Sunday 31 May 2015

May Favourites

Evening folks, it is once again the time for a monthly favourites, and although I've been horribly inconsistent on the blog this month, I do have a few favourites to talk about today!

False Nails


I have had hideously short nails since I was a little girl, and with the tendency to chew them when I'm preoccupied or nervous, I've never been able to grow them longer than the ends of my fingers. Couple this with the fact that long nails and a job waitressing don't tend to suit each other well (do you want to spend your evenings picking other people's food out from under your nails? I thought not.) and you have the reason why having falsies on hand is a blessing for me. I adore having long, elegantly painted nails, and the faff of putting them on/taking them off is nothing compared to how nice they look when they bring an outfit together. It's the little things!

L'Oreal Infallible Matte Foundation


This is the foundation I've been using for the past six weeks or so, and I've actually used up a whole tube of it. L'oreal's latest foundation offering is designed to last for ages and dry totally matte on your face, which it does- and manages to do so without looking cakey or picking up the dry skin on your face. This stuff is fairly mid-range for drug store in terms of pricing, at something like £9.99, and I often felt as though I was wasting loads by assuming I'd need more than I did. A great new offering and definitely something I'll look at repurchasing. 

Una Brennan SuperFacialist Mask


My skin has very much not been behaving this month, and since I had a wedding a couple of weeks ago, and with prom coming up in the next fortnight too I needed something that would sort out my skin. I've spoken about this mask before on the blog which I'll link here, but it's pretty fabulous at clearing out your skin and removing any impurities. I do find I tend to breakout the day after using it but with regular usage it evens out and keeps my skin clear most of the time!

Mac Lipstick in 'All Fired Up'


The latest edition to my Mac lipstick collection, All Fired Up is a bright matte pink that is very very summery. It is definitely a bright pink, but it manages to not be totally girly or sickly looking. Mac lipsticks are my favourites and I adore how creamy the matte line is, despite staying on your lips for hours and hours. Another excellent purchase. 

The Wombats


I have been absolutely obsessed with the Wombats this month, both their latest album, 'Glitterbug' and their first two albums. They've always been one of the bands that I appreciated but never really got into, but that all changed after I became entirely obsessed with Glitterbug. They're playing T in the Park in July and I cannot wait to see them!

The 100


This month's 'Shows Rachel is Marathon-ing' is The 100, the dystopian sci-fi show that is based about 100 years in the future on a space station, 'the Ark' outwith planet Earth's atmosphere, inhabited by the descendents of those who escaped the Earth when a radiation war made it uninhabitable. All crime in the Ark is punishable with death for adults, so only minors are imprisoned, therefore these 100 prisoners are the first to be sent to Earth to determine whether or not it is inhabitable after the Ark begins to run out of oxygen. Long story short, its exciting, both terrifying and hilarious in equal parts and despite having a fairly large cast, you really get to know the backstories of each character. 

There we go, just a small favourites for the month but hey, least there's something! I promise I'll be better in terms of uploading this month, so I'll be back on Tuesday!

Thursday 28 May 2015

May's Music Favourites

Hola amigos, I've been very scatty on this little blog this month but my exams finish next Wednesday and then I should be able to get back to blogging with a bit more regularity. Studying so much has given me the excuse to listen to a lot more music this month so I have a bunch of new and old music in this months playlist! 


I'll be back with my favourites for this month on Sunday, but until then- have a lovely week! 

Tuesday 19 May 2015

Monochrome Style Wishlist

Evening folks, I've been fairly absent for the past fortnight which I apologise for- however I am back and I have a Spring/Summer style wishlist to show you all. These are a few of my favourite monochrome pieces I've found in the past couple of weeks that may well be making their way into my wardrobe on payday!




I'll be back on Thursday but until then, have a lovely week!

Tuesday 5 May 2015

New Purchases

Another month, another haul, once again I've managed to spend the majority of my monthly pay within the first few days of the month. However, this month I did pick up quite a few lovely little make-up related bits in my local Boots. Let's have a look..


I've heard a lot of good things on the interweb about the Eyes Uncovered palette from Collection. Pretty much every palette released nowadays gets compared to the Naked palette, and whilst these compare fairly well to the Naked 1 palette in terms of shade, they probably don't quite match up in terms of quality. Then again, these cost roughly £4 so I'm very excited to try it!


I also restocked on my 'On and On Bronze' and also picked up another of the Maybelline Color Tattoos in 'Metallic Pomegranate.' I absolutely adore these products and no doubt my second On and On Bronze will be finished as quickly as the one before!


