Best Discoveries of 2014 | Lips

Welcome to the third in the series of my 'Best Discoveries of 2014'.  Today we will be talking about my personal favourite category of makeup, lips.

This year, it has been quite hard to please me in the lip department.  I have managed to find fault with pretty much everything I have tried apart from the ones pictured above.  Everything I have tried have either been too drying, too sticky, patchy, lacking longevity and I have picked holes in everything.  Lip products are my favourite makeup item so I am quite particular in what I like and I try out an awful lot!

The first product I discovered back in April was my first favourite of this year.  The Mac Cremesheen Lipstick in Peach Blossom.  This peachy pink nude immediately became my favourite nude, its shade was perfect in complimenting my pale skin rather than washing me out and I wear this with literally everything! It is so versatile, going perfectly with a dramatic smokey eye or a natural every day look. I find it best to pat in the first layer with my finger, and then apply another layer straight from the bullet. This ensures that it lasts a good 4-5 hours which is pretty impressive for a lipstick with such a glossy and moisturising formula.

Back in the summer, I finally caved and treated myself to a Chanel Lipstick.  After a lot of research and intense swatching, I finally decided on the Chanel Rouge Coco Shine in the shade 'Boy'.  It is a similar shade to Peach Blossom, except darker and with a hint more brown.  The formula of this is quite sheer and very moisturising, keeping lips soft and supple as well as giving them a beautiful shine.  Again, this can be worn with many different looks and I wore it pretty much every day for around 3-4 months after I purchased it. This is definitely a princess product and paying £25 for a lipstick is an obscene amount of money, but every girl needs that one special lipstick right? or 6........

The last thing to mention is a line of lip products rather than an individual product.  The Maybelline Color Drama Velvet Lip Pencils have been mentioned quite a lot on my blog recently and they definitely live up to the huge hype surrounding them at the moment.  They have an impressive shade range, my favourites being Light it Up, Nude Perfection and Berry Much.  They are matte without drying out your lips, have amazing colour payoff and last for a decent amount of time.  These are definitely good dupes for the Nars Lip Pencils, and I would definitely recommend checking these out before splurging on any of the higher end options.  Maybelline have really done well with these and I am looking to eventually get most of the colours they offer.

That is everything concerning lips for 2014, let me know what your favourite lip products from 2014 are!

Emily xx

Best Discoveries of 2014 | Eyes

Welcome to the second instalment of my 'Best Discoveries of 2014'.  Todays post will be talking all things eyes!

Starting with bases, as mentioned in my December favourites, I love using cream shadows as a base to provide longevity for the shadows I put on top, and also making colours appear more vibrant and pigmented.  My current favourite budget-friendly cream shadows are the Elf Smudge Pots.  I won't ramble on about them too much as you have already heard me rave about them, but they are the best quality and most pigmented cream shadows I have ever used, and their ridiculously affordable price of £2.95 is not tone sniffed at!

Onto palettes, back in the summer I picked up the MUA Undressed and Undress Me Too palettes on a  whim, not really expecting much but thought they would be fun to play with! I was stunned to discover how buttery and pigmented these shadows were, and also that they are dupes for the Urban Decay Naked palettes for just a fraction of the price! Definitely worth investing in.

There has only been one eyeliner that has stood out to me this year and that has been the Rimmel Glameyes Liquid Liner.  It has the tiniest little brush, which makes it so easy to create  really thin line and also build it up to quite a thick line. It is also quite easy to do wings with which is something I struggle with a lot! Unlike most liquid liners I have tried, this one doesn't flake throughout the day or smudge, nor does it smudge or disappear when I curl my eyelashes which is another struggle that I face when it comes to eyeliner. This is definitely a good one for anyone starting out with eyeliner, or you struggle with it like me.

