Tag Tuesday - Most Treasured Make Up Possessions

Ahoy me mateys! Captain Rachel here with my most treasured make up possesions tag!

This tag is actually supposed to be Most Treasured Make up Posession, but the thought of choosing just one item shivered me timbers (see what I did there?) so I decided to change it to Possesions, plural. A bit naughty I know! But never mind, worse things happen at sea (Okay, okay, I'll stop with the pathetic attempts at pirate jokes now!)

I have managed to narrow it down to my final three most treasured make up possesions which I think is pretty good...

1. Mac Studio Finish Concealer - I know I havent stopped banging on about this concealer since I bought it but I literally love it! It is now my go-to concealer and I think its amazing! The only downside is that it doesnt cover my dark circles very well but for that I use Collection 2000 Lasting Perfection concealer which does a great job.

2. Naked Palette - This is a new product to me but it has still managed to make its way into my most treasured make up possesions. Every shade included is super wearable and you can create so many different looks. The eyeshadows themselves are really blendable and easy to work with which is great for me as I'm not the worlds greatest when it comes to applying eyeshadow!

3. No.7 Exceptional Definition Mascara - Some of you may think that this is a bit of a random choice. No.7 as a brand isnt mentioned in Beauty Blogs as much as the likes of Mac, Urban Decay, Clinique, Benefit, Nars etc. but I honestly cant think why. I actually got this mascara as part of a free gift with my last No.7 purchase and i'm so glad that I did because I would never have discovered it otherwise! It does everything that I personally want a mascara to do - lengthens, seperates and defines. Its my all time favourite mascara and I can definitley see myself repurchasing this for years to come.

So there you have it, my three Most Treasured Makeup Possesions!

If you were stuck on an island with only three make up items what would they be and why?

With Love,

Rachel x


I would love it if you could all do this tag and post a comment to let me know but i'm going to tag a few people myself too :)

1. Islaay
2. Girlie Blogger
3. Ems Mixed Bag

My FFFs - A day late!

First of all apologies for this post being a day late. The reason for this will be explained in my favourites so I'm going to jump straight into them...

1. The Hunger Games - The first thing I'm LOVING this week is The Hunger Games. As you probably know the film was released yesterday (which is the reason I didn't get to post this yesterday!) and I wanted to read the book before I saw the film. It took me just six hours to read the book and I was hooked from the beginning! This made me want to see the film even more which resulted in a last minute trip to the cinema with my little sister last night. I aren't going to go into the film to much cos I may do a film review (?) but I will say it is amazing and you should definitely go see it!

2. Chocolate Milkshake - This is a bit of a random one but I just can't get enough chocolate milkshake lately! I've always been partial to it but I am literally addicted to the stuff this week!

3. Brigadeiro - Another unhealthy thing at number three this week! I had seen Carrie Fletcher of Itswaypastmybedtime make this on her YouTube channel and it looked so easy and yummy that I had to make it myself! My little sister and I had a go at it before going to the cinema yesterday and it went quite well. Jody gets all of the credit for rolling them into balls and covering them with sprinkles :)

4. My Pooches - My dogs are literally my life - they're like my children and they manage to put a smile on my face on even the dullest of days. I thought it was only fair that they got a mention this week as they're such a huge part of my life so here they are at number 4 :)

5. Sleek Contour Kit - I thought I should have at least one make up item in my favourites and after much thought I decided on my Sleek Contour Kit. I've had this for around 6 months now but I love it. Admittedly the highlighters isn't that great but the bronzer more than makes up for that.

What are you five favourite things this week? Are you having a good weekend?

With Love,

Rachel x

All pictures taken from Google with the exception of images three and four which were taken by myself

Friday Favourite Five

This is another one of the 'Feature Posts' I want to start including on my blog on a weekly basis. Basically its just a quick run down of five things I am loving each week. If you like it, please let me know but if you think its kind of pointless dont be afraid to speak up - I only want to write about things that you want to read about.

I've decided to call them my FFF's because Friday Favourite Five is a bit long winded!

1. The first thing I am loving this week is my new Naked palette. I know I am waaaay behind the times as I've only just purchased the Original Naked palette and the sequel has already been released but if you read my Big News post you will see my logical thinking behind it :) I am so glad that I have finally added this palette to my makeup collection. I was like a little child on Christmas morning when it was delivered and am just so happy to finally have it!

2. My second favourite thing this week is Yankee Candles. Now, I am going to share a little fact about myself with you - I have very little to no sense of smell so buying anything fragranced is usually wasted on me! Having said that I still like to buy nice smelling things so that the people around me can enjoy them - the only downside to this is something I think would smell nice could, in actual fact, smell of rotting fish and I would be non the wiser! On a recent visit to Clinton Cards I found one of the smaller Yankee Candles that had been reduced to half price. I opened the lid and had a quick whiff - I couldnt smell anything but bought it anyway! Mainly because of the fact that it is green so will match my spare bedroom (Another fact about myself - Everything has to match!).

