Kim Kardashian Contouring

You've probably seen the Kim Kardashian contouring pictures allllllllllllllllll over the internet.

She claims that she applies her foundation, then applies an extremely light concealer to certain areas of her face, followed by a much darker concealer or bronzer to other areas and blends them to create a flawless contoured and sculpted face that gives you cheekbones like nothing else!

Last Sunday when we were feeling a little worse for wear after our night out (post here) we decided to give it a go and here are the results!

Firstly we applied our foundation as normal (I used Rimmel Wake Me Up and M used Revlon Colorstay)

Then we applied the lightest concealer we owned to our foreheads, under eyes, nose and chin:

As were both really pale, the concealer wasn't as light as it could have been so maybe we'd be better off investing in an almost white one, if anyone's got any ideas of a super light concealer let us know!

Next you apply a darker concealer or bronzer to under your jaw line, the sides of your nose, temples, and also in the hollow of your cheek bones:

At this point we were reeeeeeeeeeeeeally freaked out at how ridiculous we looked and weren't really sure what it was going to turn out like!

We used my St Tropez bronzer as we didn't have anything else dark enough and it actually worked quite well.

For future use though we both think a super dark concealer or liquid bronzer would work much easier and blend to give a better finish.

After applying both of these products to your face in this really quite hilarious way (we wondered if it was just a big joke on us....) you then take whatever brush you have to buff and blend the products into your foundation giving a look like below:

As you can see our faces look a lot more contoured and we have cheekbones to die for all because of this simple (if a little time consuming!) trick.

We carried on and applied our make up in a KK style, lots of eyeliner, super lashes and defined brows!

And don't forget the nude lippie... (Creme Cup if you were wondering!)

So what do you think??? Here's the final look:

It makes me laugh looking at the photos as we even have similar poses without even knowing it!

Also check out the difference between our skin colours just by using different phones, the iPhone definitely makes you look more orange!

We loved the look this contouring effect gave us and would definitely use it more often.

However it's a little time consuming for every day and maybe not to wear to the labs.....

What do you think? Would you try this effect on your face for a Saturday night out?

I will definitely be using it more!!

L xxx

Recent Purchases

I've mentioned lots of times how I'm on a spending ban yet seem to keep buying things due to my overdraft, sneaky!

It really has come to the depths now (sad face!) but luckily for me my mum took me shopping to encourage me to finish my dissertation when I was feeling really down about it all last week.
It's rather a long post with lots of pictures but if you're anything like me I love seeing what everyone buys, so make yourself a brew and get comfy and enjoy :)

Here's what I bought!

Bottle green skin y jeans with gold zips - £15 from Primark

I saw these and loved them but I have issues buying trousers in Primark as I'm tall and rarely does anything fit!

But I was SO surprised to find these did and they wear pretty well too.

For £15 they're an absolute bargain and I will be going back and getting some more as soon as a job finds me!!!

Next up were these gorgeous scarfs.

I love scarves and general winter clothes so these were an exciting buy for me (yes really!)

There's a flowing black one with studs to wrap around and do whatever style you please, plus a grey snood with owls on.

Owls are a bit of a thing for me so this was perfect!

Both of these were also Primark and I think £4 each.

Next was this really cute blouse:

I love blouses like these and wear my other ones to death.

This has an updated collar and buttons though which make it look more expensive than the couple of pound it cost! (can't remember exact number I'm afraid!)

Next are these gorgeous belts:

I'm a sucker for a black waist belt with metal detailing as I really love the cinched in look and also the rock chick look, so this Primark beauty was again perfect and I think £4 too!

The gold studded belt is absolutely beautiful and from Warehouse.

It comes in at a rather more pricey £18  in comparison with my other buys but its gold, studded and general perfection for everything that I wear!

(I also got 20% off the Warehouse belt as I got it from Debenhams at a 20% off day! So worth waiting for!)

I love my gold and although i own lots of silver items, they don't seem to get a look in at the moment!

This is why I ended up also grabbing this cuff and collar necklace in Primark:

You can see the prices on the tags still. I've wanted a collar necklace forever but hadn't found one I liked.

If anyone has a suggestion of a plain gold collar necklace i could get at an affordable price let me know please!