Let's talk lashes! Another product I have mentioned a lot on my blog is the Rimmel Lash Accelerator Mascara.  I didn't think I was going to like this, as I usually prefer plastic wands as I find them better at separating and lengthening, but I fell in love with this mascara the moment it touched my lashes!  It lengthens and volumises without a clump in site and dramatically improves the condition of your lashes. It contains a grow-lash complex that is designed to encourage the natural growth of your lashes, and helps them to appear fuller and stronger. This definitely does what it claims to do and this will definitely be repurchased.  The last product to mention is really just false eyelashes in general. I never really bothered with false lashes, I always found them too much of a faff and being the lazy girl that I am, I just couldn't be bothered! Since I tried them back in February, I have been hooked! I have grown increasingly better at applying them and no longer find it stressful. They just add a little bit more oomph and drama to your eyes and I am obsessed! No dramatic look is complete without a kick-ass pair of lashes!

That is everything for eyes, what have been your best eye discoveries of 2014?

Emily xx

Blog Survey For 2015

After a lot of playing about, I have finally managed to create a blog survey! It would mean the world to me if you could take less than 5 minutes to answer a few questions to enable me to make a few changes and improvements ready for the new year! Click here to get started!

Thank you for your time,

Emily xx

Best Discoveries of 2014 | Face & Base

Welcome to the first post in this weeks little series 'Best Discoveries of 2014'! Today I will be giving you the lowdown of my favourite face and base products of 2014, as the title of this post would suggest!

Starting off with bases, the first product I discovered back in the summer and it is the Bourjois 123 Perfect CC Cream (full review here).  This is probably one of the most versatile base products I own, it can be worn in so many different ways! You can wear it under foundation as a primer to boost coverage and even everything out before you apply your foundation, or you can wear it on its own.  It offers quite a good coverage for a product that is so light and liquidy in consistency and a thin layer will pretty much cover and cancel out all of your problems! It can also be built up in certain areas where more coverage is needed and there is no cakeyness in site! It is a perfect base for naturally flawless and radiant looking skin and I would recommend it to anyone, regardless of skin type. My absolute favourite foundation of this year, and I think all time has to be the MAC Studio Fix Fluid.  This is the perfect finish for my skin, matte enough to control oil but has enough moisture in it to prevent dry and flaky skin, and also leave a subtle amount of radiance to the skin.  This is a pretty full coverage product without being cakey and can double up as a medium coverage concealer.  It can be built up even more to create a really full coverage if that is what you enjoy.  Mine is on its last legs so I will definitely be repurchasing this soon!

Onto concealer, there was really only one that stood out to me when I was thinking about what I wanted to include in this post and that has to be the Collection Lasting Perfection Concealer which I'm sure will come as no surprise to you.  I won't ramble on too much as I'm sure you're sick of hearing about this legendary product, but it seriously is worth the hype and has been really the only concealer I have used all of this year.  I think I am on tube number 5 now, and no matter what concealer I try, I always find myself going back to this one.

Another product that will come as no surprise to you, the Rimmel Stay Matte Powder has been the only powder I have used this year! I have gone through about 7 of these since I discovered it last year and I have never felt the need to use anything else! I love how it blurs out pores and imperfections and keeps foundation looking flawless all day long.  For £3.99, you can't really go wrong!

Onto bronzer which is another cult product, the Nars Laguna Bronzing Powder is what I like to call my 'Princess Bronzer' because it is so damn expensive! Putting the price tag aside (which is enough to make a saint swear) it is honestly just the perfect bronzer.  It gives the right amount of colour pay off to be used as a subtle bronzed look or can be built up to create quite a dramatic contour. I use it to subtly define the contours of my face and stop me looking so pale! If you don't mind spending £27 *gasps* on a bronzer, I would definitely recommend this to anyone regardless of skin tone, as it is quite a universal shade.

I have 2 blush favourites, the first being the Daniel Sandler Watercolour Blush in the shade 'Cherub' (full review here) which seems to be the only thing I talked about through the Spring and Summer months! The formula is amazing, the colour is amazing along with the overall shade range, application is easy, it is really a good all rounder! Not to mention the fact that it is multi-purpose and can also double up as a lip-stain! Cool eh? It is also in the FeelUnique sale for only £13.05 so if you are interested, I would definitely be quick before the bargain is gone! The other blush is another that you have probably heard me talk about before, the NYX Powder Blush in the shade 'Desert Rose' is the most perfect shade for a natural flush of colour and has not left my face since my Makeup Revolution ultra blush palter came along last month!

