Boots Haul

Hii! 

First off Happy Fathers Day to all Daddys!

Weather's pretty grim in Warwickshire today and my skin has suddenly decided to go red and patchy on my eyelids and upper lip. So all I've wanted to do today is stay in bed have cuddles with baby.  Unfortunately we had to pop out to get some groceries so I thought I'd treat myself to a few bits from Boots!

I've been meaning to try these new CC creams that seem to have surfaced on the market. My skin is extremely sensitive and lately I've had little red flaky blotches on my face so I thought it'd be a good time to test out a Colour correcting cream. I've gone with Barry Ms Flawless CC Primer for £5.99.

Over the last few days i've been researching into lip plumpers. I came across a funny looking "tool" on eBay but having watched a few videos on Youtube I decided against using them as they seemed unsafe. Instead of using the lip plumping tool; i've gone with a short term lip plumping gloss. I did have my heart set on the Lip Plumper from Too Faced called Lip Injection mainly because I love Too Faced Make up but they didn't have any in the stores today so I have gone with a drug store dupe at a fraction of the price at £8. Usually retailed at £10 but currently on offer, woo!

I also bought the miniature version of Benefits They're Real Mascara for £9.95 as I've read a lot of good reviews for it. I don't tend to bother much with a good brand mascara anymore as I use falsies on a daily basis and only really use mascara on my bottom lashes. Nonetheless I do plan on giving this mascara a go on my lashes and am super excited to test it out!

Since having baby I haven't been doing my nails. Pre pregnancy I would always have new nails done. I have now snipped them all down and haven't been wearing any polishes on them for a while but when I get the chance I plan on using this Matte top coat from Barry M (£5.99).

My K Palette Brow Pen is starting to run dry and I'm dreading it as I absolutely love this product but it does take a few weeks to order and I'd like something a little more accessible so I thought I'd try Maybellines Brow Satin Pen for £5.99

and finally, after my skin flare up I did a quick search online and a lot of people have recommended using tea tree oil on red patchy skin so I thought i'd give this tea tree gel a go for £2.99.

Reviews of all items coming up! 

Hope you've all enjoyed fathers day!

Dabbling Post pregnancy, 2 dogs and a house to upkeep.

I don't usually post anything too personal as i try tend to keep my issues to myself but lately its got to the point where everything is getting to me and i keep getting extremely emotional. I'd like to put it down to hormones and hopefully its just a passing phase.

I'm hope this is normal.

I briefly mentioned how I was feeling to someone and they casually bought up post natal depression. I'm sure i don't have this. I love my baby more than anything in this world, i don't have any ill thoughts as such. I just feel extremely stressy and angry at everyone else.

A little background information...

I think, as a person i can be a little neurotic. Possibly dabbling with control issues which is why i have to do certain things the way i do or...i get extremely wound up.

My life pre pregnancy was monotonous. I had a routine and it worked for me. I like routines. They bring me the feeling of control and comfort. When every thing goes to plan. I am happy. Not just happy but unexplainably content. When things don't go to plan i usually have a mini breakdown. This actually happened more often than expected due to the 2 dogs being naughty but when they weren't playing up i felt a huge sense of achievement when everything just worked. They were bathed, fresh and clean and they spent the evenings chilling with me and husband in the living room. One problem was that my routine was accustomed to the normal everyday. I.e just us 2 and the dogs. That meant if any family or visitors were to come over the dogs would play up. And this was with out question. It always happened. The 2 mutts would jump all over the place and bark at the door. Then jump over the newly arrived guests. For some reason guests being in the house warranted them to break all normal rules and they'd be all over the furniture...all over the house.  Nonetheless that was as stressful as it got...but now, throw a newborn in the mix and all of a sudden its...chaotic.

I have had to separate the dogs into another room as they seem to be out of control at the moment. The millions of visitors here to see the newborn sets the dogs off constantly. I'm sure this is difficult for them too... and it makes me sad thinking that they don't get the attention from me as they had before. I feel like I've majorly failed them. To top it off, husband is not willing to partake in my routine to take care of the dogs the way i did. Hes told me the dogs would have a happier life with other owners who give them 100% of their time and attention. This saddens me a lot. I feel like all my time and effort into bringing them up has been pointless and a huge waste of time. I have failed. And the more i think about it, the more his words seems truer to me. They would be happier with someone else.

And then theres the other bits. I've had every man and his dog practically tell me what i should be and shouldn't be doing for my baby. Is it just me or are the people who are around me too opinionated? Its probably me. They're probably just trying to help. I shouldn't mistake their helpful guidance as unwanted opinions. But its annoying.

