Accessorize Lovely Day Palette

Everyone loves a good bargain, especially when the quality of the product is much higher than its price! Recently I have been playing around with some makeup from Accessorize and am absolutely in love with their beautiful Lovely Day palette!

The palette comes in cute cardboard leopard and rose print packaging with a sizeable mirror. Although I am not normally a fan of paper cases this does make it lightweight and perfect for travelling or just throwing into a hand bag.

The selection of colours and textures is also impressive. There are lots of different colours to choose from in matt, shimmer and satin finishes. I love the mix of pigmented fun, bright, yet wearable shades and staple neutrals making this palette extremely versatile.

A selection of shades (with flash)

 (Without flash)

I recently created a neutral brown and gold smokey eye using a couple of shadows from this palette.

The shadows were really rich in pigment and effortless to blend. Not bad for under £8.95!

This palette is available in Superdrug and online, and I highly recommend you check it out.

Have you tried any makeup from Accessorize? Which are your favourite products? Any recommendations? xxx

OOTD: Wag

I am fully aware that this outfit is a little footballer's wives... but it was hard to resist pairing huge sunnies with a bright dress and nude heels on a gorgeous summer day.

 Dress: Closet at Dorothy Perkins, Shoes: DP (£29.50 here), Sunglasses: Prada.

As I was home alone this weekend I didn't have my usual 'photographer' to take photos, so excuse the weird poses caught by the self timer. I haven't featured a jumping shot in a while ;).

Is this peplum frill dress and nude heels combo too wag-tastic? Are you a fan of peplum detailing? xxx

Urban Decay: Build Your Own Palette

As a beauty blogger I try not to play favourites, but sometimes I just can't help myself. Urban Decay eyeshadows are amazing! Their Naked palette has been my most used beauty item and has accompanied me on business trips, nights out and beach holidays alike! I am so excited that UD have now brought out a customisable palette - so whether you love their ridiculously vibrant shadows, glitters or nudes you can easily build your own, individual eyeshadow wardrobe.

In usual Urban Decay style the palette is fun and bold, yet durable in its metallic outer casing that opens flat to reveal 6 shadow wells and a large mirror.

Each palette comes with a Good Karma shadow brush and Walk of Shame eyeshadow (top left), the perfect nude, which can be used as a highlighter, base or blending colour and would work perfectly with different colours and finishes. I was kindly given the opportunity of choosing the other five shadows and decided to go for a mix of my favourites - neutrals and brights.

What I love about the design of these little shadow pots is just how easy the pans are to pop out of their original packaging and put in the palette. There are no fiddly magnets, sharp implements, heating glue, fumes or brute force involved (yes I'm talking about you MAC...). All you have to do is press on the bottom of the pot and the pan snaps out. 

This not only saves time, but also makes the palette super versatile so you can use it to store and organise shadows or if you want to throw one in your bag for touch ups on the go you can quickly transfer the pan back into it's original individual pod. Voila!

Top (L-R) Walk of Shame, Sin, Mushorrom. Bottom (L-R) Haight, ACDC, Busted.

Build Your Own Palette retails at £14 and is available at House of Fraser here and Debenhams here.

Are you a fan of Urban Decay shadows? Which are your favourite shades? Are you tempted to add the UD Build Your Own Palette to your collection?  xxx

OOTD: Azure

This gorgeous dress from Oasis combines a ridiculous number of trends, while being so easy to wear.

It's gorgeous bright blue colour, sheer, pleated maxi skirt with two thigh high splits and draped back make it an absolute Summer must have!

Dress: Oasis (£70 here), Belt: Reiss, Bag: Mulberry, Bracelets: Oasis, Glasses: Fiorelli,            Sandals: Primark.

There are so many gorgeous dresses in Oasis this season I am constantly tempted! Have you purchased any new summer dresses recently? xxx

FOTD: 10 Mins Going Out Makeup

When in a rush I usually go for fail safe combo of bright lips and neutral eyes. This whole look took about 10 minutes, which I think is pretty speedy... though I have no doubt the bf would disagree ;).

With my amazing new Boudoir lashes (review coming soon) all I had to do was add a flick of L'Oreal carbon gloss eyeliner and a tiny amount of MAC's Phloof in the inner corners to open up my eyes.

I then used a small amount of MUA's Hot Lips lip balm on my cheeks (multi tasking) and mixed a red Eyeko lipstick with MAC's cool toned gladiola to create a statement. I find that mixing colours and layering up different textures of lip products ensures that your colour stays put all night!

What are you fail safe makeup choices? What products do you rely on to get ready in a hurry? xxx

OOTD: Mary Katrantzou Inspired

Mary Katrantzou's bright, eye catching designs have exploded on to every fashion editor's radar over the last few seasons. I absolutely love her style and given a lower price tag I would definitely be investing in her pieces.

Therefore while browsing Love's website I was super excited to see an MK inspired shirt dress at a purse friendly price of £40 (check it out here).

Shirt Dress: In Love With Fashion (£40 here), Belt: Mango, Leather Jacket: Reiss, Tights: M&S, Cool Suede Wedge Trainers: Ash (£139 here), Glasses: Fiorelli.

I love the fact that all the dresses are individual, mine just happened to be mostly yellow and red, but as you can see from the picture on the website all the dresses have a unique mix of colours.

Keep your eye out for an exclusive Love competition for my readers where you will be able to win your choice of their fabulous dresses... coming soon! xxx

YSL La Laque Couture - Rose Futuriste

Yves Saint Laurent's latest nail collection La Laque Couture contains 30 timeless shades created to represent the couture legacy and the contemporary creations of the House of Saint Laurent. The range of shades is really impressive with muted pinks, neons, metallics and even some illusive taupes - a little something for everyone. I was immediately drawn to these when seeing the ad campaign... not least because of those amazing shoes!

I was kindly sent three shades to try out. Nothing brings excitement to the office like the arrival of a little YSL package. All the bottles look so luxurious in their glamorous gold packaging and luckily the product inside has never been a disappointment.

(Without flash)

 

(With flash)

The two pinks above are pretty similar, but after much thought (I'm deep like that lol) I finally decided on the cooler pink of the two No. 11 Rose Futuriste to paint my talons. The first thing I noticed is the amazing brush. Now, I am no heart surgeon and my hands are a little more than shaky, especially when working on small areas, but application with this brush was so quick and easy. The bristles are quite sturdy, while the brush is wide and flat with a curved edge, which means you can create the perfect shape at the cuticle and smoothly cover the whole nail in polish in one or two strokes. Come to think of it I think this is my favourite brush of any brands I have used!

The polish itself was deeply pigmented and pretty much opaque in one coat. It dried pretty quickly with a high gloss finish. I always use Seche Vite as a topcoat, a 'control' in all my nail polish experiments if you will ;).

I absolutely adore this colour. Bright pink has been the perfect antidote to the recent weather!

YSL La Laque Couture polishes retail at £18 and can be purchased online from Selfridges here.

Have you tried any of the new YSL Couture polishes? Which are your favourite shades? Were you equally impressed with the brush? xxx