Sharing the Love: Maybelline

Maybelline is a brand that I would never have really looked at in previous years. Not because I thought there was anything wrong with the brand, but I just tended to stick to Rimmel and Catrice products because they worked for me. Recently though I have absolutely been loving Maybelline as a brand, and a lot of my everyday make-up is from them. Cheap as chips products, great quality, what's not to love! So today I thought I'd share with you all my top picks from the brand, and who know's maybe you'll come across things you've never tried that you may want to give a go to! :)

Fit Me Foundation: This has been my go to foundation as of late. Its exactly the kind of coverage I like, light weight foundation but it is buildable. It just gives a nice healthy glow to the skin, which I love, as matte foundations just make my skin look too flat. The idea behind this foundation is its make up that fits you and your skin tone. The colours are divided into pink toned and yellow toned, making it easier for you to find your perfect match. The colour I was previously using, (120), was a tad too dark, so I just used it whenever I used fake tan. But I picked it up in 115, which is a much better match to my skin tone, so its getting lots of use! Its a brilliant price too at only 11.99!

Fit Me Concealer:  From the same family as the foundation, this concealer has been compared to the Nars Radiant Creamy Concealer, but as I don't have it I can't say 'yay or nay' to the comparison. However I can say I love this concealer. Its a light creamy concealer, which can be used under the eye to brighten up or used on blemishes as it has enough pigmentation. And it doesn't settle in to the nooks and crannies under my eyes woo! And its only 8.99! :)

24 Hour Colour Tattoo Cream Eyeshadow: Everyone knows the deal with these now so I don't have to go on and on about them again, but they are fantastic to use as bases for eyeshadows! I often use On And On Bronze on its own if I can't be bothered with heavy eyeshadow, but some of the others I find very patchy looking on their own, so I tend to reserve them solely as bases, but they do a fantastic job of keeping eyeshadow in place! My personal favourite shades are On And On Bronze and Pink Gold! These are only 10 euro each, and they do last for an eternity!

Colour Sensational Lipsticks: This was the first product that made me realise I needed more Maybelline in my life. Its been a while since I've used these so I really must give them more love over the summer! The colours I own are 'Hot Plum' and 'Shocking Coral' which as the names suggest are really bright in your face colours, perfect for the summer evenings! The pigmentation is great, and they don't dry out your lips, which is  great as its my pet peeve in lip products! Again these are only a tenner, so its a great way to try out bright lipsticks without spending a huge amount of money!

The Eraser Under Eye Concealer: Another concealer, but its love! This undereye concealer was a god send for me when I was suffering from really bad dark circles, nothing else I tried worked. Until I tried this and it instantly got rid of those blue/purple undertones from under my eyes and it made me look more awake and refreshed in seconds! Its 11.99 so again, not badly priced!

Maybelline Colour Elixirs: I had heard so much of these on Essie Buttons channel that I had to pick up a couple, and now I'm raging that I didn't pick up some more because these are one of the most comfortable lip products I've ever had. They are similar to a gloss, but they're so much more pigmented than a standard gloss, and they are so creamy! And even after the gloss has disappeared, there's a slight stain left on the lips! These weren't expensive, maybe around 7/8 dollars, but I'm really hoping they appear on Maybelline Stands here soon!

So that's it ladies... Not a lot here, but still, the few bits that are here are really great, or at least I think they are anyway!
What products are you loving lately?

Thanks for reading,
Alisha xxx

How I Conceal and Correct

It would be great if we could all wake up each morning looking absolutely perfect, but for most of us this is not the case. I don't know about everyone else, but in the last couple of years the pores on my nose seem to have got significantly larger, and there seems to be a lot more redness on and around my nose than there used to be. So much so that no matter what primer or foundation I use it still seems to shine through. I'm used to light to medium coverage bases, and my skin is generally quite clear, so I'm not willing to switch to a fuller coverage base just to cover up a bit of redness in one particular area. If it was all over my face, or I had a lot of blemishes, then it may be something I'd consider. For now, I've figured out what works for me at the moment, so until it stops to work I'm going to stick to it like glue.
The two main area's I always conceal and correct no matter what are my nose and under my eyes.

