Why, hello there...

So, it's been just over 3 months since I posted on here! This is because I've started studying Acting at university which is a very intense course so I have next to no time to be worrying about my blog and I don't really have a great set up for taking pictures in halls. 

But, I do miss blogging ever so much! I still go into shops and buy make up thinking 'I can't use it until I take a picture' or buying random thing because they'll be good for a post (particularly things from poundworld, found some amazing things in there recently!)

I really want to get back into blogging, it will be great as a little hobby on the side while at uni and I will probably use it more as a way to tell people what I'm up to as lots is going on! 

Granted I will still be super busy particularly going into the 2nd term so posts will be infrequent, but I'll try to do as many as I can. Also I need to experiment with taking photos in my halls but I'm sure I'll be able to figure something out!

Hope you all had a great Christmas/new years and I'm looking forward to seeing more of you all this next year!

Thanking you,

Naomi.

 Why, hello there...

'Because you know I'm all about that budget beauty'...doesn't quite fit the tune...

'Inspired by bustling London culture...Miss Beauty London will offer a value alternative to other british high street make-up brands.'

'The London look for less'

Poundworld have launched their own 100 piece beauty brand named 'Miss Beauty London' with all items suprisingly priced at £1 a piece. Miss Beauty London is the first £1 beauty brand to be developed and made in the UK, as apposed to its American rival Poundland's range 'Make up Gallery'. It's fantastic that they've chosen to keep manufacturing in the Uk, keeping the british manufacturing business alive (read an article from the Daily Mail on it here)

 I have tried some of Make Up Gallery products and found them a bit hit or miss, so I'm excited to see how these compare. This is going to be a sort of first impressions so if you want a full review of a specific item, let me know in the comments!

First off, the packaging is relatively basic, with the worn out GB flag as their main logo and plain writing. I get the feeling it's aimed at younger girls with the colours and packaging design (very similar to Miss Sport). In comparison to Make Up Gallery I probably prefer Make Up Gallery as the packaging looks more uniform and fancy, but the packaging still serves its purpose well. I guess it's more about the actual product when it comes to budget brands. 

The Flawless matte foundation* is SO much better than Make Up Academy's offering. It's really light considering it's a matte foundation and has relatively good coverage. I have only worn this once briefly so I can't give an extensive review but if you would like one, let me know in the comments! The pressed powders are really nice and soft, although they do have quite a bit of fall out but this is to be expected. I was sent two (Autumn Beige* and Ivory*) which unfortunately are both the wrong shade for me, but luckily I had already bought my shade (Sweet touch). Although they do offer bronzers, Autumn Beige* is actually all I need for a bronzer a it's not too dark and is matte. The blusher in the shade Cupcake is ok, it has quite a bit of fall out but I really like this shade as a highlighter. Unfortunately the liquid concealer in the shade 2* isn't the right shade but swatching it it seemed like it had good coverage and was nice and creamy, I will probably go back and purchase the right shade for me.

Next up we have eyes, and boy am I impressed! They have a volumising mascara and water proof mascara in their range, but the Lengthening mascara* is amazing at curling and lengthening AND separating my lashes which is just what I look for in a mascara. I'm yet to see what it's like after a days wear but so far so good! I normally go for a brown brow pencil but this time I thought I would try a blonde eyebrow pencil, and it's not too bad. Not too soft and has good pay off, can't really complain!

I'm not one for liners but they also offer a liquid liner and kohl liners, as well as a range of eye shadows.

Lip products are the ones I get most excited about. Lets get the not so great out of the way first. Their high shine lip gloss in clear shade 1* is the gloopiest thing ever. It's really hard to apply and is incredibly sticky. By itself it isn't massively shiny but applied over a lipstick it's alright. I know they have a range of coloured glosses so maybe they will be slightly better, but I'm not a huge lip gloss lover anyway. The Lipstick sealer I thought was a pretty cool addition to the Miss Beauty London collection as I don't think I've even seen a regular high street brand offer an affordable one of these. It's ok, it sort of makes your lips look matte which personally I like and might increase the lasting power a bit, but I don't think it would make it kiss proof. 

