June favourites

I'm not going to do that annoying blogger/vlogger thing where I talk about how fast the month has gone, is it just me who finds that annoying? Am I just bitter? Unappealing personality traits aside, I have a bunch of beauty favourites to tell you about, and if you watch the video you'll hear about non-beauty favourites too - it's almost like an incentive to go watch my YouTube channel, y'know you might want to watch it.

Max Factor Glossfinity Nail Polish in 119 Forever Glam | An extremely odd choice for someone who isn't a fan of loud colours in general, like my nails generally don't stray too far from black and red with maybe a glitter top coat around the festive season, but I really love this nail polish. The formula is ahmayzing, it claims to last up to 7 days and that's not a lie. I use two coats of this sans base coat or top coat, and it lasts me 7 days with minor chips - so if you did use a top coat or a base coat, it would probably last even longer. It also dries really quickly and you get a pretty smooth application, I think the formula's probably comparable to Essie, Essie's that tiny bit better, but then Essie is a couple of pounds more expensive. This colour is a bright raspberry sort of pink, which I like because I generally stray far from pink but this isn't a Dolly Parton kinda pink so it's definitely one to try if you want to venture into more bright nail colours.

Essence Long Lasting Lipstick in Natural Beauty | I've actually owned this for a while but honestly I've been worried to use it because, like I said earlier I generally don't do pink in my makeup, but this is a really nice pinky nude sort of colour. It's a balmy consistency and it's sort of a MLBB lipstick deal, it doesn't last more than a few hours so you have to reapply but I've been wearing it nearly everyday this month.

InstaNatural Advanced Repair Scar Gel* | I honestly didn't think I would get any sort of major results from this scar gel when I received it, but it's actually managed to fade the few acne scars I've had on my face for a few years. My skin's pretty good but these few scars have always been there, however within a few days of using this day and night I noticed them fading and they're barely visible now which is almost unbelievable, but it works. It doesn't work on stretch marks though I might add, or at least not to the same effect it does on acne scars.

Soap & Glory Butter Yourself Moisture Lotion | I've finally finished my tub of the Righteous Butter from Soap & Glory, it's taken me about a year and a half to finish this! Although. I think I might prefer this moisture lotion which I've finally been able to give a proper go. It smells sort of tropical so it just feels more summery, I also feel like it moisturises me a lot more than the Righteous Butter and I like the pump application, even though I think this might lead to be wasting more money.

Rimmel 25hr Lasting Finish Nude Foundation | The first time I used this was actually in my first GRWM video on my YouTube channel (now unlisted, you can find it if you go all Sherlock though) and I hated it on first impression. To be fair, I was a bit paler because it was winter and I don't think using a brush to apply it was the best idea. However, I've been using this a lot now that my skin's getting a bit more tanned with the summer weather (don't let this delude you into thinking we get good summer weather in London, I just tan very easily) and I've been loving it. I'm still not a massive fan of the pinky undertones but if I blend it with my fingers it really meshes with my skin, and leaves a very nice looking base.

*PR sample

What have been your favourites this month?

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April wishlist

I've been trying not to spend too much money for the past couple of months because a bunch of my acquaintances had birthdays which I had to buy presents for, and what kind of acquaintance would I be if I spent money on myself rather than them*? Especially as they're all turning 18 so it's a special birthday of sorts. Anyway, I still have racked up a wishlist of things I would like to purchase in April. 

PVC INFLATABLE DAISY BACK PACK - £5.00

I know what you're thinking, and yes I do accessorise like a 7 year old, but y'know what I'm still 18 and able to pull it off as some sort of ironic statement so it's all good. I saw Ciara Baxendale (she's Izzy in My Mad, Fat Diary if you don't know, and she's just the most adorable person) post a picture of this on her Instagram and I knew I had to have it because it's just really cute, then I found it on Amazon. I love backpacks anyway and I own a few, but this looks bigger than any of the ones I own, plus because it's plastic it'll be waterproof which is necessary when you're living in London.

