Dream Flawless Nude VS Nude Magique

There are no excuses for my extended absence other than... uni? 

I digress. Quickly.

Something I must point out first and foremost is that I hate the feeling of foundation, or just having an unnatural layer caked over the top of my skin. If my complexion decides on being nice that day then concealer all the way, but if needs be then a light mattifying coverage is the way to go (being an oily t-zone sufferer). Hence when L'oreal released their Nude Magique foundation, heaven opened up in the aisles of Boots. However, a host of brands have been releasing their own take on the liquid to powder formula, including more recently, the more budget friendly Maybelline. So a comparison post was deemed to be inevitable.

Eyeliner 101

Now I did pre-warn on a previous post that content would be sparse in the next two months due to A levels, but a whole week... Is that dust starting to form on here? I couldn't avoid my blogging itches any longer so let us begin with a simple question...

What is a world without eyeliner? Certainly a place with smaller eyes, thats what. Eyeliner has and always will be a not so secret weapon in any girl's make up bag and the variety on offer makes for an endless list of options.

Lets Talk Taupe

Matte, grunge-y smoked eyes have been somewhat of a 'go to' recently, and taupe's been a shade that has helped to achieve the seemingly effortless look. I can only really describe taupe as being a grey toned brown? ... brown toned grey? Either way, Drugstores have been releasing a host of variations, and I am hooked. 

Make Up On The Run

When being forced into having to apply make up on the run, both convenience and speed are key. Here are the immediate 'throw into bag' products when in a rush, but still wanting to look somewhat put together.

Maybelline BROWdrama: The BROWsaviour

If it wasn't obvious previously, I have a not so sneaky obsession with brows. If you're at all interested  in my reasoning as to why, then I will link the shpeel here. I know this product isn't exactly a recent release, but I felt a need to express my undying love to it for vastly improving my brow routine.. and my eyebrows in general. 

The Lazy Guide To: Eyes

There's no swerving the fact that I'm a lazy person. Whether it be rushed mornings from sleepless nights or simply not having the effort to... well, make an effort. I like to have eye products at hand that can offer quick application whilst still maintaining the 'put together' look I so often yearn for. 

THOUGHTS: Maybelline Baby Skin Primer

 Of course, drugstore primers are both a blessing and a slight curse. Though there isn't a hefty price tag, It does often brake me out, or not even fulfil its job as a primer. So with that in mind, I was in fact a little skeptical when returning home with the product at hand.

The Empties Post #2

I honestly didn't think I'd be conjuring up another Empties post so soon. However, routing through my eye make up, it was clear the older mascaras had been left a little unloved and dried out. As utterly saddening as it was to see my beloved falsies getting chucked away, it simply had to be done. 

Rimmel ScandalEyes Liner VS Maybelline Master Precise Liner

My first encounter with eyeliner was at the spritely young age of 11. Im now 17... so you can only imagine how many oddly sorts I've been through in those 6 years. Now since my 'VS' posts have been most popular here on CMC, it was only right that my next comparison should be that of a product I hold most dear to my heart... the felt tip liner. 

The Sunday Edit: Small Drugstore Haul

So instead of revealing my week to you all, (which to be honest, hasn't been much) I thought I would make it a tad more interesting and share a few bits I picked up at the drugstore. Some are standard repurchases and others are what have been cropping up more recently; curiosity and advertising simply won me over. 

Best In Beauty 2013

I've only just realised whilst uploading the pictures that I have in fact, picked out 13 products. I could totally make this into the 'top 13 of 2013' tag floating around on youtube but it was completely unintentional. 

The majority of my favourites from 2013 have popped up from the drugstore. Lets be honest, drugstore brands were on a roll the past year, with quite a few releases being dupes for high end products! So without further a do, lets get started shall we.

The Foundation Routine

Having a clear but still somewhat natural base has always been a slight goal. So through much experimentation and research ... on blogs of course; I have managed to round up and form a core collection of products that work for me and my skin type on an everyday basis. I can also happily add that all products are drugstore and so thankfully don't break the bank.

The Autumn Post

Left to Right: MAC's 'Rebel | Revlon's 'Berry Smoothie' | MAC blush 'Pinch Me' 

This post had to be done. I absolutely adore changing up my make up to fit the seasons. Granted, I usually just go with the flow and sport a dark lip in the summer if I please, but generally, I like to look like I suite the weather. 

So with autumn/fall come the classic dark burgundies, berries and rustic tones which I do tend to steer towards and these are just some of my favourites. 

