BUDGET BEAUTY | BACK TO SCHOOL!

As back to school is looming, I thought I'd join in with the Back To School blog posts and videos. Although I am not going back to school, college or uni this year, I still thought I would share with you some affordable pieces from the drugstore that you could wear to school when in a rush.










First up is this Botanics Beauty Balm. This has no colour to it like a lot of the others you will find in Boots or Superdrug but this is quick and easy to use when you're in a rush, it's laminating to make you look lit from within and awake. This would've been right up my street when I was in school as I found foundation was just too much of a hassle.








As I've mentioned foundation can be too much of a faff early morning when you're in a rush. So instead, the concealer will be giving the coverage you may need for pesky blemishes or those dark bags under your eyes from staying up too late. I love both these concealers as they're both high coverage so will cover pretty much anything on your face. The Collection Lasting Perfection concealer is probably easier to use as you can dab it straight on and it blends quickly, however you'll have to work at the Seventeen Phwoarr Paint a little more as it's a cream concealer. As I said I love both and they're both around the £4-5 mark, so you could use whichever you prefer.








Again, as we skipped foundation, I would use a bronzer to warm the face up a little more. This is actually an MUA Pressed Powder bought in a few shades darker than my skin tone to be used as a bronzer so it is actually matte. This will not only set your makeup in place but will give you a little more colour to avoid looking like a zombie, you know as you've probably just rolled out of bed 15 mins before school starts. 




Another product you could use to make you look more alive is blush. I've chosen the Sleek Blush in Rose Gold which is a gorgeous coral shade with flecks of shimmer. With a light hand this will give a lovely flush and also add radiance to the face seeing as it has a light shimmer running through.








Next is mascara. When I was at school and I couldn't be bothered to do the rest of my makeup, I'd give my lashes a quick flick of mascara to make me look much more awake and put together. Again, I've chosen two here. The Maybelline One By One is in Brownish Black which will look more natural for school. The Collection Lengthening Mascara is a little more affordable but both are amazing for creating length and I love fluttery lashes as they look so natural and pretty.








In Year 10 and 11 was when I started to do my eyebrows, and boy were they horrific. I wish I left them alone and just used something like this Maybelline Brow Drama to give them a little colour, set them in place and make my whole look more put together. This is around to £5 mark but instead you could use a clear mascara, although it won't add any colour it will set them in place all day and you can pick them up for about £2. 








To complete the look I'd opt for this Babylips in Pink Punch. I didn't understand the hype when these were raved about a few years back, but I think these would be ideal for school as they're moisturising and add a little colour to the lips. 




I forgot to take a picture of the complete look but this is super natural so I'm sure you'll be able to get away with it if you're not supposed to wear makeup to school. This only took me about five minutes so would be ideal for those mornings you've overslept and are rushing for school- we've all been there!




WHAT ARE YOUR SCHOOL BEAUTY ESSENTIALS?




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What's In My Makeup Bag? | TRAVEL EDITION 2015

As you may know from my previous post, I'm currently on holiday in the South of England- in South Devon to be precise. As I am travelling, I tried to downsize my makeup as I didn't want to be lugging too much away with me. So today, I'm going to show you the contents of my travel makeup bag which will show you some of the bits I had to take away with me as I couldn't be without them. Also, just a side-note I will be taking brushes with me but I haven't included them in this post, you can see my most used face and eye brushes here and here- I shall be taking those with me.

1. Benefit Porefessional Primer

I must admit when I first tested this I didn't love it, I wasn't a huge fan of the silicone texture so it went to the back of my makeup storage. I gave it a go again and I love it- it doesn't reduce the size of my pores by a huge amount but it definitely makes my makeup stay on a lot longer. This will be great as i'm likely to have my makeup on early morning through to the evening!

2. L'Oreal True Match Foundation

This has pretty much been the only foundation I use for a good year now, you can see a review here. It's a light liquid formula with a medium coverage which is buildable, this is also the perfect match for my pale skin. It has a satin finish and although i'd prefer a dewier finish for the summer, that can easily be achieved by mixing with my moisturiser for a more natural glowy finish.

3. Seventeen Phwoarr Paint Concealer

Recently I've been choosing this over the Collection Lasting Perfection Concealer as this covers my dark circles like no other. This is also great for covering blemishes but must set using powder, I keep my powder in my bag for on the go touch ups which is why it wont be mentioned here. This will be great while travelling to cover those dark circles due to lack of sleep and early mornings.

4. MUA Pressed Powder in Shade 4

I don't use this to set my makeup, I use this to bronze up my pale skin and also sometimes use it to contour. This is only £1 so you can't go wrong really! I'm super pale so this will be great for faking a sun kissed glow when the weather is likely to be a little miserable. I'm writing this in advance so fingers crossed for nice weather!

5. Sleek Blush in Rose Gold

This is currently the only blush I own, I mean I have a load of other cheap ones but this is my go-to! It's a dupe of NARS Orgasm and is a beautiful shimmery coral. This helps to put colour back into my face and the shimmer also works as a highlight- a perfect two-in-one product!

