Seventeen Stay Time Long Wear Primer

I always find on the blog I never share products that are bad or just a bit meh! (great describing word there I know but couldn't think of anything better) I always plan to write them but usually get excited by something and share that instead. This year I am going to try and share more products that I personally didn't get on with.

When I was home at Christmas I had forgotten to take a primer home with me so had to go to boots to buy one. As my stash of all make up back here in Cardiff is rather large I decided to pick up a cheap primer to save wasting money. 

I spent a while swatching them on my hands to test them out and in the end settled on Seventeen Stay Time Long Wear Primer. 

You get 20 ml of primer for £5.49 which seemed pretty reasonable to me. On the hand at first it felt sticky but once it had settled felt smooth and not too heavy.

The packaging is pretty simple. Classic white and black. The different fonts I think attract the younger market that it's aimed at and the squeezy tube works well for the product.

The product itself is nude in colour and very thick so only needs a little. It blends out and feels light when blended but it does feel sticky until it has fully sunk in. The first think I don't like. The sticky feeling is annoying but as it felt smooth on my hand I was willing to look past it.

On my face when I first applied it and left it for a few minutes to sink in I was impressed. It had smoothed out and left a nice matte but light feeling finish.

Product blended out

Then the problems started. I'm yet to find a moisturiser this agrees with. It seems to be one of those that when you apply foundation over the top it starts to rub off. But this only happens on my cheeks. So I decided to persevere and try using it just on my T-Zone where I really need the primer.

Immediately after applying it's ok but after an hour or so any dry patches of skin or spots seem to be patchy and look awful. The primer seems to settle in these areas and start to clump together, not a great look!!

So all in all it's just a bit meh! It only works on my T-zone and it only works when I have clear skin. So if you are oily and not spotty this may work for you but for me I just can't get on with it!

Have you tried this primer? Did you find it better than me?

Love M

xxx

Get Ready WIth Me - Night Out

Hey All

Hope you had a good weekend. I've had a really busy week last week and the weekend was rather busy too. I went out on Friday night and thought I'd do a type of get ready with me post. I love watching these on YouTube and love FOTDs that show you the look step by step so it's easily re-creatable. The lighting and photos aren't great as it was night time!

After showing and washing my hair these are my current go to products! I have to use a lip scrub and I couldn't be without my breath of fresh air toner. As I've got a few big spots at the moment I use my Effaclar Duo before my moisturiser. As It was for a night out I used the Label.M volume foam to add some extra volume to my hair.

I was soooo impressed with the volume the label.m foam gave and it didn't make it sticky either or feel caked in product! Hello night out must have!

For a flawless night out for me there are four products I have to use! Benefit Porefessional, Illamasqua Skin Base applied with a beauty blender type sponge and Nars Creamy Concealor. They all just make my skin flawless. Illamasqua skin base was definitely a foundation I fell in love with only after using a beauty blender type sponge. It was all I found worked for me application wise! I then set all my base using my HD brows powder!! I'm really loving this for oil control and setting make up.

At the moment I'm totally in love with the make believe bronzer. It's a perfect matte shade and comes with the softest brush. I contour my cheek bones, nose and around my forehead and temples.

As I was going out it had to be Benefit Dandelion blush. No matter how much I wear other blushes none are as beautiful as this. I love the soft pink. I then used Mac MSF in soft and gentle. It really adds a shimmer to the cheeks.

To primer my eyes I blended constructivist Mac paint pot all over the lids up to the crease using a real techniques crease brush.

I then applied Mac naked lunch (a soft nude shimmer) all over the top of constructivist to set it.

To the crease I blended out a mid brown matte shade. This one is from a Lancome palette I have but is similar to UD tease in the naked 2 palette.

As it's been a while since I wore it I blended Mac Cranberry through the crease and under the eye. To smoke it out and to softer the redness I blended a matte black shade through the outer v and half way across the under eye.

For me it's all about the Eylure 116. They are one of my favourite lashes as they are subtle and just lenghten. I applied these and lashings of Maybelline Colossal Volume.

For my brows I used my Benefit browzings. I use a combination of the wax and powder and set with a Collection clear mascara. I think used my Laura Mercier Secret Concealer to line around my brows to highlight the brow bone and sharpen the brow line.

I then lined the eyes using my Maybelline gel liner in black and a real techniques liner blush. As I didn't want my eyes to be too black I used Rimmel Scandaleyes liner in nude to line my waterline.

For my hair I straightened it and add slight shape to the front by turn the straighteners. I hate it when my hair just sits flat.

For the lips I went with Mac Fanfare. It's such an easy to wear colour and looks soft and subtle on the lips without looking OTT when wearing a bolder eye.

Finally for my outfit I wore nude sparkly shorts bought in the New Look sale last year, New Look black vest with lace detail, New Look blazer, Primark fleece lined tights (I'm getting so old I wear tights on nights out!) and finished the look off with my Primark boots, Ollie and Nic clutch purse and my sphere of life heart necklace!

Hope you all had a great weekend! Do you mind photo heavy posts?