The last product is my holy grail highlight, and that is obviously the Mac Soft and Gentle MSF. This has been my holy grail highlight all year, it is such a gorgeous shimmery champagne colour without a huge amount of glitter so you glow rather than looking like a disco ball.  Its domed shape means that a lot of product is packed into its classic mac packaging, I have been using this for over a year on a daily basis and I haven't even made the slightest dent in this fantastic product.  It may seem expensive but for how much you get, and the quality of the product, it is definitely worth it! It will keep you glowing for years!

Those are my absolute favourite face&base discoveries of 2014, what are yours?

Emily xx

The Sunday Edit #32

Well this week has been rather eventful, what with Christmas, Boxing day and all that Jazz! The beginning of the week was spent frantically running round picking up last minute christmas presents, wrapping and buying food and getting tables laid all ready for Christmas Day. This weekend has been quite chilled, in onesies watching films and online shopping, purely for the fact I hate shopping in the sales, its just way too hectic for me!

Seeing as I have done a lot of online shopping, I should hopefully have quite a few products turning up at my door on Monday that I can have a little play around with and write about!  I've ordered some bits from theBalm on feel unique, elf, space nk, ebay all sorts! I may feature them in a haul and do first impressions on them all!

As of tomorrow, I will be starting my 2014 favourites posts. As mentioned in my December Favourites, I will be splitting them into categories as there are so many of them, each will be featured in a separate post.  All together, I think there will be around 5 posts so I will be continuing blogmas for the rest of this week, ending Saturday!  I thought this would probably the best way to do it, otherwise I would have a post that is practically a novel and would bore you all.  Huge things like this are easier to stomach in small chunks!

I hope you have all had a lovely week, and a lovely christmas!

Emily xx

December Favourites 2014

Can you believe this will be my last favourites post of 2014? I can't! I know everyone says this, but this year real has gone crazily fast!

Surprisingly, I haven't really got that many favourites this month! Everything I have bought recently, i am still in the process of trying out so hopefully next months will be jam packed, especially with all the beauty items I have ordered in the boxing day sales which are currently on their way to me!

The first thing is the No7 Complete Cleansing Kit which sadly, is no longer available in boots but all items are sold separately.  I briefly reviewed each of the products in here in my Last Minute Gift Ideas for the Beauty Obsessive post. This kit comes with the No7 Beautiful Cleansing Brush which is phenomenal, the No7 Beautiful Skin Melting Gel Cleanser which I haven't really made my mind up about yet and last but not least the No7 Beautiful Skin Night Cream which I love and has really helped to minimise dry and flaky patches.  I won't go into too much detail as I have already rambled on about this before, but I have really enjoyed using this set this past month and it has made cleansing seem less of a chore!

My next favourites are cream eyeshadows.  This month, I have admittedly been quite lazy with makeup.  With the cold winter mornings, I would much rather spend longer tucked up in my bed, all nice and warm than get up earlier just to do my makeup.  I love that you can just throw on a cream shadow, blend the edges and you are good to go.  It looks so put together and flawless and takes less than a minute to slap on.  My first favourite has been the Mac Paint Pot in 'Bare Study', a light gold with a hint of champagne which provides a light shimmer across the lid which can be worn alone or as a base for other shadows to boost longevity.  It is such a pretty shade and can be built up a lot to create an intense gold look.  The formula of these is also amazing as I would expect from Mac, creamy and soft, gliding on smoothly and blending well and also lasting all day without a crease in sight! To rival the Mac ones that have the hefty price tag of £15.50, the  Elf Smudge Pots come in at the ridiculously affordable price of £2.95, meaning you could but 5 for the price of 1 Mac one and still have some loose change! I wasn't expecting a lot from these as cream shadows are often hard to nail for budget brands, but these really blew me away! The pigmentation is mental and they have a very similar formula to the mac ones.  They blend smoothly and once they are set, they aren't going anywhere! I definitely prefer these to the Maybelline Color tattoos and will definitely be purchasing more of these in the future.