As for the lipsticks, I have found my new favourite! I won't go in to too much detail as I'm planning to do another post on them, but all you need to know is that for £1, I really can't recommend them enough!!

Overall I'm relatively impressed with their product range, and although some products are not so fantastic, others are worth more than their £1 price mark! If you have a Poundworld store near you, I would definitely recommend checking out their Miss Beauty London stand, I'm sure you'll find something you'll love!

As said before, if you would like a full review of any of the products mentioned or if there is a product they have that's not in this post you would like me to check out, let me know in the comments!

Visit their website here: Miss Beauty London

Have you tried anything from Miss Beauty London?

Thanking you,

Naomi

Read some more: Beauty pit and peak June 2015.

*Items marked with a * have been sent to me to be featured in a post, any items without a * have been purchased by myself with my own money. All opinions are my own.

As you can see, there is no foundation in this post. I stopped wearing foundation as I found with my eczema Foundation looked cakey and clung to my dry patches. So now I use my Garnier roll in light on concealer (from 99p stores) under my eyes and the Natural collection concealer in Fair on the rest of my face, then finish off with the Makeup Gallery pressed powder in shade 2 (Poundland own brand). I'm trying to use this powder up so I can move on to my Rimmel stay matte powder but for only £1 it isn't half bad!

For mascara I go between the Maybelline Lash Sensational or the Cover Girl Volume Exact (from TKMaxx). If I have the time I go for the Cover Girl one as it has a dryer formula and takes a few coats to get the desired effect, whereas the Maybelline one is very wet and only needs a coat or two - although being wet it is a bit harder to work with. For brows I use the Maybelline brow drama sculpting gel in Dark brown and the Seventeen brow pencil. When my eczema isn't too bad and my eyes aren't sore I wear the Rimmel Scandaleyes shadow stick in Trespassing Taupe, luckily my skin is pretty good at the moment so I can wear this more often. 

For lips I tend to change it up fairly often, but these are the ones I've been reaching for the most. This Lipstick from Primark is only £1, a really nice every day nude (review here). These next two are recent finds from Poundland which are perfect together. First off is the Rimmel Vinyl lip gloss in Snog. This over the top of Rimmel 1000 kisses lip liner in Rose quarts is the perfect deep pinky nude for when you want to put in a bit more effort.

Whats in your every day make up routine?

Thanking you,

Naomi.

Want to see my old make up routine? Check it out here!

The new releases are:

- Sweet Sheen lip balm available in 6 shades - £2

- MUA Luxe Whipped Velvet lips available in 5 shades - £3

- MUA Luxe Whipped velvet cheeks available in 5 shades - £3

- Pro-Base Prime and conceal correcting creams available in 4 shades - £2
- 3 new nail polish shades - £1
- Spring eye shadow palette - £4

I only picked up the lip products as I knew I would actually use these. I've got the Sweet sheen lip balm in Cherry Bomb and the whipped velvet in Spry. 

The packaging of both of these isn't too bad. I have my reservations about how long the lip balm will last as some of my other MUA lip products get smushed against the inside of the tube, but so far this one has been fine. The whipped velvet packaging is just a bog standard tube with a standard applicator. The handwriting on it has a nice effect, but other than that not much to report.

Want to see more of MUA, check out this post!

I also have this storage holder from poundland which I keep lip crayons in which also stays on top of my Muji drawers.

I have the 2 drawer wide muji storage drawers (the one without the fliptop lid). I decided not to go for the 5 drawer as they're a lot thinner and I don't have that much make up, and these were slightly cheaper. In the bottom drawer I keep eyeshadow, excess powders and excess foundation. I also keep any other mascaras I'm not currently using. 

In the top drawer I keep a little bit of everything, mainly things I like to switch up in my daily routine. I keep all my blushers, lipglosses, and concealers, as well as foundations and mascaras that I like to swap out. As said before on top of my drawers I keep all my other lip products, but I also keep my only high end make up product on there as well - Mac paintpot in painterly.

That's all for this post! If you would like to see a full make up collection post, leave a comment below.

Do you use muji storage? How do you store your makeup?

