Introducing H & M Beauty! Plus, Starter Kit

Well hello there, something very exciting happened in the highstreet make-up/beauty world this week: the launch on H&M's new beauty line. I now work for H&M Beauty and i've put together a starter pack of the products that are a must-try!

Colours: Masala Chai (left), Go-To Greige

Firstly, I need to mention the nail varnishes. INCREDIBLE. The range of colours (over a hundred, just sayin') is like nothing i've seen from any other brand. Two coats and you're away. At £3.99 each, you can afford to stock up.

Cream Lip Colour in 'Seashell

Lipstick next. The colour range is fierce, but the lovely creamy consistancy, I fear, may mean that longevity isn't their thang. However, luckily there is a lip stain in the collection which will just not budge from my hand whenever I swatch it!

Lip Definer in 'Marsala''

The lipliners are super pigmented and super long-wearing. At £3.99 i'd say they definitely rival any other highstreet lip liner that i've tried.

Colour Essence Eye Cream in 'Champers'

A rival for Mabeline's 24hr Colour Tattoo cream eyeshaddows! These haven't really been noticed by customers much yet but I loved them as soon as I saw them. The perfect go-to eye product, especially when paired with a winged eye-liner.

High Impact Eye Colour in 'Sahara Dawn'

Sitting in pretty little pots, the eyeshaddows range from matt, to shimmer, to full on New Years Eve style glitter. This shade is my personal favourite and I have found it very blendable.

Colour Essence Eye Pencil in 'Come in Third'

Someone complained the other day that the eyeliners were 'too pigmented.' I don't understand how this can be a negative! The colours truly pop and this one glided on like a metallic dream.

HD Invisible Powder

Presenting the party piece. Following in the footsteps of Chanel and Make Up Forever, H&M have their own HD translucent powder. This has already sold out in my store, so if you can get your hands on one it is definitely worth the £7.99 that it costs. It is honestly so so smooth and lightweight.

Now for the toolkit. An affordable, purpose-made brush cleansing spray, you say? Who'd have thought that it actually works (and smells nice) too! Just spritz onto dirty bushes, swipe on your hand or a tissue and you're away.

If you're in need of a fluffy, soft blending brush or a precise eyeliner brush then this duo is perfect. I've honestly been choosing it over my MAC 208.

When I think of clothing brands-doing-make-up, I usually think tacky packaging (soz Topshop) and rubbish quality. The image of H&M beauty is clean, colourful and comes with a smidgen of high end-esque style. It's only available in selected stores but online stock the full range, oh, and you even get a swanky bag with your purchases!

Which pieces are you excited to try?!

Gold Lids And Rosy Lips: A Festival Friendly Make-Up Look

Hey lovelies, call me high maintenance, I don't care, if i'm roughing it at a festival my make-up bag is coming with me! I went to V Festival in Chelmsford last weekend and had a great time; the weather was so beautiful I actually got a mini tan (I say mini as I realise I still look whiter than white in the pictures below).

Below is a sunny make-up look that I came up with perfect for the remaining festivals of the season, if you want to jazz it up with some glitter as a highlighter or something, that would add an extra festy element to it!

Base: Body Shop All In One BB Cream (00), Estee Lauder Double Wear Foundation (1N2 Ecru)

Highlight and Contour: Seventeen Define and Conquer Contour Kit

Blush: MAC 'Rosy Outlook'

Eyes: Urban Decay Naked 3 'Limit' through the crease, with a touch of 'Nooner' to deepen it, 'Blackheart' in the outer 'V' and 'Strange' in the inner corner and on the brow bone. )Mabeline 24 Color Tattoo Shadow (24K Gold) across the the lid. Blend blend blend!

Eyeliner: Kat Von D Tattoo Liner (Trooper) 

Mascara: YSL Faux Effect as a base and Collection Lengthening Mascara on top

Brows: MAC 'Croquet'

Lips: MAC Satin Lipstick (Pink Nouveau)

This is pretty tame compared to some of the looks spotted at V, go mad! When else is it acceptable to wear UV paint on your cheeks and glitter on your brows?

To finish, here's a beauty of a  sun-set picture that I snapped over the campsite...

Are any of you off to a festy? If you've been to a festival already this summer let me know what your make-up staples were below!

21st Birthday Wants: Designer Stud Earrings

One day i'll own that Chanel bag and a pair of red soled beauties but I feel they are a little extravagant to to ask as a 21st birthday present! For the mean time I will continue ticking off various other classics on my wish list and the time has come for some stud earrings, but which?!

Above are all my current faves. I can't decide if the Michael Kors ones are too tacky, even though the rose gold would match my watch, I really like the Marc Jacobs studs because they look so smart and the Vivienne Westwood Logo is just so timeless and pretty. 

Please PLEASE let me know your personal favourites to help me decide!

