A sneak peek into my everyday makeup bag

So today, I thought I would share with you, what I keep in my every day makeup bag. The items are all available in Boots/SuperDrug and in any good supermarket, and are all reasonably priced (I don't wear expensive makeup throughout the week as there's no need to waste it on a natural look). The most expensive item in my week day makeup bag is my illuminator in Peach by No.7, followed by my No.7 Primer in green. I love No.7 base products as they prepare your face and provide a good base for the rest of your look.
After I've primed and illuminated my face, I apply Rimmel lasting finish foundation in 100, which is supposed to last 25 hours, but lets be fair...who would ever leave foundation on for 25 hours!!!! I then apply Hide the Blemish concealer by Rimmel, under my eyes, in the creases of my nose and over any blemishes or spots that may have appeared that day! I then blend it in with my finger.
Next, I sweep Rimmel Stay Matt pressed powder in Warm Beige over the foundation and concealer to seal them, and then apply Rimmel Natural Bronzer in Sunlight to give that sun kissed healthy glow. I apply 2 different shades of Bourjois blush, Rose Frisson and Rose D'or, in order to define my cheekbones and to give my cheeks a pop of pinky colour. I sweep the lighter pink across the apples of my cheeks and then the darker one at the point where my cheekbones dip in.
Next, I use my Eyelure brow pencil to shape and define my natural brows, and comb the colour through the hairs in order to keep the look as natural as possible. On my lids, I use Bourjois eyeshadow in shades 05 and 08 and I then use a black Rimmel eye pencil to outline my eyes. Finally I curl my lashes with an Elle eyelash curler, and put on some Rimmel Glam Eyes Lash Flirt mascara in Kohl Black, followed by a clear mascara from Collection 2000 in order to prevent the black from smudging onto my eye lids and under the eye. This completes my everyday makeup routine!

Do you have any good high street products that you use every day? Can you recommend any? Let me know :)

Chow for now lovelies,

Love Kirsty xxx

The results of sleep in rollers are in!...

At long last...I have had a moment to try out my gorgeous pink sleep in rollers! And the verdict? I adore them! They are hot hot hot without any of the heat that damages our locks on a day to day basis.
Now, I have to admit, I didn't try sleeping in them...I put them in as soon as I woke up and left them in for 5/6 hours (needless to say I didn't leave the house that day until I had removed them haha). I did however, try to lay down in them just to see how bearable/unbearable they were, and....I can safely say that I would never be able to sleep in them :( (I have a very sensitive scalp) which is a shame, but the results i achieved totally outshone the fact that I couldn't wear them throughout the night.
To achieve my wavy, bouncy locks, I firstly dampened my hair slightly and applied some volume mousse throughout. I then took sections of hair no wider than the width of the roller, and rolled my hair UNDER (rolling over will cause the hair to flick out and I didn't want to look like something from 1960!!) I then pinned the roller in place with the Kirby grips I got in the sleep-rollers pack.
When I took them out later, I sprayed my hair lightly with hairspray just to make sure that the look held all night..and it did!
I would definitely recommend sleep rollers to anyone..they are hot!!!

P.s. I'm always looking out for new blogs to look at and read through so feel free to comment and send me your links and I will have a nosey :)

Chow for now lovelies,

Love Kirsty xxx

My favourite products #5

Hi guys...time to tell you all about my final favourite product of 2013 so far! Never ever ever am I without one of these little pots of loveliness these days: one in my handbag, one in my bedside drawer and one in my makeup bag...it's the one and only VASELINE!!!!!
I apply Vaseline instead of Chapstick, every night before I go to sleep, and at various times throughout the day. It really helps with chapped lips and protects them from the cold weather. Sometimes I even mix a little bit of lip gloss with the Vaseline so that my lips look tinted but are much more moisturised than they would be with just wearing lipgloss.
I bought a trio of mini Vaseline pots from Primark just before Xmas, for around £4.50 (I think they are normally around £2.00 a pot from Boots or SuperDrug.) For the money I paid, I got the original Vaseline, the coco butter Vaseline and the aloe Vera Vaseline. You can now also get a rose Vaseline and a pink champagne Vaseline but only if you buy them separately.

Below is a list of reasons why I love Vaseline, and why I think it's worthy of being one of my favourite products!
1) great for chapped skin
2) perfect for moisturising dry patches such as elbows or knees
3) ideal for smoothing down unruly eyebrows (be careful not to apply too much as it will look greasy and interfere with your makeup!
4) applied to eyelashes before bed, leaves them feeling soft and nourished and apparently encourages them to grow better! (think of it as a conditioner for your eyelashes!)
5) good for stopping hair dye from dying your skin around your hair line and ears

If the list above doesn't convince you to use Vaseline, then nothing will!!!

Chow for now lovelies,

Love Kirsty xxx

My favourite products #4

I'm in love with a lipgloss that a friend bought me for my birthday..it really is the best lipgloss I've worn. Bobbi Brown is the brand..pastel 12 is the colour! It's a really gorgeous high shimmer pink gloss, that anyone can pull off, and unlike most lip-glosses I've worn, it isn't sticky in texture. It's lovely and thick, so it glides on without feeling too tacky.
I was lucky enough to receive 3 of these little beauties in miniature form as a gift, so I have no idea how much they cost...but I know they aren't cheap!
When applied, a slightly minty taste comes through and it instantly plumps your pout..it tingles a little at first but after a while you get used to it. It smells a little minty too which I really like in a lipgloss. There's nothing worse than a lipgloss that doesn't smell pleasant! No such worries with this one!
I will certainly be purchasing the full sized version of this lipgloss when I run out of my little miniatures! Do you have a favourite lipgloss? Can you recommend any for me to try? Let me know!

