Birthday Makeup Haul featuring Swatches!

As mentioned in a previous post, it was my birthday on the 16th and it's fair to say I asked for makeup in large abundance and the family&co did not disappoint! I'm so happy with and grateful for these additions to my makeup collection and I'm going to go through all the cosmetic goodies I received and include a mini-review for each as well as swatches of most of them!

Face Products

Urban Decay Flushed Palette in Streak

This is a very peach toned palette and I don't love the shades of the bronzer and highlight but that's my fault for not doing more research into what colour palette to get. Tones aside, this is the perfect travel-size all in one, especially as I'm trying to convert from someone who would rather apply 101 products to ensure my makeup lasts all day than be lumbered with a heavy makeup bag, constantly pining for a second to reapply or touch up . This is something I feel that I will definitely grow to love (I've only used it once so this mini review is certainly not a valid representation of its awesomeness.)

NARS Laguna Bronzer and Radiant Creamy Concealer in Medium 2 Ginger

I love love LOVE these! The consistency of the concealer is utterly divine. Due to my poorly developed skin-care routine (I'm working on it) it still creases ever so slightly but nowhere near as badly as MAC's Prolong-wear does on me. I got colour tested in Selfridges and this colour is a perfect match but I think one shade up would have been perfect for brightening up my under-eye area a bit more, especially when my tan fades. Finally, I love the packaging, I think if Prolong-wear had this packaging we'd get on much better. 

          On to Laguna, the beauty blogger's essential. In short, it's everything you need in a bronzer; shimmery but not too much so, can also be used for contouring and not too ashy or too orange. At the moment, I don't think it quite beats The Body Shop Honey bronzer but I cannot guarantee that I will stick to my word on that one as I become better acquainted with Laguna. I highly recommend both these products and I'm very glad that my first venture into NARS products started on such a positive note. 

theBalm Mary Lou Manizer

I'm going to keep this review short and sweet. This is the definition of gorgeous, it's a stunning must-have. The packaging and the name is über cool and the finish it gives on the skin is dazzling. I can't wait to try this as an eyeshadow!

Swatches

All things Eyes and Lips

MAC Pigment in Blue Brown and MAC Frost Finish Lipstick in Angel

I'm going to be honest and admit first and foremost that yes, my inner Kim Kardashian fangirl inspired me to request the addition of Angel to my MAC lipstick collection and it is a decision that I do not regret. After a stage of hating pink lipsticks and thinking they don't suit me I'm back to loving them again and this one is partly responsible for that. It's the perfect blue toned baby pink and emits just the right amount of sheen on the lips. It would suit most skin tones and is perfect for pairing with a smokey eye if you want more than what a nude can offer. 

The blue brown pigment I am yet to use but have been lusting over for months now. I love how ambiguous the colour is and the metallic dimensions it has: even from the tub you can see how undeniably stunning the colour is!

 Sleek Matte Me Lip Cream in Party Pink

I'm yet to use this shade but it's a cute über matte pinky-red. I have one of these already in the shade Fandango Purple and I love it, they are long wearing and have a great colour range. Though on the drying side, the amazing colour pay off makes it worth it and it's nothing a swipe of clear gloss won't solve!

Lipstick Queen Invisible Lipliner

Honestly, this has proved pretty shocking considering the price it retails at so far but I intend to persevere before I cast it off as useless. The concept is game-changing so I really hope it proves itself after more extensive use!

And last but not least...

Tom ford Lip Colour in Wild Ginger

I'm so in love with this that I am considering dedicating an entire blog post to this and this alone. In fact, I think I will do just that so stay tuned, but for now a mini review... In case you haven't noticed I am very much so a packaging-lover and this slick, luxurious packaging alone had me sold and so the creamy pigmented formula was a bonus I was pleased to discover. This is a shade I would highly recommend as in comparison to the other shades on offer it is one of the more unique ones- you can see it in action in my Week in Outfits post here. This lipstick makes me feel a million dollars and though ridiculously expensive I am already planning to purchase a second...

Lip Product Swatches

Thanks for reading! 

Olivia xo

My Week in Outfits: Work Experience 18/08/2014-20/08/2014

From Monday to Thursday this week I had work experience at a law firm in Central London which was really fun. I thought I'd put up a quick blog post on the outfits I wore as I probably won't be dressing  head-to-toe 'corporate' like this for quite a while! I forgot to photograph what I wore on Thursday so this post will feature my outfits Monday through Wednesday, thanks for reading!

