red that isn't too bright so you can wear it everyday.  

Revlon bought out some other shades as well for spring/summer they were Juicy Papaya, Pink Lemonade, Brown Sugar, Red Velvet and Sugar Plum.

I love the packaging of these as they are the colour of the product so you can easily find it in your collection. I also like the lattice pattern on the lid as well. 

The formula is really moisturising, the lip butters are a bit like tinted lip balms as they are moisturising and add a little colour. As you can see the colour doesn't come out as bright as it looks in the packaging. This lasts around 3 hours before you need to reapply. I love this lip butter and it is save to say that I will wearing this throughout the summer as it is just beautiful. 

Have you tried the lip butters?

Prettylittlefashionista xxx

Top 5 Blushes

Today I thought I would share with you my top 5 blushes I love reading these types of posts and I'm going to make it into a series showing you different products that I love. 

So to start with I will tell which blushes I have picked so I'll start from the left and work my way across the top row and then do the bottom row. I chose the blush from ELF's Contouring Blush and Bronzer Kit in St Lucia (it is very similar to the single blush Twinkle Pink from ELF), MUA Mosaic Blush in English Rose, Dainty Doll in My Girl, NYC Color Wheel in Plum Passion and Natural Collection in Pink Cloud. 

I love the ELF blush as it is different from all off my other blushes. I usually go for pink blushes but it is a coral colour and it is so pretty. It has quite a bit of shimmer in it but I don't mind a little bit of shimmer.

I really like the MUA blush it was one of my first ever blushes and I still like it to this day. I love mosaic blushes as you get a mixture of colours that work really well together. 

The Dainty Doll blush is a gorgeous light pink which adds a little glow to my cheeks I love it for spring as the colour is so pretty. 

The NYC blush is my go to blush in the autumn/winter as it is a darker pink than my others and looks perfect at that time in the year. 

The last blush is a newest addition to my collection. I love Pink Cloud as it is such a gorgeous shade of pink which looks lovely on my skin. I love wearing the MUA highlighter with this blush. 

Here are the swatches from left we have Pink Cloud, Plum Passion, My Girl, English Rose and St Lucia  

What is your favourite blush?

Prettylittlefashionista xxx