Chow for now lovelies,

Love Kirsty xxx

My favourite products #3

We all love our hair..and we all want it to look super smooth and shiny right? Great! Well I've come across a shampoo that really brings out the natural shine of my hair, and leaves it feeling lovely and silky. It's Aussie Hair Miracle Moist Shampoo- for hair that's dry/ damaged/ a bit unhappy!
I have quite long hair, and I blow dry and straighten it often, which leaves it dry and dull looking. This shampoo revives the hair, and puts back in, the moisture lost as a result of heat damage. It smells lush too, and leaves my hair smelling nice for days!
I always use the relevant conditioner recommended for use with the shampoo as they really work together to do exactly what it says on the bottles! I also change my shampoos and conditioners every couple of months as I find that my hair gets used to the ingredients and doesn't benefit from them, so Aussie Shampoo is simply my chosen shampoo for the next few months, and then ill change to something else.
To get the most out of Aussie Hair I wash twice with the shampoo, making sure I don't rub on the scalp too hard as this releases oils that will make the roots greasy again in no time. I then rinse well and apply the conditioner, leaving it in for 2-5 minutes and then rinsing it out, making sure there are absolutely no bubbles in the water before I turn the taps off and towel dry to get rid of excess water. I will then dry and style as I please, (and I always use a heat spray to protect the hair before drying!).
The shampoo and conditioner are priced somewhere between £3.50-£4.00 each depending on where you get them from and there are many other Aussie products available to use with them to make the most of your hair.
Do you have a favourite shampoo and conditioner? What is your hair regime and do you have any top tips for achieving beautiful hair? Feel free to comment and let me know!

Chow for now lovelies,

Love Kirsty xxx

My favourite products #2

Right ladies...this second favourite product of mine is something, that I am ashamed to say, I have only recently discovered! Even so I am in love with it! It's the Pro Base conceal and brighten kit from MUA. MUA is a brand of makeup and cosmetics that offers absolute bargains when it comes to buying our essentials from the high street. I'm not sure if you can get MUA products from anywhere other than SuperDrug as that is the only place I have seen them in, but there's a SuperDrug on every high street so that works for me! Anyway, this little 3 shade, cream based pallet is perfect for highlighting cheekbones and brow bones, for camouflaging dark circles under the eyes and for generally concealing any blemishes. You can even use it to cover scars and birthmarks! Which is great. Also, it's great for contouring, using the darkest shade to draw a line from the top of the ear to the crease of the mouth and then blending and buffing the line upwards to create a sculpting look. You can then take the lightest shade and draw another line underneath the dark one, buffing it out downwards towards the jaw line. (For tutorials on how to do this visit YouTube and search for Hollie Wakeham. Her videos are amazing!) Thus creating a smooth and youthful complexion.
The kit comes in various shades, I have the porcelain-beige colour which suits my fair skin perfectly, and is very cheap (I can't quite remember how much I paid for it but it wasn't in excess of £4) I've got a funny feeling that once people realise just how good the products are that the prices will raise slightly, but they are just too good to keep to myself!
So whether you're after a pallet, foundation, eyeliner, mascara, lipstick, eyeshadow etc, have a look at MUA, you won't regret it!!!!

Chow for now Lovelies,

Love Kirsty xxx

My favourite products #1

I have so many favourite products at the moment that choosing a mere 5 of them to tell you about was very difficult, but I finally managed to narrow the selection down to my absolute must haves of 2013!
I'm going to blog separately about each of them as I don't want to cram them all into one long post and I think each product deserves its own moment of glory!
So...I'm going to start by reviewing my favourite skin/body product, the 'No7. Cocooning body balm', priced at £13.50. At first I thought this was rather pricey for a body balm, but when I took it out of the box I couldn't complain about the amount of product you get for your money, and such a small amount goes a long way, meaning it'll last ages. Using the balm sparingly on the body after a bath or shower (applying a little more to the dry areas such as elbows and knees) left my skin feeling super smooth and hydrated, oh and it smells gorgeous!
Another great thing about the balm is that it soaks into the skin really quickly, without leaving that greasy, tacky feeling behind that we all hate!!! I like to apply it when my skin is still slightly wet so that all the moisture soaks in and leaves my body feeling fresh. It's also great for applying an hour or so before tanning as the main ingredient is aqua (water) meaning the tan won't slip off the skin.
The No7. Cocooning body balm is the best body moisturiser I have ever used, and I think you'll love it just as much as I do, so give it a try!

Chow for now lovelies,

Love Kirsty xxx

London Love <3

I love London! I do, I do, I do! Everything about this concrete jungle amazes me, everything from the hustle and bustle of its busy streets, to its scenic and serene landscape that completely opposes everything that people associate with London: traffic, swarms of tourists, pollution, chaos...the list is endless.
My friends and I take the 4 hour trip to London, each year in December, to shop 'til we drop, eat and drink to our hearts content, sight see, and to generally get away from our small town we call home. Our favourite hotel is situated adjacent to St. Paul's Cathedral and we have been lucky enough to stay in rooms overlooking it. It is simply breathtaking and a world away from home. It's amazing!
Of course, there is another side to London that you cannot ignore: the amount of homeless people sleeping rough in the streets and tube stations is heartbreaking. What's even more disturbing than seeing actual human beings hiding under sleeping bags and pieces of cardboard, is that nobody seems to care! Of course they do, but they cannot do anything for them. Very sad.
Non the less, London will without a doubt remain one of my favourite places to visit and I'm sure I'll be making the trip for many years to come!

Chow for now lovelies,

Love Kirsty xxx