New Years Eve Make Up

I thought I'd do one last post to round up 2014 seeing as it's been such a great year! Normally I upload on a Tuesday but I wanted to finish on New Years Eve with a little tutorial of the make up I have been loving these past few weeks when going to Christmas parties etc! I've been using my Urban Decay Naked Palette on the eyes mainly using the golden tones to create a really strong eye look and then leaving the rest of the face fairly neutral.

Before doing the eye make up I used Collection's Lasting Perfection Concealer in 'Medium 3' just in the spots I needed, Soap and Glory's Kick Ass Concealer Under the eyes and to highlight, then Soap and Glory's Archery Brow to shape my eyebrows. I then finished this off with MAC Studio Fix Powder and a bit of Benefit 'Rockateur' Blush and primed my eyelids with Urban Decay's Primer Potion. All brushes used in this were also from Real Techniques, I honestly do love their brushes! Here's a little step to step on the eyes...

Step 1. Using a 'Deluxe Crease' Brush wipe the shade 'Natural' all over the eyes to even out the eyelid and give a bit of a base for the eyeshadow.
Step 2. Using a 'Base Shadow' Brush push 'Half Baked' all over the mobile lid and blend in (make sure to tap off the brush as you can get some fall down with these)

Step 3. Using an 'Accent' Brush bring 'Half Baked' into the very inner corner of your eye and slightly underneath. This can be done quite strongly into the corner, I find it gives an amazing highlight, just be careful not to get it in your eye!
Step 4. Back to the 'Base Shadow' Brush, lightly mix the shades 'Buck' and 'Naked' and blend into the crease lightly just to smooth the outer edge.

Step 5. Using an 'Brow' Brush, get any dark brown eyeshadow and very slightly use this to line the outer corner of the lash line, only going to about the middle of the eye. (I also tight-lined with Soap and Glory's 'Supercat' eyeliner but you can skip this step!)
Step 6. Finally finish off with lashing's of mascara or you could add false eyelashes if you wish!

Have you been wearing any make up staples this season? Let me know what you think of this look!

And finally, just to say thanks for reading and Happy New Year! See you in 2015!

Autumn Beauty Menu

As with most people, when the season changes so does my make up routine. I love all the autumnal colours, all the deep golds, purples, burgandys and berries and love experimenting with the season. So I thought I'd put together a little 'make up and beauty menu' of a few bits I love wearing for Autumn!

Maybelline Colour Tattoo in 'On and On Bronze' - Great for just a sweep of colour over the lids, as a primer or built up as a base for a gold smokey eye look!

Sleek Contour Kit in 'Light' - Even though Summer's over I still love a good bronze to keep the tan going a bit longer. I love using this as an eye shadow too!

Maybelline Colour Drama Lip Crayon in ' Keep it Classy' - I absolutely love berry lips and this lip pencil is so great! It's so easy to apply and doesn't feel at all drying on the lips, I'm definitely going to be picking up more colours!

Benefit Rockateur Blush - This is probably one of my favourite blushes of all time, I think it's perfect for this time of year though! Gone are the corals and pinks of Summer, instead this has a slightly darker tone and gives the cheeks a warm natural flush

Max factor Colour Elixir lipstick in 'Burnt Caramel' - This is a great one to wear everyday, it's a bit deeper than a 'your lips but better' colour so great for this season to just add a slight colour!

Deep Red, Plum and Nude Nail Polish - I love darker nail colours a lot of the time and these are great for Autumn. If not then light greys and nudes are my definite go to

Urban Decay Naked Palette - I could probably use this quite easily all year round. The only difference this season is the colours, at the moment I'm loving using the darker colours and really building them up for a slightly more smokey look or sheering them for a more natural look

What products are you loving this Autumn?

Packing for Holiday - My Travel Make Up Essentials

Following my post on Tuesday of the toiletries that I take on holiday, I thought I would do one on the make up I like to take when I travel too. Here are a few of the bits I took with me this year...