Nose: I've mentioned the problem I have with my nose already so I won't dwell on it again, but I'll just explain what I do to fix it. If you're familiar with the Colour Wheel, you'll know that red is a primary colour, and green is its complementary colour because its across from it on the wheel. So if you put green on top of red, it will cancel it out altogether. So if you have problems with redness on your skin, if you use a green tone concealer on these red areas, they will eliminate the redness. The one I currently use is the green shade from the Catrice 'All Round Concealer' palette. This palette is so handy as it contains a green, pink (to counteract dark circles,) and 3 beige shades to suit differing skin tones. Its really inexpensive aswell which is always a bonus! I apply the concealer to my nose with my finger, and then blend it in with my Real Techniques Flat Foundation brush as its a middling size so it blends in the product quite nicely. The product itself is also really creamy so its easy to work with. And voila, redness is gone!

                                                    Maybelline's The Eraser (mine is disgusting and empty)
Under Eyes: The reason I conceal my under area is for the same reason as most others, dark circles! For most people, the area under there eyes will be of a purple/blue hue. If you look to the Colour Wheel to see the complimentary colour this, you'll see its yellow. Henceforth, a good colour to disguise the bags under the eyes is yellow. The area under the eye can be more difficult to find a concealer for because if you choose something to thick, it'll end up cakey and sitting in the lines around the eye. A more liquid concealer is perfect for this job as it blends in easier. I know a lot of people use Mac's Pro Long Wear Concealer for under the eyes, and I am hoping to pick it up when I go away, but for now I'm using two others. (At least I was until it one of those ran out).Those two are the Maybelline The Eraser, and Wet n Wilds Cover All Concealer.  Unfortunately I've ran out of the Maybelline one, and its 11 euro here, and something like 8.99 dollars, so naturally enough I'm going to stock up when I get over there instead of buying it here. ;) In fairness though it is a pretty good product. It comes with a little sponge applicator on the top, which some people don't like but I wasn't bothered about either way. Its a nice light liquid product, so it blends like a dream, it counteracts the darkness under my eyes, and brightens the area up all at the same time.

Until I get to New York though I'm going to use the Wet n Wild Cover All Concealer, which I picked up partly out of curiosity, it was only 2.99 or so, so it wasn't going to break the bank if it wasn't good. However though I was really impressed. Its another liquid product, but its a little bit thicker in consistency than the Maybelline one, but not so thick that it cakes and creases. In fact it blends really easily, and it actually offers more coverage than The Eraser. After using my concealer of choice I then set it with a powder, the one I'm currently using is the Rimmel Stay Matte.

Lastly, for the odd time I do get a whopper of a spot, I don't tend to wear a lot of make up as it just makes it more noticeable in my opinion. If I'm going somewhere though and can't go Au natural, the concealer of choice is Catrice's Camouflage Cream which is comparable from what I hear to the  Bobbi Brown corrector, accept this stuff is only just over 5 euro if my memory serves me correct. Its amazing, like its industrial strength stuff! It covers anything, and I mean anything! I've previously had scars on my hands from being pure clumsy but after dabbing a bit of this on it you wouldn't know they were even there! It is a very thick concealer though, so it wouldn't be suitable for the likes of under your eyes, but I find it works a dream for spot concealing, and just literally applying the tiniest amount on the pesky buggers!

Sorry this post was so long winded everyone, I didn't realise I used that many concealers on my mug!
Do you use as many as this? If so, which ones?

Thanks for reading,
Alisha xxx

Top 5 Face Products 2013

Hey there everyone, how depressing is it being back to normal after all the excitement of Christmas and New Years! :( Oh well, such is life I guess! So on to the good stuff! 

By far the beauty post's and video's I love to read and watch are good old favourites of the month!

I find it really interesting to see what products other's use and love. More often than not it does end up in me buying them to try out for myself! 

I decided rather than doing one long post it would be better to break them up in to a couple of shorter ones, which it'll make it a lot less boring for you all! 

So first up I decided I'd share my favourite face products with you all! 

2013 was the year that I really did become a tad more obsessive about beauty, and previously to that I had one foundation and I'd use it until I ran out and that was that. Now I have slightly lost track and have begun to branch out and try different brands and formula's, and pretty much spreading my foundation wings! 