The next favourite is the Makeup Revolution Vivid Baked Bronzer in the shade 'Golden Days'.  I really didn't think I would like this, the idea of a shimmery bronzer scared me a little and I was a little hesitant to put this anywhere near my face for fear of looking like an orange disco ball. I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised by this and I'm glad that I gave it a chance.  It is such a natural looking bronzer, subtly defining the contours of my face whilst adding a very subtle bronzed glow to the skin.  It is a very light brown which isn't too warm toned so it is perfect for pale skinned, and I also think this would be a beautiful setting powder for someone that is a little more tanned. I may try this in the summer when I will hopefully have a bit more colour in my skin!

The last makeup item is the Maybelline Color Drama Velvet Lip Pencil in the shade 'Nude Perfection'.  You have heard me ramble on about these before and I love the formula sooooooo much! This particular shade is very similar to the infamous Velvet Teddy from Mac at just a fraction of the price.  I have worn this pretty much every day this month, either alone or with a bit of the Tanya Burr lipgloss in 'Chic' over the top. This is the perfect matte nude for all skin tones and is perfect for achieving the Kylie Jenner lip.

The final product is the Lancôme La Vie Est Belle Eau De Toilette.  This is something that has been on my wish list ever since I smelt it and I finally got it for my birthday at the beginning of the month! I'm not going to attempt to describe the smell because I am hopeless at that, but it is such a classy and sophisticated fragrance that would suit most people and I am obsessed with it! I get so many compliments on it as well, definitely worth the splurge!

Next week will be the start of my 'Best of 2014' posts, I have split into categories for separate posts because there are so many, which means the blogmas will continue throughout the first week of 2015!

What have your favourites been this month?

Emily xx

Boxing Day Traditions

The pug cushion I got for christmas, I literally died!

I always spend Christmas day with my mums family, either at our house or my hans house, so boxing day is when I spend time with my dads side of the family.  Today is my dads mum's birthday so it has become tradition that we all go to her house and spend the day with her on boxing day.  All 19 of us, my dads 3 brothers, their wives and kids and my dads sister and her husband and kids all go to my grandmas for a buffet and more prezzies! All the children get about 5 presents each and everyone drinks lots and we all have lots of fun!!

I was thinking about doing a christmas haul tomorrow, its nothing massively exciting and won't be very big but if you are interested then let me know!

I hope you all had a lovely christmas, let me know what you got up to and let me know what gifts you received this year!

Emily xx

Merry Christmas!!

Just a quick post to wish you all a very merry christmas! I hope you got everything you wanted and have a fabulous day with friends and family! Make sure you eat lots and lots of food and send me some pictures of some of the goodies you got!

Have a wonderful day!

Emily xx

Christmas Nails from Primark

When I spotted these babies in Primark, they just screamed christmas at me and into the basket they went! I have always loved Primark nails, they are such brilliant quality and really no different to the sorts that you would pay around £8 for in boots.  They are a quick and affordable way to keep your nails looking at their best.  These are a steal at only £1.50 and brilliant as last minute stocking fillers or to treat yourself and change up your mani for the christmas period!

The only issue I have with these are that the glitter does fall off, but you can easily prevent this by applying a top coat so it isn't too much of a hassle and doesn't make too much mess.  They are os convenient, you just select the sizes to fit your fingers and glue those bad boys on, no hassle, no fuss and it makes you look like you spent alot of time and money on your nails! I have had so many compliments on them so it is definitely worth browsing Primark's vast range if you are on a budget and find nails a hassle, like me!

They last quite a long time as well so you don't have to worry about redoing them for quite a while!

Emily xx

Makeup Revolution Awesome 100 Eyeshadow Collection | Review

I was so pleased to receive the Makeup Revolution Awesome 100 Eyeshadow Collection the other day, and as soon as I started playing with it, I knew I wanted to do a full review on it for you.