I haven't found any recently.

Lastly, I can't go into Primark and not buy shoes.

I wear their pumps and brogues until they fall apart (quite literally!)

These studded bad boys are perfect for the winter (if I don't wear them to death by then!) and the brogues are a firm staple in my wardrobe.

I can't see me being without them for a while, I've been wearing them for years as they go with everything, are so comfy and in a lovely metallic shade can be worn out too!

My last purchase in the shops comes in the form of my very own pair of disco pants:

These were from Alice & You at Debenhams (not on their website but apparently also sold at Dorothy Perkins.

I picked these up for £24 due to their being 20% off in Debenhams (originally £30)

I've worn them already and they are so damn comfy.

I feel like an extra from Grease but oh my they look and feel amazing!

Lastly are 2 other eBay purchases I've got recently.

Firstly a metal belt:

I've wanted a belt like this for AGES and originally bought the Celeb boutique one when I bought a dress as the belt was half price when you bought one.

However the dress wasn't great and I had to send it back so sent the belt back too.

Long story short this was £5 on ebay and I just HAD TO HAVE IT.

You know the feeling!

Finally I bought these metal collar clips to update all of my shirts:

I know for a fact that I will want the shirts currently in fashion that are covered in cute collar clips.

I thought why not waste the money on buying new shirts when the clips cost a measly £2 off ebay and I can put them on whatever shirt I want!

So there's my buys....rather a long post sorry about that!

What's on your list for Winter??

I really want some of the other colours in the Primark jeans and no doubt I'll be looking for a new coat, have you seen any must haves yet?

L xxx

(p.s. I feel like I should definitely mention my mum here, she bought me all of the Primark stuff as she's so amazing! If she ever finds my blog maybe she'll read this....thanks mum you're the best!)

Review: W7 Eyebrow Kit

If you've seen pictures of me before then you'll know I have long dark hair and super pale skin.
This leaves me with eyebrows that are black and can be hard to fill in due to my paleness and also the fact that many dark shades for brows are very red toned and quite frankly look ridiculous on me.

I've previously posted about Mac's Eyebrow Pencil and I absolutely love it still as it's the perfect shade for me and goes on like a dream.
However it's expensive and I'm poor, so I'm trying to save it for nights out etc and recently came across this W7 version in a Savers store by me.

Me and M wandered in 'by accident' and ended up picking up a few goodies!
I'd never been in one before so had no idea what to expect really.

However after seeing this palette which came with 2 different brushes and a load of eyebrow stencils I couldn't help but put it in my basket for a mere £3.99

As you can see the palette itself has 4 shades with a mini brush for updates on the go.

You can see that there is a pretty damn good range of colours.

For me though, the bottom 2 were the best.

Number 3 was the absolute perfect shade for my brows as it was dark enough and not red toned, but not the black that my eye brows actually are (which can sometimes look like they've been permanent markered onto my forehead - not a good look!)

For every day use this palette is a savvy shoppers dream, No.3 is perfect eye brow colour, No.4 lines my eyes, No.1 highlights my brow bone and can be used as an overall wash on the eye, and No.2 can be used in the crease.

So simple!

You can see the colours on my fingers below:

Apologies if my nails look dirty....they aren't, I just had a little issue with fake tan oops!

The colour payoff is pretty good for the price and lasts me all day and doesn't move from my brows which was something I was worried about.

This was a perfect bargain buy for me and I'm so pleased with it!

The brushes that came with it are a larger version of the one you can see and a comb which probably won't get much use as I use either Mac or Real Techniques ones but the mini is good for touch ups.

I haven't used the stencils either but there are 3 different lengths/thicknesses which should suit most brow shapes.

Ultimately all you're missing from this is a mirror!

I'm super impressed and as my first W7 product I would definitely be interested in buying more.

What do you think of W7? I've seen a few of their nail polishes I'd love!

What do you have from them???

L xxx

Bloggers Unite to Lose Weight

Today I'm doing this as a chatty post. I've not really got any photos to show.

First of all I'll start with the positives. I've lost 3lb this week. So I've now lost the stone I wanted to before my holiday (which is on saturday)

The rest of this post isn't a very positive one. As I'm sure most of you who have dieted will know it's full of ups and downs and this is a down week for me.

