Sunday Sunbathing!

So me and M have been sunbathing, eating and drinking allllllllllllllllllllllllllll day today.

We meant to write a joint post but unfortunately.....or fortunately?....the sun has been out all day and we couldn't resist the loungers in the garden!

Of course we got our 5 a day in by drinking 3 jugs of fruit filled Pimms....YUM!

The weather was so nice and hopefully we have caught a little bit of colour!
We did both have SPF on though so fingers crossed we haven't burned.

M was in shock at how much the freckles on her face have come out today, the sun has brought out loads on my arms too!

Just in case you guys haven't yet entered, we have a giveaway that is ending TODAY!!!
If you want beautiful blemish free skin you should enter it for the chance to get this!

You can enter HERE if you'd like to, it's so easy!


Hope you've enjoyed your day/weekend as much as we have :)

L and M
xxx

Review: Urban Decay All Nighter Make Up Setting Spray

I'd had my eye on this Setting Spray from Urban Decay for quite some time before M got it for me for my birthday (woohoo!)

I'm always looking for products that will make my make up last longer and stop the shine from appearing and allowing my make up to slide down my face.
I'm sure most of us are the same when it comes to looking for products like these!

We both tried to get our hands on this product over Christmas time but because they were being repackaged it was near impossible and after a few weeks of trying I gave up, so it was a LUSH surprise when M gave this to me! Along with some essential Soap and Glory goodies too, I was spoilt!

Here's the blurb on the side of the box...

I love the colours they've used for this, the effect is so simple and I used this type of effect in my art GCSE sketchbooks so the writing and presentation wasn't boring but didn't take away from the product.

I also like that they've given you tips to apply the product in an X and T formation, which other similar products leave out.

Not only are there good instructions but also a list of stats from a 7 day study which sound promising!

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand is if that wasn't enough the spray is oil and paraben free and utilises temperature control technology. What on earth more could you ask for!

So moving onto the packaging of the product, the colours follow on from the box and are kept really simple. I love simple as I'm always mentioning and  this is exactly what I like.
Each setting spray has a different colour; Chill is a cooling and hydrating spray and is lilac in colour, All Nighter is purple (shown below) and is for long lasting make up, and De Slick is grey and for oil control.

The spray is SO simple to use and a joy to apply, the X and T formation is very easy to understand covers the face after 2 goes but I do apply quite a bit as it's so soothing!
It's such a nice feeling as the liquid sinks in and feels like its hydrating my make up and 'setting' it at the same time.

My skin has been very confusing as of late and although I do still have the oily T zone I also have dehydrated skin which needs constant hydration. This was the best spray for me to have as my skincare is compensating for the oily/dehydrated issues and I just need help keeping my make up on my face for longer.

I would say this definitely helps to keep my make up looking fresher for longer. I've tried it at work and on nights out and it's a joy to apply.
I've compared it to Collection's Fix Me Up spray as well and can definitely say that this Setting spray works better as my make up lasted longer without shine appearing when it normally would have. It also works out better on cost too, when comparing size and price.

For 100ml of Collection's Fix me up it would cost you £33.28, but for Urban Decay's Setting Sprays it would only cost you £27.
I know which one I will be picking up!

Have you tried setting sprays? Which is your favourite from Urban Decay?

L xxx

LK Bennett Spree

Well girls, (and any gents!) I have officially got to the age where my friends are getting married.

I am currently single so talk of weddings is a) not on my radar, and b) getting a little too much sometimes.

A lot of my friends have been very fortunate in that they've got jobs straight out of uni and haven't had to do Masters etc and so as a result are considerably better off than myself.

Because of this weddings and mortgages are a constant topic of conversation, and whilst I love my friends and am happy they are getting everything they want out of life it's difficult when you can just about make ends meet. 

I have 2 friends getting married this year and as I have now got myself a new job I decided it was time to splash out a little and get myself some really nice dresses to wear to the weddings as I really am excited for them and will have the photos forever!

Wedding 1 is a big fancy city affair with lots and lots of guests and she is spending absolute thousands on it, whereas in contrast Wedding 2 is a more home made and country type celebration and done to a budget. This meant it was going to be a challenge to find something that could be worn for both weddings (we all knew I was going to have to buy 2 in the end though don't we!)

I'd been to Swindon's designer outlet many times and never seen anything in my size in LK Bennett, so was absolutely astounded when I went there recently and found not 1, not 2, but 7 dresses all in my size.

It was like I'd won the lottery.

I legged it to the changing room, stripped off and tried on each dress one by one, twirling around in front of the mirror with a borrowed pair of LK Bennett court shoes that the lady kindly lent me.

It was amazing until I whittled my choices down to 3 dresses and had to make the important decision which to buy and which to keep.

Originally I'd planned to get one dress because the weddings are for friends from different groups and I could get away with wearing the same dress, but after this decided it had to be 2.
I thought I'd made my decision until my mum insisted one looked better so i was stuck, until she caved and offered to buy me one THANK YOU SO MUCH MUM. She won't ever read this but all the same, I appreciate it so very much, and keep looking at my purchases every now and then!

Without further waffling on lets get and show you my most prized posessions!!!

This is for wedding 1:







I had to get a bigger size so that it would do up over my boobs but luckily it doesn't look baggy, even though I can hold a considerable amount of the material around my lower half.
I own those magic pants with padding in to make your bum appear more like Beyonce's so I think I'll wear those seeing as no one will be seeing me undressed and I can look more proportional!