This palette contains 100 eyeshadows as the name would suggest, offering a range of mattes, shimmers, foils and glitters in a wide variety of colours.  This is a perfect palette for travelling as it has everything you could ever need in sturdy, sleek and slimline packaging.  It is perfect for experimentation at the measly price of £12.00 which equates to each shadow costing 12p, crazy huh?

The shimmers and glitters are of an amazing quality! They are so buttery and pigmented, gliding on to the lid and blending seamlessly with little effort.  I was stunned by the high standard of these shadows and they are easily comparable to a lot of a more expensive shadows which makes them fantastic value for money.

The matte shades are a little bit hit and miss really.  The black is absolutely phenomenal, I've never seen anything like it! The browns are ok, not massively pigmented but can be easily built and blend well.  The coloured ones, especially anything red toned, are quite rough and chalky and have limited colour payoff which is a tiny bit disappointing but I would very rarely use these anyway and it is worth it for the shimmers and foils.

The glitters either have a shimmer or a matte base.  Again, the shimmers are amazing and the mattes vary in quality.  Some of them have more glitter packed into them and not much transfers onto the lid, however it can be built up to create a really bold and sparkly look, perfect for this time of year!

Overall, this is an amazing palette and I think it will be popular with a lot of people this christmas!

Emily xx

Last Minute Gift Ideas for the Beauty Obsessive

Lately, I have received quite a few gift sets that would be the perfect gift for a beauty obsessive.  However, these stood out to me the most as being the best value sets that are amazing gifts that won't break the bank!

The first set is No7 Complete Cleansing Kit. This set contains full sizes of their Melting Gel Cleanser and their Night Cream along with their Beautiful Cleansing Brush all for the unbelievable price of £25! The cleansing brush alone is £24.95, so you are paying a measly 5p for both of the other products. If this doesn't scream good value for money I don't know what does!  The quality of this is amazing as well.  The cleanser is a gel that melts into an oil when massaged onto your skin.  It does an amazing job of cleaning deep down as well as keeping moisture levels retained.  The cleansing brush is probably the best thing I have eve rubbed on my face.  It is easily comparable to a Clarisonic for the fraction of the price and actually, with what I've seen from Clarisonic's whilst messing around with them in Debenhams, this is actually better in my opinion.  It doesn't hurt or sting my face and is relatively gentle on the skin whilst still getting right down into your pores and giving them a thorough clean.  This is a lot less harsh than the clarisonic, and after a month's use, I am yet to reach the purging stage which is one of the main cons of the clarisonic. The last product is the night cream, which I was quite surprised at actually! I thought I would hate it and was tempted to give it to my mum as she has quite dry skin, but I thought I would just try it and see.  I am so glad I did, I have used this every night since I got it, it has reduced the amount of dry patches significantly which were one of my main skin issues throughout the last month and leaves my skin feeling nourished, soft and supple.  Definitely a winner!

The next thing is something that I recently won in a giveaway from Charlotte at Style&Splurging the other day.  This Makeup Revolution Awesome 100 Eyeshadow Palette is by far one of the best eyeshadow palettes for variety that I have seen on the market.  It has every shade that you could ever need, and each shadow works out 12p each! Crazy huh? This has neutrals, mattes, shimmers, bright colours, glitter, everything that any makeup lover could ever need! I have a full review of this coming tomorrow so I won't go into too much detail, but I was stunned by the quality and sheer beauty that this palette offers and for £12, it's really not to be sniffed at!

What are your best value gift ideas?

Emily xx

The Sunday Edit #31

I don't think I have ever been so glad to have ended a week.  This week I have been on Study Leave  as I have been doing mocks! I had 11 exams crammed into one week and it was starting to drive me slightly round the bend!

It is so nice knowing that apart from a speech I have to type up for English and an art book I have to fill, I don't have to do anything for 2 weeks! Ah it feels good!

