No Make Up Make Up FOTD

Hey All

As much as I love a full face of make up some days I prefer to go for a more natural look. I'm not the best at natural as if I'm wearing make up I tend to like to go all out. I've found one thing that helps is going for a brown/black mascara and one that's not what I'd normally like. I'm not one to step away from the mascara wand and think one more coat always helps (until it's one coat to many and you end up with 5 lashses!!)

The products I tend to reach for when wanting a more natural look are

• Urban Decay Naked 3 (review) especially shades strange, limit and nooner
• Bourjois Healthy Mix (review) 
• HD Brows foundation Powder (review)
• Benefit Fake Up (review)
• Benefit Gimme Brow (review)
• Makebelieve Enhance Sunbream Bronzer (review)
• Seventeen Cheek Stamp Blush in Blushin'
• George Volume Lash brown/black
• No7 High Shine Lip Crayon in Daydream

Here are the swatches without flash above and with flash below. Lipstick, blush, bronzer, naked eyeshadows in strange, limit and nooner.

Annoyingly my phone seems to have a feature I can't figure out how to take off and blurs my selfies. I love a foundation like Bourjois healthy mix for looks like this as it has enough pigment to even out my skintone but is light enough to not leave the skin looking totally flawless. A little bit of Benefit fake up blends away the dark circles. I then lightly set it with the HD brows powder foundation. For brows I love using Gimme Brow. Using a coloured brow gel helps the brows stand out more without looking too defined and still leaves them looking like brows.

I'm someone who has to contour every day, but I do apply it very lightly just to the hollows of my cheek bones for this type of make up. For me I find my skin most compliments a baby pink blush for a softer look. Lately I've been trying to save my beloved Dandelion and the Seventeen Blush is being a good substitute although I found the application a little weird.

For eyes it's probably the hardest for me to keep natural. Where I have naturally fair eyelashes I'm used to applying lots to make my eyes stand out. I'm loving using the George Mascara as it gives my eyelashes a bit of colour and volume. The eye shadows in Naked 3 are great for adding a little bit of colour to the eyes without it looking too much. I strange all over, limit through the crease then a small amount of nooner. For lips a bit of lip balm would work but as I recently borrowed the No7 lip crayon from my mum I've been loving the slight wash of colour!

What products do you use for the more natural make up days?

Love M

xxx

Smashbox Photo Finish Blemish Control Primer

Hey there!

It has been a little while since I've written a beauty post so it's been lovely and self indulgent to get back to my make up stash.

Today's review is of the Smashbox Photo Finish Blemish Control Primer.

I bought this months ago, me and M both went to a Smashbox event which was really good fun - we made a few purchases and I've been slowly using them over the last couple of months.

The Blemish Control primer was surprisingly lovely - I've tried a sample size of the original primer previously and it felt like it had a lot of silicone in it which my skin doesn't really like.

However this primer was totally different, it was a white thin product almost like a lotion in texture. It applied really easily and created an even base to put make up on which is perfect.

The primer soaked up the oil on my face and kept my oily t-zone at bay during the day. I can't comment on whether the primer helps to control blemishes - I luckily don't get many spots nowadays (apart from the ones that only medication would help!) but my skin definitely felt pretty good whilst i was using this primer.

I'd say that it barely felt like i had anything on my skin but my make up stayed for a working day whenever i wore it which was great, I think i just needed to re-powder once or twice but that's to be expected.

I think that i would probably repurchase this in future, the primer comes to £28 which is on the expensive side but there are often deals in Boots to get a free gift or extra points which make it worthwhile. I would definitely recommend it if you are struggling to keep your make up on during the day over troublesome skin.

Have you tried the primers from Smashbox? Which one was your fave?

I really want to try the illuminating and hydrating ones!