Thanking you,

Naomi

x

The newest ones are Peachy Keen (pink one) and Fawn Fancy (neutral/brown one). Peachy Keen is a coral pink which would be more suited for the summer. It has great pigmentation but it will stick to any dry patches to have on your lips. I'm not sure it totally suits me but I'm sure I'll find a way to make it work, maybe mixing it with another colour would work better.

Fawn Fancy is much more suited to my skin tone I think, although the packaging on mine isn't great as the bullet is a bit loose and scrapes along the side of the tube. It does mean I have to keep moving the lipstick back in to place which is bit of a faff, and it may end up breaking off soon. I haven't had this problem with any of the other lipsticks so maybe this was just a dud. But the actual colour is really nice, very pigmented, and I like to wear this along with MUA's Power pout in Rendezvous. Perfect for autumn!

The second two are Wild berry and Red siren. My favourites! Wild berry has been a favourite lipstick for a while now. I actually did a full review of it here. But in general it's a great lipstick and an amazing berry colour!

Lastly we have Red siren. This is more of a cherry red rather than a true red colour but it's still a build-able colour to get a nice bright red. It is a little dry or waxy when applying it but I can look past this as it gives a great colour. I do have a more expensive one from the body shop which gives a more glossy look, but I'm starting to prefer this one as it has a matte finish and lasts a little bit longer.

Overall for only £1 they're not half bad! They all have good pigmentation and are actually matte and stay on your lips throughout the day. The packaging lets them down a bit as the writing rubs off, the lid becomes loose and in one case the bullet is loose. But the actually product is worth it for only £1. Superdrug are currently having a 3 for 2 across all cosmetics so you can now get 3 of these for only £2, that's less than 70p each!

Have you tried the Matte collection from MUA?

Thanking you,

Naomi

x

The lipstick packaging is really nice and simple with the colour going around the middle and of course the little sticker on the bottom. The actual tube is matte black which is really nice as it makes it look more expensive than it is. On the actual lipstick it has the E logo embossed into it and also has the same logo on the top of the packaging which again is a really nice touch as it makes it look a bit more special. What really annoys me about lipsticks is when the lid doesn't click on securely enough, but that's not the case with this one. It clicks on really securely and I don't think it will fall of in my bag. 

The packaging for the lipliner is pretty standard. It's a pencil. Some other lipliners like MUA come with sharpeners on the lid but unfortunately this one doesn't, but I'm sure I'll survive without.

I LOVE the colour of the lipstick! I has no shimmer/glitter in it which is the only lipstick I really wear, it's the perfect berry colour for autumn/winter, and the formula just glides straight on. It doesn't last a particularly long time so it will need topping up every now and then, but it doesn't leave your lips looking bitty when it does fade. If anything it leaves a light stain which is great. 

The lipliner is again nice and soft and well pigmented. It's not quite the true red shade I was looking for, but it's in fact almost the same colour as the lipstick! These would pair really well together, either just to line the lips or to make the lipstick last longer you could fill in your lips with the liner then go over with the lipstick. Overall, amazing products for a great price!

I'll definitely be looking at some of the other essence products and the other colours they have in their lipstick range!

Have you tried Essence?

Thanking you,

Naomi

x

Why, hello there...

Better late than never. I think I've only ever done one or two of these the whole time I've been blogging...

I either forget or it just ends up being the same products every month. But for once I've actually got some new products that I've been loving this past month, so let's get started!

1. Got2b Beach Matt Salt Spray (£2.50 from Savers). This was brilliant for when I went on holiday and when I was at my holiday camp as you don't have a huge time to get ready, or I just couldn't be bothered to style my hair. It makes your hair go nice and curly without going crispy like some other salt sprays. It's normally £4.07 in Boots but I got it for only £2.50 in Savers.

2. P.S Love Lipstick (£1 from Primark). I was really surprised with the quality of this lipstick considering it's from primark and it's only £1. It has no shimmer in it which is perfect for me, it's really creamy and it smels just like Love hearts...bit bizarre but I love it!