At the moment I'm feeling tired a lot and I'm feeling achy constantly. I'm not sure if I'm just really tired or whether it could be down to not eating enough. I try to eat 1200 calories or less at the moment. But I only do this Mon-Fri.

Exercise is non existant as I'm achy a lot of time. I also thought when I'd lost the stone I'd be happy to maintain. I'm not I still feel my bottom half is to big for the rest of my figure.

I go on holiday on Sunday. My plan is to eat what I want but at least swim daily in the morning and maybe take advantage of the gym.

I'm trying to decide where to go forward with my diet plan and tips would be appreciated. 1200 calories is enough for me. I'm not hungry during the week and don't feel like I'm depriving myself but I think after I get back I will up it to 1400 to see if it makes a difference to my energy levels.

My next struggle is I don't know where to add the calories on to. I don't want to get back into eating unhealthy meals. I'm thinking maybe more meat is needed.

I feel I'm losing a battle at the moment. I'm not hungry but think I really need to eat more. Any tips?

Bit of an all of over the place post from me today.

Don't forget to check out how

Fashion Floozy

and

Holly's Beauty Box

for their updates later :)

Love M

xxx

Reunion Night Out!

Me and M both went out together on Saturday for a reunion...

Needless to say we spent the entire week getting ready (scrubbing, moisturising, tanning....) and possibly spent longer getting ready than we did actually out ha!

Here's what we ended up looking like:

For the first time ever I put rollers in my hair to see if I could get a better bounce to my roots that lasts longer than curling with a wand.

It did give more root lift but unfortunately the curls dropped out pretty quick so had to get my trusty Remington curling wand out for some emergency curling before we left!

Maybe I just need to practice, does anyone have any tips for using heated rollers?

M did the same with her hair and it seems to have stayed a lot better than mine!

I had an orangey red dress from Miss Selfridge on and M had her lush new dress from the Julien MacDonald range in Debenhams 

The photo is a little blurry unfortunately (drunken friends taking pictures!) 

I wore my trusty tan wedges for height and comfort and M had her new heels from Dorothy Perkins which I absolutely love and am so jealous!

Perfect mid heel and a gorgeous leopard print. (and in the sale too if you're quick!)

For our make up we both had on Mac ProLongwear with a bit of Rimmel Wake Me Up for the glowy look.

We both had on heaps of eyeliner (Maybellines Eye Studio Gel Liner) and Mac's MSF in Soft and Gentle which is the first time I've used it and cannot believe how amazing it is!

I will definitely be purchasing that as soon as I get myself a job!

I wore a Kate Moss for Rimmel lipstick in shade 12, an orange red, and M wore my Mac Russian Red.

I always seem to do similar make up on a night out so I'm thinking next time I need to go back to being a bit more adventurous with my eyeshadows and blushers/bronzers.

We had a lush night drinking and dancing and spent the day afterwards catching up on X factor and painting our nails! Perfect weekend :)

How do you like doing your make up for a Saturday night out? Do you enjoy spending time getting ready?

What's your favourite products to use for a night out?

L xxx

DIY Wedding Planner Book

Hey All

I fancied doing a bit of different post for you today. I love doing all things crafty and used to make a lot of my own cards at one point.

One of my friends from back home got engaged recently. Her boyfriend text me a few days before to let me know he was going to do it so that I would go down and visit them that evening.

After spending a good 8 years discussing what our future weddings would be I wanted to get her a special useful present. I thought a wedding planner would be a great idea so she could keep all her ideas, appointments and details all in one place.

Due to only have 3 days to get it, I knew online shopping wasn't an option so I started to look up and down Cardiff centre. I found myself quickly disapointed with what was on offer. Tacky covers or not worth £20 for a plastic folder.

I decided then I'd make it, I could personalise it, have it tailored to her and it would be how I wanted. After an expensive trip to paperchase (who knew glue was expensive, I had no time to raid cheap shops as it was Friday evening I got my supplies and started making)

As it was a Wedding planner I picked the heart book which was around the £9 mark. It has black pages which I though looked nice. I picked up heart confetti to decorate the book and pages with, The pink and gold paper was to decorate title pages and I also got document holders, pritt stick, a silver pen and sellotape, The pink was cheaper and seemed appropriate.

