Ohh Patina...

Now having bought my MAC eyeshadow duo in ‘Joy & Laughter’ back in Easter 2013 it kind of made me want to try more Mac shadows, however I could never justify spending so much on eyeshadow (don’t really know how I would explain that to my Dad :/). That was until my beautiful best friend Beth bought me a MAC eyeshadow quad with the shadow ‘Patina’ in it. Now not going to lie I freaked out and my face was probably a picture. Beth see shares my obsession with make-up (yeah we have a problem we know! :P) and she kindly bought me this for my birthday, definitely one of my favourite gifts that I received, Thanks Beth!!!

Patina is a beautiful neutral taupe colour with gold shimmer running through it, MAC shadows are so pigmented and apply beautifully and blend together nicely. This shadow featured in my birthday makeup and I absolutely adore this colour! Now that I have one MAC shadow it means I am going to have get more and the next one on my list is ‘Mulch’ by MAC as Beth said this is the perfect colour to pair with ‘Patina’, the idea is ‘Patina’ all over the lid with a bit of ‘Mulch’ in the crease and voila your eye makeup for the day is done! Another shade that I want is ‘Satin Taupe’ or ‘Naked Lunch’ which I will probably end up purchasing shortly! All I can say is that this quad will definitely be filled quickly! You can purchase these shadows both online and in store at a MAC counter near you and if you do purchase these shadows I can assure you, you won’t be disappointed! Hope you enjoyed this and let me know what your first MAC eyeshadow was? 

My Coach Watch!

For my 18^th Birthday my Dad got me a very special gift and that was my rose gold Coach watch! I think a watch is always the classic 18^th birthday gift… well in my opinion it is. Now I did know that I was getting this as a gift as I did try it on as I did with several other watches, c’mon you have to have options, right? Originally I had loved the Michael Kors watches however these watches were humongous on my small wrists and looked more like man watches and didn’t look flattering on me at all. After walking in to Ernest Jones (you know the jewellers) I had spotted a few DKNY ones that I liked as well as the Coach watch. After about half an hour of trying on all these watches it had come down to the final 2. Which were a rose gold DKNY one and my beloved Coach watch, it was a difficult decision but I obviously ended up choosing the Coach one, the price tag was a little heftier but my dad paid for it (Thanks DAD!!!). Now I love my watch it’s perfect for everyday wear but would look equally as flattering in the evening time as well! It’s the perfect accessory and functional too as it tells you the time… duh bet you didn’t know that! :P 

Look how pretty it looks!!! :P

Taylor Swifts Wonderstruck Enchanted Fragrance

I’m not going to lie I am a big Taylor Swift fan and when she brought out her first fragrance, Wonderstruck in September 2011 I did like the scent, just not enough to actually purchase it. Although when she brought out her second fragrance Wonderstruck Enchanted this was definitely one perfume that I wanted in my collection and had to have. I got given this perfume by my Dad for Christmas as I had been going on about this fragrance to him for quite some time :/ (yeah sorry not sorry). However I did have to go on a search for this perfume and stumbled across the 100ml bottle for £19.00 yes £19.00… Bargain! Baring in mind I found this just as the shops were gearing up for the Christmas sales.

Here's a little something Taylor Swift had to say about the fragrance,
''Wonderstruck Enchanted is the next chapter in the story of my Wonderstruck fragrance. Wonderstruck is about that moment when you instantly feel a connection to someone, but then there's that feeling of being completely enamoured-enchanted- when you know a little more about that someone and still feel that strong connection.''- Taylor Swift

I love the scent it’s very sweet but not to overpowering and perfect for everyday wear and is easily transitional into evening also. The scent has notes of peony, sugar glazed Champaca petals, wild berries, passion fruit, white musk, vanilla and blond woods. Altogether it’s a fruity floral scent which I particularly like and I think it’s a lot nicer than her debut scent and a bit more sweeter too. 

