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!

1. Make a list.

And stick to it! I often go in to a shop actually needing some bits and walk out with totally the opposite. This isn't just for clothes or beauty, food shopping as a student can be very exciting as you can get whatever you want without your parents saying 'go put that back!' but then the mountains of sweets and chocolate seem to pile up and there is no actual substantial food...so yeah make a list and stick to it!

2. Don't be drawn in by offers.

Yes, 3 for 2 is very tempting, but you only needed a replacement foundation, do you really need another mascara just so you can get that lipstick for free? It is great getting an offer, but it does mean spending unnecessarily with money you may not even have. Also some offers don't actually save you that much money, so always do the maths before you spend.

3. Only get what you need. 

This is linked in with making a list. Only write down the things you really need. Make a plan of meals you will have that week and from that write down all the ingredients you need. Lets be honest, do you really NEED that lipstick? And you already have one that's similar, so for this shopping trip, leave it at the counter.

4. Not sure at first? Don't get it.

This applies more to clothes. Stop trying to convince yourself you need it if you're not sure at first. Chances are that you probably wont wear it. SOME SAY... that we only wear 20% of our wardrobe so why add to the 80% that we don't already wear.

5. Have a budget.

And stick to it! If you just want a bit of retail therapy or to treat yourself, don't become to indulgent so you have no money to do the weekly food shopping. set a budget of say £20 and stick to it.

That's all for today! Check out the links below for the other posts in this series!

#1 - Saving money on-line

#2 - In store savings
#3 - Budget friendly websites 
#4 - Blogging on a budget

Let me know if you have any other ideas for these types of posts, and I really hope you enjoy them!



Thanking you,

Naomi

x

Why, hello there...

So this is the 4th and (possibly) final installment of my Saving your Pennies series! I've had some great feedback on this series with people finding it really useful so I'm really glad everyone has enjoyed them! If I think of any other posts for this series, or if you have any ideas, let me know in the comments.

As you can see from the title, I'm focusing of different ways to save money, and possibly make money from your blog. I know making money from your blog can be a bit of a controversial topic but I'm simply just saying that there are ways of making money. I personally don't have a problem with it as long as you stay true to your blog and don't just do it for the money.
Anyway, on with the post!




1. Travel size/samples to test products. I've found this a really useful and saving way of testing out products. It's great if you don't want to pay full price for the full product in case you don't like it. This is great for more expensive products such as perfumes, and Soap and Glory do most of their products in travel size. My boots has a massive range of travel size products to try and you can also find freebie sites where you can get free samples sent to you. I've had La Roche Pose and Vichy samples in the past.





7. Getting paid for posts. Some companies can get in touch and ask you to write a post and they either pay you or let you keep the product. I don't think there is anything wrong with this, as long as you are giving your honest opinion and the company doesn't require you to write a good review of it. I've had companies give me products before and have all been great to work with. They have just said write a post on the product, whether good or bad. But always make sure you check out the terms before accepting.



Wow that was a long post! I hope this was of some help and gave you a few tips and tricks to use. Check out my previous posts in this series:

#1 - Saving money on-line
#2 - In store savings
#3 - Budget friendly Websites


Let me know what you think of this post in the comment!


Thanking you,

Naomi

x

Why, hello there...

This is my 3rd installment of my save your pennies series! Check out the last one here.

So this post is all about websites and on-line options for finding those bigger brands for a lot less and being budget friendly. Hopefully you'll find this useful, lets get started!




1. Fragrance Direct. I couldn't write this post without including this. This is a blogging favourite, including Calvin Klein to Maybeline at such massive discounts. Obviously they sell discounted fragrances as well, so it's definitely something to check out!

2. Everything 5 Pounds. I personally haven't used this site but I've seen some items from here which are amazing, and yes EVERYTHING is £5! Shoes, dresses, trousers, everything! Some of the designs are brilliant, but you do find some amazing gems!





3. ASOS Marketplace. This is a brilliant place to find unique pieces that you wouldn't find on the high-street. It has independent unique brands but also gives the chance for people to sell their unwanted jewellery/clothing, so you can always find a bargain!






4. Ebay/Amazon.  I use amazon all the time to buy things like converse and vans because it's so much cheaper than buying them in store. They do so much! And they both stock things that aren't available in the UK such as wet 'n' wild e.c.t.


5. Sales section. To be honest, I always go straight to the sales section on any website first. You can always find a hidden gem that no one has snapped up yet, or something that has just been added which no one has seen yet! Places like New Look and topshop always have something amazing in their sales, so I would deffo recommend having a look before buying full price!


That's all for this post, if there's anything I haven't included let me know in the comments and I'll add it as soon as possible!

Do any of you use these/buy from these places?


Thanking you,

Naomi

x

Why, Hello there...

This has to be one of the best/funniest buys I've ever bought! I went into a shop near me called 'Amazing Savings' which, if you don't have one near you, is just like 'It's A Gift' but sells everything. I was looking at their make-up/beauty section to see if they had any dupes of other products and low-and-behold, there was this product:

This is an EXACT dupe for Bourjois' Volumizer Mascara, which is normally £10.49 on-line at Boots. I got this one for £1.69. Yup, £1.69. The only difference is that its brand name is 'Aifeiya'. I tried researching it but I couldn't find a lot apart from another dupe they did of Maybelines volum' express colossal mascara and most of them were on foreign websites. 

The other thing I found is that the cheap version has a distict smell to it. I'm not sure whether It's a nice smell or not, or I'm just intoxicating myself, but if you have the original Bourjois it would be awesome if you could let me know what it's like! If you don't have a shop that sells the cheap version near you and would like one to do a comparison on both versions, or just want to try it, leave a comment on this post saying you would like one and I will get in contact to send you one! Look out for a review of this coming up soon!

Thanking you,

Naomi

x

Why, Hello there...

2 posts in one day, doing pretty well m'thinks. 

This is just a very quick post appealing for you to follow this blog, yes that's you reading this now.

Someone needs to follow me! just one follower to kick it off! I don't know whether people cant follow me for some reason, but i really just want some followers :')

no one follows a blog with no followers at a glance because they assume its rubbish. I hope that my blog isn't rubbish. I know its early days and I know that some people have read some of my posts, so I just need someone to support and follow me.

thanking you, you lovely reader,

Naomi

x

Why, Hello there...

Quidco is an AMAZING site if you do a lot of on-line shopping, not just beauty/health/fashion, but even grocery shopping, film sites (Netflix, NOW TV e.c.t) and much more. I've been a member of Quidco for just over a year now, and although I don't do a massive amount of on-line shopping, Quidco has offers where you get cashback for completing free trials, so essentially they're paying you!