I love my baby and as long as he is happy and healthy i don't really want these opinions thrown at me. So what if he cries when hes not being cuddled? I hate seeing him cry. It makes me well up. I don't think I'm a strong enough person to leave him to cry so he "learns to be independent", and if its not unwanted advice about the baby; its unwanted advice about the dogs.

Today, i had a mini breakdown with a family member. Baby was awake at 6am. I changed his nappy and spent an hour on and off feeding him til he stopped fussing and crying.  Once he fell asleep i also fell asleep again. I usually stay up from 4/5am baby wake up and do things including making breakfast and sorting the dogs morning routine but not this morning.  I was so tired. So when family member came round this morning st around 9/10 am,  i hadn't had a chance to get anything to done.  I hadn't eaten, my face was a mess. Top was damp from leaky boobs, baby on and off crying. All of a sudden i was accused of neglecting the dogs because their water bowl was empty. Normally by that time, i would have checked on them but with baby, things change.  Baby is my priority. Even if that means i don't get to eat. But to be told i wasn't coping and needed help because on the off chance they had no water? I hadn't even been the toilet!! I snapped and started sobbing uncontrollably as baby slept in my arms. I am coping fine.  What i can't cope with is the judgemental accusations.

Maybe its hormones making me extremely sensitive and weepy.

Either way, I've had a think after a weepy phone call to husband then nap with baby and Ive come to the conclusion that i need to be stronger and ignore what others have to say. They are not me. They are not living my life and their opinions should not matter or affect me. What i should focus on is looking after baby, running the everyday things in this house and taking care of the dogs as much as i can. 

Amy x

Wet N Wild H2o Proof Liquid Liner Review, Smudge and Water Test

Hii,

Haven't posted in a while as i went into labour a few weeks ago! Really lucky to have had a short labour and birth of 6 hours with no complications and only on gas and air. My beautiful baby boy is healthy and i'm loving being a mummy. That aside; I haven't had much time to blog much but when my Wet n Wild H2O proof liner came through the post the other day; I did a quick smudge and water test.

Swatches and Tests

Smudge Test: The liner was very hard to smudge and took some tough scrubs before the colour budged.

Water Test: When submerged the liner stays with no discoloration. When rubbed, the lighter parts of the swatch line had smudged slightly but the darker part did not smudge under water at all. 

Application and Water Test

After being applied to my upper lid, i submerged my face under water and found similar results to the swatch test. The liner had only smudged slightly underneath after scrubbing pretty hard.

Results

Texture & Application: 4/5 the liquid texture has a nice glossy finish and glides on easy but the liner does take a while to completely dry.

Smudge Resistance: 5/5 Shown very good resistance to smudging and really took a hard scrubbing before discolouration and smudging. I was unable to remove the liner with water alone.  I had to use micellar make up remover and even then was still difficult to remove.

Water Resistance: 5/5 Really impressed with how well this liner withstood being rubbed in water. Definitely the best waterproof liner I've tried so far. 

I've actually been sitting on this post for about a while. Baby has been keeping me super busy. I have got other bits to post but will take some time :) 

Amy x

The Waterproof Eyeliner Comparison Test

Hi,

Yesterday I thought I'd do a comparison test on all the current waterproof liquid eyeliners that I have.  I've found that with every liner that I have tried so far - they've all been rather disappointing when it comes to withstanding water as they all have a tendency to smudge. None the less, I thought i'd do a comparison test out of the 5 that I currently have. 

Anyway onto the test.

So the liners used today are:

1) Bobbi Browns Long-Wear Gel Eyeliner
2) Maybelline Lasting Drama 24h Studio Gel Eyeliner.
3) K Palette Waterproof Real Lasting  EyeLiner 24h 1 Day Tatoo
4) Benefits They're Real Push Up Gel Liner
5) Make Up Forever- Aqua Eyes Pencil Liner






























The swatches are in the same order as listed.
For the test I ran my hand under a running tap and scrubbed the swatches with my finger to test how much each liner would smudge after being submerged in water.

 All liners resisted smudging after being submerged directly under water.

 After scrubbing my hand a few times all liners had smudged. 
The top 2 liners with least smudging:1) Benefit - They're Real Push Up Gel Liner- This liner smudged around the edge like the others but the dark line had stayed put and very little fading.2) KP Palette - Waterproof Real Lasting Liner  - Similar to Benefits liner, the line had smudged around the edges but the original line had stayed in place pretty well compared to the others.

After further scrubbing the only liner to have not have faded was Benefits- They're Real Push Up Liner.

I also found that the line is extremely faded but still on my hand even now (gone 1 day) and note that I wash my hands very often and have showered and scrubbed the line.