So in no particular order.... :

The Porefessional Face Primer from Benefit: I only recently picked up the full size of this, but beforehand I did have a sample, and god did I get every last drop out of it! I know everyone had raved about this, but I never could see myself forking out. Until I tried it that is. I have rather large pores on my nose, and I've become quite paranoid about them lately, so I really couldn't believe the difference this primer made. It reduced the size of the pores quite largely, and it also toned down any redness I had on my nose and face too.. Happy days! It is expensive at 34 euro, but I do think its worth it, and I have a feeling it will last ages! 

L'Oreal Nude Magique Eau De Teint Foundation:  This was definitely one of 2013's most raved about products. Although it was only released this side of the pond in recent months, everyone and anyone who's tried this product has loved it. Everything about this foundation is different to most other foundations, in that this is a really liquid product, (it is lighter than water after all) it has to be shaken up and then tipped on to the finger to apply, and it is also a really light coverage! I'm loving this since I bought it, and it has firmly earned its place as my new everyday foundation. The finish is just beautiful, it just looks like you're having a really good skin day! Its priced at 14.99 from Boots and most other pharmacies. 

Rimmel Stay Matte Foundation: Rimmel had a fantastic 2013, and came out with some amazing products, the most well known probably being the Apocalips Lip Lacquers. They release this Stay Matte Foundation in late August/early September, and although I don't have oily skin, I did want to try out a foundation with a matte finish, and what better way to do it than with a budget product. I have to say though I fell in love with it as soon as I tried it! Its a thick mousse texture, and a little goes a long way with this, otherwise you may end up looking very caked, which is not a good look for anybody! It is a more full coverage foundation though, so if you do like your lighter coverage, then this  isn't for you. I loved it though, and at times when I thought it looked a bit flat, I just added a bit of highlighter. Simples. Its cheap as chips aswell at 7.99 (ish).

Catrice Camouflage Cream: This was another one that set the beauty world alight this year, and because I'm lucky enough not to get blemishes too often, I'm not one to use concealer an awful lot. On a whim in Penneys one day I picked it up to try, and this is some hardcore stuff! I've tried it on a scar I have on my hand and you wouldn't even know I had a scar after using this, and as for blemishes, well they just vanish into thin air! It is a thick concealer, so I don't know would I use it under eyes as I would fear it would sit in lines and whatnot, but maybe someday I'll try it just for curiosity's sake!

Maybelline The Eraser Under Eye Concealer: I gave this a go back in August after a week full of late night's and a couple of sleepless nights, which resulted in me having bags under my eyes bigger than Ryanair's carry on bags. They were horrendous, and no matter what I did I couldn't make them disappear! As soon as I started using this I instantly saw a difference. Although it doesn't make bags disappear altogether, it does a very good job at hiding them, while also brightening up the under eye area. As you can see by the picture I've been getting some serious use out of it, and I will definitely repurchase!

Have any of you tried any of these products? If not, what have your favourites been? 

Thanks for reading,

Alisha xxx

Whats in my make up bag!

So for any of you that don't know or aren't on Instagram, Cloud10Beauty are doing a 'beauty photo challenge for the month of October, and I've been dying to do one for ages so I decided I'd give it a lash! The reason I decided to do this post is because one of the challenges is a 'what's in your make up bag' post, so I figured I'd go one step further and do a blog post on it aswell! I have a large quantity of make up, which at the moment is stored in my wardrobe in various different vanity bags and cases, so this make up bag is the one I keep the products I use every day in, and I try to switch it up every so often.

So first of all, the actual make up bag itself is one I got when my parents were on holidays, and it came free with a fragrance purchase from Roger and Gallet. I've only started using it recently, but its a good size, and I can fit a good amount into it, a lot more than what I have in it at the moment! 

Now, onto the good stuff! :)

First up are my make up brushes, which as you can see is made up mainly of Real Techniques brushes! I'm in love with the blush brush, its so so soft, and applies just the right amount of product! The rest of the brushes are all eye brushes, and the long black handled one is a Kiko one I picked up last week, and the short silver handled one is a Sigma travel sized blending brush, and the other two are just ones I picked up cheap! But they do the job so I cant complain! :)

And onto the face!For my days off work, or when its really hot, (which isn't a whole lot in this lovely country), I opt for a BB cream. At the moment I'm using this one from Catrice, alongside the Maybelline Dream Fresh one, and if I'm honest I prefer this one! There's more coverage without it being too heavy, where as with  the Maybelline one, it doesn't cover up any redness or blemishes or anything which is disappointing for the price of it! And this Catrice one is only 6 euro! 

