Life Lately!!

The past two weekends have been really busy but in the best way. I thought I'd share what I've been getting up to lately as I've had a good past few weeks.

The week before last I took a weeks holiday from work to go and spend some time with my family. One of my closest friends was getting married and I wanted to be around if she needed any help with anything.

It was lush to spend a week at home with the family and spend lots of time with them and friends. My mum made sure my week was busy. It started off with a family meal at a local pub. How amazing is this feast me and my dad shared. Gotta love pub grub! It was amazing to see my nieces. They always make me laugh.

My dad makes amazing food. Especially food you can pick and share. He made this feast for us.

When I'm home I do a lot of cooking. I love to cook for people. This is an amazing chicken satay with chilli, lime noodles.

When at home it's now become tradition to go for cocktails with my parents one night. Me and my dad both love a drink so he loves the excuse. I'm so lucky to have such a great family.

mmmm this was a mudslide!! It was amazing!!

My week at home was finished with the privilege of becoming a bridesmaid. I was so grateful my friend chose me, and she picked us the most stunning dresses and went all out on jewellery and shoes for us. It was amazing to be part of her day and see her and her husband so happy. It was an amazing day!!

The tables looked amazing and I loved the purple roses!!

My bridesmaid dress!! I have ice cream in hand as they had an ice cream cart for after the ceremony which was a lovely touch.

Here is a sneak peak of the first dance. My friend looked so beautiful and her dress was perfect for her. I did almost cry a few times but held it together. There first dance was Ho Hey and her brother performed it.

And a little drunk photo!! It was such a great wedding and I can't wait to see more of my friends get married!!

Love M

xxx

Review: Avon Eyelid Primer

Eyelid primer is something I use most days. I find eye shadows crease on my lid if I don't use one. I was using Urban Decay Primer Potion but wanted a cheaper alternative to it.

When I saw Avon had bought out an eyelid primer I knew I had to try it. The Avon eyelid primer currently comes in the shade light beige. It comes in a glass pot with a black lid. It's a similar size to a gel liner. I like the simplicity of the pot but wish it was in something other than a pot. At the moment I use a brush to scoop it out when I'm wearing false nails. 

As you can see it's well loved. I've been using it everyday since I got it. I can't remember exactly when it was but I think it was around March time and I've still got over half left. The eyelid primer is a light texture that softly blends onto the eye. 

The neutral colour works really well on my eye and just evens out my eyelid and really prolongs my eye shadow wear and prevents creasing.

As you can see when it's blended out it just looks perfect on the skin and provides a perfect base.

This photo shows the eye shadow after 14 hours wear. Colour is still on most of my eye and there is only a small amount of creasing. This is using the MUA palette. With my Naked 2 palette it lasts even better.

I'm so impressed with this eyelid primer and it'll definitely be a repurchase for me. My make up lasts so much better and looks brighter with it. It also applies easier.

The primer can be bought for £7 here. As with most Avon products it'll probably be on offer soon.

What's your favourite eyelid primer? I'm glad I found a cheaper alternative.

Love M

xxx

Essie Good To Go Top Coat

Good morning!

This is a quick post from me today, as me and M are both away this weekend for one of our friends hen weekends!
Fingers crossed it will be so much fun and I know there's an afternoon tea on the cards!

For a little while now this has been my go to top coat for whenever I do my nails, this is Essie's Good To Go Rapid Dry Top Coat:

I'm one of those people that changes nail colour every other day, which mostly means that top coat doesn't matter for protecting nails for a long length of time.
But they get a battering at work so they chip really easily and anything that prolongs the chipping is good by me!

This top coat also dries really fast which is a huge bonus for me as I also am really impatient and cannot wait at all!

This polish also gives great shine and I think its worth the £8.99 price tag, it lasts a while as I had the first bottle for a year before it ran out, which is impressive considering how much I paint my nails!

Both the photos below show Essie's Watermelon and Tart Deco with the Top Coat on:

It looks shiny but not too gloopy, it's super easy to apply and dries pretty fast, and when I've put it to the test to see how long it lasts I've managed a miraculous 5 days without any chipping.

I definitely would repurchase as I already have and would again!

I haven't used Seche Vite before but I really think this might compare, what's your favourite top coat?

Have you tried Essie's Good to go Top coat? Or any of their others?

L xxx

Real Techniques Kabuki Brush

A little while ago I bought the Real Techniques Foundation brush, but unfortunately after using it a few times the bristles started to fall out, which as we all know is a rare occurrence with these brushes.

After contacting them and sending them a photo, they promised to send me out another. I was so surprised when in the package there was not only a replacement brush but also a kabuki brush as an apology!
I was amazed at the service and customer care i received and would recommend these brushes to anyone.

I hadn't seen the kabuki brush in store before, which is not surprising as apparently Boots don't stock it, but you can get it from online sites such as Feel Unique and Escentual.
It's really disappointing that Boots don't sell them all as I like the see them in the flesh before purchasing.

I'm sure you can tell from the picture below how amazingly soft and fluffy this brush is!
I thought the blush brushes were super soft but this one is on another level!

You can see the tapered shape of the brush, and because of this shape I adore it for applying bronzer to the hollows of my cheek bones to help sculpt some shape into my face.
It picks up any product (my favourites being Benefit's Dallas or Bourjois Chocolate Bronzer) really easily but doesn't seem to overload on application to the face. Any uneven application is also easily buffed away with this brush and it is even great for application of setting powder to the entire face.

Let's just appreciate how big and fluffy it is again:

Another feature of this brush is that it separates in half, and is held together by a magnet. I haven't used it as a flat brush very much yet, but according to the accompanying video on YouTube (found here) it's better for applying bronzer so I will have to give it a go!
The YouTube channel for Real Techniques is brilliant for tips to use their brushes so you should check it out.

Do you own the kabuki brush?
The magnet halves intrigue me, unfortunately mine doesn't seem to be magnetic any more but it doesn't seem to be a problem.

Real Techniques are a very popular brand and I can definitely see why, I've loved every brush I've ever bought from them and their customer service is fabulous!

Just have to decide what brush to buy next....

L xxx