Another of Maybelline's best products are their Color Drama pencils, I picked up this one in the shade 'Berry Much' which is (unsurprisingly) a beautiful purple berry colour. These are lovely and creamy to apply on the lip and the colour payoff is amazing. The only downside is that they need sharpened with an especially large sharpener, but it's a small price to pay!


I'm hardly going to speak about this, but I picked up my favourite Collection concealer, this time in the lighter shade 2, Cool Medium. These are brilliant and you'd pretty much have to have been living under a rock to not know ALL about them!


My final purchase is a set of two Ecotools brushes, which are actually double ended. The set is called the 'Eye Enhancing Duo Set' which comes with a blending brush, a slanted tipped brush and two fluffy brushes for applying eye shadow. A friend of mine had these in South Africa and I got to use them, so I already know how fab they are!


There we go, I actually really love all the bits I got this month. I'll be back on Thursday with another post, so I'll see you then!


Sunday 3 May 2015

April Favourites

Happy Sunday all, we are now firmly into May, meaning that I have lots of new favourites from the last month to tell you about. I finished school this month, as well as working a lot, so a lot of these favourites are things that helped me get through a really really busy month without crawling under my duvet and crying, Y'know, the essentials. 



As I mentioned, I've been working a lot this month. I waitress in a local cafe which involves a lot of work that isn't great for your make-up, such as leaning over steaming coffee machines or being enveloped in the huge cloud of water vapour that erupts from the dishwasher every time you open it. For this reason I've required a slightly sturdier eye-liner to get me through my shifts, hence why I've returned to an old faithful, my L'oreal gel liner, which comes in a little pot and is applied with a brush. This stuff will literally not budge unless you use a make-up remover or cleanser. Perfect. 



I used this perfume religiously when I was about 15, it was my daily perfume and then at some point it slipped out of my collection and I haven't worn it for nearly a year now. However, we've been renovating our bathroom recently and whilst clearing out our cupboards I discovered it again. I'm not sure what it is about old scents, but this reminds me so much of summer and it's such a lovely, fruity smelling perfume. It's fairly cheap too since it's a 'celeb' perfume, so well worth picking up if you don't love splashing out on perfume!



When I first bought this cleanser, I was dubious about its abilities because it essentially is a fairly weak looking foam that you rub on your face, which disappears into the skin easily, and then gets rinsed/wiped off with a cloth. Basic. However, this stuff really, really works and I'm so impressed with the results. High end mascara, waterproof eye-liner and lip stains have all proved no match for the cleanser and whilst it does sting just a little if you get it in your eyes, it's very sensitive too.



I already owned a couple of these Maybelline Color Tattoo's when I picked up this one, however I'd seen a lot of good things about the plum coloured version. The consistency of these is creamy but it sets really fast and stays put on even the oiliest of eyes for hours. Vintage Plum is a deep burgundy but it has really noticeable chunks of golden glitter which is just gorgeous. They're super cheap too!

Circa Waves


With summer on it's way, despite the hideous rain we currently have in Scotland, my musical interests have been piqued by the feel good, summer centric tunes currently being churned out by Liverpudlian band Circa Waves. You may well have heard their current hit song 'T-Shirt Weather' and they've just released a new album called Young Chasers, and a UK tour for later in the year. They're gonna be huge, so go, go go and have a listen. 

Scandal


This month on 'Shows Rachel has un-shamlessly marathoned' we have Scandal, a show focussing on the exploits of Olivia Pope, professional 'fixer' who works with her team above the law to solve problems for the high and low profile of Washington DC. She used to work for the White House and despite having quit that part of her life, you learn about her time there through not only her present time interactions, but some amazing flash-back episodes. It's so, so tense to watch, you literally never know who is gonna be the kingpin in the next plot twist and it will have you hooked from the first episode. I am truly truly obsessed with the show about the 'Gladiators in Suits.' Small warning though, you will fall unashamedly in love with Kerry Washington. Just a warning. 

Insurgent


This is a little behind the times but I did see it right at the very start of the month. Insurgent is the second movie in the Divergent series, which I absolutely adored when I read them. Insurgent was undeniably brilliant but it definitely was a step away from the books, which was interesting. I still adored seeing how Tris and Four dealt with the fall out after the Dauntless attack on Abnegation and I do think Shaileene Woodley is a brilliant actress. Worth seeing, but you have to have seen Divergent first!

See you Tuesday!

 
Images by Freepik