The next two are actually the same dress in 2 different colours. This was what I was having trouble choosing between as they're multifunctional and can be worn both ways round.
I absolutely love both colours and was finding it hard to choose!










Love this one as, I'm not afraid to say it, I felt like Kate Middleton in my navy LKB dress!

This one is so comfy and flattering with the ruching it's not hard to see why this was so popular. Especially as it can be reversed as shown below.
The only issue with wearing it with a low back is finding a bra, but I'm sure i can find one that will do.

I love the shape it gives me and this is the one my mum insisted on making me buy so bought it for me herself. It was also the cheapest so she did well there ;)
Her argument was that I could wear this to many things including work if there was an occasion and I'm hoping one day she's right.


This is the same dress in coral.







This one didn't seem as flattering as the navy one the second time, mainly as I could see my underwear through it so I'm going to have to be careful, but I just love coral and can't get enough of it!

These styles are all classic so hopefully as long as I don't gain any weight I'll be ok to keep and wear them for a few years to come! I imagine I'll be going to more and more weddings now as more of my friends get engaged and have another to go to next year already.

Which do you think I should wear to wedding 2? It's in September, so could be wholly dependent on the weather! Also, which way round should I wear them??

What do you think of LK Bennett? Do you shop in the discounted designer outlets?

I'm a huge fan!

L xxx

Laura Mercier Silk Creme Foundation

A few months back we both made a trip to Bristol to have our make up done in Harvey Nichols at the Laura Mercier counter. We do have a counter in Cardiff, but at the time of booking an international make up artist was to be visiting Bristol when we booked and it was a great opportunity to learn some new tricks.

Unfortunately the week or so before our appointment the international MUA decided to leave to go to New York a few days earlier than planned and so we couldn't have our make up done. But having booked our trains etc to go we decided to have a wander around Bristol on the way to staying at M's parent's home for the weekend.

Having put a £10 deposit down I was already quite sure what I wanted to spend my money on and stuck with my decision, for once! And also, quite proud, I didn't buy anything extra either!



The MUA from the store itself was lovely and chatty and as we'd both booked for the same time we had different girls and sat opposite each other with a glass of champagne (at 11am too! why not eh)

My MUA went through the options with me and talked about my skin and what look I wanted etc as you would expect. I chose my colours and then she got stuck into it.

I was massively surprised at how well the colours of Silk Creme foundation matched that of my own skin. I had fake tanned for that night out and the colour down from this (think it was Rose something?) blended into my skin leaving absolutely no trace whatsoever but gave a flawless base.
I took a gamble and went for the colour up from that for my purchase knowing that tanning is a fortnightly occurrence in my life and not regular enough to buy that shade.



Luckily for me it was perfect! Medium Ivory blends into my skin colour so perfectly it is quite unbelievable, I still am shocked to find such a good natural colour that doesn't white me out or make me look orange, it doesn't leave my skin looking patchy or even like it's got make up on at all.

With regards to the packaging I think it's really simple, Laura Mercier is a n understated brand and the packaging of everything is quite minimalistic and natural.



The foundation itself is definitely thicker than most I've used before, it lives up to it's 'creme' name but means that you need a minimal amount to cover your face.

You can see it on my hands below. The first shows a small blob of foundation which you can see is really thick and not likely to run on my hand. The second is as I initially started to blend the foundation and it sort of starts to 'melt' for want of a better word.

The last picture you can see is after it's all been blended in. My hand looks flawless and glowing and you can't really see the make up on the skin as you can with others.

But enough of my hand, here it is on the face!

First off here's a close up, my skin looks pretty blemish free, no scars yet the foundation has blended in without leaving much of a residue or coating as others do.





There are no visible lines of colour change around my hair line in the photo above and it hasn't settled into any of my 'laughter lines' around my eyes. (I'm 25 so can't possibly have wrinkles yet....)



Overall I am a big fan of this foundation. It blends quite easily after working it for a while, as I mentioned before it seems to warm up on the face and 'melt' which gets it to that flawless finish.
Retailing at £33 this foundation isn't cheap. I do begrudge paying that amount on a foundation knowing that I still need to apply a load of other products to my face which cost as well.

I'm hoping that cost per wear will bring this higher up in my list of foundations, to be honest its pretty high up there the more I use it as I know it will give me a great base that lasts and also photographs beautifully.
But if it was a little cheaper I'd be more inclined to purchase it again. Maybe in the future when i don't have 15 foundations it will seem a better investment!

What do you think of Silk Creme foundation? What other Laura Mercier products have you tried? Would you spend £33 on a foundation?


I was actually really disappointed with the make over that I was given. Being quite pale with dark hair I was surprised when I looked in the mirror at the end and found ginger coloured eye shadows, no eyebrow products at all and really awful eye shadow blending looking back at me.
I have no doubt that the base was perfect, and the lipstick she used on me was outstanding and it's firmly on my wishlist due to the colour and consistency. But the general look was awful and I ended up wiping off the eyeshadow as soon as I could get to a bathroom and as the make over was supposed to be for a night out later that day it was really disappointing to have to remove it all and start again.

Have you had a makeover by them before? What did you think?

I'd go back again as some of their products were great but I'd probably make sure I didn't get the same make up artist again.

L xxx