Two Beautiful Places

This will be short and sweet; a general appreciation for two lovely locations I experienced for the first time recently.

A quiet corner of  Southampton Common

A sunny day in Richmond, London

I survived Moving Day!

Presenting the longest and hottest day of my life.

We rolled out of bed at 9am, half packed, running on about three hours sleep and knowing we were supposed to be out of the flats by ten. Myself and five (now) housemates were making the transition from halls to our own privately rented accommodation on the hottest day of the year and after eight trips split between our trusty red convoy, move in we did.

There were several incidents of comical note, the type where you have to laugh otherwise you'll cry. 1) Lara hitting another car as we tried to maneuver our way through rush hour traffic 2) My flat bedroom door breaking so we couldn't get inside to get my things (cue three hour wait - fab) 3) EVERYTHING becoming hilarious around about 7pm as our mental health declined.

Come 9pm when we finally sat down in our new living room for a much welcomed Indian, we were a mess of trucker-arm-tans, aching muscles and general hysteria. Worth it though, because I love our new little home.

Raccoon Duvet Set - Primark
Large Cushion - Primark

I'll do an updated post with fancier photography when i'm moved in properly - expect an excessive amount of fairy lights! Have any of you moved house recently and have any decor tips for my bedroom?

Beauty Haul: Drugstore and USA

Firstly, my lack of posts for the last two months - I blame exams, personal life and a lifestyle that I just couldn't justify posting about! I'm back on it now though with a beauty haul mostly from Boots but with a few gems from CVS and Sephora that get me a tad excited. 

Lets start with Boots...

1) Seventeen 'Define and Conquer Contour Kit' - The product I was probably the most excited about! Thanks to Kim K's hollowed cheekbones and lightened under-eye contour kits are the latest trend and this one isn't too bad at all. It does the job, although I find the highlighting shade a little too powdery. 

2) Seventeen 'Supreme Shine Lipstick' in 'Day-glo' - You can tell there was two for one on Seventeen products! These are quite new to the brand and are brilliant for the price, I can apply it at the beginning of my shift and will only need to re-apply a couple of times throughout the day. A must-try.

3) Maybelline '24hr Color Tattoo' - Lorded greatly by beauty bloggers and You tubers everywhere, I couldn't believe I was yet to own one, so I bought three. These are like little pots of beauty heaven, so shiny, smooth and pigmented they make me salivate a little bit. Left to right the shades are: '24K Gold,' (incredible!) 'Metallic Pomegranate,'(dark and mysterious) and 'Pink Gold.'(think everything that's good about Naked 3 in one little pot).

4) Soap and Glory 'Supercat' eyeliner - Lovely pen-style eyeliner for those on a budget, i've tried an Estee Lauder liner in a similar style that isn't as easy to use and black as the Supercat. Purrrrrfect for a cat eye!

5) Rimmel 'Exaggerate' lip liner in 'Addiction' - Nice, dark, pinky nude. I've even worn this all over the lip instead of as just a liner and I thought it gave quite a sultry look. 

USA...

Unfortunately, it wasn't me who got to go make-up shopping in America (because, trust me, I would have been far less controlled), it was my mum who kindly picked me up a few things. I've not tried any of them out yet but I can't wait!

1) Covergirl 'professional' mascara
2) Wet n Wild 'Coverall' primer
3) Wet n Wild 'Walking on eggshells' Eye shadow trio
4) Wet n Wild 'Coverall' correcting palette
5) AND the icing on the cake: Kat Von D 'tattoo liner' which I am so excited to try that i'm saving it for a 'good make-up day' so I can do it justice!

Have you picked up any highstreet/drugstore gems recently? and what would you grab if you had free range of Sephora? (Anastasia Beverly Hills Brow Wiz is next on my list!)

Outfit Of The Night

Hello! I thought i'd show you a look I wore on a date night this past weekend. I kept it monochrome and simple, opting for gold jewelry, natural hair and coppery make-up. I love high wasted jeans at the moment, they meant I could eat as much as I want and not worry too much! You can't go wrong with good old Primark (usually!) and these were my favourite heels of summer 2014, they're surprisingly comfortable.

Velvet Cropped Top - Urban Outfitters

High Wasted Ripped Jeans - Pull and Bear

'Barely There' Heels - Primark

Polka-Dot Blouse - Vintage

Clutch Bag - Primark

Necklace - Topshop

For my eyes I reached for my Naked 3 pallet, With a base of primer potion I packed 'Trick' all over the lid, blended 'Nooner' in the crease and then used 'Blackheart' in the outer 'V,' In the inner corner I used a tiny bit of MAC cream colour base in 'Pearl' followed by an Urban Decay eye pencil in the colour 'Venus.' My eyeliner of choice was Stila 'Black Amethyst' and for my eyelashes I used their best friend: YSL 'Babydoll.'

I hope you liked my look! Do you have any spring time evening go-to's?