OOTD Trainers and Lace Blazer

I finally managed to persuade my other half to help me out and take photos! He didn't prove that useful. He took one then told me I didn't need any more as the outfit was the same! I need to train him better!!

Anyway on to today's OOTD. This was something I wore to work, most of my OOTD are things I've wore to work. I'm sure you've noticed from the different outfits, basically any thing goes for work. The Blazer I picked up last year and is from Matalan. It's a jersey material and a loose fit so it's super comfy to just throw on top of things. The lace print isn't still available but this is the same shape and cut. I'm also eyeing up this amazing one!!

The amazing bright blue top is from New Look, I absolutely love this shape of blue. It also has a dipped hem and exposed zip. I tend to wear this a lot as it looks great with jeans or tucked into a pencil skirt.

I've been lusting after Vans for ages now. I purchased some a few weeks back but returned them. I just couldn't decide on the colour as the ones I wanted were know longer available. So when I walked into Primark and saw these for £6 I couldn't resist. I picked navy but think I'm going to have to go back for the red too.

They look pretty similar to Vans and are really comfy. The first day of wear did hurt the back of my ankle but they are really comfy now. They are just what I wanted and I can have a few different colours while I decide which colour of Vans I want.

I kept Jewellery pretty simple. This gorgeous bracelet from Daisy Does. It offers fully unique jewellery, most pieces she never normally makes more than one of so you know you're the only one with that piece. You can also design your own. I've ordered quite a few pieces from here now. As for rings the one in the photo of one my other half got me. When wearing silver jewellery I tend to wear one from my other half and one my parents bought me. 

As for necklace it's my Beautiful Sphere of Life Necklace (www.mysphereoflife.com) Thanks again to Jenny I'm so pleased to have won this, as you'll have seen from my past OOTD I wear it loads. It's so easy to pair with everything. I have set your heart free!

My jeans are from Next, I've had these for a few years now. I love next for jeans. They are great quality and fit me well. These are similar to the relaxed fit skinny they now sell. These are the Relaxed skinny jeans I'm currently wanting!

I paired it all with Kate Moss for Rimmel Matte Collection lipstick in the shade 110, this is a bright coral red type shade. I've owned it for a while but never gotten around to wearing it. You can see the whole collection with lip swatches here I really love this shade now, it's very bright but I think it's perfect for Summer (when it arrives!).

I'm really enjoying doing weekly OOTD

Love M

xxx

Don't forget to enter our giveaway here

Review: Mac Sheene Supreme Lipstick in Fashion City

L wrote a few weeks back about her Mac purchases when we went for a make over before a night out for her birthday. I love getting my make up done in Mac they do such a great job. I really wanted to get Sunny Seoul lipstick but it had sold out. 

Instead I picked up my first Sheen Supreme lipstick. I'm so glad that Sunny Seoul had sold out as I love this lipstick and love this formula. The sheen supreme lipsticks have different packaging to the normal formulas and I prefer it. It's still kept to the sleep black with white writing but this packaging is metal. I prefer this as it's more secure as I've cracked a few or the normal Mac lipstick lids meaning I can't keep them in my handbag anymore.

I picked up the shade Fashion city. It's an orange, peachy type of shade. I really love this. It's not normally a shade I'd go for. I tend to stick to pinks, reds and nude shades.

The Sheen Supreme formula reminds me of the Revlon Lip Butters. It almost melts onto the lips and isn't dragging onto them.

It does have a different bullet shape (the MUA told us once we get to the bottom use a lip brush as there is about an extra third left in there when you think it's run out) I find it just as easy to apply with this shape.

It's quite a sheer almost glossy lipstick. I've been wearing it all the time since I got it as it's perfect for day time. It also works great paired with a smokey eye for a night out.

Taken with flash, excuse my messy application. The shade on the lips is very moisturising. I like the glossy finish too it as lately I'm finding nude shades look better on me with a subtle glossy finish.

In natural light you can see the orange tones to the lipstick more. I think this shade would look great on anyone and it's great to have in the handbag as it goes with most make up looks. The Sheen Supreme lipsticks cost £14.50 so they are 50p more than the normal ones. I love the formula though so can't wait to get more of them.

Here's my make up from the night out. My lashes hadn't stuck properly on the corners or the eyes so you can see that, but I love the combination of the purple smokey eye with Fashion City. How gorgeous is L's make up! I've been rocking coloured liner a lot since this. You can see my current favourite one here.

I loved how she did my brows. They looked so amazing!!! I really need to get a new brush for my brows I think and practice more on them. What brush do you use for your brows?

As I was wearing a black dress I went with a purple toned smokey eye, I can't wait to try this look out again. I think L and I will be visiting Mac for Make Overs again soon!!
Have you had the Mac Make Overs? We always love ours!! Have you tried the Sheen Supreme lipsticks? Do you prefer them to the other finishes?
Love M
xxx
Don't forget to enter out giveaway here

Glycolic Acid Peel First Impressions

L and I are currently holding a giveaway where you can win The Skin Regime book and a Glycolic Acid Peel sample. (you can read about it here). The peel was something we were both really excited to try after reading the book and seeing so many positive results from it. The peel strength we tried was 30%. The skin regime site contains well trusted suppliers of peels. With things like this it's really important to only purchase from reputable suppliers.

It's fair to say we were both really nervous to put it on our skin, it is an acid peel after all. It is important to start with really clean skin. We both cleansed with dove soap and a muslin cloth then used alcohol wipes (we couldn't find rubbing alcohol as suggested in the book) the purpose of the alcohol is to remove the oil from the skin.

