What's In My Bag?

I've been wanting to do one of these posts for a while after seeing a few other bloggers doing them. So...what was in my bag today?

Today I went to London Fashion Weekend at Somerset House - it was a really fun day, I picked up a gorgeous Gilda's Tryst bag - reduced from £295 to £75 and it was lovely, if not slightly unsettling, to be surrounded by so many gorgeous, stylish people.

Anyway, here's my bag for the day - very pared down compared to usual. (I'll do another post soon on my everyday bag items!)
















The bag itself is an oversized grey clutch from Nine West. I bought it as a treat in my first year at university and I've used it on a lot of nights out since as well as in the day when I don't have much to carry. It's the perfect size for all my essentials - living in the UK I never go out without an umbrella so it's very important that one fits in my bag! I always see so many teeny tiny clutches that I love but can never justify buying them as I know I won't use them if they don't fit an umbrella!

The grey purse came with the bag.

I also have my keys - one for my parent's house, my uni key and my float key for work.

Radley card holder - I love this! The dog is so cute. This is home to my Oyster card, student ID, driver's licence and gym card - helps to keep them all in one place even if I do have a ridiculous fear of losing the card holder!

Make-up: just a small amount today as I knew I wouldn't be out for too long. 17 Pressed Powder, Vaseline Rosy Lips and ELF Mineral Lipstick in Natural Nymph.

Phone: this is a new-ish phone - my old one completely died on me and I've not get progressed to an iPhone/Blackberry but this does the job and the camera is pretty good for when I don't have my "real" camera on me.

Here's a photo of me at London Fashion Weekend - with the all-important umbrella:















Coat: Zara
Jeggings: M&S Limited Collection
Boots: KG by Kurt Geiger

Hope everyone's had a fabulous Sunday! x

Johnson's

A few months ago, I joined the Glamour Magazine Reader Panel and I'm really glad I did! Every month I get send an email survey about my skin type and product preferences and then sometimes I get send a product to try out for free in return for doing a survey on my thoughts on it.

Over the past few months I've been send three products:

- Johnson's Dreamy Skin Bath
- Johnson's 24-hour Extra Rich Body Lotion
- Johnson's 24-hour Moisture Body Wash















As well as it being a really nice surprise getting the products in the post, I've also been really impressed by them. I'd never used any Johnson's products before so its been great to get to try them out for free. My favourite is the Dreamy Skin bath - it smells lovely and leaves my skin feeling really soft. The bottle is HUGE too so it'll last for ages. The body lotion and wash are nice too - they feel really moisturising and so are great for dry winter skin. I'd usually go for a body wash/moisturiser with a more distinctive scent (I love Molten Brown shower gels and The Body Shops's body butters for their amazing fragrances) but these are great for everyday use and won't create a fragrance clash with your perfume.

All these products retail for under £5 so are great bargains too.

Have you tried any Johnson's body products?

DISCLAIMER: these products were sent to me by Glamour Magazine and NOT by Johnson's. I've already reviewed the products for Glamour and thought I'd share my thoughts with you too. All opinions are my own and have not been influence by Glamour or Johnson's.

NYX - First Purchases!

After reading a few blog posts featuring NYX make-up, I was intrigued. I could only find the range to buy online and I'm not keen on shopping online for make-up - I like to have a play around with the products first before I hand over the cash!

Last week I took a trip to Harrods as I had £5 of reward points to spend so this seemed like a good enough excuse for a shopping trip! After being uninspired by Mac (couldn't find anything I liked that I didn't already have and the staff were really unhelpful despite me being the only person browsing the counter) and Benefit (£23.50 for a cardboard box of blusher didn't seem like great value) I headed to the 4th floor which stocks the "young trend" brands. To my delight, there was an NYX counter with so many amazing products - I felt like a child in a toy shop. Despite wanting to buy pretty much everything I settled on two products: a Somkey Look Kit and a Glitter Cream Pallet.























I've used the Smokey Look Kit almost everyday since I purchased it - I love it! The range of shades is great and they're strongly pigmented and have just the right amount of shimmer. For daytime I've been using the gold-y shade with the browny-grey shades in the crease and for nighttime the colours can be built up for a more intense look.

The are also two lip colours in the slide out drawer - a nude peach and a baby pink shade. These are nice for touch-ups and both the shades are quite neutral so would suit most people, however, I don't think I'll use these so much as the kit is clearly focussed on the eyes. There are also eye and lip applicators in the kit which could be useful for touch-ups but I've been useing my Ruby and Millie and ELF brushes.

I love this kit so much - it was around £12 and I like how there's a range of shades in such a small compact. It takes me forever to use up eyeshadows so the small amount of each shade shouldn't be a problem.