3. Next is my Mac studio finish concealer. This is my absolute saviour when it comes to hiding the dreaded spots and other blemishes which seem to have invaded my face this week! I just love everything about it - the consistency, the packaging, the longevity of the product on my face. EVERYTHING!

4. A bit of a slushy one for you at number four this week - My family. A lot of people (myself included) take family for granted a lot of the time. I think its nice to sometimes sit back and think, Yeah they're my family and i'm stuck with them, but you know what? I'm glad i'm stuck with them and I wouldnt have it any other way! My family really is the best. I know I can count on every single member of my family to be there when I need them and that thought really comforts me. My family is my world and I honestly couldnt live without them! As they say - Blood is thicker than water!

5. My final favourite thing for this week is my newly decorated spare bedroom. For as long as I can remember I have wanted a shabby chic, English country cottage style bedroom but, unfortunatley, I have never had a bedroom to myself to decorate just the way I want. This meant my sisters and I, or myself and Scott as the case now is, always had to come to some sort of compromise on how our bedroom would be decorated. Scott and I have completely opposite ideals when it comes to decor - Scott would like a bachelor pad complete with every modern gadget and gizmo going while I would prefer a comfortable, lived in, shabby chic look. Its the same with houses in general - Scott would love something like a penthouse suite in a block of swanky, up-market apartments, whilst I would love a quaint little chocolate box cottage surrounded by lush green fields with a little stream running at the bottom of the garden. We are complete polar opposites but I suppose they do say opposites attract! Anyway, back to my spare bedroom! Scott gave me free reign when it came to decorating the spare bedroom and I instantly knew what I wanted - Shabby Chic! Its taken a few weeks to get it the way I wanted it but it is finally finished and I am more than happy with the end result! I'm thinking of maybe doing a little 'Room Tour' kind of post with photos of certain areas within my spare room to give you an idea of what it looks like. Oh, and the best bit is - the spare room is now my make up room! Every girls dream!

So thats it for this weeks FFF's. Hope you enjoyed!

What are you enjoying this week?

With Love,

Rachel x

Mini MAC Haul!

I have some more exciting news for you all today....

I am pleased to announce... Drum roll please.... that my MAC cherry has finally been popped! I am no longer a MAC virgin! (Wahoo!)

Now, before I get carried away with myself, I just wanted to let you know that I haven't forgotten the whole purpose of this blog - To review and feature make up and cosmetic products under the price tag of £20 (With the exception of the Naked palette I ordered on Sunday but that was a must have!). Most of you are probably thinking - This is supposed to be a blog for the cheaper 'drugstore' products, not the more expensive branded products and you would be right. BUT I have kept my promise (I would rather gouge my eyes out with a rusty nail than break a promise!) and all of the MAC products (well, all two of them!) were under £20 each!

My first EVER MAC purchase was the Studio Fix Fluid Foundation in the shade NW20. I have been using this product for just under a week now and don't have any qualms with it so far - having said that, I'm not totally in love with it either. The reason behind my reservations for this product is I'm not certain that NW20 is the correct shade for me. I was matched in the store but to be honest the lighting is pretty dingy in there and in that light NW20 did seem to match my skin tone perfectly. However, after applying the foundation in natural light I find it to be slightly too dark for me. It isn't noticeably darker if blended properly but it means I have to make sure that all of my foundation is blended properly otherwise my face ends up with darker patches here and there, which lets face it, isn't a very attractive look! I think my skin tone would probably lean more to the NW15 but unfortunately I cant afford to re-purchase in other shade just yet so for now I will have to stick with the NW20 and keep blending.

Once I had purchased my first MAC product I had the bug and a few days later I made my second visit to my local mac counter. The product on the agenda this time was the Studio Finish Concealer which I got in shade NW15. Now, I cant really comment on this product properly just yet as I only used it for the first time this morning but so far so good! It hides my blemishes (which are pretty bad at the moment) really well and does semi-cover my dark circles - It doesn't hide them completely but its the best concealer I've tried so far. I love the texture of this concealer. Its so smooth and creamy and just glides on to the skin. Perhaps I will do a more in depth review of this product after I've used it for a few weeks or so.

My third mac purchase wasn't anything to write home about - I bought the foundation pump (I bet you can hardly contain your excitement at this news!). I was truly shocked when I got my mac foundation home to find that the pump wasn't supplied and had to be bought separately! If I'm honest, my little bubble of joy from buying my first mac product was well and truly popped! I really cant believe that an expensive (It may not be expensive to some of you but its the most expensive foundation I've ever bought!) foundation like the Studio Fix Fluid does not come with a pump! I did try a few days of just pouring the foundation on to the back of my hand but found it quite difficult to get the product out so I finally gave in and bought the pump. The pump is only £3 which is reasonable but that's beside the point. When I'm spending £19.50 on foundation I don't expect to have to buy 'extras' for it when I can buy a 'drugstore' foundation for half the price complete with pump! Rant over!