My go to foundation since the autumn crept in is  this Stay Matte foundation from Rimmel, and I love it! Its a mouse foundation, so the teeniest bit will do your whole face, and the coverage is amazing!

I always use a primer before applying my make up, and I've just recently finished a Smashbox one which I adored, but I won't pay 30ish euro just for a primer, to me its mental. So I'm trying to use what I have for now, and this My Base illuminating primer from Essence does the job of keeping my make up on all day, and is dirt cheap! 

For powder I use this much raved about Stay Matte powder from Rimmel. I don't use it when I'm wearing the Stay Matte foundation because that would be much too cakey for me, but I'm using more sheer products I'd always use this to mattify my face!

I'm currently using 2 concealers, the Maybelline Fit me for any blemishes or redness, and the Eraser Under Eye concealer also by Maybelline. Apologies for the grubbiness of the packaging, but both of these are on the go a while now! 

For eyes I have these 2 gel eyeliners by Catrice in both brown and black. I used to use these every single day but during the summer I just went with shadow and mascara, so now that the winter is back in I'm going to try and get a bit more use out of them, because they are actually really good! 

I've two mascaras on the go aswell at the minute, the Rimmel Scandalise, and a random one from NYC which I cant tell you the name of because the writing rubbed off! Both of these are coming near the end of there life, so I'm just trying to get a bit more use out of them before then! 

Also in here is my must have NYX eyeshadow primer. This stuff is amazing! It makes my eyeshadow last from for the full working day and a bit more, which is great! 

I currently only have 2 blushes in my bag, 'Flushed' from Sleek and I think this cream  MUA one is called Dolly, or something of the sort! Both of them have amazing pigment and are perfect colours for the transition into autumn/winter.

These are two of the most recent additions to my lipstick/gloss collection, a lipstick by Essence and this lip gloss from W7. Neither have been used yet, so I will have to test them out fairly soon! 

Lastly I just have a few random bits! An eye cream from Nivea, a tin of good old Vaseline, (aloe vera if you don't mind), and a tin of deodorant! 

So there you have it ladies, that's what's in my make up bag... For the moment!! 

Thanks for reading,

Alisha xxx

My new favourite under eye concealer!

In recent weeks I've noticed my under eye 'bags' have become more prominent, and dark circles seem to be constant. My grandfather passed away a month ago, so a lack of sleep and long days and nights spent in the hospital took its toll. But since then no matter how hard I've tried to get to bed earlier, no matter how thick the concealer I've used, my dark circles seem to remain. My most recent attempt at concealing them was using a Prai under eye corrector, and the Maybelline Fit Me concealer. But not even such an expensive product as the Prai one worked! I was beginning to get paranoid, (even though I wear glasses, so they're probably not even that noticeable to others) until I recently went into the pharmacy near where I work and picked up this little ray of sunshine!

Every beauty blogger and their mother has heard of this concealer, and any of the ones I've seen talking about it has been singing its praises from the rooftops! But I couldn't justify buying more make up, especially when I have two or three other concealers on the go at the moment! Until now that is, and boy am I glad that I did! This is the Eraser Eye concealer, which has instant anti-age properties, and which also contains goji berry, which I assume has some brightening/and or cooling properties also. Now I wouldn't be too concerned with the whole anti-age part, mainly because I'm only 25, but then again, prevention is better than cure and all that jazz! But the product itself is amazing! I don't think I've bought something that I've really loved as soon as I've tried it for the first time. The product is dispensed through a sponge at the top, after you twist the lid to the left before use. Probably not the most hygienic method, but I suppose seen as only myself will be using it it won't be too much of an issue! The product itself is definitely by far the best concealer I've ever used, and you can instantly see a difference in the under eye area. My under eyes were much brighter, and a lot of the puffiness was gone straight away! I picked up the colour light which was the perfect match for me. It is available in Nude also, so I would assume this would be for people with more sallow or darker skin. Its around 11 euro for 6mls of product, which to me isn't the cheapest, but I wouldn't mind paying it again if it continues to do its job!

Thanks for reading,
Alisha xx