Here are some pictures of me wearing the eyeshadows:





















As for the Glitter Cream Pallet, I haven't had the chance to use it yet as it's a bit too much for daytime. I'm probably too old for glitter but the pallet is so pretty that I couldn't resist it! I love bronze-y shades on my eyes so hopefully this will be great for night-time looks. This pallet was £8.95.

Has anyone else tried NYX products? What else from the range should I check out?

A Day At The Races!

I went to Ascot today - it was so much fun! I loved getting all dressed up in the middle of the day (although I did get some funny looks on my walk to the station - hopefully people didn't think I was returing from last night!)

I braved the cold in a Dorothy Perkins black shift dress - I customised it by swapping the plain back ribbon lace with a string of fake pearls from the John Lewis haberdashery, Dune shoes and fascinator from good old M&S:



















Excuse the mess in my room please!

Close-up of the dress:















I kept my make-up natural as I wanted the hat to be centre stage:



































I used:

Face -
No 7 Instant Radiance Conceler
17 Translucent Powder
Sleek Face Contour Kit

Eyes -
No 7 Eyeshadows from my pallette (gold and pale pink)
L'Oreal Volumous Mascara

Lips -
Clinique High Impact Lipstick in Red-y To Wear

Superdrug & Boots Haul

I popped into Superdrug and Boots between my lectures today and picked up a few bargains:
















L-R:

Boots Vitamin E Daycream and Boots Vitamin E moisture lotion SPF 15 -
The Boots Vitamin E range was 2 for £4 - bargain! I wanted a new moisturiser and didn't want to splash out on something expensive as I'm still not in the habit of using a moisturiser every day (until recently my skin hasn't been dry enough to need one!). The lotion feels very light and I like how it has SPF in it. The day cream is slightly thicker - I'm thinking that I'll use that one now and the lotion when it gets warmer. I'll let you know how I get on with them.

Superdrug Eye Make-up remover -On my last visit home, my mum had this in the cupboard and I really liked it, it took off all my eye make-up and only costs £1! I get through so much eye make-up remover that a bargain like this will definitely save me some money! I'll use this when I'm wearing standard mascara and save my No 7 eye make-up remover for when I'm wearing long-lasting/heavier eye make-up.

I'm really liking the No 7 product that I posted on a while back - only problem is that it's half gone already!

L'Oreal Elvive Damage Care Shampoo and Conditioner -These were 2 for £4 in Superdrug. I've used a few L'Oreal shampoos before - Highlight protect, Full Restore, the one in the pale pink bottle...I've never tried the "Damage Care" range before but hopefully they'll do my hair some good - I've not had it cut for a while so the ends are starting to look a bit dry...I'm trying to grow it a bit more before I get it cut again though so hopefully this'll tide me over until then.


Have any of you used any of these products?
What're your latest beauty bargains?

40 Beauty Questions

I saw this on Netty's blog and thought I'd give it a go :)

SKINCARE


-How many times do you wash your face daily?
Morning and night


-What skin type do you have? (dry,oily,combo)
Dry in the winter, oily in the summer.


-What is your current facial wash?
Clinique's Foaming Facial Wash.


-Do you exfoliate?
I don't like facescrubs but I use Clinique's Clarifying lotion a couple of times per week if my skin's feeling a bit oily.


-What brand do you use?
I switch between skincare brands a lot but I like Clinique, Garnier and Neutrogena - they're the ones I go back to the most.


-What moisturizer do you use?
Clinique superdefence at night time. Nothing in the day unless it's sunny when I use a L'Oreal facial suncream instead of moisturiser.


-Do you have freckles?
A couple.


-Do you use eye cream?
Yes, a Boots Time Delay one at night and Garnier Regenerist in the morning.


-Do you or did you have acne prone skin?
No, I sometimes get a couple of spots but nothing too bad *touches wood*


-Did you ever have to use Pro-activ?
No


MAKE-UP


-What foundation do you use?I don't use foundation - just translucent powder and concealer on my face.


-How about concealer?
No 7 Instant Radiance under my eyes, Rimmel Hide The Blemish on my face.


-Do you know your undertone color?
Pink.


-What do you think of fake eyelashes?
I've only tried them once - it was a bit of a failed attempt but I loved how they looked so will be giving them another go!


-Did you know that you are suppose to change your mascara every 3 months?
Yes, I probably change mine more than that - I seem to get through them very quickly!


-What brand of mascara do you use?
L'Oreal at the moment. Maybelline mascaras are always great though and I like Clinique ones when I want to spend a bit more money on one.