CLEAR ACRYLIC 24 LIPSTICK HOLDER - £2.24

I really need some more makeup storage, I absolutely love my two wide Muji drawers and I have a small acrylic makeup-holder-type-thing from Tiger but this only has space for 6 lipsticks and since Christmas, lipstick has become something that I can't leave a beauty shop without picking up. It's terrible I know, but this means I need more space because they're all a bit cluttered all over the place right now. I think this one from Amazon is a really good price and I saw someone else talk about this specific one in a blog post, so I'm pretty certain the quality will be alright. As long as it provides some storage I don't mind too much, plus I'm loving having a clear acrylic theme in my makeup storage.

ESSENCE COLOUR AND GO NAIL POLISH IN 191 - £1.60

I think I spoke about how much I loved the Essence Colour and Go Nail Polish in 113 in this post (in fact I know I did because I just linked you to the post, look at me acting like I don't know stuff). I loved the formula of these nail polishes and I really want some more pastel type shades in my nail polish collection for Spring/Summer. These nail polishes are so cheap and give you a gel effect without taking ages to dry (like a certain other nail polish brand I know..) so I just generally want a lot more of these in my life.

MAKEUP REVOLUTION ICONIC ELEMENTS PALETTE - £4.00

If you remember from my Spending Ban wishlist post I said that I wanted to try out the Naked Basics 2 palette, but at that time there wasn't a dupe for it so it was merely a dream that I would one day own those pretty taupe-toned shades. However, Makeup Revolution have done a palette that's allegedly a dupe of both Naked Basics palettes so I think I may as well buy that seeming as it's only £4.00. Plus, funnily enough I don't have anything quite like it in my collection even though I own quite a lot of eyeshadow. I don't own loads of matte shades even though I think those are the best for everyday, so I'll have to buy this and give it a go even though I've never ordered from the Makeup Revolution website (I tend to wait until everything comes into Superdrug!)

MAKEUP REVOLUTION PRO E104 EYEBROW BRUSH - £1.50

I don't own as many makeup brushes as a lot of the people on here, I think I own a total of 12 but in that 12 I don't have a nice slanted eyebrow brush. At the moment I use a dense flat thin (I think it's an eyeliner brush) to do my brows, and it works but I do really wanted a slanted one to be able to do them more effectively, and I wanted an opportunity to try out Makeup Revolution's range of brushes. Plus it's only £1.50 and I'm not sure where else I'm going to get a good quality brush for a cheaper price.

What's on your wishlist for April?

*Probably the type of annoying acquaintance who calls their friends acquaintances

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March wishlist

Another month has gone by, which means it's time for another wishlist - let me assure you, #TheDress is not on there*.

I'm no expert when it comes to contouring and general bronzing of the facial area, in my life I think I've owned three different bronzers, but I've never tried out a cream bronzer which is why I'd really like to try out the Bourjois Bronzing Primer**. I think cream would be easier to contour because you can use your finger to guide out where you want it to go and blend it out, plus I find the Bourjois Bronzing Powder a pretty good shade for me even though it's a little bit orange-y so perhaps not one for the paler folks, but I'd quite like to try out a cream product.

I'm also a bit of a newbie with powders, I own the Collection Sheer Loose Powder and it does the job of mattifying and setting my makeup but I find loose powder problematic because I always wear black so when I spill powder on myself I look a little bit foolish, so I'd quite like to try the Rimmel Stay Matte Powder as it seems a less messy and it's recommended by so many people, I don't go for coverage with powder so I'd just get the transparent one.

I've mentioned countless times that I find foundation and concealer difficult to get right, mostly because the beauty industry doesn't generally include black people or mixed race people and if they do go darker than the fifty shades of white they have on  often, it's usually a lovely shade of tangerine. However, the L'Oreal True Match foundation seems to have such a wide shade range and I've seen quite a few people compare it to MAC Studio Fix foundation, and I'd rather spend £10 on a foundation than £20 - mans gotta save money in the recession.