• Benefit Porefessional Primer - My absolute favourite primer ever!
• Garnier Skin Perfector Daily All-In-One BB Cream - I used this in the evenings for a bit of coverage that still lets skin shine through and was really natural looking
• Collection Lasting Perfection Concealer in 'Warm Medium' - For those sneaky blemishes, I only really used a little of this in the evenings instead of foundation
• Soap and Glory Kick Ass Concealer 3 Piece Camouflage Kit - I like to use this under the eyes as its got a peachy tone and yellow tone to cancel out those dark circles, the setting powder is great too!
• Soap and Glory One Heck of a Blot Translucent Mattifying Powder - As I have combination skin, I always need a good powder to keep away that shine. I tried this one out on holiday and really liked it!
• Sleek Contour Kit in 'Medium' - As both a bronzer and highlighter, this is great for travelling and really showing off that glowing tanned skin! 
• Benefit Rockateur Blush - A staple in my make up bag, I wore this everyday on holiday!
• Soap and Glory Archery Brow Tint and Precision Pencil - Eyebrows are very important to me! This pen/pencil is great at keeping them looking natural but also perfect!
• Soap and Glory Supercat Black Eyeliner Pen - My favourite liquid eyeliner at the moment, it's really easy to apply and hasn't dried out despite me having it for months now
• Urban Decay Naked Palette - A go to palette for holidays, with gorgeous golden and champagne colours, this is all you could want for an evening eye shadow that takes seconds.
• Benefit They're Real Mascara - Another favourite of mine, I couldn't be without it!
• Soap and Glory Sexy Mother Pucker Gloss Stick in 'Nudist' - I've repurchased this so many times I may as well just have a standing order. This is my favourite nude lipstick and such a lovely formula
• Maybelline Color Sensational Vivids Lipstick in 'Neon Red' - This bright red lipstick is probably my favourite one in my whole collection and looks great with a tan!
• Natural Collection Mango and Papaya Lip gloss - I've been buying this lip gloss since I was about 11 and will forever, it's just a clear lip gloss that feels really nice on the lips and both smells and tastes amazing, what more could you want?

These are just a few of the main bits I took on holiday with me this year. I also took some extra lip products (as I said before I am a major over packer) and also took my Benefit Hoola bronzer, a set of Sleek blushers just in case and a few other bits and bobs.

What make up items do you take on holiday with you? Is there anything you couldn't live without?

Love Hope xxx

My Christmas Beauty Goodies 2013

Now I know that it may seem a bit late, but I decided that I wanted my first blog post of 2014 to be about the beauty items that I got for Christmas last year. (How mad does it sound to say, or write that) I'm not doing this to brag at all about what I got, I just find that one of my favourite blog posts to read is about the things people get for Christmas, so thought I would do it myself too!

Now here's what I got...
There were a few things I've had my eye on for a long time and haven't gotten around to getting yet. I was lucky enough to get some absolutely lovely things..

The Best of Benefit Gift Set

I've always adored Benefit's products, so this set was full of loads of new and old favourites! The 'Porefessional' Primer has actually become my favourite primer of the moment and I will definitely be purchasing the full size!


Urban Decay Naked Palette
I have wanted one of these palettes for so long and haven't seemed to get around to going to town and purchasing one. This was probably one of my favourite ever present's I've gotten. I have used it every day since and will definitely be getting both of the other palettes ASAP!


Juicy Couture Viva La Juicy Perfume Gift Set
I fell in love with this perfume one day when I was walking through Boots and given a little spray on a card as they do. I've never been very adventurous with perfume, generally keeping to my Calvin Klein or Chanel one's and was hooked. It's got a full size 30ml bottle and a little handbag/travel size which hasn't left my handbag.




Vera Wang Floral Rush Perfume
My gorgeous Aunt bought me yet another lovely perfume that I have lusted after for ages. I absolutely love the design of the bottle and was so excited to open this.



Babyliss Curl Secret Hair Curler
This curler is amazing! It makes curling your hair so easy and creates the most beautiful curls. It's not the cheapest of hair tools, however if you can, I would totally recommend everyone to get one of these!



What did you get for Christmas? Any beauty goodies I should know about to try next?