My first task was to count the pages in the book and think of all the headers I needed. For example I had dress, food, venue, budget, catering, menswear, flowers, table decoration, photographer, entertainment and a few other.

I started by writing wedding planner on the front of the book and sticking little confetti hearts in the middle of the hearts. I really liked how this book had a pink tie to keep it all together too.

You can still slightly see the guide lines here where I haven't fully rubbed them out. For the first page I got a nice photo of them and wrote the date of the engagement.

For each of my header pages I wrote the title for the section and used some of the pretty fabric paper to make each page look nice.

For each mini header I wrote a small title at the top of the page and put hearts either side so she would have plenty of room to write. For each category I thought of I then thought of the sub categories she would need to think of to complete that. For example for the dress I had pages for inspiration, shops and appointments and dress documents, For catering there were places to visit, tasting and final menus. (People think when someone proposes to me I'll be a bridezilla, I have no idea why, I just know what I want and the little details matter ha!!!)

For sections I thought that needed documents I cut the A4 document holders in half and stuck them down. I thought having these would make it easy and then everything she needed would be in one place.

I was so pleased I made it as my friend really loved it and said she couldn't believe I had done it all for her so quick. She is now well into her wedding planner and has told me the book is well used.

It's made me want to do more handmade gifts. I think they can sometimes be more special.

What do you think of this? Are you married? Did you have a book? Is it wrong to make myself one just for inspiration ;) I could be like Monica ha!

Love M

xxx

Lipstick Monday's No7 Starshell

I enjoyed it when I was sharing my lipstick collection with you all before so have decided to bring it back. Plus my addiction to lipstick is making it grow quicker than I expected it too. Last year I probably owned one or two and rarely used them, now if I go out without some lipstick on I feel like my make up isn't complete. 

This lipstick is No7 Starshell. I love getting the £5 off vouchers and stocking up on lipsticks. (I'm gutted they seem to only be £3 off make up this time, I'll only be stocking up on skincare with the vouchers this time)

This is a soft, slightly shimmery, peachy orange shade. It's £9 and one of their moisture drench lipstick formulas. Beware the swatches online and the colours in store don't match what the actual colour is well so I'd recommend searching online for posts or some hand swatching in boots.

No7 has just under gone a repackaging. This lipstick is one of their old packaging. The new packaging is much sleeker and more expensive looking. I really like the new look.

As for staying power and quality of the lipstick. I like it, it's easy to wear lasts ok and doesn't dry my lips........but I wouldn't pay £9 for it. I just don't think it's worth it.

Apologies for the blurry photo, my camera struggles to focus on my lips for some reason. As you can see it's a subtle shade with a hint of gold shimmer through a natural orange peach shade. 

Have you tried No7 Moisture Drench lipsticks? What colours do you love? Will you still be buying No7 make up now the vouchers are for £3? I'll be spending mine on the eye make up remover as it's really amazing!!

Love M

xxx

Laine Blogger Award

Sophie from SophieRoseHearts tagged us in this a few days ago.

We've been tagged in a few things recently and we've really been enjoying doing them!

If you have any others let us know, it's always nice to get to know the people behind the blog :)

Basically there are 5 questions to answer, you have to link back to the person who tagged you and then tag 5 others.

Hope you enjoy! 

Question 1.What is your current beauty obsession?

Hmm. I'd have to say Benefit They're Real, I really do love the mascara and love the way it curls my lashes and separates them perfectly. I enjoy putting it on every morning!

Question 2.What is one beauty item you wish you owned?

I am currently lusting after the latest Clarins palette, you know the one, it's in gold casing and has the most gorgeous shimmery nudes and a gold glittery shadow that just looks divine!

Question 3.What is your favourite post to read or write about?

I love writing posts about my latest find, the excitement of finding something new and amazing like a new coloured lipstick or nail colour is so much fun.

I love reading posts on nail art, lifestyle ones about people and also lately I love reading fashion ones as I'm really getting my fashion mojo back.

Question 4.What inspired you to become a blogger?