Now exams are over, I can finally look forward to Christmas! I am so excited I literally can't contain myself! Me and my mum are heading to the mall later on to pick up the last few bits and pieces.  They have also just opened up an even bigger Superdrug than the one before and expanded their Makeup Revolution display so I think I may pick up a few more bits, you can never buy too much! Speaking of Makeup Revolution, if you follow me on Twitter or Instagram, you will have seen that I recently won one of their 100 eyeshadow palettes from Charlotte at Style & Splurging which I was so happy about! It is such an amazing palette, I'm stunned by the quality of these shadows and the range of colours available so expect a post on this very soon!

I hope you have all had a lovely week, and have a lovely christmas!

Emily xx

My Blog

My blog, my small corner of the internet which I'm sure most of you are rather familiar with by now. I started blogging back in February, on and off for a few months, until about the end of March.  I had grown tired of my old blog and needed a change in order to keep it going.  This was when Emily's Little World was born, back in the middle of April.

Over the past month, my crappy little page has evolved into something that I can safely say I am proud of.  I have now come to a design that I am happy with and I am now producing regular content that I get amazing feedback on.  I spend so much time and effort into creating new and exciting posts that has really paid off! I never thought in a million years that I would ever reach as many followers and page views as I have had and I didn't think any companies would take an interest at all so I am still baffled by the fact that I have received 4 PR Samples already!

Thanks to blogging, my English has also improved greatly from reading other blogs and writing my own which has lead to my grade being around the A* mark which is again, crazy!

I am so proud with the way in which my blog is going and I am really enjoying this whole blogging malarkey! Thank you to all of those people who regularly read my blog and leave me lovely comments, I appreciate the fact that people take time out of their day to read what I have created! It just makes me so happy!

Emily xx

Tutorial: Snow Man Nail Art

I used to be absolutely obsessed with nail art, but when the whole makeup malarkey came along, it took a back seat.  I was thinking about festive posts whilst clearing out my nail drawer and it came to me that I could create some festive nail art designs that are easy enough for anyone to do!  I will first start by apologising for the lighting in these pictures, I live in England and it's we're in the middle of winter so it is what it is unfortunately. All you will need is:-  A background colour of your choice - for this I used Barry M Gelly Polish in 'Passionfruit' A white nail polish for the snow and the snowman's body  A black nail polish for his eyes, mouth, buttons and arms An orange polish for his carrot nose A colour of your choice for his scarf - I used a blue nail art striper As far as tools go, I used proper nail art dotting tools and stripers, however if you don't have these, you can use lots of different things that you find around your house.  For a DIY dotting tool, you could use the end of a bobby pin or a sewing pin with a ball on the end stuck into the end of a pencil with a rubber .  For stripers you can use old eyeliner brushes or just trim the bristles off of a regular nail polish brush to make it thinner and easier to work with.  Although this is a very easy design, it is very time consuming because there are quite a few layers that need to be left to dry in between steps so make sure you are patient and have plenty of time to spare.

Start by applying base coat if you are painting your natural nails and allow to dry.  Next, apply 2/3 coats of your base colour depending on the opacity of the polish you are using and allow to completely dry before you move on.

Using a dotting tool or whichever tool you are happy using, use plenty of white polish and slow dabbing motions to create a large oval shape at the base of the nail.  This will be the snowman's body.

Next do the exact same thing above this, just make sure that this shape is more circular and is a lot smaller.  This will be your snowman's head.

 With a smaller tool, add snow around your snowman and fill in any gaps at the bottom of the nail so it looks like he is sitting in snow.  Again, allow this to completely dry before you move on. To speed up this process, you could use a nail drying mist or dip your nails into freezing cold water.  As well as this, you could carefully apply a fast drying topcoat, apply a blob at the base of the nail and gently sweep over the nail to avoid smudging your design.

 Using your black polish, create small dots for his eyes and buttons down his body, and if you have enough room you could draw a little mouth.  Then with your orange, create a dot and drag slightly to create a little triangle for his carrot nose.

To finish off his body, add him some little twig arms with your black polish and a thin polish.  You could also use brown for this if you wanted it to look a little bit more realistic.

Lastly for his scarf, take a thin brush and a colour of your choice and draw a line across the base of his head and another down the side of his body in an upside down 'L' shape.  This can be a bit tricky so to make this a little easier, hold the striper still and rotate the nail to avoid shaky hands wobbling and getting nail polish all over the place!

