Brand Focus : Live Love London

Brand Focus : Live Love London

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Over the past few days, I have been thinking about a bringing a series to my blog - one that I know I will be able to manage and keep going every month. Being a huge beauty lover, I thought that I could potentially focus on a brand(s), at least one post a month, and give my honest opinions on all the products I own from them. I'm planning to showcase brands both highly recognised and upcoming, whether it be telling to guys about my favourite highend brand or expressing my love for an afforable brand that not many know about. Who knows, I might incorporate some fashion brands in the future if this goes down well?

The first brand we are going to zoom into is Live Love London - a company that have recently released a new beauty range exclusive to BHS. From haircare to makeup, Live Love London offer it all beauty-wise with affordable prices attached! However, the products that particularly intrigued me were their face palettes and lipsticks. Here is how I got on...

Bronze & Light Palette £6.75

What we have here is one of the most aesthetically pleasing bronze,blush and highlight palettes I've seen on the high street side of the spectrum. Encased in a sleek, black compact, 6 beautiful shimmer shades are arranged. Each shade is extremely diverse - something hard to find in any palette. I find that a lot of companies produce cosmetics that are TOO similar in the same palette, making me question whether it is worth the buy. Also, most shades are EXTREMELY pigmented (the bottom row and the white highlight), although I wouldn't count this as a negative point simply because I prefer blush shades to be sheer. This helps me to apply the shade subtly and not end up turning into a toy doll. 

Top Row (left to right)

~ A peach/coral toned pink with tiny golden glitter particles ~

~ A muted, mauve pink with a metallic sheen ~

~ A pure champagne white enriched with thousands of silver glitter ~

Bottom Row (left to right)

~ A salmon pink layered with a metallic, iridescent glow ~ 

~ A muted, mustard brown with flecks of golden glitter ~ 

~ An intense orange-copper with high metallic overtones ~ 

My personal favourites are two highlighting shades - the white and salmon pink will both look incredible on the cheeks for summer because of their glitter intensity. I just LOVE glitter!!! 

HD Contour Expert Palette £10

Contouring is a huuuuge thing in the beauty world. Therefore, I like to 'jump on the bandwagon' and try things out too. I already own a lot of high end contour products but nothing from the drugstore. I'm only used to working with powder contour, so was thrilled to find out that Live Love London contained 6 powder contour shades for me to work with. The palette is accompanied with a practical mirror and a small guide as to where the shades work best on the face. I am yet to venture into this crazy, intense contour look but I will let you know when I finally pluck up the courage to do so. 

Each of the powders are finely milled, feel silky on the skin and are highly pigmented. There are two highlight shades and four contour shades; the contour colours cater for all skin types which makes the palette versatile and universal. Despite being suitable for all skin types, I would like to say that I feel 5 shades would still be able to work on my skin - if not, I will be able to fit it into an eyeshadow look somehow.

Lipsticks £2 each

Lip products are one of my favourite things about makeup. I cannot begin to describe my excitement whenever I go lipstick shopping; trying different branded lipsticks is something that I enjoy and I would love to share with you my experiences.

First of all, the price is INSANE! I love affordable lipsticks, especially when they leave an impressive result. These are relatively long-lasting, considering their pleasing value - I wore them for roughly 3 hours before reapplying and this time scale is no different from the majority of my drugstore lippies. 

Secondly, Live Love London offer a wide range of lipstick shades. For me, these will be worn and cherished; pinks and reds are my thaaang. Both are wearable and are not too striking, making them perfect for everyday use. I also love the pigmentation and hydration these lipsticks offer - my lips are super sore after the winter months have passed and need a lot of TLC. These leave a moisturising coat on the top of my lips, which makes my lips feel soft and hydrated. Oh, and let's not forget...they smell like sherbet!!!

Have you tried anything from the Live Love London beauty range yet? What is your favourite drugstore brand?

Lots of love

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The products mentioned were gifted from Live Love London, however all opinions are honest and my own.

Why I'm Obsessed Makeup Palettes...

Why I'm Obsessed Makeup Palettes...

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When admiring my new dressing table and makeup collection the other day, I suddenly acknowledged the ridiculous amount of palettes I've gathered throughout my years of makeup hoarding. Thus, I've brought a post to you today dedicated to my beloved compacts and why they are such an important part of my makeup-revolved world...

Urban Decay Naked Smoky Palette

Urban Decay Gwen Stefani Palette

High end up eyeshadow palettes have invaded my entire makeup collection over the past two year, and has been ever-growing since. Through experience, I have personally found Urban Decay to hold the best high end shadows - great pigmentation, incredible colour range, multiple palettes, fab lasting power and overall look. I cannot get enough of UD's shadows and will continue to repurchase. 

Nars Steven Klein One Shocking Moment Cheek Studio Palette, Makeup Revolution Blushes & Urban Decay Naked Flushed (STREAK)

Post-eyeshadow-palette-craziness, I became introduced to the wondrous face/blush palettes in both the drugstore and highend brands. I'm in love with my Nars Steven Klein palette - the contour shade is an absolute DREAAAAAM to blend and the multiple blush shades are perfect for travelling. I also love the affordable palettes - e.g. Makeup Revolution have some fab palettes you should try if you haven't already. Their blushes are super pretty but insanely pigmented - so watch out when applying!!