3. Vineyard Peach body mist (£7.50 from The Body Shop). I actually got this for only £3.15 as there was an offer for their card members which is a big bonus. It has such a fresh, fruity scent that's not too over-powering and does actually smell just like peach! Love. It.

4. Paint pot in Painterly (£15.50 from Mac). Although the most expensive make up product I have ever bought, it is brilliant. It doesn't crease and makes a great base for eye shadow. Just a shame about the price tag...

5. Tea Tree Cool and creamy wash (£5 from The Body Shop).  I am in love with this stuff. Again not the cheapest of face washes but I will definitely have to repurchase this. It leaves my skin feeling so incredibly fresh, almost tingly (but in a good way) after using it and it really helps with spots. I'll be doing a full review of it soon so look out for that!

6. Coconut Body Oil (£2.54 from Boots). I've been using this on my legs after shaving (TMI?) as I get really itchy because of my eczema. I heard this is great for skin so I gave it a go and it's pretty good! Made my legs look a bit better, and a bit is better than nothing.

7. Aberto Balsam shampoo in Mandarin and Papaya (£1 from Poundland). This is currently in a travel bottle, so we'll ignore that. I can't get enough of the smell, it's so so so good! It's pretty good for only £1 so I don't really have much more to say!

That's all for this post, let me know if you enjoy these sort of posts so I know whether to do them more in the future!

What's on your August favourites?

Thanking you,

Naomi

x

Why, hello there...

Sorry I've been away for so long, I've been back at my second home but as a leader this year! If you haven't got a clue what I'm going on about, check out this post.

Anyway, I'm back with a post about packing for your holidays, as I know how stressful it can be trying to fit in all different scents of body butters, sprays, cleanser, toner, exfoliater, the list goes on...

These are a few tips and 'cost-effective' tricks that you can use to pack up all your toiletries into one bag rather than multiple bags that are all overflowing.

1. Travel Bottles (mine are from Primark - £1 for a set of 3 + small pot)

These are fantastic for things like moisturisers and haircare. I currently have my face moisturiser, shampoo and aloe vera gel in my bottles because there were the ones with the biggest packaging. You can also get spray bottles, small pots, tubs, and other different kind of travel bottles in places like Superdrug or Boots. The other great thing about these is that they can be re-used so you don't need to buy new ones every time you travel. Just give them a quick wash and you're ready to go!

3. Putting big Body Butters into smaller pots (Lush pots are ideal)

I have a couple of Lush pots laying around and instead of throwing them away, recycle them! Using a tea-spoon, scoop out the body butter and put it into the lush pot. Simple! Again like the travel bottles these can re-used again and again and are also very sturdy. Even better you don't have to pay for them!

3. Miniatures for things that can't be put into bottles.

I only really buy miniatures if the products I'm using can't be taken out and put in bottles - like compressed cans of dry shampoo or shaving foam. Often shops will have an offer on miniatures like 2 for 3 or something, so it's always worth having a look at what they offer!

4. Be mean - don't take things you don't need!

Lets be honest, do you really need 2 toners, 3 different make up removers, and 8 different lipsticks? Take your essentials. One make up remover, one cleanser, one scrub, one moisturiser and any other bits you use on a daily basis. Take 2 lipsticks for the day, one red, and a gloss. 

That's all I have for now! Hope this has been helpful.

What are your travel tips?

Thanking you,

Naomi

x

Why, hello there...

A few weeks back I decided to pick up some beauty bits from primark as I've seen so many bloggers give great reviews. I only picked up 2 things and I've been waiting for these things to come to my store for ages! My home store always gets everything last compared to everyone else. Anyway, these are the bits that I got.

P.S Love Lipstick - £1

P.S Love Felt eyeliner pen - £1.50

All the P.S Love range has matte black packaging which is a really nice touch considering how affordable the products are. Both these products have really sturdy packaging and the gold writing has stayed on longer than I though it would, knocking around in my make up bag.

I can officially say this is my new favourite lipstick. I've tried a few cheaper lipstick but this is the best by far. It has no shimmer in it which is perfect for me. The actual formula is really creamy and easy to apply with no streaking. It lasts a few hours so it will need to be topped up during the day, but this isn't really a problem for me. This picture makes it look a bit darker than it is, it's more of a nude shade, like a your-lips-but better colours but with a bit more depth, does that make sense?