The bottle is in similar design with that of the first one however this time it’s crimson with the gold charms. I think the charms add a nice little touch and it also has a subtle holographic sheen to it all over the bottle. As for how easy it would be to travel with and take in your handbag, not so much it’s quite a big bottle but would look nice amongst your fragrance collection. It’s only sold as an EDP (Eau de Parfum) so its staying power for the whole day is great.

 As with all the Taylor Swift Perfumes the price point is relatively affordable with a 10ml rollerball at £9.50, 30ml for £19.50, 50ml for £28.50 and the 100ml bottle for £37.50. Overall I love this fragrance and it’s a total winner for me of all the perfumes Taylor Swift has brought out.

The bareMinerals Pout Loud lip balms

Now this would be my first ever product that I have purchased from bareMinerals. I found these lip balms in Debenhams and I was curious about them and since they came in a duo and were on sale, I decided why not try them and got the set for £12.00 bargain! As these lip balms alone retail for £15.00 each. So the colours that came in the set were pink pulse and berry remix, and let’s just say the names sound cute as well right? Pink pulse does look quite scary in the tube it’s quite a bright almost neon pink but once this colour is on the lips I can assure you that it looks subtle and is very wearable. Berry remix however I think is the shade that I prefer out of the two, I love the colour of it and it looks great on the lips and it has surprisingly great colour pay off considering it is a lip sheer. Berry remix definitely stole the cake for me!

Left Berry Remix, Right Pink Pulse

These are marketed as lip sheers which means for those that want some colour on their lips but want it to be more wearable these are perfect for you. Not only do they give you a hint of colour but they are also very moisturising on the lips, as the formula has Shea butter and jojoba seed oil which will keeps your lips well nourished! Now be warned they do have quite a heavy citrusy scent but I don’t mind that, it’s not to overly powering.

The packaging looks sleek and compact and these are great for carrying around in your purse or school bag, I would say that you will want to top these up through the day however they have relatively good staying power. 

Overall I really like these products and as my first purchase for bareMinerals goes it was a good one. Other products that I would like to try from bareMinerals would be the Marvelous Moxie and Buxom lip glosses. Hope you liked this and you can still purchase this set I believe at Debenhams, if not these are sold as part of the permanent bareMinerals line.

Lancome's La vie est belle

Now I have been lusting after Lancôme’s la vie est belle perfume for months and my Dad actually got me a la vie est belle gift set for my Birthday! 

Not only did the set come with the 30ml perfume, but a shower gel, a body lotion, a mini hypnose mascara and a Lancôme juicy tubes lip gloss in marshmallow electro. Starting with the fragrance, this perfume smells amazing with notes of orange blossoms, jasmine, blackcurrant, pear, Tonka bean, praline, patchouli and vanilla (of course it had vanilla in it!). It basically smells very girly and very sweet which is why I love the scent so much although I would say it is one of the more sophisticated smelling scents that I own. I think it may become my signature fragrance! :P Obviously I was ecstatic that I had the perfume but it also gave me the chance to try out the hypnose mascara, even though it was a small sample I used this for my birthday makeup and it made my lashes look amazing, it gave them so much volume and length (what I’m always looking for in a mascara!), this small sample could tempt me to get a full size one but we will see, I don’t know if I feel like spending £22 on one mascara.  The lip gloss is also stunning it’s a very light pink shade, has a very cute name (marshmallow electro that’s a very cute name!) and isn't sticky and horrible like some lip glosses can be. It’s perfect for layering over a lipstick that you maybe want to give a little more shine to as it does have some shimmer to it; although it’s not overly shimmery which is a plus.

So this gift set was a real good find (well done Dad!) and I would definitely say if you haven’t smelt this fragrance you need to, it smells so freaking good!!! I’m not entirely sure if this gift set is still available as I was told that the La vie est belle gift sets were completely sold out before Christmas (I know, crazy right?). Although you may be able to track one of these gift sets at a Boots or Debenhams store. It is expensive just buying the perfume on it's own however its such a nice scent and it would be great to get as a gift or even if you are planning on spoiling yourself :P I would recommend this to anyone who loves sweet scents- because trust me it smells gorgeous!!