Fragrance Direct Mini Haul

I think this is the absolute longest I've ever gone without blogging... apart from when I was travelling the US for 2 weeks. College sucks and I have been trying to catch up and revise for internal exams that the college ever so kindly decided to bestow upon us. 

Anyway, I was recently browsing through Fragrance Direct and purchased a few bits just to keep my beauty obsession alive. Now, I won't really go into too much detail on the individual products themselves as I'm sure reviews will pop up some time soon. 

MONTHLY FAVOURITES: September

LEFT - Bronzing Primer | RIGHT - Age rewind Concealer 

September for me, is always the month of denial. I refuse to believe that summer is over until October hits. I absolutely despise cold weather and the daylights getting shorter so I dread when this time of the year comes rolling round. Of course, I love christmas as I'm sure 99.9% of the population do, its uplifting joyful and festive, but until then, lets all just mourn over the fact that summer has now seised to exist. 

Wow. what an uplifting introduction that was. On the positive side.. Pumpkin Spice Lattes... lets have a show of hands over who could drink this till the cows stop mooing. Me! Right, enough of that, on with the favourites! 

THOUGHTS: Maybelline 'Diamond Glow' Quad

(£7.19)

When I finally decide to release my grasp off summer, I automatically go on the hunt for the classic autumnal shades. Auburns, dark woody tones, all of which I have a slight love for.

Eyes Of The Day #1

I play with eye make up often, whether it be for college or a special event. Either way, I love a good statement eye look and change it up whenever I can or have the time to experiment. With it being autumn, I have really been loving the more cranberry and soft browns to complement the seasonal change in colours. 

For the base, I used the Maybelline Colour Tattoo in 'Metallic Pomegranate' which is a gorgeous warm berry with a pink undertone to not only help the shadows last but to complement and intensify the crease shades.

As I said, I have been loving the berry tones this season, so to intensify the base colour I packed on the darkest shade in the Mayelline Diamond Glow quad in 'Coral Drama' on the outer third of the lid and blended it in using a Sigma E40 Tapered blending brush. I'm going to do a separate post on this product so I won't say too much except the fact that I can not say enough good things about this quad.

I the gently buffed in 'Buck' from the Naked palette through the top of the shadow and where the base and the dark colour meet for a blended transition.  

Lastly, I used 2nd to darkest shade in the same palette and lightly applied it as my inner corner highlight and slightly on the lash line for the added definition and glow. 

For the liner, I used Maybelline Eye Studio Gel liner to line my upper lash line and slightly wing it out at the ends. 

I think this is a great look for both casual or evening if you want to smoke it out at the lash line for added intensity!

Maybelline Instant Age Rewind Concealer

I know the it looks like a wart on my hand but i promise its just a scab from a bug bite!

(£7.99 at Boots) 

It is officially september on this depressed gloomy 1st of september day and that automatically means that college is round the corner. Originally, I had planned to do a 'Back to school' post to kick of the season but I didn't want to force myself into that sad state just yet and thought I would prolong that summer fever.

Trolling through boots, which has become an insane habit might I add, I was on the look out for a product that would prepare me for the sleepiness nights and as a result of that, the fairly unattractive under eye circles during the school weeks. This particular product has gained quite a bit of hype in the beauty community and as firm believer of trusting expert opinions, I opted to give this a whirl. I was also intrigued to see how the unique sponge applicator would fair to the standard doe foot wand. 

BARGAIN BEAUTIES: Top 5 Products Under £5

LEFT - Sleek Blush in 'Pixie Pink' | MID LEFT - Baby Lips in 'Cherry Pop' | MID RIGHT - Baby Lips in 'Pink Punch' | RIGHT - Rimmel Scandaleyes eyeliner in '005 Nude' 

I'm a huge drugstore make up fan and I think the brands on the high street really have improved to the point that some of their products are of equal or maybe even better standard than those in the high end spectrum. This title has been floating round the blogger's world and youtube for a while and I've been meaning to give it a whirl but i'm just going to put this out there right now.. I'm a massive procrastinator. So it has taken me a while to finally drag my butt up and route through my collection for some gems. I thought it would be quite a task but it took me a mere few minutes to pick them out, so much so, I may have to do another post!

But anyway, I hope you find this useful or at least interesting!

Mid Monthly Favourites: AUGUST

As you can probably tell from the missing July monthly favourites, I didn't really get the opportunity to show you all what I have been loving during the month as I was a bit busy travelling around America but since there have been a lot of new additions to my collection, I couldn't wait till August ended! I may do a couple mini hauls of some of the purchases from a few of the stores in the future.