Unfortunately I'm not so impressed with this. Although it does apply well it never actually dries. I know, ridiculous. A the end of the day it was all smudged, I'd put some on the back of my hand and after a few hours is was gone. I guess it would be ok for a very thin line above the lashes, but that's about it. It's also a little watery/grey. Compared to my Eyeko one it's much duller and bleeds a little on my skin. I understand for only £1.50 I'm not going to get the best quality, but it doesn't do its job very well at all. Maybe when it dried up a little it will be easier to use, or maybe this one was just a dud.

I will definitely be checking out the other items in the range, I particularly like the look of the eye shadow palettes and I might try their mascara. Although these reviews go from one extreme to another, I think a lot of it is based on personal preference. If there's anything you would like me to try from the P.S Love range let me know in the comments!

What do you think about the new make up range from Primark?

Thanking you,

Naomi

x

Don't forget to enter my giveaway to win a make up bag full of goodies! Enter here!

Luckily there is a sticker on it with the English translation.

So as you can see, the packaging is a lot sleeker and less clunky that the ones we have here in the UK. Instead of a long, clear lid it's just a simple little top which actually clicks on and doesn't slide off like the UK ones. There's a tiny little wind up wheel at the bottom which again adds to the sleekness of the product. Also the pastel colours are really pretty and reflect the berry flavour of the balm. 

This, like the other ones, claims to have 8 hour moisture which is a slight exaggeration, maybe 4-5 hours, but even this is a lot longer than the originals so it does have a good time to keep lips moisturised. The formula is creamy and moisturising, not too greasy and doesn't have a tint or colour to it. Often coloured lip balms don't have as much moisturisation so I like that this one isn't coloured in any way.

The taste and smell. Offt I LOVE it! I love berry scents and tastes so this is perfect for me. It reminds me of the Hubba Bubba blue berry bubble gum, which brings back some memories! The flavour stays around long enough but isn't over-powering in any way. I've also got the other two scents that pound world stock - Mango Pie (Ingrid - Miss Glamorazzi on youtube has bought this one) and Soothing Cherry and I love them both as well. (I've bought another cherry one which you can win in my giveaway which you can enter here!)

I would definitely recommend getting your hands on these! If you've not got on with the ones we have in the UK, definitely give these a go!

What's your opinion on the Maybelline Baby Lips?

Thanking you,

Naomi

x

Have you entered my very first giveaway? Win a make up bag full of goodies here!

Why, hello there...

So, from the title you can tell what this post is about, my very first giveaway! It's my 18th birthday next week so I thought I'd do a small giveaway, seen as though I've never done one before. I thought what I'd do is fill up a make up bag with little bits rather than one big prize. I think on the 1st birthday of this blog I'll do a bigger one, but for now here a few little things I hope you'll enjoy!

The giveaway includes:

- x2 MUA nail polishes in Bold Blue and Deepest Purple -

- Kleenex Shine absorbing sheets - 

- Hello Kitty Liberty London edition eye shadow palette - 

- Primark frilly socks -

- Maybelline Baby Lips in Soothing Cherry (only available in Japan) - 

- Calvin Klein Creme Lipstick in First Kiss - 

- NYC Trio cheek glow in Psychedelic Trio - 

Primark 3 pack earings - 

- Superdrug make up bag - 

To win all these goodies, fill out the options below, please do this honestly!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

This giveaway ends on the 16th of July which is 3 weeks today, so make sure you get your entries in now! (I'm not held responsible for damage in the post, I hold the right to withdraw any false entries, UK only)





Thanking you,


Naomi

x

First of all, you get 200ml which is the same as the L'Oreal micellar solution, but you pay a lot less. The packaging is really sleek, with the plastic being really sturdy with an almost frosted effect, which makes it look more expensive than it is. The dispenser is a very small hole so you have to squeeze the bottle to get the product out, which is great as you get hardly any over-use of the product; you can get the exact amount you want, unlike others.