L xxx

Elsie's Attic - Vintage Dresses

Hey All

Hope you've had a good weekend. I thought I'd share some dresses I've been loving lately especially for special occasions. Whilst browsing facebook one day I discovered a page called Elsie's Attic (facebook). I instantly fell in love with all of the dresses and as my niece is called Elsie took it as a sign I needed to order lots (who am I kidding I just liked the dresses and use anything as an excuse to shop!) I'm a pear shaped girl so anything that nips in at the waist and goes over the hip is a winner for me.

The first dress is a Lindy Bop dress. Elsie's Attic stock a lot of these. This was actually a birthday present from my other half's parents as his mum had spotted on facebook that I liked it and offered to get me one of my choice.

I instantly loved the neckline of this dress, the nipped in waste and the print. It's a little bit brighter than the image below shows. Once my other half gets back from his work trip I'll try and get some better one's of it. I love that the dresses can be worn with or without petticoats. I have a full petticoat I'd planned to wear with it but actually forgot to take it with me. This one feels great quality and is a lovely silky print dress! The back dips down lower than the front but not low enough to worry about bras showing. Also for me these dresses are great as I can order my normal size and not worry about it fitting over my hips. The dress is £36 but currently out of stock in the bird print. I really want it in the green and the burgundy. I love a good occasion dress! The waspie style belt comes with it too and really finishes off the dress!

The other dress I've got from the website isn't a branded one and one I picked up in the sale. I instantly loved the shirt style top half of this dress. This one comes with a small petticoat built in but for fullness I added my own full petticoat (these can be picked up cheaply on ebay!). I wore this to a friends recent wedding. Excuse the facial expression as I didn't know the photo was being taken (ever a lady with a pint in hand!) This dress also came with a belt made from the same fabric I love that so far all the dress I've ordered come with belts as I do think it really finishes the outfit off. I love the little details on it make the dress look great quality such as fabric covered buttons.

Wedding Guest Vintage Dress

I love dresses like this, they always make me feel glamorous and confident as they are cover parts of my body I don't like. Delivery from Elsie's Attic has always been efficient and it's definitely worth checking out the sale for more bargains.

I'll be ordering more dresses if more occasions pop up. I do have a third dress from the site but no great photos of it. I've worn them to weddings, gradations and dresses them down for dinners without the petticoat.

Would you go for this style dress?

Love M

xxx

here's some links to other wedding outfit posts :)
Asos
hybrid
Warehouse

Revolucion De Cuba Cardiff

Hey All

This weekend has been a busy one with a visit to Margam Park and Go Ape which was awesome! Last week I did a life lately post and mentioned I'd been to Brighton, when I got back from Brighton my parents were in Cardiff for the evening so we popped out for food. As it was raining and they were staying in the Hilton my dad suggested trying Revs de Cuba as he'd walked by earlier. For me I'd only been in there for nights out so wasn't sure what to expect but agreed! It was amazing so I decided it needed sharing. Not great food photos but we all just wanted to get stuck in.

Me and mum started on Pina Coladas! I love a Pina Colada and this didn't disappoint. It was a good mix of creamy and pineapple. I find sometimes in the UK they aren't very generous on the coconut cream and just shove in some Malibu! Even better they were two for one!

My lovely mum!

Revs De Cuba, Food, Tapas, Cardiff

On Sunday's all Tapas dishes are two for one. Revs de cuba do some great deals on the tapas dishes! We decided to opt for 6 dishes and sides of sweet potato fries and sourdough breads! The breads come with some tasty butters! For the food we opted for Calamari (forever a favourite of mine and this didn't disappoint!), Pork Belly Skewers (these were so tasty, and perfectly melt in the mouth.), Roasted Chorizo (this came in a wine and honey sauce, we all ended up dipping the breads in this too as it was too good to leave!), Serrano Ham Bruschetta, Cajun Cream Mushrooms and Patatas Bravas.

It was all really tasty tapas and we had full table service! I hadn't expected it to be so good and don't usually think of it as a restaurant.! I'll definitely be heading back and taking L with me!

Have you eaten in any Revs De Cuba?

Love M

xxx