6. NYX Jumbo Eye Pencil in Yogurt

I was going to take my Maybelline Colour Tattoo in Pink Gold but I use that quite a lot and this often gets neglected so I thought i'd take this in a hope that i'd start to use it. This is a gorgeous copper, slightly pink shade and looks so pretty as a base for eye shadows.

7. W7 In the Buff Eye Shadow Palette
This is a dupe for the Urban Decay Naked 2 palette which is why I bought it as I didn't want to splash out nearly £40 on a palette I may not use that often. I've also done a review on this palette here, I absolutely love it which is why I chose to bring it away with me despite being much larger and less travel friendly than my other palettes. I love this for the few matte shades, they're my go-to!

8. Benefit Roller Lash Mascara
Love this mascara! It seems to be a running theme here but I've also done a review on this mascara, here. I mostly review products I love just so I can rave about them, hence why i'm bringing them all with me. This separates my lashes and lifts them, making them so fluttery which is perfect for everyday wear which is why it's coming with me.

9. Soap and Glory Brow Archery in Brownie Points

I know there are two called Brow Archery, but this is the double ended one with a pencil at one end and a almost felt tip pen at the other end. I love the pen side for outlining my brows and filling them in with little hair like strokes. The pencil end is also great but I must be much more light-handed with it other wise it's a little too dark for me. My brows stay on all day with this, hence why I will be bringing it with me!

10. Lip Balm, Lip Liner and Lipsticks

Ok, I haven't downsized too well on this section, I just love lipsticks.

I've gone for the Nivea Hydro Care Lip Balm with SPF 15, purely because it has SPF in and I don't want to burn my lips- ouch! I've only chosen one liner as it's pretty much the only one I use, this is the Rimmel 1000 Kisses Lip Liner in Rose Quartz which looks beautiful alone but also pairs nicely with a couple of the lipsticks I've chosen. And finally for lipsticks I've chosen two of the Avon Color Trend Lip Stix in Foxy Fuchsia and Reddy To Go, a Natural Collection Moisture Shine Lipstick in Rosebud- my go-to and finally an MUA Lipstick in the shade Bare. 

And there you have it, I've tried to downsize a lot but I know i'm taking more than I need. If it fits in my makeup bag then why not eh? I'll be back on Wednesday with a Q&A and TAG so keep your eyes peeled for that, especially if you left me a question on Instagram. If you'd like to keep up with me and see what i'm up to whilst on holiday i'm @xtracesofmythoughts on Instagram. Would love to see you there!

WHAT MAKEUP PRODUCTS CAN'T YOU LIVE WITHOUT?

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£20 Makeup Challenge! | Drugstore/ High Street Makeup Look

A lot of my makeup products are drugstore. I've seen the $20 Makeup Challenge videos and blog posts circling around the internet for a while now and I thought i'd adapt it slightly as i'm from the UK and make it the £20 Makeup Challenge. I know i'm not the first to do this and i'm sure I won't be the last but I thought it was time to shop my stash to see what products can make up a full face for £20 or less- definitely a challenge but not impossible!

Foundation was the hardest for me. I love the L'Oreal True Match but that would've been nearly half the budget gone as it comes in at £9.99. Instead I opted for another foundation that I love but unfortunately is too dark for me, however I thought I could make it work, if I was very light handed. It's the Rimmel Lasting Finish 25 hour foundation in the shade 200- Soft Beige, this comes in at £7.99 but it's on offer regularly at £4.99 in places like Boots, Superdrug and Wilko. I admit, I cheated a little.
This foundation is medium to high coverage and offers a dewy base to last a long while. 25 hours? I don't know who wears makeup that long anyway?

Next up is concealer, I chose the Seventeen Phwoarr Paint in Fair which is £5.49. I've used the Collection Lasting Perfection concealer for a while now and although it's good, I just fancied a change. I heard this one is great(it is) for under-eyes especially to cover up those pesky bags, apparently it's also a dupe for the Bobbi Brown Corrector Concealer so i'm not complaining there. My skin has been quite good recently, i'm touching wood as I say this...so I've not yet had to use it on blemishes or redness but i'm sure it'll do the job just fine!

Now onto contour/bronzer. I'm fairly new to this step but with practice I love how it can add so much dimension and shape to the face, as well as giving my very pale face a bit of colour. In order to practice I picked up a bargain which I absolutely love, its an MUA Pressed Powder in the shade 04- as it's not actually a bronzer and is a face powder this is matte which is perfect for contouring. This was only £1, MUA is so affordable!

This Sleek Blush in Rose Gold is a beautiful pinky coral shade with a gorgeous shimmer running through. This could also act as a highlight as well as adding colour to your cheeks. These blushes are so pigmented and are only £4.49, I must go and look at the other shades to see what they offer ready for Autumn/Winter.