If you're new to my blog or don't read my 'Music of the month' series you may or may not know that I love Rage Against The Machine and My Chemical Romance - I'm not over the emo stage I went through at age 12, will I ever be? Who knows? Anyway, I've only been able to listen to them on Spotify and it gets annoying when I'm out without wi-fi and can't listen to Know Your Enemy or  Na Na Na (Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na) y'know I'm going to be in a bad mood. I love all of the songs on both Rage Against The Machine and May Death Never Stop You, I'd love to buy all of My Chemical Romance's albums but I'll start with a compilation album, and I've found Rage Against the Machine on eBay and May Death Never Stop You on Amazon for under £5 so it's a win win for me.

What's on your wishlist for March?

*I saw the dress initially as black and blue but then it kept changing from black and blue to white and gold, but it's black and blue, let's shut up about it now.

**I don't understand why the heck it's called a bronzing primer seeming as everyone whose used it has said it's just a regular bronzer, does it prime? This is one of the unanswerable questions of the universe.

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Collective haul - Primark, Superdrug, Boots and more

Hello readers, hope you're all well.

I recently went shopping with my friend Isabella (she has been inactive on blogger for a while but she said she is planning on making a comeback and possible showing what she bought so please do go over and follow her) and picked up a lot of things from Primark, I also went shopping a couple of other times and bought a few bits and bobs so I put it together in a youtube video which you'll find below.

As promised, I have pictures of a couple of the outfits, two of the nail polishes, a sneak peak of what Isabella bought and close ups of some of the other item, also there are some things I've bought since filming the haul so I thought I'd throw those in here too.

These are the nail polishes I bought. From left to right: Seaside, Rose Hip, Pearl 

This picture includes the nail polish Isabella bought as well, it's one of the chameleon nail paints but I'm not sure of the colour

From left to right: Baby lips SPF20 and Collection Mardi Gras strawberry lipbalm

These were both bought by Isabella: an MUA lip liner and a Kate lipstick (both were under £5 I believe)

This is mine, it is the Collection lasting perfection concealer in warm medium

This is also mine, this is a P.S love primark brow pencil in the colour medium

These are mine and Isabella's sunglasses, I bought the pair at the top and she bought the other ones, they were all £2

These were Isabella's: a Watermelon scented candle and a Vanilla one, they both had a strong scent and were under £2

These were Isabella's, they're a collection of gold hoop earrings ranging in size, and this was £1

This was Isabella's, I've used Argan Oil before and it made my hair very soft, I'm not sure whether she's gotten round to using it yet though

This is the Rimmel 25 hour foundation, as you can see it's not very thick and it's not very thin and I think that's good as it's buildable - I got this in the colour True Nude which has pinky undertones but seems to suit my skin tone, and it stays on all day and gives my skin a natural look

This is what the Pearl nail polish looks like on, it's matte but shimmery which is nice - plus it dried so much quicker than the gelly one!

I apologize for the mirror selfie, taking a nice photo on an iPhone is almost impossible without either another person or doing a mirror selfie

Kimono - Primark

Shirt - Primark

Skirt - Forever 21

Tights - Primark

Ponyo necklace - Etsy

Sigh, another mirror selfie..

Shirt - Primark

Skirt - Forever 21

Tights - Primark

Ponyo necklace - Etsy

The packing of the things I ordered on etsy was too cute not to include...

Here you have the necklaces, both of them were £5

The Ponyo one can be ordered here

The Harry Potter Marauder's Map one can be ordered here

They're both from the same seller so the postage was cheaper, they're both of good quality and arrived quickly too!!

This is what the Rose Hip nail polish looked like on, honestly I'm a bit annoyed with it. It stayed tacky for ages because it took so long to try.. although it did come out quite shiny but I didn't keep it on for very long as the tackiness upset me too much

Another mirror selfie...

Shirt - Primark

Skirt - Forever 21

Tights - Primark

I bought this a while ago at the Who shop in Upton park, it was only a pound and there's a mini museum in the shop too which is a must-see for any whovian (although it took a long time to get there and there's not much else to do in the area unless you go over to the Stratford Westfield, but I still enjoyed it)

Thanks for reading/watching - see you soon!!