Dior Sundeck , Bobbi Brown Pink Opal and L'Oreal Marron Glace

The smaller compact must no go a-miss. I love the little eyeshadow palettes you can get, both luxury and affordable. These three lil palettes completely summarise my eyeshadow go-to's; I'm a sucker for bronze/browns all year round, pinks in the spring/summer and orange tones in the winter. 

Why do I love all these palettes so much, do you ask? Well, they are simply four main reasons. 1 - I adore how versatile they are, they can hold an endless array of colours perfect for any occasion. 2 - If you are indecisive, like myself, you can just take 12423423 blushes with you in case you can't decide spontaneously. 3 - Cosmetic palettes inspire me to change my daily makeup routine - the variety of shades you can get in one palette allows me to alternate my looks on a regular basis so I'm getting full use of my makeup collection. 4 - Like the majority of beauty lovers, compacts are travel friendly so you can't have enough. They can really save so much space in your bag, a definite beauty need.

What's your favourite beauty palette? 

Lots of love

Make Yourself Sparkle This Winter!

Make Yourself Sparkle This Winter!

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We all know that winter is truly here: the cold weather has swiftly approached, it's already the final month of the year and everyone is putting up their Christmas decorations. I am so excited for Christmas this every year, and love to find new glittery beauty products to make my face sparkle all winter-round. 

This year I finally purchased one of many beauty bloggers favourite highend highlighters - the infamous Urban Decay Naked Illuminated Powder in AURA!!! I couldn't resist adding another gorgeous highlighter to my collection and even better, it completely unique to any that I already own.

Encased in a chunky, champagne coloured compact, this peachy, golden baked glitter ball had me in awe; it was definitely my favourite shade out of the three on offer (Lit + Luminous)! There is soooo much sparkle through product and the formulation is insanely pigmented so a little goes a VERY long way - using the contour brush from the Real Techniques Bold Metals range provides precise application to the cheekbones followed by a fluffy brush to thoroughly blend and avoid that 'glitter ball mess' look. 

The peachy tone in Aura majorly contributes to the overall Christmas vibe to the product - without that peachy glow, my complexion would be completely washed out and their would be no colour on my cheeks to give any depth to my makeup look. Something I have become really fond of in the makeup world recently is the definition you can form by applying different colours to areas of the face. Contouring has impacted insane amounts in the makeup industry this year - it is the highlighters turn to take the limelight in 2016, does anyone else agree?!

Being a performer, I also bought this product as an added bonus because it states that you can use it to illuminate your body too. This would be amazing on the collarbones/arms for my dance/theatre shows - I can imagine it would catch the stagelights wonderfully.

Sorry for my lack of posts and absence over the past month. I will try and stay posting as much as possible - A levels are the worst!!! 

Comment below if you love wearing glitter/sparkle in Winter just like me!

Lots of love

7 Ways to Highlight and Glow

7 Ways to Highlight and Glow

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You know them days when you are feeling ill, you're having a bad day or your skin just looks plain dull, if you do...I'm here to help! I've collated 7 my favourite 'pick-me-up' products to make you glow and shine right from within, and out. Today, I've chosen to talk about face and eyes products, as I believe they are the most prominent facial features to brighten up your daily look. 

First up, we have the Simple Illuminating Radiance Cream (£7.99). This is the more generalised, all over glow product; you can wear this simply on its own all over the face or personally I like to use it as a primer or mixed with my foundation. The overall effect is gorgeous, especially in winter, as there are tiny glitter flecks running throughout that make your face physically sparkle. 

The second face product that works absolute wonder is the YSL Touche Eclat Radiant Touch Concealer (£24). If you want to highlight specific areas of the face (eg, under eyes, cheek bones, nose etc) then this is perfect for you! With the applicator being in pen form, it is extremely handy for precision and focusing on particular areas of the face. This one is super good for creating the Kim K under eye highlight shabam.

The final three face products are various formulated highlighters - a cream, powder and liquid. Soap and Glory Glow All Out (£11) has lovely peachy undertones that look ultra pretty in the sun when applied to the cheekbones, completely uplifting the face. Rimmel Wake Me Up Instant Shimmer Touch 001 Flush of Pearl (£4.99) is a liquified formula that presents a similar colour to that of Glow All Out. However, this holds a greater glow, due to its liquid formula. Finally, Benefit's Watt's Up (£24.50) is my ultimate highlight - it is a creamy dream come true! An intense champagne coloured product which is super easy to blend - what more could you ask for?

Lastly, we are looking at the eye products of today's post. Mac's Vanilla Pigment (£17) and Calvin Klein's Eyeshadow Bare Silk (£12) are beautiful white/cream/neutral eye essentials. CK's cream shadow is great for a glowing white shadow base, it is very pigmented too. Vanilla is another fave - this one is amazing for inner corner highlight and making them brow bones shine. 

Sorry for the excessive use of words like 'highlight', 'glow' and 'radiance' in this post, but I'm sure you will live, eh??? Hope you are all having a lovely weekend - keep smiling!

Love