For mascara I've gone for the Collection Lengthening Mascara in Ultra Black. I've not had the best experience with collection mascaras before, they seem to have gone very dry and flaky quite quickly but this one is different. I received this in a beauty box and sort of wrote it off to begin with, I wanted to mix it up a little and try something else instead of Benefit's Roller Lash- I'm so glad I gave this one a go. On my lashes I found this creates a look very similar to the Roller Lash and this is only £2.99! What!? I know!

Last but not least is lips, I used the Rimmel Lasting Finish 1000 Kisses Lip Pencil in Rose Quartz which I found in the pound shop, I believe it was Poundland so yes- this was only £1. If you didn't know Poundland often have Rimmel, Sally Hansen and a few more well-known brands so if you have a look i'm sure you'll find some hidden gems that are worth a go for a pound!

I'm afraid I haven't got a picture of what the finish look as I'm not yet comfortable with posting pictures of myself on here, apologies for that! However, these products created a lovely natural look that is perfect for summer!

This look came in at £19.96, so yes it was actually under budget.

I know, I didn't include something for eyes in terms of eye shadow. However, you could switch out the Sleek Blush for an MUA or Makeup Revolution palette/eye shadows as most of them are £4 or less.

I also didn't include something for brows as I use the Soap and Glory Brow Archery which would've taken up half of the budget. I don't do my brows everyday but if you wanted something to tidy them up a little and set them in place you could use a clear mascara which I know you can pick up in Boots and Superdrug for £1-3.

I'm so impressed I was able to do a full-face of makeup for under £20. You can definitely find some bargains in the drugstore that compare to high end products so you don't have to blow the budget!

What's your favourite drugstore/high street makeup brand/product?

Please let me know in the comments!

♥   ♥   ♥

Fashion, Beauty and Homeware Haul | January 2015

I'd been waiting for the Boxing Day and January sales for the whole of December seeing as my purse wasn't in the best state, I love a bargain so was excited to see what the sales had to offer. I can't be the only one right?

Though I didn't find as much as I'd of liked to, I thought I'd still share what I've accumulated recently.

I'm not one for in store clothing sales, I just imagine rails of unwanted clothes with the odd few gems, but damn it- it's not in your size! I did brave a few shops on Boxing Day before work but I didn't find anything so resorted online.

First up is this lovely pale pink fluffy jumper, which I must admit I didn't really need but I really liked it and thought it would be comfy and casual to throw on with jeans for college or shopping. It was also down to £5 from H&M, such a bargain! 

Like I said I didn't find much in the way of clothes so lastly I bought a white oversized T-Shirt(I haven't pictured as it is pretty basic). Again I thought it would be a perfect go to casual piece to throw on in a rush with leggings or tucked loosely into jeans! I believe this was £4.

Moving onto beauty, I was planning on splurging a little on whats considered 'high end'. After browsing the sale and finding many products that I wanted sold out *huge sighs* I found this Origins sample set- perfect as there was quite  few items in the set I wanted to give a go. I'll have a review on this set next week, so keep your eyes peeled for my thoughts on that! This was down from £35 I believe to £22ish, which is no longer available I'm afraid.

Seeing as I had a boots voucher to spend, I thought I'd purchase a couple of items on my to-buy list. I've wanted the Real Techniques Miracle Complexion Sponge to a while now, seeing as a few Youtubers have raved about it- not to mention their foundation looked flawless. So it went straight into my basket as soon as I got my hands on it for £5.99.

Apparently my fingers are very red and stumpy, hope this gives some idea of what the colour shows up as on the skin.

Desperately in need of a new blush the Sleek blush in Rose Gold went in my basket. Its a gorgeous coral pink with beautiful shimmer and after I bought it, I heard its a dupe for Nars Orgasm! This was only £4.49 too, a steal!

I also spent the Argos voucher I had for Christmas on the Urban Decay Naked 2 palette dupe, the W7 In the Buff palette, here (which is also available on Amazon, here). Let me know if you'd like to see a review and/or a look with this palette.

Lastly in terms of beauty a couple of repurchases, the Garnier Moisture Match in Shine Be Gone and Garnier Micellar Cleansing Water. My skin definitely loves Garnier, I repurchased both of these more than a few times last year!

Moving onto homeware, I picked up a couple of pieces from H&M Home online. Who doesn't love rabbits? *rolls eyes at anybody who moves to raise their hand* I couldn't leave this cute pair, a rabbit and a squirrel printed on candle jars, so sweet and only £1 in the sale!

I have a slight problem when it comes to buying duvet covers for my bed, I cannot stop.
I can never have enough but this will be my last for a long while as i'm trying to save money.
Such a pretty floral and bird print on a duck egg blue background, around £13 in the sale at Dunelm.

The last in homeware and final in this haul is this. I love how this eyelash printed dish looks on my dressing table though I'm not entirely sure what to use it for. Let me know otherwise this'll have to just look pretty without a use. At only around £3 though, it's not that big of an issue!

What have you picked up recently?

If you'd like to see what I thought on the Origins Skincare set then stay tuned til next week via bloglovin' as I shall be posting a review with my thoughts then.

Much Love, 

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P.S. I have linked the ones that I can find and that are still available.