Et Voila! There you have your cute little festive snowman nails! If you try this out, make sure you send me a picture! All social media is linked in my social media tab and also in the buttons at the bottom of each post!  Happy nailarting! Emily xx

The Christmas Tag

I was tagged by Hey It's Jess to do the Christmas tag so I thought I would get into the festive spirit and add another christmas themed post to my little christmas series.

1) What is your favourite Christmas film?

I would have to say 'A Muppet Christmas Carol', I watch it every year at least 4 times without fail!

2) What is your favourite Christmas drink?

I love tea and hot chocolate, they make you feel all cosy and warm!

3) Does your family have any Christmas traditions?

Not really, we have a pretty standard christmas really!

4) What time do you usually wake up on Christmas morning?

I am usually awake at about 4 but we usually get up at around 7!

5) Have you ever had a White Christmas?

No, unfortunately, although with the current weather forecast, I have high hopes for this year!

6) Is your Christmas tree real or fake?

Real! The smell just screams christmas!

7) What is your favourite Christmas song?

Driving home for christmas by Chris Rea

8) What's your favourite colour decoration combination?

I love to have everything pink! I go all out in my bedroom with pink tinsel and glitter and lots of fairy lights with a huge pink tree!

9) Have you ever built a gingerbread house?

No I haven't, but I would love to and I might think about it this year.

10) What is your favourite part about Christmas dinner?

I love stuffing and pigs in blankets! I also love when we have left over turkey and we have it cold in sandwiches for tea on Christmas Night!

11) What's your Christmas day fashion?

Onesies! We always stay at home so I don't really see any point in dressing up!

12) Do you open your presents before or after dinner?

Before, there is no way I would be disciplined enough to wait until after dinner!

I tag you all to do this, be sure to leave me a link below so I can have a look!

Emily xx

Drugstore Christmas Party Look

Today I have put together a simple, drugstore Christmas party look that will make you look a million dollars without having to spend that much!

 Starting off with a base, I primed using the Elf Studio Poreless Face Primer* and followed up with my new found love, the L'oreal True Match Foundation to create a flawless base.  Next I did a Kim Kardashian-esque highlight using my trusty old Garnier Anti-Dark Circle Roller.  I further concealed any problem areas with my holy grail, Collection Lasting Perfection Concealer.  I finished with a light dusting of my Rimmel Stay Matte Powder to lock everything in place and keep it there all night.  To inject a little bit of dimension and life back into my skin, I lightly contoured with my new favourite Makeup Revolution Baked Bronzer and then followed that up with a flush of blush and highlight using the Makeup Revolution Hot Spice Blush and Contour Palette.

 For the eyes, I started off with a generous layer of my Elf Smudge Pot in the shade 'Back to Basics' all over the lid, and then focussed a small amount of 'Brownie Points' in the outer corner and through the crease.  I blended the heck out of that, and then I went in with a small amount of the Long-Lasting Lustrous Eyeshadow in the shade 'Toast', focussing this on the inner corner and the centre of the lid and then blending it out.  I then took the shade 'Festive' along my lower lash line for a subtle pop of colour and then, you guessed it, blended that out! I finished off the eyes with a thin winged liner and lashings of mascara.

 Lastly, I went for the Maybelline Color Drama Velvet Lip Pencil in the shade 'Berry Much' to match the plummy/purpley hint to the eyes and to incorporate the idea of christmas cranberries.  Alternatively, you could also use a nude lip or even a red with this look as it is very versatile!

I hope you enjoyed this mini tutorial and if you find this helpful and choose to recreate it, before so send me a picture!

Emily xx

Every Day Jewellery

I thought I would talk about something other than beauty for a change today. Jewellery is something that I have always loved from a young age and nothing compliments an outfit more than some classy pieces of jewellery.

Pictured above are a few of my favourite pieces that I wear pretty much every day.  The first things are my rose gold stud earrings that my nan bought me in a Jewellers in Tenerife. They go with everything and are just classic studs that I can wear all the time and don't have to worry about.