 

Outfit 1

Dress- Hobbs

Blazer- Berksha

Boots- New Look

Outfit 2

Skirt- ASOS

Shoes- Russell and Bromley

Blouse- I have no recollection of buying, oops

Outfit 3

Shirt- Ralph Lauren

Dress- H&M

Lipstick- Tom Ford Lip Color in Wild Ginger

Olivia xo

My Birthday Meal OOTN

Last night my family and I went out for a meal to celebrate my 17th birthday which is today! Traditionally we go out the night of or after the actual day but I'm working all weekend so this year we did it a day early. I wore this white mesh sleeved dress I picked up from Zara in Morocco which has been collecting dust in my wardrobe since I returned from my holiday at the end of June. 

As a general rule I try to avoid white clothing that isn't a plain white tee at all costs due to the inevitable vile makeup stain situation that happens but the material of this dress is so gorgeous that it was too good to resist! It reminds me a bit of some of the items from the Nicole X Missguided collection. No occasion thus far has seemed special enough to wear it but in an attempt to stop saving cute dresses for exciting special rainy days that never come around I got it on and here it is! I paired it with my flowery ASOS monk shoes which have been an absolute nightmare to break in and even after months of trying they still hurt but are too pretty for me to part with. Alongside this I wore my favourite Bitchy Red shade of lipstick: MAC's appropriately named Diva, which photographed more purple than red. Happy birthday to me!

Dress- Zara

Shoes- Asos (Sold out but on sale in Plain Black and Silver)

Up soon will be a post on the makeup I got for my birthday so stay tuned!

Olivia xo

OOTD- The Tricky Nude Leather Skirt Edition

 On Tuesday myself and my two sisters went to Bicester Village for a spot of shopping (I would highly recommend, the Burberry and Valentino stores broke my heart and fueled my passion to get rich and own some of their pieces one day) and I wore this skirt by TFNC London that I picked up in a Topshop sale a couple of seasons ago. At first sight it seemed like the perfect unusual piece unlike anything I'd seen in stores before but since purchase has proved to be one of the hardest to style items I own! It's a pleather material and the only way I can describe the colour is skin-like.  It literally looks like skin, weird. I intend to discover at least 2 more ways to wear this because I love mixing and matching, but every time I try something new with this skirt it fails miserably! It's high waisted and when worn with a top or shirt tucked in the silhouette doesn't look right on me so I was happy with how this outfit turned out.

Skirt- TFNC London Topshop

Top- Miss Selfridge

Shoes- Converse

Lipstick- Maybelline Colour 

Sensational in Shocking Coral

Left Sister's outfit

Playsuit- Primark

Shoes- Birkenstock

Right Sister's outfit

Top- Zara

Trouser- Gap

Shoes- Russell and Bromley

Olivia - xo

My Sephora Wishlist

So if you follow me on Twitter you will know that the lack of a Sephora in London and in the UK in general makes me very, very sad. Despite the recent introduction of UK shipping from the Sephora website I am still not satisfied as I love makeup shopping as much as I love makeup wearing and the thought of making a purchase without a million swatches on my hand/arm removes a large amount of the fun for me. 

Though recently I have indulged in a FeelUnique purchase here and there, the whole shopping in dollars thing on Sephora confuses me. (I doubt it makes the experience difficult but it all feels a bit alien to me when I don't see a pound sign in sight.) However, my desire to try some of the things on this wishlist, especially the Kat Von D products, is getting so bad that I am seriously considering saving for and setting up a weekend trip to somewhere in Italy or Paris with some pals as an excuse to indulge in a Sephora splurge, oops. 

Also most of the products I want are base products and I am tiresome of the days of not owning a foundation that actually suits my skintone and want to enter a world involving no blending past the jawline (wishful thinking indeed). Therefore I have comprised a list (featuring links) of some of the things Sephora can provide me that the UK cannot. Enjoy! 

Kat Von D Tattoo Liner

Kat Von D Lock-It Tattoo Foundation

Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics Lip Tars

Make Up Forever HD Invisible Cover Foundation

Make Up Forever Full Cover Concealer

Make Up Forever Aqua Creams

What's your favourite product that Sephora has to offer?

Olivia- xo

Welcome to my blog!

Hi!
So I've been planning on starting a blog for months and constantly put it off and reserved it as something to do when summer finally arrived but have been pretty busy with life recently so it has been put off again...until now that is! 

I will be focusing mainly on fashion and beauty posts. At the moment my style is yet to be set in stone and I would love to document it and be able to see how it changes/evolves and all that. Also, I feel as though my frequent trips to the makeup aisles of Boots/Superdrug and the damage they to my bank balance can totally be justified if I have somewhere to talk about how I'm finding what I'm trying out, right? 

So basically, I can't think of a better platform to do the above and I'm really excited to finally start blogging! My aim is to post as least once a week and alternate between beauty and ootd's/style posts.

That being said I will also occasionally post non-beauty or fashion related posts like book and movie reviews depending on what I feel like posting and what's going on in my life at the time! My first post will be up some time today and I have a couple of ootd's I plan on putting up this week or possibly next week too.

Thanks for reading!

Olivia
xo