Love M

xxx

   

Happy Second Blogiversary!

Happy Sunday!

Today we thought we'd write a post on our 2 years of blogging. It came as a shock to us when we realised the other day that we'd completely missed our own 2nd blogiversary as it was on the 14th of January, so we thought we'd have a little celebration post!

Time has FLOWN since starting this blog and it has been a whirlwind of fun.

We've both been through so much in the last two years we thought it would be nice to have a quick recap and point out our favourite bits.

There has been so much going on in the past two years that it seems strange to think of it all. In that time I completed my masters and although at the time writing a blog and finishing my dissertation was a long task I am so glad I finally finished it and kept up the blog writing too.

I also went to university in America for a few months and that definitely hit my bank statement hard when stocking up on all the extras that I couldn't leave the country without!

Not only that but the amazing trips me and M have both been on; namely trips to both LFW's of 2013 with Benefit and Label M, the meet ups in Cardiff and Bristol and the genuinely lovely people who have become a part of our daily lives just through starting up a thing about make up and products!

It is the BEST feeling in the world when you've written something and somebody from the company thanks you for writing a review on one of their products, we pay for the majority of the items featured on our blog and as I'm sure we all know it is not good for the bank balance at all (looking at you blogger hype!).

However a huge thank you must go to every company who has ever given us products to review and write about. Not only have most of them been exactly what we would have bought with our own money anyway but I don't think we've had many bad reviews which we are extremely lucky to have had.

All in all its been a massively fun two years and I can only hope that the next two years will be exactly the same. Some people might think that co-writing a blog with someone must be really annoying and mean you have to compromise all the time, but we're both very similar and have agreed on everything so far!

Thanks also to our readers; we wouldn't have got anywhere if you didn't want to read our opinions so thanks  so much and hopefully you'll still want to read them in the future too!

L xxx

I can't believe it was over two years ago when L and I were sat in her dining room making the background for our original background. The blog has come so far and it really has been amazing to write it. It's been great to be able to share it with L and it has definitely made it easier to co write it with your best friend. It's so helpful to have somewhere there to help you when it's needed.

The past two years have seen me go back to university part time and start to really work towards a career that will make me happy. Last summer I walked away from a relationship that had run it's course and it was the hardest thing but it was the best decision and the past six months have been amazing and have seen me start to plan things I wouldn't have done before. I'm so excited to go to Glastonbury with L.

My make up collection has grown a ridiculous amount in the 2 years and my tastes have definitely got much more expensive. Blogging is definitely an expensive hobby but it's great to have all of you around to share it with.

Blogging has been amazing, meeting so many amazing people and getting to work with some great brands. We both can't wait to continue the blog and watch it grow!

Here's to more years of blogging and having an excuse to buy more make up than anyone could need!!

Happy Sunday all. Thanks for reading for staying with us for the past two years.

Love M

xxx

Origins Sensory Therapy: Peace of Mind

Hello lovelies!

I hope you're looking forward to your Saturday nights! I think mine will be a quiet one as I'm awaiting the wonderful pay day to arrive...as soon as it does I will surely be out and boogying away with the rest of you!

Origins are a brand that I'm a big fan of, and we've featured it many times on our blog.

This purchase from them is a little different and I hope this is a wonder product for you as much as it has been for me.

Origins Sensory Therapy is a nifty little product to keep with you at all times. I'm one of those people that stress out over things. I'm not so bad as I used to be but when I was working full time and at university full time things sometimes got a little much, and I'd find myself with lots of headaches due to the amount of pressure I was putting on myself to get things done.

I'd often take paracetamol to get me through as it was an easy solution. Obviously taking paracetamol is perfectly ok to do...but not long term. Not all the time and after eating so healthily and working out so hard i didn't like the thought of putting chemicals into my body any more.

One day my mum turned up with this, I can't claim all the credit as she was the one who showed me it and after borrowing it during a headache have been back to get myself one!

This is a small round pot with a dispenser at the top to pump out a small amount at one time. The smell is amazing in itself but the way this just dissolves a headache is amazing!

You simply follow the instructions on the box to apply this to your temples, ear lobes and the base of your neck and sit back for a few minutes.

 

As with all Origins products the ingredients list is always displayed, reading this one I can see so many essential oils listed and this is why i always think Origins are a great brand. not only are they open and honest about their ingredients they also use natural products which are much better for you than chemically synthesised ones. 

This product contains peppermint oil, rose, sweet almond, rosemary and basil amongst others.
I cannot recommend it enough for taking a few minutes out to relax, de-stress and relieve yourself of tension as well as combat headaches and migraines.

I've also seen it suggested for travel sickness, trouble sleeping and if you are suffering from the dreaded flu.

It's a bit of a wonder product and at £13 it's a little expensive for such a small amount but I would imagine this would last a while, and through plenty of headaches for me throughout the year!

Have you tried essential oils as a way to combat stress and headaches before? Are there any other products or essential oils you would recommend?

I wouldn't be without this now!

L xxx