The next bits are my Pandora Rings, which if you would have read my Birthday Haul, you will have seen that they are my new favourite thing! I have wanted pandora rings for so long and I finally got some for my 16th birthday! I have 3 which I stack and I wear them all the time.  The stone in the middle ring is clear so I don't have to worry about it clashing with my nails or my outfit and they aren't too fancy that they are too much for every day wear.

Onto wrist things if you could call them that, my first thing is something that you have seen quite a few times before.  I have worn my Sekonda Rose Gold Watch every day since I got it in March and it just looks so classy and pretty without being too much. For the price, this is an absolutely amazing watch and I definitely recommend it to those of you who don't fancy splurging on a Michael Kors watch as they are almost identical.

Speaking of Michael Kors, my nan brought me a Michael Kors Heritage Gold Buckle Bangle back from her holiday and it is such a unique bangle! It is pretty much a gold belt for your wrist as odd as that sounds and I just love it!

Lastly is my Pandora Bangle which I got for my birthday last year.  I got the pink glass bead for my birthday last year and I got the dangly 16 charm for my birthday this year.  Again, this is such a classy bracelet and it looks so nice with my rings!

What are your favourite every day pieces?

Emily xx

Second Chances | L'oreal True Match

We all have those products that we try once and immediately hate them, and in turn end up getting shoved to the back of the drawer never to see the light of day again.  I did the exact same thing with the L'oreal True Match Foundation.

The first time I used it, it was streaky, it clung to dry patches and just accentuated the things that I wanted to conceal.  After that first use it was put in to my drawer for about 3 months, until about a month ago when I was changing up the products in my Muji Storage ready for the change of season.  I decided to give it another go, since everyone loved it so much I should at least try to see what the hype was about and attempt to see it myself, and sure enough I did! I don't know what happened, but this time it glided on so smoothly, blended seamlessly and gave the perfect amount of coverage whilst still maintaining that natural, skin-like look.  It injected the life back into my dull and dreary winter skin and gave it the boost that it was in desperate need of.

The finish of this is neither matte nor dewy, I would say it was more of a satin finish and it is just perfect. I have the shade R1-C1 which is a tad dark, but it was the only one they had that was similar to my skin tone at the time that I purchased it, as this was back in the summer, but if I blend down my neck its absolutely fine.

This is a good foundation for all skin types, especially oily skin because it controls oil and slightly mattifies whilst still retaining a nice glow which is sometimes difficult for people with oily skin because its usually matte or oil-slick with no in between. It just goes to show that over time, your skin and opinions change and something that you once hated, could now be dearly loved!

Let me know if this has happened to you, and I hope this encourages you to give those loathed products another go!

Emily xx

The Sunday Edit #30

My Pug obsession is getting out of hand and I'm not even sorry.

This week I have been wallowing in by stifling pit of revision, and I have to say, I am sick to the back teeth of reading!  I've been glad to take a break from it and write up a couple of blogposts, that way I can take a break whilst still being productive!

This week has been so boring, the only exciting thing was when my English teacher brought her pug (who's name is Doug, yes Doug the Pug) in to school and I literally died.  We all know what is at the top of my christmas list now!  

Today, I will be sat revising whilst my parents and my sister put up the Christmas decorations.  This will be the first year that I haven't decorated the tree which I was slightly gutted about to say the least, but it can't be helped I suppose and its just something that I am going to have to build a bridge and get over!

Next week is exam week so I can't promise that there will be posts up daily, although I am trying my best to make sure there is because I am determined to not make blogmas an epic fail like all my other attempts at daily blogging have been! To be fair, I haven't found blogmas as difficult as I thought I would and I think the key to daily blogging is organisation and preparation which I have to say, I have impressed myself with! It just goes to show that you can do anything when you put your mind to it and hard work pays off. Now I know I can do it and it isn't as horrendous as I thought it was, I can do it again in the future, maybe not permanently but every couple of months I think I would be able to manage it.

I hope you have all had a lovely week, and for anyone else that has exams next week, good luck!

Emily xx