The solution is a clear liquid. I've dispensed mine into a pot so I can use it again. The solution is put onto a cotton wool pad and swept over the skin, starting on the cheeks and working your way round the rest of the face trying to avoid the corners of the neck and mouth. The cotton pad is then swept over the neck.

This is my skin before, as you can see it has a natural red tone to it anyway.

You only leave the solution on for a few minutes no more. We both interpreted this as 3.5 minutes. It definitely made my skin tingle at first. This is normal and expected. I did consider washing it off at this point but decided to stick it out. The stinging did stop after a while.

It's normal for the skin to appear red after and sometimes peel. Both of us round there was a touch of redness to the skin but no peeling and the redness didn't last. We both did it early evening, in case our skin went red so it would be cleared by the morning.

After the time is up, you rinse it off and then re-cleanse with the dove soap and apply moisturiser. I applied moisturiser again before I went to bed.

My skin after. The photo doesn't show much difference but I think it does look smoother and slightly shinier. As you can see it's not much redder and there wasn't any peeling.

Immediately after removing the peel I couldn't believe the difference. My skin on my forehead looked instantly smoother and my pores looked a lot better. Around my nose was smoother too. Almost similar to when you pull of a pore strip and it's smooth. L noticed her skin was a lot more plumped. We were both excited to see how it was in the morning. L noticed her skin was so soft in the morning and the slight lines on her forehead had almost disappeared  I was impressed with how soft my cheeks felt and how much better the pores on my nose looked.

We both couldn't wait to do another peel but it's not recommended to do it again for another 7 days. I can't wait to do it again and hope the results continue to improve my skin.

Have you tried an at home acid peel? Enter our giveaway to try your own?

Love M

xxx

Review: Laura Mercier Undercover Pot

Back in April me and M booked to have our make up done by an international make up artist at Laura Mercier in Harvey Nichols in Bristol's Cabot Circus.

Unfortunately the make up artist cancelled which was a shame but we went along anyway as we'd put a £10 deposit down which we could use to purchase any product so we went for a makeover.

We both ended up picking up a few items....but we were intrigued with the Undercover Pot and snapped it up!

The Undercover pot contains a Secret Camouflage, Secret Concealer and Loose Setting Powder in number 1. 

You can see on the picture above where each product is inside the casing, but lets have a look at it:

I love how simple this design is! The flip top lid is really secure but opens easily, contains a mirror and both concealers and the top part screws off the show the setting powder beneath.

The left hand concealer is the Secret Camouflage and is yellow toned. It's best for imperfections, scars and blemishes as it balances out the redness and helps to even out the skin tone. It's also oil free which helps to keep the concealer on the skin and makes it last longer.

Secret Concealer is in the right pan, and is pinker toned with slight illuminating particles in. This one is best for under eye circles as it combats darker circles and is emollient based so applies to delicate undereye skin easily without tugging.

The Setting Powder is lightweight and translucent, making sure your perfectly applied concealer stays put and leaves a velvety soft finish.

I have some photos below to show the difference when using it under eyes and on blemishes.

For the record I had already applied the Laura Mercier Silk Creme foundation, as I would normally apply foundation before concealer.

So the undereyes. On the left is before, and the right, after. You can see an improvement in the right picture with the concealer applied. I was clearly having a long week when I took these though as my bags are AWFUL!

In reality the bags were a lot more covered up than this picture shows and I think it may be the camera flash that stops the effects from showing as they look pretty covered to me!
It was really easy to apply and didn't irritate my skin at all.

Here it is applied to my cheeks where I have a few scars and spots in the centre. They're mostly covered by foundation but you can still see them. The concealer does cover them up perfectly, and makes them less visible and it stays put very well.

The only downside to the concealers I found was that they do settle into lines, especially under my eyes as my eye lids are just that shape that there have always been lines underneath. This is helped by the setting powder but I do find I need to reblend it back in after a few hours.


Have you used any Laura Mercier concealers?? What did you think?

L xxx

I've been wanting to try Laura Mercier products for a long time now, I've heard so many positives about the brand I couldn't wait to try them. I love the idea of this post holding concealers to suit any problem and a powder all in one compact packaging. I've been visiting home a lot lately and products like this are handy to take with me.

I really love the setting powder, it's soft to the touch and a true translucent powder that lasts all day on me without shine. It also helps to hold the concealer under the eyes.

The secret camouflage wasn't a product I expected to like at first. This concealer feels very hard in the packaging. When you rub your finger in it you feel like no product comes out onto it (I find brushes don't work great with this). I think the heat from fingers helps to melt this product. It feels like no product is on your finger but when applied to the face it is super pigmented and blends simply into the skin and looks invisible. It's perfect for spots, it perfectly conceals them and lasts all day. I love this concealer and will definitely repurchase this item separately. I think it's going to last me ages though.

Onto the product I wasn't as keen on in the trio. The secret concealer, as L mentioned this is pink toned and for use under the eyes. It does brighten under the eyes but I found creasing like L did. I can't help but compare this to Benefit Erase Paste (review here) and to me Erase paste is better. I find the Secret Concealer isn't as thick and I do struggle to blend it smoothly and flawlessly. It also seems to be going down at a rate quicker than the Secret Camouflage. I can't see this lasting very long unfortunately.

Have you tried any of the Laura Mercier concealer products?

You can pick up this trio for £29 from John Lewis here the secret concealer on it's own is priced at a reasonable £18.50.

Love M

xxx