I've been reading blogs by the likes of Fee from Make Up Savvy for years but always thought it would be too much hard work even though I have plenty to say about products myself...but finally decided to set one up with M knowing that if one of us couldn't post for a few days the other could help. Go Team! haha.

Question 5.What nail polish are you wearing right now?

I am currently wearing Essie Sand Tropez....but as I'm going out tomorrow night (with M!) it is about to change to No7 Crave Me (you can find it here!)

I tag the following people to join in!

Ramblings of a Beauty Bird

The Cosmetic Kitten

A Lauren to Herself

Allie UK Blog

Mission Me (EssJay23x)

We Were Raised by Wolves

Petite Sal

Girlie Blog Seattle

Make Up Savvy

Let's Talk Beauty

Blog of Shadows

Mel's Wall of Mirrors

Would love to know what your answers are....link your posts back to us!

Hope you're enjoying your weekend so far!

As you read this me and M will be getting ready to go out as we're going to a reunion....eek!

We've been tanning all week and will have a going out post coming up for you soon, do you like seeing these kind of posts??

L xxx

10 Things I would Repurchase: Part 2

I loved the tag M did the other day (here) so decided to my own as well.

I'd never really thought about it before so was an interesting tag!
Here's my ten:

1) As an every day foundation I use a combo of Revlon Colorstay/Rimmel Wake Me Up in the same colours as M. I love that Colorstay actually stays on my face all day but I love the glow that Wake Me Up gives me, so I combine the two for the ultimate look and LOVE it.

2) The infamous Naked palette definitely rates highly in my book though I would love to try Naked 2 to see the difference as I do sometimes miss lighter colours.
However the colour range, quality and staying power of these means I'd always buy it!

3) I'm sure most of you will agree that Real techniques brushes are pretty good value for money and the core collection is a favourite of mine, along with the stippling brush and blush brush.
I'd love the get the powder brush too as I seem to be missing it from my collection!

 

4) As far as fake tan goes, you can do no wrong with Vita Liberata.
I've written a post on this before but can't rave about it enough, my bottle is running low and has lasted me a massive amount of full body applications that no other tan has. I'm sure I've got AT LEAST 8 full body apps plus a few extra coats on my legs and I'm still counting, I've never got that with any other tan I've tried!

5) Liz Earle Hot Cloth Cleanser, needs no more said about it really!
(I get annoyed as it seems to run out so fast though ha)

6) My beloved Jean Paul Gaultier Madame will never ever leave my side!
It's the perfect mix of strong fruity scent but isn't overly overpowering as I get headaches from strong scents.
I love it so much I'm on my 6th bottle and everyone knows it's my smell!

7) I absolutely love Origins so it was hard to narrow down products but their eye creams are the best and were the first things I bought so I chose these. Ginzing is my go to cream for the morning and Eye Doctor is the one I use at night, both have helped my sensitive eyes so much I can't rave enough!

8) I love defining my brows as most people do nowadays but as mine are almost black it was hard to find a product that was the right colour without looking like permanent marker!
I also have tiny gaps in my brows that look bigger because of the pale skin/dark hair combo, but this Mac eyebrow pencil/crayon is amaze! Gives a perfect shape and blends so easy.

9) My lips are always really dry of late so applying lip balm is a constant task! I do really like Vaseline which I know is a love hate product for some people but recently after my trip overseas I have been loving the Eos sphere balms which work a treat and are such a delight to use.
They smell gorgeous and contain no nasties, awesome!

10) Lastly is Soap and Glory's Righteous Butter. I love the scent, how thick and luxurious the butter is and how soft my skin feels afterwards.
My only bug bear is the fact it takes a little while to sink in, but mostly I don't care as it's just far too nice!
I struggle to get my skinny jeans on after applying this but it's so worth it haha.

What are your top 10 repurchases??
I found it really interesting to do this tag as I was surprised that other products didn't feature.

I have recently been using Alpha H's Liquid Gold and also the Antipodes Divine Face Oil which I have an inkling would probably make it onto this list if I completed it again in a few months.

I know you're supposed to tag people but as M has already tagged a lot of you I tag anyone else reading this post!

I loved reading other people's so link back to us if you've completed it as I'd love to see what you chose.

Happy Friday!!!!!

L xxx