The actual product is a beautiful deep orange, and product separates as it's oil-based so you need to give it a good shake before you use it. Although it is not branded as a micellar solution, it does effectively the same thing and removes your make-up really well, particularly foundation I find. Because it's an oil based product it does leave a residue on your skin but it's not necessarily a bad thing as the oil moisturises the skin, whereas most micellar solutions have dried my skin out. Leaving it on to soak in leaves your skin feeling really soft and smooth. This means you could use it just as a face oil/serum and it would do just as good a job as the more expensive serums that are on the market. Personally, smell and/or taste are big factors in most products I buy, and this doesn't have a particular smell or taste on the lips unlike some (the B micellar solution at superdrug smells and tastes awful!) which is another great plus to this product.

The only down side to this product is that it isn't the best at removing eye make-up, and I'm not massively keen on the oily feel on my eyelids. Also it doesn't take long for the product to separate again after shaking it, so you often have to shake it between using another cotton pad, but this isn't too much of a problem. 

Overall it is great as an oil/serum for your face and also great at removing foundation/base makeup, but you may need something a little stronger/something more like a micellar solution to remove eye makeup and harsh lipstick. But for only £1 it is a really good product! 

The NSPA Ultimate Cleansing Tonic is available in ASDA stores.

Have you used this before? How do you remove your makeup? 

Thanking you,

Naomi 

x

Why, hello there...

So, here's what I've been buying. I bought this stuff a few weeks ago and I went shopping today, so look out for another haul post soon!

1. Select Black and white striped T-shirt, £6. Im starting to get into plain tops/fitted t-shirts and also monochrome sort of things so this was just what I was looking for. It has the rolled up sleeves and it's not quite cropped, but on the shorter side, which is quite nice. Not a bad buy..

2. Allura (Poundland) nail caviar, £1. Good ol' Poundland. I've been wanting to try nail caviar for a while now and spotted these. You get 12 different colours but you don't get a massive amount in each vile, but you wouldn't expect much less from Poundland. Might do a review on these.

3. The Body Shop 'Born lippy' lip balm - Toffee, £3. I had a few spare pounds left on a voucher from christmas which was burning a hole in my pocket so I thought I would give this a go. I've done a review of it for Nicole's blog, ColeoftheBall, which will be up soon so go check out her blog!

4. Gosh Matte top coat, £4. Matte nails seem to be the new in-thing, so instead of buying individual matte nail polishes, I thought it would be more cost efficient to just buy a matte top coat. 

5. H&M Set of 4 midi rings, £1.99. I've actually taken these back as they were too small and wasn't overly fussed about getting a bigger size, but they're just simple midi rings with different colour stones in each, good for stacking.

6. Allura (Poundland) Tangle attack, £1. The poundlands answer to the tangle teaser. The quality isn't great as it is just cheap plastic, but it does have the same concept with longer and shorter bristles. I think it's great as I can't justify spending £10 on a brush and it does just the same job for a fraction of the price.

7. Herbal Essences shampoo - coconut, £1. I've tried the Bee Strong scent, so I thought I would give this one a go. so good so far.

Hope you've enjoyed this little haul, what have you been buying recently? Have you tried anything in this haul?

Thanking you,

Naomi

x

First of all we have my Lipstick/lip balm box. I got this box a couple of years ago as part of a nail polish gift set from the Fearne collection. It is so sturdy and has such a pretty pattern on it! It's probably the size of a regular Muji drawer and as you can see it stores my lipsticks really well all in a line. If you want to see more of my lipsticks, check out my lipstick collection here!

Next up we have this tin, which is actually a tin that had chocolates from Aldi in! It's a nice size and I keep all my back-ups/extras in here. Again it's really sturdy and has a really nice design.

Finally we have these cute little Jam jars I personalised! As you can see in the first picture, the little ones hold my nail files and liners and the bigger one holds my brushes. If you wanted to re-create something like this, there is plenty of different sizes/shapes of jam jars or you can buy them from craft stores. I also did a post on these which you can check out here.

Hope this post has given you some inspiration so you don't have to fork out for expensive storage solutions!

How do you store your make-up?

Thanking you,

Naomi

x