-Sephora or MAC?
I love Sephora - best part about holidaying in France!


-Do you have a MAC Pro-card?
No. I don't own that much Mac make-up...my collection is slowly expanding though!


-What makeup tools do you use in make up application?
ELF brushes for blusher, concelear and bronzer. A Ruby and Millie eyeshadow brush.


-Do you use make-up base/primer for the eyes?
Yes, No 7 Shadow Base but I really want to get the Urban Decay Primer Potion.


-For the face?
I use a No 7 mattifying lotion before I put my make-up on.


-What is your favorite eyeshadow (color or shade)?
I have blue eyes so bronze-y shades suit me best - my favourite is probably 17's "Beyond Bronze" - it's so cheap but I love the shade and it's really pigmented.


-Do you use pencil or liquid eyeliner?
Liquid if I'm going out, otherwise I don't wear eyeliner.


-How often do you poke your eyes with an eyeliner pencil?
Haven't done that yet...


-What do you think of pigment eyeshadows?
I like them but I never have time to put them on so they get neglected in the bottom of my make-up case :(


-Do you use mineral makeup?
Yes, I have Mac's Mineralize Blusher and Eyeshadow and an ELF mineral lipstick.


-What is your favorite lipstick?
Ready to Wear by Clinique.


-How about lipgloss?
I never use lipgloss - it's so stickly and I hate the way they smell!


-What is your favorite blush to use?
MAC Mineralize in Dainty or Barry M's in Terracotta.


-Do you buy your makeup on ebay?
No, I like to see the make-up in real life before I part with my cash!


-Do you like drugstore makeup?
Yes, about half of my make-up is drugstore - I don't feel guilty treating myself to a few new drugstore purchases every now and then. I do like high end make-up though - I get so seduced by the pretty packaging...


-Do you go to CCO's? (cosmetic company outlets)
Yes, I've been to the one in Bicester Village a few times and I love the duty free for stocking up on high end make-up.


-Did you ever consider taking make-up classes?
No.


-Are you clumsy in putting on makeup?
No, I've had plenty of practice by now!


-Name a makeup crime that you hate?
When people apply too much Touche Eclat and end up with reverse panda-eyes...


-Do you like colorful shades of makeup (lipstick,eyeshadow) or neutral ones?
Mostly neutral - I'm pale so colourful shades don't really suit me.


-Which celebrity always has great make up?
Dita Von Teese always looks amazing.


-If you could leave the house using just ONE make up item,what would you use?
Mascara


-Could you ever leave the house without any makeup on?
Yes, but only if I'm going to the gym, going for a run or making a quick dask to M&S simply food!


-Do you think you look good even without any makeup on?
I don't think I look awful, just younger, paler and tireder than I do with make-up!


-In your opinion, what is the BEST makeup line?
I don't think there's one "best" line for everything but I'd be happy to own the contents of the Mac store...


-What do you think of Makeup??
It's fun - I really love applying it, shopping for it, writing about it, reading about it...life would be much duller without it!

Project use-it-all-up: Update

It's typical...you wait for ages to try to use up a product and then end up finishing loads in one week!
















L-R:

Clinique Take The Day Off Eye Make-up Remover -
My absolute favourite make-up remover. It's expensive and I get through a bottle pretty quickly but there really is nothing better for getting rid of stubbon mascara.

Soap & Glory THe Scrub of Your Life -
This smelt amazing and left my skin feeling really soft. It's the first Soap & Glory product I've tried but certainly won't be the last!

17 Translucent Pressed Powder -
One of my handbag staples - I've tried a fair few pressed powders over the years and this one is still my favourite. It gives light coverage, stops shine and doesn't cake despite numerous touch-ups. I get through 3 or 4 of these each year but at less than £5 that's not a problem.

Superdrug Cucumber Facial Wipes -
These were only £1 - not the best wipes I've used but they felt refreshing, didn't dry out my skin and lasted ages. I used them after taking off my eye-make-up to remove the oily residue from my make-up remover and to take off my face make-up before I wash my face.

Mascaras - Maxfactor Max, Great Lash Waterproof, Great Lash Blackest Black -
All amazing and well-loved. See here for my mascara review post.

17 Blusher in Peach Paradise -
A nice natural shade, not very pigmented so I had to apply quite a lot to get the effect I wanted but the colour was nice and it had just the right amount of shimmer in.

What Would I Re-Purchase:
I'm not very loyal to products BUT...the Clinique make-up remover is amazing and the 17 pressed powder is something I use everyday! Next time I go on holiday I'll definitely re-purchase the waterproof Great Lash as it really did stay put through sea, swimming pool and sweat (eww!).

What products have you finished up this week?