Overall I am really happy with my MAC purchases and will definitely be visiting the mac counter more often from now on. I just wish the foundation was a touch lighter and then my purchases would be pretty much perfect!

Have you tried any MAC products? Which are your favourite? 


With Love,

Rachel x

Inspirational Quote of the Day

I've decided that I would like a few 'feature posts' on my blog and one of the ideas I've had is an Inspirational Quote of the Day post. I think it would be a nice little feature to pick people up when they are feeling down and give everybody something to smile about :)

Without further ado, here's today's Inspirational Quote -

March Wishlist

I can't believe it's time for another wish list! Where did February go?!

This month there's a few things I would like...

1. Mac Studio Fix Fluid Foundation - I've been wanting to try a Mac foundation for a while now and after watching THOUSANDS of videos featuring various Mac foundations I've finally decided that the Studio Fix Fluid would be the best one for me. I plan on taking my first ever trip to my local Mac counter very soon so keep your eyes peeled for a haul/review post!

2. HD Brow Palette - This is another product I've seen featured on a lot of blogs and YouTube videos and it's got loads of great reviews. My eyebrows are really bugging me at the moment and I think this would be the perfect thing for them.

3.  Bourjois Delice de Poudre Bronzing Powder - I wanted this a few months ago but forgot all about it until I saw it on a make up haul video recently and it's made me really want it again. I think it's a must have purchase for the summer!

4. MeMeMe Beat the blues face illuminator - This is a product I have only heard recently but I've heard that is a cheaper version of the Benefit highlighters. The only problem is I don't know the difference between Moonbeam and Sunbeam so I'll have to do a bit of research before buying any if them!

What's on your wish list this month?

With Love,

Rachel x

NOTD

Today I am wearing the No. 7 Totally Teal nail varnish as worn in my last NOTD post but to mix things up a bit I decided to do the graduated glitter over the top.

What are your thoughts? I was impressed but it was a pain in the butt to photograph!

With Love,

Rachel x

Big News!

I have big news for you all today! Well, its big to me at least! After months of debating whether or not to take the plunge into the world of the Naked palette I have finally ordered one for myself!

It took me hours to choose between the Naked palette or the Naked 2 palette but I finally decided on the original. The reason I went for the original was because I wanted to see what made everyone fall in love with the Naked palette in the first place. Plus, I heard (it could just be hearsay of course so don't quote me on it!) that the original Naked palette is soon to be discontinued so I thought it made sense to order the original because the Naked 2 is guaranteed to be available for a while and I can always buy it in a few months if I like the Naked palette.

Debenhams currently have a 10% off all beauty products offer running on their website so I decided to take advantage of this which means my Naked palette only cost me £32.40! Not a huge saving but a saving none the less! If you would like to take advantage of this offer you need to get your skates on as it ends at midnight tonight! Just enter the code RM94 at the checkout to claim your 10% discount. Delivery is also free at the moment so that's another bonus!

So, that's it for this post. I just wanted to share my news with you and will post again once the palette arrives. I'm also waiting for my order from Elf to be delivered, nothing exciting - just some brushes - but its my first ever Elf purchase so I will be sure to get a haul post and review up for that once it arrives as well!

Hope you're all keeping well.

With Love,

Rachel x

Minx Nails

In my February Wish List post I mentioned that I had booked to have my first ever Minx nails done. My appointment was last week and I'm super pleased with the results...

 

I went to a salon called Natural Beauty which is in Leeds. I was given a selection of various Minx designs to choose from and after much umming and ahing I finally decided on the pink leopard print design. It's fairly bold and bright but I wanted something that would stand out and catch the eye.

The lady, Julie, was really professional and friendly and explained everything as she was doing it as she knew I was a Minx virgin. She told me that Minx is known for lasting longer on toe nails than finger nails but I decided to stick with having it on my fingers as I hate my toes and never have them out so it would just be a waste!

The whole process took around half an hour and Julie applied a coat of Shellac over the Minx to make it more durable and to increase the longevity.

 

My Minx nails cost £15 and I'm over the moon with the results! I will definitely be making another appointment to have them done again soon!

If you're from the Leeds area and are interested in visiting Natural Beauty you can find it above Mop Tops hair salon in Pudsey. Alternatively, visit their Facebook page - www.Facebook.co.uk/naturalbeauty where I'm sure Julie will be happy to help.

Have you ever tried Minx nail wraps? What were your thoughts?

With Love,

Rachel x