Conclusion- Even though no line had fully resisted smudging after being underwater and I don't particularly rate Benefits liner due to the awkward applicator- This has proven that out of the 5 tested, Benefits Liner has the most staying power under water. It could perhaps even be used for swimming as long as you avoid rubbing your eyes.

I plan on trying Wet and Wilds H2O Proof Liquid Liner next and if that proves to smudge then I'll look at buying Stilas All Day Liner, MAC Fluidline liner and Urban Decays Gel Liner. My Wet and Wild Liner should arrive in the next few weeks so fingers crossed!

Amy x

Contouring my Schnozz and Face - Loreal Infalliable Sculpt & Seventeen Define and Conquer

Hiii

I bought Loreals Infallible Sculpt Contouring Palette a while back to test out. The packaging says its a cream to powder finish which sounded pretty amazing. The palette retails for around £10 and has boasted many good reviews on several different websites. 

Unfortunately due to my pregnancy hormones; my skin has been extremely unpredictable and constantly bouncing between extremely oily and scaly dry. I did find that towards the end of the day my skin tends to lean towards the oily side so saying that; when I did use this contour kit, I found that it was making my skin even worse due to the texture being a cream consistency- which is why I bought the powder contour kit from Seventeen.

Seventeens Define & Conquer Contour Kit is a powder compact and retails for around £6 from Boots. Both contour kits come with a mirror within the compact.

I've found that the Loreal Contour kit has a nice subtle colour and doesn't come out too dark in colour. The cream consistency also enables layering for a more intense colour. The creamy texture also allows for easy blending.







The Seventeen contour kit is very easy to use for beginners. I did find it hard to use for my nose contouring, though as I didn't have the correct type of brush for it. So I used Loreal Infalliable Sculpt for my nose and the Seventeen palette for my cheeks and face.


Before and After contouring with both kits :)




Amy x

K Palette Real Lasting Eyeliner -1 Day Tatoo - Waterproof Review

Hii,

Only a few more days until due date...and I've still yet to find a good waterproof liner to potentially take with me to hospital. Although, tbf, I doubt my makeup or how I look will even cross my mind at the time.

Anyway, on to the review. I received my K Palette Waterproof liner through YesStyle.co.uk and couldn't wait to test it and had real high hopes for this one.

The eyeliner is in the exact same packaging as the non waterproof version; only difference is the waterproof version has WP on the pen.

As usual, I did a Swatch on my hand, smudge and water test and also submerged my face in water with the liner being applied to my eyes.

Swatch: Similarly to the non waterproof version, this liner applies well and comes out highly pigmented. The pen style packaging allows easy application. The texture comes out black and glossy with a slight shine to it.

Smudge Test: After smudging the swatch; I found that the liner has quite good staying power. Only after a few hard scrubs the liner had started to discolour.

Water Test: For the water test, put my hand under a running tap.The swatch stayed on under water with no smudging from the running tap. I did not try scrubbing the liner off and the liner stayed on well; still maintaining its glossy black appearance from water alone.

Submerging and Scrub: The liner had started to smudge off when I swiped the excess water off my eyes and face.

I re-applied the liner onto my eyes and left it on throughout the day and wore it into the shower later. I submerged my face under water but resisted touching my eyes after being in water to see whether the liner would would smudge. The results are as below. The bottom liner seems to have smudged slightly under the lash line but the upper lash line seems to have stayed on well without any smudging and crumbling.

Rating:

Texture: 4/5 I like the glossy finish and the liner is very easy to apply but due to the liner being a felt tip application, the liner does dry out easily.

Smudge Resistance: 4/5 - Good resistance to scrubbing. -1 for slight discolouration.

Water Resistance: 3/5 - The liner stays on well in water but will come off with scrubbing. Can be worn underwater and swimming but would just have to avoid touching any areas with the applied liner.

Thank you for Reading !

Amy x

YesStyle.co.uk Haul

Hii,

I just received a package from YesStyle.co.uk yesterday and am super excited to try everything!

YesStyle is a Asian Fashion website which sells clothing and makeup.I ordered on the 2nd May and recieved my order by 16th May. Pretty fast considering delivery was predicted to be over 2 weeks over seas.


















I'd bought a new BB cream as my skin seems to be quite dry at the moment. The Korean BB Cream comes in a cute little baby face bottle and I think it got it for around £3. I also bought a pack of 5 strip lashes from Litfly for around £3. This is cheaper than the usual set I get from Diamond Lash aand super exicted for the arrival of my K Palette Water proof 1 day Tatoo eyeliner and 7 Days Tattoo Eyebrow by TONYMOLY.

Can't wait to try these out !

Amy x